Mission 6c - The blood of the arcane

Kin turns to his companions with some suggestions.

"This is all about finding similarities and connections, either with the mages themselves or with the way they were murdered.

With respect to the murders, I think it would be helpful to determine if 1.) drugs were found in any of their systems, 2.) If there were any signs of a struggle from any of the victims, 3.) If they were hung upside down, what was used to secure them? 4.) If there were any signs of a forced entry at any of the locations.

Socially, I would like to see if we could 1.) find any common associates, 2.) See if they frequented any of the same places and 3.) See if they belonged to any of the same groups, clubs or associations.

Let's start by plotting where each lived on a map to give us an idea if there is any pattern there."

Emiko gazes out the window and watches the rain pelt the glass while Kin lists the facts of the case. Variables pile on top of each other like a non-emptied garbage pail and the not knowing stinks.

Nodding in agreement while saying, "I'm on it," Emiko opens a map on her deck and places pins to mark the murder sites.  She shows the two men the final image hoping a pattern will emerge amongst the new group.  Maybe Edison's drone, Little Brother, will see something the human eyes cannot.

"I'm also going to do a search and gather whatever information we can about these mages, maybe find a pattern in that as well."

Emiko loads her two agents, Garuda and Gammabunta, and does a search gathering information on the 10 mages.

Matrix Search: 9 hits

Edward leaves LB with the others to check out the map. He reaches out with his mind to contact Ken Nakagawa, he may be able to shed some light on this bit of business. The slow patter of rain exagurating the wait for Ken to answer his com. Ken didn't answer, his machine instead telling Edison to leave a message.

Edison here, give me a shout. I am trying to find out where to make my donation to the Cowboy's retirement fund. If you can help me find out I can help you out.

Edison disconnects and heads back to the map.

Kin sits in awe what his associates accomplish. Technology fascinates him, being a more physical world kind of guy.

He looks at the information provided him about the murders and studies each one in turn looking for something, the way each person was knocked unconscious. Did the fight back at all or perhaps know their attacker allowing that person into their home. Were there any similar marks on multiple victims. Did any of the victims have markings or tattoos on their bodies?

There is a lot of information to assimilate and Kin processed as much as he can in an attempt to answer the previous questions swirling in his head.

One by one, Kin takes a look at the reports, comparing the victims.

8/03
Name: Mina Yasumi
Age: 24
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Residence: 1-12-4, Hana Heights #203, Izakaya district
Murder details: Strangled, apparently by hand. Ankles bound to to a support beam by an extension cord. Throat slit, blood drained postmortem. No signs of forced entry.

8/05
Name: Matsuo Watabe
Age: 31
Race: Dwarf
Sex: Male
Residence: 3-2-14, Kishi Hills #609, Harabuya District
Murder details: Knocked unconscious by blunt trauma to the head. Propped upside down, throat slit, blood drained resulting in death. No signs of forced entry.

8/08
Name: Kenshin Dokite
Age: 41
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Residence: 5-2-4 Marumi Heights #113, Shinginko District
Murder details: Knocked unconscious by blunt trauma to the head. Propped upside down, throat slit, blood drained resulting in death. No signs of forced entry.

8/11
Name: Isei Takata
Age: 21
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Residence: 4-2-13 Sunshine Hills #217, Denkicho District
Murder details: Stabbed in the throat, then hung upside down in the closet and drained of blood. No signs of forced entry.

8/13
Name:  Gin Ogura
Age: 31
Race: Ork
Sex:  Female
Residence:  4-21-5 Flower Heights #745, Odori District
Murder details: Throat slit in bed, apparently while sleeping. No signs of forced entry.

8/16
Name: Yoshiku Morishige
Age: 45
Race:  Human
Sex: Male
Residence: 8-1-1 Sakura Court # 1336, Kinza District
Murder details: Throat slit, blood drained. Toxicology reports BAC of 0.35. No signs of forced entry.

8/18
Name:  Izu Kuba
Age: 86
Race:  Elf
Sex: Male
Residence: 1-2-1 Mountain Court #101, Goujasu District.
Murder details: Extensive electrical burns. Throat slit and blood drained postmortem. No signs of forced entry.

8/20
Name:  Makoto Aozora
Age: 29
Race: Troll
Sex: Male
Residence: None. Found squatting in an abandoned building in the Kita Barrens.  
Murder details: Body found largely eaten by rats. Throat slit and blood drained. Signs of struggle, but no signs of forced entry.

8/21
Name: Mineko Kawamoto
Age:  29
Race:  Human
Sex: Female
Residence: None. Body found in a park in Yuuenchi.
Murder details: Body found largely eaten by rats. Throat slit and blood drained.


8/23
Name: Mareo Okubo
Age: 20
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Residence: 1-35-15 Dorm 6, Room 104, Bokkyo Medical College
Murder details: Body found, throat slit and drained of blood. No sign of struggle. Roommate also found dead with extensive electrical burns. Roommate was not drained.

Kin pours over the reports. The only two pieces of information that stand out is that each murder occurred in a different district and that each body was drained of blood. Kin is looking for information involving whether each individual had some significant role to play in their own district and whether the blood that was drained was collected and taken from the scene or left there to coagulate.

Edison snaps his fingers, if this is some sort of bizarre ceremony maybe it has happened before.

Edison sends some mental commands to his sprite.
Has anything like this ever happened before?
Does magical blood have special qualities that may be used in a ceremony?
If any of the HMHVV infected have a mist form quality I'd like a discription of their broader abilities.

Edison sets the sprite to work. Hopefully to return with some useable information.

Emiko
Emiko does a matrix search on the victims. She finds their social media accounts, some of which are more active than others. Nothing in them really seems to stick out to her though. They don't seem to be important people by any stretch of the imagination.  
However, she is able to harvest some contacts from their pages that she could potentially go speak to. She compiles a list of close friends and relatives for each of the victims. All told, there are about 50 promising contacts.

Edison

Edison receive a response from Ken:
>>>>> What kind of help are you looking for?

Meanwhile he sends his sprite out of search for information.
He finds no similar cases in the area. At least none that involve the draining of blood. Given that firearms are illegal in the country, the most common murder weapons are either clubs or knives so blunt force trauma and throat slitting aren't unheard of. Still, nothing really comes up that suggests this is a regular thing.

As for the blood of the awakened vs mundane blood, scholarly articles on the matter are mostly from Oceloxichitl and are written in dense, academic Eastern common. He downloads the papers in case he can find someone who can actually read them.

Other than the Krueger strain that is currently quite an epidemic in the city, the HMHVV virus is not known to be active on the island. That is not to say there aren't cases of vampiric creatures that have nothing to do with the virus though. There was a case of a jiangshi that made big news a few months back. In fact, Sam, Wujen and Fuchougou were made minor celebrities for their part in capturing the creature. Jiangshi are a type of vampire that leap about and gain powers as they drain the life of the dead. However, the pictures of the victims from the jiangshi killings look nothing like those here.

From her search results, Emiko figures she'll start from the beginning: the first known victim, Mina Yasumi.  Emiko's heart sinks looking at the girl's information.  Just like Emiko, she's a 24 year old human. "This could have been me," she thinks to herself.  Emiko takes the morbid thought and tucks it deep away into her consciousness in the file NEVER OPEN.

While she would prefer to just message people, Emiko knows it's no match for the personal connection of face-to-face commlink conversation.  "I'm more likely to get people to trust me."  Emiko's call goes something like this:

"Hello (Mr. / Ms. person's last name), my name is Emiko Amaterasu and I represent a group investigating the occurrence at (location) with (victim's name). I would like to meet with you to discuss some things; perhaps things detectives missed the first time around."  Emiko will always suggest they meet someplace public, like a coffee shop. "There is a coffee shop at (location), I would like to buy you a cup and go over some things with you."

Negotiation: 4 hits

While Emiko is reaching out to her contacts Edison sends a message back to Ken

>>>>> Maybe you can help me with some information about a series of murders going on in Mingmei. 10 mages bled dry, no signs of forced entry. Could you look into it and pass along any information?

Kin focuses on talking with the first person on the contact list in relation to the initial mage victim in an effort to gain some information.

Emiko
Emiko calls the contacts for Mina Yasumi. Most of them either hang up or seem like dead ends. She does however manage to arrange a meeting with the victim's boyfriend Shuuichi Tokunaga.

Later that day, they meet at the arranged coffee shop. He is a relatively handsome young human male. Beyond introductions though, he seems pretty untalkative and uncomfortable, volunteering no more information than is asked of him. Emiko feels like she will have to be very specific in her questioning to get anything useful.

Edison
Ken replies:

>>>>> Heard of those. The files are being kept under a tight leash from unauthorized personnel.

Edison then realizes that Kin is 'authorized personnel' for this case and the files Ken is talking about are the ones everyone is currently looking through.


Kin
Kin starts going through the contacts for the latest victim: Mareo Okubo. He manages to get the victim's roommate to agree to speak with him at a family restaurant near the university. The room mate is a young, elven male named Masami Terada. Masami has the air of someone who is obviously high on some kind of illicit drugs, but is currently talking to the cops so he is trying his best to act sober and failing.

((Emiko has her pheromones and gets a bonus to people that meet her for the first time))

Emiko keeps a positive attitude and tries to make Shuuichi feel comfortable with the upsetting conversation.  She has dressed professionally in her Armante' suit, hair pulled back in a pony tail, and light makeup.

"Shuuichi, I understand how upsetting this must be. If it's too much and you need to stop, please let me know. I am trying my best to find who did this and make sure they don't do it any more."

Here are some questions she will ask:

"Can I get you a hot beverage? I feel a hot tea is helpful to calm my nerves."

"One thing that is troubling is there was no struggle, no forced entry. Was Mina scheduled to meet with anyone that night?"

"Did you know Mina was a mage?  Was she part of any group of mages?  Was she open about being a mage?  What path was Mina?"

If Shuuichi's answers lead to more questions, we can keep going.  Otherwise, Emiko says, "I really appreciate you meeting with me today. I hope if I have more questions I can reach out to you again. Also, if there's something you think is important, regardless of how minor it may seem, please let me know."

Emiko messages Edison
>>>>> He's leaving now, try to follow him and see where he goes
>>>>> Also see if he makes any calls

Edison sends a command to his rotodrone to follow Shuuichi at a discrete distance. He then asks his sprite to access Shuuichi's comlink and monitor his datastream as Emiko has requested. She must not have liked something about this guy.

Kin focuses on trying to get the roommate to pay attention after buying him lunch.

"I have a few questions for you and I want you to think real hard before answering. A roommate, like you, is someone who is a prime suspect, so anything you tell me will help you as well as me.

1. Did you noticed any strange behavior from Mareo recently?
2. Has anyone come by your room recently or has Mareo mentioned anyone who is a stranger to you?
3. Where did you guys like to hangout when you weren't in class or studying?
4. Did Mareo or the two of you belong to any groups or clubs?
5. Where were you during the day and evening of August 23rd?

Remember, think real hard."

“I really appreciate you helping me. This has been great. One last thing; are you a mage too?”

After they’re done, Emiko bows and tells Shuuichi to call her if he thinks of anything that can help. “Goodbye Shuuichi.”

Emiko sips her coffee and makes notes of her conversation. She then starts calling people on the list that know Matsuo.

Negotiation: 1 hit

Kin pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger to keep a headache at the edge of his brain at bay.

"Two more things. One, was it only the three of you or did you have any other roommates? If so, their names would be helpful and two, I assume you knew that your roommate was a mage. Do you know what type of mage he was? What path he followed?"

Kin takes a slow calming breath and continues speaking slowly in a serious tone.

"Listen, two of your roommates are dead. It's possible you might be the next one dead. Maybe the killer is going to come back, tie up any loose ends and get rid of you. I'd like to keep that from happening so anything you can provide me that you think might be important could be of value. I'm trying to help you here."

Following Shuuichi was a bust, Edison does his due diligence then packs it in. Heading back to the center Edison remembers the files he received in eastern common. Maybe his new allies would know what to do with them.

>>>>> (Message to Emiko and Kin) I forgot to mention that I received some files earlier, they should shred some light on the properties of awakened blood and why it might be collected. They are in Eastern Common though. I'll send them over in case you know of anybody who can read them.

Edison forwards the files to Kin and Emiko.

Emiko messages Edison
>>>>> Thank you for tailing the guy
>>>>> It may have seemed like a waste but we have better intel
>>>>> I suspect these murders would have been too much effort for him
>>>>> I’ll take a look at your file

Before Emiko gets the file she downloads Eastern Common Knowsoft and for a few seconds her eyes flutter. She then begins translating the words.

Afterwards, Emiko takes a walk to relieve some frustrations over her failed calls. Her mind is a thousand piece puzzle and now she’s trying to find all the edge pieces. “Everything will fit into place,” she thinks to herself. Feeling better, she conferences Edison and Kin to discuss what they all found so far. She tells the guys about the deciphered file and listens to Kin about the pet rat.

Emiko is ready to make more calls and will begin including questions about rats. She calls the contacts of Kenshin.

Negotiation: 4 hits

The document is a heavy doctoral thesis so Emiko doesn't really understand some of the specifics, but the general gist she gets is that for the purposes of blood magic there is generally no difference between the blood of the awakened vs the blood of the mundane despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. It also goes on about various blood magic rituals and how the way the blood is harvested appears to be more important to the power granted than the blood itself. Unwilling, sapient victims provide the best results.

Kin thanks the student, realizing the meeting was mostly a waste of time, and heads over to the dorm room of the murder victim at Bokkyo College to have a look around.

Edison sends a message letting the others know he's going to prepare a sprite and that he will be unavailable until the morning. It can be a bit of a grueling process and he likes the comfort of home to go through the ordeal.