After Hours

"After Hours" is a Modern AU thread written on [IRL DATE].
== Summary ==
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==Full Text==
=== Part 1 ===
Juro Jin: The hydraulic doors slid open effortlessly as Jin made his way to the elevators, passing by the concierge and giving her a charming wink. Helheim Corp. was built in uptown, boasting sleek, modern designs and up to date technology. It stood on 52 floors, but the place Jin needed to be was nowhere near the sky.
The elevator closed without a sound, leaving the sniper standing alone in the mirrored box for a moment. Then he brought out an ID card, tapping it on the keypad, and activating a hologram screen. He inputted his credentials, and punched the button for the 7th basement. The deep archives, codename Purgatory. It took only a moment to reach that floor, and it opened into a massive, dark cavern like room.
Jin strode forward, and motion activated lights glowed on, lighting a path towards a lone computer. He took a seat, logging in his credentials again, then typed in the simple search bar that appeared. ‘Operation Eir.’
Almost immediately, the file displayed itself on the screen. He scanned the documents, reading quickly.
OPERATION: RAGNAROK
SUB: EIR
LOGGED: 23 weeks
PRIMARY: H
Health company All Mother was suspected to secretly mass produce biological weapons, code given “EIR”. When exposed, victim would petrify within 24 hours. All products have been destroyed or stored in Helheim archives. CEO of the company was taken into custody and found guilty. Sentenced to life in prison.
Jin exhaled slowly as he read through more details. He spotted his and Akira’s name in the Beta files, but they were only part of a very small side operation when it happened so there wasn’t much about them.
He tapped his lips in thought. He knew it. The context was different, but the similarities were uncanny, “This sounds exactly like that old GT-1 Ragnarok entry. But according to that, and this, all of that was over. So why…”
He sat in the darkness, deep in thought, when he was jolted from his trance by a ping from the computer.
One message received.
Jin sat up in his seat, high alert. This computer was not connected to any network. It had no ability to communicate in and out of the building. Yet it just did.
“What the fuck…” his eyes sped across the screen as he read the message.
Bookkeeper,
Please meet me in the Wilderwest University campus library on the fourth floor at your earliest convenience. Don’t worry about when. I’ll be there.
He ran out of the building, his heart in his throat. No one, not even Akira, his own captain and one of the closest to the Boss, knew he was a Bookkeeper.
So who was this that did?
=== Part 2 ===
Jin: Jin quietly unhooked the window open, and soundlessly dropped down onto the library floor. The establishment was closed, the last students left for the night a half hour ago. He crouched in the shadows, high above the book shelves, and waited.
Yun: “Hello.”
A desk light clicked on to his left, and a young man with tousled black hair and dark skin was sitting casually at one of the library tables, as though he were just a student working too late on his homework. The light of a laptop glinted off his glasses as he peered at where he approximated Jin was perched. His vision still wasn’t the best, especially in the dark. “That was quick,” he noted cheekily, with an untraceable accent. 
Jin: There was no response as Jin remained frozen where he was perched. He couldn't give two shits if he was dealing with this guy or a toddler; he was on high alert.
Yun: “Oh, come on.” The man got to his feet and shook out his clothes, tan slacks and a white polo covered by a dark blue hoodie. “I don’t have anything on me, and I’m alone. You can check. If you really thought I was that dangerous, you wouldn’t have come.”
Jin: He knew he was alone, at least the close perimeter around that he had checked beforehand. He stayed his place, one hand holding a gun at the ready behind him.
"I came," he said in a low tone, "Because only one other person in this entire world knows about the Bookkeepers. And that person is not you."
"So I need to know who you are and what you know."
Yun: “I probably know less than you think I do.” He leaned against the table, putting his hands in his pockets. “I know what Bookkeepers are. I have an understanding of how they do what they do. Now, what you all know, I don’t quite have a grip on. Helheim’s security makes sure of that. I have my own avenues with which I get my information, but they’re...” He made a face. “Unreliable. Picky. Jealous. I’d love to know everything you do, but my contacts make it hard.”
He spread an arm, encompassing the contents of the desk, which were his laptop and a few notebooks stacked tidily next to it. “So imagine my surprise when I managed to hone in on something that contacted you a little while ago. Something very interesting I’ve been keeping an eye on. Again, details are hard to come by, but the source...” His eyes glinted intensely behind his glasses. “Well, that’s my expertise. But I don’t know if it’s yours.”
Jin: He narrowed his eyes at the mention of contacts, "What the fuck are you on about. Who contacted me when?" The last call he knew about was Akira's during the extraction, and nothing else.
Yun: “I’ll put it simple, so you don’t decide I’m better off dead.” The man sat down again and steepled his fingertips together. He had several small, minimalist runic tattoos above his knuckles and on his hands. “A supernatural signal I’ve been tracing managed to get into your group’s precious database and left an entry. What it was, I don’t know. But it’s following a pattern. Leaving a puzzle for me to solve. Someone is stuck in...well, stuck in time, is my best guess. That someone is looking for assistance to get un-stuck. But in doing so, they are making a mess of things. And I’m going to need your help to figure out who it is, and how to help them, because, like you said, you’re one of two who know what Bookkeepers are all about.” He paused, twisting his lips in mirth. “One of three. Sorry.”
Jin: Jin exhaled sharply, still too tensed over the faction being revealed-and now infiltrated, apparently-like this to appreciate the humour (in any other situation he would have chuckled). He hopped down lightly to the same level as the man, keeping a watchful eye on him as he took out his notebook out of his bag and placed it a few tables away.
"It's dead," he said after trying to turn it on, somewhat marvelling the fact that it wouldn't. Not once had this computer ever slowed down, ran out of battery, or had any issues. But now it was just a black screen.
"So let's say you're telling the truth. Why should I help you?" Rule number one: neutrality. The words echoed in his mind. He was never the best at following that rule, though, "I can just figure it out and deal with it myself." 
Yun: He shook his head and spread his hands. “Unless you’ve got some tricks up your sleeve, you don’t have a way to do that. I do. However, you’re the one who’s got the information I need.” His fingers toyed with the end of his jacket sleeve and then tugged. “But, if you really want something concrete that’ll convince you...proof number one.”
The hoodie fell away from his shoulders and he leaned back to hang it on the back of his chair. When he twisted back around, he linked his fingers under his chin to prop it up and put his elbows on the table, revealing his bare forearms in the bright lamplight. They were heavily inked, and the sleeves looked more like something one would see on a motorcycle gang member’s arms than on an incredibly short, somewhat-reedy young adult. The most prominent visual, though, was a set of thick criss-crossing lines from his wrists up to his elbows. 
He raised his dark eyebrows at Jin. “It’s a hunch, but I think you actually do know who I am.”
Jin: He gazed at the tattoos, before slowly bringing them up to the man's face. There was a soft glint of amber from his eyes in the moonlight as he observed him. He did know him.
"Is your name the same?" he asked curiously.
Yun: He gave a small, relieved smile. “I go by Yun, here. What about you?”
Jin: "Jin." he replied, not unfriendly, "But then again, none of us really care which one people use. I just go by that to avoid confusion with the Chinese dude," He tapped a finger on his gun, now sitting idly by his thigh. Things were making sense now.
"I'll have to fix this first so I can access the database, and then..." He clicked his tongue.
Yun: “How’d it break? I could take a look at it.” Yun peered eagerly at the notebook, wishing he could comb through it for all the answers.
Jin: "Dunno..." he shrugged sheepishly, the lazy grin finding its way back on his face, "I kinda forgot to take it with me earlier, and then I came back in a rush to get here so I didn't really check. Have at it, I guess, but this is Her hardware, so..."
Yun: “Given that I’m familiar with whatever probably ruined it...” Yun quickly swiped it towards himself and popped it open, digging in his bag for a cord with which he connected his own laptop to Jin’s. He started tapping and clicking madly, eyes fixated on the screen. “How does this all work, anyway? What gives you access to the other Bookkeepers? What do you all talk about?”
Jin: "History," he said simply. He wondered if he should answer his many questions, but a quick recall of some entries showed some universes being loose lipped about it, as long as they were asked.
He hovered behind Yun and watched him work, admittedly curious at what he was planning to do, "We all have some type of device to record, whether analog or digital, and they're connected to the Main Library. It updates live and we can read off of each others' logs. Not exactly sure what powers it, if it's magic or electric, but... in a way those two are the same, no?" He chuckled, "And we don't really talk to each other, persay. It's more like a collective blog. Anything and everything that happens, we write it down and make sure there's a record of it."
Yun: He nodded to show he was listening along despite his focus, and his glasses slipped slightly. “I love it,” he said breathlessly, pushing them back up while re-arranging a few files and programs and running diagnostics on the notebook. “I told you, I don’t know too much, so to me this is all--ah!!”
On one of his windows, a log appeared, though it was incredibly corrupted, and Yun inhaled in surprise and excitement, immediately selecting and copying it to paste into a blank notepad so that he wouldn’t lose it. It was hell to read, but it was legible.
NEW ENTRY
LABEL: U: WASTED TIMELINE
USER: 16-1-18-9-1-8
LOCATION: [null]
ENTRY:
H̸̭̀̈̌̊͑ͅͅ ̵̹̣͇͍̻͎̲̦͚̤̙̰̗̤̯͒̆́̋͂̀͂͒̏̚̕È̴̙͓̹̗̩̝̬̟͎̾͒ ̴̨̜̬̜̖̦̯͉̟̣̟͎̖̮̼̑L̴̢̨̩̻͔͔̳̣̖̮̰͖̤̭̋ ̸̲̙̘̭̯͕̱̞̏͊͋̅̽̓̒͘͠͝ͅṔ̸̧̛͎͓͙̘̥͎̹̘͇̔̈̒͛̈́̾̕͘̕ ̴̘̬͔̝̒̚M̷̢̢̼̠͔͚͙̻͚̈́̓̏̃̄̔͋̍͜ͅ ̸͍̫͔̘̲̻̙̟̼͎͋́̚ͅE̴̢̛̩̍͛͆͗̈̈́͌̋̚
.
“Found your culprit.” Yun pushed a thumb up into his lips, considering the list of entries that he was unfamiliar with. “Oh, this is it...wasted timeline...this mean anything to you?” He went back and forth and up and down, using the mouse to highlight different sections of the text, hoping to glean some secret meaning from the numerals and symbols.
Jin: Jin leaned in and frowned at the log. He noticed that there were a couple of clicks on it already, and he knew he was going to be in trouble later.
“Hrmmmmm, not really,” he hummed, pushing a stray bang out of his face, “Give.” He pulled the notebook towards him, and typed a forumwide search entry: “wasted”, filters universe, looped, broken, other. He turned it back to Yun, as the page loaded, “There should be a bookkeeper in every timeline, so you can try that. Plus that user looks alphanumeric. Pa…riah?”
Yun: “Pariah…” He moused over to the more recent entries.
Stonegit finally did it. They managed to lock the Warden down and they’re calling in backup to try and get rid of her for good. Extracting her from Treepelt wasn’t pretty, but it was successful, and timely, with Ragnarok on the way. She’s in bad shape, though. Screaming and pleading. Seems to think that they’re good friends, even though the demon killed Vox. It’s suspicious, to be sure.
“An outcast.”
They only managed to cripple her, but that’s still fairly impressive for a demon her size. She’s on the run in the wild, now. The fiends will find and consume her eventually. Armies are moving and on the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if the day was tomorrow.
“Opposite of a messiah…in a matter of speaking…”
If I had to throw my chips down, I’d go all in for Valhalla. They even managed to recapture the Warden in an adamantine vessel; they’re trying to weaponize her. I wonder if that’s possible? She’s a broken mess, a pitiable sight to see.
Yun shook his head. “God, there’s too much jargon. What’s happening here?”
Doing my best out here, but this war is getting ugly. Neither Hel nor Odin have a foothold strong enough to defeat the other. The armies are dwindling. The smaller gods are picking each other off. The Warden tried to turn tail and fight for what was left of the rebellion, but the contract they forced her into ruined her further. She’s gone, now. But the damage is done. Her name is gone. I wonder what she’ll call herself with nothing to ward.
Jin: “Jesus Christ…” Jin breathed, reading along with horror in his eyes. He felt a little sick, “This one’s not pretty…” He took the cursor from Yun, and expanded the last log. Six thousand clicks. 1300 bookmarks. He scrolled through them, and found what he thought he would, “Most of the bookmarks are by GT variations…”
He sucked in air through his teeth, leaning on the edge of the table, “That’s a wasted timeline, alright. Where Milae is right now isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but at least they’re surviving. Everything in this one just went to shit. And this Pariah dude’s trapped there, I guess?” There haven’t been any recent entries from that bookkeeper either.
Yun: Yun listened with fascination. “Is there any way to contact him? I can’t get through to…wherever this is. I can visit variations on this world,” and he punctuated his sentence by tapping the desk, “but that’s it. It’s like this stuff is too…foreign. At least, that’s how I understand it.”
Jin: “Ehhmmm…” he looked up towards the ceiling in careful thought, “Like I mentioned, nobody really talks to each other. Everything’s a public log, and it’s a Facebook stalker-like situation, so it’s gonna be a little weird if I suddenly leave a post going, ‘Hey internet, do your thing and find this guy in this timeline for me so I can slide into his DMs.’ Cus this entry is for sure gonna spark some curious clicks.” he tapped Pariah’s broken message in emphasis.
He interlocked his fingers together as he leaned back, “If you can figure out how put it up discreetly so it doesn’t catch anyone’s attention, like a code or something, I can mix it in every time I make a post.”
Yun: “I want to foster the best situation for this Pariah to contact us. I want to figure out what circumstances are letting him talk to us, but so far it seems completely random.” He fidgeted with the buttons on his collar. “How do they feel about false entries?”
Jin: Jin almost fell off from where he was sitting as he started laughing, “Not good…” he wiped a tear from his eye, “Not good at all.”
He gave a sigh as he calmed down, one brow raising slightly, “Of course, there would be no problem if they were made true. What did you have in mind?”
Yun: “Talk about how Pariah keeps contacting you,” he said decisively. “Treat it like you don’t know what’s going on. That you keep getting odd messages. What I’m going to do is get a handful of other Jins to do the same.” He held up two index fingers right next to each other and moved them apart slightly. “I’ll travel to the ones right next to this thread, so we have a better chance of picking up something. Hopefully he’ll be able to see that he’s getting through and we can get more information.”
Jin: “Huh, I see…” he turned the idea over in his head, “Well, as long as a ‘Pariah’ really does contact me, however, whenever, whomever, then I can add that in, sure…” Jin tapped his knee, assessing himself and his role as a bookkeeper. Again the rule echoed in his mind. Neutrality.
But this is to keep corrupted logs from getting through, too. He reasoned to himself. One inaccurate universe is better than putting the entire library at risk.
Yun: “If this…index…is a tool we can use, then we must use it.” He scrolled up and down through the entries curiously. “If someone is able to contact us from that far away…something is wrong. Something’s…broken. Torn. I can’t describe it exactly. But I’ve been experiencing it.” Yun used the mouse to circle around the strange entry several times. “And now you are, too.”
Jin: “Okay, chill out,” he pulled the computer away from him with a smirk, “You can’t just surf an interdimensional database willy nilly, not without my say at least.” He gave a glance towards the last entry again. Her name is gone. I wonder what she’ll call herself with nothing to ward. He frowned in suspicion.
“At any rate, I just wanna fix this weird connection so that I can go back to my simple life as a sniper and bookkeeper. So that’s that.” he said simply.
Deoiridh: Deo walked into the school library, bag slung over one shoulder while it’s other arm hung loosely just below the Hem of her shirt which exposed just a bit of navel. Seeing the two boys she grinned. “Yun! How are ye hon, and who’s the cutie yer hangin’ out wit? I swear if teh cute lads are multiplyin’ at this school and yer keepin’ it a secret, there’ll be Hell to pay.” She says with a grin as she approaches the two.
Yun: “Deo!” Yun yelped, slapping both laptops closed and standing, nearly knocking his chair over. “I–uh–dammit–” His wrist bumped the lamp beside him and it swung wildly before falling off the table, causing shadows and lights to flash and swirl across the walls, and it rested on the ground to create a weird ambiance of upside-down lighting, throwing strange shapes across everyone’s faces. “This is–classmate–uh–” His hazel eyes darted to Jin pleadingly. How’d she get in? “Um–we were just…studying.”
Jin: The combined reaction time between the both of them would have broken records, the notebook disappearing out of existence into his bag. Jin’s hand immediately came up to his scarf and pulled it over his chin, obscuring his face and keeping to the shadows, his heart thundering the hardest it ever had. Fuck.
Yun heard what was definitely, absolutely, unmistakeably the faint sound of a gun cocking.
Deoiridh: Deo’s eyes squint at the quick reactions of the two though she fails to notice the cocking of the pistol. “Ohhh ah see…” She says as she approaches. “Ah know exactly what ye were up to.” She wraps an arm around Yun. “Ye were watchin’ porn weren’t ye?”
Yun: “Yes, definitely, absolutely.” Milae batted her arm away and immediately scooped up his own laptop, though he didn’t insert it into his bag with as much grace as Jin did. His heart was fluttering like a panicked hare’s. He struggled not to activate in front of Deo and leap several hundred timelines away to where he could recuperate. “Um–” He changed his mind and reached out to grab hold of Deo’s arm, pulling her towards the elevator. “But I didn’t notice how late it was! We really should get going.” He kept his full attention off Jin, trying to give him an opening to slip away.
Deoiridh: She giggles as he talks frantically. The Scot pulls against him as he tries to pull her away. “Now hey now, tha’s not very nice, pullin’ a lady ‘round like she’s a lil lamb headin’ fer the slaughter. ‘Sides, ah wanna talk to that cutie back there. She looks back at Jin and waves, blowing him a kiss, following it up with a flirtatious wink.
Jin: Jin stared at her for a heartbeat, then ultimately decided that it was futile to pretend that he was never there. He dropped the scarf from his face as Yun blinked, and it was like the Bookkeeper had transformed into a complete stranger.
The frenzied curiosity and awed interest that Yun saw before was completely gone. The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk, shoulders lazy and at ease as he leaned to the side, casually hiding the gun that he still held at the ready, a twinkle in his eye that said he was ready to play, “Sorry, hun. You just caught us by surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure, Ms… ah, Deo, was it?”
Deoiridh: Deo grinned at the receptive response and quickly pulls away from Yun and saunters back over towards Jin. “Well, ah was jus’ comin’ here teh study. Nice an quiet this time o’ night. Now ah’m hopin’ teh find a nice… Study buddy.” She purrs, giving him another wink as she draws closer.
Jin: “Oh, is that all? No other reason?” he drawled back, leaning in slightly. His responses were laid back, but Yun noticed the slightest underlying tension. His finger was still on the trigger, “Your timing is impeccable…”
Yun: Yun almost tripped as he stepped between the two of them, facing Deo, hugging his backpack to his chest, his cheeks on fire. His brain was in meltdown mode trying to figure out how to get Deo to back off so that Yun could escape, Jin would leave and Deo wouldn’t get shot. Both Jin’s silent threat and Deo’s energy were making him sweat. 
“Y-youcan’thavehimhe’smine,” he blurted, shrinking and flushing even harder as soon as the jumbled words left his mouth. 
Deoiridh: Her brow furrows as she deciphers what he said. “Ah thought ye were wit Dario?” She says confused. She shakes her head. “Either way…” She reaches up and gently strokes his cheek. “Wouldn’t ye be willing to share with lil’ ol’ me?” She asks as she brushes her thumb softly across his cheek.
Yun: “N-nope!”
He reached back and fumbled for Jin’s hand before quickly stalking past Deo and towards the elevator again, hiding most of his face in his backpack. 
Jin: Jin let himself be dragged to the doors, an odd look on his face. Deo caught a glimpse of something shiny in his hand, but couldn’t tell what it was exactly. His long strides matched every two of Yun’s, as they almost ran. 
Jin looked over his shoulder and stuck out a bit of a cheeky tongue towards her, as if telling her that it was fun, right as the elevator doors closed. 
Deoiridh: She smirks and winks at him, hoping he caught it. Either way, once he is out of sight she sighs, mildly frustrated. She takes a seat, puts down her bag and starts studying. 
Yun: Yun stood in the elevator with shoulders hunched and face hanging downward, feeling like his insides were shriveling. He didn’t need the elevator to leave, he only wanted to keep up the illusion of normality for Deo’s sake, but he also didn’t want to ditch Jin after everything that had happened. So he just panicked silently in place. 
Jin: “Sorry.” 
Jin dropped the act and broke the awkward silence with an apologetic sigh. He took his hand out of Yun’s grip, and holstered his gun, “I automatically went into work mode there. That was, uh… an alias?” he scratched his head, not knowing how to explain it, “I wanted to know what the fuck she was doing here at this time of night. Sorry, you got dragged into it…” 
Yun: He took a deep breath, relieved that Jin had spoken first. “It’s okay. I don’t usually get caught when I…” He motioned with one forearm, and a quick pulse of teal light flashed over the markings on his skin. “You know. Travel. So. I kind of…” Sighing, he pushed a hand into his face and tilted his head back to the roof of the elevator. “Oh my god, she’s going to tell everyone and Dario’s going to…ugh, I’m such a moron…” 
Jin: “Right… sorry,” he apologized again, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “You can say it was a dare or something? I don’t mind being blamed. Ehe…”
Yun: “A dare means I still did it.” He rubbed his face and pushed up his glasses again. “I’ll just mess around in some other timelines for a bit and make sure the Warden doesn’t get killed or something, I don’t know.” He looked up at Jin oddly. The word “alias” confused him, but he wasn’t sure how to ask about it. “You weren’t actually going to shoot her, were you? That would make such a mess of things.”
His eyes dropped down to Jin’s hand, nervously searching it. Would you shoot me?
Jin: He paused, then punched the button the ground floor, and the elevator started moving down. He adjusted his bag over his shoulder, before replying simply, “Maybe.”
“Yun, do you know exactly what my job is? Aside from the bookkeepers?”
Yun: He scratched behind his ear. “Um…” He shook his head after a second. “You’re either too hard to find in the other timelines, or you’re too tight-lipped.” He gave a brief laugh. “It was kind of random chance that I managed to get you out here at all. Was that a mistake? Do you have somewhere you need to be?”
Jin: “No,” his mouth quirked appreciatively at the concern, “That’s not quite it.”
“I’m hard to find because I’m not supposed to exist.” The elevator came to a stop on the main floor, and Jin ambled through the doors. He paused in the middle of the lobby, illuminated in the moonlight, and glanced back at Yun. “People in my field stay in the shadows. We do our jobs quickly, efficiently, perfectly, then disappear. But when an Unknown, like Deo-” or you, “-enters the picture, goes off script, the unpredictability of it could ruin things and I have to consider all routes.” He took off his glasses carefully, his movements smooth and easy like a cat, letting his fringe fall softly over one amber eye as he cleaned it with the hem of his scarf, “All routes.”
Yun: Yun scrutinized him. Not harshly, but not gently, either. The elevator doors tried to close, and he lifted an arm and held them open, another shimmer of light racing over his patterned skin. “What’s the script?”
Jin: He replaced his spectacles, “For tonight? Get to the bottom of whomever knew I was a Bookkeeper and what they want-” he pointed towards Yun, non threateningly, “-fix it, then disappear.”
“This whole night caught me completely off guard, TBH. Deo showing up didn’t help,” he brought up his hands in a shrug. I’m breaking so many rules tonight, holy shit…
Yun: He gave his own wry grin at Jin’s words, sliding his backpack over his shoulder. “Well, if you still want my help, you should…you probably already know that I don’t follow stageplays very well. I don’t like to let fate just happen to me. Neither me or Milae do…” He got more serious. “But it’s not to cause trouble. I want to help people.”
Jin: “How honourable,” he said. It was not an unfriendly tone, but his eyes seemed to hide some slight disinterest. He still gave a smile, “Considering that this is affecting the library directly through my timeline, I don’t mind working together. I’d just prefer to keep it as lowkey as possible.”
Yun: He gave a quirky salute with two fingers, letting the elevator doors go in the process. “Then I’ll see you around, if Miss Hel doesn’t mind?”
Jin: “It’ll be fine. Just next time don’t use the Purgatory server to contact me. Ever.” He watched it close, a flash of blue peeping through the cracks, then turned on his heel to head home and crash.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Modern AU
Category:Yun
Category:Juro Jin