The sand in the hourglass eventually meets its end

[voidseeing]

Who: Gai, Law, Shikamaru, Sheena, Itachi, and anyone else who ends up being called into this.
What: An important discussion about keys, Davis, the tunnels, and other such matters.
When: Around noon on the 24th
Where: House 22
Summary: When Gai discovers that Specialist Davis himself is paying a visit to the village, he decides it's time to discuss a few things with several people.
Rating: Shouldn't be more than PG-13 at most.

[It didn't take long for word of Specialist Davis and Carol being in Luceti to reach Gai, given how nosy he is about the goings-on in the village. He's not entirely surprised; Davis does seem to have almost a personal stake in this enclosure given some of the things he's said and done before, but at the same time the fact that he's here (and injured, to boot) sets off a few alarm bells in Gai's mind given what he's learned about the man from Law.

He isn't going to approach them, not yet. Instead, he just tails them quietly for a while, observing what they're up to, noting the distance that they keep between them. They seem calm rather than in a hurry, almost as if they're just killing time. Perhaps they are. When a half-hour or so of following them around doesn't net any results, Gai decides that it's time to go drop in on someone who might have more of an idea as to what is currently going on.

It's only a matter of fifteen minutes or so after that before he's knocking on the door to House 22, hoping that Law isn't off on a shift at the clinic right now.]

Comments

[deathsdoctor]

It gets better.

Mister Bil said that Mister Davis had been relieved of active service when I suggested him to accompany Miss Carol. He didn't tell me why. He didn't seem to know much.

However his MSF guards did. They were mid-ranking soldiers, however they seemed to have a good idea what was going on by the looks on their faces. I never got the chance to ask the Commandant about it when I was briefly attached to her unit - not a good situation to ask - but it seems something happened and they're keeping it internal.

...

Mister CJ is. I have one more piece of news to impart.

[And it's unsettling.]

[endgames]

Don't read into it. It's most likely related to his injury. If it was a bigger deal than that, it wouldn't be information made aware to average soldiers.

[And even civilians who wouldn't know much are instructed not to share too much information with people from enclosures. Of course they're not going to talk about it.

As for what Gai's saying... Well he was quiet thinking on that until Law spoke up, but he still can't be moved to be shocked by this revelation.]

What you're saying about Davis, now, is interesting. Maybe even suspicious, I'll give you that. On the other hand, him covering it up would only work to the village's favor. [He tilts his head, fixing his sights on Gai.] You, more than anyone, should be grateful for it.

[voidseeing]

If his motive is to keep Luceti off the radar, yes. Revealing that information would likely elevate this enclosure in the eyes of the MSF, since we prevented the deaths of a number of their men.

It would make us more valuable to them.

[endgames]

It would also paint us negatively. That mission would have been a colossal failure if not for Precis' actions, and I know I wasn't the only one who broke objective to break into Archives - a fact Davis is aware of.

You and I especially could be penalized for that, if not booted from the program.

[They don't have enough counts that it would lead to something serious, but it would still mean restrictions. Since he's fairly confident Gai takes these missions for the same reason as him - information - that would be unfortunate.]

[voidseeing]

Davis would likely be penalized as well, and not just for our actions. He didn't indicate any knowledge that an explosive like that might be involved when he briefed me before the mission.

An oversight like that would paint him far more neagtively than it would us. All I had to go on as commander was the information he supplied. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't place the blame on me or you for that part.

[deathsdoctor]

[He's going to sip his tea for a moment and let those two debate it out. He has more to say, and its obvious he's waiting for a good moment.

That said, he's also patiently holding on to allow the others in the room to express their own opinions before they get too far ahead in the conversation.]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru thinks that if he could cover this up so well, it would be just as easy to misdirect information to keep himself in the clear. There's another time for that debate though - if all goes well, this business will just remained buried like it has.]

Regardless of that, what we really should be asking is what he has to gain out of doing something like that. If my suspicions are correct, I'd say it has something to do with the tunnels.

[voidseeing]

[Gai nods; he can agree with that much.]

There's clearly something here in this enclosure that is of value to them, and that would be a logical guess. That could also explain the discrepancy between what they told Law and what he heard from Bil.

[endgames]

[He nods, agreeing with that.]

That'd explain both Carol's accelerated schedule, and her choice of security. Davis was key to our discovering the tunnels in the first place. We only found it thanks to a reward he gave to Precis, and the code I discovered to unlock it came from a photograph I saw of his tattoo.

[wise_maiden]

Carol had stated that coming here was like 'coming home' for her. If there was something valuable in Luceti that warranted both of their attention, it would be down there.

[chikaidestroyer]

[Albert lowers his teacup a bit, having silently listened to the trading of information and resulting discussions with little to say to all of it.]

With all of these implications and circumstances taken into consideration, I suppose the resulting question is obvious: Why now? Why accelerate the schedule and risk notice to the break in protocol?

[yourhatred]

Perhaps getting us to notice is part of the plan.

[Itachi casually refills a couple cups of tea that are getting on the empty side, playing the role of the silent butler for a little while as the others discuss among themselves.]

[corrinesbell]

They probably think it's taken us too long to notice already. [Sharing the rest of what she heard from Carol and Davis doesn't feel appropriate now.]

[voidseeing]

Or perhaps they've learned something that's worth the risk in their eyes.

[endgames]

If they didn't know to start. They have to have a better idea than anyone here what else is in those tunnels. If they want something in there, it could be the timing is finally right for it.

[wise_maiden]

We've already learned that a lot of what we've gone through has been done before in some capacity. If there's something they're planning on introducing us, it could be something that goes along with their intentions for the village. Carol mentioned that she was going to move in here...

[deathsdoctor]

Perhaps. There's so much happening out there and we're unaware of most of it. Could be many reasons.

Anyway...

Miss Carol's been here before. Mister Davis is almost absolutely certain a former resident. If they want something in the tunnels, particularly in that complex, then they know they're not going to access much without both keys. I'm reasonably certain they're banking on us having one since the instructions on where to find it were pretty clear.

Otherwise, what would be the point?

Though following that chain of logic, it would stand to reason they have access, or know where the second one is as well. And are confident in gaining the first through some means.

[And it also stands to reason, if they had access to both keys, they know what's down there already and hid them, Law thinks. Otherwise, why is the first key hidden in the desert with clear instructions? Why not look. Did they need to hide it before the other was found - a threat, perhaps? Did something happen before the first key was retrieved and reunited with the second and the door opened?]

[voidseeing]

[And then, suddenly, things click into place in Gai's mind. What Law said, and something he saw written down in the tunnels on that wall covered with writing, all of which he'd copied down into a notebook and spent hours studying until he knew every sentence there by heart.

Of course. It all makes sense.]

... "C + D Forever." Carol and Davis. They were both residents of Luceti. And they aren't just coworkers, either.