"Ay, boss? We uh, we got a wee bit of a prob here." Naomi squeaked nervously.
"What type of problem? Big or small?" Asimov wondered.
"Hehehe, ya, um, ya want the truth right?" Naomi nervously laughed.
"Truth." Asimov demanded.
"We got a code maroon." Naomi announced seriously.
"Fall back now Naomi, abort the mission. It's far too risky, especially without backup." Asimov ordered.
"Huh? Code maroon? Asimov, what's going on?" Moniqa asked.
When Naomi tried to turn around, she accidentally thrust her foot down too hard and it caused the vent cover to fall on the floor. Both Yamato and Dr. Kamizono looked up but only the latter identified the source of the problem. Naomi decided to teleport back to HQ.
"If I get in trouble for that escape later I'm blaming it all on you." Naomi grumbled angrily while pointing at Asimov.
"You could've let GV go instead as plannned." Asimov corrected.
"If he would've been identified by one of them, it woulda been harder than last time to set him free!" Naomi protested.
"What are you going to do now?" Asimov queried.
"Honestly? Go home an' act like none a this ever happened. An if I get asked just say I got bored and none of it was your fault or idea." Naomi retorted.
"So, if you do get caught, do you have a backup plan?" Zeno wondered.
"Sleepover at a friends house." Naomi confirmed.
"You'd be better off sleeping at your friends house." Asimov recommended.
Naomi nodded before teleporting home. She placed some clothes for the next day and her pajamas into a backpack with red lightning. Naomi then teleported onto the front doorstep of the Ishiyama residence. After ringing the doorbell, Yumi answered the door.
"Did you accidentally break something in your house with one of your Septimas and you're on the run?" Yumi joked.
"Eh, close. Still on the run, but it's for a place to stay for the night. I DID accidentally break something but it WASN'T in my house. Since you and Aelita were arguing that i slept at her place but not yours I was thinking if your folks would be okay with it to change that. Honestly me an the guys are gettin' real tired a this incessant arguin'." Naomi explained.
"Hello Naomi, is there something you wanted to ask?" Mrs. Ishiyama greeted.
"There was in fact. Yumi was wondering if I could sleep overr tonight." Naomi informed.
"Of course, it'd be wonderful to have you over for the night." Mrs. Ishiyama agreed.
Naomi smiled as she entered the house.
"Didn't you promise me you'd babysit Hiroki and Johnny one day?" Yumi remembered.
"No, I don't aactually." Naomi stated.
"I said you'd be payed five Euros for it." Mrs. Ishiyama added.
"I'll do it for free!" Naomi chimed happily.
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind? It's tomorrow morning from six to eleven. I have to do some paperwork at the school tomorrow for Hiroki to confirm his clases." Mrs. Ishiyama questioned.
"It's alright, my employer won't mind. He knows helping others causes me to geet side-tracked."' Naomi assured.
"Thank you so much Naomi, I'll make sure to fix breakfast for you four before I leave in the morning." Mrs. Ishiyama thanked as she returned into the kitchen to finish prepaaring dinner.
"Do you really wake up that early?" Yumi wondered.
"As much as you do, yeah." Naomi confirmed.
Just then, Hiroki walked in.
"Hey sis is Ulrich he-woah! A ghost! Can you turn invisible and lift stuff!?" Hiroki asked.
"No, she can't-" but Naomi tapped Yumi's left shoulder and silently said "let me have my fun". So, Yumi simply left it at that.
Naomi used her Gravity Well to lift Hiroki's console from the couch into his hand She then turned invisible. Hiroki's pupils shrunk as Naomi lifed her bracelet she made while hanging out with Joule from her backpack and put it on so Hiroki would know where she was before it turned disappeared as well.
"Mom! There's a ghost in the house!" Hiroki shouted as he ran towards the kitchen.
"An another thing, I'm not a yokai either!" Naomi huffed.
"What are Primal Dragons then?" Yumi queried.
"Did you, of all people, seriously think that's what Adepts are?" Naomi growled.
"You did say they were the seventh Lifewave. Well, connected to it anyways." Yumi answered.
"Everyone, including animals are connected to a Lifewave. They used ta range from one to six. With people attached to the sixth said to have spiritual powers. Some animals and people were said to be holy or divine which is a pile a rubbish.
When people connected to the seventh Lifewave started poppin' up, especially the first Adept who was an Azure Striker, that's when all heck broke loose. They're from South America. And not it wasn't Asimov, that was forty years ago. The Sumeragi's been around since the Heian period but just recendly did they start dabbling in teh shady Septima business." Naomi elucidated.
"What's up with the idea of Zonda anyways?" Yumi pondered.
"Their motives? Septima? What're we talkin' 'bout exactly? Cause if I don't know what you mean then I can't tell you." Naomi remarked.
"What do you know about them right now?" Yumi queried.
"They're from China and have a ragtag group a Adepts from 'round the world. They possess the Phantasm Mirror Septima. There's a file on them from the Sumeragi we stole so I've been lookin' inta it. Though we've got their Adept supremacist group called Eden ta fight now too besides the Sumeragi." Nami explained.
"You know, we can try and back you up just like we did at the Subaquatic Base." Yumi offered.
"Thanks, I'll make sure ta call if I ever wind up needin' the backup. An sorry 'bout the rescue missions." Naomi added sheepishly.
"Why are you sorry about that? It's not like you could help it." Yumi denied.
"Sometimes yeah, sometimes no." Naomi protested.
"What times could you have rescued yourself then?" Yumi interrogated.
"Wait,' were talkin' 'bout just the times ya'll rescued me or?" Naomi wondered.
"There was times we didn't?" Yumi asked.
"Gunvolt had ta rescue me after some dumb decision the boss had. I was in THE DUMBEST getup. He decided ta do somethin' the frickin cops could do! I would've been in so much trouble if it wasn't for him.
My Septimas were on lockdown at the time since I touched one of Copen's Greed Snatcher Bullits which can temporarily stop someone from using a Septima or all depending. Basically it's a Bullit Radiant Fetter knockoff. I got knocked out by Viper once so I couldn't do anythin' 'bout that. Then there was me bein' used as a Muse again, couldn't be helped.
An, I feel like there was more times but I can't remember." Naomi responded.
"Hey sis, can you help me with my video game? I'm stuck on the pirate zombies level." Hiroki pled.
"Naomi finished that level for you before didn't she? And you didn't call her a ghost." Yumi reminded.
"I've got an idea. But if ya want it ta work you gotta be quiet." Naomi smiled.
"You see, I come from a family of ghosts. My father and brother are notorius killers. I'm going on the same path but for different reasons. But I'm the only one who can turn invisible and scare people with my powers. Hold on, let me show you a picture." Naomi droned as she loaded the change lockscreen background which was a digital copy of the family photo she had in her room.
"If you see either of them smile, run. Run and never look back. But if one of them smiles, it's a reason to be happy or there's a rason to smile. But it's hard to tell since both tend to have malicious intent depending on. I usually have a stoic look but I'll smile on the occassion." Naomi informed.
"Wow, I didn't know you had a um, a, what is that exactly?" Hiroki questioned as he pointed to Lola in Naomi's hands.
"Oh, that's Lola, she's a robot I made." Naomi responded as she zoomed in on a recent picture of her with Mytyl and Lola.
"What? Ghosts can make robots!? That's so cool! Can you teach me how to make a robot Naomi!?" Hiroki gasped.
"It depends on what type you want to make. There's nanobots aka nanomachines, AI, commonly referred to as artificial intelligence. They also have different types of functions. Some can be used to predict the weather, mix chemicals, perform surgeries, they've taken over performing a lot of human jobs. As of recent, I hear there's even something called a ghost machine whihc can be operated without a perso-" However, Yumi placed her right hand over Naomi's mouth as she angrily glanced at Yumi and tried shoving Yumi's right arm away.
"Wow! That must be awesome!" Hiroki commented.
"Yeah, we're going in my room so knock if you need anything." Yumi remarked as she shoved Naomi into her room.
"You do realize that before you cane we had to deal with a Xana attack dealing with that right?" Yumi interrogated angrily.
"Nobody told me, sorry I didn't know." Naomi apologized.
"How did you find out about it then?" Yumi asked.
"There's some tech in the US and I have the video saved since I wanted to show Mytyl." Naoi answered as she pulled up the video.
"Wow, that's great. Until Xana attacks though." Yumi commented.
"At least the only way Xana can attack two or more places at once is the different sectors and EArth." Naomi added.
"Huh? Who's Xana?" Hiroki questioned.
"He's a popular fashion designer based somewhere in Italy Zeno told me about. Since Zeno's from Italy he tries to keep me up to date." Naomi lied.
"Nice one." Yumi whispered.
"What kind of stuff do they wear in Italy? Is their fashion different from what people wear here or in Japan?" Hiroki pondered.
"I have no idea. All he told me is they're going to be part of some fashion show. Some newbie to the scene." Naomi fibbed.
"I think dinner's ready, I smell something good." Yumi guessed as she walked to the kitchen with Naomi and Hiroki.
The 3 walked into the kitchen and the food they saw looked really good.
"I'm sorry Naomi but we don't have any extra chairs. If you'd like I'm sure Yumi wouldn't mind sitting on the floor." Mrs. Ishiyama spoke.
"Its' alright, I'm used to sitting on the floor to eat. I do it with my brother all the time." Naomi answered as she sat on the floor with some ramen, pomegranate green tea and fried calamari.
"Are those onion rings?" Naomi queried.
"Those are calamri rings, you've never had it before?" Yumi stated.
"No, what's it made of though? They look sso good and the smell is even better." Naomi commented.
"It's fried squid rings." Yumi answered.
That's when Naomi noticed that squiggly appendages branching out from a few pieces of the tempura seafood. Then Naomi got an idea on how to eat it. She'd talk to Yumi and while she was talking put a calamari ring in her mouth.
"So, Yumi, what's your opinon on Odd's short film with Sissi?" Naomi queried.
"It was funny I guess. I mean he could've put a little more effort with his cast." Yumi droned as Naomi grabbed a calamari ring with her chopsticks and placed it in her mouth. Naomi smiled in delight at the flavor.
"is it good?" Yumi questioned.
Naomi nodded.
"This is even better than the spaghetti Saturdays in the cafeteria." Naomi confirmed.
"Hey Naomi, if you're a ghost, you have to be dead right? So how did you die?" Hiroki asked.
"Hiroki!" Yumi seethed.
"From what I know I died once but I think it was twice." Naomi responded.
"Really? What about the one time you had that Adept sickness? Or those two times you got shot?" Yumi pondered.
"I was alive then. If what I heard was right, then I died years ago, when I was seven." Naomi remembered.
"How did you die then?" Yumi wondered.
"If my info's right, then it was the flu, influenza but I don't know which type. I'll tell you the specifics later since the details aren't exactly dinner discussion appropriate." Naomi informed as she ate another of her 5 calamari rings.
"So, the file was right." Mr. Ishiyama noticed.
"How did you die? Of the flue I mean." Mrs. Ishiyama muttered.