#code name: minos

[west-tokyo-incidents]

The recording equipment is turned off and a moment of quiet falls over the group. Cobalt sits back and slowly looks at each of them in turn, gnawing roughly down on his current long-since flavorless gum.

"…so we're calling it the 'Minotaur', right?" Shard blurts out, "You're all thinking it." The Jealousy instance is dressed in mostly form fitting white clothing, with a loose drape around his middle. His hair is pulled back and braided out of his face and he has multiple colorful tattoos up his arms, mostly stained glass and jumping spider motifs.

Amadeus chuckles, "I think that was a given. Minos, Labyrinth…" She's an androgynous figure, a Michel instance with his hair tied back and the sides of his head shaved. He wears mostly black with an off white heart-eyepatch, his demi-brigade's trumpet situated at his collar and a symbol of Mother on a simple gold chain hanging further down.

"Garion isn't subtle." Shiel comments, "He never has been." She scratches at the stump of her neck. avoiding touching the speaker she's talking from. Besides her utter lack of a head with various wires sticking out of it, she wears a simple green pantsuit with the symbol of Three on the lapel.

Cobalt knows Click with her wild black hair and turtle-like augments, and his eyes move to the two quieter members of the group. Grid is recognizable as a Regula but still strange to look at, being transferred into a different body that he's modified. It could be any number of baseline douji, head shaved bald and eyes modified into eyes of some robot from that one robot-animal-dinosaur whatever timeline. He still hasn't figured those out. He's wearing just a t-shirt and jeans with a Regula's gauntlets, and has a massive grid-like scar across half his head and left shoulder, like he'd been caught in a net of some kind.

Dumas is a Goge instance so normal looking that that alone is unnerving. Especially when combined with that distant, half-here look that most Records agents have. The back bottom half of his head has been shaved, too, to make room for the many ports he and every other Records agent uses to access the Records themselves.

"Cobalt."

Amadeus's voice cuts through his observations and he jumps a little, looking up with wide eyes. She motions for him to come over to a desk she sat behind while he wasn't looking. He gets up and spits his current gum out into the trashcan by the door before coming over to her and Click, who had been called over earlier while he was tuned out.

"Yes, sir?"

"Team Lesher came into contact with Minos and the Minotaur, correct?" Amadeus doesn't look up at him, flipping through a file. His, probably.

"Briefly. Obviously our report was wiped." Cobalt shifts his weight nervously.

"Which is why I need you to give a verbal report to Click." She points at said team member beside her.

"Ah. Right." He clears his throat, "Let's see... Rose sent me and Quinn on a routine trip to pick up medical supplies from a base timeline, no known doji or master signatures, just sign paperwork and move pallets to the Compound. We both felt the presence of a Fusataro and decided to investigate once we were done, right around sunset. She was holed up just south of the Hana-rikyu Gardens, using the water to wash off her… fluids."

Cobalt gnaws on his lip until there's a soft 'crack' sound. He winces and rubs at the new crack in his face before moving to pull out a new piece of gum and start chewing that instead. "Once we found her, we were immediately about to head back and report, but realized there was… something… in the shadows. Whatever our Minotaur is, it just stared at us. We didn't stay long, but despite our eyesight we saw nothing but black and eyes and… teeth. Bright white teeth."

[west-tokyo-incidents]

[Recording Begin]

"Alright. Mother help us, let's try this again."

"Sorry, boss."

"Fuck, man, this is gonna be rough."

"It's alright, it's our first meeting for this mission, the objective is difficult to record, but it must be done… Mother willing…"

[Someone clears their throat]

"Recording attempt number 14 by the Containment Team: Labyrinth. Subject matter: Objective and Team Briefing. …Note: Deletion time reduced between recordings."

Ama: "Thank you, Shiel. To start from the beginning; Team Labyrinth has been stationed in a temporary compound during reconnaissance and interrogation efforts. I am the Team Lead. My name is Amadeus, Sloth Origin Master; Core Compliant."

Shi: "I'm the Secretary, Shiel. Envy Funeral Master; Core Variant."

Gri: "Communications Officer, Grid. Regula Instance."

Sha: "I'm Shard, Medical and Communications. Ah, Jealousy, formerly."

Cob: "…Cobalt. Acquisition agent. Rage Instance."

Cli: "Click. Urban Ghost member, Reconnaissance expert. Used to be a big bad."

Shi: "Vice Instance."

Cli: "Oh, c'mon, Shiel, they're gonna know who I am."

Shi: "There are more 'big bads' than Vices."

Dum: "Dumas. Goge. Records Department."

Ama: "Team Labyrinth has been organized in response to the appearance of Minos and strange happenings surrounding her. The briefing information on her has already been recorded. This meeting, and its recording, are done with the intent of debriefing, understanding, and recording initial understanding of the… specifics of phenomenon surrounding Minos."

[A long pause.]

Shi: "…recording stable."

Ama: "Understood."

Cli: "Thank momma, holy shit."

Ama: "…While Minos herself appears to not present any kind of informational hazard, instances of recorded information pertaining to incidents surrounding her have been performing self-deletion, previous fourteen attempts at recording this among those."

Shi: "Holding steady."

Cli: "You got this, Ama."

Ama: [Barely audible] "By the skin of my fucking teeth…"

Ama: "…Cobalt, relax. The damn recording is gonna pick up how hard you're chewing that poor piece of gum."

Cob: "I'm fine! I'm fine… I just… I had an… idea."

Cli: "At this point, we are all fucking ears, rabbit's foot."

Cob: "Ugh… Well… So according to the Admin, we can talk about the ability, yeah?"

Cob: "So what if we discuss… a theoretical person with the ability."

[Another long pause.]

Shi: "So far so good."

Cli: "Told you bringing him along was a good idea."

Cob: "Please shut the fuck up, Click."

[Click cackles]

Ama: "Could work. Theoretically, someone with this ability could have any record of their existence wiped, whether they are aware of it or not."

Shi: "Still going. No sign of data loss."

Ama: "…The goal of Labyrinth is to locate, contain, and prepare Minos for study, as well as…"

Gri: "As well as determine a containment procedure for any theoretical persons who would have the aforementioned ability."

Sha: "Oh, for fuck's sake, this is going to suck."

Dum: "We only have to do it for recordings."

Shi: "We're still stable."

Ama: "As we get used to it, I'm sure we'll find less… wordy ways. This is so exhausting."

Ama: "Currently, we are investigating into a major incident involving Minos at the Chimera's Roost. Previously these records were wiped by… Nn… Let's just say they were wiped."

Gri: "Smart."

Ama: "Six people were killed--notably all douji--and an estimated total of twenty were injured. Four of the injured--two human, one douji, one heavily augmented human--appear to be infected in some way by the golden substance originating from Minos. The other sixteen sustained electrical damage, blunt force trauma, and significant lacerations. It's estimated at least eight others were injured but fled the scene. As far as we know, none witnessed fleeing appeared to have been in contact with Minos, so they are low priority."

Ama: "Our next objectives are as follows; Click will be performing Reconnissaince on last known locations of Minos with Grid running communications back to the rest of us."

Cli & Gri: "Understood."

Ama: "Cobalt will be locating the Fool's Twins in order to question them about the events of the incident."

Cob: "Got it."

Ama: "Dumas and Shiel will be working in tandem to attempt and determine methods of recording information about the informational hazards."

Dum: "Understood."

Shi: "Already on it."

Ama: "Shard will ensure information is appropriately understood between all members during meetings due to lack of physical records and provide medical assistance where needed."

Sha: "Gotchya."

Ama: "And I'll be herding you all like cats. Mother give me patience."

Cli: "You mean strength?"

Ama: "If Mother gave me strength, you'd be dead."

[A collective laugh.]

[west-tokyo-incidents]

A line-jumper has been reclassified as fugitive. Please hold for more information.

...

...

Note for those making assumptions: the line-jumper in question is confirmed to not be the Fool's Twins.

...

...

...

Instance is confirmed to be Wrath aligned. Please hold for more information.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

A calf cries out. The pasture grasses stretch far and strange in the last rays of the sun. Where has mother gone? Which way back home? He cries out again. He's hungry. He's cold. His legs hardly hold him. He can't feel his hooves. He hears something. His ears perk up. He sees a light. He hears a voice. He cries again and walks towards it.

"So he came back? After being lost in this… well, I assume it's a pocket dimension, honestly." Garion leans back in his chair, "Whatever your Ultimo accidentally opened up."

Sativum nods, "He did. And when he finally came back, he seemed… happy. It was weird. Told us he was lost, but found someone who helped. Gave him what he needed in exchange for a body part. He'd sacrificed his right arm--fucking liar."

"…interesting. And you all took turns making your own deals with this... someone?"

The calf, now a bull, returns to that place, leading his herd to the place the strange shepherd had found him. The bell around his neck clangs in a merry little tune.

"Some of us did. We all knew it was going to be a monkey's paw deal. We aren't dumb, we've seen movies, but… well, you think you've got it all figured out until you're in that situation. Until everything is dangled in front of you. Some of us spent days thinking about what we'd trade. Rage said he'd traded his arm to know what it's like to be happy. Kei traded his right eye for courage. Fusataro traded her voice for strength. Jealousy traded his hearing to be able to understand hearts better."

"And it worked?"

"It worked. All of it."

"What did you trade?"

"Something stupid."

"I'm listening." Garion makes a motion, urging the Paresse instance to continue.

Sativum sighs, "I traded my noh for freedom."

Garion sits up a little, "Freedom?"

"From my own laziness, from my own tiredness, from Vice, from Dunstan, just… freedom." Sativum wraps his arms around himself, "Ended up just being freedom to watch them all go mad."

"You said Rage lied. What did he really trade?" Garion looks like he's itching to write this down, but he knows better.

"He traded something far, far more than his arm. That's why he became that. Thing. I traded to get freedom... he traded his away."

The bull watches serenely as his herd is led onto a trailer, headed to the slaughter. He chews happily on the treats from the shepherd. He'll get a new herd at some point.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

The halls of the compound are fairly plain, set up in the same hospital the Good Douji had once called their hideout. Of course, the Facility has gone to great lengths to stabilize and convert the structure to their purposes, and false signs and very real security guards have been placed around to deter entry.

Amadeus walks in a comfortable, relative silence, Shiel at his side. She's been his partner through a number of missions before.

The hallway changes as they push through swinging doors that likely were once the entry into a surgery unit. Inside, the unit has been totally gutted and five chambers have been erected.

In one is an Akira with heavy augmenting, mostly with robotics of custom make--likely from one of many jumper roboticists. He seems mostly okay, save for the spreading black veins on his right arm from under a bandaged area. He's understandably pressed against the back of his chamber, staring at the other two chambers across from him.

In the one next to him is an Eater, forcibly placed in stasis and currently floating in suspension fluid, his chest opened remotely for observation of his sphere, the surface of which is apparently thinning.

In the other two… Well, according to the files, it's a Hana and an Akitsu. But the Hana is… well, to put it lightly, there's a… growth across the chamber's glass, obscuring whatever else is inside, though the monitor indicates a heartbeat. The Akitsu is a mass of antlers and claws and gaping maws that open and close--silently, thanks to the chamber's soundproofing.

The fifth one stands empty, with a door that opens only from the outside. A safety measure, in case of accidental spread to the observer.

"Phae is being transferred to our location in six days local time." Shiel hands an envelope over to Amadeus, who takes it absentmindedly, "This is all the information on their origin timeline, including the coordinates to it, with obvious exclusions considering our target. The Weaver is constructing a seam to it as we speak."

"Phae… that codename sounds familiar…" Amadeus sets the envelope aside on the table in the center, littered with all kinds of information.

"Pasiphaë was the mother of the Minotaur and wife of King Minos in the myth. Though given that we know that our Minotaur is a Rage, I suspect Garion just did that to indicate his relationship to Minos."

"Of course he did... Well, I'll see what we can do about getting one of the old hospital rooms converted into a cell for our visitor once I read over these files. Thank you for bringing this in." Amadeus sits heavily down in one of the chairs at the table, rubbing his temples. "I've got my own interviews to be performing."

Shiel walks over to the third chamber, leaning in as if looking at the growth on the inner glass, "Poor things. I wonder why Minos wasn't contagious until the Minotaur found her. According to Click, she was a regular at the Roost, was never a problem for them."

Amadeus shakes his head, "Hopefully we'll find out. If not now then whenever we get them contained and proper study of the contagion can take place. So far, it sounds like something about the Minotaur triggered something dormant in her. From what I've gathered from Grid's engrave of the interviews, it was only contact with Minos that cause. This." She motions to the containment cells.

"…Well, Mother be with you, Ama. I'll remind you to eat when it's dinnertime." Shiel moves over to her and sets a hand on her shoulder. She looks up and smiles, putting a hand on Shiel's.

"I'll be fine, Mother with you, too."

Her hand slides off his shoulder and she makes her way out of the unit. Amadeus sets himself down in a chair at the table with a huff, his back to the fifth chamber, to open the envelope.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

"Tell me again why you're dragging me into this."

Cobalt lags behind Garion, gnawing on a piece of plastic that might have once upon a time been a pen cap.

"You're my good luck charm, what can I say?"

An offended scoff comes from the trailing Rage instance, "I am my own good luck charm." He narrows his eyes.

"True enough. It's because your team ran into Midas and your reports wiped. Which means that somehow you also ran into something of great interest and you have a connection to the Fool's Twins, who were present at the Roost incident, of which we've discovered many wiped reports as well, skewing the numbers of casualties and afflicted."

Cobalt hums low, the plastic cracking between his teeth again.

"Why aren't you just killing it?"

Garion stops at the door of the Thimble and turns to smile at Cobalt, "We have a vested interest in studying technology and abilities with… potential. And if we can study and understand it, we can keep it from affecting us in the future."

Cobalt snorts, "Uh-huh. Potential." He ducks into the Thimble and pauses as he sees who else is there. The woman on the far side of the rover grins, the Vice instance's sharp teeth glinting in the Thimble's dim red light.

"Howdy. Name's Click."

"…Cobalt." He hesitates, but nods to her, "You were part of the team that got me outta my timeline." He moves to sit in another seat on the Thimble. The only other people in the Thimble were the operator and a Jealousy instance who was asleep on the other side.

She nods, "Aye. And you're the greenhorn who's managed to get himself involved in shit faster than anyone on record."

"Not like I wanted to…" He mutters, turning to watch Garion talk to someone outside the Thimble before the door shuts, "Oh, he isn't coming with?"

"Nah, I'm here to get you up to speed." Click sits up.

The rover begins to move. The vehicle slowly moving along the cross-timeline threads of silk made by the Weaver at a careful crawl.

"That guy there is Shard, they're our medical officer and part of the communications team. Apparently he was awake too long outside of linear time so he's crashed out for now." She chuckles, "Our boss is Amadeus. Don't blaspheme around him, uptight guy about Mother, previously part of Security. He's a Michel instance. The others are Shiel, Grid, and Dumas. Don't stare at Shiel's neck if you want to keep your current eyes."

"Ominous. Alright." Cobalt pulls a piece of gum out of his pocket and unwraps it, tossing it in his mouth before beginning to chew, "So what the fuck's going on? Big man mentioned reports being wiped."

"Something around Minos is wiping records of itself. Admin's interviewing another significant figure, you'll see him referred to as 'Phae' in documents. Apparently they're working together to find a more effecient way of describing it in records without… describing it. So that shit doesn't get wiped." She sighs, "Your first mission is likely gonna be to get in touch with your boy, Mask. They wanted me to get in touch with Kvas. She saw Wraps in the Roost during the… incident."

"How much do we actually know happened at the Roost?" Cobalt paused his gnawing, "What'd Kvas see?"

"Six dead. Twenty injured. Four contained due to apparent infection, they're contained at our Compound for study. Kvas was real shaken, but Smokes got her out of the main fray before shit got its worst." Her expression sours, her brows furrowing, "Said she heard a voice cut through everything, though, right before it.

"Someone calling for their 'mama'."

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Interview Summary Subject: Minos Interviewer: Click Interviewee: "Goldie" Note: Due to the nature of the KINGSNAKE pocket dimension, information is paraphrased. Addition from Click: "Goldie used a lot more profanity."

G: We're behaving.

C: And the Facility is grateful for your restraint. I'm happy to say I'm not here for any kind of corrective measures. We have a case with strange similarities to, well, you specifically.

G: It's not one of ours.

C: Considering they appear in realspace, we're pretty certain on that point.

G: Ask your questions.

C: Your feline parts, especially the claws and teeth. Have they always been a part of your projection?

G: No. I was human in here when the king took me.

C: Did the king choose your changes?

G: No. Just happened with the reset. I needed weapons. They formed.

C: Do you know why they're gold, specifically?

G: Not a clue. Heard plenty others joke about it being cause I'm greedy. [Note from Click: She used some really colorful insults with this one]

C: Your decay, did it come at the same time as the… 'weapons'?

G: No. Happened the more I died. Breaking down.

C: I see. One last thing, your tail, when did it appear?

G: Appeared after I survived a long time staying in the trees. Only died then because I lost balance.

C: I see. And, while we know this, just to confirm; these changes never manifested in realspace?

G: Not physically, no.

C: Physically?

G: I could still feel them. Like phantom limbs. And sometimes saw them in reflections, but no one else did, figured it was a hallucination.

C: Do you know if others shared the realspace visions or sensations?

G: No. Ask them.

C: Understood. Thank you.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Admin: Alright… Audio recording starting now.

Subject S: It's going to delete itself.

A: Excuse me?

SS: The recording. I know what kinds of things you're going to ask. And it's going to delete that recording.

A: …Very well. Inform me the moment we tread into that territory and I'll start a new recording.

SS: …might work. Use a different tape, though.

A: Understood. [Muffled, confirmed to be Admin asking for spare tapes to be brought]

SS: …Why are you listening to me?

A: What? Why wouldn't I? You seem to know a whole lot more than we do about this, you've shown no desire to change to douji form or attempt use of your noh, despite the small tree we brought in on your request. And even if you did, we have contengency plans. You brought up the 'missing' team and we did find inconsistencies between the Records and the Spool.

SS: Fine. Ask your questions.

A: Let's start at the top. Where are you and Allium from?

SS: Apocalypse timeline. Zombie type-- but not, like, in the movies. Not rotting corpses. It affected douji, too.

A: I see. What point in the timeline were you at?

SS: We were… what's the words…? Parallel to the core? Up until Vice took us back in time and the good douji followed us.

A: How did it begin? When did you separate from the core?

SS: I don't know. I wasn't there when things started to go bad. Allium wouldn't talk about it, but that was where she got the horrid wound on her back.

A: Hm… Was it the confrontation between her and Yamato?

A: Please speak for the recording.

SS: Yes. It was.

A: You got nervous. Glanced at the recorder. Is this where this strange… effect begins?

SS: Kind of. It didn't happen back then.

A: So talking about the effect itself is safe?

A: [A sigh] Please speak--

SS: Yes, sorry, forgot. Can't just nod.

A: It's alright.

SS: Talking about the effect itself seems… safe. And people remember, like, mentally. Just not recordings or writing or pictures. It's… you can't talk about…

[Transcriber's notes: Subject S makes a motion with his fingers, indicating horns.]

A: Vice?

SS: No, uh… Stop the recording.