I roll my eyes, leaning back in the chair as Olivia speaks, the ancient woman on my augs looking even more rugged than normal, her grey hair frizzing and messy. To be fair, she did put this emergency meeting together in just a day, which is sort of impressive considering she was also taking care of the entire New Houston mess at the same time. Though, the meeting sort of was entirely revolving around what we were going to do about the people that were involved in that dumpster fire.
Clicking my tongue, I glance out the window of my office to see the clouds collecting at its base. It’s bittersweet; Three new talented juniors, but they have something like this happen to them. Honestly, Desmond can go eat a thousand dicks for essentially causing all this.
Sir, Foxfire just broke into the Family’s airspace. She was notified and has replied with ASCII art of a middle-finger.
Nearly falling out of my chair, I slam the front legs down as an unintentional grin spreads across my face.
‘Why? She hasn’t been doing anything radical lately, so what’s the deal?’
According to one of your mesh sources, one of the new samurai from the New Houston incident ended up getting involved with her grandchildren.
Tapping my foot, I end up turning my attention to the meeting again when Lumi’s pyramid avatar pops up on screen to glare at me, interrupting Olivia who was droning on about some sort of financial mess.
“Liam, don’t you dare.” They pull up an image of the fox in question descending down from orbit. “We’re in the middle of something, and you need to be here for it.”
“Bah, you’re no fun.” Scowling, I cross my arms. “Aren’t we supposed to intercept when she does something like this?”
Olivia sighs, putting a hand on her head. “Typically yes, but with the severity of the situation in the gulf we don’t have time for it. Let one of the teams handle it.”
For a moment I consider grunting and going silent, but then something clicks and I can’t help but smirk.
“Oh, but what if the vixen wants to murder the three newbies this meeting is about? That seems relevant to the situation.”
Lumi and Olivia both jerk to a stop, looking off to the side to check if what I said was true. As I stand up, I roll my shoulders with a flame of anticipation coming alight in my chest.
“I’ll go intercept her and make sure they’re fine.” Giving the camera a wink, I take a step towards the window, which opens for me. “I’ll tell the kids what we decided too.”
“Wait, Liam don’-”
Not waiting for Lumi to finish, I leap out the window, invoking the fourth circle to open a rift in space. An unnatural wind pushing against me, I grab my hat off my desk and leap through into the darkness.
Time to have some fun.
[“Yeah, It’s sort of a mess down here Luna, she froze like, an entire fucking square mile of water and it’s not melting.”] Shadowtag sighs across the call, putting her hand on her cheek. [“To be honest I wish they didn’t assign me to this, I’m worried about the girls in Indy. They do a good job of hiding it, but the propaganda bullshit is starting to get to them a bit. Did you know a paparazzi somehow got a video of SkyFire at a party with the Indy Fire Department, then leaked it with the claim that she’s having an affair with one of them instead of doing her job?”]
I contemplate what she said, while some turbulence tries and fails to shake my ride.
“That’s messed up. Do you need help with that? I feel like people are forgetting the memo…”
[“They refused my help, so I doubt they’d be fine with me accepting assistance for them.”] The woman sighs again, then gets a somewhat forlorn look upon her face. [“It’s times like this I miss her, you know? The girls make me feel like a mom. I just have to sit here and watch my rebellious teenage daughters trying to do everything themselves.”]
“Oh yeah I get that,” I find myself nodding, “It was the same with Sparkling Magenta Explosion. And Katie, but she was less rebellious and more thankful she had an adult willing to stand up for her. Do you want advice on how to raise them or are you good on that front?”
The woman giggles, a bit of levity returned to her tone. [“I’m not actually their mom Luna, I’m just venting a bit. The girls are adults, they really do need to learn how to handle this kind of thing themselves. Anyways, enough about me, why are you even in the area?”]
“So you know how Steelheil’s city blew up? Turns out three new Samurai initialized and they never had ice cream before, soooo I’m headed there to fix that.”
Shadowtag coughs, then basically shouts, [“I’m sorry, how in the world has someone never had ice cream before?!”]
I shrug.
“My best guess? New Houston fucking sucked to live in and the only reason anyone ever stayed there was because they weren’t allowed to leave.”
My friend goes silent on the other end of the call, and I glance to see a mix of about a thousand emotions on her face. [“Luna… This hits a bit too close to home for comfort, give them a hug? For me?”]
“Hey come on now, you know me. The only way they’re not all getting a big hug is if they don’t want to be hugged.”
I sigh and then add “These kids probably need literally any good thing that can happen to them. Which is why I’m travelling at top speed to get them some class III ice cream.”
[“I-I…”] Shadowtag’s voice trembles as she sputters, [“I-I should go get back to work. Ask if they’d be fine with you sending me their info, if you get a chance. I don’t think I can let this one go…”]
I nod in agreement.
“Of course! I hope they say yes. I have a feeling they’re going to be a bit… Let’s say, I think someone with experience they can ask for advice will probably be very helpful. And you do have leadership experience and I could rest easy, knowing they’re in good hands. Should I drop in on the way home by the way? The Gulf isn’t directly on the way but it’s close enough.”
[“I’d love that, we can get a drink. I’m staying at Neo Orleans, I found a nice bar there last night.”]
“Sounds good! Do be aware I will have to leave to be over at Evelin’s and Melody’s for dinner. I promised the girls I’d save them some ice-cream if they eat their veggies without complaining. Oh wait nevermind. Timezones.”
[“We’re samurai, just keep it in a freezer or something. Anyways, someone is screaming on the Family channel about one of the higher ups doing something stupid, I need to go deal with it. Talk to you tonight.”]
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She hangs up before I even get a chance to correct her on her terminology, which is fine, I’ll just do that when I see her.
Then, a fucking idiot in a fedora pops out of a rift in space and slams a cane into my car, sending it and me spinning through the air.
The man, dressed in annoyingly edgy black techwear reappears in front of me as we come to a stop. He reaches up and tips his hat at me, standing in thin air while leaning on his cane.
“Well if it isn’t little Miss Foxfire!” The bastard Scion yells at me, a smug grin on his face. “What brings you to our neck of the woods?”
Welp if you can’t outsmart them, outdumb them.
“A critical emergency including three newly initialized Samurai, who have never had ice cream before, which clearly must be fixed with the utmost urgency.”
The man snorts, raising the cane up to rest it across his shoulders. “Oh, come on, you can come up with a better lie than that.”
I need to get myself a gun for situations like this. Maybe a railgun spanning the entire length of my car?
“I mean, yeah, I guess I could spin you some sob-story about how there’s this country with oil-reserves and the people there need democracy, but I’m not the US. In all seriousness though, I’m not bullshitting you. That is the actual reason why I’m here.”
He frowns for a moment, then regains his irritating persona. “That’s kinda depressing, my fun has been ruined. Mind if I hop in? I sorta need to talk to them.”
“I mean yeah it is. That shit would never fly in Europe but then again, North America doesn’t have me. They just have some weirdo who thinks it’s socially acceptable to not just wear a fedora but to actually tip it at women. And yeah sure come on in.”
He pops onto the seat beside me, resting his cane across his lap. “So, how’s the wife?”
“Lyona?”
Currently aboard your space station and ready to take the shot at any time should your guest forget his manners.
“Wow, what do you even have aimed at me? Also, hi Lyona.”
Hello Liam. Her Regular Sniper Rifle.
“Welp there you go.”
He leans back in the seat, his smile getting a bit wider. “Tch, boring, it’s sort of making me sad I’m not worthy of a car sized cannon or something.”
“Today might be your lucky day, because I’ve thought about that earlier and if the Mars-situation is what we think it is, I just might get one. I’m thinking Class IV and V materials, up to half a ton tungsten cubes as ammo and thanks to temporal shifters up to fifty times FTL. It’s a rough estimate but it should be capable of sterilizing a hemisphere easily and maybe blow up celestial bodies altogether at max power?”
“Heh, that’s more like it!” He squints as he looks out the window, then whistles at what he sees. “That’s a pretty little ship they got there.”
“Yyyup. Speaking of,” I turn on the outside-speakers, “Ahoy there! I’ve got a delivery of ice-cream for a certain Starchaser? Mind if me and the hitchhiker I picked up along the way come on in?”
Lissa’s voice forces itself onto the car’s comms. [“Yeah, just land on the deck. The ship’s anti-gravity engine supposedly will keep you safe but I don’t trust it at all yet.”]
I do as instructed, gently touching down, but not quite turning off the anti-gravity engines of my car, not being sure if the ship can handle the weight.
“Welp Ladies first.” I lock the passenger-door and head on out. When I look up, Liam is sitting on the hood of the car.
“Somewhat rude, but probably deserved.” He turns his head towards the bridge, then raises an eyebrow when he sees the figures stepping out. “That’s an… interesting theme.”
I completely ignore him, because… “Oh my goddess you’re a mermaid! That is amazing!”
The girl in question, wearing a pastel yellow maid dress, flushes a bit, nearly matching the color of the dress of the girl she moves to hide behind. Lissa, who looks a LOT different in real life considering the gnarly cybernetic eye and her dyed hair, steps forward towards us fidgeting with a set of white gloves that matches her black butler suit quite well.
“Hey Luna. Sorry you had to come all this way.”
“Oh it’s nothing. It would have taken half the time it did, if a certain idiot hadn’t showed up. Speaking of,” I point a thumb at the idiot in question, “This is Liam. He’s an idiot. That’s probably all you’ll ever need to know about him.”
“Excuse me ladies, let me introduce myself.” He leaps down onto the deck, performing a deep bow. “I am Liam Glauchester, Scion of the Unknown Deeps, master of the dark arts, and the grand warlock of the Family.”
Lissa frowns, crossing her arms. “Magic isn’t real.”
“Like I said, an idiot. A troublesome idiot, but an idiot.”
Clicking his tongue, Liam wags his finger at us. “Oh you of little imagination, the dark arts is simply invoking the power of the eldritch beings beyond in order to perform miracles. I’ll leave the full lecture for another time though, I am here as a messenger of sorts for the Family.”
I sigh and under my breath mutter, “Let it go Luna. It’s not worth it. You’ve had this discussion a million times and it’s never been fruitful.”
Liam, sending a wink at me because the bastard’s ears are too good, taps his cane twice against the wooden floor beneath him. An overly designed magic circle appears beside him, which shifts into a small eyeball with a different amount of tentacles every time you look at it. All three of the Starchaser crew flinch at that, before the monster’s singular eye lights up to display a video feed.
“To make matters simple, the Family has voted on what we are going to do about the events that occurred that fateful night. As of this moment, all members of the Starchaser’s crew are banned from becoming members of the Family, and cannot enter Family-property without an invitation.”
The woman in the red dress scowls as she growls, “What?! We didn’t-”
Liam interrupts her. “I’m not done. The ship is not allowed to dock at Family harbors either.”
“Question!” I interject, “Cannot or should not. Because I’m pretty sure yall told me the same thing once and I promise you I can absolutely still enter Family-properties without invitation.”
Liam rolls his eyes at me. “Well, if you’re strong enough to ignore the warnings of Class Five samurai, I suppose they don’t really matter very much anymore. For these three, that ban does matter. Honestly, this was quite lenient, one of us wanted to have you all listed as Rogues.”
My tail started twitching behind me as I found myself slowly reaching towards Kindness.
“Are we going to have a diplomatic incident, Mister Scion?”
He turns to me, and I see excitement in his eyes. Fucking Battle-maniac. He’s worse than Maniac.
“Only if you want to, Miss Foxfire.”
“C-Can we not have another fight?” The mermaid stutters as she peeks out to look at us, “T-The consequences of the last one are still sort of sinking in.”
I drop my hand. “Right, sorry. Guess you’re not getting your ass kicked today, Liam.”
“Cheh.” Liam taps his cane twice again, banishing the eye. “Well, I suppose my reason for being here is gone now. I’ll be taking my leave.”
The man swings his cane, opening a rift in space that makes the girls flinch again. Without much care for anyone telling him farewell, he leaps through, but not before sticking his tongue out at me right as he disappears. I groan, then take a step forward with my arms raised.
“Right so, ice cream. Who wants what flavour? Feel free to choose multiple, I have points for days!”
My name is Jeremiah Greenwood, Head Scientist of the New Houston Montero-Wisteria Laboratory. This is the second research log for the Davy Jones project, the date is January Eighth, Twenty Fifty-Five.
There have been some interesting discoveries made in the last week, only one of which I have the capability of utilizing. The Model Seven-Tiny, or Model Seven-Ts, as they have come to be referred to, are fascinating specimens for sure. The creatures are not intelligent by any means normally, they don’t have anywhere near the sufficient mass nor structure to have the capability.
And yet, they sometimes act as if they were intelligent.
It baffled us, until one of us had an epiphany and separated the worms into three groups: One control kept in water, one fed only with generic biomass, and one given a human corpse. In every case, the group given a human corpse performed far better in testing than the other two, leading to a second experiment being done of feeding individual parts to them to see exactly what was causing this.
It was the brain.
The worms seem to assimilate the grey matter into themselves, utilizing it to enhance their gestalt’s processing capabilities. We are unsure of how this is possible, but for now I have assigned one of the researchers to develop a feeding system of artificial greymatter in order to see how developed we can get this trait. If we can figure out how, it might be possible for us to implement this in human subjects.
Exciting beyond anything we have found so far.
- Audio Recording recovered by Emmelyn from the data disk stolen from the Montero-Wisteria Laboratory on the Twelfth floor.
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