Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana lets out a stifled groan as the orc kicks her in the ribs, but quiets down once she realizes that all they've bothered with for securing her hands is a zip-tie. She could get around that.

She holds her breath to avoid letting out any telltale gasp of pain as she dislocates her thumb, narrowing the profile of her hand just enough to pull it free. She'd already managed this trick once with a pair of handcuffs in Butterfly Bay, she could do it again without too much difficulty. The hard part will be freeing her ankles, but once she cracks her thumb back into place, she quickly sets to work shimmying the locking mechanism with her nail, hopefully letting her pull it open and free herself the rest of the way.

If she's noticed in the meantime, it could spell trouble for her. But she'll work quickly either way, and might be free by the time she's seen.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Unfortunately her attack on the netter demonstrated to the guards that she's going to be trouble, so they're keeping an eye on her. A rather apathetic one, it must be said; they don't seem very interested in her despite her state of dress. Regardless, when she starts working the zipties off her wrists, the orc with the shock-pole presses it between her shoulders to shock her. "The human's tricksy. It'll need shredders, anything else it'll try to get out of." The orc with the chains nods, but doesn't move yet. He's still trying to disentangle the chains he's brought with him. The non-shock end of the pole will be pressed firmly between Hana's shoulder blades once her convulsions stop.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana lets out a cry of pain as she's shocked for a third time, thrashing impotently against the couch as her muscles are forced to move by the current. She was really starting to hate that thing, although she had a new appreciation for what Hazel used to complain about when they sparred with low-wattage batons. Food for thought later.

For now, she has to deal with the mix of humilation and terror that comes with being on the floor (she'd fallen off the couch when she got shocked), without a scrap of cloth on her, surrounded by abductors (ARC?) and still numb from the last time they tazed her.

Then, she comes to a realization.

The orc was trying to pin her down with the non-electric end of his weapon, which meant the zappy bits had to be on the other side; likely near his face or shoulders.

The only further warning Hana gives that she's going to try something is when her body relaxes ever-so-slightly; then, she reaches up behind her as best she can and attempts to seize the blunt end of the weapon, trying to re-direct it into its wielder and give him a taste of his own high-voltage medicine.

After that? She had no idea. But it was better than surrender.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

The orc's large, and strong. He has quite a bit of leverage, too, and he's not stupid enough to keep the zappy end close enough to his face for Hana to do anything, but as she struggles he puts his foot on her lower back and lifts the blunt end away, before bringing it back down into Hana's head. He's hoping it'll knock her out, or at least stun her long enough she stops fighting for a bit.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

*clonk*

Hana takes the blow to the head and promptly loses consciousness, collapsing limply on the floor and offering no further resistance. That's only going to last a minute at most, but it should be more than enough time to work out additional restraints and raid her room for valuables.

When she does come to, she's not going to be subtle about it; she'a going to try to take quick stock of the situation: is she still restrained, how, where is she, where is Abbi, are those orcs still around, and so on.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin thinks for a moment before replying. "That might not be necessary."

The clerk eagerly juts in. "Exactly! I can assure you there is no more reliable prod-"

"Shut up," Ilpholin says, fixing her black and green eyes upon him momentarily. He nods in a hurry, too scared and aroused to do anything else.

The nymph returns her attention to Anika. "What I mean, is that demons lie all the time, so an experienced warlock making deals with them would have to have some sort of device for discerning truth from fiction. How much do you want to bet Tellysandra herself has a lie detector much more efficient than this piece of junk?"

The clerk opens his mouth to protest the disparagement of his products, but thinks better of it and closes it again.

[Misty Velvet]

Raven Ebondark blushes and averts her eyes. Rose was always so... so... flirtatious! It was maddening. Raven can't even begin to think about how Rose playing nurse would play out... oh no wait. She's imagining it vividly now. It's wow. Her ears flick in an effort to diffuse some of the steam coming off them.

"I-I didn't program them to d-dance or anything," Raven explains, struggling to look back at Rose's face. "I can just move them however I want whenever I'm controlling them directly. So they could do any dance really." To prove her point, a mecha-zombie takes to the floor and begins a series of short, consumable dances all of which look like they've been stolen directly from MikTok. Starting all the way with the Ankha dance and ending with Why is Everything Chrome.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Anika considers this for a split second. "Oh yeah! So we steal it- I mean, uh-" No, it was from a warlock, it was okay to steal then! "-steal one from her then? Though we probably should bash up one of her minions first so we'd know where she keeps 'em!"

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

"I mean. Sounds like a pretty decent plan to me. Hurt her, help us. Win-win." Ilpholin taps the lie detector box just for the sound effect to make it official and heads for the door.

"I'll get the bike ready. Buy a doodad if you want."

The clerk looks at Anika, hopeful for some sort of commercial purchase.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Yeah, we'll win and she'll lose!" Anika confidently declares as to repeat Ilpholin's point.

Then she turns to the shop keeper with an apologetic smile. Right, buying, she always had a hard time leaving a store without getting something when she was the only person there...

Her eyes dart around for something cheap-looking.

Something...

Aha!

"How much for that... gun-thing?" She gestures for what probably is a gun. Maybe.

Might be a decent gift for Blanche should she ambush her with a birthday. Assuming she could hold off giving it to the catgirl for that long of course.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

"Ah-hah! A good eye miss. Excellent choice, excellent choice indeed," the merchant says shoving the lie detector off the counter with a crash.

"That's only [relatively low priced]. Just remember to not use the Rapid Rubber Resizer indoors and to always have a way down."

It's a good price for such a fancy gift!

[Ironsmith]

[Misty Velvet]

Raven Ebondark blushes and averts her eyes. Rose was always so... so... flirtatious! It was maddening. Raven can't even begin to think about how Rose playing nurse would play out... oh no wait. She's imagining it vividly now. It's wow. Her ears flick in an effort to diffuse some of the steam coming off them.

"I-I didn't program them to d-dance or anything," Raven explains, struggling to look back at Rose's face. "I can just move them however I want whenever I'm controlling them directly. So they could do any dance really." To prove her point, a mecha-zombie takes to the floor and begins a series of short, consumable dances all of which look like they've been stolen directly from MikTok. Starting all the way with the Ankha dance and ending with Why is Everything Chrome.

[Misty Velvet]

Rose watches the dances with mild interest. She's seen all of them before; in spirit, at least. They sort of described the zeitgeist of dancing in the early 21st century, but weren't really long enough as routines to be particularly impressive, causing them to sort of blur together.

Then she realizes what Raven means when she says she's controlling the zombies directly. And then? Then she has an idea. An awful idea. She has a wonderful, awful idea, the kind which manifests on her face as a terrfiyingly mischievous smirk.

"So... unless I've horribly misconceptualized what you're saying, you could do some of these yourself?"

Without waiting for an answer, Rose prints off a cd of her own and passes it off to the DJ, instructing him to play its contents at the next available opportunity. If he refuses or objects, Rose silently reminds him that, despite the egomaniacal persona she'd used to cover for Raven, she was a wonderful tipper, or at least had potential to be.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Yeah, uh, that's why I keep all my rubber outdoors." Anika lies as she puts the coin on the counter, having no idea what the [demon butt] she just paid for.

"But... thanks. See you, dude." She grabs the thing, waves farwell to the shopkeeper and then heads out after Ilpholin.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

A minute later, Hana finds herself still naked. She's bound, and so is Abbi. Hana has metal bands, tight enough they won't wiggle, about both her ankles and her wrists, which are still behind her back. The bands are cold, and if Hana manages to move them, she'll find there's spikes inside both, pointing down. If she tried to dislocate her thumb to pull her hand out, the spikes would dig into her flesh and cause a lot of damage. Her wrists, and ankles are chained together, with enough leeway for half a stride on the ankles, but only two links of chain between her wrists. She's in the lift, as are all the orcs, Abbi and the valet, who has folded the dressing-gowns and carries both hotboxes, as well as Hana's other technology. Abbi has been gagged, which seems to be the only binding Hana hasn't been given as well, though the orc Hana punched in the face earlier now has a large chunk bitten from his cheek. Abbi's been marked across her collarbone with some dots- three green, one red and one orange. If Hana's looks down, she's got some of her own- five red dots, in the same place. Hana lies on the cold chrome floor, probably bruised- she was roughly picked up, carried over an orc's shoulder, then dropped when they started going down.

The lift is going down, and the orcs don't seem to have noticed her awaken yet- but this is a cramped space, with six guards, Abbi, and a valet in. One of the guards carries Hana- the one that had spent so long sorting out the chains it was carrying, specifically. Two carry shotguns, both pointed vaguely in Abbi's direction. One carries a rubber club. One carries a large net, slung over one shoulder, and grips Abbi by the arm. The last is the one carrying the shock-pole Hana's tasted so often, gripping it tight. Abbi is looking at Hana, and will shake her head slightly. Please don't fight, she wants to say- this isn't the best time, and it'll only hurt.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Well. That was a lot to wake up to.

Hana tests her bonds and quickly comes to the conclusion that attempting to slip out would just shred her hands. She vaguely recalls one of the orcs mentioning putting her in "shredders"; these must be what he was talking about.

She notes the orc with the now messed-up face, as well as the gag over Abbi's mouth, and draws the obvious conclusion. She gives a little smile of approval and flashes her a thumbs-up; she was proud the ratgirl had stuck it to their abductors, even if the effort was ultimately futile.

Still. That left a lot of questions unanswered. Fortunately, she had a cunning plan for getting the relevant information.

"Oooh... my head..." She groans, trying and failing to rub at the fresh bruise on the back of her head. "Wha... who are you people? What are you doing? What..." She looks dowm at the dots on her chest. "...What did you do to me?!" She demands.

[Reinholdt]

[Misty Velvet]

Raven raises an eyebrow in concern. "You have definitely horribly misconceptualized what I said," Raven tries to explain while Rose prints out the CD. Raven could not do most of these! Maybe even any of them. At least she has a moment for the current song to finish before the DJ swaps cds. He has no intention to refuse the two maniacal women with zombies at their beck and call.

"Was that the... hotbox was it? Where can I get one of those?" Raven asks, her attention more on the device Rose just used than Rose's own very, very, very bad plan.

[Searching for Truth]

The clerk gives Anika a strange look, but money makes his day. "Thank you! Come back any time if you need more Q Qadgets!"

Outside, Ilpholin's bike is humming and the nymph is leaning against it in an iconic pose. "Find something exciting?" Ilpholin asks as turns and hops onto the vehicle.

[Ironsmith]

[Misty Velvet]

"Around here? Not anywhere, I think." Rose replies with a shrug. "I haven't seen anyone from the same place and time as myself since arriving here, so as far as I know, there's only five in the whole of the Nexus." She is, of course, wrong about that... there were at least four others she hadn't accounted for, having never been to The Battered Shield, nor having heard about the incident in Butterfly Bay in Seaside. The last two were likely to turn up on Raven's radar, if she kept up with the internal goings-on of the Slavers' Guild and Earl deems it appropriate.

"But back home, depending on where you were, you could literally find them on every street corner. Public domain versions, anyway." Rose smiles and shrugs. "I'd be happy to print a few things off for you if you want. What're a few odds and ends between girlfriends, right?"

Her grin broadens as the song she gave the DJ starts, sparking up a lively rhythm and melody that seemed to be a sort of mix between latin and techno. Raven might have heard this song before; in its own time frame, near the turn of the millennium, it enjoyed a great deal of popularity, which did carry forward into the 21st century and beyond, albeit to a limited degree, so it was more likely than most to have found its way to the Nexus.

Rose grabs Raven's hands (gently; she won't apply any kind of force if the catgirl doesn't want to come) and makes for the dance floor. "Come on, let's dance!" She giggles. "Don't worry, it's easy to learn and it's fun. I'll show you."

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Uh, I found this!" She presents the package. "It's some kind of gun. I think. Might be useful once I figured out what it does."

((With empathize on might apparently...))

Anika sits down on the bike. "So are you ready to kick some demon-butt?"

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

None of the orcs answer Hana's question, though the nearest will reach down, grab her by the upper arm and yank her upwards until she's able to get her feet underneath her and stand up on her own. She might not appreciate the sudden movement if her head's still swimming from the blow that knocked her out.

The valet, however, does. "Hotel security do not speak to slaves except to order them. Archy does not know any more than security asked Archy to follow, pick up your belongings and follow." Which hopefully answer some of Hana's questions, if not in a way she'd like.

The lift continues going down, heading to the first level of the basement, arriving next post. It's maybe a slow lift.

[Lord Magtok]

[Aimless Drifting]

The hoodie-woman, around a corner, finds a nook to hide in as she works on putting back together the watch. There's a lot of small pieces and she doesn't want to drop or lose anything, so she ended up having to stop running. She's really grateful that the robot, for some reason, has stopped chasing her, giving her some time to do this.


Speaking of the robot.
Seeing that its net failed, it tries to determine what went wrong and how it can compensate. The target seems to have teleported forward in time, evading the net that way. Standard practice is to either jam whatever device she used to do this, and failing that, target the device with an attack. But while scanning Tetra, the robot couldn't find the teleporting frequencies or even find what device was getting used. It sends a message back to home base that their current scanning technology is insufficient.

And it begins calculating the best way to deal with this teleport-to-the-future problem. Luckily, the target seems to be trying to buy time through monologuing, so this also gives the robot time to decide on and create a new weapon.

The robot sends a smaller mole-like burrowing robot into the ground through its foot. The robo-mole drills through the ground, to flank Tetra from the side. Once it believes it's out of her view, the mole-robot digs up and then fires something like a sticky-grenade at Tetra's back. The sticky-grenade won't explode; instead, it's designed to detect space-time disruptions (such as time travel, but also including teleportation) and then send a large electrical shock through Tetra, sort-of like a stun gun.
((It's intended to short out whatever electronic device she's using to teleport, but, since Tetra isn't using one, muscle spasms is a good consolation prize.))

The larger panther-robot buys time for the mole-robot by...doing nothing. Once the digging-robot is in position, it informs Tetra, "Your happiness and safety are irrelevant." After the sticky-grenade has been launched, the panther fires another capture-net from its mouth. puff "You are to cease this destructive spree."

"Destructive?!" Tetra protests, incapable of thinking of a single thing she's destroyed today. She munched on some food she took from that store, sure, but she handed over some colorful rocks at the counter this time! She did exactly what everyone else did!

"You're the only destructive one here! I'm not going back into space again! You can't-" she points a finger at the robot panther, and forcibly ages it a few hundred years per second with a violent space-time disruption get herself a nasty jolt from the sticky grenade on her back, crying out in pain. Stupid sticky, that hurt! She reaches for the mass on her back, rubbing her fingers together at inhuman speeds, to try to spark a fire with the friction and burn the gross electrocuting glop off.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin looks at it for a moment, but eventually nods in approval. "I've come to appreciate guns a lot more lately. I need to learn how to use one. I would be a lot more effective with some good ranged options to mix in with my tactics. Creating a whip shield while closing is fine, but sometimes one note." A good warrior uses every tool at her disposal.

With a rev of the engine, the nymph takes off towards Tellysandra's. "Lolth right I am."

They'll probably have to park a block away though and take the rest of the route on foot. She can't just ride her bike through the front door! This time.

[Misty Velvet]

What use has Raven for slaves, when corpses accomplish so much more? What Raven hears is that if she wants one, she's probably going to have to take Rose's.

Or take up Rose's offer. But then there were social limitations. Only a few things. Maybe not super zombie viruses. Kinda feel like you owe the other person. Can get awkward. But also doesn't require murdering and/or stealing from Rose.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Tough choice really.

Raven hasn't been in the Nexus her whole life and by the time she did get here, her music tastes were pretty set. She has not heard this song before. Seems too upbeat. Full of life. Kinda happy? Ugh. Where was the death? The rage? The darkness within and without? Look, even the other patrons are enjoying the change in tone. What a disaster! Ah, but Raven can't deny the vibrant nature of Rose herself and finds herself drawn in by her hands. The catgirl watches Rose with morbid curiosity, prepared to follow her lead for now.

[Ironsmith]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

None of the orcs answer Hana's question, though the nearest will reach down, grab her by the upper arm and yank her upwards until she's able to get her feet underneath her and stand up on her own. She might not appreciate the sudden movement if her head's still swimming from the blow that knocked her out.

The valet, however, does. "Hotel security do not speak to slaves except to order them. Archy does not know any more than security asked Archy to follow, pick up your belongings and follow." Which hopefully answer some of Hana's questions, if not in a way she'd like.

The lift continues going down, heading to the first level of the basement, arriving next post. It's maybe a slow lift.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"Slaves? What are you talking ab-" Hana stops and looks down at herself again. She's being abducted in the middle of the night, her modesty in tatters, fitted into bonds that would cruelly eviscerate her hands if she tried to escape, and given bodily marks that meant... something. How had she not seen it sooner?!

Then a second realization hits. Abbi had been in a similar state all this time. Foot surgically altered. Clearly on the receiving end of a beating. Conditioned not to refer to herself in the first person. And not used to even basic levels of dignity.

A look of cold fury briefly crosses Hana's face, but she does a decent job of masking it. "...Which one of you lunkheads is in charge of this operation?" She asks quietly.

[Misty Velvet]

What use has Raven for slaves, when corpses accomplish so much more? What Raven hears is that if she wants one, she's probably going to have to take Rose's.

Or take up Rose's offer. But then there were social limitations. Only a few things. Maybe not super zombie viruses. Kinda feel like you owe the other person. Can get awkward. But also doesn't require murdering and/or stealing from Rose.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Tough choice really.

Raven hasn't been in the Nexus her whole life and by the time she did get here, her music tastes were pretty set. She has not heard this song before. Seems too upbeat. Full of life. Kinda happy? Ugh. Where was the death? The rage? The darkness within and without? Look, even the other patrons are enjoying the change in tone. What a disaster! Ah, but Raven can't deny the vibrant nature of Rose herself and finds herself drawn in by her hands. The catgirl watches Rose with morbid curiosity, prepared to follow her lead for now.

[Misty Velvet]

In fairness, super zombie viruses would probably be off the table anyway; Rose wouldn't have such a thing on file, and the Hotbox would print it at well above sterilization temperature regardless, so it'd be ruined in the process. Even killing and stealing from Rose wouldn't accomplish what she wanted.

Not that either of them knew that.

Rose grins and stands next to Raven. "Right. So, like I said, this one is pretty easy. You just want to take a wide stance, like so." She demonstrates, spreading her feet apart. "Then you wait for the chorus. At that point, all you have to worry about are the arms. You put them out in front of you, like this..." Rose raises her right fist in front of her, then her left, and turns them over into open palms in the reverse sequence, imitating the beat of the song to demonstrate the timing. "Bum da-da-da da-da-da-da da-da-da-dum. Then you cross them, like so." Right hand to left shoulder, left hand to right. "Then up they go, behind your head." Left hand, right. "Almost there. Last, they go to your hips." Right hand to right hip, left hand to left hip. "And that's it for the arms. You'll just move your hips in a nice, big circle, and- Eeeeeh, Macarena!" She grins. "And it just starts over from there. I know it sounds like a lot, but trust me, when you get it, you get it."

Speaking of the chorus, it's just about to start. Hopefully the pressure doesn't get to Raven.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin looks at it for a moment, but eventually nods in approval. "I've come to appreciate guns a lot more lately. I need to learn how to use one. I would be a lot more effective with some good ranged options to mix in with my tactics. Creating a whip shield while closing is fine, but sometimes one note." A good warrior uses every tool at her disposal.

With a rev of the engine, the nymph takes off towards Tellysandra's. "Lolth right I am."

They'll probably have to park a block away though and take the rest of the route on foot. She can't just ride her bike through the front door! This time.

[Searching for Truth]

So off they go to the manor.

Or at least as close to the manor they can get without flight, assuming of course that Ilpholin knows where it's located.

It's by the western edge of skyside where they make a terrifying discovery, construction work.
The road has been closed off as construction seems to be happening here. Just looking at it for a while (or asking one of the guards or workers) makes it clear what's happening.

All the buildings along this particular stretch of the western edge (which just so happens to be the ones closest to the manor) are being torn down to make place for 'city defenses'. Lady Tellysandra herself is apparently funding this project, as is proudly proclaimed by the giant holographic sign which is floating around.

Thus the entire area has been closed off as machines have already torn down the majority of what structures that once stood here. The only people inside are guards and construction workers that mostly seem satisfied with watching the machines work.

"Hold up." Anika remarks once they have stopped with the bike somewhere and aren't in the immidiate vicinity of anyone else. "What if you just drive through that gate, find something to jump out from before the guards can get us and as you jump I turn into a hawk and help carry the bike in the air all the way to the manor? I'd be awesome!"

Though based on a lot of assumptions...

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Nobody answers Hana's question, and they continue going down. Either they didn't hear, or the orcs don't talk to slaves and the valet doesn't know because the orcs don't talk to slaves. Abbi and the valet are still wearing brass chokers, or perhaps now Hana has connected the dots she'll realise they're collars. And the receptionists wore matching ones, too.

Silence reigns until they reach the bottom, the lift doors open and the guard carrying the shock-pole leaves first, before turning and nodding at the others. Abbi and Hana will be grabbed and pushed out the lift, and a shotgun will be prodded into Hana's back if she refuses to move- it's loaded with less-lethal ammunition, but Hana probably doesn't know that and the guards have found pushing people around at gunpoint works at keeping them mostly obedient. They're in the basement now, the lift opening onto a corridor with a laundry room opposite, and there's more people wandering around. Mostly they ignore the orcs and their companions; there's valets, maids, and a few cooks, all wearing brass collars with their uniform and limping. They walk past a few bunkrooms, with three or four beds inside and no doors.

Eventually they find a room which does have a door, and one of the guards knocks upon it. A dark-haired human male in his twenties is leaning against the wall nearby, smoking a pipe. He wears a chainmail vest and a pair of denim jeans, and a baton hangs at his waist. He glances at the girls, more interested in the dots than anything else. His eyes do go up and down them both, but there's no interest in there; more like he's assessing them as meat.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

"You know, Mister Squiggles and I have a lot of cool maneuvers just like that one," Ilpholin says as she stops the bike and starts to get off. "We can pull those off because we spent a lot of time practicing them beforehand. I can appreciate it'd be a really cool move, but we should train to see if we can do it before attempting it." Oh no. Effort!

"Tellysandra must be expecting more attempts on her life if she's beefing up security this far out. She must be up to something big." Ilpholin twirls some hair around her finger as she thinks. "Anyways, making a big scene at this point is just going to tip her off early. And I imagine a lot of the city security are... I don't want to say innocent, but non-targets?"

No such thing as an innocent Skyside citizen presumably.

"I can disguise myself as a construction worker and you can fly overhead as a hawk and we can get closer that way. Remember how I looked completely different when I was rescuing you from rescuing 'me' from AMEN?"

[Misty Velvet]

"Uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh..." Raven seems to follow along with Rose's explanation well enough. It's not exactly complicated and the match to the beat helps the learning process.

If Raven feels pressure, she sure doesn't show it. She possesses the confidence of an Empress! In... most things that don't involve affection. As such, her dance of the Macarena is... passable. Not the most elegant showing, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it either. She may even break a smile once or twice.

As she's dancing to Rose's song, she realizes something significant. She realizes just how lively and vibrant Rose has been. Is. Rose is like a... living rainbow or something. Truly special in that way.

"I think I get it."

[Ironsmith]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Nobody answers Hana's question, and they continue going down. Either they didn't hear, or the orcs don't talk to slaves and the valet doesn't know because the orcs don't talk to slaves. Abbi and the valet are still wearing brass chokers, or perhaps now Hana has connected the dots she'll realise they're collars. And the receptionists wore matching ones, too.

Silence reigns until they reach the bottom, the lift doors open and the guard carrying the shock-pole leaves first, before turning and nodding at the others. Abbi and Hana will be grabbed and pushed out the lift, and a shotgun will be prodded into Hana's back if she refuses to move- it's loaded with less-lethal ammunition, but Hana probably doesn't know that and the guards have found pushing people around at gunpoint works at keeping them mostly obedient. They're in the basement now, the lift opening onto a corridor with a laundry room opposite, and there's more people wandering around. Mostly they ignore the orcs and their companions; there's valets, maids, and a few cooks, all wearing brass collars with their uniform and limping. They walk past a few bunkrooms, with three or four beds inside and no doors.

Eventually they find a room which does have a door, and one of the guards knocks upon it. A dark-haired human male in his twenties is leaning against the wall nearby, smoking a pipe. He wears a chainmail vest and a pair of denim jeans, and a baton hangs at his waist. He glances at the girls, more interested in the dots than anything else. His eyes do go up and down them both, but there's no interest in there; more like he's assessing them as meat.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Naturally, Hana doesn't much appreciate the shotgun nudge. She'll move, but that orc earns himself a fearsome glare and an "accidental" stomp on his foot the minute they get clear of the elevator. Hana's not expecting this to do much, since the orc has on boots and she doesn't, but it might help serve to remind him that she was only seconds away from refusing to cooperate altogether, and (in what seemed likely in the following moments) that the threat of force, even when it wasn't idle, would be insufficient to keep her in line; she simply didn't have that much concern for her personal safety. She was hoping it might even tell him force was counterproductive and tended to result in retaliation (futile though it be), tacitly encouraging them to try something else... she wasn't about to hold her breath, though.

She doesn't much care for the man's stares, either, but she can't do as much about that. She'll simply respond with an angry glare of her own, followed by a rude gesture if she can manage it. She was no mere steak, thank you!

[Misty Velvet]

"Uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh..." Raven seems to follow along with Rose's explanation well enough. It's not exactly complicated and the match to the beat helps the learning process.

If Raven feels pressure, she sure doesn't show it. She possesses the confidence of an Empress! In... most things that don't involve affection. As such, her dance of the Macarena is... passable. Not the most elegant showing, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it either. She may even break a smile once or twice.

As she's dancing to Rose's song, she realizes something significant. She realizes just how lively and vibrant Rose has been. Is. Rose is like a... living rainbow or something. Truly special in that way.

"I think I get it."

[Misty Velvet]

"See? Just like I said you would." Rose grins, dancing alongside her, deliberately leaving out all the flairs and such so that Raven's dancing would be the center of attention; Rose wasn't about to "upstage" the nekomancer again. Quite the opposite, in fact; when the song is over, she gives Raven a little round of applause. "Come on, guys, didn't I tell you she was amazing? Give it up for the Empress, everybody!" She waves her hands to the other clubgoers, encouraging them to applaud as well, before going back to vigorously supplementing it with her own.

A casual observer might assume this was all to build Raven's confidence, but Rose could tell about halfway through the chorus that she didn't need help with that. Instead, she was hoping to give Raven an object lesson in socialization; if the very same people who were minutes ago ready to cut her to pieces now decided to cheer her on, it might aptly demonstrate that there was something to this whole "relentless positivity" thing.

Even if that didn't stick, she was sure Raven would just eat up the attention. Despite her insistence to the contrary, Rose wasn't convinced Raven really wanted everyone in the room to hate her. At least, not nearly as much as she wanted them just thinking about her. And between being a self-enforced pariah or the popular kid at school, Rose was certain she would actually prefer the latter, once she'd learned how to handle it. A brief taste of that might help mend any damage their relationship had suffered from their rocky entrance.

Also? Being Raven's hype girl was just plain fun.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"You know, Mister Squiggles and I have a lot of cool maneuvers just like that one," Ilpholin says as she stops the bike and starts to get off. "We can pull those off because we spent a lot of time practicing them beforehand. I can appreciate it'd be a really cool move, but we should train to see if we can do it before attempting it." Oh no. Effort!

"Tellysandra must be expecting more attempts on her life if she's beefing up security this far out. She must be up to something big." Ilpholin twirls some hair around her finger as she thinks. "Anyways, making a big scene at this point is just going to tip her off early. And I imagine a lot of the city security are... I don't want to say innocent, but non-targets?"

No such thing as an innocent Skyside citizen presumably.

"I can disguise myself as a construction worker and you can fly overhead as a hawk and we can get closer that way. Remember how I looked completely different when I was rescuing you from rescuing 'me' from AMEN?"

[Searching for Truth]

Anika thinks back and does vaguely recall something like that. "Oh yeah, that was pretty cool. Adir sure couldn't take his eyes from you, could he?" The druid giggles.

"But that could work." A beat. "Wait, they might have already seen my hawk form as I have, uh, already been here before. Like twice. Fought a whole bunch of KABAL members both those times in fact. Yet, what are the odds one of them is here and is going to recall that after all this time? Pretty low I'd say, especially if I keep myself far up."

[5a Violista]

[Aimless Drifting]

The hoodie-woman, hiding around the corner, finishes up with what she was doing. With her watch opened and unscrewed, she presses some buttons on a half-there holographic display. A roll of tape suddenly appears in her hand, and she uses that to wrap the watch closed with all its screws.
By now, she's figured that she didn't lose the robot, it just got distracted by someone else.
Given this chance, she needs to take it out here - the robot's goals are diametrically opposed to hers and she needs to take advantage of this chance.

So she starts climbing the building next to her, up to an elevated position. Once she has a hand free, she starts typing more on the glitchy holographic display, and a pink wand appears this time. Sirena, the woman in the hoodie, hooks a foot above her on a storm drain, and her other leg curls up on a window sill, and she affixes the wand in air like a scope, and then does some more with the hologram...



Tetra's clever method of destroying the electro-sticky-goop works.
Simply producing heat that way doesn't activate another shock...and the shocking device, created in the moment, wasn't exactly designed to withstand that sort of stuff. And, disconnected from the panther, it doesn't even have the capability to adapt to Tetra.

The robo-mole, recognizing that the sticky grenade will fail soon (and it wasn't supplied with any more to fire again) decides its best move is as a suicide-attack-distraction.

The robo-mole activates its drill again, and starts running at Tetra, intending to cause as much damage to her foot as possible.


meanwhile, the main robot, the panther.
The panther. It replies, [COLOR="#888888"]"Your excuses are not convincing. Surrender at once or -"
Sadly, the panther is unable to finish its threat, as its neck (and head and most of its sensory devices) are blown off, with pink hearts instead of smoke or debris coming off of it. The shot came from the hoodie-woman, down the street hanging from the side of a building.
(However, simply destroying the head of this robot isn't enough to incapacitate it. It starts whirring and clanking, as its internal factory starts running again, this time trying to restore its sensory input.

So....
At the moment, Tetra really only has to worry about the drill-mole.
And possibly the heart(?) sniper(?) gal down the street.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Given her hands are chained behind her back in shackles that would shred her fingers if she tries taking them off, it's unlikely she can make a rude gesture at the man. If she manages it, she'll get jabbed with the shock-pole again.

The man doesn't care about the glare, and knocks on the door after a puff on his pipe. The door opens, and a the shock-pole orc goes in before the one with the club grabs Hana and Abbi and pushes them through the door. Inside it's a luxuriant space, brightly lit by several neon tubes set into the ceiling. A thick, plush carpet covers the floor- likely a relief after all the bare concrete and steel they've been walking on- and there's an antique iron lung resting against the back wall. Sat in a large armchair in the middle of the room is an obese man wearing a royal purple silk muumuu, soaking his feet in a copper tub resting above a smouldering brazier. There's also a woman, a few years older than Abbi, with black hair and green eyes, wearing a lamellar cuirass and denim jeans. She's got a slender white wood wand hanging from her belt, opposite a taser. Kneeling on the floor nearby, with hands behind their backs, are three naked women. The first is a halfling, with olive-brown skin, bright green eyes, short auburn hair and a thick gag in her mouth. Next to her is a... somebody who looks human, with no hair, snake-like green eyes, and glossy brown scales blending into the skin across her shoulders and down he spine. The last is a hobgoblin with yellowy-orange skin, spiky black hair and dark eyes. There's also a pregnant human woman wearing a brass collar and a white apron, who carries a tray with some drinks on. She walks close to the orcs but they ignore her.

"So these are the ones you're offering?" The woman walks over, looking at both the girls. "Kneel." Abbi obeys, but if Hana tries to disobey and stay upright one of the orcs will hit her in the back of the knees with the rubber club.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana remains standing for the moment, shooting the orc with the shock pole a pre-emptive glare. She guesses wrong, however, and gives a little start as the rubber club is smacked against her knees. She staggers forward, almost into the man (gross!) but manages to recover, bends her knees...

And plops down on the floor, legs crossed. Ostensibly, if there were any practical reason for her to kneel, she would still be meeting it. But she refused to show these pigs (orc or otherwise) any semblance of servility; she was sitting like she'd been called to a meeting, not kneeling before her lord and master. And, she notes internally with some amount of satisfaction, she's made it that much harder for them to force her to kneel; they would have to haul her to her feet and push her back down again, which would just be a waste of everyone's time.

Then, for the icing on the cake, she gives the portly man an imperious scowl.

"...I want a refund." She deadpans.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

The orc was hoping the blow to her knees would force her legs to bend so he could get her into a kneeling position that way. Her disobedience here is rewarded with a blow to her throat with the club, though she manages to get her words out first.

The obese man chuckles and laughs, before it turns into a hacking coughing fit that sounds very unpleasant and possibly painful. Once he's stopped, there's a bit of blood dribbling down his chin and he reaches for the pregnant girl's apron, dabbing at his face to wipe it away. "A refund, she says! A refund. You paid with worthless red glass, you don't get to demand a refund from me." She didn't, and he knows she didn't- it's the justification for abducting her and the excuse he'll use to reassure his other customers, who pay with coins or bullets easier for his receptionists to verify. "She's disobedient and argumentative now, but you'll break that out of her. Her personal effects are outside, bring them in." The valet enters with Hana's belongings, which the woman looks at disinterestedly.
"No, I don't think we will. The other... bites, I'm guessing? Three green, an orange and a red with a gag when the other is ungagged reads 'opportunistic biter' to me." The orcs both nod. "One is a fighter who won't obey the simplest instructions, the other is obedient until she sees a chance and then she bites. And you crippled her. My father's store has no use for either of them, I'm afraid. Maybe the TV studio will take them. I'll take them, and the gear, and one of those rubies you showed me earlier. You get two of these, a healing potion, and some silver. Deal?" She gestures at the three girls she brought with her, all Abbi's age or younger.
"This is daylight robbery! That tech is nigh unique, it's worth far more than your little caravan put together!"
"We'll need her memories to use it. She won't cooperate, that's more effort for us. You broke the rat, she had five green dots when we sold her to you... Or are you sourcing your workers from external sources? I thought you got a discount for relying on the Guild as your supplier, Mister Trust. Am I mistaken, or am I owed another ruby?" The fat man hisses at the woman's bargaining, but seems to accept.