Iron Station Savage Masks IC III

[InTheMachine]

Keith
“I’m sure you already know, but my name’s Kenzie. Nice to meet you, Keith,” Kenzie says with a slight smile.

A few minutes pass while Kenzie and Aeryn speak with Keith and the sound of police and ambulance sirens slowly grows in volume. There’s a rush of wind and Seraph lands nearby.

Kenzie stands and explains how hard Aeryn was hit and what she and Keith did to keep him alive before she stands aside to let the older hero heal her teammate.

“You both did well to keep him alive until I could get here,” Seraph says and kneels by Aeryn’s side. He puts his hand on the alien’s shoulder and golden fire flows out it take several seconds until Seraph is satisfied. “How are you feeling?” he asks as he offer his hand to help Aeryn stand.

The alien takes it, and Seraph helps him to his feet. “Almost 100%. Thank you, sir.”

From the sewer entrance, a small brown-haired woman emerges, followed by a taller, middle-aged man. They look around in confusion, unsure of where they are.

After making sure Aeryn’s good one more time, Seraph quickly makes his way over to them as the first police car arrives.

Manny
Wolf takes point to lead the group out of the sewer while Zodiac brings up the rear. The tunnels rumble several times, but the raeksha doesn’t appear again.

The group moves fairly well, and soon reaches where the ladder ascends to street level. The wail of sirens can be heard from above.

The group hears and excitedly make their way up the ladder to safety. Wolf gathers the injured people and make his way up.

When Manny emerges, Seraph has taken control of the scene. He directs Wolf to take the two injured people to be the ambulances, following so that he can heal them.

Double Date
It’s fine, Grayson answers. I was already at my computer working on a guitar track when Emi asked. Their website doesn’t really list any backers or anything. It’s all vague. I’m not too scared of visiting a public website with Nora’s encryption, but it’s probably a good idea if you ask your people to look into this dude.

I agree, Emi says.

Cool. I’m gonna grab some dinner then, Grayson replies. He pauses for a moment, then John feels a great wave of absolute mortification over the link.

Emi glances worriedly over at John. Grayson, what happened?

Uhhhmm… comes the slow reply. I heard… noises… coming from Kylie’s room. It… sounds like— yeah, it’s definitely Zack. I’m gonna grab my headphones and pretend I didn’t hear anything, he mumbles as a second spike of embarrassment colors the link.

[HIDA]

Manny
Wolf takes point to lead the group out of the sewer while Zodiac brings up the rear. The tunnels rumble several times, but the raeksha doesn’t appear again.

The group moves fairly well, and soon reaches where the ladder ascends to street level. The wail of sirens can be heard from above.

The group hears and excitedly make their way up the ladder to safety. Wolf gathers the injured people and make his way up.

When Manny emerges, Seraph has taken control of the scene. He directs Wolf to take the two injured people to be the ambulances, following so that he can heal them.

Izulu works his way up the ladder and visibly relaxes when he sees the angel and the ambulances. He leans against the wall for a moment and takes a deep breath. that was his first on-record mission since he got here and he yelled at a civilian. Bern was gonna chew him out as soon as he got the report He knew it. He probably earned it. but he knew there was a difference in how people were treated based solely on looks and it never really sat well with him. Not to say it didn't benefit him more often than not but looks has never been an indication of character and for that guy to be so...

Manny lets a sigh escape. He's mission was mostly successful and there we're no major incide--

"Aeryn." he says to no one before looking around to see the him standing with Paradox and Keith. He lets out another sigh before heading over and

"Hey Aeryn, glad to see you're back on your feet. Well done guys. We got all the civilians out." He says before Waving Yuki and Wolf over.

"Excellent job tonight everyone! I'm going to check with Seraph to see if we're still needed. The civilians are safely out but The Big guy is still down there, licking its wounds. Since we know where it's nest is, we could do a proper routing tomorrow. but tonight may be our best bet to deal with it. Either way, We should grab a bite and celebrate proper. Let me get this squared and we'll Talk in a second.


SITREP
Manny walks over to Seraph who's tending to the wounded he pick up his arm to wave at Seraph before remembering that a demon tried to mangle it.

"Izulu reporting in sir, I want to speak to you about tonight's mission once you're done tending to the wounded civilians."

[PK-Leon]

Q&A

Spoiler: What do we See?

Show

Notice: 6

Looking around Varga's office, Louis spots several photos of Drake and a dark haired woman. A few of them are from several years ago when Drake was a child. There’s also a picture of Varga in full combat gear with three other men in the middle of a desert.

Louis lets his eyes wander around Varga's office while he awaits instruction and comes across a familiar face amid the people in the pictures that decorate the room. He opts to mention nothing of it for the time being.

“Let’s start with where you got the information, then where you went from there,” the detective says as he pulls up something on his computer.

"Sure. I guess this all started with the call from Scott this morning. He was asking for help dealing with a couple of Rooks who were taking their sweet time shaking down the Ashford Coffee Bar, but we didn't know that at the time. I asked Vitriol to ride there with me since we can't patrol or respond to emergencies alone at the moment. We get to the place in disguise and spot the two Rooks before Scott takes us to the back and fills in the blanks. The Rooks were actually looking for a person, not money, and they snatched up one of his baristas about a day or so prior in an attempt to get Scott to draw out their target and trade the two."

Redline begins to lean back a bit in his chair as he continues to recount the days events. "After hearing everything from Scott we decide to track down the barista ourselves and figure out a way to trick the two Rooks into walking outside where we get the jump on'em. They're pretty quick to talk once they see who they're actually up against and one of'em tells us where he thinks Isabelle, the barista I was talking about, was being kept."

Back at the Hospital

Ryker smiles a little, breaking through whatever funk he was in, and lets out a short laugh. “That’s pretty good, Louis.” He gives Iris a quick glance before his gaze darts away. “Yeah, I’ll try to take it easy. No promises though.”

"I'm not the one who has to deal with an angel and an upset physician if you don't. But we could definitely use some real rest after today." Louis traces Ryker's eyes over to Iris but says nothing about it.

Iris doesn’t seem to notice Ryker's gaze. “Yeah, the Wendy’s is fine. I have someone coming to pick me up and I think we’re gonna eat something real quick too.”

"Alright then. If Wendy's is fine then let's get goin' yeah?"

As the trio take their leave Louis will stop by the front desk in the reception area of the hospital and leave a number for a nurse to call about half an hour before they're ready to release Izzy. He leads them back to the Monte Carlo and starts it up with his makeshift key, then drives to whichever Wendy's Iris directs him to.

[Roguewolf]

Keith
“I’m sure you already know, but my name’s Kenzie. Nice to meet you, Keith,” Kenzie says with a slight smile.

A few minutes pass while Kenzie and Aeryn speak with Keith and the sound of police and ambulance sirens slowly grows in volume. There’s a rush of wind and Seraph lands nearby.

Kenzie stands and explains how hard Aeryn was hit and what she and Keith did to keep him alive before she stands aside to let the older hero heal her teammate.

“You both did well to keep him alive until I could get here,” Seraph says and kneels by Aeryn’s side. He puts his hand on the alien’s shoulder and golden fire flows out it take several seconds until Seraph is satisfied. “How are you feeling?” he asks as he offer his hand to help Aeryn stand.

The alien takes it, and Seraph helps him to his feet. “Almost 100%. Thank you, sir.”

From the sewer entrance, a small brown-haired woman emerges, followed by a taller, middle-aged man. They look around in confusion, unsure of where they are.

After making sure Aeryn’s good one more time, Seraph quickly makes his way over to them as the first police car arrives.

Keith nods and smiles slightly. “Yeah, they told me a bit about you and Wolf before we came out here. That, and the fact that I would probably not want to spar with you.” He chuckles a bit. “Pleased to officially meet ya, Kenzie.”

When Seraph lands, Keith stands back as Kenzie explains everything and smiles again when Aeryn says that he’s feeling a lot better. He looks at the ground a bit when Seraph tells them they had done well. He didn’t feel like it had gone as good as it could have, and they could have rectified it a bit sooner. Suppose it all ends well in this case.

“Thank you, Seraph.” He hadn’t really felt like he had done well on a mission the past few days, so this was a nice change of pace to have things turn out alright.

He then glanced over to see the people start emerging from the sewer entrance and sighs in relief. At least a couple people had made it out at that moment.

When he sees Izulu and the other South Siders come back up, he waves.

“Glad y’all’s side had success! We managed to keep Aeryn goin’ till Seraph got here.” He turns to Zodiac when she comes over. “Used a trick I remembered you doing. Thanks a ton, Zodiac.” He has a wide grin on his face looking at the wolf Yuki.

At Manny’s suggestion, Keith shrugs. It would be best to deal with it while it was still wounded, but that could put a bigger toll on their resources right now than they may be able to afford.

“That thing is a tough one, just like the last. Nearly took everyone just to drive it to the ground.” He shook his head. “Probably best to discuss it more, like ya said.”

And I’ll need to ask Zylas about Raeksha some more…… Are they trying to ascend? How does a Raeksha even become a greater demon? Keith’s head swam with questions. And he thought back to what White had said. They couldn’t let this one get away.

[mmdeforrest]

Double Date
It’s fine, Grayson answers. I was already at my computer working on a guitar track when Emi asked. Their website doesn’t really list any backers or anything. It’s all vague. I’m not too scared of visiting a public website with Nora’s encryption, but it’s probably a good idea if you ask your people to look into this dude.

I agree, Emi says.

Cool. I’m gonna grab some dinner then, Grayson replies. He pauses for a moment, then John feels a great wave of absolute mortification over the link.

Emi glances worriedly over at John. Grayson, what happened?

Uhhhmm… comes the slow reply. I heard… noises… coming from Kylie’s room. It… sounds like— yeah, it’s definitely Zack. I’m gonna grab my headphones and pretend I didn’t hear anything, he mumbles as a second spike of embarrassment colors the link.

What…oh.

John was relieved to discover that his higher order functions would, at least on some occasions, move faster than his ability to ask questions like “What? Are they fighting in the hall?” when the sense of mortification and intonation suggested a different kind of activity.

Hooo, boy.

The moment, he recognized, was painfully awkward. He was telepathically connected to his girlfriend and the friend of her’s who had homed to be something more while he was indicating that her best friend — who has being pursued by his best friend (assuming Keith qualified for that role instead of Emi)— was being sexually active enough with her brother’s best friend to be noticeable.

Well, that progressed quickly.

And Keith was somewhere planning that date or, if he had been unexpectedly called out on a mission, had paused that in order to return to that later.

And now his best friend at East Side was overhearing the girl he was hoping to have a ‘we’ll see’ date with being sexually active with the guy she has been waiting for.

He wanted to advise Grayson to not say anything to Keith and that the three of them should keep this to themselves until she had a chance to let Keith know that the date was off. At least he hoped that she would be letting Keith know the date was off. Anything less that that would require something to horrendously wrong between her and Zack or for her to be fundamentally dishonest with Keith.

He also wanted to suggest that he go and get dinner to get away from the sound of the two of them as an indirect way of severing the three way connection but proximity to Emi was no more necessary than would be his continuing to talk to them on a cell phone.

“I can only imagine!” John heard himself respond easily and affably to Raphael’s comment about his steak — a marked contrast to his deer-in-the-headlights stance in the other conversation. He was surprised that the disjunction between the flow of time in one conversation and the other did not feel unnatural. It was almost akin to the way that an in-person conversation moved faster than one being conducted simultaneously by text. He did wonder if his ability to focus on Angelical while he cast spells and the mundane world simultaneously might have prepared him better for that disjunction.

He also marveled at the mind that must associated with the ability to synchronize and harmonize those flows, once more feeling irrationally proud of Emi and of himself for being able to say she was his girlfriend.

[InTheMachine]

Louis
Q&A
Varga types out several sentences on his computer. “Do you know who the Rooks’ target was?” he asks before Louis mentions the two guys that he and Ryker jumped. “Oh yeah, Mr. Maa. He had a few broken fingers and a chemical burn on his shoulder when one of my guys picked him up. I’ve seen worse from Vitriol. Jackie was smart to give up easy.”

“So, you guys found out where they had the barista— a house on Summit Street, according to my report. What did you do then?”

Drop Off
Ryker hops into the backseat, letting Iris sit up front with Louis. “I still can’t believe you managed to lift his car,” he says as they drive away from the hospital. “Leo’s gotta be pissed. He made so much money with this thing doin’ street races.”

The Wendy’s is only a few minutes away. Once they arrive, Iris hops out. She hesitates for only a moment as she looks at Ryker through the back window before she thanks Louis and says a hurried goodbye before heading into the restaurant.

Manny and Keith
Aeryn smiles at Manny. “I’m doing a lot better now, thanks to Kenzie and Keith.”

Yuki tilts her head slightly as she attempts to remember what Keith’s referring to. “Oh, when he dove through my fire when we were fighting in the alley? Glad I could help in some small way.”


Seraph looks up as Manny approaches him and notes his arm. “I’ve already healed those two,” he says as he places a hand on Manny’s shoulder. “Don’t panic. This won’t hurt.” Fire spreads from his palm down to the bite in Manny’s arm. The pain fades almost instantly as his flesh knits back together.

The angel releases him and takes a step back before looking at the scene. Everything seems to be progressing how it should, so he nods. “Did you want to debrief with me solo, or with everyone?”

[HIDA]

Manny and Keith
Aeryn smiles at Manny. “I’m doing a lot better now, thanks to Kenzie and Keith.”

Yuki tilts her head slightly as she attempts to remember what Keith’s referring to. “Oh, when he dove through my fire when we were fighting in the alley? Glad I could help in some small way.”

Manny smiles at the three of them. "I knew you were in capable hands. Glad to see you upright. Stellar work, you two."

Seraph looks up as Manny approaches him and notes his arm. “I’ve already healed those two,” he says as he places a hand on Manny’s shoulder. “Don’t panic. This won’t hurt.” Fire spreads from his palm down to the bite in Manny’s arm. The pain fades almost instantly as his flesh knits back together.

The angel releases him and takes a step back before looking at the scene. Everything seems to be progressing how it should, so he nods. “Did you want to debrief with me solo, or with everyone?”

Manny smiles at the angel as the pain in his arm subsides. "Thank you, sir." He then nods to the Angel when asking about the debrief. "It's not entirely a debrief, per se, but more of a report." He says leading him out of earshot of civilians.

"The Raeksha is still down there, long and short of it. But it's wounded. I'm personally of a mind to deal with it tonight to let the powers that wish, investigate the area. However, I'm not the XO and it's not my call to make. With you here, the matter can be dealt with quite handily and with our support all the moreso." Manny says, looking to Keith and then the others.

[Roguewolf]

Manny and Keith
Aeryn smiles at Manny. “I’m doing a lot better now, thanks to Kenzie and Keith.”

Yuki tilts her head slightly as she attempts to remember what Keith’s referring to. “Oh, when he dove through my fire when we were fighting in the alley? Glad I could help in some small way.”

Keith nods at Yuki. "Yep, was thanks to seeing that and, thankfully rememberin'." Keith thinks for a moment. He figured with Manny over talking with Seraph, this might be a decent time to talk with Yuki about how the rescue went. Or at least get some perspective on their newest teammate.

"Say, how did he do with helping out the civilians? Guess my big question is what kinda vibe you get from him?"

[InTheMachine]

Double Date
Emi’s cheeks flush red as she cuts the connection to Grayson. She takes a long drink from her wine glass. I’m sure they didn’t expect to be heard, but Kylie’s room is right next to Grayson’s, and his hearing, when he doesn’t have headphones on, is very sensitive.

I didn’t expect her to jump straight into bed with him, but she has been pining after him for almost two years. Poor Keith, she sighs. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m very happy for Kylie. I hope she and Zack will be happy together.

Stella glances up at Emi. “Everything okay?”

“Fine,” the psychic replies, looking up at the sorceress. “I just got some interesting information is all.”

Manny
Seraph considers what Manny has said for a moment. “Good work wounding it. But we still need to find Sidney. I’ll take Wolf and Kenzie back down to finish the demon, you four take to the skies and search for her, if Aeryn’s feeling up to it.”

Keith
Yuki looks down at her paws. “I don’t know. He lost his temper with one of them when they compared my tiger form and Wolf to the demons and were scared to follow us out. I said something to him about it, but he didn’t answer me.”

Her ears flick back as her tail wraps tightly around her feet. “I understand that he just arrived this morning and it has been a very long day, but… Other than that, he seems like a nice guy.”

[HIDA]

Manny
Seraph considers what Manny has said for a moment. “Good work wounding it. But we still need to find Sidney. I’ll take Wolf and Kenzie back down to finish the demon, you four take to the skies and search for her, if Aeryn’s feeling up to it.”

Manny goes to speak but decides to nod instead.

Damnit she's still gone. He glances over at Paradox and sighs. I would've liked to talk to her more, I think.. He turns back to Seraph.

"Yes sir. I'll check with Aeryn and round up the other If we need to, we'll drop him off at base before looking for her."

He heads back over to Aeryn and waves over Yuki and Keith and waits for them before addressing them

"You guys up for a search and rescue? It's Sidney, Seraph is tasking our original squad with looking for her. But I told him We'd take Aeryn back to base if we needed to. You up for it?" He ask, looking over to the blond alien.

[Roguewolf]

Keith
Yuki looks down at her paws. “I don’t know. He lost his temper with one of them when they compared my tiger form and Wolf to the demons and were scared to follow us out. I said something to him about it, but he didn’t answer me.”

Her ears flick back as her tail wraps tightly around her feet. “I understand that he just arrived this morning and it has been a very long day, but… Other than that, he seems like a nice guy.”

Keith tilts his head as Yuki explains the situation. He did understand though but that's no way to deal with a frightened person. Honestly he was glad they didn't see her in the viper form. He sighed a bit.

"Yeah, that sorta worries me. He might have thought that you could read minds too. Honestly I did the first go around." Keith shrugged. "Siren kinda kept me on my toes."

He glanced over at Manny before returning his full focus to Yuki.

"I'm hopin' it's just the long trip, and day for 'im. I'll have a chat with him later though." Keith smiles. "Thanks, Zodiac. Just bein' wary of the civilians and names."

He looks over at Aeryn and smirks. "Better with the cloak or without? Curious what y'all think."

He heads back over to Aeryn and waves over Yuki and Keith and waits for them before addressing them

"You guys up for a search and rescue? It's Sidney, Seraph is tasking our original squad with looking for her. But I told him We'd take Aeryn back to base if we needed to. You up for it?" He ask, looking over to the blond alien.

When they're waved over, Keith walks over to Manny with the others. He tilts his head at the question.

"I mean, she's our responsibility. And havin' seen Elvira in action, and the state she's in, Sidney can't have gone too far." He glances over at Aeryn waiting his response and gauging his reaction.

[mmdeforrest]

Double Date
Emi’s cheeks flush red as she cuts the connection to Grayson. She takes a long drink from her wine glass. I’m sure they didn’t expect to be heard, but Kylie’s room is right next to Grayson’s, and his hearing, when he doesn’t have headphones on, is very sensitive.

I didn’t expect her to jump straight into bed with him, but she has been pining after him for almost two years. Poor Keith, she sighs. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m very happy for Kylie. I hope she and Zack will be happy together.

Stella glances up at Emi. “Everything okay?”

“Fine,” the psychic replies, looking up at the sorceress. “I just got some interesting information is all.”

The good news is that his prior record indicates he isn’t the love them and leave him type, John observed, feeling his own blush growing. The bad news it that it is too late to ask you what Kylie’s favorite flowers are so I could tell Keith and balance out accidentally giving Zach a good idea for a first date location. Although if he does use it, I’m not sure if that will qualify as their first date or not now.

That said, John added mischievously as he took a sip of his gin and tonic, they beat us in the contest of a challenging first date to explain to others over a polite dinner.

I must confess I feel a little bad for Grayson as well. That has to be more than a little awkward.

John felt his eyes grow a little wide.

Is that is the kind of thing you and your father would notice as a matter of course as well? You mentioned your father can hear it if people think more energetically than usual. I’d imagine that is the kind of thing that would happen at such a moment.

John felt his blush deepen as he noted his tacit admission. Montcrieff would be terribly amused but, knowing her skills, probably not surprised.

[InTheMachine]

Keith and Manny
“Cloak,” everyone says together.

“Adds to the mystery,” Kenzie says with a grin. “Besides, it came in handy tonight.”

Aeryn gives Keith a sheepish smile as Kenzie speaks, but stays quiet until Manny waves them over. “Uhmm…” he says, looking at his feet, which are planted firmly on the asphalt. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing anymore flying tonight. I can’t even float. I feel pretty good though.”

“If you want, I can carry you,” Yuki offers. “We could use an extra set of eyes.”

The alien nods. “That would work.”

Yuki shifts into her cockatrice form and briefly stretches her wings. “Do you think we should ask Stella to help us out? She may be able to make a tracking spell, similar to what she did in the other dimension this morning. That, and Sidney is her best friend. She’s probably the best person to talk to her if she’s going to refuse to come back.”

Spoiler: Notice TN 6

Show

Over by the police cars, one of the civilian’s faces, the tall, middle aged man that had come out first and that Manny remembers speaking to, has a look of disgust on his face as he spots Yuki’s transformation.

Double Date
I don’t know if you would count that as a first date, Emi replies. That was a great idea you offered Zack. I heard him considering it before we left. Kylie would definitely enjoy it. If he did get something like that together, that’s what I would categorize as a ‘first date’ if anything.

Her face flushes just a little more. You felt how embarrassed he was. I would also be if I had been paying more attention and not solely focused on Grayson at the base. My father and I can feel those thoughts, but only if our attention is actually there at the time. He’s out on patrol with my brother currently, so I’m sure his thoughts are elsewhere.

[Roguewolf]

Keith and Manny
“Cloak,” everyone says together.

“Adds to the mystery,” Kenzie says with a grin. “Besides, it came in handy tonight.”

Aeryn gives Keith a sheepish smile as Kenzie speaks, but stays quiet until Manny waves them over. “Uhmm…” he says, looking at his feet, which are planted firmly on the asphalt. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing anymore flying tonight. I can’t even float. I feel pretty good though.”

“If you want, I can carry you,” Yuki offers. “We could use an extra set of eyes.”

The alien nods. “That would work.”

Yuki shifts into her cockatrice form and briefly stretches her wings. “Do you think we should ask Stella to help us out? She may be able to make a tracking spell, similar to what she did in the other dimension this morning. That, and Sidney is her best friend. She’s probably the best person to talk to her if she’s going to refuse to come back.”

Keith chuckles a bit and blushes at the resounding unanimous response. He was a bit more curious that they had all answered at the same time. Did they practice that? He couldn’t help but glance at the ground quickly with Kenzie’s response. Unconsciously he rubbed the back of his head.

“True, it did come in handy! And the mystery never hurts,” He grins sheepishly. “Now to just design the next one. Maybe with pockets this time.” He offers a smile to Aeryn.

“Though, I’ll trade a hundred of them for ya anyday.” As he finishes the thought, Keith focuses for a moment as the shadows start to coalesce into a cloak-ish shape on his back, hood already over his head. “Actually feels pretty nice.”

While Aeryn and Yuki discuss the plans to search for Sidney with Manny, Keith nods in agreement and thinks for a couple of minutes.

“Extra eyes will never hurt, and we would probably see about Stella getting a tracking spell. No idea what she’s up to now though.” Keith looks at the ground. “It’s going to take a bit of convincing for her to come back if this is about what I think it is though. We could probably also narrow down the search a bit for places where she would feel safe and secluded. V was in pretty bad shape so it’d have to be somewhere she could work too.”

Keith taps his commlink to talk with Mimi. “Hey Mimi, do you know where Stella is? If she’s not available is there a place that Sidney may have gone before anywhere else? We wanna make sure she’s ok. And thank you in advance!”

Spoiler: Why are you giving my friend that look old man?

Show

Notice: 1d6o6+2 9 1d6o6+2 7

Spoiler: Notice TN 6

Show

Over by the police cars, one of the civilian’s faces, the tall, middle aged man that had come out first and that Manny remembers speaking to, has a look of disgust on his face as he spots Yuki’s transformation.

Keith looks over and sees the middle aged man giving Yuki the stink eye. He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head.

That must be the guy that Yuki was talkin’ about a moment ago. Guy that Manny snapped at. Given his look I can understand why. Then again, it’s not every day you get saved by, well a shapeshifter and a chimera.

He looks over at Yuki, with a slightly pained expression. He knew what it was like being judged by powers. Especially when you inherit them from someone else. Oh right, and when that someone is a villain. Doesn’t help that a lot of people are wary of darkness either. He leaned over and whispered to Yuki.

“Was that the guy? Want me to go over and talk with him?"

[InTheMachine]

Keith
The feathers on Yuki’s neck ruffle slightly, and her tail lashes once before she calms herself. “No, you don’t need to talk to him. He was literally about to be eaten alive by a demon’s brood. I can understand why he’s angry and afraid. My tiger form and this form are very monstrous in nature, and I didn’t speak to him. He may think that I’m a captive demon. Though, that doesn’t lessen that his reaction does sting a bit.”

Mimi answers Keith through his comm. “Stella is currently at dinner with Raphael, John, and Emilia. I do not know where Sidney has gone. When she left, she was headed West. She severed communication with me completely after she asked me to give her ten minutes.”

[Roguewolf]

Keith
The feathers on Yuki’s neck ruffle slightly, and her tail lashes once before she calms herself. “No, you don’t need to talk to him. He was literally about to be eaten alive by a demon’s brood. I can understand why he’s angry and afraid. My tiger form and this form are very monstrous in nature, and I didn’t speak to him. He may think that I’m a captive demon. Though, that doesn’t lessen that his reaction does sting a bit.”

Mimi answers Keith through his comm. “Stella is currently at dinner with Raphael, John, and Emilia. I do not know where Sidney has gone. When she left, she was headed West. She severed communication with me completely after she asked me to give her ten minutes.”

Keith smiles softly and nods.

"Alrighty then, mainly just worried about ya," Keith looks back over at the man for a moment before turning back to Yuki. "Honestly, think they're both really cool lookin'. Probably doesn't help that...... well, you know." Keith didn't want to say too much since Manny was right there and he had tried to help out a bit. Albeit in his own way.

"If there's ever anythin' I can do just say the word ok?"

He nods as Mimi explains where Stella is, and anyone looking sees his face go from neutral to about wide eyed and sheet white. NOPE! NOT INTERRUPTING EMI'S DATE! NOPE!!!!! He shook his head for a moment before processing what else Mimi had told him.

"Probably shouldn't interrupt that. And west? Guess that sorta narrows down which way we can go a bit. Thank you Mimi! Really appreciate it!"

He turns to the rest of the group and relays what Mimi had told him.

"So Stella is on a double date with Raph, John, and Emi. But Mimi said that Sidney went further west when she left so that at least sorta gives us a direction." He shuddered a bit at the thought of what fresh hell may have awaited at interrupting the group date.

Keith thinks better of it and taps the commlink again in an attempt to contact Stella. "I'll just deal with the consequences from those three later."

When/if Stella answers, Keith will start off the conversation with an apology.

"Hey Stella, sorry to interrupt but, wanted to let you know Sidney left the base on Elvira. Is there a place westward that she would have gone to? Don't want to interrupt or worry ya so I'll keep you updated since you're out with everyone. Me, Yuki, Aeryn, and Manny are going out to look."

[mmdeforrest]

Double Date
I don’t know if you would count that as a first date, Emi replies. That was a great idea you offered Zack. I heard him considering it before we left. Kylie would definitely enjoy it. If he did get something like that together, that’s what I would categorize as a ‘first date’ if anything.

I hope they enjoy themselves and am flattered you think it worthy of your best friend.

Her comment did highlight that, while he had several plans connected to Emi, he had not come up with another good date idea for the two of them. The trick, he recognized, was the need reign in his instinct to plan big and impressive in order to impress her with her stated desire to just be a lucky kid from Providence and an impossibly wonderful girl from London.

Maybe something attached to the Symphony.

Did Iron Station have a Symphony?

Note to self: Check if Iron Station has a Symphony.

Her face flushes just a little more. You felt how embarrassed he was. I would also be if I had been paying more attention and not solely focused on Grayson at the base. My father and I can feel those thoughts, but only if our attention is actually there at the time. He’s out on patrol with my brother currently, so I’m sure his thoughts are elsewhere.

We can hope so. I would hate to have the father-son bonding time interrupted by such a thing — although I suspect your father’s self discipline and experience as a provisional lead would allow him to maintain a good poker face before Ian. It will help him maintain the air of genuine surprise when Zack tells him that he and Kylie are an item.

John was grateful that, if Emi picked up on what he had implied, she had chosen to pass over it for now. The situation doubtless provided him with some cover but he could not always count on that.

He needed to shift the conversation before he turned red enough to shift the lighting. Something that flowed naturally.

Is Ian seeing anyone right now? Your father mentioned in passing some of the young women he has dated but there was no sense of a time frame.

Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Don’t give her the option of asking about what her father overheard you think too loudly, John. You’re supposed to be smart.

Get it together, John. You trust her and she likes you. She’s expecting you to be you and not some Man of the World — no matter what Q Division nicknamed you. It’s okay.

Everything is okay.

[HIDA]

"So Stella is on a double date with Raph, John, and Emi. But Mimi said that Sidney went further west when she left so that at least sorta gives us a direction." He shuddered a bit at the thought of what fresh hell may have awaited at interrupting the group date.

John? A Double date? That's impressively social of him. Though I'm sure he's still working. His wirings a bit dodgy when it comes to relaxing. I'm sure he's having a fine time with Ms. Shaw, though I doubt anything too physical would come of it. To see John really cut loose one time would be quite the sight. But since the "incident", I doubt anything more than a single mixed drink and a scandalous rumor have come to pass that weren't work related. That being said, A double date with girls we both are actually interested in may be something worth trying in the future

Manny steals a glance at Paradox again before he straightens up and waves away his musings. "If we have a bearing, Do we know of any places she may want to visit or have been known to frequent before her incarceration? It'll be easier to look on paths to locations if we know where she might be going. Do you all know of anything?"

[InTheMachine]

Double Date
There’s a quiet laugh in John’s mind. He sees an image of Mr. Shaw’s face that’s completely composed expect for the slightest lift of an eyebrow.

Emi thinks for a moment. I don’t think Ian’s seeing anyone currently. He hasn’t had steady girlfriend in at least six months. He tends prefer one night stands so he doesn’t have to commit to anything. And even if he is serious about someone, they usually are scared away by the thought of meeting our father.

Across the table, Stella is startled as her communicator activates. “Sidney left? Why? What happened?” she asks, her worry growing with every word.

Manny and Keith
Yuki’s eyes soften as she looks down at Keith. “Thanks. It means a lot actually,” she says quietly to him.

Aeryn shakes his head as Manny asks if they know where she might go. “We just met her Saturday. Her dad has the coffee shop, but that’s Northeast from the base.”

Stella replies to Keith immediately. “Sidney left? Why? What happened?” Her voice is low with worry.

[mmdeforrest]

Double Date
There’s a quiet laugh in John’s mind. He sees an image of Mr. Shaw’s face that’s completely composed expect for the slightest lift of an eyebrow.

Emi thinks for a moment. I don’t think Ian’s seeing anyone currently. He hasn’t had steady girlfriend in at least six months. He tends prefer one night stands so he doesn’t have to commit to anything. And even if he is serious about someone, they usually are scared away by the thought of meeting our father.

See? Everything is okay.

True, Emi was glossing over some of Ian’s partners hopes for something more permanent — much like he was with her. But there were a host of reasons Emi might not have noted Ian’s dates’ feelings, including not having met those particular dates.

Across the table, Stella is startled as her communicator activates. “Sidney left? Why? What happened?” she asks, her worry growing with every word.

Everything is not okay.

“What was that Stella?” John asks quietly as he glanced to Emi and assessed the state of their four plates, gauging how abrupt their departure would appear.

John had invested enough trust and emotional energy into Sidney for him to believe she would not just wander off without cause and he had enough respect for Emi and Mr. Shaw’s expertise with psychic healing to believe a relapse or reappearance of the personality shard wasn’t possible. Those two possibilities eliminated, the only possible explanations left were something dangerous or extreme caused her departure.

[Roguewolf]

Manny and Keith
Yuki’s eyes soften as she looks down at Keith. “Thanks. It means a lot actually,” she says quietly to him.

Aeryn shakes his head as Manny asks if they know where she might go. “We just met her Saturday. Her dad has the coffee shop, but that’s Northeast from the base.”

Stella replies to Keith immediately. “Sidney left? Why? What happened?” Her voice is low with worry.

Keith grins widely at Yuki. Along with Aeryn, she was his first real friend over at West Side. "Fingers crossed tomorrow is a bit less eventful though." He lets out a chuckle as the thought is finished.

At Aeryn's mention of the coffee shop, Keith tilts his head and thinks for a moment. It would be possible for her ot work her way back around to throw off anyone looking to go to the coffee shop. But that would also be the first place anyone would look for her.

"We could probably check it still later. Could have turned soon after leaving."

When Stella's worry comes over the comms, Keith jumps a bit.

"Hey she's ok, she's still herself. I think her and Ryker just had an argument and she told Mimi that she would be back but she just wanted to clear her head for a little bit. I'm sorry for worrying you and springing this like that but we're trying to just find her and make sure it all stays ok. If anything even just sit with her until she's ready to come back."

[big teej]

Double Trouble:

Stella cuts into her lamb and finds it perfectly rare. “Had you met him before?” she asks carefully.

"Not before today." Raphael says.

“Fine,” the psychic replies, looking up at the sorceress. “I just got some interesting information is all.”

Raphael pauses as he reaches for his bilge water and glances between John and Emilia quizzically, but shrugs it off and takes another sip of his drink.

Across the table, Stella is startled as her communicator activates. “Sidney left? Why? What happened?” she asks, her worry growing with every word.

Raphael freezes, a strained wheeze making it's way past his attempts to stay neutral. He glances at Stella and what's left of his steak.

He sighs. "Well. Let's go find her." He says, and quickly wolfs down what's left of his steak and sucks down the bilge dregs.

He coughs slightly, regretting his haste for the waste of food and nearly sending some of it down the wrong pipe. He wipes his mouth with his napkin and moves to slide out of the booth. "What do we know?"

[InTheMachine]

Keith
“Do you know what they argued about?” Stella asks him. “Sidney wouldn’t leave over something small. They don’t fight like that. How long ago did she leave?”

Double Date
Oh, this isn’t good, Emi says to John. I don’t think I told you, because I was very distracted on Sunday, but I warn Ryker that significant emotional swings could break her psyche again. While it won’t bring back the shard that my father and I destroyed, she may be confused and disoriented.

“Do you know what they argued about?” Stella asks whoever is on the other end of the line. “Sidney wouldn’t leave over something small. They don’t fight like that. How long ago did she leave?”

The sorceress glances up at the rest of the table. “Keith’s saying that Sidney and Ryker had a fight and she left the base to clear her head. He says that everything’s fine, but I’m still worried about her. As far as I know, she and Ryker have never had a significant fight in their relationship. Something really bad must’ve happened for her to feel the need to leave.”

[Roguewolf]

Keith
“Do know what they argued about?” Stella asks him. “Sidney wouldn’t leave over something small. They don’t fight like that. How long ago did she leave?”

"I have an idea of what it could have been and it would be fairly significant. She left not too long before we got called out on a mission, so it's been about an hour."

[InTheMachine]

Keith and Double Date
“An hour?” Stella says. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Is Ryker out looking for her too? I’m sure he knows a few places she might go to.”

[Roguewolf]

Keith and Double Date
“An hour?” Stella says. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Is Ryker out looking for her too? I’m sure he knows a few places she might go to.”

Keith winces at Stella's reaction. He should have said something earlier.

"I'm sorry, we had to go deal with a Raeksha right fast. And she asked Mimi very nicely not to say anything to anyone for about 10 minutes. He might be, I'm not sure if him and Drake went out or not to look. He was almost catatonic like after."

[mmdeforrest]

Double Date
Oh, this isn’t good, Emi says to John. I don’t think I told you, because I was very distracted on Sunday, but I warn Ryker that significant emotional swings could break her psyche again. While it won’t bring back the shard that my father and I destroyed, she may be confused and disoriented.

“Do you know what they argued about?” Stella asks whoever is on the other end of the line. “Sidney wouldn’t leave over something small. They don’t fight like that. How long ago did she leave?”

The sorceress glances up at the rest of the table. “Keith’s saying that Sidney and Ryker had a fight and she left the base to clear her head. He says that everything’s fine, but I’m still worried about her. As far as I know, she and Ryker have never had a significant fight in their relationship. Something really bad must’ve happened for her to feel the need to leave.”

John drew out his phone as he signaled for Lana to bring the check and, with a swirl of his finger, indicated the table’s charges should go to him.

Spoiler: Text to Keith

Show

Keith, he texted from under the table, I need you to be direct and specific: What did they argue about?

“It’s okay, Stella,” John offered calmly. “As Raphael said, we will find her.”

I was distracted enough on Sunday that I might have forgotten anyway, John replied. Would you mind joining us as we search for Sidney? If Sidney’s condition is as fragile as you say, we may need your help.

John glanced down at his phone, wanting to make sure there were no slip ups in his next message. Sending a typo to Keith would be manageable. This required a certain precision.

I’m going to start to narrow down our search area. I’ll project as I swipe the message out to Clea. Let me know if I miss anything.

Spoiler: Text to Clea

Show

Clea: I would like you to coordinate with Mimi and Ava. If Mimi has a record of the transmissions Sidney has been making to her mechanical birds, I want the three of you to try and ping whatever that signal is and see if you can get a reading on her location. We should be able to triangulate her location that way. Also, as Mimi to send some images of her departure.

[Roguewolf]

John drew out his phone as he signaled for Lana to bring the check and, with a swirl of his finger, indicated the table’s charges should go to him.

Spoiler: Text to Keith

Show

Keith, he texted from under the table, I need you to be direct and specific: What did they argue about?

Keith feels his phone vibrate as he finishes the explanation to Stella. Reading the text he raises an eyebrow. Didn't he just..... Oh right, I'm only talking to Stella. So used to him just hearing everything I guess. He shrugged and typed up a response.

Spoiler: Text to John

Show

Just telling Stella, I have a theory but I'm not entirely sure. I'm thinking it lined back up with how he doesn't tell her how he feels. I was downstairs getting mission details during the argument.

Also, please tell me I interrupted near the end of dinner and I am sorry to you and Emi.

[mmdeforrest]

Spoiler: Text to John

Show

Just telling Stella, I have a theory but I'm not entirely sure. I'm thinking it lined back up with how he doesn't tell her how he feels. I was downstairs getting mission details during the argument.

Also, please tell me I interrupted near the end of dinner and I am sorry to you and Emi.

John fought down a wave of irritation as he glanced at Emi. He liked Keith but getting a direct answer out of him could be a process. And, to be fair to Keith, he didn’t know about the risks to Sidney’s psyche that he had only learned a moment before.

Spoiler: Text to Keith

Show

Not direct enough: What do you hope they talked about and what are you afraid they talked about? Sidney’s in a delicate state so now is not the time to withhold information if you have it.

It’s okay. We’ve finished dinner.

John looked up and closed his eyes, feeling a little foolish.

Spoiler: Text to Mimi

Show

Mimi: Where is Ryker and, to the degree you can summarize, what did he discuss with Sidney that made her leave the base?

[Roguewolf]

Spoiler: Text to Keith

Show

Not direct enough: What do you hope they talked about and what are you afraid they talked about? Sidney’s in a delicate state so now is not the time to withhold information if you have it.

It’s okay. We’ve finished dinner.

Keith shook his head and sighed. How can I give a direct answer without knowing EXACTLY what they talked about? Probabaly should have asked Mimi more on it.

Spoiler: Text to John

Show

Trust me if I know the exact words they used, I would share.
My hope: Boiling point of Ryker explaining why he can't tell her how he feels, or at least his hang-up about it.
Worst case: kissing someone while having a concussion.

From what Mimi had said, Sidney seemed to be in full cognitive control. Main reason we found out later was she asked Mimi very nicely. And glad to hear. Hope it went well.

Either way, she went west from the base when she left. And the state of the transport couldn't have gotten too much farther.