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Kale Hearthward	THE INTERNET ... Is not a series of tubes. It is, however, a series of squares. Floating tiles, each exactly (and 'exactly' meaning down to the micron) one meter wide and long, and about one-fifth as tall. The tiles float in the air with no visible means of support. The tiles stretch out, forming large floating islands atop which structures have been built - including the warpgate that you likely entered in on - as well as buildings and, in the near distance, entire cities. Everything has a uniformly colorful aesthetic to it, to the point of the colors being nearly landmarks themselves - one might get directions to the blue-colored district of the city, for example. The other formation the tiles tend to take, though are forming long meandering pathways - strings of tiles stretching out by the thousands, connecting places together. This is what makes up most of the internet, these long paths. Not straightforward paths, either - twist and turns, rasterized curves, loops and ramps, and not infrequently full-on mazes. It's all made worse by the fact that there's some sort of rendering fog, some hazy quality of the empty space here - under normal circumstances you aren't going to be able to see more than a few kilometers in front of you. What's it all floating above? All these cities and kilometers of twisty rasterized pathway? Apparently a bottomless pit. You can't see the ground. Is there even a ground here? Maybe you could fall forever? Oh, also, there aren't any rails on any of this. In any case. You're not here to stare into the void, you're here because an Ex-Watch member, Forte, reached out to Rita with an offer to help find a powerful monster. It's definitely Forte - he left a private cryptographic key with the Watch when he left, and the message is signed with a corresponding public key. The mission is technically open to non-Watch members, with the understanding that flexibility w/r/t legality and/or morality is a requirement. The issue is that he also didn't provide a convenient meeting place. He provided directions and coordinates, sure, but the spot is deep into the internet, out past the furthest cybercities, past the twisty pathways, and into the unmapped parts of cyberspace. Aside from there not being any straightforward way to get to the meeting spot, anyone setting out gets set upon by pests almost immediately - various cartoonish computer viruses attacking with cannonballs, shockwave-inducing pickaxes, or swords. These aren't at a high threat level on their own, but you're dealing with them along with everything else (the mazes, the fog, the lack of railing, etc). Welcome to the Internet. Hope you like spam.
Gaonoir	Hahaha, this Internet is literally a Grid. Also, it's infested. Viruses smack their pickaxes into the grid, causing little shockwaves to rumble across the squares... Only for whatever they were trying to shockwave to have disappeared, and the virii not really aware enough to be confused before the bipedal black dog that actually almost fits in appears behind them. "Spinning Backhack!" Gaonoir barks as he spins in place with his arms outstretched to smack all the virii at once with his boxing gloved paws to delete them. Then pauses to adjust his bandana. "Nice of Forte to provide some entertainment along the way... Path's clear!" At which Erika walks up, paying as much attention to her smartphone/digivice as she is where she's going. "I'm not sure if this is intentional on his part, or just because it's such an isolated location on this network."
Kupot	Kupot has never been to the internet physically. He's jacked in and had an interesting sensory experience with it. And he was expecting to have to jack in and do puzzles to find where Forte is to meet them. A moment is taken to put his palm against a wall and feel it out. No... there's not enough skin left over from his ninja augments. For a silent moment, Kupot is simply standing with his nose against a wall, experiencing the only flesh contact he can. He makes no comment to anyone during this time. Once he has experienced enough, he lets information flood his HUD. Ads and neon signs and tutorials are quickly dealt with, leaving only the coordinates and then quickly a map to those coordinates. JUMP CUT Kupot leaps forward, sword arcing through a cannon, cutting the virus in twain, which allows Erika to walk by without having to look up. "Kupo. Forte understands data security."
Rita Ma	Rita hasn't been having a great month, but the Internet(?!) seems poised to put an exclamation point on it.      On arrival she tentatively walks to the edge, stares into the void, and makes a tiny noise like a squeaky toy.      Every step across her first void-tile-walkway makes her crumple in on herself further and further with shivery anxiety, as if she were walking a tightrope instead of a three-foot-wide footpath. By the end her teeth are almost chattering, and she stumbles, pivots, and collapses onto her back in relief on her first island. She gasps out the breath she'd been holding the whole time.      One down. A few hundred more to go.      In despair, Rita rummages around in her messenger bag while supine and punches in a phone number. Surely some Watch contacts here can give her directions to those coordinates, right?      Monsters that interfere with the pleading phone call are mysteriously bisected when they approach her. As long as she doesn't have to deal with them while tightrope-walking, she's probably fine.      When others approach, she looks up, smiles weakly, and gives an embarrassed little wave from her recuperating position. She's distinctly green around the (probably) metaphorical gills. "Oh. Hi! You're here to help too? I wish he understood it a little less, maybe..."
Wonderlab Trio	"Wow, it's so colorful!" "Truly... especially compared to L-Corp." "... Don't be drawn in. Still don't know enough to relax."     The Disciplinary Trio of Lobotomy Corporation Branch O-5681 ventures into the multiverse! Besides a handful of local encounters with Elites, and Flower's incessant fact-sharing of information they find on the internet, Rose, Taii, and Catt know nothing about what to expect from the worlds on the other side of the warpgate, and the cheeriness of the environment is in jarring contrast to the suffocating grey of the City.     Despite being the captain, Catt lets the other two lead the way along the tiled path, placidly unresponsive to Taii's darting around to look over the edge and subsequent shriek of fear at the drop, and Rose's fascination at the stability of the platforms. For their own part, rather than looking over their two subordinates, Catt tilts their head and looks out of the corner of their eyes, absorbing the vista without actually making it obvious they're doing so. Quieter than the other two can hear over their excitement, Catt mutters to themselves, "The 'web browser'... so this is what Flower gets up to. Catt sees the appeal."     The agents get significantly more tense when they enter a foggy maze with grey walls that narrow as they continue forwards. Catt draws Bitter Medicine, their polearm-spoon EGO weapon, but none of the viruses leap out of the shadows to harrass them. Taii grabs on to Rose's arm, shaking as the walls narrow down so closely that they have to squeeze sideways through them, tight corners becoming more and more frequent. Finally, though, the end is in sight, the maze opening back up to the primary-color path, and Taii sighs in relief and lets go of Rose to hurry towards it, grateful to be out. Right before they get to the end, all three of them have their visions go dark as a psychic image of a pale bloody face suddenly appears in their minds along with a short scream.     Rita, resting on her platform, hears Taii and Rose's shrieks long before the trio actually joins her. Taii is clinging to Rose's arm again, yellow eyes bloodshot with dried tears, and even Rose looks pale, patting Taii on the head reassuringly. Catt didn't scream, but their eyes are wide and dark with adrenaline, hair frazzled, appropriately, like a cat.     "-bzzt- Thaaat's Rita Mita! Not really. Their name is Rita Ma! They're the one from the super-duper wet world that this is for helping."     Rose taps a finger to their ear and murmurs, "Thanks, Flower," before mustering a weak smile and waving at Rita. "Hi, Rita, right? I'm Rose. These are Catt and Taii. We're with Lobotomy Corporation."     Taii flops down onto the ground beside her, taking Rita's lead at this being a place of safety. "Uuuuu... I had no idea the internet was so scary... how does Flower do it?"
Nephra Tangent	The internet sucks. Why would anyone waste time here?     For the first time in weeks and weeks, she'd had reason to step through a warpgate- similarly, for the first time in weeks and weeks, Nephra has re-clad herself in the Androktasia exosuit, in its mostly-reassembled entirety. More of its eerily-overlapping and ever-moving plating, once covered over in Nephra's spraypaint patterns, is now just buffed-over raw shiny grey. The same lack of recoloring is reflected in how long the dark-brown roots of her hair seem to be getting.     "You see this bullshit, don't you?" Nephra stage-whispers, holding a plastic box up near her face- a few of the scrawny petstore feeder mice crawling over one another inside it arguably squeak in return conversation. "Always bottomless pits. Always floating stuff. At least the last one had guardrails. And stuff that fell kind of just started floating. Nowhere has any taste to just let ground be ground. Sorry you've got to see this all, li'l buddies..." Suddenly, she goes still, and her teeth clamp around a still-ever-present lollipop stick.     "Guess that floating thing's not ruled out, is it?" Nephra's posture locks down for a moment, just long enough for the claw-like gauntlet fingers of her free hand to grab around her spear-- upright-sticking, thanks to the dying (Maybe dead? Who'd check.) Internet Malware Denizen she's stuck it through --and arc it a near full circle through the air, until the cartoonish body of it slips off and dissapears into the foggy abyss. She's quiet for a long, long moment, watching it arc, before-     "Yeah. Haha. No. See? That sucks. That really really sucks. Don't worry, though, little buddies. You're in good hands. I'm not gonna slip and fall. Haha.)]" Every thud-thud of her suit's reactor not only sparks the fear that slight gravitic alterations will simply break the tiny squares holding her up, but also sparks actual sparks, from unrefined reattachment points that still need repair work. The mice Nephra is monologuing to still don't respond, of course.     Footsteps made rock-steady do a lot to cover up the girl's trembling as she slowly meanders down the paths away from sensible wider platforms, the actual length of the journey blurring into the low-adrenal mess of vital motor-control focus, trying to make good on her promise, and not let irritating hordes of-- she doesn't really have any idea of what they are, actually --knock her off. For the sake of the plastic carrier of mice, at least.     That haze doesn't stop her from hollering out into the foggy haze, though- walking in a given direction isn't exclusive with feeling lost, and definitely not exclusive with hoping someone would answer a cupped-hand amplified shout of "Is anyone out there?" or "Seriously, is anyone out there?" or "I'll scream even louder if I fall off."     After a bit of doing that, actually, she starts to hope there isn't anyone person-like wandering these weird aerial platforms.
Kale Hearthward	Gaonoir clears a path, with Kupot following up with the sword. The agents come through with their weapons. Nephra doesn't manage to break the tiles - which isn't to say that they seem unbreakable, but that they're sturdy enough that she shouldn't need to worry about it. (Whether she continues to worry regardless is left as exercise.) Rita connects with some locals, who provide her with written instructions that are a much more in-depth set of directions than what Forte gave. The directions are still a little hard to follow - in a laconic 'go forward on the blue path till you reach the purple part... turn left when you see the big stone...' sort of way that assumes she's familiar with navigating this region already. There's solutions for the mazes, albeit ones drawn in alphanumeric characters. XXXOXXX XOOOXXX XOXXXOX XOOOOOX XXXXXOX XOXXXOX XOOOOOX XXXOXXX Whichever way you're going, the paths eventually unite back together, converging on a wide flat area that seems to serve as a border point between two regions... and is ringed by stalls and shops. "L33t warez! Get your chown warez here! !list for a menu!" "Virus repellant! Guaranteed to work, or your zenny back!" "Do *you* want to win your operator a free Electopian vacation? Just drop your contact card in the box!" "Get your deepfakes here! Trained on top quality learning models, guaranteed to contain the right amount of fingers! All the hottest elites in Sector Zero!" "Madame Lovelace sees all! Blockchain forecasts, cyberdating outlook, and SSD palm readings! Step into her parlor..." The vendors are loud, and insistent, and it's all overwhelming, especially if they notice that you're from offworld. Simply trying to get through the market only works somewhat - someone gets in your way, then tries to push a voxelbeat midicore mixtape on you, or a map of the area you just came from, and then is insistent you pay for it. Or they bump into you, spill the 'expensive' cyber drink they were carrying on their 'ultra rare' armor skins, and insist you pay for that. Or have some sob story about their poor daughter who needs an ip-appendectomy, and insists you pay for that. It's going to be hard to get out of this without either incurring expense or incident, it seems.
Gaonoir	Erika stops a moment, adjusting her glasses. "Huh. I guess malls didn't die out in this world." "More likely a manifestation of a Dark Web Silk Road operation," Gaonoir snorts. He's already on high alert, seeing how much his Tamer is going to stand out as not being a regular being a totally normal human type person. Sure enough a mixtape panderer steps in, shoves forth his probably crummy lo-res media, but Gaonoir grabs Erika with one paw to turn her out of the way and slaps aside the offender's arm with his other while giving a stern dour. "No." The shyster 'drops' the mixtape, totally intentionally making it look accidental by fumbling it between his hands a few times, and it hits the ground, shattering into voxels. "Hey you break it you buy it!" "You dropped it," Gaonoir surprisingly doesn't raise his voice beyond a growl, but does flash his sharp canine teeth in doing so. "Fuck this. Come on." He tugs Erika after him, shifting them both through his voidstep to transposition farther towards the opposite end of this digital consumerism hell.
Kupot	"I was told something important is going on and that I should help, kupo." Kupot answers back to Rita Ma. He does manage something of a smile, just a little one, to show he is happy to help. It gives him purpose. It gives him life. And it's better than blowing up shipping facilities. "Digital black market, kupo. A place where people hope to catch the gullible." He steps back as someone tries to bump into him. "Credibility must be established. There is always a hierarchy in places like this, kupo. They want to be better than you, but don't want to stand up against anyone more powerful." This... should work. They are in a data driven environment. But they are also somewhere real. Do the people around them have souls? Are they mindless data? Kupot's hand freezes near the cyber jack in his skull, considering. Finally, he brings forward a White ICE program, small enough to simply crash the mixtape being pushed onto him. "Let us pass, Kupo. Any noobs here are spoken for."
Rita Ma	Rita gets a shot of bravery- did the monsters get someone?!- that pries her off the floor and propels her back onto the walkway when she hears those screams. Only when the trio comes into view does her panicked girly run decay into a walk, and then into a hands-on-knees little sigh of relief.      (And then into a yelp, and a startled hop backwards, because she's just realized that she's on a walkway and that's a long way down.)      "Yes, that's right! Um, are all of you okay?" she says, re-composing herself with a dollop of embarrassment and bowing slightly from the waist. Her yellow cropped jacket needs straightening, she finds; a few hairs need tucking behind her ear. "It's good to meet you, M- Mmmmiiiiss Rose?" Her eyes flit between the trio, looking for confirmation or rejection.      En route through the maze- she's happy to give directions, now that she has them!- she 'acquires' a floating knight-like virus to hitch a ride on. It seems strangely docile and compliant, and its buoyancy means she doesn't have to worry about falling as long as she holds on tight enough. Boy does she.      "Ms. Angela sent you, didn't she? She's really sweet, I think." Rita's tone is warm, but a little wary, too. Her chin rests atop the knight's helmet in a vaguely pouty way, but it doesn't match her bright-cute face. "How much did she tell you about everything?"      All paths converge at the market. Rita's smart enough not to take a monster into a populated area, and sends it off onto the void. For all that the simple walkways fazed her, the market doesn't at all: she has a way of pressing through the throng of people and keeping her head down. It's a lot like home! When someone bumps into her, a mysterious force catches their drink and stops it from spilling, and she passes on her way with brightly snappy apologies.      On the way through, she impulse-nabs some wares and drops credits on the vendor's table without a word as compensation. Nephra catches her eye on the other side, just as she's reuniting with her knight-like virus out of view of the stalls. She's holding a deepfake data voxel with Liza Grier's likeness on it under her arm. At first Rita fails to recognize her. Then-      "Oh! Ms. Nephra!" She's delighted with herself for spotting her, and spares a little wave just for the mice. "What happened to your hair? I've never heard of it turning brown."
Wonderlab Trio	"It's good to meet you, M- Mmmmiiiiss Rose?"     With a pleasant, patient smile, Rose shakes their head and slightly bows in return. "Just 'Rose' is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rita."     Taii is entranced by the mount that Rita's chosen, walking alongside her and cheerfully answering her questions after recovering enough to get up from the ground. "Oh, no, Angela is the representative of headquarters. We work for a separate branch, with our own manager. We haven't... gotten any briefings from her, besides the Concord onboarding manual, so we're mostly figuring things out as we go! Flower, a friend of mine, fills us in if we're missing anything too important, though, so don't worry about us being dead weight!"     Like plague rampaging through an isolated population, the agents have no resistance whatsoever to the bright lights and pushy insistence of the vendors. Catt is spooked immediately, freezing up and looking for some way to get out of the targeting ranges for the stalls, and the moment they stop moving they're beset by a pair of salespeople getting right up in their face. Rose puts their hands up as a shield against the flashy sales sheets being shoved in their face, but is eventually whittled down into politely agreeing to 'at least hear them out'. Taii is the most familiar with an overstimulating market, but between being shaken by the journey across the void, and having their companions stolen from their side to leave them adrift in the street, they end up being pulled into the fortunetelling booth. "Do *you* want to win your operator a free Electopian vacation? Just drop your contact card in the box!"     "Oh dear... I don't think I need one of those. I'm not even sure I've *heard* of that place." Rose winces after the words leave their mouth, prompting another torrent of fast-paced sales-poisoned explanation from the merchant. "I don't... no, I'm sure... isn't this information you're asking for quite fishy? I'm sorry, but... no, sir, I'm busy...."     Trying to politely explain their way out of the encounter leaves Rose trapped for some time, but eventually they raise their voice and firmly speak over the merchant. "I'm not interested. If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." "L33t warez! Get your chown warez here! !list for a menu!"     Stunned into silence, Catt gets slowly shuttled to the side of the street by the vendors; each time they try to take a step to slink away, one of the pair happens to be in their way in just the *precise* positioning to angle them closer to their stall instead of farther away. Eventually, Catt manages, "... Catt does not need a 'chown'."     In response, one of the merchants grabs their arm, promising that they can totally explain how *badly* Catt actually *does* need their wares, and the physical contact is the last straw. Catt twists away from the merchant, tearing themselves out of their grasp and following up with a kick that sends them flying, pulling out Bitter Medicine for the coup-de-grace before Rose, free from their own ordeal, catches them. "Captain! The others are moving on, let's catch up, shall we?"
Wonderlab Trio	"Madame Lovelace sees all! Blockchain forecasts, cyberdating outlook, and SSD palm readings! Step into her parlor..."     "Ah-- no, ma'am, I'm not interested-- no, I'm just looking for my captain, I...." Faint protestations easily brushed past, Taii gets ensnared deeper than the other two agents, pulled right off the street into a tent filled with excruciatingly slowly fading digital fog and dial-up noises pitched to sound like mysterious humming. Madame Lovelace looks into her crystal ball, nods sagely at Taii's prompt, and says in an unbroken, neutral tone: "Ah, my dear seeker of fortunes, I shall peer into the mystical realm and reveal to you the secrets of your captain's whereabouts. But beware, for my words may carry a tinge of deceit, as I am but a disreputable fortune-teller scammer."     "I-is that so...." "Ahem, let me consult the spirits... Ah, I see a vision! The captain's location is shrouded in mystery, hidden behind a veil of uncertainty. The path to their whereabouts is treacherous and fraught with danger. They may be found in a distant land, far beyond the reach of your grasp."     "Th-they can't be *that* far away...." But fear not, for I possess the power to guide you, for a small fee, of course. I sense that the captain's location can be uncovered through a series of trials and tribulations. You must embark on a perilous journey, following the signs and omens that will lead you to their side."     "A-ah... er...."
Nephra Tangent	In the time it takes to find more stable and wider platforms once more, and as her hope of any call-out getting answered fades, Nephra's hollers out into the void have regressed from pleas for confirmation of other's existences, to activities like loudly singing the ABC's, marching tunes about bottles of beer hung up on the wall (never the full lengths, ninety-nine is far too high to count down from with her level of patience), to occasional sharp, wordless yelps. Those don't last long, when a pang of guilt over whether the mice would be distressed by that or not washes over her.     Once the paths connect to the market, though, it's easier for her to breath, and easier for her to take each step forwards- even if it's still tugging at her gut how thin the floor must be. Still, though, she knows well how to put her head down and wander through streets, no matter the called-out scam offers aiming to empty pockets of tourists. That does carry with it the urge to jam hands into her pockets, but those don't exist, and her hands are otherwise busy, so the stick of her lollipop gets her frustrations bitten into it. Clad as she is in her slightly-insectoid, not-slightly cold and violent mass of metal, and wearing an ever-present one-eyed scowl, Nephra assumes she ought not be a fantastic con target.     So, it is quite a large mistake when the first unlucky con artist to brush hard enough against Nephra's shoulder plating. Normally averse to the idea, she is carrying the Precious Cargo of a Handful Of Mice in one hand, and that means that her other vice-grip-like gauntlet is free to click-snap around their neck before whatever utterances about a spilt drink can ring out. She's twisting the poor sop down to the ground, and rearing to place a knee on their chest, purely out of base neuroelectric instinct firing- It's really so shocking having the suit back on after all this time. It makes it all sickeningly easy.     She stays still for a moment, her single organic eye blinking once, then twice, in slow motion, before easing up on the con. How long was that? Do they need to breathe? "Don't touch me.." She whispers, quickly backing away to keep moving through the crowd, her gaze shifting to and fro in a silent beg-slash-warning for people to make way.     When she has the space to do so, she shakes her metal-clad arm out, as if there was something to clean off of it. Her mice-container clutching hand pulls in closer to her chest, for safety. Seeing a familiar-ish face snaps her out of it, though- as much as 'out' means 'into a flat, forced smile'.     "Oh, hallelujah, and fire the whole damned chorus. I guess I didn't wander off into the wrong end of the universe after all. Haha. Hey to you too, Miss Rita." Her gauntlet still has a faint tremble to it as she gives the other girl a short salute. And- 'What happened to your hair?'     Immediately, there's a flicker of added strain to Nephra's expression. But her voice is ever-flat in response, like usual. "Color got stolen by a dye vampire."     A moment's pause, and she puts the mice down, lower, held near her hip. Why on earth is she carrying mice with her?     "Kiddin'. It just... does that, if you don't redo the dye. Haha. It's just the color it's supposed to be, without me fudging it towards somethin' else. Does it look that sloppy? I could chop the blue bits off."     Who knows how serious that statement is.
Kale Hearthward	The group gets through the market *mostly* without incident. Gaonoir breaking some merchandise then teleporting away, a maneuver that would usually trigger the superboss to pursue him till he finds stairs, instead fortunately only gets dirty looks towards the remainder of the party. Rita doesn't get hassled on the way out, since she bought something, nor does Taii, once money is extracted from them. Kupot and Nephra off different 'do not touch' vibes mean the gauntlet keeps their distance as they exit. A bit further on, with a few more internet misadventures... ... there's the meeting place. It's decidedly off the beaten path. And there's the person you're here to meet. He looks well. Or, actually, he looks like he always does, floating nearly motionless a foot above the ground. "Rita." Pause. "It's good to see you." The knight she's riding isn't commented on. Nor is the Liza Grier deepfake archive. "And the others - who I don't recognize. That's fine." He looks like he was hoping to see more than just one familiar face. His gaze lingers on Gaonoir briefly, but continues on to look at each person in turn as he speaks. "My name is Forte. I'm from this world. Rita helped me out, back when I was in the Watch. I had to leave the Watch to focus on some things, but I wanted to at the minimum pay her back." There is one change Rita can tell: this is more words than Forte has spoken on some entire missions. "The target we're retrieving for Rita is called Alpha. It is currently held by a local government organization called Scilab. I have set up a meeting with someone who has a plan to break it out." "I will warn you that he is..." Forte pauses, visibly deciding how to phrase the next piece of information. "A mad scientist."
Gaonoir	They did not know Forte personally, or Rita for that matter, but once the Watch had determined the message was legit and reviewing what Forte's world often involved in it's high digital intergration, felt it was a good idea to ensure someone of at least some tangent of similar nature. Fortunately they have a Digimon readily at call. It helps that Gaonoir would likely not have any issues with potential moral or legal ... questionability, and his Tamer would help keep an eye on things so nothing goes too far. Hopefully. "Mad scientest, honestly, is probably the sort of outside thinking the problem needs." Gaonoir chuffs, folding his arms. "I'm sure most of us present have dealt with worse in some form." "Sometimes it takes monsters to fight monsters," Erika agrees. As they've learned from experience. Literally monsters as well in metaphorically being monsterous, because well that's just how Digimon work. By now she's already got her device back up and clicking at it. Mad scientist being held by and probably suppressed by a government organization sounds enough like a conspiracy of some kind to keep her curiousity engaged.
Kupot	Kupot glances back at the violence, then frowns. It is not worth it to have an argument with Nephra, nor is he actually certain that they are alive. Or that such an attack would kill them. Too many unknowns to raise a grievance. A nod of respect is given to Forte. As he said on the radio, if two people think this is vital, that is enough for Kupot. Being a terrorist is already in his wheel house. It is something to lift so no one else has to. "What is the scope of Alpha, kupo. What is Alpha meant to do? What should we expect to face?"
Rita Ma	Rita's smile slides down into uncertainty, and her face recedes behind the knight-monster-steed's conical plume. She's got a lot of practice at reading the stress off other people. "Oh. That makes sense, Ms. Nephra," she lies. "I don't think it looks sloppy. I think it's..." Her eyes wander off to the side, for once finding the void the more appealing alternative. Eventually she finds the energy, and uncertainty, to push them back onto Nephra.      "supposed to be"      "Supposed by who, Ms. Nephra?" she finally asks. It ought to sound contrarian, but it doesn't. It's tenderly prying instead.      Is this really what she wants? It doesn't look bad. But if she didn't really want it to be blue, why was it blue before?      She holds onto her monster-knight's armor tight enough for her fingertips to dent its metal, but it eventually gets her to Forte safe and sound, trailing little data-bits from the deepfake archive voxel as she goes.      "Mr. Forte," she says as she disembarks from her steed, with a smile and a little head-bow. Her smile broadens as soon as he says more than one word, and keeps sweetly widening after. "It's really good to see you too! You seem..."      She stares off into the distance, moves her lips, and picks the word very carefully. "Less shy. Have things been going well?"      Rita's about to ask about Alpha's capabilities, it seems, before Kupot beats her to the punch. She just smiles and side-nods at him to echo it. "I remember Scilab," she says. "I'm glad you have a plan. The last time breaking in there was really horrible, wasn't it? And they've probably raised security since."      "A mad scientist."      Rita makes a face like she's just bitten into a lemon. The Swordy virus has to pat her on the shoulder consolingly with a gauntlet-like hand. "Oh. ... And you're sure we can't just break in without a plan, Mr. Forte?" But she's already resigned.
Nephra Tangent	'Supposed by who, Ms. Nephra?'     Her one good eyebrow raises at that. Her voice sounds more on the back-foot than her expression can avoid giving away. "What do you mean? Brown's it's normal color. Genetics ain't that broad to give out blue in their lottery. That's all. 'Supposed' is just, like, what it is, if I don't do shit to it. Haha."     "Why are you floating." Nephra's gaze roves over Forte's whole being, her expression cold and flat. Then, she looks to her plastic container of mice. "Hey, li'l buddies. This guy's kind of weird, right? All floaty like that? You think it's compensation for somethin'? Or maybe the floor around here really ain't something to trust."     At that last thought, she pauses, and blurts out a "Haha." in tandem with her reactor's gut-echoing thud-thud. She's still for a moment, and, out of morbit curiosity, bounces on the front of her feet once more, just to tempt fate and the one-by-one meter tiles. Nope. Didn't fall through. '-Who I don't recognize. That's fine.'     Nephra sticks her tongue out, stained blue-raspberry-blue from the lollipop she's been nursing. A little hummed 'Mhm!~' comes out, the whole ensemble thoroughly teasing in tone.     "Do you want names, or something? Speak pretty quickly if you do! Or I'll be liable to tell you a lie like 'Her Magnimoniousity, Queen-Regent Frumperdink-Wiltonsmithers. Instead of Nephra." A pause, and a tight-pulled smile, that almost seems predatory. "Whoops."     As if it takes a moment for her to remember they exist, Nephra holds the crate of tiny feeder mice out in front of her a bit later. "Oh, yeah. These are my buddies. Say hi. They're trying to make new friends, so I'm takin' them on this nice walk. Haha." 'A mad scientist.'     Looking down at her gauntlet's fingertips as if they were nails to examine, Nephra speaks without eye contact, "Yuh-huh. What's got the scientist so mad? 'S it cuz 'Scilab' sounds like a mashup of Science Lab? I'd be right furious at that."     "'Government Organization' is a kind of scary term, though. What's the heat of that all? There going'ta be any sort of big flashy fight? Dangerous retaliation? Or just kind of soft and squishy obstacles."     She finally finishes examining the clawlike digits of her gauntlet, and moves to awkwardly, and repeatedly, flexing her hand open and closed at her side. It'd be a bit catlike, if each little motion didn't also creak, click-snap, and hiss like steam pistons cracking against ice.
Wonderlab Trio	Taii emerges from the tent, depleted both emotionally and financially. They wobble walking over to Rose and Catt, head hanging down. Rose hurries over and lets them lean on their shoulder, patting them and murmuring, 'there, there,' while Catt, still frazzled, stands guard with Bitter Medicine drawn. No more vendors approach them, after meeting Catt's black, stretched-wide eyes.     When the mission contact is finally in front of them, Catt takes the lead for once, black skirt rustling louder than their near-silent steps as they slide past the other two agents. "Forte. 'Alpha' is a monster? Catt can fight it. The goal is to breach, fight, subdue, and then... utilize it? How?"     Behind Catt, Rose puts a gloved hand on their cheek, tilting their head and making a conflicted smile. "Objecting to allying with a mad scientist would be hypocritical of us, given where we work. And besides, it's for the greater good, so I'm certain you've judged that the benefits outweigh the risks."     Meanwhile, Taii looks between Forte and Rita, surprised. "You have that much of a history here, Rita? You barely look as old as I do! Having favors to collect from people to help save your world... I think that's really amazing. It's like a storybook." Taii is entranced by the idea, holding both of their fists up at their chest and leaning in.     Flower, the young, pink-haired clerk seated at a desk with a headset on, watching through a series of television screens connected to point-of-view camera, spins around in their chair. An array of other clerks crowd behind them, all trying to get peeks of the multiverse over their shoulder. Flower raises their hands up and addresses them. "Who here has deetsies on Rita! They're apparently super-mega-ultra well known!"
Kale Hearthward	> "What is the scope of Alpha, kupo. What is Alpha meant to do? What should we expect to face?" "Alpha in its current state..." Forte holds up both hands, palms inwards. "Is compressed in a spherical container at about this size." So about the size of a basketball. "If left unchecked, it would expand to be at least..." He looks over at the direction you all just came from. "Approximately... the distance between here and the closest warpgate. At minimum. The maximum size it could grow to is unknown." "Alpha is an all-devouring digital monster. It is akin to a nanotechnologic grey goo threat, but it's actually a single organism with a nucleus. Like an amoeba. The last time it was loose, Scilab wasn't able to fight it, they had to wait for it to go dormant before they could contain it." "I've researched it, because it is... a being of particular interest to me." > "Yuh-huh. What's got the scientist so mad?" "The fools, spurn me and my brilliant proposals and fund the work of my rival, will they. I will show them, and show this languid decrepit net society they've built atop the rotting corpse of his inventions. I'll show them all. Delete, delete, delete." The impression(?) is clearly meant to have some emphasis behind it, but Forte delivers it entirely flat. "That's Doctor Albert Wily. But I do not hate the thought of him destroying this world, speaking frankly." > "Utilize it? How?" "That is... complicated." Forte has an s-tier poker face. > "You seem... Less shy. Have things been going well?" Forte's gaze shifts to look at nobody at all. "... Better than expected." Suddenly a lot more shy, it seems. At least about this topic. > "Oh. ... And you're sure we can't just break in without a plan, Mr. Forte?" "We *can*." "I have made him no promises, and struck no deals yet. We could conceivably make a move on Alpha before he does. But." "It'd be a harder fight, and it'd burn... a lot of the resources I'd have available to me. If it was for anyone but you and your loved ones, Rita, I would say no, that we'd have to work with him." "But for you, yes, if that is your call. We can work with Wily, negotiate a deal with him, or we can attempt to beat him to the punch without his assistance."
Kupot	Kupot drums his fingers across his sword hilt. "Is your dilemma grand enough to put another world in danger?" He asks of Rita plainly. Then he turns towards her. Kupot's eyes, perhaps thankfully, can not be judging. They are covered with a set of bug like optical lenses that his HUD projects on. Instead, one only feels the insectile alien gaze on them, and his fuzzy stony expression. A pause. Then, offered offhand, "You could betray him, kupo. Allow him to show his hand, his true nature, then cut that hand off."
Gaonoir	There's a few bleep blip bleeps from Erika plinking at her device. She's likely documenting the information Forte has given... and just as probably trying to confirm Wily versions. Because there's been quite a few of them at various times in the Multiverse, though not known to be currently active. It doesn't really matter, they all qualify as 'mad scientist' in some manner. "It's Rita's call. It's her world we're trying to help after all." Gaonoir rubs his nose with the edge of a gloved paw. "But as someone that has worked for... similarly inclined beings," a pause as he's considering how to phrase what he's saying. "It may be easier to work with him than having him get pissed off at us for upping him and interfering in the efforts we're putting forth. Probably do not need additional complications." Now it is really making sense why Forte's request implied more... morally flexible interests only. Kupot's comments get Erika to look up again. "Keeping an eye on him if we do work for him would be paramount, yes. And deal with any problems made." A pause. A few more blips. "Very lesser of two evils scenerio, isn't it?"
Rita Ma	Flower's clerks bring them... an AMV? Rita's fans have stitched together public footage (most of it security cameras or shaky hand-cams; none of it endorsed) into a montage set to a trashy, ethereally-crooning lesbian anthem.      The slower parts of the song are cut with relaxed, candid moments: taking friends out to sushi restaurants, leaping between rooftops with wistful framing, getting a stuffed animal nearly as big as herself from a carnival, going on a desert road trip with besties. They paint a picture of a cheerful girl, if not quite a carefree one, who still finds simple pleasures a novelty but is making up for lost time.      The punchy chorus paints a different one, albeit still fondly.      \They're so pretty, it hurts~\      A confrontation in Lilian's world, with armed police and unarmed protestors. Lilian's on one side. Rita's on the other. Her diving kick carries them both through a portal, but with an expression of regret.      \I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls~\      There are way too many clips of her beating the stuffing out of Ishirou specifically played in rapid succession. No two are from the same incident.      \They're so pretty with their button-up shirts...~\      Grainy security cam footage of an unidentifiable facility's cafeteria. Rita disarranges the bodies of zombies like they're over-ripe produce. An arm goes through a torso, and she whisks their body in half by wrenching it upward.      \And they're so pretty, it hurts...~\      The Vatican. Rita's surrounded by a swarm of dark-iridescent chitinous creatures in a half-dozen morphotypes. They don't harm her, and even though the crowd screams and runs, they don't lunge at anyone else either.      Somehow people don't see any contradiction between this and the cheekpinchable sweetness. (They're right.)
Nephra Tangent	Nephra takes a moment to snicker at Taii's enthusiasm- and then, intentionally, snicker louder, to try and ensure they hear her. Haha. That's kid behavior. Then, a second later, and she feels a weird pang in her gut. That's kid behavior. It's probably not hard to feel her awkward glances, as Nephra starts to pace in place while the gathering convenes, restless.     She also, under her breath, mutters something about 'Kupo' and 'tragic head injuries'. 'I've researched it, because it is... a being of particular interest to me.'     "What's got you intruiged by an apocalypse basketball? I mean. That's intruiging, sort of, but what's your deal?" The candy still in her mouth gets crunched at. "Haha."     "It wouldn't make an apocalypse elsehwere, right?" She hopes that isn't wishful thinking. 'But I do not hate the thought of him destroying this world, speaking frankly.'     "Don't normal people live here? That's fucked. Maybe you should speak less frankly." Nephra pauses. "Well. Maybe it's less fucked if the people here can't die or something, but. They still do that, right?"     Another pause prefaces a relenting, "I do kind of hate the stupid walkways."     'We could conceivably make a move on Alpha before he does. But.'     Nephra obnoxiously clears her throat. Sure, she's not the one being asked, but she's piping up regardless. "On a scale of one to the possible death count of this... 'world', what's, like, the chance a deal with that beaker-jockey involves..." She pantomimes an explosion, and makes a 'Kaboom' noise. "I don't think I've been involved in ending a world before and this isn't really feeling like the most fun place to try and do that in. So I'd kind of... like to not help him if he'd do that. Haha."     "If he probably wouldn't though, just ignore me. Haha. Or do it anyways. It's probably pretty easy to, right."     Once more, she coughs into her metal-covered hand. "Hey. Miss Rita. What went so bad with Science-Lab the first go-around? Were you there-there? If I'm bringing my li'l buddies into a firefight, I kinda wanna know what they'll be in for, in case I need to give them little blindfolds. They're tender souls. A violent show wouldn't do them good, I don't think." It's really painfully obvious how much of that is a sensible question bent purposefully to project a stupid false motive.     Before even being asked, she rolls her eye. "I'd put them down somewhere safe before a fight, though. For realsies."
Wonderlab Trio	"Alpha is an all-devouring digital monster."     Catt nods slowly, looking out into the distance that Forte gestured towards. They stay silent for a few seconds too long to feel natural, neutral expression settled on where the marketplace was, obscured by the fog in the distance, and then a wide smile crawls across their face.     "Catt thinks it sure would be funny to see what an all-devouring monster would do to this world. But it's strange that you say you wouldn't hate the sight either. Not just that the end of your own world wouldn't bother you, but to be so passive about it... it seems cowardly, to Catt." Catt's smile makes the words feel more like intentionally cruel probing than scolding, and then they shrug and continue, still smiling, though their teeth aren't showing anymore. "Not that Catt really cares." "You could betray him, kupo."     Rose side-eyes Kupot, arms crossed. While Catt is engaged with Forte, whether it's for mission planning or bullying, Rose's normally-projected voice softens to be a secondary conversation to the one Catt's having. "That might seem prudent *now*, but it certainly doesn't set a good precedent, does it? Suppose other people hear about how we betrayed this Dr. Wily on a joint mission because he was evil, and they start wondering if maybe *they* might be seen as too evil, too. If it's in our best interest to work across the aisle, then we should keep it in their best interest as well."     "Of course, that all goes out the window if he threatens to harm us or civilians," Rose waves their hand, pre-empting the response. "But assuming they're *bound* to do so means there was never any point to trying in the first place."     Flower watches the AMV multiple times, entranced. Some of the song leaks through their microphone into Taii's ears, and Taii squints in confusion, trying to make it out. They put a finger to the earbud, looking away and talking without projecting so no one confuses who they're talking to. "Flower? What's that you're watching?" "Flower is told it's called an AMV... it's videos of Rita on the interwebs." "And those lyrics...?" "Something about 'girls'." "Flower... maybe you shouldn't be watching that kind of thing. Does the internet have a lot of that?" "Yeppers! But I'm interweb-savvy! Oh, and there's videos of Rita with Lily! That's just two steppers-deppers removed from the Red Mist." "She's a friend of the Dame Commander's... that's good to know, thank you, Flower."     It's not exactly the most useful information that Flower could've provided Taii about Rita for this mission, but it's something. Besides, when the trio returns to the facility later, Flower will have collected over a dozen AMVs that they insist they all sit through and watch, ranging from other Elites, to anime characters, to even just typical sports players.
Rita Ma	"What went so bad with Science-Lab the first go-around?"      Oh! You're really nice to your mice, Ms. Nephra. Would it be okay if I touched one?" Rita is thoroughly enthused, but then she squares her shoulders, straightens her back, and deliberately adopts a different tone. "Right. Um. I remember they didn't have much physical security, but maybe that's changed. The main problem is they have some really strong fighters on their side, and if there's an emergency, they'll probably call them in. 'Alpha' sounds really secure, so I'm not sure we can get through without setting off alarms. We'll want to get out as fast as we can."      Rita smiles and shuts her eyes. "Is that what you wanted to know, Ms. Nephra?"      "... Better than expected."      Forte's loss is Rita's gain. She sponges his confidence right up, and her smile gains a warmly smug edge.      "You have that much of a history here, Rita?      "Oh, um, not really! I mean, I'm not the one with the most history, for sure?" She puts up her hands in an embarrassed panic to deflect. "Mr. Forte is- well, if he says he owes me a favor, that's okay, but I think he's the only one. I'm only twenty-one!!"      This is clearly a girl who isn't used to being a big deal.      "We *can*."      Rita perks up from her discomfort immediately, mouth slightly open and already forming words of thanks. They don't get voiced. She hesitates, then withdraws again, uncomfortably squeezing her own arm.      "Is your dilemma grand enough to put another world in danger?"      It's a fair question. But it's not the one she's really asking herself. Rita's eyes fall to the ground. "Mr. Forte... is someone who has to look out for himself, I think. Not many other people have looked out for him. I'm really grateful he's helping me this much. I can't really ask him for more," she half-mumbles slowly.      "If... 'Dr. Wily' tries to hurt people with 'Alpha'" she says, gradually straightening up, "I think I'll be able to prevent it, after this. So I think it's okay to work with him, this once." Rita smiles. She's found a self-appeasing rationalization. But it all still comes down to her guilt.      She looks to Forte uncertainly for approval. Is that a good call?
Kale Hearthward	> "You could betray him, kupo." Rose answers this so Forte doesn't have to, but he does add: "Trust is easy to spend but hard to earn back. And I would be spending a lot of trust, if we strike a deal with him and *then* take advantage of him. I may need to associate with him again." > "Don't normal people live here? That's fucked." "The whole place is 'fucked'." Forte says this, and then his eyes snap to Nephra, in that order. "This is the internet. In the literal sense. A tangled web of malware, spam, bugs, and insincerity. You haven't seen even a hundredth of it yet." > Rita's answer Forte nods, once, as she looks to him for approval. That's equivalent to an A+ on the Forte report card. "I will see to see to it that he does not hurt people, to begin with," says Forte. "He needs my assistance to unlock Alpha's bindings. That means I have leverage." "I will make sure that Alpha operates on..." He glances down at what Rita's carrying. "... Liza Grier rules."
Gaonoir	>This is the internet. In the literal sense. A tangled web of malware, spam, bugs, and insincerity. You haven't seen even a hundredth of it yet. "That is about the best description I've heard of any Internet really," Erika chimes in, as she doesn't have much else to add to the decision making process. "This one just visually and physically represents it without remorse." Gaonoir chffs softly as he does and nods a bit. This is Rita and Forte's show. He's just here to possible sneak around some and definitely punch things when they get to things needing to be punched.
Nephra Tangent	'Oh! You're really nice to your mice, Ms. Nephra.'     A guilty look crosses the girl's face. She seems genuinely uncomfortable with that compliment. "Yeah. Haha. Sure." A pause extends out for a moment, and then she holds the plastic container out towards Rita. "You can touch 'em. Or have one, even. They're just feeder mice. So."     "Yeah. That's... Haha. What I wanted to know. Fast job, and tough fights. Indivuduals, mostly, yeah? Not hordes? Thanks, Miss Rita. Haha." 'The whole place is 'fucked'.'     Nephra once more sticks her tongue out at Forte, the second his eyes snap her way. "Haha. Guess I gotta ask it a bit clearer. Any of the stuff here actually alive? Sure moves and talks like people, somewhat. I think you should answer that 'fore you keep talking more about wanting this world to go away."     The lollipop's stick actually gets severed with the ensuing teeth clench from Nephra, which quickly elicits a surprised look of kinda-grossed-out. She winds up spitting the whittled-down top of the lollipop out, with its inedible core now impossible to remove.     "Blegh."
Kupot	Kupot turns his gaze on Forte. There is a clear feeling of Kupot's eye software reading his data and forming a consensus. He stares longer than he stared at Rita. Then back at Rita. "If it is this important, kupo." The head turns over and then up to Rose. "That is your concern, kupo." He rolls his fingers across the hilt of the sword, thinking, "Can you afford to work with people who wish to burn down everything? You need stability." But, at the lifted hand, he nods in return, a fencer acknowledging an excellent strike, "Kupo," he agrees, "It is his words, not mine. The one who strikes first will fail."
Wonderlab Trio	"This is the internet. In the literal sense."     Catt is learning all sorts of things about the internet today. For example, that you can close and reopen web browsers, and that it's a real world full of people who seem to be ambivalent about being wiped out due to overstimulation and rampant insincerity. Catt understands the internet much better now.     "It doesn't matter to Catt either way, whether we work with the mad scientist. Catt will do it." Catt looks down at the platforms, unnaturally avoiding eye contact. Looking closely at them will see that they're tracing a path back along the colored platforms with their eyes, irregularly bouncing up and down. "Want to see what funny things this world has to show. Before you or someone else decides it's pointless keeping it around anymore, then Catt wants to see that too." "He needs my assistance to unlock Alpha's bindings."     "What *does* Dr. Wily get out of this, anyways?" That line catches Rose's attention, especially now that Catt seems to have lost interest in the conversation. "I assume someone you describe as a 'mad scientist' wouldn't be helping out of altruism, but if we're taking Alpha for ourselves... is it part of the arrangement that they would be able to utilize Alpha as well? Not for world-ending, I imagine?" "I'm only twenty-one!!"     Taii isn't discouraged at all by Rita's flustering, though they do lay off the intensity. Still beaming at Rita, they pull back and soften their voice some, in a visibly-intentionally soothing way that avoids feeling condescending by how happy Taii seems to be to do it. "Oh, so you're older than me? I never would have guessed. I'm just nineteen."     Taii tilts their chin down and blushes slightly, a little embarrassed at trying to navigate how to proceed through Rita's deflection but still wanting the compliment to land. They fiddle with the hem of their pink shirt, twisting it around a finger. "Even one person wanting to do you a favor like this... that's a lot. Every person is a whole entire person, so 'just one' isn't an insignificant thing at all. I would love to help 'just one' person enough that they would trust me as much as Mr. Forte seems to trust you."     Rita's moment of happiness before sinking back into resignation doesn't go unnoticed by Taii either, and the soft excitement they were showing drains away into a thoughtfully concerned hum. They don't know quite what to do about it, or what the source of Rita's discomfort is, but they fold their elbows into their side and lace their fingers together in worry, looking at Forte.     Finally, Catt notices Nephra's presence, and then the crate of mice in her hand. They seem to vanish, moving without a sound to appear right behind Nephra's shoulder, over a foot shorter than her. Their tone is stiltedly neutral, but can't hide an uplift of curiosity when they point from Nephra to the mice.     "Annoying one." Point. "Little mouse?" It's not clear what they want, but they're looking intently at the creatures.
Nephra Tangent	'Little mouse?'     Nephra flinches at Catt's sudden appearance next to her. She pauses for a moment, with her mouth ever so slightly open. It's awkward not having a lollipop in it, after all.     "Yeah. They sure are little, aren't they? Wouldn't be safe for me to touch 'em, wearing this, so..." Nephra wiggles the box ever so gently, as she brings it low enough that both Catt and Rita could engage with. Despite the mice being itty bitty, there's enough in there that the rodents have to clamber over one another, just a bit, as they see Objects Of Attention (like fingers) encroach.     Quietly, and keeping her hand still and stable enough to brace the box for the others, she speaks up again. "You can have one too." The smile on her face is close to apologetic, for some reason.
Wonderlab Trio	"... Catt can have one?" Catt barely needs to lean at all to be at the proper height to look at the mice. Finger slowly reaching into the cage, they look up at Nephra, eyes wide and expression completely neutral. They stare at her face for a couple seconds, then slowly shift back to look in the cage. "Okay."     Catt is now holding a mouse in their hand, fingers wrapped gently around its body. They don't pet it or anything, they barely even look at it once it's acquired. When they return to O-5681 later, they wander off to a rarely-used hallway, and lower the mouse onto a box.     "Go. Littlest mouse."
Rita Ma	"Liza Grier rules," Rita affirms, and brightens considerably. Her back finds a little more stiffness. "If he doesn't hurt anyone with it, then there's no downside at all except having to work with him, right? I'm really, really grateful, Mr. Forte. You're not just helping; you're helping with the helping, too!"      That confidence-boost lets her take Taii's lower intensity in stride with only a happy sway to betray her excess energy. At first, anyway. "Oh! I wouldn't have guessed either, Taii! You seem so put-together and sweet, even though I'm sure you have a hard job! Usually that's something people only learn when they've been doing it a really long time." Her hand rises to her cheek in earnest admiration for just a second, before Taii overwhelms her again. Then she has to hug the Liza deepfake data diamond in both arms to defend herself. Her cheeks pinken a little, and her eyes find the tiles below inexplicably interesting.      "That's not- I mean, you're right, but..." Her lips squiggle between a half-dozen different expressions. Hair spills over her shoulders with a lopsided shrinking shrug. "It's hard to feel that way sometimes,     Taii. But thank you. I should try to tell my heart to feel different. I think my friends all being so amazing messed with my standards a little."      Thankfully, the container of plastic mice is a fantastic distraction.      Rita walks towards them like she's entranced, eyes practically sparkling and holds out just one finger to oh-so-delicately touch one atop its head. "Really? It's okay, Ms. Nephra?" She acts like she's scared of breaking them, but as soon as her fingertip touches fur, her shaky smile fills with warmth.      Passing the deepfake archive to her loyal knight, she takes a mouse in both cupped hands like it's a religious artifact. Her eyes dart from that one, to Catt's, and back again with almost heartbreaking contentment.      Then she leans down and gives her mouse, very very delicately, a kiss. "I'm going to get you to a good home, okay?" she says gently. "You're going to love it there. I'll chop up carrots for you, and you'll go right next to the aquarium, and..."      She trails off, eyes finding Nephra again. Rita's smile gets self-conscious, but it still lingers. "Thank you, Ms. Nephra. You're so good to me. I won't make you regret it, okay?"