View source for 2199/The Art of Breaking and Entering

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/12/07
|Location=Plot Room #1
|Synopsis=Naru visits Hana's old base, now abandoned, and finds some of the art she had worked on last year.
|Cast of Characters=127,189
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It took some hunting. And asking. More asking. A flurry of text messages and finally a moment of ah ha before Naru just went and looked up in the archives what she'd been asking about.<br /><br />That has resulted in Naru quietly standing in front of a highrise, glancing up at it and confirming that she's got the right place with a glance to her phone before tucking her phone away in her jacket pocket.<br /><br />It's still a rarity for Naru to be in henshin, and it's the first time she's actually managed it without a fight going on around her as incentive. The white outfit with accents of black and colour really should draw attention to her on the street, but most mundane eyes just glance around her, past her. Not quite invisible, but the quiet young woman doesn't catch the eye.<br /><br />It's a moment or two of thoughtful consideration before Naru simply squares her shoulders and strides in with the confidence that says 'I know where I'm going, I am supposed to be here.'<br /><br />Even if its entirely faked.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The building in question is not particularly remarkable. A luxury high-rise in downtown Mitakihara, it resembles the building Mamoru's penthouse tops in many ways- not particularly in the achitecture, but in the layout and amenities. There's a doorman, although he doesn't appear particularly interested in stopping anyone entering or leaving, more there just in case any trouble should arise, unlikely as that is.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's a big lobby with elevators and dozens of floors of expensive apartments and condos. The suite which had, for a brief time, been occupied by Hana Shiroi last year is at the top, of course. Humble beginnings aside, when one gains that sort of power and treasures elegance the way that she does, one does not tend to go for second-best.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Still, unlike the ECFH, the elevator does not require a special key to get to the penthouse level, because it doesn't open directly into the apartment. Rather, it delivers one to a hallway much like the ones below, though the door in question, marked 'Penthouse', hides a short flight of stairs that ascend to the very top level. It's more like a rising foyer than a staircase: even without private elevator access, it's still the penthouse.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's no real indication that the apartment is abandoned. It's just a locked door like any other. The space was bought and paid for, after all, and they must have paid the utilities far in advance. No doubt at some point the money will run out and the place will be investigated, but apparently it has not happened yet.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The lack of protest at a quiet figure heading to the top floor brings a sigh of relief from Naru, although there's wariness as she steps out into that hallway. She comes up the steps quietly, listening to ensure that she can't hear people in an apartment that is supposed to be abandoned. Finding out that it's not, all of a sudden like, would be unfortunate.<br /><br />Naru considers the door, and out of sheer absurdity, reaches down and tries the handle. Just.. in case. Stranger things /have/ happened.<br /><br />They just aren't happening right here, and right now.<br /><br />A squint at the lock and Naru gets out her sketchbook and starts to consider. Somehow reading up on locks on the internet is fairly different than actually being faced with one, but Naru tries her own keys in the lock to find one that at least fits to give a general shape and then turns to draw one /almost/ like that, but more generic and universal on her page.<br /><br />There's a soft murmur as she pulls the key from the page, soft enough that even if there were others there, they'd strain to hear it. 'Reality is my canvas'.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, that's not how locks work. You need the specific combination of teeth in the right length and order for the key to turn the tumblers, and just drawing a generic shape of about the right size isn't going to cut it. Naru's first attempt fails.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, in the trying of it, she may notice something to brighten her day. There's a rug in the hallway, which she is standing on, and one corner of it has been tugged back. It looks as though someone did so in a hurry- perhaps understandably, considering the circumstances in which this place was last vacated.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sticking out from the corner of rug is something metallic. A closer inspection will reveal... it's a key. And it has a little note taped to it.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Madison- if you lock yourself out and break the window again, I will have strong words for you. Use this spare key." No signature.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Naru wriggles at the key and then sighs. It seemed like a long shot, even to her and that key gets tucked into a pocket.<br /><br />It's the step back that Naru does, to reconsider her options that knocks the rug a little and shows the extraordinary security that Hana employed. There's just a little bit of a laugh as Naru bends to collect up the key, digging the one she made out to compare to the one in her hand.<br /><br />Having the key, Naru is all the more wary as she moves to quietly unlock the door, as if prepared for whatever might be waiting for someone who didn't know just the right combinations, or alarms that might be set, or anything else that comes to a not-quite Kunzite level paranoia mind.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Surprisingly, there's nothing. Almost literally. Certainly no alarms, or traps. The door opens into a large, square room- clearly intended to be the primary living space of the suite. It has a faux-marble floor and the far wall is a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows revealing an impressive view of Tokyo. Several doors and archways lead off to other rooms in various directions.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But the room itself is almost completely empty. This does not look like a place where someone actually lived, even if only for a few weeks. In fact, the only item in the room at all is a single chair, straight-backed but padded and comfortable. It almost looks like some sort of gilded-age throne in shape, though it is rather plain red leather in its upholstry. It faces the windows.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Glimpses of more furnishings can be seen in other rooms though. There's a doorway which hangs slightly ajar, and reveals a peek of a messy, unkempty bedroom. An archway leads to what looks like it was a garden, now all wilted stemps and empty potters. And a third doorway gives a promising glimpse of colors and shapes which might be paintings or could be something entirely different- it's hard to tell.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>That moment of anticipation and then... nothing. Naru tenses and then lets out the breath she held a moment with a sigh. Closing the door behind her, she looks around. Taking in the view, the lack of furniture, the silence.<br /><br />There's just a moment of quiet consideration, taking it in as a whole before Naru settles to going exploring. Hunting really, and digging.<br /><br />There's a look into the garden, examining the plant death scene in there. The messy bedroom is given due consideration, standing in the doorway. Seems more Madison than Hana, to her.<br /><br />It's the last doorway that Naru comes to and nudges it open more fully to look and see what's in it.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The bedroom was almost certainly Madison's, if only because there are a bunch of ragged slashes into the wall, one of which still has what appears to be a butcher's cleaver stuck in it. If Hana had a bedroom, if she slept at all, there's no indication of it here.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The garden looks to have been lovingly tended at one time. Who was responsible for that, though, there is nothing to indicate. It certainly doesn't seem the type of thing that Madison would do, but who is to say. There was also a third occupant of this place, though of her Naru probably knows little.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's in that final room that Naru hits paydirty. It is chock full of paintings and even some other things, like sculputures. There is no evidence that this was ever intended as a display space- rather, canvases are stacked, piled, or simply strewn about. A few still occupy easels, but mostly not.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The centerpiece, if only by happenstance, is a painting on an easel at the center of the room, probably based on its mostly-but-not-entirely complete status the last thing Hana was painting.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It appears to be an oil painting. It shows a single white flower in a soft ray of light, surrounded by tall and ominous buildings, more shadow and shape than detail, looming over it like monsters- indeed, the intended effect is clearly to show the city itself as some kind of monster, intent on devouring the lone flower in its midst.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There will be a more careful examination of the other rooms later, because Naru really is that sort of completionist. For the moment, however, it is the studio that Naru is willing to explore.<br /><br />It's the flower painting that catches the attention first, as it was designed to do, by the position of the easel. The light, the space, the organized disarray is common to studios everywhere, and it is comfortable in a way that Naru barely recognizes as being so. She stands to consider the piece, looking over the whole, the feeling and sense of it before digging out her sketchbook and starting to draw. To capture the painting without taking it out of this space. A reflection of a reflection, echoing.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The other paintings strewn about reflect a variety of themes- some drab, some colorful, and in a variety of mediums. One thing they all seem to have in common though is the feeling they convey that the world is out to get you. Although flowers occur in several of the paintings, the metaphor is seldom as strong as in that center piece, but the feeling remains. The artist of these pieces clearly felt as though she was alone in a world which was firmly arrayed against her.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And is it any wonder she would feel so? From her very beginnings, Hana was not allowed to be what she wanted to be. This was what led her to Wish in the first place. Now, powerful as she is, she has nothing but enemies on all sides. The Incubators would destroy her if they could, because she represents a dangerous 'malfunction' of their system. The magical heros of Tokyo view her as a threat because of her very nature. Even the other monsters of the world are not inclined to be allies, as such creatures, at least of this level of intelligence and power, are seldom inclined towards friendship that does not have ulterior motives.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While other ideas permeate this art, the recurring and dominant theme is a feeling of isolation. And why should it not be so? Hana is one-of-a-kind. She may ''be'' a monster, may be a murderer, may wish to perpetuate her own survival at the cost of others, but that doesn't change the fact that she very clearly feels her alone-ness. And maybe she feels that the world is out to get her because it really is.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There's a lot of look at. A lot to consider, and a lot to sketch. Naru, fortunately, isn't in a rush. She digs through paintings, lifts canvases, considers sketches. She is respectful, not quite reverential, but with the handling skills of another artist handling work.<br /><br />There are a few that she stops, settles onto an easel and sketches, to keep her /own/ perceptions of the work, her interpretations of it on paper as well as Hana's.<br /><br />It is, in effect, an indepedent study that could be worthy of a thesis, if Naru was going to an art school. The fact that she's doing this purely out of interest says something of that level of interest.<br /><br />Eventually, there's been sketches and photographs, notes and commentary made. Naru holds a small work in her hand, one that resonates strongly with that feeling of alone, of isolation. It's one of the later pieces, that's clear by the style, not as powerful as the central piece, but possibly a lead up work to that one.<br /><br />And small enough for Naru to slide into a pocket with a murmur of thanks and apology.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Also of note are several sculptures that are scattered around the room. They are mostly abstract, although there was certianly emotion put into them- swirls of shape and form, colorless but intricate and flowing.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The really interesting thing about them, though, is that they seem to have been created out of the material of the floor, or the walls. Rather than stone or clay, they seem to be attached to other surfaces, as if Hana had simply pulled the surface out and sculpted it with her hands, or more likely, her mind.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reality is my canvas, after all.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Less startling and less frightening than creating matter out of nothing, but there is a definite sense of magical peculiarity to the forms, abstract though they may be.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The sculptures are a bit of a source of awe. Not for thier objective artistic merit, as they require one to draw deep into the shovelry of art interpretation to bring coherent conversation about, but for their very existance. Naru sets her sketchbook down, to be able to have both hands to run over them, following the paths and trails of how Hana's manipulation of the reality before her would have shaped them into being. Feeling in concrete what Hana would have been working with in the abstract.<br /><br />While Naru has no specific energy sensing abilities, there is some inherent sense of magic that comes with the territory.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There does not appear to be anything magical about the sculptures themselves, nor does touching them engender any magically-induced feeling in Naru. It's simply the very obvious fact that they could have been created in no other way that gives them that sense of otherworldliness. They are certainly real and solid now, though, their texture the same as whatever they were made from, be it the marble of the floor or the paneling of the walls.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If Naru explores thoroughly enough, she will also be rewarded with finding what must have been Hana's art supplies. Discarded in a corner, almost as if forgotten, is a pallette smeared with colors, a bunch of half-rolled tubes of oil paint, well-worn but cared for brushes, etc. The state they were left in clearly conveys an intent to return, an event which in actuality never happened, and so they languish where they were placed.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Some of the paints and brushes appear quite old, as if Hana had kept them for a long time.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>While Naru is unlikely to be quite as thorough in other rooms, the exploration of Hana's studio is a careful in depth study.<br /><br />There is something all the more familiar about the state of brushes and paints, left in various stages of cleaned up and well used, with the intent that they'd be used again. There are a few moments of consideration, as Naru brushes her hands over the tools. Ultimately, she tidies them up, not far from how she found them, to be truthful, but with the expectation that they'll be waiting a while longer.<br /><br />Naru turns away from the supplies and it's a few moments later before she turns back, and rearranges them again. Back to a state of readiness, where it is yet again waiting for their artist to return and pick them up again. She checks on the paints, confirming which, if any, are dried up and need replacing.

:'''{{#var:189|Hana Shiroi| (189)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Some of them might need to be replaced, but not many. It appears that Hana cared for her art supplies well. They have survived better than the plants in the other room, at least.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There isn't much else in the apartment, if Naru takes the time to fully explore it. That initial bedroom, disarrayed and with evidence of violence, most likely attributed to Madison. Another side-room which looks like it may have originally been some sort of office, with blankets and pillows on a couch to create a makeshift bed. But nothing which suggests a more personal space of Hana's, and nothing which speaks to the feelings or intentions of the people who once occupied these spaces.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Just that lone chair, set like a throne in the middle of an empty room.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There is investigation into the other rooms, although nothing like the depth that Naru spent in Hana's studio. Some curious poking and prodding, but hardly the depth and interest that the paintings and art supplies held.<br /><br />A few more photos taken and then chair considered. An impulsive move, because there hasn't been enough of those yet, and Naru sits in the chair to consider the view out the windows from it.<br /><br />It /is/ a damn fine view.<br /><br />Short of the chair coming to life and chewing on her, even that moment of pause comes to an end and Naru comes back to the door that she entered from. Very little in the apartment was dramatically disturbed, hard enough to tell that someone was in here.<br /><br />Tucked safe and sound in Naru's pockets, however, is one small piece of art, and the apartment key.
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