[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/Q9BxwXx/inti-1.png[/img][/center]
[color=eb8fe9][b]EE 87, May 5 | Night[/b]
[sup]_______________________[/sup][/color]
The dinner at Jeanne’s residence concluded quickly. Everyone had their theories and their plans, and they laid them out to each other as they made to leave. Inti refrained, as he did not have a plan. Not yet at least. In a way his plan was to think of a plan. He left the dorm with an inkling that some of the French woman's “defense force” were still keeping some things to themselves, bidding Nazca and Ryuuko good luck on their outing. 

When he returned to his own dorm he found his roommate was not where the Abya Yalan had left him. Well, with no Kalil to distract him, Inti didn’t have much more to do than prepare to turn in for the night. [i]Tomorrow I’ll pick up some books or something.[/i] From the large patio window he could see the fog rolling in just after the evening bell tolled and the locks clicked shut. Without ceremony Inti stripped out of his day clothes in what would be part of his new nightly routine for the foreseeable future: disrobe, wash, attach the monitoring equipment, then tuck in.

Inti laid on his back, staring up at the high ceiling and ruminating on the mystery surrounding Jeanne’s night out. [i]Maybe I should have gone with them,[/i] he thought. Seeing the conditions after curfew would most likely help to wrap the brain around some of the events. Then again, it was a [i]curfew[/i], and the more of them outside after it the more likely they were to be caught. That wouldn’t help the case at all. Then again [i]again[/i], no risks meant no new clues, right?

[color=EB8FE9]"Haaaaa…"[/color] Inti heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. Talking it over with his family would be good, then he’d jump right into tomorrow with an open mind and a plan of action. Eventually he relaxed and his consciousness escaped his physical body, and when next he awoke it was in familiar white.

[hider=Musquy][i]Inti.[/i]

The sound of his name was warm and inviting. 

[color=EB8FE9][i]Illapa.[/i][/color] Inti smiled, going right over to sit by his elder brother. Not everyone visited this place every night, but he had expected to meet at least one of his brethren. At the moment that one was Illapa, but the night was still young.

[i]How goes the second day?[/i] The young man asked with a hint of amusement. It was clear that Inti wanted to talk about something. The teachings of another culture, some kind of sophisticated art, or perhaps something as simple as—

[color=EB8FE9][i]One of the Polymaths burnt down a library.[/i][/color]

[i]...??[/i]

Inti jumped right into a full explanation. Of waking up to a message, the announcement that morning, Jeanne's explanation of events, the clues everyone had found, the various people involved and his own thoughts about the case. By the end he didn't feel closer to solving any part of the mystery. [i][color=EB8FE9]What do you think?[/color][/i] he asked.

[i]Hmm.[/i] Illapa crossed his arms and lowered his head in thought. [i]Well, what are you trying to accomplish Inti?[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]What do you mean?[/color][/i]

[i]You said she was guilty and admitted as much.[/i] Inti nodded. [i]So finding these other persons and the truth of what happened would do little to clear her name in the first place.[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]Might change her sentence,[/color][/i] Inti suggested. He dropped his chin into his hand. [i][color=EB8FE9]Besides, I'm really curious about it all now. And...[/color][/i] 

[i]And...?[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]And well I'm supposed to get my name out there, right? Helping her seems like a good way.[/color][/i] Apparently Jeanne's reputation far preceded her, but Inti had found that was the case with many of the Polymaths on the island. Illapa shrugged as if to say 'if you insist,' but Inti wasn't satisfied with being brushed off.

[i][color=EB8FE9]Come on Illapa! If it was you, what would you do?[/color][/i]

[i]It's not me.[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]Illapa...[/color][/i]

Why was it so hard to get his elder brother's opinion? Soon enough the two were joined by others, and though they were more willing to help each of the Inca homunculi that entered the shared dreamscape seemed to take a cue from Illapa. He was, after all, one of the oldest among them, and his stance seemed to be wanting Inti to come to a conclusion himself. Which Inti was fine with, but in such an unfamiliar situation was it really so bad to want advice from those he trusted?

Once more he went over everything. His siblings discussed it curiously, but the conversation went more or less how it had with just Inti and Illapa. Tonight Ch'aska was present, and though usually Inti appreciated her keen insight it seemed she wasn't in the best of moods.

[i]Out of all of us you're the one the Sapa Inca let go, so you're representing all of Tawantinsuyu, Inti. Shouldn't you be smarter than this?[/i]

[color=EB8FE9][i]What is that supposed to mean?[/i][/color] Inti narrowed his eyes at Ch'aska, a little hurt, and in return she opened her mouth to snap something else at him until she was interrupted by their brother putting his hands on both of their shoulders.

[i]Now now. Inti, can you show us the clues again?[/i] Pikiru said. After a moment Inti obliged, and the image of the defense force's bulletin board was pulled up again. The memory of the dinner and all of the words exchanged passed over the Inca present. Pikiru nodded. [i]Remember we are only seeing and hearing the same things as you. I think the help we can give you is limited. But there are some things we can do. Like this,[/i] he pointed to the bullet in the image. 

One of the others, Amaru, leaned forward where she had been standing with her arms crossed. [i]You're saying you recognize it?[/i]

[i]Yes. It's for a particular type of firearm. A Ruthridge, if I'm not mistaken.[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]Show it to me?[/color][/i]

Pikiru waved his fingers as though he were conjuring magic, though the motion was ultimately unnecessary. Alongside the vision from Inti's mind appeared the imagine of a gun, allegedly one which used the type of bullets that had been fired at Jeanne that night. It was a small sized pistol, with some kind of mechanism around the grip. 

[i][color=EB8FE9]Are you sure?[/color][/i]

[i]Quite.[/i]

[i]Asking us for help and then having the nerve to second guess us... [/i] Ch'aska hissed quietly. Beside her, Axo wrapped an arm around her and gave Ch'aska a little shake to her to be silent.

[i]I'll explain some about it, and hopefully that information will be useful.[/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]It will be,[/color][/i] Inti promised. [i][color=EB8FE9]If I find the same magnetic field given off by someone and they've got that gun, then we've pretty much found the shooter![/color][/i]

Alright, so he had some semblance of a plan now, that was good. He listed to Pikiru's description about the gun, it's model and how it functioned, and even some brief history about it. Others chimed in with their thoughts, but nothing major. Inti was looking forward to getting some perspective on what they thought of some of the other clues, but the conversation was cut short by Ekeko. He slung his arm around Inti's shoulders and pulled him away slightly from the rest of his siblings.

[i]Okay Inti! Time to put that brain to yours to work, okay? Go on and get out of here![/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]Wait, but -[/color][/i]

[i]Nope! Come on, you can't rely on us for everything![/i]

[i][color=EB8FE9]But I just wanted to - ![/color][/i]

[i]Bye![/i]

Led by Ekeko, his siblings realized what he had planned and joined in. They smiled to show they meant nothing by it, and then shoved Inti forcefully backward. Being ejected out of the shared space was something Inti hadn't even thought was possible, which made experiencing it all the more strange. He felt a lurch in the pit of his stomach, a pressure in his head, and then suddenly the familiar white and the faces of his 'family' were sucked away and transformed into static. He flailed his limbs as if he was falling before his body and his mind became realigned, and then he slammed back into the waking world.
[/hider]
[color=eb8fe9][b]EE 87, May 6 | Morning[/b]
[sup]__________________________[/sup][/color]
Consciousness came all too quickly. Inti awoke on his back, staring up at the plain white ceiling. He let out a long and indignant sigh through his nostrils, choosing to lie still for a few more minutes. Stupid siblings! He'd all but clung to sleep until they ganged up on him and forced him out, and now we was awake earlier than normal. The sun had yet to rise, though from the window in his room Inti could see the first rays of light trying to push past the horizon. 

The plan for the day was to try and make more headway on the investigation. It seemed all of his peers were much more familiar with detective work, but Inti couldn't simply sit back and let them take care of everything. After reconvening with the others he'd had to get some advice before heading out. Idly he wondered how Nazca and Ryuuko's post-curfew investigation had gone. Or was still going, considering the morning siren wouldn't sound for a little while yet. 

Inti scrubbed a head over his face. He should probably stay hooked up to the monitoring equipment until the usual time, but he wouldn't able to fall back asleep. Nor did he want to, for various reasons. After a few moments of deliberating internally, Inti pushed himself up.

[i]Might as well try and do something productive![/i] He padded to the wide glass doors of the dorm that lead out to the ocean, but when he tried the door he found them stuck tight. Right, the locks. By now the fog had mostly dissipated, but until curfew was actually over he was confined inside. So he had to think of a plan B. It was the dawn of the third day for students in Bermuda, so the dorm wasn't very lived in. There was nothing to clean up, in other words. Snooping around his roommate's quarters would probably be frowned upon. He turned and made his way to the large open space in the center of the apartment where a circle of chairs and couches sat. Inti dropped down into one, pulling his legs up and sitting with them crossed beneath him. He crossed his arms to match and let his head fall over the back rest. Gathering his thoughts, he considered the dream once more, as it was the only thing he could think to do at the moment. 

Thanks to his siblings - [i]Namely Pikiru,[/i] Inti thought - he had a starting point. Pikiru told him that the model of gun that used those bullets was mainly used by aristocratic types. It was an Occidental weapon of British design, made to be concealed in a coat sleeve and the pop out quickly to defend oneself from danger. Knowing all of that, did it mean that the gunman who had fired at Jeanne (or around her as was Inti's theory) a British aristocrat? Probably not. But he could narrow his broad search slightly, and focus on if there were any suspect magnetic fields around the sleeves. He'd memorized the look of the cartridge's field, so he would easily be able to spot a similar one, and distinguish it from other concealed items.

...and maybe he'd keep an eye out for stereotypical culprits as well.

As soon as the locks clicked open Inti was out the door. The tassels of his colorful poncho fluttered as he jogged. There hadn't been any new messages for directives, so his plans were up to him. Like the prior morning, his first stop would be getting some food into him. The second would be Nazca and Jeanne's dorm to follow up with the others. He'd scooped up the newspaper that had been deposited on his own dorm's front steps, but it stayed tucked under his arm until he drew near to his destination. Other early risers were outside seeking colleagues to gossip with, and by the time Inti made it to the quaint mess hall he'd visited yesterday, he felt he'd already read the paper several times over just by hearing passing conversations. Still, it didn't stop him from cracking the newspaper open and seeing for himself.

[i]It looks like a lot of stuff happened last night,[/i] he thought to himself, reading while he ate breakfast. There were damage reports in various parts of the island. And cases of amnesia as well... in people that were out after curfew? That was curious. According to the article, people that lost consciousness while out in the mist woke up with few or no memories of the night's events. Were they being concussed?? As he continued reading, something else caught Inti's attention. [color=EB8FE9]"Hmm?"[/color]

It was a description of one of the incident sites, where it was mentioned that motionless clockwork birds had been found. That put Nazca at the scene. Inti was looking forward to the results of their overnight investigation, so he finished up the meal and went to rendezvous with Jeanne's defense force.  

People that he passed still chatted about the news, both in and outside of Bermuda, but the talk died down as students began their own plans for the day. Eventually Inti arrived at the Inca-styled apartments. They looked the same in the daylight as they had in the evening, though there was one unusual difference that only became apparent when he was nearly on the doorstep. It was small, but recognizable to Inti as the weak curl of stardust signifying the magnetic field of unoxygenated blood. And indeed, as he got closer he could see the spots of deep red on the dormitory's steps. 

But... what did that mean? Someone had been hurt, assuming this was a human's blood. It was impossible to tell how badly just from this, and best he could tell was that the blood stain must have formed at some point during the night. It wasn't much, so it could have been a coincidence. He'd ask the others about it.

Stepping around the drops Inti went inside. The doors were unlocked as expected, and he wandered to the dining area they'd used last night. It was deserted. A quick peek into other areas revealed much the same.

[color=EB8FE9]"Allianchu...?"[/color] he called by way of greeting, stepping back into the entryway of the house. He hadn't seen any of Jeanne's "defense force," or much of anyone. One of the students staying in the Inca-styled building poked her head out from around a corner at the sound of an unfamiliar voice though, and she fixed Inti with a curious stare.

[color=EB8FE9]"I'm looking for the people watching over Jeanne,"[/color] he said. At the mention of the Frenchwoman, a flicker of emotion passed over the girl's face. Whether it was fear or disdain Inti couldn't say. 

"None of them are here," she told him. She blinked, tilting her head. She might have recognized Inti from yesterday, but if she did she didn't say so. "Left really early in the morning, I think."

[color=EB8FE9]"Okay, thank you."[/color] Inti turned and was back outside just like that. So there had been all kinds of damage done to the city last night, at least one injury, and everyone investigating Jeanne's case - and Jeanne herself - had hurried out of the house. It was reasonable to assume that, given the news, everyone was getting an early start. He'd just have to catch them around the city while they (and he) were on the case. Then he'd be able to ask about the blood, the hunt for the bat Egoist, and about anything else that might have happened. 

[color=EB8FE9]"So, then where to first?"[/color] Inti said to himself, opening up the newspaper again to choose on of the sites to start with. The most likely spot to meet up with everyone was where it mentioned Nazca's birds had been found, so he would start there, keeping an eye out for any fields that matched the one he was looking for.

[color=eb8fe9][b]EE 87, May 6 | Afternoon[/b]
[sup]____________________________[/sup][/color]
With part of Jeanne's defense force having broken curfew and experienced the violent repercussions, and the other part having heard the story from the source themselves, Inti alone remained ignorant of the true events of the night before. 

He had visited all of the sites mentioned in the Triangle, but hadn't run into Franz, Ryuuko, Nazca, Bang, or Jeanne as he'd hoped he would. Even the area blackened by fire and littered with the clockwork birds did not draw the two curfew breakers back, at least not while he was there. It was clear they had been involved in something, though. Unfortunately the officers posted at each scene were not particularly forthcoming with information. None of them carried the kind of gun he was looking for either. The broken storefront and the beach crater didn't appear to have any relevance to Jeanne's case - for one the bullets left behind at the former scene were completely different from the one involving the witch of flames - but of course no one could say for sure. Except maybe those that had been out that night. 

Maybe he should switch his focus, Inti considered. He'd thought that by going about the investigation he'd run into his fellow defense force members sooner or later, but as the hours passed that didn't seem like it would be the case. Plus he was getting nowhere with his current work. Disheartening? A bit. But realistically Inti knew that his plan was simplistic and inefficient. The odds that he'd run into the gunman were low, but he'd thought that if that person was involved then they might have returned to the scene. No such luck. 

Since no one knew for sure who had caused the various incidents during the night, and those mentioned in the Bermuda Triangle were made anonymous, it would make the most sense to actually pursue the people Inti knew were involved. 

...and yet, he couldn't find them. After departing the cordoned off areas, Inti had swung around to the dorms again. Still there was no sign of any of the defense force. Making his way back to his own housing, Inti tried the telephone directory - which was of little help. They couldn't put him through to any of the others when he didn't know where they were and they were out of their dorms, and his second try in looking for information on any of the other curfew breakers mentioned in the newspaper didn't work either for much the same reason: no known name to connect to.

[color=EB8FE9]"Ugh..."[/color] Was he at a dead end once again? Man, mysteries were just not his thing. His ran through the memories in his brain of last and this morning. What was going on? There was that blood he'd seen and hadn't had the chance to follow up on, could it have been that one of them actually was hurt? And in that case, what should he do? Call on the hospitals in the area to see if anyone had been admitted, right?

[color=EB8FE9]"..."[/color] Checking in would have been easier if he knew for sure someone was hurt. The day had worn on already, if he left now would he be stuck outside once the curfew alarm rang?

His first instinct was to talk to his 'family,' as it had been last night. But the memory of their teasing and forcing him to awaken carved a small frown on Inti's face. Ultimately they were right, he was here in Bermuda on his own and he should be taking advantage of that. Growing and becoming independent while he could. So he would choose not to rely on them. He tightened his fists at his side, growing determined. Of course, not taking to the dreamscape that night meant that his mind conjured another idea. He had to see some things for himself, in person. Which would mean braving the fog in order to piece together just what was going on at night that could cause all of this. If it led him to some answers, then all the better. With that in mind, Inti set off again.