2023-10-30: Overlord: Flowering ~TERMINUS~

• Cast: Guy Shishioh, Lina Lombardi, Akane Shinjo, Takeshi Todo, Kaworu Nagisa, Shozo, Alouette Pommier, Lucine Azul, Rikka Takarada, Sonia Sophia-Grace, Liam 7-020, Lamia
• Where: Division Train
• Date: U.C. 0097 10 30
• Summary: As the Division Train makes final preparations to depart from Mars, catastrophe strikes. The King of Ruin's light dares Mankind's trembling heart to call out for something greater to save them. But surely GGG's brave souls would know that their own courage is that greater strength. Unless...something else is whispering...

---

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Preparations to depart are nearly set. The Branch Order Room in the Division Train's 'engine' - that is to say, in the main crew section of Division VI: Unlimited Connected Transportation Pipeline Warship Mizuha - is going to be fully crewed for a while just in case, so all seats are filled today with at least one Operator in each spot. GGG Green's Swan White sits at Research, GGG Blue's Ayamae Hatsuno is at Mobile Operations; Executive Supervisor Yang Long-li is here, as well as both Chiefs. But... it....isn't actually full.

"Where in DAMN-ASS HELL are Kamuy and Prickle!!" Chief Akamatsu bellows. "We're leaving in TWO minutes!"

"Mass readouts say nobody's left or entered the ship since last confirmed time they were aboard," engineering's Ushiyama calls. "Not sure where they are, though..."

Mobile Operations calls back, "We're punched in for Jupiter whenever you get bored of waiting," with the slightly lackadaisical chuckle of a woman who's given birth since the last time she gave a damn about professionalism.

Guy sighs. "Well...we can go ahead and leave without them, if we need to, just..."

...which is when the lights go out. "WHAT" Akamatsu yelps.

The lights come back on shortly after, and people check monitors. Then, like clockwork, "Oh my GOD!" from Swan's desk. "All doors locked...life support's still up, but the heading...we've changed trajectory!"

Ayame: "New telemetry is... uhhHHh DIRECTLY FOR THE MARTIAN SURFACE! I can't change it!"

Engineering: "Engines powering up! Already at sixty!"

Guy Shishioh dashes to action then, slapping his flesh palm to the control panel as his body hums with a G-Stone's energy. "I'll stop the engines," he says, connecting himself to the system in ways that do not use the powers of Earth men. With a grunt of exertion and another G-Stone keen, the door to the rest of the train snaps open. "Someone get to the central computer. This has to have started there! Use the access tunnels, hack the doors open, whatever you have to!"

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

        Lina is stitting in the dining quarters, staring out the window as the train begins to make its departure.

        Okay, you're going to look out the window and you are not going to get sick. You've made good progress already, come on.

        Anybody with any sort of mental awareness would probably be able to hear the Newtype hyping herself up in her mind, interrupted by the entire train going dark. Stumbling as light returns to the room, she notices the slight change in flight path from the window. Mars wasn't...supposed to still be this close, right?

        Running out into the train, she tries to contact somebody, anybody at the Order Room. "Anybody mind explaining what's going on?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane -- still 3G Intelligence's most junior member by a long shot -- is currently off-duty, strictly speaking. There are limits on how much you can let a teenage intern work before you start being the bad guys, and all that. She does need to check in with Kamuy about something, though.

Unfortunately, he... isn't here. No sooner has Akane walked in than do the lights go out; Akane startles, but it might actually be more at Akamatsu's 'WHAT' than the lights themselves.

When she hears that they're apparently now on a trajectory to spike into the Martian surface, though, the terror sets in near-immediately. Is this -- BioNet sabotage? New Jovian Lizards technology? She's mentally going through the potential checklist -- and then Guy orders someone to get to the central computer. Direction makes it easier, even if Akane isn't the best person tho implement that direction; she looks for someone to pair up with, though, because... in the end, well, she's a trainee and this isn't actually her remit.

<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.

Hey you know what'd be really awkward: if one of those Gridsmens were right here in the vicinity of Akane Shinjo, were a former teacher to Akane Shinjo, and were in fact technically a senior in 3G Intelligence??

HA HA THAT'D BE WILD.

...The lights go out. Takeshi Todo-- Gridman Sigma-- shoots up out of his chair and turns his eyes to Guy. The central computer...? "If we've been compromised, the network will be a danger even to me... Guy, be careful."

He looks to Akane and gently squeezes her shoulder, "Miss Shinjo, I believe you and I are probably best equipped to handle whatever software difficulties the main computer is having at the moment. Let's go?"

...

Where HAS he been, anyway? This guy's been practically a hermit the entire time they were on Mars! Even before!! WELL!!!

...He's been working on something. Don't worry about it, it probably won't be That Important.

(Or will it?)

He makes his way towards the door, but not necessarily the Division Train's People Mover. He suspects it's been compromised as well, which means... They'll probably have to do this the long way.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

    The Division Train is nearly ready to depart. Kaworu waits on the shoulder of Unit Beta, clad in his plug suit and seated as he normally sits, gazing out at everything and nothing as he hums along to the song he's listening to on the SDAT that once belonged to Shinji Ikari. It's not perhaps a very secure way or place to sit while waiting to launch, but it's Kaworu, after all. His humming is only interrupted when the lights go out.

    When they return to life, the Train's trajectory has changed to the Martian surface.

    Shinji's SDAT clicks as it transitions from track 25 to track 26.

        "..." Kaworu removes the earbuds from his ears and sets the SDAT down with tender care on Unit Beta's shoulder. Then, in a smooth motion, Kaworu stands perpendicular to the floor and sets himself alight without exertion. He lands feather-light on the floor below and looks around at the doorways leading to other cars of the train.

        Then, coming to the same conclusions as Guy, he strolls out in the direction of the central computer. As long as electronic systems are alive, it won't be hard for him to make it there; doors will open as he approaches with nothing more than a glance.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

The whispers behind Akane probably are meant to be quieter, but they seem to in fact be the *exact* right volume for her to hear everything. Funny, that.

"What is that *Kaiju* trying to do, slapping away at keys? She's just going to make things *worse*, you know. It's not like Kaiju can do anything but destroy things anyway..."

"I hear she still goes into rages whenever she feels anxious. That brunette she keeps hanging around with isn't her partner, she's her *keeper.* How long before the thing snaps and kills her, too?"

Curiously, those murmurs, loud as they are, seem to *only* be audible to Akane, and turning around to locate the source would only lead to the myriad of GGG techs running around desperately to try and solve the problem.

Which, of course, means ANYONE could have said it.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette has been ready to go for quite a while now - at the very least, between her and Ayame Ushiyama, Mobile Operations is all accounted for on the Mizuha. She impatiently taps her finger on the desk before her. "Tsk. Maybe I can buy Kamuy-san, at least, sleeping through his shift, but... something doesn't feel right." She cups her hand into her cheek.

And the lights flicker. An annoyed "Eh?" at the idea of some silly lights prank transforms into an "Excuse me, what?!" when the Ushiyamas fire out their reports. The Division Ship crashing directly in the surface would not just be catastrophic for their mission, but the entire population of Mars.

"Confirming that this is sabotage from within," Alouette adds - no record of any shift in mass, and no readings of any Z0-similar either. She turns to face the Research division. "Hinoki-san, do you think...?"

There's no time for her to speculate on the nature of the attack, though, her skills are needed at a time like this. Guy uses his Evoludal powers - and requests for follow-up. She stands up, kicks her chair back, and pulls her glove up. "Oui, I'm on it!" She affirms.

She was behind of a mass sabotage of Orbit Base just a year ago, and even if she spared them the worst of it, she knows a few tricks when it comes to GGG infrastructure. If she needs to get those doors open, she'll make it so... even if it's different from Kaworu's effortless mastery over them.

With stakes like this though, it really isn't as simple as that, though... "Let me come along too," she offers Gridman Sigma and Akane.. "I'm not really that skilled with hardware difficulties... but I have experience with this."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

       Lucine, incidentally, is looking out a large glass display in one of the common areas, overlooking the surface of red ochre surface of Mars. For all the time she spent there, it felt like a luxurious amount of time... and at the same time, not enough.

       What makes it worse is that being here is strictly *her* decision, after many times refusing her mom's offer for her to simply stay behind on Mars for however long, maybe forever. How can she want two things at the same time? If she was on the surface, she'd likely feel like she had clipped her wings, resigning herself to a life that was 'safer' for her, making the city a slowly tightening cage.

       Between Lina trying to hype herself up and Lucine trying to keep herself from falling homesick, the Newtype activity in the area is a small roller coaster of extremes.

       And just as Lucine closes her eyes and leans her forehead against the glass--

       The lights go off.

       "...?" She looks up, her face outlined by the reflective planetshine, before the lights come back on. "... what's... going on?" Lucine, for the briefest moment, wonders if some higher power, as a practical joke, decided to give her both things, in the worst way possible.

       Gold eyes widen. "... The... surface...?" Like Akane, Lucine is considering who could be behind it. ".... If it's Jovian lizards, it'd make sense if none of us sensed them; they're unmanned craft." Lucine's tone changes to one of disgust; she's already moving towards the direction the Dianthus is docked at.

       ... Which means she nearly bumps into Takeshi, Akane, and Alouette. One of them, anyway. ".... Where are you all headed?"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

It's almost time for departure. Rikka is present in the Order Room - she'd asked to be, because she wants to see how it all works. She'd been elsewhere in their initial departure from Orbit Base, but if they're heading straight to Jupiter she wants to get the chance to see it while she can.

So, she's seated somewhere safely out of the way, taking in the procedures... when suddenly, the light's go dark. Akamatsu's yelp cuts through the darkness - and suddenly, Rikka doubles over with a splitting headache as she feels a sudden premonition of danger as her psychic senses flare warning.

"Something... something's wrong!" Rikka gasps out - and that something is made clear when they realise they're heading straight for the surface of Mars. Rikka's eyes open wide, and she takes a quick glance around at everyone. What do they...?

Fortunately, Guy takes charge. With a nod, Rikka exhales to calm herself and reaches for her pilot suit's helmet, fixing it on firmly. She wore it today because she figured it'd be better for handling take-off... but she didn't think she'd need it for something like this.

"We don't know yet." Rikka replies, as Lina asks for somebody to explain. "We're about to find out, though."

With that, she looks toward Alouette.

"Fortunately, I am. Between all of us, we should be able to figure out something." She replies, offering her a smile.

"Is there a tool room on the way? If the doors are locked down, we might need to end up prying something open. It might be a good idea to make a stop there." Rikka asks, for whoever might know. In a situation like this, safety in numbers is probably best - she'll stick with whoever seems like they know where they're going.
CHANSYS: No channel with that name or alias found.

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

In the Order Room since otherwise she feels like she ought to be on the Paradiso, Sonia blinks into the darkness. "Alright." She murmurs to herself. "I guess we're doing this departure the hard way after all." Bangles, jacket, earrings, all come off in a manner of moments, divesting herself of anything that may potentially get caught on something in the course of something stupid, because something stupid is absolutely going to happen.

She baldly walks over, silently, standing behind Akamatsu, and clears her throat. "Chief." She says, quietly. "I need you to think about the type of places that most people wouldn't think about. Smaller is fine." Says the tiny captain. "Where can guys get to if they're clever? Backways, repair zones."

"And trust me - I'll be fine!"

The instant she's gotten anything, she darts off.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       Liam doesn't feel ready to leave Mars behind, but he also feels that his feelings are irrelevant as long as that horrible thing is looming over Jupiter. He and Lucine said their goodbye-for-now to Dr. Azul. He promised her he'd do everything in his power to keep her daughter--and the rest of his comrades--safe. In order to do that, he has to take care of himself.

       As the timer to takeoff ticks down, Liam hurries down a hall towards the lounge near the Main Order Room--an ideal place to watch the takeoff. The muted grey-blue of his jumpsuit sticks out amongst the more colorful GGG uniforms, making him easy to spot.

       The lights go out. There's a subtle shift, movement dampened by the Division Train's advanced technology. Liam plants a hand on the wall, and braces. The moment the lights turn back on, he starts to sprint, the rhythmic clang-clang-clang of his footfalls heralding his approach. "Alouette!" he shouts, spotting a familiar blonde haircut in the group up ahead. "The hell's going on!?" 'Sabotage', he overhears, and his blood runs cold.

       "Direct me," he says, his tone suddenly clipped and efficient. He glances from Alouette to Rikka to Takeshi to Akane and then Lucine--Lucine!--before focusing on Alouette again.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slWcQORjPUk

Shozo had been asked to wait in the cafeteria area while his accommodations were worked out, but as the lights began to flicker, the alien boy gets a sinking feeling in his gut that *this is not where he should be,* even before the truth of the crisis is broadcasted to him. Immediately, he bolts up, running towards the doors, which even are kind enough to open for him despite the general mechanical issues, only for him to step out into... a very, *very* long hallway. He doesn't remember the *train* being this long.

"Mmm... No, this isn't for you, boy," a voice, sickly-sweet like rotten meat smells, oozes into his ear from behind, and Shozo whirls around to see the same endless hallway stretching out in the other direction as well.

"How are you here?!" he hisses, eyes wide and nervous. "I thought-"

"You were never *made* to think, boy. Do not presume to do my job for me. Simply tire yourself out here, and perhaps I'll let you out to submit when I'm done with the humans." Discordant laughter rings through the empty hall as Shozo tears off, his superhuman biology letting him cross miles in minutes, but never getting him closer to the door.

"No, nononono... How are you HERE?!"

<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.

Keeping Guy Shishioh and GGG on their path to Jupiter has been a constant ordeal, so when their transportation seemingly goes off kilter and towards Mars, it does little to make Lamia feel anything. The road towards the King of Ruin was always going to be filled with hardships, after all, as is what will happen after.

        Still, it's something that needs fixing, or at least a watchful eye to make sure things are progressing as they should be, and as team leader, has the power to nominate whoever he wishes. He of course, nominates himself, surprising absolutely none of his Somnium compatriots, and raising no arguments from them, meaning he's allowed to go in accordance to the rules.

        Though there should be nowhere for someone to board, nor was there ever any record of them being amongst their crew, Lamia appears from out of the shadows, right next to the ever growing and congregating group of confused individuals.

        He doesn't say anything, as, after all, there's nothing to be said. If he was at fault, he wouldn't have shown himself, and if he wanted the Evoluder dead, then he wouldn't be here. The only thing a Betterman could be doing here is helping, which should theoretically bring ease, but Lamia knows it won't, and it shouldn't.

        Lamia's red gaze shifts from Akane, to Rikka, to Liam, and to everyone else, before reaching into his coat pocket as he pulls out a pair of shades, which he nonchalantly slides over his face to cover his eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Be a bit of a hike, but yeah!" Usshi answers to Rikka. "Third car back, compartment C! That should have everything you'd need. There's a whole kit there, but for now, uh...oh."

The portly engineer grabs a plain old red crowbar from under his console, hupping to his feet and running over and offer it.

Hinoki frowns at Alouette's prompt, then reaches into her pocket, producing the same Algernon Watchman #26 as Akamatsu keeps around his neck. "No readings, but... ...it's possible." She looks to Alouette, then to Akamatsu. "I'll go too, then. Just..."

Her eyes drift to the empty seats around the Order Room, chewing her lip in worry. "Just in case," she murmurs, and moves to join up.

...just as Lamia arrives. Her heart wars for a moment between hope and sadness. The presence of Betterman...could well mean the worst for her friends. Still, she smiles for him. "So you've come."

"We're counting on you!" Guy says to them all, though his eye casts especially back on Betterman.

Setting out, at least, isn't so bad. GGG's not the type of group that relies heavily on automated security, and the Tactical Operations (read: on-foot) staff are hardly going to start firing around wildly in the middle of a crisis. This kind of problem would normally be squarely in Urchin Prickle's wheelhouse, but the man's one of the missing Order Room staff. The first door opens easily enough. Sigma and Alouette between them get the whole second compartment done easily. Unfortunately, the current main computer room is a ways back; technically, it's aboard the docked-in Yamatsumi.

Next, you'll have to get past one of the maintenance and engineering sections. It's dark, here; there's clanging, the sound of people struggling. That's not the power failing. Something happened here.

The door to the tool supply Usshi pointed you to has light casting through it, shining down on a single figure. "gotta stop it. gotta stop it. gotta stop it. security protocol 26. that's what this needs. yeah. twenty-six."

There is no security protocol 26.

Slowly, the man turns, eyes wild and lips split into a crazed grimace. Everyone here will immediately know the silhouette of GGG's ID Suits, the power-assisted combat exoskeletons that are the next best thing to Humanity's Strongest Cyborg. But only one person aboard could authorize their release who wasn't back in the Order Room...

He blurs forward, driving a fist into the deck plating at Liam's feet with enough force that it dents it all in.

Everyone here will know Urchin Prickle on sight.

MEANWHILE, APPROACHING FROM THE OTHER END: Kaworu comes across GGG's latest brunette in the hallway, Namiko Koudzuki in her new GGG Blue uniform poking around the door with a flashlight. "Doggone dang thing's locked out. How's a pilot candidate supposed to respond to an emergency in here!"

Then Kaworu walks up and it just sort of opens. "Oh. Hi. Neat."

That's when Prickle shrieks, "Youuuu all shhHOULDN'T BE HERE!!" and turns, and lunges for the door, and Namiko and Kaworu, lightning-quick. "ReTURN to your ROOMS!!!"

The sound of an engine revving up in the hangar bay is the only warning before attempts to intercept HIM are themselves intercepted by GunDober in motorcycle form driving straight at the pack of Lamia and everybody else. Someone's got remote control of the Gunmachines!?

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane moves to form up with the Extended Hacker Squad. "I, uh -- I do need to warn you guys," she says. "I can't do weird kaiju stuff to the computers anymore." In the end, Akane's just a person; while there are some parts of her experience that linger with her, and things she could do... engaging with computers the way Guy does isn't one of them.

She opens her mouth to say something else, and then overhears some... comments. Almost immediately, whatever decisiveness she was mustering is gone; she curls in on herself, scooting toward Rikka. She doesn't even greet Lucine; she mumbles, softly, "I'm -- not a kaiju. I'm part of 3G, the same as you guys. Do you treat the Three Doctors like this, too, when you think they're not paying attention?" It steadily escalates in sharpness that she can't quite get a handle on.

"Which of you even said that?" Akane adds, a little louder; she doesn't seem to realize, yet, that she's the only one hearing this.

She has no guidance for Liam, either, after something like that. How could she?

For Akane, at least, Lamia's presence does bring some ease; when he arrives, red eyes meet (... differently-red) eyes and she says, "... I'm really glad you're here," with a strained smile --

-- but she's not given too much time to be happy about Lamia when Gundober drives straight at them. She dives to one side in a panic, snagging Rikka on reflex. (This also gets her out of her doomspiral -- it's a little difficult to have rejection sensitive dysphoria when you're busy trying not to die of being hit by a vehicle.)

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

       How is a pilot candidate supposed to respond to an emergency? It's as though God Themself answers Namiko in that moment, with her very own guardian Angel.
       
       "Hey, Namiko Koudzuki," Kaworu greets her with a personable smile, as if doors opening when they're supposed to be locked is an everyday occurrence. (In fairness, to him, it is.) "It seems the way has been made clear, so shall we join the others together?"
       
       However she responds, he strolls through the doorway, only for him and Namiko to be greeted by Urchin Prickle in an ID Suit. As lightning-quick as his motions are, as soon as he starts shrieking, Kaworu pushes Namiko gently but firmly out of the doorway and uses equal but opposite momentum to send himself in the opposite direction. It is a close thing all the same, wind on their skins as that exoskeleton smashes into the doorway.
       
       "Hey, Urchin Prickle," Kaworu greets him in the exact same patient, friendly cadence as he had Namiko just a moment ago, despite not just Urchin but GunDober over there on the other side of the room. He glances at that, but--Urchin is closer. Kaworu returns his focus on him and smiles anew. "It seems you're distressed by something. I'm afraid I won't be returning to my room, however."
       
       That might be the politest provocation anyone in this room has ever heard. Might.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

As Lamia appears and takes off towards the "problem," persistent whispers kick up behind Guy's back, a greek chorus that only he can hear. The voices are familiar, but unplaceable -- clearly GGG members, but not ones that could be named at a moment's notice.

"Man, this just keeps getting worse... Why did this have to happen under Chief Shishioh? I miss Chief Taiga more and more every day..."

"I don't understand why he had to be the only one to come back. Sure, he's good at hitting things, but Chief Taiga, Swan, *especially* Mikoto... Any of them would be better for something like this...

"Why did they have to be lost just for *him* to come back and take command? We need a tactician, not a weapon who thinks he's still human..."

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

        "I don't remember seeing this guy on the train before. He new?" Lina, for her part, does not recognize Lamia in the least until someone says the name "Betterman." "Oh..." Her gaze sharpens.

        Her gaze is interrupted by the presence of one Urchin Prickle. "Urchin, what's wrong?!" Her question is interrupted by the presence of one Gundober. Following her first instinct, she wraps her arms around Sonia and jumps to the side, shielding her with her body against any impact!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       "Understood," Liam says, glancing at Akane. "Shouldn't have to. Alouette and Takeshi can handle it." He reaches down, pats his right boot for some reason (that's where he keeps his knife, Lucine would know), and takes the lead as the response team deploys.

       Immediately, things feel off. Liam flinches as he overhears Akane's voice, his shoulders tensing. "I--sorry," he mutters, instinctively, before realizing: she sounds angry. What did he even do? "Akane, what's wrong?" Liam's eyes widen. "I didn't--did you hear something?"

       But there is precious little time to check in, and they need to get to Engineering.

       Someone's waiting for them on the way.

       Liam stops in his tracks the second he sees that figure. "Prickle." The name comes out as a pained, breathy whisper. "He's--" He did all this? Liam didn't know him well, but he had the cyborg's back during a terribly dangerous operation, and he is not in his right mind.

       Why? So many possibilities.

       Those possibilities neatly slide back into the realm of possibility as Prickle lunges at him. Liam twists to the right, sidestepping in the blink of an eye; Prickle's armored fist whooshes past him and slams into the deck. From across the room, a familiar voice addresses Prickle, and the man reacts... poorly. Liam sees Kaworu's pale, smiling face in the doorway, illuminated by the light from the hall beyond. In his mind, he hears the CRUNCH of Eva-01's jaws closing around the Entry Plug.

       He's not going to lose anyone else.

       "PRICKLE, STOP!"

       Liam is no Guy Shishioh. Prickle, in his exoskeleton, might have the advantage here. That doesn't matter. Liam takes off like a gunshot, racing after Prickle as he closes the distance. He launches himself into a lunging tackle, leaping and twisting to strike the small of Prickle's back shoulder-first. If that hits, he knows how to execute a takedown.

<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.

"Don't worry, miss Shinjo. Even if you can't manipulate Kaiju anymore, I have faith in your abilities. You are a member of GGG, and that is worth its weight in gold." As long as she's been dutifully studying and assimilating the GGG Charter, anyway. Though...

Her... sudden withdrawal does win a concerned glance from the Hyper Agent. His eyes narrow slightly. ...Spreading rumors like that is not something that generally happens among GGG's staff. At least, Chief Akamatsu would probably put whoever was uttering malicious whispers in a three-quarter Nelson until they fessed up.

...No. That can be dealt with later. For now...

The Somnium is present. "...Even if the Chief's not detecting Algernon... I suppose with you present, it's more likely than not, isn't it?" He hasn't had many dealings with the Somniums, personally, but Gridman Sigma would be a poor Intelligence Operative if he did not keep abreast of particularly relevant dossiers.

...Deeper. Into the Division Train. The hangars possess an atmosphere that can generously be called 'ominous.' Made even more-so by... a familiar face, yammering on about a very familiar number. "Urchin Prickle... You've fallen to Algernon too...?" Sigma backs up, instinctively extending an arm to protect the others-- forgetting, momentarily, that his body is very human and fragile right now. At least--

Until the roar of an engine signals the arrival of another threat. And, potentially, of an opportunity.

"GunDober... Someone's reprogrammed it!?" Sigma clicks his teeth. His form flickers in a burst of electronic haze. "Damn. All of you-- I'll be right back." With a flash, Sigma disappears, much as his partner would...

As he goes to try to jump into GunDober to re-commandeer it from the inside.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

There's a surprising face among those present - Lamia. Rikka is actually more familiar with his combined Betterman form than the form present here now, but seeing him here, there's one thing she knows for sure...

"...If you're here... then things are pretty bad, aren't they?" Rikka comments - then hesitates for a second. "...That sounds like I'm accusing you, sorry."

She looks back toward Usshi, though. A bit of a hike... she nods. She doesn't know how much time they have before impact, but certainly taking the time to pick up some useful tools shouldn't hurt.

"Third car back, compartment C. Got it." Rikka replies with a nod, accepting the crowbar. "Thanks."

Nearby... Akane scoots toward her. Rikka looks her way, she hears her mumbling.

"Is something wrong? Did someone say something to you?" Rikka asks with a frown, reaching for her hand even as she scans the crowd. She's prepared to get mad on Akane's behalf... and, just in case, she keeps close to her as they proceed. The first two compartments they get through with ease, but as they finally reach the third one, and the tool closet they're aiming for...

Someone's gotten here first. Urchin Prickle, in his ID Suit... Her first instinct is to call out to him and ask for his help... but she gets a weird feeling and hesitates for a second - which is all it takes for Prickle to shriek. Fortunately, there are some other friendly faces her.

"Namiko?" Rikka calls out - and then, there's the sound of a revving vehicle. Rikka's too slow to react - but Akane grabs her, diving to the side right as Gundober passes by!

"Thanks... Are you alright?" Rikka breathes a sigh of relief, picking herself up off the floor and reaching a hand to help Akane up. But, what can she do here...? Between Urchin Prickle and Gundober...

Rikka looks toward the crowbar in her hands. ...It's a little crazy, but... It's something. While Kaworu addresses Urchin prickle directly... Rikka takes the opportunity to rush up behind him with the crowbar, slinging it across one of his arms and holding it tight with both hands to restrain him.

"It's us! Come on, you've got to focus!" Rikka pleads. As a fight, she knows this is something she can't win - flesh and blood matched against a powered exoskeleton. ...But if she can restrain him long enough for Liam, a fighter with actual experience, to go for the takedown, that's good enough.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

       "Liam..." Seeing Liam run up makes Lucine breath a sigh of relief-- she wasn't even aware she was already afraid for Liam's safety.

       Lucine's gaze turns from Liam to Akane, who.... ... kaiju? What is Akane talking about?

       She focuses, sensing Akane's distress. She can't pinpoint what it is If Liam didn't hear anything, then.... ".... Akane. Put a pin on that thought. If you heard something, it may be important." She won't dismiss it; she knows enough of Akane to not downplay something Akane might be hearing or sensing, even if it may be something only she might be hearing.

       Yellow eyes go to Akane's face to Lamia. Lucine peers at him, one eyebrow raised, her lips pursed.

       Like Rikka, Lucine finnds something about this man is familiar, but it's not his appearance. She'd have *remembered* seeing a man this tall walking around. Everyone seems to have a tense, but welcoming reaction to him, and so, Lucine does the same, giving Lamia a simple nod. "... Ah, please, be careful." Does he bang his head on doorways?

       What's causing that clanging, anyway?
       
       ---!

       "...!" Lucine reaches out to clasp her hand around the closest of Liam's arms with the intent to pull him back, which likely is all the confirmation Liam needs to move away from danger.

       ".... His emotions... are scrambled up..." she hisses, clearly disturbed at the very sight of Urchin. "... What.... is this..."

       Namiko and Kaworu approach from the other door, and Lucine shouts a warning. "Kaworu! Watch out!" It's odd, how Kaworu's calmness seems like the most natural thing he could do at this moment, and also, the strangest.

       It doesn't matter. "... Step back, there's something really wrong going on here!"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Others begin to trickle in, a mixture between those who are willing to put their own skills to use, and those who are just completely confused.

"We're going to put a stop to this, of course!" Alouette answers Lucine. "The source is likely the mainframe computer, so we'll need to get there to do that." A pause. "I don't think it'll be so easy, though."

"That's fine," Alouette answers Akane, whether she can or can't use kaiju powers isn't important to her, even right now. "To put it bluntly, you're a terminally online teenager so I have to assume you at least kind of know your way around a computer. Just do what you can, okay?"

It quickly becomes very clear that something's troubling Akane, though. "Said what...? Akane, are you okay?" She asks, concerned but she can't linger for long...

Rikka's presence, and her hardware skills covering her own weaknesses helps her stay productive. "Thank you, Rikka.. that's a really smart idea." She affirms, about stopping to pick up whatever tools they can find. Thankfully, the Engineering and Maintenance sections are en route...

As for Liam... it feels a little awkward, having to give orders for him - it catches her off guard briefly, with that stark shift in demeanour. "Oh! Well... you're pretty strong, right, Liam? If hacking or tools don't work... you might be our best bet if we have to resort to brute forcing something open." It leaves a slightly bitter taste in her mouth since she's been trying to affirm this whole time he's more than his sheer strength. "Take care of Lucine too, okay?"

Eventually, they make their way to the engineering and maintenance sections, but clearly.. they weren't the first. "Advisor Prickle, no... not you too..." She gasps. Hinoki couldn't make any definitive statement, but with the presence of Betterman Lamia, and the repitition of the number 26...

It's not just Prickle himself, the GunMachines back him up through remote control... and Namiko finds herself in the center of trouble. it's looking really bad, but Liam and Rikka team up on Prickle, while Sigma elects to handle GunDober, vanishing.

Alouette knows her way around a fencing match, but standing up to a physical beast like Prickle is another matter. If GunDober is here, then the aerial GunGlue can only be somewhere close by, even in corridors like this... if there's anything she can do, it's a quick scan of the next rooms.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

"Oh look, the BioNet Barbie Doll is trying to take charge and make the rest of us real humans look incompetent again... She controls machines, right? How do we know all this isn't her fault? Taking over the GunDober is something she could do, isn't it?"

"I don't know... I don't think machines can be that creative... Besides, she doesn't *need* to try. She's Mobile Captain Renais' little project, isn't she? She can get away with whatever she wants."

Once again, nobody but Alouette can hear the whispers among the panicking masses.

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

"Oof." Sonia had joined the team just in time to get grabbed and gotten out of the way by Lina, landing in a pile of Italian.

"Lombardi, you dumbass... -I'm- not the one recovering from rib injuries." Yes, that was a last name. Sonia is mad. "I mean, I appreciate the thought, but... realistically, I'm the one who can actually suffer a hit right now??? I -will- duct tape you to a medbed!"

That's proven to work by multiple others, right? "Anyways... stay -here-!"

Sure, she's not Liam's build, but a girl gets some benefits from being gene-sequenced from the ground up, including but not limited to some extraordinary physical prowess. "Behind you-!" She warns Liam, sliding past him and Prickle on her knees, stopping on her left leg, kicking her right foot behind her to catch at Prickle's. If Liam can't get him down, she's aiming to hook his feet out from under him; she's not sure how the balance and coordination is in the GGG exosuits.

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

        Lina winces, both from the pain and from the scolding, and moves to the side. "Okay, gattina, love you too," she manages to squeak out as Sonia drives ahead.

<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.

        Don't force yourself? I'm glad? Likewise? Akane's strained smile isn't lost on Lamia, and neither is her genuine happiness to see him. And while he feels as if he knows how to respond, none of it feels natural coming from him. If it even is him.

        So instead of answering with words he's having trouble finding, he simply nods, his facial expression remaining locked in a somewhat serious, neutral expression. There are, of course, more things to be said. To those who look at him with scrutizining and worried looks, to those questioning if Algernon is the cause of their predicament, and to the Child who like him, should not be here, and of course, to Hinoki. But it will have to wait.

        Though normally stiff and rigid in his everyday movements, the sudden attack induces a complete change in the way the Somnium carries himself, his movements becoming much more fluid and cat-like as he slides out of the way of Gundober's ramming attack on all fours, fingernails scratching across the ground as he uses them to brake himself.

       "Leave!"

        The words are not spoken through the air, but through the Limpid channel itself, a plead, more than a demand, for those present to find safety. He should have known. No, he did know, he just chose to hope things would turn out differently, but the man crying the dreaded numbers twenty-six made it abundantly clear that it did not. To face the King of Ruin head on like this, it is only natural for this to happen.

        Again, only ordeals and hardships await the King of Braves and his friends, and his presence is always the sign of something terrible to come. It's saddening, but there's also a comfort in knowing this. It'll make it easier, when he brings it all to an end.

        That is a thought for the future, however, right now is the present. And for the future he wants, he'll have to make sure everyone here is safe. With those with technical know how handle the machine, Lamia turns to Prickle, lunging at the man as every muscle in his body uncoils and pushes him forward with astonishing speed. While flesh and blood, Lamia's the pinnacle of evolution, superhuman in every regard. More than man. A Betterman.

        And even so, attacking a powered suit of metal head on is not ideal, but where brute force does not work, ingenuity does, as he jabs a flattened hand directly into one of the less armored arm joints of the ID suit, clawed fingertips providing an extra bit of penetration as he aims to cripple the man's ability to fight.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

As Akane grows distressed, Guy and Swan both look back at her. Guy looks confused and worried, but passes a look to Swan before focusing on his task. Swan, kind-faced, shakes her head. "I didn't hear nothin', sugar. You alright there?"

Alas. It cannot wait to be talked out; they have to leave.

As soon as they DO, Guy's concentration is again broken. Something...

He turns behind him, glaring at a small knot of staff who'd normally be at other stations. Sensing a sour eye from the Chief on them, they scatter.

"Guy?" Akamatsu grunts in his direction, squinting.

Guy doesn't realize his jaw was clenched until he turns away. "Nothing. I have to focus. Keep an eye on things."

SOON: As Prickle darts toward Kaworu and Namiko, Hinoki's pocket alarm starts chiming, and she sadly pulls it out, as if it were fulfilling a prophecy she knew all too well: "It's Algernon! Run! It's Algernon! Run!" it peeps, a cute voice despite the dire meaning.

But...something burns in her eyes. "Try to keep him alive," she says, jogging over to the tool storage. "C'mon, while they're distracted!" she encourages Akane, Lucine, and the other noncombatants toward her.

Namiko says, "Sup, dude," acceptingly to Kaworu. "Sounds good to me, let's --whoop!"

That'd be Kaworu quite skilfully slipping her aside at the same time as he slips himself also aside, Prickle's fist slamming resonantly into the wall. If it hurts his arm he doesn't notice as he rounds on Kaworu. "You must you must," he raves, sweeping for Kaworu again. "Twenty six alarms, twenty six intruders, twenty six seconds! That's all anyone has!! If you're not in your room by then...you're dead!!!" He sweeps his arm up and a wrist-mounted blaster pops out, but RIGHT before it goes off, Rikka wrenches his arm. The suit doesn't give him inhuman stamina or strength, per se, so she's able to, a shot of Ul-Tech energy darting across the bay and slagging a parts case.

Then Namiko, who is in WAY over her head, leaps up and grabs the other arm. "Hey Rikka! This is bad!? Right!?" she calls, trying to hang on. Unfortunately, Namiko has no leverage and weighs like 60 pounds so what happens next is Prickle lifting his arm such that she completely leaves the ground, yelping, "HECK! HECK! HECK!"

Fortrunately, between Sonia and Liam, they're able to down him. The exosuit is good, and Prickle's a tremendously talented fighter in his own right, *and* Algernon allows him to exert himself far beyond his body's safe limits...but driven to madness, he also can't use his mind well, and he ends up struggling on the ground, snarling.

"I'll stop you, I'll STOP you! I'll, I'll, I'll..." ...he lays eyes on Lamia. "B...Betterman..." he snarls, frothing. "Betterman...BETTERMAN! YOU ATE MY BORTHER! Betterman! BETTERMAN!!!" he screams, SHREIKS, and suddenly exerts himself completely, ripping himself out of grapple on main strength to surge at Lamia with a devil's posture and rage. But Betterman will never be bested by something so small as a devil. The Somnium strikes swiftly and efficiently; moments later, Prickle is again on the ground, and this time, moaning unconsciously.

MEANWHILE: Sigma is able to get into Gundober. For a Gridman, the battles in cyberspace take on new dimension - the sky alight with Guy Shishioh's Evolual green clashing against *something else* for control of the engines, far above, but in the network Sigma himself inhabits, the tower marking seized control of Gundober should be easy enough to...find? Huh? There's no intrusions. Gundober...hasn't been reprogrammed. Something higher up the chain has. The good news is this means all Sigma has to do is cut off its comms for a while.

The bad news is this means somewhere, something has happened to Porcauto, Volfogg, or both.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

In some ways, it's easier to have that uncomplicated, expressionless understanding with Lamia; it may not feel 'natural,' but... Akane's still grateful to Lamia for much.

Akane tries to figure out how to explain what she heard; is it even worth bringing up now, though? They have something they need to do -- sure, her courage is flagging, but if some of the techs think she's some rabid animal...

... that doesn't mean they're not worth saving, and that's the higher priority right now.

"I'm -- fine," Akane says, as she staggers back to her feet, as much to Lucine and Alouette's questions about her distress as to Rikka's about her body; the truth is that her knees feel pretty banged up, but again -- later problem, not now problem. Rikka rushes away to restrain Urchin, and Akane's eyes widen for just a moment -- she's become so strong...

While Sigma takes care of the hacking side of things, Akane... has to press forward. She sees Hinoki, and nods to her. She gestures for Rikka and Alouette specifically to follow along.

(This time, it's her turn to hear nothing.)

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

       Lucine's shout of warning gets Kaworu to turn his smile to her in reassurance. "It's all right. You needn't worry about me," he says.
       
       Urchin rants about twenty-sixes. Kaworu regards him with that same unchanging, ineffable calm, even as he brings out an arm blaster. After all, while Urchin's attention is on him, Rikka and Namiko fearlessly charge in to restrain him.
       
       It only works for so long; Urchin's hostility spikes when he spots Lamia. Fortunately, Sonia and Liam help Lamia knock him over and out.
       
       Kaworu watches this for a moment. Then he looks over at Gundober. Sigma has already handled that matter for the time being... but there are other problems still.
       
       "Shall we move onwards?" he says to the room at large, before doing exactly that himself.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       A familiar voice transmits through to the Main Order Room, and to Engineering. It's AnRyuu.

       "All personnel, be on alert. The Gunmachines have been subverted. KouRyuu, NichiRyuu, and GetsuRyuu are attempting to disable them, but emergency overrides aren't working."

       There's the sound of a woman--not AnRyuu or KouRyuu--shouting something in German, unintelligable thanks to whirring rotor blades and scraping metal. The signal cuts out for a moment, only for KouRyuu to pick up the comm.

       "Chief, uh, I know this is a really, really bad time, but someone's trying to... turn the automated defenses on us! Sis is trying to lock them out but just so you know! Okay! Everyone, don't give up!"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Algernon? Rikka looks toward Hinoki as her alarm goes off. ...So that's what this is. This is her first time actually seeing it...

A wrist-mounted blaster emerges from Urchin Prickle's arm armor, and Rikka's eyes open wide. That... it's a good thing she acted when she did, seeing what it did to that parts case. And going after his other arm is... Namiko! Rikka wishes she had something encouraging to say to her... but she doesn't want to lie, either.

"...It's pretty bad." Rikka admits. Prickle is able to actually lift Namiko up, but Sonia and Liam manage to take him down. ...But even after all that he's still thrashing, until Lamia renders him unconscious.

"...What's... going to happen to him?" Rikka asks. ...Well, Gundober has been dealt with too, courtesy of Sigma, so that's that. It's time to move on.

"Just a second." Rikka says. She ducks into the tool closet that they found Urchin Prickle in, retrieving anything that looks useful and passing it out, making sure to keep a toolbelt for herself.

"Okay, that should do it. How much further to the central computer?" Rikka asks, following dutifully after Akane as she gestures for her. She takes a quick moment to assess her... but she seems fine enough for now, everything considered. She can't let herself worry too much when there's so much at stake here.

<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.

Cyberspace is a strange and miraculous place, even on the worst of days. The Division Train's cyberskyscape is... worrying, Sigma thinks. He recognizes Guy's influence, shining bravely in the sky-- but that other color is not one he knows. This, he thinks, is a mixed blessing. At least it means that the culprit is unlikely to be Triple Zero. If it were, this place would be bathed in corruptive cosmogone light.

He shakes his head and goes toward Gundober's tower- it resembles a komainu statue. For the record GunGlue's would be similar, but decorated with a bird instead. Once he arrives, he extends his consciousness toward the tower, only to find...

...That it's functioning completely normally. No intrusions. GunDober is just... following orders.

"...Volfogg...?" Sigma mutters, worriedly, as he severs and locks down GunDober's external wireless connections. "Or... Porc-Auto. Algernon alone couldn't have done this. I can't believe that either of them would allow external commands to force them into participating in this."

There's something else at work. Sigma shakes his head and vanishes from cyberspace, manifesting instead... on GunDober's seat as the Gunmachine skids obediently to a stop. "Control," Sigma calls, "Do we have a location for Volfogg and Porc Auto? I fear... this may be more complicated than an Algernon outbreak."

Or else... The victims have been planning this for a very, very long time.

He looks over to Urchin Prickle's unconscious form, lips tugged into a deep and concerned frown-- as the two Dragon Sisters' voices call over the comms. "Negative, AnRyuu, KouRyuu, they've not been subverted. They're working exactly as intended. If anyone has been subverted..."

"...Keep your eyes open for Volfogg and Porc-Auto, you two. Be careful." With that, he turns the bike towards the path forward and revs the engine. "I've got GunDober under control. Should help going forward, I hope." If nothing else, the bike's machine gun is something he can use, at least.

Beat.

"Anyone want a ride?"

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       Relying on others for guidance is an old, bad habit, but it's easy to fall back on those when under stress. Liam gives Alouette a grateful nod. He can't risk feeling unmoored, right now.

       Namiko and Rikka go for Prickle's arms, with variable success. Sonia goes for the leg sweep. Liam goes for the tackle. He helps drag Prickle to the ground with main strength alone, and pins an arm behind his back. "Deep breaths," he says, as much to himself and the others as to Prickle. His eyes flick back and forth between the others. He feels like they could fall out of reality and disappear forever the moment he stops.

       Prickle, firmly in the grip of a horrific memetic contagion, sees his white whale. He strains against Liam's grip, and in that moment, the cyborg lets go rather than risk dislocating the man's arm, or breaking his bones. "Watch out!" he shouts to Lamia--

       And it turns out to be wholly unncecessary. Liam stares at Prickle's unconscious form, then looks up at Rikka. "Don't know," he says. "This is--lethal, isn't it?"

       "What?!" AnRyuu is not quick to anger, but these are not normal circumstances. "Understood. Attempting to track--"

       Meanwhile, in Engineering, Liam drags Prickle out of the way, and retrieves a bale of cable from the closet. It's alarmingly easy for him to secure the man's hands and feet, even if the knots are a little hasty. Once that's done, he sprints onward to catch up with the rest of the team.

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

        Lina picks herself up off the floor, dusting her pants. "Algernon...so this is what it is. The Ruin Apostles were almost easier to deal with! N-No offense of any kind, Ko, An." She steps ahead, giving Urchin a small nudge with her foot to check that he's down. "...That was pretty cool, Sonia."

        She grabs a large wrench from the tool closet. She wasn't much of a fixer, but it would at least make a decent weapon in the absence of her sidearm. "If Volfogg and Porc are compromised, it'll be really hard to handle them inside the train..."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

       This... is Algernon.

       Lamia reveals a little more of himself, yelling at them to leave-- no, not *yelling*, but, it's not exactly telepathically either.

       Urchin reveals Lamia's identity even further. "Betterman..." The concept was explained to her already, just once. That's right, there was a Betterman who helped rescue Liam. Could it be the same, or are there more than one, like with Ultraman and Gridman?

       Kaworu is remaining calm, meanwhile. Lucine accepts it for now; she'll just have to trust the pilot. "... Alright."

       Hinoki calls for them to follow, and Lucine obliges, pausing one moment to glance back and, if she catches Liam's eye, mouthing a 'be safe' towards him.

       Thankfully, she didn't need to wait long; she sees him soon jogging up to join them.

       Moving up to walk alongside Rikka, Lucine glances forward. ".... Rikka... did you feel it too? From that man?" Can someone come back from that? Hinoki seems to think so. Lucine hopes she's right.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Nothing from Volfogg or Porc-Auto..." Alouette confirms of her own findings, not long after Gridman Sigma returns from cyberspace. On the other hand, the Dragon Sisters were able to patch themselves through! And it seems like they're going through an ordeal themselves. "That... doesn't sound good. But if anyone can handle it, it's you four! Stay strong... we'll be back soon!" Alouette transmits as quickly as she can before it cuts out again.

Meanwhile, The combined assault of the fighters among them, and Lamia, were able to stop Prickle, but the way he's writhing, rambling and raving about Betterman...

"Let's go. This isn't exactly easy to watch... and besides, we still haven't accounted for Kamuy-san." She can only hope he hasn't met the same fate. At Akane's gesture, she follows her closer out, but falters when it's her turn to hear whispers, and feels as if there's cold knives in her back. "My fault...?"

After everything, is that really what people think of her, in this organization that she's come to call home? She could never discount the possibility ever since Alexis Kerib put it in her mind, but it doesn't mean it hurts any less to hear it out loud. Especially in such a frankly dehumanizing manner.

She'd probably be willing to keep it to herself if they didn't drag someone else's name through. "Say what you want about me, but don't you dare insult Renais like that." She demands to the crowd behind her with a cold glint... which probably rings strange. To everyone else, one actually said her name - she's probably blazing a path through the tunnels, or fighting off the automated defenses, as they speak.

For all things couldn't possibly be going any worse, Sigma comes around with GunDober at the perfect time. "It's been quite some time. Thank you, Sigma." Alouette answers Sigma's offer, forcing a smile. Last time, she was riding with Mikoto, but the stakes were no less high. Trying her best to hold on to her courage, she braces herself for the ride. "It's not Triple Zero... and Algernon wouldn't affect machinery like this." Alouette considers. "What in the world are we even up against, Sigma?"

<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.

        Brother eater. Had that accusation been thrown by someone else in the room, it might have stopped him dead in his tracks, but instead it simply stings in the back of his mind as Prickle is eventually taken down. Lamia somewhat straightens himself as he stands up, adjusting the pair of shades still on his face. Despite the threat being neutralized, his body language is still incredibly fluid, and his joints are still moving with an unnatural amount of freedom to them.

        "He does not have much time left."

        A horrible thing to say to Hinoki after remaining silent to her for so long, but given her work, it is only fair to let her know. Curing Algernon, after all, is her life's work. Knowing how much time one has to work with is important, especially since if she doesn't, she'll be seeing him again in an even more depressing situation. Now, if only he could follow that warning up with something else. Words of encouragement, a greeting, the promise that things will be alright. But much like with Akane, while he knows what he could say, he doesn't. She wouldn't want to hear it from him anyway.

        Falling back into silence, Lamia simply follows the group, matching their pace as he stays in the back.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Ushiyama gets through from the intercom: "Porc-auto? ...wait. Hold on...yeah, I thought I saw that. He was suddenly put on the maintenance list a little while ago. I didn't sign off on that." ... "Hell. But it has my signature. Someone must've forged and hacked it in. If he's in Maintenance mode, they'd have access to some of his chassis functions. I'll have a location for you in a moment."

With Urchin Prickle tied up, Hinoki emerges with a toolbox of various Important Objects, and then stops to look at him. This is lethal, isn't it, Liam says to Rikka. Hinoki looks at her bleating ALgernon Watchman #26, and then hands it to Akane, looking her in the eye. "There might still be time. I think there will be more than just him. Move fast."

He doesn't have much time left. It's cruel for him to say, perhaps. ...but it's not that there is no time at all, either. She finds herself smiling, thinly. "No. But it might be enough," Hinoki says, and finds a cart to load the groaning Prickle into. Namiko moves over to help: "I have to find Hass," she says, looking serious. She favors Rikka and Akane with her worried best of a smile. "Go get 'em, OK? I'll help out here."

With the two of them working, he's loaded up quickly, and Hinoki clamber sinto the driver's seat. "I'm taking him to medical! Move ahead!" she calls and the duo plus patient scoot off.

The rest of the team must advance. Kaworu's door-opening trick has allowed them to blaze a trail through to the Yamatsumi quickly. Triple Zero isn't attacking this place; there are no other monsters or demons to content with, not even the walls turning to death. Once they enter the Yamatsumi proper, they get another call from the Branch Order Room: "I can't quite pin Porc-auto down. They're using the Invisible Burst countermeasures to scramble the internal scanners. Clever, but I can confirm he's definitely in the inner section of the Yamatsumi somewhere. Careful."

With KouRyuu working to keep the defenses offline, it's smooth enough of sailing to the center of it all. The computer core opens.

On the far wall is Porc-auto; his central block is pried open, control ports plugged by thick wires into cables that run straight into the mainframe. Two consoles sit occupied in the dark. One contains Tamara Gogol, mumbling, "26 million...my mission...26 million must be purged....my mission...to save everything...26 million...." as she rapidly taps at keys. On her panel is what is clearly the overridden navigation UI. "Why won't he let me...save 26 million..." she mutters.

And at the center console sits a third GGG Member: Kamuy Pauvre-Saginomiya. HE'S equipped with a unit designed to control the whole train at once, an AR visor accompanied by arm-swathing control gloves that allow him to send huge swaths of commands with each swing of his fingers. "Hehehehehehehehehehe," he giggles. "yeah, yeah....26 times, suffer 26 times more," he titters, unhinged. "26 times 26 times 26 to the 26th is NOT ENOUGH SUFFERING FOR YOU!!!" he shrieks, and then rounds, kicking the console to spin and flash the arriving team a wild, wild grin.

"WELCOME TO YOU!" he giggles. "But stay right where you are!"

He swings his arm up, and Porc-Auto groans before Gun Shepherd suddenly lurches out from behind a server rack, its forward mounted cannon peppering the doorway with fire. Kamuy giggles. "What you deserve! What you deserve! After you left my brother behind!!!"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

       When Alouette shouts about Renais, Kaworu glances over his shoulder at her. However, before he can do more than consider her, Sigma comes with GunDober, and Alouette gets on board with him. Kaworu watches her thoughtfully; then his gaze passes from her to Guy to Akane.
       
       "Yes. I agree," he says to Sigma, of the situation being more complicated than a mere ("mere") Algernon outbreak.
       
       While Urchin might not have much time left, as Lamia so directly puts it, to Kaworu, that's heartening. It means he has some time left. "We will," he reassures Hinoki. He looks to Namiko as she says she needs to find Hass. "Very well. Take care, Namiko Koudzuki."
       
       Onwards they all go. Occasionally Kaworu looks up, or around, or in a variety of directions, as if taking in something only he can see. If so, he doesn't directly comment on it--yet. They have their warnings, from Ushiyama, from the Ryuu sisters. Kaworu keeps the path open, and soon they reach their obective: Porc-auto, being... accessed... by Tamara and Kamuy.
       
       Kaworu takes this in with a grim lack of smile. "Scatter," he tells the others urgently, just as (just before?) Gun Shepherd lurches. He's moved out of the way by the time it opens fire, potentially pulling others who need it out of harm's way too.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

This time it's Alouette's turn to snap at a nastygram that Akane doesn't hear -- which gets her to at least start considering some other possibilities, as they keep moving. Everyone could be lashing out due to the stressful situation; it could be Algernon in other crew members; they could be mishearing things...

... regardless of what it is, it's enough to get Akane to discount those and firmly commit to moving forward. ... She'll have to talk about it later, though.

Hinoki gives Akane the Algernon Watchman #26, and Akane gives her a nod. "Yeah. This would take at least three people. Maybe five if they're not doing this stuff together," she agrees. Namiko tells Rikka and Akane to get going, and Akane nods to her. "Okay," she affirms -- as much for herself as Namiko.

They head forward, and...

'It's Algernon! Run! It's Algernon! Run!'

Sure enough, there are at least two more afflicted personnel. Akane looks at who it is, though, and her heart sinks.

... "You guys -- figure out a way to get to Kamuy, but I need someone who's at least okay with computers to help me, too," Akane suggests. She's the least suited to approaching him for several reasons... which means she, instead, starts taking the long way around toward Tamara. She thinks Tamara's focused enough that she can get up close and at least try to restrain her physically.

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

        Lina dives behind a console as Gun Shepherd opens fire, letting out a hiss as she lands on her side. Spinning the wrench in her hand, she peeks out to assess the situation around Kamuy. "He probably doesn't have a lot of peripheral vision in that visor. Someone should grab his attention and then we can come in and get him."

        She begins to circle around the center, trying to keep behind as many consoles and desks as possible, crouched down and moving as slowly as she can.

<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.

"I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances, Mademoiselle," Sigma replies. He's not going to ask her to wear a helmet; it's not like they exactly have them ready to go right now anyway. "I'm... not sure. Whatever it was I saw, it wasn't something I recognized. But in a way, that's a good thing. The only things I am aware of that could be responsible are... dangerous, to say the least."

Not that whatever situation they find themselves in isn't dangerous. Ushiyama confirms-- Porc-auto has been captured, but not necessarily turned. "If they're able to make use of his onboard functions... That would explain why they can control the Gun Machines." But it also paints them all a trail. Sigma revs the engine, setting Gun Dober off down the corridor. It isn't long, between Kaworu and Kouryuu, that they find what they're looking for.

Unfortunately, it's just about as bad as he'd feared. No. Not quite. The chance of an... alien hand in this is not yet confirmed. That's the only silver lining. "Tamara. Kamuy..." Pauvre-Saginomiya. That name is familiar. Was familiar. His brother... His brother.

"Is this... revenge...?" Sigma mutters, as Gun Shepherd emerges-- and he leaps from Gun Dober. "Alouette, you take the controls! I'll handle Gun Shepherd! Try to sever those cables they've got plugged into Porc-Auto!"

Again, Sigma disappears into a haze of electrons, diving deep into Gun Shepherd's systems. But this time, now that he knows better, he's not going just for turning off the Gun Machine's wireless programs...

He's making use of them, tearing open a gateway into Porc-Auto's systems from across the wireless network. Even as bound in Maintenance Mode as he is, Porc-Auto is still a brave. His chassis may be subverted, but the Infinite Information Circuit at his heart-- and the soul that dwells within it-- is not so easily influenced.

Sigma trusts in the Brave. And if they can distract Kamuy even for a moment...

All he needs is enough time to force Porc-Auto out of Maintenance Mode, and the Brave Robo will do the rest...!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       Liam's eyes widen as he listens to Ushiyama on the intercom. "They were planning," he says, after Akane comes to that same conclusion. "They kept this under wraps for--who knows how long." It's a horrifying thought. "But if there's still a chance, we have to--we have to try to save them."

       They have to try, he thinks, even if they're balanced on a knife the entire time.

       Liam's eyes saccade as he takes in the tableau in the core. He ducks back behind the wall the instant Kaworu tells them all to scatter; bullets chew through the doorframe, and a piece of shrapnel traces a cut along Liam's cheek. He takes one breath, then two, then three, and then rushes through the doorway as Sigma vanishes. Again, he goes straight for the target--Kamuy--leaving plenty of room for others to come at him from the sides. Liam grabs for the man's forearms, and tries to at least hold him still without hurting him.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

       Lamia voices Lucine's own suspicions, but Hinoki refutes with a little of her own optimistic spin.

       'Scatter.' Kaworu's warning comes as Lucine's ever constant sense of danger coming her way pings in her mind.

       Leaping to the side, she turns around, trying to get a handle on how to distract the two; their minds are too affected to possibly manipulate them, however, Lina's idea seems to be better.

       Akane's going to go for Tamara. Lucine almost volunteers for Akane; but her breath hitches. Yes, she knows how the computers worked in Nemi, but this is a completely different matter.

       Yurika's words about taking on a bit of that courage spur her on, and she follows. "I can at least help with trying to restrain Tamara."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka goes quiet for a moment as Liam points out that Algernon is lethal. It... usually is, from what she knows, but it's hard to actually say that out loud. Still, Hinoki says he might have some time.

...She hopes there's a way.

"...I did." Rikka confirms with a nod toward Lucine, as she moves to walk alongside her. She looks toward Namiko, then - who has other matters to worry about right now. Rikka offers her a smile.

"...Yeah. I get it. You two take care of each other, okay?" Rikka replies. If she was in her position, if she didn't know where Akane was in this mess... she'd want to find her, too. "Don't worry. We will."

She nods, then, toward her and Hinoki both.

"Good luck, you two." She says. She can only hope - and, join the others as they move on.

They make it to the computer core without any trouble... but there is where the real trouble lies. Porc-auto is here, his central block pried up. Rikka requires at the sight of it - it feels a little grotesque, somehow. But then, the GGG members present...

"...Oh no." Rikka murmurs. Tamara and Kamuy...

She isn't given much time to lament, diving away from the doorframe with a yelp as Gun Shepard appears and opens fire!

She looks toward Akane, and then nods.

"...Alright. Good luck." She says. She'll trust Tamara to her and whoever's better with software. Lina, meanwhile, suggests a distraction - and thankfully, Liam volunteers to charge in from the front.

Rikka ducks to the side... and the moment Liam's upon him Rikka rushes Kamuy down, weaving between obstacles to make her a more difficult target for Gun Shepard to pin down.

"Get his gloves! I think that's how he's sending the commands!" Rikka shouts. For her part...

"Sorry about this...! I can tell you've suffered, but this isn't the way to do it!" Rikka apologises - and then goes to rip that VR visor away from him - delicately, so as to avoid hurting him(at least, as delicately as any action described as 'ripping' can possibly be').

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Perhaps we'll have to make up for that once we've settled this over tea," Alouette smiles more genuinely at Sigma's reply, although what he says next is disquieting. "Something entirely unknown, even to a Hyper Agent... that certainly doesn't sound good. But when you put it like that.. hopefully it's something we'll be able to fix pretty easily."

Ushiyama helps to guide them over to Porc-Auto's location... the circumstances seeming really fishy. But they have to follow it, GunDober passing by as Hinoki and Namiko load Prickle's unconscious body for medical. In Alouette's opinion, it seems pretty grim - she knew of Kikuho Eir's fate. But Hinoki's research has come a long way in a past year... she wants to believe in her more than anything.

For now, there's two more personnel who need their attention immediately, as Algernon Watchman #26 blares. "Kamuy-san... and Tamara-san, too." Her heart sinks all over again, but it's not long before Kaworu warns them to scatter.

Riding passenger on GunDober, she just has to rely on Sigma swerving at the right moment, until Sigma hands her the controls, vanishing into cyberspace once again. "Understood! Good luck, Sigma... I know you can reach him!" She calls, and drifts the motorcycle towards the area where PorcAuto's chassis is being held, leaping off. GunDober may not be a sentient robot, but it does work with simple commands that Mobile Operators are trained on. "Iron Collar, go!" She points, as GunDober's long, spiked wire equipment severs the cables from the Brave Robo's body. She just hopes that it's enough...

Lina, Liam, and Rikka go for the VR headset and glove equipment that Kamuy's controlling - while Akane and Lucine move to restrain Tamara. "Akane, Lucine... I'll take care of her console." She affirms, as they push to grab ahold of the poor, mumbling woman. "I see... it's the the navigation UI. As long as we make sure Kamuy can't send commands en masse anymore, we should we able to get the train back on course!"

<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.

        Not one, not two, but three. Three infected, one already lost, and two on the cusp, but not completely gone. At the very least, he'll be here to retrieve the one that is effectively a corpse walking for everyone else to watch. Not because he takes pleasure in it, but the anger that is sure to follow will help the crew to forget about their despair.

        That is, assuming he can get to the infected in time, but given that nobody took his warning to leave seriously, he's got a lot more support than he's used to. Porc-Auto and Gun Shepherd already have people much more qualified to deal with them. That just leaves Tamara and Kamuy, one of whom will unfortunately not be surviving after today. With everything mentally sorted out, it's time to act, and while he's leaving a lot of clean up to the others, he's not about to leave them with no help either.

Lamia weaves through the bullets despite the cramped space, a few rounds grazing his long hair and scattering a few silver strands before he effortlessly leaps through the air. He first lands on one of the Gun Shepard's main gun's, the force of him doing so causing them to stray off course while him pushing off of it to continue his aerial assault damages the weapon outright.

        His second target happens to be landing on the cables connected to Porc-Auto's AI block, dislodging a few and weakening the stream of inputs being force fed into the poor machine.

        Sadly, for Kamuy, it does not end there, as with one last final jump, Lamia lands right on top of the console he was so eagerly utilizing, the Somnium staring down at him as he finally removes the sunglasses he had put on not that long ago. Wasting not a single second, the Betterman lurches down, lifting the Algernon victim up by his shirt as he stares him down.

        "Pectofores Traum."

        The jewel embedded in Lamia's chest lights up, releasing yellow particles in front of him and around Kamuy. There's a delayed effect, but eventually, the GGG member realizes they can no longer move, their limbs completely unresponsive as whatever biological magic the Somnium has wrought has removed their ability to control their limbs.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Kamuy laughs, unhinged, then SNARLS. "LEFT HIM. Sucked into space from the Susanoo during the battle with Z-Master! YOU LEFT THEM ALL TO DIE!! Went home to your WARM BEDS! This whole TIME I've been working on my VENGEANCE, my chance to DESTROY YOU FOR YOUR CRIMES!! ...I still hear him..." A giddy giggle. "He's here...in space, still...!! CALLING TO DESTROY YOU!!"

Kamuy's story stands up, somewhat. The people lost when GGG's battleships decompressed simply couldn't be rescued, even with all the help they had. Marking them all as Missing, Presumed Dead...it was painful. But it was the only option. But that's where the logic ends. If that had truly been Kamuy's goal all along, he had ample opportunities to make it clear. No, more than likely...that's the symptoms of Algernon.

Or is it only Algernon?

Regardless, as Sigma vanishes in a flash of electrons, Kamuy jerks his arm up, snarling, "26,000 DEATHS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU!!"

Not even one comes, though; Lamia and Alouette act quickly to stop up his control, at the same time as Lina, Rikka and Liam charge in to cut off Kamuy's escapes. But he's secured himself well, and gets his fist yanked such that Porcauto HIMSELF starts to lurch forward, when the final cable is cut.

"...eh?" Kamuy says, pulling his arm. But now his arm itself doesn't even move. "EH??? CAN'T...GHK...!"

Stopping Tamara is a simpler matter. Indeed, her focus on the task makes it relatively easier to restrain her. She does need to *be* restrained; like other Algernon victims, she's not restrained by her body's normal limits, and she can pull quite strongly. But, the two people holding her down manage to get her away from the console to the ground, and she struggles vainly, yelling, "Lemme go there's too many! 26 too many!! Don't you see!!! The King is 26 times 26 too strong you'll NEVER stop him!!!"

That's not T0 talking; that's the despair of Algernon. But, struggle she does continue to do. Maybe if you get her to Hinoki pronto...maybe something can be done.

Kamuy, though, as he struggles and strains, screams, gurgles...

And as the VR visor comes off, the veins in his face wind together in front of the crown chakra between his eyes...

The bloom of the Animus.

The computer center is retaken. Victory has been claimed. But the cost...

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

The bloom of *something*, certainly.

Kamuy's face bulges and bursts open, a massive, colorful bloom resembling a corpse flower dwarfing his head before dragging him down to the ground.

"Well, get eating, Betterman," a sickly-sweet voice purrs from behind the struggle, oozing from the lips of the man holding a balloon, only visible to Lamia. "Are you not hungry from the struggle of having another human die by your hand?" His face splits in a horrendous grin, yellow teeth belonging to no living thing on Earth or even this solar system.

"Don't hold back on my account."

Moments later, there is an impossible *bend* in the space of the room before the air itself *shatters*, Shozo sliding through- blooming from his arm is a tremendous, hooked blade, its color an amber-red and its tip dripping with... the wounded scenery. The shock of Shozo's appearance causes space itself to ripple, the man in black now visible to everyone- causing him to frown, if only a barely.

"Damn brat," he mutters, before lifting a pin, thrusting it into-

Everybody sees, if only for a moment, not simply a balloon, but the head of a loved one. A lost one. One they may hope to see again, in this life, or the next.

The needle pierces the flesh, and there is a deafening POP, and darkness. When the light returns a moment later, there is no trace of the man in black. Shozo looks like he's between an anxiety attack and dropping from exhaustion.

"...Well, fuck you too, Dad."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

       Kaworu is content to leave primary actions to the others. He keeps an eye out for any further attacks, to make sure to protect and defend as necessary. It isn't necessary, ultimately, and he joins Akane and Lucine to assist them with getting Tamara to Hinoki, so that someone who may be saved can be so.
       
       It's too late for Kamuy, after all.
       
       When Kamuy's face splits, though, there's something else--something more to it. Space bends and cracks, and Shozo falls through, wounded. Kaworu's gaze flicks towards Yapool, eyes narrowing... but there's nothing to say, nothing to be done. Just a balloon popping, a vision of the head of--
       
       "....."
       
       For a moment, Kaworu is still. Then Shozo speaks, and Kaworu blinks, then focuses on him. With care, he steps over and offers him a smile and a hand.
       
       "Thank you, Shozo," he says quietly. "Will you be all right?"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

...It's hard, to hear someone's agony being used like that. Rikka doesn't know the full story - she wasn't there for it, she can't say whether or not it happened like he said. She's not even responsible - but that doesn't make it any easier to hear. Rikka pulls on the visor - and her eyes open wide as his face changes.

This is... the last phase, isn't it? The visor clatters to the floor, slipping through her fingers.

...But there is another man, here. She's shocked by his appearance - and, honestly, its difficult for her to really process what's happening. She knows what she sees...

...But was it real? She shuts her eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath and, moves to find something to communicate with.

...They've done what they needed to. Her heart hurts, wondering if they weren't fast enough, if this could've been prevented. Yet again she feels like she's failed someone... but someone has to relay the news. She moves over to communications.

"This is Rikka Takarada. We've regained control of the central computer area. Please let Hinoki know to be ready to accept Tamara for Algernon treatment." Rikka says. ...She hesitates for a second. "...Kamuy is here too, but... I'm sorry. We were too late."

She's quiet for a moment longer before clearing her throat.

"Just let me know if there's anything we need to do on this end." She asks. ...They still need to get themselves back on track - and, pointedly, not toward the Martian surface.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

       ".... Your concern is noted," Lucine says gently, as she helps restrain Tamara. "... Sitting back is not an option. If we fail to stop the King of Ruin, then the efforts of the Nadesico and our allies at home would all be for nothing." Algernon is not meant for a debate, but Lucine says this to quiet her own fears, drawing it into a matter of fate. They have to be here, and if they lose, then at least they did all they could.

       Lucine would have missed Kamuy's last moments, focused as she is, but her Newtype abilities helpfully point out the last moments of a dying man, and the silence, as his mind is released from its overheated prison.

       Glancing up, Lucine sees Lamia gripping Kamuy's slack body, as well as the bloom that bursts from his head. "......."

       Better get eating.

       Her attention is turned to Shozo, and the man in black, with his hand holding onto--

       Lucine _leaps_ to her feet, charging to where the man-- no, where only Shozo stands now, anxious and exhausted. She has to stop herself from slamming her fist into Shozo; thankfully, she didn't have much momentum stored up.

       Kaworu's voice, asking Shozo if he's alright, draws her back.

       ".... Don't worry, it wasn't real," she mumbles to the rest of the room reflexively; then, to Shozo, a quiet, ".... sorry..." as she moves past him, and out the doors.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

       Liam's hands tighten around Kamuy's forearm. "Rikka," he says, "I've got him--" The visor comes free. The cyborg's gaze darts to Kamuy's forehead, and stays there; his mouth falls open as he beholds the bud of the Animus. "God," he chokes out, and then Lamia strikes, grabbing Kamuy and hefting him up. Liam offers no resistance. A hot, bilious taste washes through his mouth as the flower blooms. He bites back a scream.

       Liam stumbles back, a hand pressed to his chest. A blur of unnatural motion catches his eye, and he jerks to face it, seeing... someone else, as well. Liam doesn't blink. He watches in horror, the scream still building inside him, and then--

       Pop.

       Liam finds himself gasping for breath as the light returns. His head whips about, and he does not stop until he's confirmed that the rest of the team is still alive. That just means...

       Liam rushes forwards to help the team retrieving Tamara. Silent and pale, he sets himself to the duty of emergency medical evacuation.

       He can't bring himself to watch what happens next.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo catches his breath, leaning against the wall as the large, khopesh-like blade slowly retracts back into his arm. Since when has he been able to do that? He *is* a shapeshifter, but something about it...

"I... Apologize," he mutters, running a hand through his hair. "I do not know how my fa- how *Yapool* was able to access this universe, much less get *here*.

That's not entirely true, but Shozo would rather not entertain the most likely answer.

"I suppose what's more relevant is what we do now. Obviously, I am still with you. I was asked to help defeat the King of Ruin, and that is what I shall do. Just... Be careful. In all ways, my father is a deceiver, and very, very cruel. And now you're in his sights." He leans against the wall, terribly exhausted. He had been running for a very, very, *very* long time.

<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.

        Too late. He had hoped to spare the crew the sight, but Kamuy's face bursts with the flower bearing the animus fruit, and after nonchalantly plucking it, Lamia just gently places the now deceased body down.

        His face visibly frowns at the voice that is provoking him to eat it. Acting as if his kind derives any joy from this. It's a job. A duty. One that the Somnium are meant to remain detached from. It's something most of his kind can do, but from someone who's eaten from the Seed of Vivele, and a particularly rich one at that...

        Lamia places his shades back on and pockets the fruit, his joints and motions stiffening up again as he jumps off from the console. He doesn't say a word, nor does he look at anyone as he just quietly shambles past everyone. The light in the hallway flickers for a moment as he leaves the room, and as the lights turn back on, there's no longer any trace of him.