Reborn had thrown his suit and tie over the back of the chair and pulled his sleeves up to his elbows. He scrutinised the artfully arranged plate of brown crusted fried steak garnished with gravy and some grated greens on his kitchen table.

Finally, he deemed it alluring enough.

Groupchat.

A translucent yellow board flickered into existence only a meter or so from the tip of his nose. He navigated it with practiced ease, having had an entire year to get accustomed to the superior technology.

Manually dragging it above the styled plate, the board showed a magnified replica of the scene in front of him. It was clear to the point that one could clearly see the steam still rising from it.

Click

He confirmed 'save' and then 'send'.

Reborn grinned and waited.

And just as he sat down and began to help himself to the dinner he had lovingly made with his own hands, a ding! came from the Chatgroup.

Colonnello: Fuck you. Fuck you so hard you'll never be able to walk, sit, or eat!

Luce: That looks wonderful. Did you make it yourself?

Skull: I just had lunch, you twat.

Colonnello: I wish that when someone finally kills you, I don't care who or when, but it better be as slow and fucking painful as possible.

Reborn: Awww, why don't you go make yourself something nice too.

Reborn: Oh wait. You can't.

Reborn smirked, snickering to himself.

The guy currently flooding the board with curses was apparently a soldier. Of course he didn't know which country, but Reborn was confident in that wherever it was, he should be somewhere in the thick of things somehow.

And they certainly wouldn't have scrumptious fried steak in the trenches.

Colonnello: FUCK. YOU.

Reborn: Gasp! The capitals!

Lal: That was unnecessary Reborn.

Said hit man pouted, cutting himself a bite of his steak.

Reborn: Che. Where were you when he was bullying me? I had no choice but to take things into my hands and make a stand. I can't be a pushover forever.

Fon: I can smell your bullshit from here.

Reborn scoffed.

Though Lal had been online from the beginning, she probably hadn't been paying attention since she hadn't said anything until now.

Reborn: Luce, you snitched on me. Wanna get some stitches?

Luce: Haha. Try it. :D

His eye twitched at the ':D' in the end. Before he could think up a come back, an activity pulled everyone's attention.

After an entire month of inactivity from their side with the only news of their well-being coming from Fon's occasional careful remarks, Viper was finally online.

Skull: Viper! We missed you! Where have you been?

Reborn: What kept you so busy? Couldn't spare even a second just to check in?

Verde: You had us concerned.

Luce: Are you alright?

Colonnello: Vipes! Don't just do that! You worried me!

Lal: What happened?

After letting everyone settle down, Viper finally decided to reply.

Viper: Sorry. I was in the middle of a change of profession.

Lal: WHAT HAPPENED?

Even Reborn himself paused.

After years worth -give or take- of interaction, they had at the very least vague ideas about the others.

Fon and Viper knew each other since a long time ago. Fon was older and knew quite a bit about Chinese poems. Viper had an entire army's worth of cactus and was sharp on picking up on certain things. Colonnello was a soldier in the front lines and quite the foody. Verde was a scientist with an eye for colour coordination. Lal had a thing for history and guns and anything pointy and slicey. Luce knew Greek myths and how to get her way like the back of her hand. Skull liked bikes, motors, heights, and had some supposedly unusual diet.

And it was never discussed but everyone had silently acknowledged that Lal, Colonnello, and Viper were on the 'legal authority' side of things. With a sprinkle of the occasional dirty work.

While everyone else in the group was clearly not.

Skull never hid his job as a stuntman, what with him using his Chat name as his stage name and his unsubtle endorsements, and Verde told them once that he operated between the lines -so, neutral, most likely with some 'plausible deniability' shtick- but that was it for the civilians.

Lal: Viper. What happened?

Viper: In a sense, I suppose I was fired.

After a particularly long beat later, someone finally figured something to say to that.

Luce: Do you need help?

Honestly, this Luce...

Viper: No thank you. I've already settled it.

Verde: Good then. You came back just on time. Everyone, look at this.

Reborn washed his meal down with a glass of cool water as a photo appeared.

In it was the now familiar lab and on a desk were two thin disks faintly glowing white from a dot in center.

Verde: Remember when you wanted that Cryosphere Gater, Skull?

Skull: Yes! But you didn't want to send it to me through the Groupchat because of limitations and not being sure if it's stored energy will become unstable and go boom after I take it out, like that Hastecarrier.

Skull: ! Don't tell me, is that it?! Did you make it into a tiny thing that I just have to press to reveal?!

Verde: No.

Verde: At least you understood a bit. What you're saying would've only been temporary solution. I can't possibly compress all my creation just to send it you. And anyways, there's an easier solution to not being able to send my stuff through a foreign channel.

Verde: I just made my own Teleporters.

"Ho?"

Reborn: Wait, then...

Lal: Yes!

Luce: Do we have to be worried about weapons of mass destruction suddenly appearing in the news?

Lal: Nonesense. We won't be that irresponsible.

Reborn: Yeah. We remember Verde's reminder about 'keeping things careful lest the balance in power tips'. We're adults. We know control and discipline and moderation.

Reborn: Now, gimme that blaster.

Colonnello: Shut up, Reborn. Don't lump us with you. As long as it's coming from you, none of that yak could be believed even if we wanted to.

Fon: That's still supposing we can receive these teleporters intact and working.

Verde: Indeed. While this Groupchat is far advanced from the technologies of its time, it still can use quite some upgrades.

Viper: That's right. I'm sure you can do it, so why haven't you fixed it yet?

Verde: Nothing in science is certain. You usually need to overturn things to determine how it works. I might accidentally put it down and even now, how should I know how it even managed to connect all eight of us specifically.

Verde: If you're alright with the risk, I can try.

Reborn: Nah, nevermind. You can just make more things like this to cope with its flaws.

Skull: What are you still waiting for! Send it! So I can greet my baby!

Verde has sent a gift.

Accept?

Reborn eagerly pressed the yes.

Though he might've sounded sarcastic, even he wouldn't want to call attention from the Vindice. He obviously wouldn't be toting around high-tech weapons in plain view, it was just for playing and petting it in private.

After receiving the gadget and then promptly the weapon, and then everyone getting a second and third reassurance from both Viper and Fon as to their current state of affairs, Reborn retired from the window with a yawn, bringing the dirty dish in the sink.

He had been nine when the floating board first popped up in front of him. At that time, Verde and Luce had been the only other names on it. It wasn't long after, that Lal and Colonnello appeared, followed by Fon with a couple of years gap, and then Skull.

They learned that, for some reason, nine was some kind of milestone that activated the Groupchat for each person. Viper was the latest addition, from about three years ago -give or take some months.

As for what exactly it was... well, they had a sort of idea thanks to no small part to Verde.

But as for why these particular individuals specifically, it was still up in the air. That also included the open ended question of until when it would continue introducing new 'members'.

He decided to have a short nap beside his brand new blaster before setting out to stake his target later.