"Do tell," Sheng replied, looking and sounding fascinated.

Pepper’s smirk grew as she walked back over to him, “Since I deplore long boring stories, I’ll get straight to the point,” she stated, sitting back down on his desk.

“I’m hunting for a lab. My creator’s lab. In there he built us all from scratch to push the limits of physical form. But what he really wanted was to stretch the human mind to it’s full potential.” She leaned back on the desk a bit, “You know we only use about ten percent of our mind’s true intellect... my creator wanted to create a being that could use all one hundred percent.”

Her eyes were glinting again, “He called those test subjects ‘destins,’” she explained, “Most of them were failures, causing the test subject to lose their rationality,” she spun her finger in circles around the side of her head, “absolutely bonkers. But there there was some success."

"He created one with the ability to use sixty percent of her brain's intellect. If you help me, I’ll allow your geneticists to keep any information they find in his work. Imagine a gang with that much mental ability.” She grinned fiercely as she touched his temple, “You’d be unstoppable.”

Long was very close, ready to knock Pepper back if it became necessary. But Sheng continued to sit there, amused. "If what you say is true, that's quite a generous offer," he noted.

Pepper snorted as she leaned back on the desk, hand leaving Sheng's head, "I know," she stated, "But I don't give things away for free, you're going to help me find it."

Sheng thought about it for a moment. "I find this 'lost lab' interesting. But I made time to talk to you tonight because you claim to have information about Ming Yue and Dominic."

Pepper shrugged a little, "Maybe I do," she replied, "Or maybe I just said it to gain an audience with you."

Sheng slowly sat back in his chair, a little of the carefree air slipping away. "... If that was true, you wouldn't have come," he decided. "You're too smart to gamble with stakes that high. And I'm afraid I have no more time to give you tonight if that's all you have to say."

"I wouldn't?" she laughed a little, "You don't know me, Mr. Victor. But alright," she smirked, "I'll throw you a bone. I've met your little sister; a whiny, annoying twit."

"Many have," Sheng replied as he began to stand.

Pepper continued to smirk as her eyes started to shine, "And I know where she is, Mr. Victor. Though I find it amusing you can't even keep track of one girl."

"Costa Rica," Sheng replied smoothly as he started to walk around his desk.

"But where?" Pepper chuckled, "Costa Vica's pretty big and the world is small. One jet and she's out of your grasp again."

"I'm not in the mood for a game," Sheng sighed as he headed for the door with Long behind him. "I'll see that you have some place to stay. I'll contact you when my schedule frees up and we can talk more about this lab of yours."

Pepper's laugh followed them out. As they left she started poking around his office, bored.

Pepper didn't have to wait too long. Someone new quickly showed up to take her to an apartment. Sheng didn't appear to keep anything important or of any real value in his office anyway.

So Pepper followed along, looking around with evident boredom, "You have a workout place around here?" she asked.

Her guide showed her to a workout area. The building didn't appear to be filled entirely with Yin Long surprisingly. But everyone glanced at her a little oddly.

Pepper seemed used to the stares. She nodded, noting the room before asking to be shown her living space.

--

Wolfe, still beautified, sought out Blaze.

Blaze was on time for her typical routine.

Wolfe walked in and went straight over to her. He looked worried as his eyes fixed on hers.

Blaze's eyes slowly scanned Wolfe as she stopped stretching. She didn't say anything.

"Kale's missing," Wolfe stated quietly, getting right to the point.

Blaze blinked. If she felt anything, she didn't let it show on her face.

"I need you to go look for him," Wolfe explained, "The neonates can't show their face currently."

Blaze didn't seem to like the sound of that. "... Send Nic," she suggested.

Wolfe sighed a little, "Nic's... on a private island trying to sort out his relationship with Laurel. And I can't risk him being seen."

Blaze cussed under her breath for a bit before shrugging it off. "The sooner I start the sooner it's over," she decided.

Wolfe nodded, "I'll show you where he should be," he stated, turning towards the door.

Blaze took a deep breath before following after Wolfe.

Wolfe showed Blaze a map, where Kale had last checked in and where he should be. "Normally I wouldn't be worried but he's still recovering," he explained.

Blaze didn't say anything as she took the map and went to go gather whatever she thought she needed.

Wolfe let her be.

So Blaze went Kale hunting.

Kale was not where he should be, that much was clear. He didn't seem to have ever reached this point.

--

It was early afternoon when hunger finally drove Laurel from her spot on the beach and over to the pod. She got some water and a bit of food before glancing over at Nic's side of the beach.

So Blaze cautiously started back tracking, checking the places he probably would have gone between here and the last check point.

--

Nic appeared to be snoozing. He hadn't left his side since they spoke the other night.

After back tracking for awhile Blaze finally found some signs of Kale. They were tiny signs but she could tell he left the path he was supposed to go early on. It was going to take some time to follow his trail, he didn't seem to have a set destination.

--

Laurel watched Nic for a long time before grabbing a few more things and walking over to him.

Blaze took some extra precautions before following the trail.

--

Yeah, Nic was asleep. He didn't wake as Laurel came over.

Blaze followed the trail further and further from the path he should have taken. Then suddenly all trace of him vanished. He was probably somewhere close.

--

So Laurel sat there, wishing she could sleep. After a moment she stuck a sunscreen patch on his arm and then leaned back against a tree.

Blaze kept her guard up, checking for anything suspicious.

After awhile there was a hushed whisper, "Get down, boulder!" It sounded like Kale but he wasn't visible wherever he was hiding.