Neon Heat - Episode 2 - Best Friend, Loose End

Athena wraps up her tale of her flight from Caldonyx to Pahvi. She explains that she's been building a network on the surface, Pantheon, and working on developing her circlet to keep her mind safe from intrusion. Pahvi mentions she hasn't told anyone about the postcards that Athena had sent Pahvi on the anniversaries of her absence, but they did give her help. Pahvi had been looking for Athena for six years and kept hitting dead ends until a hacker named Thelassica contacted them with information. Thelassica has pictures and video of Athena's surface activities up to the last hour (including from Chazz Devlin's shuttering augmented eye, shortly before she met Pahvi in the alley). Thelassica sends: "Sloppy. This ones free.  You're welcome."

Pahvi gives Athena a quick politics update from within Caldonyx:


 * There's more surface presence in the city, OleraCorp helped Sato Novi obtain a council seat.
 * The Kassar has been elevated to a council member as well, the current Kassar is an Aspirant that Athena was a fan of back in the day, Magnitude Magnificent. Pahvi thinks she's doing a good job, and that she's kind.
 * Pahvi's cousin, Sekka Tohn, is also a council member now as the acting Baron of the Cald.

When Pahvi asks if Athena is coming back, Athena confirms that she is. She draws attention to her circlet, which she says is the reason she spent so long away. She manifested it, an ability she has as a Linked individual, as a mind defense augment. She's been spending her time on the surface up to this point using Pantheon to take jobs for corrupt and seedy people and deposing them. That's why she's after Dietrich Strickland, the information that Devlin had run off with was directly related to him. Strickland appears to be mixed up in drugs, arms, and slavery at the very least. Pavhi was sent on a Regulation mission to find out more about Dietrich Strickland and to find out how drugs are being moved in and out of the city. Thelassica reassigned her at the last minute so she could catch the train to the surface unimpeded and go find Athena, despite it being meant for an Inquisitor. Pahvi has reservations about being reassigned and hopes to bring back good news about Dietrich Strickland to massage the damage done by her leaving.

Athena cements her cover story with Pahvi that she, after they break into the compound and they take care of Strickland, she will pose as one of the slaves being held there. From there she would be taken into processing to explain her absence, saying that she was taken for her vocational training as a Siphon in Caldonyx's mines.

The duo leaves the garage and drive through Toshi to the city outskirts so Athena can say goodbye to her Pantheon partner and best friend since she came to the surface, Eisek Russo (codename Vulcan). Pahvi stays outside with the cycle as she goes upstairs, and she reveals by accident her real voice to him due to stress-brain. She'd mainly been keeping it up since she got to the surface in order to make it harder for people to ID her. He offers help when she tells him that she has to leave, but understands that this was bound to happen someday. She refuses the help, not wanting him to get involved in the situation. He thinks that's a dumb idea, but respects her decision. She tells him that she'll reach out to him as soon as things are settled, and leaves.

After driving halfway from Toshi to Olera, Pahvi veers the cycle off-road into the forest, and from there they approach the manor having obtained compound layouts from Thelassica. The dossier on Strickland reveals he's a low tier politician and businessman on the surface, but as an Ori man he's most likely a Linked individual. Athena confirms with Pahvi that she'll proceed home through the correct channels from the compound through processing once everything here is dealt with. Pahvi asks Athena if she's okay to do this, after saying goodbye. Athena assures her that she'll be fine if she stays in motion. They sneak over the wall and into the manse proper by picking through a window into a storeroom. They find many (no doubt illegally) exported delicacies from Caldonyx in the storeroom (including knuckle meat from a kaida claw, mundu, keltuce, and conkshrooms), cementing ties to the city. Pahvi is incensed by the gall of this and her throat rattle goes off, and she unhinges her Nahkiir jaw to eat some of the raw kaida meat to punctuate her point. Athena and Pahvi then make their way through the kitchen while a news report about an OleraCorp/Sato Novi merger plays, and as it does they are noticed and caught by the chef. He decides he has more important things to do than look into them with a bluff from Athena aiding their stealth. Upon emerging into the gaudily decorated foyer there are several guards gambling with Cubes (the main currency within Caldonyx, made of depleted Kori crystal husks), before they spot the two intruders and make to attack.

Athena unleashes a gout of flame towards the main group of guards, and unintentionally catching the room on fire. Pahvi follows a fleeing guard up the stairs, with Athena on her heels up the spiral staircase as smoke begins to rise. They barrel through the last resistance, arriving at a fine set of double doors, which they kick down together and rush inside.