TaxidermyMan's Museum of Restoration

"Oh... Well... It is fine if that is what you do, CourseMan. All of this is fine. The transformation is inevitable and just as you say that speaking to me is beneath you... speaking to you is a courtesy I now perform, like a doctor's soothing words to a patient on his deathbed... The being to which he speaks won't remember his kindness mere moments later, but it's a form of grace... I do not mean to demean you. You simply do not understand, like I did not," the senior TaxidermyMan continued to drone on, even as CourseMan tightened his whip around its neck and hoisted the torso upward so he could speak face to face. The face he stared into was very much the same as he'd seen it earlier: its mouth held into a dignified frown, its eyes drooping slightly due to age, and, unnervingly, its unblinking eyes now covered in dust and discarded lint that had been hidden inside the carpet. It was not a good look for such a supposedly evolved being. "I can see its begun. That body of hers... if you cut it now, I doubt she would even bleed data. The transformation will soon be complete."

TriangleMan was pacing the floor now, his faceplate seemingly focused towards Jailbird. "We should pull those pins out ourselves," he suggested, no longer adhering to his own rules. "It can't make the situation worse."

"It can," TaxidermyMan Sr. spoke up again from CourseMan's grip. "And it will. If you remove the pins at this stage in the process, there is a chance she will be stuck in the 'dead' state. A remarkably foolish decision that would accomplish nothing. Simply be patient-"

"Then how do you undo it?" TriangleMan snapped back, his faceplate glowing red.

"I don't know, TriangleMan," he sighed; CourseMan would see no movement in the mouth or throat as he did so. "I didn't make these, Shok did. I hope she made no way to reverse it, that would be a serious deficiency in the process. CourseMan... you said no one would ever thank me for doing this to them without consent. That is clearly false... I thank Shok for doing this to me. She did this to me... at the time, I protested... if I could have stood up off that table, I would have jabbed one of those needles so far into her skull, she'd be lobotomized. Can you imagine ... how grateful a person has to be to let go of that kind of anger? The kind of epiphany they must experience after the fact? That is immortality. Comparing rape to granting the gift of immortality... it's such a farce, I must admit, I'm offended. I'm trying to be patient..."

"That isn't an epiphany, you're just insane. You are frikking insane, just like news says every other frikking Blesser is," TriangleMan complained.

TriangleMan and TaxidermyMan Sr. could argue all day about that, but everyone's posturing was just losing time. CourseMan finally managed to put an offer on the table that piqued TaxidermyMan's interest. "Now there we have it... If you're willing to try, that's all I need," TaxidermyMan applauded his offer. "Unfortunately, I only have one set of the needles.... Maybe Shok would have more... But with only one set of needles, I can only perform this operation on one of you at a time. I'm sorry... you'll need to be patient. As I've stated, I do not know how to halt or reverse the process." His face was even more unmoving than the other TaxidermyMan's as his stiff torso remained rigid in CourseMan's grasp. "You musn't let them destroy the tools, however. Those tools are everything... from what I know of Shok, they are the last piece of her legacy, the only way to perform this procedure unless she will create more... No one must damage them."

"You must have some idea how to reverse them. Do it now, or I'm destroying them. Maybe it will work, we don't know one way or the other," TriangleMan snapped, seizing upon the fear even though there wasn't much of anywhere to go with it.

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"I've got Kismet... She has spoken to Shok. Thankfully there's some leverage there, we are all conversing now," TaxidermyMan Jr. spoke rapidly, trying to take in and distribute the information at the same time. "The easiest way to do this will be opening up a viewscreen so we can all converse with the two of them. Hold on..."

A viewscreen popped up an excruciating moment later, with Kismet on one side, dressed in her blue cloak and white ball helmet. On the other side was Shok, dressed in her overly revealing, strappy wrapping of belts. The background on Kismet's side was dark and a little hard to make out, but the background of Shok's was a very stark, white, sterile environment; it could be she was even still in the holding room that CourseMan had last seen her. The most striking feature to note was that Shok had a cold, dark expression in her eyes, which, while darkly ringed, were not in their usual bulging state. Her teeth were no longer clenched around the bitten strap either; it was pulled down, below her chin. "CourseMan... There are things we should talk about, but I have the information you need," she spoke very plainly, in a clear voice, although from a somewhat dry throat. "But I will need something from you as well."

"As if we'd trust you," Trace grumbled from behind her bars.

"Do or don't. However, in this situation, no one has the luxury of time. I can deactivate the sticks, but you must do something for me: the three of you must subdue Mime, or else, she must submit herself. Then, BlessMan must go to you, or you all must go to him, and I want proof that her powers have been removed. That bitch still wants to kill me and I can't have her running free with that power and that objective."

"That's fair. She was supposed to have given those up anyway," TaxidermyMan agreed, a slightly judgmental frown frozen on his face. "You agree, right, Mime?"

Perhaps to CourseMan's surprise, perhaps not, Mime nodded her head in agreement.

"Very good. Now subdue her," Shok ordered CourseMan. "And one more thing: she will be imprisoned again. This time, for good. She already broke her word and kept her powers with the intention of attacking me again, clearly."

"Yes, CourseMan, I can think of no alternative. I'm sorry, after all the work you did. Mime ran off without having her powers stripped and thereby broke the terms of the agreement... There's no need to sympathize with her here," Kismet agreed. "I believe we stated quite plainly that she'd forfeit her freedom if she broke the terms."

Mime nodded again, her expression unreadable. She pulled out a length of something invisible, either rope or chain, and manipulated it in typical mime-like motions, extending it out by lengths, before handing one end to CourseMan. She already had her hands together, as though bound by the wrists, so she'd presumably already looped it there to help him out. That was good, as tying an invisible rope wouldn't be easy; it seemed he'd merely need to pull it tight.

"I've put up the jack-out barrier. This room only," TaxidermyMan added, his voice quiet and solemn. The ball was in CourseMan's court if he wanted to continue with this... there could still be something that everyone was overlooking with why Mime had kept her powers, which might be worth his pointing out if anything came to mind. Either way, though, Shok wasn't agreeing to turn off the taxidermist's tools until Mime was completely removed as a threat to her.

Tense and biting back his own snarl of frustration, CourserMan listened to the puppet's answer only long enough for it to get to the part where it admitted having no power, then threw it down and away, no matter that it was still trying to talk. He walked away, moving back towards Jailbird instead and let his nearby clone fade. He couldn't tell if her condition had actually worsened or not, but even if the vile thing was stalling for time, he couldn't risk it telling the truth. The others were their only shot at this stage.

"If it can't stop the process safely, then it's just a waste of time talking at it. Destroy it if you want, TriangleMan; that would at least shut it up, but we can't risk it being right about disturbing the needles or breaking them. We need to get back to the others. We'll destroy the needles after they've been safely deactivated and the process reversed. Finish with that thing, then help me."

He wasn't dropping his guard to potential assault from the deranged dummy, not until TriangleMan had completely silenced it, but for now he turned his attention to Jailbird more thoroughly. Careful not to disturb any of the slim need-like rods, Courser extended and lengthened his wave whips further.

"Don't know if you're hearing, Songbird, but we're going to get this undone. We're going to try to get you to the others now, and sorry in advance for the dampness; big guy will need his hands free. Hang on, ok?" This was a quieter murmur; it was unlikely that any who weren't as close to Courser as he was to Jailbird would hear. That said, he carefully encircled her form with the tendrils of his whips, splitting them two or three times each as he did to create as much balance as he could. If she still weighed as much as as an average navi might, lifting her to carry was a bit of a strain on his capabilities, but he could manage, just about. It was also ungainly and a bit awkward, given the enforced rigidity of her body. He did his best though, gesturing with his head for TraingleMan to come with him once he was done with the taxidermist's remains. If, by whatever annoying possibility, destroying the dummy thoroughly didn't manage to shut the deranged taxidermist up, then Courser would just need to shake his head in frustration and nod for TriangleMan to leave it be and come with him anyway.

"Come on. Place is still on lock down and there's at least one set of bars between us and them now. go ahead, cut through if you can and clear a way for us... if you can't get through the bars then... just put a hole in the wall next to them. They're aren't as solid as the outside. I'll apologise to TaxidermyMan later. You'll have to do the cutting: I haven't got much fire-power without my operator, and I don't want to drag her into all this; she's only sixteen."

In his mind, he pondered other ways they could get back to the others more quickly, but anything else he could do would need to rely on getting Jenny's help, and this was a scene he definitely didn't want to see her involved in. There just weren't any other options right now. As they got closer, he called out. It wasn't particularly dignified or suave, but for the moment courser was beyond caring.

"Little help!? Sorry for spacing out, things got messy. Any luck on your end? We could use a hand here!" With any luck, those who had free hands might be able to help them the rest of the way, or speed up the process a little. Every second they could shave off things felt vital, at this stage. By the time they'd managed to regroup with the others, Courser set jailbird down and released her in the most considerate way he could, given her state, then looked towards the others as TaxidermyMan began to relay his call details. His eyes darted across to Mime and he shot her a worried look, still trying to wipe the fury from his face and mind and focus on fixing the present.

Shok seemed... different. He couldn't guess exactly what it was, but for now she seemed genuine enough, and he didn't find himself doubting her previous desire to keep other blessers as balanced as she could. He didn't allow relief to take hold right away when she reported being able to deactivate the process, but it was something. Instead, he looked to mime, trying to gauge her expression and emotion; as cool as she normally played things, he'd seen plenty of signs that she still experienced the full range of normal emotions and sometimes the blank slate cracked; he'd seen her blush, and seen her seem almost like she was moved to furious tears and right now he wanted to see how she was reacting to Jailbird, and to Shok's offer. Her nod didn't come as a great surprise to him, but he didn't doubt she had things up her sleeve. He certainly hoped she did. His gaze turned back to the screen.

"I agree we have to talk, but I also agree that there is zero time to spend arguing. If you swear you can halt this process and reverse it, so that the victim is left unharmed, then you need to do it now. We'll agree to what you ask, I swear, just get to work on it right now. If she dies because you hesitate now, that's on you alone." He tried to keep his tone level and serious, but the edge of urgency that crept in wasn't entirely a bad thing, in his mind. He stepped quickly over to mime, watching her as she nodded and began the process of binding herself up. If she allowed him, he stepping closer than he strictly needed to to check her ropes, leaning in to take one of her hand gently in his and whisper in her ear.

"Sorry we can't chat like you prefer, Sunshine, but time's against us again. Once for yes, twice for no, ok?" He hoped, as he reached our for the 'rope' that his hand would find nothing at all. Everyone knew Mime made invisible objects with her powers; now would be a perfect time for her to literally mime being tied up, without actually doing so. She'd turned to him to check her 'bindings', rather that anyone else, and hoped it was because she was trusting him to play along... If indeed his hand found there to be no rope at all, he 'gripped' it and played along, feeling down its length and running his hands over the imaginary loops, 'checking' them.

If she was actually handing him a real Mime object, he still checked it, but as his hands moved over the bindings he focused on making sure that they were something she could slip out of in a blink of an eye, if she wanted to. Either way, he made sure to keep at least one hand in contact with hers the entire time that he worked, even though it was only a scant few seconds. He whispered quickly, and kept his expression soft — hopefully it would look as though he was just murmuring something personal an apologetic to her, as far as anyone else might see.

"I know you want your vengeance, but I don't want to see you, or anyone else here, dying because of it. Can you hold off on doing anything drastic until after we've confirmed Jailbird is safe and those things are out of her?" After he felt her response he moved on.

"Others are saying you've still got the blessing. I don't know, but if you do, I can guess at why. You know they destroy people, and your life and sanity is not a fair cost for your vengeance. If I help you, will you really be alright with having it removed?" Again he waited for a response from her, but he knew time for checking the ropes was running thin. He chanced one more murmur before stepping back.

"However else this goes down, if they take you in, will you be able to get away safely?" He gave an imaginary tug on the hopefully imaginary rope as he stepped back and nodded once in a more public way, then in a brief blurring, two clones split off from either side of him and Courser joined them in walking about her once, as though making a final check. If Shok, under Kismet's watch, had accepted his promise and gotten to work at doing... whatever it was she needed to do, Courser took up a position standing just behind Mime, and lifted two fingers on each hand so the others could see; small shadow wisps curled around them, and then gave the appearance of latching one when he lowered them to her shoulders. Each clone also made the gesture against one each of her arms. On the whole it looked like they were doing something distinct to restrain her further, and Courser was wagering on the fact that no-one present yet knew him well enough to question it.

"Mime is restrained and subdued currently. I've agreed to do what you ask; we'll sort out the rest once Jailbird is out of danger." He spoke this aloud, but whispered again in a brief moment when his mouth was obscured behind Mime's head.

"Winging it here; don't know how it's going to go down. I'm going to hold you tight and properly, so if you need to get away, and you need to hurt me to do it, it's ok. I trust you."

It was strange sensation, he realised as he whispered, and he had to focus ruthlessly to stop either of his clones speaking the thought aloud: He actually did trust her. She'd killed people who just happened to get in her way before, and he'd only met the woman a handful of times... but for some reason he genuinely did. No part of him could even really begin to explain why, beyond a quiet certainty that, whether she had to harm him or not, he could trust her not to kill him while there were barriers in play. Maybe insanity came in different flavours.

After falling back down into a messy clump, with one arm pinned under his torso and the other sprawled out to the side, the elder TaxidermyMan attempted to push himself back up so that he could free the arm that had ended up underneath. "You're making a mistake... This opportunity may not come again," the man suggested to CourseMan, but the courser hadn't been impressed from the moment he'd discovered Jailbird an unwilling captive to his procedure and his opinion had only gotten worse than there. Thus, he had no reason to listen the prattling any further than TriangleMan seemed to want to, which was not at all.

TriangleMan didn't answer this time, open up the plate on his chest, revealing another red, three-pointed gem on the center of the sunken, metallic surface inside it. He held both hands into a triangle in front of it as light refracted around the gem, then focused it into a beam through the triangle of his hands, creating a laser that blasted from his chest towards the floor through the angle he directed his hands in. The beam worked quick, instantly turning a triangular area of the carpet into a patch of flames, which likely would have made the younger TriangleMan somewhat unhappy to see in this wing still under construction. TaxidermyMan's body was instantly unrecognizable, the flames over-taking it and turning him into an indistinct, slowly crumbling clump. He'd stopped talking now; the beam seemed to have had some force behind it, so it was possible he'd been incapacitated. Or he may have simply vacated the shell, as he'd implied he could do. An ashy triangle shape was left in the carpet, ringed by fire; at first, it was almost artful to look at, but the licking tongue of the fire quickly crept to the surrounding carpet. Soon, this area would be pretty unsafe.

For all that, the process was done very quickly, so TriangleMan turned his attention back to helping CourseMan move Jailbird's rapidly stiffening body. His face-triangle was unreadable as his head turned slowly to watch CourseMan, the navi preparing to follow his ally's lead. The good side for CourseMan: she was easy to carry now. The bad thing: that was because her body had become so stiff and unchangeable now that it was more like moving a clothing-store mannequin than moving a person, with no flop or give in any part of the body as you might expect when moving someone who was sleeping or dead. It was somewhat fortunate, at least, that she'd been frozen in an easy to transport pose, with her arms folded and her body straight.

The two men managed to get her over to the doorway again. On their way over, TriangleMan offered some strangely unprovoked insight, perhaps surprising, but also perhaps a little unwelcome at the moment. "I don't want to deal with Blessers and things like this, CourseMan. The rest were ready to welcome back Mime, but I barely knew her; my predecessor did, not me, and he's dead and in pieces now. It's unfortunate, but she's cursed to be watched by Blessers for the rest of her life; her existence is now inextricably tied to Shok's. Anyone involved with either of them is also in danger. We'd all be wise to try to keep Mime far away going forward, for our own safety" he suggested in a quiet voice, knowing they had little time before they were back within listening distance of the others. "And Jailbird shouldn't have ended up this way. I can't help but blame you, for letting the two out of prison. I was happy with them where they were."

Once they'd reached the bars, he immediately began his attempt to cut through them using the Triangle Cutters he'd referred to earlier, spinning the sharp-edged gauntlets on each hand. It didn't go as well as when Mime had tried, and even without a face, it was apparent he'd quickly become frustrated by the failure, as metal clicked uselessly against metal. He motioned for CourseMan to stand aside, then focused instead on the wall next to the bars, as he'd suggested. Instead of bothering with the cutters further, he opened up his chest again and launched another laser beam, which not only went through the wall, but nearly hit the navis on the other sides. Angrily, he cut away more of it using his cutters, then grabbed Jailbird again to help move her to the others.

Mime's expression looked tense but not conflicted as Jailbird was brought in; it didn't seem like there was any hesitation so far as her surrender, nor any subtle wink that indicated she might have some sort of plan around doing so.

On the other side of the screen, Shok's face remained stoic, but she lowered her eyebrows impatiently. "I can halt the process at any time. But you must make good on your part of it. If you think that here, looking at Mime surrounded by her friends and on the outside, I'm going to accept anything less than her total, completely verifiable surrender, then I'll thank you not to take me for such a fool," she retorted, showing no give or call to urgency as it came to fixing Jailbird.

CourseMan wouldn't be happy when he discovered that Mime had indeed put a rope in place; if it was indeed looped at her wrists, then she really did intend for him to bind her up. Her face was unreadable as it usually was, even as she must have realized that CourseMan was not truly tying her up. That might be her way of playing along. As he once again used the palms of her hand for communication , he'd get a swift yes, followed by another yes. In a familiar cap off, the last one got a maybe, indicated by a shrug rather than a hand gesture.

This caused Shok to glower further, as she didn't seem to like the carefree action mixed into what ought to be Mime being subdued. She seemed happier once CourseMan's clones moved in to further restrain Mime. "Very good. Oh, and one last piece of reassurance: Kismet?" she asked, tilting her head slightly, her dark-rimmed eyes shifting curiously to where the viewscreen was from her current view. "I do you have your assurance that if, for some reason, Mime breaks free again, her pursuit and captivity will be an immediate priority for the NetMafia, correct?" the scientist added, then turned her eyes back to CourseMan on the other viewscreen.

"Correct," Kismet conceded. "You have my word on that. I will also come see to Mime's transfer personally, just give me a little time and, for now, remove those blasted picks and return Jailbird to normal."

"I will do the latter. All of you are going to need to extract the picks yourselves," Shok sighed, then snapped her fingers quickly. Like a switch, Jailbird's body released its rigid state and the girl nearly fell to the floor, before contorting in pain, likely from the various joints that currently had those metal picks stuck into them. "Keep that jackout barrier up and Mime in that room until Kismet gets there. And I will watch."

Jailbird cried out a couple of rude expletives from the floor, but soon stopped thrashing, realizing that any sort of movement at the moment hurt. She probably wished the jackout barrier was down; if it was, her operator could simply pull her out and she could begin healing. She was in no state to really explain what had happened to her. TriangleMan, for his part, went to work trying to get the picks out... a clumsy effort that seemed to be hurting more than it was helping to start with, but once he got his wits about him, she seemed thankful for it, despite the thin trails of data leaking from each wound.

"See? I have a heart. I just don't want that murderous Mime coming after me," Shok spoke, almost tauntingly, the whites of her teeth showing in a narrow grin. "Oh, that's right. You're applying for the Mafia today, aren't you? After your help with this issue, they'll most likely accept you with a warm welcome, I'd imagine. You'd have to do something pretty drastic in order to breach their trust now, wouldn't you?" she asked, tilting her head slightly and keeping the same smile. "Pissing off the Head Family would be a pretty terrible way to start your career, wouldn't it? I think it's time to let go. For all of us." Her grin was widening, the satisfied smile of someone who'd just succeeded pulling off a plan just the way they wanted it to go down.

"You nasty... this wasn't a coincidence at all, was it, that TaxidermyMan Sr. happened to reactivate today and those picks activated along with him? How much of this is your doing?" Trace asked from behind the bars, doing her professional duty and trying to connect the pieces of everything that had happened. Of course, TaxidermyMan said he'd been watching for a long time, but she had no way of knowing that. Shok merely returned a subdued laugh from behind her teeth and watched CourseMan and Mime, almost unblinking.

Even with Jailbird safe, for some measure of safe, and the mad TaxidermyMan Sr. now a scorched ruin in the other room, nobody looked in the mood to party. Someone would still need to free Trace from the party room. TaxidermyMan was looking at the newly gashed and burned hole in the wall with the same look of frustration he'd had earlier when his exhibits were destroyed.

Perhaps most importantly right now, Mime was supposed to be making her daring escape from captivity now, but instead stood still, seemingly watching the floor with a sulking expression. It was possible she couldn't bring herself to make the escape with CourseMan's Mafia career on the line, but it was also possible she'd never intended to escape in the first place.

Trace, perhaps detecting the tension, spoke up again. "CourseMan, Kismet's going to be here soon. For both of your sakes, you'd best not..." she murmured, now that Kismet's viewscreen had turned off. It was possible she'd also imagined what he had, that there might not be any ropes securing Mime at all. "If only we could explain to her that Shok's the one behind all this... but that wouldn't erase the fact that Mime broke out again without accepting the removal of her Blesser powers." Trace seemed resigned that Kismet wouldn't listen, given the specific breach of the contract that had been set out, but was there anything else CourseMan could add that might make her reconsider? "If Mime kept her powers, why come here?" Trace asked, looking at CourseMan with her eyebrows tensed, her eyes desperate. "If she just wanted to kill Shok, why did she come to the party instead?"

As much as he was paying no mind to TriangleMan's removal of the time-wasting distraction, Courser at least took an extra moment to throw out a hand and douse the remaining licks of fire as they left the room; his mind was on other more pressing worries at that moment, but it wouldn't' do to let the whole place burn down from carelessness. Beyond that, however, he gave no further acknowledgement to the charred remains and focused instead on getting Jailbird back to the others.

TriangleMan's commentary was interesting, but only really because it didn't lead with his normal 'triangulating' phrase... it occurred to him how unusual it was for the other navi to actually be the initiator of a conversation, but as they rushed Jailbird back to the others who could help, it wasn't really the best time for being social. Courser cast a side glance to him and gave a small shake of his head.

"I was only the mediator in an exchange that the two sides both agreed had to happen in some form. I mediated, nothing more... but if anything happens to her, you can misapportion all the blame you want at me later. I know I'll feel like I deserve it." He paused briefly, then continued.

"But if you were perfectly happy with Mime in prison, then why are you even here today in the first place? I doubt any of us want to deal with Blessers particularly, but that doesn't stop them needing to be dealt with." He didn't respond any more as they made their way back, doing his best to monitor Jailbird instead.

==

Once the deal had been made, courser found himself biting his tongue over a rebuke to Shok's taunting; broken contracts or not, she was not actually in nay position to make demands. She was in no danger from mime regardless, and even if she were, it was the shared duty and responsibility of both the Mafia and the Blessers to keep her safe from such threats, as well as keeping her secured. That alone voided her right to make demands in this situation, in Courser's mind, but he kept silent and moved along with it until she relented and JailBird was released.

his first urge at that point was to dart across to help jailbird get free of the needles and make sure she was passably alright, but as long as the call screens were up and the others were watching, he had to continue with the charade of holding onto Mime. He settled for turning his head to her, expression tense.

"You with us again, Songbird?" He had no way of knowing if she'd heard any of his earlier reassurances, but for now, he had to fight the urge to go over and check on her properly himself; he couldn't spare another clone to fake out any further. "TraingleMan, help her over to Trace, would you? Not meaning offence but her hands seem more nimble than yours. TaxidermyMan, any luck getting this lock-down lifted yet and getting Trace out of there?"

He turned back to where Shok seemed to almost be gloating, and frowned. Benefit of the doubt was one thing, and vendettas were another, but he didn't care for the edge of pointless cruelty that she seemed to be exuding along with it.

"Shok? Remember that I sought to involve myself here first and foremost to help see that the Blesser problem got solved. At some point, some people asked me to set a coin one either heads or tails." He watched her expression and tilted his head, still looking past her from where he was restraining Mime. "I choose at that point to set the coin on its edge, in as stable a way as I could. If your choices are forcing my hand here, and trying to make me put the coin down on one side or another, then you are making it increasingly unlikely that I will put it down with your side facing up.
Enjoy your safe-house. Enjoy the fact that you can never leave it without forfeiting your own life. Enjoy that your safety is in the shared trust of these two organisations, neither of which I am, technically, a member of." He turned his gaze away from here, then nodded with a polite deference to Kismet's image instead.

"Kismet, I'll see you shortly."

The moment the view screens shut off, however, Courser immediately dropped his clones and released the hold on Mime's rope, even though it wasn't even tied on in any real way. He darted around to face Mime, looking into face and searching her expression. Even though the room was full of several others he whispered to her; he wouldn't be able to stop anyone trying to listen in hard, but it was low enough that most probably wouldn't' hear unless they were trying.

"I've got to check on the others, but which way are you feeling, Sunshine... Stay, or Run? I'll help you either way." He was willing to let her respond in her preferred way, if she choose, but just in case she wanted to answer more stealthily, he held both of her hands in is, and made a tiny motion with each hand in turn as he spoke the two key words. He nodded once he had an answer, in whatever form it came, then gave both of her hands a quick squeeze and turned back to the others, his eyes going first to Trace as he moved over to wherever Jailbird had ended up. He worked on helping remove the pins from her body swiftly, leaving enough room around the recovering woman just in case Mime had also seemed inclined to come over to her — he wasn't completely certain, but she had seemed genuinely concerned about the other woman.

"Fortunately, Trace, I don't actually give a damn about most organisations. I don't care if the Mafia doesn't want me." As he spoke, one of his decoys faded into existence right alongside Trace, holding the bars with both hands and smirking like a mad prisoner. "What're they going to do? Lock me up?" It rattled at the bars once before dissipating again, before Courser continued in a more serious tone again. "I care about people. I care about my operator, Jenny, and I care about all of you here. I care about Jailbird, and I care about Mime. There..." He dropped the last needle onto the neat pile that he'd been making, and encouraging the others to make as well. "How are you doing, Songbird? Sorry we couldn't get you help quicker..." His eyes looked her over for any other signs of damage or problems, and he caught himself wishing once again that he had access to some kind of data repair capabilities without Jenny's assistance. Trace's question pulled his eyes up and he smirked, then looked over to Mime and cast her a wry grin.

"For all I could say, you just dislike following other folks rules as much as I do, right Sunshine? So maybe you were scheduled to see the crazy granddad under escort... but the party was now, today, and it was for you, so you came. Simple as that, nothing else to explain, maybe." He shrugged and looked back to Jailbird, assessing her condition. "Don't know how much you could hear back in the other room, songbird, but I was pretty damn worried about you. I'm glad you're ok." If she seemed receptive to it and allowed him, Courser gave her a quick hug, firm for a moment, but equally brief, then stood back, turning his attention more broadly to the whole gathered group.

"So Kismet will be here in a minute, and maybe we'll all be standing around to chat to her, and maybe some of us won't. That's not really in my hands, but at least remember that Sparky doesn't actually have any real bargaining power or right to make demands. At all. She literally doesn't. In fact, you can drop the barrier, TaxidermyMan. Right now. It's got no business being up, and I've no interest in seeing anything else unfortunate happen today... We can always just walk out of the the room, but I'd prefer it if you turned it off."

Whatever happened next mostly depended on Mime; if she'd indicated that she wanted to get away before Kismet showed up, and seemed like she'd said as many quick farewells as she wished to, then he'd either need to go with her, or stay to stall kismet. If she seemed like she was staying, though, then the diplomacy might go any number of other more complicated ways.

TriangleMan probably had more he wanted to say it, but he returned to his usual clammy self almost immediately, speaking no further once they rejoined the others. A woman's voice came from somewhere nearby though, and answered him... it sounded like it might be an operator's, from how it was projected. "The rest of them are his friends, CourseMan. I think you and he both know a little about enduring things you'd rather not so that you can be around friends," the voice answered, in the navi's place.

Regardless, TriangleMan's motivations were hardly the most important thing to worry with right now. Jailbird wasn't proving much more talkative than he was, still alternating between one predictable curse word and another as the angular fellow followed CourseMan's instructions and brought her over to Trace. TaxidermyMan paused in an expression wiping sweat from his brow. "The lock-down is still stuck, for some reason. I assumed if you all are here you... 'dealt with' my predecessor," he coughed. "And I'd assumed if you did that, it'd finally read him as deleted and take away his primary administrative privileges, transferring them over to me. I can't really say why it isn't working."

Trace shook her head, impatient, though not for need to get out from the bars. "Yes, well, we can tear down another wall if we have to," she reminded him. The expression his face froze in wasn't particularly pleased with that suggestion.

On the other side of the monitor, Shok's face gradually fell from self-satisfaction to a stern frown. "I know the Blesser problem needs to be fixed and I'm working on it," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her large, strapped-up breasts. "I'm quite happy with my safe-house. However, the name needs some work. It's not really a safe-house so long as a super-powered Mime with a deadly grudge against me is still walking free out there, plotting the best way to break in here and kill me. It's more like I've moved from a cell to an electric chair, waiting for someone to throw the switch and fry me. It's in everyone's best interest that she lose her powers. Possibly even her own."

Once the screens went back off, he had a bit more to say to Mime. She returned a small smile, then stroked his first offered palm, indicating that she had no particular desire to escape, in spite of his well-crafted plan to give her freedom to use her hands. She raised her hands, keeping the wrists together, then pointed to herself, then to him, then clasped her hands together tightly. She paused a moment longer, then lay one hand flat, making the other into two fingers to indicate a man standing, then sat down the man atop the surface. After another pause, she gave a thumbs up, widening her smile slightly and nodding. Her eyes were still expressionless, but the side of her smile curled up like there was more she wanted to do. However, it would be both suspicious and maybe a little uncouth to do anything else while they ought to be tending to Jailbird's injuries, so she stopped there.

CourseMan would have to decide whether he was relieved that Jailbird's wounds were leaking data once the needles were expunged, since TaxidermyMan Sr. said that the lack of data flowing would be a sign of her elevated state of being, or if he was upset at seeing so much data leaking. "Now would be a good time to make myself useful for once," TaxidermyMan chuckled in the background, appearing on his knees with the others who were tending to Jailbird, who was unfortunately out of the range that Trace could be much use for her. "I've got formaldehyde-"

"I'd rather die than have something like that right now," she complained, understandably suspect of anything related to taxidermy at the moment.

"... I'll just give you an IV then," he concluded, bringing out the recovery subtype signature and gently fixating it onto her arm. Well, as gentle as someone appearing in said position could be. "As for the jack-out barrier, I suppose it's not doing us any good since Mime isn't operated anyway, as far as I know. I guess we just have to cross our fingers and hope Mime doesn't run away," he smirked. Of course, there was no visual or audible distinction as the barrier dropped, so as far as anyone could tell, it might still be up... They'd just have to trust him in that regard.

"CourseMan, this turned out to be a sucky party, huh? Could have been a lot worse, though, if you didn't show up back there..." Jailbird coughed, shifting to lean her arm against the wall. "Trace, I know how you can help me now... pass me one of those sandwiches."

Trace laughed and agreed. Jailbird being in better spirits now seemed to be lightening the mood a bit, even if Kismet would show up shortly to take Mime away, presumably first to meet with BlessMan, then back to jail. "Maybe we can have a little party here anyway," she told the others, bringing enough sandwiches to hand through to the others. She reached her fingers through the bars with the sandwiches, messing up the first one, but succeeding past that. TriangleMan accepted another two, even though he'd had one earlier and him 'having one' seemingly amounted to him putting it down a paper shredder. Mime even accepted one, although she ate it while continuing to pretend her hands were tightly bound. She looked sidelong to him again, as though wanting to say something, but as always, she said nothing instead.

After a bit of sandwich eating and camaraderie, the familiar figure of Kismet appeared through the wrecked, smoking entrance-way; she was cloaked, short in stature, but with a silent dignity all the same. In this case, unfortunately, said dignity meant upholding the unfortunate consequences of what now appeared to have been a trap set by the cunning Shok. "Sorry to disturb you all during your festivities. I'm here to collect Mime," she informed them all, moving to do so in a no-nonsense way. "Mime, you had your opportunity, but you chose not to report for the removal of your powers. As a result, I've brought BlessMan here... he will see to their removal, post-haste. I hope you understand that I can't have you running off again before we manage to get you stripped and confined."

"Stripped and confined, huh?" Jailbird asked, barely avoiding a poorly timed joke.

Behind Kismet, BlessMan entered, looking no healthy than before. His halo was spinning rapidly and noisily and the smile on his face showed no understanding that he'd just walked through the scene of a recent bombing, to see everyone standing around the scene of a recent stabbing. "CourseMan, greetings. I understand you had a role in freeing Shok from her Mafia captivity. Tremendous work, I must say. Shok's always been a valuable asset for us, a true miracle worker. I may be the one who blesses, but we are all blessed to have her," he chuckled, seeming to also have no hint of the sort of malice she was holding towards Mime nor the cruel things she'd done for her own survival, which would make her especially unpopular in this company. "Mime, my child... the removal of the blessing can be quite taxing. If there is anything you would wish to do before you undergo the removal-"

"-Almost anything," Kismet scowled from behind her glassy, full-head helmet.

"-It would be best to do it now," BlessMan finished. "You may be weak for up to a full day after."

Mime nodded, then turned back to face CourseMan. She reached out her hands for CourseMan to take them if he wished, helping him off the floor if he was still seated next to Jailbird; the gesture was almost as though she was planning to answer more yes and no questions for him. Instead, providing he didn't shy away, she half-closed her eyes and leaned inward to kiss him, aiming full for the lips. It was more or less silent on her part, and she'd maintain that short distance and less he pulled her closer, though she would try to turn her hands down to catch hold to his wrists and run her hands up his upper arms. The others were watching without protest, perhaps wanting to gossip or say something, but thinking it'd be inappropriate given what she was about to go through. When this was over, Mime would allow CourseMan to step back when he was ready, and she'd turn back to BlessMan to receive her punishment. If CourseMan had any objections, this would be his last chance, or he could wait and let this see itself to its end.

The idea that the destruction of the deranged taxi-dummy hadn't, in fact, let TaxidermyMan deactivate the other lock ins didn't entirely surprise CourseMan; as it was it seemed like the dummy body was just that; a mouth piece, in some way. There would be some other trick involved, and it would become a problem later, he was sure of it, but for now, time was short.

The thoughts continued to run through his mind, layered away at different subconscious levels while he did his best to take care of Jailbird and reprimand Shok in the tense discussions; Shok, too, was looking more like a problem at each passing junction. He'd done his best to give her the benefit of the doubt where he could, but she was running low on second chances in his mind, if she was as instrumental in this set up as it seemed.

His thoughts softened again once he was standing back with Mime. It was the little things, with her, he realised; little things that others might normally miss. He returned her gesture with a slightly wry grin of his own, but now wasn't entirely the time or place to take it further, beyond a matching acknowledgement and a wink. Even so, he felt like there was something a touch sombre in the softness of both her gestures, and his subtle answer; things could still go pretty badly wrong, and Mime herself was far from out of the woods. He hadn't really known the woman very long, he knew, but there was still an odd certainty in the decision he knew he'd already made, somewhere along the way, unconsciously.

By the time he'd done all he could to help Jailbird, Courser was left pondering just how much she'd heard from the previous room. Her comments suggested that she'd been able to hear most of it, and he hoped she didn't feel he'd gotten too dark of violent in those moments of trying to save her. She'd accepted the hug at least, so it couldn't be too bad. At least there were sandwiches. During the brief sandwich break he took a few extra moments with Jailbird, lamenting his own lack of ability to actually patch her up or help her recover, but the brief light mood couldn't last forever, and Kismet arrived with BlessMan in tow before much longer had passed.

A brief swirl of shadow saw one of Courser's clones rise up from where he was resting with JailBird to walk forward; the real CourseMan stayed behind while the clone stepped ahead of the gathering to offer a formal bow to the diminutive woman.

"Kismet. Thank you for coming to meet us, and for escorting BlessMan here as well." The clone turned slightly and bowed his head in a less formal gesture to BlessMan. "Sir, I hope you're well as can be expected." While the primary clone greeted Kismet, a second decoy slipped into place alongside Mime, resting gentle hands on her shoulders, just for show; the shadow double let its fingers exert just enough pressure to tell Mime that it was just a decoy. He had cards to play yet, but there was still room for diplomacy even now, if he was lucky. The main clone took a quick step across the way, interceding in Kismet's movement to approach Mime directly, though it was still grinning in a relaxed way.

"We'll get to that." It winked at the smaller woman, even though, if he did end up apart of this organisation she'd be his superior by several orders of magnitude. Oh well. "First, I want to say thank you again, for bringing BlessMan here and allowing us to carry out what we agreed upon. It's very helpful of you, if we could just have a moment to prepare."

The shadow clone made a flourish of lifting his hands from Mime and releasing her as she moved over to help the real CourseMan up, and he took her hands in his, accepting the lift, though he held on for a little longer than was strictly necessary once they were both standing. The clone that had been feigning the hold on Mime now wandered over to standing by BlessMan with a casual swagger, hands behind his coat.

"No harm or lasting damage I take it, hmm, old-timer? Just weakness for a day or two from the strain?" The second decoy tilted its head looking at the damaged navi in front of him, wondering if Shok might actually have been the instigator of the Blessers in the first place, like Kismet had theorised. It made an interested concept. The main clone was running a similar interference with Kismet at the same time, though its body language was notably more formal and respectful, even if his words weren't.

"Before we get to that, I just wanted to remind you carefully of Shok's part of the agreement we forged. In particular, if you recall, that her safety and well being be put into the mutual duty of care of both the Blessers and the Mafia to ensure. That she was required, in fact, to accept that her limitation to a safe-house came part and parcel with accepting that her safety and protection were the responsibility of both organisations." His head tilted slightly and he raised an eyebrow to Kismet. "Of note... if she is not accepting that; if she is attempting to make demands of other people on the grounds of fear for her personal safety, then I would remind that it is, in fact, Shok, who is making a breach of the agreement, unless she withdraws those demands. She has no bargaining power in this matter. She is formally required to accept duty of her safety being the domain of others; whatever danger she thinks Mime poses to her is not her concern or business any more." He shrugged and spread his hands wide for a moment, feigning amusement. "Just something to think on." After a moment, the decoy returned to seriousness. "Now, we do still agree on the need to do what you came here for, and take this toxic blessing away." With another small bow, the decoy stepped aside and faded into shadows.

While it had been talking and generally being a distraction, Courser had found himself standing close to Mime, still holding her hands in his and, in seemingly a similar instinct, letting his fingertips glide gently and delicately up and across her wrists and forearms in a more tender caress. He couldn't deny the nervous quickening of his pulse when her more pointed desire became clear; being a flirt and a charmer was simple and natural to him, but this was a much more serious thing and he was well aware of it. He accepted her invitation, letting his eyes close as he moved in the remaining distance to meet her lips. At first, he let her maintain the distance she wanted, but as her hands crept up his arms, he responded in kind, sliding his own hands around her back and drawing her in more closely against his chest. When the kiss broke a few drawn out moments later, he maintained the embrace, lowering his head to brush his cheek against hers and hold her close. He could act as calm and collected as he liked; Mime would still be able to feel his heart-rate and nerves at being so obviously affectionate in company. Still with his eyes closed, he moved his lips, whispering in her ear while they embraced.

"I'll stay with you. They say you'll be down for the count for a while after it's done, but I'll keep you safe if I have to. No prisons; I'll make sure of it one way or another. Just in case... don't forget that I'm... here..." as he whispered the word, Courser exhaled a small tendril of shadow that curled itself around her ear with a slight tickle; on contact with her skin, she'd feel it as a home address, but a moment later, he gave her a firm squeeze to bring the embrace to a close and stood back again, eyes tracing her face. "Well," he spoke this aloud at a more normal volume for everyone else to hear. "Let's get this taken care of." He turned to face Kismet and BlessMan just as his clone finished talking and stepped aside. He found himself still holding onto one of Mime's hands despite himself; professional demeanour or not, he found he didn't care to let go right at this moment, unless Mime herself pulled away.

The tender moments between Mime and CourseMan were met with intrigued staring by most of the other guests; the subsequent tender moments between Jailbird and CourseMan didn't go unnoticed either, though Jailbird didn't seem overly bothered by them. TriangleMan's faceplate glowed softly, seeming more often red and black, turning as he watched CourseMan silently.

Once Kismet appeared, she was met by one of two copies of CourseMan. "Course... Men," Kismet corrected herself, unsure if she was speaking to the clone or the original.

"I am very well. I am blessed, after all," BlessMan chuckled, though the whirring, unsafe-seeming disc above his head said otherwise. It was hard to tell what Kismet thought of CourseMan's joke, with her head concealed by the orb-like helmet, but she made no verbal response. BlessMan, on the other hand, gave laughter showing again that he had no concern (or awareness) of his own condition. "No harm, no lasting damage, I assure you. I've recently removed a few other blessings, among them from the very elderly, long-standing MarriageMan, and he showed no averse conditions, other than the dissipation of his powers and the muscle mass that was granted to him as an extension of said powers. He's quite safe and I can promise you Mime will be as well."

Kismet made no comment following that; one might speculate that what happened to Mime once the blessing was removed was not her chief concern at this point. It was a little unsettling not to have anyone to corroborate the senile BlessMan's assurances. When her voice came out in response to his reminder, it sounded none too friendly, and would itself be a reminder of the sour expression she normally wore. "CourseMan, you know I have reasons to appreciate your negotiation ability, but turn it off. Shok is still inside the safe-house, watched by my men, both for her protection and to keep her. I don't know the whole story here, but baked into the terms were Mime relinquishing her powers... Seeing as she has not relinquished those powers, then unless Shok is pulling a hell of a rabbit out of her hat for some purpose expressly breaching the contract, I'm much more concerned at this time with Mime's transgression."

In the mean time, for all her general lack of expressiveness, Mime's own heartbeat and the increasing tightness of her grip made it clear that the embrace was no act from her either. Mime surely didn't seem to want to let go either, but something about his words almost seemed to make it easier for her; she eased her grip until it was clear she was ready to break up, then nodded and headed over to BlessMan alone. She kept her hands together, although the act moments ago had probably dispelled anyone's illusion that she was actually tied up.

"Now, Mime... the act of removing the Blessing is typically contingent upon the breaking of one's Blesser vows. In this case, you did not break those vows, but we must consider that you have voluntarily rendered yourself deserving of this punishment all the same. Court will not assemble, again, since you have voluntarily rendered yourself for judgment. Let the ritual commence!" he finished, raising his winged staff outward so that it was suspended just above Mime's thin shoulder. The halo hovering above BlessMan's head began to spin faster, until finally, it moved to instead hang over the head of Mime. A beam of first yellow, then blindingly white light came down and engulfed Mime. She shuddered, then clutched one hand to her face, as the halo retracted, leaving an alarming sizzling noise as though she'd been fried. "It is done, my child," he finished, placing his staff back at the side. "Oh Jury... I never thought that you would-"

"That is not Jury, it's Mime," Kismet murmured. "Now, let's focus. Mime's powers have been removed and the logical next step is to take her back into imprisonment; that's as much for her safety as anyone else's, as I understand she'll be immobile and weak for a while. Sorry to break up your party, but especially seeing as I was told you've all been placed in significant danger, and in a way that could have been intended to lure out Mime, who has many grudges, I think it's best that we secure Mime in our custody and protection immediately," she finished, grabbing up Mime. The stripe-suited lady was standing, a little limp... she didn't seem to have "lost muscle mass" as BlessMan had warned was a possibility. As her eyes slowly drifted open, one difference was apparent: dull, black pupils were showing just under the half-shade of her eyelids, instead of their usual glassy whiteness.

"I don't know if it changes anything, but you acknowledge this was done to lure out Mime, correct?" Trace asked, still behind bars herself, ironically.

"Yes, I do. No, it doesn't change anything," Kismet snapped in response.

"Even though this whole thing was a trap, designed to create a call to action that Mime would need her unique powers to respond to? Even though we essentially have Shok's confession that she engineered that trap?" Trace questioned further, sounding agitated. "She's not crazy like the other Blessers... She only came because she found out we we were in danger."

"Be that as it may, the terms were quite clear. It's over for now. Feel free to appeal later, if you must," Kismet finished, flourishing her cape as she motioned with one hand for BlessMan to follow; his smile was mildly troubled, as he still seemed to be trying to digest the 'crazy like the other Blessers' comment. "Let's get moving." He followed along, obediently, while helping to support Mime with his free shoulder.

TaxidermyMan still had a smile on, though it looked a little forced, even on his frozen face. The mood had soured considerably. "Well, CourseMan... you've done your job, so I can let you into the faction if you still want it. There's faction points and some bonuses for saving our bacon. Go ahead and take it, before something blows up again and we have to postpone it all," he joked, a little untimely, his arm suddenly appearing outstretched with a data packet in his right hand. If CourseMan had anything left to say to Kismet or to Mime (or BlessMan), he'd want to get it out before they left.

((NetMafia Teksqp recruitment obtained, along with 20 faction points, 3000z, and AquaNeedle2 x1))

To begin with, courser didn't press his conversation with Kismet any further; the real point of the reminder, besides being something to think on, had mostly been to delay the diminutive leader while he spoke with Mime. By the time they got down to the business end of the evening, however, the clones had done their various work, and Courser let them fade out while he remained close behind Mime. She pulled forward and away to undergo the procedure, but even so, he found himself staying quite close behind her and slightly to one side, watching.

BlessMan's words remained surprisingly lucid for the stretch of seconds it took him to pronounce the removal process, though he was clearly losing the thread again by the time the light show faded. Courser had been ready to step in in case Mime was immediately weakened to the point of collapse by the process, and while it didn't seem like she was about to crumple completely, he darted in quickly anyway, catching her weight in a supportive grip with one arm and turning her slightly to face him, so he could get a clear look at her features. The difference in her eyes caught his gaze immediately, but he offered her a small, comforting grin.

"Morning, sunshine... still with us?" He murmured as a quiet whisper to her. Kismet's voice cut over his own the thoughts for a moment, but as CourseMan moved back from BlessMan, still helping Mime stand, his body blurred. There was the impression of his standing straight and spinning around with a sharp, serious snap, but as it occurred, the figure that had rounded on Kismet left the real CourseMan behind, unmoved.

"No, I don't think there'll be any of that actually, unless the lady herself requests it." Far from the gentle and charming tone she'd occupied previously, this time the clone's voice was cuttingly precise, and it was matched by a firm and unflinching expression. The clone continued to block the line between Kismet and his other self, arms folded.

"Your logic could use some revision, Kismet. Allow me to remind you of your agreement." Kismet, of course, had to know she was talking to a clone; the real CourseMan was still only a few feet away and was clearly helping Mime with a level of contact and load-bearing that his decoys couldn't manage. If she made any effort to bat it away, however, the shadows scattered, then re-coalesced within a moment as courser refreshed it, deliberately not addressing the woman himself for now.

"The agreement which I helped you forge was quite specific. It required that Mime submit to the removal of her blessing. It did not state a time-frame for this, only that it be done. She has now, with many witnesses, voluntarily submitted to this procedure and it has been carried out, with your supervision, as was required. Certainly you cannot claim that she was not a willing submission, because, as luck would have it, Kismet, Mime has not been restrained or bound, nor trapped, nor under any threat of danger, from before the moment you arrived. There has been no barrier, nor any other means of compulsion placed upon her. You are, I wager, well aware of this by now, Kismet, unless I have grossly over-estimated your capabilities." The clones eyes traced her helmet for a moment; as much as she'd said about the tools she used to analyse matters, it would be strange if she was unable to detect Mimes objects, and see clearly that the woman hadn't been bound at all. He continued, with a small jerk of his head back over one shoulder, though he didn't break eye contact with what he could see of Kismet's covered face. Even if he was wrong, she'd shown to hold an importance on appearances — admitting such an ignorance in front of other Mafia members would, he gambled, be equally unappealing to her.

"As of right now, Mime is entirely a free woman. The only other clause in the agreement which pertained to any possibility of further imprisonment or punishment for her would be the matter of her pursuing vengeance against Shok, or attempting to attack, assault, or otherwise continue their vendetta. Do correct me if I am mistaken on this, but she has not done so." Here the decoy raised one finger. "Despite, I may add, having every opportunity to do so when she was loose and with her powers intact. She could have, but didn't. Instead, she came here, to where she knew she had friends."

"So, as per the agreement, there will be no imprisonment. Protection, maybe, if Mime herself wishes to request it from you... I cannot speak for her on this, of course, but it would absolutely be protection only, with her free to leave at any time if she wished, and under no obligation to inform the Mafia of her movements or intentions, as any free woman. If she chooses to seek sanctuary elsewhere, without the aid of the Mafia, that too is her right and one you would be expected to respect. Regardless of legal standing, the Mafia's membership might question things if head family members were known to renege on promised agreements. It would be... unbecoming. The terms were, as you say, Quite Clear."

"If anything, it seems as though Shok is the one attempting to carry on the Vendetta, at this point. Be content that her game has failed to do anything other than what we all agreed was necessary. A win for everyone, wouldn't you say?"

Elsewhere, behind the bars next to Trace, a second decoy slipped into existence, leaning with on shoulder on the bars and flicking his eyes between trace, and across the way to jailbird with a grin.

"Ooh, I love it when he gets all interrogative, don't you? What party game should we play once Boss Lady and Halo Guy clear out?" There was a small twinkle in this clone's eye as it murmured to them in a hushed whisper, almost like a movie spectator. While the main clone spoke, Courser himself backed off a little further with Mime, and found somewhere to let her rest down and sit if she showed signs of wanting to, crouching with her if so. One hand rubbed her back and shoulder softly while he studied her face, glancing down if she displayed enough wherewithal to communicate with her hands.

"All done, supervised, witness and carried out... How're you feeling?" He gave her a chance to answer if she was able, but continued unless she had a lot to say. "Kismet will know you aren't trapped, unless I've grossly over-estimated her abilities... don't worry about giving away the game on that score. Like I said, no imprisonment. You're free and I'm going to keep it that way. They might offer protection, but that's up to you; you don't have to listen, and if you want sanctuary elsewhere, that's fine." His eyes flicked down and he swallowed before continuing. "I, um... If you need somewhere safe to stay, I meant what I said before." He wasn't sure exactly what he'd do if Mime wanted to take that offer and run with it immediately, but they'd be able to work something out at least. it wouldn't take too long to remodel his home space to accommodate a guest for awhile, and he was sure Jenny wouldn't object. A few feet away and still standing in a blocking position, the clone talking to Kismet continued.

"Call it disrespectful if you like, I'm just being honest and keeping my word. I'm a scoundrel and a scallywag, a liar and a cheat, sure, certainly, and with a smile... but I keep my promises. In good faith, Kismet... Whatever Shok was doing here went beyond endangering us to lure Mime. This won't be the last of the machinations that were set in motion today. TaxidermyMan still doesn't have control of this home of his, because of whatever was done with his reanimated predecessor, and we've confirmed that he was Shok's own work. There'll be headaches for the rest of us over this yet. Thanks again for coming in person." The decoy bowed now, one arm over its chest, then turned away from the small woman as it faded into shadows.

Courser, for his part, remained with Mime and didn't look up to Kismet, though his second clone, hanging out with Trace behind the bars, kept an eye on her, and the rest of the room. If anyone looked to be ready to apply force to the situation, Courser was more than ready to flee the scene, but he based his reaction on Mime's signals, if she was present-minded enough to give any.

Kismet made no sound behind her helmet, but she did cross her arms impatiently. "You recall that the rest of us were still discussing the arrangement before you left, do you not? That, of course, included a set time for Mime to have her Blessing removed. And even if it hadn't, although I do understand where you're coming from, there's a place for common sense in these things too: her surrender now is appreciated, but that doesn't change the fact that she slipped off to this party without first having the Blessing removed. I believe it was quite apparent that we did not want her moving around freely while still imbued with those powers. I appreciate the ingenuity that both of you have, but there's only so much undercutting of my authority that I'm willing to take. She can have a bigger cell if that helps and we can certainly reevaluate her status at a later date, but after she slipped out from under our noses while bound to a table and awaiting a removal that she agreed to, and considering her past history of killing our own men, you will forgive me if I'm not feeling particularly lenient on the subject of letting her go free, powers or no."

She paused when he mentioned other Mafia leadership, but her voice a moment later seemed somehow more sympathetic than worried. "I take it you haven't met many Mafia leaders yet. If you ask the others to evaluate the imprisonment of Mime, the likely response will be to ask why she isn't dead yet," Kismet stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "If there were such an oversight, you've slightly overestimated how much I value a spoken-word agreement and severely overestimated how much any other Mafia leadership would."

"Ah, but our stake in the agreement is another matter. The Blessers' agreement not to get involved further than removing the Blessing was contingent upon the very terms that CourseMan just stated being followed to the letter," BlessMan interrupted. "You can't fault Mime under the circumstances anyway, can you?"

"I already told you, it's not a matter of why she did it, it's only that she did it," Kismet snapped in response. This development seemed to aggravate Kismet to the tipping point, but she managed to stay mostly still other than clenching her fists. "I have a killer here in my hands, who's given me every reason to execute her and end the whole thing, and in my sentimentality, I have chosen not to do so. You're asking me to release her back into the shadows, after she's just shown again that she is willing to defy my obvious wishes in order to continue this asinine, endless game of bloodsport that Mime and Shok both play. I believe you are, in general, a dangerously intelligent individual, CourseMan, and yet at this moment, you are being remarkably foolish. This freedom you're talking about granting Mime is not your place to demand... and beyond that, is very likely to end up in Shok, Mime, or both of the two being killed."

Elsewhere, Jailbird gave a strained smile. "All this lawyer-talk just makes my head hurt, honestly," she answered, giving a slight shrug. "I can think of some other party games I'd much rather play. I've got a bottle if you wanna play that one..."

Mime was breathing heavily, leaning on the CourseMan who'd taken her shoulder before anyone else could manage to. She still wasn't capable of talking and it was dishearteningly hard to tell what she thought of his attempts at negotiation. Still, for now, she just seemed very weary and maybe a little ill, but she wasn't dead or injured. She gave a small nod, perhaps implying she was fine with following him into his PET, or perhaps simply showing she understood his words.

She waved one hand in response to his bow, a gesture that simply said "stop." "I understand and I assure you, I'd love to punish Shok for what she's done to all of you. There's only so much I can do while still allowing her to work for the Blessers, however. I know she's not blameless in this and that, for the most part, Mime is," she sighed, placing one gloved hand onto the surface of her helmet. "And we will look into how Shok was capable of carrying this out. I am tired of the two of them punching each other around- and through- the Mafia."

"You might want to quit while you're ahead, Champ, or there's a chance I'm not going to be able to give you that recruitment I promised," TaxidermyMan added from the background.

"We're only talking," Kismet reminded him, though it would be very interesting to see how she would actually react if he took Mime and ran or teleported. "You can visit her whenever you want, even go in the same room together, if the lack of intimacy is what you're concerned about. I'm... really giving you everything I can," she finished, drawing her cape back over her shoulders.

"Aw, what a sweetheart," Jailbird joked, then continued snacking on a sandwich.

A small part of him had hoped that some careful word fencing would work, but in reality he wasn't too surprised that Kismet wasn't backing down. It wasn't too surprising either to hear that her apparent support of honourable agreement was limited in how far it went, and even then, more than most others in leadership positions were probably willing to be held to.

"It's crafty and all, but you had to know that wouldn't work, didn't you mate?" From behind the still barred doorway that kept Trace aside from the others, his second clone called out a somewhat gloating remark. The Courser standing in front of Kismet folded his arms and turned his head slightly.

"Quiet." The tone this time as serious and most of the charming overtones had leached out of it. He turned its gaze further to TaxidermyMan and inclined his head. "I appreciate your concern, TaxidermyMan, but as of this moment, whether or not I am accorded membership in this organisation is of less concern to me than other matters. I don't make flat promises easily, but I keep the ones I make. I am doing what I must, and if that means I'm refused, I can accept that." He turned his attention back to Kismet while the second decoy looked to Trace and then across to Jailbird and shrugged his shoulders in light of the reprimand.

"So, em... either of you two as on the fence about this as Pythag over there? I get that he'd rather she was someone else's problem, but you two want to make sure she's safe and free, right?" It spoke in a low murmur, a more conversational tone than anything else as though the nearby stand-off didn't really affect him. "I mean, I'd love a game involving a bottle with all three of you if you'd humour me, but you're all friends right?" It flicked its eyes back and forth between Jailbird and Trace, curious to see how they stood. The one in front of Kismet fixed her helmet with harder eyes, the polite sharpness in his expression dropping to a more serious unamused look.

"Fine. You want to cut the politics, we can cut it. You aren't getting Mime. That's an absolute. I'm not undercutting your authority right now because you don't have any authority over me in the first place. I'm not a member of the mafia just yet, and maybe I won't be, if it comes to it. That's ok with me. Right now, I'm not an insubordinate, or a rogue piece; I'm a problem that is standing very firmly between you and the woman behind me. How you solve that problem is up to you."

"If you think I'm clever, then at least do me the credit of believing that this 'foolishness' as you put it is not just me thinking with my balls. It's not like I signed on for the faction most known for their rational thinking. I could be a valuable asset for you. I could also continue to be a problem. That's your choice to make." He uncrossed his arms and let them fall low to his sides, palms out, in something of a waiting gesture as he continued.

"Shok is still a Blesser. Shok interfered here. Mime ran from the ball. We've got breach everywhere on both sides and all that really means is that what this comes down to right now is you making a decision on your own. You're not beholden to anyone. You're not 'giving all you can' while seeming sympathetic; you can do what you want to, so don't pretend otherwise. You're also not stupid enough to really believe that this would all be over and done with, and ended, if Mime dies. You know better than that."

As the Courser with Kismet spoke in far less flowery tones to her, the one down by Mime nodded back, then leaned in closer for a moment. He had said he wouldn't get Jenny involved in this, but this was important... As he whispered to Mime, he sent Jenny a quick message; she wasn't paying attention to whatever movie was on now anyway, so she'd hear it.

Quote ()

Jen, no time to explain. If you get a connection request from another navi in a moment, pre-approve it. This is very important. Sorry. I'll explain later.

Quote ()

??? Ok, but I want allthe juicy deets as soonas I'm out of study hall!

To Mime, his whisper was close by her ear.

"I know you're tired, Sunshine... but this could all go keel up any minute. If you don't have any emergency system connected, then I need you to connect through that address I gave you, and use mine. It doesn't have to be for long if you don't want to, but please, just do it for now if you can, so I know you're safe while we take care of this." In front of them, the other Courser was still 'negotiating'.

"This Blood Sport, as you call it, was a feud between two powered up Blessers trying to kill each other. One of them is no threat any more, and the other is your charge. Shok is not my problem, but she is yours. I will take care of Mime; I will ensure that she is no further problem to you, yours, or anyone else. You and the remaining Blessers can deal with Shok; you seem to have your hands full enough keeping her under control already, so I'm taking Mime off your hands and out of your consideration. You don't have to like that, Kismet, you just have to accept that that is what is happening now. Weigh up all of the factors involved in this; yourself, your mafia, their opinion of your capabilities, the Blessers, Shok and Mime, myself... and make your decision. Sure you could step forward and try to eliminate myself and Mime right now. You might even be able to count on some of the people in this room helping you do that. Or maybe you can't. Who knows. When you fail to eliminate either of us, however, weigh up how that will look." He didn't move into anything resembling a combat stance, but there was nevertheless an edge to the air as he stood his ground in front of her.

"Or with all your skill at reading situations, you can decide on a more sensible course of action. What is it going to be, Kismet... do you want me as an asset, or as a problem?"

"Because honestly, I just wanted a party!" The decoy by Trace and Jailbird called out unhelpfully through cupped hands.

"Ha ha, well... That's a shame, but on the other hand, I think we've brought in folks with much more egregious offences than talking back to Kismet. No offense, Kismet; just pointing out that we have a clinically insane former NetPolice member who shoots his own allies as a faction leader" TaxidermyMan joked, smiling to show sympathy. "So maybe you're still going to be okay."

Trace spoke for the rest of them, moving to the edge of the bars and clutching them in both hands. "Sure, we all want Mime to go free. It's clear to anybody that even her quest for vengeance, which endangered other in the Mafia, was all set into motion by Shok. There's no need for her to be on the hook any more, especially considering she only came back here to try and save us," she defended.

TaxidermyMan probably would have nodded along, but there was no real way for him to nod with his limited range of movement. "Indeed," he spoke out.

"Yeah, she tried to imitate me and blow me up once, but that's all water under the bridge too," Jailbird pitched in, unhelpfully.

TriangleMan remained quiet and put down another sandwich, making an annoying buzzing noise with the blades beneath his face-plate. CourseMan already knew his feelings on the matter, anyway.

The crowd quieted again once CourseMan let it be known just how unwilling he was to let Mime's imprisonment go forward. "I admire your conviction, but it's completely misguided," Kismet sighed. "I believe in fate, CourseMan, but it's a fate guided by the strong, ushering the weak around a board like chess-pieces. I command a few; others command me and the Mafia as a whole. You command no one, least of all me," she glowered, her voice growing less and less hospitable. "I've given you the most charitable option I'm going to give. You can be part of the Mafia. You can leave the Mafia alone, though I'd hate to lose someone with your resourcefulness. Or, as you've apparently chosen, you can interfere with my decision regarding Mime and become a problem to the Mafia. And if you do, as a ranking member of the Head Family, it will be my responsibility to resolve that problem."

"Kismet, CourseMan has a point: you do have the ability to let Mime go free! You're the only Head Family member who's even keeping track of this," Trace countered. "It's like you said, the others don't care!"

"She'll be in danger from Shok. Everyone around her will be in danger. If she retaliates against Shok or anyone else does in order to defend her, they'll be putting all of the Blessers in danger. The safest option is imprisonment," the glass-helmeted navi explained. "I don't want Mime to die either, or anyone else to be caught up in their struggle. If she's imprisoned, we can defend her, just as the 'safe-house' was defending Shok from her. If she's free... wherever you're thinking of taking her for your little honeymoon... we can't provide that same protection. Shok managed to abduct and murder two of her coworkers without their operators, or any of us, finding out she did it. If you think your homepage is going to keep Mime safe, well... I won't call you foolish, but it's a misstep."

At this point, she stepped forward, put down her hood, and dismissed her helmet, showing her familiar, irritated face, the upper lip curled up in a persistent scowl that didn't match the bushes of short, green pigtails sticking out from her head. "If I think about it again, I suppose I have nothing to lose personally, whether Mime lives in imprisonment in our jail or dies in your homepage. But I want you to think about this: I could erect a jack-out barrier and prevent you from leaving, forcing you into combat right now. You've seen Gala: I can and will scar you the same way if you force me to. Other mafioso will do worse. There is a whole family of our faction who would have killed you as soon as you defied them or killed Mime instead, just to prove the point and make it hurt worse. The Mafia has much to gain by your membership, and so I'll allow it, but I think we'll quickly be writing you into the names of reckless mafioso gone too soon if you don't put a cap on this self-assuredness of yours. Become powerful first, then you'll have more liberty to make demands of people. Take that tip to heart."

For her part, Mime was nodding along with CourseMan, ready to go with him, though it was still questionable if she was in the right state of mind to understand all the implications of following him right now. Still, it sounded like he was free to leave, mostly scott-free, if he wanted to. If he wanted to continue to party instead, he was probably going to need to segue into that conversation quickly, although Mime certainly wasn't in a state for partying herself. BlessMan began to wander off, headed towards the hole CourseMan had made in the wall earlier; Kismet grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

In the peanut gallery, trying to shrug off the tension, the Courser clone sharing the behind0bars space with Trace glanced across to Jailbird with a smirk, then flicked his eyes across to where another Courser was still kneeling down with Mime and helping support her.

"I heard something about that, Songbird... the two of you could do a mean cosplay of each other. That even makes the party games we could play all the more interesting, in some ways, don't you think?" He winked at her, though as much as his tone was playful there was still a soft expression in his eyes; joking or not, Jailbird was still hurting, and Mime herself was out of it, so neither of them were likely to be seriously interested in strenuous party games tonight, however much they might banter. He was also relieved to hear that the others sounded like they were firmly on Mime's side of the situation and generally against her imprisonment, but didn't bring that particular point up any more directly.

While the courser talking to Kismet held her gaze, the one behind him carefully helped mime around the are to take rest and sit with the others, not far from Jailbird and the bars that still restrained Trace. Given what he knew, he didn't expect that Kismet would miss the action; he was operating under the assumption that she saw everything that occurred in the room, whether she seemed to or not, but he moved while she was delivering her response to the other courser, who folded his arms and nodded as she spoke.

"You can call me foolish if you like, you know. It is, probably. Nevertheless... I command only myself and arguably not even that sometimes. I can assure you, I'd probably show you a lot more respect and deference if I were under your authority and one of the individuals you commanded. Until that time, however, I'm not, and I don't: if I am a problem that is your responsibility to resolve, then the sooner you resolve it, the sooner I can become an asset to your organisation." He shrugged and unfolded his arms to spread them apart in a more open gesture.

"What I'm seeing, however, is that it is your responsibility to contain Shok and ensure that she is not a danger to others. That's on you. You're asking me to allow someone to be imprisoned because... and correct me if I'm mistaken here... You. Can't. Do it. That is what you're telling me, Kismet. If Mime is free, you are incapable... I stress, Incapable... of keeping the woman who is your current responsibility to contain, from harming her. You are admitting that complete and utter failure of capability... an inability to uphold your responsibility on that score... as the reason why Mime must be imprisoned. So, maybe you understand why I'm more interested in keeping my promise than trusting your capabilities." He shrugged again and sighed.

"Like I said... I'd be more respectful if I was your man."

"Yeah, sure you would! You'd be just the same, only you'd dress it up prettier!" The courser clone behind the bars called out from the peanut gallery.
"Quiet." The one in front of Kismet turned his head to snap at it before returning his focus. "Hopefully when this is done, I will be, and then you can discipline me for speaking out of turn all you please."
"Careful, he might enjoy it! A pretty little lass teaching him a pretty big lesson, right?" The one by the bars jeered.
"I said Quiet!" His eyes only darted across this time before flicking back to Kismet. "Maybe him first, if punishment is needed?" At length, he shook his head.

"Look, I don't imagine that Mime will be safer anywhere more than anywhere else, whether it's my home or elsewhere. It's your job to ensure that Shok is contained. If you can't do that, then keeping Mime imprisoned won't really help. If Shok can't get to her directly, then she will just attempt to hurt her by harming what other friends she has left. Would you then imprison them as well? That path doesn't fix the issue and you know it." When Kismet came forward further, lowering her hood, It was to extend a grave warning and threat, along with a concession and Courser nodded to her again, re-crossing his arms.

"I'm sure you could do those things, and I'm sure many others would have tried to already. I'm sure you believe you know as much as you need to about me to make that call, and I'm also sure you're not as completely certain about that as you'd like to be right in this instant. So, I am glad that you are going to allow this, rather than... gambling with fate, shall we say. My thanks." The decoy bowed his head, then put one hand across his chest and bowed further, fading into shadows, and possibly reminding kismet that the one she'd been primarily addressing all this time was a decoy and not the genuine article. The real courser made sure Mime was still recovering and in the safe company of Jailbird and Trace, then with a small nod and a rub across her shoulders stood to approach Kismet himself. If she was going to extend him the gesture of taking off her helmet, then he could talk to her face to face as well.

"Now that we're both showing some trust, and the issue is concluded, a tip for you in return, Kismet. You're right... I don't have a lot of power, but a small amount of power applied in the right way, and on the right points, with just a little bit of leverage, can often be far more effective than having a bigger stick and swinging it wildly. In this case, you have relented and allowed me to keep my promise, and that is all I wished for. If I had believed you the sort to jump straight to a violent solution, my decisions would have been different. Again, thank you." He glanced back to the others; TriangleMan's less-than-jovial feelings, Jailbird's exhaustion, Mime's weakness, Trace's lock-in and TaxidermyMan's misfortune. Having a proper party now might be hard, but drinks and a small celebration might still be something they could wrangle, if it was subdued.

"At any rate, this was originally meant to be a small get together to celebrate Mime's freedom, amongst friends, before Shok's machinations caught up to things. We may still do that, though I'm not sure it will be anything more than a subdued raising of glasses at this stage, all things considered. I'm sure you probably need to get that one back to Jury's care before long, but if I'm still welcome, I'd be content to sign my name in your ledger. I'd invite you to stay for a drink, but it's not my place, and I don't speak for the others." He inclined his head to her a last time, then stepped back a couple of paces before turning to cross the space back to take a more relaxed seat between Mime and Jailbird, visibly relaxing himself.

"Triangulating... If you like pale girls with haircuts that looked like the barber got lazy, who wear nothing but black and white stripes, and who have average or frankly a little below average busts where navis are concerned, then I suppose you'll be a very happy man," the previously silent, triangle-headed man droned, sounding a little vindictive for whatever reason. Jailbird smirked and rolled her eyes; Mime wasn't in much of a mood to retort.

Kismet shared none of the humor the others were feeling. "You keep prodding me, CourseMan. You're like a man with a death wish," she spoke frankly. "I've been trying to resolve you in a way that leaves you an asset to anyone and not a data-stain on TaxidermyMan's wall, and believe me, it's tiring. Just as tiring is your bothersome maneuvering: yes I am admitting that the best I can do is to try at protecting her with the resources of our jail. It's going to be a lot better than your piddly homepage, believe me. No one can fully promise to protect Mime from Shok because she's a twice-damned Blesser, which, you must have come to realize by now, means she does not operate within normal rules and with predictable navi capabilities."

"Shok? Well, she's special alright," BlessMan agreed with a mirthful smile, as if he'd entirely missed the context of Kismet's growling. "Suffice to say, she's an essential linchpin of the-"

"You two are both making me want to hurt you," Kismet sighed deeply herself with a lack of diplomacy, turning the debate into a sighing match between the two of them. BlessMan looked confused, but kept his mouth shut. "I'll happily punish all of you at once if that's what you're asking for." She either didn't realize or didn't care that such a statement probably worked into the double entendre intended by the clones perfectly well. By the time he was ready to give her thanks for at least doing the courtesy of stopping butting heads, she was thoroughly fed up, and her glower seemed even stormier than usual; he'd probably burned through whatever favor she felt like she owed him from the original diplomacy mission. "Do what you will with Mime. You are indeed correct that keeping BlessMan here, away from the guidance of his daughter, is a poor idea. I will take him away; enjoy whatever festivities you have planned, to what extent you still can."

She grabbed a hold of BlessMan's hand and vanished in a beam along with him, still glaring at CourseMan as she left. From what he knew of CourseMan so far, she was a bit of a pessimist, short-tempered when it came to jokes, and not one for sentimentality, so it probably stood to reason she was irritated by him on all accounts.

"Whew... that's finally over. Hey, are you really taking Mime into your PET? You're a nutty guy, you know that?" Jailbird asked, leaning back against the wall in a sitting variation of her familiar standing position.

"You don't have to... Simon's actually still got Mime's old PET. We can take her back and put her into it, if you want. That way, she'll be operated again, free to jack in and out... It might not save her from the kinds of creatively terrible things Shok may have planned, but it would at least mean that if she comes into regular peril, she'll be protected by the EJO mechanism. I probably should have mentioned that earlier," Trace pointed out. "Simon would probably like to catch up with her, too. They haven't had much of a chance yet. Of course, if you two already have something worked out, feel free to do that... Maybe Mime can tell us more about what she wants once she gets back on her feet."

"Yeah, yeah... for now, a toast to, uh, still being able to toast things. Bring us something to toast with!" Jailbird encouraged Trace.

The other girl gave her a pouting frown. "What am I, your prisoner?"

Jailbird looked at the bars still encasing that room, then back to Trace, smiling and shrugging.

The others all seemed to have settled into at least a remotely peaceful state, save Mime, who was still looking as though she'd have difficulty standing or carrying on a conversation (even in pantomime). The two girls who would be best suited for sharing a victory kiss with were both pretty beat up... he could try to steal something more off Trace if he wanted to bring her into his expanding group of girlfriends, but otherwise, any advances would probably have a hard time going anywhere given the physical state of the girls.

While the final negotiations were being cleaned up, the remaining decoy, still hanging with Trace on the far side of the bars, shared Jailbird's reaction to TriangleMan in something approaching unison, though his smirk was accompanied by a slight lowering of his head a glint in his eyes.

"Careful there, my angular companion.... your courage is showing. Wouldn't want people to think you were acting out of character, after all." The look was gone a moment later, replaced by his more usual social grin. "At any rate, if you're done judging your friends by their physical appearances, it sounds like all of the back and forth is about wrapping up. Maybe you'll feel a bit more charitable once we get some alcohol into you, hmm?" He ended the response with a wink, but otherwise didn't chat any further until Kismet was done with the other CourserMan.

Rather than speak and likely antagonise the diminutive lady any further, Courser was content to accept the concession as made and duck his head to her in a respectful gesture. He knew he'd pushed hard, but in the long run he had to rely on Kismet understanding that whatever difficulty he might be for her now would ultimately be a tool she could turn on other difficult problems in the future, so as long as she was still willing to let him be and accept him, it would work out or the best overall. Just as long as he didn't reach too fr right now. Politely, he remained until Kismet took her leave, then drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly in a slightly dramatic fashion.

After another second he spun on his heel, clapped his hands together and faced the rest of his gathered companions; as he did the other courser clone dissipated into shadow to stop him giving himself more of a headache. About to speak up, Jailbird was the first to shoot him a question, and Courser rubbed at his neck.

"At the moment, it's more a matter of whatever Mime needs or wishes, while she's recovering. To be frank, I didn't know how safe she was. I know a bunch of you have the tools to throw up barriers, so it wasn't much of a safety net, but better than nothing as long as I could keep anyone for putting on up again, you know?" He shrugged then walked back to join the group, sitting back beside where Mime was resting, and relaxing once more. He glanced at the drained woman to see how in touch with the conversation she was, but continued either way, directing his words as much to the others as her.

"The offer is there, now that things are less fraught, if it's wanted. If there's someone else that she'd prefer to go or would feel safer, I'm not going to push. Just... Like I said to Mintkiss, I don't make promises often, not serious ones, but when I make a promise, I keep it." At this point, and waiting for any extra reactions that may have come about from him settling on a nickname for Kismet at last, Courser looked across to Jailbird.

"Like when you were in trouble earlier... I was worried, and I got a bit dark about it to that... thing. I said I was going to make sure you were safe, and that we'd get you fixed up and better, and when I didn't know how to, there weren't very many lengths I would not have gone to to find out and see it done, nor that I wouldn't have considered pursuing if you'd come to true harm." He attempted to let the more serious moment break with a smirk and a shrug.

"Besides which, I owe you a proper date still at some point, and I can't be letting some crazy data remnant or mad electro-therapist get in the way of that now, can I?" His eyes flicked across to TaxidermyMan "Er, not meaning any offence to present company of course; whatever that thing really was it was wearing the guise of your predecessor and that can't have been comfortable for you. For that matter, how long is all of this mess going to take to fix up for you? I'm sorry it went down as destructively as it did. Any luck springing these bars yet? I'm kind of worried that you've not got your rights back even now, if I'm honest." Regardless of how things played out, courser was happy to relax and chat, and generally debrief with the others for a few minutes of general solidarity. If they could actually get some drinks for a small toast, and more importantly, for drinking, all the better, but until they could get the bars open for Trace, she'd be stuck having to run the kitchen duty back and forth.

"So anyway... I think I managed not to annoy Mintkiss too badly, which means she's not vetoing the application. Guess that means I won't be having to turn my most potent secret weapons on any Mafia members in the near future. Well, unless they want me to of course." He was, of course, referring to his skilful tongue and disarming smile, but such things went without saying, as fr as he was concerned. "So... I'd still like to make a nice evening of this, even if it's a more restful one, all things considered. Thoughts anyone? I'm guessing strip twister is off the cards..." He let himself laugh at that point; given the states of both Mime and Jailbird, and potentially Trace if they still hadn't gotten her free, a game like that was certainly a no-sell.

"Triangulating... Am I supposed to be afraid? Of you, or Mime, or Jailbird? I'm a genius, CourseMan. It ought to take more courage to tell lies than to tell truths, oughtn't it?" TriangleMan answered, annoyingly bringing things back to the ping-pong match of half-threats that had been going with Kismet a moment ago. It ought to figure that no mafioso would let what they interpreted as a threat go without firing back... maybe that was just part of the game. "Although... there are three of you. I respect those who come in threes," he murmured, as though that made sense and warranted no further explanation.

"Triangulating... and I think we'd all appreciate something to drink," TriangleMan added, expanding the mystery from how he enjoyed his sandwiches with no apparent tongue or stomach to how he'd enjoy alcohol with, again, no tongue or stomach.

"Well, I know she's happy to have a friend like you, CourseMan, even if she can't show it. If he wasn't mad as a hatter as of his recent revival, I know my predecessor would be happy to see that she's got someone looking after her. What do you think, Mime? Do you want to go back to live with Simon for a while or would you rather be CourseMan's roomie?" he asked, keeping his arms crossed behind his back. CourseMan might not like him pushing her, but he seemed to believe they needed an answer to wrap things up. When she still couldn't answer, he tilted his head slightly and asked again. "I'm sure CourseMan will be willing to spend plenty of time with you, whichever answer you choose," he reminded her.

Mime nodded, then pointed back at Trace across the bars. It seemed she'd decided to return to Simon's PET for now, though it was hard to read anything from her expression but "exhausted".

CourseMan expressed similar concern for Jailbird, which caused her to return a sympathetic smile, an expression that seemed a bit backwards. "Hey, are you sure you're joining the right faction? There's being a team player, and that's all fine and dandy, but chivalry's a little weird for a Mafia guy, ain't it? Look at the rest of these shmucks," she joked, looking, maybe, a little more affected and less aloof than she usually did.

TriangleMan was not discreet with his criticism and spoke up. "Triangulating... That kind of niceness is a waste here, rookie. She should be grateful that we stepped in at all, given that she's done nothing but stand around in that jailhouse for years," he complained, sounding almost sulky.

The other mafia man couldn't help but cough and turn his head aside, perhaps realizing that he'd dropped the ball as the gentleman among the group. "It's nice of you to be concerned. Don't make me fall for you too!" he teased, though the idea of dating a mostly inanimate taxidermist with giant needles on his fingers and a pick sticking through his torso probably wasn't sitting as well as some of the other relationships CourseMan had set up so far. "But the situation is only as bad as it is because... I never really imagined this happening. I'll get someone from Techari who's a little more knowledgeable about sercurity bypass and a little less about taxidermy, and I'm sure they'll get it resolved for me quickly," he chuckled.

The group looked at him vacantly for a moment as Trace returned with drinks, then offered them out: a variety of several staples and weirder concoctions. "Th-That's your idea of not annoying Kismet too badly?" she asked, soliciting a small peel of laughter from the others who were thinking similarly. "Still, she must really see something in you... A-And it goes without saying that strip twister was never on the table," she murmured, blushing again and looking irritated.

"I'm surprised you have the stamina! At any rate... a toast to our newest Mafia member, a new old friend who can finally stretch her legs outside of a jail cell, and to, apparently, many upcoming dates," TaxidermyMan finished, raising one of the strangest drinks among the bunch, a pale, piss-looking yellow concoction that one might be forgiven for suspecting was formaldehyde. The others toasted as well. "Ah, I hate to rush you all out, but I think it's best if we finish our drinks and then I get this place cleared out. Trace excluded, of course, while I figure out how to get her out without tearing down yet another wall," he suggested.

Trace looked only moderately offended that she wasn't going to get a wall torn down for her, after what had been done for Jailbird. "Fine..."

"Don't worry, someone will be along soon to help. I've put a call in," TaxidermyMan reassured her. "Most importantly Mime and Jailbird probably need to get straight to resting."

"Can't argue with you there," Jailbird agreed, rubbing a leg that was apparently bothering her. It sounded like the party was unfortunately going to have to take a rain check. "How about you, Mime? Ready to meet your maker? Not in a bad way," she asked, looking both ways to see if anyone was taking that badly.

"I'm sure she is, but she has to follow me out. Don't worry, CourseMan... We'll handle it. You should check back in with your operator... I'm sure she's worried sick," Trace suggested.

"Huh? How do you know his operator's a girl?" Jailbird asked, around a swig of the cheapest, laziest beer one could acquire a taste for.

"... I don't think most boys would make a navi like CourseMan, is all," Trace coughed with her pale face reddening slightly, as it seemed to do easier than she'd like.

The only response that courser gave to TriangleMan's retort was another grin that was mostly a smirk at the side of his lips, followed by a vaguely cheeky wink. The self-proclaimed genius would have to work that out on his own. Instead, he continued his conversation with the other members of the room, though at the end of the day Mime's preference was what they took the time to wait for. Along the way he shrugged and spread his palms to the side briefly as Jailbird questioned his sentimentality.

"What can I say? Respect where it's due; care where you're able; play while it's fun and dance on the table." When Mime made what gesture she could, though, Courser nodded in a calmer way, the twinkle in his eyes softening when it turned to her in her current state of exhaustion. "No worries then, Sunshine, as long as you're staying safe. Keep in touch and let me know when you're feeling better, ok?"

The conversation moved about their other various concerns for a little while as courser didn't bother with ribbing TriangleMan's rudeness to his friends; as long as that one continued to view such niceties as wasted it was a fair shot that he'd never really have anyone in his life that could be called anything above an acquaintance. The others had already admitted that he was hanging out with them because they were the closest things to friend she had, and he didn't seem particularly friendly towards them. He nodded to TaxidermyMan, and raised the glass he'd been offered — his selection looked something like a strong port, possibly. the small murmur of laughter made him arch an eyebrow.

"What? I mean... I assume her bite is worse than her bark, right? That she let me have my way and didn't paste anyone in the process makes me assume I didn't rub her button the wrong way too much..." his grin left it up to the others to decide whether he was mixing metaphors... or cheekily not. "But the game's more fun when you push close to the edge for a bit without tipping over." This time he winked to go with the comment.

The rest of the drink wrapped up quickly and those who were leaving made ready to go, while those who had to wait were stuck. Courser waited, for his part, and waved away Trace's concern about his operator.

"She's in school still, and she's young enough that I don't want her getting involved in any of the details of what I may be doing with this particular organisation. As far as she needs to be concerned, I'm her flirty eye-candy navi that sometimes needs some time to go out and do his own thing for a while, and I mean to keep it that way for as long as I can." For his part, Courser waited around until he could at least see Mime off safely, chatting quietly with those who also had to remain. Once he'd seen her safe departure, though, presumably with Trace, courser said his last goodbyes to TaxidermyMan and whoever else remained before taking his own leave.


((Courser, Returning To -> Rachel's Home))

"Fun motto, but I'm too lazy to dance," Jailbird responded with self-depreciating humor; hopefully, she was just joking, or else, CourseMan would need to go ahead and cross that off his date itinerary. Mime gave another nod, still weary to a worrisome degree, but hopefully this would all be a memory by the time they next met.

"I'd caution you about pushing your luck, my friend, but I think that particular warning's been issued at least thirty times tonight," TaxidermyMan chuckled in response, not changing his standing position.

On that note, the others probably had more advice to offer about how wise or foolish it would be for a navi to hide their profession from their operator, but they managed to hold it in for the sake of not piling on yet another piece of unwanted critique.

CourseMan would hang around to see Jailbird leave first, then TriangleMan almost immediately after her. Another masked navi, who seemed remarkably familiar from his toxic control suit and lanky stature, appeared to evaluate how to best get Trace out from where she'd been trapped. The answer: blowing through the wall, which didn't seem to suit TaxidermyMan very well judging by his sour reaction. His geniality had its limits where blowing up his museum was involved, apparently.

Once Trace was out, she left along with Mime, to the safety of her operator, Simon. That's leave just TaxidermyMan and CourseMan to enjoy a bounty of mostly untouched, cold finger foods before he departed the scene. "Also, I should add... if I'm extending the recruitment again, the rest ought to go with it. Please, take it. I've added in another 1200 zenny, for your trouble with Kismet... although I might should be asking you to pay me. I think we all have a few more gray hairs after watching that," he joked. Soon after, CourseMan would run out of reasons to hang around, and would presumably be on his way.

((NetMafia Teksqp recruitment obtained, along with 20 faction points, 4200z, and AquaNeedle2 x1... NOTE: this is not in addition to earlier rewards))
((FXP to come))

((CourseMan gets the following FXP:

TaxidermyMan: 24 FXP
TriangleMan: 12 FXP
Trace: 27 FXP
Mime: 26 FXP
Jailbird: 24 FXP
Kismet: 3 FXP
Shok: 1 FXP
BlessMan: 1 FXP))