2397/What My World Is Missing

What My World Is Missing
Date of Scene:	07 June 2015
Location:	Ar Tonelico
Synopsis:	Exploring an old Tenba facility, people find things that no one Reyvateil should experience.
Cast of Characters:	248, 253, 415, Riva Banari, 642, Reiji Arisu, 707, 747, 757

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Misha (757) has posed:
    Weeks ago, in the dark side streets and lesser travelled alleyways of Firefly Alley...

    "Hello little girl, would you like to buy some Kitty Candy? It's only twelve leaf a piece."

    "I don't care about the price, I could eat a whole bucket full~."

    By this point, Spica Niel knows when Misha Arsellec Lune comes to see her, the small Reyvateil isn't around for the candy, and the silver haired information broker casts a wry grin at the smaller dark haired girl. "Okay, Misha. I'm guessing this isn't about Dives today."

    "I need to speak to Ayano, at Tenba. I want you to arrange a meeting."

    "Well someone sure is bossy~."

    "Spica please. It's important."

    Today, beneath the darkest pits of Firefly Alley, the Tenba Corporation is out in force. Men in light suits of purple-ish armor, and technological looking helmets, carying energized backpacks and rayguns, Men in heavier armor with swords and lances, girls in light but rugged robes, all mill about an old secret facility no longer in operation.
    Firefly Alley, for those who don't know it, is a floating city, held aloft by the Tenba company's generators and attached vaguely to the tower by chewed bubblegum, rubber bands, and a wish.
    Misha is here, of course, chatting with a much taller woman in black armor, wearing an eye patch, who seems to be idly directing the Tenba security force, who are-- wholly non-hostile to arrivals.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber had told Misha outright that any time she even remotely needed his help, he'd come and help her. And, in order to help combat what he suspected the monster in her Cosmosphere to be, Psyber is going to hold himself to that agreement. And thus, here he is. He's approaching the meeting point with a cigarette in his mouth and exhaling a trail of smoke behind him as he goes.

    Deceptively underarmed, he only has a pad of paper on his jacket pocket and a holstered gun at his side as he yawns and approaches the meeting point. For a moment, he's tempted to address Ayano by name, but he hasn't met this iteration yet and it would only raise awkward questions. Thus, he simply says, "Misha. Maam." And then nods his head gently.

    "I'm here to fill in as private security for Misha," He explains blandly as he drops the cigarette to the ground and snuffed us under foot.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon al Cid promised that he would aid Misha whenever he could. Today may be the last time he has a chance to do so, at least for the forseeable future. With war looming on the horizon for Galianda, with his personal life entangled in diplomacy and the chains of nobility, Landon's thoughts are most certainly elsewhere, but the promises of an al Cid are promises kept.

     Not that you'd know his distraction from looking at him. He arrives as he always does, a gentle smile on his face, an air of radiant nobility and gentility wrapped around him like the purple cape and silver armor he wears off-world at the behest of his family. The handsome prince shows no signs of the chains of nobility that tug at his arms and legs, no signs of the strain and stress and exhaustion that berates him at every turn. He is here to help a lady he promised his aid to. He will do so.

     Landon places his hand over his heart as he arrives. "Good day, my lady," he greets Misha politely. No kiss on the hand this time, though other new ladies he hasn't met will receive that gentle hand-kiss greeting unless they obviously reject it. New gentlemen he hasn't met receive a firm, gauntleted handshake.

     Ayano Raizer Elduke receives a bit more of Landon's gaze, but no more than is polite.

     He's got a thing for white hair.

     "It is my sincerest hope that I can be of use to you once again."

Riva Banari has posed:
Yay, Firefly Alley! Riva likes this place even if it's a bit ramshackle. It's part of the charm, really. It has a kind of soul to it.

Riva never expected to be entering the underside of Firefly Alley. This seems like the kind of thing that you'd only be doing IF IT WAS ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED due to the whole 'floty things here' aspect of the exercise. Riva arrives, smiling and weaponless, her Abstractum at her side (since she carries it literally everywhere she goes), and with another handful of candy. She munches pleasantly as she arrives, waving to Misha with her free hand. "Hey Miiiiiisha!" She calls, approaching. "What's going on in this thread?" While she offers Misha and the rest of the team some of her stash again, she looks to the older woman and smiles, giving her a wave as well. "Hello! Nice to meet you! Name's Riva."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    After yesterday's debacle, getting a bit of fresh air is a refreshing change. It's hard for the air not to be fresh up here in Firefly Alley, considering that it's flying several hundred meters off the surface of a planet. Reiji offered to lend Misha a hand, and so he's gladly braving the perilous altitude.

It helps that the First Tower is a genuinely fascinating place full of genuinely fascinating people, places and things. Reiji's as much a tourist as he is an escort today.

But first, business.

    Ayano's outfit illicits a slight quirk of Reiji's eyebrow, but he's not here alone, so he says no more. "Misha, ma'am," the exorcist inclines his head toward the two women, "Good to see you." He turns his head toward the largely abandoned structure, then, "Is this that old laboratory you were talking about?"

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Misha needed to visit a place! She asked for allies to be there.

    Kazusa Ujikane has no idea why they're visiting, and only barely knows Misha by voice, but it's still an ally needing help!

    ...and maybe a chance to see some really cool and different offworld place.

    So Kazusa is here! Her hands in the pockets of her cardigan, the girl walks through Firefly Alley with wide eyes, more than a little amazed at the scenery. "Whoooaaa... it's really cool here. Kind of a 'rough and tough' sort of feel. I bet there's been some cool mobster stories here at some point." She'd be a more lost in Firefly Alley, but there are plenty of weird uniformed people to follow - and then there's Psyber, who stands out in a crowd! "Aa-! Psyber!" She waves on her brief jog over, and then looks between the angel, the newly-arrived Landon and Riva, and the reyvateil they're both addressing.

    "So you're Misha, then. It's good to meet you!" Glasses are adjusted in a way that suggests 'I'm trying to be stylish'. "Kazusa Ujikane, card power copier!"

    A beat passes.

    "Er, um. I copy powers with cards, I don't- it's not a 'power to copy cards' or 'copying the powers of cards'."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad has been here once before, on his first Dive. But, still, he is in awe at the wonderous city. He does his best not to look around like a tourist, though. But it's fairly hard. Especially considering that he has a bit of a heroic glow to him, emitting a soft light that /totally/ isn't just a way to make himself look more impressive. And he is especially not trying to show up Landon. Nope, not at all. Seriously.

     Fassad simply nods to most present. He bows slightly to Misha. While Landon is not taking her hand for a kiss in greeting again, Fassad does move to take her hand, and kiss once again. "A pleasure to see you, once again, lady Misha." And, if the eyepatched woman doesn't back away from it, he would of course try to kiss her hand too, saying, "And it is a pleasure to meet you as well, miss....? Ah! But let me introduce myself. I am Prince Fassad, from the Kingdom of Arcadia, in a far off region of the Multiverse."

     Of note, as he speaks to both of these two, his teeth are sparkling a little bit in the light. Totally not trying to show off.

     As Kazusa arrives, Fassad bows and takes her hand to kiss, as well. He is, of course, trying to do this before Landon can have the chance. "Ah, lady Ujikane. A pleasure to meet you in person. I have heard you, once or twice, on the radio."

     And then he stands, listening. His cape flowing in the wind slightly. If there is no wind, he'll use minor magical cantrips to make it blow a bit.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Not being entirely sure what sort of city Firefly Alley would be, nor how they'd react to an obvious non-human, Xiaomu decided to dress the part of a mysterious wanderer, a brown cloak draped about her with a hood over her head - not hiding her face, but keeping her ears and hairtails covered up from casual inspection. (Granted, there's a slightly noticeable bulge behind her head, but long, full hair could make that kind of bulge too.)

The robe has the convenient side benefit of hiding her clothes, although she's less worried about *that*; she's also sporting one of those big straw hats, which goes nicely with her staff. Behind the hat and hood, she's looking about alertly, and sticking close to Reiji, while nodding or bowing her head to the people she recognizes ... which includes a fairly reassuring number of people.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Having not met Misha before in person, and having little idea of the state of her world asides from what she'd heard over the radio at times, Scarlet, rather than having admirable, personal reasons for being here, is present simply to familiarize herself and see what kind of stake she could want to hold in the affair. It's a chance to help a valued Union member without diving head first into a battlefield, a chance to get her foot in the door in the higher machinations of another world, and a good way to learn first hand what exactly is going on with her allies.

    Though having dressed semi-formally, the style mark Scarlet has gone for is well, well of what she sees the taller woman wearing, which is fair enough considering she doesn't even own anything like that to wear in the first place. She's come more than prepared with her usual, dematerialized entourage of wards and familiars, and with the perception altering magic cranked to a steady, even background, just set to such a range that provokes malleably positive snap judgements from looking at her. A short round of introductions are in order, or rather, demanded by Landon deciding to greet people by a kiss on the hand (a gesture she has no reason to reject), and so she greets Landon, Fassad, Xiaomu, Reiji, and of course Misha with her usual, before finally rounding on the woman with a vague, culture-indepedant bowing motion, just to be safe. "And a pleasure to meet you too. Scarlet Everille, but you can call me by whichever name you like. May I ask your relation to our friend here, or would that be impolite?"

Misha (757) has posed:
    Ah, people are starting to show up. Despite some apparent bad memories from the Dive sessions, it seems these particular on duty guards and girls are actually very courteous, polite, and direct people towards Misha if need be, and so the group amasses.
    The mysterious silver-haired woman accepts not just one, but both Landon and Fassad kissing her hand, earning something of a wry grin. She's an older woman, perhaps in her fifties-- maybe even pushing into her sixties, but it's clear she's seriously taken care of herself, considering she looks like she could punch out a bear. But, for someone apparently so esteemed, she flashes a very genuine smile. So everyone's probably curious who she is huh?
    "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Ayano. Ayano Raizer Elduke, president of the Tenba corporation."
    She says this as naturally as though she's been at the job for years- which she probably has, "Misha told me she needed access here and that she'd like to bring some friends along, so I'm cracking the locks open as a favor for an old friend."
    Misha herself is looking a little nervous again, fidgeting at the hem of a heavier duty set of robes that seems better suited to dungeon delving than 'little black cocktail dresses'. But once everyone is gathered, she takes a breath and steels herself. Some people she obviously knows, flashing a sheepish grin at Psyber, Reiji, Xiaomu, Riva, Landon, and Fassad when they once again turn up to help her at nearly no personal gain. Kazusa and Scarlet however are new faces, "Aheh... It's nice meeting you both. Thanks for coming on such short notice."
    Though mention of mobster stories earns a somewhat sad look from Ayano. "You'd be surprised. I actually closed this facility down for something of that very reason. Those were darker times for Tenba, and everyone involved was. Dismissed without severance." With a surprisingly strong thrust of her elbow however, she DENTS the sliding metal doors and begins to proceed prying apart what must be a ton of rusted metal. "Now, this Facility's been in disrepair for about... Five, six years. be VERY careful in there. I've tasked a pair of my best Reyvateils to join you on this little trip, so take care of them and the girls will take care of you. There's an old walkway that connects the facility to the main tower so, who knows what could have gotten inside."
    Speaking of those two Reyvateils, they step forward. One is a younger girl with a shy smile, maybe fourteen or fifteen, with blonde hair and scarlet eyes, in a dark outfit
    The other is a woman in her thirties, with auburn hair, green eyes, and an ostentatious blue and white dress.
    "So take care of Destiny and Yuria for me, yeah~?"
    Once the doors pry open a wash of musty stale air flushes out. The entry point is dark- after years of lacking power, and already the place looks overgrown with weeds and plants that have creeped in from the main tower. Old machinery- unused and unloved- sits inactive and rusted as three paths are laid out, a door to the north, a hall to the west, and stairs heading down, to the east.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Kazusa is greeted with a kiss to the back of her hand. This is enough to make the girl blush brightly, completely at a loss for how to react to this gesture. "I, u-uh, hi there?" What do you even say to that?! Kazusa has never had to respond to a kiss on the back of her hand before. D:

    Oh hey look a distraction, Misha is talking! Thank you for saving me, Misha. "N-no problem! I'm really curious to see what all is going on here, and I'll help however I can." She's listening to Ayano's story with rapt fascination when there's a sudden elbow-slam that makes her just about jump out of her skin. "Whoa, strong..." she murmurs, more to herself than anyone in particular.

    But- oh hey they have guides. Kazusa gives both Destiny and Yuria a very polite bow, and a greeting of, "I'll be in your care~!" before falling into place alongside Yuria.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji hasn't met Landon before, which is admittedly somewhat odd, given that they've spoken on the radio several times by now. Still, the multiverse is a big place, and meeting in-person can be rare, sometimes. He takes the prince's hand in a firm handshake, releasing it before turning his head to regard Ayano again.

    Certain people have history with stunning, silver-haired vixens. This one is not that one, and Reiji doesn't hold it against her. "Reiji Arisu, exorcist of the Shinra organization," he introduces himself, bowing his head slightly. "It's a pleasure, ma'am Elduke. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to assist us today."

    Reiji has been around the block enough to know that older women who still rock clothes like that are not entities that you want to take lightly. The fact that Ayano is able to punch a dent in a solid, metal door with her elbow is nothing but confirmation of something Reiji has known since he was very young. "Whatever happened here is mostly ancient history now, right?" He asks, peering into the darkness beyond the siliding doors as if scrutinizing some invisible creature deep within, "Except what we're looking for, that is. And whatever might've taken up residence in here since."

    Reiji turns his attention toward the other two Reyvateils, and inclines his head again in greeting. But... "Misha," he says, moving toward Misha's flank thus indicating his choice of Reyvateil through simple positioning, "Let us know where we need to go, alright?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
"Have you fired Bourd Rade yet?" Psyber asks almost immediately once Ayano has introduced herself. There's no hesitation or pause in the question and it's delivered with an almost accusatory tone. As if asking unspoken 'If you haven't fired Bourd Rade, why not?'. He looks to Ayano and seems curious as to her answer. He's not mad at her, just wondering.

    Other people get their own versions of greetings. Landon, whom he hasn't seen since fighting Gwyndolin, gets a nod of Psyber's head. Scarlet and Riva and Xiaomu all get half-casual waves tossed their way. Kazusa gets a hand extending and patting the top of her head a couple times. Fassad, whom Psyber doesn't know either way, doesn't get much greeting. Reiji gets the most friendly one, though, as Psyber takes out a pack of lucky strikes and extends it towards him, offering the exorcist a cigarette.

    Like Reiji, Psyber moves to Misha's other flank and puts his hands in his coat pockets, "I'll stick with the reyvateil I know, no offense to you fine ladies." Psyber smiles at the other two girls before looking down at Misha, "I'm ready to go when you are."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"So you copy powers, huh?" Xiaomu asks Kazusa, grinning. "Sounds pretty cool, you oughta show me sometime! If you think my powers'd be handy, you can go ahead and collect a copy ..."

She trails off, glancing around once again at the others and waving to Misha with a grin ... and then Ayano speaks to the group, and Xiaomu listens for a bit.

For all that the heavy cloak is probably very well-suited to dungeon delving, Xiaomu is abruptly surrounded by a poof of yellowish smoke (although it smells sort of like buttercups for some reason), leaving her in her usual qipao and vest, with what looks to be her typical combat/adventuring gear (particularly including the staff, the most visible part of her equipment that isn't clothing). "Yeah, I'm sticking with Reiji, so I'll be with Misha too ... hope you don't mind!" she grins, half-apologetically.

She also strikes a brief pose, as if for the benefit of either Kazusa or Fassad ... and spares a short-lived glare at Psyber, "Do you know how hard I've been trying to get him to QUIT?"

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad smiles at Ayano, once again. "Ah, a pleasure to meet you, lady Elduke. You must be quite a woman, to be in charge of such a prestigous corporation." He doesn't know whether or not it is actualy prestigious. But at a guess, it probably is.

     He also gives a look towards Kazusa. The blush and the loss to react is actually incredibly wonderful. Fassad /really/ likes that sort of reaction in a woman. It makes him seem like far more of a Prince when people are flustered by his actions! This actually is likely to help him choose which Reyvatail to travel with as well. He was, originally, considering going with Misha. But, considering that Reiji is going with her, which means Xiaomu will as well? That pushes him away from going with Misha. Because those two think of him as fools, and he does not want to be embarrased in front of his allies any further. In fact he pointedly ignores Xiaomu's comment and pretends she didn't say it.

     And so, he moves over to Yuria, smiling at her. He does the same hand-kiss to her as well, unless stopped, "A pleasure to meet you as well, m'lady. I will do all within my power to keep you safe within here."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    President of a corporation, and friends with the Unionite she's helping. Scarlet really does know how to pick these missions. "Likewise~" she says to Misha. "It's no trouble. If I have an open day, anything goes." She jumps as Ayano's elbow smashes into the solid steel door, magically smoothed out to be just barely noticeable so that she can then watch her pry the aperture apart with her bare hands with an expression that is calmly impressed. "Understood. We'll do our best." She may or may not have originally said "I'll do my best", but, semantics.

    She looks between the two Revyateils with a critically examining eye, superficially looking as if she's trying to determine which of the two is more capable, but really only just sizing them up for who seems to have the more passive personality. It seems pretty obvious at first glance, and so she steps over to the blonde, waving with an unguarded little smile. "They're in capable hands~" Without actually being prompted, she takes the girl by the hand and steers her over to the entrance, walking ahead of her as if she's the pushy native.

Riva Banari has posed:
Introductions are made and a choice is presented. Riva considers the situation without saying much, but she does wince as the rusty obstruction gets dented with a casual strike. Either the place is THAT busted down, or she is THAT strong.

Either way, it doesn't change Riva's operating procedure. She looks between Misha and the other two Reyvateils, her gaze going back to Misha for a considering moment, and then to Destiny and Yuria.

And then she looks at who's going with who. Without too much prompting, she smiles to Yuria. "I've got your back." She says, pleasantly. Is she expecting trouble, or is she expecting Fassad to be Fassad? She's not saying.

Misha (757) has posed:
    The direct mention of Bourd Rade earns an immeidate hard look. It's nearly a scowl breaking through the older woman's genuinely friendly demeanor. That name clearly doesn't bring up good memories. "He was the first to go, I made sure of that personally. Where he went after that, I lost track over the years." But then she shrugs. "I'd go in with you if I could, but the board would throw a fit if I got into danger. It's really boring. I miss the thrill of a good dungeon. But I'm not as young as I used to be."
    With that, she leaves the groups to divide themselves as they see fit and filter on in. But both Misha and Yuria give a mild pause at the door threshold, Misha's more nervous, while Yuria remains steely and composed, and simply looking as though she were idly poring over old memories in her head. But there seems to be no offense taken by the other Reyvateils as the groups organize. Destiny does not have such a moment, and even if she did, it wouldn't be long when Scarlet takes her by the hand, earning a quiet murmured "A-ah...", before the blonde follows along easily.
    "I didn't think I'd ever want to come back here." Misha mutters as she shuffles on in. Yuria's seemingly cold wall breaks into an easy smile at Kazusa and Fassad though, "More like I'll be in your care. But I'm sure we'll work together just fine." The entrance looks like an old loading area for vehicles and supplies, one truck-like rig sits in a corner, rusted through complete disuse over the years, and sweeping motion of her hand and the older Reyvateil indicates the chamber and its three paths, the stairs down, the closed door, and the dark forboding hall. "This is actually the back entrance to the facility. The main one was sealed completely by a weapons malfunction about six or seven years ago." Misha immediately flashes something of a cheeky little look at that, but Yuria taps her chin, "If I'm guessing right, what we're looking for should be closer to the lower levels of the facility. That Rade dragged girls into kicking and screaming."
    Misha's grin drops entirely.
    That probably doesn't help the gloom of the empty facility at all, the only light coming from the busted door, motes of dust floating chokingly in the air from Ayano's impact, but from deeper within, down the old stairs is a sudden CLANK of motion. Destiny immediately looks much more nervous, but stands her ground, squeezing on Scarlet's hand a little.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad pauses. A glance is given to Misha, and towards Yuria. Girls were drug to the lower levels against their will? Misha has been here before? A frown appears on his face for a second, but it quickly turns to a smile. Sure, this place is dreadful. But, at the least, he himself is a light to shine against the darkness. Metaphorically and literally.

     "...Misha...? What are we after in here?"

     Whether she answers or not, he'll move to the staircase, and look dwon. He draws his sword and his shield, smiling as he looks down. "Ah! Let us seek our adventure down here, then! We shall certainly find what we are looking for down here!"

     He makes a bit of a flourish with his sword. He also ups the level of light he emits, just slightly. Yay, actual /practical/ use for making himself glow.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    To Xiaomu, Kazusa offers a bright smile. "Well, it's a little more complicated than just borrowing whatever, but if it'll work, I'd really appreciate that! We'll have to try it when all my cards work again."

    The nerdy girl's response to Yuria is a similarly cheerful, "Well, until I use my cards, I'm just a normal girl! So let's both look after each other~." Amicable relationship of mutual polite social caretaking go. Of course, her cheerful mood is soured just a tad by the notion that girls were dragged in here kicking and screaming.

    Indeed, even with Riva and Fassad present, Kazusa remains a little more subdued, hands still in her pockets. She sticks closer to Yuria, but looks around with interest at the very least, trying to get an idea of what they need to be doing. "Ah, yeah, if what we're looking for is downstairs, that's probably the best bet. ...This world doesn't have ghosts, though, does it?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"This Bourd Rade guy," Xiaomu asks quietly. "He was fired for dragging girls into those lower levels, right? And then he dropped off the radar completely ..."

She trails off, propping her staff against her shoulder as she draws one of her handguns (namely Silver), checks it over, and makes certain that a round is ready in the chamber before clicking the safety on and re-holstering her weapon. Then she checks her other handgun (Platinum), going through the same process.

While she's doing that, Fassad calls stairs. Xiaomu's ears flick briefly, but she looks among the options. "Mmm. How fast will we be able to rendezvous if one group runs into trouble they can't handle alone? Although, I'm sure Fassad is totally capable of holding his own against a maniac who thought nothing of the sanctity of the human body ..."

She doesn't SOUND like she's being sarcastic. Doesn't LOOK like it either, to judge from her face ... although Reiji probably can attest to Xiaomu's poker skills.

The sage fox looks to Misha, Reiji, and Psyber. "What do you all think?"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Ah, the humble cigarette. Cause of so many hardships. How can one little cylinder of vegetable matter be so reviled? Well, possibly because the things cause cancer. Reiji looks like he's right about to take the thing, but his eyes flicker towards Xiaomu as she objects. "Maybe later," Reiji says, demurring- wisely, perhaps- for now.

Never a good idea to go out of your way to aggravate a lady, after all.

    As they move into the facility, it becomes obvious that this 'Bourd Rade' guy was definitely some flavor of Terrible Person. Reiji categorically objects to the concept of hauling innocent people around against their will- especially if they also happen to be little girls.

Well. Wherever they find what they're looking for, it won't be without a bit more light than they presently have.

    As if in reply to the sound down below, there's a sudden /FWOOSH/ of fire as Karin comes away from its sheath. Flame dances around the enchanted blade, the sword serving as a makeshift torch. He looks to Xiaomu as she asseses Fassad's capabilities, but says nothing himself. Not yet, anyway.

"Misha's been here before," Reiji says with a shrug, "I'll follow her, wherever she thinks we aught to go."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet has no idea who Bourd Rade is, but Ayano's reaction puts an immediate contextual tone on the proceedings. It's something she should ask Psyber later. She withholds the obligatory flattery for the woman's age, even if it would actually be well deserved for her in particular. It doesn't seem like the place or the time, especially when Yuria manages to make things even darker. She looks over to Fassad's group, not quite sure whether or not to be glad that he had chosen the obvious route before it could come to votes.

    "I see. Well, there's no sense in all taking the same route. We have three groups and three obvious ways forward. We'll be fine taking the one ahead of us." she says, speaking for Destiny, tugging her along towards the darkened corridor before the girl can get a word in edgewise. It seems that Scarlet values being in control more than the wisdom of someone actually familiar subject, or it would if not for the fact that she's making an active attempt to recolour her behaviour as simple, overflowing confidence. Rather than conjuring some sort of magical light source, she simply engages the diode at the throat of her smartcollar, illuminating a 120 degree cone in front of her with plain, electrical luminescence. Practicality.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Just so you're aware," Psyber says in a cold tone filled with venom, "If I come across him again, I'll probably kill him." He delivers this statement factually to the President before he nods at Reiji and then puts the cigarettes back into his jacket. Xiaomu gets a gentle grin, "Sorry. Force of habit. If you smoke, you offer to the other smokers in the room."

    Psyber draws his own pistol a few moments later and flicks off the safety, gripping it in his hands as he looks to Misha. He responds to Xiaomu, "If he's here..." He pauses for a long few moments and then shakes his head, "He wouldn't be able to match our present force, even divided. In the worst case, he'd be able to be held off until a rendevous. In the best case, he'll run across me and I'll break him."

    His hand grips down on the gun a bit more and it creaks in his grasp.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon listens, politely, because one of the most important skills as a diplomat is listening to other people and not voicing your opinions. It works well in this case, because other people are talking around him, and frankly Landon is grateful for the all-too-brief break from Diplomacy-as-a-tool. He listens, and he follows, and for the moment he is content.

     Scarlet picks a route for himself, Scarlet, and Destiny, and Landon nods. "That seems amenable. If you don't mind, my lady, I am quite proficient at defense; would you care to have me go ahead of you in case of traps or enemies?"

     Indeed, decked out in his heavy plate mail, with his huge, glowing sword in one hand, he looks all the world like a human tank. That is, of course, the main role of the Judge Job, after all: defending people.

     "I should rather you two not get hurt."

     Unless Scarlet or Destiny particularly object, Landon moves in front, a weird little card-shaped object in his free gauntlet.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Flame swords, collar liights, and HEROIC BACKLIGHTING make the oppressive gloom of the old facility peel back by a degree, but even this barely deep in comes the foreboding sense of being watched as the three groups break apart to explore the different paths.
    "It's... Something important. You'll know it when you see it, but if it's not here, then maybe just... A clue where it went." Misha replies in regards to what exactly the group seeks. Before quietly adding: "When Ayano says she fired him, she means she broke every bone in his body and burning his employment files. He still got away though." Though even Misha looks a little hesitant at Psyber's voiced intent to kill Bourd- even if the man was clearly that horrible of a bastard.

    Yuria follows along easily as the Kazusa, Fassad, Riva trio start down the stairs. Said stares are old, rusted through completely in some places, and a trip could easily cost someone terrible injury from the corroded, brittle, and sharp edges, though the Reyvateil doesn't have much issue getting around in her high heels. "It's a big facility. Once we split up from each other we'll be cut off. It's why the President had us go in with you to ensure proper support. This way leads down to the old reactor. If it's still functional maybe we can get power back in some parts- at least enough for doors and some lightning." Explained as the group reaches the lower level. Something probably goes squish, with a terrible dying squeal under someone's boot, as the chamber below reeks of an ancient humid musk. There's more light here, dim from cracks in the walls and ceiling where the sun shines through, revealing rich and verdant plantlife overgrown on the walls and floor, strangling ancient machinery and old panels as something shifts almost imperceptibly in the shadows with a chitter. It looks like this room was once a worker's lounge of some sort, old chairs flecked with mold, a few tables, and a broken down vending machine nearby. But with a CLANK, the nearby door slams shut, as if there was something- or someone here.

    The hall is as dark and foreboding as can be expected, and Destiny seems to not mind Landon taking to the fore at all, keeping herself just a little bit behind Scarlet still. "Is it a bad time to say this is my first time out in the field?" She admits quietly, before adding: "But I'll do my best." Given with a quiet determination that says she's not just going to let herself be dead weight. Pipes, heavily rust-eaten, line the walls and ceilings, the floors laced with cracks and unloved by time, it eventually leads to a half open blast door. It's wide enough to squeeze through, but the room beyond is full of a different kind of machinery. Powered down walker-like constructs sit in place, slumbering eternally, each bristling with gatling guns and chainsaw arms that say they were clearly weapons of war at one point. Though a pair of icy blue eyes peeking out in the darkness are probably not the most welcoming sight, as they turn and pad away, stalking silently through the murk.

    Which leaves Misha's group. The door is... Locked. But it's a problem that's easily fixed as the Star Singer pulls a pin from her hair. "Just a second." It takes her maybe five seconds to crack what looks to be a simple lock, before lightly nudging the door open with her boot. "If I remember right, this was the way Lyner and I used to escape, six years ago. It's funny. He came to rescue me, and I ended up bailing him out." She pauses however when something beyond snarls quietly-- and decides to subtly sliiiiide herself behind Psyber and Reiji. "The holding cells should be a little further in."
    Holding cells?
    "This wasn't a nice place."
    No, no it was not, as the next room is a drab stock and storage chamber, tins and bags of old supplies left to rot over the years on various racks, a single emergency light shining over a window large enough to crawl through into the commissary, before it finally dies out after six years of flickering power.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva folds her arms at the mention of the sins of Bourd Rade. "Well, good riddence to bad rubbish then." She escorts Yuria, walking next to her while keeping an eye on her companions. Kazusa's subdued nature causes a quizzical look for a moment, but she doesn't comment immediately. "Don't worry about ghosts. I've punched a few." Riva says.

Okay, so she did comment. With a warping of space, Riva turns and pulls a large hammer out of her Agartha conduit, the huge anchor-shaped Ajoran holy symbol-turned-hammer resting in her hands. Inlays glow red-gold as she channels some Anima into the weapon in preparation for potential combat. You can never be too careful.

When they head down the stairs, Riva leads the way, carefully navigating them as they head down. A spill might cost someone a concussion /and/ tetanus down here. "Getting power back sounds like an awesome idea." Riva says, nodding.

However, when they get down to the lower levels, Riva wrinkles her nose at the overgrown, infested lounge. "Well, uh... This is certainly a statement." She says, "Something something nature finds a way something." The sudden CLANK of the door shutting causes Riva to jump and turn towards the door, surprise clear on her face, but she steps forward, poking at the door to see if she can open it. "Watch you backs people. That wasn't a ghost, but it sure could be something hungry."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    With his free hand, Psyber takes a flashlight out of his pocket and starts to shine it around, "I'm glad to hear Ayano took the problem he posed seriously. I never got to see that resolved the last time I met you," Psyber says to Misha candidly. It might give her some context to this grudge: Psyber has seen Bourd mess with Misha twice now. He's not a happy camper.

    "Lyner is a good guy. You should take the fact that he came to a place like this to get you as a sign of how much you mean to him," Psyber comments off-handedly as he shines the light around the room. His other hand holds his gun tightly, trudging through the holding area and trying to inspect crates and remnants for any clues.

    "Look for forms. Storage records and transfer orders. That kind of thing," He suggests.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     While Fassad is fearful of mud and dirt, in an environment such as a dungeon, he can at least tolerate the mess somewhat. It's expected. But this place, so run down, even with plantlife in it? Fassad is one step away from freaking out, just a bit.

     Fassad of course is trying to take the lead. He glances back at Kazusa, Riva, and Yuria. He smiles still, speaking bravely, "Simply stay behind me, and I shall protect us from danger!"

     And of course Riva then immediately goes to poke at the door. Fassad tries not to sigh. /He/ is supposed to be the one taking the heroic lead here!

     Still, though, he shouts out, calling out to whatever creature, man or otherwise, closed the door.

     "Halt! We are a group of four adventurers, seeking something within these ruins! We seek to bring Light and Power back here, so that our ally might find that which she needs, that which might be lose within these! Open the door, and show yourself. So says I, Prince Fassad, the Hero of Light, who pierces through the darkest darkness!"

     He is positively beaming with light now, illuminating the room to the fullest.

     Of course this is a waste if whatever closes the door is a wild animal that doesn't speak or something akin to that.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "Sounds like she doesn't mess around," Reiji muses, making his way into the room beyond the locked door. Karin's firelight flickers warmly against the nearby walls, illuminating a small radius of Dungeon around the exorcist. "I'd say I was impressed that this Bourd guy survived having that many bones broken, but I admit, he kind of sounds like an asshole."

A really /awful/ asshole, at that.

    "I'll keep an eye out," he nods to Psyber-- just as SOMETHING announces its displeasure, deeper in the facility. Maybe something in the holding cells that got loose? Reiji frowns, his grip on his sword tightening somewhat. "Watch for movement," he whispers, "Sounds like we aren't exactly alone, up here."

    Reiji's offhand is occupied by his mobile arsenal, but it doesn't stop him from scanning over tables, barrels and shipping manifests. Using this many weapons at once means he's one hell of a multitasker!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu's nose wrinkles at the whiff of years-old rotted food; it's only by a severe effort that she doesn't sacrifice a hand to just *hold* her nose shut against the stench. "Well, we know his ass wasn't in *here*," she remarks wryly to her companions. And the emergency light goes out virtually as soon as she even has the chance to LOOK at it.

Not spooky at all.

Fortunately, she's got decent night vision, so as long as it's not TOTALLY dark, her eyes should adjust for a moment or so. She's mostly keeping the rings atop her staff quiet, although the commissary window has her slightly curious; she moves quietly in that direction, depending on a mix of memory and instinct to help her avoid stumbling over or bumping into anything. If she can pick up on any movement that isn't one of her allies, she'll try to point it out to them.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    "Well, at least we know we'll be able to take care of ourselves," Kazusa says. They've got Riva, Fassad and Yuria all here, and if it comes down to it she's got both her active cards on hand as well. If things get dangerous, they can handle it. "...kind of creepy for a reactor area, though," she observes. No place that's been overgrown like this is ever really welcoming. It feels like the kind of place where humanity has long lost its hold on the world, and...

    ...wait, hang on a second...

    "It's really overgrown here," she observes in reply to Riva, surprisingly only a little perturbed by the slamming door. "/Too/ overgrown. Places don't get strangled by this much vegetation in less than a decade." Except that this is a different world; a thought which prompts her to turn to Yuria. "Do they?" Fassad seems to have the door well-handled, though. So that's good?

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet looks incredibly pleased with Landon's sense of decorum and chivalry. He's the exact type of person she enjoys surrounding herself with in situations like these. He'd even made the effort on his own initiative rather than having to be subtly pushed into the role. "I'd be more than happy to have the help." she replies. "As much as I'd hope we wouldn't need it, I expect there's a good chance we will." She obliges by slowing down enough to let him go ahead, staying a little bit behind his heavily armoured profile. After all, if he wants to take a bullet for her, why should she say no?

    Her reaction to Destiny is considerably less favourable. Her thoughts follow the line of "Well that's just typical. I got the useless one.", but nothing about her countenance reflects them, instead affecting a patient and understanding expression as she releases the girl's hand and pats her gently on the head instead. "I'm sure you will! After all, we'll be relying on you to tell us what we're looking at." At least she can hopefully tap the Revyateil for local knowledge.

    The next room doesn't seem to need much explaining. It's very clearly a hangar for military machines, all of which look exceedingly dangerous, putting some perspective on what exactly it is that Tenra does. What does need an explanation however, are the eyes that shine out from the dark, and Scarlet isn't about to let them go unquestioned. She pauses for a moment to close her eyes, wiring her vision to one of the two intangible familiars following her in Phase space. She wordlessly commands the extradimensional creature to follow after the retreating shape, remote viewing through her stealthed scout to get a closer look at what they might be coming up against.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon gives Destiny a smile over his shoulder. "No, not at all," he tells her as he refocuses on the area in front of him, "There's a first time for everything. And we'll do our best to protect you. You'll get over the fear and the doubt and be fine, I assure you."

     After an unpleasant squeeze, Landon manages to get his armor through the tight space. The first thin he notes is not the machinery - the walker-construts, the gattling guns, or the chainsaw-arms - but the blue eyes. Landon is, after all, a trained adventurer. He's trained to react to the unexpected and to move with things like that, and that catches his eye much faster than a sight that, honestly, resembles things he's seen before.

     JRPG worlds all tend to have weird robot golem monsters!

     Landon makes several handsignals at Scarlet and Destiny. They're not difficult to understand, or complex sign language - just a general indication of 'something, that way'. He points at his own eyes, a blue light filling the card in his hand as he scans the room.

     Just in case he needs to drop an immediate barrier or something.

     "Such old machinery," Landon murmurs, "It must've been a fierce and brutal war."

Misha (757) has posed:
    "Ghosts?" Yuria lifts a brow, but doesn't comment further when Riva withdraws her hammer from hammerspace. The door is in fact no locked-- and poking it actually causes it to fall off corroded hinges with a slam to the floor. Yuria seems fine with sticking behind Fassad for the moment though, folding arms under her chest. Whatever was there is gone now, Fassad's bravado met with the sound of something scampering into the darkness. But it looks like that's the only way to go for the moment, leading down a path of overgrown pipes into the generator room proper. "They do here." Yuria notes to Kazusa. "The tower is pretty lush with life, it happens very fast." The machine is in terrible condition, but it looks like it can still be powered up.
    So then why does Yuria begin singing? An act which will give the group a mildly protective aura.
    It might be because of the snarling pack of huge wolves that have surrounded the party. Almost see through- spectral and phantasmic.
    And blue. Also snarling and rushing at everyone fangs bared.

    Destiny seems to be the quietest of the three Reyvateils that went in with the teams, but pursing her lips for a moment, she places her hand on an old war machine. "Ikaruga... Mark I. Kind of outdated by now but it was the top of the line six years ago. I still wouldn't want to get in a fight with one now though." Scarlet's scout will have no trouble following the pair of eyes, it's... A smallish creature. About the size of a potbellied pig, but... It's mostly round, and with a curly squirrel like tail. Very yellow, too. It slips into a burrow where a much more numerous chittering starts. But from here it looks like the 'useless' Reyvateil actually pops open a panel on the Ikaruga's leg and rips out a piece of cylindrical metal, handing it off to Landon. "There's still a charge in this." It could be useful later. Maybe not so useless there, is she? The hangar however is a smaller one, but has a path down the back way leading further along through the darkness, before the war machinery leads way to what appear to be large tubes- some with a sludge-like material dripping from the bottom. They are big enough to hold a person from the looks of it.

    The store room for Misha's group doesn't have much of importance, though there is a filesheet left behind, grubby and old, that seems to have Multiversal coordinates scribbled on it, after enough searching. It looks wholly out of place from everything else in the room. "I know." Misha replies to Psyber in regards to Lyner. "Why do you think I fell in love with him?" Noted before shoulders lift into a shrug. "We probably aren't alone. I wouldn't be surprised if something crawled in from the tower. Like blue wolves. Or maybe some Nyo." It's an idle thought. The window through to the cafeteria reveals a years old mess. The place is in disarray, fallen trays and plates picked clean by scavengers, but it looks like people left the place in a huge hurry.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Hey Misha, these coordinates look familiar to you?" Psyber asks as he inspects the sheet curiously. He holsters his gun and takes out a tablet computer, using it to try to input Multiversal coordinates and see where that looks like it'll take them. If it'll work, he has no idea. It could just show them whatever Space Chinese place these people ordered from.

    "He'll come back. He always comes back," Psyber comments in regards to Lyner. He actually has no idea if Lyner always comes back. But he came back for Misha at least once now, so it might bear saying. He yawns gently and then scowls, "They sure cleaned out in a hurry. Musta got wind when the entire operation bottomed out and wanted to avoid consequences."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     As the blue wolves appear, Fassad goes to action. He is, of course, more than ready to deal with such a threat. Which is good! Because he is nowhere near capable as far as getting a generator back on line, or machinery back working. At most he can just push levers, or set jars on switches.

     Fassad smiles, holding his sword up in front of him. His shield is also at the ready. He chuckles a bit, and then speaks. Sure, these are /terrifying ghost wolves/. But this is Prince Fassad, of Arcadia! It would be /terrible/ if he were scared of such creatures.

     "AHA! Foul ghost wolves! I shall slay the lot of you without a worry!"

     And then as Fassad actually notes there are wolves present, something else appears. She has, in fact, been here all along, hiding in a pack Fassad keeps on his side. A small Shinki comes out of the bag, and bringing a bulky camera with her. A pictograph box. She floats near Fassad, ready to take pictures of him making /heroic attacks/, protecting the whole group with his combat skills.

     He keeps his shield forward, trying to block any fangs biting his way. His blade is engulfed in magic of the Light element. Ghosts are weak against light, right? He slashes forward, trying to hit as many wolves as he can at once.

     "HAVE AT THEE, GHOST WOLVES!"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "I can't blame them. Given the circumstances, I'd run the hell away from Miss Ayano, too. Wonder why they took the time to lock this door, though?" Reiji ponders aloud, moving slowly from one end of the storage room to the other. Maybe there's some kind of... Secret door? A monster in the cafeteria? Maybe that's what's making the noise.

Probably not.

Reiji peers at the walls for any strange seams, however.

    "If it looks important," he says to Psyber, "I'd grab it. We should probably keep moving." Staying in one place means they're more likely to get ambushed by a grue or something equally bad. The stench is pretty awful too.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"I dunno, Psyber," Xiaomu replies. "That isn't a 'they're closing the facility on top of us, we'd better leave ASAP' mess out there. Spilled trays and plates ... that's an 'oh shit, it's an unholy abomination, run for your lives' mess, if you ask me."

Her ears are perked way up now; she can't tell anything by smell with the rotted-food stench in the storeroom, but between night vision and vulpine hearing, she's still trying to pick out SOMEthing from in there.

"... is there any food that *hasn't* rotted away, or did any of you bring a roast beef sandwich or something?" she asks quietly. She doesn't really expect a 'yes' to either of those, but you never know. "If we toss something out there to act as bait, something that'd be edible ..."

Riva Banari has posed:
"This place /is/ pretty overgrown, but yeah... I guess that's just the state of things here." Riva says, taking into account both Kazusa's and Yuria's input. Fassad's speech causes Riva to almost chuckle, shaking her head for a moment. "Look out, villains, here comes the hero, all right." She says, teasingly.

Poke poke-WHAM. Riva jerks backwards as the door falls over, her hammer at the ready.... And they're okay. Riva sighs in relief, and then lets Fassad do his HERO THING down the hall to the generator room. Unless he would rather defer to Riva in the face of the daunting amount of dirtiness.

In the generator room, Riva looks over the machine and frowns, moving to activate the device when GHOST WOLVES APPEAR.

"WHAT?! THIS IS ACTUALLY A THING?" Riva yells, getting borne down under one of them and hitting the floor. She grunts, slamming an arm to the side and trying to dislodge the beast as she yells out, "PROTECT YURIA!" She yells to the others, just to make sure they're all on the same page, as she tries to bring her hammer to bear. MUST SMASH GHOST DOGGIE.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon's eyes run along the Ikaruga Mark I contemplatively. It's a terrible thing, a war machine. It's a reminder of the things lurking just outside the domes on Ramuh, and he's unable to suppress a shudder of revulsion and frustration. People...killing each other.

     And the worst part was, he knew why. He didn't need to ask what the war was over here. It was probably the same thing wars were fought over on Galianda, the same thing wars were fought over everywhere. Power. Land. Money. Love. Patriotism. The cruelty of nobility was not being able to ask why people had to die, because from a very young age, he knew all the many reasons people had to die.

     Eventually he would cause many of those deaths himself.

     Still, at the moment...

     Landon takes the cylinder reverently, his sword hanging in the air of its own accord as he stores the cylinder. It may, indeed, come in handy later.

     Landon stops by the sludgelike tubes and frowns. He looks back at the girls, then looksup at the tubes.

     "This may be difficult. I can lift us with my barriers, but if you have a more efficient, and, erm, smaller means of doing so, that would be excellent."

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Oh god, there are ghost wolves. Ghost wolves everywhere. They are /completely/ surrounded. Kazusa is quick to turn around and put her back to Yuria's. From her purse comes a single card, twice as tall as a poker card and half again as wide, with what almost looks like some sort of magical girl's bow on it. "Guess there's no helping it, is there? BY THE CARD I CHOOSE, I STAND AS A HERO! /THE MAGUS/!" From behind Yuria, under the aegis of that protective song, there is a shower, a flood, a torrent of white sparks. Passing over Kazusa, transforming her. Changing the color of her hair, giving her a new outfit. A powerful magic, one over in seconds.

    It ends just in time for Fassad to declare that he'll slay the lot of them. And he gets a response, not from the wolves, but from Kazusa.

    "That won't be necessary."

    Suddenly, without warning or fanfare, each ghost wolf finds itself subject to a rain of bullets which simply appear in the air and hammer down at full speed. Kazusa's position has changed, standing directly behind Fassad where she can keep a direct eye on Yuria. Her hair is black. Her clothes are dark purple, black and white. She looks for all the world like a very familiar Union magical girl.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet relents her search when she finds the creature to be some sort of oversized rodent. The idea that it might actually be dangerous occurs to her, but seems unlikely enough that she's willing to trust in Landon as a bulwark. She instead turns to Destiny with a hint of curiosity. After all, she had unsubtly prompted the girl to give her the necessary commentary on their surroundings. "I don't think we'll have to worry about getting into a fight with any of these." She'd tap one on the side, but they look filthy. "What kind of charge do you mean? Electrical? Magic? Explosive?" She briefly amps up her passive visual magic to give the cylinder the once over, scanning it for any kind of supernatural signals.

    She chats idly as she resumes walking. "Was it actually a war? I've heard that these towers are full of dangerous creatures, and if the factory is connected to it, then those things might have been partly used for defense." Idle musings more than anything. Fighting against inhuman foes could still be considered a war, after all. She does pause at the empty tubes, standing well back from the dripping sludge. "... these I can only guess at." Scarlet doesn't seem all that interested in those particular fixtures, despite the ominous implications of their size. She seems more fixated on business, looking for further exits. Ideally, she'd like to be the first to find whatever it is Misha is looking for, and this room seems quite empty.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
"What, bait?" Reiji looks to Xiaomu for a long moment. She actually wants to draw... Whatever that thing is, out here? Well. It's better than waiting for an ambush, anyway. "I was going to save these for later, but," the exorcist murmurs, digging through one of his pouches for...



"I've got a few more. One should do fine," he says, gently lobbing the adorable little chick-pastry at the darkness.

Misha (757) has posed:
    The coordinates earn a scrunched brow as Misha looks over them. "They... Kind of do. I can't remember where from." She admits when Psyber holds over the document. "They're not on this tower though." It's a clue as much as anything and a nod in agreement with Reiji's assessment means it's probably a good document to keep. If the group tosses bait there's no response save a small scuffle, and the door isn't locked, so it's an easy path from the commissary to the next part of the facility.
    The holding cells.
    they are not that unpleasant. A bit spacious, with one bed in each and a glass window caked with dust and grime. Only one of them has an unlocked door. "Lyner was in that one when I found him." The Star Singer notes, pausing over the old tatters of a white cloak. Which she picks up and folds neatly, apparently intent on keeping. "Only Bourd's facility had this kind of place. He wasn't really kind to anyone."
    However after a moment there is motion. Something comes CHASING AFTER THE GROUP with the FUNBUN Reiji threw in its mouth. And with a cry of "NYOOOOO!?" it leaps-- aiming to latch onto the exorcist's face and just hug onto there, holding on. It is a yellow puffball on four legs with a squirrelly tail. And it seems to want more.

    "It wasn't really a war." Destiny notes, the smaller girl's tone very soft. "Tenba usually sells its services. Mostly to protect villages and towns on the Wings of Horus from wild monsters- or exploring old ruins. Miss Ayano keeps the protection rates fair though even for smaller places that have trouble paying. I actually volunteered to work to help my town keep up with payments, and she's been very kind." The tubes however get a frown. "These are um. Cloning tubes. I think Bourd tried making more Reyvateils by copying Misha, and another Beta type."
    But then she motions at the cylinder when asked. "It's a high power battery. They last for years. Some of the doors will probably need the powe--" She trails off when the chittering intensifies. Because a GIANT BEETLE the size of a man's forearm crawls out of the floor and latches onto the Ikaruga. With a ZAKK-ZAKK it unleashes an electrical pulse into the war machine. And with a LURCH it staggers to life, red lenses focusing on the trio, ancient guns spinning to live and chainsaws revving as it activates with extreme hostile intent.
    "... Oh no."

    Meanwhile, in the land of the wolves, Yuria's song will alleviate any injuries as they happen, but the wolves are ferocious. Ghost wolves are actually in fact a thing, and they seem horrifyingly resistant to blade and hammer, only the sheer force of Riva and Fassad's attacks giving them an edge over the more mundane force local melee fighters could put on. It is Homura-- Kazusa's bullet barrage that seems to earn some real yelps, as guns are considered 'fire' weapons on the tower. Still, between the three, it's enough to chase the pack off for now, earning a small huff from Yuria. "They might be back. We should move quickly."
    The group can try the generator, or move on.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     As the wolves flee, Fassad smiles. He keeps his sword at the ready, though his Shinki, Serafina, puts the camera back in the pouch. As Fassad looks at the group, and even though Kasuza was patently more badass than him? Fassad still puffs out his chest, smiling. And then he says it.

     "WELL. That was a howling good fight! It seems like those wolves decided to pack it up and leave, though! Such beasts are no match for us!"

     Yes he managed to think of two wolf puns to try and make himself seem more heroic, suave, and charming.

     Who knows how long he has been saving these puns.

     Serafina, the little Shinki, hovers for a bit. Her hands clasp together in front of her, as she looks at her Master. "Ooooh, Master! You're soooooooo coool~!" But then, she spots the generator, "HEY! LISTEN! I think this thing stil might work! Let's try it!"

     And with that, the tiny little Olbern flies over to the generator, trying to toy with whatever switches and whatnot might turn it on. While Fassad has no idea how a generator works, Serafina is far more used to modern technology, being a piece of modern technology herself.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     The giant lightning-beetle is honestly one of the most normal things Landon has seen in Misha's world. That sounds really messed-up, but when one considers that he comes from a continent made of a god of lightning, and that random monsters spawn out of the sewers, it's really not *that* surprising.

     It's *cool*, though. He really doesn't want to kill it.

     He kind of wants to tame it.

     But Landon isn't a Beastmaster. He'll have to settle for killing it and making something out of it.

     As the Ikaruga jerks to life, Landon wastes no time. He throws himself in front of Scarlet and Destiny, the blazing blue card in his hand suddenly erupting with light. A crystalline barrier bursts forth in front of the two girls as Landon keeps moving, surprisingly fast for his heavy armor. "Stay behind my barrier!" He calls at the girls.

     It should last. While he has MP.

     The Judge flings his sword to the side. The massive Judge Blade hovers for a moment as Landon rounds the crystalline barrier. The sword, as if possessed of its own will, flits the opposite direction from Landon, streaking around the barrier. It's a simple plan - distract the creature (and the Ikaruga) with multiple targets, then close the gap.

     The Judge Blade goes spinning round as Landon charges forward, fearless. Another glowing card flits into his hand, and he shoves it forward as he leaps at the robot, burning more MP to spring up another barrier. This barrier, though, is not stationary at all. This barrier moves, with the weight of Landon behind it. This barrier is for *hitting*.

     And, well, hopefully keeping Landon alive through chainsaw.

     From the other side, the Judge Blade goes for the beetle from behind, telekinetically propelled by Landon's MP.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Reiji is under attack! Psyber immediately whips around and shines the light on him, curiously tilting his head as he watches something come out of the darkness to attach the exorcist. But he doesn't stop it, because it seems more like Reiji made an animal friend than him aggressively drawing the attention of an enemy. In fact, Psyber even states, "Oh hey, he-she-it likes you."

    And then he's right back to looking around, trying to pry open the closed cells with heavy pulls. He doubts steel doors or locks could stop someone like him, so he's not using much finesse as he endeavors to pry open and search whatever he can spot.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Holding cells. Shinra HQ has a few of these, but they exist for a good reason. Not for containing innocent prisoners, but for locking away dangerous artifacts, monsters too hardy to kill normally, possible informants and temporarily out of control youkai. This is... Something else indeed. Reiji's expression darkens as he moves through the rows of empty cells. How many people had rotted away, locked in a prison with scarce hope for escape.

    Maybe they were used in human experimentation? Maybe they were just killed. That's ancient history now- but this seems like the sort of place that would be full of all kinds of vengeful ghosts.

Suddenly, there's a noise- one not unlike a skittering rat. Reiji turns toward it, reflexively levelling Karin--

And then he sees... A tiny squirrel-thing with a funbun in its mouth?

    "Wha-" he doesn't have a chance to reply before it lunges at his face, wrapping his head in a sconce of distressingly fluffy NYO!? belly. "-Mmph!" His arsenal clatters to the ground. Reiji reaches a hand up to take the thing by its back and pry it from his face. It... takes some doing. And there are scratch-marks across his cheeks when it comes away. "What the hell is this!? It..."

    ...Funbun in its mouth. Reiji's brow furrows. He sets Karin briefly aside and far away from any apparent flammables. "Yeah, or my after-mission snacks," he says to Psyber, fishing out another one of those pudgy bird-things. "So, you want another one? Didn't your mother ever teach you to clear your plate before asking for seconds?"

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    "One moment."

    Kazusa seems to flicker.

    "There. We should be safe for a moment to try the generator. ...but watch your step if we have to retreat the way we came."

    Having so much military ordnance temporarily at her disposal means Kazusa is quite well-equipped to deal with a number of situations. Such as, say, 'ghost wolves that are weak to fire'. With the power of time on her side, she's quickly able to set up a series of traps on the various routes the wolves retreated along and other directions that look likely for them to return by - except, of course, for the way they intend to go. These traps are fairly simple, nothing but tripwire attached to the pin on a nearby grenade. But given that it's white phosphorous grenades, it should be particularly effective on their pursuers nonetheless.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The fact that there's SOME kind of reaction prompts Xiaomu's ears to prick up further ... but the noise isn't repeated, nor does anything come close enough to see, so Xiaomu lets out a breath and moves along with the rest of the group.

"So what kind of research was Bourd actually doing, as near as anyone ever figured it out?" the sage fox asks after Misha has collected the old cloak ... and then something is rushing towards the group from behind, and Xiaomu immediately wheels to face the noise, ready to draw Suiren's blade.

She doesn't get the chance before the NYO? is clinging to Reiji's face. And ... her partner seems to be okay. Not screaming in pain, so it's not eating his face or anything, just ... kinda there. He's even joking about it.

Probably no real threat, then. Xiaomu lets out a heavy sigh, leaning on her staff for a few seconds. Other than that, still reay to react to ACTUAL threats, possibly even more ready than she was before NYO? interrupt.

Riva Banari has posed:
As fast as the wolves appeared, they're gone. The powers present managed to help things out significantly. Riva steadies herself, and shoulders her hammer. She won't be taken off guard again. "Wow, good work, everyone!" She congratulates them. "That was super effective, Homura!" She pauses. "Er, um..." Riva looks around. "Have you seen Kazusa?" She asks totally not Kazusa.

The prompting, however, gets Riva back on track. She looks over at the generator and helps the Shinki get it started, probably through a combination of button pushing and minigames.

Hopefully the thing starts up! Surely getting power flowing again won't cause anything horrible to happen, right?

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    "What are you talking about?" Kazusa replies. "I'm right here."

    Hairflip.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva blinks.

She pauses, and blinks again, then is taken aback, surprised. "OH! Kazusa! I thought you were... Homura. Um, my bad!" She says, waving a hand embarassedly.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet withholds a triumphant smirk at her assumptions being proven correct. Ironically, that state of existence is probably something Landon is pretty familiar with, or at least much more so than she is. "I assume there was a good reason for shutting this place down with all of these still inside. They can't have been cheap to make, or cheap to replace." The economically minded comment is a prompt to Destiny, in order to see if she can squeeze more information from the less guarded girl than Ayano had been willing to forward. She casts a second look to the tubes as their purpose is confirmed, chewing on the corner of her lip thoughtfully. Misha's previously demonstrated reaction to this building is all she really needs to go off of to imagine what kind of cloning experiments happened here.

    Further exposition is pushed to the back of her mind as she hears the loud crackle of arcing electricity split the sullen silence, wheeling on the source of the noise with her hand shoved into her messenger bag. At the sight of the Ikaruga, she pauses for the barest of moments, rapidly weighing her options in lieu of detailed information on the machine or its capabilities, before Landon acts before her, more immediately sure of his abilities through years of combat. With the barrier in place, she sees no reason to run out from behind it, at least until that worrisome gun is pointed somewhere else and she has a good grasp on the behemoth's tracking speed. She stays safely put behind the defensive construct, whispering something under her breath to shunt her heavy familiar out of Phase space and into the waking world.

    The thing goes with the theme of crystals, but it is nothing so orderly as the crystallized Law employed by the young judge. It is a roughly man sized mass of prismatic, fractal glass, bouncing reflections that don't at all correspond to the surroundings between its many angular fragments, seemingly into infinity. Its body is strangely morphic, moving and shifting in ways that don't entirely make sense, passing through itself and making bizarre, non-Euclidian angles between pieces. It lets off a bizarre, warbling hum as it rapidly reorients its body, a symmetrical ring of elongated shards unfolding out from compacted space. A keening shriek precedes a ray of light being shot through the surrealist array, splitting into a dazzling shower of exponentially multiplying beams that fall upon the Ikaruga in an instantaneous barrage.

Misha (757) has posed:
    With the wolves handled, Fassad's shinki has plenty of time to futz around with a myriad of controls that she has NO IDEA HOW THEY WORK. With sufficient button pushing, knob turning, and a good tiny kick, the panel... Erupts in a hiss of spark and fizzles, coming to life for a brief second before dying again. And with a sputtering choke of machinery the generator rumbles, abused turbines starting to spin slowly before building to a screeching whirr.
    It sounds terrible but all over the facility systems crackle to life, lights sputtering to a dull brown glow that makes things less miserable and sends flickering motions of things scurrying to the shadows- now too afraid of the groups with the oppressive darkness no longer covering them.
    Somewhere in the murk a landmine explodes and the shrill howl of a phantom wolf can be heard, before more paws scrabble away.
    "That way." Yuria motions down a door that slowly grinds open. "It leads to the old labs. We'll probably want to catch up with the others." She seems... Knowledgable of the interior.

    Meanwhile, with Reiji thusly acquiring a new pet NYO!? Misha idly notes, "Don't piss it off or it'll try healing you." Odd, but the Reyvateil shrugs. The cells, as Psyber pries them open, are... Bleak. Most are empty, though one has a huddled figure in rags in the corner. It's a skeleton. Human in appearance, but from what used to be some ostentatious women's clothes, and long strands of rotting hair, she was probably a Reyvateil. There is something clutched in her hand. Misha really meant it when she said Bourd was not kind. "It was nothing good." She answers Xiaomu. "He basically wanted to make more, stronger, Reyvateils that would follow orders without things like 'feelings of our own'. He just kind of treated us like weapons, tools. Singing dolls." A little huff and Misha is already moving on, apparently not wanting to be here anymore.

    The issue is the Ikaruga. As Landon rushes to intercept it and raises his barrier, Destiny remains squarely behind Scarlet, the small blonde taking a moment to steel herself and draw a breath. Landon will soon find himself... With an almost limitless wellspring of MP, the soft melodic tone of someone singing in Hymmnos filling the chamber, as Destiny's song pumps both the Judge and Scarlet with a boosted rate of restorative energies. Ayano said to protect the girls and the girls would protect everyone back, and she meant it. Though the Ikaruga unleashes its ancient macihnegun, bulletholes stitching the floor as it flails the massive chainsaw at Landon. The Judge Blade and Landon's OFFENSIVE barrier smashes into it, staggering the machine off balance and clean into Scarlet's immense hailstorm of beam spam.
    With a keening shriek, the beetle powering the machine is obliterated, cleaved in half before vaporized, the Ikaruga itself almost utterly demolished, venting black smoke as it slams into the nearby wall-- and smashes it open into the next area.

    The next room where a very surprised Misha is staring at the wreckage that reunites Landon and Scarlet with her group- just as Riva, Kazusa, and Fassad should be joining up as well, converging the three groups as a massive set of closed blast doors.
    "... Here... This is... Every time I see this door, I've never felt so scared in my whole life." Misha whispers. Destiny and Yuria are uncomfortably silent.
    "Any girl that Bourd brought in there never really came out the same." The eldest Reyvateil notes.
    The generator power seems to be enough to get the doors jarring but... Not fully opening.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     As the generator starts up, Serafina flies back in surprise at the noise of it all. She flies onto Fassad's shoulder, using him as protection a bit. He sheathes his sword, just for a second, so he can pet her on the head.

     "Don't worry, Serafina! The lights are back on. Quite obviously, it worked well enough!"

     As Yuria mentions where the old labs are, Fassad says nothing. He can tell from everything that has been said: This place is not pleasant. None of these three Reyvatail want to be here, at a guess. But, he won't be rude enough to ask much more. They'll tell, if they want. Or perhaps he'll learn in one of the Dives in the future? Who knows.

     As the group reunites, though? He tries to smile. Gently. No glamour-lighting this time. Instead, he just turns to Misha, smiling. "If you are... uncomfortable, perhaps you should stay out here? We do not want to force you to do anything that you don't have to. We have quite a force here as well, after all. If you, and perhaps some others, wanted to stay back? It would likely be fine."

     But, with the door not fully opening, Fassad reaches into a bag on his left side. And he pulls something out. An unlit bomb.

     "...Since the door is not opening, shall I.... blast it open?"

     He so rarely has an excuse to use the bombs. They're a great adventuring tool, but it's only /so/ often you find a weak wall to blow up.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu's expression darkens. "Close enough to what I was guessing ..."

She pauses on the way past the skeletal Reyvateil, going down on one knee for two purposes. One is obvious enough when she clasps her hands in front of her, and Reiji might recognize the soft incantation: a prayer for the peaceful repose of the deceased.

There are a couple of lines that don't fit the normal Buddhist prayer, though ... and what Xiaomu does next might explain the addendum, as she's trying - gently and carefully - to try and see what the skeleton is holding in its (her?) clasped hand.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon keeps going as the beetle and the Ikaruga go through the wall. The Prince grabs his sword, jammed firmly into the Ikaruga, and clings to it to keep his balance. He looks up as he realizes that he, and it, went through the wall. The barriers - both the one he was standing on, and the one in front of the girls - vanish. The odd feeling, the power of infinite magic, is something Landon isn't willing to rest on too easily. He's not nearly as impulsive as you'd expect from his role. Growing reliant on something is as dangerous as not having it at all.

     And then he realizes that Fassad is talking about bombs.

     "Wait, wha-"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber shines the light over the Reyvateil, "Reiji. Can you read her rites before we get moving? I dunno what religion she'd follow, but we should both be able to cover it," The half-angel says it in a hard tone, but one edged with sadness as he looks to the skeleton. Misha's explanation causes him to scowl and then tighten his grip on the flashlight, "Anyone who preys on them like Bourd did..." He trails off, simply stating, "I'll find him some day."

    Psyber stops in front of the skeleton and takes a small vial of clear liquid out of his jacket, " The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil," Psyber sprinkles the water over the bones, "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

    He places the vial in his jacket as Xiaomu seems to have the same idea he did. And then Psyber turns to head towardsthe next area. There's a suggestion of bombs, which isn't a bad idea. Psyber also notes, "I could just rip it open," Or he jerks a thumb towards Kazusa, "But if we use bombs, I know she'll have shaped charges for a more contained blast."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet quickly dismisses the familiar as she catches sight of the others through the settling dust of the broken wall and the oily smoke rising from the destroyed machine. She gives Landon a coy smile as she rounds the edge of the barrier, waving to acknowledge a job well done as she picks over the junked remains of the Ikaruga and carefully climbs past it without tearing her clothes on any jagged edges. She looks back to Destiny as an afterthought, gesturing for the girl to follow her, assuming that the Revyateil will be happy enough to rejoin her fellows that no further prompting will be needed.

    "Apologies for the unbecoming entrance. We ran into a little business that had to be resolved." she says as she steps to the fore, examining the partially open door with an errant glance to Misha. "... I take it you've found what you were looking for then. I had the idea that it wasn't something you were terribly looking forward to seeing, but..." She looks back at her again with a faintly concerned expression, moving out of the way of Fassad to stand a little closer to the girl. "Be my guest." she offhandedly remarks to Fassad, wanting to let him go ahead with something he's clearly so excited to do. Her attention appears to be fixed on the skeletal remains in the cell, watching Psyber closely as he says his piece, casting a sideways look at Xiaomu.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Kazusa's eyes briefly dart to one side, the direction of her trap going off.

    She almost looks satisfied.

    "I imagine the ghost wolves aren't going to be as much trouble anymore." A few seconds later, the traps are... mostly disarmed and disassembled. Mostly. There may still be one or two around just in case.

    With the power back on, though, it's back to the other group. Which means rejoining everyone else, observing the creepy-ass place they've all rejoined at, and reorganizing to account for the larger group size. At this point, Kazusa does as her borrowed instincts tell her.

    Which is to say, she falls into step with Psyber, who now has the unique experience of seeing someone else using Homura's usual walk, wearing Homura's Puella Magi outfit, with Homura's hair and eye color. "I have some, yes. But my... limits, are a little lower than Akemi's." She indicates her meaning to the angel with a flick of her left hand, easily dismissed by most as brushing away dust. "So I should conserve while I can."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "And if I'm nice to it, it'll claw at my face?" Reiji asks Misha, idly setting the bizarrely pink squirrel thing on his shoulder. He doesn't seem too troubled by its presence, though- or the fact that he's passing another of his funbuns up into its greedy claws. "Good to know," he says, making sure to reclaim Karin before moving too far.

    The skeleton in the cell is nothing to joke about, though. It's really the polar opposite. Reiji's expression turns even more downcast as he regards the body. He watches silently as Xiaomu prays for the Reyvateil, her life- her songs- tragically cut short. His gaze fixes on Psyber when the half-angel speaks, and Reiji nods in reply. "Yeah," he murmurs, setting Karin down again, and replacing the blade with a set of dark, wooden prayer beads, "Not a problem."

    The exorcist carefully wraps one hand in the beads and lifts them reverently to his chest. "I'm sorry," he says to the body, "There's no time to recite the full Amitabha Sutra. But let as much as I can say give you solace and relieve your suffering. May your next life be more pleasant than this one." He draws in a breath--

    What follows is an abbreviated recital of a sutra, each word spoken in practiced, melodic Hindi. It may not be Hymnos, but at times, it seems like it draws close. At the very least, he can give her this.

    When he follows Psyber and Xiaomu, his beads are no longer tanged about his hand. There is a sword there, instead, and an unreadable expression has couched itself on Reiji's face like a funeral shroud. He glances toward Fassad- and his bombs. "I don't need to see more corpses today. That thing might get us killed." He shrugs at Psyber, then, "Explosives with less spread should be fine. Or we could just force the door."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad sighs, looking around, "...Well. I /can/ hold the bomb just til it's about to explode, but... I suppose if there is /some/ distrust in this method, we could go with something else."

     He puts the bomb away.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva fistpumps as the generator turns on, and power returns to the complex. "HELL YEAH! We got this!" She proclaims. With a turn, she looks to the others and gives them a thumbs-up, then looks to the opening doors. "Right! Let's go! Fassad! KAzusa! Yuria! Let's bring this home."

They rejoin the others, and Riva folds her arms as they look on this ominous door. "Hey everyone." She says, looking at the jarring door. "It's hard to un-bomb something and this seems like the kind of place that has delicate stuff." She looks to Misha, and smiles. "Don't worry. Whatever happens, we're all in this together. Look guys, just do what you need to do to open that door. Go for it."

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     "Ah," Landon observes after a moment, as he watches everybody go through their sutras and things. He digs around in his pack for a moment.

     "Could we perhaps use this?" He offers, holding up the glowing cylinder. "It seems like it still has a charge. And the Lady Reyvateil told us earlier that these doors require a great deal of energy to move, I believe."

     "If we wish to preserve this ruin...?"

Misha (757) has posed:
    Once the skeleton is given her rites and Xiaomu gently coaxes the clutched object free, she'll find it to be a small pendant. Made of a silvery-white metal, the years and time seem to have not touched it in the least, and it's light as a feather. For those curious, this is Airmetal. But it opens, revealing it to actually be a small locket, with a picture inset, of, presumably the girl when she was still alive, looking very happy with a young man of similar age, in the mauve purple armors of the Tenba corporation's rank and file security, much like the ones outside.
    A few shivery breaths and Misha calms down significantly. But she still shakes her head. "I'm. Not going in there, I'm sorry. I'll just wait here." Yuria also seems like she has no intent to budge. "When I worked at this facility I saw too many horrible things. I think it would be for the best if I didn't see any more in this life time." Though Destiny looks a bit scared, she doesn't have the same reservations as the two, and lingers by Scarlet, clearly intent on following in... Once the doors open anyway. Something she seems to tug on Landon's sleeve about, wordlessly.
    "It might not even be down there. I should just. Turn back now." Misha replies feebly to Scarlet.
    But once the battery Landon produces is inserted in a nearby port by the door, it juices it enough combined with the limited generator flow to make it start rattling open.
    The path beyond is an old, flimsy catwalk. It was sturdy once but now it's rusted through in places, hanging over an yawning blackness below. It's not a pleasant walk, creaking and groaning the wole way under people's weight, some portions are so rotted through that occasionally an unlucky boot might just punch clean through the floor.
    The NYO!? on Reiji's shoulder chitters, nomming funbun the whole way undeterred and occasionally nipping at his ear.
    Thankfully the precarious walk comes to an end, leading to a room with much more solid flooring. There's machinery everywhere, and in the center is a massive tube. Much like the cloning vats in the other chamber, but at least three times as large. Though everything is overgrown with plant life, there's... No one here. And nothing but old rusting equipment?

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
After a brief look at the locket, Xiaomu tucks it into a pocket of her vest. Maybe there's somebody outside who will want this locket, as a memento of his lost companion ... or maybe the locket will bring only painful memories, but it's worth investigating.

Then she rejoins the others, and balks - only briefly - at the sight of the rickety catwalk. "Heaviest person should probably go first so we don't wind up with a divided group," she suggests. She's willing enough to go on across in whatever order, but a certain measure of genre-savviness may not go awry in this circumstance.

Upon reaching the 'final' chamber, Xiaomu relaxes a bit more, and starts poking through the rusting equipment with the butt of her staff - checking for panels that can be opened, whether easily or with a certain application of force to break through layers of rusts that might seal something shut. "Are we sure this place was only abandoned for six years ... ?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Things move right along. Riva looks over to Misha and folds her arms. "You wanted to come here, Misha. Are you really sure you want to cut out now? This isn't the kind of place that you get to just come back whenever..." She looks over at the door, and thankfully Landon provides the KEY ITEM needed to open it. "Hell yeah!" She says, enthusiastic despite the horrors present.

Her enthusiasm dies fast when she sees the catwalk beyond. "Aw hell, this is not going to be good. Not good at all." Riva moves forward, keeping herself as stable as possible.

This doesn't keep a foot from punching through the rusty panels, causing her to pitch forward with a yelp. She collapses forward, almost going through the rail, but she (or maybe someone else) manages to keep her from pitching off into the horrible void below.

When they finally get to the rear of the area, Riva looks over the machinery, and her gaze is inevitably drawn towards the tube. "Hrmmmmmmmmm." She hums, and moves foroward to knock on the tube. Not loudly, but trying to wipe some things off. "This place can't be compeltely empty. Records? Something...." She grumps. "All this spooky ghost and crap for a heap of machinery? Bah!" She turns and in a fit of pique, kicks something rusty nearby.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad, of course, /tries/ to lead the way. He walks very carefully across the catwalk, moving very slowly across the path. He is, of course, fine with Misha staying behind.

     As he looks through the room, he tries to find if the giant vat can open. Even if it is empty, he still wants to check out inside of it, and step inside it himself. Possibly accidentally closing it behind him.

     He of course does this despite the fact that Riva is kicking at the machinery. Hell, even Serafina gets in on it as well, floating off of Fassad's shoulder before he tries to enter the tube, to start poking at the machinery as well.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber's first instinct is to shine the light at the tube after their walk. So he immediately does that, lifting up his flashlight and letting the circle of light run up and down its entire length so Fassad can get a better look at it, "We should hurry up and then get out. I don't wanna spend too long down here and I don't like leaving them unattended too long outside," he ponders aloud.

    Despite the detective deal he has going, the half-angel elects to stay more passive, taking up rear guard in case a trap gets sprung.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Shortly after they reach the rickety walkway, Kazusa seems to simply disappear from Psyber's side. For all her talk of needing to conserve herself, she sure isn't hesitant to use her (Homura's) powers to, say, be safely on the other side of a dangerous catwalk when they come upon it. Of course, once everyone is there, the topic turns to the cloning facility itself, and the magical girl simply regards the room with a raised eyebrow, before replying to Riva. "We don't even know what we came here for. It's possible that seeing what is or isn't here was exactly what Misha needed." As if to punctuate the question she didn't quite ask, she turns to look right at Misha.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    The exorcist gives Misha and Yuria a long, sympathetic look. He nods once. "Right. You two stay safe. We'll be back soon," Reiji says, moving toward the slowly opening doors.

Unfortunately, no amount of moving will keep the NYO!? from tickling at his face.

    Reiji is distracted by the imminent doom promised by a misstep from the catwalk by the little, fuzzy, squirrel-thing squeaking at his ear. It isn't enough to make him actually step off boldly into the yawning abyss, but it's still bothersome. In a cute way. The way that makes him give the little critter a fresh funbun once it's done with the last. Maybe he'll take it home. Probably wouldn't be too hard to take care of.

That question can be answered later, after discussing matters with his landlady. There's a room over here that needs investigating.

    Reiji sheathes Karin before the burning blade lights any of these plants on fire. Though... plants. What's the deal with all these plants? "It is pretty odd," Reiji agrees to Xiaomu, "Might have something to do with this machinery. Or this place's proximity to the tower? Could be some strange, magical side-effect."

    He leaves dealing with technology to people actually more well versed in the art of computer-speaking. Instead, he goes to look for documentation, information about what went on here and other possibly useful material. Maybe whoever used this place left something behind when they cleared out? Wouldn't be the first time someone forgot a crucial piece of evidence when they're in a rush.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Exploring the room doesn't find much, the machinery should be well beyond use or repair at this point. A fact proven wrong as Fassad climbs into the pod curiously. It's empty and stone silent, until Riva kicks something.
    With a whirring hiss, the pod slams shut with Fassad still inside it, humming menacingly as it power up. And then the whole tube is awash with a blindingly bright light from within. This may induce panic but after a moment it dies down... The pod opens...
    And absolutely nothing has happened to Fassad inside it aside from maybe some uncomfortable tingling. Another machine nearby crackles to life with an automated voice.
    *HYMN CRYSTAL REMOVAL ERROR. PLEASE INSERT REYVATEIL AND TRY AGAIN*
    It appears to be something that only works on Reyvateils, and Destiny immediately looks horrified for a moment, but composes herself fairly well afterwards. "That's probably why didn't want to come in here." She murmurs.
    Other than the machinery, and some files with some incredibly disturbing instructions Bourd left for the machinery workers, which can be examined at a later time, that seems to be it here for real. So it's probably best to get back to the Reyvateils waiting outside by now. Chances are there's a very familiar looking Tenba worker outside who will probably be happy to know about the locket, too.