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 Hamzah ibn Wasim Hamzah is a very foreign-looking man. Extremely so, really. He smiles, clapping his hands together. "Ah, welcome, welcome! Hamzah ibn Wasim al-Medina'at at your service, yes?" He pulls a sealed envelope from his robe. "Excepting for, let me see, Iuchi Hino..." He makes a show of puzzling over the envelope. "...yes, that's what that says. And...Soshi? Soshi Shosuko. Yes. I said that right? Bit of a tongue-twister." He holds the envelope up. "For your eyes only, but I understand, time is of the essence. Your orders are inside." With a theatrical flourish, he bows and sets the envelope down on a table, then runs his hand over it. A second sealed envelope joins the first from up his sleeve. "Excuse me, two envelopes, one for each of you. You can check the wax seals. I have been given orders to assist in...whatever it is you people are doing. I should explain. I am a sahir - you would say shugenja, I believe? - and something of a technician. Formerly import-export. What exactly are we doing here?" He speaks very quickly indeed. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 21:49
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:47 |
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Hamzah Hamzah listens, nodding. "Well, let me see. So you are tracking a robot designer and someone using a robot to kill people. Now, I am not a tracker, per se, but I do know something about machines. And to get a robot to do what you describe, you would need one of two things. First option, you would need to understand a situation well enough to program a robot to go through the motions of detecting a hidden person using rare technology, tracking them and killing them, then destroying itself. To do that you'd need to know in advance what your target would be doing and where you could safely have the robot destroy itself. You'd need to know the area better than a native, and also possibly see the future." Hamzah claps his hands together, grinning. "Or option two, you are controlling the robot directly. In which case, there will be traces. You bring me the robot's motherboard, and perhaps I can tell you where the commands were being sent from, assuming that you disabled it before it could have that information wiped. Which you probably did, if the controller was too busy fighting back. Now, whether this controller is your Kaiu Satoshi, I can't say. I'd need to see his designs and code and compare them to what we can learn from your robot. And of course there is the chance your invisible Satoshi is using those tattoos you mentioned to avoid being seen, that could be your camera problem. I'm just guessing here about that." Pause. "Oh, and, yes, are you interested in tracking the tattoos? For that you would need a skilled tattoo artist, yes? There can't be many with the skills and knowledge to make such things, can there?" Hamzah smiles, spreading his hands. "Oh, and tea sounds good, yes, if you are offering." Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Sep 8, 2014 |
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Sep 8, 2014 22:29
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Hamzah "Well, if I were you, I would start with the tattoo artists, then. If you honorable samurai would like, I will take a look at the destroyed robot we talked about. Or not, I am at your command, after all." Hamzah grins. It's no skin off his nose if they feel like not making him work very hard.
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Sep 12, 2014 01:57
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Hamzah "This is an excellent idea, honored lady. I will come and help you." Hamzah grins. "Unless you folks prefer to take me to your party. I do love a party!"
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Sep 15, 2014 01:34
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Hamzah Hamzah rubs his hands together, grinning. "Well, this will be fun." He busies himself setting up wiring and monitors, then gets to work with his part of the analysis. Finding where the robot was receiving orders from might be difficult, but he's pretty sure he can do it. "So, you are Asako Hanjiko, yes? Er, Hanjiko-san. I always forget that." Keeping track of which is the first and last name is hard. "What brings you to the Magistrate's service? For me, well, I enjoy the challenges..." But that's clearly not all there was to it, given what and who he is. "Though I have to say, I'm sorry we had to miss the party! They're always such fun, though I have to admit, I'd probably make everyone angry. It's for the best, really...anyway, I realize I'm probably strange, so feel free to ask me anything." He shrugs. "If I don't feel like answering, I'll at least tell you an entertaining lie." Computer Use: [20:09] <+Morphball> MorsRattus: 15 = 5k3(2,6,2,3,6)
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Sep 19, 2014 01:09
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Hamzah "Ah, you Rokugani. So uptight about lies! It's only bad if you don't know it's a lie! If you know, we call it a story. Very big at home. But for this...ah, you would find out anyway if you decided to ask a superior. I wasn't really given a choice about joining the Magistrates. I...don't know that word, yoriki? At least it is not coming to mind. No, I was a, ah...a smuggler. Good work, really, but I wasn't one of your officially unofficial ones, out on the borders. In the Nebula, you see, people like me, we are hunted down. If we do not give our lives and hearts to the Immortal Caliph, we are dead. And I mean that literally. So, you know, it seemed like a decent career, getting myself into Rokugani space." Hamzah shrugs. "A few little talents of mine - I'm an excellent forger, for example - came to the Magistrate's notice. I was given a choice. I could choose to, of my own free will, show my newfound patriotic fervor and put my talents to good use for the glory of the Empire...or I could choose to, of my own free will, learn what a criminal burial looks like from the inside. So I made the prudent decision, yes?" He squints at his readouts. "That's...odd. There's nothing here. No transmission. That shouldn't be possible." He waves a display away, turning on the robot, and begins going over it with a more careful eye. "There's something here we aren't seeing..." [19:58] <+Morphball> MorsRattus: 47 = 6k3(8,[10,6],6,[10,8],2,[10,3])
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Sep 24, 2014 00:58
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Hamzah "Ah. A useful word! I'm surprised to hear that from you, though. At home...well. At home, in theory we have a system of merit. None of your castes. Everyone as equal as their wits and will can make them. But we have the Immortal Caliph and her khadi...ah, well, it'd be fine if they weren't around, but...they've been around for longer than anyone can remember." Hamzah shrugs. "I appreciate finding the truth. But I think you will find that the truth needs a bodyguard of lies sometimes. A story to keep others happy, until you can find the truth you need. That's where I come in. Well, that and my magic. But it's lies that kept me alive when I might have died, back home, not magic." He pauses. "...still, I'll not lie to you. You've not once called me gaijin yet, and you haven't looked at me like I'm some kind of bug. That's...well, I appreciate it. Not many Rokugani I've dealt with have done that." Pause again. "Though I should warn you: if you aren't comfortable with me lying, you won't like being around me. I've found that people reveal the truth easier when they think I'm some kind of idiot gaijin who can only barely speak your language."
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Sep 27, 2014 03:35
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Hamzah "...huh. That's not good." Hamzah shakes his head. "Khayel. It is - what do you call it? The..." He pauses, hunting for the word. "The Nothing. I can feel it within the crystal. It was once touched directly by Khayel. The crystal remembers." Crystal, he knows, is the weapon of an ancient race - the Ashalan. But this is not theirs at all. "It's faint, but there could be nothing else it is."
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Oct 5, 2014 02:06
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Hamzah "A receiver - you mean for Sayel? The Nothing or one of its servants was controlling the machine that way? That's...hm. That's definitely important, I agree." Hamzah nods. "Better if you tell them and take the credit. I don't think they like me very much."
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Oct 25, 2014 22:51
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Hamzah "Well, we could try to destroy it. I don't know that it'd work, but..." Hamzah shrugs. "I've found a lot of things break when I hit them with a very big rock."
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Oct 27, 2014 05:07
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Hamzah Hamzah strokes his beard thoughtfully. "A good question...if they are being targeted, they'll be looking for the cause. Angry, dangerous...but the right people will know where to find them. If we can offer them a little of what they want, we can find out what they know. But that would involve deception, so I don't know how well you'd like that. There is something I want to try, though - is there anywhere on this planet that has really big rocks?" He smiles. "I wasn't joking when I said I could try destroying it by hitting it with one."
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Nov 10, 2014 03:10
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Hamzah "Oh, I was more concerned with it being, you know, dangerous. Don't like to keep corruption around like that, but...well, why don't we get someone that's not either of us to hold onto it?" Hamzah likes this one, he doesn't want her to get corrupted. He shrugs. "Still, I leave these decisions up to you honored samurai. After all, I am merely your humble servant."
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Dec 2, 2014 03:42
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Hamzah Hamzah shrugs. "I do not understand the ways of the Nothing. I could not guess. If you say it is safe, I will trust you."
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Dec 14, 2014 00:48
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Hamzah "I think we can go out looking for them...but you will want to look different. I, after all, am clearly a rogue and up to no good - I am a gaijin, yes? But you...no, you are too much the samurai. What would you like to look like? And...hm, your voice may need changing as well, I think..." He strokes his beard for a moment. "...yes, I'll change outfits and then you can tell me what you want to appear as. And then, well, I will show you the power of a sahir. Then, we go find our victim's friends and learn about them, and they do not know that you or I are investigators."
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Jan 7, 2015 03:04
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Hamzah Hamzah nods. "Very well...let me see what I can do. Voice changing would be...more difficult. But you're right, we won't need it." After ducking into a side room and emerging in the more worn outfit he wore as a smuggler, Hamzah raises his hands. His eyes unfocus as he watches something only he can see, muttering under his breath in the language of Medinaat al-Salaam. Most of it is calculations or strange references to geometric figures as he moves his hands around, manipulating something invisible. The lines must be bent, the seal reconfigured. At last, he looks up, pointing one hand at Hanjiko. [14:38] <+Morphball> morsrattus: 6 = 3k2(3,1,3) vs TN 15 Fortunately, no penalties for failing, just more time. Nothing happens. Hamzah sighs. "Hold on a moment. I miscalculated the values." Again he unfocuses, muttering under his breath. Again he points. [14:41] <+Morphball> morsrattus: 19 = 3k2(5,1,[10,4]) vs TN 15 Hanjiko is transformed now. She is wearing a straw hat and a plainer, simpler kimono, with a more worn (but more used) sword. Hamzah has also added a few noticeable scars to her face and lightened her hair. Nothing has truly changed, of course - all illusion. He smiles proudly. "And that, you see, is the power of Hakhim's Seal. What do you think?" One more Water spell slot left for the day.
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Jan 10, 2015 20:44
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Hamzah "Sorcery. I'll be happy to explain it later, if you'll do the same for me with your kami-magic." Hamzah grins. "But now, it is time to go see our friends the tattoo artists. We'll need honeyed words, and...ah, our companions will reimburse us, yes? We may have to bribe some people." He turns, setting out. "Well, if they won't then we'll cross that storm later, I suppose. Is that a phrase here? In any case...your job will be, beyond protecting me, to watch them for recognition. They'll be focusing on me, after all."
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Feb 7, 2015 20:16
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Hamzah Sorry for the delays! Hamzah grins, looking over the street. Commoners and ronin - perfect. It's just like being back in the game! Except on the other side, as it were. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small credit voucher - a valuable one. For half a koku, any commoner should be happy to tell him anything. The trick is finding the right one. But a beggar - a clever-looking beggar - will see everything and know everyone. Hamzah approaches one, card in hand. "Exactly. Now, let's get some directions..." Once he identifies a proper beggar, he will pat the man's shoulder, card palmed in hand. "Excuse me - if you could direct me to a master tattoo artist. I only want the best, you understand." Bribery is such an ugly word.
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Apr 6, 2015 19:07
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