Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20180122052038/@comment-25389303-20180208095530

Raiden caught Lustra eyeing the suitcase and instinctively switched it between his hands so that it was further away from her.

"For what it's worth, I don't think somebody should be judged by the acts of their parents," he replied honestly. "But I imagine solving something big for the VPD might alleviate some of their concerns. Though now that I think about it, Nozomi would probably get all the credit."

That was the situation Raiden imagined Lustra in - struggling to regain people's respect when working in the shadow of a more obvious candidate. He'd be lying if he said he could relate, so kept quiet.

A short and somewhat awkward elevator ride took the two the the precinct's small forensics lab situated on the second floor of the building. To Raiden it was the only impressive thing about the VPD that he'd so far seen - that, and their apparent incompetence. The workspace was smart, sleek and orderly, exactly the kind the young man liked, and the four workers manning it actually looked like they knew what they were doing.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I don't suppose you could show us the forensic evidence for cases 8279 to 8611, could you?" Raiden asked the most senior of the scientists.

The older woman looked up from her work and fixed her cold eyes on Raiden, a look of annoyance passing over her face at the interruption.

"A little young to be a police officer, aren't you?" the lady asked with thinly-veiled disdain. Then her gaze flicked to Lustra. "Ah, a duo act? You two should play detective somewhere else - I don't want killers and amateurs corrupting my workplace, thank you very much."

The appalling response actually left Raiden in a brief state of shocked disbelief as he processed what the woman had just said. Already he felt what positive feelings he had for the place quickly disappearing.

"With all due respect," Raiden replied, struggling to keep his voice even, "my asking was merely a formality. We require the evidence, regardless of your personal biases."

His words didn't seem to have an effect, though, as the lady merely gave a dismissive wave of her hand in answer. When it was clear she considered the conversation over, Raiden sighed inwardly. Not prepared to get written orders from the superintendent to gain access, he looked down at the suitcase in his hand.

"Looks like I'm going to borrow your voice for a moment, buddy," he said to the puppet inside. He took a deep breath, and his eyes flashed a bright purple as he spoke again.

"You will listen to me when I'm talking to you!" he suddenly roared, slamming his hands down on the table with such force that several instruments toppled over, his usual calm, composed voice replaced with a raspy, metallic screech. The inhuman sound caused the scientist to immediately jolt back to attention, terror and dread dominating her features.

"Thank you," Raiden said, his normal pitch returning. His mouth twitched into the smallest of smiles as he inclined his head in a slight nod. "Now if you wouldn't mind."

Nodding fearfully, she quickly stood up and disappeared into a back room, struggling to compose herself. The young man's eyes passed over the other workers in the room, all of whom found sudden intense interest in their shoelaces when his gaze fell on them.

"I think I'm going to start hating this place soon," he eventually said, as he went about resetting everything on the desk that he had knocked over. "I don't want to have to do that again," he eventually told Lustra. "Maybe next time I'll threaten her with a needle instead."