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"Oh well.." Oliver really didn't want the subject to turn on him, but it couldn't be helped, "Actually..I prefer the company of men. But either way, I don't have time for a relationship really. And I'm not the best looking guy around. Supposed if I cleaned myself up and actually got some sleep, maybe.."

He laughed awkwardly, but now his mind was on the subject of sleep. Oliver had recently visited his doctor who claimed he needed to be getting more sleep, though his work hours didn't really allow it. But he was told to ask for more time off, since he was the one who offered to take the extra hours in the first place. God, he needed a social life.

"I kinda like living alone and whatnot anyway. Its...peaceful."

"Really? I've learned that's never stopped guys. Trust me, there's nothing wrong with a but of scruff." Kas gave him a firm nod, leaning back a little.

"But if you wanna put that little extra in, remember. It's the chase that counts. Even if you don't get a catch, you'll at least feel a bit more confident. I know how it is to be overworked, tired and dirty, if you'd believe that." she tugged on her hair for a moment "I had to keep this thing at dyke-levels of short due to that."

His words about living alone struck her strangely close to home. Oh those wonderous days of living alone in the mountains. Nothing but sweet, sweet meditation.

"Hey , see? We're talking fine, aren't we? That's all you really need these days. People feel at ease. At least, the decent ones do." she tapped her index fingers together, glancing him over carefully.

"You said you like mythology too...old traditions, beliefs, the supernatural...do you believe in Karma?" she spoke softly about this, trying to hold back a little bit of dismay. If only he knew what he was talking to.

"Karma? I don't know, really. I haven't thought about it too much. Suppose I do, though I never really thought of it as..Karma. I just thought of it as what goes around comes around I guess." Oliver chuckles, "Suppose I don't really have the best karma though."

The last sentence was him slightly hinting to the job he was currently holding. He supposed he didn't mind the job anymore, but the occasional feeling of guilt would appear. Though he did his best not to think about it, or the fact that he was basically a mindless zombie, doing whatever he was told for the city. God, he felt stupid sometimes, and desperately wanted to quit, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He wasn't even sure why exactly he didn't leave, maybe...he was afraid. But also leaving would be allowing what was happening to keep happening which wouldn't do much good. Rebellion? Probably pointless.

"Why do you ask?"

"There's an old story. Pretty classic one. A superstitious man kills his wife out of paranoia and he's a firm believer of karma. So fearing retribution, he locks himself in his own home, not even daring to eat or drink as he feared the universe's tendancy for 'what goes around comes around' might end up choking him to death for his actions." Kas had a tendency for stories. After all, it was her job to collect them.

"So, two weeks later they found him dead in his own home. Starved to death. All because he was afraid of karma. Sometimes what goes around doesn't come around. Consequences be damned, or you'll end up wasting away." she fluttered her fingers demonstratively, before she would rest her arms against her chair's armrests.

"So, the long story short is that fear will trap you in one place until your own anxiety to resist your perceived facts caves your skull in and leaves you a cropper. Soooo...be brave." she seemed to trail off for a moment, before reaching into her trouser pocket. Pulling out what seemed to be a little notebook, though her finger was obscuring it's name.

"Seriously, I'm curious where I read that one. Wow...I'm nerding out here."

Oliver turned to look at her as she spoke, now interested. He smiled when she had finished and turned back around. She was...odd to him. But he liked that she felt different, years of doing the same thing will leave you wanting a bit of change.

"I'll remember that one, I suppose.." Oliver leaned back in his chair, "You surprise me for someone in their mid-twenties."

"And you surprise me for someone that shaggy. I guess we can't judge eachother on appearances anymore. Drat. "she winked at him , ever so slyly.

When she had to make a point, she made sure to do it in a way that was memorable. Easier for others to remember them that way, after all. Less of a problem when it's something catchy. Now she found herself a bit more at ease , since he seemed to appreciate her words of wisdom. It was rarer then many people thought.

"You could say I'm more then meets the eye, eh?"

"Definitely. You're not what I thought you'd be." Oliver shook his head and looked back to the monitor. "You're not like most girls I've met, anyway. Or men for that matter, but that may be because I'm not the most social person out there..."

He trailed off a bit, eyes locked on the screen. All was pretty quiet, the park was empty but for a couple walking together. Which wasn't a good thing necessarily, there was a better chance of something happening while the park was empty. In fact something happened almost every time the park was nearly empty, which made Oliver anxious.

"Really? Shame you consider yourself that, you're really an interesting guy. You're making this a good first day. I can't imagine it can get any better then this." Kas followed his gaze, eyes scanning the screens carefully.

He was staring again, and she could tell he was anxious. Something was absolutely wrong and it was making her uncomfortable. She tried to hold back an uncomfortable grunt as she would adjust her seating, now staring at the monitor herself. What was it that was making him so bothered? He looked almost scared of what was about to happen. Whatever this was, it had to be something serious.

Oliver was focused on the couple on the top screen, the only ones in park. He paid the most attention to the girl, who was now speaking although you wouldn't be able to tell what she was saying, you only knew because she was facing the direction of the camera. Then after a moment she was dragging her boyfriend off to a more secluded part of the park which made Oliver groan in either agony or annoyance. He then switched his gaze according to where they seemed to be heading and waiting for them to come into view.

Once the two seemed to be alone, they as expected began making out as a young couple would. You could see the back of the male's body and the female was for the most part out of site. Everything seemed fine for the moment, until the male took a step back and you could see the female's body fall to the ground on her side. Her lower abdomen seemed to be covered in blood, but any wounds she currently had were covered by her clothing. The male turned to run, revealing a bit of what had done the job. Though you couldn't actually tell what it is, but it definitely wasn't human although it seemed to...have human-like features at least. The structure was alike to a persons but the limbs were a bit bent in a way and the facial features of the creature were far from human, it seemed to have a mouth, nose and eyes just like anything else. Anything further than that was rather indescribable.

The man fortunately did not escape, well, it was fortunate for the city at least, they could have somebody going around telling people about this. And even if they didn't believe him, it'd still be dangerous. It also probably would of cost Oliver his job whether it was his fault or not. Oliver himself didn't seem phased by this, half way through the whole thing he rolled his chair over to a phone that was connected on the wall and dialed. Whatever was on the screen he wasn't aware of though he had a good idea. After a moment of just listening to someone speak to him on the phone he rolled back over to the screen.

"Its eating them. Probably wont be much left to clean up after anyway. Makes your job easier."

Kas quieted down as she noticed Oliver's stare. She observed this ever-so-legendary event that he'd been going on about, and now she truelly saw what he meant. Possibly the first thing that might seem off afterwords was the fact Kasumi didn't seem initially shocked. In fact, she seemed almost curious as to what it was, even squinting her eyes and leaning forward as if to try judging what it was.

Oh, the remorse was there. It was still something taking people's lives, but she wasn't planning on working at it just yet. That could wait. Instead she simply shook her head, peering over at Oliver with a dumbfounded look.

"I'm guessing my job isn't to eat what's left of them." she gave what sounded like an annoyed sigh, more like someone resigning themselves to their fate "So, what exactly is my job here at Black Mesa?"

There she was, making jokes in light of the situation. Not the best for hiding suspicion. In a way she understood why he wasn't phased by all of this. Watch this sort of thing long enough and anyone would be a little bit...detatched.

Oliver pulled the phone away from his face for a moment and raised his eyebrows.

"You are a weird girl " he shook his head and began talking on the phone again. It was mostly sarcastic comments and eye rolling until he hung up the phone. Those people were ridiculous.

"Well okay you took that well which is good. I mean I took it terribly the first time I mean I was...nevermind. Your job is basically to keep watch and let them know when stuff happens. And to shut up."

But he didn't mention how you had to deal with guilt and anxiety slowly eating at you until you decide you'd rather be dead. Whatever though, that was for another time. Or maybe never.

"And uh before you ask, no I don't really know what's going on or anything I'm just kinda doing what I'm told. Fun right?" Oliver sighed in annoyance and rolled back to the screen. "Beats working in a cubicle I guess."

"OH, I do believe this is something I'd rather keep to myself...I mean with all the wierd crap going on these days this seems tame in comparison." Kas trailed off, peering about for a moment.

The temptation came to blow her cover. Whatever this was, she wasn't going to just sit down and do her job. If this was another supernatural creature causing havoc, it was her duty to study it up close. After all, one can never be too sure what they'll find when they deal with these sorts of things.

No, this was now turning into a real investigation. Time to slow down the masquerade and start with working her magic. Literally.

Satörí - or roughly translated 'Consciousness' - was an ability she was often revolted to use. Invading the mind is a nasty trick, even for her , and not exactly the easiest thing to pass on as 'normal' when someone suddenly finds themselves thinking louder then normal as their minds are being read right back to them. As was often the case with mind-reading, it was also unsafe. She tended to go into trances. But...no use just sitting there.

For a moment, Kas seemed to look away towards the nearby wall for a few moments, going silent. Should Oliver go quiet again, she'd attempt to focus on him, trying to probe his mind for any ongoing thoughts, useless or not. Sometimes the unconcious mind supresses things. He may have gotten a good look at this thing sometime.

Oliver was indeed silent, but only because he was now feeling a bit akwkward. She seemed oddly calm and in all honesty it was putting him off. This whole job put him off, stressed him beyond belief. But he knew if he tried to leave he'd probably be dead.

That thought lingered in his mind for a bit, remembering some of the people before him. The first guy he worked with had been here longer than he had, but according to some higher ups he had retired. He believed that for a while, for a whole 6 years until Reggie planned on quitting to go work as an aspiring artist, but a couple days later he was found dead. And then throughout the last couple of months they had brought new people in, all of which haven't been seen since.

Oliver had considered a number of options, all of which he deemed irrational afterwards. He considered trying to sneak out of the city, or maybe, he thought a transfer to a different department might work. At one point he considered suicide but came to the conclusion that he was too much of a coward to do so. He found it easier to just not think about it at all.

Kas had thought as much. She could read those fears of his as clear as crystal and it shook her out of her trance instantly. She tried to hide how uneasy she was, but that was the down-side of mind reading. The emotions of the other person resonate onto her tenfold. She was visibly fidgeting and shifting in her seat, almost sweating for a moment.

"Maybe you should con..."she stopped half way through her words as her feaverishness cancelled out, promptly putting on a brave smile and clapping her lap "Nothing. Uh...so, you said you like supernatural stuff? Right?"

Kasumi, what are you doing?

"So, ever studied up on eastern mythology? Could you tell me anything about Kemono Youkai?" she pondered to him, sitting up a little and adjusting her posture, her composition quickly returning to her, her body seeming relaxed once more, though a bit on the stiff side. Everything about her seemed slightly off now.

"Kemono Youkai?" Oliver paused, leaning back in his chair. "They derive from Japan. Kemono translates into "beast" I think, but I don't really remember. Uhm...they are basically "beasts", or animals with human like qualities. Anthropomorphic beings. I could be wrong, I don't know much about "Kemono" though I've studied up in Youkai. Its a broad term. There are plenty of Youkai that take animal form, some of which that can shapeshift. Tanuki,Kitsune, Hebi....those are the only ones I can name off of the top of my head. There is also Tengu and Oni youkai, which I've done some research on."

He smiled a bit, enjoying rambling on about this, it made things seem less dark now.

"Hah, guess you weren't kidding! Kemono Youkai translates to 'beast spirits'. Animal spirits, to be percise. There are hundreds of different types. Inugami, Tanuki, Usugami...list goes on, that's the general just of it though. You got that part right." Kasumi adjusted herself for a moment, peering up for a brief moment.

"It's said that one of the many abilities they possess is the ability to change forms, use illusions, disguise themselves...they could appear as a common house pet, your mother, YOU...they could possess people. Their natural form are shapeless balls of emphera...and the animals we see in the wild could just be young versions of them. It's pretty wild." she felt like she was almost repeating what he said back at this point.

"Wouldn't it be wierd if one of them was right here? You'd never know. They could be your chair...or me." she trailed off. Flirting with discovery was always fun.

"And all you'd have to do is look for those little signs. Because no illusion is perfect. Always something giving it away. And you should hear some of the tales they have about them...spirits that can act like people but still follow animal instincts."

"That's if you believe in them." Oliver turned and stared at her for a moment. "It is called myth for a reason, right? Or maybe its not, suppose I wouldn't know, anyway."

He felt a bit awkward, like she was hinting at something he didn't quite get yet. Or maybe he did and he just didn't want to think he was talking to a quack. Either way it wasnt like he believed in the nonsense. Although at times...Oliver would become a bit superstitious, mainly due to his job. After all he'd seen, who knows what other stuff is out there, right?

"And what little mistakes do you suppose someone would have to look for, hm?"

"You look at what we've seen today...then tell me something like that isn't real. In the end you could rationalize it a hundred different ways. It's energy in the end, right?" Kas' face was unmistakably beaming. One could easily mistake it as simple delight at the possibility. After all, it was one coping mechanism to having seen random brutal murders...denile helps!

"Anyway, it depends on the spirit. Easiest way to tell is the tail. It's a normal side-effect. Sometimes it's the eyes, a patch of fur, ears...but the tail's a common one. That's why they usually wear a lot of clothes, to hide the obvious stuff, eh?" she continued, swivveling her seat from side to side.

"So, if you ever got a good look at a girl or guy's backside and find a little something wagging away...you know what you've found. Of course, most of them can use the situation to keep them hidden. I mean some of them can supposedly manipulate your vision depending on how good they are at it."

"You talk about them like you've seen one." He chuckles and looks back at the monitor. "I guess I won't know till I see one then, huh? If they are, I probably won't. I don't make a lot of friends, this job is basically my life. "

He glanced back at her. Kas was an odd one, he thought, trying to find a reason for her to be the way she was considering the situation. The denile thing came to mind, but she still was...unnerving, in a way. Oliver felt as though he was being oblivious, but he didn't even know what he was being clueless about.

"Do you believe in them?"

"You'd be surprised where you meet this kind of stuff...your job's sitting about looking at a monitor. Why's it involve a monster? I mean think about it...how long before it comes after you? How is that threat any different?" She saw him glance at her. Either he was suspicious or he was finding her odd. Either way, the jig was getting closer to 'up'. It would be interesting how he would react to the reality. It was a spontanious choice but like any good experiment , there had to be a level of...well, experimentation. And risk.

"I donno, maybe I do. Perhaps it's a little more then that. I mean think about it, Oliver. You're trapped here...you want to get out. You know you can't get out the 'easy' way because even that's too hard, and you're afraid for your life because you know you'll end up like Reggie..." Now that was fast. She was spilling things right from his mind, sitting up a little.

With this, the air within the room would change rather abruptly. Both figuratively and literally. Hot winds blew for a moment as the monitors increased in their brightness for a moment befoe very likely turning off from a minor overload. The lights dimmed as strange blue bolts of electricity bounced off them.

"Do you think sitting here for the rest of your life and doing the same thing over and over again is going to keep you safe and alive? You know it isn't true...but at the same time there's more to life then a job, isn't there? I know of these things."