Nidlee Varcee's Studio

"Ah, right. I recall you saying your navi was sick. I do hope it's nothing too serious?" Nidlee asked, tilting her eyebrows upward. After narrowly avoiding a joke along the lines of "I hope she's drinking plenty of water," Nidlee refocused her attention from the sick SplashLady to the vibrant and healthy Sabrina. She smiled at Sabrina's reaction upon seeing the virus attack scenario. "Hmhmhm! That sort of reaction is not bad. Even if your only reaction is surprise or alarm, that can turn into word of mouth advertising, even when it's not intentional. At the least, I want to raise a comment from whoever I show these too. Keep that in mind when you take your shots," the artist responded. "No questions? Minted up? Very good! I'm eager to tell you about the models, so please, listen well."

"My connection is actually in the NetMafia, you see, but don't worry; while our models are well known mafioso, what we're doing here isn't exactly shady business! Well, er, there's a certain level of debauchery involved, but not really 'evil,' right? Anyways, I've assembled a number of models, all of them female... although your partner for the day is indeed a man, and not a mafioso either. Like PhotoMan, I find it best if I organize all information on the subjects into individual folders and present them. Please, have a look," Nidlee urged, placing the folders down on the desk beside her and sliding them forward so that Sabrina could grab them. She was speaking quickly now, perhaps to disorient Sabrina and distract her from the fact that she was going to be working with Mafia-affiliated models today.

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Folder #1- Erwin Goswhit
Role: Assistant
Affiliation: None
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Operates: Armor.EXE

A volunteer who has offered to help with this particular photoshoot, on behalf of his navi, Armor, who is appreciative of the publicity one of our previous shots. I don't know if he has ulterior motives, i.e. wanting to see women naked, but it might be best to keep a tight leash on him regardless to make certain that he harasses our modeling talents no more than we ask him to. From all reports and appearances, however, he is a gentleman, besides a desirable bachelor, if a bit of a nerd. I suspect he will give you no trouble and follow orders to the letter. The only possible issue is that he may go too easy on the girls; remember, we need the aggressiveness of wild, uncharacteristically horny viruses for the video. Be sure to help him get enthused about his role, if he needs the help. I've also trained him on most of the video equipment, so if you need any assistance operating them, feel free to ask him as well as myself.

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Folder #2- Charlotte Ollendorf
Role: Model
Affiliation: NetMafia Vivarte Family
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Operates: OrbitMan.EXE

Charlotte was one of the first models recommended to us by Byung-Soon Lee, which is surprising, as her personality does not appear to lend itself to modeling. She is proud, rigid, and rather tight, all which make her seem an odd choice for this sort of work. On the other hand, her brown hair is just beautiful, her green eyes are stunning, and her body is classic and gorgeous, the 'best fit' style for a model: slim and curved. Easy type of figure to work with and very popular. The toughest part of her role here will most likely be making her feel comfortable with 'degrading herself,' since she has the mistaken impression that this is all about lechery and money-making, rather than advancing our artistic understanding of photography and videography. She acts comfortable around Erwin, so maybe use that to your advantage?

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Folder #3- Byung-Soon Lee
Role: Model
Affiliation: NetMafia Techari Family
Gender: Female
Age: 33
Operates: Meridian.EXE

One of our older models, but you can't tell from the way she looks; perhaps it's her own acupuncture or youth-preserving techniques, but she probably looks a little younger than Charlotte at first glance. Despite the fact that she's Electopian, she is neither short nor slim; she's one of our curvier models, with the kind of erotic body that is usually favored by pornography rather than fashion photography. We're straddling the line anyways, so I'm sure we have an audience. She's not at all shy, so that's good, but she is the type that can be difficult to motivate into any difficult work. She's pretty obviously interested in Erwin, but unlike Charlotte, maybe a little too interested... Try to keep her focused and on task. As another important note, she's the ring-leader who rounded up the others and invited them.

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Folder #4- Wakana Fujimoto
Role: Model
Affiliation: NetMafia Bloodhounds Family
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Operates: FireYaku.EXE

I have no idea how they managed to convince Wakana Fujimoto to do this, but they did, and we should be thankful. She's very young but with a nice body that has filled out well; if you've ever seen her navi, they look similar, although the operator is not as tall nor as deeply tanned. On one hand, she's the kind who stands out in her yard and pounds drums while wearing fundoshi underwear, the loincloth kind. On the other hand, I hear she's a real tomboy who takes active offense at being treated like a girl. The best method here might be to try to trick her, actually... That's probably how they got her here in the first place. It's up to you how you want to handle it. Her initial reaction to both myself and Erwin has been standoffish, so anticipate her being difficult to deal with.

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Folder #5- Yolanda Wiseman
Role: Model
Affiliation: NetMafia Creel Family
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Operates: Holly.EXE

She should be easy to work with, as she seems very personable and eager to contribute, but her figure is a bit of a tough sell. To put it bluntly, she's a bit chubby. We want to try not to focus on her middrift too much if possible... Try focusing on her breasts, buttocks, or thighs if you can. Some folks like a plump bottom, after all. She is a blond, which is stand-out amongst this bunch, but her hair is a bit plain. Her smile is cute, but her cheeks make it apparent that she's... a bit chubby. So again, tread carefully. Please, do try not to call her out on it... I don't think it would hurt the shoot, but I do think it would be quite rude to the girl.

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Folder #6- Mundwoon
Role: Model
Affiliation: NetMafia Head Family
Gender: Female
Age: 29
Operates: SellSoul.EXE

This one has a big problem of her own: she's not a celebrity. I get the feeling that Byung-Soon Lee did not invite her, but she wormed her way into the group anyways. She has an annoying personality: namely, she's always looking to make people indebted to her somehow. I don't know more than that, but it was infuriating during the brief interview time I spent with her. Her body again has more of the ero appeal: big boobs, big butt. She's Electopian, but it's not nearly as obvious as it is with Byung-Soon, and I sort of get the feeling her breasts aren't natural like Byung-Soon's are. She wears her black hair in huge ponytails that are also highly off-putting... they make it look like she's trying to look fifteen years younger than she is. I'd say ask her to put her hair down, but it's very, very long and will just get in the way more if it isn't tied up. Despite how eager she is to serve, she's going to be a very annoying person to deal with, I bet you. It might be a bit difficult to get an inspiring shot out of her. Hang in there!

"Isn't it neat, how so many different families are represented there? The only one we're missing is Teksqp, and frankly, they're more of a hassle to deal with than anyone, I hear. So maybe we lucked out?" Nidlee chuckled. "Now, I don't know if you've taken many photos or videos in your life, but here's a basic tip you should know: each additional subject you add to a shot like this substantially increases the difficulty. While you may save time or the artistic vision may be served, you'll find it more difficult to get them posed just right, find them distracted, that sort of thing. How you want to proceed is entirely up to you and I'd like you to consider which combinations of actors you can get the best shots out of. You may even choose to do them each individually. I'd just recommend you avoid trying to record all five of them in one shot," the photographer reinforced, adjusting her shades with two fingers with a small frown, as if remembering an unpleasant situation where she'd recently tried to do that. "Use this communicator to call them into the studio in whatever order you like. I'd recommend deciding the combinations beforehand, so that you can cut down on communications... Models don't like being made to run in and out of a room, you understand. They might not care, but it's professional courtesy. And we're professionals here, darling."

The device Nidlee handed over looked like an antique, a small black box with a ring of holes indicating where one ought to speak into, as well as six switches, corresponding to the model numbers mentioned on the folders. They'd need to be switched on simultaneously to communicate to multiple people at once.

*Sabrina received ModelCom device!*

"Ah, my budding fellow videographer! An artiste in the making! I have such high hopes for you, my dear!" Sabrina's employer sighed, pressing her hands together in her lap and curling her dark-painted lips into a broad smile. "Do you have any more questions for me? Well, whenever you're ready, head back to the lobby area, take a right this time, and enter the first set of double doors you see. That's the shooting studio. Chances are Erwin is waiting there, but if he's not, just call him on the ModelCom. Oh, and one more thing! There are costumes for this shoot, of course. The ladies are all in their's already. I've left one for you and another for Erwin too, though, if you'll be a dear and let him know~! You don't have to wear yours, nor does he his, but I thought it might put the two of you in the mood," she smiled in a coy way.

"I don't think so. Based on the sounds of it, they just need a day or so to let their antivirus programs do their thing!" After confirming that it wasn't exactly a life or death struggle for her Navis, Sabrina listened, and learned a little about the models. ...They were all NetMafia? Hoo boy. Any question in her mind of whether this mission was the kind you told your mother about over dinner was now gone; nope, it was not. Oh well, that's what lying was for. Now, let's see what kinds of people she'd be dealing with...

The assistant seemed harmless enough. Sounded like she needed to make sure he didn't go all perv on the set, though. That was something she could probably handle, since apparently she shared parents with one. Model #1...she just needed to make sure she knew there was art in this, and not just money and other things. Maybe her being there might help with that? She definitely wasn't in this for the scantily clad women, after all. Model #2...sounded a bit lazy, but otherwise there didn't seem to be any major problems. The bigger eyebrow raiser was the 'straddling the line' comment...though, after seeing that one picture of that Navi, she sorta already knew what she might be dabbling in. Model #3...seemed like a huge pain. Though, maybe she might be a little warmer to someone closer to her own age? Model #4...operator of Holly? That name sounded familiar, though she couldn't recall where she heard it before. She was a little surprised they were going with...well, a plus sized woman, in an event like this, but that reinforced that it was supposed to be artistic and stuff, or something like that. And Model #5...sounded really annoying. And who only had one name? That was weird. At any rate, she had her work cut out for her, with all of these guys. She gave the folders back, but not before taking a picture of the contents of each, in case she forgot anything later on.

Hmm, come up with the order ahead of time? Well, she already knew she was doing them all one at a time. It'd save her headaches, plus, if you had more than one person in a shot, you risked turning off some people that liked one, but not the other. And all five at once...no. Just no. Even without the warning, Sabrina knew that was a terrible idea. Some of them seemed bad enough on their own, but with everyone else? Nuh-uh. Nope.

With that rattling around in her head, she reached over and accepted the device. ModelCom? They sure stayed up all night coming up with that name. She took a look at it, and was a little relieved to see it was self-explanatory. With that, she looked back at her employer, and gave out a small smile. It would've been bigger, but she was fighting the urge to ask 'yeah, why exactly do you have high hopes for me, again?'. "Nope, I think I've got it." She stood up, ready to get started, but heard Nidlee out before moving any further. "Costumes, huh? Well...I'll tell him. Maybe we'll give 'em a shot, if it'll help us get psyched!" Though, it'd be weird if it was a perfect fit. Her measurements weren't exactly plastered on the internet. "I'm gonna go ahead and get started. Break a leg on your shoot with PhotoMan!" She wasn't sure if photographers were superstitious like actors allegedly were, but it was probably smart to play it safe.

And with that, she made her way for the studio. She was starting to feel some adrenaline pumping through her...she had to admit, it was kind of exciting to do a real, live shoot like this.

"Very good, then. Don't worry, I'll pass along your message... later. Again, I really think it's best if he doesn't know that you're around right now. As you're quite aware, he gets distracted easily," Nidlee laughed, waving ta-ta to her new protege. "Oh, neither of you needs to worry about the measurements for your wardrobes, in case you were anticipating any troubles there. I pride myself on my ability to analyze and memorize body shapes off of scant data and brief looks... so I already know everything there is to know about your measurements," she chuckled. "You might think PhotoMan would be the one with that ability, but he's just as easily tricked as any other plebe. No, sweetie, he might not be able to tell, but I will know if you're wearing a push-up~" The woman blew a highly unprofessional kiss as Sabrina escaped the room and went off to scope out the studio.

The studio was just where Nidlee said it would be and easily located. Behind the double-doors leading in was an unusual room, very large and with a high ceiling, such that so much of the building's space was taken up that one had to wonder where they were hiding the model's rooms or other facilities. Several stand-up walls had been erected around the room, seemingly to partition it off for several simultaneous shoots. The walls were lined with hi-tech, lengthy glass monitors composed of large single frames. Four small consoles were located around the room, presumably related in function to the shoot; it was very likely, one would imagine, they had something to do with the monitors on the walls. Additionally, several props (most of them on either wheels, treads, or tripods) were situated around the room... necessary given the shoot about to take place, but at least a little ominous, since they were mounted with things like cannons, robotic claws, and robotic beast's heads. It was very likely that these were, with some imagination and techno-magic, supposed to become the viruses for the shoot today. Each partitioned area had a few of them, but they could probably be wheeled around later as needed, along with the walls themselves.

Other details presented themselves upon more careful inspection. Firstly, the lights appeared capable of different colors and functions themselves and were controlled by a wall-mounted console close by the other control consoles. On that same wall-mounted device, different ambient sounds and music could be selected, presumably for video, although one might imagine those could be added in later as well. Another important set of props: the costumes, although now only two hung on the hanger at the back of the room. One consisted of a set of gold armor, similar to what SplashLady had seen Armor wearing earlier, a standard old Creamland set. On the other hand, another garment was hanging with it... one that looked a bit like an armor bikini, something a girl would be more likely to wear, since it would give a man about speedo coverage. Nidlee's whims were on display with that one. Presumably it was intended to be worn beneath the armor, though it didn't look terribly comfortable... one wouldn't blame Erwin if he chose not to wear it, hopefully.

Another costume hanging along with the armor was a familiar, primarily blue outfit, which looked perfect for if Sabrina wanted to engage in some SplashLady cosplay. It seemed to be nearly an exact replica, except designed with an inner lining like a bra's support inside the chest, since, unfortunately, skin-tight unitards were rarely as inherently functional or comfortable as they appeared on the net. Along with it, a small bikini was hanging, decorated with shells over the chest and groin, with a thong back... a replica of the bikini SplashLady had worn for her shoot. It would probably look a bit awkward on Sabrina, who was still jailbait, but the size was right. She might want to stick with her regular underwear if she decided to get into costume.

A pair of bathrooms and dressing rooms could be found at the back of the room. They appeared clean, but empty; the dressing rooms in particular were a bit disappointingly stark, lacking the glitz, glam, and tiny confectioneries one might associate with a model's dressing room. Seeing as there were no models to be found, Sabrina might assume that they were located further down the hall she'd come through, past the studio doors. Seeing as Erwin wasn't around, Sabrina could also assume that he was with the models at present.

...Was she aware of that? Now that she thought about it, Sabrina was pretty sure that she was always doing other things whenever PhotoMan showed up. Or maybe she did? Her memory was kinda hazy on the whole thing...oh well. She internally shrugged at herself, and started to leave, but not before ending up being weirded out as it turned out Nidlee did, in fact, know their measurements. Granted, it wasn't AS creepy a way as it could've been, but...oh geez, did she just blow a kiss at her? All right, slowly turn around, and keep. On. Moving. Once she was back in the lobby, and knew she was by herself, she shivered a bit; her creepometer readings were a bit too high for her taste.

From there, it was a simple matter to head for the studio, and walk in it. It was, well, bigger than she expected it to be, actually. It kinda made her wonder just how tiny the models' rooms had to be, if so much space was used here...probably meant they'd be glad to get out and come model. Maybe that was leverage for the ones that didn't want to model? Meh, just a thought. As for the studio itself...it was set up for several shoots at once, but that wasn't going to be a problem for her, since she was taking things nice and slow. The props also stood out, kinda resembling viruses if you squinted and stared long enough. The magic of video editing would probably help there. Oh, wait, both the walls and props had wheels? That was a huge relief...she didn't know how strong her 'assistant' was, and she wasn't exactly super strong herself.

Speaking of which, two particular props caught her eye as she looked around; a set of golden armor, and what looked a bit like a mermaid costume. That guy's Navi was called Armor, right? Then the armor must be for him, and she would need to grab the other. Admittedly, cosplaying as SplashLady sounded kinda fun...and on closer inspection, the outfit was surprising detailed. Had everything but the trident. But that bikini...who in their right mind would wear that? She was in her right mind, thank you very much, so pass. Grabbing the costume, she made her way into one of the dressing rooms, which seemed more like something she'd find in a mall than an actual modeling studio. Let's see, lock the door, hang up her costume, get her fanny pack off. First off, her boots and the socks underneath them. Fortunately, unlike many pairs of boots, they didn't smell, since she sprayed TWO IN ONE DEODORIZER AND DISINFECTANT in them every so often. And sometimes she'd let them sit outside and aerate. Being fashionable meant having to put in a little extra work here and there, after all.

Next up...oh, her ponytail would get in the way of the helmet, wouldn't it? SplashLady had shorter hair than her, after all. All right, hairband, off. She looked in the mirror at this point...it was kinda weird, seeing herself with her hair all the way down. Aside from showering and sleeping, she pretty much always had that ponytail. Like this, it was like a waterfall of chocolate was cascading down her head...okay, she could look at her hair later. For now, she needed to get the costume on.

To that end, she nonchalantly removed her top and set it aside, revealing a rather plain light blue bra. Despite what Nidlee implied earlier, it wasn't a push up at all...she had one or two of them, but it took a special occasion for her to bring them out. Next, she dropped down her skirt, revealing an equally plain pair of pink panties. She looked at herself, and frowned at the different colors. Sure, it was because all her blue underwear was dirty, but seeing herself like this...well, thankfully only one of them was coming off, so unless someone managed to bust through a locked dressing room door, no one would know.

And after reaching back to unhook, one of them was indeed off, and Sabrina found herself topless. She thrust out her modestly sized yet perky chest and placed her hands on her hips. Aw yeah. She'd definitely lost a few pounds since coming to Electopia, but she was definitely healthy thin. Skinny enough to look hot, but not so much that it looked like she might be starving herself to death. As her mom could confirm, that was definitely NOT the case, anyway.

...Oh, right. She could admire her sexiness some other time. Always good to know she had it, at least. She grabbed the wetsuit-like part of the outfit, and put it on. It...fit eerily well. Almost TOO well. She couldn't fault the design, though, using the seashells that were over the breasts to add bra-like support. It was a clever move, albeit still freaky that its creator knew her size just from looking at her. Next up, she slipped on the mermaid tail-like skirt. She noted that it was slightly shorter at the end than the real deal, probably because the Net made it innately easier to avoid tripping over one's own clothes. ...Hmm, weird, no socks with the boots. That might get a little uncomfortable, so she slipped her own back on before donning them. Surprisingly comfy, not unlike what she usually wore. Maybe if she did a good job, she could keep them as a bonus. Anyway, that was about it. Just needed to put on the helmet, and the gloves, like so...and there. She looked again in the mirror. The hip and butt area weren't as wide as the actual Navi, and she had longer brown hair instead of shorter sea green hair, but all in all, she wasn't a bad replica, if she did say so. ...Not bad at all. Yep, she was feeling the SplashLady vibes already.

...Which reminded her, she might not be the only one in need of Navi vibes right now. She probably should've done it earlier, but oh well, better late than never. SplashSabrina grabbed the ModelCom device, and hit Switch 1. "Hi! Think you can swing by the studio for a bit before we begin? Thanks!" She unlocked the door and headed on out to await her aide. She wondered if he knew about the dressing up as your own Navi thing...if he didn't, he was going to be pretty surprised to see her like this.

Sabrina got dressed into her uniform for the shoot, which probably wouldn't contribute much to her role as the photographer, but would supposedly put her "in the right mindset." Was Sabrina thinking more in tune with her navi now? Well, she hadn't donned the thong, so not completely, anyways. Then again, the success of the shot wasn't riding on Sabrina's wearing one.

The young girl used her newly granted ModelCom to call Erwin, whom she'd been told would be assisting her in today's videos. "Miss Sabrina, I assume? I'll be there post haste," the man on the other side responded, either being overly formal or otherwise overestimating Sabrina's age. It was very likely that he hadn't been fully briefed on the fact that the saucy videos he was going to be assisting with today would be shot by a schoolgirl. After a very short wait, he arrived; his face upon seeing her revealed surprise, although whether that was due to the outfit or due to her age was hard to tell. The man was as advertised, a tall, broad-shouldered figure with sort of combed-but-not-really brown hair that clashed with his expensive-but-business-casual suit. The suit included a black sports jacket and slacks, with a somewhat loud, dark-gold dress shirt beneath, unbuttoned at the collar with no tie. His face was as picturesque as his navi's, with stunning blue eyes, a long but firm jaw, and a slightly too serious expression plastered on his brow. He looked very clean shaven, despite his otherwise casual state of dress. "Ah, Sabrina. How do you do?" he greeted her, straightening up and walking to her; he extended one long hand for a shake. A silver watch sat on one of his wrists; it didn't look fake. He must not be doing this for the money. "I'm charmed to meet you. My name is Erwin Goswhit. I don't know if Nidlee briefed you, but I'm the operator of Armor.EXE. Our navis have worked together in the past, though we haven't had the pleasure. I'm simply here to repay the debt that we owe Miss Varcee for that stunning bit of advertising... It really was a testament to how much people around the net appreciate some of the more eccentric pieces in our collection! Fascinating stuff. We're trying to collect other, similar pieces now and it's going splendidly. Having Armor model them off seems to be a big hit; we're drawing numbers like never before now that we've made it a regular attraction. I owe you for this as well, so please, use my service however it suits you best today."

He gave her some time to introduce herself, at the same time glancing around the studio. He seemed like the work-focused type, already reacquainting himself with all of the details. "I notice you're in costume. I assume I have one as well, so, if you don't mind, I'll take the time to get dressed. We can still chat if you like; I'll leave the door cracked," he continued with a smile, taking a more intent look around for his armor. "There it is! Oh, I seldom get to try on pieces myself. The prospect's got me a bit excited," Erwin chuckled, grabbing up the armor... as well as the speedo, which rational people would normally ignore, similar to how Sabrina had left her questionable under-costume. "Fret not, I'll change quickly. I already know all of the ins and outs of Miss Varcee's equipment. All you'll need do is direct, while leaving the operating to me. Unless I'm acting? It would be strange to play the part of a virus, but I assure you, I'm up for it." The armor enthusiast disappeared into the back room, leaving the door cracked slightly as he'd promised.

Sabrina would have some time to ponder who she ought to call in first, whether she wanted to ask any questions, or whether she wanted to peek in on the guy that so many of the models were apparently keen on while he was changing and make them super jealous... or to ponder if he was really as normal as he first seemed, given that he was apparently putting on metal underwear right now.

She didn't know exactly why he was surprised, but Sabrina didn't have much of a reaction to Erwin's shock. She figured it was probably because she was dressed as a Navi, herself...then again, for this sort of thing, you'd probably expect the person you're working with to at least be out of high school. Either way. ...Getting a look at him, he really wasn't super hard on the eyes. Too bad about their age difference.

Anyway, when he offered a handshake, she happily extended her own hand to engage in it. "Pleasure's mine! You probably already know this, but I'm Sabrina Jetto, and we're working together on this shoot! Can't say I've ever done anything like this before, though." She then learned about his motivations...not quite what she expected, but to each his own, she guessed. Though, about that last part... "Uh, I don't think you really owe me anything. My Navi, maybe, but she's not here. But even so, I'm counting on you to run all this stuff! It's a little above my tech level, and I don't have a Navi to help out with that at the moment. ...But don't worry, she just caught a bug and needs a day to recover, that's all!"

"Yep, you've got a costume right over there. Put it on if you want!" SplashSabrina motioned over to where she'd gotten hers, and watched as he went over and got it. ...Hey, wait, did he grab...? "Er, hang on! You don't-" ...Too late. He was in the back room. She went over near the door, though she made no attempts to peek in. She wouldn't want him doing the same to her, after all. Though, she still needed to finish her thought. "Just sayin', you don't need to wear the mankini that came with it. I'd think it'd be uncomfortable for a guy to wear, anyway..." If he still wore it after that, whatever. His nad funeral. Made her glad that hers were both safely inside her, where tight clothing could only dream of squeezing them into pain. "I think I'll handle at least some of the virus acting...I may not look like it, but I'm not a bad NetBattler! I've seen enough viruses to more or less know how they move and act and stuff. Maybe I'll handle all of it, if you and Armor don't do that much." ...Hmm, there was something else she wanted to ask, but now she couldn't remem-oh, right. "Any ideas on who to call first? I was thinking Byung-Soon Lee, since she's the one that got everyone else together. I'm open if you've got a better plan, though."

...This was kinda awkward now that she was thinking about exactly what was happening right now. It was hardly the first time she talked to someone in the middle of changing, but it WAS the first time the someone was a guy she wasn't related to. She fought off the urge to sneak a peek, instead allowing the tiny mother on her shoulder to nag her into just standing there. Well, tinier. Her mom would never, EVER be mistaken for a basketball player. ...Ugh, how'd she get mentally sidetracked like that? Focus, Sabrina! Think like a Navi!...Whatever that entailed.

"I'd be surprised if you had done something like this before! It will be new for me as well," Erwin laughed from behind the door. "I'm sorry to hear about your navi. Don't worry, I'm already adept with all of the technology you see in the studio, as I mentioned. Feel free to think of me as your navi today, performing all of the tasks needed to make the machines and appliances you see around you work." Sabrina offered her opinion on the armored underwear that came with the outfit, but Erwin just chuckled again. "Now now, it would hardly be fair for me to leave Armor to wear all of the pieces like these for the sake of our business, right? I think it's only proper that I pull my own weight," he responded. He didn't sound overly injured, so he must have managed to get it on without a hitch. "Please, don't feel as though there is any burden you cannot ask me to assist you with. If you wish for me to act the role of a virus, then I will. If you want to do it yourself or leaving it only to the machines, that's fine too. My navi tends to get into a lot of scrapes, though mostly with unruly invaders of our online collection, but I assure you she and I also have sufficient experience dealing with the little buggers, if you need someone to fill the role."

Next, Sabrina offered her thoughts as to who they ought to call into the studio first. She could hear a moment's hesitation as the man inside pondered whether Byung-Soon Lee was the best choice. "She would be an easy model to start with, given that this sort of thing will probably come easier to her than the others. She's simply... forthcoming," he agreed. "We'll be fine, whoever you call. I wouldn't suppose that any of them mean to give us any trouble, after agreeing to do the shoot in the first place," the armor collector murmured, although Sabrina might be less optimistic given the personality profiles Nidlee shared earlier. Then again, Erwin may have the advantage that he'd actually met some of them face-to-face just moments earlier, if he had indeed come from the model's rooms. "If we're going to start with Byung-Soon, I'll share all that I know up front, so that the introductions will go a little easier and you can start planning the shot. First of all, you should know that she likes to be called Lee, informally," Erwin clarified; Sabrina could hear the sound of metal buckles fastening and leather bands being tightened inside the small dressing room as he spoke. "Her navi is Meridian, an acupuncture specialist for the Mafia who is said to be able to use her skills to relax, physically heal, or even physically empower clients. Meridian herself is a bit of a party girl, I hear, but she doesn't dress like it; her outfit is, rather, a traditional Electopian one, an outfit with cultural ties to the old world. Not a slit cheongsam, if that's what you're imagining... she does wear pants. My point being is that there will be a lot of costume to work with here, so, in my humble opinion, I would start the shoot out 'strong' and without reservation. Meridian's hair is also something of a spectacle, with giant loops made in the back... Lee has a lot of hair, but I hardly imagine she's got enough to do it like Meridian does, so I'm sure she'll wear it in a scaled back version of that. Then again, while she's likely to be good at this sort of thing, I've heard that the operator's work ethic leaves something to be desired... So she may not have bothered to put her hair up at all."

Sabrina would have time now to ponder whether she ought to proceed as planned or reconsider.

So, a person was going to be her Navi today...that somehow managed to sound both really cool and really weird at the same time. SplashSabrina shrugged to herself, and let Erwin carry on. Though, he was defending putting on the, um, undergarment. "I'm just saying...no one'll think less of you if you just wear your regular underwear underneath it..." After all, she was doing that. And she really had no idea what on earth possessed SplashLady to put that bikini on in the first place. "But, if you really wanna wear it, I'm not gonna stop you..." ...Against her better judgement.

After a moment's pause, she learned that Byoun-Soon Lee was indeed probably a good choice to go first. And, to go 'strong'...so, to keep things from taking forever, she needed to just dive right in on this one. Good to know. And since the woman was, for lack of a better term, lazy, she shouldn't bank on her contributing a whole lot, herself. The 'viruses' would need to do most of the work here. Yeah, that could be arranged. "All right, good to know! I'm gonna go ahead and bring her in, but you don't need to rush or anything. Just take your time if you want!" But first, she snuck a peek at the picture of the folder, to see if she could glean anything else...interested in Erwin? That might be handy to know. Now, close out of that, and grab the ModelCom. Hit switch 3, and..."Heya! You're up first, so come on down!"

And now, more waiting. Hopefully that'd be it for the waiting for a bit.

"It's a matter of personal pride. I would not want Miss Varcee's attention to detail to go unappreciated, nor would I want it to be said that I'm not willing to undergo the same challenges as my navi. With that in mind, perhaps I should forego the outer armor and just wear the under? No, I think not... After all, the craftsmanship that has gone into the main piece is exquisite as well," Erwin responded, briefly entertaining the idea of making himself the least dressed person in the shoot before burying the idea.

Sabrina, interested in moving along to the actual video-shooting portion of the shoot, decided to call Byung-Soon Lee to the room using her ModelCom. "Good! I just finished my hair for my first shoot! This will be my extra-exciting first step into the field of modeling! Models make good money, you know?" the woman's voice on the other end of the communicator began; it sounded as though she were speaking her second language, although her sentence structure wasn't bad. "I'm coming now! But it's hard to move in this skirt!" One would have to wonder if they it was an especially difficult skirt to wear or if Lee just wasn't used to wearing skirts in general. If everyone was dressing like their navis today, though, it was possible that some of the models would have a difficult time moving in their clothing without the aid of net-magic.

Fortunately, nobody had to wait long before the first model arrived, throwing open the door with reckless abandon and stepping inside with a big, confident smile on her face. It immediately became apparent to Sabrina why she'd mentioned the skirt: her outfit was one of an ancient style, a white robe adorning the top and a lengthy red skirt on the bottom, reaching all the way to the floor. The robe on top appeared to be made of silk (sort of a waste if they were really going to be violently handling it using virus-machines or virus-actors), with long sleeves that widened at the ends, covering her hands to the tips of her fingers. The skirt was composed of a similar material, with a sash tied high on the waist, close to the bust-line. The sash had a glossy white-and-black flower pattern. Overall, the wardrobe wasn't the type that really brought to mind anything erotic, especially considering that it hid the waist and lower body as it did, but it did have one advantage for it: the sash, tied so close to the breasts, made their size apparent as it pushed them up. The actress herself was as described, very much the traditional Electopian look, except a bit taller and with a better bust than one generally attributed to the average Electopian woman. She had indeed done her hair into the style Erwin described, with two large rings extending behind her head and a set of two long tails protruding downward. One thing she hadn't done is swept everything else away from her forehead like her navi did, however... then again, Sabrina probably wouldn't know that difference to point it out. Regardless, a few messy stray bangs stood out here and there.

Additionally, her chin was framed with a deep red, thin, elastic material, implying she was probably wearing a navi-suit beneath. She might also be wearing the ear-guards attached, but if so, they were hidden behind her hair (which had not been rolled away from the ears as the navi would). Sabrina also spotted some of the fabric extending down both hands, but only to the knuckles; the fingers themselves were still exposed. Lee stood with her chin held high for a moment, allowing Sabrina to soak in the total transformation she'd undergone, before realizing that she probably just looked like a traditional Electopian girl dressed as a random, traditional Electopian. "Ahem! Hello, little girl! You're the director for the shoot?" she asked, tilting her head as if suddenly realizing there was something odd about a sixteen year old performing such a shoot, based on what she'd heard of it. "Is Erwin here? You might have seen him! Tall guy, dresses really well, has a suuuuper expensive-looking watch on?" she asked, motioning to one wrist to indicate where said watch would be.

"I'm here!" Erwin called out from the back room. "Just a moment longer, I'm putting on my costume."

Lee clasped both hands over her chest, then gave a big, mischevious grin. "Wheeeere? I did not hear you! Did you say you were...?" she called out, then broke into a full on sprint towards the back door, barreling past Sabrina. She reached it and flung it open quickly, laughing victoriously. "You're heee-uh?"

Erwin had already put on all of the armor, looking either like a knight from old Netopia or a navi based on such a knight. He finished clasping the last buckle on one of his gloves, then walked out, leaving his other clothing in the room behind him. "Someone's excited! That enthusiasm will be good for our shoot," he chuckled, then slowly frowned as he watched Lee deflate, the enthusiasm he'd mentioned rapidly draining out of her body. "Hm? Something wrong?"

"No, nothing," she lied, pouting and turning back towards Sabrina, crossing her arms. Apparently, a handsome guy in costume armor wasn't doing it for her nearly the way a handsome guy in very expensive looking business-casual attire had. "So, what do I do? Isn't modeling really hard? I don't wanna do a whole bunch of reshoots, though," she sighed, evidently already giving up in her foray into big-modeling money. At this point, Sabrina would probably want to delegate roles, deciding how much she wanted to work with the machinery or whether she wanted to let Erwin handle that portion of it, as well as decided on what their set pieces and scenery were going to be for the shoot.

To help her along, Erwin, shrugging off the sudden buzzkill he'd given Lee, moved to one of the consoles. "If you have an idea of what you want to do, Sabrina, just let me know what you're picturing. I can choose a variety of settings here, varying from famous net locations, some relevant to our actor here, some simple reconstructions of the wilds of the net, others featuring real world locations. Our props are as you see them, though, with the magic of editing, we can make anything look like just about anything else... the only trick will be 'collision.' That is, if you want someone to sit on something, we'll need to provide them with something to actually sit upon, or if you want a virus to make contact in a certain way, it's best if we use the mechanization or actor most closely suited to that form of contact. I believe that if you'll tell me your vision, I can find you the pieces most closely suited to turning that vision into a reality," he offered. "Of course, it's ultimately your decision, however you'd like the shoot to go." Erwin frowned for a moment, thinking hard about whether he'd forgotten any instructions. "Oh, and of course, although we're free to tarnish the wardrobes however we want, such being the nature of our shoot, we want to avoid harming the actors as much as we can. Most of the pieces of machinery in here have fail-safes to avoid that sort of thing; they'll simply refuse commands to avoid harming the subjects. On the other hand, at some times, a touch of physicality may be necessary, and I can manipulate the machines accordingly where needed. Also... Well, while the outfits are expendable, the machinery you see around us is all very, very expensive. So let's not try to actually recreate the destruction of viruses or scenery, alright?" he chuckled.

"Hoo hoo hoo! Listen to him calling my clothes expendable and talking about 'necessary physicality!'" Lee laughed, moving back closer to Erwin and wiggling her hips. She might have misinterpreted the meaning of physicality. "You really can't wait to get started, can you?~"

Erwin smiled politely, but if he was getting a boner over the idea, his expression was hiding it pretty well.

Before she knew it, SplashSabrina saw the first model enter...and realized that SplashLady had it relatively easy compared to some Navis. That had to be a pain to get around in. And...sorry, what? "Um, excuse me? Little girl?! I-" Before she could finish, the other woman went right by her, sending her into a cartoonish spin. "Ack!...Ooookay, now I'm dizzy. Great."

RIIIING! RIIIING!

Great, now who was getting a call...wait a sec. That was her. She brought her PET out to check if it was someone she knew...and, it was her mother. While tempting to let it go to voicemail, she brgrudgingly pressed a button and answered. "Hi Mom, I'm actually pretty busy, so-wait, FieldMan? Why are you calling me?"

Sure enough, the caller was in fact a yellow capsule shaped Navi with arms, and a screen where the face would go. The screen was presenting a face that was nervous and tired, like he'd just gone through something. "Hello, Lady Splash...erm, wait, are you Lady Sabrina?"

"Yeah, it's me. So, why is my mom's Navi calling me? Nothing happened to her, I hope!"

"No, but...it's Sir SplashMan! After you left, he seemed to go on a rampage in the inn's network! It was tough, but I managed to subdue him before he hit anything major."

"...Ohmigod, what?! Is he all right?"

"He's okay for now...it took some shocking, but he's regained his sanity. He's in some pain, though, even disregarding all the attacks I threw at him..."

"Ugh, I shouldn't've left him alone like that...don't tell me the NetPolice are going to arrest him or anything."

"Like I said, I stopped him before he did anything especially bad, so no."

"Hold on a sec. My mom could've just told me that much. Why are you the one that called me, FieldMan?"

"Er..."

"Spill it, FieldMan!"

"Well, right before I managed to knock some sense into him, he destroyed the locking program for the oven. Normally that's not a huge deal, but we were preoccupied, and Lady Josephine isn't an especially tall or sturdy woman..."

"That huge thing smacked her in the head?! Tell me she's all right!"

"She'll be fine, but she did get a nasty bump on the head. She's currently resting in her room."

"...Okay, that's good to know. ...I'm coming back to the inn now. SplashMan needs me."

"I think that would be best, Lady Sabrina. Please hurry...if Sir SplashMan were to go berserk again, I'm not entirely sure I could stop him again!"

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Click! SplashSabrina looked back up...to see everyone ready to start shooting. Well, this was super awkward. "...Yeah...look, I really hate to do this, but something important came up. Can we get a rain check on this? We'll do it for real some time when my Navi isn't acting super weird!" Before she could get an answer, she dashed back to where she'd changed, and quickly returned to her usual look, before hurrying out. "Really sorry about this, everyone! If this wasn't super important, I wouldn't leave everyone out to dry like this. ...Really sorry!" And, out she went. She hated to just ditch everyone, but SplashMan's well-being came first.

(TO YOKA; MISSION ABORTED)