@tabardalon
One can learn much in such a short time, and Akechi prided himself on being a fast learner. That would be, if it were not for the Sea of Crises being impossibly weird to navigate. It was not his first attempt at the feat, of course. And that made it all the more daunting. His return to the Palilicium the previous night was tormented with the chatter of the denizens of such a weird place.
Goro Akechi was a man accustomed to the supernatural, having seen all sort of weird designs and the challenge of several mythological figures... but even he would have to concede that chattering rats was maybe a bit too much. Even for him. But as with everything else, he would (for now) accept this as the norm (he would never).
His roommates mysteriously absent, the following day seemed to only hold more of the same for him. It would take more than that to set him back, even if the real mastermind of such a meticulously crafted was still unknown. Nobody seemed to know.
And was not a detective’s job to make the unknown something easily explainable? Even if the task at hand seemed impossible.
Speaking of impossible, the soft chime of the elevator reaching its destination revealed the stone cold walls of the lobby. Such gaudy decoration, but he could not say much. No one could tell a person lived at his apartment by the lack of any personal belongings. This was not the impossible thing.
The impossible thing was the the build of the man staring at one of the weirder paintings on the wall. Again, strange was almost a normal thing in this place. From a distance there would be nothing unsettling about it, as Akechi stepped out of the elevator... except for the armor, of course. But as he closed the distance between them, the texture of the few patches of skin that were not covered by metal were obvious. If that could be called skin, of course. The detective would not point it out, preferring to avoid conflict and simply accept it as another mundane occurrence. Which was not, again.
“Lovely morning we are having.”
It was a lie. But a harmless conversation starter. His smile was simple, gentle. Carefully examining potential reactions before he could proceed with (what was of now) his one sided conversation. Another person in such a place would be a great help, especially if Akechi was adamant on finding more about this place. And he was.
“I am sorry for the interruption, but I have just recently arrived--- my name is Goro Akechi.”
Not too much information, but enough that he could keep a friendly facade.
“If it is not too much to ask, have you been here long? Even with a map, it seems like it is awfully easy to get lost in this place. Would you mind walking around with me for a few minutes? It is better to do it accompanied, knowing that isolating yourself in such a situation cannot bring anything good to the table.”
They were in a strange land, after all. It would be better to at least pick a handful of allies if any of them expected to survive.
“Ah, but that was awfully rude of me. My apologies. Your name...?”