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[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=white]”Good evening and welcome to seven o'clocks on Shinobi News. Our top stories tonight..."

"Another Bender attack has shaken up the Republic, this time in the Upper Ring. This man… Katakuri Soran of the once powerful Soran family carried out this attack at his own residence only hours ago, slaughtering his father, endangering his mother and kidnapping his own daughter. Republic Security Forces who were already on the scene to investigate reports of domestic violence were caught in the path of this man’s rampage, resulting in the loss of life of many brave men and women. This attack is only the latest display of extreme violence from Benders since appearing all over The Republic and only affirms the seriousness of the Bender threat and the values of what our city was built upon. Despite this, earlier today at the gala and in an address to the city, the King shared his intentions to amend Bender law:"

[center]---[/center]
“I will not stand by and let Ba Sing Se continue to drown itself in ignorance only for it to fall to ruin. I will not follow in the footsteps of my father or his father before him. I will not allow myself to be controlled as they were, only to watch the people I love suffer. Tonight, I make changes to law, starting with those persecuting Benders.”

[center]---[/center]
"The King’s decision on the matter has been deemed premature and irresponsible and his handling of the situation unfolding in the Republic has been widely criticized leading to approval ratings dropping significantly since he first took office. However, Commander of the RSF, Tao Xu, has been lauded for [i]his[/i] direct response to the attack in the Upper Ring and his acknowledgment of the concerns of threats from within the walls amidst growing chaos. Here is a small part of the press conference he held just moments ago:"

[center]---[/center]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=gold]FunnyGuy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=777777][Color=gold]“Greeting citizens of the Republic, as the Director of the Republic Security Force, Commander Tao Xu, the requirement to address the current security [I]threat[/I] is a responsibility our forces carry firmly.”[/color] Tao presented his hand closing into a fist as he seemed to scowl at the screen. [Color=gold]“Since the incident of the explosion in the Lower Ring, I must admit that our forces have had a number of shortcomings in bringing the terrorist responsible to justice. For that, I take full responsibility…”[/color] Tao paused for a second to allow his words to sink in, knowing well that his rare show of humility would leave watchers surprised. 

[Color=gold]“But today is not a day for sulking or regret. Today is the day I show the whole of the Republic, just how determined the RSF is in securing peace and order within the Rings. Citizens of the Republic, I am here to inform you just how serious the RSF is in apprehending our wanted terrorist, Katakuri Soran, and bringing him to justice. His neutralization is not a matter of [I]if[/I] but [I]when[/I].”[/color] An image of Katakuri Soran appeared on the top right corner of the screen. [Color=gold]“As I speak, the RSF is increasing the production of additional Vanguards units, drones, and mecha tanks for deployment. To ensure your safety, I will see that more checkpoints and patrols are established to maximize our effectiveness until Katakuri Soran is brought in to answer for his crimes. If you see the terrorist displayed, do not approach him under any circumstances. Report him so that we, the RSF, can deal with him properly and ensure your safety.”[/color] Tao leaned in slightly.

[Color=gold]“And Katakuri, I know you're listening, so hear this and know that you will be found and your victims will be vindicated. We will strip you of your allies by any means necessary and snuff you out of whatever gutter you call ‘shelter’. I know you won't surrender yourself willingly, so continue to run and hide like the coward you are. Peace and order will be promised, I fully assure [I]you[/I] and the good people of the Republic of this. Not a matter of [I]if[/I] but [b][I]when[/I][/b].”[/color][/color][/color][/quote]
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[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]SynEn Tunnel System   ·   |@Exit], |@canaryrose] & |@Fiber][/color]SynEn Tunnel System   ·   [@Exit] [@canaryrose] [@Fiber][/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=a4c2f4]Fiber   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
This was an ugly night. It pained her to be doing this, to be hunting Kata, but Zhen’s entire life was built around making hard choices. It was her code, no one and nothing was above the common welfare of all humanity, not herself, not Kata, not anyone whose death might get them even one iota closer to mankind’s optimal goal, however far in the future it lay. He always bore stress differently than her. She had a few major backstops aside from her devotion to the mission, such as a life that kept her too busy for much introspection, frequent usage of the LSF’s psychiatric counseling, and a general belief that free will played no role in choices and detachment that came from that. Kata’s methods were more eclectic, and he tended to veer between calm and rapid outbursts much moreso than her.

When she had thought about herself and Katakuri, how it would end, there was only one way she had thought it would go. They would both have been stars on the memorial wall in the LSF HQ, unlabeled, unadorned, just more casualties on a wall behind many security checkpoints and the strictest clearance procedures; the site of the only memorial to benders allowed anywhere in the city. She had stared at the wall many times, counting the few she could name, the blank stars situated amongst the nonbenders who had served honorably, the names known only to those who had served with them, and perpetually fading into obscurity as time wore on and retirements and age took their toll. Now there would be no place for Kata on it, not even if he surrendered now; the only obituary he would have is a line listing him as terminated in the after action report.

He had seemed so normal at the Gala, he had played his role perfectly. Even his antagonism towards her husband was forgivable, a way to liven up the evening. A part of herself she tried to suppress found herself wishing his outburst had come a little earlier, that his first outburst had been to give Xiaozhou a premature cremation, but that was an instinct she suppressed. As she had told herself many times, as repulsive as he was, Xiaozhou still was a net positive towards humanity’s ultimate goals. This moment called for a different side of her than the gala, instead of the saintly philanthropist, always promoting her own mission, she was a silent enforcer. No details given, no questions answered, just someone following orders far too classified to let any one from the public know. She couldn’t help but be self-critical about the job she was doing while she was next to 141, no matter what she did, some humanity would slip through; the same could not be said for 141.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Ahead of the both of them were three representatives from SynEn. An, who had been introduced as the expert on the science of synergy as well as the one most familiar with the expansive service tunnels sprawling beneath the city. There was the engineer she brought in to assist and finally there was Jack who was acting as her security. He kept pace with An, and although he’d remained mostly silent, there was a strong sense of alertness about him. Despite keeping his eyes forward he was very obviously keeping close track of everyone in the tunnel. He couldn’t help it. There was no way for him to ignore the beast swallowing every inch of space in the narrow corridor behind them or the mysterious expressionless figure next to it. One was impossibly too large. Impossibly too grotesque. The other was a blank canvas. A void and he didn’t like it.

He got the distinct feeling that neither himself nor An were meant to be here or even see them under normal circumstances and that the sooner he got their guests where they needed to be, the sooner he and An could get out. These people were dangerous. Even for someone like him, but he kept calm and remained focused on the task at hand: Get them to the Underground and get back to Vyska.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Although Jack could disguise his discomfort, An was having a harder time doing so. That [i]thing[/i], behind her… nevermind the other one, with her disguised face and strange suit. It wasn’t human- but if it wasn’t human, what was it? It was no robot, as she had first thought. It filled the already stuffy, damp hallway with the mixed scents of sweat and antiseptics. If she got too close, focused too hard, she could hear its rickety breathing, the in and out of its warped chest and stretched torso. She just… had to try not to focus so hard. That was it.

She tried her hardest not to look at it, instead looking ahead of her, into the tunnels beyond. That was it. That was her job, this wasn’t related to what had happened, not at all. But it was, wasn’t it? These people were hunting something. And An doubted it was the rats. She was an [i]expert[/i], that’s why Vyska had sent her. An expert. They weren’t here for her. So why was she so scared? Despite the storm in her mind, An managed to keep a straight face as long as she kept her eyes off the “agents”. Her lips were pursed, unmoving, her steps purposeful and quick. She just hoped they couldn’t hear the rattling of her heart in its cage. 
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
After what felt like an eternity wandering through the coiling service tunnels of SynEn, the group finally arrived at a locked wrought iron gate. Pins and plates were bolted across the frame and further secured with chains wrapped around and through the bars to create a tangled web of metal. It was obvious from marks on the chains and on the gate itself that attempts to breach the barrier from the other side had been made but then quickly abandoned when it was realized the corridor beyond was still in use. Cameras protruded from the ceiling blinked with life unfettered and all of them were turned to face the ominous ingress. All of them watching and waiting for someone to come through. To test the security of SynEn. A security that was undone in little more than a handful of minutes with a bolt cutter and power drill.

The engineer worked quickly and before long, defeated chains were removed and bolts and loose bits of debris pushed to the side. Once the gate was pulled open, the path forward was made clear. In the dark beyond, painted walls turned to cold bleak cement. The uninteresting gray was interrupted every now and again by some small amount of graffiti. A memoir of the brave few who dared to venture so far. The ground was mostly barren or stained wet. There was no electrical humming in the now stale air. No noise. Nothing but an eerie stillness. A quiet that beckoned the agents forward.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
As the engineer undid the chains, An felt a sense of relief, thinking of being freed from their companions. She turned to them, then, curt, her eyes focusing on the one who looked vaguely normal. [color=bcc7cc]“This is the abandoned segment of the Underground,”[/color] An said, gesturing into the abyss. [color=bcc7cc]“We don’t operate down here, but it’s the most straightforward way to get to the Core without running into anyone. Follow this…”[/color] she tugged on the white cable, [color=bcc7cc]“and you’ll get to the Core. The wires will guide you, but I understand you’ve been given a map. Try and follow the wires, but, well… we don’t have infrastructure past this point, so we won’t be able to render any assistance once you’re down there. We don’t even have operational communications. So try not to get lost.”[/color] She stepped aside, then, behind Jack, giving the two a wide berth. 
[sub][sub][u][b][color=a4c2f4]Fiber   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Zhen could feel the tension in the air, and to an extent she understood it. It had taken her a long time to get used to Object-141, and she had not been kept in the dark as much as the people from SynEn. It was not her mission to reassure them, not right now. She said

[color=a4c2f4]“Thank you for your concern. It is people like you who help us keep the city safe.”[/color] As she walked forward,  Zhen flicked a button on her wrist, one that activated some noise suppression circuits in her helmet, creating enough dampening and background noise that she could whisper into the microphone without anyone outside hearing. Opening the channel to mission control while they still had a signal, she said

[color=a4c2f4]“Beginning our approach to the underground. Is there anything in the files about our guests from SynEn? I trust they can keep word of this operation quiet.”[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
The engineer waited only long enough for the larger of the two individuals to squeeze through. Once they were clear of the frame, he shut the gate behind them. For him at least, the iron bars standing between himself and the monster on the other side gave him some semblance of security even if there was no longer a way to lock the entrance.

[color=white]”Are we done here?”[/color] He whispered a little too loudly and a little too quickly. Jack gave him a nod as he watched the larger figure recede further into the darkness, its immense size blocking the entirety of the corridor and obscuring his view of the smaller figure in front of it. But even as the edges of the two individuals began to melt into the lightless hall ahead and the distance between himself and their immediate danger continued to grow, what remained long after was the noise. An ominous echo crawled back to them from the shadows again and again. A sound like that of a breath made of grinding stones. A nightmarish herald for any in their path.

[color=white]”That is the third individual to show up like this.”[/color] Jack said, removing his hand from the grip of the gun tucked under his rib. [color=white]”Whoever they are, whoever they work for, these people are dangerous…”[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
An tried to disguise it, but that echoey voice made her flinch all the same. [i]Keep the city safe.[/i] It was almost funny, how ironic it was… but not, at the same time. What were they helping these people do? An watched as they retreated down the corridor, only relaxing when she could finally no longer hear them. She then turned to Jack and the engineer, trying her best to look as though that hadn’t rattled her at all.

Min- the engineer who had accompanied them- was one of her best employees, but An disliked his presence here all the same. She was relieved when Jack dismissed him and he practically ran down the corridor. She just hoped he wouldn’t gossip about this to anyone else. [color=bcc7cc]“I think I’ll give him a bonus on his next paycheck,”[/color] she muttered, more to herself than to Jack. [color=bcc7cc]“Might encourage some discretion.”[/color] Still, the employees who worked in the tunnels… well, they had a mantra, one An found amusing: what happens in the tunnels stays in the tunnels. She just hoped it would apply here. 

[color=bcc7cc] “Jack,”[/color] she said. [color=bcc7cc]“I… thank you for coming. I know you did not have to.”[/color] He could’ve sent anyone, really, he was Vyska’s [i]personal[/i] bodyguard, but An suspected he had come more for her than for the security of the company. It raised some interesting questions about if she was under any sort of surveillance, but it was still kind. [color=bcc7cc]“You said the third,”[/color] she whispered, beginning to walk. [color=bcc7cc]“What were the first two? What do you mean… do you think this is connected to…”[/color] She didn’t want to say too much- even with them far away, the specter of that presence lingered, making her nervous to even think of her now-usual treasonous musings.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=white]”It’s all connected.”[/color] Jack glanced over his shoulder at the gate to the Underground once more, checking to make sure the shadows hadn’t moved. They hadn’t, and with every step in the opposite direction he took, he could feel the weight pressing against his chest lighten a little more. [color=white]”These people were nothing more than rumors not even a week ago, but now here they are, walking casually among us as if they were always right here.”[/color] Jack shook his head, taking his place a step and half behind An. He was quickly losing his grip on the plot. There were too many pieces being added to the board: Vyska became a Bender and then lost contact with her father soon after. An discovered a facility beneath the palace. The King announces his intention to change Bending laws and then more of these... agents show up. [color=white]”When I said there were three, I meant [i]they[/i] made three. One of their own visited us on the day of the explosion with the same credentials as them but by comparison he was… normal. But they all want the same thing…”[/color][/quote]
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[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Inner Chamber   ·   |@Exit] |@MistressDizzy][/color]Inner Chamber   ·   [@Exit] [@Mistress Dizzy][/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
A woman turned to them as they arrived, regarding them curiously. Cautiously.

[color=white]"Welcome."[/color] She said, standing up and making her way over. She hopped down one of the raised platforms in a smooth leap, her long white hair trailing behind her like a shadow of ice and snow. Her clothing was loose and left her arms and midsection bare. Part of it was because of the heat, Nelu was sure. The other he could only surmise was to show off the effort she'd put into keeping herself fit. The muscles under her skin were defined in the shadows cast by warm light. She looked as though she could snap a man in half.

[color=white]"So... what do we have?"[/color]

[color=white]"Waterbenders. Both of them."[/color] Sonam replied. She pointed at Nelu. [color=white]"And this one seems rather good too... we might want to consider..."[/color]

The woman nodded her head as she studied the both of them. [color=white]"Don't worry you two... you're safe now."[/color] She looked them over again and again as if the very shape of them was a mystery she could not solve. The bright green of her eyes seemed to cut through the amber glow of the room like daggers, digging into them, trying to see what was really underneath. Her bare feet shifted in the dirt. [color=white]“I am Hunang.”[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d7d0e7]Mistress Dizzy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=d7d0e7]...[i]This… this was Hunang?...[/i][/color] Jin stared for a split second, stunned. They felt the urge to shiver, but training and tact muscled the movement down.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Nelu fought the urge to look at his partner but Hunang's eyes snapped to Jin almost immediately. And while Jin was able to control themselves, Nelu could still [i]feel[/i] them. It was the same now as it was earlier in the dark of the corridor from before. When they were cloaked in shadow and noise and for too short a time were somewhere else entirely. He could feel them as if their chest was still pressed against his and although the moment was fleeting, he felt their heart skip. They way Hunang focused on Jin, it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d7d0e7]Mistress Dizzy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Jin opened their mouth. [color=d7d0e7]"Thank you for your hospitality."[/color] They drug their gaze downward. An Upper Ring girl would be demure. And the real Jin felt oddly nude under that stare. [color=d7d0e7]"I apologize for staring… I've never met anyone quite as striking as you."[/color] The best lies had grains of truth peppered in them. Jin felt the smallest prickle of sweat beading the back of their neck.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
A cautious curtain was briefly pulled to the side as Hunang allowed herself a genuine smile. [color=white]"You do not need to thank me... and you do not need to be nervous."[/color]
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