6218/Hearts of Iron

Hearts of Iron
Date of Scene:	14 May 2021
Location:	Conroy financial building.
Synopsis:	Sif and Owari meet, and depart as friends!
Cast of Characters:	Chizue Nakamura, Sif

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Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    The Conroy building isn't even the tallest in Manhattan, but to a trained eye it's the most advantageous perch. It's location means it provides the best view in Manhattan of the major traffic arteries, and that makes it an ideal stronghold position if the city was to ever be attacked (again). If you wanted a place to draw up the strategic strengths and weakneses of upper Manhattan, this really is the best seat in town. It's hardly escaped the notice of many other Heroes, and perhaps by coincidence nobody's properly secured the fire escape leading up to the roof. Almost as if a steady presence of caped crusaders hanging around your building at night, could have a positive security influence.

    Tonight though well the wind whips through the tangle of cell towers and A/C units on the roof, but it's a cool wind against the heat of the city and altogether hardly unpleasant. The weather is more or less why Owari's staked the place out for the moment, situated another twenty foot off the rooftop and tethered to the building's tallest cell tower. She could theoretically breach the network from any cell tower in the city, but this one is easily the most comfortable so here she is. All but invisible upon her perch, as she prowls the sea of information like a hungry shark.

    There are hints of her presence of course, a still steaming aluminum bento box left near the building's edge. Theres a tangle of transparent plastic and steel folded into a neat rectangular shape and most obviously a bag. A proper little messenger bag, decorated with scribbled paint pen kanji across the black fabric. Not the sort've thing somebody just leaves, laying around probably right?

Sif has posed:
The door is, of course, how the peasants get to the roof. If you're Lady Sif of Asgard you have your own ways. Dressed tonight for lighter work--it wouldn't do to frighten mortals with her full battle finery (and rage)--Sif is in a leather jumpsuit in red and white, the separating line drawn, if she stands legs shoulder-width apart and arms akimbo at her waist, like someone had slashed two identical suits, one red, one white, in a single swipe from her left knee to just under her right shoulder. The upper left part in cream white, the bottom right part in blood red.

As to how she gets there: she's not Thor. She's not even Brunnhilde. She cannot, like they can, jump over tall buildings in a single bound. But she can get quite a distance up, and then, with her legendary agility, combined with that same leaping ability, can work her way up with one, maybe two, more such leaps.

Thus it is that she winds up standing on the building's crenelation, one leg each on a rise, one hand at her hip where, of all things, a pair of axes reside, the other shading her eyes against the nearby glare as she looks over her potential scouting nest.

"Yes," she says to herself (since there is nobody else with whom she could possibly communicate), "this will do."

The fact that she only just today stored wealth in this bank pays no part whatsoever in her sudden desire to protect the building, or at least observe from it.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Then comes the soft swing of that cell tower too and fro, as it's suddenly relieved of a hundred something pounds of Ninja hanging off of it. A wire somewhere within the aluminum tower swinging back and fourth against the interior with a soft clack-clack-clack. Falling silently is all but elementary for a highly trained Ninja, and her suit hardly makes it difficult. Once she hits the rooftop she's all but transparent in in the slightest of shadow, more than easily missed by even the keenest of eyes.

    She circles around behind, casually popping out between AC units to get a much better look at this bicolored company she's found herself in. <<Little late for a sight seeing tour, don't you think?>>Comes that digitized growl, designed with no small expense to be as terrifying as possible of course. She drops the cloak a moment later, letting herself slowly resolve as a darkened outline from seemingly thin air.

    That short Poncho terminates in gauzy strips just above the waist line, designed no doubt to break up her profile as much as possible. Below that it's all body hugging synthetic who knows what, furnished in the very deepest and darkest of blacks. Low cut split toed "skate shoes", a singular minimalist knee pad and a pair of armored vambraces terminating in lightly armored gloves. Her left glove of course is set clutching her brace of curved swords at her left hip, the pair of them all but transparent in the low light.

    What is easy to make out is that polygonal animal mask partially hidden under that angular hood of hers. It surges to life with a faint violet glow, before the twin pin-pricks of white alight in those ghostly eye sockets. <<Don't think I've seen you around here before, up to no good?>>

Sif has posed:
Well, that was a display...

The visual tooling made tracking the newcomer difficult, as was evidenced by the eyes never quite locking on to where Chizue's body was as she moved.

Quite.

But wait, how did she even know to look!? The distraction from the wiring should have caught her attention, yet ... didn't. And of course, once Chizue went visible the eyes, not far behind to begin with, snapped to her.

What she sees causes one of the axes at her wait to get unhitched. In hand, but not (yet) in an overtly hostile stance. Given the speed at which it unhitched, however, it may not require a lot of time to get hostilely positioned...

"What manner of creature are you?" Sif asks in fluent Japanese. Haga clan dialect. Albeit with subtly archaic phrasing and grammatical formulation. "You don't seem to be a troll or goblin or any such ilk. You're certainly no giant." Her head tilts as she regards the mystery.

Mystery within mysteries. Chizue addressed her in English, she replied in Haga clan dialect. How did she know? And if she knew, why does she not know what Chizue is?

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    A simple wave of the hand infront of that mask, and the expression changes from it's trademark scowl into something more neutral. <<I am the Shadow known as 'The End', one of many who would defend this city.>>Then comes a low snort, which sounds all the more other worldly through that digitized filter. <<I am closer to a Raccoon-dog than anything else, hardly something from the outer realms.>>

    The details of her body language are by design, hard to read of course. Though the touch of her left thumb to the guard of her Katana, and the resulting -click- as it unlocks is surely easy enough to read. A length of black fabric slowly unwinding itself from her shoulder, before flashing into a bright golden glow as it whips in the wind. <<And what do they call you sweetheart, I don't recognize the outfit from any Bingo book I've seen, new costume perhaps old name?>>

Sif has posed:
The readied sword has an unexpected reaction: interest. "That is a strange blade indeed if the scabbard matches the curve of the blade. From whence is such a weapon found."

Then, with an eagerness that's almost childlike.

"From whence could one be acquired: by conquest or mere purchase?"

The assumption in the voice is that conquest is a mere, trivial formality.

"As for who I am, I am of course Lady Sif of Asgard. It is indeed an ancient name, once on the lips of every warrior going into battle, seeking my blessing." She smiles a curt smile. "Well, mine or Brunnhilde's. It depended on if they thought they would die or not. They prayed to me for victory and to her for being worthy to dine in Valhalla."

The axe in her hand starts to spin at a dizzying speed as she displays some of what Chizue might face if she wants to step it up against the Goddess of War. "Which way do you pray, child?" she asks.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "My clan ceased praying ages ago. We serve only the Emperor."Comes the voice, suddenly unwashed through those electronic filters. Soft and, tinged with her own distinctive Tokyo accent. No sense even bothering with English, right? Never the less she straightens herself, tilting those swords a touch more upright before granting Sif a proper formal bow. "I am most honored to meet you, Lady Sif of Asgard."And so she rises, the color of that mask fading to a dull matte white as the rest of her gear defaults to a decidedly dim grey.

    She does unhook that brace of swords however, offering them over without a hint of hesitation. "I am more formally known as the seventh sword of the Haga clan. You may of course study my blades if you so desire, but I'm afraid ownership is a birthrite. More conventional examples may be attained with some difficulty from Japan, I suspect many would delight at the opportunity to craft a pair for such an honored warrior such as yourself."She isn't exactly courtly in her bearing, but well part of a Ninja's schtick is dealing with those above her station and it shows.

    The pair are, well it's a Katana and Wakizashi in size and shape. They're simply made of what looks and feels like glass, though neither carries an edge of any type they're shot through with what looks like thousands of tiny metallic wires. Still they weigh all but nothing, and are certainly far too light to be used as simple clubs.

Sif has posed:
All tension vanishes as quickly as does the axe back into its loop at Sif's hip. The lack of courtly bearing but appropriate relative bearing to station is noted and acknowledged with a sharp, incline of her head.

And then the blades are presented and the courtly bearing is replaced with almost teenaged-girl zeal. Observers should be making mental notes right about now: bribe with blades.

Only one of the blades is taken, and oddly enough it is the shorter. Her practiced eye takes in the shape and, without testing what should be the edge, she seems to intuit that it is devoid of one.

"Well isn't this an interesting and clever weapon," she muses out loud. "Are you sure you didn't get this from Alfheim? It looks just like the kind of magicks they would enjoy crafting. She looks across at Chizue. "I personally prefer dwarven goods when it comes to weaponry, though elven goods look very pretty. My axes are dwarven. They're very workmanlike in their approach. When one is in your hand you know which end is the good end to be on and which the bad."

She presents her hip to Chizue by way of invitation should Chizue, her hands being full of dainty glass weapon, wish to take up one of the axes for return inspection. Her own eyes are too busy drinking in the blade in her hand. "What is the theory of operation? This is obviously magicked."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Shadow are retainers who specialize in deception, theft, spying, assasination and sabotage. My clan turned it's back on the gods long ago, and so lost our magic. We have instead grown to excell through trickery, and superior engineering."There is a slow nod at that. "Both blades cut with heat, using electricity generated by my armor. They can shock, or slice through the vast majority of enemy arms and armor I encounter. Of course I am Haga, so I carry many weapons."Her left hand lifts and with a roll of her wrist, her fingers are filled with number of thin needle like slivers of glass. Another snap of the wrist and they vanish, replaced with a selection of golfball sized grenades between her splayed fingers.

    The invitation to take one of Sif's axes is passed, because well she couldnt think to be so presumptious. "I was taught never to show an enemy the same weapon twice, it is difficult to defend against that which you can not predict."And a pause there as she finally makes those grenades vanish with yet another flick of the wrist. "If I may be so forward Lady Sif, what brings you to New York of all places. This is hardly the sort've land I would have thought would attract a goddess of war, the authorities unfortunately frown upon real fights for real stakes more often than not."

Sif has posed:
The blade is returned after a few experimental swings with it to get its heft and balance, Sif nodding at the feel. "Unavailable except by birthright, you say?" she asks, seemingly wistfully. "Or presumably conquest."

Yeah, that's still a thing for her.

Upon returning the blade she unhitches her axe and presents it formally. "Dwarven construction. Lighter than you would expect, honed to a sharper edge than any you will find on Midgard, yet will keep that edge against most impacts." She smiles proudly. "And, it must be added, balanced exquisitely for throwing!"

The other weapons are viewed with interest, but not the fascination the blade held. More the interest of someone considering how to resist, not use, said devices.

"You are, of course, correct," she continues. "Your question was very forward, but I understand this is the way of Midgard. I am here because both the Crown and Younger Princes of Asgard have deemed to make Midgard their home. This both vexes me, as they are my childhood friends and one is my promised groom, as it intrigues me. I wish to see what it is about this realm that has captured the attention of two such very important personages." She makes a very rude gesture with her right index finger being pushed into a hole formed by cupping her left hand. "For Prince Thor it's simple. He's found a mortal piece of crumpet and is having a fascinated dalliance. Prince Loki, conversely, is never so obvious."

Sif shrugs.

"Still, if both of the people whose company I enjoy most are here, I think it only right I come here to see. And I've met so many spirited warriors here. It really is a pity that the Valkyrior are banned from harvesting from Midgard."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "I beg your forgiveness, I am ill mannered. I am truthfully unused to keeping such honored company, I'm but a lowly servant."Bowing oncemore as she takes her Wakizashi back, and returns the daisho to her hip with an audible little -click-. "Well this is a city full of beautiful women certainly,and Americans are often somewhat open when it comes to courtship. As somebody from a more, formal upbringing I confess I can see the appeal in such straight forward affairs."

    She does finally accept the blade in one hand, lifting the other to pull her polygonal mask away. That armored faceplate is guilded with the golden seal of the Tokyo Justice Society, and of course the crest for the Haga clan. It makes it all the easier to miss the mass of sensors crammed into basically every portion of helmet not covered in some form of symbology. She studies the axe carefully, paying close attention to the edge of the weapon before finally offering it back politely with a soft "Thank you Lady Sif."

    "The city is a tangle of easy love, fast money and easy distraction. It is also the highest density of empowered warriors on earth, from a myriad of cultures and traditions. Fighters from many of the world's greatest martial traditions are represented here, from elite conventional warriors to more mythical and exotic combatants. Even I am hardly terribly exotic in such a place, there are far more manufactured warriors than myself here."And slowly she lifts that mask back over her armored faceplate with a dull click of the magnets. "Not all are rightious of course, which is what has called me here."

Sif has posed:
"Righteous." Sif plays with the word in her mouth, seemingly. "Righteous. Such an odd term. What is 'righteous'? I do battle for Asgard. Am I righteous? Some of my worst foes are svartalfen from Svartalfheim. Are they unrighteous?" She tilts her head and considers. "If you ask me, I am righteous. Yet if you ask them...?"

She shrugs and dismisses the thought, casually re-hitching her axe after twirling it around while she had her little brainstorm.

"I do battle for my people. To defend them and to smite their foes. 'Righteous' doesn't enter into the question for me. I understand Prince Thor has sworn to defend Midgard, and as such I am naturally bound by his word. Thus will I do the same. But is it 'righteous'? Or is it just duty?"

And the subject is visibly dispensed with. "As for openness to courtship, there are 'empty' corridors in Asgard's palace that I would recommend getting walls washed more frequently than other places. They're used quite often for ... ah ... courtship." Her face goes soft and gaze distant. "The friezes on the wall leave an interesting sensation when pressed against in congre..." She snaps back to the here and now. "Or such have I heard," she appends hastily.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "As are there clubs spread across the city which cater to, various potential appetites."And a pause and a cock of the head "Or so I have heard. If Thor is content to occupy himself for the time being, it only seems fair that you attend to your own interests in the mean time."Theres a little shrug of the shoulders there. "I wear a decidedly more, revealing outfit when fighting as a mere heroine. If the response that it generates is any indication, there are no shortage of potential distractions available to any woman of legitimate martial ability."

    "Would you care for a snack, Lady Sif? I did not pack with company in mind, and it is but humble food but I would be honored to share it with such an esteemed warrior."Motioning towards her Bento box, and well some of her gear piled nearby. "of course, I am happy to be of service if you have questions about the city. I have certain secrets I am honor bound to keep, but my masters would be pleased to offer their assistance to one such as you."

Sif has posed:
"Oh, I am quite used to humble fare. Merely being a Lady--Hela's teats, not even being a Crown Prince!--is not sufficient for one to be treated with gloves of kid when in the company of warrior trainees. Indeed I suspect some of those who instruct take positive joy in abusing those of higher station." A fond reminiscence creeps into her voice. "I hold no grudge over this. It is why I am called Goddess of War. I was not coddled."

"So," Sif continues, gesturing grandly and bowing, "please do lead on and no matter how humble the fare, know that the merest offer of it is appreciated." A snort. A genuine snort. "Had I been better prepared myself I would have had a keg of ale or mead awaiting me."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    That Bento isn't terribly large, a bed of white rice, some pineapple chunks and some eel rolls to finish things off. Decidedly humble faire, though she does offer the little box over with a spork thank goodness. Green tea is provided but of course, served in a pair of squishy silicone cups and even that matcha is decidedly blue collar. At the end of the day however it's a pretty impressive field ration, but that's ultimately what it is.

    "Americans do have excellent, hearty food available. Not much of it is sufficiently portable for my needs, but I would humbly suggest you give them a try. I find the Barbeque of the midwest, and especially their vegetables to be most excellent. Spoon bread in particular, has become something of a weakness of mine. Milkshakes too, and American style coffeee is quite exceptional. This country is quite vast, and every state and city within takes great pride in regional cuisine."She flumps down finally beside an AC unit, pulling her sword across her lap before delicately rolling her poncho up and snapping it up and out of the way. Exposing that armored chest plate in the process, and the complex articulated armored spine behind. "The men are tall and broad shouldered generally, and the women are bountiful in their features. It's a fine place ultimately, even if it isn't home."

Sif has posed:
"I do plan on becoming familiar with the realm I am going to defend," Sif says agreeably. "I have heard good things about the roasts in this 'midwest' as well. Probably not as palate pleasing as the Eternal Beast of the Valkyrior's halls, but likely still very good."

Sif herself leans back against whatever presents itself as able to hold her mass, legs out before her, crossed. "For the 'distractions' you mentioned the issue of breakability leaps to the forefront. I do not understand the two Princes' fascination for mortal crumpet. One could not possibly give in to passion without fear of ..." She makes a face. "Well, let's just say that while I don't mind the viscera of my opponents covering me in the heat of battle, the same of a lover in the heat of passion would ... not appeal."

Beat.

"I will make frequent return trips to Asgard, I suspect."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "I confess I generally prefer the attentions of another woman romantically, but I have had enough Male friends over the years to have witnessed them in the throes of courtship. It seems a universal truth that all men are fools without equal when pretty girls are involved."Theres a little shrug at that as she reclines, crossing her legs at the ankle and resting the back of her helmet against the mild steel of a AC unit. "I've seen many brave men become weak kneed little boys when it comes to matters of the heart, they all forget duty so easily."
    Theres a shrug there. "I mean I fell in love with an enemy, though she was unwilling combatant. Once freed she was as just a warrior as any who protected Tokyo, and goodness the accent?"Theres a low whistle at that. "But duty and the expectations of my station called, and so here I am. Duty til death, we have whatever comes after for more trivial pursuits."

Sif has posed:
"You should look up my sister-at-arms and rival Brunnhilde, then," Sif says with a friendly jesting sound to her voice. "She cares not whom she sleeps with and what ... appendages may or may not be present." That's one way of politely calling a friend and rival an omnisexual slut, isn't it? "I am, unfortunately, cursed with a preference for the masculine. It would be far simpler if I held the feminine in better regard thusly. To begin with, the acts tend, I am given to hear, to be less prone to ... physicality."

She shrugs. "I know not, and can thus only go by what I've heard."

"So," she then continues, changing the subject, "you defend this new city of York from duty? Do you have no fondness for it by itself?" She takes a look at the night skyline around the pair. "I have not yet decided if this is just ... barbarically grandiloquent or if it may not indeed have merit. It is a confusing place."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Once upon a time there were five Ninja clans, two of them broke their vows and knowingly worked for evil men for mere coin. They took to killing the innocent, to robbing temples generally dishonorable behavoir of all kind. So there is some factional warfare of course, until one of the Hand clan assasinates the head of my clan about a hundred years ago. This really motivates the clans to do something about these outlaws, and eventually the Hand and foot clan depart our homeland to hide from us."She gestures generally towards the city.

    "They settled here and took up teaching our secrets and sacred arts to evil men, and generally are quite happy to visit any sort of evil their client may desire upon anyone. This cannot stand of course, but the Haga are not a warrior heavy clan. First and foremost we supply our sister clans with equipment and collect intelligence for the Emperor. So our current clan head decided that something should be done and as we had our previous clan head assasinated, he decided that it should be only us. Only problem with this is that we have only one warrior at any given time."And finally a little shrug. "So I was ordered to end every member of the Hand and Foot clans, by myself or honorably die trying."

    And with a cough, she straightens her shoulders somewhat in an aproximation of more formal speech. "Obviously I am honored to have been chosen singly, to complete with surely many would claim is an impossible mission."She lets that settle like the lead balloon it is. "As I am unable to protect my own home city of Tokyo anymore, due to my duties here? I protect New York for it is where I keep all my stuff, and it's where my friends are from. I should hope an American hero would do the same, were the positions reversed. Not that the Tokyo Justice Society would be happy about it."

Sif has posed:
And at that Sif laughs. Not the cruel laugh of a Nelson Muntz pointing and laughing. More the musical laugh of genuine amusement. "And into this mix stumbles a goddess of war. Oh how delicious this can be. How many hands and feet must I cut off to render you sufficient aid?"

Her eyes twinkle in the flashing ambient lights of the city (or at city, at any rate) that never sleeps. "I think it would be nice to just let loose in a collection of warriors to show them what a true battle goddess can do to their number. Shall I slaughter thirty for you? Three hundred? Three thousand?"

She doesn't appear to be joking.

"If they outnumber the svartalfen who have fallen to my blades and spears I would be shocked."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Many thousands, and they recruit eagerly. The problem is that they're Shadows, not soldiers. They rarely appear in numbers greater than three, and most simply do not know where more can be found."She lifts her hands in a sort've apology. "The Foot are lead by a man who has been killed several times, only to rise from the dead oncemore. Truthfully I drove a glass blade through his collar bone, split his heart in half and out his back before breaking it off. He never flinched, and seemed at best inconvienced. He is as clever as he is difficult to kill I'm afraid, and seems to share his bed with an ancient demon witch who is no less clever."

    "We're all Shadows at the end of the day unfortunately, we are trained never to give an easy fight. To hide in plain sight and in the shadows, to fight through subterfuge and misdirection. To operate in small cells, never knowing what the rest are doing. Individually or in small groups?"She gives another little shrug. "I've cut maybe two hundred and some down in New York thusfar, I've attacked their bank accounts, I've killed their suppliers and ravaged their clients openly so that others would fear hiring them. Yet they spread like a disease all the more."

    "These aren't true Shadows, they're generally poor fighters and they aren't difficult to strike down. The problem is doing finding them faster than they recruit, which thusfar I have been unable to do."She gives finally, a slow huff. "If you see any dressed in dark red or black head to foot, who carry curved swords? By all means kill them where they stand, but do not be surprised that their brethren may wear no uniform at all and profess ignorance of all."

Sif has posed:
Sif raises her eyebrows at the description. "It sounds like they are more cowardly versions," she says, "of svartalfen then. Should it become a problem, we have the magicks available, I think, to find them, expose them, and then destroy them by force of arms. I would have to learn more of this, however. Which is, in fact, why I am on Midgard in the first place."

Standing up, Sif walks to the edge of the building, standing once more on the crenelations at the edge and staring down the streets. "This is a good place to watch the city from, I think. It gives me a feel for the place and lets me see far into the distance with little interruption from these behemoth barbaric buildings."

Beat

"And my wealth in this realm being safeguarded below adds to the appeal," she adds, looking back at Chizue over her shoulder impishly. "Why do you choose this place to watch from?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Both are protected by their own covert magic, but cowardly and prepared."She returns softly. "I will not turn down any aid, but of course please do not feel obligated to bother yourself with such troubles. I am here, because I was fated to be here."Theres a little shrug at that.

    "The cellular tower, the ones above banks are particularly reinforced against electronic intrusion. This means that signals coming from it are less intensely studied, making things simpler for me."Theres a nod towards the city, before she rolls back onto her shoes without so much as a whisper of noise."Everyone has a cell phone, everyone has a smart car, a smart watch, or they pass near these things. I see what they see, I know what they know. They hold no secrets from me, and I can bend them to my bidding. So I find one who belongs to a Ninja and I rip it to shreds, make it tell me who it calls, who it stands near, where it goes and when. I use it to slip into their bank accounts, their fridges, their washing machines."She pauses a moment, peeling away that polygonal mask oncemore and after a moment she pops the seal on that faceplate with a hiss of pressure. Half turning away as she jacks in a wire, connects it to a pair of goggles she produces and finally? She offers it over.

    "Here, an opportunity to see through my eyes for a moment. It will make things easier to understand..."

Sif has posed:
"I believe I understood several of those words," Sif says dryly after Chizue finishes the explanation. She takes the proffered goggles and looks at them curiously, turning them in her hand a few times before recognizing how they work. "Similar to those we use in snowy climes," she says, "although I have no doubt they have Midgard's enchantments in them instead of ours."

She slips the goggles over her face. Upside down. Sighs and removes them, replacing them the correct way, muttering something to herself she's not making audible.

"So tell me, how do I see through your eyes. You have enchantments in them?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Give it a moment to calibrate..."It comes in a rush of visual data, a thousand sensor feeds stacked up ontop of one another. Gradually however Owari plucks enough of them away to make some sort of sense, and well it's quite a sight. Every active internet connection a pinprick of light, connected with delicate multicolored threads. "Everything is connected, see how everyone down below is linked to each other? See how every thread runs through phone terminals, cell towers?"

    Delicately Owari leans forward, sweeping aside some of the overlay with a gesture "Here, this guy here."And a tap upon one poor soul down on the street. The feed erupts with data, websites, bank accounts, apps, contact lists, cell photos, and browser histories. Within a moment the display resolves, showing distant threads to every single individual in the guy's contact history. ATM camera feed as he passes by a storefront, nose burried in his phone never the wiser. "Very few can do this, fewer still can do it swiftly in real time like this. This is Haga technology, from here without him knowing whats happening?"And a snap of the fingers, showing his phone's screen as he browses donut shop reviews. "Phones have become utterly necessary for almost everyone, and they are laid bare to me. We could take every penny he has right here with a single motion, or ride his phone into the phone of anyone on his contact list. Their whole lives laid out before us, does this make more sense Lady Sif?"

Sif has posed:
"It sounds," Sif says, tapping her teeth with her fingernails idly, "like you are talking about scrystones. Only for some reason everybody in Midgard has one and mages can now read them all without effort."

She glances over at Chizue, sort of, the images in her eyes distracting and disorienting her. "Am I close?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Viewed through that sensor fusion geared goggles, Chizue appears like a cell shaded cartoon Tanuki. A knife clenched tightly between it's jaws, and otherwise dressed in dull grey samurai armor. Unreal, like a sliver from another dimension entirely. "Something of the sort, I suppose. This is where I do most of my work, and when I do it well? Nobody is even sure anyone has done anything at all."A few waves, and a series of hand gestures summon colored overlays. Networks of pinpricks of light networked together, red, green, yellow, blue.

    "This is the data network, the digital world invisible to common folk. You might indeed see it as a kind of spirit world I suppose, few mortals get a glimpse into this side of their world. No god I know of has seen this, but you now."Satelites swirling overhead replace the stars, radar weather overlays paint clouds. Stone and steel revealed as a brilliant mixture of colors and textures betraying their material and temperature. "They use their phones to determine what is truth, never comprehending that I can control those phones. So I can control their truth, turn them against their allies. Give them missions, and believing they're obeying their superiors they aid only me."

Sif has posed:
Sif's eyebrows crawl up to hide behind her bangs. "It sounds to me like you are some form of lorumancer. A valuable ally indeed in a war." She taps her teeth again, looking at the display, trying to puzzle it all out and, naturally, failing though succeeding at more than one might suspect.

"A new kind of spirit world. This is something the Court must learn of." She pauses a moment. "And I think this is why the younger Prince does not use these devices you mention. He is just the sort of person who would intuit what you said about them and mistrust them."

She removes the goggles so she can once again look at Chizue. "I would trade with you: my force of arms when you need such for your information when I need it. Does this suit you?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "It suits me, and honors my clan greatly. It would be a pleasure to aid you, certainly."She gives a little nod there, accepting her goggles back before nudging that armored faceplate shut with a hiss of pressure and replacing that polygonal faceplate. "I'm afraid I cannot put off my duties any longer, I must take my leave of you."

    She does with the snap of her fingers however, produce a business card which has only a QR code printed upon it. "Get a phone, they're useful tools. Just remember that it's a two way window, yes? In anycase if you should have need of me, take a picture of this with your phone and I will be in contact shortly."That poncho unfurling all by itself, as she finally stoops down to snag her folded semi-transparent rectangle and dock it along her spine with another soft click. "And I shall contact my elders, and see if they can source some blades worthy of you."

Sif has posed:
Sif inclines her head in response to the QR code, looking on the pattern with some confusion, but listening to the explanation ... which doesn't help.

"I will recall how to do this," she promises. "And I am honoured that your elders would consider having blades crafted for my collection. Someday I must show you at least the ones I brought to Midgard. The ones I couldn't bear to be away from."

Secreting the QR code in her outfit somewhere unclear, Sif takes a little running leap and stands for the last time on the crennelation. "Farewell Chizue. I look forward to meeting you again." And with a single step she's off the building, running fingers along the wall (and dislodging more than a few loose bricks that would form a future safety hazard if she'd not ripped them out) to slow her down enough that she doesn't wind up knee-deep in concrete at the bottom.