A Motive for Training

This time it was Lyntael's turn to watch Matia going through her stretching routines, and she did so with an attentive eye, softly stroking and patting Six at the same time. The other woman's comments were enough to bring a small smile, and the faintest hint of a blush to her cheeks.

"Maybe... but, well I think I am perhaps a little bit biased. I just know he's a good man, despite everything. I can see it in him, even if no one else does." Not that she could blame anyone else really, when all there was to see most of the time was a man who made a living in illegal activities and viewed navis as he did. "I say sometimes that he'd get angry at me for talking about some thing, but he really wouldn't, ever, you know?" A small pang reminded her that the reason he never got angry at her was the same reason he never got actively angry at his other electronic appliances, but as long as she didn't admit that aloud, the point stood. She continued to listen in on Rogan's call as she soothed Six, oblivious to the likelihood that her friend was, by this point, probably very much aware of why he wouldn't get angry at her, really. The call cut a moment later.

"On their way, Lyntael. Expect arrival shortly." Rogan's voice was businesslike, and she wasn't sure if he was informing her because he assumed she wasn't listening to the call, or simply to have her confirmation that she was. Either way, she nodded to herself as she answered.
"Yes, Sir."

She looked down to Six again and when she spoke it was to him, but clearly for Martia to hear as well. Her hand soothing him didn't slow as she went on.
"Ok, the good people will be here in a moment. They're probably going to open the seals soon, alright? You have to stay clam for them, so that they can help you, though, so when the seals open don't panic... just stay calm here with me, alright?"

Summary

1) Soothe and chat,
2) Chat and soothe,
3) Relay important call information,
4) Reassure and calm.
"It's a side of him I haven't really seen, that's for sure..." But, to be fair, she was used to having an operator that fell just short of holding a massive sign that stated what she was thinking or feeling. Most people were more complex than that, based on what she'd seen in her brief life. But at the same time, that included other Navis. Treating them no differently from a microwave was like shunning half the world, and that didn't sit right with her. But, Lyn was her friend, and she did care for her operator...so Martia just bit her tongue instead of trying to argue. Especially since apparently she was being told something from her operator. A moment later, she started speaking to Six, and what had been said became clear. "So they did get SciLab to help? Sweet! All right, Six, now it's really just about over! A few minutes, and you'll officially be on the road to recovery! And it won't be just you, but anyone else still around here, even that Eleven! They'll fix everyone up back, and you'll all be able to lead normal lives again...I'm super happy for you right now!" She was, too. It felt like a little spark of pure joy was floating around in her heart, knowing that everything was going to be just fine. Well, probably...there was still a chance of a last second catastrophe, and Leslie was fond of saying that you can't celebrate until you're sure it's over. Still, there was definite reason to be optimistic at this point.

[Order of Turn:
1-4: Wait for help to arrive]
Soon they heard a tapping sound on the melted covering, followed by some muffled voices. SIX sat up straight and looked toward the melted covering then back to Lyntael and Martia, then back at the entrance again. There was more tapping and talking before sparks began dropping down from the creases in the covering. Someone was cutting through with a torch.

SIX became incensed a bit, but was held calm by Lyntael and Martia's constant reassurances. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the covering fell from the ceiling and clattered noisily to the ground. Beams of light appeared from above and scanned over the rubble near the ladder. "Is everyone ok down there? Stand back, we're coming down."

A few ropes descended from above before a few standard-issue Navis rappelled down. The SciLabs logo emblazoned on their uniforms. They trained their flashlights on the room and began to spread out. "Secure the room," one of the Navis said to his compatriots as several more came down the ropes. Soon there was about a dozen of them about, checking under rubble and looking behind consoles.

Soon the apparent leader came forward with another Navi in tow, who had a medic's armband, and began shining a light in SIX's face. SIX flinched back into Lyntael, but the gentle pats she gave him kept him from leaping up as the medic examined him. The leader Navi looked Lyntael and Martia over for a moment before addressing them directly. "I would like to get your statements before you leave. We would also like to check you for any injuries you suffered and scan your cores for any anomalous readings. Standard procedure you understand. We don't want any possible contaminates, if there are any, from leaving this facility until we can get a proper team in here. If you will come this way," he said before he led them over to one side of the room where two of the Navis from his team were setting up a diagnostics machine.

"Please start from the beginning," he began.

Sometime later...

Martia and Lyntael were standing in a courtyard several meters from the hidden entrance as SciLab personel were now swarming over the area. SIX was gone, taken in a stasis chamber to a SciLab facility where he would be able to get treatment. The two Navis had been given a packet of reward data after they were lead out of the underground lab for their cooperation and assistance.

-No Longer A Boss-
SIX.VI: 500HP

-Objects-
Orange Console: Currently frozen on an ending log entry.
Green Console: Displaying 'Subject SIX' physical schematics.
Red Console: Displaying breach notification and error in containment field for 'Subject Eleven'. Requesting 'All-Clear' Status.
Blue Console: Displaying 'Subject Eleven' and general Project mental workup.
Melted Covering: Removed.

-Terrain-
100% Industrial
[Industrial Terrain counts as Normal Terrain. Debris and various consoles and terminals litter the area in various states of repair, and can be used for cover, interacted with, or used as weapons and tools dependent on RP.]

-Navis-
Martia.EXE: 230HP [LyntaelCross] [40HP Barrier]
Lyntael.EXE: 150HP [MartiaCross] [Buster Charge: 2] [20HP Barrier] [Counter: 'My Pain is Real']

-Battle 5: Victory!!-
Rewards
Full Heal
Martia: 2000z and 13 FXP
Lyntael: 2000z and 13 FXP
The first sounds of their rescue made Lyntael look up towards the sealed hatchway, and relief flooded her, loosening a worry she'd almost lost awareness of. They'd found the place ok after all. It was only as the retrieval team actually dropped in that a completely different type of panic set in. Up until the arrival of others, she had more or less forgotten about the state of her clothing, or lack thereof, but the presence of a whole team of other, mostly male, navis arriving at last brought the awareness of her state back full force and the young girl could only gasp, suddenly flustered, and do her best to cross her arms over her chest and stumble through her statement under a furious blush.

Despite her state, though, the navis questioning them and caring for Six remained inexplicably professional throughout the whole process and when it came her turn to be scanned and checked, she felt a new mask slip into place in the back of her mind, though this one felt closer in and different somehow, in a way she couldn't grasp. Her Cross released at the same time, but the damage to her clothing seemed to have carried back as well, unfortunately, and while it didn't mean much difference for her top half, the frayed tearing to her leggings had translated into a rough-torn shortening of her already too-short skirt. In truth, it rendered it little more than a ragged belt, without the fabric to do its job any more. Fortunately for her own modesty, Lyntael herself didn't notice the loss, beside the fluster of how exposed she was already, and a glance at their diagnostic readings as she was scanned. It read out as the most default base for a custom navi, no frills or special coding at all, just blank and unmemorable, and her brows knit slightly as she followed it. Rogan's doing again, of course.

In the end it was a disconcerted and uncomfortable Lyntael that was left standing back from the entryway, arms folded in front of her as she watched the SciLab navis work, looking up to her friend instead, as much to distract herself from the other navis moving about as to catch the other woman's eyes.

"I- I think they're done with us now. They had a lot of questions... I don't think I've ever been around that many people at once before." She shuddered slightly and resettled her arms to make sure she was covered, unaware of the greater failure below. "Think he'll be alright, Martia?" She bit her lip and glanced toward where they'd seen Six last, once they'd put him to sleep and whisked him away to be cared for.

The instant she heard something coming from the seal, Martia looked straight at it, and immediately started to feel relieved. Good ol' SciLab. They came down, securing the immediate area (such that the act of securing was, anyway), and taking statements and scans of her and Lyn. Yep, it was definitely over. She let her cross disengage, dispeling her barrier, and restoring her regular outfit. She could feel her chest get heavier in the process...she didn't really mind, but it was definitely noticable after she was restrained like that.

Either way, her scan showed a basic custom Navi template, much like how Lyn's had come up, though hers did show her unique technique recognition program. But other than that, there wasn't really anything special about her from a programming standpoint. On the plus side, she probably gave the more useful statement of the two, since she wasn't flustered due to clothing damage, and she'd managed to remain mostly calm through the whole ordeal.

When all was said and done, she found herself standing next to Lyn, her arms folded across her stomach as she watched the other Navis work, heading in and out...it was kinda funny, considering how secret the area was supposed to be before they arrived. "Well, that was something, huh? I'm glad everything turned out all right in the end..." She looked over at the electrical Navi, and smiled. "There's no doubt in my mind he'll be okay. SciLab's the most technologically advanced facility in the entire world. If anyone can fix him and the others up, it's them. He's in good hands, now." Now that she wasn't explaining what had happened, Martia took the opportunity to send the money she'd received to her PET, then chimed in to something Leslie was saying. Overall, she couldn't complain one bit about how things turned out. With that in mind, she turned over to her friend...only to notice something neither had caught before. "Say, uh, Lyn...you might wanna refresh your outfit...just saying..."
The younger girl nodded back to Martia's reassurance, then flicked her eyes across to the variously busy employees and shifted her arms up a little more, covering her chest more thoroughly. She still bore the tinges of pink in her cheeks, but the almost complete disregard helped.

"Oh, I can't, Rogan has to do it, and he'd never bother with something like that." She shook her head. "It's alright for now though. I mean, none of them are even looking at us, and I can keep myself covered easily enough just like— " Her words broke into a small, tightly muffled shriek before she finished the thought. A glance down over herself as she answered had revealed the real cause for her friend's comment and the faint pink tint to her cheeks flared into full-blown embarrassment.

There was a moment of confusion as she tried to do several things at once, ranging from attempting to huddle in closer to her friend for cover, tugging at the torn edges of her skirt in a vain attempt to extend it, and trying to cover herself at the same time, hands abandoning her chest altogether for the moment. Ultimately, she sank down to a crouch, curled up enough to rest her head on her knees with her arms wrapped about them. From the moment of her cry shocks of electricity arced over her skin, starting in her hair and racing down over her neck and shoulders, and swiftly over the rest of her skin.

"Why is this... was I.. the whole time they were..? How does this keep happening?" She took a long breath, eyes shut as she pressed her forehead to her knees, trying to quell her initial shock. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just... go about like this." She took another deep breath. "I can't fix my clothes on my own. I mean, if I actually had something to get changed into, of course, but short of physically getting changed into something else that's to hand, I don't have any permissions for changing my outfit." She managed to look up briefly, and tried a distinctly uncomfortable giggle. "Some of the times I've had to do work for Rogan has gotten... well, let's say it's been lucky no-one else has been around to see." Her head dropped and she groaned softly, huddling tighter in on herself. "Until now, I guess." After a moment she looked up again at the other navis moving about. They were paying as little attention to the pair as ever, either unconcerned, or else professionally tactful. She sighed. Right now every instinct was telling her to get out of sight as soon as possible, but...

"Rogan's probably going to want to pull me out now. He's got what he was after, and now that formal channels are involved with us, he's probably going to want to vanish as soon as possible." She paused, biting her lip as the sparks on her skin calmed gradually. "I might not get much warning, but I do want to say thank you, Martia. I wasn't sure what to expect today, really. I've never really spent any time with anyone before, not since those first few days with Eric, and I've been terrified and nervous, and upset over little things, but... I'm really glad, you know. Thank you for being such a wonderful person, and for being so patient with me." A little calmer, she swallowed then stood upright again, turning her back to the working navis and facing Martia with her hands clasped modestly at her waist where the remains of her skirt failed its duty. That was a bit better. It wasn't like she had much to hide up top anyhow, and she'd just spent a good deal of time unable to bother covering them up for her friend anyway, so as long as her back was to the all the various male navis working behind them, and she didn't think about them, she could feel a little braver.

"I... I'd like to stay in touch, if that's alright with you. It would mean a lot to me, to see you again sometime. Ah... Here..." Suddenly nervous, she lifted one hand, palm up, and held it out to the other woman. A small data string, spinning in a neat figure eight glowed faintly above her palm and Lyntael grinned, ducking her head. "It's... ah... well, it's not exactly Rogan's email, but, if you send a message here, it'll get to me. Untracability, and all that. You, ah, you don't have to do anything with it, if you don't want to, but, well, I don't really have any other friends at all, and it'd be really nice to talk to you again." She looked up to Martia again, pulling her eyes back from the uncertain downcast they'd dropped to automatically and grinned again, a little more hopefully this time. Whatever she might have been about to add next was curtailed, however, as Rogan's voice cut in again. Back it its normal mode of output, the voice was audible to others and seemed to come from a point just behind and above the girls shoulder.

"Lyntael. We're done here. Out you come." Despite the obvious joy she felt for hearing the smooth tones of his voice, Lyntael's eyes widened suddenly and she glanced about.

"Ah... I... not yet, sir, please. Just a moment!"
"Make it quick. I'm going to take care of the tab here, then we'll be off."
"Y-yes, sir."

She breathed a small sight of relief then looked back to Martia, biting her lip and smiling nervously.
"Well, it's more warning that I usually get, I suppose. Thanks so much, Martia, for everything today."

Martia softly shook her head; it was just hard for her to imagine that anyone could be so callous to their Navi in this day and age, and yet here Lyn was, in that exact situation. But, by now it was clear that it was going to continue whether she spoke up again or not, so she elected to do nothing, save for feel a bit of pity for her friend. She wasn't perfect, but at least Leslie treated her as more than a computer program.

The thought continued as Lyn used her as part of an attempt to hide her...wardrobe malfunction, as it were. Honestly, she'd offer her her own tights, but at this point...oh, what the hey. Let's see, it disconnected right around...there. After a quick hop out of her boots, Martia proceeded to remove her tights from the waist down, leaving just a pair of pink (thankfully opaque) panties on her. "I know we don't have long, but, well...here. After all, you can't say goodbye when you're dead from embarrassment! And, I guess if you got them resized, you could wear them whenever this happens again, since they're not part of any of your GMOs or anything, so you can just summon them and put them on!" As for her...she wasn't sure if what she'd offered Lyn would disappear if she refreshed her outfit right or not, so she was basically stuck as she was. She was pretty sure they stick around if she waited, though. Plus, not having pants didn't bother her a whole lot, since she was used to getting leered at, clothes or no. "At least it looks like no one's looking this way..." ...Okay, it bothered her a little. She wasn't Leslie, after all. Nudists probably looked at her and wondered how she was so comfortable in her own body.

Speaking of which, the martial artist actually found herself a bit flustered, as her friend basically told her how great she was. "I'm...really not that special...but, um...well, you're not the only one that didn't know what to expect. I've fought plenty in my training, but...I've never actually been out, fighting with another Navi before. And, I think I learned something while we were at it...I learned just how great it is to have friends. I think that's kinda why I was so bent on helping Six...he just needed friends, not fights. ...I'm not sounding too much like an after-school special with that, am I? But, it's true, so you don't have to thank me or anything. I think you've done a lot more than you realize! And that's what friends do!" Yup, definitely after-school special. Oh well.

With a smile, Martia accepted the data string, and transferred it over to her PET. She'd put it in the address book when she got back. "I'd love to! And, take this!" A small pink data crystal appeared, which she offered to her friend. "It's got two bits of data in it. Leslie's e-mail address, and the Net address to the Battle CyberDojo. If you're ever in Yoka, you'll always be welcome there! Though, Leslie's father's Navi's often there too. He's usually, um, a bit on the drunk side, but he's still pretty nice, so you don't have to be too nervous around him!"

Right as Lyn's operator interrupted her, she found herself getting an incoming transmission, herself. "Hey, Martia, you about ready to go?" The window in front of Martia showed that Leslie was giving her a confused look, and it was incredibly obvious why.

"Almost. Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure, I guess. But, I gotta know-"

"I'll explain later, okay?"

"All right, but I'm holding you to that!" With that, she could see that her own operator was standing up. They didn't have much longer, it seemed.

"I told you, you don't have to thank me...but, since you're doing it anyway...you're very welcome! And thank YOU, Lyn! I don't think I'll ever forget today..."
The younger girl couldn't help but giggle as her friend half stripped and joined her in a certain level of mutual exposure. Much more sensible underwear though, she noticed. Something about the gesture made her own situation feel less dire, just for sharing it, and she ducked her head, still grinning as she accepted the offered leggings. Rather than putting them on at once, she held them folded across one arm, in front of her, covering her modesty perfectly well in the process.

There was still a hint of giggle in her voice as she accepted the data crystal with her other hand. The moment it touched her fingertips, it converted into a string and raced over her hand, then coiled up her arm, before fading from sight.

"Hehe... thanks! Trust me, sensible underwear is first on my list for outfit changes as soon as I can manage it. I won't put them on just yet; when Rogan pulls me out, the rest will fix itself. It's really just about the only automatic thing related to my clothing that happens at all... but anything else I'm wearing gets over-written when it happens. There's a good chance it'll degenerate anyway, when I return to his PET, but maybe not. I'm not sure, really." She grinned and ducked her head. "I hope not. I really feel much better just for the offer, you know. Though I do wonder if I might have to start carrying around a data pack of spare clothes just in case. I do envy some other navis I see that can just change their outfits about at will, hehe." Well, ok, maybe she wasn't completely calm, if the babbling was any guide.

The talk about clothing and changing it reminded Lyntael of something that had, in her earlier crisis, slipped her mind. Her features brightened as her eyebrows rose hopefully.
"Oh! I meant to ask you, about before, with the clothes, and all. That's never happened to me before. Short of Rogan refreshing me, anything I'm wearing I have to put on or take off completely by hand... did you know what that was all about? I felt—" She tilted her head suddenly, and winced. "Drat." Shaking her head without finishing the thought, she stepped back a bit and raised her free hand in something of a shy wave. "I'll write you as soon as I can, I promise! Bye Martia, I hope I can see you again soon!" Her words grew more rushed as they went on, alongside a slight swell of static in the air. There was a crackle before the same clear yellow beam of light that had first dropped her into the net earlier now reclaimed her just as promptly.

----------
((Jack out, Return to => SciLab))
Well, at the very least, even if Lyn wasn't able to keep it, the simple act of giving her her tights did seem to make her feel a little better about the whole thing. Mission accomplished, really...oh, that was right, the whole thing that happened earlier. She'd almost forgotten about it. "Actually, I think I know what happened. You see-" But before Martia could actually give her explanation, the time had come, and her friend had to bid her farewell. "Oh...well, I'll e-mail you about what happened with the clothes switching, okay? Take care, now!" She smiled and waved at Lyn as she jacked out, then, once she was by herself, started her own processes on the matter, and vanished from the Net in a beam of light.

(JACKING OUT)
+3 FXP