"I take it that your mission did not go as smoothly as expected?" You ask, tossing a bottle of water and an unused shirt to Lily.
"Nuh-uh." She agrees with a pout.
Eyeing how unaffected she looks considering the extensive injuries, you ask, "Does that not hurt?"
"Kinda." Lily shrugs, not seeming too interested in explaining. "It hurts really bad, but not really. I don't feel stuff like I used to."
"A flaw in how your soul interacts with that body, I suppose. Not that it would prove too difficult to rectify, but it might be more beneficial to leave it be in the event that something like this occurs in the future." You theorize, earning another shrug as she does her best to scrub off dried 'blood' around her relatively rapidly healing wounds. Snapping to get her attention, you ask sternly, "How exactly did you receive such injuries when I distinctly recall sending Ruby alone?"
You would much rather not have Raymond wasting time to complain that his progeny was put in such danger. Doubly so since there was nothing but 'flesh wounds' and it wasn't your fault. Were the child anything but that, you would be more concerned with the insubordination.
Unsurprisingly, she pouts, "I just wanted to hang out with my friend."
It wouldn't have worked on you anyway, but it certainly doesn't help her cause that one of her cheeks is split open to expose teeth.
"That does not absolve you. Did you tell anyone where you we going? Did you ask for permission? What if you got lost or died again, how do you think your father would feel."
A strange giggle bursts out from the other girl's lips and she belatedly covers her mouth. Eyeing her warily, not forgetting how potentially dangerous the small child is, you take the bucket from the hand that isn't stifling laughter and give her time to collect herself. Eventually she snaps out of it and at least has the grace to look embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. It's just..." Ruby pauses to run her hands through her short hair. "We're on the moon, there's an ocean of horrifying black muck filled with Grimm, and... and..."
Whatever she intended to say, it never came. Instead, the girl sank down to the floor and hugged her knees. Her mumbled words were something along the lines of 'how can they be here too' and 'we're never going to win' repeated over and over. Clearly Ruby has had a rough day.
Knocking her out with a sudden kick to the side of her head that sent her skull bouncing off the wall, you heal her with a spell as Lily just gapes.
"She was having a panic attack, it was for her own good." You assure the astounded experiment. "Now, can you explain what your friend was babbling about?"
While you started testing small amounts of the mystery liquid, Lily reluctantly detailed their little escapade. Beyond a few key points and the humorous fact that Ruby nearly lost herself in space when trying to use her Semblance, it wasn't too terribly interesting. Apparently the ocean referenced was in fact the gouged out portion of the planetoid. Somehow edges of the floating masses that were in shadows were constantly dripping the thick fluid, slowly filling the massive crater.
The presence of Grimm inside and around this ocean is much more concerning than its mere existence. You'd hoped that whatever had attacked Lily had been an animal. Grimm just aren't worth killing other than for self-defense, not leaving useful components and having an unknown bond to that Salem woman; an entity that might not be pleased with her minions being killed. You would still kill them if necessary, but it'd be better if it wasn't... an unlikely scenario considering the sheer number of them that must be scant miles from where your base is being built. Moving locations wouldn't help matters either, as almost half the moon was counted among the shattered portion.
At least the girls don't appear to have drawn attention to the ship, else you'd have noticed an attack by now.
On a not quite as bleak note, the liquid itself is mildly interesting. Knowing that it is linked in some way to the creatures so offensive to Hircine, you aren't dumb enough to try the usual taste test... that bore too high potential as suicide even if the substance itself didn't kill you. Rather, you ran it through every processing tool available, finding that it almost willingly condenses into a more potent form that of tar-like consistency.
Unfortunately, that was the point where it started to move on its own and leapt into the rest that remained in the bucket. Erring on the side of caution, you proceeded to incinerate the entire mass. Hopefully killing what was likely a proto-Grimm before it could fully form was enough to prevent it from letting any others or Salem herself know where you are, but it also means that you are out of samples to test.
Choose:
[] Make sure the Gravity Dust is reinstalled and-
-[] Test the Oblivion Travel.
-[] Preemptively bombard the Ocean of Darkness.
[] Recall to the mine with the portal gate.
[] Use Summer to tell Yang to prepare to be summoned. Somebody besides just Lily needs to tend to her sister and it isn't going to be you.
[] Go gather some more Grimm ooze.
[] Write in.
