Since Elie and Lloyd were off with KeA, both Randy and Tio had free time for the day. However, unlike Randy, Tio was doing some personal requests from Chief Roberts in her free time. What it was, Randy didn't have the heart to listen more after Tio said it was about the OrbalNet. He lazed around when Lloyd called him to ask for either Tio or him to accompany Juna in her investigation.
So here he was, waiting for the pink-haired Junior Bracer to be.
"Excuse me!"
The door to the SSS building was opened, and Juna's figure entered the room.
"Yo," Randy greeted her from the couch. "I heard from Lloyd that you're gonna investigate something?"
Seriously, why couldn't she just join the SSS? That way, she could tap the resources the police had whenever she wanted to do some investigation.
"Yes," Juna nodded. "Shall we go? You're my chaperone for the day, right?"
Randy let out a laugh. "Slow down there, Junie. You just came back here from the hospital, right? Take a few minutes of rest first. You want coffee?"
"If you don't mind," Juna nodded and sat on the sofa.
Five minutes later, Randy was back with three cups of coffee. One for Juna, one for him, and one for Tio. When he got out of the kitchen, he blinked when he didn't see Juna's figure on the sofa. The pink-haired girl was instead found near the Terminal, immersed in a conversation with the resident orbal computer expert.
"...I see... so you're saying that the connection between this terminal and the one in the police headquarters is done through the OrbalNet," Juna nodded to herself.
"Yes. To clarify, we have something called OrbalNet Protocol Address, which consists of a series of numbers and dots to distinguish one address from another. This OrbalNet Protocol Address is assigned to each device connected to the OrbalNet. For example, this Terminal and the police HQ's Terminal are both connected to the OrbalNet. The two have different OrbalNet Protocol Addresses," Tio explained further. "To communicate, there is something called a Transmission Control Protocol..."
Randy tuned out Tio's explanation. Seriously, he rarely found her this excited when talking about the OrbalNet. Well, good for her, he guessed. He turned his attention to Juna. Despite the technobabble Tio spouted, Juna seemed to grasp the main idea because she nodded and sometimes frowned at Tio's explanation.
"'sup, gals. Here's coffee," Randy decided to butt in on their talk and offered the two girls a cup of coffee each.
"Thank you, Randy."
"Thanks, Randy."
"Still, I didn't expect you to understand what Tio is talking about. None of us in the SSS really understand the mechanic behind the Orbal Terminal except her," Randy mused with a small smile. "Guess Lloyd wasn't lying when he said you're good with technology."
"Ehehe, of course! Technology is the future. I pay full attention to any breakthrough on that front, especially something as big as the Orbal Network."
Tio frowned. "OrbalNet is still in its infancy. How are you so sure that it's going to be big? Is it your ability in play?"
Juna looked at the blue-haired girl flatly. "Even I don't need to connect the dots to anything to see the potential in the OrbalNet. For example, imagine that your Enigma can access the OrbalNet. As police officers, you don't really need your notebook anymore when you can look for information in the police database from your Enigma, and update the database with real-time information so the people on the headquarter can make the correct decisions without wasting time."
"Huh?" Randy opened his mouth, not understanding anything.
Tio's eyes widened. "That's... Hmm... It can be done through a normal phone call, but... I suppose there's some allure in bypassing the communication stage. For example, the SSS doesn't need to go back to this building before we can mark our requests as finished. We can do it directly on the site and even provide photographic evidence."
She typed something in the Terminal before she turned back to Juna.
"Juna, is it alright if I brought you to Chief Roberts for a talk someday?"
Juna opened her mouth. "...I don't really know anything technical about OrbalNet. What are you gonna need me for?"
Randy could sense Juna's discomfort at being put in the spotlight.
"Wow, wow, slow down, Tio-tot. Junie's overwhelmed over here," Randy intervened.
Tio exhaled. "Tell me, Juna. What else do you think can be achieved through OrbalNet, aside from real-time updates of the police database?"
Juna closed her eyes before she sighed. "Lots of things. But I'm really not suited for that kind of serious talk, Tio. I'll write you about what I think can be done with OrbalNet later, but not the technical side of things as I really do not know that part."
The younger girl frowned but nodded in understanding. "A shame. If you change your mind, you can just talk to me. I'd love to discuss all things with you, Juna."
Tio finished with a smile.
"Sure. This is also the first time I have gotten an explanation about OrbalNet. The library still has no books on it, so I only know through hearsay what the Guild can tell me," Juna replied.
"Huh? The Guild is involved in the development of OrbalNet?" Randy asked.
"Specifically, the Crossbell Branch and the Headquarters in Leman, because those are where the foundation has been focusing their effort to develop the OrbalNet," Tio answered. "I assume Michel has been telling you about the OrbalNet's progress?"
"Yes," Juna answered before sipping her coffee. "When I first heard the concept, I knew it would be the thing in the immediate future. So I asked Michel if he could update me if there's a new development."
"I see... if you're that sure about it, then I'm glad I took part in the development to shape Zemuria's future," Tio let out a sigh of contentment.
"Whoa, that's big talk there... but I guess since it's Junie..." Randy trailed off with a smile.
"Ahahaha... come on, guys. My words aren't the law or anything." Juna giggled.
After ten more minutes of discussion about the OrbalNet that Randy couldn't follow, Juna decided that it was time for them to go.
"See you later, Tio."
"Please guard Tio-tot, Zeit."
"Oh! Yeah! Zeit too!" Juna quickly went to the laying dog and petted him. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"
"Juna. Zeit said that you're bothering his nap," Tio remarked from the Terminal after Zeit let out a small whine.
"Oh! Sorry, Zeit. You're just too fluffy for my fragile heart," Juna released the canine and stood up. "See you later, Zeit."
"So, where are we going?" Randy asked Tio once they left the SSS building. Honestly, when Lloyd first asked him to watch over Juna's investigation, he was just gonna coast along. But then Lloyd pointed out that if possible, he wanted Randy to observe how Juna did things and how different it was from the usual investigation the SSS did, and noted things if Juna used her ability to connect the dots. "Before that, what are you going to investigate in the first place?"
Juna raised her eyebrow. "What else? Of course, it's KeA."
Now it was Randy's time to raise his eyebrow. "Didn't Lloyd say anything to you? The trunk KeA was found was shipped through Remiferia, and Revache denied knowing anything about KeA. The police then conceded to Revache's claim to 'keep the peace,' what a bunch of bullshit."
Randy couldn't help but spit to the side, momentarily forgetting that it was classified and not for outsiders.
"Say, Randy. Do you accept it just like that? From your reaction, I can guess that you're not but are told to drop it because of pressures from above. Am I right?" Juna questioned him.
Randy snorted. "You know me so well, Junie. But Chief Sergei has told us to focus on other things. Nothing we can do."
Especially because Revache used the SSS's undercover infiltration as a bargaining chip to enforce the truce, there really was nothing they could do to refute it because, well... going to the Schwarze Auction itself was done without Sergei's acceptance.
"Well, then. It's a good thing that Chief Sergei isn't my boss, then," Juna grinned. "Nothing he can do to prevent my investigation."
Randy couldn't help but chuckle at Juna's words. "Right. I'm here not as police investigating the auction. I'm here as an SSS member fulfilling Lloyd's request to act as your minder."
He finished with a wink, to which Juna replied in kind.
"That's right! If you take notes of something interesting, well, that's your prerogative, and I can't do anything about it."
Randy grinned. Juna was fun, alright.
"Right. So where are we going first?" He asked as they passed the Bell of Crossbell.
"First thing first, Imelda," Juna answered as she led him to the Back Alley.
Soon, they entered the Antique Shop. The doorbell rang as Juna opened the door. "Miss Imelda, are you here?"
"Hyeh hyeh hyeh, I'm here, brat," the figure in the violet dress let out a strange laugh as she greeted Juna. Her bespectacled eyes glanced at him for a little bit. "I see you're bringing one of the detectives with you."
"Yep. I'm on an unofficial investigation. Do you have spare time?" Juna asked nicely.
"No."
What a cold reply, but Imelda had always been like that, even to the SSS.
"Oh, come on. I know you also want to know what happened at the auction," Juna tried to bargain.
"For the record, I was there."
"...then I'll go straight to the point. Do you know who had enough guts to misreport a little girl as Rosenberg Doll to Revache?" Juna asked the old lady.
"I said I have no time to humor you, brat."
"I see. You don't know anything, then."
Imelda chuckled at Juna's statement. "Who said that I don't know anything?"
"The fact that you don't want to answer me," Juna answered with confidence in her words. "If you truly know something, you'd have gloated about it in a roundabout way."
The violet-garbed woman's face lost all her humor. "Tch. You're too sharp for your own good.
Randy observed the interaction between the two and made some mental notes about Juna's method of interrogating someone. Whereas Lloyd was methodical and accommodating to the one being questioned in the hope that they'd cooperate, Juna bulldozed their bullshit with her own bullshit ability and went straight to the heart of the matter. But Juna's method was not without calculation either. Randy didn't notice before Juna mentioned it, but Imelda... loved to gloat about holding some piece of information over the SSS whenever they interacted on a request. Juna used that crack to strike at the older lady's defense. And maybe she connected the dots to something else that only she could understand to conclude that Imelda didn't know anything.
"Let's go, Randy. We'll learn nothing here."
"Right," he followed suit as he saw the pink-haired girl leaving the shop.
"See you later, Miss Imelda."
"Don't come back here, you brat."
Once they were outside, Juna walked towards the Entertainment District. Randy followed one step behind.
"Hey, Junie. Does she really know nothing?"
"Most probably. I was just bluffing, but the fact that she didn't gloat is a big indicator that she knew nothing," Juna shrugged. "In any case, rather than annoying her further, it's better for us to move to the next target."
"Next target?" Randy parroted as they entered the hustle and bustle of the Entertainment District. However, Juna did not enter any building. Instead, the two of them continued walking toward the Residential District. Oh...
"Mainz Mountain Path... are we going to the Rosenberg Studio?"
"Yup," Juna answered.
Randy's hand gripped the battle axe in his back. The last time Juna was there, she was threatened with a scythe. He hoped this time there was nothing like that.
