[IC] The Midnight Train to Nowhere

[Fox of Spades]

The Airship:

"Of course, of course," she gave Inadi a thumbs up. "Y'know, everyone needs to know about this place. It'd be a crime not to share the news. It's front page headline material." She narrowed her eyes at Inadi and returned his teasing remark with one of her own. "You better take care of Jasper, or else Ace will never let you hear the end of it." The girl gave Inadi a tap on the back then spun around to face her partner.

"Hah, if I did anything like this back home, my parents would flip the hell out." Riley paused to grin, then grabbed onto Toby's extended arm. "Besides, jumping off a plane or helicopter sounds a lot less cool than leaping off a freaking airship! Might as well make the first time the most amazing...oh boy." She flung herself towards the railing, eyes practically the size of saucers.

Ran had knocked a woman off her hoverboard. Riley waited for the inevitable sound of bones and flesh coming into contact with concrete.

It never came. Instead, the sound of a parachute flaring open filled the air and the girl let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Man, that was close, wayyy too close." She waved in Ran's direction and laughed. "Nice throw gramps!" And before she could say more, Ran rode the bike all the way to the railing and called for both her and Toby to join him. Well, now this was one way to descend in style.

"Hmm, c'mon Toby. We can ride the bike then jump off. Two birds with one stone." The girl swung her legs over the railing then looked down. Yikes, they were really, really high up and for a moment she felt her knees wobble. Riley sucked in a breath of air and with a determined yell leaped onto the hoverbike. It dipped to the side when she landed and she let out a yelp, gripping onto Ran's shoulders like a sloth clinging to a tree. "Okay, okay, all is good! C'mon Toby, c'mon." She made a silly face and laughed. "Everyone's already left us behind, and we can't just lose to Ace!" As soon as Toby was on board she asked Ran to kick the bike into full gear.

It probably wasn't the best idea because as soon as he did, the engine sputtered and they began flying around in horrible zigzaggy patterns that made her feel queasy. "Left, left, nooo to your other left!" Riley let out a groan as they spun 360 degrees in place. She leaned forward, reached over Ran's shoulders, and tried to flick one of the many switches. It turned out to be a bad idea because as soon as she did it, the engine died and they began spiraling downward at a maddening speed.

"Ooops! Wrong switch--!" Ugh, if this kept up she was going to puke on them. Riley gritted her teeth and flicked the same switch. At fist the engine wheezed and coughed, but to their luck, it eventually roared to life. "Mom and dad were right, bikes," she rolled her eyes, "totally dangerous." The girl stood up, a devious looking grin plastered to her face. She leaned back and allowed herself to fall. The excitement she was feeling pretty much chased all her worries away. "See ya at the bottom!" Riley's parachute flared open and the girl grinned when a gust of wind whipped at her face. Why was she even scared in the first place? The view, it was absolutely astounding.



The City of Cogs and Gears:

"HEY! Prepare for impact!" Japhet was on solid ground, both hands cupped around his mouth in an attempt to imitate a megaphone. "Bend your knees and land on your feet, else you'll be in for a world of hurt." He watched as the humans floated across the sky. Some looked absolutely terrified while others looked as if they were having the time of their lives. "Oi you! Pay attention!"

"Wait, what?" Riley looked down only to see the cobblestone sidewalk appear nearer and nearer.

"Bend you knees! I told you all to listen to my instructions!"

"Ack--!" As soon as her feet came into contact with the ground, the parachute fell over her and she toppled over, caught in a tangled mess of strings. Riley let out a soft curse before flailing around beneath the fabric. She could hear Japhet laughing and her ears went red in embarrassment.

He yanked the parachute off her and snorted, "now, that's what I call an aerial show." With his hands on his hips, the nobody gave everyone a once-over then looked up. A few of the humans were still descending. "Is everybody okay?"

Riley narrowed her eyes at the mechanic, still red in the face. "Hardy har har."

"Pft," Japhet laughed again but walked off to check on the others who had landed. "So, we'll be headed to the museum. I'll be leaving you in the 55th platoon's care." He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "So, is everyone accounted for?"

"Erm, guys, can someone please get me down?"



Hanging like a puppet from one of the tree's branches was Harper, his parachute lines tangled up in all the branches. "I'm sort of stuck."

"Sort of?" Japhet smiled. "I think you're really stuck." He arched an eyebrow at the other humans, "anyone have anything sharp on them? Your pal needs some help getting down and we're kind of falling behind schedule here."

"Hey Harper," Riley was pleased to see that someone had failed the landing more than she had.

The boy gave her a quizzical look. "Hello?"

"So, how's it hanging?"

"Please," Harper narrowed his eyes, "not now."

In response, he received an absolutely wicked grin. "You better get down soon, Harper, or we might leaf you behind."

The jokes were so bad that Harper couldn't help but laugh a little. It didn't look like Riley was going to help him at all so he looked around. Inadi was probably still making his descent. "Ace," he called out, "would you mind helping a friend out?"

Japhet laughed, oh, he was really enjoying this. "So just keep going straight guys, your friends will be able to catch up easy. Nowwww, march!"

[Orpheus]

Hmm?

Est yawned and rubbed at his eyes. Did that kid go back and touch the synth again? Sure, he was at that age when breaking the rules was fun and all that, but the boy should really know better than to mess with the artifacts on display. Man… It’s nobodies like these that make guard duty a right pain in the bum bum… The nobody glumly felt for his hat, only to realize it wasn’t on his head anymore, and stood up in surprise. The fruits Breeze had piled on his lap tumbled to the floor and Est let out a gasp of surprise. Whoa, where did these babies come from!?

“Ahhhh, fruitsies, come back!” He bent down and gathered the star-shaped fruits, even peeking under a chair to fish out one that had rolled beneath it. “Got ‘em all. Whew. Oh, hi Breeeeze!” Est got up with the fruits in his arms and only then noticed the girl, who seemed to have taken his beret while he was sleeping and wore it. Remembering that he had food, Est fumbled for a bit before offering one to the merchant, saying, “Here, want some? I just got it, don’t know where, but it looks really fresh and yummy and- ohhhh it’s from you! Thanks a lot!”

The soldier sat down on the chair again and crossed his legs, making sure to balance the fruit properly in one arm so that it doesn’t fall down again. “Let’s eat these together, Breeze!” Est beamed up at the girl before pushing his bangs out of his eyes. Pesky hairstyle, he really should get a cut sooner than later. Above them, the glass ceiling shifted colors from clear to blue, and the floor below was soon bathed in blocks of azure light after the gears finished turning. "Gee whiz, that never gets old. I wished they used the purple one though," The nobody glanced above and then returned his attention to Breeze, "so! How was your day?"

[AkiBlue]

"Whenever you're falling from like a building or whatever, make sure you bend your knees so you don't break your legs. Tuck and roll."

The advice popped up out of nowhere and she looked a little confused. She could remember clear as day the advice... But shouldn't she have remembered who told her? There weren't many people she came into contact and stayed around to talk to, so it was a little odd to think of random advice. But she couldn't shake the feeling that whomever said it was at least a little important...

'Wait...Where did that bike come from? What the-"

Thinking about it made her miss out on Ran's fiasco, so she ended up seeing...just a lot of collisions. "He's so odd to be an adult." She said with a laugh and noticed the ground coming closer. She looked over at Leila and called out. "Be careful! When you get down there bend your legs. Bend so you don't go tumbling or breaking anything." She held a thumbs up and looked downwards. Instead of what everyone else was doing, waiting for their feet to touch the ground, Ace waited till she was a decent distance from the ground to unbuckle it and tuck and roll. She landed in a position before throwing both hands in the air. "Whoo! Stuck the landing and-" She laughed seeing Riley get all caught up. "And didn't ended up like that."

Ace collected her parachute bag and handed it to Japhet. "Here you go. That was fun." She beamed- only to turn to see Harper in need of assistance. She laughed as Riley poked fun, and then retorted. "As I recall girly, you crashed and burned too." She grinned and then pulled herself up on the tree branches with ease. She sat on the branch closest to him and looked at the parachute. "Yeesh, it's pretty stuck...How about this," Harper's parachute didn't have the same front buckle as hers. Instead, there were some weird advance holdings. Unfastening one of them, it unhooked all together and Harper nearly fell out the tree. He would have, but she grabbed his arm.

"Harper, you're heavier than you look." Ace laughed and eased him lower before climbing down the tree. "That parachute is a lost cause for now. It's a bit too tangled in the tree."
While they waited for everyone else to land...or crash, Ace clasped her hands together. "I'm going to find a hoverboard! And I'm going to keep it. That's the goal!" Ace said in a semi-shout or declaration. As everyone landed, Ace looked around. "Anyone want to help me find a hoverboard?"

As she spoke, she eased her way backwards, noticing more of those flying contraptions going towards one particular way. She heard the way and saw the way Japhet was pointing...but the flying stuff wasn't going that way...

That was until two of them did go that way. They were flying rather low too, so maybe they were going to land..? "Well...I guess we can go to the museum. Though...the last time I went into a museum I got kicked out." She huffed and crossed her arms. "It was boring anyway..." Instead of hurrying to lead the way, she decided to casually stroll alongside the others.

[Kimchi]

A look of surprise and amusement rotated across Ran's face, a set of bright teeth eventually emerging as he agreed to whip out some moves for them though rather hesitantly. For a moment there, she felt guilty if she had pressured him or made him feel uncomfortable or forced in any way, but as soon as the man began belting out Smooth Criminal Jasper knew that he was more than willing to show off his winning groove. From the signature dance poses of Michael Jackson, to some added cane swings in order to make it his own, Ran definitely knew how to pump up a crowd. The moment he called out to the cheering spectators, the lot of them joined right on in, having their own little party for a brief couple of minutes until Harper came in with the Nobody from earlier, both of them were carrying armfuls of peculiar backpacks.

"We've reached the port, guys. You'll be jumping off the ship, so put these on. They're really simple to use and I'll be heading down with you, so don't worry."

Jasper's eyes widened in a terrified panic as her air intake became jagged again for the first in a long time. 'Don't worry! How can I not worry!' Maybe a little bit of the danger left her since their two month long vacation because a panic attack was threatening to smack her upside down at this moment. Hands shaking, she hadn't realized that the others were already suiting up, chutes ready on their backs. Meanwhile, she couldn't think straight as Inadi approached her with a backpack in hand, swirling his finger in the air. Though it took a wee bit longer for her to analyze what he was indicating, she eventually concentrated enough to turn around— still shaky on her legs. Pulling her arms out one after the other from the one she already had on, he began to "comfort" her by saying, “I've never done sky diving before, but I imagine it would be better with one of these things on properly.” Slipping the chute backpack securely on her back, her alarm was already residing. This was definitely one of the perks of having a significant other. It was almost as if he possessed some sort of voodoo magic in calming her down and making her feel safe without much effort.

Harper "tripped" off first, but his words of excitement traveled up to the people on deck ensuring that he was safe and enjoying his flight down. 'Oh my gosh. That almost gave me a heart attack. Good thing he's safe. Hopefully everyone stays safe...' It was then that Ace began to propose her idea.

"We could always jump in pairs... Let's see... Inadi and Jasper of course. Lesley and Ran, Riley you could jump with Toby and.. come on Leila! We can jump together!"
And with that, she took the quiet girl by the hand, saluted with a parting statement, and stepped over the edge; a joyful shout following her departure. Lesley and Ran were quick to jump off right after, the familiar shouts of happiness trailing on with the leap.Then it was Toby and Riley. Now it was only her and Inadi left.

Observing her partner nervously as he jammed the curve of his spear into the sole of his shoe, Jasper's chest tightened up when he turned towards her. “Ready when you are Jasper. I'll make sure we get down there as safe as a feather.” His continued words of encouragement calmed her down as she made her way cautiously towards the railing, stopping at his side. "Okay," she sighed heavily with a broken exhale,"I guess it's our turn now." Bringing her hand down to lock with his, she gave him a confident smile before the pair finally went over the edge.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mimicking the sensation of a roller-coaster, she felt her throat clench up as a feeling like that of zero gravity took over. As she jumped off, her eyes were pinned shut, but as soon as she opened them, the fear left her immediately. The scenery was stunning. Breathtaking. She swiveled her head to look at Inadi with a bright expression, signalling that she was going to be okay. Knowing that deploying the parachute while holding onto him wasn't a safe procedure so she she nodded at him before letting go.

The others who had gone much earlier were already nearing ground floor, some of them even managed to get on hovercrafts? 'No fair (ToT)
.' In no time, the leading Nobody was shouting out instructions on how to land properly. Bending her legs as she braced for impact, she'd watched enough parkourists hopping around New York to know how to touch ground without much pain. She allowed her feet to briefly touch the stony path before tucking her legs in and rolling forward and back onto her feet. 'Wow, I actually did that right... I think?' Taking off her chute and bringing the teddybear from the front of her abdomen and back into its rightful place, she headed to catch up with the others who had already landed.

Jasper was surprised to see Harper being lowered down from the tree by Ace and was glad that she had managed to fully descend much nicer. "So, we'll be headed to the museum. I'll be leaving you in the 55th platoon's care." A crisp clap grabbed her attention and she cocked her head to one side, '55th Platoon?' The four of them wandered around the area as they awaited the others. The city was just about the most artistic thing she'd ever laid eyes on. Although many buildings appeared to be a mish-mash of scrap metal and other trinkets, they were highly appealing to the eye. All the smoke and steam gave the atmosphere a distinct smell of a mechanic shop and rust. It wasn't bad or anything; kind of like walking into a factory that makes cars or something— metallic.

Bringing her attention back up to the rest of the people still coming down from the sky, she shielded her vision and waved a hand in the air. "Bend your knees! Tuck and roll! Tuck and roll!" She was calling out reminders just in case. Just then, a pipe jutting out from a nearby framework blew out a large cloud of steam directly at her. In a matter of seconds, the albino was engulfed in the puff of moisture and smog, coughing and swatting the air around her. "Hack! What was that?" Tumbling away from the building she inspected an old man, that looked a lot like Einstein, through the glass store windows. He was drilling nails and working away on some device which was placed a top a metal table. Beckoning Ace, Riley, and Harper over she called out to them; mainly to Ace in particular. "Hey, I think I just found your hover board." In fact, she came to notice that the entire store was filled with tons of them. "Er, I mean hover boards."

[Thundercat]

"I'm not stalling, these uh, these straps are a pain y'know?" Toby said in reply to Inadi's advice. His friendly spear jabs caught him off guard, as a result he blurted out an excuse that didn't sound too believable. The boy didn't realize he was nervous until Inadi brought it up. "I'm eager to get down there too! Finding a souvenir is my top priority! Er, that and the USB of course." All the technology, the mechanics, there was bound to be an epic toy somewhere in the city. Toby pondered where he could find it as he stood on the railing. Assuming there was some type of toy store or general goods, money would probably be necessary. Hopefully Niran was generous enough to lend the stars. He could already hear the conversation in his head.

"Please Ran! Pleeeeaaaase! I really want it I really do want it,"

"You've already lost two toy's Toby, I really don't want to add another to the list,"

"PLEEEASE!"

The sound of an engine snapped the boy out of his daydreaming, the source coming from a bike piloted by....Niran? His parachute was missing as well. Toby almost wanted to believe his friend had landed, purchased a bike, then flew all the way back up here. "Ran! You don't have a- uh, uhhhhh..." He knew the word existed but it just wouldn't come to mind. Something you need to drive? A card? Paperwork? It felt as if it were on the very tip of his tongue, the feeling was stressful. "uh, you don't have permission to ride that thing! You silly man." Riley proposed they ride the bike down before jumping off, a thought he regrettably didn't think of first. "Awh good idea," Toby remarked. Watching Riley jump onto the bike, his heart jumped and he almost leaped overboard as the vehicle swayed to one side. Niran wasn't wearing his parachute so he would've been forced to chase him through the sky. Thankfully it hadn't come to that.

"Okay, okay, all is good! C'mon Toby, c'mon. Everyone's already left us behind, and we can't just lose to Ace!"

"Ace?!" The boy looked at a variety of different chutes gliding through the air. "HA! Yeah right!" With that, Toby leaped off of the rail and downwards to the city. He was pretty much looking for an excuse to leap off unexpectedly, hoping that would ease his nervous mindset and make the journey down more pleasant. which it did. Espionage movies and war flicks began playing in his head. He recalled how soldiers and agents straightened their body like a bullet as they shot through the night sky. Toby mimicked their methods rather poorly. Instead of shooting through the sky like a bullet he couldn't help but spread his arms as if they were wings and dangle his legs aimlessly. It was impossible to hear his own thoughts over the rushing sound of the wind. A smile plastered on his face caused his cheeks to jiggle all sorts of ways as his hair moved at its own will.

Soaring through the sky towards the city, Toby fortunately caught a glimpse of somebody's parachute and realized he forgot he was even wearing one. With haste he gripped the latch and pulled hard, the chute flew open and yanked him from the air, carrying the boy safely towards the ground. The giggling wouldn't cease, it couldn't. The parachutes straps felt tight around the boy's chest but this newfound feeling of gliding through the air drowned the burden out. How exhilarating! Not only had he flown for the first time but skydived as well.

"Wooooohoooooo!"

Japhet could be heard shouting instructions from below, however the boy couldn't exactly make out what he was saying. Soaring through the sky at unfathomable speeds before pulling a string and gliding through the air can throw one's sense of speed off balance. Toby imagined his landing to be light and smooth, like a leaf, gently falling from a branch and onto the ground. However as he came closer and closer towards the ground he showed no signs of slowing down at all. "Oh geez," Not wanting to crush his legs he instinctively pulled on the strings of the parachute, significantly reducing his speed.

"Bend your knees! Tuck and roll! Tuck and roll!"

Toby was beyond grateful Jasper had repeated their guides instructions. Pulling on the stringers tighter and tighter as to slow himself down he began to bend his knees. "Ace!" The boy shouted as soon as he was close enough for her to hear. His feet met the pavement causing him to jog forward slightly, eventually coming to a complete stop. The landing turned out to be much less painful and simpler than he initially thought, but the boy was on quite the adrenaline high. "Ace!" He shouted once more as he began to undo the straps tightened on his body "I hope you don't think you w-uh?! agh!" Just as Toby began to speak the parachute hovered above his head, slowly and gently descending onto his face like a blanket would descend upon a bed, interrupting him with grace.

Thrashing about he was eventually able to pull the thing off of his head, crumpling it up as much as one could crumple something so large before tossing it to the ground with a sigh of relief. The boy rustled his hair in a poor attempt to fix it and gain his composure from the sneak attack before he began to speak once more. "I hope you don't think you and Leila beat us to the bottom because you guys had a head start." Toby walked alongside Ace as well as the others while he spoke.

"Inadi started distracting me and Riley, then Ran stole a bike or something and there was just so much going on, I demand a rematch!" It was at that moment Jasper gestured towards the group to inspect the windows. Toby approached the building, pressing his face against the glass windows in awe. He was too distracted by Niran's dancing on the airstrip to notice the boy on the hoverboard, this was his first time taking in the sight of the contraption. A devious grin overcame Toby's lips, the boy lay his eyes on the hoverboard he desired. A rematch would no longer be necessary.

[Fox of Spades]

The City of Cogs and Gears:

"Hah, I might not have Aced the landing." Riley held back a snort, "but hey, at least I didn't get stuck in a tree, just kidding, Harper!" The girl gave the duo a peace sign then watched as Ace came to the boy's rescue. They'd only been here for what? A few minutes? Hell, it was impossible to tell, but it was all so perfect. She couldn't wait to look around, and was sure that some of the others probably felt the same way. The girl turned to Leila and Jasper, the quieter members of their little family then grinned. "Are you two okay?"

Harper let out a relieved sigh, "thanks for the save." The boy gave Ace a grin but it turned into a grimace when she mentioned getting a hoverboard. As much as he trusted Ace, he thought giving her a hoverboard or anything capable of flight wouldn't be such a good idea. Of course, this had nothing to do with her skill. His friend could handle herself just fine, but there was no doubt she'd do something reckless and that, well, it'd give them all mini-heart attacks.

He narrowed his eyes playfully then smiled, "hmm, maybe we should get you a bike instead Ace, or skates...something you can't be reckless on"

"Puhlease, when is Ace not reckless." Riley gave the duo a mischievous grin then turned her head when she heard Toby and Jasper talking excitedly. Well, whaddya know, there was a hoverboard store right here. But aside from Ran...they were all pretty broke.

Speaking of Ran...



"Human, you are disregarding your safety! OH ALL THAT IS HOLY BROCCOLI!" Japhet's eyes looked like they were going to pop out. "Why aren't you wearing a parachute!" He held his breath in terror and watched as the bike whirred around the sky.

Then suddenly, a girl soared about the out of control bike and dropped down on the back seat.

Riley recognized her as the woman Ran had knocked off the hoverbike.

"You idiot!" She reached over his shoulders and for a moment the bike spun out of control. But before they could drop out of the sky or crash into one of the towers the Nobody managed to regain control of the thing and they landed (not smoothly) not too far from where the humans stood.

"You're lucky I have wings! You almost killed me you jerk!"

Niran was apologizing profusely though at first he looked very happy to see that she was okay.

Japhet approached and realized that it was Nympha. Ah...he'd get her some free bike parts if she agreed to let this slide. "Nympha, sorry, sorry, I'll be taking the humans off your hands now. Don't tell the commander anything," he frowned, "I'll get you some spare parts in returned."

She looked very upset but the Nobody grabbed Ran by the shoulders and began ushering him away. "Come now...we've dilly dallied long enough."

---

The Museum:



"Private, Breeze, just the people I've been looking for." Lt. Falkner appeared behind them and placed a hand on each their shoulders. She was surprised to see Est awake...in fact, she had already prepared to give him another scolding, so this was a pleasant surprise. "Have the humans arrived yet?" She was certain Japhet would bring them on time, but before she could say anything else, Japhet appeared pushed open the doors, a bunch of humans behind him.

"There you are," she watched as he shuffled uncertainly. "You're late."

"Sorry about that Lieutenant," he gave her a salute. "Let's just say something silly happened along the way."

She didn't have time for this, she'd need to meet the corporal by the gate ASAP. "Humans," she nodded her head in their direction and smiled. "Welcome to the city and the museum, pretty isn't it? Today, I'll be leaving you in Breeze, Est, and Japhet's care."

"Wait me?" Japhet looked confused.

"Yes, I already contacted your commanding officer, you're ours for the day, got it?"

He noticed the emphasis on the last word and shuddered. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good," Lt. Falkner turned her attention to the humans. "I know you're here for the USB, but we're low on soldiers, and a few suspicious figures have been spotted outside the walls. In the meantime, you're free to do as you please, we'll regroup in the museum when the sun sets, and I'll hand you the USB, but for now." She gave them a smile, "enjoy the city, alright? Est, Breeze, you'll take one group. Japhet, you'll take the other." She tipped her helmet at them then as soon as she arrived, she walked out the doors and into the city.

[AkiBlue]

"You're puns are terrible." Ace said with a laugh.

"I'm not reckless! I just....like to explore my options!"

Hearing Jasper call her name, she turned to see what was needed of her. "Yeah? What's up Jasper?" Her head tilted a little and she wandered over to the window to see what she was staring at.

Jasper said "Hey, I think I just found your hover board."
"Er, I mean hover boards."

Ace gasped, looking delighted as ever. "Oh my goodness, Jasper I love you." She squished the albino into a hug for a brief moment before going back to the window. Looking over at her partner in crime, Riley, along with Toby she grinned. "So we're going in and getting some right?"

Before she could run in, Japhet started to ramble on about something. "Uh huh..right...." Inch by inch, she was easing her way into the store, until the were ushered away from it and to a museum. "No fair..." She looked around, paying only half a mind to the person talking to her. Quietly, she whispered over to Inadi and Harper, "We're here for a USB?" Not only did she have vague knowledge of what they were, because she never really used one before- although in her defense she did know someone who used it all the time for secret information and the likes, but she didn't remember who... There was that, and the fact that she just didn't pay too much attention when they were given missions.

Answered or not, Ace perked up when the lady told them to enjoy the city. "Well, if that's the case....Heh, I'm just...going..to go." She turned away, planning to run off, but paused when she heard they were going in groups. "I guess I have to prevent getting lost somehow. If we'll be in groups, where will we be-" A flyer on the wall caught her attention and she read over it. There were two of them, but in one she saw exactly what she wanted. With a wide and mischievous grin, she pointed to the flyer. "Rileyyy, Tobyy, I know where we could go! There's a competition going on! It's a hoverboard competition! We should go check it out!"

Of course, it wasn't really a suggestion. It was more of a...'that's where I'll be if you need me' comment. But, she did offer, just in case the rest of them thought she was going to do something stupid. Wait, who was she kidding? Those two wouldn't prove that point! "Ran! You should come too! We may need the adult supervision," she smirked and teased the two playfully by patting their heads. "you know, just in case these two go finding trouble." She would have asked the others, but they might have wanted to be in a lot more....calmer situation. See? She could be considerate.

According to the flyer, it wasn't too far from the museum. In fact, it was in a large park area that could be seen when they were floating from the skies. With haste, Ace was out the door and looking for the park. Whether they followed along or not was up to them. Ace had a one track mind at the moment, and it consisted of getting a hoverboard. She couldn't keep her amulet or anything else she was given, so the hoverboard had to be where her luck was.

[Orpheus]

“GAH! Lieutenant! Please don’t sneak up on people like that!” Est howled as he jumped up from the chair and whirled to face his superior, “you gave me a fright!” As usual, she ignored his childish remarks and cut through to the core of the matter, asking about the humans right about when Japhet entered with the lot of them. That took her attention off him… Whew. Lieutenant Falkner was a really scary dame… Although, wasn’t she younger than him? Est made a mental note to ask his officer once he got the chance, and hoped she wouldn’t order him to do a hundred push-ups in return.

“Do you want some fruit, Lieuten- and she’s gone,” The soldier watched as Falkner briskly strode away and then approached the humans, drawing into a well-practiced salute… minus one arm that was busy carrying most of the star-shaped fruit Breeze brought. “Greetings! I am Private Berit Rinaldi. Just call me Est!” In human terms, Est was a young man in his early twenties with an aura of calm about him. He had wavy soft golden hair and wide blue eyes that looked at the humans curiously, and without a hint of malice, though he appeared a bit confused at their appearances. “Huh, that’s strange. Y’all look so normal. I was expecting, uh… Extra heads. Oh!” He suddenly drew his pistol and offered it barrel first to the nearest human, “they say human saliva destroys metal! If you would please drool on my gun, then we can prove that theory and I’ll have a legit reason to skip training tomorrow! A win-win situation!”

“Anyhoo! Fun times, huh? You couldn’t have picked a better pair of guides! I like fun and Breeze here, she’s a really great nobody to be with. Yeah, one time we rode a pair of monster bikes and ended up wrecking the junk district… Haha, good times,” Est laughed and then extended his arm, “so, want some fruit? They’re good. We gots split you guys in half though, so you'd best decide if you wanna go with Japeth or us."

[MUG]

Watching Jasper let go of his hand made Inadi smile. She gained a lot of confidence it seemed from how shaky she looked before they dropped off the side of the ship. While she floated away, Inadi decided to keep up his course and continued riding the spear down the way. He seemed to be falling a little bit faster than some of the others because his body wasn't being pushed back against the wind so much. Yet as he dropped he felt the wind begin turning the spear head up a little bit and Inadi began feeling his head drop back somewhat. He was now spinning a little bit in the air, and he was not feeling very comfortable doing so.

With him spinning on down he only caught glimpses of what else was going on with the others. Then again many of them were already landing so there wasn't much to see. Hearing the Nobody on the ground begin telling them how to land made him realize that he was nearing the destination if he could already hear someone from down on the ground. Quickly shifting his body so that he was in a proper chute release position he looked over to Jasper and saw her land. She had perfect form it seemed and Inadi tried his best to mimic how she did it.

He pulled the chute string and felt it pull back his shoulders. It was a sudden jerk but nothing terrible. Bending his knees he began waiting for contact with the ground. Sadly when he did so his ankle caught a divot in the stone and it twisted on him. A quick hiss escaped Inadi's throat and a sudden screech soon followed. With the twist of his ankle his knee also buckled and he began rolling very quickly on the stone path. Grunts and groans followed as he continued hitting the stone ground with a bit of force until he eventually came to a complete stop. He landed in a bush next to the tree Harper had found himself in earlier.

Inadi picked himself up very gingerly from his fall and quickly threw the chute off from on top of him. Keeping his right ankle off the ground he leaned against the tree and let out a scoff as he smiled at the others. “I just have the worst luck with being thrown around I think.” He said, trying to make light on the situation. In the end he really hated this place already and he had only just landed. Then again, as Riley probably would have said, at least he started the journey on a roll. Inadi showed disgust on his face at the pun he had made in his mind. Luckily no one would ever know he was just as bad as the red head.

When Jasper began pointing out the hover boards and Ace getting giddy like a school girl they were quickly ushered towards the museum. Hobbling somewhat along with the group, using Kain as a crutch now for the most part, Ace seemed not to have an idea as to what a USB was. Inadi desperately wanted to flick the girl in the head. How could she have gone through her whole life and not known what a USB was? Inadi took it upon himself to answer the girl's question. “A USB is a small hard drive of sorts. It maintains digital information. Mostly I used my collection for small sets of photos of to transport documents from devices,” He explained in a very matter of fact tone. A smug face almost appeared on the boy's mug, but it was stopped as he felt the pain in his leg again. “It's a lot more accessible than a mobile hard drive.”

As the guides began explaining the plan for the USB the idea of enjoying the city seemed nice for a change. Though the mentioning of a suspicious figure was not something he wanted to hear, let alone that there were multiple ones. Inadi began suspecting the hooded figures, but he didn't want to make anyone else worry and distracted. Last thing the group needed was to be stressed again. Then the guide who had a last name that rhymed with Inadi's offered a gun to the group to...spit on he supposed. Something about their spit dissolving metal. Last time he checked he spat out water, not acid. Trying to oblige the new guide he decided to hobble over to the gun. There was no way Inadi was going to stick his mouth on the barrel of a weapon, so he decided to lick his hand quickly and rubbed the spit off on the gun. Watching the gun, it appeared that nothing was happening so it prompted a shrug from Inadi. “Sorry there sir. I guess that's a bet you won't win.” He joked as he tapped the guide on the shoulder with his still damp hand, which Inadi quickly dried off using the guide's shirt. Good times all around he figured with a smile.

Ace began suggesting the hover board race and Inadi shook his head slowly. Considering he wasn't feeling all that great he would have fallen off the contraption before he could even get on. “I think I'll just avoid that one entirely. Maybe I'll go as a spectator but definitely not a participant,” Inadi said as he looked at the flier himself. It said something about a park, which peeked his interest. “Though a walk in a park would be a nice change of pace....or in my case a hobble in the park.” He joked lightly as he looked down at this leg with a chuckle. It seemed like he was always the one getting hurt on these adventures. Hopefully it wouldn't come back to bite him while they stayed here in the City of Cogs.

[Anonymous]

Pink curls fluttering daintily in the light breeze that came to meet him during the landing, Lesley had deployed his parachute early enough so that he was no longer carrying extra southbound momentum from the dive. Feet touching the cobblestone sidewalk without much strain, he merely shrugged off his backpack and handed it to Japhet. Meanwhile, he realized that some of the others didn't have as safe a touchdown. A couple of them were huddling around a store window and he approached. The teens appeared utterly eager to jump on one of those things and he couldn't say he felt any different. Upon observing so many Nowherians here zipping around effortlessly on their fancy-floating devices, he definitely wanted to try one out for himself.

Just as the crowd of them were ready to flood the hover craft store, a frantic Japhet herded them elsewhere. They were met with a trio, two of which were dressed up in soldier like apparel. The blond female apparently was a Lieutenant and her personality matched. Her voice was stern and straight forward, announcing instructions and assigning their caretakers, some of which seemed surprised. She also mentioned something about some "suspicious figures" being seen around the area and instructed them on what they were to do til the meet up, explore. Now that is what he wanted to hear, they really needed to roam this wonderful city.

Ace was the first to break off, but stopped as she peeled a posting off the wall. Her eyes wide, the red head suggested on taking Riley, Toby, and Ran with her to a hoverboard competition, but the question was left open ended as she turned and headed out the door.

Est: “So, want some fruit? They’re good. We gots split you guys in half though, so you'd best decide if you wanna go with Japeth or us."

Lesley inspected the second flyer on the wall and pulled it off before showing it to their caretakers. "Paintball anyone?" He turned to Leila and hooked his arm around her's. "I think you'll enjoy this!" He grinned with a slight quirk. He was eager on bringing her out of her shell even further even though she had made good progress already. Est and Breeze seemed like easier targets for that type of match so he walked over to them with Leila in tow. "Challenge accepted? Or do you two believe in anymore creepy human superstitions?" Lesley joked. "At least now you know we don't have spit that melts metal!" A chuckle escaped his lips. Inadi seemed uncertain on doing anything "fun" and Lesley snorted at his suggestion at going for a walk at the park. "Geh! Just cuz you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean you two can't be romantic doing dangerous stuff! Come on Jasper, you join this crew." Lesley reached over and took the albino in his other hand. By now he was hoping that it would reel Inadi in as well, though he did notice the frame-faced boy had a slight limp on one leg.

[Kimchi]

"Oh my goodness, Jasper I love you."

Blinking quickening in surprise, she tensed up a bit at the hug, but it felt good to be loved. She smiled at the girl who had become like somewhat of a sister figure to her. Not only that, but a protector as well. Toby jogged towards them, planting his head right beside Ace's, the duo drooling over the sights of the hover-boards. Actually, now that she looked at the two of them side by side, they were rather alike in more ways than one. Eager balls of energy rearing to explode, that's how she imagined them to be. A recipe for disaster.

Lesley merged with them shortly and the trio was already sliding closer and closer to the entrance before Japhet whisked them away to meet up with some important beings.

~~~~~~~~

As soon as they shuffled through the door, they were met with a displeased voice. She was regarded as Lieutenant and her personality and tone of voice was suiting. Informing Japhet, another male, and a female Nobody of their duties, the commander tipped her head piece and was off. Her instructions were brief, they'd come together at the museum during sun down, but for now, they were to go out and enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. Another thing she mentioned was that peculiar figures were seen round the perimeter of Cogs & Gears. Not again. Right away Jasper assumed it was those strange hooded people that held the idiosyncrasy of always popping up whenever they were retrieving items for the Queen. Hopefully they wouldn't run into trouble. After all, this object hunt was supposed to be easy-peasy.

As usual, Ace was the first one to get moving. The red head yanked a flyer off the wall and waved the hover-board competition ad in the air as she enthusiastically chose Riley and Toby as her groupmates along with Ran as the supervisor. Meanwhile, the male soldier introduced himself as Est, then with a puzzled question about their physical looks, he withdrew a pistol.

“They say human saliva destroys metal! If you would please drool on my gun, then we can prove that theory and I’ll have a legit reason to skip training tomorrow! A win-win situation!”

Jasper couldn't help but cringe a bit as Inadi licked his palm and transferred the bodily fluid onto the gun, wiping the remaining saliva onto the unsuspecting guide who was still inspecting his pistol with a look of anticipation. Ace had already slipped out the exit and Inadi, who had suffered a bad landing, wasn't up for anything risky at the moment. Although she hadn't directly seen the incident, she could tell by the way he hopped along that he was experiencing some discomfort. He proposed a stroll in the park instead and immediately she remembered the day they spilled their feelings to each other. It would've been a nice little throwback— reliving of the moment— but Lesley prodded her into joining them in a paintball match. By now the groups seemed pretty settled with Japhet going with Ace, Riley, Toby, and Ran to the hover-board competition, while Est and Breeze took care of Lesley and Leila. So far only Harper, Inadi, and herself hadn't yet decided.

"Geh! Just cuz you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean you two can't be romantic doing dangerous stuff! Come on Jasper, you join this crew."

The word "dangerous" caused her to feel a bit unsettled, but since she'd never tried paintballing before, maybe it would be a good chance to try something new. Turning to Inadi whilst biting her lip, she raised an eyebrow and slipped her arm around his waist, letting his weight rest around her shoulders. "We'll take it slow okay?" She leaned closer towards his ear, "Don't worry, I'll protect you," A grin spread over her lips as she reassured him. They were both reserved people and combining the two would only equal even more conservative decisions so she was making an effort to jump out of her comfort zone for the both of them.

[Crescendo]

Breeze sighed at the soldier, pouting up at the man while picking up the basket on the ground. "I can't believe you were going to eat something without knowing where it came from. Again." She bumped him gently with the basket, not noticing the figure approaching them two until a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Woah, Lieutenant! And how are you today?"

The humans quickly arrived, trailing after Japhet and looking around with eyes sparkling, no doubt at the things they've seen and the wonder of their city. She didn't blame them- the City of Cogs was a lovely place full of things that didn't exist in the kingdom, even if they were lacking in fancy rich people parties. The humans looked quite normal, surprisingly so after all the stories she's heard. They didn't look like they had razor teeth, nor acidic saliva, as she noted from the lack sizzling coming from Est's gun. Still, even without all that they seemed nice enough, one actually agreed to humour Est's weird request.

Looking closer, they were a very diverse group of humans. They were mostly kids with one older man with a funky looking beard and cap. She was rather surprised to see a human with lovely bright pink hair- was that natural? Humans really were interesting after all. And that girl was so pale! Gosh, what a cute bunch. She much preferred real humans over the rather terrifying image the rumors had painted.

"You should all come paintballing with us, it'll be so fun!" She threw her arms in the air, gesturing. "Hoverboarding you can do whenever, so come and shoot things instead!" It had been quite a while since she's gone to the range- hopefully she'd be on Est's team last time. It was rather impressive how different Est got when he was shooting at things- The cute fluffy baby really got intense when he had a gun in his hand and she didn't quite want to be on the receiving end of his shots this time round.

Right, right, introductions. Those were important.

"I'm Breeze, merchant extraordinaire!" She gave a happy salute, before winking. "If there's anything that you may need, I'd be more than happy to supply you with it for a nice discount since you're out guests." She crossed her arms and nodded with a bright grin. "Cogs and gears, everyday supplies," her grin widened at the black haired guy and the albino girl. How cute. "gifts for your girlfriend/boyfriend/bae, I've got everything so come talk to me okay? okay!"

She quickly sidled up to the humans who haven't decided on a group yet. "You're coming with us, right? It'll be so fun! I could even give you a little tour of the city and it's sights as we head over," she clasped her hands, eyes wide and pleading. "Pleaaaaase?"

[Fox of Spades]

Hoverboard racing with the two redheads, Toby, and Ran, or paintball with the more rational members of the group?

Harper watched as Breeze and Est spoke in cheerful voices, the boy laughed and decided that he liked them a lot. He gave the guides a bright smile, "paintball it is." Breeze continued talking about selling her wares and Harper popped up beside Inadi and elbowed him lightly in the ribs, during their time at the castle both boys had become good friends and he and Inadi had made a pact to make sure that they didn't lose any more friends. "You heard her, Inadi, now's your chance to nab Jasper something nice." Harper teased his friend a little then turned to Japhet's group.

"Ace, Riley, Toby..." The three had earned the status of troublemaker among the bunny guards and he didn't exactly like the idea of them flying around with each other. "Don't do anything too reckless okay," he sighed playfully. "Especially you, Ace." He gave Ran a worried look and hoped that the adult would keep the peace...though Ran wasn't your average adult. Oh well, at least they had Japhet with them...then again, he was the one who made them jump off the airship.





Riley laughed, the tables had turned on Ace. "Ha, if there's anyone Ran needs to keep an eye on, it's you."

"More like all of you," Japhet snorted before he turned to Breeze and Est and gave them a salute. "Sundown, right? I'll see you guys later then. If I get any updates on the suspicious figures, I'll ring you up your radio."

Riley glared at the nobody then gave the other group a salute, "don't worry about us and Lesles? Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?" She puffed up her cheeks and made a face. "Well, see ya people! We don't have all day and this place is absolutely marvelous. Ace, Toby, Ran, race you to the tournament? Last one there's a rotten piece of stinky blue cheese! Oh wait, last one there's a moldy piece of rotting meat, yeah, that's it!" And with that she took the opportunity to get a head start.

Japhet looked shocked...well, his group sure was lively. "Do you people even know where the tournament is?" He yelled.

"Nope!" It was Riley's voice, she didn't stop running.

He didn't like this human. Why couldn't he get the pale girl with dark hair or the nice boy he spoke to onboard? "I'm going to go, before any of them get lost." Japhet took in a breath of air and started jogging. "Just keep going north, you won't miss it!"

Harper gave Japhet a sympathetic glance then turned to look at their own guides. "Don't worry," he chuckled. "You won't have the same problems with us." Leila, Jasper, Inadi, and Lesley, they were definitely the less reckless members of their little family. He waited for the guides to lead them ahead and walked on beside Leila and Lesley. "It must be really amazing, living here. Do you have flying cars and giant robots too?" He walked on and looked at the sun, it was nice to see it again since back at the castle it was constantly evening. He looked at it and noticed that it was high in the sky, if it worked the same way earth's sun did then it was probably noon? Who knows, time was impossible to tell in Nowhere, but if that was the case then they would have the entire afternoon to themselves.

Relaxing the day away, this mission was definitely a nice change of pace and he could only wish future quests would be as easy.

[Orpheus]

A boy with glasses- ooh, an intellectual- hobbled over to Est and proceeded to humor his request. The soldier studiously trained his eyes on his pistol, waiting and watching for the smallest sign of metal corrosion until it finally dawned on him that nothing was going to happen. The soldier didn’t even notice the new damp splotch on his shoulder courtesy of Inadi. With a glum sigh, he returned the gun to its holster and faced the humans. Apparently he and Breeze had one, two, three-

“Wow, your hair is really pretty! Can I touch it!? I don’t know about any other human abilities, but dayum look at that ’do!” Est answered Lesley’s joke nonetheless while reaching out with his free hand to hesitantly pat the tall human. Ohhh heavenly beans, this was the life! “What shampoo do you use? Breeze, Breeeeezeeeee, Bwee- I mean, Breeze! His hair is reaaaaallly sooooooft! Why does everyone have nice hair?” The nobody stepped back and cheerfully beamed down at the humans while his companion introduced herself. Since they all linked arms with each other it was like talking to a whole line of friendly soldiers, and Est assumed that the lovey dovey couple Lesley called out to was the pale girl and the smart-looking boy. Speaking of which….

“Hey, none of you told me your names!” Est exclaimed quite loudly, drawing stares from the passersby. He was, after all, a grown man in a military outfit hollering at a group of people who seemed to be in a younger demographic. “Y’all don’t want me to call you nicknames right? Like Slagathor, Krackmanchucka, Gliceptha… Yeah, so better tell me what to call you with or else!” He adopted a half-hearted frown but dropped it after a few seconds, “geez, can’t believe y’all forgot something as important as that! I guess humans don’t all have photographic memory, huh?”

They were supposed to go to the shooting range because that was what the majority of the Lost Souls suggested. Frankly, Est didn’t mind it that much. He didn’t notice the terrified glances his opponents showered upon him whenever it was time for firing practice, nor the way everyone seemed to want to be on his team when they were all divided for a match. Ah well, what’s fun is fun! Although it was a bit late, Est decided to throw his lot in an attempt to further convince the humans. “Yeah, paintballing for the wiiiiiin, there’s different colors of paint and swirlies- what’s a bea? I mean, a bae? Bweeze, you sure do know a lot of terms,” The blond nobody stared at the merchant who was now pleading with the humans. Japhet suddenly called him and Est straightened up, giving the other guide a salute before replying, “Yeah sure. Appreciate it if you will, bro. See ya!”

“Anyway, you, Mr. Whatever-Yo-Name-Is. You sure you want to come with that leg of yours? We can take it easy and just stroll around. Or we can have you patched up in a MedRite clinic! Or, even better, we can get you a synth to carry you around! Your pick! But, whatever it is, we best get out of the museum,” Est jerked his thumb towards a tour guide who was escorting a bunch of nobodies towards the first exhibit, “it’s going to get real noisy soon and trust me, y’all don’t wanna hear about the Old Age. Boring crap, all war and politics. Frightfully sleep-inducing save for their machines. Now that’s something they did right!” He suddenly clapped his hands and led the humans out of the museum and into the streets below.

"Don't worry, you won't have the same problems with us. It must be really amazing, living here. Do you have flying cars and giant robots too?"

“Oh I hope not, kiddo. You saw Lieutenant, right? Story goes she tore some poor monster’s heart out just by glaring at it! Don’t want her to do that to me in case anything happens to you kids!” Est chirped back good-humoredly and moved away from a gigantic brass robot trudging by in the middle of the street. The boy followed up with another question and he was only happy to answer. “Oh geebus! What sort of sorry place doesn’t have those!? Y’know, it’s really amazing, they’ve even got this new form of energy working out. Apparently you can utilize it with steam, but it’s more efficient if you use the Keyne’s motor- pretty new and you can’t trust it all that yet, lemme tell ya- but the results are great! I’ve seen a skycar run for twelve hours on a half liter of coral fuel! Legendary!” It was obvious from the way he talked that Est held a deep adoration for all things mechanical, and he continued explaining various other things as they moved on to the next street.

“By the way, Glasses. How you holding up? Just tell me if you need an- Ooomph!” The soldier turned around to address Inadi and therefore fell over a lump of metal in the middle of the sidewalk. While he tried to compose himself, the heap unfolded and formed the shape of a Labrador, steam hissing out from its copper joints as it sent a curious bark towards the gang’s way.

[AkiBlue]

Why did everyone think she was so reckless? Ace grinned at Harper and Inadi as she leaned out the doorway. "Don't worry, don't worry...Careful is my middle name!" She turned her attention to Riley and stuck her tongue out childishly. "I don't know what you guys are worrying about. I am the safest person here." She couldn't even say that one with a straight face. The redhead laughed and watched as Riley took off.

She gave a final salute to the others and then grinned. "You guys have fun! I must go before Riley gets us all lost!" With that, she turned or heel and bounded off after the girl with Toby, Ran, and Japhet in tow. Though, instead of running after to prove that she wasn't some moldy piece of food, she paused and noticed a few hoverboards going in the opposite direction of where Riley was heading. With a laugh, she yelled out. "Hey! You're going the wrong way!" She pointed to the people zooming past and then turned to follow them. It wasn't like they knew which way north was though, so she decided to let that teasing slide for now.

That gave whoever wasn't chasing after them in the group, a 'head start' in the race Riley proclaimed. Realizing she wanted to save her energy for the competition, she slowed to more of a jog, especially after seeing two people turn into the park across the street from them. "Destination, dead ahead!" She called out before rushing across, not bothering to wait for some sort of sign to tell them when to cross. Luckily, she didn't get hit with anything- nor did she cause an accident behind her. Of course Ace didn't think about those consequences though.

"This place is...awesome!"

It somewhat reminded her of a skate park, with all the people on hoverboards flying around and doing tricks. Only did it then occur to her, "If we're going to be in this competition, shouldn't we have hoverboards?" It was part, just her want to have a hoverboard and part, she really did want to participate in the competition. But without the proper equipment, she couldn't do that!

"Maybe I can go bribe someone to give me their board...And then give it back- never."

[Anonymous]

Seeing as Jasper took the initiative of encouraging Inadi to come along with them to the paintball match in spite of his slight injury, Lesley was pleased and couldn't help but quirk into a curious smile when the albino girl shouldered her partner's weight like a caring girlfriend should. He also overheard her whispering to him about being his personal shield and Lesley's lips formed a tight mischievous grin, 'Not when I'm behind the gun! No is safe... mehehe.'

Breeze: "I'm Breeze, merchant extraordinaire!"

He had to say, the girl was quite adorable and her childish attitude settled well with him. Even the Nowherian was able to catch unto the only couple within the batch and offered a suggestion of gifting Jasper. Harper teased along as well. Today was going to be an eventful day, he could feel it!

Est: “Wow, your hair is really pretty! Can I touch it!? I don’t know about any other human abilities, but dayum look at that ’do! What shampoo do you use? Breeze, Breeeeezeeeee, Bwee- I mean, Breeze! His hair is reaaaaallly sooooooft! Why does everyone have nice hair?”

The pink haired man rapidly blinked as the hair touching action startled him a tad, but he ended up laughing soon after. "Basically anything they supplied at the castle. I assume since the Queen is so wealthy, she must have the super expensive, fancy kind?" He continued to chuckle, stroking a lock of his own curls. The sporadic soldier then went on to suddenly beaming about their names and odd nicknames he could've given them in lieu of their actual ones caused by lack of introductions from the human side.

"Ah! That's what I forgot. My name is Lesley! I think I'm a pretty memorable figure? No?" With his last comment, the peachy fellow flicked his trademark hair to add some sass.

Once the intros were wrapped up, he continued on to address the situation with Inadi's leg. It sounded like a good idea to head down to the clinic before the paintball match. "We can tour around on the way there so I don't really mind if we go there first," he pitched in as to not make Inadi feel pressured to deal with the hurt instead. As the female Nobody pleaded with the remaining humans who eventually chose which group they wanted to be a part of, Lesley pumped a fist up into the air, "It's settled then. Come on baminos! Everybody let's go~" And with the Dora the Explorer song blaring from Lesley's mouth, the paintball crew went on their merry way.

---

During their walk, Harper popped some questions towards Est about the city and the male responded with a statement about the Lieutenant and some intelligible insight on current machinery. Hearing a sudden exclamation break the man's speal, he paused in his walk to observe a robotic dog, that had previously been napping on the pavement, rise up and send them an annoyed woof at having woken him up from his sleep.

"Wow.. so basically almost everything here is kind of like a living thing huh? But man made. Heck, even your homes have feet and walk around!"

[MUG]

The one guide Est was clearly going to be a personal favorite of Inadi's to be around. The guy seemed almost oblivious to everything going on around him and would just jump at the nearest thing that interested him. He was a seven year old it seemed like. The way he went after Lesley's hair just proved his point to him and Inadi could only let out a chuckle as he continued listening to the rest of the plans from the guides.

They needed to do something to pass the time, and it was clear everyone had their own personal choice as to what it was they wanted to do. It was either paintball or hover boarding. Inadi rolled his eyes slightly as it was clear he was going to be stuck doing either but he really didn't feel up for it with his leg being shot as it was. He was that way until the pink haired boy who was in the same group as he was when they joined this adventure seemingly challenged him. At least it seemed like a challenge the way he took it. That lit a fire underneath Inadi as he continued staring at Lesley.

Back in Sol, Inadi remembered the moment Haku called him out as well. Calling him a coward and that he was afraid of the world around him. It made him feel like less of a man every time he thought back to it. And every time Inadi trained with his spear, that speech and how it made him feel echoed in every movement he did. He wanted to make sure that no one could question his bravery ever again. And true, a paintball game was not the same as what was happening in Sol, yet it still generated the same feeling deep in his gut.

Just as he was about to retort, Jasper clung to his waist and began whispering to him. She even mentioned that she would protect him. Looking down at her and a sly grin appeared on his face. Leaning in to her ear and whispering back, Inadi let a small chuckle escape his throat as he did so. “I didn't realize we changed roles since we landed from the ship,” He whispered as he reached his arm around her shoulder and down to her hand. He gripped it slightly and shot her a smile. “I think you suit it very well.”

Shooting her a quick smile, Inadi turned his attention back to Lesley and showed a cocky yet determined grin. “Alright then Les, I'll take you on in a game of paintball. And I say we make this a bit of a wager as well. Me and you will be on opposite teams, and the winner's team gets to force the loser to do something of the winner's choice,” Inadi announced as he gave a quick point to the pink haired man. “And it can be literally anything. No holds barred.”

Just as Inadi was finishing his challenge the other guide began shooting signals at him to try and buy Jasper something. A small blush later turned into a much larger one as Harper decided to elbow him and joke that it was the perfect time to do so. Harper was lucky Inadi liked him so much otherwise he would have given him a hard jab with his own elbow as a retort. Instead he decided it was best to just follow the rest of the group out of the room and onto the streets of the city.

As they walked, Est tried to ask Inadi how he was doing. Though he didn't want to admit it but a quick trip to the clinic wouldn't be all that bad. However, he didn't want the group to look at him with like he was complaining about his leg in the end. Perhaps it was his persona he was trying to build or the fact that he was growing stubborn now with his new found dedication to be a leader of the group, he wasn't sure what to blame. Est as he was talking ended up tripping over a stack of metal in the walkway they were using. Suddenly the pile changed into a dog and it began barking at them. Inadi's eyes went wide as he immediately dropped, albeit gingerly, to a knee and looked at the creation. The dog let out a slight whimper as it was unsure of what Inadi wanted to do. The boy held out his hand and the dog walked over slowly and gave it a quick sniff. The sniff was then followed by a quick lick which prompted Inadi to pull his hand back slowly. Metallic clinking was heard as it walked up as if to try and get one more lick on the hand but it was just out of it's reach.

Inadi saw that his hand was wet with what looked like some kind of oil or something. It was a little rough to smell and sticky to the touch, but it was amazing to see something so sophisticated as this just lying in the sidewalk as a pile of metal. Inadi looked over to Est and gave a quick chuckle. “Are all the animal's here like this? I mean, are there any animals that are real? Or are they all mechanical like this little guy here? And the name is Inadi by the way, though Glasses is fine if that is easier for you I guess.” He asked and explained to the guide as the dog suddenly let out a rather loud bark. The cranking of gears could be heard as the dog opened its mouth and Inadi decided to put his hand back down again. The dog quickly maneuvered himself so that the hand was directly above it's ear. Inadi took this a sign to start scratching and once he started, the same oil covered tongue that licked his hand was now hanging out, showing that the dog seemed to enjoy it. Even though his hand couldn't possibly really scratch metal, the spear holding man decided it was best to just continue what he was doing since the dog seemed to like it so much.

[Kimchi]

As the groups pooled together and separated into its own, the name-commenced as guides took lead and the humans replied with their own title one after the other. Inadi seemed to like the brave attitude which was beginning to re-emerge after their long brake. Though the soft spoken albino was still timid and awkward at times, her personality as a whole had morphed into something quite different. No longer was she overly frightened to try out new things and speaking with others was no longer as big a scare. Raising head as Inadi threw out a challenge to Lesley in particular, their mini crew would have to be divided into even smaller ones. Everything about his suggestion sounded fun, except for the final piece about letting the winning team choose a sort of punishment for the losers. This did irk her a little, but at the same time, it served for the perfect motivational boost.

The merchant poked at them about couple gifts and Jasper couldn't help but redden a bit. Eventually, at Est's request, they finally departed from the museum and aimed their directions to the clinic. Meanwhile, the male soldier was spouting some interesting facts about his beloved city. from the way he sounded and explained things, she could tell that he knew his stuff well and took a great appreciation in it. Twelve hours on a single refueling? How quaint it would be if their was such a gas available on Earth. Admiring the mechanical city, it seemed to function as a whole— an entire living organism. Edifices, homes, trinkets, flying cars. Everything seemed to possess an active soul. The clinking and tinkering of gadgets kept the sound atmosphere alive with ruckus, silence would never find space to even squeeze it's ugly little head into the picture. Steam and plumes of smoke rose up from every corner as if the city was actually breathing.

Turning to Breeze with a physiognomy that beheld nothing but wonderment and awe, she fell into pace with the young Nobody. "You're city is so beautiful. But it's probably pretty normal to you isn't it?" The guides have probably lived in Nowhere their whole lives, knowing nothing past the realms barriers. "Earth has nothing like it. It's almost like the place lives," Her hands made a gesture and frowned at its contrast with her own world which was draining of resources and dying.

A mechanical dog, which they stopped to observe, though man-made, acted all too real. Turning her attention back to the street ahead, she caught sight of a clearly protruding sign from one of the upcoming buildings on which a red plus symbol was painted. "I guess that's our place," She said, shielding her face as another stream of condensationed air escaped the "jaw" of a nearby scent shop. Unlike other stores, the smog it had released was precisely clean and held a scent of fresh technology stuffs. An aroma that would arise and fill the room when one unwraps a brand new TV or laptop.

As the group bid the roaming robot dog farewell, they entered the petite hospital and was met with a light perfume of chemical emanation. Crinkling her nose, she did not particularly fancy any medically related places, but having gone through her role as a healer once before, her grave dislike of it had softened. Even blood no longer brought out of her not so much as a twitch.

[John]

An arm shot over Leila’s shoulder to grab onto a corner of a poster, and swiftly tore it off its place on the topmost layer of the montage of announcements and advertisements that covered the surface of a supporting beam under a nearby building.

”Paintball anyone? I think you’ll enjoy this!”

“Uh? I-”

Leila didn’t have time to say much when Lesley hooked onto her elbow his other arm and started dragging her along. She didn’t either have much choice but to comply, the other hand frequently having to adjust its position around the crumbled parachute she was hugging like a child his favourite blanket, so that the pile of fabric didn’t trail onto the ground. Lesley went forth to grab Inadi and Jasper before proposing a trip to the paintball range.

Leila shifted her steps and tried to hide behind Lesley when he shoved the poster forward and proposed his challenge in manners that she considered less than adequate towards the guides who they have just met. But with Est jumping around sputtering notions she couldn’t really make sense of all the while in excitement, she decided it might be acceptable to act a bit more relaxed - besides, it was hard to resist a hearty smile in the face of a scene as adorable as Est’s exaggerated response at the touch of Lesley’s hair.

“-Ah, very sorry. Leila. …?”

She responded quickly to the Nobody’s reminder that self-introductions were due, but Est was distracted even earlier and carried on with his uninterrupted chain of exclamations. Barely half of them were coherent, but Leila enjoyed watching him being excited. It reminded her of some things, or someone, perhaps? She couldn’t tell for sure what.

Y’know, it’s really amazing, they’ve even got this new form of energy working out...

* * * *

Leila followed the others into what seemed like a medical facility.

It wasn’t a large place, but it could be seen that it was a rather sufficient place as instruments and containers lined the shelved walls with improbable density. She had to wonder what each of them were, what they were used for, and how they worked - as with everything else she came across in Nowhere. This place has never ceased to surprise. How did they live? How did they think? Leila spent plenty of time thinking about these questions and the only consistent answer was “not like one expected them to”. It bothered her to no end how everything didn’t come together at all while everyone around her treated what she considered peculiarities and contradictions as intuitive truths that are only trivial. It bothered her, but also provided an endless source of amazement and fascination.

The interior of the hospital seemed much like the architecture she used to read about back at home, except more complicated, more dynamic - and many, many more moving parts.

* * * *

As the others sorted out their business and Inadi waited to have his injuries checked - she hoped he was alright - Leila walked over to Est.

“Eh.”

Starting was the part she always found most difficult in the carrying out of a conversation, yet this time , quite luckily, it appeared that she succeeded in acquiring the guide’s attention with a less than decent try.

"I'm Leila." She doubted this was necessary, but just in case the Nobody didn't catch her the first time around - "Leila Noelle. May I ask you more about - that motor you mentioned earlier?”

Keyne’s, if she recalled correctly. But she didn’t recall much correctly lately and so she decided.

“and - and the energy source?”

She stuttered a bit, probably out of excitement and the enthusiasm that she tried hard not to let show. The picture must have seemed somewhat peculiar - almost alluding to the mental image of a student carrying a pile of books on campus and jogging to keep up with her professor to ask about a finals project. Except here the professor was in military uniform and the student carried in the place of books a pile of puffy fabric and tangled string that almost buried her face. Because Leila still didn’t really know what to do with the parachute.

[Fox of Spades]

The Hoverboard Group: Ace, Ran, Toby, Riley, and Japhet

Japhet arrived moments after Ace, his cheeks were flushed, and he huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf. Are you all a bunch of eleven-year-olds! He kept the thought to himself and focused on staying on his feet.

"A'ight, I'm good...now," he could hear Riley yelling at the guys, something about them going the wrong way and he laughed. Well, they were certainly an amusing bunch. Japhet made his way towards Ace and noticed how she was staring at everything around them. The mechanic place his hands on his hips then tipped his head back so he was looking at the sky. "You think this is impressive, feh, wait till you look up." Above them was a floating mass of land. It looked like an entire city covered by a huge glass dome. "That's where the races take place, don't worry about a hoverboard, each contestant gets one."



"Aaah, and we're here." Riley spun around to grin triumphantly. "Ran, you're the rotten egg, which means you owe us all ice cream later! Even Japhet." She nodded smugly then took a moment to catch her breath. The girl's eyes flitted to the floating dome in the sky and she blinked slowly, a smile creeping up her face. "Don't tell me the tournament is going to happen there?"

"Where else is it going to happen?" The mechanic arched an eyebrow.

"No way!" She stood on her toes, grinning as a flying bus stopped overhead.

Japhet laughed at their reactions, "As you humans say...hell yes." He gave the bus driver a salute and watched as the vehicle lowered itself to the ground. "Thanks Petey, the contest hasn't started yet, has it?" When Pete shook his head, Japhet laughed. "Good, I've got a few people rearing to join in."

He walked into the bus and motioned for the humans to follow after him.

* * * *

As soon as the humans got off the bus, a young Nobody in goggles grinned at them. She was standing by the dome's entrance and dressed up in a mechanic's suit. "Japhet, long time no see! I see you brought friends."

He nodded his head.

"Are you going to watch the contest? It only happens once in a real long time, it's a sight to behold, you won't regret it!"

She hadn't changed a bit, his apprentice was just as bubbly. "Actually, Viv, they're here to compete and guess what?" She tilted her head to the side quizzically. "They're humans." Viv laughed but Japhet remained serious and eventually she gaped and rushed forward.

The young nobody held onto both of Toby's hands and beamed. "Welcome to the city of cogs and gears, humans!" Pointing to a rack of safety equipment and a bin of helmets she laughed. "Suit up then! We're just about to begin, so you better hurry."

Inside the down, Nobodies of all shapes and sizes were gathering around the starting line.

---

The Paintball Group: Jasper, Leila, Lesley, Inadi, Harper, Breeze, and Est

"I almost forgot," Harper gave the guides a smile, "I'm Harper, and thank you for taking the time to show us around."

They followed Est and Breeze to the clinic, making sure Inadi's leg was alright would be the best thing to do. Est talked excitedly about all the mechanical things and Harper smiled, it sounded very interesting and so much different than everything else back home. They entered the clinic and he listened to Leila and Est talk. During their time at the castle the girl had learned to open up, and while she was still far from outgoing, he found her conversations interesting.

"Golly, now this is a surprise," a tall and lanky man was walking down the hall, his arms filled to the brim with coats and rubber gloves. "Breeze? Why if it isn't our favorite merchant!" He almost threw up his arms in greeting, but remembered he had his hands full. The man looked ecstatic but his expression shifted into one of worry. "Wait, wait, wait, why are you here?" He looked around, missing Est. "Did the private get himself injured." The nobody paled, "did those hooded troublemakers try anything?" Recently the criminals had been spotted outside the gate. He didn't know them, but he did know they were bad news.

He shook his head then paused, finally noticing the humans. The man blinked, his glasses falling off the bridge of his nose. "Oh...hello there, I didn't notice you. Friends of Breeze? What brings you all here...oh, well this is relief." Noticing Inadi's limp, he beamed. "We can fix that up in a jiffy! We've got new nano tech that works like a charm! In fact, we need to have it tested." Before they could say more he was running down the hallway excitedly, and telling them to stay put.

Harper stared at the guides then at Inadi. "That...didn't sound very, erm, reassuring."