These sterilized rooms located in the fourth floor had the same proportions as the quarters, but these were mostly differentiated by the contents: considerable amounts of medical equipment, most of which were affixed to the floor and walls due to the mobile nature of the airship. After the fall of Slither Inc, these rooms had not been utilized often, but maintenance was still frequent. As such, the rooms were always clean.

[Continued from Data Room]

The chief medic Muguet and her assistant Rose were currently on stand by. Both had been informed about the incident in Slither Inc. and realized that they would have their work cut out for them. The surgery tables had already been prepared for use, and all that was left was to await their upcoming patients.

Kiriyama entered from the [Data Room], looking pale.

"Ugh, this is going to suck..." Kiriyama said, sitting down on a chair.

He took off his vest and put it on the chair next to him. He watched as Andrew entered the room. He was in bad shape as well.

OOC: I figured that GamiamanX would've written a post here by now. But this scene needs to move forward, even if just a little.

------

"Rose, the blond one is in your hands. This other kid will demand my full attention." As Muguet instructed her assistant, she gestured at the Guardians who brought Andrew to place him with his back up on one of the surgery tables.

"Me? O-okay. Please, come this way..." Rose gently helped Kiriyama lay on one of the surgery tables instead, as the Model R chosen one was clearly unable to even stand on his feet. The lack of a glove made the large wound on the Watchman's hand painfully visible. "Were you injured anywhere else...?" The medic asked as she began to treat Kiriyama's wound.

With help from the two other Guardians, Muguet quickly removed Andrew's upper clothing to expose the injuries inflicted by the Pseurodoid. The particularly deep puncture on Andrew's back became Muguet's priority, and the doctor promptly focused her efforts on stopping the bleeding and closing the wound.

"I was tossed around a lot, might have bruises and other things like that... Thanks." Kiriyama said.

He looked at his hand. The hole looked painful, and was painful at first...

"I really can't feel my hand right now, so go nuts." he said.

OOC: connection issues, though my msn was still accessible through my Xbox.

Model D watches helplessly as the doctor went to work on treating Andrew. He then started wondering about the fight back in the Slither Inc ruins. "His fighting style was slightly out of line, and his aiming was off..." he thought. "I know that it was your first actual fight, but you better have a damn good reason why you didn't give it your best like you did in training." he shook his head and looked around, he then started to feel tired. he tried to float on to a nearby table, but shuts down just before reaching it.

Marquereau entered the room again after delivering Model D to Vent, and continued to stand by in case the medics needed any helping hand. Muguet was still working on Andrew's wounds by the time Rose had sutured Kiriyama's hand.

"Please listen..." The gentle assistant spoke as she finished placing a cast on Kiriyama's hand. "Try to keep your hand still as much as possible. Aside from the cut, the bones on your palm were almost all broken... I managed to amend it to the best of my ability, but you'll need to wait several weeks for it to heal completely. I believe that we can remove the cast after one month... Do you understand?"

------

OOC: I'm working under the assumption that Kiriyama's hand isn't bionic. If it is, I may edit some details accordingly.

OOC: If Kiriyama's a Reploid, his hand would be bionic.

OOC: If I remember correctly, a red triangle on a persons head in ZX indicates that they are either a Reploid or a human with bionic parts, and on the old artwork he's had the Triangle, and on his profile, I stated "Humanoid" as his species. I believe Humanoid is the term for Humans like that in ZX.

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

"After one month!? I can't wait that long. I've got things to do!" Kiriyama said, remembering Chiba's invitation to Giga City.

OOC: The term "Humanoid" has never been used in the games. A person is either human or Reploid, and the art in Kiriyama's profile doesn't show his forehead, making it impossible to determine which is it. Also, stating that he was "born and raised" implies human upbringing, since Reploids aren't "born" in the biological sense.

So, can you please confirm once and for all if he is a human or a Reploid?

... Humanoid is a term used by a lot of people I know to separate Humans with bionic parts and Reploids in ZX. ... Okay, three people I know... Anyways, I said "old artwork" for a reason due to me not using it anymore. He is a human.

OOC: If he's human, you're going to need to change his info in the Watchmen thread, which says he's a Reploid.

OOC: ... Fuck. *Goes to fix it.*

"... I hope you won't be offended now, but this is the cost of injury... you need to wait and recover, otherwise, you'll suffer permanent damage or worse. Different from Reploids, humans can heal naturally, but the time required is proportional to the severity of the wounds. Your hand isn't the only injured part of your body. I don't know what you need to do, but I hope that you'll have the sense of understanding your condition and avoiding any dangerous activity." Rose continued to speak as she tended to milder injuries around Kiriyama's torso. "Remember, you only have one life... and you're very lucky that you didn't lose it today. If what trespassed your hand had struck your heart or any vital organs, it would have been all over for you..." Although she tried to not show it, Rose made an effort to avoid flinching at the mental image.

In the meantime, Muguet was hard at work in the room with Andrew. She was able to patch the large cut on Andrew's back, but she still needed to tend to the other injuries. However, that was not the doctor's sole concern; whether it was the blood loss or the sheer trauma from the wounds, the woman was particularly concerned about the young man having fallen into a coma.

"Guh... I'll just chop my arm off and get a new one..." Kiriyama said joking about his arm.

He found the nurse very nice, in comparison to the doctor who traveled with him and the Caravan. His torso was almost fine, but he was badly beaten and bruised from the fight. He wondered if merging with Model R could fix this problem, but he did get injured while merged and is still a human.

"I don't know how badly Hiruzen would freak out if he heard I died... He'd probably blame it on the Guardians." Kiriyama said, regarding Rose's last comment.

OOC: Considering the state Andrew is in, I'll go ahead and post again.

======

"They must really care about you..." Rose commented. "And that means you should be careful not just for your own sake, but also for the ones you're close to. Don't forget that." Rose gently placed the last band-aid on Kiriyama's skin. "I'm finished, so you can go now... but don't hesitate to come back if you feel anything out of the ordinary. If the pain becomes unbearable, I'll prescribe a medicine to amend it."

Muguet, on the other hand, had just about finished suturing Andrew's last injury and started bandaging his torso. "All right." She spoke to the standing Guardians. "I'll need you to find a vacant room where this person can rest. I'll wait and see if he'll wake up after the anesthesia wears off."

"Aye, ma'am." Marquereau turned around and left the room with another standing Guardian to carry out the request.

Kiriyama was quiet for a moment.

"... Th... Thank you. I'll probably be back sometime within the next four days. ... Have a nice day." Kiriyama said.

He got up, grabbed his vest and put it on painfully, and walked out towards the [Main Deck].

Later that day, at 3:23 PM...

Kiriyama stayed truthful to his word; he was back within four days. He was tossing and turning inside his sleep... It seemed he was having an incredibly painful nightmare, as every now and then, he would scream out loud in his sleep, alerting whoever was in the room at the time. He eventually stopped, and his eyes opened wide. He stared; it was a dark room, blinds pulled down to allow easy sleep. He had slowly gotten up, and instead of feeling bad, he felt better than ever. His arm... He felt could move, but he knew that would be a foolish idea. He checked for the Nurse, and put on at least his shorts before proceeding to the [Main Deck] to check up on events.

Kiriyama returned with Rose from the [Corridors]. He rubbed the back of his neck which ached. It was where his cybernetic implants were located. His were attached to his nerves due to constant issues with his own limbs reacting to his thoughts.

[Continued from Corridors]

"Ah! What's the matter, Fleuve?"

Muguet had been caught off-guard by Fleuve's sudden entrance. Before the take-off, she had scolded the Watchman for his recklessness and lack of common sense, and allowed him to rest after she and Rose conducted a few more exams.

"What is the prognosis on Kiriyama?" The elder Reploid asked exaspherately.

"He is relatively fine physically, but I wanted to inspect some oddities." The doctor responded. "He still shows symptoms of illnesses; headaches, numbness... and at times, he seems to even hallucinate... he actually called Rose "Layer" once. However, we haven't detected any chemicals in his body that could be causing this."

"Have you conducted a neurological scan?" The elder Reploid asked with concern.

"No, sir." Muguet shook her head. "There was no logical reason to do so."

"Now there is." The elder Reploid passed on a holographic screen on his hand with a digital log. "There is a possibility that the Watchman was infected by a contaminated Biometal. I'd like you to analyze his brain with our anti-virus technology."

"What?" Muguet responded with disbelief; the equipment the vice-commander had just mentioned was strictly designed to examine bionic components and electronic brains. "But he is a human. And my exams didn't indicate a cybernetically enhanced brain..."

"There are many aspects of Biometals that we don't fully understand yet." Fleuve argued. "Please do it immediately."

"Yes, sir. Rose!" The doctor called out to her assistant. "Prepare the cybernetic scanners immediately!"

------

OOC: I'm skipping a short time in this thread to reflect the recent developments. Arby, I hope you won't mind the way I portrayed the scene.

OOC: Don't mind.

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

Kiriyama looked around. He wondered what was wrong. His dream was an odd one, induced by a virus maybe? He wondered when he could have gotten infected, but it was the Model R he used... He continued rubbing his neck; the hallucinations returning.

Fleuve looked like a small Reploid with the form of a young girl. The name "Pallette" came into his mind. He immediately trashed the thought and looked around some more. When he looked at Muguet, "Lifesavers" came to mind. The dream he recently had was about a Reploid in the year 22XX, but whatever the reason, Kiriyama seemingly got a whole 16 years of memory shoved into his mind since he woke up. It was causing hallucinations, freak outs, moments of drowsiness... Then almost instantly, he felt intense rage. Hatred towards both humans and Reploids as if he was something else. He was lying on the bed. He pushed his head backwards so it sunk into the pillow. He covered his face as a searing pain rushed through his back into his mind like his head was splitting apart. He didn't scream, only shook. He was close to a violent shake then he lay still on the bed staring at the ceiling. He moved his hands upwards rubbing his hair.

"... I should get a teal uniform... Teal is a nice colour... And cut my hair so it's shorter. My ancestor surely had some good fashion sense. Great haircut. He also has the right ideas..." Kiriyama thought.

OOC: Go for it.

[Continued from Corridors]

Malcolm had been lagging behind a little bit, so when he finally entered medical with Aile and Kile, it was to the tail end of Fleuve's conversation with Muguet.

"...didn't indicate a cybernetically enhanced brain--"

"There are many aspects of Biometals that we don't fully understand yet."

He let the two of them finish speaking, folding his arms absently. Undoubtedly the two young people who had accompanied him would have more questions for Fleuve.

OOC: Kile didn't follow the group, he decided to wait outside.

------

"Ma'am, the patient seems to be still in pain...!" Rose alerted after listening to the doctor's orders. "Should I sedate him again...?"

"This exam should help us determine the source of his illness." Muguet instantly replied. "Let's hurry!"

"R-right!" The assistant immediately walked away to prepare the device requested; it was an apparatus with the shape of a container with an opening large enough for a human head. It was designed for a wheeled stretcher to slide into, and once the head was inside, plugs would connect to the outlets in the patient's bionic ears. The results would be shown to the doctors on a flat screen located next to this device.

In the meantime, Muguet pushed a stretcher near Kiriyama's bed. "Are you awake? We need to do a neurological scan on you. Move over here if you can."

"What's going on here, Fleuve? Mal said Kiriyama is infected with Model W!" Aile asked the vice-commander with an aggravated tone as she watched the scene.

"... We have a suspicion that the Pseudoroid Kiriyama fought infected him with something during the battle." The elder Reploid explained as he adjusted his goggles. "We detected anomalous data on our recent records of Model R that resemble Model W. We're not entirely sure of what this means, but this procedure should give us insight on what happened and how this is affecting the Watchman."

Kiriyama was suddenly surrounded by people which caught him off guard. He nodded his head as Muguet asked the question. As they were mentioning the Model W, his hand where he got the injury shook. He felt an urge to strangle somebody right now and he didn't know why.

"... This weird sensation to attack feels good... It's a bad sign that I have it but now it feels good... The dream, mixed with the... Model W... Or whatever, is causing... Forcing these feelings..." Kiriyama thought.

His leg twitched and so did his hand. This all seemed far too familiar... He began to hallucinate once more. He was in a dark place stepping into a capsule as a dark gritty voice spoke to him. After a while, he came out with a mechanical body and new powers. It felt all the more worse that this was even happening.

OOC: I know, Oakie. Malcolm didn't notice him stop outside the door, though.

------

Malcolm glanced over his shoulder at Aile, finally noticing that Kile had stopped outside in the hallway. Poor kid probably had no freaking idea what was going on. Mal didn't blame him. He was neck deep in this whole thing and he barely understood it.

"Hopefully it's nothing we can't reverse," he finally added. "Hard to say at the moment, but with any luck Muguet's scan can give us more information."

Honestly, the thought that Model W's code could infect other biometals and even people was a frightening one. Bad enough that it was able to influence people too weak to resist it.

---

This Model W thing, Model K concluded, was starting to sound like a certain computer virus the world had become intimately familiar with back when he was young. He doubted there was any direct connection between them--afterall, no matter how many generations passed, the world was always going to be threatened by SOMETHING. It was just a matter of what the antagonist of the week turned out to be, really. In the 20th century, it had been global war. In the 21st century, it was Albert Wily. The 22nd century had Sigma, and...

Alright, he honestly had no idea what century it was presently, but undoubtedly this one's big menace was Model W.

Model K's objective was clear enough, as a Maverick Hunter. But that still left him with the problem of not having a proper body. Something would have to be done about that.

"You'll feel plugs connecting to your ears, which might surprise you. Just stay calm and don't move under any circumstances. Let me know if anything happens." Muguet immediately carried Kiriyama to the device as Rose finished the calibration. The doctor opened up the slots on the bottom of Kiriyama's ears and slid him into the machine, his head becoming completely enveloped by the device as it connected to the Watchman's outlets. The power lines of the machine lit up along with the screen as it began the scanning process...

"We should be receiving the preliminary results in a minute or so." The doctor finally stated to the others, who had followed her to witness the procedure.

"... Vent and I never had problems when we took on Model W ourselves..." The thought of Model W being capable of infecting somebody like a virus bothered Aile greatly; she and Vent had been fighting Model W for a while, but neither felt anything unusual despite their frequent exposure to the fragments. How could this happen to Kiriyama after a single incident? This did not make sense to the girl at all, and only added to her frustration and concern.

When the plugs attached to his ears, he jolted almost as if his body attempted to have a violent seizure. He stopped and lie still.

"Gnn... I'm going to murder you all when I get out of... This prison..." Kiriyama thought.

Malcolm watched the proceedings with furrowed eyebrows. Kiriyama looked tense, on edge, like he was fighting the urge to do something.

What that something was, Malcolm didn't dare fathom at the moment. In any case, he didn't like what he was seeing. The sooner they figured out how to help this kid, the better.

He folded his arms and glanced at Fleuve, then turned his attention to Muguet's equipment.

---

The kid was definitely struggling with something malicious in his head. Model K could feel it.

As long as there were computers, he mused, there would be computer viruses, but he couldn't help drawing comparisons between this and the Sigma Virus. He'd been built at the peak of a long, bloody war with the former Maverick Hunter, and the conflict left a lasting impression in his mind.

Still, this was clearly something different. Hundreds of years had passed since then for starters, and Sigma had been utterly destroyed. Model K had been woken up far removed from his own time, and he had no idea as to the state of the world now. Whatever this Model W thing was, there was virtually no chance of it being anything he knew.

And yet that eerie sense of familiarity remained, just the same.

Rose monitored the screens as data flowed through them, while Muguet kept an eye on Kiriyama himself. With or without enhancements, an organic brain was difficult to study, moreso than a Reploid's CPU. As Muguet had predicted, the preliminary analysis could not process the human mind with precision despite centuries of study. But it would not stop her from trying.

"... Let's attempt an analysis of his mental activity. We should be able to measure his electric impulses at the very least." The doctor spoke.

"I'm detecting an increased neural activity..." Rose eventually spoke after watching the screens for a moment. "He does not seem to be relaxed at all..."

"Watchman, I told you to relax." The doctor eyed Kiriyama. "Is there a problem?"

Suddenly, the system suddenly emitted an audible "BEEP" sound, which caught Rose's attention. "I just detected an anomaly...!"

Kiriyama's vision blurred for several seconds and his head felt an intense pain. This pain jolted through his whole body and he jerked into a sitting position, disconnecting from the scanners has he attempted to get himself out of this restricting machine. Being free but slightly damaged due to not being properly disconnected, he screamed out loud and saw Fleuve in the room. He rolled off the bed and lunged at Fleuve. "NOOO! ORDARIUM! YOU'RE DEAD! I WON'T LET YOU!" Kiriyama shouted as his mind was hallucinating. He saw himself in an office of 22XX overlooking a large city with a circular shape.

"What the hell--?!"

Great, that was all they needed. Kiriyama flipping his lid and hurting somebody.

Malcolm reacted without thinking; he stepped in behind Kiriyama as the Watchman lunged for Fleuve, and tried to get him in a full nelson. Malcolm wasn't the strongest guy around, but he wasn't about to let this kid beat up on an old man, and he was pretty sure his cybernetics would help.

As Malcolm attempted to restrain Kiriyama, Aile and Muguet quickly stepped in between the Watchman and the startled vice-commander.

"Aile, you're still hurt!" The doctor said as she blocked Aile in her effort to help Malcolm. "Take Fleuve out of here! Rose, I need a dosage of benzodiazepine now!"

"R-right!" Though nervous, the assistant understood the instructions and quickly left in search of the medication.

Aile's first instinct was to draw Model X, but she remembered that Vent left with all Biometals. "... Come on, Fleuve!" The girl quickly grabbed the elder Reploid by the hand and pulled him away. She would return after the vice-commander was safe.

[Continued in Corridors (Aile, Fleuve)]

Kiriyama yanked his injured arm out of the cast on his arm and grabbed a pen on a desk next to the bed with it. He swung it at Malcolm's arm.

"I WON'T SAVE THE WORLD!" Kiriyama shouted. This was a reference to the long dream he had in his sleep. Whatever it was, Kiriyama was thinking himself as somebody else. "DIE X! JUSDIIIIIE! SACRIFICE! EVOLUTION!" he began shouting at random before he just began to snarl.

"Nnngh!"

Malcolm reflexively let go of Kiriyama with his injured arm, realizing it was a mistake almost instantly. He tried to regain his grip, but he knew it was already too late.

[Continued from Corridors]

Chêne saw Rose searching one of the shelves as she walked across the first room. "What's the situation?" The girl asked.

"K-Kiriyama is out of control...!" Rose responded with aphrehension. "Muguet asked me to ready a sedative...!"

"Then hurry!" Chêne figured there was no time to be gentle; she followed the screams to find Muguet attempting to get a grip on the unstable Watchman, but his movements were too erratic for her to take a chance.

"This is a medbay! Settle down!" The doctor ordered; she did not expect it to work at this point, but she would once again try her best.

"Step back!" Chêne shouted to Muguet and Malcolm as she stepped in, immediately focusing on Kiriyama. She knew better than to get violent in the medbay... as tempting as the thought was. She quickly approached the Watchman...

Kiriyama fell onto his shoulder for his left arm, further hurting his arm. He still felt no pain and rolled onto his side and pushed himself up. He saw everybody in the room as a large, bald Reploid with scars over his eyes with a menacing grin and an even more menacing laugh. Kiriyama began to sweat a lot and started to hyper ventilate. He staggered backwards, grabbing his chest with his right arm. He tripped over the bed, falling backwards. "No... Stop... I'M NOT A REPLOID! GET AWAAAAY!" Kiriyama shouted as he flung his left arm at Chêne, unable to tell anybody from anybody.

Malcolm did as Chene asked and stepped backward several paces. With a pained wince and a set jaw, he pulled the pen out of his arm, dropping it to the floor and clamping his hand around the wound firmly to try to stop the bleeding.

He was no doctor, but he was pretty sure the wound wasn't very serious. The pen had gone in deep, but it didn't seem like Kiriyama had hit any arteries at least.

That didn't make it any less painful. He'd felt the tip of the pen scrape bone.

"Be careful! He's completely delirious!"

Chêne chased Kiriyama and immediately took advantage of the Watchman's panicking motion to trap him in a pronating wristlock, forcing him face down as she twisted his arm. She hoped the pain alone would dissuade the Watchman from attempting any other reckless motion... worst case scenario, further pressure could break the Watchman's arm like a twig.

"Snap out of it!" The girl commanded as she glared at the downed "Watchbrat". Rose did not delay much longer as she returned with a syringe, followed by Aile. The medic approached slowly as she tried to ascertain the situation, coming closer as Chêne briefly nodded at her. She winced as she saw the manner Chêne held Kiriyama down, but still kneeled next to the Watchman to administer the medication...

Kiriyama screamed out as he tried to get away. The pain seemed null to him. He attempted to yank himself from Chene's control even if he broke both of his arms. His left hand wound opened up again and was starting to leak blood but Kiriyama still didn't move.

"... IT'S CHIBA'S FAAAAAULT!" he shouted out.

"You're not kidding," Malcolm grumbled. A lot of this mess seemed to be Chiba's fault, really.

Chêne was no weakling and managed to hold her ground against Kiriyama. She ignored the Watchbrat's shouting and kept her focus, although the whole ordeal visibly annoyed her.

Rose backed off, however; Even with Chêne holding him down, she could not administer the needle with precision with Kiriyama's constant struggling.

"What are you waiting for?!" Chêne questioned without looking at the medic.

Rose exchanged looks with Muguet, who approached upon noticing her assistant's hesitation. The doctor decided to lend a hand by pinning down Kiriyama's legs, revealing how she was much stronger than she looked.

"Now, Rose! Hurry!"

Rose timidly nodded, realizing how much the others were depending on her, including the Watchman himself; not wanting to let them down, she aimed the needle at Kiriyama's left arm, which Chêne continued to hold firmly...

Kiriyama toned down his screaming to a low mumble. He was quietly speaking about something else... Something those involved with international affairs would know of; he was muttering about Taiyoh, and the older one, Japan.

"... New Hera... ... EXILIUM... Taiyoh... Looking for... New... Hera... Chiba revealed...`he muttered now, seemingly shaking rather abnormally.

Malcolm raised an eyebrow as he tended to his wound.

"What does Taiyoh have to do with anything," he wondered aloud.

Truth be told, it was probably just more nonsense spewing from Kiriyama's addled mind. They needed to get him hooked back up to the computer and see if there was anything they could do to help the kid, before the Model W code drove him completely mad.

"Come on, help me get him plugged back in so we can sort this out."

---

The name New Hera sounded vaguely familiar to Model K, but he wasn't able to place it. Must've been one of those memories that didn't want to resurface as quickly as the others. He wasn't so sure that the kid was just rambling incoherently at this point though.

Taiyoh is searching for New Hera, and Chiba revealed it?

The biometal wasn't sure what it meant, or if it was even important. Time would probably tell.

Damn it, I wish I could do something besides sit in this guy's pocket.

"Finally. His babbling was getting on my nerves."

Chêne kneeled to lift Kiriyama's body; something she was capable of doing on her own, although Muguet still helped moving him back to the stretcher. "Good work, Rose." The doctor complimented; despite Rose's hesitation, she handled the situation quite well.

"... I've never seen someone panic like this..." The medic remarked as she stood back on her feet. She put the needle away and approached Malcolm to tend to his arm injury. "Please let me mend this..."

Aile, who had been watching helplessly, was not satisfied; sedating Kiriyama was only a temporary solution, and she knew that. "... Is this the effect of Model W...?"

"Model W?" Chêne turned her attention to Aile, after letting go of Kiriyama. "Alright, what's going on?"

The Chosen One sighed. "... Mal said that Model R was corrupted by Model W, and that this is affecting Kiriyama after he used it."

"... So Biometals are causing problems again. How surprising." Chêne did not contain her cynicism. It seemed that every time she considered giving Biometals the benefit of doubt, something else happened to back up her views.

"Chêne, now's not the time to argue about that. We need to find a way to help Kiriyama." Aile responded while turning to Malcolm.

Kiriyama was still muttering even sedated.

"... Or... Ium... Ka... O... Siii... Ma..." he muttered.

"Aile's right," Malcolm answered. He let Rose tend to his arm, wincing slightly as she worked.

"Our first priority needs to be getting that viral code out of Kiriyama."

"Well, you said you wanted a biometal to use to that end, didn't you? I haven't exactly got anything better to do right now."

Dumbfounded, Malcolm froze for a moment. The voice, with its west European accent, was one he'd never heard before... maybe "heard" wasn't the right word; it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "Who the hell--?"

Wait a minute. There was really only one possibility, and it hadn't even occurred to him up to that point. He reached into his pocket with his free arm and pulled out Model K, surprised to see the crystal in the center of it lit up.

"...I'll be damned. It must've switched itself on after I got done rewiring it."

Chêne did not need the explanation to understand what happened; the feeling of a voice skipping her ears and echoing in her brain led her eyes straight to the source on Malcolm's hand. She immediately frowned at the unpleasant surprise; she knew what it was, but she did not recognize it. It was obviously a new one... another one. That made it what... the fifth or the sixth new Biometal in two days? How many more was she expected to meet?

The girl subconsciously tightened her fists as she bottled her irritation. She remembered what she said in the bridge and the medbay was not the best place to throw a fit.

"... What are you doing with -that-?" She asked Locke pointedly; now that she had the moment to pay attention, she recognized the man. She knew his role as an undercover Guardian and his occupation... but more than anything else, he was an acquaintance of "that" man; and like the others, another one who denied knowledge of where he was. She glared at both Locke and Model K as if she had just entered a trance until Aile's footsteps snapped her out of it.

"Is that the Biometal you were studying?" The Chosen One had an expression of curiosity as she nearly invaded the Biometal's personal space (although the fact it was held by someone's hand made that less of a concern). "I'm Aile." She introduced herself gently. "What's your name?"

OOC: With Kiriyama kinda... Blazed out of his mind now and knocked out, no need to post... So, yeah.

"Model K," the biometal answered simply.

"Hold on a minute." Malcolm peered at the biometal quizzically as he spoke, continuing to hold it out for Aile. "I can't hear biometals. The only way I've been able to communicate with them directly is over a computer connection. Why can I hear you?"

The green biometal's tone shifted to boredom, with an inescapable undertone of annoyance. "You'd know more about that than I would. I'm no scientist; I only shoot things. All I know is what I've overheard you lot talking about since I regained consciousness."

Malcolm furrowed his eyebrows. "Fair enough... Yes, Aile, this is the biometal I was studying. As for why I have it?"

He turned his gaze to Chene. The young woman was agitated, and he doubted any explanation would change that. Still, no point in keeping anything from her.

"We found it recently in an abandoned research facility of Serpent's. It was completely inactive at the time, which is probably why Serpent never did anything with it. Fleuve asked me to study it and find out if it was salvageable. Something I did to its wiring earlier must have reactivated it."

"Activated," corrected Model K. "I have no memory of ever being conscious before I woke up in your pocket a little while ago. At least, not like this..

Aile was surprised by Malcolm's claim; it was the first Biometal she had ever seen that could be supposedly heard by anybody. She wanted to know more, of course, but she had the foresight to realize that was not the priority at the moment. "... Chêne, can you bring Fleuve back here? He's got to take a look at this."

"What are you going to do with it?" Chêne sternly questioned.

"That's what we're going to figure out." Aile answered with honesty; she really did not know what they would do with the Biometal. At the same time, she did not want to treat it like any object; she wanted to be tactful, even if Chêne did not share the sentiment.

"Fine." That was all Chêne had said before leaving to call the vice-commander. She would make sure her absence did not last, however. In the meantime, Aile returned her attention to the Biometal.

"Sorry you had to wake up like this." The girl continued. "I'll bet you have questions just like all of us, Model K, but I want to get to the important part first..." Aile rose her eyes to Malcolm. "How can we help Kiriyama?"

[Continued in Corridors]