a dome-shaped edifice the size of a modest football stadium. It has no windows and only four cardinal entrances, each on heavily guarded. It's talcum colored surface ahs been reinforced against explosions, lasers, plane crashes, earthquakes, flooding, fire, and pigeons, and it has been largely voted as the most secure non-government-personnel building in all of Okarthel. It is the Anna Kalina MacInerny Center for Defense Research and Testing, also known as MacDRAT by the cynical.

---

Okarthel
Yin's House

---

"Welcome to MacDRAT, Yin. Shall I commend you to the tour first, or would you like to get straight to work?" Leonide, resplendent in a silk shirt and jeans, greets her at the door.

"I'd love a tour, if it's not much trouble." She smiles in greeting. She always likes to know her surroundings.

"We'll need to ID you at the door." Leonide card-thumbprint-retina scans the door open and allows her inside, waving cheerfully at two very bored looking receptionists. "We don't get any visitors," he laughs, as they smile brightly at the attractive Coraderm and Vampiress and Wyvern. "But rest assured. The P90 machine guns they have under their desks are not hospitable."

Yin smirks. "I'm shocked and apalled. Automatic weapons should be covered in charm school."

"You should run for office," the blue man snickers. "These are Grace and Victoria."

Grace, the elder of the two Dragon younglings, bows a head encumbered with a veritable crown of horns, and smiles a blue-eyed smile. Victoria just gazes placidly, a dirty blonde with a dirty smile.

Yin smiles, bowing her head politely in return. "A pleasure to meet both of you."

"Likewise," they say in unison, and then mock-glare at each other.

"Here you are, Ensign. This is a fairly basic routine, I need your fingerprints, blood test, eye test, weigh-in, measurements for uniform, shoe size, glove size, vaccination, breath test, pap smear, cardio exam, voice calibration, hearing test, nutrition workup..."

"Oh, lovely. Well, show me the way...I don't make a habit of stripping in lobbies without a tip. Also, I need to make sure I get cleared to drag Revilier around, too."

"You already are, and I was kidding about the pap smear." Leonide grins a bit. "The medical facility is this way." He turns to walk down a corridor, waving at the receptionists as he goes.

"Such a charming queer," one of them whispers softly as they leave, and the other laughs.

"Him or her?"

Yin's just wearing a quiet smirk-smile. Doesn't startle her; she'd guessed that last night. Folds her hands behind her neck as they walk. "This place is entirely too sterile."

"Sterile and impotent. But wait until you see the quarters." 

Around a corner, past a few offices, a red door leads into a beautifully equipped hospital area. "State of the art," Leonide points out, "because accidents do happen. We've only ever lost two members, and both were due to gross negligence on their own part. Who gets drunk and then tests particle cannons?" 

"Darwin Award candidates?" She looks around. Nice. In a "what am I doing here?" kind of way, but impressive in any case. "Beats the dragoon hospital. With a switch."

"Over there is your assigned physician." Leonide gestures towards a mousy, ultra-geeky lady with dyed black hair a deceptively attractive face and a figure, working at a spot plate. "Dr. Anna Kalina. Go say hi."

Anna Kalina...as in namesake for the researchy place Anna Kalina? Right then. Yin steadies herself inwardly, and approaches with respect, but without outward sign of her unsurety. "Excuse me, ma'am?" She inquires.

"One moment, I'll just be a moment and then... okay." The lady, who is a solid 5'5'' at best, looks up to Yin and provides a very professional smile. "Good morning, Ensign Iejir. I was just busying myself to keep from going skulltickling bonkers with boredom I do that sometimes. Shall we get on with your physical?"

The dragoon-ish bows her head politely. No pleasantries...works for her. "Certainly, ma'am."

"Good, this way please." Anna gathers a notebook, but stops before leading Yin to her office. "Does he need a physical also?"

"He shouldn't." Yin had commanded the wyvern earlier to follow her, and hasn't yet recinded that, so...yeah. "Physically pristine."

"Do tell," the doctor chuckles, "this way." 

Her office turns out to be bare of pretty much anything, except an old, cracked picture of an obviously younger Matthias MacInerny... with a dart scoreboard drawn around it. She pats a comfortable looking chair, and heads over to the sink to wash her hands. "Do you have any special medical history I should know up front?"

Yin blinks as she sits. "Well. I've broken nearly every bone in my body, most more than once, and have been exposed to half the toxins out there at some point." Shrugs. She's never sure how to answer this question. "Very recent, still traceable injuries include a gunshot wound and some damage to my right foot. My file can tell you in more detail than I even remember, I'm sure." Smirks a little.

"Mostly I'm concerned with allergies and genetic defects," the Doctor assures her, "tings o' dat sort." Smiles.

Yin smiles a bit. "All 'curse of the vampire' type vulnerabilities apply; I can list them if you need. Also, allergic to latex."

The doctor sets aside the gloves she'd started to put on. "Good to know that last one. Okay... listen. I have a dozen tests to do on you and some of them will take a bit to process. First I have to draw some blood. Feel free to ask me anything about the facility or members while we work, eh?" She picks up a hypodermic needle and smiles a bit.

"Good to know, thank you, ma'am." Yin smiles a bit in return. Doesn't have any questions just yet, actually...maybe that will change as the examination goes on, but for now, she's just taking things as they come. Looks over to the door. "Revilier, take two steps to your right." He'd been blocking it.

He does. The doctor smiles a bit more brightly.

"You have him trained pretty well, hon. That's how it should be. Ready for a little prick?" She holds up the needle.

Yin looks up to the dragon. Thinks of Menayen, actually. "With the company I keep, ma'am, I already have plenty."

The doctor snickers a hissing snicker. She's a fire dragon, actually, but with very little in the way of physical sign except for that hissing and a slight warm to her touch. 

"I thought I might invite my husband, too." She plunges the needle in, draws the blood quickly.

Yin's cheek twitches, but that's about it. "Matthias MacInerny, ma'am, yes?"

"Yes. He's called out the name of other women in bed before, but you're the first he seemed interested in talking about after the fact."

Yin's mouth twitches towards a smirk, but she isn't positive how to react. Heh. "It would explain the dart board. Something other than 'I'm sorry I'm sorry'?" she inquires, amused.

The doctor swabs the poked spot again. "Lie down, would you hon? And he never apologizes when he does that. Your whole issue with this gentleman," she glances at Revilier, "has him incredibly interested. Makes me really wonder why he didn't cry out his name, anyway."

Yin snickers quietly. "It would have made the conversation more interesting, anyway." Glances over to the wyvern involuntarily, of course, but does as she's told.

"For me too!" She sets a metallic strip over Yin's forehead and one over her chest. "These will check your neural and cardiovascular conditions. So tell me about yourself?"

Trippy. Yin's suddenly quite a bit uncomfortable...it reminds her sharply of her time in the tower. Being restrained for that long leaves an impression on anyone's psyche. Finally... "well...I'm originally from an isolated vampiric community in northern Canada. We're more Icelandic than Canadian, culturally, my dad and most of the clan are either from there or have parents who were. Have a dad and a sister; he was the clan leader growing up and she's it now. I've been a dragoon since I was twenty-three and in counterintelligence since I was twenty-five, so...this is pretty much my whole life."

More tests, using those strange strips. The Doctor listens to every word Yin says, smiling her clinical smile, moving from task to task. "I imagine there's quite a bit of wear on your ligaments from this lifestyle, Ensign. How is your health in general?"

"Usually recovering from some slight or another," Yin admits. "But I've only been sick without provocation once in my adult life." Also, has been admitted to counselling twice on stress, but doesn't say this.

"I see! Okay... now. Do you drink alcohol or do any recreational drugs?" Anna asks, instead of reading files, so that she can build a better rapport with her patients.

"A drink or two in the evenings if work is stressful. No other drugs, though."

"Fabulous. Okay..." Anna pulls the strips away, and places them in separate plastic bags. "I'll send off this bloodwork, and we'll know everything we need to know in a bit. You've been assigned to me for all of your medical needs and psychological needs; also, I'm the one you come to for official questions. Leonide's your boss, and I'm his boss. Questions, comments, rude noises?"

"Am I waiting here for the bloodwork, or wandering off somewhere else?"

"You're free to do whatever you want." Anna smiles a bit more genuinely. "But I would suggest not wandering into gray doors... testing rooms, with booms and blades and Leonide with his pants around his ears."

Yin's lips twitch towards a smile at this. She's already sitting up, and glad to be such. "When should I be back here, if that's the plan?"

"Two hours. I have other patients, unfortunately." She smiles again. "At your leisure, of course." She glances at the door. "Just don't forget where I am."

"I won't." She really won't...her whole career is gleaning information, after all, and not forgetting it immediately helps. "Query...if I leave the installation, will I be able to get back on at that point, and if so, how? Provided Leonide doesn't immediately poke me some other direction, of course."

"If you left now, you couldn't get back in. YOu'll need to be identified and tagged and so on."

Yin has to smirk at the wording as she stands up. "Noted. So. Big plastic deal hanging from one of my ears, then?"

"At least we don't shoot you first." Anna smiles back.

"Says the lady with the needle. Mmkay...thank you, ma'am, I'll be back in two hours. Is there anything else?" 

"Yeah. Don't become Matthias's lap dog. He means well, but he'll eat you alive." Her smile is the experienced smile of someone in the know. It's a much older smile than the rest of her seems to be. "Goodbye now!"

Yin smiles a bit. With her love of authority? "Goodbye, ma'am. Revilier, follow me, please." And she heads out the door.

The wyvern obediently trots behind her while Anna Kalina MacInerny sets to work on the tests.

Leonide awaits her outside of the room. "What do you think of her?"

"Businesslike, has a very professional facade. Seems competent."

"She has a nasty vindictive streak for everyone in the world except her husband." Leonide gestures down the hall, and leads her towards the living quarters, a collection of apartment style single rooms with a dorm-style shower and bathroom setup. "She displaces her feelings about his constant cheating onto others who cross her."

Yin smirks. "Does her mentioning that he called my name in bed not bode well, then?"

Leonide cringes just a little. "Only if your name is the same as hers, Ensign, does that bode well. It sounds like you developed a pretty quick rapport, though."

Smirk broadens into a grin. This conversation just writes itself. "With her or him?"

"Both. But don't think so highly of his fantasizing about you." Leonide flicks his hair, sets it to flowing for a moment. "The man would make love to a toaster oven if it had breasts."

"It just amused me." Yin snickers. "Honestly, men pining isn't that much a piece of interest for me, normally. It's pretty much part of being a vampiress, learning to seduce. Not that you seem all that interested." She smirks. Folds her hands behind her neck casually. "So. Where are we now? Looks like...college."

Leonide smiles a bit more broadly at Yin. "You're not my type. Also, this is a lot like college, only we give people something useful for their time and money." The Coraderm pokes aside one of the doors. "You stay here when you want, especially during heavy projects. You're never expected to stay here, though, so you can go home when you want. Bunking is arranged by whoever donates the most to the junk food fund."

"What if I consider junk food the stuff in the veins of preservative-loving geeks?"

"Bring your own bag."

"Tsk. Military installations are no fun in that regard." She sniffs the air. "Why do I smell smoke and gunpowder? in the residential area?"

"Probably one of the ballistics guys coming off his shift." Leonide's feelers creep out, test the air briefly. "Seems so. If it bothers you we'll petition him to take showers more often?"

"I have better coercion methods. Oh. Speaking of which, are there any bathtubs around, or just showers?"

"There are a few tubs. They're not awfully private, though." Leonide nods a bit. "I have one in my quarters, though, and you'd be safe from my interested eyes."

Yin smiles a bit. "Thanks. I may take you up on that sometime, if I'm not able to go home." Has already decided that Leonide isn't flirtable, which actually makes things a bit easier. She can manipulate men more quickly than she can develop a rapport with them...but gay men are another story. "So, can I see the testing facilities I'm going to be working in, or do I have to get my papers first for that?"

"You can see it, sure. But it's not much." He holds out an arm, gesturing towards the black door at the end of another hall. "Rifle range, hurdle course, and so forth."

"Punching bag?"

"There's a gym here somewhere, but it's not part of the testing facilities."

"Well, I know where I'm spending my lunches. Good to know!" the vampiress smirks just a little. "Do you fight, Leonide?"

"How do you mean?" He gazes thoughtfully at Yin. "I am usually easy to get along with."

"I mean like leaving indentions on your knuckles. For sport or hobby or whatnot."

"Oh." A hint of blush darkens his cheeks. "Not for sport or hobby. I used to be a naval captain and I saw enough fighting for life to tide me over."

"Ahh...fair enough, then. Where did you serve?" Barely--barely--bites back a joke about navy couples. She would be reaming him about his orientation right now if she thought she'd be wrong.

"A country that doesn't exist anymore." He grins a bit. "Go ahead. I've heard them all."

She cracks up. "No need to reiterate, then, Richie Simmons."

"Har, har." He tosses his hair. "I'm not a dragon, so I'm quite allowed to practice my own way of life in the open." Pauses. "In the navy, we got filmed for doing that."

"Oh, good, so I don't have to pretend I don't know. That's a nice change." She smiles...actually, genuinely. Hands find the back of her neck again. Snickers. "Actually, I have some contacts from an old undercover mission who would probably pay good money for those tapes." Whistles. Comes to an open, courtyard-like area, though they're still solidly indoors. Interestingly, where they'd been on the ground floor before, they're nearly at the top of a formidable series of floors, open in this central area and connected by glass elevators.

"You can't see anything for the steam on the lenses, anyway. This would be..." Leonide pauses, and scratches his hair. "I have no idea what this is for, honestly. People eat here, sometimes, but I think it's used for squad drills now and again. Infiltrating the structure, and what not."

"Well. It's pretty. And open. Good for psychology; a lot of people working underground crack up." Yin smiles a bit, twirling her hair idly. "Functionality is great, it is, but it's easy to forget that aesthetic can be important to the point of being functionality."

"That's what I keep telling them about the uniforms." Leonide glances at a gray-jumpsuit-clad fellow passing by. "You have some time to kill. What do you think about muffins?"

"I don't, all that much. Want we should get some muffins, then?"

"Not especially, I just thought I'd ask." He smirks a little. 

Yin grins. "Ah. 'I'm bored, what do you want to do?' Gotcha. Speaking as someone without a stomach, it's just as well." Stops at the railing, looking down over the "view." Lots of grey people going about their semi-grey little jobs. Pauses. "Is it odd to consider secret military testing and development a mundane job?"

"Not really. What we do here is far from mundane. How we do it is incredibly so-- rather like a decades-married couple trying to have a baby."

A corner of her mouth twitches amusedly at that. "Explain the analogy."

"The end result of this mechanical, routine, we-may-as-well-be-doing-it-in-our-sleep activity is life. Sex in a twenty-five to thirty year marriage is the same." He tosses his hair again, proud of himself.

Yin laughs softly. "You must be a poet."

"It's the hair, right?"

"Well, that and the orientation." Mock-ducks for thrown objects.

"Vertical?"

"Of course. Precisely it." Yin grins a bit at him. Jumps a little to sit on the railing. "So. I can't imagine you've spent all of your waking hours pining for the moment you could be my boss. What's your job around here, anyway?"

"Talent scouting and relations." Leonide leans against the rail next to her, fiddles with his carefully tended fingernails. "I'm a personnel manager. Technically that's exactly what I do."

"Ahh...a people person who deals with those of us without that particular gift. Noted." She'd been gazing idly at Revilier. Narrows her eyes a little. She could swear his eyes just focussed for a moment. Actually focussed. Or, she's cracking up. Likely the latter.

Shakes her head. "After all this is finally finished, I'm going to take a long vacation."

Leonide watches her gaze, follows it. Looks at the empty eyed Wyvern, appraises him. "Do you want to see the facilities we'll use to test your friend here?"

"Yeah." Yin slips off of the rail, and just looks at Leonide, ready to follow.

The coraderm leads them down an elevator shaft and across the courtyard, pointing out this and that. The first test chamber built. The history of this room, that case, that hole in the wall. Names of people, places, weapons and programs.

"This is it," he announces, pulling open a set of glass doors. "You won't have privacy, or much help." Inside is an operating table, medical supplies and testing strips like Anna Kalina's, various monitors, and so forth. It's a Spartan, stainless steel room of even temperature.

Yin wrinklese her nose a little bit. "That's fine. It may be better. I'd like to go on record as saying that I will personally visit anyone who cuts Revilier open for study and kick their gonads through their spleen."

"No worrying there. Matthias's pet project and nighttime name-shout, there shall be no touching." He bows a bit, goofing off. "You can get started if you wish. I'm not sure what you want to do, but until you get your physical and such completed you can't do anything else."

"I'm not sure where to start," Yin admits. "Although, I think a good jumping off point might be doing some outside research and figuring out what exactly what the spell is behind it. There's a rune involved, that's a clue...but I have no idea where it came from or what makes it tick, only how to work it."

"Does he know where it came from?" Leonide lets the door shut behind them. "Maybe you could ask?"

"Worth a shot." Yin looks at the wyvern. Sits on a table. Not the operating table, that one she avoids like the plague. "Revilier, do you know the history of the Golden spell?"

"Yes."

Leonide, having no compunction about it, sits right on the operating table. "Lovely. Tell us about it?" 

Revilier doesn't bat an eyelash.

Yin, for her part, doesn't bat one either. "Tell us the history of the spell, Revilier."

"Two hundred and five years and two months ago the last Golden Wyvern elected to have his spirit merged with his wife's, a Silver Wyvern. He was a healer of renown, worldwide. He condensed his knowledge and power into a mark, a genuine rune. Not the code letters of modern runery. From her the spell passed to her son, and then to me, and then to Yin. The mark carries some of his spirit."

Yin considers this quietly. Huh. So...is she the first non-wyvern with it, then? Trippy, that. Finally, after consideration... "if it has some of his spirit...is it possible to talk to him in any way? Like, through a medium or whatnot?"

"I don't know."

Worth looking into, she thinks...who has a better chance of fixing a perversion of a powerful spell than the guy who created it. "Is there anything else important for me to know about the spell that you know, Revilier?"

"Troix's blood contains a cure of the perverted spell."

Yin blinks. "How do you know that?"

"Vampiric, draconic, arachnid immunity, together, covers the full range of debilitations and diseases, as well as magical ailments."

"Including mental ones? How sure are you?"

"85%."

Yin has to smirk a little. It's such a specific number. Really, even when he has no personality, traces of the depose Wyvern's actually personality manage to come through just in what he considers facts. "That's worth looking into." Pause. Laughs softly. "You know, the first time I met Revilier, it involved me being chained to a table with him interrogating me about where to find Troix...spider friend of mine's daughter."

"It sounds wonderful," Leonide observes, one fingertip tracing the edge of the table. "She's a strange mixed breed, then?"

"In a manner of speaking." Shakes her head a bit. "I don't know how much of it's classified...but probably most of it." Especially to a research facility.

"Classified to who? Spiders? Dragons? I don't quite understand."

"Both." Normally she'd expound a little more on the nature of her old job, here, but...though she's a chatty person, she knows when to stuff a sock or two in it. "I should see if I can get ahold of her, though..." Considers this.

"The phones aren't tapped or anything. Well, not calling out. You can use my office, if you like."

"Thanks." Yin smiles a bit. "I need to talk to that contact later, anyway, though, so I think I'll just wait on it." Smirks. "And, that's actually not a cop-out!" Laughs softly. Gazes at the wyvern thoughtfully. "It's disturbing to see him like this. It's even more so to think that dozens, potentially hundreds of troops have been reduced to the same state for fighting stolidly and loyally."

Leonide hops off the table, listening, and walks a circle around Revilier. Looks him over, again. "Is it really disturbing? It looks to me that he's not that different from the soldier most military regimes hope to produce. Skilled and perfectly obedient, without initiative or opinion of his own?"

"Yes." Yin props one of her feet on the table, draping a lithe wrist over her knee. "Even brainwashed soldiers have identities. Hobbies, hopes, dreams, home lives. They made choices." She closes her eyes. "Shaping a person into a soldier is one thing. Killing a person to create a soldier is quite a different one."

"I see. Well, he's not technically dead, and for the record, I am horrible at solace. This whole Golden soldier business will end before long, after the 'crimes against humanity' charges leveled against Adelisa. We'll keep it contained."

"That's a main concern, yes." The vampiress looks up. "From what I understand, Adelisa created her perverted version of the spell more or less from scratch. There's no guarantee she won't also develop a way to enable other people to use it...and I don't think I need to outline that ripple effect. If this is a race against the clock, that's it."

"Unfortunately, being here means your part in the racing is over." Leonide pokes Revilier's shoulder, wondering, and seems to nod imperceptibly when there's no reaction. "Now it's up to the government and the military, so heaven knows when something will be done."

Yin's actually surprised into silence a few moments. Finally nods slowly, something like a frown teasing her features. "Odd feeling, that." She's averted her share of national crises...in a sense. She'd been the field agent the work of lots of people was funneled through.

"You're just on the other side of the table, now, is all. Same work, different method." Leonide sits on the table again. "Also, aloof doesn't play too well here. You might need to work on your social skills just a smidge."

Yin wrinkles her nose a little. "Define 'a smidge.'"

"A smidge is a vague term denoting a small amount without setting definitive boundaries for said amount." Leonide smirks. "But that's not important right now."

"Fair enough." Yin combs her hair back and out with her fingers, and then returns it to the day's low ponytail. "More cleavage it is." She isn't serious about this, but doesn't really give much indication of such.

"Look who you're sitting next to, hon, and you're already heading in the wrong direction." Leonide shakes his head, smiles at her and winks. "What I mean is, you have to make yourself accessible to people. For all intents and purposes the people here are nine to fivers, not really concerned with the world altering consequences of their work so much as their kids' soccer tryouts and double paned windows."

Yin considers this...ponders how to make herself accessible, when two thirds of what she's done in her life is classified. "It's an odd sort of change," she finally concedes. "I honestly have trouble even understanding the mindset, anymore. Can fake it pretty well, but that's not the same thing."

"Tell any man on the planet that. One thing is that people are probably going to ask a lot about your exploits, since your identity here is pretty well known. Don't be afraid to talk about yourself. If things are classified, tell them they're classified. People who work here are familiar with the term." Leonide lays back on the table, suddenly looking older and far more worn-down than he did a minute ago. It's been a long morning. "You have a lot going for you. You'll be well liked if you aren't afraid to be."

Yin smiles a little. "Thanks, Leonide."

The coraderm looks back to her. "You're welcome, Ensign. And that's a very good start. You know, most of the men here are happily married. You won't have to worry about fending them off, it's part of the recruitment drive. We like stable families here. The women, too, though less of them are married than men... often marriage entices them to back off their careers in favor of children. You know how that goes."

"Sure." She nods a bit. "Pretty universal...it's even truer in field units."

"Right. I think this could be very good for you." Especially after the last few months of your life. "We still have some time before the tests get back. I have to get to the airport, unfortunately-- I have a contact to meet in Edmonton. Is there anything you need, or need to know?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think so, no."

"Okay." The talent scout slides off the table, stretches, and yawns. "God. I need a nap. And..." he fumbles in his pockets for a second before producing a keychain sized card, which he hands to Yin. "This is my loan ID. Use it to get wherever you need until I get back, but don't leave until Anna Kalina clears you to."

She takes it, glances over it a moment to make sure there's not some trick to it she needs explained, then nods. "Okay. Have a nice trip."

"It should be, I hear he's hot." Leonide gives her a wink, and goes for the door. "See you in a few days!"

Yin smirk-smiles, just a touch, feeling introspected. "See you then."

A moment later, Leonide's gone. Only Revilier remains with Yin, as most people are in their respective labs and offices at this time of day.

Yin gazes thoughtfully at the wyvern a bit. She wants to call someone about Troix...but can't bring herself to brave this place not being bugged. Nah...not really much she can do about it just yet. And there's nothing wrong with taking an hour's downtime before--doubtlessly--something is going to blow up and go very wrong for her again.

Finally stands. "Revilier, walk with me." And heads out the door, just...wandering, seeing what and who she can see.

Apart from a few hastily rushing folks, burdened with files and tons of paperwork, the halls are mostly empty at first. Five to ten minutes after she sets out, though, the lunch hour strikes and what had been essentially a ghost facility teems with life. Dragons, humans, assorted freaks like Leonide, and even a few Dragoons roam the halls in search of food and social groups-- the conversation over the water cooler exists here, too.

"Hey, nice to meet you," a fairly standard working man calls to Yin, extending a hand. "We heard we were getting a new researcher but they didn't say she'd be, uh..."

"...hot?" A woman chimes in, cringing a bit at Yin, who probably looks too good if that's possible.

"Horny," Yin corrects, smiling a bit. She's feeling uncharacteristically shy...but the sarcastic shoulder angel she'd mentioned to Revilier once before never takes a day off. Also, it's defensive reaction. Takes the hand. Smiles at both of them. "Nice to meet you both. As near as I can tell, I'm your new crash test dummy."

"Well, either way, we're glad to have you," the man nods, a slight blush darkening his tanned cheeks. "I'm Gray. The vision standing next to you--" the woman smiles a bit more brightly, "-- is Robert." Gray glances at another worker, standing by the wall with a cup of coffee in each hand. "And this is Angel." The woman, Angel, glares at him, but only briefly.

Yin snickers, then smiles close-eyed...she finds it's more disarming. "The pleasure's all mine. So..." right, it's okay to ask this kind of thing here. "What do you three do around here?"

"Well," Angel begins before Gray can, "this mastermind and I are in the ballistics division. We're working on better nonlethal firearms. Robert works in synthetics... he can tell you better than I can, but wait until he's had his coffee."

The spy smirk-grins at that. "Ah. So research and development types really do run on stimulants."

"Well, of course. Caffeine, food, and oxygen, in that order." Gray grins at her. "So what will you be doing here, miss, uh... Irene?"

"Oh, sorry. Yin Iejir." The vampiress smiles. "I'm going to be testing what you smart-sorts come up with and seeing what does and doesn't actually go as planned. Also have a pet project that Matthias MacInery is interested in, but I think that's mostly on my own time to start."

Angel rolls her eyes. "Oh joy. He hasn't sent you flowers yet, has he?"

Yin smirks sidelong at the researcher. "No, but I've been warned a couple times on the matter."

"He can be pretty insistent." Angel looks aside. Shoves away a few memories that make the wedding ring on her finger seem to burn. She looks at Revilier, who hasn't moved of course. "Is this your man?"

Yin doesn't fail to note the reaction...makes no comment, though. Looks back to Revilier. "This is the aforementioned pet project, Revilier Omeaux. He hasn't always been a soulless puppet. Former General, actually."

"General, eh? Sounds... really familiar. Are you serious?" Gray looks Revilier over, astounded. Of course they know who he is. "He's really fallen hard, hasn't he?"

Yin's eyes sadden a bit as she gazes at the wyvern. "Yeah. Along with every soldier who was loyal to him in the recent coup d'etat. Hundreds of people are like this. I want to to reverse it."

"Really..." Angel looks at him too, not missing Yin's expression. "You and him, then...?"

Yin's cheeks colour at the question, and she looks quickly away from the wyvern. "It was nothing serious. I just have tremendous respect for the man he was."

Angel nods. Enough said, in public, and for their first meeting. "Well. If there's anything we can help with, give us a buzz? Our office number is eighteen."

Gray nods. "Yeah. Besides, I wanna know how he got pecs like those." He rubs his own middle-aged-family man chest. "My wife would follow me around like a cocker spaniel if I had a chest like that."

Yin had been about to thank Angel for the offer...ends up laughing despite herself at Gray's remark. Well, the company is intelligent...that's nice. Of course, she rarely has to deal with stupid people, but...even so. It's nice. "Ebay, dear."

"I'm not allowed on Ebay," Gray grins, "court order. I tried to buy a judge and they caught me. So Yin... we have kind of a newbie ritual here, and..."

"You're not tea bagging her, Gray," Angel interrupts. Gray smirks at her.

"You wanna do it, then?"

"Funny, funny."

Yin's just shaking her head. "Does anyone need a reminder that I have fangs?"

"So does Angel, but the word is they're in her gyah!"

Angel pulls her elbow away from Gray's ribs. "He's just trying to make you feel welcome, is all. We're going to a bar tonight after our shifts, and the newbie ritual is bringing you along and seeing if we can get you hammered. Interested?"

Yin hesitates over this. They seem nice, and she wouldn't be opposed to getting to know coworkers, especially if it means they'll help her out later...but she really just wants to work, and honestly, every paranoia fiber in her--rumoured to be 45% of her body mass--is saying that she has to stay alert lest there be Mediators around. Conflicted.

Finally...she smiles a bit. "Sure. Thanks. If I can bring a friend."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Angel muses. She takes a sip of water, and when she bows her head a hint of filed down horns can be seen. "Eight o clock sound good to you? O'Leary's?"

Yin nods. "Sounds good." Wonders at the horns, of course...she'd come within spitting distance of having that done to herself, after all.

"Great!" She brightens a bit, gives her umber office ponytail a tug. "It'll be nice to have another girl around. The enemy outnumbers us five to two without you."

Gray rolls his eyes. "The enemy indeed! Well, I'm going to go see if there are any chips left. I'll start working on those pecs tomorrow." He grins. "Unless we have pasta tomorrow."

"Displaced pectoral syndrome is a common thing," Yin acknowledges. "Sufferers see all their hard work puff out around the waist area."

"Amen," Gray nods, and waves as he heads toward the lunch line. "Nice to meet you, Yin!"

"I should go, too. Wanna grab a table with me, Yin?" Angel smiles a warm, welcoming, I have two kids smile.

"Nice meeting you, too, Gray." The vampiress smiles at Angel...though, all told, she's a bit taken aback at all this. People being nice, and seeming straightforward, and being inclusive and welcoming. She's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still... "sure, Angel. That sounds lovely. Thank you."

"Right! But you're a vampiress, so you don't eat food-food... hm. You know, Robert's actually working on a synthetic blood substitute..." And chat, chat, chat, as she leads Yin to a table on the edge of a fairly busy cafeteria.

"Revilier, follow me closely, a step behind. Hee...I'll be more interested if he can come up with one that actually tastes good." Yin wrinkles her nose a touch. "Most existing ones will keep you alive, but taste like hell." Also, she's pleased to not have to explain the "no stomach" thing, spared from being a killjoy.

"Well, I'm not an expert on the flavors, but I'll tell you this." Angel secures a hot dog with everything and a diet soda for herself. "Robert will love you forever if you offer to taste test for him."

Yin shakes her head, amused. "The first time he spikes one, I'm done." Smirks. "But I wouldn't mind otherwise. As near as I can tell, my starting job here is 'guinea pig' anyway."

"So was mine. 'So, what's a Cloud dragon really good for?' That was my mission statement." Angel grins a little bit more broadly. "Want a drink?"

"I'm okay, but thank you." Yin smiles. "Cloud dragon, huh? I've only met one before."

"We're pretty low on the ladder. But weather manipulation is not bad for a tactical skill. It's more useful for farming, though." Angel sets into her food with reckless abandon, displaying a combination of good manners and rapid consumption rarely seen together. "And you're attached to an Ice, right?"

"Quite so." Yin smiles a bit. "My family's from Baffin Island in Canada, so it didn't surprise anyone when an Ice dragon spoke for me. Especially since my undead physiology meshes with it fairly easily."

"That why I told Leonide he should get a Fire dragon to speak for him," Angel snickers, "but he didn't get it."

Yin has to laugh. "It'll come to him eventually. Honestly, I was a bit startled when he came right out and admitted it...I see plenty in the closet, but I can't recall ever meeting someone in Okarthel publically so 'flaming.'"

"Leonide writes his own ticket in this city. Whatever he told you he does is about ten percent of it at any given time." Angel sips her drink. Ah, Splenda. "Rumor is, and you know rumors I'm sure, but supposedly he had a lover, like... a forever partner, or whatever they call it nowadays. Supposedly he's been a prisoner in some Wyvern installation for as long as anyone can remember."

"Really...?" Yin face...not so much darkens, as takes on a different kind of thoughtful. She's suddenly back in her element. "Do you have a name or name possibility? Or any more details?"

"It's supposed to be John. Or something like that." Angel smiles a bit less, thoughtful. "Leonide's a good man. Tormented sort, but you'd never know it by interacting with him. And so cute! I've been trying to convince my husband that... um... well, that's more than you want to know on a first meeting."

Yin snickers quietly. "Point well taken." John...hm. She'll have someone look into it. Looks up at the wyvern. "Revilier, sit in that chair. You're creeping me out."

And he does. Angel sighs wistfully. "I wish my husband was that responsive. And built."

The vampiress has to smile, mixed emotions somehow visible beneath it. "He's a looker, anyway. Not what you expect to walk into the room when an asshole tells you that you're going to be interrogated. Can't get any feel for how interesting he is in this state, though." Shakes herself away from that line of thought in a hurry. "So. Tell me about yourself. Any kids?"

"One, yes." Angel goes for her wallet - more convenient here than a purse, though she has one in her office - and whips out a picture of a four-year-old boy standing proudly in a towel-cape and pajamas. "That's my baby, Dorian."

The former agent takes the picture, and her expression genuinely softens. "Ahh...he's beautiful. He looks so much like you, too!"

"His father thanks heaven every day for that, too." She shows another picture, this one of herself in the arms of a powerfully built but just as powerfully homely gentleman with a sizable nose and weak chin. 

Still, Yin smiles. "Ah, he's not so bad. Besides, you're a darling couple."

"He's a wonderful man. Too wonderful." She puts away that picture. "I kind of wish he had some obvious flaws. You know? Anyway... too much information."

"It's fine...I definitely understand." Yin laughs softly. Paranoid as she is? Hell yeah. Also, she feels exactly the same way about Revilier. "The point is, he's wonderful, and put a ring on your finger." Smiles gently at Angel. "Good things come in pairs."

Angel returns the smile, but covers the ring with her other hand without thinking about it. "That's right," she stalls, "but what am I doing sitting here when there're brownies to be had? Excuse me a moment, Yin?"

Outwardly, the vampiress smirks. "Of course." Inwardly...wonders. Whether it's tied to Matthias--Angel's almost certainly slept with him since being married, all considered--or unrelated.

When she comes back, just a moment later, she's composed herself completely and has the winning smile back. "Sorry about that," she laughs, and sets one down for Yin just in case. Can she even eat it, though? Angel doesn't know. "These are heaven, and I keep telling Robert to incorporate brownies into his synthetics."

The vampiress chuckles. "Chocolate-flavored blood. That I'd drink to. And thank you." Smiles at the other woman, and has a small piece, just a bite.

Angel munches hers contentedly for a moment, and is about to ask about Yin's last job when Robert slides into a chair next to her. She looks at him leisurely. "Stimulated, Bob?"

"Sitting at this table, how could I not be?" Robert, a lanky, well-groomed Internet geek type, holds out a long-fingered hand to Yin. "Hi there, pleasure!"

Yin smiles at him, taking the hand delicately. "The pleasure's all mine. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Robert and I hear you're a vampiress which, you can imagine, is awfully interesting for someone doing what I'm doing anyway do you think I could convince you to help me out when you're not otherwise bothered? This blood synthesis stuff is really tough, but if I had an expert around it'd flow so much better." Smiles a coffee-cracked smile.

Yin blinks. Finally laughs softly, leaning her chin on her folded hands. "Tell me something first, sweetie...how many ccs of caffeine have you had today?" Grins.

"Coffee cups? Five. Wait. What time is it?" Robert looks at his watch. "Seven."

She snickers, fangs glinting. "Systematic, that. And sure, I'd be happy to help." Smiles. "Just need an office number and such so I know where to bother you."

"Number twenty-six. I'd be really grateful. Sorry to get straight to the point but the coffee demands I not waste words." Robert grins a little. "But now that the urgent request is done, I can relax. Maybe."

"Breathe, Robert. Slowly." Angel nibbles her brownie. "You're using too much of our oxygen."

"I have the feeling that it would cause some sort of shift in the fabric of reality if we sedated him, anyway," Yin offers, grinning a bit. "This crew is an amusing bunch, anyway, I'll give that to the lot of you."

"We gotta be. We work for the government, and they aren't funny." Robert nods, pleased at the double, maybe triple meaning.

Yin smirks. "Oh...also, before you have to ask..." points at the wyvern. "Name's Revilier. He's a project and my shadow. You can certainly talk to him, but he won't comprehend it, so don't bother. So. What are you developing the blood for, specifically?" Smiles.

"I just thought he was a fanboy of yours, or something," Robert observes with a rueful grin. "Transfusions, mainly. There's just not enough donor blood to go around these days, especially AB and O types."

Yin smiles a bit. "Speaking as a field agent--former, whatever--I agree and applaud you for it. Synthetics really need to improve...not only for different blood types, but different races."

"True. But you won't applaud at the consistency of some of the samples. Ugh." Robert nods rapidly. "Say, do you want a cup of coffee?"

"Nah, but why don't you have a few more." Yin smirks.

"That's a good question. Oh... right. Insomnia. Good point! Well, I have to get back to work now. Ladies, it's been bliss." Robert all but leaps from his chair, giving a short, goofy bow. "I hope!"

"A pleasure, I'm sure." Yin smiles amusedly at the bow. Looks back to Angel once he's gone. "He reminds me scarily of another friend of mind. Except he's less perverted."

"Juan Valdez? He's not allowed to be perverted. His wife is the whip-swinging-in-a-bad-way type." Angel grins. "She'd knock him into next Thursday."

"I think he's already halfway there on the sheer power of caffeine."

"Agreed! So..." Angel glances at her watch, a ten dollar Wallmart knock-off. "I should get back to work, too. It was really nice meeting you and... do you have a ride to the bar tonight?"

"I'll find one." Yin smiles at her. "I actually need to run by the hospital first and visit some friends. But I'll be there. Eight thirty, yes?"

"Sure. And dress casual, eh?" Angel grins again, and heads off with her brownie in tow. "Toodles, Yin!"

"Bye bye." Glances at her cell phone. Eh. She has a few extra minutes, but not many. May as well head back to Anna Kalina and get it confirmed that she's not infected with something weird. Stands, setting a hand briefly on the wyvern's shoulder. "Follow me, Revilier." And heads that way.

He follows, of course. A few people greet them both in passing, only a few noticing that Revilier doesn't seem to be answering. 

"... Ensign Iejir? You're just in time to be four minutes early." Anna Kalina's voice calls through a partially open door, amused, but not hostile at all. "I'm just giving a shot, you can come in."

Yin smiles a bit. "I ran out of people to bother, is all." Is quiet beyond this, not distracting her from the poor bastard with the needle in his arm.

It's quite a shot, as it turns out. The gentleman in question, an athletic-looking Dragoon from another unit, is on testosterone replacement therapy as part of his recovery from steroid abuse. Eventually, though, Anna shoos the musclehead away and invites Yin to sit.

"You're cleared," she tells the Ice Dragoon, "and you're ovulating. You shouldn't be, vampiress. Any thoughts?" Her manner remains perfectly clinical.

Yin blinks. Twice. Crosses her legs. "Not really...it's rare, but not unheard of, for vampiresses to ovulate, though they can't usually carry kids for more than a week. I never have, though. God knows I'm in the hospital often enough; I'd know if I did."

"I see." Anna hands her a facs badge and a set of keys, not really paying much attention to them. "From the scans, it looks to me like your degenerated reproductive system is a little less degenerated than it should be. I'm not sure why, maybe it's nothing. But you might want to keep an eye out for any strange feelings, mood swings, and the like."

Yin blinks. Weird. Nods, though. "All right. I'll pay attention." Because I'm so stable, lately, anyway. "I'm good to go otherwise?"

"I think so. Any problems, give me a call. My office number's five twenty." Anna folds her hands over her waist, looking Yin over thoroughly. "I'll make sure you have some blood set aside, by the way, in case you have to stay overnight for extended periods. Doubtful, but it never hurts to be prepared."

Yin smiles a bit. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Is there somewhere specific I'm supposed to head now?"

"You'll get correspondence pretty soon. The testers are oddballs about their schedules, so they probably haven't even decided what you're doing yet."

She smirks. "Lovely. So how will they get ahold of me?"

"You have an inbox outside of your lab. Check it periodically." Anna lets her eyes rest on Revilier, as most people seem to be doing today after a moment of conversation with Yin. "Sorry I'm not more help. It's been a long day."

"Perfectly understandable...and you've been very helpful, thank you." Smiles a little. "Is there anything else, ma'am?"

"I don't think so. Carry on."

Yin bows her head politely, and stands to leave and putter about, try to get situated. Ovulating. That's...hm. Interesting. As though it's not enough that she can't reproduce, nature's got to mock her? She's always been grateful for her "normal" vampiric reproductive system for that reason.

Doesn't think much more of it, though. Just gets to work in her "own" office, getting things arranged to her satisfaction and seeing what she has to arrange in the first place. Checks her inbox every now and again. Is astounded at just how...white collar it is, really.

Time passes. Now and again a well wisher comes by to meet Yin and say hi, one even bearing a gift of flowers and a stationary set. No work, though, for a few hours.

When a message does appear in her inbox, it is from the office of Matthias MacInerny.

Ensign Iejir,
        I trust our facilities have met with your approval. If you find anything about your friend, or require help or information on any subject, contact me and we'll meet somewhere to talk about it.
             Best wishes, Matthias MacInerny

Yin nods a bit to herself. Matthias is going to be one to treat carefully. On the one hand, she's been warned repeatedly about his womanizing...on the other, he's the reason she's in this situation in the first place, and a valuable ally to have in her corner. Sets the letter in a drawer, and closes it. She'll contact him on the terms suggested in the letter, not just because.

Flips open her phone regardless. Dials. Waits. "Doctor Iunxen. Yeah, Yin. Just fine, thank you. And yourself? Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I need to know, though...do you have any samples of Troix's blood in your lab taken after the cocoon incident?"

"Blood? Yes, actually, some of your friends snuck her in here for some tests before hiding her away. Why do you ask?"

"I need a sample. Researchy stuff." She drapes a wrist over her raised knee. "I have reason to believe it may help a lot of people who really need it right now."

"Sure. Just tell me where to send it, and I'll have a courier bring it by today if I can."

Yin brightens visibly where she's sitting. "If an unmarked courier could just get it to Major Fiexnah, that would be wonderful. Thanks...I really appreciate it. Also. Don't let it leak that you have the samples, right? It may be dangerous to you or them. If you decide at any time that you're not comfortable keeping them, I can arrange something. Just keep me posted." Heh. Not that he's unused to this kind of thing. Ah, the joys of being the primary care physican of an elite intelligence unit!

"Nah. They're marked 'rabies sample' so they're safe." A dry chuckle sounds over the phone. "I'll get a sample to him. Anything else you need?"

She smirks. "You're wonderful. And no, I think that's about it. May schedule some time with you in a month or so if I have a chance, but that's a story for another day." Taps her pen idly. "Take care, huh?"

"Of course! You too, Cap'n. Bye!"

"Bye bye." Yin smiles faintly when she clicks her phone shut. "Progress," she says to Revilier. "Of course, here's the part where I'm jumping in over my head..." Thus, a quick hack into an academic database later, she's reading everything that she can get her cursor about the structures of blood, how it's studied, how it's stored, how it relates to the immune system, and what the heck makes it tick, anyway.

Remembers to check her inbox occasionally...finally sets a timer into her phone to poke her every two hours, utterly intent on the screen.

A knock comes at her door a little bit later. Robert stands on the other side, a case in one hand, a thermos in the other.

Yin looks up quickly, startled out of a number of printed diagrams and hand-scrawled notes strewn over her desk. She's long preferred this method of examining data capture, and has a set system for how notes relate to one another based on position. Ah. Just who she wants to see.

Stands up and opens the door for him. Looks at the thermos, and then back to him. "Blood or caffeine?"

"Both. I figured, we make energy drinks out of everything else these days, why not?" He grins, nudging his glasses up some. "Are you busy? In other words, would you be my critic?"

"Nah, I could use a break." Yin smiles at him, and turns to head back inside. "Come on it."

The researcher steps inside, sets his case on the floor, and gives the room a once over. "Ah, so you rebel against decorating! Or your things haven't gotten here yet?"

"Oh. The former. I'll bother with decorating on a whim, I usually do." She laughs softly. "I'll likely fill the walls with largescale layouts of current projects, anyway. Old habit, and helps me think."

"If you surround yourself with your work too much, you'll go nutjob. If you go catatonic, I can't promise people won't use you for a visual aid now and then." Robert grins a bit more. He pops open the case, which folds out into a test tube rack full of carefully labelled and stowed blood samples. "I got plenty for you to try. Believe it or not, taste is a pretty good indication of whether it's a good synthesis or not."

"Sure." Yin tilts her head, looking them over. "Any particular order to this?" She sits, and crosses her legs.

"Not really. I'm shooting for a good type O negative this time. I'm not sure that affects flavor, but... well. I'm sure you know better than me."

"Most vampires over, say, ten can distinguish A from B. A lot of them mix up B and O, though most get the hang of that eventually." Yin picks up a vial, smelling it thoughtfully. "More perceptive sorts can pick out AB--most people just say it's either A or B. Telling the difference between negative and positive is one of those things that's almost an instinct and feeling more than actual taste. Some people claim to be able to do it, and can pretty consistently prove it, but in the way some people claim to be able to tell a 1989 Chianti from a 1988 one. Small stuff most people would never notice." Smiles.

"All of those differences are pretty small, though. Like, Pepsi-Coke slight."

"When people start bleeding Pepsi, I'll become a vampire too. You watch." Robert sets the case in front of her, and steps back. "Um... if any of them are horrible, I brought boiled radish to make the taste go away."

Yin grins at him. "So considerate. Well...bottoms up." Sips the first sample. Nose scrunches. Holds our her hand. Radish please.

And he gives it to her. "Sorry... that was supposed to be O positive."

"It was O, shit." Yin grins a bit. Ah. Radish good! Staunchly tries the next one. Not tasty, but not offensive. "This one's much better." Caps it, and puts it back.

"I should market that first one. The first several are O, so... yeah." He sips from the thermos. It's decaf, but he won't tell anyone that.

Yin goes through the samples one by one...only one is better than the second, enough that she's actually able to identify it correctly. Finally wipes her lips with a bent finger. "That fifth one was probably some of the best synthetic I've ever tried. Note that I'm calling it better than awful...but still, if taste really is an indication, I'd say you're pulling ahead of the field."

"That's great! I really appreciate your help with this. So... okay." Robert marks the ones she'd chosen as best and second best, sets them aside. "I'll get back to development with these two. So... what can I do for you in return, eh?"

Yin smiles at this. "My project's turned out to be heavily blood-based, too. I'm trying to get some of this stuff figured out on my own, however, I'd love to be able to bug you for feedback or help on this or that. I'd be happy to continue to be your guinea pig just so long as you'll be my 'what the hell?' button."

"Sure. Hell, an interesting project would be a nice break for me, anyway. Any details on it?" He glances surreptitiously at his watch, but relaxes after a moment.

"I procured a very unusual blood sample I should have tomorrow...hybridized, in a sense. Revilier over there was after it even before all hell broke loose. He claims to be 'eighty-five percent sure' that it's the key to fixing the zombie-Golden sorts like Adelisa's creating. I'd like to test that theory, with the ultimate goal of not only fixing Revilier, but the hundreds of other wyverns like this and debasing Adelisa's power base at the same time."

"Big business! You've been here half a day and you already have better connections than I do!"

Yin winks. "Well. Just because most of my record is sealed doesn't mean it's not awesomely cool." Laughs. Catches herself. Huh. That was...almost relaxed, for a moment. Looks at the blood. "So, about how often can I be expecting you to come knocking with blood samples?"

"If I didn't think it would be an impasse, every forty five minutes. But... once a day, sounds good?" Robert's eyes are gleaming and hopeful and a little wider than natural. Caffeine goodness carries over from lunch, it seems.

"Sounds good." Yin smiles close-eyed. "You can bug me if you come up with something you're really excited about, too." 

"Alright! That's almost a blank ticket, you know, because as you can tell I'm pretty easily excited." Robert nods a little more. "Besides, it's not often a spy straight out of James Bondage comes my way without a restraining order. You've made my lifetime."

Yin has to crack up before clipping it. "I told Leonide that cleavage equals instant charisma. He just didn't believe me for some reason." Smirks. She's actually not wearing anything revealing, for the record. "Is there anything else, Robert?"

"Not unless you've got a ride set up for the bar?"

"I do." She smiles. "I actually need to run by and visit a couple of friends first. I can usually talk my way into hospital wards after visiting hours, but there's no need to press my luck."

"Hospital wards? Well, I hope they get better, whoever they are." He stands, taking the cue that it's time to leave her to her business. "It's nice working with you. See you later!"

She smiles. "You too, Robert. Bye bye."

She keeps checking her inbox throughout the day...nothing comes, though. Huh. Weird. Well, either that's a coincidence or she really is here to mostly work on the Golden thing. ...And, knee-jerk reaction aside, she's more or less inclined to suspect the former. Even if testing things does turn out to be just a cover story, it would be silly for them to blow it on the first day.

The latest hour-chime from her cell phone surprises her. She'd been engrossed enough in her work that she hadn't been ready for it...mutters under her breath. "Revilier, we're running late." Gets her notes picked up and set in a drawer quickly--locks it from habit, but hasn't worked with anything sensitive yet--and grabs her jacket. "Follow me, Revilier. We're going on a social call."

The wyvern, still as stone all the while save for occasional movements of his legs or arms - almost like instinctual movements to prevent pulmonary embolisms- follows obediently behind her.

The first thing Yin had done upon getting her security badges was to methodically arrange them... flashes these at the approapriate points, and just heads for the garage. Hey, she has a car. It just...doesn't see a lot of use. Leaves quietly...force of habit. Historically, there are always a thousand problems people bring up for her to fix if they catch her on the way out.

On the way to the hospital, she makes an important stop...the bakery. One can't approach recovering people without sweets in hand, after all.

Not long after...she knocks sofly on Menayen's open door, peeking in.

The Serinian is sitting on top of his sheets, reading War and Peace with the book upside down, and occasionally marking on it with a crayon. His ears perk up when Yin knocks.

"Hiya knockers!"

Yin smirks. "Hiya, Fuzzy-ass. I brought you cookies." Heads on into the room.

"I can see that!" He sets aside his book. "Have a sit, chat with me! I've missed ya, nutty."

Yin smiles a bit. She's...thrilled to see him doing so well, really. Keeps flashing back to finding him. "Missed you, too. Revilier, stay over there." Pulls up a chair, herself, setting the cookies on the nightstand. "They're for Alou, too, though, so be good." Grins, which quickly fades to a truer smile. "You're looking worlds better. How do you feel?" Sits, crossing her legs.

"Well. I can see straight again. And I got most of the feeling back in my legs. Also, people here like me. I'm a pettable kitty, rather like you! Only I don't usually smack."

"Only when asked?"

"Exactly! So... how are things with you, sweetness and cake?"

"And cookies," she reminds. "I got reassigned. I'm not a dragoon. Again. For the moment." Scritches her hair. "I've stopped trying to figure that out. Anyway, I'm in a draconic research lab. It's very...white collar. Also, not so draconic. I was initially more or less led to believe that it was military, but I'm thinking it's a solid mix of a government contractor and military. I'm the latter, of course, but it's just a mix. I don't even know which people are which in that sense, though I could venture good guesses." Pauses. "It's very...white collar. I'm assured that I'm odd for thinking that testing top secret weaponry is a mundane job." Grins.

"Now that depends entirely on what you're testing them on." Menayen nods to this. "R and D? Oh, I used to do that! I made things that... well..." he blinks, and fiddles with his ear a second. "People here don't need to know about. Good things, though. So what are you doing there, miss "I spy every fugging thing and then kick the crap out of it?"

Yin smirk-grins at the description, picking one of her feet up to sit on the front of the chair seat. "Officially, testing the spy and military toys. Semi-officially, trying to figure out how to get the stiff back there," gestures a little to Revilier with her head, "and the others like him normal again." Blinks. "Also, the people there are really nice. Like, too much so. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." Hey, she's worked her entire life in a profession where you have to expect to be stabbed in the back...and be prepared to do the same thing.

"If they're legit R and D people, they're fine. They have no personal ambition." Menayen lays back a little. Hospital gowns are not fun when he really does have a tuft above his butt. "Family people, right? Well-adjusted, not a care in the world except where the coffee is and who has the ketchup on hamburger day."

"I'm told double-paned windows are also a concern. Which begs the question. What the fuck is a double-paned window?" Snickers a little. "But yeah. Wives, kids, some evidence of intra-office affairs...tv stuff."

"It's a window with double thickness around the rims, I think extra insulation, saves on the heating bill. Sometimes you can get thicker glass, too, and... hoo, do I sound like a housewife. Booze and whores! That's better. Wait. A drunken lesbian housewife?"

"Ah. MILF man." Yin nods. "Want I should get a hospital gown to finish snapping you back to Kaz-ness?"

"Nah. Not with him standing there, it'd be weird." Menayen jerks his thumb at Revilier. "So did you ask him to do anything funny or freaky yet?"

"Nah...it doesn't seem right humiliating him." She shakes her head a bit. "I just have him follow me around for security purposes, and also more or less as a lab assistant. You kind of get used to the empty-eyed zombied in teh room, which is kind of sad."

"If he does everything you tell him to do, why don't you just tell him to go back to the way he was?" Menayen pokes him with a claw.

Yin blinks. This is why Menayen is Kaz. Whether it works or not, he thinks about things in a different way...hits problems from his own unique angle. "Revilier...shake off the effects of Adelisa's spell and go back to the way you were before she turned you."

He's silent. Still. Menayen looks at him, not really believing it would have worked.

Until the awareness begins to return to his eyes. His posture slacks a little. Lips twitch.

"Yin?" His voice croaks, the voice of one who hasn't used it in a while.

The vampiress's eyes widen. Jaw's a little slack, just from being startled, but she shakes this quickly. Well...almost does. "No...fucking way. Revilier? Are you actually there?"

"I am so getting pets for this," Menayen snickers.

"If I'm not, someone better be paying rent." The general shakes his head, a hand set to his temple. "What happened...? Where's Adelisa?"

Yin folds her arms, just...dumbfounded. An eyebrow is cocked. "Back in Julen, I'd imagine. Are you okay...?" Finally stands to steady him.

"Thirsty," he admits, smiling some at the hand on his arm. "But otherwise, I'm grand. Did things go well at the warehouse, then...?"

Yin pauses. "Last I checked," she notes, a touch quietly as she spots some glasses and a pitcher of ice water for Menayen, and heads over. Sets one right side up, and pours a glass. "You were a Golden, Revilier." Picks up the glass, turns to look at him. "And I don't mean the casting kind."

"How long--"

"wait wait," Menayen interrupts, tossing his book off the bed to stand on it. "We gotta problem, here. If Adelisa figures out that you can reverse her spell this way, you're going to be marked, Yin."

"So what else is new?" She raises her hands in mock-defense. "Right, right...Mediators, bigger business than usual. Haven't thought that far ahead yet, this was supposed to just be a visit involving cookies and idle chat." Holds the water as she considers.

"It'll be hard for them to move on you if you're working as a researcher. Practically an act of God." Menayen pokes Revilier. "Drink, fucker."

Yin pauses. Considers. Looks up at the wyvern. "No. Pour that on the floor."

Revilier stops, looks at Yin, and dumps the water on the floor. Menayen blinks, and starts to ask the obvious question.

"Poisoned water, right?" Revilier looks down at the puddle. It's the only logical excuse he can think of for being asked to pour it out.

Yin smiles wryly. Even if he'd backed it by logic--and even though he'd paused auspiciously--the reaction isn't as conclusive as she'd like. She grabs another glass of water, and a towel. "Oh, no, it was fine. I wanted to see whether you'd follow a bizarre order or not." Holds out the other glass as she kneels to clean up her mess.

He takes it, but is distracted by a shaking-with-laughter Menayen.

"What?"

"Oh," the Serinian snickers, "I was just thinking that a man doesn't have to be mind-controlled to follow a woman's bizarre order."

Yin, for her part, throws a sopping ice cube at his head.

Menayen sells it like a frying pan shot to the face, going down with cat-like grace and miming an elaborate 'I've been shot!' act.

Revilier, meanwhile, kneels to help her clean up the mess. Tries to catch her eye, smiling at her.

He does, after a moment, when she glances up. Smiles a little. She's really...thrown for a loop. She's thrilled he's at the very least closer to "okay" than before. But it's a startlingly unexpected development. Looks down to the mess quickly to finish picking up the ice cubes. She's not so big on letting people see into her. In her life, that can be the death of her...and that makes for a powerfully ingrained habit. Sets a hand on his shoulder a moment as though steadying herself as she stands, heading over to discard the poor ice cubes in the sink.

Looks over at Kaz. "Don't make me break out the ice water."

He twitches comically, and flips over-- a full corkscrew so he lands face up again. "Whoo! Forgot I was backless."

Revilier just smiles warmly at the hand. Stands up. "You know... I can't remember anything since the warehouse. Still, I feel aware of the time, like I was there, but not."

"It may have been my wording." Smirks a bit, folding her arms. "Kaz's suggestion. I actually just...told you to snap out of it. The memories are probably there somewhere, just repressed or something. You were perfectly logical, so the brain had to be working. At least this way, you can't remember any embarassing things I did to you!" Of course, there were none, but hey.

"Maybe I want to?" His smile remains genuine. He looks at the door. Wants nothing more than to hold her, if only for a moment, to smell her breath, her skin, her hair. He's not sure he can say so in front of Menayen, though.

She does note the hint...it makes her think of something else, though. "Hell..." fingers find the bridge of her nose. "I forgot that my new coworkers convinced me to go drinking with them tonight. I said 'yes' hoping for some allies or camraderie. I really don't want to go now, but I really should to avoid any indication that something's up."

"New coworkers?" Revilier gazes at her with those still gold eyes. "Drinking? Why wouldn't you want to go to that?"

"I got myself reassigned to a Draconic R&D unit," she explains. Smiles a little. "Looking for a way to fix the Golden. And...because I've always been paranoid of getting drunk in public. Guard goes down, can be dangerous and habit tells me 'no.'" This time she mostly just wants to talk to the wyvern about everything that's happened. She's been obsessing about fixing him, and...well, he's suddenly fixed. She doesn't want to leave for a bottle of whiskey.

"I'll go with you, then? Heaven knows I could use a drink."

Yin bites her lip a little. Thinks. It's not that she wouldn't love his company, it's just...him being out and about and making it clear they have a way to restore the Golden...but then, how long can they really hide that anyway. "Kaz? What do you think?" Expert opinion time.

Kaz sits bolt upright. Looks at him, and looks at her. "Look at him," the Serinian commands in his commanding little way. "His eyes are still gold. Even his hair is shinier. A casual glance wouldn't give him away. Besides, you've seen that he can act normal if you tell him to answer a question or something, right? You should be fine."

Yin smiles a bit. It doesn't ease all her doubts, but she does trust the eared thing to be mostly right. Looks to Revilier. "Sounds good, then. I still want to drop in on Alou before we go, though." Checks the time on her cell phone. Yeah. "Take care, Kaz? And yes, you get pets later. Or something."

"Don't forget the cookies." Menayen snags one and sits on the bed, wide-eyed and munching happily, and looking far cuter than his boundless intelligence and ridiculously pragmatic sense of unreality might allow. "Careful you kids!"

"Ah. Right, thanks." Yin gets about half the cookies out of the box, setting them aside for him, and smiles. "See you later." Glances at Revilier, and heads for the door.

Revilier nods a little to Menayen, who happily flips him off. A little puzzled, the general follows Yin once more; only this time, it is with an attentive eye, and a slight greeting to those he passes. Gone is the woodenness of being controlled, replaced by the crisp military posture of a very alert man.

Yin slows just enough to fall into step beside him. It's not far enough to Alou's room to talk much...and she's not sure what to say yet, anyway, gaze mostly forward, though she glances his way twice, to a slight smile once when it was caught. Just...processing, in the slow, cool way pretty much characteristic of ice dragons. Pauses outside the door. "I know you and he weren't exactly on the best of terms last time you met." Smiles a little. "What, with the trying to shoot you and all. You're welcome to wait here if you think it would be better."

"That was business," the wyvern explains, "I don't harbor any ill feeling towards him and I"m sure he feels the same. If I'm wrong, I'll just point out that his ass is exposed and men without pants don't get to vote."

Yin grins sidelong at the wyvern. "I'm sure he'll be fine." Knocks softly on the spider's door.

"Come in, get out, come in again," Alou sings, sounding slightly inebriated. Revilier peeks through the door.

"He's on a morphine drip? Fun."

"What?" Eyebrow goes up a little. "Why the hell..?" Erases the expression, though, as she steps into the room. "Hey, Alou. How are you feeling?" Smiles as she approaches the bed, grabbing his chart and glancing at it.

"Hi Jesus. i'm fine. Did you bring the crab cakes?"

Revilier looks at the drip. "That's a fairly hefty dose, Yin."

The chart just details insomnia and lingering brain trauma.

"No kidding. I'm not beardy enough to be Jesus." Brow creases a little as she flips through the other pages of the chart for any record of enough pain to merit this.

After Yin's healing spell, there's nothing. Not even a scratch reported, until two days ago when the drip was started. It's not warranted at all, according to the chart.

She hangs the chart again. "I'm going to go corner his doctor. There's nothing in his chart that indicates any need for the drugs."

"Alright. I'll keep an eye on him. And fix this Jesus thing." Revilier unhooks the drip, and lowers a glowing hand to Alou's forehead.

Yin smiles a bit...warmly, for the first time since he'd ceased to be catatonic. Suddenly remembers why she likes him so much. "Thanks, Revilier." And she slips out the door, noting the name on the chart and looking for any hospital personnel.

People in scrubs are running around doing various jobs, of course. The doctor's name is Jeggins, and he's listed as the chief resident. A nurse sits at a station taking calls and such, with a few flunkies running around, an intern fretting over a patient list, and someone coding down the hall. 

And I choose...you. Yin approaches the intern. "Excuse me, Miss. Where is Doctor Jeggins at this hour?"

"Hm? Uh, oh, sorry, I'm just, hang on, one second." SHe fumbles the patient list, dropping it squarely on her toe, and cringes but doesn't yelp. "Um... he's, uh, ow, he's on call so he might be home but I think, I'm pretty sure he's in the supply closet looking for something."

Yin smiles. "Which supply closet, Miss?"

The intern goes a little white. "Uh, I think..." pauses. Smiles sheepishly. "I don't know, I'm sorry. I"m just an intern I don't know anything yet.'

The vampiress grins at her a little. "Don't worry about it, dear. Good luck with everything." Waves a little over her shoulder, and starts off down the hall, eyes scanning. Well, if the halls are laid out this way, and she's got to figure on one to two supply closets a floor...ah. There one is.

Tries the door. Not locked, they aren't usually, and sticks her head in. "Doctor Jeggins?"

A stately old man turns to her, dressed in clinical white and bearing a stethoscope and such. "Miss, you shouldn't be in here."

"Well, no. Are you Dr. Jeggins?"

"I am, is something wrong?"

"Something like that." Yin steps into the room, shutting the door behind her. Tilts her head, arms folding casually. "I'd dearly love to know why my friend Alou Dastier is on enough morphine to sterilize a frat party, when I know that there should be absolutely no call for it in his health. Even his chart agrees."

"What are you talking about, morphine?" The doctor straightens up, looking professionally pissed off. "I saw him this morning. He's being released this evening."

Mm. Interesting. He actually seems angry...more than that, actually seems surprised. "An intraveinous drip. Enough to call me Jesus."

"Show me." The doctor snags a fresh stethoscope, a pen, and a pair of packaged syringes, and looks at the door impatiently. "Today."

Jackass. Yin nods, and heads out the door. "A friend of mine removed the drip and should have eradicated its effects by now...however, his ability to do that can be demonstrated and proven if the need be. The equipment will still be set up, though," she notes as they walk. "And any nurse who's checked on him recently should be able to verify; it was a minimum or two hours' worth of the stuff in him."

"A friend. Of course. Are you sure it wasn't you on the morphine drip?" The doctor reaches into his pocket as they walk. Pulls the cap off another syringe, staying just a few steps behind Yin.

"Well, at that kind of dosage, I probably wouldn't remember if it were." Yin hears him do something unidentified. Narrows her eyes.

Jeggins hand falls to his pocket, syringe and all. As they reach the door he carefully pokes the needle through his whites so it sticks out an inch or so. "Young lady, step aside." He moves forward as if to accidentally bump into her hip, planning on injecting this powerful dose of sedative into her body.

Although she'd been on-guard, Yin doesn't pick up on the exact nature of the threat fast enough. She'd tried to catch a moving hand. Eyes snap open when something just barely manages to stab into the edge of her hip and injects. Her vision immediately goes blurry, world spinning. "Sonuva..."

Jeggins quickly pulls the needle back, caps it in the pocket, and moves to catch Yin. "Get an orderly over here, now!" This he shouts as he looks to see that the exits are clear. A large man comes running, and of course the door flies open under Revilier's hand from the other side. Looks at Yin, looks at him.

Yin's about three-quarters of the way out at this point, caught securely by the doctor. Half-manages to glance up to the wyvern. "He's...bit of a bitch," she murmurs just before things go totally dark.

His eyes find the doctor's just before his hand shoots out, wraps around his throat, and jerks both him and Yin inside. The door slams, and in half a heartbeat the soldier's glowing hand settles to Yin while his squeezing hand falls to the doctor's crotch.

"Yin...?" he asks, ignoring the doctor's screeching.

"Mm...?" Her eyes flutter open after a few moments, followed by a still-drowsy-but-clearing, sheepish smile-smirk. They fall shut again, something akin to amused. "Is it just me or do we do this too often these last few weeks? I'm okay. Sedative."

Meanwhile, she manages to gather just enough sense to ice the locks shut.

"Sedative." Revilier leans against the doctor, settling his knee against the man's groin. "Sit up, Yin, if you can. Breathe slow. Now who the fuck are you?"

The doctor just groans.

Yin does her best to comply, pushing herself up on her arms. All her limbs feel like rubber, though it's wearing off. Vision still isn't quite right. That's also clearing, though, in a hurry. "I'd listen," she observes quietly. "You surprised me, but this is one of the few fellows who could beat me up even if I had a chance to fight back." Smiles a little from where she's fixated on making a floor tile stop spinning. "Also, I met him in an interrogation session."

"Millarca," the doctor groans, "sent..." abruptly, the doctors eyes dull. Roll back in his head. Revilier lets up, head tilting to one side. Lays the golden spell upon him, but pulls it back almost instantly.

"Dead...?"

"Probably a plant in him, a remotely-detonated toxin or somesuch. 'Millarca' is a Mediator. We've got to get Alou and Kaz out of here." She's still dizzy, but sitting on her feet with fingers to her forehead, eyes are regaining alertness. Glances to Alou, seeing if he's awake and lucid.

"Why would they drug him...?" Revilier drops the doctor. Looks to Yin, and reaches for her, spell active and alive.

A soft beep begins to sound, muffled, but from very close by. Alou lifts his head, blinking. "What's that?"

"So he doesn't talk to us. Same reason Mediators kill themselves if caught, regardless of circumstances." Smiles at him a bit, though, for the spell and steadying arm he gives her, grateful to lean on him for the moment. Looks up to the bed. "Nothing, Alou. Just talking shit about you. Are you all right?"

"I hear something beeping," he insists. "Somewhere near you." 

Revilier searches the doctor's pockets, but finds nothing of use... the used syringe and some medical things. "Bad enough that it's gonna look like we killed this idiot," he points out. "What's the beeping sound like?"

"High pitched, getting faster," Alou nods. Revilier looks at Yin.

"Trap," he mutters.

The ice in the lock shatters, her body cooling in the hopes of an ice shield as she tries to stumble-jump to her feet. "Run."

"Wait," revilier cries, grabbing the doctor. Listens to his chest for a moment, then his stomach. "It's in him. Yin, freeze him!" As he speaks the silver wyvern throws out his hand, sending a baseball sized chunk of metal through the ward's window, shattering it. Alou ducks under blanket to dodge the glass shards. "And help me throw him out!"

Yin doesn't waste time. Grabs the doctor's collar and drags him a foot or so so his body is in a straight position, and then the corpse freezes solid. God she hopes there's no one below as she hefts him by the thighs, waiting for the much stronger wyvern to grab the torso so they can throw him farther from the hospital wall, glancing up to Revilier.

He does his part, lifting with all his strength. "I'll encase him when he's out.  Ready... throw!"

The dragonish follows how the wyvern is moving carefully at first, then hefts with all her might out the window when his muscles bunch. They really move startlingly well together. Manifests an ice shield over her arm, spinning towards Alou's bed, ducking, and trying to cover them both in case it detonates too soon.

Just as the frozen body reaches the window the beeping stops. A concussive blast sprays frozens doctor and ice shards all over the room, slashing Revilier's face and piercing his skin in places too numerous to count. The force shoves him back enough that he stumbles over and lands hard on his back, gasping, and staring into blackness for a second.

Yin's shield cracks, but doesn't shatter...the two-thirds of her body not covered by it are perforated all over, and the foce of the blast slams her shield back into her head, stunning the already unsteady vampire and knocking her back onto the bed. Alou, though, had been covered.

After a few moments...she groans quietly, wiping blood from her eyes, and glances carefully, half-lucidly back over the spider. Intact. Yay. Looks for Revilier...finds him. Her hand glows to life in gold as she grudgingly, painfully forces herself to semi-stand long enough to get to his side with the spell.

His, too, is beginning to light up to reach for her.

Just about the time the door busts in, and two Okarthel police officers step inside with guns drawn. Revilier's head falls back.

"trap," he mutters.

Yin sigh-groans quietly, and looks up at the officers. "You two missed the interesting part." A wound in a particular bad spot on one leg wastes no time in convincing her to sink to the floor again, sitting on her feet. Has the presence of mind to put her hands on the back of her neck to show she's not planning something in the motion.

"Sorry," says one of them, a tall black fellow, with a hint of shadow dragon to his features. "We see what we see and hear what we hear. Lie down, please."

Revilier, as well, turns and lies on his belly, hands behind his back. He knows the drill well.

Yin closes her eyes. Beautiful. Does as told, setting her hands on the back of her head. "May I advance that we wouldn't have set up a bomb to kill ourselves?"

"You have the right to," the officer shrugs as his partner, a cold-looking thunder dragon with dancing electric eyes, ties their hands with zip ties. "But it won't help you, not now. You also have the right to silence. Your words are hereby committed as public record until such time as a court..."

"And so on, so on, we know," Revilier grumbles. "I do hate speeches."

Yin narrows her eyes, face gaining a shade of white. Fuck! Last time she'd been handled by draconic authorities...they'd handcuffed her. Sure, Revilier could manipulate them, but they couldn't have planned for him. "Is there a reason," she growls defensively, "you're using zip ties instead of cuffs?"

"Shut the fuck up," the thunder dragon growls, "knowing that won't change this." The shadow glances at him, shakes his head. "They're cheaper to make," he grudgingly admits, and moves to haul Yin to her feet by her shirt collar and arms while the other grinds his pistol against Revilier's face until he does the same.

Yin's fangs are bared into a half-snarl as she's dragged to her feet, though she mostly erases it. Dragons strapped for money, let alone very basic law enforcement fees? Just happened to be in the hospital? Bullshit. But is she sure enough to fight back?

Head swims.
And able?

"It'll be okay. Trust me." The shadow tugs Revilier's arms. "We're going to a car outside. You're both powerful and skilled, but don't try anything. We don't want to harm you." Looks to the thunder dragon. "I don't, anyway."

Yin's back teeth are gritted tightly. Glances to Alou. He needs to tell Kaz this...between the two of them, they can figure things out. She doesn't say another word. Hard as it is, time to trust her allies a bit, and just wait to see what's going to happen. Plans to just follow quietly, for now.

Alou is left alone, for now. The dragons lead Revilier and Yin outside to a squad car... without a police band radio. "You two sit quietly. I'm sorry about your friend, but he's got to be taken care of. Jeggins didn't do it right. One of our people will."

"'Taken care of' how?" Yin has her priorities, though she's also stalling outside the car...doesn't fail to note the radio at a glance for discrepancies.

"Come on," the shadow urges, a contrite look on his face. "Please, let's just go."

Fangs bare a little. "'Taken care of' how?"

"Get in the car," the thunder growls. "We're gonna kill him. I think they might just send him to surgery and have an accident. If it were me, I'd just break his neck. Now you know."

Snarl fades. "Alright, then."

The first thing that happens is classic. Ice in the guns. Military boot-clad heel snaps up and back, ice coating her heel, trying to damage her captor's shin enough to knock him off balance and throw him off of her. Pity, she rather likes the shadow dragon.

"Urgh...no!" The sound of his voice only just precedes the sound of Revilier swearing as thousands of volts of electricity rip through his body. The shadow is tossed aside, but the thunder's attention is on Yin just as soon as the Wyvern stumbles over.

The vampiress's eyes widen and narrow in quick succession at Revilier's voice. Damnit...a metal wyvern, he's going to be especially vulnerable to the thunder dragon's power. Ice needles manifest in one hand, a blade-edged claw on the other. Zip ties are cut, and the needles go flying towards the thundre dragon's face.

A globule of blackness spurts up from the ground, splattering outward to catch most of the needles and prevent the thunder from being skewered, though it's enough to put him on his back, groaning. The shadow dragon tries to scramble to his feet, letting Yin's shadow fall back into place. 

Ice springing from teh ground tries to bind both of them in place. Yin springs, lunging not for either of the dragons, but for Revilier, hand glowing, and to cover him. Two people able to defend each other beats one alone. Stumbles a little, though doesn't fall...still isn't in a good way after the explosion upstairs.

"Yin, please...!" That's the shadow's voice, just about the time a sniper's warning shot slams into the ground next to Revilier's head.

Yin freezes, of course. Eyes scan the crater the bullet had left, then dart up to the buildings. Has to be one of those two. If it's that one, she thinks she can get both of them back to cover in time. If it's the other, she can't. Is she sure enough to risk it? It's not her they're threatening to shoot.

Finally, fangs gritted and literally trembling with pent fury--plus a touch of fear she'd never admit--she drops to a knee. The ice around the two dragons shatters.

The shadow stands up, moves quickly to restrain a pissed off thunder. "Thank you, Yin," the shadow sincerely says, "I didn't want blood. Now please. In the car, okay?"

Yin first moves quietly to help the wyvern up. Palm glows a little once she has his arm. Doesn't respond to Shadow...though she intends to do as told.

The thunder growls, but again the shadow restrains him. Shakes his head.

Revilier responds, of course. Smiles at Yin a little, but glares at the dragons. Already their shadows are moving, prepared to bind them as soon as they're in the car.

Above all their heads, and unbeknownst to the preoccupied dragons, a certain spider crawls out of his window and disappears onto the roof.

Yin almost returns the smile. Lips twitch. Doesn't fully manage, though. Once the general is on his feet and she's sure he's steady and okay...she just steps into the car.

He gets in with her, looking around. Car. No problem. Once they're inside, he'll just...

As he considers this, his shadow flattens, pinning him from the waist down. The same attempts to happen with Yin's.

She closes her eyes. Well, that works. The power type is familiar...after all, her best friend is essentially shadow elemental. Opens them, and just looks ahead. Quiet, a little contemplative. The turmoil of a few moments ago is gone...she looks rather like she's waiting for a bus.

A soul-eating bus, most likely, but that's another story.

The shadow rides shotgun, and once they're sure everything's okay, the dragons begin what promises to be a fairly long drive to the Golden Commune.