Through Spring, the weather became warmer, and Port Cyrreine's signature grey sky broke open to reveal brilliant blue. After a couple more dates, Caspian and Cattleya became official. He knew over the Summer she'd return to Mistral, but he was determined to figure something out. Lazula continued her daily training, determined to keep up her undefeated streak over the course of the tournament. And, upon spending more time with Rowan, Snow, and Ichigo, and attending a handful of Round Table meetings, Moka had earned the venerated title of "Honorary Knight."
All since the mission had gone well, and uneventfully. Enough so that all unease about the Red Claw had been replaced by excitement around the Vytal Tournament.
The first day of June had rolled around. While the tournament was only a weekend away, something else was more pressing; the twins' birthday. Headmaster Skye had offered them and anyone they decided to invite an all-expenses paid trip into the city. There was no real itinerary, apart from an early dinner, and making it to the Vytal Tournament's press event by seven. Lazula would have rather spent the night of her birthday anywhere besides surrounded by the media, being asked all the usual invasive questions as microphones were shoved into her mouth, but decided she'd enjoy herself as much as she could before then.
In the early afternoon, Lazula strolled up with her team to meet Caspian and his under the tinted glass awning of Sentinel's Link Station. No surprise, Noxis didn't come. Caspian had invited his new girlfriend instead, and Moka was joining them. Lazula would have rather flown across the bay, especially considering the traffic of all those coming to watch the tournament, but Caspian was set on taking the Link.
As she approached, her eyes were immediately drawn to Lilly. She hadn't seen the dress she wore before. It was white with a blue floral pattern, which matched the color of her floppy-brimmed hat perfectly. The dress was made of a material much lighter than her combat skirt, and showed a bit more skin. It was a nice outfit, and she wore it really well.
"Is something wrong?" Lilly asked, looking to Lazula with a hint of concern.
"Ah- no. It's nothing," Lazula assured.
"You were staring."
Lazula offered an awkward apology.
Lilly smirked. "I don't mind."
"Did she just flirt with me?" Lazula reflected. "No. There's no way." Still, Lazula entertained the thought for longer than she would have cared to admit as the group purchased their tickets, and boarded the Link.
Windows covered the walls and ceiling of each car, allowing the passengers to view the bay from the ocean floor. Sadly, anyone who wasn't a tourist quickly realized the idea was more interesting on paper than in practice. Often the ocean was too murky, or too dark to see anything besides a school of fish or two. Laurel swore she once saw a whale on her way to band practice, but her camera had all-too-conveniently frozen when she tried snapping a picture.
The group made their way through Port Cyrreine's main station, past the crowds that marvelled and took pictures of its curving walls of silver and black; and past the aquariums, vivid blue and filled with life that were woven deftly into its architecture. The station opened up into the busiest section of the city; a jungle of skyscrapers with storefronts on the forest floor, and along the forested walkways five stories up that stitched each building to the next. The walkways formed a park of sorts, families and couples lounging on benches and under trees between the asphalt road below and hard-light airship rails above.
No matter how many times Caspian saw the city, he still had to pause to take it all in.
One of the many holographic advertisements floating within the steel-and-glass jungle depicted a woman pulling a ham from the oven, and placing it on the dinner table before a smiling family. The hologram faded and was replaced with the symbol of Frontline Biomedical, and two short sentences.
"The Third Generation. The closest thing to family."
After a few minutes of exploring, Caspian felt a pull at his elbow. "Can we stop in there?" Cattleya asked, indicating the floating sign of a jewelry store up ahead.
"We're gonna pop in there for a bit," Caspian declared. "We'll catch up."
"Anything we can do for you?" an employee in a luxurious dress asked. Her glimmering necklace jingled with each step toward the couple.
"Ah, we're just looking, thanks!" Caspian returned.
The employee followed them as they continued through the store. She probably wasn't used to kids in a store like this. Well, technically not kids anymore, as it was his eighteenth birthday. It still didn't seem like a place many eighteen year-olds would shop. Every surface appeared to shimmer in the light like the diamonds they sold.
"Oh wow, look at this one," Cattleya said, her eyes reflecting the glimmer of a silver necklace.
"It is really nice," Caspian acknowledged. He smirked as he put his arm around her. "Your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it?" he hinted.
"I'll be in Mistral," she contended.
"I can fly over," Caspian offered. "I'll get your gift to you, don't worry."
Cattleya turned to the woman behind them. "How many of these do you have in stock?"
"Oh, that one?" the woman asked. She stepped forward, raising her Holoband to the tag. Caspian got a glimpse at its staggering price. "Looks like that's our last one. It's popular!"
Cattleya turned to Caspian, grasping his hand.
Caspian looked to her. She looked back with puppy-dog eyes, the ones that could make him do just about anything. He did have the money. The necklace would look good on Cattleya, and it would be a shame if it sold out before he could get his hands on it.
"We'll take it."
"Caaaas!" Caspian heard as soon as he left the store and returned to the heat of the day. Moka jogged up to him with a smile and a bag in her hand. She held it out. "This is for you! Happy birthday!"
"Oh- for me?" Caspian stammered. "Thanks!" Caspian glanced to Cattleya, still smiling. She didn't return his enthusiasm.
As Moka watched Caspian reach into the bag, she began to bounce with caffeine-augmented excitement. He pulled out a pair of knit blue socks, with the city's skyline in black.
"I remember a couple of weeks ago you mentioned you collect socks, so I thought about you when I found these ones! Hope you like them!"
"I do!" Caspian returned with a smile. "Thank you!"
Moka stepped forward to hug Caspian, pulling away after a few seconds.
"Kay. Let's catch up with everyone else," Cattleya decided, eyes flashing to Moka sternly.
Caspian was surprised by how far the rest managed to get. Lazula, Lilly, and Laurel had stopped inside a bakery, while the rest were across the street in a store stocked to the brim with the newest in electronics and games. Though the three girls were apparently waiting on a batch of macaroons, Rowan, Snow, and Ichigo came out of their store with two bags each, and were ready to continue their exploration of the city.
The raised walkways wrapped around the street corner, opening up to a view of the bay. Caspian could see Sentinel's libraries and classroom building across the water, as well as the tower he knew his dad sat within. And, past Seacrest Bridge, the Headquarters of Frontline Biomedical.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Ichigo chimed in. "The guy in there mentioned Griswold Baine is holding a speech in the city in a bit! He's gonna leak the third gens' release date!"
Moka's tail slumped. "...Can we miss that one?"
"No way, this is huge!" Ichigo pleaded. "The BCS of the third gen Organds are some of the most complex computational devices in the world! The AI systems on those things are gonna be mindblowing!"
"I am curious to see just how lifelike they are," Caspian added. "Usually you can kinda tell when someone's an Organd, but a couple times recently I haven't been able to until I saw 'Frontline' on their chest."
"Okay, I'll go..." Moka ceded. She perked up, focusing on something over Caspian's shoulder. "If I can stop in that coffee shop real quick! I've never been to one down here, just look at the view!"
"You downed an entire large on the way to the station!" Rowan pointed out.
"It only had five shots of espresso! And that was like... over an hour ago!"
"That makes me wonder," Rowan began. "The lines at the coffee shops on campus are all stupid long during the morning. How do you stand waiting in those things like... seven times a day?"
"I'm so glad you asked!" Moka replied, proudly pointing a finger in the air. "See, I've devised a little system. Half an hour before they close at night, which is nine o'clock for most of them, I go to the store and ask for two large iced coffees. At that point in the night, they're usually just about to dump the iced coffee anyway, so depending on the person they might just give them to you for free. You take 'em on up to your mini-fridge, and BAM! Enough coffee to last you until like, two maybe?"
"I think that much coffee in a day would kill me..." Caspian responded. Moka laughed.
Cattleya cleared her throat. "I'll go in too, actually."
"Oh, then I'll come as well," Caspian decided. "I'll pay!"
Her hand broke free of his. "No. Why don't you spend some time with your friends?"
Caspian watched with a hint of confusion as Moka stepped away with Cattleya just behind her. They didn't talk as they left, and Caspian knew, as much as he liked both Moka and Cat, they didn't get along all too well. He innocently hoped Cattleya wanted some bonding time with her partner.
Snow appearing at his side took his mind off the two. He could see the slight smile on her face.
"Do you want to take a picture with me?" she asked. "I would like to take a picture with you."
Caspian glanced over to Cattleya. He couldn't see her anymore. "Yeah, sure!" he agreed. The two stood by the railing, and Snow unclipped her Holoband to transform it to a tablet, and turn the camera around to the two of them. Caspian guided her hand for a few seconds, finding an angle that showed the school behind them.
He smiled, and the picture took.
Snow looked down to it, apparently satisfied. "It turned out well. Thank you."
As the glass doors to the bright and airy café slid open, Cattleya pulled Moka aside. Her brow furrowed as she leaned in. "Moka. Can you tone it down a bit?"
Moka cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean with the hug, and you got Caspian a gift," Cattleya accused. She looked her over, then swept her hand up and down dramatically. "And just look at the way you're dressed!"
Moka looked down to her tank top and low-rise shorts. "I don't see anything wrong with my outfit," she defended. "It's hot out today."
Cattleya shook her head. "You've told me plenty about your mom. I know you're out for money, but his friends are pretty well-off too, so can you back off?"
"What?! It's not like that at all!"
"Then what is it like?" Cattleya prodded, her impatience boiling over into irritation. "Why else would you hang out with them?"
"I happen to like those guys!" Moka snapped. She focused on the door as she passed her partner. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to buy some coffee."
After an hour or two of exploring downtown, Caspian, Lazula and the rest boarded the Link once again, bound for Frontline's Headquarters. The talk was to take place just outside the company's campus, a series of beautiful gardens nestled between the two colossal skyscrapers and the white shell encasing them, for security reasons.
The park outside was nice enough. The few structures that surrounded it, not counting Frontline's titans, were small compared to buildings in the rest of the city, and rather attractive. A team of Organds ensured the park was always clean, with its flowerbeds and walkways well-maintained, and its grass emerald green. The group settled into the crowd that had already begun to form around a stage in the park's center.
"A lot of people came to this thing, huh?" Rowan asked. Caspian turned to reply, but saw he spoke to a girl about their age, straight lavender hair falling neatly to her shoulders. She wore a jacket. Odd, Caspian thought. He was uncomfortable in his button-down and shorts. He couldn't imagine wearing a jacket in this heat.
"Yeah, there's quite a crowd, isn't there?" she answered.
"He probably chose to announce it on the day everyone would be in the city on purpose," Rowan figured. "Are you from around here, or are you just in town for the tournament?"
"I'm from nearby."
"Yeah, same here!" Rowan continued. He puffed out his chest. "I go to Sentinel, actually."
"Sentinel? How exciting!"
Rowan chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that. We've actually had a few run-ins with the Grimm this year. Oh by the way, what's your name?"
When a tall, broad-shouldered man with a bald head and a salt-and-pepper beard across his broad chin strode to the stage, the crowd went wild. Rowan pursed his lips, as the man's presence had interrupted his progress.
He let the crowd cheer for some time as three men and three women, all dressed in the typical uniform of Organic Androids, took the stage to his sides. "Thank you, thank you!" he began. If it was an attempt to quell the crowd, it didn't work. The uproar began anew with increased fervor. "I'm glad to see everyone is as excited to be here today as I am!"
To Lazula's side, Moka balled her fist. Her face held a marked lack of her typical smile.
"When I lost my father nine years ago, then my eldest son Onyx just a month later, both to a sudden, preventable illness, I felt lost. In the depths of that darkness I was faced with a choice. I could have lost faith, and I could have withered away. But instead, I found my purpose. I pledged to continue my father's legacy, becoming a paragon of care and living up to the company's name, becoming the Front Line against illness and suffering."
"So long as someone can afford that care..." Moka muttered.
"Long have I worked in tandem with the most talented doctors and scientists this world has to offer, and now, I can proudly announce the next generation of Organic Androids are just a few months away!"
Caspian's ears nearly split from the cheer of the crowd.
"While the current generation has seen increased use within the public sphere, the next generation is tailored to use within the home." Griswold Baine held a hand out to his side. Each android beside him took on a different emotion, from an ecstatic grin, to a look of dejection, to disgust. "As the next generation is to work so closely with humans, their emotional mimicry is far improved over the second generation. We've also improved their AI systems, in order to give their mind the flexibility our critics say can only be found within humanity itself. This advancement in simulated cognition makes the third generation perfect for the care of young children and the elderly, and even for something so simple as companionship. It truly seems as if each 'Organd' has its own personality, though of course their internal coding will continue to be strictly regulated."
The crowd was starstruck. Ichigo's eyes sparkled behind his glasses, and his Holoband joined the chorus of clicks as he took a dozen pictures of the stage in half as many seconds.
"If you're skeptical of just how realistic the next generation will be, allow me to demonstrate!" Griswold said. He held a hand out, and Caspian heard a shuffling from within the crowd, before an excited chatter took its place.
"Whaat?!" Rowan blurted.
Caspian looked to the side to see the girl Rowan was attempting to woo had unzipped her jacket, and underneath wore the uniform of an Organd. Laurel looked as if she were about to drop to the floor in laughter.
"I just flirted with an android!" Rowan lamented.
"Honestly, I don't blame you," Caspian joked.
Cattleya prodded him.
"-Because she looks so normal! I didn't mean anything else!"
Above the crowd's awe, Griswold continued. "There has been much talk of a release date, but now, I can say with certainty. The third generation of Organic Androids will be available for sale on October first!"