‘SPIDERS: LIVE!’ The title had stated in bold, ‘Over fifty different types of arachnids!’ It had continued on. Of course, she had been drawn to the article immediately. Like a moth to a flame. A vast collection of living spiders spiked her interest quite a bit, but it was the small vague paragraph at the bottom that caught her attention and would ultimately force her to drive to the museum and buy a ticket. You see, it’s not everyday she would have the chance to see a living Golden Orb Weaver, the object of her most current obsession, which happened to be one of the main attractions at the spider exhibit. Of course, for someone like Megan simply staring at the spider wouldn’t be enough. No, the spider enthusiast intended to take the orb weaver. She WANTED it, NEEDED it, and WOULD have it. It was just a matter of getting in and then getting back out again... with said spider in tow.

With that plan in mind, she had hopped onto her scooter and headed out. A few aggravating red lights and a three mile walk from her parking spot to the Museum later, Megan was finally able to pass through the buildings revolving doors. What awaited her inside, other than an eye full of past president what’s-his-face doing a whole bunch of unimportant things, was a line. A dreaded, cursed line. Hefting a heavy sigh, she scuttled into the shortest line and waited.... and waited... and waited. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she had her ticket and was on her way. Megan made haste to the elevator- for her spider awaited her on the third floor above. While waiting, alone in the elevator save herself, her spiders, and the infuriating elevator music, she went over the plan once more. “Get in, grab the spider, get out. Easy enough right?” She received no reply, obviously. “Simple and easy. Nooo problems at all. Yeah.”

The air about her remained silent, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. She stepped out into the hall, eyeballing both directions to see how busy the floor was- and grinned. It was near empty, save a few strolling souls. Guess coming during lunch on a weekday had been a stroke of luck, hadn’t it? She nodded to herself and headed off to the left, following small sign at the end of the hallway that pointed the direction to go. “Alright, you guys know the plan..” Her hair shifted slightly as she walked, wriggling as four dark jumping spiders descended from behind her ears and crawled down her shoulders. “Keep an eye out for employees and annoying kids. As soon as I have her, we’re outta here, got it?” Silence of course answered her, and the spiders hopped from her raised arms and scuttled off quickly in different directions. After sweeping the area with one more careful, searching gaze, she hurried into the room that housed the spider exhibit and stopped dead in her tracks just inside the door.

A few stragglers remained, casually poking about- peering into cages and mumbling to each other about how gross the bugs were or how fascinating they were, but it was the large Plexiglas cage at the back of the room that had her full attention. Within, sitting clam and serenely in the middle of its web sat her prize... and oh, how it was beautiful. A golden yellow in color with hints of orange and green- just big enough to eat a bird. Long needle like legs... She needed it... no, it was more than that. She HAD to have it. Her eyes shifted about once more, taking in the few people in the room with her. They... would be a problem...

The museum director met him at the security checkpoint, an hour before the museum itself opened.

"Mr. Davids, I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. The board of directors had misgivings about the foundation putting it's trust in you, but I'm sure there won't be any problem."

"My parents insisted there was no one else qualified to make judgment calls who could get here swift enough. We may live in an electronic age, but some things are best done in person." Anthony refrained from grimacing. The Foundation for the Betterment of Society hadn't wanted to wait, so they pressured his parents into pressuring him. And now, here he was. Suit, Tie, Briefcase.

"Well, I agree, Mr. Davids. You are well enough versed in these sorts of matters, you should be able to endorse the grant process in no time at all."

"We'll see. Let's get started, shall we? I have a feeling there is a lot of paperwork to dig through."

And there was. Department after department, doctor after professor after program, and each one needed to be scrutinized. It was mind numbing work. Despite his words, he'd rather have had all the records and files e-mailed to him, so he could peruse them in his hotel, maybe wearing pants, maybe not, and sign or modify everything in person in a short time. But the fossils will have their way. A few hours later, he realized there was a discrepancy in a couple of different department's spending habits, in particular the exhibits belonging to Roman Arts, Entomology, and Aerospace History.

Anthony rubbed the bridge of his nose. He just wanted to sign off and pretend he never saw anything. Grants would go to their respective departments, no one would probably be the wise. Gon fonit, and other nonsensical expletives.

After Roman Arts, the director left, citing pressing business in the lobby. He left Anthony with a radio to contact Security if need be. Somewhere between the Wright brothers and Armstrong, Anthony broke the radio. He was on his way to the elevator when he almost ran over an elementary school student. Looking at the elevator, Anthony decided not to press his bad luck, and entered the stairs. Next up, 3rd floor: Entomology, Ichthyology, and Woman's lingerie.

Two more body's left the room... that left her with an older couple, a few brats, and some guy close to her own age, who was wearing waaaay to much cologne. Turning back to the glorious prize before her, she set about crossing the room, to inspect how the lock on that damned case was fashion. On the way, she urged a hand full of spiders to exit stage left from her coat. The small black bodies of jumping spiders and black widows alike skittered away towards the darkness under the showcases. Before she reached the Orb weaver, she could already hear the woman attached to the older couple wailing in fright as three of her little beauties climbed their way up her legs. A a pleased smirk curled her lips and both of the old bags left, followed quickly by the younger bodies in the room, who were chattering insistently about loose spiders being a danger. That left the other male... who seemed more intent on finding where the spiders had escaped from, rather than running away with his hackles raised. Megan frowned. Mr. smelly would hopefully be her main problem then.... Until others came to investigate the bug problem that is.

"Well, I guess that leaves just the two of us..."

The young man glanced up to her, a faint smile on his lips, "I suppose so, would you mind helping me figure out where those little buggers came from?" She spotted a small badge on the front of his shirt, and cursed silently. He worked here.... Bad Mojo. Summoning a widow to her hand, she clenched her fist, and ordered it to bite. Moments after the spiders fangs went in, she dropped to the ground and belted out a short screech, bringing her hand up to send the spider flying his way. "One Bit me!" Her eyes welled up, ever the drama queen, and she held her injured hand and rocked herself back and forth. "Go get help! Quickly! I don't want to DIE!" The man fidgeted for a moment, unsure of what to do, before he padded at his belt and realized he didn't have his radio. "Ack! I'll be right back, put pressure on the hand and don't move!" He whisked himself away, and Megan grinned. "Sucker." The girl stood swiftly, calling her spiders back to her, and dove into her pocket to withdraw the screw driver she had brought with her. Her pets skittered up her legs and took shelter in her jacket once more, as she set to work on opening the display- but then, one of them brought bad news. Megan squinted, and craned her neck to look behind her. "What do you mean someone's coming? That guy barely just-" She could hear footsteps echoing in the hall, and dove behind the Orb weaver display to hide. Time to work up those tears again...

Meld honestly couldn't remember the last time she had gone out and done something that was just for her and had nothing to do with the mutant cause. It had to have been before she had come to the city and, honestly, it probably had to have been quite a while before that. Well, before coming to the city she really hadn't been aware of the mutant cause, not in the way she was now, but she still rarely did anything for herself. At that time it had been all about survival and bettering herself so that she could be more useful and thus make survival easier. But when she had seen the advertisement in the newspaper for the spider exhibit at the museum she knew it was something that she had to see for herself.

Meld had always had a thing for spiders, ever since she was a child, much to her older sister's disgust. There was just something about them that was fascinating in a way that few other creatures of nature were. In a way she felt a certain affinity for the eight legged creatures. They were, more than almost any other bug, the ones most ostracized and disliked among humans. They, like Meld herself, were misunderstood, unappreciated and all around feared. She had even considered getting herself a pet tarantula though ended up deciding against it because she wasn't certain she could be the consistent owner she needed to be given the life she lived. So, she would have to content herself with the museum's spider display.

Meld paid her money at the door, ignoring the looks that she got wherever she went. Today was not the time to concern herself with the discrimination of humans; today was the time to enjoy what mother nature had to offer. She spent very little time in the museum proper, after all it was spiders she had come to see not dusty old exhibits, though she did pause now and then as something caught her interest. As she walked her tail swiveled behind her, blinking open and closed to ensure that no potential threats took her unaware. It had become her habit, in the months since gaining to tail; one never knew where or when an enemy might decide to attack nor when a particularly stupid human might try and make trouble.

"One Bit me! Go get help! Quickly! I don't want to DIE!"

Those were the first words Meld hurt uttered as she approached the spider display. She smirked to herself, imagining how stupid someone would have to be to be bit by one of the spiders. Did she put her hand into the tank or something? Humans; it was sometimes shocking that they continued to survive so tenaciously. Stupid or not, when Meld finally entered she did so cautiously, just in case. She raised her tail above her head to get a more full view of the room and blinked it open and shut. Was that someone hiding behind one of the displays? And if it was, the question was why?

"The spiders are loose! Run for your life!" Anthony watched a (possibly crazy) woman run past him. Anthony looked down at the papers in his hands and checked the exhibit list. As far as he knew the St. Andrew's Cross spider (which looked suspiciously like a black and yellow garden spider to him) couldn't unlock it's own exhibit. Obviously the Daddy Long Legs had been misbehaving.

As he walked in through the rear of the exhibit, he reached for the keys to the staff only area and exhibit displays, and remembered they were attached to the missing radio. Swearing, he began to each spider habitat and checking off types and numbers off the list.
He walked a corner (so far, so many locked up where they belong) and saw Meld.

Anthony was thunderstruck for a moment, as his brain struggled to catch up with his inner terrified caveman. His mouth didn't stop as they struggled over control.

"Ohgodpleasenottoday. I am dreaming. Spider bit me, I'm dying, and hallucinating. And not the good kind, with naked super models and talking hamburgers. The bad kind with angry cyborg women and even more spiders. What are you doing here?!" Anthony shouted this last part, and threw his briefcase down and threw his hands in the air. "Today can not get ANY worse!" He looked down and saw his briefcase broken open, the missing radio and keys peeking out from under the upturned contents. The radio appeared to be more then a little broken.

"Of course."

Footsteps entering the room told her that her pet had indeed, been right. Aggravatingly right. Megan ground her teeth together, torn between pulling the 'Oh god I'm dying, someone please help me' facade again and continuing on with her work. She decided, on the off chance that it was museum security, to snatch her compact out of her back pocket and peek around the corner with the mirror to see who it was. The sight that greeted her was not what she expected. First off- there was a f#*@ing ROBOT in the room with her, and secondly, since when did museums start employing cyborgs as security?! The blue eyed girl experienced a silent freak out- imaging all of the horrible things that tail-... thing could do to a poor, helpless thief. By her side, one of her scout spiders returned- prodding at her shaking hand with its front feet. Megan turned her head, her mind still reeling on what to do, before she turned her head and glanced down at the small blue eyed creature. "What?!" She hissed quietly, much to distressed to play spider games at the moment. It warned her of another approaching, and Megan groaned aloud.

Well... If the jig was up, she might as well go out with a bang, right? The 'other' that her pet had been speaking of entered the room- the kind of fellow that looked like he had business to do, things to get done. A real snazzy type. He took one look at the robot woman, and had a sort of hissy fit. Threw his arms in the air and huffed and all that jazz. Apparently they were familiar with one another, the male and the robot, from the way he shouted 'What are you doing here' at her. Still in her squatted position behind the spider case, Megan once again weighed her options. She could remain sitting, and simply try to pry apart the cage from behind... or, she could stand- maker herself known, try to catch a side(preferably with scary cyborg lady) and watch the drama unfold... What to choose, what to choose. After a moment- once the air was clear of the frustrated mans words, She stood quickly and secured her screwdriver in one hand as she turned and leaned against the Orb weaver cage. Behind the shield of the cage and her body she set to work unscrewing the hinges the held the back plane of Plexiglas in place.

"Well... I don't supposed either of you would know where the Australian Funnel web went to, do you? Silly thing seems to have gotten out of its tank..." She pouted slightly, and the first of four hinges came unscrewed and dangled limply from the back of the cage. Her eyes shifted briefly to her side, before flitting back across the room and its occupants. "Oh, but don't mind little ol' me.... I'll just keep an eye out for it from over here..." Hopefully the grin she shot them came across as pleasant and honest, rather than desperate and full of lies. She could probably outrun the guy, if all else failed, but the terminator over there... There was no chance. Absently, she wondered where on earth the woman kept her missiles....

Anthony was just about the last person that Meld had expected to see at the spider exhibit. She listened to his rant, smirking all the while and keeping her ruby tail eye fixed upon the woman hiding behind the spider exhibit. "Would it surprise you to learn that I am not here for any nefarious reasons but merely to see the spider display?" The question was asked in a sardonic tone of voice. People really did expect the worst of her, it seemed, though perhaps that was understandable given her reputation and even more understandable from Anthony given what happened the day they had met. "You know, I do have normal interests as well and I do normal activities. Its not all about death and violence." For some reason she found the entire situation to be downright amusing. Or at least she would have had she not also been concerned about the hidden stranger who did not appear to be aware of the fact that Meld was aware of her.

During the exchange between Anthony and herself, the stranger remained crouched behind the cage and then she appeared to come to some conclusion, what that might be Meld wasn't certain, and stood up finally deigning to allow herself to be known. The stranger then proceeded to speak, words that made perfect sense had she not clearly been hiding just moments before. Well, it seemed like her rather mundane trip to the museum was about to get interesting after all. The question was, why was she hiding, what was she planning and what had convinced her to make herself known?

"I'm afraid I have no knowledge of where your Australian Funnel Web may have gone. You've been here longer than I have." Meld smiled though she knew her smiles tended to be more threatening than welcoming, whether or not that was the effect she was going for and moved her tail in front of her, blinking the eye in deliberate fashion at the stranger. It was her way of hinting that the woman hadn't been quite so hidden as she expected after all and that Meld knew something was up. "Why are you so interested in the escaped spider anyway?" She wasn't good at subtly and, not being good at it, didn't even try. Direct was far simpler and far more effective.

Anthony was rapidly leaving the realm of disbelief, and entering the surreal.

"I'm sorry Meld. And your Australian Funnel Web is not that important right now. In fact, you know what I think about your spider? F- Wait, funnel web?" Anthony blanched and jumped on top of his broken briefcase and began furtively looking around.

"I don't usually have a problem with spiders, even the biggest ones squish admirably, but, my dear ladies, that one is a man hunter. First arachnid I see get's squished." Anthony glanced at Meld, and grimaced. "All things considering, now would not be the worst time to be feeling violent."

As Anthony's eyes furtively scanned the area, he noticed a discrepancy on one of his papers. He bent over and picked it up and looked at the woman by the spider cage. Then back at the paper. And back at the woman. The woman looked a little edgy for smiling so innocently.

STAFFING PROFILE, Invertebrates, Arachnida Aranea


Curator-in-Charge: Dr. Normal Platnick
Collections Assistants: Louis Sorkin, Nadine Dupérré

Volunteers: Pat Malkin (Illustrator), Tom Sullivan, Tom Gartner

The only volunteers working with spiders were men, except Dupérré. And the staff were supposed to be elsewhere until he'd finished his investigation. The only people should be security and guests. Anthony felt his gut go sideways, ill at ease. Which might have been more Meld's fault.

"Oh, so you must be Ms. Sorkin? The staff was supposed to be elsewhere while I did my examinations of the exhibits. But, since you are here, you can help me. I'm Mr. Davids. And no need to worry about the terrible monster over there, she's actually very sweet."

He stepped off of the briefcase and began gathering the contents.

The robot spoke. Why was a spider so important? Well, aside from the fact that it was one of, if not the most, venomous spiders in the world- it was also one of the most aggressive. Having such a little sweetheart in her arsenal of spider blueprints would be quite a trophy... unfortunately she had never actually come across one. The room around them was filled with every day, less death inducing arachnids. Black widows, brown widows, tarantulas... the lazy behemoths, and an assortment of other common spiders. Her eyes traveled back to the case beside her, where her beautiful Orb weaver was only an arms length away.

“Spiders are very important, actually. Not only do they keep down the populations of many a harmful insects pests around the world-“ and annoying humans “-but did you know that some species of Arachnids happen to hold a sentience level akin too your average garden variety canine?” Smirking, she sent out a silent ‘be ready’ command to her eight legged soldiers. If she needed to prove anything, she could always ‘find’ one of them and have it roll over a few times and maybe beg a little. That had always seemed to get the crowds back home excited... “Besides, Spiders are very interesting creatures. They need to be preserved and protected.” With a nod, she finished off her thoughts and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

Then, the fuzzy one spoke... Megan swiveled her head his way, eyes curious. He dropped a name, and an excuse for her to be there. Was it a set up perchance? Did he think her stupid enough to take the bait? Her eyes narrowed briefly, before a grin flashed across her face. Her chaos addicted, trouble making side jumped on the offer- Yes.. she was indeed Ms. Sorkin- or at least she could be.

“Sorry, But I just couldn’t stand aside and let strangers trample all over these poor, misunderstood creatures. On top of that, do you know how hard it is to get a hold of some of these types of spiders? We would stand to lose a great deal of money if one or two got away...” Her eyes rose, fixating on the ceiling, and she stroked her chin in thought. “... and just think of all the lawsuits...” With a shrug, Megan tucked her screw driver under the edge of the Plexiglas cage and stepped away, crossing her arms over her chest. Blue eyes landed once again on the other in the room, the ‘terrible monster’ as Mr. Davids had called her. “I must say, however, I hardly think it is fair to call this young woman over here such a name. She seems perfectly fine to me. A bit frank, perhaps, but polite and well mannered.” Her eyes shot back to him, eyebrows raised in mock curiosity.

“Is it because she is different, that you refer to her in such a way? If so, Mr. Davids, I must say I am quite disappointed.”

"All things considering, now would not be the worst time to be feeling violent."

Meld arched an eyebrow at Anthony. "I'm not too sure that my particular brand of violence would help much against a spider, man-killer or otherwise" There was a strange amusement to the entire situation, really, not the least of which was that her new potential enemy was an 8 legged mouse-sized spider. It was certainly a novel situation and Meld had been in any number of unusual situations. This one, however, might just be at the pinnacle of the pyramid of odd.

“...Besides, Spiders are very interesting creatures. They need to be preserved and protected.”

Something about what the woman was saying simply wasn't adding up. Sure it was plausible that the woman truly was interested in the general well being of spiders and she couldn't argue with the fact that they were important to the eco-system. But was that sufficient reason to be here, hiding and possibly attempting to steal the spider? Meld thought not and, more so, she was fairly certain that theft was the intent of the woman, whether she admitted it or not. And, of course, why would she admit to committing an act that was most certainly illegal to two complete strangers, one of which even appeared to work for the museum? Meld certainly wouldn't had she been in the other woman's position.

“Sorry, But I just couldn’t stand aside and let strangers trample all over these poor, misunderstood creatures. On top of that, do you know how hard it is to get a hold of some of these types of spiders? We would stand to lose a great deal of money if one or two got away... and just think of all the lawsuits...I must say, however, I hardly think it is fair to call this young woman over here such a name. She seems perfectly fine to me. A bit frank, perhaps, but polite and well mannered.”

The spider woman was becoming more and more curios. When was the last time that someone had defended Meld in such a manner? She honestly couldn't remember. "Let me be frank with you," Meld spoke to the woman. Her tail swiveled so that its ruby eye was trained on Anthony, lest he attempt anything stupid triggered by her next words. "I know you're not here just to uphold the well being of spiders everywhere. I don't quite know why, perhaps that particular spider has some rare monetary value, but I'm pretty sure you're here to steal it. The way I see it this can go one of three ways. 1) You deny it and we stand here preventing you from getting whatever it is you want. 2) You admit it and we try to stop you and someone gets hurt and I'm willing to bed it'll be you. Or 3) you let us help. Or at least you let me help, I can't speak for the furry one over there. Now, personally I'd go for option number three. I haven't participated in a good theft in a long time and I happen to have a certain fondness for spiders. Something tells me you'll give the little guy a good home which is ok by me. So, what's it going to be?"

Meld stood in expectation of the answer to come. It would be a fun night to be able to help smuggle a spider out of the place, especially if she had to find out a way to get around Anthony. She wasn't sure that he was the kind to help steel something especially not something from his own museum. Or own employer, however it was with him.

Anthony listened to Megan and was vexed.

“Is it because she is different, that you refer to her in such a way? If so, Mr. Davids, I must say I am quite disappointed.”
Anthony wasn't sure whether the woman was intentionally obtuse or really that stupid. There was no way this woman was staff. Which must have been incredibly apparent, since Meld managed to twang on it immediately.


But just as Meld was about to redeem herself, sorta, in his book, she kept talking. "I haven't participated in a good theft in a long time and I happen to have a certain fondness for spiders. Something tells me you'll give the little guy a good home which is ok by me. So, what's it going to be?"

Anthony jumped at the opening.
"Woah, woah, Meld, nobody is stealing anything. It's obvious that this is one of the exhibit curators. The spiders are, apparently, loose. I haven't seen any of the beasties myself, but people don't go sprinting for their lives for no reason. Usually. Sometimes. Maybe. Anyway, we are getting off of the point here. The centerpiece spider is an impressive looking spider, but it's common and not all that useful. Honestly, if I were going to steal a spider, it'd be something that you aren't going to find in a third world banana grove."

Anthony bent down and picked up his broken radio and keys. "Though, it looks like this department needs a shake-up, there shouldn't be any way for spiders to get loose." He shoved the entire busted ensemble into an inner pocket and wished he had a taser, or kris. Maybe pepper spray. If Meld were deadset on stealing that spider, he wouldn't be able to do much with a broken briefcase and suit.

He glanced at Meld. Maybe some dynamite. Or a bulldozer. Browning .50 caliber machine gun. Note to self, check prices for Abrams Tank.

Listening to the options provided, she knew which one she was going to pick... With a shallow gulp, three fingers sprang into the air and she grinned at the woman. "Three is it!" Between the soft threats of death, and the fact that she was apperantly not as good at acting as she had hoped, all she really wanted was to grab her spider and head home... far far away from the scary lady with the tail, and the man who could probably hand her her own ass in a battle of wits. "I never would have guessed I'd meet a fellow spider enthusiast!..." She glance about at her surroundings quickly, "...er...well, normally I wouldn't...but...seeing as this is a... er... yeah...I'm just going to shut up now." Her features deadpanned and with a sniffle she turned back to face the cage behind her. The fuzzy one spoke again... and Megan felt a smile curl her lips. Not any normal smile, mind you... a 'Megan only!' smile...which was all sorts of ugly in itself. Pride filled and more than a little ignorant. "Actually, I did intend to take the spider..."

Tilting her head, she pressed her hands to the front of the cage and peered inside. It was rather odd that the creature hadn't so much as twitched since she had first spotted it... but, it also wasn't entirely out of character for the small creature. Orb weavers could sit still for hours until a bird flew into it's web, then it was dinner time.... His little comment about them being common forced her eyes to shoot back to him. "Yes, they are common... but not for me. It's not like you can find these guys crawling about out in the park or anything..." She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him and turned to call for her babies. One short whistle later, and the four creepy crawlies she had staked around as her eyes and ears crawled back from various places within the room they had been hiding.

"It's not everyday I'm presented the chance to learn how to make an Orb weaver... Isn't that right baby?" She cooed- adopting that annoying baby talk tone new mothers always insisted on drowning their kids with- to no one in particular until her shoulder length hair parted slightly, allowing a small Black Widow to creep up her neck and rest on her cheek. She nuzzled it with her fingers affectionately, before glancing back to meld. "So your names Meld huh?... I'm Megan, Nice to meet'cha." Then, empty blue eyes landed on Mr. business suit again. "What about you? I can't very well go around calling you Mr. Fuzzybum now can I?" Blinking she flicked her eyes in his direction and two of her blue eyed spider-lings skittered his way to investigate. Honestly, she wasn't all that useful in a fight against a guy...fuzzybum or not, nor would she really stand a chance if the femTerminator decided not to steal the spider. In the event of fists- or tails- flying, she intended to drop, roll, and take cover behind whatever presented itself as possible shelter.... maybe even steal the spider and sneak out amidst the chaos... maybe.

"Woah, woah, Meld, nobody is stealing anything. It's obvious that this is one of the exhibit curators. The spiders are, apparently, loose. I haven't seen any of the beasties myself, but people don't go sprinting for their lives for no reason. Usually. Sometimes. Maybe. Anyway, we are getting off of the point here. The centerpiece spider is an impressive looking spider, but it's common and not all that useful. Honestly, if I were going to steal a spider, it'd be something that you aren't going to find in a third world banana grove."

Meld arched an eyebrow at Anthony in response to his little speech. She wasn't certain on the other woman's motivations either, but was he so naive that he didn't realize her intentions? To Meld it was clear as day but then Meld was experienced in most things criminal. Theft wasn't among her strongest skills, mind you, as she was more muscle than stealth, but when circumstances called for it she wasn't bad at remaining hidden. The combination of knowing the criminal mindset and having the added vantage point that had allowed her to see the woman obviously trying to hide herself in an action that would have been successful had Meld not had her trusty tail, gave her a rather accurate picture of the situation.

"Three is it!"

Meld nodded, business like now and smiled her usual dark smile. "I knew you'd see sense when presented to you. You seem like an intelligent woman." She turned an appraising eye to Anthony. "I believe you are now beginning to get the picture of what's going on here. I would really not have to get violent with you, given that you're a mutant and all, but I'm now committed to a cause and I stand by my commitments. I don't care if you decide to help or not, just stay out of our way and no one has to get hurt." Or at least, he wouldn't have to get hurt. Something told her that there may be others that might try to stop them and she couldn't vouch for their safety. Stay out of her way and Meld would leave them alone but the minute they resorted to violence, she was more than happy to reply in kind. If it came to that. Either way, Meld wasn't about to let Anthony go and warn the security even if he had no desire to help them.

Meld turned back towards the woman, who had introduced herself as Megan, keeping her tail trained on Anthony. What she saw was certainly not what she expected: spiders seemed to be drawn to her, congregating towards her. It was an usual sight and a little disturbing even for someone of Meld's pro-spider nature. There could only be one conclusion and that was that this woman was a mutant, some sort of spider mutant at that. And, if it came down to a fight, how was she supposed to defend herself against a horde of bugs anyway? She knew enough about spiders to know that many of them were poisonous, some lethally so, and neither her blades nor her immunity to pain were likely to help her if it came to a conflict between the two of them. Sure she could probably kill the flesh and blood mutant woman with relative ease, but she might just die in the process and that was just about the last thing she wanted. Well, even more reason to help the woman and possibly befriend her. Friends were much superior to enemies and although Meld seemed to have a number of enemies, it wasn't something she went searching for.

"Mutant I take it?" Her voice was calm and cold, giving no hint to the discomfort that she was feeling. It was go time, the start of a mission, which meant emotions were a liability and therefore something to be entirely ignored. Out of control emotions meant mistakes and mistakes meant death which meant it was so much better to be able to turn them off at will which she more or less was able to do. Usually. "I trust you have a plan?"

The third option."

Anthony felt his stomach sinking. Again, he'd found himself on the other end of some moral conundrum from Meld. And again, he was in no position to do anything about it. They continued talking, but he all he heard was the sound of tiny little freaks crawling about in cages. And spiders, too. Spiders?

A spider, a Black Widow, had just made itself known from about the interlopers person. And she was cuddling it. Vile.

"...Mr. Fuzzybum?"
Anthony was caught off guard about something to do with his fur and his bottom. He mentally tried to piece together what she had said just prior to that, and only came up with a name.

"I'm sorry, Megan was it? I wasn't really paying attention, I was staring at the spider on your shoulder that you appear to have relations with. I hope you don't mind the squishing comment earlier. Not that I actually care, I just don't want to offend. My name is Theodore Dvorak, third son of Nils Dvorak, I'm sure you've heard of him." He waved in a noncommittal way while staring Meld down in what he hoped was his sternest face. Not the best off the cuff lie he'd ever told, but somehow he didn't think this one was going to figure it out.

"If you are planning on stealing the spider, you do know that the exhibits all have alarms. And that security in this museum is armed, and already on it's way due to someone screaming about spiders." He rolled his neck a little. "Oh, and the museum is an equal opportunity employer. Gender, Race, Religion, Mutations, equal opportunity. They help a lot of mutants find jobs, in say security, who otherwise would be destitute. After all, I'm the one checking the books, and I'm a mutant who was in jail during the winter. I can't quite put my finger on why I was in jail. \" He contemplated putting a finger on Meld, like he usually would when he made this kind of point. But he was fond of all of his pieces in place.

"I'll make you an offer, and this is the only time I'll offer it. You guys promise to make a fuss, but keep it non-lethal, and I'll arrange for those tapes to go missing." Anthony moved his leveled finger to different places in the room, only one of which was an obviously visible camera, but he knew a couple of them were exhibit cams to study the spiders. Anthony smiled a tight, feral grin. "Might not mean much to you, Morrígan, Khali, Hel, whatever. But it's probably more important to Megan."

He wasn't sure why he enjoyed pushing Meld. But he did. Oh so very much. Like flirting with the specters of death that she represented to him. She was the steel viper in this concrete society, so maybe he just couldn't help himself.

"I am indeed a Mutant. Proudly so, if i do say so myself." With a grin, she sent a sort of bow, melds way, before blinking and raising an eyebrow at the woman's next question. Hm... plans, plans. Did she have one? No... not really. but, had that ever stopped her in the past from doing what she wanted? Blinking once more, she let a hand drop to her hip and shifted on her feet. No, it hadn't. But in all fairness she hadn't tried to rob a museum in the past either. "You could say i had a plan of sorts, but, honestly that plan flew out the window about five minutes ago." Her grin widened just a little, and she leaned back against the display behind her. "I figured I'd just wing it now... unless you have anything you'd like to get out of this little excursion...?"

Then, Mr. Davids started to talk again. "Actually, I am a little offended about the squishing comment, but as you stated, you don't really care." Her grin vanished into a polite smile, fake as it may be, and she continued on. "I'm going to guess that Davids is short for Dvorak?" He continued, something about an alarm system, cameras, a hefty supply of armed -possibly mutant- guards, and her grin returned. An offer was proposed, and she blinked, adopting her best, most innocent doe eyes. "Why, how interesting... I was told by my sentries that the only security roaming these halls happens to be an old woman, a man who needs to monitor his calorie intake greatly, and some guy who's busy at the moment saying the horizontal hello with one of your lovely janitorial staff members. Frank, i think his name is."

She tilted her head, "I will give it to you though, you are pretty equal opportunity." Turning her eyes back to meld for a moment, she swiveled back to the cage behind her and pressed her hands to the glass, allowing the rest of her hidden swarm of spiders to skitter down her arms from their hiding spots in her hair and jacket. "As for this whole 'non-lethal' thing you speak of, i never intended for anyone to get hurt." Blue eyes rose once more, and she moved around to the back of the cage where the screws and hinges sat loose and waiting. "but I'm sure if pushed...well... accidents happen. Don't you agree, Mr. Davids?" she casually pried the back panel of Plexiglas off while she spoke. Confident words that were leaving her mouth, from a not so confident woman with a hoard of spiders and the ability to sling silk as her only defense. She glanced back to meld while removing the panel, and hoped dearly that the woman could live up to her rather scary appearance.

(( Alright, let me know if I need to change anything. I was rather stumped with what to do, so Saph gave me some pointers. ))