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Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Rubi-ka's terraforming has been a slow process. The planet has been settled for eight hundred years, and only a portion of its barren surface has been terraformed. There is desert even within the terraformed regions, usually because the corporation, organization or clan which holds that land cares only for the notum deposits there.

     TIM and the Eyemutant Sentinel are both here. The Eyemutant has been quiet and apprehensive, save for mistrustful glance towards the custom-built killbot. "SCANNING AREA," says TIM, who has been quite chatty on the way here. "PLANET Rubi-Ka REGION Newland Desert." ...so named for the neutral city of Newland situated within it.

     "Unspecified Location, Coordinates As Follows," intones the robot, and helpfully begins listing a long string of coordinates as its upper portion slowly idles left-right, left-right.

    "All stupid robot does is spin around and scream numbers. How that keep doors safe?" The Eyemutant is still stuck on that door business, unfortunately. But they're at least going along with this idea.

     You are far from Omni-Tek, or really any corporation (Newland prides itself on complete autonomy, and not even the ICC is present there). The closest such influence would be in the notum fields a few miles to the west, where the ICC's authority to lease land outweighs the city's autonomy. Even then, the deposits are so far from any settled places that even the fighting which springs up there is not likely to ever reach here. Even, Bercilak assures, if the 'battle stations' in orbit of the planet were to regain functionality.

    'No infrastructure' also means a number of ornery things might have been in your path as you came here. The Newland Desert seems to be home mainly to three kinds of wildlife; a pack-hunting insectoid quadruped with brown chitinous blades, long-necked territorial herd animals with cartilaginous deposits serving as natural armor, and small harmless bipedal rodents that utter broken human phrases at you.

    Where is here, exactly? Where has Bercilak's information led you? The high cliffs of sandstone and calcite rise high enough that from a position on the ground, nothing is visible but the mouth of a narrow valley. They appear to stretch in a circle for a few miles. The wind howls when it picks up, the dunes around you shifting, blowing sand every which way. The passage through the cliffs leads to an alarming change in scenery.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants                  RHINOMAN VALLEY

     After a few winding turns, and a few narrow passages that TIM, Bercilak, and the Eyemutant all struggle to fit through, the cliffs upon up into a verdant valley, with deciduous trees rising almost to the peaks of the beige-and-white cliffs that encircle it. Huts made from bone and tanned leather dot the valley. It isn't long at all before you see them--tall, muscular, grey-skinned humanoids with very elongated faces that terminate in snouts and tusks. Their black hair is often bound behind their heads--but you aren't alone here.

    A homo sapiens Solitus (the closest of Rubi-ka's breeds to the original human, and visually identical to the general idea of 'human') bars your way with a suspicious expression, his hand hovering towards a pistol at his hip. He's older, perhaps sixty, and his beard has grown slightly unkempt in a mountain-man kind of way. "Can I help you?" The suspicion reaches his voice, too. He's not got the most intimidating physique in the world, but he appears to be trying to size everyone up, and put himself between you and the village.
Maricel Thorne      Maricel trudges through the desert. No other word seems quite appropriate. Although she doesn't gripe verbally, every part of her body language screams petulant exasperation and restrained distaste: whenever there's a pile of sand big enough to kick, she kicks it, and then immediately has to shake the sand out of her shoe.

     Eventually she plays god out of sheer petty exasperation, surgically sculpting a set of spidery chitin-legs out of portaled-in meat and bone and grafting them to her shoulder blades. They suspend her several feet above the sand, walking on it like autonomous stilts. T with the parasol that she uses to shield herself from the cruel suns, the whole contrivance has a very silly air.

     "Tell me about yourself, Mr. Eyemonster," she says brightly. "Ms. Eyemonster? Mx. Eyemonster? Dr. Eyemonster? I didn't exaaaactly get the chance to know you, on our last excursion. How long have you had an eyeball? How long have you been blind?"

     The robot tacitly gets the cold shoulder. Maybe it's just out of her area of expertise.
Xion 'r u nubi'
"No, I'm Xion."
'u wan train'
"Yes? What kinds of things do you teach?"
'pvp 1v1 lmao'
"Oh, I'm pretty good at that."
'l33t bl4d3'
"Oh, are you heroes too?"

And so on. And so forth. Xion communes genially with the local wildlife, or, perhaps, convinces herself she communicates with them directly while she mindlessly carries on a one-sided conversation with well-meaning creatures.

Having not acquired the mystical techniques of 'tfw no qt3.14 gf' and possibly better for it, Xion chases after the parasol'ed and dune-kicking spider doctor. "Oh! It's TIM! Oh no, the Eyemutant got taken to the desert? Well, maybe it's free, but, is it too bright?"

Xion lifts her desert ACTION GOGGLES off her eyes and stands beside THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE. "You got sand everywhere, didn't you?"
Hibiki Tachibana     Hibiki, at some point, transformed solely for two reasons - the first, to help shunt off packs of insectbeasts that might have gotten in their path. It's also just good preparation to stay ready when they're away from civilization, such as it is. The second...

    Well, at some point she's also just exhausted from marching through the desert. Suiting up doesn't actually do anything to increase her stamina, but it sure makes putting one foot in front of the other a whole lot easier. She's no stranger to walking long distances, but at least most of those times, there was more than just desert and more desert to see. And the scarf helps keep sand out of her face. Big plus.

    "Get along, you two," Hibiki says towards both the Eyemutant and TIM - hearing about them post-raid was sure something - as they maneuver through the cliffs and passages, which she has a lot of an easier time with than either of them or Bercilak. A few grunts and maneuvers later-- ".../This/ was hidden away here...?" After what they had to go through to get here, finding an entire valley lush with life is...more than a little surprising. But maybe that just makes it easier to believe Bercilak is the one who knew about it.

    And then they're held up. "...Yeah, actually. We're here to ask for help putting up some of our friends," she says while gesturing to the two extremely out of place members of their party. Well...actually, almost all of them are out of place in some way or another, she realizes a moment later. "...until we can find some place better for them. It's a little too dangerous for them out there."
Maricel Thorne      "What do you mean, too bright? I was under the impression that our good friend couldn't see at all," the doctor replies, glancing back down over her shoulder at Xion. (Given the differences between their elevations, her neck bends at a very slightly inhuman angle to do it.) "Aaaactually- what do you know about our ocularly endowed acquaintance's condition? Weren't you the one to find him?"

     Maricel, when challenged by the scruffy-looking man, crisply folds up her legs and deposits herself back on the sandy ground. "You aaaabsolutely may," she says in her characteristically singsong-y voice, folding up the parasol to gesture at the Eyemonster and TIM. Hibiki covers the basics of the situation, but she adds: "They were speciiiifically looking for a place away from the eyes of their... corporate benefactors. You understand perfectly, don't you?"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants "My name is Gerard. I'm a botanist. And I'd very much like this place to remain a secret." His eyes remain on the group, but he makes a backwards inclination of his head to further explain. Towards the thriving rhinoman community, shaded by the sea of trees. "Once in a *great* while, Omni-Tek makes something worth keeping," he says, his eyes narrowing as they briefly settle on TIM. "Given that you came here with a killbot and..." There's a glance towards Bercilak. "...him, I have to question your intentions here."

    Bercilak chuckles like a boar grunting in the woods, but says nothing.

    "Mx. Eyemutant was great great grand-iteration. Just Sentinel fine," says the Eyemutant which shall henceforth be named thusly. TIM is used to being avoided for a number of reasons. Sentinel, however... it's been a while since someone has shown interest in them, clearly, because they take to conversation rather eagerly. Even despite the botanist's suspicious demeanor. Gerard blinks, coming to some sort of realization as Sentinel continues. "That what Director say, anyway. Had eyeball always. Eyemutants made to see. And shoot." This draws an inhuman sigh from them. TIM pivots (no hydraulic whine, thanks to Xion!) and gently thuds the blunt side of one of its blade-arms against Sentinel's shoulder.

     "Been blind ever since science things tried to make me better. Can't laser now, either. Director tell guard things to move me near stink-water, after. That'd be the reason for the balm Xion found, anyway. So it's still got feeling enough to be irritated, at least. And it doesn't appear to be a congenital condition. "Why doctor thing ask?" If the scientists there did this, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be fixed. BIOMARE's research methodology has been shown to be as careless as it is unethical. It's likely that Sentinel was thrown away based on the time or cost it would have taken to undo the damage. Maricel, however, who is her own biochem corpus, could have this fixed by sundown.

'friend me Xoin'

    A leet with a guinea coloration and expressive little eyes bounces happily at Xion's feet, drawing another look from Gerard. "...yeah," says Gerard, looking Maricel in the eyes. They're considerably softer now. Like someone's redneck grandpa. "I do." His hand is extended for a handshake, with each of you. After a moment's hesitation, even TIM.

    "Greeting Exchange INITIATED," it says, unable to quite return the gesture with its hooked murder talons. "WARNING: Remain Hydrated Gerard."

    Bercilak nods sagely. "Rele shit, sib," he intones, bumping TIM some armored elbow. This, the Incredible Machine can reciprocate. Which it does.

    "Doctor Maricel Thorne Assistance Inquiry Yes No"

    "Never spoke to robot," admits Sentinel sheepishly to Hibiki. They'd been quiet after she chided them, almost petulantly so. "Maybe should start."

    "Look, I misjudged you people," continues Gerard. "I'm sorry. But there's not many places the poachers don't know about. Stay as long as you like, but please, make sure this doesn't end up on the Grid."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      But should TIM be operating, with all of the sand, which gets everywhere? "Maintenance Technician Jenny Johns PERFORMANCE REVIEW Delta Clearance Likely. Maintenance REQUIRED" It states in that mishmash of threatening and helpful, before entering the kneeling position from before to allow Omni-Tek employee Sierra Charlie Dash Echo Four Two Zero Six Nine better access to its sandy servos. "Desert Modification Within Maintenance Certification Yes No"

     Gerard glances between Hibiki, Xion, and Maricel. "The Rhinomen never mind company," he says. "I've lived here for years. The trees... that was me," he admits with a measure of pride. "Even without an NCU like his," he says, gesturing to Bercilak, "Nanites make a lot of things possible. I... didn't want to risk someone flying from Newland might have seen it. Nowadays canopy's so thick--"

     "That thou couldst flen o'er hit al dai, and ne'er wouldst thou espy theim that idwellen hither. Not e'en the lak, north-awei." At Gerard's startled expression, Bercilak again makes that chuckle. "Thou'rt not alon the reson, Gerard, thy heding-place not so covert as thou awene. But I hath enjugied thee, and thou shalt hath no fere of me." He did shake Gerard's hand.

     "Uh... right. Anyway, company eventually has to leave. If your friends want to live here, like I do, then they'll both need to speak with the village elders. Silence is sacred to the Rhinomen, but they don't force it on other people. They speak with body language. I can interpret."
Xion "Well... it's an eyeperson." Xion reasons, craning her neck up at at Maricel. "So I just sort of thought... Sand... doesn't go with eyes well."

She bumps her fists together meaningfully. "Like an elemental weakness."

Huskies in summer flash across her jumbled mind.

Accepting the leet's FRIEND REQUEST into her, frankly, deeply clogged list of acquaintances, Xion pulls back from the meeting as Sentinel and TIM vibe with Gerard and Bercilak and Maricel and Hibiki. It's a good energy, everyone together. This was worth it.

"So... You're worried about people finding you, but not because it's a secret to protect -- but because you're worried about people coming and taking things, right?"

She speaks loudly, projecting as she crouches down to scoop up the leet and hold it in her arms like a favorite pet.

"So it's like the whoooole forest is one big door and you need it protected."

Oooooone big dooooooooor.
A portal of great size and meaning.
Hibiki Tachibana     "Hibiki," she says by way of introduction when Gerard comes to shake her hand, and she returns the gesture firmly. "And don't worry about it. The whole place is...beautiful." And amazing botany skills aside, she can understand why he'd be wary and doesn't blame him one bit. If any of the corporations or otherwise caught wind of this place...well, after what she's seen, she has an alright enough idea. It can't help but make her wonder how many other similar settlements exist out in the unclaimed zones.

    After a glance down to the little leet, she looks up to Sentinel and gives a couple of pats to the Eyemutant's back with a somewhat apologetic expression. Hearing that made her feel a little bad. "...It's fine. Talking to people is hard. But that's how you get to know each other. And I think you two would make pretty good friends." She's seen unliklier duos, that's for sure.

    Back to Gerard, she takes a minute to think before nodding. "Thanks. If you two like it here, hopefully we can work something out. And..." Hibiki seems to start on a line of thought, stop, and then look between the botanist and Bercilak curiously. "...By the way, what were you two just talking about there? Come to think of it, I've always been trying to wrap my head around how you can make so much spring up so fast yourself, Bercilak..."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants 'ty'

    The animal warbles and cuddles into her. Bercilak lumbers over, and scritches under the leet's chin with an armored finger. Xion and her new friend are reflected in his visor, as his hand withdraws to give her a thumbs-up.

    "Door?!" Sentinel's hulking frame is suddenly rapt with attention.

    "WARNING: SENTINEL MUST Remain Calm. Doctor Maricel Thorne Working." Each word uttered by the menacing voice is spoken naturally, likely pre-programmed. The less-threatening voice pastes in one word at a time, but the intent shines through, once someone spends enough time speaking with TIM.

     "Can Doctor Thorne fix me and walk at same time? Want to see elders. Xion right... or is Jenny? Robot nice, but confusing."
Maricel Thorne      "Sennnntinel, then," Maricel merrily corrects herself. Both of her hands are still holding her parasol when the kindly-eyed man tries to shake, so she reciprocates with one of her awful stilty spider-legs instead. This is extremely rude and extremely Maricel and she extremely sees nothing wrong with it. "Doctor Thorrrrne, at your service."

     Xion's comment on elemental weaknesses makes her pause, think, frown, and finally shake her head. "Any deeeecent design would have nictifying membranes, no? The weakness of Eyes isn't Sand. It's Brain."

     To the Sentinel: "They failed to make you better, did they? A traaaagedy of incompetence." She slips on some nitrile gloves while Bercilak and Gerard talk, snapping them around her wrists performatively. "I'm better than they were. I'm the most doctor. Tell me, Sentinel: what do you want to be? Do you meeerely want your sight restored? Do you want a different shape, perhaps? Orrrr... do you want to be beautifully terrible and extravagantly lethal, the greatest thing I can make you?"

     Can she fix them and walk at the same time? "I can do anything and medicine at the same time," she says with a hint of a sniff. "As long as you fine folks don't mind seeing a little red." A neon-staticky portal opens up and disgorges a double armful of glittering and exotic surgical tools; she holds them up to TIM with a smile. "Sharpen these, if you would. It'll help."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      "Hibiki. Nice to meet you. ...You know, I have a grandson about your age. He's training to be a martial artist in some temple out Tir county way. I'd go myself, but the Sentinels--" There's a pause. "The clan, not your friend there..." He trails off.

     "Wouldst quell thee whanne-so thei espied thee," finishes Bercilak with a nod.

     "I haven't heard from him in a while..." He clears his throat. "If you're ever that way, I'd surely appreciate you checking on him, Hibiki." His smile is that of a worried relative. Hoping nothing's wrong, but believing something might be.

     "Didn't mean to ramble there. You asked me a question, after all." He rubs a hand through his platinum-blonde hair. It likely won't have the 'blonde' adjective for many more years. Already, it's straddling the line between blonde and white. "Well... just like all the rest of life on this planet--"

     "Ah," Bercilak interjects. "Som of hit ifell from the Shadowlands."

     "Fair 'nuff. But *most* of it that you see today was grown in a lab, your leet friend there included."

'lol noob'

     "...failed some test or other, and got thrown out. And when they didn't die fast enough, then the bounties came out. The Rhinomen are especially unfortunate, because poachers hunt them for their skin."

     "So I ihunted theim for thire! A fair trade. Whanne-so I espied Gerard's labourage, I awened he was not of theim. And whanne-so I espied him living in mong the Rhinomen, thanne I was ascertened."
Xion "Sure. Even without walls you can have doors." Xion agrees. "Everything is like a lock and key, or a series of those things. Barriers and permitters."

The leet is bounced like a saucy child when it talks shit towards Gerard, Xion otherwise quite content to vibe by the giant and his rhinomen-whispering friend. The thumbs-up helps.

"The most basic lock on a door is called 'choice'. Do, or don't. Like a fruit that grows wild on a tree owned by nobody. Do you take a bite? Maybe, maybe not. That whim is the only key the lock on that door of experiences needs. Here, it's the same."

"The rhinomen live on the land, but a whole bunch of people would 'choose' to cause harm to them. Or, they could be convinced to do so. That's not a good lock on the door, right? It's not a good door to use, we don't want people opening the 'hurting people for profit' door and passing in and out freely."

When Maricel asks about minding things getting a little Morta-shiny in their vicinity and they were in the Splash Zone, Xion dutifully gloves her hand (it appears over her right hand from inventory like she was in some character model viewer) and holds it over the leet's eyes.

"So, we need a lock on the door stronger than 'choice', right? We need... Sentinel."

Dribbled down the court, Xion's overture moves for the backboard-shattering dunk.

"A minder of that door, to keep it guarded from people who'd choose to do terrible things to this place. I bet you can see, now."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants "Doctor Thorne reminds me of Doctor Bamidele. Artist, her! But idiot guard things let fat water-stinker out, and he sat on her, and she quit. We hate water stinker," Sentinel rambles slightly, clearly glad to be speaking with someone at such length.

     "We think you make us better. Then we guard canyon for village things. Maybe robot help too."

     But TIM is busy helping Maricel! Being given a task like that is apparently not one that the sand would negatively impact. It's clear very quickly, why. TIM leans close, as Xion works on it, three optics slowly spinning in that hardened viewport. "BEGINNING WEAPONS TEST. ARMING GIGAWATT LASER. POWER SETTING Minimal. BEAM WIDTH--

     "Robot like numbers too much," Sentinel concludes, as TIM begins using a high-powered laser to sharpen Maricel's tools without getting sand all over them. The robot is quite a delicate touch, in fact, deliberately aiming the laser away from everyone, and firing it in short bursts.

     "WEAPON DEMONSTRATION COMPLETE. PROCEEED TOVil-lage El-der." Whatever program handles language for that add-on synthesis module is getting a workout today.

    "I not see, Xion. But I understand. We understand. ...did company people make choice to be company people?"

    "Well, now you're getting into philosophy. But there are worse places you could be for that," says Gerard, surveying the shaded valley with a smile. "Should... should I be worried about the tentacle things?" There's a nervous point towards Maricel as she gets to work.

     "Nay," says Bercilak, heading towards what is presumably the dwelling of the village elders, a long-tent made from the same tanned leather and bones as the others, yet clearly meant to be a gathering place.

     "Okay, so yes. Got it. Anyway... if that's how you feel, then I'm sure the elders would welcome you. I'll make the introductions now--they'll wanna cook for you. It's custom when new faces show up." Sure enough, those musclebound grey figures, their black hair bound with leather, begin making greeting gestures at everyone and hurrying around the village to gather food and firewood.

     Xion's leet seems to enjoy being bounced despite the intention, but makes a cutely frustrated warble and wiggles in her grasp when she tries to hide the Interesting Things going on with Maricel's mad doctoring. Since she can easily doctor and move at the same time, Sentinel trusts her and allows themselves to be guided.

     In the seclusion of this place, with welcoming hosts who seem utterly at home (save Gerard) with her very Red means of working, the good doctor will have all the time and peace she needs. She won't just be able to heal Sentinel, but truly chase her vision. The Rhinomen even seem to realize that she's helping and leave her food a respectful distance away, so as not to 'disturb the healer.' This is Gerard's translation of the circular gesticulations and sewing motions they make at each other, where Maricel is concerned.
Hibiki Tachibana     Hibiki puts her hands on her hips and and cocks her head at the leet.

    Honestly, she's not sure if the literal leetspeak makes them less or more cute.

    But everything Gerard says gets her full attention again right after - "That's awful," she almost immediately murmurs, remembering back to some of the things she saw back at the labs. "They're experimented on, thrown out, and then they get hunted down just because they survived...?" She grimaces, and shakes her head. "...I'm glad they have people like you two looking out for them." Maybe trying to move on from the subject after, she adds on, "It's kind of crazy to think that so much came from places like that though..."

    After a moment of thinking, she goes back to the first thing that the botanist mentioned, with equal parts curiosity and concern to match Gerard's own worry. "I didn't know you guys had martial arts temples out here--but I'd be happy to go check on him for you." She punches her fist into her palm for emphasis, as she is wont to do. "In fact, I'll go first chance I get. If he's okay, I'll let you know. And if he's not, I'll help him out with whatever the problem is."
Xion A village hidden away in the desert, and the shifting sands turned into elsewise by nanotechnology. Cast-offs, those making by, and the people who help them, all together.

Over a meal, which Xion eagerly nibbles at but seems fully content to eat what's offered and ask for nothing else, Xion sits cross-legged with Gerald while Maricel works.

"Company people... use the things from the company as keys to unlock basic things like 'eating' and 'survival'. It's the only way they know how."

Extending her hand, with the Leet shuffled off her lap for meal time, Xion closes her fist around her Keyblade's hilt. The weapon appears in a cheery 'shwink!' of metal, and the slinky rattle of the keychain - an empty star - drops from the pommel.

"I just use a big key." Xion adds, with a bright smile and a light tilt of her head to accent her quiet laugh.

If only it was really that easy.
Maricel Thorne      "'Minimal' isn't a number," Maricel sauces gently as she takes the tools back. Most of them vanish into her too-spacious-to-be-real labcoat pockets, but she keeps a couple out: this one to part the flesh, this one to put it back together... "Doctor Bamidele, though. I liiiike that name. Perhaps someday we'll meet." A brief pause as she balances the scalpel on the tip of her finger, judging its weight.

     "I could teach her a thing or two. Prepped for operation?"

     The Splash Zone commences, but it's gentler than expected. Less gruesome, more... inexplicably artful. The incisions that Maricel makes into the Sentinel's body are fractally precise- dodging every capillary, they are perfectly bloodless; avoiding every nerve, they are utterly painless. Where her knife passes, there's only a momentary coldness of metal-on-flesh, and then the funny sensation of being a slightly different shape.

     When she polishes moon-white bone and gently pumps in the new marrow, when she tightens and tunes silvery ligaments until they could sing, when she connects a second candy-red heart to take the first out and perfect it, her doctorly craft starts to resemble an unspoken language too.

     I'm sorry they built you this way, her drill says, leaving behind a yearning emptiness. You deserve so much more, her scalpel whispers, exposing hot organs to the cool evening air. I'll make you right this time, the syringes burble, filling the Sentinel with a new and glowing warmth.
Maricel Thorne      Their old hands become great beautiful claws, self-sharpening and notched for venom, but they gain new hands too- small, delicate, dextrous things, to stroke or build or hold. Their legs are clad in iridescent pearl-like chitin, now insectoid and multiplied; the weight of their body feels so much lighter now, as if they could run for ever and ever and never tire, as if they could jump and brush against the sky.

     Beautiful translucent tendrils branch off their spine like wings, too, each glowing with a different chemical and each tipped with an organic dart; that one to heal, this one to harm, these to soothe the mind.

     Fixing the eye comes last. Maricel smiles lovingly as she touches it with the titanium kiss of her implements, peels it open like a citrus fruit, and gets wrist-deep in its guts. Its focusing lens is replaced with a beautiful rainbowish crystal. Its iris now constricts variably; it can lens to a piercing point, to a sweeping line, or to even stranger shapes.

     And when the last nerves are connected and the Sentinel can see again, they see from a dozen eyes, not merely one. A whole tree of swaying, perfectly dextrous crimson fibrils, each ending in an eye- most the size of a fist, but the old one, yes, the size of an entire head.

     The first thing they get to see is Maricel tucking a lock of hair back behind her ear, smearing crimson juices from her glove along her own cheek as she does, and smiling innocently anyway. Their old, red blood is draining off into the ground. New cyan fluid takes its place, invigorating the tissues so much better.

     "I can make you different again, if this isn't the shape you feel in your heart," she says. "But, rot. You're so, so beautifully awful." And they really really are.