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Otto was taking a break from building his training course. Cami had asked that they all stay on the island for at least a few days. Time apart had been difficult, and he didn't mind being away from his specialization work for a bit. The island was familiar, whereas the Canadian Wilderness was new and often exhausting and lonely.

But there was something unsettling about the island. There were so many questions left unanswered. Too often was he blindsided by events that exploded around him. A curiosity nagged at his mind while he tried to sleep. Threats of nightmares kept him from relaxing, and curiosities of 'what ifs' kept his mind too busy. How? What? Why? When? He was always asking questions to himself, and never getting any enlightenment.

So then what could he do? He had too many problems that needed solving, and nobody to turn to. No one who would, or could, help him.

The Key. Death. The tattoo. His dreams.

Right, his dreams. Recently, Clarice had been in one of them. She'd said something that stuck with him. Something about work uncompleted, and a door that needed to be opened. But was she rambling? A victim of her own ambition? She'd also spoken about not needing to be human to love or do good. Idealistic. A little bit odd. He'd had reservations about the morality and methods of dealing with Halloween, sure. Was that all she meant? Maybe Otto was thinking too deeply into it.

What the Hell was she talking about?

Well, Otto wasn't getting much sleep anytime soon. He might as well try and do a little bit of sleuthing, right?

He got dressed and headed out to gather some information. He was a full hunter, sure; but he was also a Sun. No longer Death, even if by nature he leaned towards intel rather than brute force. What business did he have snooping through confidential files? Where would he even begin? Library? H's office? Clarice's...

He walked through the silent Main Hall, where only late nighters or night shift hunters wandered. He felt like he was doing something wrong just thinking about doing this. Despite some minor offences, his behaviour record was fairly clean. But he was getting ahead of himself. All he was doing was checking if there was any record of Clarice's work. Maybe it was all on public record anyway!

So he tried the library first, searching glossaries and directories for where past experiments and research from the Life Department would be. If it would be anywhere. Failing that, there was always the Life Labs themselves.

Start small, and work your way up, Otto. He told himself. Can't leap up onto roof tops without a ladder.

The only thing that worried Otto about this, was if her office was locked. He assumed not. Maybe the new Life Division Assistant used it, or maybe it was left the way she left it. He wouldn't know until he tried.

Otto walked the length of the building enough to find himself in front of Clarice's office. Knowledge that her garage was also there made him think of the motorcycle Clerise had left him. Had the two of them made it together? Why waste such a gift on a guy who'd never driven a two wheeled vehicle before?Hell, he'd only learned to drive a month or so ago, thanks to Ripley.

He tested the door to the main office to let himself inside, intent on looking for something obvious, like a filing cabinet.

Empty. It was odd seeing it like this. One of those moments of 'she's really gone' hit him, despite her death having happened long ago, it seemed.

Otto stepped inside to find the cabinets locked. Of course it wouldn't be so easy. But was he willing to go so far as to break into a dead woman's confidential papers to sate his own curiosity? Was it really, truly that important? What right did he have, anyway?

He was considering just leaving, before he saw the note. It was late. Past midnight. Would the assistant be awake at all? One way to find out.

Otto dialed the number written, and awaited a response. The worst they could say was no. Or nothing at all, if they were asleep.

Otto winced, feeling a bit like a jerk for waking the poor guy.

"Uh, Hi. Sorry if I woke you. I was wonderin' if there were any records of past projects done by Life assistants.." He cut to the chase as soon as he could, rather than string long a guy catching some shuddeye.

"Specifically Clarice's work, if that helps narrow it down.." He was afraid to find what kind of horrific undertakings other assistants had overseen.

Otto felt sheepish. His reply, however, was deadpan. "The voices in my head told me to." How did the voice know he was a Sun?

He wearily eyed the room for cameras.

Otto grimaced and ruffled the back of his head. How was he going to get those folders? Ultimately, it didn't matter if he didn't. It was more a fear of raising red flags on him that worried him. But hey, he was innocently looking up innocent information on..... Whatever, he was snooping. Plain old snooping. Cause a dream vaguely told him to.

"Uh, sure. A joke." He responded, his eyes shifting nervously. He still needed to give the man a valid reason for needing this info, though. "I got an anonymous hint that something about her work was left unfinished. It seemed important." He wasn't lying. It was none of his business, but he wasn't lying.

"Why? Is it like, top secret or something?" He asked accusingly, shifting his weight to carry a more confident posture.

"Uh... no?" Otto answered stupidly, scratching his head. There had been snippets from the great Tear that he'd seen. But he couldn't be sure that it had been Clarice, or if it had even been anyone he knew. Visions were odd, sketchy and not always true. But Clarice died immediately after it had happened. It had to account for something.

"I mean, not exactly.." He bit his lip. That dream had to have happened for a reason. Even if it was just his subconscious telling him he was desperate to be needed for something amazing, him and him alone. Why would he dream of Clarice, of all people, otherwise?

"She wanted me to finish something she started. But I don't know what that means. So I assumed it meant a project, or experiment or something."

Otto scrunched his nose. Well that was just rude, he thought. What was so wrong about a little curiosity? It wasn't as if following the rules and keeping silent had done him any good... aside from staying alive. Couldn't be proactive? Curious? Even if it wasn't really his business.... Otto liked asking questions. He was sick of keeping all his questions inside.

<Dream Girls, and focusing on all the cool things your Division Lead is letting you do? Hm? Remember?>> Tenya sassed, trying to keep him from more behaviour that put him at risk. More behaviour that would make their bond even weaker. <>

"It's not the same.." Otto muttered, leaving the office. "I hate just blindly following what the Universe tosses in front of me." He wouldn't be furniture. He'd lead his own way, somehow.

So sure enough, Otto waited at the bar. His cell was at the ready to call that number again should Mr. Rude Phone Dude Who Thinks He Knows Everything And Talks s**t About Someone Just Wanting To Follow A Good Lead...DUDE... not show up. He sat with his tall glass of coke, and waited impatiently.

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