Fini's Base - Well THAT'S Awkward

[Raki]

And Facade felt a bit better, now that he was minus one towel and one robe.

And he left, taking his extra towels (and robes) with him.

[Sipp]

AND KNIFE LEFT 4EVA

[Leedzie]

The princess laughed uncertainly as she was given the doctor's own shoes. She doubted they would even really fit, but still took them and put them on out of courtesy. As she expected, they were quite roomy, but at least they were warm. "Thank you, sir."

And then came the robe. Sally took the garment, and looked at it in her hands uncertainly. Giving a slight shrug, the ground squirrel slipped her arms into the sleeves and tied the belt around her waist. Maybe this was some kind of local custom.

Oh yeah, the location.

"So..." she began, unsure of just how to word her thoughts, "where are we, and how exactly did I get here?" Then all of a sudden the princess shook her head as a thought seemed to strike her. "Wait, I'm sorry, I've completely gotten ahead of myself. I should've introduced myself a long time ago!" Stepping up to Finitevus and thrusting out a hand confidently for a shake, the ground squirrel smiled and proclaimed, "My name is Sally. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr....?"

[Riyami]

There was a small click noise and a tall black jackal woman in a long cloak suddenly appeared out of thin air next to sally and Finitevus, giving sally a cold look.

"hmmm... Another one?"

[Jamie Lee]

NUDITY AVERTED. The pangolin let out a small sigh of relief, finally feeling the weight of his scales fold back down and relax. He glanced at Isis after her sudden appearance and flattened her brow. "Isis, how long have you been here?" he shook his head. "Nevermind. Anyone is better than Lance."

He turned back to Sally, eyeing her now that he felt he could do so safely and grasping her hand surprisingly firmly. "I am Dr. Finitevus. A pleasure to meet you, my dear Sally," he released her hand and waved it at the room. "This would be my laboratory and my home. You found yourself here on accident, I dare say."

He rubbed his chin and frowned. "This would be an alternate universe from where you're from. I had sent one of my agents through a portal to investigate your world, and when I went to retrieve him, it would seem that you somehow became tangled on my line." He glanced at the now vacant air where the portal had been.

[Leedzie]

"An alternate universe?" Sally was intrigued at first, but after a moment of thought, her features fell slightly. "Oh... Then, the Dash I was talking to at home... He was your agent, wasn't he?" The princess sighed. "The Dash of my world had... well..." Rather than try to explain roboticization, she opted with, "...He's very ill."

The deroboticizer. It occurred to her that it was very unlikely now that one in fact existed here, and her face fell much more. That's what I get for making assumptions, I suppose. "Well, now that that's cleared up... I guess I should start working on trying to make a portal to get me home."

Sally glanced at Isis. Definitely not getting a warm vibe there.

[Riyami]

Isis turned away slightly and gave a glance to the Dr.

"Don't worry. Unlike some of your aquaintances, I am not that of a fool."

Isis walked over to to a small table in the lab and picked up a few small mechanical intruments, she turned and leaned against one of the large console while lifting her large robotic arm out from under her cloak and began to make slight adjustments to it with the device she had picked up.

"There have been other portals appearing around the area."

[Jamie Lee]

"Has there now? Hmm," the pangolin rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Well perhaps we can make this better then. In the meantime..." he turned back to Sally. The apparency that her world had its own version of Dash seemed to intrigue him... Then, of course, he realized he had indeed seen this squirrel before as well. Or at least, a version of her. She had been in his previous fortress before its destruction...

Not really the best of omens there.

"Well, I'll need to see about retrieving Dash anyway, so helping you find your way back home shouldn't be any problem..." he paused. "Of course, the reason for this bit of nastiness in the first place was due to the pursuit of knowledge, so, perhaps there might be anything you could tell me about your world in the meantime? I mean, speaking to someone from this 'Mobius' directly is quite a golden opportunity..."

[Leedzie]

The ground squirrel smiled. "Sure. I don't mind telling you a bit about my home, especially since you're willing to help me get back."

Sally leaned back in the luxuriously cushy chair and swung idly from side to side. "I suppose the most significant thing to note is that we've been at war for 10 years. My father's rule was overthrown by an overlander named Robotnik." Her expression soured slightly. "Ironically he had just helped my kingdom win a different war immediately prior to the coup. He was a very trusted military advisor to my father.

"In any case, Robotnik's had a stranglehold on Mobius for a decade. He kidnaps our people and turns them into robot slaves..." The princess sighed. "So far, it's irreversible, but we've at least found a way to give them back their free will. In the meantime we've been doing a fair job at sabotaging Robotnik's newer attempts to expand his domination, but unfortunately we're desperately lacking the resources we really need to push him back. When he took over, we had to retreat into the forest for our safety, and most of us were young kids at the time. We've basically had to scrape together whatever technology we can salvage or steal."

Sally let out a sigh, flapping the neck of her robe slightly. It was so thick and thermal that she was beginning to get overheated. Really, she would've preferred not to wear it at all, but the doctor had been so insistant that she put it on. I'll just open it a little, the ground squirrel decided, and proceeded to untie the belt and let the edges of the robe drape at her sides. This way I can still honor his wishes without burning alive.

[Riyami]

Isis simply sat there silently, flexing her robotic limb a few times to see how the adjustments felt before making any more.

While she listened to the conversation, which was difficult to miss due to the size of her ears, she neither made a glance to the two nor said anything to them. It probably wasnt her concern anyways.

[Jamie Lee]

Well now, Fini thought with an arch of his brow, this was certainly beginning to sound interesting. A golden opportunity indeed.

Then he winced when she opened the robe and turned his face away. What was with this girl?! Didn't the women from her world have any sense of dignity?!

Regardless, this information still intrigued him.

"Your kingdom you say? It sounds like your father had been in a... very high position."

Oh yes, this story definitely sounded interesting.

[Leedzie]

"Yes, he was," Sally replied with another longful sigh. "He was the king. He was such a good king..." If not for Fini's latest recoiling, the princess might've let her sorrow run away from her, but luckily his reaction was enough to derail her thoughts. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to make the connection. Clenching her jaw slightly, Sally partially narrowed her eyes and simply asked, "I'm sorry, am I upsetting you?"

[Riyami]

"In this world, the lowest amount of clothing thats acceptable in public would be something to cover your chest and lower regions. Anything less is considered, Indecent exposure."

Isis glanced up to the Dr.

"however most of the male population tend not to mind the show, regaurdless of social norms.."

[Leedzie]

"Oooooh brother," Sally softly groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I have a sinking feeling that this world is dominated by overlanders, too. But, very well, although I can't help but notice that this rule is rather arbitrary." She quickly recalled the other legionaires she'd encountered.

The princess rose to her feet, holding one side of the robe over her body out of respect, but not tying it shut. "If I must, may I at least have something a little cooler to cover myself with?"

[Jamie Lee]

The pangolin sighed, pulling out his communicator. "Inari, could you bring one of the spare uniforms back to the lab?" then, to Sally; "So you're a princess then," he paused, blinking and then glaring at the door he'd earlier shooed everyone out of. "... Great job, ambassadors. Anyway, that's the second time you've mentioned 'overlanders'. What are they?"

[Leedzie]

Huh, Sally thought, maybe not, then. Or maybe they use a different word. "Well, in our world anyway, overlanders are a type of creature that sort of... distanced itself from other life forms, and began to think itself superior. They originally evolved from apes, and were called humans after that, then eventually overlanders." She twisted her mouth. "...Although, contrary to the name, most overlanders live underground."

The ground squirrel paused. "And, yes, I am a princess, but I don't require any special treatment over it."

[Lans]

Inari returned a short time later, carrying an extra legionare robe with him. He glanced at Sally, then wordlessly placed the robe on a nearby table before going to stand off to the side, his electronic eyes silently glaring at the princess.

[Jamie Lee]

The doctor smiled, giving a good natured bow. "Why, as you command, your majesty!"

As he straightened, his expression once again became serious. "Ahhh... I see. Yes, here in this world they're called humans. Though they far from distance themselves from other races, and they certainly don't live underground. At least, not the majority. It sounds as though your world has a lot of trouble with that race, doesn't it? Thankfully it's not an issue here."

His attention turned when Inari entered. Fini gave a nod of approval at this. "Oh yes, here we go. This should be much more comfortable for you," he said as he reached his tail over toward said table, retrieving the uniformal robe with it he then handed it to her. "This should be much more comfortable for you than that bath robe. There's a small device you should easily find hidden in the cuff that will allow you to control the temperature inside of it."

Immediately after he handed the garment off, he once again turned back around so not to be facing her.

"Most unfortunate to hear about that war. Robotnik you said the tyrant's name was? Most interesting. This world actually has its own troubles with one of those, prefers to call himself Eggman over his real name for some bizarre reason--Though he hasn't conquered anything, fortunately. Some teenage boy always somehow manages pushes him back before he can gain a foothold in anything. Must be embarrassing, really."

He paused for a moment, chancing a peek behind him to see whether or not she'd properly clothed herself in the uniform yet.

[Leedzie]

Sally eyed Inari indirectly, and eventually shifted her gaze over to Isis again. For some reason, she didn't seem particularly welcome, aside from that other version of Lance. Well, the doctor doesn't seem to mind me, she thought as she took the new robe, so I'm sure I don't have to worry about them.

"I'm glad your world is doing better than mine," the princess commented as she slipped out of the thermal bathroom and draped it over the back of the chair. "I was concerned at first; in our world, only overlanders have clothing as a requirement; to the rest of Mobius, it's largely ornamental." Sally pulled her arms through the sleeves of the legionaire uniform, and smiled to herself. "You're right, this one is much better. Thank you." A laugh escaped her mouth before she could hold it back. "And I'm sorry again for startling you before!"

[Riyami]

Isis let out a faint hmph and returned sally's gaze for a moment before turning back to her arm, flexing it's claws in and out of a fist.

"Don't worry. So long as you don't try to pose a threat, I won't bite..."

[Jamie Lee]

"Oh, think nothing of it. I'm the one who needs to be apologizing for accidentally dragging you here, quite literally."

And with that thought crossing his mind, the pangolin took to pacing. Thankfully the spilled chemical viols from earlier, which had still yet to be cleaned up entirely, were on the other side of the room, so he wasn't worried about stepping on them accidentally.

"Hmm, on that note, I need to start thinking of a way to get you home, not to mention retrieve Dash... Would there be anything I could do to make your stay more comfortable in the meantime? Or perhaps any questions you might have?"

[Leedzie]

Sally smirked involuntarily. "Rest assured, doctor, that this is plenty comfortable. I live in the middle of a forest, and it took our entire team several days to build a waterwheel strong enough to power one lightbulb. I'm happy enough just to be in a building with air conditioning."

She turned again to the computer terminal she'd been sitting at, grazing her right hand over the keyboard. "I am curious about your technology, though, and whether or not I might be permited to bring any of it back home with me. I'm sure it'd be very useful in the fight against Robotnik." The princess's expression grimmed slightly. "Unfortunately I don't have my portable computer with me. In most circumstances, I just make copies of whatever software I need, but if I were to take anything back this time, I'd have to use something else."

Looking up again, the ground squirrel's bright smile returned. "I'd also like to hear more about the norms of your world, too, if there's an opportunity for it. Perhaps if there was something I could read, then I could learn without getting in the way of your work." Sally drew away from the desk and made her way slowly toward Finitevus, her steps a little shallow since his shoes were big on her feet. "I wouldn't mind helping you work on a way to re-open the portal, too. I'm sure I could be helpful, and I'm interested in learning about the phenomenon anyway."

[Jamie Lee]

Fini watched her hand motion from the corner of his eyes and dipped his eyelids slightly. "Well, I'm not sure I can say my technology would be of much use to you. I'm a medical doctor you see. I do dabble a bit in outside fields, but for the most part I only specialize in mechanical prosthetics," he held one of his hands up and wiggled his fingers for emphasis.

"For re-opening the portal..." he rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then smirked to himself. "I think I already have an idea we can explore there. A stable gate into your world would be very useful indeed... As for such reading material..." he glanced toward Isis and Inari, before turning to Sally and wandering off toward the exit. "You're welcome to use the computer in my private study since it has internet access and is filled to the brim with porn thanks to Lance. Come along, then."

[Leedzie]

Sally followed along after Finitevus, nodding in silent acknowledgement to Isis and Inari as she passed them.

[Lans]

Inari glanced briefly at Isis before bringing up the rear of the group.

[Riyami]

Isis exhanged a glance only to finitivus before sitting up and letting her robotic claws rest under her cloak again, silently following the group from behind.