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[Text]

This is Hank Anderson, and I recently got my promotion so it's now Det. Hank Anderson. Which is why I wanted to make this announcement.

[Hank still wants to research into the missing people and initiate his vague plan to devalue the iterations. Right now the public see them as a protective force for good. Hank wants the people to see other fucking people as their reliable protective force. That in the many variations of temperaments and personalities and creative resolutions to conflict, they can find their safety.]

I have a case that could use some assistance from some specialized outsiders. If you could come to me and lay out your experience and training, I would like to offer you temporary deputy work in helping solve this case.

Necessary qualifications include:
-Combat against armed opponents
-Negotiation and Interrogation
-Ability to secure an area until CSI arrives (cursory crime scene analysis a bonus)

Due to Dualis's policy on providing payment through credit, if you would want rewards we would have to attach a name to your activities. However if you'd want to work off-record [which is as close to anonymously as he can get] we could come to some sort of arrangement such as donated payment.

I'll be at the cat cafe to conduct interviews 4:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon for the next week. You can show up when it's convenient to talk. Sounds like a fucking weird place for it, yes, it'll make more sense when you're there.

I've also arranged for donated goods to be offered when people come in and might find themselves in a state of disrepair or any nicer version of saying fucked the hell up. New clothes, medical things like crutches for people with chronic conditions, sanitary supplies like soap and toothbrushes, things of that nature. So if you want to donate something to the people coming in there's a donation box in the dormitory's lower entryway and they'll be taken to the temple.

[Action]

Like he promises, Hank's waiting around at the cat cafe whenever someone shows up. Usually reading a book, sometimes bored, sometimes deeply into it. Right by his side though? A mammoth green cat, purring and resting her head against his arm. She's twitching her tail to and fro.

Hank is pretty sure he'll be able to tell if someone is bullshitting their credentials and whether they'll do intentional harm with their new role. It's hard to do background checks when different universes are involved, but he thinks he's figured out a way to beat the system without having to use any of the department's lie detectors.

Note: Plotting post here.

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Arkady was a name he'd heard before, and he'd even had the pleasure of making her acquaintance at his first NAPs session. She'd easily, one could even say effortlessly, read his intentions, seen his unspoken hesitation and uncertainty about the environment. She'd even seen the guilt he'd felt over all the things he'd left undone. "Charles" was a variable Loki couldn't account for, but the strange girl with the violet eyes could certainly be useful, that was if they could unbridle her potential.

Or she could end them all. She also seemed decidedly unstable. "Fruitful, that, though just as vulnerable as speech if they can simply extract the memories, isn't it?" He looks down at his drink, thoughtful but making it appear as though he's simply considering the beverage's flavor. Idly, after all, he was. It was lacking. "She and I could work in tandem. A variation of the spell I use to render myself invisible can me used to cloak an area in silence."

Edited 2019-11-24 20:01 (UTC)

"I know they've used erasing memories as a punishment." He'd warned Squall as much before. "More than jail time or anything, that seems to be what they do."

The invisible thing though? And her mind? Even if they switch it up sometimes (he wouldn't want the same group meeting up every single time, people would take notice, he sure as shit would) it's a damn good plan. So he nods. Yeah, he likes that.

Honestly this whole thing is an exercise in thinking backwards. He'll have to ask Connor about it, too. What could they do that Hank or Connor themselves probably wouldn't notice.

"...You know, the bodies brought in from the drug thing have appeared to be human. So uh... It's not my favorite fuckin' thing-" and why it didn't occur to him first "-but we could get a couple of their brains out of the morgue."

Desecrating a body? Not his favorite. But dying himself is even further down the list. And if they steal a couple of removed whole brains from bodies that have already been autopsied, write them off as being contaminated or destroyed, they'll probably even go unnoticed.

"As a punishment." The statement was a confirmation as much as anything else. Punishment seemed unlikely, at least as the sole motivation for the occurrence. "Or the covering of tracks disguised as punishment. It's good to know our captors aren't perfect so much as thorough." He nods. "Extraction sounds like a solid first step to me, and I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. Are you familiar with astral projection?"

He could spy without being technologically detected, after all. His physical mind would be up to two miles away. "It's a corpse, Hank. Their spirits have long-since fled. Take heart, it's for a good cause." He even offers the other man a reassuring smile. "I have a personal stake in seeing this through, after all. I have a proper afterlife to attend."

"I don't doubt that, pretty sure it's just as a punishment too. Some chronic offenders that had nothing to do with harming the Head get it. Usually they get something they love forcibly forgotten. Same thing happens if you die, a fuckin' part of you gets replaced or he can't rebuild your head right or something. People think that's by accident but I keep thinking it's him chipping away at what he might see as character flaws."

Hank frowns to himself.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'd be all 'absolutely not' if I didn't realize it was important. Connor was supposed to go down into the morgue to look at the bodies, so he's got an excuse to be down there. Not sure he can get the brains out."

But... wait. The fuck is Loki talking about?

"Like you're gonna be ridin' it out to Valhalla? What are you talking about? I mean, I know dead people show up here, but what the hell could get a drop on you?"

"It sounds as though it would be more a punishment for their loved ones than for them." But perhaps that is because Loki's true fear, now that he's passed on, is being forgotten. His jaw flexes at the thought of some machine determining what it feels is acceptable about him but he doesn't respond to it.

It was imperative they get a look at the chips inside those brains, though. "We'll see to it he gets them out."

And he swallows at the further prodding. "If the gods are good, yes, and it was a titan with the might of the cosmos at his command." He breathes a sigh, taking a sip from his drink before explaining further. "In my universe, there is a collection of ancient stones, the Infinity Stones. Each is a manifestation of an absolute force of the cosmos. This man, Thanos, possessed two."

"Then I guess we gotta fix this shit. So you got somewhere to stay. I'd really like you to have the chance to last as long as you damn well want."

Hank's perspective is skewed, he knows. He's still getting used to the idea of wanting more life for himself. Wasting away emotionally has almost become a comfortable habit at this point, something that needs more attention than he can afford here.

"We'll work it out. And fuck, if nothing else, we've been recording whatever we can just in case." He motions between him and Connor. "We're gonna fuckin' make it work."

He looks around the bar, not sure what to say at first. It's a kind gesture, certainly, and beyond what Loki would have anticipated. He...would like to see his family again, his Mother...even his Father, but if he was to remain, it was certainly going to be after overthrowing their 'benevolent' captor. He does smile, though, ruefully. "I've already lasted my due, Hank, but the thought is appreciated."

His tone is genuine, much to his own surprise. He does, actually, appreciate Hank's sentiment. He follows Hank's gaze as he motions to Connor. The boy looks unassuming to say the least, but honestly, so does Hank. There was more to humans that he'd assumed. Was there also more to their constructs? He supposes he will see. "That's Connor I take it?"

Edited (what is tense, can I eat it?) 2019-11-26 07:14 (UTC)

Those are hard words to hear. Usually they come with a good amount of self-blame, with the idea that the only real redemption is in death. And god, that's a fuckin' pit Hank's head's been buried in. Some fuckin' post-mortem 'all-clear'. Don't worry, the world is a little better without you in it. At least that's the shit he's seen bother himself and a lot of other guys.

It's a fuckin' uphill struggle but right now in front of a bunch of people looking to stop the AI plaguing them (insert badumching here for the sake of deplorable puns) he's not going to discuss it further. He might try to bring it up later, though.

Connor's a welcome distraction, so he motions towards him sitting with Maggie. "Yeah. That's him. He's got some unique CSI gifts that... I hope he never fuckin' has to use again but he might end up having to."

"CSI?" It isn't often Loki hasn't to ask for clarification, but the term is specialized enough that it's passed his knowledge base. He looks over to Hank, questioning. He's glad for the subject change, that his new friend is willing to go along with it. Dying to save his people was the last he could have done, but it wasn't something he liked to think on.

The memory of dying, the process of it, the pain, the helplessness...no. He'd much rather focus on learning about criminal processes. It was something he'd need to learn if he was going to work with the city government, even in the role of spy. "All our gifts may be necessary if we're to gain ground."

"Crime Scene Investigation. There are detectives that specialize in analyzing crime scene details. Like um, blood stains, footprints, contents of that blood. They can tell if someone was poisoned, or if a shooting was staged, that kinda thing."

He allows the subject change easily. Generally subjects like that are easier anyway.

"He has a mobile fuckin' labratory in his mouth so sometimes he pokes his finger in things and fuckin' licks it off like it's McDonald's Szechuan Sauce and then he can tell you who's DNA it is and all kinds of shit. Anyway. Best part of him moving to negotiations is that I don't have to watch him do that anymore."

"I imagine you never had to watch in the first place," but there's a jest in his tone, along with that smile, that suggests he's just trying to lighten the mood. Androids were strange in the first place, but affixing mortal traits to a being without an expiry date was foolhardy. Loki does, though, recognize it's not his place to say so.

"It sounds as though it's a useful talent, though, unpleasant to witness or no."

"It's hard not to watch when he gets started with that." He makes a 'blech' sort of noise, a comically overreactive one. But Loki is absolutely right. He didn't have to watch. But he 100% did.

"But yeah, I'll fuckin' deal with it because we need everything he could get. He was sensitive enough to be able to tell for certain that my DNA and the DNA of the clone's blood matched. He's also got facial recognition, so he could look through pictures and- ...shit, I gotta figure out how we can get him some online access."

They really need to find those two guys.

"Last I checked, your eyes move, as does your head." But his tone is still teasing, still light-hearted. He's beginning to understand Hank has a soft spot for Connor, and he understands he watches because he cares.

At the last, Loki arches an eyebrow and looks over to his new friend. "It sounds as though you need access codes. I happen to be handy at...acquiring though. Who would have them? If they take a nap for an hour or so while someone else wears their face, who's to be the wiser?"

He snorts at that first bit (and Loki's not wrong). But still, come on.
Trainwrecks happen.

"Well, that bit we need to disable the Head's limitations on him for- But at the PD... Maybe we can use that on days we know he won't be doing much and we need Connor to do something and he needs a double."

Somehow Hank assumes he won't be doing anything important.

"I happen to have a talent for making it appear someone is in two places at once." He'll respect Hank's desire not to speak on it anymore. For now.

"Useful, I suppose."

"That's a damn useful thing. Honestly it's a lot more useful than anything else I can contribute."

He's being rough on himself, but also trying to be aware of his limitations. Yeah, he dug up a lot of info here, but that's about the best he can do. Other than shooting a gun relatively well and being a big guy that can stand up decently to a beat down by other piddly mortals like himself, he's has given about as much as he can give.

"Sorry if I didn't sound appreciative. I do need your help. I really fuckin' do. Thanks. I mean it."

"Now, now, don't sell yourself short, Hank. You have a lifetime of knowledge in regards to this place that I could never touch." He smiles. "Consider me your protege. Teach me, please. I wish to learn."

"You're pretty good at stroking egos when you need to, Loki. I'm sure someone's already told you that, though."

The god of mischief as his fucking protege is a ridiculous concept, but one that actually makes Hank chuckle to himself. Even in this bullshit situation they've found each other in.

"Mostly it's just getting people to talk to you and being able to work as a team. I sorta ran into trouble with that for a while. But uh... gettin' the hang of things again."

"Contrary to popular believe, those are well within my capabilities." He chuckles. "And, loathe as I am to admit it, I seem to be in need of a...profession." Something he's never before had to pursue, and something which leaves him at a bit of a loss. "You wouldn't happen to know of any openings?"

"I'll put in a good word for you if you wanna sign on." But there's a catch. "Just remember we're the ones that are gonna have to play it careful when shit hits the fan."

Not that he thinks Loki would mind that too much. But he's not gonna lie and say everything's great.

"When have I not? I am the god of lies and deception, after all." Whether he was suggesting he was being deceptive with Hank was up in the air, but he liked to think the man trusted him.

He really would like to think that.

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