Rayne nodded, unsurprised that Starstrike, and Zombs, were on top of such simple matters as guarding against a deceitful demoness.  She felt a little better having brought the succubus along rather than finishing her off, though was still uncomfortable.  And the succubus' bargain... letting her go, Rayne could definitely stomach, since if not her, something as bad or worse might spawn in Port Lannis.  But committing to letting her leave the fort unharmed left her too much opportunity to do mischief before leaving, they'd need to adjust that language.  Which, in the end, Zombs had also taken care of already, so she was definitely in good hands.<br/><br/>"Very good, it sounds like we're well prepared.  I agree."  She grinned at Zombs' effort to obtain the succubus' true name - Rayne had thought of something similar, but as expected, the fiend was not about to give that up so easily.  It wasn't surprising that Zombs enjoyed the view... Rayne caught one stray movement of his eyes, but fully expected it of him, or any male.  Or female, for that matter.  The succubus was rather impressive, no less so for being dangerous.<br/><br/>Rayne read very carefully ... chuckling a moment at Zombs' spelled-out-name ... and shot him an admiring glance.  It seemed pretty solid and legal-ish as far as she could tell.  Very much so... was Zombs a lawyer?  He didn't detect as evil... she chuckled to herself at her cruel, unfair joke.  It was too easy to insult lawyers, and though some surely deserved it, the same could be said of any group.<br/><br/>Rayne used her rapier, slinging her bow over her shoulder first, to carefully prick a finger and squeeze out a drop onto the ground.  It was a surprisingly disturbing act - she had been wounded badly many times, even "killed", but she had never wounded herself; even knowing it would not hurt, there was still a powerful instinct to avoid self-harm that had to be overcome.  The deed done, she sheathed her weapon and stood ready.<br/><br/>Although the contract had disappointingly little visible effect, Zombs question was entirely the opposite, causing a shocking, terrifying change in the succubus.  Rayne reached for her bow again, but paused, then brought her hands forward, empty.  There was nothing a weapon could do... but her heart rate doubled, and she felt a dizzying combination of fury, fear, and hope, now that she was face-to-virtual-face with the one, or maybe one of the ones, responsible for this disaster.  She caught his opening joke, but "amused" was not one of the emotions coursing through her now.<br/><br/>No way to log out... she had feared as much, but it was terrible to hear it said aloud.  And he would know... though it was possible he was lying - would the circle still function regarding that?  It seemed unlikely.  It was also possible he was mistaken - no one person could know every nuance of a program as complex as EHO, she felt sure.  But that didn't bring them closer to finding a solution, either.<br/><br/>In a moment Zombs was taken out of the equation, and Starstrike had taken herself out... Rayne stared like a deer in headlights.  She watched "the succubus" groping herself in the most crude fashion, and of all things, Rayne felt sympathy for the demoness... not even a "real demoness", but a character in a program.  Yet this GM... he certainly answered many unasked questions about why EHO had become the way it had.  Such a perv... she ignored his question, and struggled to come up with one of her own.<br/><br/>The planned second question was out... why would their captor tell them, outright, how to summon help?  She wanted to ask why, why he was doing this... but she thought his actions had made it unnecessary.  Still... rather than a question, she had to protest, now that the opportunity was there.<br/><br/>"You ... don't know what you're doing!  We've been here for days... even with time compression, we'll be thirsty out there, or... or something!  And ... people are going to come looking!  Real people, in the real world."  She was speaking off the cuff, just expressing her concerns, adding a little threat.  Though maybe it would help shake some information out of him, too....<br/><br/><br/>Still, she ought to see if he would answer questions, truly.  "OK, OK, second question.  Umm.  Who are you who's done this?  Just you?  A bunch of you?  Who?"  She wasn't sure that was the most useful information, but it could tell them if all the EHO staff were involved, or if this was some sort of lone wolf, and maybe they could find some way around, some way to reach others....<br/><br/><br/>