Chapter 47: Pier 16 (Finale)

"This is your secret hideout? A big fuckoff warehouse in broad daylight?"

"What, and the Sanctuary safehouse was some kind of supersleuth location?"

Yukikaze didn't look particularly reassured by his flippant response, dubiously staring at the enormous construct that had just recently finished its remodel as Cayman indifferently stated, "There's a billion and one ways to track someone magically while a simple internet search or aerial image would reveal that the thing has been upgraded, I figured having space and interior comfort with a shit ton of protections - currently provided by a Magus with a Longinus wielder and Valkyrie waiting in the wings - was the more sensible option."

He offered the Lightning Taimanin a winning smile.

"So relax. Unless you'd prefer we have an underground hideout like Hoestia."

The sour expressions shared between the quartet he'd gone on that mission with were answer enough, even Asia seeming unhappy with the idea as Yumi clearly had more than a few questions about what they'd experienced, said questions put on hold as they slipped past the Bounded Fields Rin had established over the area, the four newcomers briefly stiffening before once more walking without issue, Rin having been warned beforehand when they'd be arriving.

"Welcome to my humble abode, ladies. In Japan we may be, but no need to take your shoes off if you don't want to."

Entering through a side entrance rather than the huge one facing the bay Yukikaze and Jinglei came up short as they encountered Cerb doing normal guard dog things, mainly watching for his people to come home as the summon rose to his feet and stretched, powerful limbs rippling with muscle-

"Is that your puppy?! Oh my goodness he's grown so big~!"

-and Asia rushed forward with a delighted smile, reaching a hand out for Cerb to sniff as the Hellhound was all too happy to receive a number of chin scratches that quickly followed, Cayman wryly remarking, "Behold, the fearsome guardian beast."

There was a dull thump as Cerb rolled onto his back in a clear request for belly rubs, blowing off the Surveyor's dry observation as the nun was all too happy to provide aforementioned service.

"So yeah, that's Cerb. he got bigger since you last saw him."

"Bigger? What have you been feeding him, steroids and vitamin gummies?"

Jinglei's disbelieving tone had Cayman smiling in pride, footsteps approaching their position as Oct strolled on in to say hello wearing his Human form-

-and Yumi was quick to use the flat of a manifested broadsword to absorb the electrical bolt Yukikaze had fired, the Taimanin's features locked in a snarl as she shouted, "Why the fuck is the Incubus King here?!"

"Kill the motor, Yukikaze. That's Oct, not the king. Oct? Mind showing her you're not an eldritch abomination?"

Appearing supremely unconcerned with the fact that he'd almost been shot when simply coming to greet the newcomers the Injuu prince shifted into his far more colorful and tentacly body, Asia cooing at the beautiful display of shifting color as Caren merely raised an eyebrow, both Taimanin far less impressed with the sight before them.

"Why did you summon an Injuu over every other possible creature?"

"Mostly because I had a severed part of the Incubus King on hand and was curious. Besides, Oct is way more handsome and cool looking than that Cthulu reject."

Yukikaze and Jinglei warily eyed the rainbow mass of flesh and tentacles until they simultaneously simmered down, the tan-skinned girl huffing in annoyance as the Surveyor favored Yumi with an approving nod, stating, "Your training has really been paying off, nice reflexes."

"Thank you."

While the words were simple the reception was heartfelt, lips pulled upwards into a smile as he got a notification.

+5 Rep with Yumi Kiba [95/100]

"Anyway Oct has proven to be a swell dude, so do me a favor and don't shoot him, yeah?"

Cayman faced the pair of surly Taimanin even as he offered the majestic Injuu a pat on the dome, replying, "He was actually pretty damn helpful in the raid we just went on, we even got a new recruit who I'm sure you'll be excited to see."

"Heyooo~! Welcome back, you were gone for way too long, Cayman!"

Skipping around the corner with a fair amount of the rest of his team in tow Felicia glomped the Surveyor with an enthusiastic hug, the male taking far too much pleasure in the way Jinglei and Yukikaze's eyes bugged out of their skulls upon recognizing the Vampire.

"Say hi to Felicia Black, everyone."

"...WHAT THE FU-"

A few solid minutes of chaos later had everyone seated in the common room, Cayman lacing his hands behind his head and concluding with, "So there you have it, everyone is present and accounted for so be sure to say hello to your new team and roommates. Speak now or forever hold your peace."

A tender silence descended, the four new arrivals having thrown what was already an uneven equilibrium into full on uncertainty. Yukikaze and Jinglei had taken solace in the presence of Mai and Natsume as fellow members of their faction but were still clearly on edge around Felicia and the Toujou siblings, the latter not really giving a hoot about what the duo thought of them while the former was practically drooling with delight at the idea of driving the pair insane, Caren finally breaking the silence as she dramatically sighed, stating, "Such sin you have indulged in, Lute. Cavorting with criminals, heretics and murderers alike."

"Wait, which one of us is a murderer?"

Felicia's genuinely curious question had Kuroka and Shirona facepalming with perfect sibling synchronization, Rin crossing her arms before archly asking, "Oh, and you're obviously the paragon of virtue and justice, aren't you?"

Like a shark that smelt blood in the water Caren merely smiled, stating, "Certainly a more trustworthy specimen than a Magus trained by my father."

The words clearly hit a little too close to home, a brief twitch of the young woman's brow and glance sent Cayman's way as he shrugged, announcing, "She is indeed Kirei Kotomine's daughter."

"Well that certainly explains why the apple doesn't seem to have fallen far from the tree. Kirei was a perfectly upstanding man himself, after all."

The acidic words prompted a tense staredown, the Surveyor resisting the urge to sigh as poor Asia once more looked ready to cry at the renewal of hostilities, instead opting to sort of de-escalate as he said, "Be that as it may Caren inherited most of the better parts of her father, with only a few of the more unconventional peculiarities."

"I wasn't aware Kirei had any redeeming qualities whatsoever other than the fact he's dead."

"Give it time, you'll find them."

All the while Caren merely offered Rin a smile that seemed beautiful and angelic on the outside but was probably contemplating no shortage of misery and inconvenience for the Magus on the inside.

+5 REP with Caren [90/100]

"And I'm being rewarded for enabling that. Sorry, Rin, but numbers are numbers."

"Ooh, this is shaping up to be a really spicy drama~!"

Felicia's not at all quiet whisper had the new arrivals staring at the Vampire with no shortage of suspicion, Jinglei asking, "So you never did get around to explaining why, exactly, you have several highly notorious and dangerous criminals hanging around your house like it's no big deal."

Hiking a thumb to the Vampire and Nekoshou siblings he replied, "Because we have a common goal, shared interest or currently aligned job description. Might as well get used to working with them, we have one hell of a big mission coming up."

Flicking on a TV hanging off of the wall he brought up an image of a sealed metallic cylinder loaded down with heavy duty clasps, esoteric scrawlings and a whole bunch of other crazy looking shit, the Surveyor stating, "This is our current target, a container for an Android or Cyborg or whatever it was that Alfred Norman made before kicking the bucket. It was recently stolen by who we assume is the Khaos Brigade and according to notes discovered during its sealing it possess incredible electronic infiltration and disruption capabilities, far beyond anything but the most comprehensive and advanced firewalls employed by the most talented individuals. So, in short, the other side possessing it is a really bad thing for your retirement funds."

"That's putting it lightly…"

Kuroka's wry comment seemed to resonate with the rest of the assembled group, Cayman continuing with, "While our overarching goal is to discover the extent and resources of this Khaos Brigade seeing as how this falls pretty much within our wheelhouse it's taking center stage of our activities here in Tokyo."

"Are we even sure it's here? I mean they could have hidden this thing anywhere in the world. Worlds, even."

Once again it was Jinglei who posed the hard questions, although this one had merit aplenty, the Surveyor happy to answer it as he replied, "A number of working theories, the first and foremost being that it's stored in Yomihara, waiting to be transferred to Under EDEN so that they can have a go at activating or corrupting it."

Yukikaze predictably stiffened at the mere mention of the place, Yumi also frowning as he explained, "It's been proven that Under EDEN has delved pretty deep into rewriting and corrupting someone's brain and possibly even their soul. Ordinarily I wouldn't worry about that in regards to a machine but Norman made his later and most advanced creations in unconventional ways, simulating real organic beings with the body or characteristics of a machine. And therewithin lies an opportunity I'm not willing to risk."

Felicia crossed her arms, unhappily scowling as she added, "I'm a pretty tough nut to crack and even then that big jerk of an Incubus King seemed pretty certain they could mess with my brain."

That seemed to be enough evidence for the room at large to consider the possibility, Cayman stating, "To that end Till, Mai, Yumi and myself will be going to meet with Real and chat for a bit, let him know that we're keeping an eye on him and his operation just for something like this. Natsume, we don't know if the Incubus King was able to sense you being freed from his control so until we do one way or another I want to keep your survival and free will under wraps."

"Of course."

"Uhh, question?"

Kuroka raised her hand like a snarky high school student, Cayman gesturing for her to continue as the Yokai asked, "So what exactly is letting the guy know that he should be sneaky going to do, exactly? Shouldn't we be playing dumb, nya?"

"Yeah, big sis is really good at playing dumb."

Everyone ignored the dramatic gasp of hurt from the older sibling as the Surveyor elaborated, "The point is that it's going to buy us time. If Real knows that we think he's suspect number one in this little game of hide and seek then he's going to play it safe and secure until he's certain he can bring Norman's creation online without us having a good reason to kick his front door down."

"Okay, neat. How much time is that going to buy us, exactly?"

"Eh, I doubt more than a few weeks, if that."

Kuroka blinked along with most of the room, asking, "Soooo…what's the point of doing that?"

He offered a smug grin, promptly stating, "Because it'll give me time to come up with a more permanent solution to Under EDEN, obviously."

While he could sense the curiosity and anticipation from the group in equal measure at his statement he was quick to maintain the element of mystery, announcing, "Since we're on the subject of a few days we're going to be using that in order to start forming an actually cohesive and worthwhile team, starting now. Rin, Hatsukaze, Yukikaze? You're going to be helping Yumi and Asia with school prep, going over the culture, social norms and administrative crap that comes with the act. Also compile a list of names comprising both faculty and students that they'll either want to be on guard or relaxed with, I'll give you the number of a teacher who I know that can help with that if you hit a wall."

Moving on before any further questions could be asked he recited the next group on his mind, "Natsume, Su, Caren, Kuroka and Minasaki? I want the five of you to focus on creating and refining a workflow that will incorporate all of the disparate sources of information you have at your disposal into something we can use at the drop of a hat. We have the luxury of picking and choosing which brand of news we get, I'd like to capitalize on that."

Natsume was naturally the first to nod and smile, no doubt already in her element as he turned to the remainders.

"Shirone, Lilim, Mai, Felicia and Till? You five will be with me, Oct and Cerb on the Under EDEN scheme as well as free agents if any of the other groups needs a hand. Everyone clear on that?"

Yukikaze crossed her arms, complaining, "Why do some of these arrangements seem a whole lot less important than others? How come I'm not on the Under EDEN team, I've actually been to that damn place!"

Smiling at the Taimanin Cayman replied, "You would think that, wouldn't you? Don't worry, I'm not kicking you to the curb or giving you baby jobs because you suck."

He gestured towards Yumi and Asia, stating, "Yumi is going to be attending one of the most prestigious and wildly varied schools in the known world, filled to the brim with Extranatural from every walk of life. More importantly, both she and Asia have never been to anything resembling a normal public education experience. I want the two of them to both enjoy their time there and be able to make friends in powerful places, to that end they're going to need your input and experiences."

He arched an eyebrow Yukikaze's way, the girl already simmering down somewhat as he assured her with, "And it's not like I'm locking you in a room with zero access to any of the other groups, this is just to provide a bit of direction and guidance as we figure things out, alright?"

"Ugh, fine. How do you always have an answer for everything…"

While the last bit was mumbled he heard it nonetheless, Asia interrupting as she timidly asked, "Erm…am I going to be able to attend school?"

"That's the plan. Can't have you just hanging around the warehouse all day hoping someone shows up beat to hell and only leaving to go on missions, that would be a shit way to live your life."

While the words were blunt and took a moment to properly sink in when they did the little nun practically began to glow with excitement, eagerly stating, "Ooh, I can't wait~! I've always wondered what school would be like!"

+10 REP, +5 AFC with Asia [5/100]

While the sweetness directed his way was appreciated it was also nearly overwhelming in genuineness, Cayman quickly moving the conversation along as he asked, "Okay, any final questions or what not to bring up while we're on the subject? Floor's open for better ideas or refinements."

"Not right now, no."

"Nya, we're good."

"No complaints here~!"

"We'll just have to see how this goes for now."

With thankfully little fanfare and heated arguments the group settled down or went their separate ways, a few careful conversations breaking out as everyone began feeling each other out, Cayman smiling all the while at the wondrous sight as a single thought went through his mind.

"This shit is going to blow up in my face by next morning, I can feel it. Those few days are only half to plan for Under EDEN, the other half is to run damage control in case someone tries to commit murder."

There was no way in Heaven, Hell or whatever afterlife there existed in this universe that so many conflicting and outright hostile personalities wasn't going to chafe and grate against each other and if he wanted this merry band of beautiful bodies and personalities to work smoothly he was going to have to put in the hours.

"Ah well. I asked for it, might as well own it."

"Alright, time to see if anything new has popped up with you."

Reclining on the roof of his newest abode Cayman manifested Edelweiss, the ornate spear having resided in his inventory without so much as a single change in its status for quite some time, he was hoping the recent level ups would change that now that he'd cleared the level thirty milestone. He was about to embark on completing that old Under EDEN quest he'd gotten and promised Till he would finish, might as well see what Edelweiss had to offer along the way. And in that regard he wasn't left wanting in the slightest.

[Divine Armament!]

[Details: The Divine Spear Edelweiss gifted to you by Odin now deems you worthy to undertake its test for the right to wield it, earn the undying love of one of its Pantheon and perform a feat worthy of a god to earn its loyalty.]

[Rewards: Edelweiss becomes wieldable, free access to Yggdrasil Gates.]

"Well I'll be damned."

Glancing through the requirements he was glad to know that Rossweisse looked to be the leading lady in terms of the first condition, although he wasn't sure if he had to max out her AFC or if there was a tier above that. The second one, though? That was a whole lot more ambiguous. And potentially more problematic.

"What exactly constitutes a godly feat? And does it scale for relative power level? I mean a normal Human kid beating up a Devil or something would be pretty godly but if I did that it'd barely be worth a scribbled footnote. Jesus I hope I don't have to win a trial by combat or something, that's going to be rough. Maybe a particularly inventive bit of cleverness counts? I mean Herakles got away with that a fair few times."

Setting that train of thought aside for the moment since he wasn't going to really go anywhere with it he instead put the weapon back to its void housing, reclining on the cheap beach chair he'd brought up and looked out over Tokyo Bay and the rest of the city with a relaxed air, Tokyo Kingdom in particular a spectacular sight to see.

Come nightfall the whole metropolis lit up like a christmas tree, ocean liners and freight ships alike sailing across inky waters to dock at the glowing and dizzyingly bright coastline, skyscrapers and corporate headquarters like burning pillars reaching towards the stars as a thousand little bonfires flicked beneath them, Tokyo Kingdom its own unique brand of fascinating as its more lawless state had given rise to a greater variety of colors and advertisements, his lips curling upwards into an amused smile as a real-estate float made its slow and gradual rounds, advertising cheap houses within the city free from building codes and requirements.

"Hmm, maybe I should look into that? Flipping houses could be interesting if I have Sanctuary resources to work with…assuming I don't get audited or some shit."

Tabling that thought along with a hundred others he forced himself to not think of any particular scheme and instead take it easy, even a social butterfly like himself needing a few moments of quiet contemplation and relaxation to recharge every now and again.

"Told you that's where he was, my 'bloodhound' nose never fails~!"

"Fine. Now stop talking."

Alas, not more than half an hour had gone by before he spotted Felicia and Shirone approaching his position, the white-haired Yokai seeming disgruntled enough with her current traveling companion to not even bother with any kind of joking around, throwing herself into Cayman's lap before making herself comfortable, clearly trying to use him as a shield as Felicia pouted at the motion, eventually draping herself over the back of the chair as it ominously creaked, the cheap frame obviously not intended for three, no matter how petite they may have been.

"Just because you're a cat doesn't mean you can claim his lap everytime!"

"Bite me. And prepare to die if you do."

Shirone's blunt words had the Vampire huffing in disappointment, lacing her arms around Cayman's neck before plopping her chin down on his head, the Surveyor reflecting that having his rare peace and quiet broken by a pair of cute and uniquely dangerous girls wasn't the worst thing that could happen, even if he would rather not be caught in the crossfire.

"So what brings the two of you up here? As much as I'd like to think it's just to see me I doubt that's the case."

Shirone didn't reply but grabbed his hand and placed it between her ears, the request clear as he began scratching and immediately earned a constant purr for his efforts, Felicia chirping, "I would have come to see you anyway~! But actually everyone agreed that we need a team name so we came to make you give us one."

"...Everyone?"

Shirone shrugged, bluntly adding, "Everyone that wasn't giving each other stink eyes. So about half."

"Yeah, that tracks. You two mind sticking close to me for the next few days? I might need you to tackle and subdue unruly brawlers."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun! But that aside we can't just go around calling ourselves 'the group' or 'the squad'. Every team needs a name and that includes us!"

"Well, if everyone is so insistent…"

Taking a moment to think over his options the gamer adjusted his head scratching slightly, fingers massaging the joining of skull and ear as a jumping purr of a higher pitch left the Nekoshou, tail thumping against his chest as he apparently found just the right angle of approach.

+10 REP with Shirone [50/100]

"Okay, THE right angle of approach."

Practically melting in his lap as if she'd just spent a day at the spa and massage parlor Shirone clearly checked out of the conversation, Felicia grumbling, "I bet I could do that," as Cayman gazed around the harbor, unsure of what he should do in regards to a name. It was a request that had caught him off guard but he'd like to answer it with-

"Pier 16."

"Hmm?"

Nodding in satisfaction Cayman reiterated, "Pier 16. We might get more people in the future but for now both our members and location are immortalized."

"Imaginative."

Shrugging at Shirone's remark he replied, "Put it up to a vote with the rest of the team, then. I'm sure they'll have all sorts of suggestions."

"On second thought, let's not do that."

Felicia merely chuckled, teasing, "Think nobody else can come up with a good one, kitty cat?"

"Probably a dumb one. Unimaginative but simple is better."

"Glad you approve."

Thankfully the duo seemed content to just hang around without further friction, Cayman milking the calm and quiet for all it was worth.

He doubted he was going to find much of it in the days to come.