ID turned towards the suited giant as she gave the countersign, remaining quiet until she approached. The gentle hum of the compressor beneath her cloak complimented the snowfall for a long moment. It clicked off and the over-pressure of hot gas hissed out of the nostrils of ID's red dragon mask in a voluminous cloud.

She wasn't surprised that MG wasn't waiting exactly where she expected.  The merc was clever and careful... and her heavily insulated suit interfered with ID's [Dreamsight], so picking her out as a living signature amongst all the background noise was next to impossible.

[b][color=#db60b0]"The [i]official[/i] report is that I ran into the Queen of Swords and went out of my way to avoid a confrontation,"[/color][/b] she explained, pulling her hood back and flapping it against her shoulders to remove any gas that had become trapped in it.  That's how hair became singed. [b][color=#db60b0]"Eventful evening too... Off the record,"[/color][/b] ID added with a huff, as she began the trudge towards the area of the Graves that dropped off into the inky darkness between land, and the Tower's massive sub-structure.

Besides [i]Mother[/i], MG was the only other person in the organization she regularly let her hair down around. In part this was due to the number of operations they'd done together. MG's ability made her the only operative in the entire organization that could work in close proximity to her. ID could be unguarded without worrying that a flash of emotion would irrevocably maim the woman... and the fact that she didn't treat ID like some kind of untouchable eidolon had endeared her to the merc.

[b][color=#db60b0]"Met some boys in ShieldTown... a geokinetic prankster, and his... friend,"[/color][/b] ID hesitated, and the snow sizzled under her feet for a moment. She rolled her eyes after a minute, knowing MG wouldn't leave that alone... not after the telltale flash of heat at least. 

[b][color=#db60b0]"I'm pretty sure he invited me over intentionally so that I would catch an eyeful of the dense slab of muscle that lives with him for his own entertainment. I made some promises I probably shouldn't have, and stayed for breakfast,"[/color][/b] she explained evasively.

ID led them deep into the graves until it became nearly too steep to traverse in the icy conditions.  The ground dropped away into the abyss ahead of them not a hundred feet away where it became a near sheer cliff leading down into depths unknown.  She paused, pulling on a thread of mana and feeling it traverse through her body and sear uncomfortably behind her left eye and deep into her skull. The steady snowfall slowed to an absolute crawl as she rolled the thread of mana over and between her fingers.

An ethereal library of books and documents manifested in her vision, and she swished through the miles of stacks with a near imperceptible flick of her fingers. [i]'The Waking World Explained'[/i], translated. [i]'The Secret of Mana'[/i], original. [i]'Perils of the Astral Sea'[/i], second edition copy. ID flicked her fingers. Archives. Designs. Weapons and Equipment. Flick. Blueprints. Facility Schemata. [i]Muriel Containment Laboratory.[/i]

ID tucked her thumb gently under the thread of mana, tugging the array out into a one handed cradle. The blueprint seared into her eye, and she dismissed the archive. ID had mentioned to Zolya that [i]anything[/i] could be enchanted using her technique.  It wasn't a false claim, you just needed some creativity, a little out of the box thinking, and some magics [i]Mother[/i] warned her not to fool around with. Enchanting her mind with Menagerie's Archive was a brilliant, if impulsive idea that had nearly killed her.  She wasn't entirely sure [i]Mother[/i] knew what [i]exactly[/i] she had done, but she'd been hospitalized for a month so [i]Mother[/i] knew she was messing with something she shouldn't have.

The facility schemata was heavily redacted, but still contained useful information about its secret freight elevator and how to activate it, which she studied for a minute before releasing the [Enhanced Perception] Fortification. The blueprint stayed uncomfortably luminous in her eye.

[b][color=#db60b0]"Looking for a keypad: it'll be covered and embedded in something that doesn't quite belong...,"[/color][/b] ID trailed off, scanning the area.