Welcome to the Omniverse, Claire Ferguson

[Blink]

The Mystical Worlds Museum lived up to the hype that Claire had built up for it in her head. She envisioned something like an art gallery, with rich spectators gazing over things they couldn't have and probably only partially understood. There were glass cases covering confusing-looking artifacts, pictures and paintings on the walls and even sculptures hanging from the ceiling. Blink herself felt like she fit right in as they walked in through the front door, scanning their tickets they just bought outside on the way through. Her bright green outfit over fuschia skin made her look distinguished, even the truth was far from it. Other customers at the museum had similar extremes, such as a tiny blue man in a white beanie, or a strange smiling man with a green face. Unfortunately, not everyone could fit into the environment. Not Rufus.

"At what point did you think a wife-beater was the right call for fancy-museum day?" Blink asked the bald man wearing the stained white tank top. They were walking past the entrance security checkpoint and just meeting back up after an annoying stop to get frisked.

Rufus looked completely out of place in this high class atmosphere, yet he personally didn't seem to be bothered at all. "What's wrong with a wife-beater?" he asked, and Blink actually believed he genuinely meant the question. "It fits, doesn't it?"

"Barely," she answered honestly.

Rufus grunted, uninterested, in response. He led them to the right, towards the stairs. "C'mon, the orb is up here."

"Hold on, I wanna look at this...thing." She tugged his bulky, exposed arm over towards one of the exhibits. It was the first of many artifacts in the 'Weapons' section of the museum. It looked to be an old, rust-covered gun, but it had a newer-looking blade attached to the underside. The information panel listed the gun as a 'Lancer.' Looking over at Rufus, he seemed to appreciate that they were stopping to admire the 'art', but Blink really didn't care much about it. She had an ulterior motive for stopping here. "You like it?"

The bulky man nodded his head. "You can't really beat putting a chainsaw on a gun. Whoever actually wields that thing is a pretty dangerous guy, if he's still around the Omniverse." Rufus' eyes drifted to the left, to the stairs again. "We need to go scout out the orb so you can make portals around it."

Blink gave him a stern look. "I'm aware." Obviously she knew what they were doing there. She was supposed to be mapping the place out in her head so she could teleport around the museum for their heist job. But that was only her secondary goal. After all, it was something that happened automatically in her head when she arrived in new places. Her real plan was to get into Rufus' head. Find out exactly what they were doing there. What he was doing there. "What's your story, Rufus?"

"Same story as everyone else here," Rufus answered, disinterested. "I showed up, confused. I fought people. Won some fights. Lost some fights." Blink frowned a bit at his refusal to elaborate on his words. "Now I'm here." He began to walk away, guiding her towards the stairs. Blink swiftly followed behind.

"So why are you doing his Freedom Fighters thing? To make a difference?" She was asking almost sarcastically, but it wasn't like that would have been a terrible answer.

"Keeps me busy," he told her simply. "It's not like I'm doing anything else worth my time. May as well do this."

The duo began to head upstairs towards the second level of the Mystical Worlds Museum. The section that greeted them was labeled as 'featured exhibits.' She could see different types of artifacts, all in strange shapes and sizes. She didn't need to go far to see her goal: the Orb of Horace was featured prominently in the center of the exhibit floor, right in front of the stairway. It was almost as if the museum was asking for it to be stolen. It had to have been the most public spot in the museum with which to taunt potential thieves. "So here it is, huh?" she asked rhetorically. They worked their way past a small crowd to post themselves at a velvet rope fencing off the perimeter of the glass case. It was a metallic-looking sphere, with a strange green energy oozing from opening slivers around the exterior. It definitely gave off an aura of importance. "Why do you guys want this thing, exactly?"

"Vendetta told you already," Rufus grunted down at her. "To help us put up a fight against the Coruscant government when it abuses it's power for the top tier citizens."

"I know why Vendetta wants it. Why do you want it? What's your personal stake here?"

Rufus chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought of answer. She could tell she was making him uncomfortable with her questions, which was okay by her. "I don't have one," he admitted. "I owe a lot to Vendetta since I've been here. Him and T have been good to me. Haven't steered me wrong yet."

"I don't know them like you do," Blink admitted. She nodded her head toward the orb. "But we're putting a lot of faith in them to put this cube thing in their hand and assume they'll use it right."

The balded goatee'd man glanced down at the shorter girl with a squinty glare, clearly not appreciating whatever she was trying to hint. "If you got something to say, Pinky, say it."

She turned so her back was to the orb, and her green eyes could scan the room for security personnel. The truth was, she trusted Rufus. He seemed to be the honest muscle who was just following what he was told to do. She didn't get the impression that he was involved in the planning operation, and that meant he likely wasn't involved in it's motive. He was probably just as oblivious as she was. The only difference, was she was skeptical enough to go into it with a suspicious mind. "If we do this, and something does wrong. If it goes sideways and someone does something they aren't supposed to...that's on you. On us. We have to know we're doing the right thing."

Rufus gave her another glare and then turned to walk away from her. She reached up and grab his arm with one hand, forcing him to stop and turn back to her.

"I didn't come to this city just to start a war. Your guys better be doing this for the right reasons. Or they'll answer to me."

"I hear you, Pinky." She was surprised by his response. It was much more supportive that she anticipated. But he nodded his head at her, corrected the squint in his brown eyes and looked up at the orb in front of them. "I hear you." He nudged himself away from her and walked off towards a hallway, presumably to resume scouting.

Blink glanced over at the orb they were supposed to be stealing soon. She let out a sigh, unsure if she was making the right call...and walked away.