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RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 33: Usowotsuku

Mini-Mart

More like they'd put lead in ya after another one of your antics.

Another typical Jack response, he always tried to play it cool and look tougher than he was. Between the two of them, Molli wondered if Jack didn't feel a measure of embarrassment that she was typically the one who stood up to the bullies on their behalf. He wasn't like most Nepleslian boys back in the day -- he liked reading, drawing pictures -- so many pictures. It was one of the things that Molli liked about him; admired, even, enough to put up with being a model behind a setting sun day after day. The memories made Molli's throat tighten a little, and she withdrew her hand from her jacket.

Jack's request made Molli blink in surprise, not helped by his speedy exit that didn't leave room for a response. She looked between Aratani, Sif, and Rio, her expression one of guilt. "Ah'm holdin' us up as is," she said, reaching to grab a roll of gauze, "Ah'll do it while we're yackin', 'e's an old friend, known 'im all m'life." Molli started for the door before the crew could object, and she was already tearing off a length of gauze to wrap around her midsection. "They're payin' fer it!" she called out for fear of earning further ire from the shopkeep.

Outside the Mini-Mart

Ah'll ask 'im, Molli said over wireless, her lips mouthing the words soundlessly from her inexperience with wireless communication. She pushed the shop's door open to presumably meet Jack again, "Whatcha need? Hope it ent ah favor -- m'gal pals stole me fer an errand, 'n we gotta amble on." Molli kept the details vague, as one would with a secret mission on the line. Despite her brusque demeanor, she couldn't help but soften her expression as she leaned against the shop wall. "Ah...missed ya, y'know," she said quietly, cheeks reddening. "Missed yer stupid comments, 'n gettin' mad at mah advice fer talkin' t'girls..."
 
Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

Their minds still completely blown by William and Aiko standing before them in the rain, the young Zaf accepted the ID-SOL's 40 bucks with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Both had so many questions, but none quite bubbled to the surface. With the money soon pocketed, both of the kids looked at each other and then snapped back to the Kikyo Sector's most famous warriors. Almost in unison, both Zaf and Darla stood at attention and gave the mighty paragons a crisp salute backed by so much enthusiasm that the pair of youngsters nearly bounced on the spot.

"Yes sir—Captain—sir!" Zaf barked in his best and most intimidating Action Soldier performance, not even heeding the sound of his own voice cracking. Beside him, Darla nodded along while she beamed and maintained her own salute. "The candy's on you, sir! Let's go!"

And with that, Darla grabbed Zaf's arm and dragged him off into the convenience store to make sure he followed through with both losing their game and the boy's promise to William. They bowled right past Molli and Jack, threading between the two Nepleslian hoverbikers and past the other Kaiyō crewmembers as they strode out of the shop.

Despite her initial shock, the Princess Aiko smiled silently next to William as the sleuths who'd found them out slipped away.

"You have at last killed enough to be noticed by anyone other than me and Rei," Aiko said to him, replying verbally to his telepathic message now that only he and Morgana were in earshot. She directed her smile from the retreating fans and up to her friend, and bared her artfully pointed teeth at him with a wider grin. "I am happy for you. Truly," the princess teased, and then caught the sight of Molli coming out with someone she didn't recognize.

"Now this," Aiko shifted, her segue very abrupt. She indicated she was talking about Jack by tracing her scarlet eyes over toward him. "Faelan-shoi, Wil: Be on your guard. We do not need further difficulties today."

Mini-Mart

The old smoker took Aratani's compliment with a raspy grunt, "Huuugh," and took the Star Army girl's money with equal indifference.

Just then, as Sif helped Aratani gather up their haul of medical supplies and water and candy snacks, a couple of kids skittered in on their squishy soles and past the Neko girls without taking note that there were even more of the Unmatchable Hero William Sanders' supersoldier Valkyrie harem hanging around. Nekovalkyrja gangs weren't totally unheard of these days, anyway—not that anyone could tell them apart from the most recent waves of so-called Nepleslian "mutants" who took a shot of special bio-juice to sprout cat ears just like the Yamataians they had so derided in the nearly two decades since YE 28.

"Come again," the clerk managed sounding like she had a whole sack of rocks in her throat. She took a drag from the cigarette tubed into her neck. "Or don't," she added, sounding much more smooth for those two words only. "You aren't from here anyway."

Back Outside

It began to rain a little harder. Not quite a downpour, but definitely enough to soak anyone caught out for more than a few seconds. For her part, Aiko used her Eihei enhancements to create an electrostatic field that protected her stately raven black tresses from getting wet. It was a simple skill she'd learned from her sensei, who herself was a samurai that mastered the Eihei-type form's energy manipulation, and one she could use as intuitively as most Neko could maintain volumetric clothing.

Nearby, there were many thin alleyways like the one the kids had scurried out from. And an old bus stop with clear panes protecting its top and sides stood a few meters up the street from the mini-mart's front door. A few bars and cafes were within sight, too, a ways down the road. None of them, however, had neon blazons identifying them as the specific establishment sought out by the Star Army team.

Counterintuitively, more people seemed to be shuffling out onto the streets in spite of the rain; it must have been the right time of day or a shift change for whatever industry the locals filled up the moments of their lives with. Being Nepleslia, that meant it was only a matter of time before some sort of shooting started, but getting caught between the natives having fun posed less grave danger than the prospect of being tracked down by the IPG or some other group of in-the-know creeps.
 
Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

With a skip to his step, Jack twirled on his thick black boots to take cover over the lip of the mini mart's roofing. It meant he could get a look at Molli better. Her bodysuit was still torn at the belly and in inspecting her wounds with a diligent eye, his gaze went to her exposed tummy before shooting back up to her red cybernetics. His face was painted in a blush that outmatched Molli's own.

"Yer advice never did help, y'know, with any girls." Jack quipped, then his smile softened. "I honest to green thought you's dead. That or almost just as worse 'n' you'd gone off to Yamatai. I know, I know... But I just had a feeling you did an' I fumed about it fer too long. I was jealous'n'shi an finding some hope you was still alive. I'm relieved you ended up holding out with thems." His eyes landed on Sif, curiosity piquing at the blue-skinned girl. "Dunno if you told me what girl group they are, anyways. Well, what gang you are, that is."

His head spun around to take in the people milling out into the rain. "Might be a good time to know 'n' I'll split if they're not in good league with the Beckers. No favor to ask of yer, just to keep in touch now is all. Now that you're back from the dead."
 
Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

William chuckled as he returned the kids' salute. Turning back to Aiko, he rolled his eyes but returned the toothy smile. At the shift in his friend's demeanor, he followed her gaze towards the others. He also took note of the increased foot traffic. "Agreed. We should probably get a move on. Let's go." He said, leading the way towards the rest of the squad. As he walked, he slid the half skull mask back into place. With any luck it would help keep him from being noticed again.
 
Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

"Good advice ent worth much t'fools," Molli countered with a cheeky grin, as she often did when they bantered like this. Though she could make out the rest of her squad in the distance and knew the others were close by, it was easy to forget that she was a Star Army operative the longer she spoke with Jack, who, predictably, couldn't put the pieces together. For as close as they were, he never really grasped how much she loathed Nepleslian society, nor could he comprehend how a girl like her would prefer the Yamataian way of life.

Molli started to strip pieces of her bodysuit's arms off in order to better bandage the cuts, which made it look like she was wearing a tight-fitting, short-sleeved tank top by this point. "Mercs," Molli said, "Neko wannabes, but they ent bad company. We're lookin' into One More fer th'Road, ever heard o'that?" Molli didn't want to take a risk with his gang's allegiances, which could put him in their sights. More than that, however, Jack's request made Molli's stomach churn as she shifted in place with visible discomfort. If they kept in touch, who's to say the people hunting for her wouldn't manage to track Jack down and interrogate him -- messily?

"Ah...ah think y'should forget y'ever saw me, Jacky," Molli said quietly, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, "Been ah long time. We...we're diff'rent people." She couldn't look him in the eye, not while trying to sabotage this friendship for his own good.
 
Mini-mart

"She does know we're going to have to unwrap her again right?" Sif said, rubbing the back of her neck. Molli didn't even get the wet wipes to clean out the dust from around the injuries. But reconnecting with a friend, a childhood one at that from what Sif understood, is a high priority on a personal level. Oh to be separated for years and years, only to meet one night when the stars aligned as the heavens cry. Sif just couldn't help but grin as Molli chased after Jack, no doubt experiencing nostalgia and melancholy of days gone by.

Her attention was grabbed by the shopkeeper speaking up as two children rushed by her, the ominous tone of her farewell being overshadowed by Sif's internal musings. "Glowing like a neon light in morning dew?" was her response accompanied with a chuckle. As she pulled her hand away from her neck, she noticed she had twirled a small bundle around her finger. She had always preferred to keep her hair bundled up in her braid, but she had initially planned to just stay in the mask for the whole operation, her hair tucked away in the cowl just as her tail was carefully tucked into her pant's leg. Judging by the situation, Sif estimated that she had a minute or two to browse some more.

She approached the clerk, taking a black hair tie from the display near the counter. It was one of those ties with a pendant-like attachment. The one she took had a pair of silver bird skulls, but there was also another that had an attachment that coiled around the tie to make it appear as if a 2 inch-wide metallic band was binding the hair. Both were appealing to her. She put the first one on the counter, stared at the second hair tie before she mumbled, "One more for the road," and adding it to the pile, sliding her payment next to her items, 'accidentally' slipping an extra bill with a larger denomination that a wide-eyed tourist presumably wouldn't have known accidentally got folded in.

"Any good sightseeing spots here?" Sif asked as she waited for the clerk to process the payment, her eyes looking over the selection of hair ties, but her attention was on the clerk. She figured she could fish for some information while she was there. The clerk surely would know something, and if not, Sif hoped she'd get some tips on great views if she ever found her way back here for leisure.
 
Mini-mart

"No," the cashier gurgled through a cloud of caustic smoke released through both her nostrils and mouth. She didn't flinch her gaze from the television show she was watching and slapped her fleshy paw down to take Sif's money, then quickly returning what change the conspicuously inconspicuous Star Army soldier was owed—including that extra bribe bill Sif had tried to sneak in. "It's Funky City. Only sights we got here are guns and drugs, and your little party's lookin' chock full of both. Get out and enjoy the rain. It doesn't burn tonight so that's as good as you're getting."

Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

"Yeah-yeah," Jack said, his eyes darting away from Molli's own avoided stare first across the Neko and William and then toward the wet sidewalk. "I get what yah sayin' and all. No sense in makin' fancy new pals jus'ta come yap with me, huh?"

With Molli's hand on his shoulder, he rubbed a knuckle on the side of his nose and sniffed a few times—perhaps affected by the moment and his old friend's rejection—then snorted before spitting out a sizeable loogie onto the street. That prepared him to say goodbye, so he took the opportunity to slip an arm around Molli's waist and give her a last farewell.

"One more fer th'road, yeah?" Jack asked in that way that didn't expect a response while leaning down so his eyes matched the height where Molli's sat. He pointed off down the street. "Thataway two blocks then'y turn left in t'alley with the neon gecko onnit. I'll just keep memberin' you before. See ya never, Molls," he told her with the same old smile and one last brotherly squeeze.

With that, Jack broke contact and turned on a heel. He strode away in the opposite direction and did not look back even though he waved lazily over his shoulder until veering off out of sight toward whatever his own destination was that night.

William had already begun leading the squad onward by then, and was a few paces away. Aiko remained watching the exchange between her soldier and Jack, for a few moments prepared to rip the young airbiker limb-from-limb before she could tell it was a friendly encounter. An encounter that was an apparent boon in pursuit of their mission at that.

"Excellent, Byrne-hei," Aiko told the girl, stepping toward her and then looking over the rest of the squad who'd went inside the convenience store. Sif would be just exiting by then. "You heard all of that, Wil?" she added, sending a simultaneous wireless message to the ID-SOL with the directions repeated. "We should get there immediately. Proceed to the location."

One More for the Road

This place was quite the dive. A bar with black walls that had all sorts of shit plastered onto them from chalk and silver permanent marker messages to pasted street art collected over decades—or even centuries—and bright alcohol advertisement signs whose little light was drowned out by the lime green-and-pink that shone out from the neon tubes of a gecko design affixed behind the bar that only vaguely matched the one out in the alleyway entrance. And despite even the lizard's lumens, One More for the Road was a dark and dreary place. The main bartop was made of marble, but it was an ugly ochre color that didn't look luxurious or fancy at all. There were booths beyond it, some directly behind the stools and then other aisles that butted against the establishment's walls and meandered off into the building farther than anyone entering could see.

When the Kaiyō's complement shuffled in with Aiko in the lead, they could tell it was a pretty lively place. Bustling in the quiet way where all the whispers and murmurs stopped as the newcomers passed through the threshold into a place all the regulars knew they didn't belong. But it was a quick pause, and the chatter commenced soon enough as Chandler Park's least upstanding citizens went back to having good talks about their bad troubles. If anyone cared that a gaggle of mostly Nekovalkyrja walked in, they didn't let on. In the estimations of certain nefarious patrons, Princess Aiko and her crew weren't even the most interesting people to walked through that door tonight.

"Ramios," Aiko said to the group. "That is who we are searching for. Find him—or her—and report in when you do. Faelan, Yoshida: secure us a booth if you are able. The rest of you should disperse and gather what intelligence you can."
 
One More for the Road

Setting her sights on the ochre marble bartop, Aratani approached the bartender. She let her finger twist around her white hair and her lavender eyes were as soft as they could be as she prepared to pull out any information she could. But, not before ordering. She slipped a DA note on the counter and slid onto a stool at the counter.

"Pitcher of whatever's on tap and good," Aratani asked before she audibly took in a whistling breath through her lips. She wasn't adept at ordering for a group and was hopeful that a pitcher was a normal Nepleslian order and not some obvious faux pas to a local. She was also imbuing her mannerism with what she had seen from the ID-SOL William sometimes brought around. Unbeknownst to her, everyone imbibing and working here had already regarded her as out of place and any attempt at a facade was wasted energy. For all her attempts, the cheery sunshine of her personality bounced off the black painted walls of the dive with a brightness that was hard to veil. Her gleaming hair spilled forward onto the sticky surface that her arms would have felt if not for the long-sleeved shirt doubled up underneath her t-shirt. She had leaned forward with her forearms on the garish bartop to speak low.

"Y'know, looking for a Ramios."
 
Chandler Park, Sijpiher Street

Molli kept trying to tell herself that she made the right decision, even as she could feel her eyes growing wet from how well Jack seemed to take her cutting off a decade of companionship. To her credit, she didn't let the tears fall -- he would've never let her hear the end of it. Still, Molli slipped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed, completing their awkward halfway hug. When he walked off into the foggy depths of the city, Molli reassured herself, again, that thinking she didn't want anything to do with him was better than her former associates putting the screws and torches to him. That was little comfort for the fresh hole in her heart, though.

Stay safe, Jacky...

"...Yeah," Molli replied to Aiko, her jaw clenching. The princess's praise was, ironically, unwelcome at this particular moment. It wasn't like she could've known what that talk meant to her, and Molli wasn't keen to pour her heart out. Thrusting her hands into her jacket pockets, Molli trudged along in silence toward the next milestone of the operation.

One More for the Road

When you saw one crappy bar, you've seen them all, and OMR was just another foul smelling, ramshackle establishment that looked as poorly kept-together as the people drowning themselves in their bottles. Molli was still feeling melancholic about her severed friendship when they arrived, and with the orders to operate incognito as they gathered intelligence on Ramios, the Nepleslian had a perfectly acceptable reason to take a seat at the garish marble counter. "Somefin' hard, straight up," Molli signaled to the bartender in the way Jack taught her when they'd snuck into a club as teenagers, with a gesture that conveyed a desire for a chilled drink without ice. "Drinkin' fer a...friend," she murmured, sighing.

Eventually she'd have to segue into questions about their guy (or gal), but for now, Molli wanted to dull the pain.
 
Mini-mart > Sijpiher Street

"Well that's a shame, I hoped to do a bit of sightseeing, but the rain does have a nice effect against the signs. I should have brought a camera," Sif said with a disappointed sigh as she was stuffing the change back into her pocket along with one of the hair ties. As she was leaving, she tied her hair into a ponytail, the bird skull decorations hanging on either side of the loops. At least her hair was a bit more controlled now. It wasn't as kept as a braid, but she likely didn't have time to properly do one. And considering they seemed to have a new spot to go to, she was right.

Fortunately for Molli, Sif didn't see Jack's embrace with her, which would have set off the right arm's imagination once more, not that she'd have the time to formulate another made up anecdote as they were already set to move. A relief considering she didn't get much out of the clerk, though that would be something she would have expected. The jaded often don't mingle with trouble if they could help it. Or maybe she was too subtle about it... She'd have to review her performance later. For now, they had a place to be.

One More for the Road

Entering the bar and noticing the crowd, Sif could imagine the scene from the patrons' point of view. They were likely to think that the group was trouble. And given the comments from the clerk, they would be hard pressed to blend in. So another method should be applied. Trying not to stand out for instance. At first pass, that may seem like the same thing, but there's hiding in the crowd and there's hiding in the shadows.

Which... would mean she'd have to try gathering intel by eavesdropping... She wouldn't even know where to start. But she does know that she has to start. "One step at a time."

She took a pack of wet wipes from their haul and excused herself. "I'll just be a moment," she said, setting up her story as she headed for the restrooms. Not the most glamourous posting, but with the blood, dirt and grime on her person, she had an excuse to stay in one place for a while as she freshened herself up.
 
One More for the Road

The squad's destination was certainly a place. Between the ancient, unflattering decor and the atmosphere it was certainly not a place Rio would have willingly entered outside of an assignment. Was it really safe to drink or eat from such a place? Rio had her doubts about doing so.

With Aiko's orders in hand Rio split off to snag a booth for the rest of squad with Morgana, grabbing her fruit snacks and some wipes from Aratani's bag as she did. As she wandered through the bar in search of a free booth in a good spot, Rio made sure to do her best to listen in on the conversations around her. Aside from a handful of highly inappropriate comments towards the squad it was mostly the typical conversations of an everyday working joe. Breakups, bad bosses and other problems.

Towards the back Rio spotted what she thought was a decent booth. Butted up against the backwall the booth was a half circle around a large, polished wooden table that offered a mostly decent view of the rest of the bar including the front door. Upholstered in a worn red pleather, the seats still had some measure of cushion to them that offered comfort as Rio unceremoniously planted herself in the booth. Even as she got comfortable and opened her wipes to begin to clean her face up, Rio sent a short message over the squad's wireless "Claimed a good booth near the back." She also sent a quick picture from her point of view, showing her view of the bar.
 
One More for the Road

William smirked as they all walked into the dive bar. "Now this is what I'm talking about," he said, following Aratani to the bar. As she placed her order for a pitcher, he removed his mask once more and looked over the selection of alcohol. His eyes landed on a rather rare bottle of bourbon. He got the bartenders attention, then motioned to the bottle. "45 Gun Smoke, neat. Make it a double."

Using his military grade cyberware, he began searching the divebar for any cameras he could jack into. Using that he could attempt figure out who Ramios is. In the meantime, however, he would enjoy his rather rare find. "Ash tray?" He asked the bartender as he pulled out a cigarillo and lit it, then took several puffs. He blew several smoke rings into the air before sighing in contentment.
 
Barroom

Having entered the dingy dive together and then approached the bar at the same time, Aratani, Molli, and William got an appraising look from the bartender who cocked a coffee colored eyebrow at them as he slid a pair of big crystal rocks glasses toward the two Nepleslians and popped a pitcher up from behind his bar and caught it fluidly beneath the beer tap to begin fulfilling Aratani's request.

He was stocky and short, and had a mop of tiny curls atop his head that were a shorter on the sides but not so much so that he looked like one of those broccoli haired losers. Honey-hued acetate aviator specs gave his pale skin a warmer look than it probably deserved. No older than twenty-eight, the scruff on his face was sparse even though it was probably a week past the last time he shaved. A plain black shirt and skinny khaki chinos left him with an unassuming appearance, but a few tattoos crawled out from under each of his tee's short sleeves; some gang markings and NSMC blazons were clearly visible alongside a gecko and script that meant more to him than anyone else in the whole universe. In all, the bartender was a fairly typical Nepleslian who lacked enough mutant DNA to be called anything special, and who kept his bionic augments discreet if he had them at all.

"Lots of people are," he answered Aratani while he delivered the pitcher in front of her. A moment later, he clinked a green glass ashtray down onto the marble in front of William and grabbed the bottle of '45 Gun Smoke' and cracked its cork for the first time in a while. "Gotta ask, though, is Ramios looking for you?"

Into both Molli and William's cups he poured about 5 ounces of the bourbon—a hefty shot or something to sip, it was the drinker's choice—not bothering to switch it up for the girl. 45 Gun Smoke was rare and a little pricey, sure, but it was "somefin' hard" just as Molli requested. And there was no reason not to charge for two glasses of the stuff because it was quite a kick-in-the-ass kind of Nepleslian whiskey that not even people wanting to feel fancy sprung for owing to its acerbic reputation and throat punching portage.

"He's a busy guy," the bartender added, swiping Aratani's offered payment for the pitcher and the two shots alike. "I'll open a tab. You can settle it when you're through."

Sif

The bathrooms were off beyond the main collection of booths that surrounded the main bar where William, Aratani, and Molli had gone. Situated in the middle of a long wall, two beat-up wooden doors were simply marked with "MEN" and "GIRLS" in freshly reapplied chalk. They'd been painted and varnished so many times over the years that whatever character imbued into them was hidden encased under uncounted layers of dark gloss. Deeper into the building still was another back dining room-slash-game area with six person tables and more booths lining the walls, and a thin haze of smoke hanging above everybody as they went about their business drinking and flirting and slinging cards or dice between each other. Another bar was tucked off in the corner, and there looked to be another set of pathways into further back rooms (or at least the establishment's kitchen).

The men's room had a line of about six humanoids waiting—some sober and others leaning into the wall to stay upright—while the women's room hung cracked open and vacant. There were more women on Nepleslia these days, more than there had been in decades past, but the gender disparity was still there. If anything, considering the bar's outsized capacity compared to the two-stall restroom complement, it was most surprising that anyone left the second one open for the fairer sex. In that, Sif was lucky. But it did mean she wouldn't hear much small talk once she slipped inside and locked the door behind her.

And as the white haired Neko did so, she caught a glimpse of what lay at the end of the bathroom hallway. The black, cluttered walls where the bathrooms were terminated into a brightly lit void behind a curtain of orange glass beads that sparkled with a dark blue-pink light behind them. Sif could see for a moment, as a Delsaurian parted the glittering sheet, a tall ID-SOL wearing a suit and sunglasses indoors standing at the landing to a staircase that led somewhere upstairs.

Booth

"Ryoukai," Aiko affirmed in a message back to Rio. She'd ventured off alone, at first beside Sif before splitting off to investigate the gambling hall.

A blonde barmaid with a bushy ponytail and high waisted short shorts sauntered over to the edge of Rio and Morgana's table. Her purple crop top t-shirt matched the tights she had on underneath her pants, and she held her posture with a forward pelvic tilt that made her torso look sort of tube-like and bendy. She had nice brown eyes and, oddly, her hair itself bled off thick beads of clear liquid—certainly some sort of mutation that caused her locks to sweat.

"Get'cha dolls anything?" the girl asked with a big, toothsome smile. "Or your friends have it handled? Maybe some milk for the mew-mew?" she winked toward Rio.

William

The Marine captain's mindware could quickly find the cyberspace doors to One More for the Road's surveillance systems. But they appeared locked down tight. Military grade, just like his, the bar's electronics networks were well defended with countermeasure sentry programs ready to fight off any unauthorized access and neural spike traps waiting for him to make the wrong move.

William could probably get in, maybe even find a full schematic of the building. But it would take more concentration than he was afforded standing there at the bar.
 
Sif kept her head down but ears perked as she went to the girls' room, shutting it behind her. It would seem like those scenes of ridiculously long lines for the mens' bathroom was not just an exaggeration played for laughs in media. The ones in line didn't seem all too talkative, but she thought that giving it a few minutes she might hear something. She let the water run in the sink for a few seconds while she removed her gloves and tucking them in half way in a side pocket. She splashed a bit of water on her face to clean off what she could, but for cleaning up her outfit, she'd stick to wet wipes, getting most of the blood out.

Remembering her injury, she slipped a wipe down her shirt over her shoulder. There was no surprise that it came out almost fully red. She cleaned that up as best she could with as much reach as she could manage until the wipes weren't red anymore. "That's the best I can do without disrobing," she sighed. "Going to take a long shower after this."

She tossed the wipes into the bin and put her gloves back on. She looked at herself in the mirror once more to straighten out her outfit before shutting off the tap and heading out, going further down the hall towards the glass bead curtain. She was unsure what would lay behind it. Looked like a classic VIP lounge to her, or a member's only section of the building. Whatever it was, she wanted to check.
 
One More for the Road

Considering she was beyond the boundaries of depression, and considering the Star Army was paying her tab, Molli felt no remorse for ordering an expensive drink to dull her senses. The Nepleslian girl hadn't become a drinker until very recently, and so her palate wasn't quite as refined as one would expect of her people. As she tipped the glass to her lips and imbibed its murky contents with reckless abandon, it became clear that Molli had bitten off more than she could chew in doing so. It had the taste of stale car oil and kicked worse than a bucking bronco, somehow making her feel even thirstier than before. "'E drink this kinna swill?" she asked in an accusatory tone, her face scrunched up, Molli shook her head to try and shake the taste away.
 
Barroom

Aratani felt a mask go up at the barkeep's question. Facade in place, she played the query off as if whether or not they met up with Ramios, she didn't mind either way. It seemed to be what the barkeep wanted on a superficial level and Aratani was prepared to meet them in that place of nonchalance. Her posture leaned back a bit as she put her top grippers around the pitcher but made no motion to leave with it just yet.

"Oh, Ramios is looking for us, most def," Aratani said. "But don't know if he knows we're out in the main room, so I thought I'd ask. If he's busy we can go to him."
 
Barroom

William sighed contentedly as he sipped the strong alcohol.

"What do you mean 'swill'? This is grade A stuff," he replied to Molli, before focusing back on the glass, or that's what it appeared like he was doing.

The ID-SOL was surprised by the military grade net security this little dive bar had. He stood from the bar, collecting his drink and ash tray, and moved to the booth. He smirked at the bar maid as he moved to sit down. "Only if you are on the menu," he replied with a sly grin as he joined Rio and Morgana, taking another sip of his drink and puff of his cigarillo.

He telepathically spoke to the pair as he ogled the barmaid. "I need to dive into the bar's network. Watch my back." With that he focused his full attention on cyberspace. He carefully searched the subnet for any easy access routes deeper into the network.
 
Barroom

Rio couldn't tell if the barmaid was trying to be endearing or subtly insulting calling her a mew-mew. Rio decided to just take it at face value of her trying to be cute. She gave the woman a big grin while she finished cleaning up her face. Just as she was about to speak was when William meandered over to the booth. With his comment about the woman being on the menu, her blue cheeks quickly turned a deep shade of purple. Rio reached up to brush a bit of hair back behind on ear as she stammered "I...I will take that glass of milk. Thank you."

Telepathically Rio replied to Will "Ryoukai. We've got a pretty good view of things from here." Admittedly even she was giving the barmaid a long look. The woman was pretty in a way that was different than a neko. At least Rio thought so.
 
Booth

"One milk and a couple of glasses for yer friend's pitcher; saw everyone come in so I'll bring plenty," the waitress winked to Rio from behind her grimy pleather server book, where she wrote down the order (just in case she forgot its complexity) while leaning into her own back. She looked up at the towering William when he approached, and then looked him down as he sat. "No quick service. But'cha can get me to go, 'Sky Marshal,'" she flirted, looking at the distinctly purebred looking Nepleslian whilst fanning herself with the same notepad she'd just been jotting on. "I'll come find ya and your lil' mew-mew when I'm off."

She may not have been genuine because the barmaid was off to the next table without looking back, already playing coy with the table of Delsaurians two booths down. But she just as easily could have been keeping tabs on her next hustle—or simple plans for later if she even charged for her time.

Cyberspace

William was already jacked-in and immersed in the bar's computer system by the time the drippy haired mutant girl voiced her approval for his gigantic form. It was a lot calmer in there than things had been in the chaotic and unfamiliar Kuvexian base intranet on Hanako's World. Back then, his mindware searched for the familiar and resolved the alien defender programs as abstract blocks and low res icons within a simple world of neon green wire lines and black walls. But now, able to properly interface with the Nepleslian software, he found his digital avatar within a more familiar place.

Still constructed from strings of light on a pitch dark canvas, the bar's network was represented by a cartoonish but finely detailed blue stone fortress stuck in the middle of a busy city bock not unlike the streets outside, complete with turrets and ramparts upon which sentry programs represented by green Nepleslian Marines stood. Right in the castle's center was a big pink gecko, the bar's ubiquitous symbol, on a pair of otherwise bare black doors.

When William's avatar materialized there before the gate, they actually parted for him without issue and permitted him "inside," which was a simple palm-lined entryway. A prompt appeared before him, hanging in the digital world a few units away.


Code: 
<MAINFRAME ACCESS>
<"ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD, WHERE EVERY DRIVER IS DESIGNATED">

MENU:
1. LIBATIONS 2. GRUB 3. NARCOTICS 4. GAMES 5. GIRLS 6. CAMERA 7. LIBRARY 8. BUSINESS SERVICES 9. MORE

SYNTAX GUIDE: SPECIFY <1> thru <9>

Bar

"I don't think he'll like how flashy your crew is," the bartender chuckled in reply to Aratani. He had a friendly face and welcoming tone in his voice while he continued flipping pint cups and filling them as he spoke, but there was touch of hostile candor behind his words. "Come on too strong and Ramios won't care what you've got. Like I said. I'll keep your tab open—see how much a squad of Yui's finest can rack up. Maybe after that you'll get some good attention for once today, huh?"


Beaded Stairwell

Sif parted the glass curtain and stepped in, and was immediately greeted by the ID-SOL guard.

He was silent at first, only pulling his massive left hand out of its place crossed over the other arm and locked beneath his right bicep to offer the inquisitive Valkyrie his flat palm in a wordless order to stop. About as tall as William (give or take a few inches either way) with a sandy blond high-and-tight haircut, his cybernetic augmentations were subtle. A pair of glowing orange eyes beneath his sunglasses that shone through when he looked down at Sif the right way, and a ribbed and vented metallic neck that shot up from his black collared shirt, suit jacket, and tie. There was not much else she could see, but his slab of a body could certainly hold many more augmentations hidden within. His left ear had one of those clear earpieces with a squiggly acoustic tube that went down and disappeared beneath his jacket.

"You have somewhere to be, miss?" the doorman asked. "Wrong turn maybe. Don't remember any cats on the list tonight, neither ordered nor invited. Justify yourself or scram."
 
Booth

As the barmaid left their booth Rio's gaze lingered on her for several moments before she turned back to the rest of the bar. Idly Rio opened her packet of fruit snacks and began to slowly eat them one by one, ears moving back and forth idly as she tried to catch bits of conversations even as her eyes roamed from table to table. Rio wasn't looking for weapons. She assumed at this point that every Nepleslian here was armed with at least a pistol. She was more focused on just how much attention was being given to the the squad, even if so much as a glance.
 
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