Note: This chapter contains sexual content.
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Forty-five: Accusation-
Kamakura - Five weeks later
*Are you sure this isn't too much for you?"
"How many times do I have to say this before it sinks in? Yes, I'm sure!"
A few days ago, Ebihara arrived to give Lucy her sixth check-up. To everyone's relief, she told them the second pap smear had come back normal. During the exam, the Midwife informed her that her weight was a little higher than normal, but it wasn't a big deal. The Diclonius was advised to do more walking as a kinda-sorta form of exercise. Upon hearing this, Lucy had insisted that, if there were errands to run, she accompany whoever was running them. Kouta, proud that she was taking this so seriously, went out and bought her a few maternity dresses just in case her normal clothes stopped fitting so well.
The one she wore today was pink with a cherry blossom pattern on it, and ended halfway between her knees and her feet.
"Ok! Ok! I'm just trying to be considerate, alright?"
Lucy sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples with both hands.
"Yuka..." she started to say, but the brunette took the pink-haired girl's hands in hers.
"It's alright, Kaeda... I get it." she said. Lucy opened her eyes to see Yuka giving her a gentle, patient smile. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to nag, I just know how much this baby means to you and Kouta, and I'm trying to do everything I can to make this as easy for you as possible."
Lucy looked away, quietly apologizing for snapping at her, but Yuka just shook her head and lightly squeezed her hands.
"I know you may not believe this, but I really do love you." she said softly.
Given the hormones and emotional shifts that commonly come with pregnancy, it wasn't a surprise when Lucy burst into tears and hugged her, but it was to hear her tearfully tell Yuka she loved her too.
After a couple of minutes, the pregnant Diclonius had her composure back and the women continued on their way. A larger, more modern grocery store had recently been built, and a curious Yuka wanted to have a look around before deciding on where to buy groceries. The first thing the girls noticed was the abundance of "self-checkout" machines, and the distinct lack of cashiers.
"They don't have ANY of these at our normal spot." Lucy remarked. "I guess it's cheaper this way."
"Yeah, but look at how big this place is!" Yuka said. "It must have cost a fortune to build!"
Aside from self-checkout machines, there were automatic doors, flat-screen monitors that displayed current promotions and special sales, and even small robots to clean the floors. It all seemed ridiculously out of place for a small town like Kamakura. To Yuka, it looked more a store you'd see in an upscale neighborhood in Tokyo.
And it had the prices to match.
"Is this a misprint? This is twice what the other store charges for milk!" Yuka said. Everything in the new store had similar disparities in pricing, with some items having as much as a 300% increase over what the smaller store charged.
Ironically, the candy aisle turned out to be cheaper, probably to encourage families with kids to shop there despite the increased prices on literally everything else.
The store wasn't entirely devoid of employees. Lucy had noticed some of them pulling huge pallets of merchandise around on dollies, and there were a couple of girls manning checkout lanes, probably in case some shoppers didn't understand or want to use the self-checkouts. The two women spent over an hour just wandering around to see if there was anything aside from candy that wasn't overpriced.
"Do you want to stay here and keep looking, or go to the other store?" Lucy asked.
"Is it ok if we go to the other one?"
When the pink-haired girl said yes, they started making their way to the exit.
"I'm sorry I made you walk all this way for nothing." Yuka apologized.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like it's on the other side of town."
They had almost reached the entrance when a man approached them, identified himself as Loss Prevention, and asked them to come with him. When Yuka asked why, he repeated the request without giving her an answer.
"We're not going anywhere with you until you tell us what you want." Lucy replied.
"It's a sensitive matter that's best discussed in private. Now, please come with me."
The girls exchanged uneasy looks, but complied.
Five minutes later, the two of them found themselves in what appeared to be a monitoring room of sorts, waiting for the store manager to arrive. Annoyingly, neither the man who led them there, nor the other two that were already inside the room would tell them anything until he got there.
While they waited, Lucy called Kouta and told him where they were, and what was going on.
"You want me to come down there?"
"No, it'll be fine. I'll see you soon, ok?"
After hanging up, the girls had to wait for nearly a half hour before the store manager finally got there. For some reason, the first thing he did was ask them to power off their smartphones.
"Do you girls know why you're here?"
"No, we don't. We asked, but nobody would tell us." Yuka replied.
"Well, let me enlighten you. You're here because Loss Prevention has reason to believe you two are shoplifting. I'm going to give you ONE chance to come clean and hand over whatever you tried to steal. Otherwise, we're calling the police and pressing charges."
"Are you people serious?! We haven't stolen anything!" Lucy yelled. "We only came here to have a look around!"
"Well, Loss Prevention says you did. Would you like to start being honest now?"
"We ARE being honest! We came in, looked around, and were on the way out! That's all!" Yuka retorted. Neither girl could believe this was actually happening. This was their first visit, and were already being accused of shoplifting.
"So... neither of you attempted to steal anything, and this is all just a misunderstanding... is that what you're telling me?" the manager asked. When they both confirmed that it was, he and the LP employee that brought them here stepped outside for a few minutes. When the two of them returned, they first asked both girls for their ID's, then for permission to search their purses. Both of them complied without protest.
"What exactly did we do that made you idiots think we were stealing?" Lucy asked, obviously rather irritated about their situation. Instead of answering her question, they told the girls to empty their pockets and remove their shoes.
"I asked you a question, and I want an answer." the pink-haired girl insisted while they began searching. When nothing was found in their purses, the manager and the LP employee again left the room.
"You people have five minutes, then we're leaving." Lucy warned.
A few moments later, the two men returned. For the third time, the Diclonius asked what the two of them did that led them to believe they were stealing from the store.
"We believe that you're hiding merchandise under your clothes. This is your last chance to be honest, ladies. We can clearly see the bulge, you're not fooling anybody, ok?"
The girls just looked at each other in disbelief. "There's a bulge because she's PREGNANT, you dumbass!" Yuka yelled.
"Nice try, but I'm not stupid." the manager smirked. "Her ID says she's a Diclonius, and I know Diclonii can't get pregnant because they're born sterile. If she doesn't quit playing dumb and return OUR property, we're going to detain her and take it back forcefully, THEN we're gonna call the police and press charges."
"Sipelits are born sterile, I'm not a Sipelit." Lucy corrected.
By now, Yuka was starting to seriously worry about the direction things were going. Promise or no promise, she knew if the men decided to get rough with them, Lucy would almost definitely consider it an attempt to harm her daughter, and Yuka had no doubt that the Diclonius would likely jump straight to lethal force to protect her and Kouta's unborn baby, especially given all they had to go through to get her pregnant in the first place.
"Listen to me, ok? She's six months pregnant. Her and her husband live with me. We haven't stolen anything. If you want to call the police, then go ahead, we'll be glad to wait for them, but you have no right to put your hands on a PREGNANT WOMAN just because you think she might be stealing!"
"Ever hear of a thing called "Shopkeeper's Privilege"? Yes, we do in fact have the right to put our hands on her, and that's what we're going to do if she doesn't start cooperating."
"Did any of you actually SEE her hiding something under her dress? Because I'm willing to bet the answer is no." Yuka asked. "You're accusing us of something that nobody saw happen for no other reason than there's a bulge under her dress, and you're too stupid to tell the difference between a pregnant woman and a shoplifter!"
"Whether we saw her do it or not doesn't matter. Diclonii can't get pregnant, and I know a thief when I see one."
"For the last time, we... haven't... stolen... ANYTHING!" Lucy said in frustration.
"Prove it. Take your clothes off for me. If you're really pregnant, you can go." he smirked. The Loss Prevention employees just snickered, watching in amusement to see what the supposed "pregnant Diclonius" would do.
If this had occurred in the very early stages, Lucy probably would have had no problem with it. Even after the wedding, she still didn't care if strangers saw her naked. It was simply a by-product of being locked up for years in a place that wouldn't permit her to wear clothing.
But that time had passed. She was long past the halfway point, and her maternal instinct was not going to allow some idiotic human to get anywhere near her unborn child.
"You're disgusting. Call the police if you wish. I'll be waiting for them in the hallway." Lucy informed them.
"I don't think you get how this works, lady. You are DETAINED, that means you can't leave!" the manager told her, raising his voice at the pregnant Diclonius as she collected her purse and ID. "As I said, I'm going out into the hallway to wait for the police." Lucy said. "Which I'm now going to call, even if you weren't."
As she picked up her phone, the manager abruptly snatched it out of her hands.
"Ok, you had your chance. Now we're doing this the hard way!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Yuka yelled. When Lucy tried to grab it back, the men from Loss Prevention attempted to grab her arm, but the brunette got between them and the Diclonius.
"Are you crazy?! She's pregnant! Get away from her!"
The closest man literally shoved Yuka aside and grabbed the pink-haired girl by the arm. The other two men grabbed her other arm and tried to flex-cuff her hands behind her back.
"Hold her still so I can pull her dress up!" the third man yelled.
The moment the Head of Loss Prevention stuck his hands up her dress and made contact with her bare pregnant belly, Yuka knew just from the look in the other girl's eyes a line had just been crossed and there was no longer any chance of a non-violent way out of this. Lucy immediately released her vectors, and Yuka and the manager both got a front row seat to the three men getting a beat down they'd never forget. When she finally stopped, the three Loss Prevention men were covered in blood and unresponsive, the room had blood on the walls and floor, and the manager was sitting in a puddle of piss screaming for help.
"Kaeda...?" Yuka asked fearfully. The pink-haired girl turned to face her. She had the men's blood on her face and clothes, but at least the murderous look in her eyes was gone.
Mostly...
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, but they're not." she replied coldly.
"I can see that. I'll call an ambulance. You should let Kouta know what happened, and tell him to get his ass up here."
As the still enraged Diclonius was calling her husband, Yuka called emergency services to request police and EMS.
One hour later
In a move that surprised both Kouta and Yuka, the pink-haired girl actually agreed to let EMS physically examine her to check on her unborn baby.
Sort of...
As the police were walking the girls outside, Lucy abruptly gasped and clutched her stomach.
"Are you ok, Miss Kaeda?" one the cops asked.
"Y-Yeah... I'm... I'm fine." she answered.
Once Kouta arrived, the cousins had a surprisingly easy time talking her into letting EMS have a look at her.
They first asked if they could take her to the hospital to see an actual OB/GYN, but (as expected) she refused. They then asked if she'd at least consent to a quick, minimally-invasive check to be sure she wasn't bleeding in places she shouldn't be.
"All I want to do is a quick check to be sure your cervix isn't bleeding." the EMT said.
"What are you going to do?" Lucy asked warily.
"I just need to insert a couple of fingers, that's all. I promise I'll do this as quickly and gently as I possibly can. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds."
"I'll sit right here and hold your hand if it'll help." Kouta offered. "I know you don't like being touched, but-"
"It's ok, Kouta. He can go ahead and do it." she interrupted. She may not be injured, but the pregnant Diclonius was well-aware that sudden, high-stress situations could have negative effects for unborn children, and using her vectors so aggressively had definitely counted as a sudden, high-stress situation.
As the cousins climbed in and shut the doors, Lucy took her panties off and laid down on her back, blushing heavily as she opened her legs. Taking her hand, Kouta did his best to keep her as calm as possible. The EMT slipped on a latex glove, applied a bit of lube, and was finished in about five seconds.
"Alright, we're done." he announced while peeling off his glove.
"That's it? Seriously?" Lucy asked in confusion.
The EMT smiled at her and nodded his head. "There's no blood on the glove, and that's all I was worried about. You can put your panties back on now."
Opening the doors, he hopped out and told them he'd come check on her again in a bit.
After he left, Kouta and Yuka hugged the pink-haired girl together.
"Thank you so much, Kaeda. I know that was difficult, but I'm proud of you for doing it." Yuka said, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"So am I. You might not have realized it, but the fact that you were willing to put our baby's health over your distrust of humans says a lot about how good of a mother you're going to be." Kouta smiled.
Lucy had tears in her eyes as she smiled and hugged them back, nearly whispering while she thanked them for being so supportive and loving towards her. The three of them hugged in silence for several seconds, then Yuka nonchalantly asked if this meant she was OK with an actual doctor examining her from now on.
"Don't push your luck." the pregnant Diclonius replied.
The three of them started laughing. In an effort to give the couple a little bit of privacy, Yuka decided to go buy drinks for everyone from one of the numerous vending machines near the supermarket's entrance.
Now alone, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply on the lips.
"I love you so much." she softly whispered as she looked into his eyes.
"I love you, too." he whispered back. "And I really am proud you did that."
In all honesty, it really wasn't that big a deal. She definitely didn't like somebody other than Kouta putting their fingers inside her, but she wasn't going to risk her child's health just for that. Five seconds of discomfort was a lot better than having complications and finding out too late to make a difference.
A few minutes later, Yuka returned, bearing assorted soda's for them. The conversation then shifted from exams, babies, and sex, to the way Loss Prevention mistreated the girls.
"I can't believe those assholes actually tried to restrain you for a crime that didn't even occur! What the hell were they thinking?" Kouta asked. As soon as he heard about it, the police had to physically get between him and the manager and try calming him down. Lucy had never in her Iife seen him so pissed off.
Though she wouldn't come right out and say it, it kinda made her happy to see him being this protective of her. Sure, she didn't really NEED protecting, but that was beside the point.
The Diclonius heard her name being called, and looked over to see the Prosecutor coming her way, followed by police officers that she instantly recognized as the men who accompanied Chief Dojima when her and Nana had been accused of assaulting Japanese-Karen.
"Are you alright? We can take you to the hospital if you want."
"I'm fine, but thanks anyway." the pink-haired girl replied.
The Prosecutor nodded, then informed her she had some bad news for her.
"The manager and two of the men from security are claiming they caught you stealing. When they confronted you about it, they're claiming you got violent and attacked them for no reason." the officer on the right said.
"What?!" Lucy and Kouta asked at the same time.
"That's a load of horseshit!" Yuka exclaimed.
The one on the left asked for her and Lucy's side. When the girls were done, the Prosecutor and the two officers walked away to discuss the issue privately.
After a few minutes, the trio walked back over to where she was sitting.
"Kaeda, I want you to know upfront that, personally, I believe your version of events. I don't believe for one second that you were actually shoplifting, and I have an extremely hard time believing you'd up and attack someone without provocation, especially while pregnant." the Prosecutor said.
"The problem is you two are claiming one thing, and the three of them are claiming something different. They're all beat-up, but you don't have a scratch on you." one cop said.
"Now, wait a second!" Kouta yelled.
The other cop raised a hand and interrupted him. "All three of us absolutely believe you, but unless we can find more proof, you might end up getting charged."
Without a word, Yuka pulled out her smartphone and handed it over.
"This should do the trick."
She had to help them locate the file, but soon they were watching the recorded video of everything that happened from the time the girls were led in, to just after Yuka called for help.
"I thought you shut your phone off?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"I shut the SCREEN off, but that didn't stop it from recording." Yuka grinned.
"You recorded all that?!" Lucy asked in shock. "Since when?!"
"The moment we walked into the security room."
The Prosecutor, both police officers, and Kouta all watched the entire recording. When it was over, she gave Yuka her phone back and turned to the two cops she arrived with.
"Go arrest that son-of-a-bitch." she angrily ordered.
The two officers seemed almost giddy as they walked over and gleefully arrested the store manager. The cops both had enormous, shit-eating grins on their faces when they revealed that Yuka had recorded the entire incident.
The manager apparently didn't quite understand what a recorded video was because he kept insisting Lucy had attacked them first, and they were just defending themselves.
"Deny it all you want, dirtbag... you're still going to jail."
"After what you did to Miss Kaeda, you're lucky she didn't kill you all!"
"If your three buddies survive, we're going to arrest them, too!"
Turning to the Prosecutor, Yuka asked if Lucy was going to be charged with anything for what she did to the men from Loss Prevention.
"Absolutely not. Grabbing an obviously pregnant woman and attempting to forcibly restrain her is inexcusable even if she HAD been shoplifting. And the part about trying to make her take her clothes off? Yeah, those little bastards are going to PAY!" the Prosecutor promised.
Turning her attention to Lucy, she smiled and reached for the girl's hand.
"You did nothing wrong. Those men had no right whatsoever to touch you, and personally, I'm glad you cared enough to defend your unborn baby."
Lucy smiled and shook hands, thanking the woman for all she'd done for her.
"By the way, I think you've got a visitor." the Prosecutor said, pointing over at a man walking towards them.
Lucy started to get up, but the man, who Yuka recognized as the Chief of Police, stopped her.
"Don't strain yourself, Miss Kaeda. I know this is unexpected, but I wanted to come and check on you."
"I'm fine, but thank you." Lucy smiled. "I'm glad you stopped by." The two of them sat there and made idle small-talk for a little bit, then he asked the pregnant Diclonius about the status of the three men.
"The "Head of Loss Prevention" is on life-support. The other two are in Intensive Care." Moriyama answered for her.
"You're not planning on filing charges if he dies, are you?"
The Prosecutor just laughed. "Of course not. I DO have to present it to a Grand Jury, but I can guarantee you they won't vote for indictment. Even if they DO, I'm still authorized to decline to file... which I will, by the way. I'm not punishing a pregnant girl for defending herself. If that man dies, it's his own fault."
Everyone seemed greatly relieved to hear this, Chief Dojima included.
"Besides..." she said as she placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I happen to be very fond of the girl. That wouldn't stop me from doing my job, but I'd never be able to forgive myself if I filed charges against a pregnant woman who I knew was just trying to defend her unborn baby. I DO plan to charge the store manager and those three employees, however... assuming they survive."
"I hope they do..."
Everyone looked at the pink-haired girl in surprise.
"Why?" Moriyama asked in genuine confusion.
Lucy closed her eyes and took a minute to do some deep, honest soul-searching. Sure, there was her promise to Kouta, but he had already made it clear that he'd never hold it against her if she was forced to kill out of necessity. It could have been fear of turning Yuka against her, but the human girl had long since sided with Kouta that there was nothing wrong with using lethal force to protect others, and an unborn baby definitely deserved to be defended with whatever force was necessary.
After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and quietly answered:
"I think I've killed enough people for one lifetime. I don't want to add to it if I don't have to."
"Well... alright then." the Chief said, but it was clear that he approved of her reasoning. He reached out and gently hugged her, whispering directly into her ear as he reminded her again not to leave her baby alone with the doctors.
"Are you alright, Madame Prosecutor?" he suddenly asked.
"W-Who, me? Of course..." she said as she wiped her eyes. "This pollen is just... ughh, I hate it..."
He gave her a "Not buying your bullshit excuse" smile before saying goodbye. After he had left, the Prosecutor asked Lucy if she'd be willing to come to the Grand Jury proceedings in three days.
"You don't HAVE to, but I'd really appreciate it."
When she agreed, the Prosecutor for some reason asked her not to wear a one-piece dress.
"You'll understand why when we get there."
Lucy agreed, and arrangements were made to pick them up the morning of the proceedings.
"You want me to have someone take you guys home?" the Prosecutor asked.
"That'd be great! But do you think they could they take us by the other grocery store first?" Yuka asked her. "We still have to get groceries so we can go home and make dinner."
The older woman had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing. "...Sure."
Kaeda House - Late that night
For the second time that night, Lucy found herself lying on her back and opening her legs so a man could put his fingers inside her.
This time, she was looking forward to it.
After he'd worked her clit a little, she was more than happy to let him to gently slip two fingers inside of her. Lucy gasped softly as he carefully pushed them in as deep as possible.
"Um... I know this is a creepy-sounding question, but when that EMT-"
Already knowing what he was going to ask, she interrupted him mid-sentence.
"No, you pervert... it didn't do anything for me." she teased.
He laughed playfully as he slowly pulled his fingers almost completely out of her, then gently pushed them back inside. "I didn't actually think it did, but I couldn't resist teasing you a bit."
To Lucy, it was more about who was doing it and why, than it was what they were doing. That EMT did it for medical purposes, whereas Kouta was doing it to please her sexually.
And doing a damn good job of it.
"God, this feels amazing..." she said quietly. "Maybe you should just go to medical school so you can be my private Gynecologist."
He smiled in amusement. "I'm not going back to college for another ten years, but I'm always happy to examine you anyway."
Lucy giggled at his answer. "I'm always happy to let you."
Kouta sped up a little bit, starting to push his two fingers in and out of her a bit faster. Lucy bit down her lower lip and moaned, but when she reached her hand down to touch herself, Kouta slapped it, making her gasp in pain as she yanked it back.
"No touching, that's my job."
Lucy giggled and simply let him do all the work while she laid there and enjoyed it.
After another minute or so, he laid next to her so he could use his mouth on her breasts, and switch back to rubbing her clit. He loved the way she squirmed and moaned, and once he took one of her nipples into his mouth, it wasn't long before her breathing sped up and she forcefully gripped the bedsheets, moaning softly as she orgasmed.
Kouta, as usual, continued rubbing her clit a little longer after her climax was over. When he finally stopped, he cuddled against her naked body and held her as tight as he safely could.
"Thank you. That was just... incredible." Lucy blushed before kissing him gently on the lips.
He kissed her back, one of his hands coming up to lightly brush pink hair out of her face. "You are very welcome, beautiful."
For several seconds, the couple just cuddled, but it didn't take long for the silence to be broken.
"Hey, Kouta?" she asked. Her husband didn't even wait for her to say it. He knew just by her tone what she wanted. Moments later, Lucy was on her hands and knees, being made love to from behind. After he was finished cumming inside of her, the couple went right back to cuddling and kissing until they eventually fell asleep.
But while the pink-haired girl was living a life full of love and happiness, other Diclonii weren't so lucky.
Meanwhile...
In an office located within a research laboratory, a man sat poring over piles of lab reports from his recent experiments. Not far from his office, one of the seventeen Diclonii he used as test subjects could be heard groaning in pain as the guards half-drug her back to the very large containment cell she shared with the others.
A quiet knock on the door caused him to look up from his work. Moments later, the door opened.
"What is it?"
"Number Four is out of surgery." a research assistant told him.
"How did it go?"
"Well, we successfully removed the Pineal Gland, and you were right, it DOES strip a Diclonii of their vectors. The problem is, it also leaves them in an almost lobotomized state of existence. Now, she can't even speak or walk, I'm afraid."
"Kill it. We'll try again with Number Five in a couple of days."
The assistant nodded and left. A few minutes later, there was a gunshot, followed by fearful crying and pleading from the remaining Diclonii.
The scientist sighed deeply. At this rate, he'd be sending his "Capture Crew" out for more test subjects before the end of the month. It was getting harder and harder to track down Diclonii. So hard, in fact, that he had begun kicking around the idea of looking outside of Japan.
His office door was suddenly thrown open by an out of breath lab tech.
"Doctor! There's something you should see on Channel Twelve!"
The older man scowled at the unexpected intrusion, but turned the TV on anyway. From what he could tell, it looked like a news report about some sort of disturbance at a supermarket in Kamakura.
"You interrupted me for THIS?"
"Keep watching."
"The altercation began when Loss Prevention accused the women of shoplifting. Twenty-five year old Yuka Hinasaki and twenty-six year old Kaeda Kurosawa were brought to the security room where the manager and Loss Prevention were waiting. Mrs. Kurosawa, a Diclonius, was then accused of faking a pregnancy to facilitate shoplifting."
"WHAT?!"
The doctor's jaw dropped when the footage showed an obviously pregnant, pink-haired girl talking with police officers in (presumably) the store's parking lot.
"Things turned violent when Loss Prevention tried to forcibly restrain Kurosawa and inspect the bulge underneath her dress. In response, Kurosawa inflicted life-threatening injuries on the Loss Prevention employees, one of which is not expected to survive."
"It's Lucy! God almighty! She's alive!"
Other employees crowded into the office, watching in shock as the Diclonius Queen was led to an ambulance to be seen by EMT's.
"Are you sure it's Lucy?"
"Definitely! She's the only Diclonius ever born that's capable of bearing children! I don't know how she did it, but she not only survived, she's become pregnant! I MUST have her, no matter what!"
"I'll call Paraiba and have him ready the Capture Team." the lab tech said.
"Don't bother. They wouldn't stand a chance against her." he replied. "Unlike the others they've captured, Lucy won't hesitate to kill them."
"How are we supposed to acquire her without them?" a different tech asked.
The scientist pointed to the TV. On the screen, they could clearly see her and Kouta kissing in the back of the ambulance, followed by Yuka walking up and handing them cans of soda.
"She's got a family..." the lab tech noted.
"Precisely. What pregnant woman do you know would refuse medical and financial support in exchange for a little cooperation?"
Next chapter: Advancement.