[F01-PP] BOX-15

[Bistro 0]

[♫]

ChaseR: I want to talk to you about a few things. I hear you know much.
ChaseR: Where is your shop on the first? It’s important. I’m a friend of NIGHT’s.

Bistro: You sure messaged me at a late hour.

The alchemist basically rolled out of bed in the morning, stretching backwards over her pile of messages from players across Aincrad. This one in particular was vague, and strange -- mostly, because out of all the clients she'd catered to, NIGHT was one of the least likely people she'd figure to pass on a referral. Call it a hunch or a read of their personality, but nonetheless, Bistro appreciated the name drop. One hot shower later and a review of her incoming notes, her fingers scurried over the keyboard to deliver a message to the intrigued player.

Bistro: I'm over on the north wing of town. My store's the Cintamani. Might've passed it a couple of times if you're ever out and about the Town of Beginnings.
Bistro: Of course, we could always do business by telegraph if you're so keen. No need to step out of bed just for some information. Let me know if you're stopping by.

@ChaseR

Spoiler

BISTRO | Lv: 10 | HP: 200/200 | EN: 20/20 
ACC: 0 | DMG: 0 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 0 | LD: 5

>> Equipment

1. [T1E2] Golden Earring | Trinket | Expertise
2. [T1E0] Casual Clothes
3. [T1E3] Bien S'en Tirer | Jewelry | Loot Die III
   "A collection of beads, feathers and a sewn cloth charm hooked onto a leather strap. It’s colorful, yet clutterfully serene at the same time."

>> Skills

1. Searching | Passive | RANK 2/5 (1, +1)
2. - - -

>> Battle-Ready Inventory

1. - - -
2. - - -
3. - - -
4. - - -
5. - - -

>> Misc.

• - - -

[ChaseR 0]

Although with a short space between her second batch of messages, the bluehead thankfully received an answer and looked at it quietly, taking a minute or so before he replied with a plain.

ChaseR: Expect me in a few mniutes. It's a lot to talk about.

With that, he gave one final look at Blizz who was sitting all curled up by the edge of the bed and slowly got up, beginning to leave the house. Upon exiting his courtyard, he looked back at it as he remembered about his nightmare just now and shook it off, starting to head over to the twenty first's settlement. He stepped into the teleporter and around ten minutes later, a light knock could be heard on the door to Bistro's shop. Once she came up and opened it, he quietly let his eyes scan her appearance. He was... confused. The name already sounded masculine, and now seeing her from up close wasn't helping his confusion any. "So this is the informant... Not like looks matter anyhow. She must know a lot about NIGHT and the game's quests, so she's exactly who I need for this.", he nodded to himself and asked with a blank face. "May I come in?"

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 39
HP: 780/780
EN: 78/78

Stats:
Damage: 14
Mitigation: 18
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Gust Raiser>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): DMG II, ACC I
Armor: <<Wind Dweller>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I, REC II
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 4]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Spyglass (2/3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (2/3)*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Bistro 0]

A knock on the door? How strange. But formalities should be upheld, Bistro decided. Even if it was as simple as opening a door for a customer.

She hopped over the bar counter, already spotting the sapphire jewel catching the light of day on the outside. Her entrance swung open with a gentle tinkling of bells, and shifting aside, she let the player in. "Of course."

ChaseR, her new client was, apparently. The woman had seen various few adventurers come and go; the name was fresh in her mind for this one, and so she allocated a spot in her memory for him. A loud shuffling of steps on the floor from the brewster was the result of her making her way over towards the backroom, along with a casual notice to the man. "Back in a bit. Oh -- would you prefer coffee, or tea?"

With his answer in tow, she'd vanish behind a wall, only to return a minute later with two cups in her hand, setting them down on her shop's main divider.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase wasn't really a fan of either, but for the sake of conversation, he'd asked for coffee. Even then, the taste... Bleh. He'd put up with it, no matter. He quietly looked at her, giving a confused look with a sigh. Where to start..? "... I'm caught up with something and I want answers. You can provide, probably. I'm assuming you know The Gemini.", he started off, being more talkative than usual for the sake of getting through whatever this had devolved into. He moved his right hand to the side to open up the menu, looking through his skills and scrolling down to the extra skills section before flipping the menu over to her.

He'd opened up the description on Disguise, furrowing his eyebrows. "Extra Skills don't show up unless you have them unlocked. Disguise's description says you get it if you kill the Gemini. So... what if you don't kill it? Does that mean if you lose?", Chase asked, particularly intent on something being up with the wording in this case. He knew that something felt rather off, but that aside, nobody he'd seen had ever used Disguise as far as he knew which was peculiar in and of itself. Maybe he finished the quest the wrong way, or was one of the few that cleared it- it all depended on Bistro's intel. Needless to say, one thing was for sure- he wasn't beating around the bush any.

[Bistro 0]

"The Gemini... Yes. I believe I am aware of it."

For some reason, it was one of the few quests that had escaped her notice during her time in Aincrad. It was only until recent that she'd gotten the notes for such an event; even so, her intel was relatively sparse about how the situation began and ended. As she riffled through her inbox for the appropriate messages, she'd maneuvered her interface away from her frontal view the moment ChaseR swung his own around, revealing the [Disguise] skill to her.

"Ah, I see." Strange how the man had already completed the task, and yet still came towards her for review on its information. Normally, one would run over the details before heading out on such a venture, but Bistro wasn't one to fault her customers for their approach. "You could've chosen to spare it," she explained, eying her scripts from the corner of her eyes. "By doing so you'll unlock [Concentration], which enhances one's ability to land hits on a target better -- assuming Cardinal takes a liking to you, of course."

[ChaseR 0]

The information was... definitely something. With a deep breath, he held his temples with both hands and gave it a bit of thought, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he held a more confident stare as he looked her dead in the eyes, starting to suspect the game was once more, up to more than they could tell. "... And that Disguise ability... Can it change voices or appearances only? Do the appearances apply to weapon types, too? Could you fake being somebody of the opposite gender?". For every question she answered, he drowned her with that many more.

It was clear his mind was catching up to a lot and stress was a hell of a motivator for something like that. He was trying to craft his own theories on how exactly the whole thing played out, and if it was even a player or if he was truly imagining the whole thing. He was definitely up to a lot, although most of his guesses were trying to predict some skills that could replicate the events he thought were real. This was just another puzzle he'd have to piece together, starting off small. If this led to nowhere, he'd ask if there was some way to induce illusions onto other players, as there could be little other explanations for the Cerberus quest he finished earlier.

[Bistro 0]

Imagine being able to answer all of those questions, all at once.

Bistro couldn't. Her voice immediately began trailing off the moment ChaseR's queries started, the woman noticably losing track of his worries with regards to thinking through the details. "Hold on, hold on," she cried, a wry smile painted on her face. Her palms were open, shaking in concern. "One at a time, please-- although, I'm not personally familiar with the skill, so I don't think I can answer too much with regards to its limitations."

"If the heart of your troubles lie in the voices and appearances; you have the skill. Surely you could manipulate it and see how it worked with regards to those elements."

A hand went to her chin as she mused upon his remarks even more. "As for weapon types... I'm sure you could fake an appearance of it. To me it seems straightforward on the basis that one could alter their image. --Likewise with the question of gender. But when it comes to using it... a player must be able to have the skill to execute sword arts with it. Does that answer your question?"

[ChaseR 0]

"So we're back to square one with the two handed sword user... I was right...", he lowly muttered to himself and looked down at his cup of coffee, groaning and letting out an annoyed 'tsk'. "That's no good... Tell me, is there a skill, unique or not, that can cause illusions?", Chase asked with the same troubled expression than before, if it hadn't become just a bit more discouraged from the answers he received. Surely, there had to be some form of manipulation at play here. Then again, the only thing bothering him was... could such an illusion interact with the battle..?

The answer was probably no. But he had to investigate every possibility before he went to NIGHT. "Even if there was some illusion at play here, I... Hm, my energy didn't drop beyond the normal point, but perhaps that's because of my recovery stat... So that leaves a tiny window for it... A successful recovery provides me with just enough to take out those two more targets I'd have to, the hellhound and the head... Maybe if one exists...", his mind almost trailed off before he shook his head, looking up at Bistro again and hoping for an answer that could give him enough to work with.

[Bistro 0]

"Cause illusions?"

Try as she might, Bistro couldn't come up with a decent answer for his query. The woman hummed, fingers pressed to her lips before shaking her head, reaching out for her own cup of joe to perk her up. "You're probably looking at it already." A sip, before she continued. "If you're looking for something like that, we'd be talking about magic, wouldn't we? That doesn't happen in Aincrad -- not something that players can manipulate with, any way."

ChaseR's questions were probing; as any player vying for accuracy should be. Good news for the intrepid informant, to see one especially keen on getting their details and possibilities down right. But they were strange for the woman, mostly from the lack of context she was receiving. "I can't help but feel the need to ask in return; what is it that you're looking into? Just the use and subsequent abuse of the Disguise skill?"

[ChaseR 0]

If she didn't know anything, he knew it probably didn't exist. Especially having heard from NIGHT, a well versed frontliner, that she knew most there was to know about the game. With a grunt, he scratched the back of his head and looked towards the door, picking up the cup in front of him and drinking. His face pulled in slightly as he put it back down, shivering a bit and then looking back down at it with a troubled expression. "I got into some trouble. I thought I was with NIGHT but it wasn't. So I'm looking for how one could fake being her."

With that little context now out of the way, he took no breaks and got right back to the planning board. "Say... You know her well. How many people know her just as well as you do- enough to reveal information about her since... say, the first tier? When she took a trip over to Cerberus.", he asked her incredibly specifically, confirming his story for all it mattered. He was prying by this point, but he was trying to rule out all potential suspects except for the culprit.

[Bistro 0]

Thank goodness Bistro wasn't taking another drink right then. The news was alarming; a little too much, especially since she hadn't known anyone with a vengeance for the player. NIGHT was very much closeted, even when she was acting as her closest confidant.

"I don't think she's really told me about her friends?" Her hands were clammy as they folded around her ceramic mug. "--Full disclosure that even if she'd done so, I don't think I'm allowed to say, on the basis of maintaining client-broker confidentiality. You'd have to pay for information like that. Right now, it's information that I don't have, mind you, and information I'd part only if the offer was good enough to break a bond with."

"Even so..."

Bistro uneasily lifted the mug to her lips. "She did come to me at the end of the first tier. Making it that far couldn't have been easy on her own, especially not without another broker like myself. Though, even if she did maintain a relationship like what we've got with another agent, I doubt it'd amount to much; I'm drawing my conclusions based on what I've seen first hand from her, of course."

The woman tilted her head towards the azure player. "Does NIGHT know you're stopping by?"

[ChaseR 0]

Chase was lost deep in thought given how her answers played out, all the way to when she asked that final question. He lifted his head, shaking it and frowning. "No, I don't think... I haven't told her anything. I'm trying to make sense of who could want to get near me by pretending to be her, but... They must have known much about her. There's another way of going about this either way... I've some theories, but... Tell me.", he said with a grunt and held his forehead in his hand slightly, groaning and squinting his eyes at his cup as he asked.

"Has anybody else come in like this before to ask about NIGHT? They'd be a possible suspect if so.", Chase asked away with the same frown, trying to work things out on his head. There was one final, final resort. He didn't believe it would come down to it, but... It was the best he could do in what seemed stupidly absurd of a case. Trying to get revenge on a frontliner, being this close to her and using a smaller tier player that she knew less to do so... It made no sense whatsoever. "This doesn't add up... It's wrong. Nobody can get anything like this, so why? Why would somebody do this?"

[Bistro 0]

Bistro shook her head. "Not at all. In fact, it's pretty unlikely that someone's come to find her at all. I assume it's because she keeps a pretty low profile to begin with, but also, I don't think she heads out looking to start trouble. Seems pretty normal for an adventurer, if you ask me."

The gears in her head continued to churn. If the man was worried about his own safety, what about the other subject of victimization herself? She'd set her cup down after nearly emptying its contents, thumbing her chin in thought as her gaze went to the corner of her room. It was an idle spot to look at, for Bistro. Sometimes one just needed to stare at a blank space just to gain some insight.

"Have you ever considered it the other way around?" A moment passed before the broker spoke, contemplating on getting herself a few snacks on her waking routine later on. "Maybe this isn't about you being targeted, ChaseR. Maybe this is more about NIGHT. Unless you've done something in the past to pick up a few enemies--" The player paused, tilting her head to the side as she re-examined the man to dissuade her concerns. "--which, I don't imagine you have, you might be less likely to face ire than one of the front liners heading out to take on a boss herself."

Her lips were buried in her mug just as she finished her thought. "Of course, it's not like I could imagine my client having any bones to pick with anyone, either, but it's not like either of us could say for sure..."

[ChaseR 0]

"I don't... think it could be that either. I barely know NIGHT any, and I thought we bonded the most during the trip with her doppelganger. There was nothing they could find out about her except for where I met her first.", he mumbled with furrowed eyebrows, continuing to struggle in making any sense out of this mess of a case. He picked up his own cup again and took another sip, getting just a bit more used to this taste that he'd long now forgotten. Not quite the same thing, but... Then it sort of struck him.

"... I could have sworn it was her. Just as much as I could when I was trying to get to the bottom of why NIGHT has this memory gap, I believe it as much as I did then. Even if I know it's not, just... Whoever did it has nothing to gain. They know my mate's name, where my house is and enough about NIGHT to already have her most important information down. So why would they care to know anything from a stranger like me? I don't think they were hunting information- hell, I still have my doubts about it being somebody else in the first place. But she seemed so distraught too... She actually didn't know.", he monologued, starting to draw to a conclusion that just felt plain wrong. It just... No matter what, he couldn't make sense of this. "Why would somebody go to such lengths in the first place?"

[Bistro 0]

"Who knows?"

When ChaseR had started to ramble, Bistro had pulled down a blank message, beginning to take his notes down. Just like her associate, the broker had no good conclusions to draw upon; with how little information they had, the two could only speculate on the causes. "I'm not sure if this has happened in the history of Aincrad before," she spoke, reviewing the details of his case, "but I'm not one to put it past the work of another player in another time, another place. With what we know, it's entirely possible for someone to execute what they did -- when it comes to motives, we're completely lost on the issue."

Her brows were furrowed as she continued to examine their prospects. "Assuming there's no malice involved on any one of these parties, its likely whoever did it had the intention of humoring themselves moreso than they do to sow some seeds of distrust. Though, the details from their level of accuracy is... alarming." There was a moment of falter on Bistro's face when she'd thought about keeping her notes, her chatlogs safe. No one could've broken into her workshop, of course, Cardinal made sure to keep interlopers out of her way. But the broker wouldn't forgive herself if there was a moment of weakness in her operations. Perhaps a security review was in order for her work, running through the systems manual once again just so that she could catch any flaws about her and her home.

"At best, I can only suggest keeping an eye out. And I can see if anyone's been messed with during the past couple of days, though I don't think I'm likely to turn up anything specific either..."

[ChaseR 0]

He gritted his teeth, not wanting to end up completely clueless with this. In a desperate attempt to not drop his lead, Chase rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes, trying to keep calm and not look like a complete madman. If he knew it was NIGHT, there was a single, slim possibility. He looked over towards the door again, gulping dryly as he started to ramble in order to get to where he wanted. "... Zachariah is still there, from the first lessons quest... Do NPCs follow any patterns? They need to have a routine, the same way we humans do."

"Since... People don't just approach you out of random all the time. It's like there's something at play, they're 'waiting for something'. So what are they doing until then? Do you know?", Chase threw his next question on the table as he returned his sight to the cup of coffee, watching the liquid ripple slightly. He could swear it was like coffee in the real world, but he knew all too well that it wasn't anywhere near the same thing. Just like his memories with NIGHT. "But if there's an NPC for it, don't they change disappear after some point..?"

[Bistro 0]

"NPCs?"

This was where things felt a little trickier for Bistro. She didn't know enough about Aincrad to say what would happen once a tree fell in a forest and no one was around to see it. "The age old philosophical question," she mused, cupping a finger around her lips again. "I'd imagine they'd still exist even when we're not looking, wouldn't you? Sort of like how things function in real life. Though I can't imagine what kind of NPC would get involved with a player that intimately to begin with..."

She continued to hammer away at her keyboard, taking down ChaseR's suggestion as input. "I haven't heard of a scenario like that occurring before. As for NPC interactions, we can't rule out that possibility entirely. Some quests change depending on how you interact with the world around them. And there's that bit of history from the front-liners I keep hearing rumors about but can't get my hands on..."

Her hands drummed the countertop as she continued to scan her inbox, hoping for some tidbit of information that might help. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, however.

[ChaseR 0]

"I'd imagine they'd still exist even when we're not looking, wouldn't you?"

That was the first bit of confirmation that Chase needed. If somebody were keeping watch on said NPCs, he'd see them disappear, but that would imply they can only disappear out of plain sight. If someone weren't watching, then there'd be no way to tell where said NPC is. And then came the second bit, right on over.

"As for NPC interactions... Some quests change depending on how you interact with the world around them."

This was the final piece of the puzzle that he needed as he looked down at the coffee, letting out a deep sigh of relief. This new theory of his, as absurd as it might have seemed at first, slowly started making sense more and more. He took another sip of his coffee, much more relaxed than before and looked at Bistro.

"It was her. I have to ask her to find out, but... It was her. She wasn't there, yet she was with me.", he said out loud for a moment before realising exactly what he was doing- being incredibly vague and not helpful. "Do you know if she's killed her Gemini or not?". It was becoming very much clear what conclusion he was leaning towards, although it was still a hunch more than anything. The theory probably had too many holes to consider quite yet, but the merit of it being what's truly at play was what excited him the most.

[Bistro 0]

It was with hope that Bistro lifted her cup, that some last sliver of coffee had remained to satisfy her taste buds. But her tongue was only met with air, the woman at least indulging the possibility of her associate's suggestion.

"Most players don't like talking about it," the broker offered, setting down the ceramic on the bar. "So I can't say for sure. If I understand it, however, she has undergone that quest, if my memory serves me right..."

Her scrolls were idle to make their way over to NIGHT's name on her contacts list. Then, her flicks turned rapid, flipping through multiple months of discussion and quest information, up to one of their earliest conversations. She paired it with the notes she'd collected about the Gemini, running her chat through a short examination in comparison. Within a few seconds, she dismissed the two of them, leaving only her inbox open in a blank state.

"Seems like it. But -- why?" Her fingers tapped the table top, Bistro humming over the intel as she quickly tapped out their guesses. "It's not like players catch sight of doppelgangers running around and ruining their reputations for themselves. Either that, or most players ended up completing the quest the same way you have?"

[ChaseR 0]

It was almost as if a glimmer appeared in Chase's eyes as he took a small, final sip and grinned, finally having brightened up. It felt like he'd found the solution to the puzzle. "Then we found out where her Gemini is. She didn't seem to know of any skill to change her own appearance, so that means she never unlocked Disguise.", he dipped his head in slightly as he got up, stuffing one hand in his jacket's pocket and holding the other out to shake her own. "It was a pleasure doing work with you, Bistro. I expect you keep this between us two.", he finished off, trusting in her ability to hold secrets.

With that, he hastily waved her goodbye and left, beginning to head towards where NIGHT said her home address was in that message. He'd confront her about it and let her know that her Gemini is still out there, and it's probably nothing to worry about. He didn't really have enough time to be bothered about whether her doppelganger was trying to ruin her image or anything- he was just happy to finally have gotten through this. As long as it was her Gemini and nothing else, he was safe from anybody. That would explain the same memories as NIGHT, but also the slight gaps between their encounters.

As he arrived outside of the swordswoman's house, he knocked on the door and opened his menu, sending her a message. 

ChaseR: Hey, I'm outside. I've news. Open up.

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by ChaseR