The avian made her way over to Tails’ workshop by foot – despite already mentioning that she preferred to fly when a lift was offered earlier – but truthfully the reason why she hadn’t taken to the skies was to stay close to Sapphire and Tails. While she genuinely wanted to help Sapphire as much as possible, she also felt an obligation and loyalty to Tails to watch out for him even more so. Not that he wasn’t capable – Cello knew full well there was so much he could do that she couldn’t – but it was something she felt like what a good friend would do.

As she entered the workshop she cast the Fox a concerned grimace after a quick glance at the recent injury which had been afflicted upon him earlier. For now he seemed to be okay and as ever the feathered Mobian listened to every word and acknowledged with a nod before making her way over to stand beside Sapphire.

Maybe it was the way her body posture was or the more obvious retreating step when the Robotosizer started up, Cello offered a small smile to the anxious Robian and extended an open palm towards her, “If you want, you can hold my hand. I’m here for you.” she said softly, trying to be reassuring it was then she noticed the doctor enter and introduce herself. A sigh of relief escaped from the beak of the bird with a slight whistle, stepping back a little so as to not get in the way when Sapphire had moved in for a hug.

For now things seemed to be buzzing and moving along smoothly, plus with the blue Robian already preoccupied with Sonya, Tentei and with what is yet to come, Cello didn’t want to risk overwhelming the situation by directly contributing to it and opted to be an extra set of eyes and ‘ears’ for now. That is of course, until she just remembered something and quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket. After several swipes and taps a message was sent to a friend she had parted with just earlier that day,


[She’s back here and safe. Hope all is well for you.]

I voted~

Some of Cello’s feathers on her head flickered subtly as she heard Sonic through the small earpiece she seemed to always wear – likely from habit due to her prior work about a month ago – but beyond that she didn’t seem to react at all towards Sonic’s praise. It wasn’t that she didn’t acknowledge him nor did she dislike him, there were just vastly more pressing matters at hand right now to reply – at the very least she figured she could thank him in person soon anyway, since he said that he was on his way.

Low and behold, the Blue Blur himself had arrived and the avian gave him a fleeting, silent greeting with a glance over to him as they briefly made eye contact. She was a bit wary about how Sonic would react to this situation right now, given that Tails had been taken hostage by the robot. She was certainly curious about the hedgehog’s behaviour, especially when he was particularly known for not being rather considerate of a robot’s wellbeing. Amy had raised a very valid question as well, Cello had decided, considering that I felt rather out of the blue that she hadn’t even heard of Sonic knowing a Robian well enough to have some sort of bond. Whilst the Information Broker knew a great deal of many things, she still didn’t know everything and given how close she was to Sonic’s best friend and Tails’ natural curiosity for science, she would have at least have heard of Sapphire before today.

Today was certainly very intriguing indeed. The unknown was just out of her reach and she was certainly eager to grasp onto it and learn all she could.
Feeling both relieved that Sonic had joined in on the negotiations, the bird simply nodded encouragingly as she cast Sapphire a hopefully reassuring smile. She certainly didn’t protest when Sonic had put his arm around her, wanting to hopefully aid to the reassurance that they had been trying to put forward when confronting Sapphire.

“It’ll be alright, Sonic.” Cello piped up shortly after the blue hedgehog had proclaimed about how protective he has been over Sapphire, “It was a misunderstanding, I hardly blame them for reacting they way they did given what had just finished barely a month ago. I have confidence in them as much as I do that Sapphire will be safe.”
Hearing him continue to bark out orders too was rather odd for Cello to hear, she clicked her beak quietly a few times as she took note of the unusual nuances of octaves in the hedgehog’s voice and filed them away for later as she kept a watchful eye on Sapphire for now.

“I am certain that Tails will be more than happy to do all he can to help you, Sapphire.” she replied calmly with a glance over to the twin-tailed fox’s direction. It seemed that the avian had a similar idea to Tails and kept her thoughts to herself for now when Sapphire questioned the others for any input from her in that regard now may not be very beneficial for anyone.

Especially with Tails’ life on the line.

Besides, those questions weren’t directed at her anyway. Her gentle smile then grew a little more when she noticed that the Robian didn’t show any signs of hostility towards Cello when she approached; at the very least it could potentially be a sign that things may be able to work towards their favour in the end? Hopefully?
A gentle sigh escaped from Cello when she heard the question, “If it makes you feel better I can keep them grounded for you.” she began as she tapped her crest feathers for emphasis, “However I truly do not believe that I will have the need to, because  I have every confidence in them that they won’t... unless he gets hurt. Something I do not want for anyone today.”

Watching Sapphire’s reactions was very intriguing for the avian a part of her wanted to provoke more of those endearing reactions as a matter of curiosity as to finding out how much this Robian was capable of feeling or doing with that regard and the other part, of course, would be for the well being of everyone present today. Then the more profound reactions to Sonic’s words caused for Sapphire to be unsteady on her feet, while there were not tears her mechanical body did show signs of some degree of remorse or regret, by Cello’s estimation. Such unsteady movements on her feet only prompted Cello to move in closer to Sapphire and place supportive hands on one of the Robian’s arms and shoulder to help support her balance.

“Easy now, it’s alright.” she murmured whilst at the same time counting her lucky stars that Tails was released and at least safer than he was just moments earlier. Cello’s crest feathers flickered when she heard Tails speak up again and she looked back at him as she held gently onto Sapphire, “Then we should make as much of the time we have to help her. Hopefully we might be able to before time runs out.” Cello replied, only to have the urgency reaffirmed by Sapphire moments later. Even though Sapphire had managed to regain her footing, Cello stayed close to her and held gently onto her arm for as long as the Robian permitted. There was a pause at the question before she followed up with one of her own, “I was hoping that you could explain this solution you had in mind to us. So that we can gain a better understanding on how to help you, what to expect and make sure the best possible outcome can happen. At the very least, if the programming takes over again, you have someone else to rely on and continue with your efforts for this cure of yours when you don’t have control over it.” she asked with an empathetic tone and while she truly did want the best for the Robian, it could also provide potential for them to think of alternatives to the seven wonders concealed within the case.

Petrov’s arrival earned a wary stare from the bird, while she could understand his frustrations she was still concerned about how Sapphire would react. Even to a point where she stopped herself from  crossing her fingers in hopes that his comments wouldn’t provoke Sapphire. She also seemed pretty wary of the detective too, but she could also see that he meant well. Then with how Lukas and Amy had followed up with the situation, it made her smile in knowing that she was right to have faith in them too, even though she didn’t know much about them.

Following the path of destruction was both easy and worrisome for the bird. About half way through her flight she had realised that she wasn’t able to fly fast enough by her estimation and had accelerated her speed by manipulating the direction of gravity on her own person and free-fell towards her destination.

Soon enough, Sapphire was within sight, a lyre sound thrummed from the flickering crest of hers and her manipulation of gravity had ceased; leaving her to hover mid-air with the flapping of her wings. She grimaced at the destruction before then gliding towards her whilst also maintaining a comfortable distance.

“Sapphire? Is that your name? May I call you Sapphire?” she asked diplomatically, but also loud enough to be heard over the destruction, “I’m not sure if you already know my name, but it is Cello and I wanted thank you for saving me from that door from earlier. So much was happening that I didn’t get a chance to before now.”

Alas, yet another thing was happening before she could get an answer – at least, not one right away – and the avian was very familiar was the sound of a weapon firing a projectile sounded like and she reacted rather instinctively the split moment she heard it. She didn’t care if she was reacting out of paranoia or the answer was pretty clear as to who the target was, or rather, she didn’t even stop to entertain thought. She had to act.

And act she did. All of sudden her crest feather thrummed an anxious lyre note and even glowed a little; then Sapphire, herself and any loose debris, public transport, objects of various kinds within close proximity were suddenly sent flying skyward. Once again she found that she couldn’t move an inch of her body as they fell upward, but the bird was all too familiar with freefalling to worry. The sudden change of momentum was very abrupt, so much so that part of the road below had crumbled in a roar of agony as parts of that were sent flying upwards too. All of that just in the nick of time as Cello watched the red energy was shot right past them. It too had been taken off its course due to the shift of physics; arching skywards but at least missing the target.

Exhaling a sharp sigh of relief and after a quick check that she hadn’t picked up anyone below by accident, another lyre thrum echoed from her crest feathers and the shift and pressure of gravity had receded back into normalcy. Everything within the grasp of the bird’s fell back down to the ground in a chaotic clutter of bangs and plumes of dust and dirt were sent flying in all directions. Cello fell towards the ground too for a few seconds, but not before she was able to regain moment of her body and was able to hover on the spot again. Afterwards she checked over Sapphire’s body, hoping that she didn’t get ‘injured’ by any near misses or anything of the like, “Are you okay?” she asked the Robian, “I’m sorry about that, it all just kinda happened. Listen, after a bit can we talk? Is that okay? It doesn't have to be about anything you don't want to talk about. I just want to get to know you better, if you would let me.”

Not long after she whirled on the spot to look at the approximate direction where the weapon had been fired. She couldn’t see exactly where Lukas was just yet but she certainly shouted loud enough to be heard, “HOLD YOUR FIRE!” she bellowed and then rounded at the Detective’s direction when she heard his shout, “I SWEAR TO CHAOS DETECTIVE I WILL MAKE YOUR FACE KISS THE CLOUDS IF YOU OR YOUR FRIEND TRY ANYTHING ON HER!”

The observant Mobian came to a natural stop in her steps to keep at a distance from the rest of them shortly after Tails had responded to her. She cast a concerned glance towards Sonic’s direction, one of understanding towards Tails and her wary gaze upon Sapphire had softened to an empathetic one.
‘Chaos energy and not of Robotnik’s technology? This is a bit alarming.’

After seeing the bit of blood from the supposed hit earlier, it earned a slight grimace from Cello, but she was also thankful no serious harm had afflicted Tails at the very least. She then raised a hand with a mild headshake, “No need to be sorry at all but I am here if you need anything.” she reassured as her crest feathers flickered with anticipation. Whilst there were many questions running though the avian’s mind, asking them right now didn’t seem appropriate for helping this now-robot was top priority.

Soon enough the robotic hedgehog had found her feet, and the bird’s eyes were keenly watching from where she stood too and a light gasp escaped from her beak when the weapons were drawn out – one of them directly at Tails’ head. She was a hair’s trigger away from taking action, but to do so now would be a foolhardy decision with such a dangerous weapon in close proximity to the fox’s head. Sure The Fastest Thing Alive was presently in the room and the bird was confident that he wouldn’t let anything happen to Tails, but it still didn’t make Cello more willing to take the risk. For now, she listened to what Tails had to say and stayed just as calm as he did and yet, all the while, what Sapphire was saying was rather intriguing all at the same time? Mysteries were some of Cello’s favourite things – coming second to her rather acquired tastes in food in fact, and it only wanted her to learn more about the robotic hedgehog even more.

There was a reason why she was an information broker after all.

A quiet sigh of relief soon left Cello when the canon had moved away from Tails’ head, but it didn’t make her any less ready for what was about to happen. Several things seemed to have happened one after the other the moment the hole was blasted through the roof of the workshop. First, any falling debris had suddenly stopped falling before any of them could hit the ground – or anyone below; all of which slowly rotated independently as they were suspended above the Mobians. Next, the desk, papers, tools and any whatchamacallits or doohickies which might be near the robot’s boots that should definitely not be near open flames were all suddenly sent flying towards where Cello was standing and came to an immediate halt just in front of her; still suspended and slowly rotating mid-air and hopefully out of harm’s way. The bird did pay particular attention to be gentle with any potentially fragile object as well, just in case. She hoped that the shift of momentum might have put out some of the flames of the lit documents, but the bird didn’t – or rather couldn’t – move to go put them out if they weren’t; even if she wanted to. Not with her focusing on so many objects in the workshop all at once.

She didn’t feel particularly vulnerable like she often did whenever she opted to delve into this particular pool of her powers either; but perhaps that was because she had two very capable Mobians already present in the room.

The heat of the desert’s sun’s rays cascaded a barrage over the Mobian’s feathers as she seemed to be ‘free falling’ horizontally across the sand dunes of Desert Ruin Zone. Her beak was agape slightly as she panted and rolled across the sky, having decided that diverting physics on her person was a lot less effort than actually flying in such excruciating heat.

Soon enough the lyre bird’s crest feather seemed to have hummed out a quiet thrum of a stringed, lyre instrument and the manipulation of gravity upon herself alone ceased and resumed to obey the laws naturally occurring upon Mobius. Being so comfortable with such shifts, she showed no fear in falling towards the sand either; but also timed the spreading of her wings to soften the impact at just the right moment. Cello had landed a short distance away from where Dr Kaw and his ‘crow’nies were currently excavating, but the site where the crystals were being dug up was also between herself and Lukas; so she wasn’t near him. His camouflage appeared to be quite well crafted, for she didn’t even notice he was there from where she was standing. Who knows, she might even become a worthy distraction?

Whilst the war was over and tasking a break from her job was often encouraged, some parts of Cello nagged at her that she shouldn’t and couldn’t relax when finding the locations of broken down Eggbots was so important. It would be both dangerous and irresponsible if they were just left lying around so she would be sure to notify the appropriate members of the Resistance regarding to collecting and either dispose of or recycle such weapons.

Cello clicked her dry beak against each other and tilted her head when she noticed quite a few Mobians were already here excavating and from the looks of it, harvesting the power sources – dangerous power sources to boot. She felt taken aback at first, contemplating on what she should do next, ‘I’m easily outnumbered so that’s a bad sign.’ she thought, but given the situation looking rather suspicious activity she couldn’t stand by idly and do nothing. She wasn’t well versed in combat first hand either, so the next thing she did was pull out her mobile phone to fire off a text message to two of her friends: Tails and Vulff.
[I’ve found a deactivated Eggbot in Desert Ruin Zone but some guys have beat me to it. Looks suspicious and I’m going to investigate. I’ll update soon.]

Pocketing her phone once again, Cello took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
‘It’s okay, I can do this.’ she encouraged herself before deciding to make a bold move for such a small Mobian and marched on over to the flock, “Excuse me,” she called out, mostly looking to the one who wasn’t getting his hands dirty, once again eying the crystals being harvested, “I have come here on official Resistance business to dispose of the Eggbot but what you’re gathering is exactly the reason why it is so important for these procedures to conducted properly. Something also tells me that you don’t have a permit either.”

Right on the nick of time the feathered Mobian had arrived shortly after Rouge had. Cello landed swiftly and softly outside, taking a moment to quickly realign any loose feathers or pieces of clothing which had dared to waft out of place during the flight before stepping inside the establishment. She had a quirky skip to her stride, inhaling slowly to take in the endearing ambience of the cafe and naturally crossed paths with one of the waiters, Pierre as she headed towards the often secluded and favorable table.
"Hello! I'll take a Creamy Keto Coffee with two slices of French toast please! I'll be at the usual table. Thankies~" she commented along the way.

Soon enough Cello had rounded the corner and unsurprisingly found Rouge waiting and reading a book, causing for the lyre bird to quickly double-check her watch to make sure she wasn't late, "Rouge, glad to see you've made it~" she chirped cheerfully before slipping onto the seat opposite the bat, "So what's new? I hope you've been well!"