Signal to Noise

12

Looking at the data on my feed, I came to the conclusion that I really only had two choices.

Option one: go in hot. Guns blazing. At the potential risk of someone killing the prisoners.

Option two: call for PRT backup and wait for them. In which case, after encircling the enemy, they would probably become hostages anyway.

Fuck it. Surprise it is.

It really was the only valid option, considering the alternatives. And worse, whatever was going on with Gearbox strapped in that chair—and hopefully I wasn't right—time was of the essence.

Nodding to myself, I dug into my neural interface and goosed my throttle up, jumping to Mach 1 in a matter of seconds and sending a sonic boom echoing out across Brockton Bay as I dropped down through the cloud layer towards Chinatown. I turned on the visuals, the halo over my head burning bright red as I descended.

"Claire? Azazel, I'm tracking you descending on the Bay and picking up a huge power spike. The PRT just went on alert. What's going on?"

"Found Gearbox. Going for retrieval."

"What? No! Wait for the PRT and Protectorate—"

"No time," I interrupted, sending her the feed from my scanners, and the obvious Master working on Gearbox.

"Oh, shit. Alright, just, try not to kill anyone."

"Nice to know you have such faith in me," I grumbled, cutting speed and flipping myself over, feet down as I hovered over the street. Enola calculated the proper firing angle as people screamed, pointing upwards.

I pointed and a death ray laser red beam of energy blasted through the street and blew the top off the dry cistern below, that had been repurposed for ABB use. Dropping inside, more lasers blasted out from my body, from the waveform patterns orbiting me—these ones in bright blue and one in black. Blue being non-lethal narco-lasers to put people to sleep, the black hitting the hole I had made in the ceiling and cutting it off from outside with a sphere of true darkness.

Moving deeper inside, I blasted through the tunnels, Enola handling the fine maneuvering and auto-targeting every person who wasn't caged like a dog. Gunfire from the very few people who had managed to get their guns up in time caught my shields and bounced off, before they too went nappy nap.

Finally, once every member of this human trafficking ring had been put to sleep, I made my way back to the cistern, where I found Gearbox laid out, covered in a simple cloth hospital gown, with an IV in her arm. Enola ran a quick scan and gave me the okay to do so and I pulled out the needle. Lifting her up in a telekinetic field, I moved through the base and began doing the same for everyone, freeing people from cages (men, women, children, they apparently took everyone they could get) and carrying them along with the sleeping ABB mooks who had been manning this operation.

A nullifying laser canceled out the sphere of true darkness I had made and I exited the cistern, cutting off my halo in the process, carrying more than forty former prisoners and fifteen ABB members. In the distance, I could hear sirens—police and PRT response.

"—in, come in! Azazel—"

"Yeah, Dragon. I read you. Sorry, I guess there was enough concrete to cut us off—"

"Lung, Ryuu, and Oni Lee are inbound on your—"

Auto-tracking fired off a blue laser behind me and a man who had been reaching for a grenade on his vest flopped to the ground, out like a light.

"—position!"

"Yup. Just got Lee. I'm going to take these people to the authorities and skip taking on Double Dragon, thanks," I informed her, before taking to the sky with another prisoner in tow in addition to the former hostages.

Centering on the sirens, I flew towards them at a good clip. Descending in front of them, I waited for the vehicles to roll to a stop and began spreading out the rescues/captures. Before anyone could speak as several troopers and officers approached, I flipped my audio output to PA mode, so everyone could hear.

"Forty-one civilians in need of medical attention. Fourteen members of the ABB apprehended on-site. One unknown parahuman Master. One Oni Lee. And one Gearbox, who I'll be delivering to the Rig myself, since I can get there faster. Any questions you have can be answered by the video recordings I'll be sending to your departments shortly."

With that, I dropped my hold over the people in my grasp, aside from Gearbox, and took off again before they could do anything else. Like maybe toss containment foam my way.

I wasn't still salty. No. Absolutely not. But I had definitely learned my lesson to have no dealings with the PRT.

I brought up a video call to Armsmaster. The man answered, but he was clearly pulling on his armor when he did. "Azazel."

"Armsmaster, I have Gearbox. I'm bringing her to the Rig. I'm sending Panacea a request to come in as well, so let them know to expect her flying in under her own power. She's got some of my tech now."

The man relaxed ever so slightly, a quiet sigh escaping him. "That's good news. Thank you, Azazel. I'll inform the Rig to expect you."

"What about you? Where are you getting all dressed up to go?"

"Your assault on their human trafficking operation has forced the ABB's hand. Lung and Ryuu are on the move. I'll be part of the team intercepting them. Intelligence says Oni Lee was dispatched ahead of them—"

"Already took him out and turned him over. You want my help with Double Dragon?"

Armsmaster considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "Negative. The Protectorate will handle them. Just get Gearbox back to base."

"Alright. Call me if you need help. Azazel out."

I disconnected the call and put in another. Unsurprisingly, Amy didn't actually pick up. "Enola, does she have her watch on her?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright, force pickup. Audio only."

A moment later, the call went through.

"Ah, ah, ooooh fuuuck Taylor just like that—"

I felt my eye twitch but ignored it. "Amy."

"Wha—oh fuck, Claire?!"

"Shit!"

"I didn't answer because I don't want to talk to you!"

I spoke over the two girls panicking on the other end of the line, cranking the volume output up to get their attention. "Panacea. I need your help. It's a medical emergency."

They went silent. A moment later, Amy hesitantly asked, "What is it?"

"I recovered Gearbox. She was being held by an ABB human trafficking operation. What I assume was a Master with unknown powers was working on her when I broke in. She was under heavy sedation and is still out. I'm taking her to the Rig. I need you to come in and make sure she's okay, physically speaking. No surprises waiting to go off."

"…Alright."

"Thanks."

"Claire, I, we—"

"The Rig. Your best possible time. They know you're coming so just drop in through the shield. Azazel out."

I disconnected the call and slowed my approach to the glowing blue force field ahead.

Feel things later. Job comes first.

"Sarah."

"Hey, Claire."

Sighing, I patted the roof beside me and waited. Photon MILF sat down a moment later. To my surprise, she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me into her side. When she remained silent, I eventually asked, "What have you heard?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

I sighed. "Short version, then. I didn't just get 'Tinker: Yes' as a power when I triggered, I also got the life and times of another person. I'm a man stuck in a girl's body. Tattletale ran her mouth because it's a fucking compulsion with her and Amy lost her shit. I figured she was just being a dumb teenager, so I gave her space for a few days. Called yesterday after recovering Gearbox and found out she's already jumped into bed with Taylor. So here I am. Waiting for something to happen while I figure this shit out. How'd you find me?"

Sarah chuckled, giving me a squeeze. "Are you kidding? Every flier in Brockton Bay knows all the best spots to go depending on your mood or the situation. The top of the water tower is for first dates. Top floor of the abandoned hotel is for hookups. The top of the gallery is for brooding. So I just came straight here."

"Damn, should've waited for you at the hotel."

Sarah snorted quietly. "You're awful."

I shrugged. "Being honest."

The blonde nodded and went quiet. She didn't stay that way for long, however. "Amy said much the same. She went into her feelings on it a bit more though. She feels like you lied to her—"

"I didn't."

"I know that. You know that. Even she knows that, up here," Sarah tapped her head.

I sighed. "But feelings are stupid and don't care for petty details like facts or logic."

Sarah mirrored my sigh. "Basically, yeah. It's stupid, you're right. But she's just a teenager. Which, if you're actually my age, you're already aware."

"I am, on both counts. That's the problem with trying to date, for me. Either they're too young mentally, or they'd think I'm too young physically. Only interested in women, but most of the kind that I'm attracted to like men." I turned and sent her an impish grin. "Or they're married."

"I'm flattered."

I shrugged. "I never tried to hide it. If it bothers you, say something."

The blonde rolled her eyes, before flicking my nose with her finger. "Have I said something?"

"No?"

"Then it's fine," she nodded. "So, what are you going to do about Amy?"

I sent her an incredulous look. "What do you mean? There's nothing to do. We're done. We can be cordial. I'm not going to take back my tech or anything. I'll try to give her space and not bother her, but I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid her."

"…You aren't going to try to talk to her? Give her a chance to change her mind?"

I blinked. "Sarah… Sarah no," I shook my head. "Just no. I owe her a lot, more than anyone in this world in a very literal sense. She gets a lot of leeway with me. But I don't care how young and dumb she is or how much leeway I'm giving her, with certain fuckups, you only get the one chance. If she cheats, it's over."

"You weren't exactly faithful yourself."

"Just… what did she tell you? Sure, I absolutely joke about trading sexual favors for tech, but I've never actually done it!"

"She seemed convinced that you and Tattletale…"

"No," I shook my head. "She's, well, not quite 'asexual,' but she doesn't enjoy sex with other people because of her power. It's involuntary. It feeds her too much information and it's distracting, apparently."

Sarah winced. "That doesn't sound fun. So you never…?"

"No," I shook my head. "I mean, if I thought I could swing it, I would probably try for the harem route, but that shit doesn't work in real life."

Palming her face, Sarah let out a quiet laugh. "Wow. This is just… All this, over a misunderstanding. A series of misunderstandings."

"It's not a big deal. We haven't even known each other long enough for me to consider it something serious. A couple of friends fooling around and that's about it. We tried it, she decided she didn't like the truth of the matter or felt like I lied about it when I didn't. I left to give her space, she jumped into someone else's bed. Irreconcilable differences."

"She's not going to see it like that, Claire."

I shrugged. "Good? I mean, on the one hand, that sounds like a whole bunch of not my fucking problem. On the other, if she feels guilty over it, maybe she'll learn something from it. You learn more from failure than success. Having your first relationship go down in flames is pretty much a rite of passage."

Turning to me, Sarah glared. "Why aren't you more upset about this? My niece cheated on you because she couldn't accept who you are and thought you were already cheating on her."

"Counter: why are you so invested?"

"Because it's not right and as much as I love my niece, you deserve someone in your corner too. Now answer the question."

"Like I said, we barely knew each other. Emotional connection from bonding in a bad situation that brought us together, but beyond that…" I shrugged. "Like I said, I owe her a lot. That's the only reason I feel as strongly about it as I do, and why I'm not doing anything more about it."

The blonde woman stared at me for a moment, before sighing and putting her arm back around my shoulders. "My question to you is, why are you still acting like this? Knowing what I am and that your niece apparently decided she was done with me. Surprised Carol isn't blowing up my phone, really."

"She, uh," Sarah hesitated. "She was actually more upset about Amy than you."

I blinked. "Why? It's not like I'm going to demand the money back. I make a deal, I stick to it. Carol's done good by me. I've got no reason to fuck her over just to be petty towards Amy."

Sarah's hand reached up and swatted the back of my head and I winced. "That's not it. It's not about the money! God, for being a Tinker, you people can be pretty dumb sometimes."

"Well, then explain it to me like I'm five. And actually a man. Being stuck as a chick doesn't mean I got the whole 'how to woman' package. I still think like a guy."

"For all that my sister has… trust issues, you're one of the few people outside of the family she tolerates. Carol's a bit of a control freak, but she agrees with me that you were good for Amy. She was finally starting to stand on her own two feet. Come out of her shell. We've barely seen her since it happened."

"Probably out on patrol or doing stuff with Taylor. Weaver, that is."

Sarah groaned quietly, "Claire, you can't just divulge another cape's identity—"

"Oops."

The blonde rolled her eyes before turning her gaze out over the city. In the distance, gunfire started popping off and Enola began relaying radio chatter from the police about a shootout—Merchants trying to push into ABB territory now that they had been weakened was my guess, given the location. Finally, she said, "I'm doing homemade lasagna this Saturday. Six p.m.."

"Ehh—"

"There might be a loose beer or two in the fridge."

I sent her an amused look. "You can't bribe me with beer, Sarah. But sure, why the fuck not. What kind of ice cream do you guys like? I'll bring a bucket for dessert."

"Any kind. The kids aren't picky. Although, if you were trying to butter me up, I'm partial to rocky road."

"Oh, I'll butter you up, alright," I growled quietly under my breath, eyeing the woman in the white, skin tight, full body fetish wear up.

Sarah burst out laughing. "Ahaha~! Never change, Claire. Girls like a sense of humor."

"Pretty sure I figured that out years ago," I rolled my eyes as she pushed off the building and hovered in front of me.

"Saturday. Don't be late."

"Yes, mom."

"Not too old for me to take over my knee," she teased.

"Threaten me with a good time. Your husband's gonna get jelly if you keep that up."

With a quiet laugh, she flew up and away, back in the direction of their house. I sighed quietly as I pushed off the roof myself. Message received loud and clear. Regardless of what happened between me and Amy, Sarah and her immediate family at least liked me and wanted to keep me around.

Orienting myself on the sounds of gunfire, I throttled up and flew in that direction. "Enola, scan for firearms in the vicinity of the gunfight. Target everyone who isn't a police officer, PRT, or other government official. Deploy sleep lasers when we pass through. Sleep 'em all and let the cops sort 'em out."

"Understood. Scan complete. Targets locked. Optimal flight path calculated. Begin strafing run," Enola responded verbally.

I dropped altitude and followed the path laid out for me. Blue lasers streaked out from me and hit Merchant and ABB gunmen alike—a few of them even curving around corners to do so. After a single pass, I began ascending as Enola announced that all targets had been eliminated. Keying up on the encrypted police frequency, I spoke into a break in the chatter. "This is Azazel for all friendly forces in Chinatown. All hostiles neutralized. You're free to move in and start collecting them. I'll stay on site for overwatch in case they send backup. Radio if you need me. Over and out."

"Incoming—!" Enola warned, and I had half a second to process and attempt to react. Far, far too little time for my human brain to do more than wonder what was going on.

Blue light from a narco laser blasted out from behind me, quickly overwhelmed by the white hot flare of fire washing over my shields. Then, something hit those shields with the force of a small bomb going off. Admittedly, the hardlight shield did good. It tanked about ninety percent of the hit before breaking. The other ten percent shattered my hip and broke my right femur, and sent me flailing into and through the roof of a building as the shield came back up a moment later.

The wall exploded inwards and I was kicked out through the other wall, the blow not popping my shield this time as Enola diverted power. Taking manual control as several of the many medical waveforms I had created with Amy's input kicked in and shut off the pain and started the process of healing my body, I leveled off my involuntary flight and hovered in the air. The entire top floor of the building I had been in blasted off as a big form jumped out, fire streaking off of him as Lung launched himself at me—ten feet tall and covered in silvery scales, but nowhere near through his transformation.

For just a moment, I was back in my bedroom. An arrow buried in my titty, the stink of gas in my lungs as that little bitch dropped a lighter onto my floor.

I flipped through my selection of lasers as Lung neared. Enola already had a firing solution by the time I picked the stick I wanted to beat him with. Bright white-blue blasted out, over and around Lung and hitting the burning building behind him. I ascended just enough to get out of the way as Lung fell to the ground, everything from the chest down a meat popsicle, while the fire he had started was snuffed out.

Turning, I followed Lung's trajectory. He hit the street hard enough to shatter everything I'd frozen into gory chunks that coated the street. The man coughed, even as he began regenerating, the fire around him kicking up and burning brighter, the street beginning to bubble. "Where's your sister, shithead?"

"Oodn oo ike oo ow," he growled out, barely intelligible.

"Yeah, I would. It's why I asked," I snarked, watching as he quickly regenerated, his lower body already back down to his waist as his upper body grew larger. "Eh, fuck it."

I had Enola grab him in a telekinetic field and blasted off, heading straight for the bay. As I flew, I dipped into my neural interface, specifically the shielding designs. I had, at one point, considered shielding that would absorb all kinetic energy that impacted them. It's where the idea for my inertial dampeners had come from. But I'd never actually finished the project. I did that now, just so this would never happen again. Then, I flicked over to my power distribution and figured out how he'd popped the shield in the first place—by overloading a single shield generator, one of a few. I worked out some load balancing and added more shield generators, then bumped up the power they were capable of pulling on since I had power to burn—literally, given the small star fueling my systems.

We made it to the bay about the time Lung hit twenty feet in length. I dunked him, steam blasting off of his body as the flames around him instantly boiled the water off. Still, he couldn't boil it all, and there was a lot of water in the bay. Eventually, the water stopped boiling. I wanted until my camera feed showed him stop thrashing and Enola's readings showed he was unconscious. I pulled him out of the water as he shrank down to normal human size.

"Enola, any leads on his sister?"

"Surveillance shows her location at… a noodle shop in Chinatown."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Humming quietly, I lifted the big fucker up and took off in that direction. Barely two minutes later, I was touching down on a crowded street as civilians very quickly scattered, seeing just who it was I had in hand. Opening the door to the noodle shop, I strode inside, Lung floating behind me. More than a dozen men wearing ABB colors stood, pulling pistols and other weapons and pointing them my way. The chef behind the counter slipped out the back. The only person not to react was a woman sitting at the bar, wearing a red cheongsam with a golden dragon curling around her body.

"Put those down and sit."

Her words were soft, but everyone there hurried to obey. They were still giving me froggy looks, but they didn't do anything stupid. Figuring the ball was in my court, and it was best to make a show of it, I dropped Lung to the floor. "First person to touch him gets a laser to the face," I warned, before walking up to the bar and sitting down beside who had to be Ryuu. "Sweet tea and an order of potstickers, with sweet chili sauce," I called towards the back. I heard movement a moment later, indicating the owner was actually going about filling my order.

"I knew you weren't the 'shoot first' type," the woman's smug voice came from beside me as she set down her bowl and sipped from her cup of tea.

"Yeah, well, I know precisely fuck all about you, so let's remedy that." Turning on my bar stood, I eyed her up. She was hot—right in my strike zone for Asian girls, if I'm being honest. Half-Chinese, half-Japanese, dark eyes, dark hair, the haughty look… it made me want to push her down and make her moan. I put those thoughts in a box to deal with later. "I'm Azazel."

"Ryuu," she nodded slightly.

"Your brother attacked me."

"You hit one of his operations."

"A human trafficking operation," I countered.

The woman was silent for all of a moment, before her eyes flicked back to her brother with a look of… something I couldn't put a name to. "Apparently," she admitted after a moment. "I'm not privy to all of his machinations, just as he is not privy to everything I do."

"You had Gearbox captured and a Master on hand trying to brainwash her."

Ryuu frowned. "I was unaware of those facts."

The lie detector I'd built into my systems flagged that as true, with an 85% probability… but I knew there were ways to spoof even Tinker-shit lie detectors, so I took that with a grain of salt. Intentional ignorance because she didn't want to know was only one of many ways to tell the truth here.

"He's going to the PRT when I get done here. My question is, what should I do about you?"

The woman's lips pulled into a smile as she picked up her bowl and slurped her noodles. A moment later, the owner arrived with my tea and potstickers. "Enola, chemical analysis. Check for drugs and poisons."

The V.I.'s response was aloud, which drew a raised eyebrow from the chef and Ryuu both. "No common drugs or poisons detected, though the possibility for power-derived substances remains."

"If I go unconscious or die, blow up the building," I instructed, causing the man's eyes to widen as I grabbed a set of chopsticks and dipped one of the potstickers in the sauce, before biting into it. "Mm. Delicious deadly poison."

Ryuu giggled, shaking her head. "I see." She studied me for a moment more as I chewed. "What if I offered a truce?"

"I'm listening."

"You can have my brother. I will assume control of the ABB."

"That still leaves us with one half of Double Dragon and a bunch of shitheel gangers running around. This doesn't exactly solve the problem."

Ryuu hummed, nodding once. "Very well. And if I were to dismantle the gang, reform it into something more… chivalrous?"

"I know what ninkyo dantai are, and it's a fancy way to say yakuza. Which is a Japanese way to say gangster. But sure, what did you have in mind?"

"No more human trafficking, for one."

"It's a start," I nodded.

"I'll deal with the forced prostitution."

"Keep going."

Ryuu frowned. "What more do you want?"

I grinned. "As much as I can get, naturally."

"You don't have the sort of power to back those demands up. I offer concessions in order to get you and the PRT off of our backs," Ryuu pointed out. "You have not, to my knowledge, made these demands of either the Empire or the Merchants."

Shrugging, I countered with, "Oddly enough, the Empire haven't tried to kill me. The Merchants are annoying, but I haven't actually had any dealings with them to date. The only reason I'm sitting here and not rolling on the floor screaming for a healer after your brother destroyed my ass and leg is because I'm already fixing it. So, I'm starting with you. You want to keep your little gang, you're going to need to clean their shit up. All of it."

"Again, there is the matter of power, and being able to enforce any demands you make. Asking too much offers insult…"

"And I get that you're trying to be reasonable, while also putting up a strong face for the peanut gallery, so they don't think you pussed out like a bitch and rolled over—which would make them turn against you." She nodded once. "I want it all to stop. You want to keep going with certain illicit activities that turn a profit. Let's find some common ground. I want the human trafficking ring shut down and everyone associated with it turned over to the cops. I want everyone pressed into forced prostitution released and those involved likewise turned over. Your illegal drug trade? I want that shut down."

"No."

"No?"

"It makes too much profit."

"Stop dealing in anything but weed."

"…and opium." I frowned at that. "The best deals are the ones no one likes. You're asking me to shut down our methamphetamine, MDMA, ketamine, and heroin production and sale."

"Opium is used to produce heroin."

Ryuu shrugged. "It also sells very well to the right buyer. Pharmaceutical companies, for instance."

"No more extortion, protection, blackmail, or otherwise. You can keep the gambling."

"How gracious of you," she snarked, taking a sip of her tea.

I did likewise, sending her an amused look. "It really is."

"And I reiterate, I have yet to see a demonstration of power that would back these demands."

I slowly turned and looked at Lung's unconscious form on the floor behind us, before looking back at her. "I didn't think it needed to be said."

Ryuu frowned, but conceded the point. "And what of the other gangs?"

"Kaiser wanted a meeting. I'll probably go talk to him and tell him much the same as I'm telling you. The Merchants can pretty much go. Going to have to do something about them. After that, you know what I want?"

The woman quirked an eyebrow. "No. Tell me."

"I want to be left the fuck alone. I want a nice, quiet little place where I can Tinker in peace. I want to Tinker up a way off of this floating turd, before someone finally comes along and flushes it. I'm only here, talking to you, because your brother provoked me. I don't give a fuck about money, the gangs, PRT, Protectorate, or the games the so-called 'heroes' and 'villains' play with each other. I want no part in it. The only reason I give even one iota of a fuck about Brockton Bay is because I and a few people I like live here. I can't have morons driving along the streets shooting the place up, kidnapping people off the streets to sell to who the fuck knows, setting off bombs, driving on the fucking sidewalks like they're in a video game, or whatever else. That distracts me from my Tinkering. You make me put down the screwdriver, don't be surprised when I pick up the hammer and start looking at every problem as a nail."

"You put on the suit," Ryuu pointed out.

"Because it's the only thing you people understand. All of you. Capes and cape handlers. So, if you can promise me that, I'll stay the fuck out of your business."

Ryuu was quiet for a moment, before slowly nodding. "I'll do what I can. Don't expect results immediately. These things take time."

"Three months. Enola, set a reminder."

"That's a little arbitrary—"

"If it's not done at the end of three months, I'm gonna rain down blue lasers on Brockton Bay from orbit and take out everyone even remotely associated with the gangs. I'll drag you out of your little hidey holes, not kicking and screaming, but snoring away and sleeping soundly. Your people will wake up in cells. No fuss, no muss. In fact, I think I'll go ahead and set up an active denial system for the whole city. Anyone who comes in and has a criminal record and outstanding warrants gets to go night night and get an express trip to the nearest police station. You keep saying you don't believe I have the power to enforce anything. Fine. Pick a random location."

Ryuu hesitated, before answering, "Chinatown police station."

Immediately, a view of the inside popped up between us. Tags propagated above every person inside, identifying them in realtime from facial recognition. Ryuu frowned. "PRT-ENE main office."

Another view, this time of the lobby of the PRT building.

"…My bedroom."

Another view. A small, spartan room, with a simple futon and a small dresser.

"This establishment."

Another window, with the point of view looking in from the front.

"You mind if I borrow one of your guys?" I asked, and she shrugged. I pointed to one in the frame. "Enola, put him to sleep."

There was a brief blue flash as a laser bent and streaked in through the window. The carefully listening ABB mooks gasped and jumped away as one of their number slumped in his seat. "Knowledge is power. I don't act on it because if I take out the gangs right this second, it'll create a vacuum. I don't have anything to fill that with. I don't have a big, fuckoff scary reputation to use to keep other idiots from moving in. I can't be or see everything at once. But I can see enough, do enough, to shut you or anyone else down if push comes to shove now. So, like the hermits or sages of old, let me fuck off to my mountain and do my thing—and don't make me come down off the mountain."

Ryuu nodded. "Very well."

Standing, I patted my outfit. "Ah, crap."

The woman chuckled, before waving me off. "I'll cover the meal."

"…Thanks."

I floated up a foot off the ground and collected Lung and made my way towards the door. "Azazel."

"What?"

"If you do 'come down off the mountain,' I wouldn't mind having another, more cordial conversation. Over tea and in private, perhaps."

I considered for a moment before shrugging. "Sure. Maybe later."

With that, I left and took off for the Protectorate office to drop Lung off.