Ianthe's mental defenses slammed down with the telepathic equivalent of a<i>Hell No</i>even as she sheathed her sword and exasperatedly scrubbed a gloved hand over her face.<span style="color: teal">"Oh, for fuck's sake. Look, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you're not half as important as you think you are. We're here because we got told there was valuable salvage laying around for the taking. As in, valuable <i>inanimate</i> salvage, that we can carry, and isn't going to require feeding and watering and fresh newspaper. We're not slavers, we have no fucking idea who or what you are, and I think I speak for all of us when I say we're not interested in turning anyone over to anyone to be experimented on."</span><br/><br/>She paused a moment, touching fingertips to her ear as Darion's voice came over the comm.<span style="color: teal">"Working on it,"</span>she replied to him.<span style="color: teal">"Fast as we can. Toi can update you on his status."</span><br/><br/>She lowered her hand and gripped her Shadow Lance, and with eyes still focused on the patch of shadows from which the voice emanated, spoke again at the stranger.<span style="color: teal">"Since we're a little pressed for time, let me explain how this is going to go. My synthetic companion here is trying to hack the sentry guns so they shoot the badness that's loose out there, rather than us. Once he's done with that, my <i>other</i>, more trigger-happy companion is going to walk up that hall and join us, and we're going to case this whole lab for something to help get us get out of here. If I tell him that a mysterious creature is hiding in the shadows watching us, he's probably not going to ask questions; he's going to start with grenades and finish with pulse rifle fire. If you don't want to end up a grease spot on the floor, give me a reason to tell him that you're either harmless or helpful."</span>She paused, glanced at Toi, and then added,<span style="color: teal">"I figure you have, what -- a couple of minutes, Toi? -- a couple of minutes to decide. Make it quick."</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>