>>3185057
“.. with that much invested in the show, I’m pretty surprised that they never actually did anything like that. She was pretty popular and they could have but in the end, they never did. In fact, after three seasons they actually cancelled the show entirely without any forward notice. I personally believe she got pregnant and they had to change the entire cast to make it work and just decided to not deal with it and end it there. Kind of sad since it was one of the only shows at the time that really tried to portray what it was like for immigrants of imperialists trying to get work within the U.G.E…” Naomi trails off as she turns to you as you have half of your shirt on, “Hey Sammy.. Just talking about ‘The Journey of Miko.’ Have you ever seen it? It’s really inspiring..”

“No, not really,” you say as your straighten yourself up, “What’s it about?”

Even though you’re nearing the final moments of this long journey of your own, these little conversations couldn’t hurt and you’ve actually learned quite a lot about her favorite shows by just listening to her talk endlessly about them. Although you’re not too sure if Coraline actually cared and was listening, you kind of kept little mental notes about Naomi’s shows since there’s nothing else to talk about.

You half listen as she talks about Miko as you open the constantly decreasing storage space across from the shower. With Naomi taking out her own clothes and hanging them in the closet, space started to get tight. She’s even started leaving some of the commonly used stuff on the desk and in general everything has become untidy. You’ve been meaning to actually clean everything up but never gotten around to it. Mainly because you can’t really be arsed to do so. You sigh in your heart as you look through the locker, Coraline has been wearing your clothes as well, to the point where they started to smell a little bit like lavender or vanilla. Though you’re not too sure why since she hasn’t brought any soap or shampoo that smells like that. Really she hasn’t brought anything along except for those suckers.

>>3185059
Eyeing the empty bottle of vodka stuffed in the corner of the closet, you grab a coat and don it before turning back to the two girls. Taking a deep breath as Naomi paused in her long explanation of the show, you steel yourself. Today you’ll see Leo for your own eyes. Today you’ll most likely find out something that you probably didn’t want to. Today you’ll start to find answers.

It is now Morning.

>Grab ahold of the wheel and start to prepare yourself a little bit more.
>Ask Naomi about Leo a bit more. You know a bit but you still want a refresh of everything before jumping right in.
>Take your time. Leo isn’t going anywhere and it’s been months since the incident. You’ll get there when you do and talking to Naomi and Coraline would help you get some of your worries off your mind if only for a moment.
>[write-in]

____________________________________________________________________

Holy fucking shit, welcome back to For Hire. It’s been a long ass time since I ran my quest. I know, I know, I’m sorry about everything but it’s been hectic and with classes being as they are, I haven’t found the time to do anything else but shitpost. I do hope you all enjoy the quest and stick around since things are about to get fun.


Twitter: Kov_QM
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=FHQ
Discord: https://discord.gg/QznmEus
____________________________________________________________________

>>3185063
>Ask Naomi about Leo a bit more. You know a bit but you still want a refresh of everything before jumping right in.

>>3185063
>>Grab ahold of the wheel and start to prepare yourself a little bit more.

>>3185063
>>Ask Naomi about Leo a bit more. You know a bit but you still want a refresh of everything before jumping right in.

>>3185063
>Ask Naomi about Leo a bit more. You know a bit but you still want a refresh of everything before jumping right in.

Any excuse to look at her eyes 'till you get lost in them is valid

Also, guys, arriving at Leo means that we can chat with the Hot secretary again. Yes, my goals are clear as the water I am drinking.

>>3185450
>drinking water

>>3185235
>>3185419
>>3185449
>three for Leo recap

Writing!

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>>3185063
As you listen to Naomi talk about her show, you steal a glance at the console. In a few hours you’ll arrive in Leo and as far as you feel, you’re starting to get a bit nervous. Even if you’ve tried to calm yourself through the past month or so and even if you know that it’s not going to be instantly hectic right off the bat, you still worry about the future. You just don’t want to mess this chance up -- you only get one shot at it after all. You slouch a bit as you get into a comfortable seat near Coraline before clearing your throat and facing the two girls, “So, we’ll be arriving at Leo soon. It’s a bit a ways off but we’ll get there while still awake. Within.. Maybe two hours we’ll be there so I’m thinkin’ we should set up a plan or at least lay out everything before we get there.”

Coraline just watches you, she’ll probably just follow you anyways since she said that’s what she was going to do anyways, while Naomi raises her brow indicating for you to just continue. Clearing your throat a bit nervously, you start again, “Well I know we talked about it a few weeks ago and that you’re going to go talk to someone about something, and that I said I’d be going to figure some things out but we’d should get some sort a plan going on before we land. First off I’d kind of like a little bit more on Leo.”

Taking a break and breather, you continue, “You said that.. Uhh.. who was it, Matt, right?”

“Yeah, Matthew Wright,” Naomi encourages you as you try to repeat what she told you weeks ago. Frankly speaking you kind of forgotten a bit of it so recalling it was more difficult than you’d thought.

“Ahem.. Yeah, Matt is the big boss man but you’d said that he probably ain’t got much to do with the missing girls. You said this Baker fellow from.. Uhh..” you trail off.

“Innsmouth.”

“Yeah.. that place, Ins-mooth.. Uh Baker was the guy who was a part of that secret thing with the splicer research with his lackey, that Ryen guy. Ryen is probably the best person to talk with since he’s the most likely to be directly connected to the missing girls and since he was the guy above Adam, he probably knew what happened to him too,” you finish as Naomi nods slowly, assuring you that you were right with what you said. Well at least most of what you said.

>>3185530
“Right, right, but we probably shouldn’t ask Ryen himself. He’d, first off, would probably also be the most dangerous person to contact directly. Would be best to talk with some of the people under him rather than talk with him personally. That and it would be better to know more about him rather than just running headlong into whatever we might think is going on,” Naomi corrects you thoughtfully, “Anyways don’t worry about that too much since I already have a contact with someone I know will help us. Someone we can trust. Anyways you’re also forgetting about the other heads of the three other branches like Gibson, Young and Gray. They would all know something too since Ryen is part of the general research branch which is kind of connected with everyone else. Think of that branch as a kind of HR or a joint-group which would spread itself out to the other branches, where they’d put the less specialized people in.”

“Right and the General branch is ran by..”

“Young. He’s also the closest to Matthew Wright. Second hand man so to speak, so he’d be almost impossible to talk to directly. Also there’s a few contracted companies that aren’t directly under the control of Arcady, like the some of the construction crews on the various stations on Leo,” Naomi finished before pausing and reaching out to take a sip from a mug, probably tea if you’d guess. “Anyways.. There’s a few other groups we can talk to to find out what’s going on. If anything, since the police is most likely a part of it, there’s probably a hush order sent out so we can’t do anything so brazen as directly talking to any of these heads.”

“Oh.. yeah, of course..” you say somewhat embarrassed since that was kind of your plan so far. “Well.. what do you suggest?”

“Use the contacts we have and stay hidden. Simplest way is to take it little by little. We’re not going to solve this overnight no matter how much I’d want to see my... sister.” her expression changes from her normal smile slightly as she mentions her sister, clearly she’s still affected by not knowing how she’s doing. She probably expects the worst already. It’s not like I can comfort her on this anyways.. In your heart you ache as you see her without her usual smile. Something just doesn’t sit right with you when you see her like that. Something.

>>3185534
“Ahem, well anyways.. yeah, stay low and get as much information as we can before moving forward. We don’t know how much information they know about us or if they know about us but they certainly don’t know what we know so we can use that to our advantage. I’m thinking.. I’ll get someone else to help us soon so we’d just need to sit tight. First and foremost is our identity, though..”

>”I know, Naomi. I know how you feel about your sister, you don’t have to push yourself and I’ll be with you along the way. I’ll help as much as I’m able to.” Comfort her and pledge again that you’d help her as much as possible. You’ve grown attached to her over the past twenty odd days.
>”Identity..” keep the conversation going. No need to stay stuck on things she obviously doesn’t want to talk about. “Do you know someone who can actually do that? I mean.. It’s not legal is it?”
>”Exactly. I’m going to have to hide my ship too. My guess is that they’d know I’m around the second my ship lands. First thing’s gunna be definitely keeping quiet and getting something to cover me. This baby is really all I got so I ain’t leaving her whether you want me to or not.”
>[write-in]

>>3185537
>>”I know, Naomi. I know how you feel about your sister, you don’t have to push yourself and I’ll be with you along the way. I’ll help as much as I’m able to.” Comfort her and pledge again that you’d help her as much as possible. You’ve grown attached to her over the past twenty odd days.

>>3185558
>one for comforting

Writing!

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>>3185537

You don’t really like seeing Naomi like this. Ever since you’ve started this trip she’s always been pretty cheerful and you could always rely on her to cheer you up with her smile. Whether it was with you missing your family and your home when the two of you were talking late at night over a few glasses of that cheap vodka or whether it was just simply being a bit stressed out about everything going on -- she was there. Even if she was usually cheerful every now and then you’d catch a glimpse of her cracking ever so slightly. The first time she did she stopped talking for a moment, that was when the three of you ran into the CITF. It’s not like you have some kind of special feelings toward her, you just don’t like seeing her distressed.

Either way, she’s someone reliable and if you can’t do the courtesy of picking her up when she’s feeling down why should she help you? A little help every now and then is appreciated even if you’re helping even the strongest willed of people. Something that stuck to you ever since you were a kid.

It was during a break when you were younger. The toughest kid usually had it the roughest, they’d always try to keep it hidden or make violent outbursts for attention or whatever. As a kid you didn’t really know anything like that but as you look back on it when you first met Charles, he was just the same. A tough, mean, son of a gun who’d always get in fights but you’d, every now and then, help him out. It was the little stuff but after a few months the two of you were as thick as thieves. He probably remembers it differently but now that you think back on it, Naomi’s just the same.

She’s dealing with something that really only you or the other sisters or brothers of the missing girls would really understand. Even then, you probably don’t truly understand her feelings. You’d probably never be able to truly understand her feelings even if you tried as hard as you could. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t extend a hand every now and then, it doesn’t mean that you can’t just say that you’re here for her, it doesn’t mean that you can’t try.

>>3185733
A sad, sincere smile stretches across your face as you take a moment to look Naomi in the eyes. As if understanding, she slows down with her speech on what to do or anything.. She just accepts as she looks down in a sort of embarrassment or nervousness as you stay quiet for a moment longer. “Look, I trust you, Naomi. I may not really know how you’re feeling but I know what’s probably going through your head right now and I ain’t going to say much about that. But what I am going to say is that you don’t have to push yourself, you’ve got people here for you. And, if you would have me, I’d be here for you any time. Like I had said, we’re in it together. Me, you, and if she wants to tag along Coraline. Hell.. she’d probably be more use than me but I’d sure as well damn try my hardest if you asked me to.”

Naomi just simply nods as she avoids your eyes, her gaze fixated on the floor. Coraline gives you a reassuring nod as well as she places a hand on Naomi’s back. She seems like she’d help too so you continue, “Besides, we’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll be here every step of the way. Whatever happens, I’ll be here.”

“Whatever happens?” Naomi asks as she takes a hand to cover her face.

“Whatever happens,” you reassure.

“And.. you.. you said ‘if you would have me’..” she looks up, her face redder than before but a somewhat wicked smile crept across her face, “.. you’re.. You’re not thinking of anything.. Lewd.. are you?”

Eh? -- Ah.. She totally ruined the mood... Is that the only thing she got out of that? Well that’s the smile that she’d have. At least she’s not like she was before. You just shake your head without giving her an answer. It’s not like you can really give her anything other than the rolling of your eyes as a reply.

>”Well.. soon we’ll land. I already took a shower so you two need to go take one before we get there. We probably have a long day ahead of ourselves anyways.”
>”Ah.. Well.. anyways, you said something about some I.Ds, right?” change the topic, it’ll get awkward if you didn’t.
>”I’m hungry!” ignore everything and just get on with your day. You’ll be landing soon enough anyways.
>[write-in]

>>3185735
>>”Well.. soon we’ll land. I already took a shower so you two need to go take one before we get there. We probably have a long day ahead of ourselves anyways.”

>>3185735
>”Well.. soon we’ll land. I already took a shower so you two need to go take one before we get there. We probably have a long day ahead of ourselves anyways.”

>>3185742
>>3185757
>two for get ready to land.

Writing!

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>>3185735
“Ahem...” you clear your throat as you look away and turn to the shower. Oh of course, you think as you turn back you the two girls, “Well, either of you can use the shower. Already did so... go get ready since we’re landin soon.”

“Well I might just do that,” Naomi said, obviously back to her normal self as she stuck out her tongue and crawled around you and Coraline toward the shower. Turning away, you heard her say something as she closed the shower door behind her. You weren’t able to fully catch what she said but you thought she might have said ‘thanks’.

Smiling to yourself, you turn to Coraline who’s already watching the screen on the desk. She probably had already seen whatever she was watching since you’ve gotten low on actual media to watch or listen to that the three of you hadn’t watched before. Although you personally haven’t seen this show, Coraline spends most of her time watching whatever she can find.

She seems to enjoy most of the shows but you could never tell other than once when you heard her laugh late at night. You don’t really remember what it was exactly that made her laugh but when she noticed you were awake, she quickly turned away as if she was actually embarrassed.

You sighed as you watched her again enraptured in whatever she was watching.

“Alright, well I’m gunna start cleaning a bit. Can you clear up the stuff in the closet, some of it’s Naomi’s and I doubt she’d want me going through her stuff,” You point with your thumb behind you as you ask. Coraline pauses her show and lazily turns to you and nods before crawling her way toward the locker.

Checking the time on the console, you quickly turn back to Coraline as you remember something, “Make sure to keep something out for yourself, you’ll be taking a shower after Naomi, so make sure you have something to wear.”

Coraline pauses for a moment and then nods, she’s kind of hopeless isn’t she... You sigh in your heart as you turn to the desk. Wrappers of the nutri-bars, empty or half-filled cups, and other miscellaneous items scatter and fill the desk as if some rat had lived on it and was collecting garbage for some time. Even though you had a trash can at the bottom of the desk the three of you somehow still ended up with garbage all over the place.

As you look over it, you lament again as you notice all the empty cans of Cal that you had bought but was never able to stock up on before the trip. Truly that was the worst part of the trip since you had ran out nearly halfway through the journey to Leo. Now that you’re almost there you’ve also nearly emptied out the rest of your reserves for drinks which included the cheap vodka you had bought.

>>3185873
While taking a glance every now and then at the console, you gather the disposable garbage and file it into the big at the bottom of the desk. Soon you see the clear surface of the desk after a few days of not actually seeing it. The notes at the back were still hanging and you had already moved the broken display you were fiddling with into your luggage for safe keep. While you were cleaning off the desk Naomi had finished her shower and Coraline was still in it when you finished.

You noted that Coraline was actually pretty fast in organizing the closet even though she seemed considerably less reliable than most people you’ve met. I probably judged her too quickly, she does a good job when she puts her mind to it. Though with most things she seems as helpless as usual, most things as in common sense. You’re even starting to doubt that she got this way because of whatever was messing with her mods, but you were still trying to reserve that judgment after it was fixed. It’s about time anyways.

You look to the console again as you hear the shower door creak open. Five… you move your way toward the pilot’s chair, four… taking the seat belt in hand you click it together, locking yourself in place, three… taking a breath, you slowly ease yourself into the seat, finally opening your eyes, two…

You finally arrived.

One.

Leo, a system with only a few planets of note but a bright red star sitting in the center like a heart pumping the surrounding organs with blood and nutrition. Several stations and lights light up your console as the ship jerks itself lightly as you slowly exit speeds that break common sense. With Naomi’s hands clenching your shoulders behind you and your heart in your throat, you move slowly toward the already previously decided destination.

Station Zero One, the first and largest station in Leo. A giant compared to the other stations that surround the only habitable world in the system, Leo. The main reason was that Leo itself acted as an enclosure or rather a sanctuary for the various Spliced sub-species that Arcady maintains and helps so the only real population lies in these massive, metropolis-like stations. As you slowly drag the ship towards the station, you gaze in awe at the industrial masterpiece that fills your entire vision.

A floating city. But like all cities that try to blot out the sky, deeper does the shadows run.

____________________________________________________________________

I’ll start from here tomorrow. Thank you so much for reading the first day of Episode 5. Tomorrow we'll be landing finally and setting foot on unknown territory -- Leo.

Twitter: Kov_QM
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=FHQ
Discord: https://discord.gg/QznmEus

>>3185879
This is a super legit story, I look forward to the progression man. Thanks for running it.

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>>3185879
You hear the metal moan and sigh as your ship slowly lands in one of the civilian landing zones of the station. After a moment you hear the metal coupling link up to the underside of your ship with a clank and a hiss. The deck floor is filled with ships landing and taking off with streams of people coming and going. Your platform has its own gated zone as well as simple connections to the station’s fueling and power ports. The only problem is that it’s too public and if you’ve learned anything from Naomi, is that you should cover your footprints wherever you go.

You take a deep breath as you prepare yourself for a moment before turning back to Naomi who has a mix of an excited and nervous expression on her face. She’s more than likely more nervous than you are since she’s been trying to figure this out all by herself for a long time. She was the person who knew about something going on before you even set foot outside of your own system. The only problem is that she didn’t have anyone to rely on other than herself and her sisters but now that she’s so far from home there’s no one left.

You give her a nod as you climb out of the ship, you had already contacted the docking station before even closing in near the station so you’re basically clear to leave your ship when you want to. From your knowledge the station is separated into various sections which constitute the different needs of the people. Since the station acts as a city itself requires infrastructure to house everything so you’ll have things like residential, commercial, industrial and the likes along with specialties from Arcady.

Checking yourself, you hide your knife at your side and pat it down before covering it with your somewhat loose shirt. “So, Naomi,” you say as you look back to the pink haired girl beside you, “we’re here. You said you’ll be heading to find some contact of yours, do you want to meet up anywhere later?”

“I didn’t really have any plans afterwards but I was thinking getting something to eat,” she said before noticing your own face of concern. Before you left you spent pretty much all of your earnings on supplies for the trip and as it stands you have zero standards to your name. Naomi knew this, though, since she was there when you had spent it all and as if reading your concerns she says in a soft voice, “such a cheapskate… don’t worry, I’ll pay for your meal… ahh… that reminds me I don’t want to be sleeping in here for the next few days either.”

“Me neither,” Coraline agrees with a simple nod. Actually, you felt the same. Living on the ship for a few months was torture enough and after spending it with two girls in such a crowded and cramped living conditions it’s surprising you haven’t gone insane. What you wanted was a nice powerful shower and a soft bed to fall into at night but luxuries like that would get expensive quickly.

>>3187345
“Well… think we could go try and search for some kind of hotel or something in one of the temporary housing zones. See if we can’t get something cheap,” you resign as you knew full well that you’re never going to find some actually nice place in this short of time. Besides, some place cheap is always seen as hard to track in the movies, right?

You watch as the two girls nod before you turn toward the exit, the circular door with the yellow tape on it. Taking a breath, you unlock it and push it open before entering the airlock and continuing your way out of the ship. The grease of fuel, the smoke of cigarettes, and the aroma of fried food suddenly assaults your nose as you begin to crawl your way out of the ship. As if you’ve stepped out into a new world, you were reborn into some foreign land, you make your way out of your ship.

With Naomi and Coraline following suit, you close the door behind the three of you and lock it tightly before turning back to them. Naomi speaks up first as she holds up her display, “I’ll contact you with where we should meet up later. Probably some bar food, they’re usually always cheap.”

“Alright,” you look to Coraline who’s standing to your side with a sucker’s stick poking out from between her lips, “we’ll catch up with you then. Take care.”

“You too,” Naomi says as she turns away, shrugging her thick coat to get it closer to herself. As you watch her step out of the gate and into the stream of people on the metal walkway that connects the landing pads, you sigh. Hope she don’t get herself in trouble.

You turn to Coraline who was watching Naomi leave as well before turning her face to you. Her silver white hair glowing like a halo around her indifferent and expressionless face in the white industrial lights. She, with her hands in her green overcoat pockets point towards the gate as if to say for you to lead the way.

>”Let’s head to Adam’s apartment,” you knew the guy since forever. You also knew where to go and all you really have to do is get inside and try to find out what happened to him. He probably left something behind in there, maybe something whoever screwed him over didn’t notice.
>”I’m going to have to make a call right now and then we can start heading out.” You have one contact in this place and it’s probably wise to use it. You’re going to call Abigaile.
>”I think we should try to look around a little bit. Maybe visit one of the stores that sells whatever you wanted to get.” Get familiarized with the station a little bit. Like any city it would be smart to figure out which places are smart to go to and which places aren’t. Never know what could be lurking in the next turn.
>[write-in]

>>3186514
Thanks man, really fucking fun writing again after being away from it for so long

>>3187349
>”Let’s head to Adam’s apartment,” you knew the guy since forever. You also knew where to go and all you really have to do is get inside and try to find out what happened to him. He probably left something behind in there, maybe something whoever screwed him over didn’t notice.

>>3187349
>Let's get your medicine, search for a map and go straight there to deal with this once and for all. Call abigaile when we are there or after we leave the store

>>3187374
This.

Let's wait to go into Adam's apartment until Naomi is with us, she is better at investigating stuff and will probably see things we miss

>>3187374
>>3187382
>two for taking a walk

Writing!

>>3187374
Yep, supports. And I think it would be a good idea to visit Adam's apartment when FUCKING NEVER

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>>3187349
“There should be an information station up ahead,” you say as you take out your display and check the time before quickly putting it back into your pocket. You look up at Coraline, she’s wearing one of your simple shirts with some stylized lion’s face on it. Thinking about it she probably needs to buy some clothes but you’re not too sure how much money she has. In any case, you’re kind of blind in this place without a map or a direction on where to go.

She just watches you in return as she probably doesn’t know what else to say, or at least doesn’t want to say anything. You just jerk your head toward the gate and begin making your way toward it. The small river of people seem to be making their way to and from the ships being either workers or passengers making trips. Various men carrying large boxes pass the two of you as you near the sparsely crowded information stations. It’s probably the most people you’ve seen in one place, from people with augmented limbs carrying cargo to people in business suits making their way toward some unknown conference or just simple people walking toward stores and shops.

The information stations are circular pylon like structures placed at regular intervals beyond a secondary immigration gate that you’ve already passed through. They have booth like separators which divide the circle evenly. Each booth has a connection port and the dividers are probably there for privacy reasons. Some people are using them but most are just passing them by as you really only need to connect to them the first time you come to the station. You approach one of the more empty stations as you look around before grabbing a cord.

Taking the display in hand, you connect to one of the station’s various port cords and turn it on. The display glows dully as it shows a connection bar before turning to a multi-layered map with a bright white dot showing your current location. A legend on the left hand side of the screen shows various symbols and explanations for them but you’re pretty familiar with most of them except some of the more restricted or special symbols for areas you’re pretty sure you’ll never be able to go to.

Other than the yellow outline of the structure of the map and the symbols, there’s a second white dot right next to you. Something you somewhat understand is that it represents Coraline since she appeared on your contacts list when she joined up with you but you can’t see Naomi’s position. Most likely that she just turned it off and never had it on in the first place. Either way, you’ve always known that these displays could track you.

>>3187629
While standing among the crowded platform for a moment to look at the map, you place your finger on the screen. A line dotted connects your current position to the marker you just placed on a store. Disconnecting from the station, you turn to Coraline who seemed to be carefully watching a small group of men that are talking amongst themselves, “Coraline, let’s go grab that medicine you need, I’m going to look at the map for a bit.”

“Mmn,” she wordlessly agrees before turning back to you and giving you terse nod. You’re not sure what she was looking at or why but the two of you begin to make your way away from the crowd and imbed yourselves into the foot traffic toward the innards of the floating city-station. The shop you selected was something that you made sure was closer to the temporary residential areas. If you could, you’d rather not have to walk far from wherever you were staying at to get what Coraline needs. Plus the shop was close to a clothing store.

It doesn’t take you long to get to the store, in fact the store you chose to go to didn’t even require you to ride one of the station trams. As you approach the store’s large display window to the left of left of the door had various augments with a garden like row of greenery that made a stark contrast to the metal of the station. In particular, you notice the small white plant that flanked the store’s door. It’s something you’ve never really seen before but it had a faint specks of red lines which ran from the inside to the outer of the albino leaves of the plant.

>”You go on in, I’ll be out here. I need to make a call,” You’re a bit ways away from the port now and you’re even farther away from home. Contacts is what you need to work on so you’re going to call the only person you know that might help -- Abigaile.
>”You ready?” The two of you will go into the store together. It couldn’t hurt to look around plus you’re kind of wanting to see what books they have. The books Naomi bought you were great but now that you’ve read them, you’re wanting more.
>”I’m going to the store on the other side,” another reason why you wanted to come to this store in particular was not just because of the clothing store nearby but also a shop that sells ship parts.
>[write-in]

>>3187640
>”You ready?” The two of you will go into the store together. It couldn’t hurt to look around plus you’re kind of wanting to see what books they have. The books Naomi bought you were great but now that you’ve read them, you’re wanting more.

Now that Sam read the books, he should understand whatever explanation the store gives to Coraline. Right? In the same sense, maybe a techno-whatitsname-doctor should take a look. But that will make her illegal status known... Damn I don't even wanna enter the store now

>>3187640
>>”You go on in, I’ll be out here. I need to make a call,” You’re a bit ways away from the port now and you’re even farther away from home. Contacts is what you need to work on so you’re going to call the only person you know that might help -- Abigaile.

let's call our contact while she deals with that

>>3187640

>”You go on in, I’ll be out here. I need to make a call,” You’re a bit ways away from the port now and you’re even farther away from home. Contacts is what you need to work on so you’re going to call the only person you know that might help -- Abigaile.

>>3187675
>>3187749
>two for a phone call

Writing!

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>>3187640
You lean to your left a bit and crane your neck to get a glance into the store. Several mods line the back wall of the shop with some heavy-duty or expensive looking fancy mods sitting atop displays in the center as a curator stands behind a short counter. Turning back to Coraline, you look over her once more and then jerk your head to the store, “You go on ahead and go in, I need to make a call. I’m gunna be out here.”

“I...” Coraline pauses hesitantly as if she wanted to say something but instead nods and heads to the door, “Okay.”

She probably doesn’t want to go in alone but it’s not like you can help her much on that end. You’re not sure but she seems to have started acting a bit weird since you left the landing pad. She’s still quiet but every now and then she’d stop and look at a store or get interested in something if only for a passing moment. She probably didn’t do that at Milo because there wasn’t much to look at and since the two of you were stuck in a ship for weeks on end she would naturally want to stretch her legs a bit. But still, you never pinged her for being the curious type.

You shrug to yourself and push out your thoughts as you take out your display. Turning it on, you quickly slide through the short contacts list and find the number you put in this morning while you were getting ready to land. The name of ‘Abigaile’ lights up in a dull white as you press on it, soon you head a tone as you hold it out in front of you. While waiting, you glance around your surroundings, with the shop behind you as you lean against a wall.

There’s a few stores near including a clothing store but also a mechanics store as well a few others that sell various items. The station was definitely larger than that little one in Milo and you’ve started to be less amazed as you go on. The corridors didn’t feel like cramped footpaths but expansive roads with walkways flanking the center road. Though there’s no actual cars like on Haven, there’s still public trams and bikes that you can ride or drive down the middle.

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>>3187893
“Hello? Oh, Mr. Ward!” Soon a voice takes you away from your thoughts as you turn back to your display. The image of the short but refined young woman takes up your display as she tries to move a strand of golden hair that was covering her face. A small smile rose from her lips as she spoke your name and you feel somewhat relieved at this fact. Though she’s still a part of Arcady, you feel that she could be trusted since she was the one to reach out to you in the first place.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you anytime soon, did..” she gets a bit quieter as she leans in, crossing her arms on what appears to be a desk. She doesn’t seem to be in the place you had met with her previously and she seemed to be wearing a more casual type of clothes than the formal and elegant short red dress she wear last time. “Did you make it to Leo just fine? Something happened a few weeks ago in Unity that I heard about. A few government transports were hit with some kind of EMP that took out their engines, thought of you when I heard of Unity in the news.”

“Ah.. no, I don’t know anything about that,” could it be that I do? You had a gut feeling it had something to do with those C.I.T.F. group but you wouldn’t be sure right now. “But yeah… made it here. Leo’s a pretty big place, I made a few friends on my way here but I was wondering if you found out anything while I was on my way.”

“Anything new..” she says as she leaned back into a sphere-like squishy chair. In fact, as she moved away the room she was in looked like the walls were painted pink and you could see at least a stuffed animal on one of the pink colored shelves to her right. “Hmm..” she looks around at her desk before making a surprised gasp as she reaches for something behind the screen. Leaning back again, it looks like she had a short note of some kind, “There was a recent notice for another job offering. Another girl was to arrive not in Milo but in Leo for the opening. Seems like a pretty promising lead but she’s not supposed to arrive until a few months out and she doesn’t seem like the previous girls that went missing.”

>”I like the way you decorated your room, good color,” make a joke.
>”Anything else? Do… do you know anything about a guy named Baker? I heard of him on the way here.” She is a good contact in Arcady and she probably knows a lot more on the inside than Naomi, on the outside.
>”Is she being hired by Ryen?” He’s the one being in charge of the recruitment process for the other girls. He’s also the reason why Adam was killed.
>”Anything new on the guy who took Adam’s job, John Colby?” He’s the most likely person to know something about Adam but he’s probably also the easiest to get to.
>[write-in]

>>3187895
>”Is she being hired by Ryen?” He’s the one being in charge of the recruitment process for the other girls. He’s also the reason why Adam was killed.

I'd love to prevent another death

>>3187895

>”I like the way you decorated your room, good color,” make a joke.

>”Is she being hired by Ryen?” He’s the one being in charge of the recruitment process for the other girls. He’s also the reason why Adam was killed.

Both of these

>>3187978
I'm ok with this but make the joke after the serious talk.

I have veen meanong to ask, how does the ship sensors work? I understand they are not automatic like a radar and can be traced back to whoever is using them

>>3188014
Well, the current sensors on the ship are outdated as well as just being poor equipment in general. During production, the original idea for them were to provide a nearly 3-d map of the surroundings by sending basically a sonar out and receiving the pings. This of course wasn't a military program but a civilian program used for mining or salvaging as well as general position information. The sonar is sent out and then it returns to the ship, once it returns the information is collected and went through by a program that reads and organizes it. The information can, however, be intercepted much like how the signal from the ship you guys found a few threads back was intercepted. The person who intercepted it will be able to then get a vague understanding of your whereabouts due to how it works.

There's some automatic and more expensive sensors that you can buy later on that doesn't have this much of a drawback to them but when Samuel was constructing the ship, he thought that they would be useful in figuring out construction work. They were on the cheap end when you got them but don't expect much if you're wanting to sell them / trade them in for something,

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>>3188014
>>3188032
oh also here's the floor plans

>>3187918
>>3187978
>>3188012

>3 for poking some fun + Ryen's reasons

Writing!

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>>3187895
“Ah..” you take a moment of pause as you look at the girl in front of you as well as her room. “You know, I think that pink really suits you.”

A few seconds of realization sets in as Abigaile’s face turns from a pink to a brighter shade of red before a nervous smile unbefitting of her cracks over her elegant nature. Quickly she leans forward and tries to take the rest of the screen up with herself, covering the pink room. “Oh... ha ha... ah...” she trails off as she looks away aimlessly, “No, it’s… uhh, just I was… “

Her voice lowers in a kind of whisper as she ends the sentence before collapsing her head into her hands, covered by the thick wool looking hoodie she was wearing. Her blond hair scatters and you see posters of singers, artists you’ve never heard of, and pictures of animals that decorate the wall behind her. Without her looking you smirk a bit before shaking your head.

“I mean, I like stuffed animals too,” you reply forcing yourself to not crack a smile yourself at the now flustered girl.

“It’s!” she shouts before lowering her voice again as she shoots up from her desk, “No, it’s just I was in my… I’m visiting my parents now and they never changed the room when I left.”

After a long moment of her silence, the short girl looks up with a sort of pout on her now red face. “You don’t mention this to anyone, alright?”

“Alright, alright. Lips are sealed, your highness,” you say without resistance, “besides, we were talking business. Just got distracted’s all.”

“Right..” she says, narrowing her eyes.

“Anyways…” you take a breath and watch as the cool air condenses into a fog, “you were talking about the missing girls.”

>>3188146
After long deliberation, she returns to her former stature and returns to you, “Yeah, the notice about them changing locations from Milo to Leo… I’m not too sure what they’re doing exactly though.”

“Well, do you know who is doing the recruitment? I know your boss, Zachary was overlooking the ones sent to Milo but did you notice if there was a Ryen mentioned… a Weston Ryen?” you say, before turning around to peek into the store making sure that Coraline is still in there.

“Where did you hear that name?” Abigaile says abruptly before you turn back.

“I heard it from a friend, from what I know he’s the one who is supposed to be take in the girls and help them get settled in. Most of the recruitment work goes through him is all I know,” you reply matter-of-factly as you lay out everything you heard from Naomi.

“Well... “ she trails off, “Mr. Ryen works as a sort of human resources officer and I’ve met him a few times… well, his work mainly includes evaluations and handling of confidential information like personal records. He works with a few others directly under Dr. Young but Mr. Ryen was hired along with much of Dr. Baker’s personnel from Baker’s personal research installation. Ryen did a lot of screening for Baker but he also did a lot of the relations work as well.”

“Ah, so the man is more or less likely the one who chooses who gets who, for Baker’s branch that is,” you say a bit aimlessly as you just clarify for yourself.

“Yeah… “ Abigaile agrees.

>”Anything new on the guy who took Adam’s job, John Colby? Since Ryen hired him, do you think that he’s connected?” He’s the most likely person to know something about Adam but he’s probably also the easiest to get to.
>”What about Baker? All I know is the dude’s a creep and he likes his test tubes. Thought Splicer tech wasn’t all that popular anymore, why the move with him?”
>”Do you think this girl is a part of this? Why the sudden change with her? What’s the difference between her and the other girls?”
>[write-in]

>>3188159

>”Anything new on the guy who took Adam’s job, John Colby? Since Ryen hired him, do you think that he’s connected?” He’s the most likely person to know something about Adam but he’s probably also the easiest to get to.

>>3188159
>”Do you think this girl is a part of this? Why the sudden change with her? What’s the difference between her and the other girls?”

The giiirl. The new giiiirl

>>3188159
>>”Anything new on the guy who took Adam’s job, John Colby? Since Ryen hired him, do you think that he’s connected?” He’s the most likely person to know something about Adam but he’s probably also the easiest to get to.

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>>3188226
>>3188176
>2 for anything new

Writing! oh and I guess this one kind of works for Abigaile

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>>3188159
“What about John Colby, the guy who stole my job?” you say a bit bit dryly as the memory of what happened comes to you. You’re not exactly sure what happened but directly after Adam died, this guy took his position. If anything, it seemed suspicious with what surrounded his rise to the position. He’s definitely on your list of people you need to ‘get to know’.

“Oh, Mr. Colby? Well, Mr. Ward, he seems to still be on station but he recently put an application for something. All I know is that he bought a new house on station three and registered for an advanced program under the recommendation of Ryen’s co-lead, Mr. Cook,” she pauses, “but I did hear about something else.”

“What did you hear and what does this advanced program mean?”

“Well the advanced program is connected to what I’m about to say but it’s entirely connected to Dr. Baker’s branch,” she said while leaning forward, “There was another larger recruitment notice for construction workers.”

After she leans back and pauses, you frown a bit and know that you have to ask directly for it, “What does that have to do with Baker’s branch, isn’t that usually dealt with by the General branch?”

“Exactly!” she says before sighing and continuing, “There working on infrastructure but from the details it does not state zero-gravity construction.”

“So that means... “ you ask confused.

“That means they’re not working on a station but on a planet. They’re building something on Leo.”

“What--”

“I don’t know,” she cuts you off, “the whole thing seems strange to me and the fact that it’s under Baker directly rather than Young makes it all the stranger. Leo is a protected land and there’s only one installation on the surface and it’s only a base to interact with the Spliced that live on the planet. Meaning a hospital, housing, and that kind of sort for the spliced that can think and talk.”

“So you’re saying that not only is somethin’ strange’s going on down there but Baker’s part of it too? Colby mustuv been some kind of person to help make it all smooth too since whatever’s going on, he’s working on it. You said station three?” you say pausing as you take a mental note of it, whatever is going on seems odd to say the least. Abigaile nods slowly to your last question, “Thanks.”

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>>3188322
“What about you, what are you going to do?” She asks quickly before you did much else.

“I’m going to try to get some answers. Might go visit Colby or might apply for a construction job, not sure yet but it’s connected to the girls and Adam so it’s something, at least.” you say as you trail off a bit, “Anyways, you know anything about Adam’s apartment? Is it still here?”

“Yeah, it’s still there but I doubt you’ll get much information from it since from what I heard, the system security had already cleaned most of it out. Actually it’s up for sale currently, fully furnished too…” she finishes somewhat quietly with a sad looking smile. As you smile back, you hear the sound the door open behind you and you turn around to see Coraline standing in the doorway. She has a slight frown on her face as she eyes you for a moment.

“How did it go, did you get everything you needed?” you ask as she walks toward you with her hands in her pockets. She gives you a shrug and peers over your shoulder to the screen. Coraline probably recognized the face too and Abigaile gives a faint smile as Coraline attaches herself to your side.

“I want to leave,” Coraline said as she hooks her arm around yours without answering your question. Before you’re able to answer the curator from inside opens the door, trying to catch up with Coraline. The older lady gives you a look as well as Coraline with wide eyes as she stares at the two of you.

“Look, girl,” the curator tries to start, “What--”

“No,” Coraline says indignantly before turning away from her and facing you before leaning in and whispering, “Samuel, let’s go…”

____________________________________________________________________

I’m going to stop right here for tonight and pick it back up tomorrow earlier than I started today. Hope you guys have been enjoying it so far. What do you guys think of Abigaile and her room or what do you guys think is going on with Leo? Your first day on the planet and you found out a lot from your call with Abigaile…

Twitter: Kov_QM
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=FHQ
Discord: https://discord.gg/QznmEus

>>3188330
Does Coraline speaks like Yin from Darker Than Black?

Also I knew going into a store was bad bussines!!

man, Abigaile is too cute when flustered

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>>3188330
You look to your arm linked with Coraline’s as she is pushing you along and then back to the lady still standing in the doorway of her store before returning to the display in your left hand. Abigaile’s expression is probably the same as your own, one mixed of confusion and as if you accidentally walked in on someone else’s conversation. It was a kind of expression that felt apologetic at the same time. You sigh in your heart before giving Abigaile a shrug and saying, “I got to go, I’ll call you in a few days if anything comes up.”

“Later,” Abigaile replies with a small smile before your screen turns from her bright background to the black inert screen of your display. Pocketing it, you turn back to Coraline how’s still wordlessly urging you to get away from the sales lady and the store. You’re not sure what happened but you start walking away with wherever Coraline is dragging you off to.

“Where are we going?” you ask as Coraline still forcefully pushing you to some direction.

“Away,” she replies without really answering anything.

“Did.. somethin’ happen in the store I should know about?”

“No.”

“Alrigh--”

“She doesn’t want to help,” Coraline cuts you off as she stops abruptly, facing you toward her. Her overcoat collar obscures her mouth as talks. Pausing for a moment as she stared straight at you before turning away as she starts pulling you along as she starts to walk again. As the two of you walk, you hear her faintly mumble something but you don’t catch it all, “... don’t… need… “

As the two of you continue to walk, you match her speed as she becomes less frantic in her walking pace. She probably doesn’t know where you’re going but as the two of you reach a opening to another larger commercial area, she pauses. The two of you look around for a moment and you point over to a store with various clothes lining in the display windows, “Well, why don’t we head in there. You need some clothes, don’t you?”

Coraline stops looking around and turns to face you as if trying to gauge something. Opening, pausing, then closing her mouth, she tries to say something but instead just nods and says, “okay.”

>”Those shirts over there look like the ones you like,” don’t try to butt in on whatever happened in the store. She didn’t get anything and she probably doesn’t want to talk about it.
>”So… what did she say?” bring it up when you’re in the store. Since you’re far enough away from the other shop, she would probably at least say something even if it’s not entirely useful.
>”You… don’t need that medicine, do you?” you’re not sure why but that’s what it sounded like when she mumbled but… what does that mean?
>[write-in]

>>3189737
>>”You… don’t need that medicine, do you?” you’re not sure why but that’s what it sounded like when she mumbled but… what does that mean?

so why did I haul you across space for a month if you didn't need it?

>>3189787
This but be nice about it

>>3189737
>”You… don’t need that medicine, do you?” you’re not sure why but that’s what it sounded like when she mumbled but… what does that mean?

We already learnt she doesn't need eeeeet.

>>3189737
Can we do someting else besides?
>[write-in] Call family. And show off the cutie albino short haired woman we are buying clothes with

we learned enough to think that she is a custom of some kind, either memory wiped, made from scratch or something like this, it's possible that she was never a child I think
a tube grown person perhaps? do those exist in the setting?

if they do exist I think she might be one of those the lack of memory indicated to me that she was either memory wiped or created recently
the tube numbers and similar people being transported with her reinforces that, that and the lack of social cues and the almost robotic state we first found her
after living a month with us she is acting more human-like, learning from us, picking up things we do and say

>>3189737
>”You… don’t need that medicine, do you?” you’re not sure why but that’s what it sounded like when she mumbled but… what does that mean?

>>3189912
test tube babies exist. In fact, the Imperialists use them for their Lords and Ladies since they found a way to transfer consciousness through it. UGE uses a sort of cloning as well for military purposes but not all the time since it's imperfect.

>>3189787
>>3189840
>>3189865
>>3189988
> four for no more medicine

writing!

>>3190006
>military purposes
>imperfect

Yeah, the forgetful girl full of mil grade augs seems like a fit for Coraline as military tube baby experiment

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>>3189737
As the two of you enter the clothing store, you’re greeted by a saleslady and then directed to the ladies clothing area after saying what you were here for. Most of the clothes seem like simple shirts, pants, summer dresses, along with various accessories like belts and jackets. While Coraline slowly separates herself from your side, you keep an eye on her. What she mumbled made you question her more than the first time you met her.

As she was looking at a particularly pink shirt and fluffy looking sweater thing, you lean over a separating low wall, “you…” you start to say slowly trying to break the silence a little bit, “you don’t need the medicine do you?”

As you finish your sentence, Coraline simply puts the shirt and sweater back onto the rack to face you with the same unreadable expression she always keeps on. “No.”

“Why…” you know it wasn’t her fault for not telling you. You’re pretty sure she was thoughtlessly following the advice the shopkeeper from Milo gave her. What you found that day was more like a lost cat than anything. She didn’t know much and she still doesn’t. Either it was some sort of sickness or something, you never really figured it out. All you really know is that whatever she has in her is clearly custom made. “I mean… how’d you… or really, what did she say?”

“She said it wouldn’t work on me,” Coraline says indifferently as she puts her hands into her coat pockets. “It wasn’t rejection that I was feeling, Doug was wrong.”

“Who’s Doug?”

“The owner of the Cybernetics and Bioware store in Milo,” she replies simply. Ah right.. ‘Doug.’ She probably remembers most things perfectly with her augs… man, those are really somethin ain’t they?

“Oh, right. Well, what else did that lady say though? You seemed pretty mad when you left.”

“Nothing,” Coraline says as she turns and walks toward another stand of clothing. As she was looking through some of the pants, you follow her and prop yourself up on the pillar that was a part of the low wall. She doesn’t seem like she really wants to continue with talk about the cybernetics and as you thought this she changes the conversation, “I don’t like any of these either.”

She had already stopped looking at the pants and made her comment about some frilly dresses. She has been wearing your clothes for the past month or so but you didn’t expect her to not like normal girl clothes. She then takes out the now finished sucker, finds the empty wrapper in her pocket and places it in before taking out a new sucker.

>>3190215
“Ah…” you sigh as you watch her look at the clothes, she really needs to find at least something she likes so she could stop wearing your clothes. She seemed interested in the pink shirt but you don’t think the reason why she was looking at it was because she liked it. Well if she doesn’t want to talk about it then… “Alright. There’s some more stuff over there too but before that… what’re you gunna do now that the medicine you wanted won’t help?”

She pauses from looking at the shirts and turns back to you, “I don’t know.” she pauses before turning back to the clothes, “but you need help too.”

>”Yeah… well. If you’re going to help me then you need to help yourself first. We should go see a specialist about your augs later then.” she needs to get what’s wrong with her in order.
>”It’s not something you should get yourself into, besides Naomi and I will handle it,” even if you wanted her to help you. She’s probably going to just mess something up.
>”Ah… ha… yeah… no, that’s good. I’d like you to stick around, besides, I’m going to have to get a lot more help if I’m going to get something done in a place like this.”
>”I wasn’t thinking you would stick with me for too long after we got to Leo, aren’t you going to go try to figure out what happened with yourself?”
>[write-in]

>>3190219
>>”Yeah… well. If you’re going to help me then you need to help yourself first. We should go see a specialist about your augs later then.” she needs to get what’s wrong with her in order.

>>3190219
>Well, yeah, me and Naomi are probably going to need all the help we can get, and we can try to help you out too.

I was thinking of going to a specualist but that will probably alert someone that is looking for her, those government ships that showed up at her old transport indicate that people are looking for her and the first place they will check is the specialists.

Also, she learned a lot about social interactions, she was clearly lost when we found her and now she is more and more eloquent, she probably just activated and has no memory of ever being a child or having a normal life.

>>3190219
>”Ah… ha… yeah… no, that’s good. I’d like you to stick around, besides, I’m going to have to get a lot more help if I’m going to get something done in a place like this.”

Yep, going to more aug shops is a big no no. We should look to silence the other dude, the aug shop one where Coraline went.

>>3190247
Supporting

I think she is custom made by the military and those terrorists activated her by accident before the proper programs or such had been installed, that's why she us having to learn everything on her own and trusted everything people told her in the beginning.

I also wanna learnw hy she reacted so violently against the terrorists. When she was activated she murderized everyone, if I recall

>>3190354
Military instincts, I'm telling you!

>>3190247
>>3190274
>two for all of us

Writing!

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>>3190219
“I ain’t the only one, Coraline, we all need help but I ain’t gunna stop you from tagging along…” you sigh in resignation. She probably won’t tell you everything since she doesn’t know much herself. You just wish there was something you could do to get her to remember not because you want her to leave and find her family or whatever but because her not knowing her past would only hurt her. You could tell that with her not knowing the past is something that has been bothering her for a while but you just feel helpless. You could always try to talk with the C.I.T.F. and see if they would help her but from what Naomi said, they’re not trustworthy enough.

You never thought that one day you would even come to distrust your own government. Of course there’s things that you never would know that goes on behind the scenes or things that would endanger the government if people found out but when it comes to someone you personally came to trust… you just kind of feel nauseous. The schooling you’ve done all taught you to trust the government and to understand them but it doesn’t fit with what’s happening.

The C.I.T.F is dangerous and that means Coraline is in danger. You did say you would help her and putting her in danger isn’t something that you’re willing to do just to get some answers. Prying too hard or finding someone to pry will only lead to her getting hurt. You can’t trust specialists to think the same way you think and you can’t trust going to an Aug shop would do anything to benefit yourself either. Besides, you couldn’t live with yourself if such a pretty, helpless girl like Coraline got into something like that.

She needs you, or at least you’re the only one who she can trust. She might have chose you because you were there but you can’t help but feel like it was some kind of fate or destiny like those in stories. School might have taught you that U.G.E is final in everything but it also taught you to be a man of values and morals. To be a man of morals might just become a man who questions.

Everything just seems to have gotten a whole lot more dangerous when even the government is against you… you ache in your heart as you watch Coraline look through the clothes. You’re not too sure what you can do to help this stray, hell you have two strays to look after now. You knew this whole thing was dangerous the moment you set out. It’s only just now coming with real life consequences. To protect and uphold your values always comes at a cost when those are not the same as others.

>>3190751
Even if everyone is strong and willful, they are only just themselves. The idea of the government was the idea of unity, the strength of many. It’s the reason why they fight so hard to maintain it. But you also have something to fight for, maybe just maybe you have some kind of chance to scrape by if you forget about it all and walk away to follow the safest path but there’s nothing that way that everyone here doesn’t know.

Whether she’s kind of killer robot that the government is trying to collect and conceal or she’s just another person like you or anyone else in the store, she’s still here. Even if she doesn’t show it, she has emotions and her own will. She’s Coraline. You smile to yourself as you watch her take something off the rack and place it up to herself, looking into a mirror as she does. While you were watching her, she catches your eyes in the mirror before looking up, “what?”

Your small smile widens the moment she spoke, “oh… uh, nothing, I was just thinking that I’m glad you’re not thinking of leaving any time soon.”

“Oh…” she trails off as she returns the black somewhat frilly looking dress to the rack she found it on. God that was a bit cheesy, maybe she thinks I’m weird for staring at her. Not to mention what I said… ‘I’m glad you’re not leaving soon’ what would Naomi say if she heard me… why am I thinking of her now… ahhh!! you lament in your heart as your thoughts carry you away from reality.

“Ah… that dress looked nice, it fits you pretty well, I think,” you blurt out, trying to keep the ball rolling even if you’re fumbling with your words. You did spend weeks with her but you’re still a bit clueless with how to actually talk with her since Naomi did most of the talking.

“It… does?” she asks somewhat quietly as she picks it up again and holds it out at a distance, inspecting it for a moment. “I’ll get it then.”

Oh no, what did I do? She did look good... and besides, what if she has to come along to some formal meeting with you. Sure the dress wasn’t super formal but it would work just as well. you try to justify to yourself for your own blurt out. The dress was just a nice black dress that looked nice, it’s not like it’s a big deal. People compliment each other on what they wear all the time, right? You don’t really know since most people around you wore clothes more for the utility aspect of it but the dress really looked like it would pull more feminine aspects out for Coraline.

>>3190754
“That’s good… I don’t have any money though so you’re going to have to pay for it if that’s fine… right?” you backtrack a bit, “anyways before you buy it, you should probably try it on since it’s the first time you’re, uh, buying clothes with the whole memory thing and all.”

That does remind you though that she probably needs to buy some more feminine articles… since you’re not even sure she’s wearing anything like that. Shaking your head from the now stranger thoughts, something you didn’t really want to think about her like that, you try to search for a store worker. Spotting someone in the store uniform, you wave them over and ask if they could open one of the changing rooms.

As the store clerk shows you to the changing rooms, you note some of the other departments of the store. Shoes and other things like that would probably be something the two of you need to go through and look for. Maybe you’ll get a worker to help you out with it besides, you’re not confident in yourself to actually help Coraline pick out some of the things she needs later down the line.

As Coraline pulls the curtain behind her, you can hear the rustling of clothes and see her coat be tossed over the top of the curtain. It doesn’t take her long but after a moment of silence, she opens the curtain and pulls you in before closing the curtain behind you. The dress looked to fit her pretty well but you’re not sure why she pulled you into the changing room. She seemed to not care as she turned around to show her back that was still unzipped. “It needs to be zipped.”

>”You know there’s a clerk I can get you…”
>”Alright alright, but maybe we should look for something that you can put on by yourself next.”
>”I told you, it looks great on you.”
>[write-in]

>>3190756
Aren't dresses a nono? Since, uhm, metal legs... Maybe black tights can help.

>”Alright alright, but maybe we should look for something that you can put on by yourself next.”

zzzip it sounds.

>>3190756
>”Alright alright, but maybe we should look for something that you can put on by yourself next.”

" and while you are at it you should pick a pair of pants and some shirts to use too."

Shes just getting a dress?

>>3190838
+1

>>3190838
>>3190896
>>3190774
>three for three

Writing!

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>>3190756
You raise your hands in mock defeat, “Alright, alright… just this once though, I don’t want the clerk to get the wrong idea.”

“Mn… thanks,” she says as you get closer to her. You’ve never done anything like this before and now from the clear view of her smooth unembellished back, she was not wearing a bra. Even though you’re slightly nervous, you place a hand on her side as you slowly raise the zipper up. As the dress tightens up around her, it takes her form even more clearly as it is properly put on. Even though you weren’t sure it fit her before, you’re positive that it’s almost a perfect fit. Did she know that when she picked it up? It always took you at least one or two tries to get the right size but Coraline… well she must have somehow looked it up.

The sound of the zipper stops as silence fills the changing room. She was already facing the mirror as you were zipping her up and so you just look into it to notice how it looks on her. It was definitely a dress that helped accentuate her waist and upper body as the lower part fans out into a sort of bell shaped. The end of the dress had an underside that was a frilly white and if you had to say, it would look great with some black thigh highs… though you’d probably never say that outloud.

Taking a moment, you back up and cough awkwardly. “Ahem, well like I said, it looks good on you.”

“You’re right, I’m beautiful,” she said without a hint of embarrassment as she faced you.

“You know you’re not supposed to call yourself beautiful…” you sigh.

“Then you say it,” she said with the same direct look on her face as always. Unchanging even when blatantly asking for a compliment.

“What? No… I mean… yes… I-I’m going to be waiting outside,” you say, waving your arms frantically, before you quickly pull yourself out of the small room. Well, she’s not wrong… but… She shouldn’t ask you to say that!! She’s crazy! Certainly no one would be in their right mind when asking someone to tell them that their beautiful. Besides, you didn’t let her on your ship just because of that, well, you didn’t let her on your ship for something like that, rather.

You sigh as you clear your head from your thoughts, “You should get some more clothes too… pants… shirts, some other stuff… I… i-I’m going to go find a clerk to help you.”

>>3191125
Before she’s able to reply to you, you’re already walking away from the changing room. Would be best to not stick around before she starts to try to ask you to help her take off the dress. That and you don’t really want to help her pick out bras and other feminine stuff. Someone else with the same… problems would be better to help her than you, a man. Besides, what would happen if Naomi had came to try to find you at a time like that? You’d be holding up panties or a bra or something and she’d catch you.

Why am I thinking of Naomi anyways? Sure you don’t want her to get the wrong idea but it’s not any different from her or the clerk, is it?. You sigh in your heart as you look around the store and spot the same clerk that helped you out before. She was finishing with talking to someone else before you waved her over. Honestly, it would be better if Naomi was here. She’d help Coraline out without questioning why Coraline doesn’t know her own bra size or what to buy. Although it is kind of nice being alone with her…

“Oh hey,” you say as you meet the clerk again. “So, we’re looking at a dress and we were thinking about getting some more stuff along with it. She’s in the changing room you brought us to earlier and needs help getting out of it, can you help with that, probably need some help picking out some things that go with it or… “

“Ah, no problem,” the girl gives you a reassuring smile. She probably just thinks the two of you are just some young hopeless couple and you’re taking Coraline on some kind of date or buying her some presents. Well, whatever, at least she knows I’m clueless with this.

You show the clerk the way to Coraline and watch as she enters after asking for permission from Coraline. You shake your head as you lament the fact that it’s probably something you should have done in the first place. After a moment, the Clerk and Coraline both exit the changing room one with an indifferent expression and another a little of a rosey embarrassment. Ah, I’m glad someone else feels the same damn way…

“Right…” the clerk starts off, “well I think that some thigh-high leggings would go well with these” YES!! “and maybe some nice dress shoes or heels or something, oh, and maybe a hand purse as well. And… if you want something else I think there's some more clothes that I can find that would fit any style you’re interested in. I think there’s a dress just like this one but it’s an open back so you can get in and out of it by yourself… plus I think you should buy some of, ahem, well some of what I said you should buy.”

>>3191128
Coraline looks away from the clerk and looks at you without a shred of embarrassment that the clerk clearly has. The clerk probably saw more than what she was asking for since you’re not sure Coraline is even wearing anything under her clothes. “I was… no.,” Coraline looks back at the clerk, “I’ll try on the other dress as well.”

“Alright, that sounds great,” she said somewhat happily. She probably didn’t expect a customer to go commando while trying on clothes, probably why she was urging Coraline to buy something to put on underneath. You’re not sure why you never thought of it in the past weeks, maybe you were too busy to notice or… well you’re somewhat glad that you hadn’t been thinking that she wasn’t wearing anything under there. “I can help you find your size in shoes, are you comfortable with heels?”

“No,” she replied plainly.

“W--” you speak up quickly after notice a hint of confusion and hurt from the direct way Coraline spoke from the expression of the clerk, “well she never has wore them before, I mean we can try some on if you can help.”

“Oh,” she pauses as she looks between the two of you with an awkward smile, “I see.”

Eh? well whatever, you’re going to to probably be here for awhile so you check your display while you wait. After around an hour Coraline, the clerk, and you all arrive at the counter to check out. Several bags filled with clothes that kind of resemble your own along with various other outfits that Coraline and the clerk picked out. All in all, it looked extremely expensive in total and the clerk looked to you with an expression of admiration as well expectancy.

Ha ha, jokes on her. I have no money… you sigh in your heart as the girl’s confusion grows as Coraline approaches first. After a moment of understanding, the clerk narrows her eyes at you with a tilt of her head and a kind of disappointing smile as she rings up everything.

Taking the four bags of clothes in both of your hands, you fumble around for your display. It’s only been around an hour and a half but it’s already noon so you start to mentally plan out what you’re going to do next.

It is now Noon

>Time to go back to the ship to store Coraline’s clothes. You’re not going to go walking around with these bags and you’re definitely not returning to any of the stores near that cybernetic shop.
>Find a small cafe, you’ve been dying to get some Cal in your system and Coraline kind of owes you one from almost killing you of embarrassment. You do need to just take a moment to calm down as well.
>Take the tram to some of the temporary residential areas. Naomi will be probably contacting you later and the three of you will be searching for a place to stay for the time but you want to try to figure things out beforehand.
>[write-in]

>>3191132
>Take the tram to some of the temporary residential areas. Naomi will be probably contacting you later and the three of you will be searching for a place to stay for the time but you want to try to figure things out beforehand.

>>3191165
>Take the tram to some of the temporary residential areas. Naomi will be probably contacting you later and the three of you will be searching for a place to stay for the time but you want to try to figure things out beforehand.

>Muh idle trolley talk. "So, what do you like the best? Clothes I mean"

>>3191132
>>Find a small cafe, you’ve been dying to get some Cal in your system and Coraline kind of owes you one from almost killing you of embarrassment. You do need to just take a moment to calm down as well.

>>3191165
>>3191262
>two for tram

writing!

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>>3191132
Shrugging, you adjust the weight of the bags in your arms as you take out the small display. The dull light adjusts so the ambience doesn’t drown it out as you begin to plot out your next course of action. Of course you would rather not be carrying these bags all day but you also have little time to act and wasting it on walking all the way back to your ship would only spend it needlessly. After some hesitation, you decide on heading out to look through some residential areas.

Making your way through the semi-busy streets of the station, you find an empty metal bench near an open plaza like structure. A statute stands proudly behind you as it shows off some majestic creature with the face of a lion but the general make of a man as he holds aloft a planet in a single hand. Taking a seat, you search through a general search of affordable places to stay on Station Zero One.

As you sit, you notice Coraline looking up blankly at the statue, probably interested in it. After a short moment, you stand back up and jerk your head for Coraline to follow before making your way toward one of the multiple tram stations. Like following a tributary river, you find the the source of the stream of people as you arrive in the tram station. You’re heading to a place that has, from what the reviews say, cheap rooms. It’s kind of distant from some places so you have to take the tram to travel to it.

The reason why you wanted to go searching for a place to stay so early is mainly you just wanted to get it over with without having to go through a long arduous process of waiting. Though you also kind of want to be seen as a bit of a forward thinker in front of Naomi and Coraline and you’re sure they’d appreciate you being progressive in the search for a warm bed and good shower. You dread the thought of standing in the same freezing water as you had in the past weeks as you have longed for the chance of a warm powerful shower.

Soon the sound of wind brings your attention toward the nearly silent tram as it begins to whistle past your face. Coraline and you stand up from a nearby bench as the doors open and people board and disembark without a word. You’ve never ridden a tram that was this busy but you have been on one of the larger trains that run through Haven. It was a completely different experience from this one.

You gather the large pink bags as you find a pair of empty seats. Coraline sits right by you as you watch the rest of the crowd slowly file into the tram. It’s not spacious as the train you had rode before but this is definitely something you could get used to. There’s not really anyone standing up and it isn’t as tightly packed as you had thought it would be since pretty much everyone has a seat to themselves. You give thanks as you turn to Coraline. Though it’s not as tightly packed, you still feel extremely close to her with your legs touching every now and then.

>>3191558
“So,” you say trying to bring up some kind of conversation since you know that it might take up to ten or more minutes to get where you’re heading. “We’re heading to the temporary housing and, well, I was kinda wondering what you thought of everything you picked out. The clerk lady seemed nice and you did get a lot of stuff. Did you get anything you really liked?”

“The clerk seemed… “ she mumbles as she takes out her sucker and looks at it, “I liked the dress.”

“Oh, yeah? I thought it matched you pretty good,” you say as you look at the several bags stuffed in your arms. The only reason you’re carrying them is because you’d feel bad if you made a girl carry something like this all day.

“Yeah,” she repeats you.

“Did you get anything else you liked?”

As she still held the sucker in her hand, she looked down at her, well your, shirt before looking at the bags you were carrying. Then she leaned back in the chair and shrugged without saying anything as she put the sucker back into her mouth. Maybe she didn’t get anything she really liked or she just doesn’t know what else she could say about it. As you think, she starts to reach into one of the bags and takes out something black, “I think these are neat.”

As you stared at it for a moment, you noticed what it was, it was a black laced bra. You eyes go wide with realization as you stare at it agape. After a momentary stun, you quickly reach out and snatch it as she was sizing it up to herself, “No, no no… you can’t do that here…”

“Why?” she asked as you quickly stuff the bra down in one of the bags trying not to draw too much attention to yourself although you already had a few curious eyes darting between you and Coraline.

“It’s!!” you say quickly before trying to lower your voice in embarrassment. You lean closely to her and begin to whisper, “Look, it ain’t decent if you go doing things like that, don’t you know what these are?”

“A bra,” she said without changing her own voice into a whisper to match yours. “How is it not decent?”

“Well, you know, they’re for… well, you just ain’t supposed to be showing them to just anyone,” you say trying to cover what you’re trying to say. You lament the fact that Coraline is about as hopeless as they come and if Naomi was here she would have… actually she probably would have tried to tease you more. As you take a cursory glance around, you catch a few other passenger’s eyes before they quickly look down and back into their own displays or books. They probably think you’re some kind of sadist while she’s some kind of exhibitionist. You sigh in your heart of hearts as you shake your head in disappointment. Besides, why the hell did the clerk help pick out something so flashy like this? Ain’t that basically lingerie?

>>3191563
You curse the too-helpful clerk as you throw your head back to look at the ceiling. Honestly you’re not sure what you were expecting when you were trying to bring up a conversation about her clothes. You take a look at the tram’s path as you note that you’re still two stops away from where you want to get off at.

Maybe you could try to get a conversation going again with Coraline, but you should stay away from the topic of clothing -- at least for now.

>”I’m pretty hungry since breakfast was just one of those stupid nutri-bars. Been dying to get some real food ever since we ran out of it. Naomi is a pretty damn good cook, isn’t she?” It’s still a ways away for whenever Naomi is supposed to contact you but you would rather have something to talk about that isn’t too serious and isn’t just staring at a wall.

>”Since your medicine won’t work, is there a way I can help to fix it? I doubt we should go to a specialist now but I ain’t a brain doctor.” Ever since you left the cybernetic shop you’ve been a bit worried about how you’re going to help Coraline out. For a fact you know there’s something wrong with her memory since you heard her say that she couldn’t access certain things.

>”Once we get set up I don’t think we’re going to be able to do much else but worry about Arcady. It’ll be dangerous from here on out and I’m just worried about how everything will turn out.”

>”How much do you know about what Naomi and I’m working on? You know about her sister and my friend Adam, right? If you’re sticking with us, you’ll probably going to be stuck with us even if you don’t like it.”

>[write-in]

>>3191567
>>”I’m pretty hungry since breakfast was just one of those stupid nutri-bars. Been dying to get some real food ever since we ran out of it. Naomi is a pretty damn good cook, isn’t she?” It’s still a ways away for whenever Naomi is supposed to contact you but you would rather have something to talk about that isn’t too serious and isn’t just staring at a wall.
Food Good

>>3191567
>>”How much do you know about what Naomi and I’m working on? You know about her sister and my friend Adam, right? If you’re sticking with us, you’ll probably going to be stuck with us even if you don’t like it.”

>>3191567

>”How much do you know about what Naomi and I’m working on? You know about her sister and my friend Adam, right? If you’re sticking with us, you’ll probably going to be stuck with us even if you don’t like it.”
Lets get her imput on it, maybe she can help us learn more about them like she looked up info abou us.

>>3191660
>>3191680
> two for train talk

Writing!

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>>3191567
Taking a hand, you use it to comb back some of your blond hair. You haven’t been able to get it cut since you left home so it’s been growing a bit long for your tastes. Honestly, it looks a bit unkempt and gets in the way as it feels almost as long as Coraline’s. You’re pretty sure Coraline has cut her own hair since every now and then you saw her hair set aside in the shower which is how she probably kept it at that length. You’re not sure how she kept it so even and well-looking though.

As you brush your hair back, you glimpse at Coraline as she seemed to be staring out the other side of the tram. The metal walls that enclose it in the tunnel every now and then part ways to show the station’s streets or even a large window which shows the stars beyond. You’ve only become more impressed as you continue to go through the station as it’s almost like a monument to everything mankind has achieved so far. It truly is a city floating in the sky. Something so imperial that it states it boldly for all to see yet it’s still dwarfed by nature’s own majesty.

The industrial monument to all that was, a testament to your predecessors and a statement to the ones who claim the mantle next. Yet it is but an empty echo and not some immortal sentiment for ages to come. A temporary art that exists as long as we do. It’s awe is measured in experience of those who witness it. That is why it is having such an impact on you, a simple boy from the sticks.

There’s so much out there that you have yet to experience and even the people sitting next to you have a wealth of knowledge that makes what you know as small as a mouse. One that has just started crawling around this very station. But, you came here for a purpose, unlike a mouse. Yours is not the act of survival but one of seeking truth. A truth most horrible.

You smile as Coraline notices that you’ve been watching her for a minute or so. She watches you from the corner of her eyes as she still faces the windows. “So, hey, Coraline, what all do you know about what we are doing here? I mean…” you lean in closer as you begin to whisper, “What all you know about the things we have to do here?”

>>3192009
“You’re here for Adam,” she replies bluntly as she cranes her neck, looking up at the ceiling of the tram. “And Naomi is here for her friend, Sumi.”

“Yeah, she’s here for her sister, Sumi. You do know why, though?”

“Yes. She’s in danger and he’s dead. You both want to know why,” she said as she lets her head fall to face you at an odd angle, “Friend.”

“Yeah, we’re friends, Coraline,” you say a bit confused as you look to the tram’s next arrival, your exit. “Anyways, Sumi is one of the lost girls that we’re going to find out what happened to and if we can, rescue them. Naomi, along with a few others, said that Sumi was supposed to be getting a job at Leo but she became missing and supposedly never arrived. Best bet is that she was taken. This is, course, connected to Adam. He was used as some kinda scapegoat for whoever done it. So if we find the killers, we find Sumi and vice versa. Basically we’re here to lay low for a while and figure things out.”

“Sumi,” Coraline repeats as you turn back to her to see if she understood it. She narrows her eyes slightly as she says the name but as she is about to open her mouth again the tram began to slow down and the intercom system began to blare that you’ve arrived at the next tram station.

You nod to Coraline who understood the reason more or less before you stood up. “Right, let’s get going. There’s probably not much more time before Naomi calls us to come to the bar or whatever.”

Shrugging to adjust the bags, you step out from the tram with Coraline in tow as you make your way toward the exit of the platform. Squeezing yourself out from the crowds, you pass through the checkpoint before making it to a less crowded plaza.

>”Right, well first we’ll head to the cheapest place. They said that they have a few places open but they’re all either one or two bedroom and a shared bathroom. Kitchens and all are community but there’s the bonus of everything being basically provided.”
>”There’s a pretty decent place that has really private rooms, the place only has stock of the same room so they’re all two twin size beds, a full shower, two rooms and a kitchen. It’s not that large but it’s compact and has everything there.”
>”I’m looking forward to the good showers… there’s a place with pretty great water and a full kitchen, three bedroom with full sized mattresses. Really good steal for this kind of place only that it’s a bit expensive compared to the others, about fifty plus more standards than the rest which are about the same give or take a dozen or so standards, per day that is.”

>>3192013
>>”Right, well first we’ll head to the cheapest place. They said that they have a few places open but they’re all either one or two bedroom and a shared bathroom. Kitchens and all are community but there’s the bonus of everything being basically provided.”
Can also be used to help her learn to socialize

>>3192045

Writing!

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>>3192013
You take out your display while shifting the weight of the bags to one arm. Checking the map again, you look up to get your bearing slightly before returning the display to your pocket. “Right, well first things first…” you turn to Coraline, “there’s a place not too far from here called the Saffron Lodge, it’s the cheapest place I could find and the online reviews ain’t that bad…”

Coraline nods slowly as she watches the water of the plaza’s fountain spring up and flow down. “Okay.”

You tap Coraline’s shoulder as you lead her toward the hotel. From the reviews you read that it wasn’t that bad but most of the things were shared space. The showers shared with the room adjacent so if you wanted to get a shower to yourself you’d probably have to get two rooms right by each other… which honestly isn’t a bad idea either. Kitchen and everything else are community though but they do have an ‘outdoor’ lounge kind of deal where it’s more or less a large area for games, news, and whatnot.

Most of the houses have two rooms and a larger one in the center with a door to the shower where the other house is the same. The larger room could be used as a dining area and the two rooms are fairly small with enough space for a twin bed and a desk or so. As you look along the street to check for the names you spot the place you were looking for, in big bright red letters -- Saffron Lodge.

The outside seemed a bit dirty as a pair of dead, shriveled plants flank the side of the door. A window opens up to the front desk and you can see a disheveled old man sitting at the counter waiting for customers with a large door behind him to his right and a series of key cards to his left. As you enter the place you can clearly smell the buildup of some kind of strange odor that really only reminds you of whenever you visited your grandparents.

It wasn’t a kind smell of nostalgia either but a reek of deprecitcy. As you approach the old man begins to awake from some sort of stupor as he blinks a few times as he blankly stares at you for a moment, “Ah… yes, welcome to the Saffron Lodge. Today we are cooking a nice meal, something you’ll love I know it. Anyone lodging here is able to eat a bowl.”

You swallow a bit at the mention of free food but steel yourself as you nod, “I was actually lookin to see about this place. Heard it was pretty good, you got any maps or anything? What about the rates for the rooms or something like that?”

>>3192259
“Well…” he says slowly, “I can take you around to show you the place for a second. Whoever told you this was a good place knows where to look!” he says as he taps the counter twice, “Anyways, we got a few houses open for you, they’re all the same since the larger rooms have been bought out. Some folks coming in in a few days called in ahead for em.”

“Oh that’s fine we don’t--” probably shouldn’t tell him you don’t have any money. you stop yourself, “we don’t… really care about the larger rooms.”

“Ah, well the rooms we do have are small separated beds so if you and the missus is fine with sleeping in separate beds then it’s all good,” he says as he nods sagely.

“Wait, ah, no we’re not… “

“Bah! Young ones don’t have to be so embarrassed… just don’t make too much noise,” he says with a crooked smile as he turns away to open the door behind him. He waves you on through as he leads you to a large open area. It’s basically an open rectangle with the rooms embedded in the walls forming two floors with stairs connected them in the corners. There’s a small garden with oppressive lights fixed to the high ceiling. This is probably what it meant by an outdoor lounge. “Well, all the rooms we have are all twenty-five a night or one-sixty if you pay by the week. Save yourself fifteen ain’t bad, no?”

“Can I see the rooms?” you ask as you look around. A few of the tenants are walking about the place, some are leaning against the upper floor railing or sitting on benches in the lounge area. The doors are all painted red with black numbers marking them off.

“Sure!” the old man says as he leads you upstairs to one of the empty rooms. After fumbling with a key card, the door unlocks and a room with the smell of cigarette smoke and some kind of nondescript moldy smell rushes to you. A small room with three doors, two on the left and one on the right, sits in front of you. A small round table with four chairs sits on top of an old, rough looking carpet.

Taking a moment to breath it all in and adjust your expectations, you open one of the doors to the bedrooms. A small bed that could only fit a single person sits in a corner while a small desk and chair lies tucked in the opposite corner. The room is about the length of the bed and you’re a bit amazed in how they were able to fit the bed in it. It’s unsurprisingly about the same as you had expected it to be. A cheap room and a cheap living condition is what you can buy with only twenty-five a day it seems. But if you can fit all three people in here then you should be fine.

>>3192262
You close the door without testing the bed and turn to the old man. He gives you a smile as you nod slowly, “I’ll come back later today but I’m pretty sure we’ll be staying here.”

You give the old man a fake promise, but who knows, once you talk things out with Naomi then you might stay here. Coraline, of course, would probably never care so asking her won’t really help. As you make your way to the lounge area and as you check your display again, you check your list. Naomi will probably call you soon though.

>”There’s a pretty decent place that has really private rooms, the place only has stock of the same room so they’re all two twin size beds, a full shower, two rooms and a kitchen. It’s not that large but it’s compact and has everything there.”
>”I’m looking forward to the good showers… there’s a place with pretty great water and a full kitchen, three bedroom with full sized mattresses. Really good steal for this kind of place only that it’s a bit expensive compared to the others, about fifty plus more standards than the rest which are about the same give or take a dozen or so standards, per day that is.”
>Just wait here, you don’t really want to go walking around for a while.
>[write-in]

>>3192263

>”There’s a pretty decent place that has really private rooms, the place only has stock of the same room so they’re all two twin size beds, a full shower, two rooms and a kitchen. It’s not that large but it’s compact and has everything there.”

Let's have at least two options

>>3192263
>>”There’s a pretty decent place that has really private rooms, the place only has stock of the same room so they’re all two twin size beds, a full shower, two rooms and a kitchen. It’s not that large but it’s compact and has everything there.”

>>3192540
>>3192623
>two for surveying the land

Writing!

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>>3192263
The bags are getting a bit heavy as you thank the old man for showing you around. Nudging Coraline, the two of you make your way out of the hotel through reception room. You never really expected that clothes would get this heavy but you have been carrying them for a while since you left the clothing store. Surly there is some sort of trolly cart or something that you could have just put the bags on in this place. You do remember seeing people walking around with something like that but you did carry the bags in Milo so you didn’t initially look for anything like that here.

Now that you’re feeling it in your arms, you wish you had. Maybe there was some sort of fee for it or you had to go visit a specific place for it. You still don’t want Coraline to carry them since she was the one to buy them and you kind of feel bad for making a basically homeless person buy their own stuff, not to mention a girl you’ve been around for over a month. As you think of it, you turn and see her walking beside you silently with the same expression as she normally wears. Noticing you looking at her, she makes eye contact with you so you turn around and awkwardly act as if nothing happened.

“There’s… a pretty decent place not too far from here. Has some nice rooms from what I hear, at least better than Saffron’s,” you say as you remember the reviews. All of the rooms were complete with full commodities and was extremely compact. Though you’re having flashbacks of the tight cabin of your ship, the hotel is said to be pretty well kept and enjoys confidentiality with all of their patrons. Something about the station not being allowed to ask personal information about the patrons from the hotel.

You never really thought about it before but the ability to track and monitor everyone is something frightening. Although you’re confident that most of the regulations and laws are more or less standard and helps the safety of the community as a whole, information and privacy is something that would be important to the individual. But for what reason? Since you doubt that the information is seriously handled since unless someone was actively looking for it then there’s really no reason to be afraid. The information itself would be something that no one except the people who are supposed to be able to access it will be able to access it.

Although security issues aside, the actual hotel seemed nice and cozy in a sense. As you follow the directions you remembered from your map, you hear a small alert. First you look to Coraline who gives you a shrug as the two of you begin to slow down. Fumbling around with the bags, you prop some on your knee as you struggle to take out your display, as you expected it was Naomi calling you. As you accept the call, you see a familiar face sitting down in some room. “Hey, what’s with all the bags?”

“Just some jun--”

“Clothes,” Coraline says from over your shoulder, cutting you off.

>>3193821
“Oh? Did you get anything good?” Naomi asks as she adjusts herself in the booth like chair.

“I got thi--” taking a hand, you stop Coraline from taking out anything from the bags. She stares at you for a moment before tilting her head in confusion before you quickly shake your own.

“She got a few things, we were actually about to check out a couple of houses while we were waiting for you. Did you make find your contact?” you say changing the topic to keep things from going to anywhere unnecessary.

“Ah? … Yeah, I talked with him. We’ll all be properly meeting up with him in a week or so. What about you, did you just go shopping and house hunting?” she said, though probably interested in your own strange reaction to Coraline she didn’t ask even if she’s eyeing you a bit.

“Yeah, I called the person I know in Arcady, I found out a few things… anyways, where are you at? We should talk about this in person,” you say as you look around in the background. It’s obviously one of the station bars but you’re not too sure where.

“Right, right, let me send you my pin,” she said as she touches her own screen. Soon a small blimp appears on yours and when you touch it, it brings you to the map and puts Naomi in a corner of the screen. The map shows you her location, a small bar not too far from here. To think that the two of you would end up so close to each other. “Oh? Wow you’re pretty close. Were you looking at the places near here? I honestly wouldn’t recommend anywhere here, I actually got to talking with someone and got a place for us to stay for a week. Really… it’s kind of just a parking garage so you can stow your ship but it’s safer than anything else around here.”

For someone who begged a random person to take them to Leo sure has some nerve talking about personal safety… you sigh in your heart as you shake your head. “Why’d I go looking for a place if you were already going to get one?”

“I don’t know, I’m not the one who told you to do it. Besides, most of the negotiations I did was to secure a place… you should be grateful that you don’t have to park and spend so much in the port. Besides, I’d be the one paying for the hotel anyways, I’d rather get something that won’t make be have to slave away for the next few years anyways,” she said as you and Coraline make your way to the Bar. She does have a point since you’re broke and Coraline has some unknown amount of money. Plus the damn port would bleed the three of you dry in a few days top.

“Well… I guess I can’t complain with all that,” you say somewhat regretfully. You did waste a day with walking around the place. Well, maybe not a complete waste as you did help Coraline get some new clothes so it was worth something. “Ah, found the place.”

>>3193823
You say as you enter a dark moody looking bar with bright pink bags full of Coraline’s clothes. It’s not as creepy as you’d think a station bar would be but there was still a sense of being unwelcome. Almost as fast as you entered the bar, you find the image of a girl with pink hair waving you over. Naomi. “So,” she says as the three of you settle in the booth, “what all did you find out?”

>”Well, my contact loves the color pink and stuffed animals… she’s kind of useless.”
>”Something’s going down. Something big,” whatever is happening on the surface of Leo is almost certainly connected to the missing girls and Adam. Maybe not something directly connected but it’s something.
>”There’s going to be a new girl coming to Leo. From what I know she’s different, she’s coming here directly to speak with Ryen instead of going to Milo,” Another girl. Another victim of some unknown crime. Someone else is about to step into the crosshairs of danger, you can feel it.
>”I heard a little bit more about our man Ryen. He does the screening personally for most of the applications for Baker’s branch,” it means someone is keeping a secret.
>[write-in] (I dunno? Something about Coraline.)

>>3193828
>Coraline bought some clothes, you should help her with them when you get some time
But more seriously
>”There’s going to be a new girl coming to Leo. From what I know she’s different, she’s coming here directly to speak with Ryen instead of going to Milo,” Another girl. Another victim of some unknown crime. Someone else is about to step into the crosshairs of danger, you can feel it.

>>3193864
This but add

>”Something’s going down. Something big,” whatever is happening on the surface of Leo is almost certainly connected to the missing girls and Adam. Maybe not something directly connected but it’s something.

>>3193864
>>3193877
+1

>>3193864
>>3193877
>>3193915
>three for something strange

Writing!

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>>3193828
Adjusting yourself as you let Coraline sit before you both sit opposite of Naomi. Coraline helps take the bags and place them to the side as to not separate everyone. The smell of lit cigarettes and cheap beer fills the air as you settle down for the conversation. The aroma of cheap food creeps its way across as you watch a waitress pass by with two bowls. “I didn’t know they allowed smoking in the bars here.”

“Where else are they going to smoke? The vents are all the same anyways,” Naomi answers as she picks up a menu. She was obviously waiting for the two of you to get here before ordering anything. It’s too early for dinner but you’re pretty damn hungry for a good lunch. Seems like most of the patrons of the bar aren’t drinking as much too since it’s still near midday. “Anyways, there’s a nice place I picked out for us. You can move your ship around after we leave. Personal parking is a bit difficult to negotiate so go easy on the food.”

“Ah… so who’s the cheapskate now?” you say as you pick up one of the menus to look over.

Naomi raises a brow, “you are! You don’t even have any money, I am the one paying for everything, you know!” she says indignantly as she straightens the menu to block you from looking at her.

“Oh hey, talking about buying things, Coraline bought some clothes at the store,” you say as the three of you look over the menu. “She got a few things that I think you should look over.”

“Ah? What’s that supposed to mean, I think Coraline can do that herself. Right, Coraline?” Naomi said while giving you a sidelong glance as she turned to Coraline, “What all did you get anyways, that’s a lot of bags… Did Sam make you pay for all of that?”

“Yes,” Coraline says with terse nod as she takes out a dress, “He helped too.”

“Oh, that’s a bit… tight, no?” Naomi says as she looks over the black lacy looking dress, “I mean it looks nice… but, did Sam force you to buy it?”

“Yes,” Coraline said as she puts the dress back into the bags.

“Wait, no I didn’t force her to buy the dress. I just said that it looked nice, that’s all!” You plead, if Naomi was at the store with you she’d most likely say the same thing. The dress really did look good on Coraline.

“Really now, Sam. I thought you’d be better than forcing girls to wear something that shows so much skin. An open back and a window in front… the short length too… you sure didn’t have any ulterior motives when telling her to buy it, Sammy?”

“Hey now, what kinda guy you think I am?” you grunt. Ah, maybe I shouldn't have started with this. Just wanted to tell her than Coraline needs some help, that’s all. After a short moment a waitress breaks your thoughts as she asks for each of your orders. The three of you order noodles and some soft drinks with Naomi getting some shrimp and Coraline getting the same as you, beef.

>>3194098
After you place your orders, you put the menu down and face Naomi, “Right,” you say with a serious tone to try to shift the general attitude of the table, “The information. You said that we’re meeting up with someone in the next week?”

“Yeah, it’s a freighter ship. I know the pilot, he’s a nice guy that I’ve gotten to know, anyways they’re going to help us out with the ship movements in Unity since they regularly run Milo, Leo, and Unity. It’s a quick route that brings a quick buck since the stuff at Leo is pretty high-end… Ah, well anyways, the thing is that he’s trustworthy. The ship will also help us if we get in any trouble here and need a way out -- if it comes to that,” Naomi says without pause.

“Ah…” you say as you try to catch up mentally with her words.

“Yeah, well first you said that you knew something, what did you find out. You go first.”

“Well,” you say as you lean in, mimicking what they do in your detective movies and shows,”It’s something big. Real big…. Something is happening on the surface of Leo. All the big names are connected to it and as you expect, it’s Baker’s doing. Don’t know what they’re building out there but it can’t be good. I’m thinkin that since Baker’s branch is splicer research and Leo is a splicer haven then something ain’t right. Doubt he’s doing humanitarian outreach programs but John Colby, Ryen, Young, all of them are attached to it.”

“Oh…” Naomi says somewhat stunned, “Yeah that is some big news… They only have one station on the surface and that’s only really to help and house the spliced. Everything else is splicer’s own buildings, but it does make some sense with everything going on. You’re probably right that Baker is doing something to the spliced. If anything that makes some of the movements more in line with what’s going on.”

“Movements?”

“Yeah it was what I found out, they’re hiring some shipping companies to help transport goods. Nothing out of the usual but they do have their own private shipping corps and the amount they’re hiring is kind of ridiculous. From what I gathered, they’re asking for them to transport equipment, materials, and personnel. The big thing is that they’re all being shipped to Leo from innsmouth. My question is why are they putting in so much for Baker, really this guy seems to have single handedly taken control of the entire system…”

>>3194104

[Options]

>”So you’re saying Baker pretty much runs the show now? I mean it does seem strange that so much resources are being sent over to him but I don’t really believe he’s in control. Isn’t it normal for research institutes to pull resources to help projects for something they want done?”

>”Why do you think Baker is doing something on such a massive scale? Isn’t Splicer research on a decline?”

>”So we have shipping lanes opening up, construction on the surface, and big movements with the leadership in Leo… The police are already in on it too, whatever is going down is going to affect more than just Adam and your sister.”

>[write-in]

>>3194107
>>”So we have shipping lanes opening up, construction on the surface, and big movements with the leadership in Leo… The police are already in on it too, whatever is going down is going to affect more than just Adam and your sister.”

>>3194107

>”Why do you think Baker is doing something on such a massive scale? Isn’t Splicer research on a decline?”

Man, why Coraline always have to make things weird, lol.

>>3194107
>>”So we have shipping lanes opening up, construction on the surface, and big movements with the leadership in Leo… The police are already in on it too, whatever is going down is going to affect more than just Adam and your sister.”

>>3194119
>>3194244
>Two for shipping situation

Writing!

>>3194135
heh

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>>3194107
Before you’re able to reply three bowls of steaming hot noodles come from the kitchen. The waitress places a bowl in front of each of you along with the drinks before bowing and leaving after asking if you needed anything else. The smell of spices and vegetables as well as beef in some sort of sauce fills your nostrils ands wets your mouth. Taking a fork, you take a small bite from a still hot beef slice.

Among the noodles are an egg, beef slices, baby corn, onion, peppers, and assorted spices. As you take a bite, everything feels like it mixes into a perfect blend of light and sweet flavors that taste almost caramel-like and spices that burn the tips of your tongue. It’s a complete contrast from the bland chalky and nearly flavorless nutri bars that you’ve been staving off starvation with. Your very soul rejoices as you bask in the flavor a little bit longer.

It wasn’t like the noodles were especially perfect, they were probably stale and slightly lacking flavor but they were like an oasis among a desert in your eyes. Before you knew it, you took a third and fifth bite and you had to forcefully stop yourself to continue what you were talking about before the food came. “Ahem… right, the ships are probably for whatever they’re buildin’ on the surface. I’m thinkin’ that Innsmouth has something going on. Baker was from there, right? With the police, the construction, and now these ships, I’m thinkin that this is getting bigger by the second. Bigger than me, you, Adam, and the girls. Movements this big ain’t for show, not like they have many competitors.”

“Right,” Naomi said between mouthfuls of food, “I’m thinking the same thing. Baker and his lackeys are all over the place. With the two jobs, what they’re building on Leo must be important. Splicer research hasn’t been breaking much boundaries, you know? This level of funding has to be because of something that Baker did. Since he was originally stationed in Innsmouth, a few people following him to Leo isn’t uncommon but from how they’re doing things now it looks as if they’re trying to transport all of Innsmouth to Leo, you know?”

“And with the new girl, I’m thinking--”

“Wait, new girl?” Naomi cuts you off as you were going to start adding to her train of thought.

“Yeah, I was told about another girl coming in a few months. She’s not going through Unity-Point but coming directly to Leo. Something that Ryen himself will be doing instead of that Zachary guy from Milo. I was thinking that this new girl will be some kind of key to it. Not sure how though,” you explain before eating some more.

>>3194534
“Well,” Naomi says as she takes a gulp of her soda, “That means that either, One, Arcady is diverting it since they have enough girls for whatever, Two, that the missing girls were unintentional and that they’re trying to divert the traffic, or Three, this girl is a part of what Arcady is doing and that she’s connected to it in some way.”

“Ah, yeah..” you say as you put down the fork for a moment.

Before you were able to talk again, Coraline speaks up, “Then they were a side project.”

“A side project…” Naomi repeats, “Yeah, that makes sense. Actually, this was probably something that lead to this new plan of theirs. Maybe it was something accidental or maybe it was something planned beforehand.”

Even though she’s talking about her own sister she seems brave. You thought that it was kind of cool that she’s able to think logically in a time like this. Though you do feel like this is a bit strange that the three of you are talking in a bar like this. It kind of makes you feel like you’re actually a part of those spy or detective films as the detective sits and meets with an informant at a seedy rundown bar. That’s probably the wild imagination of someone who hasn’t left home though.

What surprises you even more is Coraline connecting the dots along with the you and Naomi. Since Coraline never seemed active in any of the other previous conversations and just was either asleep or she was standing, or rather sitting, by and listening. Maybe she was listening in the entire time and just thought it was best to share her thoughts just then as it was probably one of the better ideas.

If they were a side project or something that was to herald something to come then that means that they’re probably done. Which means that whatever happened might be over. It means that everyone was on the clock and the trail was running cold. This new girl probably knows something and if anything, Ryen knows everything. Colby is in on it too and God knows that Baker has secrets to shatter the world. Your heart pains for Naomi as her whole reason was to find her sister and save her.

>”Here’s an idea, if we look at who has came from Unity then we will find out the ships that could have carried the girls.” You knew that was what Naomi had her contact do, you just needed to narrow it down.
>”If Baker is taking Splicer research up to another notch, do you think the girls were a part of this? I don’t know why he would need them unless he’s doing human experiments.” this might be the worst case scenario but also the most realistic.
>”The answers all lie in this construction and they’re hiring workers. I’m thinking of signing up.”
>[write-in]

>>3194539

Thank Naomi for the food, after all that chalk this is heaven.

>”Here’s an idea, if we look at who has came from Unity then we will find out the ships that could have carried the girls.” You knew that was what Naomi had her contact do, you just needed to narrow it down.
>”If Baker is taking Splicer research up to another notch, do you think the girls were a part of this? I don’t know why he would need them unless he’s doing human experiments.” this might be the worst case scenario but also the most realistic.

>>3194539
>”Here’s an idea, if we look at who has came from Unity then we will find out the ships that could have carried the girls.” You knew that was what Naomi had her contact do, you just needed to narrow it down.

Naomi is smart enough to have reached the conclusion that, if they are researching splice and they are capturing girls they are probably being used for something, we should talk in private with her about this later, it probably won't be easy for her

>>3194573
>>3194624
>Two for planning

Writing!

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>>3194539
You know the circumstances aren’t looking as bright as they used to. Even if you had gotten here earlier you would have had issues that you wouldn’t have been able to deal with. The missing girls, Adam, everything seems like it’s going to go cold at any time. Arcady has something hidden in it’s shadow.

Those girls are somewhere and they were still trying to recruit more, just like how they tried to recruit Naomi the first time you went to Milo. There’s still a chance that everything isn’t done. Everything isn’t set in stone and what is thought of now should only be taken as a grain of salt to what may be true. You believe Sumi is still alive, wherever she is. You know that this isn’t something anyone can deal with lightly, but you know that this… this whatever isn’t the end.

“Here’s an idea,” you say finally, breaking everyone’s thoughts and chewing, “You said that your contact will tell you who’s been doing what in Unity. All we need to know is who is connected to Arcady and who has been flying from Milo to Leo through Unity. If we can get that we can narrow down our search for transports because we know one thing, that the girls went missing in Unity.”

You pause as you push your finished food away from you. “We just need a way to screen everyone.”

“You’re right and that was what I was thinking of doing as well. It’s not like we can directly interrogate anyone. But what we need to do is find people who can help us figure out where everyone is at. I mean, that’s pretty much exactly what we’re supposed to be doing but… talking with someone to find out…” Naomi trails off trying to sort through her thoughts. She seems at a loss for what to exactly do in going forward.

You feel the same way. In fact, you have no clue on how to progress. You can’t walk up to someone and beat it out of them and you can’t just get it from some good samaritan who just helps people. There’s a wall with which one must traverse in order to find the other side. You only hear stories of the other side of the wall and the only way to see the other side is to climb over the wall. Everyone on the other side of the wall know what’s out there but they have never climbed to this side. The only way is to climb the wall to see for yourself or break the wall down.

>>3194793
To walk it’s length or to try to dig under it may be some ideas but you know that someone else has been already doing that. Maybe to simply poke out a brick to try to take a peek through it. Maybe there is a way but you never could think of how you could find the people you’re looking for.

>”Now I ain’t too sure but I think it’s a pretty damn good bet that the ship was one of theirs. That clean cut and them discarding that ship ain’t something vultures do. I think that the girls are here in Leo. -- They’re on Leo.”
>”We can try to make an appointment with those people. We just find a way to talk to them. You said you got someone to make fake IDs, we use it and we get a job in Leo. Figure it out from the inside.”
>”Should find someone to take a look for us. The must have some sorta database or somethin, Coraline, can’t you do that? Why don’t we try to go through the files to know where the girls are?”
>”John Colby. This guy is the guy who stole Adam’s job. He’s directly connected with Ryen and is going to work on that special project. We find him and make him speak… or at least look through his stuff. Dude probably has something on him.”
>[write-in]

>>3194797
>”Should find someone to take a look for us. The must have some sorta database or somethin, Coraline, can’t you do that? Why don’t we try to go through the files to know where the girls are?”
>”John Colby. This guy is the guy who stole Adam’s job. He’s directly connected with Ryen and is going to work on that special project. We find him and make him speak… or at least look through his stuff. Dude probably has something on him.”

Look through files starting with Colby maybe.

>>3194797
>”John Colby. This guy is the guy who stole Adam’s job. He’s directly connected with Ryen and is going to work on that special project. We find him and make him speak… or at least look through his stuff. Dude probably has something on him.”

Start small, go big.
What job could coraline do? Waitress? I'd love to see her with a apron... I mean, we need to find jobs that lets us remain here as long as we need.

>>3194797

>”Now I ain’t too sure but I think it’s a pretty damn good bet that the ship was one of theirs. That clean cut and them discarding that ship ain’t something vultures do. I think that the girls are here in Leo. -- They’re on Leo.”
>”Should find someone to take a look for us. The must have some sorta database or somethin, Coraline, can’t you do that? Why don’t we try to go through the files to know where the girls are?”

Locating them in first priority

>>3194861
Ok , i change to this.

But if we are looking through files we can start with Colby and Ryen

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>>3194797
But a is never truly solid. Over time it may crumble or break apart at places. The wall may also have been created hastily and therefore, several holes are still seen. A wall like this is not perfect. A wall like this has a way to peek the other side. A wall like this is something manageable.

Inside this city, a glittering gem of advancement, is millions of men and women coming and going. Each of them all coming from ships from within or outside of the system. Millions and millions of people all moving to and from and all of them being tracked just like you. The pinnacle of monitoring was something you had worried about before. But you know that they could track your ship because you landed. Any time anyone lands, it’s accounted for. Any time anything happens, it’s accounted for.

“Well, I got an idea but I ain’t too sure but it’s a pretty damn good chance that there’s a way to find where those girls are at,” you say as you look down at the table, away from Naomi’s look of confusion and hope. “The ship we found out in the sticks ain’t normal. Wasn’t no vultures that were out there. And if it ain’t vultures… It’s them. Which means… those girls made one way or another. They made it to Leo.”

Inside this city, a glittering gem of advancement, is the very key that unlocks this wall -- it is a system. Everything and anyone coming and going goes through this system and this system is just how you’re going to find what you’re looking for. It is the system that Abigaile knew you had landed on Milo. This is a system for the admins of the station to monitor the traffic going through the station, to insure its safety. Beyond that, you’re unsure how exactly it operates, who has the keys, how to get to it, how to monitors -- how you can use it against them.

This system, this monument to monitoring, is the exact downfall to them. The only way is to access it and with that… you need help. “What we need is someone to find the ship.”

“And since…” Naomi mutters as you look back up to her. She seems to be understanding what you’re trying to say, “The ship they’re using came from Unity and--”

“And ain’t many ships run through Unity,” you finish for her, “Means we got a way to track them. There’s a system, right, that system that can track ships that land. The only problem is…”

“Getting to the system,” Coraline follows up seemingly finished with her food. She’s been silent for the most part but she seems to be picking up what the two of you are putting down. Honestly you should probably give her more credit since it’s not like she’s slow, she just doesn’t understand certain things. It’s more like she understands most things just nothing social. As if she was stuck inside her whole like like some kind of sheltered kid.

>>3201077
“Exactly. The only way to get the information we need is through the system. Dunno how though…” you say as you take a small sip from your glass to chase down your words of doubt. In fact, this whole plan relies on something you’re not sure is even possible much less if there are issues after you get the information. There’s a possibility that the information could be unreliable or that they never came to Leo and are still in Unity or worse yet, they traveled through some other route to hide their tracks through Unity.

There’s several problems you’re really only able to worry about since you have no way to truly address them. Not in any meaningful way at least. But this is your only option. This is your Ariadne thread that leads you to the heart of conspiracy. Everything now will be needing to try to find a solution to getting to the system. But the problem is starting.

“What about Coraline?” you try to answer your own problem. Coraline is known to be able to do things that seems impossible, one of them is having access to personal information through some sort of database. Maybe she looks it up through some government superbank of some sort, if so then that means that she can get through even the toughest of encryption protocols.

“Hm,” Coraline mumbles as she sits still, “I’m not able to do it.”

“Why not? Can’t you just unlock the system or whatever? Like hack it through the internet?” you ask, confused.

“No,” Coraline answers.

“It probably doesn’t work like that,” Naomi says picking up for Coraline, “It might need something extra like connecting to some port. Like how you can connect a display to a kiosk for information, might work like that where you have to directly connect to it, you know?”

Coraline doesn’t answer but you’re pretty sure Naomi is right about having to connect directly. Wouldn’t make sense that they would just leave it open for anyone to connect to it, then again that just makes you more concerned for the government information. However Coraline does it, there’s some sort of way to do it with this system.

>”Right so it’s settled, right? How about we head to the place you told us about, that friend of yours?” You’re done with worrying about something you can’t help with. Besides, trying to figure it all out in a single day without anything to go off of is just tiresome.
>”With the girls in Leo, that means that they’re somewhere in the system, right? That means they’re in a place, somewhere here.” Might be obvious to say this but what you mean is that they’re being stored somewhere and kept in a secure location.
>”We need to get in touch with someone who can help with hacking or whatever.” Someone like Coraline is irreplaceable but what if she couldn’t hack into it, besides it would be good to have someone else give pointers to her too.
>[write-in]

>>3201081
>”With the girls in Leo, that means that they’re somewhere in the system, right? That means they’re in a place, somewhere here.” Might be obvious to say this but what you mean is that they’re being stored somewhere and kept in a secure location.
>”We need to get in touch with someone who can help with hacking or whatever.” Someone like Coraline is irreplaceable but what if she couldn’t hack into it, besides it would be good to have someone else give pointers to her too

The girls and the ships are what we are after, maube someone to help Coraline hack too.

>>3201081
>>”With the girls in Leo, that means that they’re somewhere in the system, right? That means they’re in a place, somewhere here.” Might be obvious to say this but what you mean is that they’re being stored somewhere and kept in a secure location.


but we still have to figure a way to hack that thing