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Then he disappeared into thin air, only to reappear in the bunker, right next to his Chief of Science. He didn't even wait for Lozaro to turn around, instead just wrapping his arm around the man's neck, then blinking away again, back out onto the testing ground. There was no need for the others in the bunker to hear this conversation. The point of humiliating Lozaro was personal amusement, not the destruction of his reputation among everyone else.

And for that reason, he also didn't take them immediately back to where he'd just been standing. Shielding from psychic observation was easy enough, so long as he knew it was necessary, but if the Yigorosks had ears, too, then he wanted to remain out of earshot for a little bit.

Lozaro tried to wriggle out of his grasp, probably out of pure instinct rather than any hope of actually getting away from him. Jercash held onto him for a few moments longer before letting him go, just to ensure the man knew that Jercash had done so on purpose.

"Seems you forgot to mention a few things about the Yigorosks," said Jercash quite calmly, already fully aware that Lozaro hadn't known about them before. "You wouldn't be trying to hide anything from me, now would you?"

Lozaro's normally expressionless face had begun to crack, which delighted Jercash to no end. "O-of course not, sir. I have n-never encountered this particular strain before, lest I would have most certainly mentioned them."

Strain, was it? Did he consider them a virus?

Probably. Eh, didn't matter.

Jercash poked him in the forehead, making him wince. "You sure about that? You know this whole protection gig doesn't work if you lie to me, right?"

"Y-yes, sir. I understand, sir."

He weighed the fellow's expression carefully. As much as he was just doing this to fuck with the guy, there was also an underlying opportunity at play here.

When it came to men like Lozaro--sick and twisted men who were not to be trusted--there was always a possibility that they were planning on betraying him.

Or that they were even in the middle of doing so, right now, without Jercash realizing.

So it was good to run little tests like this, every now and again. Test the waters. See if anything unexpected might be lurking in there. Lozaro was a tricky one, after all. He'd managed to not only piss off Morgunov and live, but also keep living, despite the Mad Demon's occasional attempts to hunt him down.

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"I must admit," said Jercash, "I'm a little surprised by how comfortable you all seem here. You seem to know more about me than I know about you." Which was saying something, since he'd been studying their less intelligent brethren for weeks now. Perhaps they had secretly been studying him during that same time?

'Ah, I'm afraid that might be a discussion with the Domoro than with me. I just do as I'm told.' The squid broke for a hissing sip from the pod in his tentacle. 'Except when I'm feeling particularly ambitious. Or inebriated. Or both.'

Huh. So they did identify as individuals, at least. Jercash had been wondering if they were some kind of psychic hive mind.

Which still wasn't off the table, he felt, but it was an interesting thing to note, nonetheless.

"The Domoro?" he asked. "What is that? Or who?"

'Mm? Is that term unfamiliar? The formalized minds of study. Like your Lozaro, yes?'

"Oh, you know of him, too?" Not so surprising, Jercash thought. That guy certainly got around.

'We considered making contact with him, instead, but when we discovered that he was working for you, this seemed more appropriate.' Another long sip.

That might explain why Lozaro hadn't warned him about how intelligent these guys were. He hadn't actually known.

But if they'd been able to evade Lozaro's detection this whole time, then...

Man. He was more curious than ever about how strong these fellows were, but it hardly seemed appropriate to test them now that they were apparently becoming fast friends.

But still, it sure would be nice to know, just in case he ever needed to stab them in the back.

A problem for later. Thankfully, he had plenty of expendable subordinates on hand--many of which would even be reusable, afterwards.

He tossed a glance back toward the bunker, wondering what the onlookers were making of this whole development. He considered calling Lozaro over for some extra consultation, but judging from what he'd just heard, the man probably wouldn't know much.

Might still be worth it just to make fun of him, though.

Yeah, okay.

He pointed at Lozaro and motioned with his index for the man to come over.

Lozaro hesitated visibly. Hmm. Perhaps he was playing dumb, acting like he wasn't sure that it was actually him that Jercash was pointing at from so far away.

Well, he wasn't exactly known for his bravery, now was he? Fine.

"One moment, please," said Jercash to his freaky new friend whose name he still needed to learn.

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'Splendid. Then let your allegiance be recognized by all Idkin.'

And a harsh, guttural sound rang out in all directions, making Jercash's eyes look around with mild confusion while his smile remained untouched.

Really? They were allies, just like that?

Huh.

The snake-squids slithered closer, but he could already discern a change in their aura. No hostility whatsoever. Not even any tension.

He was about to inquire further when yet another strange thing stole his attention.

Sparking lights manifested around the Yigorosks, particularly at the tips of their tentacles. Then, at each point, air distorted briefly before a bunch of small, pale and fleshy pods blinked into existence. Their tentacles all wrapped around the pods with a relaxed ease, and then more sparking lights appeared beneath the Yigorosks, soon giving way to a bunch of squishy blobs for them all to lie on. Sit on? He couldn't tell.

And the blobs moved but not much. In fact, the squids seemed to have lost considerable mobility all of a sudden.

Then he heard some truly strange noises--like hissing steam and guttural crying--as he watched the fleshy pods being torn open and pressed up against... the Yigorosks' mouths, maybe?

The questions in Jercash's mind were lost as he could only stare with wide-eyes. Perhaps he was misinterpreting their weird body language, but it seemed to him that these guys... had essentially just whipped out a bunch of cold beers and reclining chairs in the middle of his testing ground.

One of the Yigorosks slid slowly over to him, making that same guttural cry that he was hearing all over the place, though this one seemed a bit more muted.

Jercash didn't even know how to start the conversation now, which was certainly a rarity for him.

'May our friendship prove ever fruitful!' said the squid next to him, apparently.

"Uh. Yeah. Hah."

'It is so nice to relax, finally,' said the alien freak. 'We all knew you were a trustworthy ally, but we have procedural standards that must first be adhered to. You know how it is, yes? Uptight worrywarts making sure everyone and everything is exactly perfect before allowing us to let loose.'

"Heh... hah... yeah..." He very much wanted to ask why they seemed so convinced that he was a 'trustworthy ally' already, but his better judgment was keeping his mouth shut. Perhaps he could find some other way to ask, though.

If he could stop being stupefied by the scene in front of him, that was.