Homophonic: Fei Du

[factoring]

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Week 0: Monday

[factoring]

[She's found her way into the subway and is quietly observing as it comes and goes.]

Strange how you can ride the blimps and the subway, but the cars pass right through you.

[metacognition]

Isn't it just?

[ fei du is also here! vibing! hands in his pockets and watching. ] Who knows the logic? Public transportation must be dead.

Week 0: Friday

[factoring]

[ Kyoko is found at the park, swinging lightly back and forth, expression thoughtful. ]

[metacognition]

[ despite having gotten sick maybe like thirty minutes ago, fei du is perfectly calm and composed as he's walking through the park - though when he spots kyoko, he makes his way over to her immediately. ]

Kyoko. [ hey girl ]

week 1, monday

[metacognition]

[ we are out and vibing in the park! fei du is dressed down a bit today, in that he's thrilled to have new clothes probably, and is walking along maybe checking out the view....? ]

Well. This is an upgrade from the last one, isn't it?

[factoring]

It definitely is.

[ Clothes freshly laundered, but still in the same extremely revealing outfit. ]

I prefer this.

week 1, friday

[metacognition]

Kyoko, did you find anything today?

[factoring]

Rin's body at one of the lakes in the park.
There was also a pillow but it disappeared when it was touched.
What about you?

W1: Sunday

[factoring]

[She's back at the warehouse, not really dissociating, quietly lost in thought after the events of this weekend.

As usual, she's calm.]

[metacognition]

[ man you know who is disassociating? it's fei du. he's been disassociating like all day. it's fine.

when he makes his way back into the warehouse, he's clearly not expecting anyone else to be there - he jumps, a little surprised, and there's a little spark that twinkles off of his knuckles! but when he sees kyoko, his expression melts into a polite smile, and it dissipates. ]

Kyoko, hello.

week 2 monday

[metacognition]

[ we're in the mall today!

fei du is looking into the sears with an expression somewhere between bafflement and amusement, staring down the vintagey clothes... but also the whole experience... this is fucking wild.

when he notices kyoko, there's a blip of emotions - friendly warmth, a sort of !! feeling, before he realizes what's happening and takes a step to the left so they fade slightly. pretending he did not do this at all: ]

Getting a lay of the land, Kyoko?

[factoring]

[He's more allergic to feelings than a digimon 3 seconds away from being erased. There's a faint burst of amusement before he moves.]

Of course. Best to know what we're working with this week.

[And because every week has had their murder in the new locations.]

W2: Tuesday

[factoring]

[ She's really just hanging out at Outer Park today, watching the lake and having a decent enough time on a bench. ]

[metacognition]

[ what a day today is....

... by which i mean fei du is looking at his phone on this tuesday when the new rulebook updates. when he sees kyoko, he gives her a sort of helpless smile, and plops down on the bench. ]

Have you seen this week's update, Kyoko?

W3: Monday

[factoring]

[The nice thing about this week, is that her emotions are now properly contained.

She's looking over the VR headsets and frowning lightly at them.]

[metacognition]

[ fei du who is now in on the kyoko secret comes up to look at this when he recognizes her standing at them, and gives her a smile. ]

Not up to par for you, darling?

W3: Wednesday

[factoring]

Hey

[The bubbles of somebody typing appear. They disappear. They keep doing this for a minute.]

Is Wolfwood attractive?
Is it normal to think he's attractive?

[metacognition]

[ looks at his phone as the typing bubble is going like it's grown wings

but then: ]

Yes.
I think he's very, very attractive, personally.
It depends on what the standard for attractive is, everyone's is a little different.

Why, do you think he is?

w3, friday.

[metacognition]

[ the vibes are rancid today!! you don't need emotionshare to know that!!!

fei du's sitting by the lake, after all of that. legs crossed, hands folded in his lap, staring off into the water. there's a notebook in his lap, and his phone is very, very softly playing the usual - you raise me up, so i can stand on mountains.

when he sees kyoko, he doesn't look at her, but he says: ]

I will solve this tomorrow if it kills me.

[factoring]

[Her emotions are much less obvious in comparison. She's in neutral work mode. There's not much to glean from her.]

You'll do better alive than dead.

I went to Cold Topic. There was evidence of the following Psychs: Cryo, Pyro, and Photo. Some spots were cold and soggy, there were slash marks on the walls, and the shop seemed brighter than it should be.

W3: Saturday

[factoring]

[Looks up at the last starter in here.

Anyway.

Kyoko is in their warehouse in her chair. She's not crying- but nobody has ever seen that from her anyway. Instead she's incredibly tense. There's a cup of some coffee in her hands but she hasn't really done anything with it.]

[metacognition]

[ lmfao mood

fei du's not crying either, because - no one's seen that from him, either. he's just angry, angry in a way that he's a black hole of a person when he finally makes it in from where he was helping nahri. ]

That was so stupid..

W4: Monday

[factoring]

[Hey partner, are you ready to share some memories? Because that's what's happening now. This one goes until 12:20:02.]

Oh.

[It's not a big secret that she's a Digimon in their team. But her gaze stays focused in on her teammate after everything else is said.]

[metacognition]

[ oh

well. from a psychology perspective, this is fascinating - fei du deals in concepts of memory, because it's a pet project of his. he finds himself watching it with a sort of rapt fascination, and when the memory ends, he pulls his gaze away from the now fleeing pig that will inevitably return, and lets it land on kyoko. ]

...Your team from home? [ because he's no idiot - he can see what she lingered on long after, even though he has about twenty five questions about her lore to ask ]

W6: Sunday

[factoring]

[She's at Wildkat, brewing coffee.

Don't drink any of it.]

[metacognition]

[ don't worry! he will not!

however, it is familiar. fei du's sliding into a seat at the coffee shop, reaching for a pastry, and feeling - a little nostalgia. ]

What's the special recipe this time?

w7 monday

[metacognition]

[ in the euphoria of gacha hunting, out of nowhere, a pig comes running by kyoko and fei du! isn't that fun.... and it shows the following memory: ]

[ a key suspect in the zhao murder case is on the run - zheng kaifeng, right hand to the zhao family. the yan city police bureau lost him, as he'd hired someone to take his place, and you're not really surprised. that's the sort of slippery business that those people always are able to pull off. with money, anything is possible, and without morals, those possibilities multiply.

still, you've been working with the police on every case so far, so it's not surprising that you're involved in this one, too. luo wenzhou claps you on the shoulder and steers you out to the parking lot in a hurry, to your enormous SUV - the one you recently got upgraded, with bulletproof glass and siding, considering the amount of unfortunate car chases you've found yourself involved in lately - and the two of you hop in and immediately start to join in the chase. instinctively, you check for listening devices. there are none.

zheng kaifeng's flight is likely only because of a mole in the city bureau police. you comment lightly to wenzhou that the most likely suspect is you, because... isn't it always? logically. you only came after this started, you're familiar with the zhou family and with zheng kaifeng, but luo wenzhou cuts you off, insults you by calling you solitary - which isn't untrue, but it ruffles your feathers that he can read you so easily - and then drops a line about being attractive. you flirt back, almost automatically, pushing the gas, and the two of you debate the reliability of you as a suspect in this case for a little longer before wenzhou gets tired of it, and says:

"Fei Du, if I didn't have a reason, didn't have any logic, if I'd only said 'I trust you', what would you have done?"

it resonates.

no one, not a single person around your sphere is trustworthy. every single scion, every single corporate head, every single ceo in yan city is intimately tied to the darkest underbelly of humanity, and you've spent every year of your life cautious and guarded. but luo wenzhou, untouched by that, just utterly human, gives you his trust without even blinking.

you drop a remark, unable to help yourself, making a joke about proposing to him because you're so moved, and wenzhou cuts you off immediately, rerouting your attempt to make yourself look bad without even blinking, reminds you of your relationship with an elderly woman whose life you saved barely a few weeks ago. she trusted you. she didn't even know me, you think. wenzhou cuts that off, too.

"I've known you over seven years. I think I can be counted as understanding you. I also choose to trust you. Of course, if you let me down one day, I'll be very hurt, so hurt I may not love you anymore."

something presses against your chest, warm and hot and unknown, and you find yourself at a loss for words.

--

as you discuss the case with wenzhou, you end up following a very strange truck. the way it moves is odd - circling the hotel you drove to in search of zheng kaifeng, and then slowly rolling down to the underground parking garage. there's a not small possibility that zheng is in that truck; the two of you follow it. other police block the entrance and exit out of the parking lot, and the truck shrieks as the drivers floor the gas pedal in an attempt to get out. wenzhou shouts, Block the truck!, and you, reflexively, say yes, sir and floor it.

your SUV swings around like its turning on a dime and fearlessly, you drive directly towards the truck - it moves, enough that it narrowly avoids you coming straight at it, but you whip the car around and ram your SUV directly into the side of the truck, crowding it towards the garage wall. the container in the back bangs open, a young man climbs out - yang bo, another suspect - along with several hired thugs. you're choking a little, held in place by your seatbelt but otherwise unharmed, unruffled by the adrenaline, and wenzhou pats you on the arm and then leaps out of the SUV, fully in police mode. the rest of the cops approach and surround the truck, and sure enough, you can see zhang kaifeng sitting calmly inside of the container, in a leather chair.

you also get out of the car, stumbling, pushing the door open. being choked always makes you dizzier than it should, makes you remember, and you have to grab onto the reinforced edge of the hood of your car and cough.

as you're looking down and coughing, though, you spot something.

there's a weak, small, flashing light underneath the truck. you can see it reflecting off of luo wenzhou's pant leg, as he tells zheng kaifeng to get out of the truck. the light blinks faster. faster.

you realize what it is.

in your basal instincts, you make a split second decision.

(i also choose to trust you.)

you throw yourself forward with all the strength you have, throw an arm around luo wenzhou's waist, and yank him backwards. he's got a healing injury still, and it means that even your strength is enough to stop him. you throw luo wenzhou behind you and shove him inside of your reinforced, military grade SUV, grab the handle for the car door and then -

there's a loud sound like paper ripping and an explosion and a bright, hot pain - your arm feels like it shatters, your shoulder, pain, agonizing pain and fire and -

everything goes dark, after that. ]

[factoring]

[The problem is.

The problem is...

Kyoko remembers what it feels like to blow up. Last week, before Thursday night. That trip. The lemons, the bombs, the girl with a sword- she remembers exactly what it feels like and the ghost feeling reflects back on Fei Du.

A small, shaky sigh.]

You lived through it?

w7: Wednesday

[factoring]

[New day, new mem share. The pigs sure are around a lot.

Kyoko's emotions are in their usual calm state as she watches it play out.]

week 7, friday

[metacognition]

Kyoko, do you want to come relax for a bit? Now that all that's over.
Come meet me at the elevator of the hotel in Pork City.

[factoring]

I don't know how you're able to relax right now.

[ She says that, but she does show up. ]