[Wolfie_Barrow]

Kaj Kat felt the rain lighten up slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Zur glanced into another alleyway, flipping over an empty can of beans before continuing on. Daena hovered above them, also keeping an eye (two, ak-shully) out for any Snickies.

Kaj Kat nudged Zur on the shoulder. "Couldn't we just get home already?" he whined. "Wolfie could just order a Snicky or something!"

Zur shook his head. "This is cheaper," he said. "So just shut up and deal with it."

Daena thought she saw something, but it wasn't really a Snicky. Disappointing.

[Indigo]

Inver stumbled along after Skweema, barely looking where he was going, tripping over random bits of junk as he mumbled to himself about the physiology of clownfish and other types of fish. His claw caught on a rock, sending him tumbling into a mud puddle.

Skweema sighed loudly and scooped her friend out, dumping him on the ground. He sat there, staring blankly at the sky, coated in mud that slowly dripped into his eyes and puddled on the street beneath him. His claws tapped against the cracked road as he thought. Finally, his blue eyes lit with an odd glow--literally, as he had been programmed to do when Ender upgraded him last. I have a thought, he said slowly. Don't you have an environmental scanner or some sort of life-sensing equipment from our last upgrade? You could use it to look for a Snicky.

Skweema couldn't nod, but her stinger swayed pendulously in agreement. A small antenna slid out of her back, flashed once, and for a few seconds the entire surrounding area was covered by a green grid, which then dissipated. None right around here, but over that way there may be something. Her stinger waved generally to the right.

{23-8}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Zur noticed Skweema's advice and began making his way over in that direction. Kaj Kat followed with resentment, and Daena followed obediently. She stopped to sniff something on the side of a random building, but was disappointed when it turned out to only be a piece of gum.

The rain finally stopped, the clouds beginning to part slightly, rays of sunlight peeking through.

"Oh, what a jolly day," Kaj Kat said sarcastically. "Very soon a rainbow will come out, and this will turn into a musical about Snickies and danger. And there will be romance."

Daena frowned. "What's a musical?"

Kaj Kat shook his head. "I have no idea."

[Indigo]

Inver looked surprised. He found it to be scandalous for someone not to know what a musical was, but then again, some of the people back home were very technologically advanced, and then there was the Oz-obsessed Guardy. Perhaps these three had never come into contact with such things at...wherever they lived. A musical is a play or film characterized by frequent outbursts of song. Although many of them are considered stupid or cheesy, they are just as valuable a genre as most others.

Skweema's stinger clunked against her companion's side. Having known each other for a fairly long period of time, they had fallen into the habit of hitting each other, mainly with tails, whenever one annoyed the other. It didn't do any real harm to either of them, and it was more of an affectionate gesture than anything else. There had better not be any romance, Skweema grumbled, closing and retracting her rusty umbrella in such a manner that all the water from it was dumped on Inver. He sighed and shook his head.

{24-9}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Kaj Kat blinked and stared up at the sky. "Oh, ok, I think I know what a musical is now."

Daena poked him.

"What?" he mumbled glancing over at her. Zur shushed him as he dug through a pile of rotting food scraps. Daena held her nose and scrunched up her face. Kaj Kat held bit back a laugh, and made a face in Zur's direction. The Fellox never noticed.

Daena turned to the robots and hugged herself tightly. "I think I'm starting to get used to you guys. Just don't come much closer than that or I'll change my mind..."

[Indigo]

A green light flickered on at the tip of Skweema's stinger. Suddenly, a ray of green light was focused on the heap Zur was digging through. It moved up and down for a few seconds, scanning the mess, then clicked off. Nothing in there but nasty gunk as far as I can tell, Skweema pronounced. But I can't pick out individual things, just life or lack thereof.

Inver smiled at Daena. Good to know you're getting used to us. Excuse me... He approached the heap of garbage himself, scanning it with his own blue beam. A small mechanical arm extended from his tail and began digging through until it pulled out one piece--of toasted bread.

Skweema stiffened.

The mechanical arm dangled the piece of toast enticingly.

Just as Inver dropped the toast, the stinger shot out and stabbed it. It was dropped into a slot in the middle of Skweema's back. Good, she said with satisfaction.

{25-10}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Daena watched the interaction with curiosity. "Yes," she said. "I'm finding that robots are more interesting than I ever knew."

Zur looked around, then turned to Skweema. "Can you do that in other places, too?" he said. "It would make everything a whole lot easier."

Kaj Kat nodded. "Please? I want to get home as soon as possible."

Daena hovered over head. "Yeah," she said. "Getting home sound like a pretty good idea."

[Indigo]

Skweema blinked in agreement. All right, but I probably won't find anything. I think I sensed the life-form moving off, and I can't find it anymore. She shrugged, an odd gesture that made the segments of her body move up and down in a wave. It may not even have been a Snicky. Despite her doubts, she turned on her scanner again and scuttled off.

Inver grinned at Daena. Maybe we can meet up again sometime, if you're not too afraid. I'd like to get to know you better, and who knows? I could tell you lots more that you never knew before. That's kind of what I'm for. He laughed. That's why I have such a large hard drive. I was designed as a fact collector.

{26-11}
(Methinks we should wrap this up. If RE2 hasn't come by 38 posts, she's not coming.)

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Zur slumped is shoulder and sighed in defeat. "I suppose we should just give up and go home, shouldn't we." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Kaj Kat jumped to his feet, grinning.

"Yes, I definitely think we should go home, and right now, as well, because I really need to take a bath, eat some food, and forget I ever came this-" he sniffed the air and scrunched up his nose, frowning "-this horrible place."

Zur hit him over the head. "I know you're glad to be going home, but there are those who actually live here, and saying things like that is terribly rude."

Daena sighed.

"So. Home?" Zur glanced over at the robots.