Faster, faster Buffalo whirls, swinging Astrid with such force that the dust is stirred into a lesser whirlwind! And the sound - like the whipping of a hurricane, yet echoing in the cavern in a way that no maelstrom could. The sheer centripetal force drains all of little Astrid's blood into a her feet, sending pins and needles all across her skin! But the worst is yet to come; as Buffalo twists one last, violent motion, the cord snaps and Astrid is launched directly toward Golem-Blue!

The child spins through the air with the speed and power of the greatest hammer-throw! From her perspective, the world would revolve nearly fifty times in the span of a second! But it does so no more than twenty, as it takes only that long for her to reach the candy-golem.

In the golem's hand, the shield is minuscule. The probability of blocking Astrid, let alone do so without hurting her, is astronomical. The timeframe to react is diminutive, the required precision is needle-sharp, and the consequences could be deadly. As such, what happens next can truly only be attributed to spectacular fate.

At the very end of her trajectory, Astrid plants both feet upon the shield's surface^[1], sending ripples of tremendous force across the golem's gelatinous form! The shield winces in the way that only a shield can.

"OW, my face! Oh, I think you flattened my nose!" it complains, forgetting that it's naught but a face. And, in that instant, still poised upon the shield's grimacing surface, Astrid kneels as chimeric wings^[2] emerge from beneath her cape, as they had before! Lightning crackles up and down her skin, surging into her legs and feet and dancing along the shield that winces again. Then, injected with electricity, her leg-muscles contract with unattainable, herculean strength and she launches herself forward with the speed and power of a bullet^[3]! True as her own fury, the trajectory points directly to Buffalo.

The Buffalo is disarmed and defenceless. To see such a monstrous fighter brought so low is poetic. But is it truly helpless? No: alas, it is not. Its lightning core arcs and glows, just as it had before it dashed before. It meets Astrid's eyes, but knows it won't be there to welcome her arrival. Within its clockwork mind, it processes its own equivalent of emotion: artificial at the prospect of success, programmed contempt for the organics' failure. Mechanical fulfilment in the imminence of victory.

But it is misguided.

shhTING!!! A blade strikes its back as BF leaps to blindside the colossus. Sparks fly and cast an orange glow. Disrupted and dispelled, the Buffalo crushes the sundered tiles beneath its feet as it stumbles forwards. Finally, for an ephemeral instant, it looks up to see Astrid's face mere inches from its own.

---

1. Disgruntled Shield Strike Prevention [1 remaining] (Blue Raspberry)
2. Bat Wings Graft (Astrid)
3. Bullet Dash (Astrid)

Pain shoots through Astrid's legs when she collides with the shield. Her wings and cape did little to slow her down, but as the force distends into Blue-hulkberry, the viscous liquid bounces back. The only thing keeping Astrid's head on straight at this point is a fierce determination to prove that assbot wrong. Her eyes and legs crackle with electricity, and she rockets forward to meet Buffalo, a clash of red and blue. Everything in her expects to be thrown from the air, caught off guard, and slammed into the ground or worse.

But Buffalo stops short! The heroic efforts of BF give her the opening she needs. Putting her absolute all in, Astrid grips both of her hammers, poising them behind her head, and uses the momentum of her launch off Blue Raspberry to slam both of them against Buffalo's head and chest in tandem. What remains of the bot's armor crumples, and beneath it, the metal skeleton snaps and shatters. Buffalo's head flies off and slams into the wall behind him, nearly going through it. A crater remains, crumbling to dust around the metallic skull that clatters to the ground. 

Astrid's momentum is too great for her wings to stop her. The motion of her hammers took her off balance in the air, and she tumbles to the ground, rolling across the dirty, broken surface, still sparking with fading electricity. Buffalo's remains fall to a knee then with a heavy, creaking groan, they collapse. The last crackles of electricity fade from Astrid's form. Things fall eerily silent except for the slopping of Blue Raspberry's movements across the room.

Breathing heavily, dizzy, and recovering from the adrenaline, Astrid's a bit bleary. Still, she manages a feeble comment with the slightest of jests in her tone. "I never liked that guy."

---

Bullet Dash
Bat Wings 
Lightning Armor [post 3/3]

After Astrid used Blue Hulkberry and the shield as a gooey trampoline to launch herself back toward Buffalo, the ooze went stumbling backward from the force of the impact. With a loud, wet slam, the giant ooze golem fall flat on their back. The talking shield was flung from their grasp and skidded across the floor.

"Ahh! Quick, someone less disgusting pick me up and take me away from here! Save me!" it shouted, looking around for anyone that might help it.

It only took a moment for Blue Raspberry to rise back to their feet, but in that short moment, Buffalo was already reduced to a heap of scrap metal by Astrid's hammer strikes. That big jerk was dead, or broken, or whatever. It didn't matter to the ooze. There was only one thing that mattered to them at the moment. Blue Raspberry walked over to what remained of Buffalo and mindlessly began to consume the huge robot. They tore the bot apart and devoured it piece by piece, including the radiant stone that crackled with lightning at its core. A little more lightning sparked across the surface of the ooze than usual afterwards.

While the ooze hulk feasted, the shield on the ground called out, their metallic eyes looking pleadingly at Astrid.

"Hello! Little girl! Please, assist me! Get me off this filthy floor this instant! I beg of you!"

In the wake up the battle, the last hailing pebbles clack against the floor and the last puffs of dust coat the room. The ceiling survived the seismic force, a testament to the craftsmanship of whatever people or peoples once dwelt in this forgotten city. The stale air and oppressive heat have become meaningless; success is a blessing enough.

The BF stands protectively, between depleted Astrid and the golem that lumbers and consumes. Were the beast to turn its candied gluttony toward the little canine, BF would be destroyed; but simple fact doesn't deter it from standing at loyal guard, futilely clutching the hilt of the sword in its jaws. It doesn't growl, of course, but its stance is the stance of a territorial hound.

For a strange moment, the scene is almost completely still: Astrid is preoccupied with exhaustion, guarded stoically the bot whose focus is upon hunger-consumed Blue. The shield's pleas fill the air; but it is, of course, immobile. The sandfolk that remain are cowering, though a few escaped in the chaos.

Soon thereafter, noises new and old crescendo, building as they approach from the distance: the familiar, metallic chaos of a group of hurried Blixtbots™. Through the still-open double doors, the numerous bots of Beta Team trickle into the room with tactical precision; it would seem that they heard Astrid's call for reinforcements, albeit quite late. The clanking of countless, mechanical feet breaks any semblance of peace as the bots scan and survey. Of course, it isn't long before they identify the greatest threat, and a dozen weapons are trained on the candy hulk.

But; before any are fired, flung or swung; the BF emits a loud beep that - whatever its meaning - gives the firing squad a healthy pause. They become as still as sculptures, but with weapons still trained and ready to barrage at even the slightest hostility.

The BF's wire-thin tail swishes and sweeps across the dusty and half-sundered tiles, an unspoken promise of aggression. But it'soice - still that breathless, discadensed groan - it directs to Astrid behind it.

"Officress Astrid, recommendation: your previous dialogue had a positive effect on Conscript Wolfe's mental state. Data recommends a repeat of this tactic."

With only a couple moments of reprieve to catch her breath but seeing the necessity of her intervention, Astrid slowly pushes herself up to her feet. Her movements drag as if weighed down by bags of rocks on each limb, but she's on her feet. Tiredly, she collects her hammers and shuffles over to Candy Hulkberry as they consume bits of Buffalo. Reaching down, she lifts a sizeable chunk as a tribute for her approach.

BF, ever loyal, goes to intercept - a single, swift step.

"Officress Astrid, report: it is not safe to approach." 

And it denies her with that scratching voice, and it sees her with that single lens. Yet, somehow - in all its emotionless being - it seems to be pleading moreso than commanding. And, as Astrid looks back at it, it almost seems to recoil.

Astrid looks at BF, protectively standing in her way, much in the same way that Spicy Pawsage might but with a different kind of intelligence and concern. It's somewhat charming. She's tired though, with little energy to argue. "I appreciate ya, but it'll be alright. Blue won't do nothin', and I've got a snack fer him." She waves the metal plate.

...Within the dog's mind, thoughts twist and whirr as directives clash. Its neck cranes to see the golem again, to take in any little scrap of information it can before making a decision that it was never designed to make... And then, with a chirp, it steps aside.

Astrid grips the metal plate in her hands and continues her approach toward Hulkberry. "Hey, big guy," she coaxes. "Ya've gotta calm down now. Ya did a good job back there, but after this happened earlier, the bots aren't gonna back off 'til ya go back ta yer normal self." With that, she offers up the tasty piece of Buffalo's broken armor plating. "We've got the job done. We beat Buffalo. Ya can come on back ta us, Blue. Here's another snack as a treat. We'll have ourselves a right feast as a reward." 

There's no fear in Astrid's movements or her voice. Despite the monstrous candy form, she knows the ooze won't hurt her. They've done a lot together, and even in their worst moments, neither of them would intend harm upon the other. Even if one of them did hurt the other by accident, things would be alright. Things will be alright in this. When the ooze takes the plate (however they do so), Astrid steps back and lets the moment settle, looking to the remaining bots with weapons poised. "Ya can back off, it'll be alright. Focus on collectin' the remnants, would ya?"

Finally, the shield's shouting catches Astrid's attention, and she goes over to it, curiously thinking that it might be a broken BlixtbotTM. To her surprise, it's not. The shield Hulkberry held aloft for her to springboard off of just moments ago. In the heat of the battle, she didn't notice it complaining. Now she does, so she picks it up. "Are ya.... Are ya talkin'? Weird... Where'd Blue get ya? Yer a cool find fer this armory... Could use a bit of a polish." Astrid notices the sticky substance on the surface of the shield, some residue from the ooze themself. Well, that must just be from Blue using it. 

---

Side note: I would like to collect Buffalo's stupid head and bring it back to Veliky as a prize - a play on her helmet challenge.

Blue Hulkberry finished slurping up one of Buffalo's legs and was about to start on an arm when they heard Astrid's voice calling out to them. They looked down at her holding a chunk of the big bot's armor out for them. With a gurgling, growl, they were about to strike out at what the monstrosity could only see as food, but they hesitated. Their hand stopped midair and their face twisted to a look of confusion. That was Astrid, they couldn't want to hurt Astrid. What were they doing? They looked at the mangled robotic arm in their hand and then down at what little remained of the jerk robot. All they wanted to do was tear him apart and consume, driven by anger and hunger that they now realized wasn't their own. They dropped the arm on the ground beside them and looked back to their friend who hadn't moved at all even as they had been about to attack her.

The ooze slowly reached a hand out and took the offered piece of robot between two slimy fingers and tossed it into their maw like a metallic potato chip. Their rationality started to return to them, the hunger and anger dimming. The anger completely faded away to their usual calm, relaxed demeanor while the hunger faded back to what it always had been, just a constant but not nearly overwhelming impulse. The candy-colored ooze faded back their usual vibrant blue color. The ooze hulk began to shrink until the suit of armor emerged and the slime retracted back into it through the gaps. Their return to semi-normalcy was much less forced upon them this time and Blue Raspberry remembered everything without the previous haziness and grogginess they had suffered.

"Thanks... I feel a lot better now. Not so hungry anymore..." Blue Raspberry muttered, embarrassed, to Astrid before looking around and seeing they were surrounded by robots with their weapons aimed at them. Thankfully, the bots dispersed at Astrid's orders and went about their duties.

Blue Raspberry walked up behind Astrid as she started talking to the shield. "Oh, uh, actually, that's mine. I found it in that underground room in the orphanage too. It just wouldn't shut up and I thought it was annoying, so I didn't give it to Cyran. I just kept it." they explained sheepishly.

"Ah! The cretin returns! Quickly, take me away from him before he eats me again! I wish to be used by a true knight, not this gelatin mold!"

"Rude. I'm gonna be a knight, just watch me! I just need a king to hire me."

"Ha! As if that would ever happen. Kings don't hire monsters!"

"Well who would want to use such an ugly shield!?"

"GASP You take that back, blob boy!"

"How are you gonna make me!?"

"Come closer so I can bite you!"

The argument quickly devolved to both of them sticking their tongues out at each other angrily, the shield still held in Astrid's hands. Until Blue Raspberry took the shield and blue ooze started to glow out of their gauntlets and began to coat the shield.

"No! No, don't put me back in there! Nooo-mmmgbgb!"

Once the shield was completely coated, the ooze began to retract back into the gauntlets and the shield was gone, as if it had never been held in their hands in the first place. Blue Raspberry crossed their arms in front of them and smiled victoriously.

---

Note: The shield didn't actually gasp, they said the word "gasp".

For ever scrap of sympathy that they might portray, the Blixtbots™ are not hesitant to demonstrate their lack of mortal inclination. The moment Wolfe returns to his humanoid form, Beta Team lowers their weapons and bimblously marches about as if he were never a ravenous monster of multicoloured candy. Stranger is BF's apathy; but it, too, wanders to be lost in the commotion. The room is filled with the incomprehensible chatter of clockwork mechana, as bustling and chaotic as Sol City's Market District at noon, yet probably organized in some manner that'd be impossible for a person to understand.

From behind a discarded weapon rack peer the eyes of Pawn, one of Alpha Team's only surviving members. Two others (the spider Stalker and the bat Vampire) skitter/flutter beside it, returning to the company as both dangers have subsided. Again, they neglect the subject of Wolfe's mental state - unexpected, but not unwelcome. Vampire, though, does flutter about him and his gellish-blue hair in a manner that's as annoying as it is peculiar.

And laying on the ground, beside the cratered wall, is the last remnant of Buffalo: its head, from which the red glow of artificial life has faded. Perhaps another benefit of Blixtbot™ design - though it's difficult to tell whether or not it was intended - is that there's little guilt to be felt in destroying one; the sight of a severed head is far less macabre when it is the severed head of an unfeeling automaton, especially when it is *this* unfeeling automaton. With a little luck, its dream will die with it.

Regardless, standing and looming over the remain is another of Alpha Team's only surviving members: BF. It's unusually still for its purpose, its mind grinding and occasionally clicking as it analyzes, calculates, wonders...

Hearing the anomaly of non-metallic footfalls, it cranes its neck to face approaching Astrid.

"Officress Astrid, report: the parameters of both teams' missions have been fulfilled. We may depart whenever you and Conscript Wolfe are prepared." And further it cranes to glance at Blue Raspberry. "Additional report: Threat Level has been reduced to negative. As such, combat protocol is no longer in effect and the matter of handling Conscript Wolfe is now your responsibility. Recommendation: utilize your best judgement and exercise caution; while you recognize Conscript Wolfe as your friend, certain conditions can turn any ally into an enemy."

Watching Blue Raspberry argue with a talking shield wasn't on Astrid's list of things she expected to experience today, but then again, neither were most of the things they just went through. It's understandable why Blue keeps that shield tucked away inside themself. Honestly, she's just happy that things have calmed down, but looking around at the carnage, this isn't how she wanted things to turn out at all. They didn't exactly achieve their goal of no casualties, but she and Blue are alright, and a large enough group of the Blixtbots^TM avoided total destruction. She's the most pleased that Charles and Spicy Pawsage received no scuffs or injuries. The hound happily receives Astrid's tired praise. 

Astrid's eyes can't help landing on the crater in the crumbling wall where Buffalo's head sits as his last remnant. She walks over to it and just kind of stares down at the broken metal at her feet. Sure, they finished the fight, but what she feels isn't necessarily relief. There are mixed feelings of frustration, exasperation, anger, and, oddly enough, pity. It's all exacerbated by her exhaustion. Why did this bot decide to start targeting her? Why did it decide that out of everything and everyone on this mission, she was the biggest liability to its success? Its stupid grudge from nowhere is what compromised the mission the most! 

Everything inside of her boils up, and she just wants to kick the stupid croc-bot's head across the room. Instead, she reaches down and picks it up, looking at the crushed face shield with disdain. She internally murmurs curses and insults at the hunk of metal. She's going to keep his head as a trophy, another reminder of someone she's proved completely wrong. Or better yet, she's going to deliver this doubter to Veliky herself. This may not be the helmet she was challenged with bringing her, but instead, it's just further proof of her determination. Obviously, there needs to be some quality control and further testing of new Blixtbot^TM models. 

It's about this time that BF speaks up, offering its report to her. Looking down at the dog-bot while it reports and gives recommendations, Astrid sighs a little. "Things worked out fine." A bit of anxious energy finds its way into her voice as she follows up by asking, "Are ya going to report back to Miss Veliky on Wolfe's... odd behavior?"

In a series of clunky movements that scrape its claws along the tiles, it turns to face Astrid fully. "Affirmative: all unusual, relevant or noteworthy data will be included in the report."

Astrid rocks on her heels a bit anxiously at that. "Annnnd how d'ya think she'll take findin' out about Wolfe's weirdness?" Probably poorly. She's probably going to be so mad about the situation. But maybe she'll understand when they explain, right? 

For a few brief seconds, there's a grinding somewhere behind its lenses. "Report: 'weirdness' is a subjective term which I am not designed to gauge. Analysis: Mistress Veliky will be annoyed that Conscript Wolfe's true nature was not immediately revealed to her. However, she has worked with stranger entities in the past and is unlikely to harbor prejudice. Additional analysis: Mistress Veliky will be displeased at Conscript Wolfe's continued use of Blixt™ Kandy Korn's magic despite its demonstrated effects on his mental disposition."

Astrid looks over at Blue Raspberry avoiding the collective of bots who are ignoring them now. "I'm sure it'll wear off and they'll quit messin' around with it," she says. Honestly, with butthole buffalo taken care of, the rest of everything will probably be pretty smooth and easy. Regardless of how Miss Veliky reacts, it won't be much of an issue compared to the chaos that this whole mission has been. The important part is that they won't return in body bags nor empty-handed. That's good enough. 

"Hey, Blue Wolfeberry!" she calls across the broken armory. "Are ya ready ta head back ta the surface? I got us a good trophy!" With that, she holds up the decapitated metal head of Buffalo. It's dark down here, and she's ready to get back to the top and have a huge meal. 

Blue Raspberry walked around the armory, avoiding the robots that were gathering up the weapons. They had been uncomfortable with them before, but now they remembered why and it just made them even more uncomfortable. They'd been chased by these things before, just after they woke up for the first time. Maybe not by these exact ones, but definitely similar. They felt like they shouldn't tell Veliky about themself, even if they were Astrid's friend, but they didn't know if there was any real way to hide it anymore. That potion had made them go out of control and all the bots had seen it. They could probably still hide that they were an ooze if they ate all the remaining bots, but they didn't think Astrid would let them do that even if they could. The bots would definitely fight back or run and tell Veliky and make things worse.

They looked up as Astrid called out to them and decided to just act like everything was fine. At least they were more fine than they had been after drinking the potion. The effects had faded away and they were back to their (relatively) normal self again. They smiled and walked over to her as she held up Buffalo's stupid head. Blue reached into the top of their cuirass and pulled out the radiant stone that had been in Buffalo's core. It still sparked with a little electricity now and then.

"Me too!" they said, showing Astrid the stone. "I'm ready to go. I feel like that stuff wore off. I'm never drinking that junk again! It did taste pretty good though..." they finished and slipped the stone back into their cuirass to swallow it. They felt oddly good having the core inside them. Like they had a little more electricity than before.

With everything packed up and ready to go, the group set out, back to Zeinav to report to Veliky.

---

Space Pocket

---

"..."

By the time they made it back to Zeinav, it was just past twilight. For as blistering-hot as the day can be, night in Zeinav is frigid. Pale-blue moonlight and the orange glow of an oil-lantern are all that illuminate the room, and only the latter provides any warmth. The party could've reported in the morning (indeed, many might've preferred such), but Veliky insisted, upon their return, that they deliver their report immediately. A procrastinator, she is not.

"..."

She hasn't spoken for at least twenty minutes. She hasn't said more than ten words since their return. She's just been standing on a chair and silently reading the report that the Pawn generated for her on several sheets of white, sterile paper. The only bots that were made to remain were Charles and BF, and so the room is largely devoid of the mechanical commotion that'd filled it before. Over time, the silence has developed a personality of its own: stern, humourless and judgemental. By no coincidence, Veliky's expression reflects these words.

"..."

Flip. For the second time, she flips to the last page of the report - a double-check, nearly complete. Does this mean it'll be over soon? Perhaps. But, without knowing what she'll do afterward, it isn't clear whether this event should be viewed with anticipation or dread. Either way, the silence will soon be broken by that voice of melancholic maturity - the voice that bleeds pragmatism as much as it voids affection. The only question is what tone it'll use.

She puts the papers down on the table and lets in a long, self-soothing inhalation. Here it comes.

"...In summary," A fell omen. "a half-dozen Blixtbots™ were destroyed, including an experimental Buffalo unit; several members of an as-of-yet unidentified sentient species were killed after a conscript got drunk on Blixt™ Kandy Korn, which also means that I'll have to recall nearly a thousand bottles of the stuff; and a significant amount of the payload was destroyed. A mission that should've costed as little as three-hundred solars is instead going to cost closer to five-thousand."

She takes a quill from the ink bottle it was resting in- "As for the performance rating..." -and writes something onto the report, near the top of the first page. "minimum. Barely made the grade to qualify as 'successful.'"

It isn't good news to hear. The oppressive silence from before would've been preferable.

"...But," she abruptly continues, "you did it. You - a twelve-year-old, along with what I've been informed is some sort of walking bucket of slime - managed to lead an actual, legitimate military operation and achieve actual, legitimate success. If I told anyone that, they wouldn't believe me. The fact that you made the grade at all speaks to your talent, your diligence, your adaptability, your courage and, most importantly, your maturity, all of which you possess in a degree far beyond your years. You worked your way through a difficult, unexpected situation and came out unscathed. That's more than a lot of dime-a-dozen mercs can say."

...At some point, her gaze trailed to fully focus on Astrid. Only now does she look back to Blue Wolfeberry. Unfortunately, her tone here is not so soft. "Not you, you're preemptively fired. I don't know what you are and I don't care, but eating company property is not something I'd ever abide. Count yourself lucky that you aren't getting litigated."

Perhaps that beratement was somehow cathartic for her, or perhaps she's become transfixed on some inner thought. Whichever, Veliky closes her eyes for a long while. The silence's demeanour, like hers, has changed: gentle, sophisticated... earned.

Her eyes open. Within, there's the subtlest flash of an emotion that neither Blue nor even Astrid have ever seen from Veliky. What emotion is it? It's difficult to tell - even at times like these, the CEO is an enigma.

But it's a good emotion. That much is clear.

"I was against the idea of you going on adventures. Don't know if you realized that. You're a kid; not only are you less experienced and less wise... you've also got more to lose. But you've made it clear that aren't going to stop and, by completing this mission, you've made it clear that you have what it takes."

Seconds pass as it's unclear whether or not she plans on continuing. Then, she extends a hand forward, inviting a handshake.

"Just..." There's a slight twitch in her forehead, and the slightest falter in her voice. "Just be careful, okay?"

The trudge back to the surface was exhausting at best. At one point, Astrid grew so tired that she clambered up to sit on Charles' shoulders since the bot could carry her weight well enough. His movements may have been slower, but her legs were too tired to continue on after the fight with the mysterious cave-men, their chief, and Buffalo to top it off.

Contrary to what she and Blue Raspberry wanted to do with their mission, they return seemingly empty-handed with only a small handful of non-combat bots joining them. What a disaster. Astrid spends the entire trip back to the surface dreading Veliky's reaction. Here she put her in charge of a mission, and instead they just cost her a lot of money. It would've been better if Buffalo hadn't turned against them, but Veliky won't want to hear excuses.

So, when they finally reach the surface and the bots deliver their report to Veliky, the silence is absolutely unnerving. Astrid tries her best not to fidget or talk or do anything to break the silence, but she feels an old pit in her stomach matching the one from Sky Peak where she was thoroughly convinced she upset Veliky. Finally, the businesswoman speaks up.

Each sentence feels like it digs into Astrid deeper and deeper. She struggles not to wince at every pointed word. The barely passing grade especially hurts. They put in so much effort for things to have turned out so badly. Not good enough. You're not good enough. There goes your chance at impressing her. The doubt eats away at her. In the moment, she feels the weight of having not heard from Cantio in weeks since their little adventure together. He'd know what to say. He'd be supportive. But she won't cry, not in front of Veliky, even if the sensation burns in her eyes.

Then Veliky's words change - her tune, not so much. Astrid looks at the quarterling, watching her congratulate her in a strange corporate way. She's right, at the end of the day, despite everything, they were successful. Sometimes Astrid forgets as a child adventurer, she's in a position that is difficult even for adults. Most people underestimate her. Veliky, for some reason, doesn't. Well, she did manufacture a drill out of a broken minecart and kill a big bug with it on her very first adventure... That was pretty cool.

After Veliky berates Blue Raspberry, the silence seems to soften. It's an odd feeling, hard to put words to. If she felt confident enough to tease Veliky, Astrid just might accuse her of caring. All of Veliky's insistence that caring about people is wasted effort... She even tells them to be careful! There's a small weight lifted from Astrid's shoulders, and she can't help a toothy, almost devious but victorious smile.

"Aye, we will be careful," the girl assures. "As careful as we can be, at least." Oh, she wants so badly to ask why Veliky would say that, but she decides that it'd only be met with some excuses, "her civic duty" or something along those lines. "But... um, to be fair, ya did send a bot with a beef along with us. He went on an' on about how I'm a liability, and how he was gonna prove it by uh... well, killin' me. D'ya know what the heck was up with that? I thought yer bots didn't... think like that?"

Something clicks in the little woman's posture. It's reminiscent of the bots themselves, actually: the execution of a pre-programmed movement.

She turns away and takes a few paces. Even though she's confined to the space of a single chair, the seriousness in her strides makes the distance seem meaningful. And then she speaks with that same clarity, that same indifference, as always.

"The Blixtbots™ aren't perfect. Try as we might to tune them to flawlessness, every one of them has a chance to just... not do what they're supposed to. When one of their processors makes a mistake, we call it a 'glitch' - The Gnome came up with it, I think it sounds stupid."

She stands at the chair's edge, facing away and gazing off, as if into the horizon. Of course, she's only staring at the cold, stone wall.

"If your team's report is accurate, it seems that Buffalo's algorithms, based on statistics, was led to believe that people were detrimental to the continued operation of Platinum Corp. If so, then that's all it was: a math error."

There's a short silence before she faces the party again, stepping back to where she stood before.

"But you dealt with it. And that shows, even more, that you're ready for the world. Plus, you're here and Buffalo's scrap; if that doesn't prove it wrong," she shrugs, "dunno what will."

Astrid isn't sure what Veliky means by "the gnome," so she figures it must be someone who works for her. Maybe they'll have a chance to meet so she can give them a piece of her mind about the events that transpired today.

But that's for another day. "Well, I s'pose we can deal with that another time..." For today, Astrid has her own personal reward for herself. The girl sets her backpack down on the ground with a heavy clunk and speaks while she digs inside. "So, I know ya ask me ta bring ya a fine helmet," she says, her peppy attitude leaking back into her voice. "This ain't exactly it, but I'm presentin' it ta ya all the same." With that, Astrid sets the battered, decapitated, helmeted head of Buffalo on the table.

The sheer weight of the monstrous head nearly snaps the table in half. Even as it rests, the imported wood groans in agony.

...But, after several seconds, the stalwart table seems able to bear the weight, at least for the time being. Once that minor panic has subsided, Veliky gives her answer.

"Hm, good." It's a subtlety in her stoic tone, like veins of gold hidden in stone: approval. "Depending on how damaged its processor is, we might be able to study it. Future designs could benefit."

She climbs onto the table. The fact that the table is able to support her weight easily, contrasting against its throes at the burden of Buffalo's cranium, is almost comical. With the head standing nearly as tall as her entire stature, she begins investigating the damages.

...There's an awkward lull in the conversation before she indicates, with a look, that she's still listening.

It takes a moment for Astrid to realize that Veliky expects her to say something. "O-Oh, uh..." She's not really sure how to follow up, or with what. The girl flounders slightly. "Yup, that's exactly why I brought it back ta ya. Definitely." It's an obvious lie. Really, she brought it back just as a trophy for victory. She kind of wants to keep it. Oh gods, Veliky can probably see through her lie. Her head hangs a little.

"Um, actually, I kinda wanted ta keep it, and... uh... make somethin' better. I don't hafta. I guess it is kinda heavy."

Veliky pauses. For a moment, that coldness that's so intrinsic to her begins to radiate anew, rolling through like a Winter wind.

"...Alright." The silence breaks. "I do owe you a bonus."

Grazing her hand along the sides of the giant's head, as if searching for something, she makes a matter-of-fact declaration. "I'll pull the processor, you keep the rest."

Astrid nearly lets herself do a little excited fist pump, but she reigns it in and instead gives Veliky a bright smile. "Thanks, Miss Veliky! I've got some projects in mind fer ya, I just need ta get meself a good space ta work on 'em. Been savin' up from alla the jobs we're doin', and I'm gettin' real close ta affordin' somethin' fer when Cantio and I have a home!" It's a confident declaration despite her worrying only moments before. She'll hear from Cantio soon, she just knows it. He must be working hard, and neither of them have a good way to contact one another. 

As Astrid's eyes glance around, she remembers something else when they trail to the things being unloaded from the few surviving bots, she looks back at their current employer. "Oh, we got way more stuff than just that," she says, a bit more triumph seeping into her words. Before they left, Astrid had Blue Raspberry consume anything and everything the bots couldn't carry that seemed valuable.

She pretended not to notice the bodies included in that. After everything they went through, the ooze deserved a little treat.

Blue Raspberry sat in anxious silence, fidgeting with their armor and looking around while Veliky gave them both the silent treatment. They had been completely outed as an ooze as soon as they'd returned, and they didn't know how she would react. Was she just waiting for a moment to sick an army of more robots on them? Did she have another army of robots? Blue thought they could probably fight a few of them, but too many would be too many. Would Astrid back them up if Veliky turned on the ooze? They felt like she would. They trusted her a lot, but she was also friends with Veliky.

When Veliky finally began to speak, Blue Raspberry looked at her and actually tried to listen intently for once. They were relieved that she didn't seem to care that much about them being an ooze. She even gave Astrid a successful grade! That was probably a good thing! She seemed a lot nicer than before. Until she actually looked at Blue Raspberry. And then she didn't sound so nice.

"Fired...?" Blue muttered under their breath with a worried look. What did she mean, fired? Were they going to light them on fire and burn them!? But they got successful grade! And they didn't eat company property, they just ate all those weapons and sand people and the dead robots and the dead sand people and Knight and some of Buffalo and then maybe the rest of Buffalo! There wasn't any company property there, probably! Was being litigated worse than being burned to death?

The knight drooped down in despair until Astrid looked to them with a victorious smile and mentioned having stuff. They got Astrid's hint and stood up from their chair. The blue ooze seeped out of their armor until their cuirass and gauntlets were enveloped and absorbed so that their torso was bare. It made it much easier to reach into their stomach and begin pulling out weapons they'd consumed in the underground armory. They pulled a scimitar out of their stomach with one hand and a longsword in the other. But, then an idea struck them. They slipped the weapons right back into their stomach and crossed their arms in front of their chest.

"I could give you all the weapons I ate at that armory place, but I got presumptively set on fire. I think I'd rather just keep them."

---

Space Pocket

Veliky raises her head at the mention of payload unaccounted for. Her expression is as joyful as one might expect, and far less than one might hope as her pale-blue attention falls on them again.

...Her expression Blue when he threatens to keep the armaments for himself, however, is utterly flabbergasted. It isn't the same embafflement that people often wear when confronted with his true form - the face of 'What the hell is that thing?' - but rather the face of 'Are you being serious?' It's clear that shes not a woman that's often faced with refusal so brazen, insubordination so conniving, nor logic so lacking in mental faculty. There isn't a fleck of offendedness in her face, just total amazement, which is what makes it all the stranger when she lets out an acquiescent sigh.

"Permitted. Report's already filed anyways, so altering it now would be more trouble than it's worth."

And, with that, she returns to her examination of the huge, steel shell that rests beside her like a dragon's egg. This, of course, leaves the others in a strange state; especially, Blue, who looks to Astrid with an expression of 'Now what do I do?'

A few seconds of odd clicks later, as Veliky fiddles with tiny buttons on the sides and back of Buffalo's head, a strange and jarring chirp emanates from the machine.

"There we go."

Having completed whatever objective her finagling aspired, she places both hands onto the top of the steel skull, digging her fingers into nigh-imperceptible grooves. Then, she jerks her arms once, twice... and then, with a third attempt, the scalp divides and the two halves of its calvaria open on tiny hinges of immaculate steel. There's a loud hiss as air fills the cranial cavity. Inside, nestled in a bed of weblike apparatus, is a spherical device of tin. It's reminiscent of the puzzle cubes devised by dwarves and gnomes, but infinitely more complex in every regard. Even studying its most insignificant parts is an exercise in the absurd, as its unfathomable intricacies bend the mind to the point of physical pain. This, it would seem, is the machine that comprehends: an enlightened-class sociological processor.

Perhaps Veliky's approach is the wisest. In total disregard for the device's sacrosanct design, she grabs and lifts it out of its out of its nest. Strange tendrils of some malleable material trail off of it, snapping from their tethers and whatever mechanisms they connected. It's a surprisingly light thing, enough so that even Veliky can carry it with some comfort (albeit with two arms).

"There. The rest is yours."

Blue Raspberry's protest catches Astrid completely off-guard. She looks stunned for a moment before her expression furrows with confusion. This kind of situation isn't exactly common for either of them. And to more of her surprise, Veliky is... fine-ish with it?

"Wait... Wait, I really think ya should at least have a look at it," she insists while Veliky finagles with Buffalo's head. "The Pawn bots only could carry so much, a-an' um, things were just movin' fast, so I thought..." She thought the bots would have come in to ask for it. Maybe they thought it was all lost material because it seemed to disappear from reality?

Astrid quickly collects herself then turns to Blue Raspberry. "She's not gonna set ya on fire. Gettin' fired's just the opposite of gettin' hired. I dunno why the words're like that," she mutters the last bit. Etymology isn't exactly her strong suit. Astrid's hands drop, a bit exasperated. "What're ya even gonna do with alla that in there? Come on, ya should at least let Miss Veliky see it. We worked hard ta get as much as we could. If ya keep it, then we just did halfa job, ya know? If ya show her what ya got, an' she don't want it, ya can keep it, no problem. If she does want it, I'll make it up ta ya with somethin' else!"

Veliky finishes removing Buffalo's weird metal core, and Astrid glances at it, thoroughly excited for this trophy to display... somewhere, once they get a house anyway. The actual processor thing looks really intricate, and she'd love to study it, but that might be something she has to earn. It's just something else to look forward to if she can get a job working for Veliky one day. 

Blue Raspberry's stunned and confused expression changed to one of relief when Astrid explained they weren't going to be set on fire. Well, if they weren't going to be set on fire, they didn't care as much about giving Veliky the weapons or not! And they didn't want to only do half a job, like Astrid said.

"Ok, you can have 'em. I just didn't want to be burned alive, but if I'm just not hired anymore, that's fine!" they said with a big smile as they started to pull all of the weapons from their torso. There were... a lot of weapons. Swords, scimitars, crossbows, spears, glaives, they all littered the floor and began to pile up as they seemed to stream endlessly from the ooze's stomach. They'd really eaten a lot of them back in that armory. Even Blue was a little surprised just how many there were. By the time they spit out the last dagger, the pile was taller than Astrid and spread out over almost the entire floor of the room. Blue just stood there, naked from the waist up, their hands on their hips and a proud smile on their face oblivious to any problems such a big mess might cause. They had never done paperwork in their life, and if they had been presented with any, probably would have just eaten it and forgotten about it.

"So, do you want these, or should I start putting them back?"