Rosa and Kori completed their shift back to the relay successfully, the mist of frost signaling their arrival being rapidly replaced by a thick green smoke. Not even a second later, the two of them collapsed to the floor, the drug having taken full effect.

Velvet eventually arrived to inspect her catch, still wearing her gas mask. She really should have just started with this, it was far more potent. It was just rough as Hypertech had found one of these gas canisters posted earlier, raising concerns within aerospace command about the implications of their usage. That was all good and fine, but the stuff worked remarkably well, that mattered much more. Sure, there happened to be no way to actually vent any of this gas, making for even more dramatic cleanup measures. At the very least, she had finally taken the two girls into her custody. What remained incredibly concerning though was that this was on the return trip, it was almost certain that the book was then gone. What she needed to do then was to secure both girls for an appropriate delivery back to their other handlers. Fortunately, there was already a plan for that as well, a plan Velvet began upon right away.

Kori awoke first, looking around at her unfamiliar environment. Trying to stand up, the first thing she noticed was that her right arm had gone limp, completely offline. The plasma cell had been completely removed. Trying to call up a holo for more information, the second thing she discovered was that her holos weren’t working at all. Looking around, she noticed that everything actually looked a bit low-tech, the lead bars where holos would have usually sufficed. She surmised that implied that, more than not using holo bars to cage her in, it just wouldn’t have been possible. Something here was interfering with OSIDF usage at all, it was quite the impressive cage. Scanning her surroundings, she quickly noticed that she wasn’t alone. More than just Rosa, who was still asleep in the next cage, there was another woman who had been waiting in the shadows, a woman who took the opportunity to finally approach her.

“Good morning Kori, I trust you slept well enough. It was quite poor manners for you to have walked away from our call last night, something which may have landed you in comforts much more suitable than this.” “Velvet, in person too. I trust I’m to feel honored before such an esteemed human?” “Oh please, don’t even bother trying to belittle yourself behind the whole conduit thing, it doesn’t suit you.” “Well, what do you expect of me anyway?” “Easy, I simply expect your cooperation. As you can see, you will not find an escape here, so there is no point in bothering.” “Ha! Little do you know that escape wouldn’t be hard at all.” “Your equipment is all offline, you have no way to reach out to your little friends, no way to call for help. Your fancy arm might have been capable of breaking such bars, even if they would have certainly become seriously damaged in the process, but such arms just don’t have the strength they should right now. I suspect you could try calling forth that singularity of your’s, the frozen bars obviously shattering easily with a simple kick at that point.. but then what? This place is not getting any special heat, if you froze it, you would just find yourself in an icy cage instead, one with very limited oxygen. Besides, such rash actions aren’t like you, are they, it brings far too much danger for so little gain. It would be more like you to simply use such a singularity to garnish yourself more time to get something done, but is there anything you could accomplish with more time? Quite certainly, if you want more time, you don’t even need to ask, you can stay there for as long as you might like. Certainly there isn’t anything else you could do to escape, is there?” Velvet seemed almost snide in her review of Kori’s circumstances. It was quite a comprehensive review of everything Kori might have done, though Velvet was missing one thing.

Contemplating how a shift could benefit them, she took a moment to consider Rosa’s state. Maybe it would be best to wait for the girl to wake up first, there really wasn’t any hurry, after all. Velvet scoffed at Kori's lack of answer, heading back to her seat to wait as a result. Kori just didn’t want to make any rash actions, knowing it would be better if Rosa was instead awake. Eventually, Rosa too began to stir and take in the terms of their circumstances. Once done, Rosa turned to Kori, looking for advice. Kori returned a nod silently, this still wouldn’t hold them. Without warning, the two of them began to shift while Velvet let slip a slight grin. On the other side, the two discovered instantly that they were still in cages, a spherical instrument activating nearby. Rosa took deep breaths as she tried to resolve her state of panic, having instantly brought them back over again. That was a Warden prison, and the woman from before had been waiting there. Velvet’s grin quickly shifted to a frown, realizing her feint had failed.

“Just because I said you couldn’t leave didn’t mean you had to come back. Okay, fine, let’s make things a bit more clear. You aren’t escaping from this side, go back over there and hand over that bloody book!” Velvet shook the bars of Kori’s cage, exposing the crystalline bracelet she wore which looked as if it was carved out of pure diamond, giving quite the pristine reflection. Rosa meanwhile noticed the same bracelet, and recognized the same emblem as the woman she had been facing off against before. The bracelet, the mention of the book, the exact sequence of events between worlds, it was undeniable that somehow both women were working together, even divided between different worlds. Had the influence of the foundry really extended so far as to be unbridaled by limits like the veil? Was that even possible? Wait, if that was true, then why weren't there any instruments that accurately conveyed the reality of the mythos? Even this world remained totally ignorant to the other, all of the aerospace divisions not even sparking any familiarity in her from home. Something still wasn’t adding up, even Kori could see this.

“Velvet, wow, I didn’t expect Aerospace Control to be so invested in fantasy worlds.” “Oh come on, stop pretending to be a moron, Kori. ASC has nothing to do with this, it’s more of a.. shall we say.. family matter? Your meddling however is going to make this a bigger problem than you’re aware of, the ruination of worlds.” “A very interesting claim. Please, continue.” “Damn it Kori, it’s far too soon for you to learn about everything, stop digging for more. Things are rough enough in the dark as it stands.” “So, you want me to make an uninformed decision? Really, I was starting to think you knew me fairly well, but then you would understand I never do stuff like that.” “I hate you sometimes, I hope you know that. Shit.” Kori was surprised that Velvet had suddenly started to break down in tears. Rosa and Kori quickly found themselves alone in the room, Velvet having fled somewhere else. Rosa couldn’t help but feel sorry for the woman, but she really was with Kori in this one. There was no way she wanted to leave herself to the whims of that woman on her side again, that had gone horribly wrong. However, Kori meanwhile wasn’t so certain about their circumstances in general. Much like her arm, Rosa’s legs didn’t work at all anymore. Meanwhile, there were always those concerns of Rosa resorting to reckless desperation. With Velvet out of the way, the chances of such were even greater, because there would be fewer reasons to hesitate. Kori meanwhile could see Velvet was not bluffing, this place had no source of warmth, if they dropped the temperature drastically.. they would simply be frozen inside a cage of ice that would start to sap away their vitality instead. Doing anything only made things worse.. unless she gave in to their demands.

“So--y mis- -osa. I -m do--g my be-t to -eep y-ur e-rs cha-ged. My -las-a cor- is-’t en--ph to kee- thi--s goin-.” Wait, was that Holi? Rosa perked up and looked around, a faint pulse stinging her right ear. Right, Holi had tried to talk to her through her ears, apparently specifically using her fancy ear ornaments. Such things weren’t working right now though, they weren’t getting any power. She tried to figure out what was being said, something about charging her ears, but not having enough to keep going. Oh, right nanites ran on much of the same thing as her cybernetics, just in a much smaller version. The little things were then trying to offer her their own energy just to communicate. Wouldn’t that be really dangerous, that’s like a person offering their blood, wasn’t it? Yeah, Kori would not like to hear about this, she would blow a fit that her little friends were being so sacrificial. That made things complicated, as she had no way to communicate back. Disappointed, she flopped into the massive dirt collecting across the bottom of the cell, coughing in the process. Wait, dust? She knew the nanites were capable of understanding movements, but she couldn’t handle writing. Then again, that wasn’t the only sort of shapes which were possible, drawings were the same across both worlds.

Kori was still stressing over things as she noticed Rosa suddenly occupying herself with the floor of her cage, playing with the dirt with her finger. This suddenly alarmed Kori, it was almost as if Rosa was a lot calmer about this situation than Kori was. That.. was not the way things usually worked. Clearly then, Kori wasn’t being very composed about the problem, she just needed to relax for a while and re-approach things with a calm mind. Ten minutes later, she still was no closer to anything sensible, and even after a full hour she was still left with nothing. By that point too, Velvet has returned, sighing as she found her guests actively making themselves comfortable instead of being cooperative. After another half hour, Velvet just wandered away again, looking into something more interesting to occupy time while she outwaited her guests. Once Velvet was gone, Rosa pulled herself up with her arms, a very suspicious smile crossing her face as she gave a quick nod. This caught Kori’s attention right away, something big was going on. Had she really been sitting there useless while Rosa remained the only one productive?

Kori squinted as light burst into their domain, the major doors of the place in the distance being slowly and carefully opened. Soon after, two shadows entered the room, unclear in the light as their eyes fought to refocus. One of the shadows worked with Kori’s right arm, closing it as the whole thing glimmered to life once again. The arm didn’t project a holo, but she could move it once again. Rosa meanwhile was back on her feet, the other shadow helping her with her ears, both cages wide open. The two of them were guided back outside into the light, yet another blinding experience. One of them had stayed behind, carefully closing the cages as if they had never been opened, then closing the main door just as quietly. Kori then found herself being draped in a big coat, still uncertain what was going on. By the time she was able to focus again, she found all four of them obscured by heavy snow gear, absolutely unrecognizable. The four of them promptly passed by several other people posted outside, visibly working on their own stuff. Leaving the perimeter brought them into the snow, and after another five minutes they found themselves finally back into civilization. At that moment, a familiar green-haired figure appeared to greet them.

“Welcome back, Kori. I am sorry that your rescue could not be engineered with any further haste. It had taken quite a bit to identify anyone suitable for the task, as I was not in any position to handle things by myself.” “Holi, you set up a rescue effort?” “Actually, I was working with Rosa in the process to get everything done. Her artistic skills are quite impressive, such quick diagrams were so vivid and descriptive.” “Wouldn’t that still make it hard for you to communicate back, considering OSIDFs weren’t working there?” “It was a challenge Rosa had overcome with her excellent.. hearing?” Holi had to explain to Kori exactly how the whole voice in ear thing actually worked. Kori wasn’t even aware that such had been a thing they had prepared at any point. It did however explain how Rosa was also so silently informed during the shuttle flight. If Rosa was getting so much good use from such an idea, clearly Kori would have to feel pride for having brought things together. On the matters of bringing things together, there was also the consideration of their two rescuers, both of them already taking off the snow gear, over heating.

“I never got to thank you for stepping in for me earlier, but I hope that this proves enough thanks in turn. Seriously, locking a conduit like you up seems insane, you’re more of a hero than anything. You even handled the two humans so professionally, not actually ever attacking them at all. There was no cause for you to be detained.” “Oh, I remember you. The conduit from the terminal, right?” “Yup! Name’s Tristine, and this guy here is Drew. Don’t mind him being a human, he doesn’t suck at it. Actually, sorry, I guess I shouldn’t say stuff like that.” “Ha! Nice, not bad. My name is Kori, and this here is Rosa, who you two might have been working through. She’s human too, and also doesn’t suck at it. The one over there is Holi, if you haven’t met already.” Tristine laughed at Kori’s introduction. After a bit more small talk, Kori learned that the two of them worked for a company called HyperTech, a contractee for many different Aerospace services. The two of them had meanwhile gone through hell. Tristine used to be an ionics technician, handling engine repairs for a variety of aerospace transports among other similar tasks, to then be transferred to the relay to do similar work there.. when that work broke down too. When the relay incident happened, she was discharged and had gone to Drew since. Drew himself was an assembly chief engineer, effectively Tristine’s boss. Drew himself never really had anything directly to do with Aerospace services, not until the incidents started to happen. Once reports started to come in about everything going wrong, he was one of the first to take action and deal with the outcome. However, such actions had resulted in the leasing of their business spaces being withdrawn. HyperTech was in need of a new home.

“There is nothing left that would suit our needs. Inside the barrier is already too packed, and all the limited infrastructure outside already has owners. We were considering starting a new construction from scratch, but that would be really rough. It would be far better if we at least had a foundation we could remodel instead, even if it was very rudimentary.” “Ah, so like.. ruins. Wait, that would be perfect. Okay, yeah, I might have just the offer for you. I happen to know the place of some really suitable ruins that fit what you need, the property is completely unowned. After pulling through for us, I think it would serve as a fair reward to help you guys out. We actually happen to have the need of visiting the same ruins for ourselves, actually, so we can just show you guys along the way. If you do make use of the place, you could probably expect us to visit.. more than frequently.” “And you would certainly be welcome. I should admit, watching you each do your thing at the terminal really inspired me to think that you girls know your stuff. Cybernetic parts, especially of such quality. I mean, if you two are looking for some high end work in the industry, we could certainly use that level of talent at HyperTech.” Drew was marvelling over Kori’s arm as an example, something which was put in clear demonstration for the both of them. Kori meanwhile was feeling a bit flustered in all of the attention, but Rosa’s eyes were gleaming. Did she hear correctly? Was that an invitation to work with people who handled this world’s version of instruments for a living? In addition to the consideration in how they were basically the underdogs of all Aerospace services, and how that was similar to the foundry, it made for an opportunity Rosa was all too eager for. This was definitely a project she wanted to visit frequently, it sounded amazing.

Drew made a few holo calls to other members of HyperTech to report upon the good news and to organize an expectation for a site review, Tristine following directions all the while of who else needed what information. Leaving the others to plan, Kori and Rosa were faced with their own circumstances. This was a clean opportunity to go with the others to the exact same site.. and then to slip away shifting back to Ruixse. That same location beheld the academy, a direct access to the archives and their destination for the book. At long last, they would be able to put this whole thing behind them. Both of the people after them seemed to believe they were currently in the custody of the other, giving them the last window they needed to reach their goal. With a clear goal in sight, the two girls stuck along with the process, quickly finding themselves fitting in with a crew, each sporting their own HT jacket. They all packed into a rugged vehicle designed to weather the overland trip to their destination, avoiding leaving the ground so that they wouldn’t have to deal with aerospace command. Kori was absolutely aware how the vehicle they were in appeared far more like an armoured personnel carrier, but that just made the experience even more interesting. Such armor was only to make weathering the cold even easier, without even being a holo blip.

An hour later, they arrived, along with the other ten carriers and six cargo cruisers, with plenty more to follow later. The ruins meanwhile didn’t appear to be very much, clearly an old fortification that was probably used a long time ago during some of the conduit uprisings, most of it buried in snow. Kori felt a bit invested in the work involved at least, so made sure to ask Holi to help out where feasible with the whole process in their absence. Drew and Tristine were very obviously curious where the two girls might possibly be going out here in the middle of the wild, but Kori told them that she was right at home out here, it wouldn’t be a problem. She had no idea when they would be back next, but Rosa certainly at least seemed eager enough to make the window tight. No one knew where the girls were actually going. Leaving the construction site, the two girls made their way to an appropriate blanket of snow that matched Kori’s calculations as at least being a reasonably accurate spot of the academy near the archives. After a short cold wind, the two were gone.

Velvet might have been left with a rational buff built into her circumstances to cover for the girls, but Mheridz wasn’t so convinced. Things were taking far too long, it was far too easy to assume that something had instead gone wrong, leaving her to make another dramatic stand.