thehauntedfrequency

doggone

[In the time following his departure from Tabito and Manabu's company, the alias "Grey" has wound up sticking.

Not that everyone calls him that, he's used a few other aliases since then, but it's what he's wound up thinking of himself as. If Grey had taken the time to think about it a bit more he might have picked something with a little less connection to Rezo's name, but it's still leagues better than thinking of himself as "Rez- wait, no, just a copy." And maybe that's why he's felt significantly calmer since he left Sairaag.

By his own standards, Grey has been laudably well-behaved; sure, he's been mostly doing under-the-table psychic work, often on behalf of criminals, but! He's been trying to keep a low profile so it's usually things like clairvoyant spying rather than anything violent, and he's been making a point of not doing anything that directly impacts the galaxy railways.

It would be extremely awkward if Manabu Yuuki had to try and arrest him, after all.

He's found himself frequently thinking about Manabu, much to his annoyance. He has no serious expectations of ever seeing Manabu again, so it's simply a waste of mental bandwidth to find himself wondering what Manabu is doing right now or where he is, or to reminisince over their incredibly brief acquaintanceship. Grey can only suppose that because Manabu was the first reasonably normal person he got to know after leaving Sairaag that Manabu is going to stick out in his mind for a while.

And it's probably because of the real estate that Manabu is hogging in Grey's mind that he's been very aware of every mention of the SDF that crosses his path. He hasn't exactly been tracking the SDF's activities deliberately, but he does pay attention to the news and the SDF frequently winds up in there, even if Manabu's name in particular isn't normally dropped.

Until the day it does.

SDF Officer Taken Hostage By Pirates]

* * *

[It's taken several weeks of investigating, but Grey has been able to track down The Huntress's client, a Dr. Parish and associates. It must be a small galaxy, because Dr. Parish is someone Grey knows. Sort of.

Rather, Dr. Parish was a colleague of Rezo's who collaborated with the man on chimera research (and other unsavory things) in the past. Not only that, the man was an ardent admirer of Rezo's superior psychic prowess, and desperate to improve his own meager abilities.

He'd had quite a shock when Grey approached him in town, but after the initial surprise it had been sickeningly easy to convince Dr. Parish that he was the real Rezo. Grey can only surmise that the man wants to believe too badly to let himself be properly suspicious. It had only taken a day for Grey to be invited to tour Parish's laboratory.

The lab's located on the grounds of a former Marquess's estate, a ways out of town and secluded by trees, a high wall, and a long drive. Grey's done a little recon before, but actually being here is different, especially since he has to navigate by cane at the moment. Grey is doing his best to politely nod and smile as Parish guides him from room to room, explaining their work and occasionally handing him things to examine himself.

But evidently Parish realizes that "Rezo" isn't entirely interested, because he stops partway through an explanation of some stem cell experiments he and a few others have been working on to say "Of course, the really interesting specimens are kept in the basement floor."

Grey already knows this. He hopes his expression seems the right sort of eager.]

Interesting?

["Something along the lines of what we did in the past. Would you like to see them?"]

Nothing would please me more.

[Grey can practically hear Parish's delighted grin. To soothe the surge of irritation, Grey reminds himself that he's going to kill this man before the end of the day and allows Parish to guide him out into the hall and to the basement entrance at the back of the building.]

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[Not pumped full of sedatives and in the midst of panic, for one thing. Still, Grey smiles benevolently.]

Very well. But I'll make sure to hold you especially tightly, just in case.

[Now come over here so he can carry you like a princess.]

[Manabu scowls, but only briefly. he doesn't want anything (even Grey) getting in his head when the stakes are high, so instead of grumbling about it, he just moves in to let Grey take hold of him as he wishes to, holding his breath and closing his eyes.

this won't be easy, but he refuses to wuss out.]

[Grey scoops Manabu up into his arms, adjusting here and there until he's sure they've got a good grip on one another.]

All set?

[Because unless Manabu starts vehemently protesting, Grey is about to float them up in the air for a romantic flight across town.

Well. Maybe not that romantic, but hopefully this is better than the last time they did this. The ground and the buildings fall away below them, until they're high enough for all the cars and buildings to look like nothing more than toys. Up here, the noises of the city are audible, but an indistinct hum of noise.

Grey glances at Manabu.]

Try to breathe, Manabu. We're perfectly safe.

[There's just a lethal drop directly underneath you if Grey suddenly lets go, that's all.]

I, I know!

[he does! really! he's just curled up and bristled out of reflex; flying is great when you have a whole metal chassis around you for safety and utility, but this is scary! instinctively so!

and nauseating: he dares to look about and down twice, the first time making his head swim with dizziness...and also the second time, which was just him checking to see if it really was that bad (it was!).]

That wasn't bad.

[he has the audacity to puff that when they finally land and he's just getting his feet under him; his quaking knees give up the game real quick, and Manabu has no choice but to hang onto Grey's arm for a minute or so to acclimate and brace against the want to hurl.]

I'm...I'm good. [he nods, more confident by the second, looking around at the area.]

...Right.

Let's not waste any time.

[For both their sakes, Grey tries to make the flight quick... Although that may not help much with Manabu's nausea. Kind of ironic that they're partly traveling like this so as to not wear Manabu out.

Or maybe not ironic, so much as futile, judging by the way Manabu has to cling to Grey once they've landed, regardless of what Manabu says.]

I'm so glad to hear it.

[Sardonic murmuring aside, Grey otherwise waits patiently for Manabu to get his bearings.

Grey's set them down at a pockmarked dead end road. One side of the street is lined with boxy, cheap houses; the rest is scrubby, brambly field littered with garbage. Other streets and buildings can be seen past the fields, and it's roughly a hundred feet from where they're standing to the chain-link fence that marks the boundary of the storage business's property. The lockers are visible past that fence, rectangular and white and well-lit by fluorescent lights lining the property. It's much better lit than the street they're on, which only has a few begrudging street lamps sticking out here and there.]

Come on, let's get closer and I'll try to interfere with the security.

[Manabu draws a couple bracing breaths, taking stock of how he feels in the moment. his legs are sore, but not spent; his hearing is a bit stifled by the fabric of the cap, but he can still hear plenty, albeit muted; his back aches a bit with the complaint of his tail pinned down, but it won't slow him up beyond the wobbly disorientation of moving without it (honestly, it's like he forgot he could balance his body perfectly fine without it his entire life).

not optimal, but not a death sentence. if he considers this his baseline, then he can worry about anything new along the line accordingly.

he feels at the deep pocket of the coat where the gun rests, then nods. ready as he can be, all things considered...

with a hand on the alley wall beside him, Manabu follows Grey's lead, trusting him to manage their pathway ahead.]

[Grey leads them closer to the property, as close as he can get to the edge without the bright lights of the property leaving them clearly visible. A nearby discarded stack of deflated tires and a rusty barrel provide a bit of cover, so Grey crouches near those and gestures for Manabu to do the same.]

I'll take a look around. Keep watch over me.

[So saying, Grey shuts his eyes and goes into a clairvoyant state. There's a strange moment where he hovers outside of his own body, looking down at himself and Manabu, before he turns his attention to the storage facility.

Right.

...

A few minutes pass in relative silence before the scratchy sounds of electronics short circuiting can be faintly heard from the facility. A couple of the lights at the facility go black, leaving it half in shadow and half brightly lit.

Grey opens his eyes and blinks over at Manabu.]

There are two security guards keeping an eye on the CCTV. They'll probably act when they can't get it working again. Any ideas?

[Because he's pretty sure Manabu will veto any murder attempts.]

[it's a tense few minutes, given that despite being in an unpopulated alley's mouth, the feeling of being overly exposed is hard to shake off. Manabu strains his ears for the sounds of footsteps or voices, ambient night sounds trying to trick him into thinking nearby shadows are just dangers coiled up and waiting for them.

he bristles a little at the lighting change, about to grab at Grey before the man returns to himself.

Manabu exhales, then looks past him to consider the question.]

Won't be an issue until we get back out... Might need to trip up some lighting elsewhere to pull their attention away.

So we'll just be trying to avoid their attention.

[Grey's not a fan of the plan- he doesn't like stealth missions! But he'll concede for now. He gets to his feet and heads over to a part of the fencing where the lights have gone out.

Said fence is pretty high. They could try climbing it, or perhaps cutting through it, but Grey decides instead to hold out an arm for Manabu.]

Come on, I'll bring us over.

[More flying, yay!]

[Manabu has to rock up on his toes to get his arm securely over Grey's shoulder and let himself get conveyed, remembering to squeeze his eyes shut against the headrush. no sooner are his feet set back on solid ground than he blinks them back open, flicking his gaze around while leaning against the fence and letting Grey go, silent for a beat longer after their bodies have settled and he can strain his ears to hear for suspicious sound beyond the ambience of night.

after some vehicles buzz by in the distance:] We should be good. Let's move!

[Grey's on edge from the moment they land, very aware that the guards are around and that the short circuiting of the lights, motion sensors, and cameras all that same time are probably very suspicious. He doesn't verbally acknowledge Manabu's all-clear, but instead hustles over to the nearest storage garage and takes a quick clairvoyant step inside.

Inside the storage garage: Blackness.

He returns to his body with barely a jolt but a distinctly annoyed expression.]

Damn it, it's too dark to see what's in there.

[Breaking into every single storage garage until they find the right one is possibly not the most optimal of solutions, but do they have a better one? Possibly, but Grey's too impatient to mull it over right now.

He moves over to the padlock on the door, holds a hand over it and, with some psychokinetic force, breaks the shackle from the body of the padlock. There's a cracking noise and a metallic thump from when he fumbles the body of the lock and it lands on the ground.

Neither of them are exactly earsplitting, but in the relative quiet of the evening the sounds do stand out and Grey glances at Manabu. Hopefully he's still keeping those dog ears perked for the guards.]

[maybe we should've brought a flashlight, Manabu thinks absently. too late for that! he can only barely see what Grey's doing, but trusts the process.]

No windows, right? we can turn the light on if we close it behind us.

[Grey crouches to grab one of the handles at the bottom of the storage garage's door and begins to lift it. This also makes more noise than he cares for, and he accordingly opens the garage up as slowly and gently as he can manage.]

I'm not sure those lights will still be working either. We'll just have to use the phone's light. [The phone's mainly there so they can take photos but hey, it can be multipurpose!

Drily:] And try not to trip.

[to Manabu's great credit: he only trips once, it's not very disastrous, and it's more because of the tail messing with his balance than the dark!

they record serial numbers and snap quick flash-images of equipment - much of which Manabu can't honestly say he recalls, but if this is where Grey got the data stick, then it must be...

...and besides, there is some bit of this stuff that gives Manabu sudden pause and a dreadful chill - recollections of the noises they likely made, the buzz of electricity...

(that buzz is the auxiliary generator, of course - it must be! stuff doesn't stay offline for very long on an expensive campus like this)

with the threat of everything coming back online, they beat a retreat, closing up behind them and delaying only so Manabu can wipe down where their hands had lingered (gloves next time, for sure). lingering is a risk with a cost: incoming security guards glimpse their silhouettes as they're making a fast retreat to the fenceline, requiring a bit of double-back work through the dark to avoid capture with enough time for Grey to abscond to the air.

as earlier, Manabu keeps quiet about the discomfort of being carried off the ground without the safety of a cockpit or train car, eyes squeezed shut and breath short as though doing so would offset any vertigo symptoms.

being as such blinds him to the idling figure at the corner of the building, watching the stairway.]

[Grey is quiet and tense throughout the entire stealth investigation, speaking only to give brief directions to Manabu. He's familiar enough with medical equipment to identify whatever they find and to internally speculate on how it might have been used on Manabu. He has memories of being on either side of the scalpel, after all.

The adrenaline kicks into overdrive when they're spotted and have to dodge the security guards. There's shouts, footsteps- Grey latches onto Manabu and yanks the poor man around until they have an opportunity to take flight, then holds Manabu tightly during the flight back.

Even when they return, they're not out of the woods yet.

A figure just a little too close to the stairway catches Grey's attention. It's possible that it's someone out for a smoke, or just someone who happens to be lingering in a dirty alleyway. But even then, they don't want to be seen landing there.

So he sets them down on the roof of a building next to the alleyway behind the laundromat instead.

Expecting Manabu to say something once he gets his eyes open, Grey presses a finger against Manabu's mouth and leans in to whisper:]

Stay quiet. There's someone watching the apartment.

[As soon as Manabu seems to have his balance Grey creeps over to the edge of the roof to get a stealthy look at the stranger. Anger prickles beneath his skin, instinctive rage at finding his home potentially under threat.]

What-? [alarm makes his stomach drop and adrenaline spike all at once; he isn't idle for very long, catching himself by way of Grey's shoulder to come sneak toward the edge himself.

it takes a good few seconds for him to grimace and focus on past a nauseous wave of vertigo before he can interpret the flecks of streetlight and stretched-out shadows as what they are, and a few more to find the shape Grey's concerned about.

could they just be a diner employee on smokebreak? a loiterer waiting for a ride home from a bar?

no - in waiting some minutes, it's clear that the figure keeps slowly turning to look back at the stairwell - their stairwell.

he swallows.]

Did you notice anyone notice you when you were out and about before? [the question is quiet, but urgent. Manabu himself can't imagine this is someone called by people on the campus - it was too fast! and there's no sense of urgency in that posture down there.]

[Grey answers the question without his eyes ever leaving the stranger.]

No.

[So who the hell is this? Someone Grey missed? Or were they able to track him from that data stick? He could speculate all night about who and where this person may have come from, but that won't get him any answers.]

We'll need to interrogate him.

[And so saying, Grey's just going to hop off the roof- buoyed by psychokinesis so he doesn't break anything- to go nab the guy. Leaving poor Manabu to either wait or make his own way down.]

Grey, wai--

[wait!

dammit! Manabu grits his teeth in a grimace, ears already full of the sounds of their initial altercation. he doesn't idle, instead leaning and looking about for a way down, anxious and agitated by the lack of immediate good routes.

there's a dumpster down there, but it might be empty.

that is very stupid. but it's an option. it'll become the only option if he doesn't find a fire escape route soon!

and all that time does free up Grey to do Grey things down there...]

[Grey sets forth to do Grey things, by which we mean he straight up pounces on the guy who's been spying on their building and tries to pin his arms behind his back. The guy naturally resists after the initial startled yelp, and the two of them begin wrestling- the man jerking violently against Grey while Grey struggles to grapple him and drag him further into the alleyway.

After he's wrestled the man a bit, Grey hisses:]

You have no idea how easily I could kill you. But if you play nice, perhaps it won't come to that, hm?

[This gets met with a snarl and an elbow to Grey's shoulder. Grey grunts, more in annoyance than actual pain.]

[Manabu has compromised stupidity with expedience, opting to hold his breath, drop to his belly, snake over the edge of the roof, dangle, and drop to the dumpster.

it's about as graceless and noisy as one would anticipate a move from him doing, but, miraculously, devoid of bone breaks or sprains!

just a lot of noise.]

Gyuh! A-! Owh! Wuh--ufh, we-wait-!!

[he rolls and drops off the dumpster lid and onto his knees, grunting.]

N-nobody's getting killed! We're...figuring this out!

[continuing here even though this thread is long past the point of looking like an abused stretch armstrong toy]

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doggone

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i feel like grey has just pulled the kind of horse piss that manabu normally does

this is not the goodboy lesson he was supposed to learn from a cop

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