At first, beyond the mere presence of the sepia-toned air and the glimmering flecks of electric-blue light, there was nothing to signify the formation of the curious form of transporation the pavise knights kept referring to as a 'slug.'

Then, all at once, everyone was lifted straight up into the air - all still standing and laying firmly against an impossibly solid surface borne on thin air. Slowly at first, rising but a scant meter, they quickly accelerated, soaring onwards and upwards at tremendous speed. With a sudden and soundless black blur and a small puff of bone and feathers, they shot past the bird that had been suspended in flight overhead - and its grisly remains began to ponderous orbit about the passengers in numerous circular trails across each of the strange, transparent envelope's axis - revealing whatever force that conveyed them to be spherical in shape.

As the sphere tore up through the sky, the passengers were not afforded with anything approaching an informative view. Beyond thirty meters, space contorted and imploded in upon itself, and the entirety of New Nemea became compressed into a singularly small jumble of what could only be described as [i]shape[/i]. The horizon was peeled away from the boundaries of the world and fell in upon the city as a halo of sorts, and to surround it the passengers could only see the rest of the world rapidly being stretched out from its furthest boundaries, dragged across the whole of its width as though being pulled taut on a rack - only to then be indecipherable consumed by the ever-shrinking ball of featureless detail that was New Nemea. 

Far above, where the horizon had faded and given way to stars and the angry, stinging darkness between them - the faint, grayed outline of a double-helical structure started to slowly come into focus. 

The pavise knights, if they noticed anything, seemed unperturbed - beyond Hiecro's half-murderous, half-anxious and wild gaze locked on Donny and every motion he made.

"Alright, we don't have too long before we get slung back around and hit the University landing pad, so I'll have to make this quick - and you had better all get yourself into sorts before then." The male pavise knight began, the line sounding curiously rote and with his gaze settling somewhere behind and to the left of Fortune's head, his expression still decidedly uninterested. 

"There has been an incident at the New Nemea School of Engineering. Some kind of SNAFUBAR just before the big symposium they were supposed to have. Private security protocols kicked in, and the entire place is on lockdown - they're a private institution and local enforcement and just about everyone else has been on decidedly shaky ground with them for a while, which means nobody has been able to get in or out. Normally that would be the end of it, but thankfully a fire started on the inside of one of the wings and completely bypassed the security field, which means there is one passage into the rest of the place. It still has a biometric lock though, which is where [i]you[/i] come in." He pointed right at Ariett, squinting slightly as he examined her. "Your guest pass plus your biometric data should open the way for most minor doorways. Which is why they need you. Aesch would prefer if you assisted voluntarily, but if you don't want to play ball he might just settle for ripping off the bits and pieces he needs."

He turned to Luca then, and gestured errantly at Donny. "As for you two - apparently Aesch specifically called you two on for troubleshooting. He wants you take to care of whatever the issue that caused the lockdown is. He didn't inform me of the details, but I can tell you that a certain Doctor Leona Olympia Cetona is involved somehow. She's...a touch mythical if you catch my drift. Aesch probably won't tell you shit beyond what he wants you to actually do, so if you two want answers it might behoove you to speak with her as long as she doesn't make it too inconvenient for you." He shrugged emphatically.

In the distance, the large double-helical structure also began to contort as the rest of the world fell away into the singularity below. The thin gray lines began to sweep to the side and downwards, stretching and bending unnaturally around the group's field of view to be dragged down and collapsed into the now infinitesimal dot below. A small section of the structure kept creeping closer and began to come into higher definition - revealing a clustered mashup of metallic structures forming rows of trenches running along the entire length of one of the helical arms.

"As for you, sir-" The pavise knight turned to Fortune, something approaching actual interest now on his face. "The good Duke was going to be attending the symposium, you know? He has relations with Aesch of a short, and Aesch knows why you're here. He's going to try and press you into helping troubleshoot here, both out of convenience and also because it would be quite a feather in his cap if he can later claim he sent someone [i]legitimate[/i] to rescue the Duke instead of these shady characters. I don't think he'll try to press you too hard so your call on whether or not you want in on this mess." He nodded in deference faintly.

With a sudden burst of speed, the sphere was pulled into a circular opening in the twisted mass of metal within ones of the channels, and the passengers were pulled into a slowly curving, dark tunnel. Every few meters there was a faint set of four lights ringing the passage, revealing curious side-channels with doors and catwalks along its sides along with long stretches of ribbed spines sticking inwards at intervals. The eerily drifting remains of the bird caused twisted shadows to pass across all of the passengers.

"As for you-" The pavise knight finally gestured at Andreas. "I've not got a lot. I think you're a doctor? One of your patients was apparently a guest of the Duke's, and Aesch wants you there to tend to potential casualties I guess. I dunno." He gave Andreas an apologetic smile. "No idea whether Aesch actually needs you or not."

"And as for you two..." The male pavise knight paused as he glanced between Amelie and Kael.

"Fuck'em." Hiecro practically spat. "As far as I care they don't exist. Once we set down they are officially Aesch's problem."

"What she said." The male pavise knight said blandly. "That's nearly all I got. I don't want to get any closer than I have to, but my advice as an enforcer is not to let Aesch push you around more than you have to. He's a real scumbag." He uttered the last line in a comically cheery fashion, his face splitting with a smile out of the blue. 

He then glanced briefly at the passage walls before continuing. "Anyway, looks like we've hit the mid-point. If you have any questions, ask them now."