Nash nods and follows the hooded man, trying to get a better look at what lays behind the cloak, but not having much success. The song that the man sings is also quite distracting to Nash's acute ears, taking in the full beauty of the tremolo said with the words and the dialogue itself.
To his mind, it sounds like a riddle of some kind... and his mind takes eagerly to the task.

If the curtain calls for you/ will you come to take a bow?  Curtain call = Death? Final ending? Closing? A finish.

If you show your heart is true/ will you share secrets of how? Show heart is true = Test of personal strength? Strength of character. Fourth line implies that the test is not easy? It is not something easily determined.

1st stanza = A finish that will test the strength of character in a way not easily determined or surpassed.

Possible second meaning?
                        A death that may be intended to be unavoidable.
Caution.

May life be unfair to you/ Oh you who keeps your face. Keeping face = saving face?  Meaning may be different here.  If not, wishing bad fortune to those who put up a false front to protect themselves.

May life be unfair to you/ And hold you in love's embrace. Love's embrace. Contrast to misfortune? Contradiction.  Unless... Sequential.  Misfortune, then comfort.

2nd stanza = Bad fortune to those who present themselves as something other than what they are. Bad fortune is wished, but then comfort.

Final stanza lines are not exclusive.
                                        At first glance.

I've seen the truth, my friend/ And now I understand/ That when you finally reach the end/ You've only just began.  Seen the truth. Undstand. Reaching the end. Precognition? Preplanning. There is more.

3rd stanza = I am aware of something previously arranged which makes sense now that I see you.  Arriving at the supposed finishing point is where something more will happen.

Reaching the end. Tie back to curtain call.

Full = I am leading you to an end that will be a test of character. If you are not true to your character, there will be misfortune, but you may be safe despite it. This has been prearranged.

Nash looks up at the cloaked man, his recent thoughts having occurred in seconds. He speaks carefully, but not doubting his own words or trying to sound confrontational, "... Sir? Where are you taking me to?"

Elena blushes back politely to Jason's clear compliment, "Oh! Well, thank you! I'm glad that I got to meet you too, Jason. Because of you, I'll get to help a whole host of people to feel better and start healing in their lives! That's truly very amazing, isn't it? Everyone in the universe can have that one special purpose that leads to so much happiness for so many others."

When Lucky's bodyguard, Walter, picks up Jason, Elena gives a clap of support and follows happily, "Excellent! Thank you, thank you! Hehe, I knew you'd be perfect for helping with this! Thanks so much!"

At the show of strength, even Maya gives a low whistle, impressed. As they walk off, she gives another glance to the odd group of characters off in the distance, but decides they're not something for her to personally worry about.

C.H.A.D.. stands, "Understood.".  He walks up to the door and pauses, listening carefully for the footsteps he heard Sabre make.  When people wear all the same boots, the make the same footsteps.

When he is sure nobody is around, he quietly exits his room, taking care to keep his footfalls silent.  He pauses at every intersection, listening, and he backtracks towards the docking bay.

The whole time he's sneaking he says not a word, he even controls his breathing to keep his breath from giving him away.

T'shock begins walking again and says, "Thanks for the protection, uh... what's your name?"

She isn't sure what to say in response to Joe. Chasing a nude warrior clone is indeed odd, but she doesn't see how, in any way whatsoever, a sesame-street-meets-final-fantasy escapee following them around, talking is less strange.

Emerald chuckles a little and says, "Well yes... competition you will have with you always. Though I heard the Grenu are setting up a Casino here soon. And knowing the Grenu, it's probably more to compete and less for the financial end. So you'll have a fight on your hands there thanks to such motives."

Emerald pulls out some papers and says, "We'll be happy to send you some temporaries to help you out at the start. Just sign here and here and consider it done." she shows Jaq two places to sign. The papers themselves look like very standard request forms. "I'll fill out the rest." Emerald just hopes that the reports she heard of this lady being new to the Casino owning biz are not only true, but telling. Thankfully, these papers are very good fakes and look exactly like they should. Nothing that would get either Emerald or Jaq in trouble just yet.

She grins and says, "Lemme let you in on a little hush-hushery... I heard Mr Lockman's son Rocky is going to be in this area tomorrow. Supposedly, holding some kind of contest at the local Lockman part of town..."

Emerald isn't sure whether she gave Jaq something to work with or something to shoot herself in the foot with, but she knows it's always tit for tat. Emmy went above and beyond the questions Jaq had, so she's hoping Jaq will compensate with more cooperation or a little rumor or some such...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:06, Thu 03 Sept 2009.

"To the internet caffe, of course..." the man answers Nash before presenting the door to the place he just mentioned. "It is where you wanted to go... is it not?"

Once inside, Nash can see about a dozen computers set up. About 5 of them are taken, leaving 7 empty seats. He certainly has choices...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:42, Thu 03 Sept 2009.

Jason meeps as he's picked up and oofs a little. He smirks and says very quietly to Lucky's bodyguard. "Heh... way to impress the Deksharr there, fella. She's a cute one, if a little jumpy. Then again... jumpy can be a very gooood thing."

He then says in a more audible tone, "Thanks for all the help, everyone... some day, when I'm all better, I'll have to pay you all back..."

Driz covers her mouth with wide eyes, watching the big, bulky guy do a comparatively impressive job sneaking. Once outside, though, she flies off his head, making that jingling sound again. "Alright! Good job!" she says with a big smile. "Now I need to get you some things so you can perform your mission better. Come with me..." she flies off, being sure that CHAD keeps up with her. The direction? An all-purpose store. The Faction equivalent of Walmart.

  Joe once again follows after.  One reason for Ray having a sanity advantage would be the fact the large birdy had a clue what was going on and what they were doing.

  Well, probably.

  "So, is sending someone shopping abusive treatment?"  What does this have to do with anything?  Read the previous post if you're still unclear.

"RAY!" Ray answers.

"My name is Ray," the collar translates.

"Wark!"

"I like shopping!"

Ray follows close behind T'Shock, eyes fixated on her very yummy hair.  :9
This message was last edited by the player at 04:05, Fri 04 Sept 2009.

Walter grins ear-to-ear at all the affirmation he's getting.  He glances at Miya at Jason's comment and blushes.

"You're welcome," Lucky answers for himself and Walter, "And if you should get the chance to help someone in need, your helping them is all the 'payback' I desire, but I'm sure you'd do that anyway."

True to his word, Walter leads the group to the entrance of Dr. Hacksaw's clinic.

"Well here we are," he says, nodding his head at the door, "Could someone get the door for me?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Sun 27 Sept 2009.

Jacqueline nods in response to Emerald's words, being somewhat familiar with the Grenu and not overly concerned.  After all, competition was natural in this business.  Of course, knowing who your competitors were beforehand obviously tipped the scales of luck to your favor.

At being shown the request papers, Jacqueline looks them over to make sure everything's in order before signing them off and handing them back. "Just please make sure to do a background check on them beforehand... Or at least tell us if you don't. We've always liked to be sure that we can trust our new employees in the midst of so much revenue."

At the mention of Lockman's son holding a contest, Jacqueline looks at the fox curiously, "A contest...? That's... interesting. Not sure if it's actually something I'll have time to see, as I have several meetings tomorrow, but I'll keep it in mind. Perhaps it'll even be an opportunity to test out a new hire... Hm. Thanks." She nods, thinking for a few moments about how CHAD might fare as bodyguard.

With an air of finality, she looks to Emerald again, "Thank you for checking in, Ms. Haynsworth. If there's anything else I can do for you or the TCC, please let us know." She smiles briefly, "If you'd like, I can offer you a drink before you start on your way, if that's all you have for me. It's been a good day for christening new beginnings."

----

Elsewhere on the ship, CHAD and his faye companion have managed to get out of the ship relatively unnoticed by Sabre or anyone else of great importance. Once they are outside and walking away, however, a few of the opossums placed at watch do manage to see CHAD, as he's somewhat hard to miss out in the open like this. However, at first, they don't think much of it, as they don't know much about CHAD in the first place.  It actually takes about a minute or so before one of them remembers the new being taken onto the ship today and gets up to ask the security chief, Marcus, about that being walking out and away on his own, raising a small alarm.

For the moment, Jacqueline has no idea that any of this is going on.

Nash looks up at the man curiously when he motions him inside of the cafe, "It... I was just..."
Don't stutter. Stay calm. Maintain.
"... Thank you for showing me here, sir." He bows his head politely to the man before entering into the cafe and looking at the overall set up.

Sighing with a bit more comfort, he checks the price for usage before choosing one of the open computers that is furthest away from the other patrons inside. After logging in, he begins doing quite a bit of searching on "Lockman" and, more specifically, "Lockman Pirate devision." He also brushes up a little on his information about Pirace and culture.

For once, Nash is feeling fairly comfortable, behind the helm of a computer and a possible fountain of information.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:27, Sun 27 Sept 2009.

Elena follows along with Lucky and Walter quite closely, with Miya bringing up the rear and being ever-watchful of their surroundings and where they're headed. Miya's ears flick at hearing Jason and Walter talking quietly, and she raises a brow at the glance that Walter himself gives her. She has no idea what that was about, but it didn't seem to be anything too serious yet...

Elena's been paying more attention to Walter himself, complimenting him on his strength and visually checking up on Jason to make sure that he's still feeling okay. At Lucky's suggestion for Jason's payback, Elena nods readily, "There we go! Hehe, you guys really do get it! The best thing about spreading peace and healing is that others can continue to spread it and pass the message forward! You can help people everywhere just by helping others to care about peace too." She smiles at that thought, beaming at having run across so many helpful people today.

When they finally reach Dr. Hacksaw's clinic, Miya looks it over carefully from their position. Walter barely has to finish his sentence before Miya's at the door and opening it to let the others in and making sure that Elena only goes in last with her at her side.

C.H.A.D. nods to Drizzel, following her at whatever speed she dictates, unless she takes off at 30 miles per hour, he'll fall behind then.

He follows her obediently, still under the impression that Drizzel is working under orders from Jaquilline.  He's about as conspicuous as a huge human running barefoot across the tarmac in only a plaid skirt can be.  It all just makes sense to him, he DOES need to be outfitted so he follows Drizzel with no question or comment.

T'shock is just happy the bird isn't chewing on her hair anymore. And if anyone ever heard her say that last phrase out loud, she'd probably get a "wait WHAT?" look.

She is sort of stopped by the fact Joe sees and points out CHAD walking along. "Change of plans... we're following the guy. And depending on what he's shopping for, Joe... it could be abusive."

T'shock proceeds to follow CHAD, wherever he's going.

Emerald hears about the meetings and nods understandingly. When drinks are offered, Emerald smiles and says, "Yes please. Thank you very much." She hrms and says, "Well testing out your new hire would be ideal. I mean... getting the attention of someone that influential certainly could be good for business. I plan to take tomorrow off m'self if just to hob-nob with some of his crew."

Jason is getting nervous as they enter. Doctor Hacksaw doesn't even have a secratary. He's a jackal and stands about 4' 5" tall. He looks over to see Elena and company. The hunched-over doctor cackles and slaps his tremendous cleaver against a stone table. "Can I help you? Heeeheheheh....."

One of his eyes isn't natural... it's... black. With a little red glowing bead as a pupil. He has a blatantly prosthetic robot leg and his entire place looks dingy. Not sanitary. He wipes some drool off his mouth with the hand that isn't holding the cleaver as his eyes widen with excitement at the group, his grin broadening. There are bloodstains all over the place...

The cost of the internet use is slightly pricey, but that's expected in a new settlement. Especially one that's contested territory.

The cloaked man stays by Nash's side even when Nash goes to the computer. "My name is Billy, by the way. May I ask your name?" he gives a pleasant smile, even if half his expression is hidden behind his shades. He doesn't ask about why Nash is searching on Lockman... yet.

So far, Nash gets a nice refresher course on the basics of the Lockman Empire. Known as the most "piratey" organization, their ruler even has an eye-patch. The Lockman family came into power on Planet Pirace about 20 years ago when Nick Lockman led a rebellion against the government of the planet. He overthrew them with his large army of pirates and established himself as the unofficial temporary ruler. Of course, in a matter of years, he became more official and his temporary status became permanent. The empire steals from the Strife Alliance on a regular basis and is even known to occasionally steal from the Tavernians and Tharians. But 20 years of thievery and high-resourcing has pretty well made the empire need to steal less and become more infamous for its taxes and loose laws than for its thievery as far as Piressens are concerned. However, the Lockman Empire is still known as the primary Space Pirates of the star cluster.

Drizzeleaf directs CHAD to a spot hidden away from video cameras and public view, but also close to the shop. "I need you to stand guard here. Don't let anyone get past you. People won't understand why you are dressed the way you are, so I'm going to pick up some good clothes for you. I'll be back!"

She zooms off into the shop and is able to bypass most everyone in the store with ease thanks to the "no flying" rule not applying to Fae for obvious reasons (Imagine walking all that square-footage when you're that small). She zooms to the "large species" section and finds the especially large sizes usually intended for beefy Barakians. She then facepalms, realizing she can't carry it and heads off to get a voice-activated kart. Soon, she is paying for the clothing and explaining it's for a friend of hers who she's doing this errand for as a favor. The clerk shrugs and takes the Fae's word for it. I mean... why not? Paying customer, regardless.

  "So, how are we going about this?"  Joe asked, as Chad and... That fairy with the giggle fits issues rounded that last corner.

  "Were we going to have Ray compliment his perfect baldness?  Ask if he's been subjected to the full standardized traumatic back-story in all of ten minutes with Ms. Diamant?  Or do something relatively sensible like ask why they're with the Fairy?"

A Barakian ship tears through the atmosphere accelerating at face-flattening speeds!

"YEEEEHHHAAAA!!!" Nono gleefully screams as his own ship quickly becomes a tiny speck in the rear view monitor.

"You're insane," the Cid coms him, "There's GOT to be a VERY good reason the designers of the ship built throttle dampeners into it.  Safety comes to mind."

"KU-PO-PO-POOOO!!!!"

A flick of the stick and T'Shock's ship goes into a barrel-roll and tears a corkscrew hole in the cloud it rips through.

"You're going to die and destroy your customer's ship in the process.  I wonder which matters more to you."

"Wheeeehehehehe!"

Another quick turn of the controls and the ship does a hairpin 180, slowing to a near dead stop in the process.

"Can't you just fix the squeaky seat-belt buckle and leave well enough alone?  You know, it's only due to your cartoon physiology that you didn't pass out from that last stunt.  Even if you survive this, the customer won't."

"HAHAHAHAAAA!!!"

The Barakian sports-ship aligns itself on a return vector and quickly regains speed.

"I can see the engine's heat signature from here!  Wait are you...?!  You loonie!  You're going to crash into me!  I am NOT opening my hangar doors for you at that speed!  Especially since you'll explode the moment you're inside!  I'm outta here, N00B!"

The Cid turns tail and heads for space.  Nono cuts the engine of the Barakian ship.

"Spoiled sport!  Was gunna test the brakes!  Ah well.  I'm off to show off to the nice Barakian lady!"

Nono heads in the direction of the port where his locator tells him his buddy Ray is...

---

"WARK!" the yellow chocobo chimes when he hears the word "fairy."

"YUM!" the collar translates.

His eyes widen and his mouth waters at the tastiest sight he's ever seen - Drizzeleaf - a sparkly bug that tinkles enticingly.

"RAAAAY!" he exclaims, breaking into a full-speed sprint toward the fairy, beak gaping open.

"I'm using my name as a battlecry!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:45, Wed 07 Oct 2009.

"Thanks Miss," Walter says to Miya as he walks in.

"Yeah.  This guy's got a bum leg," he answers Dr. Hacksaw, apparently not at all surprised by the appearance of the clinic or the Jackal, "This Blissian lady's some kinda expert.  Says it's serious and she might need the use of an operating table."

He carefully moves to set Jason down on the examining table, trying not to let it show that he's at the end of his endurance.

Meanwhile, Lucky's expression has changed to the anime cat smile.  :3  He's completely speechless.

Jacqueline goes over to a cabinet off to the side of the conference room, retrieving two glasses and a bottle of a wine labeled 'Vanguard'. It's a slightly expensive, though still casual wine. As Emerald talks, Jacqueline pours her a glass and places it before the fox before pouring herself a glass.

She nods as she stands next to the table, holding her glass for the moment, "While I agree with you that getting attention from someone as influential as the Lockman Empire would be fantastic, I already have enough attention from them to at least start talking of a partnership. Most of the impression that I have left to leave should be given at our meetings for that. However..." She swirls her wine thoughtfully, "... It still couldn't hurt to give a closer look at some of their other investments and ventures. As I said: I'll keep it in mind." She raises her glass slightly, nodding at Emerald. "To success in our own ventures." After that, she sips her wine gently, clearly savoring the taste of the moment.

With a curious gleam in her eyes, she looks at the fox, "So... you'd like to get closer to the Lockman Empire yourself? Doesn't sound like something the TCC would specifically need... Are you planning on starting something of your own?"


----

Marcus, the short yet muscled opossum security chief of the Diamant ship, is walking around the docking bay hurriedly. He'd already looked over the small amount of footage the security cameras had taken of CHAD leaving his room, but no one seemed to know why he'd done so. All of the guards and other employees didn't seem to know who, if anyone, gave him the order to leave his quarters. Sabre himself said that he'd even told CHAD himself to contact him if he needed anything.
Despite the low-level panic of the situation, it's kept very quiet. As Ms. Diamant is in a meeting, no one dares to call her out of it unless absolutely necessary. The guards posted outside reported that they saw CHAD heading towards the shopping district, but they lost sight of him.

For all intents and purposes, it looked like he'd just runaway.

As Marcus was vocally debating their course of action with some of his fellow officers, Sabre inserted himself between them to interrupt.

"If we know where he's headed, then that's at least a start. Ms. Diamant is going to wonder why we let him leave and why he left in the first place, and we're going to need an answer to give her. That being known... I have a suggestion."

Marcus nods patiently as Sabre continues.

"If he was headed back to the shopping district, he may be returning to the shop that Ms. Diamant purchased him from. I'd like to go there and see if I can find him. We conversed only briefly, but he at least knows me. If he's confused and lost, that small familiarity might be in favor of getting him back here where he belongs."

Though it took a little more prodding to get an agreement, one was eventually met between them: Sabre would go and briefly search the shopping district to find if CHAD's previous owner somehow called him back. Once that was confirmed, he'd return to the ship and help get proper action started in reclaiming their new employee.

Once the agreement was made, Sabre donned a dark jacket and his sunglasses and started out towards the shopping district to locate CHAD.

Nash adjusts his glasses thoughtfully as he looks over all the information on Lockman Empire that he's finding so far. He's scanning it amazingly quickly, clearly trying to take in as much as possible in a short amount of time. It's reminiscent of how one might cram for a test on the night before.

At the question from Billy, Nash jumps slightly, not having expected him to join him inside. He seems a little more anxious about his searching, but tries to keep scanning and make it clear that he's researching. After all, doing that couldn't be THAT suspicious, could it?

A name? Tell him to go away... No, think of a name. Don't use your real name. A name... Something you can remember... Be careful.

He looks at Billy with a sidelong glance, speaking quietly, "Uhm... My name is Nate. Th-thank you for showing me here... Thank you, I mean." He adjusts his glasses on his nose at that, going back to perusing the computer screen.