Belle

Lacking anything in particular to do, Belle followed Lycaon onto the landing and watched him dig around in his stuff. His ear rotated towards the sound of her footsteps, and he stood and turned towards her formally when she approached.

"My apologies, Lady Belle, was there something you desired?" said Lycaon. "I realize now I departed your bedroom without inquiring as to your desires."

Belle felt a bit embarrassed by Lycaon's sudden intense and formal attention to her. She raised her hands in a sort of embarrassed, warding gesture. "N- no no, I don't need anything, I was just interested in what you were doing."

"Ah," said Lycaon. "If it pleases you, I will advise you of my activity and intention, Lady Belle."

"All right."

Lycaon nodded, turned, and settled back down to his pile of gear. "I will first unpack my sensor hub, which is a specialized computer that maintains and monitors a net of wireless sensor suites- which I will endeavor to install about your residence today."

"What kind of sensors?" asked Belle as she watched Lycaon unbox an electronic device that looked like a box itself. It was square and black. Lycaon flipped the container lid, placed the black box on top, presumably to keep it off the floor, and then began screwing in what would likely be a long row of antenna.

"Motion sensors of various types, silhouette scanners, magnetic field emitters, door jammers, and a few remotely operated traps," said Lycaon with a matter-of-fact-tone. "All the standards of modern security."

He turned and winked at Belle somewhat humorlessly. "But these of Victoria Housekeeping are far above standard in quality, I assure you, Lady Belle."

"Good to hear," mumbled Belle, feeling obligated to offer some sort of positive response to that statement.

Lycaon seemed pleased with her and returned to his work. Belle looked over the black box as best she could. Wise was the bangboo expert, but she herself was more the HDD type- but this computer of Lycaon's didn't seem to have a screen of its own.

"How do you operate the hub?" asked Belle, professionally curious.

"Ah," said Lycaon with a backward glance at her. Then he tapped on the top of his calf, which was the top portion of what Belle perceived as his fancy jet boots. "It integrates with the cybernetics of my legs, which is already integrated into my mind- so in the same way that I can operate these feet of mine, I can monitor and operate this sensor hub. It's all in here."

Lycaon tapped the side of his skull just under an ear.

That surprised Belle. She looked closer at Lycaon's lower legs and while they seemed like a pair of armored long boots, they were a bit tighter to the skin than seemed possible. Realizing they were cybernetic replacements was a bit of a surprise.

"What happened to your legs?" Belle blurted, immediately regretting the question. The one that Lycaon probably got all the time.

Lycaon continued to work on his sensor hub and didn't look at her this time. His voice lost a bit of its warmth when he responded: "Chalk them up as lost to the follies of youth, Lady Belle. I am fortunate that a generous benefactor has provided me the means to serve our clients with enhanced capabilities."

Belle didn't think she'd upset Lycaon exactly, but she took the hint that he didn't want to discuss the fate of his organic legs, so Belle tossed that subject into the forbidden folder and desperately sought to change the topic.

"S- silhouette scanners, huh? I've never heard of those."

"Yes, interesting devices," said Lycaon with slightly intense warmth, as if welcoming Belle's diversion. "Upon installation, they take a snapshot of the silhouettes of all the structures in its field of view. Then, upon my request, it takes a new snapshot and compares it automatically with the original saved image. It then notifies me of differences between the two, not unlike the spot-the-difference puzzles for children. Most differences are innocuous, of course, but it drastically speeds up the time it takes to review changes in the local environment and thus, focus investigation on possible new threats."

Belle was impressed. "That's really cool! I didn't know bodyguards had tech like that. I thought they just follow behind their person and look dangerous."

Lycaon cuffed a little guffaw. "That is indeed a part of the job, too. But Victoria Housekeeping prides itself on being the best at what we do."

"And do you like it?"

"I am honored to serve you, Lady Belle, of course" said Lycaon, automatically.

"No, Lycaon," said Belle with mild amusement. "Do you like working for Victoria Housekeeping? Do you like being a bodyguard butler?"

Lycaon stopped what he was doing and looked at her, as if considering the question seriously.

Wise's voice called up from downstairs. "Belle! Enzo's cool. But what do you want for dinner?"

Lycaon shot to his feet, whipped out his pocket watch, and frowned deeply, his ears going back over his head in dismay. "Look at the time! It is indeed past the dinner hour. I deeply regret this oversight, Lady Belle. Lord Wise?! I apologize for the tardiness, but I will immediately see to your meals. What would you like to have delivered?"

"Oh, uh, don't sweat it, Lycaon," called up Wise. "I'm used to doing it. Plus, you got your work really cut out for you with my sister."

Belle blinked. "Hey! W- what's that supposed to mean?!"

Lycaon stepped over to the rail to look down at the first floor out of Belle's field of vision. "Lord Wise, I really must-"

"Lycaon," said Wise firmly. "I want to do it. I said something stupid earlier, and it will make me feel better if you let me buy you a meal."

Belle took in a breath. Was he talking about that little panties thing? Did Wise think Lycaon heard it? Belle glanced at Lycaon's rather large ears. Had Lycaon heard it? Belle couldn't be entirely sure, but Lycaon didn't object any further to Wise and instead simply nodded downward.

"So what should we get?" called Wise again. "Belle? Any ideas?"

Belle did have an idea. "Spicy Fried Chicken from Jovial Hornet. With rice and gravy."

"That does sound good," said Wise's voice. "Lycaon, you cool with that? Shall I get enough for your crew? If they want it, I want to do it."

Lycaon obligingly lifted a hand to his ear and spoke quietly in some sort of shorthand code that Belle couldn't make sense of. His head flinched slightly as if he was receiving a loud response. He leaned back over the ledge.

"It seems all are appreciative of your generosity, Lord Wise. We are seven, if we include the Groundskeepers."

"We shall include them, of course," said Wise in amused tone.

Belle leaned over the railing alongside Lycaon and looked down at Wise who looked a bit more serious than the ordering of a fried chicken dinner should warrant. There was definitely some undertones between her brother and Lycaon, but they seemed to be handling it, so she decided to act like she was unaware.

"Get something for Enzo, too, since we bothered him," said Belle. "And invite the Cunning Hares!"

"Good idea," agreed Wise. "All right, I'm off."

Belle and Lycaon watched Wise leave Random Play out the front door. Jovial Hornet was only two blocks away. Lycaon put a hand to his ear and spoke in code again. He looked at Belle.

"The groundskeepers have your windows sealed, Lady Belle, your room is now secure. I'm sending Rina to keep watch over your brother. There is no indication he is a target, but for this trip, we will watch him."

Belle took a deep breath and considered her brother being stealthy escorted by a bodyguard. They had been discussing buying fried chicken with their friends, and Belle realized she had forgotten for a moment everything that had happened today. It seemed surreal. If Lycaon were not standing right next to her, she might chalk it all up as worry and hyperbole.

She took a deep sigh and hung over the railing, letting the metal bar hold her weight in her armpits. Lycaon returned to something or other with his electronics. She watched him for a quiet moment, feeling a question growing inside her:

"Is there any indication that I'm actually a target, Lycaon? This whole day feels a little like a bad dream. This seems like a lot of trouble for just what Qingyi thinks might happen. What if this is all for nothing and no one wants to kill me? What if no one else even knows I have that file in my head?"

Lycaon looked up from his devices and gave Belle a serious look, his crimson eye flashing in the ceiling light.. "Nothing would make me happier, Lady Belle. I hope every system I put in place for your safety is entirely unnecessary, in the end. But since we do not know for sure if that will be so: I will prepare thoroughly under the assumption that skilled and tenacious professionals will attempt your life. Anything I can do, I will do- to keep you alive."

Belle took in a deep breath, frozen like a deer by the intensity of Lycaon's abrupt speech. He seemed entirely earnest. He wasn't advertising, or showboating- he was just speaking exactly as he intended things to be. What did one say to such a thing as that? Instinctively, she wanted to lighten the mood with a joke, but somehow that seemed inappropriate. Lycaon almost seemed to impel her to formality.

"Thank you in advance for your hard work," said Belle, trying to match Lycaon's own earnest tone.

Lycaon smiled for the first time she had seen, the corners of his mouth drawing up, revealing only a mildly alarming amount of sharp teeth. "Think nothing of it, Lady Belle. All a part of the service of Victoria Housekeeping."

Belle turned and leaned her back against the railing and watched Lycaon continue his work. After he finished the last of the attachments to the big black box, he took out and unfolded a camping cot. He set it up over the black box, being economical with the space. It almost looked like Lycaon intended to make the landing his bedroom. Was that really the case?

"You're not going to sleep in my room?" said Belle. And then heard what she had just said.

For his part, Lycaon paused in his movements and looked up at her questioningly. "Do you wish it? With the steel plates on your windows, this landing lies at the crossroads of all softer paths to your person. It is as fine a place to set myself as your defense as is the interior of your bedroom, and I assumed you would prefer to maintain your habitual privacy."

Belle felt her cheeks heating in embarrassment. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about. It was just a slip of the tongue- an honest question.

"Yes, of course," said Belle. Why did her voice sound a little high pitched?

"But if you do wish that I should-"

"No!" Belle squeaked slightly. Blushed some more. "No. You are correct, Lycaon. I do prefer to- uh… maintain my habitual privacy."

Lycaon nodded at her slowly, his eyes searching her expression thoughtfully. Belle's heart thudded in her chest a few times as she wondered what he was thinking. Did he think her strange? Did he take her slip as an interest that she actually did want him in her room? Which she didn't! Not at all!

Whatever he was thinking, Lycaon didn't share it and returned his attention to his cot and laying out a quickly growing collection of small devices that were assuredly security sensors of various kinds. "As you wish it, Lady Belle. Should you need anything, or should you become concerned, know that I will be just outside your door."

Belle swallowed silently. Yes. Lycaon would be right outside her door at night. Every night. Great. Not awkward or anything.

"However-" said Lycaon as he picked up a small black bracelet, almost entirely unremarkable and looking like an old hair tie. He offered it to Belle. "You may also contact me with this. It is not a microphone. It is just a signaller. Two clicks means you need me for a non-threatening reason. Three clicks means you are in potential danger. A chaos of clicks means you are in immediate danger. Will you remember that?

"Y- yes," said Belle, looking at the bracelet. She didn't see a button on it. "Where's the button?"

"The cord is the button. Squeeze it hard at any single point and it will trigger. The idea is that it is hopefully useable even in situations where most of your body is restrained. Ah, and keep in mind that single clicks are a false positive. That will not alert me at all."

"Cool!" said Belle. It was kind of fun to see all these gadgets, if one forgot why they were being used. Like this bracelet that might help her send a message if she was entirely tied up or something.

Yeah. Cool.

Time passed steadily as Lycaon offered up mundane details about his gizmos. Belle watched him install a motion sensor above the outside of her bedroom door and another above Wise's and another above the bathroom. These first sensor placements made Belle feel mildly uneasy.

"Are these to track intrusion or to track our movements, Lycaon?"

"Both," said Lycaon with a matter-of-fact-tone. "These watch the landing and the doors, and may differentiate between entrance and exit, so I will always know your position in the circumstance of an attack. In this way, I do not need to be at your side for every second in your own secured home, Lady Belle. And with your permission, I would like to install some lethal devices, as well…"

"Lethal devices? On my bedroom door?" said Belle, somewhat aghast at the idea. Then the morbid curiosity hit her. "What kind?"

Lycaon showed her a thin strip of mat that looked like a bit of weather-proofing you put under a door that didn't quite meet the ground. He used a screwdriver from his pack to pull back the rubber sheathing and reveal a thin bit of wire.

"High strength razor wire," explained Lycaon. "When activated, it raises up to about shin level in the door frame. It can cleanly slice through almost anything that isn't metal. So if an intruder encounters this wire mid-stride they will become somewhat permanently lopsided and non ambulatory. And usually, very loud- as you might expect of someone suddenly without a foot they'd grown used to having. Unfortunately, it is an elegant device that creates something of a nasty mess. But it is discrete and effective."

Belle's mind created some unpleasant scenarios in her head. "D- do you have to install those, Lycaon? What if they activate by mistake and-?"

"I control the activation and would only do so in a lockdown situation," said Lyacon. "You need not fear a midnight mishap on your way to the water closet."

Belle had a new unpleasant scenario to think about. "Actually, Lycaon. How about we say 'No' to lethal devices in my home?"

A crimson eye gazed at her seriously. "It can be as you wish, Lady Belle, but I wholeheartedly recommend the use of these devices. They have contributed to several successful defenses of my principals over the past few years."

It was hard to argue against a statement like that, but Belle still didn't quite believe all of this was necessary. But in the movies about bodyguards, did the heroine ever get into a good situation by not listening to their protector? No. That was one of the biggest cliche`s of the genre.

"Just not our bedrooms or the bathroom, Lycaon, please?" said Belle. "If you feel the need to put lethal devices anywhere else, fine. But leave our doors out of it."

Lycaon seemed thoughtful. "As you wish, Lady Belle. There are suitable choke points of movement in this structure that I can still create an adequate system. I will not place lethal devices on these doors here."

"Great," said Belle, slightly lamely. "Thanks."

This morning, she had woken up wondering what flavor of instant oatmeal she would make for herself. Now, before dinner, she was discussing where to place lethal booby traps in her own home with her new bodyguard. Quite the transition from sunrise to sunset today.

Lycaon's ear flicked slightly. "Lord Wise is returning with the shared repast. I shall assist in the serving of the meal, at least. Where do you keep your china, Lady Belle?"

"Uhhh.." said Belle.

"...and then they put us in a van and we got out near the square," said Belle, finishing her mostly accurate retelling of her day's adventures to Anby and Nekomata. She thought them to be the best two people to tell on the Cunning Hares, as Anby was naturally discrete and thoughtful while Nekomata was inherently cunning. Both looked pensive for a moment, then they both took large bites of fried chicken- which somewhat altered the seriousness of their expressions.

"A real government conspiracy! Nyaha! From the Old Capital, too!" Nekomata said excitedly while her mouth was half full of chicken. No rice or gravy for her.

She chewed on, her mouth slightly open. The teeth of feline thiren did not grind in the same way as human molars did, so Nekomata's eating involved quite a bit more open-mouth time than was generally thought polite by humans, but it was something one got used to. Or at least Belle and the Cunning Hares had.

"Did they advise the nature of the threat against you?" asked Anby. She had laboriously torn chicken meat from bones and loaded it into a bowl mixed with rice and gravy, she now ate the resultant mash with a spoon like a rice dish. Anby always favored combined foods and combined flavors. "What sort of force do they have?"

"I don't know if they know," said Belle truthfully. "But they think Lycaon there will be enough to keep me safe."

Anby looked across the room where the wolf thiren stood idly near the front door in stiff, straight-backed posture. Belle followed her gaze to look briefly as Lycaon, too. Apparently, he had volunteered himself to be the one to remain entirely on duty while everyone else enjoyed themselves. It was both admirable and perhaps a bit exasperating and sad.

Lighten up, Lycaon! This was Jovial Hornet fried chicken!

"Or maybe," said Anby, "If this Qingyi is as independent an actor as she seems to be: your Lycaon is the only outsider asset that she currently has available to employ."

Belle swallowed a bit too soon and the mostly unchewed food hurt her throat going down. That was not something she'd considered. With all the flashy ways that Qingyi had displayed her power at Scott Outpost, Belle had not thought how that power might stack up against other persons of influence in the government. Anby had a point. All Belle had been provided was a singular bodyguard.

"Don't worry, Belle," said Nekomata.

Turning back, she found Nekomata's slightly pinkish eyes watching her warmly. It was one of the rare moments when the mischievousness of Nekomata's public persona faded to reveal the compassionate woman who hid underneath. "You have us, too. I'll paw around and see what I can find out. And you know I can be sneaky."

Anby nodded. "I'll keep an ear open, too. And Nicole will have ideas."

Nekomata nodded in agreement.

Belle wasn't very keen on the idea of Nicole knowing everything. She didn't fully trust the woman. But if Wise, Anby, and Nekomata trusted Nicole- then Belle supposed she needed to start doing it, too.

"All right. Thanks you two."

But she was curious what Lycaon would think of Anby's observation, and the man looked so awkwardly lonely over there near the door, Belle excused herself from Anby and Nekomata and walked across the room, passing everyone else in the process:

Billy was making wide arm gestures as he told some sort of story, his hands being empty since he had no mouth with which to eat fried chicken. Corin, the youngest and smallest of Lycaon's maids, watched him with rapt attention, her face a strange mix of worry and fascination. Next to her stood the shark thiren maid, Ellen Joe, and her red eyes watched Billy's narration with a polite sort of boredom.

"Oh really…" Belle heard Ellen say during one of Billy's rare pauses.

"You bet!" said Billy. "It just exploded!"

"Wow…" said Ellen, the word emerging from her mouth with lukewarm enthusiasm.

Meanwhile: Rina, the voluptuous bombshell of a head maid, was eating delicately from a small plate while engaged in close conversation with Enzo. The burly, bald, and bearded mechanic seemed to have forgotten the food plate that was in his robot arm's grasp and seemed to be blushing and smiling, his organic hand rubbing the back of his head. His attention seemed entirely devoted to Rina's face. Belle wondered idly what was going on there, hmmm?

Another interesting pairing was Wise and Nicole, each leaning against a different side of Random Play's front desk, a plate of food in front of each of them. They conversed with animation and laughed. Wise seemed happy. Perhaps Belle was wrong to view Nicole as some sort of money-sucking succubus.

Maybe.

Lycaon noted her approach and his eye followed her progress towards him. Belle brought him a plate with a chicken leg on it. She offered it to him.

"Have something to eat, Lycaon," said Belle warmly.

"Lady Belle, I cannot as I-"

"Lycaon. I wish it." said Belle, testing out her own power over her bodyguard.

Lycaon's objections stopped, his ears wilting ever so slightly. But he took the offered plate, and after a few moments of Belle's expectant gaze, he lifted the chicken to his mouth and took a large bite. As a canine thiren, he also mostly lacked grinding molars, but Lycaon rather awkwardly kept his mouth shut and chewed in tiny motions- much more devoted to human cultural expectations than Nekomata.

"It is delicious," said Lycaon. "And this is fast food? I did not expect such an intense flavor."

"It ain't all bad down here with the commoners," said Belle in a joking voice.

Lycaon looked mildly alarmed. "If I have made any suggestion that-"

Belle raised her hand with a mild smile. "It was a joke, Lycaon. Relax. I wanted to ask you something."

"I am at your disposal," said Lycaon, holding a plastic plate of bitten fried chicken with amusing formality. Belle was pretty sure that Lycaon didn't intend to eat another bite until he considered himself off duty or Belle forced him again, so she decided to drop that particular issue.

"Its about Qingyi. You said she has power," said Belle. "But how would you rate her against other powers? Like the ones that supposedly maybe might want to kill me, assuming they know who I am."

Lycaon looked at her seriously. "I have worked for a few different official clients, but by no means a lot of them, Lady Belle. And remember, Qingyi is an agent of my True Client, of whom I know absolutely nothing. But to compare Qingyi herself, I would evaluate her as the weakest of the official persons of whom I am aware."

Belle felt a tiny frost spread through her "Qingyi is the weakest?"

"Mm," said Lycaon, making a show of taking another bite of the chicken for Belle's observation, perhaps, but it was only a tiny nibble with the very front of his snout. "I believe Qingyi operates on old relationships and professional esteem. She has established power but cannot quickly expand beyond her lasting connections. Those of greater means, in my limited belief, likely employ dennies to generate influence at their whim. In contrast, Qingyi seems to have a budget. Otherwise, I would not be your sole protector."

So, to interpret Lycaon's estimations: if people actually did want to kill her, it was probably people with big, dark money. Fantastic. Belle felt she knew enough about official corruption to have an easy time believing that. She suddenly became a bit more enthusiastic about Lycaon's collection of gadgets.

The impromptu fried chicken party suddenly seemed a lot less fun.