A/N: Sorry for the wait guys. Writers block is a bitch. I don't think I'm gonna be able to keep the whole 'update monthly/bi monthly' as much as I'd love to. Basically, chapters will come when they come. That being said: I only have 3-4 more chapters to rewrite, then we'll be off to brand new chapters and continue the story.

Thanks for baring with me over these years guys, it's appreciated. Anyways, enjoy chapter nine...

-Chapter Nine: Jens Kallo's Day Off-

"You idiot!"

Lania threw her glass full of wine at Thanatos. He instinctively shielded himself with his newly fixed robotic arm as it shattered on impact, causing the liquid dripped down.

"I gave you a simple task, and yet you screwed it up!"

"This is my first time screwing up, give me a break!"

The wine bottle flew right after. The Lucirian ducked this time around and responded to her with a snarl. By his side, Vorselon couldn't help but find amusement in all of it. He could barely keep himself together with how hard he was laughing.

"What's so funny, fish tank?!"

"Nothing…" He gave a sly grin in response as he put his hands behind his back and tried to not burst out laughing again.

"And you thought it was a wise idea to just dart out of there?!"

"Hey, we were out numbered! The Fuzzball already got his hands on it before we did and you expect me to wait on reinforcements on a lost cause! Even an excellent commander such as myself can-"

"I don't expect excellence, I expect perfection!"

"Calm your OCD, tuts! Zoni forbid that I don't meet up to your high standards! Shit happens, babe; get use to it!"

Lania gave a snort. "I keep you around for one reason and you can't even do that much..." She was sure she heard him call her a slur under his breath but ignored it. She sat back down on her throne, holding her head as she sighed. "Well, the problem is going to escalate if we don't take care of it."

"M-my lady." Vorselon butted in.

"Yes, Flint?" The empress tried to remain calm as she responded, but there was still a tinge of frustration thanks to Thanatos. Hopefully he doesn't take ill will from it.

"Can I make a - suggestion?"

Lania raised an eyebrow with arms crossed. "Such as…?"

"Well, you know I have a past with the rodent, and he's not easily taken down."

"Well, no sh-" Thanatos interrupted as his associate glared at him. "Oh sorry, were you saying something, all I heard was how you got your 'head' handed to you? Most plankton could conceive better plans than you can, goldfish."

"Hush Thanatos, he may be onto something," Lania then eyed back at Vorselon with a smile. "Go on…"

"Well, there may be another way other than brute force."

"Well, you know the enemy more than any of us do, so I'm all ears. What do you have in mind?"

"From what I've gathered lately, he's been pretty fragile emotionally, and being you seem into that sort of thing, I-"

"I think I get where you're coming from, Flint. So, you know what makes him tick?"

"An idea, yes…"

"Hmm." She pondered, and got right out of her chair. "We should discuss this in the debriefing room, more quiet and private. Thanatos, you're dismissed for now. Flint, come with me. If you have a plan, I want to hear the details."

Lania left the room. The Terraklon followed but before he could step outside the throne room, Thanatos yanked him by his cape and put his arms around him as he leaned down to his head level with a smile.

"Hey Vorselon, buddy ol' pal; words of advice for ya. I've got more to offer her than your puny little remains, and that applies to both the battlefield and the bedroom."

Thanatos leaned in so close Vorselon could practically feel the heat coming from his cigar. "So you had better hope she won't find you expendable on my part." He loosed his grip and gave him a hard pat on the back to drive the conversation home. "I'm glad we had this talk, you'd do well to remember it."

And with that, Thanatos took off the other way as Vorselon just watched him leave, annoyed.

"Dick…"

Flying into the station's garage, Aphelion docked and once she came to a stop, Ratchet jumped out. While Clank followed suit, they were then greeted by Talwyn

"Cronk and Zephyr contacted me that you were returning," she informed, hand on her hip. "So, any luck?"

Ratchet held the Nexus Core in his arms as he waved to her. "Mission was a success. We ran into a bit of trouble, but other than that, we have the Core safe and sound."

The last one coming out was Kor'jack, his balance shaky at best. "I don't feel so good, fuzzyguy…" He covered his mouth as his cheeks puckered out, running to the closest trash can or bathroom. Ratchet and Talwyn heard him throwing up in the other room as they cringed.

"You know Clank, maybe it wasn't a good idea dragging Kor'jack along. I don't want to think what would happen when we take him home…" Ratchet looked back at Talwyn. "So, what's Nefarious up to? Did he find any more info?"

"I haven't really spoken to him since you guys left, but he's been…let's say stressed with Qwark pestering him."

The Lombax just shook his head. "I'll try to get Qwark off his back, got to go talk to Gear Head anyways…"

"Hey, hey Nefarious?" Qwark's face was right in Nefarious' as he tried to work on the computer, eyes twitching. "Hey Herschel, what you doing? Herschel..."

"What?!" The robot yelled, finally losing his patience.

"I know we never had the best history and I wanted to apologize, so I drew you a picture to say I'm sorry…"

Qwark lifted up his crayon drawing, showing him and Nefarious smiling while walking through a field of flowers on a sunny day. The robot just glared at it, apathetic.

"Yes, charming, is that all?" He went back to typing.

"You…you don't like my picture…?" A sniff escaped Qwark, as started to tear up.

"…No, now go away."

"Don't worry Qwark, I think it's a lovely picture." Jens gave a cheerful smile as she sat on the couch.

Nefarious rolled his eyes. "Please don't encourage him. And where's my coffee?!"

"Do you really have to yell?" She exclaimed.

"Let me think on that," He rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes. Now go get me my coffee!"

"Okay, okay, geez…" Jens bounced off the couch and walked across the room over to the coffee machine.

"I see you two are getting along just fine…"

Nefarious shifted his eyes to the side, seeing Ratchet approach along with Clank and Tawlyn. "Nice to see you weren't killed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." He went back to work.

"Howdy Ratchet!" Jens yelled across the room where she was pouring two cups of joe. "How did the mission go?"

"It went fine Jens. How're you holding up?"

"Holdin', but it would be nice if someone didn' keep yellin'." She walked over with the glasses while handing one to Nefarious and started to drink her own. "I still don' get how you can drink this stuff, yer a robot."

"That's because this brand is for robots. It's made of oil."

Jens literally spit it out once she heard the word mentioned. "What ya tryin' to do, kill me?!"

"Hey, you're the one that didn't read the label! Though, that wouldn't be a bad thing…" Nefarious smiled as he took a sip.

"Bless yer heart, Nef."

"Yeah, I'm sure feeling the lo-" His arm then popped out, causing him to drop his mug and the coffee spilled over the floor. "This stupid fu-I can't even drink in peace now!?"

"Anyways," Ratchet interrupted. "Did you snatch any new info while we were away?"

"Oh, right," The robot spoke while he picked up his arm and put it back into place, "Sadly, no, nothing new. Still looking into a few news stories and radio waves that would help though, but otherwise you'll be sitting around for awhile until I figure out if they're worthwhile."

"Not the news we were hoping to hear."

"Hey, I've been working non-stop! Give me a day, maybe a half if we're lucky and I should have something soon."

"Well, in the meantime, Clank said he was going to call the Great Clock."

"Yes, I need to talk to Sigmund about the Nexus Core."

"Any idea how you're going to get in contact with him, the last time I checked, the Clock doesn't have tech support."

"I still have the single code from months ago, it is only a matter of being able to set up a secure link."

"It's something at least," Ratchet then turned over to Talwyn. "Hey Tal, you think you can put the Core somewhere safe?"

"Oh, sure." She took it from his hands and walked over to a safe.

Nefarious glared at her and the Core in her hands as he typed. He zoomed his eyes onto the lock knob, watching her turn it left to right putting in the right code, saving it in his mind. He couldn't help the hint of a malevolent grin he wore.

"I don' like the sight of that smile Nef. What you thinkin'?" Jens peeked over his shoulder right before he turned around.

"Mind your own business kid, you'll live longer…"

Ratchet looked over at Jens, who now was cleaning after Nefarious with the mop across the room. "Jens, why don't I take you out for a bit? Beats being stuck in here for all your time in this universe. I'm sure you wanted a tour anyways…"

Jens face lit up in excitement, not realising she dropped her mop. "I'd love to! But, don' you still have that empire thing to stop?"

"We have no lead right now with some downtime. A few hours won't destroy the universe. Well, hopefully."

Kor'jack entered the room; his pacing was still wobbly. "Um, fuzzyguy, I'm sorry, but I kinda made bit of a mess in the bath-" His words were cut off when he took notice of Jens. He just stared, not able to take his eye off her. His mouth dangled wide open and he swore he saw sparkles around her.

"Don't worry Jack; we'll take care of that." Ratchet said to him before turning around. He then noticed that the Agorian was frozen and spacing out. "Kor'jack?" He waved his hand in front of him. "Yoo-hoo, Kor'jack? Ground control to Kor'jack."

"She's cute…"

"Kor'jack, snap out of it!"

A quick slap to the Agorian's face brought him back to reality as he shook his head. "Wait, what, where? Huh?"

"You alright there, buddy?"

"Erm…yeah, I'm fine."

"Ratchet," Clank spoke, "If I can get in contact with Sigmund, it is possible he can give us more insight, and perhaps even a lead."

"Lets just hope. Anything is better than nothing." The lombax replied as the little robot left the room.

Talwyn sighed. "And I should probably clean up the bathroom. Have fun with Jens, Ratchet," she gave a small wave as she went out the door.

"Erm, let me help with that," Kor'jack followed, "I did cause the mess after all."

"Don't worry, we will!" Ratchet shouted over to Talwyn. He then turned his focus back back to the other girl. "You go get your stuff, I'll meet you out over by Aphelion."

"Yes! This is gonna be so much fun!" Jens ran out, leaving only Ratchet and Nefarious now.

"It's obvious he has a crush on her…"

"Huh?" Ratchet eyes' shifted to the side and he noticed Nefarious leaning over his shoulder, assuming that was where the whisper was coming from. "Who are we talking about again?"

"Your Agorian friend, you saw how he was eying the brat."

The Lombax just raised an eyebrow. "And, you know this, how?"

"Hey," The robot got up proudly pointing to himself, "I didn't spend my breaks between evil plans watching soap operas for nothing; they teach you quite a lot about relationships!"

"I don't think watching How the Gears Turn really classifies you as a love guru, Nefarious. Besides, you don't really have the best experience with romance."

"And you do?"

"Seeing how I was once in a healthy relationship, I think I can back myself up on this one..."

He then leaned on the wall with crossed arms. "Pff, fine, don't believe me, what does an evilrobotic mastermind like myself know about love. I'm clearly only capable of doom and gloom. The next thing we know is that you're gonna get involved in some ridiculous love triangle, but hey, why would I think that…?"

Ratchet just chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think so, pal…."

Nefarious just eyed him oddly. "Please don't tell me you have no idea what's going on with those two?"

"Wait, with whom now?"

"By the Zoni, how could you be so bli-" the robot decided not to finish. Maybe it was better not to bring this up now. "Nevermind. Anyways, I should have something when you return but I make no promises."

Ratchet gave him a nod in response and headed out the door...

Aphelion flew through the skies of Igliak's atmosphere as Jens stared out the window. She stood up from her seat, unable to contain her excitement.

"So, what's this city like anyways?"

"Miss Kallo, do you mind sitting back down, dear, just for your own safely?" Aphelion chirped.

"Oh, sorry." She sat back down and looked over to Ratchet who still kept his eyes out the window. "Thanks for takin' me out a bit, by the way."

"You're welcome. Meridian is just like any other city. Hopping with people, busy streets, a bustling nightlife..."

"I ain't got a clue what any city is like! I lived on that island my whole life."

"Heh, I guess you wouldn't then." The lombax returned his sight to the skies. It wasn't too long until he turned back to his passenger with a smile. "Hey, Jens?"

"Yeah?"

"I believe you want to take another look outside…" Ratchet said while banking the ship to give Jens a better view.

She looked out again pressing her hands on the window, watching the clouds clear as the skyscrapers peeked through.

And there it was, Meridian City. It shined with the sun raised above it, causing light to peek into the green windows. Cars were cruising fast though the skies travelling to their destinations as people down below walked down the streets, appearing as ants until they flew closer in. It was an amazing sight to behold. So much that Jens couldn't help but not stay put.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," She jumped up and down in the seat in excitement. "This…this is even more amazin' that I thought it was going to be! Just…wow!"

"Miss Kallo, please?" Aphelion interrupted, "I have full control over the seat belts if it is at all necessary."

"Erm, yeah, right, sit back down…"

Ratchet pushed a few buttons on the dashboard before putting his hand back on the flight stick. "Aphelion, find a parking location in the Epsilon district."

"Searching now… location found..."

Aphelion gracefully descended down to a parking complex and into a spot on the roof. Nearby vehicles were also parked, each with a green barrier protecting them from thieves. They climbed out of Aphelion, and Ratchet reached into his pockets, taking out a few bolts and inserting them into the meter. Aphelion was then veiled with her own force field.

"You do know I am armed, Ratchet? It is doubtful anyone would attempt to steal me.

"Better safe than sorry. Anyways, we're gonna head over to Gerrach's. We'll be back soon Aphelion, you stay put."

"Not that I can go anywhere." Aphelion added as Jens and Ratchet started to stroll off. They approached an elevator and entered. It was already packed with other people, both organic and robots alike. One reading a newspaper greeted them with a 'good afternoon', with the lombax responded with the same in reply.

It was so surreal to see such advanced androids acting as if they were no different from the aliens she had never seen before, let alone coexisting with each other. Yet again, Nefarious didn't really give the best first impression on how society functioned in this universe.

Jens was already use to the idea of seeing robots of this kind so she was able to hold back her excitement. Ratchet was thankful for that.

Once it reached their destination, the doors opened and everyone in the elevator walked out, returning to their day. Ratchet led Jens onto a walkway made almost entirely of glass, Perspex, and other transparent materials.

"So what's Gerrach's?" She asked.

"Gerrach's is that large building over there." Ratchet pointed to a nearby building that was hard to miss. It was easily over twenty stories tall and shaped like a wedding cake. Its walls were covered in holographic ads, selling anything from Vintage Z-3000 Hoverboards to Anti-Jock repellent for Terachnoids.

"It's one of the largest department stores in the Polaris galaxy," Ratchet continued, "due in no small part to Tachyon crushing most of them when he was running the rest of Polaris. If you can't find something here, it's probably illegal."

"I thought most of the stuff you made was illegal?" Jens said gazing at the sight of the city in front of her in awe. She still couldn't get over the fact what she was seeing this all with her very own eyes. She was so mesmerized she didn't even hear a word that Ratchet was telling her.

"Jens? Jens!"

"Oh, sorry. It's just-"

She looked ahead and saw a dead end with a raised grey disc that appeared to come out of the floor.

"Why'd we stop?" She crossed her arms until five seconds later when she heard a zap following a flash of light. The next time she blinked, she found herself in a new location. "Huh, what, where?!"

"That was a teleporter." Ratchet said, smiling. "It just took us to the main hub. So, ready to go shopping? "

"Shoppin'?"

"I thought you would like to bring back a souvenir or two."

Jens stood there, grinning.

"This is the best day ever!"

Ratchet and Jens looked around the department store for gadgets and tools that she wanted to take back home as souvenirs. It was a matter of time before they found themselves in the weapons department…

"So what's this one?" Jens spoke to the dealer as she held one of the weapons, a brightly coloured crossbow.

"That's our new Shockbow, a derivative of the Plasma Striker, or at least with a similar design!" The GrummelNet salesman said from behind the counter. "It releases an electric bolt onto enemies, and depending on how long you hold the trigger, the shot will travel farther and hit harder! You can also set the power manually, perfect for those who like to cook their opponents before eating them!"

"Whaddya think Ratchet, does it fit me?"

"Well, yeah, but are you sure you can handle it? Have you even used powerful artillery before?"

"Please," She replied to the Lombax as she started pulling on the lever, "I'm not goin' to do somethin'-" The gun made a loud bang, and an arrow started bouncing all around the room once she released it before hitting the gun rack as the Grummel ducked.

"-Erm, stupid…"

The salesman peeked up from the counter and finally got himself together. "That would be the refractal feature I forgot to mention. You may want to keep the safety on, kid…"

"Oops…"

Ratchet sighed. "I'll pay for the damage. At some point." He added.

"It's alright chief," The salesman said calmly, "You're a valued and loyal customer of GrummelNet, and we appreciate you introducing others to our, well, clearly effective products."

"So, how much?" The girl asked, still embarrassed.

"Costs twenty-thousand bolts."

"Erk, I don't have that much. Have anythin' cheaper that does a similar job?"

"Well, I have this one here." The vendor pulled out another Shockbow from under the desk that had some external damage on the bottom. "This one is in need of repair due to a leaking Nanomite canister, but I can sell it to you for, let's see… five-thousand bolts."

"Psst, Ratchet," Jens whispered over to her friend, "What does it mean when it has a leaky Nanomite whatsit?"

"It means you can't upgrade it."

"Oh." Jens took a moment to consider. "It ain't a big deal to me. It's in my price range..."

"You got a deal!" Within the few minutes; it was rung up, payed for and handed over. Jens was trying hard not to make a scene and squeal out throughout the store.

"I can't wait to try this baby out!" She exclaimed, hugging it extensively.

"Just make sure you test it out in a safe environment," The salesmen added with a nervous chuckle...

Jens hands were full of shopping bags carrying the items she'd purchased: her Shockbow, some trinkets and even a new gear for Nefarious. The poor guy broke down again when Qwark was testing his limits. Shouting out his name in frustration just had him screaming out the middle of Qwark's name. And it kept going. And going before Talwyn finally gave him a good hard smack in the head to get him functional again.

Even if not grateful for the gift, at least Nefarious would be in one piece again. Well, mostly…

The girl gave Ratchet a small smile, "I had a lot of fun today, ya know," They both then found a bench not too far from the store exit. Nearby was a fountain, which they watched as they took time to relax from their day of shopping; basking in the sun as it shined down on them. "Are there more cities like this in your universe?"

"Many, but Meridian City is the capital of Polaris."

"Well, if they're anythin' like this one, I can' imagine..."

"Maybe if we get a chance to have more down time, we'll visit one of them. They all have their own perks that stand out from each other."

There was a bit of silence between time for a while. Ratchet thought to himself, thinking this would be the right time to bring up what Jens did in order to get to their dimension to begin with…

"Jens, about what happened back on that beach? You know what you did was wrong, right?"

"Hmm," The young girl was confused. "What yer goin' on about?"

"The fact you snuck onto Aphelion when we weren't looking. I know you wanted to come with us but-"

"Ya already said no the first time around and it wasn' like you were gonna let me come otherwise. And to be here now…"

There was no doubt that she was frustrated and peeved from her tone. It wasn't something she wanted to hear, but she needed to.

"I know Jens, but you could have put yourself in danger. I mean, yeah, we're glad for your help now, but you can't just do something like that."

"So it wasn' the wisest a' decisions, yeah, but it's not like you didn' need the help, right? Besides, it wasn' like you couldn' take me back home if you wanted to…"

Ratchet just sighed. It was obvious she wasn't going to take responsibility for her actions and from how she was trying to 'justify' it, she felt she was in the right.

"Still wasn't okay, Jens, regardless if we could use the extra help."

"I thought you were happy t' have me here! I thought that's why you su'jested goin' out?"

"That was so I could have a chance to talk to you alone. You need to realize what you did could have put us all in danger!"

The girl let out a huff. His change of tone took Jens by surprise, and she didn't like it one bit. Sure, Ratchet had a point, but still; she wouldn't have had this opportunity otherwise.

"Maybe, but I don' regret it…"

He could argue about this all day, but there was no point if she wasn't going to listen. Stubborn as she was, Ratchet decided to drop the issue for now. Hopefully she wouldn't make the same mistake again.

He shook his head. "One of these days Jens, you're gonna have to take responsibility for your actions. Otherwise." The lombax then got up from the bench and stretched his arms, "Anyways, we should get going."

"Oh, right!" Jens swiftly got up, "Ya think Nef found somethin' by now?"

"Maybe with luck. I don't know how much more time we can afford to sit around."

"Didn' you say Clank was lookin' into somethin' too? Either way, you'll have somethin', right?"

"Yeah, guess you're right."

The two walked back to Aphelion. Jens was swinging her bags around cheerfully and she didn't notice the gear the two bought for Nefarious fell right out of one of the smaller ones...

Murka ran through the hallways holding files and other materials that were needed over at her destination. She stared down at the floor lost in thought. However, she was forced to come to a stop when she bumped into someone.

Not a second went by before she found herself lifted by the collar, causing her to lose hold of her things.

"Well, well, well, ain't it little Murka." Thanatos grinned as he mocked her, while Murka fought against his grip, "Thought I smelled a brat."

"Seriously?! Don't you have anything better to do, Thanatos?"

"Oh, what's the matter? Ain't in the mood to play?"

Murka growled in annoyance. "If you don't let go of me right now, I'm going to kick your-"

"Kid, I'm bigger and stronger than you, any threats you throw at me ain't gonna scare me." He dropped her and she fell to the ground. He took out his cigar box and grabbed one before putting it between his teeth. "Seriously, ya gotta start acting your age. Maybe show some respect."

Murka got back up, still irritated. "Oh, how could I forget to respect my Elders, General…"

He growled. Thanatos hated how this brat implied he was old. Apparently everyone seemed to forget that being over five-thousand wasn't 'old' for his species (uh-huh, keep thinking that buddy)…

"You're lucky that you're Lania's pet, or I'd rip your spine out about now…"

"You're just jealous I'm cute enough to keep as a pet."

"Uh-huh, whatever kid." Thanatos lit his cigar and inhaled.

"And speaking of Empress Lania, she asked me to call you to the throne room if I happened to bump into you. What luck."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. Guess her boy toy already laid out that plan."

"Hey, at least Mr. Vorselon shows Lania respe-" Thanatos interrupted her by pushing her to the ground as he started to walk the other way.

"You better stop yapping before I take back the ripping you apart comment."

She got back up on her feet. "Just make sure you don't put your back out, grandpa!"

He rolled his eyes, but also tightening the fist of his robotic arm. One of these days...

Thanatos' pushed open the doors to the throne room, seeing Lania and Vorselon across the room. "I believe you called me in…"

Lania looked up at him. "Yes, I did in fact." She crossed her legs and sat back in her chair. "Flint and I already thought of a plan to attack our threat directly, as well as getting the Core back. We decided that you-"

"Only you did…" Vorselon interrupted arms crossed, pouting.

"Flint, I already told you, I need you here for the second phase, and you know that."

"Yes, love…"

"Trust me Flint; I know what I'm doing." She turned back over to the Lucirian. "Anyways, we thought it was best that you would handle the infiltration part of the plan. We'll handle the rest."

"Alright," Thanatos stretched his arms up in the air, waiting for the rest of the details. "So, when do you want me to head out?"

"Take a few hours to get your best men together, I will send the rest of the information to your quarters. Hopefully you'll consider taking a full army this time around…"

"Lania, are we still harping on that? Damn, I screw up once and you're up in arms about it."

Lania just glared at him, not taking his comment lightly.

"Ugh, fine, I get it. I won't fail you this time." He headed out, slamming the doors.

Vorselon looked up to Lania, playing with his mechanical thumbs. "Permission to speak, my lady?"

"Permission granted, what is it?"

"Erm, I know you most likely won't like what I'm going to say, but – are you sure he can be trusted?"

"Trust me, if he screws up, I-"

"No, I mean in the way he's behaving. He shows absolutely no respect for you, let alone any discipline. Are you sure having trust in him is the wisest of decisions?"

"Thanatos never respected me, but he isn't stupid. He knows his place and I have an army at my beck and call and he damn well knows it." She put on a smile. "But I understand your concern. Still, that doesn't mean I don't have my limits…"

"Even if you dealt with this behavior for years, I don't understand why you just don't replace him? You must have other generals that are just as qualified."

She swiftly got up. "I have my reasons."

He took notice of her change of expression, bearing a sense of disarray as she seemed to get her thoughts together. Something was bothering her, but he knew his place to not ask what. Still...

"I-just be careful, my lady. Men like that cannot be trusted..."

"I never said you had to be friends with him, Flint. But trust me, I have precautions in place just in case. Regardless, I'm heading to bed, is there anything else you need to address?"

"No, my lady."

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning, love." He said with a smile and a wave as she just looked at him before leaving the room.

She started to walk down the hallways until she was far enough from anywhere her 'boyfriend' would be. She leaned on a pillar as she put her hand on her face in disgust.

"Lania, what are you doing?" she hissed to herself, "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Not to mention his snappy crap…"

"Haha, snappy crap. So jarhead giving you a hard time?"

"No, but I'm not sure how much I can keep this act-" Lania stopped and her eyes widened in shock as the realization set in that she was no longer alone. She turned around and saw Thanatos with his arms crossed, leaning on the wall. "Cornelius?"

"Act, huh" He gave a dark small laugh. "I knew walking aquariums weren't your type."

But you-…How long were you even standing there?!"

"Oh, not long, was coming down this way until I heard you walking by. So, you're not really going out?"

"Firstly, this has nothing to do with you! Second, this isn't doubling your chances with me so you better get that thought your head!"

"So you-" He just took a long look at her face, seeing the rage in her eyes. "Still, knew something was up with you. Never thought you'd be the type to play someone by faking you'd hit that, but considering how dumb he seems, he'd fall for it."

"Flint...Flint had feelings for me since I brought him on, I could tell. I'm taking advantage of that, despite how wrong it may be. He's a gun for hire and wouldn't have any loyalty to me otherwise…"

"Lania, please; you've manipulated people before, don't see how this ain't no different."

"Unlike you, I don't take pleasure in what I must do."

"Yeah, sure, whatever makes you sleep at night, babe." He put another cigar in his mouth. "Boy, I can't wait to see this blow up in your fac-"

Lania pulled him down by the collar to her head level; grinding her teeth. "If you tell Flint or anyone else about this, I swear Cornelius, I swear to the death of me, I will tear your robotic arm off and then shove it right up your -!"

"You know I'd like that…"

She couldn't even bother hiding her disgust.

"He's going to find out sooner or later, ya know?"

"And until then, you better keep your mouth shut!" She let go of his shirt and took a step back.

"Alright, I get it, I get it. I'll zip it." Thanatos turned his back to her and started to walk away, "Besides, I'll enjoy the look on his face once he learns the truth. That alone is the price of admission." A grim cackle came out after, finding amusement.

Lania just watched him leave before turning the other way, heading to her quarters. As she closed her door, she thought of how difficult the politics of her Empire had become. Even if she had him wrapped around her finger without it, manipulating Vorselon was helpful to keeping him loyal to her beyond the usual call of duty, and if he found out she would lose an ally and gain an opponent in a single moment.

And Thanatos was already a confusing mess. He behaved less like a dedicated commander of her army and more like a rogue killer. Lania didn't feel entirely sure that he would stay loyal for much longer, were it not for the one thread that kept him in line.

The only person she felt was entirely faithful to her was Murka, who was nothing but a daughter to her. Perhaps she should be very appreciative of that, but instead she worried if she was putting her in danger…

These thoughts wallowed and swayed in her head as she switched the light off.