[color=lavender]In the face of the server's imperturbed response, Teresa maintained her guard. Their calm demeanour wouldn't fool her. She had spent far too much time with Caden to think someone was harmless because they portrayed their self as such.

That didn’t change the fact that their words struck a chord in her. When the server nudged her sword down, she went with the motion, though her grip remained unrelaxed. She opened her mouth for a retort, but was promptly interrupted by someone crashlanding through the wall and into the floor. A man with a cowboy gimmick, it looked like. Cyber enhancements too.

[i]Okay. This is a little weird for an illusion.[/i]

Was she hallucinating? Had someone gotten her with a dart? Maybe Arts’ blaster had hit her after all and she was dying, caught in the throes of delusion in her final moments. Teresa brushed the front of her suit with her free hand. There was nothing but the faint remnant of ashes crumbling beneath her fingertips. The coarse feeling of plexifibre felt real enough.

Simplest answer, then. If this [i]was[/i] real, her priorities were unchanged. The cyber-cowboy was already picking himself out of the rubble; there was no need for her to intervene. The server didn't seem intent on retaliating to the threat she'd made; instead, they were walking away, offering a drink. Slowly, Teresa sheathed her sword. It was then she finally regarded the girl in the armchair and, at the sight of her frightened posture, Teresa’s tense expression fell away to something more contrite.

‘[b]My apologies if I frightened you[/b],’ she said. The server’s remark echoed in the back of her mind. A muscle in her jaw tensed. ‘[b]I’m... needed elsewhere.[/b]’ The terseness of her words would have her supervisor throwing a fit if she could hear them – [/color][color=lavender][i]‘[/i][/color][b][i]Reassuring, Teresa! You’re supposed to be [/i]reassuring[i] to civilians![/i][/b][color=lavender][i]’[/i] – but right now, her headspace was a million miles away. All she could think of was the hum of Arts’ gun, and pushing Eri out of the way, and if she was [i]here[/i] and not [i]there[/i], then–

[i]Focus. That’s not helping anybody.[/i]

She swept away, heedless of the girl’s response, quickening her steps to catch up with the server. As she did, she caught sight of another customer breaking a plastic, little doll, tossing it onto a mound of other plastic, little dolls – and then proceeding to receive a new doll. The absurdity of the scene had her turning back to the server without comment.

‘[b]I appreciate the offer[/b],’ she said, ‘[b]but I can’t stay. Do you know how I got here? Can you send me back to where I was before?[/b]’[/color]