[Mercury]

((OOC: Sorry for the wait.))

Mercury watched the exchange with a knowing grin. She'd picked up on Ryuta's comment, and was amused by it. Was he afraid she'd be going bonkers right there and then? A viral Maverick, perhaps would- though they'd started way earlier than that. She, however... Had more self-control than that. "No worries: I'm free-will. I could even shake hands with one of them if there was any reason to," she stated when he stepped back and turned to address her again. "Might chat with them a bit if I don't find enough data elsewhere- that girl sure looks like she knows a lot," she added casually. It was clear by this Reploids behaviour he was no Maverick and knew her to be one.

Mercury's face stilled into a blank one when she was told what was happening. Bits and pieces, only? From His DNA? That was so... Underwhelming. It was a far cry from the real Sigma coming back, more powerful than ever, ready to rally all Mavericks into an all out war. To fool the Hunters into fighting one another, or further destroying themselves in an elaborate scheme. "... I guess that's the next best thing..." she conceded, releasing a sigh. This was the answer to the question she was prioritizing; but not the answer she would have liked to hear.

The nanite colony blinked in confusion, her head snapping to the side. "What the...", she hissed. Something was wrong. She'd just received a bunch of nonsense data from her smaller colony, before the connection was lost altogether. Had her backup just been attacked? Jammed? Downstraight malfunctioned? Each possibility was grimmed than the prior, and she strode purposefully, wanting to check on what the hell had gone wron with that parked taxi. She was... Upset, angry. If it was those feds shooting randome EMPS at anything that moved, she'd mess them up this time: it wouldn't do to have such dangerous weapons being shot so randomly.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta observed Mercury's agitation, wondering if she had released some of her scouts to check out other areas of the city or University only to be spotted and stepped on by the oppositions who had some knowledge of nanite technology. He contemplates following after her just to see if the Feds he encountered earlier had snapped back to their senses and followed him to the University to deal with the rest of the colony, but at the same time he didn't want to seem like a worse stalker than the colony that had been coddling information from the Feds patrolling the city.

Still he had little more reason to be here other than waste time needed to get more of the city out of the line of fire and possibly awakening themselves to their mistakes. He also wants to see what the colony would do once she encounters the culprits responsible for screwing with her loose pieces. Taking one more look at the fair, he starts to wander off after the colony, making sure not to cause more stress to her than what she was already witnessing from her own kin.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Several speakers blared to life above, stating announcements.

"Attention all festival goers, anybody who went to the Amusement Park today and can prove it by providing the mandatory bracelet admitting entry OR the stamp shall receive VIP Tickets to an exclusive event. The following people are admitted based on the fact they can prove their ID's when asked by the bouncer at the Lobby of the University: Mr. Teech Ordarium, Mr. Pen Cloud, Mr. Akamachi Tenzo, Mr. Ryo-Zero, and Mr. Kenji Nobuyuki. That's free admittance to the University district's exclusive event that happens in 30 minutes. Have a nice day." the speaker shut off.

It was obvious. IT was a sheer call out to five individuals. Teech Ordarium was way obvious, but after... Pen Cloud was "Penber Stratus", Akamachi Tenzo was "Chiba Masato", Ryo-Zero was Ryuta/Bionic Zero and Kenji Nobuyuki was Nobuyuki Kazuo... the soul-bound Reploid. It wasn't an actual invitation, but a call out to discuss something. Dr. S knew Ryuta was still in New Hera and had to speak to him from his remote location.

[Mercury]

The nanite colony was aware of this call to some VIPs, but paid it no mind: she needed to find out what was going on with her reserve pieces. The monk seemed to be the one tagging along to keep an eye on her now- she wasn't that thrilled about it this instant, not feeling quite safe now that her secondary colony had stopped communicating, but... Well, she wasn't intruding nor showing hostility right now, at least.

She arrived where she'd left the smaller colony... Only to find that the taxi wasn't there anymore: it'd gone away, leaving behind a small puddle of silvery liquid where it'd been parked, and drops of a similarly colored liquid along the road. It must be that new fuel that most machines and Reploids in this city used... Ordanium, right? Supposedly, it was a very efficient fuel... Mercury, thus far, had avoided coming into contact with any of it, though. Frowning, she walked over to the puddle, and knelt down beside it, watching the inert nanites. She could scan some pretty high residual energy reading from them: they'd been in the middle of helping themselves to the taxi's energy source when they'd been deactivated... Mercury tilted her head and dipped her left hand's index finger in the middle of the pool, attempting to restart some of the nanites and have them join up to her again.

Slowly, the liquid rose, enveloping her finger, then the hand...

...

Error.

...

Error.

ErrorErrorErrorErrorErrorErRoReRrOrErRoReRrOrErRoReRrOrErRoReRrOr
ErRoReRrOr$%(&/)/(=@#~€@#¬€~·&/#¬¬~#€

Her entire forearm fell off, segmented as if it'd been cut clean, just as Mercury shrieked and jumped back, her eyes wide and her light trims flaring in alarm, watching as the puddle of inert nanites had grown, the empty carcass that'd been her hand now liquated aswell. What was that about? Shocked, the Maverick didn't even think about readjusting her arm again, craddling it like a wound instead.

That... Wasn't good: her own nanites had just been used against her: she didn't know how, but it had just happened: she'd lost more, by simply attempting to retrieve and restart the lost ones. She was in danger. Anything and everything could be a threat.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta heard the announcement, and while he should keep an eye on Mercury, he was curious as to what he was supposed to do at this upcoming event. Figuring she had gotten enough information to know what to look out for, he turns around and heads towards the lobby of the University to see where this supposed "event" was supposed to take place.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Near the University doors stood somebody wearing an odd mask in the shape of a Stratus cloud atop his head. A plethora of odd masks are being worn today but this one isn't like the others; it's just a big, cartoony stratus cloud. He scanned the crowd until he spotted Ryuta and then stopped looking around, opting to look straight ahead.

[White-Jet]

Sensing someone take notice of him, Ryuta turns towards the source to see someone in a cartoon-like cloud mask standing like a Russian guard staring at seemingly nothing, yet presenting that sense of awareness towards his presence. Obviously he's trying not to draw too much attention to more than just the target persons subliminally announced earlier.

Keeping neutral to avoid enticing such attention, Ryuta makes his way towards the person, expecting something to happen upon arrival to where he stands.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

As Ryuta drew closer, the guard reached into a pocket on the white labcoat all students and Stratus Lab faculty wore and pulled out seemingly nothing. Raising his arm to his mouth, he spoke a few inaudible words. A few seconds passed and the guard got a reply, relief rushing through him. He waited for Ryuta to get closer.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta stops just beside the guard, looking straight a head as though he were looking for somewhere to go. He can tell whoever was summoning him most likely didn't want to draw too much attention from the visitors who had shown up to witness Sigma's return from the safety of the University.

Making sure not to raise suspicion from the unfamiliar passerby, he waits for the guard to take him to the location of the "event".

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

As Ryuta drew closer, the guard lurched forward and grabbed his arm and attempted to hold him in a choke hold.

"Uh, stop Maverick scum." he said, exactly like a bad actor before yanking Ryuta into the doors.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta tries hard not to call bullshit on the guard's poor sense of seriousness as he brings his head up to avoid having his masked fly off from the choke hold. He attempts to struggle, though the guard wouldn't feel anything but more need to restrain him before his antics drew in more curious, perhaps neurotic, onlookers.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

After being pulled inside the lobby, an odd silence overtook the room regardless of the presence of three humans.

"You either have a lot of balls, are stupid, or have an amazing plan but the doctor has one task to ask while you're in New Hera. He apologizes he can't be here, but he's yet again fixing his Maverick creation up." the guard said. "The task is pretty simple. If you EVER see Elzareth again, in the next ever, give him this note." he said, handing a small note over to Ryuta.

It read "羨望は自尊心を打ちます。 嫉妬深いか。".


He looked around, noticing the others openly talking smack about Sigma and on top of that, actually plotting against him.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta takes the note, giving it a once over before rolling it up and sticking it in the pocket of his gakuran trench coat. He could also hear and sense passerby growing intolerant of Sigma and wanting to do something to stop him from coming back. He assumes they have some kind of collaborated project that might solve their problems, but considering most of them were citizens who probably turned after hearing word of mouth, he doubts that idea may not get off the ground before the explosive moment of his return.

"If you're done telling me what to expect, could you please let me go, or at least act like you're kicking me out of the University?" he mutters low enough for the guard to hear, "I may be mostly machine, but I still need to breathe normally."

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

"You may be machine, but us humans aren't able to breathe let alone think normally with the chaos. We're rightfully scared and you're rightfully annoyed, but this is a message. Your best bet, however odd it may be, is to steer clear of the University District. Liaf's men are going to revel in this, except the only escape routes from here are terrible. One is the way everybody comes in, the other takes you out of New Hera entirely and makes you a target for any turrets or security. We apologize, but we can't help you here. Leave when you feel like it. Have a good day." the guard then walked back outside to resume his post.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta takes note of his escape routes before nonchalantly making his way towards the exit of the University. He should check up on that nanite colony that had been following him around throughout the exploration, but figures he had already spilled enough beans for her to get a general idea of what to expect.

Keeping an eye out for anymore unwanted encounters, he eventually makes his way towards the university exit and back into the near insecure population of the city.

[Leaves University]

[White-Jet]

[From "Streets"]

Ryuta stayed at the outskirts of the University, remembering their earlier warning to stay away. It probably didn't matter anyway as the bleeding had stopped and his cybernetic implants were busy mending the wound caused by the glowing prop.

Figuring it best not to risk the life and plans of the University for the sake of his own recovery, he turns around and leaves, deciding to find the detective and keep a distant watch to make sure no other hooligan attempt to ruin his investigation into Kazuo's true origin.

The attempt, however, was going to be hard due to how limited his spiritual senses were. He can sense the detective still within the city, but can't figure out where he wandered off to this time, or if he even left the area where he encountered that overblown anime adaptation. The best chance he has of staying on the detective's tail was to find out where Kazuo lived and head there to see if he was snooping around there.

He was certain Kazuo's abode was somewhere in the city, given the amount of presences that were familiar with him as a regular human being, so it would only be a matter of stumbling about until he found the place to get what he needed for the remainder of the time before Sigma comes bursting into the city. As much as he wants to stay focused on getting the civilians out of harms way, he knew not everyone was going to willingly choose their own life over that of a genocidal war machine, and forcing them was only going to cause more turmoil than maintaining the happiness of those who want more out of the upcoming future than to become another stain under his foot.

Keeping this in mind, and hoping Dr. S would at least understand his reason for not wanting to force the entire city to accept an offer they would rather not be apart of, Ryuta continues back towards the city, deciding to start with the outer ring and work his way inward to find where Kazuo originally lived.

[Leaves University]

[Zero Dozer]

<< From Amusement Park

Some minutes later, Lion was at the entrance to the school district. He could see people coming and going, something quite unusual compared to the quietness that left the rest of the city in a near-deserted state.

"Movement here is different from the rest of the town. Maybe I can get some real information?", Lion thought, as he stepped to the gate of the Top Triangle.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

The students here all wore labcoats and were seemingly setting up a festival; somewhat of a small-scale amusement park yet it had a specific theme as well as a temporary purpose. It was nearly complete on the front lawn of the large school's area. There were zero signs of Sigma worshipers yet several Sigma-themed stands here and there.

[Zero Dozer]

Lion looked around the stands as he walked around. He was curious about what was happening, but he knew he couldn't do any question out of the blue. Luckily, the students here didn't stare strangely at him like the rest of the population on the streets and the amusement park, so that could be considered as a slight relief for him.

"Well, if I have to look like I'm not from here, now seems to be the perfect time.", Lion thought as he approached one of the students.

"Excuse me", he said, "I came to visit the city today, and I'm curious about the theme of the festival you guys seem to be setting up here."

If it went pulled out the right way, Lion could get some explanations about the events around the city.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Some of the students then eyed Lion suspiciously. "Have you taken in any Ordarium?" one of them asked, ignoring his question. "Do you worship 'Lord Sigma'?"