>>37417946
>"Look for the Chairman. I want to see if he's here or if this is just a ruse."

>>37417946
>"Look for the Chairman. I want to see if he's here or if this is just a ruse."

>>37417946
>"Look for the Chairman. I want to see if he's here or if this is just a ruse."
>"Look for my Dad! If he's here, then he's probably planning something bad!"
We can see which one we find first.

>>37417946
>"Look for the Chairman. I want to see if he's here or if this is just a ruse."
>"Look for my Dad! If he's here, then he's probably planning something bad!"

>"Look for the Chairman. I want to see if he's here or if this is just a ruse."
>"Look for my Dad! If he's here, then he's probably planning something bad!"

Writing!

>>37418158
Time for Solid Masami!

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"Before you go! Where do you think they're going to be meeting?" I ask him just before he steps out the door.

"That's what I was going to go find out."

"In that case! Where do you think the Chairman and Dad are right now?"

He thinks on that question for a minute, closing the door behind him so no one can hear us talk.
"I'm not even sure Asai is in the building right now, but the Chairman should be on the 13th floor or the top floor."

"Great! That leaves two places for me to search! Thanks!"

"I trust you'll be fine without me, but if you do need me, I'll be around." He says once more before walking straight out of the room.

So that just leaves me. Before something happens like the janitor walks in and sees me hiding in here, I put on the invisibility card.
Then I'm ready to hit the rest of the building!

Carefully, I step outside. I try not to draw too much attention to myself as I slowly walk toward the elevator. I know I'm supposed to be invisible like this, but I'm still worried about being seen.
Besides, I can't get rid of this strange feeling that I've had. It's almost as if I'm being watched, but I know that can't be possible.

A large brute of a man opens the elevator and steps inside, allowing me to quietly slip in after him and lightly tap the button combination for the 13th floor before he notices.

--

The doors open softly as the man stands in the elevator with a confused expression on his face. Quickly, I jump out of the steel doors before they snap shut behind me.

Just like the last time I visited, this entire floor seems to be vacant. There's several offices and rooms, but the rest of the floor is completely clean of anything or anyone.
Furthermore, the rooms seem to have the lights turned out. Three rooms in particular have their door propped open.

>Investigate the three rooms, what should I be searching for?
>Try another floor, this is a dead end
>Wait to see if anyone comes back to them.
>Try one of the locked offices
>Other?

>>37419049
>Try one of the locked offices
I suppose.

>>37419049
>Investigate the three rooms, what should I be searching for?
Just make sure there's nobody in here.
>Try another floor, this is a dead end

>>37419049
>Investigate the three rooms, what should I be searching for?
traces of recent use? secret passages?

>>37419049
>Investigate the three rooms, what should I be searching for?
People, things i don't know. We'll know it when we see it.

>Investigate the three rooms, what should I be searching for?

Writing!

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Okay, I should start with the easiest places to investigate. I don't want to waste my time exploring empty rooms with no one in them.

I walk into the first room and am immediately hit with the smell of cigarette smoke. It seems to have washed into everything. Including the walls and the two pieces of furniture in the room.
There's a computer with a dimly lit screen that appears to be on standby.
Gently, I tap the keyboard and wake the computer up. Which is when I notice that the screen is open to an email client of some kind. An email client with a single email is open for all to see.

"50th floor. Now. - T."

That's all it says. It also appears to have been dated for a few minutes ago.
Carefully I walk back out of the room. I really don't want that stench soaking into my clothes as it is.

Okay, that was a wash, what about the second room?
This one looks more like a traditional office. There's a complete set of office furniture, a computer that seems to have had a lot of usage, and a wall-clock.

Huh, the wall-clock isn't ticking anymore.
I try to wake the computer from its sleep, but am immediately foiled by a locked screen. This might be the Chairman's office. It's really hard to tell around here.

That's when I notice something, laying on the table is a well-worn sheet of paper that seems to have a series of brief memos written on it. Each one makes the list seem more like appointments. Three in particular are well-worn and smeared on the page, like they've been referred to often.
Harry - 12:00
Michelle - 5:00
Sally - 8:00

Strange.

I walk out of this room and into the third room, which is completely empty. Sans for imprints on the floors and walls where furniture used to be.
And, strangely enough, something is casting a shadow on the empty wall even though there is nothing mounted there. What a weird room.

>Do something in any of these three rooms?
>This is a waste of time! To the 50th floor!
>Other?

>>37420659
>Do something in any of these three rooms?
>Try entering the other side from here
I forgot what we called the magic space actually.

>>37420659
Isn't the building on both this plane and the other at once? Can we check and see if there are differences?

>>37420659
>Do something in any of these three rooms?
third room, drift into card world?

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>>37420746
>>37420749
I'll throw in with these.

Of course there's a chance that our invisibility doesn't extend to the magical world, in which case we'll just have to fight our way through, or come up with an excuse for why we're here.

hope we can bluff like a badass.

>>37420659
>>Do something in any of these three rooms?
Other world in third room.

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Company came over unexpectedly, give me a few before I get started on next post.

sorry!

>>37420659
>>37420746
Backing!

>>37420659
>Other?
Examine the shadow closer, and then go to the 50th floor.

Oh man I've been gone a long time.

>Drift to the other world, see what third room looks like

Then
>Off to 50th floor!

Writing!

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I know that third room definitely has something strange about it. Why would there be a shadow cast without anything to cast it?

That's when it hits me.
Concentrating, I slip away into the alternate world of magic that parallels ours.
Sure enough, it's a fully furnished office here. Complete with a sofa, several pieces of furniture, and a cot. Someone must really make themselves at home here.

On the desk, in lieu of a computer, is a magic circle. It's kind of like the magic circle Mom uses to draft cards with.
Looking through the papers on the desk doesn't seem to be very helpful. It's almost as if the papers are written in another language.
That's... peculiar.

On the desk, in the middle of the circle, is a fully drafted card.
That's another thing to keep just laying around, but I guess whoever has this office probably wasn't expecting someone to come here and take what they please.
Quickly, I grab it off the desk and return to the real world. I don't want to risk anyone finding me here. I don't even know how I would fight them.

--

I'm able to hitch an elevator ride up to the top floor by sheer chance of luck. The building still seems to be swarming with beasts of all shapes and sizes. It's really worrying me how much they've picked up the pace of patrols as the meeting time gets closer. Maybe they already suspect that I'm in the building? Who knows.

If I wanted to guess, they would meet either in the board room, or upstairs in an office. Or they could also try something a little different and meet up on the rooftop. They must suspect that she has the ability to jump or at least get up there without anyone noticing, so that's probably not as likely.

Checking my phone I have.. ten minutes left to find where she's going to meet!

>Check the boardrooms first
>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.
>Check upstairs on the roof, it's a long shot but why not.
>Check the labs, that's a creepy science place, right?
>Other?

>>37424926
>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.

>>37424926

>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.
>Check upstairs on the roof second, it's a long shot but why not.
>Check the labs third, that's a creepy science place, right?

I wonder how Kaori would even know where to meet her dad, considering we were there when she got the whole meeting thing said and done to her and all they mentioned was the building.

That said, offices would be the most likely suspect and you'd just need to see if anyone was inside, the roof wouldn't take long to check since it's an open area, and the lab is a giant "we trap here" option. If they didn't tell Kaori where the meet-up would be held and they wanted her back for creepy experiments or some such, the labs would be the perfect area. Most likely unknown to her entirely and close-by to where ever they'd want her for nefarious goals.

>>37424926
>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.

>>37424926
>>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.

>>37424926
>Check the boardrooms first

>Check the offices first, particularly the CEOs office.
>Check upstairs on the roof second, it's a long shot but why not.

Okay!
Writing!

>>37425304
I'm off to sleep so thanks for writing.

>>37425736
Thanks for playing!

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First place to check is the CEO's office. If there's going to be a big important meeting, that's the first place that I can think of that it would take place here.

Where else would creepy villains want to meet the heroine at? Ooh! The rooftop! I should check there next!

This entire floor seems to be in an uproar. Monsters pace back and forth. I even catch a glimpse of the one who escorted me here ducking into a room.

Fortunately they're all much larger than I am, so I'm able to duck between them on the way. Still, it's worrying how many of them there are. I'm thinking less and less that this is a meeting and more like an ambush.

I approach the CEO's office doors, just to notice that they appear to be closed.
Also, curiously, I think I hear voices inside. It's still eight or so minutes before Kaori is supposed to arrive, so who would that be?

I put my ear to the door and listen and silently as I can manage with

"...come...here"
"No no... away.. gone.."
"Tower...not..."
"..Where?.."
"...--..-It-.."

I don't recognize either of those voices. Neither of them sound like Dad.
One of them could have been the Chairman. I've never really heard him speak all that much.

So this room is a definite "Maybe".

Quickly, I turn around and make my way to the roof. The hallways start to clear little by little as I continue. It's only a few minutes until Kaori arrives, so they must be trying to hide all the monsters before she does.

Grasping the handle of the rooftop door, I immediately faceplant right into the cold steel.
Locked.
Outside, I do hear the sounds of footsteps on the gravely roof.
I'm running out of time, and there's only a few minutes left before Kaori gets here. Where should I try to go next?

>back to the CEO office, try to sneak or break in
>It's just a little door! Break the door to the roof down.
>The labs, I haven't checked there yet
>If I hurry, I can get down to the first floor and watch Kaori as she enters the building.
>Other?

>>37426798
>If I hurry, I can get down to the first floor and watch Kaori as she enters the building.

>>37426798

>The labs, I haven't checked there yet

Giving it a once-over is probably important.

>>37426798
>>If I hurry, I can get down to the first floor and watch Kaori as she enters the building.
While whatever is going on in the office does sound important, it is time to watch Kaori.

>>37426798
>back to the CEO office, try to sneak or break in

>>37426798
>The labs, I haven't checked there yet

>The labs, I haven't checked there yet
>If I hurry, I can get down to the first floor and watch Kaori as she enters the building.

Writing!

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One last place I want to check before I leave: The Labs.
I was shown the labs several times the last time I was here. Plus, the hallway leading there seems to be completely vacant.

I walk up to the guard post that sits just outside the hallway leading to the labs.
..And he's not even here, huh. Maybe they really don't care about guarding this hallway all that much considering all their employees are monsters that know what goes on in there anyway.

Walking down the hallway, I'm presented with the main door into the lab. Naturally, it's locked tight with a several-digit combination needed to enter.

Except there's one entrance that's not locked. The door to the observation deck appears to be hanging open. Maybe someone ran out of it and forgot to shut the door?
No time to think about it! I push the door open and rush in.

Rushing up the hallway and up to the lab, I suddenly notice that there's someone else in the lab proper.
While I'm standing on the observation balcony, there's a guy in a white lab coat that appears to be performing some kind of ritual in the lab.

It's hard to focus and see who it is in the blinding white light, but it's definitely a person that's doing it. I can barely tell what he's doing, but he's spinning some kind of card around in the air with a kind of unseen force.
That's scary!

He suddenly stops, and slowly, his head turns toward where I'm watching him from!

>PANIC!
>Run away!
>No no! S-surely it's a mistake!

>Roll a 1d20 while you answer, I'll take all of them this time!

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>37428643

>PANIC!

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>37428643
Calmly walk away.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>37428643
>>No no! S-surely it's a mistake!

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>37428643
>Run away!

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>37428643
>Run away!

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>37428643
>PANIC!

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>37428643
>>No no! S-surely it's a mistake!

>>Run away!
>Not bad rolls!

Writing!

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What?
Slowly he continues to turn his head, I don't know how, but he somehow knows someone is watching him.

His face slowly starts to become clear to me. The light cast on his face illuminates his rough features and his jet-black hair.

BUT I'M NOT STAYING AROUND TO SEE IT!
Quickly, without making any noise, I duck back through the door and rush down the hallway. I nearly crash into a wall in my haste to escape!

"H-how!?" Is all I can ask myself.
There is no way anyone or anything should have been able to see me, but he was able to! I've been down in that lab area before as well, I'm usually not able to see people in the observation deck anyway. It's some kind of weird one-way glass that keeps people's identities hidden.

That's really disconcerting, there's a monster roaming around the building that can see through my invisibility!

My phone's alarm goes off. It's time.

I don't have time to think about it any longer. It's time for me to get downstairs and escort my sister.

I really can't afford to be nervous right now.

--

I rush downstairs just in time to see Kaori walk through the main door. The receptionist spots her and immediately hands her off to another guy to show her the rest of the way.
What they don't know is that I'm walking right behind them.

We all walk into the elevator as the monstrous man keys in the floor.
Except it's not the 50th floor, it's the 13th floor he keys in. The empty floor that I was just at.
Suddenly, I feel very nervous. If Kaori is anything to go by, she is too.

The elevator clicks up the various floors until it opens on the 13th. Kaori and I step out into the completely empty room.

That's when the Chairman walks out of the room that was completely empty on this side.
The hulking man steps back in the elevator and disappears.

Huh, he kept his promise. A meeting, completely alone, with Kaori. Now I kind of feel bad about spying.

Kind of.

>Thread End

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Okay, sorry about the huge 2-hour gap in the middle there.

Thanks everyone for the thread, I really appreciate being able to get to this point in the story.

Thanks to everyone who participated, let me know what you thought of the thread today.

>>37430629
Thanks for running.

>>37430629
Thanks for running.

>>37430629
Thanks for the thread, short but fun.