[h3]PROFESSOR PERFECTION and Kailani - in "How Many Licks To The Center Of a Janet Pop"[/h3] From above to below, the alien crashed into a hall devoid of other people. Sirens blared distantly and warning strobes pulsed overhead, but the guard detail for the end of this hallway had evidently gone to meet her friends upstairs. Here, the cells were mostly empty, aside from the one she had landed in front of. Behind a layer of bulletproof glass was a room that was curiously beige. The walls, ceiling, floor, and the lone piece of furniture - a narrow bookshelf - were painted in a uniform light brown. Lacking the usual amenities afforded to the prisoners of the Borehole, the oddly casual decoration gave it an even more surreal appearance. A very faint whirring noise was coming from the center of the room, and its lone occupant. There was a lone pedestal-like thing, a polished black color, and on top of it was a pale head that gave little alarm towards the hulking beast. She lowered an articulated mechanical pincer that came out from a panel in her hull, holding a book between rubber-capped manipulators, and slowly turned her tired eyes toward the creature. [b]"Wrong floor."[/b] Her voice was deadpan as it emitted from a tinny speaker hidden somewhere in her device's form. [b]"If you're planning on getting out, go up. Not down. This isn't difficult."[/b] The alien’s smaller back legs merely wiggled in the air for a moment, bicycling in a daze. After a moment the deadpan voice seemed to register, a startling contrast from the faint sounds of fighting above, and the great creature finally rolled onto her front with the sound of carapace scraping against concrete. No eyes were visible as the creature seemingly focused on the cell, but an outburst of chittering quickly filled the air as it promptly became distracted from its fight. The alien hopped up, wiggled, and leapt at the glass - and before it landed, the much smaller form of a human girl was there as though replaced in a blink, hands pressed to the glass. [color=gold]“Wow, you’re the weirdest looking human I’ve seen yet! And I must’ve seen nearly all of them by now!”[/color] The change in expression as the figure in front of her cell shifted from monster to human without warning was barely registerable. Just a brief raise of the eyebrow that came and went without fanfare. The whirring in her cell briefly was joined by a whining from below the pedestal - it became clear now that there was a set of metal clamps that held her in place firmly, built into the floor. The effort to move closer to the glass went to waste. [b]"Young. Great."[/b] She momentarily returned to reading, before looking back at the transformed girl. [b]"I promise you that there's far stranger people than me out in this world. If you're trying to escape, maybe you'll see some of them."[/b] A brief burst of bubbles formed up from her respirator as the speakers transmitted a sigh. [b]"And if you're not here to get me out, take your hands off the glass. You'll leave marks all over it."[/b] Kailani’s head tilted to the side at the sound of a strange whining, but she couldn’t quite make out what the person in front of her was trying to convey with it. Also, who’s whines came from their … feet? A strange human indeed! [color=gold]“Oh yeah, I’m escaping right now. There’s lots of other strange people upstairs, but- marks?”[/color] Her eyes trailed to the glass, and the alien lifted her human hands to investigate the faint ghost of her fingerprints that was left behind. [color=gold]“Oh!”[/color] She promptly stuck her tongue out and licked one of the fingerprints away, but it left a streak of saliva in its wake. That didn’t work. Making a thoughtful hum at this new conundrum, Kailani turned her gaze to the door at her right. She took the few steps over and crouched down, leaning in. If she could just get her mouth close enough to press a tooth into the keyhole, like - there! A chunk of the door was torn away and disappeared into the girl’s mouth, and with an unprecedented speed more and more of the door was eaten until there was a hole big enough for her head. Which she used to eat a line to the fingerprints, the glass cracking in great shards that the small girl swallowed without hesitation, until the section of glass with her fingerprints had disappeared down her gullet. [color=gold]“... There! Fixed!”[/color] A pause. [color=gold]“... Well, bye!”[/color] Though it was almost certainly lost on the girl, there was a growing consternation that only just showed on the head's faded features. It didn't take much to convince her that this girl quite enjoyed licking window panes as a pastime; she already came across like that sort of person, and every two words out of her mouth only made that more clear. Her estimation was dropping by the second. The fact that a large portion of the glass keeping her contained was removed all-but instantly was a plus, though. She watched her tear a hole straight through the glass with the same terse gaze, and replied with a monotone "Thank you" once she was done. ...and then she watched her back turn on her. Immediately, she barked [b]"WAIT."[/b] Something within her pedestal shot a subconscious signal that her blood pressure was increasing, and automatic measures were being taken to regulate it. Her face was still frozen impassionately, but her mind briefly raced in anger before she quelled it. Controlled it. Made it useful to herself. [b]"Please."[/b] If the girl turned back around, she'd see the head do a small nod in her direction. [b]"My name is Janet. I'm not a fan of this prison - much as you might not be - and I wish to be freed. Unfortunately..."[/b] her dark eyes traveled downward, indicating her bindings, [b]"I can't on my own. I'd need someone to free me and then carry me with them."[/b] A pause. [b]"I'm requesting you do that. Specifically you. Now."[/b] [b]"...If you do, I'll tell you about more strange people."[/b] Sometimes, a carrot was required. This may be one of those times. Kailani froze mid step - or at least tried to, and nearly tripped over herself - before turning around at the command to wait. She quickly beamed as Janet talked, mentally filing the strange person away as another big talker. Her favorite kind of people, really! So, when the ‘Janet’ requested help, even though Kailani was under no agreement with her like the others she was escaping with… [color=gold]”Okay! I’d like to hear more about people! I’m Kailani.”[/color] She climbed through the whole she made easily, once more nearly tripping as her bare foot caught against the edge, and quickly trotted over. She crouched down and made a thoughtful hum as she stared at the pedestal and the strange apparatus. [color=gold]”Which… which part is you?”[/color] [b]"It's the chassis, not the arresting system built into the floor."[/b] She glanced to the side for a moment, knowing that would go over poorly, before she rephrased. The insult of many a prior hero was recalled: [b]"I'm the thing that looks like a trash can, and everything above it. The head, the bowl. Below that, the metal...grabbing bits. Eat those, and you can take me with you."[/b] She quickly retracted the grasping appendage into her hull before it could get confused with the binders. For a moment the alien only stared at the apparatus blankly as Janet tried to explain, that smile fixed on her face even as her brows furrowed. However, the clarification had her perking up and she quickly nodded. [color=gold]"Right, eat the grabby bits! I can do that."[/color] She flattened herself to the floor, not seeming to feel demeaned at all as she promptly ripped out the metal pieces locking the wheels in place at the front, then scrambled to the back to repeat it. Once she straightened out Kailani beamed. [color=gold]"Okay, let's get back to the others, Janet! I can't wait for you to meet the talky words man, and Ameliya, and there was a lady who gave me candy at-"[/color] The rest of her words continued, but in a decidedly less human manner as her form exploded outward, all claws and jaws and the heavy carapace. However, the chittering continued even as she easily picked up the entire 'apparatus' in one giant front paw, and promptly walked through the rest of the glass barrier to go back to the elevators. The faux-amniotic fluid in her jar sloshed around as she was picked up, her head jostling with it. Her eyes were fixed to the girl's hands, being the massive things they turned into, and would've be quick to tell her if she was grasping her form too tightly. Given the damage that Kailani brought to the room around her, it wouldn't surprise her if she could crush her chassis like a can. Fortunately, somewhat amazingly, nothing broke or bent. She didn't respond much to the now-monster's garbled rambling, knowing that agreeing too much would've just gotten her to detransform and slow the process down. All in all, there was a great chance that this would end up poorly and they'd all be recaptured, but if it didn't... ...she hoped that Talky Words Man, Ameliya, Candy Lady and the others could make up for her carrier's attention span. Freedom mattered little if the solitude of a prison cell was preferable. Please. Let it be so.