[center][img]https://images2.imgbox.com/ae/eb/ocUYlAgL_o.png[/img][/center]
[hr]

[i]Meanwhile during Trypano's interview.[/i]

[color=crimson]"So that brings us to present time."[/color] She finished her recollection of the combat. [color=crimson]" I note that some of the culprit's were killed before they could be interrogated. If at all possible I would be interested in investigating the corpses to determine the nature of their deaths."[/color]

Zihan's eyes narrowed. [color=f6989d]"It was a classic coverup imposed from above, but with extremists like these, I'd be surprised if they [i]weren't[/i] prepared to die for the cause."[/color] She gave nothing away about her suspicions of this abnormally tall woman. If she was, indeed, working with the enemy, then it was a queer choice to employ someone who stood out so profoundly - who, by her very nature, was likely to draw undue amounts of suspicion. The Lieutenant shook her head. truth be told, she did not actually trust their own Red Menders, and the Watchful Eyes were known to be secretive. This could be a worthwhile test of loyalty and she could slip someone into the coroner's after hours easily enough. There was one problem. 

[color=f6989d]"Translator,"[/color] she said in Retanese, [color=f6989d]"leave us. My Avincian will suffice for this conversation."[/color] The mousy-looking woman bowed and removed herself immediately. Zihan lowered her voice, switching to a tongue she seldom used. [color=f6989d]"I be honest wiss you,"[/color] she began, [color=f6989d]"You will get ze attention. I will like to work wiss you, but you need some...."[/color] She struggled to recall the word. [color=f6989d]"Illumion?"[/color] No, that wasn't right. [color=f6989d]"...Illustion?"[/color]

[color=crimson]"Ah, you mean some form of magical obfuscation so I can move undetected. Yes, that would be useful. Unfortunately none of the other students invited here are particularly skilled illusionists as far as I'm aware, nor do I believe they could execute a stealth mission consistently."[/color] It was an honest assessment of their qualities. With this group in particular subtlety was not their strong suit. The very fact that she's detected Yalen liberally using command magic, a closely kept secret of the church, was evidence enough of that truth.

[color=crimson]"The only method I have of moving around hidden, more or less, would be this substance I was sold by a vendor in this city."[/color] She presented the powder to Zihan. [color=crimson]"I know from practice that it is difficult to enact magic upon a subject with high RAS as the manas will contest outside influences. Either the killer struck from the outside, was so much stronger that their inherent protections couldn't resist it or there was something placed inside that detonated from within."[/color] She listed each possibility for her consideration. [color=crimson]"Given the nature of the ovoid device Yalen discovered It's a possible consideration that something of a similar make could have been used to silence the prisoners."[/color]

Zihan took a moment to examine the small jar. She nodded and returned it. [color=f6989d]"I do not know what you saying. Afince is not to my first language, but zis is guǐ huā - ghost flower. It will to work."[/color] She then listened to Trypano's further analysis, unable to make very much sense of it, but she picked up on a handful of key words. It was not necessarily safe to use a translator. [color=f6989d]"Yes,"[/color] she more or less guessed, [color=f6989d]"Zis is ze big problem. Maybe he is too strong. Maybe zere is some ozer way. I not to know. 1:00 late zis night. You come ze station, back door, wiss ze blue light."[/color] She put on a big smile and made a show of some quick pleasantries before the separated.

[color=crimson]"1:00 past midnight. Understood."[/color] Seeing as her words came across largely piecemeal she kept her response brief, bidding her farewell and returning to the central room.

It was a plan. Not terribly sophisticated or airtight but something more than nothing.

Or it was a setup. No gain without risk after all.

It was a small walled compound not particularly far from the palace district. The stones were white, the pillars red, and roof greenish-black. There were two guards by the front gate and two more patrolling about. Trypano was somewhat sure that she could make out a faint blue glow from around the western side of the building, towards the back. That would likely be her entry point. The question was: try to sneak in unannounced, or check in at the gate. Zihan's instructions had not exactly been clear.

Trypano approached the compound in the dark of night. Having used her free time in the wait from the point the plan was made to now she had synthesized some more of the powder, keeping the original blend plentiful for the time so she can study it further back home. On top of that she replicated a hegelan mana potion using samples familiar to her such as the shot she was given and the stoneskin breed she's been cultivating. Just an emergency brew to give her a higher RAS should this all suddenly turn for the worse.

Given that Zihan could not trust even her own translator it was evident that she should keep the number of entities in the know to a minimum. After all, even if she announced her presence she would still be an intruder over in the morgue. With that in mind she had applied the dust before the compound was in view. It.... Worked? Sorta? It was a bit like wearing glitter that bent the light of surfaces it covered. Anyone who looked on at where she was standing would be able to tell something was there simply due to how messed up the image cast around it appeared, not to mention the difficulty in both covering herself completely in it and trying to keep it adhering to her meant that small bits and flecks would inevitably bleed through.

This wasn't meant to completely vanish her. This was a tool that would largely serve to conceal her from the eyes of people not looking for her. All the same she was no stranger to following the lackluster plans of the eager. If she was so foolish as to have complied with Desmonds ill-planned schemes then she had no right to call this one any worse in merit.

Sticking to the darkness and shadows she skirted around the periphery of the compound until the door she sought was in clear view. She kept distant, watching the patrol patterns of the guards around the building, getting a feel for their timing while also scanning for other nearby lifeforms in the facility ahead. No sense playing it safe just to walk in on the occupants.

With her preparation, equipment, and abundance of caution, it proved (perhaps) surprisingly elementary for Trypano to slip into the compound. She found the door beneath the blue lantern unlocked and the hallway beyond empty and white-walled. One of the doors was open, leading down into a basement. It was easy to feel the aura of cold emanating from it. This would be Trypano's final opportunity to rethink her calculated risk.

If she had second thoughts about the operation then it would have been before her trespass. She was in the lions mouth, so to speak, so it was time to poke about. She scanned the halls as she passed them, taking in the compositions of matter in her presence as she approached the open door to the basement. With one of the doors open the risk of there being someone currently inside grew higher. To reduce noise emissions she slipped off her red shoes and tucked them away into her purse. It would suffice for now, though there was more she could do to diminish her presence. There was also the cold to consider. She figured it was unlikely to be a result of enchantment which left either magic use as the source of the cold or the more likely probability of this location storing ice to keep the ambient temperature low for enhanced corpse preservation.

All things considered she quietly pressed on into the basement.

[color=f6989d]"Wasn't so hard, was?"[/color] came Zihan's voice, just above a whisper. She was in the morgue, below ground, kept cold both by its position and by large blocks of ice mixed with sawdust. Her magic was now helping cool those blocks. At signs of Trypano's investigation, she smiled. [color=f6989d]"You are curious. Yes, I use ze magic make cold again. Some people come do zis sing a few of time each day."[/color] She paused, as if sweeping for magical energies, and slid out four of the bodies on the shelves. All were missing their heads. [color=f6989d]"Now we use zis curious, right? We go to working."[/color]

Trypano nodded. She went over to the four bodies and performed an initial sweep, scanning for materials both organic and otherwise present in their forms. Being able to identify unnatural materials present in their bodies might hint at what was used to remotely detonate their heads. [color=crimson]"When the bodies were collected, did you have time to review their belongings?"[/color] She spoke quietly, just enough to be heard but no louder.

There did not appear to be anything manmade in the four bodies, but there [i]was[/i] something odd about their manas. Trypano knew quite a bit about manas, after all. The colonies were starting to die off now - that process usually took a couple of days - but there were signs of agitation beforehand: the sort that usually appeared when they were fighting off invasive manas. All four of the corpses, despite the differences in their colonies' densities and types, showed near-identical signs. The precise nature of the disruption was less familiar to her, however.

[color=crimson]"There are foreign manas in the bodies."[/color] She commented as she analyzed the dead. [color=crimson]"It is possible they were injected with mana that allowed control from the exterior."[/color] With that said she cut into the body with binding, forming a perfect, traceless incision from which she extracted a sample of the dying manas, collecting it into a bottle. [color=crimson]"I am going to try and revivify the foreign manas and identify their qualities. If we can learn what they are it might be possible to trace the magic they are receiving commands from through them."[/color] With that said she began the process of rejuvenating the blood, breaking down the dead cells and using the material to build up the remainder of the colony before necrosis can set in.

It did not take Trypano long to realize that the invasive manas were not normal. They were... yes, it was rather obvious now, but scientific diligence needed to be maintained. They were from a mana slime: an ingested one. She did not recognize the type upon cursory study but, once the rump colony was rebuilt, she was able to use some arcane magnification to observe its qualities: volatility in bonding with other manas, a reddish colour, and... glycerol... nitric acid... She could guess at it or she could ask Zihan, who had been leaning against the arch at the base of the stairs, arms crossed, but had now come up beside Trypano to lean in inquisitively.

It was an interesting specimen. Not a free mana but a mana slime. [color=crimson]"This appears to be the remnants of a mana slime, one that appears volatile when bonded with other manas. There are also traces of glycerol and nitric acid, to count a few."[/color] She then turned to Zihan. [color=crimson]"Are you familiar with mana slimes? Are there varieties local to this region perhaps?"[/color] With everything to consider this seemed to strike her as a possible suicide capsule setup. It would depend on the speed of the reaction but hypothetically a slime sealed in a capsule could have been broken free, resulting in the explosive reaction that took place in their head.

Just one of several working theories for her to consider.

As Trypano listed its qualities, Zihan's expression grew increasingly uneasy until she took a handful of steps back. [color=f6989d]"We have ze name for zis sing,"[/color] She said cautiously, shaking her head.  [color=f6989d]"红色杀手"[/color] She paused.  [color=f6989d]"Like... ze red killer. It is very rare. It is not grow close wiss ze city."[/color] She continued to eye the reconstituting slime warily. [color=f6989d]"I would stop to put it back togezer. I am not ze scientist, but one small change, I sink it will to..."[/color] She didn't know the word, so she trailed off and mimicked an explosion with her hands and voice. She furrowed. [color=f6989d]"Strange..."[/color]

[color=crimson]"Interesting..."[/color] Trypano commented, sealing the marked vial with the partial colony within, containing it for the time being. It would make for a useful sample to replicate back in the breeding chambers. [color=crimson]"For the time being any known breeders or distributers of this slime colony should be interrogated to get a glimpse of who they've distributed these to. At least now we know what to look for next time we capture any agent of the traveler so we might be able to disable it before they can kill themselves."[/color]

Zihan blinked and nodded thoughtfully, reaching for the vial expectantly. [color=f6989d]"Zere is not need for zis,"[/color] she clarified. [color=f6989d]"Zis slime is not allowed live in ze city."[/color] She shook her head.  [color=f6989d]"If he is sell in ze city, is illegal. Zis slime come from BaiLong Shan or in ze Nors."[/color] She furrowed her brow. [color=f6989d]"We must to ask ze people who lives zere."[/color] She twisted and flashed a genuine smile Trypano's way, nodding. [color=f6989d]"Sank you for zis help. You are very skilled girl."[/color]

It seemed they expected to keep the sample. A shame, but alas it wouldn't be good business to get greedy and retain something purely out of scientific interest. She did break down and reassemble the sample already. With it fresh in her mind it wouldn't be impossible to simply recreate it once Zihan left. With that in mind she passed the vial over to her. [color=crimson]"I'm happy to have proved our value. Do let me know if you find any more evidence to analyze. In the meantime I'll head back to our lodging and check for temporal disturbances. I suspect the agent of the traveler might be using more than just invisibility to disappear."[/color]

Zihan nodded sagely. [color=f6989d]"I sink you are right. We have some of our people to look for zis sing."[/color] She paused and considered. [color=f6989d]"We would not to refuse anozer. You come back tomorrow and I can to give you ze special..."[/color] she paused, trying to remember a word. Then, her eyes lit up. [color=f6989d]"permission. Like ze badge."[/color] Zihan began putting things away and glanced between Trypano and the stairs. [color=f6989d]"I sink you will to hear ze bell in one or two minute. Leave srough ze same door you come in and you be okay."[/color] With that, it was clear that they would part.

Trypano gave an affirmative nod. With the dust still active she only had to wait until the bell was sounded before making her way out. After that it seemed the next step would be to acquire her badge of operation.

With the bell sounded she scanned for bio-signatures before making her way out. Hopefully it would be as simple as that.

And, indeed, it was for once. 

[hr]
Involved - [@dragonpiece],[@Force and Fury],[@YummyYummy],[@pantothenic],[@McKennaJ71],[@Ti].