[Ciara] [Wednesday, March 24th, 2004. Orono, Maine] Satoshi sits down at his laptop that night and composes an e-mail: “Dear everyone, Jin showed up, there's an outpost of the World Reversed in Bangor, and someone's been there who wears red nail polish and may or may not be Temperance but is not my mom. Also, I am scanning this notepaper; Katie or Kaede, please take a look and see if you can find anything on it. Also also I am going to Albany this weekend and playing my damndest in the NCAA tournament because I have no idea what's going to happen to my life next and I want to do this while I still can.” And then he deletes it. He didn’t put anyone’s name in the “To:” field because he had no intention of actually sending that. He just needed to get it out of his system to try to calm himself down. He hasn’t even scanned the page from the notepad yet. He’s got time before Paul and company come back from the anime club showing, so he can plug in the scanner and write the e-mail to the group without being disturbed. It’s only a matter of a couple of minutes to do the initial scan. He can’t really make much out, but he thinks he might be able to glean a bit more from it if he plays with the resolution a bit and tries to zoom in more. However, he really wants to get something out to the group, especially while he’s got the room to himself. ***** (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Morning of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Night of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: An Unexpected Visit To: Katie Andrews, Haruko Kinsha, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Kaede Takeuchi, Wataru Yamada Guys, Jin showed up at my dorm today. He said he had a warning, and after managing to convince my friends not to come along (they were in the room when he arrived), I went with him. We ended up in front of an office building in Bangor, which is about 20 minutes away from the university (Wataru: if no one’s explained this to you yet, Jin basically has the power to transport people over large distances in a single step; it’s not quite teleporting but it’s a similar concept). The building has elevators. The elevators have a down button, and it’s not for the basement. There’s, and this is Jin quoting Winston, “an echo, a small outpost of the World Reversed.” Bangor Reversed exists, and it’s freaky. This was what Jin came to warn me about. If that weren’t bad enough, someone’s been living there. There was a futon and toiletries and evidence that it was a woman, someone who wears red nail polish (not my mom - just trust me on this - but possibly Temperance). It doesn’t look like they’ve been there for a while - there was dust, and I found a newspaper from mid-February - but they were *there*. There was a notepad, and while the top pages had been torn off, I took the first page that was left to see if we could figure out what had been written on the previous pages. I’m scanning it now and am going to play around with the resolution to try to zoom in on it. Attached is the initial scan. My friends are curious about what’s going on, and I am trying to tell them something that is close to the truth but isn’t the truth because if it is Temperance then I don’t want her wiping their memories. Satoshi [Attachment: scanned note] ***** That having been done, Satoshi opens up the scan and plays around with it for a bit, fiddling with the resolution and contrast. It appears to be a list of expenses: a car rental from Bangor airport, the items he found in the room, including the futon, and is signed by one Mamiya Kanae. Oh. Well. That...that definitely happened, then. He shakily types out the next e-mail and attaches the zoomed-in scan, but before he can send it, he hears the sound of the door being unlocked, so he quickly minimizes his window so he can greet Paul… and Jin. Paul talks for a little bit about the anime club; tonight’s showing was of a series called “Serial Experiments Lain,” and Jin’s only comment is “I’m *really* not sure.” It’s a little while later, after Jin’s been set up with some pillows and blankets - he always preferred sleeping on the floor - and he and Paul both appear to be asleep, that Satoshi gets back to his second e-mail. He reads it over one more time, looks at the “P.S. I’m scared” line, and deletes it. Then he takes a deep breath, hits send, and closes his laptop before climbing into bed. ***** (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Late Morning of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Night of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Follow Up To: Katie Andrews, Haruko Kinsha, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Kaede Takeuchi, Wataru Yamada I’ve zoomed in on the scan. It’s a list of items, an expense report, signed by Mamiya Kanae. Temperance. ...at least she had to fly to Bangor and didn’t teleport through the World Reversed or something. Jin is still here. He’s sleeping on the floor of the dorm room for now. I think my roommate is convinced that anime holds more truth to it than I’m letting on so he’s not asking too many questions for now. I still fully intend to go to Albany this weekend and play my damndest in the NCAA tournament. Satoshi [Attachment: scanned note 2 - see http://bacon.sandwich.net/ardweden/neoarcana/art/expenses.jpg] --- [Ardweden] Late morning on Thursday, March 25, Katie checks her e-mail. She chews her lower lip and glances at the clock in her laptop... there's no time and she has to leave for her study group with Hotaru and Moeta. Okay, well, at least... She checks the ever-present instant message window she has open with Satoshi. He's idle - well, that makes sense. He should be asleep. Still... are you okay? Katie stares at the blinking cursor at the end of her IM for a few seconds, then hits enter, sending it off into the internet. That has to be enough. She closes her laptop and leaves, grabbing her bag on the way out. --- [Grysar] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Early Afternoon of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Late Evening of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Re: Follow Up To: Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Kaede Takeuchi, Wataru Yamada Wow Satoshi, that's a lot to have to handle all at once. I'm sorry I can't be there with you, but I'm glad Jin is. For all the bad news, knowing that he's doing alright is a small silver lining .Please say hi and get him some local chicken dish on my behalf, I know chicken is big in America and I assume Maine is no different. That timing lines up with what Taki learned from Hinako about Temperance traveling. We might be able to follow-up there, although while the Heirophant's attire was revealing she seemed to keep information on need to know basis. Regardless looking at this from my phone, it seems like a longer term setup given those expenses (also that's a pretty nice futon based on the price). I think you're wise to take the longer-term view as well. Maybe some combination of Katie, Kaede-san, and myself could confer on 21st century ways to spy on the building's entrance and 19th century ways to spy on the reversed part. I've sometimes considered whether that would make sense for Tokyo Tower reversed, but rejected the idea because it seemed like a great way to make enemies. But this is your turf, you have a right to know who comes and goes. Skate well in your upcoming games! They may be just the outlet you need while still keeping you in top form. We've got your back over here and can support with research. I'm also sorry that this is messing up your friendships, but if I can ever help guide Paul-san away from bad ideas or just distract him for a bit, let me know, I enjoy our occasional mutual language practice. Wish I were there, let's vchat again soon, Haruko --- [Jihatsu] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Midday of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Night of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Follow Up To: Satoshi Watanabe Satoshi, I'm writing just to you not out of secrecy but out of shyness to be as open with the others as I would be just to you. Oh my god. Are you okay? I probably would not be okay. But listen. I think it'll be okay. If Temperance was going to make a move she would have already. Or maybe she already has, and left. Either way, she didn't get to you, right? Either way, it pays to keep your eyes open, but however the last few weeks and months went without you knowing she was around, that's still how things went. If you know what I mean. Nothing has changed except how we look at the facts, and that's something you can do any time, and something your friends will help you with. The NCAA tournament is more worth your attention than this right now. I know that you can take how you feel right now, and put it to the side for later, when you have the time to feel it, because you're an athlete, and a damn good one from what I can tell. Temperance in Bangor is freaky shit but it kind of makes sense. Usually we're all mostly localized in Tokyo for some unfathomable reason. A major Arcana setting up their life in a new place, maybe it's something Temperance routinely goes and checks out. The timing is troubling, but it might be nothing. Coincidences do happen, even for us. I'm sorry, I'm a little bit shaken, I'll try to compose myself before I write to everybody. But I wanted you to know right away that I'm there for you, I'm pretty sure all of us are, and I think you'll be okay. Let's video chat soon. If Jin sticks around, it would be awesome to say hi to him too, I haven't seen him since we were both rabbits taking down a wolf. Call or text me anytime, Wataru ***** (Encrypted e-mail) (sent maybe 20 minutes after Haruko's) Date: Early Afternoon of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Late Evening of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Re: Follow Up To: Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Kaede Takeuchi, Haruko Kinsha Hi Satoshi, hi everybody, First off, I agree with Haruko that we're here for you to help in any way we can, and that it might not be a bad idea to keep your head in the game and use the tournament as a means to keep calm and focused. Second, I have a few ideas and maybe some questions. About Bangor Reversed first of all, I guess. You said it was an "outpost". Maybe I assumed wrong when I first heard about the World Reversed, in that I thought it logically covered the whole world. Is that not true? If not, then maybe is it something like, "outposts" of it follow Arcana around? Maybe it exists there because you exist there. And maybe Temperance having a field trip (...no pun intended) to check out the new area and the new life a recently-transposed Arcana is making, like, maybe that's just routine. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's fine. But I'm confused/concerned about this expense report. Who exactly is Temperance reporting her expenses to........? Take care, and we'll work through this together, Wataru PS: Say hi to Jin!! --- [Rowyn] Kaede comes in with his computer into the coffee shop that day with a buzzing computer, alert with wanting to tell him his own messages. Loads of new messages. Of course. Hard day of classes doesn't always make it easy to get to right away, but there's his cup of gradually cooling coffee ready as there's the hit of another one coming down the pipeline. Fortunately, at this point, he has a filter for it. Unfortunately, that means he knows right where it goes. Signalling the waitress for "Excuse me, sorry. Another one," he finally pulls out his laptop and sighs. They're really going all out lately. New thread, from Satoshi, pings off in his head as he unfolds it. Alright. First time to catch up on all those Taki emails he had been missing... A gradual frown creases his features for this and he types his reply first. Then settles in for scouring the newer one. Okay. This one is even.... He takes a few breathes and sips to compose his thoughts. Times for griping later. The world didn't seem to care about covenience. His eyes shifted up, just to check around him to make sure no one was paying attention. He'd take some comfort in the fact that his back was mostly to the walls if walls and shadows weren't necessarily a potential danger. Maybe he could work on a field behind him or something that would tick off his senses when he wasn't watching or something.... Shaking his head, he dismissed it. Temporarily. He was beginning to think like Haruko. Well. A more practical Haruko. Time to start on the thread now... =========================== (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Early Afternoon of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Late Evening of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Re: Follow Up To: Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Haruko Kinsha, Wataru Yamada I'm working on some new encryption here so that will be coming down the pipe. Make sure to keep your eyes open for it, as changing tactics is already good idea. Even more so when Arcana are involved. I'm not sure how much I can put my own defenses into the loop as we go but.... Anyhow, I really wish I'd have gotten to this thread first. Sigh. First of all, this whole scene sounds like a reflection of that first scene we got when Masaru decided to take up residence in the Tower as an "arteist." The fact that Arcana are spread throughout the World now makes sense, but even taking the War into account, there being a prepoderance of Japanese in its wake never did. I had always wondered why Winston seemed to be situated around OUR tower, but I had always suspected that being from a trip. As for it spreading out over the whole world, yes, that was assumed. It's not as if travel would be easy. In fact, I'm not sure if I remember how much Shimiru- san attempted travel in that dimension, but it's not really a pleasant experiment that we would want to push. With no actual electricity (yes, I can see those gears turning, Kinsha-san, but we'll have to save those experiments for another time). So the problem isn't with how wide spread it is but actual access points. Ways to cross the boundary and barriers between worlds are few and far between and Jin.... Anyhow. The use of said tower is more of worry here, as is the involvement of the Council, or whatever we think this is. If there's any attempts of ressurrection of the Oni (Not sure how much the others filled you in on this, Yamada-san? Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions on this.)....how much did we even find about the purpose of that world, other than the impact that Hideo made... (No offense, Watanabe-kun. You're not....) ============================ Kaede paused briefly here and considers what he just wrote. Watanabe-kun? Well. Whatever. But if it was too harsh.... No. That really was his role, wasn't it? He was surrounded in a world of sugar coaters. In people who avoided the hard talks because they felt uncomfortable. He'd be hard pressed to change himself now. So he'd leave it and focus his amazingly steady hand on his coffee. He was in hyper focus now, even as his email sounded a lot more disjointed than he'd intended. It would still get it across. Leave it. ============================ Anyway. I've been following, on my end, the past information of the council through the eyes of one Masaki Tsumoiji. I don't remember if I've talked about him before. He's MY bastard of a past life, apparently. But had been doing a lot of research on the Council. Me and Akemi had a long talk after it and apparently there had been some gentleman by the name of Yamamoto involved in his life that was important and may have gotten too close. I know exploring things like this is fleeting and often unreliable, but I think we need more information of back then. Sho was insane with the pulse of his past lives and we don't know how much Temperance or the World may be affected as well. If we are going to make any headway on this, I suspect some of the answers may too lie in knowing more about the past. Apparently Matthias had not talked much about this with Akemi, but Yusuke Fuyuken did. Our plans are to meet up with him to put some of this on the table. We don't often hear about past lives, so I think that this is something that may be very useful. I'm hoping everyone else here would feel comfortable enough with me to tell me what they know about theirs as well. We've never really formally spoken about it. Kyon? Do you know more about Matthias as well and if he had any conversations directly with you? ...if it does happen to be any type of tower though, I will have to check with Cardinaux-san to find out what she knows about the Tour D'Eiffel (thanks Akemi for the pronounciation there). If there's another likely tower outpost target, that might be one. I'm putting in, Watanabe-kun, when I can. We're flying out there. Or see if Jin can come pick me and Shiraishi-san up to bring us out there. We're coming out to visit you, one way or another, and I'm not taking no for an answer. You need some support and really you're just way too far away for all of this..... ========================= Again, there was a pause at the end of all of this as shaky fingers stopped. Was there a good way to end all of that? It was so much. He was still embedded with Shuffle, would still have to let Nanami know things, and would still.... But in some ways, that bastard of a past self of his was right. There were more important things. And it was about damned time that he decided to quit fucking around with the things he had and taking some ownership of this. Okay. There was one way of ending it.... ========================= Fate can't be changed, no it can't. Such bullshit. -Kaede Takeuchi out ========================== Send. --- [RDMGryphon] Encrypted e-mail) Date: Mid Afternoon of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Evening of Wednesday, March 24th (Maine) Subject: Re: Follow Up From: Taki Shimiru To: Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Kaede Takeuchi, Kyon Sorata, Haruko Kinsha, Wataru Yamada First up, Good luck in your game Satoshi! There’s nowhere I can watch it from, but I’ll be cheering for you when it starts anyway! Second, yeah, I guess we know where Temperance went, that’s really creepy and bad that she was nearby… I kinda wonder what happened at that building that turned it into a Tower, but that’s probably not related to anything important now. Being in the World Reversed out side of a Tower was really really weird. It was totally silent and there was this oppressive feeling of something not being right that I really can’t describe. I haven’t done much traveling there. I think Winston mentioned something about them anchoring the World Reversed, but my memory of that time is the exact opposite of reliable. Third, I’m totally envious of Kaede and Akemi being able to afford to just come out and visit, and how soon/secret is that going to be? I kinda want to ask Shizaru if there’s anything she wants brought to Paul-san. I feel like I let her down because my brilliant came up with it in five seconds plan to deflect one of he problems didn’t work and is now a bigger headache. -Taki --- [Jihatsu] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Late Afternoon of Thursday, March 25th (Japan) / Early Morning of Thursday, March 25th (Maine) Subject: Re: Re: Follow Up To: Satoshi Watanabe, Katie Andrews, Taki Shimiru, Kyon Sorata, Haruko Kinsha, Kaede Takeuchi Takeuchi-san, Thank you for the offer of Oni explaining. That's definitely a part of the past that I know very little about ("there were Oni and hooded people were trying to summon them and we had to close five gates to keep them away" literally sums it up, and I'm not even positive that's accurate), so I would definitely appreciate any information you would be king enough to share. You're welcome to email me separately if you don't want to clog this thread up with old news. I've been having past life dreams too, and so has Haruko (I hope you don't mind my saying so, Haruko-san). I mentioned to Haruko that we should meet up and compare notes, but we haven't gotten around to it. I guess all of us with something to contribute could get together for this sometime? Wataru --- [Ciara] Satoshi wakes from a dream where he’s back in Bangor Reversed, huddled against the wall near the elevators, Temperance looming over him and promising that she’ll make sure that he forgets everything. Gasping, he sits up in bed, not even fighting the habit of quickly poking the gap of his missing tooth with his tongue and then running a finger down his crooked nose. Hideo’s face is always perfect in those dreams where it’s the one staring back at him from the mirror, the ones that usually wake him up out of a sound sleep. He looks around the room in the dim light. Paul, thankfully a heavy sleeper, seems to not even be stirring, and Jin mumbles something that sounds like “pool” but doesn’t appear to be waking up. A blinking light from his desk catches his eye: the indicator on his phone. He grabs it and opens it to find he’s got mail. Lots of mail. E-mails from almost everyone, really. He stands and stretches. He’s not really going to be able to get back to sleep now that he’s seen that people have replied to him, so he pulls on his Maine Hockey hoodie, shoves the phone into the front pocket, slides on a pair of slippers, grabs his laptop and keys, and heads for the dorm lounge. He’s honestly not worried about Jin being unable to find him if he wakes up, because if Jin could find him from wherever he was (Britain? Japan? somewhere else entirely?) then he can surely find him just down the hall. When he opens laptop, the first thing he sees is an IM from Katie, so he types out a quick reply to her: Hey. I’m working on dealing. Not sleeping so great tonight, as you can probably tell. Got up for a while; figured I’d go read e-mails from everyone. Since Katie’s actually listed as idle, he’s not expecting an immediate reply, so he proceeds onward to the e-mail reading. When he finishes Wataru’s first e-mail, the one just to him, he sends a brief text: “You there?” There’s no immediate answer from him, either, so Satoshi continues reading his e-mails. When he gets to Kaede’s, he has to stop and read it again, just to make sure he’s not getting something wrong. It’s almost overwhelming, and Satoshi says, without realizing that he’s actually speaking out loud, “Why are you surprised when your friends are *kind* to you, Satoshi? Why are you surprised when they’re concerned?” He’s almost expecting an “I’m not sure” from Jin, but the lounge is empty aside from himself. So he finishes reading his e-mails and then starts working on the replies. ***** (encrypted e-mail) Date: Late Afternoon of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Tokyo) / Early Morning of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Orono) Subject: Re: Follow Up To: Wataru Yamada Hey. So I’m not sure “okay” is the best word to use right now. “Trying to deal” is probably more accurate. I completely freaked out earlier and I’m a little ashamed of that. At least I recovered enough presence of mind to take a look around and find a few things, although my findings aren’t exactly comforting, either. This is selfish of me, but there’s a part that really wishes Jin could have waited another couple of weeks, or at least until the opening weekend of the tournament was done. I’m really happy to know he’s okay, though. I hadn’t seen him since that night. I haven’t said anything about it to him yet; there hasn’t been a good opportunity. But I’ll definitely tell him hi from you. You’re right about Temperance. It’s been over a month; if she were going to do anything, it would have happened by now. I’m still really freaked out to think about her being there, though. I feel almost like this is my place and she has no right to be here. I mean, there’s nothing to stop her, really, but I hate the idea that she was spying on me. I don’t want to bring her wrath on my friends here. It’ll be a little while before we can video chat, I think. Got preparations tonight and then being away all weekend, so it’d have to be sometime after I get back. I’m don’t know how long Jin will be here. He may disappear as suddenly as he arrived. If he’s going to be here for a while then we may have to find another place for him to stay. I’m not sure how long we can keep him in the dorms. I think I’m going to be up for a bit, so if you want to text or call or IM, please do. Otherwise I’ll talk to you hopefully after a couple of opening round victories. ^^ Satoshi P.S. I’ll let the others explain oni for now, but if you have any questions after that, feel free to ask me and I’ll try to clarify as best as I can. ***** (encrypted e-mail) Date: Late Afternoon of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Tokyo) / Early Morning of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Orono) Subject: Planning To: Kaede Takeuchi Kaede, I feel like I should make some sort of objection or ask if you’re really sure or something, but we both know about wasting your time. So, I’m just going to say thank you to you and Akemi. Let me know whatever logistical help you need on this side with flights, hotels, etc. Remember that I am hopefully going to be in Boston from Thursday April 8th through Sunday April 11th. If meeting up there would work better, we can try it, but I’ll probably be tied up in team stuff a fair amount and I’m guessing you want to check things out here. Thank you so much again. I’m looking forward to seeing you both! Satoshi ***** (encrypted e-mail) Date: Late Afternoon of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Tokyo) / Early Morning of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Orono) Subject: Re: Re: Re: Follow Up To: Wataru Yamada, Taki Shimiru, Kaede Takeuchi, Haruko Kinsha, Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata First off, thank you guys for checking on me. It really, really means a lot. I know it sounds kind of flat in text, but… trust me. It means a whole lot. Jin had (chicken) dinner with us and my friends seem to like him pretty well already, although I’m trying to be as careful as I can when talking about things, particularly since Temperance has evidently been paying attention to me within the past couple of months. The World Reversed encompassing all of the actual world makes complete sense, and I can see it kind of bubbling up to make an access point when an Arcana stays in one place for a while. I mean, the Arcana were supposed to be scattered all around the world before, so it would probably make sense for them to have a way to get to it wherever they were. I certainly didn’t intend to bring it here. I asked Jin if I made this and he said he didn’t think so, but that doesn’t rule out the whole World Reversed making its own access points in response to Arcana. Although he also said it wasn’t exactly here because of me, but I don’t know why else it would be here, unless Temperance or whoever did it somehow. That’s far worse than me subconsciously making it, though it would explain how she knew it was here. I was assuming that Temperance was reporting her expenses to my… to The World, but I guess, now that I’m looking at things again, it might be someone reporting expenses to Temperance. Which is worse because it means there’s *another* Arcana involved and that complicates things even more. Though I can definitely see Temperance as the sort to submit an itemized list of expenses and want every penny (yen?) reimbursed. As for past lives, well, you guys know about mine. But here’s a weird thing: there seem to have been a lot of Japanese Arcana pre-war, when I thought they were supposed to be scattered all over the world? Maybe they were already starting to concentrate in Japan for… reasons? Admittedly, everything I know about it has come from an external source, from someone telling me things or having a vision forced on me. I don’t even know if I *can* have dreams or memories or anything like you guys, between Temperance and my… nature. I’d be curious if there was an Eiffel Reversed. I kind of hate to say it, but I'd feel better if it weren’t just me. Also, while it wouldn’t count as anything even remotely close to a skyscraper back home, this building here really is probably the closest thing Bangor has to a tower. Thanks for all your good wishes for the tournament. I’m going to do my best. Hopefully I’ll be traveling to Boston in two weeks for the final round. Satoshi --- [Grysar] Haruko got a few funny looks after she snorted in response to the start of Kaede's email. Her explanation of "inside joke" did not satisfy her dispersing classmates, but was enough to stave off further questions. She attentitively read the rest, eyes widening as she reached the end. She started writing an email on her phone, only to give up as it grew too long. She intermittently crafted a response that afternoon and evening using snippets of time borrowed from other activities. The next morning, she started again for the third time, replying to Satoshi's latest message. (encrypted e-mail) Date: Morning of Friday March 26, 2004 (Tokyo) / Late evening of Thursday, March 25, 2004 (Orono) Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Follow Up To: Kaede Takeuchi; CC: Katie Andrews Takeuchi-san, Thank you. In no way are you doing this for me, but I am grateful that Satoshi will have guests who can provide companionship and comfort in person, of a different sort than Jin usually offers. This is neither the first nor the most significant sacrifice you've made for those dear to you, but it did still take my breath away. If there is anything I can do to help while you are away, perhaps with errands that do not require your management touch but are outside the purview of those you work with, let me know. For better or worse, you could first ask Katie if she thinks I'm capable of it. I do have an encrypted document on my phone where I keep my notes on past lives, but I don't think I have anything to add, my dreams came later and you were there for one of my longest. My only recent realization has been that Isao, while on the Council, may not have had the full confidence of Minazuki- sama. There no doubt were multiple reasons, but Isao's relationship to Hideo was surely one of them (Katie, please do not hesitate to share this information with Kyon if it would be of use). I have been turning my gears on how to monitor this tower in Bangor. I've had some practical idea, but they mostly involve obvious ways to monitor the entrance in our world or involve too high of a risk of detection in the reversed room. I'm working on an investigative care package, with some help from the motor club I should be able to scrounge up an old film camera, some glow sticks, and a wind-up alarm clock. My one bigger idea is a fingerprint kit. I'm intending to research one and try it out, so I can make sure it works in a lower stress environment and then can help Satoshi if he runs into trouble. If you let me know your schedule to fly to America, Takeuchi-san, and if you can spare the space, I'll pack everything I have ready securely and in a small space. If that doesn't work, not a problem, i'll figure out something else. I'd also ask you to give him a hug for me, but I'm not sure you'd feel comfortable transporting such a thing, let alone over international borders. Haruko