"It's most certainly in action," said Polo calmly, stepping toward the tea. "Live and operational, the KSP is fully functional with a global range. So I wouldn't bother making a run for it anytime soon."

"Thanks for the comforting news," replied Citrine sarcastically.

Polo smirked - It was clear that Citrine wasn't impressed, and for good reason. If Laraxis had wanted to kill them all, he would have done so already. The fact that they were all standing was good enough reason to assume the threat was mostly empty.

Laraxis, though, seemed rather impressed with his new ally, Alter, for reasons that Polo couldn't quite discern.

"You sound so [i]dangerous[/i] when you say it like that," said their host. The greed that Polo saw in Laraxis' eyes made him a little uncomfortable. This man wanted Polo, or more accurately, wanted the technology that Polo could create for him. There was no getting around that.

The mechanical man just needed to make sure that he used that information to his advantage.

A phone rang inside of Laraxis' coat, which he retrieved angrily.

"I'm in the middle of something. What?" He snapped.

[i]This guy is wound tighter than Hannibal over there[/i], mused Polo. The phone's response was obviously something that Laraxis wasn't pleased with.

"He... He what?! Where the fuck are the wallets?!"

A response.

"And where the fuck is he?"

A response, and then a phone tossed to the side.

[i]That was a perfectly usable iPhone[/i], thought Polo. [i]Never going to get the warranty now.[/i]

As Laraxis began speaking to a small, child-like hostess, Polo couldn't help but be creeped out by the little girl. Watching her mannerisms, though, he could tell that there was something... Off about her. Her gait was just a little too systemic, her movements just a little too controlled.

If he'd had to guess, he would have thought that 'Forty-seven' was less of a name than a version number.

He knew, from multiple attempts, that human movements were notoriously difficult to replicate. A device was only as capable as the computer that directed it, and the human brain was by far the most complex computation system ever divised. To even simulate such things within another creature was painstakingly difficult, and there were always little clues left in the uncanny valley.

Still, though, the doll machine's inner-workings could make for useful research, if Polo wasn't so creeped out by the thing.

As it left to perform its master's bidding, Laraxis turned back to the others, a small remote in hand.

"Now then," he sighed. "Help yourself to some tea, of course. But with more of you here, allow me to divulge the first step of my oh-so elaborate plan."

He pressed a button on the remote, bringing up the display of a device on the monitor behind him. Polo recognized it almost immediately - A glass cylindar with two rods connecting inside.

[i]A Metamaterial Resonator?[/i]

"An intelligence agency in New York recently recovered the blueprint of a prototype weapon created by the Russians. This device has the potential to create an...

"...artificial mini-black hole." Polo finished the sentence under his breath, likely garnering a strange look, but he didn't care.

About a year ago, Polo had looked into the work being attempted in this field. A group at the Southeast University in Nanjing had performed a successful stability using a pocket-sized resonator designed specifically to capture and hold light and more importantly, microwaves, but the research had never gone much further.

Though Polo was interested in the technology as a curiosity, he'd never investigated further. The idea that a Russian group was also working on such a device worried him a little.

"I need it," Laraxis continued, undeterred. "Which means I need you, preferably alive..."

"That would certainly up our odds," said Polo dryly.