1 - Bottled Up

"Just this, please." Ryosuke put a small can of iced tea on the counter, along with a credit chit. Not strange for someone travelling from Japan, of course.

He paused for a strategic moment, letting the quiet of the store allow the soft echo of the burglar alarm to fill the silence. Waiting until she had finished scanning his goods, but before she had set them back onto the counter, he turned towards the door, as if noticing the sound for the first time. "Strange neighbors, hmm?"

He held his commlink in one hand, glancing up at her, as if she captured his attention away from his own business. He gave a polite smile, trying to look open and curious, without being too pressing. It was a mere invitation to talk, a chance to socialize without real consequence on a polite stranger.

A calculated social feint.

As he prepared to listen, he typed a message to Aiko without looking.

24 hr srvlce sv'n'crv sec cam

---

The cashier looks at Ryosuke with polite confusion. "You mean the alarm? There are dozens of small businesses in the Plaza so I don't know which one that is coming from. Do you? I only work here part time while I'm in school so I don't see too much strange things outside the walls of this place. First time I've heard that alarm. I saw an accident in the Plaza once. It was bloody but thankfully nobody died, I heard."

Stepping up to Aiko Tadaoshi says There you are. You should not wander off like that. Turning to the shop keeper he explains that he woks for the city social service, a minor branch of the police that exists mostly to make sure the corporate elite can feel good about themselves, and he Aiko is on his docket. Looking put out and exhausted the nudges Aiko to head back I think we do not need to spend any more time in this area. Let go get you settled so I can finish up your paperwork.

Kla surveils the convenience store that Aiko walked into and sees that the shopkeeper is upset with her. Looks like she might even be calling the police. Just as he decides to cross the street to pretend to be a cop and haul Aiko away, he spots Tadaoshi walk into the shop and pull off something similar. He chuckles to himself, Sonuva... But in case Tadaoshi is unsuccessful, he hangs out close by.

Ryosuke glanced at the cashier. "Oh? Was this recent?"

In his offhand, he messaged Aiko again, touch typing in the grandest Japanese tradition, "???!?"

Aiko blinks, then looks back at Apinya and shrugs. She refrains for a smirk or anything, which isn't too hard since from the moment of stepping into the store she'd been swept along by the whole thing. Instead, with a baffled expression, she nods and shuffles slightly in the direction Tadoshi's offered. Inwardly, she curses herself for missing a chance to get at the security cameras.

After a second message on her comlink, she fishes the device out of her pocket very glad of the distraction. She hastily types a reply; "Hell if I know, crazy lady alert!!!"

Once out of the store Tadaoshi regroups with the others.

Any luck getting acces to additional information? Are we ready to check out the next site?

Aiko, feeling sheepish as usual, tries to draw a low profile even among the group. She jams her hands in her pockets and hopes no one decides to press for more information. Knowing her, she'd cave to peer pressure far too easily.

The cashier shrugs. "Oh, maybe a year ago or so now. Not very recent I guess. Can I get you anything else?"

---

It seems the woman is about to protest, she still has her commlink in her hand, but Tadaoshi's suddenness and professional demeanor makes her flustered and forget what she was planning to do. You leave the dry cleaning building, but it's only a matter of time before Ms. Apinya comes to her senses and thinks about Tadaoshi's cover story.

As the group gathers to share their findings and plan their next step, Tadaoshi explains his findings and tries to recall any contacts he may have with more knowledge on foreign factions, specifically the Hindu.

I can try and find out more any maybe pick up an extra hand to help on grunt work. Tadaoshi suggests that perhaps they use the next day to try and gather additional information on the other sights and review any collected footage.

"At least one of the of the rival factions must be into fight fixing," Knockout suggests. "I could ask around the circuit, to see if anyone's heard anything."

"I'm not the kinda 'gal who has connections... well, except- uh, anywho I can poke at the online places and see if anything bites?" Aiko shrugs. At this point she's looking to go with the flow and let someone else make a decision, accepting how she almost sabotaged the entire situation with something adjacent to grace.