After a case of writer's block that was harder to get over than the camera angles in MMX 7, the story of Iris continues. Please enjoy.

Two seconds.

That's all it takes for someone to be transported to just about anywhere in the world.

Maybe.

I think.

Though, even if that isn't right, it's the best ride a person can ever take in their life. A brilliant visual symphony of lights and colors plays out right before your eyes. A dance of pure beauty and wonderment takes place a short distance from where you stand.

If you can call it standing, anyway. It's more like..."floating," I guess. You're never really standing on anything.

Unfortunately, the rides through the Trans Servers are far too short to really enjoy, and before I knew it, I found myself on solid ground with a Mechaniloid Ocelot in my arms. A whole new color show began playing in front of me. Instead of being beautiful lights, though, they were the standard colors one would see in downtown Giga City. The various colors that belonged on vastly differing outfits and, in many cases, body builds.

Another advantage that a Trans Server ride has over normal transportation? No sound. The lights play out in total silence, making it a real spectacle for the imagination. That's part of the reason that I found myself once again disappointed with the landing. Once I snapped back to reality, the hustle and bustle of city life once again reminded me that I have ears and cities are loud.

I cringed slightly as Tango jumped down. It was as if sound itself decided to slam right into my ear drums as hard as possible. With Tango now on the ground, I was able to snap my hands up to my ears to try and mute the noise a bit.

This is probably what I get for having Mom plant me right in the middle of the city.

It took a few seconds, but I eventually readjusted to the noise level. That meant that I could take my hands off of my head and glare a bit at the random passerby who apparently thought it was a little odd for a person to have to shield their ears in the middle of the street.

"Geez..." I muttered, more to myself than to Tango. "You'd think they'd never seen a girl in pain before."

I looked at my wrist, thankful that the ever useful, ever handy watch Middy gave me was wrapped around it. Funny thing about that, though, was that I didn't remember putting it on as I was getting dressed. Was I already at the point where being prepared for some kind of disaster was second nature?

Anyway, I read the numbers on the watch's face.

2:00 PM.

Just barely afternoon. Man, was this day dragging.

Tango and I began to walk through the crowd that composed a Saturday afternoon. Mom's aim had apparently gotten a little better, because across the street from where I landed was the building where illegal things were likely either happening or in the planning process. We walked in what was essentially a circle around the block that Berkana Industries encompassed.

Seriously. What is it with these buildings and their architect's apparent need to make them as big as humanly possible? I mean, granted, this is a pharmaceutical company and they might need the room for some of the equipment that they would need to work on their medical stuff, but still...

After the first lap, we started on another. This time, I glanced up at the top of the building from time to time. I couldn't remember which one of the windowed offices was hers, and that was a huge problem. If some kind of intergalactic criminal was going to meet with her like I thought, and that thought was a huge stretch, then it might've been some kind of help if I could memorize which one of them she called her own.

A chill went down my spine. I couldn't believe how easily and badly she'd beaten me when we fought, and how stupid I made myself look trying to one-up her.

About halfway through the lap, I learned that it's important to watch where you're going and to not lose yourself in your thoughts. A lesson learned the hard way, if the body I ended up slamming into was any indication.

The man I hit was barely fazed, stumbling for only a step or two. I, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. I ended up losing my balance, painfully sacrificing both my dignity and my backside as I fell back. A few of the people walking around us turned to see the mini spectacle. Some of them gave small laughs at my expense. Freak show, today at 2.

Thanks, jerks. And to think, I'm working to keep all of you safe and sound. Nice show of gratitude.

"Here," The guy I bumped into chuckled a bit himself as he offered a hand. "Lemme help."

I wordlessly accepted the hand. Once I was up, I took a second to look the guy I'd hit over. The guy had dark skin and black hair. I kept my eyes on his, simply because of the screaming red T-shirt he decided was a good idea to wear and apparently not a pain in the eyes for anyone else capable of seeing. He looked oddly familiar, though...

"You okay, Iris?" He asked, still smiling after his laugh. How did he know my...

Oh. Right. Now I remember.

I scratched the back of my head kinda sheepishly. "Hey, Jack. Sorry about that."

He laughed again. "No worries. I guess standing in the middle of the street kinda puts me in the way, doesn't it?" I wordlessly nodded in agreement. No need to add to my embarrassment by adding a little 'jerk' to the mix. He looked up at the old Slither Inc, now Berkana Industries building. "It's a little bigger than I was expecting."

I nodded. "Yeah. Holograms tend to scale things down a bit."

Again, he laughed. I was kinda starting to feel like a lame comedian trying to buy a laugh or two. "Not exactly what I meant. TV broadcasts make the place seem about the same size as everything else around here." He craned his head back, trying to see the top. "How far up are we talking?"

I scratched the back of my head. "I'm not really sure. I had a little help getting to Berkana's office and I didn't exactly pay attention."

Jack looked over to me. "How'd you get there?"

Tango chose that particular moment to climb his way up onto my shoulder. "He gave me a lift." I could see the puzzled look on Jack's face. After all, the look lasted on his for a few seconds and he didn't bother trying to hide it anyway. I just offered a small shrug. "I'll explain later."

When I understood it myself.

He shrugged himself. "Works for me. We've got a spot set up as a little base of operations. Care to head over?"

"Sure." I nodded. Tango hopped off of my shoulder. Together, the three of us made our way down the road. It took a while for us to get to where we needed to go, since had to work our way through a couple crowds that gathered around some of the more popular shops in the area. It didn't help that Jack almost had to forcibly yank me away from a small ice cream stand and I just happen to be a sucker for the frozen treat. I mean, come on. Who can resist the pull of quite possibly the best meltable snack in the world?

I sure can't.

After about twenty minutes and three blocks later thanks to crowds and distracting goodness, Jack came to a stop right in front of a seven-story rundown apartment building.

"Well," He said, hand stretched out toward the building. "Here we are. The landlord agreed to let us borrow an empty apartment. The others are already there, setting everything up."

I looked the place over. It wasn't in the greatest shape possible. Heck, it wasn't even in good shape. The outer steel shell that housed the numerous units was covered in dents and random paint drawings. A few of the windows that I could see were broken out. A few others were outright missing. I didn't even have to look down to see my partner's reaction. I could feel Tango's disappointment upon seeing the place.

I looked over at Jack and let him know exactly how I felt about the building at the time. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Sort of. Landlord said he keeps the front this way to try and discourage robbers. Thinks the rundown look makes it look like a less appealing target."

I shook my head. "Makes it look more tempting, if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, the place looks much better on the inside."

"I hope so." Tango meowed, probably in agreement. With that, the three of us made our way inside. The disappointing appearance continued in the lobby, as a dingy carpet that didn't look like it had been cleaned in several years, yet somehow didn't have the obligatory offensive smell, dared to spread itself across the floor. Cracks and scuffs all over the walls made the place seem older than it probably was, and a lack of lighting gave an air of a police interrogation room from centuries before. So far, it wasn't the kind of place I'd stay if I were on a vacation.

Then again, why would I come to Giga City for a vacation anyway?

Anyway, Jack led us beyond the lobby, where surprise struck me yet again. Turned out that he was completely right. The faults that were seen from the front were completely forgotten. The tacky, out-of-health carpet was replaced by a dark blue one with a plaid design in various shades of whites and blues and a very maintained appearance. The walls were painted a basic white, and lights every couple of doors made sure we could see everything in the hallway.

"Right..." I said, slightly stupefied. "Remind me to never doubt an officer's word ever again."

Jack chuckled a bit. "At least, not ours."

We kept going for a few rooms, which gave me time to figure out whether the landlord was a mad genius for the initial appearance, or just plain mad. Just enough, it turned out, as he came to a stop in front of one of the doors.

"Here we are."

Room 115. Huh. Something about that number seemed familiar. I mentally shrugged. No real reason to get hung up over something stupid like a number, after all. Jack offered the door a couple of light knocks. We waited for a couple of seconds before it was opened. Not so much opened kindly as it was yanked to reveal a mess of curly hair and a smile that was way too sugary-sweet.

"Glad you could make it, Jack." Z stressed through clenched teeth. Something told me she wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. "It's not like we needed your help getting set up for the last three hours or anything."

Said man nervously scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Thought I'd...scout the area..."

Z rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Like you're that forward thinking." She turned and greeted me with a more genuine smile. "Hey there."

I saw her smile and raised her a small wave. "Hi."

Z stepped to the side. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in. We could use your and the useless one's help."

"Don't mind if we do."

As we moved to walk through the door, I noticed that my 'good' leg felt a little heavy. Great. One problem I really didn't need. Things only got worse for me once I made it through. Among the visiting officers was a familiar figure carrying a box of who-knows-what inside. Said figure turned to us, smiled brightly and offered a short greeting, consisting simply of:

"Yo."

Three short, simple words ran straight through my head and out my mouth:

"Oh...heck no."

Trivia Time!

Answer: A classic from my childhood. Winnie the Pooh struck this pose when he went into a state of deep thought.

Question: Why would Iris get hung up even for a second on the hotel room? You might catch the answer if you've played any recently released first-person shooters.