People Removal Service

San nervously hovered near the door as Niles hummed over the specimens. He couldn't tell if Niles was pleased or unhappy by the sight. Finally, he straightened up after peering at a jar with a hand floating in it.

"How long?" Niles asked with a sigh.

"How long what?" San asked, glancing around. Don had ditched them shortly after they arrived. He supposed that he was trying to distract the brown-haired girl instead of helping to deal with Niles.

"How long are you supposed to distract me for?" Niles asked, turning around. He gave the room a quick sweep. "I see that Don has already decamped."

"What makes you think I'm distracting you?" San asked.

"Because you're nearly indestructible in spite of the Quell?" Niles tossed back at him. He ran a rough hand through his curling green hair. "How long is whatever they're planning supposed to take?"

San froze. His mind scrambled to come up with an acceptable explanation.

"No, don't think. Just tell me," Niles said as he leaned against the lab table. "I know none of you trust me. Good. Don't. Just tell me that whatever she's doing has nothing to do with the ring."

"The ring?" San parroted. His bones were starting to itch, and the sensation was distracting. He couldn't figure out just how bones were supposed to itch or even how he was supposed to scratch it.

"You know, the ring?" Niles frowned at him. "Kaylen's ring?"

"How do you know about Kaylen's ring?" San shot back.

"I saw the scans. I know that one of you has it. Who? No clue." Niles shrugged. "I also know that they have a way to track it when it's used. How do you think they caught the original holder?"

San paused, shocked. His mind rapidly made connections, even through the rising irritation of itching bones.

"That means they're just waiting for it to be used," San muttered.

"But we didn't need to use it to escape," Niles pointed out.

"No, there's no way to get everyone out safely," San argued. "You were outside. Didn't you see the battle?"

"A few would be lost, tops. The rest would get out," Niles shrugged.

San shut his mouth over the words that wanted to spill out. Niles didn't seem as bad as he used to be, but he was still dangerous. While San himself didn't feel the utter sense of crisis that the others did, it didn't mean that Niles couldn't hurt him if he put his mind to it.

"We have to go," San said. He glanced around. "Did you at least find anything useful?"

"Just some data," Niles admitted. He grinned briefly. "So, tell me. Just who has the ring?"

"I don't know," San lied. His senses were screaming at him that Niles most definitely didn't need to know, especially with the new supposed danger of a scanner set for the ring looming.

"Let's just hope we get back in time to stop them before they use it," Niles said, walking towards the exit. "You're giving me a lift back, right? Your Quell should be wearing off by now." An unpleasant smile stretched his lips. "Did you want some more? Some more potent than that last, weak batch?"

San closed his eyes. He slowly drew a deep breath and let it out. Then he opened his eyes and strode forward.

"Let's talk about that later," he said, snagging Niles' arm.

*****

"How long can you hold it?" Rena asked worriedly, glancing around the spacious compartment.

"I don't know," Lucy gritted out, concentrating.

Aarti looked over from where she was propping up Cassidy. Cassidy was positioned in a window near the front of the square, boxlike construction, trying her best to look coherent and wide awake.

"Let's hustle, people!" Morris called, balancing Niles Jr. on one shoulder. The baby giggled, waving its tiny hands at the children streaming past. "No one is to be left behind! Move it! Move it! Move it!"

Sol, Kuro and Kathryn were stationed beside the opening, scanning the ramp and its environs. Lucy flicked them a look. She didn't like that they were looking so uneasy.

Lucy could feel that creating the transport was easier than just scooping them up with some sort of created thing. Here, she was just creating a sticky thing to stick all the metal to so it resembled some construct of Cassidy's.

"That's the last one, save three," Kathryn called from her position near the edge of the ramp.

Lucy flashed a look to Rena. Rena pursed her lips and then strode to the opening. Lucy was hidden in the shadows near the window with Cassidy, swathed in whatever extra clothes they could scrounge up to hide the green light she was emitting.

The transport they'd come up with looked like a barrel chested, well, boxy chested robot. They'd decided that when it rose upwards, legs would 'unfold' from beneath. There was nothing they could do about making actual footprints, but Lucy was banking on the appearance of the robot being so unexpected that no one would bother to look.

Lucy had no idea where Mr. Scary or Aarti's mom had gone. She figured that they had decamped to find transport of their own for the children. Hopefully. Lucy had no inclination to explain just how they were moving the 'robot' to anyone.

"Got them," Rena said, striding back. Sol and Kuro trailed behind her, the errant trio clutched in a clot of shadow.

"Put 'em down over there," Lucy said, nodding towards where Cassidy was.

"Subterfuges? I like," Rena replied with a smile.

"We have to hurry. There're overlords and guards just streaming this way," Dawnie said, appearing next to Lucy. She was breathing hard.

Lucy nodded once, raising the ramp. Just as it was about to shut, San darted in with Niles in tow.

"We have to go! We have to go now!" San said, panting. "They have a tracker for the ring."

Lucy bit her lip. Shutting her eyes, she imagined the giant standing, adhering the rest of the metal plates scattered around it into a pair of legs.

"Left, right, remember," Cassidy managed from the window. She reached up a hand and massaged her temple. "Just remember to keep the left-right rhythm for a bit. We can pretend it has hover abilities after leaving."

Lucy nodded jerkily. Her head was starting to scream from the sudden tension.

"And make it fast, because Pleja is coming." Niles muttered, glancing through the gap between the ramp and the main compartment.