The Living Lab (NDE, Medium Adventure

[Deleted]

Name: [The Living Lab] - The Adventure Name



Participants: [Any HWD classes 7-5 Max four people]



Location: [Paris, France] -



Difficulty Level: [Medium]



Setting: [NDE]



Plotline: [ Something has gone horribly wrong in a hidden lab in France, an outbreak of strange insect like creatures has escaped from their confinement. Some are making their way up to the surface killing innocent humans that they come across. Some how you must find a way to stop this spread of these monsters before they over run the city.]



Estimated Enemy Strength: [Mostly 6 with a class 4 boss]



Estimated Time Until Completion: [3 maybe four pages]



Starts: [After the introduction post is posted] -



Special Conditions:

[Deleted]

Warning... Warning....Warning... Contamination breach in sector seven. Containment protocol will commence in thirty seconds. All personal must evacuate..... Warning Warning Warning. Contamination breach in sector seven.

As the loudspeakers roared alerting everyone of the breach, the experiment started to quickly over run all the personal at the lab. Those that were involved directly with the accident were long dead as the furious sounds of mandibles could be heard chewing apart flesh and bone coming from sector seven. Many scientists started to run for the nearest exit not wanting to be caught up in whatever had escaped failed to realize that the containment protocol was all inclusive of the base. The ones who reached the exit first would find that they were shut in with a solid metal door keeping them from exiting.

Warning.... Warning.... Warning.... Contamination breach in sector seven. Extermination protocol will commence in ten seconds. All personal must evacuate. Warning Warning Warning Contamination breach in sector seven.

The sounds of the loudspeakers would soon be drowned out by the sound of flames shooting out and the cries of pain and anguish coming from sector seven, many of which belonged to their fellow scientists. As the jets of fire stopped and the loudspeakers shut off all the scientists still alive let out a sigh of relief knowing that they were safe. However much to the horror of them all they could hear the sounds of chitin could be heard tapping off of the floor rushing towards them with the loudspeakers starting up again.

Warning... Warning....Warning... Contamination breach in sectors six, five and four. Containment protocol will commence in thirty seconds. All personal must evacuate..... Warning Warning Waarrrrrrrrrning......



The loudspeakers slowly came to a pained stop as something had chewed through the wiring, the very same things that were now in sight of the mass of scientists huddle up against the large steel door. Soon the only sounds that would come from the lab would be their screams as they pounded against the door to escape and the sound of flesh being ripped from bone.

Two weeks later

[Ranth]

It had been three weeks since Ranth's last visit to the human world. Three weeks since he'd nearly died at the hands of Lagos Oscuras. Three weeks of ceaseless nightmares and sleepless nights. In that time he'd been so preoccupied with his recovery and with taking care of the day to day running of the Kido Corps that had fallen into his lap after becoming a seated officer, since apparently the mere act of surviving an Arrancar encounter was enough to warrant a promotion, much to Ranth's shame.

In fact, he'd been so busy with juggling his new responsibilities with his own personal training regime- both in private and with his fellow shinigami- that it had almost entirely slipped his mind that there were other responsibilities that he could at time be called upon to perform. Extra responsibilities like going on missions for example, which was something he hadn't been involved with in over 3 months.

He'd learned that since the Kido Corps were a special case amongst the Gotei 13- much like the Omnitskudo- in that it existed outside of the Captain Commanders authority and as such only Central 46 could give orders that the Corps actually had to respond to. As a result, if any of the other squads wanted them to mobilise, they generally had to submit a request to Central 46 for review.

As one might imagine, this was a lot of paperwork for a run of the mill mission and given the disposition of most Captains being on the 'lower end' when it came to enthusiasm for more work, it was rare indeed for such a request to be made. Which is why it was both surprising and intriguing when just such a request came from the 12th division for a representative of the Kido Corps to investigate an anomaly in the human world.

As the member with the least amount of responsibility amongst the seated officers of the Corps, Ranth was quickly volunteered as tribute for the mission and had been sent to report to the 12th squad barracks whereupon he was given what little intelligence that had over the particulars of the mission. In short, an unusual reiatsu signature had been detected within the human world city of Paris.

According to their data, the reiatsu signature was Hollow in nature, but had proven difficult to pinpoint as well as seeming entirely too large for a single hollow- or even for a large group of them. In short, the data their instruments were receiving didn't make sense and they needed to send in a team to investigate and get to the bottom of these bizarre readings. So all Ranth really knew was that he should expect to encounter Hollow- lots and lots of Hollow.

An hour later, Ranth emerged from a Senkaimon in the sky with the city of Paris unfolding in every direction below him. In the distance off to his left he could see the legendary Eiffel Tower, but otherwise there was nothing much to see thanks to the light, yet persistent snowfall that cascaded around and and had already started to settle upon his head and shoulders. Moments later, a second Senkaimon opened beside him as the first of his companions for this mission arrived.

[Maeda Jirou]

Stepping out of the Senkaimon Jirou came to know that he was second on the scene with another Shinigami having arrived ahead of him which gladdened the young soul reaper who would likely have been unnerved by the prospect of having been first. Having only recently been declared fit for duty again it had surprised him that there was work for him to get back to so soon and it sounded more important than the tasks he was used to. Commonly he was used to patrolling missions with little but the occasional hollow to dispatch but this was an investigation into something the Seireitei knew was abnormal.

The whole thing worried him and his worry was evident on his face as his eyebrows rested at an uncomfortable angle beneath the black hair that partially covered it but fortunately a kick to his back forcing him forwards a few steps snapped him out of it as he looked behind himself annoyed ''What was that for!'' he demanded to be answered, and answered he was ''A reminder not to overthink stupid things, stupid.'' said the voice behind him as a second figure exited the Senkaimon he had come from. A short, white haired kid with black horns protruding from his head slowly had his foot touch the ground after having kicked the Shinigami, crossing it's arms or more accurately claws stubbornly as it extended it's tongue at him.

It was Jirou's zanpakuto by the nickname of Shiro, a weird thing who for reasons he did not yet fully comprehend was stuck outside his own body with a fragment of his own soul. ''Why you- you're making me look like an idiot!'' Jirou said as he forcibly picked up the spirit by his feet and hung him upside down ''You are an idiot.'' it simply responded unconcerned as Jirou turned back to the Shinigami who had come before him ''Ah, um.. Maeda Jirou, 3rd squad. This is my-'' ''Zanpakuto Spirit, you need not my name.'' ''Did you have to say that? it was unnecessary and rude!'' Jirou chastised his spirit as he let go of Shiro who made sure to land back on it's feet ''It matters little, this one does not look too important'' sighing he replied ''You keep saying that about people, can't you just act polite for once?''

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima Aoire was shuffling through some paperwork, finishing up some lower level work that didn't need to get sifted all the way up towards Hotaru. He was signing and stamping at a Decent pace before stopping just short of adding a stamp. He Saw an official request by the kido corps to send along a Bodyguard along with a researcher to Address the issues arising with a Research station that has become a beacon of spiritual activity. Arantima looked around at his roster of seated officers and.. Found it empty.  He Looked more closely at the request and sighed as he pressed his own stamp into it.

Arantima Took his Zanpakuto and attached it to his belt before he stood and went down to the Senkaimon. He Put on his lieutenant's Badge over his upper right arm and Set away any of his current Research on the Shidai in his locked desk and left the key in his usual spot before doing so. He looked through the Senkaimon and stepped through to Enter the Lab that was the target of the mission, he may have research to do but This mission did not seem like it would tax him too heavily, after-all he was a Vice captain.

He looked through the sky as he stepped out of his Gate and Breathed out gently until he looked over to his side and Smiled at the Shinigami he did not know. He Looked him over and couldn't immediately tell what Squad he was from but knew there would be Kido Corps there. "Hello there. I am Arantima Aoire - Kawada, Vice Captain of Squad 10. I will be your Body guard through this mission, It may be a bit of overkill however I am a unique Shinigami. I am the weakest Shinigami.. But I am skilled, I will protect you. " He Smiles and it is warrm and genuine. His eyes are Golden in color and look dim, like a dingy milky golden.

[Deleted]

From up above the city the shingami couldn't even sense or see anything out of the ordinary. There was a lack of panic in the city that usually followed when a hollow attack was going on. The entire city say for the sounds of a police sirens in the distance heading away from where they were. Other than that the city seemed very quiet. Which was odd given the season. It was summer and usually Paris was sprawling with people out and about doing things in the city of love. This was the height of the tourist season in France yet the busy streets seemed empty. However they couldn't tell that the city lacked people from the sky.

While it was a good idea to get an aerial view of the city to see if they could spot or sense the hollow threat from above sadly there was a lack of spiritual energy. That in and of it's self should seem odd to the shingami's given that Paris was a spiritual hot spot yet there was a very distinct lack of spiritual energy in the city. If any of them had even a bit in energy sensory they could tell that spiritually the city felt dead. As if something or someone had been forcing everything that had any traces of spiritual pressure to simply vanish.

If the shingamis decided to head to the streets they would see that say for the oddly sparse amount of people everything looked and sound normal. Even if they tried to sense any form of hollow reiatsu in the area they would sense nothing. From there they would have many options as to how to proceed. They could simply wander around the city hoping to find what they were here to exterminate, however with the size of the city it could take hours even days to find a lead especially if they decided to simply stick together. If they looked around just in the general area they wouldn't be able to see anything worth noting or looking around. Where ever they would land they would have three options either to go to the north of the city closer to the Eiffel  tower, go to the south which seemed to have more people in it, or head towards the west where a contact of the shingami lived.

[Ranth]

At first Ranth assumed that the two individuals who emerged from the second Senkaimon were squad mates and thus formed the second and third members of the team that had been gathered for this mission. However, following a brief squabble between them in which Ranth himself was referred to more than once as though he wasn't even there left him feeling both bewildered and a little insulted. However, as he caught snippets of the conversation and was then finally addressed by the more outspoken of the two, Ranth realised that this newcomer was a special case the likes of which he'd met only once before... and that person was Aevus, the Vice Captain of the Omnitskudo.

Deciding quickly that Maeda, the 3rd squad officer probably had about as much control over his Zanpakuto as Aevus did Luna in day to day affairs, he wasn't about to hold the man responsible for his other half, but more importantly... what the Zanpakut had said wasn't really incorrect. Ranth wasn't anyone important and it didn't seem sensible to become upset over a simple statement of fact- even if it was almost certainly intended to illicit some kind of response.

Instead, Ranth just smiled sheepishly and nodded in response to Maeda's introduction. "I'm Ranth, from the Kido Corps", he replied, but quickly found that the two descended into bickering again. Luckily however, it was at that moment that a third Senkaimon came into existence and a third man stepped out into the snow filled sky and Ranth was a little surprised to find that their final member was none other than a Vice Captain- specifically that of squad 10. Ranth knew little of the man, but despite his claims to the contrary, he had a fair idea of how strong any Shinigami had to be in order to reach such a rank and so it was quite a relief to have Arantima along.

"It's good to have you", Ranth replied earnestly and delivered a polite bow of his head. "My name is Ranth, I'm with the Kido Corps and this here is Maede and his Zanpakuto Spirit. They're from the 3rd". He'd learned from past experience that in times like this it was best to get introductions out of the way quickly, so he did exactly that on Maeda's behalf- possibly to the irritation of his Zanpakuto.

Now that the whole team had assembled, Ranth turned his full attention towards the city below for the first time since arriving and extended his senses as far as he could manage, searching for the telltale reiatsu signature of a Hollow. After almost a minute however, Ranth found himself frowning before closing his eyes and focusing even harder, this time not looking for a Hollow reiatsu signature, but rather for any reiatsu signature.

Even humans possessed at least some modicum of a spark that could be detected with enough concentration, not to mention the ambient reiatsu that tended to fill both the mortal and spiritual realm in much the same way that air filled the sky or water filled the ocean. Yet no matter how hard he concentrated or how far he stretched his senses... Ranth couldn't detect a single thing. It was as though the entire city had been wiped clean of life. Yet surely such a thing was impossible, wasn't it?

Opening his eyes, Ranth reassessed the situation based on this new information and his frown deepened. The'd come here looking for Hollows and instead they'd found... nothing. If there'd been a massacre, then there would have been some trace of it. This complete lack of anything though... this was unheard of as far as Ranth knew. "Something's wrong, I can't sense... anything", Ranth finally said, breaking the silence by doing so. It was half a statement and half a question for the others if they could confirm this bizarre absence of reiatsu. "Let's go down for a closer look, I can't see what's going on down there through the snow".

Without waiting for further comment, Ranth let himself fall from the sky like a brick only to slow himself at the last moment to facilitate a delicate landing upon the snow laden streets of the city proper. Yet no matter where Ranth looked, there was no signs of people. Not only were there no cars in the streets despite the fact that a city such as this should have been active 24/7, there weren't even signs that people or vehicles had passed through the area since the current snowfall had started. "Where is everybody?", Ranth asked aloud as his companions joined him at street level, his voice filled with both bemusement... and concern.

[Maeda Jirou]

Noticing the arrival of their last member even Shiro knew to stop messing around as the two of them turned to face the newcomer, and with good reason too as he introduced himself as the vice captain serving the captain of the tenth squad. While he had never had much of an opinion of the captain by the name of Hotaru before Jirou had heard of what she had done under the justification of beating back a pack of hollows. 

Among the lower ranks there was barely a soul who wasn't aware how she had made use of her powers to indiscriminately burn shinigami, rukongai citizens and hollows to death, and most of the shinigami she burned were her own gate guardians. While Arantima claimed to be weak for a vice captain Jirou wasn't willing to believe it, the infamous reputation of the captain he served was so horrid Jirou actually began to pale at the man's introduction.

He was intimidated, and due to his own inability to speak as a result of it Ranth answered for Jirou which was a relief as the young man couldn't even bring himself to look the man in the eyes. Shiro on the other hand wasn't, his pride wouldn't let him be intimidated even if faced with someone who could crush them in an instant. Walking in front of his master as if to hide his fears he spoke harshly to the man who had really commited no wrong ''If we are working together with the tenth squad does that mean we are here to burn the city to the ground? if so are we to be added to the tinder or not?'' 

''SHIRO! shut it.'' the shinigami snapped at his spirit as he dragged him back by the neck and held his hand over his insolent spirit's mouth, Shiro trying to add more verbal fire as it came out muffled and unrecognizable. ''He didn't mean it, he's just in a foul mood! Actually quite relieved to have a Vice Captain among us'' Jirou tried to assure the vice captain as they got to the task at hand. Jirou himself wasn't all that good at sensing reiatsu so he choose to believe what Ranth was saying.

Following close behind him Jirou wanted to avoid being too close to the Vice Captain as possible after Shiro's stupid comments and made sure to hold onto the zanpakuto spirit who had at this point stopped trying to struggle free. Without doubt his zanpakuto had the part of his soul which seemed to contain most of his spine but relatively little sense, despite that he couldn't really be angry with him. Shiro was just saying what Jirou could not, what Jirou would have liked to say if there were no consequences to it.

Being close behind Ranth when he spoke Jirou decided to do his proper part as a member of the 3rd squad and follow protocol. ''We are supposed to have a contact in Paris a bit westward from here, i suggest we try to get some information from them before we end up walking into anything unpleasant.'' ''Unless they've already walked into something unpleasant'' Shiro stated, ''Let's be positive and assume they haven't.'' Jirou responded.

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima just watched as the fractured soul, something he had only seen once before in the Vice captain of the Onmitsukido Aevus before. His eyes turned from gentle and kind to Hellishly oppressive and nearly Violent. "If i hear such remarks coming from you again, You and I will come to more than Words! Insult my Squad once more and I will put you to disciplinary action..  Watch yourself here.. There are politics to the Soul society as I myself am just beginning to learn..  Take this as a Crash course in respect." He Doesn't even have to move before his gravitational pressure begins to get heavier and heavier until the point that it becomes almost unbearable.

The weight was not hindering, not yet but it was sincerely exerting itself, The Spark of his spiritual pressure cascading out from him like a Golden flash before dying down almost as fast as he had let it out. "Hotaru Taichou is blessed and cursed with a power that once unleashed has side effects that are far spread. She is dangerous, but she is my captain.. I will not have her disrespected in my presence, is that.. made.. clear?" The tone in his voice had been approaching a sonorous growl that vibrated the air, but near the end it took on a monotone of sheer and unbridled fear induction. This was indeed a Vice captain standing before them and his point was made.

He Slipped down towards where Ranth had gone "Pray each night Young Shinigami that your powers do not likewise Turn out like Mine own and my captains.. Pray you have something at least somewhat controllable. When you unlock your Shikai, understand what it is and see it for the power it is, And understand you will be judged by it's ramifications someday just as you now judge my captain.. And i pray you look back on the words you've uttered and weep tears of understanding. You Will Do this Without my shikai until We all lie bleeding on the sidelines, because we would not like to burn down entire towns now would we?" He looks hard at Jirou and Shirou, his gaze weighing heavily down on them.

He Surveys the area and chuckles as he listens to the others try and decide what to do. He Looks between them and Simply shrugs "The informant is likely to be the best course of action. If they are dead, we will find out more by finding out how they died. if they are not, they will provide a good sense for where to go next. After you, I will take up the rear as I seem to be mistrusted already for acts I did not commit, nor acts that should be judged by the likes of us who are in no position of authority to decide what was right or wrong in that moment."

[Deleted]

By the time the last shingami had placed their feet on the ground it would be too late to notice something very important and extremely concerning. If they all traveled by foot to the home of the informant it would never pop up, however the very moment that they tried to take to the sky once more they would find that they couldn't. There was a very distinct lack of reishi in the air to allow them to simply step on and walk across. However for the moment it didn't matter their destination was to the west a few blocks away in an apartment complex on the third floor. Each of them would know how to get there and the name of the informant given that it would be listed on the registry outside and mentioned in the mission briefing that took place before.

The walk over there would take only a few minutes as they had landed nearby. By simply following the main street they would get there and see some traces of human life here and there. A few shops opened with bored looking workers looking at their phones or trying to keep busy. The sounds of children laughing and playing a bit away, the odd footprints in the snow, some belonging to people, others belongs to animals and every so often if they paid attention there would be soft indentations in the freshly fallen snow that seemed to trail behind some of the footprints. Life was here, it was clear to see that people did exist, but the city felt empty.

Passing by an alleyway the sounds of what appeared to be a raccoon digging in the trash could be heard., yet that would be quickly overshadowed by the sounds of a woman pleading and crying to man in front of them. The woman looked utterly distraught as she held onto the man's shirt who at a quick glance could easily be recognized as a police officer. While most of what she had to say was muttered in between her sobbing what they could all clearly hear from her was “she's been missing for weeks now, please find her, she's only five years old.” It would be their choice as to if they wanted to stop and listen in on the conversation any more, but it was clear given the look on the officer's face that he didn't want to hear anymore of it given that he would respond with “Madam you're not the only one with a lost child.”

Given that none of them had brought a gigai and that neither the woman nor the office could see spirits it wasn't as if they could do anything to help her or ask questions, it would make sense for them to continue walking along. After all they were here on a mission to help track down the hollow activity in the area not deal with a sobbing woman and her lost child,.. Right....? So it would make sense for all of them to continue onwards and ignore the poor woman with her missing kid and the rather rude officer who simply ignored her cries for help.

After a few more moments of her crying the officer would sigh and lead her away oddly enough in the same direction that the shingami had to go. As the shingami eventually got closer to the apartment building they would actually pass by a smaller police station, on the exterior there would be a bulletin board filled to the brim with several pictures of people all with the same caption underneath them. 'Missing Have you seen me?' All with various dates of when they were last seen. Somewhere in that mess of pictures would probably be the very same child that the woman had been crying about and asking the officer to find for her. If they had lingered to hear the woman's crying to the officer they would see the very same woman lead into the police station, if they hadn't then it would take a few minutes before the two would walk past unaware of the shingami.

Either way the police station was simply a place they were passing by as they arrived at the apartment complex. The building it's self looked a bit rundown, the paint had faded slightly and was no longer a bright yellow, but now looked a bit musty. Some of the windows had been boarded up and closed off, while others seemed to have heavy metal bars along them keeping them from being opened. It wouldn't take long from getting to the building to walk up the flight of stairs to the third floor seeing that the elevator was broken. Getting to the door they could see the nameplate on the side of the door that read Jacques Albert.

Before they could even knock on the heavy metal door that seemed to be made of an oddly familiar material. The sound of someone laughing at the television could be heard followed by the odd sound of a chicken clucking that had to be coming from the television. When the first person decided to knock on the door the T.V. Would suddenly be shut off and a voice would say in a rather loud and gruff voice. “shhh we ain't here remember.” A very soft but audible chicken cluck could be heard following that. Then the apartment would be silent say for the sounds of very tiny footsteps that couldn't easily be heard by any of the shingami. The inhabitant of the apartment would peer through the peephole and see all of them standing out there. “Shigami, You get my invitation to vist? No? 'Cause there ain't one!” It would cry out at them. Suddenly the angry clucks of a chicken could be heard directed at the owner of the voice followed by it yelling back to the chicken"Were you just talking or was it the voices again?" Clearly there was something up with the individual behind the door, however before any of the shingami could say anything else the voice screamed back at them again" Now This here is my land what do ya want."

[Ranth]

Ranth nodded distractedly as the others suggested going to find the informant that they'd been briefed on prior to coming here. He was distracted because his attention was still caught by the bizarre feeling of nothingness that filled the city. He supposed this was what he'd lived like before he'd learned to sense reiatsu signatures and how almost every human that ever lived experienced the world and yet now that he'd had his eyes opened, it felt like he was missing some kind of illusionary sixth sense.

The fact that neither of his companions seemed overly concerned about the phenomenon made him wonder if maybe this wasn't as unusual as he'd first let himself believe, but then again they seemed to be a little preoccupied by some kind of bad blood between them... or rather, between the Zanpakuto spirit and the Vice Captain based on something that the 10th squad captain had done. Ranth didn't know the details and he certainly didn't want to get involved, he just hoped that Maede could control his Zanpakuto's tongue and the Vice Captain could control his temper as they began to trek through the snow in the direction of the informants dwelling.

They hadn't gone far- a block or two at most- when the sound of weeping met their ears and Ranth stiffened slightly at what it might mean that the first signs of life they'd encountered since arriving in one of the largest cities in the world was a woman weeping. As they rounded the corner though, there was no Hollow wreaking havoc as they might have expected, but rather a woman pleading with a man in uniform that must have served some kind of law enforcement capacity.

Ranth knew that the humans wouldn't be able to see, hear or interact with the Shinigami and that in turn meant that there was no use in them stopping to try and render any kind of assistance, but that didn't make them dead to her pleas that the officer mount some kind of search party for her missing child. Unfortunately for the woman, it seemed that the officer had other problems to deal with and was in the process of fobbing her off as the Shinigami passed.

They walked in relative silence for the next block and a half before they passed a building that was plastered with posters featuring the smiling faces of children with the words 'MISSING' and other similar phrases. There were dozens of them, Ranth could tell that much at a glance and he wondered briefly if it was normal for such a volume of children to be missing amongst human settlements or if this could be in some way related to what they'd come here to investigate. He refrained from speaking to the others about it though, simply because it seemed that they'd stopped arguing for the time being and Ranth wanted to relish the peace while he could.

Finally, they reached the location they'd been briefed on and upon knocking on the door, they were greeted in the most bizarre fashion Ranth could recall receiving. He didn't really understand most of what the man on the other side of the door said, but he was left with the impression that he must have been quite mad indeed- perhaps as a consequence of his own spiritual awareness. Whatever the case, he was one of the very few options they had for sourcing information and Ranth found that the others seemed content to let him do the talking for now and he sighed inwardly.

"Um, sorry to disturb you sir... Yes we are Shinigami and we've come to investigate some strange occurrences in this city... Is there anything you can tell us about what's going on here in this city right now?" He spoke through the door before glancing back at his companions questioningly, inviting them to add anything else that he'd forgotten to add or ask. If nothing else, he just hoped that Maede's Zanpakuto spirit didn't do anything to provoke the mad old man inside until they'd gotten some useful information.

[Maeda Jirou]

Jirou's attempts to brush his spirit's unnecessary comment aside had failed utterly, confronted by a very much pissed of Vice Captain throwing a violent temper tantrum as he exerted the pressure of his reiatsu over a large chunk of the town. Jirou and Shiro being so close to him compared to any humans were taking the brunt of it, having trouble both breathing as well as remaining standing, the weaker Shiro forced to lean on his master for support as not to be forced to grovel in front of what he viewed as an impertinent child. Why the lesson is loud and clear, it doesn't matter if you're a mass murderer or a temperamental child as long as you're strong enough to force yourself to the top! Shiro said mentally, sharing only his thoughts with his master as the child in front of him would likely kill him for any further insult.

Jirou himself again tried to salvage the situation and as such brought up the consequences of Arantima's actions, actions similar as to those that got civilians killed by the person the Vice Captain looked up to ''The pressure... please stop, the civilians!'' he paused briefly to force another breath of air into his lungs against the weight of Arantima's reiatsu but before he could push out another word advising the man to halt his action the pressure stopped although there was no evidence Jirou had any part of it. As to if Arantima had made himself clear Jirou forcibly had Shiro bend his head to the vice captain although the spirit wasn't resisting the action and then bent his head himself ''Understood Vice Captain.'' he said, while Shiro remained quiet.

As to when they continued down to the city the two of them had hoped the temper tantrum was over with but they seemed to have made an insistent enemy out of the man who was supposed to keep them safe, now there was no such guarantee and Jirou was not happy about it. And unfortunately his sense of duty was about to do him no favours as he was brought to swallow before replying to the Vice Captain ''I am already aware as to the nature of my Shikai, Vice Captain Aoire. Being forced to use it before my soul was strong enough to handle it is what i believe caused the fracture in my soul, i'm lucky to be alive at all. But more importantly for the mission sir, it is my duty to inform you that any actions dictated by emotions that affect the mission negatively i am obligated to report, if i survive long enough to make the report under the conditions you have set that is, sir.''

He had said the words stiffly, showing no emotion as he informed the Vice Captain that he found his actions unfitting the seriousness of the mission but deep down behind his words he shared a small victory with Shiro over knowing he was in the right, even if his superior would dismiss his words. A while later after having followed the lead of Ranth who seemed to be the more mature figure to follow they happened upon the rather tragic scenario of a mother begging help from an officer unable to give it, part of the shinigami wanted to go over there and help her but his short white haired companion grabbed hold of his wrist, making sure they remained focused. ''Focus on the big picture, helping one person is a minuscule time wasting action when we have a city to save by the looks of it.''

Upon meeting their contact Jirou was mostly annoyed, too frequently the Seireitei picked absolute weirdoes as their contacts, surely there had to be more reliable people in the human world to rely on? especially in a city such as Paris! but no, this is what they were stuck with. But while Jirou chose to remain quiet on the matter Shiro chose to fill in, following Ranth's words while taking on the persona of the so called bad cop, although he tried to be harsh his short stature and child like appearance made it difficult. ''Do keep in mind time is of the essence as you answer us, being spiritually aware your chances of surviving much longer are rather slim should we fail seeing as anything related to reiatsu seems to have been gobbled up.''

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima Stepped forward and Rapped softly on the door "Excuse me Ser Albert. Jaques Albert if I've got the name correct. The Situation Would normally have had us sending a care package and a request for information, But this Situation has turned rather serious rather quickly.  We are requesting Your assistance, and not without promise of compensation. I am the Vice captain of Squad 10, And a Minor Member of the House Kawada, I can Promise you some Semblance of Recompense for the Short notice on your assistance with our current mission master Albert." His Tone was level but Genuine, He was not condescending, nor was he aggressive simply speaking matter of factly.

"As I understand it.. " he pauses and taps a bit on the door before them and nods as he notes how spiritually solid it is. "As I understand it, He is Barricaded within a fortress, Getting in is the problem for anything spiritually Dangerous.. So threats do not work, He will Laugh at our Facile flaccid attempts at coercion. " He Raps again on the door and looks at the man inside "What Do You want, Master Jaques Albert? Or Should I be talking to the Chicken inside? I once met a Cat who could talk, she was quite adorable."

[Deleted]

The voice on the other side of the line simply stayed quiet while all the shingami started to talk one after another after another. The sounds of low muttering could be heard growing louder and louder before suddenly it belowed into a loud scream of anger and rage. “IF YA WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON GO USE YOUR EYES YA DAMN SHIGAMI!” With those words the faint sounds of footsteps away from the door could be heard followed by him muttering to himself. “Damn usless shigami thinking I need something from them I got everything I need here in my land. Got my T.V. Got my knife got my gun got my food.” The very light footsteps stopped for a moment before another scream came out directed towards them again. “I GOT EVERYTHING I NEED IN HERE I DON'T NEED YOU!”

As the voice finished screaming there came another set of clucks from the chicken behind the door. “Huh what do you mean we don't have everything?” Again a series of clucks followed. “Well what about what we took from the other apartment.” Again more clucking. “Well I don't know can't you try something else we have?” One final defiant cluck came out from the chicken followed by angry muttering as the footsteps seemed to come towards the door once more. “Alright you want my help? Fine go get me some chicken feed. There's a store in the downtown area that only he wants to eat from I'll give you all a map but ya better hurry on back.”

With that said a piece of paper would slide out from under the door. The paper seemed to be a cut out of a magazine with a very crudely drawn map on it at least pointing to the general direction to where the store was that they had to go and get the chicken seed from. “Now get a move on I ain't got all day.” With that nothing else would come from behind the door if they tried say for the occasional screaming of the voice telling them to get going if they stayed around or bothered asking any other questions. They now had a choice to make, to try to gather information on their own or bend to the wills of a madman and his chicken. The map was down right awful and even if it was correct there was no guarantee that anyone would be in that store.

As the trio of shingami exited the building once more the soft sounds of something rustling in the trash could be heard, but other than that nothing. No people around this area, no birds, no other animals. From where they were at it seemed that it would be a fifteen minute walk to the store if the map was to be trusted. It seemed like this was the only option for them after all what good would wandering around a city without tons of people in it do for them?

[Ranth]

Ranth watched the exchange between the Vice Captain and the man behind the door with curiosity. He'd seen the man's temper flare at the slightest provocation from their other companion's zanpakuto spirit earlier, yet now as he addressed the informant of somewhat questionable mental stability, he seemed a completely different person. He spoke with eloquence and patience that rivaled that of a school teacher trying to talk down a difficult child from misbehaving.

Perhaps it really was as simple as the man having a weakness for insults against anyone he respected. If that was the case, Ranth mentally filed away that little nugget of information. They were allies of course and he'd never dream of turning on the Vice Captain, but sparring matches between squads was notoriously common and if the day ever came that he had to duel the man either for training or for a Captaincy position, then it wouldn't hurt to know what made the man tick.

Eventually, Arantima seemed to have accomplished his task of establishing a line of communication with the crazy old man as a slip of paper emerged from beneath the door. Upon that paper was a... well... describing it as a child's scribble would have been a disservice to scribbles everywhere, but it seemed to be a map... drawn in crayon. A circle in red was labelled 'here' in lopsided writing, whilst a jagged line that literally looped back on itself twice joined that circle to another circle. This second circle was labelled "There" and was presumably the place where they were meant to go in order to secure what the unhinged man... or rather... his chicken wanted. At the top of the 'map' was the letter N, which Ranth could only assume meant that was north.

With nothing else to do, Ranth looked from one companion to the other and shrugged helplessly. It seemed that if they wanted answers, then they'd have to go and acquire chicken feed first. Deciding it was best not to comment out loud on what he thought of the man while they were within earshot of the door, Ranth instead settled for a sigh. "Alright, lets go and get some... chicken feed"

The trio set off on foot, having discovered by now that air ground wasn't working within the confines of the city due to whatever disturbance they'd been sent here to investigate. This made travel slower and more tedious, but thankfully they were able to approximate the directions scribbled on the paper into real world streets and within 15 minutes they'd arrived at what they could only assume was the right place... 'Earl's Super Duper Deluxe Ultimate Pet Barn, The Home of All Your Domestic Needs', according to the enormous sign across the front of the building.