Skip Navigation
Anime Thief! (Stacy) (Kazuo's Intro)
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 11, 2020 4:11:54 GMT
Shibuya 104 is the Shibuya area's most popular mall, as well as its only mall. Multiple shops and stores span three floors, jam packed with about each and every store you could possibly think of. Heck, it seems like new stores just seem to keep magically showing up there as well.
However, Shibuya 104 does have a dark side; it seemed like Digimon activity was always happening in this area. They appeared to flock to this mall just as much as teenagers did, so it was no surprise for those with knowledge of Digimon and the Digital World to take more notice to strange goings-on at the mall, much like what is going on today.
In front of one of the more popular manga stores was a full line of police tape, as well as a broken glass door and a couple police officers surrounding it, letting everyone know the store was closed due to a police investigation. One of the store's regular customers, a twelve year old by the name of Kaya, would find this out the hard way when she walked past it and saw all the commotion. She would run up and ask, "What the heck happened here?"
"Sorry kid, this store is closed until further notice," a male police officer would tell her, "it appears someone broke in last night and stole half the store's stock."
"That... that's horrible! Please let me help, this is my favorite manga sto-"
"Leave it to the professionals, kid. You don't need to worry your little head about this one. Now go on."
Disappointed, Kaya would indeed leave the area, but she would still look back at the store from a distance, thoughts forming in her head. Her Digimon partner Hawkeye would then speak from inside of the V-Pet, "You're not letting this go, are you?"
"Nope! But I don't know how I'm gonna be able to investigate with the cops everywhere..."
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 11, 2020 4:35:55 GMT
Stacy was wondering about the mall looking at the many different stores. After that ride on a train with a face that drove itself, with her falling asleep at some point waking back where she started at the station, she was up for something she considered normal. As she walked her thoughts drifted back to the strange device in her pocket. Pulling it out, holding it once again in her left hand, she glanced at it until something yellow out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
Looking up she spotted a magna store with its glass door broken blocked off by police tape. Police were swarming around the store clearly investigating what looked like a burglary. Amidst the chaos was what appeared to be a girl around twelve looking disappointed. Obviously she was a regular. As Stacy got closer she saw the girl start talking to some machine. Though not close enough to hear anything she saw the device. It looked like the one still in her hand only it seemed to be a different model. How odd, just what were these things? Maybe the girl knew.
Though not knowing how the girl would react to an adult addressing her she approached and calmly asked "Hey what's going on here?"
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 11, 2020 5:45:24 GMT
Kaya was definitely startled when she heard someone walk up and ask her what was happening. In a panic she nearly dropped her digivice, which made Hawkeye almost feel sick due to the motions. She put it away in her bag and turned around, smiling innocently at the woman. "Nothing!"
It was then that Kaya got a good look at this person. She looked normal in every possible way, and pretty as well! Still, she was an adult that was speaking to a child of only twelve years old, so there wouldn't be much in the way of conversation. "Just bummed that the manga store got robbed. But something about it seems suspicious to me..."
As Kaya watched the crime scene, she noticed something that was concealed in a plastic bag in one of the officer's hands. It looked almost like... like...
A D-Terminal.
That confirmed it, Kaya definitely had to look more into this case since the police aren't gonna know what the heck a D-Terminal is, or what it's linked to. Kaya would have to sneak in later tonight to find out more, when everyone else is asleep.
Kaya would turn around to say goodbye to the woman, but then she noticed something in her hand, and it looked an awful lot like a Digivice. "Um, what is that you're holding, ma'am?"
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 11, 2020 6:02:42 GMT
Watching the startled girl nearly drop the device in her hand then put it in her backpack, she heard the girl say nothing. The way she said it was almost as if she was caught red handed. Boy she knew that feeling even though she was thirty seven.
When the girl mentioned the robbery it confirmed what Stacy suspected. After the police tape and broken glass was obvious. The girl then asked about the device in her hand.
"What this thing?" she asked showing it to the girl before she replied "Honestly, I still have no idea but you seem to have something similar in your bag."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 12, 2020 2:39:48 GMT
The young girl tilted her head when the woman claimed to have no idea what her Digivice is. "You don't know? Does that mean you don't know about...?" Kaya stopped herself right there; for all she knew, she just found that Digivice on the ground somewhere, and it doesn't even belong to her.
Kaya wasn't sure if she could trust this woman yet, since she doesn't even know about Digimon, but she and Hawkeye were gonna need help investigating this kind of break in. Maybe Kaya didn't have to reveal all of the information about Digimon right away... "I'm going to ask around the mall to see if other break ins happened, but of course none of them will listen to me. Maybe they'll listen to you though; will you help me out please? If you do I can tell you more about that weird tech thing you have!"
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 12, 2020 2:59:26 GMT
It was if this girl knew something about the device in her hand. That was the feeling Stacy got anyway. What was she hiding? What was up with these things?
"Well I just got this thing last night from my laptop. Why would I know anything?" Stacy said calmly not wanting to potentially frighten the child. Definitely wouldn't get the answers she needed if she was hostile.
As the girl mentioned the possibility of other robberies and not getting information, Stacy could identify with that considering that as a kid she had the same problem with adults no matter how smart or polite she was.
'Hmm. She wants my help to gather information on the robbery and to see if there were others. Then she'll tell me more about the tech in my hand. My instincts were right. She knows something but she seems nice enough so I'll help her out." Stacy thought as she placed the device in her left hand back into the left pocket of her leather jacket.
Putting on a smile she said "You gotta deal, kid. I'll help you if you help me."
She then reached out her left hand offering a handshake. "The name's Stacy by the way."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 12, 2020 3:14:41 GMT
This woman got her Digivice from her laptop? Like, it just popped out of her laptop? Strange, but at this point Kaya is no stranger to strange. Heck, she has a living and breathing archer bird tucked away in her tech device right now, just chillin' out. "Yeah that is a bit weird, huh?"
After thinking about it, the woman agreed to help Kaya with her investigation if she helps the woman out as well. "You've got a deal," Kaya said as she accepted the woman's handshake, who revealed her name to be Stacy. "I'm Kaya. Stacy sounds foreign; are you from America?"
After the handshake, Kaya would know the first place to go, another store in the mall that sold DVDs and blu-ray discs of anime and other Japanese movies and such. If the thief would steal from a manga store, surely he'd steal from other media stores as well, right? Upon entering the store, it would look very nice, with the DVD's neatly placed on the shelves ready for customers to observe and/or buy. There was a man at the front counter who looked to be a manager of the store.
"Welcome, ladies! What brings you two in today?" The manager would say with a grin on his face. What would Kaya and Stacy ask him?
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 12, 2020 3:42:23 GMT
"Yeah. Things usually don't come flying outta laptops so strange is an understatement" Stacy agreed.
The girl accepted her offer for a handshake and introduced herself as Kaya. Then when asked if she was from America her eyes held a slight glint of amusement. She thought her appearance spoke for itself. After all she didn't exactly look Asian in the slightest being of mostly European descent.
"Nice to meet ya, Kaya. Yes, I was born and raised in America. I mean look at me. I don't look Asian so I thought being foreign was obvious. No biggie though. Let's get the info you're after, shall we?
The two of them began walking through the mall. Since Stacy had never been to this mall she followed alongside Kaya as they made their way into a store that sold DVDs and Blu-rays. Stacy looked at the neatly organized shelves before turning toward the front counter when addressed by what she assumed was the manager.
"Yes sir. A store in this mall was robbed. We were wondering if you would know anything about what happened." Stacy said as she walked up to the front counter in a calm, yet, confidant manner.
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 12, 2020 3:55:43 GMT
Kaya simply shrugged. "Nowadays Japan is full of foreigners, either people move here or they're simply visiting. I think it's pretty cool, since I'd like to see America one day. What's it like over there?"
When the two ladies entered the DVD store, Kaya let out a sigh of joy. "This is another one of my favorite stores to come into. Don't even have to buy something, just looking through the different movies and shows is awesome."
Stacy was very straightforward and calm when asking the manager if he knew anything about the robbery. His eyes simply widened. "There was another robbery?"
Kaya's raised an eyebrow. "Um, what do you mean by 'another robbery'?"
"Well there's been a series of robberies over the past month. A store would open up to find half its inventory had just disappeared overnight. So far it happened to this place, the snack shop and the video game shop. Which store got robbed this time?"
"The manga store on this floor."
"Strange that the police haven't caught him by this point... I got footage from the night my store got robbed but I can't decipher it at all."
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 12, 2020 7:00:20 GMT
"What's it like in America? I guess when you're born somewhere you're so used to the environment that you rarely think about. Well I lived in Washington before I came here. There are lots of trees and in some parts of Washington a really good view of some mountains. The summers rarely got much hotter than eighty degrees while winters were cold, windy, and rainy. I'm really starting to like Japan though so I see why many people come here." She said as she and Kaya entered the store.
As Kaya let out her sigh of joy and mentioned what she liked about the store Stacy replied "I understand how that feels, Kaya. I am known to do nothing but window shop in stores I like."
When Stacy spoke of the robbery from earlier she noticed the store manager's eyes widening indicating his surprise. As Kaya and the store manager spoke she learned that the mall suffered multiple robberies.
"One would think someone would have noticed something considering half the stock of various stores was taken. What is going on?" Stacy said expressing her thoughts out loud. Then when the manager mentioned footage of the robbery that he couldn't decipher she asked "Sir, would it be possible if we could see the footage?"
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 13, 2020 0:40:50 GMT
Stacy wondered what was going on with these robberies, and the manager simply shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know, ma'am. After each robbery the mall's stores would improve their security but the thief always manages to sneak in somehow. How did he get in this time, I'm curious."
"The manga store had its doors shattered today."
"Oh god, I shouldn't have asked then..." The manager said nervously, a bead of sweat dropping from his head. Stacy asked to see the security store footage the manager had asked about. "I'm not entirely sure I can show a customer something like that... if you were a cop then I'd be able to."
"Please, sir? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Kaya asked, making the biggest puppy dog eyes she could.
"...gah alright, gimme a sec." The manager would go into the back for a minute before coming out again. He had a laptop in his hands, and it took him a few more minutes to connect it to the TV hanging in the wall corner. He hit play on the laptop and the security footage began:
The time was displayed in the lower right-hand corner: 2:24 AM. Everything seemed pretty normal at first, but then right when 2:25 AM hit, the image would become distorted and buffery as each individual pixel has no idea what's going on. This would go on for about ten minutes until at 2:35 the picture would return to normal, but now the shelves are a complete mess, and the ones that are left standing have considerably fewer things on them.
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 13, 2020 4:10:54 GMT
When the manager was hesitant to show the security feeds it made sense to Stacy.
'He has a point I'm no cop and never have been. Just a fan a of crime dramas.' she thought. However the store manager ended up against the most formidable weapon a twelve year old had in there arsenal, the dreaded puppy dog eyes.
'Ah the power of cuteness. The kid's not bad. If I weren't thirty seven I might have tried that trick myself. Scratch that, I think I might still look young and cute enough to make it work.' Stacy thought with a small smile which showed how impressed she was.
The manager brought out a laptop and connected it to a nearby hanging wall TV. The footage started with nothing amiss, however, it didn't stay that way long as the picture started to buffer becoming a static, pixilated mess. This went on for ten minutes until the picture was restored revealing the store in a trashed mess.
"Hmm. I can see what you meant when you said you couldn't make anything out." she said to the manager.
'Okay. This is weird. Wonder what happened to the feed. Maybe...." her thoughts were spinning rapidly through her head. Hopefully those thoughts wouldn't get piled up and distorted themselves.
"Hey Kaya, I need to talk to you." she said as she guided the younger girl to the far side of the store, out of earshot of the manger, before she continued "I think it's obvious that someone doesn't want anyone to see them and I don't think it's because of normal reasons. I don't know why but I'm getting this weird vibe that things are not what they seem."
Unbeknown to her the device in her pocket began to vibrate slightly and a faint glow appeared briefly before things went back to normal.
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 13, 2020 4:18:33 GMT
"What the heck..." was all Kaya managed to say when faced with the pixel-y mess that was the surveillance footage. To the average user it seemed to just be a complete mess that no one could comprehend. But if you were observant enough, you would definitely see something moving that wasn't just random; it was like an outline.
Potentially, an outline of the thief?
"I honestly couldn't believe it myself. Lotta weird stuff happening these days. First that fiasco with Golden Week and those weird creatures, now something like this. If these robberies keep up I'm gonna get a buncha people to keep guard overnight to see if they decide to come back later."
Stacy pulled Kaya to the other side of the store before explaining that she was getting very weird vibes, saying that things weren't as they seem. "You're right, but I'm not sure the thief meant to do this. Who could do that, honestly? I think we should check out the other stores to see if they have cameras that caught the same thing. If you ask me, the stores that got hit are the perfect ingredients to create something akin to an otaku."
|
|
|
Post by ricochet-Stacy on Feb 13, 2020 4:41:18 GMT
'Wait, creatures? Was this anything like the talking train she rode on the night she got her strange device?' she thought with confusion clearly etched on her face. 'Come to think of it, while barely noticeable, she saw something strange about the footage. What was clearly the thief flicked in the static though impossible to make out. 'What are we tracking down a yokai or something?'
Despite her thoughts she had hear Kaya and answered with "Otaku? What's that? Sorry my Japanese is extremely weak. Hit or miss, one could say. As for checking out the other stores, I agree with you. There just is something weird about this. It's almost as if some rouge nerd is up to this."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya Matsui and Hawkeye on Feb 13, 2020 5:34:32 GMT
The manager could tell that Stacy had no idea what he was talking about. "Don't you know what happened last spring? During Golden Week, these creatures suddenly started appearing. Some were peaceful, but some started attacking! I don't know what the heck happened but if you ask me it's the sign of an apocalypse."
Inside the V-Pet, Hawkeye didn't agree with Kaya keeping his existence a secret from the human accompanying her. She had to know what she was getting herself into, especially with the weirdness going on with this thief. It had to be a Digimon of some kind, based on what he was hearing.
Stacy asked Kaya what an otaku was. "An otaku is like a nerd but extremely obsessive about their hobbies. If this thief is willing to steal things they're into, then an otaku is definitely what they are."
The two of them headed to another store, this time the video game store. There was a young woman restocking certain games when they walked in, wearing a slightly different outfit than the two other employees that were already there. The woman smiled and greeted Kaya and Stacy. "Hey! How can I help you two ladies today?"
Yadda yadda yadda, all this and the third...
"Yeah, we have security footage from that night. I'm not allowed to show it to you, but it was exactly like you described the other store's footage to be. It almost looked like someone was... moving through it? Does that help at all?"
|
|
|