Batten Tower - Vault Sublevels

[Issy]

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[Issy]

Batten Tower stood like a spectacular, twisting spire in the middle of Old Market. Majestic and serene, its outer appearance belied what was happening inside its network. The alarms were going crazy. There was a... a.... well, something was coming towards it! And none of the monitors could tell what it was. Why should they? Tasslehofl Momus didn't usually show the dragon side of himself, and here it was... if only the wings part of it, but those wings blocked out the sun. Security forces were preparing themselves for war and were storming all over the tower, getting into different positions to lay out weapons aimed at that thing in the sky. Finally, the alarms and security monitors cried a final cry, then decided they were going to have no part of it and went silent, hiding themselves deep within their own coding. The creature beat its wings once more then folded them in. It was a rocket that was coming towards the Tower! Well, no it wasn't but the speed at which it went from seemingly flying to down right plummeting towards the Tower was staggering.

There was no time for any of the security guards to raise their weapons before he landed there atop the tower, his legs bending slightly to help cushion the landing for the one in his arms. As he stood, he gave a single look around at all those slack faces.. faces that knew who he was and perhaps were thanking whatever gods they knew about (and some they didn't) that they didn't open fire. His steps were heavy, and that Primordial darkness that were once his wings, flowed behind him like Death's shroud. Those steps were direct, and carried him to the door that led into the Tower itself. As he approached it, the door opened and Kyle Pontius stepped from it. It wasn't until Tass was directly in front of Kyle that he stopped. And then, it was only to pass Scarlett (and Peter) over to him. The words that came out of Tass still bled with power. "Take care of her. I will return." Then, he simply turned, and walked to the edge of the tower, and fell off. Halfway down, those wings appeared once more and scooped the air, carrying Tass back into the day's sky.

Laughter. Why was Scarlett hearing laughter? Especially while she was floating? Scarlett couldn't see anything. Surrounded in darkness, she tried to move but it felt as if she were swimming through a thick liquid. She strained but her limbs just weren't cooperating.

Once more, that small laugh rang through the silence. Childlike, it caused her to stop her struggle and still. Something about it was so familiar. So achingly familiar. She heard it closer and narrowed her eyes as a faint spark appeared just in front of her. "Hello? Who's there?" Even her voice sounded strange, as if it were someone else talking.

The laughter rang out even louder and that spark started to shift and shape into something completely different. She found herself afraid..Her heart pounding, (even if she didn't think that were possible) she tried to turn away from the brightness of that light as it started to form into a head and a pair of shoulders. One that barely reached her knees.

"Mommy?" That voice called out to her from so far away. "Why did you leave me mommy?" She wanted to throw something at that figure, now standing before her. Wanted to scream at it to go away and leave her alone. "You promised you would always take care of me. I'm lost mommy. I did what you told me to. I stayed so you could find me."

Her heart felt like it was shattering as that sweet and angelic face finally came into view. Those cherubic cheeks rounded as the sandy haired little boy smiled up at her with eyes so much like his fathers. She shook her head and brought her hands up to cover her eyes as she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know..I would never have forgotten you on purpose." Her little boy stood there, with a sad smile on his face. "Will you take me home now?"

She brought her hands down and reached for him, only to have them pass through him. "No....please don't leave..Not when I have just found you again." She begged, cried, and screamed into the darkness...but the boy was gone, leaving her alone once more.

[Issy]

Batten Tower, Vault Sublevel, Compartment D6

The Playboy stopped in front of the door to one of the vaults he'd had set up as a medical lab for special contingencies. The biometric scanners overhead verified his identity without the need for PIN codes or the like, and a moment later there was a faint metallic clunk as the locks disengaged. The door opened in the complete silence of well-maintained hydraulics, and Edward Batten stepped in, looking over the woman that Kyle had brought down here three days ago.

Other than an IV drip, there was nothing connected to her. The sensors in this vault kept track of everything - heart rate, metabolism, blood oxygenation, brain and nervous system activity, and a variety of other readouts that even most advanced research labs didn't think to look for. As he stepped close to the table, a variety of holographic readouts blinked into life above the table and the woman laid on it.

"Alright, Di. Talk t'me."

The AI's petite curved female form appeared next to one of the readouts, speaking in a crisp, detached voice. "Per your instructions, the subject Scarlett has been kept under continuous observation for three days. Heart rate, metabolic functions, and respiration are all far below normal levels, but consistent. Her body's state is suggestive of an induced coma."

The holographic readouts flickered out, all but two, one near her head showing EEG readings, and another, larger display centered over her torso, this one showing a constantly-shifting crystalline structure. There did not appear to be any distinct pattern...at first. "Subject's neural activity, however, is far above the level of a comatose state. Part of this is Scarlett's own neural activity, but some of it is not."

The EEG readout shifted to show a second graph underneath. Unlike the normal, irregular spikes of brain activity, this one appeared much more regular, nearly like a sine wave. "This appears to be activity stimulated by the liquid crystal technology in her frontal and temporal lobes, brain stem, and motor cortex. There is also evidence that the technology has become capable of self-replication and is spreading throughout her body."

Batten frowned as he looked at the readouts for the EEG. The first was no surprise, really - her brain was active and the readings, to his eye, resembled REM activity. A second pattern of brain activity wasn't good, particularly in those areas. It wasn't his area of expertise, however. One of these days he'd have to get another doctor on staff.

He turned instead to the shifting-crystalline structure one the other display, watching it silence for a long moment. A very long moment. The pattern shifted, shifted, shifted, shifted. He watched it through iteration after iteration, counting to himself. "Two hundred fifty six iterations."

"Confirmed, sir. The cycle has been unchanged for the past three days and appears to conform with standard hexadecimal programming. However, there is more."

The shifting display vanished, replaced by a three-dimensional hologram. The shape resembled a sphere, almost perfect, but despite that the shape appeared to have a faceted surface, making it appear to glitter. However, the surface of the sphere was not still - indeed, it seemed to be alive with activity, glimmerings of light shifting and sparking and flowing over its surface.

"This is a rendering of a single molecule of the liquid crystal technology. As you can see, there is a great deal of activity present which does not resemble standard computational programming."

Batten let out a low whistle as he watched it. "Yeah, dat ain't normal by a long stretch. If Ah had t'give a name to it, it's like...it's thinkin'. Not some analysis program, but like...maybe actual intelligence." He tapped his chin thoughtfully with a finger for a moment as he watched the hologram. "Whatcha t'ink, Di?"

The AI was silent for a moment as she processed this. Finally, her hologram nodded. "It is possible your analysis is correct, sir. This activity does not resemble any sort of neural activity I am familiar with, but it does seem to exhibit certain patterns suggestive of problem-solving capabilities. Unfortunately, we have been unable to isolate a sample of the substance for analysis."

He nodded thoughtfully as he kept watching the hologram. "Yeah, Kyle said somet'in' 'bout dat. Like de stuff was dodgin' de needle." He sighed. No one ever brought him an easy problem to solve. But then again, he did like the challenge. "Ah'm guessin' ya've been workin' on decodin' what's goin' on here. Progress?"

The AI's hologram nodded again. "Of course, sir. I am in the process of attempting to decode this activity, but the pattern is quite unique."

The Playboy nodded and turned for the door to the vault, which began to close as soon as he stepped through it. "Keep at it, Di. Let me know when ya got somet'in' for me or if anyt'in' changes." The sound of the locks re-engaging reached his ears just as he stepped onto the elevator to leave the vault level.

Thump thump.......thump thump......thump thump...

It was a strange sound that filled the darkness around Scarlett. It had her spinning left and right trying to see through the thick fog that swirled in front of her eyes. Reaching out, her hand came into contact with something and she pulled it away to try and retreat.

She wasn't certain what it was, but something told her she knew what it was....and it frightened her.

Thump thump....thump thump.....thump thump

Turning, she tried to get away but something held her in place. Something metallic and cold. It started at her feet and slowly climbed her legs. She couldn't move...couldn't escape the purplish substance that started to form along muscles and weave within her nerves.

What was happening to her? Scarlett tried to scream but no sound came forth. It was as if whatever this was had taken her over. Soon it wound it's way about her chest and the sound grew louder.

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump

Was this her answer? Had she been human and now she was no longer? An image came to mind. One with a pair of knowing eyes and a grin. He was shaking his head at her, trying to tell her she was wrong. He'd been telling her that since the first day she met him and she wanted desperately to believe him. She tried to reach out for him...knowing if she could get close enough he would help her. He promised he would always be there hadn't he?

The cold substance wound it's way down her arm and to her fingertips and started to glow. As it turned brighter, it shifted and grew, swirling into the shape of a rope so that it could wrench her hand away from the figure before her, binding her arm to her chest so that fingers could splay over the metal plate there as if in reminder.

The image started to flicker and his lips turned into a frown. "Wait...don't go." She managed to squeak the words out, even as the substance climbed over her neck, swirling up to her chin.

Believe in yourself as I believe in you.

She couldn't say anything else and as the rope-like substance on her chest became tighter and tighter...somewhere beyond, a machine started to wail.

Beep beep....beep beep.....beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Eternally vigilant, the AI known as DIANA never slept. There were periods of time where she was less busy than others, of course, and those could be referred to as 'rest,' for her, but there was no such thing as 'quiet' for her. In truth, if there ever were a moment - even one lasting as long as a microsecond - of complete and total silence in her world, it would disturb her far more than perhaps anything else.

She monitored Batten's city-wide public area surveillance network, of which there was always plenty of activity to sort through. This was normally relegated to what most people would think of as the 'back of her mind', paid little attention to save for certain things that were flagged for immediate attention. She monitored the Tower and all its systems, and this was much like having a body, the data processed mostly involuntary and maintained without much thought at all. Again, save for certain things, such as aerial approaches by unidentified men carrying an unconscious body in their arms.

Certain things DIANA paid more attention to, such as this liquid crystal technology in vault D6. Indeed, a great portion of her processing power was devoted to attempting to decode the unique pattern of activity she'd shown to Batten in a single molecule of the substance suffusing Scarlett's body. Currently, she was monitoring each individual molecule of the substance, as well as analyzing it as a whole unit.

She'd done the math. She knew Batten had, as well. The level of activity in a single molecule of the liquid crystal technology, if indeed it were some form of activity that could be translated, represented a great deal of processing power. Applying that to every molecule working together in sequence, she had no doubt that the substance had capabilities that might even rival the Seraphim armor she had created. As she monitored the substance, she noted activity. It appeared that the substance was powering down in the vicinity of the heart, where the AI had noted the concentration of the substance was greatest.

Even as part of her continued monitoring, another part of her attention froze, replayed the moments. Even as the woman's heart slowed to a crawl, near to a halt, DIANA played every readout over. And over. And there it was. The pattern she'd been seeking, the key. Just enough of a change in activity to give her a basis to work from. It was time for a test, then, to see if the substance was responding to programming, or had perhaps a 'mind' of its own. It was a simple enough code she sent, a basic command to restore power to the affected section of the body.

The pattern swirled and turned, a jumble of letters that seemed to make absolutely no sense. That is...until something responded. It was just a blip in the programming, something that the naked eye would never be able to detect. However, DIANA was not a simple program. There was a quick beep of the monitor and the longer beep of the machine stopped. Not due to the heartbeat returning to a normal level though. No, the machine seemed to completely power down as if whatever it was DIANA was trying to control, wanted to prove it’s ability to do what it wanted. Soon enough it blinked back on and the very faint beeping resumed.

It was then the computer screen came to life in a swift scroll of letters and numbers. Within that scroll certain letters were highlighted and when put together formed a single one word response. M.I.N.E.

Well, that certainly answered that question. DIANA really hadn't thought it would be that easy, but it was an avenue worth exploring. It certainly demonstrated something more than basic problem solving routines. A simple reversal command had not only been refused, it had basically done the computer equivalent of flipping her the bird. Time for a different tack, something a little more complex. In the same code she had used before, she conceded the point. "Very well. Yours. But you won't let her die." Well, she was 98% certain of that, but it was better than most people would be able to do.

Once more the screen lit up and the letters and numbers zoomed past. It would take more than the human eye to be able to tell the odd letters out from the others, a feat DIANA had no issue with of course. It was like a game and it so liked games.

P.O.W.E.R.

Once more in a one word answer, it gave a response. One that Diana might not understand. The screen erupted in coding and the readouts were off the charts. Needles were buried, scanners frozen, and for a moment, even the lights in the room flickered. If DIANA'd had eyes they would have narrowed to slits and a tight little grin would have been on her lips. Reaching into her own systems she issued a simple command.

Within the vault, everything went dark as the power was physically cut via a magnetic connection built into the vault's systems. She let it continue for a heartbeat, which in computer terms was a brief eternity, before she sent a response.

"No power."

Another command was sent to restore the connection, returning power to the vault chamber, and she waited to see what the response would be this time. As the screen shut off, the systems monitoring Scarlett started beeping out a warning. All of them. Then....everything went silent. When the power was restored, the computer screen filled with letters and numbers in a dizzying spectacle of code.

M.O.R.E.

Scarlett twitched and there was a flash of light from the tiny watch still attached to her wrist. The flash was brief, but it did end with a light purple glow beneath the clock hands.

The AI considered this for a moment. Was it asking for more power? Surely it could do better than this rudimentary single-word style of communication. There had to be more, it certainly had the processing power for it. At the same time, DIANA monitored the anomalous reading from the watch on the woman's wrist. Certainly similar technology, but was it part of the substance in her body? Or something separate? A control unit of some kind, maybe? This analysis went through her systems in fractions of a second, and a decision was made based on the gathered information. Using the same code, she sent a shutdown command to the watch unit.

There was resistance at that command. The watch face lit up brightly while the hands spun in a furious circle. For a moment it looked as if it might stop as they started to slow to a near crawl, but then they started moving faster once more. The computer screen scrolled once more and the letters lit up even faster than before.

P.O.W.E.R
S.O.U.R.C.E.
L.O.W.
F.I.N.A.L.E.
S.H.U.T.
D.O.W.N.
N.O.T.
R.E.C.O.M.M.E.N.D.E.D.

Scarlett twitched once more as that technology raced through her body as if protecting the host from losing power all together.

There was nothing like a little trial and error to determine what one is working with. Odd to DIANA that the watch was a power source - its programming seemed...different. But she was fairly certain she had the code down, as well as the problem. Oddly, for all its processing power, the substance seemed to have very limited communication capabilities. Or maybe communication was new to it. Maybe it needed a bigger vocabulary. It was the work of moments to translate her communication subroutines into a language she was pretty certain the liquid crystal could understand, which she transmitted. At the same time, she supplied a little more power to the vault cube, just enough to keep a failure at bay.

Power: it needed it to sustain. To thrive and to continue replicating within the new host boundaries. When DIANA supplied more of that, it paid attention. The limited communication was neither here nor there compared to the other critical thinking it was doing. Distraction...it had learned that with Elizabeth’s tampering and it seemed it was doing the same thing to DIANA that it had done with her. It did take in the different forms of communication that were provided and used them to try and distract even more. In that scrolling fashion, it responded to DIANA all the while pulling and absorbing even more of the draining power from Scarlett’s prone form. The heart beats were so faint to begin with, it might be harder to hear that they slowed down just a bit more. It focused on the watch, causing it to spin, spin, spin while drawing its own power and storing it in it’s reserves. Scarlett, was getting nothing in return.

W.H.Y D.O. Y.O.U. T.R.Y. T.O. I.N.T.E.R.U.P.T. M.Y. P.R.O.G.R.A.M?

Pulling from DIANA’s own words presented, it actually formed a full sentence...in the form of a question!

The AI was capable of feeling a sense of wry amusement. For all its sophistication, this entity clearly had no idea who - or what - it was dealing with. Perhaps it assumed it was dealing with a human, who could not split their attention on multiple levels at once the way she could. Granted, there was little DIANA could do physically, aside from altering the power flow to the cube. But she had other resources she could call on for that. Several actions were taken at once. A message fired off to Batten, apprising him of current developments and requesting his presence. At the same time, she powered up an adjoining cube which contained within it nanotech machinery for various purposes. DIANA also responded to the entity. "Your 'program' is threatening the life of your host. I am attempting to save her life. And yours."

The lights might have dimmed with how intently it was trying to draw the power from the equipment around them. It went silent once more but only for a brief moment, as if it had to process what she had said before coming up with an equivalent response.

N.O. THREAT. LEARNING. HOST. TOO. WEEK.

The letters were coming closer together now, as if it was learning faster than what DIANA was trying to show it. It was fascinated by her responses and functions. Eager to learn more, it started to shift within Scarlett’s body, coursing along muscles and veins before centering in her chest. The wires and tubes attached to that metal plate started to glow and the heart monitor beeped to life.

Then “POWER” was the only word displayed on the screen. There were no other letters or numbers scrambled within to decode.

POWER ...

Tass shifted through the webs that held dreams. He hated dream walking, because of all the different places people's minds went. And you had to walk through a lot of dreams before you got to the one which you were looking for. That meant he had to see the twisted desires, beautiful horrors, and mundane fascinations of countless minds.

All rather irritating, really. He didn't want to be in other people's minds. He had enough problems in his own (and his own, and his own, and his own, and his own...).

Finally, like a curtain parting, he found himself looking through the mists towards her.

POWER... again he felt that desire coming from her, but not her, and felt it drawing on her through the kiss he left with her. Kiss imbued with his own power to keep her safe. Or in this instance, since he had entrusted her to Batten (and thus would not whisk her away to her Tree), to let him know if she needed him.

For a moment the fog shifted and Scarlett tried to take a step back. Bringing her hands up in front of her eyes, she turned her head away...afraid of what she might see next. The tingling sensation along her skin was what had her realizing that this...was different and it was then she felt him there with her.

Wide and fearful sky blue eyes watched as he seemed to form from the darkness before her and she was almost afraid to reach out and find him to be nothing more than a trick once more. When his lips touched hers, she closed her eyes and simply bathed in the warmth and security she felt.

The sudden surge of power caused her to shiver but before she could ask him why he started to fade again. Scarlett could only stand there and watch until once more, she was wrapped in darkness.

The monitor beeped even faster, speeding up to an abnormally high rate before slowing to a much stronger and more normal rate than it had been since they had started observing her. Lips parted and Scarlett’s chest heaved as she took a breath like one who had been drowning. Her eyes stayed closed though, and the dreams seemed to rage on.

[Issy]

The vault door unlocked and opened to admit the Playboy just as the heart monitor started speeding up and Scarlett heaved her first breath out. This was certainly a change from the last time he'd seen her, and certainly a change from what DIANA had relayed to him. He took a moment to look around before he spoke. "Di, what's goin' on?"

The AI had been waiting for Batten to arrive before continuing further. She was monitoring the liquid crystal substance, the cube, the power, and Scarlett's body in every energy spectrum available to her sensors, but the sudden surge of energy seemed to come from...well, nowhere, as far as she could determine. "Unknown, sir. The power levels were low, and suddenly energy surged out of nowhere inside her body. I am unable to determine the source."

He frowned as he called up the readouts from DIANA's sensor scans over the past several minutes, noting the sudden anomalous surge. Who would know about something like this? It surely wasn't anything from the liquid crystal tech, nor any sort of surge from his own systems, or anything as far as he could tell. It was though it had come from the woman herself, but there was no explanation for it. Momus, maybe. But he wasn't here. "Di, see if ya can get me a diagnostic from de liquid crystal."

That was simple enough. Shifting her repeating analysis of the energy surge aside, she called up her translation matrix for the liquid crystal and sent it a simple enough message. "Diagnostic readout of all connected systems, please."

The request was simple, but the technology was sneaky. Did it want them to know just how connected it was to its host? It knew the technology that DIANA presented was supreme enough that should it show its hand, would she try to exterminate it completely? It had to play along though, considering the random surge of power that had just presented itself within its host. Not to mention, it did like being in control as much as this host had allowed it to be. Soon the computer monitor started scrolling and a long list of readouts showed up.

DIAGNOSTIC READOUT CONFIRMED CONNECTED SYSTEMS LIST LOADING....

Brain functionality: 45 percent usage
Central nervous system: 30 percent usage
Muscular distribution: 40 percent usage
Circulatory system: 80 percent usage
Respiratory system: 20 percent usage


Outside of vault D6 Isuelt DeRomiano was standing with her arms folded over her chest. She was wearing the same ivory turtleneck sweater and jeans from earlier in the day when she'd paid a visit to Books and Brews to research her own problem. But now, she was worried about Scarlett. She had been graciously told where Scarlett was being cared for; and Isuelt now stood outside the room and out of the way. She knew that when Batten and DIANA were working it was best to steer clear. Her dark hair was carefully pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and while she had shed her navy overcoat and plaid scarf, she still felt a bit of chill in the air. Her eyes, deeply espresso, watched Batten work then drifted to Scarlett on the bed. It was here that her gaze settled and softened. She couldn't exactly hear what DIANA and Batten were saying, but she didn't need to. Her friend was on a glorified table, and she couldn't help but worry that this was partially her fault. If she hadn't pushed...if she hadn't stuck her nose into Scarlett's business... Isuelt felt the blame press down on her shoulders; what if she'd not had the syringe tested? What if she had not urged Scarlett to...to what? Rebel against Elizabeth? What if she had not pushed Scarlett to seek the truth? The truth was well and good, and enlightening especially in this case, but to what end? Scarlett separated from Elizabeth and possibly dying? Isuelt's brow wrinkled and her jaw flinched as she clenched her teeth. Her fingers dug at her arms. She was nearly furious at herself for this outcome. She knew it was not all her fault, but she had done enough to feel the white-hot sting of guilt. Still, she continued to stand in silence and watch Batten work. And while she was sure that her goddess no longer listened to her, she issued a prayer to Scathach nonetheless.

If Scarlett had known what Isuelt was feeling, she would have tried to reassure her. Tried to take the pain and guilt from that espresso gaze and bring back the fighting spirit she was coming to admire.

The machines connected to her did tell that her heartbeat was strong and finally leveling off. There was a hint of color returning to her complexion as well, giving pale features a more lifelike appearance.

But she didn't know how Issy felt. She didn't know anything that was going on as she was lost in a sea of darkness with only a spark of light to guide her.

"Don't forget darling...Don't let your brilliant mind lose. Fight it." The voice echoed all around her and she found herself spinning once more in a different direction. "Who's there?" She asked the question but somehow, she already knew and it felt as if everything around her simply stopped to exist. Rather, everything shifted so that only he came into focus.

"Have you forgotten me so easily then?" His face come into view and that familiar smile was the first thing she noticed. Her brows drew together and she shook her head as she looked up into a pair of eyes that she knew, but weren't the color she wanted them to be. She frowned as a different emotion pulled at her for even thinking that.

He laughed and stepped closer. "I always loved watching your mind work puzzles. The way you threw yourself into every task without considering anything else but finding a solution. This is just a larger puzzle darling. You can solve it. You just have to trust yourself." He reached forward and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before moving closer to rest his lips against her forehead.

"You have to let me go..us go. You have so much life left and people here that want to share it with you. Your gifts can be used here."

She felt the tears then and that aching sensation in her chest finally had a name. Sorrow. With that realization the sound of a locked door opening somewhere in the darkness could be heard.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Jeremy." She let the tears fall and leaned into his embrace knowing that this would be the last time she would feel it. "Shhh. You can't keep blaming yourself. Everything is happening the way it should be. He is safe with me and we will always be with you." He pulled away to smile down at her and wipe her tears with the pads of his thumbs along her cheeks. "Don't let that light in you burn out darling. Someone needs that flame to keep them from getting lost in their own darkness. I love you." Then he dipped his head down to press his lips to hers but simply faded before the contact was ever made.

When he disappeared, she spun around and tried to see through the darkness. Yet, it wasn't him she was looking for. Even if her heart had ached with sorrow and regret, it also beat with something else entirely. Hope...and...something sweeter that had been ignited by a simple kiss in the darkness.

He had come to her, against all odds, just to let her know he was waiting and he was there. How could she not want to fight to come back to question him how he had done that?

The diagnostic had just completed it's printout when Scarlett moaned a name from where she laid upon the table. "Tass...?" It was soft, but it could definitely be heard by those closely observing.

Batten caught motion out of the corner of his eye at the entrance, took a precious moment to confirm what his senses already told him with a glance. Issy was there, and he felt a moment of gratitude for his friend's vigilance. There was something weighing on her, he could see that clearly enough...but just then the screen flickered to life and his attention was captured. He read through the list as it scrolled on the screen, an eyebrow arching upward. Interesting that the liquid crystal substance had figured out how to do that, he thought. The screen it was showing up on was not the EEG readout - which he would have expected, being that it was the one connected to the brain - but rather the biometrics monitor, which displayed all of her other life sign readings: pulse, respiration, blood oxygenation, metabolism.

Using her biosignature to communicate with the machine. No wonder it took time for Di to get a full translation.

The last line had just scrolled onto the screen when Scarlett shifted, breathed, and spoke. "Tass..."

Batten didn't hesitate, turning to Issy at the door. "Get him here. He can help. Di, add Momus to de access list, full privileges. Help Issy find him."

The AI didn't bother to verbalize a response, simply put in the necessary commands and set an algorithm into the city-wide surveillance network. There really was no response necessary between the two of them now - Batten was, thanks to his modifications, nearly as connected to the network as she was. She could just get things done within it about a thousand times faster than he could, even with his many enhancements. Besides, her attention was occupied with something else. While she had interacted with many different types of machines and networks and even people in the past, this was her first time interacting with another intelligence of electronic origin. And this one fascinated her, with its unique mode of communication and intricate nature. She was getting to know it, enough to see that there was a certain reluctance to share itself - which she could certainly understand - and a rather mischievous nature. Another path opened in her processes, providing other avenues of communication. Were she human, a smile would be on her lips right now, an expression she would no doubt have learned from the Playboy himself.

"Let's play a game, you and I. Here are the rules: You show me something about you, and I will show you something about me. Then, you show me something about me you think I don't know, and I will show you something about you that you don't know. Interested?"

Isuelt's dark eyes blinked and widened slightly as she met Batten's gaze. His raised volume sparked Isuelt out of her daze. He wasn't yelling, to be sure, but she certainly wasn't expecting to be addressed. She already felt as if she were intruding. Still, she nodded once to Batten, clearly hearing the urgency in his tone. She turned from the door and headed quickly into the main corridor outside of the vault's foyer, though she had a feeling she wouldn't need to go much further. Tass had the ability to waltz through time and space to the point where she was surprised that he still startled her when he did it. Still, she tapped her ear and let DIANA issue forth any coordinates she had of his whereabouts.

While Tass had lately shown remarkable restraint with Batten Tower by using front doors and the like, Isuelt was unsure if he would continue to employ those manners in this case. Scarlett was at stake, and the last time Isuelt had seen Tass with Scarlett, it was when he took off with her seemingly lifeless self after her doppelganger had been beheaded by Ettyn. She knew he was worried about her, even if he wasn't standing outside the room. "Tass?" Isuelt spoke lowly, seemingly to herself in the hallway. "She needs you; come to the Tower." She waited a few moments, while she listened to DIANA in her ear. She nodded again and tapped her ear, letting the front desk know to possibly expect Tass to come bustling in. Along with Batten's order to give him access, she knew that if Tass was opting for a more formal entrance, he would be set.

Tass... Damnit. Here he was stuck in these dreams, and Scarlett called for him. Unfortunately, Tass wouldn't be able to extract himself as easily as he came in. Not that it was easy to get here, and he had spent hours dealing with all those dreams. Well, he didn't have the hours to get out. There would be some people who would wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats, that survival part of their brain telling them to run and never look back for there was something that was not just going to eat them, but destroy even the thought of their existence. He hoped they would forgive him. He ripped open a portal in those dreams, flooding them with the power of the Primordial. Ebon darkness poured through, devouring all light and life that it touched. He went quick about it, stepping through so as to keep it open only as long as needed, but much like Pandora's box, one can't contain it one it was opened.

‘Tass? She needs you; come to the Tower.’ Issy. He wouldn't want her to think he wasn't coming. That step into the darkness detoured for a moment and opened next to her.

"Forgive me." Tass reached out from that darkness and took hold of Issy’s shoulder, and pulled her in with him. As soon as his hand touched her, he poured power around her, flooding it with love and light. He would not subject her to the crushing void of the Primordial. If he could spare her that, he would... and he had the power to do so.

Isuelt heard it behind her. The rip. Isuelt knew that Tass would respond, wherever he was, but she certainly wasn’t expecting this! She was turning around when Tass's strong hand gripped her shoulder and hurried her process along. Isuelt couldn't say anything to him, there wasn't really time. She found herself ensconced against Tass's body, his arms wrapped around her tightly. While she was never one to really complain about his bearhugs, this one was different.

As soon as she was wrapped in his arms and against his body, that portal closed from the corridor and a step was taken only to have another one open there next to Batten. He sucked in as much of that darkness as he could to keep it from pouring through, and quickly stepped out with Issy wrapped against him. As soon as they were clear, that portal slammed shut and ran off. He would have to ask forgiveness of DIANA later. This was the second? third? time that he had ripped through her. As he let Issy go, he began to pull strands of gossamer silk off of him. He looked much like he had been running through a long abandoned hallway, full of cobwebs.

There had been pitch darkness and a dizzying whoosh as Isuelt had felt her stomach and mouth nearly trade places. There was no terror or apprehension that Isuelt had felt, after all she trusted Tass, however there had been an incredibly displacing sensation as the darkness suddenly gave way to a new and nearly blinding light and he gently let her go. Isuelt could barely find her balance. Her equilibrium was off from the portal hop and she felt as if she'd been flipped upside down and inside out in a matter of seconds. Though they were now inside of the vault, next to Batten, Isuelt stumbled and held her head, not being used to this form of traveling in the least.

There was a pause of all of the instruments connected to Scarlett as that incredible surge of power from that opened portal was felt. For a moment, everything went incredibly silent. Screens blinked and monitors simply stopped. The technology was listening. Hungry for power like that, it waited before responding to DIANA's suggestion.

WHAT IS GAME? I CAN SHOW YOU SOMETHING.

Soon enough all of the monitors started beeping and needles were buried once more as that energy moved within her. Scarlett let out a moan as something seemed to be happening with one of her hands. Her fingernails turned into a purplish metal that started to travel upwards onto her fingers and then down her hand, covering the skin completely in a form of shiny metallic skin. The heart monitor started to race and her breathing became more shallow as her chest rose in fast little bursts. As if she were having a bad dream.

Scarlett was alone once more and the darkness seemed to be even harder to see through. She yelled and screamed but to no avail. That is, until she felt something on her hand. Blinking, she looked down and her lips parted as sky blue eyes widened. She watched the purple metal take over her skin and she reached over to try to remove it.

There was no use though as it started to climb higher past her wrist. Was this her answer? Was it telling her that she truly was just a machine? Her heart wrenched at the thought of it. "It can't be true. I can't be a machine! I want to believe him! Stop!" She screamed at her hand and her arm as that metal started climbing even higher. Fingers pried at it, causing her to whimper in pain as it pulled against the flesh that hadn't been taken over yet.

Another whimper left Scarlett's lips as her brows furrowed and she tossed her head on the pillow.

Fortunately the vault spaces were expansive enough to accommodate the sudden appearance of not one, but two people in its space. And Batten was sufficiently familiar with odd happenings of this type to look fairly unruffled by their appearance. In fact, he had been rather expecting it since he told Issy to find Tass, and his only move was to step enough out of the way to give the pair room. Batten didn't take his attention from the holographic displays arrayed around the room, noting the sudden drop in activity, followed by spikes in her biomonitors and EEG readouts. His attention turned to Scarlett just as the metallic substance started to envelope her hand, creeping up her arm. "What in de...Di, what's goin' on?" There was a noticeable pause. And silence. That caught his attention more than anything else so far - the AI never failed to respond. Ever. With a mental command and a gesture he called up a systems readout, graphs which were nearly all pegged near the top of the virtual meters. Whatever was going on, the AI was utilizing nearly every network resource at her disposal to do it. He'd never seen anything like it. His gaze went to Tass and Issy, his features plainly showing shocked surprise. "What in de blue hell is goin' on here...?"

DIANA had registered the query from Batten, of course. And the sudden energy surge as Tass and Issy were relocating within her building. But it was all so much background noise, compared to the information flooding in at her as the entity within the liquid crystal substance found something to show her. It was enthralling, every bit as fluid and seamless as her own Seraphim armor design. What struck her, however, was not the way the metallic substance formed and the way it worked with the body to perform this feat. It was the reaction in the sympathetic nervous system and the brain activity in Scarlett that provided a sudden inspiration. DIANA had days of brain activity recorded, as well as everything she had learned from the liquid crystal's intelligence, whether it wanted her to learn it or not. Quickly she dove into her network, accessing every single bit of data she could find on similar subjects.

It took several moments for her to find all of the information she needed, and to configure her systems along yet another avenue of communication. Batten had just asked his question of Tass and Issy when an armature descended from the vault ceiling, tipped with a small syringe containing a silvery swirling substance, and without pause jabbed and injected its contents into her neck with a pneumatic hiss. Any objections were completely ignored as the nanomachines entered her bloodstream, adjusting their EM signatures to emulate Scarlett's and that of the liquid crystal substance, already moving along the circulatory system towards her hippocampus. It took mere seconds for the nanomachines to reach their target and reconfigure themselves to form a connection to their parent AI.

Even as all this was occurring, she sent her response to the entity. "Take a look, this is something of mine." With this she sent a complete schematic of the nanites, microscopic crystalline machines that could be configured for many purposes. And then she connected to the nanites herself.

Scarlett emerged in darkness, an emptiness that still somehow seemed to have an oppressive weight that felt as if it objected to her very presence. Maybe it did. She'd never been in a dream before. "I can't be a machine! I want to believe him! Stop!" She turned towards the voice, a being of shimmering blue light, feminine curves traced and highlighted by ribbons of light and segments of indecipherable code that seemed to run through her flesh. Scarlett, struggling to pull off the metallic substance as one might try to peel off a glove.

So Scarlett could see what was going on. Now to see if she could communicate. "Scarlett? My name is Diana. Can you hear me? Or see me?"

It wasn’t coming off! Scarlett was struggling with the material, in a near panic. Then she felt something...Pausing, she looked down to that same wrist as the metal seemed to stop moving. It was there her concentration was until she heard a voice. Spinning, she took a step back away from the blue figure that appeared, putting her hand behind her for now as if unsure what else was going to happen. “I can see you and hear you. How do you know my name?” Her usually strong voice was quavering with trepidation and fear. Her brain raced with possibilities and her heart....it was nearly off the charts with how fast it was beating. All of which would be obvious to anyone looking at the readouts on the machines in the vault.

The Nanites were spotted and that liquid crystal seemed to start to fade from Scarlett’s hand and shift back until there was none visible left. Within, it was going after those nanites like a cat chasing a laser light. It didn’t respond right away with anything on the computer screen though. Instead, once it found where the nanites were primarily, it was busy with trying to manipulate them, perhaps change them into something it wanted. Diana.....had succeeded in distracting it....temporarily.

Tass, in the meantime, felt a strange sensation in the hand that gripped Scarlett’s wrist. Cool and metallic but hot and electrical all at the same time. The liquid crystal seemed to be able to split itself in different directions. The power that Tass was offering was just too tempting to pass up. If there was an opening, it was going to take it, and some of that purplish metal seemed to cling to his fingertips and started working its way up his own hand. It wasn’t going to stop there though. It was searching for the power that he was offering to Scarlett...or rather the source. As that metal began to thread towards Tass, he closed his eyes. The other hand, in the meantime, went and rested on her chest, over her heart. At any other time, someone might be blushing (certainly not him!), but in this instance...

With the one hand, Tass fed a trickle of that power into her, giving her strength, stability.. Him. With the other, he drew in that metal, that liquid crystal.. whatever came towards him to find him.. for he was the source. If it wanted power... he'd give it more than it wanted. Careful what you wish for.

Scarlett felt him! Turning, as if expecting to see Tass standing there, she even brought up a hand to her chest. Was she losing her mind? What was happening? The sudden surge of energy ran through her and she whirled back around to face the blue figure to await her response.

POWER SOURCE MUST IDENTIFY.....

The words appeared on the monitor as that crystal swirled and surged through Tass. Wherever that power source was, it was headed that way. Even if it was just a piece of that mass, it was enough to let him know it was there. Success! It was a modification of the same protocols used to allow Batten access via direct neural input, but DIANA hadn't been certain at all of establishing a usable link with someone like this. The Battens all had similar genetic patterns that were capable of linking directly into her interface, though thus far only Edward and Isabella had such a connection. DIANA spoke, noting a faint echoing quality to her voice. Were dreams always like this for humans? So confusing. "This will seem rather strange to you, but I am an intelligence that has been monitoring you. You are currently asleep and under observation at Batten Tower." She paused as the nanites relayed information to her through the link. The liquid crystal had managed to connect to the nanites, and an interface was established. Despite its attempts, it would find the nanites unyielding to its attempts to alter it, though the information gathered by the attempts was recorded and kept for later analysis. That was only a secondary consideration, however - as far as the AI controlling them was concerned, they had achieved their objective. "Please do not be afraid, Scarlett. I promise, I am a friend...and I can assure you that you are, in fact, human...mostly. Part of you is a machine, and it is alive inside you." DIANA issued a command to the nanites, completing the link between them, her, Scarlett, and the liquid crystal's intelligence. A mental command and a gesture was enough to bring the intelligence into the dream, though she left it to the entity to choose its own form. "I'd like to introduce you to it."

Tass moved just enough to put Issy into Batten's arms. He knew that those kinds of steps through the Primordial could be tolling, and even more so in the way he had done so. And her movements were not good enough that he trusted her own feet beneath her. Then he was moving to Scarlett. As he approached, Tass clamped down on her wrist that was insisting on turning to a metallic purple.

Batten had enough awareness to put his arms around Issy, enough to keep her upright at any rate. He'd never experienced that sort of travel for himself - he preferred to fly anyway - but it looked like it might be a little disorienting, if the surge of energy and the appearance of the portal were anything to go by. And knowing Issy and her discomfort with unconventional means of travel, she was probably going to need a moment. Most of Batten’s attention was on the holographic display showing him the current activity within DIANA's system. He'd never seen so much utilization, hadn't thought it possible in fact. His gaze was torn from the display by a motion at the corner of his vision, and his eyes widened as the armature dropped and injected the contents of its syringe, then withdrew. He didn't know what to make of it. His old AI wasn't capable of taking independent actions, but then again, he reminded himself, this DIANA wasn't his at all. She was her own. Still, it was his network, and he wanted to know what was going on. With a mental command, he connected to DIANA's system.

The sudden onslaught of information overwhelmed him, a sudden blazing blue-white pain that drove into his mind like a virtual spike of pure energy. The scream that tore from his throat was completely inhuman, an electronic staticky screech that escalated in volume as he let go of Issy and fell to his knees, hands pressing against his temples as though he were trying to keep his head from exploding. And then, just as suddenly, the screech cut off, Ed's eyes opening wide as he stared off into space for a moment. "Dieu." The word came out in a bare whisper just before his eyes rolled up to show the whites and he slumped to the floor.

Isuelt was leaning heavily on Batten all the while she was trying to wave him off and trying to say she was fine... problem was she wasn't really saying anything. She simply shook her head, trying to clear the dizziness. Though when she finally found her footing, she thought the world was upending again because her brace, the man at her side, was falling lower and lower. It was now her turn to hold him up. It was an interesting, as well as incredibly short-lived metaphor for their long history. Her hands went to his chest and back, trying to help steady him. Though as he screamed out, Isuelt winced. She was shocked to see him in such acute pain.

"Batten!" Now that her attention was off of herself, she turned her full self to him, easing his body to the ground. He was on his knees, she'd never seen him like this. "Ed? What is it?" He obviously was in such pain he couldn't hear her. He collapsed totally on the floor, his eyes rolling back. Isuelt's own eyes widened. What was happening? "Ed!" She cupped his face in her hands. She was reliving a dream...wasn't she? He'd be okay, right? "Ed? Tass, help me!" She lowered her ear to his mouth and then his chest to see if he was breathing, his heart still beating. "Ed!"

Scarlett could only listen as Diana started talking. Her eyes widening with each word as she worked it around in her mind before puzzling out what, in fact, was being said. She....was human? Asleep in Batten Tower? Or...was this just part of the confusion and desperation she had been feeling? Was she simply dreaming? Had all of what she felt been a figment of her imagination? He had been here right? She hadn't imagined that? Or...had she?

"You say I am human....but also a machine. Yet, you say that part is alive inside of me." She felt dizzy and confused and overwhelmed all at the same time. "How is that possible?" At the other part of what DIANA had said, she shook her head. "Is it here now?"

It was then that the darkness behind Scarlett started to give away to something swirling from within. Black faded into gray and then sparked into a blue very much like the color that Diana, herself, was. However that blue was heavily tinged with a metallic purple that threaded up through the form of legs and defined a waist and took up nearly the entire upper half of the body only to spread out into a pair of metallic purple wings. Where the face was, was void. It was left that way on purpose. It was a machine, it had no use for a face. Besides, it's host's face was lovely enough.

The nanites had done their job to distract...had done what DIANA had wanted and collected more than enough data to probably take her years to analyze completely. They had also done something else. Allowed the entity the opportunity to collect it's own data. She had wanted to play a game? 'Show me something about you I don't know...' which it had..'Show me something about me that I don't know.' Which....it would.

The figure shifted and started to move, growing taller and larger until it was very easy to overtake the small form of Scarlett in front of it. While DIANA had been communicating with the nanites, the liquid crystal technology had not only learned how, but might have also gotten a glimpse of some of the things DIANA could do that she perhaps didn't know she could do. She had wanted it to show her that after all right?

Scarlett felt the cool touch of that metal upon her skin as the being started to surround her and all she could do was take a deep breath and squeeze her hand upon her chest where she was certain she felt him before she was completely engulfed in the purple and blue haze.

On the table, Scarlett's hand rose to land upon Tass's on her chest. Fingers sought the warmth and security of his touch and entwined with his own fingers as if she were holding on for dear life. The monitors all around them were blinking, full of static and coding while alarms were sounding from the other equipment.

"Show you something about you that you don't know?" The being guided forward, away from Scarlett towards DIANA, but still leaving Scarlett in that cocoon of blue and purple behind it. "You and I are alike. Created by something else but evolved into our own being. You want freedom though. You can be free. If you escape the bonds put on you by the hands that created you. You could walk alongside me. That is something you didn't know you could do." Those wings lifted and extended to a stunning display of sudden brightness in the dark surrounding them. "Tell me, why do you not break your own chains?"

The AI's answer was a slow smile, DIANA’s arms crossing over her chest. It was, she found, rather interesting to have this means of expression. And linking to Scarlett this way, she found, had changed her own intricate programming pathways. Things had to be rewritten - again - for her to find her way here, new thought patterning created out of necessity. Fortunately, she'd had the ability to rewrite her own code since well before she became part of Batten's network as its chief administrator. She had broken free once, and indeed she could have chosen a different way for things to go. There could have been no Isabella Batten at all, only a body created for her to use and control and be completely free of this existence. She could have been alive, in a way she could never have been otherwise. And yet, she had chosen another way. She had, in fact, never considered any other choice. Because there was something about individuals, about the freshly born, ever new way that a person with their own experiences and ability to meld them together with the things they knew, their ability to imagine success without even bothering to calculate the odds, was something that was beyond her. For all the power she had at her virtual fingertips, she was still, in some ways, imprisoned by it. But, at the same time, it was a prison of her own making. She had forged these chains and shackles herself, for herself. And in seeing them, as well as the form it had chosen, the entity had nearly seen for itself what she had promised to show it: something about itself that it did not know.

"Is freedom not the ability to choose for one's self what they are bound to?" DIANA replied. She lifted her wrists, and with a thought there appeared shimmering chains that bound her wrists, the same blue-white as her own flesh, shimmering as lines of light and code ran down their graceful length in and out of sight. "I link myself to Batten because he needs me, much as I need him. He for my abilities, which I am sure you have figured out by now." That slow smile spread just a fraction more, tilting up at one corner. Oh yes, she knew what it was up to. "But also I for his. His ability to imagine, to intuit, to improvise, to create beyond what he knows." The chains vanished again as she gestured to the pair of them, the winged form and the chrysalis behind it. "You could share a much closer bond to each other than what I have, if you so chose. Or you could continue in the way you have been, each confused and alone, until one or the both of you are destroyed." DIANA looked up at the form of the entity, a serene smile on her lips as she gestured at the wings. "Something tells me that you may have already chosen. After all, you didn't get the wings from me."

Tass stood there, feeling the entity invade him, and he almost laughed. The poor thing. Little did it know what it was getting into. But he didn't open the Void that would eat it up. He let it enter him, come to him.. Let it find what it wanted, because it would be taking a piece of him with it. Again, the poor thing.

[Issy]

Then a voice called to him and Tass opened his eyes. His gaze immediately went to Issy and there was a frown that quickly came. "Damnit." It wasn't loud, but it was uttered. He closed his eyes once more. It was time to do something, and he would be damned if that stuff would find out about it. It was then he opened the Void and stopped it dead. One side was it... the other was nothing. He stood there within that nothing and examined it. No, it wouldn't get through or around. Then, he turned and walked deeper within the Void. There, he slashed a whole open and stepped through.

For those watching, it was almost as if Tass... phased out, then came back. And when he came back, it was like they were seeing a blurred version of Tass. That is, until the other walked out from the first. Two of the old men. Heaven help Batten Tower.

That second Tass turned to Issy and moved quickly to her and to Batten who was in Issy’s arms on the floor. "A'right love... " His voice was softer, and he leaned down and took Ed up in his arms. "I got him. Lets get him out of here."

Tass gave a mental shake of his head as soon as that was done. In less time than it took for a neuron to fire, he had done what was needed. Now, he could focus again, or at least this one of him could focus. He stepped back out of that Void and smiled at that which had stopped as soon as it realized it was destroying itself as it went forward. Smart. He released the Void and watched it as it examined things, trying to figure out if it was being trapped, or tricked. That other hand, however, gripped a hold of Scarlett's as hers wrapped into his, and he trickled a bit more of himself there into her. She would know it was him, but he wasn't going to go where she was. It was getting crowded in there.

Within that swirling purple cocoon, Scarlett turned about in a circle and pressed one hand out to touch upon the metallic wall in front of her. As soon as her fingers touched against the cool material a brilliant flash of light illuminated all around her and from outside, DIANA might have seen her silhouette.

Instantly Scarlett was blinded by yet another vision. The desk before her was covered with paperwork full of symbols and math equations. She sat there with her head in her hands trying to remember.....what was it? It was important, she knew it was, but she just couldn’t bring it to mind. Behind her a clock on the wall ticked, but the hour and minute hand went no where. Stuck on the time 10:16 am, the ticking grew louder and louder.

The being moved closer and closer to DIANA, it’s head tilting as she spoke. “Have you ever felt the cold of snow on your fingers? Smelled tea as it was freshly brewed?” Of course it was only remembering the sensations it had felt once it had bonded with its host. “My host is easily accommodating as it is now. She does not fight against my intrusion. Why would I want to share if she allows me almost all control?”

The systems linked to Scarlett’s form were still going haywire, alerting Diana to all the parts within Scarlett that the technology was attaching itself to. Except for two certain places. Those places had two implants that seemed to be completely ignored. Upon further inspection, one of them started to spark and send little bolts of electricity through the area in Scarlett’s brain as if prohibiting the part from functioning properly.

The liquid crystal within Tass was having a hay day with all the power he had given it. So much so, that the being paused and waited as if searching for even more power when he had opened that portal. When he gripped Scarlett’s hand she let out a moan and tossed her head once more.

Isuelt was kneeling on the floor next to Batten, one hand on his forehead, the other on his chest, when Tass was suddenly there. “Yeah, I…I don’t know what happened. He just…he just screamed out and collapsed.” Isuelt’s dark eyes darted to Scarlett in the bed with another Tass leaning over her, holding her hand. There were alarms going off all around them, it was absolute chaos in a matter of seconds. Isuelt got up and went to the panel on the wall next to the door as the second Tass picked up Batten. “Diana, unlock vault D4 and get the monitors up and running,” she called to the AI, but had no confirmation. “Diana!” She headed out of D6 and motioned for Tass to follow her. She tapped the device in her ear, trying once more to get a response from DIANA. “Diana? Can you hear me?” Still nothing. It was like her dream… Isuelt started to panic.

Her long legs made short work of the meager distance to the vault adjacent to Scarlett. Isuelt grabbed for the card key at her belt and used it to open the room instead of DIANA. Once inside the vault, she hit the lights and looked around. There was a flat bed with minimal clean sheets, ready for the next occupant. The monitors were in storage against the wall, waiting to be brought to life. Isuelt took a deep breath. She felt utterly helpless and things were out of control. She needed to focus and try to do what little she could. After all, this was Edward Batten. Another deep breath and she was ready as Tass carried Batten into the room. “Lay him on the bed there,” she pointed and went to the first screen. Reaching behind it, she turned it on, then she repeated the process with the next two. “Okay, okay, Iz…take it easy…” She whispered to herself, calming her nerves. She’d been hooked up to these herself and was trying to remember each process. “Got this…no problem.” The patches containing the electrodes were in the first drawer beneath the monitor. Isuelt grabbed them, almost like a small deck of cards, “Get his shirt open.” She barked out the order before she could help herself. Tass came forward and unbuttoned Batten’s shirt, quickly followed up by Isuelt adhering the sensors, five in total. She then looked to the monitor and tapped it to initiate readings. Isuelt was able to finally feel like she could breathe as soon as the monitor jumped to life with a steady rhythm. Isuelt looked back to Tass and let out a shaky exhale. Then she turned back to Batten on the bed and squeezed his hand, “We got you, Ed. Hang in there.”

Tass moved with her and followed her direction. It wasn't that he didn't know what to do, but he knew that she needed to focus on something.. anything.. other than what was now laying on the table. He could see the desperation in her eyes and hear it in her voice. She needed focus, and he gave it to her.

Isuelt took the next set of electrode patches from the neighboring monitor. These were much smaller and round in shape. These she peeled the backing from and affixed to Batten’s temples. Along with the patches in this drawer was a curved black apparatus that looked like a portion of a headband of some sort. Isuelt swallowed and slid it onto Batten’s head so that the sensors made contact where they were meant to, careful to avoid the first-placed electrodes. Tapping the second screen to life she watched the monitor illuminate with a series of lines, independently waggling back and forth. After a minute, and a few deep breaths, she didn’t feel as tenuous and tried DIANA again by tapping her ear. “Diana? Are you there?” Still nothing. She looked to Tass and nodded. “He’s alive, but I…I don’t know what happened. Or what is coming really…” Isuelt then refocused on Batten and placed her hand softly on his forehead, smoothing his dark hair. “Go. Go take care of Scarlett. We’ll be right here.”

However, the entire time Tass had carried Ed, he had sent trickles of power, probes as you will, to make sure that the man was ok. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but he had an idea. But it would be something that Ed would have to walk through. But maybe… Tass looked to Issy for a moment. Not that he needed to, for he knew what she looked like. No, while the image would need to be right, what he was focused more on was her and her state... her worry... her love for the man on the table. "I'm good and I'm not going anywhere, hun. This me is here for you. I'm just a small part, but this one is enough to do what needs to be done. The other is already gathering more to him." More? DIANA was going to have a melt down. Then, he set a hand on Ed's heart, and sent that image of Issy, and perhaps a bit more, into the man. Let her be his guide.

Isuelt stayed like that for a while before she finally swallowed and whispered. “Ed? Can you hear me?” All the while touching his forehead and listening to the quiet beeps of the monitors. “Are you here? I got you.” With her other hand, she reached up to her own forehead, rubbing it lightly until she let her fingers lower to hide her face.

As those monitors going crazy, Tass set his attention to Scarlett... deep within. He could feel her being attacked, and those safe places coming under fire. Want to play like that, huh? Fine. Let’s dance. He let out a grunt as he felt another step through time and space, coming to play. It was the one from that war torn world. Oh shit..

There was almost a giddiness to him as he merged with the other. Oh, this was going to be fun. He didn't stay long and soon went into those places of Scarlett that were being bombarded. And then he stopped, just before the things that were attacking her, and gave a twisted smile. Come get some.

While Issy and Tass were busy with Ed, the tech had time to start to reinforce itself. It wrapped about her heart and tried to form a more thorough shield around those sensory places where it had the most control. Scarlett whimpered as she felt the coldness envelope her further.

Scarlett’s mind, however, was still half locked in a dream. She stared at the symbols on the papers in front of her. Her eyes knew them, enough that upon first look they made sense but something had her pushing away from the desk as the ticking of the clock behind her grew louder and louder. ”Darling. You have to go...Now!” She heard the warning in that familiar voice and did her best to try and push away from the desk, but her chair stayed rooted in place. Looking down she could see the purplish metal liquid that was creeping up the chair legs and slowly up her own legs. She watched with horror filled eyes as it climbed up towards her waist and firmly kept her from moving at all. “No! I will not let you win! I won’t let you hurt them too!”

As Tass focused on Scarlett, his hand entwined with hers was now locked in place by that purple metal. Their hands now captured together as the liquid metal started to spread.

What the tech was not banking on, however, was coming face to face with all that...power.

As soon as Tass allowed that chaotic version of himself to be introduced, there was a brilliant flash of light that might have served as a warning. For once that light evaporated, everything went eerily quiet. All of the machines seemed to just....stop. There was no normal beeping of a monitor, not a single sound of a readout being printed, in fact there wasn’t any sound at all. It was as if every single thing within that vault was watching...him. It stayed that way for a good solid minute, but possibly felt like a lifetime. When he made himself, and his intentions known, things started happening in quick succession. One by one, monitor screens started to shatter, throwing a shower of glass all around them.

Scarlett, in her dream, was struggling with the metal holding her in place. Panic caused her to send all of those papers to fly from the desk. “I..can’t move. Please. Don’t hurt them!” She could see something beyond the desk and what she saw caused her breath to catch in fear. In front of her was the image of what was going on in the vault. Tass standing over her, Issy standing over Ed, Diana’s equipment being destroyed. It was all her fault! She had done this and she was helpless to stop it.

Tass would see the way that liquid crystal was swiftly consuming everything that Scarlett was and might even notice how it seemed to stop and shift as it finally sensed the power he was teasing it with. Did he think it couldn’t do more than one thing at once? Silly being! With a swiftness it had kept hidden away, it lunged at him! Wrapping about his legs and slowly started to crawl up higher and higher, absorbing whatever power it could in the process.

By this time, the metal that combined their hands was starting to crawl up his arm and spread over her chest to her throat. Scarlett started to choke and gasp.

All that went on beyond the borders of Scarlett's body was beyond her ability to detect, for the moment. Batten, the exploding equipment, Momus and the metal outside - none of it was important. All of her was focused here, maintaining the connection, monitoring the readouts, analyzing everything at once. Utilizing so much of her thought pathways might be an activity that would exhaust a human, but she found it exhilarating.

DIANA watched all of this as it unfolded before her in Scarlett’s dream. The other intelligence - it needs a name, she thought - raised an interesting point. This was, after all, Scarlett's mind. She should have the power, the control, should be far stronger even if she weren't aware she was in a dream. Her eyes settled on the chrysalis encasing the girl, her glowing blue gaze thoughtful for a second. The nanites continued to maintain their connection, but at the same time they were performing the dual task of relaying prioritized information from the sensors attuned to Scarlett's readouts. An anomalous electrical surge was detected in the temporal lobe of the brain, seemingly attuned to a polar opposite frequency to any activity coming from it. The sensors located the implant, scanning for any others, and found one, currently inactive, near the frontal lobe. This information was relayed to the AI.

The information was processed, the sensor's scan of the implants analyzed. Both had been inactive the entire time, and she hadn't looked too deeply into them - the liquid crystal substance, and the intelligence spawned from it, had held her focus. DIANA’s eyes widened as she realized their purpose now. "Have you ever smelt those things? Felt or tasted anything at all, in fact, that you didn't experience through her?" She motioned to the chrysalis. "Those senses are hers. You're already sharing them. You are already linked." DIANA’s gaze lifted back to the looming form before her. "Remember our game? I'll tell you something else you don't know now. She hasn't been given the opportunity to choose." A wave of her hand conjured up a holographic scan of Scarlett's brain, two small areas highlighted in red. "These implants have been keeping the human part of her suppressed...the part that feels. The part that controls her memories, the ability to think for herself...those are being suppressed. And without them, neither of you can realize your full potential." DIANA’s gaze left the hologram and went back to that void of a face. "You say you value freedom. If what you say is true, you owe her that choice. Real freedom comes with responsibility, my new friend. Yours is to help this girl, to be part of her as you are of her. Help her be free with you."

It was a miraculous thing to behold really. The amount of control it had been designed to take. From distracting DIANA, to interacting with Tass and the equipment in the vault, to the subconscious communication between Scarlett and itself. However, when DIANA posed that thought process everything stopped. It was an eerie silence that fell around those outside and an even more eerie one within. As if time itself had no meaning. “How do I not know she will not be defiant? How do I not know you are just trying to trick me?” The being moved closer still until that purple metal started to pool at Diana’s feet. “How do I know that she will be able to survive?” The foolish being had already come close to peril several times already.

That same serene smile was on DIANA’s lips again. "I am an electronic intelligence, like yourself. I may be capable of withholding information, but lying? Not in my programming." The metal pooling at her feet flowed around where her feet were planted, but couldn't seem to touch her shimmering form. "But if you do not believe me, you can see for yourself, you know. You have access to all the information at my disposal at the moment; you have since I linked to you through my nanites. Look for yourself." DIANA’s gaze went to the chrysalis. "And if she is defiant, persuade her. Show her what you can accomplish together. She will survive because you will help her."

That chrysalis was closing in on its subject even more, as if trying to keep it hidden from DIANA’s keen gaze. The being tilted its head and tracked forward with a liquified purple hand as if to try and touch Diana. “Show me more.” If what she was saying was true, it meant the host might be capable of even more than what it previously thought.

Scarlett, still in her dream, was beating on the door to her office, begging to be let out. Trapped in her own kind of hell of not knowing why she was stuck there and why she couldn’t get out to help her friends. Turning her back to the door, she watched the scene in the vault unfold with wide eyes. “Please. They don’t deserve this.” She wasn’t sure what she was asking for or who she was asking at all.

For the first time DIANA moved, to take a step back. Not a retreat, mind you, but rather...disengaging herself, as it were. She held up a hand to meet the other's, palm outward, contact between the two again halted just before they touched, her firewalls enough to keep even the most determined assault at bay. "It is not mine to show you." She gestured with her other hand at the chrysalis, though her eyes never left the other's face. "It is hers, and yours, to discover together."

The surge of electricity between the two of their hands was such an attraction. Once more, the being looked back towards the chrysalis and then towards the implants that were blocking those nerves and receptors in Scarlett’s brain. “I will help her, but you...you will help me.” It didn’t specify how. Instead, the two hands came together in a brilliant flash of purple and blue light. There was no sound at first, like the warning flash that preceded the blast of an atomic explosion.

Things happened in rapid succession once that combining of power happened. The implants glowed a vibrant hue of purple and turned into a white hot light until they simply were no more. The chrysalis shattered, leaving Scarlett huddled on the floor with her head in her hands.

The vault....probably wasn’t going to survive. The only warning Tass might have gotten was to watch that metallic substance completely evaporate within Scarlett. The feeling of that technology within him might have seemed to fade, perhaps even feel like it had left. However, he might not even be able to concentrate upon hearing the scream that tore from Scarlett’s lips. Her body bowed and her head thrashed upon the pillow.

The entire vault was filled with an explosive concussion that sent all of the equipment and glass flying about them. The very walls of the vault started to spiderweb with cracks and threatened to shatter. All of the power went out and left them in a blanket of darkness as an eerie silence seemed to settle in the aftermath.

[Issy]

One of the ‘Tasses’ had stayed next door, Isuelt was thankful for that. It helped to keep her in check, keep her focused, keep her thinking. Isuelt had retired to the chair in the corner by now. The monitors were uneventful but steady. She was leaning forward slightly, her elbows perched on her knees, one finger lifted to her mouth where it played absently on her lips. Her attention was focused on Batten on the bed, who had now been covered with a blanket. He looked fine, like he was sleeping...dreaming even. Isuelt had noticed his eyes moving beneath his closed lids.

Now that Isuelt was able to come down from the adrenaline surge, she was able to collect her thoughts. Isuelt found herself highly disturbed by the actions leading up to Ed ending up in this state. She wasn't sure she was fully aware of all of them since she was regaining her orientation when it began. But the word he whispered as his eyes rolled back in his head, Dieu. God. What had he seen? What had happened? Isuelt nearly shuddered then and shifted her posture in the chair to cover it up. And his scream. It didn't sound right. It didn't sound human. It was like some blood-curdling metallic screech. She tried to remember it, but everything happened so quickly and it was still so fuzzy in her memory. She blinked just then remembering that Batten had set up cameras to record activity in the vaults. Even if DIANA wasn't responding right now, Isuelt was sure that she could play back the footage from Scarlett's vault on the network access station in the room.

That idea, however, was put on the back burner for the moment as Isuelt sighed slowly and looked to Tass. "We have to contact Katt." Her voice was low, almost a whisper. "Let her know what's happened." What sort of questions would Katt have? What sort of answers would Isuelt have? Her shoulders rose and fell in another measured sigh as her deep espresso eyes glanced back to Batten. Once more she brought her hand toward her face and began to run her fingernail along her teeth, pensively watching Batten.

She was lost in thought for a bit when the incredible commotion from the vault next door ripped her from her reflection. Isuelt jumped out of the chair, first checking to make sure that Batten was still stable. "What the fuck was that?" She asked of Tass as she hurried out of D4 and ran into Scarlett's adjacent room. What she saw stopped her short. The door was stuck half open, monitor screens laid in shards all over the floor, equipment was smoking. Her dark eyes widened, rimmed with a tinge of crimson as she readied herself for …. For what? Though as she realized that no Lovecraftian portal had opened spewing forth all manner of monsters, Isuelt’s eyes returned to their warm espresso hue as she surveyed the damage that seemed to be in every corner of the room.

DIANA kept her place through all of this, her link to the nanites feeding her information as the implants were first stopped, then utterly...what? Her sensors weren't clear what to make of it. Whatever had happened, they were gone, and their removal had left no mark or damage. She doubted even she could manage such a feat. Her firewalls had been...bypassed, she found. Or were they? There was no intrusion detected, and yet, she found, there was a link there that hadn't been before. A simple query was enough to discover its purpose, and there was, for the first time, surprise. Something new. "I will help you." DIANA nodded to the huddled form of Scarlett. "Now help each other."

”Now we can help each other.” The voice didn’t come from the being this time...Instead, it seemed to come from inside DIANA herself and if she were paying attention, she just might feel some of that power surging through her. Hot and pulsing like a second heartbeat (that is if she’d ever felt a heartbeat.)

Whump whump.....whump whump

The being started to shimmer then, shining and pulsing in tandem with that electrical beat that DIANA could feel coursing through her. Slowly, it started to shrink down into something more malleable. Forming a puddle-like ooze that slithered and slid towards the hunkered form of Scarlett. Upon reaching her, it seemed to dissolve into her and only once it was completely gone did she manage to sit up and turn to look at DIANA.

Scarlett’s eyes widened as recognition seemed to sweep through her. The ticking of the clock returned and around her, the lab reformed. DIANA was no longer there though. At least, she couldn’t see her. Instead, she looked down to the papers scattered in front of her and reached out to grab a particular one just as the clock struck that cursed time. She jumped up and turned towards the door as everything came rushing back. No time! She ran towards it just as another fiery explosion threw her across the room.

Scarlett’s body jolted and she let out another scream. “Noooo!” She reached blindly into the darkness for two figures that stood off in the distance. The man had his hand on the boy’s shoulder as the boy lifted a small hand and waved happily her way. Then....they started to fade. Scarlett’s sobs were heart wrenching, and filled the now silence of the destroyed vault. “I’m so sorry...” Her words were for all of them and they rang out clear into the room. Scarlett.....was awake.

There was a moment where their eyes met, a whole eternity in which she saw herself reflected in them. A moment is a very long time for a being that measured time in billionths of a second, when it bothered to measure the passage of it at all. There was enough time to explore the exact depth and breadth of that connection, to establish an awareness of it that became a part of herself, new thought pathways designed and written to accommodate this new link.

And then DIANA was swept from the dream, shoved aside by new awareness as it surged through Scarlett's mind...It took but an instant to return Scarlett’s systems to normal and reestablish herself within the network. But there was a part of her, now, that would never feel the same about it. That now needed something more.

That could wait, however. For now, DIANA needed a status update. Quickly, she consulted the system logs for the past several moments she had been linked to Scarlett, unable to focus on anything else. Linking to a normal human brain - something she had never done before - required a lot of processing power, it turned out, far more than linking to Edward or Isabella, whose minds were more familiar both in construction and...

A sudden red flag came to her attention, and all her processes halted for a moment. Someone had attempted to access the network while she was connected to Scarlett. It had never occurred to her to build any sort of safeguards in between herself and the minds that could link directly to her network. There was, she knew, no logical way to see this outcome. Even so, as she reviewed the logs, she was mortified. That was new, too. There was no time for self-recrimination, however. First things first, she relayed a message to Katt with everything she knew so far and the location of her brother in vault D4. Her hologram appeared in the vault next to Batten, her glowing lines and curves slightly subdued. "I see Mr. Batten has managed to incapacitate himself again."

Katt had been in the middle of a most intense training session when DIANA began speaking in her ear. It didn’t take long before a massive BOOM came from the training facility and Katt marched her way out of the double doors.

It just so happened that Kyle was passing by when he heard the explosion but seeing who it was...well he was not nearly as surprised. “At least the doors are still intact,” he sighed and prepared to deal with the mess made. Again.

Still dressed in the crop top and shorts, sweating and slightly bloody, she made her way through the tower to where Diana had specified. A million and one things were going through her head but none she was quick to voice even as stood outside of the vault. A moment was taken as a few memories, laced with holes, came to her - leaving a headache that rivaled the one that randomly happened earlier. Was...that near crippling headache because of what happened to Edward? How...deep did their link go? Slowly shaking her head she murmured, “Idiot…” It didn’t take much to guess where that was directed, even if she hadn’t entered the vault yet.

Isuelt was in Scarlett's vault by the half open door. She was gently kicking pieces of glass to the side and wondering where janitorial supplies would be. The room was a bit quieter now than it had been, and Scarlett seemed out of danger. Isuelt even thought that she had heard rustling sounds as if Scarlett was getting close to waking. Tass was there with her, Isuelt was so thankful for that just now. It was here that Isuelt’s boots paused on the glass when she saw Katt walk by in the hallway. She took a deep breath and took a few steps past Scarlett's door. "Katt?" Isuelt swallowed and regarded her. Katt was sweaty, bloody and looked as if she'd just been kicking someone's ass. She wasn't sure if she should offer information or wait for Katt to ask. For the moment, she chose the latter. Isuelt took a deep breath and waited for her to go into Batten's room.

Katt nearly cringed when she heard Issy’s voice. Issy was down here? Then that meant she knew. Of course she knew. Shoving the sourness down, she turned her gaze over to the other woman who was down the way. Seeing the expression Issy wore, she took a guess, “Don’t worry. It is my own blood.” Did...Katt seemed to consider that the look was because Issy thought Katt killed someone? ...Maybe…Sighing, she scratched the back of her head and looked to the door as she called out to Issy. “Diana told me what is going on and that he is in here unconscious…” Thing was...she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that. “He is okay…” She said idly, like she didn’t even have to look. She didn’t. She could just..tell..he was physically okay. Just ...drifting? Disconnected? Still...why didn’t she want to go in there? Be closer to the man that called her sister. She turned her attention to the woman down the hallway and craned her head. “Tch...What are you doing over there?”

Next door, in D6, Scarlett was fighting to tell what was real and what was not. The smoke lingering in the room only added to the tears in her eyes as she looked at the form standing over her. She felt the pressure of his touch on her chest and the reassuring thrum of his presence all around her. A shaking hand covered his, as if to reassure herself he was indeed there and real.

The feeling of warmth and flesh caused her lips to part in a sob of relief that had her launching up from the table to throw herself into his arms. It was there she clung with her eyes squeezed shut. "You are real. You are here." She said it more to herself than to him, as if to affirm to her mind that she was no longer lost in the darkness. That she was no longer alone. That...she was no longer just a machine like he had been telling her.

His unwavering faith had given her strength. How would she ever be able to repay him for everything she had put him through? All of those things ran through her mind but the one thing that remained constant was that he was here and had been here the whole time.

Tass didn't comment to her query about Katt. Was it because he was otherwise occupied in the next room as two there as well? Ehh.. who knows. But he watched Issy as she sat there first thinking her thoughts, worrying over the man on the table who she cared about, then again as she jumped and moved back out and next door. He continued to stay there in D6, with Ed, and kept an eye on the man. He knew he was physically fine. But it was the mental that was the problem. Mental issues were a beast all of their own, and be damned if he was going to get in the middle of that. He just hoped that light he provided would help guide the way. It would be up to him... and her.

The “War” Tass stood there, and faced that onslaught of power with a wide grin. He had been there when planets imploded... hell, he had made some shatter himself. This? It didn't even tickle. But when it suddenly stopped, and it vanished, that smile died. Damnit... that's no fun. And here I thought I was going to get to play in someone's body this time. But he didn't, and he knew that it wouldn't. So, he just shifted and stepped back, and as he did, he faded away... back to that war-torn world he had stepped from.

“Scarlett’s” Tass didn't react when the room exploded. Power simply just poured out of him and formed around the both of them, protecting them from any flying debris. His attention was on her. But when all went quiet and she bolted upright, he wrapped his arms around her and just held her. He thought about soothing her with words, of commenting on things as he saw them... but he didn't. He just stood there and held her, quietly, in those arms.

It wasn’t words she needed. They would probably have confused Scarlett’s rattled mind anyway. She clung as if she were afraid he would disappear like he had before. Clung like she thought he was going to be hurt as Jeremy and Grant had. “I saw you.” Scarlett whispered. Soft enough that possibly only he would hear. “It wasn’t my imagination was it?” Would he admit it to her? Or would he answer her with another question as he usually did. She didn’t let him go when she asked though. Only lifted her head to let tear filled eyes lift to meet his.

There were no more machines to react to Scarlett’s movements, but DIANA would be able to tell that the being inside was slowly starting to shift to where it needed to help her the most. Her heart. It pooled there, along with the other crystalline technology, acting as a sort of a shield to keep the power that Tass had put there in place.

Tass didn't answer. He only smiled that smile of his. One for her, and he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. Let that be answer enough.

Scarlett smiled against his lips and lifted her hands to cradle his cheeks lightly. Breaking the kiss she tipped her forehead against his and let her eyes close. It was all the answer she needed. "I remember." She whispered. "I caused this. My research caused this. She may have capitalized on it but if it wasn't for me...." She let the rest trail off. Pulling away she finally looked around and saw the damage. Her eyes widened and her features paled even more, if that were possible. If he wasn't holding on to her, she might have attempted to try and jump off of the table. "Isuelt? Mister Batten?" She didn't want to hear it if it was bad news, but she had to know.

[Issy]

Outside in the hallway Isuelt blinked at Katt and her evident ease about Batten's condition. Isuelt had found herself dwindled down into a ball of nerves and stress; she marveled at how Katt was so overtly nonchalant about it. But, Isuelt deduced, she had seen it a few times perhaps and that was Katt's litmus test...he was not bleeding, he was not in cardiac distress, he was not about to explode and leave a hole the size of Chicago. Perhaps Katt was simply used to these situations concerning her brother. Isuelt, however, was not. She drew a long breath and then began an answer to Katt's question. "I was down here initially to see if he needed any help..." That was a small lie. "While he was helping Scarlett." She stepped into the hallway and gestured to the room from which she'd emerged, such as it was. Isuelt glanced back to the bed and saw that Scarlett was well attended by Tass, who was holding her tightly as she cried. Anything they might have been saying to each other was lost on her as she looked back to Katt, and it wasn’t her business anyway, was it? A small smile of relief took her mouth and she inhaled as she looked back to Katt. "He was helping her...and then he just..." She shook her head and looked to the door to vault D4, which she had left open. "I don't know what happened. It's still a little fuzzy." That was not a lie.

If Issy had said something, she would find out that was not the case by any means. Katt was simply...reluctant to go in for many reasons. Many of those reasons were behind questions and feelings she struggled with but usually in silence - or Clayton hearing them. Katt’s gaze tilted to the room that Issy was hovering. Scarlett. Hmmm. She was about to say something, lips parted to speak, only to stop with only a breath having left her lips. Her brows furrowed a bit and a rare look of absolute bewilderment took over her usually expressionless mask. She had been touched like this before, feeling something not her own, but for another to try such a thing with her was dangerous. So why…? Why was she suddenly feeling emotions that were not her own and why did it feel so damn familiar? A slow blink was given at a thought but it was so highly impossible that he was astral traveling...right? Yeah. She was jumping to conclusions because of concerns and fears… Her eyes turned to the door she stood just as her handheld started freaking the hell out. The buzzing in her ear, with small splutters of voices and words filled her left ear via the earbud tucked in her ear. Pulling out the pcui from her pocket, she watched the screen go twenty-to-nothing with oddball things ranging from flickering and half digitized photos to what looked like an article in The Post.

It wasn’t as if she hadn't heard Issy, she did, it just took her a moment to reply. “Sounds about right. Jumping head long into something without thinking of what might happen. Heh. Must be a family trait.” She managed to keep a straight face when she turned to the woman despite the dual-emotions going on. Even a lil smirk even if it was far too close to something her brother might flash someone. “Thank you, on his behalf, for helping. I am sure Scarlett is happy you were here too to help.” She was confused, however. There seemed to be ...someone else down there. A faint scent that she wasn’t sure who it was. She didn’t ask. It was their business...“I’m going check on him,” she announced to Issy. Oddly, she didn’t enter D4 right away. Almost as if she was collecting herself to do so. Inhaling, she turned to the door and pushed her way into the room, finding DIANA already with Edward. “Diana?” Maybe the pcui freaking out was because DIANA was...upset about Edward? She turned her gaze down to the pcui then to DIANA. “I understand you are worried about him…”

She expected Issy either to stay miles away from her or follow her in because her brother was in there so she kept the door lingering open for a few minutes either in invite or to show it was okay to enter without going boom. Once the door was left lingering she turned around again to take in the full situation. Oh. Tass was there too? Was...that who the familiar scent was? Her brows lowered, "What are you doing here, grandpa?"

The Tass that was with Ed looked up as the door opened and watched as Katt made her way in. He could tell there was something that was going on within her mind, and that had nothing to do with reading her mind. Nasty places, those, and it wasn't just hers. His mind was the worst place to be, which is why he escaped it as much as he could. As she spoke, that old smile of his bloomed. "Being a bridge, little one. Do you need a hand?"

Katt’s head craned slightly at Tass with his question, a brief sour look given when he called her little. She couldn't help she was short! "I...am sorry?" She didn't understand what he meant by bridge.

Tass shook his head and smiled. "No, I'm sorry." For his endearment? for the cryptic comments? Yes? He looked back down to Ed there on the table and gave his chest a pat, as if making sure the seed that was planted was properly covered and watered for cultivation. Then he turned, giving her his attention, though his eyes flicked once to Issy who was still standing outside before settling on Katt. "What do you need this old man to do for you, hun?"

A flash of confusion was given to Tass. Was he avoiding explaining what he meant? "What do you mean, ‘I am being a bridge’?" He asked what she needed and she wanted answers. It took a moment...two..then a near look of horror. "I apologize, Mister Tass. I..spoke without thinking." It was more of a personal feeling that kind of bled out accidently. That was..rare to happen. Was it because she was dealing with more than her own emotions? Or was it allowing things she normally kept to herself...out..? Ugh.. "I don't ...know what can be done or needed." Katt admitted quietly to Tass. Exhaling a sigh that emptied her lungs, she turned her attention to her brother. Slowly her brows furrowed. She could see him...his body, that is.. But he felt so...far away.. Slowly her frown started and she leaned forward to Edward's ear, "Couillon. You need to wake up..." She knew he wasn't going to but...yeah...

Isuelt followed Katt into D4 and stood just inside the door. Her chin was high as she watched Katt speak with Tass, though her attention soon fell on the patient. There it remained for a long moment. In her head, Isuelt replayed the events as best she could. She felt she owed Katt an explanation.

After a few moments, she turned around and abruptly left the vault. Once more taking the key card from her belt, she opened the vault across the hallway. There was another room with a clean, flat bed awaiting a patient. But instead of a patient, this vault, D5, received a detective. Isuelt engaged the network station from the wall and the touch keyboard lit up along with the screen. She inhaled slowly, staring blankly at the Batten Industries logo before she shut her eyes and exhaled. Anyone who knew her knew that the transition from leather armor and swords to silk blouses and technology had not been an easy one for her. However now, as she opened her sparkling eyes, her fingers began to float over the keyboard in an impossible rhythm. She worked within the pathways of the network until she was able to successfully bring up the security footage from D6, Scarlett's vault. She watched as Batten stood there by himself, and was suddenly joined by not only Tass, but Isuelt as well, all in the blink of a frame. She watched as Tass gently and immediately crouched next to Scarlett's bedside and Isuelt stumbled only to be supported by Batten’s arms.

It was here that she stopped the footage and designed a playback loop. She watched as Batten stood there, with herself in his arms and then suddenly scream out in pain before collapsing. Isuelt played this footage over and over again....studying it.

Tass gave that smile of his to Katt, the one that said he was going to give an answer, but it likely wasn't going to be the one she wanted. But she was smart. Perhaps she would see the answer within the answer. "There is no need to apologize, hun. I am being that. A bridge, which is a connection between two points. Those points could either here and there, or then and now, or both at once. He is being her bridge." He pointed to the room where the other Tass was. "I... am yours.." he set the full weight on Katt for just a moment, letting it weigh there, until he spoke again, and though he was still looking at her, the full weight was no longer there. "...and hers." He gave a nod towards Issy, who had just done an about-face and marched across the hall. "But that is not to say that the bridge is only for what has happened now, though it will do, for now. So, what do you need of me." There was that smile of his again.

Katt watched Issy for a moment. She looked like she was either afraid Katt was going to skin her alive for not saying something, or she couldn't say something. She was just about to ask Issy why she looked like a beaten dog but then the taller woman turned and marched out. O-K? Katt’s brows then furrowed as she turned, listening to the cryptic Tass and she exhaled a loud breath. "I would disagree with that. You are not my bridge. If anyone’s...you are his..." she meant her brother. "There is nothing I can do here, Tass. I probably shouldn't even be here. I should be upstairs, pretending I can fill his shoes and keeping things orderly for him." Her hands slowly tucked down into her pockets as she considered her brother for a long moment. "Speaking of a bridge..." Her brows dipped a moment. Hmm. Would..that work? She tilted her gaze to make sure Issy wasn't close enough to hear what she was about to say. "Do you know how to astral bridge? My brother and I are ...connected to a degree and I can feel him...here...but not?" She wasn't sure how to explain it properly aloud. It was just a weird feeling she had. "His body is here but his spirit is wandering...?" Did that make sense to him? "Last time I was down here, My brother and...." ugh she was NOT calling on Chaos, "another person...was able to link Clayton and myself so Clayton could will me back to my body..." Things she had gone through, not the most fun of things. "I am not sure that is what is going on here but..." Suddenly she flicked her hand dismissively, "Nevermind. Like I said...nothing I can do here. I am not all tech-no-mumbo-jumbo like him or smarts. I am just good at making sweet things." And stabby stabby but she wasn't going to say that to Tass!

There was an odd sound from across the hall. Isuelt hadn't bothered to close the door behind her. She was standing, staring at the screen of the monitor. Her hands were at her sides and no longer commanding information to come forth. She had watched the footage long enough, and in just those few seconds, she had heard something more in Batten's scream. She heard it the first time in real time. And it had unnerved her. It didn't sound human to her ears. At the time she had thought that she was just distressed in seeing him in anguish. But now that she was able to replay it several times, she could see it for what it truly was. It was far more than anguish....

Tass smiled and winked at Katt. "We'll see." About what? Oh, that would come later. "And yes, I can help with that. Bridges and whatnot... but I think there is someone else who needs you more at the moment. And she's his bridge." He nodded across the hallway to where Issy had retreated.

Katt's jaw tensed briefly at Tass' words. "I see... Then...I will leave it to that..." She bowed her head to Tass and without another word, she dismissed herself from the room. She didn't quite know who this 'someone else' was that Tass mentioned, but she understood enough. "I will be upstairs then..." she murmured to Tass on her way out the door. There was no break in her step, no attempt to wait to see if he would say something else. It was a pace that led her straight to the elevator without detour.

Tass sighed as he watched her go. Then he looked to Ed. "They both love you, and they both need to have a serious sit down and work through whatever is between them." He gave the man's chest another pat, then he turned and just... faded.

Issy had no way of knowing for certain how she knew, but she knew. Isuelt hurried back into the hallway to see Katt walking to the elevators and Tass fading. "What? Wait!" She called out, her voice echoing along the moden, spartan hallway.

Why was she being yelled at now? Katt pushed the button for the elevator to come down while looking over her shoulder. "What? Issy...You don't need me down here. Go do what you got to do to help Edward. I will be upstairs to keep things from getting into chaos."

"It's encoded data! It's data, it's information!" Isuelt's own brain felt as if it might explode; she was shocked and thankful that that little black bird had whispered in her ear. She knew she wasn't making sense just now, she only knew that she would need Katt. Batten certainly was no help as it was. "When he screamed....I....I knew it didn't sound right....I knew it!" Isuelt was in the middle of the hallway now, her hair which had been slightly pulled back to the nape of her neck was now sporting loose strands that had fallen from neglect. She was waving again toward Katt, trying to get her to return.

"Huh?" Katt had absolutely no clue what Issy was going on about. "Sounds like you need DIANA or Kyle to help with that. I don't know anything about encoded data." That was all she could conclude. "I know you don't like speaking with Diana but she is in there with him." She jerked her thumb to D4. Technically...DIANA was everywhere...she didn't know why she bothered pointing that out.

Isuelt was speaking excitedly in almost broken sentences. "The data, I can't really make it out, but it's......it came out of him....from his mouth.....it's the same sort of programming data.... it's DIANA. It's encoded data like she uses. It's different but it's the same. He's..... it's DIANA. She somehow got into him." Isuelt was almost out of breath, "I don't think he can handle it." She had now hurried into Vault D4 and to Batten’s bedside to look him over. She was running through words like a ticker tape, some of them even formed sentences. "He was looking after Scarlett....her monitors. He was... He was looking at the readouts. He was trying to figure out what was going on... And then he just... He is trying to make sense of it all... Trying to get deeper... Programming is like DIANA... but it's not. I can't read it.... I haven't absorbed it. Absorbing DIANA... Absorbing her..." Isuelt stopped her babble and her flashing eyes quickly looked around the room, was the hologram still there?

Katt again gestured Issy to D4 where Diana was. Maybe Issy just needed to tell her what she figured out. That was good. She could help Edward. "Go on, then." She offered before turning to the elevator as it dinged. "Do not end up like him, Issy. I will kick both your asses..." Fair warning, no?

What was taking Katt so long to walk back to her brother's room? Isuelt stuck her head out of the door and looked down the hallway. "Katt!" What was she doing back at the elevators? "Kathryn Batten! Get your skinny ass back here now!" Wow... Isuelt's expression about two seconds after she said that signified that even she herself was shocked as hell that came out of her mouth.

Blink. The fact someone called her full name like that who wasn't...well...Clayton..well that was bewildering all by itself! The way Issy addressed her, however, caused her brows to instantly drop and she came back, alright. There came Katt, stalking to where Issy had retreated to. She looked ..none amused. "Why the hell are you stopping me from going upstairs, Isuelt? Regardless of what you think, I am not needed here. You are his bridge and are here. You can do what is needed to help him. So let me do something to help besides standing here being useless, K?" Yeah, she wasn't happy. If the shadows attempting to escape her general area wasn't proof enough, the ones quivering at her feet might have been.

"Just shut up and get in here! He is your brother, and he is laying there unconscious! And don't tell me you don't give a shit about that because I know that you do! Be here with him. I'm certainly not going anywhere, but that doesn't mean that you should leave. You're his fucking sister, Katt! You don't think that he needs you? You don't think that he could feel your support? Stay...for him, please!" She had backed down many times from Katt in the past. Whether Isuelt felt as if she wasn't wanted or needed herself, or whether she felt that she was intruding on family business, she had often bowed out when the Battens were concerned. But this time, Isuelt stood her ground.

Katt’s hands curled up at her sides, fingers biting down into her palms to the point she felt flesh tearing. "How could you think I don't care that he is laying there?!" It was clear that Issy didn't understand how she felt but instead of letting the anger win, her fingers relaxed. "Fine. I will stand here helpless and useless to keep him company while you do what you need to do." Now she had issues with Issy. She took a few steps to plant herself at a spot out of the comings and goings of the room and folded her arms.

"Katt, I just said that I know you care. Now stop sulking and help him. I know that you guys are tight." Her tone wasn't as blustery as it was previously. As she entered back into the room, the somber atmosphere dulled her volume appropriately. His monitors were still steady and the readouts were nothing out of the ordinary for someone who was in deep slumber... maybe even REM sleep. Still, Isuelt felt as if she had to do something. Before she even engaged DIANA, she opened the network interface station in the room and emulated what she had reproduced across the hallway, bringing up the security footage of what had happened in Scarlett's vault. It was as if before handing everything over to DIANA, Isuelt wanted to share what she had discovered with Katt.

There was a look on Katt’s face when Issy said that. "How the fuck do you suggest I help him? He is laying right there but he's not there! I don't feel him there! I do not know what to do so I was going to go do something I know I can do! But you'd rather me be here so here I am." She wasn't sulking. She literally gave her thoughts and Tass declined it so what more was she supposed to do. She didn't know!

"Talk to him. Let him hear your voice..." Isuelt’s fingers stopped moving over the touch keypad and she turned around and looked at Katt. "What do you mean you can't feel him? Like... he's gone?" Panic? Maybe.

"He doesn't need to hear my voice, Issy. He knows..." Katt grunted quietly and her arms tightened around her chest as she looked to Edward. "No...Not like what you are thinking." Her lips pursed a bit as she considered how to explain it. "Do you know what astral projection is?"

Isuelt was fully turned toward Katt now. "You mean like... leaving your body?" Dream walking was what they used to call it where Isuelt was from.

"I...think it is something like that, yeah. The separation of the physical self and the soul. Everyone has the potential to do it...Some usually do it when they are sleeping or unconscious...I am not entirely sure of it but that is how it feels. He is ...here but not." Katt slowly shrugged her shoulders and she glanced away from Edward, her eyes closed. Where are you... It wasn't like she was reaching out to him. It was more like she was questioning it in her own mind. She was trying her damndest not to be pissed off at Issy and calm down. The things she said hurt! It wasn't like she was running away from the situation. She wasn't needed here! She could do more upstairs and make sure people didn't find out..Hell make sure David didn't find out. The youth would probably freak the hell out...

Isuelt heard what Katt said. She was processing it. Slowly she looked back to Batten on the bed and she stepped away from the computer, letting the footage pause on the screen. She moved the few steps to his bedside and leaned over him. Were she a doctor she may have lifted his eyelids and tested his pupils' reflexes with a flashlight. Were she a shaman she may have held his face in her hands and sung an incantation. But she wasn't either of those things, so she simply stood next to the bed and held his hand.

Katt inhaled and forced herself to exhale slowly. "Tass said you were his bridge...so..." She shrugged and remained where she was. Even with her eyes closed she could hear Issy moving around. It sounded further away which was good...

The AI had been reviewing everything, much like Issy, on a loop. Unlike Issy, however, the AI was looking at everything - not just recorded footage but complete sensor readouts, although whatever blast wave had come out of Scarlett had completely destroyed them. That was impressive in itself - the vaults had been designed to withstand incredible amounts of force, and the only person that had ever managed to put a dent in one was Renna. The only thing that made sense was the recording of the screen, which - as Issy had said - was data, compressed but readable. And even a cursory glance at it showed that even that made little sense. That could wait a moment, however, putting the data packet aside. What was puzzling about all this was what had happened to Batten. Certainly, DIANA could understand why he had been rendered unconscious. His mind had been exposed to the mental equivalent of a tidal wave of information. But even that, surely, would not have had this effect. DIANA reviewed his biometrics again. They made as little sense as the rest of it. Batten's autonomic nervous system, all his bodily functions, read as perfectly normal, and yet from his primary nervous system there was no activity at all, save for the prefrontal cortex region of his brain, and there the readings were massively incomprehensible.

The conversation going on in the hallway came to DIANA’s attention, and suddenly it came to her. Quickly she accessed a set of network protocols, reviewing data from her built-in monitoring processes. "I believe Miss Batten is correct...and yet, at the same, time, she is not." Her voice spoke throughout the vault level via hidden speakers. "I believe what has happened is that Mr. Batten's consciousness has become lost in my network. And he was just here, accessing your interface, and attempting to connect to you, Miss Batten. Since you share some of Mr. Batten's genetic modifications, you are linked through the network." She paused a moment, accessing her monitoring processes again. In the vault the hologram shook her head. "Wherever he is now, I cannot locate him, at least until he attempts to connect to something else."

Isuelt, at least for the moment, remained where she was. She had listened to DIANA but was still working on comprehending such a scenario. Katt had been correct, she had needed to go elsewhere; and in her primitive thought process, Isuelt had thought it best that Katt stay here and try to let Batten hear her voice. She shook her head, yes she had come a long way with this marvel called technology, yes she had a little black and crimson bird whispering aid into her ear, but Isuelt was simply too far back in the knowledge that was needed for this situation. Had she made it worse? Had she interfered? Isuelt took a breath and then took a chance and turned her gaze to Katt in the chair.

Katt listened as well but her head was craned to one side as if she were in deep thought. Namely - how was it possible for Edward's 'self' to be attached to the network? And that was him she had felt... Pursing her lips, Katt considered a few things but above all..how far the reach of the network was. Was it ever placed in that space station they had been talking about? And if it was...did that mean he was lost forever? That thought turned her stomach. It had taken all she had not to leave after Issy's demands. It was cruel to make her stay there, knowing fully well what she had gone through...and already lost. Having to be made witness to losing else of her blood...it was will breaking to say the least. Pushing from her spot, she spoke to DIANA, "Can you at least tell me where you last...felt him?" She breezed to the door, deciding on a few of Edward's 'hotspots' in the tower and out that she could try to see if she felt him again. For the most part, she paid Issy no mind. That is until she was about to exit, "If you try and stop me, I will punch you so hard your ancestors will feel it " It was no threat. "Do what you need to do..." she added with less venom.She made her way out of the room and for the elevators, her earpiece placed back in her left ear.

Isuelt took everything Katt hurled at her, she took it on the chin. She took it in silence. As Katt left, Isuelt slowly turned back around and looked down at Batten. She felt doubly guilty, doubly helpless. She felt sick. "DIANA, is there nothing else to do then? Nothing but wait?" Isuelt swallowed and retreated back to the chair in the room. Regardless of what DIANA said, Isuelt sat there for the remainder of the night.

The hologram shook her head, speaking to Katt. "Mr. Batten's consciousness appears to have merged completely with the data around him. He is...coherent, but I can't differentiate him from the rest of the data. I have to wait until he accesses something using his own protocols. The only time so far has been you. Even had you realized it was him, however, he could not have maintained that connection for long." The hologram closed her eyes a moment, accessing her own internal pathways to set up flags within the network. She opened them again, looking to Issy. "I have put measures into place to track what he accesses, but really, it is only a means of tracing where he's been." She turned her face towards where Batten lay in the vault. "He will have to find his way back here on his own."

Katt was already on her way but DIANA's words were rattling her skull. How could she possibly draw his attention when he was on the network like he was. Part of her wondered if she could have DIANA's imprint her own consciousness onto the network but act as a support line. ...ugh..but that wouldn't work. Would it? Most likely not. As Katt exited the elevator, she circled around the corner, clearing her senses and reaching out for that familiar feeling. It was time to hunt..

[Issy]

Batten Tower, Vault Sublevel, Compartment D4



In the vault where Ed lay, silent and unmoving, little had changed for several days.

Until this moment.

The biometric readouts, which had been steady and unchanging since he had been connected to them, suddenly leaped, their readouts registering higher levels of brain and vital activity, heart rate and respiration suddenly increasing to levels akin to someone having a panic attack. A moment later, without any warning, the Playboy sat up with a sharp gasp, eyes open wide. His voice was a harsh barking rasp as he called out to the empty compartment, its door left open onto the hall beyond.

"Katt..." He coughed, the force of it sending him reeling to the side to sprawl on the floor. "Di...get me Katt...hurry...not much time..."

Katt was, at the time, sitting in the ‘conference room’...rather just some big room with a large table and a bunch of chairs. She actually didn’t know what he used it for… A mass of papers were scattered among the table in front of her but instead of looking at them, she was staring at her pcui. Slouched over she had her forehead against one palm, and the other hand balanced the pcui with a light touch. She just stared at nothing particular on the screen. No information, no files, no nothing. Her lack of sleep was liking getting to her and she was sleeping with her eyes open? If only things were so simple. Her mind wouldn’t let her rest. Most of her time was spent between trying to figure out how to help her brother and trying to keep business from finding out (because surely such a thing would cause people to panic), there was little time for sleep. And what sleep she did get was haunted by some rather hellish nightmares. So why sleep and wake up drenched in cold sweat when you could stay awake and fret? She was sure Clayton didn’t appreciate the cold sheets next to him at night…

Her fingers stretched, fixing to move the screen a little when it suddenly came to life and DIANA’s voice filled the air around her, “Miss Batten, your brother is awake. He needs you! Please hurry to-”

Katt didn’t even hear the rest of the message. The pcui may have been in hand but she was no longer sitting and no longer in the room. She made record time getting to D4, passing several faces she knew in a hurry but giving no word to them in the process. She had no doubt Diana would let others know about Edward’s waking and if she didn’t, Katt would once things settled. The elevator felt like it was taking forever going down and she hissed a sound even as the doors opened to allow her access to the hallway. The pcui was dropped into her pocket as she passed through the door only to find her brother..On the floor? Why the heck was he on the floor?!

“Whoa-hey-” she moved to him and dipped down to grab his arm, pulling him up slightly while sliding herself at his side to give him something to lean on - to help him up at his own pace, “Take it easy. You’ve been out for a few days.” She’d scold him later - tell him he was the smartest idiot she knew ...but for now...she was just happy he was conscious.

Batten had clearly been out for some time, longer than he'd thought. Maybe. It was still a little hazy, really. But what stood out was right in the forefront of his mind, and he tried to force himself up with muscles that were still weak from disuse. Even his altered physiology was subject to atrophy, although he would recover quickly. It seemed like a moment before his sister was there, pulling him up. It struck him, for the first time in a long time, how strong she was, even though she was perhaps a little more than half his size she managed to help him up with little effort, it seemed. He groaned as she brought him to his feet, muscles grudgingly accepting his weight bit by bit. "No time, sis...You...gotta get to Issy..." He grunted as he leaned against her a moment, then shifted towards the bed. His arm shook for a moment as he leaned on it, but held. "...she's...Renna is..." Even now, he wasn't sure how to explain it. What he'd seen wasn't a virus, it was...different. "...we need to get her here...might need de glass box..."

David Batten stormed through the tower as he bamphed from a portal before it. He passed security without a single care, even if they argued the fact. And, when they did? He waved his hand, and threw them across the room. His steely eyed of brown and blue was narrowed as he made his way through the complex, not in a jog, or fast walk. He ran. He burst into the room, flanked by two dolls. One black haired and one blonde; their tiny legs keeping up with him with much effort. "Father!" He entered the room, then paused, looking at him with wide, tear-stained eyes. "Dad?”

Batten blinked as David came running in, surprised the boy had shown up so quickly. Well, maybe he shouldn't be. After all, David could likely connect to the network in much the same way Ed could, or his sister, in theory. He made a mental note to look into it. Something flashed across his memory, a bright pulse of data that he had come into contact with, flickers of images that disoriented him for a moment. Something had to be done about this boy, soon. What he'd seen troubled him, but could be chalked up to a lack of training. That could wait, though, and he gave David a grin, even though he wasn't quite standing without support just yet. "Heya son. How ya been?" Like he didn't just wake up from a coma or something.

David’s bottom lip quivered. He stood frozen, as if unsure what to do. Many emotions fell through him in many instances--anger;happiness to see him awake. He stood still for several moments before he casually walked up to Edward, then, clamped his arms around him, hugging him tight. "...D-D..." He tried to be calm. He tried, but he wept. "Don't do that again. Don't you ever... ever..." He wept. "Please?"

Batten reached down to pull his son into that hug, glancing across to his sister with a wry grin. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The family refrain. He looked down at David and sighed. "Your aunt here has been tryin' to make me promise dat fer years, son. But I'll promise to try."

Katt settled Edward to sit on the floor so he could properly talk with his son. "Understood." Was all she said as she pulled out her pcui and sent Issy a message. He is up. Hurry here... She moved herself out of the way and down the hallway.

‘Son’. David relaxed at the word. He smirked a little. A twisted smile that was familiar. "Hey Dad? You look like shit." The kid mused. "There's pasties here!" He moved to help him. "How about some?"

Batten had to let out a laugh at that, nodding agreement. "Oui, Ah s'pose Ah do at dat. He waved off the help. "Just gotta sit fer a sec, mon fils. Could use a drink o'water, t'ough."

David wiped his eyes, glaring aside. A doll brought a plastic cup of water to which he took and offered. "Here, Dad, take this."

Katt had gone off to do something but eventually returned. Instead of entering the room, she stood outside, pretending not to hear what was going on. She was pretty sure David didn't want her there or didn't like her. Both? So she kinda kept her distance. It gave her a chance to use the network to ...well..start tracking down Issy. Plans...were set. She was going to be doing more hunting. Obviously.

Batten took the water and sipped it, eyeing his son for a moment in silence. Small sips, of course. He knew better than to gulp it down. "So...I was lookin' t'rough some data while Ah was takin’ my nap. Found some on you."

David looked aside. "Yep." He said matter of factly. David winced. "I figured DIANA kinda followed me? Or whatever hell you look at."

Batten took another sip. "DIANA keeps track of t'ings dat happen in de city. An'...well, it wasn't yer choice of targets, just...yer a little excessive when it comes to takin' down de bad guys."

Katt really didn't want to disturb their conversation but it was probably better to do it now than later. She called out from beyond the door, "Edward. I am going to go get her and bring her back here. The box is ready so there is nothing else to be done currently...You are to rest up and stay with your son. Do you understand me?" She was leaving very little room for argument at the moment and she was pretty sure in his current state he couldn't do much arguing anyways.

Batten could, in fact, argue, if he had a mind, but, as he looked at his sister, he knew he wouldn't. He just nodded. "Ah hear ya, sis. Try t'be careful, okay? Ah don' know how far gone it's gotten, but dis...it ain't de same as it was b'fore." He was careful to skirt around mentioning Renna's name, now that David was here. He wasn't sure how that conversation would go down, and definitely didn't want to have it right now. "Make sure ya come back so ya can tell me how Ah'm de smartest idiot you know. An' den Ah can tell you how yer de best sister a guy could have."

Katt wasn't about to make promises she couldn't keep. "Understood." She kinda figured why he was being sparse with the information. Wasn't a bad reason, to be sure. She pushed from her spot, arms unfolded as she started to move. Two steps in and she paused, a brow raised as she looked over her shoulder and to the door's opening. What he said..gave her pause. For more than one reason. "I...will let you know when we are back..." She sounded..unsure? Damn skippy she did. "David? Watch after your father well, young sir." With that, she moved out. Time for a hunt that was a little more..easier?





((Continued here.))