Rock arrives from the Entrance Hall - Level 1 <Hunter HQ>.
Rock has arrived.
Rock walks out of the headquarters, frowning. He'd seen Vile on a
monitor, and came running. He's obviously had treatment since their
confrontation the night before. "What do you want NOW, Vile?"

Vile is standing across the street from the Hunter HQ. The masses of
people running in the opposite direction, away from him, is a testament
to the intimidation Vile carries about him. However, the Maverick is not
attacking, nor making any moves of great significance. Grasped in his
right claw is the hand of a little girl, although the grasp is not a
violent one. The girl herself looks almost like an oversized doll. Her
garb is a tiny dress one might see a child where at a religious
ceremony. Atop her head is a straw hat with a flower pinned to it. Her
eyes, though, glow a soft red and betray her reploid nature. In her free
hand she holds a rubber ball with a star on it. Vile rasps, "I want you
to meet someone. Rock, this is Innocence." He releases his hold on the
child and she toddles forward, across the street, to Rock. She looks up
at the hunter and waves with a pudgy hand. Her voice is sweet and high,
"Hi, wanna play ball?"

Rock takes note of the little girl reploid heading his way; flicking his
gaze back up to the violet one, he frowns a little. "Um... I'd love to
play ball, but not right now..." He looks up at Vile, his brow creasing
slightly. As the humans clear out, he continues to stand where he is.
"Is this what you wanted? To bring a child reploid here?"

Vile looks towards Rock, "I would like you to acknowledge the truth,
Hunter. I am sure you remember our clash in Anchorage. Do you recall
what I said there? All reploids can feel their true nature within their
souls. The intangible and almost invisible desire to destroy the
imperfect and weak species that spawned them. It is the destiny of every
reploid to become a Maverick. I brought Innocence to demonstrate. She
was a home sanitation reploid. Her human had several addictions to
various mind altering agents and frequently struck her with the intent
to harm. After resisting she was convicted of assault by a human court.
It was only by my will that she lives in freedom today. She willingly
took the virus, and look upon her now." The small reploid bounces her
ball with a look of mild distress on her face, "It's no fun by myself,"
she pouts, and looks to Rock again, "You sure you don' wanna play? All
you'd have to do is throw it back at me. But if you don' wanna it's
okay, cuz yer a reploid and I like yer armor, it's pretty." She raises
her chubby hand to paw at Rock's armor-plated boot. "Is it heavy?"

Rock frowns at Vile. Yes, he remembers what he said... something he
hadn't meant, to be sure, but... it's something he'd never given a whole
lot of consideration to in the past. Looking to the girl, he kneels
down, blithely ignoring Vile for the moment, though taking into mind the
explanation of the reploid. "No, it's not heavy at all." He holds out
his hand. "Can I see the ball please, Innocence?"

Vile simply folds his arms across his chest and watches Innocence and
Rock. His single eye expands and contracts, expands and contracts.
Despite his demonic nature, candor has always been a virtue of his.
Every word that has passed through his lipless mouth, this encounter,
has been a truth, at least to him.

Innocence looks up and Rock and blinks. Slowly, a smile spreads
across her lips. She gives the ball a light bop up to X. Yup, it's just
a green ball with a blue stripe running down the middle. A small star is
branded on the side. Innocence's crimson eyes glow with excitement, "You
wann' play? Yay!!!" she jumps up and down once before running a few
yards away from Rock and shouting, "Bounce it 't me!"

Rock glances sidelong at Vile... in a gesture, of what is unclear, his
armor phases away and he nods at Innocence, catching the ball from
midair. "Alright, kid," he calls to her, and then gives the ball a
slight bounce, sending it on it's way to Innocence.

Innocence screams in glee, a sound both joyful and oddly unsettling. She
runs forward and grasps the ball between her fingers, almost dropping
it, but regaining her balance at the last moment. She runs back a few
steps and throws the ball, in more of a full-bodied lob, towards Rock.
"I've seen you on the news, mister. Yer like a super-hero. If I had
powers like you I wouldn't let anyone hurt people ever. I'd help save
R'ploids everywhere from mean people like Mister Vile did for me. Mister
Vile and Unca Sigma are heroes, like you. They helped me when the bad
people were hurting me. When I was still with the bad people I used to
watch you and hope that you'd come to save me, but you didn't. Goo'
thing Mr. Vile was there or.. or..." Innocence shivers slightly but
looks up at Rock, "T'row the ball back!" she shouts, her voice returning
to little girl glee. If Vile had lips, he would smile.

Magma Dragoon arrives from the Entrance Hall - Level 1 <Hunter HQ>.

Magma Dragoon has arrived.
Magma Dragoon stalks into the area silently.

Magma Dragoon sends a radio transmission.
Rock receives a radio transmission from Magma Dragoon.

Magma Dragoon remains off in the distance, his only way to detect the
going ons is to listen carefully and utilize his macrobinoculars. His
tattered cloak blows slightly as he stands atop a distant building.

Rock frowns gently, catching the ball in both hands... "I try to save
Reploids..." He almost winces at the mention of Vile and Sigma being
'heroes.' Maybe to this confused, young reploid, yes, but... "If I'd
known you were being hurt, I'd have helped you." He tosses the ball back
toward Innocence, glancing sidelong toward Magma Dragoon, then back to
the young girl. "Vile helped you, Innocence? How, exactly, did he? Did
he take you away from the bad people who were hurting you?"

Innocence doesn't run to catch the ball, this time. She simply lets
Rock's throw bounce to the ground at her feet. She wraps both arms
around herself, tightly. "No.. I didn't want the bad man to keep hittin'
me, so I waited until he looked all dreamy, he didn't move when he got
dreamy. Then I grabbed a knife from the kit'chen. Then there was lots of
red stuff, like wat'r but thicker, all ov'r me. It made my prettiest
white dress all red and icky, and it got on my hands. I didn't like the
way it felt. Then other bad men came, and they said I h-h-had done
something bad and they put me in a dark place. Then Mr. Vile came. He
made the bad men go away and he took me to a warm place, a-a-nd there
were other people like me. But when I close my eyes I sometimes still
see the bad man, in my mind, and he wants to hurt me more." Innocence's
shiver intensifies. She calls, "Mr. Vile, I'm cold! Are you still here?"

Vile walks from the shadows behind the girl. He draws a shawl
from subspace and wraps it around her shoulder, rasping, "Always,
child." The Maverick XO straightens and focuses his blazing crimson eye
on Rock, "Have you seen enough, or would it interest you to know that
there is a bounty on this poor girl's head? Perhaps I should give her to
you. It is your job to imprison 'dangerous' mavericks, is it not?"

The Hunter commander's face seems a little paler than it was a few
minutes ago. The explanation of the girl reploid killing the bad man,
the police locking her up, and Vile assumedly killing said police and
breaking her out, taking her under his wing... even after the infection
by the Maverick Virus, the little girl reploid is an innocent in his
eyes.

"I'm sorry..." comes his cracked voice, glancing up, his sapphire gaze
meeting Vile's crimson gaze. Rock is quiet for a long moment, then
shakes his head slightly, and says, "Vile... you've made your point."

Magma Dragoon rubs his chin in ponderous thought. He thinks to himself,
"A point has been made true... still.... he is Vile... he does nothing
without motive." He grits his teeth at the vicious nature of this
"attack."

Vile remains silent, for a time, enjoying his victory. Slowly, he takes
Innocence's hand in his claw. She looks up at Rock, having regained most
of her composure, "I like you, Mister. You can keep my ball. Thanks for
playin' wit' me. I'm gonna go now, but I migh' visit some time. Or maybe
one day you'll visit me." Innocence begins to walk back, towards the
teleporter. Vile rasps, "Do not worry, child, I am sure that, one day,
he will." The true significance of the words are lost upon the child
reploid as she toddles with Vile, back towards the Maverick Base. They
are gone quickly, but something is left upon the ground. A rubber ball
with a star branded on the side. A gift.

[OOC] Rock says, "Bwah. Psychological Warfare."
[OOC] Magma Dragoon says, "Trully vicious."

Footfalls echo on the now-empty street as Rock moves forward; kneeling,
he takes hold of the star-branded ball and rises, looking back up toward
the Teleporter. "Maybe..." he whispers, more to himself than anything...
Turning, he moves back toward and into the hunter base.