Mission: A Concerned MOM (Bleep Bloop and Floof)

"If you're asking if we've seen the killer in action, unfortunately not, or else there wouldn't be a killer right now. Though Clare took a look through her husband's files and found out that only adults have been targeted, looks like even a psycho has standar-...Ok! What is that! That is NOT ok! Did your MmMmmm! No!" Vshnre seemed openly shocked at the sudden display of functionality by Milton. Almost to the point of loosing her footing and toppling over. Her beady black eyes would widen in shock and amazement as Milton seemingly lit up like a light bulb and got warmer. Once the little display was over she would turn up her snout and move on ahead of the pack, only hearing the beginning of the conversation on Persona abilities. "Nope! I don't want to hear it! Super powers and robot men, it's all unnatural! Hairless baselines always getting these weird little quirks nu uh! I am not going to be privy to it!"

Vshnre marched off seemingly offended by the topic and display on principle, not even staying long enough to hear Milton's question. Tammy on the other hand groaned at the furry mother's actions."I-I am so sorry for her. Please do not let that color your view of MOM poorly... I swear Vshnre has some sort of thing about Baslines... Sometimes I wonder why she even hangs out with the rest of us. So closed minded, she should really be more accepting of all the different cultures and peoples of Junction. I mean of anyone I should know, I write several blogs on CWumbler about equality and how to respect the rights of the countless species that live on junction! I've studied the cultures and customs of over two hundread different cultures and frankly I think-"


"I can still hear you girl! You better shut your mouth before I come back there and shut it for you!" Vshnre's voice from up ahead come more as a growl then anything else. Turning back slightly she bore her teeth to Tammy, telling her in no uncertain terms that this particular conversation was over.

"Meep!" Tammy peeped and jumped slightly, getting behind Milton and holding Kuzi a little tighter."R-Right... well um. I'm just a few steps off baseline so I can't do anything really interesting. My species just has a higher capacity to retain information. We can't process it better, just remember it. Oh, and we can successfully breed with almost any species provided it has Male Female genders." Tammy said, gaining back a bit of her confidence. "And I'm a Cultural Anthropologist, thank you for asking."

As the group walked Tammy would listen to their discussion of powers with a mild interest, while Vshnre ignored it on principle."Oh, you had Germany on your planet to Milton? The Odyssey is one of my favorite German myths from my home world... If you ask me it's like a Splicer, yeah they're a little different now but they're still the same person inside! Cus when you get right down to it we're all just Sentients trying to-" Tammy's speech was cut off as she, and by extension Kuzi bumped into something large, soft, furry, and angry. Vshnre had stopped cold as she entered the next room. It had appeared empty save for a few people milling about, seemingly going about their own business. Mostly baselines, but some sprinkling of other species... All appeared to be children playing some sort of game.

The children seemed to be divided into two groups, one of two and one of three. The group of three, two boys and one girl, road road in a small wooden wagon, about the size of a red pull wagon, pulled by the largest boy. The group of two chased the group of three, who laughed and screamed as they ran from them.

As Milton wanted to explain his physical predicament, his MOM to escort had started to march off ahead of him, seemingly startled by his functions. Baseline? Was Milton close to this baseline of races the bear mother had been mentioning? Either way, this new animosity towards the topic wasn't sitting well between the mothers. As Tammy took cover behind Milton, Milton's open hand tightened into a fist for a second as he stepped up to face Vshnre.

"That's enough, Vshnre. Baseline or otherwise, I'm here to keep you safe. Don't go running off where I can't protect you. Fighting's only going to make more noise for you-know-who to find us."

With Milton's peace spoken, he invited Kuzi and Tammy to walk with him as he picked up the pace to reach Vshnre.

"So, whatever ability you are capable of leaves you hungry afterwards, Kuzi? I'll admit that I'm curious to see just what power that could be. As you've noted, I'm not fully organic. In fact, everything you can currently see of my body is entirely mechanical. I still possess an organic brain that's been hooked up to give me full motor control of my body, but everything else is just metal, energy, and a special type of element from home to keep me in top physical health. After the... incident that required me to take up this form, I can't produce it in large quantities like my people can naturally, so I need it transfused into my system regularly. As for the power that grants me... I'll be keeping it a surprise as well. It's not like you'll need to worry about it anyhow.

Cultural anthropology, Ms. Tammy? That's an incredibly useful field to use in the cultural jumble that Junction has become over time. If you'd like, I believe I have some stories to share and information that could prove useful to your analysis of Orbis Hom culture. I don't know what this "Germ-many" is, though. I merely came across the term in a search on CWIS. The doctor told me about Locke's socks, so I don't know where that comes from."

Finally, they had reached the room of Vshnre's choosing. Milton stopped himself short of planting his face into Vshnre's soft fur and walked around to her side to see what was going on. There were children here, running about in this empty space playing a game Milton was attempting to understand. Vshnre's comment on their game being "a new one" prompted Milton to ask.

"A new one? Are you familiar with this children, Vshnre? It looks like they're simply playing make-believe. I can't quite tell what the purpose of this grouping or their actions are..."

Milton took a preliminary scan of the outer borders of this room, looking for any movement to indicate the killer's presence in the room before attempting to step forward towards the children.

"Hi there. May I ask what game you are playing? It's a bit late to be out without supervision."

Kuzi would blink and tilt his head at Vshnre's outburst. Honestly a little confused where it came from. Didn't they hire them to be here? Why would she of hired them if she didn't want anything to do with them...? Weird. Though what they were doing and were capable of was kinda odd, so... And what was all this talk about baselines? Was that what Milton's race was called orrr...? "Heh, don't worry about it Tammy. If she isn't used to this kind of thing that's kinda understandable. Honestly it was a little jarring getting used to it myself when it first happened. Still not fully confident in it either, like, how it works and stuff. Confident enough to know I can defend myself though and I mean, if I have the power to I want to try and help others out so that's why I'm here!" The small Dreedle would chirp happily.

"Oh so you are like a robot! Or, well, robot man? Isn't there a word for that... I think I heard it once, it had a cool sound to it, like, uhmmm... Andatory. Or Anthmometer? Antund? Andree-ANDROID! That was the one. I think." The creature would chuckle to himself, hoping that his random rambles on the subject weren't offensive in any way. He was half tempted to ask what had happened to him before for his brain to have to be transferred into a new body. Thhoouugghhh, as much of a loud mouth as he was and as much as he often spoke his mind without thinking about it, he still managed to hold his tongue on that one. Especially when Tammy brought something else up that had him asking something inappropriate anyway. "Wait, so basically any species with a Male and Female? What if they had males, females and a third gender?" Curiosity killed the cat, at this point Kuzi hoped it didn't strangle the Dreedle.

"Antthhh...Antthhrroopooogy?" Kuzi would attempt to repeat but not able to find the right way to make the sound of the word. "What does that mean? I'm guessing its something to do with other people though... At least that's what the rest of it indicates. Hehe." The fluff ball would jump suddenly as he and Tammy slammed into the back of Vshnre, h-huh? What happened? Had she seen something bad? Was the bad guy here? Or at least some kind of bad guy? Was ther-... Why were there kids here?

Refusing for now to get down from Tammy's hold in case the kids decided he'd be their knew play toy. Kuzi would stare confused at what the kids were doing. It wasn't so much weird that they were playing a game of that sort, it was normal for kids to do that kinda thing. Though... Why were they out this late in a place that's obviously been declared dangerous? Where were their parents?

Kuzi's naturally happy look would drop a little as the kids ignored his questions. Not so much because they ignored him, he was used to that kind of thing, more so because of the kinds of questions they were ignoring. Especially as Milton had asked something similar and they hadn't responded to that either. Were these kids just stubborn... Or kinda dumb?

"Pirates, huh?" Kuzi would question, deciding to jump down from Tammy's grip, turning to her and giving her a concerned look and a nod. Even if they were just kids, something felt wrong about all this and he hoped Tammy would understand that he wanted her to stay back just in case. "That does sound like a lot of fun!" The Dreedle would step up next to Milton and try his hardest to get a proper good look at the kids, letting his gaze cross between each of them and ultimately landing on the pair that had spoke to them. "Though why don't we go play somewhere else, huh? It's starting to get dark and spooky around here, and I'm no fan of the dark!" The fluff ball would lie in his cheery tone. It wasn't really his intention to actually play with the kids, though they were here to stop a killer right? He couldn't just ignore the fact these kids were out here, if they were all alone he wouldn't be able to go on without doing at least something to ensure their safety.

Pirate? Milton wasn't entirely familiar with the vernacular, likely another thing people commonly knew about that his culture wasn't as familiar with. Nevertheless, it looked like fun to participate in. Were Milton not on a mission to find a killer, he'd desire to play along. With the small pink Kuzi trotting over towards him, Milton offered up his arm for Kuzi to hop onto either his heating palm or shoulder. It was better to get the children out of the area and into a more supervised playground, and Kuzi's suggestion likely meant just as Milton would have suggested.

"Y-yes, quite. I would love to learn how to play the game of Pirate, but it would be better to go somewhere else, yes? Come along, I believe there is an exit nearby. Vshnre, we will have to depart from our route and get these children out of our target's area of operation."

Eheeh. Kuzi would feel a little uncomfortable as the girl that approached him petted him, though he tried to hide this fact as best he could. These kids hadn't done anything thus far that actually showed they were bad in any way, they just looked a little creepy. Though that wasn't really something you could base your assumptions on whether it meant someone was good or bad here in Junction, that could just be what they naturally look like after all. However, that didn't stop the Dreedle from thinking about what was important at hand. Off in the distance, the sound of multiple gun shots would ring across the open space. Now, he wasn't sure how many things if any were going to be out here, though gun shots were never a good thing. Especially that many going off all at once. There had to be something bad happening and it was in his best interest to try and get over there to help as fast as possible. Though at the same time... He couldn't just leave the MOM's or the kids on their own.

Turning back round away from the bullets to face the kids, Kuzi was about to say something as he noticed the children began running off laughing. Instinctively, the small creature would take a dominant step forward, Denki appearing at his side making the same stepping action in unison with him. In front of him, beyond where the kids were running, a large ice wall would manifest itself in the Dreedle's best efforts to keep everyone together, to stop the kids from running off, and to hopefully now have their attention better so they'd listen more closely. "Hey! I said we'd play once we were some place more safe." Kuzi would begin in a surprisingly dominant tone that he'd managed to muster. "This place isn't safe and splitting up from each other is a terrible idea! If you don't keep together, I wont play at all. And I mean it!" This wasn't good... What could he even do now to try and help everyone at once? He'd hope that Milton would had been able to do something about the other group of kids, though even then what did they do next?

Action:

Milton instinctively reached towards the side of his head, believing that he had gotten a transmission before recognizing that the girl was talking directly to his head. Once they made eye contact, Milton felt the imaginary hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The eyes of these children were filled with static as they intended on continuing their antics to divide the party. As Kuzi made an action to stop the kids from leaving via the summoning of an ice wall, the kid that grabbed Milton's hand would feel his skin ripple as the 'skin' around his wrist would shred apart into hundreds of threads, wrapping around the kid's wrist to keep him from going anywhere as Milton hunkered down to stay put. Phobetor shot out of his shadow and took his place near the other older boy, staring him down with his staff held sideways to guard against leaving.

"Let'ssssss not run too far. Do assss we say and follow us."

"Exactly. If you insist on playing, you need to follow us. Vshnre, Tammy, get the kids together. We're heading to the exit. Somebody's firing a gun nearby, so we need to act fast!"

As Milton held his grip against the boy attempting to drag him off and Phobetor took his place to halt the children from running off, he could have sworn he heard gasps coming from nearby. The mothers seemed shocked at how they were treating the children, likely as frightened by the appearance of the god of nightmares as the children the specter was blocking with his staff. They were hired to escort the mothers around and apprehend a killer that would very well be lurking around the area; anything could be the killer at this point, especially if they displayed abnormal abilities. Before Milton could explain, one of the children shrieked loud enough to make Milton's ears ring and possibly blow out the doctor's headphones should she be listening in. The ghostly entity that was left behind threatened the group with the removal of their skin should they refuse to play along.

Gears were starting to turn in Milton's head. Could this little kid be the one they were looking for? There was talk on the news of a killer making disturbing works of art with body parts, the Patchwork Killer. The sudden chill and slight limping of the gripping hand Milton had wrapped his wire skin around only served to reaffirm his fears. Had they found someone connected to the Patchwork Killer or, dare Milton even consider it, the killer themselves? The feeling of cotton rubbing against the sensors of his skin prodded Milton to thinking that these weren't flesh and blood children they were dealing with, feeling more akin to cotton dolls dressed in the skins of a once-living human being. He quickly released his grip on the boy as Phobetor shifted back to his side. Both the orbs on Phobetor's staff and Milton's gun hummed with energy as they were prepare to defend themselves. Somebody was firing a gun, indicating there was an emergency threat they needed help with. As much as Milton was ready to put the child to sleep with Phobetor's help, his logical analysis was interrupted by his next actions. He nudged the mothers in the direction of the shot and seized Kuzi from the children, holding the pink creature close to his chest as he ran off towards the battle.

"Vshnre, Tammy, that way! Kuzi, make a path. We will have to deal with them later. Seems we have another threat to deal with. Run for it!"

Action:

This honestly wasn't how he wanted this to go at all, Kuzi would give a short look towards the mothers they were escorting. It was clear by their faces even if they said nothing that they didn't approve with how they were dealing with the situation... Though, Kuzi didn't have any idea what else he could of done in that scenario. There's no way he could stop them himself and, whilst yes having a wall of ice sudden appear in front of you may freak you out a little. At the time the Dreedle assumed it was the better alternative than to let the kids run off and possibly see something much worse or end up hurt themselves. Regardless, the fluff would take a defensive step back as Denki disappeared from his side again for the moment, he was about to open his mouth to say something again when his ears were shot by a piercing screech which caused him to lower his head down in pain.

"J-jeez what in the world was that?" He'd question to himself as he regained his bearings and stared over towards the child that had made the noise. Whom... Didn't look all too friendly anymore, not that these kids particularly did in the first place... Pluuusss he was now threatening them with something very similar to what they were here to stop. "H-hey this is no time to joke about things like tha-acck!" The pink fluffs words were cut short as he was suddenly scooped up by Milton who took him and the mothers back up towards where they'd heard the gunshots from before. "W-woah, hey, but, what if..." A hundred different possibilities raced through Kuzi's mind about what could be going on here. It took him a moment to break through the headache of information, ideas and theories before he finally sunk down a little and nodded. "N-no. Good call Milton. If there is trouble going on, we need to assist. As long as this is the killer that the others are dealing with, then we don't need to worry for the kids safety as long as we take care of the threat at hand now. I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about the bigger picture at hand." The Dreedle would take a moment to prop himself up to look over the back of Milton's shoulder back towards where the kids were. There was still the off chance in his mind that something was up with them too and it would be useful to spot and deal with it as soon as possible if it was needed.

Action:

"Uh oh..." Kuzi would look on in horror at the sight he witnesses over Milton's shoulder. What he saw was only confirmed to be reality by the shouts of the MOMs as they ran. This definitely wasn't right, he'd seen that same black icky stuff before and it never meant anything good. Peering round for a moment in the way they were going, Kuzi would be able to spot the fight that was happening to their north. It wouldn't take them that much longer to get there, though...

"Milton, stop!" The Dreedle would call out, pushing himself off of the guys shoulder to land on the ground below to hold a readied stance, Denki once again being summoned to his side holding the same stance. "The others have troubles of their own to deal with, it'd be worse if we brought them even more worries to have to deal with now. We have to hold our ground and sort out this mess first! Tammy, Vssshnre, make sure to stay behind us. We don't want either of you getting hurt." Standing as tall as he could, which was hardly a difference from how he usually stood. Kuzi would be prepared for whatever it was these children really were to reach them, he couldn't let them get the better of him now.

Action:

With the mothers shouldering their way past them to avoid becoming the victims of the cloth monstrosities rushing towards them, Milton glanced back with his weapon ready to see the black ichor slicking the path behind them. The black goo dripping from the creatures triggered Milton's senses; he had seen it before with Gaia's avatar. If the thing posing as these children was anything like that monster, Milton lost his reservations against attacking them. With Kuzi's emergency stop reuest, Milton's feet skid to a halt as he stood his ground with Kuzi, extending his blade to full length to face the charging beasts.

"Understood, Seeker Kuzi. We have to stand our ground before these things have a chance to join forces. Vshnre is correct; I've dealt with something dripping with black ichor before. These things are a danger and have to be eliminated immediately. We will take up the front lines while you two keep an eye on what's behind us in case we have more surprises. Now then...

Action: