Captain Alexander: Ace Investigator

Of course, even the recluse that was the Squad 12 Commander had been notified of the current phenomena that had just begun to appear all over the Soul Society. These..."bubbles", for lack of a better term, had begun to affect many people, and thus Alexander felt it was his natural duty to leave his division and find out the source. If he could decipher the reason behind these entities, then a solution would logically follow. Still, it would take some time and observation, and thus the Captain was not about to rush headlong into things.

Taking with him more or less every small invention that he could fit into his person and the rucksack he was carrying on one of his shoulders, he ventured out into the Seiretei to begin his investigation. There were many of these bubbles that he could see all around...may as well just begin with one of them. He couldn't be sure at this point if any of them held more significance over another, not to mention Alexander had already sent out some of his seated members all about the Soul Society to observe and study the phenomena. More data would certainly be necessary to compliment his own personal studies if he were to solve this puzzle.

With that, he flash stepped around until stopping right before the gates of the Seireitei, having randomly selected a bubble to begin his work with. He knelt on one knee and began to empty out his bag, taking out small self contained sleek looking generators to power his more heavy duty equipment. As he did so, Alexander wondered if Lakshmi would arrive to assist him in this problem. He had send a messenger to notify the Healing Captain before the man had left his Division. She was the only other person with a mind similar to his own that he could trust at the moment, so if there was anybody else that could contribute to the solution, he thought, it would be her.

The bubble for its part just sat there unmoving even as Alexander began setting up his instruments. Its glow around the edges fading in and out, it was odd in that it looked like an odd purplish eclipse no matter where you moved to examine it. The glow was never visible directly head on.

Sometimes the glow would fade and other times it would flare up just a bit, wisps of energy falling off and fading away.

In size it was about 6 to 7 feet in diameter, a perfect sphere, and floated almost a foot off of the ground. It did not move, it was not affected by anything around it.

Sometimes, flashes of color would appear across the odd blackness of the Bubble. One would have to watch carefully to see exactly what it was.

There were people milling about, looking shocked but stay far from the bubble. No one seemed to want to get close out of fear of what it was.

Lakshmi arrived rather swiftly, heading for the other Captain and using even shunpo to get there that much more quickly. Her squad was in a bit of chaos, though well manned chaos and it was a state they were used to... Those weird bubble things had popped up, Lakshmi having seen one cluster forming with her own eyes and then left one remaining.

Alexander seemed to wish her help, which the woman was more than willing to lend him a hand. She had her own equipment and all business, she set the metal boxes down. Her icy eyes were more frigid than usual, worried as she examined the weird black and glowing thing. "I am here Alex, let me set up my equipment... I have my squad members studying the ones in the area as much as they can, but we may be needed for other uses soon."

Whatever was happening was not good, this was incredibly bad in fact and she frowned more. Whatever his orders would be, she would take her cues from him.

"Thank you for coming, Lakshmi. I appreciate your assistance. It seems as though this...problem has become commonplace all across the Soul Society. If the combined might of yourself and I cannot figure this out, then perhaps the solution lies within simpler minds." Alexander couldn't help but smile a bit and let out an amused laugh. That would be quite funny the two managed to overthink everything and ignored the obvious because it was too obvious.

"Take your time. I feel as though these 'bubbles' merit prolonged study, so we should not rush into things." The man remarked as he continued to set up his own equipment. Small, sleek database terminals with futuristic looking computers, sensors set up to detect any change in energy, and so on. The man was prepared, to say the least.

Reaching into his shihakusho, he pulled out a small energy detector of sorts and walked a few feet towards the phenomenon to begin to get a better sense of it, his steps exuding a sense of confidence. Your average person would probably run away from such a strange looking thing that just appeared out of nowhere, but Alexander was intrigued. That was either a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on who you asked.

The thing was definitely radiating energy at the moment. What kinds of energy though? Spiritual energy for one, energy Lakshmi might recognize if she was paying attention to it. Good old fashioned pure kinetic energy for another, the air near it was warmer for sure at least. There also might be more energy coming from...other types...

As Alex got closer he would sense something odd in his body, very slightly, if he was one to pay attention to it. Otherwise it may go unnoticed.

If he was staring at it, the flashes of color across the void on it would be getting more frequent.

Lakshmi's equipment was mostly monitoring equipment, medical in use but also useful in other situations she had learned. It did not take long to set up, mostly running on long batteries for use on patients who could move around though a few were rather odd looking. As long as this did not take more than several hours, she would be fine though there were obviously ways to charge them later.

Sending out her spiritual senses for a moment while her machines booted up, she turned to the bubble after only a second had passed in a surprised flurry of hair.

"We should not. Can you sense that?" Using her spiritual energy and senses almost constantly had honed them, Lakshmi had to frown just a bit as she wondered if Alex could feel it. Something about the spiritual energy it was radiating was familiar. Chains of energy leaked from her fingers, slithering as if snakes across the ground and closer to the bubble. "It seems as if I should know something. It is giving off spiritual energy, familiar energy. But what?"

She picked up a clipboard with a notepad on it and began taking copious and details notes about the bubble and the energy. If she was helping Alex, she would be the one to take them He should focus on examinations.

Of course, Alexander picked up on the energies the spherical object was radiating, as he was rather close compared to Lakshmi. He was essentially in arms reach at this point. Spiritual energy, which did not surprise him, but other kinds as well. The warmer air around the object would indicate rapid movement creating friction, thus an aura of heat, and yet, the object was entirely still. Interesting...the man intently stared at the sphere, noting the flashes of color and the increased tempo.

"Yes, this...'bubble', for lack of a better term, seems to house quite a few secrets. The reishi it is emitting, I sense a familiarity with it as well..." He paused a bit, extending a hand out to see if the bubble changed its behaviors depending on physical proximity. His hand was hovering almost right over it, but never touching. Worst case scenario, it would destroy his hand, but the Medical Captain was but 10 feet away. It was not an issue to the scientist. Still, he could sense his new friend Mia's energy from the object...another's as well, and in the vaguest sense, what felt like Masaru's as well...surely, Lakshmi could tell by now just the same as he had.

"Based on a preliminary analysis, my first thought would be that this sphere is a trap of sorts, having ensared multiple people. I can sense Lieutenant Nezo's energy, as well as Shirakawa's. There is another as well...what are your thoughts, Lakshmi?" He asked, his intense stare still directed at the bubble. Before attempting any tests on the phenomena, he wanted to hear what his companion in the matter had to say.

Lakshmi would easily recognize all energies leaking from the bubble. Mia, Kaimu's and even the faintest wisp of Masaru's. There were two other energies seeping out but that was impossible to make out for now, they were even fainter than Masaru's.

Lakshmi's spiritual chains would start to fade, the energy being pulled in and leeched as they got closer.

Alex, you would start to feel it sucking in minor amounts of your energy as well, though the odd feeling in your body would get stronger the closer you got to it. It wasn't apparent what was causing it though.

Alex's hand would be fine, the bubble unmoving and unaffected by his close proximity, though if he tried to touch it it would feel almost as if it was solid energy pushing him back, there was no real defined edge . As he stared at it though an image of a man with red hair and mismatched eyes handing a flower to a little girl would appear before floated back into the void.

Lakshmi listened and noted Alexander's words, even if they seemed innocuous as well as writing down her obvious observations. The other Captain trusted her skills quite a bit if he was getting that close to it, her eyes taking in what was happening with ease as she wrote it down as well. Nothing happened to his hand at all, so she went back to checking the machines around them and noting exact readings for him.

"It is taking my energy into it... Are you feeling a draining? Familiar... Wait, you are right. That is Mia's energy... And Kai's!" Lakshmi's skin tone turned ashen, the clipboard gripped tightly as her spiritual chains faded. She took a deep breath, calming herself as her worry began to grow. "You are saying they are... trapped inside of there? But Masaru's is much fainter. Do you think he is trapped as well? It would not seem so, since the energy output is much different compared. Also do you sense those others? Who else..."

"It does seem like a trap, but it has already sprung if it was since it is not pulling either of us in other than our spiritual energy." Her panic was pushed down though she was moving closer steadily, unable to help it in her worry. Closing her eyes for a moment, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone. "Only one way to find out, I will call the three of them and see who answers."

Neither Mia nor Kaimu's call went through, Lakshmi having closed the distance to the bubble and was now half what she had been before. She stared at the phone oddly. "I can't even get a signal! It's as if their phones don't exist. These should be able to answer even across dimensions."

What could be blocking transdimensional phone calls?

Feeling his energy being sapped from the object, the Captain reflexively took a step or two back. Not before he caught a glimpse of what looked like a man and a little girl inside of the sphere...Hmm...

He turned his head towards Lakshmi and nodded slightly, waiting as she attempted to contact the three who seemed to be trapped inside of the bubble. No response, not surprising. She seemed rather worried though, her tone telling him that much, so the man walked over and reassuringly placed a hand on one of her shoulders.

"It isn't like you to give into worry so easily." He teased a bit, trying to make the woman smile a bit to ease the tension she was feeling. To Alexander, the situation was a bit different. He had already made it his personal duty to liberate those ensnared, so to him freedom was an eventuality rather than a possibility. His mind had not failed him yet, and thus he would not fail those around him.

"No doubt there are others trapped in the multitude of these spheres that have sprung up across our dimension...it seems as though these bubbles are on a plane of their own, unable to be breeched by any normal outside influence...By the way, do you know a man with red hair? Is that this 'Kai' you mentioned?" He asked. He had an inkling of who the small girl was, but it was had to confirm anything on intuition alone.

Lakshmi would be able to call Masaru, as he is not currently in a bubble and the bubbles do not cause disruptions in communications outside of those stuck in.

Lakshmi would feel a much stronger oddity in her body than Alex, almost like a pain the closer she got to it radiating from her stomach out. If she got closer, there'd be more obvious effects.

Alex would feel obviously lessening of the pull of energy as well as the odd feeling in his body fading the further from it he got.

Lakshmi attempted to call Masaru finally while ignoring the odd feeling in her body, her phone at least starting to ring as she watched Alexander step away from the bubble. It seemed as if he had noticed something but she stayed quiet as the phone rang and rang before it picked up on his answering message.

The worried woman just hung up and took a deep breath as Alexander's hand settled on her shoulder. She reached up and patted it reassuringly, for herself more than anything, before giving a tight nod. She did attempt a smile, the teasing helping just a bit but it came out as more a grimace than anything else. "I will try harder then. At least Masaru's phone rang, the other two's were not even picking up."

Listening to his description and thoughts, Lakshmi hmmed briefly to herself as she attempted to push her focus entirely onto figuring out the bubbles. "A plane of their own? Speaking of the bubble, do you feel anything odd with your body? I feel a sort of pain in my stomach... Red hair, yes. Kaimu has dark red hair and heterochromatic eyes, actually. Why? Did you see him?!"

Her eyes wide with worry or hope, she startled at the implication and looked up at Alex. "Is he okay? Was Mia with him?"

The shaking of her body was obvious, she was held back by that hand on her shoulder though from running straight up to the bubble.

"Yes, I saw the man." He paused. "I'm afraid not...unless..." Alexander became lost in thought. Could it be possible that the little girl he had seen was Mia? If so, either she had become trapped in a temporal vortex and reverted back to a child, or...perhaps a memory of time? Did these bubbles house moments from the past? If so...what about the future. Many questions arose at this line of thought...the man was determined to explore as many as possible.

Turning his attention back towards his compatriot, he nodded slightly. "I believe these spheres are completely independent, housing their own areas of temporal existence separate from the one we are on right now." He paused, motioning his head slightly towards Lakshmi to move away so she was not harmed.

"I can feel an odd energy, but not any pain...if you do, you should move back a bit. It may affect males and females differently. Occam's razor." He paused to grin just a tiny bit. Their minds were busy trying to figure out grand reasoning behind these things that ignoring the simplest solutions to things was almost automatic behavior.

"Unless? So you did see him..." Lakshmi questioned softly but not insistently, Alex would explain when he felt he had more information despite her impatience. Besides it was also up to her to be figuring things out and she began examining the data to find correlations in the readings her squad members were sending her while Alex thought.

His next words caused a jolt to run through her and look up. Impossible almost played on her lips but well...it wasn't. "That does make some sense. Then Mia and Kai are stuck in some sort of temporal sphere... But what caused it? And why? There are more than one, it almost seems like some sort of odd epidemic..."

"We should be examining the other realms! Are they cropping up there as well? If so it would be more like a pandemic. Rukon as well, I'll contact the other squads and see where they are all located. If Masaru can be reached we can have him examining the living realm as well." Excitement pushed away her fear, they might be onto something from her slip of the tongue! It almost moved her closer to the bubble but that insistent pain kept her from getting closer.

"I will move back... Can you tell what kind of oddness perhaps? Any details might help." The simplest solution was usually the best and Lakshmi began backing away from the odd bubble sphere, her blue eyes glancing between Alex and the thing that had popped up.

"If you notice any changes or begin to feel pain, inform me and please back away as well. It might be emitting odd sorts of temporal radiation we can not pick up." Lakshmi's footsteps sped up backwards as she realized that, unsure of how it would effect her now that she thought of it.

"This sphere seems to draw in the energies of those nearby. I felt it pulling at my own the closer I approached it." The man remarked. "From what I've heard, this is happening all over. I have sent some of my men to check things out, but Shirakawa should be notified." He nodded, and mused silently to himself for a moment. It was clear Alexander was a bit lost in thought, many conjectures and theories swirling in his head. After a moment, he had realized something.

In a swift scooping motion, he leaned over and picked up a small rock, and then simply tossed it at the sphere. He had been so pre-occupied with advanced stages of thinking that he had ignored something obvious; What would happen if physical contact was made with the bubble? Would it simply pass through or reject the object and send it flying back towards him? Well, it was a better idea to test this on an object that wasn't his own body, as he had thought about touching it himself...

At any rate, such information would certainly help his investigation, for if he knew at least some of the properties of this puzzle, he would make a step closer towards solving it.

Alexander and Lakshmi would begin to see other images passing across the bubble, slower and more easily seen. Mia with a young man who greatly resembled Masaru, though looking in his late teens. Kaimu with a child that rather resembled Mia, reading her a story in a room... Mia with a man who resembled Kaimu, looking upset... Even the images themselves were out of order, though Alex and Lakshmi wouldn't know this.

Notifying and getting a hold of Shirakawa (So as to not get like three posterss involved just yet) would give the pair information about the ones that had formed in the human world. Easily gotten information would include they were more prevalent there, the human world governments are panicking and freaking out... The rather 'secret spirit type' organizations also freaking out. However the earliest known bubble case in the human world report would actually predate any found in the Soul Society by a good half hour to an hour. It also seemed to have more of a pattern than one would find in the Soul Society's bubbles. The farther south, the more chaos there seemed to be as more bubbles were formed. Australia, South America and Africa were hit the hardest...

(Just to make it so there is less posting for me in between and you two can just discuss this)

The tossed rock would freeze in place as it was thrown, the energy being sucked in from the pair shifting however after a few moments as energy poured out of it in equal measure now and tossing the rock back. It seemed the bubble was not stable, fluctuating between sucking in and pouring out...

"I will do so immediately." Lakshmi turned away from Alexander as a few members of her squad rushed up, awaiting orders. She sent them on their way after receiving their hurried information on the state of the Seireitei.

It wasn't vital for her to return just yet and she could get all the information needed from Masaru and others for Alex, condense down what he'd need and keep it all organized for him.

Calling Masaru left her head swirling with all the information that he had gotten from preliminary and secondary reports. The man had been worried but she reassured him and lied through her teeth about Mia so he wouldn't come rushing. He had a vital and important job and she wouldn't allow him to lose his cool.

Lakshmi turned around to see more of those images, this time herself, and she froze for a moment with her hand on the notes she had taken. Her glance at Alexander was filled with questions and curiosity, but she just stuffed them away for the moment. "I-I think you are right. These are definitely some sort of odd phenomenon that is temporal in nature. Have you noticed anything else? I have the information from Masaru now. Human world seems to have some sort of pattern for them, while it seems the Seireitei lacks such. I have sent off runners for the Division Three Captains' reports as well on the Rukon, or if they are unavailable ones from their members."

"The human world also seems to have formed them first. Do you think the source, if there is one, was there? Or is it a red herring... But how? Was there one victim and this spread?" Lakshmi was musing to herself at this point, treating it somewhat like a virus though that was to be expected as she was a doctor. It was in her nature to think like this.