Ain't A Hero

Season 7

Bryan Schuder

Ain't A Hero: Season 7 by Bryan W. Schuder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 InternationalCCBYNCSA

Official Enough Release

Updated 03/24/2025

Ain't A Hero

Season 6

Dedications

Timeline

Episode 79

Episode 80

Episode 81

Episode 82

Episode 83

Episode 84

Episode 85

Episode 86

Episode 87

Episode 88

Episode 89

Episode 90

Episode 91

Dedications

First and foremost... A special thank you to all the crazy humanity loving folks over at /r/HFY ! Out of all the places on Reddit for writing, you all are the most accepting and welcoming bunch of them all. As long as humanity is involved some how and you want to write, /r/HFY will give you a place to call home. I was not only surprised to find people interested in this crazy tale, but people who repeatedly read episode after episode... And still wanted more. I will try to deliver more! Second season down, hopefully a third and more to go!

So, in an inconsistent arbitrary order of me looking through the series posts, thank you to these fine folks that provided commentary (both praises and criticisms) and those who subscribed. (Please let me know if I missed anyone!)

roflmaono
Attamark
Lithuse
KillerKolonelz
RougemageNick
Twister_Robotics
joe_wood
Fly18
Lurking_Reader
Waspkeeper
bontrose
carpkiller
KahnSig
Shactus
michael15286
Krynja
ProfessorVonSagan
Layxe
zarikimbo
Ryushimojii
atomic_cheese
Rand__Rahl
NinjaTurple
fatboy93
PhalanxLord
Slayalot
K2MnO4
zymurgist69
ChainsawNagitana
Eater_of_yellow_snu
Jonfirst
Nuke_the_Earth
Isitalwaysthisgood
Red-Shirt
WandererOfTheMind
ImperialForgeMaster
barely_harmless
Maxkenny09
Alphamole0
Random-Hats
Applepielord1244
Fieryfight
ccassidyx9
Ghrrum
Thatfurrykid
tipsy_topsy
DudeGuyBor
InitiativeTwentyOne
Sakul_Aubaris
antonthekiller
pie4155
ragnoraknow
nerdy_n_dirty86
RedTheReckless
Shiamu
ZeDestructor
Omega048
MavenDeviant
HardAtomicSmile
testicouille741
Deathcoolbro
SirSchmoopy111
Halefor
cochi522
Olindoga
smeik111
explosiveelephants
LIKE1OOONINJAS
Cyber_Reader
ruruwkzu
spaceminions
CSlade1
JoshXH
sic99
Leginp
Firenter
lazyviking3742
ryan_morland
SirIronTwig
ChainsawHalberd
elemental821
MaartenS16
RollSavingThrow
randommlg
GrayMatter01
Daevis43
Glaris
vittupaahan
Admiral_Sylvor
TRN42
Golddrake
Repeated_613
Voobwig
Dr_Acen
Honoris_Causa
nuacc2
sluglie
mortalnine
mheiszler
pennythoughtful
IntelligentDemise
Makyura
minkshaman
Fkn_Ra
WakelessTitan
BlessedPatrick
ikbenlike
maaghen
Shaeos
garrdor
wiggamail
allorigional64
DarkLordZargon
bracabrad
Stordabjornen
ubercaesium
kaloshade
LurchTheBastard
kumo549
splash_43
Meh12345hey
F0rg0tMy70gin
Dolduck
jaredzz
KorbenD2263
PresumedSapient
minicooper237
mudkip201
Netmantis
Kasaeru
UnholyReaver
Just_a_stae_of_mind
Khelbun
Ice_Man_Cometh
Havok707
Omenofstorms
zombieking26
Kiryln
JJdaJet
AMEFOD
TheBarbequeSteve
TW6173
_Skylos
A_Drunk_Ninja
Maravedis
Moonlitsif
vitalmoss
Brimicidal
o11c
Danr630
readcard
Deadlytower
Einhanderz
HarbringerOfMayhem
Zoutpeper
Tinkerbill93
p75369

-79-

Along the side lot of the ranch style house, a strong gust of wind blows high up through the large, leafy tree. With each wave of the ambient air, leaves rustle together into a gentle, droning chorus. Thick metal targets hanging from stands sway slightly in the flow. In the shade underneath, Cideeda slowly lifts her chest up off the workout mat, gently curves herself backwards, and constantly pushes herself up with her arms. During the long stretch of her back, she eases her breath, tips her head of short, multicolored hair back, and flicks her furry ears against the breeze. At the extreme extent of her flexibility, she digs her claw-tipped fingers into the mat and presses her limits cautiously with a hint of a grimace. She holds the pose, her tail flicks, and toes curl with the building strain. Quickly, she relaxes from the tensed posture, and lowers herself, relaxing back upon the mat. Turning her head to the side, she sticks her tongue out with a stressed sigh. "So... That's how far I can take that pose... A bit of an extreme. But, it really helps to keep the back nice and flexible."

With blinking golden eyes, Sotalia stares and gawks dumbfounded. Gradually recovering her composure, she dons a playful smirk and rolls her eyes facetiously. "Yeah... I am not going to lie, girl... You completely lost me after you made a right angle with your back."

Tossing her fiery orange, wavy hair back, she cycles through a few breaths and grips her workout mat tight with her long, thick black nailed fingers. "Gods. If I can even get CLOSE to halfway of THAT, I'll be happy enough."

She grits her teeth, summoning up determination upon her face, and gradually lifts her upper torso off the ground. Crudely mimicking Cideeda's prior performance, Sotalia strains for righting herself against her less flexible, laden upper body and contorts between different grimaces through the stresses. Peaking at a nearly upright point, she holds her shaky position, the maneuver clashing with her body's limitations. With pride driving her, she struggles, holding the position for a number of seconds, and releases, quickly plopping down with a slight bounce upon the work out mat. Catching her breath with arms out upon the surrounding grass, she rolls her head over and faces Cideeda, blinking in a mild daze. "Gods almighty, how do you do that to yourself?"

A toothy grin appears on Cideeda's light brown face, and her emerald eyes gaze smugly over to Sotalia. "Oh. Because I'm just THAT good."

Crossing her arms in front herself, Sotalia rests her chin upon them and huffs out dismissively. Leading a stray lock of wavy, orange hair over one of her swept back horns, she snorts amused. "Yeah, yeah... I'll give you that much when it comes to THIS."

She quells a self-conscious frown and averts her eyes. "Gods... I swear it felt like I was going to break myself in two there."

Twisting her ill-humored smile, Cideeda flings a quip over towards Sotalia in fvalian, trailing her snicker. Sotalia blinks her golden eyes briefly, pushes her arms down, lifting herself up, and glances down at her chest. Tugging at the tight fitting top, she inspects the faded material and frayed stitching and narrows a mildly amused smirk at the quietly laughing Cideeda. "Oh. You joke, girl. BUT I've had this top a long time."

She comments tight-lipped through a spark of embarrassment. "Not the first outfit that THAT has happened to."

Rolling over onto her back, Cideeda stretches out her arms and legs, flexing her clawed fingers and toes, and rolls her eyes at herself. "Gods. At least, you don't have claws. I've lost count the number of gloves and socks I've ruined with these things."

She holds up her hand and lifts her brow. "BUT... I definitely can remember all the times they've saved me."

Gazing up to the brief bits of sunlight sneaking between the leaves above in the thick canopy of the tree, she stills herself and closes her eyes with a thoughtful, subdued sigh. Her face twitches, heavier thoughts that weigh down her breaths, and she grimaces fighting off the mood. Sotalia concentrates her gaze upon Cideeda, a swell of concern rising up to her light tan face. "So. How are you feeling? Really?"

Cideeda opens her eyes, awareness returning to her, and tilts her head towards Sotalia. "Good? I guess."

Lifting up an unconvinced eyebrow, Sotalia focuses her inquisitive stare upon Cideeda further. "You sure about that? After all you've been through?"

Twisting her mouth, Cideeda sits up with the upswing of her arms and hisses out an uncomfortable exhale through her teeth. "I mean... I guess? I'm alive and healthy... And, the whole world didn't blow up. So, that's a good outcome."

Sotalia pushes herself up, sliding her legs forward, and crosses her arms, leveling an examining stare squarely upon Cideeda. "Okay. I just wanted to be sure. Really don't need you repressing all that trauma to haunt you in the future."

With a sly smirk, Cideeda narrows a gaze at Sotalia, furrows her brow, and chuckles lightly. "Don't want the competition?"

Briefly flashing a mock glare towards Cideeda, Sotalia grins proudly, perking her eyebrows up, and laughs with a faux arrogant tone. "Of course NOT! I've done a lot of stupid things and endured too much to earn all my emotional baggage. Like hell I'm going to let some upstart outclass me in THAT department."

Softening her expression, she levels her genuine concern toward Cideeda. "Seriously, though... That was one of the worst moments I've had to experience in my life. And, if it hit me that badly..."

She sports a slight frown and gazes expectantly. "Well... I want to know how you are handling it. If, I'm not prying too much into your business, girl."

Cideeda pauses in thought and internally drifts through her mind, her emerald green eyes sorting between memories. "No. You're not. I just think I'm processing it as well as I can, right now? I mean... It's just really weird."

Resting her hands out to her sides on the workout mat beneath her, she grits her sharp teeth, wrestles the emotion on her face, and releases an uneasy sigh. "I mean... Like, um, most the close calls I've had... Just happened so quickly. I really didn't have a chance to even think about it that much. I just reacted to the situation, and got clear... or clear enough. And, then, it was dealt with and over."

Subconsciously pressing her finger claws into her workout mat, Cideeda's tail wags with an erratic undercurrent, and she frowns slightly with an emerging hint of sadness in her voice. "This time... I had way too much time to think about... Everything. It was only a few minutes, but... A LOT hit me all at once, after I made the decisions."

She glances around inside her mind, slumping her shoulders slightly. "Not used to that at all."

Nodding sympathetically, Sotalia's golden eyes meet Cideeda's emerald green eyes, and Sotalia smirks compassionately with a gentle sigh. "Nothing is worse than being left with your own thoughts during the worst times. Take it from someone with way too much experience in that. You never quite know what's going to show up from the back of your brain when you give it too much of a chance."

She presents a comforting smile to her friend, sitting up straight, and brushes back her fiery orange hair over swept back horns. "I know you probably know this... And, have heard it a hundred times. But, we're all here for you. So don't be afraid to talk to us. Good ahead and pester me all you want, girl."

She averts her gaze off to the side briefly with a knowing grin. "Gods know, I've had to do plenty of that post bad day thinking before, and often really wanted someone else around to help me through it all."

Cideeda curls her mouth into an appreciative smile, nods slightly to Sotalia, and draws in a relaxing breath. "Yeah. I've heard it a lot. But... It's... Good to hear it, again. I think I should be okay. Just sorting through it on my own right now."

Cracking a slight grin, she relaxes some of the tension out of her shoulders. "If not... I'll definitely hit you up."

She glances around the surrounding shaded grasses under the leafy tree, briefly checks towards the front yard, staring at the main road, and ponders out loud. "Well, Aristespha and Dretphi should be back from running errands and getting lunch soon. So, I think we can try one more stretch."

Swinging out to her sides, she deftly moves her legs into side splits, cocks her head questioning, and eyes Sotalia uncertainly. "How good are you at the splits?"

Sotalia lifts an incredulous brow at Cideeda's display, contorts her mouth against her pride, and chuckles confidently. "I may be a little out of practice, but I should still have some flexibility left in me."

Stifling a snort, Cideeda bites her lower lip, unleashing a prodding comment in fvalian. Sotalia narrows her stare, musters up an evil grin, and articulates a comeback fluently in a similar fvalian dialect with a sly tone. Springing her emerald eyes wide, Cideeda expectantly twists the grimaces on her face and fights back a flush of embarrassed red in her cheeks. Pointing a finger at Cideeda, Sotalia snorts out a laugh and shakes her head in amused satisfaction. "Ha! I figured as much. You would TOTALLY use it to your advantage."

Squirming and recomposing her pride, Cideeda shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. With a sweep of her long tail, she rolls her eyes at herself and curls a guilty smirk, her furry ears flicking around. "No comment."

Sotalia turns her focus ahead, unfolds her legs in front of herself, and braces her body with her hands out on the ground at her sides. "Well... Let's see how rusty I am."

With careful progression, she gradually eases her legs sideways and slowly guides them further apart. Cideeda observes attentively, studying Sotalia's movement. Arriving at a right angle between her feet, Sotalia stops pushing any further and takes a deep breath, holding the position with a slight grimace. "Gods. As much as I want to show you up... Damn... I think that's about all I can do right now. Really don't want to chance it any further."

Cideeda nods respectfully and rests her hands on the tops of her thighs. "Honestly, that's really good. Especially if you haven't stretched them out like that in a long time."

Sotalia starts to ease her legs close, shifting her weight slightly forward, and rests her hands on her legs. "Still... Dammit. I used to be able to do so much bet-"

Beneath her form fitting workout shorts, a large inner-thigh muscle quivers visibly for a moment and sharply tenses. Sotalia's legs suddenly pull closed, and she rolls over onto the ground. Gritting her teeth, she screams out in a mix of anguish and anger. "AH! FUCK! GODS DAMMIT!"

Cideeda scrambles over next to the curled up and cursing Sotalia and grabs hold of her. Sotalia spews forth a litany of curses in an intricate fabric of languages weaving together into a tapestry. Fighting against the pained flailing of Sotalia, Cideeda maneuvers the wailing half-emin onto her back and secures the afflicted leg, carefully leaning close to the limb for inspection. "Calm down! Let me see what's going on!"

Sotalia musters up a fraction of composure, tightly grasps her horns, and breathes loud and tense. "Oh gods! Fuck! Dammit! I can't BELIEVE it's THAT same spot! WHY NOW?! It hasn't bothered me in YEARS!"

Cideeda quickly spots the deforming tension, cautiously feels the contracted muscle, and slowly shakes her head. "WOW. That's really locked up. What helped it out before?"

Cringing and gritting her teeth, Sotalia forces the words out through the pain, growling out. "Massaging it! Just needs to be massaged. SHIT! FUCK! OW!"

Grasping around the inner thigh, Cideeda studies the tension and presses her finger tips carefully into the leg. "I'll see what I can do."

Inside the living area of the ranch style house, Bach quickly steps into the middle of the living area from the hallway archway. He searches around the room for a noise and aims his confused stare out towards the sliding glass door. Slowly plodding on the floor barefooted, he pulls up his loose fitting shorts and brushes off his baggy t-shirt. A loud, shrill noise cuts through the muffling glass and grabs Bach's attention. Stepping up to the sliding door, Bach pushes it open and charges out into the backyard. He blinks worried and darts his alert gaze around, searching for the source of the noise. Sotalia squeals out in a torrent of pan-cultural swears and shouts out. "STOP USING YOUR CLAWS!"

With blatant frustration in her voice, Cideeda yells back. "Then roll over! I might get a better angle to press into it."

Bach sprints off towards the side lot of the property next to the house, rounds the corner, and snaps his gaze towards Cideeda and Sotalia. He approaches fast and slows to halt. Fighting through a haze of bewilderment and awkwardness, he puzzles at the sight of Sotalia face-down, tightly gripping her workout mat, and groaning with both of Cideeda's hands between her thighs. Bach glances around the area and cocks his head to the side. View the situation, obviously perplexed, and he calls out uncertainly. "Okay... Um... What the hell is going on? I heard the screaming from inside my room."

Sotalia lifts her forehead up from the mat and growls out. "A fucking cramp!"

Flashing a glare back to Cideeda, Sotalia grumbles loudly. "And the claws AREN'T helping!"

Shaking her head, Cideeda releases Sotalia's leg and dismissively holds her hands up in the air with a roll of her emerald green eyes. "I can't reach the right muscle to massage without poking her."

Bach quickly steps over to Sotalia's side and gazes between Sotalia and Cideeda. "So, um, anything I can do to help?"

Twisting her head back, Sotalia glances over her shoulder to Bach and winces, fighting off a surge in muscle tension. She energetically directs Bach with a point of her finger. "Grab hold of it and massage it! OW! FUCK!"

Blinking dumbfounded, Bach settles his attention upon Sotalia's posterior and legs and freezes, embarrassment and awkwardness paralyzing him. "Uh... where... is... the... cr-"

Underneath the surface of Sotalia's tight-fitting workout shorts, an inner thigh muscle abruptly tenses in erratic twitching spasms. Sotalia growls out frustration and pain and clenches her fists. "SHIT! Why won't it just stop already?!"

Bach focuses his attention upon the spot, widens his eyes briefly in a blend of surprise and curiosity, and leans closer, studying the muscle. "Wow! THAT is a cramp."

Hearing Sotalia whimper out her frustration, Bach powers through the awkwardness and discomfort and grasps tightly, massaging the area. Minutes of experimentation and guidance from Sotalia and Cideeda, Bach works a firm pattern of applying moving pressure, soothing the spasm crazed muscle. The process continues. Sotalia stretches out of her arms in front of her and recovers from her exhausting, painful experience with each long, calming breath. Cideeda gently pats Sotalia on the back of the shoulder, comforting her. "I think it's calmed down finally."

Fluttering her golden eyes open, Sotalia slowly crosses her arms, rests her chin on top, and sighs. "Finally... Gods... It hasn't done that in so long..."

Bach continues working the area in longer sweeping motions. Regaining her situational awareness, a sly grin graces Sotalia. Shifting her gazes to the side, she slowly shrugs her shoulders, requesting with an alluring tone. "You know, since you did such a good job there... I have a few tense spots around my shoulders that could use YOUR touch."

Pausing the task, Bach's thought process jams up in the sudden surge of awkwardness and situational awareness. Cideeda notices the building embarrassment-fueled red flush in Bach's cheeks, narrows a glare at Sotalia, and presses a claw tip firmly into the side of Sotalia's butt. "I think YOU need to GO INSIDE and rest until Aristespha gets back."

Squelching a reflexive yip, Sotalia briefly grumbles. She pushes herself off the workout mat, steadying herself with the help of Bach and Cideeda, and stands up. "That's probably a good idea. Let's get-"

A twitch of the muscle halts Sotalia, stopping her next step, and she groans annoyed. "Dammit. I had almost forgotten how annoying this thing could get... Okay. If I can just keep it still and limp it-"

With Sotalia's attempt to move forward, another visible spasm tenses the muscle. She halts and balances her weight between Bach and Cideeda. Gritting her teeth, she drops her head down with painful resignation. "Shit... It's still really touchy. Oh gods, maybe if I-"

Thinking a moment, Bach judges the distance, kneels down slightly, and readies himself. "Here. It's not that far. Let me carry you the rest of the way."

With a careful sweep underneath, Bach tips Sotalia back in his arms, hoists her up with a little strain of his body, and carries her towards the sliding glass door. "Let's not chance it right now."

Sotalia glances around in surprise, Bach securely carrying her. She squirms slightly against the physique keeping her aloft and smirks guiltily. With a humored snort, Cideeda rolls her eyes and slides the back sliding glass door wider, allowing Bach and Sotalia in.

----

Inside the living area, Sotalia squirms upon the couch, anxiously watching Aristespha. Concentrating her dimly illuminated violet eyes at the inside of Sotalia's thigh, Aristespha examines the recently spasm prone muscle. Nearby with her arms crossed, Cideeda shifts weight between her feet, observing with a mix of intrigue and scrutiny. Bach stands idly surfing through the different channels on the television, glancing over occasionally. Twisting her grimace thoughtfully, Aristespha sits back on her ankles, resting her hand upon the coffee table top, and ponders out loud. "From what I can determine, nothing too serious. Seems to be a very strong muscle cramp. There is some residual tension in the muscles and minor cramps trying to happen."

She closes her eyes briefly, reopens them to a bright violet glow, and pulls back her long silvery-blue hair over her very long, pointed ears. "I can perform a few muscle release magical flows. Those should disrupt enough and allow the muscles in that region to relax fully."

Turning his attention away from the television screen, Bach furrows his brow curiously at Aristespha. "So... How does that work?"

Aristespha glances over her shoulder briefly. "It is similar to dry needling. The process triggers an interrupting stimulus that causes the muscle to release."

Smiling with intrigue, she motions Bach over. "In fact, sit next to me. I think this is something you can learn."

Stepping around the pulled out coffee table, Bach settles down into a seat upon the floor next to Aristespha. His genuine curiosity combats down the faint sparks of anxiety from Sotalia smiling at him. "Are you sure? I mean, that really sounds like a proper medical procedure that should be done by someone who... I don't know... Actually knows what they're doing? With years of training and one of those specialist certificates?"

Aristespha turns her head and faces Bach, lifting an incredulous eyebrow, and shakes her head reassuringly. "It is a simple pulse of flow utilizing energies you are more than capable of handling. The key thing is the amount and finer aspects of control."

Tilting her head to the side with an amused smirk, she furrows a knowing brow at Bach and motions towards Sotalia's leg. "Which YOU should be able to pick up, easily. Now mage sight here and watch me, please. I will need to do a contrast pulse so that we can get a better idea of what muscles are affected."

Sotalia's apprehension swells, and she grits her teeth briefly. Glancing nervously around, she chuckles lightly and squirms slightly, vainly playing down her unease. "Huh. You sure something like a needle is the right thing? I mean, Cideeda tried that already."

Cracking a toothy grin, Cideeda flexes the fingers on her hand and blatantly admires her claws. "Well, I'm sure with some proper guidance I could try again. Maybe get better results next time."

Aristespha stares upward for a moment at Sebastian's ethereal form hovering above. Rolling her eyes, she shakes her head along with Sebastian's sigh and calls out towards the kitchen. "Dretphi? Could you assist me, please?"

Leaning her tall frame out from the kitchen, Dretphi shakes a stray platinum blonde braid out of the way and nods. "Yes. How can I assist?"

With Dretphi approaching, Aristespha points towards Sotalia's feet and instructs in a warning tone. "Grab hold of her legs. Sometimes the contrast flow pulse can trigger other minor spasms, and I really do NOT feel like getting a knee to the face today."

Dretphi clamps down her grip on Sotalia's ankles. With golden eyes springing wide open, Sotalia braces herself uncertainly. Sebastian's ghostly visage lands next to the arm of the couch Sotalia's head rests upon and whispers comfortingly in her ear. "Take it easy. You know she knows what she's doing."

Easing out an appreciative sigh, Sotalia nods, grumbles quietly. "I know... I know... But gods, I really don't want that cramp to go off again. That shit REALLY fucking hurt."

Aristespha quickly gestures through a short incantation, flowing energies to her finger, and gently presses the tip against Sotalia's inner thigh. Bach blinks his eyes to a bright blue glow and observes the magical power at play. With exacting finesse, Aristespha releases a faint pulse of flow and narrows her examining stare upon the target area. The energies propagate throughout the different tissues, faint tremors of muscle activity cascade out in fading spasms. The spectacle captivates Bach, his awareness of the world waning with his focus. The contrast pulse dissipates to its outmost range, and Sotalia momentarily winces, reflexively grabbing hold of Bach's upper arm in surprise. Yanking him back to reality, Bach glances over at Sotalia, puzzling. "Uh. You okay?"

Sotalia notices her grip, releases it slowly with a smile, and nods. "Yes. Um. It just felt WEIRD, and I thought that muscle was going to go off again."

With an understanding smirk, Bach shifts his attention back over and studies Aristespha's procedure. Eying over at Bach's arm, Sotalia catches Dretphi's gaze. She subtly points towards Bach's arm, pantomimes by curling hers, and mouths out her surprise to Dretphi. A strong hint of pride radiating out, Dretphi grins faintly and nods in confirmation. Minutes later, Aristespha blinks her violet eyes back to normal and sits back on her ankles, rolling the tension out of her shoulders. "That should calm down the muscles in that region. Though, I would still relax for a few hours and avoid strenuous activity for the rest of the day. You do not want to risk triggering it again today."

Sotalia reaches out towards the out of reach coffee table for the remote. Bach plucks the device up and passes it over. Nodding thankfully, Sotalia resettles herself upon the couch and releases a long, tired sigh. "Oh. Not a problem there, girl."

She furrows her brow towards the television and mumbles. "Gods... I just hope something worth watching is on."

Pondering a moment, Bach slowly turns his gaze over towards Aristespha with an inquisitive tone. "In that one muscle group, I keep noticing a difference in flow. I don't know how to explain it exactly. I mean, it was like there was a rough patch or something."

Aristespha nods in agreement, searching her mind briefly, and explains. "Oh, yes. Very likely it is an old injury that has healed over time. The amount and density of replacement muscle cells can create that type of flow phenomena."

Blinking a moment, she aims an intrigued lift of the eyebrow at Sotalia and cocks her head to the side. "Old gymnastics or workout injury?"

Sotalia thinks a moment, rolls her eyes over, sparking a glare at Sebastian, and snorts. "Yeah. You could say THAT."

Hearing the familiar accusatory inflection, Sebastian catches the visual insinuation and remains silent, a goofy smile failing to hide past embarrassment. Aristespha shakes her head with a laugh and stands up. "Well. Those types of injuries can happen."

Bach rights himself up, maneuvers over to his chair next to the other side of the couch, and plops down in it. The rest of the team disperses to their own tasks. Bach and Sotalia level their attention on the television. A commercial later, the local news report bit pops up.

"Investigators have turned up more evidence of recent activity by the People for Dragon Rights group in the Amaranth Valley area. Along with previous disruptive activities in the mass release of fancy whelps at a show, recent antics have backfired during an attempt to free a small herd of pseudo-dragons from their pens. Attempts to push sleeping pseudo-dragons out of their stables, incidentally, tipped one over on top of a group member, temporarily pinning them underneath the irritated creature. Investigators are still looking for more information about these individuals, and urge anyone with information to please contact local authorities."

Bach sneers his upper lip, groaning out his disgust, and shakes his head. "Oh. Gods... THOSE assholes."

Perking her brow, Sotalia tilts her head towards Bach and flutters her eyes in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? They usually seem well meaning..."

Twisting her mouth, she glances off to the side. "If just really... REALLY... Inept."

Bach contorts his face into a few derisive grimaces and grumbles out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. "Well. There was a real big chapter of that group that hung out around High Alton. And, they gave me, Sebastian, Kaleb, and Shadeesa all kinds of hell because... We kept a dragon as a pet."

Fighting an incredulous hoist of an eyebrow, Sotalia narrows her curious stare at Bach, prying for more. "Really? They always seem to champion good things. I mean, how bad could they really be?"

Bach holds up his finger towards Sotalia, catching her attention, and directs his voice down the hallway. "Hey, Sebastian! Get over here! I got something to tell you."

Seconds later, Sebastian hovers into the living around through the archway leading the hallway and gazes down at Bach. "What do you got, bro?"

A sly smirk appears on Bach, and he taps the fingertips of both hands together. "Guess who's in town?"

Sebastian thinks a moment, furrowing his brow. Moments pass, and he squints a suspicious stare at Bach, crossing his arms. "Who?"

Twisting a smile, Bach holds his hands out to his side and darkly chuckles. "Our friends... PDR."

Confusion flashes up on Sebastian's ethereal form, and furious recognition flushes out prior emotions into oblivion. "AH FUCK! REALLY?! SHIT..."

Sebastian rubs his ghostly temples and wanders into frustrated circular paths in the open area. Cideeda and Dretphi rest down plates of food on the dining table, exchanging stares, and stare upon the scene. Crossing her arms, Cideeda flicks her furry ears and perks up her eyebrow. "Okay. What exactly did those guys do to you two?"

Grumbling to a slow regain of his composure, Sebastian mulls over the right choice of words, twisting his mouth. "WELL... They just constantly gave us shit for almost a YEAR. GODS. It got so bad, we could hardly even take Lagi out for walks without scouting the area out first."

He shakes his head in pure disgust, old frustrations bubbling up. "AND, the leader decided to get into an argument over dragon care with Shadeesa... AFTER, she was well into her exotic veterinarian program."

Bach's blue eyes widen, a distant memory rising to the front of his mind, and he grits his teeth. "Oh... Gods... YEAH... Holy shit, I thought I was going to witness a murder that night."

Cracking a sly grin toward Bach, Sebastian chuckles darkly with pride at his brother. "It wasn't until Lagi learned a particular fire spell..."

His ghostly visage leans forward with a playful stare at Bach. "SOMEHOW..."

Bach averts his eyes and dismissively shrugs. Sebastian straightens his posture back with a smirk. "That they finally kept their distance. They were THOROUGHLY CONVINCED to go bother people other than us after Lagi started spitting fire at them."

Furrowing her brow curiously, Sotalia levels an examining stare upon Bach. "OH. Really?"

Bach spots the attention and twists his mouth uncomfortably, attempting to shrug off the guilt. "Yeah, uh. Turns out Lagi was a very observant little dragon, and really liked that fire marble spell..."

He holds up a finger against the scrutiny surrounding. "I was PRACTICING that one night."

Sebastian hoists a partially accusatory eyebrow towards Bach and colors his tone in a mix of sarcasm and amusement. "Yes. The fire marble spell. That entry level, practice spell, often done by high school students in a basic magic course... That YOU... For SOME REASON... Desperately needed to do an all day refresher session on... Right in front of Lagi's attentive gaze."

Drawing a wide evil grin on her light tan face, Sotalia gazes at Bach, thoroughly amused. Cideeda and Dretphi twist their faces between humor and surprise. Peeking out from the hallway archway, Aristespha furrows her intrigued brow. Bach glances around at the attention and releases a defeated sigh, shaking his head. "Yeah... Well... Just DON'T bring it up with Shadeesa. Please? I think she's still..."

He briefly grits his teeth, hissing in a tense breath, and holds up a pinch between his thumb and forefinger. "A little mad... Still?"

Glancing off to the side, he lingers out a groan. "I mean... She did lose some really expensive clothes that one time because of Lagi using that spell."

Sebastian catches a thought his subconscious tosses up and requests with concern, fighting a reflexive cringe. "Speaking of which... Bro, could you send both Kaleb and Shadeesa a message? Even though they're not that close to here, we should warn them."

Sorting through the menus on his aetherphone, Bach nods in complete agreement and starts typing out a message. "Yeah, I'm on it. And as big as Lagi has gotten, he's quite figuratively AND literally a big target for them."

Dretphi hums in thought and slowly shakes her head. "Did not think they were confrontational. Comically incompetent? Yes. Misguided? Yes."

Sebastian rolls his translucent blue eyes, shrugging his shoulders, and holds his hands out to the sides. "They just focus on the big, easy to see problems. Stuff that looks good, and they get done quickly. Then, they just pat themselves on the back afterwards. You never see them helping out at the shelters, or doing fundraisers for anyone other than themselves."

He shakes his head and sighs. "The real solutions to the real problems take time, and aren't glamorous enough for them."

Bach's aetherphone chirps out an alert, and Bach taps onto the on display pop up. Sebastian floats over next to Bach and peeks over at the phone screen. "Kaleb or Shadeesa?"

Holding up his aetherphone, Bach snorts with a crooked smirk. "Kaleb. His response... Oh, gods fucking dammit. And, I think he was using the voice to text function? Because, it might have caught Shadeesa's response in the background, too? These are emin letters, I think?"

Sotalia carefully scoots over on the couch to the other side and aims an expectant gaze at Bach, hemming. Noticing Sotalia, Bach glances at his aetherphone and hands it over to Sotalia. With golden eyes quickly scanning the text, Sotalia blinks blankly, hands the phone back, and whistles faintly. "THAT is NOT a happy woman."

----

A peaceful ambiance radiates throughout the dense forest. Thick patches of undergrowth soak in the spots of bright sunlight slipping through the full canopy of competing older trees. Powerful gusts of wind filter through the countless gaps between the leaves, and sound out a droning chorus of rustling below. Within a carefully arranged circle of rocks, a low fire singes the prepared carcass of a small game animal propped above it upon a spit. A leather gloved hand reaches out and grasps tightly upon a leg, firmly securing the cooked limb. A sharp dagger with a glinting edge pushes into the connective tissues around the joint and effortlessly slices the meaty leg free from the rest of the roasted body.

The lone evuukian man bites calmly into the cooked flesh and grumbles lowly to himself in a dialect of evuukian with a calculating tone. Slowly chewing, he straightens his posture, sitting on a log, and adjusts his leather armored outfit. Noticing the build up of pollen and dirt, he brushes off the intricate details within the aged and worn suit and slowly cleans the magically reflective emblems. Tossing his long, black hair back, he contorts his light-gray, green hinted face between sprints of contemplation and narrows his distant brilliant yellow eyed stare. Munching upon the cooked leg, he shifts his attention over to a pile of equipment at his side. He sifts through the gear under the swaying, leafy shade. Carefully setting an elaborately designed, exceptionally crafted bow off to the side, he slides over a handmade leather quiver filled with meticulously, intricately made arrows. Glints of magical light flicker off the nearly invisible flowing patterns inlaid upon the equipment, laying neatly against a shaded fallen log.

With a firm grip, the aged evuukian man hoists up a battered, older field radio unit and sets it up next to him. Turning on the unit with a twist of a knob, he taps a number of buttons in a well rehearsed series of steps. The device displays a fast changing series of numbers with sweeping signal indicators. The digits halt. The encoded contents play out through a speaker on the unit, and the man presses a button. Over the next minute, the process repeats numerous times. The man sighs, tinges of frustration slipping out. Flipping to another band of frequencies, the device locks onto a channel, and a spoken broadcast plays out.

"In our ongoing coverage of the sudden GAA activity in Ark, public relations representatives from the GAA have released official statements about troop movements into the Ark river peninsula. From the official release, it seems a previously unknown facility, long abandoned, was discovered due to tips from the public describing strange activity in the area."

The evuukian raises up the roasted leg of meat, readying for another bite, and curls a mean smirk from the corner of his mouth.

"During initial investigations, GAA specialists discovered a possible threat to the public and successfully dealt with the problem before it could lead to endangering the citizens living in the area..."

Pausing right before another bite, the evuukian man slowly angles his forming glare upon the radio. He sneers his upper lip, growling quietly to himself. Reaching into a nearby backpack, he puts his arm further in than the height of the container itself and retrieves a long, rolled up document. Spreading out the thick and aged paper of the detailed map, the man surveys the many markings of locations, extensive notes littering the margins and symbology annotating the points of interest. He scours over the information and settles his gaze upon a circled spot in the middle of a river peninsula. Plucking a marker from one of the backpack's side pouches, he slowly drags an "X" out upon the paper, a low growl articulating his simmering frustration.

He pauses in thought, stares coldly at the map, and examines it closely. He studies the many other labeled locations and scowls with a slow shake of his head. Narrowing his yellow eyes upon another spot on the document, he nods to himself. He quietly ponders to himself, methodically sorting through the forming thoughts, and grimaces between deliberating rocks of his head. He rolls the map back up and deposits it into the darker space deep within the backpack. Flashes of sunlight from above beam down through the swaying branches and briefly illuminate the greater capacity within the bag, highlighting the mix of old artifacts and collections of documents packed tightly within space beyond.

Pulling a strip of meat off the cooked leg, he grits his teeth in swelling anger and groans to himself, annoyance driving his distant stare into the dense surrounding forest. He squints in thought and grumbles out in spiteful evuukian. At the apex of his quiet rant, he narrows a stern glare and flickers of faint white spark around the centers of his eyes.

----

A hard rain pours down, rolling out in sheets across the mostly empty parking lot. The droning patters of drops rush the front glass wall of the small restaurant and spatter against the surface, coats of water shedding off to the rhythm of the wind. Meredosia's crimson eyes stare distantly out into the drenching gusts, waves drifting across the wet surface of the pavement outside. A minute of staring later, the screen on her battered aetherphone dims, and she blinks back to the current reality. Glancing down upon the display, she taps it back to full brightness and idly scrolls through the text on an aethersite. Humming to herself, she rests the device down on the small table next to the kitchen entryway and presses the link on the screen. A brief, weak flash lights up the horizon. Muffled thunder vibrates upon the glass store front.

Meredosia brushes back her long, gray hair away from her ivory face, drawing in a long breath, and stares at her aetherphone, light hints of annoyance slipping out. Rolling her crimson eyes at the loading indicator prominent on the screen, she watches the dim illumination of the stormy afternoon through the vinyl "Fval Spice" signage on the glass front door. Observing no difference in the weather over the moments, she shifts her attention down to a worn, aged notebook, and flips to a new page. Picking up a wooden pencil off to the side, she taps on the blank paper, twisting her face of indecision thoughtfully. Slowly, her left hand gracefully brushes the graphite tip, sketching out rough shapes and shades upon the page. Her eyes focus upon the developing picture, and a faint smile creeps out from the corner of her mouth.

Brushing his hands on his apron, Noyando steps out from the back of the kitchen, flicks the graying tips of his furry black ears, and contorts his light brown face thoughtfully. Pondering the weather outside in the quiet moment, he glances over at the wall clock, frowns slightly, and shrugs his shoulders plainly. "No more deliveries, today, Mera. To-go and dine-in only."

Mera blinks back to awareness, gazes over to Noyando, and nods with growing relief. "Oh. Thank you. To be honest, I really didn't want to have to ride out in this weather."

Shaking his head, Noyando sighs with a jutting canine smile. "I would not want you out there, right now. Anyway, you can help with getting ready for the dinner rush."

Mera agrees and begins to get up from the seat. Noyando holds his hand out and calmly motions for Mera to stay seated. "Not now. It's not busy. So, I will cook your dinner. What do you want tonight?"

Settling back down onto her bench seat against the wall, Mera thinks a moment and decides with a happy tone. "Oh. I want to try that one dish you recommended. Please?"

A proud grin appears on Noyando, and he nods, pivoting back into the kitchen area entrance. "Of course. I will start right now."

Mera's very long ivory ears perk up subtly under her gray hair. She returns her attention back to refining the sketch in her notebook. Glancing over to her aetherphone, she taps the screen back on, enters the security code, and resumes reading the freshly loaded aethersite text. Mera browses quietly. A young fvalian girl wanders out from the kitchen area with a battered tablet in her hands. Briefly frowns at the constant rain and dark gray skies outside the store, she glances over towards Mera and steps over to a chair on the other side of the table. Sliding the chair out, the fvalian girl hops up into the seat, places her tablet on the tabletop, and idly searches through a partially cracked screen for a game on the menu. Mera shifts her attention over to the child momentarily, quirking her brow, and resumes filling in the finer details of her sketch.

The fvalian girl presses firmly on the screen, the device responding eventually, and watches a loading symbol appear, frowning slightly. The bar slowly creeps along. The fvalian girl's black furry ears droop close to her shoulders, and she sighs loud, impatiently. Idly kicking her legs under the chair, the seconds tick on by. Her attention drifts around the room, desperation seeking anything else entertaining around. Exhausting the contents of the room around her and the same stormy grayness outside, she settles her gaze upon Mera's notebook. She stares attentively. Her furry black ears perk up, and her light brown eyes widen with growing curiosity. Mera continues to glide her pencil skillfully over the evolving picture. The young fvalian girl unconsciously leans closer and closer over time towards the work in progress, staring at in it growing wonder. Gazing her light brown eyes up at Mera, the fvalian girl smiles brightly. "That's really pretty. You're really good."

Mera blinks back to awareness, glances up from the page, meeting the fvalian girl's eyes, and awkwardly smiles, hiding some embarrassment. "Oh, um... Thank you. It is not done, yet. I still have a lot more to do."

Thinking a moment, she tilts her head to the side and plainly asks. "I have seen you around here. But... I have not caught your name. What is it?"

Flicking her furry ears, the fvalian girl perks up and grins with a sharp smile. "My name is Katelli. You are Mera."

Mera chuckles lightly and cracks a small smile. "Yes, I am."

Katelli smiles brightly, her fluffy tail wagging. "You are always taking food out. And riding the scooter."

Nodding, Mera smirks happily. "That I am."

Quickly shifting her attention to a chime from her tablet, Katelli stares at it for a second and sighs, watching it struggle to load the game. Mera squints her eyes at the screen, frowns slightly, and shakes her head. "Is it broken?"

With a mildly frustrated growl, Katelli rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. It's just SO OLD. It takes FOREVER to do anything. The screen is all scratchy, too."

Mera nods sympathetically, lifting up her aetherphone off the table top, and shows it to Katelli. "Yes. I know how you feel, too."

Glancing from her worm device over at the battered aetherphone, Katelli giggles appreciatively, smiling. "Wow! It's as old as my tablet. Does it take FOREVER to do stuff, too?"

Turning the phone back to her, Mera taps a new link on the aethersite and places it back down on the table. Katelli slides her tablet over next to the aetherphone. Mera and Katelli watch on, the devices progress bars gradually sliding along their ponderous paces. With her elbows on the table and knee upon the wooden chair, Katelli leans over and snickers with a wide grin, wagging her tail excitedly. "Which one will win?"

With a humored snort, Mera rolls her eyes with a smile and shakes her head. "I do not think either of them will really win. They just will not lose as bad as the other."

Katelli giggles and wanders her attention back over onto Mera's developing sketch. She stares captivated at the details in the surrounding forest framing, the overlook into a huge clearing between massive trees, and the plant covered ancient buildings. Blinking curiously, she tilts her head, intrigued at the two evuukians sitting next to each other and gazing into the clearing. She flicks her furry ears in thought and stares at her slow loading tablet. A moment later, she readily slides her curiosity over and glances over at Mera's notebook and pencils.

Sitting briefly back down, she hops out of her chair and walks over behind the front counter, almost disappearing out of view with her furry ear tips just above the countertop. With Katelli's tail wagging out, sounds of shuffling and noises of movement fill in the air briefly. Seconds later, Katelli reappears from behind the counter with a pad of order tickets and a pen. Rushes back over, she slips back into the chair and puts the pad down upon the small table's top. With a happy smile, Katelli's furry ears perk, and she starts putting pen to paper. "I'm going to draw something, too."

Puzzling in the moment, Mera watches Katelli scratch out the first lines on the pad of tickets, a delighted smile gradually emerging over time upon her ivory face. In between filling in spots of detail upon her sketch, Mera pauses, following the progress of Katelli's drawing. The powerful storm rolls on across the parking lot, filling the outside world with background chaos. Inside the calm pocket of Fval Spice, Mera and Katelli compare doodles and dysfunctional portable devices, the growing aroma of food filling up the small restaurant.

-80-

The side door to the long brick house opens up. Shadeesa grips onto the handrail, traveling down the few steps onto the concrete of the attached carport. Adjusting the apron over her looser fitting clothes and large belly, she hands over a small packet of paperwork to a middle-aged emin, presenting a smile on her light gray, white freckled face. "Here are the official test results straight from the Dragon Sciences lab of High Alton, Mr. Frenzacia. Congratulations. Varan is a proper dragon."

Mr. Frenzacia blinks his deep red on black eyes and glances down at the manila envelope. Removing the paperwork, he furrows his brow and uneasily smiles. "Wow... I guess that Professor Blaureiter's hunch was right. Huh... Um..."

He gazes over to a young teen-aged girl with silvery, red tinted hair blowing in the gentle breeze and calls out with a subdued, nervous grin. "Did you hear that, Fawna? Your little Varan is a... Genuine dragon. He's probably going to grow really... BIG..."

Pausing a moment from pulling a firm bristle brush along a small dragon's amber scales, Fawna smiles brightly, joy lighting up her blue on white and blue on black eyes. "REALLY?!"

She barely contains her excitement, briefly shifts her attention to a thought, idly guiding stray hairs over her horns, and gazes back over eagerly. "How big is he going to get?!"

Mr. Frenzacia slides his distant gaze over towards Shadeesa, fighting an awkward smirk. "Vet Serania... What is the damage I should expect when that one grows up?"

Hints of future dread sneak into his stare over at the gigantic Lagi, the dragon spreading both wingspans out for Kaleb. Shadeesa lifts an eyebrow and tilts her head of tied back dark green hair to the side. "Depends. How much land do you have? You've mentioned having a farm."

Searching the top of his mind, Mr. Frenzacia's eyes sort through mental figures, and he reports the results with a confident hum. "Just over a square kilometer between all my plots. I take care a few more of the family plots, too."

Nodding at the figure, Shadeesa crosses her arms just over her pregnant belly, and smirks thoughtfully. "What do you grow?"

Mr. Frenzacia nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders and smiles, pondering out loud. "Honestly... A little bit of everything. We have the usual vegetables everyone buys around here. I've been TRYING to get an apple orchard going on a plot that's not great for much else. And, if all goes well, our frost avocados should fruit this fall."

An intrigued spark lights up Shadeesa's eyes, and she smirks reassuringly at Mr. Frenzacia. "Oh. You should be just fine then. In fact, the larger Varan gets the more useful he'll be on the farm."

Cocking his head to the side, Mr. Frenzacia blinks curiously, resting his hands on his sides. "Really? Why is that?"

Shadeesa grins widely, chuckling amused. "Oh, allow me to tell you all about your new, growing garbage disposal unit."

Out in the backyard near the carport, Kaleb walks around from the other side of Lagi into view. He pets Lagi on his large, armored head, and walks next to Fawna brushing the relaxing Varan. "Yeah, Lagi loved his stiff brush when he was that little. Enjoy it while it's that simple."

Kneeling on the ground slowly pulling the brush over the sedate Varan's scales, Fawna gazes up at Kaleb with a bright, curious smile. "Does it get harder to care for dragons?"

Turning his head, Kaleb gazes at Lagi sunning his massive wings in the sun and shrugs his shoulders with his arms out to the side. He indecisively deliberates, scratching his head of short blonde hair. "Well... Not harder, exactly? I think the right words are... More complicated?"

Glancing down at the completely enthralled Varan, Kaleb shakes his head with a smile and steps over to an open toolbox. He retrieves a pair of large pliers and directs his voice to Fawna, signaling Lagi over. "Soon, you might be filing claw tips, shaping armor plates, and pulling out stubborn scales."

Kaleb furrows his brow, points to a spot under a wing shoulder on Lagi, and inquires, awaiting confirmation. "So, under there?"

Lagi narrows his green eyes at the spot, turns his body towards Kaleb, and scratches at the troublesome area of blue black scales. He wanders between grumbling and mumbling in a complex series of clicks, snorts, churls, chirps, hisses, and growls. Kaleb nods his head, walks over next to the spot, and feels around the outer layer of the dragon, tapping upon the odd scale sticking out. "Yeah. It's definitely close enough to falling out. Just hanging on enough to be annoying."

Rubbing around the base of the thick skin supporting the awkward scale, he clamps the pliers carefully onto the scale and glances over to Fawna, meeting her intrigued gaze. "Now... The trick to it is to be quick right after you've massaged the spot just enough."

Fawna idly brushes the little amber dragon Varan and watches the dragon care lesson from Kaleb. Shadeesa draws a long breath in, sighs with a smile, and finishes up her explanation. "So, really, Varan is going to save you A LOT of money on disposal of most of your processing leftovers. When his digestive tract develops fully, there will be very few things he won't be able to eat."

She pauses a moment, perking her brow, and twists her mouth, hints of past sour experiences slipping out. "Though... You will NEED to teach him he's not allowed to eat from fruit trees without your expressed permission. Otherwise, you will NEVER see a ripe piece of fruit on those trees EVER again."

Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Mr. Frenzacia nods, relief growing, and chuckles to himself. "Understood. Well. At least, I guess I can stop buying that gods awful expensive fancy whelp feed now."

Fawna's long, pointy ear tips twitch at Mr. Frenzacia's voice, and she turns her unhappy stare at her father. "Dad! Varan LIKES that food A LOT."

With a waning sigh, Mr. Frenzacia rolls his deep red on black eyes in defeat. Shadeesa quirks her face into a smile, holding a finger up, and signals Mr. Frenzacia to wait, walking inside the house through the side door. A minute later, Shadeesa carefully steps down with a large square of green and brown minced fiber in each hand. Mr. Frenzacia puzzles at the faint sheen on the objects, cocking his head to the side, and inquires with a lift of an eyebrow. "So... What are those?"

Smirking slyly, Shadeesa gauges the gentle breeze passing on by and intersects into the flow drifting towards the backyard. "Oh. It's something Kaleb and I have been developing over the years for Lagi. It's compressed fruit fodder and lard..."

She smiles with a wink. "With just a little bit of peanut butter."

The wind stirs around Shadeesa, and she holds a large, thick rectangular treat in each hand. The faint gust blows across the fragrant slabs towards the dragons a distance away. Moments later, Varan stirs abruptly from his brush induced slumber, sniffing the air with confused chirps, and blinks his aqua eyes. Surprised, Fawna watches the sudden excitement from Varan, glances around, and meets Shadeesa's gaze. "Huh, uh... What are THOSE?"

Carefully leaning over, Shadeesa passes both treats over into Fawna's hands and grins, standing back up with her hands on her back. "Treats for the dragons. Give one to Varan."

Fawna sniffs the strange block and scrunches up her nose reflexively. Eying the strange square apprehensively, she glances down at the small pair of clawed draconic hands expectantly pawing at her arms. Varan alternates his attentive aqua eyed gaze between Fawna and the square treat, visibly pleading and playing up the pity. Fawna blinks, tilting her head intrigued, and holds the large treat in front of the small dragon. Varan quickly grasps hold of the slab of fodder, sniffing of it deeply, and bites off a chunk promptly. Chewing the treat slowly, he halts suddenly. His aqua eyes widen, claws gripping the thick square tighter, and stares entranced at the delicious creation with his paws. A loud series of happy chirps and purrs slip out between chews and bites, Varan excitedly devouring the treat, tail wagging and wings flapping reflexively, subconsciously.

Fawna gazes in sheer astonishment and smiles brightly at the absolute delight plainly obvious on the small dragon. "Wow! You really must like it a lot. I've never heard you make all these noises at once. Not even when I gave you your nice food."

With attention mostly upon the small dragon's dramatic reaction, Lagi's green eyes fully lock onto the remaining treat in Fawna's other hand she idly holds off to the side. With slow, careful movements, Lagi purposefully maneuvers quietly closer. Enjoying the distraction of Varan, Fawna's hand with the other treat wanders away during the Varan's excited consumption of his treat. Pausing often to study the reactions of Kaleb, Shadeesa, Mr. Frenzacia, and Fawna, Lagi eases his massive frame forward into the collective mental blind spot. Gradually threading his neck closer to Fawna, he slowly parts his massive maw. His long tongue eases out, the tip extending ever closer, cautiously towards the treat. The wind blows on by, and the faintest traces of taste land upon Lagi's tongue. Lagi's eager green eyed stare widens, and his tongue closes the distance to the goal, nearly touching the treat.

A powerful, sharp, thunderous snap of the fingers pierces through the air. The large dragon halts his progress immediately in a surge of frightening familiarity. Shadeesa squares her stance, glaring disapprovingly at Lagi, and commands. "LAGI! NO! YOU know better."

Lagi shrinks back away guiltily, shamefully averting his gaze with whimper. Shadeesa rests her hand upon her hip, points a finger at Lagi, and narrows her green on black stare at him. "That's very RUDE of you. Fawna is our guest. If you want the treat, you need to ask her nicely."

Working through the embarrassment, Lagi meets Fawna's expectant gaze, regains his composure, and emits a series of chirps, clicks, purrs, and whines. Fawna tilts her head to the side and glances around to everyone surrounding her confused, seeking some kind of explanation. Sharpening her stare at Lagi, Shadeesa sighs loudly and shakes her head of dark green hair, flicking a few strands over her upward swept horns. "In Americ, Lagi. She doesn't understand that language, and you certainly need the practice."

Lagi gazes pitifully over at Kaleb and whines out a plea. Kaleb crosses his arms, standing sternly, and reaffirms. "You heard her, Lagi. I agree with her. You definitely need to practice."

A mumbling, disappointed grumble slips out from Lagi, and he sits up into a childishly defiant pout. He summons up his resolve and presents a facade of exaggerated disinterest towards the treat in Fawna's hand. Varan's chirps and purrs of joy fill the silent moment, and he munches happily upon a pocket of peanut butter within the treat. Glancing briefly over, Lagi witnesses the small dragon coiled blissfully around the partially eaten treat, lapping up the oozing, delicious mix in his clawed clutches. Each happy noise from Varan and playful toss of the savory square dissolves more of Lagi's resolve, and his attention settles back upon the dragon treat in Fawna hand.

Drawing in a large breath of air, Lagi gazes at Fawna and contorts his mouth awkwardly, flexing his throat in unpracticed motions into rough, approximate vocalizations. "May. I. Have. Treat? Please?"

Both Fawna and Mr. Frenzacia stare at Lagi in honest surprise. Shadeesa smiles happily and claps her hands together encouragingly. "There you go! Very good, Lagi."

Patting Lagi on his side, Kaleb smirks proudly at him and nods. "See! It's not so hard. Just practice a bit more."

Fawna flutters her blue on white and blue on black eyes out of the stupor and smiles brightly in astonishment and excitement, offering the treat to Lagi. "Yes, you may, Lagi."

With a swift lap, Lagi plucks up the treat into his maw, settles down on the grass, and slowly chews upon the treat into a moment of bliss. Fawna catches a random thought in her mind and glances down at Varan. Her eyes widening with possibility, she pauses and blinks bewildered. "Wait... Could Varan talk one day?!"

The dragons enjoy their treats. Kaleb explains the dynamics of dragon vocalization to Fawna. Mr. Frenzacia ponders a moment and turns to Shadeesa, casually inquiring. "How stocked up on baby clothes and furniture are you?"

Lifting an entrepreneurial eyebrow, Shadeesa cracks a plotting smirk. "Nowhere near as much as I should be, of course."

Mr. Frenzacia nods, stroking his beard, and crosses his arms. "My wife has been wanting to clear out the bonus room. There's quite a bit of old baby clothes and a nice wooden crib... among other things up there."

Turning her head towards Mr. Frenzacia, Shadeesa grins slyly and chuckles to herself. "Well, I think an arrangement could be made. Plenty of advice to be shared and treats to be made."

----

The overhead fan's wooden blades gently spin and push a gentle stream of air down upon the middle of the room. A paper bag of corn chips wobbles upon a finely crafted wooden coffee table, rapping softly against an empty beer bottle upon a coaster. Thomas Blaureiter snorts loudly and snuffles upon the couch, shifting his head upon a couch pillow. He unconsciously tosses upon the dark brown leather couch and scratches his thin, tight white shirt with his cybernetic hand. Softly snoring, he stretches out briefly, yawns, and reflexively cradles the game controller closer to his muscular chest.

Without a sound gracing above the quiet ambience, an athletic man appears in the entryway leading into the nicely, modestly decorated living room. He tightens the belt around his house coat, finishes tying back his slick, black hair, and scans the room with his amber eyes. Settling his gaze upon Thomas, he cracks a humored smirk on his olive toned face and slowly shakes his head. "Just one more level... Right..."

With a fluid grace, the man steps silently upon the old wooden floors,his sleek, cybernetic feet deftly applying near-perfect pressure upon the finished boards. Swaying in purposeful motions, he struts in complete stealth around the coffee table and balances upon legs blending biology and technology. He stands in front of Thomas and reaches down, slipping his fingers around the controller. With a few careful attempts, he manages to firmly and gently free the game pad from the tight clutches of Thomas's cybernetic arm. Swiftly pivoting upon the balls of his feet, the athletic man holds the device in his hands and taps a button. The controller flickers to life. A game console lights up on a shelf in a finely crafted, hand-made entertainment center. The large television display brightens back up and reveals the pause menu of a role-playing game.

Quickly pressing buttons and moving the joysticks, the man enacts a well practiced series of commands and glances back to Thomas with a loving smile. Another menu opens on the television. The on-screen highlight moves to a new save game slot in a long list. The man taps a confirmation on the game controller, and a progress bar appears. Pausing a moment, he tilts his head to the side. The process completes, and the progress bar clears out of the way. The man flicks the selection between the fresh and prior save, the playtime differences between meager. With a narrowing stare at the screen, he ponders to himself, a faint, suspicious hum rising up. Exiting the game, he swiftly flips through the large library of games on the system and selects one specific from the long list. He swiftly taps the mute button on the remote on the coffee table. The main menu appears upon a backdrop of a large dragon flying through a twisting course with a rider shooting targets. The man navigates to the high score list and scrutinizes the entries. A bit of relief graces his smirking face, staring at "Albert" upon the top of the roster, and nods confidently.

Albert analyzes the many other entries below his name, shaking his head slowly with a smile at all the variations of Thomas's name, and quietly giggles to himself. "Just can't resist can you."

With a humored grin, Albert glances over his shoulder at the sleeping Thomas and sighs happily. "Keep trying, my dear."

Holding a button on the controller, the console and television dim back to sleep, and Albert softly rests the controller on the coffee table. Without a sound from his footsteps, he struts across the old, wooden floors into the kitchen. Minutes later, the muffled sputtering of a coffee maker rises up into the background of the living room and the crisp, gentle trickles of coffee filling a glass carafe sprinkles into the soundscape.

A few clanks of glass upon ceramic later, Albert steps gracefully out of the kitchen archway into the living room with a cup of coffee in each hand. He stops next to Thomas on the couch and wafts the odor from the mug of black coffee near Thomas's nose. Fluttering his light blue eyes open, Thomas groggily glances around the room and slowly develops enough awareness, noticing Albert holding the coffee in front of him. "Oh... Shit... Uh, I really did mean to go to bed. I just hit the pause menu, closed my eyes, and... Well..."

Thomas scoots himself up to an upright seat on the couch, appreciatively grasps hold of the mug of black coffee, and sheepishly apologizes. "Sorry... Didn't think I was THAT tired."

Albert leans down, kisses Thomas, and ruffles his head of swept-back, silvery gray hair with a smile. "Gods, as if I'm going to be mad at something I've been guilty of myself. Anyway, I saw you paused it right before that dungeon I wanted to co-op with you on."

A faint hint of blush colors Thomas's cheeks, and he shyly smiles. "Yeah. I also found a sword that might work for your dual-wielder build, too."

With a well-practiced twirl, Albert sweeps up a quilt off the back of the couch, flings it open, and floats it down upon him, lowering onto the open spot on the couch. "Ooo. I can't wait to try it out."

Slipping his tan colored coffee, he lifts an examining eyebrow towards Thomas with a playfully accusatory tone. "As much as I love the loot you keep finding, I think next summer you need to teach a class or work at a summer camp. I really don't think this much free time is the best thing for you."

Thomas finishes up a long swig of his black coffee, narrowing an apprehensive gaze at Albert, and grumbles to himself. "I don't know. Maybe, ONE summer course."

He rolls his light blue eyes and sighs out his frustration. "BUT... They usually want you to teach a selected topics course... AND, I really don't know if anyone would be interested in any of them."

Blinking blankly, his mind wanders to the other idea, and he grimaces uncertainly. "As for a camp? Gods. I don't know if I'd be that good of a camp counselor. Children these days probably would think I'm old and boring. They got video games and stuff."

Albert narrows his incredulous gaze upon Thomas and rolls his amber eyes with a sarcastic drone. "Oh no, children. I am so sorry to tell you that your camp leader is Commander Blaureiter. You know, the guy who rode the dragon named The Night Terror and, LITERALLY, flew around and shot stuff with a huge blaster. His stories will probably bore you all to tears. Have your aetherphone games loaded and ready."

Thomas furrows his brow at Albert, grumbling to himself, and sighs. "Please... They don't know who I am. Or, probably even care."

Glancing over to the side, he grits his teeth briefly. "Anyway, I'd probably just have the parents angry at me because I unknowingly taught their kids something they'll misuse. Gods, reminds me of all the random ways my Uncle Jimmy showed me how to make napalm and explosives when I stayed with him over summers."

A mischievous smirk graces Albert, and he snorts into a snicker, shaking his head. "Don't worry. I'll just draft up a legal waiver the parents have to sign and watch them TRY to go against me in court."

Settling into the plush back of the finely-made leather couch, Thomas glances over to Albert with a curious tone. "By the way, any progress on figuring out anything on that Dragon's Right group around Amaranth?"

Albert sighs in vague defeat, shrugging his shoulders. "No luck, I'm afraid, dear. But, my sources haven't found anything that links them with the group lingering around here. So far, the consensus seems to be that it's just some half-assed copycat group. My friends are definitely interested in figuring out if there is some kind of a connection."

Nodding in agreement, Thomas drinks another bit of his black coffee and tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Damn. Well... That's probably good news, since they're not backed by anyone. Kaleb, Shadeesa, and Lagi will sleep a little easier. Though, I really don't think any group would be stupid enough to bother Lagi."

Springing his eyes wide with a spark of excitement, Albert smiles at Thomas and squirms eagerly. "Oh! I sent my suggestions for baby names for their son. I hope they decide on one soon."

Briefly grimacing, Thomas rolls his eyes and sighs. "Me too. She's due within two months, if I'm remembering it right. Ah, well. They'll figure it all out. If they can raise a dragon like Lagi, they'll be able to manage."

Albert and Thomas relax on the couch, enjoying their coffees, and idly listen to peaceful morning sounds. Minutes later, Albert stretches his leg out towards Thomas and gently, firmly pokes a toe into the outside of Thomas's thigh. Blinking to attention, Thomas glances over, cocking his head to the side. "What?"

Furrowing his brow, Albert twists his mouth into a grimace and lifts an expectant eyebrow. "It's your day to cook breakfast."

Thomas tilts his head side to side, searching his mind, and wades awkwardly through his confusion. "Wait, what?"

Rolling his amber eyes, Albert releases a mildly annoyed groan. "By the gods, Thomas! It's TUESDAY."

Thomas halts, sorting through memory. His eyes widen in surprise, and he leans forward off the couch. "Oh... Shit... It is."

Standing up from the couch, Thomas's heavy footsteps press onto the old, wooden boards, and creaks resonate out into the living room. He stops short of crossing the threshold into the kitchen and glances over to Albert with a coy grin. "And?"

With a playful smile, Albert crosses his arms and snorts. "Oh. You know what I want."

Stepping into the kitchen, Thomas nods and calls back into the living room. "Cute cat ears and whiskers on your pancakes?"

With a satisfied smirk, Albert wiggles down, relaxing upon the couch, and colors his tone with loving sass. "Of course! I mean, why else do I keep you around? It's certainly not for your time keeping."

Thomas quips back from the kitchen. "And, shoulder massages?"

A guilty smirk appears on Albert's face. "Well, THAT, too."

----

The members of the Flames of the Phoenix idle around the dining table. Chad stands up at the head of the table, surveys the team, and hems for everyone's attention. From her seat next to Chad, Veevi glances up with her dark pink pupil eyes and presents a manipulative little grin on her tan face, tossing back her head of long pink hair. Trakenthin straightens up his tall posture, gradually lifts his stare away from his aetherphone, patiently awaiting. Tassilda narrows her light blue on black eyes towards Chad, twisting her mouth into a suspicious grimace, and raps her long, thick black nails upon the wooden table top. Shuddering from a near doze, Modoran blinks back into full awareness and gradually assumes his typical nonchalant exterior, stretching his arms back. Deedri's furry ears twitch and perk towards Chad, and she sits up attentively. Nearby in the kitchen area, Gerald leans upon a counter and balances the camera on his shoulder, carefully aiming the device for an ideal shot of the meeting. Just outside, another recording team slips in a camera lens and a boom microphone through an opening in the back sliding glass door.

Meeting everyone's gazes, Chad stands up proudly and addresses the group. "It's about time for our team to undertake our next quest. To mix things up a bit and get more involvement from the team..."

Slight twinges of suspicion rise up into Trakenthin, Tassilda, Modoran, and Deedri faces. Drawing in a long dramatic breath, Chad presents a bright, white grin to the team and reveals three packets from behind his back, laying them out upon the table. "We've been given three different missions for all of us to vote on and decide which one to take on."

A wave of surprise spreads through the assembled team. They all gradually show signs of genuine interest, apprehension waning. Noticing the growing acceptance, Chad smiles and nods with a happier tone. "Well. Since you all haven't started to groan and grumble, I'll take that as you all being open to the idea."

He slides the three folders into the middle of the table and signals for the group to investigate further. "I want each of you to rank your preference for these quests. Take some time to fully consider them. I'll need your votes by noon on Friday. Then, we'll be revealing our votes live Friday night."

Tassilda lifts a wary brow towards Chad, leaning over the table, reaching out for the top folder, and inquiries further. "So... What ever kind of missions did they see fit to burden us with now?"

Chad smirks slightly, crossing his arms, and motions towards the packets. "Well. A quick summary. One quest is to escort a celebrity while he is shooting for his latest movie. The destination site is on the outskirts towards the west. And, we may get a chance to have parts in the film."

With an overtly eager grin, Veevi's eyes widen, and she focuses her alluring gaze straight at Chad, stretching an arm out towards the folders in the middle of the table. Chad glances down briefly at Veevi and buffers an awkward grimace fighting against his grin. Summoning back his composure, Chad resumes his explanation. "The second mission is a survey and exploration operation across an area with multiple ruins that haven't been checked out thoroughly in a decade. It seems pretty standard..."

Chad's confidence trails slightly with his tone and faint hints of unease infiltrate his body language. Trakenthin's hazel eyes examine the subtle changes in Chad's exterior, and he lifts his muscular dark bronze skinned arm, pointing between the mission folders. "Which envelope for THAT mission?"

Veevi finishes examining the first page of a quest packet, sneers her upper lip, and turns up her nose. "This one I think. Here. You can have it."

Stretching out across the table in her tight fitting clothes, she disgustedly dumps out the papers in front of Trakenthin and slides back the remaining large envelope to her with a sharp grin. Trakenthin eyes over Veevi cautiously, picks up the paperwork, and studies the contents. Chad reestablishes his confidence, drawing in a long breath, and addresses the group. "The final possible mission is a search and retrieval. Without getting into too much detail, it seems that a research group lost track of a scout drone near a small weird zone in the middle of the woods to the east. They've been able to narrow it down to a search area and need someone on foot to try to find it."

Veevi blatantly ignores the rest of the discussion, her full focus pouring all over the document firmly in her sharp nailed hands. Trakenthin glances up briefly from reading the mission brief, motions towards the remaining packet between Tassilda, Modoran, and Deedri. "Should contain that task."

Tassilda opens up the large envelope, slides out the packet, and holds it in view of Deedri and Modoran. "Interesting. What research group would fund a retrieval mission for something like... A drone?"

Grinning with a bright white smile, Chad nods towards the team, sitting back down into the chair at the head of the table. "I'll leave it to you all to look over everything, and make your own conclusions."

Chad settling into his seat, Veevi scoots over close at his side, eying him seductively, and charms with a faint purr to her voice. "So... You do want to be a movie star someday? I mean... What better chance do WE have than THIS?"

She grins with a sharp smile, flexes her body revealingly to Chad, and flutters her eyes with a flick of her short-hair tail. "Those other jobs sound so BORING... I'm sure you'll make the right choice for US."

Hoisting up an apprehensive eyebrow at Veevi, Chad contorts his face and dismissively shrugs his shoulders. "Well, uh... It's not my last choice. That's for sure."

Deedri's auburn eyes focus upon a line of text in the mission description, and her furry ears perk up with excitement. "Wow! This is a job from the Grand Library. There must be some important research purpose for that drone to be out there."

Blinking back to focus, Modoran's interest piques, and he snaps his attention upon the document. "Huh. Okay. They probably actually narrowed down the search area to something that will be useful. So..."

He smirks with a hint of confidence. "We might actually find it then."

Tassilda sorts through a pile of photographs, maps, and schematics, nodding in agreement. "Yeah... Here's the original flight plan, pictures of what it looks like, and... I think the log from when it last reported in."

Deedri, Modoran, and Tassilda examine the information before them closely. Trakenthin abruptly halts his reading, lowers the paperwork down, and slowly slides it all back into the folder. A souring grimace forms on his face, and he slowly shakes his head, pushing the packet back to the middle of the table. Noticing the change of expression, Tassilda cocks her head to the side and narrows an inquisitive gaze towards Trakenthin. "Oh? What's wrong with that one?"

Trakenthin draws in a long breath and sighs out his disgust. "Possible slime activity."

Silence slams down upon the gathering. All other activity ceases. Veevi's eyes widen in horror, and she stares at the folder, gritting her teeth into a snarl. Modoran stands up, leans over the table, and slaps his hand firmly down upon the packet. "Let me put this where it belongs."

Snatching up the folder tightly, he steps close to the back sliding glass door and puts his hand out through the gap, grinning to the camera crew. "Excuse me."

The crew backs out of the way. Modoran slides the entry wide open, curls his arm back, and flings the packet out into the backyard with a spin. Pivoting back around, he halts for Tassilda, holding her hand out forward and pointing a finger at the flying folder. A mischievous grin grows wide on Tassilda's face, and she quickly gestures out an incantation. With a simple flick of her fingers a small ball of fire leaves her palm, coasts across the backyard, and intercepts the packet in a fiery burst. She turns around, grants a small bow, and struts back to her chair. "I believe we've decided that."

Chad releases a long sigh of relief and smiles appreciatively to the team, nodding. "Thank the gods you caught that one. I wasn't allowed to say anything before you read the mission briefs. BUT..."

He rolls his brown eyes and wrestles with a disgusted grimace. "I REALLY didn't want to do THAT one."

The team shifts their efforts upon the remaining two quests, Veevi stating her obvious favorite with a developing insistent persistence.

----

The door at the end of the hallway opens. Aristespha blinks her violet eyes and heavily plods across the hardwood floors, swaying slightly with each footstep. She runs her ivory fingers through her long, silvery blue hair, stretches her neck, gritting her teeth, and shakes off some of the cloudiness of her daze. Brushing off her loose t-shirt and adjusting her baggy shorts, she sloppily pivots at the archway into the living area and steps through. In a groggy state, she ambles into the room, navigates around behind the coffee table, and plops down onto the couch upon her back. She blankly stares up at the ceiling and releases a long sigh.

Lifting an intrigued eyebrow at Aristespha from her seat at the dining table, Cideeda directs her inquisitive tone toward the evuukian on the plush furniture. "So... What have you been up to?"

Aristespha's very long, pointed ears twitch, and she lifts her head up, gazing over at Cideeda. "Oh. I just got done filing all the paperwork related to the last mission. Guild payments authorized to the party business account, expenses deducted, GAA contractor bonuses received, and processed everyone's cut to your individual guild accounts."

Fluttering her eyes, she flops her head back down and sighs out her relief, resting her hands on her stomach. "I do think everyone will be absolutely delighted with the payout. Very much on the high side."

Cideeda cracks a sly smile, retrieving her aetherphone from her shorts pocket, and taps out a security code. She navigates menus and opens a guild branded app. Seconds later, a wide, toothy grin grows upon Cideeda's light brown face and her long fluffy tail wags energetically. "Very nice, indeed. That will make the retirement fund VERY happy."

Closing her violet eyes, Aristespha relaxes her body gradually with each breath. Her long, pointed ears twitch with nearby metallic clicks and whispered frustration. Propping her upper body up with her arms, she scans the room, furrowing her brow curiously. At the edge of her sweep, she notices Bach and Dretphi at the table and focuses her intrigued stare upon the device both are paying close attention to. "Oh. Hey. What are you two doing?"

Cideeda glances over briefly with an amused smile and smirks pridefully to Aristespha. "Yeah, they're trying out a little trap puzzle I made for Bach. Figured he could get some practice disarming different kinds of trap mechanisms."

Carefully wedging a metal pick in the thin crack between a plate and surrounding frame, Bach narrows his stare. He attempts to gently wedge a thin shim into the divide and applies pressure at the top. Seconds of gradual force later, the pressure plate moves slightly and a buzzing alarm sounds out from the unit. Aristespha cocks her head to the side, pondering a moment, and curls the corner of her mouth. "Okay... So THAT was the noise I kept thinking I was hearing."

Bach taps a reset button on the side of the square block, places the tools in front of Dretphi, and slides the device over. "Your turn. Damn. I really thought I had the pick in there enough."

Slowly lifting herself up from the couch, Aristespha steps over next to Cideeda, studying Dretphi's attempt. "So, you made a practice pressure plate?"

Cideeda nods her head of short, multi-colored hair and relaxes in the dining chair, rapping her claw tips on the table top. "Yeah. Simple enough. And, kind of entertaining to watch."

Aristespha leans over slightly, squints her focus upon the practice plate, and tilts her head to the side. "So... The goal is to put those pieces of metal between the cracks?"

Nodding in agreement, Cideeda motions to a few points of interest on the practice device with a claw tip. "Basically. You use the pick to not only wedge apart the gap between the plate and frame, but to keep the plate from going down by accident. Then, you slip in the metal shims to jam the plate along that edge."

She waves her hand roughly around the practice device. "If you can shim up the four corners, you should be able to put a good amount of weight on the plate without tripping it."

A sly smile graces Cideeda, and her emerald green eyes light up with a mischievous glimmer. "BUT, it gets a little tricky when the shims on one side seize the plate and start to get in the way of what you need to do on the other sides."

Dretphi's steely gray eyes fully focus upon the task, and she carefully slides in a metal shim in the gap near a corner. Guiding the pick point along the divide between plate and frame, she applies gradual force, widening the thin space a tiny amount. The pressure moves the trigger platform off slightly in the wrong direction, and a buzzer sounds out from the base. Dretphi snarls her tan face, muttering a few curses in grath, and grumbles out her frustration. Aristespha slides a chair next to Dretphi out, sitting down, and faces her curiously. "May I give it a try?"

Glancing over to Bach, Dretphi watches him shrug to no contest and slides over the device with tools in front of Aristespha. "Sure. Need a break."

Bach nods in agreement, grimacing briefly. "Yeah, I think we're fast approaching the obsessively stubborn point of this exercise. Was getting a little too worked up to hold the tools steady myself."

Examining the tools and materials, Aristespha feels out the balance in her hands, finding a comfortable grip on both pick and shims, and stretches out her arms and shoulders. Straightening her posture, she closes her eyes, breathes several calming breaths, and concentrates her full focus upon the pressure plate. Using well-trained finesse, she cautiously explores the side gaps between the pressure plate and frame and applies faint probes of force, feeling out the mechanical dynamics. Sensing an entry, she gracefully works the pick into the divide and barely widens the space. She stretches and flexes her wrist off the side. Deftly guiding the shim close to the entry point, she eases the thin metal deep into the gap and withdraws her pick. She ponders quietly for a moment and searches for another safe spot with exploratory applications of minute force.

Sebastian drifts in through the hallway archway, glancing around the room, and spots the gathering around Aristespha. Hovering silently above, he joins Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi, all attentively watching the progress on the trap puzzle. With some visible difficulty, Aristespha manages to fit the second shim into another corner. Hints of concern and apprehension swell on Aristespha, and she grits her teeth uncertainly. "There was not that much give in the last corner."

Crossing her arms with a toothy grin, Cideeda nods in agreement. "Yeah... It gets trickier with each shim. The shims jam the plate against a direction and apply pressure that works against you. If you aren't careful, you could start to lift the plate up when you put another shim in. And... End up triggering it."

Rolling her shoulders and stretching out the tension in her neck, Aristespha draws a breath and sighs out her nervous energy. Sebastian whispers from above and an encouraging grin. "You can do it, dear."

Aristespha cracks a smile, regaining her focus, and starts her attempt. With a number of retreats from forces causing unwanted movement of the plate, she manages to get a workable gap for a shim and navigates the metal into the tight divide between plate and frame. The shim's progress halts early, and Aristespha grimaces tensely. With fine motions, she twists the pick, driving the gap gradually wider. The pressure works against other forces upon the plate. The plate lifts up slightly, triggering the buzzer. Aristespha's long, pointy ears slightly droop with disappointment, and she draws in a long breath. Releases her mildly disappointed sigh, she settles back into her chair. "Damn. A lot less forgiving than most body tissues."

Bach shrugs his shoulders, smirking. "Well, I mean, that's far better than what I've done so far. Pretty damn good, in my opinion."

Dretphi nods in agreement, patting Aristespha's shoulder. "Amazing for your first time."

The team reassures Aristespha performance, and the sliding glass door opens. Sotalia steps through, closing the door behind her. She struts into the room and towels off her fiery orange, wavy hair. Letting the towel drape down her shoulders over her bikini top, she rests her hands at the sides of her bikini bottom and hoists up a curious eyebrow at the group at the table. "So... What have you all been doing in here?"

An evil smile appears on Cideeda's face, and she points over to the puzzle trap on the table top. "Oh, just trying to see who can get the furthest on this puzzle. Want to give it a try?"

A competitive spark glitters in Sotalia's golden eyes, and a confident grin widens on her face. "SURE. What's the score to beat?"

Sotalia swiftly sits down, and Aristespha slides the device and tools to her. Cideeda recites a quick explanation of the process. With an eager zeal and the audience around her, Sotalia starts her attempt and almost immediately triggers the buzzer. Laughing off the first round, Sotalia attempts again. Over the minutes, she cycles through attempts, the failure buzzer punctuating each short effort.

Watching the fumbles and hearing the swears, Aristespha barely contains her giggling, shaking her head. Sotalia eyes over at Aristespha, tinges of annoyance creeping out upon her tight smile. Aristespha sighs, waving off Sotalia, and smiles awkwardly. "Sorry. This reminds me of that one time Sebastian got that huge splinter."

A wave of humored embarrassment washes over Sotalia, and she covers her mouth reflexively. "OH GODS. THAT."

Turning his head curiously towards Sotalia, Bach pries further. "I sense a story behind THIS..."

Sebastian contorts his ghostly face and groans ethereally. "It's NOTHING. REALLY. Just got a really big splinter. Not much to say."

Perking her furry ears, Cideeda glances briefly over to Sebastian and slides her gaze at Bach with a toothy grin. "In his ass cheek."

Sotalia leans back in her chair, grimacing in ill-humor, and draws a long breath in. "Okay... Since it was kind of my fault, I'll tell it. Long story short, I was trying to put Sebastian and Aristespha in..."

She bites her lower lip and rolls her golden eyes at her. "Situations so they would have nice, personal moments with each other. Of course, this was before they were together."

Tilting his head to the side, Bach furrows an inquisitive stare at Sotalia and glances between Aristespha and Sebastian. "Hold up. So, YOU were trying to match up my brother and Aristespha?"

Cideeda rolls her emerald green eyes with a groan and shrugs her shoulders. "In her defense, we ALL kind of were after awhile. It was well past endearing and getting to that annoyingly and painfully OBVIOUS point."

Working the playful guilt off her face, Sotalia fights against past embarrassment. "Yeah... I was trying to figure out a way to... Um... Encourage moments. And, let them hopefully arrive at the horribly obvious, to the rest of us, conclusion."

She pantomimes out the scene. "So. After a busy day of tracking down leads to find Noxian, we stopped for the night at a rest area. It was a nice, clear night with all the stars out. And, Aristespha was sitting by herself on a wooden park bench."

Averting her golden eyes briefly, she glances over to Sebastian and motions over to Aristespha. "So, I told Sebastian that it looked like Aristespha was a little disheartened with everything going on. And... MAYBE she needed to hear some encouraging words from the Chosen One."

Blinking at sentence, Bach slowly pivots his head and faces his brother, narrowing a questioning stare. "Really? You can't tell me that YOU didn't pick up on THIS ploy."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sebastian's ghostly form stands with a grimace and motions defensively with his hand. "I, uh... I just wasn't thinking that way at the time, bro. It was different circumstances and... well..."

Widening his blue eyes at his brother, Bach's jaw hangs incredulously open, and he cocks his head to the side. "Wow... The one time YOU weren't thinking THAT WAY."

Sebastian leans forward with an agitated stare at Bach and throws his arms to the sides. "Oh, fuck you, I was TRYING to be better."

Sotalia rolls her eyes, shaking her head, and pulls the attention back upon the story. "SO... He goes over, sits next to her, and they seem to have a nice talk."

With a long, groaning sigh, she rubs her temple underneath her horn and shakes her head. "Then, he slides closer to her..."

She winces and grunts in disgust. "And manages to impale himself on the longest splinter from that wooden bench... That I have EVER seen."

Dretphi lifts up her hands, catching Bach's attention, and demonstrates a gap of over fifteen centimeters between either finger on each hand. Bach cringes and visibly recoils, the realization dawning upon him. He grimaces towards his brother. "Damn... Man... Ow?"

Sebastian winces, past memories rising up in his mind, and his ethereal form shudders. Cideeda snorts out a laugh and shakes her head. "To his credit... They continued talking for an hour after that. AND. He kept a straight face."

Chuckling to herself, Aristespha smirks awkwardly and sighs with a loving gaze at Sebastian. "I was SO hoping he would slide closer. I thought maybe he was just being respectful. Or shy."

She shakes her head and covers her mouth. "I did NOT realize that he physically could NOT."

Cracking a guilty grin, she glances over to Sotalia and rolls her violet eyes playfully. "But, I guess we still ended up having personal, quality time together."

Feeling his pride vacate the building, Sebastian groans out a mix of embarrassment and disappointment, crossing his arms defensively. "I really don't think spending an hour with my pants down..."

He pauses a moment and closes his eyes hard with an uneasy frown. "Laid over a seat in the humvee, while you extracted that splinter, cleaned the wound, and used your magic to heal it... Counts as quality time together."

Aristespha shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, meets Sebastian's gaze with a loving smile, and winks. "Depends on your perspective."

Dretphi snorts, leaning over the table toward Bach, and comments. "Next day was not fun. All the roads were bumpy. All day travel. Needed two pillows."

-81-

In a small, single bed motel room, the bright glow of the sun fills the space with a warm ambient light. An aged, worn small flat screen television shows the Perimeter weather report, dynamic digital maps relaying information about the area. A professionally dressed fvalian woman guides viewer attention over to a number of smaller storms coming in off the western coast and pantomimes in a north eastern direction towards a huge expanse of land with the simple label of "PWZ".

"We will experience a number of small, intense storms crossing over Perimeter and the surrounding territories throughout the day. With the summer heat warming coastal waters and the jet stream arching down, this pattern should continue throughout the week. These sporadic cells will continue into the PWZ and further. And, speaking of the PWZ, here's Tom with the Weird Zone activity report from the Alpha Observation Post."

A large picture with bordering decor graphics appears in the background, and the fvalian woman steps off to the side. Within the framework, a hazy, distorted video feed shows a human man with faintly, uniformly glowing blue eyes in an olive drab, all-weather survival suit. Calmly nodding with a pleasant smile at the camera, he draws in a long breath.

"Thank you Diannee. I'm very happy to report that present PWZ activity has been relatively mild, even in the more troublesome areas of the zone. While we do expect the storm cells to be category one maelstroms in the zone, experts are not anticipating them having enough energy to last too far past the northeastern borders. BUT, for those that are in and around the zone, please keep your radios tuned to an Alert Network Station for up to date information about maelstroms, outbursts, and other dangerous phenomena. Back to you, Diannee!"

Sighing bored on the motel bed, Isaac lifts up the remote at his side and presses the mute button. He furrows his brow thoughtfully, arching his back slightly, and ponders out loud. "Okay. One thing going in my favor, at the very least."

Brushing back his head of wispy, wild white and gray hair, he slowly sits up on the bed and pauses with a pained wince, rubbing his neck and back. He settles his thin frame upright, slowly surveys the piles of supplies and other equipment surrounding him on the bed, and grumbles to himself. "Time to figure all this out... I guess..."

He reaches out to the nightstand and grabs hold of a pad of paper and a pencil. Glancing over to the small desk to the other side, his gray eyes spring wide. He leans out, stretching his arm far out, and grasps hold of a paper bundle. Unwrapping the sandwich, he takes a few bites, staring out distantly, swallows, and sighs. A slight frown weighs upon his face, and he slowly shakes his head, his shoulders slumping gradually. "Just not the same... Even with all the olives..."

Balancing between writing down notes and the unsatisfied consumption of his meal, he sorts through the supplies and equipment on the bed and scattered in the room around him. Minutes of inspections and rechecks later, Isaac hums in thought and twists his mouth uncertainly. Idly tapping the pencil to the paper pad, he narrows his distant stare and quietly deliberates within his mind between rocks of his head and furrowing his brow. He puts the paper and pencil down and grabs hold of a worn folder. Flipping through a few sections of documents within, he slows to an earmarked spot and parts the paperwork, studying a prominent list within. He slides his finger down the crossed out entries of names and contact information. Isaac mumbles to himself, shaking his head. "Gods, Emanuel, I really hope you found someone new I can work with..."

He lifts his finger away from the paper and studies the remaining contacts, squinting at the unfavorable descriptions noted off to the side. "Gods... Really scraping the bottom of the barrel otherwise..."

His eyes scour through the bad reviews, and Isaac shakes his head, closing up the folder. With a weak, dismissive pitch, he drops the collection off to the side upon the bed. Pulling himself to the edge of the mattress, he rests his feet on the ground and scratches his head with both hands, groaning out his building frustration.

From the other side of the desk, an alert chirp sounds out from a battered, old laptop. Blinking back to awareness, Isaac stands up, carefully stretching himself upright, and walks curiously towards the desk chair. He sits down, swipes his finger on the screen, and the device's display lights up to a plain desktop filled with heaps of cluttered icons. With quick familiarity, he taps through a number of menus and a program opens up. Scrolling through lists of messages, he selects the latest unread, and a hopeful smile appears on his face, reading the source address. A moment later, the system decodes the encrypted message and spills forth a plain text version. Isaac narrows his gaze up on the text with growing intrigue showing in his idle nodding. Halting his study, Isaac glances around the room, stretches over towards the bed nearby, and snags the notepad and pencil. He readies the writing tools and pores his attention over the information within the message and jots down a number of key terms, mumbling to himself between major points. "Beckerin recommended... Lady Rhian's Artifacts and Magics... Talk to Lady Rhian first... Get directed to Mavian..."

Isaac straightens his back against the simple wooden chair back, stretches his shoulders out to the sides, and releases a long sigh of relief. Glancing over the new lead with a hopeful smile, he starts to nod with refreshed accomplishment. He halts. Blinking blankly, he pauses in thought, contorts his face between concern and worry. He spots his new Perimeter Road Map next to the laptop. Gritting his teeth, he unfolds the first set of folds of the compact map, delving into the ever expanding document. He awkwardly finds a suitable enough stopping point against the paper chaos and taps open an aethernet browser. Typing the name of the location into a search site, he balances the sprawling map upon his lap and grumbles out hints of embarrassment. "Okay... So now... Where the hell IS this place?"

----

Across the dining table from Bach, Aristespha examines a number of materials upon a clean, white mat in front of her with glowing violet eyes. With both hands, she carefully picks up a luminous sheet of woven stabilized magical energy and rotates it studiously around in front of her by the edges, narrowing her analytical stare upon it. Seconds later, she cracks a satisfied smile and nods approvingly, further inspecting the flow fabric. "Nicely done. A very close approximation to what the normal spells and processes can manufacture."

Rubbing his blue eyes into a pinch of the bridge of his nose, Bach blinks hard and rocks his head side to side, stretching out of his neck. "Cool. I mean, to be honest, it was getting little mind numbing doing all those little details over and over again. Yeah..."

He shudders briefly and exhales. "I think next time I really need to figure out some magical automation on those parts."

Studying the last few details of the material in her hands, Aristespha lays it gently back down upon the large surface in front of her and thoughtfully rests her chin on her hand. Searching her mind with her violet glowing eyes, she lifts an inquisitive eyebrow at Bach and tilts her head slightly. "Would you like to try something a bit more challenging?"

Bach cocks his head, pondering briefly, and shrugs his shoulders. "Sure. I guess? I mean, what exactly is the more challenging thing you have in mind?"

With an interested grin, Aristespha draws a long breath in, deliberates to herself about the right phrasing, and explains. "The magical medical materials you have been making are the more..."

She pauses a moment and furrows her brow. "Common variety. Very useful for first aid and initial treatment of trauma. Their effectiveness tends to be limited for more significant and involved injuries. While they still are quite needed, they are not designed for specific situations."

Furrowing his brow, Bach nods to a general understanding and wrestles a grimace, narrows his gaze curiously. "Yeah... Yeah, I can see that. Okay. So, what's the cutoff point for the types of injuries that stuff can handle? What's the upper limit?"

Aristespha tosses her long, silvery blue hair back, mulls over a thought, and pantomimes out the concept with her hands, indicating the divisions of a range. "For example, the materials we have here are great for mild lacerations, scrapes, covering burns, closing open wounds, and..."

She smirks with a playful snort. "Well... Generally preventing anything important from leaving your body."

Reflexively cringes at the forming mental imagery, Bach wrestles a grit of the teeth into an awkward smile. Nodding at the sentiment, Aristespha changes up her pantomime, shifting her focus upon the other side of the proposed spectrum. "These more advanced materials are used to address and remedy other types of injuries and conditions. They are extremely useful in the right circumstances. Often, they can mean the difference between having a chance at life or very certain death."

She turns in her chair at the dining table, leans over off to the side, and reaches into a large medical kit upon the floor. Swiftly, she unconsciously navigates her hand to a small, bright neon orange metal box, grasps it carefully, and lifts it onto the table. She gingerly releases the latches, pivots the box towards Bach, and presents the contents inside. "This is my stock of those types of materials. All these were purchased."

Bach leans over the table and narrows a studious gaze upon the sealed wrappers. Aristespha motions her finger down and along the neatly arranged and specifically ordered items. "The processes to create them require dedicated magical machinery manually flowed by specialized trained medical mages with very specific spells. Now... THAT does NOT mean they cannot be made without such equipment. BUT, you can NOT get the volume needed quickly enough otherwise."

Sorting through the sterile packages with detailed information printed on the wrappers, she finds a sealed transparent packet containing a dimly glowing, translucent sheet, and pulls it out of the row. "This one is about to expire soon. It shall be a safe example for us to examine."

She carefully closes the neon orange box and deftly returns the container back to its proper home in the larger medical kit. Aristespha slides the pack of medical fabric over to Bach, smirking expectantly. Curiously, Bach gently takes the packet, lifts it closer to his blue eyes, and angles the package against the overhead lighting, squinting at it. "So, uh, what is this, exactly?"

Straightening her posture, Aristespha smiles confidently and points towards the material. "That is a tissue bonding sheet. Very versatile magical material specifically designed for medical use. You can wrap it around a damaged artery. Put it between separated tissues. And even, with quite a bit of effort, you can use it to reconnect ligaments."

With a violet pulse of her eyes and spark of flow in her hand, she cracks a calm grin, hints of excitement coloring her voice. "Then, with the right application of magical flow, you can activate the material to thread out around the very cells of target tissues to form a powerful bond that stabilizes the damage and temporarily mends tissues until other magical or natural healing processes happen."

Bach in honest surprise, glancing over at the eager smile upon Aristespha. Studying the package closer, Bach closes his eyes and reopens them to a glowing blue. He narrows his illuminated stare upon the package. "Okay... Huh. Now THAT is actually really impressive... Wow... That is some seriously detailed construction in that... Sheet? Wait..."

Drawing the packet closer to his eyes, he squints tightly, his examination delving deeper into the material. "No... Wait... That's a... That's actually a mesh. A really, REALLY fine mesh. Damn. That is some fine detail work happening there."

Aristespha nods knowingly at Bach's discovery and sighs with a roll of her eyes, twisting her mouth with a sarcastic curl. "If you think THAT is impressive, you should look at the price on the back."

Fluttering his eyes away from the focus, Bach flips the material pack over. He scans over the information printed on the back and halts. His eyes spring wide open, and he reflexively shudders with a wince. "UH... OH... Wow... Yeah, uh, THAT is REALLY expensive."

He shrugs his shoulders and chuckles lightly. "But, I mean, I guess that makes sense for buying a box of a dozen or-"

Flashing a devilish grin, Aristespha lifts her eyebrow with a humored laugh. "They are INDIVIDUALLY priced."

With his mouth hanging open mid sentence, Bach awkwardly slides his wide eyed stare back upon the packet and glances over at Aristespha. With both hands cradling the wrapped magical material, he presents the precious item back to Aristespha. "OKAY. I think this is much safer in your hands."

Snorting into a snicker, she snags hold of the package, holding it up in her fingers, and smiles with a mischievous tint. "OH, is it?"

With a defiant grin, she neatly tears the top off the packet. Tensing up at the sight of the expensive seal broken, Bach unconscious squeezes out a faint grunt. Shaking her head, Aristespha smiles reassuringly and expertly removes the tissue bonding sheet out onto the clean, explaining calmly. "Do not worry. Truthfully, it was too close to the expiration date for my comfort anyway. As much as I do not like to waste materials, I am NOT going to keep any questionable materials around and risk anyone's health needlessly."

Rolling her violet eyes, she grimaces briefly and sighs. "It is best to accept the cost and replace it, rather than take the chance you will be in a situation where you will have to use such in a critical moment."

She frowns sharply and draws in a stiff breath through her nose. "Then, you have to constantly worry if the material will be able to hold out long enough or just catastrophically fail at any given reason."

Working out the surge of unease with a few shoulder shrugs, Bach pauses and furrows his brow with an idea rising to the front of his mind. "Yeah. That makes sense. But... I mean, THAT is some really amazing magical material. But? Don't medical mages have a whole set of spells to handle really bad injuries that they would use that stuff on?"

Aristespha ponders, nodding with some reservation, and tugs at her mouth, approaching the subject. "Yes. And. No. A significant portion of the spells medical mages use focus on enhancing the body's natural mechanisms to heal. Those spells unfortunately require time, energy, and preparation that is not always available."

Bach gradually forms an understanding and presents a summation. "Oh... Okay. So, great spells for when things are more ideal than not?"

With a confirming smile, Aristespha shrugs her shoulders and relates with an amused tone. "For the most part. While I know spells to do intricate, near perfect repairs on your arteries and veins, you will certainly have long since bled out before those spells can work on a sliced open femoral."

Excitement sneaks out into the grin on her ivory face, and she works the tissue bonding sheet in her fingers. "Hence, this is why we have materials such as this."

Perking her brow, she smirks mischievously and gazes at Bach. "Would you like a demonstration?"

Bach gradually shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and glances over with an agreeable tone. "Sure. I mean, wouldn't mind seeing this in action-"

Aristespha quickly applies a medical glove, deftly retrieves a metal scalpel from a disinfectant bath nearby on the tabletop, and hunts around the vicinity. Bach awkwardly resumes his statement. "Uh- Without personally needing its services."

Narrowing a brief incredulous glare at Bach, Aristespha shakes her head, rolling her eyes dismissively, and gestures out an incantation with her free hand. She directs a concentrated flow of energy upon the entirety of the medical instrument with faint crackling sounding out and sweeps waves of similar magic upon the area of the mat. Resting the scalpel upon the sterilized surface, Aristespha stands up from her chair, tapping her ungloved fingers upon the wooden dining table top and hums in thought. Her violet eyes widen briefly. A clever smirk appears from the blue and gray hinted corner of her face. Stepping around the dining table, she walks into the kitchen area and opens the fridge. Seconds later, her searching gaze locks onto a target, and she reaches inside. With a modest cut of steak in her gloved hand, she returns to her seat at the table and readies the meat for surgery.

Aristespha confidently picks up the scalpel, prepares herself, and summons Bach's attention. "Now. Depending on the type of cut, you have a number of factors to consider when using the tissue bonding sheet. For example, if the injury goes parallel with the muscle fibers..."

Aristespha precisely cuts into the steak with Bach observing. The kitchen door leading to the garage opens up. With an eager smile, Dretphi steps through the doorway, walks up to the refrigerator, and opens the door. Searching the contents inside, she pulls out plates of mixed vegetables, potatoes, and bread, and arranges them out strategically on the nearby counter top. Furrowing her brow, she leans away from the fridge, stares through the door into the garage, and twists her mouth contemplatively, eyeing the large charcoal grill smoking in the driveway. She internally sorts the sequence of events with mumbles of grath slipping out, and returns her attention back to the fridge. She grabs hold of a large plate of steaks and examines the cuts of meat with a rush of eagerness and pride. She freezes in place. Studying the four cuts on the plate, she cocks her head to the side, shifting a few platinum blonde braids, and frowns confused. Staring into the fridge, she places the plate of steaks down and searches the inside of the refrigerator thoroughly, brief grumbles of perplexed grath slipping out.

Finishing placing a strip of the tissue bonding sheet inside the incision in the cut of steak, Aristespha pinches the meat together on both sides of the cut with her gloved hand. She gestures with her free hand and recites a complex incantation. Flows of magical energy condense around her gloved hand and sink precisely into the closed divide. A faint, thin glow of prismatic energy fades, and she releases her pinch. The incision remains securely closed. Bach squints his glowing blue gaze at closure and leans closer. "Okay. THAT is pretty damned cool. So... How well does that hold against being pulled apart? Like if you are moving around? Or putting some kind of stress on it?"

Smiling proudly, Aristespha presses two fingers of her gloved hand upon either side of the sealed cut and attempts to pry it back open. "That all depends on the design of the material and its lifespan. But, most of the time, you will likely cause another separate injury before you will ever be able to pull apart the bonded tissue."

Bach nods, his glowing vision narrowing, and curls his mouth uncertainly. "Amazing... Man... Really wish I could get a better view of what

’

s going down at the microscopic level."

Aristespha's very long, pointed ears perk up, and she tilts her head curiously at Bach. Moments of thought later, she blinks to a realization and signals Bach towards her eyes. "Oh... That's right! You have probably never been shown how to use medical types of magical visualization. Have you?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Bach shakes his head. "Uh, yeah, don't think so. I mean, I can do some very small scale sight magics. But, most of the time I'm just feeling out the flows after a certain point. So..."

He tugs at the corner of his mouth. "I guess I'm not really SEEING what I'm... flowing around? Just feeling that there

’

s something the flows are going around? Something like that, um."

Lifting her head up, Aristespha rests an examining gaze upon Bach and faintly nods. She points to her violet illuminated eyes. "I think I can show you one process that I am using. It is a combination of spells you can overlay upon your typical mage sight. YOU might be able to pick up what I am doing and duplicate it."

Bach nods and concentrates his stare fully upon Aristespha's face. Blinking her violet eyes back to normal, she holds up a finger, signaling the start of the process to Bach. Her eyes flicker back to a strong glow. With slow, exacting precision, she recites through each stage of a long chain of incantations and gestures. Pausing after each major phase, she waits for Bach's confirmation and demonstrates the next steps. With a faint warping of magical flows around her eyes, she finishes the last step and summons prismatic magical energies in her hand, placing her fingers down upon an empty section on the white mat. Bach grants an understanding nod. Aristespha flutters her eyes back to normal, dismissing the excess energies with a few hand waves. "That particular set of spells will enable you to do microscopic visualization of a volume under the influence of the flowed energies."

Working through a strained grimace, she narrows her concerned gaze at Bach. "Please, though... Start with a very, very small area. It is extremely easy to get completely overwhelmed. That is why most practitioners start out with the least amount of magnification power on the most narrow of scopes."

She leans back against the chair and rolls her shoulders. "It all can easily become an unwieldy spell combination, because of all the various factors in each individual spell in the layers."

Mentally reviewing the last minutes in his mind, Bach's distant stare narrows. He draws in an apprehensive breath, furrows his brow, and concentrates. His eyes pulse a brighter blue and threads of magical flow emerge down his arm into his hand. "Okay... I think I got the basic idea of what you did. I know a few of those spells already, but I'll have to improvise a lot. Let's see how far I get with this..."

The energies stabilizing in his hand, Bach places his fingers down upon a similar spot on the clean, white mat. The magical conduits pulse with different flows of prismatic color. Bach grits his teeth and visibly cringes with a distant, disconnected stare. Moments of facial twitches and hard winces later, he closes his eyes hard, shaking his head vigorously, and waves off the energies. "OH GODS! Fuck me! Damn..."

He flutters his eyes and alternates between winks. "Yeah... I don't think I got that right... At all..."

Barely quelling a humored snort, Aristespha shakes her head with a commiserating smile and assures Bach. "No. That probably means you did it just fine. That is the same reaction EVERYONE who first attempts those spells gets. How are you feeling?"

Bach blinks, rubs his eyes with both hands, and shudders out the remaining discomfort. "Fine, I guess? I mean, probably would have gotten a headache if I kept it up much longer than that. It started to feel like it was projecting straight into my brain."

Releasing a sigh of relief, Aristespha smirks amused and laughs lightly. "Oh, good. That is about the correct feeling. I still remember five people in my class getting really bad nausea and dizziness. One poor man vomited into the garbage can. So, you did just fine for your first attempt."

She lifts a curious brow and narrows an inquisitive stare at Bach, querying. "Were you able to see anything?"

Reviewing recent memory, Bach rocks his head side to side with tinges of uncertainty. "Yeah... I think so. Brief glimpses of... Stuff? It was just a lot to sort through all at once. Felt really... Disconnected? Disjointed, maybe? It was really weird."

Aristespha smirks in complete agreement with Bach, shaking her head reminiscently. "Oh. Yes. THAT sounds familiar. It is a hard feeling to accurately describe. But, it gets better when you are more familiar with the spells."

A large, faint shadow countering the light from the kitchen casts itself up on the tabletop. A light shiver up Bach's spine pushes his posture straight in the dining chair, and he eyes either side of him searching for SOMETHING. Aristespha lifts her gaze upward and meets the sternly stoic expression upon Dretphi's tan face. The imposing grath woman standing behind Bach narrows a glare at Aristespha and points to the cut of steak on the white mat. "Still edible?"

Maintaining a calm collected smile, Aristespha nods confidently and motions her hand towards the meat. "Perfectly. Sterilized the surface and instruments. I needed an appropriate demonstration medium for Bach's education."

The edges around the stern stare upon Dretphi's face dulls, and she focuses her firm tone upon Aristespha. "Are you done... Preparing... YOUR steak?"

Aristespha presses a gloved finger onto the closed incision. With a pulse of violet light in her eyes, a translucent dispelling pulse bursts out into the cut of steak. The incision opens back up on its own, and she deftly sweeps up the degraded tissue bonding sheet, setting on one side of the white mat. "I am now."

She picks up the cut of meat with her gloved hand, and Dretphi presents a small plate near it. With a calm smile, Aristespha rests the steak upon the dish. Hoisting the platter away, Dretphi takes the piece of meat away and walks out into the garage towards the grill and cooking food, a few grumbles of grath slipping out. Bach eases out an awkward breath, the looming emotional pressure system around him deflating.

----

In the living room of the ranch style house, Sotalia sits on one side of the couch and flips the pages of a graphic novel, her golden eyes sifting through the imagery and dialog. Turning the last page of the book, she bites her lower lip with an excited smirk on her light tan face and places the book on the pile next to her. Leaning slightly over, she grins and whispers to Dretphi on the other side of the couch, pointing to the cover of the graphic novel. "So... Who do you think HE ends up with?"

Dretphi pauses from her reading and notices the particular book cover, fighting back hints of embarrassment upon her face. She glances to either side of her, leans close to Sotalia, and quietly replies in grath. Sotalia eases away from Dretphi and narrows a curious stare at her. Donning a devilish grin, she tosses her fiery orange, wavy hair back over her shoulders. "Oh... Really? I..."

She lifts up an intrigued eyebrow and curls a smirk. "I actually hadn't thought of it like THAT. INTERESTING."

Working the pink flush out of her tan face, Dretphi shrugs her shoulders and stretches her faintly gray striped arms out. "My theory."

Sotalia furrows her brow, snorting with amusement. Brushing stray hairs over her swept back, black horns, she catches a glimpse of the muted television and reaches over to the coffee table for the remote. "Gods. Finally. They're getting around to showing the weather report again. Takes them FOREVER to cycle back to it."

Pressing a button on the remote, she stares at the display of an evuukian man in front of a digital map.

"Local authorities have put out a heat advisory for Amaranth Valley and the surrounding areas. Presently the jet stream is pushing away storm systems from the southwest, along with any possible maelstrom activity that may manifest. Unfortunately, we will be in the valley heat bubble with very little wind for the next few days. With the shifting of the front, we should get some relief by Monday night. Until then, exercise caution with the heat. Take breaks from outdoor activities, retreat into cooler areas, and drink water."

Sotalia taps the mute button on the remote, shaking her head, and picks up another book, smirking. "Oh... Well. Good enough excuse for me to catch up on this series."

Sitting at the dining table, Cideeda's long fluffy tail wags side to side, and she slowly rotates a miniature between her claw tips. She narrows her emerald green eyes, tugging her mouth to either corner, and deliberates, hovering an ultra fine paint brush near the tiny details of the figure's armor. She pulls the brush away and mulls over a thought, indecisively squinting. Seconds later, she puts the figurine down and softly huffs. Spotting the contemplation on Cideeda's light brown face, Bach tilts his head of longer brown hair to the side. "Something wrong?"

Cideeda raps her claw tips on the table top, briefly grimacing, and rocks her head to either side. "Nothing wrong... Just... Just trying to figure out what type of Perimeter Defense Force unit would be better to have with my army."

Narrowing her stare at the unit, she flicks her furry ears with her debate. "I think I got enough heavy armor units to be the front line... So..."

Waving out her hand, she grimaces indecisively. "Maybe having a few Deep Zone Rangers would be good?"

Bach sets a large mech miniature in the middle of the table and magically tweaks its pose, pondering out loud. "Yeah. I mean, you can't go wrong having a few units with high evasion, first strike, and THAT cover bonus."

He points to the mechanical unit and curiously asks. "So, is this the look you were going for?"

Cideeda turns her head, springs her emerald green eyes wide open, and grins toothily at the mech figure, her tail wagging faster. "Yes! That's perfect! Now, if I can just get the paint mix right to capture that balance between ancient and rusty..."

Stepping through the archway from the hallway, Aristespha stretches her neck out to either side, extending her arms over her head. She puts her hands on her lower back, curls backwards, and grunts softly. "Gods... Sebastian, next time I try to write for that long... Please remind me to take a break to walk around."

Sebastian's ethereal form drifts into view next to Aristespha, and he playfully rolls his translucent blue eyes. He reflexively adjusts the loose pompadour of brown hair on his head and smirks at Aristespha. "Of course, dear. You could also try writing in a chair with proper posture..."

He glances off to the side and spouts from the side of his mouth. "Instead of curled upon a pile of pillows and blankets."

Aristespha rests her hands on her hips, straightens her athletic figure, and twists her mouth against the truth. "I... Guess... Though, it is just hard to get in the right mood otherwise."

Sebastian crosses his arms, leans his ghostly form close to Aristespha, and quirks his brow, whispering ethereally. "As if it's hard for you to get into the right mood for what you write."

Shaking out her long silvery blue hair, Aristespha smirks confidently and giggles quietly to Sebastian. "Oh. But, it takes a SPECIAL state of mind for my BEST work to come forth."

Aristespha walks into the center of the living area between the dining table and couch. Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and snorts, drifting behind Aristespha. "If what I've proofread so far is any indicator, I truly fear what might be lurking in your mind."

An evil smile briefly emerges from the gray and blue hints on Aristespha ivory face. Surveying the army of figurines upon the dining table, Aristespha crosses her arms and studies the miniatures closer. She directs her genuinely curious tone towards Cideeda. "Next time you head out to the game shop for a tournament, please let me know. It has been quite awhile since I have seen a high point count match."

Cideeda's furry ears perk up, and she nods with an eager smirk. "Will do."

An evil spark lights in her emerald green eyes, and she draws out a toothy grin. "Going to finally take the plunge? Commit to the cause?"

Playfully waving off the notion, Aristespha sighs, fighting off an embarrassed grimace. "NO. Not quite yet. Unfortunately, I deal with balancing enough numbers and figures professionally as it is. Do not really need a hobby that involves that, too."

Accepting the explanation, Cideeda smiles sinisterly and rocks a figure temptingly towards Aristespha. "Fair enough. We all will be WAITING for you..."

Suddenly an ambient drone in the room drops out into silence. The team quickly settles their collective attention upon the inert air conditioning unit on the wall. Blinking a few times, Cideeda's furry ears search the soundscape, and she frowns uncertainly. "The other units are off, too... And, I didn't hear the thermostat turn off."

Pointing towards the far end of the house, Sebastian hovers that direction. "Okay... Weird... I'm going to go check that big unit outside just to see what it's doing."

Rolling her violet eyes, Aristespha shakes her head with a groan and walks back into the hallway. "Gods. Allow me to get the number for the leasing company, we will probably need it soon.

----

Chad walks into the living room of the two story house, carrying in a small decorated wooden chest. Standing in the middle of the area in front of the coffee table, he addresses the Flames of the Phoenix team seated around upon the section couch. "Okay, everybody. Time to cast your votes."

He glances down at the sturdy prop in his hand. Noticing the attention from the surrounding team, he shrugs his shoulders in his collared shirt and rolls his brown eyes casually dismissive. "If you'll excuse how it looks, THIS is what the show provided to store the ballots."

He taps his fingers on the wooden exterior, smirking in slight amusement, and rests it down on the coffee table top. "Surprisingly, it's actually really well made. And, the lock even still works. Samantha said they found it in a local game shop of all places."

He turns the key in the lock, lifts the lid open, and retrieves a collection of paper ballots and pencils. "Everyone gets a ballot, rank your three..."

Checking around the room at Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, Trakenthin, and Veevi, Chad snorts at the group's ill-humored expressions and shakes his head. "Well... Two real REAL choices from first and second. And we all know what the third pick is. Then, just fold them and slip them through the slot."

He travels around the room, handing out ballots and pencils to each member of the team. Veevi promptly stands up with a bright, saleswoman smile, and poses confidently. "Now before everyone makes their choices, I'd really like to point out that while we have a tough choice to make..."

A sly grins accompanies a persuasive glint to her dark pink pupil eyes, and she gestures her opinion with a dramatic flair, waving her hand out and wagging her tail. "We should really think about our futures and our team's future. While some jobs can serve as paltry resume builders, very few can grant you the unique opportunity to get your foot in the door of a rewarding industry."

Resting her hands on her hips, she furrows an examining brow towards the rest of the team, shifting her stance. "You all certainly understand the value of doing small jobs to build towards a greater goal. I BELIEVE in THAT. BUT, I also don't want to be doing small jobs forever, along with you. SO... Why not make the choice to pick a seemingly small part for a chance for something greater in the future?"

Chad steps up to Veevi, presents her ballot and pencil, and tilts his head to the side. "So, I guess you are really pushing for the movie set job, huh?"

Veevi tosses her long pink hair back, sways her tan, brown striped hips, and widens her hungry smile at Chad, giggling out loud. "Oh my! Am I being THAT blatant?"

Shaking his head, Chad turns around, closes up the chest, and locks it. He finds a seat in a couch chair nearby and works on his vote. With obvious deliberation on his face, he taps his pencil on the ballot and suspiciously eyes Veevi's wandering gaze in his direction. Trakenthin examines the ballot in his hands, quickly marks off three check boxes in the array, and folds the paper up. He stands up, inserts the ballot into the chest slot, and nods towards Chad, pausing along his route out of the room. "Sparring practice for cameras in an hour?"

With a muted smile, Chad nods and a sigh with a hint of annoyance. "Yeah. They want some last minute filler footage, for some reason."

Shrugging a similar sentiment, Trakenthin exits up the stairwell. Modoran glances around casually and nonchalantly folds the ballot up with one hand. He hops up off the couch and drops his vote off into the chest. Tassilda and Deedri exchange glances, check their own ballots once more, and get up. Folding their votes up, they deposit the papers and head off to the dining area. Veevi springs up from her seat, steps towards the table, and slowly slides the ballot in the slot with a seductive smile at Chad. She struts past Chad, playfully brushes her tail along his chest in passing, and chuckles quietly to herself with an evil grin. Chad grants her nod from the attention and waits. Veevi leaves the room up the stairwell.

Chad slowly rises up from the couch chair and approaches the voting chest, holding his ballot in hand. He stands pondering with a distant stare upon the locked chest. He scans the room, a spark of paranoia driving his attention to points around the living room. Taking the key, he unlocks the box and slowly parts the lid. Staring down at the folded pieces of paper inside, he contorts his face between an array of uncomfortable, contemplative grimaces. A minute passes. An odd calm washes over Chad. He slowly exhales. Shaking his head with a defiant curl of his upper lip, Chad unfolds his ballot, erases two check marks, and fills the opposite back. He closes the small chest back up, locks it securely, and slips his ballot through the slot.

----

In the living area of the ranch style house, the blades of the overhead fan spin around quickly, the chassis swaying in short repetition. Within the strong draft below, Dretphi and Sotalia lounge miserably, sprawled upon the couch. Dretphi wipes sweat droplets off her soaked brow with her hand and tugs her undershirt away from her chest. Fanning some air through the damp garment, she sighs out her weakened frustration, trying to distract herself with the television. Sotalia groans out her disgust. Her boredom wanders, gazing upon her frizzing fiery orange, wet hair. She tightly grips a towel nearby with her long, thick, black nailed fingers and wipes the sweat off her face, grumbling. Dragging the cloth down her body, she blots off the surface moisture around her shoulders, bikini top, and stomach. Aristespha droops her long, pointed ears lower, eyeing the end of call message on her aetherphone in defeat, and tosses her head of damp darkened silvery blue hair back. "Bad news or good news, first?"

Surveying the fading group morale upon the couch, Sebastian smiles encouragingly at Aristespha with a hopeful tone. "Let's go with good news, first?"

Aristespha rubs her eyes into a pinch of the bridge of her nose, draws in a long breath, and sighs. "Good news. The leasing agent was able to book a repair technician, despite the overwhelming demand right now."

Faint signs of relief and hope swell in both Dretphi and Sotalia. Raising her fist up, Sotalia weakly celebrates. "Woo..."

Lowering her eyelids half mast over her violet eyes, Aristespha colors her tone with tinges of anger, deflating upon the dining room table. "Bad news... The appointment is tomorrow afternoon."

Dretphi sinks into the couch deeply and drops her head back, cursing in grath. Sotalia buries her face in the palm of her hand and grips one of her horns in frustration. "Gods... Dammit..."

Gritting his teeth briefly, Sebastian hovers towards the other side of the house, pointing a thumb over his shoulder, and reassures the team present. "It'll be okay. I'm going to go check on Bach and Cideeda. I'm certain those two will be able to figure something out."

He drifts through the wall away from the miserable crew.

Outside on the other side of the ranch style house, Bach kneels down next to Cideeda and grabs hold of another side of a panel to a large air conditioning unit. Panting against the stagnant heat and the overhead sun, he assists Cideeda in lifting off the metal shell. Both Cideeda and Bach turn their attention towards the inside maze of wiring and metal tubing, years upon years of debris, funk, and filth filling in the gaps between and coating everything else. Cideeda sneers her upper lip, laying her furry ears back, and growls. "OH. There's NO FUCKING WAY this has seen a yearly service this decade."

Cringing at the sight, Bach glances down, catching the buildup of dirt and sediment crumble out from the bottom of the machine. "Shit... They probably just dropped it in and haven't touched it since. To this thing's credit, it was actually doing pretty awesome until now."

Nodding in agreement, Cideeda picks off chunks of torn insulation around the copper lines with her claws, squints her emerald green eyes at the network of wiring and machinery, and wrestles a contemplative grimace. "Honestly, I'm going to have to clean this thing up first before I can really diagnose what even happened to it. What a mess..."

Bach peers into the crevices between major components, slowly shaking his head, and sighs out his waning confidence. "Yeah... Uh. Kind of hard to spot the soot of the blown out part... Against all the other dust and grime."

Sebastian's ghostly form phases out from the nearby brick wall, and he pivots towards Bach and Cideeda. With a hopeful smile, he pleads for good news. "So... Any idea what we're dealing with? Progress of any kind? Anything good to say?"

Cideeda lowers her furry ears and shakes her head with defeated grumbles. Bach turns his head, facing his brother, and draws a long breath in, explaining uncertainly. "Well... We're probably the first people to open this damn thing up in forever. It's filled with grit and grime. And, fuck us, if we have any clue what this damned thing's problem is."

Pointing a clawed finger to Bach, Cideeda nods her head in sympathetic agreement, inspecting the air conditioner. Sebastian sags his shoulders, frowning slightly, and gives an appreciative thumbs up. "Okay. Well, you two do what you can. There's a tech scheduled for tomorrow, so you don't need to overhaul it. Just see if you can get it to last us through the night."

Bach and Cideeda return the thumbs up and start sorting through the mess within the machine. Sebastian phases through the brick wall and drifts through other architecture back to the living area. Upon the living room couch, Dretphi sighs deeply, her annoyance contorting her face. "Would shower. Does not help. Not cold anymore."

Sotalia glances down at herself, growling lowly at the situation, and cringes. "Gods... Even stripping this bikini off wouldn't help at this point."

Slouching in the dining room chair, Aristespha narrows her stare to the temperature on the thermostat, rolls her violet eyes, and wilts further into her chair at the dining table. Hovering into the area, Sebastian apologetically smiles and attempts to imbue confidence in the team. "Bach and Cideeda are getting started on diagnosing the thing. It hasn't seen service for a while. So... Hopefully, it might be a simple routine fix. But... They don't know right now."

Sotalia nods appreciatively against her doubts, reaches out, gripping the edges of the couch, and sighs. "At least they're on the case. I'm going to... Try the whole cold shower thing..."

Grasping tightly, she gradually peels herself off the couch, easing herself upright, and fights a squirming fit of uncomfortable disgust. She visibly cringes, awkwardly flexing her body, and glances down, widening her golden eyed glare at the wet outline herself on the cushions. Suppressing a reflexive gag, a surge of determination forces her arms defiantly up in the air, and she stomps over towards the sliding glass door. "FUCK. THIS. I'm fixing THIS. RIGHT NOW!"

Sotalia grabs hold of the door handle, powerfully throws the slider wide open, and stands over the threshold. "I'll pay for the deposit we don't get back. Clear the blast!"

Glancing around out of her heat stupor, Dretphi spots Sotalia gesturing out incantations and springs up from the couch, rushing into the hallway. Aristespha blinks quickly, follows behind Dretphi, and calls out. "Fuck the deposit. Do it!"

Summoning forth a mass of magical flows in her hands, Sotalia pushes her arms out to her sides, one hand inside the house and one outside in the heat. Prismatic energies traveling along her arms illuminate brightly, and air swirls out in a projected vortexes from each hand. A cone of cold wind bursts forth into the living room and spills out into the open spaces. Light refracting waves of heat erupt out from her other hand, blasting forth into the yard and up into the air. Many seconds of waning intensity later, Sotalia halts the energy flows. Stepping in through the foggy mist of frigid cold air meeting outside heat, she closes the sliding glass door slowly, struts into the middle of the room, and exhales a visible, relieved breath. "Much. Better."

Aristespha and Dretphi peek out from the hallway archway and swiftly enter the room, enjoying the significantly lower temperature. Checking out the faintly frosted room, Sebastian nods at the impressive display. "Not bad. I'll go see if Bach and Cideeda want to take a break."

----

Standing in the middle of the living room of the two-story house, Chad presents the small voting chest to the gathered Flames of the Phoenix team and the surrounding camera crews at the edges of the room. He sets the wooden container upon the coffee table and announces. "It's time to reveal and tally the votes."

Unlocking the chest slowly for the cameras, Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, and Trakenthin watch on with hints of apprehension and highlights of suspicion. Veevi grins confidently and poses for the recording crews. Chad draws out the ballots, unfolds each of them, and counts them. A genuinely proud smile graces his face, and he gazes out over the team, addressing them. "Well, to be honest, I safely assumed the Chances of Slimes mission was not even in the running. So, the remaining choices are between the Movie Set Escort and Remote Drone Recovery quests."

Eyeing over the votes fanned in his hands, Chad presents his bright white grin, draws in a dramatic breath, and calls out. "The winner is... The Remote Drone Recovery. Five to one."

A wave of surprise splashes over most of the team. Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, and Trakenthin exchange glances and collectively puzzle at Chad. Veevi's expression abruptly drops hard into a blank stare. Over the seconds, she simmers towards an accusatory, indignant glare, mumbling near incoherently. "...but... ...he was supposed to..."

Gritting her teeth, she digs her sharp nails into the cushions of the sectional couch and directs an insulted, muted growl towards Chad. "Don't YOU mean TWO to four..."

Chad calmly pivots his head towards Veevi, narrows his resolute stare upon her, and repeats plainly. "Five. To. One."

Veevi balls up her fists, shoots up from the couch, and hisses at Chad, her short-hair tail fluffing out. Narrowing a mean glare upon the rest of the team, she petulantly yells out. "WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with you people!? A perfect opportunity to further yourselves, and you turn it down to go wander around in the woods looking for JUNK?! Am I the ONLY ONE with any kind of AMBITION here?!"

Tossing her pink hair back, she turns in place and flicks up her long tail disgustedly. She storms up the nearby stairwell, and a small camera crew detachment scurries up the stairs behind her. Moments of awkward silence later, Tassilda lifts an intrigued brow at Chad, crossing her arms, and smirks. "So... Five to one? INTERESTING."

Chad respectfully nods. Between the assembled members, a quiet acceptance grows into a mix of appreciation and approval.

-82-

Gerald sighs and gradually rolls his head side to side on his pillow. Closing his eyes, he stills himself and drifts his mind away from the background conversation filling the small bedroom. Samantha paces down the middle wood plank walkway in the upstairs space and draws a plotting grin across her face, pivoting towards the threshold leading to the balcony. "We've GOT to do something with this new strife between Chad and Veevi, Howie!"

A distant chuckle sounds out, and Howard's voice resonates into the room from Samantha's aetherphone. "Oh, I agree. I got the feeling this was going to happen at some point... But, didn't quite expect it NOW. BUT... We can definitely use this to our advantage."

Samantha smiles with an evil tinge, lifts a plotting eyebrow, and ponders out loud. "I know. We haven't even pulled out the usual tricks for triggering a little drama this season. I could do some tweaking on their lodging arrangements, and get two three-person rooms instead of three two-person rooms."

Giggling with sinister glee, she steps with an extra spring across the room. "Veevi facing rejection with her emotional fragility... Let's put her with someone who actively hates her AND someone she desires. That should lead to some show-worthy moments."

Howard speaks up from the other side of the call with an agreeable tone and pushes forth suggestions. "Yes. Good. And, Chad might get some backing from the other guys to break off his relationship with Veevi. Hence..."

With an excited hop in place, Samantha's tone squeaks out eagerly. "Ooo! Fresh exes having to work with each other AND live in close quarters. And, Veevi on the rebound?! Oh, that's going to make things interesting!"

A sly smirk graces Samantha, and she tosses back her brown shoulder-length hair. "SO much potential there. But, it honestly might take some time for it to... Cook... Properly. In the meantime, any progress on the Modoran haters front?"

An uncertain hum sounds out from Samantha's aetherphone, and Howard hints his intrigue. "A little. I've gotten the community forums people using their fake fan accounts to goad them into saying more, and some are trying to get on their good sides. But, no solid information, yet."

He drags out a groaning sigh from the other side of the remote conversation, the rap of fingers on a desktop peaking over the background noise. "Despite how much they despise Modoran, it seems the whole thing about keeping outsiders out of Evuukian House politics is still one thing they stick to. They are very tight lipped about any specific details. The forums people still don't know exactly what Modoran did to piss them off. About the only thing they've come up with is that Modoran MIGHT have been a member of a house."

Samantha's eyes widen briefly, and she cocks her head to the side puzzling. "Really? I wouldn't be completely surprised. But, if he was a member of a house, he certainly doesn't advertise it like most the prominent house members do."

Narrowing her stare off to the side, she twists her mouth. "THAT would explain quite a few things."

Gerald slowly opens his eyes, furrowing his brow, and comments towards Samantha. "Yeah, that would. I thought it was REALLY weird the looks a lot of those evuukian nobles were giving him. Some nasty glares at the archery competition."

Searching her mind, Samantha sorts through her memories and gradually nods in agreement. "Yes. I remember that. And, he definitely seems to know A LOT about evuukian politics. But, what house? There's so many major and minor ones out there. I'll have to dig deeper on that one."

A contemplative twist colors Howard's tone over Samantha's speakerphone, and he suggests. "Yes... Actually, have the crew review all the footage with him in it and see if there's any hints in what he's saying-"

He pauses a long time. Samantha narrows a confused stare at her aetherphone, the call time indicator continuing to increment. Many seconds later, a quiet chuckle grows forth into an evil, bellowing laugh, sounding out fully into the room. Drawing a long breath in, Howard's voice adopts an ill-humored tinge, and he plots out loud. "Actually... I have a better plan. Let's have a poll... An anonymous poll... One of those goofy ones..."

Lifting his head up from his pillow, Gerald blinks perplexed. "Okay... So, what's the poll about?"

A verbal smugness exudes from the phone in Samantha's hand, and Howard triumphantly calls out. "What Evuukian House would each member of the Flames of the Phoenix belong to?"

Gerald glances around in confusion, sorting through the logic. Samantha quietly pauses and grins ear to ear mischievously. "Oh... That's good, Howie. A little fan involvement, and that definitely could make Modoran sweat."

Howard ponders out loud, instructing the two. "That's part of it. There's another part. While it will take a while to get more details, I'm going to tell the aethersite and community team to require forum registration to submit a vote. And, while it's publicly anonymous, we'll track who casts which vote."

With a hint of a dark chuckle, he states. "I get the feeling our Modoran detractors will vote."

Gerald blinks, the logic settling in his mind, and nods in agreement. "Yeah. They probably would. Hell, that might work better than you could ever get by asking them."

Rolling his dark brown eyes dismissively, he groans out an incredulous retort. "Well shit, you might as well set up a fan poll about which crime each member would likely be guilty of while you are at it."

Howard's voice goes silent on the other side of the aetherphone call, and Samantha blanks her face in contemplation. Moments later, Samantha pivots, facing Gerald with a devilishly delighted grin, and aims her voice towards the phone. "Did you hear THAT, Howie-"

A prompt reply sounds out, Howard chuckling eagerly. "Already on it! Thank you, Gerald. We could definitely use that and similar to help the researchers out."

Gerald grits his teeth briefly, releasing a regretful sigh, and turns his head away, rubbing his forehead. "No... problem... Anytime..."

Whispering to himself, he grimaces. "Gods, I'm SO sorry, you guys..."

Gerald sits up on the bed and slides himself onto his feet. He quietly escapes the room out onto the peaceful balcony. Samantha and Howard hash out future polling schemes.

----

Flying underneath the scattered clouds above, Lagi's front wings minutely adjust to the stirring air currents, his back wings propelling huge gusts of wind behind. With calculated movements, his fanning tail sways, stabilizing himself, and steadies his position in the thermals above a huge parking lot below. Kaleb motions between a number status screens floating in the holographic display in front of him and drums his fingers on the saddle. Leaning forward, he pats Lagi's side and sighs into the microphone in his helmet. "Just a little while longer. Took a lot of really high resolution pictures and the client wanted them uncompressed."

Lagi flutters his bright green eyes back to awareness, eyes back at Kaleb, and grunts out an acknowledgment with a purr. Closing his eyes, he adjusts the facing of his armored head and eases back into a chill trance upon the winds. Kaleb chuckles to himself, settling back securely on the saddle, and sorts through the different messages on the translucent screen. A few minutes later, a final prompt flashes up, and Kaleb stretches his flight jacket covered arms out. He waves across the screen, and the holographic projection fades away. Leaning down upon the saddle, he grips hold of a pair of handholds tightly and calls out. "Finally! Upload is done, and they just sent confirmation of receipt. Damn, that took long even being this close to an aether tower. Oh well, let's head home!"

With a powerful downwards swing, Lagi breaks away from his midair coast and launches himself forward faster with each flap. Pitching down slightly, he trades altitude for velocity and soars above the roadways of the small town commercial district. He flies with the afternoon sun to his back, piloting through the air towards a familiar destination, and occasionally glances down upon the ground, spotting the landmarks.

An elaborate chime sounds out through the drone of the wind around Kaleb, and he taps the side of his helmet. "Yes, my love?"

Shadeesa's voice sounds out in Kaleb and Lagi's headsets with an inquiring tone. "I'm feeling like cooking a few of my grandmother's dishes for dinner tonight. What do you think?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Kaleb leans over, noticing Lagi licking his lips in anticipation. "No objections here. We just finished uploading the photos for the guild contract and are heading back."

Traces of concern color Shadeesa's worried hum, and she pries. "Oh, damn. How far are you from home? I want to do proper emin cooking, for once, but I'm fresh out of the right seasonings. And, you know it won't taste right if I substitute too much."

With a comforting laugh, Kaleb pats the side of Lagi and directs Lagi's attention towards a large superstore on the horizon. "Doesn't matter where we're at. For good cooking, we'll make the trip. And, Lagi seems in the flying mood today anyway."

Tilting his body, Lagi gracefully swings around, reversing his direction, and cuts through the air with his wings and tail. A happy chirp sounds out through the air and over the radio headset. Shaking his head, Kaleb chuckles. "We just were near the super center in town. Just message me the list to my phone, and I'll go get it."

Shadeesa's voice warmly rises from the call, and she delights. "Thank you! If they don't have it all there, you might try the import shop. But, they can be a little expensive..."

Kaleb warmly reassures, pointing out towards an open field next to the parking lot ahead for Lagi. "Don't worry about that. We're getting paid for this job, so we can live a little tonight."

A little pause later, Shadeesa sighs lovingly and giggles softly. "Well... See you two soon. Love you both."

Lagi purrs out, and Kaleb nods. "Love you, too."

Kaleb taps the side of his helmet, pats Lagi's shoulder, and glances down at the empty field far ahead. "Okay, let's head to the store. There's going to be some good greasy pans for you to lick clean tonight."

The large dragon excitedly chirps and powers his wings against the air towards the vacant grassy lot.

In front of the large super center, a young man with slicked back hair wanders between entering and exiting customers with a pamphlet and bucket. Presenting a concerned smile, he shows a flier to a passerby. "Hello, my name is Marcus, I'm representing People for Dragons Rights. Would you like to make a donation to our cause and take a free pamphlet about how you can help let these beautiful creatures fly free?"

The emin man in overalls furrows his scrutinizing brow at Marcus, slowly shakes his head, and walks into the super center. "I'll think about it while I'm shopping."

The emin man walks away, and Marcus fails to keep a bright grin, it fading off his face. "Not a problem. Keep us in mind if you have change you don't want after you've checked out."

In the lull of foot traffic, Marcus slumps his shoulders and slowly plods towards an old van. He knocks on the sliding side door and sighs. The door opens up, and a young woman with dark gray skin and braided red hair peeks her head out. "Hey, Marcus! Any luck?"

Slowly shaking his head, Marcus pushes the van door fully open and sits down on the floor of the vehicle interior, passing the bucket of sparse change over. "Not really. Gods, I don't know, Cind. We might need to head back to Amaranth. Don't think people here care about dragons at all."

Cind pats the back of Marcus's colorful t-shirt and smiles encouragingly. "Don't say that. I'm sure people care."

Rising from underneath a blanket, a young emin man with chipped and broken horns yawns, and greets the other two. "Yeah, man. Don't count them out yet. They might just not have a lot of money to just give away..."

Scratching his shaggy beard thoughtfully, he shrugs his shoulders, pondering out loud. "I don't know... Maybe we should, like, really give merchandising a chance. Nothing big. Maybe some cool t-shirts and airbrushing. We could totally get some cheap stuff, spray some cool looking dragon stencils on it, and totally get some money."

Cind blinks with an eager grin and cranes her head around, glancing at Marcus. "Kell is right! I mean, people might not give away their money freely. BUT, we could totally sell them on arts and crafts!"

With a long sigh, Marcus rests his chin upon his fist, propping his head up with his arm contemplatively. Rocking his head side to side, he huffs out his frustration and grumbles. "I guess. Dammit. I thought we were doing good when we released all those whelps at that show. I mean... We planned it out. It went perfectly. And, it got noticed! I really wanted to do another big thing before we have to go back to college."

Laughing with a goofy, reassuring grin, Kell stretches his arms out. "Aww, don't beat yourself up, man. It's been a fun trip. Kinda nice to know we can get it together this much. And man, you got to stop being too focused, else your chance might pass right by you."

Marcus groans half heartedly and rolls his dark brown eyes. His gaze briefly shifts upwards. A shadow casts down upon the surrounding area, and a low rushing, thump whooshes past. Blinking back to attention, Marcus quickly searches the area and watches the dark spot upon the ground quickly grow, zipping across the parking lot towards an empty field. Cind's bright blue eyes widen, and she points up into the air. "Look at that!"

Shifting his stare upwards, Marcus gawks at the large dragon quickly dropping altitude for a landing. Kell squints his purple on black eyes, grins happily, and nods his head. "Whoa... That's a big boy right there. He's got to be pushing a fifteen meter wingspan-"

He reflexively points out. "Dude! He's got the second pair of wings, too! Oh man, he's a rare one. That's too cool."

Shooting up to his feet upon the pavement, he glances back over his shoulder to Cind and Kell. "Well, it looks like he's landing over there. Let's check this out!"

In the middle of the open field, Lagi folds up his wings, kneels down, and tilts to the side. Kaleb unbuckles himself from the saddle, swings his leg over, and slides off Lagi, landing on the ground. Brushing himself off, he stretches out his back and pets Lagi on the side of his head. "Okay. You stay here. I'll try to be quick. You want anything?"

Narrowing his eyes in thought, Lagi darts his gaze around his mind and emits a series of clicks, chirps, and purrs. Kaleb scratches his chin, mulling over the request, and starts to walk away. "I'll see what I can find. But, you are going to have to ask your mother if it's okay for you to have tonight."

Sitting upright, Lagi nods and watches Kaleb jog off towards the superstore. Seconds later, the breeze picks up over the tall grasses, and he sniffs the air. Tracing a faint smell close to the ground, he carefully steps around the field. Following his nose, Lagi pushes through the taller grasses, halts abruptly, and purrs contentedly. His large maw opens, and he clamps down on a large mass of plant life with loud crunching.

Marcus, Cind, and Kell trudge through the thickening grasses and stand near Lagi in awe. Marcus glances over his shoulders at Cind an Kell, plotting. "Okay. The rider is away. Let's see if we can get close and get that saddle and gear off of him."

Nodding hesitantly, Cind studies Lagi from a distance and starts to approach. "Let's see if he's friendly. Looks like he's eating something."

Kell narrows his stare at Lagi and the riding equipment and shrugs at Marcus. "Sounds good, man. But, there isn't that much gear on him. Actually, it just looks like the saddle and a few other things. Probably got some kind of tracker and stunner gear underneath."

Marcus leads the approach, the trio moving closer to Lagi. In between stretches of munching on another mouthful of flora, Lagi's bright green eyes dart back, observing the approach of the three people. Watching them attentively, he returns to sniffing the ground, hunting. Cind walks around towards the front of Lagi and notices the mass of blackberry brambles in Lagi' mouth. The dragon crunches down casually on the thorny vines, and she grimaces uncomfortably, puzzling. "Why is he eating blackberry plants?"

Dropping her gaze down, she finds a nearby patch full of berries and observes Lagi licking the mashed berry juice off his mouth. Cind gingerly picks a handful of fruit and approaches the dragon. "Hey. You want the berries? Here! That way you don't have to fight the thorns."

Lagi's attention slides quickly over to the hand of berries in Cind's hands, and he steps close to her. He opens his mouth, waiting patiently. Cind tosses some of the fruit into Lagi's anticipating maw. With Lagi munching happily on the fruit, Cind distracts the large dragon and sneaks out a signal to the others. Kell and Marcus slink towards Lagi's side. Kell pulls Marcus's attention towards a few harness points. The two try to reach out, and Lagi side steps away. Backing away, Kell and Marcus cautiously approach again, making another attempt. Lagi's wing shifts down and brushes the two away. Stepping back, Kell scratches his head and shrugs his shoulders at Marcus. "I don't know, man. He seems pretty against us touching that. And, you know..."

Kell squints his purple on black eyes at the gear on Lagi. "I'm not seeing a bridle anywhere. Or actually, like, any restriction devices on him."

Summoning up his determination, Marcus dons a casual facade, gazing away, and peeks out the corner of his eye. Cind tosses another handful of berries into Lagi's maw, and Marcus rushes over to Lagi's side and grips the support strap buckle tightly. A loud, reverberating growl echoes out into the area. Freezing in place, Marcus slowly turns his head and meets the glaring bright green eyes of Lagi. He slowly releases his grip and gradually steps back under the cold stare of the dragon, holding his hands up.

Parting through the small crowd at the end of the field, Kaleb glances around with two bags of groceries in his hands and squints at the three people around Lagi. Rolling his light brown eyes, he shakes head, marching over, and grumbles to himself. He stops short of the group between him and Lagi, draws a long breath, and calls out. "OKAY. What THE FUCK are you people doing to him?"

Marcus narrows his stare, puffs out his chest, and points to Kaleb. "WE are members of the People for Dragon Rights! And, WE are trying to LIBERATE this dragon from your slavery!"

Blinking in surprise, Kaleb cringes visibly and drops his head of short dirty blonde hair down. "Of course... They would fucking find US."

He draws in a long breath, furrowing his brow unamused, and leans his gaze around Marcus and Kell, calling out to Lagi with a series of clicks, whistles, and growls. Lagi glances over, munching upon another handful of blackberries, thinks a moment, and replies with a chain of purrs, chirps, whistles, and a particularly low growl. Kaleb nods in understanding, sighing. "Listen, we got to go. I need to go home and help with dinner."

Crossing his arms defiantly, Marcus stands up straight and narrows a glare at Kaleb, loudly proclaiming to the crowd. "Oh! So YOU get to go home and eat good. But, your poor dragon is left to graze the fields and munch on the pitiful scraps of vegetation!"

With an annoyed groan, Kaleb cringes, glances up to the skies above, and shakes his head mumbling to himself. Focusing his gaze ahead, he spots Cind struggling to pick anymore berries from the blackberry brambles and Lagi's drifting attention. "Lagi! You done getting fed organically grown blackberries? Ready to go home to eat nice home cooking?"

Lagi lifts his head up, sitting up straight, and purrs, flexing out his wings. Kaleb quickly sidesteps wide around Marcus, snorts humored at the trio, and walks to the awaiting Lagi. He stows away his groceries in the saddlebags at Lagi's sides, pulls himself quickly into the seat, and secures himself for flight. "Nice talking to you and all, but... WE really got SO many better things to do."

Excitedly unfurling his wings, Lagi stretches out his wingspans, fans out his long tail, and widens his stance. Halting mid process, Lagi coughs. Smacking his mouth, he hacks hard. Kaleb leans over, examining Lagi's face, and rolls his eyes with a shake of his head. "Didn't chew enough before swallowing. Come on, take a deep breath and get it up."

Straining his neck and opening his maw wide, Lagi repeatedly hacks and coughs, the long process quickly growing wet, thick, and messy. In a final gathering of strength, he draws in a large amount of air and expels it. Turning his head sharply, Lagi releases a sticky mass right at Marcus's chest. The blob of congealed phlegm, sharp brambles, and dark purple berry leftovers splatter powerfully onto Marcus, and he stumbles onto the ground. Kaleb blinks in surprise and narrows an accusing stare at Lagi, whispering. "Okay, now THAT was obviously on purpose."

Glancing back, Lagi shrugs his shoulders with an indifferent grunt. He bounds off, gaining escape velocity. With a few power flaps, he and Kaleb lift off into the skies. Receiving the mix of the crowd's snickers and cringes in the background, Cind and Kell rush over and check in on Marcus. Both wince at the sight of Marcus covered in purple speckled, viscous goo, and painfully clingy, thorny bramble bits. Gradually, Marcus sits up. Cind and Kell attempt to carefully remove the sharp branches, and Marcus huffs quietly to the two. "We are going to FREE THAT dragon."

----

Plodding along the hardwood floors of the hallway, Aristespha rubs her eyes into a pinch of the bridge of her nose and draws in a long breath with her aetherphone pressed to her very long, pointed ear. Twisting her mouth, she grimaces with the voice on the other side of the phone call and gradually releases a long sigh. Regaining her composure, she rests her back against the wall and blinks unamused, her tone remaining positive. "I apologize, I know it is hard work. We all do greatly appreciate your efforts and what you have done."

A disheartened tinge sneaks into her voice, and she drops her head forward slightly, letting her silvery blue hair hang forward. "We were just hoping for more to go off of. But, what you have provided us is still very helpful. It will give us an idea of what to prepare for."

Summoning up a bit of hope, she straightens her posture, stepping away from the wall, and walks towards the hallway archway into the living area. "Thank you. And we will try to be ready to act upon any more information you find out."

With a final goodbye, Aristespha slowly shakes her head at the aetherphone, slips it back into her shorts pocket, and glances around the room. Cideeda narrows her emerald green eyes at the screen of her laptop upon the tabletop and sits back in her chair at the dining table, tapping the fingertips on both hands together. Her furry ears flick and perk with her plotting thoughts, and she grits her teeth briefly at the spreadsheet of statistics and unit points value calculations, the latest rules errata open nearby. Dretphi folds up a shirt, places it upon one of the few stacks surrounding her on the couch, and reaches into a nearby hamper. A dramatic scene of a grath show plays out on the television, and she pauses, watching the tension peak. The camera shifts for the surprise reveal, and Dretphi blinks into an incredulous shake of her head with frustrated mumbles of grath.

Aristespha's violet eyes settle upon the empty, inviting recliner. She swiftly passes in front of the coffee table, plops down into the plush couch chair, and pulls the side lever. The chair back tilts, the leg rest extends out, and she melts into the cushions and sighs. Sebastian's ethereal form drifts in from the hallway, floats above the couch, and lands next to the recliner. Kneeling down, he presents a comforting smile to Aristespha and calmly inquires. "So... How did the call with Hackle go, dear?"

Contorting her face between different emotions, Aristespha settles upon an unsatisfied smirk and weakly shrugs her shoulders. "Not terrible. But... Not great, either."

Sebastian chuckles lightly, rolling his translucent blue eyes playfully. "So, about the usual for us, then?"

With a quick snort, Aristespha slowly nods and parts a gradual smile on her ivory face. "Yes, Sebastian. Typical."

Lifting a curious brow, Sebastian releases a ghostly sigh and glances over to Dretphi and Cideeda. "Want to reveal the details?"

Stretching out on the recliner, Aristespha sinks deeper into the cushions and ponders a moment. "Of course. But, I just wanted to relax a bit and collect my thoughts a little first. Plus, might as well wait until Bach and Sotalia get done with practice."

Sebastian glances out into the sunny backyard and nods in agreement. "Yeah. They'll probably be in soon enough. Looks pretty hot outside."

An ambient drone rises up in the background, and the air conditioning hum speeds up. The gust of air from the wall unit spreads outwards, blowing a few stray strands of Aristespha hair. With a twitch of her long, pointed ears, she closes her eyes and relaxes with a long exhale. Sebastian and Aristespha exist quietly next to each other. Cideeda clicks a few keys on her laptop, studying another set of figures. Dretphi sneers at the developing drama on the television show.

Minutes later, the sliding glass door opens. Bach steps through with a guilty grin and a faint trail of frost mist wafting behind him. Following behind, Sotalia narrows an accusatory stare at Bach, pointing at him. "Okay! You PURPOSEFULLY let those frost blasts hit you. I KNOW you can dodge better than that."

Glancing over his shoulder, Bach shrugs simply and reveals a satisfied smirk. "Yeah... I lost the match... But, I totally won the war against the heat."

Sotalia furrows her brow, rolls her golden eyes, and steps off to the side of the coffee table. Sliding into the breeze of the air conditioner, she pulls open the neckline of her sports bra down and tosses around her damp, fiery orange, wavy hair in the cooling wind. "Well, you could have returned the favor, at least."

Bach pulls a chair out from the dining table and thinks a moment, hiding a humored grin. "Well, you said, use your best attacks. So, I went with the ones that'd give you a challenge. I mean, I'm not the best with throwing elemental attacks around."

Sotalia shifts her weight with a sway, resting her hand on her hip, and stares incredulously at Bach. "Right..."

A sly grin graces her light tan face, and she lifts an examining eyebrow towards Bach. "Maybe you just wanted to see me sweat."

Bach blinks blankly and glances over to Sotalia, puzzling. He awkwardly averts his gaze away from light tan and dark gray skin tone patterns of Sotalia's perspiration coated back. Quickly sitting down at the dining table, he drops his focus over to Cideeda's laptop screen of calculations and rules. Sebastian glances over at Aristespha expectantly and motions towards the rest of the team. Aristespha nods, resets the recliner back up, and stands. Stretching her back out, she hems loudly and addresses the group. "I got an update from Captain Hackle. There is some good news, but not as much as I would like."

Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia swing their attention over to Aristespha. With a mildly frustrated frown, Aristespha relays the news. "They are still tracking down Noxian. But, the few confirmed sightings of his vehicle put him heading towards Perimeter. They do not know if that is his final destination. He has been avoiding the main highways, so they only have so much information to work off of."

With an annoyed sneer of her upper lip, Sotalia crosses her arms. Cideeda's furry ears droop, and she groans weakly. Dretphi snorts out a sigh and shakes her head. Aristespha draws in a long breath with a sympathetic smile. "I know. Captain Hackle is contacting Captain Hays, since he has more jurisdiction in Perimeter and the PWZ. The GAA authority runs thin out there. So, hopefully, they will confirm he has at least been to Perimeter."

Sebastian ethereal form nods appreciatively to Aristespha, stands up straight, and explains. "I don't think we should make a move until we at least confirm he was recently in Perimeter... Or, at least confirmed to be somewhere for some period of time. I think we've all had our fill of wild goose chases and hoping to hit it on crappy odds."

Around the living area, everyone musters their own agreeing expressions, hints of stale frustration forming. Sotalia rests her hands at her hips, sighing reluctantly, and shrugs her shoulders. "As much as I want to chase him down, Perimeter is really far to just randomly visit on a hope he might still be around there. Gods dammit..."

The collective mood dims in the room, and the team idles in disappointed silence. Aristespha measures the morale, stepping towards the dining table, and calls out with a grin. "I think we need something to cheer ourselves up. I want to try that dessert place down from the game shop. Anyone interested? My treat."

Chuckling to herself, Sotalia walks to the hallway archway. "I'll take a little emotional bribery right now. Let me get into something more presentable... and less soaked."

Dretphi perks up with a smile, finishes folding up a pair of shorts, and digs into the laundry basket. "Allow me to find socks."

Flicking her furry ear towards Aristespha, Cideeda grins toothily and stands up. "Definitely need to stop by the game shop. See the latest units..."

She gazes at Aristespha with an inquiring lift of an eyebrow. "Maybe price out a starter army for someone?"

Aristespha laughs and shrugs shoulders. Bach glances over to Aristespha with a thankful smile. "Hey, uh, thanks for the treat. You sure you want to pay for all of us? I mean, I got my own money... for once."

Gazing down at Bach in his seat, Aristespha shakes her head appreciatively, rolling her violet eyes guiltily. "Technically, it is the compliments of the Evuukian Territories government. My monthly citizen stipend finally got processed out of my government account."

Pondering a moment, Bach blinks with his memory and nods. "Oh, right. Yeah... I forgot they have a basic income system. Always seems weird that such an oligarchic government would allow that to exist..."

Aristespha shrugs her shoulders and sorts through her thoughts with her violet eyes. "It is a complicated issue. To say the very least. But, it actually serves as a bit of an insurance plan for all the oligarchs. Citizens with money tend to spend it. And, when most of the houses are centered around goods and services, they see the returns."

With a long sigh, Bach stretches his neck out side to side, grimacing. "Okay, that makes sense. Kind of wish other governments did that. Would have made it easier to handle rent and bills a number of times."

Blinking at her memories, Aristespha crosses her arms and nods. "It has certainly helped me. Along with the citizen credit system, I have stayed out of too much financial trouble. But, admittedly, since I am not a current resident in the territories or working a job paying territory taxes..."

She snorts dismissively, tugging at the corner of her mouth. "It's not THAT much."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Bach pries. "How much?"

Aristespha smiles with a chuckle. "Enough to take friends out to get a few treats. Or, a bus ticket back into the Evuukian territories."

Narrowing a distant stare, Bach thinks for a moment and shakes his head. "Still surprised that some politician hasn't figured a way to screw it up."

A smirk cracks out from the corner of Aristespha's mouth, and she perks an amused brow at Bach. "They occasionally try. Usually, it is some new member of a minor financial house that proposes it. Does NOT go much further than that. They usually get REMINDED of what happened the last time a financial house was allowed to dictate any important policy."

Bach furrows his brow and focuses his gaze at Aristespha. "Which was?"

Aristespha chuckles lightly, shaking her head. "OH. A massive crash of the economy. A bunch of financial houses cooked up some scheme, and it COMPLETELY backfired. The remaining houses forced the government to nationalize banking, insurance, and investment organizations."

Blinking in surprise, Bach scratches his chin, narrowing his intrigue upon Aristespha. "Damn. I bet those financial houses weren't happy about THAT."

With a foreboding laugh, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes and rests her hands on her hips. "They were not. But, there were not many financial houses with active members left at that point."

Sebastian drifts next to Aristespha, listening in on the conversation. Pausing in thought, Bach cocks his head to the side slowly. "Wait... Active members?"

Aristespha grins darkly, giggling. "Exactly. Active members. Those living and willing to run the house. Turns out a lot of the financial house members quit, died, or just went... Missing. For very strange and suspicious reasons, too. Only pieces of some were ever found."

Bach blinks away, turning his head towards Sebastian, and slowly shakes his head. "Seriously. Is there not a chapter of Evuukian history that ISN'T filled with sociopolitical strife and questionable events?"

Gritting his teeth briefly, Sebastian twists his mouth and grumbles at a loss. "Uh, not really, bro. It's pretty drama-filled and crazy. It just gets deeper the further you go into it. There's some crazy stories in just the investigations about even crazier things."

Aristespha smiles wryly and perks her brow, punctuating the point. "We tend to season it with splashes of bloodshed and steep it in unsolved mysteries, too."

Leaning closer to his brother, Sebastian contorts his face uneasily and slowly shakes his head. "Seriously, bro. I read up about this one trade union guy and NO ONE... STILL... NO ONE knows what happened to him. Even stranger kinds of magic couldn't figure anything out. It's fucking creepy, man."

Pondering a moment, Aristespha grimaces, humming in thought. "Yes. Him. I believe the rumors state that someone dumped him into the foundation of a government building somewhere. At least, that is the best theory I have heard."

----

Sitting around the coffee table in the living room, the Flames of the Phoenix team sifts, sorts, and studies documents sprawling over the surface. Chad taps a pencil down a handwritten check list, pacing around, and points at Tassilda. "Okay, Tassilda, any word from Daedrican?"

Nodding, Tassilda scrolls through the long message on her aetherphone and narrows her light blue on black eyes. "Yes. It seems like that particular area is really close to where we got attacked when traveling with their patrol. Strange..."

She leans over from her seat on the couch, searching the map with a finger, and taps a spot. "The predicted crash site is here. And, we got attacked..."

Sliding her long, thick black nail down the printed out map, she stops at a spot along a road. "Here. So... Not too far away."

Chad grimaces out his concern, inquiring further. "Anything else?"

Searching through the message, a bit of relief appears on Tassilda, and she pulls a reserved smile. "It seems that Appaland made a sweep of the area after the attack. Daedrican doesn't know any details. But from the rumors he's heard, they cleared out any trouble in the area."

Nodding at the statement, Chad flicks the pencil, scratching a checkmark on a bullet point. He searches around the room and settles his gaze upon Trakenthin. "Anything strange in the mission information?"

Trakenthin flips through a few more pages, rests the packet down next to him, and picks up a sheet of notes. "Significant mentions of spirit activity. Not surprising. Weird zones in the area."

Deedri's furry, tufted ears perk up. Blinking to attention, she smiles eagerly, searching for her aetherphone. "If that's a possibility, I know someone who could give us advice on such. At least, she'll know what we need to read up on."

Chad smiles appreciatively, confirming with a quick nod. "Any wisdom they could provide would be useful. Please check with them."

Navigating through a few menus, Deedri brings up her contacts, slides through the list, and taps open a new message, Aristespha listed as the recipient. Modoran stretches his arms out, settling back into the couch, and rubs his eyes. Chad turns his head to Modoran and queries. "Um... Anything new on your end, Modoran?

Modoran blinks back to awareness, nonchalantly glances over to Chad, and shrugs his shoulders. "Nothing too exciting. Still trying to figure out the best way to get out there and the supplies we will need. If we get lucky, we won't be out there too long. BUT... If this thing went too far off course or got dragged off by something, we could be out there for a while. I hope we do not need to do a resupply run, BUT... That is a possibility. So, I am charting out a few options, just in case."

Hovering his pencil near the bottom of his list, Chad writes out a few new notes and nods. "Yeah. Thought that might be a possibility. We shall see."

Surveying the room, Modoran glances over at Trakenthin, Tassilda, and Deedri. He settles an investigative stare at Chad and casually motions him over. "Hey, could you look at this route and tell me what you think?"

Stepping over next to Modoran, Chad kneels down and studies the highlighted roads, comprising a few possible route options. "Yeah... I think one of these could work just fine. I don't think there's too many options to get out there."

Modoran nods in agreement, leaning closer to the map, and sneaks a whisper out the side of the mouth. "Where the hell is Veevi at?"

Chad eases out a defeated sigh, rolling his eyes, and gradually shakes his head with a quiet reply. "She's still fucking hung up on being voted down. Still refusing to leave her room for anything apart from show related shit."

Working through the discomfort on his face, Chad draws a long breath in, presenting a positive tone against waning confidence. "Maybe... She'll be better once we are on the road..."

He eyes off to the side with a faint hint of faux hope. "Maybe..."

Modoran glances over briefly at Chad and pats him lightly on the back, nodding. "We, at least, appreciate the effort."

A weak smile emerges from the corner of Chad's face.

----

Staring out distantly, Nash eases back into his office chair, a long metallic squeak grinding out, and grumbles into a groan. His eyes scan over the long list of unread messages on his computer display. His attention wanders over towards the stacks of paperwork upon his desk. His gaze tries to escape from the impending work, finding no relief upon the row of wall mounted monitors with scattered warning alert messages. Sinking into his seat further, he deflates at the surrounding, building work.

From the office door, a knock sounds out, and the door opens. Harvos reflexively ducks his head down, his horns clearing the doorway, and steps into the room, surveying the scene. With an awkward smirk, he shakes his head and snorts with a commiserating tone. "So... You too?"

Nash slowly shakes his head in silence. Harvos steps over, pulls over a rolling chair in front of Nash's desk, and sits down. Leaning back in the seat, he draws in a long breath and groans. "Good gods. Those investigators have been practically camping out in my department."

Nash laughs and grumbles, hints of frustration slipping out. "Fuck me. If they keep on researching any more of the databases, I might consider offering them residency. I mean, they've technically done more research than most of my graduate candidates at this point."

The two sit in silence, wearily idling, and drifting off into their own thoughts. A minute later, Harvos rubs his temple, drawing in a long breath, and inquires. "Relayed anything more to Aristespha?"

Shaking head, Nash rocks the back of his office in repetitious, faint creaks sounding out, and sighs. "Nothing more really to say. Plus, at this point, I'm pretty sure the investigators know more than me."

Harvos closes his brown on black eyes, rubbing his forehead, and grumbles to himself. The two quietly commiserate in the academic background of the office, the soft sounds of hallway traffic filtering mixing with barely audible drone of desktop computing equipment. A chime rings out from Nash's computer. Squinting at the screen, Nash cocks his head to the side and furrows his brow, puzzling. He opens the latest message, reads the text at the top, and springs his pale blue eyes wide in surprise. "Well. Okay..."

Getting up, Harvos steps around the desk and leans over, checking out the screen of interest. Nash clicks through a few programs, opens up a collection of maps and data dumps, and ponders out loud. "This is from my friend at that one aetherphone network company. Since he got legal clearance to dig deeper, he's been sorting through the rough data logs they collect from the providers using their towers. He found something strange..."

The two study a familiar map of the area with an overlay of wide, color paths approximately following the roadways. Nash slowly pulls his head back, an uncomfortable realization dawning upon his face, and tenses his shoulders. "Oh... Shit..."

Harvos's confusion grows along with his suspicion, and he fights emerging discomfort coming from his subconscious, manifesting into tension throughout his body. "There's something unsettling here. I can feel it. What is it, though?"

Tapping his finger on the screen, Nash gazes at Harvos and explains. "The logs don't contain high resolution position data. It's just what the towers can triangulate. So... Just general area tracking."

He points out the three different colors of highlight and the map legend to the side. "My friend tracked three phones. The two suspicious ones and mine. Now the suspicious phones only came online consistently that day when they got on campus. But..."

Nash's finger circles the colors of the overlay upon points of interest on the map. "Look at the areas they traveled."

Narrowing his analytical stare upon the display, Harvos visually sorts through data and gawks in surprise, the realization solidifying. "What. The. Fuck? One of those phones followed almost the same route as your phone."

Nash nods and taps an end point of the wide, approximated path. "Yeah... We were riding with Dr. Dawkins during that trip."

Blinking in thought, Harvos pulls the free chair around the desk and plops down. He glances over to Nash, worried. "You don't think that Dr. Dawkins is...?"

Nash shakes his head uncertainly, mulling over the idea between moments of hesitation. "No... Not willingly, at least. But... What if Isaac had been keeping tabs on his old boss? Maybe caught wind of him coming over?"

Slowly rocking his head with the theory developing in his mind, Harvos eases out an uncomfortable breath, processing out loud. "Yeah... Isaac sees the opportunity. Gets his accomplice to follow Dr. Dawkins and us. Keep an eye out. Be the lookout for him. Then, Isaac runs in, grabs the whatever he was looking for when no one is around, and clears out. A clean enough operation. That wouldn't have been discovered if it wasn't for those two students."

Both settle back in their seats, working through surges of unease, and grimace in unison, contorting their faces. Nash flutters his eyes in disbelief, shaking his head. "Damn. That's so fucked up. Oh. Shit..."

He glances over at Harvos and furrows his brow with fresh concern. "We really need to check on Dr. Dawkins. Maybe he's noticed something weird at his house lately?"

Harvos nods quickly, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah... Isaac knows how to use a few of our old cracking tools. I wouldn't be surprised if something of Dr. Dawkins’ has been compromised. He does live on the outskirts of town, so probably no one would notice Isaac spying on him. He lives by himself. So, any time he left would be an opportunity for Isaac to tap into some system or sneak around. Real possibility right there."

Nash studies the map again, grumbling. "Fuck. I wish they kept better logs for tracking data. Too much of a margin of error on the tracking to really nail down specific positions at exact times. Oh well..."

He pauses a moment in through and lifts a thankful eyebrow. "At least... We didn't run into Isaac."

Blinking at the idea, Harvos cringes and shakes his head. "Gods, I wouldn't know what to do in that situation."

Furrowing an amused brow, Nash snorts. "Fuck. That. My fat ass would RUN. Probably have to change my underwear afterwards, but I'd be alive to do so."

Harvos nods in full agreement and continues staring dumbfounded at the data on the screen.

-83-

Aristespha's violet eyes pick through her mind, and she furrows her disconnected stare. Tapping her finger on the back of her aetherphone pressed against her very long, pointed ear, she nods her head upon her pillow, contemplating. "I am trying to remember anything else I should tell you."

Sitting up upon her bed, she crosses her legs and hums thoughtfully. "If you got the books I told you to get, the first few chapters will give you all the basics. Most usually start with safety protocols and identification criteria. So, for what you will probably experience, that hopefully will be enough. I would make sure everyone on the team reads up on the quick rules of engagement with spirits."

Listening to the voice at the other end of the call, she snarls her upper lip and rolls her violet eyes with a commiserating sigh. "Gods. I can certainly imagine from what I have seen. You are simply going to have to be painfully blunt with Veevi. Though..."

She glances off to the side and twists a grimace on her ivory face. "Given her usual behavior, even the basic three rules are going to prove incredibly difficult to get through her thick skull."

Drawing a deep breath, Aristespha releases a long exhale with an understanding smirk, listening to the response from the other side of the call. She cracks a smile and chuckles lightly. "I heard. Well, I will not keep you any longer. Keep me updated. And, please call or message me if you have other questions. I do not think we are doing anything too demanding for now, so I should be able to get back to you quickly."

Aristespha grants a goodbye and taps the phone screen to end the call, slowly shaking her head. "Gods... Be careful... Please..."

She idly glances around the room, easing out a sigh, and watches the morning sun reflect off the green leafy trees just outside her bedroom windows. Leaning over to the edge of the bed, she reaches her hand out to the handle of the sword and taps it with glowing violet eyes. A few moments later, Sebastian's ethereal form materializes in front of her. "Yes, dear?"

Aristespha smiles lovingly and curls a smirk, poking at Sebastian's visage. "Nothing, Sebastian. I was curious as to what you were doing."

Sebastian shrugs his shoulders, drifting into a seat upon the bed next to Aristespha. "Well, I was getting a bit too absorbed in a grath drama Bach and Dretphi are watching."

Blinking out her surprise, she pauses in thought, quirking her brow, and stands up. "Interesting... What is it about?"

Hovering next to Aristespha, Sebastian crosses his arms and searches his mind for comprehension, relaying. "I was just figuring out the general story... BUT, I think it's about a young grath woman getting proposed by multiple people to join their houses. Honestly, I think she's just REALLY indecisive."

Shrugging her shoulders, Aristespha opens the door to her bedroom and walks through the hallway. "Well, I am curious now."

In the living area, Bach and Dretphi stare attentively at the television, occasionally sorting laundry in the lulls of drama. A young grath woman on screen sits on a park bench under the yellow tinted glow of an overhead lamp post. Flakes of snow drift through the light from hazy, speckled shadows surrounding. Sniffing with tears in her eyes, she tightens her arms around her heavy coat and slowly shakes her head sadly. A male voice off screen speaks a concerned phrase of grath, and Americ subtitles appear. "Why are YOU Here?"

The camera pans over to a young grath man, gazing on with concern upon his face. He patiently waits for the young woman's glance up with a frown and sighs sympathetically with eloquent grath, the Americ subtitles struggling. "*Pulled* *Torn* Given -choices-? NOTHING to -choose-... (Still) Your decision. (Yet) -Never- your *options*... ...?"

Bach narrows his puzzled blue eyed gaze at the screen, cocking his head to the side, and leans over, whispering at Dretphi. "So, the three dots and question mark at the end were for that trailing tone?"

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Dretphi sounds out a similar questioning shift of her voice and awaits Bach's response. Bach furrows his brow, thinking a moment, and visibly puzzles. "Yes?"

With a warm smile, Dretphi turns her attention over to Bach and nods. "Yes. Explicit prompt to respond. Different variations to match intent."

The camera zooms out and captures both the young grath man and woman, under the cone cast of contrasting light against the dim ambient mix of night and thicker puffs of snow. The young woman bites her lower lip uncertainly and shakes her head with sad frown and depressed grath leaves her lips, mixing with the cooling mist of her breath. The subtitles attempt to capture the moment, questionably paraphrasing. "(Yes/No)? -*Hard*-! Why is THIS **difficult**? SHOULD be delighted with ANY. (Yet) ...?"

Twists his mouth contemplatively, the grath man gazes up at the falling, thickening fluff, and shrugs his shoulders under his jacket and scarf. With a hopeful, slight smile, he gazes warmly at the woman with a simple grath response, and clearer subtitles scrolling by. "*None* are -owned- by YOU? -*-"

With a graceful, slight bow, the grath man pivots and calmly strolls down the crunchy, snow-covered sidewalk towards the distant light of a corner diner signage. With each passing second, the young grath woman's eyes widen, and she stands up quickly from the bench. Watching the man walk away, the camera focuses on her contorting face and the mix of emotion bubbling up to the surface. Scratching his head, Bach pauses from sorting through socks, curiously eying Dretphi, and inquires. "That last ending tone sounded a little different? The subtitles were different, too."

Maintaining her focus firmly upon the screen, Dretphi briefly comments out the side of her mouth. "Affection implied."

Bach blinks briefly, snaps his intrigued gaze back towards the screen, narrowing his attention fully on the target. "Wait? What the hell is he doing now? I thought his role in the show was to drop advice occasionally..."

Agreeing with the same suspicion in her tone, Dretphi grumbles slightly, unconsciously leaning closer towards the television. "What will she-"

The young grath woman lifts her head up, gazing at the young man with a smile, and rushes over, walking alongside him. In the seconds of silent, peaceful travel, she reaches her hand out for his. The scene fades to black. The end of episode sequences plays out. Dretphi closes her steel gray eyes hard and mumbles out her frustrations in grath. Settling back into his seat upon the couch, Bach sinks into the cushions and lifts his hands up in the air. "What the fuck? I mean, that's just a rude thing to throw in at the last minute of the episode. Really?"

Dretphi slips out a few tight lipped comments. "They do this often. Frustrating."

Uncrossing her arms, Aristespha rests her hands on her hips and nods in understanding. "Oh. This reminds me of a few Evuukian dramas. Always a secret heir for control of the house. OR, someone goes missing right at the end."

Bach shakes his head, pairing up a few socks, and tosses them into a hamper. Glancing over to Aristespha, he asks. "Did you get Deedri ready for their mission?"

Aristespha gazes over confused. She eyes Sebastian at her side, her mind arriving at the plausible explanation, and shrugs her shoulders. "I think so. Deedri should be fine. I do NOT know about the rest of the group. At least, I think most should have the base level of common sense to just keep their distance from spirits."

Dretphi rolls her steely gray eyes and snorts with a dry smirk. "Most."

Contorting her ivory face, Aristespha sighs with dismissive waves of her hands and glances upward mockingly. "Oh no... The pink one brought so much value to the team anyway."

Pondering a moment, Bach gazes up at Aristespha and motions towards the back sliding glass doors. "You think there's anything spirit-like out in the forest next to us?"

Aristespha levels her head, darts her eyes around her mind, searching through the possibilities. "There is always a chance, BUT..."

She motions generally around the area and shakes her head. "We are close to civilization, which drastically reduces the odds that such entities will want to inhabit the area. Most varieties tend towards undeveloped regions."

Lifting an intrigued brow, Bach comments. "But, we are in the path of maelstroms occasionally."

A memory springs up in Dretphi's mind, and she prompts further. "We do have dire boars nearby. I heard spirits draw dires? Dires draw spirits? One of those?"

Crossing her arms, Aristespha rocks her head of long silvery blue hair side to side, deliberating out loud. "They are still debating which it is, actually. That particular subject is still seen as a chicken and egg situation. It has been incredibly hard to get evidence to support either hypothesis."

She contorts her face thoughtfully, gradually nodding. "Well. Thinking about it... I would guess there is a better than nothing chance for something to be out in those woods, then."

Sebastian's ghostly form hovers next to Aristespha, and he parts an eager smirk. "It'd be a good reason to educate my bro on the sword's spirit detection abilities."

Furrowing a mocking stare at Sebastian, Bach quips, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, wow. A sword called the Sword of the Spirit Realm has spirit detection?"

Rolling his translucent blue eyes, Sebastian shrugs his shoulders, responding with an equally facetious tone. "I know, right? It's namesake feature even. They totally put some time into implementing, I'm sure."

He releases an ethereal groan and shakes his head. "I know, bro. It's one of those things that requires YOU to be using it actively to work. It's not running at full strength, otherwise. Don't ask me why."

Sebastian floats over towards the back sliding glass door leading out into the partly cloudy morning scene and glances back to Bach. "So, you up for an educational walk around the woods?"

Bach's interest piques, and he stands up from the couch. "Sure. Need to learn it at some point, I guess."

Pausing a moment, he glances back over to Dretphi and asks. "You up for wandering around the forest?"

Dretphi smiles, lifting herself off the couch, and nods. "Yes."

She sighs with a trailing, grumbling frustration, and flashes a vague scowl at the television. "Need it after that episode ending."

Shaking his head, Bach groans in commiseration, wrestling a frown . "Tell me about it. I mean, what the hell are they trying to do with that whole storyline?"

Sebastian snorts with a twisted smirk, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay. I caught the tail end of THAT. Where did that guy even come from?"

Scratching his head of longer brown hair and shifting the white streak to the side, Bach twists his mouth, meandering around about the topic. "I don't know, man. It doesn't seem to make sense. Does that guy seriously just wander around parks at night dropping wisdom to women in troubled relationships? The fuck?"

Sebastian chuckles and perks an amused brow at Bach. "I don't know... Seems like it's working out for him."

Slowly shaking her head, Dretphi crosses her arms and grumbles in annoyed grath to herself. Aristespha rolls her eyes, pivots into the hallway archway, and motions down towards the bedroom. "I will get the sword."

----

Down the long, winding highway with forest bordering either side, a black, dented sports utility vehicle rolls over the worn asphalt surface. A few car lengths behind, a convoy of Next Adventurers of Nexus vans keep close to each other. In the driver's seat of the SUV, Chad maintains a top grip of the steering wheel, staring distantly down the long road. In the front passenger's seat, Trakenthin studies a paper map, comparing it against a similar digital version on the display of his aetherphone. Deedri glances over the text of a thick book with the title "Tobin" clear from between her clawed fingers and gazes out the middle driver's side window. Next to her, Tassilda tosses back her raven black hair, resettling into her spot on the middle row seat, and watches a random video on her phone with a stiff expression. Keeping a nonchalant, cool exterior, Modoran squirms briefly and eases himself further against the driver's side window of the back row seat. With petulantly crossed arms, Veevi huffs audibly, narrowing her pink pupil stare upon the back of Tassilda's seat and presses her foot into the seat slowly, repeatedly, and purposefully.

Trakenthin withdraws his hazel eyes away from the charts and stretches out his neck. Tapping through the menus on his phone, he opens up a messaging app and selects Modoran as a recipient, typing out. "Switch at next rest stop?"

Blinking blankly, Modoran feels his phone vibrate, retrieves the device, and sorts his way through the recent notifications. With a casual sigh, he types up a response and taps the send button. Trakenthin checks his phone, watching the follow up message appear from Modoran. "I shall suffer for now. So far, so good?"

Trakenthin glances over his shoulder briefly and grants a slight nod towards Modoran. Stirring into full awareness, Chad notices a large sign indicating rest stop services and distance away. He summons up an encouraging tone, donning a bright white smile, and directs his voice back. "Good news. There's a rest stop in about another thirty minutes given how fast we are going. It'll be a good time to eat and walk around."

Deedri's furry, tufted ears perk up, and she gives an appreciative, acknowledging nod. Tassilda glances her light blue on black eyes up, rocking her head, and leisurely returns to her video. Modoran gives a quick thumbs up, blending back into the corner of the vehicle. Veevi focuses a hateful glare right into the rear view mirror and concentrates her visible ire fully upon Chad. Moments of weathering the visual onslaught later, Chad's enthusiasm wanes, and he returns his attention back to the road ahead. Watching Chad stop paying attention to the rear view mirror, Veevi grumbles to herself. With a huff, she pries out her aetherphone from her tight shorts and opens up a flashy, colorful game. The app loads up, and the phone blares out the game's music and sound effects, startling everyone else in the sudden contrast. In a mix of eye rolls, annoyed twists of faces, and sighs, the rest of the team attempts to ignore and distract themselves from the annoying noise. Minutes later, a repetitive, shrill chime rings out from the game. Deedri's furry ear reflexively twitches away from the source of the noise, and her fair face winces harder with each instance of the sound effect bouncing into her mind.

Drawing in a deep, calming breath, Deedri slowly turns her head around, aims a pleading gaze at Veevi, and nicely asks. "Veevi, could you turn that down a little bit? Please? That one sound really hurts my ears."

Veevi begins to summon up a defiant glare towards the request. Tipping her head up, she meets Deedri's auburn eyes and allows her ire to wane. Moments of thought later, Veevi presents an apologetic smile and turns down the volume with a cheery tone. "Of course, Deedri! I'm so sorry. I'm so used to keeping it loud when I'm in my own room."

Deedri gives an appreciative nod, returning her gaze to the spirit guide book, and massages her furry ear near the base. Veevi plays the game for another minute, sneaks peeks around the cab of the vehicle, and grows an unsatisfied frown on her tan face. With a weak huff, her attention wanders away from the game, and she ponders quietly to herself. The vehicle hits a significant bump in the road. The jump up the cab snatches everyone's attention. Calling from the front of the cab, Chad genuinely apologizes. "Sorry, everyone! This road is getting rougher. I'm trying to steer clear of the bad spots, but some sections are just plain... BAD."

Visually following a passing patch of road briefly, Modoran furrows his dusky bluish gray brow and glances back towards Chad. "Damn. They really do give up on road maintenance after a point out here."

Chad nods in total, tense agreement, easing the wheel in direction, and pilots the vehicle around another section of road in pitiful disrepair. With a gentle lateral force, everyone swings lightly with the motion of the SUV. Veevi's eyes spring wide open briefly, and a devious smirk curls on her lips. She assesses the space between her and Modoran, nods slightly to herself, and puts away her phone. Letting out a loud yawn, she stretches her tan, brown striped arms, searching for acknowledgment. "I think I'll take a little cat nap."

Deedri pauses her reading, quietly exhales, and rolls her eyes. Modoran stares out the window, studying the passing forest scenery. Fighting the instinctive urge to yawn back, Tassilda grits her teeth tightly and sneaks out a hiss of breath. Chad checks the rear view mirror and watches Veevi settle in for a nap against the back of the rear row seat, enjoying some relief. Minutes pass on by on the bumpier roads. Veevi sneaks a peek, eying the space next to her and the distracted Modoran. Grumbling audibly, Chad shakes his head and tightens his grip on the wheel. "Fair warning. This part looks ROUGH."

The sports utility vehicle veers towards the best approach angle through the gravelly patch of highway, slowing down, and navigates scattered dips in the road. With the swaying motions, Veevi's body shifts too easily. Chad steers the vehicle through the last section with the final bump onto an intact swath of asphalt. Veevi's form oddly breaks loose of her slumbering position and accurately flops over to the side.

A guttural exhale of surprise sounds out from behind Deedri and Tassilda. Their curiously piques with the trailing, high-pitch gasp following. Both turn around, gazing back at the rear seat. Veevi's head nuzzles firmly upon Modoran's lap, and she presses her cheek down harder upon her draping pink hair. Her hand kneads sharp nails upon Modoran's leg, each squeeze creeping her grip further up and inside his thigh. Faint fabric pops sound out from Deedri's claw tips, sinking deeper into the top of the middle bench seat. Deedri's auburn glare narrows upon the pink haired half-fvalian, and a flush of boiling fury reddens her ivory face. Watching furry ears lowering back and fluffy tail fraying out, Tassilda senses the imminent overload of rage forming within Deedri and snaps a stern stare at Modoran. Holding his hands up and away, Modoran meets Tassilda with utter shock upon his dusky bluish gray face and silently mouths out pleas of absolute bewilderment.

Sweeping her examining glare upon Veevi, Tassilda studies her antics and the ramp up of her, suspiciously unconscious, fondling of Modoran. Moments later, Tassilda spots the oddly playful wags of Veevi's pink, short-haired tail, and snaps her scheming stare upon it. With a series of quick gestures and quiet incantations, magical flow streams up into Tassilda's hand, and she sneaks out close to the end of Veevi's tail, faint electrical arcs forming between her finger tips. Snapping her fingers close by, a series of loud sparks crackles from Tassilda's hand right onto Veevi's tail tip. The fur on her tail puffing out, Veevi's eyes fly wide open, and she sharply rights herself upon the rear row seat. Locking a hateful glare onto Tassilda, she erupts into a fit of rage. "WHAT THE FUCK TASSILDA?!"

Slowly turning her stern stare towards Veevi, Tassilda sneers her upper lip, snorting back defiantly. "Whatever did I do? YOU were just SLEEPING? Right?!"

Modoran relaxes slightly, the snipping and arguing between Veevi and Tassilda flaring up. Releasing a long, stressful sigh, he attempts an explanation of the situation through dismay and disgust. "I- Uh- was just looking out the window, and she dropped right in my lap- And, I didn't know what to do- And..."

Regaining her composure, Deedri focuses upon calming breaths and reassures Modoran with a faint smile. "I know... I know..."

Chad returns his distant stare from the rear view mirror back to the road ahead and slowly shakes his head in defeat. Turning away from spectating the verbal combat between Veevi and Tassilda, Trakenthin pauses a moment in thought and leans over close to Chad, whispering. "Leave her behind? At the rest stop?"

Thinking more than a few seconds with hints of genuine consideration, Chad groans mildly and rolls his eyes, grimacing his disappointment. "No... That would be cruel to everyone else at the rest stop."

----

From the thick overhead forest canopy above, pillars of bright light beam down upon the small patches of brush and debris scattered over the ground. Bach maintains a tight grip with both hands on the sword's handle, closes his eyes, and concentrates. With long, slow breaths, he relaxes his shoulders and remains silent in the natural ambiance. Seconds later, he reopens his blue eyes, shaking his head, and glances back at the rest of the group. "Nothing, yet. I think? Still getting the feel for all this."

Hovering up next to Bach, Sebastian crosses his arms and shrugs his shoulders. "You'll figure it out, bro. Once the basics are down, the rest comes easily..."

He furrows his translucent brow and glances off to the side. "Except the return to hand thing. That... That one I never used much."

Angling his head over towards his brother, Bach lifts a wary, intrigued eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Meeting Bach's expectant gaze, Sebastian releases an uneasy, ethereal sigh, and averts his translucent blue eyes with a grimace. "It was always REALLY unnerving to have a sword fly right towards your hand. Tip first."

Bach lowers his uncertain stare upon the blade in his hand, side eyes over at Sebastian, and returns to his attention back upon the sword, tightening his grip. "Yeah... No shit..."

Sebastian rolls his eyes with a grumble and twists his face into grimace. "I mean, it always righted itself and placed the handle in my hand... At the last moment. But, gods dammit, it's just fuckin' unsettling."

Searching the flora around the forest path, Aristespha steps on by next to Sebastian and flashes a wicked grin with a giggle towards Bach. "You should have seen the first time Sebastian tried using that ability of the sword."

A long ghostly groan emanates from Sebastian's form, and he levels a defeated stare upon his brother. "Free advice. Ducking doesn't help. It just goes for a second pass."

Blinks blankly, Bach gradually accepts the advice and studies the faintly glowing sword. He pauses a moment, squirming his arms slightly up to his shoulder blades, and glances over at his brother. "Does this thing always feel like it's reaching... Into you?"

Sebastian winces faintly, nodding slowly, and sighs. "Yeah. You kind of get used to it, after a point. But, that's why I always activated it only when I needed it. Still unsettling, bro. No matter how long you've used it."

Walking carefully forward through the leaf and brush covered passages between trees, Bach relaxes and pores his concentration upon the blade. Remaining silent, he slowly sweeps the blade in front of him, pauses, and exhales his disappointment. "Okay... Either I don't have the hang of this at all, or there's just nothing spirit wise around these woods."

Aristespha stands up from a small patch of plants with colorful leaves, places a few samples in a small wax paper baggie, and stows the packet away in a satchel. "I did not quite expect anything like that to be out here. But, I am finding some useful herbs out here. Admittedly... A few I would never expect to be here."

Appearing from behind the team with little noise, Dretphi stands next to the group and presents the contents of a metal bowl with a bright smile. "Got all I could!"

The team examines the nearly overflowing container of blackberries. Bach's gaze slides over to scratches and pokes upon Dretphi's hands, and he smirks with a bit of concern. "Wow. Looks like you had to fight those brambles for every last bit."

Working through a little embarrassment, Dretphi attempts to casually play off the minor injuries and lessen the worry upon her. "Nothing bad. This variety has huge berries. Huge thorns. A tradeoff."

She retrieves a lid from her under her arm, snaps it securely over the top of the metal bowl, and tucks the valuable bounty back under her arm. Walking to the edge of a small sunlit clearing, Bach holds out the sword with both hands, loosening up his shoulders, and settles into a readied stance. "Okay. I'll give this thing one more try. Then, I'm good for heading back."

Drifting into his own head, he releases a long exhale, closes his eyes, and waits, the blade faintly glowing and glinting against the sun. A gentle breeze blows overhead, the canopy leaves rustle into a surrounding drone, and the beams of sun shift with the movement of small branches. Seconds later, Bach's face twitches. He turns his head a little. Uncrossing his arms, Sebastian searches around the vicinity expectantly. Gradually, Bach pivots in place, aiming the sword towards a direction, and opens his eyes with a faint blue glow. "I think... I think... There might be something over... There? Behind those bushes? I mean, it might be nothing, but it's the first time I felt this."

Sebastian nods in agreement, floating up next to Bach, and points in the same direction. "Yeah... I'm feeling it, too. Something really small? Yeah, something small."

Aristespha strolls up next to the forming line up and starts gesturing out an incantation. With a sweep of her arms out, a pulse of flow travels out towards the edge of the clearing, and she narrows her violet glowing stare. "Let us check to see if we have anything..."

Searching the area, she visually scrutinizes the section of brushes and points at it with a smile. "There IS something. It just floated away from there."

Aristespha leads the way, Bach, Dretphi, and Sebastian following behind at the ready. Traveling a few meters past the edge of the clearing, the group tracks down a small, faint glowing entity zipping towards a patch of similar plants. Near the flora, the small illuminated being casually drifts between different parts of plants, settling upon one spot and then moving to another. Dretphi furrows her brow curiously and cocks her head to the side, recognition dawning upon her tan face. "These are male cannabis plants. Not certain of the species."

Seconds later, the glowing being darts away to another cannabis plant meters away, growing in a vertical corridor of sunlight. Aristespha ponders a moment, tailing behind the moving entity, and delves into an explanation. "I believe this is a tender spirit. They are a very low level spirit that, well, simply seems to tend to the needs of certain flora. No one quite understands the criteria for choosing the flora. But, these spirits are usually responsible for the exotic and plentiful plant life you see in most weird zones. They are completely harmless to animals. And, typically, seems to ignore any interaction with animals."

Dretphi studies the leaves of the plant closer, checking the structure, count, and arrangement. A mix of intrigue and confusion builds on her, and she glances over to the rest of the team with a puzzled tone. "This is a hybrid. A strange hybrid. It is healthy. Better than this environment should allow."

Floating behind the tender spirit, Sebastian watches it leaving the last particular plant in the area and observes it darting right off. "Huh. Where is it going so fast?"

Following Sebastian's lead, Aristespha, Bach, and Dretphi track down the tender spirit to its next destination. The team travels over the bush covered crest of a small hill and gaze down in a slight, sunlit valley. Aristespha narrows her glowing gaze and points towards the tender spirit's new location. The team notices the entity, awareness of all the flora it hovers around following. The group gathers around a huge female cannabis plant in the gentle sun next to a small drainage stream. Blinking in complete surprise, Dretphi studies the colorful, huge plant closely. "Impressive. This variety I have seen in specific greenhouses only. None this large. Odd to find it here."

Aristespha smirks with a chuckle, retrieving a few wax paper bags, and examines the cannabis plant carefully. "Well, we certainly can not let this go to waste. THIS is quite the reagent for a number of different medical compounds."

Snorting briefly, Bach meets the similar smirk upon Sebastian's face. "Medical... Right..."

Rolling her violet eyes with an amused shake of her head, Aristespha lifts a targeted eyebrow at Bach and laughs. "Oh, what do you think that particular potion that knocked you out used as a base?"

Pausing in thought, Bach searches his memories, tilting his head to the side, and gradually nods. "Huh. Yeah. That actually would explain that."

Sebastian snorts ethereally, places his hands at his side, and shakes his head. "Oh, yeah. That tea Kaleb brewed was always the sure fire cure for post-exam stress for the both of us."

Bach rolls his eyes and chuckles to himself. "Well, and that one experimental batch of magically filtered wine. It was nice to have a biologist living with us."

He gazes down, the tender spirit hovering above patches of dirt with new sprouts, and watches it go through a rough patrol of the nearby plant life. "Huh. Pretty amazing. If you could somehow get these guys to a farm and train them right..."

Aristespha nods with sigh, and smiles, harvesting useful materials from the large plant. "And, THAT is what spirit mages have been trying to figure out for years... If you could figure that out, it would make guild contracts look like pocket change."

Aristespha and Dretphi study the flora. Bach and Sebastian continue watching the tender spirit go through its motions.

----

The finely-crafted door to a long, well decorated room opens, and Goff leans in briefly. He flips the light switch on, surveys the three beds, row of windows overlooking the nearby forest, and the doorway to the large bathroom at the other side of the room. Stepping back out into the hallway, he bows respectfully and motions Tassilda, Deedri, and Veevi into the room. "It's all yours, ladies. If anything is out of place, let me know, and I'll take care of it as quick as I can."

He signals Chad, Modoran, and Trakenthin to follow along and quickly steps down the hall. "Alright guys, let me show you your room. It's pretty much the same layout, but flipped."

Strolling into the room with a small travel bag strap over her shoulder, Tassilda stands in the middle of the space and surveys the beds. Deedri hauls in a large suitcase with one hand, lifts up a medical kit up onto a desk in the small office area, and sighs, stretching out her neck. "Which bed are you going to take?"

Drifting a black nailed finger over, Tassilda settles her point towards the middle bed of the row and lifts an eyebrow. "I think for your sanity, I'll-"

Veevi struts on into the room, cuts in front of Tassilda, and tosses her bags onto the middle bed. Rolling her light blue on black eyes, Tassilda shakes her head and groans quietly towards Deedri with a disgusted frown. "Nevermind. They're equally awful choices now."

Digging through a number of side pouches on her luggage, Veevi grabs a few smaller bags and toiletries and marches straight to the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower. That car ride was SO awful. If Chad had a clue, we wouldn't have had to make such a trip."

She slams the door closed behind her. The sounds of running water fill the background with a soft drone. Deedri sighs, hoisting up her suitcase, and motions to the bed closest to the hallway door. "You mind if I take this one?"

Tassilda shakes her head, walking over to the opposite bed, and places her travel bag on top. "Oh, not at all. As I said, it's going to be an equally annoying time for the both of us tonight."

Disruptions to the flow of water sound out with splatters and splashes from behind the bathroom door. Moments later, Veevi's voice sings out the lyrics to a popular song in stark contrast to the soothing background drone. Firmly placing her hands at her hips, Tassilda sways her weight with an unamused sneer and glances over to Deedri. "So..."

She turns towards Deedri and directs her lower tone. "Any idea what the fuck the bitch was trying to do today?"

Deedri struggles in vain suppressing a surge of anger spilling onto her fair face, draws in a sharp long breath, and eases out a calming exhale. "I... Don't know. She's just really trying to stir SOMETHING up. That's all I can guess, right now."

Deedri sits down upon the bed. Tassilda draws a sly smirk on her face, brushes a few black hairs over her spiraling horns, and walks over near Deedri. Dropping into a seat on the bed next to Deedri, she leans close with a devilishly curious smile, whispering. "So... Her antics got you pretty angry today..."

Lifting an intrigued brow, she chuckles softly. "Any particular reason why?"

A faint red tint colors Deedri's fair skin and drains briefly in the moment of surprise. Twisting her mouth into an uneasy grimace, Deedri squirms slightly, her tail wagging erratically, and fights against the swelling flush of light pink in her cheeks. "Uh- Um... No particular reason. At all."

Tipping her head back slightly, Tassilda furrows an unconvinced brow, parts an eager grin, and giggles to herself. "You sure? Nothing you'd really like to tell me before the camera crew sets the cameras in here? Or..."

She leans close and pries. "Should I guess?"

Deedri bites her lower lip, averting her auburn eyes briefly, and sighs, undoing the braids in her long, multi-colored hair. "Gods... I hope it wasn't... THAT obvious to the cameras."

Down the hallway, in another three person room, Chad, Modoran, and Trakenthin each lay on their choice of bed. The television in the room displays a random channel with no one paying attention to it. In the idle background sounds and relative quiet, the men try to relax. Minutes of silent contemplation, they each progress on their own methods of decompressing, overall remaining fairly inert. Sitting up onto his bed top, Modoran blinks in thought and swings his head towards Chad, leveling a thoughtful stare. Drawing in a long breath, he rolls his dark blue eyes at himself and breaks the vocal silence. "Okay. Chad... What the fuck is up with Veevi?"

Blinking back to awareness, Chad tilts his head on the pillow in the direction of Modoran and groans, a hint of disgust slipping out. "You mean recent... OR... Just in general?"

Modoran searches his mind, contorts his grimace, and shrugs his shoulders. "Let's start with recent."

Trakenthin glances up from his aetherphone and grumbles out. "Then general."

Rubbing his face with both hands, Chad releases a bewildered, defeated sigh, and shakes his head. "I don't know. I guess she wants attention... Or, to wreck things... Or, BOTH? She's been keeping away from everyone. Now, she's just causing trouble, just to do it, I guess."

Narrowing his stare, he turns his head back, facing the ceiling above. "OR... She's just taking out not getting her way on everyone around."

Studying Chad's dismay, Trakenthin hums thoughtfully and asks directly. "Why her?"

Chad glances over to Trakenthin and meets Trakenthin's examining stare. Seconds of visual scrutiny and mental deliberation later, Chad relents and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. She went after me. I didn't refuse. Honestly, I just thought she was just as ambitious as me. She seemed really supportive of doing this whole thing."

Rolling his brown eyes at himself, he releases a long breath of disappointment and crosses his arms. "But... Fuck me. It's really looking like she's just out for herself."

Contorting the uneasy emotions upon his face, he shakes his head, grumbling through a wave of frustration. "And, she just sees me as a gods damned tool. But, I don't know what to do about her. I was hoping she'd get better with training and experience."

Trakenthin nods understandingly, summoning up a bit of past trauma in his mind, and sternly relays the results. "What she IS does not get better. Can not if she does not want to."

Blinking through the sudden wisdom from Trakenthin, Chad settles his head uneasily back on the pillow and releases a long uncertain sigh. "Yeah... Yeah... But... I don't know what to do. I was hoping things would stay stable until the end of the season."

Sneering his upper lip, Modoran shrugs his shoulders, holding his hands out to the sides. "Fuck it, man. Just break up with her."

Chad groans with a thought and slowly shakes his head. "Gods... I guess I should. But, then she'd probably get worse."

Narrowing his stare at Chad, Modoran rolls his eyes and snorts with a dry cackle. "What the fuck ever, Chad. She is going to be a bitch no matter what you do. At least, have a little pride in yourself."

Trakenthin thinks a moment, nodding at the idea forming in his mind, and relays. "Give her an ultimatum. Her choice. She can work with the team together with you. She can stay at the house by herself."

Chad's brown eyes spring wide open, the concept sinking into his mind, and he slowly sits up. Facing Trakenthin and Modoran, he furrows his brow at an odd revelation and gradually nods. "Yeah... We can't throw her off the team, officially. But, I don't think there's anything against not taking her along. At least, nothing I've read yet. Might be worth a try."

Modoran chuckles and eases back, laying out on the bed. "Hell, knowing those depraved assholes running this show, they'd love to film that drama. And, Veevi would get a camera crew all to herself. She would probably LOVE that."

Shaking his head, Chad snorts with a wry smirk and sighs. "Damn. I don't think you're wrong there."

Slumping his shoulders, he draws in a long breath and rubs his forehead. "After this mission, we'll have to talk about this more with everyone else. I... I got to do something. I don't want this to fail..."

With a stoic, respectful smirk to Chad, Trakenthin nods and returns his attention towards his phone, reading the latest post on Shayuri's aethersite. "Understandable. I do not either. It can work. It can work well."

Modoran begins to open his mouth, sitting up partly from his bed, and snaps his stare towards the door nearby. Squinting at the shadows under the door crack, he waves a signal towards everyone else and directs a whisper over. "Shit. Crews are here to spy on us. Save this subject for later."

A knock sound out on the door. Modoran stands up, assumes a nonchalant demeanor, and steps up, placing his hand on the door knob.

----

Mera carefully scratches out the subtle details onto the latest sketch in her notebook. Staring at the lineart of a evuukian woman from behind, she picks up a nearby colored pencil and shades in the dark green shadows of the woman's long braids. Studying the forested scene surrounding the central figure, she grabs a dark tan color and shades in the face of the woman glancing back. Sorting through the odd assortment of pencil colors, she carefully blends a mix of blue and green upon the page, filling in the turquoise pupils of the woman's eyes. Mera stares at the face. Second later, a sad longing sigh escapes her, and she gradually slides her focus over to the carefully drawn, beautifully crafted bow slung over the evuukian's shoulder.

Surrounding the table at Fval Spice, three fvalian girls of descending ages with black furry ears draw upon pieces of paper around Mera. Katelli pulls away from her drawing, gazes upon the scene Mera stares at, and flicks her furry ears curiously. "Who's that? I see you draw her a lot."

Startling back to awareness, Mera smiles awkwardly at Katelli and sighs, verbally stumbling a bit. "Oh, um... That's a friend of mine."

Katelli glances up at Mera's face, blatantly contemplates, hints obvious upon her face, and hums out. "What's her name?"

Pausing in surprise at the question, Mera searches her mind, her crimson eyes darting for an approach, and eases into a more comfortable smile. "Chel."

The reserved fvalian girl next to Katelli, sits up in the seat, and leans over, glancing at Mera's drawing. "You draw her pretty."

A faint hint of blush fills Mera ivory cheeks, and she dons an appreciative grin. "Thank you, Natashalli."

She gazes over at the rough dress doodle Natashalli starts to color in. In a moment of indecision and vague frustration, Natashalli switches over to something else. Picking up a few choice pencils from the scattered pile near her, Mera places them in front of Natashalli and smiles encouragingly. "Maybe one of these will work."

Natashalli studies the assortment, her eager smile lighting up at a purple and pink pencil, and snatches them into her painted claw tip fingers. The youngest at the table cocks her head to the side, searching her mind with her light brown eyes, and furrows her brow. "Where is she?"

Mera glances over at the youngest fvalian girl and flutters her eyes confused. "Uh, who, Jesselli?"

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Jesselli sits up on her knees upon the chair, stretches out over the table top, and places her finger on Mera's drawing. "Her."

Both Katelli and Natashalli usher Jesselli's hand off of Mera's drawing. Jesselli scrunches up her face against the other two, defiantly sitting back down. Mera motions everyone to calm down and stares distantly into her mind a moment, sighing. "I do not know."

Tilting her head to the side confused, Jesselli flicks her black furred ears and asks surprised. "But... She's your friend?"

Mera draws a long breath, grimacing with slight hints of sadness, and tries nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders. "Yes. But, we are not... Speaking right now?"

Drifting her attention to the stick figure drawings on her scattered papers, Jesselli dismissively comments. "That's weird."

Natashalli eyes over to the youngest sister, sneers her upper lip briefly, and whips her tail at Jesselli's. The youngest sister narrows a mean glare back at Natashalli, attempts to swing her shorter, fluffier tail over at her sister's. A few fail tries later, she gives up, missing the mark entirely.

With a chime the door opens up, and Cideeda strolls in with Sotalia following right behind. Noyando steps out from the back and smiles happily at Cideeda and Sotalia. "Yes! Hello! So good to see you again."

Stepping up to the counter, he places a paper sack on the counter and checks through the other bags. "I think I have just about everything... Oh... One moment."

Cideeda nods understandingly, Noyando walking back into the kitchen area, and glances back at Sotalia. "So, any thoughts on taking a small mission?"

Crossing her arms, Sotalia sways her hips, holding her hand off to the side with her sunglasses, and pantomimes her deliberation. "I don't know. I don't want to take anything that'd be too long, in case we hear from Hackle. But, anything too light... The payout just isn't worth the effort, really. A whole lot of prep work and effort, for not that much."

Resting her hands on her sides, Cideeda nods in agreement, narrowing her emerald green eyes into her mind, and hums indecisively. "Yeah. I know that feeling. Still, I like the break, but I don't want to idle too long. My retirement fund doesn't grow fast when we don't get paid."

Noyando returns with a small bag, adds it to the collection on the counter, and starts typing into the system. "There. Almost forgot. Let me bring it up..."

Cideeda inserts a card into a reader on the counter. Noyando types through a series of menus. With a few final taps from Noyando and a claw tip signature on the touchscreen by Cideeda, the system chimes and prints out a receipt from a small printer. Retrieving her card, Cideeda grabs hold of a few of the bags, and Sotalia sweeps up the others. Cideeda grins happily at Noyando and bows slightly. "Thank you. It smells amazing already."

Smiling, Sotalia sniffs one of the bags and winces her watering eyes. "Gods. I think this one has yours. Wow..."

Noyando laughs in delight and bows slightly. "You're welcome. Come back soon."

Cideeda pushes the door open for Sotalia and snorts out a comment. "Well, so long as the next mission doesn't involve cyber-zombies, crazed security bots, weird giant blobs, or some secret nuke plant... I'll be fine."

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia tosses back her fiery orange hair and laughs, clearing through the doorway. "OH. GODS. Tell me about it. We just keep finding every weird monstrosity around this place."

Cideeda releases the door and furrows an annoyed brow, groaning out with her furry ears drooping. "Oh. yeah. Let's NOT forget the whole giant dire wolf gol-"

The door seals up, cutting off the conversation from outside. Mera halts drawing and blinks, her subconscious mind pestering her. She lifts her head up. Searching around the lobby of Fval Spice, she furrows her brow against her confusion and narrows her stare upon Cideeda and Sotalia walking out to the humvee in the parking lot. Delving deeper into her mind, Meredosia's cheek twitches with growing suspicion. Jesselli lifts her up drawing in front Mera with a bright, missing tooth smile. "Look!"

Dropping back into current reality, Mera flutters her crimson eyes briefly and gazes upon the drawing, smiling encouragingly at Jesselli. "Very good. You are getting so much better."

Jesselli places the drawing down the tabletop and explains all the random things happening in it to Mera, her older sisters rolling their eyes dismissively.

-84-

Dr. Dawkins steps up to the front door and turns the knob. Pulling the door in, he smiles with delight at Nash and Harvos on the front porch. "Gentlemen, it's good to see you. Now, come in before we let too much nature inside."

With a snort, Nash steps through and brushes off his nose with a grimace. "You're telling me. These bugs must be waiting for anyone at the door around here."

Habitually ducking his head to clear his horns under the doorway, Harvos moves off to the side and nods to Dr. Dawkins. "Sounds pretty lively out there."

Dr. Dawkins closes the door, chuckling briefly, and rolls his green eyes. "Oh, yes. Usually the bugs aren't so bad, but all this rainfall has helped them tremendously."

Signaling for Nash and Harvos to follow him, he directs his voice back, walking through the house. "One summer, I had some wild whelps hatch a nest. Those little ones got the taste for insects and scoured the outside of the house for everything they could fit in their maws. Best exterminators I ever had. Really wish they'd come back."

He motions towards the couch in his well decorated living room, approaches a wide table with a few bottles of fine liquor, and sets out some glasses. "Anyway..."

Lifting a curious brow, Dr. Dawkins' addresses both Nash and Harvos, hints of confusion tainting his voice. "Now... While I do enjoy your company and having a proper excuse to drink, I'm a bit puzzled as to what you needed to talk to me in person about."

Pointing to the two glasses and waiting for the acknowledgment from Nash and Harvos, he tips a bottle of amber liquor close to them and inquires further. "Especially under the explicit context that you didn't want to speak over the phone about it..."

Both Nash and Harvos spot the glasses and nod confirmations towards Dr. Dawkins. Drawing a long breath, Nash glances over to Harvos and grits his teeth briefly. Harvos furrows his brow, narrowing his brown on black gaze, and sighs uneasily. "To be frank, Dr. Dawkins... We think someone has been monitoring you in some shape or form."

Dr. Dawkins pauses pouring the alcohol into the glasses and tilts his head to the side, facing away from Nash and Harvos. "Really? What makes you believe that?"

Scratching the side of his head, Nash grimaces, sorting through an explanation. "Well, I don't know how much you've heard from which sources, but... To hell with it. Noxian-"

He rolls his pale blue eyes and wrestles down a grimace. "Well, Isaac snuck into the basement server farms. And, left with... Something?"

Dr. Dawkins' eyes spring wide open briefly, and he grasps hold of the two glasses with a healthy portion of brown liquor in each of them. "I thought there was something stirring on campus. I hadn't heard from a few of the old faculty still teaching there recently. Wondered what had been keeping them."

Stepping carefully with drinks in hand, he presents the alcoholic beverages to Nash and Harvos and focuses an intrigued stare at them. "Very interesting... Do they know what he took? And... Why he was even there?"

Nash shakes his head with a long exhale. He pulls a hearty sip from his drink, hums in thought, and nods thankfully with a lift of the glass to Dr. Dawkins. "No. To be honest, everyone is pretty clueless. Hell, the only reason we knew it happened was because I was reviewing camera footage for something completely unrelated. Remind me to tell you THAT story later."

Pouring some of the drink into his mouth, Harvos sighs, gazing up at Dr. Dawkins. "We wanted to let you know sooner, but..."

Dr. Dawkins cracks a dry smirk, turning around, and walks to the table along the wall. "Allow me to make an educated guess. Upon seeing the report, the higher ups collectively soiled themselves in abject fear and panicked uselessly to try figure a way to handle it without alarming everyone else. And, while they've been flailing around, they have told everyone to keep quiet?"

Nash and Harvos exchange glances, focus down upon their drinks, and down large swigs. Drawing in a mildly embarrassed breath through his nose, Nash groans off the alcohol vapor in his mouth and nods with a grit of his teeth. "Yeah. Pretty much that. Almost exactly. So other events have happened, too, and they've called in... People."

Slumping his shoulders slightly, Dr. Dawkins shakes his head of short, well-kept white hair, grumbling with tinges of annoyance showing. "By the gods, how many organizations are poking around in the Grand Library now?"

Wrestling the words on his face, Nash frowns awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders, gazing at the liquor left in his glass. "All the ones that matter... And a few more that really don't."

Pouring a very large portion of the golden brown liquor from another glass bottle, Dr. Dawkins sighs, rolling his eyes with a grimace. "So, they're at that point now. Gods help us all now."

Harvos places his half full glass down upon the coffee table in front of him, thoughtfully puts his hands together, and directs his voice towards Dr. Dawkins. "The most troubling part is that this seems like it was planned out. It happened just after we left with you to go to the buffet. We've gotten evidence that indicates that Isaac has someone helping him out. It seems whoever even followed us."

Slowly resting the bottle down, Dr. Dawkins places a tight grip around his glass of liquor, idly swirling the beverage around, and stiffens his posture briefly. "Really? That is quite concerning..."

Pushing through his nerves, Harvos draws in a calming breath and levels an explanation at Dr. Dawkins. "THAT is why we had to talk to you in person."

Dr. Dawkins cools, slowly lifting his drink to his mouth, and maintains his gaze away from Harvos and Nash, calmly waiting. Glancing around the room, Nash pauses the paranoid hunt, furrowing his brow wary, and loudly whispers at Dr. Dawkins. "We think you were..."

He bounces his stare between the extents of the space. "Or, ARE... Being watched, recorded... Something like that."

Blinking, Dr. Dawkins' mind processes the information, and a sly smirk cracks from the corner of his mouth. He takes in a long, relieved swig of liquor. Assuming a facade of concern, he turns around, facing Nash and Harvos, and visibly puzzles. "Gods. Thinking about it... That was unfathomably convenient timing on Isaac's part. Very strange."

Nash nods in complete agreement and searches his own mind between his different theories. "That's what we thought. Thinking about it, Isaac has shown his ability to use our own hacking software."

Rolling his eyes partially at himself and shrugging his shoulders, Harvos grumbles with a guilty undertone. "Of course, our department isn't above utilizing a variety of similar tricks to get access to archaeological finds."

Dr. Dawkins drifts off in thought, tilting his head to the side, and sighs in mixed acceptance. "That we certainly aren't."

Narrowing an inquisitive gaze upon Dr. Dawkins, Nash mulls over the possibilities out loud. "Have you noticed anything off around the house lately? Television not working right? Phone acting up? Computer crashing? Anything just out of the ordinary?"

Visibly searching his mind, Dr. Dawkins' green eyes dart around, and he pours some of the golden brown liquor into his mouth. Narrowing his gaze at Nash, he cocks his head, twisting a frown. "My outdoor house lights have triggered on at the oddest hours of the night this summer. They haven't done that since the whelps left. And given the hordes of insects laying in wait around my house, they certainly haven't returned."

Harvos sits up straighter, gradually nodding, and proposes. "Yes. THAT might be a sign. Someone trying to figure out how to get to the house and seeing if anyone reacts to the lights coming on..."

Nash scratches the graying beard on his chin. "What could have been done to this place? Maybe getting into the utility boxes?"

Harvos and Nash exchange theories between each other, and Dr. Dawkins rests his drink on the table. He points through an archway leading out of the living room. "Well, we probably won't find anything just sitting around. Let me check on my laundry, and finish your drinks. We'll do a little investigating outside before it gets too dark for us."

Both Nash and Harvos agree, working on their beverages between debates of possible domestic infiltration tactics. Calmly exiting, Dr. Dawkins travels around the dining room, navigates through the kitchen, and steps into the utility room with a washer and dryer. He locates a broom, pivots around quickly, and swiftly approaches the back exterior door. Reaching over to the dryer, he turns the dial, setting a time, and presses the start button. Under the drowning drone of the machinery, he opens the back door quietly, pushes out the screen door slowly, and carefully leans outside. Spotting a neatly closed utility box nearby behind a large shrub, he slides the broomstick along the outer brick wall. He catches the top latch and expertly flicks it open. With a hard tap of the broom end, the box cover hinges down, exposing carefully arranged communication service wiring. Dr. Dawkins aims the end of the broomstick, thrusts the tip harshly into the cables, and roughly stirs the bundle into a mess. With deft precision, he positions the end of the broom under the box cover, drives it upwards sloppily over the wiring mass, and slams the top latch partially upon the catch.

Slipping himself back inside, he guides the screen door, shutting it securely, and closes the utility room door tightly. He replaces the broom back exactly into its spot. Arranging his clothing back neatly, he brushes his fingers through his hair and grins sly and satisfied. Walking eagerly through the house into the living room, he calls out to Nash and Harvos. "Okay, gentlemen. Let's see what clues we can find around this old house."

----

A large, ornately carved wooden door swings inwards, passing under the bell arm. The chime ringing out into the open, well-lit space, Isaac steps through from the outside dusk light. The door closes back up, and he walks slowly, surveying the area. Odd items and strange kitsch cover heavy tables arranged within the central space of the shop. Down long side paths, selections of magical commercial products and unique offerings fill aisles of tall shelves. Isaac navigates through the displays of merchandise, stopping along the way for interesting items, and eyes them briefly in passing. A few other asides of studying artifacts later, he notices the attentive, bright orange eyed gaze of an evuukian woman and settles his attention upon the locked, glass display cases behind her. Presenting a proud perk of her light skin brow, the evuukian woman tosses back her long, flowing crimson and gold blended hair. She pulls an intrigued grin on her cheeks, gracing the lines of color at the edges of her face. "Welcome to Lady Rhian's Shoppe of Magic and Treasures. I am Lady Rhian. And, I can tell YOU are a discerning customer."

Cracking an amused smirk, Isaac brushes back his wispy, gray hair, and laughs lightly. "Maybe... How can you be so certain that I am such a particular customer?"

Rhian smiles slyly, lifts a confident eyebrow at Isaac, and points towards the tables in the central space. "Well, you stopped and checked out the best items at each table. You looked at them carefully, but none interested you enough to actually pick it up. But, I saw how you reacted to..."

She steps to the side, waves out her hand towards all the strange artifacts in the glass displays behind her, and grins brightly. "The best in the house."

Crossing his arms humored, Isaac slowly nods at the deduction and tilts his head to the side with an inquiring gaze. "They are indeed very interesting. And, any other time, I would love it if I could find out more about them. Unfortunately, I'm on a bit of a quest at the moment, so I'll have to stick to the mundane."

With a playful, dramatic sigh, Rhian slumps her shoulders slightly, cocking her head, and maintains an eager smirk. "Oh well. I understand, but you are more than welcome to gaze upon them as long as you want. They MAY be waiting here for you next time you visit. But..."

She glances over at the inventory sealed behind the display glass and lifts an encouraging eyebrow at Isaac. "I just never know."

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Isaac glances over to the impressive stock of strange artifacts and crafted items and shifts his attention back over towards Rhian. "I just may. After business, of course. I saw you had some magic detection sticks on the shelves, but I was curious if you sold them in bulk? I am planning quite the trip into the zone and need a good supply."

Rhian straightens her posture, twisting her mouth vaguely, and furrows an examining brow towards Isaac. "Ah... First time going into the PWZ?"

With a single nod, Isaac sighs out a little bit of his pride. "Yes. I'm not a stranger to weird zones. But, I have been told the PWZ is... More unique than most."

Kneeling down behind the counter, Rhian sorts through the lower counter shelves and directs her voice towards Isaac. "Oh, yes it is. And... I have a few suggestions."

From her right hand, she places down a small, rugged metal box with a glass window lid up on the counter. With a firm grip on a leather bag, she stands up, easily curls her arm, and puts forth significant effort, plopping the sack on the counter. She slides the metal box in front of Issac and pulls out a large metal nut with a piece of fabric tied through it from the leather sack. Isaac blinks blankly, alternates his curious, illuminated gaze between the two items, and cocks his head. "Interesting. I'm definitely seeing some enchantments on that hardware and some very curious magic flows from items in that box."

Rhian grins eagerly at Isaac's conclusions and nods. "Yes. Indeed."

Closing her eyes briefly, she opens them to a glowing bright orange, directs her attention to the cloth tied metal nut in her left hand, and presents it to Isaac. "As wonderful as mage sight is, we both know that keeping it going non-stop will put anyone under unnecessary strain and tie up your focus from the many, many other things happening. And in the PWZ, you CAN'T be distracted."

Tapping her finger on the metal box, she smiles and blinks off the illumination in her eyes. "This is an anomaly detector box. Inside are containers with different materials taken from the PWZ that react to the different things you might encounter. And, thankfully, they react well before you get too close to them."

Tossing around the fabric wrapped hardware in her left hand, she glances over at the metal object. "Despite its obvious looks, this is a typically reusable investigation tool. Treated with mild enchantments to help identify what strange phenomena you might have found yourself near."

Isaac pauses mid thought, narrows his gray eyed stare at Rhian, and cocks his head curiously. "Typically reusable?"

Rhian smirks sharply and laughs, her very long, pointed ears twitching. "Well... While most would be perfectly serviceable after certain anomaly investigations..."

She furrows her brow and smiles slyly. "Recovery in those situations is not... How to best put it... Advisable?"

From the back area, the door opens, and a man in worn adventuring clothes with wild, brown hair steps out carrying handled, cylindrical containers. He loosens the nicely knitted, green scarf around his neck, places the vessels on a sturdy table, and calls out towards Rhian. "Found a Sparkler, two Streamers, and a Glow Ball last night. Should make for some good trinkets-"

Staring over towards the counter, he spots Rhian and Isaac and blinks to an awkward silence, muttering. "Oh... Sorry... Didn't know you had a customer..."

Rhian turns around with a warm smile towards the man, motions him over, and presents an entrepreneurial grin towards Issac. "Allow me to introduce you to a reliable PWZ contractor, Mavian Rha-she. He will attest to how useful my finely crafted detectors and rugged investigation tools are."

Mavian's face blanks briefly. He draws in a long breath, walks up to the counter with a mildly annoyed glance to Rhian, and rummages through a pocket. He reveals a detector of similar construction to the one on the counter and a worn cloth wrapped metal nut. "I've used Rhian's tools for years, and personally found the detector fragments used in them from the deepest part of the PWZ. These simple looking cloth wrapped chunks of metal have kept me from making some very bad mistakes."

Focuses the faint overall glow of his green eyes at Isaac, he states with a genuine tone. "If you are going into this zone, you'll want both. Even with what I can see with my eyes, I'm not going to take anything to chance. So, neither should you."

Isaac scrutinizes Mavian's appearance, studies his body language, and nods in agreement. "I must say, THAT is indeed very convincing."

With a smile, he gazes over to Rhian. "I think you've certainly made a sale. I still wouldn't mind a few boxes of the typical detector sticks."

Rhian grins brightly, with a happy squirm in her body language, and nods. "Of course!"

She goes over to a nearby register and swiftly taps numbers into the device. Isaac glances between Rhian and Mavian, pondering a moment, and inquires. "Does the name Beckerin mean anything to you two?"

Rhian lights up with a delighted smile and glances over to Isaac. "Yes, it does! He has been quite the reseller of my hard to move artifacts, and always seems to drum up business for me."

Twisting his mouth, Mavian sighs with a begrudging respect. "And... He's actually quite good at finding the oddest leads to the strangest finds..."

He narrows his faintly glowing eyes and lifts an intrigued eyebrow. "How do you know him?"

Isaac blinks a moment and shrugs his shoulders, plainly stating. "I do not know him personally, but a friend of mine who does says he recommended that I should find this place..."

He slides his stare over to Mavian. "And ask about someone to guide me into the zone."

Hints of hesitance and tension slows down Rhian's data entry, and she narrows defensive stare at Isaac. "Why do you need a guide into the PWZ?"

Sensing the change in the mood, Isaac draws in a long breath and calmly explains. "Well... To be honest, I'm trying to find a fellow colleague who my friend and I haven't heard from in quite some time. We believe he went to study some ruins out in the PWZ, but hasn't sent any recent updates. So, I'm trying to find him."

Rhian's sternly protective demeanor fades into a softer, empathetic exterior, and she nods slowly. "I can understand that. Well, I can't personally help, but Mavian could."

Crossing his arms, Mavian focuses a scrutinizing stare at Isaac, tilting his head to the side. "So... Do you have any specific locations you know to check, or any last known whereabouts to go by?"

Isaac shakes his head, sighing, and frowns. "Unfortunately not. I have some vague hints from his last update, but nothing specific."

Searching his mind, Mavian grimaces and slowly shakes his head. "I'm not one for wandering aimlessly in the zone. Do you have a name?"

With a plain tone, Isaac replies. "Dr. Malkav."

Mavian's faintly glowing green eyes dart around his memories. Seconds later, a semblance of recognition dawns upon his light tan face. "I swear... Yeah... I've heard that name before. In conversations with other zone runners."

He gazes at Isaac, slides a pad of paper over, and searches around. "Okay. Here's what I can do right now. You'll want to head to Precipice. It's THE LAST thing you can call civilization in the PWZ before you leave the calmer part of the zone."

Pausing a moment, he briefly deliberates inside his head. "Well... As calm as it can be most of the time."

He glances around the counter space nearby, hunting for something. "If your friend is still alive and well, he probably HAS to make a visit there to get supplies. There's not that many people in that town, so SOMEONE has to know him and have some contact with him."

Rhian hands Mavian a pen with a warm smile, and Mavian writes out information on the paper. "I'm currently on a... break from doing guide work. BUT, I usually have a room at this inn in Precipice when I'm working."

He presents the note to Isaac and holds out for a handshake. "If you can find out any specific places to check for Dr. Malkav, try to find me in two weeks, and we'll talk further."

Smiling appreciatively, Isaac shakes Mavian's outstretched hand firmly. Carefully stowing away the contact information, he retrieves his wallet with an expectant gaze at Rhian. "So, what do I owe you today?"

Rhian recites an amount, Isaac hands over appropriate currency, and Mavian awkwardly figures out how to package up the purchased merchandise. Hoisting up his new property, Isaac grants a respectful nod and heads towards the front exit, pausing along the way to wander his curiosity to other items in the aisles. The door swings open, and he leaves the store. The bright chime sounds out, and the door drifts back, closing. Rhian stretches her arms out on the counter with a happy smile, and concentrates her bright orange eyes towards Mavian. "So... What are you doing tonight?"

Mavian blinks blankly, stiffening his posture, and awkwardly stumbles upon his own surge of shyness. "I, uh, um... Nothing really. Just wanted to rest and catch up on the shows I missed while I was out. The usual..."

A sly smirk creeps out from the corner of Rhian's mouth, and she pivots around, facing Mavian with a slight frown. "Oh. I guess I understand. I really wanted to cook something nice, but it just seems so wasteful when it's just yourself. I wouldn't want to impose on you catching up on your shows and all."

Springing his eyes wide open briefly, Mavian shakes his head, fumbling over his awkwardness, and softly replies, fighting a flush of embarrassment. "Well, uh... I mean... I can watch them after you get to cook something nice."

A bright smile graces Rhian, and she claps her hands together. "Yes. WE can watch them after WE eat."

----

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian sort through the volumes of text descriptions upon tablet, phone, and paper upon the dining table. Collating a few packets, Bach offsets the section titles from each other and lays out the arrangement upon the table top. "Okay... So, I think we can pull these off in a day."

Narrowing her emerald green eyes, Cideeda flicks her furry ears in thought and nods with a little reservation. "Probably. They don't look too involved. But..."

She reads some text from her phone, jots down a title upon a blank piece of paper, and inserts the page between two sections in Bach's stack. Pointing to mark on a map print out, she motions towards two other points nearby, grinning with a scheming tone. "THIS one is along the way, and we could easily fit it in. Get the most out of the trip."

Sotalia swipes through a list of different postings, sneering her upper lip, and scrolls further down, whining. "Gods almighty... What is with THIS area and wanting people to check out deep, dark ruins this month? Half of these posts are for exploration and inspection of some underground, ancient, and

/

or creepy bunker with some fucking questionable history."

Nodding in begrudging agreement, Dretphi frowns and groans disappointed. "Would not mind something outdoors. Tired of finding terrible things indoors."

Leaning back in her seat at the dining table, Sotalia stretches her arms up and curls her back with a smirk. "Oh, girl, I know it. At least, if we run into something outside I can use the FUN spells to take care of it."

Sneaking a guilty smile, Dretphi rolls her steely gray eyes at herself, giggling. "Use the FUN gun."

Sebastian glances away from peeking over Aristespha's shoulder, snorts ethereally, and shrugs his ghostly shoulders. "I would not mind another nature hike in a park, even if that means running off another bratty teenager."

Cideeda raps her claw tips upon the table top, grinning toothily, and wags her long fluffy tail. "It was a little fun teaching her a lesson. Though I did feel..."

She pinches her thumb and forefinger close with a guilty smirk. "A little... Just a little bad that there was only cold water working."

Glancing between everyone, Bach contorts his sun-touched face, donning a sly smirk. "Oh... Yeah, um... The hot water worked just fine."

A long silence looms over the room. Watching the rest of the team's reactions, Sebastian snorts out a laugh. Aristespha blinks with an amused smirk. Dretphi covers her mouth in a mildly humored surprise. Sotalia cocks her head with a delighted smile. And, Cideeda snickers and laughs. Shaking her head of wavy, fiery orange hair with a mix of approval and surprise, Sotalia lifts an intrigued brow. "Bach Warwick... Really? And here I thought I was being a bad influence on you."

Dretphi summons up a semblance of a disapproving frown towards Bach. Cideeda narrows a playful glare toward Dretphi, pointing a clawed finger. "Oh! Don't you act all high and mighty now. You purposefully sprayed her up the back when she wasn't expecting it. I saw the look on your face."

Drawing a long breath, Dretphi rolls her eyes at herself and awkwardly twists her mouth, mumbling. "Call me a brute..."

A faint chirp sounds out from Aristespha's shorts pocket. Glancing down, she reaches her hand in and retrieves her aetherphone, puzzling. Sorting through the menus, her violet eyes read through a message, and she furrows her ivory brow with suspicion and confusion. "Speaking of her... Pardon me. She wants a private video call."

Amid exchanges of intrigue and curiosity between everyone else, Aristespha walks towards the hallway archway. She taps a few buttons, initiating the call. Stepping through the doorway into her room, she sits down on her bed and holds the phone in front of her expectantly. On the video feed, Valavera brushes her golden hair out her green eyed gaze and huffs out an upset breath. She tries to smile. "Hey, Aristespha. Sorry. I really need someone to talk to."

Aristespha smiles slightly and nods to the screen. "I am here for you. So, what is on your mind?"

Valavera sorts through the words on her face, working through the scattering of thoughts, and pieces together sentences. "Well... While in summer school at the university... Which is going REALLY amazing and I really like it... Um... I... Met... Someone."

A sly smile graces Aristespha's ivory face, and she focuses her attention upon the conversation with renewing interest. "Really? Do tell."

Summoning up the courage, Valavera verbally wanders around, watching Aristespha's reaction through the other side of the phone call. "Well... We met in my botany class and have been lab partners for a while. I asked him out to a show for a local band a friend plays in... And well... we kind of hit it off. It was SUCH a really nice night."

Aristespha studies Valavera's image on her phone, perking her brow inquisitively, and pries eagerly. "Okay. So, first, what is his name?"

Valavera bites her lower lip, averts her green eyes side to side briefly, and draws in a cautious breath. "Alexander."

An abrupt quiet stifles the call and ambience of the surrounding room. With the emotional pressure growing, Aristespha's expression blanks. She tilts her head slightly, creeping towards an uncertain observation. "That name sounds very... Hu-"

Valavera interrupts. "Human."

Aristespha's violet eyes spring wide open, and she grits her teeth. "Oh. Oh, gods..."

With a frown, Valavera snorts petulantly and turns her head away unhappily. "Fucking knew it. Damn it! I hoped you would understand."

Pausing mid breath, Aristespha locks an uneasy stare upon her phone screen and cautiously inquires in a serious tone. "Why would you think THAT?"

Growing more defiant and disappointed, Valavera narrows a glare through the video feed at Aristespha and loudly rambles. "Because, you are out there! In the world. More worldly? I do NOT know! You just seemed more experienced and around more different people. I thought you would just understand, like, immediately."

Aristespha processes the explanation, easing out a moment of relief, and quickly contains a new swell of concern. "Yes. I am. And, I UNDERSTAND what you are going through. I really do. It is just that you have to consider the bigger picture. You are a daughter of a prominent house-"

Valavera tosses her hair back angrily, spitting out. "Fourth child. FOURTH! You should know that fourth children don't receive anything worth mentioning."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Aristespha releases a long calming sigh, draws in a deep breath, and refocuses her gaze towards Valavera's video feed. "Fifth child speaking here. Fourths get a little more. Okay. And, that is why you have to be careful with this and conduct yourself-"

Riding upon a surge of stubborn angst, Valavera berates Aristespha over the call. "Oh! Conduct myself as a proper Evuukian House woman?! What?! And, be some tag along to everything my brother and sisters get to do?! FUCK THAT! Gods, I really should NOT have call-"

Pulling a sharp inhale through her nose, Aristespha powerfully yells at her phone in an authoritative, motherly tone, directing a short commanding sentence of evuukian punctuated by Valavera Tala Erisa Verherin's full name. Valavera reflexively seizes, awaiting with a wide-eyed, spooked gawk. Easing out an uncertain and uncomfortable breath, Aristespha holds a finger towards the camera, signaling Valavera to wait, and searches her feelings. Aristespha contorts her face towards a conclusion. Valavera's previous emotions fade away into genuine concern, watching Aristespha internally wrestle with something big and concerning. A smile appears on Aristespha's ivory face, and she snorts with a slight shake of her head. Turning her head, she faces down the hallway and calls out a warm, loving string of evuukian around Sebastian's name. Valavera blinks blankly, the verbal communication failing any revelations in her mind, and stares perplexed.

Sebastian peeks his head down the hallway, notices Aristespha motioning him over, and flies into her room. Patting a spot on the bed next to her, Aristespha waits for Sebastian drifting down upon the covers. She adjusts the aim of the camera to include both her and Sebastian. Aristespha alternates a point to herself and Sebastian, repeating the motion awaiting Valavera's reaction. Seconds of sorting through the implications later, Valavera's green eyes widen in a surge of recognition, and her jaw drops in utter shock, tinges of delight slipping out. Aristespha grins slyly and addresses Valavera. "Now that you know I UNDERSTAND, would you like to be educated on how to navigate current Evuukian house society and maintain such a relationship?"

Valavera straightens her posture, bringing her phone closer, and eagerly nods. "Yes. Oh gods... I am REALLY SORRY for acting like that and all- But. Yes. Please teach me."

A spark of young delight lights up within her, and she smiles expectantly. "OH! Is it going to be like in the books and all?"

Narrowing her gaze, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes with a smirk and waves the chuckling Sebastian away. "I would ask what books you are speaking of... BUT, one thing at a time. So, tell me all about this boy."

----

Sounds of the summer night fill the surrounding dense forest of the small clearing. A chorus of insects, small nocturnal animals, and calm wildness merge together into an evening ambiance. A dim glow radiates from a low fire and illuminates the circle of different tents. Walking into the center of the camp, Chad surveys everyone of the team and hems. "Okay, everybody. Gather around."

Deedri closes up a medical bag and hops up. From nearby shadows, Modoran nonchalantly emerges and stands next to Deedri. Trakenthin finishes a page of a book, replaces the bookmark, and joins the center gathering. Brushing her fingers through her raven black hair, Tassilda flicks away a stray leaf and steps next to the group. Veevi grumbles, standing next to an open door of the black SUV, and stares at the still, unmoving charge indicator on her connected aetherphone. Chad waits a moment, narrows a mildly annoyed gaze at Veevi, and calls out. "Veevi. Would you please join us?"

Faint rustles of leaves sound out from the perimeter of the camp, and camera crews level their aims, moving into choice shots between Chad and Veevi. Flicking a pointed, fuzzy ear towards Chad, Veevi disdainfully sneers her upper lip, crosses her arms defiantly, and grumbles loudly. "I can hear you just fine from here."

Focusing his glare, Chad rests his hands on his side and smirks. "You do understand that if you don't attend these meetings, you won't know what we're doing. So, you just might be left behind... All by yourself... In a strange forest, locked out of the SUV, during the summer heat, and with all the hungry forest creatures around you."

Veevi's pink pupil eyes widen, and she weighs the degrees of discomfort in her mind. Huffing in disgust, she begrudgingly walks over. "FINE."

Chad clears his throat and addresses the group. "Okay. We're going to start a deeper search of the forest tomorrow. We got a good start today with scouting the immediate area thanks to Modoran and Trakenthin. We'll be going as one group and keeping as alert as possible. Until we get a better idea of what this forest has, we need to be extra cautious. So, get a good night's rest, and we'll start bright and early tomorrow."

All the team agrees, with one exception. They break towards each of their individual tents. Veevi checks her phone, slams the door shut in frustration, and quickly slips into her tent nearby. Camera crews retreat away, leaving smaller remote cameras. The activity around the camp dies down in comparison to the wildness around.

An hour passes peacefully. Stirring around her tent, Veevi peeks her head out, scouting around, and slinks out, her tail low to the ground. Creeping around the perimeter of the camp, she keeps a careful watch of the other tents, focusing upon one on the opposite side. She sneaks to the best of ability around the site and arrives. Kneeling next to the back entry, she pulls up on the zipper. It remains in place. Veevi tugs harder upon it and strains her muscles, failing to slide it up the track. Many failed attempts later, she snorts and huffs, grumbling to herself. "The fuck is wrong with your tent, Modoran."

A sharp snap echoes faintly across the camp site, and Veevi's fuzzy ears perk towards the noise. She narrows her pink pupil eyes in the direction of her tent. Her bewildered gaze widens, spotting Modoran slip into her tent. Bewildered, she cocks her head to the side and ponders the situation. Pulling an evil grin across her face, she swiftly slinks around the camp back to her tent. She dons a seductive flow to her body movement and loosens her top, pulling herself into her tent expectantly. Inside, she finds only her bedroll and other belongings. Sitting back on her legs, she briefly searches the interior of the tent, spinning around, and tries to slip back out through the flap. The tent fabric wraps around her face tightly, and she pulls away, puzzling at the closed zipper on the flap. Gripping the slide handle tightly, she pulls up expectantly. The zipper denies. Pulling harder on the mechanism, she mumbles out curses under her breath, her anger revealing her vain, obvious efforts.

A young fvalian woman yawns, blinking her eyes, and tilts her head sleepily in front of a monitor screen. Walking quietly over, a young fvalian man holds a steaming cup of coffee near and softly whispers. "Urdi, coffee?"

Urdi stirs back awake, turns her nose towards the hot beverage, and appreciatively grasps hold of the drink with a smile. "Thank you, Radnae."

Radnae settles into a chair in the van interior and glances over another large monitor. He blinks a moment, the feed switching from another camera. Tapping a few control buttons, the screen switches back, and he takes control of the remote camera. Adjusting the zoom and aim, he mumbles out in surprise. "The fuck is going on here?"

Urdi slides her gaze over to the screen and tilts her head. "Is she... Oh my gods... No..."

She picks up a pair of headphones, slips them on, and dials in a volume knob. Moments later, she twists her face in a mix of disgust and disbelief. "She really is. She's bitching about it not opening."

An ill-humored smirk grows upon Radnae, and he directs his voice behind him at a middle aged man in another seat. "Hey, Harris... You WON'T believe this. Check out camera three."

Harris presses a few buttons on the control console and studies his screen. "What the? Is that dumbass stuck in her tent?!"

Radnae snorts, shaking his head, and quips. "I think we found our first clip for next week's show."

----

Late afternoon sun shines overhead through the forest canopy and projects swaying shadows upon the ground. Chad leads the team, navigating ahead through the tall trees, investigating any suspicious areas along the way. Trakenthin surveys each new stretch of land, noting the landmarks around, and compares against a paper map. With prompts from Chad and other team members' suspicions, Modoran carefully scouts out from the group, exploring unusual activity. Tassilda monitors the magical activity in the area through incantations and detection tools. Deedri assists, sweeping for magical activity, and studies relevant chapters from her guide book.

Lagging behind the team, Veevi follows along in a perpetual state of annoyed and petulant. Grumbling to herself, she occasionally kicks forest debris and searches the area with her hand upon her holstered laser pistol. With each stretch of boredom, she retrieves her aetherphone and stares at the out of service icons and dwindling battery meter. Glancing around, she notices the team far away. A surge of anxiety and fear drives her forward, rushing back up close to the group.

Behind and off to the side, various recording teams keep track of the Flames of Phoenix. Gerald aims his shoulder camera for a shot and abruptly blinks, his viewfinder blacking out briefly. He records the shot and inspects his camera. A few initial checks later, he shakes his head with an uneasy frown. Samantha glances over. "Anything wrong?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Gerald hoists the camera back on his shoulder, grimacing. "I don't know. A lot of weird little glitches happening too often."

He eyes the surrounding forest and narrows his distant stare out into the wilderness. "We actually might be getting close to something."

----

Flicking her short hair tail, full of frustration, Veevi eyes the traces of late morning sun hinting through the dense, gray cloud cover, and crosses her arms. "OKAY. SO... Are we seriously going to explore another part of this fucking forest for no good reason?! It's going to RAIN!"

Chad rolls his brown eyes, curling his upper lip, and keeps his attention towards the game trail. "Yes. This is the last section near the predicted crash area before we have to expand our search. SO, you better help us find it. Otherwise, we are going to see ALL parts of this gods damned forest."

The Flames of the Phoenix continue forward with Chad in the lead, Trakenthin, Modoran, Deedri, and Tassilda following close behind. Trailing behind, Veevi glances back towards a small camera crew tagging along and grumbles out her grievances to a captive audience. With the darkening skies, progress slows along rougher terrain and traces of disappointment creep into the team. Chad halts and scans his distant stare along the edges of his vision. "Where are we now, Trakenthin?"

Stepping up next to Chad, Trakenthin holds out a paper map and taps his finger roughly on location. "Here."

Resting his hands on his sides, Chad twists his mouth. "Okay. Damn. I was hoping to see something..."

A strong gust blows overhead and filters into a brisk breeze through the trees. The wind passes over. Deedri's furry ears perk up, sorting through the noise. She darts her auburn eyes around and spots unnatural debris rattling upon the ground. Kneeling down, she cautiously pinches a jagged fragment of aluminum between her claw tips and holds it up into view of the rest of the team. "I think we might be close."

The team, including Veevi, gather close, examining the thin metal sheet. Trakenthin searches along the ground. "Out of place."

Narrowing his gaze at the material, Chad carefully takes it from Deedri and studies it closely. "This definitely came from some kind of aircraft. It looks just like the exterior sheets the machinists use when they make replacement panels for the planes and drones being restored at my dad's garages."

Squinting her examining stare upon the metal, Tassilda furrows her brow and cocks her head puzzled. "I think I'm feeling magical leftovers on it."

Chad quietly processes the possibilities. He stands up tall, hands the piece back to Deedri appreciatively, and walks further down the path. "Okay, everyone. Keep an eye out. And, be careful. We don't know exactly what brought this thing down. Let's not chance anything."

With renewed vigor, the team trudges forward. They travel through the winding path and find more metal fragments along the way. Modoran and Trakenthin both notice broken branches high up in the trees and sheared bark on trunks. Minutes of travel later, the group arrives at a thick wall of brush and tall hedges surrounding a large area. Awkwardly probing the plant life, Chad pushes through a thinner section with assistance from Trakenthin and Modoran holding back intruding, obstructing branches.

The rest of the team filters through, and the camera crews fight rougher patches for passage. Chad, Trakenthin, Modoran, Deedri, Tassilda, and Veevi gawk at the scene before them. Bright, vibrant flora around a small stream sways in the gentle breeze swirling in the vicinity. Carpets of flowering plants shift intermittently to unseen forces across the ground, and glimmers of colorful illumination spark around the area. With a weak gust, one of the four main propellers on the large drone spins with a barely audible whir. The chassis of the machine rocks gradually upon the soft soil with the wind. An accomplished grin grows wide on Chad's face, and he gazes back at the team. With a presenting wave of his arm, Chad brightly smiles proud and chuckles, stepping to the side of the team. "I think we found our drone."

Walking ahead, Deedri holds her hands up to the team and signals them to wait. "One moment. There's some really obvious signs of spirit activity. I'd like to try out a detection spell before we go any further."

Chad blinks, nods in agreement, and motions encouragingly. "Of course! Please go ahead. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Checking her Tobin book briefly, she slowly recites through the complicated incantation and performs a chain of gestures with exacting movements. Summoning up magical flows, she focuses condensing energies between her palms and flings her arms wide, releasing a faint pulse. The wave travels a few meters before dispersing completely and barely highlights a few translucent entities. Deedri's furry ears droop slightly, and she frowns out her disappointment. "Well, uh... That was supposed to be a little more revealing."

The rest of the team watches the illuminated spirits. Chad smiles at Deedri and reassures her with a proud tone. "I think that's pretty good for a first try at the spell. It worked. Just try it a few more times."

Deedri's mood perks up, and she summons up another attempt at the spell. The team cautiously travels towards the crashed drone within the spiritually revealed passage. Deedri releases a few more focused spirit detection pulses, checking the route leading to the autonomous aircraft. At the drone, Chad and Modoran investigate the large, two meter wide and long machine. Trakenthin searches up into the trees, surveying the area above them. Tassilda and Deedri use their aetherphones and document the drone, often distracting themselves with photos of the surrounding area and the animated spirits. Camera crews struggle with capturing all the different things happening along with the team. Veevi watches idle spirits resting upon different plants and attempts to poke them in the absence of Trakenthin's stern, disapproving stare.

Minutes later, Modoran stands up, stretching his back, and shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. "Except for that one side, this thing looks like it is in great shape. Do not know why it would've crashed like this."

Blinking thoughtfully, Chad crosses his arms and twists his mouth uncertainly. "Yeah. I know. I've actually seen worse looking things fly. So... Probably some flight control system acted up and it..."

He glances around the area. "I guess, gracefully failed into a hard landing?"

Narrowing his hazel eyes, Trakenthin slowly pivots, facing Chad and Modoran, and sneers through his suspecting tone. "Quite successful for failing. There is a crude path through the trees that leads here. Broken branches confirm its route."

Tassilda walks with Deedri, holds up her aetherphone, and furrows her gray brow, alternating her scrutiny between two images on the device. "Not to make it seem even more suspicious, but for crashing, this thing looks almost exactly like its stock profile picture."

Lifting her toed boots, Deedri steps onto a rocky patch of forest floor and her teeth with a wary tone. "Also... As easy as it is for ME to push my boots into this dirt, I find it REALLY weird that a crashed drone this big isn't sunken in."

The team mulls over the observations, contemplating together. Outside the deliberations, Veevi pesters a very tolerant spirit under the attention of a camera crew.

A loud, powerful rumble of distant thunder rolls over the area and rattles the team back to the immediate reality. Chad peers up into the darkening skies and sighs uneasy. "Okay. Well, we found it. And, I think that's good enough for today. Let's double-time it back to the camp, and get ready to weather this storm."

Veevi reaches out with a stick, readying her swat at small glowing orbs. The surrounding spirits disperse away from her, swiftly disappearing. Cocking her head of pink hair to the side, she stands up and whines. "Aww! They all ran away."

Tassilda glares over and quips derisively. "I guess your stench finally drove them away."

Veevi and Tassilda lock confrontational glares. Deedri's ears flick around, hunting for a sound. Her frightened auburn eyes widen, her tail fur puffs out, and she calls out. "What is THAT?!"

Quickly approaching from the distant woods, a brightly shining being of translucent, angular shapes and jagged energy trails flies towards the crashed drone. It abruptly halts short of the downed craft, swiftly shifts opposite of the team, and hovers up. It pulsates a reddish light out in the area. A growing cacophony of calculated acoustic wave forms floods local soundscape in a strange chaotic chorus. Deedri steps back uncertainty, fear blatantly upon her face, and searches her mind frantically. Noticing the obvious unease, Chad motions slowly and positions himself defensively with Trakenthin and Modoran in front of Deedri, Tassilda, and Veevi. In a surge of reflexive fear, Veevi fumbles for her laser pistol and tries to draw it. She winces at the harsh clamping of Chad's hand upon hers. She glares bewildered at him in a mix of fright and anger. Chad remains quiet and drills a grave, serious stare through her.

The camera crews attempt to record, fighting constant equipment glitches, crashes, and malfunctions. Blinking, recognition rises into Deedri's mind, and she whispers to the team. "I think this is an Anima. It's a spirit that tends to affect technological devices and seems very interested in such things."

Chad directs his voice back over to Deedri and inquires. "Are they hostile? Aggressive?"

Deedri bites her lower lip uncertainly, drawing in an uneasy breath, and weakly shrugs. "The guide book said they are sometimes protective? Often territorial?"

Trakenthin darts his hazel eyes at the pathway in the trees, the anima's position, and the drone. With a few grath curses under his breath, he sternly signals everyone back. "Get away from the drone."

The team pieces together the situation enough and quickly arrive at the same conclusion. All step carefully back from the anima and craft. The distance from the anima grows, and the speed of the team's and crew's retreats increases. A bright, jagged thread travels the dark cloudy sky in a lightning flash. An overwhelming boom blasts down up the forest. The anima flickers chaotically, releasing a distorted screech, and slams into the drone.

Everyone in the area freezes. The quad propellers spin to full power, servos articulate motors downwards, and the aircraft leaps up into the air. Navigating the surrounding trees frantically, the drone slams hard into nearby trees and snaps through branches.

Blue white light floods the area. A jagged run of lightning launches up into the sky instantly. A spray of electrical arcs erupt out from the drone. The concussive eruption of air sends Chad, Deedri, Modoran, Trakenthin, Tassilda, and Veevi onto the dirt. Recording teams stumble upon the ground. A torrent of water drains through the canopy into a full downpour. Recovering from the blinding flash, deafening boom, and sudden soaking, the team struggles, the crew scrambling away. Chad, Deedri, Modoran, Trakenthin, Tassilda, and Veevi barely manage enough of a recovery of their senses and witness the anima infused drone roar out in an echoing, digital scream. Releasing a spray of electrical arcs into burning trees, the drone charges forth in flaming magical fury.

Everyone scatters in pure panic.

-85-

The thunderous, overwhelming roar of water ripping through the canopy floods the saturated air under the tall trees. Harsh jets of rain pound the forest floor, spraying up into a thick, obscuring mist throughout. Darting out through a cloud of the damp haze, Deedri leaps over a large shrub, slides along the muddy game trail, and tumbles into a soggy patch of moss. She scrambles up behind the wide trunk of a tall tree and squeezes herself into a rain shadow. Pressing her back against the bark, she reflexively pierces her claws deep into the outer layers of the oak and stares distantly, in wide-eyed terror, out into the curtains of water and deep fog obscuring the forest depths. Flicking her damp furry, tufted ears, she closes her auburn eyes and sorts through assault on her senses from the deluge around her. Seconds of hunting later, traces of tension leave her body, and she slows her frightened panting. Glancing around the area, she inspects her soaked outfit, muck covered boots, and drenched long, multi-colored hair. She slides her large backpack off, carefully opens the top, and eases out a sigh of relief, confirming the contents. Pausing a moment, sorting through her frantic thoughts, she draws in a long breath and lifts her head back against the bark of the oak tree, whispering to herself. "Oh... Fuck..."

She peers aimlessly into the watery chaos surrounding her tiny reprieve under the barely sheltering tree, Frowning into a grimace, she rests her face in the palm of her hand, muttering fvalian curses at herself. Her furry ear twitches and perks around the tree. Carefully peeking around the corner, she secures her backpack, readying herself, and waits silently. Through the haze and noise, Deedri's water-dripping, furry ears pick through the acoustic chaos and track new sounds.

Slaps of boots against mud, a splatter of water, and loud shifts of wet rocks rise up from the background drone. A hard, large smack against unforgiving mud later, a familiar voice mutters out a string of evuukian curses, and Modoran swiftly slides down a fresh stream of muddy water. Gravity sails him down the hill, and the current washes him into the middle of a large trail. Laying on his stomach, Modoran remains still and grumbles out his pride between frustrated huffs and bubbles of curses. Moments later, he pulls his arms underneath himself and pushes his mud covered self into a seat in the pooling water, unleashing a defeated sigh.

With a growing smile on her fair skinned face, Deedri's auburn eyes spring wide open, and she directs a loud whisper. "Modoran!"

Modoran's long, pointed ears twitch, and he meets Deedri's gaze, presenting a relieved, awkward grin on his dusky bluish gray face. Blinking his dark blue eyes, he smiles with genuine relief and weakly chuckles, glances over himself. "Deedri... Gods... I hope you are doing better than I am."

Lifting a thick braid of her hair, Deedri squeezes the bundle tightly, draining out a significant amount of water. "About the same."

She walks over from the cover of oak and reaches out her hands to assist Modoran, scanning the vicinity. "Did you find any shelter better than a tree?"

Modoran graciously holds onto Deedri's hands, pulling himself up, and pushes off the coats of mud upon his pants. "Not yet. I have just been running around trying to find anyone else."

Deedri nods, staring out in the surrounding rain and mists, and shakes her head. "I know. It's just been so crazy... I just now started to really think about..."

Her soaked furry, water-tripping tufted ears droop down. "How lost I am."

With a comforting smile, Modoran chuckles, the sheets of rain blasting layers of mud off his jacket and backpack. "You are NOT the only one. But, there are two of us now. So... I'm sure we can figure out a plan now."

Nodding with a lighter smirk, Deedri narrows her stare and points out towards a sparser section of forest. "I think there's a clearing that way. Maybe it's worth checking out?"

Stepping up, Modoran searches into the distance in the same direction and agrees with a curious twist of his mouth, focusing his attention downwards at an outline in the thick mist. "Yeah... Huh. That looks like a building... Maybe?"

Deedri lifts herself up on her toes, peeking over a line of tall shrubs obscuring her view, and glances over at Modoran. "Might as well see. ANYTHING is better than soaking out here."

Carefully traversing the water-logged slope, Deedri and Modoran climb down the slippery hill through the constant barrage of rain and push through a wall of brush together. Spotting the small stone building, the two rush over towards the front side facing a large clearing and slip through the entryway. Out of the constant downpour, Deedri puzzles at the huge field within the haze and the barely visible silhouettes through the mist of trees surrounding the area. "This clearing is huge! And look at these trees!"

Modoran narrows his stare and scours through the sheets of rain and foggy air. "It looks like there are other buildings. But, I can not see anything clearly."

He turns around, staring down the dark, central hallway, and grimaces uncomfortably. "Well. Huh. This place does not seem that inviting. Need to get some light..."

Deedri ponders a moment. Holding her hands close together, she focuses. With a flicker of auburn in her eyes, magical flows condense around her clawed fingers, and she mutters a series of incantations with slight gestures. A small, floating orb glows brighter with the energy collecting inside of it and flashes to a bright blue-white illumination. Modoran blinks, his eyes adjusting, and smiles appreciatively. "Nice. Much better than my aetherphone."

Holding the glowing sphere in her hand, Deedri walks along with Modoran. the two step warily down the long corridor towards an open heavy door. They stop midway through and notice locked side chambers behind bars. Deedri's ears droop, and she grits her teeth uneasily. "Does this feel like a..."

With an uncomfortable grimace, Modoran nods. "Jail? Yeah. Yeah, it does. But, I do not think it's been used in a while."

Both arrive at the doorway. Modoran carefully inspects it, peeks through the opening, and gradually pushes the door the rest of the way. Deedri holds the light out. Both survey the room beyond the threshold. Modoran shrugs his shoulders at the small space with a simple cot and glances over at Deedri. "Honestly. A lot nicer than what I was expecting to find."

Deedri pushes the glowing orb up and watches it float up, sticking onto the roof. She releases a long sigh, slumps her shoulders, and buries her face between her hands. "Gods... It's just nice to be out of the rain."

Chuckling lightly, Modoran scratches the back of his head awkwardly and shrugs. "Yeah. I think we should hold up here for now. I am really not up for wandering around aimlessly in the rain right now. Doubt it would accomplish much anyway."

Deedri slowly rocks her head in silent agreement, remaining quiet in her thoughts and uncomfortable breaths. Listening to the slight shudder in Deedri's sighs, Modoran takes off his backpack, rests it upon the ground, and steps behind Deedri. Lifting gently on Deedri's large pack, he motions his head towards the wall and politely asks. "Is it okay if I put this over there?"

Blinking her auburn eyes back to awareness, Deedri lifts her face up, thinking a moment, and nods appreciatively. "Oh... Yes... Thank you."

Deedri slides out of her heavy pack, and Modoran hoists the weight over to a spot next to the wall with a gentle drop. Brushing off some dust and debris from the cot, Modoran directs Deedri's attention over with a kind smile. "Sit down for a bit."

Glancing over at the cot, Deedri studies her soaked clothing and shakes her head. "Let me get these off. I really don't want to drench the only dry place left to sit."

Quickly finding the zipper to her top, Deedri loosens up the decorative garment and slips out of it. Wringing out the excess water out of her loose undershirt, she fans some of airflow down the collar of her light body suit, holding the sopping wet top in her other arm. She notices Modoran stiffly facing the other direction and extending his arm towards her. Modoran musters up his voice through flush hints on his cheeks. "Um, I know a spell or two to dry clothes if you want me to... Um... Dry them for you."

A moment of self-consciousness rearranging her undershirt to be more presentable later, Deedri cracks an amused smirk and places the top on Modoran's awaiting arm. She quickly undoes the fasteners for her long skirt and unsticks her shorts off her leggings. Placing the bottom garment in Modoran's arms, she lightly taps a claw on his shoulder and cranes around his side with a smile. "Thank you for being considerate. But, I'm decent."

Modoran nervously laughs, nodding, and finds a place to hang up the soaked clothing, working the embarrassment off his face. "Oh. Yeah. I will get these dried off for you."

Quickly gesturing through an incantation, Modoran directs flows of magical energy to his hands and methodically motions over the clothing hung on the heavy door, each pass guiding water off onto the floor. Deedri eases herself onto the cot and slowly breathes out her nerves, drifting off into her mind. Minutes pass by in comparative silence, with Deedri searching through her thoughts with a frown and Modoran focusing his attention upon pulling water out of clothes. Finishing an initial pass with Deedri's garments, Modoran glances over, asking. "I am going to try to dry off my clothes if you don't mind."

Deedri blinks out of her trance, shakes her head, and refocuses her attention. "Oh, no. Go ahead."

Unzipping his jacket and pulling off his pants, Modoran strips down to his damp shirt and shorts, finding some old metal loops in the stone wall to hang the clothing from. Deedri's eyes drift over towards Modoran, and she stares. Seconds later, her conscious mind realizes the situation, and she redirects her thoughts with a question. "Um... So... How do you know these types of spells and tricks? Clothes drying, towel arrangements, and knowledge of resort booking?"

Modoran shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, chuckling to himself, and glances over to Deedri with a grin. "A bunch of random stuff I picked up from part time jobs with my family's businesses."

Blinking, Deedri searches her mind and perks her furry, damp, tufted ears. "Wait... What businesses does your family own? I talked to your mother and sisters for hours, and they NEVER mentioned anything to me."

Rolling his dark blue eyes, Modoran snorts, shaking his head. "Not surprised. They were on vacation and happy to talk about anything else. But... It is a whole collection of different hotels, motels, and resorts. No central brand, on purpose. My mother and father know all of them by heart. My older sister probably is getting there."

The idea distracts Deedri briefly with an intrigued smirk. Other pressing thoughts quickly force a frown on her face. She remains silent and staring blankly. Her wavering breaths and shaky hands catch Modoran's attention. Stepping over, Modoran glances down at Deedri with concern. "Deedri, are you okay?"

Contorting her face, Deedri droops her ears and uncertainly fumbles over her words. "I don't know. We're lost... We're separated from the group... There's some gods awful spirit driving a death drone around after us. And..."

She gasps in some air and frowns. "I'm supposed to be the medical mage ready to help out anyone who could be injured right now. But..."

Her tail reflexive coils around her waist and into her hands, and she grips hold of it tightly. "All I can do right now is... Cower in a damned hole, and be scared and clueless what exactly to do next."

Watching the distress growing on Deedri, Modoran clears away his idle, nonchalant exterior, mustering up his confidence, and kneels down in front of Deedri. Meeting her auburn eyes with his dark blue gaze, he smiles reassuringly and places a gentle hand on Deedri's shoulder. "Hey. The best we can do is survive, so we can have a chance to help everyone else. There is no point in us wandering around the storm. Let us see if we can get our aetherphone radio transponders working. Meanwhile, we will dry out, rest up, and calm ourselves down so we can think straight."

He pauses a moment with a breath in and nods to Deedri. "We can figure this out."

Gazing into Modoran eyes, a hopeful smirk emerges upon Deedri. She shifts her attention over, feeling the faint trembling of Modoran's hand on her shoulder. Placing her hand upon his, she smiles at him and holds onto his hand. Seconds later, Deedri glances over to the space on the cot next to her and genuinely asks. "You want to sit down for a while?"

Modoran blinks out of his trance, nods quickly, and eases himself onto the cot. The two enjoy the peaceful moments in the small room with the ambiance of the rain hammering the outside world. Deedri shivers briefly, wagging her tail awkwardly, and grumbles, feeling her waterlogged fur. Pausing in thought a moment, she bites her lower lip. "Do you have any spells that can help dry my tail out?"

An amused smile appears on Modoran, and he nods slowly, prepping a spell. "I have got one that is basically like a hairdryer."

Deedri flops her damp tail up into her hands and combs a bit of it out with her claw tips. "Gods. THAT sounds so nice right now."

----

Rolling walls of water dump through the battered canopy above and pound the brush below. Tripping over a large tree root, Veevi slides belly first down a muddy game trail. splashing down a long decline head first into a murky pool. Lifting her head up from the muck, she spits out the dirt saturated water and peels her soaked mop of pink hair out of her eyes. She pants in near exhaustion and darts her spooked stare around the disorientating haze and constant watery onslaught at the thinning edge of the forest. Her gaze settles upon a large stone structure in front of her. Blinking to the realization, she stumbles up to her feet, searching the area, and slinks towards the building. She stands under an overhang and presses her back against the exterior wall, breathing a few sighs of relief. Listening to the surges of rain blast the other sides of the building, Veevi peeks around the corner and pans her glance across the open field visible within the obscuring mist perimeter and the front of the old, stone structure. She spots a huge archway, darts across the stretch, and quickly checks the entryway. Another waterfall from the skies above approaches, and she rushes out of the storm inside.

Inside the dark, she stands dripping in her tight fitting outfit and nervously gawks into the shadowy surroundings. A distant slam booms out. A pink furred tail slips out of view behind an upturned table. Veevi shudders in fright behind the furniture, her fuzzy ears twitching around at the eerie quiet of inside, against the rhythmic deluge outside. Tense minutes later, her pink pupil eyes uncertainly dart around the area. The interior quiet looms still. Easing out a breath, Veevi rolls the tension out of her shoulders and slumps behind the debris surrounding the toppled table top.

Summoning up the little nerve in herself over the eerie minutes, she quietly rises back on her feet, glancing around, and ventures deeper down the large, long central hallway. Faint sources of light from distant outside windows break up the surrounding darkness in the tall, echoing corridor. Veevi stops midway, grimacing, and holds her hands together. Mumbling to herself, she winces in concentration, strains her body, and focuses her gaze hopefully to her palms. Seconds later, faint flows of magic condense and form into a dull ball of light, providing a modest amount of illumination. Gritting her teeth nervously, Veevi surveys the dark area around her. The dim glow projects a light out into the surroundings around at the intersection before massive, broken doors. Shifting her gaze between shattered furniture, cracked bows, and random objects piled up, Veevi's dread simmers further. She catches the glints of bullet and shell casings in stark contrast against blackened scorch marks on the floor and walls. Freezing in a surge of horror, she fights against the recognition of the dried, morbidly shaped pools and smears scattered through the area.

A bright flash erupts from nearby windows, and Veevi freezes in wide-eyed fright, tensing through the loud crash of thunder erupting through the space. In a panic, she runs through the double doors, frantically panting. In the barely lit, echoing chamber, she trips over a few steps and tumbles into a shallow, circular pit. Pulling herself back together, she forces herself and flows more energy into the dull glowing orb in her hand. With the extra light, she sits up in the middle of a round depression in the floor with encircling shattered steps. Veevi blinks in confusion at the crushed masonry, the deep gouges in the floors, and tool marks around the shallow, circular pit. Her wandering stare surveys the huge chamber, desks of scattered papers, shattered magical equipment, and shelves of empty bookcases. Wrapping her arms close to herself, she notices a stairwell in the corner and scrambles over in a surge of fright.

Quickly moving through the smaller halls, Veevi steps around remnants of strange scenes. Fighting fear, she glances into a room beyond torn down doors and halts at the remains of a master bedroom. She steps over into the room, carefully, awkwardly walking through the recognizable furniture in the mix of chaos and upheaval. Slowly exploring the upturned room, she finds elaborate, nature themed garments in the debris, and a mostly intact mattress with nearby sheets strewn over the area. Relaxing her breathing, she briefly puzzles at an empty compartment in the floor next to the overturned bed. She pauses a moment, lost in her thoughts. The wind blows into the room from an open window in the small connecting bathroom, and she feels her damp clothing. Stepping over, she picks through the clothing in the debris and settles down upon the mattress.

----

Slowly marching through the torrent, Trakenthin leans against a tree and lifts his large arm across his helmeted forehead, shielding the rain from the aetherphone in his other hand. He squints through the harsh spray of water splattering on his visor and watches an array of signal strength bars pulsate between different heights on his display. Two reach near the highest point of the scale, and two others slowly rise with each oscillation. Shaking his head, Trakenthin wipes the excessive water off his helm and searches into the mist obscured clearing. He growls loudly and fights a mix of frustration and worry, staring out into the distance.

Two of the signal bars pulsate at the top of the range with an alert beep, and Trakenthin glances down briefly. He lifts his helmeted head and strains all his attention into the horizon through forest and haze. A few fruitless passes later, two familiar voices sound out. Chad kneels slightly, bracing against a tree, and holds his arm out back towards Tassilda. With a staggered glide across the loose, slick dirt, Tassilda catches herself upon Chad's outstretched arm and backpack. Grumbling out her aggravation, she releases a long stressed breath and summons up a tired, appreciative tone. "Thank you. Sorry."

Chad shakes his head with grimace, holds his shield up against the waves of rain, and turns his gaze, checking on Tassilda. "It's fine. This situation is just fucked anyway."

Taking the moment under the shelter of the shield, Tassilda pulls her soaked raven black hair back out her light blue on black eyes and nods begrudgingly. She lifts up her aetherphone into view, checking on similar signals in the area, and opens her eyes wide. "Oh gods. I think we're close to everyone else now. All their signals just jumped up."

Staring out into the distance, Chad spots a tall, imposing, and familiar figure against the waves of rain. He cracks a hopeful grin, pointing Trakenthin out to Tassilda, and leads the way. Trakenthin stands tall in his armor and greets Chad and Tassilda with a reserved smile. "Good to see you."

Patting Trakenthin on his shoulder, Chad laughs through his exhaustion. "Same. Any signs of Deedri, Modoran, Veevi, or the crew?"

Trakenthin shakes his head, twisting his dark bronze face. "Nothing from Veevi. No sign of crew. Deedri. Modoran. Must be near. Signals are stronger here."

Directing attention over towards the distant outlines of ancient stone buildings contrasting the mist and rain, he contemplates out loud. "Believe they are in these structures. Sharp increase in signal since going over the hill."

Tassilda nods in agreement, searching around the area, and motions towards a nearby mid sized building. "Same thing happened on my phone. Let's check this one out. And, get out of this rain."

The trio navigate down the slight slope through perimeter brush. They rush around to the front of the building facing into the clearing and stand outside a busted doorway. With a bit of hesitation, they carefully enter the structure. Inside, Chad, Trakenthin, and Tassilda cautiously fan out and explore the entry with multiple side rooms. Each pauses within the room, investigating the strange stacking of supply crates, upturned furniture, and broken debris. Discomfort growing, they find traces of conflict by impact holes, magical burn marks, and dark splatter stains upon the walls and floors. The group reconvenes in a large barracks in the back of the structure and slowly rearrange cots. Chad pulls his helm off, shakes his head, and sighs uneasily. "Okay. So... I can't be the only one that would have rather just found this place full of dirt, cobwebs, and bugs."

Shuddering with a wave of discomfort, she slings off her backpack onto the ground and releases her waterlogged cloak onto the floor. "GODS, NO. What IS this place? And..."

Glancing around briefly at the stale signs of chaos, she grimaces. "What THE HELL happened here?!"

With snort, Trakenthin grumbles, rolling his shoulders, and studies the vicinity, concern refreshing. "Something BAD. Must tolerate it for now."

Chad releases the straps of his breast plate, dropping it off to the side. He pulls off the damp under armor from his skin and nods reluctantly. "Yeah. This is the first bit of shelter we've found. So... We'll have to ignore the..."

Wrestling a frown, he strains a breath through his hose. "Hopefully... The not too recent history... For now."

Tassilda lifts an unamused eyebrow at Chad and rolls her eyes at the situation. "History. That's a nice way to put it."

Shrugging his shoulders, Chad pries out his aetherphone from his pants pocket, shaking off the water, and presses a button to wake the device. "Let's see if the radios want to work now. I think that THING was jamming them or something before. Hopefully, check in on Deedri and Modoran and see where they are."

Chad presses and holds a button on a two-way radio app and speaks clearly. "Deedri. Modoran. Deedri. Modoran. We detect your phone beacons. Where are you? Are you okay?"

The tense silence looms over the seconds, Chad, Trakenthin, and Tassilda waiting. Chad's phone speaker chirps out a few key ups on the channel, along with the sound of fumbling hands and background murmurs. Deedri's voice sounds out. "Chad?! Thank the gods. Modoran and I are fine. We're near this really big clearing taking shelter in this... um, strange... small stone building. You heard from anyone else?"

A wave of relief washes over Tassilda, Trakenthin, and Chad. With a happy smile on his face, Chad presses the transmit button. "Yes. I'm with Trakenthin and Tassilda. We're okay. Just really, really soaked. We took shelter in another building around a big clearing, too. Haven't heard from Veevi or any of the crew. So... I don't know. The drone didn't chase us after a certain point, so it might have flown off and left everyone else alone."

A radio key up later, Deedri ponders out loud, uncertainly. "So, what's the plan? We're a bit lost as to what to do next."

Glancing between Trakenthin and Tassilda's indecisive expressions, Chad thinks a moment and directs his voice out towards the group local and remote. "Well. We'll shelter in place until the storm moves on. Keep our transponders running, and take turns monitoring the radio and doing a call out once an hour. And..."

He shrugs his shoulders and sighs. "Rest up the best we can. Sound good?"

Trakenthin and Tassilda nod. Moments later, the radio keys up, and Deedri's voice crackles out. "Yes. Kind of how we felt."

From the background of the far side of the radio broadcast, Modoran comments. "Good enough for me."

Keeping the transmission going, Deedri sounds out from Chad's aetherphone with an uneasy tone. "Not to make things creepier, but... Does this place seem... WEIRD to you all?"

Chad eyes around the large barracks, narrowing a stare towards the front entrance, and nods slowly, keying up his phone. "Yeah... Let's not plan on staying here longer than we have to."

----

Underneath a rocky overhang, Samantha, Gerald, and a dozen recording crew members hide, water splashing down along with bits of terrain. Gusts of wind blast rain upon the huddled masses. Samantha whispers loudly over the storm to Gerald with a grimace. "Everyone is accounted for, right?"

Nodding his head of wet hair, Gerald sighs and stares out into the misty forest. "Yeah. A bit roughed up from running through this forest, but... Okay."

He contorts his face uneasily, groaning, and shakes his head, glancing around. "But... We got to find some kind of shelter. Real shelter. That fucking spirit drone thing is due to make another pass in this area, and I don't think we have that many passes left before it narrows down to where we are."

Samantha grits her teeth, snorting out frustration along with spatters of water dripping down her face, and furrows her brow. "Gods dammit. Why the hell is it hunting us down?!"

Her temper chills in the downpour, and she whines in defeat. "Oh... Nevermind..."

Directing her voice over towards Urdi, she steps closer. "Any luck on figuring out where those beacons are coming from?"

Urdi flicks her wet, furry ears in thought, wrestling with the indecision on her face, and points in a rough direction. "I think we need to go... That way. The further that direction we've gone, two of the signals got stronger. Three other signals have settled to the same levels. So, uh, they may have regrouped?"

A hint of worry rises in Gerald's tone, and he glances over to Urdi. "Anything from Veevi's aetherphone?"

Shaking her head, Urdi frowns. Checking a readout from some equipment, Radnae quips. "Then again, she probably couldn't figure out how to turn the beacon on. And yes, there's still too much interference to broadcast a clear radio signal out."

Watching a sharp increase in activity on the monitor screen, Radnae waves frantically at everyone and loudly whispers. "It's NEARBY. Everyone back. HIDE."

Gerald, Samantha, Urdi, Radnae, and crew duck and tuck close together under the overhang. Under the obscuring waterfall of drainage, they wait in nervous anticipation. In the distant haze, the powerful, sharp whir of rotors and crackles of electrical arcs rise above the sounds of the pummeling rainfall. The large drone soars through the trees in a wild display of awkward navigation, charting an erratic search path through the woods. Occasionally, a powerful electrical arc pops into a nearby branch, sizzles of steam popping out of the wood. In the minutes, it looms around. It disappears back into the obscuring mists of the forest, the hunt leading it away.

The assembled crew wait tensely, watching and listening through the stormy chaos. Pointing in the direction suggested by Urdi, Gerald breaks the relative silence, motioning the rest of the group. "Well, we're not sticking around here. Let's MOVE."

----

Curling up on the mattress under a pile of scavenged towels, blankets, and sheets, Veevi snores softly. The storm rages outside the open windows of the large, ruined bedroom, and the wind blows through the room across Veevi's outfit draped over a chair. Tossing on the mattress, Veevi unconsciously stretches out in the nature themed clothes on her and mumbles to herself in her sleep. Her fuzzy ears twitch with the sounds of voices in the hallway outside the bedroom entry. Something hits the stone floor, echoing out through the corridors. Veevi startles from her slumber.

Listening to the voices getting closer, Veevi's pink pupil eyes widen in a bewildered panic, and she scrambles around. She fumbles around the debris near her and finds her laser pistol. Scurrying behind a pile of debris, she shakily trains the weapon at the broken entry doors, fear driving her frightened panting. She shudders nervously, and the pistol trembles in her hand. The muffled voices grow louder. The rainfall surges outside into drowning, disorientating cacophony. Veevi's grip tightens on the pistol.

In the midst of a chorus footsteps outside the bedroom door, a voice speaks up. "Okay, let's what we got in here-"

A laser beam pulses into existence out the doorway, the bright green flash flooding the bedroom and hallway, and scorches the wall opposite the doorway. Immediate silence seizes the area. A surge of bravado drives Veevi up to her feet, and she angrily screams through panic. "THERE'S MORE OF THAT IF ANY OF YOU MOTHERFUCKERS COME IN HERE! I'LL BURN YOU ALL TO A GODS DAMNED CRISP!"

Over the frightened muttering of a man's voice, Samantha yells back into the room in an absolute, seething rage. "VEEVI! IF YOU DON'T PUT THAT FUCKING PISTOL AWAY, I'LL SHOVE IT SIDEWAYS UP YOUR PINK FURRY ASS, AND KICK THE SHIT OUT OF YOU UNTIL IT FIRES! YOU DUMB BITCH!"

Immediately recognizing the voice, Veevi's pink pupil eyes spring wide open, and she quickly lowers the pistol to her side. She shrinks her posture back down into hiding and meekly replies with drooping ears. "O-okay... Well... Sorry?"

----

Beams of early morning sun angle down into the large clearing in the middle of an ancient tree perimeter. A series of watery footsteps sound out into the area, and two trails of footprints form a path across the soggy soil. The depressions into the grasses appear, and water oozes in, filling them quickly. Leading into the mid sized structure, two pairs of boot prints stamp watermarks onto the stone floor of the entry. Modoran and Deedri gradually fade into full opacity on top of the watery outlines. Blinking intrigued, Deedri smirks, whispering at Modoran. "I REALLY need to learn how to do those spells."

Modoran grins nonchalantly and shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah. They have their uses."

The two slowly step inside further and cautiously inspect the entryway. The growing morning highlights the signs of past, messy strife. Modoran spots Chad down the hallway and leads the way through the leftover chaotic clues. Shuddering with the recognition of old bloodstains, Deedri rushes through that corridor section. Chad waves the two in and sighs with a relieved smile. "Good morning. I hope you two got some rest. We tried our best here."

Twisting his mouth into a grimace, Modoran shrugs uncertainly. "We dried out and took turns getting a few hours of sleep each. Not the best sleep I have ever had honestly. Not the worst either."

Sneering her upper lip, Deedri uneasily squirms out her disgust. "Didn't help that we stayed in some makeshift jail cell."

Chad opens his brown eyes wide, frowns slightly, and glances around the room. "Gods... Yeah. This place has some... HISTORY... That I really don't want to know about right now."

Tassilda finishes brushing out her long raven black hair, pulls it back over her spiraling horns, and dons a relieved smile. "Yes. But, it seems like everyone is safe enough."

Deedri's furry, tufted ears perk up, and she gazes between the group. "Really? The crew and... Veevi?"

With a wry chuckle, Tassilda stands up from her seat on a cot, stretching out her arms, and rolls her light blue on black eyes. "Yes. The crew followed our aetherphone beacons, and they found Veevi for us. She hid in some bedroom in the big building at the other end of the clearing. Nearly blasted Gerald's head off when the crew tried to explore the room she was in."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chad slowly shakes his head and grumbles. "GODS. Need to take that damned pistol away from her."

Trakenthin groans in agreement, nodding his head sternly at Chad. Modoran pivots in place, studying the layout and contents of the room, and queries the assembled team. "Any theories about what this place is?"

Chad rests his hands at his side, puzzling at the environment, and ponders out loud. "Maybe some kind of base? This place looks old. But, all the furniture looks like it was kept up until recently. So..."

Leaning over to a corner of covered supplies, Trakenthin lifts up a cloth wrapped bundle, steps up to Modoran, and presents it. "You may know about this. Found it while clearing out space for camp."

Modoran takes hold of the loose package, unwraps it, and tilts his head back in surprise. Carefully gripping the finely crafted wooden bow, he meticulously examines the inscriptions and magical channels carved into the structure. He cocks his head of short, grayish white hair to the side, astonishment and worry blending together upon his dusky bluish gray face. Searching his mind for conclusions, he exchanges glances with the curious team and inquires further. "Did you find any quivers or arrows?"

Trakenthin nods, pointing to the corner of the supply collection, and directs Modoran's attention towards a quiver of three well crafted arrows with magical markings. Blanking his expression, Modoran mumbles out a phrase in Evuukian and draws an awkward breath in. Chad narrows his gaze at Modoran, tilting his head intrigued. "Anything we should know?"

Modoran shrugs his shoulders, resuming his nonchalant exterior, and sighs with hints of reservation. "It is a wonderful magic imbued bow and nicely enchanted arrows. I am a bit worried about who made them. BUT..."

He eyes the space and corridor leading outside. "I get the feeling they are not here anymore. So, I will hold on to these... If no one objects?"

Chad searches the rest of the group for opposition and nods in agreement. "Go ahead. You're probably the best one to use it from what I've seen."

Staring outside and focusing her furry ears towards faint sounds of Veevi's voice, Deedri levels a question at the team. "So, what's the plan?"

Noticing the attention upon him, Chad draws in a breath, searches his mind a moment, and plots. "We'll regroup with the crew... and Veevi. First order of business is to figure out where that drone is. That way we can try to be where it isn't. After that, we double time back to camp, load up, and get the hell out of here."

He glances off to the side with a frown. "I think we have enough evidence to show that the drone is not exactly... Um, recoverable? Currently in use? Shit. I don't even know what the fuck to call it. BUT, I hope that's enough of an explanation for the Grand Library."

Rolling her light blue on black eyes, Tassilda smirks sarcastically. "From what I've heard about the Grand Library, they'll probably send a team to try to study that thing after we're gone. So I doubt they'll care one way or another."

Nodding at Chad, Modoran slips the quiver onto his back, holds the bow at the ready, and motions towards the exit. "Let us see what the crew and Veevi are doing, then. Then, we can get the hell out of here."

The group assembles and walks to the entryway. Upon stepping out, they notice Veevi in front of the largest ancient structure, standing boldly in front of the entrance. In her revealing adaptation of her recently found clothing line, she soaks in the attention of cameras. The team halts their progress and reluctantly watches. Modoran squints his eyes, gritting his teeth into a grimace, and cringes. "Ooo... That... THAT is a lot they are going to have to fix in post."

Tassilda sneers her upper lip, placing her hands on her hips, and snorts derisively. "Oh please, she's shown far more in far less before."

Shaking his head, Modoran draws an uneasy breath through his teeth. "Yeah, but those are Terra Priest symbols on all that. I am certain that will NOT appease the Evuukian market."

With the team starting to comprehend Modoran's words, an unfortunately familiar whir of rotor blades creeps out from the background noise of the surrounding forest. The sound surges louder and louder. The drone slowly navigates through an open section of cleared branches between two ancient trees and passes through the perimeter into the unoccupied section of the large clearing. It hovers menacingly over the small jail structure, starting a slow scan of the area. The team ducks back into their building, hiding out of sight. Gritting his teeth, Chad whispers to the group, thinking out loud. "OKAY. We know where it is. But, we have to deal with it. I'm thinking if we can disable it. At least so it can't fly well enough to follow us. Umm..."

He eyes the bow in Modoran's hand and smirks. "Modoran, you think you can do some damage with that?"

Modoran pulls an arrow out of the quiver, checking it over, and nods tentatively. "Oh yeah. I am not familiar with these arrows. BUT, I know I can put it through the hole in its side if it stays still."

Lifting a finger with an idea springing forth in her mind, Deedri points over to Tassilda. "I got something, I think. Spirits can be influenced by mind-affecting magic. That's how they are often controlled. At least, from what I've read... So... Maybe..."

Tassilda cracks an eager grin on her gray face, lifting an eyebrow, and flexes her hand of long, black nailed fingers. "A charged up sleep wave?"

Deedri's auburn eyes light up, and she smiles. "Yes! And, I can boost up a hold spell to try to immobilize it."

Nodding at the forming plan, Chad glances over to Trakenthin and smirks. "And if it goes down, Trakenthin and I will close in to chop its wings."

Trakenthin nods affirmatively, dons a stoic gaze, and readies his sword. Chad sorts through the process and outlines the plan. "Okay. Deedri immobilizes it, and Tassilda sleeps it. Modoran sends an arrow or two inside it. If it goes down, Trakenthin and I will try to keep it from flying again."

The assembled team relays their agreement. Chad twists his face, pondering a moment, and grumbles. "We just need a distraction-"

A loud, bold yell echoes out into the field, and a series laser blasts cast a bright green hue into the entry. A single dull, metallic ping rings out, and rotors flare up. humming angrily. Veevi screams out over the sound of the laser pistol firing. "You're not so tough! A few good shots will take you down!"

Chad blinks blankly and releases a sigh along with the dismay of the team. Trakenthin quips, rolling his hazel eyes. "Asked. Received."

Outside in the clearing, in front of a line of gradually retreating crew members, Veevi takes shaky aim at the drone hovering distantly and pulls the trigger repeatedly. A few bright green beams flash past the approaching machine, and it slowly pivots in place, its rotors adjusting. With a few arcs across its fuselage, the huge, airborne anima infused aircraft shifts its propulsion and coasts towards Veevi, sparks drifting off of it. In a growing panic Veevi jerks more wild shots off her weapon, sending random beams roughly in the drone's direction. The furious machine gains velocity with intent blatant.

With a loud roar of rotors spinning up to speed and blades chopping through air, the aircraft pitches its nose sharply down and fans out arcs of electricity. The crew instinctively scatter away and flee in sheer panic back into the huge ancient structure. Shakily keeping her laser pistol pointed towards the drone, Veevi glances back at the frightened people running away and stares in absolute terror at the visibly aggravated machine. She freezes in horror, shaking in her boots, and shrinks in hopeless awe.

Shimmers of energy jet up from the ground, quickly enveloping the drone, and stiffen into a thick translucent cloud. Sputtering out quick fvalian curses just outside the stone barracks structure, Deedri digs her finger claws into the soggy dirt, saturated with magical flow. She glances over with a wince at Tassilda and growls out. "NOW! I don't know how long- I can- stretch this out-! Never meant for THIS!"

With a flash of light blue glow in her eyes, Tassilda cracks a confident smirk, presses the swirling magical flow between her hands, and aims the palms of her hands towards the struggling drone. With a flex of her upper body and arms, the energies surge into a focal point and erupt out in a narrow cone at the anima controlled craft. The nearly transparent flow engulfs the drone, washing through the entirety of the chassis. Moments later, the rotors spin down to an idle maintenance speed, servos lethargically level out, and the craft hovers still in the air. A fast sigh of relief leaves Deedri's lungs, and she recovers her composure, panting. "Oh gods... It's not fighting back now. I think I can keep it steady."

Modoran nods with concern at Deedri, steps up front with the bow in hand, and nocks an arrow, glaring determinedly at the drone. Pulling back the bowstring, he draws in a calm breath and lines up his shot to the hole in the fuselage. Flows of magical energy swirl around his arms and sink into the bow and arrow. The markings on the bow glow brightly, and a misty illumination vents off the head of the arrow. The drone drifts enough, exposing itself fully. The bow and arrow light up to their brightest. Modoran releases. The bowstring snaps forward. The arrow disappears into a blue-white streak across the clearing. The fiery ball of energy zips inside the chassis of the machine, leaving a miasma trail behind.

A fast succession of loud metal slams pound inside the body of the drone, each impact losing volume and leaving a smaller dent on the outer hull. The final crash sizzles into a loud expulsion of smoke, and the aircraft flops down upon a shallow puddle. Chad and Trakenthin charge out. Modoran draws another arrow from a quiver, examining it closely, and quips in a bit of surprise. "Huh. So that's what that enchantment did."

Chad takes the lead with his shield forward, and Trakenthin follows right behind. The mechanical beast roars out a confused, pained cacophony of synthetic chaos. Narrowing an examining stare at the struggling drone, Chad yells out to Trakenthin. "Try to break the blades on the rotors! Even a little damage will make them useless. Then, jam the mounts!"

Trakenthin nods, splits off from Chad, and the two rush to opposing sides of the drone. Carefully stepping forward, Chad grits his teeth, small arcs of electricity sparking out from the drone, and gets near a spasming fan. With his shield up, he holds his sword downwards above the chaotically spinning blades, winces his head back, and spikes his weapon in. With a loud shatter, fragments ping off his shield, and Chad struggles with his grip on the sword, the rotor grinding to a harsh halt. Trakenthin narrows his focus, waits for the arcs to wane, and crashes his large sword into the metal chassis surrounding the rotor unit. The drone jerks at the sudden stop, blades carving into the intake cowling. With shrill, electronic cries of rage, another furious blast of electricity erupts. Chad and Trakenthin retreat back quickly, and the aircraft fights against damage and physics to rise again.

Modoran readies another arrow, starts flowing his energies into it, and glances between Tassilda and Deedri. "Can you two give me another opening?!"

Deedri grits her sharp teeth, strains her body, and stares at the drone with glowing auburn eyes. Translucent forces lock the machine onto the ground. Tassilda steps up, aims her hands, summons up another burst of energy at the grounded aircraft. Modoran takes a deep breath in, leveling his aim, and yells out. "STAND BACK! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS WILL DO!"

The arrow zips across the clearing, through the hole in the fuselage, and plants itself inside. Everyone watches expectantly for seconds. Deedri strains, keeping the drone locked down. A high pitched whine rings out from inside the machine. A powerful concussive burst explodes out. Silence overtakes the area. The drone remains still. The electrical arcs wane to nothing. And, the last signs of life fade from the rotors and servos.

Chad and Trakenthin regroup with the rest of the team. A minute later, Chad glances over the team, presents a proud, bright white grin, and chuckles. "I think it's done. But... We'll keep back and..."

Chad's voice trails off with the bewilderment of the team. They watch Veevi strut triumphantly up next to the drone. With the camera crew recording from a distance, Veevi dons a prideful grin, assumes a revealing stance, and poses with her laser pistol. Tassilda glares spitefully, her knuckles cracking from clenching her fist. "That little fucking pink bitch..."

A faint glow pulsates inside the hole in the drone, and a small entity of brightly shining, translucent, angular shapes, and jagged energy trails leaps out. Scrambling around frantically, the entity briefly skitters around. It pauses a moment and lunges towards Veevi, merging into the laser pistol in her hand. The weapon electrocutes itself out of the Veevi's hand and lands upon the ground. Stumbling onto the soggy soil, Veevi dramatically clutches her hand and whines out in pain. The camera crew shifts their full attention over to the gun. Using arc magical energies, the pistol rights itself on the ground, pivots its aim, and fires wildly. The crew ducks and scrambles away. Chad hoists up his shield and growls out loudly. "Enough of this shit!"

Trakenthin stands defensively in front of Deedri and Modoran. Chad approaches the laser pistol, and Tassilda rushes up behind, patting his back. "Get me close. I'll see what a dispelling blast does to it."

With pulses of bright green beaming out across the clearing, Chad and Tassilda approach slowly and carefully. In a final push, Chad moves up to the chaotically firing weapon. Tassilda swings her arm out from behind Chad and flings out an orb of magical energy. The ball of disruptive flow impacts the flailing pistol and bursts out into a plume of power. Leaping free, the anima flees the weapon in a high-pitch electronic shriek. With a chitter of synthetic panic, it darts around the clearing and flies off into the forest.

Chad steps up cautiously towards the motionless weapon and picks it up gingerly. He ejects the power cell, engages the safety, and holds the discharge button. Shaking his head, he grumbles out a blend of frustration and relief. "I'll be holding onto this."

-86-

With a powerful kick of his armored boot, the physically imposing Trakenthin shoves the beaten and battered drone grinding across the stonework floor of the large hallway. He leaves the tall entryway, and Chad and Modoran close massive exterior doors on the huge main building at the edge of the clearing. Dragging over a large log in front of the doorway, Trakenthin guides it in place with the help of Chad and Modoran. The trio stand back, resting and stretching out their bodies. Chad glances over to both Modoran and Trakenthin, shrugging ambivalently, and grumbles. "Well. We found it. Mostly in one piece. But, I don't think they specified what condition we were supposed to keep it in."

Modoran snorts with an ill-humored tinge and crosses his arms, smirking. "I do not think they will care. I mean... I think they were expecting us to report back with pictures of the fucking thing crashed in a burnt crater."

Lifting a dryly amused eyebrow, Trakenthin slowly shakes his head and sighs, resting his hands at his sides. "It resembles that now."

Drawing in a long breath, Chad works off a grimace and pivots around, rolling his brown eyes. "Yeah. Hopefully, stuck in there, it won't be taken for another joyride by a crazed spirit, or whatever else is running around this place.."

Chad leads the group towards a larger gathering in morning sun of the clearing and eyes Trakenthin inquisitively. "You have any trouble calculating the coordinates to this place?"

Trakenthin rocks his head slightly from one shoulder to another, twisting a vague grimace, and ponders out loud. "Land transponder signals are weak here. Enough to get a rough location. Refined with our route from camp today. Confirmed with landmarks. Should be enough. This large clearing would be hard to miss when you are near."

Modoran nonchalantly strolls next to Chad, gazing across the field towards Deedri, Tassilda, the crew, and Veevi, and pries. "So, what is the plan today? I think we have gotten everything under enough control, for now. You got any desire to explore this place further?"

Gritting his teeth briefly, Chad uneasily sneers his upper lip and shakes his head. "No. No... Not at this point. Sleeping at camp knowing this place was nearby was hard enough last night. I think I'm okay with just spending tonight at Goff's Inn. We'll leave this place to the Grand Library. Let them have..."

Bouncing a stare between the different ancient structures around the clearing, he furrows his brow and grimaces. "FUN... With this place."

A smile appears on Modoran's dusky bluish gray face, and he releases a loud sigh of relief with a trailing chuckle. "Oh. Good. FUCK this place. I am ready to just have to deal with Veevi on the ride back."

Trakenthin cranes his glance over at Modoran and sympathetically smirks. "I could sit back with her. Our route back is charted already. I do not need to navigate."

With an indifferent attitude, Modoran shrugs his shoulders, snorting. "It's fine. If she tries anything again, I will just let Tassilda handle her and keep her distracted."

Shaking his head with a mild cringe, Chad brushes his brown hair with his fingers, watching Veevi hog the camera crew attention, and eyes either side of himself at Modoran and Trakenthin. "Speaking of which... Would one of you want to use the laser pistol? Thought I'd ask before keeping it myself."

Modoran searches his mind for a moment and waves off the offer. "Nah. Honestly, that bow seems powerful enough for me. Also, it can be quiet and harder to track back if I need to fire it from hiding. So, it works well enough for my tactics."

Nodding in agreement, Chad glances over to Trakenthin, expectantly awaiting an answer. Trakenthin shakes his head, pats a side compartment on the upper leg section of his armor suit, and smirks proudly. "I have a suitable weapon."

Both Chad and Modoran snap their attention at Trakenthin, puzzling at the new information. Chad cocks his head curiously to the side, blinking in thought, and narrows an examining gaze at Trakenthin. "Wait, really? Why haven't you used it before?"

Frowning slightly, Trakenthin sighs with a disappointed groan, furrowing his brow. "Not as proficient with it. Would not have been effective against enemies we faced."

A smile appears on his dark bronze face with a warm tone. "My house mother made it for me. I am careful with how I use it. Not for trivial tasks."

Pausing in thought a moment, he eyes the unconvinced expressions upon Chad and Modoran's faces, and sighs with an embarrassed grumble, wincing slightly. "The ammunition is EXPENSIVE."

Both Chad and Modoran nod understandingly, curiosity satisfied sufficiently, and smirk in commiseration. Walking across the large sunlit clearing, the trio close in on the rest of the team and gathered crew. Chad shakes his head, grumbling. "Cool. Yeah... I'll just keep it for now. Probably best that way. Far safer for all of us."

Sneaking out a snort, Modoran briefly grins. "Gerald will probably appreciate it."

Trakenthin fights down a sly smile, and Chad rolls his eyes at himself. Stepping forward of Modoran and Trakenthin, Chad clears his throat and calls out towards the team and crew. "Everyone! The drone has been stowed away safely in the big, main building. Once we get a good signal, we'll inform the Grand Library where to pick up their property."

Tassilda lifts an ill-humored brow, resting her hands on her hips, and grins slightly. "Or, more appropriately, whatever remains of it?"

Chad glances over at Tassilda, furrowing his brow at the situation with a smirk, and shrugs his shoulders. "Well. As Modoran pointed out, they were probably expecting a pile of parts in a crater. I'd like to think we delivered a little more than THAT. Certainly have quite the story to go with it now."

A smile creeps out past Deedri's professional exterior. Veevi tosses back her pink hair back petulantly, sneering at Chad. Summoning up a bit of pride, Chad poses for the attention of the cameras and announces. "As far as I am concerned, The Flames of the Phoenix delivered, and went well above and beyond the call of duty on this one. I think we've honored our contract. And, we certainly deserve a proper victory celebration..."

Gritting his teeth, he darts his eyes around the ancient trees surrounding the massive clearing and stiffen his upper lip. "AFTER... We get far, FAR away from this REALLY creepy place. Right?"

He surveys the reactions of team and crew, wandering between a bold grin and awkward grimace. "I think we've all learned enough about this place for one mission."

A chorus of agreeable voices sound out from the rest of the team and crew in the gathering.

----

A lone evuukian man stands in front of aged, weathered signs, glaring at them disdainfully. Focusing his yellow eyes at the various warnings boldly shown in different languages, a mean smirk pulls across his light-gray, green hinted face. He draws back his boot and angrily punts the sign post from underneath, sending the placard tumbling through the air. Flopping upon the packed dirt, the reflective GAA logos shimmer in the noon sun. The lone evuukian steps through the overgrowth of the forest and slowly navigates down a narrow passage through the thick, old trees. Minutes later, he arrives at a simple, clipped top, pyramid building, and stiffens his posture. Brushing the debris off his leather armored outfit, the evuukian man tosses his long black hair back and eases off his backpack. He carefully approaches the decaying, concrete exterior of the structure and maneuvers upon the crumbling walkway, closing in on a large metal exterior door.

Narrowing an examining stare at the sealed entryway, he notices a newer locking hardware upon the building and focuses his glare upon a device welded onto the door and frame. He sneers in disgust at the keyholes, keypad, and display on the front of the locking block and lifts his hand in front of the mechanism, concentrating. With slow, purposeful breaths, faint flows of prismatic magical energy swirl down his arm, condensing into his palm, and sink into the GAA branded device. Seconds later with the growing energies, the display on the system flickers to life with a warning message beeping loudly. More flow pours into the locking block. The alert grows distorted, strained, and warped. With a faint spark of white in the evuukian man's glowing yellow eyes, a surge of magical energy dives into the device. A loud shrill beep screams out, crackles of electricity arcs inside the system, and a large plume of smoke erupts from the joints in the chassis. The display goes dark, the soot soaking through. An orange-red glow radiates from inside the unit, the torrent magical energy ripping into the system. Moments later, the block drops unceremoniously to the concrete patio, specks of solidifying molten metal splattering out.

The evuukian man kicks the smoldering mechanism out of the way, and turns his focus towards another metal box. Lifting the lid up, he studies the old, worn keypad under the layers of dirt and grime. He brushes off the collected debris with his leather gloved hand and firmly wipes off a series of numbers and letters in the lower corner of the panel. Resting his backpack down, he rummages his arm deeper than the length of the bag into the space and retrieves a ragged binder of paperwork. He eyes the uncovered letters and numbers, flips through an array of changing types of notes and differently formatted documents, stopping at a technical printout. Tapping thoughtfully upon a long, highlighted series of numbers, he reaches a hand over and carefully types in the code from one line. With the final digit entered, he presses a confirmation button.

Seconds pass in the quiet of the surrounding forest. A groaning beep sounds out from the panel. A low hum of machinery resonates out from around. A crunchy grind sounds out from the large metal door, and puffs of crumbling rust vent out after hard thunks vibrate through the door frame. With a final chunk, the heavy closure releases, drifting slightly ajar. A satisfied grin appears on the evuukian man's face, and he sweeps up his backpack. Gripping tightly on the door handle, he slowly pries the old door open and slips inside.

Wandering through dark hallways with a simple illumination spell in hand, the evuukian man studies the different signs. He follows old architectural blueprints in hand and determines a route through the ancient base. Through the maze of corridors, he arrives at a dusty room with multiple computer stations and a large, full wall window into a very dark void. Hunting around the room, the man locks his yellow eyed gaze upon a series of large switches on the wall. He reads the labels in the dim light and notices a power meter needle vibrating at the ready. Drawing in a hopeful breath, he pulls the large arm of the main breaker. The faint hum of electrical activity resonates through the window from the space beyond the glass. Through the dusty, transparent wall, a series of loud electromechanical thunks echo out. Overhead lamps flood sections of a concrete floor far below. A sly, plotting grin widens on the evuukian's face, and he steps over, witnessing the final lights clacking on. Silently, he studies the massive warehouse of bipedal robots standing on marked platforms. His gaze shifts down upon a console, and he wipes the eons of dust off a faintly glow screen. A menacing taint colors his smile, and he watches the status scroll upon a terminal, methodically listing active units and equipment loadouts. He slings off his backpack upon a chair nearby, settles in a seat, and places a binder near the console.

----

Peeking over the treetops, Sebastian's ethereal figure surveys the area, and he squints his eyes into the distance. Slowly hovering down from the top of the canopy, he flies down a path towards Bach. He keeps just below larger branches in the thin woods and halts above Bach, crossing his arms. He glances through the wide gaps between trees. Bach stops in the shade of a tree and gradually pivots in place. Staring out into the furthest reaches of his vision, he studies the forest and shakes his head. He reaches into his pocket, retrieves his aetherphone, and taps through a few menus. Hearing mumbling below, Sebastian drifts back down onto ground, landing next to Bach. He cranes his head over Bach's shoulder, peeking at the digital map on the phone, and inquires. "So... What are you trying to figure out, bro?"

Bach twists his mouth contemplatively and shrugs his shoulders unsatisfied, sighing. "I don't know. Trying to make sure we're on the right path. Because, I haven't seen any signs of something that could be tearing up the park."

Searching around briefly, Sebastian nods in agreement and contorts an uncertain grimace on his ghostly face. "Yeah... From what they were describing in the brief, you'd think there was some kind of unholy terror lurking and haunting the woods."

Scanning the vicinity, Bach waves his hand out towards the surrounding woods and gazes at Sebastian, puzzling. "I know, right? But... This all looks just like any normal park path to me. I mean, what more do you want?"

Sebastian frowns slightly, sorting through his thoughts, and lifts a quizzical eyebrow at Bach, pointing to the aetherphone. "Anything from the others?"

Bach swipes through a few screens, selects a messaging program, and reads the latest texts from Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. "Yeah. And they haven't found anything worth mentioning either."

Sebastian scratches his chin, staring distantly, and ponders out loud. "The night watch reported seeing strange lights, the sounds of trees being taken down, and a lot of large things moving around."

He twists his mouth indecisively and rocks his head side to side, hovering in place. "Maybe that's spirit phenomena? That would explain strange lights, but the other weird noises..."

Furrowing his translucent brow, he grumbles. "I don't know. Aristespha wasn't so certain either."

Bach shrugs his shoulders, glances down the path in front of him, and motions towards that direction. "Well, maybe we'll find something up ahead."

Sebastian nods and floats alongside his brother, the two continuing down the path. Minutes of quiet walking and scouting pass on by. Bach blinks with a thought rising up to the front of his mind and aims a curious gaze at Sebastian. "So... I've been meaning to ask this... When did you and Aristespha decide to become a serious couple? I mean, when did you think she was the one for you?"

Sebastian's hovering slows, and he blinks blankly at Bach. With his transparent, blue eyes darting around for pieces to a proper answer, he grits his teeth and stumbles out a rambling response. "Well... Um... You see... I- We- Um- Well, we just came to a conclusion after so many other events that... We might actually have something worth pursuing."

Narrowing an inquisitive stare, Bach trains his attention fully upon Sebastian, pushing the question. "Yeah. But. What was THE moment? The key event? The thing that made you finally realize it?"

Contorting an uneasy smirk on his face, Sebastian tries in vain to quell the slight squirms of discomfort creeping into his posture. "I wouldn't say there was an event. More like... A series of smaller events that built up over time. And, I'd like to think it just eventually became recognizable as a relationship... And, we came to acknowledge that fact and..."

He shifts his averting gaze back over and meets Bach's unconvinced glare and sighs out his defeat. "You ain't accepting that bullshit, are you, bro?"

Bach slowly shakes his head, grumbling. "Fuck. No."

Slumping his shoulders, Sebastian lifts his head up, staring into the afternoon sky, and groans, rolling his eyes. "FINE. I was trying to dress it up and make it sound like either of us had a clue. But, really, bro..."

He tilts his head to the side and eyes his brother. "We were doing all kinds of couple things, really. But, the both of us were just in active denial of the possibility."

Stopping abruptly, Bach lifts a bewildered eyebrow at Sebastian and cocks his head to the side. "You, actively avoiding relations with a beautiful woman?"

Crossing his arms defiantly, Sebastian narrows an annoyed stare at his brother and ethereally sighs. "First. Fuck you. Second. Yes. Okay..."

He rolls translucent blue eyes at himself, slowly shakes his head with tinges of embarrassment, and grimaces. "In case you haven't figured it out by now, Cideeda and Dretphi heard about our group by my unprecedented failures at flirting with them. And, Sotalia is my ex. Where I seem to fail romantically, I oddly succeed at recruiting amazing party members."

Blinking his blue eyes a few times, Bach turns his gaze away contemplatively, processing the information. He gradually aims his curiosity back at Sebastian, scratching his chin, and twists his mouth. "Wow... I mean, I had some suspicions. But, I didn't want to inquire and..."

He furrows his brow and cringes. "Now, I REALLY don't know how to approach these new subjects."

With a humored snort, Sebastian holds up his hand to Bach with a calm smile. "Sotalia and I were decent together in the short term. But, we realized that long term, romantically..."

He grits his teeth and softly hisses out. "We'd eventually tear each other apart. So, we decided to ease it back. Stay good friends and adventuring partners."

Nodding at the explanation, Bach pauses, drawing in a long breath, and inquires further. "Okay... Still doesn't explain the active denial thing."

Sebastian pinches the bridge of his nose and eases out a long ethereal groan. "Long story short, bro... I just decided to not pursue any kind of romantic relationships for the time being. I mean, you know my track record up to and including college. My more recent failings thankfully got together into a really great team. And, with Aristespha, I just was NOT looking. For once, I decided to focus on other things. I mean, it just didn't dawn on me that it was a possibility."

Chuckling, Bach shakes his head and smirks. "Fucking figures. When you aren't looking, it happens."

He thinks a moment, lifts his head up at a revelation, and gazes at Sebastian. "Wait. So, your ex played matchmaker with you and your current girlfriend."

Sebastian blinks and awkwardly grins, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, bro. Yeah... A bit weird. But, I can't really complain. And thankfully, Aristespha and I figured we should try being a couple when we did. Otherwise, I think Sotalia was plotting to somehow lock us up in a room and until we fucking figured it out."

Narrowing his distant stare, Bach searches the top of his head, sorting through the possibilities, and gradually nods in agreement. "You know... I could totally see her doing THAT. Yeah... That is within the realm of what she is capable of."

A chime rings out from Bach aetherphone, and he glances down at the new message prompt. "Huh, Cideeda and Sotalia found something weird down their path."

Sebastian pivots in place, searching the park paths nearby, and motions towards the possible directions. "So, where do we go?"

Checking his phone, Bach brings up a map and points towards a passage at the next intersection. "That one should take us where they're at."

Sebastian hovers alongside his brother, and the two pick up the pace down the route. During the quick walk, Bach directs his voice towards Sebastian. "So, you haven't answered my question. When did you and Aristespha figure out you were a couple?"

An amused, awkward grin appears on Sebastian's face, and he fails to contain the amusement in his voice. "Well, honestly, it was somewhere after she'd yanked my shirt off and her taking her shirt off that it dawned on me that we might have something."

Bach shakes his head in humored disgust. "Really, man?"

The brothers travel down a long park path, arriving at a picnic area. Sotalia stands with her hands on her hips, tosses her wavy, fiery orange hair back, and waves at Sebastian and Bach. "So. If THIS isn't something, I don't know what is."

She points over underneath the shade of a large, old tree, watching Cideeda examine a large patch of turned up dirt. "Something has been digging up the place. Some small trees were knocked down, and the bark was all scratched up."

Cideeda digs through a patch, sniffing the air, and grabs hold something in her clawed fingers, pulling up a small dark fungal mass. Studying the roughly round ball, she glances back over to Bach, Sebastian, and Sotalia, and presents her findings. "I think something was trying to dig up these truffles, maybe?"

Aristespha and Dretphi arrive from another path, joining the gathering. Dretphi steps over next to Cideeda, holds her gauntlet covered hand out, and curiously inquires. "May I see that?"

Cideeda hands it over and stands up, brushing off her body suit. Closely examining the fungus, Dretphi lifts her visor up on her helmet and carefully smells the truffle. "It is a truffle. This variety can be found in this area."

Lifting up a sly eyebrow, Aristespha smirks. "Well, that is certainly a little bonus for this job. I wonder if there are any more left?"

Cideeda grins toothily, perking her furry ears, and slowly walks around the different patches of up turned dirt. "Let me check."

Pauses in thought, Dretphi lifts her head up from studying the truffle and surveys the ground in the area. "Has anyone seen tracks?"

Sotalia motions over to the edge of the forest nearby and waves her hands out to a muddy section of dirt. "Yeah, but they've all been trampled over so many times. And, I don't know what I'm looking for."

Quickly stepping over to the patch, Dretphi kneels down and glances over the deep split hoof impressions in the soil. Her steely gray eyes widen, and she sits upright, searching the area. "WAIT. These are..."

Cideeda's furry ears perk towards a noise coming from the stirring brush, and she points a claw tip over. "Hey! Over there..."

The team readies themselves, waiting for the confrontation. From the bushes, a relatively small dire boar casually pushes through and walks out onto the pathway, sniffing the air. A powerful snort later, the dire boar stares right at the team. Trotting over wagging his tail, the young dire boar constantly grunts out a series of low, happy oinks. Dretphi's immediate recognition of the dire boar piglet guides the rest of the team's recognition. She kneels down and holds her arms out towards the large creature. The massive piglet walks up to Dretphi and enjoys the petting and scratches. In between the attention, he sniffs blatantly around Dretphi's side pouch. Cocking his head to the side in astonishment, Bach blinks dumbfounded. "Holy shit. That's the same dire boar piglet?"

Sotalia cautiously approaches, leaning forward, and studies the creature, slowly shaking her head. "Gods. He's gotten BIG. His spines and tusks have grown a lot."

Dretphi retrieves a bag of trail mix from her side pouch, pours some into her hand, and watches the large piglet easily gobble it up. She pets the mane and back ridge of the young dire boar, smiling happily, and explains cheerfully. "Yes! The mother is doing an excellent job at raising them. Well fed. Well cared. Well protected. He is growing fast."

Sebastian blanks a moment and slowly eyes the area with growing suspicion and unease. "Speaking of the mother... Where is she?"

An emerging wave of concern washes over the team, and they start nervously eying the outskirts of the area. A loud, echoing crack sounds out. A large protellow plant in the distant forest topples down into a peace shattering crash. Through the dense trees on the horizon, a magical glow illuminates the outline of a gigantic creature and several other smaller critters surrounding. The dire boar piglet finishes up the trail mix in Dretphi's hand. He perks up his ears and sniffs the air. With a final few happy grunts, the large piglet trots off enthusiastically towards the radiant figure in the forest.

Nodding slowly, Sebastian points a thumb over his shoulder at a path, awkwardly grinning. "You know, I don't think we should intrude on this family outing."

With a similar consensus, the team gathers themselves. Cideeda plucks out a few more truffles and rushes over with an entrepreneurial grin. Dretphi empties out the rest of her trail mix in a neat pile, gazes happily at the dire boar piglet trotting over to his mother, and rushes over to the rest of the departing team.

----

Swiftly sneaking across the grasses in the small gaps between stretches of dense forest, Deedri darts behind a large tree, pressing her back firmly against the trunk, and waits. Her furry, tufted ears flick around the serene background of the surrounding woods, and she closes her auburn eyes, concentrating. A minute later, she eases out a long sigh of relief, her ears drooping down. Stepping out from the cover of the large tree, she stares down her prior path, squinting down the distance, and slumps the tension out of her shoulders. She draws in a long, relieved breath, and slowly shakes her head, mumbling to herself. "Lost them..."

The transparency coating Modoran fades off, and he smiles with a nod. "That you did."

Deedri's tail puffs out, her shoulders tense, and she springs up straight and rigid. Pivoting around reflexively, she glares right at Modoran. Recognizing Modoran, her fair face warms quickly, and she relaxes, exhaling. "Thank the gods. It's just you."

Modoran grits his teeth briefly, holding his hands up, and awkwardly smiles with an apologetic tone. "Sorry... I did not mean to scare you like that."

A sly smirk appears on Modoran's dusky bluish gray face, and he perks an eyebrow with a chuckle. "You did pretty good at losing them. Once the camera crew lost you, I led them the opposite direction with one of my illusions. They still have not quite figured out how to tell the difference yet."

Deedri's ears droop lower, and she slumps her shoulders. "Good. I just had to get away from the constant interviews and them asking every question in the world..."

Punctuating her words, she rocks her head between her shoulders. "Again... And again... And again..."

She derisively rolls her auburn eyes and visibly cringes, shaking her head of tied back multicolored hair. Resting her hands on the waistband of her shorts, she gazes at Modoran curiously and pries. "What are you doing out here, by the way?"

Modoran blinks briefly, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders, and glances around at the scenery. "Well, it was a nice day, so I decided to sneak out. When I saw you doing the same thing, I decided to help out. And well, now I am here. So... Have not really thought about it much further than that."

An uncomfortable curl at the corner of his mouth twists his smile at Deedri, and he plays off the nervous energy. Smirking at Modoran, Deedri laughs lightly, furrowing her brow. "Were they pestering you about that bow?"

Rolling his dark blue eyes, Modoran rubs the temple of his head and nods begrudgingly. "Yes. I do NOT know what part of, I just found it and used it, they do not understand. Gods. I just needed to do something other than wait for some crew member to pester me for action shots with it."

Deedri narrows her eyes, twisting her mouth, and groans. "Well, at least Veevi is distracting them for the most part with her new outfit."

Tilting her head to the side, she smirks. "Have you told them about the Terra Priest symbols on it?"

With a tight, guilty smile, Modoran shrugs his shoulders and grins with a playfully dismissive tone. "NAH. They are big time show producers. I am CERTAIN they know all about the current Evuukian political environment and will be able to plan the episode accordingly. There totally won't be any backlash."

Lifting an ill-humored brow at Modoran, Deedri smirks, keeping a snicker to herself. "Oh. I'm sure..."

The two stand in the small, shady avenue between dense patches of trees in the peaceful quiet of the forest. A minute passes, and Modoran squirms out some discomfort and raises his voice over the quiet. "Hey. Um... Deedri? I have a question to ask you."

Deedri meets Modoran's gaze, perks her furry, tufted ears up, and blinks with a smile. "Sure. What is it?"

Mustering up his will against a surge of awkward tension, he gazes at Deedri. Modoran partially grins, fighting to maintain his nonchalant exterior. "After our show contracts are over at the end of this season... I was wondering if I could spend more time with you? Go out and do things together."

He swallows hard and nervously laughs. "You know, maybe share more nice moments together? Especially ones that are not in the middle of bad situations..."

Blinking blankly, Deedri tilts her head slightly, her eyes wandering through the rush thoughts in her mind. A puzzled expression emerges upon her fair skinned face. Anxiety shakes up Modoran's exterior confidence, and he squirms slightly, verbally backpedaling against awkwardness. "Uh, um- If you're not- Um, ah..."

Revelation crashes upon Deedri. Her auburn eyes spring wide open, her furry, tufted ears perk straight up, and she reflexively gasps. Struggling for her composure against an overwhelming wave of excitement, she smiles brightly and gazes right up into Modoran's dark blue eyes, fighting back the disbelief. "R-Really? I mean, I didn't think you'd- Well- Ah..."

Hearing the delighted surprise in Deedri's voice, Modoran watches her voice shy away, her blushing at the new attention, and smiles warmly. "Did not think I would what?"

Biting her lower lip, Deedri averts her gaze briefly in embarrassment and eases out a guilty sigh. "Well, I'm a fvalian and-"

Modoran softens his gaze upon Deedri and smiles with a genuine, assuring tone. "That does NOT matter to me."

Deedri straightens her posture, anxiously holding her hands, and cocks her head at Modoran. "Really?"

Stepping forward, Modoran lifts his hands underneath Deedri's and smirks, easing her grip onto his fingers. "Yes. Not all the houses support that dated ideology. In fact, my family tends to support it as part of their business."

He glances off to the side and wrestles with a smirk. "In an unadvertised capacity."

Lifting an intrigued eyebrow, Deedri cracks a slight grin and tightens her hold of Modoran's hands. "In what capacity is that?"

Modoran fights a goofy smile and snorts lightly. "Well, my family owns a bunch of different motels, hotels, and resorts... That unofficially specialize in unofficial couples wanting their privacy. Especially, from the prying eyes of other evuukian houses. Or, their own. We do not judge. Hence, why there's no central brand to identify them."

With Modoran's words, Deedri's mood brightens further, and she gazes warmly up at him. Pondering to herself a moment, she curiously lifts an eyebrow and flicks her ears thoughtfully. "Okay. So how do you know all about this stealth stuff?"

Modoran grins with a nonchalant shrug, chuckling. "I learned all that from my dad. He was with a mercenary group that specialized in remote surveillance and spying. Turns out his skills were very useful in keeping tabs on people that would bother guests... And convincing them to leave."

A flush of shyness fills his face, and he struggles against his awkwardness, putting forth an endearing tone. "Anyway... I mean, really... How could I not like the beautiful young woman, the accomplished medical mage, and the wonderful, strong will before me?"

Firmly grasping Modoran's hands, Deedri gazes at Modoran, perking up her ears, and slowly wags her tail. Moments of a quiet exchange later, she works an eager question out of her. "So... How long have you felt this way about me?"

Modoran presents a sly smirk. "Well, I think it started right after you threw me onto the grass during that one demonstration."

Deedri's furry ears spring up, her auburn eyes open wide, and she wonders in disbelief. "Really?! But... Why didn't you say something sooner to me? I mean..."

She bites her lower lip briefly and glances off to the side. "I've been kind of paying attention to you for... a while... now..."

Wrestling down embarrassment and pride, Modoran releases a long thoughtful sigh. "I don't know. I did not think you would want anything to do with a house-less evuukian that is practically an ex-con by some."

Shifting her grip upon Modoran's forearms, Deedri smiles with a sly twist, meeting his gaze, and presses her claw tips gently, leading him down. "Well, THAT doesn't matter to me. Anyway, I'm a public school medical mage. I'm not that high class."

Staring into each other, Deedri and Modoran's faces gradually move closer, Modoran leaning down. Popping up on her toes, Deedri swiftly closes the remaining gap and presses her lips against Modoran's. The two weave their arms into an embrace of the other, holding the kiss tightly. The simple affection heats up. The two maneuver each other, maintaining the connection with the surrounding surge of intensity. Modoran rests his hands behind Deedri's waist, and she grasps behind his shoulders. In midst of the passion, Deedri's hand slips onto one of Modoran, briefly confusing him, and slides his hand down upon the backside of her shorts. Modoran barely manages a guilty perk of his brow, his expression blanking into surprise. Five claw tipped fingers firmly squeeze onto his butt, and an eager giggle sneaks out from Deedri.

Minutes later, she two ease their faces away from each other, both panting in a daze. Modoran summons up enough composure and smiles at Deedri, chuckling quietly. "Well... Uh... I definitely think we have something we should both explore..."

Wagging her long, fluffy tail slowly with a lazy sway, Deedri lovingly gazes up at Modoran with a guilty smirk. "Uh huh..."

Grinning slyly, Modoran shrugs shoulders nonchalantly and sighs. "Well... We will take it at our own pace, when we are able. I think we can manage that, somehow."

Nodding in agreement with tinges of disappointment, Deedri parts a hungry smirk. Stepping up upon a large tree root, she pops up on her toes, tightens her hold on Modoran, and presses her lips against his for another kiss. Sudden momentum shifts her balance upon the moss covered tree root, and she slips. Deedri tilts backwards, pulling Modoran down with her. Reflexively, Modoran twists himself under, shifting Deedri over him. With an unceremonious thud, the two land upon the thick grasses.

Blinking back to awareness from post-tumble confusion, Deedri finds herself safely in Modoran's arms. She tilts her head up, watching Modoran shake off the stun, and asks concerned. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?!"

Modoran lifts his head up from the grass and smiles nonchalantly at Deedri, chuckling softly. "Yeah. Soft landing really. Are you okay?"

Pushing herself up, Deedri gradually realizes her current positioning and resettles with a devious grin forming on her face. "Yes. Are you comfortable?"

Lifting an intrigued brow, Modoran glances to either side of him and rubs his back against the ground. "Yeah. This patch of grass feels nice."

Leaning down, Deedri lets her multicolor braids fall forward and rests her hands upon Modoran's shoulders. "Good."

Kneading her claw tips gently, Deedri lowers her face close to Modoran's, her tail unconsciously brushing upon his leg. "Are you still comfortable?"

Modoran smiles, gazing into Deedri's auburn eyes. "Yes."

Tilting her head and closing the gap for a kiss, Deedri mutters. "Good."

----

In the living area of the ranch style house, Bach eases back into his dining room chair and rubs the fatigue out of his eyes. "So, how did that one turn out?"

Aristespha narrows her glowing violet stare upon a tiny, thin sheet of magical cloth, and carefully adjusts it on the examination pad with gentle flows of energy from her fingertips. She studies the material and gradually nods with a satisfied smile, commenting over toward Bach. "Very well done. I would have to test it further and properly sterilize it. But, I think I could put this to use."

Wincing his eyes firmly closed, Bach flutters them open to a faint blue glow and shudders his head. "That's good to know. But, gods dammit... That just takes so damn long to make."

Blinking out the illumination in her eyes, Aristespha quirks her amused brow and smirks. "Now you understand why they have dedicated enchanted tools and other devices to make it easier. Even experts in crafting these magical materials with assistance have to take their time. Hence, why it is so expensive."

Bach stretches out his arms behind his back, rolling his neck around, and yawns into a groan. Relaxing his shoulders, he tilts his head and focuses upon a spot on the tabletop, dropping his hands on either side of the area, and grimaces indecisively. "I think I got one more in me. Just really wish I could figure out the trick to do this. Feels like I'm missing something."

Aristespha carefully lays out the small energy sheet upon a treated wax paper slip and layers a protective film on top of it. "Possibly. But, I truthfully do not know what that could be. A whole industry has been trying to refine those processes for years. Even as slow as it is, it is unbelievably better than what it was."

Drawing in a long breath, Bach sighs out with an agreeable tone, readying himself, and narrows his brightly illuminated blue eyes. Wisps of flow travel down Bach's arms and condense in a slowly forming, tiny magical matrix. Aristespha rests the packaged magical material into the metal medical container. Watching the sluggish progress on the forming, diminutive sheet of energy, she glances over and spots the pressure plate puzzle resting near the corner of the tabletop. With an intrigued grin, Aristespha tosses her long, silvery blue hair back, pulls the device over, and focuses her attention upon the challenge.

Concentrating on the energies swirling through his hands, Bach briefly grits his teeth through fits of frustration and sighs out his disappointment. The magic solidifies upon the growing, thin sheet one minuscule section at a time. Cocking his head to the side, his brightly glowing blue eyes stare out distantly, and Bach's fingers slightly twitch in reflexive patterns. Streams of flow split from the main paths and form into complex mechanical shapes around the task. Minutes later, the progress continues, tediously. The magical machinery dissipates, and Bach frowns with an annoyed grumble. Squinting tightly at some ethereally distant target, Bach's intense stare eases, hints of discovery rising to the surface. He lifts his head back slightly, an uncertain intrigue overtaking, and his attention refocuses upon the condensing flow between his hands.

Concentration turns fully inwards, Bach's exterior distances from his awareness turning inwards. The magical flows surge down his arms, and sections of the energy sheet materialize simultaneously. With each second, the magic solidifies faster. Bach's brightly glowing blue eyes dart rapidly around, sorting through intangible chaos.

Moments later, Sebastian's ethereal form phases swiftly through the wall behind Aristespha, and he glances around, concerned and bewildered. Turning his attention towards Aristespha, he relays his worry. "Um, dear? You aren't doing any weird magical tests or anything? The sword is resonating with something strange nearby."

Pausing from tackling the puzzle, Aristespha lifts up her head and glances around in confusion. "No, Sebastian. Bach and I were just working on making the same magical materials we have been-"

Settling her gaze ahead, she lowers a scrutinizing stare upon the rapidly forming magical sheet and widens her violet eyes in a mix of astonishment and fright. "That's way too fast- Bach?"

Bach continues without acknowledgement. Craning her head low to the table top, Aristespha peers up into Bach's blank expression. "Bach?! Are you listening to me-"

Her concern spiking sharply, she watches faint sparks of white flash in the centers of his brilliantly blue illuminated eyes and faint prismatic energy veins spreading around his eyes. Without hesitation, she grasps hold of both of Bach's wrists and yanks them away from the forming magical material. Moments later, Bach's eyes flutter and dim to normal. Gradually, he pulls himself out of a groggy, hazy stupor and recovers to some semblance of consciousness. Meeting Aristespha's stare, he verbally fumbles around, dumbfounded. "Huh... What... Oh, shit... Did something happen?! Is everyone okay?!"

Wincing in pain and bowing down his head close to the table, he mutters out. "Oh gods, what did I do..."

Aristespha releases Bach's arms, easing out nervous breath, and firmly inquires. "What do you last remember doing?"

Rubbing the temples of his head, Bach cringes, squirming around in blatant discomfort, and collects himself enough for an answer. "I... I was just focused on forming the flows... As fast as I could. Then, I thought about trying to do the process in parallel a few times."

Pausing to breathe and wince, Bach holds his head and rubs his eyes. "It seemed to work... After a while it felt easier. Things were... easier to follow?"

A flood of worry emerges upon his face, and hints of panic trickle out. "Oww... Oh gods. I hope I didn't do something really stupid. Did I fry myself out or something? Fuck. My head hurts."

Checking him over with glowing violet eyes, Aristespha shakes her head with a gentle smile. She stands up from her seat and steps around the table with a reassuring tone. "No. You just pushed yourself way too hard, in a way you, strangely, have not done before. We will have to talk about this later, but first..."

She grips the back of Bach's chair, pulling it back with his cooperation, and helps him up. "Let us get you over to the couch, and put on some mindless show on the TV. I will brew something that will help."

Leading Bach to the couch, Aristespha eases him down. Flipping through the channels, she pauses on one show and glances back towards Sebastian, motioning his attention to the screen. He studies the show briefly and gives a quick nod, hovering closer. Bach blinks hard, shaking his head, and mutters through the pain. "Oh gods... I'm sorry. I should really be more careful with stuff like that. Shit. Damn. I'm such a moron. Oh, I should have known THAT was a really bad idea... Fuck..."

Sebastian focuses his worried gaze upon Aristespha. Noticing the unease in Sebastian, Aristespha glances between the brothers and presents a calming smile, shaking her head. "Bach, you will be just fine. You just found some limits to observe and new pitfalls to avoid."

Aristespha gazes lovingly at Sebastian, and she leaves through the hallway archway, mouthing. "He will be fine."

Wading through a wave of relief, Sebastian floats over next to brother and coaches Bach through the emerging regret and self-doubt. "Hey. It'll be okay, bro. We just got to be a little more careful next time. And well, you know what to avoid next time."

Bach aims a weak glare over to Sebastian, groaning out his defeat. "Fucking hell of a way to find out. No. Couldn't have read something to avoid this. No. Had to go head long into it like a dumbass."

A wry grin appears on Sebastian's ghostly face, and he chuckles ethereally. "Well, I remember someone saying that about me a bunch of times."

Narrowing his meek aggravation, Bach sighs loudly, rolling his eyes. "First. Fuck you. Second. You TOTALLY deserved hearing it the many, many times I told you that."

Sebastian maintains his ill-humored smirk and shrugs his shoulders, accepting fact. "Oh yeah. No arguing with you there. But, it's good to know we have so much in common."

Aristespha walks in from the hallway with a bottle in one hand and paper packets in another. Stopping next to the couch, she smiles comfortingly towards Bach and sighs. "So that you will stop beating yourself up, most medical mages experience similar issues. With the detailed, fast, and complicated processes required to work magical flow for our purposes, pushing yourself too hard is almost expected. Every medical mage will brush against that limit at some point."

She lifts an accusatory eyebrow at Bach, presenting a stern frown, and lowers her voice. "But most medical mages do NOT know the variety of strange magical tricks that can accelerate them right into the proverbial wall face first without knowing it."

Grimacing, Bach releases an embarrassed whine and averts his gaze. Aristespha shakes her head and resumes her smile, donning a gentler tone. "I have some ideas of what exactly transpired, and we will discuss them. But, I am going to brew this remedy. And, you need to watch something mindless on TV to distract you."

Nodding in agreement, Bach settles upon the couch cushion, easing out a strained breath, and meekly states. "Thank you, Aristespha."

With a simple acknowledging wave of her hand, Aristespha walks past the dining table into the kitchen area. Sebastian turns his attention to the screen and points out the start of a crafting demonstration show to Bach. "Huh, I always wondered how those were made."

Bach and Sebastian idly listen to the theme music and narration upon a backdrop of industrial assembly videos.

-87-

A lightly armored patrol cruiser rolls down the long, paved road between quiet businesses, the Perimeter Defense Force logos on the vehicle reflecting in the late morning sun. The car slows down to a stop outside a large, sparsely graveled lot. The older officer in the driver's seat narrows a stare over at the small, glassed walled building in the middle of the lot. Glancing over to his partner, he nods this head towards the location and laughs with derisive hints. "And, right THERE, is where you start when the reputable places are dead ends."

The woman's very long, fuzzy ears twitch towards the rusty metal sign in front of the chain link fence surrounding the property. She narrows her aquamarine eyes, reading the text, and sneers her upper lip, revealing a sharp canine. Grimacing her blue hinted, tan face, she uncertainly grumbles. "Trusty Tony's?! Are you sure about this? I've seen this fvalian's ads when filing out late night paperwork. I could smell the sleaze through the television screen."

Rolling his brown eyes, the older human man cracks a humored smirk, turns off the sedan, and releases his seat belt. "Yeah, I know... You could probably change the oil in this car by squeezing a picture of him into the spout."

He draws in a long breath and releases an unfortunate, accepting sigh. "If someone like what the Borderland Rangers and GAA described came into town, Tony either has dealt with him..."

Tugging at the corner of his mouth, he curls a brief frown. "Or knows who did."

Leveling an unconvinced gaze at the older officer, the younger woman furrows an examining brow, groaning. "Okay, Calvin. But... Do you honestly think he'll tell us anything? It's Trusty Tony."

Calvin laughs loudly, opening his car door, swings his legs out, and stands up next to the squad car. "Ah, don't worry about it, Treevianna. Trusty Tony and I go back. He doesn't give all the details. But, he gives just enough information to speed up our investigations. It's a bit of a balancing act with him."

Treevianna's long, pointed fuzzy ears droop, and she shakes her head of long, braided multi-color hair. Slipping out of her side of the sedan, she brushes off her plain clothes and starts affixing her Perimeter Defense Force badge at her waist. Calvin walks around the front of the vehicle, shakes his head at Treevianna, and steps towards the gateway in the fence. He motions subtly towards the displayed badge. "Keep the badge ready, but not out. If it's out, he'll go on the defensive."

Nodding slowly, Treevianna slips her badge wallet into her pants pocket, tightens the belt around her lithe figure, and rushes up next to Calvin. Her long ear twitching, and she glances down at Calvin's leg. "It sounds like that bearing is getting worse."

Calvin frowns his bearded face, drawing in a long breath, and grumbles out. "Yeah. I'm just going to get a whole new leg. This old thing has been rebuilt over three times, piece by piece, over the years. And... The Perimeter Health Department really would like me to get a new one. It's getting hard for them to find people to work on it and parts that don't need to be custom ordered."

Shaking her head, she sighs with a smile and muses wistfully. "That old cybernetic leg of yours has been the department mascot for years. Still won't forget when you detached it and dropped it on the table as a bet for the department card game."

The duo steps across the intermittent patches of gravel upon the mix of sand and dirt in the large lot. Calvin pulls a wide grin on his aged and tanned face, puffing up chest, and chuckles. "Glad I won that hand, too. Despite its future retirement, we'll still have it around for our fun."

He glances over with an eager smile. "Anyway, I'm saving up for a NICE realistic bionic like Lady Rhian's."

A spark of intrigue lights up Treevianna's eyes, and she glances over at Calvin with a delighted smirk. "Oh, THOSE are NICE. So realistic you can barely-"

Blinking blankly for a moment, she mentally picks through the last few seconds and furrows her brow in surprise. "Like Lady Rhian's?! Wait! She has a bionic limb? Which one?"

Calvin laughs lightly and grips hold of the glass door to the small building of window walls. "Her left forearm. You should see her shell pecans. Fuckin' humbling."

Treevianna follows behind Calvin through the doorway and surveys the age upon the furniture and interior, keeping next to Calvin. Strutting up to the counter, Calvin rests his muscled arms on the top. He leans his weight forward and eyes the area with a mischievous smirk. Spotting the bell on the counter top, he slides it over under his hand and pats out a jingle. "Trusty Tony's, trade your old way, and for a new ride today."

From behind a sun damaged, old cheap wooden door, sounds of activity muffle out. The door opens slowly. An older fvalian man steps out, straightening out his cheap business attire, and notices Calvin. Pulling a wide, chipped fang smile at the older man at the counter, Trusty Tony enthusiastically greets Calvin and stands pridefully across. "Ah! Calvin. That was a good ad run. Might have to bring that one back soon."

He narrows a curious gaze upon Calvin and combs his sharp claws through his graying, slicked back hair. "Am I so lucky today that I might have YOU as a proper customer? You've always been such a DEDICATED BROWSER of my wares."

Straightening the posture of his large frame, Calvin lifts a humored eyebrow at Tony and slowly shakes his head with a smirk. "Not today. Maybe after I get my new leg, we'll see what the money situation looks like."

Nodding respectfully, Tony maintains an entrepreneurial grin and eases out a slight sigh. "As long as the new leg keeps you coming here, I'll keep hoping."

He slides his gaze over to Treevianna, perks an intrigued eyebrow, and bows politely. "Oh. Where are my manners? I am Trusty Tony. And, I am pleased that Calvin has brought you here to my fine business. What is your name?"

Treevianna stiffens her stance, slows the wags of her long, short-haired tail, and acknowledges the greeting. "Treevianna."

Smiling with a chuckle, Tony narrows an inquisitive stare. "A very lovely name, matching a very lovely lady."

He eyes Calvin briefly, darts his gaze around the room, and signals for the two plain clothes officers to follow. "Let's tour the lot. You might find something you might like."

Leading the duo out the back doors into the sand speckled, huge back lot, Tony gives a general tour and motions towards different vehicles. Near the mechanic shop at the corner of the property, Treevianna spots a green sedan on a lift inside a garage bay. She subtly taps Calvin on the shoulder and points him towards the vehicle, whispering. "I think that might be it."

Calvin nods in agreement and catches a brief glimpse of Tony's furry ear flicking back forward. Donning a sly smirk, he steps up to the side of Tony and points over to the green sedan on the lift. "That's an interesting car right there. When did you manage to get that nice ride?"

Tony's exterior cools, and he faintly stiffens his posture. "About three weeks ago. It was sold to me."

Narrowing an examining stare upon Tony, Calvin walks near the green sedan and studies the vehicle from a distance, twists his mouth in contemplation. He squints his eyes at the back window and trunk and frowns slightly at the intact glass and untouched metal surface. Tony eases behind the two, summoning up an uneasy smile, and observes. "Something you might be interested in?"

Calvin nods, scratching his bearded chin, and hums thoughtfully. "Maybe. It's similar to something I've been looking for."

Glancing down at her aetherphone, Treevianna quickly reads through a paragraph of description text and focuses her hard stare upon the back end of the car. Sniffing the air, she eyes the edges of the very clean back window and concentrates a comparing gaze between the trunk lid and surrounding body panels. Tony uncomfortably taps the claw tips of his hands together and politely inquires at Calvin. "So... Are you more interested in the vehicle, specifically?"

Calvin calmly elaborates, faintly chuckling. "No. Not really. Just curious about WHO would drive such a vehicle to Perimeter."

Hints of relief spreads through Tony, and he nods in agreement. "Yes. Certainly quandary. But still... A customer's business is their own."

Calvin nods respectfully. Treevianna searches her mind, furrowing her brow at the conversation, and questions Tony. "Did you have to do any work on this car?"

Pausing a moment, Tony cracks a wide, humored grin and chuckles lightly. "Well. Yes. I couldn't very well sell such a fine vehicle with blemishes on the backside. Things like HOLES are very unsightly even with the more understanding clients in Perimeter."

Glances over to Treevianna, a proud smirk appears on Calvin's face. He lifts an inquisitive eyebrow towards Tony. "You mind if we get a closer look at this fine vehicle? You'll probably sell it before I get a chance to buy it, but I'd like to get a feel for it."

Tony presents a prideful, chipped fang grin, combs back his slicked back hair, and laughs out his amusement. "Of course! Let me go in and get the key to unlock the lift."

Tony departs towards the central office, and Treevianna leans close to Calvin, sneaking a hushed tone. "So... What's the next step? Seizing the vehicle will take some legal paperwork..."

Calvin shakes his head, smiling satisfied. "Won't be needed. We need to figure out where this Isaac guy went. This vehicle just confirms he was here."

He tilts his head towards the road across the lot. "And, this long road only has two main outlets. Both happen to have?"

Treevianna thinks briefly and grins slyly. "Traffic cameras."

----

At the dining table, Aristespha, Sotalia, Bach, Dretphi, and Cideeda sit around a collection of cards, tiles, tokens, and chits. With a smug, toothy grin, Cideeda repeatedly stacks her collection of golden tokens between her claw tips and greedily eyes the assets in front of Aristespha, Sotalia, Bach, and Dretphi. Propping her head up with an arm on the tabletop, she flutters her emerald green eyes open,and flicks her furry ears between the other players. "Well, well, well... Look at all these wonderful things that require so much money to maintain. I'm sure someone might like a loan with a FAIR interest rate and the MANDATORY non-aggression pact."

Dretphi narrows her cool glare upon Cideeda and rearranges her military tokens neatly, silently waiting. Bach uneasily sorts the cards in hand, glancing down at the text upon different cardboard tiles, and rehearses through different scenarios via moving chits in front of him. Cideeda's gaze settles upon Bach, and he uncertainly meets her plotting stare. Glances between Dretphi, Sotalia, and Aristespha, he points over to Aristespha with a worried tone. "Go bother Aristespha, she's got all the research going. I'm just finally getting this process working right."

Aristespha flashes a frustrated glare towards Bach, rolls her violet eyes, and scrunches up nose. "Oh. Please. You have actually got something over there in that mess. I am barely able to get the funding to get these projects off the ground..."

Slowly pivots her head, she narrows her sarcastic glower towards Cideeda, dismissively snorting. "Because SOMEONE got lucky and hoarded every money producing tile in the game."

Cideeda playful shrugs off the guilt with toothy grin. Seconds later, she narrows a suspicious stare towards Sotalia and sternly prompts. "Any more event cards you need to play?"

Sotalia finishes peeking at the top few cards of the deck, plucks a card from her hand, and rearranges the collection face down on top. Sliding the pile back to the center of the table, she smiles contentedly and eases back into her chair. "OH. I'm done. It's your turn Aristespha."

Sebastian hovers next to Aristespha, watching her quietly grumble over cards, and cranes his ethereal form over, gazing at her. "Uh, it's your turn, dear."

Aristespha glances up from studying a combination of tiles, chits, token, and cards in front of her, grimaces with a sharp breath through her teeth, and hisses out a sigh. "I know, Sebastian. Let's see the event card."

She reaches her arm over to the deck of face down cards, plucks one off, and reads it. Sebastian's ethereal form smirks, and he playfully narrates. "She's drawn the card. She has read it. What will the event for her be?"

Perking a surprised brow, Aristespha places the card down on the table, sighing out her relief, and picks up a small stack of golden tokens from the center reserve. "Small research grant. Not a lot of gold, BUT... That should pay off a few projects."

Quickly sorting through her cardboard accounting, Aristespha finishes up her turn, indicating the end to Cideeda. "Your turn."

Cideeda slowly pulls a card off the top with a confident smile. Her emerald green eyes sift through the text. Furrowing her brow, she lifts her stare up at Sotalia and cocks her head curiously to the side. She lays the card down and reaches back out towards the deck of cards, her confidence waning into uncertainty. "It comes in threes. Draw three more event cards and use them immediately in the order drawn..."

Blinking at a fresh memory, Sebastian coasts over behind Sotalia. With a tightly hidden smile, Sotalia fans out her cards for Sebastian's curiosity. Sebastian adopts a similarly humored expression, and the two wait in growing anticipation. Cideeda plucks the top card off the deck, studies the text, and sharply frowns into a twisting grit of her teeth. "Privateers Attack... Any player may sacrifice military units to attack you and capture gold equal to the difference between attacker and defender power..."

In the silence hanging from Cideeda, Dretphi perks an intrigued eyebrow, leaning closer, and attentively listens, expectantly. Cideeda draws in a breath, sighs with tinges of pain, and recites. "This attack is... NOT... affected by non-aggression pacts..."

Blinking at the reveal, Dretphi promptly glances down, her platinum blonde braids sliding free, and examines her ordered units. She starts to slide the entirety of her units over to Cideeda. With wide eyes, Cideeda grimaces and sputters out a protest. "Hold up! Um... You still NEED to keep enough to defend yourself from everyone else. Wouldn't want to leave yourself defenseless. right?"

Dretphi studies the desperate smile upon Cideeda's light brown face, ponders a moment, and nods in agreement, a hint of smirk creeping out. She compares the military units in front of Bach, Sotalia, and Aristespha, slides off a modest portion from the martial mass in front of her, and moves the rest towards Cideeda. Minutes of dice roll barrages and card flipping later, Cideeda finishes sliding over a few stacks of gold tokens over to Dretphi, easing uncomfortably into her chair, a few irritated tremors in her tail wagging. Sebastian hovers back down to the side of the table, examines the exchange, and nods. "Well... That was a fight. Now... You still have two more cards to draw."

Contorting the grimace on her light brown face, Cideeda glares at the event deck, a soft growl rumbling under her breath. She reluctantly draws another card and stares down at the title text. Her tail swiftly frays and fluffs out. Her stare widens. And, she grits her sharp teeth. She slaps the card face down on the table, hisses in a gulp of air, and forces out an uneasy sigh. "So... I'd REALLY like to take a quick break... To think what I need to do... Please?"

Sebastian glances between the rest of the group. With no objections, the team leaves the table for the bathroom, fridge, and couch. Minutes later, Bach, Aristespha, and Sotalia settle near the television. In between channel flipping spree, Bach leans over and whispers to Sotalia. "The hell did you do?"

Smiling slyly, Sotalia tosses back her fiery orange, wavy hair, and giggles to herself. "What the card said. Rearrange the top three cards of the deck, in addition to one of your own."

Bach grimaces at the thought and stops at a channel with a familiar show on the screen. "Oh yeah. It is Friday. I think this is the latest episode of The Next Adventurers of Nexus. I wonder how their mission went-"

The eerily recognizable forest seizes the full attention of Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia. The trio watching, Sebastian drifts over curiously, glancing over at the television, and freezes. Dretphi finishes preparing her snacks, deposits the plate at the dining table, and notices the looming discomfort across the room. The audio of the events breaks through the stunned silence surrounding the screen. Dretphi walks over and stares at the screen. Appearing from the hallway archway, Cideeda peeks at the events transpiring on the show and remains silent.

The team settles uneasily around television, staring at the immediate familiarity of the landscape, architecture, and the huge clearing surrounded by old, giant trees. Frowns appear on faces, and cringes briefly wince out in between fits of dismay and worry. Aristespha pulls out her aetherphone, quickly taps up a message, and waits. Glancing over at Aristespha, Sotalia finds her phone and types out a message to another recipient. Attention briefly shifts away from the events on the screen, and alert chimes ring out from both Aristespha and Sotalia's phones. Quickly reading through the responses, both nod reassuring smiles. A wave of relief deflates the tension in the room. During a cliffhanger commercial break, Sotalia pushes out a long sigh and flutters her golden eyes. "Tassilda said they're all okay. It was absolutely insane, but they pulled through."

Aristespha nods and blinks hard. "Deedri apologized for not contacting me sooner. But, she just finally got time to process it herself. She... thanked me for the spirit guide advice. Said it helped them stay safe."

Sebastian smiles comfortingly at Aristespha. From commercial break, the show drops back into the action. Rolling through the futile attempts from Veevi, clips showcase the rest of the Flames of Phoenix coordinating the efforts into a triumphant victory. The action wanes, and another commercial break slips in. The team breaks free from the hold of the television, and they migrate back to the tabletop. Gritting her teeth, Cideeda droops her furry ears and settles into her seat. "I'm glad they're okay. Gods. Appaland really fucked that place up."

Bach shudders at a thought in his mind. "Yeah... I'm glad we got that girl out of there. And, I hope all those others got clear."

Twisting his mouth uncomfortably, he manages a smile for a snack offering from Dretphi. Sebastian sighs with a ghostly reverb and dons a brighter smile. "Well. The team is okay. When things are better for all of us, we need to invite them to something."

Sotalia lifts a curious brow at Sebastian, crossing her arms. "Please tell me that doesn't include Veevi."

Squelching an ethereal snort, Sebastian shakes his head with a laugh. "HELL, NO. I'm nice. Not crazy."

Cideeda flexes her clawed fingers upon the table, rolling her shoulders into a stretch, and prepares herself. "Okay. Back to the game. Now, I'm supposed to draw all three of the cards first. So, before I do this one, let me see-"

Swiftly yanking the card off the top of the deck, she grits her teeth, grimacing in anticipation, and eyes the card. Cideeda's emerald green eyes spring wide open, and her tail frays out, wagging fast and erratically. Furiously plopping the card upon the table, she growls in frustration. Catching a glimpse of the title text, Sotalia struggles to contain her devilish glee. Her snorts break through into cackles of laughter, and she maniacally flexes her long, thick, black nailed fingers. "OH! That's too perfect! I didn't know what that card was going to be, but it turned out... SO GOOD."

Pointing a claw tip at Sotalia, Cideeda motions down at the collection of four drawn cards in front of her, her furry ears drawing back. "SOTALIA?! WHAT. THE. FUCK?! Which one of these is YOUR card?!"

----

Three figures slink away from an old van and into the brush along the side of the road. Each attempts some semblance of stealth to middling degrees of success in the dark. The trio approach a large metal hangar near a long brick house, the leader peeking his head above the clipped top of a large shrub. Marcus shakes off a few leaves in his slicked back hair and glances back at the young, dark gray skinned woman and emin man with chipped horns behind him. "Okay... This HAS to be the place. Big open area and that huge building, right around where we keep seeing the dragon drop altitude."

Lifting her dark knit cap covered head out of hiding, Cind peers out, glancing over to Marcus with her bright blue eyes. "That makes sense. And, this is one of the few houses on this road. So, what's the plan?"

She tucks a few stray braids of her red hair back under her hat and waits expectantly. Kell scratches his shaggy beard thoughtfully. He casually plucks off a spider from one of his horns and places it down on a tree trunk nearby. With a growing series of nods, a goofy smile appears on his face, and he narrows his purple on black eyes at Marcus. "Yeah... Shouldn't be too hard to get into that place. If they're expecting to keep a dragon that big in it, they probably don't worry about the small doors or windows."

Contorting his face contemplatively, Marcus raises his hand, signaling the other two. "Follow me. Let's check those doors and windows, first."

Leading the trio, Marcus navigates through the remaining brush, Cind and Kell filing behind. They keep a low profile, approaching the hangar at the end of the makeshift dirt runway near the long brick house. The small team investigates the side door carefully, finding no access. They quietly walk to a window and fail to get it to open from the outside. Checking around the back side of the large metal structure, they spot a shallow gravel ramp leading up to a garage door. Combining their efforts, the three strain to hoist up the gate. Seconds later, each surrenders to the locked entryway. Panting out his mild frustration, Marcus shakes his head. "Okay. Alright... So... They are pretty thorough with locking everything. Cind, you might have to do some of your magic on the locks."

Cind nods uneasily and sighs reluctantly. "Simple cage doors are one thing. These look like decent locks. I might have to try to cut them open."

Spacing out a moment, Kell scratches a notch in one of his horns, humming. "Hey, maybe... we should try, like, the big door in the front?"

Marcus narrows an incredulous stare at Kell and cocks his head. "I... Uh... I guess? We didn't try it... But, if they've locked everything else..."

Shrugging her shoulders in her black turtleneck shirt, Cind glances over hopefully. "It's worth checking. I mean, everything else about this dragon has been a little off."

Stepping forward around the corner to the side of the building, Marcus slinks down low and motions for the rest of the team to follow, keeping a low voice. "Sure. At least, we can say we tried... But..."

He grimaces and shakes his head. "Really?"

The trio sneak around the side, dart quickly around the corner, and scurry to the front of the tall, wide hangar door sections. Marcus quickly surveys the front, steps up to the middle divide, and grabs hold of a handle. He glances over to Cind and Kell, shrugs his shoulders, and pulls. The door segment slides effortlessly to the side, rolling smoothly along a metal track above and supportive wheels below. Kell grabs the other half of the setup, gliding it along. Remaining in the middle of the gateway, Cind's bright blue eyes widen. A mix of exterior night lamps and faint moonlight cast upon the blue and black scales of a particularly large dragon. Lagi's maw opens into a quiet yawn, and he stirs upon a bed of blankets and bulk cloth. The dim moonlight creeps upon his face, and he curls his neck away, tucking his head under an arm and wing.

Cind's initial worry fades, and she watches Lagi faintly snore, whispering towards Marcus. "Aww... He's asleep."

Cracking a smirk, Marcus puffs up his chest and sighs. "Well. I guess we're going to have to wake him up. You have the berries?"

Slipping off a worn, kitsch-adorned backpack, Cind searches through the contents and retrieves a burlap sack with spots of purple staining. "Yes. I'll wake him up and lead him out."

Kell walks up next to Marcus, squinting, and cranes his head around. Inspecting the interior of the hangar, he lifts a questioning eyebrow at Marcus. "Man... I don't know. There's nothing here that looks like he's being restrained or even locked up. Like, a lot of places usually have at least a collar and chains. I don't see any of that here."

Marcus crosses his arms, humming to himself, and grumbles. "I don't know. Maybe he's just been so indoctrinated that he doesn't know anything better yet."

Scratching his beard, Kell nods a little, frowning with a sigh. "Yeah. I could see that. That's pretty rough to be raised to believe he can't leave and all that."

Cind tiptoes near the sleeping Lagi and stops meters away, opening up the burlap sack. Swinging the bag side to the side, she fans the surrounding air around and towards the slumbering dragon. Moments later, Lagi's nostrils flare open, and he sniffs the aroma into his nose. His head sluggishly traces the scent back. His consciousness catches up with the rest of him, and he drowsily opens his bright green eyes and stares at Cind and the bag. Cind tenses up. Lagi's awareness grows, and he focuses his attention upon her. Studying her for a moment, he sniffs the air, wandering his gaze back to the sack of berries, and crawls forward, stretching his open maw towards the bag. Cind steps back, motioning with her other hand, and encourages Lagi. "Come on. Follow me. And, I'll give you this whole bag of berries."

Groggily, Lagi crawls up into a slow walk and follows Cind's backpedaling through the hangar doorway. Peeking his head out, Lagi blinks out enough sleep from his eyes and notices Kell, AND Marcus. Narrowing a halfhearted stare upon Marcus, a low growl reverberates from Lagi's throat. Cind grits her teeth briefly, reaches into the bag, and pulls out a handful of berries. "Hey! Here you go. You've done really good so far."

Lagi diverts over to the distracting offering and lowers his open maw in anticipation. Kell pats the stiffly postured Marcus on the back. "It's okay, man. Probably just a little defensive from last time. I'm sure he'll warm up to us."

Cind tosses a handful of berries into Lagi's mouth and watches the dragon enjoy the brief snack. Purring out softly, Lagi munches on the treat and sneakily eyes the burlap sack. Cind glances over towards Marcus and Kell with a smile wide on her face. "I think we just need to take it slow and-"

In a sudden blur of motion, Lagi leans his head out towards the bag, wraps tongue around the sack, and yanks it clear from Cind's grasp. Pausing a moment, he chirps appreciatively at Cind and swiftly retreats back into the hangar. He lifts up on his hind quarters and leans with a clawed hand out to one section of the sliding doors. He guides the panel along and repeats the same motions on the other side panel. The trio watch dumbfounded, and the hangar doors close shut, a mechanical clank sounding out.

Marcus, Cind, and Kell blink blankly, gawking in utter bewilderment. Marcus steps forward, grabs hold of the door handles, and pulls. The doors do not move. Turning away from the doors, he stares in a near daze at Cind and Kell. "He... Locked the doors."

The trio exchange confused gazes, furrowing brows and grimacing dumbfounded. Seconds later, Marcus plods off towards the van in defeat, Cind and Kell offering comforting words along the trip back.

----

Gerald narrows his glare at the television from the couch in the clutter strewn living room. He plucks a beer can off a stack of equipment cases and pours the last remnants into his mouth. With an over arm fling, he tosses the can across the room into a large, trash filled garbage can and belches loudly. Lifting the remote off the equipment covered coffee table, he aims it at the screen. The channels flip on the screen through a wasteland of entertainment. Samantha slowly steps down the stairs, leaning down to peek under the ceiling join, and aims her voice to her phone. "I found him, Howie. But, I don't think he's in a very talkative mood... Right now..."

Squinting his dark brown eyes at Samantha, Gerald concentrates the brunt of his attention at the aetherphone in her hand. "OH. Hi, HOWIE."

A brief swell of silence later, and Howard sounds out over the speakerphone with a reluctant tinge. "Oh gods... He's calling me Howie... He's not happy..."

Rolling his eyes with a disgusted sneer, Gerald growls out his boiling irritation and rips another fresh beer from a cardboard case. "OH! What brilliant fucking insight gave you THAT idea? You have so MANY possible things to choose from. The murder drone, the night running for our lives, the creepy, blood-spattered ruins... Or, the pink bitch nearly taking MY head off."

Samantha freezes in place, a wave of tension stiffening her, and glances down at her phone. A long breath distantly sounds out from the other side of the call, and an uneasy sigh emanates from Howard. "Yeah... First... I'm glad everyone is okay. REALLY. I am. Second. I just thought it would be a simple retrieval mission. Monsters and sites of bloody battles were NOT part of that plan."

A sharp cracking hiss echoes into the large living room from Gerald's beer can, and he quaffs defiantly. Samantha slowly steps down to the landing of the staircase and slowly approaches the couch Gerald rests upon. "We know that, Howie. We're all on edge at the moment. And, a lot of us are not in the mood to record that much."

Groaning through the speakerphone, Howard takes in a deep, audible breath, and relays an understanding tone. "I get it. I was thinking of an easy episode or two. Domestic stuff, aftermath, and that kind of thing. Maybe a small local mission doing real routine stuff. Or, just a short notice appearance nearby."

Samantha grits her teeth, thinking through tinges of worry. "An appearance? We usually need more time to prep those. But... We might be able to do something..."

From the other end of the call, Howard ponders out loud. "Now, the criminal alter ego poll results came back, and we got some interesting info from Modoran's fan club. There might be something we can arrange. But, we'll have to see."

Gerald rolls his eyes, flipping through a few more channels, and tips back his beer. "Whatever you say. But, I'm using the telephoto lens for that confrontation. I'm NOT getting close to that shit show."

Donning a bright smile, Samantha leans forward, tilting her head of shoulder-length brown hair to intercept Gerald's stare, and nicely begs. "Um, I REALLY need you to coordinate recording reactions this afternoon when we release those poll results."

She twists her mouth, uncomfortably squirms, and sighs sadly, gazing at Gerald with her hazel eyes. "No one is listening to Howie... Or me... for that matter right now."

Narrowing stern glare at Samantha, Gerald tries to maintain the intensity upon her. Seconds later, his resolve weakens from growing apathy, and he groans demandingly. "FINE. AND, that's all we're doing today. Nothing extra. We got a movie night planned tonight, and we ain't skipping it."

Howard's voice rises appreciatively from Samantha's phone. "Thank you, Gerald!"

Snorting out his cooling anger, Gerald growls out. "Go fuck a hornet's nest, HOWIE."

With a loud sigh, Howard bargains, pleading for peace. "Would a gracious expense account authorization for your movie night even things out?"

Gerald searches his thoughts, mulls over the possibilities, and gradually nods with a tentative smirk towards Samantha. "A very good start... Howard."

A wave of relief radiates out from Samantha's phone, and Howard eases out a long breath. "Good. I'll arrange for some easy episodes for you all. Before I go, anything interesting happen lately?"

Samantha blinks, recent memory jumping to the front of her mind. "Yes, actually. One team was following Deedri, who somehow lost them."

Nodding, Gerald remembers out loud. "Yeah... And then they chased after one of Modoran's phantoms going the opposite direction."

A long pause later, a slow chuckle resonates from the speakerphone, and Howard's amusement fills his voice. "SO... Deedri AND Modoran were off in the forest together? Oh... THAT is... INTERESTING. Please, keep an eye on them. I think we might have something happening now, but I want a little confirming evidence."

----

Widening his stance upon the sunlit grass, behind the two story house, Modoran rolls his shoulders and tightens his grip around the finely crafted bow. Raising the bow up, he takes aim at a large shrub towards the corner of the property, drawing the tight, strong string back, and holds the weapon at the ready. Moments later, he carefully eases the bowstring forward and adjusts his handling of the bow. Smiling warmly at Modoran, Deedri calls out to him from her seat at the patio table. "Learn anything else about it?"

Resting his arms at his sides, Modoran glances over his shoulder with a happy smirk and shrugs. "Maybe. It is REALLY well made. I am trying to figure out who may have made it. I swear I have used something similar before, but I cannot remember where."

Tassilda slides her observant light blue on black eyes between Deedri and Modoran, blinks at a chime from her aetherphone, and taps through a prompt. Sorting through the menus, she uses a link, opening an aethernet site, and a sly smile grows. "Well... They've released the results of that what our criminal alter egos would be poll."

Pulling her attention away from watching Modoran, Deedri blinks back to awareness, picks up her aetherphone off the table top, and explores a similar alert. "Oh, yeah. Um, let me get there. I'm actually kind of curious."

Modoran directs his voice back towards Tassilda and Deedri sitting at the metal mesh patio table and nocks a wooden practice arrow. "What are the results?"

Tassilda taps her long, thick black nails on the screen to a result graph and brushes a lock of her raven black hair over her spiraling horn, lifting an intrigued eyebrow. "Well. First is Chad. Bank Heist Leader. That actually makes some sense. And, people really think Trakenthin would be some kind of hitman?"

Deedri furrows her brow, frowning. "Oh. He's too nice for that."

Nodding in agreement, Tassilda scrolls the listing up and continues reading. "I know. But, I guess no one thought about putting up a librarian barbarian option. OH. Here I am..."

She furrows her gray brow and narrows her stare. "Blackmailer and Extortioner?!"

Twisting her mouth into a defiant scrunch of her nose, she mulls over the concept, the distaste waning over the seconds, and sighs. "Well. Gods. I guess I have to admit it's more likely than not."

Deedri's furry, tufted ears droop, and she grits her teeth with an indignant grumble. "Illegal medical experimenter?! These results make it sound like I'm some kind of mad mage."

Covering a reflexive snort, Tassilda draws a wide, evil grin across her face, giggling. "OH. I think we can agree on the next one. Veevi... Prostitute. Not even a Mistress or Madam."

Biting her lower lip and cocking her head to the side, Deedri slowly nods and agrees with the sentiment. Modoran steadies his footing, readies the bow, and levels his aim towards the overgrown section at the corner of the plot. He stretches his arms, draws the practice arrow back, and feels out the bow, calling back with a smirk. "Okay. I got to know now. What are they saying about me?"

Tassilda's eyes read the entry, and she tilts her head to the side, perks up an intrigued eyebrow. "Huh. Not quite what I thought it would be. But, I could see it..."

She glances over at Modoran and recites. "Artifact Thief."

Deedri's auburn eyes spring wide open, Modoran briefly startles, and the bow launches the arrow on a high, long trajectory towards a ranch style house. The nonchalant exterior dissipating quickly on Modoran, he grits his teeth, watching the arrow sail away towards a ranch style house. "Shit!"

He quickly rushes off, hurdles over an overgrowth covered fence, and disappears in a sprint into the woods. Tassilda snickers at Modoran's folly, and Deedri covers her mouth with her hands in surprise. The two sit quietly a moment and exchange sympathetic glances. Tassilda leans over the patio table top, propping her arm up, and guides a whisper with her hand. "So... What's happened between you and..."

Spooking her a moment, Deedri darts her eyes around and subtly leads Tassilda's attention towards a camera crew with recording equipment pointed at them. She draws in a careful breath, donning a concerned grimace, and purposefully projects her voice slightly louder. "Yes, Tassilda, that could be muscle strain in your forearm. Why don't we go upstairs to my room, and I'll examine it closer?"

Tassilda blinks, darts her eyes over to the crew, and massages her wrist, sliding back in her chair. "Yes. Let's do that. Gods. I think I may have strained it during our escape and stumbling through the woods. Better safe than sorry."

The two quickly depart the back yard and venture into the two-story house through the sliding glass door, a few members of the recording team watching suspiciously. Veevi's irate shriek muffles out from an upstairs window. "PROSTITUTE?!" Comparative apathy wins out, and the record crews rush towards the fresh drama.

----

A patch of brush parts and reforms. Boot indentations form one after another into the grass plot on the side of the ranch style house. The lengthening path leads towards a wooden practice arrow laying on the dirt. A section of the lawn flattens out, and the arrow rises up from the ground with a transparent shimmer wrapped around the shaft. A disembodied sigh of relief escapes, and faint distortions outline a transparent figure kneeling, and holding the arrow. A loud hem startles the man.

Narrowing her violet glowing eyes, Aristespha crosses her arms, lifting her chin sternly. "Why, hello. I guess that is your arrow I heard hitting the roof."

Modoran stands up into a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and smiles awkwardly, the transparent coating around him fades away. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. Testing out a new bow. And, it turns out it is a little more powerful than I expected."

He chuckles lightly and sighs. "Also, I do apologize for sneaking around. But, if I had known, I would have called and asked you to throw the arrow back over."

Cracking a mildly amused smirk, Aristespha steps forward towards Modoran and trains her curious stare to the finely crafted bow slung on his back. "You are right. That bow is an odd thing for you to have found."

Modoran slides the bow free, holds it with both hands, and shows it to Aristespha. "That it is. I can not shake the feeling I have used something similar before. But... THIS feels different. Really different."

He cracks a sly smile, quirking an eyebrow, and levels an intrigued gaze at Aristespha. "You are probably the best person around here to ask about it, Lady Aristespha."

Rolling her eyes at the honorific, Aristespha shakes her head and examines the bow closer. "Truthfully, my skills are not what they used to be for certain. But... I have learned far more about history and magic over the years, since my archery competition days."

She squints her violet glowing eyes and lifts the bow out of Modoran's hands, cocking her head of long silvery blue hair. Twisting her perplexing face, she furrows a puzzled brow at the finely crafted weapon and ponders out loud. "This IS a strange thing to have found, especially out there. Even the physical construction is... Odd. And how the enchantment was integrated..."

Overtaken by interest, she deftly handles the bow, moves into a well rehearsed stance, and draws the string back into a ready position. She showcases well aged expertise and performs a number of practice maneuvers with drilled ease, contemplating how the bow handles with each step. Modoran cracks a smile, crossing his arms, and laughs amused. "Well. I think you could match your old records, if you wanted to. Probably, even break them."

Aristespha halts her practice motions, contorting her mouth into a grimace, and returns the bow to Modoran. "Maybe. But, my competition years are long done. I will admit, it was fun when I was much younger. Do not quite have that desire anymore."

Modoran shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and inspects the bow closer. "Fair enough. But, you are more than welcome to just fire it for fun, if you want."

Scratching his head of grayish white hair, he tugs at the corner of his mouth and sighs hopefully. "So, you have any idea what the deal with it is? There is SOMETHING more to this thing."

Aristespha blinks out the glow of her eyes and rests her hands on her hips, nodding. "Yes. I have a few possible theories about it. But... There is a question you can answer for me, first. It is something I have been curious about."

Modoran receptively awaits. A curious smirk cracks from the corner of Aristespha's mouth, and she narrows an inquisitive stare upon Modoran. "Do you actually have any real lineage to the Dark Evuukians... Or did you say that for show drama?"

Blinking at the prompt, Modoran snorts into a chuckle and averts his eyes. "Well. Yes AND no. My ancestors were the people that got out when everyone that started believing that crap moved in. So, from that area? Yes."

He recites an elaborate flavor of Evuukian. Aristespha widens her intrigued gaze, nodding understandingly. "I have not run into many native speakers of that dialect."

Modoran bows playfully and wrestles a grimace upon his dusky bluish gray face. "Now... As for being part of that crazy cult? NO. My ancestors helped get other people out before it got REALLY bad around that area."

Furrowing her ivory brow contemplatively, Aristespha searches her mind. "That is right... There were a few exodus waves before the Dark Evuukians secured their power in that region. Interesting."

She shifts her focus towards the bow in Modoran's hand, drawing in a long breath, and grits her teeth uncomfortably. "Before I go into too much detail about that bow... I really need to tell you what I know about those ruins you found in that forest."

Modoran settles his full attention upon Aristespha, expectant. "Yeah. What was going on there?"

----

Captain Hackle leans back into a simple office chair and stares at the monitor on the desk, status indicators showing the progress of a call connection. Settling into the utilitarian seat, Captain Hackle adjusts his posture and allows his tall, thin frame to find a comfortable position. The screen flickers, and a pixelated video plays through fits of distortion. Furrowing his brow, Hackle narrows his brown-eyed gaze at the image of Captain Hays, smirking underneath his graying mustache. "Hays."

Nodding his wide brimmed hat, Captain Hays returns a similar greeting with a twist of his bearded mouth. "Hackle."

Hackle glances around the small office space and perks a humored eyebrow at the screen. "I got your message. Apologize about the delay, but it took a while to find a secure enough room for this call."

Nodding understandingly, Hays angles his camera's view slightly, showcasing the surrounding wilderness, and shrugs his shoulders. "Not a problem. Took my team a while to find a place where I could get a decent signal."

Squinting at the video fidelity increasing slightly, Hackle watches the reddish purple sky of a finishing sunset in between the framing of two forest sections. With a jealous hint, he smiles and sighs longingly. "Very nice. Send me pictures, if you could. Gods. It's been a while since I've had the luxury to observe a peaceful sunset."

Hays shifts the aim of the camera back to him and draws in a breath. "Well, I'll cut to the chase, then we can both enjoy the view. Isaac was definitely in Perimeter. Perimeter Defense Force investigators located his green sedan."

Hackle leans forward with intrigue and thoughtfully rests his chin against his propped up hands. "We all suspected as such. But, it is good to get some actual confirmation of such. I assume he's no longer using that vehicle?"

With a quick nod, Hays grimaces and grumbles. "Yeah. Unfortunately, he traded the thing out three weeks ago. So, he could have gone many places. BUT, I suspect the PWZ. The PDF investigators are checking traffic cameras to try to get anything more telling. Once I get information one way or another, I'll tap a few contacts I have."

Hackle searches his mind, twisting his face in thought, and hums contemplatively. "If nothing else, I think we need to inform our mutual friends that they might want to go to Perimeter in earnest now."

Hays nods simply in agreement. "Makes sense. At this point, he's either operating out of Perimeter, or he's in the zone. Either way, Perimeter is close to their target now. It'll at least put them in a position to respond when any of us gets more information."

Easing back into the chair with a slight squirm against the spartan padding, Hackle sighs with a tinge of frustration. "I do hope we get something actionable. Thankfully, with the Grand Library cooperating fully now, I can authorize more upfront and actually provide proper support. Don't have to go through the guild as a proxy anymore."

With a slight grumbling tone, he shakes his head and frowns. "One less annoyance I have to deal with."

Hays narrows a curious stare through the video call and tilts his head to the side. "What are they having you deal with now?"

Twisting his mouth between different grimaces, Hackle ponders out loud. "Strange reports of activity in a forest around an old ruin site. Along with odd radio transmissions. Very strange since that site should be locked down and off records."

Focusing a scrutinizing gaze, Hays hums thoughtfully. "It's not unheard of for sites like that to get stirred up. But... What's bugging you about this one?"

Hackle leans close to the monitor and directs a calm, cool whisper. "I'm worried that there's a common thread between recent events. I wonder if there's a single agitator behind these incidents..."

-88-

Gathered around the dining table, Aristespha, Sebastian, Sotalia, Bach, Dretphi, and Cideeda listen to Captain Hackle's voice sounding out from Aristespha's aetherphone. Audibly drawing in a breath from the other side of the call, Captain Hackle releases a long sigh. "So, that's the most up to date information I have. Isaac was in Perimeter. The Perimeter Defense Force is following up on leads and checking what they can for more information. And, Captain Hays is tapping his resources, too."

Sebastian's ghostly form darts his blue eyes around his mind, and he hums with an ethereal reverb. "I'm guessing most bets are on him going into the zone."

Easing out a light chuckle, Captain Hackle contemplates out loud. "That is my best guess, too. Given what Isaac, or Noxian, has been interested in, the Perimeter Weird Zone is about the only thing that makes sense. Truthfully, if he wanted to disappear and lay low, there's a number of other places I would have gone to well before Perimeter."

Sotalia crosses her arms, swaying her weight between her feet, and perks her brow. "So, are we going down there next? Seems like the place to go."

Twisting her mouth, Dretphi ponders the logistics, studying a digital map on her aetherphone. "That will require planning. Not a simple trip. Days to get near. If all goes well..."

Bach grimaces briefly and releases an uneasy sigh, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I mean... That seems like the best place to at least hang out. I guess..."

Leaning over, he peeks over at Dretphi's aetherphone and mulls over the options. "There's not much else going on in the Sippiala Peninsula. So, if he's not in Perimeter..."

He shrugs his shoulders and states. "I agree that he's probably in the zone. Somewhere in that HUGE thing. Gods. I keep forgetting how big that thing is."

Pointing at Dretphi's phone screen, he squints at the image. "Does the scale say a hundred kilometers?"

Dretphi glances over equally amazed and nods. Cideeda's furry ears flick with her thoughts, and she idly raps her hand of claw tips upon the dining table top. "Yeah. My money is on him being in the zone. Else, why would he have sold the sedan and probably gotten himself a new ride? He's getting something that he can drive in there with."

Hackle's voice rises up from the background noise on the other side of the call. "That's been the consensus from both Hays's group and my own team. Why go to the trouble of a shady auto dealer if you aren't going to stick around? If he wanted to leave for another country, he could have driven up to one of the Train stations and traded in the vehicle for credit with them."

Rolling her emerald green eyes with a smirk, Cideeda chuckles and crosses her arms, wagging her long, fluffy tail. "Exactly. It's not like the Train has problems with equipment having bullet holes and questionable pasts. Hearing stories about them from my dad, those old Train engineers think it's bad luck if your vehicle is too pristine anyway. To them, if it already has holes and dings, then the bad stuff has already happened to it."

Aristespha rests her head upon her hands and wrestles an uneasy, nervous tinge in her voice. "I definitely believe we need to get down there. But... That is quite the trip. And, we will need to book a number of places to stay along the way. We will need to buy a lot of provisions, and..."

Gritting her teeth briefly, her shoulders slump slightly, and she leans onto the back of her chair. Working though the uncertainty, she combs her fingers through her long, silvery blue hair, and sighs out her reservations. "We really do not have that much familiarity with Perimeter and all the surrounding territories. All THAT is going to be significant to contend with."

A reassuring, calm tone resonates from the speaker of the aetherphone, and Hackle provides a bit of comfort. "You won't be on your own completely. With the recent cooperation of the Grand Library upon this matter, and the fact that Aristespha is an official enough representative of the Grand Library, your group will have direct contractor accounts from the GAA, Borderland Rangers, and even the Perimeter government."

Chuckling out his amusement, and he continues slyly. "As it turns out, Isaac's behavior lately has made a lot of people in power VERY NERVOUS about what he's planning on next. So, they would like to make sure the one team that has had luck finding and flushing him out has some funding for this venture. As part of the deal, we'll put you in contact with trusted groups that'll help you navigate Perimeter and its massive weird zone."

Narrowing a suspicious stare upon the phone on the table top, Sebastian grimaces momentarily. He searches his mind and directs an inquisitive tone back to Hackle. "So, what's the requirements for all this funding? We can't exactly guarantee bringing Isaac in, at the moment. So... What's the more immediate goal here?"

Hackle draws in a breath and explains. "Well. It's more or less some kind of assurance that someone is making sure he isn't left alone. Everyone has agreed to fund your efforts to find and flush him out of Perimeter, at the very least. Personally, I would be happy to find out what he's exactly planning on doing next. He's done very specific things lately. And, they indicate he's got some kind of plan. Some kind of goal in mind. If we can get enough information to narrow down what that is, the GAA can see about putting some obstacles in the way. And, hopefully, that might be enough for you to stop him completely."

Crossing his arms, Sebastian nods his head thoughtfully and glances over the rest of the team. Moments later, he cracks a bold grin with the reassuring agreement from the rest of the team. "Well, I think we're willing to give it a go. It'll be a lot easier to manage with the funding, and some local knowledge. I'm not going to promise too much right now, Captain Hackle. But, I think we can definitely keep the heat on Isaac and not let him get too comfortable down there."

With the acceptance, Captain Hackle's voice brightens. "Very good. I will get the paperwork and relevant information to you. Meanwhile, we'll be trying to get you a clearer picture about what he has been up to in Perimeter. If we are fortunate, you'll have a clear direction to take once you get down there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got said paperwork to put my signature to. You all have a good day."

Aristespha grabs hold of her aetherphone off the table top and smiles with hints of relief. "I understand. Thank you for calling and helping us out, Captain Hackle."

Tapping the end call button on the phone screen, Aristespha slowly shakes her head and briefly laughs. "Not a completely unexpected surprise. But... Still a surprise."

Sotalia grins eagerly, resting her hands on her hips. "Wish it was more narrowed down, but I'll take it. At least, he's probably there for a good reason and won't be leaving any time soon."

Blinking a few times, Bach drifts his gaze into his mind and hums in though. "I wonder what's driving him down there... Things keep getting stranger."

Aristespha furrows her brow and gazes over the team. "Speaking of strange things, I was able to find out some intriguing information from Modoran yesterday... When he was retrieving an arrow he accidentally shot into our yard. There was a lot more going on at those ruins than what we even thought."

----

Leaning against the large washer machine in the utility room, Modoran grits his teeth briefly, hissing out his discomfort, and crosses his arms. "So... THAT is what the other team dealt with when they went to those same ruins months back. Pretty fucked up, in my opinion."

Trakenthin blinks his hazel eyes, frowns, and slowly shakes his head, standing near the door. "That is concerning."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tassilda winces her light blue on black eyes closed, twisting her face, and grumbles. She tosses back her raven black hair back over her swirling horns, groaning. "By the gods, GAA and Appaland KNEW about that place with that Terra Priest group..."

She waves her hand, pantomiming her frustration. "And... They just let it sit there? What were they thinking?"

Drooping her furry, tufted ears low over her shoulders, Deedri briefly covers her mouth, slowly processing the information, and cringes. "I just can't believe that all was happening there. All those people following that... Crazy ideology."

Modoran smiles comfortingly at Deedri and shakes his head, shrugging. "Tribalism is a hell of a drug. The whole Terra Priest movement has been around for a LONG time. And... Just keeps showing itself every generation. Shit. It just gets fucking worse with each incarnation. They used to just be isolationist naturalists that did not bother anyone unless you wandered too close to their territory. Now... Yeah..."

Searching through his thoughts, Chad slowly paces in the middle walkway between the team and gradually sways his head in disbelief. "All THIS explains a lot. A lot more than what I've got in my head right now."

He steps over towards the door, cracks open a gap, and listens carefully for a few seconds. Trakenthin leans his tall frame over, aims his ear to the annoyingly familiar sounds of Veevi soaking in the attention of a recording crew. Chad rolls his eyes and groans through swelling disgust. Trakenthin shakes his head dismissively. "We have minutes left."

Shifting his brown eyes over to the wires hanging loose from a small overhead camera, Chad nods in agreement. "Yeah. The crew aren't paying that much attention right now. But, they'll start to get suspicious if this thing remains disconnected for much longer."

A stifling silence holds the conversation still for seconds, recent memory pressing down the mood of the gathering. Chad pulls in a breath and gazes up to the team resolutely. "In the future, we demand as much information as we can get upfront. I mean, admittedly, this was outside everyone's expectations. But, I don't know..."

He fights back a guilt-ridden frown and stiffens his upper lip. "Still, I'm going to try to make an honest effort to prevent this type of stuff from happening to us, if I can. I need to do my job right for once. So, I'm also going to try to deal with Veevi."

Attentions shift towards Chad, the other members waiting intrigued. Chad works through a few uncertain grimaces on his face and addresses the team. "I'm putting Veevi in timeout. She doesn't get to go on the next mission. Period. Give her time to think about whether she wants to be on this team or not."

Trakenthin crosses his arms, blinking in surprise at Chad, and slowly nods. Tassilda cocks her incredulously to the side, sliding her weight on the counter top, and props herself up with her arms behind her. "Do you honestly believe she'll do anything different than what she's done before? I will fully admit I'm glad something is being done. But, please understand if I think it'll do nothing other than piss her off."

An encouraging smile appears on Deedri's face, and she gazes approvingly at Chad. "It's worth a try. Maybe something drastic like that will be just enough to work? I think we can say, from experience, that gentle, subtle measures don't work with her."

Smirking at the commentary, Chad eyes Modoran. Moments later, Modoran glances back to Chad, nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders, and sighs apprehensively. "Hell. I appreciate the effort. I do not know if it will work on HER. But, I would not mind going on a mission without her... Because..."

He wrestles down a surge of awkward embarrassment and snorts. "Between us... I think we got a pretty workable group. Just might need a chance without that agent of chaos fucking it up all the time."

A genuine smile appears on Chad, and the team's mood brightens, exchanging hopeful glances. Chad nods at the idea and chuckles quietly. "Well... Be prepared. I'm going to spring this on the higher ups and her when they announce the next mission. At this point, I think it's fair play after all we've been through to surprise them back. BUT... they probably won't be all that happy."

Dismissive eye rolls and groans from the rest of the team fill the room. Chad rests his hands at his waist, perking an inquisitive brow at Modoran. "Anyway, did Aristespha mention anything else?"

Modoran blanks a moment and eases in a careful breath, twisting his mouth. "Somewhat. Since we have been to the place, she told me everything they knew directly related to the ruins. But... There are a few things she has been informed of that she was not sure she could give out. But, she stressed two things."

The focus from the group turns upon Modoran's next words. Mulling over the phrasing in his head, Modoran relays the key points from memory. "She told me to pay attention to the timing of when we crossed paths... And..."

Maintaining a calm, neutral expression, his eyes await the reactions from the rest of the team. "They were trying to force that one girl to work on golems."

Puzzling silence floods the room, and Chad, Trakenthin, Tassilda, and Deedri ponder the two major hints. Thought processes turn towards uncomfortable possibilities in others. Tassilda's posture stiffens, and she reflexively gasps, covering her mouth with both hands. Her light blue on black eyes widen in past horror, and her hands unconsciously drift away from her face, trembling. The stark reaction cements the answer for everyone else. Trakenthin cranes over, checking on Tassilda, and gazes at her with concern. Deedri grasps onto one of Tassilda's hands and rubs her back comfortingly, Tassilda concentrating on calming herself back down. Arriving at the realization with a long, stressed exhale, Chad turns his grimace into a sharp frown. "Oh, holy fucking shit. Gods damn it. That all makes sense now. Fits too perfectly."

Wincing, Modoran fights through a flurry of emotions with a shake of his head of grayish white hair. "Yeah. It is the same fucking conclusion I arrived at, too. Was really hoping it would just turn out to be my wild theory, rather than the one everyone arrived at."

----

Stepping through the hallway leading from the front entry, Bach lugs a heavy, metal container over towards the coffee table and lowers the handled box next to Dretphi. "One box of caseless ammo. It was tucked all the way in the back corner of that pile of supplies."

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Dretphi twists around, slides the crate over in front of her, and opens it up. She inspects the contents, glances up to Bach with a warm smile, and nods appreciatively. "Thank you. You want to help me load magazines?"

Bach shrugs his shoulders, stepping over to the other side of the box across from Dretphi, and plops down into a seat on the floor. "Sure. Kind of want to sit down anyway. There were a lot of other heavy things in the way of this box."

Dretphi sorts through a pile of empty submachine gun magazines, stacking a few up in her hands, and gives them to Bach. Motioning for his attention, she holds a magazine in one hand and a round in the other and demonstrates putting the round in the magazine. Bach nods understandingly, sets aside the submachine gun magazines in his hands and retrieves a smaller cardboard box from the large ammo crate. Carefully, he inserts rounds into a magazine, occasionally peeking over to Dretphi and watching her. Minutes later, he notices a collection of survival rations neatly ordered near Dretphi, lifting a curious eyebrow. "We have enough meal packs?"

Dretphi blinks back to awareness from her work trance, glances over at the roughly sorted pile of packaged food, and shakes her head. "Not enough to feel comfortable. This is a significant trip. We may fall short of our planned stops. Need to be ready."

Nodding thoughtfully, Bach drifts his gaze over to the large map bordered by paperwork and tablets upon the coffee table and studies the various pencil and highlighter marks. "Yeah... That does seem like it could happen."

Aristespha leans forward from her seat on the couch, resting a pencil over a section of highway, and marks out a shorthand note. She slowly shakes her head, staring at her tablet screen, and briefly grits her teeth with an unconvinced curl of her upper lip. "Gods. I swear these establishments get more questionable the further away from civilization you get."

Hovering upon the couch next to her, Sebastian's ghostly form blinks hard and rests his chin upon the palm of his hand, sighing ethereally in disbelief. "Dear, I'm just amazed these places have working phone numbers. Even if they don't ever answer them."

Rolling her violet eyes, Aristespha guides a few stray locks of her hair over her very long, ivory pointed ears, and grumbles out her distaste. "To be blatantly honest, there are places that might prove worse than staying in the humvee, Sebastian."

Nodding agreement, Sebastian shifts his attention over towards the large portion of the map with territory and political area indicators and narrows his stare at the scattered mix of roads and regions. "Gods... I always forget how big and spread out Perimeter is."

Bach twists his mouth and shakes his head. "And, it's still tiny in comparison to the Perimeter Weird Zone. I mean, I can't believe enough people live in there for roads, much less towns, to exist."

Sebastian smirks with a sarcastic tone. "I don't know, bro. You were living in a town that has less of a reason to exist, to be fair."

Pausing a moment in though, Bach gauges his brother's statement and cocks his head to the side in a tentative agreement. "Yeah... Actually, yeah... Honestly, you could take Tullachester off the maps, and I don't think people inside or outside of that town would notice."

Sotalia steps out of the kitchen, casually strutting over to Bach, and holds a vial down next to his face. "Taste this."

Bach pivots his head over towards the small container and gradually narrows his blue eyes upwards at Sotalia. "What is it?"

With a humored smirk, Sotalia snorts, shaking her head of fiery orange, wavy hair. "Oh. Just water, food coloring, and flavoring. Making sure I got the potion flavoring right before I mix it with the batch. I've been trying to come up with some different mixes to mask some of the more potent potions' aftertastes."

Smacking her mouth, Sotalia grimaces and scrunches up her face, licking her tongue hard against her teeth. "Last thing I attempted still hasn't gotten out of my mouth yet. SO..."

She frowns slightly with an embarrassed grumble. "I really need you to check this one for me."

Bach grasps hold of the vial and sniffs the air above it. He pauses a moment in through and drinks the clear, orange liquid. Searching his mind for the right word, Bach blinks calmly, experiencing the sensation, and hands the empty vial back to Sotalia. "Mango?"

Lifting an intrigued brow, Sotalia narrows her golden eyes at the vial, lifts it up closer to her curiosity, and hums thoughtfully. "I was going for peach. But... Mango works, too. Thank you."

With a quick pivot, she walks back into the kitchen galley and returns to a variety of beakers, flasks, and pots. Pulling a fresh ball-point pen from an open pack, she jots down new notes into a book and raps her long, thick, black nails on the counter top. In the kitchen prep area, the door leading to the garage opens up. Cideeda carefully presses her elbows against the door, slipping through the gap, and walks through with her grease covered hands in front of her. Passing through the living area, she calls out to the group. "Could someone with free and clean hands add pumice soap to the list of things to get from the store? We just ran out."

Leaning out from the kitchen galley, Sotalia holds up a bottle of dish soap, smirking slyly. "Kitchen sink is all yours, girl."

With a sigh of relief, Cideeda follows Sotalia into the space and holds her arms over the sink for clean up. "Thank you. Paper towels alone are completely worthless for this level of this grease."

Stacking up round filled magazines, Bach diverts his attention back to the map and closely examines the details. "Man. Still amazing how Perimeter exists so close to that massive weird zone."

Aristespha nods in agreement and smirks knowingly. "The Perimeter Weird Zone draws in a lot of people for one reason or another. Despite how big it is now, Perimeter started out as a simple campsite just outside the safest entry point into the zone. Once a few new artifact types were found and extracted routinely, everything built up from there."

Sotalia calls out with an excited and eager tone from the kitchen. "HEY... If we go into the zone, I'm allowed to keep the things I find, RIGHT?"

Aristespha glances around to the rest of the gathered team, drawing in a reserved breath, and eyes Sebastian. Shrugging his shoulders impartially, Sebastian states carefully. "Well... So long as it doesn't have the ability to kill all of us at any given moment, I don't think there's any problem."

A humored, facetious giggle sounds out, and Sotalia sighs. "Fine. But those are the FUN ones. But, fine. I'll agree with that."

Aristespha rolls her violet eyes, smiling with amusement. Studying the map closer, Bach analyzes the size and scope of Perimeter and the sparsely populated surrounding region. He compares the visual differences with Amaranth Valley. "Wow. I mean... We really are going out into the WILDERNESS this time."

Sebastian dons an intrigued smirk and eyes his brother curiously. "So... Bro... You excited... Or scared?"

Furrowing his brow, Bach straightens his posture contemplatively, blatantly deliberating between the two emotions on his face, and shrugs apprehensively towards Sebastian. "Um... Both?"

Nodding his head understandingly, Sebastian smiles comfortingly at his brother. "Yeah... That's about what you should be feeling."

----

Leaning all his weight into a pry bar, Chad torques the heavy steel of the black sport utility vehicle's bumper closer to its original shape. The solid suspension flexes, the chassis rocking with each hard heave Chad pulls upon the tool. He stands back up straight and studies the fractured metal edges, contemplatively staring. Scratching his head of light brown coiffed hair, he kneels down, inspects the narrowed hole in the bumper, and nods, reaching for a heavy hammer.

Aiming her aetherphone at Chad and the vehicle, Tassilda taps an onscreen button and waits for the confirmation prompt from the camera app. She pivots around, a loud metal slams ringing out, and pushes through the front door. She strolls through the living room and quickly taps up a message into an ongoing conversation with the image attached. She climbs up the stairs to the second floor and walks towards her room. Noticing Trakenthin's room door open, her curiosity leads her quiet approach.

Tassilda turns her head, aiming her pointed ears towards a woman's voice coming from inside. Peeking around the corner, she observes Trakenthin laying on his bed. With an open book upon his lap, a video playing on his aetherphone captivates Trakenthin fully. Fighting a balance between curiosity and stealth, Tassilda observes the happy smile gracing Trakenthin's dark bronze face. Trakenthin watches a young woman delve into the details of the latest book's glaring plot holes with a drawn mock-up. A genuine chuckle emerges from Trakenthin, and he nods sympathetically at the elaborately described drab middle chapters slog. Blinking in surprise, Tassilda pulls a sly smirk across her gray face. With a soft hum of her aetherphone vibrating, she swiftly retreats away from Trakenthin's doorway and slinks down towards her room. Checking her phone, she sees the latest picture message of Daedrican standing in front of a strange, tattered bipedal robot hanging from a crane. Fascinated by the image, Tassilda finally comprehends the text below and springs her eyes wide open. She giddily rushes through the phone menus and taps the call icon under Daedrican's contact entry. Slipping into her room with her aetherphone against her ear, she greets the other side of the conversation with an elegant dialect of emin.

Down at the other end of the hallway, Deedri's bedroom door opens, and Modoran casually walks out. With a happy smile, he stretches his back out, pivoting around, and bows towards Deedri in the doorway. "Well, thank you for thoroughly inspecting those pains in my lower back."

He sneaks glances out the corner of his dark blue eyes at opportune angles, surveying the camera coverage. Putting forth a professional facade, Deedri nods appreciatively and smiles. "Of course. It's understandable. We all got a little roughed up from that last mission, and it just took a while for those strains to finally ache enough to be noticed."

Her auburn eyes meet Modoran's dark blue eyes. Deedri aims a sly smirk, biting her lower lip, and drags a claw tip lightly down the door frame wood. "If you notice any other issues, please let me know. It's best I treat them as early as possible."

Modoran's nonchalant exterior fails at obscuring his growing goofy grin, and he nods appreciatively towards Deedri. "I will do that. I will be very observant tonight and see if I feel anything else."

Glancing towards his room, he points his thumb over and departs with a chuckle. "Well... I need to catch up on the latest Evuukian political dramas..."

He pauses a moment in thought and averts his gaze with a tinge of embarrassment. "And, do laundry."

Deedri eases back into her room, flashing an eager smile at Modoran out of view of the hallway, and winks to him, her door closing. Stepping across the hallway to his bedroom door, Modoran pushes into the room,and turns his attention to the tall, overflowing pile of dirty clothes in the hamper. He mutters a few evuukian curses, prunes off the overflowing clothes onto the floor, grabbing hold of the basket, and hoists it up. Passing through his doorway, he navigates down the stairs, carefully finding the steps. Slowing down, he reaches the bottom landing and spots Veevi exiting the dining room.

Pivoting towards the stairwell, Veevi spots Modoran's descent and cracks an evil grin. She struts up with an energetic skip to her step, tosses back her long pink hair, perking up her fuzzy ears, and whips her tail up at the ready. Modoran deftly guides his body with the downwards momentum, orbits tightly around the wooden banister post, and pardons himself, the hamper brushing close to Veevi. "Oh. Sorry, Veevi. Was not paying attention."

The start of a response leaving Veevi, she licks her lips. "Don't worry about it-"

Drawing in a breath through her nose for the next part, she abruptly halts. Modoran swiftly puts distance between her and him. Veevi's pink pupil eyes flutter in surprise, and she sniffs the air repeatedly. Sifting through the smells, she rests a hand upon the square banister cap and stares at Modoran absolutely bewildered. The seconds pass. The shock fades into comprehension and recognition. Sniffing the air, Veevi's upper lip snarls slightly, her confusion gives way to a volatile mix of frustration and fury, and she clenches her jaw. Flecks of wood curl away from the surface of the banister under the tightening grip of Veevi's sharp nails.

----

Gazing out the humvee window, Bach views the town attractions along the side of the main city road. He settles back into his seat, his attention drifting forward. Furrowing his brow, he puzzles at Sotalia in the front passenger

’

s seat methodically checking a handwritten list. He leaning his head out into the aisle, peeking around, and narrows his curious gaze. Sotalia pauses, tapping a pencil at the end of the list, and scribbles out another item. Bach cranes his head around Sotalia's seat and carefully pries. "So, uh, what's that list for?"

Blinking her golden eyes, Sotalia turns her head towards Bach and smirks with a giggle, spinning the list away from him. "Well, just the ingredients for tomorrow's dinner."

Bach lifts his head back, debating between reservation and intrigue, and inquires further. "Okay... What are you... Cooking?"

Focusing her accusatory stare upon Bach, Sotalia lowers her eyelids halfway with a playfully insulted twist at the corner of her mouth. "If you keep THAT tone up, you can try your luck with one of those old rations. I can cook a meal just fine."

She tosses back her wavy, fiery orange hair back, straightening her posture defiantly in her seat, and averts her glance away with a roll of her eyes. "It's just that what I like to cook takes a lot of effort and planning."

Bach retreats back into his seat, grimacing awkwardly, and stumbles into an apologetic recovery. "Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything like that. It's just I've never seen you cook food. Potions, yes. So..."

Glancing to either side of him, he approaches the question. "What do you like to cook?"

He wanders his attention behind him and questioningly eyes Dretphi. Sneaking a point towards Sotalia, he silently inquires for a opinion from Dretphi. Dretphi reads the body language and smiles reassuringly at Bach, nodding. "It should be good. Involved preparation. Filling results. Nice for occasions."

A hopeful spark lights up Dretphi's steely gray eyes, and she leans forward in the aisle and directs her voice towards Sotalia. "Malva pudding?"

Peeking around the corner of her front seat, Sotalia winks with a playful grin at Dretphi. "Of course. That one is a given. The rest are going to be surprises."

With a satisfied smile, Dretphi sits back down on the back bench seat, smiling contentedly.

Furrowing his brow, Bach crosses his arms and curiously pries. "Surprises? Well, uh, how about a few hints? There might be something I might not like?"

From the sword at Aristespha's side, Sebastian's voice calls out Bach. "OH, BULLSHIT, bro. I KNOW what you've eaten before. You ain't picky when you're drunk or hungry enough."

A flash of embarrassment fills Bach's cheeks, and he flashes a scowl at the sword. Sebastian chuckles out ethereally from the blade. "I don't even need to check to see how you are looking at me right now. Anyway... It's good eating. Hate that I'm only going to be able to smell it."

A sympathetic smile graces Sotalia's light tan face, and she sighs encouragingly. "Well, YOU are welcome to hang out in the kitchen the whole time, then. Everyone else has to STAY OUT."

A sly grin grows out towards the dark gray patches below her ears, and she chuckles. "Part of the fun."

Rolling her golden eyes away from the inquisitive gaze of Bach, she shrugs her shoulders, her attention returning to the paper list. "I figured it would be a nice thing to do since we probably won't have a chance to eat nice for a while."

Aristespha cracks a smile and snickers to herself, studying a shopping list on her tablet. "And you want to remind yourself on how to cook it all?"

Sotalia blinks, bites her lower lip guiltily, and twists her mouth honestly against her pride. "Yeah... Not going to lie. My grandmother on my mother's side has some amazing food, but it's REAL easy to end up with a different dish if you don't pay attention to the exact ingredients and preparation."

Quirking his brow, Bach cocks his head to the and stares confused. "Really?"

Snorting, Sotalia shakes her head with a smirk and lightly groans. "Well... There's so many minor variations on the same dish that each have a different name. For example..."

She quickly recites through different names in a variety of emin dialects, mentioning the differing traits, and compares them to each other. Numerous examples later, she sighs. Craning her head around her seat, she whispers towards Bach. "And don't get me started on the other side of my family. I have almost seen blood drawn between my great aunts at whether something is technically a burrito or an enchilada."

Blinking out his surprise, Bach slowly nods and gradually attempts to visibly process the litany of terms heard in the last minute. "Huh. Yeah."

A twitch flicks up Cideeda's tail briefly. The humvee slows down to stop in front of a red light. Cideeda's emerald green eyes shift over and stare towards Sotalia, focusing upon the brief glimpses of the paper list tilting into view. Sotalia pauses a moment, catches Cideeda's spying, and hides the list against her chest, staring playfully at Cideeda. "What are YOU looking for?"

Smirking, Cideeda raps her claw tips upon the steering wheel and glances away innocently. "Just checking to see if all the ingredients for what I want are there."

Sotalia presents a stoic front, nodding slowly, and hums to herself. "We'll see... We'll see..."

----

Gerald places his hands on his lumbar, leans back, and stretches out his lower back. Walking over to his bed, he plops down and eyes the store-bought, insulated paper cup in Samantha's hands. He maintains his reservations. Seconds later, he grips onto it. Bringing it in close to his nose, he sniffs the air above it. Pondering briefly, he lets out a begrudging sigh and slowly shakes his head. "Gods damn it. Well... Thank you, Samantha, for the spiced chai latte."

Slowly tipping back the beverage, he draws a long swig and drags out an exhale. "Okay. Since I'm being actively bribed with my favorite drink in the morning, let's figure out these next episodes."

Samantha smiles happily, pulls a chair over, and presents a series of notes upon her clipboard. "GOOD. First, I think we have plenty for a domestic episode with some mixed in highlights for tomorrow. But, I'm trying to figure out how to prep for next week's episode."

Continuing to sip his drink, Gerald nods, listening, and motions with his free hand for the pitch. Samantha flips over some papers on her clipboard and taps a pen upon a guild mission brief, smirking. "Something that's honestly simple and local. We've got a series of straight forward survey update jobs on a bunch of really quiet ruins. It requires internal exploration, but the last yearly sweep was clean."

A sly grin parts her mouth, and she perks up her scheming eyebrow. "BUT, there are plenty of dark places and quiet tension over dusty, scary ruins. With a little editing and hopefully a few dramatic shots, we can play up the thrill and danger just enough."

Gerald narrows his gaze upon the page, allowing his eyes to sort through the literature on the document. Seconds later, he begins to nod thoughtfully and hums to himself. "Yeah. That actually could work out. Stage a few cinematic shots for added effect, and let the sound crews have a little fun with the audience..."

Searching his head, he wrestles a grimace. "Probably drum up the spookiness with a few well placed noises. Don't think crews would have any major objections."

A spark of joy lights up on Samantha's face, and she sifts through her notes. "That sounds great. Maybe if we're lucky some rodent will jump out and scare them. Without that laser pistol, Veevi is going to be a lot easier... AND SAFER to spook."

A dry smirk pulls across Gerald's face, and he chuckles with a sinister tinge. "My money is on that she tries to mend up her relationship enough with Chad to use him as a shield to hide behind."

Nodding at the notion, Samantha rolls her hazel eyes and halts her page flipping upon another section of official paperwork copies. "Now, Howie is finishing up the details, but we think we've secured a smaller appearance event..."

A devious glint catches Samantha's eye. "With a twist."

Gerald abruptly halts tipping back his spiced chai latte, gradually levels it off, and furrows his unconvinced brow at Samantha. "Oh. Really? What inane idea has he tried to pitch now?"

Samantha grins wide and turns the clipboard papers towards Gerald. "Invitation only appearance! And..."

She flips over the next page. "Run a contest for the invites!"

Searching his mind, Gerald rocks his head side to side weighing the possibilities and ponders out loud. "Huh. Okay. THAT could prove to be an interesting twist. Get more of the... Dedicated fans out. Plenty of potential for awkward and awesome fan interaction moments. That could drum up the ratings, especially if you make it require watching the episodes closely for some hidden phrase or other piece of information."

Glancing at the top of his mind, he wrestles a tight smirk between the sides of his mouth. "No... That... That actually could work out."

Writing down the suggestions, Samantha deviously giggles and nods. "Oh, especially when Howie rigs a few of the winners to be from Modoran's not so adoring fans."

Rolling his dark brown eyes blatantly, Gerald mutters and tips back the beverage in hand. He levels off the drink and groans. "Gods fucking dammit, Howard. Should expect shit like this at this point."

----

Bach slumps down on one side of the couch, resting his head back, and yawns. "I think that's everything."

Pausing a moment, he tilts his head to the side and faces Sotalia. "Is that everything?"

Sotalia cracks her eye open, stretching her arms out upon the other side of the couch, and grumbles. "Gods. I hope so. I've brewed fresh batches of most of the potions that I know how to make. And... I've gone through my pouch belt inventory. Twice."

Slowly sitting herself up from the floor in front of the coffee table, Dretphi rolls her shoulders and rubs her back. "Should be sufficient. If not, we have other problems."

Aristespha rests her head upon her crossed arms on the dining table, grumbles out a tired sigh, and groans out. "At this point, if we need anything more along the way, I am perfectly fine with buying it and sticking GAA with the bill as a work expense. I will figure out a way to categorize through their system."

Sebastian surveys the stacks of paperwork and scattered tablets of contract literature upon the tabletop and smiles reassuringly to Aristespha. "I'm sure you can... Somehow..."

The kitchen door to the garage opens up, and Cideeda steps on through. Brushing off her hands, she walks up next to the kitchen table and pulls out a chair. "Well, the humvee is packed and ready to go tomorrow. Nothing is obviously wrong after the third inspection. So... We should at least make it to Perimeter."

In the lull of domestic quiet, the team idles peacefully in the living area, the afternoon sun radiating in through the sliding glass door. Minutes later, Bach rubs his stomach and queries the room. "Anyone else hungry?"

Sotalia nods, slowly pulls herself off the cushioned back of the couch, and rubs her eyes. "I am..."

A sly smile appears on her, and she eyes Bach with a playfully accusatory gaze. "I'd suggest my yam shepherd's pie, but SOMEONE devastated that for breakfast this morning."

Darting his blue eyes to either side of him, Bach averts his gaze away from Sotalia, concealing his guilt. Sotalia shifts her amused stare to Dretphi and rests her chin upon the top of her wrist. "AND... Someone else annihilated the leftover malva pudding all by herself."

She chuckles to herself, her pride beaming out with Dretphi's sigh of admission. Sotalia swings her glance over towards Aristespha and Cideeda. "And, the lean, mean clean up crew made the rest of the mutton and potato enchiladas vanish. I distinctly remember someone drinking the last bits of the sauce."

Exchanging glances with Cideeda, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes and smirks defiantly. "I am NOT apologizing."

Sotalia fluffs back her fiery orange, wavy hair, crosses her legs, and rests her feet on the coffee table satisfied. "Of course not. I take it as a compliment..."

Furrowing her brow, she twists her mouth and sighs. "Still... I'm hungry, and I'm too tired to cook."

Dretphi nods in agreement, laying herself back down on the floor, and exhales out her fatigue. "I concur. Want to rest before tomorrow."

Sebastian's ethereal form studies the team and hums. "So... Delivery it is. But, what?"

A spark of inspiration appears in Cideeda's emerald green eyes, and her furry ears perk up. "Fval Spice. It'll be a while before we can enjoy it again."

Blinking a few times, Bach cranes his head over towards Cideeda, puzzling. "You think they'll deliver? I mean, I think we're pretty far outside their delivery range."

Cideeda pulls a sly grin across her light brown face, pulls her aetherphone out of her shorts pocket with one hand, and rests her other hand confidently on her hip. "Oh, I think I know a trick for that."

Sliding through the menus, she taps a contact entry from the list, and the calling sequence plays out on her phone screen. Pressing the speakerphone button, Cideeda holds the device out in front of her and waits. Noyando's voice sounds out from the other side of the phone conversation. "Fval Spice. Pick-up or Delivery?"

With a confident smile, Cideeda presents a business inquiry in a dialect of fvalian. Noyando states the current policy in kind, wandering towards a curious tone. Cideeda proposes an exception to the guidelines, tinting her voice with a graceful, hopeful plea. Uncertainty and deliberation grips Noyando's apprehensive reply, and he remains unconvinced. A toothy grin forms on Cideeda's face. Directing her voice at her aetherphone, she carefully lays out a generous percentage and significant monetary amount in an entrepreneurial coloring of fvalian. A long pause from Noyando follows. He pardons himself. His voice momentarily sounds distant, conversing with another woman in fvalian. He relays the percentage and amount. The woman calls back in an encouraging, very insistent tone. Noyando's voice rises out of the speakerphone with an agreeable tone.

A proud smile emerges upon Cideeda, and she announces to the team. "What does everyone want? And order extra for tomorrow, I promised a big order."

----

A modern gray sedan turns into the driveway leading to the ranch style house and parks behind the humvee. The car's running lamps illuminate the surrounding grass and pavement with a slight highlight against the summer's early evening ambient glow. Noyando exits from the driver's side and opens the back door. Standing up from the passenger's side door, Mera quickly accesses the rear door on the opposite side and checks through a list. Both Noyando and Mera read off items from the list, separate marked paper bags from the collection and divide up all between themselves. With a satisfied smile, Mera crosses off the last item on the stack of papers and nods to Noyando. "That is everything for this order and that should be the last of the orders for the run."

Motioning towards the trunk, Noyando perks his black furry ears and glances over. "Nothing in the trunk?"

Mera shakes her head, slipping her arms through the rolled paper handles of the bags, and smiles. "No. I moved everything up here two deliveries ago."

Long sigh of relief later, Noyando hoists up his share of the cargo and grins appreciatively at Mera. "Thank you for helping. It is very hard to keep track of so many orders and deliver quickly, too."

The two navigate around the nice, gray sedan, and walk up swiftly to the front door. Noyando balances the weight of the bags of food and manages to knock on the door. Leveling her arm out, Mera presses a finger against the old doorbell button. Both Noyando's black furry ears and Mera's very long pointed ears twitch at the sounds of movement up to the door and activity behind it. Cideeda opens the door inwards and greets Noyando in pleasant fvalian. Quickly noticing all heavy loads in and on the arms of both Noyando and Mera, Sotalia starts plucking off bags from Mera. "Let me get those."

With a load of food bags, Sotalia rushes back into the house towards the dining table. Mera takes a moment and flexes and stretches the fatigue out of her arms. Her attention drifts around the area, and she studies the ranch style house, idly glancing around the area. Sotalia returns with her arms ready, and Noyando hands over a few heavier bags. Freeing up his arms comfortably, he produces the receipt from his pocket and presents it to Cideeda. Checking the total, Cideeda deftly sorts through a bundle of paper currency, counting out a generous sum. She splits off the collection of bills and hands them over to Noyando with a toothy grin. "As promised, the total with an appropriate tip to compensate you for your time and effort. And thank you so much for making an exception for us."

Noyando passes over the final bag to Cideeda, inspects the money, and nods graciously with a slight bow to Cideeda. "A fair deal. You called at the right time. Any later, I would not be able to leave."

A humored smirk appears on his face, and he signs with a laugh. "Also, my wife insisted I take the order after she heard your offer."

With a wave and smile, Noyando points towards his car and nods respectfully. "If you excuse me, the dinner rush is soon. My wife will not be happy if she has to handle it alone."

Cideeda smiles back understandingly and motions towards the rest of the team sorting through the food. "You two have a good night. I need to claim my food before someone does it for me."

The front door closes. Noyando turns towards Mera and swiftly pulls a calculated sum from the cash in his hands. "Mera? Here is your share of the tip."

Blinking her crimson eyes back to awareness, Mera pivots around at Noyando and notices the sum of funds. She grabs hold of them and springs her eyes wide open in surprise. "OH. Wow. Um, are you sure?"

Walking towards his car, Noyando nods gratefully and chuckles. "Yes. You earned it. By myself, I would not have been able to figure out the best route. And, you made sure all the orders were right."

Mera slowly steps down the front steps. A glint of head lamp light draws her attention away from the money in her hands. Pausing mid-step, she angles her head around and squints her eyes into the contrasting darkness of the open garage. Her face blanks, spotting familiar crystals piled upon the concrete floor around a box of golem parts. Her mind fights back a surge of stark, cold recognition. Shifting between grimaces and cringes, Meredosia mentally wrestles back memories, struggles with past desires, and suppresses old ambitions. Noyando calls out from his sedan. "Mera? Is something wrong?"

Fluttering her crimson eyes back to the present, Mera shakes the thoughts hard out of her mind and pivots around, facing Noyando with a smile. "Um. No. Sorry."

She sprints over to the passengers side of the car, slipping into the front seat, and chuckles off some embarrassment. "I am sorry. I thought I saw something really weird in their garage. I did not mean to pry, but I could not help it."

Noyando puts the sedan in gear, laughing with a humored nod. "Oh. I understand. Adventurers are strange to me. They have a habit to collect the oddest things. They tip nice, though."

Mera partially agrees with the sentiment. Her stare lingers upon the shady darkness of the garage, and Noyando backs the car out onto the road.

-89-

Deep dense forests border both sides of the long highway, the humvee rolling along at a steady pace. Sitting in the front passenger's seat, Sotalia glances over to the side out her window and squints at a passing road sign. "Only a few hundred kilometers till we reach Phis."

Bach blinks the early morning drowsiness from his eyes and stretches out his neck and shoulders against his seat, fighting against a yawn. "Are we actually going to try to make that in one day?"

Flicking her furry ear back from the comment, Cideeda flutters emerald green eyes and grumbles with a frown. "As much as I'd like to... I don't think so. These roads are getting rougher, and I really don't want to push it too hard."

She furrows her light brown brow and glances off side briefly, patting her steering wheel. "I just got everything running nice. Really don't want to knock the alignment out by hitting a pothole too fast."

Dretphi gazes up from studying a road atlas and ponders out loud. "We should travel past the halfway point today. Then, a comfortable trip tomorrow to Phis."

Tapping through a number of messages on her tablet, Aristespha sighs and sorts through the junk mail, playing with her silvery blue hair between her fingers. "Depending on how far we manage today, I have a few possible places we can stay. Thankfully, since this is a main highway, there are actually decent, passable motels to stay at. I figure we should take our time in Phis and relax. Enjoy the stay."

An eager smirk appears on Dretphi's tan face, and a shiver of excitement wiggles up her body. "The barbecue. Hard to choose which place."

Sotalia cracks a sly grin, peeks around her seat towards Dretphi, and shows her phone screen. "I know! We'll have at least lunch and dinner to choose a place to eat. Maybe after breakfast the next day, we can get some fresh to-go for lunch later on."

Picking up her aetherphone next to her, Dretphi leans forward on the far back seat, tapping to an aethersite, and stretches her arm out, showing Sotalia her phone display. "Have you seen this one?"

Quickly reading a bit of text from the screen, Sotalia returns her attention to her phone and navigates through to a different menu. "No... I'll have to check that one out."

With a smirk, Cideeda shakes her head of short multicolored hair, gradually adjusts the steering wheel, and stares off into her mind. "I hope we get a good view of the big Train Depot there from the hotel. It's amazing how they run that whole operation and keep those land trains running."

An entrepreneurial, toothy grin graces her, and she narrows her emerald stare with a quiet chuckle. "And the deals that can be made..."

The humvee cruises down the wide highway, gracefully navigating around rougher patches of road, and follows the gradual curves in the path. Minutes later, the vehicle slows down into a short line of traffic condensing behind a number of Chrome Crusader trucks. Narrowing her glare forward, Cideeda groans out her irritation. "Gods... What's going on HERE that Chrome Crusaders would be out for?"

Aristespha blinks her violet eyes, twisting her mouth, and squints down at her tablet. "I do not remember anything about this... Sebastian? Do you remember if we read anything about this?"

From the sword resting between Bach and Aristespha, Sebastian's voice resonates out with a puzzled tone. "Uh, no, dear. I don't remember hearing or seeing any bulletins about this. Maybe some weather advisories. But, that's not for another day or so. This is new to me."

Studying the flow ahead, Cideeda rocks her head side to side and shrugs her shoulders, commenting calmly. "Well, it seems to be moving, at least. Looks like they're just taking turns sending all the traffic down one lane."

The humvee rolls up to an uniformed Chrome Crusader with a stop sign. Cideeda rolls down her window, waiting. A young man steps close to the window, tips his hat respectfully, and points down the way. "Sorry for the hold up, everyone. But, after this next batch of cars, we'll get you through. It's only a few kilometers, and then you'll be free and in the clear."

Nodding appreciatively, Cideeda lifts an intrigued brow and motions over towards the number of armored up Chrome Crusaders in the distant tall grass of on the right side of the road. "Thank you. So... Is there anything we should be careful of? Maybe, keep an eye out for?"

The young man glances over in the direction of the soldiers, awkwardly smiles, and stumbles into a reassuring tone. "Oh, um... Nothing too bad. We're just here as a standard precautionary measure. Probably nothing will be happening around here. A whole lot of boring, I assure you."

Nodding to the man, Cideeda smiles with a cheery tone. "Well, thank you for keeping us safe."

The young man bows slightly and walks down the forming line of traffic behind the humvee. Cideeda rolls up the window. Wrestling a grimace, she pivots her head around towards the team and frowns slightly with a suspecting color to her cadence. "Yeah... Something is going on somewhere nearby."

She points a claw tipped finger at a large metal figure hunching low in the brush, grumbling. "I don't think they'd have that anti-armor mech at the ready, hiding over there, if they didn't expect something to happen."

The rest of the team peers out through the windows. Within the dense thicket of shrubs, the war machine gradually sweeps the aim of a large caliber arm cannon towards the forest, each team member quickly spotting the humanoid robot. Bach quirks his surprised brow and glances over his shoulder at Cideeda. "Uh, if the models of yours I've seen are accurate, that's a thirty millimeter autocannon."

Dretphi slowly nods at the information, her recognition growing. "Yes. Not a weapon to have ready for no reason."

Shifting her attention towards a group of uniformed Chrome Crusaders, Sotalia hums in thought and searches the scene. "Maybe we can pester one of them to tell us what's going on..."

She squints and scans the line ups of officials. "Now... Who here... Looks to be the one in charge-"

Her golden eyes widen, and an evil grin graces her light tan face, touching the dark gray edges. She rolls down her window, rests her elbow up on the door, and props her head upon her hand. Drawing a long, deep breath, her gaze falls upon a middle aged man with short graying hair, and she shouts out. "OH, QUINCY!"

The man freezes in place, tensing up his shoulders, and slowly pivots towards the source. Searching around the vicinity, he settles his stare upon the waving Sotalia. Blinking a few times, he musters up an awkward smile, waves back to Sotalia, and slowly walks his way over. Sotalia twists her mouth at the corner and chuckles darkly, the man reluctantly navigating the road block. Directing her voice with her hand, she lets out a strained quack. The man startles wide-eyed, sprints up into a run, and slides to a stop right next to Sotalia's door. "OH, for fuck's sake, Sotalia! Keep it down!"

He leans closer and lowers his voice. "I'll have you know, that duck is STILL alive and well."

Easing back into her seat with a blatant grin of impish satisfaction, Sotalia giggles and sighs with a smile. "OH. What's the point of having a little blackmail if I can't use it occasionally. So... What's new with you, Quincy?"

Quincy briefly grumbles, draws in a breath, and snorts out a laugh. "The usual. Trying to keep recruits from embarrassing themselves and making sure the convoy doesn't accidentally leave any behind. Or..."

He glances off to the side with a humored smirk. "On purpose... Despite how TEMPTING it is."

Peering into the vehicle, he politely waves to the rest of the team. "Hello, everyone. Um, so, if you don't mind me asking, where are all of you going THIS TIME?"

Sotalia perks her eyebrow, tossing her fiery orange, wavy hair back, and grins. "Perimeter."

Quincy blinks a few times and nods impressed. "DAMN... Now, that's a run and half. Hope the trip is easy going for you. That route isn't nice even during a good week. I think we honestly stopped taking contracts going that way simply because we got tired of pulling trucks out of the muck the roads can turn into."

Pointing out to the forest, Sotalia narrows a prying stare at Quincy and curiously inquires. "What's going out here? You all usually don't have that much firepower out just waiting for nothing to happen."

Glancing around briefly, Quincy studies the surrounding personnel and leans upon the humvee, whispering to the team. "Well... I don't know all the details, yet. Still waiting to talk to the front line guys. BUT... My guess is something stirred up a place with a bunch of autonomous robots. Weirdest fucking thing really."

He stands back up, listening to radio chatter in his ear piece, and directs the team towards a woman with signal flags. "Wish I could talk more, but your group is up."

Pausing a moment in thought, he smiles at Sotalia and nods. "Send me a message tonight, and I'll see if I got any more info by then."

He lingers a moment and lowers his voice towards Sotalia. "Is Sebastian still... In a sword?"

Sebastian's ethereal voice resonates loudly from the blade on the floor of the cab. "Yes, Quincy."

Quincy blinks, surprised in the moment, and slowly shakes his head. "Gods. That's so fucked up, man. Really hope they get you out of it soon."

Sebastian appreciatively sounds out from the sword. "You and me both. Let us know if anything weird happens around here."

----

Stretching out his back, Bach steps along the sidewalk, flexing out his tension, and stands in the afternoon sun. A gust of wind blows the scent of distant sea spray across the hotel parking lot and sways the canopies of deciduous, coniferous, and palm trees in the area. Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia stream out from the front automatic glass doors of the nearby building, and the team gathers around. Comparing the aethersite on her phone with the site upon Dretphi's phone display, Sotalia furrows her brow. "So, is your choice or mine closer? Because, I really don't feel like sitting in a car right now."

Dretphi scrolls down the list information, reviews a small map, and glances over at Sotalia. "Yours. Mine is seaside."

Sotalia nods in agreement, taps the route finding button, and points in a direction. "Yeah. Okay. This is just a walk down the main road on this side of the bay."

The team travels down the street, and Cideeda perks a curious eyebrow over at Aristespha. "Not a bad place you found. A little cheaper than a hotel along the Azure Sea?"

Nodding, Aristespha relaxes with the wind blowing back her long, silvery blue hair. "Oh. Yes. Same features, but just over a kilometer away from the main beach made all the difference. If we were here for the beach, I would have certainly gone with another choice."

She rolls her violet eyes, briefly grimacing. "I also figured, since it would be the last good place to overnight, we would try to enjoy it fully. All the reviews mentioned that bay side hotels were significantly more peaceful and quiet. But, close enough to walk to everything."

From the sword at Aristespha's side, Sebastian comments to the group. "Yeah, not going to lie, we're going to be roughing it for the next few days."

Resting her hands on her hips, Sotalia grins eagerly and struts down the sidewalk. "Now THAT sounds like justification for a little indulgence to me. I wonder what their drink specials are like."

Bach furrows his brow, the wind tossing the white streak in his brown hair. He searches his mind with his blue eyes and glances between the other members of the team. "Don't know. I've only heard of Phis for their barbecue, music, and trade. Don't remember anything unique in the way of alcohol. Maybe some local breweries?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Cideeda snorts with a toothy grin, gazing up to Bach. "You don't need to have your own around here, when you can easily get your hands on all the different liquors out there. Big trade hub, hence a big selection."

The team continues down the main road, passing by different shops, bars, clubs, and other local establishments. The group admires the sights, and a long convoy of large multi-axle trucks roar on pass, plowing through the air. Stirring wind pushes past the crew, and Cideeda's furry ears flick off strands of her shorter multi-colored hair. She watches the heavy haulers roll fast onto a massive bridge and traverse over the bay towards the other side. Seconds later, another series of large trucks run down the main street and follow the same route as the previous. An excited smile appears on Cideeda's light brown face, and she recognizes the logos and color-coded flags. Noticing Cideeda's interest, Bach glances down curiosity. "So... What were those?"

Cideeda shifts her focus up to Bach, smirking amused. "Oh. Those were Train local haulers. I'm guessing that those were the biggest vehicles they have that can fit through these streets. I think they are heading to the Train Depot on the other side of the bay."

Bach nods, following Cideeda's pointing finger towards distant industrial structures on the other side of the bay and a large chain of buildings in the background. The team follows Sotalia's aetherphone guidance towards a shoreline, open air restaurant. Their eagerness swells with each aroma packed wave of cooking smoke the coastline gust guides over to them. The host seats them at a large table with a clear view of the bay, and the crew scours over the menus at the table. A minute later, an emin waiter addresses the team with a bright smile and cheery tone. "Thank y'all for coming down to Bay Side Ribs. My name is Erdin, and I'll be taking care of y'all tonight. You got any questions before I get your drinks?"

Sotalia grins towards Aristespha's smirk and inquires eagerly. "Any drink specials going on?"

Erdin grants a quick nod, deftly whips out a pamphlet from his apron pocket, and places it between Aristespha and Sotalia. "Oh. Plenty. We also have a few menu items for just this week, since it's a special occasion here in Phis."

Furrowing his brow, Bach turns his head, puzzling at Erdin. "Huh. So, what's the occasion? I mean, we just got into town."

With a delightedly slick smile, Erdin motions with a wave of his hand across the bay, explaining eagerly. "Well, y'all are just lucky then. Land Train Number Five just arrived last night and is slowly doing its loop through the depot. And, of course, Bay Side Ribs is happy to offer the freshest cuts of meat from the west, smoked to perfection. For just this week, we have menu items you won't get to taste for another few months if y'all are lucky to visit us again any time soon."

The group's attention wanders across the bay, squinting and searching. A grin appears on Erdin's face, and he points out, hinting the team in a direction. "Keep your eye on the big stuff in the background... And watch carefully. What you see isn't what you think it is."

The scrutinizing stares of Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia at the table join the hidden visage of Sebastian under the deck peering out. The team concentrates and carefully observes, surprise sparking upon each of their faces. They watch the long series of buildings in the background behind the industrial structures gradually, constantly shift over time. From the side of one of the moving masses, a large robotic arm drops out of sight from a resting position at the top. Seconds later, the heavy crane hoists up a large local Train hauler and brings through opening bay doors near the top of a massive land train segment.

----

Gazing off into the darkening skies west, Bach narrows his eyes, reflexively blinking at the flashes of lightning arcing between the clouds. He turns his head towards Cideeda with an uneasy smile and taps his finger upon his window. "Looks like a storm is coming off the sea."

Easing her foot off the accelerator, Cideeda deftly turns the wheel, carefully steering the humvee around a large dip in the cracked and worn road. She grumbles to herself, drooping her furry ears briefly, and sighs. "Yeah. And, these roads have taken a beating lately. Gods. No one has been out to repair these in MONTHS."

Angling the steering wheel in the other direction, she wrestles with an uneasy grimace. "We'll be at a crawl if we have to drive these in the dark AND a storm."

Aristespha squints her violet eyes, peering out ahead through the front windshield, and checks the passing road signs. "We should be close to the place I found for the night. The town is called..."

With Aristespha searching her tablet for the exact information, Sotalia furrows her brow and focuses her stare ahead at a rusted, damaged sign, smirking out a sarcastic tone. "Wino?"

Blinking back to attention, Aristespha notices the partial lettering and rolls her eyes. "That is PART of the name."

Turning his head track to the broken signage, Bach snorts out a chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah, probably more fitting, if they don't even bother to fix the town sign at least once every few years."

Cideeda navigates the humvee down a highway offramp and slows to a stop at a desolate intersection. "Okay. So... Where is this place, again?"

Peering out the side windows, Dretphi leans from one to another, squinting her steely gray eyes, and frowns at the darkening clouds choking out the late afternoon sun. "Not much around."

Aristespha checks the digital map on her tablet, orientates herself, quickly inspecting the landmarks, and spots the distant glow of artificial light down the road eastwards. "There. Make a left here, it should be up ahead."

The humvee rolls through the turn and speeds down the rough, almost gravel roadway. Minutes later, the vehicle pulls under a large, aged stained metal awning in front of a run down, long motel building. The team settles their attention upon the dark, quiet structure, waiting. Over the idle seconds, expressions slowly sour and apprehension fills the cab. Concentrating his scrutinizing stare into the still, dim glass of the lobby, Bach lifts a reluctant eyebrow and twists his mouth hesitantly. "Um... I'm not getting the feeling that this place is... Well. Open."

Sotalia's golden eyes dart around between the dark, empty windows, and she curls her upper lip into a sneer. "Yeah. None of the main lights are even on. Is this place supposed to be open?"

Focusing her frustration upon the tablet, Aristespha grumbles out her building irritation. "Everything I read up SAID it would be OPEN... I even called ahead..."

Sebastian's ethereal visage materializes in the middle aisle just behind Aristespha's seat, and he winces at the chain of evuukian curses muttering out from Aristespha. "Well. We could just knock on the front door and see if anyone is in there."

Everyone momentarily glances over towards the eerily still, rundown motel building. Each watches the gloomy, blackened storm clouds drift overhead and eastwards behind the structure. Distant bright flashes of lightning from the west cast unnerving shadows into empty rooms. Gusts of wind stir up dust, sand, and debris around the cracked brick walls. Weak thunder rolls over, softly vibrating the cab of the humvee. Attention gradually pivots back upon Sebastian's ghostly form, and he releases an unamused sigh with a long roll of his eyes. "OR... I GUESS, I can just phase in there and check..."

He narrows his stare at the haunted ambiance forming. "And really complete this whole theme we've got going on..."

An appreciative smile graces Aristespha, and she nods with an assuring tone. "Thank you, Sebastian. I will see if I can call anyone."

Phasing up through the humvee roof, Sebastian flies up to the building, landing at the front, and walks through the door. He cautiously inspects the empty, unlit lobby, the flickering display of a lone snack machine, and the vacant front desk area. A harsh chime of an old phone rings out. Sebastian's eyes dart around to a few wooden doors. A long chain of rings later, silence returns to the dated motif, and Sebastian slowly shakes his head. Quickly sinking his head through the few doors, he rolls his translucent blue eyes and fades away. Reappearing in the aisle of the humvee cab, he hovers down into a seat on the floor and crosses his arms with a frown. "Nothing. The phone rang, but I didn't hear or see any signs of life. I bet someone ditched work early."

The all encompassing roar of rain surrounds the humvee, and waves of water spray underneath the overhead awning onto the gravel lot. Cideeda shifts the vehicle in a park, shuts down the powerplant, and groans. "Well... We can hang out here for a bit and let the storm pass over..."

A sly, toothy grin appears on her face, and she gazes her emerald green eyes across the team in the cab, tapping her claws tips together. "OR, I can... Gain access to a few of the rooms for the night?"

Aristespha lifts a judging brow, Sebastian mulls over the concept, Dretphi weighs the option, Bach grimaces uncertainly, and an evil grin grows upon Sotalia. Cideeda gauges the reactions and smiles pleasantly, shrugging her shoulders. "Of course, I'll make sure the owner is compensated at market rate..."

She mumbles under her breath, lowering her furry ears, and averts her eyes, flexing her claw tipped fingers. "After a significant discount for lack of service..."

Sebastian dons an amused smirk and sighs. "Yeah. Probably not the best idea."

Aristespha grumbles to herself and settles back into her seat. "It is also very troublesome to itemize expenses predicated upon multiple counts of breaking and entering."

Tapping upon her phone screen, Dretphi studies an animation loop of weather radar data, contorting her face in thought, and cocks her head to the side. "This is a small storm cell. A break after this passes. Other storms afterwards."

Moments later, a bright flash overhead illuminates the world below, a wave of thunder vibrates the humvee, and the droning rain falls in obscuring sheets across the area. Sebastian briefly watches gusts of wind send sprays of water against the sides of the vehicle and shrugs his shoulders. "Well. I say we wait an hour or so. Then, figure out what to do after that."

The team settles into their distractions. Dretphi quickly adjusts the pillows on the back bench and opens up a graphic novel to a bookmark. Aristespha eases back into her seat, noticing Sebastian watching her tablet over her shoulder, and adjusts the aim for him with a loving smile. Cideeda retrieves a small piece of golem crystal from a pack under her seat and concentrates upon it in the palm of her hand. The small chunk of magical mineral gradually, shakily moves, faint flows brushing against it. Glances up from his aetherphone, Bach smirks at the progress and comments at Cideeda. "That's pretty good. You want to try something a little challenging?"

Cideeda's furry ears perk up, and she cranes her head around the front driver's seat eagerly. "Sure!"

Bach points to the crystal curiously. "You have any more of those with you?"

Quickly reaching down under seat, Cideeda retrieves a few similar chunks of magically reactive rocks and gives one to Bach. Her emerald eyes blink. Bach positions the crystal in the palm of his hand. Cideeda watches expectantly. With a faint blue glow in his eyes, the small, cylindrical chunk rights itself upwards upon a point. Bach smiles and gradually tilts his hand, the golem crystal maintains the angle relative to his palm. "A lot harder than it looks and really great practice."

An appreciative smile grows upon Cideeda, and she quickly pores her full focus upon keeping the righted crystal in her hand, Bach occasionally catching the mineral when it escapes. Half an hour later, Sotalia blinks her golden eyes, twisting her mouth, and rolls her shoulders. Over the minutes, she sits back up in her seat, squirming uncomfortably around, and crosses her legs with a straining wince. Cringing briefly, she glances back towards Aristespha and awkwardly questions. "So... Does this place have, like, any other numbers you can try calling? Maybe another location the owner might be at? Um... Anything?"

Aristespha slides her eyes up from the show playing on her tablet and cocks her head to the side, puzzling. Slowly shaking her head, she frowns slightly and sighs. "No. I did not find any other means of contact..."

A blatant wave of unease colors Sotalia's pleading frown, and she carefully breathes out her discomfort. Aristespha lifts up an intrigued brow, studies Sotalia's body language, and notices an empty, extra large drink cup in the holder on Sotalia's side of the center control. Rolling her violet eyes, she pulls an amused smirk across her mouth, chuckling softly. "Really, if you need to use the bathroom, just say so. I will accompany you if you feel that uncomfortable."

Sotalia blinks hard, glances briefly over at the eerie gloom looming around the empty motel, and reveals her objection to Aristespha. "Thank you, but... Where? I hope you're NOT suggesting outside, around HERE?"

Aristespha dismissively shakes her head and motions towards the dark motel. "There's obviously no one here, it's not that-"

A bright flash from the storm above brilliantly contrasts stark shadows along surfaces and into the rooms of the long, empty motel. Fighting against her own failing courage, Aristespha grits her teeth and mumbles. "... Scary..."

Bach scans over property and glances over the team, frowning uneasily. "Yeah... Um,I mean, I have not been adventuring that long. But, I know I have been to far more welcoming ruins than this place right now. At those places you have certain expectations. This place?"

He swallows his unease and lowers his voice. "I'm getting body in the ice maker vibes."

Narrowing an investigative stare out the front windshield, Cideeda rocks her head side to side in deliberation and shrugs her shoulders. "I think it has cleared up enough. I'm up for leaving this creepy place."

N

She starts up the humvee's powerplant and aims her voice back. "Is there a rest area close, down the highway?"

A few moments of sorting through aetherphone, tablet, and map later, Dretphi locates a point of interest with Aristespha's help. "Yes. Twenty kilometers."

Nodding with the humvee's console status lights flickering through a nominal pattern, Cideeda puts the vehicle into gear and secures herself in the seat. "I can manage that much. Buckle up!"

Aristespha grumbles and glares over at the motel. "Try my best to arrange everything, AND, STILL, these things happen."

Sebastian smiles comfortingly at Aristespha, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't worry, dear. If they're this bad at staffing the place, I'd hate to think how bad they are at cleaning the rooms."

Blinking blankly a few times, Aristespha shudders off the thought, squirming in her seat. "Um, yes. Good point, Sebastian."

----

Groggily rolling his head away from the beams of mid morning sun shining into the humvee, Bach fights against the persistent draw of snoozing off in the quiet cab. He flutters his eyes back to consciousness and searches the space for the source of a snore. Glancing to the front and back seats, he settles his attention over to his side and watches Aristespha slumber with growing volume. Under an uncombed, messy cover of long, silvery blue hair, Aristespha unconsciously balances her head upon a hand propped against the humvee window. At the apex of a long, loud snore, she snorts, squirming in place, and exhales lazily. Sebastian's ethereal visage forms in the humvee aisle, and he narrows a humored gaze upon the sleeping Aristespha. Leaning close to Bach, he whispers with an amused smirk. "She'll never admit this, but when she sleeps like this... She sometimes drools. Bad."

Bach squelches a snort, shaking his head at this brother. "Oh. Yeah... I bet she'd never admit it."

Sebastian glances over to Bach, rolling his eyes with a smile, and widens a gap between his thumb and forefinger. "Seriously, bro. I've caught her with spit stains this big on her shoulder, and she'll flat out deny it."

Pondering with a smirk, Bach lifts an intrigued brow and motions to his aetherphone. "Have you tried recording it?"

Gritting his teeth, Sebastian averts his eyes and contemplates the repercussions between the rocks of his head side to side. "Yeah... I've thought about that. But... I didn't think it was worth the war of calling out our bad habits that might start."

He settles a loving gaze upon Aristespha and sighs quietly with a longing tinge. Muffled conversations from familiar voices surround the vehicle. The front doors open up. Cideeda hops into the driver's seat. Sotalia slides up in the passenger's seat, balancing a tray of different rest stop beverages in her lap, and sorts through the labels. "Okay. I did my best to mix up your orders from what they had available. Let's hope my misspent teenage years at a coffee shop pay off."

Drawing a long sip from her cup, Cideeda licks her lips and shrugs her shoulders, placing the beverage in her side's cup holder. "It was a surprisingly good selection in there."

Sotalia pulls up one drink, reads it off, and extends her arm out back towards Aristespha. "One black tea and coffee for the sleepy girl."

Sebastian and Bach glance over, noticing the alert and awake Aristespha rigidly sitting up. Calmly accepting the beverage, Aristespha dismissively rolls her violet eyes and slowly sniffs in the aroma of the drink in the insulated cup. "Sleepy? I was well awake before you this morning."

With a tightening smile, Sebastian catches Aristespha's attention, motions to his face, and traces a path out from the corner of his mouth and down his chin. Aristespha furrows her brow, blinks blankly, and springs her eyes wide, a flush of embarrassment overwhelming the blue and gray hints on her face. She awkwardly sneaks a wipe of her hand and dries off a patch of spittle off her mouth. Confirming with a nod, Sebastian playfully weathers the faux glare from Aristespha.

Bach opens his door, hops out, and slides his seat up. He holds a large, full paper sack for Dretphi, and she slips through into the humvee. Passes back the bag inside, Bach sniffs the lingering aroma, moving his seat back in place. "That... That actually smells really good."

With Bach settling in his seat, Sotalia presents Bach's beverage and dons a guilty grin. "The finest rest stop food we could find. We MAY have gone a little overboard..."

She shrugs her shoulders. "But, they totally had EVERYTHING you could think of there."

Cideeda leans over her seat and points to the paper sack in front of Dretphi, grinning excitedly. "You can tell we're near a port, because you never find this stuff inland."

Unpacking the huge bag, Dretphi arranges the different packaged snacks into the view of everyone. She hands off a few items to those showing interest. Quickly securing a bundle of treats with grath lettering on the wrappers, she hides the treasure off to her side. The team distributes the variety of snacks and drinks, and Sebastian gazes between the group. "So. A bit of a late start today, but I think it's workable."

Dretphi finishes a bite into a partially unwrapped pastry, savoring the moment, and joins the topic. "We are not far. We could arrive at Perimeter today. Late night. Possible."

Aristespha breathes in the moist vapors off her hot tea and coffee, blinking back to awareness. She glances down at her tablet. "Oh. Yes. The place I made reservations at in Perimeter is reasonably flexible. Especially since I paid a modest deposit to secure the reservation. And, I think we are THANKFULLY out of the lodging dead zone now. There are a number of small local inns and motels that will work depending on our progress."

Fighting off a yawn, Bach contorts his face, stretching his body in the seat, and shrugs. "I'm up for a long drive. Honestly, the storms last night kept me up so much that I'll probably just doze off on the ride. Just really hope the roads aren't completely awful."

Pressing the sequence of buttons upon the control console, Cideeda starts up the humvee's power plant and grimaces along with her growing suspicions. "Yeah... I've been reading a lot of reports about a lot of road debris, flooded areas, and washed out sections. So, we might be in for a slow roll through some parts."

Sebastian crosses his arms, nodding at the information around him. "Well, we're not going to find out anything here, so..."

He dons a bold grin. "Let's hit the road!"

The team secures themselves in their seats with treat and drink aplenty, and the humvee rolls out of the parking space towards the highway onramp.

----

The humvee's headlamps illuminate the rough pavement ahead in contrast to the fading evening light. Cideeda blinks her emerald green eyes hard, wincing a worn frown, and groans, steering the vehicle. Sotalia sighs long into a yawn and shudders through her fatigue, shaking her head towards the road ahead. Aristespha idles her stare upon a movie playing on her tablet, Sebastian's ghostly figure hovering nearby watching. A gentle snore sounds out from Dretphi, and she stirs lightly. With a slight roll upon the back bench seat, loose pastry wrappers slide off her chest onto the floor of the humvee cab. Bach gazes out to the distant setting sun, the remaining specs of direct light disappearing below the horizon.

The humvee crests over a small rise and banks around a turn between thick forest into another straight stretch of road. Cideeda's eyes flutter to attention, and she squints into the distance. Her furry ears flicking in thought, an annoyed grimace appears and frustration tinges her mood. "Oh gods... What now? Don't tell me yet another section of the highway is washed out."

Swinging her attention ahead, Sotalia pulls back her fiery orange hair over her swept back horns and groans. "I REALLY don't want to have to move another fallen tree out of the way."

Cocking her head, uncertainty dwells on Cideeda's face, and she raps her claw tips upon the steering wheel. "No... It looks like they're redirecting traffic this time and... Have it blocked off."

Aristespha pauses her movie, taps back to the main screen, and navigates to an aethersite. "I will see if there is anything posted, somewhere."

The humvee slows down into the barely moving line of traffic and joins the staggered jam of occasional progress. Minutes later, the vehicle arrives at the front of the queue. A number of Perimeter Defense Force vehicles block off the highway leading to a massive bridge, uniformed officers patrol the perimeter, and scattered groups of armored personnel cautiously sweep the area. Scanning the scene, Sebastian ducks down behind Aristespha and fades into the sword at her side. His voice sounds out from the blade within the scabbard. "Try to find out what's going on here. Seems like they are doing some serious work out here."

Cideeda's furry ear flicks forward, and she rolls down the window. Leaning slightly out, she concentrates her stare upon one of the officers and waves to her. The woman approaches the vehicle, greeting Cideeda with a nod. "Sorry about the trouble. But, the five five route is closed until cleanup crews secure the bridges."

Lifting a puzzled eyebrow, Cideeda aims her inquisitive tone at the officer. "What kind of clean up are we talking about?"

Drawing in a long, weary breath, the dark haired woman sighs tired. "Maelstrom. Short lived, but it dropped A LOT upon the five five's bridges."

Wrestling the irritation away from her tone, Cideeda presents a hopeful smile and motions towards the highway past the blockade leading to the large bridge. "So, what time frame are we looking at for the cleanup?"

The woman officer grimaces, standing up straight, and pivots her gaze at a distant pair of armored personnel in hazardous environment suits. One glances down at a device in hand, glances up, and points to a spot on the roadway a dozen meters ahead. The other nods, rolling his shoulder, and readies his arm. With a grip upon a large metal bolt in hand, he winds up a pitch and flings the piece of steel accurately towards the questionable patch. The projectile flies within proximity of the spot. The fabric tail tied to the bolt ignites into flames. Bright orange-yellow light radiates out in stark contrast to the surrounding night, a towering pillar of flame blasting meters up into the air. The spouts of fire swirl in place into a flaming vortex, and a loud roar echoes out in the vicinity, drawing in the attention of all nearby. Seconds later, the flame wanes back down into a charred, blackened spot on the highway. The two suited personnel exchange stares. One picks up a three meter pole with a large piece of chalk at the end. Carefully approaching the spot, the armored person cautiously extends the pole out and marks warning arrows in bright neon orange chalk from a safe distance.

Cideeda, Sotalia, Bach, Aristespha, Sebastian, and Dretphi gawk in sheer, dumbfounded silence. Blank expressions failing to conceal emotion, flits of shock, surprise, astonishment, and fright twitch through the thin exteriors. The sound of boots slowly twisting upon rough pavement snaps Sebastian out of his daze, and he promptly disappears out of sight. With a strained smile, the officer turns around fully towards Cideeda and groans out lingering frustrations. "Yeah... It might take a while. I assume you are heading to Perimeter."

Cideeda nods a wide-eyed confirmation. The officer draws in a long breath. "There's no easy routes from here. But..."

She points towards the nearby off-ramp, explaining. "Your best bet right now is to head to Yazoo. It's a town on the coast, but they should have lodging. They're at the start of route four nine, which runs directly into Perimeter, too. It didn't get hit that badly. So, it should open up tomorrow if all goes well."

Blinking back to awareness, Cideeda smirks at the officer sympathetically. "Uh. Yeah. That's probably the best plan we got then. Um, thank you. We'll do that. Good luck."

The officer nods understandingly, directs them along with a hand wave, and awaits the next vehicle in the line. The team stares out to the pair of long, large bridges, the humvee rolling down the off-ramp onto another highway. The vehicle speeding away, strange flickers of light flash out distantly around the crossings, and odd, unnatural noises crest above the background night ambiance.

----

A short order cook works the grill, balancing his efforts between different orders of eggs, hash browns, bacon, and hamburger. A waitress in a Pancake Shed outfit, slips behind the main counter to a row of coffee machines, and changes out the glass carafes. With scattered customers in the larger dining area, Aristespha, Bach, Sotalia, Dretphi, and Cideeda occupy a large booth in the corner of two window walls with a view of the beach. Aristespha pours back the remaining quarter cup of coffee and hungrily reaches out to the metal carafe at the center of the table. Dretphi slowly works on a cheese steak omelet. Cideeda rubs the sleep out of her eyes and leans back in the booth seat, soaking up the near noon sun radiating in. Groggily watching the waves roll in upon the white sand beaches, Bach observes the coastal traffic near the long docks stretching into the sea. Sotalia fights back a yawn and examines her plate of food, secretly eying the bacon on Bach's platter next to hers.

She glances over at Bach briefly. Her fork drifts over into the airspace above Bach's dish and slowly eases down upon the target. With the tines of the utensil hovering over the bacon, Bach casually grips the edges of his plate and smoothly rotates the dish. Sotalia withdraws her fork quickly away from the moving target and returns her attention back to her food with an amused smirk. Bach hides a satisfied grin behind his hand, propping his head up.

A fvalian waitress with green hair walks up to the team's table and smiles brightly, the sun reflecting the embossed "Lucida" in her name tag. "Well, I hope everything has been good. Is there anything more I can get y'all at the moment?"

Bach's attention wanders off to a thought, and he turns to gaze at the woman with a worn smile. "Um, could I get a glass of milk? Need something to balance out all this coffee."

Narrowing his blue eyes at Sotalia, Bach snorts quietly, smirking. "And another order of bacon. Just feel like I might need more of that."

A sly smile sneaks out the corner of Sotalia's mouth, and her expression warms. Lucida nods at the request, writing it down with a wag of her green, short haired tail. Cracking a humored grin, she perks a humored eyebrow at Bach. "Would you like chocolate in that milk?"

Rolling his eyes at himself, Bach chuckles lightly and eases out a bit of childish embarrassment. "Oh, why not. Thank you."

Lucida giggles and surveys the rest of the group. "Anything else for anyone?"

Aristespha slides the empty metal carafe across the clear middle lane of the table and taps the lid. "More of this flavor. Please."

Lucida's furry, rounded tip ears flick up under her green hair, and she blinks in surprise. "Of course. If y'all don't mind me prying... But, I get the feeling last night was not that kind to y'all?"

A collective agreement rises out from the fatigued team around the table. Fluttering her eyes to attention, Cideeda straightens up from the sun spot. "Yeah. We were planning on going straight to Perimeter using route five five. But, it's closed off right now."

Dretphi sighs and rocks head, guiding back her platinum blonde braids. "Rerouted here. Nice town. Pleasant. Just not our original goal."

Nodding understandingly, Lucida rests a hand upon her apron covered hip and shrugs her shoulders. "Not going to lie, it happens more than anyone likes, really. But, I'm not one to complain when it brings in business for us. You all are welcomed additions to all the shipping crews."

She furrows her brow and tightens her smile. "That aren't always the happiest to be here."

Bach thinks a moment and glances out the window wall towards the dozens of ships moored at the long docks. "I mean, it seems like you do a lot of shipping here."

Twisting her mouth, Lucida crosses her tan arms and sighs. "Well, not as much as we'd like around here. We're just a convenient stop before Perimeter for smaller shipping companies waiting to get clearance into Perimeter. Not much actual shipping as much as waiting. Though, I totally believe we could easily handle it. I mean, route four nine starts with us."

With a roll of her eyes, she sighs with a small shake of her head. "But... They certainly don't ask my opinion around here."

Bach narrows his stare and points out to a huge barge docked along a long concrete wharf in the distance. "I mean, it looks like you can handle big ships like that easy enough."

Lucida steps to the side, cranes her yellow eyed gaze to the right angle, and frowns slightly. "Yeah. Still don't know about THAT ship. They've been there for a week. A little strange, if you ask me."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Sotalia grins conspiratorially at Lucida. "So, what's your take?"

With a sly, gossipy smirk, Lucida giggles quietly and whispers to the team. "Oh. You see, I think they got spooked by customs and are trying to offload... through OTHER channels... Probably trying to find a new buyer for something they can't get into Perimeter. But..."

She rolls her eyes dismissively and sighs. "That's just my fun theory. Probably just paperwork hold ups."

Standing upon the large barge docked along the long concrete wharf, a tall muscular man in a loose, long sleeve jacket scans the vicinity. A few passes later, a hint of satisfaction appears on his stern, scarred face. Checking immediately around him, he walks over to the end of the boat and enters the wheelhouse. He kneels down slowly, man lifts up a floor hatch, revealing a ladder, and slips down below. Stepping through a narrow passage, he reaches a bulkhead door, knocks a timed sequence upon the frame, and waits. The metal door handle rotates. The locks release. And, the large door swings in. Walking inside, the man's heavy boot steps clang against the metal floor of a large hollow chamber within the core of the boat. He quickly strips off the jacket and tosses it to the side. A soft, echoing chorus of hydraulics, servos, and metal contact fill the background drone of the hidden space. A dozen men and women with bulky, intimidating cybernetic limbs, implants, and enhancements idle and prepare. Racks of weaponry line the walls of the makeshift barracks, and people inspect a few small, light assault vehicles. A gigantic man stands up straight with a hydraulic hum, hoists up an industrial lifting arm, rotates the modified claw, and clamps it through a solid bar of steel. A woman with a cybernetic eye and head rig slowly cleans the barrel of a bolt-action rifle and smiles, a scheming satisfaction tinging her battle worn face.

A sinister grin emerges out of the dark expression on the muscular man, and he laughs to himself with a grim confidence. From his pants covered legs, faint sounds of hydraulics and servos resonate out, and he stretches out of his arms and upper body. Breathing in the looming mood, he wipes the sweat off his arms. He eyes the Red Gear symbol tattoo on his shoulder and gazes out to the similar logos upon weapons, vehicles, and people in the secret hold.

-90-

Street lamps reflect off binocular lenses, and a man settles down prone in the tall grass. Under the cloudy night, another man crawls up, whispering quietly. "Anything new?"

Shaking his head, the man with binoculars grumbles. "No. But..."

He furrows his brow and barely shrugs. "No one has come out for a while. So, I guess that's new."

Nodding, the other man adjusts his face mask and helmet. "Well... Something is up with THAT barge. The more the head office pokes the paperwork, the more holes they make."

In relative quiet, the man lowers his binoculars and ponders out loud. "What do you think? Because I got my suspicions."

The other man mulls over a few thoughts, wrestling a grimace. "Smugglers. Always smugglers. But..."

He hums to himself and glances around his head. "What are they smuggling?"

Lifting up his binoculars, the first man peers down to the large barge along a concrete dock. "Yeah. That's always the question."

Loud, muffled clanks resonate out from the huge vessel. Large, armored men emerge from hatches on the deck, rip off a concealing tarp, and leap onto the dock. From under the cover, a metal ramp unfolds onto the pier walkway. With the roar of engines, a dozen armed soldiers in red logos and black outfits rush out around the barge, and military quads take off with troops. Quickly fetching his radio, the man with binoculars blinks in shock. "Guess it's fucking maniacs!"

----

Outside lights slip through the blinds into the two bed motel room. Echoing cracks vibrate through the window. Upon a pullout couch bed, Cideeda's furry ear flicks, a series of distant, sharp snaps drifting in. Turning her head of shorter multi-colored hair, she fights against sleep and groggily opens one of her emerald eyes. Another chain of muffled reports bleed into the room. Shooting up, Cideeda wakes abruptly. Her ears sort through the noises, and she hops to her feet, rushing over to the window. Peering cautiously through the blinds, she watches a flurry of activity. Cars and trucks speed off at panic paces down the main roads, heading straight to the highway away from town. Locals on foot hurriedly reach the streets and rush away from town. Noticing other motel patrons loading up, Cideeda freezes, the layered sounds of far off gunfire entering her furry ears.

Cideeda darts between the two single beds, shakes Dretphi awake by her shoulder, and grabs hold of Bach's forearm. "WAKE UP! Something is happening in town!"

Dretphi sits up sorting through her platinum braids. Bach rolls over and groggily props himself up. Cideeda leaps over to her bags and swiftly pulls up a pair of shorts under her nightshirt. Another volley of distant weapon fire alerts to full consciousness Dretphi. "Gunfire? Where?"

Cideeda steps over to the door, wrapping her laser pistol holsters around her waist. "Don't know. But, it sounds like a real fight. I'm going to see if I can find out where it's coming from."

Nodding, Bach listens to a chain of muffled gunfire and hops out of bed to his luggage. "Wake the others. We'll get ready."

With a quick acknowledgment, Cideeda carefully cracks the door open, peers out, and slips into the chorus of far off firefights. Swiftly slinking up against the motel walls, she pauses occasionally, the noise sifting through her furry ears. She reaches the corner of the building, peeks around the corner, quirking an ear, and narrows down the direction of an echoing barrage. Dipping back, she quickly darts towards her original room, halts a door short, and knocks firmly. Seconds later, Aristespha opens up and motions Cideeda inside with the traces of lingering sleep. "What is going on?!"

Cideeda points roughly in a direction, grimacing. "There's a huge gun fight going on towards the docks. Or, that's what it sounds like to me. A LOT of small arms fire and some big stuff, too."

A low rumble passes over the motel building. Sotalia exits the bathroom, adjusting her shirt, and sweeps up a remote from the nightstand. "OKAY. THE FUCK is going on here? There's GOT to be something on the local bulletins."

The television flips on, and Sotalia surfs through the channels. Aristespha sits down on the bed, picks up a tablet, and taps through menus. A few knocks sound out from the door. Cideeda peeks out the window nearby and opens up for Dretphi and Bach. Dretphi stands with her submachine gun slung down upon her pajama shirt and shorts. "People are evacuating. I think we should."

Glancing out through the window, Bach shakes his head. "Yeah. Something BAD is going down. The locals definitely don't think it's worth sticking around for."

Sebastian phases in from the ceiling and lands in the middle of the team. "You ain't kidding, bro. I can't quite make it out from there, but things are burning. People are just fleeing."

Sotalia halts her channel hunt upon a dark red screen with white text, and an emergency chime rings in through the speakers. Her golden eyes sort through the scrolling text, and she grimaces sharply in surprise. "Bandit attack?! They're telling everyone to clear out of Yazoo immediately and avoid the docks and surrounding areas."

In tense silence, Sebastian nods in agreement and frowns uncomfortably. "Well, I'm not one to argue there. Okay, everyone. Pack up, and let's get moving as soon as possible-"

A shrill, pulsing alert erupts from Aristespha's table, a guild emergency message popping up on the screen, and she taps the prompt. Reading the message, she draws in a breath and gazes up to the team. "It is a guild Emergency Broadcast for adventuring groups to assist in the Yazoo evacuation and containment of the threat."

Sebastian thinks, hovering silently with the rest of the team. Searching through the faces around him, he straightens his ethereal visage and proposes. "So... Head out? OR, see what we can do to assist?"

Some internal deliberation later, Bach shrugs his shoulders with an awkward grin. "I mean... I feel we should at least do SOMETHING to help out. Don't think it's smart to go into town, BUT..."

Dretphi smiles warmly at Bach and nods in agreement. "Agree. Defend this location? This seems to be a main route."

Peering out the window, Cideeda surveys the area outside and notices the growing traffic leading onto the highway. "Yeah, it'd be really bad if someone jammed this up. And, I don't see any police or PDF. Either they haven't gotten here, or are tied up in the fighting."

Sebastian lances over at Sotalia, lifting an inquisitive brow. Sotalia gazes back, cracking an eager grin, and rests her hands at her hips. "Let one of those bandit fuckers TRY to get past me. Yeah... I'm all for holding the fort. That much we do."

She eyes the growing din of vehicle traffic and flickers of light outside the motel window. "And it's not like we'll be getting out of here that quickly. Might as well help out until it clears up."

Smirking confidently, Aristespha taps through the guild program interface, opening up the information block of the emergency request. "I will contact the local police and PDF office, and let them know our location."

She gazes up lovingly to Sebastian, and Sebastian nods with a bold grin toward the rest of the team. "Okay! I'll watch over from above. Bach and Dretphi, get geared up first. Cideeda and Sotalia, keep a watch of the main road and highway. Aristespha will contact the authorities..."

He glances down at Aristespha and sighs ethereally with a tense tone. "Dear, you will probably need to be ready to treat some injuries."

With a simple nod, Aristespha acknowledges. Sebastian gradually hovers up to the ceiling. "Okay. After we're all geared up. Let's rotate watches to free one of us to help load up the humvee."

He pauses a moment and stares at the team. "Let's help... But, let's not stick around long enough to need it."

----

Behind large wooden crates on the dock, a muscular man, cybernetic giant, and grungy woman stay in cover during the chaotic battle. The woman snarls her scarred up lip and aims her cybernetic optics into an angry glare at the muscular man. "Okay, Boss, what's the plan NOW?! The damned grunts aren't making any fucking headway past the docks."

Aiming a smug smirk at the woman, Boss flexes his shoulders, cracking his neck, and chuckles darkly. "Still working to my plan. I didn't really expect these thugs to get that far anyway. The grunts distract, and the interceptors go and shut down the main routes into town."

Pivoting his heavily scarred, gray face to Boss, the cybernetic giant growls. "So, the fuck are we supposed to do? Watch these idiots get fucked? I like a good show, but we could do that on the other barges far from this cluster fuck."

Boss points sternly at the metal plated man, cracking an evil, sinister grin. "Mech... OH, I did NOT forget about YOU, my fine Red Gear veteran."

Glancing around the corner of the crate, he smiles menacingly. "Right now, all the defense this town has got is concentrated right on these morons."

He motions to himself, Mech, and the woman. "WE are going to cause a few more distractions and divide their attention. Then, when the interceptors do their job, our reinforcements roll on in."

The grungy woman inspects her rifle and spits off to the side, snorting. "Hope those interceptors of yours pull this shit off. Doesn't help us if everyone in the town runs off and PDF swarms in."

Rolling his eyes, Boss nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders, chuckling. "Well, Snipe, THAT is why we have backup plans. The interceptors fuck up? We don't bring in the reinforcements. We three get away while the fodder keeps the locals occupied. Wait a week or two, and hit them when they're weakened and unexpecting."

He alternates an eager gaze between Mech and Snipe and grins maniacally. "Either way, we're going to accomplish far more than what our dipshit leaders could manage here. Am I right?"

Mech nods, pulling a cruel smile across his scarred face. He hosts up his hydraulic claw and snaps the sharpened blades shut. Snipe draws an evil tinged smirk, her cybernetic eye optics lighting up, and tightens her grasp on her rifle. With the sound of the servos in his legs, Boss slowly rises up and dramatically waves a hand towards the town. "Let's give these fine people something other than the docks to worry about."

Snipe slinks away into the shadows. Mech hoists up his steel plated body, stabs his opened claw into a metal container, and stomps into the fray, with the crate as a shield. Rolling his eyes with an amused smile, Boss surveys the area and spots a place on a dock meters away. He sprints ahead, kneels down fluidly, and springs up, launching into a powerful long jump. Landing on the remote dock, he deftly pivots, shifts his momentum, and speeds off into the town.

----

Standing just to the side of the main roadway in her red plated armor, Dretphi motions another truck towards the highway. Bach stands nearby at the corner of the motel building and searches down the night filled street, holding his plasma pistol at the ready against paranoia. Dretphi walks back into the shadow of the building and settles next to Bach. "Anything?"

Bach shakes his head and sighs. "I think that truck was the last of the batch, for now. Gods almighty... Half the dock area must be on fire right now. You can see the smoke rising in all that glow."

Dretphi stares out towards the coastal horizon, watching the reddish orange haze in the distance, and follows the contrasting plumes of black smoke. Shaking her head with a heavy exhale, she side steps in front of the motel and waves towards Sotalia at the opposite motel building corner. Dretphi focuses her voice at her helmet radio. "Anything?"

Sotalia shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head, her voice echoing out on the team's radio units. "No. We haven't seen many coming down. But, I think this leads to another part of the town away from the docks. People are probably escaping a different way."

Searching in the inky haze behind the street lamp light, Bach reaches his hand back and taps Dretphi on the shoulder plate. "Something is coming."

Sebastian's ethereal voice calls out from the roof above and motions toward a small group of people. "It looks like a few are escaping from the fight. One might need help."

A trio of people rush down the street towards the motel, a man and woman support either side of a wounded evuukian man limping. Both Bach and Dretphi wave at the people, signaling them over. With the trio getting close, Dretphi and Bach rush over and help carry the wounded evuukian man. Bach assures the people. "Don't worry. We've got a medical mage. She should be able to patch him up, and we'll see about getting you all transport out of here."

The human man and woman and the evuukian man express their genuine relief. Aristespha steps out of the motel room door and directs Bach and Dretphi to lay the evuukian down on the motel bed. Immediately noticing the dried blood drenching the leg, she quickly examines the wounds with glowing violet eyes. "Definitely gunshot wounds. And, thankfully, they have missed any major veins or arteries."

She sits down in a chair next to the bed and pulls an end table loaded with medical instruments over. "We will worry about proper removal of the slugs later. Right now, we shall stabilize the wounds and give you something for the pain. Then, we will radio emergency services to send an ambulance."

Pausing a moment, she twists a frustrated frown on her ivory face and draws in a long breath. "Or whatever they can manage at the moment."

Both the human man and woman nod understandingly and wait on the other side of bed, calming their friend. Bach and Dretphi quickly depart, rushing back over to the corner of the motel. The two stepping over, Sebastian drops down from the roof in front of them and holds his hands up with concern. "Hold up."

Bach and Dretphi press against the wall of the motel, and Sebastian points around the corner, whispers with a ghostly resonance. "I backtracked a little to where those people came from, and I heard a few people on an ATV. Seems like they were following the blood trail from that one guy."

Furrowing his brow, Sebastian grits his teeth worried, punctuating with his hand. "They DO NOT sound friendly."

Dretphi nods resolutely and readies her submachine gun. Mustering his courage, Bach raises his plasma pistol. "So... What's the plan?"

Sebastian glances over his shoulder, the engine sounds of an off-road quad growing louder. "I'll go up, and we'll see how they react. You two watch and be ready to... Return the favor."

Bach and Dretphi nod. Bach speaks into his helmet microphone. "Sotalia, Cideeda. We got trouble probably coming up on our side. We're checking it out. So, be ready."

Cideeda's voice faintly crackles over the comm units of the team. "We'll be ready."

The roar of a small engine echoes out from an alleyway, and a quad with three armored people skids out in a hard turn onto the main street. One points towards the sidewalk. The driver nods and revs the ATV up. Sebastian casually walks out into the middle of the street. Holding his hand up, he stares at the trio on the quad and waits. The quad slows down. Dretphi and Bach peer out from cover near the corner of the motel building. Bach tenses, tightly grips his plasma pistol, and whispers to Dretphi. "How do we proceed?"

Narrowing her cool, collected stare ahead, Dretphi scrutinizes the scene, calmly explaining. "If they attack, shoot the vehicle. Aim for weapon wielding arms. Attempt to capture from range-"

An armored man hops off the quad and walks up cautiously to Sebastian, passing underneath a street lamp. In the downwards light, the red and black Red Gear logo tattoo reflects brightly upon the man's exposed forearms along with the traces of cybernetic enhancements. Dretphi's steely gray eyes spring wide open under her visor, and her glare chills. Her stare searches and spots similar logos upon the other two and the ATV. The Red Gear slowly approaches Sebastian's visage. Snapping up her sub machine, Dretphi levels her aim and flips the weapon to fully automatic. The Red Gear begins to lift his arm up with weapon in hand towards Sebastian.

Burst after burst of rounds roar out from Dretphi's submachine gun. Projectiles rip through the outer layers of armor upon the Red Gears, sprays of blood mingling with cascades of sparks. Slugs pound solidly into the heads and chests of the three armored men. Barrages burrow through protective plating into flesh. The driver slumps off the quad into a wet flop, spilling crimson onto the dirty asphalt. The passenger stumbles onto the ground, rolling into a motionless heap. The man in front stands against the onslaught of lead, sparks and plating fragments spewing out. Staggering back in the eerie lull of gunfire, he struggles for comprehension in the last moments of projectile peppering. Dretphi methodically ejects the magazine from her submachine gun, swiftly draws, and deftly locks fresh ammunition into her weapon with cold precision. Regaining enough composure to lift his head up, the remaining Red Gear receives repeated controlled bursts into his face and chest. He topples over onto the roadway with a crunchy thud.

Sebastian blinks blankly in utter shock. Bach remains frozen in place with his plasma pistol at the ready. Dretphi grips Bach's shoulder tightly with a stern voice. "Follow me. Cover me."

Dretphi keeps her weapon trained upon the downed Red Gear troops. Steeling his facade, Bach summons his courage and maintains the overwatch. Sebastian regains his senses, snaps his head over to Dretphi, and loudly whispers. "WHY?"

Pointing out the logos upon the perforated people, Dretphi coldly explains. "Red Gears."

Shuddering his head, Sebastian pivots sharply, stares at the bodies, and spots the emblems, dropping his jaw. "THE FUCK?! OUT HERE?! In force?"

Dretphi pauses near the bodies, drawing in a careful breath, and calls back towards Bach. "Need to confirm. Red Gears are tough. Tricky. I will secure each. Watch over me."

Bach nods and alternates his aim between the fallen Red Gears. Cideeda's voice crackles over the radios. "Is everyone okay?!"

Staring hard at the downed troops, Bach nods, swallowing hard. "Yeah... Um... But, head over here just to be safe."

Dretphi kneels down and cautiously inspects the body in front of Sebastian. Tossing aside pistols, knives, and a submachine gun, Dretphi confirms the kill. She walks over and checks the driver's body. Bach trains his plasma pistol upon the remaining heaped over Red Gear. Loud gunfire echoes sharper and less muffled in the distance, and Bach glances around briefly to search for the source. The Red Gear heap slowly moves. The man gradually positions his transforming mechanical arm at Dretphi, blue white light emitting from the opening end. Sebastian's visage stiffens, and his eyes widen. "BACH! LOOK!"

Snapping his head down, Bach locks onto the charging arm cannon and leaps onto the Red Gear. He quickly wraps his hands around the weapon and strains his muscles against the groan of cybernetic hardware, wrenching the aim clear of Dretphi. A blast of plasma jets out and soars off into the night sky. The Red Gear growls out in a digital hybrid of anger, and Bach wrestles with the man. With a flash of blue in his eyes, Bach tightens his grip on the arm cannon, and a swarm of magical flow embeds into the weapon. Twisting his body, Bach slams the arm cannon upon the asphalt. With the contact, tendrils of magical energy sink into the ground, constrict around the cybernetic device, and securely root into the roadway.

Bach glances up and meets Dretphi over him with her machete drawn. In a surge of experience and instinct, he blinks in surprise and rolls quickly off the Red Gear, tumbling meters away. With a glint of red ire in her steely eyes, Dretphi raises the machete high into the glow of street lamp light, and slams the glittering blade down upon the upper arm of the Red Gear. The blade digs partially into the metal reinforced limb, electrical arcs erupting within sprays of oily fluid. The Red Gear screams in spiteful rage. The machete slams down again and fully severs. Bach wills forth cords of magical energy out from his arms and ties up the Red Gear entirely.

From around the motel corner, Cideeda and Sotalia sprint out at the ready. Cideeda trains her laser pistols at the two motionless bodies and scans between everyone else. "Situation?!"

Sebastian ponders a summary out loud. "Three bandits on a quad. Bandits are Red Gears. Dretphi took them down. Upon confirming the kills, one tried to blast Dretphi. Bach stopped it and subdued it. Dretphi severed its cybernetic arm."

Holding her hand out with forming electrical energy cracking, Sotalia levels her aim at the bound up, struggling Red Gear. "Keep that shit up, metal man, and I'll fry every circuit you got."

Dretphi steps over to Bach, reaches her hand down with a warm smile, and softly speaks. "Thank you."

Bach holds onto Dretphi's hand, and she hoists him up. Brushing himself off, Bach releases a tension filled sigh. "Thank Sebastian... He let me know. So, uh, yeah, what now?"

Dretphi takes a moment and exhales through her flurry of thoughts. Surveying the post battle scene, she collects herself. "I need to contact my house. They will know who to contact further."

Turning her machete up, she rotates the blade and sternly stares, the lamp light reflecting off the roughened edge. "Time for the flow blade."

----

The muscular form of Boss lands solidly from the top of the brick wall, his cybernetic legs dampening the impact into a slow crouch. Springing up back, he surveys the darkened alley between shore side buildings. His radio chirps from a series of repeated key ups. Lifting the device up from his belt, he turns the dial and listens to the familiar, angry growls of a woman.

"Boss?! Gods damn it, BOSS! Answer your fuckin' radio you bastard, we got PDF rolling in from somewhere!"

Boss grimaces in a surge of annoyance and presses the button on the radio. "Snipe, how the fuck is that happening? There shouldn't be any PDF this far out to reinforce this town this quickly. AND..."

Sneering his upper lip, he growls out. "How the fuck are they getting in so easy?"

Upon an audible backdrop of gunfire, Snipe yells out through the static. "WELL! One of YOUR interceptor teams didn't do their damned jobs. OBVIOUSLY!"

Shaking his head with a frustrated roll of his eyes, Boss paces next to the alley dividing wall toward the white sand beach. "Well, I guess YOU and Mech will need to pick up the slack, then! Call the psycho, and the two of you figure out what the fuck is going on! I'll make my way over after I find a landing site for the reinforcements."

Releasing his finger from the call button, he snorts out an infuriated growl. "Fuck me... How the hell can they fuck up this much..."

Seconds later, Snipe's voice crackles out from the radio. "Fucking fine! If he answers his radio, and we'll go finish what your losers couldn't. Over and out!"

Boss disdainfully eyes the device, lowering his hand, and sighs out his overwhelming frustration. "Gods damned unstable dipshits. If you weren't useful for these things, I would..."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pivots his gaze out towards the shore and distantly stares out at the churning waters. Slowly breathing and relaxing his shoulders, he opens his eyes. Glancing up, he spots fast moving aircraft flying low overhead. His eyes emit faint hints of electrical light, and he watches jets sharply bank, circling back of the bay area. A surge of dread spreads out upon Boss's tan, scarred face, and he grits his teeth. "Fuck... How the... Why are..."

Gazing out towards the open sea, he hoists up his radio and dials in frequency. He keys up the device and sternly states. "Abort. Abort. Abort. THE WOLVES are here. I repeat, the wolves are here. Send single pick up to evac location two. Full radio silence. Run dark."

A roar of jet engines echoes out faintly over the water in the distance. Two military jets fly across the water, slowing their speeds. Clipping the radio back onto his belt, Boss turns the device off completely and sighs, disappointment venting out from him. Glancing over his shoulder at the panic in the far off streets, he reaches into a large pants pocket and pulls out a crude bandage. He ties the cloth around his arm tightly, conceals his Red Gear logo tattoo. Hopping out onto the beach, he orientates himself, pivoting southwards, and halts a moment. He places his hand on his radio with a frown. Sorting through the possibilities, he removes his grip from the device, furrowing his brow, and smirks with ill humor. "Good luck you two. Keep them busy for us."

Walking over to a hastily abandoned beach attire stall, he sweeps up a few articles of clothing. Boss scans the sand scattered walkway in front of him and sprints down the empty beaches under the cloudy night sky above, speeding away from the town.

----

In the motel room, Sotalia brushes off a pile torn open medical wrappers and drops off new supplies next to Aristespha. "This is all I could find in the way of bandages."

Glancing over her shoulder, Aristespha nods at Sotalia with a stern appreciation and snatches a roll of gauze. "Thank you. That should be enough to finish up."

Wandering her eyes over the scene of first aid disarray, Sotalia motions towards the door, hiding a bit of her unease. "Should I tell the truck to hold on?"

Aristespha assesses an older emin woman's heavily bandaged arm, shoulder, and neck, nodding firmly. "Yes. She needs to leave as soon as possible. We can not risk waiting for another truck trip."

Sotalia confirms and sprints off into the parking lot outside the motel, pulling in a deep breath of fresh air. Waving her arms in the air, she calls out to Bach helping a wounded man up into a large medical transport. "Bach! Tell them to hold up! We have one more."

Bach snaps his head over, nods understandingly, and finishes assisting the man into the vehicle. Quickly stepping around the truck, he gets the driver's attention. A minute later, Bach and Sotalia carefully carry the emin woman to the awaiting medical transport in a crude gurney. With assistance from civilians onboard, they secure her in the vehicle and signal the driver to drive off. Sotalia glances over to Bach and cracks a weary smile. "How are you holding up?"

Bach shudders his head, shakes a shiver down body "I don't really know. I'm here and all. But..."

He glances over his shoulder at the eerie fire glowing in the distance, sounds of battle echoing through. "I think we're pushing our luck at this point. These have to be the last few people evacuating... I mean, fuck, I have no clue. It just feels like the calm before something bad happens."

Drawing in a long, uneasy breath, Sotalia stretches her arms out nervously, squirming. "Yeah. I know. I hope this was the last group, so we can get out of here finally."

In the motel room, Sebastian drifts down from the ceiling, landing next to Aristespha, and gazes at her with concern. "How are things holding up, dear?"

Aristespha surveys the chaotic mess of used medical supplies and blood spattered trash and shakes her head. "Sebastian... I am about out of everything. I do NOT think we can handle anything else. We may be endangering people by directing them here rather than somewhere else at this point."

Sebastian calmly nods and smiles understandingly with a hint of encouragement. "Yeah. I'm not seeing any more people coming this way. What fighting I heard is getting louder. We probably need to head out."

With a slight bow of the head, Aristespha sighs deeply, stiffens her upper lip, and straightens her posture. "I agree. I hate to abandon the post. But, by all logic, we are spent."

Sebastian's ethereal visage frowns, and he gazes lovingly at Aristespha. "I know. Well, call the officials and let them know that we're clearing out. I'll round everyone up."

Standing near the motel corner along the main road, Cideeda glances around, her furry ears perking up. An armored PDF transport rolls down the road and speeds into the town, engines roaring at full power. Sebastian's ghostly visage flies next to Cideeda. "Load up. We're getting out of here. Nothing more we can do."

Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, Bach, and Sotalia gather around the humvee. The group quickly goes through last minute checks and ready up the last few into the vehicle. Aristespha methodically gathers up remaining supplies and systematically packs up a large satchel.

Her aetherphone rings out upon the nightstand, and Aristespha taps the speakerphone on. "Mage Orienden speaking."

A female voice sounds out from the speaker. "Yazoo dispatch. I know you are leaving your position. Is it still possible for you to handle a medical emergency?"

Pausing, Aristespha slowly faces her phone and sternly answers. "Nature of the emergency?"

The dispatch officer sounds out into the room. "An officer and fvalian woman are assisting a seriously injured grath man. From what the officer has said, the grath man has suffered a traumatic amputation of the right arm."

Widening her violet eyes in surprise, Aristespha blinks through the swell of dread and grits her teeth. "The patient is still mobile?"

The dispatcher's grave tone resonates into the room, trembling. "Yes. But... I don't think for much longer. Your last reported location is very close to where they said they were. Can I-"

With a sharp intake of breath, she states. "I direct them your way? PLEASE? They're being pursued by a bandit, and your group was able to handle some. I don't know who else can handle both the injury and the bandit nearby."

Aristespha slowly stands up, wrapping her fingers around her aetherphone, and wrestles with her mind, gritting her teeth. Glancing out to the humvee, she fights against a flurry of emotions upon ivory face. She winces in pain and draws a sharp breath through her nose. A cold, neutral mood coats her, and she starts to open her mouth. Her words halt short of leaving her lips. A pained cringes squeezes tears out of her regretful eyes. Mustering up her composure, she blurts out. "One moment."

Rushing through the motel doors, she opens the humvee door to her seat, and addresses the team within. "I am so sorry to ask this of you all, but can we hold here for one more emergency. We are the closest, and I do not think the patient will make it to another location. The patient and people aiding him are being chased."

The team quickly exchange glances and settle their gazes upon Aristespha, each offering their support. Sebastian smiles confidently, reassuring. "What do you need, dear?"

A thankful smile appears through a wave of relief, and Aristespha directs her voice to her aetherphone. "We will assist. Direct them to our last location. Dispatch a medical transport."

----

Lucida frantically glances around the intersection, darting her panicked stare around, and points a claw tip down a long alleyway. "This way! It's close."

Slowly rounding the corner, a police officer supports a young grath man under his remaining arm. "Hang in there, Ralthinen. We'll get you patched up, and get the hell out here."

Ralthinen winces, fighting for each step, and grunts into a nod during the struggle. Lucida's furry ears perk, and she glances down the path behind, terror looming around. She shudders out of the trance and rushes up in front of the officer and Ralthinen, resting her hand upon Ralthinen's chest. "We're almost there, Ralthie. Stay with me."

Lifting up his head slightly, Ralthinen dons a stoic smirk and nods to Lucida. "I will."

Lucida musters up some warmth against her overwhelming fear. Glancing over to the bloody towel bound by belt around Ralthinen's right shoulder, she faces his blood splattered purple shirt. She diverts her attention from the empty space right of his chest and quickly scouts forward. She slinks halfway up the road when Cideeda's voice calls out. "Over here!"

Shifting her attention, she notices Cideeda waving from a building corner and Dretphi standing next to the motel. A wave of recognition and overwhelming relief washes over her, and she frantically waves them over. Cideeda trains her shotgun down the street behind the group, maintaining a vigilant watch. Dretphi hoists the weight of Ralthinen off the worn, tired human policeman. The officer stops next to Cideeda and points his pistol down the dark road, panting. "Some fuckin' cyber freak has been hunting us down this whole time. Gods, I hope you all have some fire power. My pistol does nothing to it."

Nodding, Cideeda directs her voice into her vest mounted microphone, calling out. "Did you all hear that? Something bad is coming this way."

Stepping through the motel room door, Dretphi eases Ralthinen down upon a single bed and inquires in grath. Aristespha diagnoses the remains of his right arm, and Lucida holds onto his left hand. A defiant, proud smirk cracks across Ralthinen's face, and he stoically states a few grath phrases with a nod. Dretphi returns the gesture, a bit of pride slipping out from under her stern facade.

Above the alley, Sebastian hovers, searching the area. "Not seeing anything, yet..."

Cideeda's furry ears twitch, and she pivots her head, scanning the air. "I HEAR it. And... It's close."

Bach and Sotalia settle behind piled up garbage cans and debris. The ambient sounds of distant gunfire wane. The background noises fade away. And, a heavy silence presses down upon the team. A growing cacophony of heavy ground impacts, hydraulic strain, and electronic mechanisms echo forth. From the intersection, an enraged Mech stomps out, slamming his regular cybernetic arm into shattering brickwork. He turns his freshly bloodied, clawed up face, and hatefully glares with his remaining cybernetic eye. Faint sparkles of shorting circuitry illuminate an ooze of dark red from the combat knife embedded into his other eye socket. The fluid coats over the exposed metal work underneath his torn open face. Underneath the scars, a twisted, evil grin warps his face. In the dim street light, he slowly hoists up his powerful hydraulic arm and rotates the blood soaked, bladed claw. Street lamp light reflects off the slick sheen and contrasts the red soaked purple fabric shred hanging off. Drawing in a large breath into his massive, cybernetic frame, Mech bellows out. "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING GRATH BOY!? YOU STILL GOT ONE ARM LEFT TO FIGHT WITH!"

Bach, Cideeda, Sebastian, and Sotalia exchange glances, shifting their full attention upon Mech. Bach and Cideeda open fire. Sotalia quickly gestures through a complicated series of incantations. Sebastian dives down and zips around Mech. Blue laser beams drag across the cyborg's metal shell, and plasma bolts burst open upon reinforced joints. Mech stomps ahead, wielding his large claw arm up as a shield, and smirks, darkly amused. A loud hum resonates from within and nodes upon his cybernetic frame illuminate a blue-white glow, an enveloping haze projecting out. The laser beams and bolts dissipate upon the surface of the barrier, and Mech cackles loud from the throat. "HA! Must be fuckin' amateur night!"

Narrowing a hateful glare upon Mech, Sotalia thrusts her arms forward, sneering. "If you're fuckin' here, it is!"

Swift flows of energy swirl around Sotalia's arms and condense into a crackling vortex of power. Filling the dark streets with light, a massive arc of lightning threads out and explodes into a web of electricity upon Mech's barrier. Seconds of chaotic sparks streak over the energy shield and sink violently into the rough pavement below. Cutting off the spell, Sotalia watches uneasily, Mech simply smiling back. Bach, Cideeda, Sebastian, and Sotalia watch in fearful awe. Mech resumes his march forward. From the back of Bach's mind a surge of determination and stubbornness erupts forth, and he grits his teeth. "FUCK. THIS. GUY."

He calls out the rest of the team, grinning. "Keep him busy for a moment... I got something for that shield."

Placing his hands close together, a torrent of prismatic energy swarms off his body and swirls into layering, tightening ball of energy, spinning rings whining out into a high-pitched roar. Mech slowly stomps forward, slamming each foot into the crumbling pavement, and flexes his claw menacingly towards Sotalia. "HAHA! You're next, magic bitch! Love it when they volunteer!"

Smirking defiantly, Sotalia quickly gestures out an incantation and swings her arms forward. "Next to kick your beer can ass!"

A warping wave of energy erupts, impacting the barrier surrounding Mech, and envelops the shield tightly. Fighting against the forces, Mech slowly trudges ahead with a chuckle. "That's a neat trick."

Narrowing a hateful glare from his remaining cybernetic eye, he pulls a blood smeared grin. "How long can you last, little girl?!"

Sebastian drops down in front of Mech and jumps around him mockingly, grinning derisively. "Longer than you can, rust nuts!"

Mech glares at Sebastian, struggles swatting at him with his power claw arm, and closes his eyes against the bright diffusion of blue laser light upon his barrier. Carefully aiming, Cideeda alternates laser pistol pulses towards his face. Mech holds position at the junction between the side street and back building alleys, sorting through the forces upon and distractions around him. "GODS DAMN... You're some annoying little shits! Fuck, it's going to feel that much better when I slaughter you all!"

Standing up from cover, Bach narrows his bright blue glowing eyes and positions the D-Ball in his hand at the ready. He summons up a surge of flow and flings the prismatic orb of destructive energy ahead. Faint threads of magical energy trail behind the ball. Sebastian darts out of the way, Cideeda halts her attacks, and Sotalia eases her hold. The D-Ball zips down the street, flying straight towards Mech.

Cocking his head curiously, Mech dismissively furrows his brow and pulls his power claw arm back across his chest, smirking. The ball gets close, and he swings his arm out powerfully against the orb of energy. The energy shield encased limb and orb collide into a violent deadlock. The spinning vortex of energy rings carves into the barrier, sloughing off jets of plasma and magic. Glowing blue-white nodes flicker and spark upon Mech. With the D-Ball diminishing in size, it shreds through the barrier. Bach draws in a breath, tensing his body. A wave of prismatic energy swirls down the magical threads, contacting the D-Ball, and spreads through and into Mech's shielding.

In a surge of light and loud, the barrier blows out, the nodes on Mech's frame darkening and erupting smoke. Mech's eye widens in utter shock, and the D-Ball grinds into his power claw arm, rending solid metal into a billowing cloud of dust. Reflexively side steps out of the way, Mech dodges out of the path of the destructive ball. The orb curves after him, missing, and drills through a concrete power pole behind the cyborg. Blinking bewildered, Mech mutters loudly. "The. Fuck. Was. THAT?!"

Crackles seize Mech's attention. A bolt of lightning contacts Mech's cybernetic chassis, violent electrical arcs cascading chaotically across his metal frame. Flashes of blue-white light, bursts of yellow-orange fire, and shadows of smolder light up the night around the intersection. Moments later, the lightning halts, and Mech drops down to a knee. Steam and smoke vent out from him. Bach leans against the nearby brick wall, Sotalia braces herself along the motel corner, Cideeda readies her pistols, and Sebastian carefully approaches. Sebastian's ethereal form nears Mech, and the cybernetic monster stirs, cackling. "N-n-not bad. But... It'll take a little more than THAT to take me down. Just give me a moment... I’ll kill you all soon enough."

Grimacing sharply, Sebastian stares down the alleyway. Over radios and out from the alley, Dretphi's voice sounds out calmly. "Keep your distance. Cover me. I will subdue him."

Sebastian nods understandingly. Pivoting his head around, Mech snarls up his upper lip confused. "The fuck-"

From the alleyway, a red glow swiftly pours through the flow channels of a large blade, the long edge brilliantly illuminating into a bright crimson. In a split second, red ethereal fire erupts and blazes out, highlighting the tall, red plated form of Dretphi. Stepping forward, Dretphi drives a cold, calculating stare through the cyborg. Mech's eye springs open in abject terror, recognition choking his words. "Y-y-you! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! YOU'RE RETIRED- There's NO WAY!"

The optics of his cybernetic focus upon Dretphi, and Mech stammers. "W-W-Wait- You're not... OH..."

Swift sweeps of blazing crimson precisely, effortlessly slice through shoulder joints and upper legs. Mechanical limbs flop upon the ground, smoking from their molten incisions. Coldly staring upon the mix of machine and man, Dretphi kicks over the dismembered torso of Mech of his lower legs. She glowers down upon his horror, backing away carefully, blade at the ready.

The team in the alley regroups and keep their weaponry trained upon the crippled Red Gear from a distance.

Inside the motel room, Aristespha maintains a cool exterior, her brightly glowing violet eyes darting around the severed end of Ralthinen's right arm. Her gloved hand flows stabilizing magical energies against torn major arteries and veins, and she glances into her medical kit. Sifting through the contents with her free hand, she grabs hold of a bright neon orange box. Popping open the metal box, she sorts through the empty wrappers and finds one remaining film covered, treated wax sheet with a familiar sheet of magical medical fabric. She pauses a moment, thinks briefly with a slight smile, and takes it. In seconds, she extracts material, prepping it, and seals torn veins and arteries with it. Concentrating powerful flows upon the wounds, she carefully dresses the injuries and secures protective bandages. Blinking out the violet illumination in her eyes, Aristespha draws in a long breath and addresses both Lucida and Ralthinen. "I have stabilized everything for now. You should be out of immediate danger. Wait here for the medical transport."

With tears welling in her yellow eyes, Lucida smiles thankfully and grips Ralthinen's left forearm tightly. "Gods... THANK YOU so much."

Ralthinen musters up an appreciative nod through his mental haze. The police officer glances out the motel door. In sheer astonishment, he calls out to Aristespha. "I think your group actually took down that bastard... HOLY. SHIT."

Aristespha stands up, taking off her gloves, and quickly casts a cleansing incantation, walking to the door. "Good. One less thing to worry about. Stay here. I will check on them and see if I can find some other supplies in the humvee."

Slipping cautiously through the door, Aristespha darts over to the humvee. Noticing Aristespha around the vehicle, Sebastian flies over to her. "Everyone good, dear? We managed to drop that cyberpsycho."

Aristespha nods and sighs out her tension, in the moment of quiet. "Yes, Sebastian. I am just waiting on the medical transport. Then, we can get out of here."

Pulling in a long breath, she closes her eyes in the brief peace. "Thank you."

Sebastian smiles lovingly at Aristespha, chuckling ethereally. "Well, I don't think any of us would have felt right ditching anyone in this mess."

From a nearby rooftop, a grungy woman pops up from behind a low wall, resting her rifle upon the brick top. Searching the vicinity, she peers through her cybernetic optics and rifle scope. The crosshairs scan around between obstructing buildings towards the front of the motel and halt near the humvee. A wry grin cracks across Snipe's face, and she shifts her aim between two targets "Medic... Or stealth guy... I guess... Must be some new cloaking field. Yeah... Better take you out, so I don't have to hunt you later."

Aristespha brushes back her silvery blue hair, smiling. "Well, I will get everything loaded up. Gods knowing, I have gone against my more logical judgment enough for today."

Sebastian's visage briefly distorts around his head. A hard metal impact shatters out. Aristespha's head bobs down. A loud report echoes into the area.

Sebastian glances over to buildings. He snaps his head forward in horror, hearing Aristespha panicked pants. Watching her clutch a jetting flow of crimson from her under her left jaw, Sebastian's transparent visage pales and he screams out. "SNIPER! ARISTESPHA GOT HIT!"

Dretphi charges out with her energy shield up and sub machine gun at the ready. With her hands out projecting a magical barrier, Sotalia swiftly side steps out, Cideeda and Bach following behind. Aristespha clambers onto the humvee and drags herself into cover in front of the vehicle, red soaking her entire shoulder. Bach and Cideeda get into cover. Sotalia slips down, releasing the barrier, and immediately checks on Aristespha. "OH GODS! SHIT! What do you need me to do?!"

Fighting against panic and for consciousness, Aristespha concentrates on her instructions. "Shrapnel. Feel it... Find hematologic sealing agent... apply... stabilize."

With Sotalia scrambling past the motel room door, Aristespha shifts her fading gaze at Bach, struggling with each of her words. "Out of tissue bonding... sheets... make... one..."

Sebastian stares in horror, the life draining from Aristespha ivory face, his visage warps and shudders. Waving for Sebastian's attention, Cideeda glares at him sternly and commands. "Help us find the sniper."

Fluttering her eyes, Aristespha drifts off into unconsciousness. Bach swiftly applies pressure on the crimson flow behind her slipping hands. Gawking in shock, Bach overhears Sotalia cursing, rummaging around inside the motel room. He feels the crimson warmth drain through his fingers. The fear upon his face solidifies into resolve. A bright flash of blue erupts into his eyes, and he positions both hands around the gushing injury. A surge of magical flows and threads swirls around Bach's body, and rush into the palms of his hands. Energy condenses. Thin conduits sink into the site of the wound. The flows of red slow into gentle oozes, golden layers surrounding a pulsating copper shard. Drawing a long breath, Bach drives his full focus and winces with the strain, magical mechanisms materializing off to the side. The energy machinery operates sluggishly, and a fine magical mesh forms row by row at a ponderous pace. Gritting his teeth, Bach pants with the dimming of blue in his eyes and curses under his breath. "Fuck... Not now... I got to have a little more somewhere..."

With the fading blue in his eyes, courage from within pushes a determined, distant stare onto Bach's face. Closing eyes, he grimaces and reopens them with points of white spreading out from the centers.

Cideeda crawls under the humvee, and Dretphi orbits carefully around. Calling over to Sebastian, Dretphi searches the horizon. "Stand where you were."

Cideeda adds to the instruction. "Act like you are looking for the sniper."

Filtering out all other thoughts, Sebastian steps cautiously over, pretending to search around. He stops at a spot. "Here. I felt it go through my head. I think it hit the humvee. They're probably trying to figure out why I'm still up."

Dretphi notes the spot, glances up to Sebastian, and pivots her stare towards a fresh dent on the vehicle's body. Calculating, she glares through her full face visor. "Third building south from east road? Flat roof. Likely location."

Training her emerald eyes out, Cideeda pricks her furry ears forward. In the lull of surrounding background noise, her furry ears flick towards a noise. A pair of reflective glints sparkle in the distance. Cideeda curls a sneer upon her light brown face. "Confirmed."

Opening the motel door, the officer peeks out. Slipping out low to the ground, Sotalia scrambles quickly over to Bach and Aristespha. "I found some, but I don't know if it's-"

Around Aristespha's injury and between Bach's hands, a magical medical fabric materializes rapidly, increasing in size, threads of flow connect to thin golden barriers, and the copper shard slowly backs out of the wound. The freshly made tissue bonding sheet floats into the injury, surrounding the damage within. Bach's fingers constantly twitch, his hands tremble, and his white glowing eyes dart rapidly around into distant places within his mind, white magic flow splinters out upon his face. Blinking in utter disbelief, Sotalia remains quiet and hopeful.

Sebastian grits his teeth, readies himself, and calls out. "One... Two... Three!"

Sprinting out into the open, Sebastian yells out and pantomimes rudely into the surrounding area. "FUCK YOU! YOU MISSED ME! CAN'T HIT ME!"

A glint from the street lights reflects out. Dretphi spots movement on the rooftop. She squints towards the target, leveling the aim of her sub machine, and sprays a burst of rounds. In the flurry of suppressing fire, Cideeda aims her shotgun, places her finger on the secondary fire trigger, and squeezes. A projectile launches out the under barrel of her weapon, coasting through the night sky, and drops down on a business building rooftop. Fiery orange bursts out, lighting the top of the structure. Cideeda deftly reloads another round, takes aim, and fires again. Another blast of flames bellows out upon the rooftop. Cideeda's furry ears flick forward, tracing a distant scream. A fire coated figure tumbles off the top of the building and falls to the pavement, out of sight.

Bach focuses upon the task between his hands. A sheet of tissue bonding material closes up the cut in Aristespha's ivory skin. Shakily resting his hands down upon the ground, he sways unsteadily in place and stares blankly at the ground. He manages to mutter with a strained, weak tone. "hope... that... works... Don't know. I... tried..."

Sotalia feels the other side of Aristespha's neck with her fingers and listens closely. "She's g-got a good pulse and breathing... S-s-so, that's really good. Y-yeah..."

Fluttering her violet eyes open, Aristespha groggily mumbles back into consciousness, searching around sluggishly. "...then allow me to-"

With a surge of conscious thought cascading back into Aristespha's mind, she blinks her eyes hard and glances around between worry and bewilderment, struggling through her confusion. "W-w-what happened? I- Uh- How am I alive?"

Sotalia smiles happily and holds onto Aristespha's shoulder. "Bach. He patched you up with the stuff you asked him to make."

Sorting through the probabilities and feasibly, Aristespha squints through her drowsy haze and springs her violet eyes wide open in surprise. Her stare finds the faint traces of elder energy flow surrounding Bach's eyes and the fading pinpoints of white in his dim blue pupils. Reaching her hand out, she tightly grasps Bach's trembling arm and calmly asks. "Bach? How do you feel?"

Bach barely lifts up his head and cringes sharply, weakly muttering. "Not... good..."

His arms buckle. Curling up upon the dirty parking lot, he clutches the sides of his head, painfully gasping. Aristespha winces, carefully lifting herself up with Sotalia's help, and tends to the pain overwhelmed, whimpering Bach.

-91-

A wave of thunder rolls overhead, echoing through, and reverberates under the old, dilapidated overpass. Dretphi stands observantly, searching through the rainy haze towards the specks of activity in the distance. Watching the subdued chaos of nearby civilian gatherings and Perimeter Defense Force encampments, she eases out a stressed sigh under her visor, blinking the fatigue from her stare. Minutes later, she sweeps her gaze along the horizon, pausing briefly, and turns away. Navigating around piles of old rumble, she walks towards the humvee parked near the retainer wall, underneath the overpass. She glances over towards Sotalia standing idly and waits a moment. Sotalia meets Dretphi's inquisitive gaze, twisting her mouth uncertainly, and concentrates her concern upon Aristespha sitting on a fallen concentrate pillar with Sebastian's ethereal visage nearby. Dretphi nods understandingly, softening her pace, and approaches the humvee, sliding off her helmet.

Cideeda's emerald green eyes gaze upon her aetherphone, her furry ears constantly flicking and sifting through the surrounding background of the rainy drone. She resettles herself quietly upon the edge of the humvee cab floor, stretching her legs out the rear passenger door, and props her feet on the removed seat upon the ground. Her attention shifts over towards Dretphi, and she smirks weakly with a soft tone. "Anything happening from the evacuee camps?"

With a frown, Dretphi shakes her head and shifts a worried gaze at a large pile of blankets laying down the middle aisle of the humvee next to Cideeda. "How is he?"

Gently lifting her long, fluffy tail away from the bundled up figure, Cideeda carefully pulls some covers down from Bach's hidden face and sighs. "Sleeping right now. Vitals are still good on the monitor. But..."

She draws in a long breath and grimaces. "He's just been in and out of sleep."

Smiling at Dretphi with a hint of relief upon her face, she adopts a hopeful tint. "He's not complaining about his head hurting anymore. Just seems really tired and very loopy."

Dretphi eases her the tension out of her shoulders, lowers herself down into the removed seated next to the humvee, and places her helmet to the side. "Good. I will watch him."

Nodding appreciatively, Cideeda slides out silently and stretches her back. "Thanks. I'm going to walk around a bit. Clear a spot for tents. I don't think we're getting into town tomorrow-"

She glances out at the hazy, stormy night. "Today?"

She checks her aetherphone and reads the very early morning time, her weariness swelling. "Today. Hopefully, just today. Gods..."

Turning around, she gently pulls the corner of a blanket up to cover Bach's ear with him sleeping on his side, and combs back some stray brown hairs out of his face with her claw tips. Dretphi nods at Cideeda stepping away. Slowly she eases off her boots and pulls off her gauntlets, flexes her digits in the storm stirred air under the overpass. Cautiously eyeing the surrounding areas with tinges of suspicion, she leans back into the seat, breathes out her stress, and closes her steely gray eyes. In the minutes of relative quiet, a bright flash strikes down in the distant sea horizon. Seconds later, a muffled crack of thunder rolls overhead. Stirring under the blankets, Bach's blue eyes crack open, and he weakly peers out, groggily staring out at the scene in front of him. The dazed, aimless search drives a growing tension. His drained gaze settles upon the platinum blonde braids of Dretphi. With slow breaths, he grimaces briefly and visibly concentrates. "Dretphi?"

Opening her eyes, Dretphi pivots her head around and catches Bach's faint smile from under the shadowy sheets. "Bach. How do you feel?"

Pausing in thought, Bach sighs meekly. "Headache is gone. But... Still... Swimming... Um... Hazy? It's... weird..."

He flexes the fingers in his hand out upon the humvee cab floor and draws in a deep breath. "Feeling better... Each time I wake up."

A warm smile hides the worry on Dretphi's face, and she nods. "Good. Anything you need? Want?"

Briefly closing his eyes, Bach smirks weakly. "No. Not right now."

In the idle moments, his stare drifts off into his mind, and he settles an apologetic frown upon Dretphi. "Sorry... I froze up."

Dretphi cocks her head to the side, puzzling, and furrows her brow. "Froze up?"

Bach averts his eyes and sighs uncomfortably, twisting his mouth. "When you shot those Red Gears on the ATV. I should have fired at them, too. Backed you up."

Widening her steely gray eyes briefly, Dretphi reaches her hand and rests it upon the top of Bach's head with a comforting smile. "You did back me up."

Hazy confusion spreads upon Bach's face, and he searches Dretphi for an answer. "But... That one tried to shoot you... We were lucky Sebastian spotted him... Otherwise... I don't know. Maybe if I had shot him, too... He wouldn't have gotten the chance..."

Gently stroking the white streak of hair on Bach's head, Dretphi smiles calmly. "That was not your fault. You followed Sebastian's plan with what you knew."

Bach groggily searches his mind and frowns slightly with an unconvinced tone. "Still... I... After you started shooting, I hesitated. I froze. I shouldn't have thought..."

Drawing in a long breath, a warm smile appears on Dretphi's face, and she meets Bach's eyes. "You did not hesitate when it mattered. Brave to arm wrestle a Red Gear."

Witnessing the indecision upon Bach's darkened face, she releases a long sigh, frowning slightly, and averts her gaze. "I acted upon my experiences. I followed my house's lessons. I chose the option I felt was safest for those I care for. Was it right?"

She shakes her head and visibly contemplates, exhaling. "I do not know."

Glancing out to Cideeda, Sotalia, Aristespha, Sebastian, and the evacuee camp through the wandering haze of the rain, she stares out stoically. "I can accept the results."

Leaning her head closer, she warmly smiles at Bach. "I am happy you have restraint. Think about your actions. Try to navigate the situation with care."

She settles back into her seat, a grimace of past pain trickles out, and she breathes out an uneasy breath. "My previous group stopped showing hesitation. Restraint faded. Put into situations to make choices I did not want to. Their actions disturbed me."

Bach gazes at the faint winces upon Dretphi's tan face, and he wrestles a surge of guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything bad. Ungh... I'm sorry. My mind keeps racing one minute... and then blanks the next... So tired... and... Not... At the same time."

Patting Bach on the head, Dretphi smiles with a brighter, reassuring tone. "Sleep then. We will watch over you."

Erratically searching his mind, Bach slowly nods and sighs out his stress, easing his blue eyes close. "Yeah... I don't know why I'm fighting to stay awake. Just feeling so weird right now. Thanks..."

Dretphi watches Bach drift off and lifts her hand away from his hair. A muffled chorus of thunder rumbles around the area. Bach stirs, and his open hand trembles slightly. Dretphi gently places her hand in Bach's and softly grips. Moments later, a flicker of lightning light reflects off the sky, and Dretphi feels the slight tightening of Bach's hand.

Nearby upon the fallen concrete pillar, a violet glow in Aristespha's eyes fades, and she removes her hands from the bandage and gauze around her neck. Sebastian's ethereal form crouches down, and he cranes his head, gazing into Aristespha's distant stare. "How are you doing, dear?"

Aristespha blinks between wandering glances in her mind, fighting off nervous facial twitches between uneasy breaths. "Bach's vitals are good and have been. I should have plenty of doses of sedatives, and Sotalia has few potions that should calm him if he needed. My neck wound is stable, and I've applied the next stage of healing. No immediate or near future issues. I will need to see a doctor to verify everything is healing properly and to check for any other tissue damage. And... Um..."

Stepping closer to Aristespha, Sebastian focuses his concern upon Aristespha's frantic internal stare on her ivory face and meets her darting gaze. "That's good. Aristespha. How are YOU doing?"

Mustering up a smiling facade, Aristespha winces, her head tilting to the side, and draws in a wavering breath. "Fine, Sebastian. Bach did a wonderful job sealing up the artery and closing up other tissues..."

Sebastian frowns, aiming his worried gaze fully at Aristespha. Meeting Sebastian's eyes fully, the front upon Aristespha's face crumbles. Tears form in the corners of her eyes, her mouth quivers, and her hands tremble through her attempts to hide. Slowly bowing her head down, she shrinks. Wrapping arms around herself, she squelches a sob sneaking out with her exhale. Aristespha's stray strands silvery blue hair drift over her face, and she fights against every impulse to cry with an awkward grimace. Witnessing the surge of pain and fears upon Aristespha, Sebastian unconsciously attempts to brush the stray hair out of her face. The hands of his visage pass through effortlessly without disturbing a strand. His hand drifts pass Aristespha's shoulder and tries to hold onto it. A wave of despair shatters the strong front, he frowns painfully. Summoning up his strength, he briefly glances away, salvaging his composure from the emotional devastation.

Standing meters away, Sotalia's mood sinks, witnessing the loss upon Sebastian and watching the shaking form of Aristespha. She hears the sobs of Aristespha just above the surrounding, ambient drone of rain, and steps quickly up to Aristespha and Sebastian. Promptly sitting down next to Aristespha on the fallen concrete pillar, she wraps an arm around her and grasps hold of her trembling hands with her free hand. She feels the Aristespha tensing body, pulls her close, and rubs her shoulder comfortingly, whispering. "Come here, girl. It's okay. We're all here for you."

Aristespha puts up a fleeting resistance against Sotalia, attempting to muster up a stoic front. Crying, she follows the gentle guidance of Sotalia and leans upon her shoulder. Sotalia picks up some of her heavy cloak, drapes it over Aristespha, and rubs her back. "Let it out. You've held it in long enough."

A slight wave of ease washes over Sebastian's form, and he thankfully gazes at Sotalia's golden eyes, nodding appreciatively. In the sad minutes, Sebastian struggles keeping a strong smile for Aristespha and averts his gaze in the lulls of will. He sneaks out a depressed sigh. Sebastian's eyes widen in brief surprise and he notices a hand upon his face. Slowly pivoting his head, he meets the weak smile of Aristespha and her dimly violet glowing eyes. He spots the faint magical flow upon her ivory hand and smirks with a loving chuckle, ethereally sighing with hints of hope.

----

Fluttering open his eyes, Bach awakens, awkwardly meandering into consciousness. He idly stares above at the drywall ceiling. His conscious mind craving answers, he stirs under the sheets of a single bed. He slowly tilts his head to the side and squints his blue eyes, studying the common motel furnishings of the room. Drifting off into his mind, he sorts through memories upon his face and hears advertising peak the volume from the room television. Faintly under her breath, Aristespha slips out a few evuukian curses, muttering, and aims the remote at the display. "...accursed loud ads..."

Bach rolls his head over to the other side and gazes up at Aristespha sitting in a chair next to the bed, cracking a tired smirk. "It's okay. I'm awake... I think."

Setting the remote immediately down on the other bed, Aristespha quickly turns her head and smiles at Bach. "Well, good morning. How are you feeling right now?"

Bach slips out his arms from under the covers, resting them upon the top of sheets, and ponders out loud. "Uh... Tired. But... Clear? I mean, my brain isn't racing through every thought in the world anymore. And, it's not hazy. Still piecing together my memory for the day-"

Briefly pivoting his head towards the bright morning coming through the window blinds, he pauses with a puzzling grimace and inquires uncertainly. "What day is it?"

Aristespha grits her teeth briefly and plainly explains. "Friday. You were out for most of Thursday."

Bach briefly opens his eyes wide and settles his astonished stare towards the ceiling above, sighing. "Oh. Shit. Yeah... That explains why I feel a big gap in my memory."

Aiming a comforting smile at Bach, Aristespha shrugs with a chuckle. "Well, that. And, I gave you a blend of medications to keep you sleeping through the storms yesterday. You were going back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness, too much for it to do you any good. So, I hope it helped."

Nodding his head, Bach draws in a long breath and rubs the sleep out from the dark circles under his eyes. "Yeah. It did. The bits I remember..."

He wrestles a grimace. "I just remember feeling scared. It wasn't all that fun. So, thanks for saving me from a lot more of that."

Aristespha cracks a humored smirk, lifting an amused brow, and laughs lightly. "You are welcome. But... I should be the thankful one here."

Narrowing his eyes momentarily, he springs them wide, memories jumping up to the front of his mind. Shifting his arms to his side, he pulls himself up into seat on the bed and stretches his back out. Aristespha reaches out to assist, and Bach assures her with a wave. He smiles with tinges of embarrassment. "Thanks. I'm fine. Just want to sit up. Gods... Think I've laid down enough for a while."

He focuses upon Aristespha's neck and awkwardly stumbles towards the subject. "Um... Is everything okay with your neck? Well..."

Furrowing his brow, he glances off to the side of his mind. "I guess I didn't do too shitty of a job, since you're here and all. But... Uh... Sorry about the rush job?"

Perking a stern brow, Aristespha sneaks a smirk through the very clinical explanation. "Truthfully, it was a little on the sloppy side, but completely serviceable. The severed artery was appropriately sealed, and surrounding tissues were brought back together. I was able to stabilize it properly after we had reached a safe area. Yesterday, a PDF field doctor was able to get the critical repair work finished."

Bach nods his head and bows forward in relief with a sigh. "Good. I didn't completely fuck it up."

Aristespha reaches out, places her hand on Bach's arm, and leans close. Bach turns his head, and Aristespha gazes into his eyes, smiling appreciatively. "With limited training, you manufactured incredibly difficult magical materials, applied them appropriately in a combat situation, and mended an injury that would have killed me in under five minutes."

Blinking out welling tears in her violet eyes, Aristespha sniffs and praises proudly. "You did absolutely. Fucking. Amazing. And, I am still here because of you. So, thank you so much. And, NEVER discount what you did."

Averting his eyes awkwardly away from the intense compliment, Bach nervously chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. "Well, uh, you're welcome. Just couldn't sit there and not try."

Glancing around the room, he furrows his brow with a little confusion. "Where is everyone else?"

Aristespha settles back in her chair and motions outside with a wave of her hand. "They all went out to get food. Very likely hitting up the Pancake Shed."

She smirks with a faint chuckling. "Since not much stops them from opening, including failed Red Gear incursions as recently demonstrated."

Noticing the Sword of the Spirit Realm in its scabbard on the other bed, Bach points to the sword and searches around the area. "Where's my brother?"

Aristespha glances upwards briefly and smiles with a long inhale. "Sebastian is keeping watch up on the roof of the building. He has been on self-imposed lookout duty since yesterday. Everything that is happening has put him on edge. But he should be down soon to check on you."

She smirks warmly and gazes at Bach. "He has been taking a few minutes out of each hour to see how you are doing."

Nodding at the answer, Bach halts in thought, mulling over an idea, and poses a question to Aristespha. "So... Can I ask you a personal question?"

Aristespha crosses her arms, lifting an intrigued eyebrow, and awaits in anticipation. "Certainly."

With a slight smirk, Bach narrows an examining stare at Aristespha and cocks his head to the side. "Why my brother? I mean, what do you see in him?"

Lifting her head back, Aristespha searches her mind, biting her lower lip, and fends off moments of embarrassment, smiling. "Well... He is confident, but not ridiculously so. He does have honest talent. He is quite bold when it is time to get things done. He is really encouraging. And, genuinely cares..."

Focusing his inquisitive gaze, Bach presents another angle of inquiry. "So, when did you... Know he was the one for you?"

Aristespha springs her violet eyes wide open, twisting her mouth, and glances away. Wrestling her embarrassment, she fights down a flush of red in her ivory, gray and blue hinted face. She nervously strokes one of her very long, pointed ears back. "Well... Uh... Um..."

Contending with the calculating stare upon her from Bach, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes at herself with a sigh and idly combs her fingers through her long silvery blue hair. "I will warn you, it is a bit of a story."

She pulls in a large breath and explains. "We had tracked Noxian down to an old observation post built into a steep mountain side. After a drawn out confrontation, the foundation started to give away and the structure began to collapse. In the chaos, Noxian escaped, and we ran for our lives. Running down the main walkway, I was lagging behind because the sword sheath, I had at the time, broke and kept coming loose."

Grimacing through the past tension on her face, she shakes her head. "The main part of the building broke free and toppled down the mountain. It ripped most of the support cables for the walkway out and damaged the anchors. Everyone else had just gotten clear, and it was just Sebastian and I left. The platform dropped out from under me, but I grabbed hold of the next section's ledge. And... Sebastian immediately dropped down and grabbed hold of my arm."

Wincing through a surge of embarrassment, she grits her teeth and buries her face in her hands. "OH. GODS. It actually hurts to remember how gullible I was and how much I fell for the whole chosen one and magic sword bit."

She mutters a few evuukian curses to herself under her breath, musters back up her composure, and continues awkwardly. "But... During the fight, Sebastian and I had swapped swords around to confuse Noxian. So... I had THE sword... Dangling at my side... Slowly sliding free off my belt. Of course, I kept a hand on it to secure it."

Her violet eyes stare into her memories, and a reminiscent smirk graces her face. "Sebastian was arguing with my stupid, stubborn self. With the destruction happening so quickly and my ideological tunnel vision, I had NOT realized how weak the remaining walkway was and how worn out we all were. I kept focusing on getting the sword to him more than anything else, but he was focused on my safety. Of course, he proposed having me take his hand, so he could get a better grip with the other, and allow me to safely retrieve the sword."

Gazing over to the humored Bach with an amused smile, she rolls her eyes at herself, tossing her long silvery blue hair back. "And, OF COURSE, that was one of his ploys. The moment I agreed and grabbed hold of his hand, he yanked me right up into his arms, and ran as fast as he could off the walkway."

Glancing over to the bed with the sword, she grits her teeth and shrugs her shoulders, laughing. "Of course, the sword slipped right off with the force of him pulling me by both my arms. The sword dropped down the mountain side into a mess of rubble and was buried under a few tons of rock and collapsed building."

Eying over to Bach, she tightly smiles, averting her gaze guiltily. "So you know, that is not the original scabbard. And... I have yet to inform the Grand Library officials the original has been lost. We have been... AVOIDING that little detail in any reports."

Bach slowly nods, lifting an eyebrow at the sword, and smirks. "I mean... It's a magical sword. Who knows what it could do to its scabbard? It just may have disappeared one day or transmuted into that one. Crazy old magic, you know?"

Aristespha cracks a small sly, appreciative grin. Shifting his attention towards Aristespha, Bach crosses his arms, tilting his head to the side. "So... How pissed off and angry were you at my brother?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Aristespha groans at her past and resumes her tale. "After the initial shock of seeing just where we were seconds ago tumble into a valley... It was somewhere between absolute rage and psychotic conniption fits. I am SO GLAD he did not understand that much evuukian then..."

She averts her narrowing stare to the side. "And that Sotalia hasn't told him half of what she understood from that day."

Straightening up her posture, she chuckles and carefully shakes her head slightly with a faint wince. "So silly now, but that experience opened my eyes to a lot. We eventually found and retrieved the sword with significant help from Dretphi's scouting, Cideeda's senses, and Sotalia's telekinesis magic. It took a week of nonstop work. But, it gave me a lot of time to think things out... And, really see Sebastian... for Sebastian."

Pondering the story, Bach gradually nods and smiles. "That's a good story to know. Thanks for sharing it."

Aristespha shrugs her shoulders and sighs. "Well, it was the starting point. A lot more embarrassment and awkwardness happened after that."

Seconds of calm silence later, Sebastian's ethereal form re-materializes next to Aristespha, and he whispers softly to her. "So, how's he holding up, dear-"

Snapping head towards Bach, he smiles in a flood of joy and relief. "Bro... OH MAN. It's good to see you up. How the hell are you feeling?"

Bach darts his eyes around, gauging his own mood. "Among the living? I'm feeling normal enough now. But, it's been a really strange experience all around."

A playful grin cracks out from the corner of Sebastian's mouth, and he holds up a few fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Rolling his blue eyes, Bach snorts and shakes his head. "Not quite enough to put up your ass."

Sebastian laughs into a relaxing sigh and slowly nods. "Yeah, you're doing okay. But... Seriously..."

With a tremor in his voice, Sebastian gazes upon his brother proudly and thankfully. "I'm so glad you're okay... And... Thank you for saving Aristespha's life. I mean, uh, I don't know what more to say there. I'd totally hug you if I was a bit more tangible, bro. Really."

Aristespha smiles lovingly to Sebastian and turns her attention to Bach. "I will handle that."

Leaning out, Aristespha wraps her arms around Bach tightly and embraces him with a pat on his back. "Thank you, again."

Bach returns the hug and sniffs. "Well... I just couldn't let you two end like that. Especially not after all we've done."

A quiet moment later, Aristespha glances over to the side of her thoughts and sighs through twinges of guilt. "Oh... While I am thinking about it, let me apologize for ALL the times I have been a total bitch."

Bach chuckles, smiling. "It's fine. I wasn't exactly a shining example at times either."

Sebastian laughs with an ethereal reverb, shrugging his shoulders with tinges of regret. "Yeah... Yeah... Count me in there, too. A lot."

Aristespha releases Bach, settling back in her seat, and firmly grasps Bach shoulders tightly. Narrowing a hard glare right into his eyes, she aims a stern voice at him. "That said... DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN. Please. That was... SO dangerous for you to do."

She brushes tangled strands of Bach's white streak out of his face, smiling. "Please, DO NOT fry your brain on my account in the future. We want you around and able."

Blinking, Bach grits his teeth into a grimace with an awkward laugh. "I wasn't trying the first time, and I certainly won't be trying anytime soon after this whole experience. GODS... Can't believe it's Friday."

The motel door opens up slowly, and the golden eyed gaze of Sotalia peers in with a hushed tone. "Hey Aristespha..."

Spotting Bach sitting up in bed, Sotalia swings open the door with a renewed excitement and eagerly approaches with take out boxes. "Hey, Bach! You hungry?"

Bach ponders a moment and nods quickly. "Yeah. Actually, yes. Now that I'm thinking about it, I definitely could eat. It's like my brain is starting to realize basic needs again."

Gleefully, Sotalia takes a seat on the bed, slides up next to Bach, and hands him the bigger take out box. "Good! I got your usual, and it's fresh and warm. We made sure to order right before we left."

Dretphi and Cideeda peek in and notice the awake Bach. He waves over to them and opens the container for inspection. His eyes scanning over the contents, he counts a satisfactory number of bacon strips. Cideeda lifts an inquisitive eyebrow and grins warmly. "Feeling closer to normal?"

Bach turns his attention towards Cideeda, struggling against a long yawn. "Yeah. Still a little tired. But, definitely feeling like my usual self. So, uh, anything new in town? I mean... We're still in or near Yazoo, right?"

Nodding, Dretphi she closes the door to the outside world. "Yes. It is quiet. Still tense. Clean up is happening. People are attempting to resume life. Pancake Shed was open. A good sign overall."

Sotalia cracks a sly smirk, nudges her shoulder against Bach's, and presents the smaller take out box to him. "Oh, and our new favorite Pancake Shed employee, Lucida, gave us all a little extra with our meals for free."

She aims a humored perk of the brow at Cideeda. "Thanks to someone bolstering our efforts a little."

Cideeda rolls her emerald eyes, twisting her mouth, and snorts dismissively. "Please. It was just a light exaggeration. She was exceptionally thankful for Aristespha keeping her Ralthie alive, anyway. So, it wasn't much of even a hint to have her work her employee discount."

Stepping through the gathering, Dretphi places a large take box out onto Aristespha's lap and holds out a huge insulated paper cup. "No cost. She remembered your order."

Aristespha opens the lid of the cardboard container and surveys the excess of food in awe. "Wow. Huh. I think she doubled everything."

Bach wanders his attention over to the take out box from Sotalia, lifts the bulging flap, and studies the pile of bacon crammed inside. "Gods almighty... There's at least a few side orders of bacon in here."

Sotalia swiftly pulls in the tail end of a bacon strip into her mouth, attempting to stealthily munch on it, and nods in agreement. "Oh yeah, she had the cook working that grill."

Finding a plastic fork in the larger box, Bach plucks it up, rests the package of bacon down, and focuses upon his meal. "Man, this looks so good and smells amazing."

He hovers his fork over the bacon part of his main dish, halting, and puzzles, recounting. His eyes slide suspiciously over to Sotalia, and he cracks an amused smirk. Cideeda crosses her arms, staring at Sotalia, and shakes her head. Sotalia glances between the two of them and dismissively deflects with an innocent tone. "What?"

----

Crews angle recording equipment around the entryways into a large living room, Samantha standing by with clipboard at the ready. Gerald hoists up his camera and sets up his shot of the Flames of the Phoenix team sitting on couches around a coffee table. Chad stands up from a chair, moves in front of the team, and picks up some papers off the table. Arranging the paperwork in his hands, he clears his throat and surveys the surrounding crews. He draws in a long breath and glances over Trakenthin, Tassilda, Deedri, Modoran, and Veevi. He straightens his posture and addresses the assembled team. "I'm sure we've all enjoyed the rest and break from the last mission, but we need to get back to adventuring. After reviewing a few presented options, I've chosen a series of smaller, simpler quests to enact the annual inspections of old ruins. I figured it would be a welcomed change of pace."

Motioning to the coffee table, he points out four packets of documents in front of Trakenthin, Tassilda, Deedri, and Modoran. "I've printed out copies of the information provided by the guild about the different locations for you to review and discuss."

Veevi tosses back her pink hair, flicking her long, short-haired tail, and furrows her puzzled brow at the empty space in front of her upon the coffee table. Stretching her legs, she crosses her tan, brown striped arms impatiently and narrows an expectant glare upon Chad. The rest of the team each reaches out for the packets, inspect them, and discuss between themselves. With her growing annoyance, Veevi frowns and flexes her sharp nailed fingers, perking her fuzzy ears back. Chad pulls calming air into his lungs, exhales slowly, and pivots, placing his attention upon Veevi. Eying the papers in Chad's possession, Veevi holds out her hand, awaiting with a petulant sneer. Chad glances down at Veevi's anticipating motions and frowns sternly, sighing. "You won't be needing an information packet, Veevi."

Veevi blinks her pink pupil eyes, lowers her dark pink eyebrows, and cocks her head to the side. Stiffening his upper lip, Chad reprimands in a firm tone. "Veevi, as the leader of the Flames of the Phoenix, I believe you need to sit out these missions."

Veevi's eyes spring wide open, her fuzzy ears flick back, and her tan face twitches. Chad crosses his arms, straightening his posture, and chills his stern voice. "I have NOT been happy with the behavior you have demonstrated lately. You consistently have shown a disregard for other team members and refuse to properly work with the team. And, make no mistake, this has been demonstrated between multiple missions and many occasions outside of missions."

Veevi's mean glare harshens into new shades of contempt, and her lips pull back, revealing gritted sharp teeth. Chad holds his ground and focuses his brown eyes upon the visibly shaking Veevi, the surrounding record crew exchanging bewildered glances. Samantha blinks into full awareness of the situation and squints in disbelief, tilting her head to the side with whisper. "What. The. Fuck... Is going on here?!"

An amused grin splits wide from the corners of Gerald's mouth, and he aims his camera expectantly with a quiet chuckle. "Oh... Just a spine growing three sizes..."

Slightly bowing his head down, Chad narrows his stern stare upon Veevi and calmly explains. "I believe you need to take some time to think. Take some much needed time to review what you can do to work better with the team. Think about whether you really want to be part of this team."

A pressuring silence absorbs all other noises in the room. Trakenthin, Tassilda, Deedri, Modoran, and Chad lock their full attention upon the reddening face of Veevi. Seconds of louder pants end in a furious snort, and Veevi springs up to her feet, her full ire aimed at Chad. With an enraged growl, Veevi points accusingly at Chad. "THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Summoning up her vitriol into an angry hiss, she screams, the fur on her tail puffing out. "YOU- YOU- Are you trying to put ME in TIME OUT?! You've GOT to be FUCKING KIDDING ME! I want to be part of this team?! You don't have a team without ME! No one gave a damn about this team until I arrived! YOU traitorous, worthless sack of shit! How dare you even consider putting ME to the sideline. You are a complete dumbass if you think this is going to fly with the producers!"

Shakily flexing her fingers of sharp nails, Veevi glares a face full of twitching hatred at Chad and huffs out infuriated hisses, the hair on her body rising. Tassilda rolls her light blue one black eyes in absolute disgust, leaning forward from her seat, and points to Veevi. "SIT. DOWN. For gods' sake! Calm down, and stop acting like a childish drama queen. Do you even think that this might be ONE of the MANY reasons you are in this situation right now?! It's just for one set of boring missions anyway. Get over it."

Glancing over his shoulder, Chad grimaces uneasily and signals with his hand for Tassilda to ease off a bit. Seizing the opening, Veevi swiftly rears back her arm, tenses her muscles, and guides her sharp nails towards Chad. Trakenthin spots the motion and lunges out swiftly, launching his long reach towards Chad. He grips tightly around Chad's belt and firmly yanks him back. Veevi's flurry of clawing swipes slice through the air left behind, Chad's body yanking sharply backwards. Recovering from the misses, Veevi regains her footing, hisses out an incoherent mess of insults, and steps toward Chad. Steeling himself, Chad raises his arms up to shield from the next attack. A couch pillow flies solidly into Veevi's face.

The mass and power behind the cushion impacts the side of Veevi's head, tilts her firmly off balance, and sends her stumbling backwards and to the side. A few cameras trace back the flight path of the pillow, and Modoran nonchalantly resettles back into his seat upon the couch, obscuring the empty spot between other couch back cushions. Balancing herself back out, Veevi feverishly whips her short-hair tail side to side and tenses her thin form defiantly. Chad cautiously stands back. The crews keep recording. Noticing the attention around her, Veevi pants out her rage, hisses out her disgust, and steps forward. She fails to find an easier target and dramatically flips the coffee table over, growling. Promptly pivoting around, she storms up the stairwell and disappears upstairs. A loud slam of a door later, muffled screams of rage echo out, and a group of recording crew rush up the stairs.

Chad regathers his composure, shaking his head, and steps to the middle of the group. Deedri springs up and inspects his face carefully. "Chad, are you okay? It looked like she got real close to you."

With an appreciative nod, Chad smiles thankfully to Deedri. "She missed me..."

He turns to Trakenthin and bows slightly. "Thank you, Trakenthin."

Trakenthin nods simply. Covering her mouth, Tassilda fights through the guilt and regret. "I'm so sorry. Oh gods, I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't think she'd do THAT."

Shaking his head, Trakenthin sighs. "Not your fault. She was seeking an opportunity. Would have taken any."

Chad smiles in agreement and eases Tassilda's concern. "Don't worry. I'm actually a bit surprised myself."

He wanders his attention over to Modoran, cracking a humored smirk. "Nice shot."

Modoran shrugs his shoulders, laughing softly. "Well. I was trying to be nice. I did not think kicking her legs out was warranted... Yet."

Sighing out his tension, Chad scratches the back of his brown, coiffed head of hair, and slowly shakes his head. Processing the events, he chuckles with tinges of sarcasm. "Well, that actually went a little better than I expected. I mean, it could have gone a lot worse."

Tassilda twists her mouth uncomfortably and crosses her arms. "At least she doesn't have that laser pistol anymore."

Chad springs his eyes wide open briefly, contemplating that possibility, and grits his teeth. "Oh, gods... Glad I remedied that mistake."

He gazes over his team, smiling humbly, and sighs. "And... I hope to fix more as I am able."

----

Mera adjusts the pillow on her single motel bed, slides up against the headboard, and stretches her legs out. Easing out a long breath, she glances around the outdated, dingy room, and frowns briefly. Turning her attention to a battered and worn aetherphone, she taps through a number of menus and slowly scrolls through lists of apartments and rental houses. Stopping at one listing, she darts her gaze over at the piles of paper bills and coins upon the bed next to her. She sorts through the money, her crimson eyes searching her mind, and nods at the possibility. Finishing up through the current selection, she rests her aetherphone upon the nightstand next to the bed. A moment later, her hand drifts over and picks up a piece of paper off a loose stack. She holds the page in front of her. A happy smile emerges, and she gazes upon the crayon drawing of three black eared figures and one with longer ivory ears. Enjoying the art, she rolls over and props it up against the desk lamp.

Mera grabs the remote and turns on the older television on the opposite wall, flipping through a number of channels. She fights back a yawn, stretching her arms out, and surveys the entertainment landscape. Stopping upon one channel, she idly watches the commercials play out and the main programming resumes.

"Last time on the Next Adventurers of Nexus..."

Mera lifts a mildly amused brow, sets the remote off to the side, and settles up against the bed pillow. Clips of the prior show episode flip up on the screen. A segment shows Modoran lifting up an elaborately decorated bow. Mera crimson eyes widen. She remains still. Modoran draws back the bow, takes aim, and expertly releases an arrow to a target. Meredosia's stare narrows, focusing upon the details. She spots the faint traces of magical energy, flowing in a familiar way. Her breathing quickens. Her body tenses. The clip disappears under a swipe cut to another segment about Veevi. During the distant, disconnected stare, Meredosia's ivory face twitches, and she begins to angrily grit her teeth.

With a sharp wince, Mera covers her face with both hands, gasping for air frantically, and curls up painfully on the bed. Panting through the surges of remorse and guilt, she shakes her head hard and opens her frantic eyed gaze. She nervously grips her very long ears, squeezes the tears from her eyes, and rolls over to her side. Cringing through memories crashing to the front of her mind, and she clenches her jaw and hisses strained breaths through her teeth. Seconds of struggling, she reopens her eyes and settles her panicked stare upon the crayon drawing.

Mera reaches out for the artwork, gently runs a finger across the page, and sniffs up the tears. With each slowing breath, she gradually reassembles a semblance of calm.

----

In the noon sun, a large blue all terrain vehicle rolls up into a gravel lot and parks between crudely painted lines. Isaac opens his door, locks it, and closes it. Stepping around the vehicle, he glances out at the open town center between a mix of different buildings. Slowly surveying the land, he pauses his examining stare at wooden and tin roof fronts, concrete block bunkers, brick and metal sheeting structures, and a few weathered aluminum sided buildings. Narrowing his curious gaze towards the middle of the area, he walks out into the patch of grass and a few older trees. He searches around long gravel roadways branching away and squints down the dusty rough passages, reading off the signs on buildings. Noticing a larger two-story structure, he studies the name on the front, "Precipice Inn & Tavern". He shrugs his shoulders and steps forward towards the structure.

Opening a large wooden door, Isaac slips into a huge, noisy main room, and stands, observing. Slowly scanning the space, he meanders his gaze between numerous tables surrounded by an eclectic mishmash of chairs and filled with a diverse collection of patrons. Conversations in many different languages collide together in the tall air space, forming an ambient, colorful background drone. Isaac darts his intrigued stare between tables of rougher characters in complicated survival suits, mercenaries in heavy plated armor, local merchants in plain clothing, common workers in dingy uniforms, and few younger adventurous types. Isaac's curiosity follows an animated robotic humanoid in worn protective gear and the machine's enthusiastic attempts in pawning off a number of different maps. The pitch fails. With an accepting nod, it hangs out nearby, eagerly chatting about news and events.

Shaking out of his fascinated trance, Isaac pivots around, spotting the long wooden bar, and walks over. He brushes off a cracked leather seat, checks down either side of the bar, and lifts a hand towards the bartender. The rough, middle aged woman goes down the line of other patrons, checking on them, and arrives in front of Isaac with a smile. "Hey there, what can I get for you?"

Isaac surveys the collection of alcohol upon a variety of shelves behind the woman, contemplates, rocking his head side to side, and smirks kindly. "Well. I'll definitely start with a beer to cool down, first. And, we'll see where that leads."

Lifting an amused brow, the bartender nods, side steps over to a chest fridge, and pulls out a brown, unlabeled bottle. With deft handling of the bottle opener, the cap pops right off, and she places the beverage in front of Isaac. "So, sweetie, you hungry? The kitchen is open for lunch right now. We got a few good specials you might like."

Searching his mind, Isaac smiles, grasps hold of his beer, and hums thoughtfully. "I think I could be convinced to eat. But, actually, first... I'm looking for someone."

The bar woman cocks her head to the side, leaning in, and glances around. "Who are you looking for?"

Pouring back the beer, Isaac gulps down the drink and sets the bottle back down, uncertainly replying. "Mavian?"

Rolling her brown eyes, the woman snorts, shaking her head, and grins. "OH! Yeah. I'll be right back with him. Probably not answering his phone, right?"

Issac blinks, nods in agreement, and grimaces politely. "Well. If he is busy, I certainly don't want to be rude or anything."

The bartender laughs, waving down Isaac's concerns, and walks towards a flight of stairs. "Oh, sweetie, it's not a problem for me. Gods know he needs to wake up and work some decent jobs to keep paying me rent."

With an awkward, thankful nod, Isaac lifts his beer back up, sipping the beverage, and gazes over at the activity in the main room. Minutes later, a man in a green scarf sits down on the stool next to Isaac, rubbing the sleep out of his faintly glowing eyes. "The hell, Aggie? Scared the shit out of me."

Aggie steps back behind the bar and shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "Should have answered your door the first few times then."

Isaac pivots around in his seat, glances over at Mavian, and politely extends his hand to shake. "Good afternoon, Mavian."

Mavian shakes Isaac's hand, narrowing his examining gaze, and blinks, recognition fumbling back into his head. "It's... Ian- No. Um... Ivan- No... Isaac! YES. Sorry, it was a long night."

Waving off the trouble, Isaac smirks and shrugs his shoulders. "Perfectly fine. I was a little worried when you didn't answer your phone."

Twisting his mouth uncomfortably, Mavian rolls his faintly glowing green eyes and sighs. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I was up really late with some couple wanting an Adventure Tour of the Zone. They were really into it, so I took them to a few places for them to collect some of the more colorful, harmless, but totally useless artifacts."

Isaac lifts a humored eyebrow and tilts his head. "I do hope they tipped you well."

Mavian gives an entrepreneurial smirk and nods satisfied. "That they did. They were nice."

Gritting his teeth briefly, and Isaac pulls in a guilty breath. "Before we talk much further, allow me to apologize for being a week late. Getting out of Perimeter and traveling the roads was filled with some unexpected delays. Quite a different experience from other zones I've been in, to be perfectly honest."

Shrugging his shoulders, Mavian picks up a beer that Aggie drops off in front of him, pours some into his mouth, and nonchalantly explains. "Don't worry about it. Not a problem, really. Anyway, the fact you are here means you are serious about finding your friend."

He smirks slyly, adjusting his green scarf. "In fact, your timing is not that bad. Been asking around about your friend Malkav. It turns out he was here over a month ago to load up on supplies. Now... I haven't found out much more yet, like where he is. He seems to be vague about where he's been going."

An eager grin emerges upon Isaac's face. Sitting up straight on the bar stool, he tosses back his white, wispy hair. "To that point of order, I actually have some maps and info that might help narrow that down... With your help and expertise, of course."

Nodding slowly, Mavian chuckles. "Of course. Lunch first?"

Isaac smiles. "Of course."

Timeline

March 3017

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July 3017

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August 3017

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