[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/597967434732929024/1001972688836886558/Into_the_Depths.png[/img][/center] [hr] Collaboration of: [@Th3King0fChaos], [@A Lowly Wretch], [@dragonpiece], and [@Force and Fury] [hr] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YHTUxaUMxs[/youtube][/center] [hr] As they continued towards their goal of revenge, Ingrid kept feeling a lump in her stomach about letting them go through with this. They were kind to us. They treated us well even though they believed that our kind had murdered their own blood. Now they look to us for help. Trypano asked some very important questions. If they had access to their magic, Ingrid knew that they wouldn't be able to stop them. So knowing what they look like was important. Since some questions were going around Ingrid had one last thing to say, hoping it may be able to persuade Nine and her siblings. Ingrid got close to Nine and placed her hand on her arm, [color=8882be]"I know what they did was wrong. If I found out someone had murdered my sibling, I would feel wrath like no other. I think I would be blinded by it. Nine if your world is advanced as you say it is, what will happen to your siblings? Your law obviously doesn't make exceptions for revenge. Your siblings can be held accountable for your actions!"[/color] Ingrid was desperate to reach out to her before Nine did something she could never take back. Ingrid squeezed Nine's arm slightly, [color=8882be]"Think about the outcomes here. If we fail your siblings will most likely be murdered in the same way you are looking to do to them. If we win, you might never be able to see your siblings again, forced to be on the run with nowhere to go. No matter what, you are going to find yourself in a position that will hurt even more than now."[/color] Ingrid let go of Nine and took a few steps back. Not out of fear but believing that she may need space after this. Ingrid continued, knowing moments of confusion are the time she can plant a seed, [color=8882be]"I know this is hard but if you go through with this you can hurt the ones you love. [i]You're[/i] not the one to get revenge. It would be much easier for you to cover this up if we are the ones to do this."[/color] Ingrid gestured to the group. She knew that Benedetto wouldn't care and that Desmond and Trypano might see this as their chance to have untethered access to their information and time to examine the materials and weaponry. Ingrid knew Ismette would probably look down on her for this but Ingrid would rather Nine and her siblings hold on to their values even if it is by a thread. Nine blinked: both sets of eyelids. She tilted her head and held up a hand to stop the countdown. [color=ffc8e4]"Wait!"[/color] she called, eyes flashing in the others' direction. [color=ffc8e4]"At least two of you have now expresssed misgivings, but of a different sort."[/color] She looked, in particular, at Trypano and Ismette. [color=ffc8e4]"Does anyone wish to expresss them now?"[/color] Desmond wasn't sure on how to bring it up to Nine and her siblings, to be frank until they were out Desmond wanted to keep his mouth shut as if they didn't tread carefully, they might have been left in the room as Penny was to be killed. But now with Ingrid stopping the train and starting a talk, this was the time to make the best of the situation. Once Nine asked them, Desmond said to Nine, [color=gold]"Yeah I do have some words about this. I'll need to agree with Ingrid here, you guys going in would be the worst move. In either success or failure, you and your own will be roped up into this. At that point you'll need to leave all you knew behind to get away from your people who might seek to dispose of you as they see you as a bad batch"[/color]. Desmond let out a sigh as he continued, [color=gold]"Let us handle this, I understand you want revenge, yet, you need to be smart about it. If blood is found on your hand then you will be to blame, no matter where the knife was hidden"[/color] Desmond tilted his head as he pointed his finger from one side to the other as he said, [color=gold]"On the other hand if it was humans and a yasoi who did it, then it'd look as if they were raided for any known reason. There is some deniability there, and the weapons could be easily brushed away. we were in your capture, and when we were going to leave we took out one of your own, stole weapons, and then raided the other base to free the other humans captured. You have your cake and get to eat it too"[/color]. Desmond said again as he held both his hands out as he continued on, [color=gold]"You get your revenge on the people who wronged you-"[/color] Desmond closed his first hand as he continued, [color=gold]"-and you get to keep yourselves away from needing to bloody your hands and the possible backlash of your people from killing one of your own"[/color] as Desmond closed his other hand. Desmond clapped his hands together as he then shrugged, [color=gold]"And besides as you said it yourself, you wanted to mimic a Human's lethality in the night. Why mimic it yourselves when you have the genuine article who can do it better?"[/color]. Desmond wanted to keep the Disskas' out of the fighting. Not only would it be bad for them, but it could actually slow them down as they would need to make sure that their 3 inexperienced combatants don't get killed, as they were the only thing keeping them alive at the moment. Trypano looked over from Nine to Ingrid then over to Desmond. Seemed he was suggesting that they take the blame for the deaths here, shifting blame from the Sirrahi here to themselves. Not great for Human to Sirathi relations but would keep tensions between their own kind from boiling over. She stood there behind the cover she made, waiting. An awkward silence had crept over prompting her to look back only to see the snake woman's expectant stare. [color=crimson][i]Didn't I already speak my piece?[/i][/color] She wondered to herself. [color=crimson]"Um... I concur. Desmond's plan is sound."[/color] She agreed, more to fill the silence and more quickly pass this awkward pause. Another benefit she saw from this would be that if they were unsupervised in the enemy snake's territory that would give them the freedom to analyze their tech without supervision, an unintended benefit with the side cost of extra arms in the coming conflict. [color=6ecff6]"Revenge only begets more revenge,"[/color] said Ismette, crossing her arms. [color=6ecff6]"It sounds like a platitude, but it's true. If you have evidence and a robust legal system, then I think this is a fool's errand. If you have no connection or control over this group, then this problem is purely ours, and we should be the ones retrieving our errant teammate."[/color] [color=00a99d]"Yeah, she's 'errant' an awful lot,"[/color] added Benny. [color=00a99d]"Running off 'cause she didn't like her assignment, playing hero, running into danger she can't handle without luck."[/color] He shrugged. [color=00a99d]"I think it's stupid, she made her bed, and I don't wanna risk my life without magic. Call me a coward. I don't care. It's how I learned to defend myself. Either show me how to get the Gift back - how you're blocking it - or I'm out."[/color] Nine looked at Benedetto, in particular, bemused. [color=ffc8e4]"You have it right now,"[/color] she replied. [color=00a99d]"Yeah, but the second we go in there, we don't,"[/color] he retorted, [color=00a99d]"and, to be blunt, I don't really trust you. How many times have you lied to us? What? We should like you because you made our imprisonment comfortable?"[/color] He crossed his arms, skeptical at best, borderline hostile at worst. [color=ffc8e4]"It was a sssafety precaution,"[/color] Nine insisted, voice growing distressed, and her siblings echoed her urgently. [color=ffc8e4]"We didn' t know anything at firssst, and then it was only right we should feed you and let you recover before we let you leave."[/color] [color=00a99d]"Get off it,"[/color] growled Benny. [color=00a99d]"You're still sitting there like you're some kind of superior being holding the damned leash and we're all your little pets or test animals. Why are you still blocking the Gift if we're just guests and you trust us? Because we're 'simple' and 'violent'?"[/color] He let out a snort and stepped up to her, glaring up at the much larger being. [color=00a99d]"I'll tell you what the others are too polite to say: it's goddamn insulting and you're fuckin' hypocrites. You're good with killing, or pointing us in he right direction and pulling the trigger. Thing is, I can betcha that at least half the people here - probably gun nut and giant corpse girl - are gonna do the same thing I would the second they get in there: they're gonna copy or grab all the devices they can get their hands on, because they're people. They're curious and, because you haven't been treating them like people just the same as you, who deserve to know, they're just gonna do it their own way."[/color] He shrugged. [color=00a99d]"Read the room, snakeface"[/color]. [color=crimson]"That is an incorrect assertion."[/color] Trypano bluntly stated, her tone as cool and unexpressive as it's almost always been during this dreadfully inconvenient mission. [color=crimson]"Most do not equip their test animals nor pets with weapons and set them with the task of killing units out of their rivalling faction's vase. As for the assertion that our first act would be to copy or grab all devices then you'd be correct but for reasons apart from what you've claimed."[/color] She turned from Benedetto to Nines, her expression unchanged as she tried to remain an uninflammatory element in this argument in order to not provoke either party nor lose her own balanced status amongst this current group. [color=crimson]"My purpose on this mission is to try and ensure the overall survival of all members sent to perform it. While the outcome has yielded sub-optimal results thus far I shall continue to look to the overall safety of our team which involves analyzing our situation and proposing approaches that optimize the highest likelihood of survival. Without magic there is only so much I can do to mitigate harm to my team and thus my interest is in expanding our zone of magical influence in order to improve our odds of success as opposed to the alternative: Our grizzly demise. I cannot confirm that our remaining member Penny is even alive currently so embarking on this operation puts this team at risk solely for the possibility of preserving an unknown variable."[/color] With one arm folded behind her back she turned to her remaining team, gesturing to them as a whole. [color=crimson]"I leave the choice as to whether this operation is worth the risk with you all. I shall simply attempt to the best of my abilities to fulfill my role here regardless of the path we all take here."[/color] [color=00a99d]"That would be an incorrect assumption,"[/color] Benny mimicked, his voice tiny and mocking. He rolled his eyes. [color=00a99d]"Ah, sorry. They only equip their footsoldiers. Definitely not worthless pawns on their board. Gods, you ooze superiority complex. It's seriously -"[/color] While Benedetto had been busy making an ass of himself for the umpteenth time, and Trypano employing some impressive mental gymnastics, Nine had looked increasingly pained: guilty, even. She shifted nervously and looked down at the ground. [color=ffc8e4]"I am sorry, outsssiders,"[/color] she kept murmuring. [color=ffc8e4]"Truly, I am. It was... not sssupposed to go this way. It was not suposed to feel like thisss."[/color] Ten glanced at her and the others nervously. Ismette was the one who went rogue, however. Deciding that she'd had enough of the bickering and that this was headed inevitably towards some form of the violence that she so abhorred, she'd slipped away and was now nearly at the armoured door. [color=6ecff6]"I come unarmed,"[/color] she called out to whoever was on the other side and, indeed, she had left her weapon behind. [color=6ecff6]"I seek a diplomatic solution to this misunderstanding if you are willing to entertain one. I only wish to speak with you."[/color] Nine whirled immediately. [color=ffc8e4]"Not again,"[/color] she hissed. [color=fff79a]"Sissster!"[/color] said Ten worriedly. [color=ffc8e4]"What good comes of it?"[/color] Nine wailed. [color=ffc8e4]"What good ever comes of it?"[/color] [color=fff79a]"But what about the tessst?"[/color] Ten demanded, eyes widening in alarm. [color=ffc8e4]"What about it!?"[/color] snapped Nine. [color=ffc8e4]"Can you really watch that girl die again?"[/color] Ten looked pained. Then, reality seemed to flicker and, when the group looked out, Nine, Ten, and their brother all seemed to be in very slightly different positions than before. Each member found a note in his or her hand. [color=ffc8e4][i]Dear human/yasoi, We will explain everything in a minute. For now, it is essential that you follow our lead. Benedetto is going to get angry and pretend to knock all four of you out. We are going to do the same to him. We need to fool those watching us. This is our best chance. - Nine[/i][/color] Desmond listened to the talking of Benedetto and Trypano and just pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting annoyed of Benedetto's antics, they could have gotten that information after they got them to agree with not coming. But now the situation arised that Benedetto is now taking his point and he might become antagonistic to the point of confrontation. Yet as the others were talking, things seemed to almost dull for Desmond, sounds began to dull, his heart beat rose, lights began to get brighter while colors became more clear, something was wrong as he felt danger approaching. Desmond felt something off, he had his magic like Nine said, so he reached out to find someone had moved too far. His eyes flashed over to the door as there would be only one person so stupid to decide to try something with the other Sirrahi they were about to raid, Ismette. Desmond gritted his teeth as he was about to whirl around to grab Ismette as it seemed Nine was in the same mind, yet said something strange, [color=ffc8e4][i]'Not Again'[/i][/color]. As Desmond heard the conversation, he instantly knew something was off. As in that same moment the world seemed to flicker. Desmond felt this once before, he noticed when Onarr left them that note, his senses seemed to have comprehended something he didn't as instantly knew, something messed with the world in a strange way. As the moment Desmond looked back at the Disskas' he noticed their positions were different. It was something slight at most, something most wouldn't even notice unless they were looking at them or were a trained fighter or Magusjaeger, and that could often just confuse someone. Yet for Desmond, just a slight detail was enough for him to pick out an invisible opponent, so this larger change was enough for him to notice something off. Their positioning was minorly changed at best, but it was apparent, it would be very easy to know when and how a Sirrahi moves, they are bound by the same physical limitations of locomotion that a snake has. Yet one seemed to have even shifted slightly to the side, which would only been seen if they side step, or that they moved much more to fully shift. [color=gold][i]'They moved. Then tried to return to the same place but didn't fully know where they exactly were'[/i][/color]. Desmond felt the paper in his hand as he quickly flickered to it and saw what was needed, the Disskas were going to take the lead. Benedetto was to try and 'knock them out' as the rest of them were to do the same. They needed to fool those watching, Desmond didn't know what was happening, but he needed to at least follow. He had no plan and they were all in a situation that could lead into the minimum death of Penny, and worst, all of them. Desmond used his best acting like he never saw the message as he said to Benedetto, [color=gold]"Yeah, I get it, you wanna be a big boy, but we need to move. Ismette is about to blow our entire plan like a dumbass!"[/color] As he looked as if he was about to close the distance between him and Ismette, but he prepared for what was to come, he prepared to take whatever fall was to come to make it as believable as possible. Benedetto was getting heated and all she could do was watch. Maybe she should have not said anything. Panic was building for Ingrid and she was just taking account of the energy she had access too. She didn't know who might start the fight first but she had to take care of herself first. Then a sudden shift. Ingrid had no idea what it was. Was it magic? Was it their technology? She couldn't know. All she knew was that there was a small note in her hand. She took a quick read and there wasn't anything to do except hope Benny doesn't make it hurt too much. Benedetto stared at the note for a moment, and had the impulse - however briefly - to foul up their plan, but he was also shaken. What had just happened - how they were in slightly different positions, how he suddenly had a note in his hand, along with everyone else - could only be the work of Temporal magic. That these... snake people could use it was proof positive that they were something scary beyond their mere appearance. Maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe, if he went rogue, they were stronger than him. That, more than anything else, made Benedetto recoil with dread. It reminded him of a time when he had not been the strongest, when others had filled him with fear. Then, Desmond was in his face, getting another jab in under the cover of making his antagonism believable. Benny's first instinct was to squish him, but the snakes were watching and he had the sense they wouldn't take kindly to that. If only he had more information, he could deal with them too. [color=00a99d]"Ismette, you dumb shit!"[/color] he roared, drawing as quickly as he could: on past six, almost to seven, but this area had so little energy that it was hard to get more without hurting people. He watched the snakes carefully, to see if they reacted to magic, but Ten merely tilted her head, Five shouted for him to stop, and Nine looked nervous. [color=00a99d]"You know what!?"[/color] Benedetto shouted, [color=00a99d]"Fuck this and fuck all of you!"[/color] Using about half of the energy he'd drawn, he let out a massive kinetic shove and everyone bar the snakes went down around him. He remembered to hit the 'eye device' too, like he'd been instructed in the note, and then there was gunfire. Sparks leapt from a spot on the ceiling of the cavern. Bullets sprayed walls away from where people were. Then, it all stopped. [color=ffc8e4]"Quickly!"[/color] Nine was hissing. [color=ffc8e4]"Get the trackers off them!"[/color] Benny found himself grabbed from behind and had to override the instinct to punch a reptilian in the face. Five wrenched him around, flicked out a knife, and stabbed into his 'bulletproof vest'. The teen let out a yelp, but then there was a small, blinking device on the floor. Five crushed it with a smack from his tail and was already rushing towards Ismette while Nine and Ten did the same to the others. "You can all talk now," one of the sirrahi women assured them, and Ismette was first to speak. [color=6ecff6]"Okay, what in the five hells is going on here?"[/color] A couple of the others echoed... similar sentiments. Nine took a deep breath and let it out unsteadily, her eyes trying but failing to meet the others'. [color=ffc8e4]"What's going on is that Benedetto is right: we've been lying to you. We've been your jailors and not your friends."[/color] Her shoulders slumped. [color=ffc8e4]"I cannot express how much I regret it. All that I can simply say is that I'm sorry."[/color] "Jailors," echoed Five and Ten. "Benedetto is right." "I'm sssorry," said the two other sirrahi. [color=fff79a]"Thisss was an experiment,"[/color] said Ten. [color=fff79a]"You were the fourth group."[/color] [color=ffc8e4]"Experiment,"[/color] echoed Nine. [color=45B08C]"Fourth group,"[/color] said Five. The former picked up where her sister had left off. [color=ffc8e4]"Our species has a long history of violence with the Gift and it's one we've mostly, imperfectly left behind. Thing is, your ssspecies haven't. We fear you. We're raised to fear you as if you're sssome sort of wild animals who may bite."[/color] [color=45B08C]"We were collecting data,"[/color] said Five, [color=45B08C]"on human social interaction under duress."[/color] [color=ffc8e4]"And threshold for use of violence, attitudes towards cooperation and coercion,"[/color] Nine interjected. [color=ffc8e4]"A whole bunch of things really."[/color] [color=fff79a]"Thisss was supposed to be a strictly ssscientific operation,"[/color] Ten concluded, the three siblings coming together and grouping up out of, perhaps, some protective instinct. [color=fff79a]"We put variousss groups of humans and yasoi - thieves and cutthroats - through the same trials again and again, adjusting the variables."[/color] [color=fff79a]"It was unethical and it was monstrous. You are sentient beings, we now see, not lesser beasts. You have thoughts, loves, hopes," Nine continued, "fears, and dreams, just like us."[/color] She shook her head. [color=fff79a]"You love and are loved."[/color] [color=45B08C]"It was... awful,"[/color] Five admitted. Ismette did not know what to say. For a moment, she swayed in place, dumbstruck. [color=6ecff6]"Sooo... what about Seven?"[/color] she asked, her voice accusatory. [color=6ecff6]"Does she even exist?"[/color] No sooner had she finished speaking than there was a clank of the blast door. [color=ff7f7f]"You could say that,"[/color] another sirrahi interjected, emerging from it. With her was Penny: strangely dressed but very much unharmed. [color=ff7f7f]"I'm Seven,"[/color] she announced, voice clipped and clinical, and her three siblings stumbled over each other to affirm her speech. [color=ff7f7f]"One is in charge of the base, but I'm the head researcher here."[/color] She nodded. [color=ff7f7f]"We owe you an apology, but that won't make you safe."[/color] Penny hurried to join the other humans. She was wearing form-fitting tights with... some kind of mesh worked into them, and a hooded garment with a large pouch in the front. [color=f7976a]"Oh thank Oraphe!" she exclaimed. "You're okay! I went looking for you and..."[/color] she trailed off, realizing that there were more pressing matters. [color=ff7f7f]"As I was saying,"[/color] Seven picked back up, [color=ff7f7f]"Apologies won't make you safe. We need to get you out of here. For now, we have faked your deaths. You have two options and we will honour your wishes."[/color] Nine nodded. [color=ffc8e4]"I want you to know that we can use what you refer to as 'temporal magic' to reset everything to the moment that you stepped into that cave. Only, this time, we will not meet. None of this mess will happen."[/color] She shot them a pained look, particularly Ingrid. [color=45B08C]"Or,"[/color] offered Five, [color=45B08C]"we can run."[/color] He glanced at his sisters. [color=45B08C]"There is an area, down that way, which contains a... means of transport that will allow you to escape, very far from here. You are, for now, believed dead, but not for long."[/color] [color=fff79a]"You must decide,"[/color] beseeched Ten. "You must," echoed Nine and Seven. Ingrid expected to be punched in the face, maybe even have her head slammed into a wall. A kinetic shove wasn't what she expected. It would have been so much gentler if she saw it coming. Her nerves were running high as she just wondered what was going one. Were they using time magic? Who among them? All of them? Either way Ingrid was left wincing from the pain of getting shoved. One of them cut into her skin to remove something. Something Ingrid hadn't felt there before. Ingrid could deal with the pain but she was more shocked they put something in her body. It was inhumane. She looked towards them. She knew they weren't being truthful but to what extent Ingrid was unsure. Ingrid listened to them describe the situation much the same way she did when they first met. She didn't want to judge them until she heard a more complete story. With each truth they revealed, Ingrid felt herself get more and more conflicted. [color=8882be][i]They were researching us. They didn't even see us as sentient. Great.[/i][/color] Ingrid could understand there view. It seems there ability with magic is superior, superior enough to make Benedetto fear. Strangely Ingrid didn't fear them. As much as they set us into an experiment like we were wild animals, they aren't trying to wield that power over us unlike Benedetto. Maybe they were so strong they didn't even need to show strength, that we were so insignificant that we don't even deserve to be recognized. Like waiting for a cue, Seven appeared just as Ismette was accusing them if Seven was ever real. With her was Penny, though in odd clothing, was safe. Ingrid looked genuinely relieved and wanted to show it but there was too much going on for Ingrid to focus on that. But for what it's worth, seeing an alive Penny an alive Seven lightened Ingrid's heart. Even if they had tricked her, she still felt relieved that no one had died. Seven kept the conversation going, Seven's demeanor made Ingrid believe that her and Trypano would just be best friends. They had a similar level of clinical sterility in their voice. They had finally made it to the grand question. Do we get our memories erased and this never happens or do we run and remember them and this whole experience. The pained look Nine sent Ingrid's way stung as Ingrid was trying to keep the idea of what was manufactured friendship and what was genuine far from her mind. But that look had her examining if this friendship even was real.[color=8882be][i] How many times did they run this experiment. How many times had she kissed me. How easy was it for Nine and them to manipulate me. Were these feelings just fabricated to begin with.[/i][/color] Ingrid felt herself spiraling down this infinite loop of questioning if anything that happened was genuine. Panic was setting in, it felt similar to when she thought of the unknown. Ingrid had a conclusion though, [color=8882be][i]What is the point? It doesn't matter if they repeated this 100 times, that doesn't invalidate my thoughts of her. It doesn't invalidate that before meeting them I was willing to let myself just get married off. I'm going to believe her even if it hurts me in the end.[/i][/color] Ingrid knew what she wanted, she wanted to remember her first kiss and the time she had. But she needed to know something. Ingrid looked at the Sirrahi, [color=8882be]"Are you going to be okay. If I can believe what you guys have said then letting us go is against your roles. I want to remember you, Nine, but I don't want to if this can get you hurt."[/color] The moment Desmond felt an intense pain in the center of his back, he knew what was to come as Benedetto yelled. Yet Desmond couldn't make it look like he just took it with ease. Desmond gritted his teeth as he felt the kinetic push occur, he drew in energy the moment upon impact to make it more a shove rather than a toss as Desmond lightly hopped from his toes to make himself fly. The moment before Desmond was to make an impact with another surface, he pulled more energy from himself to reduce the momentum and roll from the landing. Desmond laid there for a moment as he felt one of the snakes go over and grab him. Desmond gritted his teeth and fought every urge to use the energy within him and fire it off at the thing grabbing him from behind. Yet once they had him they stabbed into his vest, Desmond tensed up as if he was about to do something yet he held it in as they took out the device and smashed it. Once this was done, Ismette asked the question everyone was curious about, what is going on. As it was explained, Desmond listened as he started piecing together everything that was happening. They used them as test subjects, testing things, human nature, and all that, yet the thing that Desmond still didn't understand was how they were doing it. When he was about to start asking more questions they met the hidden Seven, who is apparently the head researcher and the one who seemed to have found Penny as she comes closing in quite quickly after. Desmond sighed as he saw her, it meant that this entire situation was going to be able to end. Yet Seven seemed to have more to say as they were given 2 options: to run, or have magic used on them to never have this happen. Desmond then had a click happen in his head, [i][color=gold]Temporal magic[/color][/i], Desmond did not know what it exactly was, but he assumed it was based upon manipulation of time. [color=gold][i]'They were unable to make all that food even with 30 minutes or hell even an hour, but 20 minutes is absurd. The manipulation of placement, they must have stopped time to place the notes in our hands, there was probably many questions they asked and we asked, but they reversed time knowing the outcomes of them being unfavorable.'[/i][/color] Desmond began having more thoughts, yet they needed to wait, it was time to answer the question, to run away with all their memories intact and the Sirrahi with them as they would then become fugitives. Desmond drew in a breath as he thought, it was a very tough idea to even think about. Yet it seemed Ingrid made her choice, she wanted to remember yet if it hurt them then she couldn't. Desmond could agree in some way as he said, [color=gold]"I'd prefer to remember this. I don't remember much as it is, so I'd prefer to keep what I have. Even if it hurts, I wanna keep what I remember here"[/color]. Desmond said this with a straight face, maybe one they have seen multiple times, one that showed his feelings much more than a smile ever will. An expression that might have been seen more often by them than anyone else. Desmond didn't know how much of him they knew, yet it didn't matter, they would probably know what he meant with what he said. The subtlest of changes. She found herself located at a point separate from whence she stood, her point of view altered just enough to be noticeable. Even more noticeable was the change in the position of her own hand, now clutching a note. [color=crimson][i]Aha, we're faking our own deaths then.[/i][/color] She concluded, looking first over to Ismette making some loud proclamation then over to the irate Benedetto. While ordinarily she wouldn't trust him with something even as simple as boiling an egg without suspecting he'd scatter or flash-fry the thing in this case he looked like he was on the same page. Given his glances to the surrounding Sirrahi his temper was tempered by their presence alone. Even he must have clued in by this point that their hosts hadn't let them out of their control by taking them down into this brief recess from their magic-dampening effects. The next part was simple. Faking her own death. As he emitted the kinetic wave she was thrown, perhaps not as violently as some certain others but tossed nonetheless. She continued to feign defeat until it was clear they were no longer being surveilled. At that point she administered roughly 2.5 milliliters of morphine into the blood stream surrounding the effected tissue where her head hit the stone wall behind her. Rising from her prone position she found the mastermind behind all this was none other than Nine's reportedly 'dead' sister Seven. It was made clear that this was all just a simulation, a test to try and examine their behavior under specific conditions. Like rats in a maze. She was neither dismayed nor discombobulated with this however. It was interesting to happen upon this taking place under such an unassuming place. She wasn't surprised the Sirrahi only now saw them as beings fit to liken to themselves in thought process. All their other test subjects were pirates, violent social outcasts who would give their fellow man and woman a bad name with how basic their trains of thought were. Then again it was actually remarkable they hadn't terminated their group with fellows like Benedetto amongst them. Thus it came to the crux of this conversation: Whether to leave manually at their own peril or allow them to erase what happened here temporally. While Trypano's expression remained even she folded her arms behind her back and gave a simple negatory shake of the head. [color=crimson]"While I'm uncertain of how the procedure for this event is meant to go nor the ramifications of it's alteration I would want to keep my memory of this event. Every experience, both positive and negative, help to shape us sapient beings. While our base mold personality may vary who we are is shaped by what we see, experience and decide from the information present. To remove what we've learned would be strike this version of us from existence as we are now much different people from who we were prior to this expedition. Whether this experience has bettered me or not is not for me to decide but I welcome the discovery of all truths, both for good and for ill. To stumble and falter is no less an important step in learning."[/color] While perhaps a bit wordy it got her point across well enough. It was simply time to receive their judgement at the hands of these researchers of theirs.