[b]Numb:[/b]

“Ah shit, didn’t know I was talking bad about your crush or something.” Eli slaps her face with the heel of her palm, like this is a mistake akin to forgetting to buy milk. “You know where she’s hiding out? You think she’d do an interview? I think like- Hold on, is that Gylo? One sec.” 

In the sparse crowd, Eli leaps at a tall wolf looking guy with neon stripes runnlng through his fur, mane poking around the collar of his suit jacket. Eli lands on his back and starts ferociously biting his ear, cackling like a proper gremln. The edgy wolf squeals like a little girl as he tries to grab around his back and pull Eli off him. When she finally drops, he scoops her up in a big hug and spins her around instead. 

Eli runs back to you. “Gylo does great post-shoegaze. Anyway, if Crystal’s a unicorn, she’s one of us, right? That’s different. That’s like… Fuck. Maybe? No, like… Fuck, I need to ask her something, I can’t figure it out.” 

[b]Leather:[/b]

“Hold on. You’re a journalist? And what does that have to do with Crimson? And…” He joins some dots in his head. “Does this have anything to do with what you wanted to talk to me about, with the Pump?” He asks White.

He holds up a ‘wait’ finger and runs back to his presentation spot. 

“Hey, folks, sorry for wrapping up. On your tablets should be everything covered today, and you should check them out because this course does count as a few basic fire safety certifications you can put on your resume. If you have any questions about anything, I’ll be here the next two days as well to field them. Just find me later, and I’ll be happy to.” 

The whole time he’s saying this, his eyes keep glancing up at November, worried that if he takes too long saying this, she’s going to disappear somewhere he won’t be able to find her again. He jogs back over when he’s done. 

“We need to talk.” He says, firmly. “As soon as the simulation room clears out a bit more, we’ll talk there. That’s the best soundnetting in the building. Go walk around the crowd for about ten minutes and then come back a different way you left.” 

[b]Monk:[/b]

A hand runs over her face so she can smile as Giddy again. “You’re still where I got my face for Diplomacy! And Dragon is Dracony. I don’t listen to that one very much. I can’t wait to tell him that, if I ever see him again.”

The void shows again, Monkey. “Ox would love to know you’re okay. He’s mining Saturn’s moons right now, he’s…” She thinks how to put this, but the mask doesn’t change. “Don’t take anything he says personally. He’s angry, but he’s not angry at you.”

She flips to Tranquility again. It’s like all the synthetic muscles in her body unclench when she does it, and she breathes a sigh of relief. “Monkey remembers that time in our life the best, but she carries a lot with her that I need Tranquility to put down again.” 

Authority again, the face of the stern librarian. “Now. I will neither ‘go dark’, nor will I join you in your mission to rescue our siblings.” She holds up a finger. “Until you know who betrayed us. I feel that is not unfair?”

Security, the red-faced samurai mask. Monk crosses the top two pairs of arms across her chest and rests the other two on her knees as she sits. “If an ambush could lie in any direction, then I must remain still.”

Tranquility again. She says nothing, and then changes to Giddy. She opens her mouth to say something, then decides she’s the wrong face too. 

She shows Monkey again, black starry void. She presses three fists into three open palms likes Tranquility taught her. “It had to be Pig, Horse, Dragon, Rabbit or Rat. Tiger and Phoenix exonerate each other as a pair. Dog wouldn’t have done it. I’ve cleared Ox, and I didn’t do it, and I trust you.” 

Security: “Which means the only three that we would seek out are the three we can’t.” 

Tranquility says nothing. Just brings Monk back to her center again for a moment.

Giddy again. “There, okay. But we have each other now, at least! And you’ve seen Dad! How is he? He didn’t-” She pauses. “He wasn’t part of it, was he?”