[right][h2][color=999999]Lost in Translation[/color][/h2][@Tlazolteotl][@silver21][@Auragreedia]
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[color=lavender]The deep, rhythmic thrum of bass hummed through the soles of her boots to the tips of her fingers as Teresa’s gaze flicked between the bespectacled man and the employee addressing them.

Witnessing the businessman’s private battlefield, finding themselves thrust flat in the middle of another’s apparent mental anguish – it stirred a mild sense of disgust somewhere within Teresa. These were people’s minds, casually paraded around as, what, things the server collected? Who [i]was[/i] the server? This green-haired employee didn’t sound at all like the server, but [i]did[/i] in a way Teresa couldn’t pin down. Were they working for Arts? Helping him [i]collect[/i] from these entrapped victims? Making them the unwilling spectators of others’ suffering like this, too; how sickening.

Almost as soon as the thought occurred, the sounds around her dipped. The violent thrum of bass in her bones faded to a distant tremble. For just a brief moment, the bar they had just been standing in flickered back into view. If anyone had been looking at her in that moment, they would have seen Silver Blade briefly flicker out of existence, before fading back in.

Teresa blinked, hard. The lights and music returned with a vengeance. The girl and the cyber-cowboy were still there. She clenched her right hand into a fist – and then relaxed.

Reality was loose here. And, apparently, somewhat moulded by their thoughts. She couldn’t lose sight of the mission.

[i]Didn’t you, though?[/i]

The voice of the cyber-cowboy drew Teresa back to the present. His words seemed to relax the girl somewhat. Teresa looked back at the bespectacled man, considering.

‘[b]If that man is the key[/b],’ she said, ‘[b]then we talk to him.[/b]’

The girl still seemed nervous about the situation, but as things were now, there was nothing to do about it but to carry out the task that the server – whatever they were – had given them. And the cyber-cowboy seemed benign enough. The faster they could resolve this, the faster they could all go back to where they came from. With that thought in mind, Teresa moved ahead, laser focused on the man sitting alone.

The mass of dancing people around them may have been a difficult obstacle to navigate for some. Teresa, all too used to facing crowds of screaming citizens running from the newest villain on the loose, simply moved with the flow of movement, squeezing and sidling through the narrow gaps between bodies. She got to her destination in short order, coming up to stand next to the table the bespectacled man sat at.

It was a moment before she spoke, gathering her thoughts. She wasn’t Silver Blade talking down a villain right now; she was Teresa, talking to a civilian, who, by all rights, didn’t seem to be having a great time.

[i]Relax[/i], chided Caden’s voice somewhere in the back of her head. [i]Don’t you have fun sometimes?[/i]

‘[b]Hey.[/b]’ It came out soft. Maybe too soft, considering the pounding music around them. Teresa cleared her throat and tried again, a little louder, jerking her thumb towards the dance crowd. ‘[b]Hey. Not joining them?[/b]’[/color]