2025-12-12: Plans
- Log: Plans
- Cast: Ichika Kawase, Julian Marlowe
- Where: Mementos Lobby
- OOC Date: December 12, 2025
- IC Date: August 24, 2012
- Summary: Ahead of stealing Eiji Kamiya's heart, Ichika Kawase makes one call to ask to meet someone in the morning. Vesper comes, and has some news--but not the news he hoped to share...
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
There's a lot to get done, before everything is ready and it's time. ...And that time is almost approaching. With one detective thoroughly out, Ichika is inclined to call on one she knows is a better fit for her needs... one who helped her before, with no apparent expectation of reward.
So she got out Vesper's card, and asked him to meet her in Mementos in the late morning.
Now, Ogre is there, dressed in her thorn-wrapped armor, standing looking at one of the monitors that delivers so much nonsense into the world. It's just the entrnace; the disturbing veins are everywhere... but she hasn't gone down the turnstiles.
There's no Shadows at the entrance. But Ogre's here. Waiting.
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper, for his part, feels like there is an understanding between him and Ogre. Certainly on the matter of Ichika Kawase's predicament. Not that there aren't plenty of other reasons to oppose Eiji Kamiya, but it's the clearly personal aspect of it to Ogre that truly made him inclined to offer any and all assistance that he could. After all, it's not as if it isn't personal to him.
Beyond that... well, he's not thinking that far ahead just yet. It's never a good time to think too far ahead in the middle of a crisis. And there was going to be much to do to resolve this one.
He would have hoped to have pieced together more of a solution before Ogre contacted him again, however... well, there were unexpected developments. Still, he wasn't about to turn down the invitation. He'd just have to see how it goes.
And so, right at the appointed time with the perfect punctuality one may expect of a Gentleman, Vesper strides into Mementos clad in his immaculately tailored suit, his opera-style masked visage betraying little in regards to his emotions.
"Good morning, Ogre," he greets with a brief lifting of his bowler hat. "You had matters to discuss?" Even though he reckons there's only thing this could possibly be about, he does tend to keep things vague, never giving away much of anything for no reason. It's a style thing. That, and a bit of worldly wisdom, perhaps.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
There is!
Ogre inclines her head, her horned mask glinting in the flickering light of the monitor. "Hey," she greets him, looking him over--mostly out of habit. He seems fine enough, though, so she calls that good.
Style! "Heh. Right to the point, huh? ...Well, that's fine."
She pauses. "Yeah. It's about Eiji Kamiya."
"...You got anything to share?" she wonders. "It's cool if not, but if you do, I want to hear it, since..."
"I have a plan."
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper chuckles in regards to being 'right to the point'. Only the mask affords him that luxury. Direct actions can be quite liberating, for someone who's used to avoiding confrontation. Even then, habits are hard to break. But, sticking to the bit, he keeps it at that mysterious chuckle.
Unfortunately, giving away the initiative does come with down side of allowing Ogre to ask him about his findings first. Well... he does suppose he might be best to rip the band-aid off, in that regard.
"...A plan, you say? I'm quite interested in hearing it... particularly since my own efforts did not entirely go to plan."
He lowers his head slightly, one hand on the brim of his hat. "I managed to infiltrate the Palace alright, in my own way." By which he means, not violently, but through stealth and deception. He's not proud of acting like he was on board with what was going on there, but... well. It's something he can do, for the sake of getting what he wants. Means to an end, and all that. However...
"...I found someone there, one with a face among the faceless, being held captive. A high school student, who I later found out had entered the Palace on a dare of sorts, a test of bravery imposed by her peers." Someone he recognized from Kasugayama, is a detail he keeps to himself.
Raising his head, he questions Ogre, "Have you heard the rumor, in regards to the Akiyoshi Building?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah?" Ogre wonders. "...That's fine. I'll tell you after you update me about what happened," she says, since that way they're not talking over each other. She does want to know, after all. Infiltrating the Palace...
'Rough as hell, right?" Ogre opines on the Palace. "Even sneaking around it's awful."
But--found someone there? "Oh, shit," she says, her eyes widening under her mask. She takes half a step forward. "Did you get her out?"
Pause. "...Yeah, I've heard it. Something about Shakespeare and breaking into a car, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Rough as hell, that's one way to put it. Vesper seems to prefer to not put it any way at all, saying only, "I won't argue that, for certain. I'd really rather not go into the details, which... I suspect you already know more of than you'd have liked to."
He is quick to dispel the worry with an, "I did," in regards to the student he came across. Again not going into details, because that too involved acting in a way he's not proud of. Still makes him sick to his stomach to consider that whole situation might have been a microcosm of things happening in the real world. Shaking his head, he adds, "Although I suppose I can't prove the claim one way or another... she did not appear to remember the events clearly. Which may be a mercy."
He nods, though then makes a so-so gesture. "It seemed as if events conspired to keep the car in question unlocked. Once I learned of it, and had seen what could become of those who entered the Palace unprepared, I decided to try and halt any more of such incidents. I kept a close eye on forum posts indicating that someone might attempt the rumor, and took steps to keep people away from that car." Again, little in the way of details, but one can imagine that causing people to become unsettled before doing the scary thing might cause them to lose their nerve.
That's when Vesper's head lowers once again, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I... did all I could reasonably manage. And yet... I only learned far too late that I'd made a foolish miscalculation. It was never about any one car. Any car in that car park could work, so long as it was unlocked."
Meeting Ogre's eyes, he then states, "And to you, I owe a personal apology. I had promised to assist in saving Ichika Kawase, yet I could not stay focused on the task." He removes his hat, and bows low. "I am deeply sorry."
This is the kind of person that Vesper is. Someone who cannot choose to focus on helping just one, knowing that in doing so, many others may not get the help they need. And someone who thinks others are likely to consider that a failing.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I won't then," Ogre answers. "I don't like recalling the details, either." She does indeed know more than she'd like. However, for the worry...
"Good," Ogre answers quickly, her shoulders relaxing somewhat in a visible way as she takes her step backward towards the wall again. "I mean, if you saved her, I don't care if you prove it. I'm glad she doesn't remember too much--that'd be... hard. And hard to explain. Can you imagine trying to explain that place to the cops, say?"
A shake of her head. But...
"Hm... Oh. Yeah."
"...Oh." So it wasn't just one car... "..."
"If you saved one girl," Ogre says, "One person--then that's good enough for me. Ichika's not the only one in danger anymore. Just one other person being saved is worth it, to me. And we're gonna save more than that."
"So, my plan has a few stages... But the first is that I've got a lot of info out of the Palace that i've given to various PIs like you--the Cardboard Dragon, Uchida-san with Kuzunoha--and they're looking into the people and companies we found. For Eiji himself..."
"This is a secret, OK? But I trust you. So I'll tell you that I contacted the Phantom Thieves. They're going to take his heart."
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
There's an actual grimace visible on Vesper's lips at the mention of the word 'cops'. He would never turn to them for any solutions to begin with, but his response is more nuanced. "I daresay that would not go over well." Dismissing it as overactive imagination would probably be the best case scenario... given that from what Ichika said during her sessions with Julian, it sounded like Eiji might have them in his pockets.
All the more reason to keep the real world out of this, and look for solutions in the Palace. Something which he wished he could have done more of... until he got distracted, in a way that reached the limits of what he felt he could have on his conscience. Some professional investigator, he'd expect others to say. But that's not what Ogre says.
How he feels about that isn't readable in what's visible of his expression, when he calmly straightens and puts his hat back on. "Thank you for saying so. Your exterior may be fierce, but you have a magnanimous heart, Ogre."
And it's a good point: there is a big picture here. Many more still would be saved if they could dismantle the entire operation. Private investigators, rather than the police, did seem like the proper route to take... but all things considered, it would likely be a long, long road. Unless...
Vesper nearly loses his footing at Ogre's next words. So it is possible to take him completely off guard. "You... managed to get into contact with the Phantom Thieves? How on earth did you manage that? ...Not the website, certainly?" He never believed for a second that was legit at all, if it was that easy it would be his biggest investigative blunder yet.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre appreciates that grimace. ...Because she's pretty sure Eiji does work with the police, one way or another. Especially the ones in Sumaru...
Maybe that's why he funnels his targets to Sumaru, instead of keeping them in Iwatodai.
Ogre sees him straighten, doesn't realize how big it is to him. But she smiles anyway. "It's cool," she says. "'Justice' is more than just one person. ...Though don't get me wrong. I'm not forgetting about any specific people here, either."
But a long road indeed. Until...
Until that. "The website was a good start," she said, "But obviously I couldn't just... ask them to do it on the site. No, I asked to meet them here in Mementos--and then after some shuffling, to make sure it wasn't a trap or something I guess, they sent one of them to meet me."
"Turns out, I'd already met one--which is probably why they agreed. Anyway, the long and short is..."
"I'm gonna do this job with them. And if the heist goes funny, we might need some more muscle. I don't wanna fail before I've started or anything, I just--think it's good to have you on alert."
"So yeah. That's what I'm gonna do. It's not my place to invite you to the heist... But when they send the card, be ready to go to the Palace, if you want to help us get out."
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
"Justice..." Vesper intones, in response to Ogre's words. He doesn't feel right about claiming to be on the side of Justice, but... it's true enough that he can't stand to see Injustice done to those who did nothing to deserve it. He has some complicated feelings there, but Ogre makes it sound so simple. 'youth', he catches himself thinking, making himself feel old.
Maybe that's why the Phantom Thieves all seemed to be so young, from what he could tell. You might need to be able to at least adopt a youthful mindset to be able to stand against any sort of vested order. A lesson that he should take to heart, perhaps.
Although he asks, the details given to him about contacting the Phantom Thieves feel like some important steps are being left out. But he didn't expect differently. If it would be that simple to get the Phantom Thieves to stage a heist, there would be many more verifiable reports of their activity around. They do, after all, seem to value their notoriety, rather than seek to keep their accomplishments under wraps.
But Vesper doesn't ask for the details. He just makes the occasional 'hm' sound, leaning on the umbrella that he planted down. As interesting as it is that Ogre might know one of the Phantom Thieves on a personal level, he's not going to ask. He understands the importance of anonymity, and couldn't compromise it without being a hypocrite, besides.
"I see," he finally speaks after that long period of mostly silence, listening to Ogre's plans. "Well then... I appreciate the act of faith, in choosing to be forthright with me on this. So let me be perfectly forthright with you."
Vesper raises his eyes upward, as if he could see through the distorted subways up to the world above. "The problems of the world today run deep. Oftentimes, too deep to confront head-on, no matter how much we may want to. I, for one, cannot be satisfied with simply sitting by, hoping for things to improve... yet I recognize, also, that what I can personally accomplish is limited."
He lowers his gaze back down to Ogre, casually flicking his umbrella upwards to land neatly back where he usually keeps it, dangling off his arm. "But the Phantom Thieves... they have found a means to enact true change. I can't claim to know the exact nature of said means, but the results speak for themselves. There's no question that their acts have improved people's lives for the better." A slight grin forms on his lips. "So believe me when I say that... by my reckoning, the world needs the Phantom Thieves. And it would be my absolute pleasure to assist in whatever way I'm able."
Bringing his arm inward, he bows like a butler might. "But don't take my word for it. Let my actions speak for themselves, as well. Expect to see me there, when the time comes."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre wants to be on the side of justice. She does make it simple. Youth, indeed. She's young, for all that she's dealt with very adult problems--and maybe she's learning to lean into that, too.
She's definitely leaving out some details.. But that's not important right now. Instead, the young woman before Vesper stands strong. She's tall (though not as tall as Vesper) and proud--different from how she was when she was relating her tale to Vesper in the first place.
There's silence, but...
"Hm?" Forthright with her. She lowers her arms from where she'd crossed them, and listens.
"...Yeah," she says of the problems that are in the world today. But the Phantom Thieves...
"Great," Ogre answers when he's made it clear, smiling back. "That's what I think, too. I don't think the Phantom Thieves can solve everything... but if they can take down people like Eiji, or that Kaneshiro.. I'm in, you know? One step at a time."
She beams back. "Awesome," she says. "I'll be waiting to see it."
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
As much as Vesper enjoys withholding information for the sake of keeping a mystery going, times like this compel him to honesty. At least where it comes to the subject at hand, and when speaking to someone who's made it clear to be an ally, in regards to where they stand in changing the world for the better. He may have a tendency towards acting alone, but that doesn't mean it has to feel lonely.
The start of a laugh actually escapes him by the end of it, which he reels back in with a cough, before affirming, "Indeed... this won't the first time I'll see them in person. By coincidence, I happened to be there when they confronted Kaneshiro, as well. ...I say 'coincidence', but people like me, we have a way of getting involved when people have been pushed too far. Isn't that right?" One of the eyes behind the mask vanishing for longer than a blink probably means he winked just now.
Of course, the implication remains that people hire him for this sort of thing. The fact that he doesn't charge anything as long as the job is 'of interest' to him does speak of his personal motivations... but people are free to think what they like, of course. All part of what makes things interesting in the first place.
For now, Vesper adjusts his tie as he assures Ogre, "I'll endeavour not to keep you waiting long."