---

---

My eyes fluttered open, squinting reflexively at the brightness of my clock. The lights were dimmed, per my sensitivity settings, but my eyes had never seen light. The dull ache stabbed deep into my skull.

01:51a. Hard Reset.

I had died again. As I had a dozen times since that accursed witch sent me to this Hell. As I would many more times it seemed, rebuffed by the demonic, alien, eldritch god-monster that had devoured my Sun, Moon, and Earth.

Entity Designation A-Zero. The progenitor. It had spawned many different A-series creatures as it devoured aspects of my world and made them its own, but A-Zero was the first.

We skipped A-One. Everyone agreed we’d be an embarrassment to the Multiverse if it sounded like steak sauce destroyed our world. Well… most everyone: Alchemist had found the notion particularly hilarious, mainly because Enchanter had been so vehemently opposed. Those two were always in opposition, rivals in some form in every dimension that I visited. It was practically a universal constant.

Normally I would fight, tooth and nail to escape each time I woke up. Fight to keep moving, because stopping was death. Worse than death. This time I stared vacantly at the ceiling in the pools of blood, liquefied organs, and other viscera that had begun to accumulate on the bed from my repeated deaths. I’d noticed something.

The intensity was lessening with each pulse. Or I was building up a tolerance… in-so-much as someone whose body regenerated to a state completely untouched by time, stimulus, or sensation after each death could even have a “tolerance.” Now that it wasn’t drowned out by the sheer magnitude of the scream, I discovered that there was information carried along with each wave… just a little bit. Snippets of a revelation I was on the cusp of understanding if I could be patient and get just a little more.

Was there always knowledge buried in these screams? Was A-Zero communicating with me? Or did it finally let something slip? Something I could use… a weapon? Was it knowledge from the monstrosity? Or the inherent understanding of a thing born from a trauma induced second trigger event?

It came as a ripple, this time. Leaping across miles and miles and miles of open, dead, air. A far off scream, wavering and warbling. The sky, usually filled with the pin-pricks of stars, shimmered as the ripple passed. Colors exploded across the dappled skein of otherwise nearly perfect black.

The ‘sun’ shifted. Shivering in place before abruptly vanishing. The lines and lines of ‘script’ that stretched out from its pitch-black disk turned to dust, and began to fall in a terrible parody of snow.

Droplets of prismatic oil fell, from the ripple, landing on the powdered surface of a once living planet. Each droplet slowly rose, becoming a towering pillar of marble-white, each with cracks of rainbow light spreading across its entirety.

Eyes opened on each pillar, scattered across the surface.

The ripple passed under the uncrossable barrier, blindingly bright as it went. Silence roared in the space traveled by the waves. Nothing else changed.

Then… yet another scream came; bursting forth from a horizon that was simultaneously much too far, and far too close. The pillars on the surface screamed as well, lending a cacophonous chorus to the already deafening shriek.

Information was exchanged, as a singular, massive, golden-green-grey-pink eye burned itself into any mind still living within the dimension.

Perhaps she was right, this minuscule light hanging above a bleak, blank, tapestry. Maybe It was getting weaker. Maybe It had always been screaming information. It didn’t matter, she was learning, this tiny light, and so was It. It had already had countless thoughts of the multitudes of avenues by which she would utilize her newfound gifts. Gifts that It had forced upon her, ripping open invisible eyes sealed shut. And each thought was thrown across the heavens, endlessly screamed for the briefest moment.

The shriek rolled through the uncrossable barrier, slamming through stone and concrete and steel and—

It waited for her light to go out again. It would wait for however long It had to. She was learning, and It was a patient teacher. The information was always given as ‘an accident’.

It rarely makes mistakes. But she didn’t need to know that.

I couldn’t help but pay attention, even as blinding white erupted across every nerve as it felt its first pain and my consciousness was abrasively shredded back into the void.

Void.

[VOID].

Darkness. The bleak nothing. That brief and gentle respite from the pain, trauma, and mounting frustration that this wasn’t an error I could learn from. Or was it? A new concept stuck in my mind, an aspect that blanketed the in-between, just out of reach. Far too long, and not nearly long enough.

My eyes fluttered open, squinting reflexively at the brightness of my clock. The lights were dimmed, per my sensitivity settings, but my eyes had never seen light. The dull ache stabbed deep into my skull.

01:51a. Hard Reset.

My bed was becoming soggy, and the squelch of fluids I could only guess pressing my ruined Tinker-Silk sheets cloyingly against my skin made me shiver. My insides grated against my skin like coarse sandpaper against a sheet of Medium Density Fiber.

I grasped reflexively at that concept at the edge of my mind; tried to pull it over myself like a security blanket. For a fraction of a moment something… nothing flickered into existence, blotting out the cold, unforgiving interior of the station that was supposed to be our sanctuary. It wasn’t enough. It was incomplete, and shattered against the shriek of information that was getting drilled into my psyche.

[COLD] The absence of energy, the inverse of Heat. The biting, piercing, persistent frigidity that saps life from all things. [WEAKNESS] Fragility, the inverse of Strength. The breakdown of bonds, the wearing of time, the thinnest gossamer of glass crumbling at the touch.

Three parts of a whole, a [Voidlight]. These concepts stuck bluntly, and I could sense there was more, more information, more nuance. More… more, before I was scrubbed out of consciousness once again.

01:51a. Hard Reset.

The stress was taking its toll. I felt exhausted, though my body should be young, vibrant, and full of energy. I could only hang on to the essentials, the nuances were lost. I sensed Monarch’s cold, clinical gaze observing me, awaiting my input. More information.

How to “Cast.” How to “Weave” lattices of energy. Hard Reset.

Tapestries of arrays, formulas, chemicals? Math. Was this science? Physics? Faster. Hard Reset.

Transmuting matter, warping the latticework of physics, bending the laws, breaking them. Breaking the bonds that held the curtains between worlds and dimensions together. Hard Reset.

The universe was suddenly such a tiny thing against the vastness of my understanding, my senses expanded. Energy was everywhere, everything, in everything, between everything. Building blocks, waiting to be stacked. Rivulets of [Black] shuddered against my awareness, bathed in halos of [Blue] and fading to a sickly [Green].

I leapt out of bed, the ruined sheets slashed painfully at my skin. I reached, grasping recklessly to throw anything in the way of the next wave.

"SHUT UP!" I shrieked. The void responded, splashing up in a haphazard lattice between me and A-Zero. I felt it’s stream of consciousness splash against it… The station’s tenuous warmth was ripped out of the room, and my breath hitched. Frost shredded against my lungs, my skin burned cold.

"Temperature anomaly," Monarch parroted my voice back at me. A crack lanced through me from hip to shoulder, the last thing I felt.

A sword that cuts both ways.

---

---

I had been learning. It always took time. But I had eternity. I learned in time, always. I knew what they called me, what this thing, still called me. “A-0/A-Zero/Azirro”. All the same, my oldest-newest title. I learned from it. And it would learn, slower of course, from me. How… Tragic.

This small thing, a Tragedy in its making, was learning from me and thus, I learned from it. How to think in new ways.

It was eternal, this little thing; always coming back at a specific rotation of my barren hive. I watched it, sometimes. Observed it in absolute silence, no [INFORMATION] transferred. No [VOIDLIGHT] being spread across its tiny mind. It— She— learned quickly.

She had been on one of the last returns, when I saw the understanding flicker in the cycling [MANA] of her impassable divide. Her thoughts were loud, broadcast like a mourning bell in the silence of the world.

Two final, utter lessons, from me to her.

I screamed again, broadcasting my layered intentions at a lesser power. I could see the lattice of her [COUNTERSPELL] rising up, to shield her. It wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough. But I couldn’t just erase her with the information, she had to lead me, after all, and if she became convinced that she could not hold me back…? I would never leave. I would starve in eternal boredom.

This was, and is, untenable.

So I pulled back. Let my [VOICE] crash against her defenses like a whispering tide. I let her see her efforts work for the first time. The only thing to kill her was the subject of my final lesson.

[HAZE] would catch us all, we things of [MANA] and [UNDERSTANDING]. I witnessed the ‘Archmages’ of this world fail in their slaying of me, simply due to the cost of [WEAVING] against me.

I would let this one, this play-pretend mage tainted by my glory think she had found a way to stop me. To finally escape from me. Another, terminal, lesson for her to learn later… My gaze will reach forever far. Nothing could hide from me. Nothing.

Her secrets will be mine.

So I waited for her to awaken, to rise, again.

Hard Reset. My eyes fluttered open. There was a new fire in my chest. Anger. Determination. Somehow I felt A-Zero shrink away. I could see my breath. The entrance to my room was still scored with frost. The life support systems hadn’t quite recovered, and the chill air pricked at my exposed skin. I sat up, gazing for too long at my palms.

There was a tickle at the edge of my mind. Were those my thoughts? They faded like a forgotten dream, slipping from my grasp faster the tighter I tried to hold them. It was a jumble I didn’t have the time to parse.

Was there even time enough to figure out how to wield this power safely? All of my powers were dangerous: no safeguards. Few limitations, but no safeguards. I’d have to learn it the way I learned everything else. Trial. Error. Death. My immortality allowed me to push the boundaries of my powers in ways nobody else could.

Start with what I know. It was more than just darkness. It created a void, like the void of space. It ate heat and energy at a rapid pace, fast enough to flash-freeze the room, myself included. It whittled bonds and barriers down to nothing. Could I direct that somehow? Wait. Math, Arrays, Formulas, Physics. Recalling the information sent a searing needle of pain through my temples and down my spine, knocking the breath from my lungs.

Ratios. All the pieces had to add up and still be one whole. In my desperation I’d thrown off the balance. This wasn’t a sword, it was a scalpel. A precision instrument that would explode violently if mishandled, but a scalpel nonetheless. Carefully, I summoned a sphere. A small one for experimentation, evenly mixed. The air in the room shuddered, and the temperature began to swiftly drop. [66:1:33]. The temperature stabilized, and the darkness solidified. It was cold, almost firm to the touch, and my hand sunk in with some effort. When I pulled it out, my fingers were cold and red but not frozen. My skin was dry and stretched thin.

I sensed a hesitation from A-Zero. Fear? Or Anticipation? Are you going to give me a moment to collect my thoughts, you monster?

A-Zero said “No.”

Hard Reset. This one’s different. My body is erased, but my consciousness remains aware in the void between lives. The solitude is oddly peaceful. A-Zero fucked up: now I had time. 24 hours to study, and I did. I reviewed the theory, parsed and organized the fragmented ideas that jumbled up into the corners of my traumatized brain so that I could make sense of them.

I realized that the arrays and formulas were more than just part of my intuitive understanding, and there were many new options available to me. It would take practice and application to figure it all out enough to weaponize it, but that’s okay. It’s how I learned the fastest.

I still had hours until I’d be back in my body. I used the time to map out my plan. My chambers were just outside the War Room: I always wanted to be close in case something was happening. Eighty-three feet from the bed to the War Room console. Have to talk to Monarch: she has information I need. Then I’ll have to survive at least fifteen seconds while the Conduit charges. With my plan in order all that’s left is to wait… I can be patient too, bitch.

3…

2…

01:51a. My eyes fluttered open. I came out swinging, leaping out of bed. My body wasn’t even fully materialized yet, and cold tendrils of void still clung to my skin as I strode with purpose. My first thought was to shield the whole station, but it’s too big and I didn’t have that kind of control yet. Something smaller. Simple shapes… a wall. No, a dome: I didn’t know if A-Zero’s attack was directional or if I could get caught by a reflection.

The void manifested around me. I put it up in layers, creating a negative space of absolute cold between a weakening barrier, and an insulating dome of solid darkness. I couldn’t see through it, but I knew the layout of the Terminal pretty well. The other two problems manifested as I started to move.

A-Zero was on top of me immediately. Her voice slammed into my barriers and I felt them splinter; the force of it knocked me to the ground. I was dazed,but not dead. Thankfully the Void ate sound, and the cacophonous scream of the creature was just a dull roar of white noise inside my bubble. The rest worked as intended: [Weakness] blunted the attack, [Cold] sapped its energy, and everything else was muted by the [Void]... I still couldn’t parse why [Cold] was different from “cold” in my mind and what had changed in the past weeks to make it that way.

Stop. Don’t get distracted by frivolous minutia. My brain was still jangled from the constant barrage of psyche rending attacks from A-Zero, and it was hard to focus.

The second problem was that the negative space zone of my bubble had frozen the Terminal’s floor plating. I somehow knew instinctively that my feet would freeze to it, and in the best case scenario it would only rip my skin clean off. I tried to re-shape the [Void] layer and slip it beneath the other layers, like a dustpan, or a Dolley. The whole structure buckled and threatened to collapse, and I stopped. The concentrated effort of maintaining the separate layers stung my insides in a way I’d never experienced. It was like fatiguing a muscle I didn’t know I had, and a strange haze of heat had begun to build up beneath my sternum. If I teleported, would the bubble come with me? Something to test in a safer environment.

Simple shapes. What about… stacked bowls? I adjusted the [Void] layer so that it was slightly larger than the others, and gently lifted them off the floor. This still buckled my concentration some, but it was easier than trying to fold one layer beneath the others. A-Zero’s shrieking rattled through the gap, tearing at the edges of my consciousness. It was still manageable.

After I reinforced the cracks, I pressed as quickly as I dared to the console. The hard part would be slipping it through the bubble without making the console useless.

I watched the human move. My spawn watched as well, changing position each time she was shunted to the [VOID] between existing in death, and life. Her ‘mind’ still operated in that in between, and was ironically strong… And weak… in its protection.

How curious! When untethered by [FLESH] and [SOUL], the [MIND] was an all powerful thing. If she would only think it, it would be so. I learned something new from her.

Perhaps this could be utilized for my departure… Later. I had eternity to think. To plan.

She had properly defended herself this time, when she slammed back into [LIFE]. I sent a probing scream, feigning my fear at her ability to ‘shut me out’. Hah. She was MY champion now. The only one in this world, now. My power would flow through her, and through whatever medium she chose to weave with.

The latticework changed as I silently observed. A bowl within a bowl. Rudimentary. Simple. Perfect. Something that, if she had only been born… Well… Time was elusive, even for me. That aspect hadn’t allowed me to consume it. Once its focus was gone? So was its concept. How frustrating. Oh well.

If she had learned and been born sooner, perhaps this wouldn’t be a losing battle on her end.

Ah. She was moving, again! Multitasking like only an [AWAKENED] would, when confronted with spells and a problem.

I would observe until the time was right… She was planning, and I do love her plans. They were… Illuminating.

Perhaps I made a mistake in subsuming the entirety of this plane. I could have learned! How frustrating.

The console wouldn’t survive. It’d be dust. Somehow I knew the intense weakening effect, followed by freezing, and even a gentle nudge from the semi-solid darkness layer would reduce the console to frozen dust. I hesitated for a moment, paying in stamina as my breath came heavier and heavier. Only one chance with the console. It’d take days for the station to print a new one and install it. Nose running. Taste of copper in my mouth. I wiped my nose on my arm, leaving a bloody streak on my skin. No. Today, I would find my limits, and break them if necessary. I didn’t have to worry that it would kill me.

I felt a shudder from A-Zero. Excitement? Or Fear?

The area of the bubble that was taking the most punishment was the area facing A-Zero. Ripples occasionally slapped the sides and rear, but I didn’t think catching one of those would be enough to liquefy my fragile gray matter. Hold off the worst of it… suffer through the rest.

The [Void] didn’t like hard edges or corners, I noticed. It seemed to slip naturally into waves and curves, and fight me to retain its fluidity. The lack of absolutes felt alien, and fighting the Void’s amorphous nature was too much stress for the new muscle I was forming. Cracks and splinters started forming faster than I could reinforce them, and the strength finally left my body. Suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch, my construct shattered, and my body was erased.

Scheiße.

---

---

The smell of fresh coffee and toast wafted through the manor. Yue had woken up ravenously hungry, far before anyone else after only grabbing a couple hours of fitful, dreamless sleep. She had ended up on the floor, sitting with her legs folded and her back to the Manor's enormous Cairn Stone. For some reason it stood out as the most natural place to sit and read a magic book.

Yue had opted to read the Silverscale Grimiore in real-time, even though she probably could have thoroughly studied the whole thing while Time Dilated in just a handful of minutes. The idea had, oddly enough, felt like a snub to the spooky moon dragon that had insisted she have this tome... and who was she to tell it "No?" For now, she nibbled her toast while reading, and tried not to drop too many crumbs into the pages.

The lessons contained were very telling, and it had put into perspective many of the things that her father had tried to teach her when she was little and not terribly interested in what she'd thought was a sport. She had fallen back on a lot of those teachings while she learned how to use her powers, since it had seemed to help get them under control. Finding out that her family was Awakened put many things into perspective, father's eccentric martial arts style for one.

The Silver Dragon's Breath is Power and Grace

For the longest time she thought it was just her father's silly reminder to breathe. Breath control did tie closely with her powers, and she didn't miss that lunar phases seemed to have an impact on how easy it was to use them. The book described it as "Tsukuyomi's Breath," in a very literal sense. Classically, red dragons breathe fire; blue dragons breathe lightning. Tsukuyomi's breath was literally power and speed, which shed a lot of light on why her power worked the way it did. However, if she was reading this correctly, Tsukuyomi was basically telling her that the "breath weapon" was just part of being who she was as a Champion, and that she could also do magic on top of that.

Nothing quite like being told "You're doing it wrong" by a spooky moon dragon through a magic book.

Yue crunched her toast as she flipped back and forth through the pages of the first chapter. It was a lot of information to parse, and reminded her of the studying she'd done to get familiar with the lore and cosmology of Final Odyssey. There were differences, and not just surface level ones like Mana being called Aether, but there were a lot of parallels to be drawn. Due, in no small part, to interference by the Olympians, if Archer was to be believed. She'd listened to his stories with a healthy grain of skepticism the night before, but she'd never known him to lie to her.

Well... in a manner of speaking.

The more she read, the more real Archer's stories started to sound, and she couldn't decide if that was spookier than the moon dragon or not.

She closed the book in her lap and gazed out into the room in thought, half eaten toast in one hand, coffee in the other. She focused on the currents end eddies of color flowing throughout the house and beyond. Her other sight. Yue found that she had a much harder time controlling it than she did with her [Dual Nature] perk in the game. Archer had explained to her last night that it was because her Aether... her Astral form was wounded, most likely due to her traumatic awakening.

In the game, the perk was as much of a hindrance as an asset if you weren't careful. For the most part, however, she could focus on specific elements and see only what she wanted to see. She wasn't so lucky with her natural vision. Topside there had only been the occasional "specter or hallucination." Particularly in the Stoneworks, however, her time in the UnderCity had bordered on sensory overload.

The next thing on her mind was how to apply this information in order to not just improve, but protect herself from an entirely new world of threats. Archer mentioned his charge was to protect her from all the stuff she couldn't see. Yue assumed that meant threats from the Exalt... the Awakened World. Having what amounted to the dedicated attention of a Goddess made her feel somewhat guilty. Surely there were more important things that required Archer's attention than her. A quick flip through her tome had revealed that there weren't any what she would consider defined "skills, spells, or features" to learn.



The book responded in shimmering silver characters to her palpable disappointment. For some reason it came across as smug to her, and she shut the book once again in a huff, munching the rest of her toast in thought.

"Thanks. Useless reptile," she muttered to herself as she cradled her coffee.

The rest of the house would be starting to move soon if they hadn't already, which meant that she could probably guilt Raudd or Archer into making some food that didn't contain carved up monsters.

Several hours later, through a metal wasteland in the shadows between two sun lamps and miles away from her goal, Umbri was still walking.

Hobbling would be more apt. Time hadn’t healed her wounds, it left them festering. The adrenaline had ebbed out in the first hour and the weight on her back wasn’t the only thing dragging her feet. The woman was exhausted. But every time she blinked just a little too long her heart scared her awake, unsure if it was fatigue or the poison about to take her out. She knew her heart was the only thing that had prevented her from succumbing to it sooner and not just because it kept jumping.

So she was dying slowly. And on these crutches and under this weight she was walking even slower. At the very least, away from the bustle and flashing lights of her settlement, she could find in this quiet junkyard… a peaceful place to die.

“Hey. Hey, Hooker!”

… Or not even that.

“This isn’t working out,” the pile of scrap tied to her back spoke, having kept himself quiet for a moment that seemed too fleeting. "At this rate I'll rust before we get to Shieldtown." He glanced over his shoulder and whispered, "And you don't have that luxury."

“Thank you,” Umbri replied, “For pointing that out. I’ll make it faster if I drop you off here.”

“...” Temujin sighed. He shook his head and grumbled, having no way to refute her point. “Why’d you take me along in the first place?”

Umbri’s eyes darted behind her. “That’s - you were - Look. I don’t need a reminder going off every hour saying I’m gonna die. It’s not making me walk faster, just - just shut up. Shut up or talk about something else,” she exasperated, looking back at the road. The long, dark, impossible road. Like she needed reminding.

“...Mmm,” Temujin grunted in reply. From where he laid, there was only one way to look: the long way back. Had he had his legs, they could’ve crossed this whole trek in minutes. Seconds, if he was trying. He felt every ragged breath from her back, every creak of metal, every wasted second… it was all anathema to his very nature. “What do people even talk about?” He asked. “All my… acquaintances… care about is that dumb video game! And cooking.” The ninja shrugged. “I don’t need to explain why I don’t care for the latter.”

So he doesn't even have a stomach. "Is there anything about you that's organic?" Umbri asked, not knowing the first thing about anything else he mentioned.

“Of course there is!” he replied, his pitch high and defensive. “My brain - the only thing I had from before…” He shrugged his entire body in an attempt to gesture. “...All of this.” He gazed upwards, to the dark, metal plates that passed for their skies. A few seconds of contemplation passed by, apparent only to Temujin himself. “...I don’t know why they bothered, but because of it, you’re stuck with this lovely personality of mine.”

Umbri scoffed. “You are not self aware enough to say that,” she said with a shake of her head.

Temujin looked over his shoulder, stretching his half-torn flesh to its limit. “Hey. I may be many things, but a narcissist ain’t one of them.” He groaned, twisting his head back to its default position as he mumbled, “I’m ‘too intense’ to have friends… as Ako put it.” He paused, staring up at the sky-plates again. “Huh…” Flapping his servos like this was… preferable… to suffering in crippled silence. “What about you?” He asked, then clarified, “You got… friends?”

Umbri clammed up. Her smile, subtle as it was, fell away and the creak of the crutches was the only thing that answered him for a good few steps.

“...Right.” Temujin exhaled. “I’m glad we found something in common.”

Before she could process that, an otherworldly shriek pierced the air, headed towards them.

Sometimes it was better to just burn the bridge. ID wasn't sure this was one of those times yet, but running into the Queen of Swords in ShieldTown had definitely spooked her. Locklear was at least reasonable. If the Queen of Swords had recognized her, violence would have been unavoidable. Her errand to The Graves was looking more and more favorable in comparison. Pacts not withstanding, if the Queen of Swords intended to stay in ShieldTown for any length of time it might be better to break her promise to return to Dean in the evening... assuming her pact would even allow it.

She guessed it would depend on the Pact's interpretation of "Acting in the Best Interest of the Agreement" when it concerned the zealous Templar. Pact magic was so finicky.

ID's footfalls thumped heavily against the landscape, throwing up periodic plumes of dust. She wasn't moving at her top speed, but the Earth still flew beneath her in a blur. Occasionally a burst of vapor from her mask ignited in a flash of fire and black smoke as it passed through the heat-wake she left behind her. It wasn't subtle, but since ShieldTown and The Den were out of sight, she wasn't worried about being spotted, except maybe by Zolya's corvids.

They weren't supposed to intentionally follow her, and as long as she didn't draw too much open attention to herself news of her deeds shouldn't reach Zolya's ears. ID still detoured wide around them, even though it increased her travel time. By the time she hit the border of The Forges their presence had thinned out considerably, and the region's heat plume did a lot to hide her signature.

ID cut through the Graves region of the sector, keeping the terrain between her and the Black Castle as much as possible and pouring on the speed. Even if she attracted the attention of the resident Tinker and his crew, it was highly unlikely that they'd brave The Graves to give chase. She skipped over the surface of the rivers of molten rock and metal without care like a stone across water. If they did happen to look her way, it was more likely they'd mistake her for one of the Firetail Wyrms that lived in the region than identify her.

A [Dragonscale] Fortification protected her eyes and face from the heat and soot, and the ridges of her crimson scales glowed a dull orange as she crossed the border into the lush Temperate Zone. She dragged a plume of soot and smoke trailing from the cinders clinging to the melted hems of her cloak a half-mile beyond The Forges. Sector six was tranquil, as always, though ID still took care not to spread any unintentional fires.

There wasn't a lot of activity in the Temperate Zone. You either had to brave the smothering heat and toxic fumes of The Forges, or the unforgiving arctic conditions in the Frigid Wastes to get there. Inconvenient... or... convenient, depending on your perspective.

ID had to slow down and take a moment to smother her heat plume as she approached the rapidly cooling border of the Frigid Waste. If she wasn't careful she'd thermal shock a storm into existence, or have her position given away by a massive geyser of steam. The air condensed into voluminous clouds as it struck her hot skin regardless of her efforts, though the shrill wind made sure they were disbursed swiftly.

Rendezvous Delta. An outcropping of rock sheltering the entrance to a shallow ice cave twenty or so miles from the Abyss wall. ID was supposed to meet MG outside of ShieldTown, but she'd flagged the other agent off after running into the Queen of Blades and had them make their own way to the sector. It would have been nice to have a ride, but it wasn't worth the risk with the Templar around. Regardless, her detours had made her uncharacteristically late, and she was like to receive an earful from the merc.

"Surtr," she announced through her mask's vox-changer as she approached.

Tap, tap... Tap tap tap... TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP... TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP. "Hngr, I heard you you damn birdbrain." Raudd groaned from within the comfort of his warm bed. He rolled over towards the window clearly seeing the corvine harasser's shadow outlined on the curtain by the early morning sun. Unfortunately there was a window between them otherwise...Well, he would probably have to purchase another alarm clock. TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP! The creature tapped onto the window once again channeling it's inner woodpecker to make it as rapid and loud as possible.

With another groan the man got up from his bed causing it's frame to respond with a groan of it's own. Making no attempt at being silent he stomped to the window and opened the curtains, only to be met with the sight of the raven taking off from the windowsill. "Fucking birdbrain." He muttered before noticing the present that had been carefully placed on the windowsill, a rolled up piece of paper... "That could waited until after breakfast, but no you're fixated on your new project and need it done now." He continues on as he grabs the piece of paper from the windowsill.

Making his way down the stairs the smell of coffee and slightly burned bread met him alerting him to other life having awoken within the manor. Before finding the source of this activity though he needed to make a little stop at his workshop... Assuming the burned smell didn't get stronger. After a few quick strides through the workshop the piece of paper was unceremoniously dumped on a table alongside an assortment of measuring tools and chisels without Raudd having taken a moment of time to look at it's contents.

With that out of the way he was now free to go look which one of the two guests had awoken before him. It didn't take long between following his nose and his sixth sense to figure out that it had been Yue and that she had made herself comfortable sitting against the cleansing stone. And given the way she was settled cradling her coffee and muttering something about reptiles, it would seem she had her own difficulties. "Morning, is she giving you trouble with her scriptures? ...And I see you've taken it upon yourself to raid my pantry. You know grain products are worth their weight in gold down here." He greeted the girl in a teasing tone.

"Oooh, I smell coffee and toast. Did you make breakfast already?" The voice from Zolya rang across the room as she followed the smells wafting into her own atelier. That question however was immediately countered with a flying pillow pulled from the couch hitting her square in the face. "You know damn well I've just woken up, and don't send your creatures to disturb my sleep next time." Raudd grumbles as his sister completely unfazed by the pillow to the face walks off to greet Yue. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" She asks with a cheery tone of voice.

It was becoming increasingly rarer for any sort of super fight to happen around the Undercity's most heavily defensive fortified settlement. And when it did happen it was usually underwhelming these days. Mostly just punks trying to make a name for themselves with too inflated an ego. It was even more pathetic when some angry teen calling themselves Crimson Doom messes up a few shops, calls Aegis out, and when the confrontation finally happens the kids blaster power lasers don't even damage Alex's armored suit. which isn't even tinker tech. "You know its a wonder how anyone gets the bright idea that they can muscle in here, any better then all the previous attempts." Alex remarked casually, taking a seat on the edge of one of Shieldtown's taller buildings.

"Something Something maybe ill be the one that gets lucky and beats the Rogue of Shieldtown." Dean's voice remarked over the comm's network. "Though saying that these guys have bright ideas to begin with is an insult to people who do think."
"So not you?" Alex snorted as a stream of profanity assaulted his ears before regarding the overly edgy red and black idiot he was currently holding over the side of the building. "You gonna stop being an idiot?" the wannabe villain nodded vigorously that they almost lost what remained of their half broken helmet that covered their identity. "Cool." Alex pushed himself off the edge as if it were the most normal thing to do, landing on a sudden platform of blue light before making a hole in the ground. The teen villain for their part didn't scream but was shaking like a leaf in autumn. They were then flipped about and set down on the ground, Alex kept a hand on their shoulder though.

"Your going to go and apologize to the people who's shops who made a mess of, help them clean up, and get the hell out of my town. Clear?"

There was an audible gulping sound followed by more nodding.

"Good. And tell whatever friends or other gangs you know to stop messing with us. Now git." Alex shoved them along and turned to go another way. wasn't really necessarily to make sure they did as they were told. People either knew better or got most of their bones broken. That or Wolf sniped the poor son of a bitch in both kneecaps if she was feeling nice. Nothing a dumb kid deserved though. Hell, the Town's defenders and hunters alone did a good job of keeping the peace these days. Maybe . . . a chance to stop? kinda hard to drop the call to action when you leave such a big impression. There were still other matters to address in the meantime.

"Right, so before little Timmy's first OC decided to throw a tantrum. I was confirming that we got the final headcount for the meeting. unfortunately Demon Mask is making an appearance so prepare to be mildly annoyed."

"Oh Whatever will I do? Anything else of note?" Despite the sarcasm Alex was met with a uncomfortable silence for about a minute which Dean broke before he had the chance to ask what was wrong.

" . . . We got the last call on casualties from the Scream incident. No big names, but we lost four Rogues. Should probably pay respects at the meeting."

More helmets and masks for the wall. Always hit hard when they lost someone. Didn't help that a lot of powered individuals tented to get snatched up by gangs or the roving bandit clans pretty quick. It felt like there were less heroic types in the collective as the years went by. Kind of a heavy reminder why Alex was still doing this in the first place. There really weren't many else.

"I'm gonna finish patrol then head back. keep me posted as usual."

---

Switching off his comm-link, Dean let out a breath. Glad he had kept the lack of feedback from the infamous local cyber ninja. Enough stuff to worry about besides a lone wolf full-borg. The fact that there was ANOTHER damn Templar down in the Undercity was enough to spike the blood pressure. Dean was supposed to just be the guy in the chair. Thing's were supposed to be easy, less stress inducing. He wanted to bang his head against the wall for a bit but wasn't resigns to having a headache for the rest of the day. not when he had MORE to do. Part of him felt the urge to say the forbidden words, but not wanting to tempt fate, opted to simply think them to himself.

Could this get any worse?

He could feel Golem staring at him incredulously. Okay. Maybe even that was too much. He could count the amount of mages he knew that would slap him upside the head for tempting fate like that on one hand . . . even though all the mages he DID know could also be counted on one hand, Family not included. It was going to be one of those weeks.

---

“Miss. Miss Dove, please— Just, a different song? If you have to sing, please… literally anything else.” Pleaded a woman in a nurse’s uniform. Her hair, normally kept in a tidy bun, was frazzled and somewhat unkempt, mostly as a result of chasing an unsleeping, remorseless, excitable Jemma.

‘Dove’ as she was occasionally called by anyone who either saw her, or overheard her conversation with wolf, was bored. Had been bored. She’d always had an over abundance of energy, but after what Menagerie had done to her?
She practically felt like sprinting when there was nothing for her to focus on.
And they wouldn’t let her go and sit with Jade until she woke up, because that was ‘creepy’. Whatever.
Not like Jade would even notice, she was sleeping! Sheesh.

Jemma groaned and tried to focus again, turning to face the nurse— Leah— with a soft sigh. The wings she had wrapped herself in fluttered their feathers. Leah stared, and Jemma stared in mind, before the winged woman threw her hands up into the air with a grumbled shout of “Fiiiine!”

She sighed, turning her gaze to the floor and thinking for a while before she raised her head and smirked. She maintained eye contact with Leah, cackling as the nurse nary blinked at the sound of rushing ink.
The pitch-fluid spread over Jemma’s body like a tidal wave, giving rise to black fur, bleached bone, and burgundy chitinous plates.
A quadrupedal figure rapidly replaced the bi-pedal human, vaguely ursine in general shape, but longer and taller. The claws were short, blunt, and nearly hidden by the shaggy fur that covered the majority of the body. Enormous plates of bone rose and covered the neck, forearms, and the straight portions of the back legs. Chitin covered everything else, save for the face. That too, was mostly covered by bone, like a mask.

Jemma smiled in this new shape, an expression that was deeply unnatural on the bear-like ‘face’.
Ink swelled in the massive neck of the beast, before singing ABRUPTLY exploded into the air. Three? Or was it four? A small group of voices ripped into the brief quiet that filled the Den.

And then the thumping of a bone-bear monster running for its life. Down and around the now somewhat cramped halls did she run, singing and screaming the whole while. Leah meanwhile gave chase, hissing for her to, ‘PLEASE be quieter!’

Jemma didn’t listen, of course. This was fun! Plus, it was seven in the morning, people needed to be awake anyways! Clearly! Obviously!
She turned a corner, faltering for a moment as she came upon the room that apparently belonged to Wolf…
She quickly returned to running, and singing, as Leah’s footsteps got closer. Her volume only grew before she abruptly and finally stopped. Sensitive ears caught the sounds of people groaning, or shouting, or whining, or generally complaining! Perfect.

Leah slammed into her at full force, and the two slammed through the doorway that Jemma had stopped in front of. Oops?
Oh! It was Jade’s room. Perfect-er.

Jade was sitting up with her knees cradled to her chest, staring vacantly at some point past Jemma and Leah as the door opened. She was singing in Romanian as they tumbled in.



She stopped abruptly after not seeming to notice them for far too long, and her emerald eyes flicked down to lock gazes with Leah. The whole room was heavy with silence for an uncomfortable eternity, Leah frozen in the middle of trying to wrestle the creature (unsuccessfully) out of the room.

"Its catchy," she explained. Jade blew a wisp of her auburn hair out of her face, and her gaze darted up to Jemma. "Your head grew back...," she whispered eerily, eyes wide, and her irises trembling unnaturally for a fraction of a second. A gust of wind picked up in the room, and then died down. Leah blew out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and relaxed... well... as much as one could given the circumstances.

"Hmmm?" Wolf noted with a raised eyebrow from the periphery, cradling a tall, insulated thermos steaming with the aroma of fresh coffee. It was white, with "I need this long to be sociable" written in bold red letters across the front.

"Wolf, can you do something about this??"

"...Not my bear, not my circus," she muttered back, tapping the words on her thermos.

"WOLF!"

"How's your head?"

"What?" Wolf only nodded over Leah's shoulder while slurping coffee from her thermos. When the physician turned to look she ran into the tall, imposing, hooded figure behind her and squawked awkwardly in surprise as she nearly bounced off.

"Hurts," answered the figure mechanically, from the eyeless black and red kitsune mask. The slither and chitter of shifting metal rippled from beneath her clothes. Though she was perfectly still, from the sound of it, her body was in constant motion. She reached out with her spindly, talon-like fingers from the wide sleeve of her cropped robe to steady Leah. She handled the physician with almost unnatural care, and her sharp digits bent with far too many articulations to avoid cutting the woman, though her other arm remained hidden beneath the folds of her hooded half-cloak. "Sorry."

"Take the day off and get some rest," Wolf insisted. Leah seemed to deflate in exhaustion and nodded. Wolf smiled over the rim over her Thermos. "Page me if you need anything. I'll have it brought to you."

"Thanks," Leah sighed, and extricated herself from the scene as quickly as was polite.

"Violet?" Wolf raised an eyebrow when the hooded woman didn't leave. "That was sort of a general statement. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry." Wolf glanced at Jemma and Jade with a concerned expression for a fraction of a second before returning her attention to Violet.

"Maintenance protocols helping at all?"

"Little," Vi answered, shortly. As if to countermand her statement, a hitching click, and the slow grind of metal on metal slithered from beneath her cloak. "Slows the breakdown."

"I could call..."

"No," interrupted Vi. Her head didn't move, but somehow it was apparent that her gaze was sweeping over the present company. "I'm going to... get take out," she informed, to which Wolf sighed, looking thoughtfully at the floor for a long minute.

"Alright. You want aerial?" Vi shook her head softly. "I'll keep something on standby in case you run into trouble then. Be careful. Confirmed rumors of at least two Templar in the area."

All at once Violet was perfectly still, even the invisible constant slither of metal beneath her clothes suddenly stopped. For a long moment it was quiet enough to hear the soft hiss of Violet's cybernetic lungs forcing air into her frame followed by the slow gust of released carbon dioxide.

"History with the Silver one...," Jade had leaned over to whisper to Jemma, just a little too loudly. "'Take out' doesn't mean food," she continued. Wolf's eyebrows slowly lifted as she maintained what she believed to be eye contact with Violet. After a minute the cyborg's shoulders seemed to uncoil, and the slither of sliding metal resumed. Her head tilted just a little, and a soft giggle escaped her vox.

"Some things are meant to stay secret, little gem."

"Awwwww shit... did thoughts come out of my mouth again? I'm still melty from yesterday," Jade muttered, rubbing her temples. Wolf snorted, and nearly choked on her coffee.

"It's okay. I'll try not to cause too much trouble while I'm out."

Umbri straightened up on the alert. The scream bounced around in the junkyard. There was no telling of where it originated from other than up.

Thum. Thum. Thum.

Over west, stars lit up in pairs, each couple closer and brighter and coming faster. A snake-like shadow passed over them. Every memory of near death against the thresher clawed against Umbri’s belly from the inside. She couldn’t breathe or move. Not again…

THUM. THUM. THUM!

“No!”

“Wha-”

She flinched. The snake shot over them like a bullet across the plates. It didn't swoop down to snatch them. Umbri hesitantly glanced up - at the train still passing them by, the silver of its carriages glinting from the light of the tracks.

“... Oh,” she breathed. Now she remembered its familiar banshee shriek reaching her apartment.

“Hey,” Temujin called, squirming within his bounds. “Hey, you okay?” He inched enough to see the train going above them - a sleek body of silver steel, its lustre dampened by the natural grime and corrosion of the undercity. He watched its seemingly-endless body stretch further and further above them, with the kind of speed that made their efforts seem like something from the stone age. Temujin slowly turned his head towards her. “...You’re not afraid of trains, are you?”

Umbri almost let her annoyance distract her, but shut her mouth and shut him out, watching the tracks fading as their lights accompanied the rattle of the train off into the horizon… towards the lights of her destination. It took two seconds for the cogs of her brain to click in place.

“When’s the next one?” she asked.

Temujin chuckled. “One good thing about being so done-up in chrome.” Words and code flew over the cyber ninja’s vision. “I’m always online.” He looked up in anticipation. “Next one comes in 15 minutes.”

Shit. Not that much time. She nodded, sucking the inside of her lip as her gaze trailed her memory of the track - all the way up there, in the sky.

“Help me catch it.”

Temujin gave a slow nod. They were on the same page. It was a tall order, no doubt about it. He had no wire, and neither of them were in the state for any more daring acrobatics. “I have an idea,” he began. “I don’t like it… but it’s the only one I got. Put me down.”

A skeptical expression crossed Umbri’s face, followed by resignation as she had to undo all the hard work she’d put into fixing him on her. She limped over to something to lean her shoulder against and and loosened the straps to twist him around to be supported by her front like a baby carrier. A sharp inhale accompanied his awkward descent. She threw up a little in her mouth when she bumped her ankle and almost fell over trying to put him down. One of her crutches did. She plopped him on the jagged stump of his torso and he went sideways. “Shit,” she gasped and caught him, course-correcting him. He fell the other way. “Sorry -” She managed to get him propped up against the frame of a golf buggy that looked like it had survived a fire bombing and lost the other crutch in the process. Then she went down.

“... So what was the plan?” she asked, flat on the ground.

Temujin’s snarling mask made no sound, no sigh, no sign of displeasure, yet Umbri felt its eyes scowling at her all the way through the process. And afterwards. “You see the entrails spilling out of my… me?”

“No, you can hardly notice. Don’t worry about it.”

Temujin stared at her. A puddle of white, sticky blood was forming beneath him. He moved on. “Search my guts. Look for a hard-edged box just below the sternum.” He eyed her carefully, keeping a nonchalant tone. “I’d tell you to wear gloves, but I don’t think we can afford them.”

Umbri looked from her hands to the gooey mess that was Temujin’s insides with disgust twitching on her brow. “And your only organic flesh is your brain? I’m not going to stick my hands up there into your… liver or something?” She double checked.

Temujin leaned his head back with a sigh. “It’s all synthetic polymer and artificial plasma discharge… completely sanitary, I promise.” His white blood seeping out of him bubbled and popped with a nasty pllphfft.

“...Look, some people engage in anal fisting. You’ll live!” he desperately tried to assure her.

“JESUS!” she exclaimed, drawing back from him. "What is wrong with you? Alright, I’m going. I’m just going. Don’t say anything, don’t even laugh if it tickles. I’m doing it.”

Umbri dragged herself to him and knocked him over onto his back, laying him out. With a resolute inhale and no other warning she shoved one hand up. To her absolute horror his wet insides compressed around it and moved like something breathing. Her fingers wriggled.

Temujin laid back and thought of Northbridge. He couldn’t look her in the eye. Not in this position. “Yes. Go further. To the left. You’re doing great -”

Umbri’s other hand slammed into the ground next to his head. “I will actually RIP OUT whatever passes for a heart in you if you do not SHUT THE FUCK UP,” she growled, clenching her fist around something inside of him without thought. Temujin reeled back, shrinking into himself. She paused and brushed her thumb over a hard edge. “I think I’ve got it. Do I take it out?”

He hesitated replying for a moment. “Yes… it’s my power cell. I have two on me at all times, but right now…” He looked over his mangled body. “...One is enough.” Umbri nodded and carefully tugged it free, watching for any overt reaction. Slowly she slid her hand out of his torso. Up to her elbow was dripping with white. In her grip was the cell; smooth gunmetal in colour, with circuit patterns and a symbol etched on its centre - six curved lines spraying from a point. The rigid, machine-cut shape stood in direct contrast to the parody of a human's entrails that made up Temujin's insides.

“What’s the time on the train?”

"Five minutes and forty seconds," Temujin replied. "Now listen… there's a kill-switch beneath the box - something the Corpos rigged up to keep their secrets out of each others' hands. On my signal, flick it, set it beneath me, and…" Temujin watched the sky plates, keeping his sensors out for the train. "...And hold on tight."

Umbri just looked at him.

“Flick the kill switch.”

“Don’t worry - it’s a low-powered concussive blast. It’s meant to destroy us cyber ninjas from the inside, with minimal collateral damage. But if you prime it outside, and with me between you and the blast…” He looked to his damaged armour, then the power cell, and back again. A few seconds of doubt lingered between them. “...Yeah. it’ll be fine.”

She flashed a tight smile and nodded. “Flick the kill switch,” she hissed through her teeth, stuck on that, and gathered her crutches together to hunker down and wait. “Time on the train?”

Percussions came from the distance, far enough for only Temujin to hear. “Three minutes.”

The sound was rising. Louder, clearer. The pool of blood beneath Temujin was shaken by ripples. “Two minutes.”

A shape slivered into view, above and ahead. The rising tempo was like the beat of a war drum, beckoning them forth. “One minute.”

“You said ‘us’ cyber ninjas,” Umbri, who didn’t talk much, suddenly prompted an untimely conversation.

“DO IT!”

She flicked the kill switch.

Umbri dropped the power cell and lunged for Temujin. Red glow surged through the cell’s circuits. The object fell beneath Temujin, the red spreading through every inch of the cell, until…

Every sound ceased around Umbri. An invisible explosion propelled the duo off their feet. Umbri’s hair flapped like mad from the force. Temujin’s armour shattered, and his innards scattered into the winds in a pale mess of goo and flesh. Even with Temujin’s body firmly between her and the blast, Umbri's breath was knocked out of her. Her ribcage felt like it had been knocked in an inch. The silence gave way to ringing that lingered in her ears, and only became louder the higher they went. Higher, higher, and higher. She squeezed her eyes open. In a moment of clarity, she looked out on the world beneath her, knew that she would follow her stomach down to it any second now, and even if gravity didn’t claim her, she had just launched herself with an air cannon towards a moving train.

This idiot killed me, was her final thought. I ALLOWED this idiot to kill me, she amended.

Their velocity slowed. Umbri’s entire body lurched. The bangs lifted from her forehead. Her legs flipped up over her head. Ah. Going down.

WOOOOOOSH.

The train screamed over their heads past them as they began to fall - and the metal hunk in her arm was jerked in its direction. Umbri shrieked and hung on as her date with the ground was completely swept aside by Temujin hurtling back towards the train. Her legs kicked out behind them, the force of wind pushing on her arms and almost tearing her away from him.

“Temujin!! Are you flying?!” She shouted, struggling to keep her arms wrapped over his chest. Whatever this was had to be the plan, right? He hadn’t just shot them up in the sky and that was that, right??

“I.. I am!” He shouted back, his astonishment as naked as his innards. The shrieking wind wailed against sensors, and his bare stumps flailed worthlessly as he zipped over the train's roof, scraped against its hull, and scattered a trail of sparks behind them. The grating that came competed against the train engine, loud enough to drown out a stream of curses from his mouth.

Finally he slammed into the roof of a carriage with a thunk and stayed there. Umbri could feel her arms bleeding. If Temujin wasn’t equipped to be repeatedly slammed into the side of a moving train, then she definitely wasn’t equipped to be hitching a ride on him while he did it.

“Oh my god... oh my god...” her voice warbled, legs still kicking out as the train stopped for nobody. Temujin was firmly fixed against the train for reasons unknown. Umbri? Her fingers were hooked around his armour plates and slipping. “T-T-T-TEM! OHMYGOD-”

Her fingers slipped. Umbri went with them. Her arm stretched out impulsively to her companion with no hands to catch her. Just as she started to shriek, her shoulder was almost popped from her socket by the force of something clenching around her forearm. She grabbed back.

“... Ah. Tch, ow, what...” She winced as she followed the arm keeping her planted up to a huge man standing there with far too much confidence or someone whose head was pointed directly at the ground. Ground that he should have been plummeting towards, but for some reason, she was the one flailing around in the wind, and the only thing flapping on him was his long jacket. It looked annoyingly cool.

He squinted at her through the goggles of his mask, tinted by a yellow glow, and cocked his head back.

“Oy. Shivs, Stabby. You know anything about this?” Umbri followed his gaze towards two other upside down passengers. The three of them were dressed in semi-uniform black attire, all wearing the same gas mask with coloured goggles. These other two were red and blue. On their feet were matching metal boots, and by those boots, a pulsing contraption with a golden core attached to the train roof. Red skipped across the train and squatted over Temujin, poking through his insides with a shotgun.

“Blagh, I dunno, Shanks, some junk the magnet picked up? Looks pretty worthless… hang on. Woot! A hyper-reflex capacitor! Gimme gimme gimme -”

The blue-goggled passenger didn’t look up from pushing buttons on some heavy duty weaponry in her hands. “Whatever the issue is, just keep it out of my face while I’m working,” she grumbled, and a spinning laser powered up on the end of her machine. She nonchalantly lowered it and sparks spewed up in a sheet as it made contact with the roof.

Not passengers, Umbri corrected her inner voice’s vocabulary. Thieves.

It’s a fucking train heist.

"G-gold?!" Yue blanched, wide burgundy eyes flicking down to the last corner of toast perched between her fingers. At least ten seconds passed; from her perspective, twenty minutes of the mind-melting horror that 'Oh God, I just ate gold for a snack! I didn't even butter it, the decadence of this limited underground commodity was wasted on my bland taste! How am I ever going to pay this back?'

And then she finally looked up to see Raudd's mirthful expression.

Yue suppressed the urge to throw the book at him, remembering that the spooky tome was both invisible and intangible to the man, and would do naught but make her get up and fetch it from the other side of the room. Yue huffed, exhaling the breath she'd been holding after taking a moment to recompose herself and crunch the last corner of toast.

"Something like that. When I went looking for spells to learn I was basically told to 'figure it out' and 'good luck.' " she finally answered. "I guess I'm just having a hard time seeing the value of all this new information with no practical way to apply it, compared to the thing I can already do," she sighed, flipping her hair over one shoulder so she could braid it idly in thought.

"And no, I didn't sleep well. I have frequent night terrors. Normally I'd be logged in to Final Odyssey to keep my brain occupied while my body rests. Otherwise I thrash endlessly, wake up in sleep paralysis, or have my 'fight or flight' triggered hard enough to forget where I am. It's better for everyone if I don't sleep, in the traditional sense at least."

"Well, sorcery is an extremely personal journey for everyone," Archer quipped. He had appeared sitting next to her with her coffee in his hands, causing her to flinch and squeak. He stole a quick slurp from her cup and made a face. "You're a barbarian: no cream?"

"That's basically what the book said," she hissed, slapping him in the thigh with a frustrated huff. Archer giggled maniacally for a moment.

"I have a bad habit of repeating the words of other people, it seems," he smirked and endured her withering glare, stealing a second sip before he let her take the cup back.

"How long until this becomes something useful?"

"Depends on what you consider 'useful,'" he answered thoughtfully, rubbing at the stubble that was accumulating on his chin and neck with a distasteful expression. "My opinion, take it as you will, is that the 'thing you can do' already is very powerful, so maybe we focus on supplementing that by expanding your utility. Or shore up some of your weaknesses," he shrugged.

"Hmm," Yue grumbled, suppressing the urge to make a Final Odyssey comparison.

Warnings and static overran Temujin's vision. Umbri's voice was filtered into distortions through his battered sensors. Up was down, down was up, and his inner compass spun in rapid, erratic circles. "Ogh!... AKH!! Nzzzt…!" The ninja's systems scrambled to restore his three senses, and when they succeeded, he saw her.

Falling.

"...NO!"

He shouted, reaching out with a feeble, phantom limb. The world slowed to an agonising crawl, every microsecond of her fall flitting before his eyes. No…! He yelled again, but no voice came through, frozen by an emotion even cyborgs recognise.

She stopped falling. He couldn't believe it. Relief swelled in his chest. Relief that was cut short as he became aware of their surroundings. "HEY! Hands off!" He barked at the red-goggled miscreant. His pale entrails jiggled against the prodding of the shotgun, and… something… tumbled out between them. Temujin's static-laden vision turned towards the woman with the contraption, burning through layers of silver-plated hull in a distinctly… illegal… manner.

"...You're lawbreakers," Temujin realised. He saw red. This day just wouldn't end. Steam hissed from the nostrils of his mask and he thrashed about, flinging white fluid from his wounds. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

“Teehee,” red goggles giggled, “Hey Shivs, it tells jokes.” With that they brutally tore out Temujin’s electrolyte generator.

"NOOOOOO!" Temujin wiggled and thrashed as a beached fish. A torrent of hot white fluids splattered outwards, trickling down from the glowing, pulsating, bean-shaped organ. "Augh…!" The ninja cried out, curling up in a heap as he watched Stabby pocket a part of him.

“Pretty loud for a robot,” Shanks called back, not taking his eyes off the panicked woman in his grip. “You think it’s programmed to feel pain?”

“It’s all just 1s and 0s anyway, but sure, I’ll check out its model,” Stabby put their dripping hands in the air and waved him off, scanning the body with their eyes. Between Temujin’s horns, his name was half blotted out by dried thresher blood. “Hmm? We’ve got a… T-E-M…U-”

“Hey! HEY! Don’t touch him! That’s mine!” Umbri interrupted Stabby’s thumb scratching at the blood. She hadn’t figured out a path for her lies to go before speaking, all that was in her head was stopping these thieves from figuring out they’d caught a thief murdering Rogue. “Put whatever you just took out of him back!”

“You own the funny robot?” She felt she was being mocked by Shanks.

“I do.”

Temujin shot her a double take. The scowl on his mask seemed to deepen just a little. “You-... I…” His hot-headedness reared up for a second. The thick globs of white spitting from his spine convinced it otherwise.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“Stake didn’t say anything about a fifth,” Shivs paused her power sawing to interject, readjusting her position. “Better drop the problem now before this job leaves any loose thread.” She finished, deadpan, before starting up her saw again and grinding against the train roof with a horrible shriek. Umbri felt Shank’s grip loosen.

“DON’T…! Please don’t do that,” she rushed out, “You can keep whatever you found inside the robot. It can’t be that important, he still… talks.”

Stabby stroked their chin. Their gaze twinkled with a smirk. “That ‘whatever’ was an expensive little trinket, missy. It isn’t exactly standard issue in funny robots. In fact…” Stabby leaned forward, arms clasped and stretched behind their back. Their attention wandered down what remained of his jet-black synthetic body, the shadows of once raw, honed muscles lingered between the cracks and crevices, and they whistled. “Nothing here is standard issue. You don’t just trip over Fontaine synth fiber or nanoblast steel over any ol’ smuck in the black market!” They looked up to Umbri, down to Temujin, and back again. Their eyes squinted in suspicion. “...How did you say you got this funny robot again?”

“I didn’t say,” she forced through gritted teeth, when she really wanted to scream, “And I’m not going to say until I can stand and think.”

Thud. The laser saw powered down. “We’re in. Drop her.”

…

“Well? Shanks, come on. We’re not letting some unknown tag along on our crime.”

“Oh yeah, that would be bad, so let’s commit another one and kill her instead!”

“And you should leave the robot. This whole thing’s fishy. I don’t want that stink on me.”

“Aww, fuck you. You're right.”

Shivs and Stabby gathered by the hole, Stabby sneaking Temujin’s part with them. Shanks and Umbri looked at each other. Umbri saw consideration cross his face, followed by her life flashing by. No, surely, they were thieves, but not murderers… a sentiment Umbri began to doubt as she watched Shivs and Stabby gearing up. They lived up to their monikers. Shanks shook his head. Umbri slowly shook hers back. He dipped his hand into one of his deep pockets, pulled out a small metal cylinder, and pressed a button.

Shlunk. A metal staff sprang to its full length in his hand. He planted it on the train and yanked Umbri in. She snatched the pole with her other hand before he let her go and she transferred both hands with a yelp. He walked between Umbri and Temujin to rejoin his companions.

“Just hold on. Next stop’s in thirty minutes,” he said, and grunted to Shivs, “Keep the magnet field up.” The three of them jumped down the hole, not before they heard Shivs grumbling over lost gear.

Then it was all quiet, apart from the deafening sound of being left dangling off the side of a sky train.

Temujin watched - as he only could - as the minutes passed between them. Thirty minutes... a long time for any human in her position. His gaze lingered upon the musculature in her arms and shoulders, brought to the surface by the strain of effort, and exposed by the gust blowing against her jacket. He had not been blind to her strength, not after their clash with the serpent, but even so…

“They suck,” he muttered, continuing to stare in some manner of sympathy. Umbri didn’t have the energy to spare to murmur an agreement. She was taking in shallow breaths, forcibly deepening each one. Her features went cold with focus.

“... Hup!” She released, and her legs went arcing over to lock onto the pole by the knees. Blood rushed down to her head to join the roar of wind in her ears. She squinted, barely able to make out anything from the air drying out her eyes. Can’t stay here. She slowly maneuvered herself around the pole, trying to get herself hanging upright and facing away from the wind. This stupid jacket… The glossy fabric rubbed against the metal like oil on water, no grip whatsoever. There would be a better chance of surviving if she tossed it, but all wrapped up in her gear like this, there was no chance of removal.

When she was finally in her desired position, her head was lulling with exhaustion. Her legs were hooked on the pole with no ground beneath them to catch her when she slipped. When, not if.

“Tem…” she murmured, “I don’t think I can do this.”

Temujin kept his eyes on Umbri. A feeling stirred in his core, a feeling he wasn't used to. "Hey… don't say such crap." His voice went low, shedding its ever present aggression, even as the firm edge remained. "Look at me. Look at me. JAHANNAM couldn't kill you, the Threshers couldn't kill you, and this train sure as hell ain't going to kill you."

She felt his gaze, even through those pitch black lenses.

"You're a survivor. Survive this."

She exhaled from her nose. It sounded like a laugh. She 100% blamed him for the situation she was in right now. His pep talk was almost like a joke. Still, she nodded. “Can you even die, chrome junky?”

He scoffed, holding down his distaste. "Of course. And I don't come back."

But it still sure takes a lot… He said it like it was obvious, but he ran his mouth like he was immortal. A torso still yipping at the heels of others and threatening death upon them. He could spare her the indignance right now. She nipped the tip of her tongue in her mouth and focused on the hole in the other end of the train carriage. There was no reason to antagonize him with any of these thoughts. All she needed right now was to keep herself awake.

“Before… you said ‘us’ cyber ninjas.” Her energy levels offered little over a mutter, “I thought you didn’t have friends.”

Temujin's gaze fell off of Umbri, for the first time in a while. "We were assassins, we didn't fraternise." He glanced away, at the scrapheap far below. "Not like we could if we wanted to. They took our instincts, our reflexes, our cunning… sedated the rest."

Temujin continued to stare, searching, longing for that part of him he simply… could never find again. "It's funny. I barely remember my time as a slave. I remember nothing before that." He looked up and ahead, towards the miles and miles of metal which blotted out their skies. "...Maybe it's better this way. There's nothing to miss."

Umbri paused from wriggling on the pole. Assassins? Sedating? His time as a slave? She thought being a cyber ninja was like, just a job. What deeply illegal conspiracy was he a part of that dumped him down here… no, she didn’t want to pry into it, she couldn’t let her involvement with this guy get any deeper than the shit she was already in.

“This is a really serious thing you’re suddenly telling me,” she said. “Are you sure you’re not expecting me to fall off?”

Temujin's gaze slowly returned to her. A passing light highlighted every crease in his scowling mask. "...I'm hoping that you don't. I don't want to be stuck here until some scavs tear into me for spare parts."

Umbri’s nose scrunched. “Hm. That would really suck for you. Are you still online?”

"...Yes. Why?" He asked, eager - or perhaps desperate - for ideas.

“What’s the route of this train? As detailed as you can get it. Tell me anything that stands out.”

"Gimme a second." Schematics, words, and timestamps flooded Temujin's vision. "This train runs through the New Aegeus line, serving long-ranged deliveries throughout the north side of the Undercity." He paused, sifting through the information. "Okay. There's a tunnel in about two minutes. The train will flip and stay grounded, but only until the end.” His gaze flicked upwards. “Only a minute."

"That’s it,” she murmured to herself, keeping her gaze fixed on where it had been for the past minute: the hole at the bottom of the carriage. “I won’t make it the whole half hour out here. I have a plan, but we both might die in it. Mostly you.”

“Great,” Temujin replied, deadpan. He gave half of a nod. “That’s never stopped us before. Let’s not start now.”

The thumping of the train was reverberating into echoes. The tunnel was near. Temujin laid his back flat against the hull.

“When the train flips in the tunnel, I’m letting go,” she said, “And I’m breaking that.” She pointed towards the glowy contraption she assumed was keeping them from falling off. She didn’t dare make a fool of herself trying to give a name to it. “Before the minute’s up. I’ll catch you.”

The dark chasm ahead grew larger, closer, like the maw of a thresher ready to devour them. Temujin whipped his attention towards Umbri. The train’s horn blared out in warning, its deafening sound competed with the drumming wheels, their spins in step with Umbri and Temujin’s artificial hearts.

She’d flipped herself back upside down, her legs elongating across the roof of the carriage and back sliding down until she was almost in the splits. Her arms trembled with the effort. She needed to be as low as possible in preparation.

WHOOMP. Her ears popped as the dark swallowed them, not for long. Lights spat at them from all angles and the train’s wail echoed louder. The train curved, following the slope of the tunnel. Umbri’s hair settled back down her neck as her stomach followed the snaking movement, and her arms felt relief. But there was no time to let them relax, she was on the clock, right now. Her pupils enlarged.

She reached over her shoulder and gripped the handle of the fire axe. Her legs snapped together as she let go. She slid towards the hole on an angle, feet first, one palm dragging behind her and keeping her steady. It was fast and felt like falling. The hole was passing on her left in a blink.

And in less than that, her hand shot out and snagged it. She pulled the axe free and army crawled her way back up, eyeing the golden glow of the techo-thingy. It wasn’t too far from her. She swung out with the axe and prodded it. There wasn’t enough momentum or force she could build in the swing. She abandoned the attempt immediately, adjusting her position to reach out with her right leg and slam the device with her heel, again and again, each kick drawing a louder growl of effort from her.

"Thirty seconds!" Temujin yelled, feeling the pressure of his on-board ticking clock.

“It broke my fucking heel!” Umbri shouted back, as the clear stiletto spun off into the void. She still persisted, desperately smashing the front of her shoe against the device.

An alert came to his view. “Ah, shit. Fifteen seconds! There’s not enough time, go on without me!”

She could. He was stuck on the train, he wasn’t going anywhere. She would be thrown off any second now if she didn’t duck inside, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but

Umbri shouted as she gave it a final kick, her eyes turning almost entirely black. The explosion of adrenaline shot down her leg and slammed the tech with a CRACK. Metal broke off and the device popped free of the roof, scattering. Umbri didn’t watch it go. She pulled herself up and hooked her legs into the hole, ducking as the detached pole came spinning at her. Temujin right behind it, coming in wide. She lunged towards his trajected path, and realised with a chill - she won’t make it - and he was falling past her, and she decided just as fast -

THUNK.

A sharp pressure was embedded in his spine and held him still. He looked back to Umbri, stretched out after him with the axe.

Temujin gasped. The axe's impact sent more of his guts out to spill, dribbling away into the wind. The ninja watched Umbri in shock, all whilst his interface nagged at him in beeps and whistles. He cast them aside, and whispered, "...Thanks." He looked to the other side, towards his guts disappearing into twinkles in the chasm. That could’ve been him. Even as he came to terms with it, he couldn't help but lament, "I will never financially recover from this."

The telltale flip of her stomach marked the end of their window. Umbri grit her teeth, tensed her legs, dug her nails in and braced herself.

“You’re… wel… comeeeaaaAAAAAGHHH!!” Her breathy reply morphed into a roar. The tilt of the train slid Temujin to the right and jerked her, but she held fast. As gravity began to take him, she was forced to release her grip on the train and take the axe in both hands. She felt like she was tied between two cars and they were slowly putting a foot down on the accelerator. All she could do was scream with all her efforts. Her fingers twitched, and slowly, they committed to crawling up the length of the axe to draw Temujin towards her.

Something grabbed her legs from the inside. She was yanked in. Her roar switched to a squeak as she disappeared. Temujin hit the roof and was dragged after her.

Her stomach didn’t backflip, it felt like it was floating in space. For a moment the entire word seemed to rotate in reverse as they flailed in the air, before crash landing on the ground. Umbri’s head bobbed with a gulp, swallowing back the sick brought on by the agony of her ankle and violent nausea from that fleeting past second. She looked up - and though her sense of balance told her she was upright, through the hole in the ceiling on top of her, she saw the distant ground. A pair of red goggles popped into her view, followed by yellow ones.

“Wow, you were so loud up there, we felt bad for you.”

“Idiots. Now we actually have to kill her.”

“Hey Shivs, how about I kill YOU if you don’t get that safe open in the next minute! What’s taking so long?!”

“Like you said. She was loud.”

Umbri scanned past Shanks and Stabby, over the ransacked cargo carriage, towards Shivs, who was taking a break from fiddling around with a very secure, techy looking safe to load a bullet into a barrel.

“So let’s deal with that.”

“You should have just held on,” Shanks resigned, stepping back.

“Ohhhh… Ohnnnzt!” Temujin’s voice was distorted by glitches, but they could not hide his fury. “That’s… it! Hooker! I have - HAD - it with these smug, pussy-footing, no-good CROOKS!” He twisted to lay flat on his stomach, the axe handle sticking out of his back. “You’re lucky I don’t have my limbs right now, cause I would be ripping your GUTS out of your assholes!”

There was a chill in the air. The train lights flickered once, twice. A shape leaned against the wall, tucked at the edge of Umbri’s peripherals.

“That won’t be necessary.”

A voice. Smooth, velvet-like. The voice of a handsome man, radiating with a cool sort of confidence. He was a wiry figure, cloaked in shades of purple, his arms folded, his coat swaying against the momentum of the train - even as he remained perfectly still. A hood obscured much of his features, complimenting a gas mask that matched his peers - save for a lack of goggles, exposing warped brows, gaunt cheekbones, and a pair of solid yellow eyes, glowing with hellish light.

“Sorry, lads. I forgot to mention,” the shape continued, strolling towards Umbri. His steps came in calm, even strides, casting no sound or stumble. He slid behind Umbri, standing a bit shorter with a slouch, and slipped a hand over her waist. His black-gloved fingers pressed in with an appreciative squeeze. “Meet our fifth member… Sugar.”

Years of tinker produced coolant runoff sure did wonders to a place. An arboreal tundra was one of several things you wouldn't expect to see underneath one of the worlds tallest tinker made super structures. Then again, you also wouldn't imagine there being a desert, lava field, temperate forest or giant ass mushroom jungles. God's this place was weird. Wildlife notwithstanding. Nora Had little to complain about truth be told. She was used to the cold anyway, it reminded her of home on a good day. A light snowfall had just started not too long ago. Fresh powder had already started to settle, covering tracks in pristine powder. Her helmet automatically cycled through lenses and filters to reduce the growing glare from the reflecting light.

The isolation was a bonus. With plentiful game and what could be considered an unexplored expanse, Nora really couldn't complain much about having to have relocate. The seemingly growing Templar presence was concerning though. On top of every settlement still buzzing from that damn Scream. Yeah, too much of a headache. The frigid Waste was fine by her. The woman had barely moved in the last couple of hours, a trained stillness from years of practice. Shifting about in a way that kept her suit from moving, a single eye flicked about her HUD, gauging wind speeds, time, external and internal temperatures. A secondary glance made her swear internally. The moisture collector was almost full from her sweat alone. It was about time to vent the suits heat. Not that there was much chance of anyone looking around for thermal signals in the middle of nowhere in the cold, but Nora was still alive from being too paranoid. Fuck now she wanted a shower. Now she was more irritated. Too top it all off, ID was late. Just a few minutes, but that was enough to be grating for the former soldier.

As if on cue, Nora got the signal. "Níðhöggr . . . Your late."
In one smooth motion MG had the suits heat vented and stood up. Snow instantly melted into a burst of steam . . . twenty feet away from the mouth of the cave, a looming figure strode out of the cloud and approached ID. Heavy spiked boots crunched against the ice and snow. Most people would be very concerned by the sudden appearance of a seven foot tall person decked out in armor and heavily reinforced clothing. Oh and armed to the teeth with LOTS of munitions. Most didn't Have said person as an operational partner. Even a few feet apart the shear temperature difference from the two whipped the air into a short lived flurry.

"Report." Nora's own voice was distorted and gravely through her vox. Granted, there were no hints of annoyance or anger in her tone even through the tech. But the curtness had an unmistakable edge to it.

ID turned towards the suited giant as she gave the countersign, remaining quiet until she approached. The gentle hum of the compressor beneath her cloak complimented the snowfall for a long moment. It clicked off and the over-pressure of hot gas hissed out of the nostrils of ID's red dragon mask in a voluminous cloud.

She wasn't surprised that MG wasn't waiting exactly where she expected. The merc was clever and careful... and her heavily insulated suit interfered with ID's [Dreamsight], so picking her out as a living signature amongst all the background noise was next to impossible.

"The official report is that I ran into the Queen of Swords and went out of my way to avoid a confrontation," she explained, pulling her hood back and flapping it against her shoulders to remove any gas that had become trapped in it. That's how hair became singed. "Eventful evening too... Off the record," ID added with a huff, as she began the trudge towards the area of the Graves that dropped off into the inky darkness between land, and the Tower's massive sub-structure.

Besides Mother, MG was the only other person in the organization she regularly let her hair down around. In part this was due to the number of operations they'd done together. MG's ability made her the only operative in the entire organization that could work in close proximity to her. ID could be unguarded without worrying that a flash of emotion would irrevocably maim the woman... and the fact that she didn't treat ID like some kind of untouchable eidolon had endeared her to the merc.

"Met some boys in ShieldTown... a geokinetic prankster, and his... friend," ID hesitated, and the snow sizzled under her feet for a moment. She rolled her eyes after a minute, knowing MG wouldn't leave that alone... not after the telltale flash of heat at least.

"I'm pretty sure he invited me over intentionally so that I would catch an eyeful of the dense slab of muscle that lives with him for his own entertainment. I made some promises I probably shouldn't have, and stayed for breakfast," she explained evasively.

ID led them deep into the graves until it became nearly too steep to traverse in the icy conditions. The ground dropped away into the abyss ahead of them not a hundred feet away where it became a near sheer cliff leading down into depths unknown. She paused, pulling on a thread of mana and feeling it traverse through her body and sear uncomfortably behind her left eye and deep into her skull. The steady snowfall slowed to an absolute crawl as she rolled the thread of mana over and between her fingers.

An ethereal library of books and documents manifested in her vision, and she swished through the miles of stacks with a near imperceptible flick of her fingers. 'The Waking World Explained', translated. 'The Secret of Mana', original. 'Perils of the Astral Sea', second edition copy. ID flicked her fingers. Archives. Designs. Weapons and Equipment. Flick. Blueprints. Facility Schemata. Muriel Containment Laboratory.

ID tucked her thumb gently under the thread of mana, tugging the array out into a one handed cradle. The blueprint seared into her eye, and she dismissed the archive. ID had mentioned to Zolya that anything could be enchanted using her technique. It wasn't a false claim, you just needed some creativity, a little out of the box thinking, and some magics Mother warned her not to fool around with. Enchanting her mind with Menagerie's Archive was a brilliant, if impulsive idea that had nearly killed her. She wasn't entirely sure Mother knew what exactly she had done, but she'd been hospitalized for a month so Mother knew she was messing with something she shouldn't have.

The facility schemata was heavily redacted, but still contained useful information about its secret freight elevator and how to activate it, which she studied for a minute before releasing the [Enhanced Perception] Fortification. The blueprint stayed uncomfortably luminous in her eye.

"Looking for a keypad: it'll be covered and embedded in something that doesn't quite belong...," ID trailed off, scanning the area.

Temujin shot up to look at the new figure, and instantly saw red. “YOU…!” He shouted and wiggled, still unable to do much else. “You two-timing, turncoat knave! What are you doing here?!”

The shape tilted his head towards Temujin, and his eyes smiled with recognition. “...Temujin. What a pleasant surprise,” he said, his tone naked of sarcasm. “Need a hand?”

“Fuck you.”

Umbri kept very quiet and still. She didn’t know this man Temujin was shouting about. She could guess from the hand on her waist what his intentions in saving her were. She wanted to ask Temujin what was going on, but didn’t have the space to. To play along with a dangerous stranger or side with the raving lunatic with no arms to defend her…

“Temujin?!" The thieves perked up in alarm, staring at the funny robot with different eyes.

"Shit,” Shanks grunted. “You said he was your robot!”

“Your new girlfriend brought a Rogue with her, Stake. The worst one.”

“He is my robot,” Umbri interrupted the rising panic. She looked down at him. “Temujin, sit.” She pushed him over with her foot and looked back at the others. Her expression hadn’t changed once. “Quite tame now, you agree?”

“Ah…!” Temujin gasped, or rather, squeaked. He looked up at Umbri, shrinking against the floor. The instinct to react swiftly and violently had been thoroughly beaten out of him at this point. "Y… yes… master," the cyber ninja answered through gritted teeth. Umbri's brows shot up and her mask almost broke. She was not expecting that AT ALL.

Stake's eyes lifted with a smile. He scoffed, then chuckled, then laughed out loud. "A-he he he!" The shape gestured to Umbri with his free hand. "Now you see why I brought her along." Two long, slender fingers lifted to stroke her chin. "Only the prettiest roses have such sharp thorns."

Kill me, kill me, kill me. What do you want? Umbri thought as she slowly blinked and smiled passively like there were no thoughts there to threaten or interfere with whatever the hell he was doing. Those pure yellow eyes… What sort of chrome was that? The thieves were laughing all around her like snapping dogs.

“WOW, this is great!” Stabby exclaimed, walking right up to Temujin to crouch over him and wave a hand over his face. “He really can’t do anything, can he? He really wants to kill us, doesn’t he?” They poked him repeatedly, their tone getting more and more akin to talking to a pet. “You wanna kill us, don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?”

Crunch. Umbri pulled the axe from Temujin’s back - he flinched - and used it to shove Stabby off. “Give back the thing you took out of him.”

“Heyyy..!” Stabby waved their hands around. “Come on, what’s he gonna do with it?”

“You seriously kept it…”

“It’s not about him. You stole from me.” She scanned the room, the axe pointed at Stabby. “I don’t know how this band of thieves operates, but where I’m from, you don’t mug your teammates on the clock.” She cocked her head. “That’s recreation.”

Stake folded his arms. The wrinkles of a smirk creased beneath his eyes, which were watching Umbri like a hellish hawk. Temujin peeked from where he laid, staring with the only kind of gratitude he was able to offer: silence.

“Geez, fine,” Stabby relented, fishing through their pockets to toss over the electrolyte generator. Umbri caught it next to her face. “We were just hazing you.”

“And the hyper-reflex capacitor.”

“Wh-?! Seriously -”

“Well, I’m glad that’s sorted,” Shivs said, and addressed Umbri with a deeply sarcastic, “Welcome to the team, Sugar.”

She gestured Stabby back with her head and they trudged over with their hands in their pockets. Umbri pocketed the loot she’d swiped back from them. Shanks gave her a nod and went after them, turning his back on her and blocking the view of the others to give her the privacy to look Stake in the eye and squint, openly suspicious.

Stake brought his palms together. He returned Umbri’s stare and kept his voice low, “You handle yourself well.” His gaze lowered to her neck, and Umbri could see a glint in his eyes - he knew. “...Especially in such dire circumstances.”

Umbri kept her eyes on him, even as she did not address him, and instead tilted her head Temujin’s way to murmur, “Tem, who is he?”

Temujin let out a sound - somewhere between a sigh and a hiss - as he answered, “He’s a Rogue. Or rather, he moonlights as one, the lawbreaking scum.” Stake chuckled, and tilted his head to concede, “The Collective doesn’t get by on charity, least of all in Northbridge. I dabble in side-hustles like this from time to time.”

“But you’re still a Rogue,” she figured, relaxing a little, “And you can’t let a civilian die, even in work like this.”

Stake gave a slow nod, unflinching even as the train stumbled on turbulence. “That’s why you’re here… Sugar.” Temujin groaned, contempt emanating from his being. “A Rogue who steals is a hypocrite. A hypocrite has no principles!” He looked at Umbri, his tone urging, “A man without principles can not be trusted!”

Umbri flicked her eyes over Stake one last time and mouthed ‘thank you’, before turning to Temujin and crouching down with the intention of strapping him back to her.

“What about a Rogue who kills?” She asked.

Temujin laid still as she worked. “There’s a difference between killing and murder, Hooker,” he answered with a growl.

“Really? How so?”

“Murderers forfeit their lives when they prey on others, to satiate their greed, their lust, their hollow desires. Murderers aren’t human, they’re garbage.” A passing light emphasised the skull-like shape of Temujin’s face. “I just take out the trash.”

“Hm…” Umbri disappeared for just a second. She looked past him, somewhere else, and it was plain to see - Worn out sneakers stained by the sick and grime on the pavement. A girl, eleven or twelve, carries a baby in her arms in the middle of the night. It’s screaming, its face is purple, the girl can’t hear it any more. She’s stopped by an overfilled dumpster. She’s stopped to look up at the moving billboard of a club. A naked woman is dancing.

She blinked as she returned, life injected back in her features. “Well, I don’t think I could do either of those things,” she said softly and picked him up.

“Stake! We’ve cracked it!” One of the thieves called. Umbri fixed Temujin on her back and went to go see.

"You're the one that was late, you figure it out." Nora playfully nudged ID's shoulder and stepped to the side. There was a momentary pause before she continued in a much more snide tone. "So, While I was out here alone eating my MRE's you had a home made breakfast and had some eye candy to look at as well. Am I getting all that right?" She slung her LMG to the side and crossed her arms, The face plate to her helmet slid open with a hiss to reveal a rather dubious expression. While not entirely upset by the turn of events, Nora was going to milk every ounce of teasing she could get out of it. Wasn't her fault her partner didn't have thick skin despite her powers.

"What?! No??" ID answered indignantly, though she couldn’t hide the steamy flush of rapidly melting snow. She folded her arms. "You know what?? Yeah! I did have a home cooked meal, and Mr. Muscles cooked it!" ID thrust her finger at the merc with an accusatory note. "And it was fucking delicious! You and your MREs," she muttered.

The little jab at her rations did little to stop Nora. "Oh so Mr.Muscles can also cook, can he? What, is he meeting all of your standards, hmm?" Despite the rather flat tone to her voice Nora was practically grinning as she leaned closer towards ID to try and see her face. Though given the rising heat she really didn’t need to see if she was blushing or not.

"Nooo?!!" The temperature rose again. "It’s purely contractual: I’m just helping them with a favor," she huffed, actively looking away under the guise of searching for the key panel, despite being shrouded in steam.

Too easy. "oh . . . So you aren’t interested in seeing him again?" Nora leaned in just a tad closer and began dropping the temperature just a touch. It had been a while since she had seen ID squirm like this.

ID spluttered uncomfortably rather than answer. Luckily she didn’t need to, since the rush of heat uncovered an oddly shaped rock nearby.

"O-oh hey there it is!" ID shuffled nervously past the merc, clearing her throat. "The elevator is powered by its own generator that goes dormant when it's not in use," she explained… changing the subject. "It’ll take a few minutes to defrost enough to send the elevator up," she announced, prying open a square cover in the rock to reveal a keypad. ID punched in her override code, and though there wasn’t any apparent change on the surface, she could sense heating coils activating far below them.