Night of Farewells [Murasaki, Urahara]

Observing experiments wasn't exactly Murasaki's forte, but she was hardly the kind of person who would decline if her Research and Development captain was asking her to come by for this. That was, partially, because she was just a naturally friendly person, the kind who had trouble turning down an invite from someone she knew. However, this wasn't quite so simple. An experiment involving the Rings of the Dead was the kind of thing that she ought to keep awareness of, for sure.

But, admittedly, there was also the fact that she didn't entirely think she should just let it go unacknowledged if Urahara was doing something of this scope. She'd brought him on as her captain, of course, and Murasaki had always understood that he would be operating in ways she might not approve of, like all of her captains did in some way or another. He was someone that always set her on edge, even when their interactions were perfectly friendly. She liked Urahara, certainly.

But to say she trusted him completely wouldn't quite be accurate.

With hardly any steps necessary, Murasaki moved from her office to the 3rd Division headquarters, and made her way to Urahara's office to give his door a light knock, calling out in her usual chipper tone.

"Mr. Urahara?"

She could have called him "Captain Urahara," and that would have probably been considered more formal, more appropriate for someone of her rank. But she'd called him "Mr. Urahara" when she'd gone to his shop during her time on Earth, and that was how she thought of him even now outside purely professional circumstances. In a one-on-one environment, it simply felt more natural.

The number of calculations that ran through Kisuke's mind as he sat ever so calmly in his chair might have been enough to drive even the fabled Captain Commander mad, yet he bore them without even a hint of unease. The variables that had been mitigated against and those that were impossible to account for, each factored into every equation to tip the scales one way or another in an almost imperceptible manner. Such was the complexity when you were dealing with an object of mythology, let alone two of them.

The Rings of the Dead.

What a curious name for something that so ravenously clung to life with a hunger that might make even the Soul King's stomach turn. His lips curled upward ever so slightly at that jape which none would hear and yet amused him nonetheless. Another experiment to be carried out, perhaps, though that would predicate the success of this one. Then came the knock at the door, a familiar voice ringing out that did not draw him from any stupor but rather warmed his smile with its earnestness.

"You can come in, Captain Murasaki."

He waited a moment for her to enter and look upon him before pushing himself to his feet, sliding from his chair with a practised grace before heading to the corner of his office. His cane tapped purposefully against the floorboards, creating a hollow din, before a staircase appeared that descended into the depths. His free hand waved her over, beckoning her to begin the descent as he set about rearranging the few scattered documents on his desk into something resembling a pile.

"Ladies first."

"Oh, very fancy."

That was a word for it, but admittedly, even a little hidden staircase like this was the sort of thing Murasaki didn't quite 'get.' She was a straightforward woman, after all. But someone had to be willing to use these sort of methods, and she understood that. She stepped down onto the staircase, walking downward even as she kept aware of her surroundings. She felt on edge, but she couldn't place it.

She didn't like that.

"So, what sorta stuff ya got for me? I'm pretty interested in seein' what's so big that ya gotta show me."

It wasn't really a 'probing' question or anything like that. If Murasaki was that suspicious, she would have simply said so. This was just the kind of circumstance that naturally led to a little bit of curiosity.

Following Murasaki down the stairs, Urahara once more tapped the end of his cane upon what seemed like an innocuous segment of wall. With a second mechanical din, the entranceway closed behind them as lights suddenly flickered into existence to illuminate their descent. It was a ways down before they would eventually break into the ceiling of the vast training space that lay beneath them, the distance perhaps adding to the tension that did lay heavy in the air. That slightest hint of the unknown.

“The kind that I didn’t want to put in a report.” The statement was delivered dry, every ounce of sincerity and mystery hanging in the air between them. Then, just as it seemed he might be leaving it at that, a wry chuckle escaped Kisuke’s lips. “Because reports are just so boring. I thought you might like to see this with your own eyes. These Rings are quite the marvel you know, and you did set me to task on seeing what good we can accomplish with them.”

If nothing else, the Captain seemed entirely unfazed. There was no sign of any serious concern in his voice or mannerisms, just his usual playful rambling even as they discussed a matter that was certainly serious.

“We will be going on a little field trip. Did you bring some lunch? Luckily I packed for two just in case.”

As the staircase finally breached the room below, the vast training space sprawled out before them stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. At least it seemed like that, though there was certainly an ending at some point and instead it was simply designed to seem endless. But attention might be drawn, if one were looking, to the laboratory that awaited their arrival. Like a production line, a series of robotic limbs were busy working on experiments whilst others seemed focused on construction without any oversight until their arrival. What they were building, it certainly seemed, was a Senkaimon.

"Well, I'm glad you're getting lots done with 'em, I think even if they're dangerous, there's good to be done if we can get enough understood."

Not that Murasaki necessarily understood any of the finer points of how that might be possible, of course, but she was an optimistic sort, and one who understood the power behind Urahara's mind. If anyone could turn such tremendous power to a good cause, it was him, so she was glad to have kept him here in the Gotei.

The sight of the apparent Senkaimon under construction certainly gave her a faint moment of pause internally, but on the outside, there wasn't a single millisecond where any doubt might have been visible. After all, Murasaki was collected in all things, a master of herself. She simply wouldn't have expected this kind of development.

"A field trip, huh? Now that's pretty excitin'. Hope it's somewhere interesting, at least."

"It's exciting to me, but I could be convinced to acknowledge that that is a good indicator of general enjoyment. Anyway, once I stopped viewing the rings as objects of any one realm, it opened my eyes to the possibility of interacting with them in a space without any such influence. Where other variables can be eliminated and my research can proceed unhindered by the challenges that replicating such an environment here within Soul Society has posed."

It was hardly unusual for Kisuke to be like this, especially when something had well and truly engaged his mental faculties. Perhaps that was reassuring, to know that he was very well invested in what was going on, so Murasaki would have to forgive him for being a little chaotic. As they finally reached the final stretch of the staircase, he stepped past her with a flash step and suddenly became a blur of activity. Darting between terminals and workstations at a pace that few other than the Captain Commander could likely keep up with.

"The space in between is one that we always visit but rarely use. But it is the one place where I can put these rings outside of time itself. Our working hypothesis is that when they are placed in such an environment, they will become considerably more inert and thus much safer to interact with."

The Captain finally came to a stop just as it seemed the work on the makeshift Senkaimon was drawing to a close, his automated assistants powering down and withdrawing.

"I trust that I do not need to explain the dangers that this process involves and the further dangers of failing to heed my instructions once we are in there. Getting lost in time and all that mess. That's the stuff I usually save for scaring the academy students."

"Hm...that makes sense, yeah. With how they are, I'd imagine somewhere with less souls to get kinda 'activated' by would be better. None at all's ideal then, so I think I get what you're sayin."

Such a dangerous proposition put Murasaki profoundly on edge, as it reasonably should have put anyone on edge. Well, maybe not anyone, but her instincts told her that this was going to be one of the more dangerous places she'd stepped foot. It made sense, given his explanation.

"Of course. I'm a good listener, so don't worry about that. I take my life seriously, ya know."

It wasn't as if she had any intentions of disobeying instructions even in mundane circumstances, but Murasaki liked to be reassuring about these things. Room for "well, maybe she didn't get it" wasn't really in her purview. When it came to the Rings of the Dead, and really anything Urahara was working on, Murasaki understood that she had to treat everything with the utmost respect and caution both.

"Wonderful, you've always been a clever cookie. Now, there is no time like the present. I will open the way, then we will enter and mark out our research space in an area of minimal disruption. Not that I expect much traffic to be passing through, but the further we are from the main pathways the better. I took the liberty of scouting out several such locations before creating our portal today so if nothing has changed, I do not expect this part to take too long."

With a spring in his step, Kisuke waved a hand and silently commanded his assistants to begin the process of fetching the Rings from their containment unit. He and the Captain Commander had agreed on countless safeguards to prevent this from occurring without their express permission, so he did spare a moment to cast a glance Murasaki's way with a reassuring look. It was a rare expression for him to wear, when he so usually simply expected his work to go unopposed, but perhaps it was a reflection of both his regard for her and the threat that these items posed.

"Oh, I have also taken the liberty of informing my Vice Captain of our expedition. He may come to check on us if enough time has passed out here without any notice."

He highly doubted that would assuage any concerns, but it was simply another drop in the ocean. Then, his piece said, the Captain turned to face the door and pressed the butt of his cane flat against it. There was an unmistakable build-up of pressure as he began to weave the modified Keikaigi spell, a quiet thrum filling the air in between each carefully spoken word, before forming into a blinding purple light that shot out from the hand holding his Zanpakuto, down the length of the cane, and then into the door itself. There was a moment where the entire frame shuddered, like a ripple on the surface of previously still water, before the light show subsided and the doorway was left enveloped in a purple shadow.

"I would say 'Ladies first.' but allow me."

A single bead of sweat had formed upon Kisuke's brow, showing the toll that such an enchantment had taken, though he still made every effort to seem calm. With his free hand, he pushed open the doorway and stepped inside, vanishing instantly into the darkness.

"Sounds good to me. Better to keep this outta the way as much as possible n' all that."

Not that Murasaki really liked this kind of sly stuff, but she knew that the Rings of the Dead were pretty much the last thing that needed to be in the public eye or conscious. This was the best she could do, with her own capabilities. Even so, as she looked toward the door before her and readied to follow Urahara, she felt uneasy about the whole affair. All this wasn't her style, she knew that. She could tell she was out of her element.

With a sigh of resignation at the realities of her position, Murasaki nevertheless stepped forward and into the doorway that Urahara had opened. Really, she just wanted all this to be over soon.

The Dangai was as hospitable as ever, its oppressive bleakness immediately apparent as the infinite emptiness set in around the pair. Even in the darkest depths of the Nest of Maggots there was still at least some minuscule sense of anything at all, which was absent here. It still held a sense of mystery for Kisuke, like the final untapped frontier. This was why every journey there was so unique and enticing, the feeling of untapped potential dancing across his fingertips. It set the hairs on the back of his neck on end.

"I made a custom Kaikyō Kotei that will lock down our test area and allow the Kōtotsu to pass over us without notice. This will amplify our time density by several magnitudes, which I admit is less than ideal, but, given the alternative, I would consider it tolerable. If you don't mind, I will need some time to prepare our other safety precautions."

From the inside of his robe, Kisuke produced the familiar forked blades that Shinigami often used to stop the Wresting Flow, but each had been modified with a weaving of Kido incantations written upon the blades themselves. It was a technique that few within Soul Society might recognise, but perhaps the Captain Commander was familiar with Bambietta's work.

"The use of talismans such as these is far from commonplace, and I am grateful for the invention of Ms Basterbine even if she might not have been aware of my own enhancements to her design. By changing the release point of these spells to the Kaikyō Kotei themselves rather than a soul it has become possible to interact with a force that had otherwise seemed impervious to them."

Offering them out to Murasaki, he motioned in the direction of various spots where they should be placed so that she might remain in the centre as an anchor. Then, his piece finished, he began to weave another long incantation upon the ground on which they stood. A layering of several Dankū on top of each other to produce not only a single wall but a cube, and then binding them together to achieve a semblance of permeance. Forming slowly but surely around the Captain Commander as she worked. Translucent protection that would serve to shield them both from the Rings should things go awry, surely.