To think the conflict between the various factions had escalated this badly. Although the Talaz Lagaar loyalists had succeeded in securing the fabricator and were trying to focus on setting up their defenses, essentially walling themselves in, the robot separatists and the third movement were desperately attempting to gain a foothold and capture the Fabricator.

In a way she understood why they had gone to such great lengths to secure it, after all the Fabricator was a source of power for the island. Not only did it function as a power generator for their civilization, it also functioned as a device to support the inventions made by the people.

To think it had now become the focus of a conflict... Actually calling it a conflict had been an understatement.

"Did you hear the rumors?" One of the members of the Movement whispered to his companion. "Yeah, the last scouting party didn't return either. Reports suggest some guy has been literally sending people to their deaths by teleporting them away." The two men were busily conversing with each other as an older man approached the duo. "How the hell do you even know if they are dead then?!"

A mischievous giggle came from beside her, leading Esperia to turn her gaze toward the Fae that was floating beside her, shimmering in and out of the ethereal realm.

"Sounds scary~ I bet they were sent to the depths of the ocean~ or dropped in the pit of a volcano~ At least that is what I would do."

Esperia couldn't help but frown at these words. "For what it counts, I'm glad you're not the one with that power at your disposal."

WC: 250/1250

Approaching the briefing room where some of the senior members of the organization were pre-occupied discussing the current state of affairs Esperia approached her liason and addressed the woman.

"Linnea? Is Braun around by any chance?" The woman turned toward her and shook her head apologetically. "I'm afraid he has his hands full trying to figure out a means to get to the Fabricator."

It made sense, considering the device was a highly coveted invention in supporting their cause. After a moment of consideration, she replied. "I'm going to try to get some information myself. I heard some rumors that left me concerned."

Linnea nodded her head lightly. "Do you want me to send a scouting party with you?" To which Esperia shook her head lightly. "No, I will be going alone this time. I have an idea in mind."

As she answered the woman Esperia turned her back toward the briefing room and left the scene, deciding to approach the outskirts of the third movement their encampment to do some investigating herself. She had a solid idea in mind, but for now she wanted to get confirmation about a certain thing that had been bothering her ever since she arrived at the encampment.

These rumors felt a bit out of place, or rather the idea of someone warping people around was a feat not many were capable of performing. As such she couldn't help but find herself wondering what exactly had led to this. Soon she arrived at the outskirt of the barricades that were set up as checkpoints leading toward the Fabricator.

For the time being she had kept her hood up, but once she joined the line and saw the guards approach her it was time to set her plan into motion. They likely never saw this coming...

WC: 300
Total WC: 550/1250

As expected the checkpoints were heavily guarded. Not only were there several guards stationed on the barricade, making a straight-up frontal assault a foolish idea since it would lead to reinforcements right away but there were also several guards, each responsible for checking the people that wanted access to the Fabricator.

There was no way she would be able to deceive them with a fabricated identity. Or perhaps there was no need for that? When it was finally her turn the guard stepped forward, holding some sort of device in his hand.

"Pass, and state your reason for visiting."

A hand raised toward her hood, slowly lowering it as she spread the pollen from Kama. "I came to the Fabricator in search for some work~ I heard that with the ongoing conflicts you're quite undermanned and overworked~"

The guard was clearly being affected by the pollen, having inhaled them already he was entirely oblivious as he lowered the device to his side. "Yeah, we been dealing with constant attacks and infiltration attempts... Which is why security is so tight."

Lifting her gaze Esperia forced herself to smile innocently as she took a step closer to the guard, gently trailing a finger along his chest. "I'm certain you must be quite stressed by that~ How about you let me take care of that? One of my field of expertise knows quite a few tricks to help tend to that."

The man's eyes softened in their gaze, as if something had changed when he looked at her face and after shooting a final glance at his comrades and back at her he turned toward the gatekeepers. "Open the gate and tell them to send a replacement, I need to have a more throughout inspection with this fair lady."

As the man said these words the gatekeepers started to open the door while the man escorted Esperia inside, leading her to overhear one of the guards mumbling. "For fuck's sake, I should have inspected her instead..."

WC: 300
Total WC: 850/1250

It didn't take long for the man to have led Esperia into what appeared to be a facility of some sort connected to the checkpoint. Once inside he guided her into a separate room and closed the door, taking a seat on the sofa that was there while Esperia sat down beside him.

"These attacks, are they frequent?"

The guard groaned in response. "Way too often, it's why we have so many shifts every day." The man's face flushed up lightly as he watched Esperia lean against him, although his gaze seemed quite fixated at a certain area. "Ah~ how often do you have to change shift then? I imagine it is quite annoying to have to work so much."

Fingers trailed as the man nodded his head firmly in response. "Exactly! Every two hours we got to report the current state of things, and we HAVE to do it or the alarms go off, and the ones who didn't report in get in some deep shit."

Esperia smiled briefly, a shift of her position and she was now straddling the man's waist. "I heard there has been a colleague of you causing quite a stir among the other factions? Something about him making people go poof?"

The guard frowned at these words. "You mean that mercenary guy? Yeah there been some guild mages who joined the loyalists. The particular guy has some crazy powers, pulling people in some sort of warp gate and dropping them in the most unholy places you can imagine! But why care about some random dude? You got a fine man right before you."

Esperia grinned at these words, gently grasping a hold of the man's hand and guiding it along. "Say~ do you have any way for me to visit you again~ I have to admit it is a bit annoying to stand in line~"

The man's face flushed red at the soft sensation in his hands. "Yeah... There is... a secret passageway... It's usually used for supply drops, there is a reinforced gate, but the code for accessing it is 3231... See the map on the table? It's the layout of this area, includes that passageway..."

Esperia moved closer and closer when all of a sudden, without a warning the man closed his eyes and started snoring?

Heaving a sigh of relief Esperia climbed off the sofa and grasped the map on the table. This little spying adventure had brought some great results for the third movement. But still...

"pfft~ you're a natural at this! Are you sure you're not a succubus? If I didn't sap his vitality you might had gone and woo-hoo-ed him."

Esperia glared at the ethereal Fae as she adjusted her clothing and grumbled softly. "If you're call me a whore one more time I'm gonna put you in a blender and spin it till you become Fairy dust..."

And leaving the snickering Fae behind Esperia proceeded to leave the sleeping guard behind, glad it had not escalated too far... Being a spy was serious business!

WC: 500
Total WC: 1250/1250