The Shamus Austin Shopping Complex

Jocelyn proved surprisingly tame at all of Rude's fondling, which was indeed a bit R-rated to watch, since he was clearly enjoying the choicest position with which to take advantage of Jocelyn's under-rated bum, often considered second greatest of her assets when compared to her upper body ones. She still wasn't able to avoid blushing when Rude's protrusion became obvious; it would be hard to argue that it was anything other than, well, what it was, once she felt it against the inward curves of her bottom. "There's no helping it, though; that's just a simple reaction to the necessary protocols we're following as security officers," she reminded herself. "Although Papa did say I ought to stay away from boys' 'keys' if I can help it... Sorry, Papa! But I figure it's no harm, no foul, if it's in the service of good work for my employer and, therefore, the public good as well." It was definitely public, but whether it was good would certainly be a subjective matter according to the one surveyed.

Not content with just the second greatest of her assets, Rude devised a way to get a handful of the top ones as well. Chances were, simply based on national averages, he had never felt any natural breasts quite so large before. Whether Jocelyn had had them groped before was hard to say (certainly Rude couldn't have been the first to try, given the mixture of her behavior and the degree to which people would likely want to), but she reacted with a surprised start. "Oh, no worry at all! It was my pleasure to show it off to you! Not many men have a good idea of how comfortable it is, how satisfying to mount, and the sort of things it's capable of," she replied to Rude with a quick salute; the casual onlooker might wonder if she was still talking about the segway. "I hope it's made you consider using one yourself! For whatever reason, mine is the only one used in the Gloria Scott, but I've often tried to encourage others to take advantage."

The next scene happened in something of a blur; Rude explained his purpose, stepped inside, began examining the camera. As one might expect, Rude didn't actually have a lot of questions to ask. One more up on the details of the mystery than Jocelyn might have seen that coming, since it seemed less and less like Rude had taken the massage assistant, and more like he had just failed to resolve the case quickly by not caring whether the security camera inside was failing (or simply covered), due to his laziness. In this case, Jocelyn, amazingly, just trusted Rude enough to the point that she didn't see any harm in letting him know the truth. As such, she maintained a perfectly pleased and mentally vacant smile as Damson came back to her, having a fit. She deigned it most fitting that she answer each question one by one.

"This is the chief of security, Mister Rude! I thought the two of you were already acquainted? Regardless, he's a good man, having decided to jump right on investigating your camera for any defects, now that he's properly staffed with my assistance," she began, although everything in that statement would probably run contrary to what Damson wanted to hear. "As I mentioned, we're here to make certain that your camera starts functioning properly again." She leaned in, causing an alarming heave of her chest as it hung downward and away from her body, "I've still got the main objective in mind as well, of course! I'm learning all that I can about security here at the Shamus Austin Shopping Center while I can. Pumping him for everything he knows!" she giggled, feeling sneaky. "Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean misleading him, any more than keeping secret your own problem you confided in me. We're cooperating together in a mutually beneficial relationship, like two good security officers should."

The last question seemed to surprise Jocelyn; she reached down and tugged the vest away from herself the little bit it would come, revealing even more of the immodest bra she was wearing, in a quick but highly inadvisable gesture. "This? It's the Shamus Austin visiting security uniform, from what Rude's told me. I doubt it's something that's seen much use, given the supposedly tense nature between my mall and his, but as you can see, it clearly identifies my purpose here, working with Rude." That much was true: it clearly announced to the world why Rude wanted her around. She smiled again, blushing slightly. "It might seem a little risque, but it's not so bad. As you can see, the most important parts are covered! And the key to good mall security work is to make people happy... Being photogenic is a big part of that! As I understand it, people enjoy taking photos when I wear this sort of thing at the Gloria Scott, so I certainly understand why Rude would give me one like this."

Having answered all of Damson's questions, she sighed and placed her hands on her hips, still looking enthusiastic. "Don't worry about the request you gave us. Jacky's investigating what she can, back in the security office, and I'm sure Sleuth and Hyde have gathered all kinds of leads themselves. I'm pretty sure we can rule out Rude's involvement, given that he seems perfectly trustworthy," she announced, which probably revealed that Damson wasn't going to be able to rely on Jocelyn as a reliable source of narrative. "Did you have any other questions?"

Jacky nodded to Wallfly's request, placing a hand over her heart in what was the only expression of sincerity that readily came to mind. "You have my word. I won't be taking anything, even should I find what I'm looking for. And, what's more, you have the power: should you see me slip so much as one of the officer's pens into my pocket, there won't be anything stopping you from sounding an alarm, silent or otherwise..."

"Assuming you haven't already done so," she added with a nervous, internal sigh.

"So, with your permission, I'll take you along," she said, giving a small smile. She didn't perceive any great danger in doing so, and being able to combine the tasks of giving her explanation and searching the offices would be the most efficient course of action. Efficiency, she thought to herself, was the very least she owed Jocelyn.

The operator picked up the PET quickly, before Wallfly had a chance to think twice, and began making her way over to Rude's office. She talked to Wallfly, but in a low voice. "The truth of the matter is... we've come here on behalf of a store owner who is missing an item of a very sensitive nature." Remembering she'd agreed to spill all the details, Jacky cleared her throat and clarified, the glare on her glasses hiding her eyes but not the red on her face. "... A v-vibrator," she stammered, the last word coming out as a crammed whisper. "That is, you know... a device. For the purpose of sexual stimulation."

She'd repeat that point for Wallfly if he asked, but otherwise, she kept the story rolling. "Due to the circumstances of its disappearance, unless the owner has some hidden reason to be dishonest, we have concluded it was taken. The owner is concerned about bringing it to what would ordinarily be considered the proper authorities, for a couple of reasons. First, she is not oblivious to chief of security's nature, and doesn't feel comfortable entrusting him with the task of investigating and retrieving the item. Second, the operator believes that if the investigation were to go public, it could defame her and interfere with her favorable personal relationships with the other mall tenants. As I've alluded to, I only feel comfortable bringing it to you because I don't suspect you have any relationship with the party in question at the present time, and I trust you to keep this matter hidden from your operator..."

By this point, the operator had stalked over to Rude's office door, and, cautiously, had begun to turn the knob to enter. "I can continue to elaborate on the nature of my meeting with Jocelyn, but first, I must ask you to allow me an aside to my Navi. I need to relay the results of my investigation up to this point, as it seems they are in the middle of some..." the operator paused, looking at her PET and frowning deeply. "... Down time," she concluded, adjusting her glasses. "Would that be fine?"

Assuming Wallfly had no objection, Jacky would take that brief detour and run some details by her Navi before continuing to investigate the office. "Honestly, I don't suspect that Rude was the one who took the item. Even if he is a pervert, that just seems... too disgusting, for me to picture. Besides, your footage has given us other, more promising leads. I simply need to search the office to confirm my hunch, since I don't expect I will have any other way to fully clear my conscience on the matter of his guilt."

Given Jocelyn's unfortunately innocent choice of words, and the manner in which she so often encouraged her associates to take advantage and mount up, it was entirely possible that Rude's swift attention to business was less derived from work ethic, and more the need to back off a moment before the blood left his brain completely, or he did something embarrassing. Either way, when her blankly positive demeanour was turned on Damson instead, it didn't appear to help the woman's composure.

Indeed, her worried look grew into one of increasing incredulity as Jocelyn went on, explaining first that she was accompanying Rude for fix a camera that they both knew wasn't broken, and then trying to claim that her sudden change of attire was somehow regulation. The latter almost made her choke as the other lady calmly explained her peculiar logic, and on the whole it left her somewhere between aghast and stunned.

"Ah... oh.. Um, of, of course..." Was alls he managed at first, before shaking it off. "If this is the best way then, I guess.... Are you really sure? I'd die of shame to be seen in public like that! But I guess, if it's distracting that man while you learn what you need to..." She trailed off, blushing and still utterly un-sold on the concept, but far too flustered and out of her depth to pursue it any further, so long as Jocelyn seemed to assure her things were under control.

If she had simply ruled out Rude without explanation, Damson might have been relieved, but when the reassurance came based on the grounds that he seemed a perfectly trustworthy sort... after dressing Jocelyn up like eye candy and parading her about the complex... it was clear the hair-stylist was beginning to despair about the pair coming up with the goods, so to speak. She opened her mouth to say something more, likely a comment about how misguided any trust placed in Rude was, but the man himself returned to the front of the store a moment later. He tipped an invisible hat to Damson.

"Just a cloth cover, miss De Sary. I came by your shop yesterday to check, but you'd already left, and it's bad practice to change anything about someone's shop without them present. I removed the cloth and set it on your desk. Anything else you might need a security officer for, while I'm here Damson?" She shook her head with perhaps a little bit more vehemence than was strictly necessary, but Rude didn't seem to notice. "If not, I'd best get back to work, and show out lovely colleague here around the rest of our complex while she's visiting. Have a good morning."

With that, he turned back to Jocelyn, taking in the sighs with an utter lack of shame as he did.
"Well, that's another potential disaster safely averted and taken care of. All in a day's work. So," at this point his mind skipped a beat; what was he going to do now? he'd been far too busy enjoying Jocelyn's squishy parts to think up a plan beyond visiting Damson, and the few moments he'd taken to clear his head had been over far too swiftly. During the pause, he moved back towards the Segway, ideally with Jocelyn in tow. "Well, ah, aside from my normal rounds, is there any other part of our complex you'd like to see?" In all honesty, he'd be happy to lead her around, or more precisely, get driven around, all morning, but the part of him that was still capable of thinking felt sure that simply joy-riding around the complex probably wasn't going to cut it as far as seeming to do his duty was concerned.

--

Elsewhere, another partnership was forming, as Rude's own security navi seemed more than willing to keep secrets from him in the name of juicy gossip, and WallFly offered no objections whatsoever to Jacky taking up his PET and carrying it with her. In particular, if she was watching, she might notice the vaguely mechanical navi kneeling up on his office chair, mostly facing the screen to look to Jacky now, with his hands on the back and gossamer wings flickering quickly. He almost looked like an eager puppy, if one squinted.

He chortled quietly to himself as all the details came out, and his face-lens zoomed out, widening briefly, before spiralling in again to focus on her story. the fact that Jacky herself seemed a little bit embarrassed or uncomfortable about the matter only make the juiciness of the tale all the more pleasing to the navi, and by the time she'd spilled everything, he giggled softly and rubbed his hands together. The digits clearly weren't made for that, and it created the rough sound of small bolts, washers and springs rattling together.

"So, so, so let me get this straight, then... Someone's nicked your gal's jiller, and she's actually called in someone to find it? That is too priceless, Jacky-love, haha!" He paused a moment later, then tilted his head slightly, lens zooming in even closer, giving him an almost shrewd expression, as much as he could have.

"Hey, hang a tic... ain't nothing like that that I've seen go done anywhere in here in the past few days, so what's..." He stopped, going silent, then straightened. "Noo... Damson, really? Yes.. no! That innocent, white-picket fence, hairdresser? Really!? Hah! That's got to be it, oh that's too much! Haha!!" Positively cackling now, he spun around on his chair. When he calmed, he clapped his hands together again, still very amused, but slowly another thought dawned on him.

"Ahh... So, Rude then? Heh, I think you're doing him too much credit to say he wouldn't, Jacky-love. He can be a pretty depraved bastard when he wants to, you know. Mostly keeps it to peeing and perving, but I wouldn't put it past him, if he knew about it. Don't think he could have known, mind you, but, he did go into the shop, now that you mention it..." His musing continued, oblivious to the fact that Jacky hadn't, in fact, mentioned it, or anything like his current train of thought directly. He looked up though and raised one hand palm outward.

"Don't you fret though, Jacky-love. I made a promise, I did. You share the goss with me, and I'll watch out for you while you're here. It's a fair deal, and I'll stick by it. Hey, if it was Rude, and he gets his sorry arse busted, maybe I'll get an operator who's more interesting and fun to work with? Who knows, eh?"

The latter was mostly a musing to himself as he nodded for Jacky to talk to her own navi briefly, and he kept quiet while Jacky searched the office of the man in question. The office itself wasn't large, but it was quite full. The door entered at one corner, towards the front of a large working desk, heavy built with three graded drawers on each side. The wall immediately on her left as she entered the door was covered by a projection screen that was currently switched off; someone sitting at the desk would be able to watch the screen directly. The far side of the room, to the right of the desk, held two tall vertical storage lockers, and a shorter file cabinet; they were each closed, but not locked.

The desk itself had numerous documents scattered on it in a disorderly fashion, but on the top were two sheets of peel-off letter transfers, used for making sticker words or impromptu signs, with many of the letters peeled off and gone. A quick inspection would show that a 'c', and 'e', three 'i's, an 'o', two each of 'r', 's' and 't', as well as one each of 'u', 'v' and 'y' were missing. By the foot of the desk nearest Jacky, a small bag bearing the brand of the store Rude had visited for Jocelyn sat closed over as well. Jacky had ample time to search at her leisure for now, it seemed. WallFly wasn't going to cause any problems, and might even be counted on to alert her about any that might come up.

"'Jiller,' yes..." Jacky muttered, thinking that would hopefully be the first and last time she said the word. "The issue of its theft is, in fact, not one of personal attachment or potential defamation of character. As I understand, this was an expensive, top-of-the-line model with..." the Operator found herself about to carelessly fall into the trap of over-exposition, and she didn't necessarily want to get into any fine details on the subject. "With various modern features," she finished. "That aside, I must ask you to get your mirth out regarding Damson and then store that in a private place in your memories. Remember, it is of utmost concern to my success to control the circulation of rumors regarding this incident."

Thinking about Rude and Jocelyn together, Jacky felt certain that even if rumors of Damson's device did circulate, they'd hardly be the most memorable piece of gossip spreading around the mall today. Unfortunately for poor Jocelyn, however, she was not the one paying the two of them to keep things under the radar. With that in mind, Jacky once again steeled herself to put aside Jocelyn's plight... A plight which probably went more or less unnoticed by the party in question, anyway.

Jacky had her very brief aside with Hyde and Sleuth. Although she felt guilty, she couldn't help but be slightly relieved that Sleuth had apparently been paying Jocelyn minimal attention. Not that she doubted Sleuth's skills, but Jacky frankly couldn't picture how Sleuth could enable Jocelyn to distract Rude more effectively than she surely must be doing of her own power.

"I've taken care of my business," she spoke to Wallfly, addressing him in the unintentional hushed whisper of someone who was about to do some sneaking about. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be peering into Rude's..."

The Operator cracked the door open and snuck inside, but quickly exited sneaking mode as she realized there clearly wasn't anybody to catch her doing anything. The appearance of the operator wasn't a surprise to Jacky. After all, she wasn't well-versed in Rude's type or creative enough to conjure a detailed image of the space before entering, but she wasn't naive. The office was "busy" enough to give the appearance of work being done (unfairly or not, she was no longer giving Rude the benefit of the doubt that he was getting work done), but had all the right doors closed to hide the materials he surely must be keeping himself entertained with. Jacky had little doubt what she'd see if she turned the projector on, and no reason to do so.

Instead, she busied herself by checking storage areas at a leisurely pace. She assumed that if Rude had indeed taken the item, he would store it some place: it would be far too brazen to just cover the thing up with some papers. Therefore, she took her time going over the contents of first the desk, then the lockers, then the file cabinet. She was very thorough, placing a lot of confidence in the fact that Jocelyn would be keeping Rude entertained and away. She would take a look at everything she set out of, and wouldn't stop early short of encountering one of two things: human remains, or the device she was looking for.

"Oh, there is one more thing..." Jacky thought to herself, casting an eye to the door warily. "The noise of footsteps. If I hear anything coming, I guess I'll have to hide under the desk..."

"So, I guess I suppose I owe you some more discussion while we continue," Jacky spoke quietly, trying to keep as hushed as she could while remaining audible. "I met Jocelyn just yesterday, at her own mall. At that time, I encountered some... truly distressing events, which led me to believe that I couldn't leave her alone. At the suggestion of her own Navi, we decided that it could be mutually beneficial for us to pursue a mission together. In theory, I would keep an eye on Jocelyn to help her develop awareness, critical thinking, and self defense. In the meantime, Sleuth- ah, that's Jocelyn's Navi," she added as an aside- "Sleuth would keep an eye on my Navi and might possibly learn something about the very strange condition which has befallen her."

Realizing how ridiculous that all must sound now, Jacky sighed. "Of course, events rarely proceed as planned, and I would hardly call this the most painstakingly organized plan I've ever put together. I certainly haven't kept an eye on Jocelyn, and from what I've seen, I highly doubt Sleuth's made any progress on her front, either. It feels as though it's all we can do to try and complete the mission... which is why I simply must complete this search. I can't have Damson being pulled into the tornado of our catastrophe. I want to do what I can to help her... and Jocelyn, of course."

"One thing at a time," the operator thought with a pensive frown, before digging further into a cabinet.

"Oh, I understand your concern! The outfit does show a lot of skin," Jocelyn sympathized with Damson, taking a quick look down and pinching the thin front cloth with her fingers, before returning her smiling face upward, without a care in the world. "But for security officers, the uniform is a valuable part of the job, one that distinguishes our authority and lets others know to depend on us as such. After all, think of it this way: an ordinary person apprehending a stranger would be cause for an alarm, but when a security officer does it, it's just one of their responsibilities. Similarly, wearing an outfit like this might ordinarily be seen as scandalous, but when it's in the service of security, it's not strange at all!" she finished, placing her hands together and punctuating her statement with sun-shiney laughter. "There's no reason at all for worry, I assure you."

Rude returned, which might be a good thing for Damson at this point, as she might begin to think she was being involved in some brainwashing scene from a dystopian novel if she had to listen to Jocelyn go on about the correctness of her obviously misguided trust in security any longer. His conclusion caused her to tense her eyebrows and press one hand to her chin thoughtfully... those investigation results seemed like evidence that Sleuth might be able to make something out of, but she wasn't able to put together anything important. "Well, that rules out Rude's involvement! He said it himself: he can't modify someone else's things without them present," she resolved. This did, however, bring forward another flaw in logic, now that she thought about it... One that seemed critical to address in her capacity as a security officer. With a sweet smile, she blinked and turned her head innocently back to Rude. "Excuse me, just a moment... If you're not allowed to modify anything when the owner isn't around... Why did you walk into the back room to look for Miss Damson? That back room isn't a customer area, is it? So I would assume you'd ordinarily go in, see that she wasn't at the desk, possibly call to the back or take a quick peek in... but it sounds like you instead went in and looked around enough to see that the camera was covered at that time. Is it normal for you or others to walk into Miss Damson's back room when and look around she isn't around?" the security officer inquired curiously, in her capacity as a security officer trying to learn everything she could about the Shamus Austin mall cop life.

She'd wait for the answer to that question before responding to the rest. "Ah, well, it sounds like it's time to move on. Thank you for cooperating, Miss Damson!" she finished, saluting before climbing back onto her segway. "Why don't we go see the cleaning crew? Sometimes, they can be the eyes and ears of a mall- or shopping center- as well! I'd like to establish that connection with them, to understand everything they do in the service of this fine establishment and give them credit for their good work. This is, after all, a pristine and admirable workplace," she answered Rude's question, turning her head to look over her shoulder as she waited for Rude to saddle up again, showing an amazing lack of either fear, arousal, or any other form of anticipation. "Can you guide me to them?"

In truth, Jacky was probably quite right that, should the entire story come to light, the issue of Jocelyn would probably far eclipse any gossip concerning the actual purpose of their visit, but it likely wasn't exactly a comforting thought for anyone involved.

Her search of the various compartments about the room took a while, for the sake of being particularly thorough, but the most important detail to be ascertained, first and foremost, was that the multi-functional device of pleasure was nowhere to be found. Oh well. The top two drawers of the desk contained mostly stationary, a staple, some notepads, pricing stickers, a measuring tape, a packet of batteries that might go in Rude's walkie-talkie, and a few other miscellaneous office bits and pieces. The right drawer also held four Turkish Delight chocolate bars, and a small block of solid dark chocolate that claimed to be eighty five percent pure. It was open and about a quarter of it was gone, in neatly broken off squares. The left drawer also had two packets of tissues, a bottle of hand sanitiser, and a packet of condoms that purported to be average sized, extra thin, and grape flavoured. It was a twenty-four pack, and seemed to have about eight left, if Jacky actually checked.

The next drawers down were slightly deeper, and contained various electronic and cable related things, the things on the right were obviously broken or in need of repair, and the things on the left seemed to be replacement parts. There wasn't much of note to be found there, though on the off chance that Jacky suddenly found herself with the burning need to tie someone up, a large role of blue network cable could probably be used for something like that.

The bottom two drawers were the deepest, and contained a broad spectrum of things that looked like confiscations; everything from hand-held games, hacky-sacks, small items of sporting gear, toy weapons, the sorts of things that unruly kids might lose upon being apprehended by mall security. there was even a tiny hover drone complete with remote that had, no doubt, been used to harass someone at some point. The left drawer had a divide in it, separating some slightly more sinister items; actual confiscated weapons, including three knives, a contact palm-tazer, and a small bore purse-pistol, not loaded.

Since she was looking closely, Jacky would also find a seventh compartment in the desk, in the form a small pop-out shelf, hidden directly in the thick top of the desk, and sliding out towards the person sitting in the chair. It contained a small collection of data discs labelled with dates and times, and a brief word to say what they were. The titles made it clear that these were security recordings of people doing illicit things, which Rude had apparently elected to keep for himself.

The security head's perving aside, Jacky could move on to search her other points of interest as she chatted. WallFly kept mostly quiet, adding the occasional appreciative comments here and there as he enjoyed her story. He did speak up to promise his keeping things secret again, but appended it with another request for gossip.

"But, ah... what'd you mean by 'truly distressing events', hmm, Jacky-love? Do tell!"

Either way, the lockers revealed some more confiscated equipment, items too long or bulky to fit into the bottom desk drawers; a cricket bat, a baseball bat, what looked like a medieval pole arm, but made of wood and painted, two skateboards and a frisbee. On the upper shelf of the lockers were an assortment of folded sport pull-overs - the sort that were often used at corporate team-building events, that consisted just of a simple rectangular fabric with a round for the head, and linked at the bottom corners by elastic. There were five or six each of green, gold, blue and red, as well as several more sheets of the same letter transfers that were on Rude's desk, and a broad-end black felt marker.

The filing cabinet, unfortunately, turned out to be something of a disappointment in the end. It contained more or less what one might expect to see, and little else. Mostly the files were labelled for yearly quarters, or for specific types of documents, such as 'leave lodgements', 'warnings', 'safety reports' or 'legal'.

--

To any other it might have seemed an odd and strange jump of logic for Jocelyn to assume that Rude's remarks meant he had already been in the back room the previous day; the fact that Jacky had since found it was indeed the case non-withstanding, nothing in his words had really pointed in that direction, in any way that your average sane person might reason... but of course, Jocelyn was debatably only on the periphery of that spectrum at the best of times. As it was, the truth of her question gave Rude a moment's pause and he blinked a couple of times, processing it.

"Nothing unusual there, really. Not for a conscientious officer, you understand. I did check through in the back when I called by yesterday, when I was checking if Damson was in." He shrugged and made a helpless gesture. "You always have to check, of course. They might be present but not hear you, if you just call out, after all. Many shop owners listen to music or other things while taking care of their closing up business after all." He was more reassuring and less overtly cocky in his answering this time around, which in itself might have been a bit strange considering it was one of the more plain sensible things he'd actually said to Jocelyn all morning, but either way he was just as happy to move the conversation on when she arrived at her next point of interest. In particular, he quickly 'mounted up' behind Jocelyn again, allowing her to begin driving her contraption away, holding onto her hips for support and subtly grinding his own against her in a way that he could probably blame on the motion of the vehicle, mostly. To distract the woman from these antics he set about answering her question while the travelled.

"We've got two cleaners here at the Austin. They're industrious sorts, very serious about their duties." He chuckled softly, but didn't slow in his answer for long - if he kept talking, she probably wouldn't get around to chastising his actions. "Only have one of them one each day though, and they alternate. I'm not sure who was on shift today, or where they would be, but we can check both easily." Alas for Rude's enjoyment, this meant that the ride would be fairly short, but all things considered that might be for the best; clearly he was enjoying himself. As it was though, he directed Jocelyn back to the stairs leading to his office.

"Could be anywhere in the complex, but if we nip upstairs again, I can just check whoever is on shift, and page them to my office, then we can have a chat, if you like. Ah... but perhaps leave the segway down here this time? You have my word it will be as safe if it were in your own pocket, as long as it's here in my shopping complex." Provided there were no objections from Jocelyn herself, Rude would stand down once they arrived and lead her back up the stairs towards his office.

--

It was about this time, as Jacky searched the filing cabinet, that WallFly piped up. She wouldn't have heard Rude's step on the stairs yet, and by rotten luck, he'd actually exhausted all he had to say to Jocelyn by the time he was climbing them, but the security navi called out quietly when it became clear where his operator was heading.

"Ah damn. That layabout is coming back up the stairs, Jacky-love. No clue why, but make yourself scarce and quick if you don't want seen. Hurry, just in case he comes in!" To his credit, WallFly sounded genuinely worried about this. Likely as not he was far more interested in preserving his source of new and interesting gossip over any loyalty to his operator, but also, it probably wouldn't look very good for him either to be caught in Jacky's pocket, so to speak, if she did get caught.

Jacky continued rummaging through drawers. The ones evidently containing supplies for Rude's private time drew some winces from her, but otherwise, she continued through the process with only minimal commentary. In spite of her promise to Wallfly, she simply wasn't that great of a conversationalist.

As she arrived at the drawer that seemed to contain confiscations, she did momentarily pause. The gravity of what she was doing once again dawned on her. No matter how noble her reasons, she was performing an unwarranted search of an officer of the law's possessions. As one can never help but think when presented with such a thing, she found herself wondering at the possibility of just taking and using a weapon... not that she had any need or desire to do so.

Jacky frowned down pensively at the collection of disks. If she didn't already have a pretty good idea of what was on them, her curiosity would probably get the better of her. "In all seriousness, though... is this the primary source of entertainment he has for himself up here?" The concept that a man would keep a collection of ill-gotten recordings of the customers in his very place of employment chilled her. Surprising herself, though, she found that anger didn't necessarily extend to the Navi who had collected the data. "After all, more than anything, a Navi is a tool to perform the functions of its Operator."

That antiquated line of thinking would probably seem particularly silly to Jacky if she were to get a look at her PET at the moment.

Though she was currently spared that embarrassment, Jacky was being faced with another. She really, desperately wanted to skirt the truth of the incident, but there was always the possibility that Wallfly had seen some news or heard some gossip related to the incident. She couldn't afford to give the Navi any reason not to trust her, in her current position.

The Operator remained frozen kneeling at a filing cabinet for a brief moment, collecting her strength and courage. With a sigh, she eventually began. "Jocelyn was responding to a report of some man who had, evidently, burned himself reaching into some scalding hot dish of food... While that would be an amusing story in and of itself, I happened to be nearby. Seeing that Jocelyn clearly didn't know how to proceed in that event, I offered some basic medical advice... advice which ended up being contested and, ultimately, overruled by a scheme of my Navi. Despite my best efforts, my own Navi somehow convinced Jocelyn that saliva could serve as a salve for burn wounds."

For Jacky, that level of incompetence and irresponsibility was practically the coup-de-grace itself, but she continued. "Needless to say, I soon became aware that my manipulative Navi and the manipulable Jocelyn were a match made in Hades. Through a series of misdirections, my Navi convinced Jocelyn to attempt to capture, kiss, and even disrobe me." The Operator paused, catching her breath before abruptly adding, "She failed, though! Naturally, I didn't simply stand there and let myself be humiliated. Ahem. As I've said, that was naturally the point at which I began to feel a moral obligation to help Jocelyn ought... although that obligation has, regrettably, fallen by the wayside in my duty to my client."

Thankfully, if Wallfly was going to laugh about all that, Jacky would be spared prolonged exposure. Very soon, his warning followed, causing her to jolt upright into a state of panic. The Operator didn't have any information as to exactly how close Rude was, and she didn't have the presence of mind to ask. Instead, she began to comb over details she hadn't paid attention to before to try and find a hiding place...

Her first choice: Under the desk? Jacky couldn't remember if there was space for her slight frame, and more importantly, if it was either low enough or surrounded enough that she would be hidden if she took shelter there. She took a look down there in a panic... Suddenly remembering who had been occupying the desk and what they had been doing while occupying it, though, Jacky had to gulp down her nerves to get under there, even if she were able.

Her second choice: Behind the projector screen? If it was large enough, she'd be willing to chance her legs poking out from behind. She was the type who faded into the background quite well. Probably more importantly, was it attached to the wall or just in front of it? If there wasn't enough space and she'd simply be pressed up against it from behind, there wasn't much point.

If neither of those options looked good, Jacky would finally have the idea to see if there was enough space for her to squeeze in at the hinge side of the door. If that meant she was going to get clobbered when it was thrown open, tough luck. She was really out of options.

If none of those options looked even half-way viable, Jacky would probably simply be found in a shivering state of panic and sweat, trying to think up a fourth option when she was walked in upon by whoever might be in the hall.

((Note: this post was edited after being modded to fix a mistaken name.))

((In your latest modpost, you wrote: "To any other it might have seemed an odd and strange jump of logic for Jocelyn to assume that Rude's remarks meant he had already been in the back room the previous day", but in the previous modpost, Rude says, "Just a cloth cover, miss De Sary. I came by your shop yesterday to check, but you'd already left, and it's bad practice to change anything about someone's shop without them present." I see now how it's meant now, but you see how that could be read as he'd seen the cloth cover the day before, which would have implied he'd been in the back room then. Just wanted to explain where that conclusion came from.))

"Well, alright then!" Jocelyn chuckled, accepting Rude's answer as she obviously would. "That's true, you never know," she agreed. "I actually found a shopkeeper hiding in a vented crawlspace beneath the floor of his shop when he was scheduled to talk to me! He was crawling around taking photographs to give to the upper management crew, to advise them on the remodeling of his shop, apparently. You can just never tell what people are going to do! But that's what makes those entertaining." At around this time, he cozied up again, getting far cozier than was kosher, and answered her earlier question.

She raised her eyebrows, then closed both eyes in a thoughtful expression (probably not good segway driving etiquette, but they weren't moving particularly fast). "No, if you don't mind, I'd rather talk to them in their own work place. That way, we don't interrupt their duties quite so much and also, I can get a sense of their day-to-day routine," she explained, staying on her segway. "Is that alright? Of course, I understand we still need to find out where they are. If you need to go up real quick to check on that before pointing me where to go, that's fine! I'll just stay down here and speak to the mall-goers for a bit, try to brighten their days, if I can," she requested. At the last moment, she waved one hand in an apologetic gesture. "Not that I think they'd be likely to have a bad time here or need to confer with me in order to be happy! But still, with the work we've put into making this uniform and the extra mile I'm willing to go to ensure that they have a good time, it can only help, don't you think?" she asked, giving another cheery smile.

((Yes Aim, and my apologies; any other debate aside, the fact that it might be, and was, interpreted different ways in the text is proof enough alone that it definitely could be when spoken. Sorry for the, ah, tongue-in-cheek phrasing...))


The ready acceptance of his excuse didn't surprise Rude any more, nor did the unusual anecdote, the fact that it illustrated a probably perv attempt, or the fact that this nuance sailed clear past Jocelyn with a half a mile of clearance. He wasn't surprised, any longer, by Jocelyn's acceptance of his 'incidental' hip grinding, or the saucy placement of his hands... the thing that actually caused him some surprise, by now, was the woman actually managing to disagree with him about something.

Still, it meant another chance to grope her up, even if he was missing out on an opportunity to get her alone in his office. A small part of his mind wondered again what she had meant earlier, when referencing some sort of morning breakfast ritual, but so far he'd been far too occupied with the more direct and immediate gratification to find any way to ask about it.

"That's fair enough, I should think. This won't take a minute then!" He jumped down from the segway as they arrived at the stairs up and climbed quickly, heading to his office and leaving Jocelyn in her ridiculous outfit, to fend for herself. His movements were quick, and it was obvious that the man was quite conscious about the effect the ride had been having on him at hip level, and was trying to disguise it at least a bit. At this rate, he was beginning to feel like he really needed to solve that problem quickly, both to prevent the tension getting uncomfortable, and possibly also to let him think straight again. It was with these thoughts in mind that Rude reached his office and ducked inside.

WallFly's warning to Jacky had come in time to give her at least a chance to react, as well as curtailing his near overwhelming chuckles at the tale of how Jocelyn met Jacky. If not for the suddenly dire situation he might well have giggled about it for the rest of their time together, or dared to ask her some even more probing questions, but as it was, he fell to a tight silence after calling out the warning to her.

As Jacky checked her options, it would ultimately make a fairly clear, if less than desirable, choice: The screen was mounted directly on the wall of the office, so it would provide no rescue, and since the door opened inward, in the corner of the room, and also had the irksome security feature of having its hinge on the inner end, rather than against the corner of the room, it, too, would provide no real cover at all against someone who was actually inside the office itself.

This left the desk, which, by contrast was large and solid, with a complete back and sides which met solidly with the ground all around. In short, it would make a perfect hiding spot, provided she ducked under quickly then squeezed herself right to the back. Jacky herself would find that her slender frame was easily accommodated with just a little bit of effort, so when Rude slipped into his office in something of a hurry, he didn't notice anything at all out of place. His chair was out, but he'd left it like that anyway, and wouldn't have noticed a detail like that even if it was off. unless Jacky had been particularly ransack-style about her searching, he wasn't likely to not any of the small details that would lead on to think the office had been searched, either.

The result, then, was that he paused for a moment just inside the door to close it properly, then grab one hand against the crotch of his pant,s as though that part of his anatomy was being troublesome. The next thing the security head did, was to grab his chair and drop into it, pulling himself into his desk part way and letting out a small sound somewhere between groan and sigh.

From her hiding position, Jacky might well have begun to panic, or fear detection, but Rude's knees only came back part way and were spread wide, and though there was only really a handful of inches between Jacky and discovery, he didn't quite bump into her at any point. It was a near thing though; she probably didn't want to move, or breath overly loudly right at this moment.

Seated at his desk, Rude pressed a few buttons with one hand and brought up a digital representation of the staff roster, which was likely a duplicate of the corkboard outside, if he'd bothered to check it. As he did this, though, Jacky would have unfortunately prime view of Rude groping his over-excited crotch again, then, worse, unzipping his fly and shoving his free hand inside to get a better handle on the situation. There was very little chance of denying what the slow working of his fist meant... nor the fact that it was slowly getting faster.

While he was doing this, Rude showed an unexpected talent for multi-tasking, and consulted the roster, before pulling his radio from his belt with the hand that wasn't... busy.

"Chris, you busy? Got someone who'd like to talk to you." There was a pause, then, "No, no, stay there, we'll come to you. Listen though... just act normal, ok. Play it cool. I've got this dizzy bint who has more breasts than braincells, and she's got the normal number of breasts. What a pair though, I tell you... anyway, she's dopey as a brick on weed, and I've got her going about in her knickers, more or less, but only because she thinks it's normal... so be cool, ok?" Talking about Jocelyn's fantastic rack was apparently fuel for his imagination, because while he briefed Chris on his coming interview, his other hand took a moment to debrief its task instead, pulling the over-excited length out of his pants completely and working it harder. "Yeah, yeah, we'll see you soon. Oh, and... ah you'll see. Just act normal, whatever you see, ok?" He clicked the radio off, then groaned softly. Someone in Jacky's place right now, might probably want to hope the man was going to either stop, or get a tissue, or a cloth, or something... otherwise she was in a rather awkward position.

--

Down below, There wasn't a great deal for Jocelyn to do in the mean time, though while she was alone might actually be a good chance to touch base with her navi, if she was so inclined. There were a few more passers-by than there had been when they'd first arrived at the complex, and most of those that did indeed pass by took more than a second glance at the scantily clad woman with the ludicrously unbelievable security identification. Despite many stares, though, none actually approached her or said anything; it was just too intimidatingly weird a situation, apparently.

Jacky may have been fortunate to find the desk a suitable hiding spot, but she certainly wasn't relieved. From beneath the desk, she tried to put a lock down on all senses besides hearing, to track the sound of Rude's footsteps: no looking around or sniffing around for any evidence of Rude's previous escapades at this particular location. She knew it wasn't likely the head of security would have left such things around, but still, it was hard not to worry about.

Her eyes wide behind her frames, the Operator did all she could to control her breathing. To her dismay, however, she discovered that it didn't seem like Rude had just ducked into his office to grab something...

... Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. Jacky was faced with the alarming sight of Rude's body plopping down in front of her, and she scrunched as far against the back of the desk as she could manage in response. Even before he went to actually working on his task, Jacky had a fair idea of what he must be up to from his posture. "Sick!" I think I'm going to be sick..."

She watched with a sort of morbid fascination for the first few seconds, but her eyes drew away from it in a sharp, defensive motion as she realized he was actually taking the thing out. She was having a bit of a hard time controlling her own breathing now, but she doubted Rude was a clever enough multi-tasker to pick that up in the midst of his two other focuses. Still she, clapped one hand over her mouth to shut herself up, and made extra-certain to keep Wallfly's PET turned from Rude, where any light might be detected. To her credit, she even realized the reflection off her lenses might be detected, so she held the PET as close to her face as possible. If Wallfly wasn't already aware of the situation, it might look like she was leaning in for a kiss.

The young woman stared at PET, not having much else to look at, but wasn't really looking at the Navi inside. She tried to focus herself on her priorities to keep herself calm. In order of ascending importance and immediacy: Make sure Jocelyn was more explicitly aware of the head of security's interest in her; Avoid being discovered and forced into a tricky explanation; Protect the face.

Jacky supposed the mission probably needed to fall in there somewhere, but she was really more focused on "Protect the face" than anything right now.

Alone now, Jocelyn took a look to her left and right, smiling sympathetically to the mall-goers, who didn't seem to be able to work up the nerve to approach her. Indeed, although she didn't realize it, part of the reason Rodney's parading of her over at the Gloria Scott worked so well was because people had come to expect it... here, she was fish out of water. "I should have a talk with Mr. Rude about this outfit... It seems like it might not be giving quite the impression to others that he wanted. Maybe because it's too official seeming?" she thought to herself, noting the words "VISITING SECURITY" printed (stuck, actually) across it in large letters. "I hate to stand around here, making everyone feel so nervous... I ought to go express my concerns, before we head out again."

With those good-natured thoughts in mind, Jocelyn began the trek back upstairs, locking down the driving wheels of her segway again before she reluctantly left it behind. "I suppose I'll check up on Sleuth... Hello, Miss Sleuth," she giggled, turning on her PET's screen.

The detective was clearly preoccupied with something else, but she still spared an agape frown as she saw what Jocelyn had been made to change into while she wasn't looking. "I suppose I should have found a way to teach common sense before independence... This was like pushing the baby bird out of the nest before it's learned to fly," she laughed, with painful dryness. "Jocelyn, can you change back into your normal clothes? Where is Jacky?"

"Hm? I assume Miss Jacky is... well, that's a good question, now that you mention it! The last time I saw her, she was upstairs with Rude and myself, then she just sort of vanished. She does sort of tend to blend in with the scenery some times... in a good way, of course! She's like one of my bodyguards, back over at the Gloria Scott," the operator mused. "I was actually just about to discuss my wardrobe with Mr. Rude. I don't think that the shoppers here are really appreciating it."

"Well, I imagine the demographic is somewhat different. Let me guess: not a lot of men in their 20s-40s, more women and children than you're used to?" Sleuth guessed. This was such a simple puzzle to work out that it wouldn't qualify as "detective work" that she could congratulate herself on.

"How'd you know? Yes, I noticed that the motherly types seemed especially disapproving," Jocelyn remarked. "All the more reason that I should speak to Mr. Rude. How goes your investigation for Ms. Damson?"

"Er... swimmingly, my dear girl! No less than you'd expect from a professional," Sleuth lied, not wanting to admit that she wasn't getting a lot more done than her partner was. "Right now I face another mental quandary, trying to decipher the strange condition of my partner, Miss Hyde, and how to treat... or, at least, best manipulate her to mitigate her troublesome nature."

"Sounds difficult... I'm sorry you got stuck with the hard task, Miss Sleuth. Being a detective has never been easy, has it? That's what's so great about being a security officer! When you love your job as much as I do, work never really feels like work! I definitely went into the right career," she chuckled. Sleuth desperately wanted to defend that she was just as passionate about her work as Jocelyn was, but there was no time; Hyde demanded her attention again, and thus, Sleuth cut the feed. It was just as well; Jocelyn had just about reached Rude's office.

Ordinarily, she'd knock, but then again, all Rude had come upstairs to do was to make a phone call. He couldn't be in the middle of anything too private, she assumed, and thus, she gently pushed the door open and slid through. "Mister Rude?" she asked, noting that he'd been talking to someone. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've got a few concerns I'd like to share with you. The mall-goers seem a bit uncomfortable with my current wardrobe and, I must confess, I was wondering if we could change it out for something else? I understand that wearing my Gloria Scott uniform in here will be a breach of etiquette, but is there anything else you can offer me, that perhaps will perhaps make the people open up to me a bit more?" she inquired, not realizing what he was doing at his desk, since, unless he made it apparent to her, the lower front of his body would be hidden.

To his credit, WallFly was well aware of the danger should Jacky get herself caught right now; no matter how embarrassing it might be for Rude, or how awkward for him, Jacky would still be the one in real trouble, and so the helpfully traitorous navi wisely kept his end of things deadly silent. The heavy breathing of her unknowing captor was accompanied by him opening a desk drawer and grabbing out on of the handy tissues Jacky had seen earlier with his free hand; he was clearly being quick about it, and the end was nigh.

At that particular moment, however, a well-meaning but utterly unexpected third party bustled politely into the office.

The sudden appearance of Jocelyn's recently complimented rack proved to be an unfortunate amount of sudden and unexpected stimulus for Rude. Shock at her arrival, sudden visual contact with her wonderful bust and shapely proportions and the already almost completed task in hand led to only one result, and it was a result that Jacky most certainly wasn't going to like.

If morbid fascination bade her peek, the hiding woman might notice Rude suddenly gripping himself excessively fiercely as he tried, and failed, to prevent himself from rocketing well past the point of 'too far'. Startled by Jocelyn's sudden intrusion, Rude found he couldn't exactly put his other hand below the desk as well, and settled instead for wiping his nose with the tissue, while trying to hide the rest of his body's reaction with a cough and a sneeze.

As muted, held back and restrained as the culmination was, it couldn't be stopped completely, and Jacky was not spared. In an eerie parallel to her own navi earlier in the morning, though mercifully of a far, far less effusive sort, the poor girl did end up having to endure one proper 'shot' across her shoulder while Rude squeezed himself tightly with one fist and displayed an admirable amount of willpower born through desperation in keeping his facial features something approaching smooth as he wiped at his nose and did his best to look politely up at Jocelyn as she chattered. Her words didn't really reach him, though this was hardly surprising.

The good news for Jacky, if there could really be said to be any at this juncture, was that her face was spared, her hair was untouched, and one proper shot was all there seemed to be, thanks to the man's last minute attempts to deny himself. It would be admirable and commendable in itself if Jacky managed to keep her wits through this and not give herself away, but necessity was often a strong motivator.

By the time Jocelyn finished asking her questions, Rude had finished his 'cough', wiped his nose with the tissue once more, and tossed it into the bin. He was a little flustered to look at, but otherwise was doing a decent job of keeping it together. One problem, though, was that most of what Jocelyn had said had flown right by him, and he looked up at her, blinking once or twice, and struggling to catch up and give a proper answer, now that she was finished.

"Ah... Right... sorry. Was just on the phone to Chris, letting him know we're coming," His voice stumbled as his brain faltered freudian. "Ah that is, he's working food court, and I let him know we'd drop by." None of which was in any way an answer to Jocelyn's questions. He knew this, but it was still something to say while he tried to catch up. Lucky for Rude, though, blood seemed to be returning to his brain at last and he fumbled his way to an actual answer.

"Ah, so, you're finding the folks, um, intimidated by the uniform, you say?" He shifted on his chair, rubbing his chin with his free hand and taking the motion as a chance to surreptitiously thrust himself back into his pants, under the desk. No way he could do his fly up, but at least that much wasn't incriminating, if he had to stand up suddenly.

Cooled off, his mind was actually doing a better job now of weighing things up sensibly that it had been all morning, and without being driven onwards by his own libido, Rude decided that enough was enough, and he had better cut while his luck held.

"Hmm. You're uh, you're right, we can't have that. Ah, but I've got an idea." Now he just had to think of something. "Your regular slacks weren't marked or branded visibly, were they?" He honestly couldn't remember, at this point. "A part of your normal uniform, right, but, not really identifying, just on their own? I'm thinking, maybe, folk'll be more comfortable with you, if you're also wearing some more of what you're used to wearing, yourself. They'll, um, they'll notice that you're more comfortable, and such, and it'll help them too. Shouldn't clash with the rest, I don't think, and you'd still be wearing the, uh, the official Shamus undergarments, underneath." It was a rather stupid idea, all told, but to Rude it also seemed like just the sort of Jocelyn-idea that the woman could probably be convinced to buy into. She'd still look delightfully ridiculous, and she's still have her most valuable assets on display, more or less, and overall, Rude felt he was at the point of not pressing his luck any further.

He stood from his chair, gathering up the sheets of transfer letters into a neat bundle and turning to file them away again into the same locker where Jacky had found other of the sheets. The worst thing Jocelyn was likely to see now was that his fly was embarrassingly undone, and even that, only if she was looking there. His lower parts had cooled off substantially and weren't going to be a problem any time soon, now.

"You can get changed in the other room again, if that's ok. I'll just put a few things away here, then was can go and meet Chris."

Jacky let out no cry of surprise or sigh of relief at Jocelyn's apparent arrival. Instead, she was still doing everything she could to keep her breathing steady and silent, looking at nothing besides Wallfly and the faint reflection of her plate-eyed face.

The one thing that had given her a brief moment of thankfulness was that she'd heard a sound that was quite apparently Rude reaching into the desk and drawing something at. At the... stage... she assumed he must be at, it was most likely a tissue or something to serve a similar purpose. The operator was at least pleased to find Rude wasn't firing off randomly and recklessly during his work day. She didn't let the PET move from her face, though, as she knew she still had to watch out for her glasses.

That turned out to be a smart protective measure, because much to her disgust and dismay, her eyes darted to her right shoulder, where it was quite clear something had just shot. It had been fired not so much as a projectile as a streamer, and to her horror, that meant it was hanging around.

Several violent and agitated thoughts were flying around in Jacky's mind now. However, first and foremost was the mournful notion that she had almost worn her lab coat out of the house today before realizing her mistake and leaving it behind. "How could I have known it would have come in useful...?"

Even in spite of this, Jacky knew she had no choice but to remain silent. She hadn't dealt with this particular issue before, so she found herself occupying the empty seconds with thoughts of how, exactly, she was going to clean herself up following this. That soon led her to a far more dismaying though: surely Rude wasn't going to leave the room without cleaning up his mess? Sure enough, she felt her suspicions quickly confirmed now that Rude was trying to send Jocelyn off while he put away a few things. "If he looks under this desk, I'm done for... there's no way I will be able to get out...!"

The operator tried to get a grip on her fear, and let her head do the thinking. "There may not be a way to make him just forget what he's done, or distract him... Maybe, though, if I could get him out of the room, even temporarily, I'd have the ability to change positions." There might be a way to get Wallfly to help with that. It seemed difficult, however, as any act of raising an alarm or calling Rude somewhere else might necessarily be accompanied by him first going to pick up his PET. Jacky would be just fine if that stayed off his mind for a while longer.

With that in mind, there was only one resource she could turn to, and one that surely meant she was at the end of her rope.

Now that Rude was away from his desk, Jacky felt safe laying Wallfly's PET on the floor, face down. With that taken care of, she raised her own PET to her face. She didn't address Hyde, but simply turned on the display so she could get a look at what was going on. Nothing good, it seemed. She decided to try and send a message around Hyde, rather than enlist her help. In that interest, and in the interest of not making too many detectable clicking noises, she realized she would have to keep her message as succinct as possible. "What could go wrong?" she asked herself, failing to laugh at her statement even in her mind.

She began thinking of how to compose her message, when she suddenly realized: "I never got Jocelyn's e-mail address. Blast..."

So... it really seemed as though she had no choice now but to send the message through Hyde and try to get it to Sleuth. She quickly composed a message:

Quote (To Sleuth)

help
hiding in desk in room w joc and security head Rude
make joc get rude out of room and keep out
mission in danger

She thought that was all she had time to do safely, so she sent it. She found herself praying for a lot of resources to come though against all odds here...

Maybe Rude really intended to just tidy up papers? Maybe he was actually going to leave that mess under his desk for later, or maybe he wasn't even thinking about it?

Maybe Jocelyn would be able to put a plan Sleuth came up with into motion without any problems? Maybe she could keep the fact that it was a secret plan secret? Or maybe, God willing, she'd just lead him away herself?

And then there was the matter of Hyde. That was the biggest "if." Was there really any way that Hyde would give Sleuth the message that easily?

Jocelyn's problem was certainly not more concerning than Jacky's, but hers was the one that Rude had deigned to address, after firing off a shot beneath his desk which was, to his knowledge, probably a gross thing to do, but he likely didn't realize just how gross it was to do it in this instance. "Chris, at the food court! Perfect," Jocelyn sighed happily. "It's good to let him know you're coming. We wouldn't want your coming to catch anyone by surprise," she giggled good-naturedly, but with a poor choice of words. She still hadn't received Jacky's message, but hopefully, fate and coincidence would guide her meanderings correctly this time to make up for having her arrive in the room and make Rude unleash his juices on Jacky just now. "Put back on the slacks? I suppose I could... Actually, I was sort of thinking, it might not work so well, since then all they will see is 'VISITING' unless I leave the belt on outside the slacks. I could try it that way, although I wonder if it won't look a bit ridiculous? From the standpoint of coordination..." As if the original version didn't. "Perhaps I'd better stay dressed as I am... Although, wait! I just had another idea!" she proudly announced, puffing out her chest. Before Rude had a chance to zip up his pants, she was on him, grabbing his arm with one gloved hand and surprising force of action.

If she managed to drag him up and out of the room (which would be good for Jacky, while bad for everyone else in the mall, in the sense that he would neither get to clean up that spot in his office nor wash his hands), she'd run him back downstairs and into the area with the mall-goers. If not, she'd be forced to explain all of this in his office, which wouldn't really help Jacky, but would happen regardless. "All we need to do is lead by example! The problem is, right now, they all see me as a bit stuffy or perhaps overstepping my place, being here as official visiting security and all. Just a no-good upstart, that's what I am! We need to change their perception and show that I'm the kind of person they can smile with, open up to, share a bit to eat with or the like. The best way, and I find that nothing is so genuine a show of my affection for those I serve and protect, is a hug!" With no further warning, she would attempt to step in and wrap her arms around the shoulders of Rude, then press their bodies together in what was presumably supposed to be a friendly embrace. In reality, between her scandalous outfit, the fact that his fly was still unzipped, and the tremendous mass of her bosom pushing against him, this would look a lot worse to anyone watching than a simple, friendly gesture. "How's that? Don't you feel that, if people see that I'm willing to give hugs, they'll lose some of their preconceptions that I'm unapproachable? Try wrapping your hands at my back, if you would!" she instructed. "Now granted, I've never actually hugged anyone on the force at the Gloria Scott like this before, but there was never the need. Here, I think that my injection into the situation is a bit of an unknown factor, which the people will need visual instruction to accept and grow accustomed to. The hug is the perfect avenue through which to accomplish that goal!"

Jocelyn had a unique talent for explaining nonsensical things at such length, with such deep-seated, innocent belief, and in such a sunny way that one just wanted to believe them, even if they were patently false. Of course, Rude would probably have entirely different reasons for accepting Jocelyn's explanation, assuming he hadn't suddenly developed a conscience or come up with a reason to teach her right from wrong.

Jacky sent out her urgent S.O.S., into the hands of the ally least likely to put her best interests first, so it was a good thing that Jocelyn's own brand of unassailably bubbly was unknowingly working towards a unified goal. The most amusing part of the situation, to someone other than Jacky, most likely, was the fact that Jocelyn's rescue really hinged on her remaining oblivious to the other girl's plight. If the unworldly woman actually knew of Jacky's current location and state, the girl's chance of remaining hidden would probably have been doomed.

At least her careful and covert activities went unmarked, for now, though it seemed as though her care might have been for naught, given the way Hyde was playing with the information.

For his own part, as much as Rude was concerned about being caught short the way he had been, and the thought of not doing anything about taking care of the evidence was a worry to him, he was far more concerned, right at this moment, for dealing with the problem directly in front of him. He could clean up once Jocelyn was safely out of the room.

Jocelyn had other ideas; he wasn't about to complain about it if she actually wanted to keep flashing her knickers at everyone, and the security head filed away the papers he had gathered while she prattled on about her uniform. What Jacky would think of her oblivious ally's unfortunate choice of wording was anyone's guess, but it couldn't have been charitable. Before rude could really register what was happing, however, Jocelyn's bright idea and sudden physical enthusiasm had him pulled from the office and into the hall by one arm. He pulled a halt there, collecting himself and making the over-enthusiastic woman stop and explain her idea, but by the same token he didn't rush back into his office. It wasn't as though anyone but him actually went into his office, save for the cleaner at the end of the day, and he could take care of his little accident later, when he wasn't playing chaperone. Now that his mind was cooler, he actually found himself wondering how he'd let everything get so out of hand in the first place. Oh, that was right, his job was boring.

"Slow down, hold it there..." Jocelyn's hug was not unwelcome, and he really had no choice but to allow her, but at the same time, neither the press of her chest against him, nor even the perfunctory grab-and-squeeze he couldn't help but get a handful of when she invited him, were actually going to begin doing anything for him physically for a little while yet. He only experienced a small twinge of guilt as he took the opportunity to wipe his soiled hand on the back of her loin cloth, however.

"Now, I see what you mean about it making you seem more friendly, but we can't just let you go about hugging random shoppers." After their brief embrace he extricated himself. "You know what it's like..." He knew full well that someone as innocent as Jocelyn likely didn't know what it was like being real security, at all, but he pressed on. "Security can't even lay a hand on shoplifters caught in the act, without them being able to sue. I know it'd probably help a lot of folks, but if even one person complained, well, it'd be my job, you know?" He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and actually beginning to wonder how he could be done with the whole situation. His normal job was dull, but people-watching through a screen was far safer and less stressful than this.

"I know you mean well, and it's commendable, really, but ah, as, um, as forward thinking as you are, there's going to be shoppers who just won't understand." It wasn't so much a matter of teaching her right from wrong, or not desiring to see her wonderful assets further exploited, so much as that he was actually beginning to really feel like he'd prefer to have a camera screen between himself and the headache-inducing woman.

On the bright side, they were out of the office, albeit right outside the door still; Jacky had the space to get out from under the desk, if she wanted to do so, and maybe take stock of things a little better. It was unlikely that Rude was going to go back in, as long as Jocelyn was seeking to lead him onwards, so they'd probably be gone soonish. From WallFly's PET, came the mumble "Disgusting git of a man...", quietly, but enough that Jacky alone would probably hear the commiseration.

Jacky remained silent under the desk for a time, realizing that Jocelyn's "forward thinking" and restless desire to give one-hundred percent at the dubious task of mall security seemed on-track to get Rude out of the office, with or without Hyde's help. She listened closely. Just as soon as they were out of the office, whether she heard the swing of a door or not, Jacky carefully edged the chair ahead of her far enough back that she could get out without noisily shoving it aside. She picked up her two PETs and made her way out, moving quietly and swiftly over to the side of the door.

As swiftly as she could, anyway. The operator found herself obsessively focusing on the string that had followed her from beneath the desk, still riding along on her shoulder. Although she had bigger things to be careful about, she was also devoting quite a lot of attention to try and make sure her ponytail wouldn't swing onto it. She wanted to keep it as clean as possible to make her later task more simple.

Standing beside the doorway now, Jacky raised Wallfly's PET to her face. Self-consciously, she made a point to hold the screen in such a way that her affected shoulder would be hidden from view. A great deal of humor seemed to have drained from Jacky's face since she'd last appeared before Wallfly. "Begging your pardon," she spoke in a whisper, "Can you give me a feed to show Rude's movement in the hall? I need to make my way across if he turns around."

The other possibility, of course, was that Rude might decide he needed to finish up in the office after all. Jacky desperately hoped this wouldn't be the case, but if it was, she might have one trick left. The operator crouched low to the ground, remaining by the door. That way, she hoped, if Rude was to re-enter the room, he would probably either head straight for his desk or, at most, take a brief, head-level scan of his surroundings. These factors might allow her to slide out as he approached the desk.

"What, like a secret agent or a ninja in a movie?" the operator thought to herself pessimistically. Still, some kind of a plan was better than none at all.

"We can't?" Jocelyn reacted with surprise. "I guess that's why Rodney makes the protocol and I follow it," she mused to herself, thinking that she needed to file this away in the archives of her mind, lest she make a fool out of herself on duty. "Can you really get sued for something like that? Rodney's instructed me to make physical contact many times before though... Maybe it's just a difference in protocol between our two jurisdictions? But if you're worried about complaints, then I'll keep my hands to myself and make certain there's no trouble," she finished, backing up and raising her hands to show that there would be no further hugs.

With that thought finished, Jocelyn took a moment to straighten back up her outfit... before noting that the cloth laying over her bottom was now slightly damp with some unknown moisture. "Oh dear... I'm afraid I sat in something," she sighed, lifting her gloved fingers to her face and inspecting them. For a terribly awkward moment, it looked like she was about to lick off of her glove to taste it in an attempt to identify the substance, but thankfully, she didn't. "It's sticky... What could this be? I don't think I've actually sat down since we started. My bottom shouldn't have been... Oh! I think I know now. I believe the only thing that my bottom's been in contact with since I put this costume on was you, when we were riding together on the segway!"

Pausing, she placed one hand on Rude's side, cupping it there to grip, while using the other to stabilize herself in a squatting position. She then carefully inspected the front of Rude's pants for signs of whatever could have gotten the stickiness on her, putting her face close enough to his groin to suggest they were doing something different. A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she realized that he was, indeed, still unzipped, although there wouldn't be anything indecent to see even this close up without some manipulation. "W-Well, er, I don't see anything that could have caused a problem!" she announced, rising up quickly and waving away the issue. "Why don't we go meet your co-worker now? After you!" she suggested, waving her gloved palm out to indicate he should walk in front.

Assuming he did so, she corrected the problem of her ruined loincloth the only way she could figure to: by curling it and tucking it into the back of the belt, out of sight. Of course, this created the small problem that she'd have the back of her underwear exposed now, but it seemed a small price to pay to keep the unsightly stain out of the public eye. She crossed her hands self-consciously behind her back, clenched together in front of her bum, and thought that maybe she'd stay that way as long as she could so people wouldn't notice she was dressed improperly. To "act natural," she would whistle as she followed him, whether he was heading back downstairs or back into his office.

Once they arrived at either place, she gasped, realizing another problem: if she rode on the front of her segway again, the way she'd chosen to hide the mess of her loincloth was going to be instantly exposed. "P-Perhaps you should drive this time? It's quite simple! You simply lean in the direction you want to go. I'll hold on behind you, if that's alright!" she recommended. At around this time, Sleuth delivered the message that Hyde had given her; although it was too little too late and really mostly confused Jocelyn rather than alarmed her, Jocelyn knew she owed it to Damson and her new friend Jacky to make sure she followed up on it. "I'm really eager to meet your co-worker! Let's head there right away!" she urged Rude again.

With Rude safely out of the office, Jacky finally had some time to collect herself and her thoughts, and WallFly nodded to her request. His eye lens telescoped briefly.

"No problem, Jacky-love.... Here you go. I can let you know when the coast is clear, if you want. h, hang a tic actually... Looks like you'll be clear to go in just a second anyhow." The view on the security PET changed to display the camera feed of the office hallway, from the angle of a node at the end of the hall. Initially it showed Rude's back, turned slightly, and Jocelyn... crouched in front of him... with her hands on his waist, and her head.... the angle was wrong to see what was actually going on, but given all that had just happened, surely it wasn't what it looked like, right? ... Right?

Whatever she had been doing, it only lasted a few moments, before they appeared to share some more brief discussion, and Rude waved one hand towards the stairs. A moment later, he walked past Jocelyn, and ducked into the men's bathroom. WallFly spoke up over the top of the camera feed.

"Should be safe now, Jacky-love. Probably best to get out of that office while the gettin's good though." This did leave Jacky herself with a few choices, of course; she could simply nip into any of the other places up here, provided she wasn't intending to go into the male bathroom for some reason, or she could probably dash out and meet up with Jocelyn before the other woman got herself into even more trouble. Cleaning herself up might also be on the cards. If Jocelyn did indeed end up heading down the sitars as Rude seemed to have indicated, Jacky also had the option of waiting a moment longer, leaving the other woman to her own devices a little longer, and possibly even evacuating the security area entirely and get back tot he main complex, in search of other people of interest for their case; the video feed from before had given her a number of potential leads to follow up on, if she felt so inclined and got the chance.


Outside in the hall, rude was doing his best to remind himself that Jocelyn was a valuable asset, and that just because he was no longer feeling overly like appreciating her right at this moment, didn't mean he should spoil future opportunities. As such, his heart lurched when the silly woman began examining the small stain he'd wiped on her to clean his own fingers. It took all his restrain not to step back suddenly when she crouched, but the moment passed, and like water off a duck's back, awareness of reality rolled right off of Jocelyn's sunny disposition. He cleared his throat softly, and allowed himself to react as though her inspection had also just alerted him to the fact that his fly was down.

"Uh, yeas, it's the legal system gone mad, you know. I wouldn't worry too much about the small differences in our protocols; I'll make sure to steer you right any time something comes up, as long as you're here." He wanted the words back as soon as he said them; even to his own ears it sounded like a promise to escort the daft lady around for the rest of the day. Internally he berated himself to think before opening his mouth next time.

He wasn't about to question or complain about her deciding that flashing her undies more prominently was preferable to living with a slight discolouration on her 'uniform'; he felt as though he was beginning to understand, at least partially how the woman's mind had to work, in relation to putting her job first. He could probably convince her to do just about anything at all, if he could sell it to her as being important for mall security or keeping up proper appearances. One part of him was beginning to wonder if Rod had even gotten so far as to score with her, under the pretence of something work-related. He wouldn't be surprised at this point. One important thing came first though.

"Right, you go ahead just for a moment, there, and I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs. I've just got to pop to the amenities for a minute." If she believed that it was her own inspection that had shown him his own state of undress, then surely she wouldn't object. He nodded to her briefly, then stepped past the woman to duck into the male bathroom, intent upon fixing his clothes, cleaning up properly, and probably splashing some cold water on his face as well. It only took a minute or so, but certainly long enough for Jacky to make her own decisions about what to do and where to go, before the security head re-emerged and made his way down the stairs to Jocelyn's dubious choice of transit.

When it came to mounting up, Jocelyn was again more worried about her outfit, and suggested changing things up, and though he was feeling a bit refreshed, Rude was leaning more towards the path of least resistance now, and nodded to her.
"Alright then, hold firmly." He took the front position without fuss, standing as forward as he could to give Jocelyn enough room to climb on behind. The thought occurred to him to wonder why he was even doing this, again, considering how ridiculous the whole affair was, but at this stage, it was more hassle than it would be worth to fight it. Fortunately, the contraption was actually designed to be quite no-training user-friendly, all told, and though he'd not actually used one before, they weren't complicated devices in the end. Now piloting he drove them towards the food court at a slightly faster clip than Jocelyn herself had used, without any difficulties.

"Like I mentioned, I wouldn't worry about and small differences in the normal protocols, I'll keep you straight. I'm a bit curious myself, mind you. The morning routine you mentioned sounded a bit different from the way things go here of a morning; why don't you tell me something of it while I drive?" He really wasn't expecting to find a better chance to ask about that bit of curiosity, and they had a short while before they got to where they were going at least.

"Thank you," Jacky whispered, continuing to hold her crouching pose in spite of the weak knees that went with her weak everything else. She took a look at the screen, her face flattening into a grimace of surprise once again.

The operator stood frozen for a moment, and was just about on the verge of running out to stop Jocelyn in spite of whatever else might follow, when the misleading image in front of her finally started to make sense. Jocelyn was standing up again now, and not looking any messier for the experience. Still, it reinforced for her what her next course of action needed to be. "At any time, Rude might lead Jocelyn into doing something truly regrettable. Like... walking around the mall in her underwear, for instance." The operator pinched the bridge of her nose again, letting out a sigh. "I need to get the two of us back on track for the mission. But... curses. I don't think Hyde's going to let me get a straight message to her. The fastest way to take care of this is to join up with her again myself, and before I do that... I've got to take care of this mess." The operator's eyes traveled quickly to her shoulder, then back to the PET screen.

The operator started to make a move out as she heard Wallfly give the "all clear," but paused and then set back into her tenuous crouching position when she saw where Rude had gone. Before she got cleaned up, there was absolutely no way she wanted to encounter the security officer. Her own next stop was going to be the women's restroom, and she couldn't risk running into him in the hallway. "Right here, I still have my plan. It's a bad one, but less of a risk of the catastrophic."

She remained poised, desperately wanting to shift into a sitting (or at least standing) position to relieve her knees. After what felt like ages of testing her mental and physical fortitude, watching Wallfly's screen and trying not to showcase how embarrassing her strain was getting, Rude finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. Jacky quickly bolted up right, nearly stumbling, and made her way to the women's restroom. She didn't bother knocking, assuming nobody would have been inside for the entire stretch between her arrival and now.

Once inside, she would attempt to use cold water and a gently applied paper towel to get the substance off. She didn't think it would leave a significant and noticeable stain on her wool turtleneck with how carefully she'd treated it. Unfortunately, stain or no stain, her favorite turtleneck had just slipped from "favorite" to "emergencies."

Assuming she could get that accomplished without any surprises, it would be time to make her way back to the meeting room. Her memory was good, and she thought she'd be able to leave the PET in a convincing enough location to avoid any suspicion that it had been moved. "Thank you again for your help, Wallfly. Through this excursion, I've been able to mostly clear Rude of suspicion... as much as I'd like to believe it, that might be what is classically known as a 'red herring' in mystery fiction." Jacky wasn't an avid reader of the genre, but she was a firm believer in expanding vocabulary. "Furthermore, I have an idea of another lead to explore based on the camera footage I've seen. If I can make this case come together and recover the missing item, you'll have been instrumental to my success. I do need one last favor, however. Do you think you can locate the maintenance personnel that's waiting for Rude and Jocelyn? I need to catch up to those two, and I'm worried if I don't make it there on time, I might lose track of them again."

That wasn't the only thing on Jacky's mind, of course. As terrible as Rude had been, he'd probably been downright charitable compared to what he could get up to with his mind on the task. Jacky really didn't want to think about what two perverted male minds might be able to cook up for her if they put their heads together.

"Hm," Jocelyn murmured, musing over what Rude had said about the legal system going crazy over additional rulings. "Well, if someone in a position of authority made those rules, they're probably there for a good reason," she reminded herself. Obedience to the law was important, of course (although apparently public decency was not). "I see. Yes, please, do take care of all that you need to before we set out again to meet your co-worker." While he was gone, presumably zipping himself up and perhaps using the toilet, Jocelyn decided it would be a good time to speak with her navi companions. "Hello, Sleuth?" she inquired, noticing her navi in an unfamiliar setting, seated with Hyde (who appeared to be partially undressed) and another girl (who appeared to be fully undressed). "Oh my!"

"'Oh my' indeed! Hello, dear Jocelyn. Don't be alarmed; there is nothing to be concerned about here. I'm having a great time, palling around here," she chuckled. "How are things on your end?"

"Relatively uneventful. I'm simply following Mister Rude around on various errands, learning more about the shopping complex, and that sort of thing," Jocelyn answered.

Sleuth noticed that didn't appear to have anything to do with the task at hand, but keeping Rude occupied was useful, at least. "I don't suppose I could get you to deliver a message to Miss Jacky, could I? I'll leave you the message and you just give it to her when you have time," the detective continued, giving her operator a message that would point out Casey as a potential suspect with an undeniably strong motivation to carry out the crime they'd been investigating, based on what Sleuth now knew of her.

Jocelyn nodded; Sleuth hadn't said the message was for her, so she didn't read it herself. "Thank you, Sleuth. Enjoy your pals," she finished, putting up her PET again as Rude arrived. "To the segway! Let us sally forth!" she announced, as though there was nothing silly about doing so, and headed downstairs close behind the Shamus Austin security officer.

By the end of the trip, she'd be closer behind him, hugging him from behind as they rode her transportation of choice. "You're quite good with it! Are you sure you've never driven one of these before?" she chuckled; her simple praise was hard to focus on, however, given the more literally pressing concern of her massive breasts against his back. With her hands occupied as they were, there was no way to cover her bottom for modesty, but she'd already forgotten about that regardless. As such, a lot of people would be getting a nice or vulgar look at the scandalous panties she was wearing, depending on their personal outlook. "Hm? You want to know about Rodney's morning routine that he and I go through together? Certainly! Perhaps there's something in it that you can apply to your own work with those who report directly to you as well," she giggled.

The squishing of Jocelyn's boobs onto him was relentless as she continued in great detail. What was revealed probably painted Rodney in an eerie light that Rude might not have seen him in before. "The routine is done in several steps, although they're flexible, to account for whatever we might need for the day. We begin with a light breakfast; I usually put on an apron and cook whatever he's brought in for the both of us. We feed each other our meals, as we're wont to do; it's a team building exercise and it always makes him look so happy! Sometimes I'll write on his omelet or Salisbury steak in ketchup or something of that sort. He'll tell me what to write, usually something like 'love,' but I've also written some strange words I can't remember on there as well. I'm sure it's another valuable exercise, however. Probably to build dexterity!" she resolved, seeming to squeeze Rude tighter as if to say, "Right? Right?

"Next is physical exercise! We have to work off the weight that we've just put on, after all, and stretches are a good idea regardless of your profession. We take turns spotting each other; one of us will stabilize the other, or sometimes, we do combined poses. We usually wear our swimsuits, because that way, we'll have maximum range of movement. After all of that exercise, we're both a little sore, so we take turns giving one another massages and, sometimes, he'll bring lotion or things of that sort to cool down the burn. After that, well-fed and limber, we're ready to start the day! Well, almost... I then have to go and pick out my uniform for the day, using the allowance he gives me. Every now and then, Rodney will bring in a uniform himself." If that wasn't a thoroughly disturbing picture of how Rodney lived day to day already, Jocelyn started, suddenly remembering something to make it even worse. "Oh! While we're in the office, but only there, we use pet names as another bonding exercise. We pretend we're married, you see. I know it sounds a bit juvenile, but, well, the proof is in the pudding! Both of us trust each other implicitly," she explained, beaming with pride.