LeBlancâ€™s long tail coiled into a nearby box and retrieved a bottle of water that he offered to Calvin. â€œYeah, well, I figure you would like to know that, stud. The problem is that we donâ€™t know.â€ He explained before smirking slightly â€œWell, yet anyway. I think weâ€™re on the right track.â€<br/><br/>Taka turned around and brushed away some of the clutter on the table, revealing his current work: spread across the table was a map of intricate detail, with sketches of each described landmark at street level corresponding with the labels on the map. It was also massive, the draft desk it was on was covered edge to edge, a square something like ten feet on each size. On the northern and eastern edges of the map, the city was flanked by trees; the island was dominated by unexplored, mountainous forest. The city itself took up barely a tenth of the island. To the west, there were cliffs that edged up to the ocean, and to the south was the bay and harbor, devoid of all but one ship, a cargo vessel listed on the map and sketched with the name The Phoenix painted along its bow. Underneath the picture was the simple warning â€œDo not explore alone or after dark.â€<br/><br/>LeBlanc had grabbed a well-worn journal off another table and held it up. â€œThis is what I woke up with; itâ€™s written in my handwriting.â€ He explained. He paced up to Calvin and flipped the notebook open; it was lined with margin-to-margin formulas and notes and diagrams, dense but neat. The problem, however, was apparent; it was all gibberish. â€œEven if I wrote this, itâ€™s written in a cypher. I canâ€™t understand it. Well, most of it.â€ He continued. â€œThe whole thing isnâ€™t in the same cypher. It changes periodically at random, but it comes to me in waves. Sometimes I just look at it and I can read a new section now, plain as day. I gotta say, stud, itâ€™s some good stuff. Iâ€™m a goddamn genius.â€<br/><br/>â€œLeBlancâ€™s a paragon of modesty.â€ Taka piped up softly, earning a chuckle from the dragon. â€œBut heâ€™s right. I can get by with a fantastic memory, but some of what heâ€™s figured out absolutely daunts me. He thinks weâ€™re here for a reason.â€<br/><br/>â€œProbably. I also think our missing memories arenâ€™t gone permanently. Time will reveal to us what weâ€™ve forgotten, but I think finding certain things might trigger it easier; something familiar and so on.â€ LeBlanc explained. â€œThereâ€™s a door under the lighthouse, airtight, probably weighs in the ballpark of twenty tons, easy. Itâ€™s locked. I think we ought to open it.â€<br/><br/>â€œAnd I agree.â€ Taka responded. â€œBut not until weâ€™ve got more of us here. There are other people on the island that arenâ€™t as safe as we are here. For whatever reason, the bosses donâ€™t like to come out here very often.â€<br/><br/>LeBlanc laughed â€œOh yes, the bosses, your girlfriendâ€™s term, yes? I imagine sheâ€™s plenty safe at the Laurels, Taka. You said they never go there either.â€<br/><br/>â€œYeah, but she goes looking for people. Sheâ€™s got plenty of information; we should try to get a message to her, try and planning some actual action beyond â€˜open the door and hope what we find inside doesnâ€™t try to kill us,â€™ LeBlanc.â€ Taka asserted, though still with some timidness.<br/><br/>â€œYou could just say you missed your girlfriend, birdbrain. Iâ€™d help you.â€ LeBlanc teased, earning a flustered puffing up of Takaâ€™s feathers. â€œBut youâ€™re probably right. Strength in numbers and whatever. We should probably see if we can send messages that far into the city; I havenâ€™t cracked the island-wide security network yet, but Iâ€™ve not really focused.â€ He reasoned. â€œYou have any other questions, Cal? Otherwise I can show you what Iâ€™ve been working on, maybe get you to help call Takaâ€™s girlfriend.â€<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>Roxxie was not the sort of girl who liked to be taken by surprise. Well, she might have been before all this, but too many times turning a corner to Clockwork flaying the skin of some poor shmuck, or running for her life when Bleachbones showed up had taken the surprise right out of her. She was tired, dedicated and resolute, but tired. So when someone tackled her to the ground to gain the upper hand, she was not quite prepared to freeze up and take whatever this psychopath was going to do to her.<br/><br/>So, she brought her knee up into his crotch and informed him, physically, of just how appreciative of his surprise she was. Her shotgun might have been knocked free of her hands, but sometimes a knee to the ground and a solid head-butt, which she quickly followed with, were enough to get your point across.<br/><br/>â€œGet off me you dumb motherfucker.â€ She practically roared, â€œOr I swear to God Iâ€™m going to shoot your fucking face off.â€<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>â€œWell, I think itâ€™s safer to assume that there are going to be more people here that can cause us harm. I mean, we havenâ€™t intended harm towards one another, so not everyone will be. I mean, if we find your sister there should be no reason to expect her to shoot at us or anything.â€ Maccus replied â€œRight?â€ he added with a chuckle. â€œStill, we should be on our guard; I canâ€™t shake the feeling weâ€™re being watched. We have to be here for a reason.â€ He continued, seemingly convinced.<br/><br/>â€œWeâ€™ll just stick to trying to find your sister. We ought to either find a high-point in the city to look for her, or maybe if that doesnâ€™t help weâ€™ll head for the harbor. If we could find a map, we could see if thereâ€™s an airport or something. Well, we could fly up and check, but I donâ€™t want to attract too much attention; we should stay low when moving.â€ He offered. â€œSound good?â€<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>Buyou shook his head lightly â€œNo Miss Maria, I donâ€™t remember that much.â€ He explained. â€œI sort of remember somethingâ€¦ a fight. I like to fight, usually, but this time was bad. I was angry, da?â€ he looked a little distant, his brow furrowing in frustration. â€œI donâ€™t like being angry.â€<br/><br/>Buyou sat up a bit more and hung his feet of the bed, swinging his legs slightly. â€œI just feel likeâ€¦ stuffed up, da? Not have to sneeze, just whole body feels like it was empty, and itâ€™s dried out.â€ He tried to explain. â€œDa, I could probably say better in Russian. I know Spanish, but is worse than my English, da?â€ he offered.<br/><br/>â€œMiss Roxxieâ€™s been gone a while. What did she go looking for?â€