712/CSI Mitakihara

CSI Mitakihara
Date of Scene:	15 December 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Miss White and Sailor Mercury cannot accept the death of Mamoru Chiba, so they start seeking alternatives.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Ami Mizuno

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Hannah Sharpe has posed:
It's been a long night in Hannah's lab, and another is already on its way. The various papers and databases have only been tangentially useful thus far, and there's thousands more to skim in both text and digital. Luckily, Hannah used her Eclipse Black Card of Doom to wave away any school concerns for herself.

The lab, too, is still very despair filled and full of papers, computers, and now a portable DNA testing machine, and a magical one too. There's several samples of blood from both Mamoru and Sailor Moon, data on mamoru's magic pulled from Hannah's Device as well as that from Moon's purification attack, and of course the dust is still in the urn.

Thus far, Hannah's in a rolley chair with a lab coat over her Barrier Jacket. Downing more coffee, she growls and closes the database she'd been hunting through.

"Tch! Idiots! Access to all of this magical data and research, and no one thinks to make a resurrection spell!? Am I going to have to find a necromancer intern or something!?" Grrrrrr. Hannah's clearly moving from the grief phase to the anger phase. She's already smashed three beakers and one coffee cup.

Her mentor would be proud.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
After a brief meeting with Storm Knight, and an agreement to work towards their common goal, Sailor Mercury left Hannah to do separate research and promised to meet again this evening to compare notes.

Finals Week is never a good time to take off school, but Ami Mizuno nevertheless informed all of her professors of a death in the family and got special consideration to take her finals in a single day. Four hours thirty-seven minutes later, she left the school with a mind dedicated to only a single task: getting Prince Endymion back to her Princess.

Like Ms. White, Ami spent the entire evening conducting research through the Mercury computer. She accessed nearly every publically available library in the world to conduct her search, and although she still has a great many volumes to read through, she already knows more about resurrection than she ever really wanted to.

But first, she has an appointment to make.

Mercury makes her way into the WPS Laboratories for the second time in two days, the mercury computer clutched in her arm as she strolls confidently towards Hannah's office. "Necromancy is not an acceptable solution," she notes as she overhears Hannah's frustration. "But Chronomancy might be."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Mercury gets a frown and a sigh.

"Aww, come on! It's a perfectly legitimate type of magic! People have been practicing it for ages! Not like his body is doing much good for him right now." More growling. Oh yeah. Grief stage.

Then she's back up, clears off some space on a table from shards of broken beaker and old coffee rings, then shoves another rolley chair and lab coat to Mercury. Lab safety during your mad science, kids!

But then she suddenly perks up in pure curiousity. No questions about 'is that possible?'. No, she's been around Homura too long, and her powers have been annoyingly difficult to pin down in their mechanics every time she's scanned them.

There's a wide grin coming to Hannah's face.

"Oh, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, Mercury. Lay it on me! What've you got up those annoyingly blue sleeves of yours?" Distractions and a task are good right now. She spent her single hour of sleep last night having a nightmare about Mamoru.

Meanwhile, she rolls over to the DNA tester. Mamoru's confirmed sample is loaded, then the ash-bits are inserted from a sterile tube. Button press! Whirrrr whirrr whirr whirr!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Mercury glances at capped sleeves with amusement, then arches both brows at Hannah. Apparently the figurative nature of Hannah's joke passes her by--that or she is simply looking for an excuse to show off those swoll arms of hers. It's probably the figurative thing.

"Mostly," Mercury replies, "I have questions, and not a lot of answers, yet. However, I have catalogued every available online text regarding Resurrection, Reincarnation, and Temporal Reversal. If one of those texts holds an answer, I'm sure we will find it eventually, but the list is exhuastive, and this is just the list of topics which are published online." Setting the blue tablet computer down on Hannah's worktable, Mercury says, "But I honestly doubt someone has published a legitimate answer online, even obscurely. We are going to have to turn to real magic--the kind that comes from your device, or my Mercury Pen, for this particular problem."

Mercury leans against the table, herself, arms crossed. "I think Venus's question about Mamoru's phone is a good one to answer early. Knowing where he's been for the last seven days may provide invaluable insight into how best to find him again."

"There is," Ami notes hesitantly, "one answer which I have found which I am certain would work. However, I am extremely loathe to suggest it."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Miss White slumps in her chair, and wobbles in it. Spin spin spin.

"...Setting me up and knocking me down, huh? I should take you bowling one day." Quips Hannah. It's a little weak, even she only up for so many sarcastic jokes. But she tries to at least keep the mood up. Strangely, she's feeling very empathetic for the Senshi right now, including Ami.

But she gives a far more serious nod. "Well, at least the concepts are solid, if not the mechanics. I've been running through my databases. Let's just say the ways that could possibly work I've found are mostly limited to people who use Darkness and involves a lot of technology there's no way I'll get approved for this without a lot of very uncomfortable questions. I've got enough heat in my own organization as it stands. I'm already scrubbing the security cameras so you never were here." Even she can only be so cavalier in who she works with, after all, without some tracks covering.

But she does find herself smiling. "Alright, that's a start at least! Forward me the data to RT here." She rolls the Device on her thumbs, and flicks her into the air before catching her and spinning her on the table in a circle.

Poor Tempest makes indignant, dizzy little beeps.

Sightless eyes narrow, and she gives a very, very interested smirk.

"...You don't say? What is it?" Just because Ami isn't up to it, there's a dark magical girl in the room!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"You don't want to bowl against me, Ms. White," Mercury replies calmly, expression bemused. "You can't calculate angles and rotations in your head well enough to keep up." A bold statement, but at least she's half-smiling. The joke, it is weak, but the attempts at levity are probably good for both of them.

"As for my presence," Mercury considers a moment, "Next time I show up, you will not recognize me. I will identify myself to your door guards as Ms. Snow. I'd rather you not have to go through so much trouble on my behalf, and can meet you part way."

Mercury turns to her own computer and establishes a brief link with Raging Tempest, then transmits a small selection of phone numbers. "I'm transmitting you all of the numbers I'm aware of Mamoru having used. Each of these should be an individual cell phone number. The one we received the text from should show the most use, with the extra burner having limited or no use; it was for emergencies and contingencies. The main number is where we should concentrate our efforts. There is a third number which I expect will have no record whatsoever in recent months. Still, if the burner phones were on and connected to cellular towers, we should be able to get the logs of their locations. I would like to trace them both."

Ami looks up once the data is sent, then says, "As for my idea ..." She hesitates a moment, studying Hannah carefully. Then she makes a decision, "The creature known as 'Kyubey' allows non-magical girls to make any wish their heart desires, in exchange for agreeing to become a magical girl. However, from what little I know of those wishes, they are rarely fulfilled in the way the wisher would prefer. I would like to find an alternative to a Puella magical wish, but retain that option in reserve should our other efforts prove fruitless."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
"Oh, don't worry. I'll just have people take beds on who'll win, the 'nerd' or the 'jock'. And bet against myself!" Grin!

"Ms. Snow. Got it. I'll get you a temporary ID badge before you leave." It's nice to work with someone who's considerate /and/ knows how these things work.

Data sent, and RT is already helping comb through all of the phone data! The little Device is also quite chatty to the Mercury Computer. Freaking AI.

"And this is why I have a Device to take care of the boring work. I hate sifting through telephone numbers. Last time I had to do it was when one of our accountants was skimming off the top."

Miss White goes entirely stiff and silent as that 'idea' is given. She doesn't move for a good minute, and then suddenly she stands and walks over to Mercury. A hand reaches down, and she'll try to haul the likely shorter girl up by the scruff of her collar to eye level.

"Kid. You have no idea what Puella Magi go through. No idea how they get hurt, sieve magic like a busted pipe, and have no choice to live lives of endless conflict, all because some rat-bastard car salesman /plushie/ tempted them with a miracle attached to a price tag! That....that /THING/ is a monster that's worse than I ever could be! So no. No way are we doing that, and if I ever find you even attempting it I'm going to personally feed you /and/ the white rat to Bob, got me!?" She growls at Mercury, all of her anger, her grief, and her pain lashed out. The tears on her face stream even as her face twists.

And then she seems to realize what she's doing, and lets go. She turns around, and lets out a breath.

"I...I'm sorry. You probably didn't know the extent of it all. That was unfair. Just don't do it, okay? Mamoru wouldn't want that. We're not killing anyone for his sake." And that, at least to Hannah, is what Wishing equates to.

She walks past that single viewing area into a containment field. The barrier in there shimmers and breaks as Hannah's emotions causes it to destabalize. A Witch roars and spreads it's horrible emotions into the room.

Miss White rolls her eyes. "Oh shut up, Bob, I'll feed you later!" She presses a button, and fire engulphs the cell, the Witch retreating inside of it's own home. The Barrier around it reignites.

Ding!

"Oh, hey, it's done." Really, lashing out felt /good/ right now. She wants to find some poor intern to harangue, but there's work to be done.

The data is pulled out, and RT offers it to the Mercury Computer.

"...Fah, of course. Alright. There's honestly very little to go on. Moon's attack made our compatriot into crispy critters, so I'd only give it a 78% accuracy score. But the magic and the dna checks out. Bits of phone, too. Probably one of his missing burners."

She gulps. Hannah trembles.

It really might have been him. She leans back in her chair, silent once more. Mamoru Chiba really could be dead, and she feels her heart freezing because of it.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury weathers Hannah's anger about Kyubey and the Puella Magi anguish without even so much as a twitch of her expression. Leaning against the table, she looks almost entirely disaffected by Hannah's threats and her anger, and her pain.

When Hannah goes to check her results--when she turns her back--that's when Mercury grimaces a little, allowing her own uncertainty to be revealed only in the moments when no one is looking.

"I'm not surprised by the results," Ami notes gently to Hannah. She steps forward and puts a gentle hand on Hannah's shoulder, and squeezes reassuringly. "Ms. White, please understand that I don't wish to consign anyone to further grief. I know full well what Puella Magi go through; they were some of Mamoru's best friends, and through him I have gotten to know more than one. I only barely understand their world, but I pride myself on my skills of observation. I would never ask someone to go through that hell unless I believed the alternative was the destruction of all life on Earth."

That's an oddly specific thing to believe as an alternative, isn't it?

"I don't want to see a Puella Magi wish made any more than you do," Ami reassures. "So let's find a better answer, together."