Down the Rabbit Hole

Zuqetta laughed as Zerori shoved playfully; it was a strangely warm feeling. In spite of the possible danger the two found themselves in, for some reason Zuqetta felt a great deal of comfort in this moment; simply because Zerori was here with her. Zuqetta's face began to redden slightly as she thought about it further; but before being able to make any mention on the matter, Zerori had suddenly had an outburst. "A picture?" Zuqetta questioned, bring up her own card to examine it, "Your age too? Woah, woah, hehe, calm down Z!" She continued, looking intently upon the photo of herself upon her own card; covering up the rest of the information with her thumb.

It was certainly strange, she didn't remember posing for a picture; and knew Zerori certainly didn't either, yet here they both were. Upon inspecting the picture further, Zuqetta took notice of the features in the background. Standing back up, Zuqetta would peer cautiously over the side of the railing towards the entrance; taking notice of the similar features upon the wall and door.

"Hmm... I don't know how, but I think we're being watched." Zuqetta whispered, "So uh, tread lightly... and put that thing away!" Zuqetta laughed as she referenced Zerori's tail, "Heh, you're acting like there's a ghost around or somethin'; it's probably just some tech we don't understand, no worries." She said firmly, reaching her hand down to offer Zerori some assistance, "Come on! Let go find your dad." She said cheerfully, giving Zerori a soft smile in an attempt to calm her down.

---

Zuqetta was glad to see Zerori calm down, and was even happier to see her begin to get into the swing of things herself. "Space Mercenary Spice?" Zuqetta questioned and Zerori pulled her along; leaping down to the lower level to inspect the strange terminal, "Their are story books in the demon realm too?" Zuqetta questioned, before turning her attention to the terminal. While the though interested her, she did her best to focus on the task at hand; she'd have to ask Zerori about these books another time.

As Zerori slapped her card against the terminal, there was immediate response; prompting a slight 'woo' of impressiveness from Zuqetta and a small clap, just before forcing an immediate, disheartened 'aw' as Zerori's attempted was thwarted.

"Hm... Username? Password??" Zuqetta questioned, "Nothin' in Sadala is inaccessible like this." She explained, crossing her arms as she thought, "Everyone pretty much has access to everything; save for maybe if you were inside the Royal Palace, but no one ever goes there."

She knew the concept behind what she was looking at, but it wasn't as though she was an administrator here; there was a temptation to simply guess the password, but she imagined there may have been security measures if they ended up failing. She thought to the lines of code that had generated before giving the log in prompt before them; having worked on the programs in her scouter, she knew something was happening behind the scenes, but right now all she could do was gamble with assumptions.

"Heh, I think Ms. Spice probably has a bit more experience with this kinda stuff than us." Zuqetta teased with a grin before turing her attention back to the terminal, "But I'm willin' ta accept her challenge! Gimme a moment here..." She continued as she moved around the terminal, examining it intently, "And DON'T try to guess the password!" She chided, shooting Zerori a sharp look as if expecting her to do so.

Looking over the terminal, Zuqetta had found that the whole designed seemed entirely enclosed, with no form of ports or openings to speak of. Upon the back however was a panel; one completely flush with the rest of the design. How the panel was normally opened was anyone's guess, but regardless, Zuqetta knew it must have held the internal access to the terminal within. With a sigh, Zuqetta reluctantly used her strength to break her fingers into the the panel and rip it off as quietly as she could. She hadn't set out to this city to cause so much destruction to public property, but there didn't seem to be much of a choice; at least not for this terminal.

"Okay, now if I just do this... and this here..." As Zuqetta spoke, moving around components and unplugging wires; the screen of the terminal would begin to flicker before spazzing out entirely, "Now I just plug this in here..." She continued, "Heh, ya know, this actually ISN'T as different to Saiyan tech as I thought it'd be." She said as she removed a long cable from under her sweater, "I mean, it's super, SUPER different! But like, I dunno how to explain it... once I look it over, everything just begins ta click. It's like, as much as things change as they get more advanced, they still have the same fundamentals and purposes." She explained in a somewhat soft and happy tone, clearly becoming enveloped in her work.

Suddenly, the blank screen of the terminal would flash back on; however, only having a single while blinking square upon it's screen. "Ha! There we go, all set!" She exclaimed, jumping up from the ground and moving back towards the front of the terminal, "Now, the magic happens."

With the cable from before still plugged into the back of the terminal, Zuqetta would retrieve her scouter and plug the opposite end of the cable to it before placing it upon her face. With that, she would tap her own card to the terminal as Zerori had done; prompting the same lines of code as before to suddenly appear. This time however, the lines of code seemed to stagnate as they drifted across the screen slowly. At the same time, several lines of code would appear upon Zuqetta's scouter; prompting her to input a few button presses at particular intervals. After doing so, the lines of code on the terminal would come to a halt for a few brief moments; before suddenly rushing by insanely quickly and returning them to the log in screen. This time however, the password would auto generate itself and the two would gain access to the information the lay within.

"Fwuuu, heh, whadd'ya know? I guess it IS scouter compatible." Zuqetta joked with a bit of a sigh, "Hehehe, but it looks like I outsmarted Tuffle technology!" She continued smugly as lines of code continued to run on her scouter, "If I can break into this, I wonder what else I can figure out?" She questioned a bit curiously as she began to navigate the terminal; bringing up different folders of information before shaking her head of the thought, "Nonono, anyways, let's get back on track! There seems ta be a search directory here, I'll keep the references simple..." She explained as she began typing in information; the content on the screen updating accordingly as it brought up information on the Saiyan Military, all the while the borders of the screen had gone red, with the bold word CONFIDENTIAL displayed itself upon the scrolling header.

---

"Oof-! Hehe, thanks!" Zuqetta said with a sharp grin before focusing on the information on the screen; scrolling through things quickly before taking notice of Zerori's vested interest, "Now, it might not all be translated properly, so be patient." Zuqetta explained, "I'm running several processes through my scouter, but the translator is basically still learning. Today's it's first day with the Tuffle language after all." She said with a snicker, doing her best to ignore the steadily increasing temperature of the scouter upon her face.

It was clear that Zerori was only becoming more frustrated as they found more information NOT related to her father. Zuqetta had taken to downloading every bit of information they came across onto her scouter for future referencing; already she found it surprising on how much the Tuffles seemed to know about Saiyan military tactics and personnel. "Heh, figures..." Zuqetta scoffed, thinking about how simple her own people were in comparison, "The only reason the Saiyans have ANY ground at all is because of their strength... that needs to change..." She mumbled with a bit of an aggressive tone as she took in the information.

Unfortunately, their search would be cut short as Zerori made mention of approaching guards. "Crap... I'm getting into a personnel directory now, I just need a bit more time!" Zuqetta asserted lowly, "Military... Pota-... Technician..." Zuqetta continued, moving through the information presented as quickly as the terminal would allow, "Got something... Assault Squad Spirit, Sayuri Company... Potate..."

It was then that an image of the man they'd been searching for would appear on screen, eliciting a scowl from Zuqetta. "Useless..." She muttered quietly, before shaking her head and looking back to Zerori; now hearing the footsteps herself as they drew nearer, "Well, this is Potate... have you ever seen your dad before? Does this look like him?" Zuqetta asked with an unintentionally aggressive tone, "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much here." She continued, scrolling down the sidebar of information, "Show's the unit he was a part of... says he was a temporary member? Squad wiped out?? Oh, it looks like he joined the unit after it's previous members were wipe out in some ambush... all besides the Captain it seems." Zuqetta explained curiously, before noting the text that displayed, "Off world... slash, missing?" She said with a shiver; before suddenly being startled by the loud announcement of the guards presence.

"You there!" The first guard would yell, "Stop. Make no sudden movements and do NOT attempt to escape." He said firmly, before the second guard would speak up next, "Indeed, the personal guard of the Grand Marshal have taken up stations at every entrance and have the immediate air space quarantined. Should you attempt it, escape would not be easy." Guard number two explained in a much softer tone than the first guard had spoken in.

Quickly, Zuqetta had removed her scouter as the two approached; quickly turning about and hiding it behind her back. "Don't freak out, don't run, don't fight, STAY CALM." Zuqetta whispered as she leaned in towards Zerori, "I'm sorry, we won't try to run!" Zuqetta began, piking up her voice in an innocent manner as she spoke to the guard, "But we're so confused, are you arresting us? Did we do something wrong?" She questioned as the tip of her tail snuck out from beneath her sweater to take her scouter and pull it within; unplugging the cables and casually tossing them to the ground behind the terminal.

"Heh, don't act like you aren't aware!" Guard number one would shout, before the second guard would step forward and immediately stop his partner from speaking further.

"No, no, you misunderstand." Guard number two began, "We do this for your safety, though we would be surprised if you didn't understand the danger you were in just by being here." He continued softly, "If you'd come with us, there's an individual of rather high prestige that would like to meet with you. If you refuse, we're more than willing to allow you to leave. However, unless you intend to leave in the same manner in which you arrive, I believe you'll find the mere act of exiting the city rather difficult."

"Yeah! So what are you waiting for!? Let's go, let's go!" The first guard interjected, "We do NOT have all day! Do you really not understand? You. Are. Being. WATCHED." He finished through gritted teeth.

The contrasting personalities aside, Zuqetta at least understood that neither meant them any harm; at least, that was what their words suggested. Still, it seemed risky to simply follow a pair of unknown strangers; it would probably be the biggest gamble of the day, and it wasn't as though any knew they were here. Should they have been captured, they would be completely on their own... but, they had come this far down the rabbit hole, and Zuqetta was becoming curious as to how much further down it went.

"Stay calm." Zuqetta whispered to Zerori, "And... heh, keep your jazz hands ready." She continued, referencing Zerori's shadow hand ability; the most likely method they would need to employ should escape become necessary.

With that, Zuqetta would take a step to approach the guards, removing her hands from behind her back and placing them together before her to continue her ploy. "We understand, we certainly don't wish for trouble." She continued with her piked up voice and kindly manner, "We'll go with you to meet this mystery person, please, lead the way." She continued, giving a slight bow in respect to their consideration. Her request for them to lead however, had been yet another ploy; one to gauge whether or not they were truly being captured.

"Understood, thank you." The second guard would say before turning about; being followed up by the first guard speaking up once more, "Yeah, yeah! Just hurry it up will ya!"

With a sigh of relief, Zuqetta would calm herself as both guards turned about to begin leading the two of them to their destination. While the fact that neither attempted to place them in bonds was relieving, Zuqetta was much more pleased by the fact that neither attempted to guard the rear; which would have technically left them off guard to a sudden ambush. It may have only been a subtle action, but it was one that gave an indication to the truth in their words.

"Heh, come on." Zuqetta said with a grin upon turning to face Zerori; offering her hand as they walked in case the girl was still nervous.

---

The two would follow the guard duo through the halls and corridors of the library, seemingly going deeper and deeper within. Down flights of stairs, and then upon a passageway lock behind a sequence of book placements; it almost seemed like this place was some form of maze or dungeon. "I'm startin' ta wonder if we're in one of your Mercenary Spice books!" Zuqetta whispered Zerori in an excited manner; taking fervent interest in the utilities and functions hidden within the labyrinth.

Before long, the two would find themselves escorted to a dead end; a seemingly flat wall with no other exits. With a quick and complicated sequence of presses against the wall in different locations however, it would open, revealing yet another long and rather dark hall.

"There, now get outta here!" Guard One would say, stepping to the side as he looked away with a furrowed brow, "This hall will lead you to your destination, continue straight and stay well." Guard Two would follow up, also stepping to the side to allow Zuqetta and Zerori to pass.

"Thank you for your assistance." Zuqetta would say; giving a bow as she kept up her ruse, before guiding Zerori into the dark hall. As the two would enter, the walk would slowly close behind them; darkening the hall further for a brief moment. As they continued on however, what could only be describe as 'sigils' would begin to brighten on the walls; illuminating their path.

"Heh, pretty neat!" Zuqetta said, giving a smile towards Zerori, "This certainly wasn't the adventure I was expecting when we came to this city!" She continued, holding firmly to Zerori's hand as the two continued forward.

---

The time had finally arrived, the time in which they'd likely receive the answers they had been searching for. If not, the two of them were more than strong enough to make a daring escape; and there was always the option of using Zerori's special portal magic as well. Zuqetta held no fear; their investigation had already yielded incredible results, and going down to the most secret of locations within this treasure trove of knowledge could ONLY be a good thing as far as Zuqetta was concerned. Should a threat have awaited them, Zuqetta held no doubt in being able to contend with it.

"Heh, glad ta hear it!" Zuqetta said with a sharp grin as the two came upon a rather large set of double doors. The glowing sigils would spread to cover the door; before proceeding to cause the sound of a mechanism unlocking. "Welp, that's an invitation if I ever heard one." Zuqetta said plainly, releasing Zerori's hand so the two could defend themselves properly if needed; before deciding to push open the doors.

"It's about time."

Contrast to the dark hall the two had just walked, behind the doors would first be a blinding light.

"Have you any idea how long I've waited? You kids have some nerve."

As their eyes adjusted, the display of the room would come into focus; an utterly massive room that defied logic. The room almost seemed to tower endlessly; accounting for all the floors and hall they walked however, Zuqetta immediately felt that there was no way this room could have possibly existed within the library they had just come from.

"Curious? Well, don't just stand there gawking. Approach, before I lose my patience."

The towering room held many floors, but Zuqetta and Zerori would be upon the lowest; it was a grand open space with no more than a rather large desk at it's center and two winding stairways along the walls that led to the higher floors. In front of the desk stood a nearly seven foot tall armored individual, facing away from the two. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, but strong; she had spoken clearly since the two arrived but had yet to turn to face them. Her hands were kept clasped behind her back and in plain sight of the two and her energy seemed incredibly low; around no more than five hundred at most.

In spite of this, the woman had a commanding air about her; something about her presence simple eluded power. Whether Zerori or Zuqetta would recognize this power however, was another issue entirely.

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