Anna had called for me during our walk back to the castle and explained to me that she would like our growing numbers to be cataloged. She said she would get me some paper and ink once we got back, but I came up with a better idea. I used Breidablik to visit home and disconnected my computer from its usual spot along with the two monitors. When I brought them back, I removed the power cords and placed them on my new desk. Pressing the power button, I was delighted to see it turn on. The computer ran without any atypical issues, and I began making a spreadsheet. I sorted each member by weapon type, movement type, origin world, and even by who I met chronologically. I started some columns for "stats" as well, whether in combat or in the castle. I didn't expect to use those ones, as they were mostly for fun, but perhaps they could come in handy.
The door opened, and I glanced up to see Anna with my new supplies. She stopped when she saw the monitors blocking my face. "Uh… What's…? What are…?"
I waved her over. "I already started," I said with some excitement in my voice. "Come look." She set the paper and ink down on my coffee table and made her way around the desk. When she saw the screens, she shrunk away from the light slightly.
"What—? Why is it so bright? And what am I even looking at?" I explained to her the different functions that I had at my disposal like this, and she lit up at how efficient it all sounded. "Great! Now how do I use it?"
"Pardon?"
"How do I use this… thing, so I can do… that?"
"Well… I hadn't thought about that. I didn't think you would need to use this information."
"Maxis, I'm the commander. I need to be able to look at any information whenever I need to."
I thought for a moment before carefully saying, "Isn't the point of having subordinates to let them handle work so you can do more important work?"
She stared at me, unimpressed. "Put it on paper, then bring it to me," Anna said before turning away to leave.
I sighed and got started. It didn't take long with our small numbers; else, I likely wouldn't have done it at all. Problem was, now that I had my dealer, it was time to indulge in my other vices. I returned home, grabbed my headset, and started up Steam and Discord.
The boyz… were not yet online…
I sighed and grabbed the finished documents to bring to Anna. "Next time, don't smudge the ink," was all she said. I shrugged and left. On the off chance that the voice chat had become active within the last five to ten minutes, I checked my computer again. No dice.
I left my suite again and instead descended the stairs looking for something to do. Something found me, however, as I was stopped by Gunter. "Hello, Maxis."
"Hey there."
"Are you available for your daily training?"
"As a matter of fact, I was just looking for something to do."
"Then come with me." We entered our not-quite-designated exercise room, and I found Bartre and newcomer Barst already chatting within.
"Maxis! There you are!" Bartre exclaimed as he saw me. He gestured to his fellow axe-wielder. "We took the liberty to invite Barst to check out your app thing. He can help train you too."
"Alright. I guess I should have expected this, but there's nothing wrong with it, I suppose." Hopefully, they picked up on my silent question. So, I showed Barst my methods, and we exercised. Once finished, Bartre said that he and Barst were going into town for a drink. I rejected their invitation and asked Gunter to remain. "I just wanted to clarify; did you tell him about the underlying issue?"
"No, we believed it wasn't our place to tell him, despite your wishes for more help."
"A'right, thank you. I kinda wanna rescind that request, but I don't know if I should. Nevermind, thank you." We bid each other a good day and departed. The rest of the day continued as usual, and I began to think about taking up permanent residence here. It was always in the back of my mind that I would be staying here for the rest of my life, but now I had to plan out how I would get my stuff back here. Not to mention my parents that I had miraculously managed to convince that I was… well, safe for one and had found another job for two. But to sneak all of my stuff out? And my car? Hopefully, they would both be gone in a coming weekend. Actually, what was I going to do with my car? I had to take it with me, but was I really going to leave it somewhere and never use it again? Probably, but I did feel kind of bad. But it's not like I could take it for a joy ride here, right?
The next day, I began moving small knick-knacks and decorations to my suite under my mother's nose, opening a portal, setting a box down on the other side, and coming back carefully, all while the door to my old bedroom was closed.
My eyes widened as the door to my suite opened. Anna was about to say something before I panickily gestured for her to stay quiet until the portal closed. "What was that all about?"
"I'm trying to be stealthy about the whole 'moving to another dimension' thing. You did read the sign, didn't you?"
She pulled her head back to get a better look at it. "Maxis, it says 'enter under no circumstances.'"
"Yeah, and?"
She shook her head. "I have never seen anyone write 'do not enter under any circumstance' like that."
"Well, now you have!"
"Right, anyway… Why do you have dolls?!"
"They are not dolls, they are fumos, and they are merchandise."
"Merchan…?! Uh, I hafta— Here, these are for you!" Anna quickly crossed my room, shoved the papers into my hands, and all but ran out of the room.
"Odd…"
As soon as she left, another entered. "What was that all about?" Sharena asked.
"I don't know, I started talking about my fumos, and she got all weird."
"Fumo? What's that?"
I grabbed my blue plush toy from its spot on the bookshelf behind the desk. "This is a fumo. A Cirno fumo to be specific. Her earlier theme was a little too… soundtrack-y for my tastes. But when Phantasmagoria of Flower View came out, she really came out into her own. Hey, Sharena!"
"Yes?"
I started laughing maniacally, then stopped suddenly. "You'll never know why I'm laughing."
"What?! Why?! You can tell me!"
"You wouldn't get it. Not in a million years."
"Why not?!"
"Just trust me. You wouldn't wanna get it, either."
