KISMET ─ vento aureo.

☆ ⁺ « THAT MAKES THINGS DIFFICULT

You blinked. "Is that what's got you twisted up? You can stay with the crew as long as you want, or leave, depending. No one's going to force you."

JoJo only looked a tad relieved. "I see." He smiled faintly. "Thank you. For everything so far."

"I haven't done much other than nearly get you killed, but you're welcome."

"Here we are," Rati said, stopping in front of a set of frosted double-doors. There were no markers anywhere to indicate it was Polnareff's lab. He scanned his ident chip and then his iris, waiting a moment for the doors to slide open.

"Just wait here a moment and I'll get Dr. Polnareff." Rati disappeared somewhere inside the lab, leaving you to squint around at your surroundings.

It was very dark in here. The only illumination came from a wall of screens near the back, displaying diagrams and equations for stars-knew-what. A few innocuous displays of animals and plants took up one of the counters and on the other was a complicated contraption you could only guess at. Not overly impressive. No Stand Arrow lying around, either.

"Stars, that Rati guy gets on my nerves," Narancia said, rubbing his arms.

Mista rolled his eyes. "You too? I thought that was just me."

"The fact that Asswipe seems more trustworthy than him says a lot," Trish said. Then winced. "Abbacchio, I mean. Sorry, old habits."

"There's definitely something off about him," Fugo mused. He'd drifted over to the wall of screens. "But he did bring us to Polnareff." He craned his neck to look at the uppermost screens. "What's our approach, Captain?"

"Be direct about it as possible," you said. "We don't have time to go beating around the bush. I don't want to resort to force, but if it comes to it..."

"So, your usual approach, I'm guessing?" Abbacchio said. You side-eyed him.

The sound of whirring made everyone straighten. Rati reappeared behind a man in an automated wheelchair. He was well built, with receding silver hair styled straight-up in a flat-top. His legs had been replaced with prosthetics, along with what appeared to be two fingers on his left hand. One of his eyes glowed blue—a cybernetic, you guessed, covered by a half-visor. Eerily, the cybernetic made you think of Narancia, and you couldn't help glancing at him.

Polnareff didn't smile when he saw your crew. In fact, his mouth turned down in a frown.

"Dr. Polnareff, allow me to introduce Passione. They expressed great interest in meeting you," said Rati.

"I'm sure they did," said Polnareff. He studied each of your crew intently, forming a silent opinion before stopping on you.

He waited expectantly.

You cleared your throat. "Thank you for meeting us, uh, Dr. Polnareff. I'm the Captain of Passione." You introduced each of your crew members in turn, hesitating only a beat on Abbacchio, who nodded curtly.

Polnareff wasted no time with the preamble. "Why are you here?"

Fugo darted a look at Rati. "Could we talk about this somewhere private?"

"Whatever you have to say to me can be said to my assistant," Polnareff said gruffly. "I trust him entirely."

Assistant? Rati certainly didn't look like a lab assistant, least of all to a scientist apparently as respected as Polnareff.

You traded looks with Fugo. You said you wouldn't beat around the bush, so you wouldn't.

"We're here for the Stand Arrow. We've been told you have it."