The three girls wrapped up their lunch, having been forced to wait until mid-afternoon in order to find a safe opportunity to settle down to enjoy it. All three girls were still very tired, and the long and busy day had only so far made this worse.
Qheria was still driven to keep things going. As their leader, she wasn't about to let herself start falling behind. Even with little sleep, they had still managed so far to stay under cover. Actually, from what she could tell from others she met, looking so tired might have helped with the act. Regular patrols generally seemed to torment the others in their team, like the idea was to crush your own competition in order to rise in the ranks. Generally, it reminded her of cadets, honestly. Thanrie seemed well enough versed in the subject as well, possibly due to her Terran business life. Only Mhyl looked to be having trouble, mostly because she never knew what people were even saying.
Qheria and Thanrie had been taking turns bringing Mhyl up to speed, but you could tell Mhyl was getting very frustrated in being so oblivious. She started getting less talkative and more withdrawn, which really wasn't like her. Thanrie at least was starting to do better, the lighting was starting to feel more natural and she was getting used to seeing robots everywhere. She did however like to mock them behind their backs, possibly due to her fears. Qheria had been keeping track of these things so that she could manage her team better, make sure they were as okay as she could arrange. After Lwyn had left in her own dissatisfaction, it was something Qheria had become especially afraid of.
"So, where should we try now? We need to find a way to get some information, right?" "At this rate, I would love a map of the place. Do we even have any clue where we are in the fortress? I mean, if we don't know where we are, how in the world are we going to find something, people, exits, anything?" Qheria contimplated Mhyl's concern, which did make her own question more specific. Clearly, Mhyl had gotten to love maps like her Atlas, and being lost wasn't a feeling she was comfortable with. It might also be important, because if they ended up hearing Lwyn was somewhere at any point, they wouldn't even know how to get there.
"Thanrie, you were fitting in very well with the whole newbie tearful routine. Do you think you could put on an act for more patrols, saying that you've been pretty bad with directions in your patrols, are afraid of making mistakes, and ask for a resource? Don't give it a name, we don't know if the Fortress uses plain maps or something a bit more fancy. We also don't know if we would be expected to know this either." "So, smile, nod, act like an airhead. Got it. I'll see what I can do." Qheria felt a bit ashamed at having to make use of Thanrie's experience being naive, but Thanrie didn't seem to mind. Mhyl however sighed at the idea of breaking more hearts and tainting more souls.
They continued along until they found another patrol. Thanrie started putting on an act right away, slouching and looking depressed. When they got closer, Thanrie finally started talking, getting into the act. "Look, I said I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get lost again, the halls keep looking so similar to each other. I was so certain that was the right place. I... I was even there early, I did everything I could." Thanrie started to break into tears at this point.
The two guys approaching rushed to see what was going on. "Uh, what's going on here?" "I got in trouble again for getting lost. I mean it, I'm really sorry. I'm not the best at directions, I've been trying to get used to things now for a while. I'm sorry I keep messing things up." The first of the two guys looked nervous around Thanrie's act. Qheria decided to try to blend in with the whole thing. "This is, what, five days in a row? Being late is only going to make everything harder for the rest of us. If you find directions so hard, then get better at it. Don't expect us to pick up after your own mistakes all the time like this." Qheria almost seemed to be channeling Rhyde at this point, just being much less forgiving.
Suddenly, three girls started to approach. "Leave her alone, Atnizhyq. Don't pick on her like that." "Yeah, just because she's little doesn't mean she deserves to be treated that way." It was the same three girls from the laundry room. Clearly, they were getting even more ideas about what was going on, but that would only help to build their case. Thanrie took a moment to marvel at the incredible curse word, though past experience warned her about using words she didn't fully understand. She went over to the three of them, leaving Qheria to the two guys.
"Oh, hi again! It seems I'm being a bother for you three all over again. I'm really sorry about that. I was getting in trouble because in all my hurry to get everything done, I forgot where I was going, again. This always happens too, it's why everyone always makes fun of me. Do you three know a good way to learn directions in this maze?" "Oh, uh, there are some maps in the library, if you want to check that out. I think Lady Yhse had finished with the Library, so we should be allowed to use it again freely. Just don't get caught sitting around there, you want to go in, get what you need, and leave. When you get back to your room, you can study it better. Oh, and make sure to bring it back, getting caught with something from the library that has been gone for a while will get you in big trouble." Thanrie nodded excitedly, which wasn't entirely an act. The third girl of their trio keeps proving very helpful in these situations.
Thanrie turned around as Qheria approached, having scared the two boys away already. Her evil leadership tone seemed to be working possibly too well. "I don't expect you will be wasting even more of our time?" "No, no, sorry. I'll be sure to get it as quick as possible. If you're worried about me wasting time, you can come and watch over me. I swear I won't take long." Qheria and Thanrie's team act was not only compelling why they would all be going together, but why Thanrie really needed more help. The three girls lead the way to the library, so that Thanrie wouldn't suffer further.
Once they arrived, they found the place fairly quiet. Thanrie also found herself with a book fairly quickly, as the girls rushed off. "Sorry, we have to get going. We were reassigned to patrol around Lady Sxeiva's Spire. A lot of people have been reshuffled because of the demands Lady Yhse made today. You might find yourself moved around too, so take care." The third girl passed on her parting words before the three of them ran off.
Mhyl approached finally after they left, looking earnestly at the book, but Qheria shook her head. "We were warned about standing around, and we just built a case for Thanrie needing the book. Thanrie, you'll be using the book for now, lets find somewhere more neutral where we could peacefully look it over." Qheria was almost being as mean as her previous act. Mhyl looked genuinely dissatisfied, not just because she wasn't allowed the book, but also because she still had no idea what had happened.
Glancing over the book, Thanrie found a few different pages which listed directions and such. Rather than a normal map, it looked more like a series of smaller maps describing lesser locations with small detailed pictures. As the whole thing was more words than pictures, Thanrie suspected Mhyl would find this even more unsatisfying, being unable to read it. She eventually found the part of the book showing the library, though she didn't fully understand how the book was organized. She decided to keep things simple, found the nearest restroom to their current location, and lead the way. Stuff like that was always convenient.
When they arrived, they slipped into what was labelled as the woman's makeup room. Possibly perfect, they could even build a world of excuses for being there together. Thanrie then sat in one of the chairs in the room, a convenient feature if not very comfortable, and showed the book to Qheria. Mhyl however snatched the book from her, tired of waiting. Thanrie waited for a bit, before having the book handed back to her. Mhyl plunked herself into a different chair, further depressed.
Qheria took her turn glancing over the book, also quickly realizing why Mhyl wasn't impressed. She took a bit to figure out how the book was even trying to describe basic things, before passing it back to Thanrie. The thing was unnecessarily convoluted. "So, finding a map might not have been quite as helpful as I would have thought. Everything here is just needlessly complicated. Whoever designed this stuff had more than a few screws loose." "Actually, maybe the complexity itself a bit of an intended feature. I've heard of castles and such having a lot of complexity measures used to hide things from people, or to otherwise intimidate followers. If it's on purpose, seriously someone did an amazing job." Qheria didn't know what worried her more, being herself right, or Mhyl being the one right.
Thanrie looked it over, and found what looked like a detention facility. The book described it as where staff goes when they've... under performed. However, it would probably be a fitting place for anyone who had been captured. Making up a story then would be easy, they were just visiting, trying to find someone who had wronged them earlier, as they were eager to build a further case on them. This story, they could even get away with not knowing who it was that they were looking for.
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Thanrie lead the way again, until they got close. Then she noticed one of the robotic guards. Qheria then stepped forwards instead. "Hello there, I've been working on a case regarding someone on my team having fallen victim to some.. rather harsh mischief from another group. We've found that they were probably detained earlier, but my team member only had vague descriptions about how she looks. We're hoping to get her identified, to compile a better report." "Access can be provided, but regulations require all suspicious cases having an aethyrnz witness. Do you have an identification shard of an aethyrnz that is involved in the case?" Qheria found herself nervous suddenly, she wasn't prepared for strange regulations. The robot's strange word had also thrown her off.
"Oh, right, didn't you get one earlier? Hopefully you didn't mix it up, again?" Thanrie's comment didn't make much sense, but she was sometimes really good at being random. "The identification shard we were given from the incident last night, remember? I know you haven't gotten much sleep, but you couldn't have forgotten already?" Thanrie was then starting to make a bit more sense to Qheria, as she pulled out the shard they had gotten last night, and passed it forwards. Aethyrnz.. so was that what those things were called?
The robot .. aethyrnz took the shard and went inside for a moment, then returned again. "Hopefully that was the right one, you didn't mix it up, right?" Thanrie might have been setting them up with an escape plan, in case things went wrong, but it was feeling a bit far fetched. Clearly, the aethyrnz was just making her nervous. "Ah, this shard matches a report about bandits being found in the fortress last night, which we suspect were part of some kind of volunteer efforts, but they had left their designated wing. The individuals were indeed marked for detainment and questioning, but had been found missing since. As there is no longer any word of them, we suspect they went back to the proper wing." The aethyrnz's report made the three realize they were very lucky to have escaped that room last night, then.
"Really? And they were bandits? That doesn't match what we were told, we were even told they were successfully found and detained." "Do you have an identification shard for that report?" "No, it was a human staff that passed me this information." "Ah, as you know, this is why aethyrnz reports are much more valuable, as they are considerably more accurate." "Hmm.. my superior might find all the mismatched sides hard to work with. Can I have your identification shard as well then, to ... substantiate your report. Also, I don't suppose you can show us through the people currently detained, so that I could also say that we can say we did indeed check and confirm this personally?" Qheria's story left the aethyrnz to ponder the request for a time, while Thanrie herself was starting to actually feel scared about the situation.
"Alright, your request is acceptable. You will be supervised through the process, so that then I can personally qualify that you have completed this confirmation, if it is ever questioned." The aethyrnz passed over another shard for Qheria to take, and guided them inside. They walked through the halls, carefully checking everyone present. All three of them sunk into their disguises a bit better, in case their presence suddenly alarmed Lwyn on being identified. However, they were lead through all of the halls and never saw her anywhere.
"As you can see, the individuals in question are not present. Thank you for your support during this process." The aethyrnz started to lead them back, as the three of them were left to wonder where else Lwyn could be. There were even plenty of cells, and the whole place felt like a prison, it would have been a perfect place to have held Lwyn. This was only the second day, they wouldn't have moved her either, and while there were a lot of people present, there was also a lot of empty cells too. It didn't make any sense.
They found themselves outside, while someone else was waiting. "Oh, good, I was getting worried I would have been kept waiting too long. I've found myself without retainers, and it seems Khaexyn has reallocated everyone. I'm wondering if there is anyone here detained for.. minor repercussions that would be suitable for the position anytime soon." The woman presented her case, while the aethyrnz looked alarmed. "I'm terribly sorry, Lady Sxeiva. There should have been someone here present to deal with such concerns as well, but it appears that Lady Yhse's needs had required some considerable staffing arrangements." It then rushed off to obtain the information requested of it.
Before the three girls could even ponder their next destination, the aethyrnz returned. "It seems there is no one available for the next several days. By then, the current staffing issue should be resolved, so it might be more prudent to wait for that." "Hmm, not acceptable. You three, you seem unoccupied at the moment. Come with me." The aethyrnz returned to its work while Sxeiva turned to the three of them. Thanrie realized then that this might be why standing around here might not have been the best of choices.
As Sxeiva guided them along, Thanrie looked her over. She was both beautiful and terrifying, after taking a moment to check her in better lights. Thanrie discovered quickly that the woman actually seemed very aethyrnz.. while also seeming very.. not. It actually looked instead like Sxieva was instead more a person who had many parts of her replaced with aethyrnz parts, like a clockwork cyborg. Both of her eyes were artificial, as was her ears, sections of her head.. her entire spine, her left arm, probably sections of her torso under all her clothes.. and maybe both of her legs. This wouldn't exactly make her half aethyrnz and half person.. she instead seemed more aethyrnz than anything else. At least she.. sounded more human, vocally.. but Thanrie wasn't certain there either.
"I'm guessing the little one is new, her eyes seem to hold a lot of wonder. Yes, the reports you've heard are probably accurate. I am not as.. alive.. as I once was. I know it has been fairly intimidating to work with, but I assure you that most of my needs will be familiar enough for any woman. The.. stranger requirements I can mostly look after myself." It seems Sxeiva had not missed Thanrie's examination, leaving Thanrie a touch embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, we've been making sure she's behaved well enough. If she's been a problem, we'll make sure she is educated further." "Oh, no, its fine. Happens all the time. Anyway, please come this way." Qheria was getting back into her current act, but Sxeiva dismissed it and lead them into a stairwell. They travelled up the spire into the domain owned by Lady Sxeiva.
"Okay, so, now that we're safely out of the way of any passing listeners, maybe I could get some real answers from you three instead of your usual acts. Don't worry, there is no one else around." "Uh, I don't understand what you mean." Sxeiva's sudden shift had even Qheria start to get nervous. "Oh come on, you're bringing her around with you. No one else might have noticed, but I did." Sxeiva went right up to Mhyl, clearly indicating her, before shifting to Elaethyx "Hello honey, you really shouldn't work so hard to hide such pretty ears. I understand why you might be doing so, but it's not needed up here." Sxeiva held up her organic right hand, as if to help Mhyl with freeing her ears, but not doing so without her permission.
"I.. I uh.." Mhyl's response was filled with uncertainty, finally getting to use Elaethyx again with someone. Getting caught was also part of the problem. "Do you need any help with that, or do you have it?" "I... I've got it, thanks." "So, what about my question, would you care to answer it?" "Uh, question? I'm... uh.. I think I missed the question." Sxeiva's suspicions began to rise, she could tell that no one in the group spoke both Izhaethyx and Elaethyx.
"So yes, real answers." Sxeiva shifted back to Izhaethyx. "Clearly, the only thing more suspicious than having an elf around here hiding that she an elf, is not having anyone around who speaks both languages. So yes, while your usual act is fine for others, I might myself know better. Drawing everything together, I probably might know more about you than you would expect. So lets see, how much is then the truth instead of an act? How about, you aren't actually from the Fortress at all? How about, you aren't even from this side of the mountain at all? How about.. you have memories that aren't even from Celese at all. How close am I getting?" Thanrie and Qheria stuttered in shock, as the same speech was translated for Mhyl too.
"Now, if I'm right, my only concern is that you three took awfully long getting here. I expect that was only inevitable, that you got here exactly when you were meant to, but I've grown tired of this gilded cage. Grown tired of a lot of the things around here, honestly. If you need any help with whatever you plan to do in order to put a stop to this nonsense, please do ask. Whatever it takes, please stop Khaexyn." Sxeiva took a seat, letting everything sink in, as the others were at a complete loss.
"If you need room to talk about it, please feel free to use the door on your right. I'll wait here." Sxeiva determined that putting them under pressure like this wasn't going to cause any progress, so she gave them a quite place to talk. The three complied with the idea and fled into the room.
"What.. what do we do?" Mhyl had been fully brought up to speed about the finishing part of Sxeiva's speech that was not translated for her at the time, but still found herself confused. "I would say that this is just our luck.. but maybe that's literal. She already knows things that we've honestly had to tell everyone else. I don't think we can afford to turn her down, and not only because she could probably easily get us locked away. The things she knows could probably help in.. so many ways. If she knows about the memories, she might know more about them then even we do. If she wants to help us with some of the things we seriously need help with, why in the world would we say no?" Thanrie was herself convinced, if not still terrified. They didn't have any sensible alternative in this situation.
The three of them agreed then that they would have to be honest with Sxeiva, even though they would not share anything about anyone else. They took a moment to compose themselves on the matter before returning to the room Sxeiva waited in.