My eyes open slowly. I look at the clock. It's 2:36 AM. I needed to use the bathroom. I got up, ignoring Jessie's mumbles of protest as I walked to the bathroom. Before I opened the door, I gently knocked. A soft reply of "Someone's in here." told me that Uni was also awake. After a few minutes, Uni came out and I went in, closing the door behind me. As I was doing my business, I heard voices coming from outside the Basilicom. I looked out the window, and saw shadowy figures outside the window. I clicked my tongue after I washed my hands, and Uni creaked open the door. I pointed to the figures outside the window. Uni frowned as she looked at the figures. Then I heard the click of a gun right behind us…
I quickly disarmed the man behind me as the figures outside ran towards the entrance. Uni transformed, and got ready to fight. As the hallway lights came on, a medley of bullets tore into the bathroom window. I ran into the guest bedroom, and Jessie had her pickaxe-sword hybrid at the ready. I frowned. "Remember what we promised." She nodded. "I know. I'll fight for me, you, and the baby." I slipped on my battle armor as I carried my shield, spear, bow and sword to the lobby. As a huge force slammed into the door again and again, the goddesses flooded into the lobby. I turned around. "We're under siege. We need to spread out and defend all of the entrances." As the guards spread out, the front door came down. I put my shield up as the lobby was flooded with a sea of bullets. I ran forward and barreled into the invading force's ranks, and they stopped firing to switch to close quarters combat.
The invaders were quite foolish to try to break into the Basilicom, let alone when all of the CPUs were here at the same time. Since the battle was so short, it ended way before the police arrived. The goddesses cheered and jeered as the invaders ran right into the loving grasp of the police. I looked around as people were arrested left and right.
"I'm not talking to you!" One of the people who invaded the Basilicom was being interrogated by Noire. I walked over and lifted the man up into the air. "Let me tell you a secret. I fought a werewolf much stronger than you before. It killed people and broke into their houses. Wanna know what I did to him? I ripped him limb from limb and tore his fractured skull apart with my bare hands. If you think I'll go easy on you, you are mistaken. Why don't we start with your little pinky fi-" His face screwed up with terror. "OKAY! I'LL TALK! WE WERE HIRED BY-" The man suddenly gagged, and I put him down. He hit the ground and went limp. I put my finger to his neck. "He's… dead." Just like that, all his secrets were taken with him to the grave. We all ended up going back to bed pretty quickly, and I very quickly went back to sleep.
The next morning was different from the last. For one, Neptune came into my room. "Heya, so you both might want to start packing your things, since you're both being relocated." I sigh. "Shouldn't we both just go ho-?" Noire sighed. "I'm afraid not. I regret to inform you that your house was firebombed last night. There was nothing left when the firefighters put out the blaze. I'm sorry." I froze. My house. My bed. My computer. Years of memories. Gone. I stared at my feet. "The wedding photos were at the house… How could this have happened?" I slammed my fist on the bedside table, and Jessie jumped. "Damn it!" Jessie looked at me. "Babe, it's okay. We can make new memories." I took a deep breath. "I guess you're right." I slowly packed my things. I felt numb. The only things I had to my name was what I had taken to Lowee, which was the clothes on my back, my armor, my weapons, and my wallet and phone. I also had my keys, but my car was gone. Noire sighed and sat next to me. "Tell you what. I'll take you out to go car shopping. It's the least I can do for you." She was firm, but nice about it. I nodded. "Sure."
"Great. I'll wait for you outside." Noire walked out, and I quickly got to business with packing my things. From time to time, one of my insurance agents would call me, telling me about what the insurance covered on my vehicle and house. After a while, I could finally just focus on packing what I had left. As soon as I finished up, Nepgear walked in. "Hey, I fixed up your gear." She handed me my stuff as I went and met up with Noire. She smirked as she pointed to a small car. "Get in. We have to take this to the depot to pick up my actual car." It took an hour to get to the car depot at the edge of town, but soon I was looking at Noire's Lugatti. "She's a beauty, isn't she? She's one of the best cars money can buy." She smirked and looked at her sister. "See? He perked up real quick." Uni sighed in response. "He would have perked up just as fast if I had shown him my new rail-gun that fires depleted uranium bullets."
Noire pulled me into the passenger seat as Uni hopped into the back. She pushed a button, and the engine awakened with a growl and purr. She hit the gas as we came onto the highway, and the car sped off like a crazed cheetah. Pretty soon, we were on our way to Lastation. And the drive there was pretty interesting. I had been to many places, but I had never seen the Lastation outskirts. The one thing that I had never seen before was the windmills that dotted the countryside around the city. And of course, it wasn't just one big city. You see, the capital had the same name as the nation, and it was in the center of the technological city. But if you included the districts that surrounded the city, you'd see that it wasn't just one steampunk fortress. You could compare the districts that surrounded the city to the distant island of Manhattan, just way better. But before you got anywhere near that, you got to see the beacon of the nation- a newly constructed airship that was the apex of the Lastation Aerial Navy. (LAN.) Noire grinned from ear to ear when she saw it, but she resisted the urge to drive over to the behemoth since that would be a traffic violation.
As we approached the southern district, referred to as Night City, we were passed by a purple motorcycle. "Yep, that was IF." Uni leaned over to get a better look at the Maker as we pulled into the dealership. IF parked her bike and took off her helmet, allowing her hair to fall down to her shoulders. She was wearing her normal attire, but instead of shorts, she wore denim jeans. That was probably a smart move. "I heard you're in the market for a new car." IF greeted me with that simple sentence. I nodded. She smirked. "Great, since it looks like there's a couple good cars on the lot."
But IF pulled me aside. Noire and Uni didn't seem to notice. "Hey, I heard about your house." I sighed. "Shit happens." She nodded. "If you need anything, just ask. If you come by Planeptune and need a place to crash, I'll open the door for you." I smiled softly. "Thanks." We went into the dealership, and Noire followed us in, with Uni right behind her.
"My dear friend! What brings you back so soon?" An energetic salesman greeted us. Noire chuckled. "Meet Rito. She's the one who runs the place." I cocked my head. "So she's the manager. Then who's the middle-manager? Who's the supervisor?" Rito chuckled. "They work behind the scenes. Come! I'll show you cars!" Then Rito showed us cars, and each of them looked more bank-breaking than the last. Cars that boasted built-in consoles and heated seats filled the lot. We had to stop and wait for IF a lot, since she was constantly stopping to look at the fancier cars on the lot. Eventually, I found a car that could work. "How about this one?" Rito paused. "That one? Not my first choice, but it's reliable." Rito pointed me towards a fancier car. "Wouldn't this one suit your needs better?" I sighed. "I'm not sure. I need a car that I can easily strap a child seat into.. And if the engine is too loud, that could be a problem…"
Rito nodded. "I see… Well, I have a vehicle you might like." She pointed me towards a sleek but tough looking car. "That car has quite the horsepower, but its engine is very quiet. So it'll be perfect for you." I looked around the vehicle, examining it for any defects, and checking the doors and accessibility. When I was satisfied, I stepped away. "Let's take it for a test drive." Rito beamed. "I knew I'd find a car for you!" Rito hopped in with me and she handed me the key. I put the car in motion, and we started driving. Rito smiled. "You've got the hang of it!" I laughed. "Yeah! This car is nice." The car drove around Night City District, and I got lost in the bright signs, and the traffic of nice cars. We drove for a while, and then I nodded. "Let's head back!"
I clutched my head as I tried to piece together what just happened. "Is everyone alright?" Noire's voice rose above the chaos. I looked around. "Ow…" Rito was slumped against the seat.I gently shook her shoulder. "Rito! Are you alright?" The saleswoman stirred, then whimpered. "What just happened..?" I looked around. Uni answered immediately. "We got sideswiped by some sort of truck." I looked closely at the truck. "Isn't that… one of the military trucks?" Noire nodded. "Yeah… I'll go talk with them." But I stopped her. "Why are they surrounding the car?" She looked around. "Weird." I got out of the car and glanced around. "We can trade insurance info. The police are already on the way." One of the men chuckled. "Who is this little kid? Do you want a lollipop?" I gritted my teeth. "Choose your words a bit more carefully. I'll have you know that I have my license right here." The men laughed, then Noire stepped out of the car with Uni. "Gentlemen, you're in quite a bit of trouble."
I sighed. "Like I said, choose your words carefully." My voice was firm. One of the men growled. "I don't have to listen to anything that you're saying, pipsqueak!" I sighed. "I thought you'd say that. So I took the top button on your jacket while you weren't paying attention." As I showed him the button, he shrieked and ran at me with a knife in his hand.. But I was ready…..
