Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - IC

To: Sidney via Team Channel
> Okay, Sidney, for the sake of saving time, let me do the honors. I'd like to introduce: Alexia, a sneaky little vixen with a cute hoop; Darkon, a shaman kind of guy;"
- Spawn felt a grin start to appear on his haggard face. He was enjoying this -
"Edgar, a good teammate but doesn't know when to come in out of the ash storm sometimes; Sha'hgrim, a feisty magette who speaks softly and dances with big cats; and, last but not least, myself, a smart-hooped adept with a face only a motherfragger could love. Now that the calamity has passed - at least for the moment - I invite you to tell us about yourself, and welcome you - a little belatedly, I admit - to our group."
> End Transmission

Spawn hoped the light banter would serve to further ease tensions among everyone, as well as put off the misplaced hostility that resulted from everyone having been on full-alert survival mode.

Default Negotiation w/Edge = 0 hits

Alexia, curious about the goings on at the moment remained quiet. however she cracked some of the windows to her vehicle to allow some sound to get in so she could hear any of the team talking outside. Not being sure about the security of her matrix connection at the moment she decided it to still be the best thing to be running "Silent" with the power to her link off. She would just catch up on what she missed when the team stops and has more time to recover.

Once the vehicles started to move again she flowed suit and just followed the vehicle in front of her. well, looks like that nice shower will have to wait. but at least i have a change of clothes with me

Rufus shot his eyebrows up. Surely, it was just timing- no sooner had he 'threatened' the truck with breaking of glass, but the locks shot up as the doors unlocked.

Huh. Almost as if the truck had a mind of its own and...nah, that was silly. All the same, he turned down the volume on the shut off media player of the truck, without realizing it. As if the truck could answer him...

The hacker tentatively tried the truck only to find it sprang to life again. Well, so far so good. And thank God, but, no one else had appeared on the street of late. No use pressing his luck further...

As Rufus got the truck back onto the road and rolling again, he scanned over the chatlog. He began to compose a private message to his fellow brother through the Exchange: I'll second the sentiment for more...ideal...situations to meet under, but as far as your teammates' egos go...I could care less. They weren't the ones locked in an immobile, stolen, military truck in fact..."

It was at this point he saw the mention of 'spirits' in Spawn's message. Something lingered at the back of his mind, and gooseflesh broke out on his arms for some reason... he eyed the radio/console of the truck suspiciously for a moment and muttered "If you so much as try anything funny girl, I swear I'll see you recycled into pop cans" and then pressed down on the pedal, easing the speed up a little bit more. The sooner he got this damned truck dropped off... the better. All the more now, as he didn't like where his mind was trying to go. Irrational. Illogical. All the same, if he never saw this truck again, he'd die a happy man.

Spooked, Rufus sent the message to Spawn without adding anything further, and switched back to the main chat. See? It was this Drakon character that's been manipulating (How? The back of his mind whispered) the truck, based on their heated exchange in the chat. Not some... (Spirit...) No, not going there. (That's been watching. Cackling to itself...) Not now. (Ready to steer the truck into oncoming traffic...) Not thinking about this now.

Gripping the wheel tight enough that his knuckles went white, he forced his mind onto the task at hand. No hurt feelings he lied to Drakon. That doubtful voice be damned, it had a point. If Drakon's magic (Spirit...) could lock the truck and cut the engine...maybe it steered the truck off the road. And if it could do that, it could steer it the other way. At, say, 120Km/h? 'No need to worry' Drakon had said. No need to worry his hoop!

Skimming over the messages with a growing sense of unease, he saw the team was suddenly welcoming him in. A complete 180 from just a few minutes ago- well, the Exchange must have worked its magic (Or the monster in the truck's going to eat you...)whispered his mind.

Glancing at the clock, Rufus let out a sigh. Had it only been a few minutes? Seemed like an hour. Time crawled when you're trapped with your own thoughts, it would seem.

Accepting the invitation, he opened up the private commlink proper that he's been welcomed into, and added the team's members to his 'friends' list so they could message him directly. His fears seemed to have had their say, and were quiet as he returned this offer of trust with his own.

"Nice to met you all" he replied. "I'll have this truck dropped off soon and then we can buy eachother beer at...Dante's..." He left that for a moment, giving them a chance for them to realize he had gotten some info they had yet to share with him; he hadn't seen Alexia send any messages to them about his hack before it went dead, afterall. "I tried to get a hold of your 'vixen'...I think... directly by..." he paused. 'Hacking her Commlink' was probably not the best way to phrase things at this point. He wasn't sure how computer literate the group was, but Spawn's description of the team suggested not very. He didn't want to have to try to explain 'penetration testing' right now. Er...trying to reach her Comm directly. She's got a backdoor installed and was broadcasting her traffic unencrypted." He paused, resisting the urge to add 'Someone else hacked her before I did" and instead added: "She's been hacked. I'm not sure how long it's been, but everything. EVERYTHING she's been saying over her private Comm has been compromised since then. Including your...(our...?) reservations at Dante's tonight"

There! There's some good faith on his part right there! They listen to him, they get results!

Oh, and to try and lighten this bit of dark news he finished.

"Oh, and leave your cat dance partners at home. I'm allergic to animals"


EDIT=Gala -> closed some color tags.

Spawn, for one, was relieved to hear Rufus' 'peace offering.' They needed a good hacker to handle team Matrix security as he himself was ill suited to the task. Already Rufus demonstrated his value to the team. Lexi's comm hacked? He tried to think back over their recent communications - difficult at best - but could not think of anything too critical other than their whereabouts and planned locations. Perhaps they should meet somewhere and discuss alternate destinations offline just to be on the safe side.

Spawn did, however, have one bit of info to add to Rufus' ideas.
Over the team channel so all could hear:
"A few rounds of the good stuff sounds great, Rufus, and I can't think of a better way to put all this hooplah behind us, but some of us are going to need medical attention before we can join in any festivities. What say we get the truck to the Exchange then all speed to a medic. We all need to powwow about your discovery as well. Anyone have an alternative plan or suggestions?"

Spawn knew that not everyone was as hot to get to the drop point as he and Rufus, but none of the others had any experience with the Exchange, save Sha'hgrim and she had been estranged for some years. Though the stump where his right hand used to perch was screaming at him like a mad bastitch, he still felt it important enough to drop off the truck first. Aside from fulfilling the Exchange's assigned task, and any reward there might be for that, it was not a good idea for that truck to be cruising through the streets of Seattle. The media was rabid to find out more about the 'unexplained' missile strike, and any vehicle that looked in any way military would become an instant target of every slot with a dream of selling a vid-clip of the 'culprits.' So, he left it up to each of them to decide what they wanted to do first. If Sha'hgrim wanted to go for healing, if Darkon insisted on going to her street doc contact - Andre was without question in critical need of attention, Spawn would concede to the majority vote. Otherwise, an hour or so might make a difference in their subsequent immediate plans...

"My cat..." Sha'hGrim started to say, but cut off immediate as her voice started to come out as a squeek again. Clearly the surprise she had felt initially from Sidney's first invited intrusion on the team-channel had not worn off. Sha'hGrim took an audible deep breath, clearing her mind, and attempting to relax from the stress of the day. After a moment, Sha'hGrim spoke again.
"My cats go where I go. But for this evening, you needn't concern yourself with sharing a bar with a cat. I won't be headed anywhere until tomorrow. That is, after we lick our wounds at the doctor's office.
"I am of the current understanding that we're headed your way though. We're meeting you somewhere... I didn't catch where. Anyway, we can shake hands there." Sha'hGrim said. She meant every word as well, noting that there was not likely to be anything they could do to convince Chasky to leave her side. Especially now.
"Umm... How long will this take? I'm good for an hour or so, but without a good cup of tea, I'm not sure I can even stay awake longer than that. Tea should keep my eyes open for the drive home though..." She asked the group, including Sidney, over the comm channel.
"I guess it doesn't matter much either way... Where you go, I'll go." She added after just a short moment of thought.

Indeed we will be headed for a trusted doc the moment we had dropped off that truck. Fortunately, the drop off point is on the right route. It was a statement, not a suggestion. Someone hacked Alexis comlink? Who else was compromised? Another problem to handle added to the bundle. Another one, could this Sid be trusted? All he had heard about the Exchange had shown them as honourable when it came to agreements. But Sid was only one person, not the whole. On the other hand, they did need a good hacker.

If Alexias comlink is compromised, so could be ours. No more communication over comlinks before they have been scanned for intrusion. Sid, I'd be grateful if you could do that on the next convenient time. But for now, no communication. We can talk at the drop point. The shaman had spoken in a matter of fact tone. And effectively claimed command of the group. If they would follow though...

Leadership roll, to persuade the others into following his command about no communications. Charisma 7+ Influence(Group)4-1stun=10d (10d6. hits(5)=2)

Wether or not they followed his command, he kept silent for the rest of the ride. At the drop point, he approached slowly, but without too much paranoia. There was a group of gangers. And they seem to be waiting for us.

Darkon looked back at Andrealphus. “We don't have much time to waste.” He murmured. When the others arrived, he spoke to them person to person. Having exited his car. “Alright. Let us get this done so we can get our hurt friends to a doc.”

Somewhere in between patting each others backs, revert parking the truck in the containment slot and bickering between Darkon and Sid, the shaman noticed that the gangers were hosing down the cars. Clever. The Exchange really seems to think things through. Maybe I should associate with them more. It could be useful.

He gave everyone the coordinates to Franks clinic. “Do not put this in your comlinks. The last thing I want is a wetwork team showing up at the clinic. Once the doc is looking after the injured, we can talk and plan.” He winked at Sha'hGrim. “There will be tea, too.”

Sha'hGrim rolled her eyes as Darkon repeated the news: that there was a potential infiltration on their commlinks. - I guess it's time to upgrade the defenses... She thought to herself.
"What was that? What is wrong with my defenses?" The spirit responded to her internal thoughts.
"Nothing. I was thinking to myself... Don't worry about it." She responded, blushing slightly as she realized that the Spirit was privvy to all of her "internal" communications. It did not occur to her that the same could be said for the team's "internal communications" as well, now that Spade could not be considered on their team. Whether he had done this or not; or even if he did it under some sort of coersion, the team needed a new 'Trix expert to keep them on the up and up from an electronic security perspective.
"Loud and clear." Sha'hGrim responded on the Team line to Darkon when he instructed them all to cease communications. She then pulled the battery from the 'link, effectively disabling all functions within.

Pulling up to the drop point behind Darkon, Sha'hGrim maneuvered around, parking parallel to him, and hopped out. Chasky jumped out with her, growling lightly at the rough looking group waiting for the team.
"Easy..." Sha'hGrim said to Chasky, reaching up to put her hand on his head. She wasn't small for an Elf, but she wasn't tall either. For her normal height, it was quite easy to tell Chasky's relative size. He likely outweighed her by 20-30%. But his weight was fighting weight. He settled under her hand, slightly.
"Which one is Sidney?" Sha'hGrim asked, as soon as she could see the gangers get to work cleaning Darkon's car. She assumed that hers would be next, and reached in to pull her now-unpowered Commlink from the seat, and pocketing it. A moment later, she realized that she needed to pocket the battery too; and grabbed that. [color=green]- Curses on the headache![color] She thought to herself. It really wasn't helping.
"I believe that the Metahuman has no more need for me in this Truck." The Spirit reported to Sha'hGrim, pulling her out of her negative thoughts regarding the Drain resists that she assumed she had horribly failed. Of course, there was really no way to know one way or the other - Magician's don't have any tools to "test" their success... except that the headache is particularly bad!
"Oh! So he's not out here yet?" She replied to the Spirit, surprised, but also pleased. She would have been a little worried if he had been one of the "rough" looking guys waiting for the team when they'd arrived.
"No. He is exiting the Truck now. I expect he will be looking to join you and the group shortly thereafter." The Spirit responded.
"Thank you very much. I'm not sure how much more strength my magic has to assist your staying here, but you're welcome to accompany me for as long as you like. If, however, you would prefer to return to your home plane now, you are also free to do so." Sha'hGrim said, probably more formally than was required. This spirit and Sha'hGrim had been through quite a bit, and it likely would have been more than satisfied with a higher degree of familiarity.
"I ache for my home world. Service to you has been an illuminating experience; but it is time for me to return." The spirit responded, in similar formality.
"In that case, I wish you a safe journey..." She said, not quite of sound enough mind to realize how rediculous a statement that was.
"And thank you, again." She finished. At that, Spirit was gone.

"Mmmm.... Tea will be nice. And I'll just follow you again - I'd really rather not input anything in to a GPS or something..." She said, appreciatively. She looked drained, tired, and a little bit worse for wear. There was still a red smear beneath her nose from the blood that had leaked out, and on close inspection there was a similar caked spot in both ears.
"Ok, uh, I'm going to go over there and lean on that thingy..." Sha'hGrim said, pointing to a post nearby and in full view of everyone. Chasky walked over, glued to her side, and nuzzled her slightly when she got there. She turned, leaning against the post, and waited for either other people to get out, or for someone to walk over. She'd left the driver's side door open to her Truck, presuming that the Gangers would get to her Truck after they had finished with Darkon's.

Arriving at the drop point, Spawn helped Darkon lay Andre lengthwise across the rear seat. He'd be more comfortable - if comfort even mattered to the black mage anymore - and Spawn could ride shotgun with Darkon. To save time, even if only by staying out of the way of the gangers washing cars - Spawn wandered over to where Sha'hgrim sat against the side of the building, moving gingerly and cradling his injured arm against his chest, to practically fall back on his hoop beside his teammate.

"How you holding up?" he asked Sha'hgrim, eyeing the girl critically. "Can you make it long enough to reach a doc?"

Spawn didn't know what all effects magic had on its practitioners, but one look at Sha'hgrim was enough to tell she was not in good shape. He started to lean towards her to get a closer look at her eyes, to look for any telltale red streaks or blotches that might indicate internal ruptures, but was halted by a vicious spasm of white-hot pain in his stump as he inadvertently put his weight on it.

"UUUrrrrrggghhh!" Spawn let out a loud groaning cry and pressed his right arm across his chest, gripping it tightly with his left hand. Fresh patters of blood fell on his jumpsuit, making bright red spots on the older, darker splotches.

Breathing harshly through gritted teeth, he looked down with pain-bright eyes at the stump. Despite Darkon's healing, the flesh where his right hand used to be was still tender and, now bleeding, needed further treatment before he'd be able to function in any capacity even close to normal.

He glanced sideways at Sha'hgrim. Chaskey sat at her side, allowing him- (her-?) self to be petted. Probably giving comfort more than receiving, but who knew for sure?

"Won't be long now," he told Sha'hgrim, again not sure if he intended to reassure her or simply sounding the words off her in order to find comfort in them himself. "I'm worried about Andre," he said, switching the subject before she could catch the unsure note in his voice. "He's still not come around. Darkon did what he could, but..." He let the words trail off. They both knew what the alternative would be. Another lost in this situation they all had thought they'd left behind years ago. Now the death toll was up to three...four if you counted the loss of the Spade they'd all known and respected as their leader, which Spawn did.

Still, they were not down for the count yet. They were together as a team again, a fact that had seen them through hard times before, plus they now had the resources of the Exchange on their side...at least for a while. So they were far from done. And Spawn would see Spade pay for his treachery, or whoever was responsible for Spade's role in this...or die trying.

Alarmed by Spawns painful moan, Darkon approached the two. “Oh great. I see how much you appreciate my hard work.” His grin indicated that he wasn't serious about it. “Sha'hGrim, how do you feel? I hope better than you look.” The shaman glanced her up and down once. “Are you sure you can drive?” There was concern in his voice. “I still have a free seat in my car. And a comfy attached trunk for Chasky.” He scratched the big cat behind the ears. “I am sure we could leave your car here for a bit and retrieve it later.” He looked out for Sid to exit the truck. “Excuse me a moment.”
Then he walked over to Sid. “We did not have a good start indeed. I am Darkon. And I thank you for helping save our behinds.” With a charismatic smile, Darkon offered his hand to the hacker. In the other hand he held, as usual, his raven staff. “And I apologize for the misunderstandings.”

Sha'hGrim allowed her eyes to lose their focus. They were out of the car now, relaxing a bit against a street pole, or something. She wasn't entirely certain what. - In fact; it could be a Troll for all I know! She thought to herself, stifling the urge to grin. She could see a hazy humanoid walking in her direction, and assumed it was one of her teammembers. As soon as he spoke, she knew it was Spawn.
"Yeah..." She said, not even trying to hide the fatigue in her voice. It was really setting in now, and she knew that she needed to avail herself of a soft surface soon. Well, not soon, but soon.
"I'll be..." She trailed off, not bothering to refocus her eyes, but noticing that someone else was approaching. - Yes! She thought to herself, rejoicing when Darkon asked her the same question. - Two Johnsons, with one phonecall! She thought to herself excitedly.
"Yeah; I'm good. I can drive fine, s'long as I'm following. Don't ask me to lead though." She said, still happy that she had managed to answer both questions at once. Obviously, less talking is better.
"And yeah, I'm worried about Andre too." She added, voicing the concern that Spawn's comment had brought back to the surface. In the interest of survival, Sha'hGrim had buried her shock and concern from the battle under the haze of pain required to keep the Adrenaline flowing strong enough to keep her focused, and awake. She needed a good night's sleep; and failing that: cafein. Hopefully of the Herbal Tea variety.
Sha'hGrim glanced down at Chasky after saying that, letting her eyes actually focus on his head. She stroked it affectionately, noting the alert pose of the ears. His head was twitching, slowly taking in the details of their surroundings, noting each time something moved. There was a reason Mountain Lions were so difficult to catch: They were peak predators. And you don't get there by being mediocre at what you do. Sha'hgrim marvelled as his fur would periodically lift, ever so slightly, on the back of his neck as he took in a new movement. The fur would relax back down quickly, as he identified it as "Non-Threat" and moved his attentiong on to the next detail. - A lot of guys on guard duty could learn a lot about how to do their jobs better from Chasky and Jenny. She thought, reaching behind his ear for a moment and giving it a bit of extra attention. Chasky rewared her attempts by pushing his head in to her hand harder. Effectively, pushing her hand further up above her waist, almost to chest level. Sha'hGrim smiled.
"Huh? Oh, ok..." She said absently as Darkon excused himself. The movement brought her attention back to her surroundings, and her eyes focused on the new guy.
"Huh... D'you suppose that's Sidney?" Sha'hGrim asked Spawn, nodding in the direction of the only obviously non-thug person who she didn't already know striding toward Darkon.

"I'd say we're about to find out," Spawn replied to Sha'hgrim, watching as Darkon and Sid approached each other. Though Spawn was not aware of Sha'hgrim's unfocused vision, he assumed she was either resting her head and unwilling to raise it enough to look or still out of it enough not to deduce the new guy's identity from the obvious difference in appearance to the gangers. Right now, he had to admit to himself, he was less interested in the new recruit as he was in getting his hand fixed and...food. A sudden low, rumbling growl reminded him it had been some time since last he'd eaten. It was ironic, to say the least, to find his mind abruptly turning to food despite his throbbing right arm.

"I'll be right back," he told Sha'hgrim, not looking around to see if she heard him or not.
Heaving himself up with an effort, Spawn walked over to the group of car washers and asked the nearest, "Hoi chummer. There wouldn't happen to be anything to eat inside there, would there?" He nodded his head in the direction of the garage/warehouse where the truck they had delivered now sat quietly ticking away as its engine slowly cooled. Spawn was surprised to find himself anxiously hoping the ganger would give him the answer he wanted to hear.

Rufus, in the last leg of the journey to the drop off point, didn't talk much on the Commlinks. While he didn't keep radio silence as Darkon suggested- he knew that while Alexia's Commlink appeared to be off... and unlikely to come back on, if her link had a backdoor on it...the others' may as well.

If another was compromised, nothing he acknowledged wasn't already potentially compromised anyway. Anyone listening already knew his runner name as soon as he joined in their Commlinks...and he was certain the team had been talking about the truck on their Commlinks before he let them know of Alexia's backdoor. He didn't see any of their dialog, of course, but he'd bet money they were talking amongst themselves while they had him locked in the truck.

Speaking of the truck- to say that Rufus was relieved to see the last of it was an understatement. When it came time to get out of the truck, finally, he paused- however- giving the dashboard a pat without giving it much thought. He didn't even realize it, and it wouldn't occur to him later. On a subconscious level though, it was akin to a gesture of thanks- whether it was gratitude to the inanimate truck for holding together, as people often do to their cars and other personal items- or a gesture of good will towards a spirit that didn't try to kill him...or perhaps keeping him company is hard to say. Rufus certainly didn't know (or gave it any thought for that matter).

Once he was out of the truck, however, the only gratitude he felt towards the truck was to the Heavens for never having to get behind the wheel again.

This sense of juxtaposition wasn't limited to between his conscious and subconscious actions or beliefs either- it was in his appearance and the way he moved as well. There wasn't a single sense of style one could put their finger on when one looked him over. His clothing wasn't terribly expensive, but it wasn't cheap either...for the most part. One would probably note the dark leather jacket and dress shirt that suggested middle class, without a tie and the collar unbuttoned. A folded pair of nice sunglasses hung from his dress shirt's breast pocket, and instead of slacks, he wore cargo khakis- plenty of pockets to carry tools of the trade in, but they weren't cheap, and certainly not ragged jeans either. Somewhere in between- if he wasn't on a Run, one could almost imagine slacks and a tie...and he'd be ready for the office.

Heavy work boots, however, were there instead of dress shoes...and then there was a couple days' worth of stubble- more than a 5 o'clock shadow, but certainly not a beard or goatee. A generic dark baseball cap pulled low on his head, and for those really looking him over, the dress shirt was untucked, obscuring most of the leather belt that matched his boots.

To get down to it, if a simple description is needed, was this: He was dressed in somewhere between blue collar and white collar attire. The clothing was nondescript to most; someone that, Rufus hoped, would be acknowledged and dismissed easily. Someone who tried to describe him afterwards would give a description that would apply to most people on the street.

As he exited the warehouse, his toolkit tucked under an arm, he lit a cigarette- after all, he wasn't sure how long it would be take the others to get here and his car was still being cleaned.

As he waited, he didn't actively look for them. He was sure they would come to him- as it turned out they were hard to miss. His composure didn't break much when he saw the 'pet' cat. A brief startled look, and the cigarette almost dropped from his mouth before he clamped down on it. Thankfully, the trio he was watching seemed more interested in each other at just that moment. As Sid expected, one of them made their way over.

He wasn't sure what to make of the staff- or an elf for that matter. It had been some time since the race appeared in Sixth World, but Rufus didn't know much about them aside from the news. Politics...media sensations. The rich and beautiful- initial reaction to Elves for Rufus was that they bleed a sense of arrogance, although, the majority of Elves he had met before didn't seem any different. For Drakon, though, his first thought was tree hugger.

Until Drakon introduced himself, anyway. "Sid" he replied, with a genuine wolfish smile. That hint of he knew something that Drakon didn't- not necessarily a malicious smile or a hostile one...just that he found something amusing and wasn't sharing.

The reason for that wolf-like grin that showed his teeth and mostly in the corner of his lips? As soon as Drakon introduced himself, Sid thought of the conversation they had: Of course! The arrogant one just happens to be the Elf! Hence the humour.

"Sid. And not a problem- happy to help" His smile turned genuine as he shook Drakon's hand, as quickly as it appeared (such amusing thoughts don't linger long of course). He glanced over as Spawn parted from Sha'hGrim, his eyes wandering between where Spawn's hand should be, the blood, and in trying not to stare his eyes would see the large cat and...well, eyes would wander away (quickly) and back to Spawn and his missing hand.

With a faint blush through his stubble, he mumbled an apology (of sorts). "I can see why you may not have been in the most cordial of moods earlier. Water under the bridge my new friend. Water under the bridge"

Alexia pulled her vehicle in right behind Sha's vehicle. She was the last one to get to the drop point in the little convoy they had. ironic with her being one of the first out of the blast radius. Though she had waited to be sure of everyone's safe exit from the affected area, then the little holdup that they had a few minutes ago she ended up taking the rear position, if for no other reason that that a bus is a bit slower on the pickup than everyone else's vehicle. She sometimes wonders and almost regrets getting the bus, and each time she gets close to that point she always steps into the vehicle and sees the amount of customization that she had put into it. a compartment for the drones she has/had, extra armoring on the vehicle and a sense of luxury not often found on vehicles unless they were limo's. Heck she could live in the thing for days on end and just needing to exit to get food, the thing might as well be an RV for all the extras that she added to the thing. It was most definitely an "Over the Top" means of transportation, which fit her personality too a T.

Turning off the vehicle she got out and started heading to where She saw Sha' and the others congregating. Though "Walking" wouldn't be the appropriate term for Alexia as she headed to the group in her normal High spirits with the Prance/Skip/Jog of a walk she had typically synonymous with those girls in there mid to late Teens and with a lot of pent up energy. However her Physical appearance and looks would make anyone at First glance put her close to that category of age's between Late teen to early twenties. She was around average to slightly below average height for a human Female Pale white albino skin and hair with pink eyes due to the lack of pigment. the Paleness enhanced because of the dark clothes she was wearing at the time, now slightly more grey because of the ash still stuck to them.
Her features mard (or enhanced) by the smudges of dirt on her face.

She threw on a long coat over herself for just a few reasons, one she didn't like looking dirty. and her cloths at that particular time fell into that category. as well as there being the slight bulge along her backside for where she hid her tail. the coat would hid that. To many people around that didn't know what she truly was and this new guy as well, she wasn't going to put all her cards out on the table before knowing what they were holding.

when she got to Sha's spot she dropped down and gave Chasky a big hug Hows one of my Favorite Kitties doing? she looked up at Sha' Hun, you look paler than i am. you sure your feeling alright? she waited a bit for her responce Well if you change your mind,you know there's plenty of room to ride with me. And there's plenty of comfortable spots to lie down looking to the others So, what did i miss in the time from the drop to now. I missed anything over the comm's as i had a hunch that my link might have been compromised. never can fully write off spade and his ability to think things through. she waved a hand dismissively No matter, right now isn't the time or place to discuss those things, there are more pressing concerns for the moment after that she looked over to Sid. So i take it your the guy. her last statement wasn't in anyway rude but she had dropped the friendly tone that she had been using just moments before and picked up a no nonsense business tone, slightly less formal and as intense as she might have ment for it to be for the fact that she was still "hanging" off of Chasky.

Chasky emitted a sound that could easilly have been confused with a growl when Alexia gave him a big hug. The truth was, though, that Chasky enjoyed Alexia's company very much. For obvious reasons: She gets him. Sha'hGrim had been trained, and it had been an arduous process for the both of them; but Alexia already knew. Either way, though, Alexia had heard the sound enough times to recognize it as his version of a sound of contentment. If there was any reason to compare him to a house-cat, this would be a purr. But there wasn't.
"He likes you. And he's missed you. It's been too long since you dropped by." Sha'hGrim commented, thinking back over the past several months.
"I guess, to be fair, that's partially my fault. I've been holed up pretty deep over the past few months. The last 'Run I was on hit me a little harder than I'd wanted - The J. tried to stiff us, and we only managed to get half-payment from him. For my part, that covered my bills for a good 6 months. The others, though... They don't have the setup that I've got." Sha'hGrim said quietly, filling Alexia in a little on why Sha'hGrim hadn't returned any of Alexia's calls recently.
"And Chasky and Jenny weren't happy being left behind either. I really do prefer working with teams that know me..." She added that last detail, just as Chasky stopped his contented growl.

Alexia wrote:

Hun, you look paler than I am. You sure you're feeling alright? She waited a bit for her response. Well if you change your mind, you know there's plenty of room to ride with me. And there's plenty of comfortable spots to lie down.

"Yeah. I've been better. But I'll survive. This time." She responded to Alexia's comment, grinning slightly when Alexia poked some fun at Sha'hGrim's skin color. And her own.
"I do. And I'll take you up on that if there's an extra driver here..." Sha'hGrim added at the second comment. She really would, too. And good luck getting her to wake up before noon tomorrow!

Alexia wrote:

So, what did i miss in the time from the drop to now. I missed anything over the comm's as i had a hunch that my link might have been compromised. never can fully write off spade and his ability to think things through.

"You'll have to ask them. I wasn't clued in on their special comm-channel that they were using to talk to this guy. But the essence of it is this: I didn't know who he was, and asked my Spirit to stop the truck until I figured it out. It took a few minutes, but the team sorted things out, and I asked the Spirit to let him get back on the road. As for the rest of it: I dunno. They had some sort of thing going on, and I wasn't part of that channel." Sha'hGrim shrugged, obviously uncaring one way or the other. Perhaps tomorrow she'll want to read up on the back-logs of the conversation, if for no other reason than to better understand her team's "Crisis Management" responses. It would be academic. But for the moment, she only cared about Tea, and a good 12 hours of shut-eye.

SidneyL wrote:

"Sid. And not a problem- happy to help" His smile turned genuine as he shook Drakon's hand, as quickly as it appeared (such amusing thoughts don't linger long of course). He glanced over as Spawn parted from Sha'hGrim, his eyes wandering between where Spawn's hand should be, the blood, and in trying not to stare his eyes would see the large cat and...well, eyes would wander away (quickly) and back to Spawn and his missing hand.

With a faint blush through his stubble, he mumbled an apology (of sorts). "I can see why you may not have been in the most cordial of moods earlier. Water under the bridge my new friend. Water under the bridge"

"Good, good." Darkon nodded to that. Then he saw Spawn approaching. "Spawn, as soon as we are done here, it's straight to the clinic. It will not take long." He looked at the gangers, cleaning up the cars from the ashes. "A good idea. It might have been a bit obvious. although the impact must have squirted around a lot of dirt for quite some area." The shaman inspected Sids outfit.
Darkon himself was dressed elegantly. Black shirt and trousers, a dark red vest, a necktie of the same fabric, hiding a throat mic. His shoes, once shiny, were dull with dust and ash. His coat was covered as well, thus hiding the patterns on it. His clothing was extravagant, recognizeable. But Darkons idea was, with his staff, he was recognizeable already, so why not?

"By the way. Did you drive your own car remote controlled? Could you maybe help out my friend over there? I don't think she is able to drive savely." He grinned wide. "But stubborn as she is, she won't admit it. And I can understand why she does not want her car to stay behind."

When the group arrived, the gangs parted to let them park, hoses, buckets of soapy water and other cleaning supplies were all at the ready, and the gang was all armed though that was perhaps to be expected. The neighbourhood was one of those rather run down affairs where people tended to mind their own business and anyone with anything worth keeping usually wound up working out some sort of protection deal or other with one gang or the next. In this case it was a small local gang formed up of people who'd gotten sick of being terrorized by the likes of the Haloweeners and other violent gangs. They'd still collect protection money, but in this case if you refused, you just weren't protected, rather than it being a 'pay us or we burn down your store' sort of setup. After all, some one had to pay the bills, pay for ammo, weapons, armour, medical expenses and so on. The storage yard had clearly 'hired' the gang to protect the assets of it's customers but there was a big 'Not Responsible for Theft/Vandalism' sign on the entrance along with a big list of rules, where to call for storage fee rates and so forth. In essence it was a pretty typical low end storage yard where people of all sorts would squirrel away what ever treasures or belongings they needed to for however long and if you defaulted on the bills, the establishment simply sold off your stuff.

The gangers didn't even bother checking if anyone had the 'right' to be there, as clearly the group was expected, and there's only so many obviously military trucks running around, surplus or not, beyond that the gangers just got to work, kept to themselves and then wandered off once the job was done as if nothing had ever happened. Assumable The Exchange had worked out some sort of deal.

Jagger wrote:

"I'll be right back," he told Sha'hgrim, not looking around to see if she heard him or not.
Heaving himself up with an effort, Spawn walked over to the group of car washers and asked the nearest, "Hoi chummer. There wouldn't happen to be anything to eat inside there, would there?" He nodded his head in the direction of the garage/warehouse where the truck they had delivered now sat quietly ticking away as its engine slowly cooled. Spawn was surprised to find himself anxiously hoping the ganger would give him the answer he wanted to hear.

The orc ganger in question looked at Spawn like the man had just grown a second head "Does it look like this is a burger joint to you? Frag off!" and his tone was entirely unfriendly. More the sort of 'I'm just barely tolerating your presence because I have to' kind of thing than anything that would escalate into a fight.

"Yeah yeah, go soak that fraggin' tumor ya call a head, ya geneject," Spawn responded to the ork, though his heart was most definitely not into swapping insults. After what they'd just been through, a ganger with a 'tude hardly even registered on Spawn's 'threat meter.'
Stomach still rumbling, he turned away from the beligerent ork ganger and made his way back towards the group. As he neared Darkon and Rufus, he caught sight from the corner of his eye Lexi hugging Sha'hgrim's 'kitty' and despite his pains and hunger could still feel envy for Chaskey.

'Mmm...to be that big cat right now,' he thought with an inward grin of ironic humor. He had long appreciated Lexi's feline femininity, and had no idea why she always felt it necessary to hide her tail Surely she couldn't be ashamed of it? Though he'd often bantered with the girl about her looks - "Ok Alexia, I know you've got a cute hoop, you can stop waving at it..." - he'd never made a serious pass at her. How could he? With a mug like his...

Abruptly he realized he was staring and, dropping his gaze and covering his faux pas by coughing into his closed fist - a gesture he had to redo after first raising his stump before correcting himself, he turned to face Rufus upon hearing himself being addressed.

"Not the first time harsh words got flung in the heat of the moment," he said, extending, again, his right arm and then quickly switching to his left hand to shake, 'probably won't be the last. Good to finally put a face to the name. Gotta fraggin' hand it to you. That was some well-timed rescue. I think we just might owe you not only thanks but our drek-stained hoops as well."

Rufus flicked the cigarette away towards a puddle of water that had accumulated from all the scrubbing of the cars that had been going on, and breathed the last plume of smoke out of his nostrils. He nodded to answer Drakon's question, as he watched Spawn with a sense of...well, a jumble of bemusement, horror and...well, concern. If Rufus was missing a hand, his first concern wouldn't be food. Clearly, Spawn had some sort of magical healing as a stop gap...but still. Rufus wouldn't trust the magic to 'hold', if that made sense. What if it just...magically gave way and blood started gushing out? Or, perhaps, a side effect of the magic was to give Spawn a 'high'- a painkiller equivalent that messed with Spawn's mind?

"My car's already washed. It was the first one through" he added to the nod as Spawn approached. Rufus wasn't clear on who Drakon was talking about- that elf, Sha'hGrim, or the human, "Script Kiddie" he assumed, but as far as Rufus was concerned both of them were up and talking. They appeared fine, incapable of driving or not. Spawn, however...

By now, Spawn was now approaching and offering his hand (the remaining one anyway). Normally, Rufus' lost in his thoughts would be more apparent as he'd be slow to respond to shaking Spawn's hand, but the necessary need to shift hands- stumps- er...anyway, Rufus shook Spawn's left hand, hoping the awkwardness wasn't apparent. Nothing, however, could prevent Rufus from wincing as Spawn mentioned 'hand it to you'. Yes, conversation would be awkward for for Rufus for the time being.

"Er...well, we'll figure out who owes who first" he replied. The elf- in his flashy 'look at me suit'- may be arrogant, but Rufus was taking to Spawn. It could be he came in more sincere in his flattery, or it could be the vulnerability. Probably the latter, with a good deal of guilt- instead of being in a hospital right now, Spawn was up and wandering around, relying on a magical bandage, because of Rufus' need to win a pissing contest with Drakon.

"Why don't we go check out my car, eh?" he suggests, using his right hand to guide Spawn around by the shoulder gently, the toolkit still under his left arm. "I think I have some snack bars in it still from earlier" Rufus couldn't honestly remember if he had eaten the last of granola bars or not while fiddling around with the satellite, but he thought so. Eating hadn't been on his mind once the Exchange had contacted him after all.

As he tried to lead Spawn back to his car, he glanced at Drakon- "Who else needs a ride to a clinic again?" With the truck dropped off, the next pressing need in Rufus' mind was getting the wounded taken care of. The thing about the Exchange, as he understood, was that it always paid its debts...and often down the road. He didn't expect a handout for dropping the truck off now, as he knew the Exchange would return the favor when he needed it. As far as he was concerned, now that the truck was in the warehouse, and the cars were being cleaned up, they were done here.

Darkon accompanied Sid and Spawn, answering Sids question: “Sha'hGrim over there.” He pointed at the elf woman with her big car. “She has completely exhausted herself. It would be wonderful if you could drive her car for her and let your own car follow. I do not want her to drive off the street into some laundry shop because she can't look straight out of her eyes anymore.” He grinned despite the seriosity he was talking. “Unfortunately, she is incredibly proud and wouldn't admit she needs help. So I ask you in her stead.” His voice did not sound arrogant. A bit matter of factly still, but also pleading. His concern was genuine. And it showed.

This Sid guy is shocked at Spawns injury. I wonder what he does when he sees Andrealphus. Thinking of him. We should get going.

In a gesture of friendship and connection, Darkon touched Spawns shoulder. “We should get going. The cars are all but clean now.” He smiled. “But of course get the candy bars first. You need the energy.” Another pat, this time on Sids shoulder, showing that Darkon was starting to accept the hacker into the team bit by bit. “Would you prefer to ride with Sid or with me? I guess you could chat without comlink if you ride with Sid. It will not take long to get there. You have the coordinates, right?”

The shaman could still feel Sylph around him. Of course she knew that he wanted the people he talks to to see him. But the fact that the gangers mostly ignored him made him quite certain her concealing power was indeed still active.

'Thank you for your continued service my dear. Please keep up the good work. I hope I will not strain your powers for too much longer.'

Her reply was a thought clear as the winter sky. 'I am here to help you. It is only logical I do it as long as it is needed. And it is not that strenuous. Despite your strong aura. Do you feel my pressure? I wondered if you are aware of it or if you can not feel it because I am wrapped around your aura. Why does he still seep that red juice? You have sealed up the arm. It should not seep.' As usual, her mind jumped topics at the speed of thought. 'You need that red juice to exist, I know that.' She had used the opportunity of communication to learn more about humans. That was logical too.

Darkon chuckled suddenly. Her curiosity was incredible. 'Yes we need blood to live. And his wounds broke open a little when he put his weight on the arm stump. And yes, I am aware of your wrapping. But it is not uncomfortable for me. You are gentle as I noticed.' That conversation only took the blink of an eye.

Spawn was unaware of how serious his condition was. Suffering from both shock from the loss of blood and his hand as well as crashing from the adrenaline rush which had now subsided due to his 'fight or flight' survival instincts having returned to a dormant state, combined with the depletion of usable fuel to burn in order to maintain the high levels of his body's survival responses, he was crashing, and in a big way.

"Do I look like a stuffer shack?" he asked Rufus, though the words that issued from his lips were far from the ones he had formed in his mind. The look on Rufus's face registered on Spawn's skewed perceptions as inappropriate to his question, illiciting an additional comment.

"You omae me street doc Lexi hoop Chaskey flick-tail me go car wash."

The expression on Rufus's face was incongruent with what Spawn had clearly said, but he let himself be led to the newly washed vehicle nonetheless.

"Oo, shiny," Spawn exclaimed at the sight of the sparkling car Rufus directed him toward. After the first bite into the granola bar Rufus offered, Spawn managed to tear away the inedible wrapper, then devoured the remaining bar with gusto.

Exhaustion settled over the changeling adept once he had a bit of food inside his seriously depleted system, and soft snores floated up from Spawn's nose and throat in buzzing counterpoint to the remaining team's discussion as to where to go and what to do next.

"Ok, let's go introduce ourselves, hmm?" Sha'hGrim said, looking down at Alexia and Chasky. He was clearly more than satisfied in his current position; but the probability that he would abandon Sha'hGrim's side, even for the serious loving he was getting from Alexia, was slim to none. Especially now. - They say the Possessed creature is still aware of it's actions, even if it has no control... Sha'hGrim thought to herself as she laboriously straightened up, pushing her weight off the pole she had been leaning against, and supporting herself carefully on her now-shaky legs. - If that's true, then Chasky is lots of memories of the power of being possessed... And helplessness. She finished the thought, looking down at her bent knees, holding her away from the ground carefully.
Sha'hGrim took a wobbly step forward before Alexia had finally finished greeting Chasky and let go. He flowed to Sha'hGrim's side, glueing himself to her hip. Likely he was there for the moral support, but his strength and bulk pushing up against her hip gave her the added stability that an extra leg, or prehensile tail, might give another person. Her strength seemed to return, though it was nothing more than the added stability that Chasky's weight lent her, and she strode forward to the small group of Spawn, Sid, and Darkon.
"I am Sha'hGrim." Sha'hGrim said, introducing herself. She held out her hand, following the example of the rest of the group, to Sidney to shake. Sha'hGrim is a lovely Elf, almost perfectly typifying the "media" version of her kind. Her skin is smooth and flawless. Her gait, while it was unsteady one her first few steps, is measured and graceful, nearly mimicing the flowing movement of the Cat at her side. Amusingly, the "media" image of the Elven-kind would suggest that they walk around with forest creatures at their sides at all times; and Sha'hGrim quite literally does! The difference between her and the media image, however, is glaring. Her eyes are liquid silver, and strikingly so. There is no possibility that they are actually blue, and that it is a trick of the light. Similarly, her hair is metalic silver, and shines in the sunlight. If not for the smooth complexion (and the fact that no one knows how old Elves can get these days) her hair might indicate significant age. Additionally, her skin carries a soft silvery tint, and similarly "glows" in direct sunlight, almost like it shines. If not for the metalic hue, it would be easy to assume that she was simply an albino. Or, if it had just been her eyes, it would be likely that she had chosen, like so many youth these days, to have Silver cyber-eyes implanted. The entire picture, however, seems to suggest something else: she was born this way.
Sha'hGrim was dressed in what could only be described as "Battle Armor", at least, from a 'Runner's perspective. She was wearing a black Long Coat, currently open. Because of the way that she is wearing her armor, the Long Coat appears to be draped over the top of her other armor: reinforced Form Fitting Full Body Armor. The reinforcements are obvious, sticking out much like additional armor plating, which is layered on top of the Form Fitting FBA, a piece of armor well known to the entire running community. Tucked under her arm is a helmet, which she was presumably wearing during the recent battle, and sitting inside the bucket of the helmet is a set of goggles, and a respirator, which she is no longer wearing. Sha'hGrim clearly had been "armored to the teeth" as they are fond of saying. As for arms, however, she only seems to be carrying the bare minimum: an obvious combat axe, sticking over her shoulder from whatever kind of back-holster she wears to hold it in place.
As witness to her teammates' descriptions, Sha'hGrim clearly looked "the worse for wear". Her jacket was pitted and stained with the grey of the ashe, as well as some other colors mixed in whose origins likely were best left undiscussed. Likely her armor underneath was pitted at least, and potentially stained as well, though it was impossible to tell because the Long Coat did a fairly effective job obscuring her under-layer. On close inspection, she had some red smudges that showed up under her nose. They could easilly have been a nose-bleed which had been wiped away. Unfortunately for her, as stunning as her skin might have been normally, it emphasized the blood smears to uncomfortable effect. In addition, her hair was mussed up, likely from having been in the helmet, but also from the sweat that invariably comes from a hard battle, and heavy adrenaline. Other than the nose bleed and her initially wobbly steps toward you, Sha'hGrim didn't have any obvious damage, nor did she show the wear that her teammates seemed to be suggesting she had.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Her speech seemed to be well annunciated. Her voice was smooth and comfortable. Despite her obvious physical advantages, Sha'hGrim didn't show the slightest inclination toward the "negotiation" steriotype that her "media" brethren seemed to possess in abundance. Her speech, while her voice was easy to listen to, was short and to the point. There was no embelishment or attempt to impress. Though it was impossible to tell if that was the result of her apparent injuries, which her teammates had heavilly emphasized, or if that was just the way she was.

Rufus was glad Darkon was going to ask 'in his stead', and that showed. The further Rufus stayed away from that cat, the better.

There was no way that thing was climbing into his car, either. Not that Darkon had asked...but something lingered at the back of the hacker's mind. Earlier conversations about dancing with cats at Dante's...? In any case, Rufus didn't need to see that old Talladega Nights movie to know that big cats and cars don't mix.

No sir. Passengers are of the two legged variety only when it came to his car.

It was about this time Spawn was saying something. Something about flicking your tail while washing a car. Or something. Rufus wasn't really paying attention...instead, he was more concerned with where he had left his anti allergen medication.

The look Rufus gave Spawn could certainly be described as 'incongruent'. In fact, Rufus didn't have a tail to flick, and he wasn't washing any cars, so his look was as far removed from congruent.

While Spawn was thankfully silenced with candy bars, Rufus opened the car door for him to get in- looking back at the others (and the cat).

'Oh...what fresh hell is this?' Rufus thought to himself as the elves (and the cat!) approached. Not only was that a huge tiger (Lion...) but he could get a better view of Sha'hGrim now. The eyes were what threw Rufus- he has seen the genetic albino trait before...but those eyes...

And the blood, of course. It was not exactly a friendly image he was presented for a first impression- no matter how pleasant the, well, pleasantries were. Looking up from Spawn to see Shah'Grim and the cat approaching was a jarring experience.

Recovering from the shock- the grimace that appeared on his face disappearing as quickly as it had appeared (and taking his silent question with it), he regained his manners in time to answer her greeting with a murmured 'Same' and an outstretched hand. His eyes, however, didn't linger on Shah'Grim's- no, his gaze (and most of his attention) was reserved for Chasky.

And then, before he could stop himself, Rufus wondered out loud: "My God, how do you FEED that thing?"

Oh well that's no different from yourself. The same things you eat though just a bit more meat a grin appears on Alexia's face Oh! You were talking about chasky? the "girl" as she would appear to look like someone between the ages of late teens to mid twenties. Standing next to Sha'ghrim her albino white skin making the distinction of sliver in Sha's ski tone just slightly more prevalent as its a color rather than a lack of. Her face marred by the soot that's covering it. It would be hard to figure if it was covering some of her natural attractiveness or enhancing it as Alexia looked more than just attractive by most men's standards. Her eyes the trademark pink color of an albino mixed with the skin tone showed she was intact such and the eyes were not implants. I must say you look younger than I was expecting. Your not much older than a child a sly grin appears on her face and a slight predatory gleam appears in her eyes for a bit she looks him up and down obviously sizing him up though there is some potential

Sha'hGrim's handshake is firm and present, but not powerful. As Sidney looks at Chasky, and then addresses him, Sha'hGrim looks down with a proud, almost parent-like look.
"Oh, stop it Lex!" Sha'hGrim gave a grin, and swatted Alexia on the shoulder. Sha'hGrim had been about to answer, knowing that feeding Chasky was actually not terribly difficult. But Alexia seemed to have found her moment to introduce herself. Chasky's comforting bulk pressed against Sha'hGrim's side, keeping her steady on her feet, and reminding her that they were there together, as a team. She put her left hand on his back, lightly, and gave him a couple of strokes, smoothing out the fur on his back.
"It's a wonder we haven't scared him off already... Eyeing him like that is not helping..." Sha'hGrim continued. Her tone was playful and there was a smile on her face. Despite her words, chances are Alexia's appreciation was helping. At least, it should be...
"And as for Chasky, I suspect that feeding him is just about as you'd imagine. I had to set up contacts with Zoo Supply companies, and arrange for food shipments - their diet is highly specialized, and without the supply of freshly killed meat, I would never have been able to cultivate the relationship. I've been taking care of him and Jenny for years now. Also, he is quite capable of feeding himself. He and Jenny make an impressively formidable hunting pair, and can easily see to their own food needs, when I encourage them. I've been feeding them by hand since they were kittens, so they really don't do anything without me." Sha'hGrim answered, trying to drag the topic off Alexia's appraisal of Sidney. Interestingly, she actually didn't realize that Sidney's question was a nervous one, as it had seemed so natural to her.
"Fortunately, the way that they eat is a bit different than how we eat. The Cats prefer to have 1 big meal every few days, and to lay around lazily in between. So I don't have to keep much food on-hand, since their eating habits are as specialized as their diets. If they get a bit hungry and want a snack, I go out "hunting" with them in the Sioux forests. They keep themselves quite happy with small-game in between meal shipments.
I know that must sound strange, considering how often we eat. And eating is social behavior, so Chasky and Jenny definitely do pay attention to me while I'm eating. It took me quite a long time to get used to it, since I have to eat 3 to 4 times per day, and they only eat once every 3 to 4 days... On the plus side, I no longer feel the least bit uncomfortable when someone is staring at me while I eat!" Sha'hGrim said with a genuine laugh. She had given Sidney the feeding picture he would need to understand the Cat, while avoiding the generally unpleasant portion of the topic that could so easily be brought up. After all, to a Metahuman, the idea of eating only once every several days is a bit strange. Metahuman stomachs are significantly smaller than our caloric needs, which forces us to eat much more frequently.

Darkon grinned at the friendly bickering. To Sid he said: "Don't worry, Chasky will not bite you. Unless you annoy Ashe enough." He winked, indicating it was a joke.

To Alexia he replied: "Yes, he seems to have potential." An appreciative nod went towards the young hacker. "Sid, if you are interested in a mid to long term cooperation, I am sure we can arrange it." We need a good hacker. He has already shown us. "We would be glad for the support."

He sighed and reminded himself of Andrealphus who was still in the back of his, now cleaned, car.

"Introductions are all very nice. But I think we should get moving." He made an all encompassing gesture. " Right now." He said it in a friendly way, nevertheless it was meant as a command. "There is a safe place waiting for us and, most importantly, healing. We can talk as much as we like there." He also threw a glance at the gangers, who should be collecting up the water hoses by now.