The Ether Conflict
Chapter 30: Assignment
"That was one exhausting battle," Miho sighs as she exits her room and closes the door behind her.
After the conclusion of the battle between her and Odysseus, Miho retreated back to her room to take a shower in order to wash off the sweat and dirt she had on her and to change her uniform, which had numerous cuts and tears everywhere.
"Now then, first I have to go to Mannheim and see what he wants me for, as well as ask him about the second generation Serums," she starts thinking aloud while making her way towards the staircase that connects all the floors with the ground one. "Then I'll have to help Saori, Mako, Hana, Yukari and Yuki with room arrangement for the girls, as well as do some paperwork, since they'll be working here from today."
Reaching the staircase, which is only a few meters away from her room, she starts descending it slowly, though she doesn't pay too much attention in front of her.
"Also, I need to check how Anzu is, contact the Director and ask if he can build us a supply depot and a garage for any vehicles we may acquire...then again, I can ask Mannheim to build one out of thin air, since it seems that he can create a lot of different things with Ether. We also won't be needing mechanics since we have the girls from Leopon Team," she says as she reaches the first floor, then stops as she realizes something.
"Where are they?" she wonders aloud as she tries to think where she saw them last time. She did see them in the morning with the rest, probably checking out the base, but they didn't show up at the training grounds like the others. Maybe they found something else to occupy their time with? But there aren't any vehicles in this base except the Panzer IV and the Antelope Team's Cerberus, so...maybe they went to check out their condition?
"Ah, Miss Nishizumi!"
Raising her head to look at who called her, she finds the girls from Leopon Team standing in front of her. They are wearing black mechanic's outfits that had been provided to them by Blackout and holding next to them are their trusty tools they had salvaged from Ooarai when it got attacked.
"Ah, girls, I was wondering where you were! How have you been?" Miho greets them with a smile. She notices that their clothes are covered in machine oil and grease, which means they have been fiddling with something.
"We have been doing great!" Satoko, the commander of the Leopon Team, answers Miho, in her right hand holding a pair of screwdrivers.
"We have been checking out the new tanks that the base has in its underground garage," Hoshino says, lifting up the red toolbox she is carrying for added emphasis.
"These new tanks were like treasure chests! The technology used in them is even better than the one used in modern vehicles!" Tsuchiya says excitedly, lifting both of her gloved hands that hold a french key and a screwdriver.
"But some of them where really complex, so we decided to not fiddle with them too much, at least until we understand them a little bit better," Suzuki says, but then notices Miho's confused expression. "Uhm...Commander, are you okay?"
Underground garage? New Tanks? Miho has no idea what the girls are talking about. Last time she checked, there was no such thing, at least from what the Director had told her about the new base. "What underground garage and what new tanks are you talking about?" she asks the girls and it's their turn to look confused.
"Didn't Yuki inform you about it?" Satoko asks and Miho shakes her head slowly.
"She told us that there was a last minute change in the plans of the base and that there were some tanks Blackout captured from the Institute that they didn't want," Hoshino says.
"Is that so?" Miho asks with a thoughtful expression. Then that means we don't have to worry about a place to store our vehicles for the time being, she thinks.
"Anyway, I have some business to attend, so I'll talk to you later girls. Take care!" she smiles at them.
"Take care too, Miss Nishizumi!" the girls wave at her, then go away, probably towards the baths to wash themselves. Miho continues descending the staircase and upon reaching the ground floor, takes a left at the long hallway that crosses the entire building from its one end to the other. Walking down the long hallway, she stops in front of a rather futuristic door that sits at the hallway's right side. The frame of the door seems to be made of aluminum, two red led lights shining on the left and right parts of it. The door seems to be made out of two metal parts that connect in the middle, the tiny gap between them forming the outline of a triangle that points upwards. Next to the door is a touchpad and on top of it a small, rectangular piece of plastic that has the phrase "R&D Lab" written on it with black letters.
"I guess this is it," Miho says, looking at the futuristic door with a bit of puzzlement. Searching for a button or a lever to open the door, she lightly presses the touchpad and two laser beams originating from the led lights start scanning her body. Getting surprised by this, Miho instinctively takes a step back, but the lasers merely keep scanning her for a few more moments, then disappear. The led lights turn green and the touchpad retracts into the wall, before a cover slides down to cover it.
"Unknown entity identified. Welcome, Miss Nishizumi," a robotic voice says, then the door hisses and its two metallic parts get retracted on the floor and ceiling respectively.
Just what on earth did Mannheim build? Miho sweats a little at the display of this sci-fi moment she has witnessed just now. Honestly, she has only seen this kind of thing in movies and manga.
Entering the lab, the door behind her closes and hisses once more, indicating that it has been locked. Looking around, she can say with certainty that this room is really large, almost half as big as the tank garage in her school carrier was. There are a lot of wires and machinery lying all over the place, some being recognizable to her as equipment used by microbiologists, some used by physicists, and others used by chemists. On one side of the room is a desk with a rather futuristic computer that has no screen for some reason and a wireless keyboard and mouse. Next to it is a big shelf full with what looks like to be servers and UPS units. Looking at the far end of the room, she spots four stasis tubes filled with a clear liquid. They're mostly made of reinforced glass except for the top and bottom parts of them that are made of a black metal, with a lot of wires and tubes connecting to them. Getting curious, she slowly walks towards the stasis tubes, making sure not to trip over the multitude of cables that litter the floor near them. Upon reaching them, she places her hand against the glass of one of the tubes and she can immediately feel a warm feeling spreading through her hand and into the rest of her body. Retracting her hand, she turns to look back at one of the tables that has a few machines that she can recognize, and approaching it, she spots a centrifuge and a microscope. There is also a weird cylindrical device that has what looks like a rainbow crystal hovering between two dish-like pieces that connect with the inside ends of the cylinder, and even a weird cubical machine that has an open space at its front side. Inside this space there is a mug that is half-full with a brown liquid. Growing curious at this, she takes the mug and picks it up, looking inside it at the brown liquid. Sniffing once, the smell of it instantly reminds her of something that she hasn't seen, or rather smell, for a long time.
"Coffee?" she wonders aloud as she puts the mug back in its place. "So this is a coffee machine."
"Indeed it is. Would you like a cup, too?"
Turning around to see who talked to her, she finds Mannheim appearing from behind some stacks of boxes, his hands inside his labcoat's pockets.
"No, I'm fine," Miho answers as Mannheim stops next to her and picks up the mug. "It's just that I haven't smelled such a nice aroma in a coffee since the earthquakes happened. Most of it nowadays is rather...bland, to say the least."
"Is that so? I always made my own coffee so I didn't notice," he says as he points at the table and a small bag of roasted and grinded coffee beans appears. It even has its own brand, named 'Mannheim Inc.'.
"Wait, you can create even things like these?" Miho asks in surprise.
"Yes. I can even create food," he says after he takes a sip of coffee from his mug. "But I didn't call you here to discuss what I am capable of with my power. I called you here because I have something to show you." Walking towards the table that has the futuristic computer, he sits on a swivel chair and starts rummaging through a cardboard box that sits next to the chair on the ground.
Now that she has a moment to look around the lab once again, she notices that almost everything is white. The walls, the floor, the machinery, everything is colored white.
"Ah, here it is," Mannheim says and beckons to Miho to come closer. Reaching the table, Mannheim hands her what looks like a green orb made of some kind of glass, being no bigger than half a ping-pong ball.
"It is soft when I touch it, yet it looks like glass," Miho muses as she raises the orb above her head to better inspect it. "I can also feel trace amounts of Ether inside it. Is this some kind of container?" she asks as she hands it back to Mannheim.
"Yes and no," he answers as he takes the orb and puts it back into the box. "This is a way for people without powers to use Ether."
"Is that even possible? Don't you need to have a certain genome to be able to use Ether?"
"No. You see, the genome allows a human to gather raw Ether, in order to refine it and store it in the body. People without this genome can still use Ether, if they can somehow acquire it in its raw form for their minds to refine it and store it."
"You mean that all humans have the ability to refine and store Ether?" Miho asks and Mannheim nods.
"Yes. The only thing that most people can't do is to gather it, since this type of energy isn't present in our world," Mannheim says and then raises a finger. "Unless someone who can indeed gather it, stores it in an appropriate container.
"Then how does it work?"
"It is quite simple actually. The person has to only crush the container and the raw Ether contained within it will transfer into their body, get refined and then stored. Though since this is only a prototype, the energy is strong enough for only brief use, such as perform or block an attack, or heal moderate wounds. It also causes extreme exhaustion at the user, so I would recommend using it as a last resort," Mannheim explains and Miho nods.
"I understand. Is there anything else you wanted me for?" she asks, but Mannheim shakes his head.
"No."
"Ok. Then, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Sure."
"I want to know about the second generation Serums and what the line "P.B.A.P: None" in the documents means," Miho asks with a serious expression, which Mannheim reciprocates with one of his own.
"The second generation Serums are an upgraded version of the Serum used on you. In light of the massacre Serum Black and Serum White caused during the Starfall project, I decided to make a version that wouldn't kill its host if it went out of control. After several weeks of trial and error, I managed to make a test Serum that altered the test subject's DNA without the risks of destroying it, but it also resulted in the subject's power to be a lot more weaker. For example, you and Miss Odysseus are classified as Class-S users in the Institute, but Miss Yumika and Miss Ono are classified as Class-C. As you can understand, the power difference is quite huge. Also, this new Serum had the side effect of changing the color of the subject's irises permanently, unlike the temporary changes that happen in your appearance. There are also some other minor changes, but they aren't worth mentioning." Drinking the rest of his coffee, Mannheim puts the mug on the table and crosses his arms.
"About your second question, the line means Personality and Behavioral Alteration Progress," Mannheim says and Miho's body stiffens slightly, a detail that doesn't evade his gaze. "Simply put, it measures how much the user's personality and behavior change when they use their power, and if permanent, how much it has progressed since last time. After the incident in the underground lab where you lost control of your power, for every test subject's files I made sure to record any behavior or personality changes to make sure they wouldn't go berserk. But since the rest of the test subjects of Serum Black and Serum White died during the DNA alteration, I never gathered any data about it.
"How about the test subjects that used lower level Serums?" Miho asks.
"They never exhibited any behavior changes as drastic as yours. I'm certain it has some connection with how big your power potential is, but I have yet to find someone as strong as you to confirm it...except for Miss Odysseus that is, though as I have stated before, she is a rather special case," he answers.
"So that means that Kōrino and Kasai are safe, right?"
"Yes. This is also another advantage of the second generation Serums; they don't alter the personality of the user, which reminds me - I told this to your friends, but I should tell it to you too - the changes your power causes on your personality can be negated, given enough time and practice, but be aware that should you get more powerful, it will become increasingly more difficult to suppress them. So I suggest you prepare yourself, for you may do some things you might not like," he finishes his answer ominously, letting an eerie silence to fill the air.
Hisssss
Hearing the door hissing, both turn to look at it. As it opens, the figure of a girl with black hair and green eyes enters inside the lab, looking around the room in amazement, until she spots Miho.
"Miho!" the girl calls and quickly walks up to her. "The Director called and said he wanted you and Odysseus to come to his office to talk about your next assignment. He has sent a vehicle to pick you up!"
"Eh? He didn't tell you what kind of assignment it was?" Miho asks, then turns to face Mannheim. "There are still some things I want to ask you about the Starfall project, so I'll come and talk to you later," she says then proceeds to exit the lab in search of Odysseus while asking Yuki about the room arrangement and if there is anything left to do other then the paperwork for the girls.
As the door closes and hisses, Mannheim turns to face his keyboard and presses the Enter button. Suddenly, a holographic screen made of Ether pops into view above the keyboard and Mannheim starts typing what looks like lines of code.
"I wonder if she'll ever learn about Blackout's involvement in Starfall project," he muses to himself as the sounds of buttons getting pressed fills the air. "How will she act when she learn that Miss Kadotani's sister was abducted by them? It certainly will be interesting," he chuckles slightly as he briefly stops typing to go and make more coffee to drink.
"So, what are you going to do with the money you won from the bet?" Annabelle asks as she picks up a cup of hot tea and takes a small sip.
"Well, I did promise Saori I'd buy something for her, so I guess they'll be spent on a necklace or something like that," Tyler answers from the other end of the small coffee table where he sits, with Annabelle opposite of him and Reiji to his left. "I still owe her that date I promised her too."
"Will you buy her a ring and propose to her?" Reiji snickers slightly and Tyler lightly slaps his shoulder.
"Shut up, I didn't even mentioned anything close to it. I just said the word ring and her mind instantly abandoned reality," Tyler answers and shakes his head slowly. "Though it ain't the first time I've seen it happening."
"How so?" Annabelle asks curiously. "Is it because of girls chasing you almost every day?"
"Almost. Back in the States, around 4 years ago I think it was, I was walking down the street, minding my own business, when I spotted a girl in front of me crouching and searching the pavement around her for something. By coincidence, I spotted what looked like a ring behind her, so I stooped down, picked it up, walked in front of her and presented it." Tyler stops and takes a deep breath. "I don't know what the fuck happened, but her face flushed like she was in heat and she tried to throw herself on me, mumbling incoherent things about marriage and family. Had to run two blocks until she got exhausted and stopped chasing me."
At this, Reiji snorts and rolls his eyes, while Annabelle nearly spits the tea she was sipping from her cup.
"What the heck, Tyler? Are you some kind of walking aphrodisiac?" Annabelle asks after gulping down the tea she had in her mouth.
"Hell if I know!" he says incredulously and throws his arms in the air for emphasis, before letting them to fall down. "The only thing I know is that my father had to go through things like these too."
"Then maybe it is something genetic?" Reiji suggests with a thoughtful expression. "Though in all honesty, this kind of thing only happens in novels."
"Yet here I am, having girls following me like I'm some kind of harem anime protagonist," he sighs loudly.
"At least you aren't a dense one," Reiji smirks.
"Let's change the subject to something else," Annabelle says. "What do you think will happen now that we are not working for Blackout?"
"We still are under Blackout's control; the only difference is that we don't have to meet that stupid monthly quota all mercenaries have to unless they are in an elite squad," Tyler says his own opinion, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Honestly, I believe that something else is in the works here."
"Are you crafting another conspiracy theory?" Annabelle deadpans, but Tyler's serious expression barely changes.
"This time I'm sure about it. Have you noticed the two mercenaries that got transfered here with us?"
"You mean that couple that was assigned as guards for our base, right?" Reiji asks and Tyler nods.
"Yes. Back at the base, I heard rumors that the Director wanted to dispose them at first but later changed his mind because they have a child and another relative with them, so if they disappeared it would create a lot of suspicion."
"Are you serious right now?" Annabelle says slowly in a monotone voice, finding it really hard to believe Tyler. "What reason would the Director have to do something like this?" This time Reiji speaks up.
"Apparently, when the enemy HQ in Tokyo was captured, they were tasked with retrieving any intel they could find on the enemy's computers and one of them looked at some classified documents that contained sensitive information about Blackout's involvement in some shady things in the past, like a supposedly blacklisted experiment named Starfall project," Reiji finishes explaining and Annabelle stares at him with a thoughtful expression.
"This sounds like it came straight out of a fanfiction story, but if the rumors are true, then it would make a lot of sense," she says with a serious expression then picks up her cup to drink some tea, but notices it is empty. "Could you please go and refill it?" she asks a blonde girl with light purple eyes that stands next to her. Said girl wears a French maid costume colored in the classic colors of black and white, its skirt having black and white frills on its end and being long enough to just cover her crotch and a tiny part of her upper thighs. The girl also wears black stockings with garter bells and black Mary Jane shoes. Her long, silky, blond hair are braided in a French braid that drapes over her left shoulder and left breast. Despite the several scars that fill both of her arms and the exposed parts of her thighs, they do little to diminish her beauty that is further enhanced by the light blush that covers her cheeks.
"Come on Odysseus, you know the rules. Since I won the bet, you have to do whatever I want for a whole day," Annabelle says with a rather sweet smile on her face. Odysseus just gulps loudly and reaches with a trembling hand to grab the cup while using the other to hold her skirt pressed against her legs and cover as much of them as she can, which isn't that much.
"A-As you wish, m-m-milady," Odysseus stutters in embarrassment with a cute voice, which makes her seem even more adorable.
"Feeling a little breezy down there?" Tyler snickers like a troll, seeing Odysseus' trembling hand.
"S-Shut up, Tyler! I'm only doing this because Annabelle blackmailed me!" she shouts in an embarrassed voice, pressing her skirt even harder against her legs. Unbeknownst to her, Reiji fishes out his phone, snaps a picture of her and puts it back in his pocket in one fluid motion. After that, Odysseus quickly retreats back at the room's small kitchen to refill Annabelle's cup with more hot tea.
"And how did you blackmailed her?"
"I threatened to burn her porn collection if she backed out from the bet."
"I call bluff. You weren't going to burn it really, did you?"
"Odysseus said the same thing...until I took a lighter and moved towards where she keeps her stash."
Tyler sweats a little at that. "You can be quite scary some times, you know that?"
"Yes, but it is all basic intimidation. If she decides to go ham on my ass, I can't do jack shit to stop her."
"But we all know she ain't going to do something like that. The worst she'll ever do to you is throw an intense glare," Reiji says casually.
"That's true," Annabelle nods in agreement. "Anyway, isn't Odysseus cute with that costume!? I just want to glomp her and squeeze her as tight as I can!" she says dreamily with excitement, showing a rather rare side of her that the boys barely have seen these two years they have been with her.
"Annabelle being a lesbian has been confirmed," Tyler snickers.
"Shut up," Annabelle grumbles and kicks Tyler from under the coffee table. "This's just because you can't see how cute she is."
"Ouch," Tyler groans, rubbing the part on his left shin where he got kicked. "Well, excuse me for not falling head over heels for a psycho," he says and crosses his arms. "Besides, if I want to glomp someone, I have Saori."
"You are no fun, you know that?" Annabelle deadpans, then turns to face Reiji. "How about you, Reiji?"
"I prefer girls that behave in a more mature way and are more graceful than our dear commander," Reiji answers and Annabelle draws closer to him.
"That sounds interesting. Anyone that has caught your eye?" Annabelle asks him, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"I brought tea for everyone," Odysseus says as she gets out of the small kitchen with a tray that has four cups full of hot tea. Placing the tray on the coffee table, she takes a sit next to Annabelle.
"Good job Odysseus," Annabelle smiles and gently pats Odysseus' head, causing her to blush in embarrassment and lower her gaze down on the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "You know what you have to say, don't you?"
"Th-Th-Thank you, m-milady," Odysseus stutters in a barely audible voice, her blush turning into a crimson red color.
"You actually enjoy it, don't you?" Tyler says casually as he grabs one of the cups that sit on the tray.
"Every minute of it," Annabelle grins slightly and turns to face Reiji. "Please continue."
"Hana," Reiji answers and Annabelle nods in understanding.
"Aha, she definitely covers your criteria. She is mature, elegant and can do flower arrangement, which if I remember correctly, is actually a lot more complex and difficult than it seems at first. Then again, it is a form of art, so I guess it shouldn't be that surprising."
"Seriously?" Tyler asks in surprise. "Is arranging a couple of flowers that big of a deal?"
"It even has certain, and somewhat unspoken, rules that everyone practicing flower arrangement must abide to. For example, the colours of some flowers are considered unlucky. Red flowers, which are used at funerals, are undesirable not only for that reason but also because red is supposed to suggest the red flames of a fire. Another example is the number of flowers used. An odd number of flowers is lucky, while even numbers are unlucky and therefore undesirable, and never used in flower arrangements. With the odd numbers one avoids symmetry and equal balance, which are actually seldom found in nature."
"Jesus Christ, the more you speak, the more I start believing flower arrangement is more of a science than art."
"It might as well be with how many things someone has to take into consideration when arranging them, but I digress. Reiji, have you tried spending more time with her?" she asks, but Reiji shakes his head.
"No. It is only recently that I got interested in her, so I haven't had the chance to spend more time with her. Also, I'd like to get to know her a bit more before pursuing a romantic relationship with her."
"I know it's irrelevant with our current conversation, but I really wanted to ask you Annabelle, where did you find that costume for Odysseus?" Tyler asks Annabelle.
"Remember the time when we searched an abandoned town for supplies...about four months ago, I think it was? Anyway, I found it inside one of the abandoned homes and decided to take it, though I made sure to hide it from the rest of you."
Knock-Knock
Hearing a slight knocking coming from the door, everyone looks at it.
"Are we waiting anyone else?" Tyler asks and Annabelle shrugs.
"Maybe they have some business with us?" Annabelle says and turns to Odysseus, who is still gazing on the ground. "Would you be so kind as to go and answer the door?"
Odysseus immediately whips her head up to look at Annabelle with eyes full of terror. "No!" she yells. "It's bad enough I had to wear this stupid thing and be seen by all of you in such a state; I won't have anyone else see me like this!" she shouts in an embarrassed voice, her blush that had subsided somewhat flaring once more.
"Maybe you want to reconsider?" Annabelle asks as she slowly reveals a lighter from her jacket's right breast pocket.
Backed against the wall, Odysseus can't decide if her pride or her collection is more valuable to her, but thankfully Reiji comes to her rescue.
"I think we have teased her enough for now," he chuckles a little as he gets up and goes to answer the door. Opening it, she finds Miho and Yuki waiting in front of it.
"Good morning Reiji. Is Odysseus here?" Miho greets and asks Reiji.
"Good morning you two," Reiji greets them back. "Yes, she is. Please come in."
Entering the room, that it has the same room layout and furniture as the one back at Blackout, and closing the door behind them, both Miho and Yuki spot Odysseus, who is now burying her face in her hands, mumbling incomprehensible things.
"Uhm, who is she?" Miho asks as she and Yuki sit at the right side of the coffee table where there is free space. Miho's question instantly causes the boys to laugh, and even Annabelle cracks a slight grin. "Is there anything funny at what I said?"
"No, it's just that this girl is Odysseus," Annabelle answers.
"Eh?" both Miho and Yuki exclaim in surprise, causing Odysseus to moan in embarrassment. "Why is she dressed like that?"
"Remember the bet we placed between us? Since I won it, I had her dress in that outfit and act as my maid for the whole day."
"Oh..." Miho says, a bead of sweat rolling along the side of her face. "A-Anyway, I'm here because the Director called and asked for me and her to report to his office for our next assignment." This instantly shakes off of Odysseus any embarrassment she might have had till this point.
"Did he tell her what kind of assignment we need to expect?" she asks with a serious expression, but Miho shakes her head.
"No. He only told her that we should report to his office and that there'll be a vehicle coming to pick us up," Miho answers and Odysseus gets up.
"It might be something serious. Give me a minute to change and I'll-" she starts saying, but then feels a hand grabbing her left ankle. Looking down, she finds Annabelle smiling at her.
"There's no need for that, Elpida, you can go with the clothes you are wearing," she says with a sweet voice and causes Odysseus to get petrified.
"B-But-!" Odysseus tries to object, but Annabelle silences her by raising the lighter once more.
"Aaaaaaaargh! Mark my words Annabelle, I'll get you for this!" Odysseus shouts in frustration and storms out of the room.
"Don't you think this is a bit too much?" Miho asks.
"A little bit of shame never hurt anybody," Annabelle answers back. "Besides, she'll probably have forgotten about all of this by tomorrow."
"If you say so," Miho answers and stands up. "Then I'll take my leave. Have a nice day," she says and bows a little, followed by Yuki.
"Have a nice day too," Annabelle, Reiji and Tyler say. Closing the door behind her, she finds Odysseus leaning against the wall next to the door with a grumpy face.
"Are you sure you are going to be fine?" she asks and Odysseus sighs in defeat.
"I guess so. Just getting what I deserve," she mumbles quietly. "Let's just get going. The sooner we are done with this thing, the better," she grumbles and starts walking towards the staircase.
Blackout's Main Base
Director's Office
Inside his office, the Director is sitting behind his large desk, reading a couple of reports about some of the recent assignments Blackout has completed, which aren't that much if he has to be honest.
Bandits, which had been a major problem for the past two years, have completely disappeared. From what intel they managed to retrieve from the enemy HQ, it seems the Institute was actually supplying with weapons and obsolete tech bandit groups in order to keep both Blackout and the JSDF occupied so they could operate uninterrupted and prepare to fight both of them. Needless to say, it worked flawlessly. Blackout almost lost its head, so to speak, from the surprise attack on the main base, and whatever had been left of the JSDF after the earthquakes was completely wiped out. According to the retrieved intel, his contact, Chōno Ami, was captured in the last battle between them and was transported in an Institute's facility located somewhere in North Korea, another place with heavy Institute presence.
That being said, there are still a lot of stuff he has to do if he wants to rebuild Japan into a functioning nation, so he'll have to brush aside rescue missions for now. First things first, he'll need to secure resources, most specifically the lands the school carriers are controlling, since they have an abundance of them. All overall commanders have shown their willingness to perform a trade deal, which would have happened long ago, if it wasn't for the Institute's attack on the base. Second is the rebuilding of towns and infrastructure, as well as agriculture and industry. Third is the assimilation of the school carriers. Even if he doesn't want to believe it, he has to admit that these girls, the ones that do Senshadou at least, could easily pass as veteran mercenaries in Blackout just by looking at their performance on the field. They sure did showcase this in the battle against R.I.J.A., and when there are at least three Institute-controlled countries around you, you'll certainly need all the manpower you can get. He could ask for help from Blackout's branch in America, but these guys have become somewhat autonomous in the wake of the apocalypse, so he can't count on them.
Having finished reading the report, he puts his signature at its bottom and places it at a pile of papers that neatly sits at the right corner of his desk, then takes a mug that sits on the left side of the desk and sips some of the black coffee it contains.
Hearing the doors to his office open, he looks up from the next report he had grabbed and was about to read, and finds the two guards that stand as security outside of his office holding the doors open to let a woman enter, before closing them behind her.
"Please have a sit," the Director says and points at the two luxurious chairs that are placed in front of his desk.
The woman, who looks to be in her late 20s or early 30s, smiles at him and takes a sit on the left chair, carefully putting her long purple hair over her right shoulder so that they won't get caught between her back and the back of the chair. She wears a one piece, violet dress that matches the color of her eyes, as well as white sandals. To say that she is just beautiful would be an understatement, as her beauty seems like it is the divine work of the gods.
"It has been quite some time, has it not, Director?" the woman asks in a voice so sweet that it is like tasting honey.
"Indeed it has been, Angel," the Director says with a rather neutral expression. Opening one of the desk's drawers, he procures a piece of paper and hands it to Angel.
"Hmm, what is this?" she asks and quickly scans the contents of the paper. "Isn't this a little too much?" she asks and waves the paper a little.
"Thanks to your little request to capture the enemy headquarters, I lost a considerable amount of good people and assets, so I expect you to provide a compensation for the losses," he answers.
Angel simply crosses her legs and leans back on the chair. "Is that so?"
"Yes. You were off the grid for two months and a couple hours before the attack on Tokyo you send an email requesting that Blackout captures the Institute's HQ."
"I provide you with resources, you do what I tell you to; That was the deal," Angel tells and leans a little bit forward. "You might not want to accept it, but I'm the one pulling your strings," she says with a smile, but the Director remains unfazed by this.
"And I'm working on cutting them," he answers back, then seeps some more coffee from his mug.
"I'll be waiting for it," she giggles slightly. "Anyway, what have I missed these two months? I know about the Institute and the Ether Force, as well as the two girls that have magic, but what I want to know is what you are going to do now. Consider this one of my requests."
"You know a lot of things, don't you?" the Director asks with suspicion, but Angel simply waves a finger at him playfully.
"A lady never reveals her secrets~," she winks at him, but the Director once again remains unfazed by her charms.
"Very well. This last month there has been rumors that Institute spies have infiltrated our branch in America, so I'll be sending the two girls that can use Ether as bait to draw them out."
"And how do you know this will work?"
"I had some of the personnel spread rumors that girls that can use "magic" will be transfered in America as part of reinforcements to help defend the branch if a war erupts between the factions that control the different parts of America. While no one will believe the rumors about the magic part, I'm sure the Institute spies will take notice and act."
"Hahaha!" the woman laughs loudly. "Cunning like a fox!" she exclaims. "Oh, it seems your guests have arrived," she says as she folds the piece of paper the Director handed her and stands up.
"I'll swing by some time again; Maybe we can chat a little more," she says and starts walking towards the doors, but a couple steps before reaching them, they open and in come Miho and Odysseus.
"Good morning ladies" she greets them sweetly as she exits the office, with the guards closing the doors behind her. Both girls turn to look at the now closed doors, Miho with a curious expression as to who this woman was, and Odysseus with one of suspicion.
"Who was that woman?" Odysseus immediately asks with a frown, pointing at the closed doors. "She looked really suspicious."
"An acquaintance of mine," the Director waves his hand dismissively, but then notices what kind of clothes Odysseus is wearing. "I know we are a lot more lax in rules than most of the pre-apocalyptic PMCs, but don't you think this is a bit too much even for you?"
"It's not like I chose to wear this, you know…" Odysseus grumbles under her breath, pressing her skirt against her legs. "I just made a bet with Annabelle and she made me wear this thing for the rest of the day."
"Director," Miho says and snaps a salute. "May I ask why you requested our presence?"
"I wanted to inform you about your next assignment," he says and waves Miho to lower her salute, and so she does. "Please have a seat," he gestures at the two luxurious seats in front of his desk and the girls comply, with Miho sitting on the left chair and Odysseus on the right.
"So, what do we have to do? Raid bandit bases? Protect some precious cargo? World conquest?" Odysseus starts blabbing. "And why are you so nice to us so suddenly?" she asks and gestures at the chair she is sitting.
"As the Directors of an autonomous branch of Blackout, I'm only showing proper respect. You are not here as Blackout's mercenaries; You are here as business partners," he says and both girls look at him in surprise.
"Business partners?" Miho asks and the Director nods.
"Think of this as a mandatory contract between Blackout and the Ether Force."
"And what's this job about? If it's something incredulous, such as fighting the Institute in another continent-", Odysseus starts saying but the Director raises his hand to signal her to stop talking.
"It's not something like that…almost," he says and pulls a map from one of the desk's drawers. "Do you know anything about the current situation in the USA?"
Both girls shake their heads, so he puts the map on top of the desk. It is a map of the pre-apocalyptic USA, but it is divided in four colored zones.
"After the earthquakes, USA got divided among four factions." He taps the yellow colored zone first. "One of the factions is called 'West Coast Coalition'. It covers all of the west coast along with the states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Idaho. Next faction is the 'Independent State of Texas'," he says and taps at the red colored zone that is covering the bottom middle of the US. "They are essentially the state of Texas that broke off the US after the earthquakes and decided to occupy the states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana." He then taps at the Eastern coast of the US, in a green colored zone. "Next faction is the 'State Alliance' that spans from the east coast all the way to the states of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. And last but not least," he taps at the purple colored zone that covers the remaining states, "is the 'Holy Trinity State'."
"What the hell, this last one sounds like a faction run by religious fanatics," Odysseus blurts out.
"Why are you telling us all of this?" Miho asks, not understanding what the state in which the US currently is has to do with their assignment.
"Blackout, except from Japan, also has a branch in America, which operates mainly inside West Coast Coalition's borders, but recently I've heard rumors that spies sent from the Institute have infiltrated it."
"So you are sending us there as bait," Odysseus makes a guess and the Director nods.
"Yes. Since it seems that relationships between all factions are slowly disintegrating, a war between them is inevitable. You two and your teams will be transfered as reinforcements to the American branch to defend it in the unlikely event that the enemy ever reaches the city of Los Angeles where the branch's HQ is located. Your job is to draw out the spies and either capture them or kill them."
"How much time will we spend there?"
"Expect to remain there for at least two months, maybe even more. It really depends on when the Institute decides to make its move."
"Sheesh, talk about a long mission," Odysseus sighs and leans back on her chair, looking up at the ceiling. "How are we even supposed to travel there?"
"You'll be flown to the US by a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III which will refuel in Hawaii."
Upon hearing the name of the airplane, Odysseus' eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.
"Where the fuck do you keep an airplane like that and how can you even maintain it!?" she asks incredulously.
"My company had it before the whole apocalypse happened," he answers, ignoring the last part about the plane's maintenance. "Now, about your payment-"
"Uhm, actually, I have a request to make," Miho interrupts the Director. Standing from her chair, she slightly bows and speaks up. "Instead of paying us with money, could you please search for my team's parents? They should still be somewhere in Japan except for Yukari's, who are most likely either in China or Australia."
"I don't mind, but you should know that locating them will probably take more than two months, at least a year," he says in a neutral voice. "And in Yukari's case, we may be unable to extract them from whatever Institute base they got transfered." He then turns to look at Odysseus. "Also, you aren't going alone in this assignment, so you can't decide what the payment will be by yourself."
"I don't care," Odysseus says bluntly. "Me and my team get a free trip in the US, who cares about the money!" she laughs but then develops a serious expression. "We'll still get paid actual money there, no?"
"Yes. Since you are transferring branches, they'll cover your living expenses for as long as you remain there."
"Ok, that's all I care for."
"Then I believe we have reached an agreement," he announces. "I'll get the papers ready, since this is an official contract; You'll be leaving in one week from today."
"Thank you very much!" Miho exclaims cheerfully, bowing even more.
"And with this out of the way," he says and procures from his desk's drawers a blue cube and two envelopes, one plain and one that has floral patterns adorning its corners. "These here are for you."
He hands Miho the blue cube and the plain envelope, while he hands Odysseus the other one. "If you need to call them, use your base's satellite phone. Also, I'll need both of you to bring your tanks here for retrofitting, at the latest this evening. Since you'll be facing modern armor most likely in the event that you end up in the front lines somehow, your tanks will need to be upgraded to at least stand a chance against an Abrams. Now get going; I still have work to do."
And with this both girls exit the office, the guards behind them closing the doors. While they are walking on the hallway that connects the fourth floor of the base with the main staircase, Miho gazes intently on the blue cube, trying to decipher what it is exactly. It seems to have a slot at one of its sides that seems to have a recess where some kind of object is supposed to fit, probably to open the cube. She doesn't know why, but the shape of the recess reminds her of something familiar.
"This is interesting," Odysseus says and Miho turns to face her.
"What is it?" she asks and Odysseus turns to look at her.
"Now why would Darjeeling send a letter here?" she asks rhetorically, waving the envelope a little.
"Darjeeling?" Miho asks in surprise.
"Yep! This envelope is from Tea Garden and most likely is addressed to Annabelle," Odysseus says, gazing at the envelope once more. "I am really curious, but I'll wait till we get back to base to open it, since it might be only for Annabelle and not me."
Five minutes later
Returning to Ether Force's Base
Inside a military Humvee painted an olive green color, both Miho and Odysseus sit at the back seats of it as the vehicle leisurely travels back to their base, which had been built fairly away from Blackout's. Currently Odysseus is glaring daggers at the Humvee's driver through the rear-view mirror, which he is painfully aware of.
"Next time you look at me, I'll gouge out your eyes with a spoon and feed them to the crows," Odysseus growls at the man quietly, causing him to lock his gaze in front, not daring to turn his head even a little to the right. Seeing that the man is keen on not risking the safety of his eyes, she turns her attention at the decorated envelope, flipping it upside-down constantly, wandering if she should open it now or not.
"Can you believe he is sending as at the other side of the Pacific?" Odysseus leisurely asks Miho, trying to strike a conversation with her in order to suppress her ever-increasing curiosity about the contents of her envelope.
"I'm more curious as to why he is sending only us to act as reinforcements for the branch in the US," Miho answers slowly, still holding the blue cube with her right hand, rotating it this way and that so that she can scan every side of it. "Logically speaking, if there is going to be a war, two squads will barely make any difference in defending it, even if it is a cover-up story to mask our real purpose there."
"You think there is another reason he would send us specifically?" Odysseus asks, lazily gazing out of her side door's window.
"Yes," Miho nods in agreement and places the cube between her thighs so it won't go rolling on the vehicle's floor from all the shaking, then turns to look at Odysseus. "I believe it has to do something with their involvement in the Starfall Project."
Hearing this, Odysseus turns to look at Miho with interest.
"You mean it ain't just some baseless rumor?" she asks, remembering Tyler's brief conspiracy theory.
"You've heard something about it?" Miho asks in surprise, not expecting Odysseus of all people to know something about it.
"Tyler was talking about a rumor that the two mercenaries that transfered to our branch as base guards had seen some classified documents that hinted at Blackout's involvement with a shady project and Reiji said it was supposedly named Project Srarfall," Odysseus says and her eyes widen a little as her mind starts connecting the dots. "No way… Could Blackout have participated in some way in Project Starfall? But why would a blacklisted program the government was running would need mercenaries?"
"I only know that they were involved in Project Starfall because I overheard the transferred mercenaries talking about it," Miho says. "The woman was yelling at the man how he shouldn't have been reading these classified documents they recovered from the enemy's server, so I guess the rumor checks out."
"But then, wouldn't Mannheim know about this?" Odysseus asks. "If I remember correctly, he did work at the project."
"I think he knows, but refuses to tell us. It might be at his best interest to remain silent about it for now."
"Then do you have any idea why they would need a PMC in the experiments?"
"I have a couple of ideas. Maybe they wanted to make sure that no one would steal their research, or they were used as security to make sure all the essential personnel would be safe," she says and pauses, taking a deep breath. "The last one is a stretch, but they might have used Blackout as a third party to supply them with test subjects."
"You've got to be kidding…" Odysseus says in shock. Noticing that the driver is looking at Miho through the rear-view mirror, she activates her powers and a single tendril of light blue energy shoots forward and stops mere millimeters away from his neck.
"You speak to anyone about what you've heard and what you'll hear, and I'll make sure no one will ever find yours and your family's bodies," she threatens the driver, who gulps in response, cold sweat covering his whole body.
"This is a really huge stretch even for me. While it is fisible, there are way too many variables for them to kidnap people without getting noticed," Odysseus says with a pondering expression, then turns to face Miho. "Do you remember anything from your time there? Also, how come your sister didn't know about it?"
"Sadly I don't remember anything apart from the time I lost control over my powers. Also, it was summer when the experiments were being conducted, so my sister was at a training camp."
"A training camp? Like a summer camp, but instead it is for Senshadou?" Odysseus asks and Miho nods. "Sheesh, your mother is really strict about the whole Senshadou thing."
"It's only because she grew up in a very strict environment herself and her position as the heiress of the family's name didn't allow her to have that many freedoms. She is actually very caring; It's just that…she has some difficulty expressing it," Miho immediately says to defend her mother.
"Ooh, so her circumstances are somewhat similar to Annabelle's," Odysseus says and lifts a finger. "Because Annabelle too grew up in a very strict environment and her status as nobility really limited her options of what she could do and how she could act, especially when in public. I guess it's no wonder then why your mother is so serious all the time."
"But Annabelle isn't always serious or strict with you," Miho points out at which Odysseus just laughs sheepishly.
"Yeah, well…I may or may not have to do something with this. When I first met her, she was so serious and always concerned about how her actions would influence her image. But over time, she somewhat got rid of this 'habit', though she still does it in some cases even today." Odysseus says, then claps her hands together. "Anyway, I want to ask you something about your power."
"What is it?" Miho asks.
"How do you create objects with your power and how do you enchant them? Because I have tried a couple of times and it ends up with me lying on the ground without any energy and the object that I was trying to make nowhere to be found."
"It is pretty simple, actually," Miho says and activates her powers, then raises her right hand so that her open palm faces the ceiling of the Humvee. "First of all, you create the object of your preference out of energy, sort of like a blueprint of it." A few millimeters above her palm an orb of ruby red energy gathers and starts hovering, moving up and down like it is submerged in water. "Then you think of what material you want for this object to be made of and it should start changing."
Indeed, the orb of energy starts solidifying into a shiny gray metal, and after it has become completely solid, it falls on Miho's palm.
"This ball for example is made of steel. As you might have noticed, the bigger the object you want to make and the stronger the material you want it to be made of is, the more time it will take to be completed."
"What about the enchantments?"
"If you want to give them special effects, you just have to think of them after thinking the material." After putting the steel ball down at the seat next to her, Miho makes another orb that immediately starts solidifying but at a slower rate than the previous one.
"Is it me, or does the orb solidifies a lot slower than the previous?" Odysseus points at the orb and Miho nods.
"You are correct. Because I'm putting an effect on it, it takes more time to create it. The more complex an effect is and the bigger the number of effects, the more time you'll need to create your object."
Upon solidifying, instead of falling into her open palm, the ball falls into the vehicle's ceiling like someone has reversed gravity for it.
"So cool!" Odysseus says as she picks up the ball and lets it fall on the ceiling yet again. "So you reversed gravity on it?"
"Yes. Though since I didn't have enough energy to make this effect permanent, I made it a temporary one," she says as the ball suddenly falls at the floor of the Humvee, rolling under the driver's seat. "Why don't you try making one?"
"I'll give it a go." Raising her hand just like Miho, Odysseus closes her eyes and imagines the object she wants to create. A few millimeters above her open palm an orb of blue Ether energy forms, which quickly gets the shape of an icosahedron that is no bigger than her thumb's nail.
"Ah, this is so difficult," she mutters as she grimaces, trying her best to maintain the rather complex shape the orb of Ether has taken. Thinking of the material and the effect sheswants her object to have, the energy starts solidifying into a transparent crystal, beginning from the center and very slowly expanding towards its surface. Miho can see how Odysseus is straining herself to make this crystal ball, as she notices a few drops of sweat forming on her face and rolling down to her chin. After the energy completely solidifies, the crystal ball falls into Odysseus' palm and starts glowing in a variety of bright and dark shades of colors from the visible spectrum.
"Fucking finally! I'll never try this thing again, that's for sure!" she sighs in relief, wiping some of the sweat that has formed in her forehead with her uniform's right sleeve. Picking it with her right hand and holding it with her thumb and index finger, she scans it slowly, looking at the glowing colors that seem to dance inside the ball.
"Do you mind holding it for a bit, Miho?" she asks and hands it to Miho, who takes it and raises it on her eye level, gazing at it with curiosity.
"What is it exactly?" she asks as the crystal ball starts dimly glowing a subtle orange color. "Oh, it changed color!" Miho says in surprise, growing even more curious at the crystal ball. In response, the color of it changes to a brighter shade of orange, as well as starts glowing brighter.
"Yep. This crystal ball has the ability to show its holder's feelings and how strong they are!" Odysseus grandly announces, puffing her chest proudly. "For example, the bright orange color means you are curious. And the more bright the glow is, the more intense the feeling is."
"Amazing," Miho says, looking at the crystal ball with astonishment. Handing it back to Odysseus, the ball goes back at displaying a variety of colors, both bright and dark. "Why is the ball acting like this when you hold it?" Miho asks, though she already has a faint idea.
"It's because of this," Odysseus smiles and taps the side of her head. "Just because I act normal, it doesn't mean I am. The scars I carry will never heal sadly, however much time passes. And I'm not talking about the physical ones." This time she pats her left arm with her right hand's index finger.
"Ahem," the driver coughs loudly to get the girls' attention. "I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but…could you please get this thing away from my neck?" he asks as he nods his head towards the tendril that hovers millimeters away from his neck.
"Oh, sorry about that," Odysseus says and retracts her tendril, before deactivating her power. "At any rate, thanks to you, I can now make a ton of things!" she says to Miho with excitement.
"You don't need to thank me, I'm just glad I helped you," Miho says sheepishly, then notices Odysseus opening the decorated envelop and retrieving the letter it has inside it.
"Didn't you say you would open this with Annabelle?"
"Yes, but I'm really curious to see what it is written on it," Odysseus grins as she shows Miho the crystal, a bright orange color shining brightly.
Ten minutes later
Ether Force's Main Base
R&D Labs
"Unknown entity identified as Elpida Papaioannou. Access denied."
"The fuck you mean 'access denied'!?" Odysseus yells at the lab's door and presses the touchpad it has on its side again, letting the laser beams scan her once more.
"Unknown entity identified as Elpida Papaioannou. Access denied."
"Come on, why the fuck can't I enter the damn lab!?" she shouts in frustration, pressing the touchpad and getting scanned yet again, but to no avail.
"Unknown entity identified as Elpida Papaioannou. Access denied. Multiple entry attempts detected. Entering siege mode."
The door hisses once and the touchpad gets retracted inside the wall, while the led lights turn off. Seeing that she isn't allowed to enter the lab for unknown reasons, she does what any normal person would do if they were in her position.
Use brute force and rip the door to pieces.
Activating her power, she uses all eight of her tendrils to open the door like a tin can, ripping it of its frame and gently putting it against the wall next to it. Entering the lab with a very annoyed face, she starts looking around for Mannheim.
"Mannheim, where the fuck are you!? I have a bone to pick with you!" she yells loudly as she scans the room for the scientist, then spots a cylindrical devise that has a rainbow crystal inside it. Making her way to the table this devise is, she picks the cylinder and starts gazing at the crystal with her heterochromic eyes. "So pretty…" she says in awe. Even her tendrils are swaying slowly left and right, as if expressing the calmness Odysseus is feeling right now.
"I would appreciate it if you would not touch my stuff," Mannheim says as he approaches Odysseus and takes the cylinder out of her hands.
"Ah! Hey, give it back!" Odysseus shouts in surprise, trying to grab the cylinder with one of her tendrils, but Mannheim merely teleport at the other side of her, evading the strike easily.
"I'd also appreciate it if you didn't use your power in here," Mannheim says as he puts the cylinder back to its original place.
"It's not my fault, alright? Your stupid door wouldn't let me enter," she grumbles as she deactivates her power and crosses her hands over her chest.
"Is that why you decided to force your way in here?" he asks as he points at the missing door.
"Pretty much," she says casually, waving her hand dismissively. "You see, I have some business with you."
"And what that business might be?" he asks as he walks up to the now empty door frame and presses his left hand against it. "[Repair]."
"I want you to do me a favor," she says as she looks at the door frame whichwis glowing a subtle apple green color, the space where the door once was getting filled with energy which quickly solidifies to form the destroyed door. "Jesus Christ, is there anything you can't do with Ether?" she asks rhetorically.
"Create living things and alter time" Mannheim answers as he approaches her once more. "Now then, what do you want me to do?"
Odysseus retrieves a small vial that contains a white liquid from one of her costume's pockets and lifts it up for Mannheim to get a good look at it.
"Recognize this?" she grins mischievously as Mannheim instantly squints his eyes at the vial.
"This is a vial of Serum White. Where did you get this?" he demands, taking an intimidating step towards her.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" Odysseus immediately says, taking a step backwards and raising her hands in a surrendering fashion. "I stole it during the experiments that were carried out after the Reaper program."
"Scheiße! Your country shouldn't have working Serums! The ones I sold at the governments were supposed to be defective!" Mannheim swears and grabs the vial out of Odysseus' hand and scans it carefully to confirm it is indeed a genuine and not a fake.
"You mean they shouldn't have worked?" Odysseus asks, too scared to even move a single millimeter in fear Mannheim might attack her.
"Exactly! I wouldn't be so foolish as to sell a possible WMD to these idiots! Which begs the question, how the hell did they acquire a genuine sample?" he says in frustration, trying to think of a possible way for the governments to have acquired working Serum samples.
"I don't really care about your problem, I just want you to modify the Serum so that it can short-circuit and overcharge my power," Odysseus says slowly.
"Why?" Mannheim asks her with a curious tone, brushing aside for the time being the fact that the countries around the globe have somehow acquired genuine Serum samples.
"To become more powerful of course," she says. "From what I heard from Miho about her battle with you, it seems we can sort of 'evolve' if we get overcharged with lots of Ether."
"Hmm, that sounds like an interesting experiment. I will see what I can do," he says and puts the vial in his lab's right pocket.
"Great! I'll need it to be ready in five days the latest."
"It should be ready by then. Though do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Why are you wearing a maid costume? Is this some kind of a cosplay fetish you have?» Mannheim inquires and Odysseus' face immediately explodes from embarrassment, since she had somewhat forgotten she was wearing a French maid costume.
"What!? Of course not! It's just that Annabelle made me wear this for the whole day since she won the bet!" she yells and immediately bolts out of the lab.
Mannheim says nothing in response and returns back to the table where his futuristic computer is. To think that someone from the project would steal the Serums and sell them at the countries that had been part of the collaboration effort so many years ago, it is unacceptable for him. Maybe he'll contact Azarin and ask him if he can find anything about Russia having any of his Serum samples and from whom they acquired them. But for now, he has other plans, mainly a side project he has been working on for the past month.
"It's actually very convinient that Miss Odysseus had a sample of Serum White. This means I can make a lot more progress," he hums as he turns the computer on and the same green holographic screen made of Ether pops into view. Typing a few things into the computer, he stops to gaze at what the screen reads.
New variables accepted…
Recalculating results, please wait…
Serum Progress percentage:
Isuzu Hana… 4.17% complete
Takebe Saori… 3.86% complete
Akiyama Yukari… 5.92% complete
Reizei Mako… 3.74% complete
Estimated time of completion: 2 Years
A/N: Finally done with this chapter too! I expect this whole reprieve for the girls will be around for about two to three more chapters, then it's of to the good ol' US of A! And rewriting more of my story's first chapters. Anyway, as always, suggestions, questions, corrections, reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated. Also, English isn't my native tongue, so expect some grammatical errors here and there. If you found the story interesting and had a great time, favorite and follow. Have a nice day/night and until the next chapter, stay safe!