The next morning, Naomi awoke with her body facing the door, her left arm over Mytyl's torso and right arm flat at her side.
"I guess that stomach sleepers really do get more rest." Naomi whispered as to not wake Mytyl.
She heard Nori talking outside the door. Wondering what was going on, Naomi put her ear to the door.
"I don't know what could've happened to her. She usually calls to tell me when she's staying somewhere else for the night." Nori stated.
'Oh, they must be talking about me. I guess I'd better let her know I'm okay.' Naomi supposed as she slowly creaked the door open.
"Sorry, I missed dinner so I ate at a coworker's place. We got caught up watching movies. My bad." Naomi apologized.
Nori could only give a sigh of relief in response.
"I'm glad you're alright. Just make sure you call next time to tell me where you are. Alright?" Nori assured.
Naomi smiled with her eyes shut and gave a left thumbs up. Surprisingly, Mytyl stayed asleep during the entire conversation.
"Huh, she really can sleep through anything." Naomi commented.
"I'll get your tray. I had it in your room but you may want to eat with Mytyl." Nori noted.
"It's okay, I'll get it. Besides, you do enough for me anyways. The least I can do is get my own breakfast." Naomi remarked as she left for her room.
Naomi was excited to see a chocolate chip waffle with whipped butter and lots of syrup with chocolate milk. Once she set down her tray, Naomi's phone rang. The caller ID showed that it was Moniqa.
"You're the only person I'd be happy to have interrupt my breakfast. I really can't thank you enough for letting me stay over last night. I really appreciate it." Naomi notified.
"You're welcome. But, we really have an emergency and we need you here right now!" Moniqa panicked.
"Uh, that sounds great and all. But can I finish my breakfast first? I don't even have anything in my stomach yet. Or is this one of those "drop everything" kind of emergencies?" Naomi asked.
"Just get here as soon as you're done. And don't eat your food like a hamster." Moniqa lectured.
"Aw, but hamsters are so cute though. Fine, I'll see you in a bit." Naomi confirmed as she hung up.
Naomi hurriedly ate her food and ran to work as fast as she could. Naomi decided she would only use her teleportation ability for emergencies or the Lyoko warriors. Naomi managed to reach work by 8: 45, fifteen minutes after she got dressed and ate. Naomi had on a short sleeve navy blue shirt with a moon on it, zirconium moon earrings, blue jeans and her blue boots.
Naomi didn't even have time to put her hair up so she just wore it down. Naomi ran up the stairs so she could reach the eighth floor faster.
"M-made, it." Naomi wheezed as she sat at her desk.
"Why did you leave for Firmament last night!? I told you to stay with me!" Moniqa exclaimed while flailing her arms about.
"Huh? I don't get it? Is this supposed to be a joke. If so, I don't get the punchline." Naomi laughed nervously.
"What's this then, huh!?" Zeno yelled as peculiar footage appeared on Moniqa's screen.
When Naomi saw the visuals the monitor was relaying, Naomi questioned her sanity, vision and if her mind was "sound". The screen was showing exactly what she saw last night. Onscreen was the signs she had something wrong with her. It took a second for the fact to register.
With that fact being that Naomi's nightmare was onscreen. Naomi could feel her arms getting warm. Definitely her Angered Explosion kicking in. From below her shoulders is where it started.
The feeling soon spread to her shoulders and tips of her fingers. Naomi's face got cold, especially her cheeks.
"Z-Zeno, I know you like to pull pranks and all. But, th-this ain't f-f-funny. Like, at all." Naomi protested.
"What part, out of all of this, made you think this was a setup or a prank?" Zeno wondered.
Naomi inhaled nervously.
"Okay, but promise you won't laugh, criticize me, tease me, try to get me fired, or anything else of the sort." Naomi huffed.
"Zeno nodded, engaging his "serious mode" as he called it.
"I saw that last night. I was there, at Firmament. And that exact thing panned out. But, I passed out before we actually fought." Naomi elucidated.
"You didn't happen to recall being anywhere before that?" Asimov questioned.
"No, why?" Naomi denied.
Asimov pulled up footage of S-FIT, with Naomi stuck in a 10 by 15 foot completely white room. Naomi instantly recognized it as the room she was locked in two weeks before she recovered from that terrible illness.
"Roll it forward please. I need to see where the fight goes." Naomi commented.
In the end, Nova won, leaving Naomi furious.
"No, no, no! This is all wrong! I'm supposed to win, not him!" Naomi ranted.
"Well, you were asleep." Zeno reminded.
"She's right though. It's almost as if she did let him win." Moniqa noted.
"Anesthesia." Asimov spoke.
"Huh?" everyone wondered while looking at Asimov strangely.
"You don't know why or how you get to S-FIT. Isn't that right Naomi?" Asimov noticed.
Naomi put her head down.
"Roll it back forty five minutes." Asimov requested.
That's when Naomi saw a sight that made her sick and furious at the same time. Dr. Kamizono put a gas mask over Naomi's nose and mouth. It had a muted light blue strap that went around the sides and back of her head.
"I don't get it, how did this happen? There's no way I did this willingly." Naomi ranted.
"That's something you'll have to ask about." Asimov declared.
Naomi was afraid to get answers. But was eager to figure everything out at the same time.
"Sure, in ten, thousand years." Naomi protested.
"You can figure out how you'll ask during lunch. But right now you'll have to help Zeno explain the acronyms we use on file to GV." Asimov reminded.
"Ugh, fine. Honestly, at the rate things are going I'll be able to retire before lunch." Naomi snarled.
"Are you really still mad about Mytyl calling you old?" Moniqa remembered.
"You're eight minutes her senior right?" Zeno questioned.
"Yeah." Naomi sighed.
"Just a random thought. Didyou ever have one of those plastic fish tanks? With the green, blue and purple plastic orbs in it? It had the black bottom and three fake fish? And when you put the water in it to the fill line it took days for them to grow?" Moniqa pondered.
"And it was a total dud? Yeah, I had some. Both the green and blue tanks." Naomi confirmed.
"Well, I got one just as decoration for my room. But I couldn't decide which color to use so I bought both. Do you want one?" Moniqa offered.
"Sure, I'll take it." Naomi agreed.
She grabbed the two by five inch fake tank and put it on her desk.
"And now to talk some literal sense into GV." Naomi added before leaving to get to work.
Naomi sat on the left of GV who sat in the middle of her and Zeno who was seated on the right.
"Why are there so many!?" Naomi fumed.
"It's supposed ta cut down on report writing time." Zeno answered.
"ETA means estimated time of arrival or estimated time of attack. AOS means Adept, attacker, army, arsenal or assassin on site. Their attitude depends on the place, time of day and if they took their meds or not." Naomi teased.
"You're talking about Stratos right?" Gunvolt asked.
"Yeah. Would you believe me if I told you it was the meds that made him go crazy?" Naomi spoke.
Naomi saw Asimov approaching from the corner of her eye and hurriedly changed the subject.
"And the whole CROW acronym is easy. C means charting your destination. R stands for remembering to watch yourself and be vigilant for enemies. O stands for observing your surroundings for traps and things. W stands for wait. Either you wait for backup or wait for an attack opening." Naomi explained.
She turned, smiled at Asimov with her eyes closed. And turned around to slouch in her seat, hoping he walked off.
"It's nine forty five, so I'll make you an offer. You go talk to him for fiteen minutes. If I know you actually talked to him, I'lls till pay ou for those fifteen minutes. If not, I'll talk to him myself." Asimov announced.
Naomi started laughing. She laughed so hard in fact that Gunvolt had to keep a grip on her shirt sleeve nearly to the point of cutting off Naomi's circulation.
"He shot you last time you tried to reconcile." Naomi reminded as she re-adjusted herself in her chair.
"It seems that you forgot about the first time." Asimov remarked.
"Actually, I forgot that you had a brain." Naomi retorted.
"You do realize that Sumeragi won't fire either of you right?" Asimov declared.
"We're their most important assets when it comes to the experiments. So of course they won't. Besides, I already asked somebody three times already and the answer was always no." Naomi assured with her arms folded.
"You two just can't play nice together can you?" Moniqa muttered.
"If you tell her any, and I do mean any, of my backstory and I will not be coming back tomorrow." Naomi threatened.
"Maybe you should go back to Sumeragi and be with your own kind." Asimov remarked.
"Are you calling me a traitor, evil, or both?" Naomi inqueried.
"Both." Asimov answered.
Naomi got so mad that she nearly decided to storm off and head home. But she knew what Asimov was trying to do. So, in an act of protest, Naomi went to update Asimov's file. She interlaced her fingers and cracked them.
She began by first using her Azure Striker. It overrode the password security lock. Once she was granted access, Naomi let her fingers do the work. While at the Datastore, she found an isolated server deactivated.
Once turned back on, Naomi found data on S-FIT. Unfortunately, all the data she found was on project Gunvolt. Naomi found that she nor Gunvolt were mentioned. However, Naomi did make sure to put all she knew.
And the very first thing Naomi planned to do was show Moniqa what she wrote. This may or may not have frightened Moniqa beyond what Naomi thought possible. While Xiao took Naomi's place on the couch, the three boys had no idea what was going on.
"Do you know what's going on here Zeno?" Gunvolt wondered.
"Honestly? Nope, not a clue." Zeno replied.
"I take it this was your desired method of retaliation?" Asimov interrogated.
Naomi nodded eagerly while looking Asimov directly in the eye with her fists balled up.
"Very well then. You are suspended until further notice. Make sure to take your pesonal belongings with you. Just in case we find a replacement for you." Asimov retorted.
"You're bluffing." Naomi noticed.
"About getting you a replacement? Yes. Your weeklong suspenion, no." Asimov responded.
"Well then, what happens if I don't vacate the premises?" Naomi teased.
"That's up to you to find out." Asimov dared.
Frightened by the prospect of unknown terrors, Naomi fled the scene faster than Zeno got mad after losing Gal Gun. Naomi went home at 11:45 and called Moniqa.
"Did you get home yet?" Moniqa asked.
"Yeah ,I was just wondering if there was any work I could do from home." Naomi replied.
"You wanted to make sure he didn't tell me anything didn't you?" Moniqa revealed.
"That too. Seriously though, can you please convince him that he's having a manic episode? And that QUILL will fall apart without me being there?" Naomi begged.
"I'll see what I can do." Moniqa assured.
"Thanks Moniqa you're the-" and that's when she hung up.
"Best." Naomi grumbled.
Since she had fifteen minutes until lunch, Naomi decided to call Jeremy. He groggily got his glasses on and answered his phone.
"Naomi, is something wrong?" Jeremy worried.
"Asimov had better hope on his life that I don't go back to wok next week. Rather, anytime within this year actually." Naomi snarled.
"I don't understand, what happened?" Jeremy wondered.
"I got knocked off the job for a week. Boss called me a traitor and everything." Naomi answered.
"But why would he do that? Does Asimov have something against you?" Jeremy sighed.
"He wanted to tell Moniqa about my backstory with Sumeragi. So, as a counterblow, I wrote down all of his history with S-FIT." Naomi smiled.
"I can't say I'd blame him." Jeremy defended.
Naomi flinched.
"You did kind of betray his trust after all." Jeemy commented.
"Yeah, I really blew it. Did you know Lumen thought that GV was flirting with Xiao at one point?" Naomi added.
Jeremy started laughing.
"Yeah, she gets super duper ultra jealous anytime he's around Quinn. Apparently, she's a little ball of fury anytime Quinn's mentioned or involved." Naomi explained.
"Well, I'd better get back to sleep. Good luck Naomi." Jeremy yawned.
"Wait, do you have time to talk now or later?" Naomi questioned.
"How bad is it?" Jeremy panicked.
"Uh, nevermind I'll tell you tomorrow bye!" Naomi denied as she dropped the call.
Jeremy called her right back. Naomi went downstairs to where Copen was working on Lola. She put her phone on the top left corner of the workbench.
"If it rings, smash it." Naomi spoke before returning upstairs.
Naomi gained a headache directly above her left eyebrow.
"Something the matter boss? You look exhausted." Lola commented.
"I'm fine, just give me ten hours." Naomi groaned.
Naomi realized Copen must have finished working on Lola for her to be near.
"What happened?" Lola wondered.
"The boss wanted me to fess up about my connection to S-FIT. He said he'd come her and ask about why I'm working for the Sumeragi while I sleep. So, I published what happened to Asimov at the old S-FIT. I made sure Moniqa saw it and everything. When he found out that happened, he decided to suspend me for a week." Naomi explained.
"So, that explains why you're home. but what are you going to do about it?" Lola asked.
"Simple, I'll print a copy of the file on paper. And I'll leave it out for someone to see. Then Asimov will regret droppingme from the team." Naomi smirked.
"It's not like he fired you or anything though..." Lola droned.
"I know that, you know that and he knows that. But I want him to know it felt like that for me." Naomi grinned cheekily.
"You weren't even gone for a full day last time. And you worked for Sumeragi instead of QUILL for a little while." Lola reminded.
"I still can't believe how I wound up wit this job. Or that even with all the intel he had Asimov still let me in." Naomi mumbled.
"Yeah, like knowing what your personality is." Lola retorted.
Naomi rolled her eyes, bent down, pickedup a quart of oil and put it on her desk. Naomi went downstairs to the basement where Copen was chatting away with Mytyl. She passed by them and grabbed an old tin can without the label that had a makeshift aluminum handle nailed at the ends. Naomi went back upstairs, put the cup down, grabbed the oil, returned downstairs and put it in the kitchen fridge.
Nori saw what Naomi was doing and began to worry about the girl possibly having psychosis.
"You do realize you just put a quart of oil in the fridge right?" Nori reminded.
"Lola said I owed her a frosty mug of oil since I'm stressing her out so much. Apparently the stress from me is overheating her systems." Naomi rambled.
Just as she did that, Copen approached her.
"Lemme guess, you think I'm going insane too huh?" Naomi snarled.
"Well, Lola did say you owed her. I won't judge." Copen commented.
"Be honest, you are. You're thinking that's a health hazard or something." Naomi remarked.
"Are you two going to fight all day or are you going to explain why you're not at work?" Nori questioned with her arms folded.
"I got blackmailed. Apparently my boss doesn't like me right now. He was going to say something, an old secret of mine. Don't look at me like that Copen I know what you're thinking.
And the answer, for the record, is no, I won't be sharing that secret with you. Not now or anytime soon. Anyways, I got dirt on Asimov and used it against him. Now he's supsending me for a week so he can clean up the mess." Naomi elucidated.
"I think I'd have to side with you on this one Naomi. If Asimov tried to do something like that, he's most likely up to no good. Pulling a backfire on his plan was probably the best option. Letting him get a taste of his own medicine will make it less likely for him to try that idea again." Nori agreed.
"What kind of information was he going to reveal?" Copen pondered.