Case 2: Getting to Know P / Closed-ish to Philip and Shotaro

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro's first night in jail wasn't a good one. Whether he was awake or asleep, all he could think about was the Boss and if only he'd just listened to him. They might still be in prison, or hell, the Boss could be in here with them. But he'd be alive. That would be the most important part of it.

When the announcement woke him up the next morning, he felt like just rolling over again and sleeping in. But his mind went to Philip next door. He didn't know what was going through that kid's head, but he at least wasn't alone.

He pushed himself up out of bed, and took a minute or two to make himself presentable. Appearances were important for a detective on the rise, after all. He still was sore about his missing hat, but he would fix that before too long. And that masquerade thing sounded interesting enough. Or maybe superheroes? The shop would probably have clues for that little mystery. And he had a tip box to check.

He left his cell, and headed next door to Philip's. He leaned against the wall and knocked on his door. "Good morning, Neighbor. Wanna go for a walk with me?"

Comments

[decideformyself]

Philip was actually only now returning to his room, three books cradled in his arms (one on human memory, one specifically on amnesia, and a children's picture book about friendship). He'd been up quite late reading and had even fallen asleep in the library at one point. The three-book checkout limit was so frustrating.

But he figured he should probably head back to G block every so often, at least. That section was highly suspicious, and Philip figured he should try and figure out what was going on with it.

He paused in the hallway when he saw Shotaro knocking on his door. "Shotaro," he said. "What are you doing?"

[tanteiotaku]

He looked surprised to find Philip out of his room so soon after the doors were unlocked. "Eh?! you're up already?"

He cleared his throat and stood up straight again. "We've got a mystery to solve already." He took a couple steps to close the distance between them. "Did you hear our lovely Warden this morning?"

[decideformyself]

Philip tilted his head curiously, opening his door and heading in to deposit his books inside. His room was still fairly bare -- he hadn't purchased anything yet but the communicator, which should prove useful in keeping in touch with the other inmates in his ongoing quest to understand this "friendship" thing. He was even still wearing the standard jumpsuit he'd arrived in.

"I did," he replied. "Ah, do you mean the New Years' event?"

[tanteiotaku]

Well, they matched in that regard. As much as he wanted to, he was being conservative with what he had, until he had a reserve of resources available to him. Just in case of emergencies. However, he finally caved on the communicator himself because it just seemed like a good idea.

"Exactly that. Masks and costumes sounds intriguing, don't you think?"

[decideformyself]

"Very much so," Philip agreed. He peeked into the drawer beside his bed to make sure his candy was still secure. "You wanted to investigate that, then?"

[tanteiotaku]

"Yeah, and I could use some help getting around. I wasn't here long enough to get my bearings." That was a lie. He'd spent so much time during the night staring at that map when he couldn't sleep he practically had it memorized. But it was a good enough excuse anyway.

[decideformyself]

"What did you have in mind?" Satisfied that there had been no tampering, Philip shut the drawer and headed back out into the hallway. "I can easily show you to the library if that's your destination."

[tanteiotaku]

He chuckled a bit. "No, not yet. First, to the commons so I can check the tip box. Then to the store in search of clues." He yawned and stretched. "And maybe some coffee."

[decideformyself]

"Very well."

Philip headed toward one of the exits up to the prison proper. "Coffee?" he repeated curiously. "That's... a type of warm beverage, correct?"

[tanteiotaku]

He smiled and nodded. It made sense that he didn't know a lot about even the simplest of things, yet he'd memorized some to the minutest detail. "Yes. The Boss took his black as the shadow under his hat." He swept his fingers along his nonexistent hat brim. "It's something you have to get used to, though." He'd been trying to deal with using less and less cream and sugar over time. But now that the Boss was gone, it was time for him to follow suit.

"It's got caffeine too, though. That helps."

[decideformyself]

"And caffeine is a stimulant," Philip mused to himself. He knew that one -- after a series of experiments on caffeine's effect on his Branch of Sin, the scientists had learned that giving caffeine to him was not that great an idea. "Then you drink it to imitate Sokichi Narumi?"

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Partly." He'd hit the nail on the head. "It's useful enough for breakfast, too."

His tone changed. The levity was gone and he was a bit more serious. "When he gave me his hat, it wasn't just that. I was to pick up where he left off protecting the city. But I can't do that from here..." He sighed. There was frustration again in his face, but he didn't put words to it.

[decideformyself]

Contrary to expectations, Philip did have some idea of what Shotaro must have been feeling. Sokichi had given him a task, too: Leave this place, and then count up your sins. Deadman Wonderland was still a prison, just a more literal one.

What in the world could he do from a place like this?

He brushed his hair out of his eyes, starting up a flight of stairs. "Barring the possibility of jailbreak, which I'm certainly not going to rule out, a sentence reduction starts from one hundred million CP. To earn that much in one year, a net monthly gain of eight and one-third million CP would be necessary. Of course, that rules out the expense of candy, if..." He trailed off. He still wasn't certain about that last part.

[tanteiotaku]

Like hell Shotaro was going to let that go. "If what?" he kept pace alongside him, and looked over to Philip. Truth be told, he wasn't worried about reducing his sentence. Ten years was nothing to sneeze at, but it wasn't life in prison like Philip had gotten.

[decideformyself]

"I heard a rumor," he said. "After dying, inmates supposedly wake up the next morning as if nothing had happened. Of course, I have not yet seen any firsthand evidence of this phenomenon, and the man who shared it with me had no idea what might cause it."

[tanteiotaku]

He'd had heard about some people being capable of some impressive things over these last few years but dying not being permanent was a bit beyond what he'd ever heard of. "No way! That's impossible!"

[decideformyself]

"I thought so too, but I can see no reason for him to have been lying to me." He smiled halfway and added, "Not that I'm eager to test the hypothesis."

[tanteiotaku]

"Other than he's an inmate in the highest-security and craziest damn prison ever engineered," Shotaro replied. "But then again, so are you and I." There were many different paths that lead people here. Shotaro was going to try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't want to see Philip trust the wrong person and get hurt.

[decideformyself]

"Precisely. I'm not going to go out of my way to confirm his statement." Philip shrugged. "But should it turn out to be true, then we can save more CP to purchase a sentence reduction."

And now in the prison itself. He continued on toward the common room. He hadn't seen Shotaro's requests box before; that should be interesting.

[tanteiotaku]

The box definitely stood out in the room. It was bright purple with bits of black and read "Hidari Detective Agency Tip Box" on the top and the note just below the slot read: "Need help? Know someone that does? See something weird you want someone to look into? Leave me a note here!"

"Alright! Day one of the Hidari Detective Agency!" He flicked off the top of the box with a flourish.

It was empty.

[decideformyself]

Philip was actually a bit disappointed to see it empty. He'd been wondering what sorts of requests prisoners might have for an imprisoned detective.

"This isn't very secure," he remarked.

[tanteiotaku]

"It's the best I could come up with quickly yesterday. Maybe I can get something with a key on it later..." He put the lid back in place and huffed. He was ready to get started.

"Well, on to the store to solve the mystery of what the Warden is planning." He'd shaken off the disappointment fairly easy. So soon would have been too much to hope for. People had to trust him first.

[decideformyself]

"How do you think the store will help?" Philip asked in confusion.

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Just a hunch," he answered. Because where else would the costumes be? And for someone that claims to not know the layout he sure is finding his way around just fine. Details, details.

[decideformyself]

Yeah, that's interesting, Shotaro. In fact...

"Do you know the way to the shop?" Philip inquired.