"I see... Yes, of course. The money's being sent to your accounts as we speak. The police? They won't get involved if you follow the book. Yes, I am serious. I know it's not in your favour right now, but you need to look at the bigger picture instead of worrying about right now." Kuroi was holding her desk phone against her ear with her shoulder, busily typing at her computer with both hands.
Stella was no longer escorted by the family android, and the strange glitch it had every time it saw her was a conflict of internal identification. It was the same android from before her disappearance, so it knew her as both Mato Kuroi AND Agent Stella. According to her mother, Stella's new identification was a modified combination of both aspects of her identity. Mato 'Stella' Kuroi, using her Section 9 code-name as an official nickname in her identity.
"No, no... There's no need for that. Just take it day by day, I'll see what I can do on my end to fix this mess. Alright, I understand that it was a failure, but not everything like that will succeed without at least a few hitches." Kuroi glanced up upon realizing her daughter was flickering back into sight as she disabled her Therm-Optic camouflage. "Okay, we'll talk later. I have to go... No, I'm not brushing you off, it's for personal reasons. Goodbye, ma'am."
Kuroi hung up the phone and sighed. "To what do I owe this visit from Section 9?" She kept typing for a few more moments before saving her work and tenting her fingers together on her lap to regard her smirking daughter.
"I'm off duty. So you can relax." Stella had already come to recognize the initial stigma of having a job as a cop, so she waved her hand to accompany her words. "I wanted to speak to you about something else."
"Something else?" Kuroi raised her eyebrow.
"Something personal." Stella spoke quite flatly, narrowing her eyes.
"Am I speaking to you as your mother, or as legal counsel?" Kuroi leaned back in her chair, resting her elbow on the armrest with her hand raised at about shoulder height.
"I'm asking you to speak as my mother. And I don't want a word of this breathed outside of this room until I myself make it public knowledge. Is that understood?" Stella glared at her mother, who nodded slowly. "Alright, so I'll get straight to the point of why I came here instead of someone, y'know... I actually like."
"I understand. Continue." Kuroi slowly nodded once, keeping her voice low.
"I love Motoko. And I want to something really special for her... But I don't know what I should do." Stella had a completely straight face as she spoke, but it broke into a loving smile as she thought about her lover. "And I don't want her to find out about it until it actually happens."
"Hence why you came to me, someone that both of you mutually distrust." Kuroi nodded in understanding. "So, let me get this straight... You're planning something for your girlfriend, and wanted to ask me for assistance?"
"I'm just looking for generic ideas. You don't know her like I do." Stella had a sudden 'are you fucking kidding me' expression on her face.
"I'm well aware of that." Kuroi reminded her daughter. "Seeing as how I've only spoken to her on two occasions, I'm rather confident in saying I don't know anything about her beyond her name and strange manner of dress."
"I actually like her leotard, thank you very much." Stella glared at her mother, then realized the number of times she'd spoken to Motoko didn't match up with her knowledge of their interactions. "Wait, you said you spoke to her twice?"
"She didn't tell you? She came by the next week to speak to me about the mandatory medical information for your employment. Seems that since you were rescued from that sadist, your personal information was overlooked. I assure you, I gave her what she wanted and kept the interaction completely professional, as did she." Kuroi regarded her suspicious daughter with honesty in her eyes.
"Fair enough. Now, back to the topic at hand. Any ideas for what I can do for her?" Stella spoke with a note of impatience in her tone as she placed her hands on the back of the two chairs placed before her mother's desk. "Do you actually want to help me, or should I just find someone who gives a fuck?"
"Can we at least keep the vulgarity to a minimum?" Her mother requested before humming in thought for a moment. "I assume you two live together?" Stella nodded, so Kuroi continued. "How about cooking her breakfast, and serving it to her in bed? Your father did that for me early on in our relationship many times."
"Anything else?" Stella considered the idea. She'd need to put some effort into hiding that one from Motoko, since Motoko was a rather light sleeper. Ironically, she'd be perfect to pull that on herself, since she slept like a rock.
"Hmmm..." Kuroi tapped her chin with her index finger before saying. "I can tell at a glance that you two are having sex, so why not surprise her in bed? Some lipstick and a nice set of lingerie, perhaps?"
"Good... Anymore before I leave?"
Kuroi sighed, running out of possible ideas. "I don't know... Maybe make her something, a gift. Put some effort into it, let her know you care about her as much as you say you do."
Stella smirked as she spun on her heel. Glancing over her shoulder she replied. "I actually care more about her than I say I do. Unlike you, she's actually cared about my well being before she even knew my name. She saved my life, you wouldn't understand what that's like, would you?"
With that, Stella's Therm-Optic Camo activated and she left through the partially open door, leaving her stunned mother to consider her subtly dark hint hidden in the harsh statement.
"This is one of the strangest cases we've had in a while..." Stella grumbled. She didn't like the situation that she and Motoko were currently in.
"You can say that again." Motoko agreed. "But we have a job to do, plain and simple."
"Bodyguard duty..." Stella scoffed. "And for a little kid, no less."
It was true. Section 9 had been assigned to protect some politician's daughter while simultaneously conducting an investigation into some hacking incidents. In a rather surprising twist, Motoko had been assigned to protect the girl, rather than using her hacking expertise to find the culprit.
"Well, at least she's well protected." Motoko replied as the car they were waiting for finally arrived. The girl was escorted around the back of the car by a domestic servant, and they came face to face with their charge for the first time.
Although she was dressed in a standard high school uniform, the girl's disdainful expression was oddly disappointed by the circumstances.
"Major Kusanagi and Agent Stella of Public Security Section 9, I presume?" The girl spoke in a bored voice, clearly unimpressed.
"That is correct. I'm Kusanagi, this is Stella." Motoko gestured to Stella, who was staring at the girl closely, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"I was expecting soldiers, not a woman and some girl." She scoffed, which earned a livid glare from Stella.
[Am I allowed to slap her?] Stella asked immediately. [I'm older than this bitch, and she thinks she's the boss of me!]
[No... But I will speak to her about that. Just try to stay calm, okay?] Motoko replied before switching back to speaking to the girl. "I would like to inform you that your father requested us for your personal protection. Our boss, Chief Aramaki, put the two of us onto your protective detail since we're the only females in our whole unit. At the very least, can we mutually respect each other?"
"If you do as you're told, then yes, that's fine." She scowled at being given the request, which made Stella shift her weight from one foot to the other, her arms crossed.
"Same goes for you. Unless you like throwing away your life, that is..." Stella spoke in a very low voice, denoting her anger.
"Need I remind you who you are speaking to?!" The girl snarled. "You titless slut!"
Motoko knew what Stella was about to do before she even did it, and she was standing just out of range to stop her from whipping out her Colt and holding it against the girl's left B-cup breast and pulled the hammer back with her thumb.
"Need I remind you that I'm the one with the gun in this arrangement. Insult my figure one more time, and I remove both of your boobs. Say anything stupid, I'll cut your fingers off with my katana blade. If you even attempt to strike me under any circumstance, I'll shoot you with the plasma cannon in my arm. Do. You. Understand?"
The girl gulped loudly, completely taken aback by Stella's aggression. She was so accustomed to having people just obey her because her dad was a politician that the mere thought of someone talking back to her never even crossed her mind.
"I... I understand." The girl nodded meekly, and Stella retracted the hammer back to the safe position and slid it back into her holster.
"Now that that's out of the way..." Motoko sighed before speaking. "What is on your schedule for today? There are some circumstances that we need to be particularily aware of, given the nature of the threat against you and your father."
"I have to go to school... After that, I have to go shopping for a dress for an upcoming school dance." She spoke without her arrogant tone from before Stella threatened her. It seemed she valued her figure quite a bit.
"Then let's get going." Motoko nodded, gesturing to her car. Stella had her bike, since they planned for all possibilities for the mission. Including a car chase or a gun fight. In fact, sitting in the back seat of Motoko's car were two M-23's and resting in a backpack on Stella's bike was a stockless M870 and a bulletproof vest for the girl.
Aramaki had arranged ahead of time for the girl's high school to receive word of their presense, and gave a full description of both Motoko and Stella for security purposes. Their plan was to follow the girl under the effect of Therm-Optic camoflauge, but Stella had a sudden idea upon arrival.
"Why don't I follow her while wearing the school uniform?" Stella asked with a shrug. "Wouldn't it draw less suspicion than having the two of us using Therm-Optics? You'd still be following us, regardless."
Motoko and the school principal shared a glance, considering the idea. "Are you sure that your limbs won't draw any attention?" Motoko asked. "Most of the kids here have organic eyes, so your radial optic hack won't be any use."
Motoko was referring to a new idea that she'd presented to Stella. With nothing more than a mental command, Stella could hack the eyes of anyone looking at her with a cyberbrain into thinking her titanium-alloy armoured limbs were actually flesh. However, it was completely ineffective when the onlookers lacked a cyberbrain. They would see the black metal regardless of whether the hack was active or not.
"That's not a big deal. The uniform's got opaque black stockings and long sleeves." Stella replied, her logic rather sound. She would just conceal them with the uniform's design, rather than hacking everyone's eyes. [And don't think I didn't notice that look on your face. I know you want to see me in a schoolgirl outfit, you lesbian cougar.] Stella had noticed the momentarily hopeful expression on Motoko's face. [Save it for when we're off duty!]
