Miya-East III, Southern Tropics, Spaceport
As the two continued walking towards the spaceport, they crossed over a lazy highway together, cars parked in orderly fashion - almost as though everyone evacuating decided to park their vehicles, and calmly proceed from there. Doors were closed and locked, trunks were shut, bonnets remained unscuffed albeit dusty, and Porrim couldn't see any broken windows - almost like their owners expected the cars to be there if they came back.
She noticed the irregularity in Er'red's suit travelling towards his groin as he walked. "You must really like those rocks, hmm~?" Porrim postured as the two walked through the gates to the space station, mindful of the luggage left behind. "I bet you spend all day counting the pores on those, instead of finding good husband." Er'red noticed that there quite a few bags left in the foyer, but nothing in the check-in area looked like it'd been chaotic or disorderly at any stage.
A quiet evacuation meant there weren't many people living here to rescue, or they knew their research would force them to leave eventually. Porrim fluttered her wings a little as she pondered. "Doesn't look like they were in a hurry to go..." She pointed out. Er'red meanwhile saw something left on top of a suitcase. A datapad which was still running, and untouched. She clicked her tongue and motioned Er'red over, grabbing it and reading it with him.
Code:
>This queue will take a while, six hours I think?
>I know the staff want us all cleared so they can get off this place too.
>But I can see some of them really want to stick around.
>They like like this place's perks. Free massages, daily~
>Safest way to swim through stuff like oil slicks without the cancer.
>Maybe while I'm waiting for the queue to thin out,
>One last dip can't hurt.
>Cody hold our spot in queue will you?
Aside from how insecure the datapad was to let her and Er'red read all that, Porrim was quite bothered with what she'd read. "They do not know how to write pentameter..." She took a look around for 'Cody' and figured they were long gone, looking at the terminal. She looked outside too, gazing at the grey down the road, only a half hour's walk away. "I guess some people thought one kick was as good as the other," she assumed, folding her arms and gazing at the other unattended suitcases.
They could explore further, as nothing seemed to be guarding the rest of the airport. Automated systems made uncannily good preservers for whatever was left behind, and nobody had ever told them to stop. The worst resistance they'd put up is to gently caution and condemn Porrim or Er'red until security showed up. Security was out to lunch for the foreseeable future.
Miya-East III, Southern Tropics, Mall
From the speakers on her armour, Ashlinn's voice bounced through the small mall's corridors. Being only two storeys tall and erected mostly for wholesale food, the produce left behind, despite rotting away was well refrigerated. The Nekovalkyrja got a reply back from Porrim: "Just don't have a repeat of last time with the Nepleslian. Can you see the person?"
A few moments later, Ashlinn got a reply from the figure she saw within the mall, outlined by hers and Ny'za's sensors. She could see the person carrying many bags walking to the end of one of the aisles, peeking cautiously around the corner. Ashlinn could see messy white hair and a pale, round face of a man. They replied in a Jiyuuian dialect of Yamatai-go: "A Nekovalkyrja working for the Lorath?" They seemed incredulous. "What year is it again?"
They stepped out of the aisle and Ash had a good look at them. They were wearing a tattered labcoat marked with grey stains and ill-fitting jeans. On their back was a computer, worn like a backpack. They did not appear to be armed, and had their hands full with a pair of bags, bristling with papers. "I guess our SOS beacon got caught up in what was happening on Tange all those years back..." the survivor mumbled as they approached Ashlinn.
They put one of their bags of documents down and extended a hand for a handshake. "The name's Pao. I tried to stay behind and fix this with a few others," he shrugged, looking at the floor and shifting his weight, "but, one day they'd go for a dip in the Grey and never come back." He looked out into the plaza where Ashlinn had come from, staring through her and the ground at what was lurking in the valley.
He appeared to space out in front of Ashlinn, eyes boring straight through her. He'd clearly seen, or worked on something serious during his stay here.
Miya-East III, Southern Tropics, Society for Sensation
Akemi travelled further into the facility while Aran'ya held the reception. Taking advantage of cover as he moved and remaining methodical, he approached a door labelled 'DR. PAO'. Further down the hall, Akemi could spot a conference area with paper and data strewn all over it, and whiteboards full of Yamatai-go text. Akemi heard something scratching and sniffing behind the door, followed by a friendly-sounding bark.
It sounded like there was a dog on the other side of the door, perhaps barricaded in to keep it out of the way of the Grey. He didn't know who put it there though, so it told him that someone was still around. Akemi also knew Ashlinn was in the middle of investigating another life sign in the mall, and it'd be worth pooling knowledge.
Meanwhile, his request regarding the tarantis spiders was processing in the background, with details about what he knew based on what Aran'ya had told him trickling in. The mating habits were not in the male's favour, nor was the dimorphism; The males were noticeably smaller than the females, and the general habits seemed quite rough and tumble.
