Any Kind of Support (ID)

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"That's good, Will." Lydia's tone was firm but completely genuine. "Put their minds at ease long enough for us to recover."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Well, sure, but that doesn't mean that time still isn't of the essence!" Max insisted, throwing her arms down indignantly.

After saying this, however, she grabbed her forehead, took a deep breath, and finally gave up trying to reason with this guy. Realistically speaking, if the people who kidnapped William were the same people who kidnapped Lydia, they could've just as easily led William to her. Rescuing him was just adding another series of steps to the mission. "You know what? Fine. If you're so insistent on doing this the hard way, then so be it. But if this plan falls flat on its face and we find ourselves back at square one and crying for help, don't say I didn't warn you."

With that said, Max stomped over to Lydia's car and unlocked the doors, gesturing for the others to follow, signalling to Ryan as he inspected the wrecked Mercedes. "Let's find a place to hide and get our bearings in order. If anyone has any suggestions on where to go, I'm open."

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Ryan's search offered very little in the ways of useful information. The glove compartment was mostly empty, lacking any maps, a car manual, or even proof of insurance papers. The only papers he seemed to find in the car were very basic customer brochures on LunArc, a schematic of a robotic right arm, a copy of Cosmopolitan, and a picture of a beautiful curly-haired woman in a red dress and white lab coat.

As for the driver himself... Mr. Stone was marching through the park, ever stoic on the outside, hiding the aggravation on the inside. Though slightly banged up and sporting an obviously broken right arm, he looked none too worse for wear. He clearly didn't care about his physical state. He didn't even have it in him to fret about his failure. All that mattered to him was finding a new course of action to obtain Mr. Lowe and the chip.

Soon enough, after searching the park for a good, long while, Mr. Stone found what he was looking for. Or who, rather. Seemed that one way or another, Liderc had wound up in a tree after their encounter with the camper van's occupants.

After staring at the angel entangled in the branches above him, Mr. Stone raised his left hand and activated his built-in communicator.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Faharvahrdammit..." Liderc mumbled, rubbing his head, inspecting himself for injuries. Okay, he felt that on his face. His armour had a few small cracks on it, and his clothes had sustained some minor tears. Reaching for the side of his head, he frowned, seeing a green fluid on his glove. Mercifully, aside from some ruffled feathered, his wings hadn't sustained any damage. "Tsk. Couldn't even die correctly."

Looking around, he spotted Mr. Stone. "Ah," he said. "You should get that high appendage looked at. I'm not an expert on human anatomy, but to my knowledge, they're not supposed to bend that way due to the highly rigid nature of human-"

And then, the projection of that human doctor came from Mr. Stone's wrist. "Oh dear," Liderc muttered to himself, before clearing his throat in a way to compose himself. "... I suppose there's no need to report that this ended horribly for us. Blame furries."

[ColArana]

Ryan frowned at the lack of information, but he still grabbed what he could. The schematic of the robotic arm was especially interesting. His eyes scoured the page for several moments, as he studied it, looking for distinguishing features, or even possible materials. As a neophyte of engineering, he had at least a rudimentary understanding. Maybe this could still constitute a lead. But he'd need to look it over in more detail later. He rolled it up along with the brochures, and performed one final sweep of the car, before noticing the picture of the woman. "Who is...." Hmm. He grabbed the picture and started heading back toward Max and the others. No helping it. He hadn't found anything concrete, but this was a start.

As he began to return to the group he saw that Max was still furious. Not unexpected at all. "Well. I'm a little reluctant to offer my place. Still live with my folks and I'd rather they not get involved in this. But I think Percy mentioned a hotel room last night, didn't you, Percy?" He asked, looking at the man. "Also, anyone recognize this woman?" He asked, flashing the picture at the group. "It was in the car, along with some cybernetic schematics and some stuff for LunArc. The more I see, the more I'm certain there's a connection here." He stated. "Could this be Cora? Or someone major with the group?" He inquired, sliding into the driver's seat, when Max unlocked the doors, preparing to drive off. He briefly considered volunteering Lydia's apartment as well. But then thought better of the idea. That would just be in bad taste right now.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

With a low hum and a quick flash, Dr. Michaels' holographic image appeared above Mr. Stone's outstretched arm, the expression on her face one of cold, albeit reserved disappointment. She took a moment to examine the scene –her assistant's sorry state, the angel in the tree, the conspicuous absence of Mr. Lowe– and let out a low sigh. "That's unfortunate..."

Without wasting another moment on grievances, Dr. Michales turned to address the man in the suit and sunglasses. "Mr. Stone, your vitals are showing that your right arm is critically damaged. I must insist that you report to the research facility immediately for repairs. You'll be much less effective on the field with your primary weapon inoperable."

Then she looked up at Liderc. "Mr. Serapis, if you don't mind me asking, how easily can you pull yourself together and get back on that blond boob's trail?"

[ParamountKeymaster]

As she climbed into the car, Max looked up at Ryan, eyeing the picture he was holding. It didn't take long for her to narrow her eyes at the image of the woman in the red dress and lab coat, slowly nodding back at Ryan. "Yeah. That's Dr. Michaels. I guess if there's anything we go out of this endeavor, it's confirmation that we're on the right track."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Yeah, we've got a hotel room. I dunno if this person has anything on our location, but I suppose the least we can do is let ya hide out there for a bit. Hang on." Removing his shirt and jacket, Percy tossed them to Will as his wings came out. "I'll... keep an eye out and follow you guys there. C'mon, let's not stand around!"

Taking a seat in the back, Will brought his legs to his chest. These car things were not something he was going to get used to any time soon, especially considering he had just been thrown into the back of another in a case of kidnapping. He let out a long sigh before speaking again. "... By the horror that is Izanami having to give birth to Japan... When will the madness end...?"

---

"These injuries are nothing compared to some other wounds I've endured, doctor." Indeed, some of Liderc's scrapes seemed to be healing as he spoke, feathers readjusting into a smooth pattern again. "As long as my wings are intact, I can recover from pretty much anything those halfwits can throw at me." He climbed out of the tree slowly, stretching out his limbs. "Shouldn't be too hard to trail them, especially with mugs like those..." After a moment of thought, he continued. "... Of course, I'll have to make sure those damn furries don't show up again..."

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"When I'm five-seven and you don't have a miniaturized submersible pod floating around your insides," Lydia sighed, rubbing her forehead and staring forlornly at the back of Max's head in William's eyes. "And Lord knows if it'll even end there..."

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"It would certainly prove beneficial if you do. The fewer distractions we have to worry about, the better," Dr. Michaels breathed, her arms folded and fingers drumming, her frown calm as she expertly suppressed her frustration. "Mr. Stone, I'll send a transport to pick you up at your present location. In the meantime, Mr. Serapis... I leave it up to you how we get Mr. Lowe back into our custody. Please try not to let me down again."