[h2]Velia Larci & a Stranger[/h2]

Velia took another sip from her cup of tea, "Government building sounds sensible.  Do you think there's some kind of a map around here?" she asked, casually glancing at a few of the bare side boards, "Otherwise I guess we just head straight to the centre of town..." she trailed off as the sound of an electric engine echoed in from the street outside, "Umm... what's that?"

For anyone by the window they would see a tracked robotic vehicle approaching down the street.  It was reasonably large with a big metal tank on the back, robotic as there was no place for a driver.  A large illuminated sign on the polished steel side of the vehicle read 'Biological Containment Unit'. As it moved a cheerful, prerecorded voice announced: [i]Citizens, please remain in your homes until the threat is contained.[/i]  The sides of the vehicle were scored with the unmistakable heat marks of blaster fire, which seemed oddly out of place in this pristine neighborhood.

Before anyone had a chance to do more than spot the incoming vehicle a voice called from the doorway, "Don't shoot, I'm friendly."

The voice was female and, for anyone focusing on the language beneath the work of the translator microbes, was speaking the ancient 'English' language that was known from a few historic fragments from before the Machine War.  After a brief pause a 20-something looking woman stepped out into the open.  She was a pretty thing.  Caucasian looking - probably human - with a square shaped face, high cheekbones and big green eyes.  Brown hair was tied up in a particularly messy ponytail with stray strands falling about her shoulders.  She seemed to be military of some sort, wearing a short-sleeved black uniform that had definitely seen better days, with rips and tears that she had tried to patch in places.  Indecipherable blue rank insignia adorned the collar and epaulettes while a shoulder patch that looked like some kind of neon spider web presumably said something about whose service she was in.  Her left bicep was wrapped in a dirty bandage, further suggestion that this place wasn't quite as safe as it seemed.

"Unless you are carrying military-grade gas masks, you'll want to be leaving before that clanker pumps this building full of gas," she beckoned for them to follow, "I know you don't know me, but I've been here a while.  I know the routes that avoids the cameras those things use to find 'biological contaminants'."  There was a slight pause, as she seemed to realise some in the group didn't quite get what she was saying, "You lot are the 'biological contaminant' it's here to 'contain'.  Lets go!"