WHO ARE YOU?

[renferret]

The Cyberrealm, part 3.


All of the equipment in the inner room has halted, frozen in time, and though it's neither comfortable nor simple, Sewall is able to get himself down off the metal bed without bumping any of the more likely active bits.

Outside the room, the three HR workers at first continue along as though without awareness even of Mouse's presence, but then the woman gets a somewhat startled look, and she looks from the monitor to Mouse, and then back toward the closed door.

Mouse asks, keeping her tone level, "Is something wrong?"

Sewall, once back on his feet, gets himself in order and limps, stiff-backed, toward the door as though everything that had just happened was supposed to have happened in that exact way.

"This never happens," says the woman, as the men on either side continue to tap away at their keyboards. "There's some sort of glitch. I'm sure the techs will have it sorted out, soon enough." Her words sound confident and her smile is meant to be disarming, but the woman is clearly put off balance by whatever it is she sees.

The door in front of Sewall remains closed, all the machinery frozen.

"A glitch," Mouse echoes. She makes the single word sound dubious. "Are you telling me that your office has faulty software?"

Sewall harumphs, then moves away from the door to examine the frozen machinery.

"No, no," answers the woman, attempting to be charming and light. "They must be working on something upstairs. That's all." Still, she looks again at her monitor and tries tapping at the keys with a little more force.

Sewall's room could be the interior of some alien spacecraft, with probes and knives of all varieties. The only thing they all have in common are their angular nature. The wall of formerly blinking lights is static, and though the lights remain on, there are no surface bulbs, just a semi-opaque glass wall which appears to create its own illumination in patterns unclear to a human mind.

Long distance to Machine: Mouse considers. Any way to fool the system into thinking everything in there is done, rather than stopped?

Machine pages: Possibly! Mouse got in and stopped it. She could try to convince the system that it's gone through the whole process, or she could try a 'reset'.

Long distance to Machine: Mouse goes with 'trying to convince'.

Mouse settles back into her seat, arms crossed, and looks at the computer more directly again, as if it might have more answers than its controller.

Sewall, while Mouse handles things outside, gets out the multi-tool he carries around and disconnects one of the probe heads, a piece small enough to fit into a pocket.

Mouse's adventure within the System resumes and she finds herself once again nearly making matters worse. At first, she simply can't convince the program to let her have access to the portion she needs, but on her second attempt, all of the equipment whirs to life again. Sewall finds the probe head in his hand warming, even detatched from the rest of the equipment. One of the grappling arms takes hold of his shoulder and another is just reaching to the other side when Mouse's third attempt seems to succeed. It isn't that the equipment simply retracts into various housings, but there are several jerks and starts as it plays out a routine in fast forward. Sewall doesn't escape entirely unscathed, but other than a bruise to his arm where he'd been grabbed, any injury is incidental, as the equipment seems oblivious to his presence. In short order, all the probes and knives and grappling arms retract until just their ends are visible, and the door opens with a hiss, like the opening of an airlock.

"Ah," says the woman in front of Mouse. "Very good."

Sewall grimaces, then carefully puts on a neutral face as he limps out of the back room. He'd decided, on second thought, to leave the probe bit behind.

Mouse smiles at the woman, seeming to share in her satisfaction (and likely relief). She avoids looking at Sewall at all.

The man who had been assisting Sewall rises again as he emerges and turns to intercept him, holding out a new identicard.

"I believe you're next," the woman says to Mouse, rising as well.

Mouse stands without visible hesitation, though of course the actual motion itself is...slow. Painful. Awkward. Any sign that this might be the wrinkle in her plan is well hidden, even from Sewall, and she turns for the door into the back room.

Sewall gives Mouse what he means to look like a passing glance -- two completely unrelated ships passing in the night, nothing more -- but a flicker of worry escapes. His expresion's smooth again as he turns to accept his new identicard.

Just as with Sewall, the room comes alive as soon as Mouse enters, and also as with Sewall, the wall of lights is much brighter than it had been with the previous worker.

The door closes behind Mouse and grappling arms move to assist her onto the metal bed.

Once Sewall has been given his new identicard, he is dismissed, the HR worker returning to his desk as though Sewall is no longer his concern.

No, that's not great, that's not great at all. Mouse isn't exactly the world's best at struggling either, but when the grappling arms close around her, she puts up with it exactly as long as it takes to get on the bed. And then she goes lupus, and activates Shed.

You paged Machine with 'I am extremely dubious about that working, but hey, she's gotta try.'.

Sewall examines his new card for a bit before clipping it to his shirt front... and then, quite unhurried, walks out of the office and into the hallway.

Mouse's fur sheds in clumps left in the grappling claws, and she wrests herself free of their hold. More appear though, emerging from the walls, ceiling, even floor, and the light in the room shifts from clear white to a flashing red. There is no audible alarm, but it's clear that something has changed.

Sewall emerges into the hallway, where the life of the office continues, much as before.

"/Shit/," Mouse voices, as she forces herself to return to homid.

Sewall doesn't loiter in the hallway, but continues to not move particularly fast as he heads down it.

The flashing red of the room light continues, and Mouse again finds herself beging grabbed by the mechanical arms. There is no audible alarm, and outside the room, Sewall sees no similar response.

Three From Ashes tries not to struggle this time, though it takes up pretty much all of her focus. Nothing she can do about her pounding heartbeat though.

Sewall glances at his watch, marking the time as he limps down the hallway. He takes in the area visually as well, thinking.

This time, Mouse is held firmly, and from many angles and at many points. When she attempts to access the System through the wall, she finds the experience very different from accessing through the desktop, or through the terminal, earlier. This is more like talking directly to a security guard who is all muscle and very little creativity, and trying to convince him to ignore his orders and let her through the very important doors behind him. For a long, long while, all she gets is a series of blockades, each one more forceful than the last, and while she tries, the probes have begun their initial scan of her form. At least, once the scan begins, the light shifts from flashing red back to white.

Mouse tries to ignore the scan, and anything other than her debate with the machine. The wall? The System. She manages to resist the urge to start fighting again (not that she could really manage anything in this position), but it's...decidedly distracting.

Sewall guesses, uh, skip me? B|

Machine: Stupid splitting the party!

Mouse: Never split the party!

Sewall | "My apologies, Salem-rhya, but your tribemate was transformed into a toaster."

On and on Mouse tries to work her way around the equivalent of a football defensive line in order to access the System behind the wall. The scan completes while she is engaged, and the first of the probes begins. It starts with her toes, re-arranging flesh and bone, until each is the perfect representation of its purpose. The pain is intense, and nearly yanks her back from her goal, but with the force of will, she maintains. It isn't just flesh being manipulated by the machinery, and Mouse can feel the drain on her spirit that happens at the same time. At last, though, she breaks past the security goon, and finds herself engaging the System itself.

Machine pages: Assume a WP spent, and a Gnosis stolen.

Mouse lets out a choked cry. Panic claws at her, and then--then she's in. Wide eyed, she /stares/ at the light filled wall, trying to accomplish what she managed from outside the room last time.

On it goes, as Mouse sifts through the weight of data and tries to once again override the process. Slowly, Mouse's feet are perfected, as more of her spirit is sucked away, but before the probes can reach her ankles, she's found the switch and, as will Sewall, everything stops.

Machine pages: And another gnosis stolen.

Mouse remains wide eyed and staring even after the machinery has stopped. She stays still for a moment, trembling, before trying to get free again--this time she's more slow and deliberate about it, or at least as slow and deliberate as she can be under the circumstances.

All the lights are solid, all the equipment frozen, and though it takes some time, Mouse manages to eventually extricate herself. Unlike with Sewall, she was held at enough points that getting free requires scraping and twisting, dislocating her thumb in order to escape.

By the time she's standing alone in the room of silence and stillness, Sewall has reason to become concerned.

Mouse clenches her jaw as she stands, and tries to yank that thumb back to where it should be. Painful, but not as much as getting literally rewritten and rearranged. Successful or not, she reaches back and rather self consciously feels for her hidden tail, as if seeking reassurance that she's still far from perfect.

Sewall glances at his watch again, grimaces, and turns around to limp back toward the HR office.

Indeed, Mouse's tail remains intact, and, perhaps more importantly, present. The equipment in the room remains still, but Mouse can feel a presence of which she had no previous awareness. A prodding that doesn't require physical movement, but tests the edges of her perception.

You paged Machine with 'From the machine itself, or does it feel more...how to put it, more absolute, like a bigger spirit's taking interest?'.

Machine pages: That latter.

You paged Machine with 'Ooooh dear.'.

Machine pages: Attention is being drawn.

Mouse slowly lets her hands fall back to her sides. And then, she moves a few steps toward the door, to see if it will open.

As with Sewall, while the machinery is frozen, the door remains closed.

Mouse doesn't try to pry it open--that kind of attempt from her would be laughable anyway--instead choosing to stand still again. Breathe deeply, evenly. Clear her mind. She looks toward the wall again.

You paged Machine with 'Observing if she can, but she's not daring to try and push things just yet.'.

The presence is there, all the more apparent when Mouse is directly connecting with the System. At the moment, it appears to be curious.

"There appears to be a glitch," Mouse says out loud, though not anything above a conversational tone. She's not even sure who she's talking to, the people outside (unlikely) or the watching presence itself. "The door won't open." In, out. In, out. She tries to keep her breaths absolutely equal with each other, and she doesn't move from her spot.

Sewall reaches the HR office again, just as another worker turns to step inside.

Sewall activates Blur of the Milky Eye and follows the other worker inside, closely.

The presence, the curiosity, is active rather than passive, and it's almost a physical sensation as it explores the contents of the inner chamber.

The worker is welcomed by the left-hand HR staff, who gestures him to a seat. The woman in the middle is tapping rather forcefully at her keyboard, a look of consternation on her face, though the other two don't seem to be aware of anything amiss, and none seem aware of the ragabash.

Mouse shifts her focus, a minute change, entirely to the light wall again.

Sewall sidles around the middle desk to peer over the woman's shoulder.

Sewall finds a stream of code across the monitor almost straight out of The Matrix, and the woman at the desk becomes more and more aggitated at what she sees.

Within the room, Mouse reconnects with the System and slowly, painstakingly, convinces it to run through the rest of the process the way she did with Sewall. As the myriad arms and knives and probes begin their fast-forward approach, occasionally snapping back, bruising or jostling the Glass Walker, the presence Mouse felt moves from minor curiosity to intensely sharp interest. It doesn't seem to affect the movement of the mechanical constructs, but all the lights turn on, blinking all at once, rapidly. The sense of distant prodding becomes a question, not heard but felt, though Mouse's connection to the System. WHO ARE YOU?

You, Mouse thinks without thinking. She listens to the machines behind her, quietly wishing they would finish up even more quickly.

Sewall stares, frowning, at the stream of code, studying it for patterns.

Just as Sewall is beginning to discern patterns, almost recognizable voices within the stream of code, the door to the inner chamber opens. It may be a blessing for Mouse, that sudden freedom, but the presence, the curiosity remains and now it seems to permeate the building itself.

Mouse looks rather harrowed, but she's still clearly herself. If her steps are, perhaps, very slightly more even in their shuffling, then that's the only real difference. She exits the room without hurry or sluggishness.

Sewall exhales a silent breath of relief and limps after Mouse; once they're in the hallway, he touches her arm to let her know he's there -- but keeps the Gift activated.

The woman looks up from her monitor as Mouse steps out, and though she hands Mouse her new identicard, she doesn't look as calm, nor collected, as the others have or as she did in the past.

By the time they step into the corridor, eyes that had previously been only on their own work begin to watch the pair, and they clearly see not only Mouse but her companion as well. There is no movement, no threat, even in the way they are watched, but they /are/ watched. Those who pass by in the hall also look their way, rather than only straight ahead.

Mouse, by contrast, keeps her attention forward, as if the watchers weren't there. She heads for the elevators; ones that will take them further upward.

Sewall grits his teeth and follows.

More and more eyes follow the Garou as they make their way back toward the elevators. By the time they reach the security guards and floor check-in woman, the curiosity has become more intense, and some of the expressions are decidedly south from neutral. It isn't the spiders who step foward, though, but the woman with the tablet. "Identicard," she says, holding out a hand, expectantly.

Mouse holds out her card as expected. She's still keeping her attention narrowed on the immediate matter at hand, but she's clearly not blind to the changes around them.

Sewall lets the Gift drop as he wordlessly holds out his card as well, his other hand white-knuckled around the head of his cane.

The woman swipes Mouse's card first, and then Sewall's. The security spiders step away from their place at the wall, each one, step by step, closing in on the two with the floor check-in woman. For her part, her eyes narrow as she examines the results of each swipe, but she says nothing about any concerns as she hands the cards back to the Garou. People from nearby offices begin to cluster in the hallway, and the sense of curiosity begins to turn to hostility. Still, it's nebulous, not coming from anyone in particular, and distant enough to not pose an immediate danger. It feels more like a room in which gas has been spilled and had time to evaporate. Without a spark, there is no fire, but all it takes is the strike of a match.

Mouse takes her card back, turns, and makes her way to one of the elevators that lead further upwards. She presses the 'down' arrow.

Sewall does likewise, concentrating on keeping his face blank and his breathing even.

Almost immediately, one of the sets of elevator doors slide open, allowing the Garou to enter. Though the workers remain standing, almost identical copies of one another, watching, learning, the spider security continue their approach. One lifts two forelegs, as if to taste the air around the pair of unusual visitors.

Mouse steps inside, waits for Sewall, and then presses the button to close the doors, followed by a floor number three levels down from them. "It noticed when I stopped the machinery again," she murmurs to the other Garou. "It was curious, now it's very clearly suspicious."

"How long do we have, do you think?" Sewall asks.

The nearer of the spiders is almost at the door when it closes and the elevator starts the smooth ride down.

"Not nearly long enough," Mouse replies, still quiet. "If security is lighter on this floor, we exist this elevator, grab another one going up. If not, well." She gestures toward the higher floor buttons. "We see where it lets this take us."

Mouse: *exit

Sewall gives a shallow nod.

It doesn't take long to go down the three floors, but when the doors open again, they could be still in the exact place they left. A security spider is there at the door, and the woman (or one who looks incredibly like her) with the tablet stands not far away. Through all that, the eyes of other workers can be seen, watching from the end of the corridor.

Mouse hits the button to close the doors again. "...That answers that." She sounds a little unnerved. First plan foiled, she goes ahead and hits the button for their destination floor, and gives Sewall a look of tense uncertainty. "Let me go first when we stop."

Sewall nods again.

The doors close, this time just barely shutting out the spider, who has to draw back the closer limb rather than be hit. At first, the car rides swiftly upward, but then the blur of light seems to slow, and the gut-dropping feeling of upward movement eases as well.

Mouse is quiet. She watches the rising floor numbers carefully, and her only reaction to the slower upward movement is a slight tightening of her jaw.

Sewall shifts his weight to a slightly wider, more ready stance, jaw clenched.

One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, three hundred fifty, three hundred seventy, three hundred eighty, three hundred eighty-five. The passing of floors slows further and further, until they seem to crawl, as though they might be able to climb faster than the car moves upward. Three hundred eighty-six, three hundred eighty-seven.

"You're not being very efficient," Mouse murmurs under her breath. The comment doesn't seem to have any real direction. She remains where she is, holding still, as if that might help their situation.

Sewall cocks his head at her, eyebrows rising. "Pardon?"

Three hundred eighty-eight... And then it almost feels as though the car has stopped. It hasn't. The doors don't open. But any upward movement can be measured in centimeters.

Mouse shakes her head at the question. "The System," she says, only a little louder. And they...almost stop. She closes her eyes, briefly. "Apparently toying with us is more important than making things run well."

"Ah," says the Fang. "Like the antagonist in that film, _The Matrix_. Contaminated by inefficient emotions."

The crawl from 388 to 389 seems to take forever, but eventually, there's a ding, and the car comes to a full stop. The doors slide open, and for all that they've traveled, they may as well still be on the fiftieth floor. This time, the Security Spider moves into the car with them before either has a chance to exit or push a button.

Mouse seems to have expected it. She's moving toward the exit almost before the doors themselves open, which brings her right up to the spider as it moves in. She looks at it, her expression blank.

Sewall goes absolutely still.

The spider's forelegs lift to examine Mouse, touching her from head to toe, exploring every inch. The woman with the tablet steps forward, even as the security spider does its job, and says, in a tone every bit as neutral as before, "Identicard, please."

Mouse offers over her identicard as best she can as the spider probes her, as if this were perfectly normal and expected.

Sewall continues to stand still, offering nothing unless asked.

The woman swipes each card and then hands them back, but the spider continues to examine Mouse. "I'm sorry," the woman states. "There seems to be a discrepancy. You were due for an upgrade that was not completed. Please step this way."

"Very well," Mouse replies. She does indeed step the way that was indicated, and she attempts to give Sewall a short, sharp glance that flickers from him toward the hallway where, presumably, the data they came from might be found.

Sewall catches the glance and attempts to move in the indicated direction.

"I'm sorry, sir," the woman says as he starts to move aside. "Your upgrade was not completed. Please step this way." The security spider, its examination of Mouse complete, allows both to exit the elevator.

Once more, Mouse's jaw tightens ever so slightly. She looks over their surroundings as they exit, particularly for escape routes, though this far up, the real question would be where they expected to be able to run to.

Sewall looks even more grim than usual as he follows Mouse.

Beyond the elevators, this floor is nothing like those they were on below. The light is almost too bright, and the open spaces seem to go on forever. Here, the multiple buildings in old town are connected in a bright and shiny world.

Not that the Garou are being afforded the luxury of exploring those reaches. Instead, they are escorted down a hall that is much the same as any other they've seen. There is no HR office, this time, just a larger version of the same room they both experienced, before at the end of the hall.

Mouse slowly reaches up to one of her inner jacket pockets, feeling for the small bag of tass pennies. The gesture appears idle, and in reality it's not much more than that; she does nothing with them other than touch the bag with her fingertips as they get closer and closer to the room.

Sewall's expression remains grim -- the stony expression of a man stepping (limping) toward the gallows.

Spider and officiate follow behind, and stop outside the open door. "Please step inside," the woman says. "Your upgrade will resume."

Mouse steps inside, and immediately flicks one of the Tass pennies from her pocket toward the center of the room. The gesture seems almost coincidental (desperate, more likely). Her eyes look for the light wall again.

Sewall follows. His eyes flick toward the flying penny, then shift toward Mouse.

The door closes behing the two, and almost immediately the whirring of motors can be heard. The room is bright, light coming from everywhere and nowhere, much like outside the building. Unlike the smaller version of this room, below, there are three exits, one at every other wall, and the operational lights and controls line the walls in between. Six beds form a star from the middle of the room pointing outward, and once the door has closed behind the Garou, mechanical arms begin to reach for them, just as before.

Mouse turns abruptly toward one of the other exits, trying to keep as close up against the wall as possible. She doesn't hesitate using her gift this time, she immediately tries to interface with the controls near the exit she's chosen.

Sewall, muttering under his breath, sticks close to Mouse.

Mouse finds access, much as she did before, and that questing, seeking presence behind it is there immediately. The operational lights begin flashing in a pattern, and while the meaning isn't obvious, at least the flashing is obviously a pattern.

Mouse isn't nearly as subtle as she's tried to be in the past. She tries to go immediately for the mechanical arms, trying to render them immobile.

"No shifting, I presume?" Sewall asks, aiming his cane in a heavy swing at a nearby mechanical arm.

Immobile is easy, the "Stop" command has an immediate effect, and everything other than the operational lighting freezes. It does, however, also draw immediate attention; the room's lights seem to grow brighter and Mouse can feel that curiosity focused directly on her, an awareness of her connection, her insertion into the Machine.

Sewall's cane bounces off the nearest arm, the vibration of the impact making the Silver Fang's hands sting, though it doesn't seem to do any damage to the structure.

Those lights continue to flash, shifting colors and strings, over and again.

"Not yet," Mouse says breathlessly. "It wasn't happy at all when I tried it." Her eyes remain riveted on the wall controls, and now that the absolutely immediate danger is on hold, she attempts to go for cameras and sensors, the machine's 'eyes' in the room, and especially on the mechanical arms, trying to trick them into believing she and Sewall have been placed on two of the beds. "It's watching us again."

Sewall grimaces and nods.

Tricking the sensors turns out to be impossible, but it may be possible to turn them off. Unfortunately, the attempt to manipulate the sensors seems to have had the opposite of the desired effect, and though the mechanical arms and probes remain motionless, there is a return of the whirring of motors, somewhere out of sight. Mouse can feel the presence looking directly at her, now, no longer searching, but aware and awake and watching.

Mouse swears under her breath, and switches her efforts toward trying to switch the sensors off entirely. "Be ready, it's really not going to like this."

Sewall grumbles, "Good, because I don't really like /it/."

It takes a few seconds, and there's an obvious struggle within the mechanical constructs - the arms twitch in place, a clicking of grinding gears heard within the whirring of motors behind the walls. Then everything stops. All the light, all the sound, all of it stops, plunging the Garou into darkness. A moment, only, and then the patterned flicker of operational colored lights on the wall returns, casting shifting shadows through the room.

Mouse breathes. In the silence, it seems extraordinarily noisy. She takes the moment to consider their options, and probably to stop her heart from pounding so much.

"...Now what?" the Fang asks, very quietly.

Red, Yellow, Blue, Blue and Yellow, Blue and Red... The lights on the wall continue to blink, flashing in the dark, but for the moment, that's all there is.

"Good question," Mouse answers, her voice no louder than his. She resumes her focus on the system she's tapped in to, carefully examining it for the presence she's been feeling.

Sewall exhales a breath, not /quite/ a sigh, and falls quiet to let the Athro work her magic. If nothing else, the young Fang knows patience.

The presence is there, and as soon as Mouse looks, its as though the Eye of Sauron is on her once more. The lights and sensors and cameras in the room turn on, all at once, bright enough to hurt the eyes, and the mechanical arms resume their attempt to capture the pair to bring them to the beds.

"/Shit/, worst idea," Mouse hisses, as she immediately attempts to shut down the operations again. "/Worst/ idea."

Sewall raises his cane again, even if it's an ineffective weapon at best. "Anything I can do?"

The whirring of machinery slows, allowing Sewall to evade the grasp of an arm, and after a second more, the lights go out again and everything stops. It's different, this time, however, and the wall of flashing lights is faster, an urgency in the message they carry.

Mouse swallows and pushes up and away from the panel she was working at, her motion unsteady and sluggish as always. "Help me open one of the other doors."

Sewall nods and hobbles along with Mouse, doing his best to help her along.

The door is solid, and not meant to be opened from within. It will take either brute strength, or some method of triggering the latch from elsewhere to get it to open.

Mouse isn't exactly the poster child for brute strength, but she shifts up to crinos to try and slip her claws between door and frame, while angling herself so that the door is between her and whatever's on the other side.

Sewall follows suit, growling to himself about angles of force and pressure points.

Two crinos, no matter how ill equipped in homid, are no match for the door, and it falls beneath their combined strength. The the hallway it opens onto flashes red, as does the bank of operational lights behind them, and mechanical sounds of movement can be heard from nearby.

Three From Ashes stays in crinos just long enough for both of them to get through the doorway, and then she slides back to homid, attempting to use the wall as further support to keep moving--err, shuffling--more quickly.

Sewall is slower to shift downward, but again he follows the Athro's lead and helps her along as best he's able, though he's sweating more than a little, both from the exertion and the stress.

The initial hallway is relatively short, with branches after the first 15 feet to the left and right. It continues another 30 feet past that, and then opens out into an open space, bounded by a wall of windows. The flashing red continues and it's just as the pair reach the first branching that they can see the spider guards closing in from either side. The way ahead remains open, though not much can be seen of what is beyond the hall itself.

Mouse picks the path that doesn't have encroaching spider guards. She moves as fast as she can, though this remains frustratingly slow. One hand reaches back under her coat, feeling for the grip of her gun, and more importantly, the Roach Clip within.

Sewall is muttering under his breath again and staring hard at the spider guards, visually scouring them for details.

The pair pass that first branch and continue down toward where the hall opens out, the first of the spider guards reaching the crossing behind them and heading in their direction. The guard appears unhurried, but still moves faster than either Garou, and the flashing red light around them glints off the metalic eyes.

*Monsters in the upgrade chamber!* Mouse calls back at them, pointing. She doesn't /stop/ while she's doing that though. *I think they are trying to destroy it.*

Sewall keeps his mouth shut, though continues to study the spider guards.

The guards don't seem to hear Mouse, or if they do, they take no note of what she says, and instead continue to follow, slowly gaining on the pair. Sewall takes in the joints, the slow, methodical movement, as the guardian spider closes the distance toward the Silver Fang. They're less than three meters behind with the Garou step out into the open space. To the left, a Skywalk offers access to the next building over, and where the hallway wall ends, a series of kiosks hold terminals like those Mouse used on the lowest level. The windows seem to wrap around the entire building, and beyond is only the cloud of light without source.

"Worth a try," Mouse mutters. She loosens the gun from its holster, though she doesn't pull it into sight yet. Instead, she angles toward the kiosks, now moving almost sideways so that she doesn't have to take her eyes off of the approaching guards.

Sewall jerks his attention away and limps quickly after Mouse, giving his head a little shake.

As the Garou angle toward the kiosks, the spiders step out into the open area and turn, angling after Mouse and Sewall without missing a step.

Mouse makes a decision. She turns her back on the kiosks, then draws her gun and aims it at the spider on the left, gripping the weapon with both hands. She fires at the spider's metallic eyes.

"...Do you still care that /it/ is watching?" Sewall asks, eyeballing the pair of spider guards.

"I care that it's watching," Mouse says, still sounding breathless, "I don't think shifting's going to be worse than shooting at this point."

"Good," says the Fang, and bulks up into Crinos form, dropping into a four-legged stance beside the Walker.

The alarm, before, had been just visual, just the red flashing light, but as the theurge fires the weapon the sharp retort is answered by a blaring of sound from all around them, as well. The bullet hits its mark, penetrating the metalic surface, but it doesn't even seem to slow the creature. Neither speeds up, their methodical stride being sufficient to close the distance. One rears back, exposing the sharper pincers that are part of its mouth, and pulls its abdomen forward, spraying webbing at the theurge, while the other stabs downward at Sewall's shoulder. The webbing falls short of the mark, mostly, but it catches Mouse's foot, and like stepping in gum, she can feel the pull as she tries to move. Sewall's shoulder is grazed by the sharp pincer, the first blood drawn.

Mouse shifts up to glabro as she takes aim again, this time at the mouth of the spider that just shot webbing. "Ohh, I've had better days." She pulls the trigger.

~I've had worse,~ responds the Fang, flailing first one and then another set of claws at 'his' spider.

The spider again tries to wrap Mouse in webbing, and this time the spray seems initially as though it may cover her over entirely, but perhaps it's the way the bullet pierces the guard's mouthparts and heads straight through to the brain, or perhaps Mouse is able to move just at the right moment, but she manages to evade the spray that instead completely envelops the kiosk behind her. Sewall is sprayed as well, but his claws cut right through it and it just seems to roll right off him. His claws, too, cut through the metal carapace.

Mouse doesn't waste her moment of luck. She fires repeatedly at the spider's mouth.

Bitter-Draught taps into more of his inner rage to tear the other spider apart, his teeth bared in pain with each violent motion.

That moment of luck is short lived, and as the rage from Mouse's gun slams through the the spider, she finds herself coated in webbing. It's heavy, weighing her down, slowing her physically, and mentally, as it tries to make her a part of the solid reality on which she stands. The spider she fires on teeters, though, and it won't last much longer. Sewall's claws again are all that seem to stand between him and the webbing that now pins Mouse in place. Still, it covers his arm, slowing his movements there, and for all the damage he seems to be doing to the guard, it doesn't seem to be slowing.

Mouse hisses, but rather than try to struggle free--something she's certainly not going to manage, certainly not in glabro--she proceeds to fire as much and as fast as she can at the teetering spider, up to and including emptying her full clip.

Bitter-Draught says things that his mother /certainly/ would not approve of (even if she understood Mother's Tongue) and turns his attention to ripping the webs off of Mouse. ~I think we need to run!~

The first of the spiders goes down, all eight legs splaying out from under it as it falls. The other shoots another string of webs, and they cling to Sewall's back, slowing him further. He does, however, succeed in his main goal, and despite the heavy webs that cling to his arm and back, he frees Mouse enough that she can get herself the rest of the way clear. In the distance, in the pauses between the blaring of alarm, they can hear the sounds of movement, the same metalic sounds, the tick-tick-tick of spider legs on linoleum flooring.

Mouse holsters her gun and drags herself free, only to return to her birth form and snarl at the remaining spider, activating yet another gift. ~The terminals,~ she pants at Sewall, ~Or try to run? I could try to end the security alert if the systems are connected, but if It's in there too, I don't know how effective--~

You paged Machine with 'Withered limb on one of its back legs, so it's harder to rear back and do the webby fun time.'.

Bitter-Draught pulls at the webbing on himself, trying to get it off quickly. His ears flatten. ~With all due respect, the enemy is coming close /very quickly/.~

The remaining spider tries again to cast its web, but when Mouse's gift turns not one but three legs to twisted, useless things, it falls, webs sent only at the floor beneath it. It struggles to rise, twisting to aim its webs at the pair, whether able to gain footing or not.

One of the kiosks is covered in webs, and from all directions come the sounds of approaching reinforcements. The skywalk seems still to be clear, though it's difficult to tell, and impossible to see what would be at the other end. And then there are the windows, and beyond those is only the Cloud.

~Point taken.~ Three-From-Ashes wraps her arms around what part of Bitter-Draught isn't webbed, and one hand briefly rakes at the webbing on his back before she attempts to help or haul him upward and toward the Skywalk as fast as she can.

Bitter-Draught helps the Walker in turn, as the pair attempt to escape.

By the time they reach the skywalk, they can see the ten spiders coming from various hallways to follow. The skywalk is long enough the other end isn't clearly visible. Windows line both sides, and even the floor and ceiling are transparent, lending the whole the sense of walking on air. As they move along the glass hallway, a bright spot outside becomes visible, a small kernel of brightness within the vast cloud of light.

Three From Ashes focuses on moving as quickly as she can, while helping Bitter-Draught do the same, but she's not unaware of their pursuers, or of that light outside. ~If they come onto the skywalk,~ she grunts, ~I vote for taking the Cloud over calcification.~

~Agreed,~ says the Fang, and then points at the bit of brightness. ~But I believe we've reached our destination.~

And onto the skywalk they come, slowly but surely closing in behind the Garou, though the way ahead remains clear. For now.

Three From Ashes stares at the light, and gives a small shaky nod. ~Let's go then, our buddies don't seem to be stopping.~

Bitter-Draught gives a jerky return nod, grits his fangs, and summons up a reserve of will to push on toward the node.

The pair of Garou move on and on, and slowly, steadily, the spiders behind them close the distance. And then it's there. Right outside the window. A slightly warmer brightness in the cloud of light. Ahead is movement, another group of spiders still too far away to make out distinctly.

~Bust it,~ Three-From-Ashes says, even as she moves to attempt the same with a ram of her shoulder into the glass.

Bitter-Draught attempts to do just that, also with one white-furred shoulder. He really puts some effort into it, too.

There's a groan from the glass when Mouse's shoulder hits, but it's that second blow that shatters the glass and sends the pair falling. At first, it seems they may fall forever, straight back down to Old Town, or worse, missing their target, but then there's a thud, a solid surface beneath them, and for that instant, they stop their descent. It becomes clear after only a beat that the surface on which they landed isn't completely horizontal, however, and each begins a slower slide down the angled side of the dodecahedron.

Three From Ashes makes a noise that might be a groan, if only she could summon up the energy to actually put any voice into it. The urge to just lie there a moment is overridden, however, when they begin sliding. Alarmed, she attempts to dig her claws into the surface, or press her footpads against it enough to stop her descent.

Bitter-Draught says, intelligently, ~Graahhhh,~ as he scrabbles to gain purchase on the slanting perch.

It takes just a second, but they each manage to slow and then stop, rather than falling. The threads of the web like those on which they first arrived are visible, now, leading down and off to each side, some leading upward as well.

Three From Ashes breathes. It's the only respite she allows herself, because a moment later she turns her focus on the surface of the node, and begins the process of passing inside.

Bitter-Draught takes no such respite, immediately 'reaching' to pass through and into the node, brow furrowed with the effort that such things usually require.

It's just in time, because the spiders have begun to gather at the broken window, and the first two begin lowering themselves on threads toward the webs beneath. Others instead turn their attention to repairing the damage.

Even though Sewall begins the process sooner, it's Mouse who arrives within the structure, first. As before, it's almost the bridge of some spaceship with a central island command structure, and dozens of stations around the outer edge.

Three From Ashes looks around carefully as she waits for Sewall, keeping an eye out for another geomid guardian, or anything else that might want to bite, stab, web, or throw them off high places. She eventually straightens, with considerable effort, into a full stand.

Sewall, once he's managed the crossing, shifts down to homid and digs the PDA out of his pocket. "I'm loathe to consider how we're going to get back," he notes, before offering the device to Mouse.

Three From Ashes takes the device gingerly, and studies it for a moment before she also shrinks down, though she remains at glabro for the time being. "There's always the way we seem to be making an utter habit of," she remarks with a grimace. The Walker turns, and moves toward the place that the PDA directions indicate.

Sewall huffs out a breath, not quite a laugh, and limps over to watch. His free hand fishes about for his handkerchief, which he uses to wipe the sweat off his face.

There's a hexagonal port that seems like it could take the hexagonal cord from the many that connect to the PDA.

Mouse sets about plugging PDA into port. "Here we go. I'm not laying odds on this going any more smoothly than anything else this trip. Be ready."

Sewall stuffs the handkerchief back in his trouser pocket and, for good measure, loosens the tie he stole from the drone earlier. "Always, Mouse-rhya."

Perhaps its a good thing that Sewall isn't a betting man, either, because almost immediately as plug meets socket, a crystaline structure, aware and alive, forms from nothing near the command station at the center of the space. *Purpose and Designation*

The PDA beeps, a set of instructions appearing on the LCD screen.

Mouse looks down at the instructions, trying to keep her tensing to a minimum.

Machine pages: They're pretty straight forward - push this button, turn that knob, find this file, that file, and the other file, download. They, uh, don't mention dealing with a crystal guardian.

Sewall peeks over Mouse's shoulder; he can't quite help himself.

Mouse sighs at the screen. She offers it over to Sewall, then begins following the instructions as fast as she can by memory. And it's a good thing she has a very good memory.

Sewall keeps the screen of instructions handy in case Mouse needs a reminder or refresher, and keeps an eye on the guardian as well.

*Purpose and Designation* the Crystaline Guardian repeats, more forcefully, facets reflecting light that doesn't seem to be coming from within the node.

The first few instructions are simple enough, and Mouse finds a long, long list of files scrolling across the screen of the PDA.

Mouse continues doing as instructed, though as she pushes buttons, she speaks without looking up. *Information retrieval and collation.* She then rattles off whatever it says on that much abused identicard of hers.

Sewall continues to eyeball the guardian warily, but wearily.

The Crystal begins to vibrate, just subtly at first, but enough that the hum is audible, like someone running a fingertip around the top of a crystal wine glass. *Pur-- Pur-- Purpose and Des-- Des-- Designation!*

The list of files is long, but Mouse manages to find the ones she needs and start the download.

*Are you defective?* Mouse asks, in an even, neutral tone. *Purpose and Designation have been given. Run self-diagnostic routine to check for errors. We will wait.*

Sewall's fingers tighten around the head of his cane.

The download seems to take an agonizingly long time, but at least /that/ seems to be going smoothly. The crystal, however, increases its vibration, and the volume and pitch of the hum increase. *P-- p-- p-- p--* is all it can seem to get out.

The download completes with a ping from the PDA.

Mouse turns and yanks the cord free of the console. *Run self-diagnostic routine,* she orders the crystal, but she's already moving for the edge of the node as fast as she can go.

Sewall hurries after the Walker as fast as his shaking legs will carry him.

The frequency of the hum increases further, almost distracting enough to keep the pair from departing. As it is, they're both aware of the shatering that takes place in their wake, and it's Sewall's back that feels the shards burying deeply into his flesh when he's just a nanosecond too slow in leaving. The fall is no more pleasant than the first time, but this time, when consciousness returns, the Garou find the basement of the safehouse around them, rather than the filth of the pit beneath.

Mouse groans, reluctant to return to wakefulness at all, but when her thoughts finally start to organize themselves, her eyes snap open, and she looks immediately for Sewall.

Sewall has been bandaged, but it's clear that he has a significant amount of healing to do before he'll be mobile again.

Sewall wakes reluctantly, especially after a bit of movement makes it obvious to him that he doesn't want to do a lot of that, no thank you. "...Mouse-rhya?"

Mouse concentrates for a moment on returning to homid, and then she answers. "I'm here. I'm fine. Don't move, but I think we're in the clear." She moves, however, dragging herself over to Sewall so that she can inspect the damage and the bandages, and see if Mother's Touch will do anything to help it.

Sewall doesn't move. He's perfectly fine with not moving.

It's then that Machine comes in through the door that leads to the tunnel beyond. "Well," he says as he moves into line of sight. "Binary says you got it all." He waves a hand at Mouse. "Don't. Stay there. You both still need rest, and after you've had a change to heal some, it looks like we'll need your help deciphering what you've pulled down."

Mouse lets herself sink back down. Apparently, she doesn't need much convincing. "Rest sounds like a really nice plan, just now," she murmurs.

"Agreed," says Sewall, rather faintly.

Over the next several days injuries are tended and Mouse and Sewall are put to work pulling apart the information they recovered. There's much more still to do, but eventually Machine comes to them and folds his arms across his chest. The implant over his eye whirs and clicks as it focuses in on Mouse. "Your bargain's met," he says, and nods toward the tunnel. "They're ready for you, if you still want what we're offering."

All in all, it's a much more enjoyable task than getting the information was, and Mouse takes to it with enthusiasm. Even so, now, at the offer, there's a visible moment of apprehension from her before she stands, and gives Machine a firm nod. "I do. Thanks."

A few days of rest and some complex mental problem to work on and Sewall's more or less back to his old self. He looks up from his work when Mouse speaks.

Garou heal quickly, but even so, the number and extent of surgeries are nearly as torturous as other experiences Mouse has had. There is nothing pleasant about any of it, and it lasts for weeks, between each surgery and the need to heal in between. Each one seems more painful than the last, but at the end, after the final surgery, after the last incision has healed and Mouse has learned, after a long and difficult period of trial and error, to attune her new spinal implant, the pain of standing, of walking, is gone. As is a lot of the sensation at her fingertips. From outward appearance, the fetish is easily hidden by a coat, but at the back of her neck and just between the shoulderblades the slight bulge, the small external pieces of metal would be visible, even with a light shirt.

Coats, well. Coats are a thing Mouse is very familiar with the use of. Less familiar is the loss of sensation in her fingers, and far less is the loss of pain. Really, once all is said and done and she's managed to relearn walking, moving, one might accuse her of using just about any excuse to do so. She certainly spends several days avoiding chairs for as long as she can.

Sewall has been a close observer -- as much as possible -- to the whole procedure, and he asks a lot of questions of the Cyber Wolves. Like a man who feels his education's been woefully lacking and who intends to catch up as quickly as possible.