The Restoration Protocol

2 || let's not be hasty

The walls of the Marble Dome may as well have come crashing down around them, because in Mariko's head, it certainly feels like they do.

Cheers of enthusiasm take an abrupt shift into screams of alarm as the entire venue is thrown into chaos. It only starts with those lights. But the strange, inhuman sounds which seem to rise from nowhere and everywhere at once drive further that stake of fear into the hearts of the people. They flee without second thought. Without regard for anything else but the tantalizing concept of escape from a now invisible threat.

Mariko freezes for all of a second. That's all the time her brain needs to shift gears, and for her to turn a deaf ear to the screaming and run in the opposite direction of those on the path to the exit. She sets her sights on the stage. It's dark, but not dark enough that she couldn't see Alias had fled backstage moments ago. She would be fine, Mariko wants to think, as such a key character in the game, surely nothing could take place that would legitimately jeopardize the idol's life. But that's going on the assumption that this is normal, that this was supposed to happen.

"Mari, w-where are you going?!"

Boey's voice nearly drowns in the unfolding chaos. With the sliver of his outcry that reaches her, Mariko spins around just to wave him over, encouraging the boy to follow and essentially leaving him with no choice nor time to reconsider — he would lose sight of her long before he came to realization that perhaps this isn't the wisest of ideas, anyway. With that said, he joins his friend unwillingly in her pursuit of the star. Alias is more than likely on her way to safety at this moment, or at least to locate a staff member who could help her. But what if there aren't any? What if the whole reason that mysterious figure showed up in the first place was because there was no one around to stop them?

All Mariko knows for certain is that something is off. With reckless abandon, she climbs up onto the stage and takes off in the direction she remembers seeing Alias fleeing. There's no one on stage now. No signs of life or...anything. If that stranger or creature or whatever had disrupted the concert were even alive, it's impossible to tell now. For all anyone knows it could have been an illusion, one meant to serve the role of a distraction so that the real criminal could isolate Alias precisely where she thought she would find safety. That thought only propels Mariko to act faster.

She tears around the corner, only stopping for the briefest of moments to take in her surroundings. Backstage isn't nearly as glamorous as she thought it would be. A number of messy stacks of metal costume boxes and other equipment are scattered around. A musty scent lingers in the air. No staff members in sight. Nobody at all in sight. Then again, there isn't much light present to see clearly back here, either. Nothing save a small source extending out from behind one of those costume box stacks. Low to the ground, almost like a nightlight.

Mariko approaches it cautiously. Boey, having managed to catch up to her at last, approaches much less cautiously.

"Mari, c'mon, we shouldn't be back h-!"

"Boey, sshhh!!"

Her warning comes a bit too late, as the damage of Boey's exclamation was already done. From behind that wall of boxes Mariko had set her eyes on, something stirs. A brief scraping sound, a stifled breath. It wasn't just a nightlight after all, but then again, she had already made a hopeful assumption of what may be the source of this hallway's only visibility. Gentle steps and slow, Mariko tiptoes the rest of the way up to the boxes and pokes her head around to peer at the one huddled there alone on the floor. It's Alias. Back against the wall, her hands wrap around her throat in an attempt to shield the light her own body produces. Slivers still crawl through the gaps in her fingers and the lower part of her jaw which she couldn't fully cover. Even after Mariko and Boey have spotted her and made eye contact, she continues her fruitless endeavor to remain invisible.