Instinct took over as the shiny fragment arced through the air towards her, and Perrin plucked it out of the air with a motion that would have been a lunge if it involved more than just her arm. Only after it was in her hand did she actually manage to stop for a moment and stare at it. Well then. Someone willingly and without hesitation handing her authority that she didn't absolutely need to have? Today was certainly going to make for a story for a family dinner.<em>And</em>it sounded like she was going to sooner or later get a chance to corner Cuatha, something most people usually did there very best to avoid. At least, most Sensates did after the first time. Then again, she couldn't remember ever doing so to Cuatha, so perhaps that was it.<br/><br/>Oh, now if only she had thought to wear one of her hats — maybe the broad brimmed one that just<em>screamed</em>dashing and authority — the day would have quickly gone from infuriating to perfect. Sadly no time to get it now. She threw off a hastily sketched salute towards the already retreating Cuatha. "By all means, skipper, my coils are yours."<br/><br/>She peeled off from Cuatha and the panting Li, collecting a handful of the suddenly much more visible guards as she went. Then she stopped and stared as she realised who exactly she had picked up. "Bite size?<em>You're</em>a guard here?"<br/><br/>The pixie — Perrin reached for her name. Ivy? That sounded right. — bristled. "I'm an excellent guard!" she snapped. "I read minds, dazzle and ensnare people, move unseen, and — " She patted the diminutive crossbow that rested at her hip. " — my arrows put you to sleep."<br/><br/>Perrin quirked one eyebrow upwards. "And I bet the way no one suspects lets you get the drop on every intruder we might have."<br/><br/>Ivy glared for a moment, but soon enough just sighed, bobbing where she floated in the air. "I wish I could deny that."<br/><br/>"Oh, then it's a very good thing that you value being good at your job, and are able to ensure your pride doesn't get in the way of using every advantage that might present itself, isn't it?" Perrin waved a hand placatingly. "Now, do we actually have any regular procedure for securing an area?"<br/><br/>There was a moment of awkward silence as Ivy glanced between the rest of the half dozen odd people Perrin had picked up. Perrin wasn't sure whether it was because Ivy was the most senior one there, or just that the others weren't willing to speak up, but she eventually volunteered, "I could… go look it up? Not so that's been drilled."<br/><br/>Well, Perrin supposed that made sense. The Festfall wasn't known for being all closed to the public most of the time. On the other hand, with the very well-meaning Cuatha having just roused everyone in magically boosted hearing distance, and then word travelling from there… Oh dear.<br/><br/>"All right then, here's what we'll do. There are, what, six entrances into the inner areas that are actually open to public traffic about now?" She glanced to Ivy who gave it a moment's thought then nodded. "We'll round up enough more to set two at each of those to keep people from getting in, then sweep from each of the five radial ones to the main entrance with patrols to clear everyone out. Once we can report it secure we'll just squeeze tight till someone gives the all clear to go back to normal."<br/><br/>It was Ivy's turn to arch an eyebrow in a deliberate mimicry of Perrin's gesture. "Squeeze tight?"<br/><br/>Perrin frowned. "Hang tight? Whatever it is bipeds do to stay in one spot." Ivy declined to press the matter farther, instead giving a confirming nod, echoed by the rest of the band. "Wonderful. Ivy, you're quick and traffic can't get in your way. You start finding the rest of the guards in the area and see if we can't nip off the confusion before it gets out of hand. The rest of you follow me and we'll place the checkpoints."<br/><br/>After she had got her little group moving it actually went smoother than she had expected. It didn't take long for Ivy to report back in that she had updated everyone in the Factol's Hall — it fortunately was a fairly restricted part of the overall Festhall — and setting up checkpoints mainly consisted of just dropping off someone at every door and having them look official. There were already patrols started to clear even before the checkpoints were all in place as well, so that was just a matter of getting them to stop sweeping places the others had already covered and missing some areas entirely. Most of that just required working Ivy's wings to death flitting back and forth working out sections.<br/><br/>By the time it began working without Perrin directing every moment she was feeling fairly smug. Of course, it helped that it was rather a limited area, small enough that their aerial guard could manage to cover the distance and ensure decent communication. The entirety of the Festhall would have been a<em>nightmare</em>to—<br/><br/>"Ah, Legate van Slithers?"<br/><br/>Perrin jerked her head around at the address, a title she had appropriated for herself to make her sound like she had business ordering people around. "Yes?"<br/><br/>The young man shifted in place under her gaze. "The last patrol just reported in. Should we push the checkpoints farther out now?"<br/><br/>Push out the checkpoints? Perrin frowned. "Why would we— oh." She hesitated for a moment. "Guard, ah, Sanjar, yes?" There was a nod. "Tell me, are we clearing more than just the Factol's Hall?"<br/><br/>Sanjar frowned. "I was told we were to just expel all the Namers and visitors?"<br/><br/>Oh dear.<br/><br/>"No, Sanjar, and I can't imagine you were the only one to hear wrong, and —<em>potverdorie!</em>— Ivy only checked the Hall itself…" Perring puffed out her cheeks for a moment as she considered this new problem, because of course her little microcosm of order and good communication couldn't have been anything more than a fluke. And she should have realised it, too. Oh well, no use crying over dropped eggs. "Sanjar, fetch Ivy and a few others. We're going to head out and see what we can make of the chaos."<br/><br/>Outside her neat little world, well, the best thing Perrin could say about it was that at least their guards took their jobs seriously. She also thanked every god that might be listening that Cuatha had handed her a deputy's badge. They couldn't do a sweep through the entire Festhall the way they did for the Factol's Hall to inform everyone, but at least this way she could herself move through the busier areas and get the worst of the snarl sorted out. It helped that sorting it out didn't require much more than an "Oi, guys, cut that out!" or she really would have been in for a headache.<br/><br/>Oh, and there was yet another group being escorted outwards. She recognised a couple of the people — one of the guards did errands for her, and the dark skinned elf was nearly as noticeable as she herself was — but the one that actually accosted her, much to her surprise and before she could undulate up to them in turn, she could only recognise thanks to the insignia.<br/><br/><br/>"I take it you're the Society's head of security?" The woman was armoured and armed, and looking decidedly like a peeved authority figure who had been stymied and stone-walled. Was this some sort of divine joke? Go looking for Harmony, find a disgruntled representative of the Harmonium? "What do we know so far about the attack? Are there plans for a joint investigation? I ask not only as a member of the Harmonium, but to ensure the security of all Sigil, no matter their allegiance."<br/><br/>Then before anything else could go on, the drow — the one with too many consonants… Alegrazza? Alzeggra. — slipped in between them.<br/><br/>"I don't mean to<em>interrupt</em>, but I think I should relay my side of the story when you've finished your conversation." Apparently the officer of the law was not the only one to have a temper this morning.<br/><br/>"Piss off, drow."<br/><br/>Perrin blinked at the two of them, wondering what in the world they were on about. They… thought this was all about them? And what attack for that matter? The whole point of the security was that it hadn't happened yet. Nothing for it. She used their tiff to give a meaningful glance over at Ivy, thinking very loudly indeed, then gave the two in front of her her best smile. The one that showed off her fangs. "I am Legate Peregrine van Slithers, duly appointed representative of the Lady Factor Cuatha Da'nanin. Allow me to assure you, Custos Harmoni, that we are doing our utmost to evaluate the situation and take appropriate steps to ensure the security and prosperity of all of Sigil, and proceed in a manner fitting with our history of cooperation with the agents of the Harmonium. Of course, you must understand that with a situation as serious as the one at hand, we do not wish to make any rash conclusions—"<br/><br/>Ivy interrupted her stalling, flitting up to whisper. "There's been a murder. Recently somewhere around here, but details are scarce without intruding enough to be noticeable."<br/><br/>Well then. She could fake with that. Perhaps they'd even be able to spin this together and make the Festhall not like a disorganised mess, but as a place taking reasonable and moderate precautions. Or at least a little less embarrassingly confused. She hesitated for a moment, glancing down to the… suspect? No, the woman had been dismissive of Alzeggra, not outright hostile.<br/><br/>"I will, of course, be happy to brief you on what we do know, just so soon as I make my own enquiries enough. Ivy, if you could ensure that the esteemed officer is well taken care of?" Ivy looked like she wanted to do anything but that, but reigned in her tongue and she inserted herself before the woman had a chance to protest, allowing Perrin to pull Alzeggra aside.<br/><br/>"Now," she said, her voice low and her body flattening to let their faces rest at the same height. "What in the world is she on about? Who's dead?"<br/><br/>The day really had been one that refused to let her focus.