[Emergency Notification]

[freedom_engineer]

To: All Users
From: Colin Starfury

Subject: Ozuma's missing
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URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT: The following is an automated message.

Nature of Emergency: Newcomers, and no sign of Ozuma. Possible mental manipulation.

We've got confirmed newcomers in the altar room, and they're reporting that Ozuma isn't there. They're also reporting seeing memories that aren't their own.

I think we've got Queenly shenanigans in play. Can we get a strike team to the Altar Room, in case we're going to get a follow up visit by shadows?

Comments

[freedom_engineer]

[He almost tells her that he doesn't need that frequent of status reports, but it's not going to hurt anything, and he can set up an automatic Synthetic Intelligence to take the messages without her being any the wiser if she does start to get to him.]

Affirmative. Good hunting, then.

July 3

[heritrix]

[She has one for him earlier on, upon an extensive sweep of the altar room.]

I found a bedroll tidied away. Ozuma would be the only one who could sleep out here, but it doesn't look like he did last night.
There's some trinkets scattered near the same area, as well, like they were knocked over. Either he left in a hurry, or there was a struggle.

[Rin leans towards a struggle, but objectively either theory still stands with this little to go off of.

Her other check-ins, when they come in, are efficient: to the point and business-like, not wasting time with pointless details. A list of the rooms she checked, without finding anything. The final check-in of the night states she will space her messages to every six hours, unless finding other evidence.

So it continues. She re-checks certain areas, Ozuma's particular haunts that Colin listed most often. But it's starting to look like the trail has gone cold, aside from the site in the altar room. Rin tells him as much in one check-in, late on July 5, but that starting the next day she'll be trying something else.]

July 7

[heritrix]

[It's not until sometime on July 7 that this pays off.]

i fond a lead

[It's a message off-schedule from the six hour check-in times, among other things.]

[freedom_engineer]

What's the news? I've been coming up empty over here.

[heritrix]

weiord shadow acgiviy
hold on

[She's actually looking right at them, albeit from a safe distance clear in another room, and through the eyes of her tiny familiar. Still, it's not the kind of time to worry about sending perfect texts. They don't attack it or come after her at all (which is another part of the weird), but Rin opts to retreat to a safer location anyways before going in-depth. Recalling her amethyst bird, she doesn't respond until she's back in a safe area.]

Okay. I had my familiars scout out other places for me, the last two days. I have them trained to avoid Shadows, so it wasn't strange there were a few areas they'd skip.
But since they've started, there's two areas they've consistently not been able to report back to me on, despite the fact I've sent them several times: the spiral staircase, and that small tower across from the bridge.

[freedom_engineer]

Huh.

I've seen clusters of shadows before, but it's normally in queen-held areas.

It's concerning, definitely. Can you tell me what they're doing? What makes it "Weird" to you?

[heritrix]

Besides the fact they've been in the same place for at least a day?
I went to sneak a look at the ones in the stairwell just now. They're just standing there. They didn't try to attack or leave their spot, even when I sent my familiar a little closer.

[She didn't dare test that to see if that'd still stand if she got closer to them herself but it was still weird. After a moment, she also thinks to add:]

Most of their ranks were made up by a type of Shadow I've never seen before, too.
You know how most Shadows look like weird creatures? These ones had longer horns, but their build was more human-like than the others.

[freedom_engineer]

That's... Bizarre. Okay, given the proximity to the altar room, and that these spots have been cleared, we should check it out. It could be unrelated to Ozuma, but it's definitely weird and in need of further investigation.

Good work, I'm glad you're on the case.

[heritrix]

[This response takes a little longer, despite how short it is. Not actual problems on her end... Just the dere part in the tsundere.

She's not sure what to think of Colin yet, but praising her for her efforts goes a long way. It makes Rin feel like she's getting the hang of things, and one step closer to her goal.]

I agree. And I was glad to help.

[freedom_engineer]

Okay, I'm gonna disseminate this information and see about rounding up some people to check it out. Take some time to do what you need to do while I gather the cavalry.

Hopefully, we can have this mopped up soon.

[heritrix]

Aye aye.

[And she's out!]