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Follows immediately after who do you trust when reality breaks?

It wasn't a hard thing for him to do, not exactly, but when they arrived, he did take a moment to catch his breath and smooth over his uniform. It was good to know that he'd made it just down the hall from where he needed to be. Close enough to not have to worry too much about Portia making a break for it, but far enough that they could have a moment to prepare themselves. After Ako's corruption, he knew this place affected those of order negatively. It was never a great first impression, but it couldn't be helped.

Looking at the senshi and how she had Desiree carried carefully in her arms, he nodded. "Just the door over there, and we can get started." Keeping pleasant, he started walking after they began to move. It wasn't a bad pace so he kept in stride with the woman. That in itself was a new experience, having rarely met someone who was as close in height to him as they were.

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Blinking to center herself, Portia was bewildered that they were no longer in that manor. How useful it would have been if she could have done the same. It would have let her break free centuries ago.

"Ah... yes. Please let's continue." Before her stomach decided to get a word in edgewise. Desiree was doing well in her hold, unaffected by this all, apparently, and purring contentedly at being carried.

It was still an odd change, all of this was odd, but she took shaky steps forward as Chalcanthite lightly rested his hand on her shoulder to steady her and lead her.

Questions were popping up, but she didn't voice them, not yet, because there would be someone else soon, on the other side of what was a very grand and solid door. Whoever was beyond that held the means to free her, if it was even possible, but if they had been the cause of that great power that hit the calamity, then something would happen either way.

It was only when Chalcanthite reached around her to knock on the door that she realized she was hesitating. The name they called, a Queen Laurelite, made her smile slightly at how close it was to her old name. How long had it been since she had just been Lorelai? She couldn't even remember. It had been an eternity since that taunting code and suffocating silence had not been twisting her memories.

Holding her breath, she held Desiree slightly tighter and waited quietly.

With the door open and his hand on Portia's shoulder, Chalcanthite led them inside, bowing his head slightly to Laurelite before continuing. His eye caught the crystals, similar to the ones he was working with as well, even if that project had been set aside momentarily due to the Hollow and his newest curiosity.

"It is a pleasure to see you with much better news than last time. I hope the information that has been provided is sufficient. I apologize, of course, for the shortened timetable." Once more, he nodded and let his hand move from Portia's shoulder to the head of his Mauvian, giving Desiree a well-deserved scratching under her chin.

"Dearest Portia, this is Queen Laurelite. She can help you resolve the problem you sought help with." Speaking gently, even if there was that sparkle in his icy eyes from how very curious he was over how this would go. There was no doubt that the woman would be corrupt when leaving this office; the question, of course, would be how easy the process would be, or if there would be any unknown repercussions that weren't involved in the normal methods of acquisition of agents or senshi from order.

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Taking slow steps forward as the door opened, Portia was surprised by the woman before them. Part of her was expecting something different, though she wasn't exactly sure, considering this wasn't an area of information she had access to back in the library.

The expression both of them shared had her stilling, if only because she wasn't sure of how she felt about it. It wouldn't be the first time she had been sized up, but if there was something else going on, something more dangerous, she knew that aside from the man next to her, nothing gave her that same feeling of doom that she had felt when faced with the Hollow or with the unyielding walls of the library.

Desiree seemed unfazed, something that let her proceed when her problem had been brought up. Taking a moment to think things over, to try and calculate how long it had been, she found herself focusing more on that frustration, on that unsolvable mess that had been tangled with what was supposed to be her history.

"Yes... a problem which both he and Desiree said you would have knowledge on how to solve. Something to also keep those who wish to continue poking into my business away." Looking at the woman, this Queen, who looked like they were being served a most interesting gift wrapped with the finest of bows.

But if it got her what she wanted, what she needed, so be it. After all, until proven otherwise, she couldn't be sure if anything after the Hollow was real or if she was still in that library, dreaming all of this up with more and more fantasy as that horrid encryption wedged itself into every crevice of her mind. Even now, each time she blinked, she saw those unintelligible black encryptions, writhing and digging deeper.

Desiree was the first to look up at Portia, noticing the shift in the woman's eyes with Laurelite's offer. Chalcanthite caught the look next and moved towards the chairs and waited for the other to sit. He wasn't quite ready to sit, not at least until things settled a bit more. It was hard not to be cautious at this sudden change as he noticed an odd sparkle in the alien's eyes.

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Her eyes had been closed for just a moment when the woman spoke, bringing up salvation. While she caught herself only for a moment, she couldn't help but find the notion funny. Salvation? Maybe... an escape had always been the main goal, but she wanted more, something that was personal, and it burned in her core as she took a seat in the chair offered.

Another blink, that maddening code flickered behind her eyes, and she nodded. It was a simple thing, and she rested her hand on Desiree's fur and stroked it lightly as she contemplated things. The fact that Laurelite was forward in wanting to know versus the sly motives of that dammned fox Selinur. At least she could understand that.

The smile she gave in response wasn't as sweet, but she took a breath and started where best to.

"I am a librarian, or what I can gather would be a code master on this planet?" It was something she'd noticed in one of the history books Desiree had given her, but since it had just been a small paragraph in the grand scheme of the text, she hadn't had much more to go on.

"As of my world... well," shaking her head for a moment at the idea of it, she continued, " it was one that kept things recorded and closed off. I kept the records organized and sorted through things when research was needed. The council was firm on that matter."

Taking a moment, she reached up to fiddle slightly with a strand of hair that had moved to dangle in her periphery.

"Something occurred, and because of their choice... my position led me to be locked in. So I can't provide anything substantial or accurate firsthand on the time between when the doors were locked and when they rotted and the locks rusted enough for me to push them open." Leaving that there, she sighed slightly and let her eyes fall closed to look at that maddening code. Even now, it taunted her, and she looked back at Laurelite as she leaned forward slightly.

"Salvation, no, I want to burn it down and rid myself of it." Even if this was just a dream, a lucid one at that. And all the while she spoke with that sharp coldness, even as that spark of rage flickered in her eyes.

"I would prefer to cut it out at the root if I could, but I'm certain that something like that would be difficult short of the Hollow getting a chance at it."

Frowning slightly, she looked down at Desiree. "It was a pity that it didn't venture that way beforehand. I had heard a story of it that seemed too fantastical to be true, but perhaps that would have been too imprecise an option as well. It also might have caused problems for many innocent bystanders."

With another gentle pet of Desiree's fur, she settled herself a bit more. That anger was still bubbling up, but it wasn't directed at anyone in this room, which made it all the more frustrating.

"I prefer it here, but because of my position, others have decided that coming to me for information is a wonderful idea, and I would like my peace. Just because I am no longer on that world, doesn't mean that my answer and privacy preferences have changed."