After a while the five aliens finally stopped arguing. The first alien that she had followed seemed to be pouting. It was honestly kind of cute. Kiru had an urge to tease her but pushed it down. She was well aware that now wasn’t the time for that kind of thing. Instead, she merely observed them from the corner. The second alien that had effectively started the argument, and seemed to be the leader of this small group, looked at one of the others. She signaled to that one, and she slipped out the door. Kiru would have followed, but there wasn’t an opportunity.

Thankfully that alien was back before long, and to Kiru’s interest, they had brought with them the young girl whose blatant kidnapping had prompted Kiru to follow the alien here.

She was led to the chair, and ordered to sit down. She did without a word, and the aliens started hooking sensors up to her body. Several were attached to her head, a few to her chest and belly. Along with a couple on her arms and legs. Once the sensors were secure, the aliens activated a monitor.

The second alien muttered, “Let's see what her potential is.”

This seemed promising. Maybe she would be able to learn what they meant by potential. If she does, it would have made this little detour very productive indeed. As it would give them a major lead on what exactly these aliens were doing in the Imperium. Nothing good, she could tell that much, but there was a lot they didn’t know. That lack of information was why they were here though. As things were, this was the best place to find out. In fact they had barely been here a day, and they were already finding clues and new leads to explore. She was quite happy with what she had learned already.

After a moment the second alien turned to the first who was still pouting, “Well you may be delusional, but at least you are doing your job right. This girl has rather high potential. It will take a few sessions to properly awaken it.”

The pouting alien shot her a glare, “I’m not delusional. I’m certain of it, someone is watching us.”

The second alien laughed, and said in response, “Tell me again. Who could possibly be watching us here of all places?”

She was silent. Kiru knew why, because she didn’t know. The young alien female may have been able to sense her, but she had no idea who she was. Nor did she know anything about who she might be connected to.

“You can’t answer that, can you? That's because no one is watching us.”

She pouted, “Believe what you want then. Anyway, what are her affinities?”

The second alien pointed at a few data sets on the monitor. “She has a fairly high potential for lightning and fire. She also has a moderate potential for earth.”

The first alien smiled, “I found a good one then.”

Kiru blinked. She finally had an idea about what they were looking for. She had been on the Constellation long enough, and had enough conversations and reading on the subject. They were discussing psionic potential and her capacity for magic. The question now became why? Why were they hunting down women with psionic potential? A number of other questions she had were still unanswered, but she now had one more answer. 

“Well, I’m going to log the results of her assessment. Why don’t you start on her programming.”

The first alien nodded and approached the girl. Wrapping her tentacle-like appendages around the girl's head. Kiru had seen this before, and based on what was said, had a feeling that this was somehow related to how they were brainwashing people. Perhaps something like this had happened to her? There were enough blank spots in her memory for it to be possible. Kiru could only guess what they had done, and were planning to do to her though. In some ways, she owed Megumi for rescuing her from whatever fate these mind-controlling aliens had planned for her.

While idly wondering about what the aliens had done to her and might have been planning she also noticed as the three silent ones moved in near the first. Entwining their tentacles with the first alien’s. That seemed interesting. Kiru noted it as something likely to be important, and added it to the report she was already writing. Having implants was so very useful. They certainly made her life easier. She could cloak if she wanted to, and could even walk through forcefields. Having a computer in her head also allowed her to take notes in the field, without having to bring along a pad or sacrifice a hand for the task. It occurred to her at that moment that if she was given a choice of going back to being merely Neku, she would not take it. She very much liked her enhanced capabilities.

Nothing more of note happened in the room. A few minutes later the aliens unwrapped their tentacles from the girl. Then they unhooked the sensors, and let her out of the chair. Then one of them escorted her out of the room. The first alien also left the room, and Kiru followed her. She had already proven interesting, and she knew that she was the one most likely to eventually head outside.

As it turned out, she wasn’t going anywhere else in the clinic. Kiru ended up following her right out the door. Kiru had already learned quite a bit, and didn’t think there was more to be gained from following her on the street. Not at the moment anyway. Instead, she used a tool on her belt to tag the alien she had been following with a cloaked tag. She fully planned on checking up on this particular alien again at a later date. Kiru also figured she would be a prime target for acquiring a specimen. One of their objectives down here was to capture one of these aliens, alive. They needed them alive for a number of reasons. In the meantime, she had to meet back up with May, and Qei.

While the others had been out cracking on the first leads of the day, Qei had gone to secure their lodgings. They were going to need a place to stay in the city afterall. Thankfully she was only responsible for herself, Kiru, and May. The others that came on the boat were responsible for their own groups.

Qei in her hunt for lodgings spoke to a number of young women on the street. Like May she too noticed the distinct lack of men everywhere she went in the city. That raised an interesting question but one she didn’t need to pursue right this instant. 

Her hunt took her to an area not too far from the port. This part of the city had several inns, and apartments, and was also not too far from a major market in the city. The locals had good things to say about this part of the city, and at first glance she had to agree. The streets looked well maintained, the storefronts were immaculate, and the buildings pristine. The area was clearly well off, but it wasn’t a high-class area either. This meant that the lodgings around here were more affordable. Megumi had given them a sizeable account, but it was by no means huge. It was enough to get them lodgings, and supplies for a few weeks. An area like this was perfect as the living would be comfortable, and there were a number of points of interest nearby. Including the strange clinic Kiru was investigating, not that Qei knew that.

The building Qei soon found herself looking at was a modest apartment building. It was a four-story building with several available apartments to pick from, and they offered a few amenities. Qei figured they could make use of those as an excuse to mingle with the residents, and maybe learn a bit of what is going on in the capital. Kiru might complain about a lack of space to run with, but there was only so much she could do on that front. At least the building had a gym with its own track, so there was something for Kiru.

Qei had arrived at the building around noon, where she had been greeted by the receptionist. A friendly enough Neku lady who got her in touch with someone to give her a tour of the building, and the apartments that were currently available. There had been several to pick from, but she eventually settled on a three-bedroom apartment on the third floor. It was the largest available apartment, and she had a hard time passing it up. It would be comfortable for them, and even provide them some privacy if they needed it. Not to mention she felt Kiru would like it. It might make up for the lack of real space to run in the area.

After that, she spent most of the afternoon working out the details with the apartment manager down in an office on the first floor. When she was finally finished she had messages waiting from both May, and Kiru.

Qei stepped out of the office for the manager, and stowed the rental agreement for their new apartment in her bag. She had managed to get a decent deal on it, and it was now paid for till the end of the month. Her ability to put down a sizeable amount of credits had allowed her to get it cheaper than she would have otherwise. Although it had taken a while of negotiating with the manager. Checking her comm log, she found messages from Kiru and Qei. With a thought, she sent them details on the lodgings she had secured and told them to meet her at the apartment.

Then she headed on up. Planning to wait for them in the apartment, but as she stepped into the elevator, she noticed a naked Neku girl in the elevator. She had seen a few already, but every time before they had been accompanied by one of the aliens. This one was on her own, and to further set her apart was that she was holding a clipboard, and wearing a belt with a few tools, and a small pouch. It was the only thing she was wearing though, nothing else. Her presence perked Qei’s curiosity.

Even better when the elevator opened on the third floor the naked girl stepped out. Since this was also her stop she followed. Although she was going to do that anyway, and the fact that she was on her own floor was a bonus. 

The girl made her way to the right and down the hall. Qei followed a discrete distance, and when she turned the corner followed after. The naked girl went to an open door where a Neku woman was waiting. Qei found a spot hidden from view, and cloaked. Then closed the distance so she could eavesdrop.

The girl pulled a paper from the clipboard, and handed it to the woman. “Thank you for waiting. Here is your hard copy of our bill, and your storage location. Again the Iniri thank you for your cooperation. Save this for your records, and follow the payment instructions.”

The woman took the paper, smiled and thanked her for it. Then the girl said, “The Iniri have also arranged an appointment for you.” she pulled another paper,” Don’t be late.”

The woman nodded, “I’ll be there.”

“Good. You may go back to your normal routine and forget about this encounter. Just remember to pay and show up for your appointment.”

The woman nodded, and the girl left. Qei was left standing nearby thinking that was a very odd meeting. She didn’t follow the weird courier, but she did tag her before making for her own apartment.