A Many Layered Affair

ResQ remained standing at the bar with Rhinestone, though she continued to keep an eye on who she assumed to be SaijaTsun. Seemed the woman's companion was getting handsy, and it wasn't certain if she was quite in to it. ResQ herself was glad Rhinestone wasn't acting in a similar manner, she didn't yet have a prize in sight to convince her to keep her cool. She elected to make herself at least somewhat comfortable by leaning her side against the bar and crossed one leg in front of the other while she held her drink between her hands.

Alex's info advisory went unanswered, prompting him to query again.

Quote (Alexander)

Anyone else on this channel?

ResQ occasionally sipped her drink while Rhinestone launched into an increasingly lengthy speech about his organization, along with two others. She would normally care less, but one of the mission's goals was to protect unoperated Navis (and indirectly the organizations that help them). She continued to mostly follow along, while keeping Saija in her peripheral vision, and tried to pace out her drink; it wasn't certain if CrypticMan would "assist" again. It was also slightly difficult to pay attention due to the constant distraction of several dozen mini-reflections of herself staring back, with some portraying her in less-than-flattering proportions.

Meanwhile, Alex dutifully scribbled notes on his writing pad, namely the two organization heads, their locations, and their services. He hadn't quite caught up by the time Rhinestone mentioned Grace's strategy for gaining points. "Hm, lucrative," she said with a touch of sarcasm, mostly to play into her conversation partner's humor and show at least some engagement in the conversation. Said conversation quickly swerved to her occupation, which briefly drew a blank in the uniformed Navi. Thinking quickly, she remembered the foreward of the A.N.G.E.L.'s instruction manual (which Alex essentially forced her to read), and tried to translate it into not-blatantly-military speak.

She reached back with one hand to brush/readjust her raven black "drill" ponytail as she spoke. "You could say that, but my services aren't exclusive to Unoperated Navis. I'm just getting into this line of work, but it mostly involves responding to programs in need then getting them out of harm's way... so I guess the name explains it fairly well," she admitted and punctuated with her best impression of a slightly embarrassed laugh. Not to let the pause get too long, and make it noticeable she used the pause to listen to the out-of-place sounds behind the bar. "Speaking of "harm's way," you sound like unoperated Navis have more to worry about than just living without Operators, who would go after programs like that? People like the mafia?" ResQ asked feigning ignorance. In her mind she knew unoperated Navis, or any vulnerable programs in general, could be easily exploited. Without the help of battlechips or an escape route, she could easily see them being trafficked for anything from labor to target-practice.

Another notification reminded Mary that being blind was no excuse for being rude, so, being the only one qualified to answer the Veda question, she responded to Alex's question:

Quote (Mary)

Unfortunately, Veda and Regina had other business they had to attend to. Don't worry about me! The Lord is my shepard... oh, and Burt can help too. I've also found a nice gentleman, the 'Duey' CrypticMan described to us earlier, so I'm not lonely."

Mary smoothed her robe beneath her bottom with a somewhat lengthier gesture than seemed kosher, running her hand along the curve of her buttocks and down to the thighs a few times, before sitting in the seat Duey had recommended for her. "Thank you, Sir. No, I don't think she's coming back, unfortunately. I'll be fine, though, as long as there are good folks like you to lend me a helping hand," she replied with a winning smile. "And I believe that God has given me this impediment as a test. It's not my place to question why, but I believe that there's a great purpose behind it. At least, that's what I like to think," she chuckled. "And I'm quite capable of getting around, luckily. Perhaps I'll have Burt give me a seeing eye dog in the future, so that I needn't leave the brunt of it to the kindness of strangers."

Duey mentioned that there were three sanctuaries for unoperated navis in representation here, which was news to Mary; she thought that might be useful to pass on, but she'd wait a bit so as not to flood everyone's comms. Exorcist might have loved to hear Duey speak at length about the worthiness of the cause and the intrigue of Zenny's odd decision to support it, but Mary was a little shallow, believe it or not, and while she cared about the safety of the navis, she also ended up thinking Duey's obsession with the political goings-on of the night wasn't the kind of thing that made sense as small talk with a lady. She brightened up again when he began to describe the many fun events Zennocracy had prepared. "I do enjoy fantasy! Especially if it's not too violent. When it comes to a fight, I'm better at tending to wounds than actually participating," she admitted, all of which was true.

She nodded along with the idea of story time, though even she'd feel a little guilty about trying to poach from story time with an old man and presumably many children. The kissing booth brought a blush and a giggle back to her face, though it would be hard for the casual observer to tell that she was aroused at the concept rather than embarrassed by it. "Oh dear. And what does kissing have to do with medieval fantasy, I wonder? Sounds like an excuse to be naughty," she questioned, trying desperately to think of some extent to end up over there in the action... or to track down the girl who'd been winning there. She could only imagine the kinds of shenanigans that likely followed such a person when they left the public eye.

At this point, Mary's mind was drawn out of the gutter and back to the mission, as she heard some chatter that sounded relevant. Of course, there was no being sure who they were talking about, but Mary had just heard about a noteworthy lady leaving and they were indeed talking about a woman. She couldn't tell who was talking, but even if she wasn't pretending to be blind, she wouldn't have wanted to risk looking that way. "I do want to meet your friend! But... well, you see, I'm a nun, called to the service of God. And when you mentioned the scandalous kissing booth just now and the champion who left it... I feel called to speak to her. Not to bother her, of course, or solicit! Truth be told... oh, and it embarrasses me dearly... my journey away from my convent is for similar purpose. I've strayed many times and done many scandalous things." As she spoke, moisture dripped notably from her hair, making a line from her cheek down the side of her neck, to bead at the collar of her ivory dress. "I can't ignore someone going through that same sort of struggle. I'd like to be there for her." Really, it just sounded to Mary that the girl was in danger being alone... Maybe if she could get Duey to take her there, they'd all be safer together.

For the first time, it began to occur to Mary that she herself could be in danger. Duey had already speculated that she might be unoperated, as evidenced by her affliction... that would be an easy conjecture for others to draw too. Mary's smile became a bit more nervous; she decided it would be best to keep Duey at her side as long as she could manage after all. She sent a message to the others:

Quote (Mary)

I've learned that there are three groups representing unoperated navis here, I do not know their names. I've overheard a suspicious type of navi seemingly talking about abducting another navi, I'm going to see if I can get on her trail. He seems to be saying that they will attempt abduction when targets are alone. I've also located DueAccountabilityMan and Mordenite, but I'm going to be sidetracked for a bit trying to stave off that possible abduction.

--------------------------------

Exorcist was worried right off the bat that her weak guise was being torn down, so she interjected quickly, hoping to run damage control. As with most frantic damage controllers, her attempt was likely only to make her seem more suspicious. "O-Oh, well, it's tucked away, but... I'm very interested in the sort of thing! The stories I've heard are all so invigorating!" she announced, pressing her fists close to her chest and leaning forward with a hopeful smile. She kept the same expression as she listened to the two banter, although she couldn't help a look of shock at Uprising's words. "That's quite an assumption to make, that someone has to sell their body just because they're an unoperated navi... there are all kinds of talents for navis to use," she thought, feeling a little prudish. Particularly as she got the sense the two navis were both taking measure of her breasts, her hips, and other factors that she didn't see how came into helping unoperated navis at all.

The talk about tastes and looks became all the more confusing; this was starting to sound less like a support group for unoperated navis and more like a hostess club for them. Still, she accepted the lady's hand and kept a nervous smile. "Yes, of course! I want nothing more than to help those navis. I am, however, operated. My operator, Burt Blanchard, however, feels just as enthusiastic about my devoting myself to this purpose," she claimed. She did not open a communication channel, of course. The worst thing for this operation would be giving Burt a panel to talk to these two women.

"If you would entertain my request, I'd love to do it privately, if we could," she requested, clasping her hands together. Her eyes strayed to the short, military woman who'd been mostly quiet so far. She felt a little rude addressing so little of the conversation towards her... but then, the girl seemed like she had her mind elsewhere regardless. Still, for now the important part was finding a way to protect the unoperated navis. Mary had a little bit to say about the topic, so she offered her findings as well:

Quote (Exorcist)

Let me know if you need me to pick you up, Mary. I've found navis representing Koshoku in Yoka... I don't recognize the name and I'm still not sure entirely what they do, but I'm trying to use it as a foothold to speak to the women privately. I'm hearing suspicious chatter too... it's stopped for now but it sounded like they were talking about moving on the Koshoku woman, even though she's guarded by another pretty tough looking navi. Definitely keep your guard up... It seems like those shady guys are all over the place...

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"Alright... I'm cool... I've earned this... Yeah, I make my own fortune... Because good things come to those who are good... Yeah, I'm a good person... Even if somebody found me they'd have no reason to do anything to me because I'm actually a great person," Bhikkhunni whispered to herself in short, inspirational breaths, edging along the wall as if to hide her profile. When she nearly bumped over a standing decoration, however, she decided that she'd do better to keep away from the walls. "There we go... right at the end there, that's the door I need... Stop looking at me like that, geez! Ganging up on me..." she snapped at the photos of former house heads on the wall. "As if you guys didn't do a little sneaking around to get all your money. I'm just-eeeee!"

She cried out, thinking that she was suddenly being directly attacked by one of the offended house heads, perhaps the current one who'd found her sneaking around. When she turned around, she was relieved to find that the man there looked nothing like any of the portraits she'd seen so far. Well... he did have some sort of air about him... but not the same air, anyway. He was also hella handsome, so that was reassuring. She thought to herself that, for once, she had the leg up on Exorcist and Mary in this regard. "Ha... they're off with a bunch of old guys and stuff while I get a hottie! And he said I'm pretty. Good taste is important," she thought to herself, unconsciously puffing her chest out and getting a bit more confidence, as though she hadn't just jumped a quarter of her height into her air and squeaked.

She exhaled and seemed to shrink again when the gentleman revealed she'd nearly walked right into Zennocracy's room... which was, granted, what she was looking for, but more importantly, she'd nearly walked into Zennocracy herself. Ironically, whether she should trust the guy didn't really pop into her head at all. They were partners in crime, as far as she was concerned; he looked like he was sneaking around just like she was. They even matched color schemes and tan complexions! As such, she was very ready to get his help on her seemingly impossible task. "Well see, I'm uh..." she paused, almost saying little, but revising it at the last second. "... Nimble! I was gonna get in and out of there, just like a shadow. A lot of ninjas were Buddhists, you know? Those two things go hand in hand!"

Now that her fake bravado was done, she backtracked a bit so she could face him... or look up to him, rather. "So, uh... If you have a better plan, I'm all ears! I'm not stealing anything or anything shady like that! All I was gonna do was replace her outfit with something different, for funsies. But I don't know where to find it," she sighed, then pressed her fingers together pensively, pouting a bit. "Do you know where it is? I mean... it was kind of cool sneaking in here, but I'm no ninja! I'm actually kind of creeped out, it's like all these paintings are watching me. I just wanna switch it out and then get back out to the party... Oh, right. I'm Bhikkhuni, by the way. And now please please please don't say you're the house guard!"

She remembered suddenly that she still hadn't decided what she was actually going to switch in, but then shook the thought out of her head. It didn't really matter; there were plenty of funny things she could pick, surely. For now, to calm herself down, she bragged to the others a bit, snapping a quick private pic of her new acquaintance.

Quote (Bhikkhuni)

Take a look at this super hot guy I just ran into! I'm hoping he can help me swap the outfit. The way I see it, it's a long time coming, me getting the good part of a mission! Suckers!

She smiled merrily, then Mary responded.

Quote (Mary)

I can't see, but I'm sure if you're vouching for him, he must be quite the looker!

Bhikkhuni almost knocked something over in frustration.

Not being able to see wouldn't help Mary tell just how much of an effect, if any, her behaviour was having on her companion, or how convinced he was by her explanations; she would have heard him taking his own seat, and his amiable chatting remained pleasant and friendly, with no sound of being distracted by her charms.

"Well that's fair enough, I suppose!" he sounded surprised, perhaps, that she retained the disability while having an operator who could, presumably, fix it, but didn't question the matter further. "As long as you've always got someone looking out for you. I suppose if your god ever decides you can have your sight back, it wouldn't be a difficult fix for your operator?" Around them, the frivolity of the faire continued; bustle and merriment drifted about in a murmur that made picking out any one particular thing difficult. One song from the band ended, and after a few moments another began. Someone was hawking mystery meat pastry surprises, somewhere.

"Oh, I quite agree, really. Not much one for fighting myself!" Duey chatted on to her, seemingly content to keep a blind lady company for as long as she wanted. "I don't really have much in the way of capabilities either; I guess you mightn't notice to see, but I'm really just your average NormalNavi, made for a purpose, and that purpose in my case was book-keeping, more or less. I've branched out a bit over the years... you can't be successful in the numbers game without a little creativity on the side, after all, but yes... all the mock combat stuff that will be happening later on really isn't for me." There was the slight sound of his shifting and perhaps shrugging to himself.

"Zenny was quite pressing that all of her associates play the game, but I'm afraid she'll just have to be disappointed in me. Such is life." If Duey's words were repentant and commiserating for Zennocracy, the tone of them, and his delivery in general was anything but. If anything it sounded a bit cheeky. If Mary was good at reading voices, she might get the impression that this individual drew a certain amount of delight from doing things that might leave the mistress of the mansion put out. When Mary got around to suggesting that she might want to go after the woman from the kissing game, however, there was a brief moment of awkwardness before Duey cleared his throat quietly.

"Well, I'm ah, not sure I'd say she seemed to be struggling or suffering at all... I didn't exactly see when she left, but, well, I think it was in the company of a couple of individuals that she seemed quite, ah, eager to be nipping away between the tents with, and I don't really think it would be... polite, let us say, to go after them right now. I'm sure you understand, Mary? Most probably the sort of business that isn't really our business, if you follow." It wasn't exactly that he sounded uncomfortable in his efforts to get his interpretation of events across to Mary, but it was a little awkward; like he was sure she knew what he was implying, but felt a little bit bad about assuming that she knew, and possibly about assuming that it was what he guessed in the first place. The current tune ended and the band paused to call a thank you to everyone listening. They were apparently calling themselves 'Melodia's Musicians', but it was one of the group's other performers who spoke, rather than the apparent leader; unlike the other musicians in her troupe, the leader of this band retreated into quiet pensiveness whenever she wasn't playing an instrument or singing, but it would be a detail that would be difficult for Mary to pick up on in her condition.

====

Elsewhere, Exorcist was scrambling to find her footing and mostly swimming into deeper waters as she did. As she continued to push herself forward, the smaller woman gained a hint of amusement in her eyes and the corner of her lips, though after a few more moments her eyes and attention began to wander over the rest of the faire, visibly zoning out a bit from the conversation. Opposite Exorcist more directly, the woman in red nodded.

"I see, so, you come to me purely interested in the work, and not because you have other needs and think it necessary; that is good. As my friend said, however, I am here representing a place of sanctuary and safety for those without operators, so, we will keep our talk here brief, and if we also decide to conduct a more private examination, it will also be brief. I do not wish to mix the business of my house with the image of our sanctuary. It is nothing worthy of shame or hiding, and yet that is not how many eyes see it, so we must be aware. Now... some quiet, I think..." The woman made small gesture with one hand, smiling as she did, and Exorcist might feel a gentle shimmer pass over her. The sounds of the festival dulled somewhat, to a muted background noise.

"None will hear what we say now, unless they are deliberately prying. It will do for a brief discussion." Beside her, Uprising rolled her shoulders, then glanced away for a moment or two; it was the kind of small behaviour that some navis occasionally displayed unconsciously when sending a private message, or answering one. He eyes came back to her companion after a few seconds.

"If you're really going to do this here, then I'll give you some space. I might go look at the fighting and see what that game is about. Someone I know just red-flagged your trick there, but I told him it was safe and I knew you. If you do decide to take her somewhere private for... the rest... keep it short, and let me know where you're going, please. Something isn't right here today, I can feel it." With that, she stepped back from the table and inclined her head, bowing slightly to her friend. Exorcist got a much less formal and more curt, though still somewhat polite nod of the head. When she received a reassurance of caution form her friend, Uprising backed away, and then turned to move into the flow of fair-goers again. The other lady watched her go for a few seconds then turned her attention back to Exorcist, putting her arms on the table and leaning forward in a way that framed her ample bosom beneath steepled fingers. Her gaze was thoroughly piercing and locked onto Exorcist's eyes without wavering.

"Now then. We may talk safely and frankly here, without fear of anyone hearing what we say. I must warn you first, if you come to us with the expectation that working for such a house will be nothing but pleasure all the time, it is not always so. We strive to make it so for everyone, including our workers, but it is still work. Know also that in the eyes of our society's regional politics, working for our house will dedicate you to us, and you will invariably need to be aware of the politics that is the pulse of our community, and your place within it." Not the most inviting opening lines for an interview, perhaps, but she had said that this was to be about speaking frankly. She continued after a short breath.

"As you know, I am Madama Sanguine, matron of Koshoku House and mistress of its affairs. If you work for us, you work for me, but how you work and what you will and will not do are entirely at your own discretion and comfort. No-one in our house is ever pressured or compelled to work outside of their own comfort if they do not wish to. This is an important rule of the house, and it is one that you, too, will be expected to obey and respect towards others, guests and colleagues alike. Before we get to the more frank questions of what you wish, physically, to do, the first question I must ask you, of course, is why do you wish to work at house of comfort and pleasure, such as ours?" From the tone of her delivery, she might as well have asked why Exorcist wanted to work at a coffee shop or a department store, and possibly from her perspective the question was more or less no different. At the same time, it seemed like a safe guess that she wouldn't consent to taking Exorcist somewhere properly private without going through the verbal interview first. It was also worth noting that, if the unseen voices were still watching for a chance, Uprising was now quite out of sight — her small stature had caused the woman to disappear into the throng of people with alarming ease.

====

Only a short distance away, inside, ResQ was still gathering information in the Wandering Comet. Keeping half an eye on the woman she's guessed to be Saija seemed to show that she wasn't exactly averse to the advances of her companion, but wasn't entirely inviting them right now either. Her lips moved as she said something to him and took a sip of her drink, but as difficult as it was to make out, ResQ might be able to catch the shape of the word 'public' somewhere in what she was saying to the dark-skinned man with her. Beside her, Rhinestone was drinking more freely than she was, but as he got a refill, she might take note of the tags on what he ordered and see that it was the kind of drink that simulated the tastes and flavours, but for navis incapable of actually getting intoxicated. He nodded gravely to her question, his grin faltering for a few moments.

"Yes, sometimes, but it's often much worse than that, I'm afraid. There are groups that seek to recruit navis without operators for dangerous and often illegal ends, on the promise of being looked after, and certainly, some of the mafia families have been known to do that on the sly... though to be fair to them, there's a whole family of the Mafia, from what I understand, who actually supports organisations like ours, and raise charity for navis without homes or operators. It's more a case of individual bad apples with them, I think." He shook his head.

"No, the real problems are often those who view unoperated navis as easy prey, and victimless crimes, disgusting as that sounds. Some think of navis in our situation as nothing but detritus and scrap data, good for target practice and free power for the taking. They hunt them down, for sport, and to make themelves stronger, because they know that when we're destroyed, there's no-one to report it, and no-one to miss them." He paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and looking up at the ceiling of the bar in an unfocused way. "Leastways, that's what they assume." After a moment he collected himself.

"Besides that, sometimes the things that led to a navi ending up without an operator keep following them, and they need protection, safety and hiding away from whatever wants them. Sometimes a navi like that will find anew operator right quickly, to ensure their survival, but it's not always possible. Grace's hidden sanctuaries are for that kind of problem, and SNAPSUN has a couple of safehouses of our own, too, though you'll forgive me for not talking about them. Think of it like witness protection, after a fashion. Have to keep them well hidden and small, because the bigger and more settled a haven like that gets, the more it becomes a target as well." He finished the rest of his drink and slid it back across the bar. The music from the stage group went around again, starting up a slightly different version of the same tune.

"Our more public sanctuaries are formally recognised and protected as neutral space by the GNA, so they're larger, but mostly they are places for navis that have just been... left behind. They're not running from anything or in personal danger, so much as they've just been forgotten about, or discarded, and have nowhere else to go. Sometimes I feel like we're making a difference, other times it's like trying to bail a leaky boat with a thimble in a rain storm... you know you're doing good, and the most that you can, but there's always far more coming in than you can take care of, and the more human technology advances, the more it moves on and improves, the worse and worse it gets for us. There's always another well-meaning parent so excited to give their daughter a brand new, top edge custom navigator with all the best and newest features... and sometimes, because it's... convenient, just for a moment, they turn the terminal off, and forget that we're people." The sigh that followed sounded like it carried the weight of the world with it, and the man's eyes cast down while she shook his head, but he seemed to shrug it off a moment later, or perhaps more accurately, put his professional face back on. He brightened and looked back up at ResQ.

"Sorry, didn't mean to get all serious on you. This is supposed to be a party, and we're here raising money to make things better, aren't we? Don't let the worries get you down, we're all about building a brighter future for navis in need."

Unfortunately, with almost perfect timing, just as Rhinestone said that and offered her a grin, ResQ heard a slightly hissed whisper of "Do it!" from the doorway behind the bar, and the entire bar went pitch dark. A chorus of surprised and startled shouts erupted from all around a moment later.

====

Ignorant of this sudden development, a certain diminutive SP was making the most of her time with a cute companion. She was fortunate that the roguish navi didn't seem to mind her catching an eyeful, or taking her time doing so. the pensive finger-tipping seemed to do its job of selling her cuteness, and her apparent partner in trespass grinned and winked at her.

"Two things you're here to do, and making a proper surprise of Zenny's surprise costume forfeit is certainly one of those things. I can help you with that, and we will make it grand, but then, my dear, you will be on your own for the other task." He chuckled softly, in a tone warm and inviting enough to render maidens so inclined weak at the knee and warm in the middle. "Lucky for you, the costume package is not in her private office, and we won't have to talk our way around the lady herself." He pushed off the wall then turned to walk back the way they'd come, but paused halfway. "Come..." a subtle wink and one finger beckoned to her over his shoulder as he looked back. "I'll show you."

He began to move back down the hall, but slowed enough for Bhikki to catch up and stay with him. He led her back through the mansion and down another hallway, turning once or twice with confidence, as though he knew the layout of the upper floors well. They passed a library, and what looked like it might be some kind of laboratory, and an entry way that didn't look like much, but carried the tell-tale sounds and scents that suggested it might be a gym. The man talked casually as he went, always with a vaguely flirtatious tone to his voice, but never making any directly identifiable comments or suggestions.

"You can call me Hoodwink, if you want to, but a pretty girl can call me what she likes, within reason. I also sometimes answer to 'Oi, you, the pretty one', and I don't stop at all for 'Hey, stop, thief!'. I'm not here to get in the way of Zenny's functions, of course, but a little bit of messing with her is always fun. I'm a man who cherishes the thrill of pursuit, and of acquisition..." Bhikki got another subtle wink here, quick enough that she might question whether it had happened at all. "But hoarding things, like Zenny does, is really not my style. So what about yourself...?" One eyebrow arched up as he directed the question her way.

"Tell me about Bhikkhuni, the nimble Buddhist... what does she want out of life, and does she grab it with both hands?" A perfectly flattering question, if she didn't notice that she hadn't actually given the man her name yet at any point.

Eventually, Hoodwink led her to a room that looked like a fashionista's dream, or possibly nightmare. It was what posh walk-in wardrobes hoped to grow up into one day. the carpeting was rich and plush, as everywhere else, but the walls were lined with many rows and files of different racks and hooks, all arranged in a systematic way with headings and labels, for every type of clothing article a woman of affluence might need. there was a section for hats, a section for footwear, a section for complimentary accessories, and that was before it even got to the actual clothing. the room went back along, long way, and there were regular breaks in the rows for circles of view mirrors, to check how things went. The near part of the floor was open, with a small console which appeared to allow a person to completely automate the process of retrieving articles and matching them, so that she would never have to walk further than between the console and the main set of mirrors next to it, if she didn't wish to.

"Really quite excessive, considering that she always knows exactly what she plans to wear to anything more or less right away." Hoodwink leaned on the door frame, glancing over the room. "What you need to replace, is that." One hand pointed a finger to a small ribbon-wrapped rectangular box that was sitting on a stand by the console. "If you've not decided what to switch it with yet, the room is at your disposal; no-one is going to come to this room for at least an hour, you have my word." His smile spread into abroad grin that flashed teeth and his eyes danced.

"I'd suggest something altogether scandalous, sexy and revealing... something that would be utterly embarrassing for Zenny, but would look fantastic on someone who enjoyed looking sexy. Feel free to use the console to try on things and look in the mirrors to see what you like most — everything here auto-sizes its fit. I'll be sure to give you my honest appraisal." His head tilted while he looked at her, perhaps wondering just how 'scandalous and revealing' an outfit she would be prepared to try on for testing, in the name of picking out something for Zennocracy's forfeit.

Quote (Alexander)

Copy all, I believe the 3 groups are being represented by Rhinestone with SNAPSUN, "Madame Sanguine" who operates out of Yoka... maybe that's Koshoku? Finally there's "CascadingGrace" who operates out of Sharo and is apparently running the erm... kissing booth. We'll keep our guard up, thanks for the intel.

Alex responded to both Mary and Exorcist while ResQ continued to listen to Rhinestone.

As predicted, Rhinestone detailed a list of threats that faced unoperated Navis; none of them surprised ResQ, but even an 'ice queen' such as herself couldn't help but feel at least a bit disheartened by their struggles. She too was unoperated for a time, and though her bitterness and desired vengeance against her traitorous NetOp was first and foremost on her mind, she also felt the inescapable loneliness and vulnerability that came with it. "Thats... that's awful!" ResQ remarked as she put her free hand against her mouth in an artificial expression of astonishment.

She didn't take any additional sips of her drink for a while, she attempted to appear to be intently listening to Rhinestone as he explained some of the safehouses and sanctuaries offered by both SNAPSUN and Grace's organization. ResQ tried to keep an eye on the couple behind Rhinestone, while also forming a strategy to approach and somehow convince the woman to participate. She was more-or-less flying from the seat of her pants at this point, and she found previously honed skills to be marred with rust. She normally would be able to quickly focus on multiple areas in succession without significantly moving her intense, amber (nearly cat-like) eyes, but she was so out of practice she didn't want to fumble in her attempts and give away she had different motives.

It also didn't help that Rhinestone's somber topic of conversation and his notable change in tone drew her attention. For a Navi who looked to be as superficial as a balloon full of glitter, his empathy towards the plight of the unoperated seemed very sincere and heart-felt. She couldn't help but fidget with the drink in her hand as she mentally debated his "angle." He could truly be a "bleeding heart," but there was an equal chance he was just a lobbyist with a gift for pulling heartstrings and charming wallets to open up. If she could fake it, so could he. She knew it was pessimistic, but even her closest 'allies' cut and run in her time of need.

The sudden power outage prompted by a whisper easily tipped ResQ off that something was amiss. She now finally had some action, and more importantly an opportunity to ditch the conversation and pull her focus out of its emotional tailspin. Using the lack of lighting as cover, she attempted to hop up to the bar, and roll on her forearms to cartwheel over the bar. Her skirt was likely loose enough to briefly ride up from the maneuver, hopefully any "private" details about her uniform remained unseen under the cover of darkness. After she hopefully touched down on both feet, she sent an audio message directly to Alexander, though she never spoke aloud. [[i]"Hope you have those chips ready."[/i]]

She then took off, using her memory of the doorway location and her outstretched hands to feel her way forward. She paused upon reaching the doorway and tried to listen if there were any additional noises, namely sounds suggesting someone/thing was approaching through said doorway, before peeking inside and proceeding if the coast seemed clear.

"Perhaps. I guess I've never given it much thought, to be honest," Mary murmured, tilting her head up slightly as though looking at the sky, even though her eyes remained closed. "Ha ha ha... Perhaps someone else could take care of it. Burt's talents lie outside the realm of programming, I'm afraid. Though, perhaps he could pay to restore my sight? Well... earning disposable income may not be within his long-term future either," she chuckled. She'd like to be doing something saucy right now, but small talk was fine; she wouldn't be picky.

Unfortunately, it seemed she'd guided the conversation in a bad direction. While she agreed that gentle people like herself and Duey didn't really belong anywhere near a fighting competition, she really ought not say so... after all, she needed him to agree to participate per CrypticMan's earlier instruction. "I'll revisit that once we've circumvented the danger," she thought to herself with a guilty smile, hoping she wasn't throwing away everyone's hard work by failing to watch her words. "On the other hand, maybe the event needs a person such as yourself to act as a wild card? The audience will likely be much more entertained if they have a witty gentleman such as yourself in the contest, not just the typical sword-swingers." She wasn't sure if he'd fall for that kind of bait, but she also thought he was sharp enough to know he was being deceived about her purpose for speaking to him, if not also her blindness. All she could do was keep tip-toeing around her objective.

Duey's response to her kissing booth question made her chuckle a bit; though, it sounded like it was a dead end. The situation certainly seemed interesting, but Duey was convineced it ought to remain private, and it would be pretty hard for Mary to convince him otherwise considering that she'd already basically revealed she was on a soul-seeking sojourn to get rid of her baser impulses. She was ready to drop it, until she heard some news from ResQ, saying that the kissing booth was being run by yet another organization of interest. That was just another sign that she had to find a reason to go over there! "Oh well... if you think that girl is safe, then I'll take your word for it. However, if you don't mind... I'd still like to go. I feel a calling... I feel as though I will learn something or... do something there! It isn't entirely clear," she asked again, in an unintentionally breathy voice, her cheeks glowing red a bit as she began fantasizing.

Quote (Mary)

I'm trying to stake out the kissing booth now! I will let you all know the results.

For what it was worth, Burt didn't appear to be interested in keeping his SP away from the bad influence.

------------------------------------------------

As Exorcist conversed with the head of House Koshoku, she found herself desperately wishing that she had approached with more knowledge. It was pretty clear that she was missing some key details... the role of sanctuary appeared to be separate from the standard of the house she represented. She thought that the private speaking area and the smaller girl's notation of suspicion might be a great time to segue into her intended topic, but it was hard to find the right time to interject. "Be careful out there...!" she managed to get out, but that wouldn't help much. "Darn... this isn't right! Now the two of them are split up... They won't be safe if they're apart. She looked tough, so hopefully she can handle herself, but I think it will be important that I stay attendant of Madame Sanguine's needs. Assuming this is her..." Exorcist thought to herself, looking less comfortable than befit someone trying out for what she was supposedly interested in.

Soon enough, the Madame confirmed that was indeed her identity; the flow of the conversation was still a bit confusing. "Comfort and pleasure...?" she repeated back in a quiet voice, before slowly putting two and two together. Her face started to match the house, at least, as she shook her head rapidly, causing her white hair to flail around her like a storm-cloud. "Oh, oh! Gosh, I think I messed up! I-I mean, it's fine if that's what you do, but that's not why I came to you. The truth is, I know that there are forces at work here trying to exploit unoperated navis. I eavesdropped a bit and heard you talking about that a bit... I wanted to let you know that navis right near the snack stands and strength test machine were watching you and your partner, waiting for you to split up! My friends and I are trying to warn all of the organizations involved and hopefully take down the parties responsible before they can do any damage. Can we work together?" she asked hopefully, clutching her hands together at her chest. She cast her eyes down, then back up again with an uncertain gulp in her throat. "O-On protecting the navis, I mean."

Burt clicked his teeth, mentally cursing himself for not having come up with some way to make sure Exorcist got egged on a little further into the act.

----------------------------------------

Bhikkhuni followed along behind Hoodwink, a few mental clicks shy of spellbound by her new acquaintance. She was just self-aware to know that she might be being teased by someone who wanted to laugh at her rather than with her, but she'd follow along for a bit and see where things went. "After all, karma! I'm due for a hunky guy with no strings attached," she worked to convince herself, but the math just didn't quite add up. "Huh! Seems like a lot of people like messing with that lady... I wonder if that's a lot of people wanting revenge or if it's just something about rich people that makes you want to screw with them? If it's the latter, I can totally sympathize... Not the former, of course. That wouldn't be very zen of me." The latter probably wouldn't either, but that didn't seem to register to her.

"Alright, Hoodwink," Bhikkhuni continued, though she knew something was iffy about the way Hoodwink was leading her on, "you already know that I'm a Buddhist, so you already know what I want out of life, right? Peace, serenity, nirvana, all that good stuff. But I take a more worldly view: giving up all your worldly desires has gotta be at least a little wrong, right? My group sent me out on a journey to lose my materialism, but I don't see it that way at all. The way I see it, I'm going to have an epiphany! I'll be a religious leader, like... huh. Not like those old ones, really, cause like I said, they all kind of swung to hard one way. I want balance in my life! A lot of enlightenment, but also a lot of excitement. Anybody who thinks you can get smarter by fasting himself into delirium needs to get some real enlightenment, pronto. Anyway, right now, I'm a Counterinfectualist, but it's mostly to put a roof over my head. Well... a PET around my body, whatever. i could tell you about it, but it's real whacko, like a cult... and beyond that there's only, like, four members... really not worth talking about."

Next, the two came to the wardrobe that Bhikkhuni had been looking for (and Hoodwink had suspiciously already known where to find). "Yeah, really! Sheesh. Someone should teach her a thing or two about ridding herself of worldly things," Bhikkhuni scoffed, though mostly, she was just jealous. This was really exactly the sort of thing she'd like to have... well, really, the house in general, but specifically the closet. Still, she was getting kind of into it, feeling a little bit mischievous now that she was here in the act. "Yeah! Serves her right for all her money and excess, huh? Let's do it!" she cheered, rubbing her hands together excitedly... until realizing that she was being singled out as the ideal model to make sure that the outfit was juuust scandalous enough to fit the bill. "Wait... you want me to wear them?" she asked, becoming red in spite of her attempts to play it cool. The irony that she'd suddenly be tricked into wearing the demeaning outfit she was trying to prepare for someone else... several different candidates, even... didn't occur to Bhikkhuni, as she more so focused on the fact that he wanted to see her in them. Still, it was a challenge, and it'd be totally uncool to back down now. "R-Right! Something stone cold sexy. It'll probably look great on me, but bad on her!" she agreed, though that wasn't exactly the goal.

Suddenly, Burt came back to life. "Hey hey! Bhikki-chan! You know you're not my first or even my second pick for sexy stuff, but uh, beggars can't be choosers, am I right? Why don't you let me help you come up with something? Trust me, I know a thing or two about sexualizing people," her operator offered. It was annoying, but something about his presence helped mellow her down... the disgust she felt towards him might be blending with the flirty stupor from Hoodwink, like using cream to mellow out coffee. "I have a ridiculously long list of them I thought up for Exorcist but never got around to actually making. How about we pick one of those?"

Speaking over a private channel to him, she instantly let him know that wouldn't fly. "That's dumb! You're going to put me in, like, a fundoshi! Let's pick something sexy and good," she snapped back. "C'mon...!"

"Well, hey! You're calling me dumb, but you're the dummy here... I'd throw you into different silly costumes, but the truth is, you're the only one who can operate that console. If one of us is going to put you in sexy costumes, it's going to have to be you!" Burt responded, smirking triumphantly. "Let's see you come up with something, if you're so smart!"

Bhikkhuni nodded, then looked over the console. "Um... Okay, I'm going to pick something out, and you tell me if it's good enough or you think it can be better. I'll start with something simple..." she murmured, looking over the console with a tense expression. "I'll start out strong! When he sees me in this, he's gonna see how serious I am, about s-s-sex... sexiness!" she thought to herself, suddenly feeling her knees shake a bit. She browsed a bit until she found the perfect green baby-doll, something transparent that hopefully wouldn't require her to have a great bust to pull it off. Even with a little push-up, faking would never be easy for her. To wear under it, she'd come up with panties that were a light, springy color... nothing showing too much skin, since, after all... panties were sexy enough, right? Her tastes tended towards cute, so she'd look for something frilly, perhaps not realizing that it'd make her look a bit more like a kid if she went too far that direction. "I don't know how this room works, so uh... if my clothes all fall off or something, you have to look away, alright?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously while looking over her shoulder. Then, she'd attempt to activate the console and see what would happen.

At this point, not knowing what would happen, it would either be a case where she'd be handed the outfit and would have to find a chance to change it, or otherwise, she'd be caught off guard and suddenly end up wearing it, without much time to provide a pose or a witty remark to soften the awkwardness of the situation.

As Mary continued, carefully, to try and make her objectives come to fruition, she wouldn't see it, but a slight turn to Duey's head and a twinkle in his eye would otherwise have added credence to her suspicion that he guessed more than his helpful mannerisms let on. He chuckled and then patted her hand gently with his own.

"Well, you are very charming and flattering, Mary. Let me think for a moment. Ah, I have an idea. If you'd really like to see me agree to Zenny's little game, in the name of charity of course, I might be able to oblige, for the sake of a well meaning lady such as yourself, but perhaps I'll need you to help me with something to make it more fun for both of us. Don't worry about the details yet, it's nothing that you will find disagreeable, but I'll need some time to think about how to do this best. In the mean time..." She would be able to sense his presence shift as he leaned back in his chair.

"It's not my place or any of my business to judge, of course, and if you're quite sure it's what you want to do, then I won't stop you. I suspect, Mary, that divine vows of guidance have little to do with your eagerness, if your cheeks are any sign. I'm afraid I won't be able to escort you on such an adventure, however, as I'd be loathe to intrude on something of that nature unannounced myself. Do be careful if you go, and best of luck to you. If you wish to convince me further about Zenny's display, I'll be waiting here."

Mary was free to stand and head in the direction he'd indicated the lady had been before, if she wished; Duey wasn't intending to follow her in her voyeurism, and so wouldn't be escorting or leading her either; keeping up the guise of her blindness might make it difficult to get where she wanted to go in time, but that was ad decision that Mary would have to make and overcome on her own, it seemed. The area was no less busy than it had been, but it wasn't packed; making her way across the current of circling people wouldn't be too terrible, if she was careful.

Unfortunately for the parts of Mary that were warmly hoping for what Duey had suspected the woman's departure in company might signify, the sounds that she would hear by the time she was slipping between the tents and stalls and towards the back area of the faire might only be tangentially mistaken for intimate behaviour on the surface. More than a second or two of listening would make it clear that the short gasps and muffled sounds, along with scuffles and the occasional impact were, in fact, not happy sounds at all.

====

Equally unhappy, but for different reasons, Exorcist had clued into what Madama Sanguine was interviewing her before the truly blunt questions came out, and perhaps it was for the best that she reacted swiftly to correct the misunderstanding. across the table from her, the matron's eyes lit up with mirth form the moment the light of realisation came on for Exorcist, and she chuckled deep and warmly along with the other woman's protestations of a misunderstanding.

"Ah, tht is a pity, dear, but perhaps it is best that you corrected your mistake now. If you blush that much at learning I run a pleasure house, then I can only imagine how you'd react when I got to asking you about your physical capabilities for intimacy with non-humanoid navi partners and your disposition towards highly multi-functional many-limbed support programs!" She chuckled some more, coving her mouth with one hand, but reached out the other to sooth Exorcist from her rapid flurry of explanation.

"There is no harm done, child. Now, tell me your real concerns." As she continued to detail their mission in brief and the dangers of the situation, the matron across from her nodded smoothly, and didn't seem particularly fazed or alarmed by anything that she had to say. When she finished, an amused smile spread across her lips, showing teeth as it passed.

"Thank you, my dear. I suspect that anything these poor individuals try will be clumsy and crude compared to the level of political knife-play we are used to back in Yoka. Rest assured, that even with miss Uprising away, I am well protected. The boundless sky hears our words, and watches over us. However..." She casually turned one of her hands outwards from its steepled position to make a small gesture with her fingers and after a second or two a man melted out of the crowd to stank by her seat. He was well proportioned and seemed to have a fit, toned form underneath a set of casual clothes that consisted of a short-sleeve red shirt, denim jeans and a light black jacket with a yellow sunburst on the shoulder. He had a handsome face and short, sandy brown hair, but was nondescript enough that it was no surprise that Exey hadn't clocked him until he stepped in close. Madama Sanguine returned her hand to its original position but didn't directly acknowledge him with her eyes.

"Kenmoete, let miss Uprising know that I have concluded my interview and that there is a matter that might interest both her, and any silver moons that might be orbiting the party." At that point, however, another, smaller woman stepped into the gap around the table between the recently appeared Kenmoete and Exorcist herself. She was shorter and athletic in build, and was dressed in anarchy-print clothing with artistic rips in it. She wasn't quite as short, or as toned, as Uprising herself had been, and she wore her brown hair in a braid that reached to her mid back. Aside her broadly north-netopian features, the most striking detail about the girl was the fact that her eyes were completely black, a detail that might be slightly off-putting despite her bright smile.

"She's on her way back, Matron. I let her know as soon as miss Exorcist said it. You know I could never help listening in where I wasn't meant to. Especially then." She giggled and the red-dressed woman let her eyes slide to the girl slowly. Her answer was desert dry.

"And to think, I thought I might stop tripping over you when you left Yoka... thank you Tera. The others are here as well?" The girl nodded. None of them seemed to mind whether or not Exorcist was surprised by the sudden new arrivals. True to the description, it did seem that a lot more was going on under the surface of this faire than met the eye. It only took another ten seconds for Uprising herself to return to the table and take a seat between Tera and Exorcist, looking very serious now. The nod of her head to Madama Sanguine was short before she turned on Exxy.

"Ok, so, Exorcist. What's this I hear about someone attacking the sanctuary reps? Don't worry, the matron's privacy bubble is still around us. Just talk, and quickly. Everything you know." Across from her, the woman in question chuckled again.
"It is in place, yes, but I note that didn't stop you from leaving Tera here to listen in..." Uprising smirked and waved a hand.
"I'm not their boss; they're my allies and comrades now. I didn't tell her to."
"I'm sure..." She shook her head, dry amusement radiating from her smile, though she didn't press it further, letting Exorcist speak to uprising if she wished.

====

Inside the Wandering Comet, a lot of things were happening at once. ResQ went to combat stations immediately, turning herself over the bar from memory and landing in the space behind, so she could make for the door and the suspicious whispering. Most sounds of movement were hard to discern amongst the chorus of shuffling and surprised calls of the other patrons, but ResQ was likely listening for particular sounds and voices, and in the few moments she had was able to latch onto the voices that came from the doorway.

"Just grab him and let's go before anyone knows!"
"He was talking to a girl, you'll have to get her too!"
"Hurry!"
"Wait, she's — there, grab her!"

The voices came from a pair directly in front of her, coming out of the doorway and apparently making for the way out from behind the bar. They were harsh, hissed whispers, but apparently the two could see in the dark, since they'd clocked ResQ coming in. Without being able to see clearly herself, she had to assume that at least one of them would be on her in a moment. There came a grunt of effort, the sound of shattering glass just by her shoulder, followed by a hissed expletive from one of the voices. Slightly further off, she would be able to hear Rhinestone's voice, startled, but warning someone not to come closer, and the sounds of heavy scuffling.

About at this time, however, everything seemed to slow suddenly and the darkness felt somehow deeper and more bottomless than before. Signs of shapes she had been able to see in the dark inked out, and she heard two exclamations of alarm from the shady voices, about not being able to see. While the stretched moment lasted, everything felt like it was moving in thick molasses, and a new voice spoke out, washing clearly over everything in a way that pierced the senses.

"Well well..." it was deep and masculine, not a voice that ResQ had heard yet, but if had a broad, strong Netfrican accent to it, and sounded on the edge of deep laughter. "Little babes who use the dark for pranks should know... there are things in the dark deeper and more ancient than they can imagine." At the edges of her senses, ResQ would begin to get the impression of tiny reaching hands, dozens, even hundreds of them, snaking up from the dark, seeking to grab her and drag her down into the void. Cries of terror all around would probably tell her that many other people were experiencing the same effect. Now the voice did laugh, and it was rich and deep. "The shadow has a thousand hands, and you had best stop your games before they take you!"

"Run, go, go!!" One voice threaded through as the mysterious assailants decided they'd had enough. The sounds of clattering and blind stumbling returned to the door behind the bar and a moment later it opened enough to let a bar of very dim red light out into the area. It was enough to break whatever paralysing illusion was going on, and the dark returned to being just normal everyday lack of lighting. Whoever had been trying to capture ResQ herself seemed to have given up after his first failed attempt, and she saw the figure of a navi move away from her and back through the door. It was followed by two more figures, seemingly still struggling. One was almost certainly Rhinestone, judging from the multitude of reflections in the tiny amount of dim light.

====

Elsewhere, in a situation that was far less desperate and only slightly less suspect, Hoodwink just grinned and raised an eyebrow as he let Bhikki talk herself into modelling her sexy choices for embarrassing the normally prim and businesslike Zennocracy. He seemed pleased enough by her explanations of herself, and had murmured further agreement while they'd walked, but he stepped forward to get a better look at her once she'd picked an outfit and changed — fortunately after selecting her choice from the console and confirming it, a small circle in the middle of the mirrors lit up, inviting her to step onto it, at which point a ring of screens rose as the automated process expertly whisked off her original garments and fitted her selection instead. There was a moment when it felt larger and looser than it ought to, before the process resized it to fit her frame.

Her original clothes had been deposited in a neatly folded bundle beside the central circle, since the system didn't recognise them and couldn't file them away anywhere, but as the screens dropped Bhikki would have a moment or two to make any final adjustments and look at herself before, perhaps pick a pose she liked, before Hoodwink stepped close. All in all, it was a good pick, stylish and sexy, and the cut and gather of the babydoll was both sleek and flattering of her minimal assets. sheer as the delicate fabric was, of course, she would have to be prepared for the fact that it wasn't really stopping anyone from seeing her chest, and did far more to achieve that tantalising tease of pretending to cover up, yet not doing so to eyes that looked.

Eyes looked, and Hoodwink's grin was warm and broad. He walked around her once, tilting his head as he appraised, and there was no doubt that he was unashamed in taking in every detail.

"Very nice! Classy, stylish and very sexy. This is the look of a woman who knows what she wants, and means to take it, wouldn't you say?" He paused behind her, looking at her eyes by way of the mirror in front of them both, then reached up to run finger tips delicately across the tops of her shoulders. "So you know, Bhikki, I don't think there's anything wrong at all with seeing something, and desiring to possess it... at least for a brief moment in time, and the thrill of doing so. That is the passion that makes us truly alive, after all." Fittingly, or perhaps worrisomely, depending on one's perspective, there was a certain amount of fire in Hoodwink's voice as he said this. His fingertips ran back and forth over the tops of her shoulders, testing the straps of the babydoll on each outward slide, seeing just how easily to shoulders might push off 'by accident' without truly trying to do so... but the suggestion was definitely there. After a second or two of this he stepped back again, and flashed his teeth in a grin with a wink from eyes that danced with excitement.

"It looks fantastic on you, but I fear, even if she was terribly embarrassed to be seen wearing it, this might look too flattering on Zenny herself as well. Hmm... Perhaps if we went for some more revealing undergarments instead, or dispensed with them altogether... what do you think, Bhikki?" Yes, the man was asking her to try it on with more revealing panties, or even none at all, so he could see... no he was not being in any way abashed or underhanded about the request, but instead grinning flirtatiously as he came right out and suggested it to her. The ball, as it were, was in the Buddhist's court.

Mary liked the way the conversation seemed to be going, as she was the rare type of person to enjoy handing out blank checks to mysterious men soon after meeting them. At the same time, she was surprised to learn that he'd decided to dismiss her bluff so completely that he was willing to suggest she go off by herself... either he was less gentlemanly than he'd originally seemed, or he was aware that she was only pretending to be blind and didn't want to be strung along any further. "I suppose I couldn't blame him for that," she reasoned, although in her mind, she was only trying to work towards their mutual self-interest. "Well then. I will go with the grace of God, and I will return to discuss our game once I've finished my calling," she agreed, stepping up and making a show of feeling her way through the environment, bracing herself upon the most inconspicuous surfaces she could manage. Her eyes opened an imperceptible crack to allow her to see what she needed to.

Unfortunately, once she made some progress towards the source, she'd realize that both she and Duey had been working off the wrong assumption; the girl hadn't left to have more fun. It seemed like Mary's earlier assumption was actually correct. The girl was in need of saving, but not the kind Mary had originally intended. Her first impulse was to dash straight in and help, but armed without Exorcist, ResQ, or even Bhikkhuni backing her up, all she had was simple water vials. The girl might need some healing too, but it wouldn't do either of them much good if she was captured immediately after. Furthermore, shouting out for help was out of the question, because there was a pretty good chance the bad guys had a contingency for being reported and that it wouldn't be good for their captive if they followed through on it.

She hated to do it, but her best course of action seemed to be to go back and get help. Worse, she didn't think she could count on Duey... she'd already cried wolf, so to speak, on helping the girl, so he might not believe her now. He had also already said himself he wouldn't be much good in a fight. The only other person she knew in the nearby area was the gargoyle-like creature that Duey had offered to introduce her to. He looked like he ought to be able to handle himself in a fight, so she decided to take a chance on him. "Excuse me, sir..." she began, being careful not to use the name she'd heard earlier. That would likely raise some suspicion once she got to her subject matter. "I need your help. A woman's in trouble, just over there," she whispered urgently, pointing him towards the tents. As much as Mary was a bad nun, she was good of heart enough not to abandon an unoperated navi (or unoperated navi advocate, she hadn't figured out which yet) in need. "I can't do anything to help her, I'm an SP and a specialist in recovery at that..." She'd also send the others an update.

Quote (Mary)

A navi was abducted from the kissing booth, I'm not sure why or really even who yet... I'm enlisting the help of a stranger, there's not much I can do on my own. If any of you aren't terribly busy or too far away from the medieval fantasy games, I could use assistance.

-----------------------------

"M-My what? Oh... Oh, that was just hypothetical! Yes, I don't... or I mean, I wouldn't know much about any of that," Exorcist answered the madame as calmly as she could manage. To Exorcist's surprise, the lady was still all smiles, and on that note, she was surrounded by other smiles she hadn't even been aware of. Still, as long as Madama Sanguine was smiling, Exorcist assumed that the new arrivals were allies. "You were all listening? Mmm...!" she pouted, pressing her hands to her reddening face. She shook her head, then got back to business. "All I know so far is that there are malevolent forces at work targetting unoperated navis, potentially those under the protection of three different groups: your house, SNAPSUN, and CascadingGrace," she spoke quickly. For the most part, she intended to be quiet and let those more in the know shed light on things.

Just then, she received a message with more critical information. "Oh no, it sounds like CascadingGrace may already be in trouble! From what I've heard, they're running a kissing booth, and my SP stationed over there says that someone was seemingly just abducted from that very area!" she warned them, looking from one navi to another. "My SP can't do much on her own... I should head over there right away, unless you have someone in the area already who can help her."

In the back of her mind, Exorcist also recalled that there was a game she was supposed to be finding players for, but that was such a distant concern right now that she couldn't focus on it.

----------------------------------

Bhikkhuni, on the other hand, was laying it all on the line for the sake of the betterment of that game (well, that and a few other reasons). Despite her claims, her boldness instantly gave way to regret as soon as she was redressed, and her first unfortunate choice of sexy pose was to press her palms to her breasts. "T-That's a little more see-through than I thought it was," she spoke quietly, feeling her brown face growing intensely red as she was increasingly aware that Hoodwink was meticulously sizing up the model more so than the outfit. "But anyway, you're absolutely right! It doesn't get any sexier than this," she tittered agreement, even as she crossed her thighs a bit sheepishly. She found herself following his path around her not just with her eyes, but her whole head. When his hands rested upon her shoulders, she nearly jumped out of her nightie, and she found herself gripping the chest of the nightie harder with the anticipation that it might be slipped off. "Y-Yeah, I know what you mean! But sometimes, um, you know, the thing you're looking at is um... is so mysterious and beautiful that you might want to get a chance to know it better before you... possess it, you know? With like, a cup of coffee or something," she stammered, increasingly concerned that she was about to end up in a more compromising position than she was now. For a moment, an awful scenario flashed across her mind wherein she considered that Hoodwink might actually be under Zennocracy's employee, intentionally making a fool out of her now and recording it.

"Nope! No way. My karma is off the charts right now, I deserve this! Don't look a sexy gift horse in the mouth!" she thought to herself, hoping to shake off her pessimism. She relaxed her grip at her chest a bit, but her eyes were still wide. "I wanna see Miss Moneybags get what's coming to her, but I don't know if commando's the right way to go about it. I'm generous, you know? I want to leave her with a little somethin'-somethin' down there," she joked. Even as she did, she stared down at her own panties. "Dammit! They're already panties, how much harder do I need to try?! she snapped internally. "Geez, I'm giving it all away on the first date!"

The small girl stepped over to the console again and carefully browsed until she found a suitable replacement: a deep green, T-shaped bottom with a ribbon tied at the connecting point under the naval. It wouldn't cover... much of anything, just enough on the front and back, and not that if grooming was an issue. Her finger hovered shaking over the button for a moment, before she crossed her arms defiantly and stepped back. "Hold up! We've got some extra time and I feel like this relationship is all give and no take! That might work for the standard Buddhist, but as I explained earlier, I am an extraordinary Buddhist. So... I think that if you want me to put that on, then you should sweeten the deal for me. You have to pick out something embarrassing to wear too! How's that?!" she asked, giving a challenging smirk and suddenly feeling more in control of the situation. She wasn't 100% sure if she was really ready to see his equivalent of being this naked, nor that it was wise for them both to get undressed while in hostile territory, but right now, the most important thing for her was proving to both her new acquaintance and herself that she was capable of playing the game on his level.

All of that soured a bit as she got a message from Mary, making it sound like real danger was in motion. She gulped, suddenly feeling very guilty about not helping with that critical component of the mission. "It's okay! That's the way we divided it up, Exorcist and ResQ were supposed to handle the tough, dangerous stuff, Mary was going to do whatever, and I was going to steal and replace the costume. I'm doing my part! If anything, I'm doing Mary and my part, and uh, Exorcist's part just bled over into Mary's a bit! If I find some kind of opportunity to save an unoperated navi, I'll do it, totally!" she reasoned, her heart now beating even faster than it already had been.

The darkness of the bar was disorienting, even with the mental map of the layout in her mind. She normally would have her "toolkit" of specialized programs for these kinds of unpredictable situations, including the equivalent of night-vision goggles, but they were all confiscated shortly after her capture. Though frustrated, she kept that to herself; she now had to rely on sound and touch to navigate. The hushed voices spoke of a male target, along with a seemingly unplanned additional female target. Though that did little to narrow down their possible targets, the setting was a rather large bar filled with patrons after all, she played it safe and assumed their targets were Rhinestone and herself.

["Uploading RageClaw now for CQC, what else do you need?"] Alex's voice rang clearly in her head. A moment later she received an internal notification of a chip upload. She didn't respond to her NetOp, instead she brought her hands up near her neck and face in an impromptu fighting stance, and rocked her upper body away from the noise of shattering glass over her shoulder out of reflex. She began to activate the RageClaw chip, which caused the fingers of her right hand to painlessly elongate and curve slightly, and her fingertips formed into blade-like points. She didn't immediately counterattack, because she wasn't entirely sure if the sound was from an attempted attack against her, or her possible attacker; the expletive uttered in front of her suggested either option could be valid. What seemed clear, however; was that Rhinestone was being attacked.

She felt she had to make a snap decision to either ditch the Navi or move to his aid, but an odd sensation and even more odd voice stopped her in her tracks. [[i]Ugh, give me a break,[/i]] she grumbled to herself as yet another player entered the field. That said, it sounded like his influence was spread over the entire bar, and his threat was equally vague. She briefly wondered if it was the male Navi who was getting all up in *possibly* SaijaTsun's business, and didn't appreciate the interruption of his quest to get in her pants.

Finally a faint red light came from the doorway she initially tried to navigate towards, and from what little she saw it seemed their attackers were trying to sneak Rhinestone. She considered ditching the Navi to get back to her primary objective, but at least she knew who Rhinestone was, there was no guarantee the glamorously-dressed woman was actually SaijaTsun. [[i]You better be worth my time, "glitter ball"...[/i]] she thought before she quietly gave chase. She didn't charge in to confront them immediately, instead she maintained her distance and used the relative darkness to tail the group without them moving to attack. She didn't like hallway brawls while outnumbered, even when she had a notable repertoire of equipment and chips at her disposal. She still kept her claw-formed right hand at the ready, just in case some of the figures changed direction to confront her.

Upon discovering that her target was in genuine distress, Mary decided that there was no time to delay, and also that she was no good on her own, so she made her way back to the faire and carefully sought out the imposing stone figure that Duey had referenced, and who, perhaps conveniently matched one of the other descriptions that CrypticMan had given them at the beginning. She heard a sound like the slow creaking of stone as she approached close enough to make her urgent plea; the navi had bent slightly and turned his head downwards to look at her more closely.

"Hello... A pleasure to meet you, my lady." The voice was moving stone, and implacably deliberate. It was slow in delivery, but in a ponderous way — there were no waits or pauses between his words, but even the short greeting managed to take second or two longer then one might normally expect. As she quickly detailed the dangerous situation, his expression drew in, gradually shifting to a deeper frown.

"I had though that... but I should not presume, so it would seem." He nodded slowly then and began to stand. the process was more of an unfolding from his comfortable crouch, and when it was complete he towered several generous feet over any other navi present. "If you are sure, my lady, I will come and inspect the matter with you. I do not hold with violence, but perhaps an extra pair of stern eyes will prevent any mischief from befalling anyone." There was every possibility that his paced, steady delivery would have a woman in a hurry tearing her hair out, but at the same time much about the navi was very much like a glacier — gradual perhaps, and steady, but nothing was going to slow it down or get in its way.

This proved true even as he strode out across the walkways and thoroughfares of the faire; his paces were slow, but they were also long and the movements were implacable enough that everyone else passing by simply moved around him, so the crowds didn't impede his pace at all. He turned his face to look down at Mary every other pace to make sure she was keeping step.

"If I may be so bold, young lady, introductions should come first. My name is Mordenite; may I ask your name in return?" It probably seemed like it took them longer to reach the far side of the grounds than it actually did, but eventually they passed between the edges of various stalls, bad towards the point where Mary had heard the sounds. There would be no subtle hiding this time, but it didn't appear to matter by the time they emerged; the area was no empty of people. Even so, her new companion didn't seem discouraged.

"I did see the lady you mentioned go this way. If she is in trouble, where do you suppose the perpetrators might have taken her?" He paused still, meticulously scanning his eyes over the space for any other clue.

====

As amused as the matron of the red house seemed to be by Exorcist's flustered response, there were, unfortunately, far more serious matters at hand right now. She held her silence and watched with intent eyes while Uprising grimaced and clenched one fist against the table top. Beside her, it was more difficult to tell who Tera was looking at exactly, thanks to the black opacity of her eyes and the disciplined stance, but the one identified as Kenmoete was frowning as well. Uprising answered first.

"Why would people target the sanctuary reps, here, when they've nothing to gain from it? If they knew who they were, there would be safer places to try something. This place is watched, and there's security." Despite this, she was standing again, as though, doubts or not, she didn't intend to delay for long. Opposite her, Madama Sanguine moved more languidly, tilting her head one way and raising an eyebrow.

"I would like to know how you know these things... Who do you represent, that you came to me with the story you did, and an issue so dire?" Unlike the rebel girl, she didn't appear to be making any move to go anywhere yet. Across from her, Uprising growled in her throat.

"Conveniently, she's not given us much time for asking more questions. I'll be that creep has something to do with it."
"Another of your... associates?"
"He's a pervert, but information is his game. It'd be just like him to feed someone breadcrumbs then rattle the cage to see what happens, rather than actually helping." She shook her head then made small gesture with one hand, off to the side. A banner burst into existence in her hand, spinning around once before planting into the ground beside her. The flag itself bore an anarchy symbol, made to look like it had been done in red paint. "There's no time, by the sound of it. I'm going. Tera, have the others converge on—" she paused as the matron raises a hand towards her.

"Might I suggest that we have an opportunity to catch a fish or two in a net they don't see, friend? I am also a target, so we're told. If you go, and I send Kenmoete with you, it will look as though we have sent all our means to rush off and protect dear Grace. Leave your silver moons here with me, in silence and shadow, and we will see what secrets we may learn when they try to spring their trap." She was smiling, and as much as Uprising didn't seem convinced, she also nodded. It was then that Madama Sanguine reached out to put a friendly, but firm, hand on Exorcist's as well.

"And perhaps, you can wait with me here, or maybe we will take a walk somewhere that invites privacy, and you can answer some questions for me too, while we wait for them to strike. Does that sound acceptable?" It was not completely comfortable, the way the matron's smile felt when it was turned on the counterinfectualist... perfectly friendly and alluring, but also predatory behind her eyes. Beside her, Kenmoete nodded once and stepped around the table to stand beside Uprising and the two of them turned, moving away from the gathering swiftly, while Tera stepped back and faded from sight as well without any other words. Still holding Exorcist's hand, the matron stood, stretching in a way that casually emphasised her female assets.

"Let us wander, shall we?" she began to move as though aimlessly strolling through the faire, holding firmly to Exorcist as she did. "So tell me, now that we are alone... Does your information come from the one she spoke of?" she wasn't looking directly at the Exxy any more, but seemed to be relaxed as she enjoyed the atmosphere. A short distance away, the band finished their current piece of music and paused for refreshments, giving way to an increase in the hum of the crowd.

====

In the few seconds that it took ResQ to assume a good combat stance and make he snap decision, a second crack, like munitions fire, sounded in front of her, and something pass by her head to shatter more fancy drinks from the shelves behind. Another curse followed, before, in the outline of the dim light, she caught sight of a figure retreating from her, after the one wrestling Rhinestone through. The attackers seemed to be aiming for a cut and grab, trying to grab their main target in the confusion and go before things recovered, and the deeper darkness spawning grabbing hands and sinister voices seemed to have unnerved them just as much as it had any of the other civilians, judging from the cusses and shouts going back and forth.

When she passed through the doorway, ResQ found herself in a dimly lit room, bathed in a faltering red glow that did more to cast shadows than to illuminate, though it was still better than the main bar room after the lights had been cut. It was a room that was partially filled with kegs and barrels, crates of bottles and other bar supplies, but much of the floor was free in a broad square. A set of steps seemed to lead down and further away to the back, but the structure looked distinctly different from the rest of the room; like it had been hacked in afterwards. The navi that had, presumably, been trying to attack or grab her had now crossed the space to assist his ally instead, while they tried to subdue Rhinestone. The man seemed mostly to be trying to throw them off directly, rather than pulling any weapons, but in between efforts she could hear his voice demanding both unhanding and answers.

Another navi came running up from the odd stairs; as the door opened to admit him, the one behind her snapped shut, and sealed itself, almost like some kind of airlock. Through the far door, though she was only able to glance it briefly, there looked to be a much more open area, with moonlight shining down at a reflective floor. There wasn't much time for that now, however; rhinestone wrenched himself partially free with final angry shout for them to back off, and a dazzling, prismatic light blasted out across the room blinding everyone for a few moments.

"Arghh... Get him under control and get him to the boss! No more messing around!" The newcomer seemed to be in a position to call shots, even as he scrubbed an arm over his dazzled vision. Unfortunately, through her own spotty sight, ResQ could make out that the three of them were all now readying some more serious weapons, rather than just tussling. Busters hummed into activation and began to shift as they all started to bring chips to bear.

-=Back Room Brawl=-

-=Kidnappers=-

SubvertAgentA: 100Hp [Left of Rhinestone][Normal][Blind!]
SubvertAgentB: 100Hp [Right of Rhinestone][Normal][Blind!]
SubvertSquadLeader: 150Hp [Top of far stairs][Normal][Blind!]

-=Kidnapees=-

ResQ.Exe: 150Hp [Near door][Normal][Blind!][RageClaw Ready 6/6]

Rhinestone.Exe: 200Hp [Middle of room][Normal]

-=Terrain=-

Terrain is all Normal, in a rough square with shelf lined walls and numerous barrels and crates along the edges. Any of these can be used as impromptu objects and/or weapons if desired — what's a bar fight without glassing someone?

-=Rumble!=-

====

In Zenny's mansion, someone else was also a bit apprehensive about the possibility of an upcoming tussle... though of a different variety and for different reasons. Try as she might to hide it, Bhikki's nerves were showing, but her flirtatious guide didn't seem put off by the nervous little signals. Instead he nodded to her as he strolled casually between the model for the outfit and the console responsible for it.

"I do enjoy a good chase, you know... so if a thing makes itself hard to catch, well, that's exactly the sort of thrill that makes me feel alive. When we see something we want, coming to possess it is made sweetest by the effort of the chase, you know?" He winked across at her, this time with his eyes and his smile locked quite politely on her own, and not dipping below. He made way as she approached the console as well, to select another choice of undergarment, but as he did she felt a single finger... the back of one knuckle, really, trail whisper light down her spine, starting at the hem of her babydoll and tracing all the way to the top of her current panties before he stepped back properly.

"To me, you see, the material is mostly inconsequential... but the game of acquisition, that has worth. It doesn't matter if something is more valuable than the stars, or as common as flower petals on the breeze.... What matters most, is that I want it. That we try, is what matters. That we put the whole of our heart and soul into the things we pursue..." He stepped up behind her again as she selected the new garment, then hesitated on confirming it, and once more she felt gentle fingertips caressing her shoulders from behind. They toyed again, delicately with the shoulders of her barely-there covering, and unless she was still trying to cover her breasts, the difference in height would almost certainly be allowing the thief to look at her chest under the gauzy fabric.

"So, a demonstration then... I think that's fair. You want me to show you how far I'm willing to go for the pursuit of what I desire. Yes... there is time. I'll make it even better for you, Bhikkhuni... How about you search through this catalogue and design an outfit that you would dress the man of your dreams in, and you can make it as sexy or revealing as you want... make something so scandalous and blush inducing that seeing it on a handsome man would make your insides tremble and your knees weak... and I promise to wear it for you, no matter what you come up with. I put myself and my modesty, entirely in your hands. How does that sound?" With another soft chuckle he moved back, this time making his way casually to the ring of mirrors and pausing to unfasten his cloak with one hand so he could hand it over a chair and stretch for her. That done he grinned and winked again, then turned his back in the circle, waiting for the small Buddhist's judgement.

ResQ quickly got her answer to the question of if the attacks were going towards or away from her: a gunshot whizzed past and shattered more glassware. Her expression finally changed from her standard RBF to a scowl while her amber eyes glared forward in a fruitless attempt to glean any details about her attacker before following.

She did manage to get a brief glance at the layout of the room she entered, along with the three hostiles along with Rhinestone, but a bright flash from the latter of the 4 inhabitants cut her recon short. She did her best to not swear aloud as her eyes clamped shut and her left forearm covered her face several moments too late. Thankfully it sounded like she wasn't the only one affected, but it also just provoked the others into using more violent methods to subdue the flashy Navi.

She didn't like being thrust into the role of "good samaritan," but the mission deemed it necessary. At least now she had some other schmucks to vent her frustration on. ["Give me an AirShot, pronto,"] she ordered Alex, who thankfully was much less affected by the bright flash of light. As Alex retrieved the requested chip and moved to slot it into the PET, ResQ tried to focus on visually re-acquiring the other programs in the room, namely Rhinestone. She blinked several times as she tried to take aim directly at Rhinestone, who she assumed was the figure between the two other figures. She hoped to see at least a faint twinkle of his shiny exterior to confirm her target, but she had little time to waste.

Once she felt she had a good enough fix on her target, and the AirShot was uploaded, she attempted to activate her new "BUBL" shield program over Rhinestone. If successful, a subdued green energy shield would've materialized in front of him, followed by a small rush of regenerative energy. This was partially intended to hopefully stave off an attack from his captors, and partially to maybe keep him safe from what she planned next.

The fingers of her right hand were still in the shape of curved, sharpened claws, so she utilized her free left hand to wield her newly uploaded chip. A large cannon-like weapon materialized over her forearm, secured to her forearm with a C-shaped brace and a flip-down trigger assembly that rested comfortably in her hand. It was similar to the concussion cannon her ANGEL would wield, but scaled down to her size without any noticeable reduction in power. The wide barrel was ringed with several pill-shaped compression tanks, and had other small details indicating its concussive payload, but even an astute observer likely wouldn't notice in the dim lighting. This time, ResQ didn't have to aim very carefully, she only needed to hit one of the walls, namely where any kegs/barrels were lined up near the back of the room.

With a loud *POP* followed by a shrill hiss of pressure escaping, a projectile of concussive force shot across the room and hopefully into the kegs and other materials along the wall. Her plan was to cause an explosion of debris to not only halt their escape, but also maybe take a few of the hostile out of action with a keg to the face. To keep herself from potentially suffering similar injuries, she used the leftover pressure from her cannon along with her subtype abilities to project a brief pulse of pressurized air and kinetic energy in front of her.

At first, Mary though that she had certainly made the correct decision; the gentlemanly gargoyle was even more impressive close up and seemed to have share some of her worries already. Very quickly, however, she reversed her opinion... not only was the gargoyle apparently even more of a pacifist than DueAccountabilityMan, but he was also, to put it politely, ponderous with his movements. "If I were a more stereotypical nun, this is the point where I'd ask, oh Lord, why hast thou forsaken me," she reflected, now regretting that she hadn't simply throw a bottle at the head of the assailant, anything to get him off of the captive.

Still, there was no point blaming Mordenite for that, so Mary went along with his request. "Young lady? I don't get that a lot," Mary chuckled, although it was truly that she really only looked mature standing next to Exorcist and Bhikkhuni. "I'm Mary, a nun and Counterinfectualist, but not very good at either religion. I'll tell you more about whichever of those interests you, once we have time to spare," she explained, keeping pace beside him. She noted that his steps were too long for her to walk slowly, but too deliberate for her to break into a run, so she ended up power-walking next to him; she sort of wished she had her robe to hide the motion a bit better. Also, it would have helped lend her claim that she was a nun more credibility; it was a little hard for her to support that claim when her dress was eye-catching, if not downright provocative. "Right now, I'm just a good Samaritan, a passerby hoping to help someone in need."

Unfortunately, her story was a little different than the good Samaritan's, because her attempt to provide help had been considerably less effective. Specifically, she was uncharacteristically aghast to discover that the source of the sounds she'd been hearing had already vanished. "Oh no... This is the net, after all. They could have simply teleported elsewhere by now. I should have intervened right away," she murmured to herself, reaching to her neck for her rosary to clutch nervously, but finding it missing. "I'd imagine the perpetrators have some sort of base of operations here, where they're taking navis they capture. However, I have no idea where it could be... I know they're not hiding in the booths here, the girl was capable of struggling last I heard her, so they'd be found if she continued bumping around. I can only assume they either teleported to another location... or possibly went underground? That's only a guess. Tell me, Mordenite, do you know this area well enough to say if there's some very discrete area, away from the party, where they might take captives?"

If God really was guiding her, perhaps Mary would find some secret switch or lever. Unfortunately, all she really had was fairly untrained eye-sight through squinting eyes, so she was a little limited in her detection capabilities. Desperately, she knelt, feeling into the grass and digging in her fingers in the desperate hope she might discover the turf was covering some hollow metal structure. She had another recourse as well: the possibility that her friends knew something she didn't. Mary sent another message to the others, to relay the situation:

Quote (Mary)

Everyone, I apologize, I lost track of the navi who was in trouble. She disappeared while I was fetching help to rescue her. Does anyone have any idea where the base of operation for the kidnappers might be?"

---------------------------------

Exorcist had a gut feeling... well, more of a common sense feeling... that told her CrypticMan wasn't wholly on the up and up. For that reason, she felt some trepidation to reveal the name of her employer, who'd given her the few confusing details she'd used to seek them out. At the same time, it wasn't as though her employer had actually said to keep his identity a secret. Still... she had a feeling that revealing his name would only make things worse. It couldn't be worse than trying to lie again, though, could it? That had worked out pretty embarrassingly just a moment ago. Fortunately for her (?), it seemed as though the madame had already figured it out herself. She tensed her eyebrows and turned the question around. "If you're asking why people are targeting sanctuary reps, then you should also ask what I would have to gain from coming to you all as I have, if I were one of those suspicious elements," she proposed, not sternly, but seriously. "It sounds like you already know who my employer was. I don't have much of a sense of who he is or what he wants yet, but we were tasked with making sure that unoperated navis aren't attacked tonight... among other things... and I count that as our most important mission!"

"Besides Counterinfectualism," Burt pointed out from the other side, having been silent for so long that Exorcist had nearly forgotten him. She wanted to tell him that she considered good deeds like this at least somewhat important for representatives of Counterinfectualism, but didn't have time to argue the point, which she knew she'd be forced to.

Exorcist was becoming increasingly bothered by the slew of names she couldn't keep track of; Grace might be the reason ResQ wasn't answering their messages, or might be the one Mary was pleading she help find and protect. All the talks of moon and stars might be helpful in the group maintaining their secrecy, but it was hard for Exorcist to tell if they were making a good plan or not when she couldn't understand most of the elements involved. Her frown belayed her confusion, but she nodded, regardless. "Yes, I think I'll walk with you... it ought to work, considering that I'm not much to look at right now," she reflected, referring to her state of being a threat rather than her prettiness. She wasn't sure if being out of her combat outfit actually affected that much, but she didn't exactly have the fighter's body that Uprising did.

"Yes... It's clear to me that you know more about him than I do," Exorcist admitted, crossing her hands behind her hips and trying to play it cool like the madame was. She also tried to keep her words fairly non-specific from this point on, to match the flow of the dialogue. Only, when she got Mary's message, she realized that they might be on more of a timer than they realized. "The friend of yours, who my own friend Mary was looking for, seems to have vanished before Mary could meet her," she spoke as normally as she could. "Where do you think she might have... gone off to?"

----------------------------------------

Hidden in the walk-in closet with her new friend, Bhikkhuni felt pressure from three sources. The first, Hoodwink's fingers tracing sexy paths all over her small body. The second, Hoodwink's words turning an already erotic diversion into an increasingly more scandalous one. The third, the competing knowledge that Mary was dealing with a very real threat that nobody had answers for. Exorcist hadn't responded yet and ResQ had been radio silent for a while now. Burt wasn't with the other operator, so there was really no telling what was happening on that front. Oh, and a fourth source of pressure: the gross knowledge that Burt was a voyeur in whatever fun she had with Hoodwink and promptly wouldn't go along with any request that he simply take a break and watch something else.

"Ha... ha ha! Y-You have a pretty high opinion of yourself! What do you think, I just fantasize about guys like you and what sorts of things you'd look good in? Not me! I'm a soul on the cusp of enlightenment, silly. So when you try to get me to dress you in something charming and sexy and all that, that's just what you want and I'm not gonna trick you into it! I'm going to make you wear something really embarrassing, just like I'm wearing!" she teased, apparently, despite all of her bravado, harboring some doubts about whether her current attire was actually appealing or if it was really just humiliating to be seen by a stranger in.

Her chest rose and fell with heavy breathing as she used one hand to cover her chest, the other to cover her mouth, browsing the selection of saucy outfits she might put Hoodwink in with all of the nervousness of one afraid their parent was going to walk in while they were flipping through a dirty magazine. [i]"Crap crap crap... it's hard to pick something that's more embarrassing than what I'm wearing but doesn't make me look like a huge pervert for picking it! B-But he's a pervert... He perved first! It doesn't really matter what I pick because he started it," she reasoned, her eyes rapidly swiping left and right between costumes. "This... Okay! I don't even know why this is in here! If I pick this, he'll decline and we'll just... call off the game, and I'll just go back to being the one who does the smart one and let Mary can be the sexy one again!"

"Okay, here it is. Let me know if you have any problems with it, okay?" she asked, putting on her best gameface, a truly sinister smile. The outfit she'd picked, ostensibly, was a fairly large fig leaf... it wasn't even really clear how it stayed on, if it stayed on. "What's the matter? Are you speechless? I guess I'm pretty freaky, huh?!" she asked challengingly, leaning forward on her toes a bit while keeping both arms crossed at her chest.

Mary's companion nodded in his usual smooth and deliberate manner as she introduced herself, but he didn't pause in moving towards the apparent crisis, and they arrived at the scene Mary had backed away from in short order. Despite trepidation and borderline despair of finding the trail again, Mary searched for anything to give a clue, while Modenite stood still, examining every detail of the small space they'd come to. There were, indeed, signs of a scuffle in the grass, and while Mary didn't come across any convenient trap door or special lever, the signs of struggle that she ended up running her fingers over led her to what seemed like a scrap data disposal unit, the front panel of which was about as tall and wide as would be necessary for a navi to pass through. It only took a little more fumbling about to discover that the front of the unit was a tangible facade that shimmered and gave way with a bluff door panel once her fingers began to examine it properly.

It didn't exactly seem like the door could lead anywhere; the unit itself was simply backed onto the rear of other stalls, unless it led to a drop shaft inside, but that wouldn't necessarily be the same issue a network space as it would in the physical world.

"What have you found, Mary... Ahh..." Mordenite's gravel tones became a sigh. "At least we can guess that the poor girl was not taken far. though I wonder that she simply did not jack out, if she were in an unwanted situation. I suppose this is a ball for charities that support navigators without operators, though... Perhaps she could not." The pace of his voice was the same stable, ponderous rate as always, like an avalanche that continued steadily, but couldn't be made to move faster or slower. "I am afraid I cannot go further, if that is where she has been taken. If you fear this lady is in trouble, Mary, then we should let miss Zennocracy know that her security has failed. She has many capable enforcers on the grounds who can respond quickly if they need to."

While he was talking, time was passing, and Mary would have decisions to make of her own. An average humanoid navigator could pass through the doorway easily enough, but someone like Mordenite would never fit. In the moments she had to ponder this, a voice called out from between the tents.

"Over here!" It was male, and serious, and a second voice answered.
"On it!" this one was female, and sounded smaller and and more compact, but equally serious, with an extra helping of angry and fierce. Both sounded as though they'd arrive at the clearing behind the stalls in a moment or two.

====

As Exorcist walked arm in arm with her new escort, the red-clad woman laughed and reached across to trail a finger down her cheek and turn her face towards her. The eyes that met her twinkled with amusement, as though she hadn't recently been informed that people were going to try and kidnap her soon.

"Now now, don't talk yourself down, my dear, you are perfectly appealing to the eye. I know many who would pay a great deal for your company, if you worked for my house! Though, if you're shy on the skills to go with it, we might just ask you to do counter and floor work, until we've trained you up a little more." She chuckled again and winked at her, leaning in as she spoke to press her free hand to exorcist's arm, almost as an excuse to also press her amply displayed bosom against her too. the path she was leading them wandered through the stalls deeper in the scif-fi area, and it seemed almost like the matron was leading Exocist to a more secluded area deliberately, all the while making a show of flirting affectionately. She leaned in, as though she was about to kiss her neck, or cheek, but instead whispered in her ear.

"If you have been plucked from the random message boards of the net by Uprising's associate, just to stir the broth, then I do not doubt that what you have been tasked to do helps them, and likely in away that annoys others of their... group. What I have learned from Uprising, is that they work together, overall, but are never shy of ribbing and annoying each other in harmless ways. the one she calls a pervert... I understand he is quite the voyeur, but I do not think that will matter here... unless..." Exorcist would hear the sounds of her lips moving from whispered phrases, to suddenly biting the top of her ear, and then shifting down to deliver a second nip at her neck.

Despite her flirtations, they managed to move on, until they were slipping between the backs and sides of market stalls, almost completely out of the public eye, or at least away from the crowds. When Madama Sanguine found a slightly more open space for them, she pushed Exorcist up against the solid wall of what actually seemed like a statue plinth, a part of Zenny's estate decorations, and stepped up her flirting game. Exorcist would find herself borne against the stonework firmly by the other woman, who began to stroke and fondle her waist and hips, while kissing and biting alternately at her neck. It was swiftly becoming a fairly vigorous make-out, at least from the matron's side of things, but even as she became all hands and lips and teeth, she whispered into Exorcist's ears between breaths.

"If she has been escorted away somewhere, I do not think it will be off the property. There are safeguards. Mmnnn...." One hand grabbed hard on Exorcist's behind as the other woman's bust compressed against her. "There is something very off about this. There is no reason to attack the reps here. It is the very worst place they could try such a thing. It cannot succeed, unless all they wish to do is delete them. Hahh...." The other hand rose to press up against one of Exorcist's breasts while she bit the opposite side of her neck. "And yet they try to capture and kidnap instead, when they cannot take them of the grounds without being caught. It reeks of a set up."

It would be hard to believe, even for exorcist, that the woman was anything other than absolutely lusting after her right now... but the dialogue painted a different story. If nothing else, the matron was impressively professional in making her activity genuine. Her cheeks even felt hot and flushed and her breath shortening, despite the businesslike words.

====

In the back room of the Comet, the bright flash that began the altercation was slow to fade, and ResQ was still finding her aim and sending a defence to her protection target when the two goons on either side pulled their weapons and swung blindly at him. One of them looked to be wielding a long, heavy-looking blackjack, which Rhinestone managed to lean and step away from as he backed off to keep them both in his sights. The other agent, seemed to be swinging a soft, fluffy pillow, which streamed loose feathers as he over-extended, swinging it about himself in a circle without effect.

Further towards the stairs, the tougher-looking villain, who seemed to be in charge, had more of a head on his shoulders and muttered a curse as he passed fingers over his eyes. They trailed a soft light that fixed his blindness and let him glance quickly at the scene unfolding with more certainty.

Still blinded, the two underlings waved their weapons at where they thought Rhinestone was again, but the begemmed navi had backed off a few more steps towards ResQ, out of their reach. is hands were up defensively, face serious, but he didn't seem to have any chips incoming, or anything of that nature. Instead, he looked to ResQ and made a small gesture with one hand, flicking a small reflective quartz in her direction. It popped softly in the air in front of her, and the dust of it blew over her, cleansing her vision of the blindness he'd unleashed on her a moment before.

"Not sure what's going on exactly, but it seems they're after me. Sorry you got involved." there wasn't much time to talk, but he managed to cast her an apologetic glance in the few seconds they could spare. Not far off, the two blinded agents had stopped swinging to shout at each other — one had almost hit the other in his zeal, and neither was too happy about everything going wrong.

"Watch it! What are you even doing, you clutz!"
"Oi, I'm not the one swinging that fluffy bit of idiocy like some bedroom party!"
"You are so! We both are! It's standard issue for this one, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but I reskinned! Make it look proper! It's about appearances, isn't it? No-one's going to take you serious if you're flailing at 'em with a fluffy great pillow, are they? Have some pride in your work, man, and make it look right!"

"Can it, both of you! Control this before the boss hears!" The leader of the trio cut their bickering short, and with a grunt, levelled an arm canon of his own at ResQ, which launched a weighted net, made of sticky white cords towards her. Fortunately, the brief burst of wind that surrounded her came up at just the right moment to bundle the net up on itself and toss it to the side, where it stuck to the wall with a splat.

ResQ had a retaliation of her own, in the form of a far less subtle offence. Her target was not any of the attacking navis, but rather, the various combustible kegs stacked on the wall near the stairs down. there was a frozen moment as the leader realised she wasn't aiming for him, and threw himself to the side, before the crack of her shot brought on a much more solid thump of explosive pressure that rolled over all of them. The three attacking navis were all caught in the edges of the blast, but fortunately rhinestone had backed up enough to stand beside ResQ, that he was clear of the explosion. He stole a glance to her with a small grin.

"Not that I don't appreciate the support, of course!"

The damage, once the dust cleared, was pronounced. Much of the brickwork facade had been blown away, revealing a more cybernetic-looking data wall behind it. Even that looked fractured around the edges of the doorway, however, which had been blown in permanently, letting them see through to the moonlit hall beyond. The damage around the doorway was bad enough that, if indeed the two doors had been some kind of transition lock, there would be no going back to the bar now. The two underlings were muttering as they picked themselves up, and, with a glance towards ResQ, and then to the doorway, began moving towards the stairs. The leader of the three was ahead of them, already falling back in a more alert, back-walking fashion. Rhinestone was positioning himself to stay behind ResQ, for now, but for a moment, just in the aftermath of the blast she'd caused, she caught the hint of a sound that didn't belong — like a small shuffle movement where nothing was visibly moving, from one side of the room.

-=Back Room Brawl=-

-=Kidnappers=-

SubvertAgentA: 60Hp [Left of stairs down][Normal]
SubvertAgentB: 60Hp [Right of stairs down][Normal]
SubvertSquadLeader: 110Hp [Bottom of stairs down][Normal]

-=Kidnapees=-

ResQ.Exe: 150Hp [Near door][Normal][RageClaw Ready 6/6]

Rhinestone.Exe: 200Hp [Near ResQ][1-Hit Shield][Normal]

-=Terrain=-

Terrain is all Normal, in a rough square with shelf lined walls and numerous barrels and crates along the edges. Any of these can be used as impromptu objects and/or weapons if desired — what's a bar fight without glassing someone?

White Web — stuck to the left wall, about halfway down the room.

===

If she was worried about getting a bad reaction from Hoodwink at her accusations, Bhikki would be rewarded only with a light-hearted laugh and a wink when she called him on suggesting that she dress him in something mess-inducing. He shrugged, as though to suggest that she couldn't blame him for trying, but all the same let her at the controls unrestricted to make her choice, even after her declaration. In this light his eyes looked more green than blue, but they watched her while she made her decision, enjoying her sights quietly without making any great deal about his appreciation. He seemed vaguely amused at her efforts to cover her chest, unhelped by the sheer nature of her lingerie, but the grin was friendly and not mocking at all... If his earlier words were anything to go by, the fact that she was still trying to hold things back was only more exciting for him, and his efforts to make her relent of her own accord, eventually.

A moment later, she finished selecting the outfit, minimalist as it was, and Hoodwink returned to her, to glance over the small woman's shoulder and see her selection. when he chuckled, she could feel the slight movement of his form behind her, brushing gently against her back through the gauzy fabric.

"Cutting right to the meat of the chase, sweet Bhikki? Well, I do wonder why Zenny would have that particular clothing article in her wardrobe. There's a mystery for us all to ponder... Let's see how it looks..." Against her hopes and expectations, and possibly even to her dismay, it didn't sound like Hoodwink intended to back down from her challenge. Instead, he walked back over to the circle of mirrors. As he moved away from her, his left hand trailed gentle finger tips across the back of her shoulder and over the strap, turning over to draw the backs of his fingers up one side of her neck, around the back of it, and then caressingly down her other cheek. If she looked towards him as he left, the gesture concluded with another flirtatious wink before he stepped into the centre and let the automated system do its thing.

As with Bhikki herself, the system deposited Hoodwink's other clothes in a neatly folded bundle, just next to where it had left hers. When the screens dropped, she saw... well, a lot of skin, for one thing. He was standing with his back to her, posed casually, and since the 'outfit' she'd chosen comprised only one article, it looked very much like he was completely naked. the light tan of his skin seemed to be even over everywhere, and under his clothes the man had a mostly average build that was toned and showed only slight hints of true muscle definition. The calves looked strong, the bum was firm, the shoulders were strong, and as he looked back over his shoulder at her, Hoodwink raised one eyebrow.

He turned then, spreading his hands wider for her appraisal. As expected, all that was present on the front was a leaf that didn't actually manage to fully do its job. The top of it nestled in a light swath of curly brown hair, while the end of it hung down about an inch short of fully covering what it was intended to. It wasn't a gargantuan or even overly large specimen in its current, relaxed, state, but was probably on the healthy upper end of average in length and girth for a man of his stature. If Bhikki happened to be a connoisseur of such anatomy, she'd probably observe that it was in its natural state, without any culturally driven surgical modifications. Upon inspection of the 'garment' it could probably be assumed that the leaf was slightly undersized deliberately, and that, as a costume, it was designed to make the 'covered' part seem more impressive.

Provided the small woman's eyes weren't drawn solely to that region of the man's body, the other thing she'd note as he turned around was that hoodwink apparently bore a selection of old-looking scars. His chest was toned and defined, as was his midsection, but a number of thin scar lines crossed it over in several places; one from the top edge of his right shoulder down to just below his left nipple, and another that marked the line of his breast-bone, almost down to his solar plexus. Another scar remained sloping diagonally down above his navel, while a smaller one, which looked more like it might come from a stab wound, took up about two inches just above his left hip. hoodwink bowed slightly, hands spread, while he gave her ample time to look and take in as much of her fill as she wished to. He wore his very near to nudity with a casual confidence and grace, no different from when he'd been dressed, and didn't seem at all ashamed or bashful of his scars.

"Well then... What do you think, Bhikkhuni? Do I pass muster? Shall I pose for you? Would you like any particular angle or turn? I wonder if the system has a female equivalent of this costume... we could certainly give that one to Zenny, if you wanted." He moved out of the circle of mirrors, coincidentally moving back towards Bhikki in the process. "You can touch if you want to..." this suggestion was a low treacle, sliding across his smile to her. "I won't stop you, and I'll even keep my hands behind my back, unless you say otherwise..." If simply putting on the outfit was calling her bluff, then this was calling it and writing an endorsed tour-guide to accompany... but despite the flirtatious play, the man was remaining as much of a gentleman as someone wearing only a fig leaf could. It seemed that for all the sneaking and creeping of two thieves in a mansion, he was serious about wanting any horseplay to be her decision, rather than pushing for it himself.

Just as it seemed that the trail had already run cold, Mary managed to find a hidden passageway. The fact that she found it while keeping her eyes 90% closed was all the more impressive, in her mind. "I guess God throws me a bone every now and then, when I actually do what he tells me to," she reasoned, moving her hand around inside the secret space to test. "I think they went through this passage, Mordenite," she announced, in case he hadn't figured out what was going on. "It is quite likely that the girl doesn't have an operator, given the charity. As for Zennocracy's security forces, I have to say that I couldn't identify them if I was looking for them... which is something I can't really do to begin with... and I'm not willing to let the captors continue their depravity while I go look for them. I'm sure there are other battle-capable navis who will join me in the rescue."

As if summoned, two nearby voices called out; the navis sounded like they were looking for a battle themselves. The fact that they were speaking loudly encouraged her... all of the reports she'd heard and what she'd seen of the abductors so far seemed pretty shady, so if these two were willing to speak out loud, it was likely that they weren't associated with the kidnappers. "Over here!" Mary called out; there was a risk she'd be heard and rouse the evildoers from their den, but she'd have to take that risk for the sake of expediency. Just in case, she stood well away from the secret entrance, since there was a chance arms would simply reach out and pull her in while she was busy rallying help. With any luck (or divine intervention), she'd soon have some combat-ready allies to help her in the mission. It didn't seem like Exorcist was going to show up... Mary could only figure her fellow Counterinfectualist was tied up elsewhere.

-------------------------------

Indeed, Exorcist was tangled up, but not in the way Mary suspected. Counterinfectualism's star disciple had found herself slowly catching on to the fact that the madame's means of providing camouflage to their conversation involved a little more than keeping their voices quiet. "I don't understand..." she murmured while the other lady's face was close. "If he's part of Zennocracy's group, why is he agitating them? And more importantly, does that mean that if he is telling me to foil the... events... going on tonight, that Zennocracy is partially behind those as well?" she asked. It was a lot of questions to try to fit into a little bit of close contact. She had more to ask, but was cut off by the other navi nipping at her ear. "C-Come on..." she pleaded, craning her neck to the side and half-shutting her blue eyes in a way that was unintentionally tantalizing.

She jumped a bit as the other lady pushed her against the wall, although, for her own sake, she'd convinced herself that it must be an act. "A-A-Ah! Burt...!" she gasped, her eyes pleading for her operator to look away. That was a pointless gesture, as his eyes were completely rooted; ordinarily he might jealously break up this sort of thing, but, for whatever reason, he didn't seem especially interested in halting this one. One would have to brush aside the vast curtain of Exorcist's feathery hair to get to her neck, but she had a graceful Eastern look coming from collar to chin-line once that was pushed aside. Those less focused in aesthetics and more in feel would certainly appreciate the overall softness of her body, especially on the buttocks and thighs where Sanguina was putting a lot of her attention. Her skirt was already riding up, revealing more of the thighs, and she was starting to wish that she hadn't come dressed for a party after all.

Exorcist did her best to keep on an intelligent conversation, but it was even harder for her than for the one whose mouth was full half the time. She'd given up acting and right now was really receiving more than she was giving. One hand was arched on the wall behind her while the other grabbed onto the madame's shoulder, the least provocative place she could think of to keep it. "It's... it's very confusing.... mmm!" she squeaked, unable to get many words out. This wasn't the first time she'd been touched this way... Stunt had his hands all over her back during her recruitment mission. That groping had been a lot more one-sided as far as pleasure had gone, seeing as Stunt was likely self-trained only for pleasuring himself, while Sanguina did it to others for a living. She didn't count herself as particularly interested in women, but she had to admit that this was leagues more appealing than the alternative she'd experienced back then. That said, it was still very embarrassing, especially now that her operator was watching intently rather than trying to call it off.

... Also, he'd relocated to the bathroom. She realized why he'd probably done that, but it only made her more frustrated with him, not particularly more embarrassed. She attempted some more conversation. "M-Maybe they're like that radical organization that's been in the news some lately, the one that- eep! Please... Um... Right, the one that is dedicated to deleting navis they think are too weak? They might target unoperated navis for no other reason than to get rid of them," she asked. devising the desperate theory that if she tried to keep up a more spirited conversation, it might stop the other navi from giving her a crash course in girl-on-girl sexual technique. "Or it could also be a hit of some kind. If the unoperated navis themselves had some greater connection than simply being coincidentally part of the same organization... Like, for instance, if they were actually protected witnesses, or possibly privy to some kind of information?" None of this was likely to be particularly useful... more guesses than actual theory... but even if she wasn't being fondled mercilessly, she'd probably only be asking questions anyway. The other lady seemed much more educated on the subject.

------------------------------------------

"It's probably just for silly parties or something- no, no, no, stop-!" Bhikkhuni first began to theorize, then babble, as she realized that Hoodwink was, in fact, calling her bluff. When he looked back over his shoulder, he's get a peek of her gawking, her lower lip drooping into a cartoonish, open-mouthed frown. She was bug-eyed and rather obviously staring at his bare buttocks. She thought to herself, for a fleeting moment, that she was powerless but to be especially naughty and try to catch a glimpse of his manhood while his legs were parted... only, when he turned, it was more or less on display anyways with no need for searching. "Your d-d-d... Your ding-a-ling!" she cried out, much too loudly for one trying to have secret, uninterrupted sexy time. She looked back up to his face, her own tan gradually becoming more of a sunburn as red spread from where it lingered at her cheeks to now cover her entire face. "You perv! W-W-What do you think you're showing me?!" she cried out, her eyes shooting down a few more times before she willed them to lock onto his face.

Her eyes narrowed and her frown deepened as she made another realization. "Wait a second... he hasn't even got a woody? What the...?! she thought to herself, vaguely offended. Her paranoia crept back in and suddenly, she wondered if she once again wasn't being toyed with somehow. As she thought about the possibility that he might be a creep, she noticed that another creep had relocated to the bathroom and, of course, assumed it had to do with her situation. "Don't tell me... he's getting off on this right now?! Gross gross groooooss," she thought in momentary disgust, which gradually gave way to the mixture of awe, terror, and sexual thrill that she'd been experiencing moments ago.

"D-D-D-" she began, looking down again for an unfortunately prolonged period, before shaking her head furiously, "ding-a-ling! You ding-a-ling, I don't want to touch y-your... I don't want to touch anything, okay?! No posing or- or any of that stuff! I'm just going to do what I promised, then we can get the costume to Zennocracy and I'm going to get out of here, c-cause this is..." she finished, trailing off with a gulp as she tried to decide exactly how she felt right now. With a sense of purpose, she crossed back over to the console and pushed her new friend out of the way, then instantly mashed the console, pausing for no time at all to make any further modifications. As a result, of course, when the machine unveiled her, it would be her form garbed in nothing but a floating fig leaf. They'd be a regular Adam and Eve. Like he had earlier, she'd begin with her back to her, so he was free to take in the au natural look for a moment if he wanted.

She looked down for a moment, long enough to realize that she'd lost her baby-doll, then crossed her arms over chest. "No no no! You tricked me, you perv!" she cried out nervously. Judging by how she hadn't turned around and wasn't bothering to cover her buttocks, it was pretty obvious she didn't realize she'd ended up in leaf rather than in panties. "This is unbelievable!" she cursed, looking back over her shoulder, then thinking the better of it and focusing her eyes forward at the items that had been deposited. "Now I know we're giving Zennocracy tiny panties and no bra, because if I have to deal with this, so does she!" she complained, peaking back a few more times to confirm Hoodwink's position. She really would start to panic if he circled around to the front, but she'd also let him. If he was interested, he'd seen that the leaf was significantly better suited to covering her. The fact that she had a little to groom herself revealed that, despite her stature, she probably was indeed modeled the same age as the others in her group (not that Hoodwink would know what that group was like... or would he?).

Though Rhinestone's repayment of her favor restored her eyesight and aim, she didn't do much to show her appreciation. She did at least give him a quick "Thanks," before her amber eyes, now refocused and intense, moved from Rhinestone to her foes. However, a slight grin did grow on her face after the exchange of fire went solely in her favor, and seemed to have forced the enemy further into a retreat. She tilted her arm to the side and let go of the trigger assembly, so the air cannon fell away from her arm as it rapidly fragmented. Some of the glowing leftover data from the deactivated weapon swirled around her lightly polished black pumps as she continued to step forward and menacingly flexed the knife-like fingers of her right hand.

She kept her eye on the mooks as they made their way to the stairs, and determined them to be goons as opposed to lone actors, thanks to their telling remarks prior to ResQ's attack. Though the two goons seemed to be more of a threat to each other than her, she still didn't like being outnumbered. [[i]"Twinfang,"[/i]] she ordered next from her NetOp. Alex felt the curtness of her speech was likely more of a powerplay from the Navi than clear & concise operational comms, but a battle wasn't the time to criticize her demeanor. He slotted in the chip as requested, and uploaded it to the Navi.

ResQ activated it as soon as she confirmed the upload, which caused two long, rectangular structures to materialize on the right and left sides of her left forearm. A single metal spike protruded from the front of each rectangular housing, and a handle/trigger assembly stretched between the two spike launchers to rest beneath the palm of her hand. They had just finished fully forming before she pointed the weapon towards the two mooks. Once she drew a bead on the left-most one, the weapon went with a throaty *thoonk!* sound and sent a single projectile about the width of a railroad spike towards the Navi. She almost immediately followed up with a second spike in the direction of the navi to the right of the stairs.

The TwinFang launcher fragmented and disappeared as quickly as it appeared, leaving her to continue pressing forward. "Looks like we don't have much of a choice of direction," she commented to Rhinestone before she passed him. Her drill-shaped pony tail swayed slightly from left to right as she walked towards the stairs, and then looked over her shoulder with her intense amber eyes. Though it might've been interpreted as her checking to see if Rhinestone was following, she was more concerned with the odd noise coming from the room. She didn't like the sound of that phantom scuffling in the corner, and since the door behind her looked to be sealed, the only way was forward.

As Mary debated the risks of following after the kidnappers and into the unknown, Mordenite nodded slowly, his expression as close to worried as one could realistically tell. He grimaced at the narrow entry way again, then turned to look back towards the mansion in the distance.

"I will send miss Zennocracy a message. She will see it, if it comes from me, and she will send someone swiftly. Her head retainer will be more than capable of—" The deliberate pace of his speech trailed into silence as quicker events overtook. Nevertheless he seemed like he was still preparing a message to send, just in case it was still warranted. The gargoyle might move ponderously, but he was efficient and wasted no time or action. While he composed the message, however, Mary had called out to the voices coming towards them, and a short while later two figures emerged into the small clearing at a rush.

The first was the same handsome man that Exorcist had seen in the company of the matron. His features had gone from relaxed to deadly serious, and once he was away from the obvious crowds of people, a long, curved sword had sprung into his right hand. The design was very eastern, with length and grip denoting it as a two-handed weapon, but he held it with a comfortable ease in just one for now. It was lined with a blaze of fire that gave off a potent heat as he drew closer. His blade tip flicked upwards when he caught sight of Mordenite, but a moment later the second figure rushed through the gap as well, putting a hand on his shoulder. She had to reach up.

Mary's first look at Uprising would see the rebel with an equally serious expression to the sword-wielder. She was still dressed in her sci-fi cosplay, but her banner was gripped firm in her free hand, and her eyes reflected a look that was more than happy to do murder in the name of justice. After stopping Kenmoete from acting rashly, she rushed across to Mary instead.

"Are you Mary? Where is Grace? What happened here? What kind of danger is she in?" Between forceful questions, the compact freedom fighter let her eyes scan the area in quick darts, lighting on the entry way that Mary had revealed. "Is that where they went?" Following her lead, Kenmoete was already beginning to move towards the drop shaft, and Mordenite turned to look at Uprising, pausing his composition as he did.

"You are one of Miss Zennocracy's associates, are you not. One of her other associates, I should say. Is she then, aware of this crime occurring on her lands?" Uprising was too focused on Mary to give a proper answer, but spared him the flick of her eyes and a small, curt nod.

----

Perhaps it was a bit much for Madama Sanguine to expect her new friend to play along as vigorously as she herself was acting, or perhaps she just enjoyed the fun of having someone inexperienced in her hands for the show. Either way, the make-out session that was happening on the far side of the faire became a fairly one-sided affair before too long. The matron caught on that the show was, possibly, in danger of braking down ,so she eased up her attentions as well, toning back to another round of close in nuzzling and grinning whispers, slipping the occasional amused laugh into the mix as well.

"I do not have enough answer to say... But something does not add up, that much I am sure of." She nestled in closer, mostly just hugging, but with the occasional small nip to Exorcist's neck or kiss against her ear. "But if I were a gambling woman, I would say... All the pieces are intended to move in a way that provides Zennocracy with good press, and more than she would get from holding this benefit alone. I do not know exactly how she intends to bring that about, but if this were the board I was sitting before, and I was in her shoes, with that goal in mind... I think I know what I might have planned. If, remember. If. That is what we do not... ahh... about time..."

Before she could articulate any further, several figures began to slink out from the darker patches between the stalls. There were too many, and all at once, and all focused on the couple, for it to be coincidence. One stepped ahead of the others; most of them were fairly generic and unadorned-looking navigators, most of whom had pulled short, blunt weapons with who-knew-what chip data in them, but the one leading them grinned.

"Gone and sent your battle loli away to the other team, and left yourself all alone there. Not very smart for such a smart lady, huh?" Exorcist would immediately recognise the voice as the one she'd heard before. Madama Sanguine gently released her and stretched in a luxurious manner.

"So, you have me. I do not fight; what are your intentions?" Despite her words, Exorcist was close enough to feel that he still radiated absolute calm and confidence. Her body language alone declared that she was the cat, and they were the mice, not the other way around, though she didn't seem to have prepared any defence or weapons of her own. The lead navi tapped the end of his blunt instrument in his hand. It looked like they might go straight to violence, if someone couldn't draw them into talking quickly.

----

Somewhere else, no longer attached to the wandering comet, yet still on the same homepage, ResQ was busy dealing with Rhinestone's would-be attackers. The brief thanks was apparently enough for her ward; he nodded in return but didn't say more. Whatever ResQ had decided about their earlier conversation, and whether the representative was genuine or just playing bleeding heart, right now he seemed to be serious, worried, but handling himself well all the same. At least for someone that was expected to be a non-combatant, anyway. He stayed mostly behind ResQ once it was clear she was taking the offence on the situation, and followed her lead.

The leader retreated completely down the stairs out of sight, sending another parting shot at ResQ in the form of an airshot, not unlike the one she'd just fired. Just as the visible force wave came towards her, however, a transparent shell of transparent gemstones races across the space in front of her, scattering away again just as quickly when the blast hit, but diffusing the hot. Despite the sudden protection, ResQ still felt herself thrown back roughly by the residual pressure, her back slamming against the wall next to the door.

Her own shots found their marks quickly, nailing into the retreating forms of the two lesser agents and slamming them both painfully against the stairwell like rag dolls. They each put an arm over the other as they dragged themselves to their feet, then glanced towards ResQ and Rhinestone, threw their weapons at them, and started hobbling away. The throws, unfortunately, were the most accurate thing either of the pair had managed, and ResQ could only raise a hand to bat away the blackjack that hit her, while rhinestone had the, in reality, no more pleasant issue of getting hit in the face with a fluffy pillow. Rhinestone still had the added benefit of ResQ's shield, while she had to deal with the mild concussive force directly, but the wave of drowsiness that followed threatened to overcome both of them until Rhinstone growled under his breath and clapped his hands together in a single, carrying sound. A small wave passed out from him, just wide enough to reach ResQ as well, and cleared the sleepiness from them both before it could take effect.

Recovering from the hard blast back that had thrown her away, ResQ moved forward again, but it looked like the pair of goons were going to make it through the doorway ahead of her. Just before they reached it, however, the one that was slightly in the lead stopped still, standing up straight suddenly and uttering a small gasp. A second late,r a beam of light lanced down and pulled him from the net. His buddy had only a moment to look stunned before the blade of a long, slender knife slipped out from the front centre of his chest and her was forcefully jacked out as well.

The air shimmered slightly at the base of the stairwell, and racing back from the tip of the knife the shroud of invisibility fell away to reveal, of all things, the lady that ResQ had been trying to keep an extra eye on before everything went to hell. She held the knife back-handed, but with the palm of her other hand pressed hard tothe pomel, as though she'd used both to push it home. The expression her features now was a much grimmer scowl than the vaguely amused boredom of before. the knife disappeared with a flicker as she stood straight again and climbe dthe few stairs to be ont he smae level as the others.

"I don't suppose one of you can tell me what in anyone's name is going on here? I like a game as much as the next, but I don't appreciate having my drinks interrupted and this is just plain rude. I'm going to give Zenny an earful for this, and you can bet Drisco will as well. What's your game, Sparkles, and why are these lunks after you?" After fixing Rhinestone with a short glare, she looked across to ResQ and made a visible effort to soften the expression, though it was plain she was still annoyed at the situation.

"Thanks. I hate having to actually fight, so you saved me a hassle there." The doorway to the chamber beyond was still open, but for now, as long as they remained in this store room, it seemed that they were out of immediate danger... but it was still the only way to go, one they were ready to move on, as long as the door back to the Comet no longer functioned.

-=Back Room Brawl=-

-=Kidnappers=-

SubvertAgentA: EJO
SubvertAgentB: EJO
SubvertSquadLeader: ESCAPED

-=Kidnapees=-

ResQ.Exe: 120Hp [Near Stairs][Normal][RageClaw Ready 6/6]

Rhinestone.Exe: 200Hp [Near ResQ][Normal]

-=Out Of Combat=-

----

Meanwhile, Elsewhere... Oh my...

Powerless to stop the dangerously escalating game of costume chicken, Bhikki's desperately flustered reaction to Hoodwink's native attire drew an amused laugh from him, but thankfully he obeyed her request not to pose or model further, and didn't try especially hard to show himself off any more. If he was bothered by her louder exclamation, he didn't seem concerned that anyone was in danger of being alerted; he took a few casual paces around the space between them, stretching hands behind his head and grinning side-on to the smaller woman.

"Let me put it this way... We were talking about how far a person is prepared to go to attain what they desire. You put a hurdle in front of me, between myself and what I'm chasing, perhaps to see if I would jump, or perhaps because you thought I wouldn't... I am, truth be told, not comfortable at all being this exposed... but I do it with a grin, because that, Bhikkhuni, is the chase; that is my will to acquire. What of yours?"

The some-time Buddhist's response seemed to surprise even him, however, as she returned to the controls and duplicated her challenging outfit onto herself, without even any consideration for male to female differences. Despite himself he whistled appreciatively; a single impressed note that trailed off into a soft hum. In her new coic,e Bhikki looked as though she was simply nude, from behind, and the small glance back over her shoulder showed her the man behind with a slight tilt of his head, getting a good eyeful. It was the sort of head tilt that looked as though he was hoping for her to bend forward, but surprised as she was, she didn't oblige.

He didn't try, immediately, to get any further look at anything more than she was showing to begin with, staying a few paces back, and raising his hands in innocence as she covered her exposed chest and blamed the mishap on him. While he didn't try to circle around and see her from the front at all, he did move in closer once she decided that her choice was set. while Bhikki stood at the console, Hoodwink moved in behind her, resting one hand on her shoulder again gently. the way his finger tip played this time was the same as before, but now it would probably heighten the awareness that there was no strap any more and her shoulder was bare now.

"If you are all decided then... here, let me show you what we need to do..." He reached one hand past her, over the shoulder, to begin touching things on the screen. The hand slipped over her shoulder, but his other one, left free, trailed down to settle softly on her hip. He had leaned forward, just a little, when he began to work the console, and she would be able to feel the skin of his chest pressing against her exposed back. further down, against the small of her back, and just a short distance above the top of her buttocks, Bhikki would also feel something else that she would be all too aware of. He might not be hard, but he had mentioned that, despite appearances, he wasn't at all comfortable being in this state so openly... and even so, there was a small amount of firmness there, and a heat that radiated. Where the too-short leaf ended, she'd feel the warmth of the appendage brushing the small of her back, and give a slow pulse every other moment, in time with what she could only guess was his heart beat.

"So... just like this..." the hand on her hip shifted up and down by an inch or two, stroking slowly as he tapped the buttons needed to configure both the transparent baby-doll, and the single fig leaf underneath, into the ribbon-wrapped prize box that waited to be collected by Zennocracy at the right moment. The machine did its work and the box was replaced by another identical one a moment later, presumable containing the far more embarrassing 'outfit' if it could be called such.

When he was done, Hoodwink let his other hand drop down to rest on her other hip, very gently holding her close to him, and leaned down to place a chase, delicate kiss on the top of her head, before stepping back and away.

"All done... I admit, I wouldn't mind if you stayed as you are, but I think we can both get dressed again now, if that's what you want to do... One of your tasks in the mansion is complete, an one is what I said I would help you with. Will you be alright to complete the other task on your own... I could be convinced to help you with that as well, if you want the pleasure of my company." He absently rubbed the knuckles of one hand against his chest, then stretched again, looking towards her with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. Whether Bhikki was looking back, showing him her front or her back, or simply rushing to get dressed as quickly as she could, was her decision.

Mary's semi-blindness was enough for her to see that she wouldn't mind spending more time with one of the handsome, muscular strangers (not that the other was out of the question). "Yes, I'm Mary," she began, but the next questions were more difficult to answer, and she wasn't able to respond quite as quickly. "I believe she was kidnapped forcefully and taken inside-" Before the words were actually out, the smaller girl had discovered the secret Mary was about to get around to. "That is it, yes. Please, head inside quickly. They must still be inside."

The girl's response to Mordenite's question was affirmative, which complicated matters a bit more, now that Mary thought about it. If Uprising knew that Zennocracy had been informed, did that mean Zennocracy was her employer? Or just that she was in contact with Zennocracy or the security force? She felt like she ought to tread carefully, given that they had technically been sent here to sabotage some of Zennocracy's events for the night, but she still knew her first priority was to make sure Grace was okay (assuming the abducted girl was Grace).

"I can't fight, but I can heal; I'll come along as well, in case there is anything I can do to help," she told the others, trying to stay close to the smaller girl, as she presumably entered the secret hiding spot. She kept up her blind act as well as she could given the circumstances, but she needed her eyes at least a little to make sure she wasn't going to plummet into some kind of pit as soon as she stuck her foot through the entrance. Hopefully God would let her know that before it happened but... well, best not to let your hands entirely off the wheel in a case like this.

------------------------------

Exorcist was surprised to hear that maybe the madame didn't know everything about the situation surrounding the festival either. With the action toned down just a little bit to a more comfortable level, Exorcist started to put together a theory. "You don't think her plan could have been to lure the criminal elements out and then control them herself for the sake of press, do you? Although, if she was going to do that, you'd think she wouldn't let anyone be abducted... the fact that the process is already under way and they haven't been rooted out would only embarrass her. Unless she controls the press after the fact, of course," she mused in a hushed voice.

As several others interrupted, Exorcist gave a quick gasp and fixed down her skirt as best she could for modesty's sake, then adjusted the hem around her collarbone where it had been displaced. Her initial instinct upon examining the crowd was to raise one hand and gesture as though making a hand-gun, which might look a little silly to the uninitiated, but was really her manner of channeling chi to prepare hand swords. "Burt, prepare chips," she whispered to him.

"Gotta wash my hands," he whispered back, ruining dramatic tension.

"Gross!" she complained, frowning in frustration.

"Whaaat?! I just took a crap, sheesh!" he complained, struggling to get his skinny jeans back up one-handed, while carrying the PET in the other hand. "I'm not touching my chips, my precious exorcism tools, with unclean hands!"

"But the PET is fine?" she retorted, noting that the situation was proceeding without her. "Burt!"

"Alright, I'm slotting you in the Katana! Kill 'em all! They're definitely evil, no doubt about it! Anyone who interrupted my navi going bottom with a totally stacked female top is surely possessed of evil and needs to be taken out, immediately! Drive out the manifestations of evil!" he insisted, causing someone in the stall nearby to clear his throat and hurry Burt on out of the restroom.

Exorcist didn't quite agree with the motivation, but did agree with the solution... however, when she looked over to Madama Sanguina, it didn't look like the two of them had come up with the same plan. The madame might not know everything, but she knew more than Exorcist did in this situation, and thus the star pupil of Counterinfectualism decided not to draw her sword just yet. She was already resolved, though, that the madame wouldn't be without protection just because her bodyguard had taken off... if it came down to a fight, she'd draw her katana and get down to it. For now, she'd bluff and bet on her expectation that the navis wouldn't go open season on two unarmed girls unprovoked. She probably only had a brief window of opportunity before the navis approached to either abduct or attack her, so she'd use it to try to get some information she thought they might slip up and let loose. "What are you planning to do to us? How many of you are there?!" she questioned, perhaps going a bit heavy on the theatrics. With any luck, though, she might at least be able to figure out how many more there were that she and the girls needed to look out for.

In a moment of clarity, she had two thoughts: first, the sudden attack made her wonder if ResQ was okay, given that her ally hadn't checked in for some time now. She sent another message to check in:

Quote ()

ResQ, are you okay? Madama Sanguina and I are being attacked by several navis. I don't anticipate them being too much of a threat, but please report your status when you can.

The second was that it was rather suspicious that the navis were all carrying only melee weapons... not just that, but blunt melee weapons, especially given that swords were far more common. "Very strange... could it be they have orders to rough up others, but not to kill? Or even stranger to imagine, could it be that this is... some sort of performance?" she wondered again, her eyes scanning the environment for any weapon that might pose more of a danger.

---------------------------------

"Dude! Not being comfortable with something like this means covering your junk! You know that leaf isn't hiding your junk, don't you?!" Bhikkhuni protested, mostly ignoring the enlightening comments that her partner in crime was throwing her way in favor of continuing to assume he was either some sort of crazy person or pervert for revealing himself the way he had. "And I'm a Buddhist! My goal is not to have a will to acquire anything! Sheesh!" she pouted, perhaps unconsciously thinking that bit of devoted Buddhism entitled her to a few more quick glances at his leaf. Just to confirm it really was as indecent as she thought it was, of course. Yes, yes it was.

After switching outfits and panicking a bit, she watched him watching her and blushed harder, a red glow overtaking her brown skin. "I-It's just a butt, okay?! Geez, you're making it so embarrassing," she complained, feeling an urge to cover up but not heeding it, given that her hands were currently occupied at her chest. She gulped but didn't protest as he put a hand on her shoulder once again. "So touchy! He's got no shame!" she thought to herself, although she was simultaneously congratulating herself on her apparent sex appeal. As it turned out, he was a lot bolder than that, and he proceeded to push down his chest against her naked back, along with some bit of his manhood. She felt awed and amazed, left in disbelief that he'd be doing something like that with a stranger (and furthermore, that she was letting him do it). Bhikkhuni took a look down and realized she'd lost some clothing herself... meaning...

"P-Pervert! You've got your ding-dong super close to my butt! I-It's touching me!" she warned him, as if it was possible he didn't already know. She froze like a deer in headlights, unsure about what normal protocol was when a handsome gentleman approached a young lady from behind, both of them naked as in the garden of Eden, after talking about how much he wanted something (presumably her). Her chest grew even tighter, her heart pounding harder, as she felt him grab her hips with both hands; she was pretty sure she knew what this position meant. As it turned out, not quite... he capped it off with a kiss on the head, which felt somehow precious and demeaning at the same time. "Ugh! Perv..." she cursed him again quietly.

She felt herself panicking a little bit as the man spoke to her, saying his work was done. She wasn't sure if it was his guidance or the sexual thrill she was mourning the loss of, but regardless, she was pretty sure she didn't want to be alone again, especially not given the fairly dangerous sounding messages that Exorcist and Mary had flying back and forth. "W-What's the rush? You have something better to do than hanging out with me, huh?" she asked, lowering her eyebrows critically. She'd adjusted her leaf just a bit to hide herself as much as she could, then turned to face him, keeping her arms crossed over her chest for modesty. Her brow knit as she realized how that likely sounded. "Your rush to get rid of me, I mean! I'm not saying I want you to stay dressed that way! You look like a real pervert right now, you know?!" she corrected herself... sort of. It didn't really cross her mind that she looked pretty much the same as he did right now.

She looked at the floor for a moment, then back up to him. She was becoming at least a little more comfortable now, given that the novelty of seeing his "ding-a-ling" was finally wearing off a bit. "Alright so... what's it going to take to convince you to help me out some more? We've got the package ready here but... I can barely remember what my other task is here. C'mon, amigo... I-I already kind of gave you a bonus just now when I let you touch my butt with no panties on. You owe me one!" she insisted, growing redder as she recalled the touch. "Or I... I could let you see me with my hair down... I don't take it down for everyone you know! It'll be pretty sexy... What do you think, is that a deal?" She thought about adding the requirement that he put some pants back ASAP, but... "That'd just make it easier for him. Better that he sweats a bit. He said he wasn't comfortable with it, right? That's a good bargaining technique on my part!" she convinced herself.

She made her way to the stairwell with Rhinestone in tow, but soon realized she left herself open as the mook leader returned fire with an airshot of her own. A grimace formed on her face; she didn't have much time to brace for impact, but did notice a "splash" of shimmering gemstones before she was thrown back by the overpressure. Her "drill" ponytail trailed behind and over her shoulder as she careened into the wall. She winced in pain and her garrison cap fell from her head and made a dull flop on the ground. Though jolted, she regained enough focus to effectively nail the two mooks, so to speak.

After the TwinFang launcher disappeared, she flipped the tail end of her ponytail back over her shoulder so it would go back to trailing diagonally down her back as normal. The mooks smartly continued to retreat, but threw their weapons towards them before doing so. She batted away the blackjack with a frustrated backhand, but realized the error of her ways as intense fatigue and drowsiness washed over her. "Ah, shit..." she muttered and struggled to keep her eyes open while her body began to sway precariously. Her initial thoughts were of what to do if she were captured, and a hope that none of those stupid mooks did some pervy shit to her unconscious body, but said thoughts soon turned to fluffy pillows, clouds, and sweet dreams.

Thankfully all of those thoughts weren't needed thanks to the sudden, jarring clap of sound. The previous drowsiness and fatigue almost immediately disappeared, though it took a second for ResQ to realize what happened. [[i]Hm, this guy is pretty useful,[/i]] ResQ thought to herself after she shot a glance towards Rhinestone. She then reached down to retrieve and put the garrison cap back on her head with her left hand, and clacked her still clawed right hand as she continued to advance.

However, she paused as one of the goons immediately stopped, then was felled by some sort of beam attack. His comrade was also dispatched at close range, and ResQ brought her claws up in anticipation to possibly fight the enemy of her enemy. Thankfully said party decloaked and revealed herself to be who she assumed to be SaijaTsun and wasn't hostile. ResQ moved out of her battle stance as the previously invisible woman moved out of hers. She deactivated her claws as the woman spoke exclusively to Rhinestone, and adjusted her garrison cap with the help of now two useable hands. It seemed the woman had been watching, maybe she was the source of the phantom noise?

"I too would like to know; and thank you, miss..." ResQ commented with a similar glance towards Rhinestone before her amber eyes shifted to the woman, in an attempt to get her name. As she did so, she received a communique from Exorcist.

Quote (ResQ)

You too huh? Rhinestone and I were attacked as well, but they were dealt with quickly. I think SaijaTsun is here as well.

While Mary did her best to answer Uprising's rapid-fire questions, the other new arrival tot he scene wasted no time in entering the revealed shaft and swiftly disappearing from sight, sword at the ready. The rebel looked about to follow, but hesitated at Mary's offer. she stopped with one hand on the side of the entryway, banner in her other hand as she looked back.

"You can follow if you want; I'll not so no to extra hands, but understand: this is not a part of the faire or the games. If there is danger, it will be real." Her eyes fixed on Mary's closed ones for a moment, uncertain and questioning, before she shook it off with a shrug and jumped into the drop shaft after her companion. Next to Mary, Mordenite rumbled low in his throat, which came out as a deep sound like grinding stone.

"I do not care for this... I will still send Zennocracy this letter, but I grow more concerned for the lady who was taken. I can not think of any purpose or meaning behind this turn of events, but if lives are at risk, then I think it would be safest for you, Miss Mary, to remain above ground. Miss Zennocracy has other security forces, and I am sure they will attend soon." As he finished speaking, he sent the message he had been writing with a small gesture of one massive hand. Unless she was deliberately peeking, Mary likely wouldn't see the small growths of clear crystal that were beginning to form across some of the old gargoyle's stone joints, the more agitated he got.

Far off, back in the main thoroughfare of the fantasy section, a cheer went up as some performance reached its conclusion, before an announcing voice that Mary could only just barely make out from here began to talk about the charity battle royale that would be a focal point of the evening. She could listen in to the details more closely if she wanted to stay, but for now it sounded like the voice was just talking about what it was and would be, and that the actual marshalling for the event wasn't going to happen for a little while yet.

Ultimately, this left Mary with a choice between staying with Mordenite, where she would, presumably, be safe, and leaving Grace's rescue to others, or to follow after Uprising and Kenmoete and try to do what she could to help them, in the mysterious unknown below.

If she held true to her decision to follow after, Mary would find that the entry way did, indeed, give in to a direct shaft that dropped straight down, but there was a slight sense of control that went with it, such that she was never falling too quickly, and none of her clothes did anything more than rustle in the breeze. Eyes closed or not, the sense of darkness was absolute for a second or two, before she landed softly on a hard surface that felt like stone. There was some light here, though not much. The most obvious source actually came from Kenmoete's burning sword, where he stood a little further across the room. Uprising was just moving across to stand with him, before a mechanical-looking door with a central dial on it.

"Locked a few moments ago, from the other side. It's been a while since I've seen a serious fight with life and limb at stake, but even then infiltration has never been my strong point." The sword flared softly as his hand gripped it tighter, frustrated. Uprising appraised the door and the locking mechanism, then took a step back, turning to the side slightly and lowering her stance.

"I can unlock it, step back..." The freedom fighter's method of unlocking was fairly easy to guess if Mary was peeking, but might come as more of a surprise if she wasn't. There were a few seconds for her to intervene with another plan, if she wanted to, otherwise the SP would just have to wait and see what happened.

----


Elsewhere, Exorcist herself wasn't facing quite the same quandary as her SP, but it was at least a somewhat related issue. In the moments after their make-out session was rudely interrupted, her red-dressed remind managed a final whisper in response before challenging the interlopers, though it only confirmed that she didn't actually know nearly as much as either of them would like.

"Perhaps, or it may be something else. Our bait has caught some fish, so let us find out what we may..." It came as a subtle hiss of breath, trailing across Exorcist's ear before the matron stepped away.

While the leader of the navis who had stepped into sight played a cool face and tapped the end of his cudgel meaningfully, the other navis around the pair seemed at least somewhat relieved that neither Exorcist, nor Madama Sanguine intended to put up a fight. At their questions, however, and particularly the fact that they were both looking fairly calm, for having been just pounced on mid private make-out, he decided to up his intimidation game a little and swaggered closer.

"I don't got to answer any of your questions, ladies, but I think it'd do you both to be a bit more scared, so I'll tell you, just out of the goodness of my heart, right? Good thing you're both going to come quiet; it'd be a terrible shame to have to make a mess of either of your pretty faces..." A sneer worked its way across his features as he leaned in to direct most of his bluster at Sanguine, but if Exorcist was particularly perceptive while he was focused elsewhere, she might pick up hints from his expression and body language that the navi wasn't quite as confident as he was trying to seem.

"So, our boss wants to chat with you, and the other navis here who're sticking their necks out for unoperated trash. Great big shin dig by people with too much money, over wastes of data like that, well, he's got some things to say about that, and you three are just what he needs right now. Now maybe I don't know any more than that, but I sure as hades don't need to just to do my job." He made small gesture off to the sides with one hand and a total of four other navis moved in closer, all visibly carrying different blunt-ended weapons, surrounding them now. Exorcist would feel her companion subtly slip one arm around her waist and pull her in closer, until they were pressed tight to each other again, though her eyes remained locked on the leader in cool calculation. She wasn't saying anything more yet, and was simply letting the goon run his mouth.

"So you're both going to come quietly with us now, no fuss and now fighting. We take you down to the boss, he does his thing, whatever that is... I'm sure he'll find a nice use for you too, missy..." Exorcist received a side-long glance and a sneer of her own. "And then you're both his problem, and we get paid for not asking any more questions. We all clear?" Opposite him, the matron inclined her head, then quickly cut her eyes across to Exorcist to see if she was still calm as well.

"I said that I would not fight, and I am a woman of honour. I do not tell lies. I would be pleased to talk to your employer, every bit as much as I wouldn't want to waste any more words on a lackey. Very well, take us on to your leader, receive whatever petty sum he is paying you for the delivery, and go about your lives. I have no business with any of you, and I do not need to tell you that my friend could easily destroy all of you if she wished to. Think on that as we walk." There was a moment when the leader growled and raised his club, but when nobody flinched, he restrained himself and grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, lowering the weapon and turning away while some of the other navis moved up to begin moving them both forward between the tends. There were plenty of opportunities for Exorcist to capitalise on the situation if she wished to; few of them seemed to be expecting violence now that the matron had agreed to be led, but it also seemed like the woman had some kind of plan at least... didn't she?

It was only as they began to move that Exorcist received a short communication. It came as a private message, from someone whose name appeared as "Fuukouhan".

Quote (Fuukouhan)

Give no sign. Stay close to Matron. As long as you are in contact with her, you will be protected from anything I do. If not, I can make no assurances!

She had a few moments to ponder what to do about the message while the kidnappers escorted them towards what looked like a food vendor that had shut up shop early. When one of them opened the back door, however, it appeared to lead into downward stairs, rather than the front of the cart. Like Mary, she would just be hearing the beginnings of someone announcing information about the mock battle later in the evening.

----

Closer to the underground point that several of them all seemed headed towards now, ResQ was dealing with the aftermath of her own brief scuffle. Unlike the other two, though, it seemed like she was more in a position to approach the confrontation on her own terms and in her own time, now. It took Rhinestone a few seconds longer to relax again once the immediate danger had passed, and he seemed more shaken than ResQ might have expected given how promptly and decisively he'd reacted when the chips were down. Of course, it was also a fair assumption that combat in general, for an unoperated navi, was inherently more stressful even at the best of times. He eventually stood straight again and took a few longer breaths to collect himself.

"Hahh... right, yes, I'm sorry. Thank you, to both of you, and my apologies for any involvement you've both ended up in on my account." His eyes shifted mainly to the electopian woman first, since ResQ already knew his name. "I'm Rhinestone..."

"Saija." She offered a single word introduction for herself with a small nod, casting her eyes back to ResQ for a moment to show that the name was being offered to both of them, before turning her attention back to the room's most wanted man.

"Um, Pleased, under better circumstances. I don't know why they were after me, but I am here representing an organisation that supports unoperated navigators, so, it might be something about that, I'm sure. I thought this place would be perfectly safe from any kind of attack!" There was an edge of worry in his answer that hadn't been present when he'd been talking to ResQ at the bar; another sign that he probably knew the dangers of being unoperated first hand, even if he wasn't saying so directly. Saija folded her arms, grimacing and walked slowly back towards the door they'd come through, inspecting it.

"It should have been..." She gave the door a rough kick, but it didn't respond. With a small sigh she turned back to ResQ. "And you? I'm glad you're a good fighter, but I'm guessing you were just flirting with the wrong man at the wrong time, right? Looks like our ticket back to the bar is locked tight." Rhinestone looked to the door, then darted over to it quickly as well.

"Here, allow me, I'm sure I can get it open. Hopefully we can get back quickly and they'll call whatever they were hoping to do off. I don't want to get involved in this any more than I need to to protect my organisation, and I certainly don't want to drag anyone else into it either..." He began to examine the door, giving ResQ a few moments to chat with Saija if she wanted, but after alittle while of going over the seams with a series of diamond-tipped tools, he stood abckand winced at the wall.

"Bad news." When he turned back to the two of them, it was with a worried expression. "The actual door is gone. We could knock a hole clean through the data space there and it wouldn't lead to the bar any more. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a temporary hack job, and now that that end is broken open and can't be shut, this door automatically disconnected itself. What should we do? I don't want to go through to wherever they were trying to take us, but... I'm not sure I see much choice now." He seemed to be doing his best to stay calm now, but his fingers flexed nervously and every time they curled up his knuckles whitened for a moment. Siaja let out an exasperated sigh, but as much as she seemed extremely irritated at the situation, she wasn't nearly as on edge as Rhinestone.

----

One of the only members of the group who was not, at present time, venturing into the unknown underground, was quite close to cusping on what was, potentially, an unknown of a different nature for her. Her continued protests at indecency, coupled with Bhikki's unwillingness to actually put a halt to any of his advances, or indeed, to dress herself again, seemed to be leading hoodwink on further and piquing his interest more and more. The sudden tense stillness that she held her breath through when his hands were on her hips, seemingly waiting for him to take the next step without stopping him, and further, the disgruntled comments that followed his denial seemed to light something of an eager fire in the rogue's eyes as he grinned at her.

"I think you know what I'm chasing tonight, Bhikkhuni... You can't be blind to your own allure and what it makes a man feel, after all. But for now, I'll accept what you offer..." He stepped in again; he'd only backed off a single stride from the teasingly close contact of before, and now that it was face to face he lifted his hands to gently caress her shoulders again and run delicate fingers up to her cheeks, then behind her ears. "May I?" It seemed as though he was asking permission to begin letting her hair out for her, though if she wanted to make it easier, she'd need to turn around and put her back, and behind, to him again. If she let him begin undoing her hair and bringing it down, he would do it with care, but also with a slowness that teased. He didn't deliberately press on her while doing so, but Bhikki wouldn't be able to help being aware of his closeness even so... and that certain warmths were somewhat warmer, and possibly slightly firmer, now than they had been the first time.

"So, your other task, if you recall..." Hoodwink chatted smoothly as he undid her hair and took some time brushing it out softly as well — his fingers knew what they were doing, and provided she let it continue, the sensation was both pleasant and relaxing. "Was to steal the centrepiece for the fair, which is the prize to be given out publicly to the winner of the grand mock battle they'll be holding a little later on. It's in another part of the mansion, but I can certainly show you the way. I can even help you with the heist perhaps. It is the difference, you see, between attachment to material possessions, and simply enjoying the thrill of the pursuit. It might be a conflict of you Buddhism if you wished to steal the prize and keep it for yourself... but you don't, do you? It is no conflict to enjoy the thrill of seeking something, if base material possession is no part of what drives you." His finger tips stroked through her hair and massaged her scalp gently, creeping down to rub next at the nape of her neck, and then gradually the top of her back between the grooming strokes of his fingers through her hair.

"My will, then, can be to help you fulfil your purpose here tonight, in exchange for sharing your company a little longer, and enjoying more chance to move closer, and closer, to my goal..." his fingertips brushing her back drifted a little lower in time each time he said the word closer, reaching the small of her back, where she could feel the heat of his manhood, even if he was carefully not touching her with it directly now. "And the hope that when I finally seek to claim it..." His hands brushed the sides of her hips again, and he leaned down to bring his lips close to her ear, kissing the top of it softly. "That you will permit, and not tell me no..."

He raised his head again, and for a moment she would feel the slight brush of a more direct heat against the small of her back, before he ran both hands through her hair again and stood away.

"You were right; it does look quite pleasing like that... I think we are in agreement, are we not? Is there anything else you'd like to do before we continue on?" He grinned at her and raised an eyebrow; getting dressed still hadn't managed to be mentioned, and if she took a look at him now there was no hiding the truth that certain parts of him were beginning to grow more interested the longer he teased and suggested at her. There might be many things that Bhikki wanted to do before leaving the dressing room, some which Hoodwink might appreciate, some which he might not, and whether any of them were really mission related, only the lady herself knew.

[[i]Yessssss,[/i]] ResQ thought and mentally fist-pumped in response to SaijaTsun's brief introduction. [[i]Still got it.[/i]] She returned the nod to Saija, then moved to brush some of the dust from the back of her jacket and skirt. She didn't expect her uniform to have been dirtied by her impact to with the wall, but she'd rather not walk around with a dust ring around her butt. As she brushed down the back of her skirt, her eyes followed Saija as she moved to the door through which they all entered. She raised an eyebrow as Saija kicked the door, it seemed obvious it was busted...

Her facial expression when she realized Saija was speaking to her, and casually placed a hand on her hip. "Thanks, I'm ResQ. No offense to Rhinestone, but he was the flirty one, I just wanted a drink," she remarked before flashing Saija an impish (but secretly fabricated) grin then looked to the door. It looked like she had a few moments of downtime while Rhinestone got to work, so she decided to open the floor with some neutral remarks. "Any idea who pulled that shadow trick in the bar?" she asked, assuming it was her male compatriot she saw earlier, maybe that was the "Drisco" Saija mentioned earlier? "It didn't seem like he was involved with the goons who tried to nab Rhinestone, but he sounded... agitated."

Rhinestone's eventual conclusion regarding the door was important, but not entirely unexpected. She did, however; begin to wonder just how far they've moved from the bar thanks to the "hack job." She didn't like not knowing where she was, but at least she had 2 possible allies on hand, with a vehicle on standby. "If that's the case, then let's get going. If they're going to ruin our day, we might as well ruin theirs," she concluded with a straight face and started to walk towards the stairwell. If SaijaTsun followed along, ResQ would ask "You're quite the fighter as well, what's your line of work?"

With a small nod, Mary began to follow the other navis into the lair of the kidnappers. On one hand, she felt remarkably ill-suited for following other navis into a dangerous battle like this, but on the other, that was essentially what she'd signed on to do with Counterinfectualism anyway. Of course, the stakes were higher here... when it came to unoperated navis, considerable peril was always involved. She resolved to use her healing to help them as much as she could. Though, presumably, if they were being kidnapped, the hostage-takers wouldn't want to lose them regardless... That didn't seem to have stopped them from trying to hurt the one she assumed was Grace earlier, though.

Mary's wet hair flapped gently as she turned back to face Mordenite, then shook her head. "It's not just about me. There are navis in there that may need my healing. If there's anything I can do to help, I must," she explained herself, in a rare moment of genuine goodness, untainted by some ulterior motive.

As she followed the others through, she was indeed surprised to see that the floor was as missing as she'd worried it might be. The breeze didn't seem overly affecting, a fact she somewhat regretted since she was never one to object to a little bit of wanton titillation. As the group came to a locked door, she additionally regretted for a moment that the thieving member of their group was elsewhere... Then reflected that just because Bhikkhuni wanted to swipe things didn't mean she actually had the ability to pick locks, or especially not to open some sort of heavy vault door like this. She pondered for a moment if she ought to pray for guidance, before the smaller girl revealed she had a plan, saving her the effort. She nodded, then stepped back a bit, clutching her hands together at her breast and keeping her head slightly forward as though watching, though for all to see, her eyes were still closed.

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For a moment, Exorcist was satisfied that at least she had confirmation Sanguina was trying to approach the situation calmly in order to gather more information... until she reflected that she really had hoped Sanguina already had the information. She wondered, privately, if the other navis might be able to offer better info with a sword held level to their necks.

"Bah! They'll be sorry if they mess up your pretty face, that's for sure. There's defacing art and then there are affronts upon all that is heavenly, and that crime would fall into the second category!" he announced (only to Exorcist), although the navi noted that he hadn't announced how he would deliver said vengeance. Bhikkhuni? Mary? Somehow either one seemed unlikely.

The speech the guys were giving, about the lack of worth of unoperated navis and how they didn't deserve this type of event devoted to them, sounded almost too villainous to be true, but then, she remembered that there were organizations and navis across the net that seemed to believe that same ideology. Such blatant evil seemed like exactly the type of target that deserved the full heft of her katana, but she couldn't bring it out just yet, not unless Sanguina was on board. She also noticed they'd said "you three..." presumably referring to Uprising as well. She wondered if there was a commonality between the three of them other than their gender and concern for unoperated navis. She had another, more unsettling thought, as well: the point of the blunt weapons they carried could be to damage those who would fight back and leave only superficial injuries on their bodies, rather than cuts or anything that would "ruin the product."

Despite harboring that thought, Exorcist would remain very calm, if Sanguina or the others were paying attention. She'd had plenty of experience fighting viruses, ghosts, giant viruses... giant ghost viruses... she thought that especially given what she'd seen of Sanguina's friends earlier, she was likely not in as much danger as the perpetrators of this kidnapping might think. "Crystal clear," she answered the thuggish navi, lowering her eyebrows critically as she followed alongside Sanguina. Part of her felt like they ought to be acting like they were scared if they wanted the enemy to really let their guard down, but with the madame acting exactly opposite, she felt like the act would just be seen through. That and she wasn't much of an actor to begin with. All she had to do for now is follow the leader, hoping that none of them would decide to make a move on herself or Sanguina (which, to her surprise, didn't really appear to be happening) or hit either of them. At the very least, it sounded like ResQ had taken care of the heat that was on her easily enough... that was reassuring.

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Elsewhere, Bhikkhuni was not capable of getting rid of the heat that was on her so easily, but she wasn't exactly fighting it, either. "I'm not blind to it! I mean... you don't look get to look like this if you don't put some effort into it!" she boasted, although right now, this consisted of a single strategically placed leaf and pretty soon, not even hair ornaments. "I said you could! Gosh, go ahead and do it," she murmured, holding her arms more tightly at her chest and fidgeting as he put his hands onto the gold rings that gave her hair its shape. She didn't turn around this time, so he'd have to handle it all face to face... not that her face was level with his. In the absence of other things to think about, her new friend's slowly increasing state of physiological arousal flew to the forefront of Bhikkhuni's concerns, but thankfully, he redirected the conversation back to her tasks.

She closed her eyes and knit her brow as she pondered the meaning of her potential partner-in-crime's words. "I'd completely forgotten about the prize! Well darn... I mean... Depending on what it is, I guess maybe I don't really need to keep it... Though it'd kind of suck to leave empty-handed," she pouted internally. This was the worst part of Buddhism, in her opinion. While she pondered, he'd moved back around behind her, a fact which became evident when she noticed the heat behind her again. "Spending time, yes! Other goals... maybe! But no guarantees," she warned him, spinning back around to face him and keeping her chest covered with one arm, but poking him in the chest with one finger. At this range, he'd feel her shiver when he nipped her ear, and also, he'd be brushing closer to her belly with his manhood instead of her lower back, which caused her to jump a bit.

"Y-Yeah, well, a change of pace isn't a bad thing sometimes!" she squeaked back, seeming to shrink again; without her hair rings, she tended to look almost like a different person, but also, yet younger than her age than she already looked. She was running out of time to drag this out (not that she was trying to, of course) and if she kept on, they'd end up with Zennocracy or one of her servants coming to fetch the costume and encountering the two of them instead. "Um, we should... probably put some pants back on now, before someone comes in and sees us like this," she murmured, looking somewhat ironically ashamed, now that she was ruining their fun. "Uh... Let's both do it with our back turned cause... I-I'm gonna have to bend over and I don't really want you watching that," she continued, trying to be serious but realizing that her words sounded almost like she wanted him to think about it.

Having put down the ground rules, she walked over to her clothes pile, then looked over her shoulder, to see if he was going to keep watching. If he did, she'd lower her eyebrows meaningfully, then nearly sit to the floor to pick up the folded items. She'd pluck the leaf out of place andbegin putting on her panties one leg at a time. If he didn't look, she'd do the same thing but less theatrically and quicker. If he'd been looking for a good chance to peek, this would probably be his best and last time for a while.