Merril Anderson- joined the Reapers stationed in the San Fransisco UG at the age of eighteen. By the time she was twenty one, she had made it to the rank of Officer; and served as Game Master for the first time only a week after her birthday. Now, at age 24, she had been handpicked by the Angel's Board of Directors to head their efforts in tracking down the rogue Composer Yoshia "Joshua" Kiryu; who was wanted for a number of crimes by the Angel higher ups. The series of events last month that almost destroyed the Shibuya Underground had alerted the Angels that stricter observation of the world's UG's was necessary to insure their continued opperation; and that Composers would be held responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, a Fallen Angel by the name of Sane "Mr.H" Hanekoma had tipped Shibuya's composer off that he was to be apprehended, and they both dissapeared before the Angel's forces had arrived. Thankfully for her, someone had thought ahead of time to set up a blockade around Shibuya before they went after the Composer; so it was still likely that they were somewhere within the city limits. Armed with the title of Conductor and having the direct backing of the most powerful organization in exsistence, Merril was confident that Joshua and Mr.H would be brought to justice to answer for their crimes.
Merril flipped through a dossier of the remaining Reaper personnel stationed at the Shibuya Underground; the multi-colored lights of Dead God's Pad causing her snow-white skin to take on a mulitude of different shades. The last month had taken a serious toll on the local division- all three Game Masters and the Conductor dead, a loss of over 90% of the field opperatives in two weeks alone, and a total breakdown in the UG's barrier system. Everyone knew that life as a reaper had its occupational hazards, but such a high casualty report in such a short time was unprecedented; and what partially brought to attention how dire the situation in Shibuya had become.
"What a tragic loss," the newly appointed Conductor mused to herself as she lounged in one of the Reaper base's many sofas, snacking on a box of donuts she had picked up from one of the local stores that was marked for UG admittance. While no one who reached upper tiers of Reaper society could be described as empathetic, Merril did feel some sympathy for the rank and file Harriers and Barrier controllers; though like the rest of the organization, she largely regarded players as nothing more than a set of skills and statistics, marking them as either potential Reaper material or just another poor soul to be eaten alive by the Noise.
Merril flipped past the rest of the casuality report and turned to the page listing the surviving members who were currently on standy deeper in the Shibuya river. Nibbling on a chocolate drenched wheel, the brown-haired brown-eyed Reaper visually scrolled down the disturbingly short list. It didn't take too long for her to find someone who stood out, as her eyes caught sight of a Harrier by the name of Koki Kariya.
"Hmm, this one has top scores in practically everything: Combat Prowess, Creativity, Willingness to Cooperate, and a stellar erasure record. Why isn't he listed as an officer?"
The Conductor reached over for another donut; only to find that the box had become empty already.
"Huh, I guess they sell you less than a dozen donuts in Japan. Oh well, I'll just take a stroll and pick up some more while I sort the rest of this out."
Merril earmarked the page in the dossier she was on and proceeded to close the book and headed out of the retro Reaper base. As she exited the dark tunnel and entered into the Main part of the Shibuya UG, she opened the book up and resumed reading; afterall, if there wasn't anyone to run into, why should she bother watching where she was going? After spending about ten minutes winding through the crowds who couldn't see her, she managed to find the bakery she had visited earlier; and, after taking a moment to admire the little Reaper decal inscribed on a support beam, opened the glass door and walked inside.
"Hi! Welcome to Heaven's Bakery," a cheerful clerk suddenly sounded off as the Conductor entered. "My name's Kasumi Chokosabe, what can I get for you?"
"Ah. yes, hello," Merril said as she smirked to herself. She always found interacting with regular old humans humerous; for unbeknownst to them, she was a being of great power; someone who could bend the fabric of reality with just a thought- and normal old people had no way of knowing it. "I'll take a dozen donuts- oh, and some sugar cookies as well,"
"Coming right up!" The clerk said as she dashed over to some storage racks and gathered what the customer had requested. Within the time it took Merril to re-open the dossier and find Kariya's stats again, Kasumi had returned with two boxes that each had a tiny pink ribbon tied to the top.
"There you go!" The clerk beamed. "That'll be 500 yen."
Merril smirked to herself again as she removed a pin from her collection and held it behind her back. Within an instant, the pin transformed into a 500 yen coin, which was quickly placed on the service counter as the Conductor placed the baked goods under her dossier and strolled out the door.
"Thank you! And come back again soon!" The storeclerk practically cheered as the door slammed shut.
--------------------------------
Without any further delay, Merril finished combing through the dossier of information the Board of Directors had handed her when she had been selected for the job. Having processed what information the Angels had over some particualy delicous pastries, Merril knew where she would start. She would systematically interview all of the remaining personnel to get a better picture of the situation and possibly help her track down any other members who may have been accomplices. With a look of satisfaction on her sugar smeered face, Merril took out her cellphone and punched the number in for the holding room for the Shibuya survivors.
"Hello. It's Merril Anderson. I would like you to bring me Koki Kariya and his partner Uzuki Yashiro immediately."
Without waiting for a response, Merril closed her phone and reached for one of the remaining sugar cookies. This would be the jumpstart of a much greater career. Success here was sure to mean a Composureship was in her future; and from there, well, there was nowhere to go but up.
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