CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[dissimulative]

[ The military files are pretty short, consisting primarily of information on Sinclair. There are old sticky notes all over another page that lists Sinclair's likes, dislikes, and hobbies in Aria's handwriting. It looks like she's been keeping track of what Sinclair likes in general and dislikes (mostly in food) along with suggested food dishes that he might like based on hus preferences. There is even a birthday gift list of what Sinclair might like along with the month and day circled multiple times. She really did her best in trying to make Sinclair feel comfortable with the squad.

In the bullet journal, Oria finds some statements such as "I want to throw this remote away at the ocean", how nice her days are when spending time with the squad, and "he deserves to live as a human".

... ]

[insinning]

[Now his heart hurts in a different way. Despite everything, Aria had tried her best to make Sinclair happy, like he had a place to belong. If only he could have done something to save her in that last moment.

He rubs his eyes discretely and sets the files aside, moving back to look over Oria's shoulder]

Anything new?

[dissimulative]

Not yet.

[ Oria keeps flipping through the pages, skimming things faster and faster... he reaches about 3/4 of the journal before deciding— ]

There are way too many pages... I'm taking a break. Do you wanna read the rest?

[insinning]

I can do it.

[Sinclair nods, reaching out to take the diary. He likes reading, even if it feels a bit invasive to read Aria's personal thoughts...]

[dissimulative]

[ Fortunately, the bullet journal isn't as personal as an actual diary, but it's still pretty personal. While Sinclair reads that, Oria takes a walk around the room to see if he can find anything else.

In the journal, Sinclair will find out that one of her friends, Sungjin, had introduced her to someone named Shion and they all got along, being friends for a while. However, Aria and Shion were suddenly separated due to a heated conversation between them, resulting in upset feelings that neither was in the right state of mind to address them properly. Unfortunately, the details are left our. ]

[insinning]

[Hmmm ]

Oria, do you know anyone by the name of Sungjin or Shion?

[He'll note those names down. It might be a lead.]

[dissimulative]

I know that Sungjin was Aria's friend. Why?

[ Time to look through these bags... ]

He's just a normal citizen from what I know. Dunno about this Shion person though.

[insinning]

Aria mentioned that she met Shion through Sungjin and they became friends...

[ Is there anything else in this bullet journal]

But they had a falling out.

[dissimulative]

[ Oria pauses to think about this. ]

Aria having a falling out with someone would imply pretty heavy things. She's nice, but not a pushover. She forgives easily, but remembers being wronged. She has a high threshold for being "bullied", but she also retorts with heavy sass. This "Shion" guy must be a real piece of work.

[insinning]

I see. [ His time with Aria had been short, relatively, so it feels like he's learning all sorts of new things.]

It says they had a heated conversation but didn't resolve anything.

[ Was it important? He wonders a little]

[dissimulative]

Does this mean we have to go find a guy that's technologically inept...

[ Apparently, this person named Sungjin isn't good with technology. Very much born in the wrong era for sure. Oria isn't looking forward to doing the search. ]

We're not even sure if Shion is a hacker or anything either.

[ However, that's just what Oria thinks. Sinclair is always free to form his own opinions. ]

[insinning]

It doesn't hurt to ask, right?

[Maybe a part of him just wanted to know Aria better too. So even if it was a dead end and had nothing to do with anything...]

[dissimulative]

Alright. I'll make a note about finding him. That guy has his Selcom perpetually off and never even bothered to learn how to use it.

[ Get with the times, bro. Oria pulls out a phone from Aria's bag and looks through it. Did it have a passcode? Doesn't seem to matter as Oria is already digging through it. ]

Selcom has all the stuff integrated, but we always kept these too, just in case.

[ So Oria has one as well... He frowns when he sees a text though. ]

"Leave him alone"...?

[insinning]

Ahaha. I'm surprised there are people closer to our age like that.

[ He understood the adults but people their age? Well it's not like he doesn't get it either. Glancing over]

Was she arguing with someone?

[dissimulative]

I dunno. It looks like it's the last message that she sent. I don't see the text history... so I guess she erased it.

[ He grumbles a bit. Make this a little easier on them, Aria. ]

[insinning]

...I heard there's no such thing as messages that are truly erased on these devices.

[But he has no skill in recovering messages and knows no one he'd entrust that phone to so]

Do you think that number might have belonged to 'Shion'?

[dissimulative]

One way to find out.

[ Oria memorizes the number and uses his Selcom to call with a burner number. Sinclair won't be able to hear anything from the other end, but he can certainly hear what Oria will be saying, and he tries to speak in a different voice than usual. ]

Hello? Is this Shion? [ ... ] Oh, yes. My name is Alex. Have you checked on your car's extended warranty? It may be expiring soon--

[ ................

Oria looks smug as he goes off the call. It's assumed that whoever's on the other line hung up on him. ]

Got him.

[insinning]

[...]

Maybe you should be a super secret agent after all.

[He's both appalled and impressed]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria laughs. ]

Anyone with a modicum of sense would hang up, but I got that his name was "Shion". That's really all I needed to know right now. The rest can come later.

[insinning]

[He'll gather up the military files, make copies with his selcom. The little note goes into his pocket though]

Is there anything else we should look into?

[dissimulative]

I think we looked at what we could... We can leave now.

[ Does Sinclair want to see Oria's room before he leaves... ]

[insinning]

Okay. Is there anything else you wanted to check on or grab?

[He gets up, putting things back where they found them. And yes, he really wants to see Oria's room]

[dissimulative]

... Nope! Not really. Why?

[ Oria looks at Sinclair, head slightly tilted. ]

[insinning]

I was just wondering if you wanted to get anything from your room.

[His curiosity is the worst sometimes]

[dissimulative]

I don't need anything from my room, since I already took it all to put it in the sleeping quarters.

[ After a short pause, he gives Sinclair almost a wry smile. ]

You wanna see it, huh? It's nothing big.