The world wasn't red.
N wasn't sure why that was the first thing he noticed upon waking up. He could have noted how Uzi was currently sitting next to him, snoozing on a chair as her visor displayed "SLEEP MODE", or how V was standing by the door, glaring at any worker drone that tried to catch a peak until they left.

His visor tilted down to his hands, looking down at them with a conflicted expression. For a second, he saw them as they had been; Covered in blood and gore, viscera tainting them as he slaughtered through countless terrified humans, tearing open tanks like tin cans to get to the occupants inside…

He felt nausea registered in his systems, the sudden urge to puke near overwhelming.

"N?" V approached the bed, giving him a look of mixed relief and concern. "You with us buddy?"

He turned to her, doing his best to force a smile on his face. "Hey V." He mustn't have done a very good job of it, given how her eyes narrowed further in worry, her tail slowly swishing behind her. "What did I miss?"

"Not much. We've been hunkering her since your little freakout." She said, slowly looking over him as she searched for any trace of injury remaining.

N nodded slowly. "The humans?" He eventually asked.

"Only a few left. We haven't bothered dealing with them yet. The ones up there…" V's eyes hollowed out. "...Cyn got to them."

"Ah." N looked down. "...I'm sorry V."

Her expression grew carefully neutral. "For what?" She leaned towards him. "For keeping everything to yourself? For going into fights that you should know damn better than to get into? Oh wait, is it about you apparently almost selling your soul to some fucking blood god and going on a berserk rampage across the planet?!" V wasn't quite screaming, but she wasn't far off. It was a miracle Uzi hadn't woken up. N looked at V with hollowed out eyes as she ranted. "Do you know how scary that was?! Not just the fact that you were tossing me around like I was some damn ragdoll! You've always been the strongest of us physically, if only by a bit, but I could care less about that! You weren't…" She closed her eyes, taking a breath as she tried to calm herself. "You weren't yourself anymore. I thought… I thought I'd lost you." She reached out, grabbing him by the collar of his coat. "We said we'd stick together right? So why… ever since we came to this fucking hellhole, why do you always do this shit?! You run along ahead, giving up everything of your own just to protect us!" She snarled, getting in his face. "What will it take to get through your thick fucking skull that if you die, it won't matter to me if you kept me safe! You think I could live with myself knowing you gave your life up for me?!"

"V…" N was stunned, struggling for words. "I… I messed up. I know I did. I'm not going to argue otherwise. I was…" He looked to the ceiling, a complicated expression on his face. "He… he showed me. Showed me the galaxy. What sort of nightmare it is. I was…" He sighed. "I didn't realise just how much I would lose myself giving in." He looked back at her.

"...Ugh." V's expression softened a fraction. "...I can't… fully blame you." She eventually spat out, looking away. "I haven't exactly given much reason to trust me, have I?" A bitter smile appeared on her face. "I basically ignored you for years when we arrived here… and fought you on the Uzi issue every step of the way. It was…" She chuckled sadly. "It was for your own good, you know? So I… I get it."

N reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're pretty terrible at this stuff huh?" He said, a teasing smile on his face.

"The worse." She agreed, snorting as she pushed his hand off, finally letting him go. "At least you're back to normal."

"Yeah." N's gaze settled on Uzi, something in his chest tightening at the sight of the sleeping drone. "How is she?"

"Better than I expected." V said, crossing her arms. "She point blank refused to leave your side since you passed out. Even told Cyn to fuck off when she offered to take over the watch. It was hilarious." The disassembly drone's tail betrayed the anxiety she must have been feeling in the moment, flicking from left to right rapidly. "But she backed off, surprisingly enough. I think she knows we couldn't have gotten you back without her."

"You've been calling her Uzi." N commented, a happy smile on his face as V rolled her eyes.

"Can't exactly keep calling her purple thing after a stunt like that." V paused. "Well actually I can and I will but…" V sighed. "Can't deny I owe her big time for saving you."

"Awwww V! Look at you bonding!" N said with a soft tone. "At least something good came out of my mess…"

V snorted but gave him a gentle smile. "...So, can I count on you to not lose your shit again?" She glared playfully at him. "We ARE meant to be a team, you know."

The male disassembly drone looked down to his hands, a flicker of a vision of blood appearing for a moment before he clenched them tightly. "...Let's do this properly." He said quietly, looking at her with utmost seriousness. "I want to be better about this. About… us. I'm tired of the misunderstandings, the secrets, the half-told truths… so from now, no more lies." He raised a hand at her, pinky pointed at her. "If we're suffering, we tell the other one. If we're in trouble, we get help from each other. When stuff gets tough, we support each other." His eyes shone a gentle gold. "Deal?"

"A pinky promise? Seriously?" V gave him a deadpan glare undercut by the softness of her voice. "But fine. Deal." She reached out, barely allowing their pinkies to hold each other for a second before pulling back. "Ugh, this mushy shit is unbearable. How do you deal with it?"

N let out a sad whine. "Noooo V we were having a moment!"

"Tough." V pointed to Uzi. "Purple is on the verge of waking up, and I don't want to be here for the absolute gross niceness you guys are going to be." She turned away, walking towards the door.

"V!" N called out right as she was about to leave the room. She turned, giving him a side look. "Thanks for helping save me. Regardless of what happened in the past… you were here for me now. And that means the world to me."

V stared at him, a golden blush appearing on her visor. "Whatever." She turned away. "...I'm really glad we've got you back, N." With that she walked out, closing the door behind her.

"You saw the scale of power from the entity." V glanced behind her, finding the figure cloaked in dark green only a few meters behind her. She did not question its presence.

"I did." She agreed. Whilst she hadn't seen what Cyn had done in person… it was impossible to miss it. The human ships that had once been in orbit were broken husks floating above, torn apart and their crews slaughtered. Entire planets, gone at the will of the little maid.

"Then you know you cannot hope to overcome her alone." The herald spoke. "It is a hopeless endeavour."

"Yup."

"...You seem quite dismissive of this." The herald enquired.

V snorted. "Are you kidding me? I am freaking out so hard right now." She turned to him, eyes hollowed out. "She blew up multiple planets. Again. And I have no clue what goes on in her head at any time. But you know what?" She pointed to the door. "You're the same kind of thing that messed with N's head right?"

"A crude approximation. I am nothing like the servants of the Blood God. They revel in their rage, their violence. I seek naught but to allow others to embrace the same bliss and peace I have been granted. One I know you seek so desperately."

"See? I mean, that's so blatantly manipulative I'm amazed I didn't clock on immediately." V crossed her arms. "I don't know what you want from me, but I know it's probably bad news." Her visor flickered to an ominous X. "And like hell am I letting anyone else control me."

The herald tilted their head in a manner that was so reminiscent of Cyn V was certain they'd done it on purpose to freak her out. "Does the other host of the entity not control you?"

"Uzi?" V laughed. "Oh yeah, she has the admin control. But that's a far deal from actually using it." She shook her head. "Little gremlin is stubborn as all hell. And having to use the admin override on me basically means she concedes she can't get me to do what she wants unless she literally forces me. It won't sit right with her." She sighed. "For all I give her shit, she's no Cyn, that's for damn sure."

"You put a lot of trust in one you would have eagerly slaughtered not so long ago."

"People change."

The herald's eyes glowed a sickly green under their hood, seeming to pierce into V's very soul. Which she now knew she had after Uzi mentioned it off-handedly, which wow they needed to talk about that because what. "Do they?" It didn't sound like much of a question.

The disassembly drone's eyes returned to normal. "You think they don't?"

"I believe that people are able to do superficial change. Change their clothes. Change their looks. Their manners, the way they speak. The way they act. But their nature? Who they are at their core?" The thing shook its head, its eyes disappearing back into the darkness of its hood. "No. People do not change."

"That's depressing." V cocked her hip, smirking. "And wrong."

"Is it? Because I have yet to see it so. For all you speak of being different, I do not see it. For all your strength, for all your outwards violence and projected psychoticism, you are still that clumsy little maid trapped in that manor." V's eyes hollowed out at the words, her hands shaking. "Still that bumbling fool that could do nothing as those she loved were torn to pieces and put back together. Still the love-struck fool that can only watch the one she adores from afar, even as his own feelings slip away…"

A metallic claw swiped through where the head of the thing was, the herald chuckling even as V snarled. "Shut. Up. I am not taking your deal. End of story."

"And so you will lose everything again. But have no fear. I am patient, and so is the Grandfather. We will await you at the Garden, child. You will come. And when you do… it will be up to you to choose whether you get to keep those you cherish or not."

Before V could retort the image disappeared, blinking out like a mirage. V snarled, her claws disappearing.

"Yeah, fuck you too." She huffed. "I am so snitching on you to N when he's done talking with Uzi."

She tried to ignore the pang of pain that the words elicited.

"Please…"

The voice was an enchanting thing. Soft as a summer breeze, gentle as the subtle caress of the leaves of a mighty oak rustling in the wind, and with a tenderness that was so genuine it was almost painful.

"I beg of thee."

An image. A woman, but not a woman. Humanoid, but not human. Divine, but not monstrous as the other had been.

"Do not come here."

Power, immense in its scale, terrible in its potential. Awe-inspiring in its restraint, mournful in its chains.

"I cannot bear the thought of any more suffering horrific fates to rescue me from my own."

Life, tainted at the root. Made a mockery by rot, plague and disease.

"The Grandfather watches his garden too well."

Hideous expanses that stretched over land the scale of which was incomprehensible to the mortal mind, fetid swamps and fields of putrid flowers intermixing with rivers of bile and mountains of decay, insidious and horrible things alike wallowing in the nightmarish realm.

"I beg of thee."

A heartfelt plee.

"Stay away."

Uzi woke up.

"Uzi?" Her visor snapped towards the origin of the voice, purple eyes locking onto the taller disassembly drone laying in the bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, but your beanie was about to fall off…"

"N!" She reached out, grabbing him in a hug as she pulled him in tightly, squeezing him so hard he began to hack a cough. She immediately let him go. "Shit, sorry, sorry!"

"It's fine!" He quickly said. "Why did they even program that into us… it's not like we even need to breathe."

Uzi quickly hopped onto the distraction as the embarrassment of having suddenly lunged at N caught up with her. "Oh yeah, totally weird right?! And I mean, hormones, and sweating and…" She trailed off as she caught sight of N's distant look. "...Seriously N. Are you alright?"

"...I… I don't know. Kinda?" He slumped. "Yeah no, I'm not alright."

She glanced around. V was gone. Must have left after N awoke… "Wanna talk about it?" She asked quietly. Robo-god this was awkward, she was so not good at this kind of stuff.

"...I killed them all." He softly said, looking down at his hands. "I don't… I can tell my repression programming is kicking into overdrive, but it's not… not able to keep up." He looked at her with hollowed out eyes. "I keep… seeing my hands, covered in blood… seeing the faces of the humans I murdered…" He shivered. "And I mean… even before that… all the worker drones… and Earth…" His breathing was getting quicker, his core cycling far too fast. "I just… I just don't know how to deal right now."

Uzi reached out, grabbing one of his hands with his own. "...N…" She hesitated. "The humans that came here came to destroy us. It's terrible that you were taken by that god… but they would have killed you if they ever got the chance. Killed all of us." A sad smile appeared on her face. "You're a good person who's been put into bad situation after bad situation by outside forces. You can't change the past. But your actions now matter." She poked him in the chest. "You tried to talk with the humans. To try and prevent the fighting. Hell, you beat them up to stop them from killing us all!"

"I guess." N said, eyes drooping.

"Plus that form was badass as hell. I'll give that blood bastard one thing, he's got style."

"Uzi!" N exclaimed, aghast as Uzi cackled. But she could see how his figure slumped, a soft smile appearing on his face. Mission successful.

It made her feel warm inside to know she made N feel better.

Oh god.

She really had it bad huh?

"Whatever dork." She punched him in the shoulder. "I prefer you like this anyways."

He chuckled softly. "Good to know. I didn't really like the spiky look. I prefer going dapper." He said, giving her finger guns as his eyes turned to a sunglasses icon before quickly vanishing as his expression softened. "You saved me Uzi."

She blushed, looking away. "Ugh, yeah whatever. I did. So what?"

"So thank you." He said, reaching out and hugging her in turn, making her blush go damn near nuclear. "...I was so afraid…And you came. You always seem to get me out of bad situations."

She stamped down the urge to scream and push him off, her edge levels fluctuating wildly. "I mean… you did like, save me during prom… and during my gross murder rampage…" She sighed. "You know, I was kind of amazed at how strong you were, I keep forgetting how high you threw me back then."

N blushed as well, rubbing his head with an awkward chuckle as he let her go. "Yeah… not sure why, I've always been a bit stronger than J and V. Though they're still really, really strong, and V especially is better at fighting."

Uzi snorted, already missing the feeling of the hug. N really was warm."Didn't look that way when you kicked her ass when we first met."

"...Yeah, I kind of got the drop on her on that one." He looked away, embarrassed.

Purple eyes narrowed as a small grin appeared on Uzi's face, smelling blood in the water. "How did you do that by the way?" She asked.

"I…" He blushed more. "I may have licked her sword arm?"

Uzi stared at him. Then, she started to snicker. "Dude. Gross."

"I KNOW!" He wailed. "I just couldn't think of anything else to distract her! And I needed to go help you!"

"I mean, I owned J all on my own thank you very much." Uzi retorted. "Damn. That's hilarious. I am so using that to mess with her."

"Please don't. You guys are finally getting along…"

Uzi stared at him. "There is a world of difference between 'reluctantly more willing to tolerate each other's presence' and getting along, N."

He cringed. "Does there have to be?"

"Dude."

"Aw."

Uzi glanced towards the door. "Speaking of her, where'd she go?"

"Oh, she guessed you'd wake up soon and that we'd want to talk alone." N answered easily. "V's thoughtful like that… sometimes."

"Uh-huh." Uzi said, narrowing her eyes. "Well, whilst you were having your epic level murder rampage, I was learning a few tricks. Wanna see?"

N nodded excitedly, his eyes shining with curiosity. "Of course! That sounds awesome!"

Uzi preened happily. "Hmph. I mean, yeah, duh, I'm the one doing it." She said with a grin, opening her hand. "Observe!" And with that she summoned a small dark sphere edged in purple with the word [NULL] in purple text on it. "Ta-dah!"

N's eyes hollowed out at the sight.

The mansion.

A gigantic [NULL] sphere in the sky, consuming all that it came into contact with.

"Good job."

"Big Brother."

He had to physically restrain himself from recoiling backwards, though Uzi clearly noticed his distressed reaction.

"Wow, wow!" She snapped her fingers, making the sphere disappear. "Shit, you okay? Did I trigger something?"

"It's…" N gulped, trying to calm his racing core. "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm…" He shook his head. "Okay, not fine, but… just, memories. That's…" He shivered. "That's one of Cyn's abilities."

Uzi groaned, slapping herself in the face. "Oh… damn, right, of course. Sorry dude, I didn't mean to…"

"Uzi." N reached out, placing a hand on hers with a soft smile. "It's okay. You didn't do it on purpose." He chuckled. "And I mean, it is pretty cool."

She grinned, reassured. "Right?! That thing is ridiculously powerful! I feel I could throw it at anything and it would just… disappear."

"Pretty sure it would." N said with a distant look in his eyes.

"And like, I'm learning how to teleport from Doll, which is awesome, though I'm still getting the hang of it." Uzi said with a grin. "It's like this weirdly complicated setup, but actually pretty simple in execution; You just gotta…"

N watched as Uzi began rambling about 'super cool ass powers' with a soft smile, feeling himself relaxing more and more.

Things were alright.

Purple pushed away red in his vision as he focused on her eyes, and his core slowed down to tranquility as he settled into the bed, listening intently to the drone who saved his life and more.

N couldn't sleep.

It wasn't something very unusual for him, though usually it was due to wrestling with fragmentary memories from… before.

Uzi had gone to sleep in her room, with V standing guard just outside the infirmary room. N thought it was a bit overkill; Uzi had been thorough in purging all foreign influence from his body and program, and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

Still, he appreciated her silent presence. It was comforting to know she had his back.

"Shuffle. Shuffle."

N felt himself tense at the sound of the mechanical voice. "...Cyn?"

Two yellow eyes glowed in the corner of the room, plunged in darkness as they examined him. "Hello. Big Brother."

"Heya little buddy." N hesitantly said, glancing at the door. He could see the silhouette of V, still there, her glowing yellow eyes staring into his. For a second, they switched to a question mark, to which N replied with a thumbs up.

Not like they stood a chance if there was going to be a fight. Not without Uzi and her abilities at least.

"You are. Looking better." Cyn said, taking a step forward as she slowly walked towards the bed. She resembled the little maid he knew back at the mansion, the sight enough to send painful pangs in his core. "Red is not a color. That fits."

"Yeah. Not my favorite right now." He said, his smile nervous.

"You are tense." Cyn commented, standing right by the edge of the bed. "Do I. Scare you. Big Brother?"

N hesitated for a moment. "...Yeah." He softly said. "You do."

"Frowning." Cyn stayed silent for some time. "I cannot blame you. I suppose. I did not try very hard not to. Scare you."

N nervously chuckled. "Yeah… you're kind of terrifying when you want to be."

"Observing look. You are. Shaking." She was looking at his hands.

N glanced down. His hands were clenched tight, holding the sheets as he trembled. A flash of a memory as his torso was torn open by the innocent looking maid before him, digging out his insides with a blank look on her face. The sheer horror and terror he had felt back then. The betrayal. "Oh. Guess I am." He glanced away from her.

"Questioning. Did you mean what you said?" Her head tilted to the side, Cyn holding up with a hand before it could fall on her shoulder. "When we fought."

N allowed his visor to blink out as he replayed the memory. Like all those from during his breakdown, it was tinted red and sent echoes of the constant rage and anger he'd been feeling during this time, making him tense up even further. He turned it off. "...Yeah. I meant it." He shivered. "Despite… despite everything, I can't bring myself to stop… caring." His eyes flickered to hers. "But I'll fight to my last dying breath to stop you."

Cyn stared at him, unmoving, for a long, long time.

"...Cautious nod. You know. I think that is one of the reasons. I always liked you, Big Brother. You were always honest about. Your nature. Who you are. What you are. Even now you do not. Lie to yourself." She took a step back. "I think I need some. Advice. Be seeing you soon. Big Brother." And with that she was gone in a surge of yellow glitching, leaving no trace of having even been there.

"...See ya later?" He asked in a puzzled tone.

Cyn reappeared in the corridor outside, glancing at the glaring V right by the left side of the door.

Her eyes then slid to the right side of it, finding a purple solver symbol aimed straight at her by the damned drone that had taken them away from her, THAT HAD STOLEN…

Calm.

Big Brother N would be very upset if something happened to that drone. And she wasn't sure if she still wanted to rely on memory erasure and backups to fix those kinds of problems.

"You are. Very protective." She commented.

"Bite me. I don't care if you can blow up planets or whatever. You mess with him, and I will tear you apart limb from limb." Came the harsh response.

"Giggle. You can certainly. Try." She glanced to V. "Would you. Assist her?" V, disappointingly, remained silent, simply continuing to stare at her with golden eyes. "Pout. You could at least. Answer me."

"...I'm done standing by as you hurt him." V eventually said, uncrossing her arms even as her eyes hollowed out in barely suppressed fear.

"Mean laugh. Oh please. You hardly needed. My help. To ignore J as she messed with him for. Years." V looked away at that, hands clenched.

"Hey! No messing around with the hot robot's head!" Uzi exclaimed. "Either of them!"

"...What?" Cyn said, staring at Uzi. "...Unamused scowl. Oh god. You have a crush on. Big Brother. Ew."

"You Ew! You're some gross eldritch horror… thing!" Uzi said, snarling as she pointed at Cyn.

A victorious light appeared in Cyn's eyes even as she retained her placid expression. "Giggle. You are not. Denying it."

Uzi blushed, her eyes narrowing. "Youuuu…"

"Giggle. Bye bye." And once again she vanished in a yellow glitch.

V stared at Uzi, Uzi staring back. Then, V snorted. "I mean, it's kind of obvious."

"Shut. UP!"

N had not expected anyone else after Cyn left.

Well, maybe Uzi or V. Maybe even J, wherever she was. Oh, and he still needed to thank Doll for her help in getting him fixed.

Still, he'd at least have expected any further visitors to be drones, worker or otherwise.

Not a seven and a half foot tall clown looking person.

"Uh…" N said cautiously, staring at the garish looking individual that had just emerged from the vent. "...Hi?"

The individual was… strange, to say the least. They were taller than N by a good margin, dressed in elegant and extremely colourful clothing that seemed to ripple despite the lack of wind in the room. Over these they wore a dark leathery coat, though N's sensors were adamant in stating that whatever this was, it was not in fact leather. In fact, pretty much all of N's sensors were screaming in confusion at what the hell they were looking at. Additionally, they seemed to wear a horned and incredibly smooth pale mask. N could have sworn he saw it move when he stopped focusing on it.

They fell on the floor in a feline crouch before raising back up to their feet, having made no noise whatsoever in the process. Then, they pulled out… was that an etch-a-sketch?!

Hello.

N stared at the word written in perfect script. It was weirdly beautiful writing for being made on a child's toy. He had so many questions right now, like who the heck was that person, how they got in, what they wanted, maybe he should even scream for help…"Soooo… what's up with the popping out of the vents thing?" Or he could ask that. Great job N.

The clown tilted their head to the side before erasing what was on the etch-a-sketch and writing an answer.

I figured this would result in less screaming than the front door.

"Ah. Well I guess that's fair." No it wasn't, but hey they were willing to answer! That was good! Then again, the humans had talked at first as well before shooting him. He should stay on guard. "Still, sneaking in isn't exactly giving me very trusty vibes…"

Apologies. I merely wished to avoid causing a scene.

"Right, right." N nodded. "So what brings you here? And who are you?"

I am but a humble servant of the Aeldari people. And I am here to request help from your kind.

The moment the clown had flipped the toy towards N to show him his answer he suddenly blurred, a massive bio-mechanical claw slamming into place where he'd been standing but an instant ago. N's eyes hollowed out at the sheer speed the clown had moved.

They now stood a few meters away from having their back against the wall, still looking weirdly relaxed as Cyn slowly walked towards them, eyes glowing in the relative darkness of the room.

"Angry Giggle. It seems like a cockroach. Has sneaked into your room. Big Brother." Cyn's shadow deepened, growing larger and larger as the room seemed to grow smaller. "Snarl."

Let us not let things devolve to violence, please.

N had no idea when the clown had the time to write this, but he quickly jumped out of the bed. "H…hey now! Calm down Cyn! They haven't done anything aggressive so far!"

Cyn froze, her head slowly turning towards him. "Incredulous stare. Big Brother. They sneaked into. Your room. And look like this." The clown gave a wave. "They cannot have. Good intentions."

N gave an uneasy smile. "I mean. Maybe? But it costs nothing to hear them out right?"

"Exasperated groan. Hearing people out is exactly what. Got you in this situation." Cyn said mechanically. "You are too trusting. Big Brother."

"Maybe." N conceded. "Probably, actually. But if I wasn't willing to listen to people, I wouldn't have met Uzi."

"Annoyed grumble. Maybe you shouldn't have." Cyn's head turned back towards the clown. "You are lucky my Big Brother is so. Naive."

I was hoping you would not kill me if he saw me first.

"That was. Clever. And also. Annoying."

N chuckled uneasily. "So uh… the reason you snuck into my room instead of talking to anyone else was…"

So I would not simply be disposed of and ignored by the entity over there. Or at least, sour our relationship before they could even develop by her attempts at doing so.

"Angry glare. You imply I would not succeed."

You would have tried.

"Angry."

N sighed. "That's… who even are you? What do you want?"

This time, the clown took longer to write on their tool, seemingly taking some time to think things through.

A Demon died of a True Death on this world. One which has attracted the attention of the Four. One which is not of our own. And it was no insignificant demon, but a Greater Demon. There are very few things that can accomplish such a feat. And even fewer that are able to do so are willing to assist my kind.

"You are not. Human." Cyn declared confidently.

N's eyes widened. Not human?! But it was organic! He could tell! Then…

Wait.

The visions… the entity that had possessed him had shown him…

So that was… an alien?

Oh gosh! How exciting!

Correct. And neither are you. There is a task that has confounded my kind for a very long time. One which would be a boon for all within this galaxy, and could possibly even turn the tide of darkness that has been encroaching for so long.

"And you came to us to help… because Cyn was able to kill the thing in me?" N asked, his processor quickly filtering his various thoughts. "How did you even know that happened? Wait, how did you even get on the planet?!"

Such events are easily discernible to those who know how to look. My patron is one such being. There are others. I doubt he is the only one to have a newfound interest in this place.

"Giggle. And you think we will help. Why?" Cyn demanded, the atmosphere of the room growing more oppressing as her visor locked onto the clown.

Because your world should have returned to your own dimension a long time ago. Should it have not? Something is anchoring it here. Or Somethings.

"Annoyed huff. The Parasites." Cyn's visor displayed a tick of annoyance for a single blink before vanishing. "You offer a solution."

More of a coinciding of interests really. You need to weaken the power anchoring your world. We can provide you a perfect opportunity to do so. One which will assist us.

"Well that sounds great!" N said excitedly. "But, I mean, sorry to point it out, but it also sounds insanely suspicious."

"Approving nod. I am glad you think so. Big Brother. Now let us kick out this suspicious clown."

N shook his head. "Now hold on! I didn't say that!" He lowered his voice, focusing on Cyn. "We do want to go back home. This place is…" He shook his head, turning back to the clown. "But we're going to need more information. And we're going to want the others there as well." He'd just promised V he wouldn't keep secrets after all. And he was willing to admit he was too trusting for his own good. Uzi's cynicism would do some good.

Plus, an alien! An actual, real alien! Uzi was going to freak out.

Of course. It will make explaining the matter of the soon to arrive orks easier as well.

"Blank expression. The what."

The space hulk was a nightmarish amalgamation of innumerable ships, debris and asteroids; Lost to the warp over the millenia, agglomerated together through chance or intent, of a size that would make it easily confused for a small moon.

Its very existence was an insult to safety standards. Any exploration by sane individuals with even the smallest degree of self-preservation would require an incredible amount of work, effort and discipline to ensure a successful and safe environment.

Which is of course why the majority of it was populated by a considerable amount of very drunk orks.

"OI BOSS! DA THINGIEMAJIG IZ SAYIN' WE'Z ALMOST DERE!"

"FINALLY! I WUZ RUNNIN' OUT OF SQUIGS!"

"SQUIGSBEER YOU'Z MEAN?"

"NAH. RAN OUT OF THAT A FEW HOURS AGO."

"AIGHT BOSS. WELL WE'Z ALMOST DERE!"

"ALROIGHT!" A vicious maw full of teeth gleaned in the closest thing to a command deck the insult to standard construction had, squinty eyes glittering with excitement. "LEZ SEE WHERE DIZ THING IZ SENDING US…"