A mid-sized Chinese pagoda, its origins stored somewhere amidst its many scrolls. It's in a state of disrepair, but not horribly. It's as though it had been the victim of a small battle or a large party. Its remaining decorations--most of them, really--are rich but tasteful and far between, and the overall air is humbly elegant and cultured.

Clockwork City
subTer

---

Sin is in the basement, in particular. There are no decorations, though it isn't dirty or damaged. She's lying on a thin sleeping mat. There's only one door, and a few narrow, high windows.

Sin's auxiliaries power back up, and restart her "heart". Menayen designed her far too mortal for her own taste, as she's immediately aware of having been unconscious.

"Vice," she murmurs, trying to get her bearings and communications channel together.

Static.

Sin shakes her head rapidly, trying to get the sound out, and closes her channel. Okay. She stands up, wobbling a moment, and takes stock of her situation. Okay... clearly she's been imprisoned. The very first order of business is to check to make certain her body is intact. She looks at her palms, to be certain her laser generators are functioning, and then for her pistol.

Her pistol is gone, and the crystal has been removed from each of her laser generators.

Sin looks into her hands. She blinks, unable to remember a time when she could not use her weapons. A soft buzzing sound is all she gets when she tries to open the ports on her lasers.

"Hello?" she calls, striding to the door and looking it over for a handle or peephole.

"Hello there," the woman dragoon purrs from where she's leaning on another wall. Sin isn't going nuts. She legitimately hadn't been there before. "Did you have a nice sleep, my dear android?"

She whirls to face the dragoon, blinks, and relaxes. Logic says this woman would not go through so much trouble just to hurt her now.

"No. I really don't sleep, you know. I am a machine. How did you sleep?"

"Beautifully, thank thank you. It was a long flight." She examines her nails. "My name, by the way, is Caias Slemonessor."

Sin nods. "I see. Thank you. Why do I care about this?"

"You asked for information. If if you've changed your mind, I'll be seeing you when I need to." The figure greys, smoke beginning to trail off of its shoulders."

Sin tilts her head over. "I mean. Why should I know your name?"

"Why not? I could be lying. You just don't know. Now. You won't be in here for too long. We very much want a good look at how you work. Stronger than a human, and faster, but with deceptively simple methods. Your creator is good at what he does, you know, for a contemptuous little bitch."

"Oh. Did you ask him?" Sin looks at her. "He probably would have told you. I am not programmed to be too combative, only defensive, you know, otherwise I would be calling all species of whore bitch right now."

"Oh, we're not really interested in talking to him. He likes you, thus, we took you. We'd much rather do it that way, after he crippled my masters. Killed one of them, actually. But yes. He's not our favorite person," she purrs. "Tell me, Sin. How do you feel right now?"

"I miss my lasers. But I suppose I feel all right." Sin folds her arms over her reasonable chest. "Systems are operating at 88% maximum efficiency. Let me go."

"Why should I let you go?"

"Because I was not mean about it. Why should you keep me here?"

"Because we'd like to take you apart. I was told to test for signs of high sentience, in which case we wouldn't proceed, but I'm not seeing it. Sorry, dearling!"

"That is probably because," Sin shrugs, "you have none to compare mine to."

"Mm-hm. Well, since you're not concerned, see you in a bit!" This time, the smoke-manifestation of the woman--really, it's impossible to tell whether Sin has met the real one--melts into a greyish haze, and begins ti dissipate slowly.

Sin wonders at the disappearance. What sort of dragoon commands that variety of power? She doesn't know.

In the meantime, never one to dwell on that which she cannot change, the android wanders over to the door and inspects it again.

It's still quite locked, and quite solid. Wood, certainly, but heavy stuff.

Sin stares down at the lock, considering it. She steps back.

The android twists her hips and gives it a swift, semi-hard kick to test its hinges.

Hopefully she didn't kick too hard. It does vibrate, but doesn't look as though it intends to break anytime soon.

Sin nods at this, and adds to her checklist of dead ends. She looks up to the windows--too narrow. She looks around the room for anything heavy, anything she might use to break the door down, or anything left for her by captors.

There's nothing, really. Just the sleeping mat and thin pillow. 

Great. So Sin has found herself in a room without exits save a locked and unbreakable door, no potential tools handy, and folks coming to slice her open.

Outstanding. 

The android tests the floor, the walls, searching each for weak spots, trick spots, anything that might lead to an exit.

Halfway through her searching, there's a jump under her hand when she bumps the nose of one of the little dragons, who's just poking his snout straight through the wall as though it were illusion. There's a jump and a skitter, and it ultimately ends up at Sin's side...when it trips and sits down heavily.

Sin, of course, jerks back at the unexpected touch. She lands quite unceremoniously on her butt--sometimes Menayen's idea of padding isn't that bad-- and looks at the thing.

"Hello," she says, not really knowing what else to say or even if she should. "How did you come through the wall?"

The little dragon tilts its head over. It's listening, sure, but there's not a really solid glimmer of intelligent understandingly. After a few moments, it chirps.

Sin practically melts at this. "Awww! I would snuggle you to bits if I weren't about to be vivisected." She smiles, showing no teeth to the little monster in case it sees that as a sign of threat, and begins searching the walls again.

The little creature seems to fluff at this. It just watches her a bit, half-ephemeral tail wagging slowly. Finally, impatient at being ignored, it springs and lands on her upper back, clambering rather clumsily to her shoulder, and chirps.

Sin starts to eep, but doesn't. Okay. Like a little scaly chirpy kitty. 

"Hello again! Be careful that my ears don't smack you." The android purrs at it. She continues checking the wall, turning her head to click her tongue at the thing now and again.

It happily clicks and chirps back...easily amused evidentally. However, Sin's wall-searching turns up nothing, it's really a wall without particular tricks to it. The dragon finally gets bored, chirps, and jumps down and through the wall. A few seconds later, it pokes its head back through, opalescent eyes blinking up at win as though wondering why she isn't following.

Sin knocks on the stone next to the dragon, to try and explain the situation.

The stone is perfectly solid. The dragon tilts its head at the tapping, and skitters back through--back through Sin's tapping hand as well--to look at it from her side, lowering its head to the floor to try a new angle and find out what's so interesting.

"Well. It would be lovely if I could do that, too, wouldn't it?" Sin tries to keep herself from growling. She wants to slam herself into the door until it *does* break. Instead...

"Hey, you." She lowers herself, clicks her tongue again, and presents her shoulder. 

The little fellow tilts. Then bobs his head, up and down, and hops right up there, thrumming.

Sin clicks for him, and then tries to put her hand through the wall.

This actually...works. The little dragon, meanwhile, contents himself with chewing on Sin's hair.
She secretly hopes the dragon likes the taste of raspberry conditioner.

Sin considers this. It seems a flightly creature; what happens if it jumps off her shoulder mid-wall-walk? Bad news. The best bet, she immediately decides, is to go through the door and find her laser crystals. At least then she can defend herself.

And so, Sin trots over to the door and steps right to it, hoping to pass through and quickly note her surroundings.

There's no one in the next hall. The whole place is markedly quiet, really. There's a staircase leading upstairs, and a couple of side doors. No conveniently-stored crystals, though. The dragon, meanwhile, hops off her shoulder and scampers towards the stairs.

Sin smiles at finally getting out of that god damned room. She looks at the stairs. Stairs, she knows, are dangerous to be caught in. She checks the side doors first, starting with one to her left.

It's unlocked...a storage room. The walls are lined with old weapons, blades and staves and the like.

Sin considers them. She looks for something that might be useful for self defense. A knife would be fine, a staff probably too cumbersome.

There are several knives here. They aren't sharpened well, for the most part, old things, but still functional. They're extremely chinese in design, and old-fashioned.

Sin snags one of the better looking ones, and peers into the hall again. If there's no threat, she'll try the other door.

It's still quiet. The other door is full of brooms, mops, and assorted cleaning supplies. Not much in the way of chemicals, though.

Sin ponders taking the cleaning things, but shakes her head. Nothing really useful in there.

And so, she finally begins to slowly head up the stairs, knife held cautiously back, eyes and ears open.

It's oddly quiet...the place seems uninhabited. She doesn't encounter anyone on the stairs, and the exit doesn't seem particularly guarded.

Sin still takes a moment to search the area for threats--and particularly for her weapons. They are quite a part of her and she wants.them.back.

They're not lying around in this room, anyway. It sounds as though there's someone moving around upstairs now and again, a level up. Another door appears to lead directly outside.

Sin sighs quietly, and peers outside for danger. In the meantime, she tests her communication channel again.

Outside is a well-landscaped, very Confucian courtyard. A tall gate is closed with a smaller door in it, and likely leads to the outside of the complex.

"...Sin? There you are! Why haven't you been answering? Menayen is going bonkers!" Vice's voice crackles in and out of static.

"Shut your mouth and get a GPS lock on me. I have been abducted by a dragoon." Sin speaks quickly, but clearly, to get her message across in case something silences communication again. This as she sprints into the courtyard and searches for a hiding place. It's a fairly natural-esque garden, thus, there are trees and overgrown bushes here and there--all perfectly attuned to the landscape, of course--to duck behind.

"Right. You are...wow. In China. Near Lanzhou, so right smack in the middle of it. Did he say anything about why he took you?"

Sin finds a convenient set of bushes and hides in them, making sure her ears are mint green hair are concealed. "One said Menayen killed one of her masters, crippled another. It's clearly a group of people working together. They said they want the secrets of my design."

Vice ponders this. "Why? I mean, you're more advanced than me, but both of us were honest-to-god built to be like normal people, not to be hyper-exceptional in any way. It would be easier to get...you know. Normal people."

"Maybe they want to get at him. Either way, I need evac now. They took my weapons." Sin listens for footsteps.

There are a few, and casual voices...speaking Mandarin, of course. They're on the outside of the wall, though, passing by.

"Vice. I am going to go back inside and wait in my cell as soon as you get a positive fix on my location. My GPS will vanish, but I will be inside the pagoda here. Okay?"

"Okay. Aaaand...gotcha. I'll forward this to Menayen. Or I would if he didn't already have it. Careful, Sin. Shouldn't you just, like...get away?"

At about this time, a certain little dragon--one of many crawling the premises--comes bounding out of the tower for ano apparent reason, bouncing towards Sin.

"How far would I get if I ran? Then they might just kill me and dissect me anyway." Sin hears the little thing approaching. "The dragoon seems to like to talk, I... oop, dragon!"

"Dragon?"

It pounces her happily.

Sin is thusly pounced out of her hiding place, smiling despite herself.  Still, she looks around quickly, hoping no one saw.

It's quiet...but really, it's the calm before the storm, since from an upper-floor window, a certain lady dragoon had seen.

The dragon goes back to gnawing happily on her hair.

Sin pats its head and stands up with it, holding it carefully so it can gnaw away. "Maybe I will try to escape. I don't know. But do remember, if they do kill me, it would be very nice if Menayen aimed that wonderful cannon of his at their faces."

"And what cannon is that, my dear?" Caias inquires as she approaches. "The one that destroyed our lives but was appropriately blown out of the sky?"

Sin jerks a bit. "No, a whole new one," she blurts out.

"Oh, really. Do tell." This as the woman reaches out to take Sin's jaw in hand.

Sin is having none of that, this time. She jerks back and flings her leg up and out, a simple, but generally effective push kick to make some space between them.

The dragoon jumps back. If Sin's paying attention, she may take this to mean that she actually has the real one this time. "Ah, so you do have some fight in you. Regardless, dear, you're making my day irksome. Let's go back inside."

Sin pats the little dragon, and sets it down, eyes locked on Caias. "You fail to consider the ramifications this is having on my day, though. That's very rude of you... uh... what was your name again?" Yes, she had noticed. With that in mind... there's no way in hell she's giving up so fast.

"You don't care," the dragoon reminds. Smoke begins to swirl thickly around her arm in preparation from something. "Don't make this more difficult than it is, android. Just head back inside."

Sin plants her feet a bit. "Yes, massa. I do what you wan', massa, even though you gon' gut me anyhow. How about just let me go and save us both the trouble?" Because... yes, Menayen is fond of her. But she is a machine, something he built, and could damn sure build again. And she knows that.

The smoke solidifies into something grey, then fades into the same sort of colorful illusion her clones are: a sizeable warhammer of sorts. It must be lighter than it should be for how she's holding it, but regardless, it's not a friendly thing to be swinging home-run style at Sin's torso.

Which it is.

The android is paying attention, now, her system switching to defensive into a heartbeat. As soon as she sees something that looks like a hammer she skips back and dashes for the wall, perfectly intent on jump-scrambling up and over.

The dragoon snarls. There's nothing to stop Sin. She has about five seconds' worth of head start before the dragoon comes vaulting over the wall after her. Her smoke tricks, evidentally, are not as instant as ice.

Sin dashes away from the wall, searching her surroundings, looking for a way to lose her pursuit. Looking for a weapon. Anything. Then, she remembers the knife. She pulls it up, thinks. Tries to remember if she knows how to throw a knife.

She doesn't. And so she runs.

The dragoon is in hot pursuit...reasonably fast, but Sin is faster. Over the wall, there's a sparsely populated countryside that quickly thickens into a city: old-fashioned carts sometimes sport rubber tires on a few asphalt roads amidst many dirt ones, and a mixture of the old and the modern is everywhere. A few people turn to look at her, but not many are walking by this old pagoda and the cool natural area around it.

Her body drags a little bit. Sin knows she had not had enough time in the sun to restore her battery's power completely, and the auxiliaries are running down.

The android pushes past a couple of people, apologizing at a breath. She jumps a cart, tucking her knees tight against her chest almost cartoon-monkey-like. She hits the ground running, and, not looking back, ducks into a restaurant.

The people therein stare at her. An alien barging into the restraunt, of course they do.

<"Who are you?"> An intrepid waitress finally, timidly demands in Chinese.

There's a backdoor that probably leads to the kitchen.

Sin blinks. She knows Mandarin. She does.

When she's connected to the database, she's fluent in it.

<"I no trouble. Is way out back?">

The woman blinks. <"Well. Yes. What sort of...">

At this point, rapid footsteps herald a dragoon fast approaching and bursting through the door.

<"...Oh.">

Sin jerks her head up, growls, and bolts for the kitchen area.

Looks for something on the boil. Oil, water, anything in a pot she can grab. There are both available, actually. A couple of large pots, and a wok with some dumplings frying in it. The chef just gapes at the ears.

<"Forgive you!"> Sin says, snagging the wok pan, waiting a moment, and listening closely for Caias' approach--fully intent on throwing the hot oil at the dragoon. Maybe not at her face. Maybe she'll just swing the pot. She isn't sure yet.

Caias, irritated, has nonetheless slowly to a fast walk. This android is more trouble than she's worth. Maybe she does have some sentience. Regardless, she needs to take her back and decide for sure...probably take her to her master for his call. She pushes the kitchen door open.

Sin waits until she can see for certain who it is and swings for the fences, dashing hot oil and dumplings towards the dragoon's chest area as the pot speeds for her face.

...she wasn't ready for this. A startled scream at the hot oil is cut short by a large pan to the face. She isn't knocked out, exactly...the imact was broken by her now defunct nose, sending her stumbling backward back through the door until she lands on her back, spasming in pain.

The cook is agape until, finally...<"What the hell did you do?! Stop there and put down the pan!"> A kitchen knife is in hand as the rest of the startled cookstaff moves to follow his lead as they break out of shock.

Sin does, however, have a clear sprint to the back door.

<"I sorry! This is not what this is!"> Sin dashes, taking her exit. "Vice, what's happening on your side?" She bursts through the back door, head snapping left, then right, looking.

"We've got some transportation heading your way, but it'll be about three hours. Same question to you!"

The cookstaff is following. No one outside knows what's going on, though...they just stare at the alien, agape.

"I just hurt someone. That dragoon lady. I'm running but my battery is too low to keep it up for long." Sin shoots to the right of the entrance, looking for a warehouse or something solid to hide in.

There are railroad tracks nearby, and the largest building around sits beside them for the storage of trade goods.

Sin sprints that way, her muscles burniing as her battery starts to die. Her optics flicker. She stumbles.

Twenty-feet short of the building, the android stumbles and rolls, smacking her face into the earth and rolling onto her back, lying nearly motionless as her systems try to conserve power. There's enough light to keep her going, and eventually to kick her main battery back on. That, however, will take at least five to ten minutes.

It's just a few before an unexceptional young man walks by, pulling a cart. He blinks, startled at the strange creature lying by the road. <"Miss?"> He finally inquires, cautiously taking a knee by her side and very, very gingerly touching her forehead with fingertips he's expecting to get bitten. <"Are you all right...?">

Sin stares up at him. She doesn't know if she can speak. She blinks once.

<"Help... me... hide... me...">

<"What?"> His brow creases. <"From what?"> Still, after a hesitation, he moves to gingerly pick her up and set her on the bags of rice in the cart...which are actually nicely soft.

Sin groans softly when he picks her up. She hasn't thought about it, but she's actually pretty damned thirsty right now and it's making speaking difficult.

<"Enemies. Want to hurt me. Cut me.">

<"...well. You can explain later. Hopefully you aren't getting both of us into trouble. Let's get you out of the sun."> He picks up the poles of the little cart, and they're off again.

Not too much later, Sin is lying in a simple but perfectly dry and comfortable house, on the only sleeping mat between its two tiny rooms. Once she's had something to drink, the apprehensive young man, acting against his better judgement in all of this, lays a cool cloth gently over her head.

<"Now. Maybe you can explain who you're running from, when you feel able...?">

<"I need sunlight,"> Sin tells him. <"I am not what I look. I am a machine. They want to know how I be.">

He blinks. <"Er...so, do you want sunlight, or to be hidden?" There's really no cover that's not shaded outside.">

Sin wants to cry. She wants it so badly she could stab herself in the neck to just see it happen.

<"Do you have a window somewhere...? I get my power from the sun.">

<"Um..."> He leans back. Way back, to look into the next room. <"Yeah! It looks like the sunlight is coming into the kitchen right now, if you don't mind the move. Can you stand? You...er, could reduce the chances of me accidentally touching somethign that I shouldn't."> It's better to falsely accuse yourself of being a closet or accidental pervert than call a woman heavy.

Sin nods. She tries to sit up and does, with some little effort, and leans on her knees for a moment. Damned realistic systems. <"Thank you. I can go."> She gets up, wobbles, and wanders toward the next room, and to her source of life. <"Tell me your name...?">

<"I am Chian. It's a pleasure."> He's right beside her in case she falls, a steadying hand on her shoulder, once he has a hand on the mat to drag it along too. He breathes out once she's sitting again, and smiles a bit. <"May I ask yours?">

For a second, the android wonders if the name will cause a translation issue. She doubts it, though; if he knows English at all, he'll hopefully figure out that she isn't saying the word in Mandarin.

<"My name is> Sin," she informs him, resting comfortably in the light. <"It is a pleasure to me, too, Chian. I apologize for the inconvenience to your home. I promise I will not stay long.">

Huh. Sin's Mandarin improves a bit--she must be saving enough power to reconnect to Menayen's database.

<"It's okay. It's no inconvenience. I have to ask now that you seem to be feeling a bit better, Sin...what are you running from, exactly? And...can I get you some water or something?">

<"Water would be scrumptious, yes."> Sin smiles at him. <"They were enemies of my creator. They wanted to cut me open to see how I function.">

<"Creator...right. You said that you were a machine...I keep forgetting."> He fills a ceramic cup with water--from a tap, it's not backwards in the really important ways--and sits on his feet beside Sin, holding this out to her. <"Who around here would be interested in that, though, honestly...?">

Sin takes the cup with a grateful smile. She wonders how much to tell him.

<"I don't know that they're from this area. Just that they do not like my master, who is a man without his own country right now.">

Oh. Well, shit. The young man is silent a few moments, considering. Finally, slowly... <"Well. Tell me this, Sin..."> He looks at her. <"Am I in danger now, since I picked you up?">

Sin smiles some. <"I hope not, and I think not, but I do not know.">

<"That's not that reassuring."> He smiles crookedly. <"Oh, well. I suppose if I'm in it, I'm in it now. Are you hungry?">

<"I don't eat,"> Sin assures him. <"My body requires water to function, but all my energies come from sunlight. They power the nanomachines that serve as my cells.">

<"Oh. Okay."> The poor guy is clearly the sort who's never had anything deeply out of the ordinary happen to him, ever. <"Well...is there anything I can get for you? I have medicines, and all that...the dragons who govern this area keep us all in a pretty good supply of what we need.">

Sin almost--almost--cringes at that. Oh, good. If they come looking for her, he'll almost certainly give her up.

<"I don't need medicine. Just a place to hide for a few hours."> The android nods to her own statement, very Menayen-esque.

Chian hesitates. He wants to ask who she's running from...but honestly...did he really want to know? He has a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach hat he's helping the wrong person. But she doesn't seem like a bad person...it's not like he can just turn away an injured woman. Thing.

<"Well..."> He finally stands. <"Feel free to remain here. I have a few chores to do outside. You may call if you need anything.">

<"I will, thank you."> Sin does not mean to be difficult. She just really wants him to go away for a bit so she can check in with Vice.

And he leaves, still rather dumbfounded. He has some things to unload, though, and some planting to do.

sin waits until he is gone before she opens her communication channel; sending encrypted messages, this time. 

"Vice. Status report, please?"

"Nothing much new, sweetie. It's been twenty minutes, so transportation is still far from your location. What about from your side?"

"I had to check. I am away from the building I was held in now. I hit the dragoon in the face with a pot. I feel conflicted about it. The man of this house seems alright, but he said the area is dragon-controlled, so I do not necessarily trust him not to gve me up if someone comes looking."

"Mm...dragons strongly control most though not all of the Far East and most of the Himalaya region. You're in the belly of the beast, so to speak. What about your physical status? Are you damaged?"

"My battery was low enough to force shutdown. I am recharging now. And they took my laser crystals. Otherwise, I am fine."

Vice nods ineffectively. "All right. Just lay low and keep to one location as much as possible, and we'll be there ASAP, all right?" She smiles a bit.

"Can do. Thank you, Vice."

Feeling much better, Sin stands up and begins to wander around the house. Looking for weapons or places to hide should the need arise, and then she peeks out to so where Chian has gotten.

Chian is being questioned by someone: not a dragon, it looks like a local, but dressed in a long, simple white dress embroidered with a white dragon over the bottom.

Sin quite nearly dives back into the house. Need a place to hide. She finally leaps into the bath, pulls the curtain and crouches down, waiting.

Poor Chian is in a bad spot. He doesn't want to betray his lord...and he doesn't want a girl he'd helped to get killed. But finally, hearing the story when the woman gets to the part about hot oil being thrown on Lady Slemonessor...

"She's in here," he notes, softly.

The servant bows her head, and heads cautiously towards the door, stepping inside. Chian is duly startled and relieved that Sin is missing. Slow, careful footsteps edge closer to Sin's hiding spot, just...searching.

Sin listens. Please don't come closer. Please don't.

Her pupils shrink down to points. Her ears press back. A cold, quiet rumble boils up from her chest.

If the curtain draws back... she pounces.

A the steps pause at the sound, and then a pale, feminine hand sits on the edge of the curtain. It draws.

Sin's Serinian legs are curvy, but still Serinian. She leaps out from the tub at half-draw, dive-tackling curtain and hand-owner together if she can.

A startled yelp heralds the wide-eyed woman going back hard with an oversized serinian on top of her, hitting her head soundly, eyes crossing. She sucks in her breath as they uncross...she looks Japanese, actually, not Chinese. Her face is young, but her hair is half-grey...and her eyes are wide. "Can you...can you please...calm down?"

Sin stares down at this... woman... hand raised, ready to strike if she has to. She stares for a long moment.

"Who are you?" she demands. "Friend or enemy?"

"I could be either. It all depends on what you do. Please...please calm down." The woman's face is contorted, in pain from something.

Sin's pupils open up a little. "I'm sorry," she almost purrs, and pulls herself back. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you okay? If you're my enemy, I'm going to hurt you more."

The Japanese girl's eyes closed, hands finding her temples and rubbing a bit. "No, it's just...it's hard to explain. My master sent me to find you."

Sin's lip twitches. She has no Serinian fangs. "Who is your master?" Her eyes search for Chian. No trust, there.

"The dragoon who governs this province. Don't hit me." The woman flinches.

Sin stifles the urge to.

"I won't hit you. You can't tell anyone you saw me, though. Wait." Sin lowers her arms, stepping back enough that the girl can safely get up. "Master. What's your master's name?"

"Zhan Ipesp." Zhan. That would be the family name of a certain fellow sent after Yin until he was literally derailed.

Sin cringes a little. "Oh. Oh. Ohh... wait... is that Caias' master too?"

The servant's expression fades quite a bit at the mention of the other woman. "Yes. Of course."

"But but but we didn't do anything to the man on the train. That was the man with black eyes!" Sin can't help but feel a little pleased and horrified at that.

The woman's nose scrunches a bit. "You really have no idea what this is all about, do you? Well, tell me...that ice dragoon traitor your master used to associate with, where does she get her ice?"

Sin blinks. "A freezer?"

"Mm-mm. But if your next guess was 'a dragon,' you would have been right. She's tied to a dragon, and 'her' power is actually his. She's tied to some dead dragon, though, most kamati are. Except for four of them. My master is one."

Sin sighs quietly. "Okay, god dammit. I'm sick of this!" She rumbles again, just like in the tub a moment ago. "Who is your master, why do I care, what did Menayen do so bad to him, and what the fuck does it have to do with me!?"

The woman winces again, hands to her temples. She's quiet several seconds, composing herself. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be evasive, I am trying to answer your questions. I told you who my master is. He is tied to an astral dragon. Was. When your master killed them, all of the ivory dragoons practically had their guts ripped out, they're crippled. Except for my master's uncle...he was older and more deeply tied to his dragon. He died. You, are entirely artifial. You have keys to repairing them. Please calm down."

Sin blinks. She hadn't been created, back then. It takes her a moment, combing through the few files she can find on the subject in her memory.

"Oh. Oh. That. Well. Hm. Let's see. I don't care? No, that's not true." Sin ponders a moment, voice relaxing a little. "Wait. I know. You could have asked me. Or him, I'm sure he would have acquiesced. Your master could have come to us. I did not have to be assaulted and imprisoned." Quite suddenly, Sin is glad she smacked Caias with a pot.

The servant wrinkles her nose. "You were lightly choked. She is in the hospital getting skin grafts." She breathes slowly, closes her eyes, and opens them again to look calmer. Her voice, when she finally speaks, is soft. "My master isn't a bad person, you know. He's a good person. He takes good care of the people here. Even after you assaulted one of his most loyal servants and friends, he said that the fact that you were running was either programmed self-preservation, or genuine fear and a sign of sentience. So he sent me to find out for sure. I'm an empath and all. We want to hurt Menayen. We want to hurt him badly, for how he hurt us, and destroyed everything my master's family line has been forever, and crippled them, and killed one, and for killing their best friends and mentors and masters. But not hurt anyone else. So we took you, but he cared about you, and it would hurt him. If you turned out to be sentient, we wouldn't hurt you. And you did. Now let me up. I have no more business with you."

Sin stares coldly at this Zhan messenger girl, or who she takes to be one.

She steps back.

"I am leaving this place," she quietly says. "I am quite sick of listening to victim logic when I was the one kidnapped and taken halfway across the planet. So tell your master whatever you want."

The empath is shaken, quiet and upset. She brushes some of the dirt from her white gown, pulls the hood mostly over her head, and quietly heads for the door.

Sin just lets her go. She does not understand. How can someone punish her for the actions of someone else committed before her birth? It defies reason, for her.

"Chian," she calls, sweetly.

He's watching the empath go, quietly, breath held. The woman's not nobility exactly, but as a servant of it, certainly on a higher tier. He finally breathes out...though still tense. He breathes out. Finally, when the woman is gone, glances inside at Sin. Looks away. "It is treasonous for you to be here now that I know. Please leave," he observes quietly. This, as he takes what little unduly expensive milk that he has, pours it into a dish, and takes it outside to offer a certain little dragon who's still following Sin.

The android nods. "Fair enough. Thank you for helping me. Don't try to follow me or send others after me." She starts to leave the house, but stops at the sight of the dragon. "Hey! What are you doing here, you?" Her tone is instantly friendly and playful again, at the sight of the thing.

The dragon had just been nosing the milk...it finally looks up at Sin. This time, though, it doesn't pounce her. It almost looks sad, honestly.

Sin kneels near, but not too near.

"Hey, what's wrong? You were all knuckles and tongue earlier."

The dragon doesn't move. Finally, chirps, just once. It sounds almost like vocalization, honestly, but a failure to form a word.

Sin wishes more than anything right now that she knew what it was unhappy about.

She looks at Chian. "Do you know how to communicate with them?"

The now tired-looking fellow just shrugs a touch. "They're dragons. How would I?"

The dragon, meanwhile, is trying hard. "i...eeeye...da..." it chirps. Breathes. "Triiied."

"Iunno. How does a machine talk..." Sin looks at the dragon. "Tried? You are so cute! Tried what? Take your time."

"eeee...eee. Kee...keeeep. Keep. Safe. You. Shooow dragoon. Shooow..." it pauses. "Thinp. Hearp...feel. Shooow dragoon you feel."

Sin sits down on the ground. Looks at the bowl of milk for a second, eyes thoughtful.

"I was scared, though," she says to the little beast. "I didn't know how much time I had. And she kept threatening me. I'm sorry."

The dragon's clawed little front feet set upon her knee, gazing up at her with eyes that are look young and dumb...but like they're fighting that. "No. No...soorri. Safe. You...safe."

The android fights the urge to gather the little thing up and hug it. She doesn't know how much good that would do for its scales or her skin.

"Yeah. But what about you? They won't be mad that you helped me, will they?"

"No. Nooo...mad." It shakes its head, thinking. Trying to explain, somehow. Frustrated. It doesn't really have the intelligence for this, even as it feels sure it should. "Heeeel. P. Help. You...help."

Sin's eyes actually tear up a little bit.

"How...?"

"No...know. Help. Bleaaase...help me. Me. My. My dragoon. Help my," the little dragon nods a little bit, "dragoon."

Sin cringes. "Caias?"

"Nooo...no. Caias...no. Ipesp. Ipesp, myyy dragoon. Help."

Even better. "Lead me back, then...?"

The little dragon seems to smile a bit at this, stretching upward on her knee to brush her cheek with its nose, then steps off and tugs her pantleg gently with his teeth.

Sin stands up, sniffles a little. This draggie is so damn cute. 

She goes right along with it, looking back at Chian only briefly.

The pagoda, when you're not fleeing it, is actually a rather grand thing. Unlike most buildings in the area, it's dressed largely in silvers, whites, and opal-esque tones--all kept quite clean--though still trimmed in the symbolic reds of the Chinese culture. The gardens, from what can be seen over the wall, are beautifully tended. All of it, though, has a quiet, rather abandoned feeling.

Sin wanders there with the dragon, looking grimly into the pagoda proper. She wonders why she cares at all to help the people who, instead of approaching her about sentience, decided to abduct her instead. She does. It must be another one of those emotions she hasn't recognized yet.

At the gates, she breathes in deeply. "Heeeeeeyyyy! I'm sorry I smacked your face!"

The white-clad empath, the hood of her sleeveless dress still up, looks up to the gate with a handful of lilacs she's just cut. About twenty seconds later, the gate is pulled open a bit so that she can look and speak through it. She glances down at the dragon...pauses. Wondering. Its mind feels different than the others, and the others have been acting strangely, too. Her eyes travel back up to Truce. "Why have you returned?" she asks quietly. "I thought that you were leaving...understandably, I suppose. Did you leave something of yours here?"

"Well," Sin blinks. "Actually, yes. Your people stole my crystals. But beyond that, I am here to try to help you fix your problem. Not the hurt Menayen problem. The other one, where you needed my artificialness."

"Oh..." The empath blinks slowly. Pause. She doesn't sense any deceit. Unsurety...but not deceit. Finally, hesitantly...she bows a bit, and pushes the gate open for Sin to pass. "I don't know what changed your mind," she notes quietly. "But thank you. Here...I will get you the crystals that were in your wrists, and then see if my master will take a visitor so that you can talk to him directly. I...was taking him these flowers anyway." She smiles a bit, and turns to head towards the building.

Sin follows her. "The dragon told me it..." she blinks.  Looks down to the dragon. "He? She? I never asked, I apologize."

The empath stops walking, head whipping around. Glances down to the dragon, pause. Then back up to Sin. "He. He...spoke to you? How do you mean...?"

Sin wonders at this. "With words? He seemed to have difficulty with them, especially at first. He is a cutie, though." Sin reaches down, kneeling to give some much needed attention to the dragon in the form of pets.

The dragon chirps, and thrums happily, leanin gup against her hand.

The lady in white is quiet. Until, finally..."there must be something special about you, then. I apologize for our crimes against you." She hesitantly turns, and starts walking again. She really needs to tell Zhan this.

Sin pets the draggie, and offers her shoulder. It *did* walk a long way on little legs.

He wiggles, and is more than happy to hop right up.

Sin pats him, and walks after the girl, looking around--she's more than ready for an ambush, after earlier.

None comes, though her concern is understandable. Inside, the white-clad girl heads to a room above where Sin had first been imprisoned. She emerges a minute or so later with something in hand, and holds out the android's crystals. "Here you go."

Sin reaches out, wary, but takes them. Assuming there is no explosive trap reaction or some such, the nodes in her palms will whirl out one at a time, and she will install the crystals back into their fittings. 

As she does this, the empath trims the ends of the lilac branches and sets them carefully into a vase. She looks Sin over quietly. "You've been through a lot. Would you like a bath and some fresh clothes? It would be appropriate, and hopefully at least begin to make up for our transgressions."

"I really just want to help you and go home." Sin pats the dragon again.

The woman nods. There's a pause...it would be far more proper. But then, they've pushed their luck with this poor woman more than enough. She bows her head. "Alright. Follow me, miss." She turns, and heads up the stairs, towards the top layer of the tower.

Sin has no interest in cultural norms right now. She's sure she smells just fantastic, anyway. 

Just to be on the safe side, she sends a command to her CPU to cool her, and for her nanos to start scrubbing her pores.

And so she follows ipesp, up the stairs.

"So what should I not do or say in front of this Zhan?"

"It will be understood that you aren't well-schooled in the Chinese culture," she observes, thinking. "Just be respectful, and you should not challenge him on trivial points, only ones that really matter."

Sin nods. "Well. Let's hope our definition of trivial is the same. It sure hasn't been so far."

"It is understood. The woman breathes out outside of a nice set of double-doors. Smiles a little at Sin. "Wait here while I announce you?"

"Yeah-huh."

The empath breathes again, knocks softly, and waits for the equally soft acknowledgement before slipping inside.

"...brought you these," she can be heard saying, to some simple acknowledgement that sounds warm enough regardless. "And the android girl, Sin, she is...wishes...armed but..."

After a minute, the empath returns to the door, pushing it open a bit more for Sin. She smiles a bit. "My master will see you. Come in."

The room is a nice one. It's not garishly decorated, but there's art on the walls, the assorted cloth things are all soft, quality silks, and it's well-lighted to the outside.

There's a sleeping mat, nicer than the one she'd been lying on. On this, dressed in quite traditional garments in pure white, a tired and overdrawn fellow gazes quietly at the ceiling. Strongly noble-featured despite this, and the admittedly sunken eyes are deep, intense, and intelligent. Most unlike Caias and Yin, though, he lacked any particular physical sign of his status as a dragoon.

Sin steps inside. Checks the dragon on her shoulder, and doesn't say anything, waiting to be spoken to. She assumes this is correct.

It's quiet for a bit. Finally, spoken in heavily accented French: "All things considered, I did not expect to see you back here, Miss Sin. Are you unhurt, then?" He looks over at the android.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Look, I apologize if it sounds disrespectful, but I really just want to do what I can for you guys and go home." Sin smiles sweetly. "Does that sound reasonable?"

Ipesp nods slowly, after a moment. Wondering why she's decided to help them...eyes settle on the dragon a few moment. "Yes, of course." He looks back to Sin. Is quiet. Finally, "I trust that Kaiya explained things to you as best she could...and she is well-informed. If you have further questions, you're welcome to ask them. Without harming you, though, our best recourse may be to ask your master's help in repairing some of the damage he's wrought. Tell me, how open do you would think he would be to our approach at this point?"

"He won't trust you. He'll help you, because he's like that, but there'll be a gun pointed at you the whole time or until he decides you're okay." Sin nods. Not that such wouldn't have been easier before. "I'll talk to him."

Ipesp nods a bit. "Thank you, Miss Sin. Is there anything you need to know?"

Sin thinks. No, not really need. Curious, though. "Tell me why your people wanted to cut me open."

"Your abilities are enhanced and, I suspect, only as little as they are for the sake of human realism. Despite this, you seem entirely human at a glance and seem to be largely organic. As you can see, I have reason to be interested in the reconstruction of a crippled body, and your construction likely holds the keys to not only that, but some of that enhanced ability to replace that which was lost."

Sin ponders this. "But the brain," she says. "My brain is a CPU, and my nervous system is all nanomechanical. An operation like that might kill you."

Ipesp nods once. "Half of me already is, blown out of the sky as it approached this world. To risk what's left, I think, is acceptable."

Sin nods. "Okay, then. I'll vouch for you. All of you." She smiles a little bit. "Um... I think he might be able to fix Caias' face...?"

There's a pause at this. Finally, the former dragoon nods. "That would be a nice gesture. Thank you, Miss Sin."

Sin could monkeystomp him for his thanks. She could. She wants to.

She doesn't.

"Well, I did cause the damage. Granted she was chasing me, but still. Scared the eff right out of a cook or two." Her ears wiggle a little. "It's very easy from here, right? My people are coming to get me. I'll tell them what's up. Menayen will surely do his thing for you, and you guys won't have any tricks or ambushes in mind. When he's done, we'll all part as neutrals, not friends, not enemies. Well, except me and this cutie." She reaches up to pet the draggie. "So... let's do that."

Ipesp nods. "Yes. That sounds like a much better solution to affairs. You are welcome to wait in the pagoda or gardens for your transportation. No harm will come to you."