[x] Have Astra take you to where Regius is so you can have him tell you what to do.
- [x] Bring the head.
You have to agree with Headless - no one would decapitate an officer and send his head to his unit unless they were announcing hostilities, and you've seen collars like that before. And while you're certain you don't know everything about the ongoing Incident, you do happen to know someone who can answer them. Or should be able to, anyway. You drop to the floor and pick up Marino's head, then set it inside the box and close it; there's no need to take the leg, so you leave it on the floor. The soldiers are starting to shake themselves out of their shock, and you turn toward the hallway.
"Astra, where would Gaiz be right now?" He tilts his head to the side as he thinks.
"General Gaiz? He'd probably be at Central Headquarters right now, Miss Scarlet. His office is there, so unless he has another appointment that's where he should be."
"Good. You can drive me there; I want to talk to him, in person, to ask about this." You tap the box. Astra nods and moves through a different hallway to the garage. You think for a moment, then take out Loki and bring out your Armor. The dress you're wearing would serve perfectly well, and it's not like you need the extra protection ... but you feel better wearing these clothes. You frown; why didn't you ever have Tarbin see about getting your actual clothes fixed? You pick up the box and the collar, then look back at the soldiers. "I'll bring it back, don't worry," you say, then step out into the sunlight to wait for Astra.
By the time you reach the towering structure that you last visited before you met Marino, you have a bad headache. It quickly recedes as you enter, followed by Astra, so you guess it has to do with using Loki in the sun ... or possibly at all. Maybe you should have used it last night? You shake your head as you step into the reception area, then glance at the walls, looking for some kind of directory or map. You don't find anything, and you grimace as you walk toward the desk. You fly up a bit so you can look at the man without craning your neck.
"Excuse me, where is Regius Gaiz's room?"
"Do you have an appointment with the General?" You shake your head. "Then I'll need your name and the purpose of your visit so I can see if the General is willing to see you right now." He looks at you expectantly, and you sigh before reaching for his tie and tossing him toward the elevators. He rolls along the floor for a moment, then looks up at you as you approach.
"Give me a floor number?" He stammers out the number, and you look at the elevators. "Astra? Wait for me here," you say, then you pull one of the doors out of its frame and step into the empty space. You wave at Astra for a moment as he walks toward the receptionist, then zoom up, counting floors as you go. You reach the actual elevator carriage and tear through the bottom. "Is Regius Gaiz's office on this floor?" One of the shocked individuals looks up at the counter and nods, and leaps forward to push a button as you prepare to rip the door open. The doors slide open on their own, and you smile at the man before you flit through the halls. Eventually you find his office and walk inside. It's really quite small for a man who is apparently so powerful, and lined with books.
"Flandre Scarlet. To what do I owe the pleasure of a personal visit? And what are you doing with one of those?" He gestures at the box you're carrying.
"Well, it was delivered to the unit, but I had some questions I wanted to ask, so I decided to bring it along," you say with a grin as you put the box on the desk and push it toward him. Auris glares at you from the book-lined wall as Gaiz opens the box. "Specifically, I want to know how you managed to lose one of your officers, and then after I found him for you, you managed to let him get killed - without your noticing! - and I want to know who did it, and how, and where that person is right now." Gaiz is pale, mouth slack as he stares at the head in shock, and you toss the collar next to the box. "Here, this came, too. You've seen at least one of these before, I'm sure." You sit at the chair in front of the desk and stare toward him. Unfortunately, the box is in the way right now, but it's the principle of the thing ....
"I can ... try to find out ...." Gaiz finally speaks, and you lunge forward, slamming to box shut so he can look at you.
"Not good enough," you growl, and his shock abates, replaced by fear and anger. "Your way seems to be incompetent and laden with problems, so I'm going to insist we do this my way. Bring me Dieci." Gaiz seems to shrink, and his face loses expression.
"She was broken out of the detention center last night," he mutters. You slump back into the chair, shocked. For several seconds, you can do nothing but stare in silence at the man in front of you ... and then you start to laugh. "It's not funny. It's really quite sad, if you think about it - the only time we've done something that had permanent consequences was last night, and that's because you killed someone. How did anyone get anything done?"
"Stop that, you insane freak! You -" Auris's complaint is cut off as you hurl a book from the desk at her. There's a loud crack, and she drops to the floor, hands to her chest, and begins coughing violently.
"Well. It seems you've either forgotten, or you deluded yourself, Gaiz. I'm not stupid. This is a declaration of war against me, not against you, but if you won't help me, I'll have to do everything myself, and I'm not in the mood to be particularly patient. Find whoever killed the one person in your organization who knew how to treat me with the respect I deserve, or I will burn this city down finding her." You pick up the box and carry it out with you.
You return to the unit without incident, putting Marino's head back in his office. Astra follows you wordlessly as you return to your room ... where you find embedded in your desk a dagger with an odd blue gem crudely affixed to the hilt. You stare at it for a moment, wondering what to do with it. The dagger itself seems fine, but the gem feels almost like one of Patchouli's gem-works. Then Astra coughs discreetly to get your attention and taps a display on the wall. It shows the room, from a viewpoint above the window, and the dagger is not there. Then the door opens, and a person who looks like Marino walks in, smiles maliciously at the viewpoint, and drives the dagger through the desk before leaving. Well. "Less a declaration and more taunting. This person is pretty dumb." Again, you're inclined to agree with Headless - this is either an attempt to frighten you, which is laughable, or it's an attempt to anger you, which is suicidally stupid.
What do you do?
[ ] Wait in your room for some new information.
[ ] Be proactive; look for clues!
- [ ] Where and how? (Write-in Required)
[ ] Shrug it off; have Astra take you somewhere interesting.
[ ] Other?
