Pelagius Aquatic Research and Study Eco-centre

Hoodwink's answer to Amy's question, although technically correct, wasn't exactly what Amy had in mind. It was true that navis were not bound to physical locations and 'birthplaces' like humans were, but in her mind, every creature, every being, physical or not, had a place to call their home. It was because of this desire that Amy had looked for such a place herself, despite her seemingly-neverending trials. Although she hadn't had much say in the course of her life events so far, Hoodwink's analysis of what it meant to be an adventurous navi swung the girl's mind back to her operator, the man assigned to her to be her partner. Sure, he definitely had some personality flaws to work on, but it seemed he was already beginning to make changes in her presence if she gave him the right opportunities and motivations.

To Eric's credit, under his supervision, Amy had already seen more of the digital world than she'd seen in the seventeen training facilities that made up her former 'home'. She certainly didn't miss the tiny box they called 'her sleeping quarters', and she was already beginning to become attached to 'The Stem', a quiet, secluded place that she may actually be able to call her own. Combined with the existence of the Augment ability, she didn't have to be alone anymore.

That thought reminded her of the notifications she'd been steadily ignoring, the message counter about to hit double digits. Amy did her best to listen to Hoodwinked's explanation of the room while she read the messages. As expected, all of Eric's messages were either nervous questions or unsure speculation, so she again dismissed the messages monitor after sending [RELAX, I'VE GOT THIS FOR NOW. JUST BE READY IN CASE THINGS TURN VIOLENT.] She still wasn't sure she trusted the person in her immediate vicinity.

Amy nodded as he related his opinion regarding the history and purpose of the facility around her. It did seem like a human thing to do, to research the unknown; humans had this weird instinct of needing answers to the mysteries of the world around them. Most intelligent digital life simply existed and conducted themselves within the constructs of their programming, but for the growing number that seemed to disobey this programmed instinct, as it were, they were welcomed to a world much like that of the humans, where more questions existed than answers. In all, it seemed like an honourable mission to be researching the area's marine life, one that Amy could certainly appreciate as she nodded in agreement to Hoodwink's question.

The idea of someone choosing to call her 'Amy' instead of Amity on their own volition confused the girl, causing that unknown disturbance to only grow more persistent inside her. It was becoming a larger distraction, so when Hoodwink finally asked Amy if she'd be willing to volunteer to help with an errand, she had more than one reason to accept. To further explore the facility, to gain further information, to try and dispel this unknown sensation; at that point, the mission had temporarily taken a backseat to Amy's own sense of adventure.

"If you need a hand with something, I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I can do my best," she commented as her eyes glanced across the documents on the desk. The underwater project itself seemed to be twenty thousand leagues out of her comprehension, but one name did seem to pop up on all the documents on the table, now that her eyes were close enough to skim their pages: 'Antipatharia'. The name meant nothing to her yet, but it certainly sounded important. I bet she uses a nickname as well, she joked as her attention turned back to Hoodwink.

"So, what exactly would you need my help for?"
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.
Amy was left to her own thoughts as the navi named Hoodwink disappeared into the unknown, through some mysterious corridor that seemed to absorb him as much has it masked his exit. The girl was now alone in a room that he'd just identified as 'off-limits' to visitors. If that was true though, what was he doing here? Didn't he just say he was a visitor himself...?

"Maybe he did come into the facility through the pipes," she mulled to herself. Too many questions were beginning to pile up, but unlike her calculate-the-odds partner, the two most important questions on her mind were these; if Hoodwink was in fact a visitor, how did he have such in-depth knowledge of forbidden areas? And if he was able to phase out of the area at will, couldn't he just phase into the highest room of the tallest tower himself?

It seemed like an odd mission to give her, but if she had to scope out the facility anyway for the sake of CrypticMan's request, it couldn't hurt to try and do both at the same time if she had to proceed there anyway. Just what was so interesting about this place that everybody she met seemed to want something from it...?

[WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD WE TRY AND GET THE STONE MARBLE? WE HAVE TO EXPLORE THE WHOLE FACILITY ANYWAY.]

It took a moment before Eric's response came back; sending text messages did have an element of delay, but her senses needed to be mindful of the environment. Now armed with the knowledge she was in a forbidden area, with unseen eyes possibly watching her, she felt vulnerable again. She'd mentally prepared herself for another dose of Eric's hesitancy and scepticism when all that arrived was a single word response.

[OKAY.]

...For real? Amy was stunned it took so long to respond if he had nothing to say, but that somehow seemed to work to her advantage. She was calling the shots, as she should be.

Hoodwink had given her much information to work with as she made her way towards the hallway entrance leading to a lab he'd mentioned. However, even if there were eyes watching her from a distance, it seemed now was as good a time as any to take a quick peek at that book again, to see if it had any further wisdom to provide. She might not get another chance to do so once she entered the hallway; who knew what really waited for her on the other side; this too could be a trap. As long as she was as discreet and quiet as possible, hopefully she could at least survey the next room (or rooms) without being engaged.
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.
Another riddle is what awaited Amity's eyes after the book first aired its grievances towards her prior associate, and then related further exposition about the mission without providing much in the way of context.

Having already been the victim of CrypticMan's unusual mannerism of concealed knowledge, she made sure to pay attention to what was explained to her, rather than try to translate it in real-time. She was happy she did as she replayed the poem in her head, one part already seeming to make sense (or at least, she hoped made sense.) Her mind turned back to the desk, to the various documents that had been anotated rather vigorously by an unknown somebody. That name that she'd joked about earlier, Antipatharia; it couldn't be a coincidence.

What's the bet that Antipatharia and Aunty are the same person... she convinced herself as the smallest of grins crossed her face. Nickname. Called it.

Amy wasn't completely convinced of her interpretation of the rest of the riddle, however it did seem like the way forward was to meet this 'guide', be shown the facility, be careful about her speech, and take her leave at the right moment. I take it this 'swiftly slip away' moment will make itself obvious? she sneered, knowing full well that such a possibility was unlikely.

"Alright Eric, enough of the silent treatment; do you have anything to say to this?" she asked whilst unmuting the PET's comms.

"Umm... not really," Eric replied.

"Well then, I guess it's time to take another risk then, isn't it? The last one worked out well, didn't it?" she confirmed as she walked through the glass tunnel, returning the book to its temporary home. The view wasn't particularly as exciting from her current position, and thankfully so, as the lass didn't need a reason to be distracted.

"...What are you going to do?"

The hesitation in his voice brought Amy to a stop in front of the next dome's door. She'd noticed the access panel and had been about to reach for it when Eric had spoken.

"The book seems intent on 'meeting the family', 'nothing wrong with tour guide'. Hoodwink seems intent on getting into the upper areas. CrypticMan seems intent on knowing the facility's workings. I think it's time we stopped tiptoeing around the edges of this place and actually start trying to get into its core."

"What if you run into trouble?" Eric asked again. "We still don-"

"-'t have a clue what the risks are, but I'm fairly certain we're going to have to make ourselves known eventually," Amy interjected. "We can't walk around this place in the shadows forever, right?"

Amy waited for a response. She was determined to break through that wall of insecurity, one brick at a time if necessary. She didn't know why, but something inside her was determined to see a change in his withdrawn attitude, a feat that the girl was certain could be achieved. However, as her words hung on emptiness with no response, her attitude got the advantage over her patience.

"Eric, I'm waiting for an answer," she probed again.

Finally, a response. "Okay."

That was the same response he'd given when she'd asked for his opinion earlier, a single-word answer. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, so she tried again. "'Okay'...what?"

"Umm..." Eric trailed off in confusion. "...huh?" he added, as if it clarified his position.

"What exactly are you 'okay'ing, Eric?"

"Umm-"

"Stop saying 'umm'."

Eric blinked as he flinched from the dry command, as if her voice had reached out into the real world and spat in his face. The feeling was uncomfortably familiar; this was the attitude he'd come to expect from the previous navis, the ones that Stacey had attempted to partner with him. As a wave of memories flooded his mind, Eric didn't notice the repeated question, demanding an answer.

Fed up with the matter, Amy muted the PET comms again and ended the conversation with a bitter message. [WHATEVER. I'M USED TO DOING THINGS ON MY OWN.] Her hand made contact with the door terminal, as she prepared herself for whatever was to follow.
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.
Whilst only seconds in real time, it felt like an eternity for Amy to take in the scene that greeted her in this new room. Although she now had two directives to keep in mind, this new room presented her with a variety of 'firsts'. Such an interesting smorgasbord of fauna and flora could keep her distracted for hours... potentially, anyway. This area seemed like it would have been a rather lovely place to whittle one's time away, questioning the existence of the universe they existed in whilst furthering a pursuit of the unknown.

That thought snapped Amy back to the matter at hand. She wasn't there to sightsee, she needed that SP program. THAT was HER ticket to the unknown.

The coral structure that seemed to creep into a large portion of everything on the floor didn't concern our heroine much, however what did get her attention was the spire in the centre of the room. It might have been too hasty to simply dash towards it, but the possibilities of being interrupted by an unwanted contact were beginning to cloud her judgment.

"If something goes amiss here then surely Aunty knows." Does that mean that she's watching everyWHERE, or everyTHING...? Questions, questions, questions. She'd been bold enough to brag about taking risks; maybe it was time for her to start living up to her words. Trying not to come off as a desperate outsider running towards its target, Amity tried to quickly but casually make her way towards the centre of the room and to her ultimate goal, that spiral staircase.
Moving through the cluttered lab space as quickly as she could, Amity was treated to the false stillness of a lab where much was going on, everywhere, even though no-one seemed to be present, and nothing was actually happening – the small sounds of creatures shifting in tanks, and of bubbles releasing intermittently as water was filtered. The black-veined coral plant seemed to have spread to the point of having its feelers in every station and every observation tank, so one might really question how scientific and controlled the studies could really be.

Halfway across the room, one of the subtle background sounds stood out enough to draw her attention; a rustle of paper from the largest desk on one side of the lab. The bright orange, feathery feelers of the coral strands had shifted one page to the side, and now others were manipulating a stylus across the page in long, flowing script that made the kind of quiet writing scratch that felt loud enough to fill the room.

As Amity reached the base of the staircase, and had to notice again the way in which the black coral had climbed its way all the way up the hand rail, creeping in spiralling growths up the stairs ahead of her, a clinical, imperious voice echoed through the lab; it was feminine, and quiet, but carried an expectant authority to it.

“Is someone there...? Reti, I've told you before, you aren't to disturb me while I'm working. You're not supposed to come inside at all until break time. What is it?” The voice was quiet for several long seconds – it was hard to place where it came from, specifically.

“Reti...? ScyliorhinusRetifer, if you are playing games with me while I'm busy, I will not be pleased.” The voice sounded impatient... but it also didn't sound like its owner had 'seen' Amity yet, even though it knew someone was present.
Her hand froze, glued to the handrail as those authoritative words filled the air around her. Her eyes flashed around the room looking for a source, but didn't find one. Her head turned to the stairway, and then back to the room. Again, a choice had to be made.

Could this be 'Aunty'? she wondered. And who was this 'Reti' she mentioned...?

Hoodwink had mentioned four people; two inside, two outside. No, he said only one outside, remembering his quip about the guards. So it was very possible this voice belonged to Aunty if 'Reti' was the aforementioned guard outside.

If this lady's not Aunty and I go upstairs now, I'll be fine. Maybe.

But if it is Aunty, and I go up there, Hoodwink said it's off-limits, so I'm sure to end up in a bad situation.

.....but if it's NOT Aunty, I could be giving up an opportunity to get up there undetected.


So many assumptions were making her head hurt. Cunning strategy wasn't really Amy's thing, she dealt better with knee-jerk reactions.

A silent alert made her jump. An internal message? Right now?

[PLEASE. BE CAREFUL.]

A cheeky grin crossed her face. For what it was worth, this was advice Amy was going to follow. This time, anyway. After all, you said it yourself; we can't walk around this place in the shadows forever.

She took a few steps away from the staircase, hoping that maybe it would be enough to hide her earlier intention to climb it. "Uhh, hello?"

Make contact first, work out the rest later.
Stepping away from the stairs led to several of the feathery feelers extending from the nearby coral to lift up follow her motions in a delicate, whimsical way. The scratching of the stylus across the page, at the central desk continued. Bubbles rose from several of the many observation tanks in the room and made soft, familiar sounds as they broke the surface.

“Hmm...? Well, that's a new voice.” The feminine voice echoed through the lab again as Amy spoke up. The large tank that seemed too hold the central mass of the black coral bubbled and a pair of long-lashed eyes opened – appeared, really – on the main body of the coral. “Oh... a visitor. One moment.” There was a brief visual distortion as the mass of black coral shifted, then extended; it changed as it grew up out of the tank and over to the floor, taking an increasingly humanoid shape as it did.

A few moments later, the figure standing in front of the tank looked in Amy's direction. She was tall and slender, with coal black skin and vibrant orange hair. Thee woman was wearing a long, slim-fit dress that looked more at home at a formal gathering than a research lab – it was designed as a series of descending ruffles that went all the way to the ground – black fabric and orange frills, that complimented the woman's natural attributes. She walked forward with precise, measured steps and a business-like stride, though it was clear that this form was still connected to the original coral mass behind her by the same black coral growth that spread its way through the rest of the lab. To one side, the feathery orange feelers are the desk were still writing a report. The woman stopped a few feet from Amity and smiled towards her.

“We don't get visitors here often... I am Antipatharia, head of research here. A pleasure. Do not touch anything. Please.” It was definitely a command and not a request, despite her smile. “And you are...” She paused briefly, as though noticing something. “Without your guide... Please wait here. Do not touch anything.” Her expression didn't change and she made no obvious movements, but somewhere distantly a faint chime sounded. Seconds passed without the other woman speaking, until, in a sudden flurry of movement, the door opposite where Amy had entered from slid open with a hiss and another figure rushed in.

“I'm here, Aunty! Aunty! I'm here!” The voice was bright, perky and excited, and spoke of an enthusiastic and sunny disposition. It was attached to what looked more or less like the shark guard that Amy had seen earlier – had the same mottled, tawny brown skin with black patterning across it, the same long brown hair and the same small fin part way down her back. What was different was that, now inside, the figure had a more fully humanoid form from the hips down as well, with normal human-like legs replacing her previous tail. As well as dripping fresh sea water all over the floor, she was still dressed only in the slim chest band that covered the modesty of her top half, and Amy would notice Aunty wince, and put her face in one hand, pinching the bridge of her nose with an exasperated sight. The awkwardly necessary word echoed through the lab.

“Pants, Reti. Legs means pants, remember?”

The shark woman blinked and looked down at herself, then, after another moment, understood. A pair of grey swimsuit bottoms that matched her chest wear materialised a moment later as she looked up again.

“Oh! Right! Sorry Aunty! I forgot!” If she was embarrassed by the situation, it didn't show – rather she seemed apologetic for forgetting a rule, more than anything else. Aunty shook her head and gave a small tight smile towards Amity.

“I apologise for that. ScyliorhinusRetifer is not particularly bright, or skilled at remembering basic social expectations.” A quick “Sorry Aunty!” accompanied the comment from Reti, which the coral woman mostly ignored. “Reti will be more than happy to show you around our little research facility here. If you have any questions, she... will not be able to answer them, but...” here her eyes turned back to Reti and her tone increased in volume slightly. “She will remember to show our guest to any of the relevant information terminals if they are interested.” There was a pause and a raised eyebrow. “Yes, Aunty!” “Good.” Her attention returned to Amy.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, and I hope you enjoy your visit to our little home here, but please stay with your guide. Now...” She raised one hand and gestured towards the far door – the one which the shark woman had emerged from. “If you'll excuse me, there is research to be done and I've experiments to run... at least...” her eyes glanced briefly across to several of the observation tanks around the room. “On the ones that are still alive... Enjoy your visit.” She smiled again, still with one hand gesturing towards the door, and seemed to be waiting for Amity and Reti to leave before returning fully to her coral form. The shark woman, meanwhile, had bounded up to stand beside Amity with a bright happy smile and a spray off still-dripping sea water. She was peering at Amy with obvious curiosity, but was also making small motions as though to take her hand and tug her from the room, without actually attempting to touch her uninvited.
Option 2 was correct. Contact with Aunty and the one guard has been made. Only one more face to watch out for. A high-five was in order, but given the situation at hand (not to mention the awkwardness that would have followed) Amy had to keep it to herself. Of course, the slight twitch of the right corner of her mouth and the tiniest of huffs followed after. But that means I'm not getting upstairs. That's annoying.

On top of that, Aunty IS all of this coral stuff. EveryTHING... but maybe not everyWHERE... That could be a problem and a hindrance later on. If the stairs were covered in that black coral, and they were just an extension of Aunty's body, made evident by the maintained connection between Aunty's 'body' and the larger coral mass, it was quite likely either something would need to change to create an opening, or, Amy might have to fight her way in.

Neither option seemed appealing, given the current circumstances. Let's just sit tight and see where this 'tour' leads us. Aunty can't be everywhere, I wouldn't have made it this far...

Reti's lack of delicacy was somewhat lost on Amy, a creature also bound to her humanoid shape by programming only. She acknowledged the fact that typical 'human social norms' were being ignored by her new tour guide's behaviour, but a combination of the previous thought and of the potential tour itself may have pushed aside any thought processes left for considering a prude reaction to her lack of coverings. Reti's bumbling nature instead brought back Hoodwink's words, repeated in Amy's mind: "she's a pushover - you'll get why... it's... amusing."

Indeed, she concurred as the shark form ran up to her. As it did, the sea water she'd been trailing with her launched forward from Reti's final hop and settled itself onto Amy's garments instead. Amy again grabbed two handfuls of lower dress to give the whole garment some gentle shakes.

Somehow... I remember having a sub-routine that made this dress self-drying, she complained as she wrung out the unwanted liquid. The search of her memory banks completed earlier revealed no such drying function, and having to do it manually twice in such a short span of time irritated the lass. Maybe I should've taken that swimsuit .GMO - I didn't realise I'd be in and out of the water repeatedly... That thought was quickly ejected from her mind upon remembering CrypticMan's accompanying comments. It was possible she may have ended up in something even more revealing than what was being advertised already. Of course, in her true form, it was unlikely she'd have anybody ogling her in a bikini anyway.

So. A tour of the facility had been offered to her. That had been CrypticMan's original request; to go in, see everything, and report back. "Each dome has a secret. Something not right. All the pieces make a picture. You don't need to solve it; you just need to see." It wasn't exactly what she'd planned just now, but at least she was making progress with one of her directives.

But being paired with a soggy tour guide wasn't her idea of fun. As her head moved from Reti, to the door that hopefully led to more of the domes, and then back to Reti, Amy begrudingly started introductions. "Hi. Amity is my name." Her hand instinctively extended out to shake hands, but hesitated at the sight of the pool of water beginning to gather at Reti's feet. "Uhh, do... do you need to clean that up...?" she asked, pointing to the ground instead with the extended arm.
The hint of an invitation was all it took, and before Amity could really redirect her intention properly, the shark woman that had been assigned to her company clasped on with both hands at once, shaking with enthusiasm and a happy smile that showed far too many serrated teeth. Despite that, her eyes practically sparkled with the joy of making a new friend.

“Amity! That's a really cute name! It's so easy to say! Amity. Amity! I like it!” She was still shaking Amy's hand as she indicated the dripping water, though the motion slowed to stillness as Reti looked down, following her attention. “Hmm...? Oh! Oh, don't worry, it all gets cleaned up right away. I think. It's always dry again by the time I come back anyway.” Reti herself had mostly stopped dripping by now, though she was still clearly damp from being outside. As she chattered, a prim cough and clear of throat came from where the scientist was still waiting for them to leave and Reti jumped.

“Right Aunty! Sorry Aunty!” Her attention came back to Amy with a sheepish grin. “Come on, I'll show you the really cool stuff!” This was immediately followed by her moving back towards the door and attempting to drag Amity along with her. It opened with a hiss and admitted the two out into a sort, arched hallway, floored with metal grating and with the upper half constructed of thick glass that looked out over the reef on all sides. Reti seemed to relax as the door hissed shut behind them, and she turned to Amy with a small giggle, walking down the hall at a slower pace.

“Don't worry about Aunty, she's all strict and mean on the surface, but she's really nice most of the time!” There wasn't too much to see in the corridor itself; about halfway down, there looked to be some kind of access hatch in the ceiling that looked ass though it led directly out into the sea outside, and if she looked up and back, Amy could see a similar glass shaft climbing above the lab they had just left, towards the upper dome. Similar to this one, the vertical shaft also had an exit hatch about halfway up, much easier to see form this angle, and from here she could also see that the upper dome, as much as it looked like some kind of master bedroom suit, was slightly subdivided, with the main room cut off form where the staircase presumably ended. Reti was still chattering away as she walked.

“Anyway, it's really cool living here. I get to swim around the reef, and chase the fishies sometimes, and sometimes, when I have a day off, I can swim all the way out to the shore and play on the beach! Have you ever been to a beach? Sand is so weird when it's dry! But it's so fun too have a visitor! We almost never get any visitors down here! And you're so cute, too! And you have really cute name! And... Oh! Oh, I forgot! You told me your name! I'm...” Here, her words paused and the shark woman slowed to a standstill as she frowned, clearly focusing on something that made other actions, like walking, more difficult.

“...Sigh-lee-oh-rye-nus Ret-E-fur.” She sounded her name out slowly, as though following a personal mnemonic, then smiled at Amy. “But you can call me Reti! Or Silly! Gigi calls me that sometimes, and it makes me laugh.” As though to punctuate this, she giggled to herself. “I only get called my full name by Aunty, when I've done something silly. She should call me Silly when I do that, that would be more fun! But I suppose it's not supposed to be funny when I do things wrong...” she pouted for a moment, but brightened again a moment later as she found another topic too jump to. It seemed like Amy had a good opportunity to ask any questions she might have; it seemed that her guide would be more than happy to answer – the only question would be how well she could do so. Eventually, however, the corridor came to an end at another airlock door, this one with a security panel on one side.

“So the show room is through here! It's really cool! You can look at all the different plants and fishies that live in the whole network, and there's lots of really neat things about them that Aunty tells me sometimes, and it's all in the terminals and on little information boards, but really, it's more fun just to watch them swim about and look at all the pretty colours anyway!” Reti turned to carefully input a numbered code on the door panel, taking her time to be sure of each digit in the combination – and not really doing anything to hide the combination from Amy as she worked, of she was inclined to watch it.
Amy wasn't quite prepared for the response to her greeting. In stark contrast to her... boss?... Reti's enthusiasm at the mere gesture of making acquaintances seemed to brighten her entire body. In spite of this, she dared not withdraw the hand, lest it come off as aloof. Also, was Reti's comment about the water because there were systems that took care of it, or because someone came behind her and cleaned it up...?

Cute? Amy didn't really think of her name as 'cute', and her designated name even less so, but in the time it took her to process that remark and attempt to formulate a response, Reti had already moved on to the next topic of conversation. Which was fine anyway; Amy didn't have anything to add to that.

Being led by the arm wasn't doing Reti any favours in the friendship department; Amy was well and truly capable of following on command, but she again felt the need to bite her lip and remain friendly, or at the very least maintain the illusion of friendly. After all, overly bubbly was better than the alternative...

I'd definitely take Reti over Crony, she chuckled to herself. The idea of watching Reti in a proper netbattle was certainly an entertaining daydream; what chips would she even use? She'd probably be a nimble one, able to dodge attacks with ease. But if she took a hit, how would she take it? Crybaby? Avenger? Monologuer?

As amusing as the answer might be, don't you have more important things to be thinking about?

While Reti continued to talk about her personal life under the sea, Amy used the opportunity to take a few stealthy glances in every direction as the moments presented themselves. Our purple-haired heroine was still a little bitter about missing out on ascending the stairs, but a ray of hope shone through as she noticed that the tube leading up to the upper dome had a similar exit hatch to the one they were about to pass under.

Huh.

It was somewhat reassuring to hear that Reti had a good opinion about Aunty, but the mention of a 'Gigi' was of particular interest to Amy as they continued forward. 'Gigi'. Is that the missing character in this place? Or somebody else...?

As they walked under the exit hatch, Amy tried to do some reconnaissance work. "Uhh, I hope this latch doesn't open from the outside as well, she pretended to mull out loud, staring directly at the latch. "It'd be a shame if these tubes got filled with dirty water by some cheeky schmuck..."

Having Reti's name be phonetically repeated to her seemed bizarre; she'd heard it been used by Aunty only moments ago. It took a second for Amy to register that Reti was simply reciprocating the greeting gesture that she herself had initiated back in the previous room. Amy couldn't help but smile as the conversation continued; Reti seemed to be a nice creature, even if she wasn't the most perceptive navi she'd met.

'Showroom' was not a word Amy had heard before, and the image that came up when checking her in-built dictionary didn't clarify the situation, given they were under the sea. Mentally preparing herself for the information that CrypticMan was sure to want, Amy almost missed the opportunity to notice Reti attempt to enter a code into what looked to be a security panel. Amy's eyes did their best to watch with keen interest as it was entered, hoping not to give away her intention of memorising whatever code was being used by a member of security.
At Amy's casually mused comment about the hatches, her guide paused in her stride and perked up to look back around at the aperture set into the corridor's ceiling. She put both hands over her mouth, stifling a giggle.

“Nahh, it's all safe! It's all set up so only we can use them – Staff Only! You have to put in a code! It's... um... it's... three, seven, one, zero! Because three and seven makes ten!” She beamed at Amy, proud at remembering this detail correctly, before continuing, now with hand gestures to emphasise her words. “And then, it goes 'Whommm! And it makes a little bubble around the hatch, and it puts the water in, if you're going out, or it takes it out, if you're going in, and then the door opens, and you go through, and it makes the sound again, and sometimes I forget to change, and I end up flopping all over the ground for a bit, or trying to swim with human legs, and that's just really weird. How do you even do that? Do you do that? I've seen other navis swim like that, and I always thought it looked silly. They should have tails for going in the water!” Reti seemed satisfied with this assessment for the time being and continued on with a happy little sway in her stride.

At the end of the corridor, Amy's glance at the key pad appeared to go unnoticed as Reti herself thought carefully about the digits she was entering, one at a time, a look of concentration creasing her face – a different code here, it seemed; eight-five-eight-three.

The door opened with a soft hiss, to reveal another large dome. This one was laid out in a much more clear and open style, with obvious walkways between large aquariums that filled much of the space. The pathways split, turned and angled themselves in and around the tanks, giving as much viewing space as possible. Thee set-up might seem a little odd at firs,t until Amy was able to notice that the various aquariums were, in reality, only two or three tanks, each of which formed large, inter-connected pools, alive with a variety of marine flora and fauna. At regular spaces along the walls of the aquariums, small sign boards held information and pictures of various plants and animals, and most of them had a small interface attached, seemingly allowing navis to access more information at their leisure.

Between the pathways, Amity would be able to make out a larger, more obvious circular door on the far side of the doom, which in turn looked as though it simply led to a small antechamber and the main airlock entry to the complex – a faint trail of dripped water did indeed lead through this room from that entrance to the door they had just entered through. To one side, it also looked as though the dome branched away into another, joined by a short, wide archway – a banner above the arch read 'History of Aquatic Life in Beach.Net', and it looked like the only other exit from this central space.

As they stepped through the doors, Reti bounded forward, looking around with obvious eagerness. If she still had a tail, it would almost certainly have been wagging. She glanced back at Amy.

“This is the main visitor's show room! There's all sorts of fishies and eels and jellies, and everything here! From all over beach net, too, not just this reef! It's so cool!” She darted forward to one of the near sections of tank, practically pressing her nose up to the glass, then chased along its length in a number of short, bouncing steps, as she tracked an extremely fancy-looking lionfish that did its best to swim away from her along the length of the tank. She continued after a moment, though she was sounding increasingly distracted by the visual stimulation on offer.

“I think Albert once said that visitors are meant to come in the main door, and the path will take them all through the different parts of the net, and then into the history wing, but it's more fun just to run around and look at all the pretty fishies! Did you look through the history bit yet? Hey, how did you come in? I was supposed to greet visitors at the door!” This question seemed to pull her away from chasing fish long enough for Amity to see a puzzled look on her features, though chances were she wouldn't remain hung up on it for too long. Her head tilted slightly as she looked in Amy's direction.
Three and seven makes ten. 3-7-1-0. I can't forget that.

"Agreed. Swimming without some form of fin or tail just seems like a lot of work,"
she concurred. Of course, Amy heavily doubted her form of 'swimming' (if you could call it that) was the same as Reti's. Micro-vibrations to stimulate a stream of moving water and using the resulting thrust to displace her body wasn't the same as moving body parts in a co-ordinated pattern. Not to mention the aforementioned safety risk the finned lady didn't need to worry about.

Amy half-expected the combination to be the same at the end of the hallway, but when 8-5-8-3 was entered instead, Amy surmised that there was probably a different security code for every function in the aquarium, and perhaps not a different security code per person.

The new room gave Amy even more data to take in. Giant tanks, numerous information displays, and displays teeming with creatures ranging from beautiful and wondrous to odd and bizarre. Walking around and seeing everything was likely to take a while, and Amy was certain that she'd forget something in the mix of all the new information.

Once again, Amy's attention was torn between CrypticMan's request and Hoodwink's request. CrypticMan's request was the main priority, but its vagueness was still tearing at her mind, and all of these new experiences were making it hard to determine what was worth 'seeing' and what was just background noise. Hookwink's request, on the other hand, seemed pretty straightforward, but after seeing the path that would lead to the prize he sought (assuming it even existed), Amy was convinced that fast-tracking Hoodwink's request would almost certainly deny her the ability to complete CrypticMan's request. To succeed at both, one would need to follow the other. Maybe.

'See all they have to show you and then swiftly slip away.' That line kept irritating Amy as Reti continued to talk about the new room. It didn't escape her notice either that a mostly-dried trail of water led from a door at one end of the room to the door they'd just entered from. So was everything they'd just done been for naught?

[DOES THAT MEAN YOU COULD HAVE JUST GONE IN THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR?]

Clearly Eric had had the same thought process. Amy was about to reluctantly agree, but then stopped. [NO. IF WE HAD GONE THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, I DOUBT WE WOULD HAVE MET HOODWINK. OR AUNTY, FOR THAT MATTER.] And they weren't finished yet. [RETI MAY OR MAY NOT BE A PROBLEM, BUT SHE'S LIMITING MY OPTIONS. I NEED AN OPENING, A DISTRACTION.]

Amy's eyes continued to orbit the room as Reti's attention was focused on a peculiarly shaped fish. But when Reti dropped another name, Amy's confidence in her understanding of the staff was beginning to falter. Aunty, Reti, Gigi and Albert. That's four names. Hoodwink said four. But I haven't met Gigi or Albert yet...

More mystery to add to her predicament. There was absolutely no way she was going to remember everything.

But maybe she didn't need to. After all, she had a tour guide.

A tour guide whose next question caught her off-guard. Aunty hadn't asked how she'd got in, so why did Reti care? Or maybe it was just that Aunty didn't feel the need to bother herself with such inconsequential events.

"Well... I was just swimming outside, and then suddenly, before I knew it, one thing led to another, and... ta-daa," she joked, extending her arms out to build on the surprise factor. "But this place... this place is definitely something else. And to be honest, I don't know if I can stay for too much longer. I do have places to be..." She took a thoughtful pose as she feined a little ignorance for effect. "But hey! I have you! You've probabably seen everything here dozens of times!" Amy whirled the fingers of her right hand around as she made her request. "Are you able to give me the highlights tour? All the best stuff... and the worst stuff too! Let's start here, and then go wherever the tour would go next. Is that okay?" she asked, holding out one of her arms as an invitation to being led around.

I get the feeling I may regret this...
Amy's guide frowned for an extra second as she answered, trying to reconcile her gob as guard and guide with a guest appearing somewhere else in the facility. The strange-looking fish escaped into a different section of the aquarium while she pondered the answer.

“But... how...” another second or two passed as she struggled to think of a solution, but Amity spoke up again, interrupting her consternation. The shark girl brightened again and jumped forward to take Amy's hand in both of her own with a renewed enthusiasm. “It is, isn't it!? It's so cool, and so pretty! You have to stay for a while, please? You're my new friend! It's so rare to get any visitors, and Aunty's no fun, and Gigi can't move or play, and I haven't seen Albert in months and months, because all he does is sleep these days! You have to stay for a bit, and tell me all about all the places you've been and everything! Please? Come on, I'll show you more!” There was an underlying earnestness in Reti's plea as she bounced on her toes briefly, holding tight to her hand for an extra moment before turning to begin leading her through the paths of the show room.

The path did, indeed, meander through, around and in between the various tanks and aquariums, passing by information terminals for as many different species of aquatic life as one could imagine; many of the information boards noted the endangerment status of their focus in relation o the physical world; the number listed as extinct or in human-protected populations only was a bit unsettling, but perhaps that was part of the reason for the facility? Others noted where species were derivatives that had emerged from original species, and which were now considered unique digital life forms without human-world counterparts.

Reti got swiftly distracted as she went, bouncing left and right between different sections of the aquarium walls to look at pretty fish or brightly coloured corals, and most of her conversation for the next minute or two consisted of cooing over how pretty different creatures looked. One detail that amity might pick up on as they went however – in most of the tanks, she could spot continuing growths of black-veined coral winding its way through the the sea bed of each enclosure while its feathery orange feelers waved gently in the water. It was present in almost every tank, but none of it seemed as 'attentive' or 'alert' as it had in the lab. Absently one of the soft feelers brushed up against a small silvery fish, then suddenly curled around it and pulled it down close against the stem of the coral. The fish struggled for a moment or two, then went still before its data began to dissolve and funnel into the coral plant.

“So, this place is the best really. There's so much to see here, I never get tired f it. I kind of wish it was all just open water, though, so I could swim, and chase the fishies and everything, but Aunty says that that wouldn't work, because all these different fishes don't play nice with each other if they're together.” Reti glanced back in between her other distractions, still tugging Amy along by one hand, until they arrived at the large archway leading into the history dome. The shark-girl paused on the open space, looking through.

“That's the history section. It's all about the centre, and the first facility, and a bunch of other stuff I never remember. It's all just words, and those kind of brown and black pictures. I don't know why they aren't all in colour, but Albert says it gives them historical character to show them in... um... Sepia. I think that's the right word?” The idea that this dome was imminently boring radiated from Reti, though she didn't accuse it of such directly. “We can go in and take a look if you like? Technically I can show you the lab too, but you've already seen it, and Aunty might get mad at me... and I'm not supposed to take visitors anywhere else, but there's the maintenance room, and the storage area, and that leads out to Gigi's guard post, and then there's Albert's room, up top, but even I'm not allowed up there any more. Aunty says he needs his rest.” At the last remark, Reti pouted and folded her arms briefly, but shook it off a moment later.

“So do you want to go in, or do you want to stay out here and look at the fishies some more? We could go out and play in the reef! But.. But then you wouldn't be a visitor any more, and so I'd have to go back to guarding the door... so that wouldn't work...” The realisation of the flaw in her last suggestion seemed to take some of the wind out of her sails and a momentary flash of disappointment darted across her features before she brightened again and grinned towards Amity, waiting to see what she wanted to do.
Instant regret. Amy suspected the girl had been starved for attention, but imploring of this nature was only deepening her faith in an inescapable truth; Reti wasn't going to give her the opportunity to break away from this farce.

Amy could feel herself becoming inundated with an insufferable amount of data as she continued to take in tank after tank, creature after creature, report after report. The fact that she was a digital creature didn't save her from the fact that constant writing of data to memory banks was an energy intensive task, and something she hadn't mentally prepared herself for. Babysitting Eric was one thing, but her new 'friend' wasn't a priority she wanted to entertain for an extended period of time.

Something which she didn't have a lot of in the first place. The clock was ticking.

However, her attention was drawn to the black coral of Aunty again as it absorbed one of the aquarium's specimens into its being. As its data became assimilated into the coral's lines of connectivity, Amy frowned. Necessary removal? Routine analysis? Or worse... food source...? Amy continued to observe their presence in every tank, and it was beginning to put her on edge.

[KEEP THOSE BATTLECHIPS HANDY AND READY TO GO.]

[WHY? THERE'S NO VIRUSES IN THE AREA.]

[JUST DO IT. CALL IT A HUNCH, BUT THIS PLACE IS STARTING TO GIVE ME A BAD FEELING.]

This feeling was only amplified by Reti's comment about the fish not getting along if they were all together.

Is that because they'd eat each other, or... because they'd have the power to rebel...?

Reti's monologue of useful information did clear up some misconceptions Amy had drawn from earlier conversations, but it also made her desperate for a change of pace. Her normally-high desire for new experiences was starting to wane in the shadow of the day's events, and she wasn't even sure she'd done enough to meet her temporary master's unusual request. But each room was necessary, so even if the history room wasn't being cast in a bright light, she'd have to make it happen.

"I've never been good at history, but I suppose I need to see this room too if I want to see everything this place has to offer, right...?" she asserted whilst trying to sound somewhat flippant about the idea as well.
Hearing that Amy intended to check out the other dome anyway didn't exactly upset her guide, but Reti's response was definitely lacking in enthusiasm compared to her other suggestion.

“I guess... It's just one big space anyway, though, so it won't take long, really... So, you're supposed to start over here, and then it loops around in a big circle, see?” Still standing by the archway entrance to the dome, Reit pointed to the left hand side where the historic displays started. The dome itself was well lit, clean and dry, and contained no hints of actual aquatic life; it was more like a large doughnut shape, forming a single path that circled the space, with displays on both sides, showing sepia-toned pictures of various things, in between information terminals that would tell her more.

If Amity began to make the loop, Reti hung back, lingering near the entrance instead as she waited for Amy to walk around. Her purple-haired charge had only had to walk a few paces, however, before it became clear that Reti was lingering in order to keep watching the creatures in the main room instead, and her attention on Amy was quickly diverted by something brighter and more colourful.

The history museum itself seemed to contain small blurbs of information bites to accompany each picture, while the majority of the actual scholarly information was contained in push-button terminals that would begin voiced recordings in a somewhat dusty, archeologist's voice; it seemed to take its time, and Amy could almost definitely read faster. Without actually looking too deeply into the different installations, however, the gist of the walk seemed to indicate that the desire to study the way digital aquatic life-forms differed from their real-world counterparts, as a tool for conservation and development, was first brought to life by the centre's founder, Preicles Pelagius – the picture showed a somewhat rotund human male, with a smaller inset showing a navigator in a white and grey navisuit, with numerous spikes, marked below as 'PufferMan'.

Around the circle, the pictures told a brief story (if Amy only glanced at the bullet points), of the study, or discovering that digital lifeforms were adapting and evolving along independent lines to their real-world templates, and of the cataloguing and categorising of this phenomena. It spoke about the sudden destruction of the first complex – the picture here was an illustration, not a photograph or recording, and for such a major event there was surprisingly little said about it – and the construction of the new complex, where Amy was now. It was, all told, a mostly dry story, unless one was particularly fascinated by aquatic research, but it did carry Amy out of sight of her guide as she walked the circle and Reti hung back.
Amy's enthusiasm for reading through the complex's history wasn't much higher than Reti's, but a job is a job. At least the displays themselves seemed to be arranged in a logical order; it would make assimilating their information easier, to say the least.

As Amy began her trip down the lane of memories, she did notice that Reti lingered at the entrance, either unwilling or unable to join her. At least, that was Amy's impression until she realised that the shark lady's attention had been drawn back to the brighter sections of the area they'd just been through.

The explanation of the purpose, construction and consequential use of the facility didn't seem too out of the ordinary for Amy; admittedly her knowledge of any history was lacking, but what was presented to her seemed logical and reasonable. Even the human owner and its navi seemed in theme with the purpose of a place such as this... one...

That is, until she reached the section about the previous lab being destroyed. Which meant that everything she'd been matching in her mind to things she'd already seen today was incorrect. All of those things had been lost to a history long gone. Amy felt there was more to the story than that, but it didn't seem like Reti would have known any more than what was there.

Unless... Reti was part of the staff *before* said disaster took place...?

Wait.

Reti.

Amy had almost missed recognising that her tour guide was out of sight.

Our heroine had been waiting for a final opportunity to get some instruction and had almost missed it.

Without any further delay, her hands slid out the book from her back seam as she tried to balance the sound that accompanied rushed hands to trying to remain as silent as possible.

"Alright, you gotta help me out here," she whispered as she waited for what could possibly be the last thing she read. She hadn't checked for any cameras in this area, but the desperation was starting to grow beyond the bounds of her smiling facade. "Have I seen everything? Do I need to go upstairs? I don't want to disappoint Hoodwink, but I'm not creating a scene here if I can avoid it. I can only see two ways to get to the upper floor, and that's either through Reti... or Aunty." If the book didn't give her the answer she wanted, it was time to play the Aunty card and risk a visit back to the lab.
With her guide temporarily out of sight, Amy took the opportunity to consult her hint book again; as before it flipped open to afresh page and the soft, visually-friendly writing began to crawl swiftly across the lines.

“The watchdog watches wildlife, the mistress take her tea,
Highest room, tallest tower; that's all that's left to see.
You can sneak on through the hallways or swim about outside,
But trespass in restricted rooms, Aunty won't abide.

Predators aren't all teeth and claws; some aren't even fast.
A thousands hands, a million fingers, and patience to outlast.
Feelers reaching through the halls; sound and touch and taste...
But just one pair of eyes; maybe more would be a waste?

It's dangerous to go alone; with company it's worse.
A welcome on the lower floor; upstairs it's the reverse.
There's no harm in peeking, as long as they don't know.
Pick your route, make your move, and careful as you go.”

The book seemed content with this verse and stopped writing for now; that seemed to be all the direction it was giving her this time. The soft sounds of water moving outside the facility, and of the internal tanks filtering continued peacefully in the background of Amy's furtive consultation, but nothing else seemed to happen; it didn't sound like anyone had caught her.

By the time she decided to complete the circuit of the history section – forward or backtracking – there was one difference in the central visitor area; The sound of feet pattering back and forth somewhere between the rows had grown to an erratic, playful motion and at first glance Reti wasn't immediately visible. The lure of brightly coloured distractions had, apparently, drawn her back among the various displays and her exact location in the room was difficult to pinpoint – though it seemed like a safe bet that the well-meaning girl probably had her nose pressed up against a tank somewhere, focused on the current object of her fascination. For Amy, this meant that, for the moment, she had a clear view of both the main entrance to the facility, and also the door leading back towards the rest of the complex – the hallway with its mid way airlock, and the lab beyond.

She could still see the black-veined coral extending through the various tanks in the main room ,as before, but it seemed just as passive an sedate as it had when she first arrived, at least for now. The main question was what to do; she could always go and find Reti, or wait for the shark girl to return, if she wanted to ask more questions or request a more formal visitation somewhere... but it also seemed like a good opportunity to give her guide the slip – maybe out of the facility, or maybe back into the inner hallway.