Author's Note: Hmmm... I keep finding good cut-off points for chapters. This fic might end up being like, ten shorter chapters instead of five longish ones. Not sure how I want to play this out. Depends on how much story I can fit into the next three.

Chapter Two:

Upon hearing the stirring of activity in the rooms upstairs, I briefly considered my options.

Most likely, one or more of the inhabitants of the house would soon be coming down the stairs. Probability would suggest that one of my sisters would be the most likely candidate for first arrival, based simply on the fact that they made up the majority of the household population. Were that the case, I would likely have no problems in pursuit of my next objective.

However, a risk had emerged. This structure was also the home of Genya Nakajima (Rank Major, Post Batallion 108, as of last update to his public personell records, has refused three offered promotions in order to remain in command of a criminal investigation unit), and the occasional dwelling of his adopted daughters Ginga (Type Zero Cyborg, A rank mage) and Subaru (Type Zero Cyborg, AA rank mage, extremely loud) Nakajima. The latter two could be extremely dangerous should they perceive me as a threat, while the former was a man of advancing years and could potentially have serious health problems that could be exacerbated by the surprise of seeing me.

It occurred to me, then, that it would perhaps have been prudent to call and send word that I would arriving, and that in the long run it would have been best to use my one gratis prison communique' to do this rather than consult the Doctor. I filed this information away in preparation for the next time I was incarcerated for several years.

Considering the situation, it would be wise to prepare some sort of contingency plan. A peace offering, perhaps, that would, when combined with my earlier consideration, prove that I was absolutely no threat to the denizens of the house.

Ten minutes later, I stared at the strange black thing in the frying pan and nodded. It did not resemble closely the image in the cookbook I had unearthed, but all the ingredients had been used and it should have the same basic structure. Yes, this should serve.

"Ugh, what smells like somebody died...?" said a new voice, as the first arrival entered the kitchen. Ah. Nove. Then my peace offering had been unecessary. Still, better to prepare a weapon and not need it than need it and not prepare it. Nove could occasionally be hostile even to her allies, so it might still be of some use. Further, her actions indicated fatigue; she was rubbing her eyes, her hair was dishevelled, and her footsteps were unsteady. Yes, perhaps I should make the offer just in case her state had left her in a bad mood.

"Good morning, Nove. I have gathered ingredients and constructed pancakes." I said. Then, upon considering the pan in my hands, I added "Or, at this point, pancake. It is nutritious and possibly edible."

"Eh? Thanks, Sette, but before I do anything else I need some coffee." Nove said, beginning to root around through the refrigerator. "Ugh, are we out of cream again? How many times I gotta tell Wendi, if she uses up the last of something, put it on the grocery list?"

"I do not know how many times you gotta tell her." I said.

"Heh. Well, I'm pretty sure we're up to a billion and counting." Nove said, her head still in the refrigerator. "Sette, could you get under the counter and get out the coffeepot? We should make some before the others..."

At this point, Nove stopped in mid-sentence and pulled her head out of the cooling appliance to stare at me. She blinked several times (dry eyes again? Perhaps a version of pink eye that only targeted cyborgs. I should be cautious). She rubbed her eyes, as if to be certain they were still working, and continued to stare at me.

I stared back.

She continued staring.

I offered her the coffeepot. "Here." I said.

"Um... thanks..." She said, her tone indicating some level of emotional distress. "Um... Sette… just out of curiousity, would I happen to be still asleep?"

"No."

"You sure? 'Cause right this moment, I'm thinking that I see you. And that would be pretty good indication this is a dream."

"I don't think I am a dream." I said. "Though if I was a dream, would I know I was a dream?" This was question worthy of consideration, and I resolved to research the matter later. If I was a dream, I should probably know about it.

Nove reached forward tentatively, and patted me on the shoulder a few times. She then poked my chest. She then pinched my cheeks.

"Please don't do that." I said, after this continued for nearly a full minute.

"S-sorry… just making sure." Nove said. "Um… Sette, not to put this the wrong way, but… well… why are you here?"

"I am no longer incarcerated." I said.

"Yeah, I was able to guess that based on the fact that you're in the room… what I meant is more along the lines… y'know, why are you here, in this house? It's just that nobody let you in, so it sorta seems like you broke in."

"I did not wish to wake anyone. This way was more considerate." I said firmly. It was true, after all.

"... suuuuuuuure. That still doesn't explain why you came here at night and committed great violence against some defenseless pancakes."

"Ah. Upon my parole, I determined I had several needs. The primary need was to determine my mission objective upon leaving the prison, to guide my future integration into society and prevent a loss of overall efficiency. The secondary need was a place to live."

"… your priorities haven't changed, I see." Nove said, with an expression that confused me. It seemed to have elements of both amusement and exasperation, which made little sense to me. "But if you just needed some place to crash, wouldn't the Saint Church have made more sense? Some of our sisters are there, too, and well… not that I'm sure dad wouldn't be happy to have you, but they do have a lot more space…"

"Ah. Well…" I began, hesitating slightly. How to put this delicately? "That is related to my first need. I required a command unit, one of my older sisters, to provide me with a mission, an overriding goal. And… there are only two of them who were not incarcerated with me, and given the choice between Cinque or… or Sein…"

Nove clasped her hand on my shoulder, her expression sympathetic. "You don't even have to finish that sentence." Nove said firmly. "You made the only decision anyone sane could make."

"Yes, I thought so." I agreed, glad that Nove could understand. I respected Sein in many ways, but in many other ways I found her... difficult. Particularly when bathing, it was best to make absolutely certain that she was nowhere in the vicinity. Her IS made this difficult, but it was worth the effort.

"But still, you probably should have called first, y'know?" Nove said. "I mean, I'm glad to see you, but not everyone here would be."

"Yes, I realized that belatedly. This is why I have constructed a pancake, as an offering of peace." I said, once again offering her my first completed creation. The first of many, if she would allow me to resume my efforts.

"... ... ... ... ... yeah." Nove said. "Look, follow me, okay? I'm sure you're welcome to stay here, but we'll need to sort some things out."

I followed my sister out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where she said, "Okay, I'm going to go take care of this situation for ya. You just sit in here until I come get you." She then gestured to the chair I had spent most of the night in, indicating I sit in it.

"Yes, I am capable of doing that." I said, knowing for a fact that I was able to perform to her expectations in this matter. I could, if necessary, remain seated in the chair in question for several hours without a noticable degredation of my capabilities.

"Now, our sisters will be happy to see you, but Ginga is staying over the night, and if she spots you before someone explains the situation, it could be trouble. So I need you to stay here until I bring everyone down to see you, all right?" Nove said, leaving me in the living room to head back upstairs.

It was a very good plan, in theory. Unfortunately, its effectiveness was diminished somewhat by the fact that Ginga Nakajima (Type Zero combat cyborg, Mage Rank A) had actually descended from the top floor and entered the kitchen to prepare her breakfast while Nove had been guiding me to the living room. And so when Nove went back upstairs, Sergeant Nakajima (Like her father, she had turned down several offered promotions in order to remain a field investigator) entered the room I was sitting in to determine whom she had heard speaking. Or I assume this to be the case, mind-reading is not within my capabilities.

Ginga Nakajima stared at me for some time. I got the impression that, unlike Nove, she was not doing so out of only disbelief.

"Hello." I said.

"Blitz Caliber!" She snapped, her Mage Device glowing brilliantly to clothe her in a Barrier Jacket... and importantly to my case, arm her.

This was a problem. My Inherent Equipment had not been returned to me after my release, for obvious reasons, and without my Boomerang Blades my IS was largely useless as well. I was more than capable of defending myself against most common threats, but Ginga was not only a Mage, but a Cyborg as well. Attempts to battle her without my weaponry would most likely result in me being quite severely beaten and ejected from the household.

"I don't know how you got out of prison, or how you got in here..." Ginga said, "But if you think I'll let you hurt even one member of my family, you've got another thing coming!" With only that warning, she charged, light gleaming around her Revolver Knuckle as the mechanisms spun rapidly, the weapon clearly poised to put me through a wall. I took the only defense I possibly could.

I raised both hands and said, "I surrender."

"Wh-ULF!" Ginga said. Evidently such an end to the 'encounter' had caught her somewhat off-guard, because she startled visibly... and, considering that she was moving at a considerable speed while on rollerblades, fell, skidding face-first along the floor until her momentum bled off. "Ooooowwwwwww..." She said, face still firmly in the floor.

"... ... would you like a pancake?" I asked, not certain what else to say. "There is only one, because Nove would not let me finish, but it is potentially good."

Without removing her face from the floor, Ginga said, "Er... I realize I'm stretching here, but is there any chance this is a dream? Because I did just wake up, and this whole situation is awfully surreal..."

"I do not think so. At least, the odds that both you and Nove are dreaming the same thing would be quite unlikely." I offered. "Although I suppose I could be dreaming, but I did not fall asleep so that is doubtful."

"What?" Came a familiar shriek from upstairs, halting our brief conversation there. "SetteSetteSetteSetteSette!" Came Wendi's delighted squeals as she leapt... literally... down the stairs, stormed into the room, and wrapped me in a hug quite against my will. "Sette! It is you! Oooooh, little sis, it's so good to see you again! It's been way, way too long, you never call, you never write, it's been ages! Nove just told me, she's waking up Cinque and Dieci right now, we're all going to sit down and have breakfast together like a family so welcome back!"

"Hello." I said, with a certain amount of difficulty. My lungs were having problems acquiring enough oxygen.

"Ah, I've missed that blank, understated expression of yours!" Wendi said in satisfaction. "... Ginga, what are you doing? Geez, playing on the floor when we have guests? What are you, five?"

"Are we sure this isn't a dream? Because I'd like it to be." Ginga said.