The strange biologist is curious, he always was. Whether it’s curiosity for how a body functions, or how someone thinks, Toru is always curious in some way. The most interesting thing placed before him is often what he chases, and despite the collection of samples before him, one of the purposes of this dinner, his attention was about to be stolen completely. The soft rustling of the document produced by Rokka and the explanation sway Toru’s gaze and attention away from his collection, his eyes narrowing in on a rather official looking piece of paperwork. A hand reaches out, extended digits pinching at one of the corners as he slips the document from Rokka’s hand. A frozen case from ten years ago?
"Then the answer lies in the latter option. My intention here tonight was to seek out your mind and resources. This here is a copy of a case proceeding I recently had relayed to the First for review. It details a case that was opened and frozen ten years prior to now."
Why had it been put on hold for so long? With the detective's pause, Toru took the moment to unroll the dossier, his eyes giving it a very brief glance, catching key words here and there. Of all of the words Toru had taken in a name is what stood out the most to him, Elk Hoshi. It rings out even louder as the Kyōraku mentions this name himself.
"A wanted fugitive by the name of Elk Hoshi and an accomplice by the name of Sumire Shihōin fled to the World of the Living after illegally tampering with an assortment of security protocols, stealing a highly restricted artifact, and the list goes on. It's majorly detailed in that document."
Toru begins a more thorough read through of the document, his attention split between listening and reading, yet he did not miss any information as he did so. Quiet mumblings escaping his lips in these moments, thoughts for himself that are put out into the room.
“Elk Hoshi… I know that name, I’ve seen a file with his name somewhere… Fake bodies, not surprised it didn’t work. Adding in a new entry but not changing anything? Seems pointless. Heard of this, but it seems a little boring, but I’m sure that’s not all it can do.” The further he continues all he says is, “Boring, boring, boring.” The last portion is when his voice shifts from the mumble to the usual louder and cheery tone of his, “Heavy collateral damage?” “Oooooh! That’s why I know this name! Now it’s interesting!”
Toru straightens up to stand at his full height, having curled inwards as he became more and more engrossed in the story being told by the document and Rokka. His mind ponders and wanders, trying to remember the exacts of the information he’d previously read up on. Specifically what he’d read about Elk, but not from the document in hand.
"We have managed to keep an eye on their whereabouts in recent times given their decision to use the central gate. An interesting option among many others given the clear desire to be discreet. One might believe the contrary with the paper trail left behind. The place where you then come into this is to aid in accounting for the likely damages associated with the fugitives being apprehended. We have reason to believe there's a risk involving specifically Elk Hoshi's abilities and also, of course, the danger of the artifact that was taken. We can't just jump in and throw hands in the middle of the human population. Not with outliers that may lead to unnecessary casualties."
Finally, the part that he is needed for, damage mitigation. Oddly enough, Toru remains silent as the detective continues. He doesn’t care for the motives of the traitors and potential traitors, he doesn’t care for the methods they used to achieve their goal. What matters to Toru is the reason he is needed here, but still he listens, it’s only courteous.
"Additionally, there's a few threads that aren't as neatly presented. It's clear the actions of the perpetrators who left on that day. They screamed it from the mountains while believing being dressed in black obscured the sound, one could say. The other factor is a potentially complicit individual still within our ranks. The documented Tomi Yume, an acting Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division, was present during the initial affairs of Elk Hoshi. We found linking details such as genetic information on an altered page inside the Daireishokairō. Also, inconsistencies in her whereabouts highlight this even more. Namely, Fourth Division recovered casualties in the aftermath of the invasion—oddly enough, Elk Hoshi and Lieutenant Yume both turned up. Yet it didn't take long for Fourth to understand these were placeholders and not the real deal... Which makes sense for Elk, who may have tried to mask his departure with a false death, yet—why the Lieutenant? That led us to looking into testimony of those around their proximity, individuals who expressed the idea that these decoys were ultimately carrying out casual interactions. Which likely points towards it being more so an in-the-moment diversion rather than a long-term obstruction. Though that oversight highlights the highly probable involvement from Lieutenant Yume."
Despite Toru’s lack of interest in this Tomi Yume, the question of why she’d do something still enters his head. Why would someone risk their freedom for a chance at looking at archives unrelated to them? Was it just a matter of fun? Were they acting on some other motive? Or is it simply a matter of loyalty? Why leave a false body if you’re going to stay within the Soul Society as a very present figure, as a Lieutenant. It makes no sense, perhaps they weren’t privy to the whole plan? A scapegoat of sorts? Nothing regarding Tomi’s involvement makes any logical sense. Regardless, all would come to light eventually and at this moment it doesn’t matter to Toru. What intrigues him, however, is the detective's willingness to bring the eavesdropper into the fold. A smile stretches from ear to ear along Toru’s face as the detective calls out.
"Though I feel that last bit of information would be more suitable for a member of the Ninth Division to handle. Isn't that right, Officer Hakunetsu?"
Toru shifts his position towards the sliding door as it is breached open once more, the eavesdropper Kuwashii stepping in only a moment after being mentioned. Arms wide open once more, Toru welcomes the Ninth Division member again.
“Welcome to the fold, sneaky one. You’re a funny one, so evasive but in the end you’re one of the last two left.”
The girl is quick to speak up, giving their input and views on the situation from what they’ve heard. Toru’s ears are perked up as usual, listening to and searching for any clarity if it is offered.
”I need more information and I’m assuming the info I need is in that document the Tsunayashiro is looking at. This reeks of chaos, things done to churn up a shit storm. Discretion was never the goal of this traitor but rather being loud and chaotic was to baffle and confuse and ultimately to throw us off his scent. That or he was just being sloppy.”
The mention of the document and the glance towards it gives Toru enough of a prompt. The distance is noted, and for his own amusement, Toru takes one long step towards the newcomer, an arm extended with the dossier pinched gently between his index finger and thumb. A subtle nod of the head towards the document, a silent, ‘here you go’.
”Furthermore, tell me where in the human world he went to. I have a spiritually aware friend who could potentially find him, would just need a physical description or a photo. She doesn’t have any powers, she can just see spiritual entities like us so she hopefully won't make him suspicious. That being said… If he is dangerous enough to hurt or kill a human I will go to the human world myself, char his corpse and present what is left to Lieutenant Yume, assuming she is complicit in all this. Which I’m assuming is someone you want me to look into.”
An outside and unaffiliated source of information would indeed be quite useful. The clearly vile smile and malice that radiates from the woman, along with words that accompany that sensation are not quite so useful however. In the moment, Toru stifles his words, letting the frenzied Kuwashii finish speaking before he interjects. When she is done, Toru speaks without hesitation, he is not the detective, but he also has crucial information, or at least he will.
“Okayyyy! First thing’s first, you’re very eager, little Kuwashii. Let’s reign that in just a tad.” Toru slinks towards his collection of samples, pulling a thin clear plastic from a cupboard above and laying it out over the various articles. “I don’t have the necessary information on hand, but it’s easily attainable. It’s been a while now, but I have seen mention of Elk Hoshi in a file within the Twelfth. If I’m not mistaken, my dear Lieutenant was provided this information quite a while ago and made it accessible to the rest of us. What a hero! I’d have to go and get that information, but it’s not too far, but what I do know is that the file contains information regarding Elk Hoshi’s abilities, whether that’s basic information or something more in depth, we’ll find out soon enough.”
The crinkling of the plastic cover finally comes to a halt as Toru turns away and with a beckoning hand towards the two, he steps on towards the very same metallic hatch that he had sent those creatures into previously.
“From here I won’t be able to find out possible locations of our subjects, no live data coming through here. Buuuut! I can access our repository, so please, come down stairs!” Toru leans on down, fingers curling into a small handle before pulling it upwards, the thunks and clicks of metal on metal signalling the release of a lock, then opening of the hatch. “I hope you don’t mind a short walk, and whoever you see down here, don’t mind them. They’re all works in progress and relatively harmless, to us anyway. They might fall over every so often, Kekekke!”
With the hatch open, Toru steps within, and those who follow him would find themselves walking down a well lit but undecorated staircase. Warm hued lights line the walls of a lengthy staircase that switches back and forth, never giving a clear view of what is below until the very end. He wasn’t lying when he said a short walk, It was only after about five minutes that they would reach the bottom of the staircase. All that stands at the bottom of the staircase is a single sliding door, much like the ones upstairs. A hand reaches out and Toru pries open the door, stepping within and welcoming the others within as well.
“Please, come inside. And please don’t mention this place to anyone, it’d be a shame if others got nosey…”
The room past the door is expansive, reaching further than it has any right to, but somehow, the walls are never visible. The same style of lighting adorns the entire chamber. The walls are covered by countless shelving units, each one filled by vials, beakers, jars and bottles all with different contents. Some contain clear liquids, cloudy substances, little amorphous shapes in others, and so many more. Accompanying all of that are various tools, some definitely surgical, others more scientific. The sections of the walls that are not covered in these shelving units are instead covered in numerous large sheets of paper each one covered in scribbles and diagrams, ideas, projects, pictures. Then there's the rest of the room. The left side of the room houses many numerous large pods, each one housing a humanoid body of sorts, hovering in a status in some form of liquid. The right side of the room is not filled with any equipment but rather, bodies. Dozens of those same humanoid shapes, each one different from the last. Some stumble around, shambling aimlessly, others sit on the floor, staring at the walls as if they can see something that is not there. None of them react to the entrance of Toru or anyone else. The room as a whole is chaotic, but somehow organised. Everything has its place in this mess. Toru steps further within the room, towards a central console that sits against the furthest wall, opposite the door.
“Hello my friends! Don’t mind the guests, and please don’t bother them. We’re taking care of vital business!”
It is only as Toru addresses the many creatures within that a chorus of groans and hums is heard, an acknowledgement of the order given, but nothing else. They continue about their business, or lack thereof. As Toru reaches the large monitored computer, the gentle clacking of the keys can be heard as he begins searching, thankfully the Twelfth is not as much of a mess as this room and everything is clearly labelled and sectioned off. As the scientist types away, various files and folders flick into vision and out of vision rapidly until he is done typing, “Submitted Record – Elk Hoshi (Bankai)”, uploaded and submitted by a Michiya Senko. A final click opens up the folder to reveal various files, including a recorded video. He turns to face the two guests with that same smile as before.
“Aha. There we go, thankfully for us, most people at the Twelfth are sticklers for organisation and such. This is all pretty new to me. I’ve spotted this around but I never bothered taking a look, so let’s learn together shall we! It’ll be a wonderful bit of bonding time.”
The cursor glides along the screen, double clicking each file within the folder, a couple of the files pop open, revealing different points of view. One is the original file that came from Elk Hoshi, their own account on their Bankai and all of its information, the other seems to be one written up by a member of the twelfth, their own view on the information presented. The final file is the recorded video of the Bankai itself.
