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Nembus was still adjusting to the fact that she could just pop in and out of the actual physical Negaverse at will.

She was also still adjusting to the fact that there was an actual physical Negaverse she could just pop into and visit as she desired.

She knew the whole time, logically, that the existence of a physical Negaverse had been true the whole time. Nembus herself, though, had never really been to it, beyond the most confusing times of her short memory, and now she could just ... go. There was something exhilarating about it. She understood why Stillwaterite had seemed to enjoy teleportation so much. With little more than some exertion, Nembus could go to the Negaverse. Go anywhere, really. Go to the edges of town. Go to the top of a tower. Could she just teleport herself inside of stores when they were closed? Into bank vaults?

... Even for her, that seemed a bit cheap--

Nembus was distracted from her mental musings by someone waving in her direction. Curiously, Nembus lifted her eyes from some middle distance to meet with the ... hand.

That was a very large hand.

Also not particularly human.

It seemed to be attached to someone who looked human enough, but she noticed a tail, too, when she took a closer look. When she tapped into that extra sense, she was able to parse out what felt like a normal agent, though there was just so much Chaos here, Nembus had trouble really getting more details than that...

"Hello?" called Nembus, voice more confident than she felt.

As he grew closer, Nembus internally grew more alarmed, even as she tried to keep her friendly exterior stable.

Something about his aura definitely felt off the closer he grew, and it was obvious why it did. He had dog ears, a fluffy tail, hands that seemed impossibly large and monstrous, especially considering his stature, glowing eyes-- what was he? She had done a lot of scanning of the Negaverse databases, or at least, what she had access to, but this was something she was entirely unused to. Why did it feel like an agent? Why did it not feel like an agent? Why did it look like a youma?

It was rude.

He was probably a he. He sounded like a 'he,' anyway. Maybe he was a she, or a they. Maybe Nembus should ask. What was the procedure here? What was correct?

-- Wait, why was he asking if she needed a hand?

Was that a joke?

Nembus shook her head lightly. "No, I'm just wandering around here," offered she, sheepishly, attempting to find the answer within her limited experience to this entire experience. "I haven't been super very long, so I'm kinda just getting used to being able to come here as I please..."

Evidently, she had a lot more to get used to.

"Ah, thank you," said Nembus, though she couldn't help the way her eyes instinctively tracked his arms, those hands, how could someone even manage with hands so large? With hands so ... monstrous?

Why was he so monstrous?

It didn't feel like a youma. He didn't feel like a youma. He felt like an agent, but darker, she decided, when he was standing in front of her. (He was about her height. Interesting.)

On one hand, there was a part of her that just wanted to ask what the hell he was, but that was probably rude, just like calling Vitriol by it would have been rude. Vitriol was an interesting name. She wasn't sure that was like a lot of the other names she had heard. Marcasite, Jadarite, Datolite, Tyrolite, yeah those were all -ite names and also they were all stones...

Maybe it had something to do with the, ah, monster parts...

"Sure!" replied Nembus, finally, at the idea of knowing what was around, pulling her eyes away from his arms. That would sate some of her curiosity about her environment, and maybe Vitriol would explain himself in the process. Maybe. She hoped. "I don't really know much of anything around here, and I definitely don't live here, so..."

Did people live here? Seemed uncomfortable.

Vitriol seemed quite familiar with this place. Was it truly just because he lived here? He had the sensation like a lieutenant, to her, implying that his powers were not particularly strong yet. And the very least, he was weaker than her.

How long had he been a member of the Negaverse?

When he noted many superiors had an office in this building, she wondered if Marcasite did. Her department had a very civilian-life focus, but did Marcasite have an office down here, too, or did the basement AI function well enough for their purposes? She hummed in thought, for a moment, but her mind was quickly distracted once again by seeing those hands move, those monstrous hands, why were they so--

Right, he was pointing something out.

Nembus leaned in, looking out at the chaotic storm clouds. Something about them reminded them of her own outfit, and she glanced down at her skirt with a quiet chuckle. Was her outfit showing the influences of Chaos even in its lightning designs?

Did the design look different when she was--

"It's very pretty out there," murmured Nembus, reverently, as she took in the sights. "Pretty, but dangerous. No, I haven't been to the medical buildings or the barracks..."

Barracks definitely confirmed that people definitely lived there.

"So you do actually live here?"

It was pretty but dangerous now, but she could imagine if this was all there was to look at, the chaotic storms up above would start to feel lonely. She couldn't imagine having nothing to look up at but a chaotic, stormy, purple sky.

Of course, it made sense he couldn't exactly live in Destiny City the way he looked, but the concept of can't even look like a human for a little bit caught her attention. So he could go from whatever monstrous form he was into a humanoid one? Why couldn't he currently? When would he be able to? What was his human form like? Was he formerly human --

Who can't remember.

Like corrupts and half-youma.

Her brain put together at that moment that he must have been a half-youma, then, since that was the title she didn't recognize, but her brain was suddenly far more occupied by the concept of there being even more like her, those who couldn't remember their pasts or make any sense of what their lives were before and what they should be. Would they be in the barracks? Nembus was definitely interested in following then--

She eagerly darted after the furry monster-man.

As she followed, she asked, mostly to confirm, "So you're a half-youma, then?"

One part human, one part youma.

How did that work?

How did one become partially a youma and not a full youma? Why would one become partially a youma? Was there an advantage to it? It seemed full of disadvantages if he was trapped down there and if he had furry monstrous hands that seemed kinda unwieldy, all things considered, and also they definitely didn't belong on a human body and every time she looked at them she felt just a bit uneasy--

But he implied that he, like her, didn't have any memories. It was enough to keep her from trying to find an excuse to bolt for now. Well, that and the promise of showing her around, of taking her to the barracks, of possibly introducing her to others like her--

A place they stick together?

Nembus blinked.

It would be nice, really. In some ways, as a corrupt senshi, especially with one who had so little memory of who they were, she felt isolated. Everyone else in her team didn't suffer from the same issues. She had only met two other corrupt senshi, too, one of which was no longer--

"Not really, we don't have a place that's ours like the barracks might be to you," admitted Nembus, softly, before continuing, "but I am part of a team. My general is General Marcasite." She glanced over to him, brows lifting curiously. "Who is your general? Are they like," she waved her hand in the air, awkwardly, "you too?"

"She spends a lot of time in her civilian guise," offered Nembus, quickly, when Vitriol said he hadn't heard of Marcasite before.

She wasn't sure why she felt the sudden need to declare that. It wasn't like she needed to be defended for doing so. Her work at Argent Industries was important. It gave the Negaverse a media arm, a place where they could influence the public to be more sympathetic to the Negaverse. Perhaps there was a part of her that thought more people should know about her work. It was important.

... Right?--

Nembus took note of General Faustite--she hadn't heard of that particular general's name either, but it was interesting to know he was another half-youma--as she followed Vitriol outside. She could feel the electricity in the air, and it made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Considering her power base, considering that this was Chaos, it felt like home. And yet, something was so dangerous about it, something was humid and pressing and unsettling.

Was it just the sheer power here?

Nembus opened her mouth to ask another question, but quickly shut it when Vitriol asked his next one.

Do you like it here after changing sides?

For a moment, she had to resist the urge to bark why he would be asking her such a question. What was his motivation? What was his intention? Was he trying to catch her up? Was he going to report her if she said she didn't, if she showed any doubts, if she hesitated too long? What could happen to her?

Did she like it? She didn't know. Her team was nice enough. She was good friends with Jade, her general. But by the same token, she knew now that she had been forced over. That someone, probably Jade, if what Stillwaterite--Sedna--had told her had been any hint, had decided to bring her over here against her will and take her very base of being away. Her memories. Would she have liked it if she had those? Every waking moment was about questioning everything, about trying to fashion a new life, a new personality. She liked the power, she liked the teleportation, she liked her team, but who was she? Could she ever like it under that paradigm?

She was silent for what was probably a bit too long of a time before going with, "I like my fellow teammates," because she did, even if she felt a bit more isolated from them due to not working full-time at Argent Industries. They were welcoming to her when she was there, of course. "And yeah, the Negaverse is good. I like it here."

To distract him from asking anything else along that track, she asked the question she was planning to originally, "How did General Faustite save you?"