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He shook his head tiredly, smiling. "No, I won't take your carrots...I'm big enough to fetch my own."

He flopped over the back of the couch and waved kindly. As they went about their business, he slowly sat up, taking his time, and slowly made his way up the stairs for a bath and a fresh change of clothes.

He'd never thought he'd get proposed to, but on reflection, the situation was getting funnier each time. It wasn't a fancy dinner, when they were both dressed to the nines, or a party, or some huge celebration, or anything like that. He was exhausted, covered in blood, not all of it his own, torn up, and an absolute wreck. The other was homicidal, enraged...not the fairy-tale everyone else cracked things up to be, but that suited him fine.

He chuckled, and eased himself into a bath. Standing wasn't a good plan.

***

Buttoning a fresh shirt, he smiled, a bit dazed, but functional. No heavy lifting, naturally, but it was just like giving blood. The phone in his pocket buzzed, and he smiled at the number, but jumped slightly at the voice. "H-Hello...what can I do for you?"

The genius pair that had been left practically alone at the Inn sat across from one another, each on their own laptop with the data from Azana's visor in one window and a turn-based strategy game in the other.

"Hey, Taylor..."
"Yeah? Oh, your turn, by the way." James replied, analyzing the three kitsune as best he could with such a difficult view. Their situation was far from ideal, he knew; between the close quarters and the large group, she had little room to maneuver.
"Thanks. I've been thinking...about Az and Sol," Tyler said absently, looking over the map on their game and taking a short break from trying to piece together the mystery of Chris' "Crimson Red" mode. "They're a good fit, aren't they...?"
"I always figured it was a sort of counter-balance sort of thing...Az gets him social and confident, he helps calm her down and hold her back a bit." James chuckled somewhat, remembering in training when that was his job. He wished Sol the best...Azana was not the easiest person to be attached to.
"Hm...I could see that, but I think they're more alike than you'd believe," Tyler replied with a slight smirk, finishing his turn and going back to the Crimson Red data. He must have had this specially encrypted...I didn't find anything like this poking around.
"...wait...I've got it!" He shouted with triumph, starting up the com link with Azana again. The sooner she knew about the trio, the faster they could get out of there.

"R-relax, Crystal!" James tried to reassure her. "This is past footage. He's fine now!"
"Azana sent it to us...hopes we can figure out the mode and help him keep control of it," Tyler added, actually going through the raw data. "It's a really interesting transformation...though it could use a lot of work."

"That certainly explains Azana's shock therapy," Tyler commented with a chuckle even though he realized the gravity of such a situation. "I figured it was something like that, though. I'm just wondering the mechanics of it...if it could be re-routed to a different emotion."

"You're thinking it's translating emotional energy into an adrenaline augmentation with berserker side-effects based on the transfer?"

"With a mild feedback loop...he seems to become more and more unhinged with the amount of time its active."

James and Tyler's speculation came to a quick and silent end as Crystal stabbed her dagger into the table. They looked at it wide-eyed momentarily before looking up at her.

"Good thing you're not using it..." He commented, closing the window. There was always another time for research, he supposed.

"U-understood," James answered sheepishly, checking in on Azana and not liking what he was seeing. "A stand-off...and where's Eli and Chris?"

--------------------------------------------------

James had left for a small break for a snack, returning to the laptop to check on Azana's visor feed. He almost dropped his plate but caught it and placed it on the table. "Hey, Hunter...when did our band of heroes wind up in Durem?"

"What?!" He asked incredulously, linking into the information himself and quirking an eyebrow. "I just checked on it a minute ago...have you located MacPere and Knightsoul?"

"No..." James answered, watching the feed. "I have visuals on Sol, Jake, and Kageko...either they made it through that blockade, or--"

"They must've made it through," Tyler said quickly, remembering the very angry woman nearby. "So they're somewhere between that spot and the Manor itself...think they'll go in without the others?"

"Wouldn't put it past 'em..."

Before Tyler could protest about not taking orders from her, she had already entered the command protocols and linked them into the same nanosignature they had used to track him.

James patched into the protocols himself, looking over the nanosignature. "Hm...this isn't too far from what we use to track our badges," he commented with a smile, working to triangulate and track their position.

Tyler opened up a messenger window, relaying a message to James.

Since when are we under the Knights?
Well, the GMO does have an agreement with them. Besides, we'd try and trace them anyway...this is faster.
Still...you just don't mess with someone's tech like that. She should know that, having Chris for a boyfriend...
You're one to talk.
Tyler chuckled slightly. Touche. With that, he began narrowing the search parameters and getting a fix on Knightsoul's suit. It wouldn't be easy keeping a lock on them the entire time; that veil around the manor provided a lot of interference.

"And I found them! They're moving toward the Manor."

"Ooh...that's very not good. Better let the others know to hurry..."

Tyler looked up at Crystal, who continued to watch the trace on the screen. "The signal's going to get a little fuzzy as they near the time barrier, just as a warning," he said, watching their progress.

"Speaking of that barrier...didn't MacPere have the temporal vacuum generator you conjured up?"

"Yeah...that's what has me concerned," James answered, his screen focused on the other half of the team still stranded in Durem. "The others are trying to get Edmund's help to return, but I'm not sure they'll get there in time. With them locked out of the Manor, Angeles just might get her way."

"You didn't make a spare for them?" Tyler asked, honestly perplexed. "A key device to a mission's success, and there's only one?" At James silence, a sly smirk crossed the mad genius' face. "Even after I made three full-spectrum cloaking devices?"

James grumbled, pulling out an identical copy of the device he had given to MacPere. "This isn't even supposed to exist...how--"
Tyler tapped his head, a smug and victorious smile on his face. "And this one's in perfect working order, too...isn't it?"
"Somewhat...I focused all my optimization on the primary prototype. This one doesn't last nearly as long and has a longer recharge counter." James put it back in his pocket. "There's no way I'm letting them use it. Too risky."