Forum Thread

Aleks followed Adrik, trying to figure out why he seemed so adamant on disliking him.

“Adrik! C’mon, kid. I know that You might resent me, cause I left you in that place alone, but, come on, man. Gimme a chance!”

Aleksandr followed Adrik to the offices.

“Hey, hey, just- let me talk, man.”

---

”Andry~!”

A girl with short, black hair burst into the investigative department, a guitar slung over her back, rushing to the assignement board, screeching to a halt behind Andrael.

“Oh, gosh! Am I late?”

Lydia Satou took a step forward, peering at the board.

“Are the assignments up?"

---

คภ๔гคєɭ ςครร๏ฬคгץ

~~~
קг๏Ŧเɭєг

---

"Andry~!"

The grating sound of her name being sung out with far too much enthusiasm sliced through Andrael Cassowary's concentration. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Lydia Satou, the embodiment of relentless cheerfulness, barged into the Investigative Department, a damn guitar slung over her back like she was auditioning for some misplaced talent show. Lydia's abrupt entrance disrupted the already tense atmosphere, and Andry couldn't help but feel a twinge of irritation at the girl's overwhelming exuberance. Andry turned with a raised eyebrow, her stoic expression betraying none of the annoyance bubbling beneath the surface.

"The assignments are up," Andry deadpanned, her tone a masterclass in exasperation. She took a step aside, allowing Lydia to peer at the board as if her life depended on it.

There was a begrudging fondness buried beneath layers of annoyance in Andry's feelings towards Lydia. The girl was like an overeager puppy that followed her around, knocking over everything in its path. And though Andry knew Lydia carried her own share of trauma, she couldn't muster much empathy for the perpetual ball of sunshine. In fact, Andry rarely missed an opportunity to express her joy at the fact that, as the only two profilers in the department, they never had to work together. Lydia's particular brand of crazy was too much for Andry's taste, and the prospect of collaboration was as appealing as a root canal. It was unsure to what degree of seriousness the statement was really intended.

"Next time, Lydia, try not to cause a commotion. Some of us would prefer not to hear your overly cheerful words echoing off the walls so early in the morning," Andry muttered, her gaze returning to the assignment board. The distant hope that the golden retriever that was Lydia might find another rug to pee on and leave her in peace lingered beneath the surface of Andry's irritation. She couldn't help but think that her guitar might find itself in a less-than-ideal place if the girl didn't tone it down. The forced smile Andry mustered was a thin veneer, concealing the depth of her exasperation.

---

---

---

Adrik Volkov

---

I'm not your "man".

Adrik gritted his teeth and kept going. "I'm busy!" he yelled. "Find someone else to bother. I have to-" He turned the corner and crashed into Head Detective Michon.

He hit the ground first. The panic started up after. "Oh no sir! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I should've been looking where I was going-"

"Intern."

It took a moment for Adrik to realise the gruff voice was addressing him. "Y-Yes sir?"

"...Get to work."

"Right!" Adrik squeaked, jumping to his feet. "Right, sorry, sorry, I'm going! Thank you for your kindness sir, I'm out of your hair from here on after."

He blabbered more stupid, inane things. Head Detective Michon was watching him with a cold glitter in his eyes as he spoke, an almost smile upturning his lips. "Volkov... right?"

Adrik almost started crying. "Y-Yes! Volkov!"

"You look like a Volkov," Head Detective Michon commented.

"Oh... do I?"

---

At the mention of 'Volkov', Aleksandr poked his head out, quickly assessing the situation, gulping audibly when seeing Head Detective Michon. He walked up behind Adrik, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"H-hey, head detective! What a pleasant surprise!"

Aleksandr chuckled slightly, pulling Adrik towards him, as Aleksandr slowly back away.

"I did nothing wrong this time! I swear! Don't kill me! I'm just trying to get this kid to work! I swear!"

he laughed sheepishly.

---

---

---

Adrik Volkov

---

Head Detective Michon tilted his head to the side in an unnervingly young way. "There's no problem there." His eyes tracked the two as they backed up. Adrik found himself weirdly grateful for the hand on his shoulder, even as he swatted it off with a mumbled- I'm not a kid.

"It's my fault. I bumped into him."

"He did," Head Detective Michon agreed simply.

---

"Alright, alright, I see. Now, Adrik, let's not poke the bear any further, and get out of here. Sorry, Head!"

He laughed, pulling Adrik back around the corner.

"C'mon, kid. let's get going."

Aleksandr carefully let go of Adrik, putting his hands back in his pockets.

"You okay? that seemed like a little bit of a nasty crash."

---

---

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Jace Mawer (Nora)

---

Nora tipped their head to the side, studying the paper for a minute, then barked out a laugh. A red case, huh? They must really have a lotta faith in ol' Nora!

But they weren't smiling, not really.

Why would they put me on a case like this? After all this time?

Femi's face flashed in the back of their head. Their nails dug into the skin of their palm, and the pain was sweet in comparison to the writhing emotions in their heart. You failed him. It's your fault he's dead and never coming back. Because you let him die. You wanted him to die if it meant you could extend your sad, pathetic existence.

The smell of iron hit their nose. They glanced down and realised that they broke skin.

Oh well. Their face brightened up in a smile. At least they could torture Buraddo! That really made everything worth it!!!!

---

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Adrik Volkov

---

"I'm fine. I really don't need you hovering over me like this, you know..." Adrik frowned. "But thanks... I guess. You saved me from some small humiliation."

Though who knows what I owe you for it.

"Detective Konstantin. I assume you're not holding up business for any meaningful venture with our new interns?"

Adrik jumped. "Sorry, sir! We didn't mean to-" He paused. "Wait. Weren't you just down there?" Confusion overrode propriety. "I could've sworn we just came..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Head Detective Michon scoffed. "I've been in my office since the assignments were posted. Which you are supposed to be reading." He glared at Aleksandr. "Another mark, Detective Konstantin. This is going on your record."

---

"Don't question it, kid. The Head Detective's everywh-"

He stopped when the head detective mentioned another mark.

"Come on, really? I'm starting to think you hate me or somethin'!"

Aleks sighed.

"Fine. Adrik, let's get goin'. Another mark!"

He muttered that last bit under his breath, annoyed ever so slightly.

---

Buraddo

They strode calmly, mentally pacing their steps. "So, we're casemates, huh Mawer?"

คภ๔гคєɭ ςครร๏ฬคгץ

~~~
קг๏Ŧเɭєг

---

Andry felt the distinct shift in the atmosphere as Head Detective Buraddo entered the room, their presence like a dark cloud of unpredictability. What did they know about Lana? Why did they want her on their case? Too many questions and too few answers.

"So we're casemates, huh, Mawer?"

She turned her head to see Detective Mawer somewhere nearby. Andry couldn't help but offer a barely perceptible smile of acknowledgment. Andry didn't get along with many, and Nora... Nora was an acquired taste. The camaraderie between them was more of a shared goal—to annoy whomever, likely now, Buraddo—than any genuine friendship.

"Detective Mawer, Head Detective Buraddo," Andry greeted with a level of formality, falling into step beside them. She acknowledged Buraddo with a curt nod, her gaze focused on the task at hand. "It seems we resume our partnership. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us." She was shamelessly fishing for information now, trying to clarify everything she could about the case.

---

📚SAWYER LAURENS'S POV🍭

"Exact-lee. Scorned man having an affair of his own? The papers'd eat it up. He'd be doomed. So he pays his little lover to stay here, and be real quiet... but he doesn't pay her enough, y'see? She's keeping his secret and doing the caulking. She gets frustrated after a while. And she bounces. Boom, she's off, and with his little ring too."

Sawyer raised their eyebrows. "Huh. You think he trusted her too much or something? Seems like a terrible idea thingy to do!"

"Eh, yeah, that's possible too. This was fun though, right? Even if there's no evidence and it never comes to light- because god are rich people good at covering up their tracks- we can be assured he's no innocent in this. In one way or another, he's hiding something. Might as well talk about it, amirite? Mess with that shiny reputation of his."

"Yeppers, guess so! I like these ominous thingies you keep mentioning!" they exclaimed. "Sooo... Head Detective... you gonna declare this case solved?" They tilted their head. "I meannnn, can we really consider this the answer with no evidence? Maybe it is, but people might be skeptical."

"I think they finally posted the cases. Lotsa noise out there..."

"Yeah, they haaave! Wait. If you're a Head Detective, shouldn't you... know about that?" They squinted.

Hold on...

♟Laurence Walton's POV📖

While he cleaned, Laurence prayed to the totally existent gods of work (probably robots), that he wouldn't end up punished because of Andreja's insolence. Again.

---

Well, Buraddo seems promising and the nervous wreck shows manners. Best if I ease in on her, no need for a meltdown this early. Stella thought to herself, making her way to her assigned case. Her pupils dart between the other three and the case rapidly, before they stop at the case. "So... we have Cassowary, Mawer, Buraddo and me. An... interesting line-up. You can do this.

At first, it was difficult for Stella to work in a team. Apart from her solitary nature that comes with being an Oracle (at least for her), the detective feared that some people might remember her from her former times at this agency. That would just bring up unnecessary details and stories... but when she noticed that almost nobody who works now even worked back then, she saw it as a sort of "restart". Sure, it would be nice to be promoted to Oracle again some time but... right now? She could use some company at the water cooler. Not to mention the information she could gather from them, you never know what you need.

The detective takes a deep breath, standing behind Nora. Clearing her throat audibly to get the matter back to the case, Stella simply points at the case, "So, who has the honor of introducing us to the case?"

---

"Oh, don't be so cold, Andry! You know you love me~"

Lydia chirped cheerfully, peppy and smiling brightly.

She spun on her heel, facing Nora and Burrado, with a bright smile, waving cheerfully.

"Oh, hi! Good morning!"

Lydia was shifting her weight from right to left, swaying slightly.

---

คภ๔гคєɭ ςครร๏ฬคгץ

~~~
קг๏Ŧเɭєг

---

"Oh, don't be so cold, Andry! You know you love me~"

Lydia's peppy chirp cut through the air, a jarring contrast to the controlled atmosphere of the case room. Andry grumbled under her breath, a low, disgruntled sound that barely reached Lydia's ears. Love? Hardly. Andry found Lydia's incessant cheerfulness less appealing than jumping out a window. She was here to work, to solve cases, not to engage in her coworker's circus of perpetual sunshine. Andry's focus remained steadfast on the task at hand, the irritation simmering beneath her stoic exterior a testament to her enduring resistance to Lydia's brand of enthusiasm.

And lovely, there was the third addition to their group. Andry regarded Stella De Caelo with a blend of skepticism and mild curiosity. The seasoned detective's age suggested experience, yet her recent entry into handling red cases hinted at a certain lack of status or ambition. Andry couldn't quite fathom Stella's motivation for the fresh start—was it genuine reinvention or an attempt to escape a past that remained obscured? Andry wasn't really in a position to judge, but it was far more acceptable at her age than Stella's. Andry couldn't shake the feeling that beneath Stella's disciplined exterior lay a detective content with the status quo, a perspective at odds with Andry's own relentless pursuit of... excellence. Yes, that word was as good as any other. Far more innocent.

And yet, there was a pragmatic simplicity to Stella's approach that Andry found strangely appealing. No pretense, no grandiose ambitions—just a detective focused on the task at hand. Her eyes darted between them; Satou, Buraddo, Mawer, De Caelo. Not her dream team by any measure. But it would do. (Thank god she never had to collaborate with Lydia.)

---

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Narcisse Michon

---

Ah, Detective Konstantin was grumbling again. Unsurprising. The man had the maturity of a five year old.

"Perhaps your receiving these marks is indicative of an underlying problem?" Narcisse offered. "Such as... a lack of work ethic? General incompetency? Sneaking out of your office to harass the latest influx of interns?"

He rolled his eyes. "Though I suppose you'd rather just blame your failings on me. As per usual. Very well, do as you please."

The intern cleared his throat. Narcisse turned to look at him.

Despite the way the boy was trembling, there was a certain fire in his eyes. Narcisse wasn't even sure the boy was aware of it. But there was some strength in there, even with the hunched posture and the frantic blinking behind those owlish glasses.

Something that made Narcisse, on an instinctual level want to listen. Something that made him...

"Speak," he told the intern coldly.

"It's just..." the intern trailed off. He looked at Detective Konstantin, then looked back.

"Nothing, then? I suppose you can go-"

"No, wait! Sir! This is seriously weird. We can't leave until... it's figured out." The kid glanced nervously back and forth. "Mister Head Detective sir... there was another you down that corridor. He looked just like you, but..." he trailed off. "Wrong."

The words hit him like a cannonball, the impact had his lungs tightening, his vision narrowing, everything fixating on that little boy with the round glasses and the... the story.

Narcisse felt lightheaded. Dizzy. He thought he might crash down to the floor.

"Another me, you say?"

---

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Andreja Buivis

---

"A magician never reveals their secrets!" She shot them a wink and darted across the room, coming to a stop by the doorway, spinning on her heel to face them at the last second. "Coming?"

---

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Niwa Atsushi

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Niwa traced his fingers over the assignments list. The words were delightfully smooth beneath his fingertips. His own caseload. People to train.

Huh.

A smile slowly spread over his face. This was... amazing.

---

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Jace Mawer (Nora)

---

"Casemates for life!" Nora whooped, pumping her fist in the air. "Together, we'll kick ass, Bura-Bura- aha-! More companions!"

She spun around to address the new voices. "Andy, darling! I've missed you! Oh, and SDC..." She wiped a fake tear away. "It really has been so long! We should get together some time. Get a few drinks, swap a few stories... ah, but reunion truly is so joyful. Perhaps it's worth the pain of separation, however temporary?"

Oh, Andy was always so forward. A woman after her own heart!

"Partnership is quite the way to put it." Nora grinned. "A murder case? Related to the Atsushi movement, nonetheless?"

She shook her head with a laugh. "I love how they assigned us to it! The Clockwork Detective Agency... really, we ought to be paying them."

Lydia popped up out of nowhere, just then, being her usual a-maze-ing self. Ah, she was so much fun! Nora's caseload might be a bore, but if it were interspersed with some of that sweet sweet Lydia time, it was all worth it.

"Perhaps we should head out?" Nora offered. "It is a few cities away... I imagine we'll have all the time we need for research while we're on the road."

She flashed one of her trademark grins.

"Dontcha think?"

---

"yeah, another you. I thought you mighta used some sorta secret, like, passway or somethin'. You do have some of those, right? Because I swear to god you appear out of nowhere sometimes, head."

Aleksandr paused.

"...was that not you, back there?"

---

Iliya was kinda just, staring at the assignment board.

Niwa. That was the person who he'd run into earlier, right?

---

---

---

Adrik Volkov

---

The Head Detective had gone very still. There was a look in his eyes that Adrik didn't quite like. Something vast and empty, as though he were staring straight through them.

"I don't think that was him," Adrik whispered.

"Where?" Head Detective Michon croaked. He shook his head, blinking rapidly, but the haunted look didn't leave his eyes. "What did it say? Did it mention anything about Chika?"

---

---

Niwa Atsushi

---

Niwa jumped, suddenly realising who was standing right next to him. "I-Iliya! What a coincidence!"

Oh, am I out of it. "What are you doing here? Well, I guess you're checking out the assignments... Me too! Though you could probably tell..."

Oh dear, it was getting worse.

"So uh... do you have any idea who this Cassidy person is?"

---

"It's best if we move soon, we can chat on our way there." Stella mentioned, crossing her arms and giving them a soft smile. Nora is a little too energetic for her and she doesn't know what STC is but, in all honestly, she prefers a blend of personalities over a congress of boredom.

The detective then looks over at Andrael, noting the unique look she's giving her. Of course Andry wasn't the first one to stare like that, Stella was the oldest person in the company - though in her opinion, she does not look the oldest - but something was different. The gaze she received from her fellow... casemate, I think Nora called it (?), was more mellow. Relaxed. Sure, she could sense the minor feeling of condescension but she can gloss over it.
So Andrael simply receives a more content smile in return, also having the "honor" of being the first person of the day Stella looked at for more than three seconds.

---

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Jace Mawer (Nora)

---

This really was the perfect opportunity. A head detective and their old Oracle? She could already taste the promotion. It was time to start practicing her smug 'ha-ha you suck Narcisse' smile as he glared daggers at her and slid her new job title over the desk.

Stella (or SDC) was being sensible and agreeing with everything Nora said. How lovely. Perhaps she could find some support in her, hey?

"Hell yeah!" She pumped her fist. "Let's go, dudes! Watch the world burn in the light of our magnificence!" She seized Stella's hand in hers. "Begin the siege!"

They dragged her down the hallway, cackling. "The planet! Ours!"

---

"H-Hey now, I'm all for a hostile takeover but let's start small, you know!" Stella chuckles a little awkwardly, the surge of energy emanating from Nora was a little contagious but she was unsure if her age would allow her to hold it up for very long. "Let's first get the case done properly, you would not want to...", A short pause, "... build your empire on crackling foundation, right?"

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