She gave a small laugh as the man appeared, seemingly nervous for no real reason about him having to treat her.

"Oh? Then pardon the intrusion."

Juniper sat on the gurney, which creaked under her weight. He didn't seem like a man who would like conversation. A pity, he looked like he came from her world, disfigured as he was. She was taught long ago the shrine was neutral and treats everyone the same; even one of those gang members would be welcome in her shrine as long as they sought nothing but guidance and help from the shrine. 

Seeing that she wasn't about to lie down, the man hurried over to her side, inspecting the makeshift bandage. Grunting, he motioned for her to lie down, before he took out a few tools and started on treating the wound.

[center]***[/center]

A loud explosion and subsequent shaking woke her up from the gurney immediately, as she dashed outside reflexively to counter any enemies. Expecting some sort of large monster from the shaking and explosion, instead her phylactery blared from inside her clothing. 

[i]“Good morning!  Your friendly, neighborhood announcer here!  Before you ask, lemme just say: we don't know what the hell that explosion was for sure.  Honestly, a lot of weird stuff is going on, and the grand old Inquisitional College has let me know that we're not standing idly by.  Starting today, roving College teams are gonna by going around the city, trying to get a lead on everything that's going on.  If you see's 'em, feel free to say hi, but play nice.  Furthermore!  There have been a few discoveries that the College has seen fit to share.  For a while, the top nerds have been studying these things called 'Echoes', which appear to be places that don't belong 'phasing in', so to speak.  As far as they know, it's places only, but who knows what's going on?  There are also what we're calling 'Factions'.  All we have are photos and radar data, but there are new movements all throughout the city, especially the sky.  So, keep an eye out for anything weird, and feel free to report to me or any College teams you find.  If you help out the nerds, the nerds will help you with artifacts.  You know those things you got from my boxes last night?  Well, the College has loads of them, and they're sharing with anyone who's caring.”[/i]

She had no idea what some of what he was saying meant, but she did understand that the rosary she was wearing wrapped around her wrist was some sort of artifact. That, and three calls for help for anything. Speaking of help...

"Doctor."

Dr. Bill, in the middle of trying to clean up all his fallen equipment, froze at the sound, before relaxing when he realized it was Juniper.

"Y-yes? Did the wound reopen?"

"No it's not that." She bowed deeply. "Thank you for your help, Doctor. Without your help, I would have perished."

He looked back, most of his features obscured by his hat, before nodding and started picking up his tools, slightly faster than before. Oh? It would seem that the doctor was shy. Beneath that exterior it seems, a pure heart lies within. A rare sight for her, especially where she came from. 

Smiling to herself, Juniper started on another ritual, controlling her breathing as she called upon the kami around her, asking for guidance on her next destination. Surely the local kami would know where to find some sort of clue about this wish granting machine.