Timothy
[This is  ]

It felt as if, day by day, questions grew in his mind. Every time he learned something new about their world, he had that many more questions arise. What exactly was ||The Root of Extinction||? Who ||produced the first Horrors||? What was beyond the walls. Or for that matter, who? He yearned to reach The Truth of their world, to grasp it and - 

~~~~

**TEAR.**

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A headache rippled across his temples, pain washing over his senses. Yet, he knew that it was *Right.* He was going to find the truth behind their world and rip it to pieces. He'd tear his way to the source, and only then, when he dragged them into the light, could they truly be *Free.* To that end, he found himself performing an act that he'd chastised Nasaki for before. He'd snuck into a frontier village and abducted a street urchin trying to pick pockets. He was hardly a criminal worthy of what was going to happen to him. There was a multitude of reasons he might've resorted to a life of crime on the streets. His hypocrisy was not lost on him, the degradation of his morals since he left the village. Still, this was a means to a far greater end than he or this urchin could ever imagine. If there was an after-life, he could join the line of those with grievances against Murano. 

Stopping only for a moment at Blue Garden, he'd take Haiku with him before setting off for the wall. He was the key to all of this. Murano was going to contact ||Juhi ||and he'd recently found out that Haiku had the same abilities as his partner, Nasaki. He'd witheld this information with Nasaki, along with what he was doing, for good reason. There was a very real chance that Murano would die today, if he incurred the wrath of the Entity. Someone needed to watch over Blue Garden if that happened, to continue their work. Nasaki was the only other person that knew as much as he did about The Truth. He'd have to stay behind for this.

Arriving at the wall with Haiku and the unconscious man, Murano turned towards the younger boy and said, "I'm sorry, Haiku. I know I said I wouldn't force you to do anything dangerous, but this is something I *Need* To do. Once you start the ||Dream Eating|| process, you can hide somewhere nearby until I'm done speaking with our visitor. I've already made arrangements for someone to pick you up if things go... Awry." He'd made plenty of preparations for this, including a note on their location back at base for the others to find in the case of his death.
Chris
It was with almost concerning compliance that Haiku agreed to go out with Murano. In the short time the genespliced children had lived with the Blue Garden crew, a few things had become glaringly obvious: One, despite their youth, comparable to that of a genin in the Founders' Exam, both Koike and Haiku were exceptionally skilled- enough to rival jonin such as Murano and Niko; Two, Haiku was capable of utilising Kiseijutsu in much a similar way to Nasaki- according to the children, Duplicate-sama had instructed him verbally and through handwritten scrolls on utilising the Parasite Core he'd been implanted with, and eventually he learnt the Dream Eating ability;

Three- they were trained to sabotage, assassinate, and infiltrate with ruthless efficiency. Maybe that explained why the boy didn't so much as bat an eye when Murano showed up with an unconscious civilian and a request to follow him.

A short trip later, the pair of them stood atop the wall. The Takaikabe's sheer size was truly something to behold from this angle. From here, Murano could see . . . Just about everything. He could see, faintly, where the Nichikabe rose in the distance. He could see forests and hills, and mountains scraping the skies in the distance. Rivulets and streams- no, they had to be rivers, they just looked so small from here. And then, on the other side, beyond the wall, things looked much the same, really. Perhaps the forests were a little thicker, the air a little wilder.

But none of that mattered right now. Haiku went straight to work, pressing a hand against the unconscious thief's head. Murano could see a thick globule of Parasite Energy eat and burrow into the recipient's skull. With that, Haiku took some steps back before making his way down the wall to let Murano have some privacy. He didn't so much as look at the older man; he had done what he'd come here to do. Soldiers were good at following instructions.

As the body began convulsing on the ground, Murano felt much the same things as he did the last time he'd performed this experiment with Nasaki- he felt the urchin's chakra core *Shift*, somewhere just behind the navel. The process happened slowly, likely encumbered by the proximity to the Takaikabe. As before, the transformation seemed to come from *Within* The urchin's own body, and slowly start to move outward as chakra was replaced with cold nothing.

Then, as if in horrifying imitation of deja vu, Murano suddenly heard a pair of footsteps *Right* Behind him. Standing there was a shadow much like the one before. A vaguely humanoid figure with a pair of bright blue eyes staring out from behind the dark, gaseous form.

"And just what business have you to be propogating the Root of Extinction?" It was a different voice, but the same terrifically foreign accent Murano had heard from Juhi in his meeting with the last Administrator. This voice was a woman's, too, but distinct from Juhi's; it was light and feathery, but with a sharp firmness to it that made for a foreboding atmosphere. "You're one of the ones Juhi warned me of . . . The one with the gene beasts." There was a note of disdain in her voice alongside the recognition.
Timothy
Murano watched the parasitic energy go to work, his sensory not failing to remember a single detail of what it did to the man's chakra systems. It was the second time he'd viewed the process, but no less horrifying. What bothered him the most was the fact that the change originated from *Within*, like a switch being flipped. The Parasitic Energy was the trigger, yes, but the switch had been there from the beginning. 

Just like the last time, it hadn't taken long before *Someone* Had taken notice of what he was doing. He heard the footsteps make landfall just behind him, turning to see the shadowy figure that had stood before him once before. He could feel his breath halt in his throat as he waited for her to say something. That, or outright attack him like she'd promised previously. Was this where he'd meet his end? 

But then, she spoke. It wasn't Juhi, but it *Knew* Her. She'd warned her of them, called him the one with *Gene beasts.* 

Despite the overwhelming presence in attendance, and the strong urge to leave at once, Murano actually managed a polite smile as he gave a polite bow of his head. "I... Am honored to meet one of Juhi-sama's associates." Sama, a moniker reserved for someone whom deserves reverance. How he managed his tone would be of upmost importance here.

"I apologize deeply for the inconvenience, but I knew of no other way to contact you or Juhi-sama. Crude, yes, but as we're speaking here now the effectiveness can hardly be disputed." He gestured towards the convulsing man behind him, assuming that she had a way of dealing with it like Juhi had before her. 

"Might I know your name, before we continue? It would not be proper to refer you by anything else but your given name." Despite the fear he could feel at the core of his being, that innate feeling any living being would feel looking at the shadowy figure, he couldn't help but feel drawn towards her. This was something so far beyond anything he'd ever encountered, created, or read of. **This** Was someone who was close to The Truth. What did she know? What had she seen? He had to know.
Chris
The shadow shifted slightly in place- almost evocative of a person shuffling their feet. Then the shadow seemed to tilt its head to the side, judging by the angle the eyes moved at. Around Murano, the world seemed to . . . Fog up. It was a strange experience, as if an invisible barrier had been placed around himself and the shadow. He could sense no chakra being used, though. The outside world became blurred and indistinct. Right now, it was just Murano, the shadow, and the body behind him which had quieted into eerie stillness not unlike the setting around them.

"I'm . . . Renashi," The woman's voice said, hesitant. "Just what business do you have that you would seek out someone like myself or Juhi?" Although she'd exhibited a more anxious demeanour than the assertive, derisive Juhi that Murano had met before, 'Renashi' spoke with more certain probing the longer this encounter went on- as if whatever barrier had been put up around their conversation provided her some measure of confidence.
Timothy
She utilized the same type of barrier Juhi had, most likely something relating to parasitic energy or another power he was unfamiliar with. He wasn't certain he could break through it if it came down to it, perhaps in his Curse Mark form if it was necessary. As she said her name, he'd maintain that small polite smile as he nodded once more. "Renashi-sama, a pleasant name. I called to you and Juhi-sama for a rather simple reason, an exchange of information. I have no small amount of admiration for your people and their work. The power you possess... What you can do... Is nothing less than *Magnificent*." 

He quickly realized he was slowly veering off topic and attempted to redirect with a nonchalant cough. "Apologies, my fascination got the best of me. The exchange of information, as I said. Are you and Juhi-sama aware of something known as *'The Lavender Serum'*?" He hadn't failed to notice that this one was distinctly different than Juhi in her cadence and such. Their people, whoever they were, were beginning to feel more like normal humans to him than before.