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Owner Pose
Lilian Rook     The pessure to move on from . . . the place you found (you could call the little basin village 'Napo Village' but then get laughed at) right away isn't all that high. Katrina was forthright in saying that she doesn't know when their little group plans to move on, and is less so about what would constitute 'good enough' for an under the table joint medical and humanitarian project floated as the hobby of wealthy dilettante (adult) children of respectable stock. What matters is the warpgate was small, skeletal, and power-hungry enough that it clearly gets packed up in the back of the armoured rover between jaunts.

    It's almost forgettable, even, until Lilian pushes for it. And when asked, she's only pushed for it all of a sudden because, for some reason, 'Sakura' pushed for it in private with her. Like she was putting it off herself, as she never seems to do, and a person only half the Elites assembled have even met, knew it.

    Given that driving across the entire state through No Man's Land and every single military sensor net is an incredibly stupid idea, the green village hidden in the basin by traditional magics with no pop-culture name is the logical checkpoint.

    When you arrive, you can see that little has actually changed, save the heaps of boxes have largely been moved, there are a handful more people outdoors than before, an extra boat on the little lake, and the armed detachment witout patches or IFF chips are hanging around a cookpit, save one who lists off a sheet of something or other to Katrina, herself with the least bandages on her hands you've ever seen, wearing a tank top that doesn't fully hide the armoured vest beneath it.

    The armoured rover, easily large enough for a driver, copilot, fourteen people, and cargo, lifted up on six wheels, is just about fully emptied of its original contents, exposing plenty of place for you to sit in thickly cushioned seats and buckle in-- the ostensibly intent-- and to place packs and suitcases in the ceiling webbing alongside what must be emergency stores of water, batteries, medical supplies, ready-meals, and sundry. At the wheel is the dark-haired green-eyed man that some will recognize as Lilian's older brother, Bryce, here as Katrina's partner in crime, already waiting for departure.
Lilian Rook     "You know you can still just let us go ourselves."
    "Nope. Nuh uh. I didn't pick this spot at this time just to sit around and wave you off."
    "I've told you. This isn't a normal amount of dangerous; whatever that is."
    "So the more the better!"
    "It's not the kind of thing where numbers help."
    "It's the 'quality' isn't it? You say that sort of thing enough."
    "So there's no problems there! Aren't you looking down on us a little?"
    "I'm not; and even if I was, wouldn't it only be natural?"
    "Not really."
    "You know what I do! Maybe him, I dunno, but--"
    "Do you think I've been sitting on my thumbs for fifty years?"
    "I'm just saying I don't have a desk~"
    "Your little sister does now."
    "Oh come on! That doesn't count!"
    "Heheheh . . ."
    "Fine, but you're not coming all the way to Wheeler Peak."
    "I'm in no hurry to have my photograph taken by a target acquisition AI."
    "You know those aren't--"
    "'AI, right?' Whatever! You're not allowed to be worried about us while banning us from being worried about you."
    "Well, unlike me, you have to take the car back."
    "That's--"
    "She has a point."
    ". . . yeah, fair."
Angela Cinder isn't with Yuri this time which might be a surprise for those not aware that she has been put into superjail only leaving to act as bait as a sort of pennance. Cinder is still frustrated but is trying to focus on her current life rather than dwell on her childhood friend. But it isn't easy doing that. Maybe shes hould get different friends, better friends. Like Petra and everyone out in the multiverse and not think about City people all that much. In truth, she'd rather just leave L Corp and just wander the multiverse with Petra getting into Petradventures but she knows that Petra very much is determined to rescue Angela and--she considers Angela a friend too, no matter how much Angela denies it (she may be seeing Angela as the Chris of this battle trio).

She is wearing the Eggpack today because she wanted some time carrying Angela around and has probably begged Petra for the opportunity.

Cinder makes her way towards Katrina and Bryce ostensibly to report in. She snaps a salute to Lilian and says, "Reporting in to help!" She beams, literally waiting for the full conversation between Lilian and her siblings.

"I like your siblings." Angela asides to Lilian afterwards. "I had some concerns that I merely caught them at a time with an inclination towards positive thoughts but the vibes are persisting."

She dips her head on the screen. "It is important, Bryce, to not be confused between 'AI' that is merely a set of generative processes or basic programming and true AI that can convey levels of sapience."

Replacing Cinder is Ceri, ostensibly because Angela intends to send her to the Trideag Association so she can keep tabs on the organization and its dealings.

"I am new to this world so I may end up looking to you for guidance." She tells Cinder who smugly 'ehehehs'.
Tamamo     Though it would have made sense for Tamamo to dress more lightly for the climate, if not to have adopted hiking wear (military dress shall go unconsidered) on such excursions, she has that advantage of hardly overheating. Not for such simple reasons, at least. No, the main problem with clothing like hers on trips like this is that she needs plenty of seating room for someone of surprisingly ordinary stature. How nice it is, then, that she doesn't have to fold and hold her sleeves in front of her, this time. Waist belts are easy and expected. Shoulder straps do tend to cause her a little difficulty.

    'I didn't pick this spot at this time just to sit around and wave you off.'

    "It cannot be helped," Tamamo says to Lilian. She'd known this would happen, if not something more overbearingly protective, upon Katrina realizing where they weregoing.

    'Do you think I've been sitting on my thumbs for fifty years?'

    "Oho? Are you eager to boast of your experience before your younger sister's friends, after all? I am all ears." There's a couple layers of extra meaning in there, without being clear what they are.
Rita Ma      Rita gets here very early, as soon as the artificial warpgate's opening will allow, because she has villagers to bond with again! To thank them for doting on her last time, she's brought a few big bags of seafood-suitable Korean spices (those go a long way, even in a big village) and a small box of handmade fishing lures. They're for everyone, but she especially tries to find and gush over whoever lent her and Cinder a boat!

     "Ms. Rook has a desk..." she marvels quietly, after sitting in one of the forward seats (the better to lean in and brattily eavesdrop on family discussions). "I'm sure it's a standing one. Ms. Rook would never let herself get soft. But tell me if you need me to take over any of your duties, okay? I'm always happy to help!" Extra-formal customer-service voice is a bad match for that beautifully insolent smile.

     "Oh, I'm Rita! It's wonderful to meet you. You're her older brother, aren't you?" She extends a hand up to shake with the driver while the vehicle's still at a stop. 'Fifty years' leaves her slightly dazed, but she doesn't remark.

     After a moment, her attention drifts to Angela. She smiles innocently. "Ms. Katrina and Mr. Bryce? Why would you be worried about them? Ms. Rook is really nice, so of course they'd be nice."

     She's very world-wise about all kinds of suffering, except having a bad family.
Arthur Lowell >Arthur: Bust Lilian's chops a little too

    "You got a DESK huh? CORNER OFFICE? FANCY SIDE ENTRANCE, FRONT SECRETARY?" Arthur's shit-eating grin promises plenty of problem-causing when he gets involved here. "That one PETRA or one of the OTHERS? You got those goof-ass PUTTING PRACTICE THINGS up in that shit?" His laughter is deliberately obnoxious, the kind of thing you'd hear bit-crushed in an SNES or N64 game with an entire dedicated arms-crossed laugh animation. Yeah, he's even doing that too.

>==>

    He looks the rover up and down, squatting near the huge, probably all-terrain wheels to admire its construction closely. "So, got ya fam for a RIDE but we'll HOP OUT near where we're thinking ASH was?" He rambles, in a helpful prompt for diegetic recap that might benefit the others here. "Shit, I know I'D get some DISTANCE, given the kind of LIFE EXPERIENCE we're about to be running into. Not gonna be some shit we can get through with the IDEALISM WORDS, way I heard it these guys just think you're gonna ASSASSINATE A PRESIDENT if you say you believe in FRIENDSHIP AND JUSTICE." He's possibly caught up on the Letter Agency's presence in this world by watching a bunch of seasons of 90s-era supernatural-chasing FBI procedural thriller.
James Bond      Bond's duffel bag is held securely in the webbing. His unadorned fatigues look comfortable and breathable, and the man himself endures much of the moments between endearing familial back-and-forth with thoughtful silence.

I'm in no hurry to have my photograph taken by a target acquisition AI.
You know those aren't--
'AI, right?'
It is important, Bryce, to not be confused between 'AI' that is merely a set of generative processes or basic programming and true AI that can convey levels of sapience.

     "I know the sort of joke I'm inviting by saying so," Bond opines. "But I remember a time when you could get in a lot of trouble for false advertising." It hasn't escaped him that he's making this complaint about telemurder software.

Are you eager to boast of your experience before your younger sister's friends, after all? I am all ears.

    "If I looked like that at his age, I'd be boasting to anyone who'd listen," says Bond with a little smirk.
Trudy Grimm     Trudy Grimm arrives in the Nevada desert. Instantly her smile evaporates. The witch practically wilts on the spot with a moan of, "How do I keep forgetting it's like this?" Flustered, she rummages in the shadows of her fuzzy sleeves, but doesn't seem to find what she was looking for.

    So instead, she makes her way to the vehicle the others are gathering in and around. She ducks into the relatively merciful darkness of the shadow cast by the vehicle, then dips inside to flop back into a seat, wiping her face with a sleeve, "I don't know if I'll ever get used to such warm places..."

    The overheating woe-is-me bit fades when the trio of Rook siblings have themselves an energetic discussion. Trudy lifts her arm up a bit, peering out from underneath the fuzzy lining.

    "... Sounds nice," she says after a bit, "As usual I find myself quite envious, hee hee~..." Lowering her arm to her lap, the witch sits forward to rest her eyes on Katrina, and then Bryce, "Thank you for worrying about your younger sister."

    "Oh but please turn the air conditioner on as soon as you're able. I might die, here."
Xion Xion, who doesn't need to tax a warpgate to appear, is still checking her phonecharmed smart device in her left hand and flicking through message history back to current as she arrives. Dressed in a black short-sleeved t-shirt, black shorts, checkered mid-calf long socks, and grey-white Converse sneakers that are custom -- or offbrand -- with legally distinct textless and empty stars in the symbol circles.

With right thumb in her shorts' pocket and a crown keychain charm and chain wrapped about the wrist, the noirette looks up on arrival to the back of the emptied vehicle and smiles thinly.

"I'm glad you're still looking after Nevada. It's nice to be reminded." She offers the working pair of Bryce and Katrina, before heading up towards the ready-for-departure vehicle.

"If taking the car back's a concern, then, either, I can pick it up when we're not using it, or..." A devilish smirk curls catlike across Xion's own face, in time with James' smirking joke.

"James could drive it."
Petra Soroka     Entrusting anyone else with the Eggpack is a big ask. Not only is it the precious instrument through which Angela acts almost-directly on the multiverse, but it's also something that Petra herself has endlessly customized and tinkered with to make it more suited as both an accessory and a 'body', so she has a lot of protectiveness for the blocky retro TV screen that's often strapped to her back.

    Cinder is one of the only people Petra would acquiesce to; almost certainly the only other agent. Girlfriend privileges allow access to a lot of Petra's tech on their own merits, but it's only because Cinder is able to call Angela a 'friend' that Petra bestows the backpack on her-- decorated with little cactus charms today, just so it isn't bare metal. All the little tips and tricks Petra picked up from her time wearing the Eggpack-- 'try not to sway too much when walking; the gyroscope camera stabilizes vertical motion better than horizontal,' 'turn around to let Angela face whoever she's talking to if it's a longer conversation,' 'if there's something corrosive around, flip this switch to protect the camera lens with an extra layer of reinforcement,'-- were all lectured at Cinder before stepping through the warpgate into the village, so she should practically be a natural now.

    Compared to last time, when Petra dressed in her half-step approximation of 'cutely put-together', this time she shows up in her half-step approximation of 'mission ready', which means mall military cosplayer. Green cargo pants, combat boots, a black tank top and her EGO trench coat bundled up and ready for when she needs it from her mirror. Peeking past Cinder and seeing Rita already zipping around engaged with all the villagers, Petra quietly regrets not coming early too, but there's no helping it now. Even though she's kind of started to like the particular arrangement of the three of them; herself, Rita, and Cinder.

    "Um, hey Bryce. Hey Katrina." Petra still feels abstractly and acutely nervous around Lilian's siblings. She hasn't gotten time to acclimate much to them, like with Cecilia, so the weight of the Sword of Damoclese already buried in the top of her spine is distractingly anxiety-inducing whenever she interacts with them.

"That one PETRA or one of the OTHERS?"

    Tucking herself into the car, with the Eggpack now arranged across both her and Cinder's laps, Petra is suddenly called out by a voice she wasn't originally paying attention to. She's aware of Lilian having a desk, for a number of reasons, and in a number of ways, but--

    "S-secretary? Me?" Petra points to herself, like she needs to reaffirm the suggestion. "No, I don't think.... I mean, I could do the paperwork and all that, but..." Deeply considering the idea, and more particularly, the image, "... My legs aren't long enough for a pencil skirt?"

    "And that'd be Angela's job, anyways, once she's out. Maybe not for-- like, I don't know about the company, but Angela's going to be Lilian's secretary."

    When she gets a chance, without making it too obvious-- there's no way to make it properly hidden, but it's not *really* a question that needs to be asked in private, Petra leans over to Lilian and lowers her voice. "If Bryce and Katrina're escorting us... um, how much of the mission goal and everything's still secret? Nothing different than before?"
Lilian Rook     'I like your siblings.'

    "I do too." Lilian says, shortly before realizing too late, and averting her gaze in dread from Katrina's smug grin. "It wasn't always like this. But they were never . . . bad." she says, more evasively.

    'It is important, Bryce, to not be confused between 'AI' that is merely a set of generative processes or basic programming and true AI that can convey levels of sapience.'

    Bryce sighs patiently, with a tinge of 'I cannot believe this ever actually became relevant' to the way he slouches in the driver's seat. "I know, it's only an old habit. People used to call it 'AI' all the time." Katrina interjects "God are you still talking about dinosaurs roaming the Earth?" "It was 2020--" "Soooo before I was even born?" "Then never mind the old relics talking, Kat."

    'It cannot be helped'

    "Wh-- It totally can?!" Lilian gasps. "Why are you teaming up with them?! Isn't that weird?!" Katrina is already tittering, fingers to her lips and eyebrows up in her bangs. "Perhaps she's simply that wise." Bryce says. "Ahaaa . . . Now I see . . . so all along, it was that your type is older--" "You can make me accept taking you along or you can make me like the idea, not both!"

    'Oho? Are you eager to boast of your experience before your younger sister's friends, after all? I am all ears.'

    Bryce's attitude dims to blandly pleasant, though not all the way to genuinely unhappy. "It's not the sort of thing to boast of. It's only that it'd be a problem if she were to take me for a trust fund layabout. Even if it's my fault for not saying anything."

    'Ms. Rook has a desk...'

    After Rita is done being gushed over like the sweetest cutest creature in existence and deflecting questions about who in the convoy she 'likes', she has to contend with Lilian trying to be more proudly defiant than soggy. "Only on a technicality. I had to buy Allison's company to help a couple of girls who had nowhere else to go. It's complicated. And I barely use it. I only have to keep it running, after all, not try to expand it." Rita's reply to Bryce warrants a handshake back, and in it, she feels a similar kind of 'being very careful about pressure' she sometimes feels from Lilian. "Likewise. I don't get the firsthand stories, but I have an idea of how much you matter."

    'That one PETRA or one of the OTHERS? You got those goof-ass PUTTING PRACTICE THINGS up in that shit?'

    "God no!" Lilian says in reflexive revulsion at the idea of trusting Petra to manage a secretarial role, despite her existing jobs. "For one thing, she needs less encouragement to wear a suit, and for another, no one would understand her past all the stammering and mumbling." This is a very objective view of how Petra is all the time. "And don't you get on my ass about the desk! You already know what my real job is! And you don't even have one you little--!" She ostensibly stops short only because it'll be impossible to explain that the teenager she's strangling is not actually a teenager he's a million years old I swear etc.
Lilian Rook     'So, got ya fam for a RIDE but we'll HOP OUT near where we're thinking ASH is?'

    "Ash?"
    "Are you meeting someone?"
    "Not one of Lil's friends? I've never heard of him."

    Lilian's expression twitches at something, she grits her teeth, and then shoots Arthur a sharp look. She opens her mouth, and Katrina beats her to it. "Oh fine. You're making that 'can't tell you or I'd have to kill' you face again. Whatever!"

    'If I looked like that at his age, I'd be boasting to anyone who'd listen'

    "Thank you, but I'm married." Bryce says, adopting half-smile Banter Stance. "Hey, you know you can, right? Like, I know we're having a laugh, but I just want to check that you're aware of the options as my responsibility and all." Katrina practically shoves herself into frame. "Weren't you meant to say 'does he look like the type who cares'?" "Huh? Why should I say something so obvious you goober?"

    'Oh but please turn the air conditioner on as soon as you're able. I might die, here.'

    "Oh just take some layers off!" "Don't be too envious. This is a special occasion. And it's already running, of course."

    'I'm glad you're still looking after Nevada. It's nice to be reminded.'

    "I mean, you can thank us all you like, but, someone should be." Katrina says, with a cadence like 'someone has to' should have been there instead. "Now only if anyone else liked being reminded." Bryce sighs. Lilian looks over at the mention of Bond driving the car, briefly flashes back to his emergency stunt driving, and goes just a little bit pale. "I . . . meant that, they shouldn't, get into danger directly. Since. They have to be able to get back here. On their . . ." "Whaaaat? If she's offering then I'm totally taking the spooky portal!" "You don't even like spooky things!"

    'No, I don't think.... I mean, I could do the paperwork and all that, but... My legs aren't long enough for a pencil skirt?'

    "What the fuck are you even talking about?!" Lilian yells, pressing her hands to her face as the final two words turn into a tightly compressed squeal of frustration. Both Rook siblings are suppressing laughs badly.

    'And that'd be Angela's job, anyways, once she's out. Maybe not for-- like, I don't know about the company, but Angela's going to be Lilian's secretary.'

    "Petra--!!" "Really now?" "Oh my . . ." "That's already her job! She's literally already a secretary! I'm about to be running a real office and everything!" "Far be it for me to tell you not to hunt talent." "Ohooo~? Going to tell me about this 'office'~?"
Lilian Rook     'If Bryce and Katrina're escorting us... um, how much of the mission goal and everything's still secret? Nothing different than before?'

    Grabbing Petra by the collar to make sure she doesn't try looking back, talking back, speaking up, or looking up, Lilian hisses "The Paladins are investigating human rights violations and international crimes committed by the Letter Agency with the secret approval of the Humanity Immunes corps given my position to seek and liaise permission as an international local operative. That's all."

    Both siblings watch the whispered conference with interest, peeking around like they could divine anything at all by simply shifting weight. Katrina, understimulated by being left out and distracted by theorizing, remarks "Oh, those injuries are fresh. Petra, have you been performing strenuous labour or physical activity? You really shouldn't be reopening those. Let me take a look, okay?" in automatic doctoral tone. Bryce looks at her with a rigid stare of disbelief.

    Loading up doesn't take long. Most present aren't the type to carry around lots of gear in the first place, and there are more seats than necessary without anyone hopping up to either of the gunner hatches. Lilian fusses around the existing travel supplies for a while, then alternates between 'you're too careless' and 'you're too paranoid' when she finds a backup and then the backup's backup's backup, over and over again.

    Katrina begins a lecture on the importance of using magic only where magic is needed and how ordinary medical supplies can stretch presence in an emergency zone and honestly isn't that why Lilian carried a gun around for the first two years of the program, but Lilian isn't in a state to listen much. Bryce invites her to the copilot seat, Katrina protests and says James should handle it, Bryce 'invites' her, Katrina says that she doesn't want to leave Lilian by herself in the cabin, Bryce ''invites'' her one more time, and she acquiesces.

    The villagers arrive during the embarking process. Rather than only waving everyone off, there is a double wide line of people sending you off with bags of dry food, sweets, spare clothes, blankets for the night, good luck charms, and so on. Katrina tries to fight it off for a while, claiming they're going to be back soon to pick up the rest of the team anyways, but Bryce accepts it as 'this is why we have the empty cargo hold'. And once you're underway . . .

    It's shockingly smooth compared to the jeep. Even those military grade shocks were nothing compared to this behemoth six-wheeler, like something meant for Mars. The engine is surprisingly quiet for lacking pistons, the seats are wide for the purpose of carrying fully equipped combat personnel, and the touch of a button projects a live camera feed along the relevant strip of wall above the seats, or along the inside of the doors, creating crystal clear 'windows' without actually allowing-- it must be to not let moonlight in. There's room to pace around, or to fold out one of Katrina's cheap tables between the seating rows at a squeeze, but Bryce demands sole control of the radio and tells anyone else to put in earphones if they want to listen to something else.
Lilian Rook     "Why Wheeler Peak?"
    "Hm?"
    "It's not exactly a mountain that mattered before."
    "Then isn't that obviously why?"
    "It'd make more sense to keep it near a supply route. They can't have planes flying in and out all the time."

    "It's in the middle of nowhere and tall enough for snow. And who says anyone's flying it by plane? Don't assume the Americans didn't have anything before Warpgates; and don't assume they aren't using them now. It's been, what, five years?"
    ". . ."
    "I'm just reminding you to respect the odds. I like helping out the Paladins and all, but I'm not some bloody commando."
    "You said 'bloody'."
    "Cope."
    "snrk--!"
Angela Angela says, "I am just a naturally suspicious person, I suppose." to Rita. "Certainly, I was hopeful but I prefer to be cautious--" She remembers when she accidentally called Cecilia Lilian's mom and everybody agreed and she just avoids looking directly at Lilian while her feelings about that pass.

"Rita!" Cinder beams. "Gosh... it's so good to see you again. Actually there was something I thought maybe I could ask for your advice on? Maybe--I mean, it doesn't have to be today or anything--I'm probably going to be sitting with it for a while."

Cinder is doing her best to not sway too much but is also simultaneously trying to turn around so that Angela is seeing everyone as they're speaking--probably MORE than necessary and is overcorrecting--but at least it means that she's taking Petra's instructions seriously.

>> Make Sure Angela Gets The Recap

Cinder turns a little bit about halfway through Arthur's recap because hse doens't realize it's a recap until about 'LIFE EXPERIENCE'. Fortunately, Angela can still hear Arthur.

"Understood." She says precariously.

"Oh you're friends with Xion right...?" Cinder turn aagain so Angela has a nice look of Xion now.

"...Hello Xion." Angela says. "Grateful you are lending a hand today. It is nice to see you around more."

And then she turns to Petra as she speaks about Angela being Lilian's secretary.

....Angela doesn't deny it, smiling at Petra. "I can hope but it seems to be counting chickens before they hatch--There is still much to do even if we are closer to the finish line than the starting line by a wide margin."

''I do too.''

Angela's smile lingers a couple seconds longer than she intended. "Oh I--was not trying to insinuate they were but--" She thinks for a moment. "How it is now how I imagine an ideal sibling relationship. I cannot speak to before but..." She trails off a little awkwardly, realizing she's maybe being a bit more open than she ought to be. Lilian and Petra have this effect on her and it's always a little scary.

''People used to call it AI all the time''

"I was actually instructed to refer to the Sephirah as AI so I am aware that a lot of people just throw terms around erroneously."

That's already her job! She's literally already a secretary! I'm about to be running a real office and everything!''

"Cinder, turn me to the Dame Commander." Angela says.

Cinder obliges, the video window whirs into position so that she has a perfect view of Lilian Rook. It isn't too long because she was already pretty close, but it's just long enough to be notable.

"Dame Commander," Angela asks. "...Are you saying that I am already yours?"

She ends up staring at Lilian Rook while Cinder helps with the loading of the truck, the camera and Angela-feed remaining on Lilian as she uses an Eggpack arm to ensure that she sticks around the whole time even as Cinder is haplessly trying to lend a hand. She will not rescue Petra from being fretted over this time.

Eventually as they are embarking...

"...Is 'bloody' an injoke...?" She asks. Cinder is going to try to end up sitting next to Petra with the Eggpack between them. She kind of polishes the screen with loving care.
Tamamo     Tamamo lets it go as Bryce makes that verbal shift in the direction of being less than proud of his area of competence. It's a complex that isn't unfamiliar to her.

    '... My legs aren't long enough for a pencil skirt?'

    "Ms. Soroka, your daydreaming is a bit too strong. You should make an attempt to awaken." Not entirely unkindly, by overt tone.

    'James could drive it.'

    "Oh, yes. Mr. Bond is rather skilled in this matter, as I recall."

    'Oh but please turn the air conditioner on as soon as you're able. I might die, here.'

    "I thought it rather on the comfortable side, though I suppose it is also rather dry, out here. If you need cool water, I have packed several thermoses of refreshment, of course."

    'So, got ya fam for a RIDE but we'll HOP OUT near where we're thinking ASH is?'

    Tamamo considers the difficulty up to this point of keeping any aspect of their mission secret. They had already revealed an issue with the Letter Agency, and that there was likely a particular destination, but not much more than that. Adding 'to meet someone in particular' to that list... she gives Arthur a look of mild reproach, that sort of tell that 'the wrong dialogue option was being hovered over,' but there's really no helping it.

    It could very well be that something wholly revealing will be waiting within sight of wherever they attempt to separate. Yes, perhaps that was inevitable, from the moment they discovered Katrina in the desert.

    'Perhaps she's simply that wise.'
    'Ahaaa . . . Now I see . . . so all along, it was that your type is older--'

    Tamamo lets her knowing smile linger only a moment, before turning her gaze toward the window.

    '...Are you saying that I am already yours?'

    "She stated that you are already a secretary, Ms. Angela. Was that not your official title? I suppose it is a somewhat ambiguous position, in some views. There are many duties and levels of authority and prestige that may be considered 'secretarial.'"
Arthur Lowell >Arthur: Interpret sharp look(s)

    Arthur puts his hands up sheepishly. It's hard for him to remember what kind of things are classified top secret and which ones aren't, on account of his deliberate negligence and frequent intentional effort to forget essential information.

>Arthur: Interpret social chaos

    Arthur can't interpret social chaos. Did you mean: Interpret deliberate collateral damage? It looks like roping Petra into things had precisely and specifically the desired effect, so you can look forward to him causing more of those problems on the ride over. "Hey, I've got plenty of JOB! Haven't you seen my QUEST LOG? I got HELLA COMPLETION." Deliberately misinterpreting things to cause frustration is a key part of being a little punk. He also, critically, demonstrates that he never really has been in the vicinity of an office without being in the middle of a fight. "PENCIL SKIRT? Thought they used COMPUTERS at offices these days." He laughs again, though it's not clear precisely how much stupidity is intentional.

>Arthur: Load up

    All of Arthur's inventory is currently CAPTCHALOGUED in his SYLLADEX, obviously, because who wouldn't guess the current status and useage of a FETCH MODUS like that? How could anyone have ever failed to immediately jump to such a very clear conclusion that uses various words everyone is surely familiar with? Anyway, time to hop into there, and receive the various equipment.

    For those who don't mind having their stuff stored in some kind of tree-based data structure, Arthur can offer tons of capacity to free up space. But space isn't exactly at a premium in here, so he's more than willing to play a little inventory tetris game -- and in fact you can sometimes see him moving the various stuff around in a sokoban style, occasionally resetting everything's position arbitrarily when he gets himself stuck in a corner between several blankets and a cot or things like that.

    He gets a seat, gets out his Nintendo DS, and idly bobs his head to whatever Bryce has chosen.
Rita Ma      Rita looks utterly blissful, having swaddled herself up in local blankets up to her neck and clutching a lucky charm. There's something about homespun things like this that always touches her, and even moreso when they're recently-suffused with earnest love from a sendoff.

     "... I have an idea of how much you matter."
     That makes her, impossibly, glow even more. This might be the most sunny energy she's contained since Apple Tree Island. "Stories... that makes me really, really happy. Ms. Rook is so sweet to me." Her (not-quite-so) little legs kick under the blanket-pile to work off some of that giddiness.

     And so she isn't at all on guard when...

     deflecting questions about who in the convoy she 'likes'
     "Ms. Rook!" Rita says with utter bright innocence. "And Ms. Petra, and I haven't talked to Ms. Cinder much but I like her too. And Ms. Angela's been really nice to me, and..."

     Further prompting might coax out the fact that she does also have a real girlfriend, but if they wanted to know that they would've asked clearly.

     During a lull, Rita cranes her neck forward while successfully avoiding emerging from her blanket-nest (shouldn't she be overheated?). Her eyes had snagged those bandages on Katrina's hands before, but even though there's fewer now, she can't help staring. This is a confined space without much airflow, after all. Forgetting her speaking-to-a-friend's-family formality: "Ms. Katrina... are your hands alright? You always have those. Aren't hand cuts really bad for a medic? I could help fix it."

     Cinder catches her attention a second later. "Oh-!" Rita's voice comes out funny for a second. She swallows. "Oh, what is it, Ms. Cinder? If it isn't private, I'd love to talk about it now. We'll have lots of time."
James Bond James could drive it.
Oh, yes. Mr. Bond is rather skilled in this matter, as I recall.

    "Xion's teasing, Tamamo, but yes, in fact, I could," he says. "Believe it or not, Xion, most of my driving is perfectly uneventful. I don't need ejector seats for groceries." A little upwards twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Thank you, but I'm married.
Hey, you know you can, right? Like, I know we're having a laugh, but I just want to check that you're aware of the options as my responsibility and all.

    "I'll keep it in mind," Bond fires back with a smile. He lets a little uncertainty ride, for the bit, before clarifying who he's answering. "I am tempted. On the other hand, I know I'd never hear the end of it from some of these people if I came into work one day looking ten years younger."

Petra, have you been performing strenuous labour or physical activity? You really shouldn't be reopening those. Let me take a look, okay?

    Bond clears his throat, and sits through the lecture and the numerous invitations to copilot in interested and amused silence, respectively.

You said 'bloody'.
...Is 'bloody' an injoke...?

    "Christ. Don't tell me that's out of vogue now," Bond bemoans in That Way.

     A little silence passes, and he gives an appreciative glance towards the supplies (gifts, really; displays of care) given. "It's nice, isn't it," he says, to Katrina, "To work so close to the people you're protecting. I think I prefer it, when it's possible."
Trudy Grimm     > "Oh just take some layers off!"

    Trudy's suffering abates long enough to look aghast at Katrina for the mere suggestion of altering her witchy wardrobe.

> "Don't be too envious. This is a special occasion. And it's already running, of course."

    "Of course," the witch slumps in her seat with a slow exhale, almost as if she were just deflating. After some clear internal conflict, she doffs her jacket, fuzzy sleeves and all; turns out the white skirt is part of a white body dress that is, itself, sleeveless, "Oh, but certainly it doesn't take a special occasion to care about your siblings. That's the part I'm envious of. It's nice to see how much you care for one another. Even when you're teasing."

    She drops her jacket into the shadow at her feet where it completely disappears, then kicks off the fuzzy legwarmers as well. Metal shoes resembling cloven hooves remain, "But that's quite enough about me."

> "If you need cool water, I have packed several..."

    "Maybe in a little bit, thank you," Trudy raises her hands in polite declination, "You're so mindful, miss Tamamo."

    At least she's cooling down, with the doors closed and the rover moving, the tight space full of warm bodies is at least starting to succumb to the power of HVAC; plus of course, no longer wearing furs. Trudy hums thoughtfully when the Rooks start discussing a particular mountain and the difficulties of supplying it.

    "Even without warp gates or even magic; could an underground or otherwise concealed overland route be possible? I had heard of trains, and especially trains which move through tunnels without disturbing the land above, after all."
Xion Xion sits easily in her seat, dressed for Nevada in June and comfortable climbing into the operation vehihcle and folding left ankles over her rightknee in-seat, placing her phone on her upright thigh-top to balance as she buckles up with a bounce-in-seat and affix her seabelt creasing across t-shirt. Then, she's back to smirking at James, while leaning an arm across plush military industrial deluxe seatback. "You don't need them, but the Aston just drives so nicely, doesn't it?" She ribs further. "And you *can* drive. No doubt about that." Xion winks at Lilian's paled face, but she's throttling Petra so it goes towards her ear. The noirette does it anyway, because James is looking at her, and turns back to him. "I can hear those keys jangle on you, Mister Bond."

The repartee between Lilian and the gang is a dim sort of lingeringly amusing as well, though the smugness bleeds off the Nobody's features as the conversation moves.

"There's a lot of beautiful wilderness in America. Where I'm from, they do have things like park services and rangers, so..." Xion relates back with a gently-gifting tone. "I agree. I think people should. If we can turn aside what's needing to be turned, maybe there'll be room for parks and rangers again. I think... That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

She moves her attention into the benches when she's addressed, perking up at her name but looking over Rita, a 'conversation she isn't a part of', and flattening in expression.

"Oh, I've not helped out *yet*, I've just proved I can show up somewhere." Xion deflects with a reflare of half her smirk onto her left cheek, head tilting left onto her bicep and bangs shifting in droop over one eye, and exposing more the other. After just two beats she snorts with a little laughter, nodding. "I've just been less busy. Things are getting strange where I'm from, like the weather's gotten worse, but someone else from the Organization took over for me. I'm going to be visiting your facility tomorrow, and bringing a new friend - I'll not be checking them in, either. Is that okay?"

Lifting her free right wrist to dangle crown keychain up meaningfully, she drops the accessory-wrap into her palm with a flick of arm and undulation of wrist, shifting sifting it through fingers with evergentle sussuration of smooth link to link, and spinning the little thing about her index finger with thumb bracing the chain at the base of finger.

"He's someone I trust completely, and I was going to visit Binah again."
Xion > Spooky Portals!

"Oh, honestly," Xion shrugs, sitting forward and turning in a motion and crossing her arms behind her head to. "You've got your choice of portals, actually-" The noirette's eyes close, assuming a faint smile. "-though Arthur's portals are going to be better for driving this thing through. I was just going to put it in my inventory if it was going to be left somewhere, is what I meant. Real easy to bring it back that way."

A pause, and an eye cracks open. She's going for spooky, but it rings solemn-true: "You probably don't want to be inside it if it gets put away. Just saying."
Petra Soroka "For one thing, she needs less encouragement to wear a suit, and for another, no one would understand her past all the stammering and mumbling."

    "It's my job!! It's my uniform at my job!" All the mockery recently about Petra's fashion sense-- resurfaced mockery, at least, since it's not new-- means she's instantly set off in an indignant, stammering spiral, pathetically spouting excuses to defend herself. "I have to wear it there! I'm not wearing one now, am I?"

    "And we-- we already determined, like, locally, for the City, I dress kind of comparatively daring?? And I spend most of-- most of my time, there, when I'm not at-- e-er, uh, somewhere else, or the castle, so--" Bryce and Katrina can only imagine how much worse the stammering and mumbling would get if Petra actually *were* put in a secretarial position. Lilian knows that would be the least of the issues.

"Not one of Lil's friends? I've never heard of him."

    Petra's expression twitches too, and she's not quite as quick to grit her teeth rather than separating them, and blurts out before switching tracks. "The--aaaaat's not important. We *shouldn't* be meeting anyone." It's kind of a bland non-sequiter, but the exercised muscle fires off before she can stop it, which is *probably* more good than bad.

"What the fuck are you even talking about?!"
"Ms. Soroka, your daydreaming is a bit too strong."

    "Wahhh--!" Petra yelps at the instant spread of collateral damage, putting her hands up first to recoil defensively and then to gesticulate wildly to explanation, miming out the significance of a pencil skirt.

    "It's part of the *image*, right?! I'm not getting off-track, I *know* Lilian wouldn't settle for a secretary that's, like, not in-uniform, because that breaks the whole picture and setup of it; like, Lilian *obviously* values people 'looking the part', and directly supporting her in that positon means, like--" Petra's rambling comes to an abrupt halt, like she was careening around in a runaway vehicle that finally smashed into a wall. She may have... misinterpreted what she was being scolded about. "... I'm talking about nothing at all."
Petra Soroka "Oh, those injuries are fresh. Petra, have you been performing strenuous labour or physical activity? You really shouldn't be reopening those. Let me take a look, okay?"

    Petra, grabbed by the collar-- the black leather collar, with a golden lily ornament, an ornament behind which Lilian's finger is currently hooked in order to pull Petra's face close, stares directly at Lilian's face, eyes wide, and crosses wires in her head. Dipping her chin just a little bit to nod in acknowledgement at Lilian's instruction, Petra means to respond at normal volume to Katrina, but instead responds, verbally, at normal volume, with her eyes still locked on Lilian's. "Um, yes ma'am."

    "Er--" Petra blinks, sliding her hand up to cover up the barely-scabbed bite marks all around her neck, only partway beneath her collar. She's got other wounds-- more visible ones on her arms, even still some gauze from Quicknest from wounds that haven't healed-- but those are the ones on her mind. "Uh, sorry, that was-- I meant that to, um, Lilian. These are normal injuries. I'm-- they don't need, treating. Th-thanks. Though."

"And Ms. Petra, and I haven't talked to Ms. Cinder much but I like her too."

    Petra stiffens up and turns pink(er), leaning forwards in her seat-- less so to actually get Rita's attention, more because restless shiftiness in a car can only be expressed so many ways. "E-er, R-Rita, I think they were asking about--" Oh, she's just listing everyone she has a positive opinion of. Well that's still confusedly disappointing.

> Acquire StreetPass Interaction

    During the drive, Petra slides over to sit besides Arthur, though her weight distribution still leans her towards Cinder and the Eggpack. Petra's preferred genres of music are rooted inexorably in the 2010's, and are thus anciently unlistenable dadrock now-- or dad sadgirl indie pop folk, as it were-- but the problem with popping in earbuds is that it prevents the far more important objective of road trip chatter.

    Pulling out her own DS, Petra boots up Pokemon Platinum and begins the arduous task of running back and forth beside the daycare forever. Interspersed with explaining IVs to Cinder, Petra idly complains to Arthur. "I've got to grind up a whole ass competitive fucking team from nothing, *on cartridge*, because Nika can't just hack them in like everyone else. And she's got so much free time she barely even notices, but I'm out here, like, fully fucking no-fast-forwards, running up and down the route with one hand at work while using a snowshovel to dump rotting meat into a monster's mouth with the other, just to reroll some fucking IVs, because she'll beat my shit in if I'm below par."
Arthur Lowell >Arthur: Share roadtrip interactions

    While Xion may be advertising his portal capacity, for whatever reason Arthur isn't instantly teleporting anyone. Space limitations? Stealth? Maybe just arbitrary limitations of fate? No matter why, that means it's chatter time! And enjoying Nintendo devices. "HAHAHAHA, DAMN GIRL, you're on that OLDSCHOOL GRIND?" Arthur's laughter fills up the vehicle, whether anyone here likes it or not. "Hey, COME ON, guarantee you NIKA has that APPRECIATION. Girl's got that LIMITED COMMUNICATION, not that LIMITED FEELING. Give her the right CHANCE TO EXPRESS and you're gonna be GOLD." He squints, trying to interpret the job she's talking about. Under his breath, he briefly mutters, "Food... service? Never mind."
Lilian Rook     Katrina receives Trudy's shocked and appalled look with confusion followed by rubbing her cheek in a vaguely stunned way. "Um. It's not like that? I don't-- . . . well not really; like, I've thought about it, but either way-- I mean I'm not looking to start . . . You are wearing something under that, right? Ah, wait don't answer that--!"

    'How it is now how I imagine an ideal sibling relationship.'

    That sentence alone gets two nearly identical guilty smiles and a third anxious-optimistic one. There's a certain charge between them, even in silence. The hanging shadow of 'even so, we all know exactly why it took this long' darkens the moment by shades.

    '...Is 'bloody' an injoke...?'

    "It makes him sound like a tryhard." "People used to say it all the time you know." "And now they only use it if they're trying very hard to sound British." "Um. We are, though?"

    'Christ. Don't tell me that's out of vogue now,'

    "Isn't it just absurd? The entire range of parliament still says it. I can't even keep track of what the teens are saying." "I'm twenty-five." "You're twenty-four." "Well, yes, by the calendar, but . . . well, that's complicated." "Not really! Wouldn't you be, like, tthhhiiirtyyy t--" "Oh god you know I'm not!"

    'I am tempted. On the other hand, I know I'd never hear the end of it from some of these people if I came into work one day looking ten years younger.'

    "Oh I totally get it." says Katrina, nodding sagely. "I have this friend who schedules two years apart so-- Wait, no." she clears her throat. "I mean, even if you just stayed like that for another fifty years, that has to be worth it, right? I . . . I know it's weird to talk about, but I just don't get it."

    Her smile turns uneasy for a moment, searching Bond's face for some sign as she leans into the mirror. "We all grew up like this. It's just how it is. If I listened to the movies, then I'm supposed to be planning for retirement and living out the last part of my life in peace. But I feel like I've barely done a tenth of all the things I want to do. Isn't it ever sad? Don't you ever feel rushed?" Lilian palpably stiffens, not beyond Katrina's notice, but then actually relaxes over the course of a minute, leaving her older sister on verbal pause as she begins thinking about something else entirely.

    'I thought it rather on the comfortable side, though I suppose it is also rather dry, out here.'

    "Oh right . . . It used to be super hot in Japan, right?" Katrina says, totally missing the plot. "In summer, I mean. I remember seeing stuff about that." You can't actually see Bryce beyond the rear view mirror and his fingers clutching the wheel at 'God so help me' tension, but he says, "We really should speak more often. You two live in a different universe.""I'm always saying that about you two"
    "I'm always saying that about you two!"

    'Hey, I've got plenty of JOB! Haven't you seen my QUEST LOG? I got HELLA COMPLETION.'

    "Oh? Is that so?" Lilian says. The dangerous gleam in her eye is one step short of a boss telegraph. "Then surely you wouldn't mind comparing and 'talking shop' with Xion."
Xion > Woah there! Fast Travel is restricted while Encumbered - With Videogames

Xion raises a laced hand behind her head to wave off the 'oldschool grind' concerns. "I'll say it front to back, then. If we get in a pinch, *Arthur* can portal the truck out. If we have to leave it, I can put it in my pocket. That's all! Really."

She settles back, reversing the half-cross of her legs and having her phone roll off her thigh and onto the floor of the vehicle.

Xion mutters uncoolly and sorts herself down in a both-feet bounce to fold over and look under the seat for her phone.

> ... 'talking shop' with Xion.

From bent over between her legs jamming her and around under a carseat, Xion seems preoccupied and calls from that position, muffled by leather seat and mechanical nonsense.

"Pretty sure Arthur wants to talk handheld games with Petra for an hour rather than portal us right to the end!" and a more-muffled, unprojected, "... can't blame him."
Lilian Rook     'You don't need them, but the Aston just drives so nicely, doesn't it?'

    Bryce whistles from the driver's seat.

    'I agree. I think people should. If we can turn aside what's needing to be turned, maybe there'll be room for parks and rangers again. I think... That'd be nice, wouldn't it?'

    "Haha . . . Wouldn't it ever?" Katrina replies. "Everything's so pretty 'over there'. On 'our' side. But it's all just . . . memories of pretty things, you know? Beautiful sights that no one ever actually went to see themselves. I always thought it was more like mementos than preserving anything. It's why I can never stay away from home forever." She breathes deep. "Sometimes it kind of sounds like nobody was paying attention to them before, either. And now it's all gone. So I want there to be enough people who do remember it left to put it back." Lilian glances aside, and says "And the people who didn't 'pay attention'?" "Don't be like that. It's all for you, in the end. And-- Oh, how are Sabrina and Eleanor? I haven't heard about them since graduation!"

    'You probably don't want to be inside it if it gets put away. Just saying.'

    "Inventory? Like a videogame? What's that like?" Katrina says, twisting around in her seat to look back. Bryce sighs. "You were just talking about anime earlier, too." "What? No I wasn't." "'Oh, Japan is really hot'." "It was!" "When you remember what you know about Japan, does the hot summer part contain really loud cicadas for a few seconds?" "I- . . . ." ". . . ." "Bite me." "Like I said." "You can keep anime around on anything! Video games aren't timeless!"

    Speaking of which, when Arthur flips open his DS, he gets an immediate ping from . . . street pass?

    HAZEL: Hi Arthur!
    HAZEL: [attached] [big_smile.pict]
    HAZEL: Sakura says hi too!
    HAZEL: Are you with Lilian?
    HAZEL: Are you there yet?
    HAZEL: Sakura won't let me look.
    HAZEL: She says it has to be private until Lilian's brother and sister go home.
    HAZEL: What is it like?
    HAZEL: Is America okay?
    HAZEL: Did you see Mount Rushmore?
    HAZEL: Did you see the Statue of Liberty?
    HAZEL: Never mind. Sakura tells me they don't have those anymore.
    HAZEL: Never mind. Sakura says they have the first one but it's called the older thing now.
    HAZEL: Are you fighting?
    HAZEL: If you're not fighting, do you want to play Metroid Prime Hunters?
    HAZEL: I promise there's no lag.
    HAZEL: But you can't play Trace.
Lilian Rook     '...Are you saying that I am already yours?'

    Lilian opens her mouth to say something back, then descends into confused suspicion. "Angela-- Did you copy that from a movie or--?"

    'She stated that you are already a secretary, Ms. Angela.'

    Lilian's head snaps back to Tamamo, then back and forth twice. "Didn't we already talk about this? It was an offhanded comment, but I was serious about making certain she wasn't just out of a job. And with the Association opening up--"

    'Um, yes ma'am. Er-- Uh, sorry, that was-- I meant that to, um, Lilian.'

    "What the fuck-- Don't you ma'am me! You're doing this on purpose!" Lilian's voice cracks somewhere between wanting to smack Petra and wanting to stop and sweatily explain.

    'Ms. Rook!'

    "Rita--!" Lilian chokes out, hoarsely.

    'And Ms. Petra, and I haven't talked to Ms. Cinder much but I like her too. And Ms. Angela's been really nice to me, and...'

    "Please . . ." Her voice comes out as a croak.

    The hum of the air conditioning is almost deafening in the quiet.

    "Wow . . . ."
    "I see. Well."
    "Um . . . Lilian? It's . . . ah . . . okay if . . . Ha-- Haha, wow, I really didn't think you'd turn out pol--"
    "I'm not." Lilian sullenly smushes her face into her hands in despair.

    'Even without warp gates or even magic; could an underground or otherwise concealed overland route be possible? I had heard of trains, and especially trains which move through tunnels without disturbing the land above, after all.'

    Finally, mission relevant chatter saves her. The Rook siblings have something else to talk about.

    "Unlikely." Bryce says. "The idea was discussed a number of times during the height of it all. It's true that terraforming rarely ever runs deeper than thirty meters, but a rail network can't have three hundred miles between its stop and start underground; a single breakdown would strand people far away from rescue, blocking the entire network, and you'd have to send communication by physical land-line to alert either end of blockages. There have to be stops; mechanical shops, layovers, junctions, personnel facilities, repair and reserve yards, emergency depots, all sorts of things, and then it becomes exponentially more difficult to hide just by being underground."

    "More importantly, the entire thing is a death trap if Antegent successfully crawl in one end, as well. If one destination is overrun, the entire network is lost. Out of all the close quarters engagements I was there for, almost all of those that took place in metro tunnels, underground bunkers, old model silos, or even just underground parking, ended up as fighting retreats, or were won only with massive casualties. A rail network that long can't be flooded or burned in an emergency; you can only throw a never-ending tide of bodies to stall it until a strike team somehow secures the overrun Urban Center on the other side."
Lilian Rook     Katrina is unable to leave aside the look both Lilian and Petra made though. "Hey . . . I'm not a hotshot Commander or anything, but I'm not dumb. You're going after those guys on purpose, aren't you? Is Ash some kind of informant? If you're going to meet him all the way out here, near them . . . I guess you don't want to get us implicated, but it's not like I don't have my own bone to pick." Katrina falls silent as the husk of a half-century old G.D.F tank blurs past the window. The second one in an hour. "I had a friend in Caelton."

    Bryce glances from the 'road', as much as there is one out here, to briefly stare at Katrina with a look that suggests that it's his first time hearing it too. "Listening outpost. Numbers station sort of thing. Or research facility. Those are my bets." He says, moving forward on purpose.

    "I've only been here a week or two, but I've only ever seen aircraft stray far from that direction once, and it was an international private passenger jet. They're not moving heavy hardware-- Not all at once. If it's a training facility, it'd already have to be old; the immediate surroundings aren't fit for high-risk field agent training on Antegent; too clear. There's a satellite signal, but it seems like a setup for intercepting communications."

    "I still say it's a training facility. We saw those lights before, with the earthquake."
    "The villagers say that's been going on for five years."

    HAZEL: Petra!
    HAZEL: Hey Petra!
    HAZEL: Hi! I can see you online here!
    HAZEL: You and Arthur are together?
    HAZEL: That's nice. I like it when you get along!
    HAZEL: Do you want to play with us?
    HAZEL: Sakura says it is probably going to be safe for another hour.
    HAZEL: Is it going to be unsafe after that?
    HAZEL: Did you make someone mad?
    HAZEL: Can you tell Rita to come over for that sleepover?
    HAZEL: You can invite anyone else you want too!
Angela "That is true. But Petra was speaking of being a secretary for the Dame Commander, not just a secretary in general, hench my desire for clarification." Angela nods to Tamamo (she has been turned to Tamamo about halfway through her sentence. "There is a key difference between the two roles--namely I would enjoy working as the Dame Commander's secretary whereas my current job is literally torture." She does not clarify if she is the torturer or the torturee.

She focuses on Xion first as that's relevant to her work of being a torturer/torturee. "Understood. We are getting a little more accustomed to teleportation nonsense." Angela says. "Some Abnormalities can teleport either themselves or others so it is not unheard of but it is rare for someone to teleport in simply to visit. I will alert the Extraction Team captain to expect you."

Angela looks to Petra. "Petra. Xion and one of her friends will be visiting Binah. Please pay them no mind." Then back to Xion. "It is settled."

It was her idea for Xion to visit Binah in the first place--so she isn't really going to get in the way of that. She hasn't really given the best reasons as to why but she does feel Xion's presence can only make Binah a little more tolerable. (Binah's Meltdown does not require additional torture, she has the shittiest job in the facility discounting Angela herself). She mostly just wants Binah to be a little less awful.

Angela gives Bond a strange look but does not comment further since she's worried she'll end up the butt of the joke and she won't let that happen...!!

Cinder's cheeks pinken at Rita saying she likes her and Angela's don't but she does give a nod of agreement to Rita but otherwise doesn't interrupt Cinder.

"Oh, now? Well, okay. I have a friend and she sort of betrayed everyone in the faciliy and it was kind of both under duress and kind of not but I think at some point she started regretting it but she never came to me about it so ... I guess I'm asking what do I do? She's a childhood friend--really the first friend I ever had--should I try to um salvage it or.... I don't know... cut her off? I've got other friends now but... I don't know, should I just wait to see what she does or...?"

She seems to be considering Rita a friendship guru!

''It's my job!!''

"That is correct, it would be harmful to the order of the facility to simply allow exceptions to the dress code." Angela admits. She doesn't speak about how daring it is for The City because she doesn't actually know. It is occuring to her steadily that Petra probably knows more about The City than she does and she's not really sure how she feels about that. Should she ... ask her details about her own theme?!

''These are normal injuries. I'm--they don't need, treating.''

Angela covers her mouth and avoids looking directly out of the camera again. She endures.

Cinder listens to Petra explain about IVs. She tries to do the math in her head about the odds of max stats and gets a little dizzy. Then something occurs to her. "Wait--that one has my name..." She immediately tries to see who the other named pokemon are.

"Who else do you have?? ... W-wait, is this a game based off of that world we went to or... or...uh..."

She stares off into the distance.

Angela's pokerface is immaculate but there's decent odds she did read something like that in a book if nothing else--though that doesn't mean it's intentional. The job offer might mean a little more to her, however, than to Lilian--there's a sort of Ceri-esque spark in those eyes when the Fixer is signaling loyalty. "As in your secretary. I know we had talked about it but it had been some time." Angela says.
Angela "And now, as you say, with the Association--I had presumed I would not be involved by virtue of security concerns but I suppose I hardly need to be on site to handle records and if neccessary I could establish an alternate identity for the purposes of telecommunicating with Association members. But rest assured I intend to tend to your needs one way or another. It is only fair after all you've done for me. At least until you are satisfied at a minimum."

She considers the anxious smile and the two guilty smiles. She knows there's something there (she suspects it involves a certain someone) but she considers her role to just generally approveo f the three of them together so she largely ignores the clear signal in the room.
James Bond I can hear those keys jangle on you, Mister Bond.

    The reaction to his choice of car from Bryce draws a proud smile; a touch *appreciative,* when angled briefly towards Xion. With that brave and noble act of wingwomanship, she's earned herself immunity from ejector seats.

    "An 87 Vantage," he clarifies, for Bryce. Grand tourers are good daily drivers, but good for long trips, too. An ideal car for a 'professional' like Bond, with an engine and a transmission perfect for unprofessional indulgences. "Had one for a company car and fell in love with it."

Isn't it ever sad? Don't you ever feel rushed?

    "Constantly," says Bond. This is the thing that one might as well be honest about. Certainly, he's said as much to Lilian, and to Tamamo. His expression isn't as uncomfortable as the comments earlier might've suggested he'd be. "It took me a long time to appreciate the time I have, let alone to have any time at all. Which is why I said 'tempting,' instead of 'no.'"

    "It wouldn't be bad to stay like this, I think. I've gotten used to it. It feels like 'me,' and that wasn't always the case." He frowns lightly. "There were a lot of... difficult nights, and mornings after, where I'd see a stranger in the mirror. Looking back, it makes a lot more sense than it did in the moment. But I suppose I know more now than I did, back then."

    "Maybe I'll give you a call about it," he muses.

I had a friend in Caelton.

    "I'm sorry," says Bond. Two words say a lot; spoken heavily like that. He ruminates on it, for a moment. Then, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my own axe to grind. But, yes. We don't want to implicate you. Now that I've seen what you've been doing out here with my own eyes, I want that even less. ...I think it's important. And I think that if something stopped you from doing it, the world would be lesser for it."
Trudy Grimm     Trudy hums thoughtfully as Bryce explains the downsides of a subterranean train network in a world that must be mindful of the Antegent, tapping her chin as she listens. After a moment, she dismisses the thought entirely, "I suppose that all makes quite a bit of sense. I'm quite uninformed on the particulars of such things, thank you for the quick education."

    She hums again, "I suppose the only other method that I could hazard a guess at is sourcing supplies on-site. Ah... Growing their own food, and the like." The matter of a small plane comes up and the witch closes her eyes, gesturing, "Or perhaps only a small number of people there that a lot of supply isn't needed?"

    She is, at least, not contributing to all the bullying Lilian is withstanding at the mercy of Petra, Rita, Angela, and Tamamo. She offers the youngest Rook a sympathetic look. After a bit, the witch leans forward, "Miss Rook-- Lilian. Would you... like to duck into your shadow for a while?"

    It's the first time she's offered such a thing, but the way she phrases it might not /sound/ like this is the first time.
Tamamo     'Oh right . . . It used to be super hot in Japan, right?'

    "Well, as to that... when one says 'Japan,' I suppose they mean the archipelago, and it was the case that the northernmost regions might have snow for five months of the year. On the other hand, when one speaks of a country, they often mean the places in which most live, is it not so? There, as elsewhere, more have ever congregated in places as were most suitable for growing, and it does happen to be that this means the, ah, hot and wet, as it were. Since my arrival, I have not remained there to see to the changing of the seasons, and the specifics of the walled cities... it may well be that you have heard more of them than have I."

    'I really didn't think you'd turn out pol--'

    Tamamo almost heard something terribly awkward, for a variety of reasons. What a day to have such keen ears.

    "Come to that, what is 'anime'?"
Arthur Lowell >Arthur: Talk shop with Xion

    "See? She knows what a job is! Sometimes you get TASKS and you gotta GRAB 'EM." He waves his DS, which is popping up with pictochat alerts already. "Oh-- shit!"

>Arthur: Hi Arthur!

       -- winterHazel [HAZEL] began pictochatting profoundBadness [PB] --      

PB: YOOOOOO
PB: WHAT UP
PB attached >:D.pict
PB: LONG STORY but I've seen SO MANY SHITTY STATUES OF LIBERTY way back
PB: Seeing the REAL DEAL would just NOT HOLD UP
PB attached conksuck_statue_space_hole.pict
PB: Let's do some PRIME HUNTING
PB: It'll give PETRA a break from the GRIND for real

                                       --                                      

    He's tapping and tapping and tapping back there with his DS in Room A, of course. And if he and Petra can get a game going, his Weavel gameplay is *audaciously* annoying to deal with, concerned exclusively with getting AoEs everywhere to control the gameplay space. Yeah, he's like that a lot.
Rita Ma      The hum of the air conditioning is almost deafening in the quiet.
     Rita knows what it means when a forest goes silent. She looks around nervously, particularly at despairingly faced-smushed Lilian and disappointed Petra, and then retreats halfway into her blanket-nest with only the top half of her head poking out. "Did I say something bad? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone feel left out. I like you too, Ms. Katrina!"

     "E-er, R-Rita, I think they were asking about--"
     That finally clicks. She suddenly sits up, relieved. "Oh! No. My girlfriend isn't here!" As if that perfectly resolved everything.

     Now she takes Cinder's question in a brighter mood. "Mmmm. So she hurt you, and she regrets it, but she hasn't come back to you since then? Is that right?" She taps a good-luck charm to her lips, looking up at the overhead baggage in deep thought.

     "... If she was really your close friend like that, she loved and understood just about everything about you. And you loved and understood just about everything about her. Right? I don't think people like that ever really drift apart. Everything she could end up being, you understood that at least a little too. So..."

     "Maybe she just feels too guilty, Ms. Cinder? Maybe she hasn't come to you first, because she feels sure you'd push her away."

     Talk of life extension makes her glance between Bond, Katrina, and Bryce, but it's clear she's in over her head. She leaaaans forward, emerging from the blanket-heap a little more.

     "... Mr. Bryce? Do most people really feel like that? Like they don't want to get old? My brother's only a little older than me, but my-- Kana, is going to be forty in just a few years. And she's proud of being a hero and all. Should I talk to them about it?" A thought sprouts in her head about Liza, too, but that can come later.

     "I'd never thought about it like that before, but I just don't want to ever be without them." She'd presumptively outlive them because she's younger, Petra might assume. Or for other reasons, Katrina might.

     "If you're going to meet him all the way out here..."
     "He? I thought Ash was a girl."
Petra Soroka "Um . . . Lilian? It's . . . ah . . . okay if . . . Ha-- Haha, wow, I really didn't think you'd turn out pol--"

    This is what makes Petra *actually* sink into daydreaming, roughly released from Lilian's chokehold and slithering away to her seat. The word isn't so unfamiliar that it can't complete itself in Petra's head, but the concept requires more consideration. A diagram pops into her head, charting relationship dynamics in this theoretical world that Katrina has invented, but trying to label any line besides the one connecting Tamamo and Lilian gives her a splitting headache and she's forced to quickly retreat.

    It's kind of nonsense, anyways. Anyone looking at the pair and not just joking around would be able to tell that Petra isn't Lilian's girlfriend. Instead, obviously, she's... they're... the relationship between them is....

    Petra sits down by Cinder, heavily plopping back into her seat and dazedly rubbing at her neck still. Her fingers come away with thin streaks of red, scabs broken by being tossed around. "Sometimes," She confides in Cinder, sounding lost, "I don't know what's going on."

>Petra: Scrounge for honor in the trenches

    "Well, I *hope* she'll appreciate it." Petra pouts, but it's affectionate. Mindless, relentless determination towards a task like this is how Petra best demonstrates affection, after all, so she wouldn't be doing it if she was just being a sweaty gamer about it. "If I go through this whole training montage just to win *without* her appreciating it, then I could've just skipped the hard work. But she's gonna, I know. You can't win a rematch on fake strength."

"Pretty sure Arthur wants to talk handheld games with Petra for an hour rather than portal us right to the end!"

    Petra leans her head on the back of the chair, rolling to the side to look over at Xion upside-down. "Well, Katrina said, magic's got to be used sparingly, so it'd barely count if it was something we could just have done by getting here a couple hours earlier. And, I mean--"

HAZEL: Petra!

    "Oh, dang, there she is."

    SILKE: nika!!
    SILKE: yeah we're driving smewhere
    SILKE: Lilian's here too but she's grumpy now
    SILKE: still all getting along tho so it's nice
    SILKE: if sakura says it'll be unsafe then maybe it will be byt afaik we're not sure yet ourselves
    SILKE: actually rita's here too (and cinder) so it's like a party already
    SILKE: except like you're not here
    SILKE: well you're here, in games
    SILKE: which counts for some
    SILKE: i'll let her know and then yeah we'll play
    SILKE: but your tactic to keep me from hatching a perfect togekiss won't last forever

    "Hey, Rita," Petra says while still tiptapping on the screen with a morphmetal stylus (extremely sensitive for touchpads!), only looking up after calling out to her. "Do you wanna spend the night at Nika's sometime soon? Together, I mean. I think she's really looking forwards to it."
Petra Soroka "I don't think people like that ever really drift apart."

    Immediately, Rita and Cinder's conversation hits Petra with enough deleterious stress that she tenses up, finger twisting in the fabric of her cargo pants. "Er-- well. That isn't, true, I think. It can't be. 'Love' and 'understand' are different from 'tolerate', and, like... sometimes you can just love 'everything visible', and that's fine, unless something else becomes visible and it's not 'everything' anymore." Petra means that about Yuri being a kind of traitorous coward who couldn't trust the people closest to her-- but it's not lost on her how similar that is to stuff she and Rita have talked about before. "... And there's worse reasons, too. But they're complicated, I guess."

"I will alert the Extraction Team captain to expect you."

    Petra turns her head to Angela.

"Petra. Xion and one of her friends will be visiting Binah. Please pay them no mind."

    "Got it." Petra blinks, and then gives Angela a little thumbs-up. She's got it!

"If you're going to meet him all the way out here..."
"He? I thought Ash was a girl."

    Petra winces and looks at Lilian reflexively for permission. Her lips part helplessly, response easily canceled by a word or an especially hard look from Lilian, but if not, then Petra still does her best to solve the problem in an appropriate way that doesn't involve compromising on some shaky pillars of her identity.

    "Th-they? *They*, are, not someone who's... going to be around today? They just, might be someone, in the future. But not today, so... I mean, implicated or not, in the long run, we definitely won't, um, now...."
Lilian Rook     'Ms. Katrina... are your hands alright? You always have those. Aren't hand cuts really bad for a medic? I could help fix it.'

    To her immense credit, Katrina doesn't look tense about that offer at all. Only a normal amount evasive. "They're not going to get infected, don't worry. I close them up right away. It only takes a second." she says, thus implying that she shouldn't have need of bandages at all. "They just add up when you have to work fast. More when you have to get rough on things that aren't medicine. And they're not even all cuts! These are medicated!" Habitually, she falls to rubbing her left arm.

    "Honestly, it feels kind of . . . itchy, when there aren't any. Like, that means I've been taking too much time off." Bryce's finger repetitively taps on the wheel as a subconscious gesture. "Haha, is it easier if I just say it's magic stuff?"

    'An 87 Vantage. Had one for a company car and fell in love with it.'

    "You'll have to tell me about it later." Bryce says. "These two haven't ever owned a car. Not a proper one." "Yeah because where would I even drive it?" "I can drive, you know." "Wait really? Since when?" "When I turned twenty. Just in case." "Why?" "The Multiverse has them. Obviously?" "Oh. Huh." Bryce clears his throat. "As I was saying, it's not something I've been able to talk about often. We'll have to find a good time for it."

    'Maybe I'll give you a call about it'

    "My number." Katrina says, seriously, pulling out her smart device and flick-sending to him in assumption he has something even vaguely compatible. "Don't think on it too long, 'kay? If you're friends with the man in the mirror, then it'd be too cruel to miss the time now." It seems opinions about the nature of linear time run in the family. Or, at least the more so the younger. "If it gets really bad, here . . . I joke around a lot, but I know my limits."

    HAZEL: Wow!
    HAZEL: That statue really sucks.
    HAZEL: Why is it called that?
    HAZEL: I asked Sakura and she doesn't know what conksuck or space hole mean either.
    HAZEL: She looked at me really strangely.
    HAZEL: I'm doing okay!
    HAZEL: I was just going to watch you when Sakura let me, but then I saw you online.
    HAZEL: I was practicing before.
    HAZEL: On things I can't see but I know are real.
    HAZEL: That's how we can be online together!

    'But rest assured I intend to tend to your needs one way or another. It is only fair after all you've done for me. At least until you are satisfied at a minimum.'

    "Lil, are you sure you don't want to tell me--" "Please try to understand." "They're really just like this, aren't they?" "I don't know why." "Consider what the sole constant must be, then."
Xion Spared from ejection in future endeavors by Her Majesty's Most Masterful Motorist (HMMMM, for short), Xion's timely beefing of her phone into the depths of the military industrial complex's asinine idea of a sideseat still must be solved, and she escapes exile in the underseat lands with a phone only slightly schmutzed by the sheath-greased bars underneath and about mechanical components.

This brings her immediately into the line of fire of a pouncing Katrina.
"You can't - you *need* to not be consumed by a past glory, and resting on laurels is never so benign as the laying about implies. It's something..." Xion becomes thoughtful as her right hand appears a black glasses wiping cloth that spawn from Heartless found in Luxottica locations (and also complimentary with new glasses cases) to clean off her smudgy phone screen. "... that's hard to split up and take differently than 'reward'. Not everything you get and keep is bad, but sometimes when all you're holding on to is stale memories, you can't keep going. You need a bright and new light to give you new words. It takes... momentum,"

Xion likes that word, nodding and scrub-rubbing in circles with the base of her palm against very well-greased screen now. "And then once you get it going, you're just getting it to the right speed."

It's another car reference. The noirette is filled with them, apparently. It becomes even more explicit with the addition of: "Maybe you need to teach people how to drive, Katrina, Bryce." She's probably even being metaphorical! Not... everyone needs to go run to get their license Just Like Their Action Suit Hero From Their Television Show.

> Like in a video game?

"Ummm," Xion drops and resets her sitting position, holding her cleaned phone up in her palm. "... I guess? A while-while ago, the doctor in charge of the Watch said that I was 'para-zonal', and when I have to think about it it's like a really deep cabinet or chest or pantry, well, not *inside* me, but connected to me?" The noirette explains slowly, sitting forward and putting her elbows on her knees as she explains up the cabin. "There's this space, around me, and if I have something held, I can just put it 'down' there. Not, um, here? But there. Like-"

Demonstrating, Xion turns her hand as if to place the device down on a shelf or endtable, balanced-held on palm to face-down on surface so the popsocket (glittery star shaped, of course) is up, and the phone vanishes like a defeated JRPG monster and washes away into deresoluted motes. Then, reversing the motion and flipping up her hand like the phone would leap to hand: it does, with a just-opened-the-fridge puff of dark smoke from elsewhere-nowhere following along with it.

"See? It's just like a shelf, or, a dresser for clothes, or a case for delicate things, or a garage for cars, or..." Absentmindedly, Xion repeats the phone-flipping a few times until she accidentally flings off the keychain she was also holding, having to snap out and catch that in her grip -- and is suddenly reminded by falling objects: "Well I still have an asteroid actually, I should probably do something with that." And then she's interrupted again.
Xion > Petra leans her head on the back of the chair,

Xion smiles at Petra, paused-to-stopped from her explanation, and smiles at the nigh-consummated Gamering. "Have fun, Petra." She urges, having caught the Vibe and wingwomaned along several axials for Maximum Air Coverage.

Resuming a totally different topic, Xion resumes spinning her crown charm chain now with her left hand, idly stimming by switching between spinning the chain and rolling the charm through her fingers with a waterfall of hanging drag. "Well thanks, Angela! You've got the fastest team I've ever talked to, normally I have to stay on the phone for *hours* to get a real person to agree with me." The Nobody laughs. "But she can pay me *some* mind, if she likes. We work fairly well together, and the Quicknest duel-" Xion still thinks that was a legit duel and not what it became. "-really went off with her helping."
Lilian Rook     'Come to that, what is 'anime'?'

    "Wait
    really?!" Katrina gasps, sitting bolt upright and turning as far as her seatbelt lets you. Bryce turns the wheel and makes a sharp turn around a rock formation tall enough to have green growing on it; earlier than he needed to. "I told you she'd be too classy for it." "There's classy and there's--" "What?" "Um." "Well, Katrina?" "L-like . . . being some sort of . . . h-heavenly maiden. Haha. That doesn't know these things." "Isn't she~?"

    'Not everything you get and keep is bad, but sometimes when all you're holding on to is stale memories, you can't keep going. You need a bright and new light to give you new words. It takes... momentum'

    Katrina first laughs nervously, saying "I can't tell if you're scolding me or agreeing with me. I think agreeing? It's usually the first thing, gosh. What do you mean about rewards? Splitting up? I'm trying to follow, but you're really passionate about this. I thought you'd just lose interest." then conversely takes the most abstract thing Xion says about pocket dimensional storage at intuitive face value, saying "Oh, that makes sense. Space in a perpendicular axis to visible three and a half physical dimensions, right? Like there's a direction we can't see to stick your hands in and grab things." She sighs. "Gosh that'd be so convenient . . .."

    Bryce lets her go on, then calmly interjects "A duel? You've been fighting together then. Does that sort of thing happen often where you're from? Lilian would probably love that." Lilian, who is right there, says, "Ah, sometimes. It depends." "On?" ". . . Boys?"

    'I suppose the only other method that I could hazard a guess at is sourcing supplies on-site. Ah... Growing their own food, and the like. Or perhaps only a small number of people there that a lot of supply isn't needed?'

    "Not bad. Advances in technology for self-sustaining arcology living are more advanced now than they ever were, for obvious reasons." says Bryce. "By now, if they're handling exotic materials or advanced components, they're using a Warpgate pair, but there is the possibility of Otherside shortcuts, or smuggling through the Hidden Continent as well. Or it could be that it isn't active all the time. If it's a retreat for one to three VIPs to perform private work, it would line up." There's a distinct sense that he actually likes the mission theorycraft when it gets to be idle speculation during a car ride, and not grisly stories of specifics.

    'Miss Rook-- Lilian. Would you... like to duck into your shadow for a while?'

    "Thank you, but I'll have to politely decline. That'd give off the mistaken impression that I'm embarrassed."
Angela Angela quirks her head at Lilian for a moment but...

Cinder listens to Rita carefully and--well, she flinches a little when Rita says...

''Because she feels sure you'd push her away''

"That's...that's not the kind of person I am. am I? ... I don't... I didn't act like that or..." She's suddenly unsure and fidgets her fingers against one another as she both worries Yuri had reason to think she was that kind of person and also worries that maybe Yuri thought she was that kind of person for no good reason at all. She sighs morosely. "...I don't ''want'' to drift away, but it's not like I can ask her what she was thinking right now.I know how scary a Color I can be--especially one who taught the Red Mist but she also wanted to...avoid something."

Angela elects to step in now to explain to Rita. "Miss Yuri was shown an alternate future where she was killed by L-Corp Abnormalities. But it seemed that also being someone who could be thoughtlessly discarded also disturbed her. Normally she would be eliminated for causing such a security risk to the facility but considering the circumstances, the punishment is rather light. If she had informed us ahead of time, perhaps we could have assisted her directly. But as it is now ... She is engaging in penance."

Cinder squirms uncomfortably before looking to Petra. What she says is frightening to her but she can't say it's strictly wrong. She nods a little with a sigh.

''Sometiems, I don't know what's going on.''

Cinder feels such an upswelling of love and sympathy for Petra in this moment at those words she just immediately hugs her.
Lilian Rook     'Did I say something bad? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone feel left out. I like you too, Ms. Katrina!'

    Katrina jumps in her seat, then blinks her eyes and presses her hands to her cheeks with a soft 'oh my gossshhh'. "No, no, you didn't say anything wrong! We only misunderstood at first!" she says, quick to hurry in and turn the conversational direction around. Then 'my girlfriend isn't here' makes her cough on her own spit. Bryce squints at his sister in the mirror.

    "Most people do. One day, even I'm going to get old. The idea doesn't bother me right now, but that's because it's so far away I can't imagine it. When it gets closer, I know that it fills up more and more of your head. Some people can make peace with the idea, since they can't avoid it. Other people will just pretend to, and try not to think about it. But as far as this is concerned, Kat and I are in agreement. Getting old is nothing romantic. Being in pain, being unable to take of yourself, feeling that you can't do the things you used to, losing your memories, having to give up on what you still want to do . . . If it were a form of punishment, I think we as a species would be very careful about it."

    'He? I thought Ash was a girl.'

    "Haha, Ash is a boy's name, but I understand!" "No it's not. It's short for Ashley." "Well I guess it can be, but if your whole name is 'Ash' then it's because you're a boy." "We don't know it's not a nickname." "They obviously aren't close to him though." "She could just think it sounds nice. Or want to get off on a good foot. Or any other reason. Why are you doubling down on it?" "I'm not!" "Then I'll put two on her being a woman." "Two on boy!"

    Meanwhile . . .

    HAZEL: Is it fun?
    HAZEL: Mother used to talk about driving a lot. She said she liked driving at night.
    HAZEL: Arman says that is dangerous though.
    HAZEL: It must be okay thought.
    HAZEL: You're playing games.
    HAZEL: Good luck Petra!
    HAZEL: Games count I think.
    HAZEL: I can come next time, if that's okay.
    HAZEL: Sakura says she can't come, but it's safe for me as long as Lilian is there.
    HAZEL: Not this time though.
    HAZEL: Thank you for telling me about your team!
James Bond As I was saying, it's not something I've been able to talk about often. We'll have to find a good time for it.

    "Sure," says HMMMM, his inflection rising slightly above his usual range from simple enthusiasm. When Xion disappears after her phone, he lifts his wristwatch. The exactingly-made digital replica of an analog face disappears. In its place, various menus A note is made, but he pauses in the writing.

My number.

    He looks up, and the replica returns, from a menu displaying her message. "Thank you, Katrina," he says, warm gratitude in his blue eyes. Not just for her offer, but for her ear.

     "There might be... someone else, that'd want that. Since both of us switched jobs, it's been easier for us to keep in touch. Is it alright if I give it to him, too?"
Tamamo     Tamamo looks, increasingly quizically, between the several siblings who didn't answer her question. Her only clue being that it has something to do with Japanese summers, she considers who might be best to ask, and begins composing a message. Of course, she'll have to ask about some other things and make pleasantries, first. It'll only be halfway down the letter, after a description of seasons and family reunions, that Sakura will see the question. 'It seems to have some relation to the cry of cicadas.'

    Unfortunately, she's not aware that she could send it through the Nintendo connection, though she did acquire a device, on account of Nika.
Lilian Rook     'Well, Katrina said, magic's got to be used sparingly, so it'd barely count if it was something we could just have done by getting here a couple hours earlier. And, I mean--'

    "They'd detect it." Bryce says, finishing Petra's thought preemptively. "Yeah, they don't even pretend they can't detect magic anymore." says Katrina. "G.D.F internal estimates are on the order of five to ten miles, but American mutual defense pact signatories aren't beneficiaries of the technology." Bryce adds. "We're not supposed to keep up on each other's secrets, after all. But if we're leaving that way, they can't exactly stop us."

    'Er-- well. That isn't, true, I think. It can't be. 'Love' and 'understand' are different from 'tolerate', and, like... sometimes you can just love 'everything visible', and that's fine, unless something else becomes visible and it's not 'everything' anymore.'

    "I wish that anyone learned so much from that tacky old advice about 'being yourself'." Bryce laments conversationally. "The younger generation is having to learn how to relate to each other on anything but 'shared trauma' again, and they're hopeless at it. You're entitled to your privacy, your presentation, all that, but you aren't ever going to know if someone really loves you until they know your secrets."

    'Th-they? *They*, are, not someone who's... going to be around today? They just, might be someone, in the future. But not today, so... I mean, implicated or not, in the long run, we definitely won't, um, now....'

    "Ah, so you know about her from Lilian." "If it's confusing, don't worry! She's better at it than I am! He'll definitely be there when she says!" Katrina and Bryce both intuit more or less the same meaning by Petra's uncertainty, assigning Petra's confusion to the framework of 'precognition in daily life', one of two things that is actually just a uniquely everpresent part of the family; and they do it while talking right past each other, without noticing anything.

    The in-car audio fuzzes lightly, and when Bryce turns up the volume, you can just barely hear the distant roar of a plane. Katrina reaches back to toggle the roof view. "Stop the car." "Engine won't cool down fast enough. No point. Best to act natural." "If we can hear it then it's already further ahead than its sound-wake. It's passed us?" "Or circling, or descending." "Do you think that jet from last week is back?" "Miss Grimm's theory might not be so bad."
Arthur Lowell >Arthur: Converse helpfully

                                       --                                      

PB: Don't ask SAKURA about the SICK FLOW, trust me
PB: I think she posts LESS THAN YOU somehow
PB: Honestly I have no idea why they called the statue that
PB: Like
PB: I guess "LIBERTY" is supposed to be a PERSON
PB: And be REPRESENTED by the LADY?
PB: I used to know ladies like that
PB: PERSONIFICATIONS OF STUFF
PB: I don't know what their deal was but maybe LADY LIBERTY was that
PB: Like maybe there were a bunch of other ladies like her
PB: Like the ladies I knew who represented like
PB: Various kinds of demons or creatures
PB: Military vehicles sometimes
PB: Elements
PB: Types of swords
PB: w/e

PB: That's sick as hell though
PB: Wi-Fi range maximum
PB: I will never get the SEER CLASS
PB: But stuff like that ROCKS HARD
PB: I'll let you know when we're AT THE PLACE
PB: Gonna need some help with finding BLOOM INFO
PB: Can't say that out loud or else LILIAN gonna CHOKE MY ASS

                                       --                                      

>==>

    Tippatappatap. He winds up having to close the DS when the jet starts. "Shit, dude." He mutters. "We gotta deal with that? Fuck. What options we got for avoiding that or something? I got NOTHING FOR STEALTH, FOR REAL." He grits his teeth and looks awkwardly upwards at the source of sound. "I mean, I'll FIGHT A BUNCH, but that's not gonna HELP."
Tamamo     Tamamo spends a little time watching Xion demonstrate and speak of her ability to pocket things, and says, "Oh, you are quite a bit better at this skill than am I. I had suspected so, though it had not seemed needful to ask."

    The developing situation with the sound of another vehicle occurs just following her finishing a phone-typed letter to Sakura, and Tamamo looks between Katrina and Arthur. "Matters of stealth are... well, if it is only a matter of preparing a space that will be overlooked, I can be counted upon for this. To avoid the detection of magic... without having an observer on whom to act, the tools I carry with me are somewhat limited."
Xion > 'I can't tell if you're scolding me or agreeing with me. I think agreeing?'

Xion doesn't know, exactly, either. "I think I'm agreeing, too." She doesn't know, but she thinks so. "You can - you should be able to - learn things, earn things. Make things yours. But some have more than others, and some sit on piles of treasure, and swat down. And some people have earned a big pile of treasure, and have earned taking a swipe too, and--" Complex, rich emotionally and thus a little distressing to Xion to bear out, the Nobody sighs out and swallows and trades her inventoried phone for a crinkly-plastic bottle of water that she opens and takes a sip from to steady herself and clear her throat.

"Real life's so much more complicated than swinging swords and talking. There's all this *other* stuff you have to practice." She speaks in semi-sequiter, and caps her water with a keychain-wrapped hand.

"There are people who struggled to be as good as the memories promised, and that's not a terribly wrong way to be - but then it's all the more important to be a light of difference. I think you understand that. And you're moving, aren't you?"

> 'Gosh that'd be so convenient . . .'

"You can already talk to it. Are you close? Or just familiar?" The Nobody is very curious.

> 'I had suspected so,'

Xion resumes her excitement in a different way, a kind of breathless apologetic-but-happy at the same time, being reminded of something good but put-off. "Oh! I'll explain whatever you want, Tamamo. But I'm glad you were here to hear, if you care. We *should* catch up, um... I might have some time to take lunch with you? I know I've... had a lot of invitations, but I finally have some time? Things're changing in my world."
Rita Ma      "Being in pain"
     "being unable to take of yourself"
     "feeling that you can't do the things you used to"
     "losing your memories"
     "having to give up on what you still want to do"
     Rita suddenly seems uncomfortable, and also suddenly seems like she totally understands, though it's not like Bryce can see her. He can just hear her cheeks-squished-into-knees tone: "I see. Thank you, Mr. Bryce. I'll talk to them about it then. Soon."

     "Haha, is it easier if I just say it's magic stuff?"
     "Haha. No, it's not. I'm sorry Ms. Katrina." It's unlike Rita to laugh uncomfortably like that, but she mirrors it anyway, and sinks further into her blanket-heap. She weighs whether or not to say something. She's been having a pretty good day, so far, so she takes the scary plunge:

     "... Blood bothers me. Which I guess is silly." Lilian and Angela, and maybe Bond, know exactly how. "It's okay if it's for work. But if I'm talking to someone, and they cut themselves shaving that morning, it's..."

     Wait, that's just rambling. What is she asking of Katrina exactly? "... It's fine. Like I said, I like being around you, Ms. Katrina."

     "'Love' and 'understand' are different from 'tolerate'..."
     "I guess technically, sort of. But does that really happen often? I think mostly it's like I said, right?" Rita remains blissfully oblivious to the fact that most of her relationships have been unusually uncomplicated. But her smile softens into painful sympathy when she looks back to Cinder anyway. "It really hurts when someone gets the wrong idea about you like that. I'm sorry, Ms. Cinder. But, even so... if you want to be friends again, and she won't talk to you, you have to talk to her, right?"

     To Angela, suddenly uncertain: "Huh? 'Penance'? Like jail? For how long?"

     "Haha, Ash is a boy's name, but I understand!"
     "No it's not. It's short for Ashley."
     "Th-they? *They*, are, not someone who's... going to be around today?"
     Rita looks between Katrina, Bryce, and Petra with visible concern. But without really thinking twice, she sides with Petra. "They," she says finely- as if it were a slightly awkward distinction to be making so purposefully in her language- "are someone we're a little worried for. That's all. Please don't bet about anything, okay?"

     "Stop the car."
     "Engine won't cool down fast enough. No point. Best to act natural."
     Rita's seatbelt clicks free and the blankets shift off her as she stands. Her whole demeanor's shifted taut-polite, calm in a very different way than Katrina saw before. "I can cool it. And hide us. Pull over." "It's passed us?" "Even if they saw us, it's not too late."
Tamamo     Tamamo warmly regards Xion. This is something natural for her to do, even if they're likely about to be tense and busy with something else. "There were some things I wished to discuss with you, I recall, when I spoke of that which is a 'bunrei,' some time ago, but there was... my, just what was it? So many things have happened, and so many other things fill the quiet moments, when I spend only a little time looking away. Such excuses aside, a meal together would be welcome rest."

    'Things're changing in my world.'

    "That is new, is it not? I have not often heard you speak of it."
Angela ''If you want to be friends again''

"...Yeah, if I ever get the chance to again, I won't let her get away without explaining herself. ... But it's not just me she hurt." She glances to Angela who stares impassively back at her, as if daring her to admit that Yuri had pricked her. She keeps this up until...

''Penance? Like jail? For how long?''

Angela sighs, since this is part of the ugliness of her job she doesn't like to get into but frankly she can't even say she'd do differently if she didn't have such obligations if it was just her herself running everything.

"Until she lures out the Purple Tear for us--the one who orchestrated everything. At that point I will consider the harm done to me absolved. Then she can focus on the harm she did to others."

She closes her eyes for a moment, in thought, and then adds, "I hope you do not think less of me for that."

Though she knows their initial meetings were a little...difficult in of themselves.