The two recruits seemed comfortable enough to share information on themselves. They in turn explained that they were devil fruit eaters and both had strange powers to go along with it. Spook was right, Gil would have never imagined such a crazy ability could have existed. It was as though each new devil fruit reveal was stranger than the one before it. Was there no limit to the potential of this curse? Someone that can turn others into toys, force them to comply and then erase the memories of that person? The fishman's head began to spin. he could see why secrecy was important. If it was as he said, the potential of a tool such as that could be vital in the future. And the other had the potential to reshape whole islands? These were crazy abilities for sure. "I will need to pass on this information to Jackal, but I can keep it a secret apart from that if that is your request. I would be interested in seeing exactly how it works, but that can wait." Gil nodded as it all sunk in. He would share the day's events with the captain later on to make sure that he was caught up.

Lucas took the time to reassure him, letting him know that he was used to the fallout of this life. It was reassuring to hear, and his first impression of the two men told him that they were neither ignorant nor crazy. He raised his brow a fraction of an inch upon hearing of the state of their meeting with Jackal. Seeing the vicious consequences of crossing the mink for themselves and still showing up here was a qualification in a way. They were serious. Good. They needed men like these. Hopefully they wouldn't die as easily as the rest of their allies.

"Well then, the order of business is that of the threat of Mother. Things have been continuing to escalate. I am not sure what information you have on this war or the power struggles on Baltigo as a whole. I would recommend that you take any necessary steps to secure your own safety." Gil began rummaging through his bag and pulled out a vial of fluid with brown goo floating around inside. "The wounds to both sides are becoming worse and worse. We can't let Jackal take on the kingpin by himself. We have to do what we can to back him up. Recently, I've been developing something with her in mind. A sickness to spread among her horde. An infection that ruptures your organs from the inside. I think that if this takes hold, we can score a meaningful blow without having to endanger ourselves on a battlefield." A biological weapon was what he was talking about. A targeted plague that would spread from person to person. It could be effective, but it could also fail. It wasn't like he had tested it in the field before, only on a small quarantined sample. But he did know that there was potential for it to be dangerous.

"There's a problem though. I don't have a way to effectively deploy it. How do you spread it through the air without infecting yourself? Lucas, does your science have any relevance here?"

Spook spoke up on the moral implications of the act of using the plague as a weapon. It wasn't something that was unexpected for Gilbard. A large majority of the people who had bore witness to his more intrusive studies had issue with them. He was no doubt considered an evil person by many standards. He had come across the idea of an honourable fight before, but it was unclear to him why these rules would apply to their situation in particular. What was most interesting to him was the man's talk of a 'moral high ground'. He wondered what exactly that entailed, or of what use that would be. He seemed to be implying that adhering to the moral centre of the local populous would garner them a favourable view and thereby decreasing chance of negative action by them. For all the Fishman knew, he could be right. Many aspects of what Spook talked about was outside his consideration or even outside his comprehension. Is this the sort of thing that needed to be considered if one is to rule?

It brought up a few thought tendrils flailing in the back of his mind for later pondering. What did the neutral parties think of their struggle, and what effect could those impart? How would people even find out that a mysterious sickness were to originate from them in the first place? What were the moral boundaries of the men in front of them and to what limit would they be hindered by them? Was this empathy or something else? Did it have any use or was it merely a prison? Maybe the alterior viewpoint had some use and could offer something more.

"Simply fighting against a prepared force could not hope to inflict the amount of destruction on a community that an effective virus could. If destroying the army is to prune off the leaves of a tree, then this could by comparison rot the tree down to it's roots. A whole town falling ill. The halt on production. Opportunity cost. A fortune in beli required for medical treatment, feeding and housing of the sick. Cutting off supply lines would only be one bonus as those that supply the fighting forces also fall sick. Society collapses like a tower of cards." His research was only experimental and these effects were only what could be. But he had seen, and read about, many cases of outbreaks. One thing he was sure about was that they had no hope of being able to deal a blow that trumped what an outbreak was capable of.

Lucas took the chance to speak up as well. They seemed to both know their own mind and rated their own insight highly. Speaking out against your commanding officer wouldn't stand in a structured group such as the marines. Gil had come to know some pirate groups where you would be beaten within an inch of your life for something like this which could be seen as disrespectful. He wondered what made them think that this crew would be any different? The larger man's attitude was odd to him. He made an appeal to authority, insisting that the captain be consulted. He couldn't think of why this would be important. Why would Gil not be able to act independently? Why would they discard the plan? To go over his head so brazenly was a dangerous quirk for someone who joined a pirate crew they knew nothing about. Regardless, Gil had no issue with this action on its own. As long as they adhered to the plan instead of acting alone when the time came.

They both were very sure of themselves when it came to talking about fighting Mother directly. "Vitally injure their combatants", "cut the head off the snake", "crush the enemy with zero hesitation". What compelled them to believe that they could even achieve this in the first place? Maybe they assumed that the Calico Pirates were already strong enough to achieve this or did they think that their input would be enough to destroy the Second District. Could it be ignorance and arrogance or maybe they did possess this strength themselves. The fishman's black eye measured their body language. They believed it, for all that he could tell. But who knew for sure. It would be best that Gil measure them himself so he could make up his own judgement. In the mean time, he remained skeptical of their bravado.

"Alright. Listen up." Gil reached into his bag and pulled out a crumpled invitation. It was ornately written, the curly calligraphy much to fancy to be practical. It invited the holder to a masquerade ball in the Second District. Address and other important details were listed. "We will be attending a ball in a few weeks. This is where the next battlefield will occur. I would like to prepare for this as best as we can. The enemy will have the home field advantage. And while we won't be announcing our attendance, I am certain that they will be ready for us regardless. I am not sure exactly why the captain has picked that time but it seems he is of similar mind as you all are. He prefers to be in the foreground, taking the fight head on."

"Spook, I would like you to gather knowledge on the layout of the venue. Whether that means securing some sort of floor plan or scouting it yourself. I want you to anticipate as best you can where people will come and go, where the main events will take place and then identify the best place to lay the traps. Mother's horde is numerous, make note of points of entry for reinforcements." Maybe this would prove too much of an ask for the new recruit. He had to wonder of what use this request would produce. But it was a task that no one of the current members could fill due to their faces being unknown. The prospect of having an ace hidden up his sleeve when the time came was just too good to turn down.

Gil pulled out a sealed canister with the label 'F79'. "I have a prototype irritant here that will be able to temporarily disable the weakest guests and allow us to move uninterrupted once the action starts. I will need your help, Lucas, to build a device to disperse it remotely." Gil thought this would be more in their ball park of moral code, with the weapon only causing temporary effects.

"As time is of the essence, I won't be consulting Jackal at this point in time." This was something that Gilbard Noam was asking them to participate in. If they still thought it more important to seek the approval of the Captain then they could do so, but that would have its own implications for the future. "Let's get to work."

The fishman looked down at the ball invitation. The reason that they were attending. Well, from what they had said so far, this would be up their alley. "This will be it. Where we attempt to kill Mother herself. That information would be useful." Just like they had said, themselves. Cut the head off the snake and such. This ball... It was a different sort of danger to the ones that they had faced on Sandy Island and Cactus Island. It stank something fierce.

Gilbard nodded as a goodbye as they went to leave. "Don't take too many risks." It looked like the Calico pirates had gained a couple of useful tools. As much as Gil was keen on using them to the maximum of their usefuleness, he would rather that they not play too dangerously. They could do without further losses. More than that, he wanted some stability for Jackal's sake. There was going to be plenty of risk once the ball actually started anyway. It would be better for them to save their bodies for that.

He sat down at the table, finally alone. He had better get to work as well. This leadership thing was too foreign. Back in the Conclave, he was used to receiving respect just for being an apostle. These two gave him the eyes like they were measuring him up with every second.

He sighed, massaging his temples. Overall, he was more confident now than he had been the day before. A burden shared is a burden divided and all that. The day of the ball was approaching. He could feel it. This would be the tipping point. The Calico Pirates versus the Second District. The melody was rising in amplitude, slowly climbing to what was to become a bloody crescendo.

The fishman had found a home on the floor of the workshop. He was sitting cross legged, his eyes staring into middle distance. He was meditating in his half-sleep trance. Time seemed to warp in his perspective. The sun making a notable arc across the sky while it seemed like only seconds had passed in the mean time. It was an important part of his prayer which involved in communicating with the sea through that which lived within him. A small bubble of water covered his body, shaping and reshaping with the small movements he maintained while mid-trance.

A rather noisy interruption kicked down the door in the form of the new recruit named Spook. Gil awoke, the water spilling into a puddle that was quickly pulled up and into a ball in his hand. "You're back already." He croaked, a fluid movement elevating him into a stand. Apparently Spook had already completed the assignment. He produced a coin, the fishman not putting together what it was at first. "I'll follow your lead. If you need help then call."

Gil took the advice and took several hasty steps backward until his back was against the wall. He stared at the coin on the floor like it was a bomb that was about to go off. He was still getting used to all the strange potential that these devil's fruit brought with them. Whats more, Spooks weird movements didn't help to reassure him, the man was making all sorts of peculiar movements and words.