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[godsoffortune]

Posted: 23 Mar 2016 12:00
From: Amaterasu

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It has come to my attention that recently there was a very large misunderstanding that resulted in quite a few Near Shore deaths and a number of gods and shinki being attacked by ayakashi. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of the entirety of the Heavens for this grave mistake.

Unfortunately, there appears to have been a mix-up while delivering the chocolates and it seems that they became tainted in the process. We are currently uncertain as to whether this was the active working of someone against the Heavens or if it was simply an accident. Either way, a mistake was made and many people paid the consequences for it.

We assure you all that every effort to track down the culprits is being made and all security measures will be increased drastically from here on out to prevent any future incidents like this one.

Please feel free to direct any questions or concerns to this thread and they will be dealt with in a timely manner.

Thank you.

☼ Amaterasu ☼

Comments

[subtract]

This seems like a rather large breach in security. What was the screening process before this "drastic increase" that will be put in place?

[godsoffortune]

To be perfectly honest with you, there was not much in the way of screening before this incident. I trust all of my shinki implicitly and so do many other gods. However, it appears that our trust was unfounded and we must now doubt our own. It is a messy situation, but we are doing our best to rectify it.

☼ Amaterasu ☼

[subtract]

I'd certainly hope you are.

If I might follow up on a response you made to Hakkai... you said the chocolates that were given out are the same ones that you received, so you believe the tampering was done between receiving and delivering the chocolates. However, I find that quite suspect. I did a bit of digging as well after the incident. All of the chocolates were produced by the same company, a "Fujisaki Confectioneries", but this company does not appear to exist. I wasn't able to find any information whatsoever on it. Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it's such a small company that it completely lacks public presence, isn't it odd that they'd have such a large surplus of goods?

How did the Heavens receive these chocolates? If they were delivered or found by someone, that would be the best place to start. Also, do the Heavens have any enemies? The ayakashi that I've seen don't appear to have a high enough intelligence to coordinate an attack like this, unless there are higher classes of ayakashi who could.

[godsoffortune]

I am very sad to say that I had no actual hand in selecting the chocolates in any way, so I'm uncertain of the manufacturer or how the chocolates came into our possession, only that it was through means that I thought very safe and satisfactory. It seemed strange that they would have so much leftover chocolate, but stranger things have been known to happen, so it did not concern me at the time.

Certainly we have enemies, all beings do, so we will certainly be checking into those sources to begin with. Thank you for your intelligent suggestions, Add, we appreciate your time and concern.

☼ Amaterasu ☼

[subtract]

While I can't say I surveyed all of the chocolates that were given out, all of the samples I obtained and observed from others were of that same brand. It seems likely to me that the fake company was used as a cover to slip the chocolates into the Heavens as well as make it more difficult to trace them back to any one distributor. It's still possible that the goods were tainted between receiving and delivering, but it would be easiest to make such a trap in advance, or at least set up preparations for them to be tainted in advance.

Were any of the uneaten chocolates recovered from the incident? Perhaps the manner in which the ayakashi were inserted could provide some clues as to who might have caused this. [If only he hadn't left all of his behind when Roxas dropped him off at their temple, ugh.]

[returnedfromtheline]

If it helps you, I was able to recover a fair amount of chocolates, most unopened but some ...used.

They are still at Suzugamori-sama's home, I believe.

[subtract]

Unopened or "used", having samples from both the before and after is always useful. Perhaps there could even be different traces left depending on if the chocolate was consumed by a Near or Far Shore resident? [The reactions were slightly different, after all...]

It looks like the person you spoke of has already responded as well. Your cooperation is appreciated, kuku.

[returnedfromtheline]

No problem.
It sounds like you have a lot of good ideas about it. I hope you're able to research further into it.

(By the way, I'm Yukine [not 'kuku'.])

A minute later...

[returnedfromtheline]

Or, that's how you write your laugh, right?

Never mind about that part then.

[He'll agree with the others that it's (more than) a bit weird, but that's par for the course for these new gods and shinki...]

[subtract]

[... he's not even going to comment. Why does everyone fixate on that?! He's seen other people type was stupider things before, like those symbol-face things and whatever LOL means, but they always pick out his laugh instead??]

I will research it further. If you find out anything else that could be useful, let me know.

[shadowrevenger]

[oh hey, he saw his name get dropped.]

yep~ i still have a bunch of them! (*＾▽‘) 乃

if you or amaterasu-san think you can learn anything from them, i don't mind handing some of them over. they're just going to sit there otherwise.

[subtract]

How very convenient. Although, if they were "just going to sit there otherwise", why did you feel the need to collect them in the first place I wonder?

[Not that he's too suspicious of it, but surely he'd have a reason for doing something like that...]

[shadowrevenger]

oh i didn't collect most of them i just had somewhere to put them. but they were going to hurt people if we didn't, right?

but then i wasn't sure what else to do with them so i just put them in a room and shut the door. ╮(╯-╰”)╭

[to be honest, he'd very nearly forgotten he had them until now.]

[subtract]

Considering each of those chocolates houses a dangerous ayakashi, I don't think an ordinary door is what I'd consider adequate security.

How do we know for sure whatever enchantment trapped them in there doesn't have an expiration date? For all you know, that room full of chocolates is just a ticking time bomb of ayakashi that could escape and swarm you at any moment.

[shadowrevenger]

that's true, but if that's the case, would anywhere else really be a better place for them? they would just swarm someone else instead of me. anyway i think i'd have some warning if that happened and i could let everyone know so we could all take care of them.

where would you put them?

[subtract]

It's not just about the location, it's how the materials are treated. You should guard them more carefully and keep track of them so that you're able to respond quickly if something is out of place. If you're paying so little attention to them that you forget they were even there, that's a potential disaster.

More importantly, I plan to actually make use out of them. If they're only taking up space in your temple, I'll take them off your hands.

[shadowrevenger]

i said i don't mind giving some of them to you (¬_¬) just let me know when you want to come get them.

if they're going to cause problems, they're going to do it whether i'm guarding them vigilantly or not, and i really do think that i'd have some warning. besides, how do you know the enchantment won't expire while you're examining them? or maybe even because of examining them. maybe whoever is responsible made it so they'll self-destruct or the enchantment will if anyone tries tampering with them but leaving them alone is fine. or maybe the enchantment was only for that day and they're completely harmless now.

there are a lot of what ifs and i appreciate that you're concerned but i'm really not worried about being able to deal with them if we need to.

[subtract]

Any time is fine, just tell me where your temple is.

It's not about whether something will go wrong or not or what could cause the enchantment to break, it's the difference between ignoring a potential danger without any plans to dispose of it and actively working on it to understand it's capabilities. Even if something goes wrong during an experiment, there's still something valuable to be learned from the results. If something goes wrong and you're not actively keeping tabs on it then you can't make any solid conclusions without knowing the circumstances.

Anyway, none of that really matters. It's obvious to me that you have no interest in performing any proper testing, and that's fine with me. Whatever goes on in your temple is hardly my business. I can handle this task myself.

[shadowrevenger]

that true. that kind of thing has never been my strong suit. i always had other people doing that for me.

[And here are the directions to his temple, because he's totally fine with that being the case here too.]

[godsoffortune]

That certainly might be the case. And I can safely say that the Heavens are not well aware of every company that exists on the Near Shore. There are many and so many of them have nothing to do with us whatsoever. We will look thoroughly into where these chocolates may have actually come from.

It seems that your question has already been answered as well.

☼ Amaterasu ☼

[subtract]

That would appear to be the case, but you didn't address the underlying purpose behind the question. Does the Heavens have a research department that would normally handle this type of lab work? If it's something you have your own department for, shouldn't you be confiscating those chocolates for yourselves? Or is research into the ayakashi not something the Heavens is interested in? Surely you'd want to know more about your enemies and how to best deal with them, as well as how to prevent another incident like this in the future.

[godsoffortune]

I'm not sure I understand the question, Add. Things like this would not be considered 'lab work', as you seem to think of the term. Instead, it requires a god to be particularly attuned to the world around them and the things that can alter states of being.

We have our own small supply of the chocolates. If others wish to investigate as well, they are more than welcome to do so with whatever is left over.

☼ Amaterasu ☼

[subtract]

If you've been testing these things with methods like "being particularly attuned to the world", it doesn't sound like they've been very effective. Any form of energy or substance can be quantified in a scientific manner. Just because you have one way of naturally detecting ayakashi doesn't mean it's the most effective method, especially if it relies on something as vague as "attunement".

Very well. I find the subject interesting, so I'll look into it myself. Your information has been most helpful.

[godsoffortune]

I'm sorry that our methods are not satisfying to you, Add, but they are the methods that are most likely to yield results. But if you do happen to find anything on your own, then I would gladly listen to whatever information you can give us regarding this incident.

☼ Amaterasu ☼