Carol was always a strong girl.  But awakening dialed that notch up to 11.  She has more functional muscle in one limb than some normal people have in half of their body.  Hustling an injured woman through a corridor with one hand is fine.

Dropping eight feet is less fine.  Her ligaments aren't about to thank her.  She makes the jump and reinforces her body as she lands.  Ouch.  I'm going to need some time in the...oh.  Right.  She's going to have to make better plans, now that she can't use 'regen it off later' as a crutch.

Fucking Delgado.  It's not a surprise she drove him off, really, if anything it's a miracle she was able to find one(1) partner who could put up with her backlash without getting paid for it.

Three dead glassquitos and a brisk later, she's greeting the medical team.  "Here you go, one vic.  I'm gonna set you down, hon, just hold still for me, okay?"  The patient doesn't respond any more than she did the last three times, but you never know.  Maybe she's just deep in shock and can't tough it out like a functional human being.

The medics move efficiently in to take over, and soon the group is on its way back to the portal.

Sinkhole's role here is to guard against monsters. For all their aggression, it's not that they would be that dangerous to someone in armor; it's not that they put up much resistance to being smashed; no, the issue is that not only the monsters but the entire dungeon is made of glass. For anyone but a combat esper, it's really pretty difficult to kill the darting little creatures without also hitting something else, shattering it, and spawning more monsters in a vicious cycle.

In other words, it's a good thing they have Sinkhole here to help.

That's what she's here for!  Killing things and breaking only the correct things!  ... with a racquet, apparently.  Because dungeons.

This is a really great tool for killing glassquitos.  It's so frustrating that I couldn't have thought of it.

With her and her trusty racquet on the job, they make it back to base camp without further incident. The victim is carried through the portal and out into a world which contains less "crazy colors and sharp edges" and more "hospitals and blood transfusions".

Mai tears her gaze away from the portal. "They've got cages ready just outside now, for any monsters you grab."

"Sounds good.  They're not that bad, if you're dressed for 'em."  She flexes a gloved hand by way of demonstration.  "Mind the stabby thing, though.  That's what got me here."  She points at a noticeable rip along the arm of her jacket.

Nod. "I'm just going to stay out of their reach entirely!"

"Good move, if you can pull it off."  Mai gets a cheeky grin.  "What's your favorite color?"

"Ummmmmmmm I don't really have one but blue?"

She grins even wider at Mai.  "You got it.  One blue glassquito comin' right up."  Then she her expression smooths out, closer to a mask of professionalism.  "Where's the next vic, Kendim?"  Can't just answer a simple question.  Christ.

She reaches out again, and out, till she finds what she's looking for. "Take a left, and then the door in 20 meters."

"See you in a minute, then."  She lets the cheerful expression turn off once she rounds the corner.  Would be nice if I could bring the cage with me and pick it up on the way back.  But nooo, 'changing perspectives' and 'rotating corridors'.  I'd lose it or it'd fall and break the skeeter.  Bullshit all the way down.

By now, at least, she's seen most of what this bullshit dungeon has to offer. She can be guided directed through it till all the victims are out or her backlash is unsustainable, whichever comes first.

Then the next time she comes back, she approaches the sensory cuddlepuddle with her hands behind her back.  "I got'cha something."

"Is it maybe... blue?"

She gasps dramatically.  "How could you possibly have guessed?!"  It's a tealish-blue glassquito, held oh-so-delicately in Sinkhole's hand.  Its glass wings flutter helplessly, trying to escape.  "I don't wanna let it go just yet, but I wanted you two to get a chance to see one before they get put in a lab or a zoo forever."  Her father's advice echoes in her thoughts, adapted slightly: if you want someone to like you, do something nice for their partner.  He'd meant it in the gender-neutral relationship sense, but the advice works as well or better in esper circles.

And Carol definitely wants to get a positive review from these espers.  The esper world is kind of small, and she's got to work extra hard to make sure she's not universally hated by everyone.

"Oh, it's so pretty..." She spends a moment admiring it from her safe distance. "I really hope they stick around after we kill this one, um, this dungeon. Thanks, for showing us."

Kendim nods in agreement. "It's beautiful."

"You're both very welcome.  Least I can do for the two of you.  Any idea where the core is on this one yet, by the way?"  It'll probably be in the middle of a God damned swarm.  It's always in the middle of a God damned swarm.

"I reached it on that last trip, yes. There is a boss... swarm. Some of the glassquitos in it are bigger, but mostly there are just. Many of them."

"It's always a goddamn swarm."  She's so tired of goddamn swarms.  Fucking Delgado could just waltz through it with nary a care but for his pants.  She doesn't have that luxury.  "Any reason we can't just rig up a detonator and run if the portal turns green?"

"I think that would work fine, I can monitor it in case the core moves out of reach of the explosion. I would guess it's probably up to four meters from outside the door to the center of the room where the core is."

"How many of these little fellas are in that swarm, anyway?  Ten?  Twenty?  Too many to count?"

"Not too many to estimate, at least. There were about, mmm..." She closes her eyes to remember. "Fifty or sixty? Not more than a hundred. I wouldn't expect that number to grow."

"Oh!  Just fifty or sixty flying bloodthirsty mosquitos.  I can take 'em.  I was thinking there were a coupla hundred of the little bastards."  Whew.  This I can handle.  "No sign the bigger ones are scarier, armor piercing, venomous, anything like that?"