Kamryn/The Return
Part 1
[Sagan Observatory]: Kar-dragon's Room
Background: Kamryn and Lux haven't been seen for quite a while, it's otherwise a normal day.
Kar is at his bedroom, resting on it after a day of work. His children are doing various activities around the room, and it seems that Lillith is back into keeping order.
Zen had given Debbie a call earlier in the day, explaining that he would like to spend some time with her and Kar in the same room. With their scheme to try and prank their friends and family, seeing how he interacts around Kar would certainly help out. He waits outside his room before giving her a brief greeting, "Heya Debbie, hope you've had a good day so far. Mine has been the same old routine." He gives a nod and walks towards Kar's room, unlocking it with his key, stepping inside, and holding the door open so that Debbie could enter. Not seeing Kar initially, he looks towards Lillith and asks, "Hey Lillith, how're you feeling? Is Kar home?"
Debbie arrives at Zen's place, dressed in her work clothes. "Hey Zen" She says giving him a hug. "Can't stay too long, but this should be interesting. I've really only seen Kar in a group setting." She follows after Zen, but sees someone she hasn't met before. She gives Lilith friendly smile and extends her hand. "Hi I'm Debbie. Nice to meet you."
Lillith avoids eye contact with Zen when he addresses her. "He is upstairs, resting." She says. When Debbie extends her hand to the gryphon, she takes it. "Pleased to meet you Debbie. I'm Lillith, and those around here are my siblings."
A few moments after the door closes, a sudden rapid thudding can be heard coming from the lobby, muffled but sounding like someone banging on another room's door. "Dad? You there?" a hoarse voice calls out urgently, clearly that of Lux sounding somewhat distressed. After another few thuds and a short pause she moves closer and knocks loudly on Kar's door. "Un- uncle Kar... Blitz, auntie Lillith... Dany..." the voice calls out, trailing off a little before weakly adding "anyone?"
Zen gives a meek smile to Lillith before nodding and walking past her, brushing a tail to her as he passes and heads for the stairs. He waits for Debbie to finish introducing herself, ready to show her the way to Kar's bedroom. However, before he could take the first step up them, the banging on the door grabs his attention. His ears perk up and he rushes towards the door, yanking it open with a surprising quickness. "Lux!? Wait... w-whats wrong? Where is Kam?" He asks, rapid fire. He runs out to embrace her in a tight hug, also looking to see where Kam might be. With her tone, he was worried. He had been for some time after not seeing or hearing from them, but hearing her tone made a bit of dread well up inside. He knew that he didn't have to shout for Kar, as some of the other would certainly get him if he hadn't already heard.
Debbie sees Zen and Lux looking worried and nervously echoes "Kam?" as she looks around with Zen. She's not quite sure what's going on, but Zen seems concerned about Kam, which worries her, but she stands back, not really sure what's going on, much less what to do?
Kar hears the banging on the door and wastes no time jumping down the platform, using his wings to control the descent. He quickly moves to the door and looks at Lux. "Lux? What happened?" He asks as Zen hugs her.
Lux almost collapses into the room as Zen pulls the door open as she was leaning on it for support. She stumbles into the room and hugs him tightly for a long moment as she catches her breath. Her clothes are torn and dirty and she's clearly sustained numerous injuries across her whole body, though her nanites seem to be handling them. Lifting her head without letting go of her father she tries to speak, but her emotions overwhelm her and she just starts sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her cheeks and adding to the pattern of faded lines already crossing her mud and grime matted fur from previous occasions.
Managing to calm herself down a little and control her sobbing, Lux relaxes her grip on Zen a little, still not quite ready to release him again just yet. Exhausted, she takes a moment to collect her thoughts. "It's mum..." she says flatly, seemingly drained by her emotional outpouring. "She... we... we were attacked" she continues in the same hesitant flat tone. "I- I don't even know what it was. It was chasing us for days - always there, but staying just out of sight. Every time we tried to get back to the city it got ahead of us somehow, always hidden in the trees but making sure we knew it was there, growling and shaking the trees. Sometimes we thought we saw movement in the shadows but never what it actually was. We couldn't even call for help - I don't know how it did it but as soon as it showed up, the comm system went down". She starts to tear up again as she adds "It was doing it on purpose - pushing us further out to keep us scared and alone".
Zen continues to rub his hands over her back, taking note of the terrible condition her clothes were in and the wounds on her body. He backs up some, still holding her shoulders and looking over her with a tremendous amount of worry. When he heard they were attacked, fear and anger started to boil within him. Since Kar had shown up, he turns to him and asks, "Kar, can you help her? Please... whatever you can do to heal the wounds." Looking back to Lux he asks, "Where, where did you two get attacked? How long has it been?" He had so many questions, but tempered himself, trying not to overwhelm his frail looking daughter. "I'm so happy you found us, but... anything you can tell us... please, I promise I'll do whatever I can."
Kar is about to ask of Kam's whereabouts when Zen asks for him to care for her. "Alright, Zen. But as soon as she is safe, I'm joining you." He says as his fingers start glowing blue. He places his hands on Lux's shoulders, allowing for his medical nanomagic to accelerate the healing process.
"I'm OK" the skunksune says unconvincingly, closing her eyes and slowly starting to look a little better as Kar's nanomagic takes effect. "Thankyou" she says quietly, half turning her head to Kar. As her wounds heal, some strength returns to her voice. "We were out in the woods. Mum was investigating a report of some strange activity for Zephyr. It wasn't supposed to be anything dangerous - she said it was probably just some ferals passing through - so I went with her". She swallows nervously as her voice quavers a little. "I don't know how long it's been - I lost track between the sleepless nights and never knowing if today would be the day it stopped chasing and attacked". Opening her eyes again she looks around at everyone, noticing a few changes. "How long is it since you last saw us?"
Zen looks at her pityingly, feeling sick to his stomach at hearing what a hard time she has had. Still, he didn't have much to go on... He could try and track her trail in reverse, but more information would help, anything to give him a better idea where to look. He nuzzles the top of her head before answering, "I haven't seen you in months..." He glances to Kar before saying, "Just... calm down and try to relax... try to recall what sort of things you've seen on your way here. Landmarks, interesting formations, like that trip we took through the woods before... Did you cross over any streams, any particular smells?" He presses his head to hers and kisses again, looking thankfully to Kar and his healing nanomagic.
Kar keeps on working his nanomagic to revitalize Lux. "We will need as much information as possible if we hope to track that thing." He says while moving the focus of the healing to her back. "I swear, as soon as I find it, I'll drive my spear through it's skull."
Lux lifts her gaze to look at Zen, eyes wide in shock, not quite believing him at first. "No, it can't have been..." she starts, shaking her head in disbelief before adding "really?" as she looks around at the assembled family again. An increasingly worried expression develops on her face. Hesitantly, she continues "We... we were near the mountain at first - that must have been weeks ago though. I thought it couldn't have been more than ten days or so it was stalking us before...". She pauses, taking a deep breath as a shudder passes over her. "Before it decided it'd had enough of scaring us and attacked. We'd stopped to rest for the night by a stream, and tried lighting a fire - it had always kept its distance during the day so we thought maybe the light would keep it away. I think there was a cave nearby, I'm not sure - we'd been running all day and I was exhausted". Looking back up at Zen she adds "Sorry dad, I can't remember properly. I have no idea where we were. Maybe if I hadn't got so lost trying to get back here I could retrace my steps..."
Zen looks to Kar, fully understanding his sentiment. He doesn't say anything, but gives a slow nod. A spear through the skull would be a merciful act with the sort of sadistic torture he was envisioning. Of course, he would do his best to suppress those thoughts, caring more about getting Kam back safely first. When Lux starts to recount some of the details of her trip back, he nods and nuzzles her again. "No, don't feel sorry. You were through a lot, and you did well to remember that much." He says with a reassuring tone, pulling away from her and looking back to Kar and the rest of the family who seemed to be nearby, looking on with worried expressions. It looks like his is debating saying something, obviously conflicted about it. With a shake of his head, he resolves to issues a different order, "Lux, stay here... get something to eat and rest... I have a few ideas of where to check... and I'll call a favor with the scouting teams..." He looks to Kar and says, "I'm going to go... I don't like the idea of waiting around. I... I know you can fight..." He looks to the rest of the family before saying, "I think you should trust in us to bring her back... I wouldn't want to lead any of you into more danger..."
Kar nods. "You go ahead. I'll make sure that Lux is safe before following." He says as he keeps working his nanomagic over Lux's body. "I'll call the local hunters too, see if they can help track whatever it is down, and make sure it doesn't hurt anybody else." Without the need of extra orders, the children start scrambling around, preparing everything to care for Lux while the adults are away.
Lux shakes her head with a despairing look. "No - no, I can't stay here, I've got to help find mum. I should have stayed with her and fought, not hidden, but she insisted...". Taking a step forwards she stumbles, almost collapsing to the floor before Blitz rushes in to support her. Realising she can barely walk unaided, she closes her eyes again, not wanting to accept the inevitable. "I lost her comm unit too" she says quietly. "She gave it to me before she led that monster away, and told me to keep it safe. She said it was important and might... it might help if anything happened. I must have dropped it somewhere when I was running"
Zen nods to Kar before saying, "Thanks, make sure she is taken care of. I'm going to make a few calls and head into the woods to start looking. I'll keep my comm active at all times... If you see it flicker or dip off, then that could mean I've encountered whatever it was that was stalking them." When Lux starts to protest, truly showing how weak the journey had made her, Zen shakes his head and adds, "I know how you feel, but she would be happy you've made it back to us, and she wouldn't want you to go back into that. You've endured enough... just let us take it from here." He then gives a glance to Kar and says, I'll wait for you at the entrance to the forest, meet me there in 30 minutes. With that, he leaves to go into his room and prepare, immediately starting to call someone on his comms. As he leaves the room, it sounds like he was talking to someone about scouting missions, trying to find out if there were any similar occurrences or any additional locations that would match the information Lux had given him.
Kar helps support Lux as she almost collapses. "Easy there, Lux. You are weakened and need to rest." He says to the skunksune before looking to Zen. "It will take longer than that to get everything in pace. You go in first, I'll track you down later." He and Blitz help Lux inside, before he starts sending messages with the details of what happened to all hunters in the area.
With the adrenalin from recent events rapidly leaving her bloodstream, Lux tiredly nods in reluctant agreement and doesn't protest further as Kar and Blitz take her to bed, sleep rapidly taking hold over her. "Mum was... skunk... last time saw her..." she mumbles before succumbing to exhaustion.
After getting himself ready for a potential fight, padding his usual clothes with kevlar, Zen is the first to head out. There wasn't much time to sit idle, Lux had managed to make her way to the Observatory, and her scent trail was fresh. He uses his radiotelepathy to speak through Kar's comm, expecting him to still be getting stuff ready and tending to Lux. "I'm heading in now, I'll go to a few places I'm familiar with that might have matched what Lux remembered. Maybe I'll pick up another trail then, maybe I'll find the comm unit she lost." He starts into the woods, using the best of his tracking ability to get him to a good starting point.
Kar pings Zen back with a message. "I'll make sure she is stable before heading in, but you can expect me bringing the big guns when I do."
Some time passes as Zen tracks through the forest...
[Deep Forest]: Hidden Cave Entrance
As you trudge through the undergrowth you happen to notice an overgrown crevice in the side of a nearby rock face. Heavy foliage hangs down around the crack, it's a wonder you saw it at all. As you inspect a little more carefully you notice crushed plants and grass around the ground, it seems something uses this place...
After tracking Lux's route for miles, a task made easier by the heavy element of fear in her scent and the fact she's been living in the woods without a shower for a couple of months, Zen arrives at the mouth of a small cave. With the air cool and moist from the nearby waterfall, this could be the place Lux mentioned she'd tried to make camp with Kamryn on the night they were attacked. A few minutes search locates some signs of a long-extinguished campfire and several gouges with dark splotches that could be blood.
Zen follows the trail as best he could manage, hoping that he would be led to a solid starting point. His ears and nose seemed to be particularly sensitive, almost as if hoping to find a sign of Kam... A familiar scent, or even hearing her voice that he hadn't heard for so long now, anything. When he finds the signs of a campfire, he swells with a bit of excitement, Lux had mentioned that she was with Kam when they built a fire to try and stave it off. He smells around before noticing those dark patches on the ground, giving them a closer inspection and touching them. How much was there... was it enough to fear bleeding to death, was it even blood? Wait... if Kam and Lux, were here, at some point, that must mean the comm unit is somewhere here, or along the path he travelled to get here. He starts searching around some more, relaying what he has found so far to Kar.
The gouges in the ground form a trail leading away from the cave, starting to spread out into a wider, looser pattern from a few yards away from the campfire remains. A new series of marks are mixed in with them starting at the same point on the trail - black, round, sometimes elongated shapes that are starting to blend back into the soil. Whatever happened here definitely involved a lot of fighting.
Zen doesn't initially get a response from the comm unit, something he somewhat expected with it not broadcasting its location. But... perhaps he would be able to manage something by fishing for a response from the antennae itself. He could amp up his own signal to release a wide spectrum resonance pulse to try find suitable devices in the area, even if they were powered down. He doesn't fully know how to do it, but such is the wonders of nanomagic, and within a few minutes he is prepared to give it a shot. The pulse echoes back two locations along the path he had taken before. He shares that information with Kar before explaining that he was going to check out the cave nearby. So, with that thought in mind, he enters the cave, trying to be as sneaky as possible in case whatever had caused the scene outside was still around. Unfortunately, he manages to step on an unstable rock and is tossed off-balance, catching himself but sending the rock crashing against the rock walls with an echoing clattering. A drove of bats swarm out and past him, clearly spooked and probably annoyed for having their sleep disturbed. With the element of stealth gone, Zen continues to search the cave for any signs of what might have been living there. After a thorough investigation, he would then head back to the closest of the two echoed pings.
Zen searches around the cave for a few minutes, finding nothing but the gnawed bones of small animals and bat faeces. Whatever had used this cave during the attack certainly wasn't there now, and might not make a habit of habitually using it. With a sign of disappointment, Zen leaves the cave and returns to the campsite before checking in on Kar's whereabouts. Referencing the previous ping with Kar's location, he was able to see which was his. "Hey Kar, did you want to meet up at that ping I sent you, or do you think you can handle it on your own? I can try and figure out where all of this fighting went... I didn't see any torn clothes or a discarded weapon... the cave was also empty too. Though, it looks like there is a lot of blood."
Kar sends a message back to Zen. "I just passed the location of the ping, so it's faster if you keep the search while I pick it up. I'll get there as soon as possible."
Part 2
Zen gives a nod to himself at hearing Kar's response. Kar would be able to invistigate the ping while he continues chasing after any sign that might lead him closer to his missing mate. Lux said that there was something about the Comm Unit... but what could it be? He then looks back to the scene of the conflict, analyzing it again and looking to see where it leads. He tries to follow the signs through the woods, moving as stealthily as possible, but also with a sense or urgency. He was also looking for anything non-natural, something that doesn't belong in the forest. There was still a lot that they didn't know about the situation, and any information they didn't have before would be helpful.
As Zen follows along the path, taking time to look along the trail for anything that doesn't belong, his attention is drawn further up ahead as a flash of white and black streaks across. He drops low initially, making himself harder to see while trying to get a better look, following after the movement with his eyes. White and black... could it have been...? He tempers himself, not giving up any advantages he has. He knew where he saw it, he could investigate where it passed and try to determine if the smell was familiar. He also knew the general direction it went, so he could try tracking it if the current trail runs cold. He follows along the trail he was on before, stopping up at the place the other creature passed, seeing if he could get a sense of what it was he saw.
An infernal whirring marks the arrival of Kar. His form is that of a M1A1H mutant, and he seems ready for combat when he reaches Zen. "Any news?" He asks as he approaches.
Zen's ears twitch towards the approach of Kar, the mechanical whirling and metallic body clash with the natural woodland aesthetic surrounding him. He gives a soft sigh before saying, "Well, uh, you are sure making a statement. Heh, I bet any of the local wildlife would turn tail and run upon getting a sense of you." He gives a short huff before asking about the ping he mentioned he would check out, "So, did you find anything interesting at the location I gave you? I was hoping that the Comm Unit Lux dropped on the way back would have been there." He turns back to the scene he was investigating before his ears prek up and he beams towards the direction the blur vanished in. "I-It's certainly her smell, I.. I just thought saw something but." He says, starting to move with purpose towards in that same direction. "Hurry! If it was her, I don't want to miss this chance of catching up to her." At that, he starts to run full speed towards it, throwing stealth and subtlties out the the window.
Before Kar has the opportunity to answer, the beams go off in the distance. As Zen starts to move towards it, Kar places the comm he has found somewhere safe and starts to move at full speed in the same direction.
You both chase the creature Zen saw and spot it up ahead after a few moments of running. It's definitely a human-sized skunk running on all fours, and Kamryn's scent is getting stronger the closer you get. She tries to lose you as she runs but can't manage to shake you off. Getting quite close, you arrive at a clearing just in time to see the one you've been pursuing scramble into a den beneath a pile of fallen trees.
Zen stops chasing the skunk when he sees her scurry into a den of some sort. His mind was racing with worry. That scent.. it was hers... and a human-sized skunk... that fits the bill, but if that was her, why would she run from them? He waits for Kar to catch up and looks to him with his ears splayed to the side, "I swear... that is her scent, I'm positive, I wouldn't mistake it... so why... What if..." He glances over Kar's larger form and says plainly, "I don't think you'll be making it down there like that." He walks up and looks at the den, preparing to enter it himself, or if it was shallow enough, to try and coax the skunk out. He still looks around for additional signs, this was certainly seemed like a habitial spot she retreated to... what about whatever attacked them?
It doesn't take long for Kar to catch up. He takes a moment to recover his breath while analising the den. "Yeah, I caught her scent too." He says, before reducing his size to something more manageable. "I don't get it. What could have caused that reaction from her?"
Zen stoops down before looking into the den. "Kam? Hey, thats you in there, right? It me, Zen. Kar is here too. We've been looking for you... Lux made it home and said you were in trouble." He pauses, looking into the den and trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of her. "Come on out... you don't need to hide from us." He says in a more soothing tone, trying to wipe the panic from his voice. He glances to Kar's smaller, still imposing form and asks, "What is going on... did you reactivate her Comms? Was there anything on there? Any clues as to what is happening now?"
Kar shakes his head. "Didn't have the opportunity to do so." He says as he recovers it from his bag. "Maybe we should try to turn it on now?" He asks to Zen, while keeping an eye on the den, trying to see who or what is in there.
The den is warm and dark. Many of the gaps between the fallen trees have been blocked with pieces of cloth, damaged chunks of armour plating, or bits of broken technology. There is more debris on the floor. The skunk is crouched in a corner, looking like a scared animal. Now Zen has a clear look at her it's definitely Kamryn, at least physically - recent events have clearly affected her quite badly. She hisses and tries to fluff out her fur to make herself appear larger as Zen's head appears in the entrance to her den. Her fur is stained with mud and there are traces of something of a slightly off-white colour around her muzzle. It doesn't look like she's obviously injured, at least not any more - if she was half as injured as Lux was by their attacker, then her nanites have done a much better job of healing her than her daughter. Her hissing stops after she sniffs the air a little. With a confused expression, she slowly leans forwards to get more of the new scent into her nose while still trying to keep away from the intruder.
Zen gives a nod to Kar and says in a hushed tone, "Yeah, I think we should. It might have information regarding her current state." He starts sniffing around the den some more, curious to see if there are other scents or clues. He looks to Kam and seeing her confusion, tries to help her remember. He slowly reaches out a hand, not to her, but letting it hover a bit closer should she want a better smell. He considered using his targeted emotional aura nanomagic to replace her fear with curiousity, but he was worried about having the confusion hit her in a negative manner.
Kar fiddles with the device for a few minutes, but is unable to turn it on. "I think it's busted. I can't seem to turn it on." He says before giving up on that fools errand.
The den mostly smells of Kamryn, old wood, and earth. There is a definite scent of something else too though - a musky, sexual element that is also somehow... different. Kamryn initially moves back as Zen reaches towards her, but leans forwards again when his hand stops before reaching her. Nervously sniffing at his outstretched fingers her fur begins to flatten again as she relaxes a little, perhaps influenced by his calming tone or his scent triggering a memory. She's still very cautious though - every slight movement of Zen's hand causing her to recoil a little revealing how tense and scared she is. She's briefly distracted by the sound of another voice from Kar, but quickly returns to watching Zen from her corner when she can't see the source.
Zen gives a pitying look at how terrified she was. He pulls away some, but remains at the entrance, making sure she could see him and familiarize herself with his scent. Speaking up scents, he smells a bit more around the room. He then turns to Kar and talks in a calm tone, "It is definity Kam, but... she isn't all there right now." He reaches out a hand as if asking for the Comm unit, "I might be able to work something with my nanomagic, but I can't promise anything. Here, lets try switching... she can't see you, and it might be making her more afraid." He pauses and smiles meekly, "Maybe something... softer, more familiar? You do look pretty imposing like that... and it is just her in there."
Kar nods, before shifting into a female husky form. "I guess that should be less threatening." He says as he walks towards Zen, giving him the comm before laying don at the entrance. He stays as still as possible until Kam is used to his presence.
Kamryn puffs out her fur again as Kar comes into view, but slowly settles down again as she had with Zen when he remains in a still and non-threatening position at the den's entrance. Once again she sniffs the air, her curious expression returning as she leans forwards as far as possible. As she reaches maximum stretch, she takes a couple of slow crawling steps forwards, wanting to get closer for a stronger smell of the husky's scent and having to change her position as Kar hadn't reached inside the den as Zen had. She nervously sniffs near her mate before retreating back to her corner, watching him all the time.
Zen starts to fiddle with the comm unit, trying the normal way before attempting to give the device a jump-start with his techno nanomagic. As he does, he continues to talk in a calm tone, but it was certainly a struggle with how badly he wanted to let his sorrow bleed through. "I think she must have been going to the field that all those... erotic smelling fauna... I... I don't really know what to do. I want to get to the bottom of this, but we have Kam right here with us... well... just not 'entirely' with us." He swallows a knot in his throat and says, "You don't think... she is going to remain like that... right? It has to be reversible."
Kar moves slowly as to not startle Kam, bringing a hand closer so she can better smell it. "You are right, we have her. If worst comes to worse, I can talk to the prometheans to help her recover at least a bit." He says as he gently motions for Kam to come closer. "But if what happened to you is any indication, we will be able to have her back."
Kamryn watches Kar intently as he starts to move, reassured by his soft tone and slow movements. She crawls forwards again, still cautious, and takes in his scent. Curiosity starting to get the better of her in trying to identify the scent, she briefly touches her nose against Kar's outstretched hand before pulling back. This time though, she settles only a few steps away, still not quite trusting the visitors but starting to warm to them.
Zen looks a bit disappointed when it doesn't turn on initially. Fortunately for him, his nanomagic gives him a few troubleshooting steps to try, potentially allowing him to find the source of the fault and even allowing him to patch in a fix. Following the steps, he opens up the device and starts cleaning some muck and debris from all of the connections and drying any componets that had moisture built up on them. He then turns it over and try again, lighting up with a bit of excitement and hopefulness. His expression quickly sours when it fails to boot... but at least it lit up. "Boot failure... No Memory Available... 97% Allocated to...huh...something unrecognized..." He scratches his head before saying, "That doesn't sound right... something it completely hogging all of this devices resources... but for what? Maybe this explains why the comm didn't work when Lux was expaining they tried before?... But... I don't get it." He hands the thing back to Kar before adding, "Kam would probably know... but with how she is now." He huffs and thinks back to what he does know. "She gave the Comm to Lux to take away, right? Do you think it has something to do with proximity? Or maybe there is someone that can analyze it?" He looks back and him and says, "Maybe I should go check out the field...? Try and find out what she has been doing there."
Kar takes the device and holds it for a bit. "I don't really know, but I would rather get Kam somewhere safe before we try anything else." He says, before slowly making his way into the den, holding the comm somewhere Kam could smell if she wanted.
Kamryn shuffles back a step but allows Kar to approach, keeping her eyes on him all the time apart from a brief glance at the object he's holding. She flattens herself against the ground submissively, still afraid and shaking slightly but looking like the gradually draining adrenalin is making her willing to give Kar a chance.
Zen huffs softly before looking back to Kar, smiling that he is making more progress to get closer to Kam. Paces a few feet away from the entrance of the den before pulling up his own integrated comm, just checking to see if anything was amiss with it. Something was nagging at him about the comm unit, but he didn't really know enough about the capabilities of it. "If it is memory, that must mean it is in the devices itself, right? Toss me that device again when you can, I want to look it over again, see if anything is not as it should be. If that isn't it... perhaps there is a remote server that is taxing it? We might do well to get it in an isolated frequency room or something to sever it... or maybe trace it to the source..." He shakes his head and says, "Well, first things first. Let check the device again."
Kar notices the badges as Kam lays down on the floor, but decides to not touch it, seeing as it could trigger a defensive reaction from her. When Zen calls the possibility, Kar nods. "Yes, it does make sense." He says, before gently sliding the comm outside again. Once done that, he slowly turn to Kam again, slowly placing a hand over her fur, and brushing it should she allows.
Raising her gaze without moving her head from the floor of the den, Kamryn watches the approaching hand carefully. She nervously twitches as Kar makes contact with her fur, still highly anxious and not moving. It's not clear if she's deliberately staying still, if she's paralysed with fear, or just tired from everything that's been happening, but she allows Kar to gently brush and stroke her, her muscles gradually relaxing under his touch.
Zen picks up the comm unit again and starts poking around it, looking at any input ports and investigating them for any cartridges that could potentially contain instructions for a program or application. Once he is done with that, he starts looking back at any panels he could remove and seeing if a foreign system was embedded in it. He was truthfully worried he might end up breaking the thing... but the desire for answers pushes him to continue, relying on the mental tech support guide walking him through handling the device. As he fumbles through its components, one piece seems to be giving off a warmer touch, was something powering it?" He scratches his head before turning off the device and trying to extract that particular piece, wanting to see if it was something you'd see the big 3 slinging around with their labeling... or something else entirely. Maybe a more capable, less worn device would be able to allow him to find out what it was. Maybe it was housing some sort of video, diagnostic, or something that could otherwise allow her to transmit whatever it was she had Lux try to escape with? He tries to make sure that he doesn't accidentally disconnect it from its power source. He walk over to Kar and says, "Hey, think you can plug this in and see if you can access any information that is on it? Maybe Kam had planned on this making it back to us...?"
Kamryn's body softens under Kar's touch. It seems his attempt at gaining her trust has been successful. She whimpers quietly sounding more relieved than distressed, and her tail - motionless until now - slowly moves once from side to side. She's definitely becoming more calm, if still certainly not behaving like her usual self.
Zen hums before looking around and pacing. "Hey, I'm thinking I'm going to keep looking around. There are still some things that don't make sense to me." He looks back to Kar and the laptop. "Hey, reach me on your comm if you find out anything. Or if you need help with anything. I'm trusting you with things here. The field I want to check is close anyway. I'll be back in a moment." He waits around for a reponse, but his body language is starting to pull him away.
Kar nods. "Alright, Zen. Just be careful out there." He says as he carefully disassemble the device, so he can do a more direct connection to his laptop. In the meantime, he devotes one of his lower hands to keep caressing Kam, making sure to keep it on 'safe' areas, where she wouldn't feel threatened. "I kinda wish you were fully here to help me understand this, Kam..." He says to her, not expecting an answer.
Part 3
Noticing the lack of a meta-data in the device, Kar sighs, before carefully reassembling the comm and stashing it into his bag with his laptop. "Guess there isn't much to do now..." He says to no one in particular, before starting to scritch behind Kam's ears. "I wish you could tell us what has happened." He says, before a thought crosses his mind. He carefully picks up the damaged collar and brings it closer to Kam. "Do you remember what this is?"
Kamryn's ears flick back and forth at the ear scritch from Kar. She lifts her head and sniffs at the collar as he offers it, then reaches out and nudges it with her snout, pulling it closer to where she's laying. She rests her head on it and looks up at Kar, a little more reassured.
Zen doesn't find anything particularly interesting at the field. He is able to follow the tracks and even find where Kam might have been eating some of the plants, but nothing else to note. He reaches down to one of the odd-looking plants she had been feeding on, cutting it loose and starting to head back to the den after stashing it. The smell it had trailing behind him was a bit distracting, but he thought that it could have a couple of uses. Even if researching the plant wouldn't prove useful, perhaps it could be used to help lure Kam out if she was still unwilling to leave the den. It wouldn't take him long to return, and without anything else to go with, it would probably be better to try and get Kam out of the woods. He could always search around later if there was something he missed.
Kar sighs as Kam lays her head on the collar. "I guess you don't recall much, do you?" He asks while caressing her body. "Do you even understand us still?" He asks while rubbing her chin.
Kamryn closes her eyes, nuzzling against the collar. She opens them again as Kar moves to her chin, tilting her head slightly and looking up at him as he speaks. While she's obviously listening, it's not clear if she understands what he's saying or not.
Zen returns to the den after a short walk, finding Kar still halfway in the den. With that same calm tone he used before he speaks, "I didn't find anything back at the field... well, aside from the stuff she has been eating." He crouches a comfortable distance away and asks, "Do you think you can get her to come out? She might not want to... but I don't want to leave her here now that we found her."
Kar looks at Zen as he arrives. "I didn't get anything new either." He says with a defeated tone. "I think she will follow us if we were to take the collar, but the last thing I want to do is make her angry at us, since that could destroy any chance of recovery."
Kamryn look up on hearing Zen's voice, still nervous. She looks between the entrance to the den and Kar, perhaps recognising the two had arrived together.
Zen huffs and says, "There is no way we are leaving her out here..." He frets before taking the plant he extracted before out of his pack, still smelling of that same musk. "Here... come on out, try using this to get her to come out if she won't follow. It looks like she has been regularly eating this stuff." He looks around at the den some more, sighing and adding, "I haven't had to deal with this before... I called a few people to see if anyone would have more expertise on it. I think we will have some more help soon... but, I hope it is the kind of help we need."
Kar slowly gets up and moves towards Zen, picking the plant. "Alright, it's worth a try." He says, before crouching outside the den. "Come out, Kam. We want to get you home."
Kamryn sits up as Kar moves, watching him go outside. She moves to the den's entrance and sniffs at the plant he's holding out, stopping to glance between Zen and Kar when she sees he's returned. After a moment, she turns back to the plant, taking a careful step forwards to nibble on the top and lick some of the salty sap that leaks out.
"I still don't get why we're here." a certain big-eared fox would comment as he carried his lover in his arms, headed towards the depths of the woodlands. Dusk was fast approaching as he moved at a steady pace, having picked her up as asked. "Something about a friend of yours having turned feral or whatever? I mean that's rough, but why not just get the Prommies to tackle this? It's their thing, y'know?" he'd shrug deeply and give the woman in his embrace a light squeeze. "It's gonna be dark soon, too. Ya packed yer light, right?" the fox' tail dexterously feels around his left pocket for the distinct bulge a flashlight would form in its fabric. Garbed in a mere red shirt with green cargo pants beneath, he was lightly dressed for anything... sudden, but the fennec always had his trusty pack of knick-knacks, doodads and whatsits. Upon arriving at the scene, he'd quirk an ear and listen in on the words spoken. "Hello hello, good evenin' and all that. How are we? Merci, is this the lot you were talking about?" he'd ask the talakai~
Nestling comfortably inside Magnus's arms, the talakai in her summer outfit with one arm around the fennec's neck and the other holding on to her medical gear close to her chest frown and replied upon hearing his words "I heard that someone was hurt too you know and I was kinda worried... and it's dangerous inside the wood isn't it? that why I called for your help". She nods her head as he question about the light and said "I do keep a small flashlight inside my kit so yeah..."
As Magnus greet the other, Mercia would glance toward the group before she jump down from Magnus's arms then asked "So Zen, Kar we came as fast as we could when we got your message. So what is happening? I heard that someone got hurt..."
Zen's ears flit towards the arrival of Magnus and Mercia, prompting him to quickly step over to meet them. He quickly nods to Mercia before taking a more measured assessment of Magnus. He wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but he didn't really know him aside from the brief encounters they have had before. "Mercia,.. and Magnus, right? Thanks for, er, coming out to help." He says, a bit of nervousness and uncertainty in his voice. "Right, so, my mate... Kamryn... she has been missing for some time and... now we found her like this..." He explains, nodding behind him over to the other two. "My daughter made it back to us and told us that they were attacked, but even she seemed to be surprised at how much time had passed. I just... wasn't expecting 'this' would be how we found her... and I don't know what to do." He glances back at Kar and Kam while covering his muzzle and sighing softly. "Lux, my daughter who made it back, mentioned that they were being stalked and eventually attacked... She was in a much worse physical state, but seemed clear-headed, if not exhausted. Kam on the other hand... she doesn't seem to remember who we are." He frowns with a pained look before adding, "She was running from us, terrified of us. She is doing better now, but it is clear she isn't back yet."
Kar turns his head towards the new arrival, nodding a greeting before returning his focus to Kam. "Com'on, Kam. No one here will hurt you." He says as he places a hand on her cheek, caressing it. "Please, come back with us."
Spotting the two new arrivals Kamryn flattens herself against the ground, recognising a predatory shape. She goes still, watching as Zen greets them until Kar speaks and touches her again. She lifts her eyes to look at him then shuffles closer, seemingly scared but now trusting him enough to feel safer with him than without.
"Ah-ha! A mystery!" the fox raises his pointer, then blows into his thumb as his body is momentarily engulfed in black smoke, fading just as quickly as it had manifested. The fennec's clothes had changed, his chest now shielded by a long dark brown trenchcoat, buttoned up all along the middle from his collar down to between his ankles. His legs were shielded by black slacks and his footpaws were covered by slick dress shoes. On his head and between those massive ears was a deerstalker hat, while in his muzzle was a wooden garnished pipe from which bubbles began emerging. "Fear not, for we will have this kerfuffle resolved in no time!" The fennec declares boisterously.
Hearing reluctant in Zen's voice regarding Magnus, Mercia's ears flit up as she wave her hand toward the fennec and said "O-Oh ummm yeah this is Magnus, since you mention that it's could be dangerous out here... I think it might be better if I have some escort...", her face seem to be blushing slightly. But her expression quickly change as Zen start to tell her more information regarding their situation before she nods and asked "So I assume Lux your daughter is back at home since I don't see other people here beside you three? I can take a look at her too once we get back...", she turned to glance at the husky woman before turning back to Zen and continue "Let me see what I can do about Kamryn then..." Seeing Magnus suddenly changed his clothes, she snicker out a little with a frown brows before shaking her head and said "Well I guess we could leave that to you then sherlock"
The kai close her eyes and take a deep breath to clear her head and expression, she give out a warm friendly smile before she slowly approaching Kamryn and Kar while said in gentle tone trying to calm the girl down "Hello there Kamryn, I'm Mercia a friend of Zen and Kar here. I'm not going to hurt you okay?"
Kamryn seems alarmed at the fennec's sudden transformation and enthusiasm, but her brow furrows as she looks at him, perhaps a flicker of recognition in her expression. She's soon distracted by the approaching wolf-like Mercia though, initially pressing up against Kar but then calming a little at her gentle tone. She glances up at Kar, looking for reassurance.
Zen gives a pitying look as he watches Kam go back to being defensive. It was something he had anticipated with more people showing, but it didn't make it any less heart wrenching to witness. His tails move with a low sway as he considers what to do. The appearance shift of the fennec along with his enthusiasm for the mystery cause him to frown, nearly on the verge of growling. However, he stops himself before it reaches that point. Sure, he might be worked up, but that didn't mean that everyone had to be. He nods as Mercia passes him to go and try to get closer to Kam, watching the scene before speaking in a low tone to Magnus. "I've been tracking around, but there haven't been any new clues... From the look of the den, it looks like it has been some time since she was here. She must have regularly been feeding off the plants in the field close by here... There is also some module on her comm that was taking a lot of memory, I left it with Kar, but I don't think he got anything off it."
Kar brushes Kam's head as Mercia approaches. "There, there. No need to be worried." He says in a calming tone while caressing her. "They are friends, none of them will hurt you."
"You know when I was out learning to navigate the wilds with my Survival skills instructor she'd say this. If you butt your head against the problem it will hide between your eyes. Now..." he'd draw his pipe out of his muzzle and toss it over his shoulder. "I don't smoke, anyway as I was saying!" the fox rubs his hands together. "As far as the attacker, first and foremost random ferals are pretty much ruled out, since those don't come pre-packaged with bad nanites. Only that nasty gunk can topple someone sane and turn them into fully-fledged beasties. THAT means that either someone really hates you and wants to make you lot into flea-bitten animals, OR... you guys were the subject of a freak accident with either something we have never encountered before, or just... the worst of luck. Now I fancy some chaos myself, but here's the thing... it's stretching reason too damn far."
The fox pauses for a moment to think, rubbing his chin and patting his nose. "It is entirely possible to attack someone with bad nanites, an injection is just a controlled poison, and that gunk can well be used as such, an open would, a direct hit with a blade coated in the stuff would likely result in sudden changes like these. Not sure how your daughter got out of it un-feraled if they've both taken hits, but to me, this smells like a squeeze. You lot have any enemies? owe people money? The loan sharks in town are known to use torture like this to milk their ahem... 'clients' out of their remaining cash."
Mercia notice the change in the skunk's expression as she look to Kar for comfort and stop for a moment then wait for Kar to calm her down before she start moving again. Once she reaches the two, Mercia would move her hand slowly toward Kamryn's head and gently petting her as well before she asked "She had been here for a while right? Did you know what kind of plants she had been eating? maybe it was the cause of this in the first place?" while her eyes trailing along Kamryn's body trying to find any wound on her body. Once she notice the bite mark next to her collar bone, she would asked once again "So this mark on her collarbone is it new? or was it on her body already when she went out from your place in the first place?"
Zen listens to Magnus, curious to hear what perspective he might open his mind to. He gives slow nods while listening, agreeing with some of the assessment. When he asks about enemies or people that would have something to gain from it, he scratches his chin and answers, "Enemies...? People that would want to do 'this'?... No, Kam runs around helping people who need medical help." He looks back to Magnus with a somewhat anxious look, "And... what are these 'bad nanites'... just the sort that fucks with the head? Can they be filtered out? Anything to... reverse 'this'?" He gives a huff while looking over the other three, but continues to give what information he can. "At the first scene in the trail, there was certainly signs of struggle... claw marks, gashes, and burnt marks from a laser weapon. I don't think a random feral would do Kam in... and certainly not reduce her to 'this'... Also... something my daughter said... something about not being able to call out for help... like they were being actively jammed. This whole thing just... smells rotten... and I swear... if I can find who did this..." He pauses with a shake of his head, trying to calm himself down... What happens then doesn't matter nearly as much as what needs to happen now.
Kar keeps trying to comfort Kam. "It seems she has been eating this." He says, presenting the plant Zen has picked. "It has a rather strong smell. As for the bite mark, it has been there since we started dating."
Kamryn shrinks back a little at first as Mercia reaches towards her, but remains still as she's petted, watching the others as they speak.
"It's pretty common, actually." the fox shrugs deeply. "The deeper your roots, the more worms you attract. Maybe you don't owe money, but you own a plot of land one of the gangs is looking to... procure. It's hard getting rid of agents, but nobody gives to fucks about filling some smelly ferals up with lead and bullet holes." the fennec goes on, kicking a rock away as he ponders out loud. "Thing is most of the gangs are just that, buncha thugs with the collective brainpower of a 4chan shithread. They fuck, they smack things and sometimes themselves, they eat, drink, and then they fuck some more. I doubt one of those went out and bought bad nanites to harass you folks." With that, he'd press his hands together, then open them up showing an illusory image of a vial full of a strange viscous purple liquid. "That's your culprit. They're commonly referred to as "Bad Nanites". Fucking loons at the Church of Promethea makes em to turn sane folks into ferals. I can't give you much details but this shit is STRONG, man. I'm talking using a hydraulic press to crack a walnut kinda strong when it gets into your head. If you get hit with this, coming back ain't easy, much like putting the walnut back together." Diffusing the image away, he'd extend his hand and ask "Mind if I take a crack at this comm unit thing? I've been brushing up on my techno-hoo-haw."
"Thanks!" said Mercia as she accept the plant from Kar's hand and start to examining it. After a brief moment of looking and sniffing, she shake her head and said "Hmmm I don't think this is what cause this..." She paused for a bit before her ears flick up as she heard Magnus's word "Yeah computer cracking ain't my forte but maybe you could do something about it Mag", she gaze toward the husky and asked "You still got her comm unit with you right?"
Zen gives a disgusted look at the image of the bad nanites, giving a worried look to Kam not long after. he then nods and moves over to Kar to retrieve the comm unit. He takes care around them, trying to make sure he doesn't spook Kam unintentionally. Once he has it in his hands he moves over and holds it up to Magnus, explaining a bit more about it. "Found along the trail. Kam had given it to Lux when she escaped... so I was hoping it might have some more information. She must have dropped it sometime when finding her way back, but we managed to find it." He turns it on and moves to Magnus's side. "Boot Failure, 97% Memory Allocated to this 'Unrecognised component'" He turns it over and points out piece that was still warm. "Seems that this is probably the thing... but I don't think Kar was able to get anything out of it." He pauses and adds. "I don't know why she would send her daughter off with it unless... maybe it had something important for us... maybe a message or some clue. Otherwise she would have kept a hold of it, right?"
Kar passes the comm unit to Zen. "That could be a valid possibility, if the meta-data wasn't missing." He says while still comforting Kam. "I can't hope to crack it in a fashionable time without that."
Kamryn look up as Kar gives the plant to Mercia, watching what she does with them. As Zen approaches she seems calm, but still glances at him nervously.
The fox whistles idly as he snags his comm unit and plugs that fucker into the one he'd been handed. He waits for a moment for his preprogrammed unit to start datamining the other for all them juicy details. "So I got a question for ya. We find whoever did this, and then what? You want them fitted with cement shoes? Cause if you're going vigilante on their ass I'd recommend you are very discrete about it. Zephyr has eyes and ears everywhere. Part of the reason I didn't go for their invasive surgery and instead had my training the hard way with the skunks when it came to shapeshifting." he'd go on while his comm unit displays a table of contents for the solid state drive contained in the other.
"There are lots of roundabout ways to do someone in though. My favorite is the pheromone bomb. Me and the lads went and chucked a dozen or so primed tear bombs laced with female pheromones, two days later we find the target HQ overrun by ferals, and smeared with cum and blood stains. After some digging around it turns out two folks were fucked to death while the rest simply disappeared. Oop! Scan's done, lessee here..." He'd gawk at the display and blow a raspberry. "It's the holy McGuffin of what the fuck. Tell you what though, it's transmitting something somewhere and unless you know what that something and somewhere is, this is either a lead for ya to follow, OR... you're being spied on and we're being listened in on. This smells like an audio or even visual tap six ways to Sunday and back for me." he'd then lean in and yell into the damn thing "HELLO BAD GUYS! You've been very naughty and we're coming to spank you for it!" before pulling away and handing it back to Zen.
Mercia glances up at the comm unit while continue to gently petting Kamryn's head before she turn back to smile at the skunk "Everything is going to be fine sweetie". Seeing as there's nothing else she could do here and Kar seem to have Kam covered, she get up and heading over to Zen and Magnus. Hearing Magnus's thought on the matter cause her to frown her brows a bit but doesn't interrupt his talk until he mention that they are being spied on which prompt her to asked "Wait... Magnus are you sure we are being spied on? did they heard all our conversation!?"
When Magnus starts his own investigation into the device, Zen watches it... not like it was going any faster. When he starts to ask about what he would do, Zen gives a low growl and answers, "I want to make them suffer, make them pay for what they've done ten times over... They'll be begging for the nanites to stop functioning if I were to get them all to myself." He grips the air to give an outlet for his emotions before noticing that Mercia was joining them, glancing to the side and giving a small shake of his head. "I mean... I just would make sure they couldn't pull this stunt again." He corrects himself with a more vague answer. When the analysis is done, he looks to Magnus as he starts explaining the result. Still, he wasn't fully convinced it was something malicious. "No, that can't be right... Wait! Can you find out where it was transmitting to? Maybe Kam had turn it to record so that we would know what was happening? Right? That makes sense..." He starts to pace around and says, "Maybe if we can retrieve whatever logs are at the endpoint, we can get some real clues?"
Kar brushes Kam's hair while waiting for the results. Once they come up, he looks at the others. "Maybe I should get Kam somewhere safe, then." He says, looking at the den. "Being pregnant makes me a liability in case of a confrontation, so I'll salvage what I can here and take her back to the observatory."
Kamryn does nothing, for now calm from the assorted pettings.
"Well, bugger it all. It's not transmitting, it's receiving. Not sure what, the signal's weaker than a Flat Earther's mental strength." he'd huff and put his comm device away. "The damn receivers are pointing at whoever wears this' damn arm for some reason. Dunno what that's all about. Can't imagine it's picking shit up from the user's flesh, unless they have some kind of implant or something... I don't know. I'm mostly spitballing right now." he'd rub his chin and think out loud. "This thing is weird, even for me."
"Uhhhhh..." said Mercia as she tugging at Magnus's arms before continue "Can you maybe elaborate that? all this tech talk kinda confused me... but if you meant the comm is receiving signal from somewhere then... can't we just track it back to it origin? transmitting or receiving it is still connect right?"
Zen's ears flatten a bit when he hears it wasn't transmitting. "Its not transmitting, but receiving?... I don't really get it either... That means that something is getting stored in the devices then? That must be why it is nearly capped with its memory." He hums a bit before looking over to Kar and Kam. "An implant?... maybe hers or one of ours?" He sighs and nods to Kar while saying, "Yea, lets see if we can get her home... I think we have all the clues we are going to get for now... maybe we can get more out of it with more time and resources. I might want to look around the initial trails more... I hope that whoever did this is lying dead with a laser shot through their skull somewhere... but if they are still around... I'd want to get more information."
As Magnus mentions the device receiving information from the user, an idea crosses Kar's mind. "Perhaps it has something to do with her implants?" He asks as he gets up. "Let's try fitting it to her, perhaps it might help."
Kamryn gets up on all fours to follow Kar as he moves, still a little wary of the others and apparently wanting to stay near the member of the group that's established the most trust with her. She moves close to his legs, tucking her tail in beneath her.
The fennec shrugs, then turns around, rolls up into a ball and rolls over twice. Once he'd unroll, his usual attire was back on, a dark red shirt and loose camo cargo shorts. Moving over to Zen, he'd pat the other on the shoulder. "Yer folks are safe, and Kamryn can be treated. There's this... procedure or whatever that the Prommies offer, the most STUPIDLY NAMED THING in fact." his hands rise to make massive air quotes ""Becoming a Man" it's called. Apparently it reverses the effect of the bad nanites, bit heavy on the pocket, but hey. Whatever's worth it yeah? Let's go grab a drink or three, you look like you're about to pop a gasket." he'd then reach over to pull Mercia in and give her a lick on the nose. "Not sure, all I know is the receivers are aimed down at the wrist of the wearer. No idea what that's about and assumptions will get us nowhere."
The kai nods her head but then she got grab by Magnus and felt his wet tongue caress on her nose which prompt her to smile a bit at him. After hearing his words and notice that Kamryn move closer, she walk over and couch down on to Kamryn's level before gently petting her head once again "We could either try putting that on her now? or maybe doing it at home... I don't really know what kind of implant that would do this and render her into feral state but yeah I guess if nothing work the Prometheans could probably do it..."
Zen looks to Magnus and gives a meek smiles before glancing back to Kam. "Yeah... maybe a drink before I do something I'd regret. But lets get her home first." He looks to the comm unit and Kar before nodding, "Well, I suppose it would be worth a try... but I doubt she would want to wear it..." He takes the comm unit from Magnus and the cut plant that Mercia had inspected, using a bit of a bait-and-switch tactic to keep Kam distracted while slapping the thing on her wrist she usually wears it on.
Kar keeps caressing Kam to keep her distracted while Zen tries to fit the comm back into the place. "We will go back home soon, Kam." He says.
Kamryn is easily distracted by the food Zen offers, then looks down at her arm after he slips her comm onto it. She nudges it curiously with her nose, investigating the new thing. She shakes her arm as the screen lights up, startled by the light and a sudden bleep. A new message joins the boot error - "Biometric scan - user recognised. Running checksum... Error from UNRECOGNISED_MODULE_1 - Connection failed, check brachial interface pathway"
Mercia happily hand Zen the plant when he asked for it and watch as he goes to work with distracting and doing the deed. Seeing Kamryn's reacton to the light and beep, Mercia gently petting her head and said "It's okay don't worry" But once she heard the text she turned to look at and Kar before she said "Maybe something is blocking the arm sensor since it mention pathway? Maybe we should turn it over to the shop or maybe have Magnus fix it for us...", she turned over to look at Magnus and apparently he was nowhere to be found which cause her to sigh out and said "Guess he already head back home... maybe we should take Magnus's advice and let go home for now..."
Zen looks at the message before squinting and saying, "Well, that is new... so... it is missing some interface." He shakes his head before giving the plant back to Kar and looking around the den. "Was there anything else that looked important around the den? I'm almost wondering if there is a piece we are missing. Interface... could that mean there was another thing uses to communicate with it? I mean, the rest of her clothes seem to be missing... or shredded. He gently touches the comm unit, accessing is 'tech support' nanomagic to see if it has any indications on what to do... Maybe there was a bypass he could use?
Kar sighs as he picks the plant, before caressing kam's back to help her relax. "Only other important thing is the collar, but only for emotional reasons." He says while trying to comfort Kam. "We better start moving, it's getting late." He says as he gets up and goes towards the den to pick up the collar.
Kamryn watches Kar as he moves, and seems happy when he returns with the broken collar. She nuzzles against his leg, her tail moving out from under her to sway gently.
Mercia nods her head and said "I agree... just make sure you pick up everything you need so we don't lose it later...", she get back up and start to brushing the dust off her skirt with her hands before she said "Well I'm ready whenever you are so lead the way"
Zen tilts his head while the IT crowd in his head processes the message and gives him his next troubleshooting steps. "Try scanning the person's nanites and make sure they are communicating properly..." He mutters to himself. He starts to walk with them before saying. "Can a person's nanites stop communicating?... and is that something we can fix?" He says with a look to Kar and Mercia. "Can you guys check for that? Or... should I just spread some nanites around willy-nilly? I mean... those builder nanites seem to really cling to me..."
Kar thinks for a moment. "Well, this place isn't exactly close to a server, so that could have something to do with it. Otherwise, I can try to use my medical nanomagic to run a diagnostic." He says as he places the collar into his bag.
Kamryn stays near Kar as the group prepare to leave, seeming prepared to go with them, or at least to go with Kar.
"I think the nanites stop communicating if we went out of bubble but once we are back inside it should start communicating like normal unless something override it feature to do that..." said Mercia as she scratching her cheek a bit. She paused for a moment to think on the matter before she answer "I do not know how to check for that sadly enough, technology isn't exactly my thing..."
Zen shrugs before opening a vial of builder nanites and glitter-bombing the area with them. He stops before shrugging and saying, "Well, I don't know if that would work... but I remember hearing about it one time when I was on the fringe... apparently this should help if you don't have a good communication with the main servers."
Kar gets glitter bombed by the nanites. "Welp, there we go." He says as he starts making his way towards the observatory. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be here when night falls."
As Zen's cloud of nanites settle on her body, Kamryn's comm chimes again and displays "Link established. Running checksum... Warning - Link unstable". She stops and looks down at the sound, then spasms as though she received a mild electric shock. After a few seconds, the comm adds "Checksum mismatch - restoring backup... Error - Link failed.". Kamryn blinks and appears confused, then looks around at each member of the group. "...z...Zen?..." she manages to say rather hesitantly as she looks at him with slightly more focussed eyes before shaking her head like an animal and sitting down again.
Mercia frown and start brushing her clothes and fur after being bombed by the sudden burst of nanites. Her ears flicker as she heard the comm unit chime and glance at the skunk before she smile and clap her hand together as she heard Kamryn speak "It seem to some what work?". She knee down and pulling Kamryn's arm around her should to try and help balance her up on two feet.
Zen immediately rushes over to respond, "Kam!? Y-yeah, it's me. Kar is here too." He runs his hand along her face before looking back at the comm unit. "Ah... it doesn't sound solid... but... that was so, so good to hear." He says while looking between them. "Just hand tight... we will be home sooner than you think." With that, he starts to take the lead, having a good idea of the quickest way back to the main path... and the quickest way home.
Hearing Kam speak, Kar rushes to her side to help Mercia support her. "Alright, we need to get her deeper in the bubble asap." He says as he starts following Zen.
Seemingly stunned by the event, Kamryn doesn't resist Mercia's attempt to help her up. She doesn't seem to be able to stand on her own though, or perhaps understand what her friend is trying to do. She almost slips back to the ground as Kar rushes over and catches her. She looks around and is startled by the close proximity of the pair, recognition gone, and tries to struggle away from them as they start moving. She manages to wriggle out of Kar's grip, but Mercia maintains her hold and prevents her escaping.
The kai nods her head as she start to walk but felt the struggle from Kamryn so she try to tense up and holding Kam as best as she could while following Zen. The passage of time seem vague to Mercia as she continue to struggle with Kamryn along the way home but eventually they would finally reach the familiar surrounding of the Sagan Memorial where their home would be "F-Finally", she start to pants a bit.
[--- time passes, relocate to observatory room ---]
[Sagan Observatory: Zentheos and Kamryn's Room]
The shape of the room follows the same circular curve as the lobby. The outer wall is clear glass that reaches to the ceiling with only a small frame separating it from the floor, granting a spectacular view of the surrounding forest. To the left of the entrance is another door leading to the restroom.
Across from the entrance, pushed a few inches from the glass, sits a king sized bed that sits nearly a foot off the ground. The headboard rises a foot above the mattress with a walnut backing and a black rectangular bar running a few inches higher between the posts. The rest of the frame follows the same coloration, ending with a small footboard about half as tall as the other end. The mattress looks soft and inviting with fluffy white pillows and tan sheets tucked firmly to the sides.
To the left of the bed, pushed up against the left wall, is a wide and low double dresser. It has four drawers with knobs that look like tinted glass fastened onto walnut colored wood. The top surface is that same tinted glass protruding over the front and sides an inch, leaving slightly more surface area to play with.
Around half-way along the room, next to the pillar that divides the outer wall into two large framed windows, is a large square tinted-glass table surrounded by four chairs. The frame of the table is that same walnut colored wood that can be seen throughout the rest of the room. The chairs surrounding the table follow a similar aesthetic theme with plain, tan cushions as the seats.
At the end of the room furthest from the door is a large steel table with an obviously mismatched piece of metal welded in place of a missing brace on one of the legs. It looks like one of the planetarium's sturdier display tables, and judging by the scuffs and dents in the surface as well as the neatly arranged tool rack above it, it's been repurposed as a workbench. At one end is a collection of bins, each containing various kinds of wood, metal, and glass materials, another one containing assorted electronic components and circuits. Clearly the room owners' salvage store, ready for their future projects.
Along the inner wall to the right of the entrance sits a black wood burning stove connected to the wall with a thick pipe that shares it's color. The stove looks recently cleaned and ready to use. To one side, there is a stack of split logs piled neatly in a box-like container that is easy to access. To the other is a wooden counter with a cubby beneath it for storing cooking supplies. The wall behind the stove looks recently plastered over, suggesting that someone must have recently done some work behind the wall.
After arriving at the the Observatory, Zen directs them to his room. "Lets uh... see if we can get Kam 'back' before having the other family member see. Just so they don't have to worry more..." He moves over to the kitchen to start it up, planning to make a nice meal for them. "Uh, make yourself comfortable... I'll try and make something good, something nostalgic."
Kar does what he can to help Mercia bring Kam inside, struggling with her but not being very effective.
Kamryn continues struggling as she had all the way to the observatory, but Mercia and Kar just about manage to hold onto her. Once the door closes she seems to realise she's not able to go anywhere now, and settles down a little, glancing between them with a scared expression and some squealing.
The kai follow Zen into his room while struggling to hold on to Kamryn since all the struggle start to worn her out as she asked Kar to help by close the door and check all the exit. While Kar do that, Mercia would take Kamryn over to the bed and settle her down onto the soft springy bed as she said "It's okay sweetie... we aren't gonna harm you", she point to where the husky is and said "Kar is here right? don't worry". With that said, she let go of the skunk and start to relax a bit.
Zen looks a bit distressed as Kam didn't get brought back to her senses. The Observatory was pretty far from Fairhaven... but not 'too' far, right? He turns to look back between then before moving back to the bed and kneeling in front of the bed to look less imposing. "Maybe it isn't about location... maybe the receiver is bad... Uh... let me see if I can work something. It may need to get repaired... but... I wonder if we can get her back long enough for it?"
Kar closes the door as they enter, before sighing. "We could try to jumpstart it with another wave of nanites? Let me try it." He says as he opens a canister of nanites of his own to test it in the current location.
Finally released, Kamryn retreats to the far corner of the bed, crouching and raising her tail against the wall, then puffing out her fur. She's keeping a watchful eye on everyone, all previously gained trust gone. As Kar's nanites spread across the room, she tries to move further back, squashing herself against the wall. She can't escape the nanites though, and gets another coating. Her comm beeps again, then displays "Link estab... Error - Link failed" in quick succession.
Mercia nods her head as the two start to discuss and Kar dropping the second nanite bomb inside the room which doesn't seem to be as effective as the first one which prompt Mercia to said "Yeah.... I guess our best bet is to get professional help regarding the comm unit so". She take a deep breath and start to clear her mind once again and with a warm smile she start to slowly approach Kamryn once more with her hand stretch out and said "Easy there Kamryn... I'm promise we aren't going to hurt you so just relax..."
Zen frowns at seeing Kam's reaction. Strong-arming her out of the forest, and now trapping her in a room must be really scaring her. He waits to see how Mercia's attempt to calm her and earn back some trust works. "Hey... Uh, I think we should try and retrieve the Comm unit from her again... It'll need some work one way or another. But maybe I can get it working temporarily."
Kar slides against the door to the floor, the events of the day finally taking it's toll on his mind. "I don't get it. We should be deep enough into the bubble for it to work. Why isn't she back yet?"
Kamryn focusses on Mercia as she approaches and glares at her outstretched hand. Attempting to back up against the wall again, she puffs her fur out and hisses at her.
Seeing as her attempt failed miserably, Mercia let out a sigh and back off before she suggest "Yeah it might be a better idea if you make some food Zen unless you have other mean of getting the comm unit off her arms in this state then I will make us some food... maybe we could used that to gained her trust back..."
Zen isn't as confident in his ability to calm her down, but he tries to do so anyway. He shifts himself to a similar form before laying on the bed and talking softly to her. "Hey, Kam... do you think you could let me see that comm unit?" He gestures to his arm, the one that would match the one hers is on, trying to make her understand. "So, I've been thinking... What if the link isn't between the comm and the bubble? Maybe it is between her comm and... something else?... her implant maybe?... I don't know if I can fix either... but maybe I can boost the receiver?" He reaches out to Kam to give his own attempt, holding his breath.
Kar takes a deep breath, trying to calm down, before trying to approach Kam. He does so slowly, keeping himself close to the ground to minimize his size. "Kam, please, calm down. We don't want to hurt you."
As Zen approaches the bed Kamryn is briefly distracted by the aroma of the food he's carrying and starts to cautiously move forwards. His shape-shifting startles her though and she leaps back, spinning around with her tail raised and sprays forth a stream of pungent liquid in his direction, only to miss by some distance as he quickly dodges aside. She turns back around for Kar's approach and hisses.
Seeing Kamryn sprayed in Zen direction make Mercia jerk backward to try and avoid the smell and although she didn't get hit herself the smell lingering in the room spread like wide fire caught her to pinch her nose in respond and frown "Dammit... seriously maybe we should calm down and let go slow with this..."
Zen grumbles and huffs before shifting back again... "Well, I tried to be nice... now it was time to try Plan B. Just uh, give her some space for a short while and let me see if I can do something..." He walks around the corner and into the bathroom before activating his vanishing nanomagic and shifting himself smaller as to better mask his presence. Then, he sneaks out of the bathroom before approaching her again, trying to be as quite as possible, aiming to see if he could swipe her comm unit.
Kar is nearing a mental breakdown as he back away from Kam. "I'm sorry Kam. I don't know what else to do now." He says as tears start running down his face.
Kamryn stops hissing as the others retreat and give her space. After a few moments she begins to move down from her position against the wall and into a more comfortable place on the bed. She continues to watch the three remaining in the room as Zen leaves, briefly looking at the second door and looking as though she might be considering running again before going back to watching the others. The first she realises of Zen's stealthy approach is a tug on her arm as he grasps her comm, causing her to squeal in panic and swipe out with her free arm, her claws not connecting with anything as the device seemingly floats away from her. After a few moments of hisses and further swipes she calms down again, retreating to the corner of the bed again.
Seeing the state that Kar is in Mercia frown up in worried and walk closer to Kar. She give her a big hugs before she said "Sorry kar this must be hard to take in, let go rest in the mural for now shall we?". With that said she start guiding Kar out to other room while carefully looking back making sure Kamryn do not approach them and slipped off
Zen successfully swipes the comm unit back and manages to dodge all the swipes as if he was a ghost. Once he has distance between himself and the flustered skunk, he moves over to the other side of the room. He gives a sorry nod to Mercia and Kar as they retreat for the time being, "Yeah... having some time might be good... I'm going to press on for a while yet, trying to get to the bottom of this..." He then goes over to the workbench and using the component bin they have to the side, starts replacing all of the damaged components or pieces that looked work. He turns the devices back on to see that boot error that he saw before, then walking back and looking at Kam from a safe distance. "Hmmm... the components didn't look too damaged... what are we missing?.." He sits there for a while, looking her over. Maybe something jamming the signal?... no... he didn't see anything before. Maybe it is hidden under the skin or something? She did look quite healthy considering the state Lux was in... and she was the one that 'got away'. "Hey, why aren't you wounded... not even in the slightest." He asks out loud. "Maybe... your nanites aren't communicating because they are burnt our healing you wounds?... Even when Kar tried again... there was a flicker..." He then digs out a few vials of builder nanites try and revitalize or re-energize hers... but now he had to get the comm back on her. Great...
Kar is taken to the room next door while crying from the guilty of not being able to help his mate. He isn't in any shape to help, so it was best that he was moved somewhere safe.
Kamryn goes quiet and still, staring at Zen as he mulls the problem over, almost as if she's trying to form a plan.
Zen watches her warily, wondering what it is she is thinking. Certainly, compared to everyone else, he had the worst of luck trying to get her to calm down. It was just the two of them now, one likely wondering how to escape, and the other trying to figure out the missing piece of the puzzle. He studies her body more, trying to see if there was something he was overlooking. Something about the arm's interface bridge... what does that really mean?
Kamryn growls quietly, crouching down on the bed and slowly stalking forwards while keeping her eyes on Zen. On reaching the far side she pauses, then leaps forwards to pounce on the one person left in the room. Perhaps due to fatigue, she's a little slow and Zen dodges aside once again, resulting in her slamming into the wall behind where he was sitting. She falls to the floor, apparently unconscious, with a trickle of blood on her cheek.
After dodging Kamryn's attack, Zen stands up in shock at her aggression. After a few moments he snaps out of it, moving in to check on her. She's still breathing, but is definitely unconscious. Blood continues to trickle out onto her cheek, staining her fur. Wait - for such a small cut, it's not healing very quickly... why is it still bleeding?
After a few minute the door open up again, Mercia who had heard the slamming from the hallway quickly rush inside and looking around at the situation. Noticing the blood on Kamryn's cheek, she asked "W-What happen!? Anyway can you get her on bed then". She quickly close the door and grab the box she had left on the table while she take Kar to the mural toward the bed and start checking her wound.
Zen rubs his face, a bit worried to see the state she was in. She has been through a lot, and they 'still' didn't know how to help her. He does and Mercia instructs, hefting Kam up in his arms and laying her out on the bed.
The kai notice that the wound appear to be small but for some weird reason, a lot of blood seem to be trickling out. As she start to clean Kamryn's wound, Mercia asked "So.... this is kinda weird why doesn't her nanite heal her wound???"
As Zen was watching over Mercia tending to Kam, he paces over to the workbench with the Comm Unit. Well, at least it would be easy to get her comms back on her, and it did have 'some' effect when she was peppered with nanites. He starts sifting through the workbench before he notices a device he wasn't all too familiar with. He picks it up and starts to inspect it, revealing after a short while that it was some device uses to scan and monitor nanites. "She isn't healing?... but her nanites seemed to do the job quite well... I mean, she wasn't even scratched before." He says before heading back over with the Comm Unit and scanner. Slipping the Comm back on her wrist, he takes the over device and starts scanning her arm. Maybe this would give some insight into whatever that brachial interface pathway was...
After cleaning the wound, Mercia pick up a bottle before she start to apply the medicine in liquid form from the inside on Kamryn's wound while glance back at Zen watching him work on whatever it is that he is doing and asked "What is that thing?"
As Zen was scanning over her arm, he notices that the display shows only a few nanites as being active. Scanning his own arm reveals a bunch of nanites active that seem to be swarming about. Looking at Mercia's arms, she too had a large number. "Ok... so... that link message... it looks like there aren't a whole lot of nanites are active in her arm." He says with a confused look. He moves the device of the rest of her body, chest, legs, and head, looking to see if there were any different readings. "I 'really' wish I would have learned a bit more about this sort of stuff... what about you Mercia, did you have anything like this at the clinic? Any patients that were suffering from a lack of nanites... or maybe just having most of them inert?"
The kai think for a moment after finishing applying the medicine before she said "Well most of the time it meant that the nanite in their whole body have been deplete or lessen but a dose of nanite in atmosphere usually fix that which you and Kar have done earlier... if not then usually injecting them directly with nanites would probably work..." As she saw the scanner result she nods and suggest "Yeah... how about... we feed her some of my milk? That would probably boost up the nanite in her body once again", her face blushed up lightly.
Zen mulls over the scans and looks at a more detailed readout. "Hmm, this... doesn't look good. Of the nanites in her body... it looks like the inactive ones are burnt out... and I think she has those foreign nanites still in her body, but they look to be in the same state... burnt out. I don't think the nanites left can keep up with the protecting her body and communicating with the comm unit... and it might also be affecting her other abilities too." He looks to Mercia and says, "So... do we need to extract the dead nanites and transfuse new ones in...? How do you make someone regain their nanites... or gain new ones?"
Mercia glance down in her thought as she listen to Zen before she said "Well if we extract all the nanite off then I don't think that would work in that case... since the neutral nanite we send into her system earlier seem to got destroy then maybe... it sound like that one case we had a long time go back in New Dawn... the patient can't take in new nanite at all so they need the supply of nanite from their body they have been keep lying around since their body wouldn't reject it outright... I don't assume you would have any of that lying around would you?"
Zen frowns and says, "I don't know. That's like asking if you have a stash of blood bags that are compatible with your body stashed away somewhere. I don't think any of us regularly visit the 'nanite donor'..." He can hardly smile at the joke, but then says, "Well... I mean... how do you know who's nanites are compatible? Mine and Kars didn't work, and I don't know if there is a way to speed up the production of nanites..." He scratches his chin and says, "Want about... nanites from your own blood relatives. Lux, our daughter should be next door... do you think her nanites would help some?"
Mercia nods her head with Zen's words before she answer "Yeah that should be close enough I think... if the nanite that go into her system was partly her own they wouldn't consider it as much of a threat right? I think it worth a shot if you could get some of Lux's nanite..."
Zen nods before walking out the door and heading over to Kar's room. Of course, the moment he gets in he was bombarded by questions regarding Kam. He assures them that everything is fine, but that he would need to see Lux. When all of the other children ask if they could come and see, he regrettably has to explain that she is recovering, and that he was advised that having too many people there would make it hard to do that while they were fixing her up. It was a small lie, but the last thing he wanted was everyone worrying.
After a few minutes, supporting Lux with one arm, he leads her into the room and over to the bedside. "Ok Lux, you just need to transfer some nanites to your mom... She is going to be fine, but your nanites will certainly help her."
Mercia nods her head and smile at Lux as she came in before she said "I heard that you are wound, are you already heal up? if not I could boost up your healing capability while we transfer your nanite so it should help if you need...", she pick up a nanite funnel and handing it over to Lux. Then she start to attach other nanite funnel entirely toward Kamryn and let them pulling off the destroy nanites.
"OK Dad" Lux says sleepily, looking at her mother with concern. "I think I'm pretty much healed" she adds to Mercia "thanks to uncle Kar's nanomagic. I'm glad you found mum". Looking at the funnel the talakai hands her, she asks "How does this work? I've not used one before"
Zem rubs his hand down Lux's back, trying to ease her concern. "Don't worry, you mom is going to be just fine. And you are looking far better than when I saw you earlier. I'm happy Kar's nanomagic did the trick, and that your siblings were able to help take care of you in our absence. He looks over to her and helps her with the funnel, explaining vaguely how it works. He glances to Mercia and nods to the nanite scanning devices, curious to see if the funnel was working. What better way than to watch in real time?
Mercia smile and nods at Lux before she said "Like your dad said, just stick it into both of your arms and flipped the switch in the right direction and then we just have to wait". She turned her attention back to the funnel in her hand once more waiting for it to finish working on cleaning up all the burnt out nanite. After a few minute or so the funnel seem to stop as a lot of useless nanite had now been suck out of Kamryn's system. She pulled the used funnel out and put them away before she take one end of the funnel in Lux's hand and connect it to Kamryn's body once again then she turned to smile at Lux then asked "Would you maybe like me to do it for you?"
"No, it's OK" Lux says, taking the offered end of the funnel and inserting it into her arm with a small wince. Once it's attached, Lux flicks the switch towards her mother and watches as it does its work. "Did you find out... what it was that attacked us?" she asks. "She saved me... only to end up like this...". She looks like she'd be crying if she wasn't so exhausted.
Zen gives a small shake to Lux, "No... not yet, but you don't need to worry about that. Both you and your mother made it home safe. You mom must've giving whoever they were a good fight, she didn't look nearly as beat up as you did." He gives a warm smile while nuzzling her, "As soon as she is awake, I'm sure she would love to see you, and know that you made it back to us alright."
Mercia gently place her hand and caressing Lux's head before she smile "As a mom myself I can say with 100% confident that Kamryn would be happy to see you safe and sound sweetie, make sure you give her a smile and welcome her home as she wake up okay? That all every mom need". She continue to monitor the working tube to make sure that it work as intent and after a few minute, the transfer would be complete as the tube switch itself off.
Lux hugs Zen with her free arm, burying her face in his fur. Eventually, and slowly, the cut on Kamryn's cheek fades, and the scanner shows new active nanites flooding into her system. Some of them quickly fade as her own nanites fight them off, but most survive and reinforce her nanite mass. As the transfer completes, a chime from Kamryn's comm draws Lux's attention. Its screen shows the messages "Link established... Running checksum... Checksum mismatch, restoring backup...". "What's that?" Lux asks, detaching the now inactive tube. "Is that... part of the healing?"
Zen smiles meekly before pulling Lux into a firm hug, "You know how your mom is with her tech, I'm sure it is just running some diagnostics on its own." He nuzzles into Lux while rubbing a hand through Kam's fur, curious if she would recall any of what happened. Lux did raise a good point though, whoever did this to them was still out there for all they knew. That reminder was, a bit sickening, but he would do his best to show his daughter his good side.
The kai herself pulling out the inactive tube off Kamryn and put it in the same pile as the other one earlier before she nods and said "If I were to guess it probably is... now that that is done... I think it been a very long day for you all too and it's start to get late so I suggest you two get some rest... if you need anything I will be staying in the mural next door for a few days so I could come up to check on you two everyday okay? don't hesitate to call me if anything happen". She start to pack up her stuff into her box before she brushing the hair on Kamryn head off to the side.
Kamryn begins to stir gently, then sits bolt upright, wide awake. "Run Lux!" she shouts, looking around wildly. It takes a moment for her to recognise her surroundings, finally noticing the others present. Leaping off the bed she's met by Lux half-way having leapt up too, both hugging one another tightly. "You brave girl" she says with a sigh, wrapping her arms and tail around her daughter, receiving the same from her in return. Eventually looking up again, she focusses on Zen. "Zen..." she says with a smile and a look of relief, "It's so good to see you again. I thought... well I thought I might not for a while". Looking across to Mercia she adds "Thankyou. I don't think we've met, but I assume you helped Lux and I. I'm in your debt, really. I don't know if I can ever repay you, but thankyou".
Zen is startled by the outburst, not expecting it in the least. However, when he sees that she is aware of who she is, and where she is, he nearly melts from relief. He doesn't waist any time before embracing Kam and Lux of a tight hug, burying his face into Kam's fur. He can't even speak for the first few moments as Kam thanks Mercia. "I'm...so, so happy to see you... you've had us... terribly worried." He says, his emotion wavering on the edge of his voice. His grip gradually loosens before he pulls away, looking rather worn out from all the craziness. "Welcome home... both of you..." He manages to get out swallowing a lump in his throat and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "And yes... Thank you so much for your help Mercia... I don't think we could have gotten this far without you." He adds, leaning over to give a firm hug.
The sudden stir caught Mercia by surprise as she jerk back a bit and said with a smile "Well that was fast.... I didn't expect you to be awake so soon". She wave her hand in front of her face and said "Please don't worry, I hardly do anything... beside I think Kar is the one healing Lux... anyway like I said I will be here to check up on you tomorrow Kamryn. I will give you three sometime together, don't stay up too late you just recover after all". With that said, she head over for the door with her box before giving another wave and warm smile to everyone "Good night!" then disappear out the door.
With Kamryn's initial burst of adrenalin wearing off, her emotions begin to well up as they had with Zen. She follows him over the the bed along with Lux, sitting beside him to put her arm around him and give him a long kiss. Finally pulling back, she looks at her comm and says "It worked then... wow, that was a long shot" as she rests her head on Lux's comfortingly.
Zen leans into Kam, nuzzling her, actually looking more exhausted than either of the other two. "A long shot..." He echoes while kissing her neck, "I feel like I'll need to take some basic nanoscience classes after that..." He pauses and pulls the two of them down onto the bed, continuing, "First thing in the morning... we need to go see Kar... he went to sleep next door..." He closes his eyes, letting the tension from the day finally relax. There was still the issue of the assailant.... but for tonight, having his family back and whole was the greatest victory he could have asked for.
Kamryn nods slowly. "It's complicated" she says, starting to smile a little. "Always have a backup plan..." she chuckles. "Yes, Kar, and the children - it's been so long. In the morning though. Looks like we all need sleep". She shifts position, starting to lay down on the bed while keeping Lux close.
Hugging Kam and Lux weakly, he wraps a few tails around both while purring gently. "Y-yeah... in the morning... I... look forward to waking up with you beside me again... it has been far too long." He say, giving her a quick kiss, and almost just as quickly nodding off. Seems with the stress of the day, it didn't take much to knock him out. Though, he was sure to have a good nights rest... likely better than anyone else in his family.
