Robin is distracted by his conversation with Caine - he can only focus so much, he's new at this - but he catches Medani, whatever that means, and 'friend', though not what that thought is aimed at. He also catches the fear of mind wipes, though has no idea how he'd go about doing that, and then the fear almost overwhelms him. 

When the shifter runs, he's a bit too distracted by the blood pouring from his nose to pursue.

Jamie turns to help Robin immediately, deeming his well-being more important than the escaping shifter. Erin joins them, pulling out the vial of liquid the synthesizer had made at the house earlier and brandishing it and the hypospray at Robin, who nods rapidly. 

Caine, however, attempts to pursue, but the shifter escapes the alley before he can get a grip on him. He dashes out into the street, racing after the fleeing man-shaped being with all the intent of a wolfhound. He's only a few meters behind him, and getting closer.

The shifter is looking back at him.

Which is not the most tactically sound decision, since the shifter runs straight into a lamp post. It finally makes a proper sound with his mouth, which is a groan of pain.

When it turns around the head is slightly dented. Not inhumanly so, but noticeably so. And the being quickly recovers from the impact and runs until he finds another alley.

Caine will be just in time to spot the once again liquid shifter going through a manhole.

Once applied, the hypospray stops the bleeding.

He stills with his hand on the brick corner turning into the alley, watching the last of the silvery substance fall through the holes. He frowns lightly, and then turns to make his way back to the others. 

When he reaches them, Erin is just packing away the last of the equipment in her backpack. Robin and Jamie both eye the states of their shirts - the former's covered in blood, and the latter's in some black gunk that it had picked up off the ground. Neither looks happy about them. After a moment, Jamie shrugs and slings the shirt over his shoulder, while Robin turns his attention to Caine. 

 "The - thing? Shapeshifter?" He asks. 

Caine shrugs, "Escaped," he sums up, "Down a manhole across the street." 

"Damn." 

Erin stands, pulling her backpack on, "Well, if it's gone, there's nothing we can do about it. We were heading to Caine's place, remember?" She reminds them.

 All in agreement, they head for the Attens' condo at double speed. 

Meanwhile, Scout 15 makes his way around the piping under the street, luckily, he can follow his own slime trail back to base. Where he reconstitutes itself after exiting through a sink.

The are member members of the collective waiting for him.

No, way, he wasn't supposed to be thinking like that. There is no "him", just a part of the collective.

Also, he shouldn't let himself be distracted by thinking, not while people are watching. The five collective members looked already impatient.

"Report?" Says their leader, wearing the shape of a old woman in a gardener uniform, including the human device that Scout 15 now knew are called shears.

"There was a hostile encounter with non-native, sir!"

Everyone tensed. Their leader was quick to take action. "Worker 23, merge with Scout 15!"

"But, Supervisor 17! Scout 15 is a deviant!" The one called Worker 23 responds. It wears the form of an absurdly muscular man, sweat stained tank top and grey shorts fitting tight to its body. It eyes the reporting Scout with unease, "Researchers 54 and 32 have yet to determine whether its abberation will transmit during merging!"

"That's why I am not merging with Scout 15 myself! Do it, before I start assuming you're a deviant yourself."

The Worker quickly nods, turning to Scout 15, "Yes, Supervisor," it says. It moves towards the Scout, it's hand losing shape to become a blob of coppery material, of almost mercury-like consistency. It reaches out, clearly expecting the Scout to respond in turn.

Scout 15 does the same, and he lets their minds merge, knowing full well that they will know that he attacked an artist on purpose, even if he was ordered to pick someone...

Worker 23 does note this, yes. It also skims through Scout 15s memory of the encounter with the non-native lifeforms.

We're really not going to hurt you, blood streaming from burst blood vessels: inexperienced Medani psychic. Devices made of materials not available on designation-Earth, synthesizer capable of producing neuro-stabalizers: probable Allurian medical technology. Familiar lifeform? Unknown signature, other collective? Possible ecounter with parent-collective? Unknown. 

 Preference of target outside standard Collective protocol, it notes, Why? 

Scout 15 recoils, but pours the answer out through the link.

Art is beautiful.

Worker 23 pauses, ...Art? 

It goes looking for a definition of this word. Instead, it finds a stream of images.

Pencils on a page, fanciful swirls of colour forming an image drawn from the artist's imagination. Hands on a block of soft clay, spinning and slowly forming into a crooked pot. A splash of colour upon a canvas, dripping slowly down to the ground. A detailed painting of a woman, her mouth crooked in the slightest of smiles. A child smearing wax onto a page, her focus and delight clear. An abstract sculpture, its shape conveying to the viewer a sense of melancholy and helplessness. A mural painted over an entire alley, depicting the struggle of a young woman to live her life on her own terms. 

Overwhelmed, Worker 23 almost pulls away as it retreats to collect itself. 

...Oh. 

It unmerges with Scout 15 and turns to Supervisor 17, "Untrained Medani psychic, possible Allurian medical technology, one human, and one Unknown, Supervisor. Lifeforms encountered Scout 15 attempting to absorb a target and removed the subject from within it. Lifeforms were not hostile once Scout 15 had released its target; it was able to flee the scene through the sewage system."

It does not mention the Scout's... unusual preferences. 

"I see." Supervisor 17 says narrowing their eyes. "Scout 15 you're dismissed. The rest of you we have much to discuss."

Scout 15 does not waste a second and immediately leaves the room.

As quick as they're moving, it only takes them five minutes to reach the building. The ride up the elevator is made in antsy silence, Robin fidgeting with his keys and Erin with her scanner. On the tenth floor Jamie takes Robin's hand to stop the jingling noise, having noticed Caine getting more and more annoyed as it continued. They get off on the seventeenth floor and make their way to the second last door on the right. 

The other three loiter around the door as Caine unlocks it, and then file in behind him. The scent of bacon fills the apartment, leading Robin and Jamie to exchange excited glances and push past the others to race to the condo's small kitchen. 

"Hey Mr. Atten! What's for breakfast?" 

Caine's dad glances up from his place at the stove, giving the boys a smile as he transfers bacon from the pan to his plate. 

"Morning, boys," he greets, "Breakfast is whatever you make of it. There's more bacon in the fridge, along with eggs and bread. You know where the cereal is if you want that instead. Is Caine with you or are you here for my own company?" 

"Yeah, I'm here dad," Caine says as he enters the kitchen. He gives his dad a small smile as the man offers him a strip of bacon from his own plate, which he accepts, and then heads for the cupboard to grab some oil to fry the bacon Jamie is pulling out of the fridge in. 

"Favoritism!" Robin claims from the stove. Erin snorts as she goes to sit at the table across from Mr Atten, still fiddling with her scanner. 

Samuel stops eating once he catches sight of the scanner. He slowly puts his fork down, and then leans forward to get a better look. 

After a moment, he clears his throat. Erin looks up, and blinks in confusion at the look in the man's eyes. 

"Where did you get that, Erin?" Samuel asks quietly. 

Erin glances down at the scanner, then back up at Mr Atten. "Um. It was in my room this morning, and it wasn't there last night."

The others pause in their food-making, turning to participate in the conversation.

"Yeah," Robin says, "And apparently I'm psychic or something now? I definitely read this... guy's, mind just now, and I think I maybe saw some things earlier, too?"

"And apparently Erin's a lizard person," Jamie adds.

Caine hums, "Robin moved much faster than was natural twice this morning," he mentions. 

Robin whips around to stare at him, "I what?" He exclaims.

Jamie nods, "Yeah, I thought he seemed to be blurring a bit inthe alley, but it could have been the light." 

Robin waves an arm at Jamie, "And you didn't mention it?" 

"I mentioned it now, didn't I?" 

Erin shrugs at Mr Atten, whose eyebrows have climbed up his forehead and look likely to disappear into his hair at any moment, "So, yeah," she says, "It's been a weird morning. And that's all before we ran into that shapeshifter basically eating a guy on our way here."

At that last, Samuel half stands from his chair in alarm, "Shapeshifter?" He asks, "You ran into a shapeshifter on the way here? What happened, were any of you injured, were any of you copied, did you see where it went?" 

"Yeah, we ran into one," Jamie tells him, concerned. "It was trying to eat this artist guy, it let the guy go when Robin touched it. Then it freaked out for a bit and ran off."

"Went down a manhole," Caine offers.

"Damn," Samuel breathes, "Damn it all." He leaves his breakfast and rushes out of the kitchen, making for his office. The kids all follow him, confused, and then watch in suprise as he opens up a secret room behind his bookshelf.

They catch a glimpse of what looks like some kind of high-tech armory mixed with a thief's wet dream before the bookshelf closes behind him. 

When it opens again about two minutes later, he's dressed in some kind of armoured bodysuit complete with a utility belt, carrying several weapons which look like something out of Star Trek, and carrying a device made of the same material as Erin's med tech. 

"Right, you four," he says quickly, most of his attention on the device in his hands, "You did good bringing this to me. I need to go, but once I get back I'll explain what's going on. Stay here, and stay out of trouble."

And then he activates one of the buttons on his belt and vanishes. 

There's a long moment of silence.

Then Caine starts for the door, the other three following.

"We're not going to listen to him are we?" Erin sighs. 

"Of course not!" Robin says, "Have you met us?"

Erin nods, "Usually Caine's at least somewhat sensible," she laments.

"Nah," Jamie snorts, "He's just a good actor."

They make their way down to the lobby and then out of the building, pausing once outside as they try to figure out how to track Caine's dad. 

"Hey, Erin, can you use the scanner to find him?" Robin suggests.

Erin frowns, pulling the device in question out of her bag, "I don't know," she says. She fiddles with the screen, seeing if there's anything that looks likely to help with that.

There is a function to find similar "bio-signatures" that can help her find family members if she has a template to work from.

A legitimately useful function, and not just in this particular situation. She taps it, and hovers the scanner over Caine, who bears it stoicly. It beeps, and then does a search of the area. It eventually locates a matching signature, and beeps again. The others, watching over her shoulder, while still unable to read the language, can make out a topographical map with a blip on it, showing a position fairly nearby. 

"That's probably him," Erin says, "Unless you have any immediate family we don't know about. The way this day has been going, I wouldn't be surprised." 

Caine snorts, and they begin following the blip through the city. 

The blip goes towards the industrial district, Samuel is moving fast enough that they have a hard time to keep up, but they still managed to keep pace.

It is plausible that they wouldn't recognize everything in this part of their town, but that abandoned factory building really isn't familiar. Nor is its gray logo which the name "Mercury Synthesis" beneath.