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Encke wasn't entirely sure what he thought of this odd partnership, but temporarily, it was fine. They had use to each other, at least for now, and perhaps keeping her occupied by figuring out the mystery would keep her from doing anything, well, chaotic. Maybe together, they could figure out what was up.

He took one last glance in the direction that the captain had noticed where the power was still out --

Seemed to be still out.

"I'll head down first," replied Encke, warily, taking perhaps an unnecessary berth around her as he headed not down the escalator, but instead opted to take the stairs, hopping down the stairwell at a speed that was granted to him both by his eternal status and his own natural speed.

Best they get there before anything did happen--

Once she arrived, he jerked his head in the direction she saw the power outage in and headed in that direction.

For someone who could be almost unstoppably chatty around people he liked, he found himself rather quiet around members of the Negaverse. With this one, he was alright with the silence, keeping his focus ahead of himself almost entirely until she asked her question.

Glowing marks.

He wasn't sure how much the word of the transcendent had gotten around the Negaverse, but he imagined at least some people had to know. Two separate members of the Negaverse had attempted to withdraw his starseed and had found themselves repelled. She didn't instantly know what it was, though, which implied if it was a knowledge that the Negaverse had, it was not necessarily common knowledge.

He tapped his fingers against his thigh as a calming mechanism.

"I'm transcendent," he said, by way of explanation. "Confers some benefits. Energy-giving, mainly."

And also the fact that she couldn't starseed him even if she wanted to, but he would leave that part out for the moment. Didn't need to encourage her to experiment.

Encke almost had the momentary instinct to tell her to be careful, but he held it back by biting on the inside of his lip slightly.

No need to cultivate a vision that he might have been a sympathizer.

A safe harbor for anyone trying to leave? Perhaps.

He wasn't surprised that she immediately went to the Negaverse explanation of it, just creating balls of energy. "Similar, but not quite like that." He still remembered the first time he had learned that he had that ability, touching Methone's hands and feeling the flow of energy between them. He remembered the first time he introduced Richard to it, pushing some of his energy through his hands and into his love to recover some of what he had lost when-- "It is my own energy. Can give it to other people."

He glanced at her for a moment, offering a wry smile. "Actually, most frequently offer it to civilians I've found that your types have drained."

It had become a habit of his. If he came across anyone who seemed to be asleep in public in a way unnatural, he would often summon that within him, press his hand to them, and attempt to recover some of that energy that they had lost. Once he saw them stir, he'd often stop and leave, letting them recover without seeing some strange man with glowing marks all over his body hovering over them. Without context, he might think it rather frightening himself.

His brows rose lightly when she seemed to take the your kind emphasis as an emphasis on her status as a ... half-youma was apparently their official title. Most of the half-monsters they met either seemed proud of their status or desolate about it. Perhaps she was in the desolate category. Perhaps she was simply bitter. Perhaps she was quick to jump to conclusions.

"For what it's worth," Encke started with, as he watched her scoot a bit further away from him, "I was referring to the Negaverse at large, not the half-youma like you. You and the rest of the agents drain energy all the same. Equally as problematic."

The half-youma especially disturbed him because of what they implied: the destruction of humanity at its base to add a monstrous portion that apparently ripped away their ability to live as a human altogether. It made them wholly dependent on the Negaverse, forced them to live in the Negaverse so far as he had been informed, and made them dependent on energy and starseeds in a way that even normal human agents didn't seem to be. Perhaps that was an assumption. Perhaps it was because most of the half-monsters he had come across had seemed content to drain and starseed freely.

"You could argue it's more sustaining and efficient, sure. Humans do not oft die from having their energy drained. But it's still taking a resource that does not belong to you." Encke's fingers tapped against his thigh just a bit faster. "It's a lesser evil than simply consuming a soul, but it's not excusable. Humans are not your batteries."

He glanced toward her.

"But you're not doing that at the moment, so I'll be civil for now. We have a meteor site to check out."

Any friendship Encke showed the Negaverse was, as always, conditional. Did they starseed? Did they drain? Were they actively doing it at the moment? Were they showing any other signs of tormenting the citizenry of Destiny City or otherwise?

If they weren't, he would be civil. He had been civil to others in the past. Even befriended one of them into their purification and beyond.

Right now, he would be civil.

But the way Lavendulan spoke, he feared it was unlikely they would be civil next time they crossed paths.

He was content to be silent once more until he finally felt the energy source at the edge of his senses, and he motioned for her to follow. "It's this way," he offered, weaving through the streets, presuming she would follow him, until they came upon the dome that was sitting in the middle of Destiny City, obstructing something from view. He couldn't see through the dome, not really. There may have been something moving around in there.

"Can you make anything out?" he called behind him.

Encke watched her carefully, watching as she used her claws -- admittedly, useful, here -- in an attempt to get past the barrier. Admittedly, her doing that also gave him an advantage. The signature felt very, very off, but if it was related to the Negaverse, it was likely she would have been able to get through.

But she couldn't.

Or, at least, not in any useful manner. He watched as she stepped through and disappeared and then he could hear her voice from the other side; it drew curiosity from him, too, and he stepped forward until he took passed through the barrier--

That was, entirely through it. He landed on the other side near the captain as if he had just stepped forward, completely skipping the barrier.

"I have never stepped through anything quite like that before," Encke muttered, staring at it suspiciously.

He squinted, leaning toward the sign.

"There's some kind of picture of a floating orb on it," he tapped it gently with a glowing finger before turning back toward the half-youma captain next to him. "I guess whoever must have landed and took the power out is looking for, uh, orbs of light?"

"There always is," he murmured, pulling back to look at Lavendulan. "Can't imagine whoever or whatever landed would be making such a big deal out of these glowing orbs if they weren't more than they appeared to be."

But just what were they?

She was right. There was nothing more they could do about them but be wary if they saw them. There were none around, not that he could see, just an ask to return them if they happened to come across them. There were no signs of anyone else around that might have known anything else about them, either. Just the two of them and an apparently impenetrable barrier.

He wanted to try it out again, but he knew that'd be pointless.

"You're right. Guess we'll just have to look out for the threats."

An unsatisfying result, but a result nevertheless.