Hotel Zafiro Lobby

When the Aschen weren’t happy to see each other something was definitely up. Shaunie followed the man in the indigo suit with his eyes.

One thing that was good: the Aschen had no direct enforcement protocol here and couldn’t just start locking everything down. The other side of the coin was that they probably knew the people who could. Something something diplomacy, Shaunie thought as he watched the man head to the elevators.

He couldn’t help but glare kind of harder than he should have when the man walked right by him.

Wait what was that? Did he just ditch something? Shaunie looked around to see if anyone else saw that. Should he notify hotel staff? Aw hell he didn’t want to get involved in anything! He left Terra for a reason!

The odd man knew he was being watched and when the moment came that their eyes locked, the man slowly began to approach, the sharpness of his suit only made more readily apparent. It was an unusual color for a suit, but appeared to be quite fashionable. Those of Aschen descent gave the man a wide berth, and he was soon a few feet away as he smoothed his hair down and kept his gaze focused.

"Sometimes we find ourselves watching things that do not need seeing." He said cryptically.

"I'm looking for somebody, and perhaps you can help me find them, child."

Shit shit shit shit shit, Shaunie curse the heavens above and below as the Aschen guy in the indigo suit headed straight for him.

Just his luck. He survived them once. As the man addressed Shaunie and all but called him out for being a peeper his stomach dropped to the floor. It found its way back to his place and thankfully not out of his throat when the man asked for his… assistance?

“Maybe,” Shaunie responded curtly with a shrug. But I’m not a child, old man, he thought to himself.

There was a lethality behind the Confessor’s gaze as he regarded Shaunie with contempt, the mind’s gears silently turning as he considered his next move, his eyes narrowing slightly as he reached into the suit pocket. The plush velour like material was certainly incredibly high quality, and the lapel pin stood out, but was an unusual symbol to those who were uninitiated into the internal machinations of Aschen society.

The pin itself resembled a coiled up arthropod, like a coiled insect with it’s interlocking plates. Every Aschen knew it to be the symbol of the infamous Confessor Cabal, a political organization that was allowed to move unimpeded throughout Aschen society, and even the most powerful and influential aristocrats were not immune to their jurisdiction.

He held up the holocron and Carmen’s visage flickered into view. The Confessor watched Shaunie closely for any subtle reactions, every subtle facial tic that could give away that he might know something. He was trained to glean even the smallest details from the most stone-faced adversary. He could read a poker face like a map, and glean intent, or concealment from the slightest eye movement.

“I am searching for this woman, your cooperation in ascertaining her whereabouts is paramount.” The man said coldly.

Shaunie almost laughed- he recognized that woman. Man, they Aschen worked fast. There was a kerskuffle in the club earlier, which he had all but witnessed with a front row seat. His eyes flicked from the man's shiny pin to the hologram, and then back to his face. He tried his best to keep his expression cool.

"Yeah," He responded and stood a little taller, "I think I saw her, somewhere, recently," Shaunie's eyes lingered on the pin. Whatever it was, it was fancy. Expensive. If the opportunity presented itself, he planned on getting some compensation for his paramount information.

The lights of Hotel Zafiro lobby dimmed, then brightened into a warm yellow light. Everything was lit better than it had been before as the emergency alarm system kicked into play. The staff shuffled into position, manning the desk in double quantity and preparing for chaos at the doors.

Haruka Mayumi has arrived, coming from Starwind Plaza.

People came rushing in from the plaza as the lockdown notice blared. What was happening out there? The staff tried to keep everyone calm.

After a few minutes, the Head Concierge all but sprinted behind the counter and slammed a button underneath it.

The doors of Hotel Zafiro slowly closed.

Haruka buckled over and wheezed as she tried to catch her breath, vision blurred, she hadn't moved like that in a long while. Being at a desk most of the time has left her rather... ill adjusted to this. She looked about the lobby, the doors being sealed behind her. Shit! She hadn't done anything wrong, why was this happening? Her eyes as they adjusted caught a sight, a man in an indigo suit confronting a young man, the former holding up something to him. Curiosity made her edge closer to see, and sure enough, she started to make out a woman in a holographic display. She craned her neck and bit her bottom lip.

"Her," she uttered under her breath, animosity growing in her voice. She wished she had never seen this woman. Everything now seemed to center around her now. "This is all her fault? Great."

Bolea Nuurk has arrived, coming from Hotel Zafiro Gallery.

Bolea Nuurk noticed immediately the doors were shutting and being manned by a few of the hotel staff, making sure nobody went in or came out. Things must be pretty serious! She slowly scanned the room. Where was Shaunie... Bolea reached out an amoeba like appendage and pressed record.

There were a bunch of people who seemed out of breath and frightened by the door. Maybe she'd start there.
The front desk was fully manned and everyone was asking questions, she noticed, with concerned looks on their faces. They might have a deeper scoop.
Turning around slowly she recorded the scene with her solocamband and her memory.

It was also a lot less blue in here-with the lighting. Through the doors she saw flashes of blue and red.

A lockdown!
And there was Shaunie!
And who was he talking to?
And that weasel lady might know something...

Jack "Violence Suppressor" Donovan has arrived, coming from Starwind Plaza.

The lighting dimmed a bit, but didn't resume it's full blue from the opening of the evening. By the doors of Hotel Zafiro, the staff looked at each other. They began to let people filter in and out, on orders from the top. Complimentary beverages began to be dispersed through the crowd, of anything they requested that the hotel was equipped to provide.

The Confessor made a face, the insolence of this one. "Those who aid enemies of the Empire are to forfeit their lives." The confessor said cryptically, smoothing the creases in his suit, he regarded Shaunie with a bit more focus. "So if you've seen her recently, it would behoove you to share those details with me, if you value your continued existence." The confessor was straight to the point, but he appeared unarmed, though as he folded his hands in front of him, the brief flash of some unusual looking bracer revealed itself.

"Out with it." The Confessor insisted.

Haruka approached, a bit more daringly now, this day had become one of the worst and she was ready to put an end to it. This man in the suit, well, if the room wasn't easy enough to read, talking about the empire made it blatantly obvious. Aschen. Why did they want this woman? That doesn't matter to her. She was having a bad day, and this woman was at the root of everything. She moved towards the man, her hands behind her back playing it a bit coy.

"Oh wOooOw, why are you harassing this poor ma- Oh! Her? I've seen that b- woman before! Oh my gosh, is she a criminal..? Oh my, where was she..." she suddenly blurted out, a faux surprise in her voice, before she clicked her tongue, before she just dropped the facade completely, a bitterness in her voice, "honestly, she's caused nothing but misery for me and everyone I've met until now, I don't care who you work for, I don't care what you do to her. The fact I had a psionic event with her makes me feel... gross, soOoOo... I bumped into her on the way in from the checkpoint, she was headed towards the docks, that way before the lockdown by the way, so chances are... she's booked it. You guys can track ships, right? Tch, silly me, of course you can. It may have been around the time you were first arriving. And if you think for a moment I'm making this all up, read my face when I say this."

She moved beside Shaunie and the Confessor so her face was in clear view, wrinkled up into the ever so human look of: I'm sick of this shit.

"I have no love for this woman, and if she has done anything to my brother, I'll hunt her down myself," she said in a low and shaky voice. "And the fact she's made me feel that, makes me hate her more."

Shaunie's eyebrows climbed into his scalp as he listened to Haruka. He moved aside a small step to let Haruka have the full floor of the conversation, nudged aside again as she seemed to get quite worked up there now didn't she. Damn, this Carmen lady really seemed to be rubbing everyone the wrong way.

He winced when Haruka lowered her voice and continued to spit hate. Damn. Just, damn - oh! Two and two clicked together. So this weasel lady was the other weasel dude's relative. They were all on a private tour earlier, weren't they? Shaunie delicately cleared his throat.

"She was in Club 47," he said to the Aschen, "seems she's gone now," and shrugged. He moved an inch closer to Haruka. The dude got what he wanted.

A staff attendant approached the group of three with a silver tray. Atop the tray were a few bottles of water, and a card that read "Anything else, just ask".

Volare Stardust has arrived, coming from Starwind Plaza.

Volare walked out of his special door and found himself in a busy lobby. Many people were rushing around, looking worried. It was the first time he had seen so many people in one place. He held Eques close and tried to find someone to ask what was going on.

Shaunie grabbed a bottle of water and took a large side step away from Haruka and the Aschen dude. Nope, that was enough of that for one day! He opened the bottle and quickly chugged the water down.

He wasn't looking where he was going and almost walked right into a guy holding an adorable cat- Volare.

"Ack, my bad!" Shaunie popped the lid back on the bottle and apologized as he regained his balance.

Volare knew that he should say something when Shaunie apologized, but since he hadn't talked to people for a long time, he couldn't remember what he should say in this situation. He stared at Shaunie for a moment, then realized that the silence was becoming awkward. His face turned red, and he looked away. Finally, he replied, 'I'm sorry; I forgot what to say when people apologize. You're the first person I've talked to in a long time.

After venting to the confessor, Haruka's stress level had started to drop and the adrenaline rush had faded, leaving her with just a strange sense of unease about the entire ordeal. She leaned over and grabbed a bottle of water and began to chug it, but not before giving a "thank you," to the attendant. It was exactly what she needed right now.

While in the midst of sipping her drink and beginning to calm down, Haruka caught in her peripheral a glimpse of something unusual: a door, seemingly detached from any frame, standing alone in the middle of nowhere. She quickly turned her head to get a better look, her cheeks still puffed with water. She simply quietly stared at this point, watching as there was a near collision between the young man from earlier and one with a cat just appeared out of a... nowhere door?

She swallowed and quietly shuffled over, effectively distracted by what she wasn't sure was real or a stress-induced hallucination.

"You have served the Empire well, Xeno, and you shall be rewarded for your vigilance." The Confessor replied to Haruka as his expression darkened, and a wicked grin crossed his face while he brought his communicator to his lips to issue his order. "This is Laird, the subject fled by ship, she is most likely no longer here, I'll be returning to the Esteem." He slid the communicator back into the hidden chest pocket of his suit jacket, and he nodded with a smile.

Swiftly turning away, he pulled back his sleeve to reveal an alien looking, almost insectoid gauntlet made from interlocking hexagonal plates. He keyed something into the display on his gauntlet, and tugged the suit jacket back over it. In an instant, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

"Ah well, if you're looking to meet people this seems to be a good place. A little chaotic right now," Shaunie said to Volare, taking a half step to the side to welcome Haruka into their conversation bubble. The doors to Hotel Zafiro were reopening, the attendants thanking everyone who rushed out and welcoming those who rushed in.

"Looks like you made it just in time to not get caught in any crossfires," Shaunie smiled at Volare, then glanced back to where the Aschen guy was asking questions - only to see he had apparently disappeared into thin air. Weird. Today was weird.

"Anyway uh, I'm Shaunie," He said to Volare and Haruka, finding his manners somewhere in the confusion of watching a person disappear.

"Is everyone here for the Grand Opening?"

Jack darts in, looking mildly annoyed. He had gotten in just before the doors closed, but had been mobbed by such a huge amount of people he couldn't really do anything until it subsided. Over the heads of the group, however, he spies Haruka, and quickly darts over when the crush disperses.
He stops running and slows down abruptly when he gets closer, awkwardly pushing his hair back as he notices the other people there. "Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt," he says quickly and rather quietly to Haruka. "What's the situation? What was up with that confessor? Did you tell him anything?"
Fuck, I guess I missed out. Damn it.
He realizes in a spare moment that his gun is completely unconcealed, and hurriedly shoves his hand in his jacket pocket to cover it.
I'm looking like a total rube, jeez. Need to get my act together. He visibly straightens, then reaches up and turns back on his glasses just in time for a notification that says RIOT Agent Jack Donovan - Please Report. Failure to do so will result in administration of Compound 411. Time Left: 01s
"Oh, shit."
He flinches as a dose from a patch on his arm is activated, administering a dose of a steroid.
He freezes in place for a moment before quickly walking away, holding up a single finger as he turns around, signaling one second before disappearing deeper into the hotel.