Lyla turned off her watch, ,after taking a mental note of the message itself. "Well I'm off," She noted aloud, moving out of the place which was now seeing Ash and Eve packing up to go wherever they were planning on going. To where it was, she didn't know but at the same time she really didn't care either. Instead, she decided to make her way over to Edenia Park, as she felt she could find something there worthwhile...

The stowaway blinked. That had to be the voice of the bird. Who else could it be, after all? But what it said...seemed oddly familiar. Still, it was enough noise for her to locate the strange thing, and very quietly she shifted a few boxes until she could poke her head out as well. The lighting was dim in the hold, but she can make out the sillouhette of the bird's head. She made her way closer. "Alright, birdy. Time for you to answer a few questions," she said in a whisper. "For starters, what's so special about this fox?"

IC:

Serenity had been about to doze off, as sitting in the hold as a stowaway was incredibly dull.  She yawned as the final box was loaded and the two foxes that had been in the park last night took seats at the front...one of them presumably driving.  She yawned again as the ship traversed the city limits.  If this was space travel, it was not as glorious as everyone said...She was caught off-guard when Ash opened the throttle and fell over, luckily not knocking anything else out of position, since they were all probably tied down.  She righted herself, hoping nobody had heard her fall...of coarse, falling in a sitting position wasn't likely to cause much of a stir.  She glanced around.  Nobody had seemed to notice.

Then she saw the bird poke it's head up and heard it speak some strange language that she knew she'd never heard before...

TBC

(OOC: Two posts in one day! WOO! Go me! *bricked*)

There was a barely audible sound of whirring servos as the bird turned its head and looked at Raia. There was a faint golden-yellow glow in its eyes as it regarded her in the half-light of the dim hold's emergency lighting.
it said, followed by    It continued to stare at Raia expectantly, apparently waiting for a response.

"Can't understand you, birdy," Raia said with a sigh. She can't shake the feeliing that there's something about its words that she ought to recognize. However, that wasn't helping her any. "Could we try something approaching Nautilean Standard, maybe?" She had so many questions, but it was useless if she couldn't /understand/ the cursed thing!

(OOC: I am such an overachiever...I know what it said. XP I just figured it out. XP)

The automaton eyed Raia curiously for a few moments, apparently mulling over what she'd just said. Then a small panel opened on its chest, and a small holoprojecter slid out. It flickered to life, and projected a series of glowing hieroglyphs into the air.

Raia's eyes widened. "Ancient Arcadian? You are one /strange/ little birdy. How in the world do you...." She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from squealing as the implications hit her. This bird was clearly fluent in a language that was all but dead. Sure, she'd studied it when she'd taken classes on ancient history and the theorized origin of spark talents, but knowledge was sketchy at best. The discoveries that could be made if this thing were to be willing to talk...or project...at universities! The advances in understanding the ancient past of the system! The possibilities were overwhelming. She took a deep, steadying breath. First things first. She had to figure out what the bird was trying to communicate.

"Um, let's see...Well, the last two words are easy enough. Yes or no. So it's asking me some sort of question...." It has been a while and there were few opportunities for her to practice her Ancient Arcadian. "Something about the mouth seeming...and a negative....And then what do we have? Question form, second person...ability, something...writing." A few moments' thought yielded the logical answer. "We can't talk, so you want to know if I can read, is that right birdy?" She didn't really expect an answer, but still. Truth be told, she couldn't understand all of it. However....

"I'm willing to make a try." Raia had to keep from trembling as she lifted her hand and hesitantly indicated the affirmative. This was history in the making, and she could hardly believe that she was right in the middle of it all.

Tabiator, 1:45 am Eastern Central Time (12:45 pm Arcadia II CST)
Yulan slowly blinked as she woke from a deep but restless, dreamless sleep. This wasn't the first time she'd woken up at such an unusual hour. Ever since she'd begun to have that strange, recurring dream she had been prone to waking up at odd hours. Unfortunately, she reflected as she put a hand to her head, if past experience was any indicator then she was also going to develop a foul headache as the day progressed. If there was any advantage to waking up hours before daylight arrived or the rest of her family stirred, it was that it gave her ideal opportunity to sneak out and go where she would. A look out the window revealed that after yesterday's sunshine, the regular heavy clouds and incessant rain were resurgent. She had little desire to go outdoors while that was the case- or at least, not on the surface. Perhaps later today- whenever the opportunity presented itself- she would quietly slip away from the family estate and into the vast subsurface cities of Tabiator, where the bulk of the population lived.

In the meantime, Yulan decided as she donned some clothing, she would do a little training in the gym. It would allow her to while away an hour or two and give her something to do before breakfast. Plus, it was a routine she and her siblings had been engaged in since early childhood. Their parents, being such wealthy individuals, had long ago realised that potentially made their children ideal candidates for abduction in demand for ransom..or other less pleasant things. To guard against such a scenario becoming reality they had taken various steps. Firstly, they had outfitted the family estate with the most advanced, cutting edge security systems available, constantly upgrading them as improvements were made. Secondly, they employed what amounted to almost a standing army of private security personnel, the best money could buy. Thirdly, they had trained their children in the arts of armed and unarmed combat, to a paramilitary level. All of which was understandable, Yulan reasoned, but she had often felt- especially in recent years- that the second provision frustrated the third somewhat.

It was true that having the skills to defend yourself and having a dozen other people to defend you seriously reduced the odds of being attacked or abducted. But by the same measure, what was the use of the training- how would you ever find out if you could fend for and defend yourself- if you were never given the opportunity? What was the use of having the skills if you never had the freedom to use them? For that matter, what was the use of having such vast wealth if all it ultimately bought you was a cage? A very large and well gilded cage maybe, but a cage nevertheless. Yulan mulled over those thoughts as she bound her hair back into a braid. Before heading for the gym she took a quick look on her computer. According to the order-tracking system employed by Tiberius Electronics, her order had left Arcadia II and was en route to Tabiator already. That caused her to smile in spite of her restless night. At least she would be able to upgrade the Architect's Tunnels soon. Maybe for that she should give them a commendation for their services? The thought stayed with her as she headed off to begin her workout...  

Planet Tabiator, Unknown Location. 1:38am ECT.
Analysis in progress...
Checking Specimen 10 276 599 000.
Phenotype mismatch. Genotype partial match.
Insufficient spark data. Field testing required.
Dispatching observation unit L9001...
...Transmission received. Preparing signalling apparatus...
Apparatus failure. Repair procedures initiated...

Deep below the surface of Tabiator's oceans, something stirred in the murky depths. There was a brief ripple in the waters, and something small and swift sped upward toward the surface, a faint blue-green light glimmering in the darkness as it went...

IC:

Serenity watched as Raia spoke with the odd little bird. What's she getting so excited about? Her curiosity was growing. She stood, carefully trying to remain hidden, and peered around some boxes, craning her neck to see. Just then the ship shifted again, and she lost her ballance, tumbling out from behind the boxes and into plain sight.

TBC

Raia turned around, startled. "Wha--? What are /you/ doing here?" she hissed softly, completely ignoring the fact that she herself was a stowaway. Didn't the hedgehog realize how important this moment was? Here they were with a living -- or at least functional -- relic of ages past, and this other person was butting in! She could at least have the decency to watch quietly!

The mechanoid seemed a little puzzled by this turn of events, but it obviously recognised the gesture Raia had made. The floating symbols disappeared, replaced by new ones.
the message read. This was followed by something about analysis, although it wasn't too clear what kind - however, the arrangement of glyphs that spelled out something about analysing things was repeated a few times. A little confusingly, the message it displayed mentioned analysis in the past tense, then in present tense, then future tense as well.... and it seemed to be referring to different kinds of analysis with each reference.
It was quite clear what it was here for though--or at least, what its current objective was.

IC:

"So sue me for being curious!" Serenity hissed back, righting herself and making sure the cloak covered her mark. "What IS that?"

TBC

Raia's attention was immediately back on the mecha-bird. "First person, a need...um...talking? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's talking....but with whom, birdy?" Raia didn't recognize the final bit. The information on analysis was also over her head. "Certainly not with me. You weren't expecting me. The only person you've been interested is...." She trailed off, and the young woman's eyes lit up. "I /knew/ there was something strange about that fox," Raia exclaimed in a near-whisper. Now her suspicions were justified. "Well, you can't talk to him right now. He doesn't know we're here. It'll cause a whole bunch of trouble if you attract his attention." Not to mention who knew where the bird would go once it talked to the fox.  She turned her attention to Reni.  "I don't know what it is.  All I know is it turned up by where the light hit, and has been following that off-white fox for most of today.  But it speaks Ancient Arcadian -- I can only assume that's what it was, since that's what these glyphs are.  I've never actually heard Ancient Arcadian being spoken.  I can sort of make out what it's trying to say, though."  Raia was too excited about the bird to think to ask Reni why she was there.

IC:

Ancient Arcadian?  Was that that class in royalty-school I was always skipping back at home because it was boring and I didn't think I'd need to use it?  Now she wished she'd paid better attention in class, because she couldn't understand those words at ALL...though she had to admit she MIGHT have heard them speaking it in the class. Not that that made any difference since she couldn't understand or speak it herself.

TBC

Streaming requested data to observation unit... Completed.
Scripts active, learning systems primed. Commencing transcription analysis...

While Raia had spoken to Reni, the mechanoid had clicked once and gone oddly quiet. Its beak now opened and shut a few times, and then it spoke up again, slowly and methodically, in the same voice it had used before.
"Forgive me. Can you understand--that I said--the situation... now...?" it said. It was obviously not especially comfortable with the words its speech synthesiser was forming, and the sentence structure was a bit stilted... nevertheless, it was a lot more recognisable than the stream of gibberish it had sputtered out minutes beforehand.

Raia blinked. She was vaguely disappointed at this new developement. While decyphering the ancient glyphs had been difficult, it was invigorating, and she's rather let down. "Ah, yes. Yes, I understand what you're saying. And the situation. But shh, or we'll get caught," she whispers, trying to get the bird to quiet down. The last thing she wants is for the suspicious fox to find her stowed away on his ship!

IC:

Serenity glanced around as if suddenly realizing where she was. "Yeah...I second that." She mumbled.  It certainly wouldn't do to be discovered as a stow-away on this ship...even though she kinda already had.  At least it was just by another stow-away, but...

TBC

(OOC: Augh....almost a one-liner....I never do one-liners...Oh well...)

The mechanoid tilted its head at its two companions.
"We receive intercepted? Understand does that one, what I who it would mean that… nonsupposed to be not only does here?" it said. It then tilted its head the other way, clearly not very happy about how that had come out. "My character, the one that I said correctly, does not think that the situation of the attempt restocking of the solidity of restocking." it said, before then looking down at the floor. "Chirp." it said, grumpily.

She had a bit more trouble figuring out what it's trying to say this time. "Yeah, we're not really supposed to be here. Your...ah...target doesn't know about us. And...I'm sorry but I couldn't understand that last part." Raia sighed. "Restocking? You've really lost me. Could you try saying it again, in a different way?"

"I excuse myself. They must resist: If this, the one that you are this today totally the meeting, said to him that very complex of the mixture of the language it is language. Base, possibly the term of the relaunched minutes of the computer of the central process of the pressure of that one." it replied. Then it frowned, and opened its mouth again.
"I apologise. Me you must withstand: If this today you speak collecting rather, you say, language it is the complicated blend of multiple languages. Securely, perhaps several minutes for the central process computer it is required in order to grasp that." That didn't seem to be what it had wanted to say either, as it gave a synthesised sigh, and then spoke out once more.
"I apologise. You will have to bear with me: this modern language you speak is quite a confusing mixture of several languages rolled into one. It may take several minutes for the central processing computer to properly figure it out." it said, speaking the words out carefully. Then it beeped once, its eyes flicking from gold to red in colour, and spoke in a deeper sounding voice for a moment. "PRIMARY SPEECH ANALYSIS COMPLETED." Its eyes then regained their original colouration.
"Then again, it may only take the central computer a minute or so of concentrated effort." it said. "Interesting... the roots of the widespread modern tongue and those of what we are familiar with may not be so far apart as estimated, after all. That will make for an interesting study later--goodness me, I am sorry. You... do understand me now, yes? The central computer makes mistakes sometimes."

Raia sat back in disappointment. "No more Ancient Arcadian, huh?" she sighed, sufficiently dejected to actually whisper that aloud. "Yeah, I understand you. And what you say is true. Nautilean Standard is a trade language. It's a mash of several languages from this system, if I remember correctly. Including some version of Arcadian, which evolved from the language you were using earlier." Raia fiddles with her sleeve.

(OOC: Ahahah...babelfish.  Also, I lack inspiration right now.  May edit if I think of something before anyone else posts...)

"Believe me when I state, I would be happier to continue conversing in my native tongue," the bird replied, "but necessity demands ease of communication over preference of tongue at this stage."
It looked toward the door that lead through to the cockpit. "I really must talk to the observation subject. It is quite important... are you sure we'll get in trouble for--?" it had started to say, but then the door slid open and the bay lights came on, revealing a tall off-white fox stood at the entrance.
"...who in the world are you people!?" he exclaimed, wide-eyed.

IC:

"Oops...Bussssted..."  Serenity muttered, trying to scramble back behind the boxes, as if that would have erased her from ever having been seen.

TBC

Raia startled, and desperately tried to come up with a plausible explaination. "Um...Would you believe me if I said we're just figments of your imagination?" she asked hopefully, not really expecting a positive answer. "Actually, I was following this bird!" she said, standing up and changing her tone to put Ash on the defensive. "I saw it in the park near the place where the light hit. It's following /you/ around. What do you know about that light, huh?"

           Eve poked her head out from behind Ash, staring at the bird. She tilted her head to the side, wondering what it was. It didn't look like a normal bird, and she was sure that she had heard it talking. However, this train of thought was obliterated once the other woman began to speak. "She's rude, Pervy Ash..."

"...Eve..." Ash uttered exasperatedly, "I asked you not to call me that..." He then looked back at Raia, raising an eyebrow. "It has? That raises more questions than it answers... as for the light, I don't know any more about it than the next guy. I just had the dumb luck to be in the park when it hit, but it's not like I saw much. WEAPONS turned up in no time to clamp down on the whole thing."
He shifted his weight, leaning against one side of the doorframe leading to the front of the ship, and continued on in even tones. "What possessed the two of you to illegally stow away on a delivery ship? I hope it's something that'd stand up in court. As it stands, that's the most likely recourse my employers would take. But if your story's good, maybe there won't have to be any police waiting to greet us planetside." Raia's tone had irked him - it felt like he was being accused of something he hadn't done, and if there was one thing that got to him more than anything else, it was injustices like that. It didn't help that the woman using that tone was in fact far more obviously guilty of something than he was, and clearly trying to steer attention away from that. And on top of that... just what the heck was the bird with the two women all about? That was the main odd piece in the otherwise fairly simple puzzle, and it was why he honestly wanted to hear what Raia and Serenity had to say for themselves... there had to be more than met the eye involved here.

"I told you, I was following the bird. He's been stalking you all day. Keeps insisting that he has to talk with you. You're his 'observation subject', or something. Did you know, he speaks Ancient Arcadian?" Raia couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice at that. "He has to be /millenia/ old, and still in perfect working order. And he mentioned something about a central computer. That means there could be a treasure trove of information on the history of Arcadia out there somewhere!"

IC:

Serenity stiffened imperceptibly. Police?!  Oh no! What have I gotten myself into? She said nothing of that out loud however, though she did settle the cloak about herself more closely, replacing the hood that had fallen down back over her head.  Now I'll be deported for sure!  Can't say anything about Surge...at least he'll be safe here...even if we can't be togeather...As long as I say nothing about him, they won't find him... Outwardly, she affected her usual nanchalant attitude. "Since the cops wouldn't let anyone look at the beam-impact site, I was just following her and the bird-thing.  Just trying to figure out what's going on here, that's all."  She was sure that wouldn't stand up in court though.  She started mentally preparing herself for the eventual deportation, all whilst still trying to think of a way out of it.

TBC

"I see." Ash nodded to Serenity. "So the both of you were, after a fashion, following this bird, and it called me an... observation subject?" he asked, seeming to only now notice the mechanoid. "Why is he observing me? What's so special about me, anyway?"
"Well, I don't know.  But first the light, now the bird - you have to admit, it is suspicious." Raia replied.
"True enough." Ash nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But I'm just an ordinary guy. Why would he come after me?"
"Because you match the specified criteria."
The mechanoid was now looking at Ash, and it was it that had spoken that line. Ash's attention was thus diverted to it, along with that of pretty much everyone else present.
"Please, let me introduce myself. I am an Arcadian Observation Unit, designation Zeta Three Four Zero One. I have been sent as per the command of the governing Unit, Omega Zero, to observe you at close range. Our data on you indicates some interesting possibilities, but closer inspection is required in order to ascertain whether our theories are accurate."
"...what criteria? And what possibilities and theories?" Ash replied, frowning a bit. He didn't like the sound of the terms the creature was using.
"...that information is classified." the Unit replied.
"Classified?" the fox echoed. "That sounds like the kind of talk a government agency or WEAPONS would use when they're planning something they know people won't like."
"I assure you I do not represent any authority with which you are currently familiar." the bird replied. "And I can also assure you that the cause for which we need you supercedes any and all that you may currently be involved in. I cannot at this point provide anything more specific than these simple facts." That gave Ash pause for thought. What authority did it represent, then?, he thought. And why do they need me?
"...well." he said at length. "By the sounds of what it just said, and what you've been saying," he said, directing a glance to Raia, "there's more going on here than we're aware of." He frowned thoughtfully at that. "And I get the feeling there's more to come, too. You two aren't affiliated with this... uhm, unit, are you?"

IC:

"Not that I'm aware of...at least for me.  I'm..."  She caught herself about to give away her title and stopped. "...an out-of-town-er." She finished, somewhat lamely. "But I've never seen this thing before in my life, I swear."

TBC

"Only in that I want it to come to N.E.I.A West University, and help further the studies of ancient Arcadian civilization and so forth." Her eyes were bright with the thought of the possibilities. "But otherwise no, not at all. My name's Raia, by the way." She didn't offer a hand to shake right away, most of her attention still focused on the bird and the new information -- or lack thereof -- that it had presented them.

"She was my Master's project, and we bonded. I'm an honors student, and due to the circumstances, the university has given her to me on extended loan." Now it was Raia's turn to be defensive, her left hand automatically going to rest on the spread dragonwings of the crossguard and the gleaming gem set between them. She wasn't about to say that being apart from the sword for extended periods of time caused her extreme anxiety. That wasn't something the suspicious fox needed to know.

Bonded? What does she mean by that? Ash thought to himself, but for now he didn't pursue the line of inquiry further. "OK. So you're an academic with a vested interest in... Zeta, was it?" Ash asked, looking from Raia to the bird. It just nodded at him. He then looked over at Serenity. "And you're from out of town... and you saw the thing that happened in the park last night. And all three of you figure I've got some sort of part in this, for whatever reason." he summarised, mostly to help him get his own head round it all. "Well. None of you seem to be here for any criminal reasons, at least." he said, relaxing a bit. "You'll have to forgive me for being a bit on edge. A lot of what's in here is rather valuable, and it's being taken to a new and potentially very profitable customer - so I'm sure you can understand why..." he said, trailing off as his mind started racing a bit.
"...oh heck. Uhm. This isn't good. In fact this is going to look bad." he said worriedly. "You two can't be here. You're stowaways, it'll look bad. And as for you," he continued, looking at the bird, "you'll have to hide somewhere on the ship. In a corner or something, or a vent, or... I don't know!"
"I should be able to conceal myself readily enough," Zeta replied, "but I have one small request to make."
"What's that then?" the fox asked.
"I have already done some preliminary analysis on you as we have been talking here. I should like to escort you back to the place from whence I came, for my superiors to examine you themselves."
Ash frowned. "That depends. Where did you come from?"

"Archer's City." the mechanoid replied. "You know it as Ex'aeire."

Raia let out a squeal of pure glee. "Ex'aeire? /The/ Ex'aeire?!" She looked like a teen that had just won backstage passes to see her favorite band. This was beyond incredible. Ex'aeire was the legendary city of the Ancient Arcadians, supposedly a floating utopia -- but like most legendary places, it had never been found and some scholars claimed it had never existed in the first place. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh~!" Raia grabbed Reni in a hug, practically dancing with delight -- she probably would be dancing, if there had been a little more room in the hold. "Did you hear what the birdy said?! We're going to Ex'aeire!!"

Ash looked at Raia with an expression of bemusement. "Uhm. He did say he wants to take me, not you..." he began.
"If you would like to bring along other people for support, that's fine." Zeta interjected.
"...well. Seeing as the woman with a sword really wants to go and I'd rather not upset her, I suppose I should go. And take her along." Ash replied, shaking his head.
"Excellent!" Zeta replied. "I shall relay this to the central computer. The necessary preparations shall be made." With that, its eyes blinked red for a few seconds...

Ex'aeire, Arcadia II airspace.
Data transmission received from Z3401...
...Transmission acknowledged. Preparing analysis chamber.
Dispatching Units G901, G902 to transport site. Guard protocols active.

Edenia Park, New Exile City. 1:00pm, CST.
"Get back! Something's happening!"
"Stand clear!"
"What's going on!?"
The cries of alarm came from the WEAPONS researchers as they fled from the impact site. It was easy to see why: the crater had begun to glow brightly all over with a pale blue-white light, and it was now crackling ominously with electrical-seeming energy. With an abrupt bright flash and a dull "thwump", two large figures materialised in the crater. The light and energy faded almost as quickly and suddenly as they'd started.. and stood there glinting in the afternnon sunlight were two large mechanoids. Both of them were bipedal, with bird-like features: their heads were those of a large eagle, with golden-yellow eyes, and the colouration of what would be their feathers was similar to that of a sea eagle.
That was where the similarities ended, however, as both of these figures were obviously mechanical: their eyes had a glow to them that was obviously artificial, and their bodies consisted of an armoured torso and lower body, and armoured limbs to match. The most obvious giveaway, however, was their height: both figures were easily nine feet tall, well beyond average height for a Nautilean. The two of them stepped forward, out of the crater and straight through the semi-opaque bubble of the WEAPONS shield. They stopped a few paces out of the shield and looked around at the disbelieving faces of the WEAPONS team, who were now staring at the new arrivals from a few feet away. Then the one on the left spoke.

"This area is now under our guard." it said. "We are under orders not to permit anyone to disturb the transport site."

Lyla, after receiving the message quickly made her way over to Edenia Park, wondering what could possibly be over here. It couldn't have been anything super dangerous or deadly, could it? Well, making her way to the area answered her question. Shoving her way through the various WEAPONS members, she caught a pretty good glimpse of the robotic duo.

"The hell is going on here? I got a message, what exactly is going on?"

One of Lyla's colleagues was quick to reply. "We were just minding our own business, analysing the impact site, when it started going crazy. Whole thing lit up and started crackling like it was electrified. We got out of there as quick as we could to avoid any damage to ourselves or the equipment... then there was a big flash, and those two friendly chaps were there."
For now, the two large guards were just standing there. They'd not said anything more yet, but they looked rather intimidating.

"If they're disrupting the investigation, then only one thing can be done about it," She said, pulling out her brand new slicers and holding them in her hands. "If you refuse to allow these men and women to work peacefully, well today won't be a fun day for you two," She cackled. She didn't know if the robots could hear her, but she knew that she was itching for a fight and if they didn't oblige by her ultimatum, they'd have a nasty fight to deal with.

IC:

"@_@ Whoa, calm down, lady..."  Serenity said in response to being abruptly and exuberantly hugged. "You DO realize you're hugging a hedgehog, right?"  She motioned toward her back.   "Quills, and all that." She grinned ironically.  "Aside from that, I wanna know what's going on here too, if it wouldn't be toomuch trouble, bir--I mean Zeta."

In the park, Surge fell backwards in surprise as the two mechanoids appeared.  He had been approaching the spot, looking for Reni, but keeping to the bushes.  Reni wasn't here, obviously, but she'd probaly want to know what was going on with the impact site.  Much as he was worried about her, he knew that.  And he knew he'd be in for a tounge-lashing if he left when something important was going on.  So he remained in his bush, observing. He watched the WEAPONS officers threaten the strange metal-people and facepalmed.  Always so quick to jump to a fight...

TBC

Raia let go and shrugged. "Hedgehog, bat, skunk, who cares what species you are? Doesn't make a difference to me! Besides, your quills aren't all /that/ sharp." Raia smiled widely. "We're going to Ex'aeire! You couldn't ruin my day if you tried." She was still giddy as a schoolgirl. "Though I don't want to cause any problems for Ash." She'd caught his name -- who wouldn't have, when the second fox had attached "pervy" to it? "What can I do so I don't blow this sale for you?" Right now, she would do about anything as long as it resulted in going to Ex'aeire.

"Well, you can try to calm down for a start..." Ash replied, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think there's anywhere you two can hide on this ship, so..." An idea came into his head, and he smiled.
"...so, perhaps you two can help out with the delivery. The customer doesn't know you two aren't employees of our shop, and we didn't tell them how many people to expect to come and make the delivery. You two could give me a hand moving all these boxes. That way we'll get done with it quicker, we can be on our way sooner, and then I can find out what Zeta's people want with me."
Zeta meanwhile was explaining to Reni as much as he could, as he saw it - or to put it another way, he was telling her all that had happened so far from his perspective, omitting any information that was considered classified.
"...and so that's how things ended up as they are." he concluded, having not said a word about for what purpose he was sent out other than observational analysis of the off-white fox. "By the by," he continued, "I did not get your name, young lady. Might you furnish us with the title of your personage?"

Meanwhile...
Both the mechanoids looked round and down at Lyla.
"We are under orders to not allow any disturbance to the transport site. For your own safety, please remain at a safe distance from this perimeter." the left one stated. "Failure to comply with this directive may necessitate forceful repulsion." it warned.

(OOC: Wait...I am confused...is Zeta talking to Raia or Reni?

Edit: My question was answered, now I can post XP)

IC:

Serenity stiffened slightly at the use of the word 'title.' Don't say the whole thing...don't say the whole thing...Think, girl...Ash mentioned police...don't let habit make you blow everything... "Serenity.  Name's Serenity.  My friends just call me Reni."

TBC

Lyla simply smirked at the reaction of the two robots. "Very well then, you've made your point. Let me inside," She ordered the other WEAPONS members. "It's my job to make sure you can do yours," She added, just in case they were hesitant to let her do anything. She was already armed and prepared to do whatever it took to remove these things. If they refused to listen, she would remove them by force.

           "Nice to meat you Ren-Ren!" shouted the tan fox gleefully, "I'm Eve!"

           "I already told them that." sighed Ash, smirking slightly.

           "Oh yeah... So Ren-Ren and Rai-Rai are my new friends!" giggled the gleeful fox. "So... what is Excalibur again?" She looked like a child, asking a childish question about the wrong subject.

OOC: Short post... @_@

"It's Ex'aeire," Raia corrected firmly. "Supposedly the seat of power for one of the Authors, millenia ago." It was with difficulty that she kept herself from launching into a full explaination of the legends surrounding the existance of the city. She said instead, "We'll be the first outside creatures in /ages/ to set foot in the city -- can you imagine?" The young woman's pale blue eyes are bright with excitement.

IC:

"Authors? What's the Authors?" Serenity tilted her head in confusion.

TBC

(GAH! One-liner again!)

Raia was surprised. She thought everyone knew the legend of the Authors. "Haven't you heard the Song of the Authors?  It basically sums up the whole legend, though it's a little cryptic.  Six Authors, by some considered to be gods or god-like beings, came to the Nautilus system, which was at the time lifeless.  They created life on the six planets in our system, and brought civilization to the new peoples they had created.  While they ruled, it was a golden age of peace, ended only when two simultaneous threats necessitated the Authors to sacrifice themselves to save what remained of the system, which had been devastated.  There are huge academic debates about whether 'Author' was just a title, and if so how it was passed down, or if there really were six beings of incredible power."