Scene #361: Following The Tracks

Owner	Pose
Lou	Just as Lou had said, and Cas had reiterated, the Linear Line is precise. Without the benefit of Lou's sub-second timing capabilities, one would be hard-pressed to find any fault in its arrival time. Further true to her word, the three of them that had assembled on the train platform - a visually precarious construction hovering over the underbelly of Holtes City - are not harassed in any way as they await. Of note, there seem to be no passengers entering the train, at least at this stop. Instead, it is all single-minded logistics managers and utility robots heaving things in as quickly and efficiently as they can. If you were to get the impression that they were being timed, it's probably because they are. Casts don't accept any slackers. "Once the workers are finished, we will be able to board," the girl states, matter of factly and with the patience of someone that has the schedules of these trains at her mental fingertips. "I will disable what security I can, but any guardian robots we may encounter are autonomous, and will have to be deactivated manually." By which she means kicking their metallic behinds, of course. Guardians always have the most amusing PC names for unfortunate, but necessary, violence. She pauses for a moment, easily caught even for one that normally has such an unreadable manner as her, and allows herself to say with a lowering of her head, "...I have recently been told that I do not show enough gratitude to those that do favors for me. Thank you both, again, for helping me with this matter." Even she isn't sure why she bothered, since it is a most inefficient thing when she had already expressed her thanks beforehand. Perhaps one of her latent subprocessors is activating erroneously, she reasons..something she will need to have checked out, later. There isn't too much longer to dwell on it, at least, as the mostly Cast labor force and their robotic drones leave. Cas in particular would easily notice that the drones are a more 'civilian' freight variant of the venerable Grina Bete, thankfully with cargo hoists on its arms where the photon blades or large bore cannons would normally be. The cargo door begins to close -- did they miss their chance!? Not on your life. It only gets about one-fifth closed, before the unpanicking Lou once again gets that distant look to her already detached-seeming eyes, and it seems to sieze up where it was. "My apologies. They had replaced some of the cyphers in the mechanical access." And she broke them that fast? Well, 'broke' would be the wrong word, more like she had the cheat sheet already. She begins stepping forward and, without hesitance, climbs aboard the train still hovering at its dock, suspended as it is by two photon rails. Turning back around, she patiently folds her hands at her waist, stating evenly, "Please keep all limbs inside the train while it is in motion." ..was that supposed to be a joke? Or maybe she's serious. Her expression is impenetrable.
Cas	Cas has been to this stop before a handful of times. She never liked operating on Parum if she could help it-- it puts her too close to GRM. Too close to a lot of bad memories. Here, at least, she's not ... in too /much/ danger of being discovered. Or is she...? This place-- this /time/. Quantum theory, butterfly effects, and temporal shenanigans continue to just start making her processors hurt. 'Deactivated manually.' Cas looks at Fate and taps her knuckles against the heel of her hand, silently. "No problem," the gray-haired Cast replies. In lieu of a bill, she'll have the head of Guardians Intelligence in her debt-- and that's worth a whole lot more than a handful of meseta-- or the occasional payment she makes from working-by-contract, or with the occasional monster hunts with Psyber. The doors start to close. Already, Cas is judging the distance from their position to the doors; would she need to run in and wrench them open? -- No, no need. Lou has it all in hand, and then the short synthetic girl moves at a good clip to board the train. Cas nods at the machines. "Modified Grina. Might still be combat capable. Maybe more in another car."
Fate T. Harlaown	"Deactivated manually..." Burgundy eyes shift toward Cas as the translation is given. "I see. I'm sure we can handle that." A soft chime sounds from her pocket in agreement. Fate tilts her head slightly as the doors seem to have... problems. "Mmm. Well, this is something that's important to Cas and her friend. Of course I'm glad to help." She rests a hand lightly on Lou's shoulder before stepping forward into the open door. "Grina... a type of robot?" They get a brief look from Fate, before she pulls a yellow gem from her pocket. "I'd best be prepared, in case there are some things that need to be... manually deactivated." She gives Lou a smile before a burst of golden light surrounds her, leaving her in her Barrier Jacket. ~Impulse Form~ sounds a deep, masculine voice from the head of the poleaxe she now carries. "Bardiche, begin a passive scan." ~Yes, Sir. Initiating Area Search.~ She trusts Lou's sensors, but having an extra eye, so to speak, can't hurt.
Lou	"Friend.. I'm Miss Cas' friend, then?" The question sounds simultaneous honest and oblivious, and also as though it was previously impossible to think about. Lou manages to suppress it, to keep herself from becoming distracted for more than a moment. Must be more of those latent subprocessors kicking in again. "We share a common goal, and I do not wish to see Cas come to harm on this mission. I suppose - we are friends." Her eyes actually blink at her own logic, before she waves her hand in front of her once everyone has boarded; to a less technologically adept group, what might almost appear magical, but these two would know she's just electronically commanding the door shut. As she does so, a small, almost magical-looking circle forms in the palm of her hand, momentarily exposing circuits within the wall that respond accordingly. "The train is secure. Noone will be able to enter or leave until we reach the destination." 'Or leave.' Real comforting, Lou. For what it's worth, the pink-haired Cast doesn't seem to mind the extra surveilance. She might be linked into most electronic things on Gurhal, but this train is a self-enclosed environment, by design, and she can only do so much. Hacking the door is a parlor trick comparitively. As Fate must have had an inkling of, she confirms outright, "My radar will still work here, but it will be limited to a few meters, at best. I only have the educated guess that there will be guardian machines." For now, things seem..sedate. They happened to board one of the lower security cars, you see, with what probably amounts to random food supplies and other lower regarded items. It's also clear that this most definitely isn't a passenger train. As a light, 'gliding' feeling picks up, to let the occupants know the train is accelerating, a quick appraisal would reveal a very sparsely decorated interior. It's almost all plain cargo containers. Pure business. "It is a possibility there may be Grina Betes," Lou also confirms to Cas' suspicions. "They are popular models with both GRM and AMF. However, they would likely seek to overrun intruders with less costly, but higher numbered, units first. Do not underestimate them as dumb machines." With a similar gesture of her hand, and that photon circle projected from it, she begins to undo the lock on the door that links to the rest of the train. And with her other, the first real signal that it's about to get real: A photon rifle 'flows' from a pod-like device on the small of her back, appearing fully formed in her hand, still held in just that one for the moment. "This will likely activate them. Please prepare." Another good thing about this arrangement. Being on essentially the 'last' car of the train means they aren't likely to be squeezed between two attacking forces.
Cas	Cas looks at Lou for a long time, but says nothing. To be friends with the spymaster of Guardians...? Well, that's... that's a good thing, really, a favor /and/ friendship are two things that she can appreciate! She lets Lou and Fate both work, turning around while striding through the compartment. The clips on her brow seem to fit a little more snugly to her scalp, though the narrow band of photonic energy seems to glow a slightly brighter pale green now. "My sensors... not as sensitive. Also limited." Keeping steady as the train starts to move, Cas cants her head and gives the pink-haired Cast a nod. "Not so bad. Stay out of forward arc." The statement is accompanied with a smooth back-and-forth of her index finger. 'Please prepare.' "Roger." Cas crosses her arms in front of herself, the tips of her fingers touching the nodes opposite on the back of her hips. When her arms come back around, there is a flare of photonic light chasing her closing grasp to take the form of a set of handles-- rugged and practical by design, it isn't until the beams flare up with a pale orange light that it becomes clear she's carrying weapons by Tenora. Cas lowers her stance, bringing the saber in her left hand around in a light horizontal grasp. The saber in her right arm is pulled back, and the girl lowers her center of balance with a wide stance and looks about ready to set off at the drop of a hat. "Ready."