Bipip says, "I dunno...? I think people are calling security because they are worried for you and worried for the puppy?"

She looks at Cherry, hoping for a better answer than what she gave. But then looks at Esther, having only eaten half of the doughnut hole. "This is very yummy, miss! Thankiiiiies!"

Anthony says, "Err... sorry, I'm lost on what was going on. Was kinda hoping you'd tell me." he gives a helpless smile/shrug to the rat boy. "Should I stop them and let them know security is coming... here?"

He looks pretty confused. Not surprising given he wasn't privy to the whole Charlie/Smiley/Miso/Reid exchanges.

"To be helpful!" Cherry answers, "Much more expedient than walking to them!"

But yes, she reports more or less what Pipip surmised.  People are worried about maybe orphan boy, possible kidnapper, hopefully overly paranoid doggu.

Esther giggles some more at the boy's enthusiasm and Pipip's adorableness.  "Oh you're quite welcome!  And thank you so much for your compliments!  My name is Esther O'Hare.  What are your names?"

Cherry shrugs at Anthony's question.  "I informed security what direction the two went, so that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

Reid raised a brow at the concern, before giving a slightly nervous chuckle. "No need for concern! Security already knows I'm kinda on the station? I had to report something stolen 'cause it's not there anymore. So I'm here 'cause of that. But I'm not lost! Smiley is sorta right, they are making sure I'm safe. So no need to be worried! Well... erm... might be now, 'cause of the two going to -find- security." He'd looked toward Esther, returning to a bit more of a smile. "I'm Reid! This is Binary, and the big one that talked to the man and then kinda followed after them is Smiley!"

The beeping drone gave a singular affirmative beep that didn't seem to indicate a letter. A small opening slid upward on the drone, before a small robotic arm extended out, waving at the group, before the arm retracted back in, and the opening closed.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

Miso and Charlie turn a corner and then Charlie picks up speed, as does Miso. But nobody besides Smiley sees this. Then some security personnel arrive at Cherry's location. "What is the problem?" one of them asks Cherry.

Anthony and Bipip just quietly nod to Reid and watches the security personnel in silence.

Meanwhile, about 100 yards away, Smiley catches up to a scene where Charlie had turned in an alley. Miso is in the middle of wrestling the guy, Charlie's wrist in Miso's mouth as Charlie is shooting lasers at random, but being forced to soon let go of the gun...

Esther looks concerned.  "Oh dear!  Stolen?  Maybe I can help you find it.  Nice to meet you in any case."

She and Cherry return the wave.

To the Security guy, Cherry explains what's happened so far.  "...They went in that direction."

Reid waved towards the security guy. "If it helps, ya can find 'em by looking for a big kinda boxy robot with a happy face screen. He'll respond to Smiley! 'cause.. ya know, he's Smiley!"

Binary gave a concerned series of beeps to the security person, the glowing 'eyes' on the faceplate adopting a more worried shape. "Bo-bap-brrt-skdoo-skdoo-ba-beep  bop-skrrt  breep-ska-bee skdaa-ska-beep-bo-bo."

Reid looked towards Esther, nodding, and extending a hand up and towards Esther. "Pleased to meet ya! And if ya'd like... but ya don't hafta if your busy." He'd also offer a handshake towards Anthony and Bipip.

Charlie's spitting curses gets cut off when he catches sight of something that causes his hair to stand up.  "N-no..."  He stares wild-eyed in the direction behind Smiley and his pupils shrink to pinpricks.  His jaw drops open and a brief pathetic sound like a scream that got caught in a terrified child's throat exits, tears streaming down his face.  After dropping the gun and losing control of his bowels and bladder, he begins to shudder violently in a blind panic!  Within a few heartbeats his eyes roll up and he passes out.

Standing behind Smiley is a black one-eyed fox girl wearing a simple black hooded robe.  She's adjusting her eye patch.

Miso had a curled fist at the end of his tail ready, but seeing the guy suddenly look past him and freak out, Miso quickly turns to see Winter (and Smiley). He knew something wasn't quite right with that robot, but did Smiley really freak out Charlie that much?

...or is the girl with the eye patch someone dangerous? "...miss, am I interfering in something personal?" he asked cautiously, figuring that to be the best way to gather info while hopefully not sounding threatening. But to cause that much terror, he can only imagine this girl is someone very important, very rich, and very "when you see me, your time has come" style of enforcer.

The security officers look over the people present. A spurgeon. A kid. A deer. And a half-blissian. Yeeeaaah. Possibly the least threatening group of people they've seen. Ever. Compare that to hearing about a suspicious human and an angry grenu? They head off in the direction Miso and Charlie went.

Winter can see security approaching quickly.

Cherry starts dancing to the groovy beep-boxing of Binary.  She gives a happy bye-bye wave to the Security guys.  "Be sure to come by Esther's Goodies after work for free samples!  Even if we're closed, I'll be available to divvy 'em out!"

Esther shakes hands with Reid.  "I'm on break, so I can help look.  Anybody else want to pitch in helping him find...  What is it we'd be looking for?"

Winter slowly shakes her head in answer to Miso.  Noticing the guards approach, she realizes that reaching for something under her cloak might be mistaken for hostility, so she pulls it back to show what looks like a microphone on a handle.*  The dark fox then unclips it from her belt and brings it up to her lips and whispers.

A modulated voice from the device says, "The Human had a gun.  I think the Grenu was fighting for his life."

*(( I'm imagining a smaller version of this thing:  https://youtu.be/VSV9S2Ol3bc?t=204 ))

Reid gave a somewhat nervous chuckle, realizing the thing that was stolen wouldn't exactly be a thing you find on a work break. Usually. ".... Well, that's gonna be a tiny bit hard to find on a work break ma'am. And I don't wanna interrupt your break either! 'cause, well. It's a big thing to find, yeah but... well... it's kind've... uhm... kind've a courier.... vehicle. For... space deliveries?"

Binary took notice of the dancing groove, and adjusted the beeping to a more melodic tune. Something simple but easy to move to.

Smiley waved to the guards with a great bit of robotic enthusiasm, before swiveling to look towards the newly arrived fox. "If this is true, and your presence stopped such a dangerous possibility, the gratitude is high! As well! Are you injured, harmed, or in any need of medical or physical assistance sir?" The robot turned towards Miso, rolling a bit closer.

Miso spits Charlie's wrist out and takes a few steps away, "Ewe gross! The guy pooed himself!"

He sticks his tongue out in a "bleh" motion as he side-steps over towards the security, Smiley, and Winter. He looks at Winter's epic microphone and says, "...nice piece of tech, ma'am. Whatever you did to get him to freak out and go unconscious... thanks."

Security look down to where Charlie is. "Aw geeez... we gonna have to clean that up?" "Since the guy was an assailant? Yes. We have to take him into holding." "Gross. Good thing our office has its own refresher..."

One looks at Miso. "How healthy is the guy?"

Miso says, "I bit his wrist only to hold it and squeeze it the same way if you had grabbed it with your hand. I hit him a few times in the arms and legs, and bodychecked him in his center of mass."

Miso then looks at Smiley. "As for me... he got me in the cheek, in the side, and kicked my tail." he realizes how that sounds and says, "As in literally, kicked me in the tail, near the base... I'm bruised. Will probably be fine, but I'm not stupid enough to refuse a medical checkup if you're able to give one."

A security guard says, "We do have medical staff on the station. We'll just have you and... uh... this guy... checked out by them." "Wait! We could have the medical staff deal with the gross first!" "Say, you're right! Why didn't I think of that?"

Anthony starts to smile at the dancing and copies a LITTLE bit. Like the guy who is nervous about looking dumb for dancing in public, so he just awkwardly moves to the beat a little bit.

Bipip is still staring in the direction Miso went.

Anthony looks at Reid. "Someone jacked your ride? Please tell me it had a tracer...?"

Cherry loves the music and dances enthusiastically.  Esther is more subdued and graceful in her dancing, but maybe not as restrained as Anthony.

The bunny looks a bit shocked by Reid.  "My goodness!  So...  You don't have a way home, do you?  Oh dear.  My ship is roomy.  I can take you home at least.  I assume you told your parents and your boss about all this.  I'm not sure how else I could possibly help.  And don't worry about my break.  I'm my own boss, so I take time off for as long as I like."

Winter isn't quite sure how to answer Smiley and Miso, so she simply nods to them.

Things look well in hand so she turns her attention to the delicious scent she's smelling.  A dancing robot with a very unusual basket.  And quite the eclectic collection of other people.  She turns and quietly heads toward Anthony's group.

Reid gave a somewhat nervous shake of the head. "It's got a tracker! I imagine if it's out and about in space it's gonna be found... sorry to the thief in that case. But... I sort of... haven't called my family yet." He'd look down, a tad bit embarrassed. "Kinda gonna be weird to tell 'em... 'Hi-hi! I lost a -whole- ship!'... heh." He'd look up at Esther. "And... thank you ma'am." He'd glance over towards Binary, for some reason snickering a bit, before nodding.

Binary slowly turned to look towards Anthony as the deer did the small but refrained dance. It'd slowly float over, music getting just a little more ominous, Binary's 'eyes' trained on the deer.

Smiley gave a robotic thumbs up before responding. "While I am not outfitted for medical procedures, I can direct you to Binary! Their tools are more suited to and outfitted for checking of such or check-ups, and Binary will gladly assist you in any needs you might have sir! Their only refrain would be R.R.'s input that said assistance should not be rendered, and those occurrences are so unlikely they haven't even happened more than twice! As well, your concern and direct involvement for R.R.'s safety has been noted and I would like to be the first to give you a whopping thanks for it!" The bigger robot extended its hand towards Miso.

To the ominous Binary, Anthony gets the dear-in-the-headlights look and stops dancing entirely, looking intimidated.

Miso curls his tail to shake Smiley's hand with a smile of his own. "You're most welcome... this guy here is one I recognize from a human trafficking gig that goes from station to station. So I knew he was bad news."

Security look rather shocked and disturbed at this news. One goes with Miso, Winter and Smiley back over to Team Esther, while the other security guard remains with Charlie to await the medical personnel, who appear to be arriving already.

By now, a small trickle of blood is running down the side of Miso's lip. When Charlie had struck him on the cheek, Miso apparently cut his lip on a tooth.

Bipip bounces anxiously. "You're hurt!"

Anthony looks at Miso. "Woah... what happened?"

Miso says, "Charlie didn't like that I was onto him, so we fought."

(The group is now together, assuming Winter and Smiley went with Miso over to Reid/Esther/Anthony/Bipip)

Anthony says, "This kid has a ship. And some jackers stole it."

Miso says, "It's just not his day today, apparently."

A medic comes over and begins giving Miso a look-over while the group chats.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Thu 24 Mar 2022.

Cherry hands her basket over to Esther then takes Anthony by the hands to dance with him.  Both to stand protectively between the deer and the music bot, and to snap the guy out of his daze.  "May I have this dance, hon?"

Esther aws at poor Reid.  She offers the boy a comforting side-hug.  "You're welcome, sweetie.  Maybe I could help out by making the call for you?  I'll be a buffer between you and the barrage of questions."

She gives an empathic look toward Miso.  "Oh dear!  I hope you'll feel better soon.  Maybe some ice cream to numb your mouth after the medic checks you out?"

Winter arrives and listens.  Her eye slowly scans each person, then the basket.

Binary gave a happy secondary beep as Anthony was offered a dance, the musical beeps continueing. It didn't continue to advance, staying where it was instead.

Reid sort of giggled just a bit, looking to Anthony, half-whispering towards the deer. "Sorry, they wanted to surprise you with a offer to dance... they're not great with that stuff though. Surprise scary into asking to dance.... but since you got an offer, they're happy all the same!" Binary made a quick turn towards Reid, the digital eyes 'squinting', but the music did not cease.

At the side-hug and offer, as well as the 'aw', the rat's nose turned a little red out of embarassment. "I-.. I'm a big rat. I probably... should be the one to let 'em know. Wouldn't be a good courier if I gotta have people deliver things for me... including bad news." He'd pause for a moment, before looking at Esther. "Not to be ungrateful for the help offered, no-no... just don't wanna make you do stuff that's my responsibility 'cause than that'd be-..." He'd stop midway, giving a quiet but nervous squeak, as if to stop what was sounding like it'd be a long ramble. "Ya know....?"

Smiley crossed it's arms as best it could at the mention of the thug being related to human trafficking. "Now that is a crime that should be very much punished. Poor moral and ethical etiquette like that is very much a horrible way to behave! Your assistance is very much appreciated sir!"

Reid gave a nod in agreement with Smiley, and a thumbs up to Miso, still looking a little nervous in expression, but very much grateful for the help.

Miso nodded to Smiley and Reid with a smile. "No problem."

Anthony blushes from Cherry's offer and awkwardly takes her hands to dance some. But a few glances at Miso and he looks downcast. "Thank you, ma'am. I... I just don't feel right dancing when someone is hurt and a kid is stranded without his parents."

Miso says, "I'm fine. Just a few bruises, nothing major. And maybe some dancing will help cheer the boy up." He looks back to Esther. "But I'm not gonna turn down ice cream..."

The medic says. "He's right. This grenu will be fine. But make sure he doesn't overly strain himself."

Bipip says, "It's good to hear he'll be OK!" she then hops to look up at Reid. "Reid, you sound like a good, responsible boy! But even adults need help from time to time, right? How about we all join you when you send the communication? We can be your moral support!"

Anthony says, "...who's she?" as he looks at Winter.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Sun 27 Mar 2022.

Cherry has a digital smiley that the dance antics got a giggle out of Reid.  She nods to what Miso said and answers Anthony, "Seemed to me like Esther had the cute mommy angle covered, so I aimed for lightening the mood with whimsical fun.  If you'd rather aim for concerned family member than fun friend, I won't stop you."

Noticing Winter's gaze at the basket, she takes it back from Esther and offers a sample to the dark fox.

Esther looks relieved that Miso is doing OK.  "All the ice cream you want on the house, Hero.  You deserve it."

She nods to Bipip.  "Good point, and thank you for making it."

She then addresses the group.  "Anyone who'd like to join, let's head to my dessert sanctuary."

So long as there looks like a consensus, she leads the way.

Winter is overwhelmed with so much variety and can't decide on what to sample.  When asked, she whispers into her device.

"Winter."