[center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hMzNhMDAuUzJGMFlYSnBibUUsLjA,/propaniac.regular.png[/img] [/center] [hr] [i]BZZZZT[/i] On a lazy afternoon, the doorbell of Rina’s penthouse sounded, followed by the speaker sounding out. “Uh, hello, this is Nile Deliveries,” a male voice, rather high-pitched, sounded. “I’ve got a package for a...Katarina Nekrasova? Do I have the right address?” Nile...deliveries? Rina frowned. She hadn't been expecting any packages or deliveries or anything of the sort. In fact, she was staying at the Golden Trove with Mika since they had gotten back from the beach. She had only stopped by to grab a few things during her patrol. Weird. Maybe someone had the wrong person? Given Penrose state, she couldn't help but to think this wasn't a coincidence. Putting a slice of Hawaiian Pizza onto a plate, she made her way over to the intercom to give a reply. [color=chocolate]“Yeah, that’s me.”[/color] “Ah, uh, ok. Could you open the door down here and I’ll bring it up? Or would you rather head down here yourself? Gotta get this thing signed, so I can’t exactly just leave it here…” [color=chocolate]“Eh, I'll be down there in a second.”[/color] Rina said, before shutting off the intercom. She had to sign for it? Must be something important, but she hadn't ordered anything. As she left the apartment, this only seemed more and more suspicious. A minute or two later the delivery person would have the door to the place rather hurriedly opened. [color=chocolate]“Yo,”[/color] Rina would greet them casually. [color=chocolate]“Nile deliveries?”[/color] The person waiting at the doorstep was a young, pimply-faced man with a shock of unruly brown hair and a uniform that looked to be one size too large for him. ‘Nile Deliveries’ was branded on the cap that he wore, and when Rina opened the door, he bobbed his head. “Ah, you’re...Mrs Nekrasova’s daughter?” A small box, perhaps the size of an encyclopaedia, was balanced on one hand, while he offered a tablet with a pen to Rina with his other. “Just sign here down below. Basically shows that you received the product and all.” [color=chocolate]“Uh yeah, daughter.”[/color] Rina replied. Right, that was still odd sometimes being mistaken for a kid. She eyed the package curiously. A book? Maybe a computer tablet? Some sort of paper? Rina couldn't even begin to guess. Exhaling in mild annoyance, the magical girl took the tablet and pen, quickly signing her name. [color=chocolate]“Anything else?”[/color] “No, thank you,” he said, taking the tablet back and handing over the package. “Have a nice day!” With that, he moved to leave, heading back to his van. Rina watched the delivery man leave, holding the package in her hands, shaking it lightly. Part of her just wanted to junk it and forget it existed. Whatever it was might be more trouble than it was worth, but...hm. Rina walked back inside, heading back up to her residence with the package in hand. Soon she was back in her apartment, she moved the pizza box to a nearby counter and set the package on the table. Hesitantly, she picked up a nearby knife and opened the box. There were two items inside, folded in corrugated paper. One was a tape recorder, the other a USB. Neither of them appeared to be magical in nature. Rina picked up the USB drive cautiously. This setup felt like she was currently in some cheesy detective drama. They didn't seem magical, so she was fairly certain she was safe from anything of that nature, at least, but that didn't make the items any less concerning. Placing the USB back on the table, she picked up the tape recorder, turning it over in her hands a few times before hitting the play button to see if something had recorded. After a couple seconds of static, two voices sounded, one male, one female, accompanied by the creaking of rusty metal. [quote=][i]“As of the past two months, I’ve come into a large collection of magical energy,” sounded the female voice. “I need a receptacle that can safely accept it, and convert it into a spell of the users choosing, and I need it within the next week. You think that’s possible?” The male voice followed. “Secrets tend ta be easier spread than sealed, yeah. And the Mint’s settling back here now, so don’t worry yer pretty little head over whether or not you’re supporting local businesses, darlin’. As for this little receptacle o’ yours...suppose this is fer the rave?” “And after. Collecting large quantities of Magical Energy isn’t much good if I can’t use it. There’ll probably be quite a bit of fighting in the near future, and a lot of energy to collect. An easy way to use it all’d be nice. How much of my soul’s that gonna cost me, eh?”[/i][/quote] From there, the audio cut off, returning to static. What...was this? Rina listened to the brief exchange between what was apparently a Mint agent and a second party. Upon the tape finishing, Rina ran into the other room, snatching up a small laptop she rarely used these days. Magical energy? Receptacle and a spell? Were these the people behind the Rave? Hm...maybe, but they were probably just using it as a cover for whatever else they were planning. Back at the table, Rina quickly booted up the laptop and plugged in the USB. She needed to see the rest of this before making any theories. Inside the USB, there was one mp4 file, titled ‘Beacon_Ethiopia_August_4_2007’. Her antivirus didn’t pick anything up, and upon clicking it, the video was that of a static shot of a city in the distance, as if it were a CCTV recording. Dark green shrubbery dotted the arid dirt, and the sky was a brilliant cerulean, white clouds so perfect that it looked as if painted. A minute passed in silence, before, strangely enough, the camera began to shake. Slowly to begin with, but the intensity raked up with each second. The sky brightened impossibly, the clouds turned to indiscernible vapor, and with a roar that recording devices could not capture properly, a massive pillar of light descended from the heavens, striking down into that Middle Eastern city. A flash, an eruption, and the recording cut off.. For a moment, there was nothing but a black screen. Then, something new popped up. An aerial shot, from a drone or a helicopter, sweeping over the blackened landscape. Only shadows of buildings remained; everything else was flattened completely. No, not everything. There was a single person down below. Though the camera’s quality wasn’t enough to make out details, the quality reducing that individual into mere pixels, it could be seen, at least, that they had strawberry blonde hair and the lower half of their face was black. They turned, tilting their head in the direction of the camera, and soon, that recording too was cut off. The video ended there. She...had no idea what to make of this. The file name was really all she had to go on. Something relating to Beacon? As far back as 2007. Was the tape and this video related in some manner? They were sent at the same time, by the same person so it was likely they were supposed to be...but one seemed to be relating to the Mint and the other Beacon. Tapping her fingers idly against the table and fishing for a slice of pizza, she quickly went to an internet user's best friend. [color=chocolate]“Eithiopia...2007...”[/color] She muttered to herself as she hit the search button. What she found only caused her to ask more questions. There were several eyewitness accounts, along with dashcam footage of the event uploaded to some sites, but nothing solid. It had been labeled a hoax after some time, but in the magical world such hoaxes could easily be more than that. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. [color=chocolate]“City disasters in Ethiopia...”[/color] Rina quickly did a new google search, that was a little more fruitful. A dangerous gas leak in a city by the name of Dilla. The city had been completely rendered inhospitable by it. A travel ban to the area still persisted to this day. Any gas leak should have been cleaned up by now. Rina tapped the table again. What to do, what to do. Guess the first thing she'd need to do is talk to Beacon. Talk to Alicia and see if she could maybe talk to some higher ups. Still, the most pressing question she had was who in the hell had sent this to her in the first place? She didn't want to go poking around Beacon and get on their bad side, but with everything going on, she didn't have much of a choice. Rina closed the laptop, grabbed her jacket and pocketed the recorder and the USB.