Bound by Fate (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Cain had known about the problem about an hour before the Laplace Mail came. It had started when he noticed the "9" hovering over the head of his sleeping youngest brother. He'd checked his own number in the mirror, and the fact that it was the same meant he was quick to put the pieces together. He'd checked the program that connected them to their homeworld via his COMP. After that, he'd made his way into Atsuro and Kaido's room and "borrowed" the laptop. It was only an annoyed after thought that made him leave the note consisting of "Taken the laptop - Cain". He didn't bother picking it back up off the floor when he saw it flutter down as he was closing the door back behind himself.

There was still the issue with what Izanagi had said, and while he would have not admitted it to anyone, he was still annoyed by it. Annoyed that he hadn't realized it sooner, more than anything else. It was possible that the dimension he and his brothers hailed from would be destroyed as well due to the Island's apparent importance in the multiverse. The presence of the Death Clocks with Death's recent arrival on that Tower meant something even more. It was possible they wouldn't be able to leave this dimension at all.

He was at the ITS when the Laplace Mail arrived. He opened up the COMP and frowned as he read it. Just observing the situation, he could tell the problem was already starting. He ignored it, sat down on a bench, and open Atsuro's laptop. There was an annoyed sigh at the set up and he took a few minutes to load it into DOS mode. He'd be realizing just how potentially screwed they were when Abel arrived in the area.

What Abel would probably notice aside from Cain was something Cain was ignoring... there was some minor panic, but no where near as much as Abel was probably expecting. In truth, the established portals weren't going to go down thanks to the efforts of technicians. The Mail had said thousands of people, not everyone. Unfortunately, Abel had not yet been informed about the lynchpin status of the Island. Cain had never been a fountain of willing information, after all.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

It hadn't taken much time for K1 to run to the ITS. His inherant speed helped quite a bit; he could still outrun most human runners even when not at his fastest. He managed to make it there fast enough to see the minor panic begin. It hadn't been anywhere near as bad as K1 had thought. A few people were panicking, but the staff were managing to keep things calm for now.

K1 surveyed the area and found Cain sitting on a bench a bit aways. He walked over to Cain and frowned as he saw what Cain was typing on. "Isn't that Atsuro's laptop?" He shook his head as he continued. "You got that Laplace Mail, right?" He sat and thought for a moment. "On that note, how are you already here? I just got mine about five minutes ago."

[mugenginga]

Cain, being Cain, had noted Abel's arrival. He hadn't said anything, his fingers a blur to most people on the keyboard. He stopped only after Abel addressed him, and even then he put in a quite a few more keystrokes first. He looked up with that unreadable expression of his and closed the laptop.

"I was aware of the problem before the e-mail," Cain stated, standing up and tucking the laptop under this arm, "Have you talked to anyone from Souji's little group lately?"

If that wasn't a lead in to something, nothing was.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 noted the 9 above Cain's head. The same as everyone else. He hadn't checked himself in a mirror before leaving that morning, but he had a feeling that he had the same number above his head too. So that meant...

K1 nodded at Cain's question. "Yeah, Yuugi. He's working at that coffee shop now; I saw him earlier. Why?"

He had a feeling why.

[mugenginga]

"He won't say yes if you ask him to run with you. You or Atsuro. Not that you could right now. We're trapped here," Cain said, statement of fact devoid of emotion. He indicated the laptop under his arm, "The program won't connect, and I know its not a problem with my coding. If you've been about, you've seen the numbers as well as I have. The Fall is in nine days. Did Yuugi give you any indication he was aware of that?"

If Abel had opened his mouth to object to the first line, Cain would merely raise his voice and trample over his younger brother's protests. Cain was eerie sometimes, and he'd just had a shining example of that. No indication as to how long he'd known about the thoughts Abel and Atsuro had been having, but knowing Cain it had probably been the whole time. Aside from that, he let the suspected shoe drop in regards to the situation as well.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1's eyes had widened at Cain's first line. How had he known about that? On that note, why did he even bother asking that question to himself anymore? Of course Cain had known. He'd always been able to read people a bit too well for his comfort. He closed his mouth as Cain continued. He looked down. Damn. They were trapped. That sucked.

K1 shook his head at the last question. "No. I don't think he can see them anymore anyways; I disabled the summoning functions on his COMP a while ago. I meant to tell him before I left, but he had some customers to deal with."

He suddenly thought of something. "Do you think we'll still be able to summon demons? My connection to the summoning server's always been a bit iffy, but if we're completely cut off, we won't be able to summon demons at all. Not even ones contracted to your COMPs."

[mugenginga]

Cain gave his brother a flat stare. He hadn't meant if Yuugi could see the Death Clocks, he meant if the group were aware of the impending Fall. Not so much that it was coming, Cain had no doubt about that with Nyarlathotep's taunts and the situation with Death, but how soon it would arrive. He chose to respond to the direct question.

"They don't quite operate on the same principle with what Babel has become as a part of your ascension," he crossed his arms and frowned unkindly, "As it is, any issues we've been having come from your own shortcomings, not Babel's. Was I too optimistic to hope you'd come upon that yourself?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 glared for a moment before dropping the glare and sighing. He wasn't really sure what to do to control it anyways, at least not right now. He was sure he knew how to, somewhere in all of those instincts and knowledge he gained after taking the throne, he just couldn't pull it up. Someone needed to write a guide for this stupid thing. The Throne of Bel for Dummies. That sounded about right.

"Shut up," K1 growled. He looked to the laptop and then back at Cain. "Anyways, we can't go home, right? Then we're either going to have to find another way back to our dimension or we're going to have to fight that thing that used to be Ryoji. I'd prefer the first option."

[mugenginga]

Cain, being Cain, kept the eye contact during the entire glare. It wasn't a fact of K1 being in control of his emotions, he would have done the same thing even if his demonic mind had been in control. Even with the likely reactions it would have caused.

"I want to know Minato's take on this. He's been through this before. I have no doubt Izanagi has his own ideas as well, being closer to the situation then most of the group," Cain walked past Abel as he continued to speak, "Minato won't be willing to talk about it without some convincing due to his feelings for Death's false form."

He hadn't focused on "convincing". There was no reason to, Abel would get the meaning. There was the small (due to past experience) chance Cain's words surprised Abel. He was willing to more or less work with the others?

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 blinked as Cain continued. He actually was willing to work with other people? That wasn't like him. Usually K1 had to fight for his assistance with anything.

"I don't think any of them are going to be all that willing to talk with us, except maybe Yuugi." He still couldn't believe Yuugi didn't blame him for everything. He knew the others thought differently; Atem's reaction to his appearance at the coffee shop had been proof enough, but Yuugi... "Are you going to go get the others?"

[mugenginga]

"I never said anything about them being willing. You should know better than to assume," Cain's smirk dropped to a more casual expression, "And my suggestion was for Minato first, and Izanagi next. The latter may be functioning under a human avatar but he is aware of everything Souji is. Yuugi might be easier to convince, one way or another, but his boyfriend is at his most dangerous when Yuugi is put in danger."

"If Minato is unwilling to cooperate, Atsuro and Seth may not be two we want to bring along," Cain stated. The smirk returned, "Kaido may serve a purpose, however. He subdued Minato once before, that could be useful if it comes to it."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Fine, bring him if you have to," K1 said. It was possible they might have to resort to violence to get that kind of info.... no, likely they'd have to, especially if Minato was still taking what had happened as badly as K1 was sure he was. That wasn't going to endear him any more to the rest of Yuugi's friends.

"I'll meet you and Kaido in front of the apartments in an hour or so then," K1 said. "We can figure out what we're going to do about Izanagi after we convince Minato to talk."

He thought about something for a moment before adding something on. "It might be a couple days before I come back to the hotel. Something's bothering me, and I want to check it out." Well, that wasn't the entire truth. In truth, he wanted to ask her help for something, at least if he was right (which he was hoping he wasn't). But like hell he was going to admit that out loud.

[mugenginga]

Cain smirked at his brother's words. There was the usual indication he was aware of more than what was being directly said. By now Abel probably recognized the look. He gave a nod and nothing more to indicate he understood what had been said and pulled out the COMP from his cloak. With one hand he began to write the message. It was rather impressive considering the layout of the device, and he had to keep it centered on his hand to do so. He didn't seem to be paying attention to Abel anymore.