"Career Day" Custom Auditorium Net

The net space created for use during Career Day at the Dentech University auditorium had been modified to restrict certain access, but not much. A console would still allow the net's inhabitants access to functions such as the light and sound systems, the sprinklers, and the alarms, as promised, as well as the electronically controlled curtains and projectors. Obviously, some of these had more conventional uses in a Career Day performance than others. What had not been provided was much of a sense of aesthetic appeal; the rest of the net was veiled with red curtains, behind which black theater walls awaited and nothing else. The net area itself was enclosed to only a room-sized cylinder, more the size of a regular classroom than an auditorium.

Parka would be awaiting Hyde in this room, since Hyde had suggested Dr. Watershed jack her in. The navi was as seen earlier, with the new revelations that she also wore blue plastic gloves and boots and a white undersuit, just barely visible under her heavy rain parka, which she must be attached to, considering she wore it even when there was no weather to protect herself from. She stood quietly, although she seemed to be having a hard time with it; apparently, cutting off communication with her operator was not very normal for her.

Hyde touched down in the Net with her cloak drawn around her. She gave a frown, one which she expected would be rare over the course of the day's events. The room was a little more sparse than she'd been hoping for, and Parka had beaten her getting jacked in. "Oh well, buggers can't be choosers!" she thought, giggling to herself.

The doctor Navi raised a finger to Parka, indicating she was temporarily busy, and had the final bit of discussion with her operator she needed to before cutting out. The Navi then turned to Parka, putting her hands to her teeth and smiling with her hands together girlishly, an expression that belied her poor dental work. "Parka! A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Hyde, and before I start, there's two things I want you to know: first, that I'm a doctor, and no matter what, you can trust me. Know that any problems you share with me and any discussion we have here never leaves this room, unless you choose for it to."

"Now, the second thing I want you to know," she stated, walking in closely and smiling warmly, "Is that I want you to think of me not just as a doctor, but a friend. I want you to know, I'm on your side! Yours and Dr. Watershed's!" she added, conveniently remembering Dr. Watershed's name now that it felt more appropriate to do so. "You and Dr. Watershed were absolutely right. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm actually, normally, a very conservative, chaste, and upright individual. I used to be just like you and Watershed: people of education and good moral fiber, and frankly, good hygiene and dashing good looks!" "Well, maybe not good looks on Watershed's part, and hopefully not so much education on yours, but your LOOKS are certainly up there," she thought to herself, unintentionally allowing her mind to wander temporarily. "You might not believe it, but it was my own operator, Jacky Newman, who chose for me to look this way, with such a monstrous appearance... and she, in a flight of whimsy, implanted me with her own vast library of perverse knowledge! Shameful," Hyde continued, wiping away a crocodile tear.

She continued that moment, looking like she wanted to be comforted and happily leaning into any comfort that was offered before continuing. "But, yes, I got the idea that you and Watershed were just trying to do the right thing here. This place is a classroom, and children need to be taught! You two were only doing what you thought was right, and you were right. What that Nidalee and Molly want to do... it's just disgraceful! Cheap kicks and laughs at the expense of professionalism, decency, and the future of our children?" Hyde gasped in outrage that was faked but hypocrisy that was real. "And their Navis... why, I've only had brief communication with them since arriving, but they truly aren't any better. Both of them are rapscallions that see people like us as pieces of meat or opportunities to exploit. Just wait until one of them arrives, you'll see what I mean..."

The Navi attempted to throw an arm around the shoulder of her new friend, smiling conspiratorially and whispering in the same manner. "So, dear Parka, I am going to put these three out of business for good. Tonight will be such a great disgrace for the three of them that they will never dare to set foot anywhere near Dentech University again, if not this continent. That ought to give them their proper comeuppance for their treacherous ways. Meanwhile, you and the good doctor will be blameless. I don't intend to have him perform... he hasn't heard anything of the plan, and everyone's against him! He's only been doing the right thing, the whole way through. Yes, I am sure I will also be blamed for my part, but if I must be sacrificed, so be it. I'm used to... personal tragedy..." Hyde said, turning on the sniffles again briefly.

"I'm sure some part of you wants to see them punished for their unfair teasing and then banished from the minds they seek to corrupt... With that in mind, why don't you work with me today? If you have any ideas for how they should receive justice, feel free to lay them on me! I will act as your mouthpiece, and you will remain blameless while gaining a bit of personal satisfaction... That satisfaction might feel a bit guilty, but wouldn't it be nice to treat yourself to the rare, blameless vice? Someone in your line of work must not get it very often..."

Hyde's mind was wandering a bit, again, and she found her comforting hand she'd tried to throw around a shoulder getting dangerously close to trying to cop a comforting feel. She withdrew it hastily, grinning and wringing her hands together while still trying to be careful to avoid her cloak opening up too much. "Ah, but, please! Make yourself comfortable, take off that parka if you feel so inclined! I'm just waiting to begin, but I'm trusting you're fully on board, correct? If so, why not just... take off that rain slicker, there... and get anything else off your chest you feel you might want to share? Let me know if you have any reservations? ... Take off that parka, hmm?" Hyde said, barely restraining a curse as she realized she had driven that last point a bit more than she meant to.

Naturally, if anyone else showed up that she wasn't expecting before she was done delivering her speech, she would pause and rethink her plan accordingly.

Parka smiled, although she clearly flinched a little upon seeing Hyde's teeth. "Oh! Pleased to meet you face to face," the teacher responded, seeming to clutch her parka around herself reflexively. Hyde was quick to begin laying out her plan, which caused Parka to look at first confused, then apologetic. "Oh, no! Not monstrous. There's nothing wrong with the way you look," she encouraged her new acquaintance, perhaps guilty at her earlier reaction of hopping. "Th-That's terrible, though! That your operator would take advantage of you that way..." she murmured, although it sounded like even she was having a hard time buying that story, given what little she'd seen of the personalities of the two so far. Hyde continued and Parka looked more guilty, seeming to sink into her hood. "Wait, no... I'm not saying we did the right thing. I-I was aware that we, er... weren't adapting as we should... but I didn't step in like I ought to have. Dr. Watershed, bless him, he's just too in love with teaching... he has a hard time easing off the pedal, you might say."

Hyde further went on to accuse Nidalee and Molly of planning to corrupt the educational experience. Parka made a fierce expression along with Hyde, but she still seemed like she addled about all of the new perspectives being thrust at her so suddenly, her eyebrows tensing with conversation. "Is that true? I hadn't noticed all of that," she murmured, gulping hard. She jumped a bit as Hyde took her shoulder; she was already a bit taller, so the action made it slightly difficult to keep an arm over her. "Wait... I think that's too much," she whispered back. "I don't want to ruin anyone's careers... and I haven't seen any evidence that anyone deserves any kind of, er, punishment, even if they're a bit mean to the Doctor... I mean, he did deserve it, at least a little." Parka seemed like she'd be a difficult person to wring any ill intentions out of, let alone any specific, devious punishments. "I don't really want to hurt anyone..."

Next, Hyde recommended that Parka remove her namesake. "Oh, I'm fine! Thank you," she smiled, but the requests continued, to the point where it became obvious Hyde wanted it off for a reason. Thinking it might have something to do with Hyde's mission of saving the performance, which was still very important to Parka, the navi finally complied and began to unbutton the rain-slick. "Is that alright?" she asked, for no apparent reason, laying the garment over one arm as she removed it. Underneath, the rest of her golden-brown hair, done into a neat bun behind her head, was visible, along with the remainder of her cream-colored skinsuit. The suit had a white frill running from the neck down to just below the chest, where the seam of the suit ran. No longer disguised, her breasts were distracting in their size and the snugness with which they occupied her suit; her exposed shape of her legs had a similar effect. "Erm... Do you also plan to remove your cloak?" she asked, feeling suddenly awkward and a little naked.

The talk was broken up by Strum, who arrived with the audio equipment Hyde had suggested. "Ring-a-ding-ding!" the rocker announced herself; her outfit was as advertised in her earlier photograph. Besides the data packets, she was still carrying her guitar, slung over a shoulder with a black strap. "There you are!" She approached Hyde quickly, before noticing Parka as well and whistling in a boyish cat-call. "Yeow! You look better without the parka, Parka! Although I guess now I've gotta call you 'Tight, Sexy Pajamas,' huh?" she joked, placing one hand to her chin as she looked Parka over like a dirty old man might.

Parka frowned distastefully for a moment, casting a look at Hyde as if to say that she saw what Hyde meant now.

"Here's that stuff you asked for! I also brought the stuff you didn't ask for!" Strum cackled, placing one finger onto her tongue while running the pointing-finger of the other hand up her bare thighs. "I was a little hurt when you didn't respond, you know! Pretty anticlimactic sexting session, there!" That caused Parka to raise an eyebrow again, turning her head to look at Hyde.

Hyde kept on a mysterious smile as she watched Parka's reactions. "It doesn't look like I'm going to get an impromptu playmate... but I might have be able to have a lot of fun bullying... Mmm, and there's a lot of fun going on under there! She took off her rain slicker, but I think I'm the one that's going to get wet!" The Navi grinned slightly at her own internalized innuendo. "Ah! You want me to take this old thing off and show you how Jacky's perverted my formerly innocent body? Very well..."

The Navi had built up a fake misery with that previous line, but accidentally forgot to keep it up as she promptly and confidently tossed off her cloak, revealing her gaudy garb beneath. Mid-cast, her audio crew appeared. With her arm flourish still held out, the Navi turned to Strum and smiled, clapping her hands together. "Ah, Strum! Thanks for bringing that..." She was helpless to giggle a bit at Strum's proposed nickname for Parka, but tried to keep her face under control when Parka looked back to her, transforming it into a quick "See what I mean?" smirk. "Now, now! Sending you a picture to show you what I look like hardly qualifies as 'sexting,' you naughty thing. She gave Strum a dismissive wave, behind which hid a smile and winking eyes that were far less discouraging. "I'm just taking my time gathering everyone together. I was interested in speaking to Parka first. On that note, would you mind setting up the equipment while I finish my discussion? When I finish my preparations, I'll let you know what you can do to help out the show... and feel free to brainstorm, if you have any good thoughts."

She turned her attention back to Parka slowly, planning how she'd take her next action. "Now, Parka, you're a sweetheart, you know...? I can tell all this business of punishment and justice doesn't really tickle you the way I'd expected. A model teacher! Although I personally think spanking still has a place in the classroom," she added, muttering that part quickly under her breath before continuing. "Well, I want you to know I respect that. I'm still going to do what I think is right and go ahead with this to teach Jacky and those ne'er-do-wells their lesson, but I'm going to give you a very important role in this performance."

The Navi put on a rare expression of gravity and put her hands to the rim of her hat, keeping her eyes locked on Parka's. "This hat is what Jacky designed to split my personality into two fractured parts. This side is more lucid and creative, but subject to unfortunate defects in mannerisms, I'm afraid. If, at any time, you move or remove my hat, I will instantly transform into my other side, which is more docile and compassionate, but far, far, less creative. A sadsack, I'm afraid, robbed of the intellectual curiosity that makes me a genius and, quite frankly, the life of any party."

The doctor grinned, making sure to speak more loudly and let Strum overhear if she wanted to. "Understand? I'm giving you a great deal of power here. I'm the one in charge of the performance, but if at any time you think my punishment game is going a bit too far, or you just get tired of it and want to see some good old fashioned medical lecturing from Jacky instead, you can simply push my hat over or off. That will act as a switch to change my personality, throw off my devious schemes, and completely derail the performance! If you were to take my hat off, why, you could be single-handedly responsible for ruining my entire plan and blowing our last shot at making an interesting performance! I'm sure Nidalee, Molly, and the rest will appreciate you and, by extension, your operator saving their dignity. That power and that choice are yours."

The Navi removed her hands from her hat, smiling a bit more widely now. "But, dear Parka, why not try and enjoy yourself for now? I don't want you to think ill of me, and that's why I've entrusted you with such a great deal of responsibility. Hopefully you see my respect for you. But now that you've seen so many sides of me, why not explore a different side of yourself? Try to see this as a fun adventure! A learning experience!"

Humming and turning, having forgotten she was supposed to be putting on a tortured soul appearance and instead displaying a lot of pep after unloading such a heavy moral burden on her new acquaintance, Hyde brought up her communications and typed a message, occasionally glancing up to see what Parka and Strum were up to. She stepped a bit far out to get a wide view on the other two.

Parka's eyes showed a bit of disbelief at Hyde's outfit beneath the cloak, but the teacher kept her mouth shut and respectfully quiet. Strum laughed along with Hyde, hitting it off quickly. "I don't blame you! I'm interested in speaking to Miss Sexy Pajamas myself now that I've seen them!" she laughed heartily. "Them being the sexy pajamas, of course. Listen, Hyde: when you live like I do, you interpret private messages differently than other people do. I'm always looking for the next great groupie," the guitarist rambled, resting one hand on the neck of her guitar as she continued speaking. "Huh... Feels a little weird to do my own equipment setup. Usually I get Washie or Skinny to do that for me... but I guess I'll make an exception this once," she shrugged. "Because it's so easy! My brain's always storming, though, for reals. I can shoot electricity out of my ears if I concentrate."

As Strum stepped away to get to work, Parka gulped, seeming more apprehensive at being called sweetheart than flattered. "Thank you for your trust, Hyde. Don't worry; you can count on me to take the hat off if the show starts to veer off course," she reassured Hyde impulsively, but as the doctor continued speaking, she bit her lip and showed more apprehension. "I-I'll do what's right," she modified her promise, seeming to understand the not-too-subtle undertones of the instructions: namely, that they would ruin the show as badly as Watershed had messed it up in the first half. "Well... this is certainly a bit of a different setting for me, in general," she admitted quietly. "I guess we'll see whether it's fun or not... but I'll do my best!" she resolved with a painful level of child-like innocence.

Strum had already finished setting up the communications, which really amounted to no more than unpacking the data packets she'd brought and designating which would function to receive the input of each navi. Having nothing better to do, she decided to hit on Parka some more. "Boy, youth is really wasted on the youthful, huh? If I was your student, I'd be totally hot for teacher," she winked, coming off strong again. When Parka returned a pouty frown, the rocker stuck out her tongue and smirked. "Hey, wring out your sexy PJs, sexy! I'm just messing around with you! Though, if I'm too naughty for ya... well, let's just say I'm not against spanking in the classroom!" she offered, unintentionally stealing Hyde's private joke, although not having the decency to make hers private.

"We're still in a place for education, Strum! This is no place for... for dirty jokes!" Parka scolded her colleague, who looked sarcastically wounded.

"Oh! Well, this place kinda sucks anyways! We'll continue this dirty joke in another, nicer location later, without so many kiddos," she trailed into a whisper, playfully flicking at the frill on Parka's chest. Hyde was going to have to apply herself at least a little if she wanted to be the sexual harasser in this group.

Hyde finished sending her message and made her way back over to the other two, inwardly peeved that Strum had taken her excellent innuendo and gotten a rise for saying it aloud. That said, it looked like the guitarist ought to be good for some fun, so she supposed she'd have to treat the unintentional imitation as the most sincere form of unintentional flattery. "Hush, now, Strum, or I'll spank you," Hyde said, rolling her eyes and smiling while trying to decide if she was joking or not. "It's just about time to start... unfortunately, I might not have things for you two to do the whole time, but I'd like you on standby to carry out orders and present any ideas as you come up with them. Or, you two can continue fooling around! Your choice." This room seemed lively enough without PhotoMan responding to her previous message. It might be fun enough to just let that guy twist in the wind.

The doctor took a look at the control console ahead of her, examining how it was laid out and trying to decide if there was a way to work it into her scheme...

The rest of the controls aside, Hyde's first direction was simple. She tested the comm system that had been provided first, seeing if she could find a way to communicate with Molly's ear piece directly. "Testing, testing! Molly, please confirm if I've got you. Actually... are these things two way? Well, never mind! I'll know if it's working in a second if I see you do what I ask, tee hee!"

The Navi folded her hands and put on her most innocent smile, keeping her eyes cast upward in a cherubic expression and pretending to ignore the reactions of the other two Navis in the room. "I want you to go out and explain what Strum does in her usual line of work! Not the juicy bits, like any interactions she has with friends or fans, or any crazy road stories she might have. Just the normal things. Think of it like you're explaining it to a loser hitting on you at the bar, trying to make it clear you're just being polite and not really interested. Okay?"

Hyde rocked back and forth on her heels, pretending not to notice any ire if it was presented to her. "Oh, this is going to be a fun time... I'll send Jacky out next, and this show will be positively educational! Hmhmhmmm...."

"I'm always in the mood to fool around," Strum offered, giving a lazy, fake salute, "and to not work, for that matter!" She grabbed the guitar off her bit and began to warm up, twanging a few cords experimentally. "You guys don't mind if I play, right?"

"No, but not too close to the sound equipment," Parka suggested, although her apprehensive expression might give one the idea that she wasn't much of a fan of Strum's music to begin with.

In the mean time, Hyde looked over the control console. First off, she'd notice a monitor to the outside had been placed here, allowing her to see the auditorium from both overhead and stage-floor view in parallel. The other controls included switches to activate a fire alarm, sprinklers, the lights in the auditorium, a center-stage spotlight (with controls to swivel it), curtains, a trap door device that lowered a portion of the stage beneath it, and finally, any audio one might want to play from the auditorium speakers. It all seemed pretty intuitive to use, if not especially versatile.

The comm system provided by Molly and Strum was even easier to use; the navi didn't really need any input to turn it on or off, just activating or deactivating the channel as it was now built into them. It seemed the line could go both ways, but only when Hyde chose to activate it. For her part, Hyde would be able to hear all conversations regardless, since her console relayed the noise from the stage regardless.

Molly didn't seem entirely receptive to the instructions as they were given, but didn't object either. However, once she was on stage, she veered off script a little bit, and her hatred for her own navi (and worse, anyone who enjoyed her navi's music) became apparent. Most people would probably start devising how to backpedal those orders and turn the performance around, but then, Hyde was not most people.

"How's it going so far?" Parka asked, beginning to approach Hyde. If she got too close, she'd probably see what was happening on stage now.

"Please, go right ahead! I'll let you know when I need you," Hyde told Strum. "But, yes, as the considerate Parka has said, not too close to the equipment. Looks like I'll get to see a master at work!" she added with a smile, clapping her hands together again. "That's good... I don't have any experience with the guitar myself, but I was hoping to take a few licks from you before this whole thing was done."

Her necessary duel of innuendos out of the way, Hyde stared at the equipment with some curiosity. She was thinking she would have designed this thing far more mysteriously and less conveniently if she'd had the option... well, she supposed that was part of why she wasn't in charge of that. More importantly, she could see and hear her plan starting to come through. She couldn't actually see clearly what Jacky had been forced into, but she had a feeling it was something good.

As for Molly's tomato-drawing performance, this would be devastating for someone who was actually attempting to save a performance or avoid making enemies. Naturally, Hyde was neither of these things, so she projected a grin of confidence that was actually a grin of satisfaction as the others looked on. "Yes, I'd say this is just fine. In a moment, I think everything will become clear," she lied to Parka.

At this point, she began speaking up over private lines to give private directions. "Good work, Molly! Keep chewing those rude little monsters out until I give you the next direction, okay?" She spoke loudly, unsure if Molly would be able to hear her over her own ranting and the boos of the crowd if she didn't. With this done, she quickly turned and looked to Parka. "Parka, would you be a dear and man the spotlight for me? In a moment, I want you to dim the lights slightly. I'll be sending Jacky out. I want to keep the floodlight on Jacky. You'll see her in a top hat and cape in just a moment..." Hyde really didn't have any reason for this other than her secret hope that Parka would somehow mess up, and her less-than-secret intent to ogle the woman's hips from behind while she worked.

Hopefully enjoying the view, Hyde then set her attention to communicating with her own operator.

"Oh ho! Well lucky for you, I'm really good at coaching with my fingers," Strum counter-joked, not content to let anyone get the last dirty joke on her.

Parka was looking pretty cross, being no fan of dirty jokes. Thankfully, Hyde gave her a distraction in the form of another task. "Certainly. The spotlight is..." she murmured, moving over to the console and leaning over it, as Hyde had hoped she would, to put the spotlight on Hyde's operator. "Hm... Is this the next lecture?" she asked, watching the screen curiously. "Is she really imitating her navi?"

"Ha ha ha! Molly's impersonation of me? If she's acting like an ineffective dumbass, then yeah, she's probably showing what she thinks of me," the guitarist navi guffawed.

For her part, Parka seemed unable to respond, as, while Strum had probably said that as a joke, that did appear to be what Molly was doing at the moment. "Alright... The light is on her," Parka reported, although Hyde could probably see that just fine. Her eyebrows raised as Jacky seemingly knocked out Molly on the stage. "You did say you're a doctor, didn't you? Is your operator acting like you?e" she asked Hyde, not realizing that every conversation with Hyde was like hitting a beehive with another stick.

"Hey, move over, guys! I wanna see too," Strum whined, moving between the two and trying to push them aside so she could get a look at the monitor.

"No no, not until Hyde gives you a direction!" Parka protested, using her height advantage and ample bust to form a wall between Strum and the monitor. Strum didn't seem to mind and allowed her face to be buried in Parka's breasts. "N-Not there either! Go play your guitar!"

"Fine, fine! Damn... It's kind of weird to get so many requests from people who don't want you around," Strum sighed, getting back to tuning her guitar.

Hyde received another message:

"Good! I want to let you know I appreciate what you're doing, Parka." The Navi made this comment while Parka's back was turned, putting her own chin in her hand and leaning forward. If Parka looked back, she would quickly duck back into the picture of innocence.

What Hyde hadn't anticipated was that directing everybody and their grandma to throw away their dignity in very specific ways was actually a somewhat taxing job. She was spending most of her time and concentration on giving directions to Jacky now, but she found a moment to direct Molly, too. That was important: after all, as a doctor, she couldn't very well make herself an accessory to an aggravated assault without at least trying to prevent it! "Molly, dear, Jacky is probably about to say some things that you may find a wee bit offensive. Don't let it bother you. After all, all of this is for the sake of performance! Just stay there and stay quiet... or, mm, snore loudly. Whatever you feel like."

This was a part Hyde was excited for, so she leaned in next to Parka. "All right! There's another thing I need you to do for me. Sound effects! I need you to blow a raspberry. Right into this microphone. Do you think you can do that?" Hyde gestured to the sound equipment, which she'd been keeping to her own personal use up until now. "You do know what a raspberry is, right? It's that sound rude children make where they blow with their tongue! Strum, let's demonstrate to start."

Regardless of whether the two of them were picking up on this ridiculous demand or not, Hyde began with her own. Puffing up her cheeks, the Navi demonstrated her maturity and sense of professionalism by blowing a grade-A wet raspberry in Parka's direction. Giving Strum a chance as well if she wanted to, she quickly ushered the group over by the speaker. She gave another couple of raspberries, preparing to turn on the system to actually begin playing once she could get the other two going and she could tell Jacky had reached the proper line.

With that, Hyde kept feeding Jacky her lines while watching the screen. She typed a return message to PhotoMan, thinking it might be fun to have him show up spontaneously while others were blowing raspberries. If she couldn't think of anything for him to do, it might be fun enough to make him just stand there while the rest of them messed around.

Quote (To PhotoMan.EXE)

To be honest, I am in a bit of a pickle. I thought it'd be fun to pick on Nidalee in some point of my performance, you know, just as a little thing... but I'm not quite sure what to do that would flummox her. Maybe you have some ideas? If you promise to help me out with that, I'll get her to send you over now. We girls are having lots of fun already.

With our tongues! :P

Sending her message, Hyde waited for a reply. If she got one, she'd privately communicate to Nidalee that she needed to jack in PhotoMan... and trust that he'd have the foresight to hide their communication. If Nidalee suspected she was going to be dragged into what Molly was now experiencing on the stage, she'd surely try to jump ship early.

Realizing now what Hyde was looking at so hard, Strum joined in; whether she was aware of the jokes was not clear, but she'd been gawking at Parka earlier and this was even better. She switched to watching both Hyde and Parka's butts as the former leaned over to pull some new sound FX from the latter. Parka returned an awkward smile and disbelieving half-laughter as she heard the request, but she nodded along as well. "Oh, of course... I... I don't know that I've ever actually don't know that I've ever actually done that before myself, but I suppose I-" she started, before Hyde and Strum started blowing the air with their tongues and making childish noises. Either through a sense of responsibility or peer pressure, Parka joined in, brushing one curl of her hair away from the side of her face in a neat way that looked silly when paired with the ridiculous face she was making. As she continued, she started to giggle a bit between raspberries. In another life, perhaps this could be a friendly rapscallion teaching a stuffy school-teacher how to embrace her fun side, but chances were that this life's Hyde wasn't interested in Parka's well-being at all. For Strum's part, the rocker was already a professional raspberry-blower and played her part with finesse.

There was a brief delay after Hyde's message went out, perhaps while PhotoMan either contemplated the ramifications of giving someone the information or struggled to word his answer in a professional manner. Eventually, the message came:



He made no mention of the tongue part, perhaps because there was no way to do that professionally. Hyde, as promised, requested to Nidalee that she ought to get PhotoMan jacked in. "Of course. I'm sure he can be of some help to you," she responded, going over and doing just that. Judging by her hurried movements, it was pretty unlikely she saw Hyde or PhotoMan's messages to each other... especially granted that she was pretty busy watching other things.

PhotoMan appeared on the network very quickly after that, revealing some of his eagerness to join the scene in progress. The navi stood a bit taller than any of the others, Parka included, with dark-gray armor designed to look like cameras covering his body, including a helmet with an extending and retracting lens on its visor. His other visible eye watched with a lack of visible emotion, but a small series of mechanical clicks came from inside the helmet as he watched all of the girls busily blowing raspberries into a microphone. He continued to stare wordlessly for about a quarter of a minute, before finally clearing his throat and speaking up. "Hyde? I'm here..." he offered, his arms hanging awkwardly at his side as he tried to decide whether to approach the girls or not. He felt a little like a voyeur watching a slumber party.

"Oh, I know you! The photo guy!" Strum called out, forgetting her raspberries for a bit. "I haven't seen you since you and the mermaid helped me out with my naked guitar performance!" she laughed. Hopefully, Hyde had turned the microphone off at this point. The memory seemed to be tickling her pretty hard and her laughter turned to hearty guffawing. "Wash made him wear short shorts and a glam top at the time, it was hilarious! He's also got quite some somethin-somethin, if you get my meaning," she added, indiscreetly pointing downward with her eyes. "Not that I'm into that. But you know what I mean, right?" This time she gestured with her hands, as if measuring a fish. "I'm talking about-" she continued, stretching out her pants and pointing inside with one index finger (although she lacked the equipment she was mentioning).

The photographer loudly cleared his throat again to beg everyone's attention, looking unamused as Strum joked about his manhood and Parka continued flapping her tongue, blissfully unaware of what was being discussed.

Hyde smiled warmly with genuine amusement at the discovery her two friends were so willing to embrace the art of the raspberry. Her own were decidedly lacking, as she possessed the necessary spirit but was inhibited by her obstructive dental work.

Further blowing would have to wait, however. Hyde could tell from her display and communications that she had put Jacky in a close shave. As impressed as she was with herself, she did draw the line at physical harm. If it happened accidentally, she'd get a nice laugh out of it, but some contrarian part of her nature just wouldn't let her enjoy it if she caused it herself. As such, she'd keep the other Navis waiting while she gave Jacky some personal coaching. She also tried to direct Molly out of the ring, although Jacky had already made that direction obvious.

With that out of the way, Hyde spent a bit longer focusing intently on the screen, humming and shaking her hips with faux-absent-mindedness now that she had the mind to. Finally, Hyde deigned to acknowledge PhotoMan. "Hyde. Pleasure to meet you! I hope you brought your equipment," she joked, giggling along with Strum's dirty joke. She moved in closer to whisper to PhotoMan. "To be honest, I'm a little bit busy right now, and I haven't thought of any great way to use the info you provided. I'm not so cruel I'd keep you out of the party, though!" She backed up a little, giving the photographer some space. "But, I do think you can help in another way," she added, now loud enough for everyone to hear. "PhotoMan, Strum, for the current bit I'm working on, it may be necessary for all of us to have a good grasp on cat-calls and harassment. I need all three of you to be able to perform these at a moment's notice. I feel as though Strum may have a good aptitude for this, but I'm worried Parka may not... Well, she may have an aptitude for ignoring them, I'm guessing! I'm going to be busy for a bit, so why don't the two of you explain them to her while I work my magic? You can feel free to use me as a target or practice on each other. Remember, all for the good of the show! I should have more directions in a moment."

Hyde really had no idea how she was going to incorporate that in the show at all, and, in fact, she fully intended to just tell them she changed her mind later if she had to. She figured it certainly ought to be entertaining, regardless. Unfortunately, she could only give it half her attention for now. She really needed to focus on what Jacky was doing.

For that matter, there was another thing she needed to take care of... "Nidalee, are you there? If Molly isn't backstage yet, can you bring her there? I need you to set her up with a towel and something with a 'wow' factor beneath, sexy, funny, whatever. I don't know if I'll use that yet, but I want it to be ready. All right?"

Grinning, the Navi swapped over to Molly's line. "Molly, I haven't given anyone else backstage instructions yet, but I think Nidalee might have an idea. She didn't tell me about it, but probably best to go along with what she has in mind if she says anything to you."

PhotoMan's already unenthusiastic expression became more and more so as Hyde kept him out of the loop; even the sight of her bottom shaking didn't seem to be doing anything to improve his mood. Once she finally spoke to him, he let out what sounded like a sigh of relief and locked eyes with her. "Yes..." he answered the joke simply. It would be pretty surprising if he'd left either any of his photography gear or his genitalia in the PET when he'd come over, so he might just be answering straight. "Cat calls?" he repeated after her, his eyebrows lowering but remaining horizontal, giving him a critical expression despite the passive line of his mouth.

The guitarist guffawed. "Oh, you're just tellin' me to be myself, aren't ya? Whistlin' at girls is part and parcel with bein' me in the first place!" she encouraged Strum. PhotoMan's head was making another clicking, whirring sound, perhaps thinking hard about why this would be important to the performance. Whatever the case, he professed no great proficiency at harassment, nor admitted to doing them. "Oh, c'mon! I'm sure you got a little momi momi in ya!" Strum giggled, pantomiming squeezing a pair of breasts with her hands.

"On the contrary... It's part of my job not to do that sort of thing," the photographer murmured, a sense of pride evident even in his dry, monotone voice.

"What about that one on the beach, where you plowed that girl between the buttocks with your big-"

"Th-That was part of a shoot! There was nothing but professionalism between the actor and I... two professionals who understood what we were doing was part of the shoot!" he answered, growing slightly colored with both embarrassment and anger. "At any rate... I don't want to insult anyone..."

"A cat call's not an insult! Opposite of that! A cat call is just telling a girl you think she's sexy, then she decides how she feels about it!"

"I don't agree with that at all... That sort of thing has no place in a work environment. In fact, it's zero tolerance, on most sets..."

"Well, this isn't a set, now is it? C'mon, try one out! You too, Parka!"

The navi in white had stayed mostly silent, looking taken back, but finally answered in a stammering tone. "O-Okay! I'm pretty used to getting them myself... Things like... 'I want a one-on-one lesson' or 'You ought to up this grade to a DD' or 'I have something big I'd like to talk to you about after class' or 'I'd be motivated to work on my studies if you'd let me squeeze your-'"

"Really?! All that?! I thought you taught little kids!" Strum exclaimed, looking like even she was affected.

"Oh, I do. Those aren't from students; there are just a lot of navis around the net that like to harass me with lines like that," she sighed. "As such, I can't really go along with your idea that those sorts of things are good-natured... It feels insulting to me both as a teacher and as a woman. That said! My operator and I got us into this mess, so if being rude will help us out of it, I'm obligated. I'll try one... Um... Miss Strum, your bottom is so tight in those shorts that they look entirely too small for you! And I would elect to help you out of them if you'd let me!" she started, looking surprisedly straight-faced. "Miss Hyde! I've been feeling feverish lately, but I'm not sick; I'm quite certain that it's due to my desire to have sex with you!" she announced, pointing a finger at the leader of the group. "PhotoMan! Can I hold your camera while we take some sexy photographs together and save them in high graphic fidelity?!"

"E-Enough," PhotoMan gasped, palming his face. "That's obviously wrong. If we have to harass someone, please leave it to Strum and yourself... I don't think that Parka and I need to be involved in it," he pleaded.

By that time, Hyde was about done with instructing Nidalee, although she wasn't taking the instructions all too well. "Listen, I get what you're going for, but Molly is... well... I don't want to say this, but washed-up and a little mannish besides. A bit hypocritical of me on the latter point, I know, but it's the truth. Are you sure that you want her out there in a sexy outfit?" she asked. "I'd put her in something funny instead, but... teasing her further could be harmful to all of us." Presumably, Hyde didn't yield, so Nidalee submitted to finding something for Molly to get dressed into backstage.

Hyde grinned, rolling her hand to indicate Parka should get on with it. Her eyes widened and she let out a little chuckle involuntarily as Parka actually did. She thought this must be the excitement most people get at learning a parrot can speak their name or, perhaps more appropriately, a dirty word. Either way, it tickled her pink. "Excellent! Parka, I can see there's really no need for you to practice this any more. All those guys must've rubbed off on you... snrrk," Hyde giggled, an inappropriate image popping into her head. "That settles it! I had a suspicion I might be right, but now I have a good feeling. When the final segment comes around, I'm going to need a master... so I have a great- Ugh. Hold on one moment."

The ringleader turned away from her minions-of-the-day for a moment, needing to reply to Nidalee... and probably to direct Jacky. "I'll trust you to handle this, Nidalee! Unless you're saying you'd rather take her place...? I'd be fine with that!" Hyde admitted, picturing the amusing size disparity between Jacky and Nidalee. "Let me know, all right?"

With that, she swapped lines and quickly gave Jacky some more direction and lines, before turning back to her group. "Where was I? ... Ah, yes. We're going to have a very quick competition! Originally, I'd planned for Strum and I to handle the next portion of our show, but I have serious concern that we may be wasting Parka's qualifications if we don't bring her on board. We're going to have a flirting duel! PhotoMan, you get to be the judge because you completely failed to produce even one viable come-on earlier. Lucky you!" The Navi gave their lucky judge a polite clap and a grin, showcasing her large upper row, before continuing through her explanation at a rapid pace. "The rules of this competition are simple: I will try an aggressive come-on with Parka and she will attempt to return her most aggressive response. Then me with Strum, and then Parka will try with Strum. PhotoMan, you will judge which two of us are the most exciting and have the best chemistry. I'm intentionally going first to set the pace, and you two will be expected to keep up. Oh, and to keep this fast, you have a three line limit when speaking. Less is fine. Contact is fine, but remember, this is a first-approach come-on, so be realistic. Good? Good!"

Unwilling to compromise any momentum and looking to sweep everyone right into it, Hyde hurried over to Parka, bouncing a bit like a giddy schoolgirl. "Remember, ladies! This is to simulate an aggressive first meeting come on, so try to act as you reasonably might when aggressively pursuing someone you've just met! No need to get too carried away. Now, let's start..."

With that, Hyde immediately invaded Parka's personal space, leaning her own face intimately close to the side of Parka's if she wasn't immediately repelled. "You know, I'm a medical professional with a PhD in the arts of hot, steamy romance and reckless, spontaneous loving," she cooed, spitting out words with lusty emphasis. "In my professional opinion, you could use a trip to the nurse's office... Not that I'm the nurse, of course, but I'm sure I can make you feel very nice," she breathed into the other Navi's ear, running a finger teasingly up the curve of her back. "Your turn," she added, dialing it down a bit and giving her a friendly smile.

"No, no, that won't be necessary," Nidalee sighed from the other side of the mic. "I'll do what you say is best. That's the point of today, now, isn't it?" It sounded as though PhotoMan's operator had sighed again before going behind the curtained area and requesting Molly hurried herself up.

PhotoMan's face didn't reveal if he was offended or pleased with the fact that he'd be judge rather than participant, but the mechanical whirring made it clear he was thinking something, anyways. "This is very strange. But I'll do what you ask," he responded in monotone. After hearing that reaction, it was probably for the best that she'd chosen not to have him do any cat-calls.

"I like it! Fine with me!" Strum agreed. "It'll be neat to have girls trying dirty lines on me for a change! Usually I'm the initiator and, if I have my way, it's right down to business afterward."

"Um... Why are we doing this again?" Parka asked, looking equal parts hesitant and confused, before Hyde jumped right to it. She backed up slightly as the doctor bounced over towards her. Still, Hyde was able to get her face in toward's the hapless teacher's. She shivered and clenched her teeth as Hyde touched her, looking further uncomfortable. "Ahem... That is entirely uncalled for and I can't help but think that if you had any sense as a doctor, you wouldn't brandish your qualification as something to seduce other people with! In fact, I have to doubt whether you're a qualified doctor at all, with your disregard for-"

"N-No, Parka, I think you misunderstood.... She meant aggressively responding in the form of a come-on, not a rebuttal," PhotoMan interrupted, either eager to stop a fight from breaking out or otherwise upset that he'd been deprived of getting to watch girls flirt with each other.

"Oh! Pardon me... Let me try again," Parka pleaded. If Hyde let her, she'd clear her throat and start over. "No, I'm just feverish because your cute non-standard doctor's uniform is making me break out in a sweat, both because I'm nervous of your medical qualifications and because I'm, er, so turned on by defying regulations! Speaking of which, I plan to violate some regulations of the teacher's union when I snap off those suspenders of yours, pull down your undergarments whatever they may be, and give you an antiquated and entirely illegal open-palmed spanking! I'm going to go dark-ages teaching practices on that... that naughty rump of yours!" she finished, fidgeting with her hands the whole time. She didn't seem into it enough to provide an obtrusive touch, like Hyde had. She also didn't seem entirely confident of which sexy words she was supposed to emphasize.

"Oh God! Someone call the teacher's union!" Strum joked, pantomiming fanning herself off.

"Er... It's difficult to judge, but if I had to... I think I preferred Hyde's. The look in her eyes was convincing," PhotoMan offered, apparently still fixed more on the aesthetics than anything. "She looked like she really would seduce one of her patients. In this hypothetical scenario, that is."

Hyde continued smiling even as it was apparent Parka's "aggressive come-on" was, in fact, going to be an attempt to tell her off. She grinned as PhotoMan chimed in, raising a finger while staying in Parka's space. "He's got it right! I need to hear how much you want me, okay...?" The doctor wasn't upset that Parka had misinterpreted her: after all, why settle for one flavor of discomfort when you could try two?

She listened to Parka's second try with more interest, giving her a grin that was, at first, teasing. Hearing Parka go on, however, the Navi's irises flashed orange, her tongues crossing her lips. At the end, she giggled, jumping in place before throwing her arms around Parka as though congratulating her. She took the opportunity to whisper in the other Navi's ear, at a low enough volume that only she could hear it. "Mmm, that's exactly what I'm into... why not give it a try if you think it's what I deserve, hmmm? Mhmhm..." She chuckled, backing off and letting Parka see the very real twinkles in her eyes.

Having done so, the Navi turned back to PhotoMan, her eyes beginning to fade and darken from their more obvious orange color. "Ah, no, Dearie, that's wrong. Er, not that I don't appreciate your appreciation, but I may not have explained the concept early enough. The three pairs of us need to participate, then you'll judge which of us is best as a pair, okay? I'm going to go with Strum next, then Strum will go with Parka... uh, we can have Strum start on that one. Got it? Okay, good work, onto the next..."

With that said, Hyde approached Strum. In what would probably be a surprise to all, she got close, but not nearly to the same level she'd first met Parka at. "Good afternoon, Ms. Strum, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Hyde, and I'm an accomplished doctor, in spite of what you'd probably guess from the outfit. And, in spite of what you'd probably guess with the teeth..." she trailed off, stepping forward now and falling to her knees, putting one arm around Strum's waist and another around her right leg, the Navi proceeded to run the breadth of her tongue up the other Navi's (possibly unwashed) stomach. She kept her head just below the belt, meaningfully, and cast her eyes up to the musical Navi's. "I have quite a lot of experience hitting the right spots with my tongue... I don't let them get in the way of a good time!"

Parka momentarily smiled and seemed ready to join in her own celebration, as it seemed as though the worst was behind her. Bad things were, in fact, still in front of her and now hugging onto her. Hyde revealed that she was very much into the punishment style of classic teaching methods; Parka didn't really want to spank Hyde to begin with, but especially not if it wasn't even going to teach her a lesson. For a moment, the school teacher considered that maybe Hyde never had been spanked before and it might do her some good, but her woman's intuition suggested to her that Hyde had actually been spanked quite recently. As Strum celebrated, perhaps moving in to attempt a hug herself, Parka stayed silent and nervous, and PhotoMan stayed silent and... well, his emotions were difficult to tell. He was watching Hyde closely now, while several mechanical noises sounded from inside his helmet, or perhaps the head itself.

That said, his eyes did lower a bit as he was informed he was judging the contest wrong. "Oh. Fine then," he answered, shrugging listlessly. "Please continue."

Strum's smiling face showed she was eager to begin the next round. Hyde's start made her roll her eyes; she seemed to believe Hyde was probably intentionally teasing her, the doctor likely knowing that Strum would have preferred a strong, vulgar start. Things got pretty vulgar pretty soon after that, with Hyde using her tongue to lick some of the stage sweat off of her new buddy, then implying that she'd like to lick something other than stage sweat off of hidden areas of her. Strum looked like that rubbed her just right; she placed one hand on Hyde's head dominantly and grinned down, her eyes squinting slightly with the force of her anticipation, but before she could get started, PhotoMan interrupted.

"Wait! That's a penalty, isn't it? You clearly spoke four lines just now..." he called out, sticking one arm straight out as though he was a ref getting ready to throw a card. One could easily think less of him for getting technical about a game like this, but one might also think it surprising that he didn't just let the two continue.

"Hm, not if Hyde used a semi-colon," Parka added. "Then it would only be three 'lines,' although that's a vague term to begin with, since nothing is written out or typed. I believe we were all thinking of 'sentences'," she offered. If PhotoMan was overly nit-picky by virtue of his profession, Parka was equally so.

"The point of the rule is not to stop a player from exceeding three 'sentences,' though... it's to stop them from being overly elaborate. If you state another line that is debatable in whether it is or is not a sentence, then you've basically gone over the limit imposed by the rules..."

The two argued over that for a while, but Strum wasn't concerned about that at all. She had something in her hands she was much more invested in now, which she further played along by discretely unbuttoning the top button of her shorts, using the hand that wasn't on Hyde's head. "Let's try to sneak one in..." she encouraged her supposed partner in crime, unzipping her shorts and opening up the hem a bit more, to reveal the front of a scandalously stringy red thong inside. There was some text in white across its admittedly thin writing space at the hem, saying "LS ON ME," with the rest still hidden by the other flap of her shorts. "C'mon, you know you want to...!" she whispered, squinting harder and biting her lip with a big grin as she encouraged Hyde to show off just how little her front teeth encumbered her when it came to oral prowess.

There didn't seem to be a lot of time to "sneak one in," however; PhotoMan was already pestering Hyde with another question. "Are you disqualified now? What does it mean to defy the rules?" he asked, frowning impatiently.

Seeing her offer so graciously accepted, Hyde was preparing to give Strum a few licks herself. Unfortunately, Strum grabbed a hold of Hyde's head to better position her, and in her enthusiasm, the medical Navi's hat was forced right off with the movement.

Hyde immediately returned to her dark-eyed state. She was feeling drowsy, but also like she was in a sticky situation, so she needed to wake up fast. What's more... she thought she could remember bits of pieces leading into the current situation. Was it because of Sleuth's breakthrough before, or was it because she'd been out such a long time (she was sure she had been)? Or was it simply her other side had seen fit to give her a bigger window than usual?

None of that seemed to matter, now, as she was being accused of breaking her own rules... and had an even bigger problem right in front of her. The woman frowned tightly as the underwear of one of her foggy acquaintances was exposed before her. "Ahaha! Um, now, now," she replied, giggling nervously as she vapidly, but considerately, zipped and buttoned the shorts in front of her. She rose to her feet and gave Strum a polite smile, trying to decide what to do to clean up the mess next.

"Um... the rules... ah, yes! Well, of course, if I broke the rules, I'm disqualified," Hyde agreed, feeling it important to take a hard-lining stance on the rules, even when she didn't know what they were. "That said, the penalty... well, my, um, pair is out, I guess, but I do need to receive some kind of punishment. Punishment... Ah, I recall! Parka," she said, turning to the other woman, "I'm a bit foggy, but we were just talking about some form of punishment, were we? Since I think you and Strum are supposed to go next, to avoid holding things up any further, why don't we have PhotoMan administer that very punishment? In the meantime, you and Strum should go ahead with your presentation."

Hyde was completely unaware of what her other half actually intended to do with the results of this competition, or even what it entailed. If she had known, she'd realize she was actually running behind schedule for when the results of the competition were needed. Unfortunately, she wasn't listening to the private audio lines, either...

Strum returned Hyde's awkward smile with an equally confused one, raising one eyebrow and cocking her grin slightly. "Er... so no, then?" she asked, probably never having gotten that far with anyone, only for them to back out. Luckily for Hyde, the gathering didn't seem to take it as an indication of a lack of mental stability or an alternate personality, at least, and PhotoMan and Parka had missed the juicier part of the exchange. "Then... Parka and I win by default? That's kind of weird... but okay," she responded, feeling suddenly like the odd person as she was the last person who seemed to want to see the rest of the contest play out.

Pleased that the disagreeable game was over, Parka smiled and tilted her head as Hyde addressed her. Her smile fell a bit as Hyde mentioned that she'd be receiving PhotoMan's punishment while Strum and the hapless school teacher engaged in another thrilling round of come-ons. "Really? I don't think PhotoMan is the right person to administer a punishment like that. After all... you remember what he said about professionalism," Parka murmured. "At the very least, allow me to do it, as, well, at least it could be considered part of my job description."

PhotoMan shook his head, then eyed Hyde, a low, metallic clicking coming from his head as he did. He watched her silently for a bit longer, as if inspecting her more closely; one as detail-oriented as him could certainly tell that something had changed, but he wasn't able to put his finger on what. "As much as I hate to admit it, I do have some experience with this. I achieved one of my greatest photo shoots via remote camera while administering a particularly rough punishment. If anything, I'm probably the most qualified person here for it," he sighed. "It's very hard to figure out what game you're playing... I can't help but think you're just acting to your own whimsy. You two, go ahead." The photographer began to approach Hyde slowly, then stopped, removing his helmet to reveal short, unkempt black hair (and another eye very much like the exposed one). He smoothed at his hair for a bit, then set the helmet down, after which a tripod extended beneath it, elevating it slightly. "Before you ask: no, I'm not taking any photographs" he assured her, keeping his deadpan tone and frown.

Hyde's attention might be mostly occupied with that, but she'd have to spare at least a glance at the proceedings of the two girls, which had suddenly taken a turn for the lesbian. "You like to think of yourself as a carnivore, Strum, but the groupies you've been feeding on are like scraps! I, on the other hand, am grade A beef," Parka explained, placing on hand on her bottom and turning to side profile, "and dairy," she continued, hoisting her breasts up in both hands. "The question is whether you're ready to stop playing with girls and sink your teeth into a real woman!" Amazingly, Parka did most of this with a straight face. She seemed to have gotten into the swing of it now.

Parka's comfort level aside, Strum looked encouraged rather than intimidated, and reached up to grab her guitar up off of her back. Rather than removing it, she simply lifted it long enough to bind herself and Parka together using the shoulder strap, smirking into the other girl's face. "Milk's for kiddies and you might be used to dealing with those, but I'm gonna show you that I'm no kid... I'm going to have you howling and thrashing like a newborn baby! If you piss your britches, teacher lady, don't blame me, cause I warned you," she threatened her opponent, wrapping her arms around Strum to further restrict her, causing the teacher to panic a bit, before throwing her to the floor. The two went down together, where Strum promptly wrestled herself on top with Parka lying on her belly. The teacher gave a cry of genuine horror as Strum put her mouth on her butt, biting into the skinsuit. "Ha ha ha! How's that for a jackal! What do the two of us win, huh?"

"Did you not disqualify yourself just now with that last sentence?" PhotoMan sighed, walking towards Hyde again. "Then again, that wasn't part of the flirt, so maybe it doesn't count... anyways." PhotoMan took Hyde's hand while seating himself on his new tripod chair, then roughly dragged her down into his lap with surprising arm strength. Once she was slung over his lower body, with no hesitation, he began smacking her butt with his open palm, going at it hard. He was perhaps basing it on his experience with FireYasu, who'd been a tough customer. Weirdly, his eyes didn't watch her butt, but instead, her face. If she looked close enough, she'd see his pupils expanding and contracting like lenses. "Hopefully you'll learn your lesson from this..."

"Pull down her pants!" Strum encouraged PhotoMan, busily rubbing her face against the snug backside of Parka's undersuit. "A spanking's no good if it's not done on a bare bottom!"

"Let's not do anything we'll regret," PhotoMan responded dryly, still walloping the fire out of Hyde's butt. That distraction might buy her some time to break free if she needed to, however.

If Hyde had been in a more focused mindset, she might have clarified that she really only meant her performance with Strum should be disqualified, not her performance with Parka, as well, but that was hardly her current state. Rather, she found herself regarding PhotoMan curiously as he took off his helmet, feeling some warning signal going off in the back of her mind. "What is... What did I tell him to do...?" However, seeing that her responsibility and authority appeared to be under fire, she tried to put on an air of confidence. "Whimsy? No, I assure you, I hold rules and proper protocol as paramount in any setting. How can we count on professionalism if we can't follow the rules we set ourselves?" She smiled at him with some effort.

That smile became even more strained as she listened to the conversation going on without her. "My goodness, such language! And I'd taken Parka for a polite teacher, from what I could recall... Can I really trust what she'd recommended as a punishment?" she began to doubt, not remembering that it hadn't been a suggested punishment at all. She let out a gasp as Strum moved into motion herself, taking a quiet step backwards from them and continuing to gasp in more exaggeratedly shocked tones as the guitarist continued. From her earlier actions and her current dramatics, it would probably be easy to assume her current indignation was an act.

She was about to move in to do something about it herself, when she felt someone grab her arm. "Ah, excuse me- whoo!" she cried, finding herself swept off of her feet and into a new position. "Beg your pardACK!" she cried, immediately squirming in indignation that would be far harder to discount. "Good heavAGH what AAH NO!" she shouted, wiggling like a very fussy and somewhat large child as she received her discipline. "What are- hck- you thinkNNGH!" she squealed, threatening to hit PhotoMan with one of her pleasantly plump thighs or, in fact, her butt itself in her writhing. The force of PhotoMan's palm was keeping her pretty well in line, though, and preventing her from getting up.

Hyde's programming normally kept her from thinking much about her regular outfit, but she was keenly aware of the way her overly-tight shorts broadcast the jiggling effect each slap on her best asset created. Blushing furiously, the doctor didn't use the momentary distraction to escape, but did try to turn around with her arms thrown in a tee (she thought this felt strangely familiar, and couldn't help but wonder whether she'd done the same during the session with Sleuth she'd only heard of second-hand). "Ph-Ph-PhotoMan, please, for all that is holy! I refuse to believe this farce is what Parka intended for you to do as punishment! Please, Parka, reiterate exactly what you intended to be done! Strum, I expect you to stop fooling around and take the same punishment from Parka too, since y-you broke the rules yourself just now! Don't think I didn't notice, I'm a stickler for the rules!" As if to try to retain any scrap of her dignity, Hyde began trying to rise on this statement. Unconsciously, her left hand had also darted into her medicine bag and was fumbling furiously for her bottle. It would probably be hard for PhotoMan to miss at such close range.