TAKE ME TO THE MOON (End Game Investigation)

[whimsicalism]

[Friday arrives uneventfully. The fog is growing stronger, it's true, but nothing obvious has happened. It's probably a relief not to have Kakuya's presence or a monster breathing down your neck. That doesn't help the sense that something has changed. Not one but two areas have opened up. A large skyscraper now towers over everything in the east, it's large bulk casting shadows over the entire 'city'. In the west, a park surrounding a lake sprawls out; a solemn looking Japanese shrine sits on an island in the middle of the lake.

Two large new areas are open to you... it's a bit disorienting but you probably should spread out.]

((Welcome to the final investigation for the dead! It's entirely optional so don't feel pressured to join in. ICly, this will be happening at the same time as the living's investigation and trial. Something may happen near the end of the investigation not involving these locations so keep an eye out.))

Comments

[whimsicalism]

[It looks new-er than most of the buildings here. A bright neon sign declares this as the Moon Tower, the offices of the Sumii Co. It definitely has the air of something that definitely had some seedy deals in the back rooms at one point. The music is... definitely out of place here.

Looking over the lobby there's some police tape still stuck up in places.]

[panglici]

[Guess who predates "Jingle Bells" by five years? Carrie doesn't recognize the music, but she knows deeply cursed bullshit when she hears it.]

Valmont. I'm guessing this... song... is something from the future, right?

[Look, she's capable of being civil. Besides, if she didn't say anything as she heads over to some of that tape to look closer he might scream.]

[whimsicalism]

[It's very cursed. Sometimes there other Cursed songs from that time of the year but mainly Jingle Bells.

The tape is mainly trying to keep people out of the building but it seems to have been broken. There's a scrap of paper on the ground that reads simply 'ishimaru's old office? floor'. It has a floor number on it. You could walk up to that floor but there is an elevator, too. ...Not that Carrie would know what one is, probably.]

[britbrat]

[ Valmont's pleased enough that someone thinks of his time as "the future", for once, that he doesn't snark at Carrie for not knowing what (to him) should be obvious. ]

Yes, it's a Christmas song. You lot have Christmas, don't you?

[ He peers over her shoulder at the paper. Huh. Who the heck? ]

Well, er. Shall we go and visit this Ishimaru fellow?

[ It's not like they have any other leads! ]

[whimsicalism]

[Do you take the stairs or elevator?]

[britbrat]

[ He's heading toward the elevator, but maybe Carrie will have a different idea! ]

[panglici]

What're you - oh, come on, the stairs are right there. I don't know if I trust a building like this to move us between floors safely on its own.

[She squints dubiously into the stairwell, though, obviously not too willing to split up. If there's something lurking... well, she'll spot it, probably, even though she's still talking.]

And we do "have Christmas". The music's pretty different, though.

[whimsicalism]

[There's nothing quite there as they ascend. The building feels off, though. As if one moment they're in an office and a moment later they're in a department store. The smell of burned materials and flesh waft through even the clean building. Once or twice the sounds of a distant child crying comes to your ears.

Even so, the CEO's office eventually is found. It looks like it's been ransacked.]

[britbrat]

Are you serious? I'm not climbing all that -

[ But Carrie's already started up, and hell if Valmont's going to let her leave him alone in the creepy Christmas building. He hustles after her, grumbling all the way.

By the time they get where they're going, he's completely out of breath, leaning against the CEO's doorframe and panting as he recovers. Is there anything immediately unusual about the mess, or do they have to look deeper? ]

[whimsicalism]

[There's a.. toy gorilla sitting on the desk. One of those with the cymbals. A picture of an older man and a younger, scrawny man is taped to the forehead. The scrawny man has a greasy look to him and he's crossed out.

The label labels the older man as Noboru Ishimaru and the younger, Masaru Ishimaru.]

[panglici]

[Carrie rolls her eyes, trying very hard not to show she's pretty beat after that climb herself. She approaches the desk and stares at the gorilla.]

Looks like we found two Ishimarus, huh.

[Picking the toy up to look closer may not be a brilliant idea, but she's doing it anyway.]

[whimsicalism]

[It's slightly burnt, the stench of burned hair wafts up to your nose as you examine the toy. It seems like a normal toy but the picture... on the back is a scrawled sentence in a child's handwriting is: Masaru lost and took Moimoi with him.

The next clue is a bit more hidden but there's some mail in an inbox that could be interesting.]

[britbrat]

[ Snooping through other people's mail? Valmont is on it. What's in there? Is it bills? That's a thing he's pretty sure adults get mail about. ]

[whimsicalism]

[There are bills! But there's a letter from someone you might recognize the name of: Yakumo Miroku. It's a solemn letter, saying that he's sorry about the death of Ishimaru's son but that he hopes that he continue the relationship his family has had with the Ishimaru family to help obtain an asset for an upcoming ritual...

The last part reads something like this:

"I told him not to speak so childishly... that always gets the attention of the Kaguya doll... I apologize for my callousness but the fire still weighs heavily on my mind. We need to prepare to make sure that the doll is sealed quickly. If you cannot help, then I'll try to obtain the asset myself."]