aubergines | ( #002 ) FAKE MARRIED AU

I'm just saying. Now...

[ She first looks back to make sure the door closes behind them, which it does. Now they're in another hallway, punctuated at the end by an elevator shaft that would presumably take them into the underground passages. There do seem to be a few other doors along the way, although Kasumi's schematics couldn't tell them what they would find behind each one. ]

... Let's find out what's behind door number one?

[ With one hand he keeps the dude steady, as he listens briefly at the door. He doesn't hear anything, which seems like a good enough sign, and he slowly opens it--

And it looks to be an empty electrical room. Lucky them.

He glances around to make sure he didn't catch some snoozing engineer before dumping the unconscious dude unceremoniously to the ground. ]

That at least takes care of one problem.

[ The other problem, of course, is the risk that the guy could wake up at any moment. So Peter grabs a few coils of spare cabling on a nearby table and-- yep, sure is using it as rope to tie the guy's wrists and ankles. As an afterthought he fashions one into a makeshift gag before he stands, clapping his hands together. ]

That should do it. [ He gestures back out the door. ] Shall we?

[ She watches him tie the poor guy up with some degree of amusement. She would have basically tazer'd the guy by way of her omni-tool and Overload, but this was such a Star-Lord style of making sure someone doesn't give you any more trouble. ]

We shall. I call the next guy, though.

[ With that, she starts walking towards the elevator, pulling up her ~~best friend~~ omni-tool once more in anticipation of another surveillance camera and holding the transmitter in her hand in case they need it for any further access points. ]

[ He follows her out to the elevator, hand resting on the grip of his blaster, and they take it to the next floor up. Naturally, though, it’s slow going, and Peter leans back against the elevator wall, sighing impatiently. ]

-- Seriously, who the hell designed these things, anyway?

[ ~~You mean take it to the next floor down right~~ Kasumi similarly leans against the wall opposite Peter, folding her arms. ]

You'd think they would have figured out fast elevators by now. We've got FTL, sentient artificial intelligence, but elevators that move faster than a glacier? Forget it.

[ When they finally reach the underground level, the elevator comes to stop with a noticeable thud. The door to the elevator opens almost as slowly as it descended, revealing a much darker, not at all luxurious and interior. It definitely reeks of secret evil lab of doom. ]

[ ~~oops yeah my b my b~~ Once the doors open, Peter immediately thinks, Oh, okay, this isn’t ominous in the slightest, and immediately draws one of his blasters. There may not be any enemies in sight, but it definitely makes him feel better than going without -- sort of like a security blanket, actually, if security blankets could shoot fire and/or electricity.

He steps out cautiously and moves down the hall, noting possible areas of cover, should the worst come to pass. They’re only here to infiltrate, but, hell, with Peter’s luck? They’ll probably end up attracting every single guard in the place down here. ]

So, at a guess, I’d say this is the workout facility?

Definitely. The villains have to look good too, you know?

[ But as she's saying that, she's looking around. There are pieces of Reaper tech here and there, similar to the ones she's seen (and subsequently stolen) during her other jobs. But where those were little Cerberus camps holding tech, this is something much, much larger in scale, and Kasumi's not liking the looks of it. ]

[ For Peter's part, he doesn't recognize the machinery, just assumes it's bad. And he's-- getting some seriously bad vibes from the whole thing, anyway. He knows, to some extent, that Cerberus has been poaching Reaper technology, using it for their own ends, and seeing as how they had suspected Cerberus had a hand in Refuge, it's not hard to put two and two together.

And the sum does not look good in the slightest.

There's an open lab to Peter's right, and he steps in, sweeping the corners for hostiles and once again coming up empty. And that's unsettling, too, to not have run into anyone in a lab as large as this. At a glance, he spots tables of machinery and small devices. Some of them Peter recognizes as implants and body mods, the others are a mystery to him. ]

The hell are they planning to do with this stuff?

I almost don't want to find out.

[ But she already has a hunch, and it's a serious horror movie tier conclusion but she can't put Cerberus past serious horror movie tier. I mean, she thinks, this much Reaper tech lying around, and people who come here disappear all the while the Illusive Man's army just keeps growing?

She'd followed Peter into the open lab, and she's looking for any more clues when she finds a data pad on one of the desks. ]

But we probably will find out. We have to. Whatever it is they're doing here, it can't be good, and we'll need to sound the alarms when we get out.

[ Before she starts reading the data pad, she spots a machine out of the corner of her eye, located at the far end of the lab along with a few others like it. Definitely looks like something Cerberus would make, but with an infusion of Reaper stuff. Her chest tightens as she looks away from it and down at the data pad, all the while realizing, it's just big enough for a person to fit into. ]

[ At that, he nods. He's coming to the same conclusion as he looks over the tech. He's more than familiar with the look of body mods, having stepped in on accident on more than one occasion as Rocket or Gamora helped each other repair the various cybernetics laced throughout their bodies. (And fuck that was always unsettling, seeing one or the other lain out, muscles exposed, as the other carefully worked at repairing whatever damage had been done.)

So Reaper cybernetics. Doesn't that sound interesting and dangerous as hell?

He moves around the room, looking at the completed mods and unfinished projects. While he recognizes some of it, the majority of this stuff goes way over his head. If Rocket were here, he'd probably be able to discern the purpose of some of this stuff.

And still Peter keeps thinking, Where are the scientists? Where are the engineers? as he finally disengages his helmet. Maybe they're all out getting pizza and celebrating someone's birthday? Chances are, though, they're just in another part of the facility they haven't explored yet. (Or at least, that's his hope. He really doesn't want to stumble into anything more sinister than what they've already found.) ]

Read anything juicy?

[ Kasumi's eyes are darting across the data pad quickly. It's... a list of names?

But then she looks up at Peter with her lips parted, which is to say that she has a look of horror, when she pieces together the document she just read, realizing that the names were sorted into two categories: Indoctrinated, which Kasumi had expected, and Experimentation risk - converted.

My god, she thinks, converted into what? ]

This is bad. Really bad, Quill.

[ She accesses a link to another log on the data pad, which causes a nearby screen to activate and play back a surveillance video showing the large machines and, well, people being trapped and turned into husks. ]

[ He's about to ask, "How bad?" when the the sound of the screen flicking on catches his attention, and then--

Oh. That bad.

-- something icy goes through his veins at the sight. ]

... I think I just threw up a little.

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[ At that he nods, then moves back toward the hallway. And even if they haven't seen anyone, he's still keeping his blaster at the ready. ]

Was kinda hoping they were maybe celebrating someone's retirement, or throwin' a baby shower or something. It is lunchtime, after all.

[ She likewise moves toward the hall, taking one final glance back at the lab before stepping out. ]

Aw, and we didn't bring any presents? How rude of us.

[ He smiles a little, despite how fucked up this all is. ]

I'm sure we'll figure something out. Sweet severance package, maybe?

Let's just get them a gift card.

[ Forging onward down the hall, she pulls up her schematics to check their location. The west wing wasn't too far, now, but Kasumi has to wonder--if they already saw a lot, and they weren't even in the 'restricted west wing' yet, what could possibly be going on in there? ]

[ To say everything they've seen so far is unsettling would be the understatement of the century; but a quick glance over Kasumi's shoulder at the schematics -- and realizing that they haven't even hit the west wing yet -- makes him think that they haven't even seen the worst of it yet. So Peter speaks his thoughts aloud: ]

You think maybe they don't expect anyone to make it this far? Or that anyone who does gets-- changed?

[ The end of the hall, as it turns out, is their ticket into the west wing. This door is appropriately plastered with RESTRICTED ACCESS and AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY signs, but a cursory look through a nearby console on Kasumi's part reveals their transmitter will do just fine for getting them in.

For a moment, she thinks, I hope getting out will be this easy before turning to Peter. ]

West wing is right through here. You ready, partner?

[ He doesn't quite hesitate, but there is a thoughtful second where he doesn't say anything. And then he pulls out his second blaster. Just in case. ]

Born ready, partner.

[ She responds with a silent nod before using the transmitter. This time, the console takes a little while in opening the door; probably a couple of additional verification processes, Kasumi thinks. Then, with a beep, the console on the door turns green and slowly slides open to reveal yet another dark and ominous hallway with another, already-open door at the end. When she steps on through, she looks around at the hallway and finds something mounted on the wall above the other door. ]

There's a biometric scanner for this room. Though, hmm. It's not functioning? I mean, that makes things easier for us, but... Guess they're just letting people walk on through for this birthday party.

[ Peter's not sure if he's more relieved or annoyed or nervous when the door opens and they're still not greeted by heavily armed guards. On the one hand, hey, this job is turning out to be pretty easy. On the other hand, this is creepy as fuck.

Which is why he lowers his blasters, but he's still tense, prepped for action at a moment's notice, should it come to it. He flicks a glance to Kasumi, and in the look are all his conflicting feelings, but mostly it's screaming, What the fuuuuuuuck? But then he shakes himself and forges on ahead. ]

Must've been expecting family or something to join in. Hopefully they don't mind us crashing. I'm great at parties.

[ The look she returns is definitely a puzzled one, too. This is pretty much a horror flick in the making, and Kasumi's halfway to expecting something's just going to pop out at them from a corner or out of nowhere. She stops in her tracks and turns to Peter. ]

I think I should scout ahead. There's no way this entire level and wing are just completely empty--I'm not even sure what we'd be up against at this point, but it would be good to know before any crossfire happens.

[ He doesn't like that idea at all, and it's telling in the way he frowns. ]

I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up...

[ -- and the way he trails off is also telling: as much as he doesn't like the idea, it's also a logical one. ]

[ She gives him a reassuring pat on the arm. She knows it's a risky move, but there's something in her that's saying you have to go. ]

I'll just be going down the hall a little further, and you can still reach me on our comms. It'll be fine. Besides, you're freaking Star-Lord, and you can kick some serious ass.

[ By the end of her sentence, she's already going dark. ]

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