Fire and Politics

In a somewhat secluded area in the ElecTown network, there were a pair of Navis standing patiently on the metal floor. The area was a few units away from a major data highway, and only a few other Navis/Programs were seen in the distance. The area was secure, but not hidden from view.

Though both Navis were very hard to miss, the first one was rather large. He was nearly 10 feet tall, and covered in oxide red armor, giving him a very heavy, boiler-esque look. His chest, forearms, and lower legs looked very cylindrical, and his hands and feet were massive. It was a wonder how he could keep himself standing upright from the sheer weight. There were several vents branching amongst the heavy armor over his lighter gray connecting armor around his thighs, abdomen, and upper arms. The Navi was also sporting an oxide red helmet, outfitted with two angular smokestacks, almost like horns of a bull. Steam was steadily oozing from the horns, and it looked like the Navi was looking around restlessly.

The other Navi accompanying him couldn't be more of an opposite. While the first was a massive heat-spewing boiler, the second was a slim, floating formation of ice crystals. The icy Navi didn't have any legs, his torso was simply in the shape of an icicle. His arms were human-like from the shoulders to the elbows, but below that, his lower arms took the form of a pair of sharpened icicles. His head was an upwards-facing icicle, sporting two large blue eyes, a small pointy nose, and mouth. This Navi's arms were crossed, and he was simply floating there patiently and unmoving.

Even with the coordinates, MeleeMan found that he'd had a hard time finding IcicleMan and his companion. It wasn't very ordinary for him to explore too far off of the highway, so he wasn't used to heading off of it. "Damn inconvenient NP, jerking me around," he grumbled under his breath. "When I'm part of the NP, I'm gonna make it so they have to come to me!"

Damascus raised one eyebrow, staring at him with scornful eyes as usual. "Once you're an NP member, you're going to make it so that you have to go to your new recruits for missions? Is that what you're trying to say?" she asked dubiously.

"No, that's stupid," he sighed, keeping his usual frown. "Think before you talk."

After a bit of searching, they finally came upon a navi who certainly looked like the IcicleMan they'd been instructed to see. MeleeMan still had a hard time comprehending why anyone would want a navi made of ice. On the other hand, he felt instantly sort of fond of the other guy's design. This was, of course, out of familiarity, although he didn't realize it. The guy's height, color scheme, and flame-spewing armor was pretty similar to his own.

"I'm MeleeMan, the guy that's doing the mission for you," MeleeMan addressed the icicle navi. "This is my SP. Her name's Damascus but you can give her a nickname if you like. Her name's kind of inconvenient to say."

"Honored to meet you," Damascus muttered, bowing deeply and insincerely with a fixed frown.

"My partner, Djinni, will be here in a sec. Prepare yourself for a treat," he muttered, grinning with no sense of modesty.

((Waiting for Djinni))

Having received the same coordinates as Meleeman, Djinni found her in the same spot as Meleeman had. Not at the place where she had to be. "Did I make a mistake?" Djinni asked herself and looked around. Szand and Fhyre had already been brought into the world and they were looking around curiously along with Djinni. "Let's just look around then?" she asked to the two with her.

"This is stupid," Szand commented as he floated after Djinni once she started to walk, "A political situation? With you?" There were too many things that could go wrong with this scenario as far as Szand was concerned. He just hoped that Djinni wouldn't have to participate in it and just guard this Icicleman.

After quite some time, Djinni still hadn't found her way and the two SPs weren't any wiser either. "OK, let's try something else," Djinni commented, stopping her pace and causing Fhyre to bump into her cape, "How can we locate Meleeman without knowing where he is?"

"The flaw here," Szand said as he began to speak to Djinni, "Is that you're thinking." After saying these words, he put one of his hands around Djinni's waist and floated forwards until he passed her. "Give us directions," Szand said before jumping into the air and tossing Djinni as high as he could. "See anything thick headed from up there?" Szand yelled after Djinni.

"I think I see them!" Djinni replied, not fazed at all by Szand's way of handling their partnership. In the distance she could see the image of Meleeman, memorizing the way there as she commenced her descent. Once her feet hit the ground, she pointed into the direction they had go and made a quick sprint knowing that Meleeman was waiting for her. The two SPs quickly rushed after her, using her hands to toss themselves forwards while keeping their cores floating.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Djinni shouted once Meleeman and the others had come into view. She was still running, her entire body in motion, and eventually came to a halt once she was near Meleeman. Szand and Fhyre didn't break a sweat to follow Djinni, although this was mostly because of their non-humanoid form. Bending forwards, her hands on her knees and panting while slowly regaining her energy. "I'm Djinni," she said between breathing, then pointed at the two SPs by her side, "Fhyre. Szand. I hope... I didn't miss... Anything..."

The pair of Navis looked over at MeleeMan and Damascus as they approached. While IcicleMan didn't seem to react at all, the boiler-like Navi looked at the pair curiously. IcicleMan nodded at MeleeMan's introduction, but kept his distance for a rather obvious reason; he was made of ice, and had no hands to speak of.
Ah, our 2nd volunteer. I'm IcicleMan.EXE, your NP representative and captain of this operation. The Navi next to me is ThermalMan.EXE, he will be working with you and the other Navi... Djinni.EXE.

He briefly pulled up a data file to look up Djinni's name, before he quickly closed the script and looked back at MeleeMan. ThermalMan took a step forward, his heavy boot making a clang against the floor, before he extended his right hand towards MeleeMan.
Nice to meet ya, MeleeMan.

He looked over towards Damascus with his walnut brown eyes, before he took his left hand and managed to use his massive hands to grab the lip of his helmet and tilt it forward just slightly, in greeting.
Ma'am.

IcicleMan's eyes darted skywards as a female Navi shot up into the sky. She appeared to be pointing towards them and saying something before she landed back on the ground, and sprinted towards them. IcicleMan and ThermalMan looked at the Navi curiously as she halted in front of MeleeMan, and put her hands on her knees in fatigue.
Nice of you to join us, Miss Djinni. I'm IcicleMan.EXE, and this is ThermalMan.EXE. I'll be in charge of this particular mission, and ThermalMan is a volunteer like yourselves.

ThermalMan made a similar gesture towards Djinni as he did to Damascus moments before.
Nice to make your acquaintance, ma'am.

"Ha. See? I knew I wasn't the only one who would have a hard time finding this place," MeleeMan smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. Behind his visor, his eyes looked over his sweating partner's body approvingly. He figured he'd been pretty justified in building up anticipation in the two, but they didn't seem too forthcoming with gratitude. "Guess that's fine. It's better if we focus on the mission anyways."

"Hmhm... He makes you look pretty bad, doesn't he? All of the muscle and fire with much better manners and greater size as well," Damascus muttered to her master, keeping her voice quiet so that the others wouldn't hear.

MeleeMan ignored the comment and frowned, looking between IcicleMan and ThermalMan. "Well, I've got no problems if that guy's working with us. Just hurry up and tell me what we're doing."

Djinni simply waved at the two introducing themselves and curiously looked over their appearances. An icy guy and a fiery guy, while the Navi made of ice was the one who had hired them. "Huh," Djinni thought while MeleeMan was speaking to the two, "I don't believe we're really volunteering, are we?" Going over the scenarios that had happened in the previous situations, Djinni established that they were here for an official position in the NetPolice as they had requested and that in a way it could've been considered volunteering. They knew it was a political situation but, as MeleeMan had asked while Djinni was thinking, they had no idea what to do.

Before talking to the two herself, she shot a glare at MeleeMan before turning her eyes to him properly. "Well, you were the one who gave me those coordinates!" she told him, raising her voice somewhat, "Couldn't you have updated your coordinates after reaching this place? And on that note, couldn't you have waited for me before you decided to search them? Isn't it ladies first?"

While Djinni was complaining to her masculine ally, Szand had floated towards IcicleMan with Fhyre by his side who was still maintaining her silent personality. "But his question is justified. What are we supposed to do? If ThermalMan is here to assist us as well... Who will you be holding a debate with?" Szand asked, his eyes flickering all over the sand-like exterior of his core as if they couldn't sit still in one position, "And are you fine with your companions using fire and flames? Your body does not seem suitable for this."

IcicleMan kept his arms crossed, and heard both Djinni and MeleeMan's request for more information. He also noticed Djinni thought he himself would be involved in the political event. He smiled slightly as he elaborated.
I am not actually involved in the event, other than acting as head of security. The person we're protecting is one PolicyMan.EXE, and his SP, Shay.

He glanced over to the side before gesturing towards what appeared to be the skeletal frame of a stage and podium. Progs were busily coding the structure, bringing it together piece by piece.
He is holding an event here for his constituents, and it's essentially an open invitation for anyone and everyone to attend. Needless to say, that means he is also a very easy target. His Operator, Senator Bridges, is an Electopian government official, and he's trying to use this public event as a venue to gain more popularity and support for his re-election next quarter.

IcicleMan focused back on the three Navis and their SPs.
And as to why you're all here, Senator Bridges is... eccentric. But most of all, he is wealthy and has significant political pull. We noticed some data traffic amongst the mafia families, and we believe they may try to make a move here to use PolicyMan to extort money or political leverage from the Senator. We chose you three for this, since your particular elemental affinity can best counter the kinds of Navis the Mafia will likely use.

MeleeMan turned back to Djinni, sneering irritably. "Hey, I told you when we started that I don't like waiting around! And why should I have to update the coordinates for you? If you'd started moving earlier, you could have gotten here on time with me," he grumbled.

His operator coughed loudly, then shook her head tellingly once she had his attention, indicating "that's not the way you make friends."

MeleeMan stared back at her with a frown, giving the usual indication of "my friends earn their position as friends." Turning his attention back to IcicleMan, he scratched his chin and pondered over what was said. "So the major point here is just to watch PolicyMan and make sure nobody gets to him? Sounds easy enough," he replied with a nod.

Raising one eyebrow, Damascus turned her own attention to IcicleMan as well. "You think that the predominant element will give us an advantage? I notice three fire elemental navis amongst us. Does this mean that you have some reason to believe that every Mafia navi we stand to encounter will be a wood navi?" she asked, sounding somewhat dubious.

"Ha! I hope so. That'd be a massacre," MeleeMan snickered.

"While Damascus has a point," Szand started while Djinni was staring intently at Meleeman after he talked back at her and turned away, "If the target wields electricity I wouldn't be surprised by a rise of Navis of nature." Szand's eyes were still pointed at IcicleMan as he spoke, but started to flicker impatiently once he stopped. "When will our target appear?" he asked, his eyes still going around as if searching for something.

Djinni, on the other hand, still had her eyes at MeleeMan. While she had Szand now to spout demeaning comments at her, now she also had her new 'ally' MeleeMan to do so. Her excitement to be with a Navi she could call her friend quickly fell apart as she realized it wouldn't be so easy for her to get on MeleeMan's good side.

She turned away, dashed at Damascus and hid behind the stoic female while pointing at MeleeMan accusingly. "You think you're so smart and important!?" Djinni exclaimed at him while hidden behind Damascus, pressing her chest against Damascus' back while holding her head at the SP's shoulder, "You're just a big chunk of meat made of muscles! Burned meat at that! You belong in a garbage can!"

Fhyre and Szand were floating a bit ahead of their owner and while Szand had decided that they had nothing to do with Djinni, Fhyre turned around to look at Djinni. It was sort of amusing for the SP to see Djinni act like this as she had been friendly with most of her previous encounters. Exorcist, Rhea and Broadside were all Navis Djinni could instantly hang out with, but with MeleeMan it felt like their pride was in the way of acting kinder.

Unlike Szand, Fhyre had no mouth, eyes or a voice, but if she had she would simply smile at the new encounter. "Maybe she'll grow from this," a thought passed Fhyre's mind as she turned towards IcicleMan again.

IcicleMan nodded in confirmation of MeleeMan's summary of the mission.
That is the plan. Most of these threats detected by our sources most often are just rumors, but we like to err on the side of caution. That's also why we brought in the help of 3 possible recruits, and myself.

His eyes shifted over to Damascus as she asked about the elements of the group, and the possible encounters they may face.
We would normally try to cover the elemental weakness of our VIP, and this time we actually found a name of one of the possible attackers, one "RootMan.EXE." From some of his past activities he was allegedly involved in, I wouldn't be surprised if he got involved in this, if anything actually happens.

His attention was then requested by Szand, and he also got a taste of IcicleMan's gaze. ThermalMan was occasionally shifting from side to side as he also watched the conversation. However, some of the questions the new Navis and SPs were already asked by himself, thus he was simply getting fed the same information. Before IcicleMan could respond, ThermalMan started to move forward and towards the stage being built.
Sorry to interrupt. I've already been filled in, so I'm going to go help construct the stage.

IcicleMan nodded towards ThermalMan as he thumped away, making dull metal thuds as he walked. The ice Navi focused back on Szand, and answered.
PolicyMan is scheduled to arrive in 1 hour. I wanted you all here early, so you could familiarize yourself with the area, and the staff that will be working at his event. You don't have to get to know everyone, just be able to recognize their faces and names; I don't want false alarms and false accusations on people working the event. Lucky for us, there are just a few progs.

IcicleMan felt he had explained the situation sufficiently for the question asked of him, and glanced over everyone still there.
As for right now, you may do as you please, but do not leave the area. I'll be here for the duration of the event, so speak with me if you have any questions.

It appeared some of his offer fell on deaf ears as one of the Navis hastily moved behind the other Navi's SP, and started insulting him with seemingly zero provocation. The icy Navi could only watch, as he wrote notes in his head.
[[i]... recruits... *sigh*[/i]]

Damascus closed her eyes and nodded as Szand and IcicleMan helped clarify the situation. "RootMan and a high possibility of wood-elemental assailants... I see," she muttered, vaguely recalling instances in the past where she'd had to work as protection for high priority targets under the order of Rania's grandfather. "I just hope that our strength will make up for our lack of discretion," she grumbled, feeling annoyed by the obvious, childish tension between MeleeMan and Djinni.

MeleeMan leaned in and grabbed Damascus' shoulders, soliciting an irritated glare from his SP as he leaned his big jaw over one of her shoulders to frown at Djinni. "Heh, well at least mine's all muscle. Can you say the same? Then again, that's okay for a woman," he asked, giving a hidden glance down to her chest and smirking. "But hey, it's good to see that you've already noticed my muscles. They're one of my many outstanding features, all of which are sure to scare away any attackers that would have shown up today," he continued with self-centered admiration, stepping away from Damascus to flex one bicep, as if showing it off to anyone who'd failed to notice his muscle structure yet.

"I highly doubt that any amount of raw muscle is going to keep a trained assassin from attacking this target, Master," Damascus muttered, trying to shake Djinni off of her back and scowling. She then turned back to IcicleMan and gave a bow, nearly impaling Djinni on her sharp hair as the ponytail shot outward. "Thank you for all of the information. We'll try to learn as much as we can about the personnel now before the mission begins."

MeleeMan nodded, then crossed his arms and walked out with his SP. "Come on, Djinni," he motioned, making an impatient swipe with one hand and beckoning her forward like a child. "Let's figure out who all we're supposed to serve and protect."

A surprised look surfaced on Djinni's face as she moved her head backwards in reply to MeleeMan putting his close to hers. Having him this close, however, made Djinni realize that MeleeMan was not wearing a visor but a solid metal helmet. She just remained quiet, listening to this explanation about his muscles and curiously staring at his appearance. But then in the back of the mind she made a comparison between MeleeMan and Broadside. They both wielded 'big guns' although the definition was different and their personalities were very different. "Maybe I should give this a chance," Djinni thought as MeleeMan flexed his bicep and smiled, "Maybe he'll become a friend in the end."

Djinni was then forced to make a quick jump backwards as Damascus' dangerous hair extension nearly cleaved her in two. But while pain was avoided, her top had less luck. Her top was, from the bottom all the way up to her neck, cut in half and were dangling over Djinni's skin. A following swept up wind from Damascus' hair was about to make those parts fly open until suddenly the top was fixed again.

"Too soon," Na'im's voice called, his finger on a function for Djinni's wardrobe.

"Correct," Szand commented, knowing what the Operator had meant despite Djinni curiously looking at her top and wondering what happened. "But this MeleeMan guy... I don't know if I'm fond of him," Szand thought as he followed MeleeMan and Damascus, "Damascus, on the other hand, is someone I prefer."

"Ah wait for me!" Djinni exclaimed, back from the distraction of her mended top, and chased MeleeMan and Damascus. She resumed a walking pace once she reached Damascus and smiled behind her mask. "Don't worry about strength," Djinni said with confidence in her voice, "I'll beat down anything that comes in my path. Just don't hold us back yourselves." She then increased her pace to catch up with MeleeMan and walked next to him while her two support programs followed her willingly and unwillingly.

((Literally made this post from inside a tent after finding a weak network and guessing the password. And to think I didn't care about you guys. XD))

Bickering, near impalement and a very close wardrobe malfunction later, the group of Navis made their way towards the demonstration grounds. The area was rather flat, and actually quite large, approximately the size of a football field. Centered on the side of the "50 yard line" was a stage in the process of being built, and adorned with Electopian colors. ThermalMan was seen assisting an older-looking prog with moving a large piece of sound equipment, an apparently easy task for such a well-built Navi.

Two other Progs, one green with yellow accents, and the other yellow with green accents, were working on one of the raised support beams, where lights and a roof were being constructed, they were chattering with eachother, and their simple body language almost made them look as if they were bickering. Looking out from the stage are nearly 100 simple chair set in a shallow arc facing towards the stage, with a prog carefully and methodically setting up more as it went along. There was also a NormalNavi seemingly milling about, he appeared to stand out amongst the short (and busily working) Progs, and didn't appear to be doing much of anything...

With all of the hustle and bustle, and a little less than an hour before the show starting, the Navis and SPs had some time to interact. Where would they go? What would they do?



Programs on the Field:
OldProg [Near ThermalMan.EXE]
ThermalMan.EXE [Carrying sound equipment next to stage]
GrnProg [On support]
YlwProg [On support]
Prog [Setting up chairs]
NormalNavi [Moving around]
IcicleMan.EXE [Standing at start point]

Djinni.EXE
Fhyre.SP
Szand.SP

MeleeMan.EXE
Damascus.SP

"Hahaha! You're speaking some bold words to the net's strongest fighter," MeleeMan snickered, continuing at a slow and easy pace. "Even if you take to flying, I'll be able to keep up. Don't concern yourself. This useless lump of steel, on the other hand, may weigh us down," he joked, bumping one fist into Damascus' shoulder.

"Oh right!" Rania suddenly piped up, interrupting her SP. "I just remembered that I have new .GMOs to help you fit in. I don't want you guys looking rugged and scary in front of the politician," she explained, activating the appearance changes quickly.

MeleeMan and Damascus both entered into their PoliticalEnvironment.GMOs, turning slowly and investigating their new suits. MeleeMan realized his gloves and boots were still unmodified, then shrugged and closed his fiery orange eyes. "What the hell, Rania? When'd you get time to do this?" he asked, although he didn't particularly care about the answer.

"Oh, well, there's been a lot of downtime already," Rania laughed.

Damascus grumbled to herself, noticing the tight fit of her shirt and new, knee-length skirt. She had to wonder why Rania insisted in dressing her up constantly. While still modest, the suit accented her body much more obviously than the sheath had. "I'm rather fond of my sheath, Rania. I'd like it if you'd stop treating me as a dress-up doll," she muttered.

"But it's flattering," Rania mumbled, disappointed that her SP didn't seem to like it. "Besides, women in suits are cool, right? Everyone will be admiring you!"

The SP was beginning to believe that Rania just superimposed her wish to wear sexy clothing on to somebody with the body to pull it off, but she kept her opinion to herself. MeleeMan smirked, turning to Djinni and raising one eyebrow. "What do you think? Wrapping up your sword in expensive stuff is just stupid; you'll just ruin it. On the other hand, I don't really feel right in one either."

Damascus' expression was unchanging as she walked alongside her master. "How should we use our time before the start of the operation? I'd suggest we ensure that everyone is working devotedly."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't want any jackasses slacking while I work," MeleeMan grumbled. "And on that note, that guy looks like he's doing nothing. Let's go see if he needs some motivation," the navi smirked, cracking his knuckles as he approached. "Hey! What are you doing over there, huh? Are you on the clock or did you just come here to check out the progs?" he bellowed from across the room, addressing the normal navi in his usual irreverent fashion.

His SP frowned, then turned to Szand. "You may wish to ask your own master to lead the mission. With him in the lead, we will make enemies at every turn," she encouraged her ally.

"I'm sure Damascus won't weigh us down," Djinni commented, but before she could explain on her thought pattern for this statement she was totally interested in the new GMO outfits of MeleeMan and Damascus. It was like someone was waving a shining trinket in front of Djinni's eyes, her eyes lighting up like she had wrapped open a present and uncovered the thing she had desired most. The revelation that she had actually barely worn GMOs in her past encounters fueled her following comments as she turned to Na'im. "When do I get to wear such neat outfits? Come on, make them for me too!" she exclaimed at her Operator.

After Djinni had voiced her command, Fhyre took hold of Djinni's leg and pulled on the fabric to get her attention. Szand, noticing the motions of his SP companion, shuffled next to Djinni so he could get Na'im's attention as well. "How about us? I can understand these forms are best for combat, but maybe we can wear something nice for a change?" he asked.

"I kind of peeked at Rania's PET as she was working on them," Na'im commented and the three could sense an on-going installation back at the PET. Shortly afterwards the data of new GMOs surged in, although not all of them were related to the scenario they had gotten themselves into. "Most of these were already lying around. You made your own GMO, didn't you?" he said, his last question directed at Szand.

"M-maybe I did," Szand commented and turned away from Na'im and Djinni, crossing his imaginary arms. Djinni had immediately started activating her GMO, while Fhyre did the same for herself, but Szand took the time to look at the antics of MeleeMan and Damascus. "Loud mouth..." Szand thought, then turned his eyes at Damascus after her inquiry. "I only accept Na'im as a 'master'. But I can see what I can do," he said. A small panel with buttons appeared on the ground, created by Szand, and he pressed a few buttons on them to turn his GMO on. Before his change, he looked at Damascus and continued to speak to her, "You look good in that, by the way."

The changes were very swift, not a second was wasted, and the three were now standing in business suits while the two SPs had been given a human form. "Oh man, this looks so awesome!" Djinni said, looking down at her clothes, admiring her hat and inspecting her cleavage. After having done her own investigating, she looked at Szand and continued her inspection. "You picked a good look, Szand," she commented at the SP, who just reacted by scoffing, turning away and holding his weapon over his shoulder.

Fhyre, on the other hand, had turned away from everyone and played with her hands a bit. From the back, Djinni and Szand could see she had dreadlocks and bandages wrapped around her hands and as Szand was about to comment she looked fine, Fhyre turned towards them. A totally bandaged face, covered by her dreadlocks, was a very odd appearance for anyone. "You still can't speak?" Djinni asked as she kneeled down slightly to look at Fhyre's face. Fhyre simply shook her head and lifted a thumb as she held out her fist at Djinni. "I'm sure it must have been rough for you," Djinni continued and patted the SP on her head, also happy that the two could now walk with her.

Putting her mind back to the mission at hand, Djinni was about to follow MeleeMan's example of shouting at random before Szand took her by the hand and dragged her along. It was more to distract her from shouting at people than actually leading her somewhere as he stopped shortly afterwards. "See, ThermalMan is already doing more than you two combined," Szand commented as he noticed the Navi, "I'd assume he's helping the senior program over there. But on the other hand..."

While Szand had wanted to take Damascus' request seriously, there wasn't much they could do. The Navi with the chairs seemed to work in his own world. The programs on the support beams seemed to have everything in order. The only flaw in this picture was the strange Navi who was walking around. "Hey MeleeMan," Szand started, "Why don't you go check out what that Navi is doing. You've already made a good attempt at getting his attention. We'll see if we can help with the programs on those support beams."

With that said, Djinni took the hand of Fhyre in hers and floated a bit above the ground. "Remember we're here to protect others," Djinni said as she looked at MeleeMan, "But if that Navi turns out to be on RootMan's people, restrain him." With those words, Djinni took the two SPs with her and flew up to the support beams to talk with the color-coded programs. "Do you guys need some help?" Djinni asked, having two SPs dangling next to her, "We're with IcicleMan."

The NormalNavi continued to look around as the Navis and SPs approached, but didn't seem to pay them much mind. However, once they got closer, he focused on them with a "what do you want?" sort of look. MeleeMan saw his shoulders rise and drop as the Navi made a pained sigh.
Yet another police thug throwing his weight around...

He looked over towards the pair lazily.
This is my operation here, PolicyMan paid me (rather well), to set this all up. I'm the one in charge of payroll here, if you actually took some time to see what was going on, and not jumping to conclusions.

He saw something behind the group of Navis, and yelled past them.
HEY! I pay you to work, not to watch someone else do it for you!

The Navi was referring to the older-looking Prog, who was directing ThermalMan as the boiler navi was trying to position a rather large set of speakers on the side of the stage. The Prog looked back, and yelled back.
Got it, boss!

The Prog turned back towards ThermalMan, and if one was looking closely, it appeared he was saying something, and ThermalMan appeared to be smiling and laughing in response. The pair went back to doing exactly what they were doing, and ThermalMan was able to rather gently slide the speakers into place, surprising due to his bulky hands. It seems the NormalNavi noticed it, and shook his head and rolled his eyes.
If he wasn't my best worker, I'd throw him in the damn recycle bin.

The NormalNavi was too busy on his tirade to notice Djinni and her two SPs moving up to the pair of Progs working on the support beams. The pair of progs looked at each other and smiled as they saw the busty Navi and her SPs float up towards them.
Heyo ladies! To what do we owe this pleasure?
You're either in trouble, or they're actually here to hang with me.

The yellow prog response was dipped in sarcasm, inciting a brief glare from the green prog. He then turned back to the Navi and SPs, looking primarily at their clothing.
Can it, dummy. Though the boss ain't too fond of extra help, we always enjoy company. But I dunno if I'd forgive myself if we had you do something that messes up your nice outfits. But after we're done, how about we go grab something to drink afterwards, huh?
As if she'd actually want anything to do with ya! Ditch the zero and hang with the hero, toots!

The green prog batted the yellow one with one of his bunny-like ears, almost knocking the prog off the metal beam. After flailing his appendages for a few seconds and regaining balance, they proceeded to smack each other while throwing out random insults in a display of some sort of sibling rivalry.

MeleeMan regarded Djinni and her friends' new outfits with a smile, raising one thick eyebrow (now unhidden, since his visor had gone MIA). "I don't know that it really suits you, but hey, who am I to talk. Dressing up's probably more fun for girls, I guess. Not that it looks bad. Though, if you're going half unbuttoned, you might as well go all the- oof!"

Damascus elbowed her master in the side, then closed her eyes and kept her stoic frown. "Thank you for saying so, Szand. You look rather dashing yourself," she said in a semi-sarcastic way, giving a brief (and still malignant seeming) smile. It was as if she couldn't really do an expression that wouldn't seem like it was looking down on him. "At any rate, it seems as though the master really is making a mess of things."

"Wait, a well-paid guy controls the payroll? What kind of stupid crap is that? It's obvious he's only well pay cause he's marked his own cash up sky high," MeleeMan grumbled to his SP. The SP simply shook her head, not wanting to take the time to explain that the payroll keeper did not necessarily control his own salary. "Bah. She's gone up there to do her own thing," he muttered, watching Djinni and her SPs take off. He found himself wishing that Djinni had worn a skirt like his SP had.

"Well damn. Not much to do around this place but hassle the payroll guy, and that's just lame. Somebody ought to make some trouble so I have something to do," MeleeMan groaned, watching Djinni chat with the progs. They seemed to be hitting on her; he smirked, then shook his head. "Please, guys. She just met the ultimate male. She's not going to go for some rabbit eared torsos that aren't even packing any heat."

Damascus regarded ThermalMan with respect. "He's eager to help beyond the scope of his payment. That sort of devotion gives one faith in the NetPolice. On the other hand, your boneheadedness instantly counterbalances that respect," the SP commented, glaring sideways at MeleeMan as he continued to watch Djinni, enjoying the view from below.

"Ahahaha," Djinni laughed quietly, looking at the two Progs she had asked if they needed help. Their reactions didn't seem like they needed help at all and it looked like they were doing much better together when Djinni wasn't there to distract them with her massive chest. "M-maybe later," Djinni stammered at the two fighting Progs, turned away and flew directly back towards MeleeMan and Damascus while placing Szand and Fhyre on the ground before landing.

"Well, that was a disaster," Szand commented, crossing his arms and glaring at Djinni, "Even before you actually help, you mess up."

"We came here to protect people," Djinni said with wisdom, "Not to build silly contraptions." She then turned to MeleeMan and smiled. "Looks like it's better for you to stick out of this for now too, huh," she told him, without a sense of hostility in her voice. She figured that they were going to cooperate and that they had started on the wrong foot, but that there was still some hope in friendship.

Fhyre, while Djinni and Szand weren't paying attention, had run off to the Prog setting up chairs. She silently raised her hand up to the Prog and ran off to get chairs to help him out with setting them up, while allowing him to guide her in how to set them up. You didn't need words to just help out someone and she had trouble with sitting still without something to do in her new human form.

Once the two had noticed it, Djinni turned her eyes to Szand. "No way, we already tried to help those idiots," Szand commented harshly and pointed at the bickering Progs on the support beams with his thumb over his shoulder, "We came here to protect programs by using violence, just as you said."

"But..." Djinni began, looking at Fhyre who had taken a chair in her hands.

"She's just weird," Szand concluded, but still walked over to Fhyre and sat down on one of the chairs that was already set up and shouted at her, "Work harder, you mummy! Faster or I'll get the whip and add some scars to those already under your bandages!"

"Ahahahaha," Djinni laughed sheepishly, looking at Szand and Fhyre for a moment before turning back to MeleeMan, "At least Fhyre is getting something done." But looking at the two of her new companions, Djinni caught something interesting in her charcoal eyes as she kept MeleeMan closely in her vision. Closely in the sense of approaching him and holding her face closer to his, as she did. "You know," she said once she was standing directly in front of him and held her face close to his, "You have pretty intense eyes, don't you?" She then loosened her 'focus on his eyes' stance and smiled, "They have a good color, you should show them more often."

The two progs continued to bicker with eachother, but after noticing Djinni and her SPs had left, their ears seemed to lower slightly in disappointment; it appears their somewhat humorous tussle wasn't good enough to keep Djinni interested. They went back to work, occasionally shoving eachother and blaming eachother for driving the Navi away.

While Djinni and MeleeMan met back up, Fhyre decided to go off on her own, and approached the prog setting up the chairs. It eyed the SP cautiously, partially due to her somewhat odd appearance, and also because she was noticably female. The pair wordlessly looked towards eachother, down to the chairs, and back to eachother again. The Prog seemed to understand, and looked over towards a stack of chairs in front of the prog, positioned where the next row is supposed to start. The prog then floated towards his own stack, and picked up a chair before it gently placed the chair down, showing the spacing and position of the chair in relation to the others. It then looked back towards some of the rows it had already set up, and Fhyre could easily see how they were set up in a concave, theatre-style set up, with two walkways splitting the seats into a left, middle, and right section.

The NormalNavi continued to scoff at the Navis in front of him before he started to walk off, towards a large container, which appeared to be what stored some of the equipment that was now on stage. As he approached, the older prog glided past him, and went inside before it came out holding a gray podium, and started to return to the stage.

Szand took a seat in one of the chairs near Fhyre and started barking orders, eliciting a stare from the prog setting up the chairs. However, the prog went back to work dutifully, since Djinni's laughter seemed to indicate the SP with the child-like stature was simply joking around.

MeleeMan watched Fhyre work with a passive expression, even as Szand chased her down. He didn't seem terribly affected by it one way or another. Damascus kept her place at MeleeMan's side as well. "I hope that Policy guy doesn't miss his own party," he commented idly, cracking his neck stiffly.

"There is much to be done, yet unguided work will only hamper progress. Let's just stay out of it," Damascus pitched in; she wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of becoming extra unpaid labor herself.

He smiled at Djinni somewhat awkwardly as she got up close to him, staring into his eyes. "Heh... well there's a new one. Still, you're right. My eyes are this intense and fiery because there really is fire burning inside of me. When I'm serious, you'll see something really impressive," he smirked. Keeping his cool, he kept his eyes locked on hers, remarking to himself how cute her own face was, especially in comparison to Damascus' eerie glare.

Eyes locked on her face. Professionally.

"You don't have your helmet on right now. No freebies."

He crossed his arms slowly, then stared back up at the progs to coolly disengage without ending up oggling Djinni's boobs again. "You know, without your mask, you're pretty different too," he continued, then fell silent again. Ideally he could have said something about her cute smile, but that'd be a little out of character for him, so he left the comment wanting for particulars.

"I wonder if you'll be able to focus on a mission. You seem fairly distracted," Damascus commented, raising one sharp eyebrow.

"Hah. Don't worry about me, chrome dome," he replied, although he stared fairly obviously at her boobs as he turned his head. It was as if it were fine to stare at hers, just not at Djinni's.