RP: ISC Phoenix [Interlude 2] - We know what we want

Sargasso, RenCorp?

As she stood in the middle of the floor, her posture leaned forward slightly resting on the balls of her feet while ear ears twitched as she intently observed the machinery around herself as well as the few living entities that could be seen moving about in her area. As she observed Tamamo began to wonder as to what possible alternatives such machinery could be pressed into apart from the manufacture of confections. Startled out of her introspective musings a few seconds late by a voice from above, Tamamo blinked confused as she considered why someone had called out about green onion balls of all things. Slowly however her brain managed to match the voice she had heard to the identity of the factory's owner setting her head into motion swivelling as she hunted for the voice's source.

Eventually spotting the small energetic Yamataian next to a tall brown haired Separa'shan of all things left Tamamo a little confused, however she wasted little time in complying with what she assumed was an invitation. Her attempt at compliance initially consisted of a short awkwardly floaty hop that moved her closer to the pair above before she settled on the ground again remembering that she was supposed to be blending in, or at least trying to. Deciding that the most efficient option wasn't the best option for the moment she instead wandered awkwardly to the stairs that led up to the office and quickly travelled the distance up to her goal.

Upon arrival, Tamamo stopped an even six feet away before bowing before the small Yamataian and his Separa'shan companion. After a brief pause Tamamo chirped brightly, "Thank you for the invitation Mr. Isbala. I am grateful for your hospitality and the opportunity to learn more about your enterprise." Lagging once more she found herself holding the bow longer than what was necessary before straightening and blinking slowly at the pair before affixing her gaze upon the unknown individual curious as to what role they played in the confectioner's court.

Abhiya was not the sort of girl who should play poker. That face betrayed her shock at the new visitor. That is in fact a blue nekovalkryja. Why is there a blue nekovalkyrja? Who the hell is my boss and why is he friends with a random, blue nekovalkryja?

All the while, Seiren didn't even notice his associate's expression. His smile got turned up a notch or two on the brightness setting.

"Well, since you showed up, you get to try a new recipe- well, upgraded recipe - I've been working on. Say hello to the Phoenix candy 2.0! Careful, it's really, REALLY spicy! And it blooms twice!" the inventor declared, fishing a bright red candy out of a wrapper and tossing it to Tamamo.

Ori-Mart

"You are welcome," Zeta replied to the neko and kept browsing some magazines in a stack by the cashier. She whistled and waited on Shayla to finish up, not noticing that Tamano actually left. She turned to see the lack of neko around her. With a sigh, Zeta walked to where Shayla was.

"Well, looks Tama ran out on us. She ordered all her stuff and disappeared when I was not looking," Zeta told Shayla. The blonde's eyes trailed down the giant neko. "Nice jeans, they make your legs look awesome."

Sargasso, RenCorp?

The expression on the Separa'shan's face was one that Tamamo hadn't expected and couldn't quite figure out what the reasoning behind it was. The woman seemed surprised thought what was surprising was beyond the small blue Neko.

Shifting her attention to the small Yamataian Phoenix Crew member Tamamo noted that by contrast he was incredibly happy. This was a good thing she supposed, but once again she found herself at a loss as to why exactly he was the way he was. It seemed she would have two mysteries to sort out later.

It seemed that her mind lagged once more at the worst time because she was hit in the throat by the small candy and only managed to snatch it out of the air after it bounced off of her form the words that had been said filtering into her mind as she turned the candy over in her hand observing colour of it curiously. Taking her time to thoroughly explore the surface of the red candy, Tamamo finally curiously sniffed at the candy before slipping it past her lips.

A moment passed and nothing happened, then slowly as she clued in to what she was experiencing her expression lit up, joy painting her features as she enthusiastically sent Seiren a message not wanting to talk around the candy, <This is amazing~! Best candy I've ever had!>

Lady of the Night, Main Room
"Y'always stuffin yer pockets with any shit that ain't nailed down." Melissa observed dryly as she looked at the lewd treats on offer. "But I don't consider that take a particular vict'ry," She turned the snacks down. "'cos they were intended ta be taken, an' had big signs encouraging you to sample th' goods."

She worked a rut into the couch, but Enzo's radar was sensing storm clouds on the horizon. Unperturbed by snacks or scotch, and still fiery with her hair down. "I mean, when ya gonna make somethin' other than misery fer honest folks once in a while? An' I don't mean creatin' the schemes to make misery - that don't count."

She took another swig of Enzo's scotch, which wasn't even his. "Closest I 'ad was doin' annual wild 'orse culls on Delsauria's plains 'fore I got word out fer the Captain. Even then, lookin' back, I ain't done much constructive either - more ..." She snapped her fingers in the air as she fumbled with her words. "... removin' things, like cuttin' out tumours from a big, bloated sack 'o shit that is this universe's problems. All Luca does is tell us orthopaedic surgeons where t' cut, and he's botched a surgery once or twice."

Tami and Delsauria sprung to mind immediately for the conman. Somewhere in her drunken ramble was an ultimatum: "Y'gotta get yerself a hobby and build, you know? Hell, I help out that perverted psycho I call a Head Engineer with keepin' this bucket of bolts flyin', she creates shit all the time by 'erself with the pipsqueak, an' she's as happy as Larry."

"When you gonna get you a creatin' hobby, Enzo? Write fuckin' fanfic of you an' the captain fer all I care, it'll be better than Allison's!"

She was definitely drunk already.


Sargasso, Ori-Mart
"Sure thing Zeta, we'll have the goods delivered this evening." He replied to one of his favourite customers before waving Tamamo goodbye. "Just sign here, and we'll make the deal happen.

Zeta was presented with a digital writing interface and given a stylus to write her signature. David meanwhile had to attend to another customer with a trolley full of goods. "Hi, Welcome to Ori-Mart, how can I help you this afternoon?"

On further inspection of the docket, this was to be charged to Luca's accounts with Origin, which were pretty steep in the black that the gigantic purchase wasn't going to put a dent in those funds. On the account statements, Zeta noticed that a few weeks after Ellen left the crew last year, a very steep deposit was made to that account. Could've just been a little bit extra for Luca doing some good PR for Origin.

Meanwhile, Shayla looked plenty good in her duds.


Sargasso, Main Road
Luca had determined that running was not fast enough for his needs, and started hitching a ride, and by hitching, he fired the Grapple Stunner at a lamp post and slingshotted himself forward across the street, landing on a Sargasso bus with a roll. The bus swerved left and right and the driver could be heard cursing from the cabin. From there, Luca slingshotted himself again, this time from a zipline, and he seemed to be gliding towards one of the Nepaboo's motorcycles.

Luca landed on the passenger's seat, grabbed the flabbergasted, quiff wearing man by the hips before they could swerve in panic, and threw them over their head and into a conveniently placed pile of cardboard boxes and took control of the motorcycle. Before, this machine simply wasn't performing well at all in the hands of someone who didn't know how to push a machine to its limits, about a kilometre behind Vita and traffic.

"Hey, that asshole got Kensuke!" One of the Nepaboos spotted Luca and singled him out as he was making headway. "B-Bust his ass!"

They didn't sound like they had balls. What was it going to be for them, keep their eyes on the road, try and bash Luca's head in with a lead pipe, dodge traffic, or catch his daughter. They had to focus on one thing at a time. All Luca had to focus on was winning, doing simultaneously what those posers couldn't.

"You lot couldn't tune a bike if your lives depended on it!" Luca yelled at the guy who was trying to swing a chain at him, but only succeeded in getting blocked and parried by the Grapple Stunner. "The fuck does removing the muffler entirely do, does the exhaust add more thrust? Wake the dead!?" He then kicked their bike off course and into the back of a parked car, the rider going head over heels and landing in a rubbish bin. "You couldn't locate a fart in an arse! Why have you even got exhaust pipes on bikes that run on fucking electricity?"

All things considered, it was a fair point with how obscenely clean electric engines ran. Based on how the bike felt, Luca figured out that there was no rumble between his legs that put the fear of God into someone other than the bumps on the road. It was too sterile and clean, no oomph, no balls. "I-Is there a fucking sound system for noises in these things!?" Luca realised. "You hair gel reliant, quiff-quaffing, Sunday-driving, mechanically inept posers disgust me!"

♫ I Pulsar - Cat Theme ♫

If one was looking for the answer of speed, the answer laid within six kilometres of pristine asphalt that used to be a makeshift aerospace port. With no fear of a plane, aerospace shuttle or flying saucer landing on the road and ruining a good run. Waiting at the crossroads of it with the best motorcycle in town was Vita. In retrospect, Luca was proud of her for being such a speed demon; It didn't excuse her from taking his bike though.

"Dad," She stated plainly as Luca came rolling up alone, followed shortly by the greasers who were too chicken to try and take him out. "You just eliminated a quarter of my competition."

"Competition? Have you looked at the bikes these morons ride?" He got off the bike he'd procured and drew attention to the 'engine'. "They're electric engines that have been underclocked and the other systems gimped for Yamataian 'safety' standards. All it needs is cat ears and bubble wrap! You'll reach top speed in no time and they'll be a minute behind you minimum."

Vita threw her head back laughing as the greasers looked amongst each other. "What, did you think I was going to race them, dad?"


Ren-Corp, Main Office
Seiren, Tamamo and Abhiya could hear an almighty racket just outside the window of the main office that overlooked the Long Road. Even Rebeka could hear it from the top of the Crimson Kestrel, body vibrating in place for a moment.

One of the passing factory workers who kept an eye on the machines and gauges came into Seiren's office to look out the window since it had the best view. It was difficult to identify them, but they appeared to be a fair-complexioned Nepleslian man in his mid twenties with brown scruffy hair, a wide-visored gas mask, a boiler suit and a high visibility vest over it. A name tag on his vest read 'Wade'.

"Hey, boss, come see this!" They beckoned Seiren over. Luca, Vita and a crowd of greasers were visible just north of Seiren's factory, out by the structures that used to be the old 'spaceport'.


Sargasso, The Long Road
"You can't say that!" One of the greasers piped up. "This was a-a no death race!"

"Quiet, greaseball!" Luca hused them before turning back to Vita. "Oh, was it going to be a brawl? You'll have no trouble then. Just remember, solid pipe, hollow ones bend after the first two skull smackings."

"Dad?" One of the greasers asked, pointing at Luca. "Youse her dad? Luca Pavones is da goil's dad!?"
"Wait, him!?" Another of the greasers panicked.
One of them fell off their bike in fright. "Fucking hell no!"
"I didn't sign up for dis!"
"I want my mommy!"

"If she doesn't kick your arse, I will!" Luca flexed at them. They all started running away, getting on their bikes and driving back into town. "Not to say she can't kick your asses either! Shoo!"

Vita watched them all run away and threw her hands up at dad. "You ruin all my fun."

"Oh, I'm not mad about that." He said as he snapped his fingers at his Motorcycle, and it suddenly came to life and drove towards him with Vita on it, grabbing the handlebars. "It's about time we get you your own bike, Vita. We'll split the bill, you've been saving allowance anyway. Got any models in mind?"

Vita shuffled into the passenger's seat as she shrugged her shoulders, placated by the deal. "Is there even a motorbike shop in this town?"
"We'll order it in via Dave." Luca hopped into the main seat and took control, heading down the Long Road's length. "Now, models?"

"Hmm... maybe a Dual-Sport like yours, a Trail Dustoff, a Sports Cueballer..."
"Dual-Sports are finicky things, V. I could start you off on a Dervish Roadster," Luca suggested "They're great starter bikes, cheap as chips to run, easy to get combustion based."

"Nate's got a Dervish, says it's the shittiest bike he's ever ridden - and postmen use them!"
Luca started the motorcycle. "Postmen use them because they're fuel efficient and hardly ever break down, and Nate's a shitty biker." Vita couldn't argue with that. "I'll get you the V3."

"Is it the one the posties use?" Vita inquired.
"Fuck yeah it's the one the posties use!" Luca said as he started putting the speed on down the Long Road. Vita hung on tight and enjoyed the ride, still causing almighty racket for Seiren, getting closer as Luca went southwest towards the Factory. He put his foot off the accelerator and asked. "Hey! Wanna pay candy man a visit? Let's get samples or something!"

Enzo didn't turn on the holo. He sighed as he watched Melissa drink and get dark. His expression was drained, tired-looking. What he wanted to do was snap at her, release the self-important anger rising in his chest. To tell her that there was nothing wrong with pursuing earthly pleasures, which was his hobby and a fine hobby at that. To say she had no right calling the sickos aboard the Fruity Ruins 'honest folk'. To explain that there were no honest folks, and really he was one of the only honest people he'd met-- and his entire means of living was built around telling lies to people. He wanted to grab her by the lapels and shake her, begging 'Why don't you just eat by me and like me, you dumb bitch? We can get along because we're both murderers and really at the end of the day can you even be friends with a normal person?'

Of course, he really wanted her to like him, and this sort of attack had to be curbed early. Besides, her 'sit-about clothes' had no lapels. Not to say that the conman was playing at true romance. He hadn't the stomach for love. It went right on the list of things he couldn't enjoy; next to religion, noisy children, the color yellow, and yes-- useless hobbies. Enzo clenched his mouth tight as he schooled his tongue to prepare for speaking with as little of an accent as possible. This was an important moment it seemed, even if Melissa wouldn't remember it. He had to stick to his guns.

"What makes you think I'm unfulfilled?" He asked, almost accusing with his tone, "What makes you think I don't enjoy living every day looking for what's gonna make me feel good? I got news for you, sister. You're the one who's feeling shit about yourself right now. You're just shovelin' it off on Ole' Enzo. What you're doing, it's called transference. Yeah, that's right, lady, I reads a book every now and then. I know about stuff."

Enzo shook his head and went on, perhaps unwisely prodding Melissa's shoulder with two side-by-side fingers, "I got almost everything I want in the whole galaxy. You say I never done anythin' honest in my life while you're sittin' in this ship I bought with my own money. Money earned bounty-huntin'. Sure, I nick shit here and there, but I don't apologize for it and y'know what? I'm almost perfectly happy. The only thing left I want in this whole galaxy is for you to eat by me, like me, and let me grab a titty every now an' then-- and here you are sayin' I gotta have hobbies and stuff, taking the piss out of me because I gets sticky fingers sometimes. You know what?"

Enzo stood up, having lost the careful control of his rant and balled his fists at his side. A man struck at the heart, and he didn't let Melissa talk over him, the conman was determined now to just lay it all out to her, Nepleslian style. "You didn't say a fucking thing when I sent you silk dresses or pearl necklaces after Naoko died. You didn't send me anything when you were looking for the assholes that dusted her. I'd do anything if I thought it'd make you likes me, see? You wants me to stop pinchin' shit? Fine. Say it. You wants I should wear nice clothes, help old bitches cross the street? Open your fuckin' mouth. But I don't see you doin' anything at all."

He snarled at her, grabbing the waistband of his pants and pointing a thin, ragged finger at her. "I gotta hit the can, because yous smacked my shit so hard I gots to piss now, and when I get back you're gonna sit there and watch this stupid fucking show and think about what you want me to do or stars help me I'll-- I'll-- Why, I oughta just..." Enzo gritted his teeth. He wouldn't do anything and there was no point lying about it now. The 'con' as it were was ruined. She'd broken his perfect character. So he just blurted as he power-walked towards the rear compartment of the Lady, desperate to stop screwing everything up, "And I didn't slip yous no fuckin' kaserine, I likes yous the way you are, you dumb bitch!"

Seiren's brightness setting went up to full as Tamamo beamed just as light as him.

"Ah, you really think so? I'm so glad for you!" He responded in kind his hands balling up cutely in front of his chest as he watched the neko eat the treat. "Just wait until it wears down the first time, and then. . ."

Meanwhile, Abhiya, who could hear none of this was intrigued and nauseated by the sight of two people being cuter than a box of kittens. Mostly nauseated.
I think I'm going to be sick, She decided turning and heading out the door while clutching her stomach.

She left just in time for Seiren's spotlight to be interrupted by the worker named Wade.
"Nani?"

The inventor hopped over to the window and peered outside to watch the commotion and the ensuing ending. "Oh, those greasers just got trashed by Luca. Wait, no, they're just running away. Sheesh, do these people have no integrity? Aaaand he's heading over here. C'mon, Tamanegi! We should meet him at the door!"

Sargasso, RenCorp?

Focused on enjoying the candy that she had been given Tamamo's perception of the world beyond the candy in her mouth dulled and faded. She didn't notice the separa'shan woman leave in a fit of disgust, nor did she notice when Seiren moved to investigate what was happening outside of the factory. Everything began to dim, flickering like what she had learned an old video display looked like, then her attention was directed inward to the stream of information that flowed past in her mental environment.

What she saw worried her.

For all intents and purposes she should have been out of commission. Several angry warnings let her know that she was well overdue for rest and that likely the only reason she was on her feet was due to micro-napping. She was also rapidly running out of processing power, and her work around to bypass necessary information assimilation in order to remain functional was rapidly approaching a point where it would start doing more harm than good. The lag was only going to get worse, and soon she'd be barely functional.

She needed to find someplace safe to rest and process everything that had happened in the past hundred hours or so. Unfortunately all that her mind was providing for her was the silhouette of the Hoplite she had spotted in the cargo bay earlier.

Hearing Seiren address her by the label of green onion ball again, Tamamo forced herself to return to the present before nodding to the small entrepreneur.

Following along in Seiren's excitable wake with the diminishing candy in her mouth Tamamo decided that she'd greet the Captain of the Crimson Kestrel, then excuse herself and hastily filter back to the ship.

She was running out of time.

Redrick finally finished his reorganization of the kitchen to his liking. It's not as if it had been left in complete disarray, but, he had a certain way he liked everything - it had to be just so, it had to be just right - that it took him hours to rearrange it to his liking. Perfectionism cursed him, as much as it blessed him as well. With that done, he could finally attend to the other pressing matter he had.

He booted up a computer no one was using on the ship, and bought a ticket with the last of his digital funds, from the local air taxi station near his old apartment block to Sargasso, dated for tomorrow. It was an insured, protected flight, the whole nine yards. They were going to be protecting a precious cargo of his, after all.

He left the ship, clambering down the brow with an easy, practiced gait that was a stark contrast to the rush everyone seemed to be in lately - Vita, Luca, most of the crew who he couldn't even remember yet, all of them seemed to have a place they needed to be urgently, pressing business, some kind of goings-on.

Odd way to spend their off hours, he thought to himself, conveniently ignoring the fact he'd just done the same thing - wasted his off-time on work. He lit his corncob pipe, taking a few contemplative puffs before considering his next move. He needed a payphone.

He ambled through Sargasso, again with the same lazy, unconcerned pace that seemed to define his movement outside of a life or death situation, looking but not searching, moving but not with a purpose. A few minutes of semi-aimless wandering produced what he needed - a charmingly old-fashioned, voice only payphone, in a booth, no less. He stepped inside, face wrinkling at the smell of it - it had been used as a toilet recently, and there was something he hoped was dead in the corner of the booth.

He pressed the headset to his ear, and slotted a few coins he'd gotten from somewhere into the console, and was rewarded with a dial tone. He punched the number to his apartment, hearing the rings, once, twice, three times...

A clack - someone had picked up the phone on the other end. A confused, sleepy voice, female, answered him on the other end.

"H-hullo?"

Redrick, despite himself, smiled. "Hey there. it's Red."

"Oh, hey." A shuffling sound. "What is it? Why you callin' at such a weird time?"

"Well, I just got another job." he said, "You may recognize the employer..."

"Some famous restaurant?"

"Naw, uh... y'know the Captain Phoenix cartoon?" Red said, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to deliver this.

"You got a job drawing cartoons?"

"No, Piat. I got a job with -the- Captain Phoenix. Er, the real guy the show's based on. His name's Luca, Luca Pavone."

"WHAAAAAAAT?"

Redrick winced, holding the receiver away from his ear. "Yea, I got a job as the crew's chef. Stop, stop shouting. You'll wake the neighbors."

"That's soooooo cool! Can you get his autograph!? There'ssomanyquestionsineedtoa-"

"Ask 'em yourself, Pi." Red said. The voice was silent, as if she didn't know what he meant. "I asked him if I could fetch you to live with me on the ship, and he said it was fine."

Silence continued. Then there were more incredibly loud, barely coherent excited girl-noises on the other end of the line.

"I already got a shuttle ticket for tomorrow." Red said. He rattled off the ticket number. "Pack what you can, and make sure you're on it on time, alright? The online itinerary will have the departure time. You'll have to call them so they can take the boxes and stuff from the house - I paid for complimentary luggage pickup too."

"Coooool! No problem! There's not much in this dump anyway!" She sounded excited. "Thanks Red! Thankyouthankyou!"

"Yep, yep." He smiled to himself. "See you soon, Piat."

He hung up the phone. Stretching his shoulders (sore) and his legs (very sore), he began to walk back to the ship, looking forward to collapsing on his bed.

Ori-Mart

Shayla's new friends left her behind to go on a little high speed chase, leaving her high and dry. She'd taken their comments to heart, though, and changed into a classic jeans and white T-shirt ensemble. Of course, she was still barefoot, and her oddly colored top was visible through the shirt, but it was a work in progress. "I don't think I can even get fat anymore, just wonderin' how this looks to everyone else. I'm not so sure about that kinda stuff." She picked out a few other bits of clothing, including variations that should be in Tamamo's size, with the employee's help.

She looked up from her armful as Zeta joined her. "Eh? The kid disappeared? I hope she's alright. Knowing her she's probably asking someone a million questions. Or trying to drink their blood." She snorted, then stood up straight at the compliment. "What, really? Guess I did good then. This kinda outfit's simple enough." She barked a short laugh, grinning at the Nepleslian. "I guess we should send alla this crap back to the ship, then find our missing kitten. You think any of the others have seen her?"

Ori-Mart

Zeta studied the waiver and then signed. "Just toss what you bought on the Kitten's heap. Origin will deliver it." Zeta said to Shayla and handed the bill back to the clerk with words of thanks.

"No idea where she went really," Zeta shrugged looking up back at the giant neko. "We can ask Ech tho, I bet she knows. She has this stalker habbit of watching what everyone is doing. Unless she is busy with hanky panky with Allyson."

Ori-Mart
With things wrapped up, the girls were free to leave. A thought crossed their minds: Seiren had wanted to put out a tour for his candy factory out for the Crew to have a look at and left everyone a message that morning.

Moogle said:

He made a message on his communicator out to all the Phoenix crewmembers, should they choose to accept.

Code:

Going to be touring my factory pretty soon!
Like, in thirty minutes!
If you want to join in, I'll be waiting outside the place!

~Seiren

Click to expand...

It had been about forty minutes now, so the tour would have begun a while ago. They had his number. Otherwise, the whereabouts of the skipping blue Nekovalkyrja were unknown to them and as far as they knew, they had no direct way of contacting her. If they felt like shopping around still, the stores were still open, albeit a little full up now that the day was progressing further.

♫ Magic Sword - The Way Home ♫


RenCorp, Entrance
The residents of Sargasso were only a little inundated with the attention from the Fruna Ruica convention's attention, so they didn't take much notice the pink haired, blue Nekovalkyrja that saved their lives skip on by a couple of days ago. A few minutes ago when she first entered, Tamamo didn't see any slogans, logos or similar identifying marks on the factory at all. Perhaps Seiren was being sensible, focussing on the product first and doing the branding later.

Similarly, Luca only knew that this factory created Candy because Seiren had told him and the others as he and Vita pulled up on his bike, otherwise it would've been just another factory - although a very shiny and new factory compared to others around Sargasso. Kickstand flipped down, he dismounted and helped Vita off of his bike, even though she was perfectly capable of doing so herself.

The doors were wide open, and there at the doors were Tamamo and Seiren, who'd come to greet him. "Oh, hi Tamamo, Seiren!" He waved to the duo. "How's the factory? Everything good today?" He knelt down to give Seiren a hug, holding him for a moment before standing back up and giving him a ruffle of his hair. "You must be so chuffed that you got all this going yourself, huh?"

Vita remained quiet, but she noticed something about the blue Nekovalkyrja. She was stuttering, her movement seemed clipped, she took a while to react to things. She sent a message to dad. Da, something's wrong with Tamamo.

Luca meanwhile looked around at the machinery behind Seiren. "You have to show me." Meanwhile, he replied to his daughter. She seems a little shaky, stuttery. What is it?

Vita approached Tamamo and waved. "Hey blueberry." She grinned at her, trying to strike up conversation. She's overloading. She hasn't rested in days to consolidate, I can see it. It's a Nekovalkyrja thing, kind of like leaving your computer on for too long. "Hiya candyman, nice crib." She made finger pistols at Seiren.

Right, do what you must, take my bike if you need to, but promise me no detours. Luca replied back to her daughter.

Promise, dad~. You've really settled into this role well, haven't you?

Luca choked up a little, out of place and character in front of Seiren before blinking and getting his composure back. Y-yeah. Could say that.


Lady of the Night, Lounge
Melissa was wondering what sort of melodrama had crept into her mind and more importantly, why. In retrospect, she was beginning to wonder why a guy would be so ... emotional about things. He was going through rejection, and she spent yesterday evening wondering how men are able to walk properly with that thing however exaggerated it was between their legs.

"Ya could'a just said ya didn't slip me the fuckin' dong drug at the start you mongrel!" Melissa shot back while Enzo was on the can, falling onto his couch and bundling up, huffing as she looked around his abode and hogged his warm spot on the couch. Though, it could be construed that she was keeping it warm for him. "I'm glad you likes me the way I am! Somethin' bout integrity 'o being an' confidence in body image 'er somethinnathat, somethin' Ally lacks a lot!"

Maybe, for that, for finally telling a truth, and admitting that nothing really had to change, she didn't really need to lift a finger for him... she rolled over, face up on the couch now, loosening her gown and showing a little more chest for the conman. As she was lying across the couch, she felt something poking her in the back. She reached behind herself and thrust her hand between the cushions to see what it was, and pulled out a decaying finger with a ring on it.

Unperturbed, she tossed it onto the floor and waited for Enzo.

"Ehehe, yeah! It's been a long time coming, but I'm realizing a dream here!" the inventor said, blushing from either the hug or the semi-praise he'd been getting. "None of the machinery's quite up and running yet, but once the folks are done putting it all together I'm gonna have a limited production run of my new and improved Phoenix candies! Speakin' of which, here!"

Seiren fished two more bright red candies out of his pockets and tossed them to Luca and Vita. He seemed blissfully unaware of Tamamo's glitches manifesting, but given his reaction to one person showing up to meet him, the reason was obvious. He directed Luca and Vita to the mass assembly line, a retrofitted ore processing unit now used to melt down sugars and other confectionary elements, such as the element of marshmellonium. A stickier ingredient could not be found (Since the vat was empty). "I'm working on adding graviton projector units to the processing part of the line, y'know. Trying to make it a one-step process of ingredients-to-product. 'sides, most of my candies can't be manufactured in more than one step, or else they come off all flawed 'n stuff."

Sargasso, RenCorp?

Already in place by the time Luca an Vitalia arrived, Tamamo had somewhat happily managed to consume what remained of the Phoenix Candy that Seiren had provided for her. With the greetings were made Tamamo after a delay that lasted nearly half a minute returned the greeting Luca provided bowing as she did so. The bow some part of her noted was notably less deep than she had for the owner of the building, apparently the decision was based off of some sense of honour that she could only vaguely comprehend at the moment.

As the conversation continued Tamamo eventually figured out that 'Blueberry' referred to her. Blinking slowly and nodding slower as she made an attempt at returning Vita's wave with a stiff stuttering motion. Trying and failed to smile at the brown haired girl Tamamo barely managed to keep herself from folding her ears back as she noted that she had failed to verbally respond to Vita. Feeling that she was past the point of being able to slip it in Tamamo instead halfheartedly directed her attention to the interaction between Seiren and Luca.

With small amount of irritation Tamamo noted that her gaze continued to drift back toward Luca's daughter and her keenly watching brown eyes wondering just what had caught the teenager's attention. With no answers coming to mind awkward seconds trickled past and Tamamo found she wasn't sure what to do leading to her eventually declaring somewhat suddenly that she was going to return to the ship and apologizing for not staying longer.

Pivoting toward the door Tamamo started off into the bright Sargasso sunlight. Her journey back to the Kestrel began poorly as she turned in decidedly the wrong direction as she hit the street sending her in an unnecessary loop.

Adjusting after her circumnavigation of the block Tamamo's speed picked up and she was soon eating the distance between the factory and the space port where the Crimson Kestrel was docked. Heedless of the consequences Tamamo pushed herself hard, becoming a blur of blue, grey, and cyan as she hurtled toward her destination.

Sargasso, Space Port

As the Crimson Kestrel came into sight, she did her best to decelerate landing awkwardly on the tarmac sending her into a sprawling tumble that left her bruised and laying half way up the cargo ramp. Taking a ragged breath she crawled to her feet pushing herself forward, carefully placing one foot in front of the other as she did her best to ignore the angry reports of pain that her body helpfully provided with each motion.

After a subjective eternity across the floor of the cargo bay Tamamo scrambled up the side of the empty chassis of the Hoplite and poured herself into the space where the cockpit would have been had it been assembled. Laying in the husk of a war machine the small blue Nekovalkyrja crawled slowly across the cold metal, worming her way into a nook intended for the flight controls before curling in on herself and closing her eyes, sobbing quietly into the muffling fabric sheathing her legs.

RenCorp, Factory Floor
"Hm, gravition projection," Luca repeated, with absolutely no idea what the kid was talking about, and he knew how hot a Phoenix candy was, and decided to abstain from eating it for now. "So, what, the candy just floats in space and collides ingredients into it?" That was his best guess, everything else was up in the air for him on the inner workings of confectionery making.

Vita, meanwhile took the candy and popped it in her mouth, and didn't feel a thing. "It's quite spicy, Seiren. Good Job." She transmitted to him, not wishing to interrupt his tour. "Hey, Dad, my feet hurt. Can we go home?"

Luca looked at his daughter. "Don't you think it's rude while we're in the middle of a tour, V?"

"Tamamo." Vita said aloud. She realised that it probably should've been transmitted, but she rolled with it. "She didn't look well, I'm going to check up on her."

"Yeah, she didn't. Take my motorcycle home," Luca passed her the keys "but promise me no detours."

"No detours, dad. Sorry Seiren, thanks for the candy though." She gave him a peck on the cheek. A moment later, Seiren felt a burning sensation from the candy on his face before it faded away. "Good luck with the factory." She waved goodbye, walked out, hopped on Luca's bike and started heading back down Sargasso, going through Commercial Lane, and spotting Zeta and Shayla near the entrance of Ori-Mart. She beeped the horn on the motorcycle twice as she went by to get their attention, but sped off.


Crimson Kestrel, Hangar
Vita rolled up the ramp of the Crimson Kestrel on Luca's motorcycle, then put the kickstand down, killed the engine, and kept the keys in her pocket, taking a note to put them in Dad's room. As she started looking for Tamamo by checking the ceilings, she could hear something sobbing. Sniffling. Her heritage allowed her to scan the room for the source of the noise, eventually focussing on the Hoplite.

She approached the Hoplite, and Tamamo could hear a distinct, but soft jingle jangle of punk paraphernalia and metal swaying with her steps. Sensing that nobody was nearby, Vita jumped up on the wing without a care and looked into the cockpit and saw the blue Nekovalkyrja curled into a tight ball. "Tamamo?" She asked. "Tamamo, it's Vita."


Crimson Kestrel, Roof
Still upon the roof of the Kestrel and having watched the one called Vita zip by and return to the Crimson Kestrel, Rebeka noticed a strange little oval covered in feathers with a bird face and a beak landing near her, pecking at the hull for any signs of something edible or interesting.

The seagull noticed the Sourcian, who was unnaturally still, and approached, pecking at one of her feet.

Ori-Mart

"Yeah, Echelon might know what's up..." Shayla rubbed her chin with thick fingers. "Either of 'em could be at that little kid's candy party, or back at the ship. So we just gotta pick, and we're bound to run into one of 'em." She nodded, seeming satisfied with that logic. Tossing the clothing she'd picked out in both Extra Large and Small Neko sizes onto the pile, she headed for the door at Zeta's side. "Which way then? Want me to give ya a lift? Faster than walkin'." She grinned at the idea.

>ON!

In the darkness of the gutted cockpit there was a flash of green followed by a sound somewhere between a strangled growl and a sob. A second later a quiet scuffling noise could be heard as the small blue Nekovalkyrja attempted to stuff herself further into the tiny alcove she had occupied further muffling the unceasing sobs.

The visitor to the cockpit tilted her head, then slipped into it with a quick up-and-over the edge. The cockpit 'glass' was off to one side to be fitted back on at a later date when the engine, controls, seat and creature comforts like cupholders were put back in.

"Tam, come on. I'm here for you." She said, trying to be as delicate as a teenager could.

At the sound of Vita dropping into the cockpit the small form's attempts to stuff itself into the corner continued rapidly loosing coordination and quickly becoming counter-productive as her long legs flailed and slipped out only to be pointlessly grasped by blindly searching hands, the sobbing visibly shaking her limbs as she continued to cry apparently without control.

Seeing that her charge wasn't going to come along nicely, Vita got down on her knees, then grabbed one of Tamamo's legs, and pulled. Tamamo could feel something that wasn't one of Vita's four fingers or a thumb, it was a strength that you wouldn't expect from a teenager, suddenly jerking the blue Nekovalkyrja out of her hiding hole.

Vita flipped and manoeuvred Tamamo upright and carried her by shoulders. "I'm going to put you somewhere more comfortable, do you understand me?" Vita said, then putting Tamamo over her shoulder. "This is no place to sleep. You'll recover from an overload better somewhere actually comfortable."

It's like she knew what Tamamo was experiencing, again, unexpected from a Nepleslian teenager.

As her leg was grasped Tamamo's aimless flailing turned into writhing her body twisting and bucking uselessly as she was pulled from her hole only managing to open a gash on her forehead, the brief flow of crimson quickly slowing as her body repaired itself uncaring as to her state of mind.

Lifted in spite of her attempts to squirm out of Vita's grasp Tamamo sniffled before trying to curl in on herself and vanish. After a moment she froze realizing where she was a new sound emerging slowly between the sobs that shook her body she started to mewl quietly repeating herself over and over again, "No no no no no no no no..."

From what Vita had read of Luca's after-action report, it noted that the Nekovalkyrja in her hands, in no particular order, had been awake for about four to five days, starved, shot in the chest and shredded by shrapnel. She simply wasn't taking care of herself. Vita took the elevator to her room, which was right next to the captain's suite.

To say her room looked like a bomb hit it would be wrong. Though there was mess, and tatter, it was there deliberately to fit with the Nepleslian punk aesthetics she liked. Over on her desk, there was a Kessaku OS computer that Luca bought her, where she did a lot of her computer work. As far as Tamamo knew, Vita did a lot of stuff in conjunction with Echelon.

The second bed which came with these dual occupancy cabins was serving as just that, a second bed. Vita's bed, off to the right was easy to discern, but the second bed was practically untouched. The room itself was quiet, and the computer produced a quiet hum of the fan.

With one hand, she pulled the covers back, then placed Tamamo down onto the mattress, then put the covers back over her body, letting them settle in.

The mewling chorus of Tamamo saying 'no' continued as she was carried into Vita's room and only began to subside once she had been placed on the bed. Still tightly as tightly curled up as she had been in Vita's arms lying where she had been placed on the bed the small Neko continued to sob, the sound only slightly muffled by the blanket placed over top of her small form.

As the minutes passed her body slowly began to relax, spreading out under the blanket as she continued to cry the trembling lump under the cover slowly expanding before settling as Tamamo seemed to reach some sort of equilibrium as relaxed as she was likely to get while she continued to cry.

Vita pulled up her desk chair from her computer in front of the spare bed, and sat down, leaning in to examine Tamamo. "Better?"

Little response save for a brief disruption in the pattern of Tamamo's crying was given to the question. However, as the minutes passed the volume slowly decreased eventually settling into unsteady breaths, and finally the slow rhythm of sleep.

She stroked Tamamo's forehead and felt for any sort of temperature, thankfully it did not seem that she had any sort of elevated temperature feeling comfortably cool to the touch.

While Tamamo was breathing in and out, she couldn't smell any distinct scent from Vita's hands that was hers, and not coming from the clothes she was wearing. Again, another oddity that couldn't be added up in her state at the moment.

Vita then turned around in her chair, and grabbed a pair of earphones, and a bass guitar. The earphones were plugged into an amplifier, which wasn't projecting anything out of its main speakers, and its input was taken up by the bass guitar. She gently placed the large, bucket-style headphones over Tamamo's ears, and started playing something gentle, slow and warm on the bass guitar, keeping her feet off of any of the pedals.

After the headphones were placed upon Tamamo's head the rhythmic breaths in her sleep slowly grew longer, becoming more relaxed as the music played. As the minutes passed a slowly building purr began, almost imperceptibly quiet before growing into a loud rumbling sound with as much in common with a large engine as with a cat; a deeply penetrating thing felt within Vita's core as much as it was heard as she continued to play, the song eventually coming to an end half an hour later.

Vita quietly pulled the headphones off of Tamamo, and let them rest. It'd been a very eventful last few days for them. She put her guitar and earphones away, and left her room, heading over to the kitchen for something to eat. Intimidating gangs of identical-looking morons made her hungry.

Lady Of The Night
Enzo gave a soft kick to the ring-encrusted finger that he discovered on the floor upon returning from Pissylvania Avenue. The tip of his bare foot sent the decaying bit of flesh and bone rolling off into the corner, next to a dead cicada. Enzo made a mental note to remove the ring from the finger before throwing it and the cicada into someone's bed. He sighed wistfully to behold Melissa in a much more comfortable position cocked his hip to one side with arms akimbo. Now, this was more like it.

"Yous feelin' better, ladybug?" He asked her with an almost mocking softness to his tone, "Look a whole lot more comf'ble."

Enzo found the remote and snatched up a creme-filled white chocolate penis before arranging himself around some parts and beneath other parts of Melissa. Normally, one is meant to vivaciously suck upon the chosen snack, giving the impression of wild oral sex and when the chocolate finally melts enough, an explosive ejaculation. Enzo didn't think like that, though. He thought in values, and he was hungry. The conman stuck a milky gonad covered in chunks of chocolate cookie into his mouth and just bit right down. It was good. And, Enzo soon discovered, it was good with the scotch Melissa had been making the most of.

In fact, he felt he'd had a full breakfast by the time the intro music finished playing and the lights in his room dimmed. Enzo sighed in contentment and rested an arm easily over Melissa's waist while the camera focused on Jack. Jack, who would later be known as Jack Zero, sat in his office at 'GavinCo Pharmecuticals' looking over three different pictures. Pictures of two woman and a man the audience would over the next few episodes grow to feel immensely for. Well, them and Jack's eight clones who would eventually need to sort out just who and what they were in the hard world of a fictionalized Roger Wilco, in which the stakes are always high, lives are always on the line, all's fair in love and crime, and nobody can ever know about All My Clones.

"Okay, bye Tamanegi! Bye Vita" Seiren called after the blue cat and the daughter, giving them both a customary wave (And then rubbed his cheek where Vita touched down). He turned to Luca. "No, it doesn't work like that. Well, it sorta works like that. Kinda. It's more like. . ."

The inventor took a moment to think, then made a mixing bowl gesture with his arms.

"It's like a giant mixing bowl. Without the bowl. Or the mixer. Basically using the force of compressed gravity to combine all the parts to make a magical, dandy treat! I have the prototype version of the processor back on the ship, but my prototype can do a lot more. Because SCIENCE!"

Glitter sparkles seemed to emit from his face on that last note.

Makari had been silently tagging along near the back of the "tour group" for Seiren's candy factory. He was less interested in the machinery themselves and moreso for the possibility of free candy at the end. He also enjoyed just how animated Seiren became when explaining the contraptions. While Makari had absolutely no idea what was truly going on with each contraption (all he heard was "This makes candy!!!!"), it was refreshing to see someone take their hobby (profession?) so seriously and at the same be on a ship filled with hard boiled mercs. But he thought he'd rile the guy up a bit.

"So Seiren, what can your prototype do that this one can't? You know I'm better with guns and explosives than your fancy SCIENCE." (he stressed the word just as Seiren had)