Chance Encounters

Kyoko hated politics. To her, it was just a bunch of high-and-mighties who never did a decent day of work bitching about how things ought to be done while screwing over the people who actually did them. Her meeting with the Free Life Alliance Senate did nothing to change this perception.

Well, to be accurate, she didn't actually meet with the Senate, not all of them. There were only about nine of them in a small office: two humans, two calliopes, three ai'jurrik'ka, and two jotts. And despite her insistent phone calls from earlier, the President herself was not present. Maybe Kyoko's attitude had soured her on an actual meeting.

At any rate, the meeting itself wasn't really going all that great. Kyoko had told them the truth, or at least the parts that were safe to tell. No, she had no dealings with Reibey before her arrival; that would be impossible. Yes, Reibey had contacted her personally at the Nautilus Platform. Yes, he had heavily hinted that her sister was a high-ranking Void Walker, and was the one responsible for Oblivion's interest in her. No, he had never actually come out and said it, but did he ever? No, she wasn't interested in signing the goddamned Compact already, and the next person to hand her a pen was getting it shoved in their ear. And if they didn't want her doing anything rash, then they'd better find a way to get Momo away from the Void Walkers, and quick.

It was those last two points that caused the most contention. As a free agent, there technically was nothing they could do to dictate her actions, but it was clear that they didn't trust the whole "Long lost sister is a Void Walker" explanation, and felt that there was some darker, more dangerous reason for Reibey's interest, one that threatened them personally. And so Kyoko lounged in the velvet chair that had been provided for her, watching with equal parts irritation and amusement as representatives from four wholly different but equally paranoid species argued amongst themselves.

"Look, all I'm saying that if Oblivion wants her, there's no way we can let her get her," one of the humans said.

"But how are we to stop her?" said a calliope. "Kyoko is uninterested in signing the Compact-"

"Completely and utterly," Kyoko said from where she sat, her attention on the tiny spear she was balancing on her fingers.

"-yes, exactly. So unless you are planning on imprisoning her-"

"No chance in hell," Kyoko commented.

"-there is little we can do to stop her from pursuing her sister."

"Shhhheeee neeeeeed not goooo faaarrrrrr," whistled an ai'jurrik'ka. Though her face wasn't readable, Kyoko got the impression that she was scowling. "Thhheeee Vooooiiiiiid Waaaaaaalkers willlll fiiiinnnnnd herrrrrr beeeefooorrrre toooooo looooong."

"Let 'em try," Kyoko said.

One of the jotts snorted. "Maybe we should just hand her to them, save everyone some trouble. If she's bound and determined to-"

It was kind of funny, how quickly the others were to shout her down. As one all six on them turned toward her and made it absolutely clear that there was no chance whatsoever that they were going to give Oblivion and Reibey anything they wanted, even if the specifics got lost in the overlapping voices. When they were done, the unfortunate jott slinked to a corner and sulkily said nothing further.

When that was done, Kyoko spoke up again. "Hey, not to be a buzzkill or anything, but is this gonna take much longer? I've got stuff I need to do that don't involve listening to a bunch of people I don't know argue about stuff that ain't any of their business."

This earned her a very familiar round of glares. It didn't matter the species or their preferred way of expressing displeasure, the sentiment was still the same.

Then one of the humans cleared her throat. "Perhaps it would be best to dismiss Ms. Sakura for the time being. She has already given all the input required from her, after all."

"Fine by me," Kyoko said, rising. "I'm hungry."

…

Mami wondered how much longer Kyoko was going be questioned. She had been alone with the senate's representative's for nearly an hour-and-a-half now, which had to be more than enough for their purposes. The delay was worrying. She kept glancing over her shoulder, expecting to see grim-faced marshals coming to arrest them.

At the moment, she, Charlotte, and Oktavia were sitting together in one of the Capitol Spire's cafeterias, having lunch. Once it had been determined that the three of them were not much more than chance accessories to Kyoko's plight, they had been excused, though Oktavia had been held longer than the other two. If anything the mermaid was more ill at ease than Mami was, though judging by the furtive glances she kept shooting the exit and the patio beyond, her discomfort was owed more to being so close to a ledge than potential problems with authority. She had closed her eyes for most of the trip over, especially when they had taken shuttles and passed over bridges.

Charlotte, it should be noted, just looked bored.

Picking at her tuna casserole, Mami let her gaze wander. Predictably, the other patrons were composed mostly of the four member species of the Alliance, though given that they didn't require solid food, there weren't many calliopes around. There were also a handful of other races about, likely delegates from their respective communities. Over there were a couple of the gelantinous, reptilian butontikos, and gorging herself on a pile of raw meat in one corner was a towering, scabby-skinned vaskegoros. Mami tried not to stare, but she so rarely got to see outside species.

Then a familiar hush settled on the room. Mami's skin prickled. Turning in her seat, she saw her fears confirmed.

A huge dockengaut, the one from the day before, was shuffling through the adjoining hallway, with three uneasy looking calliopes provided escort. As they passed by the cafeteria's open door, she paused for a moment and turned her "head" to gaze within. It didn't take long for those inside to notice her, hence the hush.

Mami grimaced and stared down at her plate. Well, it made sense for that dockengaut to be here. After all, why would one visit Cloudbreak if it weren't some sort of official delegate? Heck, there probably wasn't any other reason why one would be permitted within the city. But even with the knowledge that she wasn't likely to try anything while in the heart of the Alliance, Mami still wished she would go away, but no doubt she was finding everyone's discomfort to be amusing. They usually did.

The dockengaut remained in place, watching as everyone, even the big vaskegoros, cringed under her gaze. Something not unlike a chuckle emitted from her robes.

Then she lunged forward and snarled, "Boo!"

Those closest to her involuntarily leapt up with a cry of alarm, and the vaskegoros clawed her way up the wall. Laughing openly, the dockengaut turned and went about her way, its airborne guards hesitating a few moments before following.

Once everyone was certain that she was gone, the cafeteria settled down. Some returned to their meals, albeit more warily, while others elected to clear out. Mami slowly settled back into her seat, her not-quite-real heart hammering away in her chest. "Well," she said. "That was uncomfortable."

Charlotte agreed. "Okay, so not only did they let a freaking dockengaut into the Capitol Spire, they let in one that's apparently a trolling asshole. Whose idea was that, and how much would I get fined for kicking her in the face?"

"More than likely her colleagues have already done it for you," Mami said.

"Yeah, and look how much good that did," Charlotte said with a snort.

"Was that one of those swarm monsters that eat people?" Oktavia wanted to know. "Because seriously, those pictures you showed me gave me nightmares."

"Yup," Charlotte said, twirling spaghetti around her fork. "And seeing by big she was, I'd say that was some kind of leader. And based on what I've read about them, she probably has a bunch of meat slaves tied up at her nest."

"Meat slaves?" Oktavia repeated, a disgusted look on her face. "Is that as horrible as it sounds?"

"Yup. People from different species that the dockengauts have taken. They eat them slowly, let them regenerate, and then eat them again. Hence the name."

Oktavia's face went white.

"Charlotte," Mami protested, mortified at the candid reponse.

"Hey, she'll found out sooner or later."

"Yes, but you don't need to…" Mami's stomach churned. "Oh, never mind." She stood up. "I'm going to get some fresh air."

Outside was a small memorial garden, where grassy paths passed between rows of rectangular stone monoliths. Leaning against one, Mami breathed in and out for several seconds, waiting for the nausea to pass. Oktavia had been lucky in that she had learned about dockengauts from a book. Mami had done so through an educational film accidentally viewed during her first year, back when she had still been suffering from heavy PTSD and frequent nightmares. Said nightmares had gotten significantly worse after that, and though she was more adjusted these days, Charlotte's description had brought back some unsettling images.

As her rolling stomach finally started to settle, Mami became aware of a curious sound. Someone nearby was whimpering, and from the sound of it, it was from pain.

Curious, Mami followed the sound until she found the source. A very strange person was crouching behind one of the monoliths. She wasn't tall, less than a meter and a half at full height, and was obviously not human. However, she was still the most human looking alien Mami had ever seen. Her body was bipedal, her skin a pale yellowish orange, and her limbs slender and graceful. She wore baggy pants and a long-sleeve shirt of some kind of flaxen material, and her fingers were incredibly long and delicate looking, with thin, sharp claws protruding from the ends. Her legs were the strangest, resembling those of chickens or dinosaurs in that they bent forward at the ankle, ending in a foot that consisted mostly of several thin, clawed toes that splayed out in all directions with a thin membrane stretching between them, forming a sort of pad. Her face was humanish, though her orange, egg-shaped eyes definitely were not. On the top of her head was what looked like short-cropped, spiky hair, and a fleshly, flexible tail slithered out of the back of her pants.

Mami couldn't help but stare. This girl didn't look like any of the nonhuman species she was familiar with, and there weren't exactly a great many of them. Still, she did feel like she had seen someone of that species before.

Then, when a jolt of recognition, she realized that she was looking at a savian, the newest species to have made contact with the Incubators. From what she remembered, only two had been made known of, both of which were staying in Cloudbreak. This must be one of those two.

Mami couldn't help but feel a little excited. The savians' arrival had been (and still was) huge news. A completely new species was sure to stir things up, and she was now standing before the first of their kind, at least as far as the afterlife was concerned. Part of her immediately felt ashamed, as being contacted by the Incubators was not a good thing by any stretch of the imagination, but she couldn't help but be aware that this was a very important time in their history.

The savian, however, didn't look so honored. Actually, she just looked like she was in pain. She kept clutching at her forearms with those long fingers of hers and whimpering, her face twisting up into a very humanlike grimace. Mami felt a wave of sympathy for the girl. Being the first of her kind in a frightening new world had to be terrifying, and now something was hurting her as well. Mami wondered if she should leave and find someone to help her, but she couldn't just walk away without doing anything.

Clearing her throat, Mami slowly approached and said in a soft voice, "Excuse me, are you all right?"

The savian spun around, her large eyes widening in surprise. It was then that Mami noticed that the stuff on her head wasn't hair at all, but rather a collection of stiff, pale bristles.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," Mami said, holding up her hands and praying the gesture wasn't considered threatening to savians. "I heard you crying, and just wanted to know if you were okay."

The savian stared at her, one hand still clutching at the opposite arm. Then she slowly relaxed, slouching back to a crouched position, which seemed to be her normal way of standing. "I-It is nothing," she said. Her voice was soft but strong, like velvet wrapped around hard steel. She held up her arms. "It is normal. Seasonal. We go through this every few months, and then it passes. Do not worry."

"Oh, I see," Mami said sympathetically. "Women of our species go through something similar every month. Fortunately, here we have ways from stopping it from happening."

The savian let out a low, chirping hiss that Mami realized was their way of laughing. "I wish we were so fortunate." She bobbed her head. "I apologize for my disturbance. I shall leave you in peace."

"Wait," Mami said, not wanting her to go just yet. "Are you sure there isn't something I can get you."

The savian smiled. "Ah. Are you sure it is my wellbeing that concerns you, or do you simply wish to look more closely at the savian?"

Embarrassed that she had been so transparent, Mami stuttered, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't meant to-"

"No, no offense is taken," the savian sighed. "It is natural for you to be curious. I apologize. My condition has increased rudeness." She bobbed her head. "I am called Akia. Might I know your name?"

Relieved that her faux-pas was being overlooked, Mami bowed her head. "I am very pleased to meet you, Akia. I am called Mami, Mami Tomoe."

Akia tilted her head to one side. "Ah. I still have difficulty with human names. Would that mean you are Mami of family Tomoe, or your full name is Mamimamitomoe?"

"The former," Mami said with a laugh.

Akia smiled, which was a bit strange, given that it was so rare that other species used human facial expressions. It looked a bit strained though, likely due to the pain in her arms. "I suppose you wish to know of my homeworld?"

Mami did, though she was mindful of her manners. "Only if it's not too much trouble," she said. "I'm sure you've been asked about it many times."

"True, though my problem lies not with the frequency of the question, but my inability to answer it." It was then that Mami noticed how thin and sharp Akia's teeth were, almost as if she had a mouth full of needles. "I'm afraid my people are…lagging in our development, in comparison to others. A city like this," she swept an arm out to indicate Cloudbreak, "is well beyond our ability to construct."

"Well, in fairness, it's beyond humans as well."

"True," Akia said, bobbing her head. "But you have at least settled and tamed your planet in its entirety, and can see its whole in pictures. My people are…what's the phrase?" Her forehead bunched up as she thought. Mami wanted to suggest the word "primitive," but that sounded frightfully rude, so she held her tongue.

"Tribal," Akia said at last. "Nomadic. My clan lived…apologies, lives in a desert, with not much else save for bare rock and hot sand. I have been told that it is highly unlikely that the rest of the planet is the same, and this might be true, but if we possess any great forests, mountains, or oceans like the ones I've been shown, I'm afraid I have never-Ah!"

Akia suddenly pitched forward, against clutching at her arms. Mami immediately rushed in to help, but Akia quickly waved her off.

"I am all right," Akia gasped, though she clearly was not. Her fingers were clenching up and spasming. "It is just…stronger than I thought it would be. But it will pass."

Mami was anything but convinced. "Are you sure? I can go get someone to help."

Grimacing, Akia straightened up. "No, I think…I should do that myself. I have foregone treatment, which is now proving to have been foolish." She once again bobbed her head. "Thank you for talking to me, Mami. I apologize for the inconvenience my condition has caused."

"Not at all. Here, let me help-"

Mami blinked. Akia was gone. Not in that she had vanished; Mami could see her scampering through a doorway at the far end of the path. But she had gotten there in mere seconds. Savians moved fast, it seemed.

Then, with a bemused shake of her head, Mami turned to head back. Well, that had been interesting. She hoped Akia would find relief soon. She recalled one unfortunate incident, not long after her twelfth birthday, when her period had started in the middle of class, with no tampons at hand and the most horrible cramps putting her in a foul mood for the rest of the day, and found herself empathizing quite clearly with Akia's condition, even if she couldn't fathom why a seasonal pain would attack her arms.

But even though their conversation had ended so abruptly, Mami was glad to have met her. It wasn't everyone that got to meet the first of a species. She hoped the other savians would be able to adjust when they got here. It was a pity they had to be targeted by the Incubators. If Akia was any indication, they seemed like such nice people.

…

By the time Mami got back to the cafeteria, a fair number of the patrons had left, but Kyoko had returned. True to form, she had loaded up a plastic tray from the buffet and was digging in with great gusto, pausing only to answer questions from Oktavia and Charlotte.

"You're back," Mami said as she sat down across from her. "How did it go?"

Kyoko pointed at her bulging cheeks, indicating her lack of ability to speak, so Charlotte answered for her. "Kyoko says the questions are done for now. Apparently, they attempted to convince her to sign the Compact, which went as well as you'd expect, and are now arguing about the best way to keep her from wandering outside of their protection."

Chugging down a cup of soda, Kyoko rolled her eyes, expressing her opinion of the Alliance's so-called "protection."

"Oh," Mami said. "Well, that's…problematic."

"Also, there seems to be a bit of division in the Senate," Charlotte continued. "Between those bound and determined to keep Kyoko away from Oblivion at all costs and those who want to simply cart her to the Withering Lands' border and chuck her over."

Mami choked. "Wh…You can't be serious!"

Finally swallowing, Kyoko burped lightly into her fist and said, "Actually, it was just a couple."

"But why?" Mami said in bewilderment. Even just one member of the Senate voting to concede to anything Reibey wanted made no sense at all. "Why would any of them even suggest such a thing."

Picking at the rest of her food, Charlotte gave Kyoko a sidelong look. "Turns out that after spending some time with her in a small room, they don't like her very much. I wonder why."

And with that, everything suddenly made sense. "Oh, Kyoko," Mami sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey, I didn't come here to make friends," Kyoko said, jabbing at Mami and Charlotte with a plastic fork. "I just wanted to get the whole stupid interrogation over and done with so…" She glanced up and frowned, probably wondering if the cafeteria had any hidden cameras or microphones. Sitting back, she lowered her voice and muttered, "Well, I just wanted it over with. If pissing them off gets me out of there faster, then so be it."

"Yeah, except for the part that it could also make them real suspicious of you and start tracking your movements," Charlotte remarked wryly.

Kyoko paled. "Wait, they would do that?"

"Kyoko, they're politicians with power and paranoia. They'd do it just out of spite."

"Good job, bonehead," Oktavia remarked, flicking Kyoko in the ear. "Way to tick the government off."

"Well, it's not like it's any of their business!" Kyoko declared, angrily throwing up her hands. "What does Momo have to do with them?"

"Hmmm, let's see," Charlotte said, holding up a hand with all five fingers splayed out. She ticked off each finger as she named a point. "They're Oblivion's archenemy, so stopping her from getting anything she wants is kind of their job. Reibey made a personal point to screw around with Corrie Linemann, who is kind of a big deal. When he showed to tell you about Momo, he got the closest he's ever been to Alliance territory in several hundred years. His goons have shown that they're willing to commit violence and destroy property to get theirs hands on you. Kind of a problem. Nobody believes a word he says about this not being a big issue, so now they're super suspicious. Every time he-"

"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it!" Kyoko groused. She angrily went back to shoveling food into her mouth, angrily muttering her dissatisfaction at having to deal with politics between swallows.

"So yeah, I know it's hard, but try not to piss of everyone you meet," Charlotte said, rising from the table with her tray in hand. "Especially people with power. That's a bad idea, everyone will tell you that."

Kyoko frowned, though not at the advice and its not-quite-subtle jab. "Where are you going with that?" she said, indicating the tray Charlotte was holding and its partially eaten contents.

"I-" Charlotte sighed and sat back down. "Fine, fine, have it your way." With that, she reluctantly grabbed a fork and worked on finishing the rest.

After everyone had finished (and everyone did, at Kyoko's glowering insistence), an ai'jurrik'kai ambled up to them and had them follow her back to the small office where the senators were.

Predictably, none of the waiting politicians looked like they were in a good mood. "After some discussion, we decided that this is a decision that we ought not make on our own, and will need to bring before the rest of the Senate," said one of the humans.

"Great," Kyoko said, scuffing at the carpet with her toe. "Just what we need to speed things up. More people."

Mami elbowed her and whispered for her to be quiet, though she secretly agreed.

"In the meantime," said the senator, turning her attention to Kyoko and Oktavia. "Given your status as Neutrals, we cannot…legally make you do anything." She took a deep breath. "However, in light of the circumstances, we would appreciate it if you remained in Cloudbreak for the proceedings."

Everyone turned to look at Kyoko, who in turn was openly scowling. She didn't say anything, but her stance made it clear that she would do no such thing unless given good reason.

Seeing this, the human senator added, "I know that, from your position, it would seem a waste of time, but your cooperation in this would go a great way to winning the rest of the Senate over to your plight. And in the meantime, we will do what we can to find out more about your sister. More information, at least, is something everyone can agree upon."

Kyoko didn't drop her scowl, but it softened a bit, and she averted her gaze. "Fine," she muttered.

"Okay," Oktavia said, with greater enthusiasm. "Sounds good to me."

"Thank you," said the Senator. "It shouldn't take long, a week at most. In the meantime please make yourselves at home. Cloudbreak is a beautiful city, which I hope you will take the time to enjoy."

...

The walk from the office and down to the Capitol Spire's lobby was a quiet one. All of Kyoko's euphoria from having ridden the elysian to a flying city had dried up, and she had returned to her usual dour self. In reaction, everyone else was drifting to their default negative states: Mami was worried, Charlotte was irritable, and Oktavia was uncomfortable.

Oktavia broke the silence first. "Well," she said as they wheeled her toward the elevators. "That could have gone…worse."

Kyoko gave her a look. "Yeah, but it could have gone better."

"Hey, you're not in jail, despite your best attempts," Charlotte pointed out. "So, that's a plus."

Kyoko shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. "Dumbass politics. Why are we even doing this? We should be-Ow!"

Oktavia jabbed a finger into her side, shutting her up before she let slip with anything incriminating. Kyoko looked like she was about to snap at her for that, but then she seemed to think better for it and grudgingly conceded the point. "Wasn't going to say nothing," she mumbled.

Sensing another uncomfortable silence about to fall, Mami tried to cheer the others up by same, "Well, if we are to wait, at least we're in the best place to do it."

"Yeah, assuming Smart Mouth over here doesn't almost get us thrown out of our hotel again," Charlotte said.

"Hey, Sayaaaaaaaaer…Blue Tuna here was the one chucking train wheels at people," Kyoko complained. "Don't blame everything on me."

"You were the one dumping me into the pool," Oktavia said.

"You're a fish!" They turned a corner. "You're supposed to like…."

Kyoko's thought trailed off, forgotten, and all four of them froze in their tracks. They had just inadvertently run into one of the last persons they wanted to see.

It was the big dockengaut again, this time without her calliope escort. She had been coming the other way, and in turning the corner, Kyoko had practically run into her. The dockengaut stopped in her tracks and examined the quartet, looking at each face in turn before focusing on Kyoko.

"Ah, zzzzzeee of zzzee scarletzzz mannneee," she buzzed. "I remmmberrrr yoouuuzzz."

Kyoko warily looked up at her, though she didn't move away. "Oh hey, Big, Tall, and Creepy. How ya doing?"

The dockengaut seemed amused by Kyoko's bravado and the others' fear. But then, dockengauts are amused by almost everything. "Juzzzz fine, zzzank youuzzzz. I take itzzz zzzat youuzzz hazzz buzzzzinezzzz here?"

"Nah, just seeing the sights," Kyoko said. "Big ol' shiny tower stuck in the middle of everything, you gotta go by it sooner or later."

"Ah. Exzzzactly zzzo."

"Kyoko," Mami whispered. She tugged on Kyoko's sleeve. "We should go."

This proved to be a mistake, as the dockengaut suddenly directed her attention towards Mami. She whipped around with surprising agility and lowered her "head" on its disturbingly long neck so that she and Mami were eye level with each other, even if only one of them actually possessed eyes. With the scarlet cowl she wore, it looked somewhat like a large elephant's trunk draped with a red blanket.

"Hmmm, youzzz I remmmberzzz zzzooo," the dockengaut said. "Youzzz zzeem nervouzzz. Izzz anzzzyzing zzze matter?"

Mami swallowed and tried to think of a disarming response. She knew the dockengaut was deliberately trying to unnerve her. It was what they did. But she had to admit, it was working.

Kyoko, however, wasn't quite so intimidated. "You're playing the whole creepy vibe kinda strong," she said. "You might wanna ease up a little on the throttle."

The dockengaut's head swung on her flexible neck to look back to Kyoko. "Ah, youzzz are new zzzo zzzizzz world, are youzzz not?"

"Yeah, what gave it away?" Kyoko said. "The stench of life about me, or maybe it's because I don't wig out just because you're in the same room?"

The dockengaut let out a hissing snicker, like dry grass being stirred by the wind. "Zzzuch bravado," she said, raising her head up. "But youzzz vill…learn."

Several barbed limbs, like giant, black spider legs, or maybe the appendages of a huge, black crab, uncurled from under the dockengaut's cowl and spread wide. Tiny black dots skittered out around them and went crawling over her armor.

Mami and Charlotte drew back, and Oktavia pressed herself back into her seat. Even Kyoko had gone a little pale. But she stood her ground.

"Freaky," she said. "But my buddy here already told me what you guys are. And I haf'ta say, it kinda makes you a lot less threatening when all I need to beat you is an extra big can of Raid."

The dockengaut reared up, gaining another meter in height, so that her "head" was almost brushing the ceiling. More limbs stretched out from under the hood, and even longer ones extended from the ends of her sleeves. "There izzzz not ezzzzough pezzztizzzide in zzze worldzzz to-"

"Berenko, that's enough!" shouted a voice from down the hall. A stocky little jott dressed in some kind of military uniform was jogging toward them, huffing the whole way. Zipping ahead of her were the three calliopes that had been accompanying the dockengaut earlier.

Berenko immediately lowered herself to her normal (though still huge) height and quickly curled those limbs of hers back into the confines of her cowl and sleeves. "Ah, zzze zzzpoilzzzportzzz arrivezzz."

The jott looked both out of breath and furious. "You have been warned…" she panted. "Multiple times…not to wander around without an escort, and to stop trying to intimidate everyone you see!" As she spoke, the calliopes quickly surrounded the dockengaut, placing themselves between her and the humans.

"Trying too hard, if you ask me," Kyoko said, though she still looked a little shaken up.

The jott looked at Kyoko as if she had lost her mind, though she managed to keep her composure. "I'm sorry ladies. I assure you, this will-" She shot a venomous glare at Berenko. "-be dealt with. Berenko here is very close to exhausting her warnings, and any further accounts of harassment may very well lead to an interterritorial incident."

"Oh, relaxxzzzz," Berenko hissed. "I wazzz not-"

Then her "head" immediately whipped up, giving Kyoko a very ugly view of her "neck." But for once, Berenko's sudden movement wasn't intended to scare anyone. Instead, she had directed all of her attention to the other end of the all. She took a couple of steps back and hunched down, and it looked as if she were preparing to defend herself.

Of course everyone turned to see what was the matter. To Mami's surprise, there was another savian coming the other way. This one was somewhat taller than Akia, with leaner features and longer bristles on her head, so she supposed that this must be Akia's companion. The savian was smiling and chatting amiably with an ai'jurrik'kai that was accompanying her.

And then something very curious happened. The savian so happened to glance ahead of her and caught sight of Berenko. Immediately a change came over her. Her eyes narrowed, her bristles flattened back against her skull, and her lips drew back, exposing some very sharp teeth. She hunched over as well, but unlike Berenko, it wasn't in a defensive position. In fact, she looked like she was readying herself to charge.

At first Mami was convinced that the savian was moments away from attacking the dockengaut, but the savian's demeanor didn't so much remind her of a predator about to spring, but of an alpha wolf dealing with an upstart member of the pack. The savian's poise didn't seem to convey so much a threat of violence as it did a warning. Back off, she was saying. Or else.

And bizarrely enough, it worked. Berenko hissed and swung around, nearly hitting Kyoko with the folds of her robes. She retreated down the hallway, with the bewildered jott and calliopes following behind, shouting apologies back at the humans.

Mami gaped after her. Though Cloudbreak was a city of wonders, there were a few things she had not expected to see. One of them was a dockengaut. Another was a dockengaut running away.

She looked back to the savian, but she was gone, having made as quick an exit as Akia did. The ai'jurrik'kai was still there, and was looking around in confusion, no doubt wondering where her companion had gone too. In time she disappeared through a nearby doorway, leaving the four humans alone in the hall.

Everyone exchanged glances, none of them sure what to make of what happened. That had definitely been a very interesting encounter, one that demanded some kind of commenting on, but no one had the slightest idea of where to begin.

Finally, Kyoko just went and said what everyone was thinking: "Okay, what in the holy hotsauce hells was that?"

…

Fortunately, despite the little altercation at the pool from the previous day, Mami and Charlotte had managed to convince the hotel's management not to evict them from the premises, though it had taken a great deal of persuasion and not a small amount of money, which had not improved Charlotte's opinion of Kyoko in the slightest. In the meantime, Kyoko was banned from the pool area, and if Charlotte had her way, she would be washing dishes in the hotel kitchen for the rest of the trip.

Sayaka, however, was not banned from anything, despite it being her wheel that had actually done the damage. Kyoko found this to be incredibly unfair.

At any rate, once they were back at the hotel, everyone agreed that after such a stressful day, sitting around in the room would only serve to agitate them further and have them snapping at each other within an hour. As such, they decided to take a walk through the petting zoo to cool off.

Kyoko was the one wheeling Sayaka around this time, as she needed something to do with her hands. Surprisingly, Sayaka didn't have a problem with this, though the fact that she could now fight back should Kyoko try anything probably had something to do with this. Mami and Charlotte also didn't object, the former because she was worried that the wheel incident would incite hard feelings between them and didn't want their friendship damaged so close to their separation, and the latter because it made it less likely that Kyoko was going to try to climb into any of the cages.

"I'm getting sick and tired of this poli bullcrap," Kyoko muttered. Now that the shock from the dockengaut/savian encounter had worn off, her thoughts had returned to the real problems at hand. "We're supposed to be out of here already. Instead, I gotta sit and listen to a bunch of interfering busybodies blabber on and on about how much they can't do anything. Hey, that looks pretty cool."

They had come to a large habitat containing a huge, fat creature that looked like a cross between a starfish and an elephant, in that it had several limbs that closely resembled elephant trunks splayed out on a ground and surrounding a central body, which was pretty much a big, grey hump. It was lying in shallow water and liked to entertain itself by filling the trunks with water and spraying them at the onlookers. It never got close enough to actually hit anyone with water, but both the creature and the people watching it found the game amusing. A low symphony of contented trumpeting kept playing from the trunks that weren't engaged in play. Kyoko parked Sayaka in front of the railing and stood next to her.

"Just bear it out," Sayaka said as they watched. "Sooner or later they'll get off your back. At least this'll give you time to prepare."

"Prepare for what? I'm ready to go now," Kyoko groused, leaning over the railing on her elbows. "We've got everything we need already. We should have been making for the Withering Lands this morning."

"I wouldn't say such things so candidly," said a new voice, one with a strong French accent. Kyoko and Oktavia turned to see a tall, leggy blonde in a sharp suit walking towards them. She came right up next to Kyoko and leaned over the rail, peering into the habitat. "You never know who may be listening."

Kyoko was instantly on her guard. "Yeah?" she said, slowly moving away. "And who are you?"

The French girl ignored the question. "For example, did you know that the Senate had two calliopes and an ai'jurrik'kai assigned to tracking your movements? They've been following you since you left the Capital Spire."

A cold sweat broke out on Kyoko's forehead and neck. This was very bad news.

"Oh, relax." The French girl turned to smirk at her. "My associates and I took care of them. They won't be bothering anyone for a while."

Kyoko frowned. "So what, are you on our side? Part of some weird underground movement? I suppose you've got a waiting elysian packed with everything we need?"

"Again she says too much," laughed the French girl. It was not a nice laugh. "But you made a good guess. Yes, we do have a waiting elysian with everything that will be needed for the trip. What's more, the security cameras here just had a rather unfortunate glitch, in that instead of recording what's happening now, they're replaying a recording of what happened two months ago. Oh, and it seems that the marshals won't be wandering into the path between us and our transport." Her smile widened. "It pays, you see, to have friends in low places."

Kyoko got a very uncomfortable feeling. Despite weapons not being allowed, she still summoned a spear to her hands. "Who. Are. You?" she said again as she continued to back up.

Then she bumped into Sayaka's wheelchair. At the same time, she realized that the normally talkative mermaid had been very silent ever since this odd person had shown up. Kyoko glanced over her should. Her face went white.

Sayaka was slumped bonelessly in her seat. Her arms were hanging over the sides of her armrests and her head was lolling against one shoulder, mouth hanging open and eyes open but glazed over and unfocused. She appeared to be dead.

"Don't worry about her," the French girl said. "She'll awake in time. And so will you. By then, you'll be exactly where you want to go: the Withering Lands."

Kyoko frantically looked around for Mami and Charlotte, but they were nowhere to be seen. Neither was anyone else.

"Oh yeah, and about your friends?" the French girl said. "They're a wee bit back, being jabbered at by a couple of overly tourists who want them to take a bunch of pictures and want to know every detail about their trip and their lives." Then she dropped the fake accent, and though her disguise remained, Kyoko now knew exactly who she was talking to. "Pity they're too polite to just tell them to bug off, or that they don't suspect that they should."

Kyoko filled her lungs to shout, but then something sharp and thin poked her in the neck. She raised her hand to slap it, but for some reason her arm suddenly felt incredibly heavy. Her spear fell from her hands to clatter on the floor.

Then her legs gave out. She hit the concrete hard, but barely felt it. Every just felt so heavy. Even thinking was becoming too hard. Though she knew that it was a very bad idea, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

Annabelle Lee grinned down at her. "Should have brought a camera," she said. "But oh well. There'll be plenty of time to right a few wrongs on the way back. My sister, for example, has a ton of sushi recipes she wants to try out, and now has more then enough fish to work with."

Kyoko tried to scream, but her mouth no longer obeyed her commands. And moments later, she couldn't even move anymore. The world had gone black.

…

Shorter than usual chapter for now, but hey, I want to get this show on the road. I mean, this story is almost two years old, and the journey still hasn't started! What's up with that?

Until next time, everyone!