Akamatsu is sitting in a corner table (seeing as he has nothing better to do being off duty) he looks a bit moodier than usual. His security detail is outside the door waiting.
Newt’s at the bar, only just having received a glass of something bright flouro green. Presumably to drink. Carefully he does eye it before shrugging and taking a sip.
A Lotorian in muck-splattered boots walks into the tavern, spies his furry compatriot behind the bar counter, and then makes his way toward Genkhun. His whiskers twitch and his beady eyes narrow as he clambers up onto a stool and asks the bartender: “Youzz wanna zzee a dead body, yezzyezz?”
Akamatsu eyes the lotorian suspiciously and then notices Newt. He gives Newt a salute and a not so enthusiastic “Hello.”
Newt hasn’t noticed Aka’s lack of enthusiasm as yet. Or maybe he has and is just too darn distracted by the question he’s decided he should really, really be ignoring. For now. He looks at his drink instead. Weird. Another sip is in order.
Genkhun sighs and shakes his snout. “No. Not interezzted unlezzz izzz here in tavern. Izzz here in tavern?”
The mucky-booted Lotorian chuckles. “No, izz not. Izz zzzomewhere elzzze.”
Akamatsu goes back to eyeing the Lotorian but for now decides he is just crazy and ignores it. He takes a sip from his jug while at this.
Newt performs a nice, careful act of not looking at the Lotorian to see what he looks like. Right after he resumes pondering his glass of green.
“Found thizzz next to him, yezzyezz,” the Lotorian with the dirty boots says to Genkhun while plunging a paw into a pocket of his work suit. From the pocket, he pulls a muck-smeared PDA. He proceeds to wave the device in front of the bartender. “Youzz wanna have thizzz, yezzyezz? Pay good credzz?”
Akamatsu now turns his attention directly to the Lotorian and stares blatantly at him. He looks like he is about to get up but thinks better of it and keeps listening intently.
Newt’s… still not going to directly stare at the Lotorian but boooy… it’s tempting. Instead he, once again, tries to get a sly look, this time at the PDA before enjoying the nice green glow of his drink.
“Don’t think zzo,” Genkhun replies to the Lotorian with the PDA. He jerks a thumb toward the ceiling. “Comorro not big on people buying and zzelling criminal evidenzze, yezzyezz. Better juzzzt leave with me, forget credzz.”
The mucky-booted scavenger gawks at the bartender, ears flattening on his head. “No! Nonononononono! Hekayti don’t need zzzhiny no more!” He hugs the PDA close to his chest, then looks toward Akamatsu and Newt. “Youzz gimme credzz, I give youzzz zzzhiny!”
Akamatsu stands and walks to the lotorian and says “Just where was this Hekayti and was he about 8 feet tall with a outfit that said Overkeeper on it?” He looks grim at the thought of this being the case.
“Youzzz want info, youzzz pay credzzz!” the mucky-booted Lotorian replies to Akamatsu. He grunts, then snaps at Genkhun, “Gonna zzzee if Lord Akazzzar wanna buy.” He bares his yellow fangs at the bartender in a show of disdain before starting in the direction of the exit.
Akamatsu puts a hand on the Lotorians shoulder to stop his attempt at leaving and asks “How much do you want for the information?”
The Lotorian with the mud-smeared PDA stops as Akamatsu grips his shoulder. Genkhun is behind the bar and Newt sits nearby, observing as this happens.
Lucy has been doing her quiet thing, the little girl having been enjoying a glass of water in silence and solitude at a nearby table. The little girl, eavesdropping as always, chooses this time to sidle up to Akamatsu and tug on the Spacer’s sleeve. “Hang on a zec,” she tells the ronin, before crooking a finger at him to beckon the man downwards so she can whisper in his ear. The other Lotorian just gets a finger-wiggly wave.
Akamatsu leans down to Lucy’s level so he can hear what she has to say. He holds a finger up to the Lotorian indictating him to wait.
The Lotorian with the PDA taps a mucky boot on the floor, irritated by the delay. However, credzz are credzz. He waits.
The child’s tail flicks a little as she whispers softly for the human, “I don’t think you zhould do it. It zoundz zhady, what if he’z the one who killed the body? You zhould talk to the guardz.”
Akamatsu smiles to the girl and whispers “Don’t worry if he did he won’t be keeping those credits for long. That security detail Garvi assigned me is outside the door. If he did do it I’ll call them in to arrest him.” He then stands straight again and asks the Lotorian “Will you settle for 2500 credits for what I specifically asked for?”
The Lotorian with the PDA tilts his head, eyes narrowing as he considers the human. “Wait a zzzec. Turn your fazze to the right, yezzyezz.”
“What if-,” Lucy starts to hiss as the human straightens up, the little girl sighing and setting her ball on the ground. She carefully stands up on the dodgeball for a height boost and continues to whisper, “What if zomeone zeez you paying thiz guy and he turnz out to be the killer? Zimon zaid you never give money to zomeone zhady, it alwayz turnz out bad.” She eyes the other Lotorian and then asks out loud, “Why do you want him to turn hiz head?”
Newt finally speaks up, watching. “It’s gonna look real good with you buying a pda of a dead guy while you’re being investigated.”
Akamatsu decides Lucy has a point on both fronts and also asks “Why do you want me to turn my head exactly?”
The mucky-booted Lotorian switches on the display, shoving the PDA toward Akamatsu so that he can see the image of the ronin serving a drink to the Gankri plopped over in his lap. “Izzz you, yezzyezz! Zzzaw you in thizz picturezzz!”
The little girl stares at Mucky Boots with a stunned gasp, before she breathes out a disbelieving, “NO…! No /way/!” Lucy’s hands come up to cover her muzzle as ears cant back warily and eyes widen to nearly cartoonish proportions. And yet she still maintains perfect balance on that dodgeball.
Akamatsu unlike the rest of them can actually do something about this so he attempts to put the mucky-booted Lotorian in a full nelson while yelling to his security detail “Security get in here and I hope at least one of you has something to restrain this guy with.”
A tangler cannon swivels from a concealed panel in the ceiling to point at Akamatsu and the now grappled mucky-booted Lotorian. Comorro’s voice intones through the speakers overhead: “Outverser, release the Lotorian. Lotorian, give the PDA to the Confederacy security agents. Failure to comply will be met with commensurate aggression.” Mucky Boots drops the PDA almost immediately, letting it clatter on the floor as the guards start into the room.
The sudden chaos startles Lucy, the little girl jerking away from Akamatsu and the other Lotorian as there is lunging and shouting and a tangler cannon. The movement causes her ball to come right out from under her, and the child manages to hit her side on a chair on her way to the floor. The initial strike causes a squeal, and then she starts crying as she curls on the floor, clutching her side.
The Happy Funtime voice of Comorro snaps Newt out of it and he backs off, “Aka let him g-” Spotting Lucy balling up he goes over to her and asks, “You ok?”
Akamatsu lets go of the Lotorian once the guards were close enough to make sure he doesn’t leave. He then turns to face the speakers assuming they work both ways and asks “What about the Lotorian himself? I have a good reason to believe he has been at the very least robbing off dead bodies if not killing them himself. The proof is in that PDA.” He then kneels down to Lucy to see if she is ok saying “Sorry about that Lucy are you alright?”
The guards take the PDA into their custody. “I have monitored the Lotorian. It is unlikely that he had anything to do with the murder of Overkeeper Hjasne.” A hoverorb descends from the ceiling and casts a holographic image on the tavern floor, with life-sized depictions of the Overkeeper and a robed and hooded figure who is about two feet shorter. The cloaked figure holds what appears to be a sword to the Hekayti’s back as he urges him to enter the chute that leads to the Forgotten Quarter. “That image is from early this morning. The killer successfully obscured his face from view at every opportunity.”
The little girl sniffles, wimpers, and sniffles again in rapid succession. “I’m f-fine, b-bu-*sniff* b-but that /huuurt/!” Lucy replies to the males hovering over her. She continues to clutch her side as she starts working to calm herself. The image shown by Comorro is totally lost on her. The kid’s preoccupied.
Newt nods, standing put, not really sure what to do himself but standing by anyway. Still, the image distracts and he watches, silently for now.
Akamatsu while checking on Lucy sees the orb and watches. When the video is finished he lets out a sigh of relief and says “Thank you Garvi. Never thought those guards you had posted on me would pay off this much.” This is said mainly to himself. He then turns again to Comorro’s speakers and asks “Does that mean you have video of me during that time to clear me of it? If you don’t I’ve had these guards to confirm my alibi.” He then turns his attention back to Lucy saying “It’s ok. Can you get up?” After saying this he offers a hand to her to help her up.
“Perhaps,” Comorro replies as Mucky Boots scurries away. “I can confirm that the individual did not compulsively drink an alcoholic beverage while escorting Hjasne. So, you are probably not the suspect. However, that does not rule out hiring an assassin. An investigation is obviously required.” With that, the tangler cannon goes back into its alcove and the Yaralu goes silent.