Scorpio calmly plucked an employee's brand-bearing hat from their head and donned it before moving up to the drink machines. Score! It seemed someone else had ordered chai tea and a fresh batch of the drink had just finished brewing. The old man - Grigori, Scorpio finally remembered - whispered energetically about suspicion and once more called Scorpio a harlot. [i]Business as usual,[/i] Scorpio thought.

While filling the cup with tea, Scorpio noticed Max hadn't waited for the whole team to arrive before beginning the briefing, setting off alarms in their mind. Something was indeed going wrong, as old Grigori had said. Just as Scorpio was about to discard the tea, though, Max and the others left, setting off another alarm but assuring Scorpio that the tea was safe.

"Yeah, I'm with you," Scorpio replied to the armored wizard. They opened their mouth to continue, but was cut off by an airhorn and a shout from a familiar voice. With a grin, Scorpio turned to the door and dashed off. "Thanks for the tea, Grandpa!"

In the alley, Scorpio quickly spotted the familiar Brightmobile with its rear end closest to the doorway. "I call the back seat!" cried Scorpio with glee, seeing it vacant. The scorpion tail sprouted from Scorpio's lower back, digging powerfully into the road behind it. Scorpio jumped back, then used the tail to fling themself powerfully at the car - headfirst.

[i]Crash.[/i]

Scorpio's shoulders caught against the front seats, preventing a close-up view of a greatly smashed central console. Shards of broken glass glittered from the floorboards beneath the androgynous abomination. Scorpio turned left to look up at Jack with the biggest shit-eating grin they could muster. "How ya been, Jackie?"