Chapter 13: Vagrancies

A tall FOmarl in a crimson and black dress stepped out of a transporter, beginning the steady walk back to her condo. She had red eye shadow around the rim of her stern, narrow violet eyes, which made them seem even thinner. Her hair was as black as coal, with the exception of the red-tipped ends. She reached her door, with the only hint of fatigue being the stiffness of her walk. Upon opening the door, she was met by a shorter, female black Android with a gray skirt and buttoned blouse.

"Good afternoon," the Android said respectfully, standing aside. "How was your outing?"

"Good afternoon, Fina," the FOmarl replied stoically, as she entered her home. "I had mixed results."

"How so?" the Android known as Fina asked.

"My mission was completed with interesting results, yet…" the FOmarl began calmly, then irritably added, "later I was asked to perform several awkward tasks."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Fina sympathized.

"But no matter; he has paid for it, as they all do, and is no longer among us."

"Good," Fina replied. "Shall I have Nina cook your meal or would you like me to draw your bath?"

"A bath is certainly in order," the FOmarl said, walking to her room.

"Very well then, my Mistress," Nina bowed.

While in her room, the FOmarl started the process of changing into her house clothing, which consisted of removing all of her makeup and putting on a red bathrobe. Just as she finished, the phone rang. The caller ID identified the caller as B.P.

"Hello?" she answered. The screen showed a blank black picture.

"Am I speaking to Yami Megami?" a gruff voice asked.

"Yes," she replied. "What can I do for you?"

"What did you find on Ragol?" the voice asked bluntly. "What your minion has told me, leads me to believe that you did not do as told. What's this about a dragon?"

"Guldo spoke truthfully," the Force answered. "The Central Dome has been destroyed from the inside. Dragons apparently find it to be an appealing dwelling as Kireek, Escuro, and myself encountered and successively destroyed several of them."

"Several of them?" the man asked. "And don't you mean successfully?"

"We decided to only kill one each," the FOmarl explained patiently. "After leaving the dome for a time, another one inexplicably made residence there. The inner walls of the dome were melted, yet intact. I don't know anything else."

"Hmm," the man thought. "We'll have to discuss this at a meeting. I will let you know when and where." The screen then disappeared completely. As she was about to go bathe, the phone rang again.

"What is it?" she answered, expecting it to be the same person. Instead, the screen showed a familiar redheaded man.

"Hello…Megumi?" Chronos asked nervously, seeing her in a bathrobe. "Did I call at a bad time?"

"Not at all," she assured him, softening her tone. "I wasn't expecting you to call so soon. Most men wait for days before calling back."

"I just wanted to be prompt about calling you," Chronos explained. "You know, just checking in on things.

"Chronos," the Megumi said. "I must apologize for my behavior the other day."

"What do you mean?" Chronos asked baffled by what she was talking about.

"I was intoxicated that afternoon," Megumi admitted. "I am grateful for what you did."

"…I didn't even notice, Megumi," Chronos said with a smile. "You were just as articulate as you are now and your words weren't slurred at all."

"Certainly you noticed my unresponsiveness," Megumi said. "The way I didn't seem to pay attention to my surroundings or my inaccurate analysis of the situation. In fact, I can't remember anything before you intervened with those perverts."

"Sorry, but I didn't notice," Chronos said honestly.

Back at the apartment of the Chikara's, Mina and Alicia were meditating. It was not only a way to strengthen Alicia's aura, but also a way for them to contemplate explanations and solutions regarding the status of Ragol. Alicia was in a simple, yellow sundress. Mina had a lavender blouse with denim coveralls. To help herself with her recent "injury," she had packed some pads into her shirt, making her appear a bit top-heavy.

"Okay," Mina sighed. "That's enough for today. I just can't figure out what's going on. Did you get anything?"

"Just the usual bad vibes," Alicia replied wistfully. "Did Nadja find anything?"

"She won't answer the phone," Mina said bitterly.

"I see," Alicia said knowingly, humored.

"She really needs to get a boyfriend," Mina said, thinking. "Speaking o which, how's your love life?"

"I don't have one," Alicia said in an overly casual manner.

"Have you tried Simons Olo?" Mina suggested with a grin.

"Simons?" Alicia said nervously. "I don't really know about him…"

"I can remember his words from the day you told me you quit," Mina said teasingly. "Alicia, Alicia… Where have you gone? Why'd you quit your job?"

"Ahem, how about you?" Alicia asked, changing the subject. "Have you gotten any boyfriends since Seth?"

"No," Mina said, hiding a blush. "It's hard to find anyone when they think you're a kid."

"I'm sure not everyone feels that way," Alicia said positively. "So…did you ask him out yet?"

"Who?" Mina asked, not expecting such a question.

"You know who I'm talking about," Alicia said knowingly. "You mention him all the time."

"I don't know who you're talking about," Mina said, struggling not to blush.

"Fine," Alicia said mischievously. "I think he's cute in a royal sort of way. Do you think Chronos and I would make a good couple?"

"That's no fair!" Mina blurted. "I was just going to…um…never mind…" she said catching herself.

"Just going to what?" Alicia teased. "Ask him out on a date?" To this, Mina could not stop the rosy color covering her face. She sat there, unable to reply.

"Don't worry, Mina-chan," Alicia said, putting her hand on Mina's back playfully. "I'm just kidding."

"…Okay, you got me," Mina relented, realizing that her cousin had just tricked her. "He does seem like a nice guy. And like you said, he is kawaii."

"Well, what's taking you so long?" Alicia chided. "Call him!"

"I'm not ready yet," Mina said, looking away. "We've only known each other for just two weeks. We need to get to know each other a little better first."

"You'd better make your move soon," Alicia warned. "From the way you described him, men that good don't stay single for long."

"I know," Mina said, feeling like she was being lectured.

"All it takes is one date to get the ball rolling," Alicia continued. "If you don't make a move, then someone you might not even know will."

"I know," Mina said. "Why didn't you have any advice about Seth?"

"I wasn't around him long enough," Alicia explained. "My father kept shifting us back and forth between planets, remember? Besides, you two didn't need any help getting together… I still don't understand what happened to you two."

"Let's not get into that," Mina said a little somberly. "But that reminds me, we need to visit Claire more often. She's probably his only friend besides us, so she's the only chance we have of seeing him."

"I'll be sure to do that," Alicia said. "Now…what about Chronos?"

Megumi had finished talking to Chronos and taken her bath and was eating lunch.

"I hope you like your meal," said Nina, another Android servant, sitting at the other end of the table. Unlike citizen Androids, she had light tan synthetic skin and synthetic blonde hair that was cut short. She had a blue tank top, blue skirt with black bicycle shorts underneath, blue thigh-high boots, blue elbow-length gloves, and a blue headband. Obviously, she liked blue.

"It's as delectable as always," Megumi complimented, calmly eating.

"Pardon me, Mistress," Fina said, standing by, "but may I ask you a personal question."

"You may," Megumi answered with little hesitation.

"That man who called you…" she started nervously. "Is he your next…participant…?"

"…Possibly," Megumi said. "However, he seems different from the others."

"Like how?" Nina asked curiously.

"…Another time," Megumi said, pausing her meal. "I will elaborate after I test him myself."

"Yes, Mistress," the Androids said respectfully. At that moment, Guldo, the muscular redheaded Newman, entered the condo and walked into the room.

"Excuse me, my Mistress," he said hurriedly. "They wish to call a meeting in one hour concerning Ragol. It'll be on Deneb Room 3."

"Have the car ready in 20 minutes," Megumi said, continuing her lunch.

School had just been dismissed and Galactica was about to leave the building when she noticed T-65 standing near the front desk.

"What are you doing here?" Galactica asked suspiciously.

"Waiting for you," he said smugly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I just came to tell you something," T-65 said confidently. "I'm level 13 now. Beat that!"

"…Is that it?" Galactica said, unimpressed. "You came out of your way to meet me at work just to say that you think you're better than me?"

"I don't think I'm better than you. I am better than you. I'm level 13 and you're stuck at 10."

"The only thing you're better at is making an idiot of yourself," Galactica said coldly. "But you know what?"

"What?" T-65 asked.

"You're right," she admitted. "I'm not level 13. I'm level 15!"

"…You're bluffin',"T-65 said unbelievingly. "I've been goin' to Ragol just about every day to get that strong. There's no way you could do that with this job."

"All it takes is dedication," Galactica said simply, walking toward the exit. "As such, I plan to go today."

"Hey, wait a minute," T-65 said, following her. "Don't you have teacher stuff to do?"

"It's done," she said, with a small smile. "Don't worry, T-65. You'll catch up…sooner or later."

Yami Megami, as a Force, was at the scheduled meeting on a hunter convoy ship called Deneb in room 3. The designated staff was at the main desk in the center of the circular room. The attendees were sitting around the edges of the room at tables near the plants and glass window showing a beautiful view of Ragol. They had decided to close the room to other hunters and have the lights dimmed. So far, the meeting was moving along quickly. Yami and her colleagues had told the rest of the group what they had seen.

"How long has it been since you came back?" asked a masked RAmar in red and black.

"About six hours," said the tall purple HUcast, Kireek.

"So what exactly happened to Central Dome?" asked another RAmar in red in black. "It appears to have been destroyed from the inside," said a white-haired FOmar in black with a small hat. His hair was so long that, if looked at from the right angle, one might think he was a woman.

"The inner walls have been turned nearly into glass," Yami noted. "The temperature would have to had been enormous."

"Maybe a Dragon burrowed into the Dome," the FOmar mused enjoyably. "It could have melted everything inside… burning everyone alive. I can only imagine their screams."

"Spare us your fantasies, Escuro," Yami said, annoyed. "Even if that was the case, there are no bodily remains."

"Hmph!" Escuro sounded, amused. "Then tell me my dear Xi, exactly what happened to the remains of those Dragons, hmm? Who's to say that the Dragon or Dragons didn't "heat" their food before eating, eh Xi? You don't even know if any remains had just been removed, do you? They could have just been buried since it's obvious that the beasts can dig. But I'll bet you didn't think of that, did you Xi?"

"You insolent little fool!" Yami growled, standing up from her seat. "How dare you publicly humiliate me! I don't see why I shouldn't…"

"Xi'san!" snapped another FOmarl in similar clothing. "That's enough. We have more important things at hand." She was shorter and had her hair tied in two balls by red ribbons. Her hair was so light that from a distance, it looked white or grey instead of the tinted blue that it was. It was too dark to see her face.

"Hmph!" Yami huffed, sitting down. "Very well, Loris.

"You should listen to your sister, Xi," Escuro taunted.

"Let's get back to the purpose of this meeting," Kireek said patiently. "What exactly should we do about the situation?"

"The Council has approved another transporter launching," said a mustached FOnewm. "Apparently, there's another area that Pioneer 1 didn't report. And from what I've heard, this new place is huge."

"If that's the case," Loris said, "we already have our work cut out for us."

"Investigate," clarified a HUcaseal, Felize. "Is this la fin de la réunion?"

"Oui," Escuro said, standing up. "Unless anyone has any questions?" After seeing that everyone understood their future objective, the meeting was adjourned.

"Loris," said the FOmarl known by her false name Megumi Ite, her Force name Yami Megami, and her real name Xi'san Zano. "Guldo is waiting for us in the car. Follow me," she said, taking her sister's arm.

"Wait a second," Escuro said standing in front of the two. "Might I interest you two in a bit of fun?"

"Do you really want to die that badly?" Xi'san asked, aggravated by his presence.

"Hear me out," he chuckled. "Everyone knows your reputation as the Black Widow, Xi. Would you be interested in taking a trip down to Ragol to…how should I put this…find some newbie hunters. We could make a real killing!" His tone had a way of starting out silly and somewhat annoying, then ending in a low, almost threatening growl.

"There's no time for games," Loris said, moving him aside with her Cane. "Ragol will be too dangerous by sunset."

"Aw, you're no fun!" Escuro whined. "How about you, Xi?"

"The day I voluntarily join you for anything," Xi'san began, "will be the day Hell boils over. Let's go, Loris," she said, leading her sister to a transporter. "But, that doesn't mean that I won't humor myself…"

"Hey, Kireek," Escuro called to the HUcast. "How about…"

"Not interested," the Android responded quickly, leaving the room.

"So, what's the plan?" Alicia asked Mina. "Are you going to just directly ask him out?"

"Nooo…" Mina said, dialing a phone number. "We're going to try a group date. This way, it won't be so intimate so soon. Then we'll work from there."

"Hello?" Anne answered the phone, appearing on the screen. "Chica?"

"How'd you know my middle name?" Mina said, confused by the response.

"It's just a nickname I made up," Anne explained. "Listen, that whole thing about your, uh chichis… I was just pulling your tail. You didn't have to go and stuff your bra…Please tell me that's all you did because surgery's kinda…"

"It's only padding!" Mina interrupted her. "Just until they stop being sore. Are the other two around?"

"Right here," Miguel waved, passing by in the background. "Chronos didn't get back yet."

"He should be here soon," Anne commented. "What's up?"

"Would you like go to a restaurant with us and some others?" Mina asked. "Then maybe we could see a movie or something."

"Sounds good to me," Anne replied. "You up for it?"

"Sure," Miguel said. "As long as I can drink something. It's a little hard to eat anything when you don't have a mouth."

"I could build you a mouth," Mina said unexpectedly.

"Right," Anne chuckled. "Next, you'll be telling me you can give me eyebrows."

"I can do that too," Mina replied. "I can also give you a complete emoticon makeover with, eyelids, tears, and if you want them, eyebrows. It's a bit pricey though. I'd say around 20-50 thousand Meseta."

"She's serious!" Miguel exclaimed off screen.

"Have you done this before?" Anne asked.

"Of course," Mina said, beaming. "HUcaseals are the easiest to work with. You don't have to tell me now. Just think about it. Anyway, we'll pick you up in an hour or so."

"Yeah!" a young man said in a winded voice. "How do ya like that?"

"I'm not impressed," she said dully. "Just tell me when you're done."

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed in frustration. "I've been going at it for 10 minutes already…"

"20 minutes," Xi'san corrected. "I'm disappointed."

"You're disappointed?" he exclaimed. "I paid for this. You should be doing the work."

"I have very little to work with," she emphasized. "Are you even in?"

"The hell!" he yelled, half exhausted and half angry. "You could at least fake it!"

"Oh, you're so good," she said unenthusiastically. "My god. Don't stop. Oh. Ah. Harder."

"What a rip-off!" he exclaimed, pulling out and rolling away. "The 2 Meseta whores are better than this. You, on the other hand got 300 Meseta…and for this?"

"I'm assuming that you're finally done?" Xi'san asked, ignoring him for the most part.

"Get out!" he yelled, getting his pants. "That's the worst sex I've ever paid for."

"And the last," Xi'san said, with a small smile creeping across her face. She got up and closed her silk robes.

"So you're saying that I'm not good enough for anyone, huh?" he said, oblivious to her warning. "I'm tired of your bitching. Get the hell out of my house!"

"Very well, then," she said, stepping towards him. "Just one thing," she said, softly placing her hands on the sides of his face.

"What?" he asked, confused by her actions.

"Rest in peace," she smirked. Before he could think about what she had said, Xi'san twisted his head sideways, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. "It's so much more fun when they struggle, but this is so much more satisfying." After she gathered her things and casually took the rest of his Meseta, she glanced at his lifeless body and made a small flame appear above her index finger. As she left the room towards the front door, she tossed the flame behind her, instantly igniting him. As she left the residence, the fire quickly spread around the room.

"How do I look?" Mina asked, posing for Alicia.

"Fine," Alicia said. "The padding was all that needed to go."

"So the coveralls are okay?" Mina asked, nervously.

"It's just a get together of friends," Alicia said. "You don't need to overdress. I'm the one who should be trying to make impressions… This dress isn't too bright is it? I didn't have anything to wear so I had to borrow it from Caseal."

"It makes a nice contrast with your hair," Mina complimented. "So are we ready to go?" Just then the front door slid open. The two knew it was T-65, because they could hear him walking in. They didn't expect what they saw though.

"Mom, GA's hurt!" he said, holding the RAcaseal in both arms. She was wet and burnt, cluing them in that she went to Ragol.

"I'm…fine," she said, sounding exhausted. "Put me down!"

"Alicia," Mina said to her cousin, "could you get some cleaner and WD-40 for me? They're in the closet."

"Sure," Alicia complied.

"This really isn't necessary," Galactica said airily. "T-65, could you please put me down.?" The RAcast looked to Mina, who nodded in response.

"Okay, just be careful," he said, letting Galactica stand on her own.

"See," Galactica said, beginning to walk. "I told you…I was fine." Soon she stumbled and was about to fall over when Mina caught her.

"Just lie down," Mina said calmly, as Alicia returned. "Take it easy. Everything's going to be fine." Galactica sank to her knees and shakily lied down on her back."

"Here you go," Alicia said, handing Mina the cleaner and a cloth as she knelt with her. "It looks like you had a rough time."

"You could say that," Galactica said, leaving her eyelids half open.

"Thank you for bringing her back T-65," Mina said, pouring some of the cleaner on the cloth. "Could you leave the room for a moment?"

"Sure," he said, heading for his room.

"We'd better get rid of these soaked clothes," Mina said, beginning to remove the Android's clothing.

"So what happened?" Alicia said, letting Galactica sip WD-40 from a straw.

"I went to Ragol," Galactica said plainly. "You know how it can be."

"You're not telling us everything," Alicia said, removing the large bow on the Android's head, revealing her hard black and orange "helmet hair" and the softer, orange chain-like hair underneath.

"There's not much to tell," Galactica said, taking off her gloves and ripping off her burned choker.

"You know that's not true," Mina said soothingly, wiping Galactica's face and hair with the cloth. "You can tell your mommy and aunty."

"Every hunter gets hurt like this at some point," Alicia said. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not like what happened to your mother."

"What did happen to you Mother?" Galactica asked, now noticing the absence of padding.

"A 50 ft. Dragon fell on me," Mina said, smiling gently. "I suppose that is a bit funny."

"And I got smacked by a Hildebear," Alicia added lightheartedly, removing Galactica's boots and armlets. "So you see, we all have our moments."

"Now tell us what happened to you," Mina said, wiping the burns away from the Android's face.

"It was… the Dragon," Galactica said. "Chronos was there too."

"He was?" Alicia said, letting her take another sip. "Where is he now?"

"I think…he went home," Galactica said, sounding woozier. "He looked exhausted."

"And so do you," Mina said. "Go to sleep-mode. You need to rest so that your auto-repair systems can work faster."

"But…okay," Galactica relented, slowly sitting up. "Let me just…get to my recharge station." She managed to get to a wobbly stance before falling into Mina's arms again. "Dammit," she cursed, beginning to sob in frustration.

"Shh, it's okay," Mina whispered, hugging her softly. "Alicia, hold the door open for me.

"Right," the taller woman said, opening the automatic door and keeping it from sliding closed.

"You don't have to…" Galactica whined tiredly. "I can do this by…myself."

"Galactica, you have to know your limits," Alicia said.

"Hup," Mina grunted, lifting the Android. "Still haven't lost any weight I see…Galactica?"

"She finally went to sleep," Alicia said, letting Mina carry Galactica through the doorway. "It's strange that she's one of the few Androids who don't have skin, but have eyelids. You can actually tell when she's not active… Mina… do they have dreams?"

"I know this one does," Mina said, laying Galactica in her pod. "Sweet dreams."

"We'd better call and tell them we can't make it today," Alicia said, as they exited Galactica's room. As soon as Mina reached to turn on the phone, it sounded, "Phone call!"

"Moshi-moshi?" she answered. It was Miguel.

"Uh hi," Miguel answered nervously. "Listen, we can't make it tonight."

"We were just about to call for the same reason," Mina said, astonished.

"Chronos is pretty wiped," Miguel said.

"He went straight to bed without saying anything," Anne said off-screen. "He didn't even bother to change out of his uniform."

"We had a similar situation with Galactica," Mina said. "Apparently, they fought the Dragon."

"I see that the swelling has gone down," Miguel joked, noting the absence of Mina's ample chest.

"It was just padding!" Mina complained, trying to keep her voice low so as not to disturb Galactica.

"I couldn't resist," Miguel laughed. "It just seems to be the running gag of the day."

Notes: I like that ending. Who would of thought that a chapter that seemed so…vagrant could have turned out so nice? Notice that in that "censor-angering" scene, I didn't get too descriptive. Number one, I don't want the rating to go past R. Number two, I like to leave something to the imagination (IOW: I'm lazy). And what to call this new lady? How about this: as a Force: Yami Megami, to the strangers and the general populace: Megumi Ite, at her own home or other discreet area: Xi'san Zano. Just know that it's the same person.

On the next (long) episode of PSO: Sidestory: It's a little bit of everything in this one. T-65 and Xero heedlessly venture into the newest area found on Ragol. Both Galactica and Chronos take it easy to recover. The Nei School is doing things a little differently because of technical difficulties, so Misha and Taya get to test some of their gaming skills. Alicia visits an old friend. Even Xi'san is in this one. Who isn't in this wild episode of "Sick Day For All"? What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger… Only Toonami!