Kangai (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dyingmoments) wrote2012-08-16 10:12 am
dyingmoments) wrote2012-08-16 10:12 am
Entry tags:
Exploration Zero App
Name: Philo
Age: 20
Contact Information: Journal PMs
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Kangai
Canon: Jisei
Canon Point: Post-true ending of Yousei
Age: 18
Why do you feel this character would be appropriate for this setting? Long story short, he's grounded enough to keep his cool around most things that would unsettle people, and isn't quick to panic. He has the resolve to keep going. I wouldn't say he has the mental strength to deal with anything to come his way, but he's had his fair share of horrors. He ended up becoming a child detective that specialized in murder cases, so he's seen the ugly side of people and all sorts of dead bodies. He has the power to read the thoughts and emotions of corpses' dying moments, and has nightmares of those deaths every night without fail. Time and time again he has to deal with horrible experiences, and he's never going to be okay with them-- but he knows he has to keep going, no matter what.
What are they bringing? (limit 3)
Background/History:After his birth, this guy was abandoned on the doorsteps of a hospital complete with the cliched "Take care of him" note. His name then was Alexander, and he lived in foster care until he was adopted by a kind family in the city of Edgewater. While he accepted his new family, Alex didn't exactly get along with them. He was the anti-social kid that hated the world because he could. However, a sister of his refused to let things stay that way, and would always talk to him whenever possible. It took a while, but eventually the two became close, inseparable even.
Somewhere along the way, the siblings discovered strange powers: the sister had the ability to sense lies, and Alex could relive the dying moments of any corpse he touches. After meeting a policewoman named Schulz, they became child detectives and used those powers to solve case after case. This went well for a while, but an incident occurred where Alex's sister was shot in the chest and died before help came. Despite being the only witness, Alex ran from the scene of the crime and disappeared.
Three years later, Alex returns to Edgewater after hearing of his adoptive father's death. He stops by a coffee shop for a latte, and accidentally falls asleep. During that time, a woman was killed in the woman's bathroom. Alex discovers the body, and tries to read her dying moments, but is caught in the act and interrogated by a detective Mikolaj Gurski for his suspicious behavior. Gurski allows Alex to gather information to prove his innocence under one condition: that he report everything he learns back to him. Alex questions the other three people in the cafe: Chance, Kizaki, and Ms. Bergstrom and gets an idea of who they all are. Chance is a girl with anger issues and a few pages missing from her book but otherwise harmless, Kizaki is a member of a private investigation team tracking down the information that the victim, Sara, stole from Auten Engineering, and Ms. Bergstrom is a high-ranking employee at Auten Engineering's biggest rival company, Biodev Imaging. After gathering all the information, Alex pins the murder on Ms. Bergstrom. Sara was supposed to sell her information to Ms. Bergstrom, but raised the price when another party was interested. In an outrage, Ms. Bergstrom killed the woman and ended up trying to frame Alex when she realized that she left evidence at the scene.
Afterwards, Kizaki reintroduces himself as Naoki, and invites Alex to join the investigation team. They want to find out more about the third party, and his boss thinks Alex's ability will be useful. Alex tries to decline, but Aki, Naoki's twin sister and boss, arrives, assuring Alex that joining them is for his benefit, not theirs. Alex isn't sold on the idea, but Gurski says Alex must stay in Edgewater as a key witness. Aki offers to let Alex stay at their place, and Gurski gives the okay. With no other choice, Alex reluctantly tags along with the investigation team.
The next day, the investigation team goes on a trip to report back to their employer: William Auten, head of Auten Engineering. During the trip, Aki reveals to Alex that his power is called a “kansei”. She and Naoki, along with their third member, Li Mei, also have kanseis: Aki can project her thoughts into others, Naoki has a perfect memory, and Li Mei can sense emotions. This entire time, Alex has been secretive about his name, even when asked about it. With nothing to call him, Aki names him Kangai, based on the fact that he has a kansei. Once at Auten's estate, they meet Sohpia, Auten's assistant, and detective Gurski, who was also called by Auten to give a report. When they go to meet Auten outside his office, he surveys the group with a security camera first. Upon seeing Kangai, Auten yells at him to leave. Everyone is confused, but Sophia escorts Kangai back to the lobby, saying that once Auten calms down, he will want to speak.
With time to kill, Aki decides to chat up Liam Auten, Auten's nephew, for information, while the rest of the team follows suit by exploring the estate. Kangai runs into Kevin, the estate's IT guy, then meets reporter Marissa Klein in the living room, where with a little persuasion on Marissa's part, the two agree to work together to uncover Auten's secrets. She tells him a story of him administering drugs on women in order to genetically alter their children, and how it left most of them infertile, or cause complications during childbirth. After this conversation, Auten is discovered dead in his office, and Kangai manages to read his dying moments without anyone noticing. There's a lot of regrets and final thoughts, but one things stands out: a request to protect the vault, whatever that may be.
During his investigation, Gurski reveals that the investigation team is not what Kangai thought them to be: they're all kids owned by the government, on parole for crimes past. Li Mei reveals that Gurski is actually their parole officer, hence why he's always around. Kangai manages to find the vault, and its contents consist of a single SD card. Moments after Kangai pockets the card, Kevin bursts into the room and holds Li Mei hostage. Aki and Gurski warn Kangai that Kevin's the murderer, and Kangai manages to fend off Kevin before he can hurt anyone. Kevin is arrested, but Liam, who was under suspicion of other crimes, has gone missing.
A week later, Marissa calls Kangai to trade information. She advises Kangai to contact Dr. Johansen, Auten's university professor. Aki quickly arranges for the team to sign up under a host student program at the University of Edgewater, and they're on their way. Their student liaison, Shawn, gives them all ID cards, and Kangai's is curiously labeled as "Kangai Alexander", though no one should know his real name. The team gets traded off to another student tour guide, and Aki instructs Kangai to split off and search for Dr. Johansen. He gets caught by some grad students, Jupiter, David, and Nathan, who mistake him for a thief that broke into their lab last week. It wasn't Kangai, but he has no proof other than a bus ticket with a fake name on it.
The grad students call in the police, and lo and behold, Gurski appears to take the call. He starts to ask why he's not with the group when Chance bursts into the room uninvited, claiming that "poor Kangai" is being falsely accused-- he was with her in the coffee shop when the theft occured. Kangai isn't sure why Chance is helping him, or why she's here, but he goes along with her lie to establish an alibi for himself. Gurski is skeptical, and calls Aki over to explain why they're even on campus in the first place. She explains that Schulz is the one that ordered them, which surprises Kangai since he wasn't aware she was in charge of the investigation team as well.
When Naoki and Li Mei rejoin them, Naoki points out that something is wrong with the school bell. When they go to investigate the bell tower, Dr. Johansen's dead body is found at the top, crushed in half by the bell. Kangai tries to leave in order to avoid being overpowered by his kansei, but a drop of Johansen's blood gets on him. Blood is still contact with the deceased, and Kangai blacks out from the flood of Dr. Johansen's emotions.
It takes him a day to recover, but he gets right back to solving the case as usual. Chance tries to join in the investigation, and since he owes her for the alibi, Kangai reluctantly lets her tag along. This time, the suspects all are involved in typical college drama and they all have motives to kill each other, but not the professor. Jupiter is dating David who used to date Chance who told Nathan that Jupiter took the leadership position he deserved. It turns out Chance is a lot more devious and manipulative than she looks. When the clues are all gathered, Kangai deduces that it was Nathan. He was jealous that Johansen didn't choose him to take charge of the grad students, and felt that he deserved the position more than anyone else. He didn't even get to be second in command, as that was given to David. But most of all, he claimed that he was worthy of something called “Dragon's Blood”, and that Kangai, along with the rest of the team, was unworthy of it. Gurski cuffs him, but Nathan continues his crazed complaint, saying that “she” told him he could get everything he wanted once Johansen was out of the way.
Upon hearing that, Kangai realizes something: Chance is gone. Without explaining anything, he heads back into the science building after her. The others try to follow, but Chance tampered all their ID cards to prevent them from coming in. Her ditzy facade is gone, and Chance lets Kangai know right then and there that he's getting in her way, but she has orders to let him live. Kangai tries to grab Chance as she walks away, but Chance does something that causes him to collapse and become numb with pain. Chance makes her getaway, with Kangai helpless to stop her.
Previous Game History: (optional) N/A
Personality: One of Kangai's basic traits is that he's evasive when it comes to talking about himself. Though I like to say he "refuses" to do things, it's probably more accurate to say he "prefers not to". He knows how suspicious it is when he doesn't give his name, but he doesn't want to be recognized as the golden (or estranged, depending on who you ask) detective boy. It raises too many questions he doesn't want to answer. Once when confronted about why he left Edgewater or why he didn't go to the police about his sister, he simply answers "It's complicated." to avoid answering anything.
As the protagonist of a mystery series, he's observant. He carries around a notepad that he uses to keep track of information, and he often makes small comments to himself on the actions of the people around him, like Li Mei's way of walking, or Naoki's nervous movements. Gurski mentions that Kangai will sometimes look like he's trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle in his head -- in other words, without even trying, Kangai will try to piece together any information he gets and try to figure things out, especially relating to murders. He will ask questions, he will search for clues, he will touch dead bodies (if he has to). It's hard to tell why he tries so hard in his investigations. He's not above things like sneaking into offices or taking things to find information, so it's not like he's trying to be a justice enforcer-- in one occasion, it's even possible to make him threaten a kid into giving him information he feels is crucial to the case. However, he is very against the act of murder. When Ms. Bergstrom confesses to her crime, she offhandedly says that Sarah deserved to die-- Kangai immediately reprimands her for that statement, telling her that no matter what her reasons, no matter how justified she feels about it, the guilt of killing another person will be on her for the rest of her life. Note that he doesn't simply tell her that murder is wrong-- he reminds her of the consequences and just how serious they are with a painful expression as if begging her to understand.
Another prominent trait of Kangai's is his sarcasm. It's kind of his thing. He snarks or has some kind of comment for every situation. He does know when it is and isn't appropriate and will keep his mouth shut when necessary with a few exceptions, such as when he's half asleep and accidentally answers a semi-important phone call with a sarcastic comment. Even so, he really does use it a lot to the point that sincere replies from him can be hard to come by, depending on who you are. An exception is how Kangai is rather open with Li Mei, possibly because she has an ability that lets her know when what he says and what he feels don't match. On the other hand, he treats a suspect from the second game who he doesn't like negatively, and constantly comments on the things that character says and does to his face.
Speaking of disliking people, Kangai seems quick to do so based on first impressions (though to be fair, many of the people he meets are dislikable). He admits himself that he's bad at keeping his anger in check. However, he only times he has been violent so far is first with Ms. Bergstrom, who provokes him (and only if you choose the option to get mad at her), and with the murderer in the second game, because the situation called for it.
However, despite his sarcasm and short temper, he's actually quite emphatic. When Aki tells him that Li Mei has a hard time sorting out her emotions from everyone else's due to her kansei, he worries if she can feel his pity or if she doesn't want other people to feel that way about her and ends up trying to evoke a different emotion so she won't be burdened by whatever he's feeling, though she ends up telling him that he doesn't have to do that. He also tends to open up a little when around people he either relates to or can emphasize with. For example, after spending time with them, he feels like he can rely on the investigation team because of their similar powers and circumstances, and is starting to be okay with bringing up snippets of his past if it comes up in conversation. He's a little more vague with uninvolved people, such as when he tells Aaron (who was still in shock over finding the body) that he tried to "end it all" once, but he has to keep on living, even though he's also seen horrible things he'll never forget.
To sum it all up, Kangai is a guy that tries to stay out of the way and not get involved, but once he is, he'll do his job properly (if only to get out of the situation quicker). While he won't talk about himself without reason, he's open to having a conversation about other things as long as you don't annoy him. He's not a jerk, but he's not going to try and be your friend in the first meeting. He just seems to have a streak of bad luck (what with running into murders and situations he doesn't want to deal with), so he's a bit of a pessimist.
View on power: Kangai doesn't really think much about power, and tends to form his opinions on a case-by-case basis. Even though he was innocent, he didn't hate Gurski for detaining him when he thought Kangai was suspicious, he's just doing his job. He dislikes Liam for being the spoiled rich kid that thinks he can get away with anything, but he'd feel that way even if he wasn't rich. He doesn't think is kansei makes him any more special then the next person (if anything it's more of a curse), though another character thinks he's unworthy of such a power. That being said, power isn't something be abused. He doesn't think highly of people who take advantage of others or treat the people below them unfairly.
Death:Death is something that happens to everyone, and it can happen at any time, any moment. It sucks, and it's never going to stop sucking. After all he's seen, he's become numb to it all. Not comfortable, just used to it. In one of the bad endings (his canon is a visual novel), when he's dying, it actually takes him a moment to realize that he's genuinely scared, because he's viewing his own death like a bystander just like he did with every other death. He can barely make a personal connection to dying anymore. And because he's so wrapped up in the notion of final moments, he probably doesn't believe in anything like an afterlife.
To him, death has always been something permanent. If he saw someone come back to life, he wouldn't be sure what to think. His first thought would probably be what if his sister could come back to life too, but at the same time, if death isn't permanent, what does that mean about everything he knows about death so far?
Magic and Science: Despite having weird death emotion powers, Kangai is a realist and probably doesn't believe in magic. As for science, chances are knows a bit of it for his detective work, so it can be said that science is a way of revealing the truth or to help people, such as the case with artificial organs. At the same time however, science it not something used to play god, for lack of a better term. When hearing about how Auten experimented on pregnant women in order to create psychic powers, he felt physically sick. He feels bad that experimental animals have to die, but thanks to Li Mei, he understands that it's something that needs to happen, but that won't stop him from seizing an opportunity to save them instead. Everything in moderation.
1st Person Sample Entry: Mod interview please!
3rd Person Sample Entry: Kangai already learned the hard way that there was nothing outside the manor but trees, trees, and more trees. It's not like he was spooked by being alone in a dark forest, but those trees tried to eat him and he knows better than to try that again without a battle plan. First, a light. Kangai had a feeling that trying to fight his way through the forest was futile, and his best bet was to make sure he never got lost. Second, a way to keep track of where he was going. The problem with forests is that everything looks the same. He could take all the notes he wanted, but it wouldn't make him a map. That time, he was sure he kept going straight the whole time, but in the end he somehow circled his way back to the manor entrance. And there was no way of knowing how deep the forest was. His specialty lied with surviving on the streets, not in the wilderness.
That meant the only other thing Kangai could do is explore the manor. If he couldn't find a way out, the next best thing would be to find information. Why was he here? What about everyone else? There had to be someone in charge, but Kangai had yet to see or hear from them. And if he does end up stuck here for a while, it wouldn't hurt to know where everything was.
He opened the door on his right, and inside was mirrors, mirrors... and more mirrors. Kangai couldn't help but roll his eyes in response-- he didn't know what he was expecting, but didn't he just finish complaining about not wanting to navigate places where everything looked the same? But despite his annoyance, Kangai found himself unable to step into the room.Mirrors were plastered over every surface in the room, and some were even lying on the floor. It was different from an amusement park hall of mirrors, where the goal was to disorient your sense of direction. In this room, it was just mirrors hanging everywhere, making it look like you were staring back at yourself from every and any angle. The urge to check if any of the mirrors were two-sided started to creep into his mind, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It was a bad habit from his detective days he never felt needed fixing, but this room made him question if he should.
...Suddenly starting with a different room sounds like a good idea.
What's your answer to our secret question? Steel Blue
Age: 20
Contact Information: Journal PMs
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Kangai
Canon: Jisei
Canon Point: Post-true ending of Yousei
Age: 18
Why do you feel this character would be appropriate for this setting? Long story short, he's grounded enough to keep his cool around most things that would unsettle people, and isn't quick to panic. He has the resolve to keep going. I wouldn't say he has the mental strength to deal with anything to come his way, but he's had his fair share of horrors. He ended up becoming a child detective that specialized in murder cases, so he's seen the ugly side of people and all sorts of dead bodies. He has the power to read the thoughts and emotions of corpses' dying moments, and has nightmares of those deaths every night without fail. Time and time again he has to deal with horrible experiences, and he's never going to be okay with them-- but he knows he has to keep going, no matter what.
What are they bringing? (limit 3)
- A spiral-bound notepad he uses for notes and a pen.
- An MP3 player/headphones. He doesn't have anything to charge it with, but it's something he seems to wear around often.
- His wallet, mostly for the fake ID card he has in it. It has random receipts and tickets in it, maybe a photo, and some money, not that it'll be of any use where he's going.
- How he's in contact with the body: Touching their clothes is perfectly fine. Skin to skin contact will always trigger his kansei, and if he has to read their last moments, that's how he does it. However, indirect contact also triggers a reading, such as blood splatter. Basically, any part of their body directly touching his body will do it.
- A note about blood contact: Blood contact is the purest form of contact for a kansei holder. That means that his powers will be at their strongest if he touches blood. In this case, he will automatically pass out, even if the blood is wiped away. When blood contact occurs, he will relive the corpse's death in vivid detail. Usually he just reads their thoughts and emotions, but with blood contact he will also see things from their perspective, as if he were possessing the body itself. Needless to say, this also means he feels their pain and horror, so it's a none too pleasant experience.
- How long he's in contact with the body: Most people don't know about his kansei, so all he usually gets is a short touch. This gives him the strongest emotions that were going through the deceased's head when they were dying, and a general idea of their situation. However, if he is in prolonged contact with the deceased, he will be able to read their last moments in more detail.
- How they felt when they were dying: The worse the death, the more regrets and feelings they have, the easier that information all relays to Kangai. Li Mei defines Kangai's kansei as "amplifying the emotions of the deceased". So the stronger the emotion, the more Kangai feels it. Also, Kangai has stated that he is only affected by strong negative feelings and not the "fuzzy feelings of grandmas dying in their sleep".
Background/History:After his birth, this guy was abandoned on the doorsteps of a hospital complete with the cliched "Take care of him" note. His name then was Alexander, and he lived in foster care until he was adopted by a kind family in the city of Edgewater. While he accepted his new family, Alex didn't exactly get along with them. He was the anti-social kid that hated the world because he could. However, a sister of his refused to let things stay that way, and would always talk to him whenever possible. It took a while, but eventually the two became close, inseparable even.
Somewhere along the way, the siblings discovered strange powers: the sister had the ability to sense lies, and Alex could relive the dying moments of any corpse he touches. After meeting a policewoman named Schulz, they became child detectives and used those powers to solve case after case. This went well for a while, but an incident occurred where Alex's sister was shot in the chest and died before help came. Despite being the only witness, Alex ran from the scene of the crime and disappeared.
Three years later, Alex returns to Edgewater after hearing of his adoptive father's death. He stops by a coffee shop for a latte, and accidentally falls asleep. During that time, a woman was killed in the woman's bathroom. Alex discovers the body, and tries to read her dying moments, but is caught in the act and interrogated by a detective Mikolaj Gurski for his suspicious behavior. Gurski allows Alex to gather information to prove his innocence under one condition: that he report everything he learns back to him. Alex questions the other three people in the cafe: Chance, Kizaki, and Ms. Bergstrom and gets an idea of who they all are. Chance is a girl with anger issues and a few pages missing from her book but otherwise harmless, Kizaki is a member of a private investigation team tracking down the information that the victim, Sara, stole from Auten Engineering, and Ms. Bergstrom is a high-ranking employee at Auten Engineering's biggest rival company, Biodev Imaging. After gathering all the information, Alex pins the murder on Ms. Bergstrom. Sara was supposed to sell her information to Ms. Bergstrom, but raised the price when another party was interested. In an outrage, Ms. Bergstrom killed the woman and ended up trying to frame Alex when she realized that she left evidence at the scene.
Afterwards, Kizaki reintroduces himself as Naoki, and invites Alex to join the investigation team. They want to find out more about the third party, and his boss thinks Alex's ability will be useful. Alex tries to decline, but Aki, Naoki's twin sister and boss, arrives, assuring Alex that joining them is for his benefit, not theirs. Alex isn't sold on the idea, but Gurski says Alex must stay in Edgewater as a key witness. Aki offers to let Alex stay at their place, and Gurski gives the okay. With no other choice, Alex reluctantly tags along with the investigation team.
The next day, the investigation team goes on a trip to report back to their employer: William Auten, head of Auten Engineering. During the trip, Aki reveals to Alex that his power is called a “kansei”. She and Naoki, along with their third member, Li Mei, also have kanseis: Aki can project her thoughts into others, Naoki has a perfect memory, and Li Mei can sense emotions. This entire time, Alex has been secretive about his name, even when asked about it. With nothing to call him, Aki names him Kangai, based on the fact that he has a kansei. Once at Auten's estate, they meet Sohpia, Auten's assistant, and detective Gurski, who was also called by Auten to give a report. When they go to meet Auten outside his office, he surveys the group with a security camera first. Upon seeing Kangai, Auten yells at him to leave. Everyone is confused, but Sophia escorts Kangai back to the lobby, saying that once Auten calms down, he will want to speak.
With time to kill, Aki decides to chat up Liam Auten, Auten's nephew, for information, while the rest of the team follows suit by exploring the estate. Kangai runs into Kevin, the estate's IT guy, then meets reporter Marissa Klein in the living room, where with a little persuasion on Marissa's part, the two agree to work together to uncover Auten's secrets. She tells him a story of him administering drugs on women in order to genetically alter their children, and how it left most of them infertile, or cause complications during childbirth. After this conversation, Auten is discovered dead in his office, and Kangai manages to read his dying moments without anyone noticing. There's a lot of regrets and final thoughts, but one things stands out: a request to protect the vault, whatever that may be.
During his investigation, Gurski reveals that the investigation team is not what Kangai thought them to be: they're all kids owned by the government, on parole for crimes past. Li Mei reveals that Gurski is actually their parole officer, hence why he's always around. Kangai manages to find the vault, and its contents consist of a single SD card. Moments after Kangai pockets the card, Kevin bursts into the room and holds Li Mei hostage. Aki and Gurski warn Kangai that Kevin's the murderer, and Kangai manages to fend off Kevin before he can hurt anyone. Kevin is arrested, but Liam, who was under suspicion of other crimes, has gone missing.
A week later, Marissa calls Kangai to trade information. She advises Kangai to contact Dr. Johansen, Auten's university professor. Aki quickly arranges for the team to sign up under a host student program at the University of Edgewater, and they're on their way. Their student liaison, Shawn, gives them all ID cards, and Kangai's is curiously labeled as "Kangai Alexander", though no one should know his real name. The team gets traded off to another student tour guide, and Aki instructs Kangai to split off and search for Dr. Johansen. He gets caught by some grad students, Jupiter, David, and Nathan, who mistake him for a thief that broke into their lab last week. It wasn't Kangai, but he has no proof other than a bus ticket with a fake name on it.
The grad students call in the police, and lo and behold, Gurski appears to take the call. He starts to ask why he's not with the group when Chance bursts into the room uninvited, claiming that "poor Kangai" is being falsely accused-- he was with her in the coffee shop when the theft occured. Kangai isn't sure why Chance is helping him, or why she's here, but he goes along with her lie to establish an alibi for himself. Gurski is skeptical, and calls Aki over to explain why they're even on campus in the first place. She explains that Schulz is the one that ordered them, which surprises Kangai since he wasn't aware she was in charge of the investigation team as well.
When Naoki and Li Mei rejoin them, Naoki points out that something is wrong with the school bell. When they go to investigate the bell tower, Dr. Johansen's dead body is found at the top, crushed in half by the bell. Kangai tries to leave in order to avoid being overpowered by his kansei, but a drop of Johansen's blood gets on him. Blood is still contact with the deceased, and Kangai blacks out from the flood of Dr. Johansen's emotions.
It takes him a day to recover, but he gets right back to solving the case as usual. Chance tries to join in the investigation, and since he owes her for the alibi, Kangai reluctantly lets her tag along. This time, the suspects all are involved in typical college drama and they all have motives to kill each other, but not the professor. Jupiter is dating David who used to date Chance who told Nathan that Jupiter took the leadership position he deserved. It turns out Chance is a lot more devious and manipulative than she looks. When the clues are all gathered, Kangai deduces that it was Nathan. He was jealous that Johansen didn't choose him to take charge of the grad students, and felt that he deserved the position more than anyone else. He didn't even get to be second in command, as that was given to David. But most of all, he claimed that he was worthy of something called “Dragon's Blood”, and that Kangai, along with the rest of the team, was unworthy of it. Gurski cuffs him, but Nathan continues his crazed complaint, saying that “she” told him he could get everything he wanted once Johansen was out of the way.
Upon hearing that, Kangai realizes something: Chance is gone. Without explaining anything, he heads back into the science building after her. The others try to follow, but Chance tampered all their ID cards to prevent them from coming in. Her ditzy facade is gone, and Chance lets Kangai know right then and there that he's getting in her way, but she has orders to let him live. Kangai tries to grab Chance as she walks away, but Chance does something that causes him to collapse and become numb with pain. Chance makes her getaway, with Kangai helpless to stop her.
Previous Game History: (optional) N/A
Personality: One of Kangai's basic traits is that he's evasive when it comes to talking about himself. Though I like to say he "refuses" to do things, it's probably more accurate to say he "prefers not to". He knows how suspicious it is when he doesn't give his name, but he doesn't want to be recognized as the golden (or estranged, depending on who you ask) detective boy. It raises too many questions he doesn't want to answer. Once when confronted about why he left Edgewater or why he didn't go to the police about his sister, he simply answers "It's complicated." to avoid answering anything.
As the protagonist of a mystery series, he's observant. He carries around a notepad that he uses to keep track of information, and he often makes small comments to himself on the actions of the people around him, like Li Mei's way of walking, or Naoki's nervous movements. Gurski mentions that Kangai will sometimes look like he's trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle in his head -- in other words, without even trying, Kangai will try to piece together any information he gets and try to figure things out, especially relating to murders. He will ask questions, he will search for clues, he will touch dead bodies (if he has to). It's hard to tell why he tries so hard in his investigations. He's not above things like sneaking into offices or taking things to find information, so it's not like he's trying to be a justice enforcer-- in one occasion, it's even possible to make him threaten a kid into giving him information he feels is crucial to the case. However, he is very against the act of murder. When Ms. Bergstrom confesses to her crime, she offhandedly says that Sarah deserved to die-- Kangai immediately reprimands her for that statement, telling her that no matter what her reasons, no matter how justified she feels about it, the guilt of killing another person will be on her for the rest of her life. Note that he doesn't simply tell her that murder is wrong-- he reminds her of the consequences and just how serious they are with a painful expression as if begging her to understand.
Another prominent trait of Kangai's is his sarcasm. It's kind of his thing. He snarks or has some kind of comment for every situation. He does know when it is and isn't appropriate and will keep his mouth shut when necessary with a few exceptions, such as when he's half asleep and accidentally answers a semi-important phone call with a sarcastic comment. Even so, he really does use it a lot to the point that sincere replies from him can be hard to come by, depending on who you are. An exception is how Kangai is rather open with Li Mei, possibly because she has an ability that lets her know when what he says and what he feels don't match. On the other hand, he treats a suspect from the second game who he doesn't like negatively, and constantly comments on the things that character says and does to his face.
Speaking of disliking people, Kangai seems quick to do so based on first impressions (though to be fair, many of the people he meets are dislikable). He admits himself that he's bad at keeping his anger in check. However, he only times he has been violent so far is first with Ms. Bergstrom, who provokes him (and only if you choose the option to get mad at her), and with the murderer in the second game, because the situation called for it.
However, despite his sarcasm and short temper, he's actually quite emphatic. When Aki tells him that Li Mei has a hard time sorting out her emotions from everyone else's due to her kansei, he worries if she can feel his pity or if she doesn't want other people to feel that way about her and ends up trying to evoke a different emotion so she won't be burdened by whatever he's feeling, though she ends up telling him that he doesn't have to do that. He also tends to open up a little when around people he either relates to or can emphasize with. For example, after spending time with them, he feels like he can rely on the investigation team because of their similar powers and circumstances, and is starting to be okay with bringing up snippets of his past if it comes up in conversation. He's a little more vague with uninvolved people, such as when he tells Aaron (who was still in shock over finding the body) that he tried to "end it all" once, but he has to keep on living, even though he's also seen horrible things he'll never forget.
To sum it all up, Kangai is a guy that tries to stay out of the way and not get involved, but once he is, he'll do his job properly (if only to get out of the situation quicker). While he won't talk about himself without reason, he's open to having a conversation about other things as long as you don't annoy him. He's not a jerk, but he's not going to try and be your friend in the first meeting. He just seems to have a streak of bad luck (what with running into murders and situations he doesn't want to deal with), so he's a bit of a pessimist.
View on power: Kangai doesn't really think much about power, and tends to form his opinions on a case-by-case basis. Even though he was innocent, he didn't hate Gurski for detaining him when he thought Kangai was suspicious, he's just doing his job. He dislikes Liam for being the spoiled rich kid that thinks he can get away with anything, but he'd feel that way even if he wasn't rich. He doesn't think is kansei makes him any more special then the next person (if anything it's more of a curse), though another character thinks he's unworthy of such a power. That being said, power isn't something be abused. He doesn't think highly of people who take advantage of others or treat the people below them unfairly.
Death:Death is something that happens to everyone, and it can happen at any time, any moment. It sucks, and it's never going to stop sucking. After all he's seen, he's become numb to it all. Not comfortable, just used to it. In one of the bad endings (his canon is a visual novel), when he's dying, it actually takes him a moment to realize that he's genuinely scared, because he's viewing his own death like a bystander just like he did with every other death. He can barely make a personal connection to dying anymore. And because he's so wrapped up in the notion of final moments, he probably doesn't believe in anything like an afterlife.
To him, death has always been something permanent. If he saw someone come back to life, he wouldn't be sure what to think. His first thought would probably be what if his sister could come back to life too, but at the same time, if death isn't permanent, what does that mean about everything he knows about death so far?
Magic and Science: Despite having weird death emotion powers, Kangai is a realist and probably doesn't believe in magic. As for science, chances are knows a bit of it for his detective work, so it can be said that science is a way of revealing the truth or to help people, such as the case with artificial organs. At the same time however, science it not something used to play god, for lack of a better term. When hearing about how Auten experimented on pregnant women in order to create psychic powers, he felt physically sick. He feels bad that experimental animals have to die, but thanks to Li Mei, he understands that it's something that needs to happen, but that won't stop him from seizing an opportunity to save them instead. Everything in moderation.
1st Person Sample Entry: Mod interview please!
3rd Person Sample Entry: Kangai already learned the hard way that there was nothing outside the manor but trees, trees, and more trees. It's not like he was spooked by being alone in a dark forest, but those trees tried to eat him and he knows better than to try that again without a battle plan. First, a light. Kangai had a feeling that trying to fight his way through the forest was futile, and his best bet was to make sure he never got lost. Second, a way to keep track of where he was going. The problem with forests is that everything looks the same. He could take all the notes he wanted, but it wouldn't make him a map. That time, he was sure he kept going straight the whole time, but in the end he somehow circled his way back to the manor entrance. And there was no way of knowing how deep the forest was. His specialty lied with surviving on the streets, not in the wilderness.
That meant the only other thing Kangai could do is explore the manor. If he couldn't find a way out, the next best thing would be to find information. Why was he here? What about everyone else? There had to be someone in charge, but Kangai had yet to see or hear from them. And if he does end up stuck here for a while, it wouldn't hurt to know where everything was.
He opened the door on his right, and inside was mirrors, mirrors... and more mirrors. Kangai couldn't help but roll his eyes in response-- he didn't know what he was expecting, but didn't he just finish complaining about not wanting to navigate places where everything looked the same? But despite his annoyance, Kangai found himself unable to step into the room.Mirrors were plastered over every surface in the room, and some were even lying on the floor. It was different from an amusement park hall of mirrors, where the goal was to disorient your sense of direction. In this room, it was just mirrors hanging everywhere, making it look like you were staring back at yourself from every and any angle. The urge to check if any of the mirrors were two-sided started to creep into his mind, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It was a bad habit from his detective days he never felt needed fixing, but this room made him question if he should.
...Suddenly starting with a different room sounds like a good idea.
What's your answer to our secret question? Steel Blue