World Tree MUSH

    The abandoned factory is out of the way, out of sight, and past Tokyo's city limits. In other words, it's the perfect spot for illegal activities...
    Music blares from the speakers of an impromptu DJ booth that controls the painfully loud pumping music and eye blasting lights that flash and pulse all through the old factory.
    Several cage rings have been set up during the day for the events of the night, and those events are in full swing. Shinki battles. Normally, with a VR visualizer field these battles are mostly safe for the tiny robots involoved.
    But here there are no visualizers and fights are to the death...
    The Tokyo police department has once again reached out for offworld assistance in the matter, with the aid of a 'confidential informant' giving them the location and best time to strike.
    That informant is none other than a shinki by the epithet of 'The Angel of Death'.
    The battles are already in full swing for the night, announcers calling out names and numbers, encouraging bets, bookies taking bets and cash both over and under the table, as tiny terrified robots fight for their lives.
    "AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH WINS AGAIN! What an astounding return, folks, I haven't been this happy to see a little murdermachine in a long time! I can't WAIT to see her in tonight's main event! Our old champion The Angel of Death against our up and coming angel... Seraph!" An announcer shouts through his megaphone as an Altines in black armor floats out of one of the side-rings, her opponent, a battered and beaten Murmeltier type lays in a heap on the arena floor. She'll be fine. Her CMS isn't damaged.
    Alty has already plowed through six matches, undefeated and with barely a scratch on her armor. Though there is some downtime before the main match for the night, one that the crowd is drooling to see. There's a tingle of excitement on the air now that word has spread through the circles.
    The Angel of Death has returned. And if there's any blood the crowd and their shinki want to see, it's hers.
    Right now, Alty is perching on the shoulder of a woman in an ornate and elegant kimono, the shinki's face and worried expression are hidden by her skull-faced visor, equally matching the kitsune mask of her apparent new master that's putting her through these fights.
    <<I am hating every minute of this.>> Alty broadcasts over a tightly locked communication band. <<This was a mistake, I can't do this anymore-- they all want my blood.>>
    ... If shinki could hyperventilate...
    The moment to start the raid was made clear though; the height of the matches: when The Angel of Death defeats Seraph, that's the pre-determined signal to go loud.

    The woman behind the vulpine mask cants her head just slightly, as if responding to some sound in the factory crowd; it's mostly just to tilt herself a little closer to the shinki on her shoulder, however, as if to provide a bit of shielding and security.

    It's a good thing that the kitsune mask hides her expression entirely, too; because Hyouka Kiyama is worried sick. Hair down to hide her ears, dressed in expensive and fine Japanese clothing entirely unlike her usual, the cyborg is absolutely incognito tonight, and using her internal comms to speak with Alty in such a way that nobody else can hear. <<Are you going to be okay? You know if you want, I'll start breaking stuff.>> Of course, even if Alty is in the midst of a panic attack, she suspects the little Altines unit will pull through. She's mainly just trying to alleviate the sense of being trapped - to provide another option so that the Angel of Death can take confidence in having chosen to see this through. Well that, and the knowledge that she has a big, smashy cyborg to protect her if things go south.

    Outwardly, all that's visible is the mystery woman unfolding a paper fan, and starting to fan herself absently.

    Uni's here, but noone would know it aside from the red eyes. She and her partner Zelnogrard mingle with the crowd. She places some minor bets on the other fights, but keeps an eye on Alty's progress. The normally black-haired CPU has bright bubblegum pink hair, and a white dress with Lunar Tear-styled ribbons holding her hair up in a twinned set of side-dos. <Hawkeye to all points... I'm in the crowd, north side. Look for the pink hair --don't ask-- I'm ready to go on the signal.> The young girl using a subvocal mic to communicates back. <Don't worry too much either, Miss Angel of Death. We've got your back.> she also assures the other Shinki, giving the kitsune-masked woman a slight chin-raising nod before resuming mingling and being as inconspicuous as a pink-haired teenager can be in an underground shinki deathmatch arena.

<<You're doing fine. It won't be much longer now.>> The voice is filled with genuine reassurance, and the owner of that voice doesn't move his mouth at all. Officer Alex Murphy, stationed not too far from, and set in a way to drive his motorcycle into the factory once he both observed and got the signal otherwise. 

He'd also taken the chance to effectively direct and have law enforcement deploy in a way that covered every potential exit except for one, and that one he would be covering otherwise. Enough simming and tactical planning once he got more information was easy to effectively set up a highly likely scenario for the police to follow--without catching Alty in the crosshairs just in case. Arguably, he could quickly order a shift in forces in case they *did* need to go through that way, but...

<<Breathe in. Breathe out. Remember why you volunteered for this, Alty. I don't like it anymore than you do. Frankly I'd have already come in there but we're not going to squander this chance you're trying to get for this Seraph. But...>> He sighs slightly, internally and over the communication band. <<You'll want to talk with someone after this.>> he adds. Partly for Hyouka to hear, though he hadn't quite the chance to personally meet with the other cyborg directly. Ideally, the chance would happen, but either way Alty would definitely not want for a lack of cyborg support here.

All the while he's monitoring things as they go on inside. From the sounds his systems can pick up, to the nest of wireless signals and more. He runs a cursory check in with stationed forces--a brief reminder for nonlethal methods where possible, and that the point was to prevent loss of life *and* loss of evidence. 

A more pointed reminder of this nonlethal aspect would go towards those he'd suspected of being somewhat more dismissive-and-or-racist towards shinki in general as he kept his motorcycle briefly keyed off. For now, at least.

    The last time Serrah Delany was here, she'd shown up because someplace illegal seemed like a great place to hide from the Duke. She immediately felt viscerally awful about what was happening. Now ... now, mostly, she just feels empty.

    She's currently laying flat on the roof, dressed in all black; she's discovered that she can't really operate the communications equipment while turned into shadow. << Yep, >> she replies, agreeing with Hyouka, although her offer seems completely sincere rather than just an offer of making things easier. << Just say the word, and I'll Stop the World and start busting he-- I mean, uh, breaking inanimate objects. Shit, >> she adds under her breath, not realizing it got broadcast.

    ... Her essence of humanity is dangerously close to zero. She's not in any danger of becoming a mindlessly-berserk monster; she'll just permanently be a vampire, with no chance of returning to humanity. The worst part is, she doesn't even mind as much as she did the night she died.

    << ... Robocop,>> she says flatly, << she doesn't breathe. >> She's been kind of ... curt with the law enforcement the entire time she's been here. << ... Though, uh, I wouldn't be completely surprised if it actually did help, Alty. Just ... try, maybe? >>

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> *Sonic Drowning theme*

    <<No-- Yes-- I mean no, don't start breaking things yet!>> Alty bleats over the comms to Hyouka as she tries to calm her nerves as best she can and trying not to fidget. She's doing her best impression of a murdermonster. She's silent. Unmoving. Stoic. It's an act she had worn before she was rescued quite often, before she could actually show anyone the true fear and terror behind the skull-visor. It's not easy to return to.
    Scarlet eyes find a head of pink hair in the crowd, and she purses her lips. <<Okay.>> Said after a beat. <<I'm ready, I guess... Once I beat Seraph everyone move in.>> Before she pauses.
    Breathe in, breathe out... It doesn't help that she doesn't actually have lungs and can't really do it just like Serrah said, but that doesn't stop her from trying once prompted, shoulder joints rising and falling slowly in mimicry of a deep, slow, breath.
    "So..." Comes a voice from behind Hyouka. A voice that makes Alty stop dead cold.
    "You're that Altines' new master now?"
    The man would certainly be familiar to Hyouka and Uni, and Serrah may remember his voice, considering the three had worked together to previously apprehend him. He's a tired looking salaryman in a white shirt and black slacks.
    He extends his hand with a sneer. "Tanaka." He only gives his surname, giving a full name in an illegal place like this would be a death sentance after all.
    Alty starts quaking.
    <<A-ah... It's him...!>>
    "I put a lot of work into that one. I'm surprised to even see it back in the ring after escaping. But my new shinki will blow it out of the water." He says with a chuckle before motioning at the main ring where an Altlene in custom white and gold armor with sculpted angel wings starts entering.
    "Time's up, little Altines. Seraph's going to... Be the death of the Angel of Death." He says as an announcer makes the call.
    "Lllllllaaadies and gentlemen, it's time for tonight's main event! Our old killer champion, The Angel of Death, against our newest little death machine, Seraph!"
    It's time. And Alty's fingers cling a little tighter where they hold on to Hyouka's collar before she detaches.
    <<... Here I go. Wish me luck.>>

    <So, he's back and with a new toy to boot... I should have put a slug in him when I had the chance.> growls Uni over comms. Red eyes track Tanaka, before returning to Alty and Hyouka. <You don't need luck, you're the best. Finish this quick and we'll make sure everyone gets repairs and rehomed, just like last time.> The CPU candidate starts moving through the crowd into position, a sideward glance at her partner getting the Zelnogrard on standby, a 'get ready' burst being transmitted to the network from the little support Shinki.

    The cold voice prompts that kimono-clad woman to turn again, peering out through the eyes of her mask at the source. Her body language remains tightly controlled, as still as she can possibly be - and for a cyborg, that's pretty still, almost eerily so. She doesn't even respond to the offered hand, merely staring straight into the owner's eyes; and when she responds, it's through a voice distorter built into the mask, in a softer register besides. "Yamada."

    It's the equivalent of an American giving her name as 'Smith', really. But in a place like this, she's not going to hide the fact that she's hiding something. Everyone is hiding something here.

    She does tilt her head slightly to regard the arena, before turning her head back towards Tanaka. "We'll see." Terse is the best way to play this.

    <<Be careful,>> the cyborg replies quietly, folding her fan up again and tapping it absently in her opposite palm. <<We'll be right here with you.>>

    << ... >>> A soft exhalation of breath is transmitted over the comms. Serrah peers through a skylight, fury in her blood-red eyes.

    << ... I'm glad you're the one who said that, >> she answers Uni. << I got a baseball with his name on it. >> Dark thoughts are running through her head, dark thoughts which it takes a moment to realize she should shove back down. << ... A-also, if I look like I'm genuinely about to lose control and move in for a literal kill that doesn't have a self-defense excuse, you all have my blanket permission to break my arms. >>

Arguably, part of the reason he said to 'breathe' was basically owed to the fact he didn't quite see the shinki as explicitly robotic. He'd seen the pain, the trauma in her eyes and the way she acted enough to make him see her as, you know. Not some kind of inanimate object as a certain someone might well be seeing them. Nor any reason to clutter the channel with pointing out the aforementioned gaffe. He doesn't know Serrah's inhumanity, only that it's perilously similar to how he's been seen by those who just see him as a 'robot'.

As such, he elects not to correct the Serrah. About calling him 'Robocop' or informing as to why he suggested to try and take it easy via a somewhat more unorthodox sentiment. Partially because he can in fact, pick up on the very obvious terror and uses the proximity and his own systems to expand the scanning field he's been using in order to earmark the voice's owner 'Tanaka' and log it for the time being, all the while his visor slides into place and he runs one final check on his sidearm's cartridge systems.

<<"Everyone's ready here.">> he transmits. <<"Updating on person of interest's presence.">> That being a reference to Tanaka, as it happens, presuming he can in fact, pick up on the data from Uni's networking. Alex's may not be as insanely advanced as Gamindustri's tech, but it can swing pretty well on it's weight class, providing further tracking and tactical updates on the fly as everyone seems to more or less brace themselves for the proverbial foot to drop.

    The best huh?
    It's an odd consolation for Alty; being the best in the ring to the point that she became the legendary bogeyman of all Shinki-kind. But right now she's going to use every ounce of that dirty dogfighting skill to try and save another shinki, and that means something to her. If she can use her strength to save someone else, then that strength isn't all bad is it?
    <<It's okay. ... I think I have this...>>
    She makes her way into the main ring, and the door locks.
    "You know." Tanaka says to 'Yamada', stuffing a hand into his pocket as he takes a place by the ring. "Most shinki would be terrified to be locked in there with The Angel of Death. She never lost a single fight. But right now? It should be the other way around. Seraph isn't locked in there with her. She's locked in there with Seraph." He chuckles as spotlights shine on the cage, the two floating armored shinki spend a moment staring each other down, weapons already in hand, slowly taking on fighting stances before...
    "FIGHT!"
    No sooner than the word is out of the announcer's mouth, Alty jolts forward--
    But in that same instant Seraph is on top of her.
    "Wh--"
    It's all Alty can do just to bring her swords into a parry as the other shinki slams her with brutal force, already laying into her with a savage series of blows.
    It's fast, it's brutal, and it's tense as the two become blurs of white and gold and black and red, zipping around the arena, weapons impacting hard enough to kick up sparks as it's immediately clear.
    Alty is forced on the defensive and she's struggling to break out of it.
    <<She's-- she's too fast, I can barely keep up!>>

    <Speed comes at a cost. Look for an opening, she won't have strong protection to get that speed advantage. You have the experience, Alty. I believe in you.> says Uni, eyes locked on the fight, tracking the blurred pair as they move around the arena. <You broke free of that man, are you going to let someone else be his pawn, his tool? You broke free, and made your own way in life. You're your own Master now... and Seraph is begging for your help.>

    As the fight drags out, Uni steps back, behind the crowd and takes a deep breath.

    It's a good thing Hyouka is keeping her hands down - and an even better thing that her fan's non-paper portions are made out of carbon fiber. Her fingers are curling tightly enough that a wooden fan would have splintered long ago.

    'DARGN, help me not punch his face in.'
    'Hoh? You're turning to me for help?'
    'You're based on a dragon. How can I shut this bastard up without laying a finger on him?'
    'Hmhmhm. What an interesting request from you...'

    Lines of text begin to appear on Hyouka's internal HUD.

    The fox mask tilts slightly, and the mystery woman speaks in that same soft, modulated voice. "'A knight in shining armor has never had their mettle tested.' The Angel of Death has faced and won many desperate battles. Your Seraph has not. How will she fare when she must win a fight by the skin of her teeth, I wonder?"

    In fairness, Serrah's 'Robocop' comment was fifty percent disrespect. She winces, but ... for a few seconds, her lack of empathy is to the plan's advantage.

    Then she remembers that Alty is someone who she is nominally supposed to care about, and her fury flares up again. << Ghhkk ... j-just so everyone knows, I'm about six and a half seconds from ... from goin' apeshit on that li'l Seraph there. >> Beat. << Or Tanaka, one of the two. Actually, hang on, lemme distract myself ... >>

    The sounds of scribbling with a marker become audible over the radio.

There's two simulations that come up for Alex: one is the original busting in via motorcycle, but now one involving him making quite literally a two-story running leap comes into play, briefly. It's quite ostensibly owed to things not going as well as it could be.

But, for moment, he keys the ignition on his motorcycle--just when the crowd really starts going and leveraging himself towards his chosen point of entry, while pulling his sidearm free, the holster drawing back into his thigh. 

Any moment now.

    That speed is insane. It takes every ounce of Alty's focus and processing power just to keep on the defensive, and every blow that rings against her swords makes her whole body rattle.
    That speed may be on another level, but Uni is right, there's probably a flaw in that ornate, pristine armor. The very armor that Hyouka comments on.
    Tanaka scowls.
    "It won't be by the skin of her teeth, just watch." He says, sullen and without witty rejoinder.
    But the fight continues. It's fast, vicious, The Angel of Death on the backpedal, putting seven years of fighting experience to the test against that insane speed. New nicks and scuffs appear on black armor as the white-armored shinki lays into her, but her reactions are solid.
    It's her weapons that are starting to show wear as every smashing blow causes Alty's sword to crack... Another hit, the crack widens. Another- another- another-
    And then the Angel of Death's red blade breaks.
    There's a gasp from the crowd, and somewhere among that suspense a sharp and shrill cry of pain is lost under the roar for blood as two of the Altines' four arms go flying, shorn off at elbow and shoulder, Alty's eyes glaze over with agony behind her visor, but with a blink, it's gone as her systems automatically send out a dangerous ping to the group:
    Pain Supression Systems online at 64 percent.
    <<G-gh... Go loud!>>
    She gives the signal early as she lurches forward, bringing her black helmet into Seraph's face in a stunning headbutt that shatters the Altlene's white armored visor, revealing the shinki's face with a scar going horizontally across her nose.
    "... No way..." Alty whispers as they both reel from the impact.
    "... L-... Leene?"

    <Signal confirmed. Go loud, bring 'em down!> says Uni into the comm. A moment later, the pink and white are replaced by the usual black, and a shotgun appears in her hands. "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST. DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!" She bellows, firing beanbag rounds into the crowd.. and hoping she'll get some back-up real fast, cuz while she's superhuman, she's still got the mass of a teenage girl, and a big man could overpower her from leverage alone.

    Serrah doesn't even wait for the signal. Even as Alty says 'go loud', the skylight shatters, and there's two baseballs flying through the air -- fast enough to stun, but not fast enough to kill a human or damage a shinki. One is aimed at Seraph with pinpoint accuracy. The other is aimed right for Tanaka's head.

    And, true to Serrah's word, the latter has the name "Tanaka" written on it in Japanese.

    If there's one vampiric trait which Serrah is completely unable to resist, it's being dramatic as hell, and she descends, baseballs in hand. She smoothly lands on her feet as if there wasn't any impact, and casts her gaze to the audience as if daring them to warrant violence.

    The pokemon-brand baseball bag at her hip probably somewhat ruins the effect, though.

Loud it is then. 

It's almost on the dot when she says it, but Alex revs the engine hard while enforcing it with a, <<"All units, move in, now!">> But even as he says it, his focus is on making a beeline for his intended point of entry--using the purpose-built machine to make the doors slam open *wide*, if almost going off the hinges. Red and blue sirens and lights paint the factory as bright as daytime as helis and other law enforcement begin to start swarming towards it.

But the moment he's busted into the same place he scouted prior, he's tagging targets. Active participant, just happened to enjoy the suffering of the sentient equivalent of dogfighting using the shinki, it didn't matter. He leveled his sidearm and started firing--a systematic series of shots being used to effectively taze anyone who looked like they were already trying to run, and those who might try to actually fight back with lethal force? 

Well, he's got an answer for that, but he announces over an enhanced speaker system, echoing what Uni's said thus far. <<"This is the police; put your hands up, and surrender any weapons on your person. Do not attempt to flee. You are surrounded and under arrest.">> Even as he says this, he brings his motorcycle to a sliding stop, kickstanding it and disembarking smoothly as he scans for lethal responses.

And, for the time being, not electing to get anyone else in the crossfire. People who try to flee, that's what the police outside are for. 

    By the time Alty gives the 'go loud' signal, even carbon fiber hasn't saved her fan. She's kept it low and out of sight, but it's unmistakably mangled thanks to her superhuman grip strength.

    Well, probably a pretty good thing the signal's just been given.

    About the same time Serrah is hurling a baseball, Hyouka's right hand is snapping out to grab Tanaka by the collar. She doesn't waste more than a half-second letting the projectile land; the instant it does, she follows up with her cybernetic strength on full display - bodily picking him up by his clothes, swinging him around, and slamming him forcefully into the nearest support girder.

    "I was getting a little tired of listening to your awful blather, you absolute psychopath. If you're even still conscious, I recommend you stay very still and don't try to escape. I'm not human."

    Uni gets her backup and she gets it fast. Though as soon as she starts opening fire, beanbag rounds beginning to drop confused and panicking onlookers, two men draw guns and start to open fire, just as the skylight comes down, glass shards falling into the panicking mass.
    There's a dull thump as a Named Baseball cracks Tanaka upside the head as he's bodily hoisted, more than stunned from the impact and the sudden bodily slamming against the nearest pillar.
    "M-muh...?!" He blurts, dizzy and concussed.
    And then Alex Murphy busts in, tazer-pistol blazing.
    It stops runners cold as they drop to the floor spasming, but there are a lot of people and while some raise their hands in compliance, more than a few make a break for the exits. But they can be dealt with by the police outside.
    But the hell in the ring hasn't ended. Stunned by Alty's headbutt, there's no dodging the baseball that knocks Seraph clean out of the air, and Alty drops to follow, clutching her sheared arm.
    "Leene- Leene get up, I'm getting you out of here." She says, shaking the other pit fighter. "It's me, don't you recognize your sist-"
    Alty is... Interrupted by a small blade sliding right past her armor and into her stomach.
    "ergh...?"
    [Pain Suppression Systems online at 97 percent]
    [WARNING: Battery damaged. Battery integrity at 37 percent]
    "I don't know you..." Says the white-armored shinki that starts trying to make a beeline for a gutter in the cage floor.

    "ALTY!"

    Everything else stops mattering right then. Hyouka lets go of Tanaka entirely. His arrest is now officially the furthest thing from her mind. She's making a straight beeline for the fighting arena - and anyone unfortunate enough to be in her way is just getting bodily THROWN by a cyborg strong enough to pick up a car over her head. Her kimono tears from the force and speed of her legs pumping. She intends to reach the little shinki as fast as she can. "ALTY I'M COMING, DON'T MOVE!"

    Serrah glances at Tanaka's prone form. "Hey now," she answers Hyouka, "don't go insulting psychopaths by comparing them to our dear friend Mr. Tanaka here --"

    And then Alty gets stabbed, and there are nasty error-messages. Serrah's eyes go wide. She barely has time to see that Hyouka is going for Alty as she exclaims, "STOP the WORLD!"

    And then, as abruptly as a video skipping ahead, she's suddenly in front of Seraph/Leene/whatever-her-name-is. Any sensors which tried to scan the process would simply not detect any time between the two states. And her hand is already partway through shooting out with superhuman speed and strength to slam the shinki to the ground as if she was swatting a bug.

    There's murder in her eyes. She doesn't even seem to be aware of the shooters, or any part of the rest of the fight.

There's probably going to be something related to the happenstance of lost time at some point, but might simply be chalked up to 'weird inter-World nonsense'. Probably. Still, Alex doesn't necessarily let up either--runners are one thing, those can be dealt with by the local law enforcement. He grunts once as he spies the warnings--there's nothing he can directly do about that other than, frankly? 

Keep securing the scene. 

From his left thigh comes the M2 rifle of his, and now the cyborg police officer is wielding both weapons--though in the case of the battle rifle he's now wielding in the robotic hand of his, is sending the occasional ricochet'd shots to catch those wielding more lethal arms in their knees or shoulders. Oh it's going to do damage, but frankly he can't respond to lethal response without anything less than 'eliminate the threat'. Even if it is a slightly improved version of that interpretation owed to his body's capability. 

He grunts once--chalking up that sudden change of position of Serrah from 'there' to 'way the fuck over there' and can't do much about it now. 

Secure the scene. Keep the rest of the police away from what Uni, Hyouka and Serrah can do for Alty and Leene. Or Seraph. Which means he's coordinating Tokyo's police just right in terms of keeping as much controlled chaos from sweeping up the others in it. 

    Uni grunts, seeing the warnings flashing up in her line of sight. "Bravette. Retask, support Alty... disabling shots only. Go now." The Zelnogrard nods, launches from the CPU Candidate's shoulder, and goes to help Alty, bringing a repair kit and taking aim at the fleeing 'Seraph' with her gattling cannon. She fires a burst of shells across the white-armoured Shinki's path, but is going to help Alty and keep her online ,if possible. "Initiating repair protocol, do not move. Patching damage." The monotone Shinki speaks, as she breaks open the repair pack, applying quick patch pads to damaged areas, and a small amount of some kind of repair paste that should, in theory, seal the damaged battery and keep it from 'bleeding off' "Sister? Unfortunate. Should have ensured original Master had no other Shinki to abuse. Will rectify in future."

    Uni, meanwhile, gets herself shot. A bullet punches through one shoulder, making her recoil and leaving an angry red spider-web of damaged code around the hole it punched clean through her.

    It's a bad stab. Alty clutches the wound, glancing down and wincing at the sight of her battery sparking around the dagger embedded in her stomach, but she doesn't stop moving, and she most certainly doesn't sit still, staggering to give chase.
    And then in an instant, with no transition of movement, Serrah is there.
    With a squeak, the white armored Altlene is swatted out of the air, hitting the ground with a clatter of plastic and metal armor cracking apart.
    "Serrah stop!" Alty bleats at the sight of the vampire's eyes.
    But things are still chaotic in the abandoned factory, as Alex takes down the shooters with less than lethal aim, and Bravette rushes to Alty's aid. The Altines halts in her tracks, letting the Zelnogrard start patching her up, with a sigh.
    "Th-thanks..." Mumbled as the chaos dies down. The shooters are handled, most if not all of the runners are in police custody outside, and everyone else has their hands up as...
    The battered Altlene rolls herself into the grating and falls out of sight.
    "N-no!"

    When Hyouka stops, she has to do so several meters in advance - she's packing enough momentum that it takes a long skid to fully arrest it. "Alty! Alty, are you- is she alright?!" This passes between Alty herself and the Zelnogrard treating her; with a few looks towards Seraph and Serrah, but almost no actual attention paid. "Oh, your arms... we'll get you patched up, okay? I'll buy new parts."

    Bravette places a hand on Alty's shoulder. "Will trace where the gutters lead. Narrow field of search. She is damaged, cannot go far. Battery likely low also." She pauses a half-moment. "Will find her, I promise." She finishes placing the repair patches on the Altines and makes to block her from following the Altlene.

    Uni, meanwhile, dismisses her shotgun, and summons a simple 9mm pistol, heading over toward where 'Tanaka' is laying after Hyouka dropped him. The arm that took the bullet hangs limp, but she only needs one. If someone doesn't stop her, she's going to put a bullet in the unconscious 'Tanaka' like she was mean to last time.

    At Alty's desperate exclamation, Serrah jerks her head up. "I wasn't gonna -- I wasn't gonna --" But that is enough distraction for the Altlene to wriggle free and escape.

    Serrah lets out a groan, and rubs her eyes. "Oh for crying out jeez," she says weakly. "Well, that happened."

    She strides over to Tanaka's unconscious form. "... Can someone make sure this ... uh ..." She furrows her brow as Uni approaches, and steps back. "Y'know what, I'm just gonna ... stay the hell out of this. Uh." She frowns at Alty. "Are ... are you okay?" she asks lamely.

The CPU Candidate isn't the only one to get shot; more in Alex's favor is his armoring doing very good against being shot, some of the shots ricocheting off of his frame, or just crumpling, the energy registering but not doing any kind of impairing harm to him. 

Mind you, Uni getting shot means the one responsible for it suddenly finds himself with three center mass without hesitation, as he heads over to Uni, and by extension, the others. It's the roll that draws a reflex--him leveling and trying to fire at the Altlene unit just as it starts to roll. It's physically too quick for his systems to compensate for, the flesh and blood finger on the trigger with the faintly audible 'whrrr' as he grunts once, scanning for potential threats--and then what Uni's body language suddenly pings her as a threat. Not specifically to him, but. Given what Serrah then says?

Yeah.

"Uni, stop." He's on the move following her and moving in a power walk--though not without giving 'Tanaka' a quick cursory scan. If he was faking it, another tazer round would ensure Hyouka's good work stayed there. "... Can't let you kill him." he says, his voice tight for a moment. "Would have to take you in. There's a lot here I can do, and already have done." 

Like making sure Alty was a 'confidential informant' and wouldn't be risked here beyond what she volunteered for. "I'll make sure he doesn't have a chance of wriggling out of this. Between what Alty's seen and what I've already processed and my talk with Tokyo's police..." He lets it trail off as he simply switches gears after a moment. 

"... Go be with her, and get your shoulder fixed up. Don't stain yourself with this dirtbag."

    "Serrah, your eyes got real scary, for a second." Alty mumbles as she collapses to her knees. "I'm... I'll be okay." She says once the patch work job is done. Some repair work, new arms, and a fresh battery and she'll be fine.
    Physically.
    But a sullen look overtakes her features as she clutches her wrecked arm. "Y-yeah. As soon as I'm fixed up I want- I want to go down there." She mumbles to Bravette, glancing up just in time to see Alex halting Uni from doing something very bad.
    "He's not worth it..." She says. "Even I wouldn't do it, if I had the chance. He's just not worth it."

    "Find out what his real name is," Hyouka says over her shoulder, without turning to look at Tanaka. "...and let me know when the court date is. I'd like to watch the trial." There's probably no one here who's ever heard her quite so angry. It's a complete 180 from the soft, worried tone she's using for Alty.

    Serrah sighs. "Okay, good," she says answers Alex. "Before Uni barged in, I was gonna say ... if we don't deal with my 'undead' problem, I don't know if I'd be able to hold myself back if there was a next time."

    She grimaces, looking to Alty. "I know," she says quietly, seeming even more depressed than the first time Alty was afraid of her. "I'm ... I've been keeping it under control, but, uh ... yeah." She laughs nervously and glances over at Hyouka. "Wow, everyone hates this douchebag, huh?"

    Uni looks from Tanaka, to Alex, over to Alty and the others. She's got her pistol aimed right between 'Tanaka's eyes.. and for a very brief moment, her finger tenses on the trigger.

    Her threat level drops to zero a heartbeat later. The pistol vanishes and is replaced by a bottle with a stylized N on it. She pops the cap, and takes a drink. Whatever was in it, runs a blueish green hue through the spiderweb of damaged code and the angry red ring around the bullet hole. These fill in quickly and the hole seals up.

    "What Hyouka said... I'm going to take a walk." She 'accidentally' jabs 'Tanaka' in the ribs with the toe of her boot on the way out, though.

"Done." Alex says without pause, and frankly he's already scanning the so-called 'Tanakas face into his system and running him against, well. Everything. Even a quick lifting of his fingerprints to check. He does grimace a little bit, and it's only once Uni begins to walk away that his visor would slide back and behind his head as he holsters both his weapons--ever so helpfully drawn in by the automatic systems for that. 

Well, he has to admit that's a relief. He didn't relish the prospect of needing to bring Uni in, never you mind the way that fight would go down. He couldn't go against that part of the 'programming' either. 

He does give Serrah a brief nod to her sentiment, though it's almost a bit distracted, before he pulls out a set of handcuffs, flipping the man on his front first and clicking the cuffs in place before hauling him up--and frankly, treating him like a small barrel under one arm as adds, "I can't say as I blame any of you." A pause. "I've informed everyone else. Alty can get some treatment here, or get on out of here. Noone'll stop any of you. I'll handle everything with Tokyo P.D. for cleanup, and later... we're gonna get that Seraph. Leene." he mutters once, handing 'Tanaka' off to a trio of heavily armored Tokyo officers. "Read him his rights when he's conscious again. 24/7 security detail."