Xenoblade Rush

by lolrus555

Chai was admittedly expecting a lot when he signed up for Project Armstrong, but he'd also readily admit that getting 'musical robot powers,' having the entire tech company trying to KILL HIM as a result, and ending up bonded to a girl that could command flames were NOT among those initial expectations. Needless to say, both Chai and the Aegis have a long road ahead of them...

5. Track 2: Power up (Part 2 of 3)

SURPRISE! I'M ALIVE! SHOCKING, I KNOW ._.

Urgh… I don't even know where to start. I guess maybe with the fact that I've been job hunting and steadily bleeding money since October and only recently found myself another steady form of income, so having that constantly hanging over my head was kind of putting an active damper on my progress writing. I finally found something though! (and hopefully no cosmic anvils will fall on me) topped off by how I also more or less completed the Torna expansion!

I very much apologize for how long this chapter took to get out and hope that no one minds its admittedly daunting size. I hope that regardless of the latter, it's nonetheless considered enjoyable. Without going into too much detail, we don't get to Rekka's fight on this Track, but I'd nonetheless say that interesting developments go down this chapter.

XENOBLADE RUSH

Track 2: Power Up, (Part 2 of 3)

REOProduction Destruction

Hi-Fi Rush originals

Bethesda Softworks

Both Chai and Pyra kept a steady pace as they jogged down the only pathway available to them, both their footsteps happening in time to the beat of the music playing from the former's MP3.

"Goodness, that's a large building, and it looks so expansive to top it all off. I know that Rekka's office is likely on the highest floor, but if we don't know where we're going… well, then this could take a while."

*No worries about that, Pyra. One very nice perk you and Chai got going for yourselves now that we're working together is that I can usually hack open locked doors on the campus. Between 808 letting me see what you guys are seeing and how I got the Production facility's blueprints on-hand, it means I can give you guys the most straightforward path available to Rekka's office. Hell, if nothing goes off the rails, we might not even have to deal with any security on our way there at all.* Peppermint explained through 808, a hint of pride in her tone as she said all this, with Pyra nodding in understanding as she spoke, a small, pleased smile on her face.

"Kickass! Well, let's blaze on through then!" Chai was similarly pleased with all this information, giving neither girl any time to respond before he eagerly went further ahead, repeatedly triple-dodging in time to the music's beat as he did so.

*...Well, assuming no one blows our cover anyway.* Peppermint said after a moment, 808's deadpan, half-lidded expression reflecting her own back at the Hideout as an increasingly familiar sense of exasperation crept up on her.

"I-I'm… I'm sure it'll be fine, Peppermint." Pyra was quick to try and reassure her new friend and ally, but an unpleasant sinking feeling settling in the fire Aegis's gut kept her from sounding as confident as she would've liked.

"Maybe keep a close eye on him just to be safe, yeah?" Was the hacker's closing statement on the matter, her tone making it clear she was unconvinced before she had 808 rapidly float after Chai. On her own part, Pyra could only let out a quiet sigh at both Peppermint and frankly her own lack of faith in her Driver's ability to be subtle before moving quickly to catch up with them.

'Well, hope springs eternal, though with how Chai and subtly clearly don't seem to mix together, Peppermint's definitely right in that I should be ready for anything, especially a fight.' That thought had Pyra unconsciously grip onto the handle of her Aegis Sword, making sure it was still firmly sheathed before catching up with Chai, which ended up being a surprisingly easy task to accomplish with how he slowed to a stop to overhear a conversation between two VA-SERs.

Still can't believe you actually got a drink outta that thing.* The two worker robots appeared to be on break as one of them was sitting back against a wooden bench with a can of Vandelay-branded soda in hand.

Heh, if you hit the machine juuuuust right, it won't eat your credits. Take it from a master like me!* The orange-colored VA-SER sitting on the bench proclaimed confidently, emphasizing his words by taking a hearty swig of his canned drink… the sight of which left Chai and especially Pyra rather baffled.

"...M…Machines in this world can… eat and drink?" The fire Aegis couldn't help but ask with a baffled tone and look on her face. The day had barely even begun before this world opted to shove another outlandish sight in her face that trumped the last one.

"Definitely looks that way, yeah…" Chai added, a similarly baffled look on his face, albeit less so than Pyra's own. He had heard a thing or two about how Vandelay's robots had such revolutionary technological and AI advancements to them, that they could not only talk and think, but even eat, drink, and sleep like any other person. All that being said, hearing is one thing, seeing it firsthand is another thing entirely, and Chai hadn't really cared enough at the time to check if there was any sort of practical point or application to the latter three features. With all that in mind, he decided that there was no time like the present to change that… "...Hey. So uh… does drinking that, like, do anything for you guys or what?" The question made Chai subsequently wonder if Vandelay's robots had built-in taste buds too before something else occurred to him. "Wait, that's not like a can of motor oil or anything, right?"

The two VA-SERs merely exchanged a look at Chai's line of incessant questions before the one on the bench merely held out the can clearly for them both to see. The words ROQUEFORT ESPRESSO were printed across the can's top while the face of a dark-skinned man of advanced age -presumably the titular 'Roquefort'- was printed right in the middle, giving a toothy sneer to any observers. *I mean, unless espresso suddenly counts as a new form of machine fuel, not really, kid. Though it does have silver extract if the ingredients list isn't lying.* The VA-SER commented dryly before downing another swig of the caffeinated beverage. *Anyway, to answer your question, doesn't really do enough of anything to really be practical, to be perfectly honest. Setting yourself up at a charging station is a lot more efficient, but in this line a' work, you take any sort of luxuries you can get. Which is exactly why I'm gonna milk this break for every second I got of it and enjoy a little pick-me-up while I'm at it.*

Eugh, speaking of, I gotta say; getting a break only once every three months? Let me tell ya… kiiiinda stingy.* The standing VA-SER continued on, not noticing the way both Chai and Pyra balked at his casual mention of Vandelay's work-force only getting a singular break every several months.

Eh, could be worse. You could be in R .*

"Well, hearing all THAT suddenly makes me feel a lot better about being jobless…" Chai commented dryly, and Pyra could only mutely nod in agreement, an incredulous expression still on her face. A moment after saying this, a nearby vending machine, presumably the same one that VA-SER got his drink from, caught his eye, topped off by that remark about hitting them just right replaying in his head. "Also makes me wanna break some more Vandelay property. So if you'll just excuse me…" And with that closing remark and a twirl of his Scrap Guitar, Chai then dashed over to the vending machine before proceeding to whale on it in-time to the beat like it was a security bot.

At the (frankly expected by now) sight of this, Pyra could only huff out a quiet laugh, a bead of sweat running down her face, before opting to take a quick look around their immediate surroundings. 'So easily distracted…'

As her Driver spent the next minute or so vigorously smacking the vending machine around to the music's beat, Pyra couldn't help but notice a small, storage shed-like room off to the side next to the entrance into the Production facility. Opting to take a quick look inside while Chai occupied himself, Pyra poked her head through the doorway and near-immediately, the sight of another blue tablet in the corner caught her eye. Curiosity piqued, especially with how consistently bizarre the previous files she'd read were, Pyra didn't hesitate to pick up the tablet and read through its contents, and just like the last few Vandelay-related documents she read, her face gradually fell as she read through its contents.

Unsent Complaint

Email Draft Unsent from O5-KAR ID# 671993

/

To the HR department,

I don't want to make a disturbance, but being that I am in charge of taking care of the Production Central Garden, I am curious over the reason for its existence.

Our ads tell people that it is for interoffice communication, but employees are requested to NOT go into the garden.

This is confusing for the employees since it is beautified but never used. Never mind the amount of work I and the cleanup team put into making it look immaculate.

Also, I am questioning the intent of the world's largest hedge maze inside this as well…

Much like when she read about the… innovative 'expanded battery pack' recently made by Vandelay's R Department, Pyra felt an increasing look of baffled confusion creep onto her face as she read through the document. "...So these people apparently go out of their way to prepare a fancy, public-use garden… only to completely bar their workers from enjoying it…? What is WRONG with the people running this company…!?" This feeling was also topped off by an increasing sense of disdain for the people running this company and all the various stupid and petty things they decided upon, not the least of which was this asinine 'request' (READ: Rule) regarding these Production gardens.

At least when she, Addam, and the others were dealing with Malos, they had a clear goal to accomplish and the obvious reason and drive to do it, even if she'd been harboring her suspicions of the Praetorium and certain individuals within it. This wasn't even touching upon all the odd jobs they assisted Lora and Jin with. Those tasks also had a clear goal and reward to go along with them, topped off by the job-givers being infinitely more pleasant and tolerable than what she'd seen of this company's upper management.

All this though…? She couldn't even begin to imagine how utterly miserable anyone working in this company would be with all these asinine rules and stipulations in place.

*SMASH!*

"HA! Jackpot!"

Before Pyra could dwell any further on this matter, she was brought back to the present at the sound of some machinery being smashed up followed by Chai's excited exclamation. Already having a feeling as to what that sound was, the redhead silently walked back outside, and lo and behold, was greeted with Chai crouching down to pick up one of several beverage cans riddled all around the now-destroyed and smoking vending machine.

Covering her mouth as she let out some muted giggles at the sight of this, Pyra began to walk towards her Driver before speaking. "I take it your little side-activity went smoothly?" She asked, a small smile on her face as she watched Chai pick up several more cans before stuffing them into his coat's inner pocket. Oddly enough, despite just one of them looking rather bulky, Chai was able to stuff them all into his coat without any issue, with there not even being any visual indication he'd even stuffed anything into his pockets. (Then again, on her travels with Addam, their group had collected a large variety of useful items that they carried around more often than not in their pockets even if, when thought about it logically, they shouldn't have been able to carry them as easily as they did. So seeing Chai pocketing several cans on his jackets like this wasn't that odd)

"Given the haul I just landed? Yeah, I'd say it went pretty well." Was Chai's immediate response, a satisfied look on his face as Pyra crouched down to pick up one of the cans that rolled into her foot. According to the can's label, it was apparently a 'sparking water' (What exactly did that mean? Was it meant to indicate this water came from a particularly clean source?) that had orange juice mixed into it as well as…

''...Elegance?' What does that even mean in this case?' Pyra couldn't help but wonder, tilting her head in confusion when her eyes settled on that part of the can.

*Klank.*

Once again, the redhead was brought back to the present when she felt and heard another can lightly bump against the one she was holding. Blinking, Pyra then turned slightly to see a smiling Chai holding up a can that seemed to be styled after Rekka. "Welp! Given what we got on-hand now and how we haven't properly set foot inside the building yet, I'd say that calls for a little drink and toast!" He explained in a chipper tone, capping off his sentence by snapping off his can's tab.

"Oh! C-Certainly, that sounds lovely." Pyra said, surprised by this sudden suggestion, but certainly not against any opportunity to build a bit of comradery and trust with her Driver. "Since it's a toast, is there anything in particular we're drinking to?"

"Uhmmm, in that case… how about a uh… toast toooo… Ah!" Chai trailed off upon getting asked that question, clearly having barely put any thought into this little idea beyond its initial proposal. However, after another moment of wracking his brain, a satisfactory answer came to the brunet cyborg. "How about a toast to free drinks and this whole mission going nice, quick and easy!"

At all that, Pyra couldn't help but let out some muted, amused chuckles at her Driver's behavior once more before also tapping her can against Chai's. "Alright then. Certainly not against any of that~. To good health and a successful mission." With that said, the Aegis then mimicked what Chai did with his own tab and snapped it off. She then proceeded to take an appraising sip of the can's contents while her Driver heartily chugged his own down without hesitation.

"!" Pyra couldn't help but bring her free hand to her mouth as the apparent water went down her throat, taken by surprise by just how… bubbly and fizzy it felt on her tongue. "Oof… Goodness, I certainly wasn't expecting water to taste like that, even with it being from another world…"

*I take it they don't have carbonated drinks back on Alrest?* Peppermint asked casually through 808, her cat raising a slight brow at the fire Blade's response to the drink on her behalf. After everything the Aegis explained to them about the world of Alrest yesterday, such a notion didn't surprise the hacker one bit. Even if someone can still readily make carbonated drinks with the right know-how and stuff, like dry ice or yeast depending on the method, making it widespread in a fantastical world where monsters were the least of peoples' problems would be quite the challenge if one didn't know the right people.

"First time I've heard of such a term, so I'd assume so. Like I said yesterday though, I'm definitely not the best source for details regarding my homeworld…" The Aegis reiterated, curious gaze still on her can before opting to take another gulp of its contents. The constant fizzling in her mouth was a bit irritating, but oddly addictive nonetheless. She also certainly enjoyed the orange-flavored tang it had. "Definitely feels like an acquired taste, though…"

*CRUNCH!*

Finding herself slightly startled at the loud sound of metal crunching up, Pyra turned to the source of the noise to see Chai crushing the can onto his forehead before tossing it behind him, the crumpled up can tumbling around the edge of a garbage can before falling in, a satisfied smile on his face all the while.

"...What? It was part of the serving suggestion! See?" Chai was quick to say when he saw the slightly befuddled look on his Blade companion's face, kicking another one of Rekka's branded drinks into his hand and showing her the instructions printed onto the can.

SERVING SUGGESTION

CHUG.

Crush can on forehead after consuming.

Please recycle!

"I… see. And here I was under the impression you didn't like following instructions or rules." Pyra couldn't help but comment, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face as she took in the instructions in confusion. '...I suppose those 'higher-ups' had the final word on the printing details of their respective drinks.'

"Eh, that was one set of instructions I was down to follow," Chai said with a wry smile, pocketing the extra can of apple juice via an inner pocket in his coat before pointing towards the main entrance with his Scrap Guitar. "Anyway, I'm good to get going when you are."

"Certainly. High time we entered the building proper." Pyra nodded, jogging at a steady pace as she followed her already-dashing Driver into the building… subsequently also leaving the two VA-SER units by the bench sitting/standing there, unsure what to make of or do with the conversation between the unwitting Driver and his Blade they just witnessed, their blatant unauthorized entry into the Production facility…. or the former's gleeful vandalization of the nearby vending machine (which one of the VA-SERs accidentally provided the inspiration for, at that).

So uhhh… should we go an' report all that to Security?* The red VA-SER asked in an uncertain tone, scratching the back of his metallic head as he looked at where the unusual duo ran off into the building.

Not my problem, just like how the mess that kid left isn't mine either.* Meanwhile, the VA-SER that procured a drink from the now-destroyed vending machine made his own lack of caring on the matter clear as he leaned back on the bench, taking another swig out of his own drink to emphasize this.

Yeah, definitely with ya there. Far as I'm concerned, this whole mess was made just after I finished my break and went back to my shift.* The standing VA-SER was quick to agree with his co-worker, showcasing a signature characteristic of laziness that much of their particular line was known for. He even took a moment to procure a drink for himself before they both made themselves scarce before any robot higher-up on the Vandelay hierarchy made fixing the broken vending machine their problem.

*O*

"Hey, there's Kale! And that's… what's-her-face… the old Vandelay boss…"

The unlikely duo and their cat companion didn't make it very far into the Production building, only making a single turn down the hallway from the entrance before they were greeted with a gigantic set of statues in a lobby-like room, one of which nearly reached the high-up ceiling.

"From what I've heard so far, I know 'Kale' is the current head of this company. Is that woman over there his predecessor, then…?" Pyra asked, a curious expression on her face as she eyed both statues.

Yes, Pyra. 'What's-her-face' there is Roxanne Vandelay, the one who founded this company when it was still 'Vandelay Solutions' and the reason it became the tech giant it is now.* Peppermint interjected suddenly, and Pyra found herself taken aback by the restrained anger in her voice as she explained who the woman was to the Aegis… anger that quickly became unrestrained when she had 808 turn to address Chai next. *She built the company from the ground-up, Chai! Know your history!*

"Geez, you don't need to yell! Especially when you were all too happy to sum up who she is to Pyra a second ago!" Was Chai's defensive response, confused and annoyed with their hacking ally blowing up at him out of nowhere. He wasn't even trying to be a smartass or anything just now, he just didn't bother to keep up with any history on who's been in charge of Vandelay over the years. And why would he? The company didn't exactly pique his interest till he heard they were giving away robotic limbs first come, first serve.

*Because she's not from this world, so I wouldn't expect her to!* Peppermint shot back heatedly, before exhaling and speaking again in a considerably more calm tone.*Just give credit where it's due…*

"E-Either way, let's all just calm down, alright? It was a simple misunderstanding, Peppermint, that's all. I'm sure Chai isn't the only one that doesn't keep up with that sort of thing, even if you're right that people should know their history." Pyra, quickly realizing that for whatever reason, this was a sensitive topic for their new friend, made sure to play mediator and that neither the hacker nor her Driver re-escalated things.

*...You're not wrong, Pyra, and that is unbelievably frustrating.* Peppermint sighed after a moment, both Chai and Pyra taken aback by her morose mood before the hacker in question focused back up. *Okay, whatever, let's just get going…*

While Chai didn't think too much of Peppermint's outburst, Pyra on the other hand couldn't help but feel there was more to that whole interaction than either of them currently knew. 'Well, I shouldn't press her on it. We only recently met afterall. Hopefully, she'll be willing to confide in us down the line if it's truly something that's bothering her…' With that thought in mind, Pyra merely nodded in response to Peppermint's words before continuing on, at least until Chai lingered at the base of the statue, reading an inscription bolted there that had Kale and Roxanne's names printed on it. "Chai?"

"Ah! Be right there." Upon realizing that the two were waiting on him, Chai was quick to catch up with Pyra and 808 as they briskly continued towards another doorway at the statue's back, which was their only route forward. Once again though, as they continued, the brunet slacker couldn't help but once again bat for Vandelay's current upper management. "So, maybe Roxanne founded the company, but Kale…! Cool dude, nice hair." Indeed, all promotional media Chai had seen from both Project Armstrong and Vandelay Technologies in general presented Kale Vandelay as a rather cool, composed, and personable dude. Chai couldn't deny he bought into the hype -that was part of why he was here after all- and the fact that he was still riding off the high of having a kickass robot arm that came with badass musical superpowers and let him kick all kinds of ass meant he didn't mind playing Devil's Advocate even after all the insanity and danger that's happened since getting said arm.

*He's riding off the coattails of a REAL pioneer.* Peppermint was quick to bluntly criticize once more. Thankfully, her tone was more 'annoyed' than 'bitterly angry' that time, though her disdain for Vandelay Technology's current CEO was still apparent all the same.

"Sheesh, what'd he ever do to you?" Chai couldn't help but ask, finally catching onto his hacking ally's disdain for Kale and raising a brow as he opted to just get to the heart of the matter that was gnawing at Pyra's and now his own curiosity. (Indeed, the former was silently but raptly listening along to the conversation all the while.)

*Let's just focus on the mission.* However, any chance of immediate answers were dashed when Peppermint immediately (ha) avoided answering, keeping 808's gaze trained on the hall ahead as she said this.

"Okaaay. Whatever then." Realizing that trying to get a straight answer would be a waste of time, Chai merely shrugged off his initial curiosity before moving onward again. It was at this point that Pyra couldn't help but speak up once again. However, whereas previously, the redhead's questions had been regarding important details and facts about Earth, all to generally get a better understanding of her newfound environment…

"'...Nice hair?'" …this time, the Aegis couldn't help but focus in on Chai's offhand remark that he apparently found the Vandelay CEO's hair apparently good-looking. With that remark still in mind, Pyra cast her gaze back towards the statue of Kale, her gaze squinting as he focused in on his… very loud pompadour, before looking back towards Chai and providing a blunt follow-up. "His hair looks stupid, Chai."

*HA! Nicely put, Pyra~.* Peppermint laughed, very much delighting in the redhead's uncharacteristically blunt put-down of the corrupt CEO's loud hairstyle.

"Sheesh! Not sugarcoating your opinion this time, huh Pyra?" Was all Chai could say initially, taken aback by his redhead friend's surprising put-down regarding Kale's hair. "I don't know, I think I could rock his whole black and red suit ensemble pretty well, hair included!"

"Please don't. You look perfectly fine as is and I'm actively wincing at the thought of you with a haircut like that." Pyra was quick to say, the wince on her face at the mental image of such a thing matching her words and tone.

"Man, you really know how to throw some shade out when you wanna, don't you?" Chai couldn't help but remark, his words causing a rosy, embarrassed blush to creep onto Pyra's face, especially with how this felt like a bit of a reversal of a certain conversation her previous self had with 'the master of low-key shade' back during the Aegis war.

*BEEP!*

*BEEP!*

*BEEP!*

If Pyra had anything to say in response to Chai's remark, then she didn't have the chance to get even a single vowel out when an alarm suddenly blared through the room they stepped into and the security hatches in the floor suddenly flew open.

"Uh oh…" Was Chai's knee-jerk response upon hearing the alarms, freezing and flinching up with a wince on his face when several security robots came flying out from the floor hatches, with a BA-B00 heading the group upon popping out of the largest hatch.

"So much for nice, quick, and easy…!" Pyra noted, a narrow-eyed look on her face as she drew out her sword and allowed the flames to roar out from its exhausts.

"Eh, I'm just as down to smash up some bots too!" Similarly, despite his initial reaction, Chai was quick to rebound with an eager, cocky smile, tossing his Scrap Guitar up and catching it by the handle before bringing his free hand up to his chest. Per usual, Chai's hand came up to his chest's Power Core Unit in time to the music's beat, and for a brief second, Pyra thought she saw a yellow grid spread out all along their impromptu arena.

FIGHT!

'...Nevermind that! Just another strange quirk of this world…!' While initially surprised by the grid and the sudden exclamation of 'fight!' she'd heard from seemingly nowhere, Pyra knew better than to get distracted in a fight, focusing back up just in time to deftly block and parry an incoming blow from a SBR. Going onto the offensive, Pyra nimbly tore through any attacking SBRs and GNRs with fiery efficiency in time to the music's beat. While doing so, she attempted to remain in close enough proximity to Chai to make the Affinity Line appear between them, but this was made much harder for the redhead to do with how the BA-B00 bombarded her with an onslaught of crushing strikes with its metallic fists she was forced to dodge.

"CHAI!"

"CHAI!"

*Rest!*

"WOO!"

"HEY!"

"CHAI!"

*SMASH!*

On Chai's own end, he was off in his own little world, once again delighting in the thrill of beat-based combat and oblivious to Pyra's attempt to activate the Affinity Line as he finished another combo that he calls Tune Up, which he just came up with on the spot, on a SBR that tried hitting him, the final blow being a wide, sweeping, and painful blow that had the added bonus of hitting an annoying GNR that had been pestering him with laser fire too.

Pyra, having witnessed this out of the corner of her eye, took the chance to disengage and dash away from the BA-B00 and its onslaught of attacks, leaping into the air and bombarding the airborne GNR with a series of fiery strikes. Chai was right up there with her, having leapt up after his launched opponents and gleefully wailing on them in mid-air along with Pyra. Their close proximity -as well as both of their blows syncing up with the beat- meant that by the time both finished off their targets via slam attacks that sent them both down to the ground, the Affinity Line between Chai and Pyra manifested, buffing up both their attacks.

*ZAP!*

"Alright, like last time; we both rush it at once!" Pyra exclaimed as both she and Chai leapt back from the BA-B00's AOE electricity slam, her narrow-eyed, focused expression complimenting the way her sword's tubers were roaring with intense flames.

"Right-o! Second verse, same as the first!" Was Chai's enthusiastic response, his Blazing Scrap Guitar radiating wisps of flame as he and Pyra dashed towards their large opponent, weapons at the ready. Predictably, the hulking blue machine reared back both its arms to try and smash the Driver and Blade duo, but both saw the telegraphed attack coming from a mile away and easily dodged just before either fist could connect with either of them. From there, Chai and Pyra proceeded to wail on the BA-B00 from both sides, both their buffed up weapons making quick work of the hunched over Vandelay robot and blowing it to bits when they landed the final blow in their respective combos.

"Okay, now for the stragglers! BLAZING POWER CHORD!" With the BA-B00 now disposed off, it was a simple matter for both Chai and Pyra to pick off the remaining SBRs and GNRs still present, with Chai opting to put a little more flare (ha) into his performance by immediately bombarding the nearest robot with a buffed up Power Chord, the rapidly spinning strike tearing and burning through any hapless Security robot hit by it. As soon as the attack finished, Chai was quick to continue nimbly dashing throughout the room while landing blows on the remaining both, with Pyra doing much the same.

*Well, there goes our low profile.* Peppermint noted, a flat tone in her voice as 808 took in all the now-destroyed Security bots' remains.

"It's unfortunate, but I'll admit I was having doubts we'd just be able to walk in, take what we need, and walk out without a problem…" Pyra sighed, having felt in her gut that she and Chai being undetected by Security wasn't going to last long.

"Ah c'mon, you're both worrying too much, this is way more fun anyway! And besides, as long as REKKA doesn't-"

*ATTENTION! Rekka here! That DEFECT and his little bimbo girlfriend were spotted in MY BUILDING!* And once again, as though fate itself wanted to make Chai eat his words, he was abruptly cut off when Rekka's borderline snarling face popped up on every nearby monitor screaming her usual spiel.

'Is that the only insult she can think up to use on me?' Pyra thought in irritation, a familiar scowl creeping back onto her face upon hearing that obnoxious 'bimbo' insult again.

*I'm half hopin' none of you chump security get to them first! I've been looking to get my hands on that punk and rip him apart -PIECE BY PIECE- for messing up my QA Center! As for that little spitfire following him around, Rekka's heard around the grape vine that her kind's REAAAL durable, so she should make a perfect practice dummy for Rekka and her new tag-team partner to test some moves out on!*

'...Apparently not.' Was all Pyra could think once Rekka finished her ranting and threats towards her and Chai, the single bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face mirroring the look of annoyance she had on at how the frankly meat-headed woman kept taking every chance to insult her.

*Whoa-ho-ho! Sounds juicy!* Meanwhile, Peppermint came off as more amused and entertained by Rekka's grandstanding and visceral threats towards Chai.

"I thought you said she wouldn't be here!" Chai hissed out, a combination of frustration and panic in his voice that caused Pyra to jump slightly.

*I thought YOU said this was more fun.*

As this was happening, Pyra remained quiet, her mind more preoccupied with the final part of Rekka's tangent. It was certainly easy to miss/gloss over amid Rekka's threats towards her and Chai, but the redhead couldn't help but zero in on the Head of Production's mention of having a 'partner.'

''Tag-team partner…?' Is she talking about…?'

*O*

(Several hours earlier, Vandelay Tower)

With her usual scowl still plastered onto her face, Rekka made sure that her tie was properly on and that she was looking ring-worthy as she examined her appearance in front of the mirror. From what Kale had told her after the anesthetic wore off, the surgery to implant her and her cybernetics with one of those crystals went off without a hitch and her new partner had 'awoken.'

"Alright, Big Boss," Rekka spoke to her reflection upon ensuring her tie was properly straightened. "time ta' see if that scrawny little thing's worth your time."

The former pro-wrestler was no stranger to matches and fights with a partner -she'd been in that business more than long enough to have ended up in that spot a few times- but her preference was busting skulls as a solo act, dammit! If Kale really was forcing her to lump up and get her hands dirty with one of these Blade things, then that murky-skinned girl he'd selected for her had better know how to perform up to her standards!

CRASH!*

"Just what do you think you're doing!? I told you she'd be with us in a minute!"

"The anticipation was killing me! Did you really expect me to stand idle when my Driver and CO are just a few feet away with only a sheet of metal between us!?"

Just as Rekka was about to stomp out of the changing room, she was brought to a halt when the metal door leading out suddenly exploded open like it was struck by a crushing amount of force, followed by the sound of Kale furiously chewing out someone with a woman's voice. Raising a brow at this sudden happening but not reacting otherwise, the bulky Head of Production merely crossed her arms as the built up dust began to clear and a figure marched through the doorway.

As Rekka expected, the figure that suddenly broke down the door was the same Blade girl that Kale showed her before she went under for the surgery. Like that red-headed bimbo running around with the defect, the girl much more greatly resembled an actual human woman than the other, more robotic-looking Blades she'd noticed during Kale's whole presentation to them regarding this whole matter, albeit with some clear visual distinctions that made her nonhuman and otherworldly origins clear, chief among them being her grayish-green skin and the two colossal, muscular arms that floated above her head. In terms of apparel, she wore a pair of black, oval-framed glasses, black thigh-high boots with fire coming out from the top, and a military-styled uniform that… frankly looked more like fetish-wear than any actual proper set of clothes, let alone a military uniform. The girl's sizable breasts were only barely covered by some fabric on each end, topped off by her crotch only being covered by a pair of black panties, overall leaving a majority of the girl's midriff and her notably muscled build on full display. It reminded Rekka of some of the outfits the divas in her old wrestling federation commonly wore.

"The name's Newt!" The female Blade began, capping off her introduction to her new Driver with a dutiful salute, both with her regular set of arms and the colossal pair floating above her head. "Standing by for your orders, sir!"

The unimpressed-looking scowl remained plastered onto Rekka's face as she looked Newt up and down, her gaze lingering on the gigantic pair of muscular arms floating just above her head, fire blazing out at where the arms would connect to the shoulders.

"Is it really too much to ask that you rub what few brain cells you actually have together AND JUST WAIT TILL SHE STEPS OUT THE DOOR!?"

Anything Rekka had to say to her newfound tag-team partner was cut short when an incensed Kale barged into the room with a hand over his eyes. With how Rekka had just been getting out of that surgery gown and dressed back up immediately after her surgery when 'Newt' barged in, it was clear why Kale was doing that. "Please tell me you're decent, Rekka."

"Rekka was just about to step out when the door broke down, Boss." Rekka answered simply, as blunt as ever with her scowl still unchanging. At that confirmation, the cutt-throat CEO removed his hands from his eyes and his expression changed back into a neutral one at the confirmation of Rekka's words, albeit with irritation radiating off him like heat.

"Good." Kale groaned out with clear annoyance before his gaze shifted between Rekka and the Blade girl. "Well I suppose if there's any silver lining to you breaking the door down and barging in, it's that it spares me the effort of going through introductions."

With that said, Kale turned around and stepped out of the changing room, well aware given Rekka's general demeanor and what he'd seen/learned so far of this Blade girl that there'd be a lot of headache-inducing noise in here before long. "Once you properly acquaint yourself with your new 'partner,' get yourself back to the Production facility. I don't want the production line's efficiency to start lagging when we're barely even a day into Project Armstrong."

Having said his piece, Kale stepped out and out of earshot, both to make sure the machine he created to implant Core Crystals into Armstrong cybernetics was still working with no issues after Rekka's upgrading and so that he could call in a clean-up team to fix the mess Newt just created… both of which he'd prefer to do without the inevitably ensuing screaming to distract him or leave him with any headaches. Having now been left alone with her new… Blade, partner, assistant, whatever the hell you'd want to call her, Rekka took this chance to silently walk around 'Newt' to size her up and gauge what she'd be capable of firsthand…

"What in the goddamn-!?"

…Only to be brought to a complete halt upon walking behind Newt and being greeted with the amber, football-sized eye resting squarely on the back of her head. At such a bewildering and disturbing sight, Rekka's narrow-eyed scowl immediately shifted into a wide-eyed look of bafflement and shock.

"Starting off, let me just say that I'm very happy to report to you, sir! I'll admit I was a bit confused to awaken to that superior officer of yours, but having now had the pleasure to take in the strength radiating off that refined build of yours, I can see that I had nothing to worry about. Already, I'm eagerly anticipating whatever intense conflicts we'll find ourselves wrapped up in!" Having not noticed Rekka's sudden stop nor her hushed exclamation of shock, Newt didn't hesitate to start expressing her excitement at properly meeting her Driver, and said excitement only grew more prominent upon properly seeing her and her brawny, strong build firsthand.

On her own end, Rekka's bewilderment didn't fade as Newt rambled off about how excited she was to meet her and eager to start working with her… all while said eye on the back of her head blinked at Rekka, its gaze fixed on her.

*BANG! BANG!*

"U-Uh…!" Eventually shaking off her shock at the bizarre feature on the back of the Blade girl's head, Rekka opted to cut off Newt's continued rambling with a signature slamming of her fists together, the metallic, echoing sound surprising the grayish-green skinned girl into silence.

"Alright, Maggot. Here's the first order of business;" Making sure her posture was right, a wide-eyed Newt made sure to straighten up like a proper soldier as Rekka walked back in front of her, her usual scowl back on her face as she glared down at the Blade. "As long as you're actin' as Rekka's tag-team partner, YOU LEAVE THAT 'SIR' AND MILITARY SHIT AT THE DOOR!"

"O-Oh, uhhh… of course, if that's what you want from me, si-I mean… ma'am?" Taken aback (and perhaps more than a little disappointed too) by her new Driver's screaming demand, Newt was quick to try and amend her mistake, only to find herself uncharacteristically shrinking back slightly when Rekka's scowl worsened at being called 'ma'am.' "...General?"

"Rekka ain't any general or 'sir,' SHE'S THE CHAMP! BIG BOSS WORKS TOO!" Rekka finally exclaimed in response, making sure to get up in Newt's face as she screamed out the last part of that sentence.

"Big Boss it is! Understood!" Upon getting confirmation from the militaristic Blade in the form of an immediate, slightly panicked salute, Rekka's scowled slightly lessened in its intensity before she walked past Newt and out the changing room's doorway, silently motioning her to follow with a nod of her head. "...Where are we going then, si-Uh… Big Boss?'"

"Trainin'. Been a hot minute since Rekka last had herself a tag-team partner an' she needs to get herself a feel for how you work now with how she's got a defect punk and his bimbo girlfriend that needs smashing."

"O-Oh! Understood then! I look forward to seeing what you are capable of and hope my own skills will be of use to you!" Unsure about what the brawny woman was referring to, Newt was nonetheless enthusiastic at the prospect of training with her Driver, eagerly walking right by her side as they began to make their way out of Vandelay Tower and back towards the main Production facility, all while Kale watched them go with an irritated scowl.

"...Well, at least she accepted working with her with only minimal complaints." Kale groaned as he watched the two meatheads disappear down the hall, tone full of annoyance and irritation before he whipped out a tablet from his coat pocket and put it up to his ear. "Get a group of VA-SERs up here to clean this mess up right away!"

*O*

HR Auto-Surveillance Recording

Auto-recorded dialogue converted to text from VA-SER # 734144

[Submitted to HR department per Vandelay HR rules]

/

(Audibly paranoid tone)

"Well, finally got this whole room automated. Makes me think… Once us robots finish automating the production line, what happens to our positions?"

"Are we gonna lose them to some machines who automate… better than we automate?"

"But how much more automatic can an automaton get? Am I getting scrapped over this!?"

[ROBOT SOBBING SOUNDS CONTINUE FOR 25 MINUTES]

"Yikes…"

Back with our unlikely duo and their robotic feline companion, they had just been in the middle of reading through an open document on one of the nearby terminals after using a vent passageway to drop into the expansive production room full of fully automated machinery (Which once again included catwalks hanging precariously over the seemingly bottomless chasm this room and many others in Vandelay Campus had in place of a ground floor.) As they continued to skim through the document, which also happened to provide some context for all the constant automation in the Production facility, both Chai and Pyra's expressions gradually went from curious to varying levels of concerned and disturbed, all while 808 had a deadpan expression as she floated between them.

"...Working at this company seems like a waking nightmare." Pyra couldn't help but sigh, at this point unsurprised to happen across something like this but still nonetheless disturbed by the VA-SER's clear existential fears… fears which were more than likely valid with what little she had seen of this corporation so far.

*Even a description like that is the understatement of the century* Peppermint was quick to cut in, *Wouldn't even be surprised if that robot's paranoia is spot-on with how eager upper-management is to scrap the older Vandelay models.*

"Definitely doesn't seem like a uh… cheery workplace, in like any sort of way…" Chai added in, a similarly disturbed look on his face with his Scrap Guitar resting on his shoulder. As he said this though, the brunet's gaze instinctively drifted to the window of the terminal room overlooking the rest of this particular Production area and couldn't help his impressed smile as he took in all the flashy and expensive-looking machinery all around them that ensured the production line continued efficiently and without issue. "Well, at least it has some cool and flashy sights to take in, especially with the context of us going around, taking in the sights and sounds, and beating up Security."

"Unfortunately, I think we're the only ones with that sort of context, Chai," Pyra pointed out, a slightly exasperated tone in her voice as she followed her Driver's gaze and also took in all the alien technology active all around them. "Everyone else here seems a bit too terrified or paranoid to really appreciate the sights."

As the two were having this discussion, they both opted to get a move on while doing so, already having left the room the terminal was in and continuing through the expansive area along its catwalk. "Ehhhh, between that sunbathing bot and the one we found gaming yesterday, there's bound to be at least a few more people, or uh, robots, working here that- WHOA!" The two's conversation came to a sudden halt when Chai felt himself on the verge of walking off into the abyss when his right foot suddenly came into contact with thin air instead of more catwalk to walk on.

"W-Whoa! Chai, be careful!" Similarly shocked by how the catwalk they were moving along just cut off into the abyss not even a foot away from them, Pyra nonetheless reacted quickly when it looked as though Chai was about to step off the ledge and into the depths below, making a point to grab onto his scarf and yank back hard on it. It worked perhaps a little too well with how the force of the yank and the both of them lacking balance meant that both the Blade and her Driver were sent stumbling back before Chai slammed back-first into Pyra and they landed on the catwalk with a groan.

"Urgh... Well, that could've been a way worse fall, I guess. Thanks for the save." Chai groaned out, more than a little disoriented, but thankfully not hurting all over like with his last couple of falls. Perhaps that was because in this case, his fall here was equivalent to just tripping rather than falling several stories, or maybe it was because of how surprisingly soft the landing was. Either way, Chai certainly wasn't complaining with his usual track record for accidents and injuries in mind.

"U-Uhm…"The redheaded Aegis had no response, mainly because she found herself frozen and flushed when she got her bearings and realized the way they landed meant that her… sizeable chest was squishing into the slacking brunet's back, hence his cushioned fall. She was only able to muster up a response when Chai casually proceeded to get up, dust himself up, and offer the Aegis a hand up, which she took. "O-Of course, Chai. Always happy to help."

Seemingly oblivious to the redhead's flustered state, Chai merely squinted as he took in the sizable gap in the catwalk and the pit with no visible bottom in front of them. After another moment of examination, the brunet only had this to say in conclusion. "...Okay yeah, that is definitely not OSHA compliant." The remark had the redhead tilting her head slightly in confusion, but before she could get a word out, 808 cut between them as she floated past the ledge and over the depths below.

*Probably not, but with how their entire workforce is made up of robots, it means the corporate can get away with pulling stuff like this and it can be found all over the campus as a result.* Peppermint piped up, her observation providing a bit of clarity on just why there seemed to be so many ledges and catwalks that precariously cut off like this all across the campus, with usually only literal floating platforms providing a feasible way across like something out of a videogame. *Anyway, hate to wound your pride Chai, but even you can't make that jump.* The hacker was quick to follow up, a mere glance at the gap in the catwalk with no platforms to land on between making it clear that the brunet wouldn't be able to make it across, even with his uncanny agility in mind.

"Hmph… yeah, you're right. I'd have to break the laws of physics at least two more times than I'm able to already to get across." Chai conceded as he took in the gaping… gap in their path forward, with both Peppermint and Pyra blinking in surprise at his casual mentioning of how he seemed to just break physics whenever he did that 'double jump' and 'air dash' of his. "Any ideas on this end?"

At that inquiry, Pyra realized that crossing the gap herself would be no issue for her as a Blade -let alone as the Aegis- and immediately voiced the first idea that came to mind. "If I concentrate and focus my power a bit, I should be able to jump across this gap with no issue…" Though, as Pyra spoke, she began to trail off when it sunk in for her what she'll be suggesting to get Chai across the gap, a slight flush settling on her cheeks as well. However, at both Chai and 808's (or was it Peppermint's?) expectant gazes on her, the redhead quickly found the words to continue. "U-Uhm… If-uh, Chai, if we can work out how exactly I should hold you, I'm sure I could pick you up and carry you across the gap… A-Assuming, that's fine with you, of course…!"

"...Any ideas that don't involve me getting carried across like a little kid or fragile cargo?" For his part, Chai once again didn't seem to notice Pyra's apparent embarrassment and returning flustered nature at the offer she laid out, instead taking indignance at the thought of being picked up and carted across the gap like he was helpless.

*Well, if you're really not interested in trying that option out (and God knows why), then you might be interested in knowing this little tid-bit; the info 808 is feeding me on your arm is telling me that it's magnetic. Should let you hook onto that point on the other end there.* Peppermint advised, prompting Chai to cast a curious look down at his arm and up at the curious mechanical point at the other end of the gap, which even came with a large, old-fashioned looking Magnet acting as its base. Additionally, much like Peppermint's dry, internal remark on how he shot down the Aegis's idea without a second thought, Pyra herself couldn't help but display a strange mix of relief at her Driver's continued obliviousness -particularly at her embarrassment/flustered demeanor as she offered to hold and carry him- and slight disappointment at how readily and unhesitatingly he shot the idea down.

"Huh… okay yeah, that tracks with how I heard this thing was a 'magnetic waste management affixture' but uh… how does it work, exactly? Do I just, like, point at that-WHOA!" Chai's confused sentence was abruptly cut off when, as he said, he pointed his metallic arm at the magnetic point on the other end of the gap, suddenly prompting a neon-orange chain to shoot out from his hand's palm and attach to the point, near-instantly sending Chai shooting towards the point as he connected, startling both 808 and causing Pyra to jump back slightly in surprise. Despite the brunet's own initial surprise as he was zipped across the gap, he nonetheless gracefully front-flipped onto his feet upon reaching the magnetic point like it was second nature, subsequently spinning on his heels as he gleefully marvelled at his robot arm and what it just pulled off. "Whoa-ho-ho! That was awesome!" Chai gushed, stars practically shining in his eyes as he marvelled at his arm and the revelation that it had what was functionally a grappling hook or hookshot on the go! "Was not expecting the 'magnet' to be a badass looking neon chain when it's in action!" He continued to gush, mind practically spinning with the new possibilities this feature of his arm afforded him.

"Wow…" Pyra muttered out, once again taken aback and impressed by the unique utilities Chai's arm had available. "Very impressive and certainly very handy!" She yelled out, awe clear in her voice… though she felt the need to add something quickly when she saw how her Driver started to light up and realized why. "Pun not intended, I'm afraid." The redhead clarified, unable to stop herself from feeling a bit bad at how Chai immediately wilted a bit at that clarification.

'Alright, now for me. I just need to focus a bit. It's nowhere near as prominent as on Alrest, but there is Ether in the atmosphere here, meaning I just need to…' Pyra's thoughts trailed off as she focused on drawing from both her body's own natural Ether reserves as well as the thin quantities available in the air, the emerald parts of her clothes and core crystal once again beginning to glow, and upon snapping her eyes open immediately leapt multiple feet up into the air and across the gap in the catwalk like it as nothing. Landing on the metal grating with a grouch, the redheaded Blade looked up to see Chai giving her an impressed whistle.

"Whoa." Chai was all Chai could initially say, tone and expression impressed with how he'd never exactly gotten a chance to get a good look at Pyra's own fantastical agility and jumping abilities as a Blade before now. "And here I thought I knew how to jump good."

Pyra couldn't help the meek smile that crept onto her face at her Driver's praise as they began to continue on their way, nor could she help the slight flush now dusting her cheeks either. "It takes a little bit of focus, maybe also drawing in some Ether from the surrounding atmosphere as well if it's a particularly extraneous task, but it's ultimately a rather basic application of a Blade's abilities. Honestly Chai, I find how you're able to move in mid-air much more noteworthy. Really, how are you able to dash and leap a 2nd time in mid-air like that?"

"Sorry! 'Fraid that's a trade secret~!" Despite the curious, imploring looks both Pyra and 808 gave him at that question, Chai's only response was an immediate deflection, placing both hands behind his back with a cheeky, coy smile on his face.

*'Trade secret?' What trade is that supposed to be?* Peppermint asked, raising a brow via 808 at Chai's deflection and wording… while also being undeniably just as curious as the redheaded Blade about how her Driver pulled those mid-air abilities off.

"Only the trade of people that know how to kick ass and look damn good while doing it. All I'll say is that double-jumping and air-dashing is a basic necessity and trick of the trade." It was at this point that Peppermint had 808 roll her eyes on her behalf while Pyra merely huffed out a slight laugh while an exasperated bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. Both girls were then left with a gut feeling that continuing to try and get answers on how Chai did those strange mid-air abilities would be a pointless endeavor.

As the three had been conversing, they nonetheless kept up a steady pace, eventually coming to a halt when the pathway they took led to another expansive, open room filled with active production machinery. Specifically, they were stopped by the sight of their path steadily leading up to a large production platform to the left. The path up eventually would've been too high for Chai's leaping abilities, but thankfully, there was another magnet point, conveniently sitting at the edge of the platform above. At the sight of another opportunity to put his badass magnet-chain-grappling hook to use, Chai eagerly rubbed his robotic arm's forearm before tossing his Scrap Guitar into his left hand. "Alright! Let's see if this'll work a second time."

"Before you-" Just as Pyra was beginning to suggest something, she found herself cut off when she saw that Chai was already double-jumping up the initial ledge before dashing over and repeating the motion from earlier. As expected and to the brunet's elation, the neon-orange chain once again shoots out from the wrist of his metallic arm, connecting to the nearby magnet point and sending him zipping up to it just as quickly as last time. As Chai let out a gleeful holler and whoop as he once again flipped onto the upper platform, Pyra couldn't help but sigh and feel slightly irked. "...do. Nevermind then…" She thought aloud, a sweat bead of exasperation once again running down the side of her face as she once again focused her Ether.

As she tried to concentrate, Pyra's focus was broken when the facility's intercoms suddenly blared up. *Please note: Apparently, we're to be on the lookout for both a uh… 'music fighting' intruder… as well as a 'fire fighting' one…* A LU-C1LLE drawled out over the speakers, pausing momentarily in confusion at the wording of the report given to her before continuing. *...I think that was just a typo. As well as poorly written and worded in general.*

'Nothing we didn't already know then… shoddy description aside.' Pyra thought with slight bemusement, momentarily thinking back to Rekka's screaming announcement over the intercoms earlier before focusing back up. In no time, the fire Blade was ready and easily cleared the gap up to the platform with a single leap.

CHAI!

HEY!

CHAI!

And upon touching down, the Aegis was quick to see what her Driver had been doing during the brief instance where he went ahead; that being throwing himself wholeheartedly into more combat with another wave of Security robots that honed in on their position.

"Hey hey~! Glad you're here for the party, Pyra!" Chai greeted in an elated tone, slinging his Scrap Guitar over his shoulder to greet her, all while nonchalantly dodging and dashing away from every strike and blast sent his way as he addressed the Blade.

"Chai… do you think that maybe you might be enjoying yourself a little too much regarding the attempts on your life?" The Aegis couldn't help but ask, all while she intervened in the fight by dashing towards the nearest GNR and performing a rising uppercut strike not unlike her Driver's Air Launch attack, followed immediately by a fiery stab to the ground resulting in an explosion that engulfed another unfortunate bot.

"Pffft, what? These jobbers?" Chai scoffed, unable to keep the dismissiveness out of his voice upon dashing away from another strike and retaliating with a Tune Up combo that sent the perpetrator flying. "I got scrapping these goons down to an art by now! Even if they got beefier forces to send out, you really think I don't got em' handled after dealing with that colossus Rekka sicced on us in-?"

*SLAM*

Once again, fate decided it'd be fun to make Chai eat his words mid confident boast with how he heard something large and metallic slam to the floor behind him via security trap-door. Something that felt like it towered over him at that. Slowly turning around with a wide-eyed and alarmed look on his face -an expression shared by both 808 and Pyra as they watched the figure appear behind him- Chai was greeted with an ES-101 (Elite Saber) unit towering behind him with a robotic glare, much like the one that screened (read:REPEATEDLY KICKED) him through getting his robotic arm, only this one had it's weapon -a gigantic sci-fi looking sword that seemed to double as a shock batton- held and readied with clear intent to use it.

*Do you really, LITTLE MAN?* The higher-class Vandelay Handyman bot growled out, a thick, robotic austrian accent in his voice.

"Whoa there, big guaaAAAIPE!" Once again Chai was cut off and additionally forced onto the defensive when the ES-101 took several one-handed swings at him with his weapon, each one the brunet barely back-dashing away from, a necessity with how the security bot took closing steps towards him with each swing. Continuing to press the offensive, the Elite Saber then used his free hand to suddenly grip Chai by his ankle before he could get any further away. "Oh crap!"

With a furious roar, the towering Security bot winded back threw the hapless brunet forward as hard as he could, specifically along the ground and sending him tumbling and yelling into Pyra, who had attempted to dash forward and attack the Elite Saber upon him grabbing Chai.

Anticipating such an action, Pyra braced herself and let out a quiet grunt as a disoriented and dishevelled Chai slammed into her none too gently, sending her skidding back a few feet. "...What was that you were saying just now, Chai?" Pyra asked, unable to keep the slightly dry tone that matched her similarly deadpan expression out of her voice, all while keeping a wary eye on the Elite Saber that was slowly strafing from left to right with his weapon readied.

"Well, I WAS gonna mention I always got you watching my back if things get too hot, but the big guy there kinda cut me off before I could get to that part. Cool to see you proving that last point right, though." Chai grunted, recomposing himself and rolling his left shoulder as he noticed a familiar blue line of energy connecting himself and the redhead. "You ready to knock this guy down a peg?"

When Pyra's only response consisted of a silent nod and a determined, steely glare directed towards the ES-101 -who took a beat to sling his sword-like energy baton over his shoulder before mockingly gesturing for the Driver and Blade duo to come at him- Chai could only smirk before readying his Blazing Scrap Guitar with a roll of his wrist. "Alright, comin' at ya!"

With that said, both the Driver and his Blade companion simultaneously rushed the ES-101, bombarding him with aggressive, fiery strikes from both ends. However, despite the initial pushback he experienced from the duo's barrage of strikes, the ES-101 proved just why he was considered an elite variant of the SBR line-up (Beyond him being titled that simply to entice wealthier customers that wanted something both more expensive and stood as a status symbol, of course) by initially enduring the strikes sent his way before working through the pain and raising up his weapon in a blocking motion.

*THOSE WEAK STRIKES WILL NOT STAGGER ME!* The bulky Security bot roared out in indignance, riposting the next strike from Chai and forcing Pyra to leap backwards to avoid getting caught in the sweeping strike. Her Driver, being the ES-101's current focus, wasn't as lucky, letting out a pained grunt and staggering back upon getting struck by the large, retractable sword.

Capitalizing on how Chai was left staggered, the ES-101 reared his sword back with both hands before the length of his weapon rapidly extended further in two successive beats. When it was ready, the elite Vandelay Handyman swung his beefed up weapon hard at Chai, the force of the blow and the subsequent slash of light-blue energy it created sending him tumbling across the ground with several pained grunts.

"Chai!" Pyra exclaimed, shaking off her panic and dashing forward with her sword readied when she saw how the ES-101 was rearing back for another strike on Chai even while he was stumbling back onto his feet. With a steeled expression, the redheaded Blade deftly blocked the Elite Saber's follow-up strike on her Driver, gritting her teeth as the force of the blow made her slide back a foot before she used the momentum to redirect the towering robot and send him stumbling a few feet off in another direction, giving Chai enough time to hastily get back onto his feet and put some distance between himself and their adversary, with Pyra doing much the same with a quick dash backwards. "You're alright to keep fighting, right? Those blows looked pretty painful…" She couldn't help but ask her Driver, warily eyeing the way he was trying to avoid putting weight on his left foot.

"I'm good, I'm good…!" Chai was quick to assure Pyra, though the clear pain in his tone didn't do much to assuage her worries. She didn't have any time to voice her concerns before Chai continued, all while warily glaring at the ES-101. "Just uh… you think maybe you could hold his attention for a few seconds, tops? Think I got just the move to shut him up."

"Of course. Take however long you need." With that said and a quick nod of her head, Pyra dashed forward, meeting the ES-101's sword with her own and spending the next several moments dodging and clashing blades with the Security robot, a narrow-eyed look of focus on her face.

While this exchange of blades was going on, Chai proceeded to firmly plant both feet on the ground before gripping his Scrap Guitar with both hands, eyes closed and a look of uncharacteristic concentration on his face. As soon as he took up this stance, various bits and shards of scrap metal began to steadily converge around the business-end of the weapon. By the time it was finished, all the metallic junk now swirling closely had turned his already-badass guitar of scrap metal into the Ultimate Guitar!... even though it didn't even resemble an actual guitar anymore with all the junk haphazardly swirling around it.

Having noticed what Chai was doing out of the corner of her eye, Pyra then maneuvered herself so that with each block and dodge she performed brought herself and the ES-101 closer to the brunet each time. "Let's see you shrug this off!" Pyra exclaimed the moment she and the robot were within Chai's range, making a point to leap back just as her Driver unleashed his charged up attack. With an exhilarated expression on his face, Chai let his charged up Gain Tornado loose, turning him into a spinning whirlwind of hard, metallic pain that the ES-101 was forced to take the brunt of. Despite trying to defend against the onslaught, Chai's literal tornado of blows wore down his defenses and broke the robot's guard, leaving him exposed and open to the final blow in Chai's Gain Tornado technique.

*GAAAAAHH!* The brutish robot yelled out as it was sent crashing back several feet, leaving him wide-open to a follow-up barrage from the Driver and Blade duo. Before the ES-101 could even try to get back onto its feet, he was then subjected to a relentless barrage of fiery blows from both Pyra and Chai, and it wasn't long before all the damage sent the ES-101's way caused it to explode like every other robot the two fought so far.

"Okay! Had to put in some more elbow-grease that time, but nothing we didn't have down-" Chai began, tone initially confident before a sudden flare-up of pain at the left side of his waist and leg cut him off with a pained groan. "...Pat. Okay, yeah, that smarts."

"I-I know I already asked this, but are you certain you're alright, Chai?" Pyra asked with no small amount of concern in her voice, crouching down and placing a hand on Chai's shoulder to keep him steady as he slowly rose back to his feet, slightly pained grimace on his face. Even Peppermint seemed concerned for the hardheaded brunet if the similarly concerned look on 808's face was any indication. "Do you… maybe need to stop for a minute or two? Catch your breath, perhaps?"

"Nah, nah, I'm good… just… give me a sec to…" Chai was quick to assure the redhead, and as he said this, he cut off any more concerned input from the Blade when he pulled out Rekka's branded can of juice he held onto from the vending machine earlier. With the concerned look on her face quickly shifting into one of puzzlement, the Aegis could only watch as her Driver pulled back the tab on the can before starting to down it in time with the background beat.

*Uhh… You… sure you're good, Chai? It looked like that Elite Saber landed some hard blows on you.* Peppermint couldn't help but ask, a mildly concerned tone in her voice as a wide-eyed 808 and Pyra watched Chai slowly but surely down the contents of the canned drink.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… GULP! Ah! Needed a quick Pick-Me-Up is all." Chai replied, and it was worth noting that as he made that final gulp and finished off the orange juice, his body flashed with what looked like a green, healing aura. "Alright! Good to keep going when you guys are!"

*Defect spotted on the main floor! GET THERE!*

"U-Uh, yeah, we might wanna double-time it. I think there's a path through there." And that said, and with a newfound spring (and maybe also sense of urgency) in his step, Chai was the first to continue onward, showing no indication that he'd been injured from their last fight, and leaving the two girls to incredulously eye him as he jumped off a catwalk and used a series of floating platforms to reach another pathway.

'Was… that a Healing Art like the ones on Alrest he used just now…!?' She thought in surprise, before quickly shaking it off to catch up. All things considered, Chai seemingly just making up a Healing Art with some juice like that wasn't too shocking of a surprise, considering most of the other blindsiding things and sights she'd been dealing with as of late. Wasting no time, Pyra was quick to follow after Chai through the passage he found, only slowing to a stop upon seeing him standing and staring at what was becoming an increasingly familiar sight.

"Oop. Look who's back," Chai noted upon seeing Pyra come up behind him, motioning with his head towards the familiar sight of SMIDGE eagerly waving at them and trying to get their attention. "Can't even say I'm surprised at this point. Just kinda morbidly curious. Wonder what he wants to tell me this time."

"I might have a few guesses." Was all Pyra had to say, eyeing Chai's robotic arm as she said this. At this point, Chai merely shrugged his shoulders and mentally prepped for a potential invasion of his personal space before approaching the Vandelay Smart fridge.

*Oh, hello again! I can feel a very special attraction between you and I!* To neither Chai nor Pyra's surprise at this point, Smidge was very quick to close the distance between them, making sure to get in their personal space as he addressed Chai.

"H… Hello again, Smidge. Good to see you're doing well." Pyra managed out, backing away a few steps with appropriately off-put beads of sweat running down her face.

"Yeaaaah, uh… what she said. Anyway, what is it this time…?" Chai added, even more off-put than the redhead with how he was the target of the smart fridge's… fixation, to put it lightly.

*Your magnet! It gets you where you need to go and fast! But it also attaches very easily to Vandelay security robots.* Smidge proceeded to explain, confirming Pyra's silent suspicion that this would go further into how the magnet in Chai's arm worked while her Driver proceeded to cast a look down at his arm in mild surprise, having not thought to try putting his magnet to use like that in the last fight. *Need to get in close to an enemy? Use the magnet! Also, if you manage to knock an enemy into the air, the magnet will bring you up to them quickly!*

"Huh, you don't say…?" Chai mused, casting a look down at his arm before mentally picturing himself using that same speedy grapple to zip around and right up close to the security bots in the heat of battle. Near-immediately, the thought of the tricks he could pull off with this magnet brought a pleased, excited smirk onto Chai's face. "Ohhhh yeah. Now that sounds like it'll make dishing out some air combos a lot easier."

"I'm honestly shocked how you can stay in the air like that at all, even with all your double-jumping and air-dashing in mind." Pyra couldn't help but add, still feeling some surprise as she recalled a few instances in the heat of battle where her Driver was able to prolong his time up in the air by doing some mid-air wailing on any robots they'd knocked up into the air. The most she could manage was a fired up swing or throw of her sword in mid-air without having to really tap into her powers and abilities as an Aegis, and the less the fire Blade had to rely on that power, the better. Regardless, Pyra couldn't help but huff out an amused laugh when she noticed how Chai notably puffed up in clear pride at her remarks about his air-time abilities. "In any case, I can definitely see that magnet adding even more to your existing air mobility."

*Indeed! I do say, what an amazing piece of technology!* However, Pyra was soon left a bit concerned instead when something about Smidge's remark just now left her Driver suddenly wilting up a bit, as though he was dealt a particularly cutting criticism from Peppermint, if she had to make a comparison.

"...Dude, this arm was made for picking up garbage." Chai was quick to point out, an irritable tone in his voice as he fought against the urge to have all the scrap magnetized around his trash-grabber fall apart to emphasize his point.

*That's not what it looks like from here!* Either ignoring or more likely oblivious to the irritation in Chai's tone, Smidge closed off the conversation with a cheerful tone in his voice, prompting an annoyed groan and roll of the eyes from the brunet before turning to move to the other end of the room, Pyra right by him.

"I suppose what your arm was made for is a bit of a sore subject for you, isn't it Chai?" Pyra inquired before they both walked out the room they found Smidge in and through a doorway onto another catwalk… one that once again cut off into the depths below, made worse by how the chain of magnet points ahead of him appeared to be off and garnered no reaction from his arm's magnet, though hopefully the large red button next to the catwalk's edge would rectify that issue.

*WHACK!*

*OW!*

"More than a little, yeah." Chai answered as he watched the magnet points switch from red to green, his response also snapping Pyra out of her incredulous stupor while looking at the button he just hit. "Full motor control on both ends is fantastic, don't get me wrong, just kinda rubs me the wrong way knowing in the back of my head that all the kickass magnetic tricks were all put in and designed with garbage disposal in mind. Kinda totally kills the good vibes."

'Hm… between all his 'Rockstar' talk and reason for ending up on this island in the first place, it certainly fits.' Pyra thought, mentally taking note of how the whole matter was a sore subject for her Driver before opting to try and improve his mood. "Well… so what about its original purpose? It's like Smidge said, no one would be able to tell your arm was made for garbage collection with the way you've been using it lately. If you ask me, the profound way you've been making use of your arm's various abilities so far is much more impressive and noteworthy than what those abilities were designed for. You should focus on that instead and be proud of it, Chai."

At the redhead's sincere praise and kind words, it was pretty much impossible for Chai to remain irritated, a bashful, flattered look on his face as he twirled his Scrap Guitar against the catwalk with his metal palm. "Welllll… when you put it all like that, I can't help but feel a bit better. Like you said, it helps that I've been kicking tons of ass with it regardless of what it was made for."

*Heh, not surprised you know how to dish out some good pep talk, Pyra.* Peppermint couldn't help but note with amusement, causing an embarrassed flush to creep onto the redheaded Blade's face.

"Alright! Time to keep putting this bad boy's magnet to good use! First time chaining these grapples together too, it looks like." With a spring back in his step, Chai readied his arm's magnet as he approached the edge of the catwalk and prepared to use his chain-like magnet to grapple over the depths, past several shipping containers moving through the magnetic lines, and up to an entryway on the other end of the expansive production hall. However, just as Chai was about to try chaining his magnet grapple across the sizable gap, he was stopped when he felt Pyra's surprisingly firm grip on his robotic forearm.

Blinking at the sudden interruption, Chai turned towards Pyra and was a bit taken aback when he saw that encouraging smile on her face… was still present, but had a more… firm and mildly annoyed vibe to it, which was a bit of a jarring thing to see on the Aegis given her usual sweet demeanor. "All that in mind, could you… please wait a moment to let me grab on before you use your magnet on these next set of points? While I was able to clear the last two gaps without issue, I'd… really rather not try my luck leaping across a bunch of moving cargo containers over a pit I can't even see the bottom of."

"Oh! Uh, yeah, got it. Didn't think of that before, sorry." Was all Chai could think to mutter out upon hearing all that, and all while shrinking under her surprisingly intense look. Yeah, looking at it now, even with the impressive distance Pyra could jump in mind, that would still be a risky thing to try either way. "Well, whenever you're ready, just… grab on and hang tight, I guess."

"Alright. Well, let me just…" With her gaze lightening up considerably upon hearing that and seeing Chai raise both arms to allow her to easily grab on, Pyra made sure to get into position behind her Driver before wrapping both arms tight and securely around his waist. When she felt her grip was satisfactory for what would likely be a sudden and shifting ride, the redheaded Blade peered over to address Chai before inquiring, "Is this fine? You can still move and use your arm's magnet, right?"

On his own end, Chai couldn't help but instinctively flinch up upon feeling Pyra grip firmly onto him from behind, partly because this would be the first time he'd be using his grappling hook with a passenger considerably larger than a small black robot cat… and mainly because this would be the first instance of prolonged physical between the two of them, and it needless to say, it was a bit distracting being in such close contact with a girl that wasn't family and having her hold on tight to him while her large breasts pressed against his back… a first in several regards for the wannabe rockstar, if he was gonna be completely real. Peppermint seemed to notice Chai finally getting a bit flustered up by his stunning partner and was visibly fighting back amusement if the look on 808's face was any indication, all while she had her cat wave a paw in front of his face to get his attention. *Chai, you good?*

"U-Uhm…! *AHEM!* Yeah, this uh… should be fine. Just hold tight." Making a point to focus back up, specifically on both the magnet and the constant beat rather than the pleasant smelling warmth pressing into him from behind. 'Alright Rockstar, time for your first-ever grapple chain. Focus up, make sure you don't slip up and die, and don't get distracted by the… big soft bumps behind you.'

When he was certain he was ready and had his head in the game, Chai repeated his earlier motions and had his magnet's neon-chain shoot out towards the nearest of the three magnet points, and Pyra instinctively let out a surprised yelp when she and Chai immediately shot towards the first point.

HEY!

"W-WHOA!" Pyra exclaimed, doing her damndest to keep her grip on Chai tight with how he flipped around before shooting his magnet towards the next point.

WOO!

It didn't get any easier with the next point, causing Pyra to force her eyes shut as she and Chai once again suddenly flipped around and they near-instantaneously zipped to the next point.

CHAI!

Thankfully, the sudden swerving was over in barely over a moment, with Chai flipping onto his feet upon reaching the other end of the gap while Pyra stumbled forward and barely managed to regain her footing. "Aaaand we stick the landing!" The brunet cyborg exclaimed, looking back at the long gap they just cleared with a satisfied smile before turning to Pyra. "Soooo, uh… how was your first time riding on the 'Chai Express?'

"I'll… certainly need to better brace myself next time, that's for certain." Pyra managed upon regaining her balance and dusting herself off.

"Well, at least we got a feel for how it goes! Anyway, let's uh…! Uhh…" Chai began, only for his chipper tone to trail off when he noticed something rather jarring sitting in the corner of the room. Pyra's gaze soon followed the brunet's, with her ensuing baffled look matching Chai's when she also noticed the golden bust of Kale Vandelay standing prominently on display next to a very large open vent that looked to be their way forward.

"Is… that a golden bust?" Pyra asked, her incredulous question voicing the thought going through a similarly baffled Chai's head. Tilting her head slightly as she, Chai, and 808 took a moment to better examine the bust. "Why would anyone place something like that somewhere like here? Practically no one would actually see it in a place like this." Said the red-headed Blade, still baffled as to how utterly strange the placement of this golden bust was.

"Yeah, definitely seems like kind of an… out of the way place to leave a gold bust of yourself." Chai added in, voicing his own confusion about placing something like this here… confusion that frankly only grew more prominent the longer he and Pyra took in the sneering bust of Kale. "Okay, actually, the more I'm dwelling on this, the more I gotta wonder what Kale or whoever was thinking when they were putting this thing here. Like you said, barely anyone's gonna see it all the way up here."

*Why do the greedy morons running this company do a lot of the things they do?* Peppermint asked rhetorically, tone dry and full of withering contempt as she had 808 glare at the obnoxious, gaudy statue. *The answer's usually always either narcissism, stupidity, greed, or a combination of all three, usually also topped off by them being rich morons with way too much money to burn.*

"Certainly consistent with everything else I've seen regarding this company." Pyra sighed, quickly realizing that this strange sight was far from the most baffling sight she'd seen on this island so far. Turning towards the vent passageway near the bust, Pyra began using the boxes and containers situated in front of it as makeshift stairs before leaping up to the entrance of the vent. "Well, let's keep going then."

"In a sec'. I wanna try giving this thing a…. 'Durability test' first." Was Chai's immediate response, his words stopping Pyra in her tracks. Turning around with a curious expression, she saw her Driver walking closer to the golden bust of Kale with his Scrap Guitar readied.

"'Durability test?'" She asked, tilting her head slightly as she did so.

"Well, with how we've been spending the better half of today and yesterday smacking around metal robots, it's kinda making me wanna test my guitar out on a softer sort of metal." With that explanation and a smirk on his lips, Chai then proceeded to wail on the golden statue, making sure each series of combos he hit it with was as on-beat as possible.

OOF! OUCH! OW! NO!

On her own end, while she'd definitely say she was starting to develop a tolerance for the bizarre sights casually on display in this dimension, Pyra nonetheless found herself baffled once more when each painful-looking strike Chai landed on the golden statue somehow caused it to react like it was an actual person being hit, it's default sneer repeatedly shifting to pained and gobsmacked expressions with each strike, all while each timed blow spawned more of those gold and silver-colored gears that the Vandelay robots dropped. Feeling how it couldn't take much more punishment, Chai opted to try something new for his final combo, holding his Scrap Guitar in only his robotic right hand as he proceeded to unleash a rapid flurry of slashes on the statue, culminating in him leaping several feet up with both hands on his weapon, all the nearby scrap rapidly swirling around him before it all converged at the spot Chai slammed his Scrap Guitar down on the Kale Statue.

*SMASH!*

The end-result, as one might expect, was a gaping hole being blown out in the right side of the Kale statue's head, smoke steadily rising out of it while the statue itself had an open-mouthed, gobsmacked look on its face. "HA! Shredded it~." Chai laughed, giving his Scrap Guitar a twirl as he mentally decided on the name for that new move he just thought of and turning to Pyra, who had been watching the statue get pummeled with a look of wide-eyed surprise and fascination. "You should totally give that a try for yourself next time we find another one of those, Pyra. Can confirm it's super-satisfying."

"I… actually think I'll take you up on that if we find another one of these statues, Chai." Pyra surprisingly agreed once her surprise wore off, at this point just curious to see what hitting a statue that actively reacted to strikes even felt like.

*Huh, look at that. Something we're actually on the same page about.* Peppermint added, once again making her utter disdain for Kale no secret, even while the why of it was still up in the air for the Driver and Blade duo.

From there and with nothing else to distract them, the three entered the large vent shaft that was by the now-ruined statue and continued onward, following Peppermint's directions through the facility before the three found themselves in a vertically long room with the catwalk gradually spiraling up, all while various cargo containers moved on through the various stories of the room via the magnetic rails they were on.

"So Peppermint, this 'SPECTRUM' thingy you got us looking into… what's that about?" Chai suddenly opted to ask, slowing slightly in his stride and an inquiring look on his face as he came to the sudden realization that he really didn't know much about Peppermint's goals or reasons for being on Vandelay Island beyond looking into some important project the company was working on.

"I… believe Peppermint said it was called 'SPECTRA,' Chai…" Pyra interjected before directing a similarly inquiring look at 808's direction. "and I'll admit I've been curious about it as well. The way you've been talking about it makes it sound like an important matter for you to look into."

*You'd be right on both fronts, Pyra.* Peppermint confirmed before having 808 turn towards Chai with a pointedly annoyed look on her feline face. *First off, Chai: it's SPECTRA, not 'SPECTRUM.' As for what it is, my informant sent me code implying it's an AI. Apparently, it's hidden in all of Vandelay's Project Armstrong robotic parts.*

"Okay, well… what exactly has you so worried?" Chai asked, all while Pyra perked up at the mention of this project being some sort of AI.

"Considering how life-like the AI for their menial labor robots are, I can see some reasons to be concerned about this company having a dedicated AI project, much less one that's built into that arm of yours…" Pyra felt the need to point out, all while shooting a concerned stare in the direction of Chai's robotic arm. (It's a good thing that last night Peppermint was kind enough to teach her about some of the advanced Earthly technologies this world has to offer, such as Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short. Quite the fascinating and astonishing technological marvel, in her opinion.).

*My thoughts exactly, Pyra. Adding onto this is the fact that my source said that Vandelay has never kept a project under such thick wraps like this before. There's red flags all over this.* Peppermint continued on. However, whereas Pyra just silently nodded along as the hacker explained this, her Driver took considerable more exception with the picture she was painting for him.

"What!? You've had me running around this whole time on some dark web hunch!?" Chai exclaimed suddenly, his sudden outburst and affronted expression taking Pyra by surprise.

*I trust my sources!* Peppermint shot back just as heatedly.

"You're sounding more suspicious than Vandelay!"

"...Chai, even if you're right in the assumption that this lead we're following is nothing, can you honestly say that again with a straight face with how these people have immediately tried to have you killed since they considered you a 'defect?'" Pyra sighed, unable to help the growing sense of exasperation in her voice as she pointed this out.

Thank you! You seem to be glossing over how we're talking about the same company that put a target on your head and is hunting you down! Seriously, If they're perfectly fine with having people killed just for being implanted with defective Project Armstrong tech, then-* Peppermint's heated ranting, however, was soon cut off by Chai's disinterested voice, looking at both the hacker's feline mouthpiece and fire Blade with a deadpan, unimpressed expression.

"Okay, y'know what? I'll make this pretty clear; I don't actually care either way. I'm outta here after this anyway. Both of you feel free to look into every company conspiracy theory imaginable then. Go look for Bigfoot even, it's not my problem." And with that dismissive remark, Chai hoisted his Scrap Guitar back over his shoulder and started heading further up the cat walk before Pyra or Peppermint could muster up any sort of response, leaving them both standing there and feeling varying levels of indignance.

*It's like trying to talk sense into a brick wall. One that also likes mouthing off every other minute.* Peppermint fumed, blatantly the much more visibly frustrated of the two after that exchange.

"I can… certainly understand some of your frustrations with Chai, Peppermint." Pyra sighed, unable to keep her own frustration and exasperation out of her tone as she said this. For as headstrong and stubborn as Addam could be at times, he never outright dismissively brushed important information off like Chai did just now. Once again, the Aegis couldn't help but think back to her own behavior and attitude back on Alrest with how much Chai was reminding her of it. 'I just hope it doesn't get worse. I'm well aware of the type of problems that attitude can cause…'

And with that foreboding thought in mind, Pyra picked up her pace and followed 808 up the catwalk, who in turn had briskly floated after Chai to catch up to him. Doing so led the redheaded Blade to a side storage room midway up the catwalk, where both Chai and 808 were while they listened in on a conversation between a VA-SER and SCR-UB.

*...And that's how I taught Rekka everything she knows about production!* The VA-SER apparently finished, a grandstanding tone in his voice as he talked the SCR-UB's nonexistent ears off.

YOUR TALES ARE NOTHING BUT LIES.* The diminutive blue robot was quick to say, the lack of impressment clear to hear even in its robotic, monotone voice.

Pfft. Like you would know. You just clean the floors.* Was the more humanoid robot's immediate and indignant response. It only lasted a brief moment before his robotic voice took on a more smug and condescending tone. *Heh, I gotta say though; you older models? You deserve to be on your way out. You're just slowin' big, decision makers like me down!*

THIS IS A DEPRESSING CONVERSATION…* The SCR-UB's despondent remark was completely ignored by the VA-SER as he continued to boast about how great he was while also giving the SCR-UB verbal put-downs every chance he got, none of which endeared the robotic handyman to his three observers.

"...Hmm." Was all that came from Chai as they watched the conversation play out, the unimpressed look on his face mirroring Pyra's own. This was immediately followed by him taking a firm whack at the VA-SER with his Scrap Guitar, the sudden action taking Pyra and Peppermint off-guard, all while the VA-SER's head was sent spinning like a top.

HEY! I'm workin' here!* The VA-SER exclaimed indignantly, all while grasping both sides of his square, metallic head so it'd stop spinning.

MORE LIES.* The SCR-UB pointed out immediately, though one didn't need to be a genius or a robot to realize that.

"Uh-huh, don't doubt it." Chai said in a flat tone not unlike Peppermint's when she was annoyed, his expression appropriately deadpan. "Say, why don't you go find Rekka and give her some more pro-tips on production? I'm sure she'd really appreciate it." That particular comment was enough to get the VA-SER to freeze up, a wide-eyed look of panic clear on his face before hurriedly resuming with his job of taking inventory of the nearby shelves contents before getting sidetracked with bragging. On her own end, despite the annoyance and exasperation she'd been feeling regarding his attitude barely a minute ago, Pyra merely gave the brunet a silent nod of approval when her initial surprise wore off.

From there, the trio continued on their tracks up the catwalk and to the very top of this vertical shaft-like room -only delaying for a moment when Chai caught sight of another one of those broken, purple machine parts, like the one he found in that other area of the Production District, yesterday near the ceiling of the room, prompting him to leap across the dangling cargo containers to reach it- and upon reaching the only hallway out, they were greeted with a curious sight.

Specifically, they found themselves looking at a glowing blue square tile that jutted out slightly from the rest of the floor and pulsed out further slightly in time to the beat. "Huh, this looks like fun!" Chai commented, eyeing the neon-blue pad with an intrigued smile, all while his gaze drifted upward and how directly above this blue tile was another long vertical shaft.

"Do you know what this… pad's used for?" Pyra asked, giving the blue tile a curious look.

"Not exactly… but this feeling in my gut is telling me that if I time my jumps in sync with the beat, then maybe…" As Chai said this, he'd been walking onto the square pad on the floor, trailing off as he looked down at it and waited for the right moment, and when that moment came… "WOOOOO~!" Pyra was left jumping back slightly in shock when it resulted in Chai getting launched a whole story upwards in an instant, letting out an exhilarated, gleeful whoop all the while. With a wide-eyed look, the Aegis could only watch when at the peak of Chai's launch, he somehow propelled himself another story up and with another show-offy pose, repeating the motion for a third time before he reached the end of the shaft and a ledge he could safely land on.

"WOO~! THAT… That was awesome!" Chai cheered out, pure delight in his tone as the high of what just occurred began to die down. With that eager expression still plastered onto his face, Chai turned back towards the shaft and called out to Pyra at the very bottom. "Pyra, you GOTTA try jumping off that thing! It kicks SO MUCH ass!"

"It's not as though there's any other way up…" The redhead sighed, eyeing the glowing blue tile with slight wariness before casting it off, stepping on, and like her Driver, waited until the timing of the beat was just right before jumping upwards. "W-WHOA!" And just like what happened with Chai barely a moment ago, Pyra found herself rapidly ascending upwards with far greater force than she put in, as though she was charging her jump up with Ether. Unlike Chai, who capped off each beat/peak of the jump with another stylish pose, Pyra was more focused on maintaining her balance, so much so that she nearly missed that she reached the top of the shaft, and found herself hastily forcing herself forward to reach the ledge.

"Gotcha! Alright, I gotcha…" Chai exclaimed, hastily grabbing Pyra's wrist with both hands when she was just barely about to miss the ledge, followed by him letting out a grunt of exertion as he helped pull Pyra up onto the ledge, the redhead making a point to grip his shoulder with her other hand to keep herself steady. "Phew… Okay, well! Glad that worked for you too."

"Just barely…" Pyra breathed out, feeling a bead of sweat run down her face as she looked back down the shaft and the distance she ascended. A fall like that certainly wouldn't have been fatal or even injury-inducing given her nature as both a Blade and the Aegis, but it goes without saying that she wouldn't have liked falling all the way down from here, which more than likely would've happened if Chai hadn't caught her. "If it's no problem with you, Chai, I think I'll just hold onto you like I did those magnet points if we find another one we have to use."

"Eh, give it another try or two if we run into more of these things. You pretty much had it down just now." Chai was quick to wave off, and Pyra could only let out another quiet sigh before she followed after him into another vent.

Landing with a crouch a few feet behind him when the vent's exit led straight down, Pyra rose onto her feet to see that she and Chai had landed a rather open-ended room that had a series of complex-looking computer terminals on one end with the words CRUSH CONTROL printed for all to see on the glass wall/window right above it. This sight, along with the sights of various conveyor belts and pressure crushers steadily proceeding on with their functions seemed to indicate that the trio had found their way into the control room for the various crushers and conveyor belts all throughout the Production facility.

*THERE THEY ARE! Seal this room off and DO NOT let them leave!*

Before any of them could further look around the room or discern the way forward, another squadron of SBRs and GNRs were dispensed from the hatches in the ground, all while another ES-101 made his presence known after leaping off from the metal rafters above.

Exhaling through her nose upon seeing that they had another fight ahead of them, Pyra merely stood there with her sword readied, all while Chai immediately dashed into the fray with an eager, excited look on his face. Opening with a barrage of timed blows on the nearest GNR he could reach, Chai didn't even need to look behind him to know several SBRs were trying to come up at him from behind. The moment the closest one attempted to strike him in the back, the brunet cyborg was quick to leap up -said strike from the SBR completely missing his intended target and instead finishing off the battered GNR- and subsequently plant both feet on the shoulders of his attempted sneak-attacker. Following up by gripping both sides of the SBR's head hard, Chai then proceeded to force the hapless security bot to stumble around and through the crowd of other security forces all while Chai swung at any and all who got too close. This came to a halt when the brunet's unwilling SBR right stumbled chest-first into the ES-101 leading the squadron, who didn't hesitate to swing down with full-force in an attempt to get the defect.

Anticipating this, Chai merely lept and flipped back several feet as the Elite Saber's strike completely decimated the unfortunate SBR. From there, the wannabe-rockstar opted to dash all around the arena while landing several potshots on whichever bot got too close, and with how his insistence on dashing and zipping about meant that an increasingly frustrated ES-101 was unable to land any swipes or stabs on him, the broadly-designed security bot instead decided to focus its attention instead on Pyra, who had barely moved from her original position, countering and retaliating against any potshots or hits sent her way with lethal effect.

Seeing the Elite Saber coming and bracing herself, Pyra's narrow-eyed expression didn't change at all as she deftly dodged and blocked the barrage of strikes that were sent her way, culminating in the Blade and elite security body getting into a sword lock.

PWEEEEM!

The blade lock was suddenly broken when the ES-101 was suddenly blindsided by a beam of bright pink, yellow, and white neon energy. Blinking at the sudden turn of events, Pyra turned towards the source of the beam to see Chai holding his Scrap Guitar in his robotic hand, a pleased smirk on his face that didn't fade even as he proceeded to dodge the subsequent series of strikes and GNR blasts that were sent his way. Every time the brunet either dashed to a safe distance or out of the striking range of one of the robots, he was quick to retaliate with a swing of his Scrap Guitar that sent out another beam of neon energy.

As Pyra watched her Driver gleefully send out beam after beam towards every Security bot that crossed his line of sight, it caused a stray idea to pop into her head. 'I wonder if I can also…' Her train of thought was suddenly cut off when the Elite Saber forced himself back onto his feet and took a lunging swing at the Aegis with an infuriated roar. As she dodged the swings with several leaps back and put some distance between them, Pyra decided now was as good a time as any to test out the theory she had. Focusing up, the redhead adopted a stance similar to Chai's when he prepared to send out those beams…

FWOOOOM!

…and upon swinging it in the same vertical manner he did, Pyra was pleased to see it produced similar results; a beam of fire shot out from the tip of her sword and hit the ES-101 head on. The blow was strong and hot enough to set the battle-damaged Elite Saber ablaze, and Pyra didn't hesitate to dash forward, close the distance, and finish things off with a fiery, timed barrage of sword strikes, reducing the once-imposing security bot to a burnt pile of scrap metal.

From there, handling the rest of the security forces was a simple formality for the duo, none of the remaining forces able to land any sort of blow on them as they dashed about and deftly dispatched them, culminating in them both launching their respective long-range attacks at opposite ends on a softened-up BA-B00, colliding in an X shape for a beat (and an explosion on the BA-B00's end) before they both dissipated and left only the blue Security bot's remains and some lingering flames courtesy of Pyra's fire blast.

"HA! Cool~." Chai noted, a pleased as punch tone in his voice as he watched the flame trail from Pyra's beam slowly fade away, leaving only scorch-marks. "Nice to see I'm not the only one here that can launch beams, though I kinda figured something like that wouldn't be out of your wheelhouse after everything else you've pulled off."

The unhesitating praise of the energetic brunet caused a bashful smile to make its way onto Pyra's face, all while her face took on a rosier tint. "W-Well, I was actually taking inspiration from all those beams you were launching just now, but thank you."

"Oh, uh… seriously?" Chai initially seemed a bit taken aback and surprised by Pyra's admission, though only briefly before his energetic tone came back with a hint of pride now in it. "Well alright! Awesome to know a Rockstar like me is already inspiring people before I've even released my first album!"

The redhead could only let out some muted chuckles in response to that declaration, a bemused bead of sweat running down the side of her face, while Peppermint just silently rolled her eyes via 808.

"Alright, time's a-wastin'!" And with newfound enthusiasm in his already-energetic voice, Chai started dashing towards the most prominent exit out of the Crush Control room, which was a sloped catwalk leading upward and towards a familiar sight both he and Pyra remembered from their whole adventure yesterday; their only way forward marred by conveyor belts and active crushers.

"Well this is inconvenient…" Was all Pyra had to say in response to this sight, eyeing the crushers warily and not particularly eager to rush between and past them once more. A second after saying this, however, a potentially easier way to get through occurred to the Aegis. "Oh! We were just in the control room for at least these crushers, maybe we can just turn them off at that termin…" She began to suggest, only for her initially hopeful tone to peter off as she turned towards said terminal in the Crush Control… and saw that it was now a smoking, inoperable, and slightly flaming wreck, most likely a result of all the beams she and Chai were launching off everywhere while fighting in there. "...al."

"Well… so much for that." Was all Chai could think to say as he also took in the wrecked control terminal, side-eyeing how Pyra visibly deflated a bit at the sight of it before trying to cheer her up a bit. "But eh, we got through these things just fine yesterday. We'll be good as long as we're careful and time things right." And with that encouraging remark and a similarly encouraging slap to Pyra's shoulder, Chai opted to go first, making sure his timing was right (and that he wasn't standing on the active conveyor either) before quickly dashing through the first set of crushers.

Recomposing herself, Pyra similarly timed her own brisk dash through just as she heard the intercoms once again blare out. *At the risk of stating the obvious, please do not stand underneath the press machines when in use.* A LU-C1LLE droned out, her words briefly halting the duo with how relevant it was to their current activity. *I can't believe I even have to say this.* The robot secretary groaned out a moment later, either not noticing or just not caring how the intercom was still active (Most likely the latter with that model's uncaring and apathetic personality template in mind.)

*Not a bad warning. You'd probably do well to keep it in mind, Chai.* Peppermint snarked out, and before Pyra could even think to try and play mediator, Chai was quick on the response.

"Okay, do you seriously think I'm dumb enough to run head-first into an active pressure crusher!?" The brunet demanded in a clearly annoyed tone, making his offense no secret to the hacker.

*Considering the track record we've had with you so far, I really don't feel like taking any chances.* Once again, the tan hacker didn't pull her punches with her dry barbs, which got her an annoyed scoff from Chai.

"Okay, wow. Screw you too." And with that annoyed remark, Chai then focused his attention on the next set of press machines he had to get past

"W-Why don't we just… focus on getting past all these press machines, alright?" Pyra quickly interjected before he or Peppermint could escalate things further.

"Don't gotta tell me twice." Thankfully, neither Chai nor Peppermint seemed intent on arguing and/or insulting one another further (Albeit not without the latter shooting an annoyed glare in Chai's direction for his tell-off) and from there, the three of them getting past the press machines turned out to be a simple affair. As they made their way past them, Pyra also couldn't help but take note of the contents of the conveyor belts and what the press machines were converting them into. From boxes of scrap being converted into those silver and gold gears, said gears being converted into Vandelay robot parts, and those parts being quickly and efficiently put together by the press machines, it was giving the Aegis somewhat of a better idea on how all these machines are manufactured en masse by this company.

This continued for a bit longer, with Chai, Pyra, and 808 all deftly navigating their way through the Press Machines and various halls of the Production facility before eventually finding themselves in a room that had a bulky-looking set of terminals in the center and two VA-SERs manning it, a vending machine situated in the corner, and another one of those blue bounce pads sitting directly across from where the trio came in.

"Ooh, more free drinks! Don't mind if I do~." Naturally, the vending machine caught Chai's attention near-immediately, already giving his Guitar an eager little twirl at the handle before making his way over to forcibly get more free drinks. On her own end, Pyra only managed to take three steps after him before the conversation going on between the two VA-SERs at the terminals caught her interest.

...Seriously though, you can tell how much Mimosa hates Korsica.* A red, square-headed VA-SER said, still working at his computer screen as he spoke to his co-worker.

Yeah, congratulating every department but Security in her Armstrong email? That's a corporate slap in the face.* His co-worker, an orange-colored VA-SER with a more rectangular-shaped head agreed, though his tone seemed notably more blase/casual about the topic whereas his red-colored colleague regarded the topic with more blatant distaste.

"The… higher ups at this company don't get along?" Pyra couldn't help but inquire, only for her next words to be more sheepish when both VA-SERs jumped slightly upon realizing they weren't alone and both turned towards her with questioning looks. "I-I'm sorry for interrupting. I was just overhearing your conversation and I know very little about this company, so I couldn't help but listen in."

You don't? Kind of a funny thing to hear with where you are and what this week is, lady.* The red VA-SER pointed out, much like the one from yesterday did, though just as Pyra was about to stammer out some reason for that, the orange one beat her to the punch in speaking, starting off his words with an uncaring shrug.

Whatever. You don't keep up with current events, more power to ya. Anyway, to answer your question, yeah. You don't gotta be a genius like Zanzo constantly claims he is to see that the Department Heads can all barely stand each other on a good day. I'd bet the pay and Kale keeping them all on a tight leash is all that's stopping them from trying to kill each other.* The orange VA-SER explained, giving Pyra a general picture of the interdepartmental interactions in Vandelay that very much matched what she'd seen of this company and the decisions made within it. *Korisca though? The rest of the Executives can at least kinda tolerate each other to run this place, but ever since she was made Head of Security a few months back, it's like all the other Department Heads are going out of their way to give her crap, especially with Mimosa. That diva has a freaking axe to grind with her.*

And that's puttin' it lightly. It's like they're hazing Korsica!* The red VA-SER exclaimed, sounding annoyed on the Security Head's behalf.

Eh, too bad. You join a company like this and land yourself a position like Head of Security, you better be prepared to be the best of the best.* The orange VA-SER scoffed, giving an uncaring shrug as he said this.

"Certainly sounds very cut-throat…" Pyra couldn't help but note, a wince on her face as she took all this information in.

*That's puttin' it lightly, girlie.*

*PEEM!*

If Pyra or the two VA-SERs had anything further to say on the subject, they were unable to before a stray Harmonic Beam from Chai's Scrap Guitar suddenly hit the two VA-SERs out of nowhere, causing the two robots to yelp out and the Aegis to jump back in surprise with how close the blast was to her. Snapping her head towards the source of the beam, she saw Chai standing there with the look on his face clearly indicating the stray blast hadn't been on purpose.

Oh! Phew. Scared me there for a sec. Thought you were Rekka.* The red VA-SER said upon also seeing the perpetrator, his voice shifting from surprise (and slight panic) to calm relief when he realized Rekka hadn't stomped in while they were distracted to smack them around for whatever reason. (Usually just for kicks or venting out anger)

"Oh, U-Uh, yeah, that was an accident. My bad." Chai stammered out, having not meant to hit that VA-SER like he had the last one. He'd just been meaning to get any goodies out of some nearby boxes and oil barrels in the room, and figured another harmonic beam blast would be most efficient -and fun- way to break them all in quick succession.

On that note, Pyra's surprised expression quickly shifted into one of bafflement when she also noticed how Chai had in both arms as many drinks from the vending machine as he could carry, a few periodically falling to the ground as he stood there.

Eh, you're fine. Honestly dealt with way worse working this job and with a boss like Rekka, kid.* The red VA-SER said, quick to brush the incident off as he returned to work.

"Cool, thanks…" Chai said before his gaze focused on the scene of the two robots working at the large computer terminal, how they were standing despite plenty of chairs being available, and couldn't help but ask something. "Say, on that note, I kinda gotta ask; with how you guys are standing and working while there are like, two perfectly good chairs next to you both, does Vandelay have a rule for its workers about how they can't sit or something?"

"I mean, with how they're Arti-robots, would that even be a factor for them? A-And I mean this with no offense, mind you." Pyra asked, quickly adding that last part as to not offend the two VA-SERs.

"I mean, normally, yeah, that'd be a good point, but with how we got a surprise answer to whether robots could eat and drink earlier, I'm kinda thinking it's a question worth asking." And at that observation, Pyra had no retort or argument.

You'd honestly be surprised, girlie. I mean, sheesh, my buddies and I were all built with a high enough level of programming that a lot of us question why some of this stuff is built into our skulls with how it just makes our jobs harder a lot of the time. Imagine building a robot meant for something like underwater work only for him to be programmed to be capable of feeling aquaphobia. Dumb crap like that.* The orange VA-SER explained, not minding more conversation to ensure his shift passed by faster. *To get back on topic though, no, there isn't any rule like that from upper management, but when you're working under someone like Rekka, it's all around kinda safer to just look like you're not comfortable at all while working your shift. Also, don't ask any crap like that near management, will ya? Don't wanna be giving them any ideas.*

"Say no more." Chai didn't hesitate to say, giving the two VA-SERs as much of a wave goodbye as he could with his hands full as he began walking over to that blue bounce pad. "Welp! Cool talking to you guys!"

Uhhh huh…* Was the orange VA-SER's disinterested response, eyes still on his terminal screen as he said this.

'Well, that was certainly some interesting information to keep in mind.' Pyra thought as she followed Chai to the bounce pad, making sure she didn't forget what she gleaned from that conversation. Beyond Rekka, she didn't really know anything about the people running (and making the comically stupid and greed-motivation decisions) this company, and with how she, Chai, and Peppermint were more than likely to deal with the rest of them before this was all over, she figured it'd be good to learn what she could when she could.

"Alright! Another one of these things!" There was a blatantly excited expression on Chai's face as they made their way over to a newfound bounce pad, clearly looking forward to jumping up several stories in the span of a few seconds once more. Meanwhile, Pyra still seemed a bit wary about using these appliances after her shaky first go with one.

"R-Right. Like I said after the first one and just like that chain of magnet points, I think it'll be best if I-"

"Sorrycan'thearyoutoobusyjumpingBYEEEEEEE!"

Seemingly aware of what Pyra was about to suggest, Chai quickly rattled off all that before quickly making his way onto the bounce pad just as the beat was right and blasting off… also forgetting in his rush how he had a hand-full of canned drinks while jumping, consequently forcing Pyra to shield her face with how the launch off the blue pad sent all the canned drinks he was still holding fly off in every direction, though thankfully none of them hit her. (Though the same couldn't be said for that orange VA-SER, if his sudden yelp and the sight of him rubbing the back of his head in annoyance was any indication.)

At the sight of her suggestion being so blatantly ignored for whatever reason, Pyra just couldn't help herself and let out a small sigh of annoyance, rubbing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment…

*BEEP! BEEP!*

*WHAM!*

…And subsequently fought the urge to let out another one when an alarm went off and the floor/hatch underneath Chai closed the instant he reached the top of this shaft. "...Well, that's certainly inconvenient, and only reinforces the suggestion I made earlier."

"Ooohh… that's… probably not good." Back up with Chai, the brunet cyborg couldn't help but say this and wince when he was greeted with the sight of the ground suddenly shutting underneath him and preventing Pyra from following him up here. He… hadn't been expecting something like that to happen in his rush to keep his personal space.

There you are!*

"And that's definitely not good!" Nor was he expecting to be greeted with a scowling Rekka on the gigantic TV screen in front of him!

You think?* Peppermint asked, making her annoyance at Chai and what he just did not a secret.

*This is as far as you go, punk! You're on lockdown, AND GETTING THE SMACKDOWN!* And as if in response to that snarling declaration, a squadron of SBRs and GNRs headed by both an ES-101 and BA-B00 came out from the floor hatches, all of which had their weapons (or giant fists in the BA-B00's case) readied with an eagerness to put them to use.

FIGHT!

"Yeah, that's where I beg to differ!" Despite his initial surprise at this turn of events, Chai was quick to regain his bravado and fight-happy demeanor, making the first move before any of the security bots could react via a dash forward and opening with his Shred combo on the closest target; that being the BA-B00.

Just like with the Kale statue, Chai bombarded the BA-B00 with a flurry of rapid slashes from his Scrap Guitar, though just as he was about to leap up into the air and deliver the coup de grace to his flurry of slashes, he was forced to cancel out of the attack with how it still wasn't enough to stagger the BA-B00, which was about to slam both of its oversized fists down on the brunet in retaliation.

"Nope!" Thinking quickly, Chai opted to finally test out his arm's magnet ability on the Security bots, quickly pointing his arm towards the nearest GNR that was out of the BA-B00's range and shooting the neon chain out from his wrist once more. Just like with the magnet points, the instant the orange chain made contact with the GNR's chest plate, Chai was zipped towards the hapless security bot in an instant. The moment the magnet deactivated, Chai gave the surprised GNR, no chance to react or retaliate before wailing in it with his Scrap Guitar, managing to obliterate it with another beam blast before the rest of the robots tried rushing him.

"Woop!" Chai was able to avoid several GNR blasts that came his way with no issue, though he did find himself put on the backfoot when the ES-101 charged forward and bombarded him with a series of swings from its sword. "Missed me~! Try again!" Despite this, Chai maintained a lackadaisical and taunting demeanor as he weaved, backed away, and generally dodged out of the way of the Elite Saber's strikes, all of which was only serving to worsen the bulky security bot's temper. Winding its sword back with two hands, it tried to hit Chai with a horizontal swing, "Bad aim AND a team-killer! A real winning combo!" only for him to jump upwards just as the ES-101's blade was about to hit him, instead bisecting a SBR that had been trying to flank him from behind while the brunet himself used the Elite Saber's head as a platform to jump off of. "Yeah, pro tip; you guys might wanna work on your aim." Chai jeered out as he touched down on the floor, his Scrap Guitar slung over his shoulder with both hands and a toothy smile on his face.

*...RrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGHHHH!* Finally reaching the limits of his composure, the Elite Saber was unable to stop the scream of pure rage and hate that bubbled out his mechanical throat, leveling a glare of pure hatred at the lanky brunet the made it clear the elite Vandelay bot would snap him in two if he got his hands on him.

*Siiiiizzzle…*

Hey, uhhhh… is it just me or is the floor starting to get scaldingly hot!?*

*FWOOM!*

However, the Elite Saber would never even get an opportunity to even try lashing out in rage at Chai with how the floor underneath him and several other SBRs and GNRs started to taking on an orange, glowing hue… and how said 'floor' was actually a closed hatch sealing the vertical shaft brunet came up from. Before the Elite Saber or any of the other security bots could question what was happening, an explosion of flame suddenly rose out from underneath their feet, followed immediately by Pyra zipping up through the newly created molten hole, her sword set ablaze and her position in mid-air evoking that 'Prominence Revolt' attack of hers.

"OH! WELL DON'T MIND IF I DO~!" Taken by surprise by the sudden, molten explosion but never one to turn down an opportunity, Chai immediately sprang into action and took advantage of how the explosion sent several bots into the air. Deciding now was finally the time to test out his arm's magnet on these security bots, Chai shot his arm out and was pleased to see the neon-orange chain once more shoot out from his wrist and attach itself to the ES-101 at the peak of his launch height.

"FLARE SMASH!" As Chai made good use of his magnet's grapple to remain in the air, the Aegis meanwhile opted to make her landing an explosive one, swinging her sword forward while the flames from its pipes blazed out, creating an inferno that sent any close by security bots flying back, with the most direct recipient of Pyra's fiery blow being the BA-B00 Chai tried to Shred on initially.

*PWEEM!*

Back up with Chai in the air, the wannabe Rockstar was all too happy to bombard the wide-open ES-101 with a series of powerful blows while they were both up in the air, culminating in the final blow in his combo being another Harmonic Beam at point-blank range, this time pointed downward vertically…

*GAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!* Smash!*

And coincidentally right over the hole leading back down the shaft Pyra created. As one might expect, the end-result was the unfortunate Elite Saber being sent flying down several stories to his doom. Landing with a crouch, Chai had no time to appreciate his handiwork with how there were still security bots about to take care of. In particular, Chai saw how Pyra was currently finishing off any remaining GNRs with singular and powerful fiery strikes, leaving him to finish what he started with a recovering (and softened up!) BA-B00. With a flick of his robotic wrist, Chai dashed forward, once again closed the distance between himself and the large, blue Security bot, and bombarded it with a series of rapid slashes in his 'Shred' combo, and with all the damage it accumulated so far from both himself and Pyra, it was ultimately unable to maintain its guard, and with the remaining security being deftly handled by the Aegis, it meant there were no interruptions this time as Chai leapt up into the air with all nearby scrap accumulating around the dazed BA-B00 and smashed his Scrap Guitar down on it and destroying it.

With a pleased smile and some more quick application of his arm's magnet, taking care of the remaining security and even the subsequent wave that arrived was little more than a formality for Chai and Pyra, though the pleased expression on the brunet's face was kind of wiped off and replaced with a slightly unsettled expression when he suddenly noticed Pyra giving him a deadpan, decidedly unamused look, all while standing near the still glowing-hot hole she created.

"...Are you seeing why I insisted that we go on those pads together now, Chai?" The redhead asked simply, unable to keep the dry tone out of her voice as she re-sheathed her sword to the small of her back.

"I'm uh… might be seeing where you're coming from on that, yeah…" Chai admitted, all while trying to avoid Pyra's discomforting gaze on him. With the redheaded Blade's demeanor normally being so sweet and kindly, it was a bit jarring and uncomfortable seeing her display some blatant annoyance like this. Being eager to change the subject, the brunet opted to take note of how they seemed to be under a lockdown in this area "And I'm also seeing that we're locked down over here. Peppermint, this is where you come in?"

*Way ahead of you* As if on cue, the locked down door to the room's right shifted to green before automatically opening up, giving them a path forward. *Get going this way.*

With no reason to delay, especially with how Rekka just spotted them in there, the cyborg, Blade, and Cat trio quickly moved down the L-shaped corridor and subsequently found themselves in a large room that had what looked to be a magnetic rail for storage containers going along the cealing and leading to an opening across from where they came in.

*Hold up, guys.* Peppermint suddenly spoke up before either had a chance to properly take in their surroundings, having 808 shift back into her feline form and land on Chai's shoulder before gesturing towards a door to the right side of the room, its red lighting indicating it was locked. Though as Peppermint continued to explain, it shifted to green, indicating it was now unlocked. *See that door? Just bypassed security on that one and it's actually a straight shot up to Rekka's office from here. Rough route, though. Lotta stairs.*

"Well, a nice, straightforward route with no security harassing us sounds like a nice change of pace." For her part, Pyra was all too happy to hear about a nice, alternative, straightforward route that promised no fighting the rest of the way to Rekka's office…

"Yeaaaah, kind of a sucky change of pace if I'm gonna be real here," …whereas Chai found the prospect much, much less appealing, mainly thanks to the emphasis the hacker put on the flights of stairs they'd have to scale if they went that way. As he said this, the prominent sight of a metal hook/claw attached to a magnetic rail instantly caught the brunet's eye and very quickly an idea for a much better alternative route to the one Peppermint just proposed struck him. "I'm more for quick, EXCITING routes. This looks like more fun."

"And considerably more dangerous, Chai. One with no guarantee it'll even get us where we need to go at that." Pyra sighed as she pointed this out, at this point wanting the rest of their journey up to Rekka's office to be an uneventful affair. Ignoring Chai's dissatisfied groan and the way he begrudgingly stopped dead mid-step as he tried going up to the rail, she continued. "After the fights and close calls we've had today, I'd really rather just take the straightforward route."

After a moment where Pyra's statement/request was left to hang in the air, Chai's demeanor suddenly deflated a bit as he groaned out a resigned sigh. "Okay then, you wanna climb the stairs, more power to ya."

Exhaling a relieved sigh she hadn't even realized she was holding, Pyra opened her eyes with a smile and was about to thank Chai for listening to her on this…

"I'm still taking the fun route tho. SEE YA AT THE TOP~!" …Only for those words to die in her throat at the last part her Driver just gleefully exclaimed out. With no time to react, Pyra could only watch as Chai shot his right arm towards the point on the rail, his magnet chain shooting out and sending both him and the still-hanging 808 zipping off to parts unknown.

"H-He… He really…" For a few tense, silent moments that to her felt much longer, Pyra just stood there trying to find the words to say, looking at the rail Chai and 808 gleefully took off on with a gobsmacked expression on her face. However, when the redhead finally found her voice, the most prominent thing to note was just how utterly affronted her tone was. "He really just left me here without a second thought…!"

The fact that this was right after that whole incident with the bounce pad only exacerbated the frustration Pyra was feeling right now. Exhaling a frustrated breath while pinching the bridge of her nose, the redheaded Aegis regained her composure before giving the still-unlocked door a look. "Well, at least I still have a clear way forward, and a considerably more calm one at that. I could use that and some time to think about how much has happened in just two days…"

And with that spoken thought left in the air, she walked towards her only available way forward.

"Ohhh…." Only to once again find herself brought to a stunned halt when she was greeted with the dozens upon dozens of stair flights she had ahead of herself, to the point that she couldn't even see the ceiling from where she was. "Ohhhhhh dear… Those really… really are… a lot of stairs…"

And at the sinking realization that she now had to climb all these stairs -topped off by the stray thought that Chai's unknown trip down the magnet rail suddenly seemed much more appealing- Pyra could only groan out the following, "If I deserved it, I'd ask the Architect to give me strength…"

She had a sinking feeling in her gut that this was going to be an exhausting climb…

To Be Continued…

URRRRRGH, FINALLY! Something to post after all the months of nothing! Again, I hope that it was enjoyable and that Chai's headassery in this Track wasn't irritating/still felt in-character for a pre-development Chai that's not invested at all in what's going on yet and that it didn't make him come off unsympathetic. I hope that I at least managed to get across that some of his more jerky actions he took this Track were partly due to obliviousness on his part.

Alright, with that finally out of the way, I'm going to enjoy myself some Thief 1 and 2, TF2 Classic, and ULTRAKILL custom missions with a guilt free conscience. Also got a gaming channel I seriously need to update ._.