The drive was oddly quiet, outside of whatever secret language it was that Rude and Reno used to communicate. Cait Sith still perched between Vincent and driver, and in the morning, the alien apparent had been nowhere to be found. And no one talked much, though in two cases of five, at least it wasn't to be unexpected.

Lyla had been notably quiet most of the way there, as they all had. Even Reno seemed uninterested in doing much other than talking to Rude, and this he did at an unusually low volume. Things continued on this way until they pulled into the garage at the complex in Edge, where Lyla wordlessly put the vehicle in park and turned off the ignition. "You're all free to do what you like with your time while I speak to Professor Ingram, though I believe the president is waiting for you in the professor's office if you would be so kind as to come and retrieve him."

"Oh, aye. Cannae let wild riflemen roam the grounds," Cait Sith chirruped, hopping down from his perch into Reno's lap.

Vincent watched the small cat for a beat as if trying to interpret the significance of his apparent snub, then slipped out of the car without a word.

The brunette retrieved her bag and a dossier from beneath the front seat before sliding out of it, heading for the door to the main building at a moderate pace without looking back to see who followed. Reno seemed content to lift Cait Sith up enough that he was able to get out of the car without incident, then perched the cat on his shoulder, giving him a pat on the head. "Come on, let's go pick up the prez."

Rude nodded, straightening his gloves as they fell into step together.

Just ahead of Lyla, Vincent paused at the door, holding it open.

She offered him a polite smile as she passed, hand resting over the flap of her bag. "Thank you," she said, pausing inside long enough to wait for him before continuing down the hallway.

Reno yawned as he approached the door alongside Rude, yanking it open with one hand while using the other to steady Cait Sith as he discreetly bounced the robot on his shoulder. "Wonder how long this gig is going to run, anyway."

The cat peered over Reno's shoulder, holding out his hand. "I could try a fortune?" He suggested.

Rude glanced at the ceiling. "How many facilities did Hojo touch?" He frowned, unsure of the answer.

"Lay it on me, cat," Reno encouraged him, glancing to Rude afterward. "More than I could think of off the top of my head, I'm sure. Not all of 'em are on the map, either. He was with the company a long time. That's a lot of shit to stir."

Rude considered that, watching as Cait Sith finished his predicting with a twirl.

"Miles are covered one step at a time." The robot said brightly, brandishing the paper.

"...A long time."

Reno narrowed an eye at the robot suspiciously. "That one's gay. Do me another."

With a nod the cat did another small twirl, coming up with a new piece of paper.

Rude squinted at it. "...Believe your task may be complete someday."

"Today's fortunes keep saying I'm fucked," Reno observed. "I don't think I approve."

In an attempt to be helpful, Cait Sith made a third attempt, handing the redhead another small slip of paper.

"Success is a long journey, not a destination." it read.

Reno frowned in reply. "You can stop this shit now."

"I dinnae pick 'em." He sighed, tucking the paper away somewhere.

"They pop out of your stomach thing. You are somewhat responsible," the redhead reasoned.

"True." He conceaded, "But I cannae change fate, ye know, laddie. Jes warn ye!"

Reno raised a dubious brow. "You know these things aren't for real, right?"

"Oh, aye. Ye can say that. But I never been wrong!"

"Not ever?"

"Not thae I know of." The cat blinked at him. Which was strange when you considered it in two points. The first of which being that he was a robot, and the second that he had to open his eyes in order to blink them at all.

"Yo. Cat." Reno held him out at arm's length. "Did you just open your eyes to blink at me?"

Cait Sith pointed at his face with one gloved paw. "They're in there, ye know."

"As eyes are, traditionally."

"Well. I dinnae blink me tail."

"But they're always closed," Reno pointed out. "You had to open them. Actively open then. To blink at me."

Cait Sith thought about that for a moment before nodding. "Aye."

"That's retarded."

"Well, how else would I do i'?"

"How about not at all, since you are a friggin' robot," Reno suggested.

"I'm programmed tae do human things though!"

"That's friggin' weird."

"But th'crown's nae?"

"The crown is stupid too. But I didn't wanna say anything," Reno explained.

"I'm a king among fortune machines."

"So that's why you wear the crown. Because you're retard royalty?"

"Aye." He agreed cheerfully, tipping the small headpiece back. "Got tae mark i' so everyone knows a moron when they seem em! Like yer tattoos!"

Reno raised an eyebrow, giving the cat a less-than-friendly look. "That is so not what they're for."

Cait Sith gave him a wide, feline smile.

The redhead frowned. "Reeve. You are a sick bastard if this shit is what you do for fun. Seriously."

"I ge'that alot."

"I think you should talk to someone about your issues."

"I have a lot o'those." He agreed.

"I think you might be a furry, Reeve."

"Ye know 'm not actually Reeve, aye?"

"I know that he can hear me. Because he is a voyeur and is so watching us."

Cait Sith thought about that one for a beat.

"Well. Nae -all- the time."

"Enough to be a freak, Cait. Enough to be a freak."

Lyla dropped the dossier and flash drive onto Ingram's desk without preface, forcing a smile in reply to the one she had been greeted with. "Everything from the most recent target," she informed him wearily. "I can help you go through it today if you like. Should get us pointed towards the next facility more quickly."

"Ah, thank you," Ingram said brightly, leafing through the physical portion briefly before seizing the drive and immediately plugging it into the computer that took up a good-sized portion of his cluttered desk. "That won't be necessary. You're no good to me if you're exhausted. Rest today, I can handle this alone. I am curious, though - were there any live samples at the newest target?"

Lyla frowned slightly. "Just one that could actually be referred to as living. It's been neutralized. The rest were already deceased when we arrived. Most half-eaten. The rest just died from lack of life support. Most of the equipment was broken down."

Just behind her, Vincent stood in the doorway, surveying the room from its entrance without any indication that he wished to come in. Not that that would stop a crack from Reno, later, about vampires and invitations.

He stepped to the side as the Turks caught up, Cait Sith perched again on the redhead's shoulder.

Reno lifted Cait Sith from his shoulders and held him out to the red-clad man in the doorway, smiling. "Here's the toll. I need to go talk to the prez."

Vincent offered him a look, but the small robot scrambled lightly onto the ex-Turk's arm with no real trouble. "We should talk tae Reeve," Cait Sith said, nodding. "Before we head out again."

"Mn."

Reno waved as he turned sideways to squeeze past, motioning for Rude to follow him, turning his back and heading for the door on the far wall. It was propped open this time, giving him a clear view of Rufus pulled up to a work table and leafing through a folder that looked well-worn on top of being several inches thick.

"I see," was Ingram's only response to his assistant, immediately engrossed in the words and figures that had begun to fill up the screen. "You are dismissed, Miss Caraway."

Lyla looked mildly affronted. "... Professor, no offense, but I am not a secretary or errand girl. I had planned to be involved in the actual study."

"You will be," he assured her, looking up again to offer her a warm and almost parental sort of smile. "Of course I realize all of that. There is only a bit more to be collected, and rest assured, I will need your help to keep from being buried alive under all of this."

Cait Sith leaned over enough to peer past Vincent's long fall of hair, eyeing the scientists on the far end of the room. Lowering his head until he spoke just into the man's ear. "Diyae think 'e'd wan'tae hear 'bout this, as well?"

"Mn." Vincent assured him, lifting a hand to steady the small creature as he turned.

The cat fell quiet, watching the exchanges intently from his thin, slitted eyes.

"I see," Lyla said evenly, her back still turned to the pair at the door. "... call when you have further instructions." Ingram gave her a disappointed frown in reply, shaking his head once as he shifted his gaze up from the computer once more.

"I cannot ask anyone else to oversee this part of the job. I promise you will be involved in the study when this preliminary stage is complete. It's because I trust you, you realize."

"I know," the brunette said after a brief pause, turning from the desk and starting towards the door. "Call."

Vincent watched her pass them by without a word, turning his even, crimson gaze on the good doctor.

Cait Sith ducked behind his head, only the white end of his tail flicking back and forth in view.

Ingram caught sight of the two lingering in the doorway and smiled, even as the click of Lyla's boots grew faint, moving further down the corridor. "Gentlemen."

The more human of the two of them nodded his greetings. Then dug his fingers into Vincent's collar to keep from toppling off as the red-clad man turned to go.

The professor raised a curious brow as he watched them leave. "How very talkative he is," he mused aloud, turning his attention back to the screen in front of him.

"Mr. President," Reno said almost respectfully as he stepped into the room, letting the door shut behind him once Rude was also inside. Surely Professor Ingram wouldn't mind them borrowing his workroom for a few minutes. "We've come to retrieve you."

"I see that," was Rufus' distracted response. He thumbed through a few more pages before closing the file and wedging it between the arm of his chair and his own torso, pausing to cover it with the blanket that had been draped across the back, letting it fall across his legs instead. "I plan to accompany you to the next objective."

Rude blinked, straightening some. "Sir?" he asked uncertainly.

It wasn't that he was questioning Rufus' ability to do so, really. The man had been the official head of their unit until the incident four years ago, and even if it hadn't recently been proven that the Shinra president was more than capable of taking care of himself more than well enough, it wouldn't have been enough time to forget how.

Still. The reason the young CEO would want to come? Eluded him completely.

Rufus smiled thinly at the pair of them, a knowing, calculated smile, calm and cold as his similarly cool blue eyes. "I have sanctioned this mission to salvage old work and clean up the refuse. I would like to see firsthand where my money is going." He lightly drummed his fingers against the folder beneath the blanket. "Trust that this is not a decision I have made lightly. I feel I will be far more enlightened than I would be if I were to remain at Healin."

Reno raised a vibrant red brow, shrugging. "I'm not gonna stop you. I'm just warning you. Reeve's cat is there, sir."

His partner nodded in agreement, quietly wondering if the robot would be there when the door opened again.

"Good," Rufus remarked, his tone lilting upwards just the slightest bit. "That means everything will be recorded, then. Obnoxious as they may be, Reeve's toys are useful in certain situations."

Somewhere, outside, Vincent looked up at his joyrider when the little robot shuddered.

"Take me back to Healin," Rufus directed, and without further instruction, Reno was behind the chair, wheeling him towards the door and pausing just long enough to wait for Rude to open it. "There are a few loose ends I wish to tie up before we leave."

The large man fell into step behind them, tossing Professor Ingram a single nod as they crossed paths.