World Tree MUSH

    The city ruins are temperate as ever, here on Earth. That is to say, it is AN Earth; but it an empty one, devoid of human life. Instead, the surface of the planet is populated by androids and machines, locked in an eternal war against each other, for the sake of returning the planet to the humans forced to live on the moon. Anyone can learn that at the Android Resistance Camp, a place that has opened itself up to offworlders as a source of odd jobs and mercenary work that needs doing.
    Well it looks like, today, the resistance camp is in a bit of a tizzy. As it turns out, some androids have been murdered, and the work is too clean to have been done by the crude machine lifeforms that roam the planet. Both members of the resistance AND several cutting edge YoRHa androids have been the victims of the killings thus far, and as such, YoRHa has dispatched 2B and 9S to begin an investigation at the last known location of the killings; a derelict builting in the northwestern part of the ruins.
    Time has not been kind to the city, most of the buildings are little better than overgrown rubble and the entire region is a war zone- and has been a war zone for several thousand years.
    YoRHa Number 9 Type S, 9S, is settled on the steps of the entryway, teaching his Pod a complex handshake consisting of a series of intricate fistbumps and high fives.
    YoRHa Number 2 Type B, 2B, is standing not too far off watching the debacle with her usual level of intense lack of care and a slight frown as the pair and their Pods wait for people to arrive to begin the investigation.

    Uni's been helping out where she can, servicing ranged weapons, or providing sniper support to the Resistance against the various hostile machine lifeforms. She's even helped the non-hostile machines out a few times, since they opened up their settlement.

    And thus, the Goddess Candidate of Lastation arrives from the direction of the machine encampment, lugging a large container on her shoulder, and wearing her adventuring outfit that is notably lacking the 'Wear some proper clothes' T-shirt granted to her by Emily.

    Nearing 2B, she thuds the container on the ground, and clicks it open, onfolding and locking parts together into a rotary autocannon, which she then sends off to her inventory, along with the case. "Sorry, I heard the call and came immediately, I just got that from a contact in one of the other Earths." she explains, hplacing hands on hips and turning to watch 9S doing his weird boythings. "Who else are we expecting?"

    Dante's here also, mostly hunting MACHINES and helping drag in scrap to salvage. You never know what you can get from a dead machine. Sporting one of his usual rock band t-shirts under his coat, the devil hunter hops off a jury-rigged sandbike of sorts and sautes 2B and 9S, nodding to Uni too. "Good to see you guys." He says, watching 9S and his pod do...things.

    "Nah nah nah you're not doing it right." He says, before he starts correcting 9S's stance with a hive-five. "Do it like this!"

A narrow staticky portal opens up facing skyward, and out floats Emily in the form of a humanoid woman with glowing purple eyes, four arms, and hair so black it looks like a rip in space or a graphical glitch, dressed in a midnight blue business dress.

She sits on the portal and reclines on it like an inter-dimensional hammock. "Hey 2B, Nines," she says. "I'm guessing by the presence of a Battler-unit that we're not exactly here to examine the corpses in detail, if you take my meaning. Hey, Dante!" She looks over at Uni, and smirks and rolls her eyes.

She stretches all four arms, even though she's a robot and this doesn't actually accomplish anything, and then there's a swirl of what appears to be silvery glitter, and then a blindfold appears over her eyes. Unlike that of the YoRHa androids, it is not a tactical visor.

    Who else? That's a good question. While Uni is assembling her weaponry, a mechanical creature lopes near, stopping nearby with robotic ears perked up. Soon joined by a second and third, the three robotoic dogs eye the gathering.

    Hopefully before anyone can assume they are enemies, the pretty young woman named Kore approaches, dressed in what looks like typical clothing, though at least her vest offers some protection. A few fingers stroke down the head of one of the hounds. "Hmm. I'd heard this world was a bit of a mess, but it looks even worse up close."

    It might be an unusual sight to see a human walking through these parts. Or maybe not, given that adventurers from the World Tree have been here for a pretty good while now. Though still, perhaps 'typical human' is a bit unusual, given the people of power that find their way outside of their own worlds... not that most of the machines here know the difference. Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, after all.

    Kung Jin has covered up well with a light, sand-colored cloak that has a hood on it; it's enough to ward off sunburn, but not heavy enough to cause him to overheat in the desert he might have had to walk through to get here. Should he find that THIS location is temperate enough not to need too terribly much protection from the sun, he puts the hood back, so he looks less like a drifter. But only a little bit. He does still look like an apostate hobo.

    He's also visibly armed, sort of. Though perhaps it would be better described as 'partly unarmed' -- the quiver on his back is filled with arrows, but he seems to be lacking a bow, or any other means by which to fire them. That said, it's anybody's guess how much machine battling he'd had to have slogged through to get here. So his weapon setup is probably not as ineffectual as it seems.

    Jin heads to the area that the others seem to be congregating in -- they're the only non-machines (at least visibly) that he's seen so far, so this is probably the right place, he figures. He tilts his head up in greeting to Dante as he notices him (being the only one of the group that Jin recognizes from a prior situation). And he's on his best behavior here as he offers mildly to the group at large (since he's not actually sure who's leading this shindig), "Hello. My name is Kung Jin. I heard there was some trouble?"

Normally, having someone do some extra work for your benefit is usually good thing, excepting for the times where it's someone you don't know -- or something, for that matter. Which can prove to be troublesome when that potential 'ally' is really someone or something that doesn't care about either side.

That being said, Sonia's work has been more on the discrete side--sometimes she shows up, mysteriously whips and smashes and sometimes she doesn't. Lots of things to learn, and some of the things here at this part of the Tree have been... as curious to her as anything, but difficult for her to overcome certain aspects of, with the aspects of machina. 

Nonetheless, as she /is/ here because someone else is being murderous without being cordial about their murderousness, it behooves Sonia's curiosity, a curiosity in which she's here cloaked in the way she tends to, covering much of her features even now, though a familiar look for at least a few here, like Uni, 2B, Dante and Emily, who get acknowledging nods, but if one were to really note, Sonia's simply in quiet awe of the ruin that's taken to these cities. Some things never really change, no matter what 'era'--there will always be ruins, be they ancient, or modern.

    It is not weird boy things, 9S is practicing the very intricate and complex human greeting ritual. "Yo! Dante!" He chirps when given a REAL (half)human to practice with and commences fist daps and high fives.
    It's totally not weird boy things.
    "Your guess is as good as mine." 2B replies to Uni, at first, while people begin to arrive. And mechanical dogs.
    2B is immediately on guard, at first, had reaching for the white katana floating at her back. Before Kore arrives. Though the android's face is covered by her black blindfold visor, she gives the woman a long look. 
    "I remember you." Of course 2B would remember the woman that gave her the most... Interesting mission she had ever been on;: killing ghosts. "I'm guessing those three are Cerberus."
    2B shifts her attention to Emily, though. "The bodies were... Cleaned up." She says with what might come with a surprising level of gentleness from the usually dour Battle unit. "We're here to give the scene of the crime a lookover to see if there's any further evidence or clues the Resistance team missed."
    And then there's Kung Jin, a NEW human in the desolate wastes of a city long abandoned. 9S stands himself up, and begins making finger guns as he approaches the man. "Yo yo yo!"
    2B's palm slowly rises to her forehead.
    Because 9S is going to try and rope the man into an incredibly complex handshake much like the one he and Dante just pulled. "I'm 9S, my partner is 2B, most people call me 'Nines', but don't do anything like call her 'Tubes', it makes her cranky."
    And then Sonia arrives, the hunter getting a curt nod of greeting from 2B, one apex predator to another. 9S moves to make the Human Greeting Ritual, but 2B sets a hand on his shoulder to halt him before he can.
    "We should get on with it." 2B says, turning and making her wat into the building. It's up several flights of crumbling stairs before the party reaches the scene of the crime. There's dried android blood in several splotches at several places and dried pools on the floor and splatters on the wall. Whoever was in here was clearly massacred. But anyone with keen senses will immediately realize the group isn't alone. There's motion in a dark and shadowy corner before a woman with red hair comes staggering out of the shadow clutching her head and wincing.
    "Ow ow ow... Are you all here to investigate the killings? My friend was killed too, I want to know who did it."

Dante says, "Watch this." Dante explains, as he approaches Kung Jin. He recognizes the monk from the bar fight. He's reliable, quick on his feet, good with that bow...staff thingy, good sense of quips...pretty much the formula for a battle buddy far as Dante's concerned. "YOU!" He moves in for one of these secret human greetings, and if successful he grabs Jin's arm, and they kinda arm-wrestle for a bit. "I never really got your name, I'm Dante." He says, straining a little. Dante's not holding back to make the monk feel better, is he?

    He spies Emily, Kore, and Sonia as well, giving them a casual wave. "Sup guys." He says, following 2B into the building and up the stairs. Once they get there, spirits dampen a little bit. "Wow...yeesh." He mutters, making a face at the dead androids.

    He's more of a kill and smash type, but that private detective's license isn't for nothing. "Yeah, we're here to look into it i guess. Can you tell us anything about the scenes themselves, lady?"
"

Emily jumps off the portal, closing it behind her. "Kore!" She grins and pushes up her blindfold. It's not a friendly grin. "I've been meaning to have a ..." Her eyes turn impenetrably black like her hair. "... chat with you." She winks, and her eyes go back to normal. "When we're not busy!"

She looks Kung-Jin up and down. "Pretty sure there's closer Vines," she says dryly, before giving Sonia a nod of greeting as well.

At 2B's reassurance, she visibly relaxes in a way which only now calls attention to any preceding tension. "All righty," she says. Though she does make a point of putting the blindfold back in place.

She strolls up after the YoRHa androids with easygoing cheer ... right up until they reach the scene of the crime. She grimaces at the sight of the blood, which might seem uncharacteristic of her, but, well, half the people here already know what that's about. She starts looking around for any details that might stick out ...

She whirls around an instant before the red-haired woman makes herself known, and ... smiles and nods. "Yeppers!" she says. ... Okay, that cheer is definitely kind of forced. On the other hand, she's actually able to force it.

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Observational Skills. Also haha yes good everything is hunky-dory, no panic here.

    Uni nods, peering around at the arrivals. She gives a nod to those she recognizes, Emily getting a bit of a smile from the tsundere little princess. The group starts moving, and she follows along with, making a soft click with her mouth that gets her Shinki to peer out from the little backpack the CPU is wearing. "Thermal, and UV. Mark the splatter pattern and give me an analysis. I want number of assailants and if the victims put up any kind of fight."

    Bravette salutes, rubbing at her eyes before lifting up and summoning her armour. Visor comes down and the shinki starts to look around the area.

>> SUMMARY[Uni] >> I'm still here. Getting my Shinki to do some Forensic Reconstruction, or something, using combat sensors.

    Jin actually... smiles a little at 9S's finger-gun gesture. Even if it's lopsided and more of a smirk than a real smile, there's something less cynical about it this go 'round. Because as silly and trying-too-hard-to-be-cool as it is, it actually reminds him of a close friend of his, and that's something that's welcome here. Not just in this world in particular, but in the World Tree in general. He's been homesick for the bloodthirsty place, oddly enough. And the little reminder is appreciated. However, all he says is, "'Yo' yourself," with a friendly and approachable note. And one that's far less formal than the tone from before.

    Jin's a little surprised at the 'YOU!' from Dante, and looks up at the devil-hunter with surprise. And immediately -- reflexively, in fact -- he notes, "Whatever it is, I didn't do it." Diplomat though he may be, he's also a thief, and most people who'd call 'YOU!' at him know that. Suddenly he's arm-wrestled and... yeah, Dante's quite a bit stronger than Jin. Also he's not really sure what Dante's doing for a moment.

    Once it registers that he's not actually trying to hurt Jin (if Dante had wanted to, he would have done more easily than this), he just sort of wrestle-scuffles back. Between Johnny Cage trying to be 'the cool dad' and Takeda being such an unmitigated dork, Jin's probably had some exposure to 'secret greetings' of this nature.

    "Hi there," he responds to Dante's greeting. "Yeah, sorry about that. Things went to hell pretty fast back there. Wasn't a lot of time for introductions. I'm Jin." It's worth noting that not only does he give his first name to someone he's speaking to in a less than professional environment, but his sentences are a little more clipped, though not in a rude way.

    Once 2B comments about starting the investigation, Jin nods. "Right. Sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can disassemble some troublemaking tin cans." From what he's heard so far, there's nothing biological here, it's all machines. He follows 2B into the building and up. He winces at the splatters of blood. "Geez. Somebody was going for the bloodletting distance receord, I see," he quips.

    And as soon as he's aware they're not alone, he summons his dragon staff to his hand with a flash of blue, and quickly slides a foot back to defend himself if necessary. Once he sees the red-haired woman, though, he pauses. Noting the woman's apparent pain, he offers, "Yeah, that's why we're here -- are you all right?" He straightens. "Do you need some help?"

    "Mmm," Kore nods to 2B. "Yes, these are the Cerberus units," she confirms, the dogs stalking about. "Not to worry, I'm not here to 'collect' anything at the moment. Some things have happened that have me stepping out to look about more. This place can't really spare the souls at the moment."

    Emily's grin has her smiling. "If you wish. I have a feeling it won't be what you want to hear. I'm only here because strange murders do tend to attract my attention." She turns to the others, most of whom she hasn't met yet. "Call me Kore, I'll just be hanging back and likely letting the hounds here do the fighting for me." She gestures at the robot dogs. "The Cerberus units should be enough."

    But walking in just has her making a face of distaste at all the blood. "I don't like the mess involved in death," she murmurs, before the group is interrupted. A strange woman, possibly a witness? "Mmm. That's what we are here for." She smiles then. "What can you tell us?"

The tiniest slivers of a smile, one predator to another, as though to give thanks for the avoidance of certain rituals which for the Belmont archives, are best left a mystery--

Though speaking of mysteries, the Belmont, beyond a few friendly smilies and nods in response to the greetings she gets, is mulling over what's known so far. The 'cleaning' of the bodies as described. Both sides being effectively taken out--it'd be nice were it just one, right? Still, it's within moments of arriving at the scene that she picks up on the redhead--spiritual sense and simple good perception telling her. She's... actually conflicted, and it shows in a slight uptick in tension from her as she turns to the woman--a combination of 'what were you doing here' and 'could be a hurt human, need to see what's going on' at war with one another. 

She'll defer at the moment to others asking her, while taking a personal look at the scene; while she may not have the tech, she has experience in what she's seen before--there's a difference between say, someone playing with their food, someone helpless, someone who fought back hard, someone who never had a chance. You know, that kind of thing. 

Though truthfully, that's not the only thing she's being observant about; Korer, Kung Jin, if only because she hasn't directly interacted with either of them. 

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Taking the old school approach and using her background in supernatural to review what they have here to complement Uni's techy scan.

    2B and 9S immediately set their Pods to join in scanning the scene, though for those talking to the woman she seems... Dazed... Half confused. She's holding her head, and there's dry blood at her temple. "I'm... Fine. I'm fine. These buildings are old, a hunk of stonework must have fallen and hit my head. I don't... Remember much, just that my friend was killed. I have her Pod here, if anyone can look at the data? A-and I saw an android in a red cloak leaving in the direction of the resistance camp, but everything is so fuzzy." She ventures while wincing.
    For those checking out the scene of the crime, there are three main pools of blood: there were three bodies. The gouges on the wall are neat and clean, and indicitive of a weapon like 2B's or 9S'; well made, and used with a degree of skill.. Bravette's scans will find several scorch marks from a Pod's weapon systems and something out of place: a few shell casings from an offworld gun; likely used by one of the killed androids. And anyone with experience in battle will start to pick out patterns in the carnage.
    There was a single attacker. And the killer vastly outclassed the defenders.

    Kore isn't a battle goddess, but she does know death, even that of nonhumans. She can tell it was an overwhelming assault, though being one person is possibly too far from her ability to discern. The dogs are 'sniffing' around, but they don't have the keen nose of real dogs.

    "A red cloak... hmm. All right. Have you gotten that wound taken care of? I'm afraid I can only make plants grow or offer a restful death, I don't really know how to tend to the wounded."

    Dante checks a body, tracing the marks from what looks like a damn good swordsman. "Pretty precise cut marks. Reminds me of Vergil's handiwork." He muses, eyeing 2B and 9S's swords for a moment. "Are those blades of yours standard issue or something?"

    Jin can't really do anything with the Pod -- he doesn't really even know what they are, to be honest. And he's no cop. So he's mainly staying out of the crime scene so he doesn't screw it up. For now he'll tend to the injured woman. "Are you sure?" he asks, when she notes she's 'fine'. "You're bleeding, and seem like you're... a little dizzy. Why don't you sit down?" He'll make to help her over to an area that's not directly IN the crime scene.

    Honestly the whole thing about there being blood here is a little weird to him -- didn't he hear it right that all the natives here are machines? Since when do machines bleed? He'll fridge horror this later, though; right now he's trying to help someone that's clearly injured. Having heard this was mostly a desert planet, he made certain to bring a canteen, so he's at least got some water to wash the wound with, if she'll let him tend to it.

Sonia kneels near one, while keeping an ear to the conversations, the tone, the words being spoken and how they're being spoken, but as she kneels, she begins to frown a little, as her gaze goes from the blood, to the gouges upon the wall, the casings themselves... "Hn." Standing, she moves over, to trace a gauntleted fingertip along the edge, her gaze briefly flitting over 9S and 2B, before finally ending up at the casings themselves. She doesn't know /as much/ but there's enough to piece together the puzzle. 

Looking over to Uni and Dante, she speaks. "Whoever, or whomever it was, was alone, but it didn't matter. They were too much for these androids." she offers with some confidence, before asking of Uni. "That look like what you and Bravette see here?" It's one thing to have a conclusion, but if someone else differs, it may well be for good reason to be sure of everyone on the same page, after all! 

    Bravette says, "Analysis complete." her tone as dour as 2B's. The blonde minibot pushes her visor up, and deploys a holoscreen. "Three defenders, fighting a single, vastly superior attacker. Shell casings from offworld sources, possible one of the defenders used a Tree-sourced firearm. .357 magnum rounds, chambered for a handgun. Speculation: Acquired for use against Machines, due to thick armour of the target, and the general lower quality of Resistance weaponry compared to YorHa equivalents." As she speaks, a wire-frame reenactment of her version of events plays out. A stick-figure done in red clashes with three others in blue. It's incomplete and janky, cutting between frames instead of being fluid.

    Uni nods to her Shinki, and gives her a jellycan as she processes that. Red eyes shift to look at the redhead. "Red cloak..." she hmms, then asks to look at the recovered POD. "I wish Nepgear was here, machinery and robots are her thing."

Emily pauses, and looks the woman over. "You okay there?" she says. A pause. "... Are you with YoRHa, or the Resistance? Or ... do you know? What's your name and/or designation?" She turns to 9S, since he'd obviously have a better idea of how to answer if the woman doesn't know.

She pauses, and looks at Kore. "You don't need to go into that much detail, Seph," she says conversationally. "Like, I'm pretty sure most of us are better at stabbing than tending the wounded, but I'm not gonna lead with 'by the way, my primary skill is people dying.'"

She frowns at the woman, sticking by Kung Jin. "I can offer a bandage, but only if healing takes like five minutes, or if I stay next to you until we can give you something more permanent."

She looks over at Sonia and Uni. "Iiiiiiiinteresting," she murmurs, smirking a bit. It doesn't look remotely like her usual amused and faintly smug grin.

    "I... I don't remember. I don't remember anything at all." The woman with red hair says when pressed on her name and designation. She does take a seat at Jin's prompting, still holding her head, she lets the wound even be washed. From the looks of her, she's dressed like a resistance member; ratty and torn brown and white clothes in comparison to the pristine black uniforms of 2B and 9S. "I just remember that... My friend died here."
    Between Uni- and 9S stepping in to help look at the pod, it is... Damaged beyond function and well damaged beyond repair, but a single picture can be extracted from the remaining data with enough prodding it displays a hologram image-- an android in a red cloak, stabbing one of the resistance members with a blade similar to 2B and 9S' in that it is a katana but FAR less ornate and much more utilitarian in design.
    "These aren't standard issue." 2B explains in regards to her blades. But YoRHa's weapons are commonly of a higher quality than the resistance's, yes." She says while quietly mulling over the assessments.
    "It looks like the killer was a resistance member from the looks of it." 9S says.

    Kore glares at Emily, "I did NOT lead with that, I lead with growing plants! I AM an Earth Goddess first, you know." She sighs, "It's so hard to make everyone happy. Upset if I'm not up front. Teasing if I am up front." Hands on her hips. "You're a mean one, Emily Nyx," she singsongs to the tune of 'Mr. Grinch.'

    She becomes more professional after that. "I'll take the Cerberus units and scout the immediate area, see if there's anything else useful here. Might as well make myself useful."

Emily actually wilts slightly at Kore's upbraiding. "Heh, sorry, sorry ..."

    Studying the hologram, Dante nods. "Whoever did it knew what they were doing. I've seen surgeons make sloppier cuts than this." He says. "Think it was some kinda plant?"

    Kung Jin will rip some from his cloak, and use the water in his canteen to wash the wound, being careful. Can she even feel pain? Jin's not sure, but he's not going to take a chance. He carefully dabs at the area around the wound with the wet cloth, hoping to get a better look at the wound.

    "With any luck it's not too bad -- head wounds tend to bleed pretty badly, even if they're not that bad. All the blood vessels are so close to the surface..." Really it's just chattering to give her something to focus on so she can keep from passing out; he doesn't know how she's different from a human, but he doesn't want her to slip into a coma or something.

    The mention of a 'resistance member' gets his attention though, and he looks at 2B and 9S. "Resistance? Resistance to what?" he asks. He's not familiar with the politics here -- for there are ALWAYS politics on any world -- since it's hard to find places to research such things on this world without being assaulted by hordes of machines looking to separate parts of one's body from the greater whole.

    Uni lets 9S take most of the lead on the POD. She's more comfortable with guns, after all.

    The CPU candidate nods to Kore. "I'll assist with scouting. I'm pretty quick on my feet and I'm actually compatent with firearms... not to desparage the locals, but their marksmanship leaves a lot to be desired." With that, she summons a bullpup carbine into her hands, and starts heading back down the stairwell, if noone stops her of course.

Pensive is Sonia's expression, 'looks like', certainly and she'll be willing to follow along the sentiment but it's Sonia's natural paranoia that... well. This doesn't sit right with her for any reason. Too many unknowns. She adjusts the grip inside her cloak on her whip in the meantime. 

"... I'm going to try something else," she declares after a moment, and after a brief look around herself, she elects to find a minimally tarnished (relative to everything else) place to have a seat. It's a long shot, but... she decides to focus, and we mean /really/ focus on her spiritual sensing aspect. The souls of the departed may not well exist here, but at the same time, she doesn't have anything to lose seeing if she can sense, feel the kinds of things a violent death may well have left behind. 

Android or not. 

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Totally not a seance, not at all the thing you want to do 2 days from Halloween, right? I mean, it's probably not going to work anyway...

    "The android resistance." 9S explains matter of factly to Kung Jin. "They're androids like us, but they live on Earth and fight the Machines. Pretty sure you've run into at least a few Machines on your way here." He says while the man tends to the redheaded woman, who has since fallen into a stupor of silence.
    "I don't know. Why would a resistance member have a YoRHa blade?" 2B asides to Dante's assessment with a frown.
    Whether or not the androids of this world have souls is... Questionable. But after a moment- Sonia will be able to feel something. Despair. A common feeling among the recently deceased but more prominently there is... Resentment. A horrendous level of bitterness that only seems to be rising more and more. It's probably a good thing there can't be android ghosts. That would just be too spooky.
    But as Kore, Cerberus, and Uni head out to begin scouting, it's not long before a passing resistance patrol seems to be making their way through the area. One of the androids with them?
    A woman in a red cloak.

    Uni quickly sights down on the patrol, tracking their passage then radioing to the rest of the group. <"Spotted a Resistance patrol. They have a woman in a red cloak with them, moving to take a closer look and intervene if this is our mark. Bravette will provide a beacon to my location."> she says, kicking off and sprinting at an inhuman speed across open ground, leaning so far forward that if she were to stop suddenly she'd fall flat on her face.

Emily looks between 9S and Kung Jin. "Pretty sure he has," she says absently, as she watches Sonia work. The instant she starts to get Uni's transmission, she transforms her hand into a speaker, playing it aloud for those present.

And then her eyes go wide as she hears what Uni is actually saying. She jumps to her feet. "Roger that," she says into the speaker. "Releasing capacitor seals three and two." She's surrounded by three distinct auras, one gold, one silver, and one pearlescent; the first two shatter and the third one fades.

In a swirl of silvery glitter, a large falchion sword appears on her back. She opens a staticky portal, through which Uni is visible running away from it. "Who's joinin' me?"

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Offering a quick way for others to follow after Uni

    Dante drops the subject, as he hears the communication. He draws his guns and leaps out a window, without hesitation. Taking the short way down, he lands on a convenient rooftop before taking off after Uni, sprinting at extreme speeds toward the red-cloaked android.

    Kung Jin nods to 9S. "Yeah. Wasn't fun. They don't like electricity, turns out," he quips. Yeah, he has taser arrows. They probably came in handy on the trip here. Once that transmission plays and Emily makes to leave, he offers, "I'll go too." But...

    He pauses, looking to the injured woman. "Can you stay here until we get back? I'll help you back into town proper once we get back," he offers.

For the briefest of moments, Sonia's eyes shimmer with a pale luminesence, neither too bright nor unnoticable, like a pulsation as she picks up on the despair, the resentment. The resentment is another matter altogether. Almost all who die suffer from despair, but resentment is the more important thing she's picking up on, relative here. 

"...the bitterness here is getting worse." she announces after a few moments, loosening the clasp of her cloak slightly "... something doesn't feel right about any of this." she muses, as much as to say, Emily, or Dante, or whomsoever else remained before moving to head out. She can't quite pin down /why/ she's feeling like this, but it's making, to her, everyone pretty suspect at the moment, her gaze falling instead on the injured woman--the others can look in on this redcloaked woman. But... "I'll keep a look out here." she offers to Kung Jin. 

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Paranoia is fun. Doesn't have a good feeling about any of this. Pepe Silva. :|

    Kore hears the transmission in her cyberware, and the goddess broadcasts back, "I'll have Cerberuss circle around." She keeps her pace nice and easygoing, but the dog-bots dash off, moving fast to try to circle around in case the suspect attempts escape. Seems she IS trying to be helpful this time, and she hasn't even tried to kill anyone yet!

    Yet.

    At least she isn't there to hear Sonia. Kore instead will just approach the group cautiously, perhaps as backup.

    One spotting of an android in red and people start to leave.
    "Fine. We'll just stay here. With the cranial trauma victim." 2B says.
    "I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry." 9S volunteers.
    "... Well. Aren't we generous.." The Battle unit snipes.
    "Whuh?"
    "You don't often offer to stick your neck out for others. I know she's pretty, but."
    "Whoah whoah whoah it's not like that 2B! I mean she's pretty but--"
    "Whatever."
    Was that jealousy?
    Regardless of 2B's strange break from character, the Resistance patrol is given pause when approached by Uni coming at full sprint, Dante leaping out a window, and Emily and Kung Jin stepping out a portal. The android in red pulls her hood back.
    "Whaaaaat the hell are you guys doing here?" The android known as Jackass asks, blatantly confused. "Did you get tagged for that murder case? My team's still baffled, boy let me tell you."

Emily pauses, grinning as Dante leaves the way, um, he leaves. Yep, there's her amused and faintly smug smile!

Her smile vanishes, however, when Sonia speaks up. She nods once to her and Kung Jin in turn, gives Sonia a quadruple-thumbs-up, pauses to snicker at 2B and 9S's byplay, and then floats backwards through the portal, closing it behind Kung Jin.

She snickers at the reveal of the cloaked figure's identity. "Oh, hey, Jackass," she says. "Are you the murderer?" That question is asked completely full of sarcasm. She gestures to the cloak with both of her left hands. "Nice duds, by the way, where'd you get 'em?"

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> *Possibly* subtle, except not really.

    Dante lands a few steps away from the android as he keeps his guns close, looking surprised. "Jackass? We were looking for an android with a red clo-Wait a minute." The hammers cock. "That cloak a common fashion statement around here?"

>> SUMMARY[Dante] >> "Hey what's u-WAIT A MINUTE"

    Jin nods to Sonia's offer. "Thanks. We'll be back as soon as we can," he assures. That said, he heads through the portal that Emily offers. Ordinarily he'd quip about strange portals, but there's a slightly more urgent situation at hand. Not, however, so urgent that he doesn't quip as he appears, "Oh good. It didn't lead to one of those thousands of underground hells."

    He blinks as he hears the name though. "'Jackass'?" he repeats, looking to the newly-arrived woman. Yeah, it's an unusual name. He's not going to assume, though -- he's gone back into diplomat mode. Or possibly 'stand by and wait for someone to verbally slip up' mode. Both are very similar.

Speaking of cranial trauma not related to dealing with Emily--

Wait, no that's not right. Ahem. Right. "Let me do something about that, at the very least," Sonia offers, given she elected to stay behind to keep an eye out with 2B and 9S, heading over to the injured woman and gathering together a bit of her power to the surface. A quietly murmured incantation that might sound like a prayer to another in latin, before she extends her hand.

A soft mist billows out like a cool, wintry breeze--it might induce a shiver, but at the same time it manages to be just refreshing enough to--assuming nothing is awry--relieve the woman of the worse of her injuries, a pale blue light shimmering from her eyes at the same time. 

    Uni doesn't say anything, as she shifts her weight from forward, to backward and digs in her heels, skidding to a stop then dropping into a knelt ready position, bringing her carbine up to level it at Jackass. The others have pretty much dealt with all the talky bits, Uni's going to focus on making sure the group isn't bushwhacked. She tightbeam radios to Bravette to keep her head on a swivel, the little Shinki sweeping the area with combat sensors, checking for possible ambushers.

    How interesting. Kore slows as she hears the confusion, considering Jackass. Sure, her hounds have circled behind, but this could be either a very brutal fight, or a misunderstanding. Either way she doesn't expect they'll be needed as a deterrant.

    "Now this is interesting..." She doesn't appear to have a ranged weapon of her own, so maybe that is why she hangs back now, to see what the story is.

    "I'm pretty sure I'm not the killer." Jackass replies matter of factly. "My team is usually in the desert region." She points out, before being prodded on her cloak?
    "This piece of shit? I hate it, but no it's not the usual style around here. If you paid any attention you'd know the usual fashion is 'Derelique' brand. I got it from this crazy red haired android. She wouldn't stop smiling and nearly tackled me to buy it off her. It was really fucking creepy. Only reason I'm wearing it now is 'cause I didn't want to get sand where the sun don't shine if you catch my drift."
    Meanwhile, back at the murder scene, the red haired android looks up as Sonia approaches, wincing in confusion at first before-- well it would seem that Sonia's magic can heal androids of this world, because she begins to rub at her head with less flinching. ... 
    Enough to cause a manic grin to spread across her features. "Ahah hah... I remember... I remember now..."

    "Oh." Stowing the guns, Dante just looks like a goddamn idiot. And then it registers. "...shit." They left Sonia and the androids with the redhead.

    There is no running like that of a guy who's just made a huge mistake.

Okay, good. Emily's eyes flit this way and that, keeping track of where everyone is. On the off-chance that Jackass is the killer, looks like they've got this situation pretty well on lockdown.

As Jackass's explanation goes on, Emily smacks her forehead with her upper left hand. Then her upper right hand. Then both of her lower hands for good measure. She quickly nods to Dante. "Uhhh, we'll be right back," she tells Jackass, opening up a portal leading back to the murder-scene and jumping through. "Question!"

She comes to a sudden stop as she sees the redhead's expression. It's clear even under the blindfold that her eyes have gone wide. "... yeah, 'shit' is right," she mutters, one hand going to the sword on her back.

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Facepalm x4 COMBO, WAIT OHSHI--

    Uni's eyes widen as the realisation hits. "Bravette, emergency intercept. Get back to the others!" radios the CPU, turning and sprinting back towards the crimescene... seems she's not paying attention to Emily opening quick travel portals for the group, but she's quick enough that it only matters marginally.

    Bravette arrives through the window Dante broke, and levels her gattling on the red-headed android. "Stop right there and do not move, I will not hesitate to end you." she states firmly.

>> SUMMARY[Uni] >> Uni being a derp and running when there's a Town Portal right there. Bravette trying to be badass.

    Kore is listening, but upon hearing this, she hmms. "Stay where you are," she orders Cerberus before turning and leaping much higher than a human should, heading back to the building with the others. She is moving quickly, but with less desperation than the others... after all, death isn't something she worries about happening to others.

    But she wants to get to the bottom of this more now, and brazen murders aren't her style. So she's scrambling up to where the... is that laughter?

    Yeah, Jin's starting to realize something's going wrong. But unless this person is lying -- which those here who know her don't seem to think -- then this is not the end of the investigation. Though Jin frowns at Jackass's description of the person who tackled her about the cloak. "I wonder how common red hair is here..."

    And then as Emily jumps back through that portal, "Hey, wait!" And he goes back through it too. He doesn't want to get left behind out here, and she left fast enough that she might have forgotten about the rest of them. Once they get back, Jin follows Emily's gaze to the manic grin on the injured woman's face, and his eyes narrow.

    "...Yeah, that's not good," he notes. He resummons his weapon (having banished it to tend to the injured woman) and faces the woman with the manic grin. He doesn't immediately attack, but he's ready to if he needs to.

It's any number of things--her caution prior, the wariness otherwise with this whole situation--she was close to the beginning to let her tension go. She was so close, honestly. But... when the android flashes that manic grin, it's instantaneous. Everything that 2B ever sensed from Sonia comes off her in a cold flash. For a human next to an android, the reaction time may not be all that special. 

Regardless, she closes her hand and given as close as she was, the whip doesn't come into play--"Coruscare!" she snaps off, though it is not fully necessary, it empowers a bright pillar of flame from her hand right at the red woman's face, the Belmont pivoting backward at the same time to get room enough to use her whip to follow up on. 

...well, technically she fixed what she just fixed but... 

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Given what she saw up close, her reaction this time is not to mess around and literally fireblast someone in the face. '-';;

    And so everyone returns. To find that 2B has already drawn her blade.
    But in the face of that almost psychotic grin, Sonia unloads a blast of fire, and if the red-haired android had any fight in her, she certainly doesn't now as she recoils from the blast, rolling on the ground to try and put herself out. ... While cackling with maddened laughter.
    "Aha! Haha! I remember! I remember now! I remember! It was me~. Heeheehee!"
    Slowly she sits up, face half-melted off and yet still looking manic. "Type E... A YoRHa Type E... Executioner... That was my designation. ... I hunt down deserters, traitors, cowards and people who know too much and I kill them on orders. Heeheehee."
    9S takes a step back in shock. "... What? That can't be right."
    2B says not a word, fingers clenching on her blade.
    "I was ordered... I was ordered to kill my friend. ... I couldn't take it anymore. How many friends I've killed, comrades, lovers... Hahahaha! But you did it~. You solved the mystery... Now I have to reward you. Is there anyone you want dead? Friends? Family? Lovers? Anyone?"
    "... You should all go. We'll turn her over to YoRHA from here." 2B mutters, sullen.
    "J-Jeeze..." 9S whispers, shocked.

As the other people arrive, Emily makes a quick burst of mental calculation, and sighs softly. Before she can do anything else, though, though, Sonia just ... blasts the android in the face. Emily flinches and turns away, and reinforces the blindfold.

But the android's words give her pause. "Type E?" she says, turning towards 9S. "What's ...?" But he clearly hasn't heard about that, either. She frowns, pulling off part of the blindfold so that the android is still obscured, looking helplessly towards 2B.

    By the time things have settled down, Dante makes it up the stairs. He's not winded, but he is pretty frustrated. "Forget it, Em. It's robo-town. Let's just get outta here." He says, clapping Emily on the shoulder.

    Jin takes a step back just in case that fire goes farther than Sonia intended. He tenses, in case the crazy android gets up and starts after them. But instead she... reveals that she's some kind of hired killer. Kind of; she's probably not being paid.

    'YoRHA'. He's heard it twice now. Once from the crazy android and once from 9S. So they work for YoRHA, too? He looks to 2B and 9S, pointing out, "I dunno. On the off-chance she IS telling the truth, if you turn her over to these people, you might end up being next. For 'knowing too much'." Though he does note, "I don't know who this 'Yorha' is, but I don't even think an android would just randomly snap, kill a comrade, and then make up a story like that. It's worth thinking about, anyway."

    Bravette remains stoic in her outward expression, but inside she's screaming as the 'Executioner' laughs.

    Uni then reaches the top of the stairs, skidding to a halt as the group recoils from the revelation. The CPU Candidate almost... /almost/ lifts her weapon to unload on the cackling mad-bot.

Brilliant orange light coruscates around the gauntlet hand of Sonia's as she pulls out her whip, only delaying any further attacks by way of the manic Type E spilling her proverbial guts as her melted exterior makes for another kind of spilling. Looping part of her whip into one hand and damn near ready to snap it at the android's head. 

For her part, Sonia's expression is cold, and still radiating that predator's sense of finding particularly elusive prey, or in this case, potentially finding someone who wished her and others harm. Her eyes flick towards 9S briefly, and if there were any sympathy, there is none, for she hasn't any to spare at the moment. "Explains the resentment, the bitterness that exists here more than the despair." A glance towards Emily, and while she'll accept 2B's offer, she's not necessarily letting any of the tension bleed out of her just yet.

And with what others say, makes a small scoffing sound. "If knowledge like that is dangerous enough, I doubt it'll matter whether or not she's turned in or not." The unsaid implication that whether she dies here or is given to YorHa is the same in the end, possibly. 

    Thudding to the ground, Kore considers. "If you'll take care of this, then I suppose it isn't my business now. I do wish there'd been a happier end... but I guess she couldn't take the stress of her job. I'm sure there are others who can."

    She looks around to the others. "I'll gather Cerberus up. This world really is interesting. Robots with souls who can create other souls. No human intervention needed." At least she seems to think 2B, at the minimum, has a soul.

    "None of that is for me to decide." 2B replies curtly.
    "Maybe." 9S ventures. "Just maybe, command can confirm for us that she's just a few bolts shy of a full bucket." He says, hopefully.
    Once again, 2B falls ominously silent as she bodily lifts the 'Type E' with one hand not very gently.
    9S rubs at the back of his neck, the whole situation clearly putting a bad taste in his mouth. "This is nuts, guys. S-sorry you all had to get dragged into it. I guess we'll take it from here and deal with her."

Emily deflates slightly at Dante's touch. "Yeah," she says. "This place drives me to ice cream." She looks to the others in turn. "By which I mean I can't get drunk. Who wants to come with me to this great ice cream place in the next Branch over?"