Uncle had led the way back to his lab, his face betraying no opinion or emotion at all. Lucien followed after with a scowl that clearly indicated exactly what his opinion on the matter was: it was a mistake. This wasn't his Castille, not his Cassie. It couldn't be her so it had to be a trap of some sort that the robots had sent in after them, some sort of saboteur or secret agent or... whatever. The type of warfare they waged against the mechanical overlords of the world was far more of a guerrilla action than anything else and the realm of spying and infiltration was outside Lucien's experience. All the same, it made sense. He wanted to protest right then and there even as Toni hefted the... thing... over his shoulder to carry it away, only Pony had grabbed his hand again and given a small shake of her head. Now was not the time. Silently, reluctantly, he conceded and contented himself with following along instead. Pony retreated back to their nest with her eyes downcast and biting her lower lip in thought.

As Toni rummaged about the lab checking equipment and running scans and doing whatever the hell it was the tech types did, Lucien leaned against the wall nearest the single entrance and glowered at them all. Ever since that fateful mission, both men blamed themselves and each other for the loss of Cassie and had fallen out with one another. Before, they had been good friends! If asked, Lucien would have said that Toni was everything he could have asked for in a brother-in-law and companion. Now? Lucien spoke to as few people as possible, and Toni the least of them all. There were too many memories that stirred whenever he saw him, too many reminders of his own failures and loss to permit any of the former feelings of good will the two men had once shared. It annoyed and frustrated Lucien how they were deluding themselves that the thing on the lab table could possibly still have any part of Cassie still inside of it. Secretly, he was also afraid. If this was Cassie... if she had survived or could be restored...

Uncle calmly reviewed the provided data and listened to Toni's arguments dispassionately. Several significant moments of silence followed after her brother concluded until the old man finally pursed his lips and spoke. "The blood crusted underneath her fingernails could be hers. If so, it would be further evidence that she dug the tracker out herself. And I agree. Her actions so far could be an indicator that there's something of her memories left in there, some residual remains of her personality." He quirked an eyebrow at Toni as though in warning. "That may be all there is, Antonio, lad. Just remnants of who she was. Even if she is somehow over-riding what they did to her, I doubt she'll be the same person that she was. I'll also take this time to remind you that while we found evidence of robots attempting to over-ride their own programming, we've never actually encountered one that did so successfully and survived. Thankfully, we've seen nothing like the robots' auto self-destruct protocols in the Androids themselves. Regardless.... regardless to any of that, I don't think we should pass up the opportunity to study her. We've never gotten a chance to capture a 'live' Android before. It's an opportunity not to be wasted. And if we can discover a way to reverse at least the mental conditioning of Androids, so much the better. It would mean we could salvage others in the future. Eventually."

Falling silent again, Uncle took a deep breath as his mind worked quickly over the possibilities. His musing were interrupted by Lucien's snort of disgust. "Will you listen to yourselves? That," and he jabbed an accusing finger towards the tied up girl, "is not your sister, Toni. It is not Cassie. It's a fucking meat puppet. It's a goddamn robot wearing a Cassie suit."

"Lucien!" Uncle barked sternly. "Unproductive!" Shaking his head, the old man leaned over and flipped a few switches on a panel half buried in wires and parts. A low hum began to fill the room. "Leave her where she is for now," he commanded them both, "It's almost lunch time, lads, and I want some of Anna's boiled cave lobster chowder. Let us think on this while we fill our bellies and cool off, yes? Hm? Now out! Get!" Ushering the two boys out, he followed behind with a quick glance and smirk at where the Android had been laid out with limbs bound. "Not like she's going anywhere."

Cassie had been left alone in the cavern, still bound atop the lab table. The hum in the air changed pitches a few times, but other than that the place remained quiet and still as the grave. There was no telling how long she lay there undisturbed. Abruptly, the humming stopped. A faint ticking sound echoed through the lab, followed by a clicking that was only slightly louder. Out of nowhere there suddenly came a high, feminine voice. 

"Sirius Circuitry Prototype GPP Mk IV, designation Liana, in now online. Optical sensors obscured, reverting to external sensors." Another series of sharp clicks snapped into the air and the voice continued in its peculiar staccato rhythm. "Greetings, Miss Castille. I am surprised; provided data indicated that you no longer existed. I am curious; scans indicate you are strong enough to break the ropes binding you, but you do not. I am concerned; you have been injured. I am relieved; I have someone to talk to."

More clicking sounds, which came from another debris strewn table several feet away. "I am... irked; Dr <NAME REDACTED> appears to have left his laundry on top of my face. Again." Pause. "May I be of assistance? Would you like me to sing you a song, Miss Castille?"