News Report: Week 1

[triggerhappytraitor]

The evening news report is hard to miss, with the giant TV screens on some of the larger buildings displaying the report so that even those without a TV or phone to watch on can stay informed. Anyone walking, stuck in traffic or taking the train will likely see the broadcast at least once, if not twice as they head home for the day.

"In tonight's top stories, the trend of bad luck in the mining sector continues as there was yet another explosion in the Quarry. Witnesses reported seeing men covered in black and white spandex wearing masks and ran for cover. Multiple explosions shook the area, but there were no reported casualties, and only minor injuries.

Officials are advising motorists to avoid central downtown and to take public transportation when at all possible as an excess amount of cars on the roads caused yet another major traffic jam. This was compounded by a scuffle between police and an unidentified man that witnesses claim was shooting acid from his hands. Other witnesses claim it was not a man, but a monster, but official police report state it was most likely someone in a costume.

In other news, Specialty Reconstruction Services Group reports that the damage caused by what was most likely a gas explosion on a filming studio lot has been mostly repaired. Overnight work will be required to finish the job, however, and residents in the area are advised to wear earplugs and blindfolds to avoid interrupted sleep.

Cafe owners are putting out a plea to local residents to place be careful when passing by their establishments. Multiple reports of plastic patio furniture being destroyed by what some have called overzealous neighborhood watch efforts have lead to some cafes giving up on outdoor serving all together.'


While the news broadcast may seem rather innocuous, there is one decidedly odd feature. In the upper right hand corner, the placard that shows the time and date seems... strange. The date itself is oddly unreadable, despite looking like it should be able to be read easily. In fact, most people seem to be able to read it just fine, but when they say it aloud, it simply can't be heard. Or at least, not by anyone who can't see the text on the screen....

Meanwhile, back at the Quarry, it would seem that the mooks who'd caused the day's explosion have returned, undeterred to finish the next stage in their big plan. What that plan is is anyone's guess, but whatever it is, it's not likely going to be good. In either definition of the word.

Comments

[triggerhappytraitor]

And with one well comboed attack, and the headdressed figure goes flying back, and with a shrieked "I'll remember this...!!!" vanishes in a puff of smoke, the rest of the grunts fleeing.

Tachibana is still a moment before he undoes his transformation, chest heaving slightly from exertion as the field washes over him, dissolving his armor.

"...Absolutely ridiculous..."

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki follows suit, feeling oddly cold as adrenaline begins to leave his system and he no longer has the comfort of his armour.

“Things have been weird since I first became a Rider, but this is one of the weirdest,” he agrees. He massages one wrist. “I get the feeling it’s not just you and me who are messed up, Tachibana-san.”

[triggerhappytraitor]

Tachibana glances over with a faint, worried frown. "...Were you hurt?" There's a definite note of concern in his voice. It was one thing that he felt out of breath and worn out, but for Kenzaki, at his peak?

He nodded, frown deepening at Kenzaki's observation. "This sort of thing... wouldn't have gone unnoticed when the Fight was active," he agreed, reaching for his phone to dial Hirose's number.

Only to frown at it a moment later. "The hell.." he muttered before dialing a second number. If her cell phone was out of range...

But the office number rang just fine.

... not that anyone was picking up.

[kenzaki]

"Not really," he assures Tachibana immediately. "I took a fall weirdly."

It's just soreness, he thinks. He's felt strange since noticing the news items earlier, since realising that something's gone wrong everywhere, but maybe everyone's feeling strange.

...a samurai runs past with what looks like the kanji for fire on his helmet. Dressed in red and black. Another Kamen Rider?

"Maybe all of us need to get together and talk about it?"

Tachibana isn't getting anyone. Kenzaki frowns harder. "I couldn't find Hirose earlier."

[triggerhappytraitor]

There's a pause as Tachibana just. Blinks a few times at the passing through sentai member.

"..the hell is--"

He shook his head, refocusing on Kenzaki, frown deepening. "And noone else is picking up at the office either," he confirmed, before pausing. "... voice mail still works..." But what did that even mean for the strangeness that was going on? He turned off his phone, putting it back in his pocket. "Which means that the lab should still be there. There'll be equipment there, so we can at the very least start gathering data."

He glanced back over at Kenzaki. "... and I can look at your wrist too," he offered. He may not be a doctor, but with all the medical research and trails he'd been involved with the past few years, he's fairly sure he can at the very least diagnose the problem and give it a proper wrap.

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki shakes his head. The red guy hasn't attacked anyone, so that has to be a good thing, right?

"Right. That'd be too easy otherwise," he groans. It's a good idea to go to the lab, though. Tachibana can do the science thing, and Kenzaki will help as much as he can. "Sure, we can check out the news and get information. Okay, thank you."

He resolves inwardly to make sure Tachibana eats something. He doesn't have a lot of money but there'll be food put aside somewhere. It's the least he can do for his senpai, who is good at looking after him even after all this time, but so bad at looking after himself.

Jump cut to arrival, you think? :)

[triggerhappytraitor]

"Where's your bike parked?" Running, rather than Riding, had been a slightly mistake, but it wasn't as if either of them were especially good at forthought when there was something going on...

sounds good! <3

[kenzaki]

It's not unpleasant to ride back to the lab with Tachibana-san's arms wrapped tightly around him. Kenzaki needs the solidity right now. Everything's so od

[triggerhappytraitor]

It was a bit odd from Tachibana's perspective however. He hadn't ridden with a passenger in quite some time, and the last time he'd ridden as a passenger... he'd been half unconscious. If it had been anyone other than Kenzaki offering, he likely would have just walked back to where Red Rhombus was parked.

Still, it was a bit of a relief to be reunited with his bike for the last, short leg of the trip back.

The building would look a bit different than Kenzaki would have remembered it. Between the damage done from the Undead attack, the Humanity Foundations' stripping of it, and then Isaka's occupation, it had been universally decided that it would be easier to tear down the majority of the structure and rebuild. That Tachibana had personally watched the bulldozer flatten a specific section of the building had gone without comment. Karasuma would be the only one who had any hint of what Isaka had been doing in his modification of BOARD's labs, and most of that knowledge had thankfully evaporated with Isaka's control.

The verification system is far more simplistic this time around, just a simple keycard and pad.

"Normally there's at least a few staff left in the building at this time of day," Tachibana frowned, holding the door open for Kenzaki. That not a single light had been left on...

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki's eyebrows go up. It's clearly the same building, but with all kinds of crap done to it in the meantime. It's not... if he'd doubted, up till now, this would've been enough to convince him that yeah, something's seriously wrong with time.

Has he been thrown forward? Is that what it is?

He walks through, not liking the tone in Tachibana's voice. "Where do you think they could be? Evacuated, or something?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

"I would have gotten an alert if so. If not from Hirose, then from whomever was covering for her," Tachibana frowned, flipping up the light switches in the entry before heading to the receptionist's desk to light up the rest of the building.

He paused, frown deeping. "...the date on the phone here isn't displaying right either." The LCD display had the month and the day, but the year was absent. The desk calendar similarly was lacking a year on it, despite there being a clear place for it on the page.

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki flips open his own phone. It seems far too simple compared to the tech here, but there's a calendar. "I can't see the year on my phone, either."

He exchanges a troubled look with Tachibana. "What do we do? Find them or go research?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

Tachibana pressed his lips together a long moment. "...Research," he finally decided, flipping on the main switch (labeled "Good morning, BOARD" on a colorful sticker by one of the receptionists.) "Hirose knows what to do if I've gone missing, and with out any idea what has happened, we won't know where to even start looking," he explained, heading for the main hallway as the lights of the building flickered on, as if attempting to chase away the shadows in the empty corners.

It was one of the few signs of maturity that he'd gained in the years of being in charge of BOARD, the ability to act more on logic, rather than knee-jerk emotion, and realize when he was better off not rushing off into the unknown unprepared. As much as he often still wanted to...

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki waits uneasily. He's not incapable of defending himself, obviously, and Tachibana has shown that he's still more than up for a fight even if he's not feeling as good as back in Kenzaki's own time (which is still a concept that is messing with his head).

But it's so much easier with a known quantity. He doesn't know what the hell is going on here. There could be enemies around any corner.

The lights come on, which is almost worse. The place should be full of people.

He follows Tachibana, noting that the other man is being more thoughtful than what he's used to. "I'll find a TV. See what I can figure out."

[triggerhappytraitor]

"There'll be one in the break room," Tachibana nodded. "Vending machine should be pretty well stocked too." Since the cafeteria would be closed even if things weren't strange, as it wasn't exactly lunch time.

He pauses outside a door labeled "Lab 104-A," swiftly entering in the access code without even having to look at the panel, only to pause once he had it open and reach back over to tap in a few more numbers. There was a second click, and the panel's backlight switched to red, indicating the lock was disabled. "Breakroom is just down the hall; it's the only door that isn't the restroom that doesn't have a lock on it," he pointed out with a faint smile. The building was a little bit different than Kenzaki would be used to, after all.

[kenzaki]

"Oh, good," Kenzaki says. His stomach's always empty. He grips Tachibana-san's shoulder briefly, in affection and acknowledgement, and strides down the corridor.

Should probably use the restroom first. It's clean, but eerily empty. Like they're here at three in the morning or something.

[triggerhappytraitor]

The grip gets a warmer, more relaxed smile, one that's inching closer to a proper one, and Tachibana pauses just a moment as Kenzaki starts walking away. There's a brief urge to call out, to follow-- to make sure Kenzaki wasn't going to just vanish into thin air.

But that was silly. Just because he'd done it once before didn't mean it would happen again. Not when there was no reason for him to do it.

Still, it was most of a minute before he finally pulled open the door and entered the lab, the lights automatically turning on as he entered.

When Kenzaki returned, the lab would be properly lit up, multiple computer monitors displaying different screens. One was displaying the standard Searcher program, another, a variation, the screen showing a purple border with the bold text "Modified Search" in the top corner and various small purple dots on the map (most clustered in the quarry area.) Another had a different map, with list of small fluctuating graphs running down the side.

The screen Tachibana was frowning at seemed more of the same, this one with a refreshing spectrograph like image.