Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!

[loveandwillpower]

So look, going up is where you find the good stuff, so when Minako sees a hint of something different on the staircase, some pale flutter in the darkness, it's time to reach for the stars! Having an alibi doesn't seem to matter that much, anyway, and all the people she wants to protect are - okay either fine or she can't find them.

She can worry later, finding things is important, if she runs into anyone along the way-

Then she literally does just that. In her defense Ulaz is quiet. Not in her defense is that he's probably wearing a sweater with tinsel on it, but look it's dark and she's fast.

"Oof!"

Comments

[insurgeont]

[ In Minako's counter-defense, Ulaz switches back into his Blade of Marmora uniform when he goes exploring at night.

On the other hand, said uniform has a bunch of glowy bits, so that's not exactly an excuse.

He reflexively catches her by the shoulders after she runs into him, and while he's got the hood and mask up and that does filter his voice some, there's also only one seven-foot-some lanky alien with a sword in the building so theoretically he should still be recognizable despite that. ]

Minako.

[loveandwillpower]

NINJA-!

[ Squiiiiints. ]

Tuxedo... Mask...?

[ Is this a new gimmick or what ]

[insurgeont]

[ wow none of those words make any sense together not that this is especially new with minako

He pushes his hood down and deactivates the mask. Better? ]

[loveandwillpower]

...Ulaz?! You're a superhero?!

[ Is anybody here not some kind of. Secret identity vigilante. Maybe this is why they were all selected. Was Sigma secretly Long Dong Silver, the world may never know, the secret died with him and his butt. ]

[insurgeont]

No. This is the uniform of my order. It is better suited to guarding against potential dangers than any of the clothing provided for me here.

[ Not terribly armored, those Christmas sweaters. ]

Where are you headed?

[loveandwillpower]

You got to keep it? Lucky...

[ ...So yeah, he's a superhero. Not a Sailor though, he's got the wrong collar for it. ]

See the caution tape over there?

[insurgeont]

Yes. It has been--

[ ...Wait. Now that he actually looks at it, there is something different there. Without another word, he pulls his hood and mask back up and approaches the tape. That's... a card for a library, with his name on it...? Weird.

He pulls it off the tape without hesitation. ]

[loveandwillpower]

[ Two of them, at that...? ]

This isn't my handwriting. It's not nearly cute enough.

[pandatreasure]

[THEY EXPLODE

no uh the cards come down without any fuss. those are things that they have now.

upon closer inspection, the library cards also have barcodes on the back, but are just very standard issue library cards overall.]

[insurgeont]

[ Yeah, this isn't his handwriting, either. Still, it's. Kind of a clear hint. ]

...The newer library is closer.

[loveandwillpower]

I can barely read anything in there - hey, what about you, do you know any Alien French?

[ Talking while walking, he can keep up, he's got long legs. ]

[pandatreasure]

[Of note in library 2 electric boogaloo: the checkout counter, the book return, the various genre shelves, and the seating area.

Where are we headed?]

[insurgeont]

No.

[ Magical jamjar translation just doesn't apply to French I guess!!! And the magical translation already present in his canon applies only to the spoken word. That he can read anything here at all is kind of weird in the first place, really, but he can't really complain about that.

ANYWAY, French library, here we go! Let's investigate the checkout counter first. ]

[loveandwillpower]

[ Minako might not be able to tell if anything's out of place here, she is not the kind of person who visits libraries often. ]

Well, it hasn't been burned down yet... I wonder if there's records.

[pandatreasure]

[Nothing is really out of place, per se, but the checkout counter is the place to be! The whole thing is charmingly messy, with books and papers scattered about, all in useless French, but what's of good and proper and useful-looking note is the computer and the hand scanner next to it.]

[insurgeont]

[ Oh yes, this looks promising. Ulaz takes the scanner and scans the barcode on the back of his card. ]

[pandatreasure]

[A screen pops up displaying his name, a bunch of useless information in French, and the book title Mysteries of the Female Orgasm, which displays in red with a Franc (not even Euro, but Franc) amount next to it, which probably means it's overdue.

Great. Thanks, raccoons.]

[loveandwillpower]

[ If there's any swears in the paperwork, Minako might be able to identify- NEVER MIND HER ATTENTION HAS BETTER THINGS TO DO ]

Ulaz, you sly dog. Who's the lucky girl?

[ Fluttering her card in front of her face like a scandalized old-time lady with a fan ]

[insurgeont]

...

[ Ulaz snatches Minako's card and scans it. ]

[pandatreasure]

[Minako has checked out a DVD copy of Les Évadés. Are you trying to tell me there are DVDs here that aren't The Room???]

[loveandwillpower]

...What's a DVD? That's got to be some kind of code, right?

[insurgeont]

[ DVD...? Those letters do seem familiar, hasn't he seen them before recently...?

...Yes, that's right, he has. ]

I believe it is a media storage device of some sort. There was a call for a movie night involving a "DVD player" on Trashmas.

[loveandwillpower]

So that's what all those flat boxes were for! They weren't big enough for a real cassette, after all.

[ Minako may or may not have assumed they were novelizations of the movies. ]

...Hey, maybe there's one with subtitles in here, so we can see some more movies! They're French, so I bet they're still saucy.

[ Off she goes to the stacks, she's got a mission now! ]

[pandatreasure]

[The shelves in this library still have some semblance of organization here, so she'll find sections and shelves labelled fantaisie, fiction historique, enfants, science fiction, encyclopédies... But there's no DVD section? Maybe we don't get things that aren't The Room here after all.

The seating area and book return remain uninvestigated.]

[insurgeont]

[ Ulaz takes a second to check the book return before he follows Minako. ]