The Great Scouting Plan [Klein, ???]

Klein really didn't like Hueco Mundo, if he was being quite honest, but he unfortunately had a lot of reason to be here for once. Beyond just hunting down Hollows to drag back to Brazil, he was looking for something a little more specific. His hazy memories of being born had been cleared up a bit when Lilynette had elucidated him on the matter, and really, it hadn't been hard to research the rest from there.

So now, here he was. The ruins of Las Noches, and just looking at it certainly cleared his mind up a little more. Left a bad taste in his mouth, too, and the small man even kicked a little bit of sand in annoyance as he looked at it.

"This is the pits."

Well, nothing to it but to head in. Being small had its advantages, at the very least, so he'd probably be able to climb through any rubble without too much trouble. Course, he'd need to get some of the other stuff out of the way... What a hassle. Sighing to himself, Klein kept looking for anything that might've been an entrance. He'd probably be here a while.

Ruins everywhere, the structural intergrity of Las Noches had not been given a chance to ever be salvaged like a scar in the landscape of an old wound that hadn't healed. It was a place that could be called haunted if there was ever a more fitting word for what this place was. Deep below though was the ruins of a mad scientist's lab, difficult to reach there was pieces of rock and slabs that formed a trecherous tunnel into the depths of the sands. A kind of expectation for any who would dare to enter into the ruins to contort and display some feats of flexibility to ever hope to get through.

If that could be passed there was finally a hint of an entrace to what was once a large complex but had pieces of stone littering the place. Even the entrance was not so much an entrance as it was just a hole with pieces of rock blocking the path but inside the dim cavern there was dusty air and hints of equipment laying about the area.

Broken test tubes, various science equipment and most importantly the various corpses of abominous looking arrancar which were mutilated or had died from a lack of sustence and starved under the burden of their spiritual power in the last century.

It looked more like a mausoleum.

Yep. This was really the pits, in maybe the most literal way possible. Klein didn't really like spaces like this, they didn't give him much opportunity to just run when he needed to. He'd planned for something like this, of course. Packed a little bit of extra oil, really eaten good in case he had to drop his resurreccion and high tail it out of somewhere dangerous, but this still sucked.

"Ugh, damn it, my jacket's all gross now."

Dusting off the rubble from it, Klein stretched for a moment before turning his attention to the lab he'd stepped into. This definitely rung a few more bells in his head, and he stared at everything with an almost detached disgust.

"Well... Guess it's time to figure this out."

Walking past the corpses and ruined equipment with more caution than interest, Klein's eyes were darting anywhere that looked like it might have something to study. He was still staying on high alert, but he had to focus on actually finding anything of value here. Not for anyone else, of course. Safira didn't need to know he'd come down here.

No, whatever he found here was just for him.

At a glance there was nothing of value, a man as deceptive and calculating as Szayelaporro would not simply leave his laboratory full of precious things. Everything was hidden, much was probably tucked behind secret rooms and compartments which were probably not even there anymore after some cave ins. Everything lead to something else.

Regardless though as Klein made his way through the room of ruined things there was a faint echo. A small staggered knocking that carried through the facility. A sound that came from a pipe which was amongst a bunch of rubble. It was too inconsistent to be on a set timer.

Everything being in this state shouldn't have surprised Klein, admittedly. Actually finding some stack of helpful papers, or a computer with all the secrets of his creation, would have been so suspicious that he'd immediately have hightailed it away. But this was still pretty ridiculous, wasn't it? He'd have imagined that someone like Szayelaporro might have had a lab more sturdy.

Hm. The knocking sound was enough to take Klein out of his thoughts, and he moved toward it, studying the pipe for a second or two. He didn't quite want to just pull on it or anything. Even touching it seemed like it might be a bad idea, but he'd take at least that little risk for now. Tensing himself to run in case this proved to be a terrible idea, he crouched down and tapped it a few times. Quick, methodical, but clearly intentional. Might as well make it clear he was here.

There was a pause when he tapped back. A silence that dragged out a little bit until someone might think that they might've been hearing things or that whatever was making the noise had become shy to respond. Eventually though there was a small tap that came back with a small sound that might've been two words that were too faint to be actually be made out.

A raspy cough before from the pipe before another attempt but this time more clear and with weary high-pitched voice.

"Roger roger."

Klein's voice had moved to his usual cheery tone, which was at odds with the expression he was actually wearing. After all, this could be a trap. Still, if he left now he wouldn't actually have found much of anything, eh? That'd be a total waste of time. So, with a sigh, he started looking for a way down again, moving rubble aside wherever it looked like he could descend.

On one hand, he definitely felt like he'd been here before. That was sort of a good thing in a situation like this. But at the same time, he really couldn't help but feel on edge. Whatever, he'd figure it out.

He sounded so jubilant, the soft effeminate whine came from below though it was hard to tell if it was irritated or just in pain. While he dug his way through the rubble the weak sounds became more clear but still obscured. With a groan that was almost pathetic a small golden ribbon emerged from the pipe that had carried the unknown voice and floated around. It had the distinct trace of a hollow but with the faint addition of a shinigami.

It was an arrancar's spirit ribbon, though the colour did not indicate anything other than the reiatsu colour here, that was floating around in the air. Benign and floating like it was waiting for him.

A spirit ribbon? That was definitely something unusual, but at least it was something to look at. Approaching very cautiously, he looked at it for a moment, tentatively reaching a hand out while the other kept his Hollow Cross firly in hand.

"What is it?"

Realistically, Klein knew he couldn't possibly be that tight for time here. Whoever this was would have to have been stuck in here for quite a while, right? While he wasn't exactly keen to just leave them down there, even if just for his own benefit, he wasn't in a supreme rush just yet.

"Talk..."

The voice croaked back, why did he have to be so apprehensive? It was just a ribbon. Though such thoughts as that could be interpreted as desperation or impatience. Social skills deteriorated after so long in the dark, lonely space of ruins. The pained sound of responding sang a tune of someone who was either too atrophied or in too much pain to talk.

So their ribbon floated there expectantly.