Twin's Room

ProsperMan's mansion, following a recent break-in, has been surrounded by a tall, metal fence with several posted guards. Still, that fence is easily penetrable with the right keycode, such as the one provided to Lyntael. The coordinates and keycode combined offer a gateway directly into the head servant's quarters, a lavish dwelling so large that it seems more fitting for the master of the house (in reality, his is, of course, larger and more lavish). In the past, it may have been a relatively stark dwelling, clean and mostly barren like a stage model. As of late, it is filled with red and pink drapes... red, satin sheets with fluffy pink pillows... all manner of disturbing red and pinkness, like a Valentine's day parade (and with just as many heart motifs). This is the room of someone almost comically in love.

The furniture in the room consists of two single beds, two dresser drawers, a writing table with two seats, and a couch. Lyntael's employer would be found lying across the couch.


Dressed in a conservative black and white maid's uniform with a long skirt and blouse buttoning at the neck, a woman lay across the couch clutching a pink pillow to her sizable bosom. She sighed heavily as she stared at one of the empty beds, longing for it to be not so empty and feeling desperately lovestruck. Her pink eyes shimmered, matching the color of her pillow. Her brown hair was long and tied into a ponytail with one red ribbon, done into a curve to one side that also looked like a heart from a certain angle.

She didn't appear to be captive in any sort of way (at least, from here... from outside, with the metal wall visible, she might look more so). None the less, she took no action, and simply turned on her side to face inwards at the cushion. Her eyes drifted towards one of the low dresser drawers and the green data packet sitting atop it. It was, of course, not simply green; it had also been wrapped around with a shiny red bow.
((Jack in, from => Electown))
----------

A brief sense of static was the first sign, followed by a flicker of light that shook and faltered. The pinpoint became a slender beam, its intensity fluctuating visibly, sometimes flicking out altogether before it eventually stabilised. A few moments passes as the phasing of the light grew a little steadier, before a pulse ran through it. The light winked out the moment the pulse of energy touched the ground, fading to leave the form of a small girl, on her knees with her arms wrapped about herself. She shuddered, gasping, and drew several deep breaths, one after the other.

It was almost a minute before Lyntael stood, shaking herself out. She ran hands through the short spikes of her hair, then proceeded to pat and straighten her clothing. Her fingers paused on her vest for a moment, the short garment, brushing her shoulders and checking the the ties holding it closed were still firmly buttoned. Her skirt received only a cursory flick of her fingers; short as it was, it had a small piece of modesty coding worked in that let it remain proper though most motion and small dishevelments, and it wasn't ruffled but the turbulence of her arrival. Briefly, she glanced at her bare feet, wondering if she ought to wear proper shoes for something as formal as a job request, but quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way to restore them anyway, not with Rogan sleeping, and her almost completely disconnected form her PET.

Giving herself a last shake out, Lyntael finally took a moment to look about. A normal jack-in would have let her use the key provided right away, but without Rogan to jack her in properly, using the PET's emulation probe had been her only option. It had left her standing a short way outside the mansion's rigorous security perimeter, and she swallowed, suddenly nervous at the sight of the place. Still, at least there was no risk of getting lost; the pass key she'd been given existed here as a string of data trailing around her left wrist, and now that she was here it would be easy enough to...

A beam of yellow light engulfed her small form again, this one clear and strong, a much healthier connection for a small intra-network hop. When she opened her eyes again, Lyntael was standing just within the entryway of... Well, of the home of someone who must think it were Valentine's every day. She did her best not to stare, but couldn't help taking a couple of moments to take in the sheer volume of pink and red over-abundance. A small grin brushed her lips. She might not know much about the world yet, but she knew enough to guess that someone was very much in love.

After a moment, she remembered her manners and her eyes looked toward the only other person in the room. The woman, whom Lyntael guessed must be Twin, since the key had delivered her here, was dressed in sensibly blacks and whites, which did not clash nearly so badly with the décor of the rest of the room, as her own sunny and pastel yellows must surely. She had her back to her, reclining on the couch for the moment, and Lyntael politely cleared her throat before speaking.

"E-excuse, miss Twin?" It had the sound of a hopeful question to it, she realised, but pressed on. "Sorry to intrude, but my name is Lyntael; I've been sent to assist you. You needed something passed to your fiance? How can I help?" She took a small step forward as she introduced herself, clasping her hands gently in front of her against her short skirt, aware for the moment just how much shorter it was; how much more immodestly dressed she was on the whole, than her employer.
The navi sat up suddenly with a red face, as if embarrassed to have been seen doting (which would be silly, given how obvious the room's decor made it). "Hello! You must be Lyntael. Thank you so much for coming," she greeted her visitor. If she was bothered it intrigued by Lyn's clothes, she kept to herself about it. The maid rose to her feet and began to offer her guest the couch, before realizing that the pillow arrangement and stray particles made it clear she'd been lying on it a lot recently. "Please, join me at my desk," she requested, then hurried over. Her walk was expedient but also graceful and composed, as befitting of a head servant.

"I believe it's best if I start by explaining my story... My name is Twin. I have a sister who is also named Twin... It's very confusing, but we need not get caught up in that detail. My sister was present in thr house some weeks ago when we were besieged by a navi named ConMan. He tricked his way in by seducing my sister, then captured her and used her clothes to disguise a cohort. Together, they impersonated my master, ProsperMan, and made off with a large portion of his riches while also using mod prestige to solicit certain debaucherous.... favors. Naturally, my sister has little love left for this ConMan..."

She paused, then placed her elbows on the table and her face in her palms. "Of course, we've always been opposites, her and I. So I was stupid and fell in love with him. Y-you would have to see him!" she defended. "He's like something out of an old Victorian romance, with a great brown main of hair and such a fantastic body... er, musculature," she continued, growing red in the face. "His cunning, riskiness, and ingenuity is precisely re opposite of my master, who, forgive me for saying so, only grows duller the more he shines that ridiculous gold helmet of his. But you can understand that both he and my sister are very much against me seeking the affections of Master ConMan."

She brought her hands together, folding them beneath her chin. "I want to show him that I can "run with the pack," so to speak. I've placed a message in that data packet along with a token of my goodwill... and besides that, also a key to this very location. I will be waiting to accept him. If you can deliver the message,you needn't do anything further. Just see him open it and agree, then wait for good reward at the GNA board. I've got his location... the only problem is that ProsperMan had sent a task force to place him under open surveillance. He resides on a boat in BeachNet along with his partner in crime, who I hear is a diamond thief. The boat is being watched constantly and the only people allowed on area are members of the task force. You will either have to sneak past them, disguise yourself, or... perhaps you can think of something else?"

"Do this for me and I can promise you a tidy sum of 3000z. He may be willing to reward you further if you ask. And whatever you do, don't let anyone but him open it!" she pleaded, pressing her hands back over her face.
As her client stood to greet her, Lyntael ducked her head again politely and followed her lead to the writing desk. Rather than taking a seat as well, though, a sense of propriety led her to remain standing, resting her hands gently on the back of the other chair. It was only as Twin began to explain her situation that the mild strangeness of the room began to occur to her. Decor aside, even the setup of the room seemed a bit peculiar. Twins or not, the doubling of everything, side by side, seemed a bit too... picture perfect to her, now that her mind had time to think on it. A moment later the thought was gone again, dismissed out of hand as silly while she nodded to Twin's explanation.

Even so, the picture she painted was an interesting one. A small part of her mind wondered if she should expect one Twin to always tell the truth, and the other to always lie. Despite herself she had to fight off the urge to giggle at that thought. Her mood sobered as Twin began to gush over her beau... The navi was clearly a criminal with few scruples, and she couldn't feel good about helping a woman become more like him, but... she averted her eyes, politely, making a small circle on the back of the chair with one finger while the other woman composed herself. She'd already agreed to the contract after all. And even if he was a crook, Twin was honest, at least, and she was the client. And the offered sum seemed like a great deal of money to her, for the work required. And it was in the name of love, so she said... that had to count for something, too, right?

As Twin got to the meat of the task, Lyntael nodded again but bit her lip, thinking. If ProsperMan was having him surveilled openly, but not captured or arrested, then they must already have settled his previous crime and were expecting him to try something else... unless they still needed proof of it, or something like that. Either way, delivering a message wasn't illegal, even if the man himself was wanted, surely? Twin made it sound like they'd stop her though, if they knew she was a messenger to him, though... Too many questions. Better to ask what she could now, at least, she decided.

"I'll do it, of course... but, would you mind if I ask a couple of things quickly, before I head over there?" She blinked, then raised her hands. "I'm... I'm not trying to pry or anything, it's just, well... if they're watching him, is it sort of like house arrest? I mean, is it only messengers they'll stop from visiting him, or everyone? I'm sure I'll find a way, one way or the other; I promise I'll make sure I see it delivered to his hands alone, myself." Another thought occurred to her even as she gave a reassuring smile, her eyebrows jumping up. "Oh! I want to be sure, when I give it to him, of course... you said he was cunning and a master of impersonating people, is-is there any way you know of that I can be certain it's actually him, when I meet him?"

As she asked, she moved to where Twin had been eyeing the package, but stopped short of picking it up, manners telling her it would be more proper to allow Twin herself to hand it over.

"Thank you for agreeing! Let me help you with that," Twin replied, rising from her seat with a smile. She seemed to engage incorrectly assumed that Lyntael was too short to grab the mystery data from its place atop the dresser. She continued speaking as she grabbed it and handed it over enthusiastically; she also compressed the packet so that it wouldn't be so unwieldy. "As to your concerns... he is under something like house arrest, in so far as navis are trailing him constantly. They only stop short of boarding his boat. I believe ProsperMan's goal is really just to antagonize him, rather than to learn anything or hurt him. I even hear that ProsperMan is related in some way to ConMan's associate, the jewel thief" she sighed. "That said, the task force will certainly harass you if not fully preventing your entry should you try to board with no status to speak of beyond 'messenger.' In either case they will certainly intercept the package and... and suffice to say, they must not open it."

"Now, I'm fairly certain you shall recognize ConMan with the description I gave you. When he took a disguise here, he wore only ProsperMan's clothes and helmet without hiding his very different physique, nor even his face. And might I add what a handsome physique and face they were compared to my master's," she scoffed, clearly upset with her master. "So just look for a rugged, muscular fellow aboard the boat. His hair ought to be a dead giveaway too."

"Whenever you're ready, please use these coordinates to travel to BeachNet. You will find the boat nearby," she finished, transferring over the data. "After all, the ship has not been allowed to move."

((Topic opening soon in BeachNet))
As with most data-based objects Lyntael touched, the package compressed further from its condensed form the moment it was in her hands, converting to single long string that loped and spiralled around her wrist, settling swiftly into a figure eight pattern, almost looking like a piece of jewellery as it circled. In case Twin worried she grinned to her then held out her hand, opening it as though to hold something, and the string raced out to become the compressed package again. Closing her hand it resumed its place, as data, about her wrist and Lyntael nodded as much to herself as to her client.

"Got it. I'll have it delivered to him for you in no time, I promise." With a small wave, she backed away a few steps into the centre of the room, vaguely self-conscious of the way her net transitions often threw off excess energy when she worked through emulation as she was now. A moment later the familiar yellow light enveloped her form and she was gone.

----------
((Moving to => BeachNet))
Now at the home stretch, Lyn arrived back at the room of her employer, along with ConMan. Despite what he had said earlier, he didn't seem to be acting with any particular caution as he pulled Lyn on through with him. This was evidenced by his teeth making a jittery noise and his hand yanking back; he hadn't avoided the shock after all, but he didn't comment on it. He found himself much more interested in taking a look around his lover's room, which still had that same hopelessly flirtatious decor and theme that Lyn had seen when she'd started out.

Upon spotting ConMan, the room's owner called out to him from the bed. "You've come! You'll see, I can love you better than my sister get could. Oh, ConMan, I was getting so hot thinking about you I had to dress down," she cooed, putting on her best sexy voice. Lyn verified the truth of her words; the head maid was now dressed only in pink, lace panties. Her upper body was covered by a big, heart-shaped pillow, which she clutched to her chest with both arms. "Now that you're here... I'm getting even hotter! I might have to..." she whispered, placing one hand into the side strap of her only immodest garment. "To... eep!"

She stopped when she realized that Lyn had come in too. ConMan guffawed inconsiderately, realizing the situation. "No, please, continue! I was rather enjoying myself," he laughed, taking note of the two separate, single-sized beds. "So you do have a sister! Well darn, now I really want to complete the set."

Twin could easily be offended, but she wasn't; in fact, she smiled awkwardly in response. "Actually, I have to admit, I thought the three of us sounded pretty good too... but my sister didn't like it. She left in such a storm that I thought she was going to kill you!"

"... I'm amazed she didn't. I'm even more amazed that she isn't here now. I guess she had to report to ProsperMan or something," he shrugged. "No matter, I just want to make sure we get the most out of our time! What say we...?"the big man smirked. He undid hid bath robe quickly and had nearly thrown it off when Twin made a face of panic and pointed at Lyn. "W-whoops! Um, uh... Great work, Kid, you're a real Cupid! I'm going to give you some cash," he babbled, handing over a data packet quickly while holding his robe closed with one hand.

*Lyn received 1500z!*

"Me too! Well... report to the mission board and I'll transfer it there, okay?" the maid offered. She didn't seem willing to compromise her position in the bed any further.
((Return from => Beach Net))
----------

She had meant to keep her eyes shut, truly she had... but... whether through pure curiosity, or a lingering hint of fear that something might be more wrong, Lyntael found herself peeking up at the room from under the lowered lashes of her gaze within moments of stepping through, regardless. She immediately wished she hadn't as her eyes fell first on Twin, dressed down as considerably as she was. The rest of her glance around the room was curtailed abruptly as she opted to study the floor with great determination instead. So it was innocent, after all, and here she was walking into something meant to be private. She was lucky the roar of her blush wasn't setting things around her on fire; it felt like it ought to... luckier still that embarrassment wasn't one of her triggers for sparking up.

Even so, that didn't stop her from letting out a panicked gasp, quickly muffled, as ConMan began to disrobe what little he was wearing. She almost fled on the spot there and then, and it was only Twin's reaction, halting her soon-to-be lover, that stopped her. Even so, at the rate her blush raged, people were going to start thinking she was a fire navi... she'd never been this embarrassed in her life. The young girl barely had the wherewithal to accept the data packet from ConMan, gaze darting up to his eyes and back tot he floor in rapid succession, and trying not to pass over what he was barely hiding in between.

"Th-thankyou, I... I should, I'll just..." Her stammering likely wasn't going to get her any further and she managed a brief, "H-have fun!" instead, followed by a mortified squeak at her own boldness, before turning as though to flee the room on foot. It was only as she reached the door that the blissful rescue of yellow light crashed down over her form, removing her from the to-be lover's presence.

It was a very flustered Lyntael that sank to the ground a short way outside ProsperMan's mansion, taking deep breaths. One hand was pressed to her chest while the other tried to cool her cheeks. Never again. As she collected, surprisingly, the thing that stuck around in her mind was the way ConMan had pulled back from touching her, so suddenly. She sighed softly and put it out of her mind. It wasn't the first time, and it surely wouldn't be the last either. She picked herself up and made a perfunctory effort to straighten her clothes. They didn't need it. The link emulation tugged at the edge of her awareness, standing by the anchor point again as she was. The girl shuddered softly, then squared her shoulders. She liked to think she was getting better at operating the probe alone, without Rogan, but it was never going to be comfortable. She delayed another minute or two, putting in her notification of mission success, then bit the bullet and reached out to open the link and return to her PET. The stinging started from the moment the faltering, uneven light consumed her.

----------
((Jack out, Return to => Electown))