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Feo sat, slumped in a chair in a lab near where she had dived the Sarek'pa. Once the fiasco with the body had died down, she had retreated to the quiet of an empty lab to try to process what had happened. On the terminal in front of her, her AIs were analysing the information they had gathered from the brain of the machine, while she fingered the flared cuffs of her shirt. Something about that encounter didn't quite feel right, but it wasn't anything that she could point to, nor something she could quantify.

Her thoughts drifted to Sam, towards the inescapable feelings of familiarity she had when with him. She was absolutely sure that she had never met him before, and vice versa, but why did he remind her of Elansi, of all people?

She reached into her shirt and pulled out her amulet, rubbing a thumb lightly over it as she thought. At her touch, the engraved face of the amulet began glowing, before it started projecting a hologram of two Aeteri. One was unmistakably Feo, with her red-tipped ears and golden arms. The other was grey-furred, with soft pink ears. They were both smiling happily and hugging, and as the holographic image slowly rotated, Feo's replica leaned in to kiss the other on the cheek.

Feo sighed and let the amulet drop back to her chest, brushing away the dewdrops of glistening tears from her eyes as the image faded away.

“Feo? I think we might have something," Ela said quietly, pulling Feo away from her thoughts. She shook herself back to reality and glanced at her AI gathered around the analysis results.

“We were confused as to how this virus spread through the Sarek'pa without arousing suspicion, and we think we might have the answer…" she continued, pulling up a holographic schematic, before highlighting a module buried deep in its brain, “It appears the virus infiltrated the Sarek'pa disguised as a software update, which then laid dormant until triggered."

Feo fell silent for a moment as she thought, before she brought up a new screen, “I'm gunna see if there's any residual signature trace to give us an indication of where it was sent from. Ela, can you give me a hand?"

As she tapped away at the terminal, her brow furrowed as she studied the results of her scans as she performed them. After a few minutes, she sat back with an exasperated sigh, “Well, it entered the exonet from the Zeroeth Planetary Relay, but that's all I can really tell. We might be able learn more if we had access to their archives, but we can't do that from here…"

She called up the comm system and immediately called up the High Admiral. She saluted when he responded, “Sir, I believe I have something," she began, sending him a copy of everything she had discovered.

He frowned a little as he looked it over, before looking up at Feo gravely.

“You're sure this is accurate?" he asked quietly, to which Feo just nodded.

He fell quiet, processing this new information for himself, “Very well. I'll inform the Elders myself, I want you to get ready for an immediate departure. We're already almost two millennia late, I don't want to fall any further behind," he said, before saluting, “Good luck, Captain!".

Minutes later, Feo had packed up and was making her way back through the corridors of the building. But far from aiming for the exit, the Aeteri made her way deeper into the complex. Here, the corridors were narrower, the lights dimmer, but she still kept up her speed until she came to a door with a number of glyphs overhead. It opened as she moved towards it, revealing a smaller reception area with a bored-looking pewter-grey and orange Aeteri reclined behind a desk.

When he saw Feo walk in, he grumbled a little and sat up properly in his chair, “Name, rank, and purpose for visit?" he queried, looking supremely disinterested in even being there.

Feo rolled her eyes at him, “Nice to see you too, Yuranda," she replied, to which he just replied with a scowl. She sighed and shook her head, “Asilion, Feopre. Captain. Refit for infiltration chassis."

He raised an eyebrow at her, “That's what you want, yes, but do you have a reason?" he asked, frowning at her.

“Classified," she replied, responding to his frown with one of her own.

“Captain, I have the highest security clearance possible, so either you can tell me, or I can bring the High Admiral down," he countered, glaring at her.

She smirked, “Oh please, you don't. You intelligence types think you have rights to every bit of information… If you want to pull the HA from an important council meeting, be my guest. But this is classified as Senlok, need to know only. And quite frankly, you don't need to know."

He growled darkly at her, before relenting and jabbing a thumb at the door next to the desk, “Fine, go ahead. But I'll be bringing up your disrespect to your superiors."

Feo snickered as she walked towards the door, “Frankly, I think they'd tell you to switch into a battle chassis, 'cause you really need to harden up!"

He stared at her, his maw agape in disbelief that she would dare say that to him, but before he had time to formulate a reply, she had already walked past him and out of the room.

Feo chuckled a little to herself as she made her way into what initially appeared to be a large, expansive workshop. Around the walls were a number of snow-white Aeteri, but they were absolutely motionless, completely lifeless. In the centre of the room sat an Aeteri who's fur was covered in coloured splotches of every conceivable hue. Well, the parts that weren't covered by the lab coat he was wearing, at least. He had his back to the door and was sitting at a desk while he fiddled away with something.

Feo cleared her throat to catch his attention, to which he immediately spun around, clutching a visor of some kind in one hand, while the other was holding a tool. He smiled widely at her and stood up, “Ah, Feo!" he exclaimed happily, “So good to see you again! How are your hacking systems holding up?"

She chuckled a little as she walked over, embracing him warmly, “They're just fine, Novilian. Actually saved my life in my last mission."

He let her go and tapped his chin as he looked at her, “Hmm, you took some damage too, it seems," he commented thoughtfully.

Feo shrugged a little, “Yeah, plasma blast to the shoulder. Armour stopped most of it, but it still managed to penetrate."

“Damage?" he queried

Feo leaned against the wall as her AIs popped into existence around her, “What would you say, Mar? Hard EM damage to the long-range communication systems, minor damage to the shoulder joint and related muscles. Oh, and a minor EM knockout event, almost forgot about that…"

Novilian glanced at her, then to her AIs, before tutting softly and approaching with a new tool. “Strip," he instructed.

Feo sighed and removed her jacket and shirt, placing them on the bench next to her. Only her amulet was left on as Novilian held the device up to her left shoulder, which elicited a soft chuckle from the vixen, “Other shoulder, Novi," she commented, to which he just waved a paw.

“I know that, missy," he said sternly, “The patch job Raalic did has served well enough, but I'm concerned about what kind of lasting effects that EM damage will have on you."

She chuckled softly as Novilian switched shoulders, to which he muttered a little to himself. After a moment, he pulled away and looked at her sternly, “Frankly, I'd recommend a full strip and refit until I can get this body back to 100%."

He sighed a little, “But I know you're not likely going to agree, so give me a minute to fix the worst of the damage."

Feo grabbed his shoulder as he turned back to get his tools, startling him a little, “Actually, that's the reason I'm here. I need to switch into an infiltrator chassis as soon as possible for my next mission, can you help with that?"

Novilian's face cracked into a wide smile, “It would be my pleasure, Feo!" he exclaimed as he ushered her into the middle of the room, “Do you have a species preference?"

Feo thought for a moment as Novilian pressed a button at his desk, causing the bodies around the walls to vanish, only to be replaced by ones of many different species, all of them as white as the snow on the surface of Kaara.

Feo hummed softly to herself as she strode around the room, before stopping in front of an Eoburus, a feline. Novilian nodded, “So, Eoburus it is! Give me maybe ten minutes to install a cyberwarfare suite for you and to get it prepped. While you're gone I'll work on your normal chassis, get it back up to snuff, you know? I know how much you prefer it, considering how long you've had it for."

Feo nodded, “Sounds good," she said as she walked over to one of the terminals in one of the corners of the room, still bare-chested, “I guess I'll take the time to do a backup and get ready for the transfer."

Novilian glanced over at her, “Did you want similar dimensions to your current chassis?" he asked as he tapped a small panel next to the Eoburus body.

Feo looked up at him, half-way through plugging into the terminal, “Yeah, that would be great, thanks. I'd rather not have to try to find too many new clothes, you know?"

He chuckled heartily, “Oh, no, I completely agree. I'll be done in ten minutes, don't wander off, alright?"

Those ten minutes passed in what honestly felt like a few seconds to Feo. At Novilian's instructions, she had grabbed her clothes and moved into a smaller room off to the side. This room looked very similar to the lab she had been in earlier that day, when she dived the Sarek'pa, but this time, what she was about to do was far different.

As she placed her clothes on a bench off to the side, she slipped off her pants too, leaving her clad only in her fur. She stretched her legs, canine in appearance and finally unobscured by clothing, before reverently taking off her amulet and placing it on top of the pile of clothes.

She turned back to face the chairs in the centre of the room, upon one now sat a motionless Eoburus. She walked over and gently brushed a paw over its cheek, smiling a little at how her markings matched Feo's perfectly. She glanced up at Novilian beside her, who was looking incredibly proud of himself.

“I took the liberty of using your current marking pattern as a base, I hope that's alright?" he asked, already knowing the answer and smirking a little to himself.

Feo smiled a little and sat down in the free chair, pulling her hair out of the way as Novilian plugged in a familiar three-pronged, triangular cable to the back of her neck. She sighed quietly as she laid back on the cool metal of the chair, before folding her paws over her chest and closing her eyes.

“Alright, I'm ready to begin the consciousness transfer, Feo. Can I get a confirmation from you and your AIs that you're ready?" Novilian asked, tapping away at the holographic screen hovering between the two chairs.

“Feopre Asilion, confirming consciousness transfer," she called out, before her AIs followed suit.

“Sen!"

“Ela!"

“Mar!"

“Confirming transfer!" they called out in unison, to which Novilian chuckled a little.

He continued tapping away, “Now then, Feo, I'll be initiating transfer momentarily. It'll be over in a flash!"

Novilian paused for a moment, before lightly resting a paw on Feo's shoulder, “And done!"

Feo opened her eyes and slowly sat up, blinking a little in surprise. She looked down at her paws, and while they had the same markings as what she usually had, their shape was completely different to what she was used to; instead of three short digits and a thumb, like most Aeteri, she had a second thumb on the other side of her paw, one of the more unusual aspects of an Eoburus' biology. She glanced to her left, expecting to see Novilian, but saw nothing but empty air. When she heard a soft chuckle behind her, she spun around to her right to see the Aeteri smirking a little.

“The confusion is normal, remember, Feo?" he asked, as she pivoted so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, before reaching up to rub at her head.

“Ugh, yeah, I guess I forgot… Shows how long it's been since I've body jumped, huh?" she mumbled softly and slowly, getting used to how words now felt in her new mouth.

She gingerly got to her feet, her long, thin tail behind her swaying slowly to help her keep balance as she adjusted to her new body. As she slowly walked around to the other chair, a little unsteadily thanks to feet that were an entirely different shape than she was used to, she gazed down upon her old body, lying there, looking for all the world to be merely asleep. She smiled and rubbed at its shoulder, before glancing over at her clothes.

Her AIs popped up into her vision, still looking the same as always as they beamed at her, “We're all ready to go, Feo!" Sen exclaimed happily, “All systems are back online and fully active!"

Feo nodded a little as she returned her amulet to its place on her chest, before quickly pulling on her pants. She was in the middle of pulling on her shirt before she glanced around, noticing that the room had once again fallen deserted. Novilian had vanished along with Feo's old chassis, leaving her alone in the room.

Feo blinked for a moment in surprise, before chuckling softly and shaking her head; that was completely like him to vanish on her like that.

Half an hour later, Feo was walking back to her apartment complex, having stopped by the genetics labs to check up on Sam. Sadly, by the time she had gotten back, almost an hour at this point from when she had left, he had already been taken away. She left a few instructions for what would happen to him after he woke up and boarded the nearest tram back to the residential district.

She was so lost in her own thoughts, that before she knew it, she was standing in front of her apartment. She dug around in her pockets for her keycard, but before she could pull it out, she heard a noise from inside. She cocked her head to one side, unsure if it was just a figment of her imagination, but when it came again, followed by an annoyed grunt, she frowned.

“Mar, access security systems, see if you can get a bead on what's going on in there," she whispered, to which her red hued AI nodded and winked out of existence.

Barely a second later, she reappeared again, “Feo, I had no problems getting in, but something seems to be wrong with the feed…"

Feo raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?" she asked, “Show me."

Mar obliged and opened a few windows, showing a live feed from the cameras inside her apartment. Well, they would be, if they weren't being covered by some kind of film, causing everything to be blurred out beyond recognition.

Feo glanced between Mar and her other AIs, “Well then… Any suggestions?" she queried, still keeping her voice low.

Sen, sitting on top of the card reader beside the door, just shrugged, “Direct approach?" she offered, to which Mar and Ela both reluctantly nodded their heads.

“It's probably our best shot, to be honest," Ela added, reclining, in mid-air, against the frame of the door.

Feo sighed and grumbled a little to herself, before readying herself and opening the door. She leapt inside with a loud shout, intending to surprise whoever was inside, but found herself surprised instead at the sight of the two vastly different figures in her living room.

The first, reclined on her couch, was a matte-black Serani. He was large, but not enough that it would draw attention instantly. He had a pair of white bands in his fur around his wrists, and his glowing green eyes, which had previously been focussed on the holographic display in front of him, had dropped down to level at Feo.

Behind him, a small, white Quanoci was pacing back and forth in front of the window, muttering softly to himself and wringing his hands. His arms changed from about the elbow down from a snowy-white, to an ash-grey colour, and at the sound of the door opening, he nervously glanced up. He looked at Feo for a split second, before resuming his pacing and muttering.

Both of them were wearing full-length, body-tight black shirts, like the kind worn by military personnel under their uniforms. Their pants and boots were a match too.

And in an instant, who they were clicked in her head.

The Serani slowly stood up, towering above Feo by a head or two at least, his arms crossed as he glared at Feo, “It's not like the infamous 'Shadow' to be late…" he said in a low, slow voice.

The door closed behind Feo, but she replied with only a smirk, “Well, well, well… Kanire Frion. The Geist. Don't you have a scared little girl to be looking after?"

Kanire's muzzle split into a grin, “What do you think I'm doing here?" he replied, mirth sparkling in his eyes.

Before Feo could respond, however, the head of a dark brown Ilfemyoo popped its head around the corner from the kitchen in surprise, “Feo!" he exclaimed, running over and hugging her tightly, “When we heard the news from Hiebova, we were quite worried, weren't we, Kanire?"

The Serani sniggered a little, “No, that was only you, Zarpa…" he commented, eliciting a dismissive smirk from the Ilfemyoo.

“Oh, you wouldn't believe how beside himself with worry he was for you!" Zarpa exclaimed.

Feo chuckled quietly, “Well, it would fit you to a tee, Kanire," she teased, before blinking for a moment and glancing at Zarpa, “Err, what were you doing in my kitchen?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, “Hungry… Why don't you have any food in there, Feo?"

Feo raised an eyebrow, “Zarpa, we're androids. We don't get hungry!"

Zarpa looked at Feo for a moment, confused, before glancing away, “Right! I knew that!"

Feo just shook her head in bemusement, before walking over to where the Quanoci was staring out the window, looking down at the bustling city below.

“Horon?" she asked quietly, reaching out to rest a paw on his shoulder.

He was quiet for a moment, still wringing his hands while muttering under his breath, before looking up at her, “Captain. Don't like city, don't like cameras. Need to leave…" he muttered quickly, causing Feo to cast him a confused glance.

“Leave? Leave where, Horon?"

Kanire cleared his throat softly behind them, to which Feo spun around and looked at him, “You didn't honestly think you're going to slip away in the night again, do you Feo?"

Feo blinked in surprise, glancing between her oldest friends and squadmates, “But it's going to be incredibly dangerous!" she warned, glancing around, “There's no telling what I'm going to be facing!"

Zarpa smirked from over near the kitchen, “Like that's new to us, Feo. We're the Nova Squad, for crying out loud! This is what we were born to do! And you can't do it alone, no matter how much you want to protect us."

Feo growled, “That's not what I-"

Kanire interjected before she could finish her sentence, “Feo, we've known you almost as long as you've known yourself. We're a team, don't we get a say in this?"

Feo threw up her hands in disbelief, “So you'd disobey a direct order, because you think you know better?"

A small, halting voice from behind her cut Feo off before she could continue speaking, “Y-yes, Captain, we would…"

Feo whirled around to see Horon staring at her intently, something that disconcerted her a little, if she was honest with herself.

“C-captain, we've been with you for close to two millennia, now. What m-makes you think we'd let you face all the danger alone?" Horon said softly.

Feo took a few steps back to look at her team in its entirety, “And you're sure about this?" she queried, glancing between them all, to which they all just replied with nods.

She sighed and shook her head, “Fine…" she grumbled, slumping down on her couch, “What do you know so far?"

An hour later, Feo finished recounting her tale to her squad, all of them now sitting on the couch around the holographic display and wearing concerned expressions. Zarpa glanced at Feo, “I know you’ve already checked, but you’re sure this is correct? Basing all of this off of a single decommissioned Sarek’pa found in the wastes of a long-destroyed colony?”

Feo snorted in amusement, “Well, I was able to activate it and verify that it was uncorrupted,”

Kanire blanched, “Feo, that was an incredibly stupid move, what would you have done if it tried to attack you?”

Feo rolled her eyes, “Send a power surge through its control systems and shoot it in the neck to disable it. I appreciate the concern, but I wasn’t being reckless about it.”

Zarpa snickered from where he was sitting, cross legged, opposite her, “That’s a first…”

Feo shot him a glare, but they both knew that there was no malice behind it. She glanced between her squadmates, “Any questions? Concerns? Points to make?”

Kanire shrugged, “When do we leave?”

Feo replied with a chuckle, “I haven’t even started packing yet,” she commented, before shaking her head in bemusement, “Tomorrow, 0900 KST, bay Saro-5.”