Moderator

As ScorchMan and Griffin worked together to avoid the lethally quiet fire-spider predator, the sense of its heat nearby continued. Perhaps it had intuited ScorchMan's restricted normal senses, but for a moment it seemed to fall behind him slightly as he led it away towards the other side of the fields, the burning feeling from its attacks still searing him.

All at once, in a whisper, Scorchman felt it lunge forward, flying at him in a burst of unheralded speed, just as a second unexpected acceleration lifted him into the sky. A skittering sound and the screech of claw-tipped legs scraping across metal below him preceded a billowing wave of heat as the beast hissed up at him, its molten maw yawning wide in frustration.

Just as he righted himself in the air, and tried to line up his target below, the core of impossible heat down below shuddered and shifted as a stream white fire and molten material lanced up from the creature below to spatter and tether the navi. it melted through his remaining barrier, and left hot tendrils on his body, connecting ScorchMan to the creature below, but by the time the strands reached his skin they weren't hot enough to harm the fire navi any more. He did feel the stands pulled suddenly taught, however, as the shot yanked tight and reeled him back towards the ground far faster than he had originally been falling.

He had just enough time to send the blast of electrical energy down ahead of him, right into the waiting mouth of the hunter below; the bolt hammered in with an electrical reverb that was only overshadowed by the screeched hissing sound as the spider writhed and flailed at the unexpected mouthful. It collapsed flat against the metal panels in a heap as ScorchMan tried to ready his guard for a crash landing.

To his senses, the pinpoint core of fire suddenly dithered and diffused, spreading into a broad lake of heat, while, on Griffin's screen, he saw the spider spread out a further coverage of lava, into which it swiftly sank. The creature was still reading as present, however, and there was no way it was done for yet – though perhaps it was retreating like an ambush predator caught off-guard?

Scorchman landed in the fresh lava pool, surfing on his shield a moment later, just as a spike of heat in his awareness shot up from below the surface; he was able to slide to the side of it just in time for the razor thin stinger of the spider to punch up from the lava, skewering only air. Victory as short-lived, however, as the attack came on two fronts – no soon had he moved aside from the attacking tail stinger, then the bloom of the creature's hottest core opened up beneath him and its mouth snapped up on either side, fangs attempting to sink in.

Fortunately for Scorchman, its jaw was not incredibly wide, and most of its bite seemed to lodge on his shield; the fangs still pierced, crumpling the defence, but by a quirk of the chips protection, the scoring heat of its bite didn't manage to infiltrate his own body any further. Before it gave out entirely, the guard shield recoiled, sending a retaliatory blast of energy back down the spider's gullet with a flash, and blasting it back under the surface of the lava again.

-=Unwanted Bath-Buddy=-
Myriad.F.Seek: 280Hp [Lava]

-=Surprised Bather=-
ScorchMan: 45Hp [Lava][Claw-Pierce: 5Fire per turn, 3 turns remain][SkyShoes still active for the start of the turn, but will be gone by the end]

-=Former Fields=-
80% Lava [Left and right]
20% Normal [Narrow central strip]

Most of this is in order, however, I cannot approve this until you clean up the formatting - each section and sub-section should be on its own line at minimum.

I also cannot sign off on this until your grammar is legible and intelligible; the registration serves as a sample of your future writing and playing, and, for the sake of the enjoyment of all players, we do have to ask for, at minimum, acceptable grammar and sentence structure.

The longer Griffin watched ScorchMan growl under the spider's snapping assault, the hotter his shoulders felt against his raglan. It was nothing but the simple sympathy of really, truly knowing that feel (bro), but the sympathy of a burn could make the burly fireman wince just as easily as the burn itself. "Hang on, dude," he called and rattled through his chip folder. Familiar jolts of adrenaline were shooting up the big man's wrists, though the lack of anything physical to burn his energy on left Griffin feeling strangely untethered. A nebulous spark of an idea was trying to catch alight; he spun the camera and scanned the earth, trying to see enough to fill in the gaps.

The shine of metal. Rancorous, predatory skittering. A handful of unfamiliar, untested chips and the barest understandings of how they might work. The idea flared up without warning - in his Work Voice he barked, "Run to your three and keep ahead of it!" Seeking out whatever felt most applicable to the not-quite-a-plan, his fingers found a chip displaying rocket boots and thought 'sure let's roll with it'. "Pop this one ASAP, okay?

Distantly, ScorchMan felt the chip as a flare of heat in his chest-furnace. The bulk of him was occupied with wrestling a nigh-invisible foe that moved quicker and quieter than anything so large had any right to. That, and the burns - the ones across his back were ignorable, but it was the sting in ScorchMan's belly that had the Navi gritting his teeth, liquid fire seeping and spreading higher up his limbs with every step. There was nothing for it but to push into his boots, pivot ninety degrees and sprint where his Operator had indicated. The chip was unfamiliar; ScorchMan reached for it like a weapon, snarling when the data slipped from his grasp and flowed down his legs instead of loading into his busters. "What - am I - supposed - to do with this?" There was a split-second of the most peculiar pressure inside his boots, like his feet had just swollen to twice their size-

and the SkyShoes ignited.

The world vanished. All there was to register was smoky lava-baked air on all sides, and a pillar of fire gushing from the sole of each foot. Also, an angry bellow that sounded a lot like, "WOULD YOU WARN A GUY!!" From somewhere behind ScorchMan came an apology, barely audible over the wind rushing through his helmet. More noticeable was the second chip: this one felt uncomplicated, easier to handle by far, and fluorescent-bright in a way he recognized the instant it loaded.

Flailing as he tumbled and spun, ScorchMan's off-hand found a handle as it unfolded from his gauntlet. With something to centre his body on, the Navi managed to lock his legs tight together and start controlling the spin. The wild torchlights brightened and melded upon being united. There was just the small matter of finding the arachnid's white-hot maw to distinguish which direction below lay, and he would be able to right himself.

A flicker of heat-beyond-heat against his back. Ever-rising heat. His legs came up over his head once more, and kicked forward to break the spin. In the split-second of hanging freely before he had to get his feet back under himself, ScorchMan let gravity point his DollThunder railgun down to earth, felt for the dripping starburst at the spider's maw, and squeezed the trigger. Lightning flashed, all the heat and light of a sun condensed into a snapping, forking river of plasma. The Navi could have been a thundercloud - filled with swirling heat and gusting through the air, the inside of his skull a riot of scintillant fire, he certainly felt like one.

There was no thunder, but then, that was probably for the best. It dawned on ScorchMan that he didn't even know if being this high up would necessarily guarantee his safety against this particular foe. If it still had a means of reaching him he didn't know about, he'd best make it as difficult for the beast as possible, and so he threw himself once more into a tuck and roll. It was, in hindsight, rather easier when one knew which direction was up, and thus when to throw one's rocket boot-equipped feet out to stop flipping and right oneself. From a point somewhere to ScorchMan's left, he could hear Griffin shouting, "Yes! Yes, that was perfect! Keep this under you, it could probably still get you if it jumped, and I bet you anything the bastard's gonna be mad enough to try!"

The rapid verbal torrent was punctuated with a third chip. ScorchMan recognized the Guard the instant it began to unfurl, comforting weight spreading from his gauntlet like a solid steel wing. The shield spread asymmetrically, only a small portion extending past his hand, with the bulk following the line of his forearm well past his elbow. With a grunt, he wheeled his arm up and flexed his bicep in a classic strongman curl. With his legs flexing into the thrust of his rocket boots and his shoulders slightly hunched for balance, much of ScorchMan's body was concealed behind the Guard. His buster trigger seemed almost to itch, nevermind that it was somewhere in his head and not exactly scratchable. He wanted badly to just bark at Griffin for more guns, more fire and take whatever came at him, but his stings yet stung, warnings dearly received against letting the spider have too much liberty. Fighting blind was still far too novel, and his fire too fresh-kindled. Theirs' would have to be a shared victory, or no victory at all.

-BurnTurn Summary-
1. Feint [Bait Myriad towards Metal]
2. SkyShoesEffect: High-Alt Flight
Accuracy: S
Description: Grants the user the ability to freely fly at high altitude. Initial takeoff is considered a dodge. If shot down, user may take off again until effect ends.
Duration: 1 turn
Element: Null
Special: Beware of fall damage.
Trader Rank: D [Dodge: vertical takeoff into forward flip]
3. Take Aim
4. DollThunder1Damage: 80 + Line-Attack5
Accuracy: B
Description: Fires a powerful bolt of lightning that pierces through objects and enemies alike.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Trader Rank: D: Myriad [80 Elec {B+}, Line Attack5]
5. Dodge
6. Guard2Effect: (1 Hit Shield) + (Reflect(up to 120 + Piercing + Line Attack): On Hit)
Accuracy: S
Description: Generates a 1-Hit Shield upon activation. When this shield blocks one hit from a non-Break attack, it responds with a hyper-fast damage ray.
Duration: Until broken or overridden.
Element: Null
Special: Negated by Break. Ignores Impact.
Special: Reflect: Damage returned is equal to the damage of the attack blocked or the damage cap listed, whichever comes first. Reflect is not subject to negation by Impact.
Special: Status Guard: This chip blocks debuffs.
Trader Rank: C (Held under feet)

As they chatted and Courser sized up the scene, he sent a pulse of shadow to refresh his primary clone and keep it playing the part. It didn't sound like the navi was involved, but his first comments, Courser had to guess to an operator, had sounded like he had more purpose here than he was letting on. He let himself skate across to one side, absently examining the damaged outer fence while 'Courser' took over the conversation.

“Aye, well, we'd love to call ourselves good samaritans, sure, but really? The bounty on 'em's pretty nice. Unusual over-population in the area, so it goes, and there's a pretty decent Zenny reward for culling 'em, once you've hook up a contract before hand, if you follow.” He shrugged and winked at the reclining lava navi, gliding up the the edge of the pool, though of course, the clone didn't deign to dip a toe in.

“Got to say though... this place is looking pretty wrecked up... supposed to be a research and testing facility, or something like that... Now me, I'd never trespass on a private lot like this normally, but Riptide over there...” The decoy nodded his head back behind him. “My mate's a treasure-hunter first and foremost, and a badly damaged research place seemed pretty sweet for finding valuables, so we though.”

While the clone was chatting, Courser crouched down by the fence and beckoned with one finger. A small well of shadow formed close by him, until it became a narrow hole in the ice and snow. Dark waters rose from it an coalesced into the shape of a hard-hatted mole with a shovel over one shoulder. It had a slim armband with Courser's emblem on it, secured around its shovel arm.

“Right, little guy...” He spoke, loud enough for the other navi to hear, but clearly in a quiet tone mostly directed at the new summon. “Place is a bit ruined – watch out for the lava, and be careful of the gentleman over there too... but see if you can't find us some treasure, okay?” The mole gave a lazy, undisciplined salute and ducked back under the ground for now. Courser, as 'Riptide', stood straight again and looked around the area as the thermal activity seemed to be making more lava patches the longer the situation continued. He made efforts to avoid any of the newly forming patches with light footwork.

“Say, friend... Sharo really does seem like a pretty ill-suited network for a gentleman like you. I can't imagine you'd come up here just because you felt like it, and then complain about it... or, if I'm honest... bust up some poor sod's facility just for a hot bath... What brings you up here to do something like that, really?” Closer to the other navi, the one calling itself Courser grinned and stretched, hands behind his head as the appearance of softly swirling waters circled around him in lazy patterns.

“Aye... what d'you know that we don't, mate? Something... lucrative?” The clone arched an eyebrow with a smirk. The real Courser winced slightly as he peeked at one of the newly opened pyroclastic flows in the area, shielding himself from the heat with one hand; the misting water field around his arm shored itself up as the heat seemed to make his hand glow a redish-orange hue for a moment or two before he pulled back from it.

“Hey, Courser! This place sounds like it's getting more and more unstable. We probably don't have long to search it!” His voice was clear but casual; neither he nor his decoy sounded worried by this prospect, so much as noting the danger and moving on with the conversation. Back in the middle of the enclosed area, behind the laser trip line, the black mine clicked its dial over as the red number dropped from two to one.

-=Summary=-

C*) Shadow: Moving towards ThermalMan, still cautious but acting more relaxed now, and chatting.
C1) Dodge (ducking the spotlight in favour of letting his decoy lead conversation)
C*) 'Forked Streams' and 'No Peeking' decoys intended behaviours as before, if triggered
C2) MomograHP: 60
Damage: 15 + Backstab
Accuracy: B
Description: Creats a Momogra virus to aid you. Attacks with a shovel from behind, and has a constant Mole status that ignores terrain solidness when not attacking (unless the panel currently does not exist). Still affected by other effects of panels.
Element: Null
Special: Allied Virus: This virus has one action per turn, and is fully controllable by the summoner. If no orders are given, it will perform actions at random, but will never intentionally interfere with or damage the summoner or their allies. Deleting this virus will grant no additional rewards to either side.
Trader Rank: C (no tangible combat orders yet, aside from 'look for treasure' – just to be ready)
C3) Dodge
C4) Stall for time and hopefully more information.
C5) Fire+30Status: Fire Element UP 30, Stackable
Accuracy: S
Description: Adds 30 Damage to all hits of a Fire Element attack chip, before any external environment-related or target-related damage modifiers apply.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: C
C*) Fast Barrier: (40Hp Barrier)
C6) Dodge and Stall

Without noticing how badly she was alienating her operator, Amy pushed forward and opened the door to the lab beyond. Her hand on the plate gave a small, muted chime and the circular door opened with a quiet hydraulic hiss.

Beyond, the dome was broad and expansive, but laid out with clear pathways between the benches and stations scattered through it. The lighting in here was clearer; an omnipresent white light that was likely ideal for studying things. In amongst the dozen or so long tables and benches that housed scientific apparatus and innumerate small drawers, jars, bottle sand boxes, several larger tanks were also present in the room, standing out as landmarks; one seemed to contain a number of small, colourful fish, supported by plant and coral structures to make the enclosure as much like their homes outside as possible. Another looked to hold mostly rocks, but subtle slow movements at the base suggested some kind of mollusc presence.

The lab looked empty of intelligent life for now, but as Amy moved through the space, she could notice that most of the benches and work-spaces seemed to have some kind of growth on them – thin trains and feelers of a strange substance. It looked at first like creeping seaweed, but also a bit like a coral structure, and it was hard to tell at a glance. The core of it was pure black, like veins creeping across the entire lab, but from it sprang a multitude of softer-looking, almost feathery feelers that were a bright orange colour. Some of the them were wrapped around scientific equipment or ensconced in documents on the desks, and it seemed to riddle the entire lab.

One observation tank seemed to hold the same coral structure in it, not too far from the centre of the lab space; a coral with a black core and orange feelers almost filled the tank it was in, and the top was open, leaving obvious the signs that it had spread out to its current coverage of the space – it didn't seem affected by being out of the water.

At the very centre of the lab, a clear space existed in a broad circle, ringed by desks and benches. In the very centre of the clear area, a spiral staircase climbed upwards towards the ceiling of the dome, and Amy could just make out creeping tendrils of the adventurous coral winding its way up the handholds as well.

Left alone after the unexpected interloper vanished, Amy didn't take long to reach a decision about her next goal, but not before taking a quick peek at her guide book before she did. The blue-bound volume practically jumped open in her hands as she pulled it out, and the text was already scrawling across the blank pages be the time she was able to look at it properly.

“Look, real talk, just ignore Hoodwink. He's always meddling in my stuff, and it's never enough to actually cause any problems or really throw it all off, but just once, just once, one time, I'd love to see someone shut down that smirking casanova charmer right from the get-go... He has got far too much ego for his own good.” The text paused, and Amy could practically feel the tired sigh that filled the gap, even if nothing was written.

“Never mind. Whatever he's after you for, it's almost certain that it won't upset the fish-cart, just as long as you don't forget where your real mission is, okay? Now... where were we... Ahem...” There was a clear line break, before the text started up a third time.

“Aunty keeps a record; she watches how it goes.
If something goes amiss here then surely Aunty knows.
There's research done in order, filed neatly on the shelf,
But why scribble in the margins of reports you made yourself?”

“Forward meets the family, backward's clammed up tight;
Should only be supplies there; inventory once a night.
There's nothing wrong with tour guide, but careful what you say;
See all they have to show you and then swiftly slip away.”

The book seemed... content with itself after that series of lines, leaving Amy with her own thoughts again and those of her operator, potentially. With this update in mind, Amy took a careful look down the forward corridor. It was bathed in the same pervasive green light, but the glass from the cylindrical passage looked out all around to the ocean outside. It ran along the sea floor for a short distance, before reaching a large, round, steel door that had the lab's logo on it. A panel on one side seemed to have a simple access control – mostly it just looked like a button to open the door, rather than anything more serious.

While Amy couldn't' see through the door itself, it was easy enough to see into parts of the next dome anyway – both the tunnel she was in, and the dome beyond were glass. It looked a lot like she might expect any large scale science lab to look like; detail was hard to make out, but Amy could get the impression of rows of equipment, large observation tanks, and other complicated-seeming things within. From the tunnel, it looked like this lab had some kind of staircase or elevator up to another sphere, connected directly above it, while, still at ground level, it looked like it might also lead forward back towards the front entrance of the facility. Unfortunately, as far as subtle scouting went, Amy would need to open the door and get inside, if she wanted a better look.

With a roguish smirk, Hoodwink stepped around to the side so that he could rest one arm lightly over Amy's shoulders; he wasn't gripping or holding her to him, particularly – it was more of a loose, comradely action that came along with a small chuckle.

“I think you'll do just fine...” He reached out with his other hand to pick up one of the document tablets that was annotated in its margin all the way down one side of the page. His eyes skimmed it as he spoke. “Right now, we're down at the very bottom. But climb up, and eventually you'll make your way to the highest room, in the tallest tower. You'll find a bedroom; It's very fancy. Not at all to my taste, but look a little closer and you'll find a room within that room. Look closer and you'll find a box that stands out. it's plain, uninteresting, unremarkable... You'll know it when you see it. In that box, you'll find many things, but one of them will be a small grey stone marble. That, Amy, my new friend... that is what I want.” He grinned and gave her shoulder a light squeeze, then stood back and away, letting the data pad rest back on the table. There was a lightness to his steps, somewhere between gliding and dancing.

“I can promise you that it's not valuable, and it's not even sentimental to anyone. It's not important to this facility, or anyone in it; in fact, it is entirely unimportant, only there by happenstance of being carried along... what matters, is that I want it.” He wandered the room as he chatted now, but eventually came to a halt near the archway that led towards the front of the facility. With a mischievous grin, he beckoned to Amy.

“Look this way... Just down the hall here, past a lab and another tunnel, and you'll find yourself back in the public visitor areas of the place. Only a few domes are off limits to visitors, but back her, and up at the top are two of them. It's easy enough to get around though, only four navis run this place. Two really, and two guards... and only really one guard, at that, and she's a push over.” He laughed to himself again. “You'll get why, if you meet her. It's... amusing.” He shrugged and stretched his arms.

“Anyway...” He bowed properly Amy, one hand sweeping across his waist while the other was held out to the side, one foot ahead of the other, before rising. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, Amity. If you'd rather not, there's no hard feelings... but if you should happen to retrieve what I'm after, come and find me again on the beach side; just look and you'll find me... and then perhaps I can buy you a drink to share in the sun... and you can tell me what you'd like as my thanks. Until then...” He winked at her, his grin showing a flash of white teeth on one side, before taking a step backwards. It seemed like her was stepping into a shadow cast by something in the room, but there weren't enough for that, and a moment later his form had faded from sight entirely.

She kept her eyes on AppraisalMan, looking up towards him as he answered, but as he went on Pirouette held back the urge to sigh. More evasion. By the time he arrived at his own explanation and request, he had gone from disappointed to disgruntled, to a sudden jolt of embarrassed alarm, each of which she had to fight from appearing on her otherwise open and eager expression.

She gently ran her fingertips back and forth on the tops of his thighs, then pulled back and patted his knees a couple of times, before standing and stepping away. The ballerina took a longer breath, letting it out slowly while her wings lifted and fell again, and turned her back on the creep as she strode back to the partition, shaking her head.

“You will have to do better than that, I am afraid, AppraisalMan. I had truly thought you better at reading people, but perhaps I was mistaken...” she bit back the normal mental translation tail that occurred when she spoke netopian rather than her own tongue. She had to be careful of that here, or he would take one of her inflections as a question. She guarded her tongue. “It is a pity that you have mis-stepped so.” With one small gesture of her hand, Pirouette called up the whirling circle of feathers that descended over her form and returned her to her neat and proper police uniform; it came with the cap again, tucked under one arm, and she set it down on the interview table, before pushing back to sit on the edge of the table herself, one leg crossed over the other.

“You wish me to provide officer HoundMan with some relief from his sexual tension, y— you say... And you wish me to do so on an open channel, as well... Very well.” She stood again, and gestured to her colleague, beckoning him across to the partition to stand in front of her, once more with her back mostly to AppraisalMan. Once he stepped across to her, she offered the poor man a gentle smile and took his hands in hers for a moment.

“You have done well, officer HoundMan. I am sorry to have put you through this. Look into my eyes, yes? Focus. It is well. Be calm with me, yes?” It was hard to deny that she was still, somewhat, fighting the heat within her own body, and the thought of how easy it would be to put a hand on his cheek, or maybe even lean across to kiss him... she cleared her thoughts and sought poise again, then, still focusing her attention on HoundMan's eyes, she opened up the channel to talk more directly to Disappearance.

“HoundMan was struggling a little, officer Disappearance, but we are well now. He has been a model officer in these past few minutes, and I am grateful for it. For the rest...” Briefly, she turned her eyes back towards AppraisalMan, to ensure that he was, in fact, listening to her words.

“For the rest, we may be at an impasse, unless the situation develops unexpectedly, I am afraid. AppraisalMan has given me information that contradicts your own, you see, and further than that, he has now also lied to me quite directly, so, I fear that without a great deal of more satisfying effort from our house guest, his own poor judgement of his situation have made progressing very difficult.” She returned her focus to HoundMan, meeting his eyes again and talking in a way that was calming and business-like, letting her proper delivery gradually leech any and all sexual inclinations out of the atmosphere.

“AppraisalMan says that no-one is actually depending on NightMan's secret remaining so, other than NightMan himself. Not truly. It was indeed an element of blackmail, but, you know, one that it seems they were both aware was going to be called out sooner or later anyway. If we do not share this information with others, AppraisalMan was very much going to see that it happened regardless.” She frowned and shrugged.

“Truthfully, I am more concerned with NightMan's poor conduct and decisions in trying desperately to keep this secret, when there is nothing wrong or shameful about it in the first place. We are all entitled to out hobbies, yes? Better conduct from him would have been, you know, to call his threat without shame. Ah well.” She continued to hold HoundMan's attention while her voice continued in a soothing, calm tone; the sharoan lilt to her accent might be alluring to some, she knew, but even that wouldn't really be a turn on when it was discussing police business.

“All we can really do for NightMan right now, I fear, is appeal to his sense of responsibility, no? He is a member of the net police; has he no sense of duty... aie... of doing the right thing, yes? He is upset that we know some of his delicate secrets now, perhaps, but, you know... if all is lost, then he has a choice of helping us, or not... and if he truly is an officer who is proud to be net police, and who believes in what we stand for, you know, then he must surely see that helping us... sharing with us all the information he has on this debacle, yes? To give us the truth, the whole truth, and only the truth... it is the right thing to do.” She paused and rolled her shoulders, fluttering her wings and taking a breath as she did. She took a moment to brush at HoundMan's shoulders and the edges of his uniform, straightening his appearance.

“Fortunately, in terms of the actual point of this interview, AppraisalMan has agreed to furnish the net police with the details of his financing, his official statement regarding these things, and to generally be co-operative to further questioning as soon as his communications and access to his business are restored. Beyond this, I expect to be concluding with him soon, unless something unexpectedly interesting comes up. If it does not, we can soon wrap up here and process him accordingly. If he returns to his uncooperative ways after this, and after giving such assurances, that will be suspicion enough for a proper arrest warrant, you know.” As she closed the line, Pirouette tilted her had, looking at HoundMan again, with another small smile.

“You are calm, yes? No distractions now, just police work. It is well.” She gave him a last nod, then turned back to face AppraisalMan properly, and took a seat on the edge of the table again.

“So here we are, AppraisalMan. I have done exactly as you asked. HoundMan has been relieved, and it has been done in open dialogue to my other associate. To the letter, AppraisalMan. So. It would do you well not to mistake the acting for some misunderstanding of where the power balance lies in this room, you know.” She folded her arms, her wings lifting up tall and then folding back again as she breathed slowly.

“If you want me to actually count you as honest... and, you know, I must count you as honest, if I am to continue playing our little game... then you will have to speak more to the first question. NightMan, he is quite convinced you know, that many people depend upon his secret moonlighting identity remaining secret. You say this is not true. You much explain further and clarify this confusion. It must be a good explanation, because, you know, you did just lie to me.” she shrugged and looked away from him, feigning unconcern.

“I do not know exactly which was the lie and which was true, but I also do not truly care, in this particular case. We are making exchanges for information, and I am... willing... to continue making them. I am offering you some entertainment that, you know, you will not receive at all from others you have already agreed to work co-operatively with.” She leaned in a little closer, resting her elbows on the tabletop and framing her face with a small smile. “It is in your best interest to be forthcoming and helpful with me, you know.” with another little shrug, Pirouette pushed herself up and took a few moments to walk the room again, before stopping at the divide. She paused to fiddle with HoundMan's uniform again, neatening it where it didn't need any further neatening, then rocked her shoulders, shaking her wings and glancing back half way – She was still sort of talking to AppraisalMan, but clearly in a way that was also talking for HoundMan to listen to and take in by proxy.

“There is no need to push your fortunes with me. If you are forthcoming, and helpful, you will get from me everything that I am prepared to give. There is, you know, nothing that you can say or do, AppraisalMan, that will bring me to give away more than this. There are... things, which I have not ever done... and I will not be doing them here, like this, in this setting. Reaching for this, this will only get you nothing. I was intending to perhaps tease you with some of these details about myself, but... it will only matter if the game is to continue, you know.” She turned back again and ran her fingertips along the edge of the table top as she returned to AppraisalMan.

“So... before we continue, I did as you asked, to the letter. It is my turn. You have said you know much about the secrets of several of my superior officers, here in the net police. You have said you can evidence what you know. I would know what you know, and I would see your evidence.” She shrugged, leaving her statement hanging for a few moments, then let a relaxed grace carry her back to the divide where she perched on the table again.

“After you share this, perhaps you could make a more reasonable request of me, and perhaps I might perform further for you. There is much you have not seen, you know, and much I am still prepared to share, and do, as part of this.” She eyed him, then uncrossed her legs and used the table's height to skip down and back to the side of the divide that HoundMan had, presumably, remained on while she waited and listened.

In Pirouette's mind, she was weighing new odds; she'd told AppraisalMan that she had some hard limits, without actually defining what they were yet, in the hope that his own over-eagerness would entice the creep into continuing with the hopes of pushing her past them. the main worry was how smarmy and vindictive he seemed to be, mainly just using the appraisal game to be a terrible person; it was risk of how far she could play an still be safe from that kind of vindictive, sadistic attitude. She could only image that the man probably eagerly wanted to see her either hurt or upset, by now, and offering to put herself in potentially vulnerable states was feeling more like a risk than ever, but she still had her own game to play, alongside his, and her own tricks on the board.

Upon introducing herself, the man's striking green eyes held hers for a moment longer before he nodded to her and stepped back again, out of her direct personal space – it had been easy not to notice how close he'd drawn during the genial greetings and hand-kissing.

“Amity then. My pleasure,” As he straightened again, Hoodwink seemed to take note of the less than enthusiastic glance she cast at his worn weapons and he flourished his cloak slightly, waving the corner of it across his waist just enough to obscure both the dagger and the sword-breaker. when the cloak fell, both weapons had vanished. “I do apologise. Force of habit. There's no real danger here, I shouldn't think.”

Amy's glance about the room brought her to more questions and the man opposite her listened as he began to wander a slow circle about the otherwise quite plain chamber. He glanced back over his shoulder as he leaned in to peer at some of the readings on the screens.

“This stuff? No, not my interest, really. But where from, well... I'm from everywhere. We are navigators, after all... I never need to eat or rest or sleep, I don't grow weary from travel... So what better use to make of such an existence than to pursue anything and everything that one's heart really desires, wherever it should lead? The net is vast and infinite, Amy... you don't mind if I call you Amy, do you? Amity just sounds so formal, and I prefer to be friendly with friendly people...” He winked at her, just a small flicker of one eye along with a cheeky grin that curled one corner of his mouth, before he continued. “Our world offers so much, and yet most navigators go their entire existence without ever thinking outside of the small boxes that their original designs gave them as purpose. Life, for us, can be so much more.” There was an excitement and a passion to his words as he spoke, briefly spreading his arms out and turning in a small circle as though to emphasise just how much the net world had to offer. He turned back to her, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Take this place, for example...” He wandered across to the work station and let his fingertips trail along the busy surface without disturbing anything. “It's a little sea-lab, tucked away at the bottom of beach net, funded by a human, yes, but run by navigators now, and its sole purpose for even being is to study a portion of our net world, and how its evolving and changing outside of human hands or the oversight of its original creators, whoever they once were. It's fascinating don't you think?” He paused and looked at Amity with a somewhat more shrewd gaze.

“But you're right... 'just visitors' don't end up in places like this, do they...? So... you're here, and you've got some free time on your hands... I'm here, because there's something I want.” He turned back to her properly now and crossed the room to stand before her again, watching with a friendly, if measuring smile... he wasn't so much calling her on her own story, as casually admitting that his own was more motivated than just a tour. “So, Amity... what do you want, I wonder? Run an errand for me, while you're here... nothing dangerous, I promise... and I'm sure I can hook you up with something that suites the task in return. Interested?”

If Amy took a look at the various machines and screens herself while they chatted, she'd find that they were mostly recording and monitoring equipment, and seemed to be tracking the water flow and usage through out the facility. Different screens listed the water that was being taken in, the analysis of it, the pats of the facility it was going to be filtered through, what parts of the facility were having their water cycled out, and finally what precautions were being taken to the ejecting water to bring its statistics and composition back into line with the water they were taking in. The screens seemed to indicate, if Amy extrapolated little bit, that the facility was keeping a selection of corals, algae and small marine life in naturalised environments for study, and that they needed to make sure that the water they were suing matched the water outside in the 'natural' environment.

There were a number of data pads on the work station for hand-taken notes and records, though they all looked to have been made by the same navigator – 'Antipatharia'. The different documents seemed to have annotations and margin texts from the navigator made after the initial reports, but Amy would need to take time to properly peruse them to learn anything more.

The navi watching Amy seemed more than happy to offer her a hand out of the water tank, if she took it, but didn't press the matter if she was more intent on climbing the ladder and pulling herself over the lip on her own. A short series of steps led down to the ground on the far side, and Amy could get her first proper look at the rest of the chamber. Truth be told there wasn't too much to look at here, once she was out; It was along room, lit in a soft green light. The tank she had just climbed from occupied the majority of one half of the chamber, almost two thirds of the way to the ceiling and surrounded by an assortment of monitoring equipment. On the opposite side of the room, a large desk ad workspace was neatly ordered, with several sheaves of documents in different piles, a variety of compact lab equipment behind the writing area, and surrounded by half a dozen screens each showing continuing read-outs of scientific data.

The navi watched her feign drying off and shaking out with a wry expression, before jumping down from the edge of the tank and walking down the stairs again with light, graceful steps. His cloak seemed to have a penchant for drama all on its own, and flowed behind him just a little bit – but still a little bit more than the complete lack of breeze would suggest. Amy was able to catch a glimpse of a plain, slim dagger hooked onto one side of his belt, while the other held something that looked more like a short-sword, but with a series of deep slotted groves up and down the length of the blade – a sword-breaker, if anyone with a taste for older defence-oriented weaponry were to notice. He bowed to her, one hand sweeping across his mid section, though it was only a brief, slight gesture; polite without being overblown. He glanced up at her first remark and grinned again, flashing white teeth.

“Strange... that's usually my line...” There was an amused spark in his eye as he watched her explain her presence as an incidentally adventurous explorer. there was a roguish tilt to his comment – perhaps he had endured a more than one glass of water splashed his way in the past? When he straightened, he reached out a hand to her instead.

“Well, I certainly can't fault an adventurous spirit now, can I? Although, perhaps you'd be please to know that's not sewage, or waste at all. It's all actually perfectly clean and well balanced sea water, perfect for sustaining the aquatic creatures in the region. They're very careful, you know. As for where you are, you are presently in the company of a fellow visitor to the Pelagius Aquatic Research and Study Eco-centre... you can call me Hoodwink.” If Amy accepted the invitation and shook his hand, she'd find it a warm, firm grip, which swiftly curled around her own hand to become a traditional courtly finger kiss. He winked at her as he glanced up again. “And who might I say I've found myself washed up with today?”

One on hand, the navi didn't seem to object to the fact that she'd just effectively infiltrated the facility via unwitting stealth. At the same time, he'd identified himself as a visitor, and this certainly didn't look like a visitor's area. Amy could see two exits from the chamber, if she decided to flee the scene - one at either end of the long room. Each was more an archway that led into broad rounded tunnels, without any sign of actual doors yet, but there wasn't a great deal to distinguish one from the other, save that, if her mental geography was sure enough, one exit was towards the back of the facility, and one was towards the front.