Tokyo Girl

[Rezantis]

"Are you offering me cookies, or any similar sugary baked goods?"

[Carthrat]

"No! There are no cookies to be had, and no cookies to be found!

"Besides, I don't like cookies much. If I get one of those subway deals, you can have mine."

[Rezantis]

"Then unless you have cookies to offer, you have no place in this discussion.  Fetch some before bothering me again, peon."

[Carthrat]

"-you're the one who bothered ME! There is no justice anymore..."

[Rezantis]

"You started it."

[Carthrat]

"NO YOU!!!"

[Rezantis]

"You don't have cookies, so I have no obligation to continue this infantile debate."

Nathan looks out the window!

[Brian]

The car houses the debate comfortably; it's a huge stretch limo, and after the cookie talk begins to wear, Mark does find a cache of drinks.  He takes a pocari sweat for himself; Tetsuo pointedly takes nothing, not trusting it.

Outside, the landscape slides past unobtrusively.  It's late afternoon, almost evening at this point, and the car is not heading to any point within a city.  You're enjoying the Japanese countryside, though the few mansions you pass are quite palatial, so if this is any kind of 'neighborhood' (unlikely, given the miles between houses), it's a very rich one.  The driver says nothing -- the barrier is rolled up and presumably he can't hear anyone speaking.  Nathan has been unable to find any cookies with the drink cache -- the gods must be angry.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn leans forward to tap politely on the divider.

[Rezantis]

Uncultured bastards.

There's not really anything to talk about except varied and various pieces of witless banter, so Nathan's just watching the countryside until they arrive - or something interesting happens.  Maybe a fire.

[Brian]

The window slides smoothly down, about the same time that the vehicle pulls to one side, passing through a large pair of wrought-iron gates to enter a driveway along a (huge) mown lawn.  Beside the gates are very high walls, and in the distance is a house.  At least, there is presumably a house, there.  Ahead is a hill covered with trees, and the driveway (if it's not really just a long private road, here) leads up that way.

"Yes, Sir?" the driver asks without looking back, in perfectly accented English.

[Bjorn]

"This is it, then?"

[Brian]

"Yes, Sir."  The vehicle rolls smoothly up the hill through the trees, and then to a more proper parking area in front of the house.  There's a big circle before the building, and the driver stops before the doors.  They're large, double, and appear to be oak.  The building is a very Western looking mansion of four stories.

Aside from the driver, who tries to open the car doors for everyone, no one is in sight.

[Rezantis]

Nathan steps out of the car, but waits for everyone to get out before doing anything else - if the driver goes to open the door into the mansion, good.  If he doesn't, Nathan will.

[Brian]

The driver remains by the car, and seems content to stand there impassively, staring blankly forward without blinking or looking at anything specific.  His arms hang at his sides in a non-threatening manner.

After admiring the still, quiet, oddly serene scenery for a moment, Nathan goes to open the door.  It opens at his touch without resistance for all of its side -- in fact, it seems to be on some kind of silent motor.  When one door is unlatched and pushed open, both doors swing inward.

The first room of the mansion appears to go all the way up to the eaves -- the large windows let in an awful lot of light.  It appears to be a foyer -- very western, with plush carpeting, a few tables sporting expensive looking vases, tiny statues, and various other pricey nicknacks.  Doors lead to either side and further in, and a massive staircase occupies most of the central space leading up to the second floor, where another pair of double-doors stand.

Waiting at the foot of the stairs is a woman with red hair and a nice figure, squeezed somehow into a mock-up of the classic french maid's uniform.  A mock-up, because it would be more appropriate for an adult film than anything practical.  She tilts her head slightly to one side at seeing Nathan and the others and says (in equally unaccented English), "The master will be with you shortly.  Can I bring you any refreshments?"