Charlie was having the time of her life.

First, she meets a random tiefling wandering the capital butt naked, goes on a wild and ridiculously lengthy clothing spree with them (who knew they’d be so picky about the differences between a skirt and a kilt?), and now, she was trash talking some random dudebro of a sergeant with another officer by the entrance.

If she could, she’d legally change her middle name to “Stalling”, cause that’s just how good she was at it.
Turns out the “i’m new here” excuse lets you get away with a LOT more than she’d ever given it credit for, and the second guard had no qualms in taking advantage of Charlie’s innocent “oh ya aren’t I here to take over your shift haha?”.

“...no right and then he comes over to me, asks if I want to hit the weights with him. With him! As if I haven’t seen what happened to the last guy.”

The first guard finished his spiel, and Charlie gave an uproarious laugh as Kirin wallowed right beside her, longing to bash his head into the stone walls nearby (though, unfortunately not close enough for him to actually make good on his wish).

“So all I’m saying is, if he ever asks you that, just know it’s an excuse for him to get an ego trip. I swear it–”

Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie caught the patrol line shifting gears and rushing off toward the street instead of their side of the building.
Jostling Kirin discreetly, Charlie kept nodding along until she saw Kezrah and Zaeli return to their hideout by the trees.

“Heyy looks like everyone’s leaving.” Charlie nonchalantly pointed to the receding police, and the guard turned his entire body toward the sight. Classic.

“Oh? Huh.. that’s strange. Must’ve missed their hand signals. Now I dunno bout you but I–”

Charlie hurriedly waved Kezrah and Zaeli over, and they managed to slip into the plaza whilst keeping out of the officer’s line of sight (the bust statue helped plenty, thanks Silstreem).

Just as the officer spun back to Charlie, Kezrah and Zaeli were able to fully make their way through the door.

“–so there’s practically no diff- uhp, hey.. why’re you holding the door open.”

Charlie looked to the guard, then to their hand, then back at the guard,
“Ohhhh haha well I mean, I best be locking this rascal up in his cell now right?”

“You mean interrogation room?”

“Yatotallyso better get going before the sergeant chews me out byee.” By the time Charlie finished her farewells, she and Kirin were already halfway through the door.

Kirin took it upon himself to slam the door shut once they were far in enough, heaving, “Well that was a hell and a half.”

“I know right? So fun!!” Charlie placed Kirin in front of her, letting him subtly lead them both down the right halls. He had a good enough memory to recall the building’s blueprints when doing prepwork with the gang, figuring the storage floors were the way to go.

As Charlie exchanged pleasantries with other passing guards (and more importantly, exact directions to where Vel was held), Kezrah followed silently, weaving between pillars with Zaeli close behind.

It took a few flights of stairs down, but once Charlie determined they were in the same hallway as Vel (it wasn’t hard to confirm; he had a very distinct voice according to Kirin’s eyeroll), she shoved her de faux prisoner into an empty storage unit at the end of said hall, Kezrah and Zaeli joining shortly after.

Kirin happily tore out his restraints, “Gods, finally.”

Zaeli rested on some wooden crate in the corner, heart still racing.
It’s not like she’s never snuck into places before, but the underground chamber from earlier and this police-filled university were definitely the top two most stressful stealth scenarios she’d ever been in.

Charlie did a quick side stretch, “Phew, nearly there! Now I just gotta find a way to take over transferring Vel.”

“Do you need any help?” Kezrah was intrigued by how Charlie was able to take over the entry post, but to assume the responsibility of transfers?

“Nahh I got it! I’m pretty sure the guy with Vel right now is the sergeant--Gilroy what's his name--and he’s apparently some kind of gigantic chad with a crippling inferiority complex more crumbly than sawdust, so.”
And with no further elaboration, Charlie waved them off and left before anyone could ask how she came to that conclusion.

The door shut quietly.

Kezrah scratched his head, and Kirin snorted.
“Yeah, imagine hearing nothing but that for ten minutes straight.”

-*-

Now Charlie’s not gonna lie, convincing the sergeant that she was supposed to be the one to transfer Vel was a lot tougher than anticipated.

If that guard from before was her practice dummy, this guy was like.. a way bigger and tougher practice dummy stuffed with rocks instead of flour.

It actually took some effort to convince him that yes, this was indeed Charlie’s first day on the force, in spite of the inexplicably worn out uniform (whoops, maybe a little less attention to detail next time).

Still, equipped with naught but her own wits (and most times, her wit was enough), Charlie was able to wear the large man down due to a variety of essential ingredients.

The base of the batter was Vel himself, who Charlie figured (thanks to the thin wooden door) was a rather self righteous and passionate man of science.
Or in other words: let an incorrect fact slip past, and Vel was sure to go off on yet another rampant tangent on the “simplest of principles even a stone cobbler would understand!!”.

The frosting came in the form of Charlie’s inherent talent in comradery, tickling all the right spots for the sergeant to naturally come to the conclusion that hey, he’s above mere menial tasks such as the simple transferal of some bumbling nerd.
SO above it in fact, that he even scoffed when Charlie later suggested the mere chance of backing off from taking said gruntwork.

And lastly, the cherry on top was the other officer himself, who after trying and failing to get even the basicmost profile of the second person in the scene of the crime (Vel was quick to offer Kirin’s appearance, but not so much his patient who knocked him out from behind), had collapsed out the door in dead weight, claiming newfound deafness from the mouthy motherfucker who just wouldn’t stop using big words like “encapsulate” or “probabilistic” or “mitochondria”.

Charlie did so love when the pieces of the puzzle fell cleanly into place (she also just liked doing puzzle sets in general), and as soon as the sergeant pompously waved her toward the open room, she cheerily bounded toward the satyr to slowly drag him down the hall.

She even engaged and listened to him rambunctiously rant about his treatment of being called “sir” instead of “doctor”, all to help hurry up the process of the other officers pacing the hall to leave for their self proclaimed lunch break (it was 4 in the afternoon).

Finally, after what felt like an hour, she reached the room everyone else was waiting at, unceremoniously dumping Vel inside and locking the door behind her in a satisfying clunk.

This time, when Charlie theatrically bowed, she got her claps damn it.

“I.. don’t know how you did it, but–” Kezrah was cut off by Kirin, who immediately grabbed Vel and launched him toward the crate Zaeli had been sitting on.

Might as well get straight down to business.

“Alright Hollister, we’re on the clock here, so don’t bother lying.”
Kirin crossed his arms in what he hoped was a stance that matched the shock factor of his words, “Tell us about the orb, and maybe you’ll make it out of here with zero broken hooves.”

A staunch silence filled the room from his rather abrupt threat.

A very, very staunch silence.
Almost to the point where Kirin wanted to turn around and give everyone else an exasperated “what?”.

Of course, before he could move a single muscle, Charlie yanked Kirin backwards by the shoulders, pushing him down low enough to play leap frog and hop on over in front of him, offering a very apologetic look to the stunned scientist.

She ditched the disguise by slipping off her current face, revealing the first and regular mask beneath to return to her former jester glory. Latching the now blank mask she played cop with back onto her belt, Charlie lightly clapped her hands,

“Well! THAT was certainly. A way. To start this conversation!! Sorry bout that.”

“Wha- a conver–?!” Kirin scrambled to his feet, put out, “We aren’t here to talk over tea you know! This is an interrogation!”

Zaeli stopped covering her mouth, moving forward to stand between the hexblood and Vel like Charlie, “Now hold on just a minute! We can ask someone important questions under less than willing circumstances without threats of torture, okay?”

Kirin groaned to the moss scattered ceiling, “Unbelievable. Kezrah??”

Kezrah looked between the two expectant parties very slowly, incredibly unsure of how to preface the information that he.. really didn’t care for either options of friendly chit chat or literal torture.

So instead, he took out the orb from under his poncho, turning to the scientist,

“Vel.” The scientist owlishly looked to Kezrah, then the orb. Charlie and Zaeli also stepped aside a moment to stare at the orb, struggling to figure out whether it was real or not.
The cheetah sympathetically held it up higher for easier viewing; it can take a bit of getting used to.

“You know I have Void. So does he,” Kezrah gestured toward a still distraught Kirin,
“We all want answers. Do you have them, or not?”

Vel looked between the wildly dysfunctional group for a hot minute. After clearing his throat, he then wheezed an airy chuckle, “You…”

He shifted more comfortably on the crate he was so rudely dropped on, adjusting his glasses before primly folding his hands,
“And what m-makes you think, I would reveal a-any information after you stole my best work? Take me for n-no fool, I know you’re just trying to t-take the credit! But I’ll have you know that there are extensive academic procedures to ensure p-proof of ownership, and I’ve already–”

Before Kirin could properly curse out the guy, Zaeli tore her eyes away from the orb (how was it glowing shadows??) to intervene,
“Mr. Hollister! This isn’t about.. plagiarizing your invention.”

“Really now? Then pray tell, what else could this all p-possibly be about?”

Zaeli looked toward Kezrah and Kirin to go first. The latter volunteered with a step,
“Let’s clear one thing up here. I was the one who stole your orb thingy, okay? Me. It was for my gang’s client an-”

“Orb thingy– I KNEW I ought to h-have it labeled. Its title is t-the Anciliar Conduit of Voided Energies and Matter; prototype D4.7—”

“Oh my GODS just shut! UP.” If it weren’t for the two prudes in the room, he absolutely would be strangling him right now. Instead, he just rushed out,
“I was going to steal it for the gang till I found that it was a Void-related instrument, AND that there were apparently others like me out here. Just–why wouldn’t I wanna learn more about whatever the fuck is going on around this thing after all that?”

Kezrah cautiously nodded after Kirin calmed down, “..Right. What he said.”

He brought the orb closer to himself, more and more used to its gravitational buzz,
“I’ve, also never found another like me, outside my own family... so I’m sure you understand the sudden change in loyalties.”

“No, I-I actua–”

“And while I had my suspicions.. I didn’t know you called me in for a Void centric invention until after you revealed it.”
It all went by so fast; the tugging of the orb, then the tugging towards a sudden intruder, how familiar the orb looked, how familiar everything felt; slotting into his head long after the decision to slam a microscope into Vel’s noggin.

He knew a lot about the inherent implications of living with Void, how to intuitively control it, the spoils of trial and error, etc. But nothing about the actual science behind it.

Which, would be a whole lot more reassuring than typical fun facts like “right well when i just go through the motions of chewing and mindlessly think about eating, i can feel food go down my esophagus, whereas everything else just gets chucked into this endless blackhole in my face, which isn’t actually endless by the way, cause i can feel it get heavy if i put in too much crap and–”

“I need to learn more. Everything you know about Void. All of it.”

Kirin was about to make an ill-timed joke about curiosity killing the cat or whatever, before Charlie struck a dynamic pose,

“I’m here for the VIBES!”

She then unposed.

Thus far, Vel looked wholly unconvinced, so Zaeli tread carefully,
“...I’m here for knowledge as well. But not out of personal gratification.”

“Hah! P-pursuit of knowledge is a-always personal. Whether it b-be for one’s curiosity, or for recognition and p-prestige, or–”

“No, Mr. Hollister. I’m here to learn if the orb can be weaponized.”

A hush fell over the scientist, inquisitive.

“Evidently, a gang from Ragnar had been paid to steal your creation, but I’m to believe you are unaware that a group of nobles here in the capital have also been aiming for the exact same thing.”

Kirin’s already raised brow went up higher, “Wait, how’d you know we were based in Ragnar territory?”

Brief, “I learned this all after stumbling across the nobles’ meeting. And while I don’t know everyone’s names.. I do recall Jacques Scepter, and Perchant.”

Vel’s face stretched in shock, and for once, he stayed silent.

“In my travels, I’ve found that some will always fight for more, even if they already have plenty. And while I can’t always stop that, I.. well.” Zaeli found it baffling that she had to explain the concept of helping strangers for the sake of their wellbeing, but here she was,
“With all the unwarranted interest in this item, I must know what it’s for. How dangerous it is.”

Fingers fiddly, Vel took off his glasses, wiping them with his coat.

“...I-I see.”

He continuously cleaned the glasses, thinking deeply.
Granted, he was still irked at his invention being stolen, although learning that it wasn’t for anything scholarly did help soothe the wound a bit.

But now, more than anything, Vel grew concerned.

He was a scientist, first and foremost. His first venture into the arcanes was through his latest sponsor, asking him to research into the ever elusive but increasingly popular topical of Void.

Vel held no doubts said sponsor would resupply him with the means to make another prototype.
He also held no doubts that one thing he most resolutely was not, was a politician.

A gang from Ragnar was already a worrisome inclusion, but nobles? Right here in the capital of Irideen?? If what the Eladrin elf was saying were true, things could get very messy, very quickly. And he, for one, would vastly prefer not being caught in the middle of it all.

In fact, he might’ve just dodged a bullet (figurative or literal) today. He could lay low under his sponsor’s protection, letting any unwanted attention get averted to whoever was holding the prize in their hands, until it got ultimately destroyed in the scuffle.
Either way.

“Very well.” Vel finally put his glasses back on, squeaky clean.
“Who’s first?”