December 28 - Day 16

Tomoyasu continued carefully observing the list of Cloning Tank products being projected into a holographic image floating in front of Garaki, strangely finding himself astonished on how intricately-designed they were. They're clean and futuristic, not to mention drastically different from the ones the old Doctor is currently using, as if they're a piece of technology from beyond the stars, forged by beings that exist only in human imagination. But no. They're very much real. While he may not be into biology and science, but still, technology is technology, and Cloning Tanks are still quite impressive to him.

But as impressive as they are, unfortunately, as a whole, Cloning – creating an actual complete replica of an organic being, is still at its relative infancy, still far away from its full theorized potential. As of the current time, the only way of making complete replicas of things is through use of Duplication Quirks - which all have the limitations in which anything created by them are naturally molecularly-unstable and easily break down (something that even Quirk geneticists couldn't understand).

'I wonder how much the world would change once humanity mastered cloning? Would the moon be eventually colonized…?' He couldn't help but think to himself as he continued to inspect the list of Cloning Tank products. 'Would some countries soon create second-class slave citizens for the sole purpose of keeping society functioning?' He was about to think some more when he eventually just decided to brush it off. There's not really any sense in further thinking about something that would likely never even occur in his lifetime. Humanity would probably still take another hundred (or two) years to perfect the art of cloning.

And as in regards to Garaki and his weird creations. Tomoyasu doesn't need them to be perfect anyways. As long as the doctor gets better modern tech to hopefully streamline his production of cannon fodder (and maybe create even better ones), all is well-

"Oh! I have never seen one of those before!" came Garaki's loud comment as the saleslady placed a medium-sized cylindrical yellow canister onto the counter. It has small glass panels on its sides and Tomoyasu could clearly see that it's filled with purple liquid, far darker than what's currently in use to create Nomus.

"Grandpa… The liquid biofuel you're talking about… haven't been in use for 7 years! We use these things now. But still, it's never too late to get some new toys!"

Tomoyasu felt a slight tinge of joy at the saleslady's words, but not because of Garaki being all excited on getting his hands on newer tech. No. That's not the reason. He felt glad to himself that, for once, it's Garaki's turn to screw things up. Apparently he's very right on his criticisms on the Nomu facility - the doctor's been using severely outdated tech. For a good while he felt incredibly superior to his new partner-in-crime, but it quickly faded away as he, too, strangely found himself now also interested in knowing what the canister does.

"Instead of making your creations swim in putrid disgusting liquid biofuel. You simply hook this thing into a new-gen Cloning Tank and it will automatically swirl Mist Biofuel around to make your stuff grow faster than ever! It's a proven fact, lookie here!" The saleslady pressed something from underneath the counter which changed the holographic image being projected in front of Garaki. Instead of a list of products, it's now a bunch of scientific journals and graphs.

Tomoyasu immediately tried to read a sentence from one of the journals, but seeing as it's riddled with a whole lot of various scientific jargon he couldn't even understand, he quit almost as is. Although Garaki, on the other hand, seemingly understood them all and got even more excited. "Oh! Mist-Based Biofuel! No wonder the glass walls are now thinner! Could you do a demonstration, please?" the Doctor asked while chuckling to himself and rubbing his palms together.

"Can this go any faster?" Tomoyasu asked with a bored expression.

"Hold on! This is the best part!" Garaki silenced him immediately, his attention now locked onto a certain large ceiling panel at some area near the back of the stall – which eventually went upwards as if something pulled it from above. A few moments later, in came a Cloning Tank being lowered down via crane. And upon placing down the huge object, the crane let go, to which it slowly went back up the ceiling, before finally placing the panel back.

'Hmmm… interesting…' Tomoyasu, amidst Garaki and the saleslady having a loud conversation, eyed the Cloning Tank that's about to be used as a demonstration for the 'Mist-Based Biofuel'. One thing he noticed about it (that he missed from his earlier visual inspection on the holographic product list), is that it has significantly less 'attachment points' on its top and bottom cover, meaning that it requires far less tubing and other peripherals, and would probably make the old man's lab a whole lot cleaner and less cluttered in cables and wires if ever he decides to buy in bulk and have them installed. Also, another thing strange about it (that's different from Garaki's tanks as well), is that it has a claw-like contraption on its right side, as if the smaller cylindrical object currently on the counter is meant to be placed inside it. He was about to ask some more things regarding it when he just decided to just stand back and watch.

"Okay grandpa, witness the future!" The saleslady then picked up the yellow cylinder on the counter, grunting in effort as if it's far too heavy for its size, and then walked towards the tank, before shoving it on the claw-like machine, in which it automatically locked into place (as exactly as Tomoyasu predicted). She then stepped back. "You can tell it's ready to go when you hear the locking mechanism click," she commented as she plugged the machine on a nearby wall socket before moving back to the counter. "Marvelous isn't it? Shall I turn it on?"

"Oh please do!" Garaki said in an excitable voice.

The saleslady picked up a remote from underneath the counter and pressed a button in it. Almost immediately a faint whirring noise could be heard coming from the bottommost part of the Cloning Tank, as if a fan just turned on. Afterwards, faint purple mist began to rise into the tank, as if being sprayed by the fan underneath.

Tomoyasu observed the tank, seeing the purple mist continue to swirl around within it. He couldn't help but wonder how is a 'Mist-Based Biofuel' better than just filling up the entire thing with the 'growth solution'. But then again, he's no scientist, or whatever term Garaki labels himself in regards to his Nomus (a mad scientist perhaps?). But as curious as he is as to how the thing works, he decided just not to ask, fully knowing he won't understand over 90% of the reply that would be given to him anyways.

"This new Mist-Based Biofuel can make a full person-sized organic creation in just under a week!" The saleslady said as she repeatedly tapped the glass of the Cloning Tank. "It's 4 times faster than the old Liquid Biofuel!"

"That's amazing!"

Tomoyasu raised an eyebrow on Garaki's reply, wondering how come the old man got amazed by it if he doesn't really make 'Organic Creations' out of scratch and just use dead people as base. But then again, as he reminded himself, he's no mad scientist. Garaki obviously knows more about the things than he does.

After a while, since the two people near him are still not done with their conversations, he happened to turn his attention to the nearest window. Almost immediately, aside from noticing that there are now even more people than earlier, a random idea popped into his head. 'I wonder if I can also get something here to upgrade my own systems…?' He thought to himself for a good while. But in the end he just shook them off. While his technology may not be on par with the gear available here in Irkalla, but they have worked flawlessly for years now. He doesn't need anymore upgrades.

Although…

'My pistol could use an upgrade…' Tomoyasu's hand grasped his duffle bag securely, thinking about another possible thing to upgrade. His sidearm is not as complicated as his tech - where a single upgrade could mean an entire rearrangement just for miniscule improvements, and therefore much more readily and easily replaceable. And with him being in the Outer Rim section of Irkalla, a superior replacement to it is literally everywhere. All he needs is to do is to find the right one-

"Well technically speaking this is the first time I would be using these so I think I'll just go with the cheapest one you have. I don't care about glass quality, my lab's as stable and quiet as it can get," Garaki spoke out before turning his attention back to the still-attached Mist Biofuel on the display tank. "By the way those Mist Biofuel aren't really toxic, are they?" he added.

"Nope. In fact some folks here actually love snorting them!" the saleslady nodded. "Actually I'm not sure why did I even include that part but nah! Why the hell not? Although I don't recommend snorting them because uh… they're expensive…"

Garaki nodded as well before repeatedly tapping Tomoyasu's back. "Okay I have made my decision!" he then pointed at a particular Cloning Tank image on the holographic list in front of him. "We start small. Do you think you could get 20 of these?"

Tomoyasu leaned down and inspected what Garaki is pointing at. He noticed it's the same thing he saw earlier – the cheapest Cloning Tank with the thin glass. "Is that glass not going to break?" he asked while still not taking his eyes off the item. "Is that because of the Mist-system-whatever you two are talking about earlier? No more filling-to-the-brim and instead just 'misting' everything?"

"Right you are, Mr. Skeptic! And because of that new mechanic, Cloning Tanks are now way cheaper than before. Technically they're still expensive, but still!" Garaki said, still in his excitable voice, before turning back to the saleslady. "Since my partner will only buy the tanks for me, I'll just go buy the Biofuel myself-" the old man abruptly stopped upon realizing he didn't load up any currency on his armband-phone. "I'll be right back!"

And with that, Garaki suddenly ran off towards the exit.

"Your grandpa's really hyper today, isn't he? Did he drink too much coffee this morning?"

Tomoyasu, who just watched his partner casually run out of the building, slowly turned his attention back to the saleslady. "Actually I don't know. And he's not my grandparent. More like a new acquaintance…" His voice trailed off as his gaze happened to land back onto the price of the Cloning Tank Garaki pointed at him to buy.

'Hmmm…' A thought appeared in his head. While the tanks are ridiculously expensive, they are in fact quite relatively cheap in Outer Rim terms. And since he's technically just using stolen money from the late Curious (and she had a ton of those), and everything Garaki would eventually accomplish would still technically benefit him anyways, then might as well just- "Give me 50 of these."

"Holy crap- I mean is it your grandpa's birthday today or something?" The saleslady asked, absolutely stunned at the amount of tanks Tomoyasu is wiling to buy in one go. "Is there any special event today? Are there any special events today?" she added as she picked up a handheld scanner-like device from underneath the counter.

"I had a colleague assassinated and took all of her money." Tomoyasu bluntly said. He found no more reason not to lie, considering Irkalla by itself is technically just one big criminal area anyways. "Not that big of a deal."

"She must've been a bigshot huh? I bet you're all bigshots. Wouldn't be surprising considering the amount you're willing to throw out." The saleslady raised up her scanner. "50 tanks then? Not 20?"

Tomoyasu nodded and stretched out his arm with the Irkalla armband on and let the saleslady scan it. Afterwards, he pulled it back and double-tapped the center of the screen to fully confirm the purchase.

A few seconds later, the company symbol of Zorcon appeared on the right side of the armband phone screen, signifying a successful acquisition. "You know what, give me an extra 30 of your cheapest Mist-Biofuel-whatever," he told the saleslady bluntly once more. While the Cloning Tank did cost so much on his online wallet, but with the sheer amount of Curious's overall money, the amount lost is barely noticeable. He has still more than enough cash available on him.

The saleslady simply shrugged and gestured for Tomoyasu to extend his arm again so she can make the sale he requested. "Okay, you're the boss. Your gramps's gonna be so proud of you when he gets back."

"He's not my grandparent, okay?" Tomoyasu rolled his eyes as he, once more, double-tapped the screen of his armband phone to confirm the purchase. And as with the Cloning Tanks he bought, buying the extra 'Mist Biofuel' once again didn't even make a noticeable dent on his overall available cash. "Now where is he…?" he asked himself as he turned towards the window, hoping to see-

Garaki can be seen hurriedly walking back, but now with Mr. Zero in tow. He must have seen him outside on his small trip and told him everything.

"Hmph, looks like he's serious about bringing the guy home, huh?" The saleslady muttered as the old man finally re-entered the building. But as for Zero, he stayed outside, fully well knowing he's not welcome within the premises of the Zorcon building as of today.

"I'm BACK!" Garaki yelled as he arrived, catching his breath. "I shouldn't be running at this age… but…"

"Gramps, your nephew over here just bought you thirty extra tanks and Mist Biofuel!" The saleslady suddenly spoke out, much to the annoyance of Tomoyasu, who just crossed his arms in response.

"Really?" Garaki turned to ask him, his voice unusually silent yet his facial expression is full of excitement.

Tomoyasu simply didn't find the energy to verbally retaliate anymore, and so he instead just lowered his armband and tapped the Zorcon logo to show that, yes, he did purchase 50 whole tanks, as well as thirty other canisters of the cheapest Mist Biofuel.

"Are all those for me? Or are you planning to delve into the bizarre just like your new pal?" Garaki asked in a joking tone, as if fully knowing that Tomoyasu bought all of the extra items just for him and no one else.

"Doc, I'm just using someone else's cash, okay? I'm not being generous. I'm just abusing the hell out of a dead person's stash to get you some necessary upgrades because you're too lazy and pathetic to get them yourself…"

Garaki simply ignored his 'threat' and instead just turned to the saleslady. "Oh just ignore him, he just tends to insult everyone and everything every two seconds, even those he's trying to help out. He has an odd way of showing support."

Tomoyasu just shook his head in annoyance as the saleslady simply chuckled and called it 'adorable'. By all means he's not being generous, he has no weird ways of showing support, and sure as hell what he did is not adorable. It was an insult, and therefore should be treated as that-

"Okay then I'll just go buy the last 20 Mist Biofuel and we're all set!" Garaki spoke out loud as he reached out towards the saleslady to allow her to scan his armband-phone for him to successfully make a purchase.

"Doc, I think I'll go handle the Valkyrie purchase. You go back outside and chat up Mr. Zero a bit…" Tomoyasu said, grumbling something incomprehensible under his clown mask afterwards. While what he said makes some sort of sense, what he wants is to just get Garaki out of the scene so he cannot embarrass him ay further on the most important item he's about to acquire. He may not know how to grade Valkyries on the fundamental and genetic level, but he does already have some knowledge on them, and deciding on a right purchase shouldn't be too hard-

"Can your new pal give you a hug?" Garaki suddenly spoke out and snapped Tomoyasu out of his thoughts. And there he was, the old man with his werecow mask and arms out as if he, indeed, does want a hug.

"No," Tomoyasu replied in his usual blunt tone as he held securely on his duffle bag. "You're not receiving any hugs from me."

"Hey grandpa, you can hug me if you want!" The saleslady suddenly spoke out, in which Tomoyasu immediately nodded at her.

Without hesitation, seemingly upon seeing a sort of 'clearance' from Tomoyasu, the saleslady climbed up her counter and walked over to hug the now-crying old man in front of her.

The resulting scene couldn't help but give Tomoyasu a massive cringe on his face behind his mask. Not only because the counter didn't even have some sort of gate for the salespeople to go in and out, but Garaki still won't stop muttering all about the good things that have happened to him so far, and about how he got more gifts than he expected, and that he has the best partner-in-crime in the world, and other incredibly pathetic things. "Doc, stop fooling around. Get your ass moving. I'll take it from here-"

Tomoyasu didn't even get to finish when Garaki still continued crying over and over about how grateful he is, to the point where some other salespeople and customers have began walking closer to see what the fuss is all about. It would have been fine for Tomoyasu if only they stayed put upon seeing the scene, or maybe insult the old man's patheticness. But no, slowly but surely, the people went in and converged into a massive group hug, with Garaki at the center. It got to a point where the entire staff is already there, with Tomoyasu being the only one not part of it. Luckily, the group paid him no mind as they slowly disbanded over the course of a minute afterwards.

"Okay get out," Tomoyasu immediately said and pointed towards the door, with Zero visible outside.

Instead of a proper reply, Garaki just did an exaggerated salute to him before heading towards the exit. As he did so, a lot of staff and some customers loudly congratulated him. Apparently Irkalla just has this strange culture of congratulating old people still sticking to villainy instead of already holing up in a retirement home…

Shaking his head at the (incredibly cringeworthy) sight, Tomoyasu then turned towards the saleslady, who's still just standing beside him with her attention still turned towards the exit door. "Okay… so if there's been a revolutionization of the Biofuel from liquid to Mist-Based, are there any changes on Zorcon bulk purchasing? To be honest I haven't been in Irkalla for quite some time now."

She turned to look at him. "Nope, nothing's really changed at all. Bulk purchase still works the same." She paused a bit to clear her throat. "After you and your grandpa exit Irkalla, your armband will automatically send a signal to us. We'll then contact you back via – Oh by the way, did you two get here through the normal way or by aircraft?"

"Aircraft."

"Oh my bad, that slightly changes things. So anyways, after you and your grandpa exit Irkalla, your armband will automatically send a signal to us. We'll then contact you for confirmation and yada yada yada. But since you guys entered the place through aircraft, by new protocols our cargo planes are now required to follow you back home to your chosen airstrip of choice. No more delays, we leave when you leave. Same story with all 'aircraft' bulk purchases and Dreadnoughts these days, really." The saleslady nodded and crossed her arms. "But! Also by new protocols, if our cargo plane crew detected any authorities waiting on the landing strip, we're also required to blow you up to smithereens!"

"The landing strip is within private land. There are no authorities there, although the landing strip may be a little cramped for those massive smoke-belching cargo planes I saw on the outskirts."

The saleslady rolled her eyes before climbing back to the inner side of the stall, stashing her rifle under the counter afterwards. "Also also by new protocols, all cargo planes are now capable of Vertical Take-Off and Landing. Small landing strips are no longer an issue. And also also-also, all cargo planes now have the ability to cloak themselves. So no more suspicious massive aircraft landing on your private mansion. Sound good?"

"That's good enough for me." Tomoyasu nodded. "But before I could leave I'm going to make one last purchase."

"I heard you're planning to purchase a Valkyrie, is that right?"

Tomoyasu nodded.

"Well what do you want? We have pistols, dual pistols, shotguns, long-ranged shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles-"

Tomoyasu shook his head, stopping the saleslady. "In case you haven't noticed for quite a while now, I'm willing to blow through 'my' wallet for a ton of Cloning Tanks and Biofuel… don't give me the basics, give me the best," he said with a menacing grin. The saleslady, on the other hand, nodded, a menacing grin also slowly manifesting on her face as well. It appears that he doesn't even need to explain further anymore, she already understood what he meant. "Military-Grade Valkyries… How good do you make them here?" he added, planting his arms on the counter after a brief adjustment to his clown mask.

"Buddy, you're currently in THE 'company' that makes the best Valks in the world, barring some actual militaries that is! You don't want standard firearms, then fine!" The saleslady spoke out in a very confident voice as she picked out yet another desk bell-looking device and placed it on the counter. "You want the biggest guns, the most powerful launchers, and most long-ranged Destructo-ladies? We've got 'em right 'ere." She giggled maniacally afterwards before pressing the button to project a holographic product list, once again complete with photos.

"Hmmm…" Tomoyasu inspected the list, his grin growing ever bigger at seeing the capabilities of each one.

"We got 'em pretty and deadly. Emphasis on both the pretty and deadly." The saleslady crossed her arms, her face still looking full of confidence as if there's no one else that could sell a better product in the world. "Although… I have to remind you, since a whole lot of rich folks - especially from the west, have been buying top-class Quirk-Linked Valkyries and just throwing them out for a quick test run as soon as they arrive home..." She then paused for a moment. "Word of advice: Valkyries are NOT Dreadnoughts. Even our best Quirk-Linked Valkyries, although powerful on their own, are nowhere near the offensive and defensive capabilities of a basic Dreadnought. Don't just throw them out and expect them to win battles for you."

"Agreed." Tomoyasu nodded, his mind automatically thinking how utterly pathetic and dumb those other buyers were. "Do Zorcon Valkyries come with Backforce?"

"Indubitably. All our top-class Valkyries come with Backforce… which is ironically why those dumbasses think they can win fights all their own…" The saleslady shook her head, shrugging as she did so. "While yeah they're naturally strengthened but, at the end of the day, they're still weak to anything that can Bypass Backforce… and they don't really have any Quirk Immunity as well."

"Agreed." Tomoyasu nodded again as he turned his attention back to the product list in front of him and continued swiping his finger on it, scrolling down further and further. But before he could scroll down towards the 8th page, he turned his head back up again. "I am looking for a Valkyrie capable of long-ranged area-saturation damage."

"Artillery! Good choice! As a matter of fact we literally have a 'Valk' that's made specifically for that! Is that what you want? Artillery?"

"Something long-ranged enough so it could stay well away from a battle, yes."

"Deadly, accurate, powerful, bombardment-specialized, and deadly… Look no further than our Jericho-class Valkyries."

Tomoyasu just nodded in response. He decided to just trust the saleslady on this one. "Could I see it? And see what it does? A sort of test-run perhaps?" he requested as he moved a hand off the counter and held it around his duffle bag securely.

"Definitely." The saleslady nodded before reaching under the counter and pulling out a different-looking remote from the one she pulled out earlier, and immediately pressing a series of buttons on it akin to that of a code. A few seconds later, the large ceiling panel above the Cloning Tank went up, and in comes a crane once more to lift it out of the stall. "Just a moment… top-class Valkyries are stashed up real good, our systems could take a while to retrieve them…"

"Take your time." Tomoyasu nodded again. In the meantime, he turned his head towards the windows behind him. There, in a considerable distance, he could see both Garaki and Zero walking near the VECTRE stall. Good. The old man is just fine chatting up the person they're supposed to bring home-

"Nevermind, sir. Looks like our systems got 'em in the first try."

Tomoyasu turned his attention back to the stall, specifically towards the empty space in its ceiling. After a few seconds of machinery sounds slowly getting louder, a Cloning tank came descending. But unlike the empty one earlier, this one contained something – a young woman wearing fancy white-and-gold themed clothes, seemingly sleeping in stasis as the tank's purple Mist-System keeps on blowing about within the tank (with her clothes somehow completely unaffected by said mist at all).

A Valkyrie.

Tomoyasu couldn't help but admire the specimen. While it may look just like your average conventionally-attractive young woman wearing midriff-baring designer clothes, but in reality, it's a deadly killing machine. It's the end result of over a hundred years' worth of experimentation on creating the perfect mindless concealed bioweapon.

There were multiple rumors about on how Valkyries first began. Some say they're just the natural by-product of things after Cloning technology made a considerable leap in the past few decades. Some say they're originally created as cannon fodder (and indeed quite a lot of western countries have them within their army ranks alongside Dreadnoughts). While some simply say they're made because a bunch of billionaires decided to 'have fun'. But whatever the reason, one thing is constant about them, and that is they're all female.

And once again, just like their origin, Valkyries being all-female (which is why they're eventually called Valkyries in the first place) also have a lot of stories to it. But one thing is certain, being female allows them to look normal (since Quirks tend to physically affect male bodies more and have a considerably higher chance of turning into easily-distinguishable heteromorphs), and that allows them to blend into the population and use conventional human-made products for easy maintenance.

Although, Valkyries looking normal did eventually lead into other directions, like being turned into 'living' sex dolls. 'Disgusting…' Just thinking about it made Tomoyasu roll his eyes. Even though Valkyries cannot get pregnant at all (they're just artificial biological constructs after all), he simply couldn't help but think about how the depravity of some humans simply know no bounds.

But still. Whatever other stories they might have, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters more right now is that he would finally acquire one. And he only needs one. Garaki hopefully has more than enough knowledge on duplicating them-

"Sir. I just noticed something real quick and I have to say… So since you bought in 50 tanks and 50 Mist Biofuel, yet only ONE Valkyrie… Are you just planning to clone her or something?" The saleslady interrupted his thoughts. "Sir, it doesn't work that way. Our Valks, and all Valks everywhere really, are clone-proof. They're all genetically shielded. That way they can't be 'counter-cloned' if captured by the enemy…" she continued, making random hand gestures towards the Valkyrie behind her. "And no. Before you say it's a marketing trick, it's not a marketing trick. It's just how it is."

Tomoyasu stopped, his right eyebrow twitching behind his clown mask. 'Genetically-shielded…? What…?' he thought to himself, all confused. 'Does that mean Garaki can't clone them?'

The saleslady awkwardly held up a handheld scanner, the same one she used to confirm the purchase earlier. "Sir I'm not gonna blame you. Some rich folks come in here and do the exact same thing as you're doing: buying some tanks and biofuel and only one Valk, thinking they could save up if they just make them themselves… Yeah… and then they realize they can't clone them and uh… they get really mad at us…" She then awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "If you want I can pull back your purchases?"

Tomoyasu paused, unsure of what to do next and now mildly irritated that a part of his plan for cloned Valkyries is now out of the picture.

'Now what…?'

He thought about his (embarrassing) situation for a while. What could be done in this position? Should he just backpedal and pull back all his purchases? Or just proceed with them?

?

'Hmmm…' Tomoyasu thought further. Technically he didn't really use a single yen of his in all the purchasing he did so far. Second, the tanks could still be beneficial to Garaki and his (apparently-not-so-useless) Nomus. Third, the Mist Biofuel's ability to create creatures faster could allow for quicker trial-and-error experimentation to hopefully make better and more capable abominations in the near future. And lastly, at the end of the day, he's still getting a military-grade Valkyrie.

All in all, nothing would be really lost. Although the Valkyrie being uncloneable is certainly disappointing.

"Now while I'm sure to get a huge 'seller bonus' if I just scammed you into buying without the whole 'Clone-Proof' thing but uh… we don't want to get review-bombed!" The saleslady said in a joking tone. "Scorpion just got review-bombed lately and uh… it hurt their sales quite considerably… and uh… I don't want to be that saleslady. So are you going to pull back your purchases or-"

"I'm pushing through. I'm buying them, and the Valkyrie."

"You can't clone her-"

"I very well know she's completely-uncloneable, but she's still a Valkyrie. And by the way things are going through right now for me, I'll definitely be needing her later," Tomoyasu said in a determined tone before looking onto the Valkyrie in front of him. "Can I test that one out for a spin?"

The saleslady shrugged. "Sir, may I suggest an east-asian Jericho-class Valkyrie to better camouflage her? You're east-asian, right?" she asked, in which she quickly received a quick, "Japanese," response from Tomoyasu, alongside a nod from him as well. "Okay then let's do a test run." She then gestured towards the wall covering the entire left side of the building they're in. "Behind that's the shooting range, let's go."


"Mr. Skeptic. I know you don't want being the receiver of negative comments or any criticism really but uh…" Garaki paused himself as best he can, trying to hold onto his laughter. "Uhm… you look absolutely ridiculous…" the old man said, immediately turning around with a few audible giggles.

Tomoyasu just stood still, gritting his teeth in annoyance as he tightened his grip on the waist of his newly-purchased scantily-clad high-end Valkyrie, who currently has its head turned to him and staring at his face with a blank expression. "I'm lucky they actually had a taller short-haired Asian model… to better hide her when we get back…" he grumbled, fully aware of how ridiculous he looked. But still, he can't let go of the Valkyrie's waist. Because, as with what the saleslady said, touching is absolutely crucial – he must keep in constant physical and visual contact with his Valkyrie in order to make it 'bond' to him to allow it to better execute orders along the line. Supposedly, the longer he keeps in touch with it, the better it 'evolves' its artificial personality to suit him. And since it's suggested to him to hold onto the Valkyrie's waist (a suggestion that seems to be the norm judging off the other nearby people also walking along with theirs), then that he must do.

"Apparently High-End Valkyries require more constant touching from their owners than standard ones… I thought it would just be simple but it's actually complicated in reality…" Tomoyasu added as he cringed at the way his Valkyrie is still blankly staring at his face like an emotionless soulless doll.

"It's just how they've been for over a decade now…" came a sudden comment from Zero, who's just standing quietly behind Garaki all this time. "The longer you make visual or physical contact with them, with physical being preferred, the better they'll eventually turn out, which is why they're all shipped out wearing that. Preferably, you also sleep with them every night as well, that way they'll be fully-tuned to you after two weeks and are now able to carry out the most complex tasks within their vast skill range."

Tomoyasu's right eye twitched, at the same time Garaki gave Zero a strange look. "What…?" he asked, one part of him wondering how come the saleslady didn't say that, while another part thinking it's absolutely ridiculously cringeworthy. "Sleep with them…?" he added, immediately receiving a nod from the tall white-haired man with a smiley-face mask in front of him. "You know what? I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that so I have an excuse to NOT do that. I bought a killing machine, not a goddamn bedroom accessory."

"But if you didn't do that you'll be missing out on more than half of its full capabilities. Why even bother purchasing a top-class Valkyrie if you're not going to do the pre-requisites to unlock what made them top-class Valkyries in the first place?"

"Zero, two things…" Tomoyasu shook his head, while awkwardly distancing himself away from his Valkyrie, with only his hand still touching her waist. "First off… the money I used to buy this thing did NOT belong to me in any way, shape, or form. Second, I just want someone that can shoot and destroy things at long range, got it? Plus this thing already has a built-in advanced mental-adaptation system and is said to be quite capable on certain tasks with only minimal teaching. I don't need them to fully bond with me. As long as they can do what needs doing, I'm good."

Zero paused. "They will be capable on certain tasks after they've bonded to you-"

Tomoyasu glared at him.

"Point taken…" he said, with his translated reply taking a while to speak out since he said his words with an odd emotionless tone.

"Good." Tomoyasu nodded before turning his sights onto the massive purple-themed building just some distance away from them-

"Can it talk? When can it talk?" came Garaki's sudden question about the newly-bought Valkyrie. "Can it speak in multiple languages? How fluent is she? Does she have an accent?"

"It'll just talk eventually." Tomoyasu then quickly turned to Zero. "And no I will still not sleep with it. I didn't use my own money to buy this thing, alright? I know you want to say something but can you just keep your mouth shut? Or else we'll leave you here and you'll not be the lab rat you've always dreamed of!" he spoke out in an annoyed tone.

"Oh don't mind Mr. Chikazoku over here, it's just how he speaks!" Garaki turned to Zero and just waved his hands, a carefree tone on his voice. "He has this weird way of talking to people as if he thinks he always needs to shout out and threaten them or else they won't follow him…" he stepped closer and did an exaggerated gesture as if jokingly trying to whisper something. "He has a ton of untreated mental issues from highschool."

"Doc, I do NOT have untreated mental issues from highschool…" Tomoyasu sighed and facepalmed. "Anyways let's get back on track, and by back on track I mean I also have to say that I have some bad news regarding this thing beside me." He paused a bit. "Valkyries are uncloneable. They're 'genetically-shielded' according to the saleslady."

"What…?" Garaki slowly turned to face Tomoyasu. While he may be an expert on creating humanoid abominations and 'duplicating' them around for more than a decade now, but this is the first time he actually heard the word 'Genetically-Shielded'. "What does that even mean?" he asked.

"Exactly as it says on the tin. They cannot be cloned. Same with all Valkyries, really. The reasoning behind it is that it's put there to prevent them from being cloned by the enemy, Backforce-capabilities and all." The tall lanky man paused a bit, as if remembering something. "Additionally, cloning Quirks like Twice's also couldn't be used because of the nature of a Valkyrie's weapons. Their deployable hidden firearms work in the same manner as conventional ones: involving explosive propellants to the projectile itself…" Tomoyasu nodded. "And I'm very well sure you already know how Quirk-created clones don't have Backforce… that means Twice-cloned Valkyries will literally just die to their own weapons."

"You mean you just bought a High-End Valkyrie and we can't even clone them?"

"What? It's not like I used my money on this. Plus it's still a top-tier Zorcon Valkyrie. Even at her just starting today she can already make mincement out of all of your Nomus! Isn't she great!" Tomoyasu said in a mocking tone in the same manner as Garaki told Zero about his 'untreated mental issues from highschool'. He then quickly straightened himself up. "Okay now let's go get some Dreadnoughts-"

"Dreadnoughts?" Zero suddenly spoke out, his tone of voice sounding impressed.

"Why yes, I am planning to buy Dreadnoughts. I'm a very rich man."

"Mr. Skeptic, do you even have enough cash left? I'm going to remind you again that they do NOT come for cheap!" Garaki said out loud, raising his hands as if in protest.

"Hmmm let's see…" Tomoyasu temporarily let go his his Valkyrie's waist and checked the phone on his armband, specifically the amount of cash he has left. "We're good. I still have plenty more. Curious is one very rich lady…" his voice trailed off as he put down his armband and held onto his Valkyrie's waist once more before starting to walk towards the massive purple-themed building just behind the Zorcon 'warehouse'. "Oh and by the way, your Cloning Tanks and biofuel will just be delivered through now-VTOL-capable-invisible-cargo-jets that will supposedly just follow our plane back home. Irkalla apparently did some rearranging about it some time ago."

"Submarines were also now being taken into account, considering that radar technologies are now becoming more and more capable of tracking down invisible aircraft," Zero spoke out in addition to what Tomoyasu said. But instead of being annoyed, Tomoyasu merely slowed down his walking pace.

"Submarines, huh?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Nuclear energy is leagues more efficient than standard fuel."

"And environment-friendly too!" Garaki chuckled as he walked along. "I wonder if they sell miniature-sized nuclear power-plants here?" he asked in a joking tone. "Mr. Zero, are there mini-power plants here?"

Zero shook his head. "Irkalla has a rule regarding nuclear energy-related things being sold within the premises."

"It's only natural that whoever manages this place don't want to blow it up…" Tomoyasu nodded, making sure a hand is still holding securely on his duffle bag, before turning his head to Zero again as they continued to walk. "Any idea how much this place makes in a year?"

"No idea. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's over billions of dollars. But still, maintaining this place alone alongside the cover-up for the upper layer probably takes up a ton of expenses. But I'm no part of the management team, so I cannot make an accurate guess."

"For a homeless person you do know how to speak your words. Where did you go to college, if I may ask?" Tomoyasu asked, half-curious as to what the answer be as he continued leading his little group towards the massive purple-themed hangar-like structure just right up ahead, in walking distance.

"I don't think you'd be interested on knowing that."

"Hmmph… if you don't want to tell us, then fine by me."

Soon enough, the group of four eventually reached the the front side of their destination building. As with the rest of the other structures in the Outer Rim, not only they're huge when seen in a distance, but their size is even more phenomenal up close. To think that management felt the need to construct a building that's just primarily made to sell Dreadnoughts is really something, as for Tomoyasu at least.

There were already a lot of people present, far more than earlier. Clearly most of them are rich folk – and quite a number of them also have their own newly-bought Valkyries who are still clearly blanked out and wearing color-themed outfits corresponding to one of the three main sellers in the Outer Rim. Although what stood out from the sight, are other maskless conventionally-attractive women also wearing color-themed outfits, yet not blanked out and are seemingly acting 'normal' as far as humans go. 'Are those Valkyries that have managed to bond with their owners and are now acting normal-ish…?' he thought to himself as he did a quick glance on his own Valkyrie – who's still just staring awkwardly at him as his hand is still on its waist.

"Are those all Valkyries?" Garaki couldn't help but ask. It appears that he's also curious on the strange color-themed phenomena. "Mr. Zero, could you explain?"

"Irkalla requires all Valkyries, even bonded ones just taken for a visit, to wear the colors of their manufacturer. It's for advertising purposes." Zero nodded slightly to the direction of the old Doctor. "Although the rules stop there. There is nothing stopping regular women visitors to wear Valkyrie color-themed outfits if they want. Over half of the women here are real people. I recognize most of them. You can tell who the real ones are because of their masks."

"Well that's a funny rule."

"Zorcon, Paragon, and Scorpion make the most cash here, it's only natural they get advertised as much as possible…" Tomoyasu butted in, only now noticing that the wooden doors to the massive building in front of them are now open, yet the people are just staying outside. "What's with those people? Is the air-conditioning not working or what?"

"Some people just want to see an actual Dreadnought. Them being here doesn't necessarily mean they plan on purchasing one."

"Dreadnoughts are superstars in Irkalla. I'll keep that in mind." Tomoyasu nodded as he turned his attention back to the open entrance. "The door's unlocked. Are there any pre-requisites we must do before entering? Have they begun selling?"

"There are no entering pre-requisites." Zero turned to look at his armband, specifically at the time. "Auction only starts when there are enough willing buyers inside. Based on the looks of things, the auction has not started yet."

"Auction?"

Zero nodded. "Dreadnoughts have a base starting price, and it can only go higher from there. The one willing to pay the highest amount, of course, gets it."

Tomoyasu looked upon his armband-phone again, wondering if his remaining money would still be enough to purchase a Dreadnought. Garaki already told him how expensive they are, but now with an auction-style selling? He doesn't want to admit defeat but he could tell the amount wouldn't be enough. "There aren't really punishments on just checking inside, correct?"

"That is correct. While the event can only start when there are enough buyers, there are no rules against bystanders joining in mid-fray. People can back-out and jump-in anytime they want. Ultraviolet is not that strict compared to the last one."

"Ultraviolet?"

"The current Irkalla manager."

"Well that certainly makes things easier for us." Tomoyasu held on tight on the waist of his newly-bought Valkyrie with his right hand and his duffle bag with his left before proceeding onwards. "Very well then I think I'll just go have a look around this time. And maybe later I'll just come back here and purchase a real one after I hack into Trumpet's cash… or maybe even Re-Destro's…" He gestured over to the other two people to follow him into the building.

"You're not going to force me into duplicating a Dreadnought, are you? I told you before on how genetically complicated they are."

"Duplicating is now out of the picture. But I would really prefer it if I could get my hands on one. I would like to see how much they live up to their name. And I'm going to definitely need one for some things to come."

"May I know what things to come are you referring to?" Zero suddenly butted in, his tone of genuine curiosity.

"A big event that 100% requires a Dreadnought." Tomoyasu nodded in response, not feeling the need to further explain his plans on just some nobody they found in Irkalla. "Okay gentlemen, let's go do some Dreadnought sightseeing," he spoke out before going up the steps that leads to the actual entrance of the building, which turned out to be a bit too difficult considering the amount of people present. But still, the small group eventually made it inside.

The interior of the building is drastically different from its external appearance. It was like a high-class opera house, fully air-conditioned, and with hundreds of fancy chairs arranged in rows, all pointing towards the stage at the very end of the building. And at its sides are seemingly interior balconies in a similar design to the one at the Gunga Mountain Villa, but only more luxurious in appearance. And all in all the entire thing is decorated in various Christmas decorations.

But in terms of the amount of people on the outside, the inside has far less, but still enough to make it crowded.

"Buyers who are dead-set on purchasing a Dreadnought are encouraged to stay over there," came a sudden comment from Zero as he pointed at a particular area near the raised stage with a considerable amount of people, making the other two look at it as well. He then pointed at another area nearby it, which also had quite a number of people, but not as much, "and that over there is for people who just want a closer look, preferably for future buyers. You can switch sides freely."

Tomoyasu nodded, ignoring Garaki's random complaints about being short and not being able to see what the entire building looks like. "I see. Let's proceed to point B then…" he said, his voice trailing off as he noticed that some people nearby are giving Zero some strange looks, as if annoyed by his presence, which is very much in line with the implication he got earlier from Zero's interaction with the Zorcon employees. He simply ignored them as well, their opinion of Zero is none of his concern.

Soon enough, all four of them eventually reached the designated spot for people who would just like to inspect a Dreadnought up close. Tomoyasu immediately took a good long look of the place he's in, continuing to ignore the nearby people who are still somehow giving odd stares to one of the people he's with. The entire place they're in looks like some sort of a fancy VIP area, filled with rich folk in classy suits, but not as fancy as the nearby VIP area reserved for those who are truly hell-bent on acquiring a Dreadnought today.

"Rich folk privileges…" Garaki grumbled, making Tomoyasu turn his attention to him.

"Aren't you a doctor? Shouldn't you be within the range of being a 'Rich Folk'?"

Garaki started fidgeting with his fingers. "I don't want to talk about it…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you have a gambling addiction… or some failed investments…" Tomoyasu rolled his eyes beneath his mask as he turned back to Zero. "Hey pal, how long until we-"

The lights suddenly went out, surprising him and quite a lot of other people as well. But seeing as there's no mass panic going on, it's probably just part of the show. Tomoyasu hoped that it's the sign that the Dreadnought auction is about to begin. And indeed, a huge spotlight shone upon the stage…


Note:

This little I-Island trip is inspired by Garaki somehow having hundreds of identical cloning tanks. Where did he get them? As far as I know he never built them. They're just... there... Did he buy them from somewhere?

...

Anywho, since I now canonized the existence of Cloning Tank products and Irkalla, that means I now had to add something to the overall world-building of this fic, specifically as to why Cloning Tanks were created in the first place.

And BAM! Valkyries and Dreadnoughts!