Floor 36 was called the salt flats in the 'map' they were given, and to Corvayne the stark beauty of the floor was quickly eroded by every bit of his being becoming salt. White plains to white mountains to a pink white sky with a white sun. Grit on his skin, stinging and drying. His mouth and nose were worse, overwhelmed when he opened his mouth. A faint wind made sure there was salt in the air, and even in sections where there was a thin layer of water enough of it was blowing off the hills to catch his eyes.

They had decided to leave Juggernaut behind and let him, Spears, Bell, and Gylwin act as negotiators. Ideally, they dumped a pile of black crystals, got Kirae returned to them, and cut their losses. Corvayne checked compass, finding Kirae was close, and the Cowtivator they had ditched felt somewhere far 'down', off floor and out of mind. He had been worried that they had convenient portals they could use to get word back, but he had backup plans for escape. Gravity and Shadows had upgrades that would make chasing him a nightmare.

Having Gylwin as backup made him pretty sure nothing was going to take him by suprise, and she claimed to have 'more eyes then what's on me'.

"Did we have to park so far away?" Bell asked through a face mask. Her red hair looked pink from all the salt in it.

Spears had poured herself into a what Corvayne thought was a blow-up doll. "Mmfff mf fmmmff."

Corvayne signed to say he didn't get what she was saying, and in sign language she popped back that she was just there to act as muscle anyway. Ideally, they find Zin Dusty Spur Sparkling Blur Barrel there, with Kirae and a few guards, they spend an hour tops pretending to hem and haw over a handful of essence crystals, then walk away with their friend and perhaps Corvayne jots down a new grudge in the book, Fistful of Dao somewhere way under 'The Magus' and his dad.

Gylwin whispered “Zip it.” into all their ears at once as they saw a dark spot on the white plains. Corvayne picked up the pace as what they were seeing resolved. A pavilion had been set up. It looked like a sturdy tent with a table and chairs, as well as a clear shield around it warding off the endless salt.

A few pickup trucks were parked to drive away. Some of them had campers hitched to the back, all of them worn and with dust caking them. Corvayne felt through [[unity]] a rough count of numbers, something like 8 or 9, with six visible as five guards and Zin himself at the table. Corvayne could pinpoint where Kirae was, as [[Unity]] told him. Zin wore a suit with long silk sleeves, and slacks with jade slippers. His tie had lotuses on it. No cowboy hat, and he was dabbing at sweat as he looked at Corvayne.

Corvayne extended a shadow hand into the sphere and felt the air was cool. [[Unity]] told him that Zin was nervous, a little apologetic, and his guards were ready for something, a sign. He opened his mouth to say it was a trap.

At the same time a door flew open on a trailer and Kirae flopped out, tied up. “It's a trap!”

“Trap.” Corvayne said and fell back, drawing his spear. Zin was standing up. “Wait yall! We can still-”

A moment later a woman shoved him out of the way, appearing out of nowhere. “Silence idiot! They don't have the big one! Take them!”

Corvayne moved to dodge as the woman flew at him and landed a three hit barrage. There was a delay then pain and the sensation of being pushed into gritty wind was the precursor to rolling back in the salt. She was faster then him by a large margin. Too large.

Corvayne got his legs up, but the woman was on top of him, black sclera and red pupils shining as she expertly pushed his guard up and slammed her fists into him. He responded by sapping her gravity, sending her flying away even as she broke his collarbone. [[Vitality]] started mending it. He had hoped to not hit plan B, but [[Unity]] gave him a rough outline that they were not winning. Gylwin was engaging the guards to try to free Kirae, and avoiding casualties.

Spears and Bell got bodied by the cowtivator woman, who had popped Spears containment with her spur and winded Bell, sending a rocket off course.

Corvayne moved to fight with them, but with so many levels on them and most of them clearly in speed, he found himself once again eating salt as he rolled across the ground.

[[Unity]] was telling him that something was happening to Juggernaut. He took a moment to link to the Cowtivator that had broken Bell's arm but not punched through her. No malice, just a desire to disable them.

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He sent Plan C. There was a screech as ichor flew up where Gylwin had been, Bell and Spears stayed down, somewhat of their own violition. Both were livid that they lost.

Corvayne saw the woman moving to wind up and rolled with the punch. Not that it did him much good.

Corvayne woke in the back of one of the trucks. It wasn't too far off from what Mister I had: a bevelled bed with a simple cover over the back. Enough room for him to sit up without bowing his head. There was a window with black glass, closed but possibly see through, except it was dark enough that he had a better view of his captors outlines then they should of him. Smelled like sweat, hay, and combustion. He was sure there was some other trick built into either the roof or bed of the truck, as he felt a minor drain on his stats. Bell was there, head down, as was a puddle of Spears. Both were sleeping, looking drained from whatever the spell array was. Corvayne could tell they were struggling, basically redlining their stamina. He pushed a little through [[Unity]] and felt them become relaxed.

Reaching out, he could feel Gylwin was in the carriage with him. Preshe and Lady Blood Claw were in a different truck, heading the same place. They were not losing stamina fast. The Juggernaut was somewhere too, but upside down and clearly not happy. Mosh and June were fine, though both sapped.

“How long?” Corvayne said. No water, throat was dry. So probably a set up to brain wash them.

“About two hours.” Gylwin responded. Full health. Full Mana. Full stamina.

“What's your thoughts?”

Gylwin looked thoughtful. “They don't notice me. I'm guessing the leader is mid five hundreds, but specialized into raw speed. Not enough perception skills to keep up with me. We might get plan C go off without them noticing it until it's too late.”

Corvayne took a deep breath. “A big risk. I had hoped Preshe was far enough away she and LBC could have gotten out.”

Gylwin shrugged, producing a blade from her hands then chewing it into dust. After a pause. “We discussed this. The safer option would be to have tried to get everyone together.”

Corvayne could imagine it. “They'd take that much longer to kick all our asses, you and Grunt aside.”

“You have yet to see me fight for real.” She countered, smiling.

“Hari told me about the... spikes?”

Gylwin nodded. “The sum of the parts is greater then the whole.”

“How many do you think you could cover?”

“From that woman? Three. If it's just me, no hostages, it would take two mintues.”

Corvayne thought about it. “You think Plan C will work.”

“I wouldn't be talking to you if it wasn't. But they said 'Big guy'. They know about Grunt.”

Corvayne thought about it. “Kirae could have spoken, but...”

“You think she got captured because they knew something.”

“I was warned by Falenti's agent-”

There was a hint of something from Gylwin, not surprising given she had been his wife while alive, but she put it aside.

“It's almost assuredly Falenti himself.”

“Fine. The Dustman, Falenti, told me that there was some sort of traitor I had to watch for.”

Gylwin groaned. “It would take ten seconds for [[Unity]] to out that someone is an outgroup.”

He watched her. She had a good poker face, and she had a tight reign on [[Unity]]. The rocking of the truck didn't influence her. She was immutable.

He did the same sort of thing pretty often. “What would you do, if you had to hide from someone who had a [[Unity]] link?

“They would have to be totally convinced they were doing something for the good of the group. That leaking information or harming particular members was good for the whole.”

“Could they fool themselves into thinking they were the whole of the group?”

“Not forever. Or they would be obviously insane. The other option, is that they have a split personality.”

That sounded like overt insanity, and he didn't think Wick would foil her own operations. “Or they are partied up, but not actually connected?”

“Dangerous. [[Unity]] stems from you. It might work, but they'd have to be totally in control of their emotions.”

“Maybe they flood me out?” Corvayne was thinking about his allies now.

“No. That's like throwing bleach into a blood test. Guilt by avoidance.”

“Parasite or curse.” Corvayne said and it clicked for him. “Maybe a split like hers... like Wick's but less symmetrical.”

“[[Unity]] will limit it, but it means we have a job here. We need to sniff out how they know about us.”

Corvayne nodded. “So, Plan C.”

Gylwin looked him in the eyes. “You are crossing a line.”

“I know. But... I can't beat a level 600-”

“Five fifty nine tops.”

“I can't beat her as I was. My spear was good enough, but it's not the right tool this time. If I'm going to lead my family into danger, I have to prepare and counter it.”

Gylwin nodded. “Then begin.”

Corvayne focused on [[Unity]] and dug deep in himself, easing restrictions that had bound the ability. He had raised his combat skills, but he took a far more dangerous tool too. The level 40 ability let him throw a link through the stained glass to settle on one of the soldiers. He pushed good will in, a little needle of it, and felt it starting to expand in little roots.

Plan A was to negotiate. It wasn't what he was good at, but they tried to come in good faith.

Plan B was to Fight or Run. They couldn't win, and they didn't get away.

Plan C was infiltration. The sect would take them prisoner, and the prisoners?

They'd take the sect.

“We're in.”