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Angela	Last Time... On LobCorp Land...! Angela through a roundabout means asked the Trideag Association to investigate LobCorp Land. She has asked that the reason for the sudden drop of Enkephalin Generation from the facility housed there be discovered and for the recovery for debriefing the local facility manager. She has 'allowed' for the rescue of any local agents. Louie and Jam were park employees who greeted you at the park, with Louie even going so far as to join in on the investigation. Meanwhile, LobCorp sent some Agents from the main office to lend a hand--Petra and Ichirin and Minamatsu. While Lilian explored the park, the rest of you hit up a few key points around some malfunctioning rides in the park to discover the reason for the Enkephalin drops. It turned out that a set of small squirrel like creatures, looking eerily similar to the Ratatoskr mascot, were draining the Enkephalin away! And to make matters worse, the Purple Tear dropped in on Lilian to have a chat. She said she didn't like the possibilities she had seen and set out to provide a 'gift of possibility', suggesting Angela had four now instead of three. And when asked what she wanted... Oh I'll tell anyone who asks. I simply want to meet my son. But the Purple Tear doesn't clarify what that means and, really, there's a sense she just won't right now. She's got other stuff on her mind to talk about. "Yuri's destiny was to die in a LobCorp facility. She had to become a Sinner to survive. She was given a glimpse of something that you and I take for granted: The ability to see the Great Flow. Everyone in the City feels it, but few can act as a guide to navigate it. You were already involved, so."
Angela	BIG BIRD'S FLIGHT Madeleine can lead the way, chasing after the small creature with Odette close behind. It doesn't go too far, at least, darting through the central courtyard, up and down a wall leading into another one of the backstage areas whereupon she can give word to the other groups that the source of the disturbance seems to be heading in this way--and if one were to check in with Jam, he'd confirm that's the entrance to the 'facility' portion of the park. Needless to say, Madeleine can also find a door hidden as part of the wall leading further in but it requires a LobCorp keycard. SMOKEBERG "You did it!" The same voice from before booms as the ride picks back up. "You have defeated the vile G-Commander Gregor! Soon L-Corp will fall and a new energy future awaits us! Thank you for your service, soldiers! You may exit on your left and be returned to the new L-Corp of your time as a reward for your service!" Aidan gets punched IN THE FACE. The Abnormality is fine. Is it smug? It's still fairly invisible but seems to have taken a nap on Aidan's head. Has Aidan accidentally performed a correct work on an Abnormality based on being a giant squirrel man? That seems to be the case. Suddenly, Madeleine contacts Aidan, Minamitsu, and Ichirin through the radio shortly after. It seems she has a lead that she's following...as we speak! SPOOKYTOWN ''Where'd it go?'' That's a good question. The hole it dug down through seems really deep, but way too small to go down through unless you can turn yourself into the size of a large squirrel. The rides start back up now that power isn't being actively drained. Petra also gets contacted by Madeleine who has found another one of these critters and seems to be following it. In short order, a location will be provided too. There is a back exit outside of the BLOODFIEND MANOR but you could also go back out the way you came for an opportunity to scare more children.
Angela	THE FACILITY However our heroes meet back up and get into the backstage area, they'll uncover a small area with a NO SMOKING sign and a NO ENTRY sign posted as well as another locked door that can be opened with a keycard leading to a staircase heading downward. Madeleine can spot an even smaller hole near this entranceway that could easily be mistaken as a burrow for a small critter but like the one Petra had seen--looks real deep. Heading down the stairs, familiar awful overhanging lights provide some vision. It's quiet. There's no screams or corpses--not at first. It's about five flights of stairs before a door opens up into the facility proper. Once you open it up the first thing you hear is... VRRRM....shffffff....VRRRRM.....shffffff. Another clear hallway except for a pile of clothes blocking a cell door from closing completely. It opens. It closes. It opens. It closes. The clothes in question seem to belong to a Control agent--it's not EGO Gear, so still in training. Other cell doors are firmly closed and there's likely an elevator somewhere in here that would take you to the Manager's office. Looking up would reveal lots of little small holes in the ceiling, not so unlike the ones you saw up above ground. Little warning klaxons are flaring, indicating for those who know LobCorp procedures, a ''Third Trumpet''. But most of the Cells in Control are closed and looking at the one that hasn't been able to close is clearly empty--not even an active camouflage thing going on there, it's just bene empty. However, there are leaves scattered across the floor, and little branches pushing out through the floor through little cracks. There seem to be little branches pushing out all over through Control. VRRRRM....shfffff....VRRRRM....shfffff.
Petra Soroka	"I do not know the point of idolizing Kale. Perhaps he thinks he can model Kale's improvement to improve himself? Maybe he feels indebted to Kale because of the Quicknest situation?"     Petra clicks her tongue at Sarracenia. "Maybe he thinks that's his reason. But I mean, Kale wasn't there for him at all-- honestly, *you* were the only one who was, and he treated you like dirt for it. So...."     While she's working on the Enkephalin sensor to match exactly the readings to one of the local branch's Abnormalities displayed on her tablet, Petra's tone starts to shift. She trails off, and the familiar insistently mean edge to her voice melds into a different kind of intensity, like unflinching eye contact without actually turning away from her task to look at Sarra. A haze of derealization creeps into her voice, defocusing her edge without blunting it, as if she was an especially invested outside observer to this conversation, instead of a participant.     "Isn't our work so weird? I'm a supervillain, you know? You swore to take me down. I've sworn to kill you a dozen times. Eight on one, I've *beaten* you, I've wounded you and others plenty; alone like this, there's no real way for you to know I didn't rig this building up with drones to murder you. I'd have the time, since I'm an Agent. And it's not like I didn't mean any time I've tried to hurt you." Petra idly wiggles her bone prop, as if to emphasize the absurdity of being dressed up in costume alongside Sarra. "But that'd be wrong now, right? Right now, I'm just asking about your fight with Proudpick, and it'd be weird to do anything else."     "It's all so... not-real. Not fake, not like I don't... feel the way I do, or did, and I don't actually lie very well. But it kind of feels like everything outside of violence isn't real at all. You know? Why do I care at all about you arguing with Proudpick? I don't really know. It's sort of like a dream. Interacting with literally anyone but Lilian feels like being in a dream where I'm slowly getting suffocated because there's no oxygen left and no one even notices."     Petra kneels down to the hole where the Abnormality burrowed, shining a light down into it and poking her morphmetal down in spears to see if she can reach, all while still rambling. "Don't take it personally. It's normal. I'm just saying it because it crossed my mind, and I know you won't really get it."     Then, it's back to the facility! When Petra rejoins the gang, she does absolutely nothing to undo her zombie costume-- there wasn't time!-- so she's still in a burned and scuffed-up suit, lifeless pallor and scar makeup on her face, hair mussed up like she just crawled out of the grave, and holding a spooky bone prop like it's going to be useful to her. This is, frankly, normal clothing for inside a facility. When Shajo is wearing the EGO gift of the Mountain of Smiling Bodies, he looks less alive than this.     "Alright. So, the manager's office is gonna be on the very bottom probably-- HQ's is on the top floor, but branch facilities typically have them at the lowest floor. It'd be a bit of a trek to haul all of you guys there, and managers are *technically* sorta supposed to be private anyways, so I'll head down there myself--"     When the group gets far enough down the staircase that the klaxon alarm filters up to them, Petra's eyes widen a bit. "Uh. Okay. So, change of plans; it kind of seems like shit's fucked already. Let me figure out what the hell this breach is, and then I'll take a small group down to the Manager to extract him while the rest of you, uh, deal with whatever wiped out Control."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine spends the walk down five flights of stairs expounding on the ramifications of the squirrel infestation. "If their tunnels reach all the way down," she explains, "Then there's warrens all between here and the surface. There's probably hundreds of the little fellows, trapping or chasing them all down would take weeks. There's two ways about this that I see. One, we shut off their food supply. That means reinforcing walls and doors, sealing cracks and vents, anything a squirrel could squeeze or chew through would have to go. It'll be expensive, it'll take time, and if we don't do it perfectly they'll just find a new way to get at the Enkephalin. I don't think that's viable without shutting down the facility."     "Or two, we poison that food supply. That means finding out what stuff these critters won't like, and finding out which of those things won't interfere with using the Enkephalin to generate power. Which isn't a process I know much about - Ichirin, Minamitsu, how does that happen anyway? Do you burn the stuff, or what?"     Upon reaching the Facility proper she pauses and regards the half-open cell, leaning down to inspect the clothing with her hands on her hips. "Whatever happened to this guy? Either we've got a nudism outbreak or something's eating agents, bones and all." Then the alarm registers in her perception. "Third trumpet's pretty bad, right? Those branches are coming through the floor - what's below Control here? is it laid out the same as HQ?"
Aidan Proudpick	"Don't hit it!" A fist collides with Aidan's face, slamming into the side of his cheek as he turns away from the blow. The blow lifts his body up off the ground enough to slide towards the wall of the ride, first in one direction, then staggering in the other. Squirrel hits the wall with a meaty thump, tail falling flat to the ground. The Yokai may even be able to imagine little acorns fluttering around his head. He gives Ichirin a shaky thumbsup. His Fixer grade goes into his cloth armor mindlessly as he staggers all the way back to the backstage of LobCorp Land. IN THE BACKROOMS A little less wobbly, Aidan glances briefly at Petra, eyes slidng over her, then over to Sarracenia with a little smile. It's more of a flare gun, to which Aidan adds a egg white egg shaped object about the size of an egg before snapping it up. Normally, Aidan would cheat at stairs, but he's trying to go steadily so as not to bother the strange invisible animal on his head. He pulls the pistol from his belt, setting his full sized shield in his other hand, though it definitely seems too heavy in his hand. "Alright, if I was a tiny energy squirrel, I'd be heading for-" He turns the corner, his voice falling to a whisper, "A tree." He squats down over the branch, feeling it out with his fingers, "If they were just eating, they could probably go down here, they already have the tunnels." He looks over at Madeleine, a little grin on his face. A lift of the Rataskor plush from his bag, a waggle. "I have an idea." Aidan rushes towards whatever downward stairs he can find, trying to get ahead of the others, attempting to get to the source of the branches first.
Odette Raskins	With the little mascot showing up, Odette's saved from the indignity of having to do something truly stupid to be a decoy! Sadly, she's not saved from actually having to get down from the wheel in mid-ride, so she's forced to jump onto each passenger cabin to get down faster instead of just waiting for the ride. That, naturally, has her yelping with every painful thunk of body-on-cabin, but she's soon giving chase with Madeleine while sidehopping around strollers and barreling right through the center of 5+ person groups walking side by side. "Sorry! Ah geez... Sorry! Oh heck..." Odette looks and sounds far more sorry for some visitors than others, but she'll... No, she won't make it up to them later. No time! She just needs to keep up with Madeleine and the creature so as to not drag anyone down today. She relaxes a bit upon seeing everyone else at the backstage area, taking the moment to catch her breath while reshouldering her bag and  promptly screaming when she sees Zombietra right next to her. Even after Petra speaks and makes it obvious that she's not a zombie, Odette's still shaking fearfully and takes a few more moments to get off the floor. "Oh geez... Th-th-that's some good makeup you got on... Uh. Did you all see the little.. Um. Squirrely thing, too?" She asks while finally making sure she didn't drop her wristband along the way. "If it's deeper in here... Um. Th-then I guess I should go with you to extract the Manager, then? A-and whoever else is deeper inside." Madeleine raises a point about getting the creature situation under control, too, but that's definitely outside of ODette's specialty. Unless... "Poison? If they're stealing the energy, that's... C-can we make the Enkephalin bad somehow? Or... Leave some kind of other tainted energy around?" Rummaging around in her bag briefly, Odette brings out a bottle of sedatives. "Maybe we could spray a... Um. Wires with this?" She sounds so uncertain about that. As they head further in, Odette keeps tapping her HUD every now and then to make sure she has a clear reading of everyone around her. The shuffling noise has her freezing up, though, as does the sight of the pile of clothes keeping the cell door open. She inches along the opposite wall to peek into the room, trying to see if there's even anyone or anything still inside that room that might need saving. If not, she'll keep scurrying along, but she misses the leaves and branches entirely while focusing so much on trying to spot people or health readings with her HUD.
Lilian Rook	'Ahh...well I was ''going'' to, but I happened to talk to a certain Fox you--'     Lilian's gaze sliiiides towards the woman beside her while they walk. The gears turn clearly and precisely behind her eyes. She--     'Aha... the Kamen Rider who is a Fox.'     Oh. Well whatever.     'But I felt terrible that I didn't end up introducing myself to you so I looked for a good time so here I am.'     Lilian takes the offered cotton candy as if it were naturally overdue by now. The habitual thought of poison barely crosses her mind. There's no tactical gain she can even begin to imagine. "Really now. Your heavy heart and guilty conscience for failing to show up to my housewarming party has dragged you all the way out here." she says, examining the cotton candy blob from side to side as she tries to recall how you eat one of these. "And to think I was trying so very hard to ensure you got my RSVP."     She picks a blob off with her fingers, puts it in her mouth, and then takes while to decide whether she likes that it melts so quickly it doesn't need chewing at all. It's perfect, she thinks, for this feeling-out nothing talk. No substance and full of sugar.     'More the especially bad tommorows. But if I wait two days then it becomes yesterday. I'm not a fortune teller though. Though I'm good at faking it.'     "I should hope not. If you were doing this deliberately, I'd have to be rather cross." Lilian says. Everything she says sounds so carefully neutral that it skips apathy and enters anger instead. "I wonder what I might find, however, should I try my hand at being one, and I assume that someone else might be tampering with the same predictions."     'I'm not the sort of person who apologizes for something they did on purpose and would do again. Besides, you wouldn't want something that insincere right?'     "You should get into the habit. Most of everything that everyone says is bullshit, whether or not they think they mean it at the time. Smiling and lying through your teeth is about displaying that you're willing to pretend, not about whether it's true or not." says Lilian, tearing off another blob of cotton candy and pensively allowing it to dissolve. "Or at least, that's the way of things outside. The City is, for some strange reason, exceptionally bad at it, for good and for ill. It's as disgusting as it is strangely attractive."     'Consider it a gift of possibility.'     "Don't act like you're doing me a favour. The possibilities expanded the moment I arrived." Lilian's tone wavers over the edge of affected ambivalence and crackles like smoke on the horizon. "Four is a convenient number. It's one plus the number of 'us' that decided to get involved. Isn't that the way of things?"     'Oh I'll tell anyone who asks. I simply want to meet my son.'     That catches Lilian off guard. Enough to look again, though not enough to halt. "Is it really that complicated? Frankly, if he doesn't want to talk to you, then I'm on his side."     'The ability to see the Great Flow. Everyone in the City feels it, but few can act as a guide to navigate it. You were already involved, so.'     "So?" Lilian holds her stare. "What do you want? Certainly I'm not so interesting you'd do all of this just to spend a little time with me. I mean, I am, but I doubt that's your aim." Lilian works her teeth against each other quietly. The sensation of eating without using them feels wrong. "What does the fate of the City have to do with such a little goal?"
Sarracenia	'Isn't our work so weird?'      "...it is weird, yes. And it would be wrong now, yes." Sarra agrees.      'It's all so... not-real." Sarra ponders what Petra says. "There is something about fighting. It is hard to hide anything during a fight. Even if one tries, things come out in one's actions, one's intensity, and even one's words. In a fight that pushes one to one's limits, unless someone is just very skilled in both combat and deception...I think it is virtually impossible to be dishonest in a proper fight." she says, then looks at Petra fully. "So...perhaps I do get it. A little bit, at least. It is one reason I myself enjoy fighting. I even fight my friends."      Pretty much as soon as they enter the facility properly...Sarracenia pulls her hammer and becomes noticeably on edge. She may have a bit more experience in actual dangerous situations now, but she has still lived a rather sheltered life of privilege.      Finding those clothes in that doorway just makes it worse. The princess looks a bit pale imagining what might have happened to them. Madeleine talks about them being eaten, but Sarra has another fear ever since getting slimed in pink goo. "...do you suppose...it is a Melting Love type of situation? There are a -lot- of those holes..." she says, looking at the roof. Madeleine suggests a couple courses of action, and Sarra looks a bit confused. "How do you poison...energy?" she asks.      'Let me figure out what the hell this breach is, and then I'll take a small group down to the Manager to extract him while the rest of you, uh, deal with whatever wiped out Control.'      Sarra mmphs somewhat dissatisfied at this. "And what do the rest of us do while you investigate? Wait to be eaten?" Sarra touches her metal lotus and liquid metal flows over her gloves from finger upward until she is wearing metal gloves. Then...she pushes those clothes into the cell and clear of the door so it can close. That noise was going to drive her crazy. She does the same to any other clothes blocking any other doors, pushing them into cells so that if the clothes are somehow Abnormalities they will be contained.      Aidan smiles at Sarra. He is met with an odd expression. She doesn't smile back, but she doesn't frown either. Instead, she looks contemplatively at him and perhaps a bit somber. He still hasn't apologized, and she was just talking to Petra about him, soooo....      Not willing to just stand around, Sarra gets a great/terrible idea. She ponders a moment, then pulls out a red mushroom. Or at least...at first glance it is red. But a closer look shows it to be a very reddish-purple, with angry eyes instead of the usual cute eyes of Mario land mushrooms. "So...if we were squirrel-sized...do you think we could track them down?" she says, looking at Madeleine in particular. "Poison Mushrooms are usually to be avoided, but perhaps..."
UFO Gang	LAST TIME, ON DEEP SPACE NINE "O R R Y," says Ichirin in slow motion as she swings her cloud-misted fist forwards. The last minute realization has probably kept it from being That Bad, but it doesn't mean it's any better! POONCH! Ichirin covers her mouth with both hands, aghast. Unzan does the same behind her. "Are you alright?!" Minamitsu says, hastening over to Aidan and leaning forwards. "Here, lemme - you good? Okay, okay!" DURING THE WAY DOWN Ichirin (who is flying, if keeping level pace with the others) remarks to Madeline, "It would take time, and they can be quite destructive. They also wouldn't starve immediately... I'm not sure how long they'd last, but I know something about mice, just from second-hand experience, and - ah - well, let's say that there'd be fewer, but vicious-er-- is that a word? -- squirrels at the end of it..." Minamitsu (who is also hover-flying) looks to Madeleine. "Umm... I'm not sure. I think so, given how things are described, but I'm not sure if it's being burned the way you'd burn lamp oil or something. Basically, it's like psychic energy that's been converted into an, um, material form... that's what I understand. I think psychic is, something like faith? Like," Minamitsu taps her forehead, "it's mental power." "Shou would know more," Ichirin answers Minamitsu. "Well, Shou isn't here," continues Minamitsu, papping one fist into the other. (Minamitsu is the UFO Squadron and Buddhist Studies' Group "most likely to be a Warrior of Light," despite being dead.) "So we'll have to do our best! One thing I *do* remember, though, is when some of that stuff got on some of Nazrin's mice." "That was gruesome," Ichirin says, dolefully. After this -- she looks at Aidan, still guiltily. "-- Oh, are you going to decoy them? Good plan," she continues, lowering her voice as they approach a space of tactical focus. Minamitsu remarks to Sarracenia, "Do you mean poison poison or /Poison/ poison mushrooms?"
Sarracenia	Sarra is a bit confused by Minamitsu's question. Not knowing quite how to respond she looks at Ichirin for some sort of hint, then uncertainly replies, "Um.../Poison/ poison?" she half says half asks, unsure just what the implication is of either option. "It is not deadly. It just shrinks you to around a third of your size."
UFO Gang	"Oh! Not the ones that make you go blind and die," Minamitsu says. "Oh good," Ichirin agrees. "That's a very specific poison, I have to say."
Angela	THE PURPLE TEAR "Well you'll have to blame the Fox for me skipping out on it but I don't think he meant any harm." She says, sampling her own cotton candy. It isn't actually poisoned, despite her snake themeing, but that doesn't mean she isn't full of it. A thoughtful expression crosses her face as she imagines Lilian as a fortune teller but ultimately doesn't comment on it. ''Smiling and lying through your teeth is about displaying that you're willing to pretend, not about whether it's true or not.'' "I understand how you feel. They say dosage makes the poison so I imagine that is both why it feels disgusting and attractive? Moderation is difficult to find so the grass is greener on the other side. Until it's not." ''Four is a convenient number.'' She busies herself with cotton candy, quiet again until Lilian says that she'd be on her son's side. "Aha... It is, unfortunately, complicated. And not simply about him not wanting to see me. The infinite is quite large so I have to make the right path. As for what I want--I did tell you--but if I am to take it as you mean what I want ''from'' you, Gold Fracture..." She lowers the cotton candy and focuses on Lilian, looking into her eyes for a moment with her own purple ones. "I want you to take the golden path ideal for you--wherever your vision tells you to go. I want you to follow the smoke once the trail of it appears, and run a perfectly capable Trideag Association. And I wanted to get to know you a little bit. You ''are'' interesting, aren't you?" She didn't answer that last one, though.
Angela	THE FACILITY Petra suggests splitting into two teams! One team for Extraction (presumably of the Manager rather than Enkephalin) and one team for Suppression (It'd probably suck if all the Abnormalities escaped up above and started eating people or whatever. As Madeleine points to the pile of clothes, it rustles a little bit and a Ratatoskr head pops out of the clothes. It rolls flat on its back, as if dazed for the moment before looking towards Aidan--mroe specifically what's on Aidan's head. IT's also covered in blood but, weirdly enough... Not around its teeth. And the blood seems to be fading into its fur. When Aidan runs off, it scampers off after him. Madeleine notices the shoes are aimed inward--this wasn't someone trying to escape a Cell, it was someone trying to get inside one. Odette has brought sedatives! Abnormalities aren't neccessarily immune to them, it really depends on the Abnormality, but there hasn't exactly been a test of them on Ratatoskrs. And even if there was, Odette wouldn't have access to that information. There's no exposed wires up here, though. ''...Sarracenia pulls out her hammer...'' She isn't the only one. A Disciplinary Agent with thorns bursting out from both of her eyes carries a very large hammer in hand. She's about 3/4ths of A Nonon in size and electricity crackles off the hammer. And she just stepped in from Training, the Hammer itself caked in dried blood. She approaches slowly and then rushes forward towards Sarracenia, swinging the hammer right for her skull. If the crushing force doesn't get her, the residual electricity might! Poison Mushrooms might be enough to go through some of the larger holes in the ceiling (it'd still be really tight even at 1/3rd size. If only Shinmyoumaru were here!) but the cracks in the floor are too tiny even for that. You'll have to use an elevator and Aidan passes by several more clumps of clothes while heading towards one. Aidan can push the button for the elevator. There's a faint whirring noise as it's called up but it'll be a moment. "Skreee?" If Aidan looks he'll see a slew of red eye pairs staring at him moving from Information towards Training and Control. An endless number. the one on Aidan's head stirs gently, shifts around on Aidan's head... And then bites, viciously, one of his ears. Petra's idea to split into teams might be a solid plan because a swarm of Ratatoskr's are all scampering towards Aidan--and then everybody else approaching the elevator--intending to swarm and devour them piece by piece. But the mission is down below.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine's eyes narrow as the horde of Ratatoskr converge on Aidan. "Alright. I'll handle the squirrels. Anyone else who can deal with a swarm, help me out." She sets right to work - first taking a deep breath in, then blowing out a cloud of icy mist that clings to the walls and ceiling, freezing over the squirrel tunnels to limit the creatures' angles of attack. Then she draws her bow, and fires an arrow in Aidan's direction which bursts into a cloud of choking poison. For a person-sized squirrel it's a nuisance, and possibly an impediment to breath magic while he remains in the cloud, but the dense vapor sinks low to the ground and will prove a much greater threat to his squirrel-sized-squirrel assailants.     The huntress wades through the mass of poisoned squirrels, taking care to not get *too* much blood on her boots, as she makes her way into the elevator, holding the door open for anyone else going down to the level below. "Let's see what's up with that tree!" she calls. "It might be spawning the little bastards, so fighting forever up here may not get us anywhere."
Aidan Proudpick	"Don't worry, Ichirin, I'm a squirrel too, they probably will let me through!" Aidan winces at Sarra's look. But he's in the mission now. As he pushes the elevator button, Aidan grabs at his face, drumming his claws across his brow. "I might have to just kill Kale," he mutters to himself as he waits for the door to open. He is ahead of everyone else, trying to take his mind off that thought by humming the Girl from Ipanema. His tail twitches erratically behind him, nervous. Ears twitch in a similar fashion until they turn around to the source of the noise. A veritable garden, an endless plane of red pinpricks stare back at him. He holds up the plush with a bright smile, "Hey! Look, I'm one of you!" That smile only falters when the blinding pain shoots down from his ear, blood spilling out from the tear. "OW! FUCK!" Aidan leans back, trying to brush at his head with the large shield, blood splattering over his ears and hand. "No! No! I'm one of you, I'm one of you! Look! I'm a Rataskor!" The wave of red eyes and chittering fangs approaches. Aidan knows how deep those fangs can bite. His shield hand comes up, gloved fingers spreading out, about to form a wind wall. He sucks in a deep breath of air to form that wind wall, white wisps drawing into his mouth. POISON GAS HACK, HORF, COUGH. His wind wall sputters out before he can even start it, forcing him back up against the elevator doors. His only hope is to lift the heavy shield in front of him and shimmy in as soon as Madeleine gets it open.
Petra Soroka	"In a fight that pushes one to one's limits, unless someone is just very skilled in both combat and deception...I think it is virtually impossible to be dishonest in a proper fight."     "Mmmm." Petra hums quietly to herself, not because she's in thought over Sarracenia's answer, but because she's just neutrally acknowledging the exact answer she expected. It's not like she can get angry or disappointed, when the only reason she explained was because she expected a normal 'wrong answer'.     "Nah. It's nothing really like the whole 'fighting with your feelings' thing at all. It's not about honesty, or communication, I mean. I mean *violence*, not fighting. Violence can be fighting, but it isn't always, and fighting isn't always violence. It's like, when you give up on reaching out, and force others to stop doing it too. Like, temporarily recategorizing myself as something other than 'you', and being something that's, you know, totally irreconcilable except by seeing who has the ability to force the other one to break. Talking is the part that's not real. Like this." "And what do the rest of us do while you investigate? Wait to be eaten?"     Petra narrows her eyes at Sarracenia in contempt for a moment, then goes back to scrolling through data on her tablet with a semifluid morphmetal stylus faster than a human eye could process. "No, dumbass, I expect you to start smashing your face into whatever evil-looking thing is moving around. That's your job. That's what you got hired for." ""...do you suppose...it is a Melting Love type of situation?"     "Yeah, shockingly, that's actually right." Petra presses her hand to the reflective back of her tablet and pulls out a ratbot with a little holo-projector screen, showing the Abnormality's page that she's on. "Ratatoskr, HE class, sort of like Melting Love, but it does White damage instead of Black. Meaning, it's more of a psychic threat than a physical one, but they can start swarming if there's large groups of them. And there's definitely large groups, so if I find any of you gnawed to the bone by these idiot squirrels, I'll totally make fun of you."     "Uh, the tree stuff is... probably Gnawed Tree? Hold on, where's the... tch." Petra clicks her tongue and stops trawling for data when danger approaches. It's so annoying to have to deal with Abnormalities she hasn't already studied! She folds her tablet into itself, Qetra's hand briefly peeking out from the shiny metallic back to invert it into its own reflection, and then forms a wedge of morphmetal armblade across her forearm.     "Remember we're not just dealing with one breach here, so. Watch out. And these guys never totally filled out their managerial tips on the transformation, so I dunno if they can go back, or if they're just dead. Probably assume they're dead. Now-- get out of the way, Proudpick."     Petra jams her arm between Aidan and the door and shoves him aside, wedging her armblade into the door gap of the elevator instead. She pries it open and holds each end with Madeleine until it stays, then, rather than taking the elevator, just hops down the shaft. Morphmetal spills over her arm and down her torso and leg, resolidifying on her boots to form spikes to slow her fall against the wall.     "We'll need the elevator *down* to get the Manager up if he's unconscious, or whatever! Don't bother waiting for it. A few of you, get with me, and the rest of you, deal with the fucking animal friends."
UFO Gang	"I hope so," Ichirin answers Aidan's assertion of squirrel mutual recognition. Both of the floating girls notice the Ratatoskr! Ichirin points, but it's Minamitsu who raises a hand in preparation to hurl bursts of water after it - but she hesitates, perhaps. Aidan told them NOT to attack the little bastards before. Except the one on Aidan's head leans down to bite into his ear!! Ichirin is seized with regrets! Unzan engulfs her! This is probably protective, because of all of the squirrels coming down, having gone - dare we say it, dear reader? - nuts for their tender flesh. Minamitsu, though, turns around and tugs her water-ladle from a hip tie and holds it in between her teeth. "Gotcha," she tells Madeleine. She then glows a little as energy gathers... INSERT THEME BECAUSE TOUHOU IS ABOUT THE MUSIC Y'ALL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX7vlQZQD-w Floating upwards a little higher than her previous 'hovering enough to not be standing on the floor but not really gaining much height,' Minamitsu unlimbers the anchor on her back and swings it aside like a scythe to beat back some of the Squirreltide before that gathered energy erupts outwards, surging seawater smashing forwards in a four-directional torrent! It glitters harsh and grey in the icy conditions, even as Ichirin sidles guiltily over near Aidan. ("It won't happen again, I promise," she tells Aidan even as the pink cloud body of Unzan produces one (1) ginormous fist... but it's pointed outwards!) "You said unconscious, and you said dead," Ichirin asks Petra: "What's the thing that would be 'whatever' there?" She seems concerned... but not terrified! At least, not yet.
Odette Raskins	Inside the pile of clothes is another Ratatoskr! Breathing a sigh of relief at that being the culprit rather than something more fearsome, Odette watches it scamper away after the larger squirrel guy. "False alarm... Phew. Alright, let's see if we can't find the.. Uh. The manager and anyone else, then. Even more reasno to hurry if they're-wait. Someone's...?" Spotting the approaching Disciplinary Agent, Odette gasps lightly when she sees the thorns coming out of her face and the electricity from her hammer. The EMT yelps as the Agent takes a swing at Sarracenia, and she's given even more reason to start worrying when the Ratatoskrs begin to swarm Aidan, then the rest of the group. "I-I don't think I have enough.. Uh. Enough stuff for all that!" Instead of trying to just fight them off with all of her bottles of things not really meant for fighting swarms of things, Odette scurries for the elevator. She does hang back as Madeleine and Petra get the elevator open, though, taking that opportunity to brings out some medicated bandages. She slaps one of those blood-clotting gel-on-a-patch over Aidan's head wounds, then peers into the shaft when Petra just jumps right on down along the wall. "Really...? Oh geez, oh geck.. Uh. Should've brought the good boots for this..!" The EMT whimpers anxiously as she looks back at the oncoming swarm, forward at the shaft, back at the swarm, then into the elevator again. She eventually gets herself psyched up enough to take a running leap into the elevator shaft. Instead of plummeting straight down, she sort of takes a cue from Petra's book by aiming for the opposite wall, ramming her boots into it to arrest just enough of her momentum that she can catch her hands onto anything else in the elevator: Cables, little lips indicating different floors, anything she can get her hands and feet on to use as holds. Then begins the long, painful process of actually letting go so she can descend. It's methodical, it's careful, and it's punctuated by lots of terrified yelps. By the time she even reaches the bottom, Odette's probably going to sound a little hoarse.
Sarracenia	The question of whether to use the mushrooms is soon answered. And Sarra's freaked out level spikes as when she reaches for those clothes...they move! And a blood-soaked squirrel thing emerges from within! With the blood being absorbed into its fur she feels like she is right and this is some weird squirrel version of Melting Love, so she lets out a short but perhaps the most high pitched freaked-out scream she ever has and leaps back. "I do not want to be a tiny blood-thirsty squirrel!!" she exclaims.      Only to get even -more- freaked out when that agent emerges...with huge thorns sticking out of them. The shiver lines are almost literally visible moving up her body and her teeth clench as another freaked out sound escapes her.      'No, dumbass, I expect you to start smashing your face into whatever evil-looking thing is moving around. That's your job. That's what you got hired for.'      There we go. Something to be angry about to temper that fear. "Nnng! To be fair, there was nothing to...Gah! I DO NOT SMASH MY FACE INTO THINGS!! I may smash -your- face into something, though!!" Sarra shouts as that hammer agent comes running at her. She swings her own hammer to counter the blow, but she can't deflect the electricity and yelps as it sizzles over her. "W-why would a plant attack with electricity?! That does not even make sense!!" she exclaims before swinging again to try and get some space.      Following standard adventuring logic, she pulls out a fire flower and in a puff of smoke is in even more fiery colors than usual. Bouncing balls of fire are sent toward the tree agent. "I am sorry if you are still in there, agent whoever you are! I will save you if you are still saveable!" she exclaims, though it is somewhat hollow since she is trying to burn the tree-infused person down. She also throws fire at any approaching Ratatoskrs.      Aidan is bitten! Sarra goes even more pale! "Aidan! Please do not turn into one of these things! I would hate to have to smash you!"      Sarra is glad Odette is going with Petra. It's probably the safest thing to do right now. "Sorry, Odette! If I were not quite so busy I would have given you a leaf!" she calls out to the medic.
Lilian Rook	'I understand how you feel. They say dosage makes the poison so I imagine that is both why it feels disgusting and attractive?'     "I can imagine how that could be the case, but that's not quite it." says Lilian, sighing pensively between phrases. There's no need to think about it. She'd given this answer to Angela once long ago. "The City is so atrocious at lying to itself that there's hardly any difference between the environment and the people in it. Those on top barely pretend it's necessary, those at the bottom don't even pretend that it's just. No one acts as if they like it, and no one treats each other as if they're intrinsically worth anything."     "Every layer of society's skin is peeled back to expose its raw nerves and ligaments. There's no mystery, no fantasy, to how it all works. It's grotesque and fascinating in that way; like a dissection."     'The infinite is quite large so I have to make the right path. As for what I want--I did tell you--but if I am to take it as you mean what I want ''from'' you, Gold Fracture...'     Lilian's reluctance slows down through caution and then all the way to analysis. Everything about the Purple Tear's motives, her grand goal, and a heavy-handed hint of what power she is wielding, must be sorted into 'in a moment', as Lilian turns and examines the facets of one last detail in her mind. So deep in thought is she that her fingers unconsciously drift to her scar, and her shoulders shift restlessly as her focus physically drifts.     "Beg pardon? Was that one your idea? At this moment, I believe I'm considered Grade One. I don't know if the motion was flown that far at the Hana Association." she says, a little leading. "It seems as if you had some rather lofty aims, by exposing Lobotomy Corporation like that. It could have been the secretary, and the destruction of the company, so I thought it odd that you focused on myself and the Red Mist so thoroughly." Lilian narrows her eyes.     "Your son doesn't exist, does he? Not here, or not yet. I'd be careful if that were the case."     'I want you to take the golden path ideal for you--wherever your vision tells you to go. I want you to follow the smoke once the trail of it appears, and run a perfectly capable Trideag Association.'     "That goes without saying. It's all I ever do." says Lilian, believing it fully in the moment, and not after. It wasn't untrue, all that long ago, that all she'd do is selfishly pursue the perfect arrangement of all the things around her to suit her, complicated mostly by other people, and the fine boundary she attempted to stay clear of. The thought of the Association diverts her, for a moment.     Troubled thoughts of how she has acted as of late; the things that she tells herself serve her own goals while merely conveniently saving others, complicated by her own feelings that arise in response those outside herself; pass over and through her with a stormy expression that then eases back into neutrality.     "I suppose it would also be very convenient for you to know more about me." says Lilian. "But the last person who was a little bit like you was grievously unpleasant about it. I wonder how much you expect me to reveal to a woman who doesn't exist until she suddenly pops up behind you. It's not exactly a casual relationship, is it?"
Angela	It seems that being a 'mascot' was less protection than the LobCorp Information Docket thought! Sometimes these things just aren't complete. And some Abnormalities are just plain tempermental. Gnawed Tree and Nidhoggr don't have as much information on them. They're newer to the facility. It's actually classified as a Teth Tool but not much beyond that. And Nidhoggr seems to be primarily a black/red damage dealing dragonlke creature so its threat, if it escaped, is probably mostly in line with trying to kill you in a direct manner which, for Elites, is sometimes the easiest to deal with (aside from those outright immune to the psychic damage type). Geeze! As if there haven't been enough dragons lately! Petra jumps down the elevator shaft but the Elevator is still coming up. Aidan already pushed the button. Jumping down will involve some mild platforming while being chased by the Ratatoskrs, many of whom fail to cling to the wall and just tumble down to their untimely death. The Disciplinary Agent with the hammer keeps on swinging with wild abandon at Sarracenia. Outside of those splinters, she's not very tree-ish but they're still quite flammable--but it's not those splinters that are the source of the berserk-state so she just keeps throwing herself at Sarracenia as she's still the closest, trying to smash her to bits with that hammer by swinging it real rapidly--and if that doesn't work, she seems totally fine with the electricity from the hammer doing the job for her! Minamitsu holds back the tide with her anchor, cleaving through countless squirrels and sending a wave to push back several more! It seems like most of the Agents on the upper floors at least have been converted as a Melting Love-esque scenario turned increasingly out of control. Luckily, at least for now, Aidan doesn't seem to be ... turning into a... ... ... Look, he's not shrinking and becoming a tiny murderous squirrel yet, at least. He's his normal squirrel size. Either the transformation is not caused by biting or it's a slower process! Keeping the squirrels from swarming the people moving further down isn't a bad plan. MIDDLE FLOOR Madeleine can get down there though it's a little trickier than getting to the bottom floor because there isn't a 'bottom' to stand on while busting through the elevator doors into the central floor since the elevator has moved up to the top floor. Nevertheless, the entire floor has been seized up by ginormous roots and several Abnormality Eggs seem to have engulfed into those roots, serving as bulges and knots that press from the inside out against the tree's form. There are more corpses here, mostly from Disciplinary and Safety. Some have been subsumed by tree roots, others have been crushed to bits by a hammer or electrocuted. The tree's base is visible in the center of the facility, numerous bodies lined up against it. There's also a ton of Ratatoskr corpses as well, some in the process of gnawing on he tree's roots before being subsumed by them or slaughtered in other ways. She can hear someone panting for breath on the other side of the tree. A human? It looks like someone had taken a few axes to the tree judging by some thick scars carved into it. If Madeleine takes a look, they'll find a person with long dark blue/purpleish hair with star patterned pupils wearing EGO Gear that looks like shattered stained glass across their body and a similarly patterned axe on the floor next to them. They're bleeding from numerous wounds too and look like they haven't eaten in a while. There's lots of empty nutribar wrappers strewn about. "...hhn....hnn...whh.oo...?"
Angela	LOWER FLOOR Upon landing with Odette, Petra can open the doors. This floor is totally clear of any Abnormalities--and any Abnormality Cells. "Agents. Please be aware you are entering a Restricted Area." A strangely familiar voice echoes over the intercom before going crackling and then going silent. The doors to the Manager's office are right there, and sealed. Petra has a keycard. There's a faint rumbling noise elsewhere in the lower level. Maybe it's not so clear of Abnormalities after all. BUt it's still some distance away. Petra can get in easily but Odette ended up following along and Angela specifically requested nobody else besides her and/or Lilian enter the Manager's office. And as the woman's voice fades, a man's labored breathing replaces it--localized to the bottom floor. He says nothing. He barely seems able to manage the breathing part.
Angela	THE PURPLE TEAR ''like a dissection.'' The Purple Tear says, "Oh, I hadn't taken you for a sociologist. Perhaps you missed a calling there. But I can't argue against your conclusion. I can see why the outside world is so addicting to City residents--and at the same time others would never be able to accept an illusion." It is a little strange. For someone who must have been fighting in the City even longer than Gebura, there doesn't seem to be a single scar on that face of hers, or on her hands though there are enough lines on her palms to suggest that she doesn't slouch when it comes to practicing with those swords of hers. Even Gebura had scars. ''I believe I was considered Grade One.'' The Purple Tear lowers her cotton candy. This time she slows down. She doesn't seem to understand why Lilian is saying that irrespective of the present reality. "Destroying the company would be a Dead End for me." The Purple Tear admits freely. "The Hana Association had numerous political reasons to not grant you the title yet, but you and I both know it's only a matter of time. Honestly even though those political considerations are a bit silly, it does give you some time, doesn't it?" She rests her hand on her hip. Near one of her swords but the gesture seems to be just a posture shift for personal comfort. But Lilian can see her fingers tense when she suggests her son doesn't exist. Few others would've noticed that tell. "You're incredibly smart, Dame Commander. Perhaps I ended up biting my own tail this time." She doesn't confirm which is which, unsurprisingly. She studies Lilian's expression in turn, but doesn't do anything so crass as point it out (this time). ''I wonder how much you expect me to reveal to a woman who doesn't exist until she suddenly pops up beind you.'' The Purple Tear glances up to the sky and cups her chin, rolling this statement around in her head visibly before she admits, "That's a very good point. Then..." Her snake-like pupils focus back on Lilian's eyes. "Would you make a deal for your convenience?"
Petra Soroka	This isn't the first elevator that Petra has inflicted unsalvageable damage on in order to bypass the shaft quicker than it would allow. It's not even the first time she's done that within a Lobotomy Corporation facility! As long as she kicks the access panel on the top of it open quickly enough, and then carves an exit panel in the corner of the floor with her Silver toe-blade, it's just a minor obstacle in the way down, still faster than waiting for it to come all the way up.     Of course, this does mean that there's a hole in the bottom of the elevator now. But if that spooks the Manager when he has to take the ride back up, maybe he shouldn't have fucked up so badly. 'Manager' as a title is something that incites automatic aggro in Petra, purely by association with X, so she's already reveling in making this guy unhappy before even meeting him.     Similarly, there's a bit of unwholesome eagerness to kick the Ratatoskr duplicates and spear them on her morphmetal spike. They don't really look like Aidan in practice, but they look close enough that she can imagine him being unhappy seeing her kicking them to death. She's able to clear out the majority of the squirrel spillage by the time that Odette hops her way down, though since she's in a costume suit instead of EGO, she's still got some tears welling up with tooth-drawn blood. It's practically impossible to tell which are part of her costume, and which aren't.     "Hey, have you ever considered a career in music?" Petra says aside to Odette after they pull open the elevator doors to the lowest floor of the facility (Petra takes a moment to look distastefully at the assorted trash that's accumlated at the bottom of the shaft, having slipped through the gap over the years. Ever since she started taking elevators the 'fun' way at HQ, she's made a point to keep them clean.). "Not singing, obviously. You just were perfectly on tempo every time you squealed, the whole way down. It was kind of impressive."     Petra, of course, has a keycard. She also has a mission. While casually opening up the doors with the card, she says, "Hey, so, it's good news that there's no breach down here. The Manager's probably alive, and probably not made of spiders or squirrels or whatever. But, like, since there's no danger, I don't need you coming with me. Go stand by the elevator, hit the button, and give me a call if a dragon comes down to kill us both, alright?"     After being lackadaisically mean to Odette so consistently this whole time, the thought of *actually* getting pursued by a dragon-- even an Abnormality one-- wearies her enough to show a bit of exhausted sincerity to the other girl in Roy's Army. "God, I'm so sick of dragons. If we had a dozen Durandals, I still wouldn't want to see one today."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"...hhn....hnn...whh.oo...?"     "Oh, ah geez, uh... okay. Fixer here. L Corp sent us. We have a medic, just hold on for a few minutes while they get the manager. Can you do that? Are you able to talk? What happened here?" A pause as she takes in the stranger's appearance. "Nice eyes."     Madeleine thinks for a moment, contemplating the Ratatoskr in this room which, fortunately, seem to not be paying her much attention. After enough time for the agent to answer her questions if they can, she comes to a decision. "Okay. I'm gonna make a little... shelter thing for you. If you need out just use the axe, I guess?" She takes a few steps back and with another deep breath, constructs a dome of ice - an igloo, if you're feeling fancy - over the agent to keep them safe from marauding squirrels. Then she radios Odette: "Odette, there's someone hurt on the middle floor. Watch out for the tree roots."     The huntress continues to work with her ice magic, this time summoning her pack of ice-construct wolves to help her pick off stray squirrels while she sizes up the room to figure out a plan of action - and waits for Odette to get the agent back on their feet.
Sarracenia	"The thorns were not the-?!" Sarra manages before getting knocked back. This agent is able to swing that massive electrical hammer faster than Sarra can swing hers. At least...most of the time. "I will not be outdone by someone using my own kind of weapon!!" she exclaims through clenched teeth.      And releases the seal on her own hammer. She deflects what blows she can as the prismatic glow of the hammer's magic starts flowing down the head and handle, then envelops Sarra. "I am sorry about this, mystery agent! But, there are children up there! I hope you understand!"      Sarra's own hammer frenzy begins. Her hammer swings up and down at least twice a second, raining blows down on both the agent and the offending tree hammer. Somewhere in that frenzied haze she thinks maybe if she breaks the hammer she might be able to save the agent without killing them. She really hopes that is the case because...she really really does not want to kill an actual person.      She also really really hopes that is enough to stop this agent, because when her hammer frenzy wears off a half minute or so later it leaves the princess somewhat vulnerable as she tries to catch her breath. And enough of a moment to wonder aloud, "...is that some sort of EGO gear?" Could this agent be another EGO user on a rampage? On the very small chance, Sarra calls out to them. "Hey! Why are you attacking people, anyway?! Are you like Gebura?!"
Aidan Proudpick	A bandage slaps over Aidan's ear and head with a PLOP. He hacks out a 'thanks' to Odette as she passes. He is shoved up against the side as Petra passes by, "Sarra! We gotta talk after this, I'm really s-" "Aidan! Please do not turn into one of these things!" "what" Aidan gets out in a croak as he stiffens, expecting to turn into a tiny squirrel. As he stands there, waiting for a sudden shrinkification, he is struck in the face by another squirrel. Aidan wraps his fingers around it, hurling it back across the room. "I'm sorry, Sarra, I get stupid about this whole Everhood thing!" He keeps hacking the poison gas out, trying to take deep breaths. All he can do is shove his big shield into the mass of squirrels as he struggles to get in a deep enough breath. "I can't control my emotions about that fucking place!" Gasp, wheeze. He sucks in another short breath, getting a wall in front of the elevator. Another short breath, Aidan blasts a hole into the middle of the swarm of squirrels. But it is only a brief hinderance as the tide comes back over him, threatening to crash him into the elevator shaft. A brief smile at Ichirin, "You just worry about getting everyone else safe, don't worry about hitting m-" Aidan grabs onto the side of the elevator with his claws as the bites dig into his armor and his flesh. That pistol comes out and Aidan fires into the mass of squirrels nearest him. The large 'flare' sized bullet lands with a splat, exploding into sticky tanglefoot that quickly hardens. A second shot fires another splatter into the horde before Aidan has to fumble new shots from the back of his shield into the gun.
UFO Gang	"Will you be alright if you hold them off here?!" Ichirin calls to Minamitsu. "Sure!" says Minamitsu as there is another massive tidal SWOOOSH of salt water, cold as death, which is probably going to cause a lot of long-term maintenance issues. Especially if squirrels drown in a tube! You might not notice until summer, but that doesn't mean they're not there... Ichirin gives her a thumbs-up, and then jumps down with the others! She floats, with impossible ease, next to Aidan. And perhaps with that guilt from cold-clocking him in the snout, she focuses on whacking the hell-squirrels off of the larger, neutral-morally squirrel. Of course, he has his own treacherous ammunition. Ichirin, who's still a little hazy on the 'guns' thing,' says, "Wow! Alright, take care of yourself, Mr. Proudpick --" Ichirin then whisks herself out into the Middle Levels. "I'm from the Welfare Department, and I'm here to help!" Ichirin offers to the agent, even as Madeline... entombs him in ice?! ("Oh, I see," Ichirin says, when she realizes the goal. Meanwhile, Unzan throws exactly fifty-two fists in the direction of some nearby Ratatoskr -- but it's a casual sort of blasting.)
Lilian Rook	'I can see why the outside world is so addicting to City residents--and at the same time others would never be able to accept an illusion.'     "I think I'm in the minority, as far as appreciating the City's bitter charms." Lilian says. "Most, if not all, of my peers see the incision and flinch away from the gore. I hardly blame them" she says, a little too casually, then airly doubles back to "Except all the times I do, I suppose."     The lack of scars bothers her, but only on one axis. Certainly the City has the means to heal without them, if you have the ahn to pay for it. Kali didn't; or at least didn't care to.     'The Hana Association had numerous political reasons to not grant you the title yet, but you and I both know it's only a matter of time.'     "Then is that title your own little invention of imagination, or something you forsee coming?"     'You're incredibly smart, Dame Commander. Perhaps I ended up biting my own tail this time.'     "If I keep going, will I see you swallow the whole thing and pop out of existence?" Lilian punctuates it for a little more cotton candy, but leaving those words hanging on the eerily careless tone they were spoken in doesn't do anything to diminish the gravity of them. "I'm willing to listen, but I obviously won't guarantee that I'll accept." Lilian says. "After all. I know how Yuri's deal turned out."
Odette Raskins	Odette's still groaning a little as staggers out of the elevator shaft behind Petra, popping a light painkiller so she won't have to feel the aftereffects of all that forced wall collision for at least another hour or two. She pushes herself up against the wall to give Petra plenty of room to get the elevator  open, too, then has a far easier time dropping through the hole compared to everything else so far. "Is that going to...? W-well, we can just make sure nobody stands there." She comments on that hole in the bottom, then goes white in the face again when she's faced with the possibility of having to do more falling and screaming. The silver lining, of course, is that Petra can handle the squirrel spillage while she's still making her way down. Double silver-lining: It's giving Odette plenty of practical experience in handling elevator shafts. "Music? I... Um. I haven't really thought about it much." She lies, trying and failing to not think about all those times she's sang in the shower, in the hallways at work, that one time she drank hard lemonade (that was actually just seltzer and unsweetened lemon juice)... "... W-wait, tempo? Th... Y-you heard all that?!" Feeling her face burning, Odette tugs on the brim of her cap uselessly while conveniently ignoring that she was, in fact, following Petra down the same exact elevator shaft with all the loudness that came with it. "I-it's just a... A coincidence! But-" She clears her throat, then looks off to the side at all the trash in the corner. "... Impressive? Really?" Odette freezes up briefly at hearing the voice warning her that she shouldn't be there, but it's not something she can be too concerned about considering the circumstances. There's far more stuff to be worried about, and Petra telling her about the likely risk factors versus what she can do to speed up their eventual escape gets a quick nod from the EMT. "Got it. I'll keep an eye out over here, then. And-" Word comes of a dragon in the area, and Odette groans loudly instead of just quaking with fear like she probably should. Petra being around might be an influence there, even if some of their more recent interactions have been somewhat strained. "For real... I-I mean, we've only fought the one so far, but still. Even if it's... I-I dunno. Combat experience? Even more of the squirrel swarm would be better. Or giant squirrels..." What snaps Odette out of her irritated haze, then, is Madeleine reporting that there's an injured Agent further up. She pokes her head out of the elevator, shouting down the hall to Petra while freezing up a bit at the weirdly familiar voice telling hernot to be here. "Aw, crap... Uh. M-make it quick in there! Someone's hurt upstairs, so we can grab them and everyone else on the way up, too!" She has her fingers hovering over the elevator buttons already, but there's already the shaft and the hall to keep an eye open for. Odette's really hoping she doesn't see anything coming crashing down at her.
Angela	THE PURPLE TEAR ''Is that title your own little invention...'' "It's what the Association was considering naming you. I can only imagine they'll stick to it. They consult me from time to time. They check in on Colors, naturally, and keep as close an eye as they can. I give it even odds they'll assign Olivier or some other with less investment to be your contact point." She cups her chin again and asks, "So I suppose I foresee it, but it doesn't exactly take a special eye for ''that'', does it?" ''If I keep going, will I see you swallow the whole thing'' The Purple Tear must receive threats all the damn time but even her smile falters for a moment. Just as Lilian recognizes the threat she poses, she has to certainly recognize what Lilian can do on some level. And while her abilities may be more esoteric, Gebura was still known as The Strongest. "Well," She says. "There would be a certain poetry to wiping myself out of existence. But I'd rather avoid that for now." She says, keeping things similarly 'casual' in that not-casual-at-all way. ''After all, I saw how Yuri's deal turned out.'' The Purple Tear sighs. "She should have asked me to whisk her away when you were getting close, but I suppose she felt that surrendering herself to you was the better plan. Or perhaps she felt guilty. Needless to say... She does get to live, doesn't she? I upheld my end of the bargain. But! I see your point." She makes that look up to the sky again as she's considering. Her cotton candy is almost gone so it's obscuring the age lines on her face far less than before. "How about this. I'll take you wherever you want to go. A Two-way trip, back and forth. Once. No cost on your part--and you can have all the time you'd like to think of where you'd like to go. An offer to show I'm not entirely malevolent. And then we can visit whether deals can be trusted."
Angela	UPPER FLOOR Saracenia decides to not murder the Agent. Sometimes it's easier to just assume they ae beyond saving. She isn't able to break the hammer the other agent is wearing but through repeated strikes to the Agent she is able to tire them enough that she can take a nice good hard swing at that hammer. She can hear the Agent's wrist snap in an attempt to hold onto the hammer against all sanity or reason but her body just can't manage it and it drops to the ground at her feet. Her eyes don't clear up, she doesn't have use of her sight anymore--largely thanks to Sarracenia's fire to say nothing of the thorns. "Wh...where...why is it so dark...? I have to get out of here..." She flails with her hands unseeing, pressing her palm against Sarracenia's face. "Who is this..? Bongbong?" Aidan is able gun down a few more of the dwindling Ratatoskrs and freeze enough of the rest that the danger seems to pass for the moment, though the question of where the original Actual Abnormality of Ratatoskr is since Abnormalities still revert to an Egg when destroyed and none of these seem to be. MIDDLE FLOOR ''I'm from the Welfare Department, and I'm here to help!'' "We....we don't have a Welfare..." There's a pause. "F..from the main office?" Their gaze lolls over towards Madeleine. "Th...thanks... I used to be...a star. The manager just stopped giving orders one day and we tried to keep things going but the Ratatoskrs got out of hand...Hhk...I don't... I don't wanna die..." They'll probably die if they don't get medical attention but they don't seem to be in immediate threat of expiring. "Held up...in here. Ran out of food yesterday..." The igloo will definitely help protect them until proper medical care can arrive. "Tree gonna...break out and hurt people up above. Tried to destroy it." The star-eyed agent manages but that's about it. LOWER FLOOR Odette holds position. That rumbling is getting closer but the source doesn't seem to have noticed Odette yet as it's still moving...slowly. A Ratatoskr lands right by Odette's feet and tries to nibble through her boot, though. Meanwhile... Petra has the key! And she enters the Manager's room. And the reason why Angela didn't want others to enter the Manager's office is made clear--and that familiar voice is made even clearer as she steps inside and a holographic 'Angela' appears, albeit in the form of one that has been cognition filtered. "Please be aware that entering the Manager's office is forbidden." She says, neither opening her eyes nor apparently recognizing Petra. "Manager, it has been thirty days since you have used your command console. Lifesigns are still detected. Please self-terminate so a new manager can be ordered." A pause and then. "Welcome. I am Manual. I am here to help you manage this facility. If you have forgotten how to utilize console commands, please select the Help Command." She otherwise pays Petra no mind. But the Manager is not really in a condition to use the console. He is incredibly emaciated and not able to do much beyond lie on the floor. He'll definitely die if he doesn't get medical treatment soon and he might just die anyway. It doesn't look like he's eaten in a long time. He doesn't seem to see Petra or be aware that she's present. But she can do the download requested of her easy enough. She just has to stick that usb stick into the corresponding slot!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Yeah, they're one of the main office folks," Madeleine says to the agent. "You sit tight, I'll see what I can do about this tree." 'What she can do' turns out to be fairly straightforward. Madeleine does her best to locate a spot on the tree that's not concealing an Abnormality egg, and rams her spear into the trunk. Poison seeps from the edge of the speartip, leaching into the wood and hopefully slowing the tree's growth. "Come on, come on..." she mutters, as if that'll do anything to speed the venom's flow through the tree's circulation. Meanwhile her wolves circle near her, picking off the more aggressive ratatoskr.
Petra Soroka	"... Impressive? Really?"     Petra had meant it as an insult, but thus is Petra's most fatal flaw: she never feels right *lying* about someone in order to insult them. So even though she was mocking Odette for being such a coward, she's completely defeated when her victim actually expresses a little bit on interest in the literal statement of her sarcasm. Petra herself has only just gotten back into her old hobby of music, after all.     "Okay, well, sure. I mean, you probably weren't thinking about it, but your pace with dropping down the wall didn't *need* to be *that* even. So it was probably just a habit of keeping rhythm even when shit's chaotic like this." Petra sighs, blackmailed by innocence into giving a compliment. She has to blunt it somehow. "Right now you sound like you gargled sandpaper, though." "Even more of the squirrel swarm would be better."     "I'd happily kill a million squirrels, no sweat. Any day over a dragon." Petra grumbles while marching into the Manager's office, slipping the keycard into the jacket pocket of her suit. Readjusting her grip on her morphmetal is a mutual shift, with the morphmetal adjusting its grip around her hand to drip into shape and then solidify as a wrapped sword hilt within and surrounding her fist.     When the hologram appears, Petra tenses just to make sure she isn't hostile-- AIs do that sometimes! Sometimes they aren't even based for it!-- but there's not even a moment where she's confused about 'who' she is. Not just because collecting her is her mission, but because Petra's difficulty with facial features is inverted when it comes to people she cares about: the Angela that knows her and Lilian *looks* different from the program-copy that never met them. "Please be aware that entering the Manager's office is forbidden."     Petra withdraws a USB stick, stepping over the Manager's comatose body as a matter of course on her route towards the hologram. "... I've got permission from X, Manual. Uh... authorization? I'm allowed. So don't be mean to me." She plugs the USB in, but in having to navigate the Manager's screens to download the hologram's AI onto it, she gets distracted by all the *other* options available from this particular seat of power.     "Christ... Ange's really able to carry the facility on her back with or without the Manager, huh? Remote access to every cell, stimulus trigger control, emergency hatch deployment...."     Stopping before fully containing the Manual on the USB, Petra pulls out a ratbot with glasses and attaches a little droplet of morphmetal on the end of its cable tail, forming it into a USB connection. She plugs the ratbot in and, with a little bit of work, makes a copy of the commands that Manual-- and Angela-- could enact on the facility remotely, storing that as a tool for later. The USB is stored too, and the hologram winks out of existence along with it.     Petra stops before waltzing out of the room cheerfully, sighs, and squats down to heave the Manager over her shoulder. He's so light that it's fairly easy, even untransformed, so Petra rejoins Odette in the lobby with one Main Quest complete and one Secret Quest also complete.     While waiting for the elevator to come down, she halfheartedly asks her, "Hey, do you have, like, some sort of IV bag? Saline stuff? A magical little treat that does all your caloric needs instantly?"
Sarracenia	'I'm sorry, Sarra, I get stupid about this whole Everhood thing!'      An apology is a good start, and Sarra softens some toward Aidan. But, she is still confused. "Why does that place mean so much to you?! And how does Kale factor into that enough to make you act like that?"      Luckily (Unluckily?) for the Agent, Sarra is very often too stubborn to just take the easy way out. The hammer is finally dropped...and Sarra gasps in surprised delight as the agent starts speaking! "Oh my goodness!" she exclaims happily. It actually worked! She saved the Agent! ...who is now blind and in a place full of man-eating squirrels and dragons and trees.      "I am so glad you are still you!" Sarra does not even stop the palming of her face. She's too busy being happy! She saved someone! She even gives the person she saved a big hug! "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom, Aspiring Heroine, and Fixer of The City~! We came here to stop this outbreak or meltdown or whatever it is. Here, take this and eat it. It...may help with your injuries to your eyes. Which is why it is so dark." She places a green mushroom in the agent's working hand.      That leaves the problem of...how to protect this now blind and defenseless Agent while still helping the rest of the team. "...are you claustrophobic?" Sarra suddenly asks the Agent. "I am sorry if so, Miss...?" She prompts the 3/4ths Nonon for her name while she pulls out that poison mushroom again. This one does not have to be eaten, though.      Sarra throws it at the Agent, shrinking them. She then picks them up, and...slips them into her hammerspace purse. "Just try and stay calm in there! There should be plenty of clothing and snacks if you wish to get comfortable." It is entirely possible for the Agent to be peeking out if she likes.      With the Agent secured, Sarra wraps the handle of the dropped hammer in some thick cloth before she picks up the dropped hammer and shoulders both hammers, then heads to the elevator and hops down. She lands on the second floor, since there was an injured person there. "Thank you for clearing the way, Aidan and...I am sorry, what was your name?" she says, suddenly very cheerful. That last part is toward Minamitsu.      Once on the second floor, Sarra heads toward the igloo. "Where is the injured person?" she asks as she holds out more green mushrooms, having to carefully balance the hammers to do so. "These should help get them back on their feet. Just have them swallow one. Do not worry, they are like cotton candy."      Of course, anyone who downs one will find it is not the flavor that is like cotton candy. It is just how they simply seem to vanish in one's mouth.
Lilian Rook	'They consult me from time to time. They check in on Colors, naturally, and keep as close an eye as they can.'     "Now that is actually news to me." Lilian says. Some distant evolutionary cousin of enthusiasm, or perhaps curiosity, creeps into her voice, copresent with the shift of her hips and the subtle rise of her eyebrow. "I suppose it doesn't require a special eye, but it certainly requires a special person. What exactly possessed them to nominate you when you barely seem to exist?"     'She should have asked me to whisk her away when you were getting close, but I suppose she felt that surrendering herself to you was the better plan.'     "Oh? is that how it is?" Lilian intentionally raises her voice to an incredulous little lilt. "Just . . . into thin air? Wish upon a star, wherever you are?"     'Needless to say... She does get to live, doesn't she?'     "That wasn't your choice, nor hers. The fact that she's alive is entirely due to my overriding the better sense of others."     'How about this. I'll take you wherever you want to go. A Two-way trip, back and forth. Once. No cost on your part--and you can have all the time you'd like to think of where you'd like to go.'     Lilian's eyes harden where they should narrow. A suspicious squint never happens; replaced with a diffuse, ice-cold shine. "A deal, huh? That sounds like the first hit is free." she says. "If you're challenging me to gamble that I'm smarter than you are, I accept. But you're giving me a line of contact or a place and time to meet. I'm not consenting to being surveilled constantly until I wish out loud."
Odette Raskins	Petra's answer is far more intricate than Odette could have expected. Although she can't shake the feeling that there's some teasing going on in there because of all the screaming, the fact that she paid enough attention to go into that sort of detail has her giggling just a bit. "Huh. Maybe I do have some talent after all... Hehe. Heck, maybe I'd even sound better if I really tried sometime!" The sandpaper comment reminds her to chug some water, though, so her voice can be ready for more screaming that'll surely come. Or maybe... No, there wouldn't be anything here that could be solved by amateurish singing, would there? Lingering by the elevator gives Odette plenty of time to think about these kinds of things, but it's also making her antsier by the second. It's bad enough that she knows there's a dragon somewhere in the facility, reminding her just how close she was to becoming a smoking smear on the floor not even a month ago. Knowing that at least two people are somewhere in this same facility that need her to help them recover before the dragon gets to them really puts an anxious spring to her step as she keeps looking from the top of the elevator to the outside where Petra had gone off to. What really makes it terrible is hearing that rumbling noise nearby. Did it just get louder? She can't tell where it's coming from, and it doesn't feel like anything's getting closer, at least, but what if it's the dragon? Can she even scream in time to warn anyone if it just decides to show up in the elevator? What if it just pops up beneath her and starts eating her legs before she can react? ALso, there's something biting her boot. Without realizing what it is right away, Odette shrieks, then kicks at the wall to try and get the creature off her boot. In her haste to kick, she punts herself off the wall and slams into the other side of the hall, creating a fair bit of noise near the elevator from the impacts alone. Naturally, freaking out like that has to happen right when Petra comes in with the emaciated Manager in tow. Hurrying to stand up straight like nothing happens, she feigns pushing off the wall like a Cool Girl (Tm). "There you are. Now-" Wait, no time to look cool. There's a dying person to handle! Just looking at the Manager tells her enough to start rummaging in that bag again. "IV, yes. Magical treats, no, definitely nothing that works instantly." There'd be a beat for dramatic effect if Odette wasn't already pulling out an IV bag from her duffel bag along with some kind of giant medical... Tape? Tape. "Not unless we want his body to start going nuts digesting things wrong, anyway." Ass he speaks, she holds the bag to the Manager's chest and tapes it to his chest to keep everything in place, then gets the IV needles into his arm after a bit of searching. Tubes go into the bag, she twists the tubes delicately, then gives the bag a little squeeze to get the SPACE MEDICINE started. "There we go... W-we can't feed him too quick, or he'll just die from other deficiencies." Breathing a light sigh of relief at (probably) saving one person so far, Odette's focused look quickly fades as she's reminded of all the danger they're still in. "... A-also, I think I heard something nearby so can we go up now please? The others found... A-at least two? Two more Agents or someone that need treatment, too." Even though she asks that, she's already reaching for the elevator buttons to send them to the MIDDLE LEVELS to regroup. With any luck, she'll be able to work on the ones Madeleine and Sarracenia shouted about earlier!
UFO Gang	"Yeah! I think we're thinning them out!" cheers Minamitsu as she and Aidan and Saracenia prevail against the squirreltide. Or did they? MIDDLE FLOOR The fatigued agent is there. "Yes," Ichirin confirms to them with a nod. She steps closer as they speak, looking towards them and saying, gently, "You did well to fight so hard! I can tell it must have been horrible. Please, though, try to rest. If you need something... well, we didn't really bring a lot of supplies, but..." She glances towards Madeleine. Maybe she has a juice box or something. UPPER FLOOR Minamitsu fishes a juice box out of her hip pocket. "Minamitsu Murasa," she says cheerfully to Sarracenia as she pops the straw into it. "We're part-timers at L Corp! That's probably why you didn't see us too often. Oh, are we going?" Minamitsu finishes the juice box swiftly, following after Sarra downstairs. Which means it's back to the MIDDLE FLOOR when they emerge, Minamitsu immediately says, "Oh wow, they look awful!" Ichirin looks back at Minamitsu, frowns, and then back at the Agent. "She's just a loudmouth," Ichirin confides in the Agent: "Do you have people like that in your life, too?" Minamitsu pouts, but looks with some foreboding at the side of the nearby tree.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan pushes himself against the wall next to the elevator, bleeding from two dozen flesh wounds. He sucks down deep breaths, finally clearing his lungs and breathing in a sharp bit of air. The one bandage on his head is working great, though! A smile crosses his face as he watches Sarracenia work. It's hard for Aidan to stay mad, but, it also hard for Aidan to control his emotions in the first place. He pushes away from the wall, making his way over to Sarracenia. "It's... complicated. But part of it is that I owe him for how I treated him for four years." He frowns, "But he shouldn't be treating you like garbage either." A grin splits over his face as he watches Sarracenia announce herself and her various titles. Annnnnd then simply shoves the agent in her purse and motors back off down the elevator. "She's gonna be a tremendous hero." He pulls up his messenger bag of supplies, opening it. "Life never can seem to beat the confidence out of her," he mentions over to Minamitsu. As the group heads down, Aidan takes his moment to rest, setting up a perimeter for everyone to come back through. Pushing out windwalls in all directions now that he can breathe to make a defensible position for everyone to leave.
Angela	THE PURPLE TEAR ''What exactly possessed them to nominate you when you barely seem to exist.'' "I've helped out a lot of kids." The Purple Tear says. "I suppose I have a soft spot for lost children. But I'm sure the Association is aware that a serpent's fangs are more powerful than a king." She shrugs. "But I suspect it's nothing so fancy as a power or a particular job I did or even those kids I trained. I simply followed the Flow well and so the role naturally fell into my lap." ''Just . . . into thin air?'' "Well I'm sure I could have put her out of the way somewhere for a while." She adds. ''That wasn't your choice, nor hers.'' "Well, fair enough. She did surrender to you after all." ''If you're challenging me to gamble that I'm smarter than you are...'' "You really are well suited for this place. Perhaps more than I am, actually." The Purple Tear says, flicking a laminated card of a snake eating its own tail, a single purple tear underneath its singular eye as she offers it to Lilian. On the other side, there is a number. "I think your team will be done with their mission soon and I'd rather not talk to them just yet, so I think I'll take my leave. The next time we meet can be scheduled, as promised." She steps forward into nothing--or perhaps a doorway so thin you can't see the frame--and vanishes shortly after.
Angela	UPPER FLOOR ''I am sorry if so, Miss...?'' "L..Lora..." Lora says before promptly screaming as they are shrunk and dumped into a bag. She has no idea what's going on. This is going to be horrible for them! But probably less horrible than dying. She doesn't peak out of the bag because, of course, she can't see. She wouldn't even know HOW to poke her head back out so she's just stuck there in a dark bag that is even darker because she's been blinded. Aidan's windwalls will hold for a while against the small nubmer of remaining Ratatsokrs. MIDDLE FLOOR Madeleine can poison the tree. It screams, but the poison does seem to be working. The agent, whose ID refers to them by the ridiculous name BongBong, stares at Ichirin as she makes chatter and now that they feel like they might be safe, promptly pass out. The tree will slowly die over the course of the hour and revert to egg form. This doesn't SOLVE the problem but it should buy plenty of time for a proper cleanup crew to get here. Well, hopefully LobCorp will do something like that. Green mushrooms and other treatment will help but BongBong isn't going to wake up for at least 24 hours. LOWER LEVEL "Understood. I Will Not Be Mean To You." The Manual says. Petra unleashes the power of a USB Stick. The first USB downloads Manual and the second downloads console commands. Manual, upon being downloaded, vanishes from sight and the facility's lights turn tinted red. What does this mean? Unknown but it's probably a good idea to get out of the facility. Petra can easily heft up the 9/10ths dead Manager and drag him along to Odette. Who just made a lot of noise. She has time to get the Manager set up with an IV when a serpent, nearly the size of the facility wall, made out of wood that is also on fire (and is carrying a Mascot Sized Ratatoskr in its jaws)--but never seems to burn away--crawls into view and rapidly approaches the two Elites. A good time to make an escape! Eventually the Elevator stops on the second floor which allows everybody to pile in with the various not-dead agents they've gathered and escape through the top floor before things get any worse.