[b]“Tetsu Foundry…”[/b] Muttering came from a firework of curly red hair, its host crouched over an Eden roadmap. It was something that could have come from a travel office, a simple grid of streets and businesses across the city-state that had been utterly ruined with scarlet scrawl, lines, and circles. It was the thesis of a conspiracy theorist, and Thomas Dempsey looked the part. [b]“Ninth Ward… got it… Ninth Ward… eugh!”[/b] 
He gave a hiccup and physically leaned away as Magpie, still bloody from battle, passed by him on her way to the restroom. He looked like he was fighting not to jump. While his nostrils flared at the ironraw stench of blood, he looked relieved once the other contractor was gone. [i]Nothing happened.[/i] Nothing much did, these days. That didn’t mean it didn’t still scare him. That didn’t mean he could let his guard down. Lucky for him, Dempsey wasn’t the type to relax. Ever.

[b]“E-everyone? Is that figurative?!”[/b] The redhead’s nervous, wheedling voice pitched over the others, paper crumpling between his fingers as they tensed. It seemed it was not—while there weren’t many people in the safehouse at this hour, the situation was time-sensitive. The scribbled bounty on Ana's wall had proven itself a threat, and Dempsey had no choice but to answer the call to erase it. [i]But I’m not prepared![/i] Dempsey thought, breath hitching in a moment of panic. He hadn’t had time to make any new mods to combat this particular threat! He hadn’t—well, he hadn’t even been out on a high-stakes assignment since the time the fire hydrants exploded—

Bits of chewed nail were already flying as Dempsey vanished to grab his equipment and reappeared next to Cider, skinny and wide-eyed with a sniper rifle in one hand and a pair of pistols at his waist. [b]“I-it might still have a blind spot or other hidden vulnerabilities,”[/b] he said in a mess of rapid syllables, the words blending together like machine gun fire. He gave a little jerk and his eyes darted around like the strokes of a child’s crayon before his attention snapped back. [b]“Can capture alive or incapacitate if healing is infeasible. Nets, tranquilizers. Arm-stubs potential weak points?”[/b] He directed a nervous little laugh towards Cider, the first real indication he'd been speaking to her the whole time.
 
The twitchy contractor never seemed to stop moving, not until the moment the impromptu fighting force departed—he was running back and forth to grab some new bit of equipment, coming back with a piece of body armor ajar or a paper ball stuck in his hair, then stood nervously a little ways from the rest of the group, chewing his fingernails again. [b]“Mph!”[/b] he exclaimed suddenly and spoke up, [b]“Can I say something? Ask something? Wh-who’s leading this sortie, ma-ma’am?”[/b] Not him! He was no good at giving orders! He’d freeze like a rabbit, and long-distance snipers didn’t make the best communicators!