Terra - New Paris

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Yeah

Asher walked beside Starr, sweeping the area with his eyes in search of threats or surveillance cameras. The area seemed to be largely deserted, but a clever person--or group of people--could stage an ambush easily enough. "You've been here before?" he asked quietly.

~~
"How about you suggest something, and we can use a coin flip app to decide?" she said to Shane.

"Years and years ago, close to when I was first set lose. It was nothing like this then" Starr said, also looking around then going to knock on a door

~~~
Shane chuckled and nodded "Alright, how about the louve vs the tower?"

Asher brushed the holster of his stun blaster with his fingertips, reassuring himself that he wasn't defenseless. Of course, he'd seen Starr fight before, and he knew she was practically a force of nature, but he felt safer knowing he was armed. "And the person--people?--we're about to meet, can be trusted?"

~~
"Heads: tower. Tails: Louvre. Flip a coin, omnicom!"
The little com unit displayed a shiny coin animation, which after a few seconds landed. "Tails!" the com said helpfully.

"Trusted, no, bought, yes" Starr said cryptically then shrugged "At least last I knew them" She said and frowned when there was no answer

~~
"Louvre it is then" Shane said and looked to the driver for them to move on and head for the gallery

"Well I suppose that's better than nothing," the android murmured. He looked around again, weighing the possibility that this was all a trap to capture Starr. With each passing moment, the idea seemed more plausible. "Perhaps we should go now."

~~
Ellie stared out at the glass pyramid and the massive courtyard, with were designed to imitate the original Louvre, but looked significantly larger and more shiny. "Wow."

Starr sighed "They must have moved or were taken over, now this makes it harder" She said and turned to walk away from there.

~~
When the transport came to a stop, Shane paid the driver and got out, holding the door for her

Asher turned to follow, noting a camera tracking them from one of the warehouses. "Do your ...acquaintances know anything about you? If you could buy them, then so could someone else."

~~
Ellie bounced out of the vehicle like she was on Luna, shouted a thank-you to the driver, and spun around in circles to take in the courtyard. "I'll pay for us to get in," she told him, turning her attention to the swarms of mostly human people around them.

Starr paused and looked to Asher then shook her head "No, the humans I knew would be dead by now, and I didn't use this form on this world before" She said quietly

~~~
Shane dipped his head then held out a hand to her "Alright then, let's go in and look at the paintings and stuff"

"All right," he said, allowing himself to relax, "My apologies, I have a bad habit of expecting the worst to happen. Do you have other ideas where to get the supplies you need?"

~~
The human blushed again and took his hand. "I read that they have an exhibit of art from the old alien species, stuff so mathematical and beautiful that everyone is still trying to decipher it." She lead him into the building, tagging her com against the payment machine to transfer money.

Starr sighed then shrugged "Not specifically, no. I don't visit Earth often. This was my only contact in this hemisphere"

~~~
Shane nodded and walked in with her "Thanks, and yeah, last I heard that stuff is still on display"

"I suppose you'll get more chances if Vestia really is willing to ferry us all over the planet this week," he said. "Anything else on your shopping list?"

~~
"Some of it is part of the permanent collection, so we should be able to have a look regardless," she said, leading the way into a gallery of ancient oil paintings from 2145. "So tell me, what's your opinion on traveling the galaxy with a bunch of very unusual folk who keep a ton of secrets? Cause it's growing on me, personally."

Starr nodded and looked away to walk again "Yeah, lapis lazuli and vervain are on my list."

~~
Shane shrugged "It wouldn't bother me, if it was possible. Not too different from what I do anyway with my boss"

Heny kept a protective hold onto Syren hand as they left Vestia, she knew a curious child would want to see everything but didn't want the kid to get hurt. She watch the young girl go wide eyed in awe at what was before her, gingerly stepping onto green grass for the first time she took a deep breath to only sneeze at all the new smells and pollen. It took a few minutes of the curious girl checking out everything visually before they made it to the shuttles and got a ride to the toy store.

(Should Starr and Asher timeskip now?)

~~
Ellie laughed. "You and your secret boss. You know, three weeks ago I would never have entertained the idea of staying on the ship, but now? It's almost tempting." She pointed out a painting of an old-fashioned spaceship herding cattle, admiring the brushwork.

Merith laughed at Syren's ecstatic behavior only to sneeze. He followed the women around leisurely, his heart fluttering at the wide eyes of the adventurous little girl. He watched as she absorbed everything they could before herding her towards the shuttles.

Quinn seemed no where to be found, preferring to enjoy her home planet from the shadows.

However, even the most utopian societies always had their gruesome underbellies. Street rats and runaways occupied the damp and abandoned alleyways, eyeing the prestige secretely while avoiding the authorities. One in particular watched Vestia land. The teenager's eyes fastened upon the smart ship. And she grinned, turning to a child that sat next to her.

"Hey, you, I got a job for ya'..."

Quinn The Fox wrote:Merith laughed at Syren's ecstatic behavior only to sneeze. He followed the women around leisurely, his heart fluttering at the wide eyes of the adventurous little girl. He watched as she absorbed everything they could before herding her towards the shuttles.

Quinn seemed no where to be found, preferring to enjoy her home planet from the shadows.

However, even the most utopian societies always had their gruesome underbellies. Street rats and runaways occupied the damp and abandoned alleyways, eyeing the prestige secretely while avoiding the authorities. One in particular watched Vestia land. The teenager's eyes fastened upon the smart ship. And she grinned, turning to a child that sat next to her.

"Hey, you, I got a job for ya'..."

Heny made sure Syren sat between her and Merith much to the child surgrin as the shuttle took off to the first place. She was like this bouncy wiggle worm between them as she tried to look at the Windows Heny couldn't help but softly smiled at the site as she look out the window, "It... Changed a lot since I've last been here." She commented softly, smirking gently if that was even possible, "Human's, no matter what is thrown at them they always adapt and win. Merith remember when you got stuck recording the night that Marie Antoinette had her palace attacked?" She snickered, reminding the outfit he had to wear.

Kooshie wrote:(Should Starr and Asher timeskip now?)

~~
Ellie laughed. "You and your secret boss. You know, three weeks ago I would never have entertained the idea of staying on the ship, but now? It's almost tempting." She pointed out a painting of an old-fashioned spaceship herding cattle, admiring the brushwork.

(Sure, but how far?)
~ ~ ~ ~
Shane looked at the painting and nodded "Yeah, I know what you mean, I would never of thought about going anywhere else, but being with all of you has me thinking about not staying with the gang for once."

(Next place they try shopping, I guess? You're leading the way here, so you get the final say. )

~~
"There's a lot to see out there," Ellie said softly. "I mean, some of it sucks--like the parts where you almost get enslaved by psychotic criminals--but some of it is really cool too. It sorta changes your brain structure, being light years from anywhere."

Starr and Asher had returned to the normal stores in the city. She was looking for the stones and the herb that were much more common than the metal she had wanted from the black market people.

~~~
Shane nodded, looking to her again. "I can see how that would be, every experience we have changes us, for bettwr or worse,"

The busier streets would make a much less suitable location for someone to try and capture Starr, so Asher window-shopped the block, interested to see what sort of items stores in this area carried. As it turned out, they had everything from coffee beans, to hooded cloaks, to vintage model trains and bonsai trees. He ended up watching pigeons for a while, a bit puzzled as to how two heads had become such a common mutation in the species.

~~
"Yeah." The human looked up, "Oh hey, it's the Mona Lisa. I heard it was littler than you'd expect, but I still didn't expect it to be that small."

Merith grimaced with an awkward grin at the memory. "Please don't remind me, I felt like I couldn't get the makeup off for weeks. I still itch every time I think about it." To prove the point, he did begin to scratch at his neck, soothing the tingling sensation he received from the recollection. "I'll agree with you, though. Humans do seem to have higher adaptability rates than most sentient species. I guess that's what you trade for a shorter life span. You tend to live more for the now than the then or when."

Kooshie wrote:The busier streets would make a much less suitable location for someone to try and capture Starr, so Asher window-shopped the block, interested to see what sort of items stores in this area carried. As it turned out, they had everything from coffee beans, to hooded cloaks, to vintage model trains and bonsai trees. He ended up watching pigeons for a while, a bit puzzled as to how two heads had become such a common mutation in the species.

~~
"Yeah." The human looked up, "Oh hey, it's the Mona Lisa. I heard it was littler than you'd expect, but I still didn't expect it to be that small."

Starr noted the other things for sale and bought a hooded cloak as well as the stones and herbs she needed, picking up some extras of the common ones while she was here and a bag to keep it all in.

~~~
Shane walked over with her to look at the famous painting. "This was the average size of paintings back then. " he said and smiled "but her smile is just as enigmatic as they say."

Quinn The Fox wrote:Merith grimaced with an awkward grin at the memory. "Please don't remind me, I felt like I couldn't get the makeup off for weeks. I still itch every time I think about it." To prove the point, he did begin to scratch at his neck, soothing the tingling sensation he received from the recollection. "I'll agree with you, though. Humans do seem to have higher adaptability rates than most sentient species. I guess that's what you trade for a shorter life span. You tend to live more for the now than the then or when."

She laughed. "They have had what... Three world wars now? Each time they destroy they rebuild." She mused. "And now they have over a hundred colonies in the Galax... Amusing no?" She watched as they speed down the roads as they went to the toy place.

The android spotted her, and came over to see what she had found. "Did so many pigeons have multiple heads last time you were here?" he asked.

~~
"Yeah, I guess they couldn't make very big paintings back then, other than frescoes," said Ellie. "I take it you took an art history class or two?"

"Like pests, sometimes," Merith replied, not so amused. "But you do have to give them credit where credit is due, they do find ways to thrive in the most oddities of places. Though, they're incredibly destructive, too." The Keeper also stared outside, watching the bustling Terran make their way to shops and workplaces never noticing they had three hidden immortals sitting twenty or so feet away in a glass and metal tube.

Kooshie wrote:The android spotted her, and came over to see what she had found. "Did so many pigeons have multiple heads last time you were here?" he asked.

~~
"Yeah, I guess they couldn't make very big paintings back then, other than frescoes," said Ellie. "I take it you took an art history class or two?"

"No, last time I was here they mostly had just one head." Starr said as she glanced to the pigeons then back to the stores.

~~~
Shane nodded then shrugged. "Not in any particular school, my boss made sure I was schooled in everything. "

Quinn The Fox wrote:"Like pests, sometimes," Merith replied, not so amused. "But you do have to give them credit where credit is due, they do find ways to thrive in the most oddities of places. Though, they're incredibly destructive, too." The Keeper also stared outside, watching the bustling Terran make their way to shops and workplaces never noticing they had three hidden immortals sitting twenty or so feet away in a glass and metal tube.

"Yeup, but there was a reason why our creator made them." She chuckled as the shuttle slowly stopped and Syren was about ready to loose it.