Michael stared at the orb in his hand with wondrous eyes, he ran his fingers around it even as the security agents began to question him. His entrance into the greater orb must have been alarming to the others in his group. He had been locked inside of it momentarily, though Mackenzie’s frantic banging against the outside of it had taken a backseat to the strange noises that emitted from the orb which he now clenched in his hand. The device was dead silent as he clenched it tightly in his palm.

“What the hell happened, Smith?” Gurrera asked him as the man took a glance at the orb, then back towards where the larger one used to be. It had since collapsed upon itself, a strange turn of events. 

“I simply touched the outside of the larger orb, one part opened up to me and I stepped inside. Then it locked me in there with only this smaller orb in the direct center. This device was glowing, the only light inside the otherwise empty greater orb. I picked it up then the outside collapsed. The whole series of events felt so strange, it’s still very fresh in my mind. Excuse me if I did not properly explain it.” Michael stated in a straightforward tone of speaking. 

Perhaps he would converse with Dr. Phillips or Mackenzie later about it, reveal how it made his systems react. They were the ones that knew of his true state of existence, he didn’t have to keep up the charade of being human around them.

“Are you hurt?” Edwards asked in a cautious manner of speaking as he too glanced at the orb.

“I feel fine, there was no pain in any of it. We should head back to the rest of the team, tell them about this.” Michael said with honesty. He did not recall any feelings of pain throughout the entire moment, just bizarre sensations, sights and sounds.

Then the android noticed the hordes of greyish-blue insects, as did the others on his team. Alien lifeforms? More feelings of fascination careened through Michael. Then his sensors picked up strange readings amongst the insects as he gazed at them. The faint blue glow they gave off caused him to blink in surprise. These lifeforms were not entirely biological, that realization only made the android more interested in them. As the group moved to join the others, he noticed some of the strange insects moving towards him. It was likely the orb he clenched had something to do with this. So many curiosities on this world that Michael wished to learn more about.

“You seeing this, Gurrera?” Agent Edwards asked his partner, even after listening to the brief chatter erupting on the comms, as a few Agents checked in with confirmation of [i]“glowing insects”[/i] marching down the thick trunks of the strange trees that took over much of the area.

“Affirmative. I’m calling it in.” Gurrera said plainly in his slight Spanish accent, watching the several dozen fauna as they made their way slowly in unison. “Chief this is Gurrera, over.”

Scrambled sound waves came back in response, unsure if there was even a voice to go along with the distortion. The Agent again pinged the comms, only to receive the same gnarled feedback. Edwards did the same, however his communications unit failed to engage at all, giving off a dim indicator light on the receiver. 

“Shit.” Edwards said shaking his head while fiddling with the unit’s console. “You think the others are experiencing the same interference?” 

“Possible.” Gurrera said, keeping an eye on the insects that continued to converge near their position. “But we’re also closer to the center of this shelled-out shit hole of a city, so who knows if we just have the worst of it.”

Edwards smirked. “You’ve always been an optimistic guy [i]G[/i], I don’t care what anyone says about you.” 

“A realist, hombre.”  Gurrera gave a firm pat on his partner’s shoulder.  “A realist.”

Agent Edwards looked over at Mackenzie who, at the moment, he couldn’t tell if she was intrigued or concerned about the current situation, or perhaps even both. Stepping closer to her, he pulled out the communicator’s battery pack and main controller from his vest pocket, and held it out toward the young girl. 

“First of all Ms Newton, you put on one hell of a poker face.” He said with a grin. “And second, we’re having trouble with our communications, do you think you could take a quick look for me? And I say ‘quick’...” He turned his attention to the trees. “Because I don’t think we’ll be sticking around this area too much longer.”

Mackenzie nodded quietly as she took the controller from Edwards. She was a little confused at Edward’s statement. She had never had a good “poker face” and she had been told so on many occasions by Amara. Perhaps that’s because they had grown up together. Either way, Mackenzie thought she wasn't doing a good job hiding her uneasiness. Michael occasionally looked over at her with that quizzical and fascinated look.She tried to control her shaking hands as she looked over the device. All she wanted to do was to return to base as quickly as possible, though she was currently thankful for the distraction. She turned the device over, pulling a small tab off the back to reveal its insides. 

“Ah, Agent Edwards?” She said looking back up after a few quick moments. “ As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with the controller, something else must be interfering with it.” She then clipped the tab back into place and handed it back to Edwards. 

The suddenly Mackenzie’s knees went a bit weak and her stomach lurched. She had to reach out and brace herself against Agent Edwards, who thankfully caught her. With all the excitement going on, she hadn't realized exactly how hungry she was. She needed to return to the Beast as quickly as possible before she got a major headache. Every now and then her blood sugar would drop if she didn't eat properly. 

“Wooo, You alright Ms. Newton?” Edwards asked surprised, though his reaction was lighting fast. He held her steady for a moment letting her regain her composer. 

“Yes, Sorry about that. I just need to eat something.” Mackenzie let out a deep breath. Edwards looked at her like he didn't believe her, still holding her. “ Hypoglycemia is a bitch sometimes,” she then smirked letting him know she really was alright. He let go hesitantly, but he rationalized that if she was making a joke she must be alright.

“Hey, if you two are done, I think we might want to get a move on. I would hate to be surrounded by these things” Agent Gurrera said not taking his eyes off the strange creatures.