Skip III's Story

Skip III received the news through the mail tube in the corner of his lead-lined apartment-lab. The first thing he spotted was a shiny plastic access badge on a black lanyard. He had been confined to the labs since his return to Erubesco, so the sight of the access badge made Skip's hummingbird heart, well, skip a beat. Along with the badge came a notice. He sat on the edge of his high cot to read, swinging his yellow Chuck Taylors with nervous energy.



Skip's face lit up (both literally and figuratively) as he popped to his feet. He forced himself to notice the bottom of the page, where he saw a signature.

Authorized by Commander Lulu Botrelle.

This gave him pause. Skip knew exactly what she was trying to do: butter him up to increase his willingness to aide her in her traitorous plans. Those tantalizing traitorous plans of breaking, then fixing and remolding the faction that had broken him, then remolded him and fixed him into an all-loyal tool. And.
Well.
It was probably working.

Reward-oriented reinforcement had always worked best on this installment of the SKIP project.

His sober moment of contemplation regarding Lulu Botrelle couldn't hold up long to his bounding eagerness. He could find his friends. He hadn't seen Kora or Lindsey except for once, and he hadn't seen Caddie at all. Then there was even Azrael, Nathan--and the usual, new faces to meet. Who knew? Maybe some of them would even let him come close enough to speak to them without shouting.

Converse off. Clothes off and down the hazard chute. Decontamination shower. Trying not to let excitement cause gamma flares. Shock of upswept hair, shaken dry. New clothes. Converse back on. Still trying not to let excitement cause gamma flares. Then the badge was flung around his neck and tucked under his lemon scarf with inhuman speed, and, after looking up at the sensor to let the automatic door take a scan of his dayglo chartreuse eyes, Skip was grinning his way into the hallway, saying goodbye to his pet bird Dan where he sat in his cage on the service desk, and dashing toward the elevator without an escort for the first time in days.

Skip wasn't sure where he would find everyone, but he had a few ideas of where he might find one person, assuming Caddie's cleaning rotations hadn't changed since he left. Into an elevator he jumped, tapping the button of the suspect floor, and subsequently tapping his foot on the elevator's floor as he waited.

The door slid open and Skip sped out, stopping inches away from some dark haired fellow with a mop bucket. He nearly slid straight into the guy thanks to the mess of puddles on the floor. As it was, if the guy knew who Skip was, he would almost certainly find the distance uncomfortable. And...granted...even if he didn't know who Skip was, having one's face licking distance from a stranger's isn't traditionally considered comfortable.

But Skip didn't mind making people feel uncomfortable.

"Oh. Hi," he said cheerfully. "You spilled, there. I can help you with that if you want. But maybe could you also tell me, are you familiar with a certain Creepsy? Telekinetic? You might be more familiar with, specifically, Nice Creepsy or Bad Creepsy, but I'm hoping she's still the in-between one." He put his hand to his shoulder-height. "She's about that big? Kinda looks like one of those sad claymation dolls except one that also got hit with a truck in a needle-and-thread storm and is also wearing bandage socks?"

Ed was busy toiling away on the sodden floors which he was directly responsible for as far as he and pretty everyone else knew, so busy in fact that he did not have the opportunity to notice the man speeding out from the elevator towards him. He hadn't raised his head to see some lanky guy quickly slipping and sliding towards him until the man was nearly in his face.

Just as the stranger caught himself in time to not crash in to him Ed backed up a step, looking rather cross due to this guy coming well within his comfort zone. Ed's comfort zone was pretty large as talking to pretty much anyone made him uncomfortable but in this case his discomfort was compounded with the proximity of this new guy.


"Hey, watch it." He warned just before the man started to ramble on about something. It started as something about helping then he moved on to something about a Creepsy, whatever that was, that was telekinetic or maybe a bad or good something or whatever. All Ed could really discern was that this guy was asking about somebody. He just looked at him with an expression of confusion as he tried to make sense of what this guy was going on about.

"So you want to find a who? I mean what? I-err, what do you mean? Telekinetic? What?"

He struggled to make sense of what he meant until the man started describing the person he was talking about with better details than 'Bad-creepsy' and 'Nice-creepsy'. He still wasn't very clear but at least he could make a little sense of what this guy wanted.

"Alright I'm just going to take a shot in the dark and assume you mean... Cadriel?"


It wasn't much of an answer but it was the best assumption he could make given the terrible description. He gave a short shrug, looking down the hall where he had come back from.

"She's still working this floor. Don't know if she's supposed to be on this floor for the next few weeks but her clearance is higher than mine so I'm not fighting it. I don't think she's left if you're looking for her."

His answer wasn't exactly precise but then again it's hard to be when people have a habit of not always staying in the same place. After all, he barely understood where he was supposed to be let alone where she was. Since the guy brought it up she came back into mind. She did have a lot of stitches like she was pieced together after being torn apart but she didn't really look much too bad for it. Perhaps rather it was Ed who thought it didn't look so bad. Then again he knew he was a sucker for the macabre. Conventional beauty had it's place but it was a place he was not welcome. It wasn't a place he would be happy in even if he was welcome. Things that made people happy weren't for him.

Jack still wondered about the ball, and he was starting to get second doubts. Was he even invited? They might want him somewhere else. He wasn't too sure, he had spent most of his recent time in the labs, so they could monitor a growth spurt. They wanted him ever bigger, and even stronger. Even if he was invited, what was the chance he would find clothes? He had some nice clothes from years before, from when he and his mom went somewhere nice. There is no hope of putting them on now.

The smell of food distracted him from that thought. "Clothes can wait." His sense of smell was keen for food, and Jack as still hungry. He didn't care if it wasn't up to some of the standards of his fellow Erubescians, he would still eat as much of it as he could.

As he walked, he saw two people chatting, although one seemed rather annoyed at the other. The second man didn't seemed phased by it though. Whoever it was he was trying to find, sure did sound like a sight to see. He was soon interrupted as his feet started to slide on the wet floor. "Holy smokes!" He slid forward on the floor trying not to fall, but it didn't take long before he felt himself starting to tip backwards. His feet were in the air. Desperate not to hit the ground, Jack reached for whatever he could. In his panic, he grabbed for the wall but instead punched through it, pulling parts of it down with him as he fell.

He hit the ground with a loud thud.

Jack laid there on the ground, with a fistfull of wall and a wet back. "Dammit.."

Cadriel, mop and bucket set to one side, crouched over by one of the few drinks vending machines in the main block thatd been spared Kora's wrath. Her work that in the morning had unearthed enough loose change that she could afford to dispense a paper cup of hot chocolate to warm up her hands. Poor circulation meant they were cold the majority of the time, though she could at least take a few minutes to try and coax some feeling back in...plus something to drink was welcome as she started work long before she'd get a chance to eat anything.

The little serf, tucked away in an alcove in hopes that no-one would see her and come give her something else to do, was just raising the cup to drink when the sudden crash and sound of splintering drywall slipped it free from her grasp.

The cup went all fo a few inches before it froze in mid-air, contents sloshing about wildly, but mostly intact, before its owner grasped it again and wearily pulled up the mop and bucket.

Something was undoubtedly broken.

While technically, realistically and practically this fact was absolutely nothing to do with her, the lightbulb incident not so long prior had gone to teach her that some of the higher ranking staff members regarded anything that was not functioning or maintaining full integrity as being her own responsibility... and the consequences ended up painful more often than not.

Of course the dynamic might have changed in some way since the same person who had used their powers on her for failing to fix a bathroom light had also been the person she'd given first aid to after some severe round of torture... but she didn't exactly trust the actions of a certain Commander. Or indeed any of the others who didn't owe her anything.

It was better not to give anyone an excuse to shoot her again.

Caddie hopped dow the flight of steps, bucket bobbing unevenly behind her, right up to the point where the turned a corner at the west edge of the block and came across the sight of some Knight, lying on the floor with a handful of the wall in one hand. She met this with a tired sigh. Hardly the first time...but also hardly quick to fix either. Actual maintenance would drag their feet on it for weeks so she'd probably end up fielding flak from irate acolytes keen to pull rank to make themselves feel better.

Perhaps out of unwillingness to face this new unwelcome complication, Caddie's gaze drifted.

On the other side of this figure stood the surly custodian who'd been trying to insist she was in the wrong place (something she was still not happy with) and finally there was.

"...S-Skip?"

The bucket, mop and cup dropped to the floor, landing quite impressively upright as the telekinetic young woman stood in the centre of them like the middle of a ritual circle, grey eyes wide.

"Skip. You're...still..well..."

Realizing abruptly that this was probably more of a spectacle than she had realized it to be, the experiment loosened her posture and turned her gaze away, turning her hands inside each other.

"I mean...I'm glad you're okay...all that stuff. I thought something might have happened."

"Yeah. Like I said, Creepsy," said Skip. He was about to take the janitor's offer for an escort when the drywall crumbled in the stranger's hand. "More messes," he noted, pointing--cheerfully, not condescendingly. Picking up some drywall was certainly somewhere he could be useful. It wasn't much, but with his conditioned psyche, any opportunity to be used was a thrill after his time in isolation.

"I'm Skip the Third, by the way," he chattered as he tiptoed around puddles toward the accidental vandal and the crumble of wall bits.

It was at that moment that he heard his name, followed by the bang of Caddie's dropped bucket. Skip looked up and beamed like he had just won a lifetime supply of sherbet.

Skip didn't share Cadriel's hesitation. The project could count on one hand the number of people who willfully accepted physical contact of any kind, and he was going to take advantage of it. The rubber soles of the yellow chucks half-slipping and squeaking in the water from his haste, he bounded to the smaller experiment and swept her into an almost too-tight embrace that could easily take her feet off the floor, glowing shaking a tad from the strain of not giving everyone in the vicinity cancer.

"I'm fine, I'm good!" he said, releasing her. "See? Granted. Stuff did sort of happen." His smile grew rather weak. He glanced at Edgar and Jack, not certain how much of what he was about to say was classified. But certainly there was enough base gossip around that they couldn't find it out anyway, if they asked. "They--well--they put a microdetonator in my head. I was supposed to--sort of kamikaze that Wanderer group for what they did to the base. But Eris didn't pull the, um, proverbial trigger--which was surprising, since I thought she hated me--and I was afraid so I told the Wanderers, and they got it out before somebody else could do the job, I guess."

He dipped his head briefly, pressing his lips together. A shaming internal sting like the zap of a dog's shock collar still accompanied the thought of his failure. His cowardice.

He stuck on a smile again and looked up, his face lightening. "Anyway--the Helton curse--it's a real thing, apparently. Who knew? It nearly got me dead--so I guess it means I'm still loyal or something. So here I am. Transport picked me up a few days ago. I've been in the labs until today. Eris--she put in a request to get some of my clearance back today. And, um, I came upstairs--and I met Second Tallest Guy I've Ever Seen and Odin, with the stitches, there--" He paused to smile and wave at Edgar and Jack in turn, just to make sure they caught their christenings. "--then you dropped your bucket. And I think we're officially caught up from my end."

He quieted for a second, waiting for her story, but blurted out again at the last moment, "Oh and one of the Wanderers Lolly helped me catch a pet bird. His name is Dan and he doesn't sleep in my room because of what happened to the puppies and the other birds and the cat and the lizard, but he's downstairs if you want to see."

Pause. A thoughtful crease of the forehead.

"Okay, now we're officially caught up from my end. What did I miss?"

Ed nodded to Skip, acknowledging his introduction.

He didn't need Skip to point out the awful mess the large oaf of a man had made. This just meant more work, more opportunity to get his ear talked off when it came time to report back. Before he could resume his mopping however the bang of a bucket hitting the floor brought his eyes off the strange rambling fellow over to the woman he had come across earlier.

From the moment she saw Skip he could tell they knew each other well. How well was questionable as Skip ran in for a big hug. Either the guy was an extremely touchy-feely sort of person, the kind of person who makes his skin crawl just being near, or the two were close. Regardless of who they were or who was sleeping with it was none of his business and he planned to keep it that way. It was getting way too crowded in this hall as it was. Two was company, three was a crowd and all of the above was more company than he appreciated.


Just as he was about to move on down the hall, hoping to avoid notice so he could clean the rest of the mess he made in peace, he found his foot would not move as though it were glued to the floor. Attempting to move the other foot he saw that it too would not move.

"Aw. Leaving already?"

He cringed. Hearing her voice never meant anything good.


Look, I've already made myself look like enough of a fool out here. You don't need to help.

He struggled not to speak aloud, a learned habit from past experience. He knew nobody else could hear her voice except for him, at least that is what he's been led to believe, and answering questions nobody asked would only make him seem like some sort of lunatic. He didn't need help becoming even more of a social pariah.

"Looks like you've made yourself some friends. Aren't they just adorable?"

Ed's back stiffened instantly as he felt a smooth, delicate finger trace down the right side of his neck. Sauntering up to his side the ethereal beauty that was his sister rested her chin upon his shoulder, lightly leaning on him as she looked over the group around Ed with a devilish smirk. He could feel her touch and her weight upon him but he knew she wasn't there. It was all a hallucination, a trick of his mind brought upon him by her. Sweat ran down his brow as he tried his hardest to ignore her presence.

No. I don't know these people. They aren't adorable either.

"Tut tut. You're too negative. You need to loosen up. Lets hang out with your new buddies."


She was so casual she spoke as if she had not a care in the world. The truth was she didn't have one. She was effectively unaffected by almost all forms of danger. No one other than her brother even knew she existed and Ed couldn't do anything to her. The most he could do to bother her was to keep away from things she might take an interest in. Right now however he was powerless to challenge the verdict. He wasn't going anywhere no matter how badly he disliked it and he disliked this situation plenty.

So there he stood, bucket next to him and mop in his hand. Having said her word she decided to vanish, leaving Ed's perceived world while he listened to what Skip had to say. He couldn't help but give a sigh of relief now that he didn't need to pretend there wasn't someone hanging off his shoulder now that she let him be. He knew better than to think for a moment she wasn't listening to every thought and watching every emotion that passed through his mind but at the very least he could suffer without her added torment for the time being.


At the very least some of what Skip had to say was of some interest. The fact that the military had put a micro-detonator in his head wasn't shocking news but it was still worthy of note. He wondered just how they planned to kill people with a bomb that small. There was also mention of some person named Eris but he had no idea who that was so he didn't care.

The most interesting thing to Ed that Skip mentioned was something called The Helton Curse. He didn't know anything about a Helton but from what he could deduce from what he said he figured it killed people who were loyal to Erebesco or something along those lines. Now Ed didn't wish death upon Erubesco or anything quite so strong but he definitely knew that he was by no means loyal. He served because he had no choice. Something with a curse that killed off loyal members of Erubesco would come in handy if he ever wanted to be left alone.


Not that there wouldn't be other ways the military could get him. If there was one thing he knew it was that there was always someone with something for the job. That was the irritating part about his fellow gifted. Thanks to their super powers it was a pure matter of fact that no one is born equal. He was born to be lesser than others. As far as his fellow gifted were concerned he was dirt. He couldn't blame them, he thought so too. To him he was just some one-eyed piece of junk that barely even understood his own ability. He'd never known nor did he ever want to know the specifics regarding his supposed 'Gift'. Quite frankly he didn't even care. He had had enough of people and their powers. He just wanted to be alone.

Of course she wouldn't like that very much. Far too boring for the likes of Id.

He wasn't amused with his new nickname. A name such as Odin's was well wasted on some rotten janitorial slave. He never liked nicknames to begin with and he was starting to really dislike Skip as well. Perhaps this is your plan. He wondered, thinking words knowing that Id would definitely hear them. You knew this would really get under my skin, didn't you. He accused her in a scathing tone of thought. Nothing answered back save a long period of silence. She knew he knew that she could hear his thoughts but she didn't want him getting the idea that he could just talk to her whenever he liked. She found his impotent rage highly amusing but too much of anything was never palatable.


Quietly he stood there, hoping his quiet participation wasn't drawing too much attention. He looked about, hoping they weren't staring. Given his odd behavior moments ago he figured odds were likely that he wouldn't escape this conversation completely clear. His trust in his own luck had been lost a long time ago.

Jack laid there on the floor, wondering what the hell was going on. He heard some footsteps coming with a metal clanking. Great. Was he in trouble now? Was someone going to take him away? He rolled over to see who was coming, feeling water and debris move under him. He wasn't so scared when he saw who was coming. A bandaged girl who only came up to his waist. Though, she still had the potential to cause him great harm. He didn't know what her gift was. She could burn him, zap him, mess with his head, or do something he'd never even seen before.

Her attention went from him to one of the men who was there before. The happier one, not the grumpy one. Jack didn't know why that guy was so grump, but he didn't like it. He didn't like grumpy people. What was his problem? At least the second man, who went by the name of Skip? Skip was a verb to Jack, but apparently this man's name. And apparently he wasn't the first one either, there were two before him. "What happened to the other two?"

Skip was much more graceful than Jack on the wet floor. While Jack had crashed and fallen, taking the wall with him, Skip's shoes only squeaked. He started to pick himself up off the floor. Jack rolled on his side to push himself to sit, and stood up from there. As he did, everything quickly went from being above him, to far below him. The two came up to his chest, and the bandaged girl came a touch above his waist. "Why ain't you a cute little thing." He would pinch her cheeks, but it might break her jaw seeing the state she's in. He looked to the damage he had done, and was surprised at the wide gash he left in the wall.

The glowing man was blabbering on and it was a bit too much for Jack to follow. A micro detonator? Wanderers? Helton curse? Before long his speech was over, and he was waving to him. Jack waved back, still confused. The grumpy one had started to leave, but must of changed his mind because he was just standing there. It didn't make much sense to Jack. Was this guy going to explode at him for breaking the wall? Who knew, maybe that micro detonator would explode first.

The force of Skip's embrace lifted the little experiment's feet clean off of the floor. She might have been rather uncomfortable by being seized in such a manner by most other people, but more than anything Caddie was overjoyed to see Skip, one of the only people she could unironically call her friend, back and safe. The smile on her face tugged at the stitches at the corner of her mouth, revealing some of her dreadful jagged teeth, but it wasn't much of a concern at the time.

Having dusted herself off a little and recovered her still-intact drink from the floor, she began listening to what had taken place.

With the experiment's revelation about a one certain knight commander, a number of things that had happened lately made far more sense. Though a number of other things made far less. Like the now troubling implication that Commander Botrelle had a soul and some sort of sense of decency. At least Caddie didn't need to feel quite so let down about helping her then. She'd always been feeling a little like her sense of empathy had rather ruined her opportunity for revenge. One time she had any measure of power over someone who'd made her life difficult, and she'd ended up offering first aid.

As far as what had happened... well Cadriel wished she could feel more surprised about the actions of the faction. Then again considering how she had been treated there weren't many things they could do to an experiment that would shock her. Even if it wasn't fair to do it to Skip, someone significantly less dissatisfied with things than she was. He wasn't a traitor, and if he had done something wrong it was more likely stemming from how they'd made him themselves. You couldn't create things a certain way and them blame them when it was flawed.

Still, he was back, and presumably no longer facing any kind of retribution. Things were looking up.
"Well I uh.. mopped a bunch of floors and occasionally got shouted at. Also I had to help out Commander Botrelle after Commander Avalon.... well she was hurt pretty bad and I don't know if she could've patched herself up so...I helped her get cleaned up. "

She decided to leave out the ''and then she attempted to kill me and then involved me in some kind of plot'' for the sake of expediency.

"And then this morning I was doing my usual stuff when one-eye-guy there told me I wasn't supposed to be there. But I was. Then I was going to take a break and get a drink....then I heard the wall being ripped open so..."

The large-sized knight had, by then, gotten to his feet and addressed the serf; with something she would regard as a bit of a disparaging comment. Even if she had been 'cute' she wasn't sure she liked being greeted like it...but looking like a marionette and a tub of medical waste had crashed into each other at high speed it wasn't hard to perceive such things as some kind of mockery. Sporting a lopsided frown Caddie was about to bring up the broken wall, and how fixing it wasn't part of her area of expertise, when her earpiece chirped suddenly into life. This was alarming as Cadriel could not remember the last time she'd been personally called up. Most of the time her interactions were rather a one on one basis...usually somebody shouting at her over a trivial matter. It had been an age since she'd gotten a call up.

The janitor fumbled with the device, stuffed into the bandages at the base of her neck, and clumsily pushed it into place. The large piece missing from her ear on that side made it sit a little awkwardly.

As Caddie listened, her grey eyes widened in alarm.

Emergency response team.
Civilian clothes.
Teleport bay.
Five minutes.

Trying to grip the intercom once again with her heavily bandaged hand, the little experiment spoke up in a small voice.
"Er...Commander...was I added to the list by accident? I....I'm not sure I was supposed to get this call..."



----


When Lulu suddenly broke off, Kora had been sat emptying about six sugar packets into her second cup of coffee, and morosely chewing on bacon and toast. She couldn't deny that she felt better for eating and drinking something sensible after days of not really taking care of herself. Still despite this, and despite her friend's assurances that she wasn't to blame, Kora could still feel the weight of accumulated shame rather heavily on her shoulders.

Regardless of the circumstances, people saw her as failure. An incompetent. She didn't want to be kept on in the Citadel out of pity. She was supposed to be an unstoppable warrior. The result of one hundred generations of breeding. It should not be this way. She had to prove it. Had to find some way to show people that she was no liability.

As if in answer to this silent request, Lulu spoke up.
All the knight needed to hear was 'Get dressed' and 'Ronin' and she was on her feet, narrowly avoiding covering half the room in coffee. As the commander departed to go and prepare, the redheaded erubescan tore through the remains of her clothes to look for some field gear that was both appropriate and moderately clean.

Civilian outfit, heat-resistor gloves in order to avoid her ability causing a great degree of collateral. No combat knife...seeing as she'd left Geri and Frecki behind. A long-sleeved hooded top top and a bit of adjusting hid most of the wounds and bandages from view. The gauze pad over her eye and cheekbone was still there... but at six and a half foot tall, with bright ginger hair and a distinct nordic accent it was not as if she was going to blend in either way.

From there, Kora was on her way to the teleport bay. That bastard again. Everything had started going wrong when she'd run across that ashrat brute. If this went well it was the perfect time for her to redeem herself in the eyes of the faction. If it didn't...well it would at least make her feel better to be against someone she had no complicated reservations about knocking out the teeth of.

Piper had no time to be confused by her lunch companion’s hasty exit, because she heard Commander Botrelle’s voice in her ear. “On it, Commander,” she said, one hand already starting the wheels of her chair away from the table and the other manipulating her tablet to contact the appropriate channels. The closest custodians and technicians pinged on the smooth interface.

“Chase Black, Edgar Gormly, Krystal Saturns, and Patricia Collin,” she said, practicing her best official-yet-cheerful-yet-no-nonsese voice, feeling very pleased and very official with her new rank to be organizing other people instead of being ordered, “please report to the teleport bay immediately. Gormly, bring soldering equipment and the Cabinet 3 reconstruction materials from the supply closet on your way. Thank you.”

She herself glided straight to the lift, and then to the site of the busted wall. She didn’t need any soldering equipment, herself. She was soldering equipment.
She could do this sort of thing. Battles and losing Knights on her watch, she wasn’t sure she was cut out for that. But emergency technical work? Cake.
Because she'd go real far in life on emergency tech work.
Yeah.
That'd make 'em all so proud and jealous.
Ugh.

---

Something was going on. There was some kind of emergency, probably. Everyone seemed to be involved. The tall guy went literally crashing away, and even Caddie received a summons. Even the other janitor's earpiece lit up. Skip waited for the a call in his ear that his help was needed, too.

He waited until he found himself alone, just standing. Just breathing in the corridor.

Skip was on probation.

Nobody needed him.

Cadriel and the large man were both summoned away by a call. Both left rather suddenly, the large man leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. It was at this point Edgar realized something. There's no way I'm going to get that all cleaned up by myself. At least I can blame it all on the large guy and continue on.

With the others gone there was no force holding him there any longer. Looking rotten like his day's been nothing but rotten pears he started on his way off when his annoying headset went off in his ear. He wouldn't wear the damn things if it wasn't declared necessary and enforced as such.

“Chase Black, Edgar Gormly, Krystal Saturns, and Patricia Collin,please report to the teleport bay immediately. Gormly, bring soldering equipment and the Cabinet 3 reconstruction materials from the supply closet on your way. Thank you.”


What the hell is Cabinet three reconstruction materials? Was the first thought to run through his head. The next thought was just a begrudged internal sigh as he turned on his feet and was about to walk on down to the teleport bay when he saw her just standing right next to him in passing. In his ear he heard her voice.

"Aw, leaving your new friend already?" She playfully chided him with mocking concern.

Unless you somehow forgot I have a job to do. Edgar was far less amused with this interest of hers.


"Well I won't keep you but I do know you're interested in that city he spoke of."

Edgar stopped, considering her words carefully. He hadn't even thought of it but now that she mentioned it Skip DID know about Helton, this city he was most interested in. Letting good information like that slip would be squandering an opportunity, a good one. This was definitely another case of his sister playing him like a fiddle. The worst part? It worked like a charm.

Exactly as she knew it would.


Edgar looked back over his shoulder at Skip. "I want to know more about that city. I'll talk to you later."

Not entirely diplomatically put but Edgar was anything but diplomatic as he typically rubbed almost anyone he met the wrong way most of the time. With his farewells wrapped up he left to go bring soldering equipment and Cabinet three reconstruction materials to the teleport bay.

---

He arrived on scene, having left his mop and bucket back in the supply closet so he could carry the soldering equipment and cabinet three reconstruction materials. The tall, frowning one eyed man in his janitorial jumpsuit approached the scene. He looked on upon the caved in walls and the blonde girl in a wheelchair.

With a beleaguered sigh he set the stuff he was carrying down on the ground. "Who needs this?" He questioned gruffly, his hands already seeking their way into his pockets as he stood nonchalantly over the bits of stone rubble, metal shards and loose wires.