Tarvek crushed the mask-device with his armoured gauntlet, concern flashing through him at the warning.

{Alert: Cognito-hazard Detected}

Then blurring and warning signals. Not enough to even touch his mind and trigger his training or mental protections it seemed, but it did leave the problem of a cognito-hazard being present. One that had mind controlled the likely now dead human whose blood was splattered over his armoured chest. Suicide induced head bashing caused by the cognito-hazard perhaps?

'Very likely, as it seemed too fast and crazed to be simply cultural' he thought, gazing down at the body, dropping the remains of the mask to the roof-floor, then grinding it further into dust "Janet"

"What….what in God's name was that?"

He turned, getting a further "Why did you just destroy that mask? Why did he…what the hell?"

"The back of the masks have an effect. You must not look at them. It is a…mental hazard" Tarvek explained as best he could, as they had not covered those sections yet, his hand moving over the bloodstains, using a weak cantrip to clean it away "We call them cognito-hazards, and…"

"Make you crazy?" it was the younger female. Not terrified at least, and clearly rational, if high in fear, hands moving in an outward expressive gesture with arms and hands "Like mind-control…what the fuck?"

"Aye. Mind Control as you call" he bluntly explained, as the dangers were too high now to not detail such, fingers moving over the suit's pip-boy wrist-comp, attempting to open an immediate exit. Ignoring the body at his feet for now. The results were…less than desired. Immediate escape to the Waystation was viable, but something only to be done in the extreme "I have….tools that should give you some protection for several hours, but I guarantee nothing"

"You looked at it? Why aren't you crazy?" the young human female stated…hmm, rationally dangerous, but incapable of harming him right now Tarvek decided as she had raised the pipe. Speaking to Janet then, sounding expressive as she motioned at him "Well he did!"

"If I wished you harm, then you would be dead" he opted for as a simply explanation "There would be no need to state the dangers to you"

"Oh….right" the young female lowered her metal pipe, looking abashed as Janet looked about to say something, but stopped, merely shaking her head "Sorry, it's silly when you say it like that"

Tarvek nodded "Good that you understand"

Then turned and scanned the other nearby buildings, as this was all….concerning "We need to move, quickly, away from this location"

Janet paused, look towards him "We're not…"

"Yes, one will carry you both. Even if it is…less than useful. Then, hmm, in disguise and in hiding within the buildings till a portal exit is located"

That caused her to pause, or perhaps straighten her back "What about where Mayuko just came from"

"The portal is closed. However it opened, it is now not so"

'Which is very bad, as this does not seem a natural portal with a brief period. But they will panic them more, and that is not ideal' he best not say, as he needed them calm and focused…after just seeing another human kill himself. Usually that was poor for morale amongst non-soldiery "We will find another, I have the signature, but this mask…its creators are likely aware it has been destroyed. We best not be here when others come"

'Unlocking higher energy expenditure…damn fool, you are already going to waste far more than gained' he mentally reprimanded himself for this growing problem he should have avoided. That and he needed to get out of here quickly, but also quietly as this place was dimensionally active. Meaning someone likely was aware of that fact, and he couldn't afford to lead them by to the Waystation by mistake or overestimating his own abilities relative to a potential planes-walking opponent. Throwing in memetics into the equation, and…he need time to think, and plan, and gather more information before making a move.

"We're what…" followed by frantic hand gestures, general fidgeting, and demands 'not to look up her skirt!' came from the young female in some bizarre misunderstanding of the situation as he picked up her and Janet's forms. Held over each shoulder respectively, after sheathing his heavy repeater in its back-sheath, he could navigate with full power options, even if it was badly going to drain his fusion core to 'burn hard' and 'burn far' as Sasha would have called it. Whatever the case, activating the jetpack and the optical camofalgue systems at maximum capacity at combat levels had a horrifying effect on the power drain; a reduction of six-point-four percent to get a mere mile to another towering building.

'The shouting and wailing is not helping for hiding' he thought, as the girl was muttering and barely held back from panicking, but they soon impacted the rooftop distant, one Travek was certain was free of humans, masked or otherwise. For he had observed two more masked figures on the 'journey' to this point, and did not hesitate in put down the pair of female humans, then immediately using his now free hands to waste yet more energy on a full polymorph. Entering the building, as much as he did not like it, was necessary, as hiding on a rooftop was less than easy now they were likely being hunted.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK!"

…oh, yes, young human female who he had not travelled with reacting to his polymorph into a human male "He…does that"

"Yes, I can do such things. Do not hit me, it will merely dispel the illusion and likely be bad for you" he said to the young female after Janet offered up some not very helpful words to her "There is little time to explain here. We must descend from this rooftop and then we shall discuss…this appear to be hospital facility, so may have tools we can make use of"

Unlikely, as the city was deserted, but that was concerning as well…and there might be answers, as there was also a decent dimensional signal here that might be exploitable. The true location of that power was likely the largest building in the 'centre' of the city, but the fact that place was so radically different in design and energy output put Tarvek on edge. This whole place was starting to feel like a Reserve, a Hunting Reserve even, or perhaps had even darker purposes; lack of information was a problem. And the babbling of a young female only three years his younger according to her babbling, physically, but clearly mentally less, was not helping with matters.

Being in human form was also more restrictive, as taking damage would revert him to his armoured form…which would an issue as he hustled the other two down a set of stairs made of metal and concrete. Enough to carry his armoured weight, just about, and partly why he'd chosen the sturdiest looking facility rather than the living habitats, or facsimiles of them that he wasn't sure if they were or not. Lights were on, with power flowing into an otherwise empty hallway as they came down the stairs and into…empty medical rooms, but curiously they were fully equipped.

'Is the city abandoned? Or fake? Why have everything here?' immediately went through his mind as he ensured there were no memetic dangers in a large room, passing by them, finding there were visual security systems….

"Are you, ugh, hacking the cameras?"

…and getting noticed by Janet. He answered in the affirmative as he used a holo-display over his arm to discover there was, in fact, an active camera system. Crude and basic, but on a connection system close enough to Janet's world that it was accessible via his systems. Images began to filter in….the was a very active, very realistic, empty city. Why build an empty city? Or had the portals moved the population out?

"Aye, this building had high energy and the systems are viable…we can rest a time, and use the systems to monitor" he answered, activating 'dumb AI' systems to seek out movement. For he hadn't even seen rats yet, let alone other wildlife, and that was something nagging at the back of the red orc's mind. Then gestured at a corridor ahead as one of his drones scanned the areas ahead "Through there, then to the right. There is a room large enough to rest in"

Then he'd figure out what to do next…