Strange Magic

Robert McCay

After the wardens dismissed their chaotic little assembly, Robert took it upon himself to make the rounds and check on the prisoners he'd spoken with earlier, see how they were holding up. As far as the Yoshida sisters were concerned, he wasn't as worried about them as some of the others, especially since they had each other to rely upon. Their insistence upon innocence stood in contrast to several of the other prisoners, though, who had almost confessed on the spot. And there was something else bothering him, too...

When he got to cell number 012, though, he only found one of the sisters inside.

"Miss Yoshida? Er... Shiori, yes? If yer not busy, I…"

"…I wanna look at that strap buckle again. How the hell did she do that?!"

Shiori Yoshida

With Nobuko having gone off to investigate solo, Shiori had opted to return to their cell, looking it over to see if any of their personal belongings had been transported here with them. Evidently, her search hadn't turned up anything, as she now was standing idly in the middle of the room, rolling her wrists as she looks down at her hands. It certainly was a relief to not be cuffed to her sister anymore. Now she was sure she could accomplish any task asked of her without being physically restricted from doing so, which was a comforting thought.

And speaking of accomplishing tasks, it looks like she's just been given one to do. Shiori looks up at the sound of Robert's voice, nodding and walking over to him.

"Hello again, Mr. McCay. I'm not busy at the moment." She holds out her right wrist, squinting at the buckle dangling from it with a raised brow.

"I am unsure how Miss Bea was able to undo the buckle when you could not. It may be due to the fact that she is a warden, but she did not seem to need a special key or anything of that sort to undo the buckle, so I am not certain how she physically did so."

Robert McCay

"Thank you, Miss Yoshida… Er, should I call you Miss Shiori?"

Robert struggled with the buckle some more, trying to look inside the gap for any strange machinery, with no luck... He stood back up to stretch his back and put his hands on his hips with a sigh.

"After what happened t' Kaoru, I'm afraid "woo-woo magic" is the only answer I got fer y'all… I almost wish we were in, like, a regular prison, rather than whatever the hell this is. Don't like bein' up t'the whims o' these… Wardens."

He didn't actually move, but one could hear the massive airquotes he was doing in his head as he said that word. His voice lowered as his eyes focused back on Shiori.

"…Y'said y'really don't know why yer here. Is that… true?"

Shiori Yoshida

"You may refer to me however you please." Hell, you could probably call her horrible names and she wouldn't bat an eye. Your wish is her command, after all, even if that wish is to be able to insult her on the regular.

She watches silently as Robert keeps fiddling with the buckle, then tilts her head when he continues speaking. Who's Kaoru again? Goodness, sticking by her sister really has prevented her from getting properly introduced to everyone, huh? Though frankly with the projections seeming to always have an audience of a few prisoners, perhaps it wouldn't be long before she met everyone naturally by way of viewing projections with them.

But regardless, the mention of something happening to Kaoru causes her eyebrows to raise. "What happened to Mr. Kaoru? I'm afraid I didn't witness it." Must have been something that happened during a projection if the dreaded 'woo-woo magic' was involved with it. She nods at the question, her tone earnest and honest. This chauffeur has nothing to hide. At least, she doesn't think she does.

"Indeed. The wardens have said that we are all murderers, but in the case of my sister and I, we are not murderers, so we have no reason to be here." Her brow furrows as something occurs to her.

"..though I was witness to a death shortly before finding myself here, it was not a death I myself was responsible for, so I cannot imagine it qualifying me for imprisonment here."

Robert McCay

Robert raised an eyebrow a little at Shiori's extreme lack of name preference, but let it slide.

"Oh, Kaoru's the feller who tried t'take a swing at the wardens, didn't y'see? But in the middle of it he just… stopped, like he changed his mind, 'cept with the way he was swearin' up a storm, it sounded like wasn't his choice. Weird shit."

"--Sorry, miss! Language."

He didn't usually care all that much about that, but the proper and elegant aura these two sisters gave off made him a little self-conscious.

So they weren't murderers, but they did witness a death…

"…I see. Sounds like it coulda been a mistake t'me! Who knows what kinda logic these wardens are followin', though-- or whatever's in charge a the wardens, fer that matter. "

"I get the feelin' there ain't much way to appeal a decision here, though. Sorry t'see you stuck here with the rest of us. If I can do anything to help…"

He felt a bit silly saying that after offering to help twice and being completely useless both times, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Shiori Yoshida

"Ah, yes, that incident. I did see that. Apologies, I thought you were referring to a separate instance. I did not realize that was woo-woo magic." Thanks Robert, she's now going to refer to every instance of supernatural prison shenanigans as woo-woo magic without the quotation marks. An incredible development, quite frankly.

"It's quite alright, sir. I'm not offended." Looks like swearing around her isn't a super big deal to her. Despite her own formality and respect she displays, she doesn't expect others to behave the same way if they didn't want to. She lets out a small sigh of relief when Robert agrees with her. Thank goodness she's not alone in thinking her presence here is a mistake. But thinking about it further, that really only brings up more questions.

If Shiori was her because the system thought her seeing someone died qualified her as a murderer, then why was Nobuko here too? She hadn't been in the car with her at the time, after all. Had Nobuko perhaps witnessed a separate death while Shiori was gone? And if not that.. why was she here too?

"Indeed, I do not believe the wardens will allow any prisoners to leave, regardless of if they are innocent or guilty. They were insistent that all of us are murderers, after all." She hums curiously. "I do wonder where they got that information from, seeing as they arrived here at the same time as us prisoners and didn't seem to know why they specifically were tasked to be wardens."

A small smile graces her lips at the offer. "Your help is appreciated, but it is not required. My sister and I have lived through difficult situations before. This too will pass."