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"Know anything that would help identify them?" You ask. "Names? Places they might go? That is, if you're willing to tell me." You hastily add to the end.

"Her brother's name is Vaar aust Tanoh, and her mother is Karan aust Kharaki. In an emergency that rendered the Tanoh inoperable, they were supposed to proceed to Vilnea's posting aboard the Sauhs."

"Anywhere on Tagara? All of the 13th's ships are derelict."

"No. They were not supposed to flee to Tagaran space. If required, they were to flee the system."

"I don't know if anyone from the 13th got out, unfortunately." You frown. "Although if they did, they would have brought people back by now, so they most likely didn't. Plus, all of your ships were basically pulled out of the sky. I'm sorry, but they're probably dead. There weren't many survivors."

"I know." LT9093 replied. "But I have to try."

"The two of you must have been close." You glance towards the airlock. "I practically had to pry her arms from your datacore."

"We were. I originally was the property of her father. He was killed in action when Vilnea was ten. I served her in a civilian capacity as a strider until she chose to enter service, whereupon I became her warskin."

"Is that a young age to get a warskin- er, strider?" You ask.

"In the 13th, purchase of a personal vehicle was not typically permitted until service to the Fleet was completed in return. Having one handed down to you was fairly unusual. In the 5th Fleet, where I was constructed, such things were considered a fundamental right and coming of age gift."

"I see..." You trail off. "Hey, she wouldn't happen to be related to a Kallis aust Tanoh, would she? She's my mother."

"Kallis?" LT9093 paused. "I know that name. She was a knight, yes?"

"I... think so?" You tilt your head, despite the AI being unable to see the motion. "So you know her?"

"Yes. I spoke with Ser Kallis on multiple occasions. She was part of Vilnea's squadron."

"Really?" You blinked. "Any chance you could tell me about her?"

"She had a reputation for backtalk and using unnecessary chatter. I remember she was on good terms with Vilnea, and most of her wingmen. I interacted with her warskin more than the woman herself."

You perked up slightly. "Any chance you know it's serial number? I've been looking for it."

"TA4041. I believe she nicknamed it Talos."

"Anything else?"

"It was fitted with a close combat autocannon and interception rotary cannon last I saw of it. That would have been the time I crashed."

"Do you know a preferred form, colors, anything?"

"It should have long changed those, but it preferred Kallis' red heraldry."

"...my mother had heraldry?"

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>>4296558
"Most knights do. Usually on the warskin tail, or helmet."

"Hmm. Well, I'll keep an eye out, and we'll see about getting you a body. There's got to be drones out there we could salvage."

"Thank you." LT9093 said, and you felt the connection between you drop.

You sigh and lean back before rubbing your head. This was a lot to take in at once, but... okay! Vaar and Karan. No physical description, but- well, you suppose a Valkan who's trying to hide will have several of those, if you understood what Xol meant correctly. Standing up, you smile briefly at HH before ducking under the hanging lip of the airlock.

---

Office of Planetary Investigation, Kana
10th of 6th, 1173. 9:00AM MST+2.

Sabi yawned into her hands, blinking blearly eyes as she carefully hammered the forward key on her keyboard. Images flashed by her eyes, some registering, some not.

"Hey. Hey!" A man gently whapped her shoulder. "Earth to Sabi. Hello?"

"Stoppit!" She swatted at the offending hand. "I'm tired, not insensate-" She cut herself off to yawn again.

"How much longer are you going to flip through that stuff? You aren't going to find anything useful." Ran adjusted the band holding his hair back. "You're holding up my report, too."

"Good habits?" Sabi offered with a shrug, reaching for her mug of coffee. "You know as well as I do that the devil is in the details. Common threads, people who aren't what they appear..."

"And a conspiracy theory based on random people who just happened to be at the base that day isn't overthinking it?"

"I... well, maybe." Sabi shrugged, hitting the arrow key again. Different profiles flicked by her on the screen. Headshots from official data or blurry camera stills that hadn't been recognized by automated sorting program. She skipped the latter without looking them over. The former she gave brief glances before advancing. "All I know is I need to give them a once-over before we submit. Just in case there's something obvious."

Es... A man with blue eyes in fatigues and glasses. A woman with eyes flashed red by the camera in a civilian suit. A blonde girl with lots of freckles and glasses. Sabi's eyes trailed down each of their profiles, seeing nothing suspicious and finding nothing suspicious. She advanced the database again.

>New quality: 'Suspicion Level: None'
>'Scattered, coincidental mentions of you is all that covers official reports of you. You are thought of none and considered none by those in power.'

---

Residential District, Miir, 1st Floor
10th of 6th, 1173. 8:00AM MST.

"Welcome back, miss."

You yawn slightly, flopping onto the couch after stepping inside. "Hi, Easy." You groan quietly.

"Would you like any breakfast?" Easy offered.

>>4296559
"No." You frown. "I'm really not in the mood..." And you probably wouldn't be until you could forget about the information overload that had been dumped on you. Briefly, you reach above your shoulder, then drop your hand. Your head slumps back onto the couch cushions.

Easy watched you a moment. "Then, would you like some news?"

"Like?" You ask warily.

"ST and I have located your mother's old car." Easy replied. "It's a Ode Impressor, model year 1145. It's registration was changed to a Paul Manaan in 1160, and the bill of sale was signed by the manager of Davis' Parts and Vehicles, a scrapyard based in Miir."

"Okay, so... where's Paul Manaan located?"

"Paul Manaan no longer owns the car. He sold it to a Ava Tolin in 1163, who then sold it to a dealer in 1168. That dealer sold it to the current owner, Kurna Liin, who currently has it up for sale."

You give Easy a slightly dumbfounded look. "Lotta transactions, there."

"Evidently the Ode Impressor of 1145 is considered pre-war vintage, now. It's rarity and low numbers have led to increased collector interest in the vehicle, for the purposes of restoration. Several of the records I have relating to the sales reference this as the primary selling point."

"That's interesting, but I don't see why it's relevant to us, considering it's not like paying for it was ever on the menu. But I suspect that's not why you brought it up."

"Collector interest has led to the vehicle being passed around, as it were. It is currently in Kana."

"Kana?" You sputter. "That's nearly halfway across the world!"

"More specifically, a satellite town slightly south of Kana."

"I..." You press your fingers to your head. "Easy, that's- there's no way I can get to Kana of all places without someone noticing. Even if I flew there or we caught a lift on the Rontah, wouldn't it be a little suspicious that I got there without a plane or boat ticket?"

"There are avenues..."

"Any eas- er... any that don't involve doing something stupid?"

"It is an improbable thing to check. You could always travel and hope it goes unnoticed."

"That's so dumb..." You rub your head roughly. I'm going to need to buy a plane ticket or something, won't I..."

"We will look into it, if time permits." Easy promised.

"Yeah..."

It was tempting to dive into it now, but there were other things you could be doing...

>>4296561
>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] Up to Reese for Jess' training camp. Although, you wouldn't be able to take Kara and Elan until their implants had finished growing in.
>>[Sub-Option] That message was still transmitting every night. It's time to see if this 'Kathari' is the same one who wrote your journal.
>>[Sub-Option] Netana belongs to a cult, and from what you've learned so far, a lot of cults were started by Valkans. A thorough investigation would behoove you.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
>>[Sub-Option] Your mother's death had 'suspicious' written all over it. Passively gathering evidence hadn't done anything for you, it was time to start getting yourself into trouble.
>>[Sub-Option] Mom's car had done some traveling. What were your options for getting to Kana?
>>[Sub-Option] Something else. (Write-In)
>[Write-In]

>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] Netana belongs to a cult, and from what you've learned so far, a lot of cults were started by Valkans. A thorough investigation would behoove you.

>>4296562
>[Write-In] We should see if we can communicate with the Soul within the Bound Blade.

It should be able to help us get a better understanding of what its capabilities are, and how best to employ them.

At some point we should really get around to seeing what Taylor wanted to say.

>>4296562
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] Netana belongs to a cult, and from what you've learned so far, a lot of cults were started by Valkans. A thorough investigation would behoove you.
Did we ever get any answers regarding Hammer Guy from a while back? Now might also be the chance for that if we didn't.

>>4296562
>>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?

>'Scattered, coincidental mentions of you is all that covers official reports of you. You are thought of none and considered none by those in power.'
OH YEAH?! WELL YOU'RE JUST DUMB JERKS WHO WOULDN'T KNOW GOOD LINGUISTICS EVEN IF IT KICKED YOU IN THE EAR!
So there.

>>4296562
>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
>[Sub-Option] Netana belongs to a cult, and from what you've learned so far, a lot of cults were started by Valkans. A thorough investigation would behoove you.
First choice hardware, second cult. Hopefully they're separate, but there's probably some kind of overlap.

>>4296562
>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?

>"Earth to Sabi. Hello?"
Shouldn't that be "Tagara to Sabi"?

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>>4296797
...I literally spent half an hour going over the phrasing of the previous section to avoid phrases like that. Then I just- WHOOPS.

>>4296711
Scratch that vote. I thought it was just a couple days, but it's been almost five. We should definitely check in on them:
>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?

>>4296896
Oh my god! What do you mean Earth, Bentus? They're not Valkans!

>>4296896
Clearly this a reference to some as yet unseen Tagaran tradition of throwing dirt at each other. Some sport involving mud chucking.

>>4296562
>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?

>Check in on Kara and Elan. It's been a few days, right?
Writing.

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Commercial District, Miir, 2nd Floor
10th of 6th, 1173. 12:00PM.

You slowly push the door open. "Heeey, Kara-" You let out a squeak as a pillow collides with the doorframe next to you.

"Go. Away." Kara's groaning voice came from a bundle of sheets in her room. Somehow it had managed to become even more disheveled since you'd last seen it, with the floor covered in small scraps of paper and strewn clothing. Her trashcan had upended at one point, spewing wadded up wrappers and food packaging over the floor.

You slowly look back over your shoulder at Adan, who looks frazzled and exhausted, then back into the room. "LL, why didn't you tell me it was this bad?"

"A tantrum is hardly what I would call an emergency." The medical drone drawled back.

"Still..." You step past the doorframe into Kara's bedroom. This time, the pillow does collide with your head with a soft thump. "You're going to run out of pillows if you keep doing that..."

"Don't care." Kara mumbled, resting her head on a single throw pillow. Small, red circuits pulsed under her skin madly, small pricks of red light tracing the nerves under her skin and gathering at the edges of her eyes. Her face was ruddy, and there were dark rings under her eyes. "Go away."

"Feeling pretty bad, huh?" You eye her hair, making a mental note that it seemed redder than before. Some of the persistent acne that clung to her was starting to fade as well.

"I feel awful..." Kara groaned. "I'm just so fucking pissed all the time, then I feel awful about being pissed... it's like I'm ten again."

"That sounds pretty bad..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Kara stopped herself, then shouted into the pillow. "Fuck! Why am I so angry?"

"Implants." You say simply, looking down at her.

"Make it stop." Kara whined petulantly.

>"It's probably time to accept that you're going to be in a bad mood for a few days. How about I make you something to eat?"
>"You could stop being a little bitch."
>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"
>"Think about all the superpowers you'll get."
>[Write-In]

>>4298030
>"So... red hair, eh?"
So fiery!

>>4298030
>>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"

It's funny, there's probably a lot more behind this than 'red hair pretty!'.
We've never seen a picture, but Kara's mom was presumably short and blonde, like Kara. Adan is the one with red hair. So, Kara must really wish she had more in common with her dad. That's honestly kind of sweet.

>>4298030
>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"

>>4298030
>"It's probably time to accept that you're going to be in a bad mood for a few days. How about I make you something to eat?"

>>4298030
>>"It's probably time to accept that you're going to be in a bad mood for a few days. How about I make you something to eat?"
>>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"

>>4298030
>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"

>>4298030
>"I feel awful..." Kara groaned. "I'm just so fucking pissed all the time, then I feel awful about being pissed... it's like I'm ten again."
That's... interesting. She was angry a lot when she was ten?

>"So... red hair, eh?"
>>[Sub-Option] "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?"
Writing.

>>4298650
She's specifically referring to that period right around the start of puberty where kids are upset and hormonal all the time.

"So..." You ignore Kara's plea, taking the time to grin down at her. "Red hair, eh?"

Kara huffed and reached up, pulling a fistful of hairs around in front of her head. She glared at the red strands like she wished they would catch on fire, then huffed. "I guess."

"Need something to advertise that burning personality of yours?" You gently poke her with a finger. "Your flaming hot looks?"

"You're the one who lit the school on fire, not me." Kara mumbled.

You scoff. "It wasn't my fault! It was the teacher's fault for drinking at school."

"Somehow I doubt that." Kara sighed.

You lean in slightly closer and elbow her gently. "Any other changes I should know about, huh, Kara?" You give her a petulant grin.

Kara's face twitched. "No..."

Your eyebrows go up. "None at all? I won't find that you're secretly ripped or bursting out of your bra if I pull your shirt off?"

"I'm not wearing a bra."

"Oh? Not fitting anymore?"

"N-" Kara's face reddened. "None of your business."

You laugh and pull back from her. "Right, right, of course. It's just, I seem to remember this conversation we had about you getting a rack like mine-"

Kara's remaining pillow smacked you in the face, pushing your glasses up and off one ear. "Shudduuup!" She hissed through clenched teeth, propped up onto an elbow with her arm still outstretched.

"Okay, okay..." You pull your glasses off and slip them into your bag. "How's everything else, though?"

Kara looked like she wanted to argue back for a second, then signed and slumped back onto her mattress, arm falling at her side. "Weird. I ache all over and I keep-" She grimaced as her arm appeared to seize, fingers stiffly twitching for a few seconds before relaxing. Her implants flared, lighting up her face with a web of circuits before dying down as the spasms ceased. "-that." She finished lamely.

"I had something similar when I got mine." You say, remembering the hunger pangs and feverish nights.

"Really?" Kara perked up slightly before immediately souring again. "Oh, joy. That just means the worst is yet to come."

"If it makes you feel any better." You offer. "Elan's having a bit of a rough time with his as well."

"He is?" Kara frowned and lolled her head over to look at you. "He's okay, right?"

You smile at her. "What's that? Do I detect... concern?"

Kara smiled thinly. "Very funny. He is okay, right?"

"Yeah! Just, uh..."

>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."
>"Not for me to say, but he's okay."
>"I dunno if he's actually better or worse off than you."
>[Write-In]

>>4299286
>>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."

>>4299286
>>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."

>>4299286
>"Not for me to say, but he's okay."
The whole point of him getting the implants was that he wouldn't randomly turn into a girl anymore...

>"Oh? Not fitting anymore?"
>"N-" Kara's face reddened. "None of your business."
Oh god. We went for Big, but she's gone for Huge, hasn't she?

>>4299286
>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."

>>4299286
>"Not for me to say, but he's okay."
We'll check in on him later

>>4299286
>>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."

>>4299286
>>"I dunno if he's actually better or worse off than you."

>>4299286
>>"I dunno if he's actually better or worse off than you."

>>4299286
>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."

>"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl."
Writing.

>>4299366
>The whole point of him getting the implants was that he wouldn't randomly turn into a girl anymore...
How would Tiiris know it worked? She hasn't seem him since.

"Well, he's randomly turning into a girl..." You roll the word around your mouth a little. "But yeah, he's doing alright."

"That's good." Kara said, turning her head away. Then she stopped and looked right back at you. "Wait, what?"

You shrug. "He's turning into a girl because of something to do with his powers. I think his implants will help stabilize it."

"Think?"

"The AI I asked about it was..." You wave your hand vaguely. "...unclear. It helped me, at least."

"Have you checked in on him at all?" Kara asks.

"I was planning to later today. After I was finished with you and so on."

"Fuck sitting around at home for the rest of the day, I'm coming with you." Kara grinned at you. "I gotta see that."

"Elan isn't someone you get to gawk at." You quirk an eyebrow at her suddenly upbeat mood. Her implants were still pulsing madly, though.

"Oh, like we aren't going to gawk at each other before this is over?" Kara looks up and down your body significantly. "Elan doesn't get to run off scott-free from the gawking party you and me are going to be in." She glanced aside. "Besides, I'm still his friend."

"I'm not sure I want to crowd him..."

"Oh, yeah, three's a crowd." Kara rolls her eyes. "Look, I feel okay enough for some walking around. I'd like to see my friend."

>"I'm just not sure it's a good idea..."
>"Um... okay. If you insist."
>"I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."
>[Write-In]

>>4300231
>[Write-In]

>As long as we don't go looking for trouble and we remember to bring LL with us we should be fine.

Invite them both over to our house We should probably get around to bringing up / showing off the other stuff we managed to recover from the Tanoh, maybe a Quick overview of the the Lifesuit and other miscellaneous Valkan / Abyss stuff we have recovered. , or another otherwise neutral location. And maybe go do something together elsewhere in order to avoid rocking up at his place unannounced.

>>4300231
>>"I'm just not sure it's a good idea..."

>>4300231
>Get Elon on the blower and ask if he minds us both coming to see him

>>4300231
>"Um... okay. If you insist."

>>4300231
What happens when someone notices all those circuits inside you?

>>4300231
>"I'm just not sure it's a good idea..."
Or
>ask Elan first, tell him she'd probably be coming over to make fun of him

But really though she shouldn't be going out with her implants sparking around under her skin. It's a security issue.

>>4300231
>"Um... okay. If you insist."
>"I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."
If we don't go with her now, she'll decide to go on her own later, probably in the middle of another hyperactive angry mood. At least she seems cheerful right now.

>>4300231
>Take the diamond and run it to Westwon

>>4300231
>>"I'm just not sure it's a good idea..."
She needs to hide her implants if she wants to go anywhere.

>>4300774
We won't be out in public though. ST can pick us up right outside and go straight to Elan's place, and his parents should be at work. Texting him to check won't even take a minute.

Y'all jumped a bit ahead of me on making a plan and apparently returning a diamond, but no worries. Writing something a bit different so the choice is clearer.

"I'm just not sure it's a good idea..." You begin.

"Why not?" Kara demanded, her expression flashing to anger. "We can go get a bite to eat or something..."

You hold up your hands. "Have you looked in the mirror lately? Your whole face is glowing red. We can't just go out."

Kara shrugged. "It's noon on a Sunday, the store isn't that busy. We can just slip out when nobody's around."

"And afterward? How will you explain yourself to Elan's family if they poke their heads in? What if we have to get out of the car for some reason? They aren't everywhere, but there are still military police out because of- y'know, the shipyard blowing up..."

"What if I..." Kara fished around. "Put on a hoodie and some sunglasses?"

"That would be even more suspicious." You raise your eyebrows. "And I don't want to go just dropping in on Elan with no warning."

"How about we invite him here?" Kara suggested, then her face fell. "Oh, right, the store."

"Probably shouldn't make too much noise, you know. Considering we're aliens." You say, before coughing. "Uh, that said, I might know a few places we could meet up..."

"Oh?" Kara looked up.

"My house, and I know a few pretty abandoned places..." You trail off. Come to think of it, you hadn't really shown them much of... well, anything Valkan yet. With their implants in, neither of them were at risk of developing a Shadow like you had, so showing them a little magic couldn't hurt. There were all the drones to consider as well, and Kara hadn't really 'met' ST yet.

"What about Elan?"

"I can text him to come and meet us. Or I'll send him a message if we go over to his house..." You ponder. "Still, it might not be a good idea..."

"Nothing's going to happen, Tiiris." Kara sighs. "What do you think is going to happen, I'll blow up as soon as I step foot outside this room?"

"More that you and Elan aren't really fit to be walking around..."

"You went to school while your implants were growing in, and you're fine." Kara pointed out. "Granted, it was weird to see happen, but you were fine."

"I... true." You admit. "So..."

>It's too soon for either of them to go out. Kara will just have to wait.
>Elan's legs are healing, let's go to him rather than make him move around.
>Too short of notice to just drop in on Elan, is there somewhere else you can go?
>>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...
>>[Sub-Option] The cave just outside of the city. Nice and out of the way.
>>[Sub-Option] Taylor's house? Her dad might be interested to meet them.
>>[Sub-Option] Find an abandoned warehouse or factory, like the one you went to before.
>[Write-In]

>>4301371
>Too short of notice to just drop in on Elan, is there somewhere else you can go?
>>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...
It would be a good idea to bring up, the possibility of going back over to Jess's at some point, the Life Suit we have lying around, finding Kara a Abyssal focus of some sort, the Rontah, and possible plans for the eventual expansion of their retinues.

The only problem i can think of is that we might not have enough food on hand to feed them both, if we need to.

>>4301371
Oh. It being Sunday makes things more complicated.
>Too short of notice to just drop in on Elan, is there somewhere else you can go?
>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...
That would be fine. Going to Elan's place while his family is hanging around would be pretty brazen.
Just need to ask Dad for some privacy. Not that he wouldn't take Teen Cyborg Wizard Support Group all in stride, but it would feel weird if he's hanging around.

plis

>>4301371
>>It's too soon for either of them to go out. Kara will just have to wait.

>>4301371
>>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...

>>4301371
>>Too short of notice to just drop in on Elan, is there somewhere else you can go?
>>>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...

The cave would be a good operating base in the future though. Far from surveillance and large enough to store some robots.

>Too short of notice to just drop in on Elan, is there somewhere else you can go?
>>[Sub-Option] Just meet up at your house. Dad's always said you could have friends over...
Writing.

"I... guess we'll meet up at my house." You reach into your pocket and pull out your phone. "Although I'm not sure Elan will want to..." You punch a message into your phone quickly. "Lesse..."

>T: Hey, are you interested in meeting up at my place? Kara will be there.

"Alright, I sent him a text. We'll see if-" Your phone buzzed almost as soon as you sent the text. You look back down at it with a frown.

>E: Please get me out of here.
>E: Rescue me from the love nest please.

You tilt your head at your phone. "What?"

>T: What?

"What?" Kara gave you an odd look.

>E: My dad and my stepmom are going full love birds and I don't have a car please rescue me now please.

"Elan is... requesting rescue. From his parents." You say flatly. "Apparently they're getting lovey dovey in the house."

>E: I used to wish Dad would stay home when he did the trip thing but now I realize what he was saving me from.
>E: Tina is being way too supportive, she keeps asking me if I want a fake ID for Ellen.
>T: How would she be able to get a fake ID?!
>E: I SWEAR I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING JUST PICK ME UP.

"What, like fucking on the couch?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"No, crowding him or something. He's signaling distress, though."

"Alright! Let's go, then!" Kara threw the sheets up and off herself and stood up, wadding them up and chucking them onto an invisible lump near the window. "Skaal, wash those for me."

"Housekeeping is not one of my functions..." The military drone muttered, sheets coiling and twisting in midair as it clumsily attempted to gather them up. Occasionally it would drop towards the floor unsteadily as it clumsily tried to move towards the door.

"What about your...?" You gesture around your face.

"Check it-" Kara rummaged through her drawers while changing into a pair of jeans simultaneously. She pulled out a green hoodie and yanked it on over her head, then pulled the hood down low. "See? Simple enough disguise."

You peer at the faint red lines looming out of the shadow of her hood. "It might be better for you to ditch the hood and never stand in shadow..."

"Look it doesn't have to work forever. That said, taking this stuffy thing off if that's the case." Kara stripped the hoodie and flung it back into her closet. "C'mon! Let's go."

"Just be-"

"Careful. Yes, I know."

"Okay, okay." You hold your hands up and back out of Kara's bedroom. In their living room, you wave briefly to Mr. Makagan, who was apparently fried enough that he doesn't even question where the two of you are going.

Instead of exiting through the store itself, at the bottom of the stairs to their loft, Kara opens a side door that leads you into the alley next to the store. Rolling plastic garbage bins were lined up just outside the door, and a small metal security gate stopped random passerby from getting into the alley. You felt a slight ripple in the air as LL's invisible shape passed over you, heading towards where ST was parked.

>>4302381
When you get into the car, you hold the door open a second or two longer than necessary so the medical drone could pass by you before entering yourself. Instinctively, you reached out to grab the steering wheel, only to grab at empty air as you remembered that ST had transformed back into it's normal station wagon form.

"Everything okay?" Kara practically dove into the passenger seat, giving you a look as she scrambled to shut the door.

"Huh?" You said faintly, your hand still clenched in the shape of a key. "Oh, um...." You blink, trying to ignore the odd pang of emptiness inside of you. "It's nothing." You turn the gesture into an awkward pat on the dashboard. "Can you take us to Elan's?"

ST began moving without a word, and for once you wished it would speak up. Sometimes ST's natural silence made you feel unnerved, like you were committing some horrendous faux pas that you didn't know about.

Kara, for her part, seemed to be in high spirits, although the occasional flare of her implants and a slight, pained twitching of her eyes told you otherwise. At the very least, she hid it well, but she seemed to be in no mood for discussion. An awkward silence permeated between the two- no, three of you.

You were almost thankful for the distraction of texting Elan to let him know that you were arriving. Not that you got through the text, that is. While you were busy typing, you didn't notice the figure rapidly approaching the car until it slammed into the rear passenger door. Turning around, you see Elan repeatedly tugging on ST's handle, which finally clicked and opened the door after the fifth or six yank. He spilled into the back seat like a rag doll, for once dressed in relatively comfortable clothes that you'd only ever seen him wear at home.

Both you and Kara had twisted around in your seat to stare at him. "...hey." You finally manage.

"Hi." Elan groaned, sitting up and yanking the door shut. "Hey, hi, hello, let's go."

"It's weird to see you without your chair..." Kara muttered.

"Even weirder to not have it, trust me." Elan rubbed the pits of his eyes.

"You okay there?"

"I've seen things, Tiiris."

"Oh, come on." You say flatly. "I've seen lovey dovey before. It's not that bad." Then again, Dad's few attempts at dating had always ended in failure before getting too far. You'd never seen married lovey dovey.

"Can we just go?" Elan whined.

You gently tap the dashboard again, before glancing over at Kara, who was still twisted in her seat looking at him.

"He doesn't look that girly..." Kara muttered.

"I'm not Ellen right now." Elan groaned.

"Ellen?" You ask, glancing up at him.

"Nickname Tina gave girl me." Elan's lips twitched down slightly at that.

"I thought you were pretty okay with Tina?" You look back at the road. "At least, you didn't hate her."

>>4302384
"I-" Elan started to speak, but cut himself off. "I'm fine with Tina, really. But I sort of dislike it when she tries to be my friend, you know? Not that I don't want her to be friendly with me, but like... buddy friend." He sighed. "Really, it's not how she's treating me lately, it's more... how she and Dad are. Blatantly flirting, Dad clumsily trying to read Valkan poetry to Tina, offers to take me clothes shoppi-"

It was a good thing you weren't actually driving the car at that instant, as your foot instinctively slams down on the floor.

"Wait, wait, wait..." Kara holds up a hand. "Did you just say Valkan poetry?"

"Did I mention I found out my stepmom is a Valkan?" Elan said dumbly.

"You don't mean... your mom, right?" Kara asked dubiously.

"Nope." Elan confirmed. "Stepmom. Mom, too."

"Are you kidding me?" You twist around in your seat.

"I wish." Elan muttered.

>...were they good poems?
>Turn around to go talk to her and demand some answers.
>She couldn't have come out with that one sooner?
>[Write-In]

>>4302385
>...were they good poems?
Where would he even find Valkan poetry, that he could read?

>>4302385
>...were they good poems?
Don't get distracted. We must remain focused on the most important thing, here: Teasing Elan.

>>4302385
>She couldn't have come out with that one sooner?
Are they trying for one more valkan kid?

>>4302385
>>...were they good poems?

>>4302385
>>...were they good poems?

>>4302385
>...were they good poems?
must bulli Elan with bad poetry

>>4302385
>...were they good poems?
We talk to Tina when we return Elan home

>...were they good poems?
Writing.

"...were they any good?" You ask.

"Do I look like I speak Valkan?" Elan's eye twitched. "All I know is Tina kept laughing at his attempts and correcting his pronunciation."

"I can read a little, but it's not like I've ever spoken it to anyone..." You scratch your chin a bit self-consciously, turning your attention back to the road.

"So..." Kara trailed off. "Shopping for clothes, eh?"

"Someone seems to have blabbed." Elan looked at you.

You shrug and smile innocently.

He rolls his eyes. "I don't have much for Ellen, just two pairs I picked up. So, she keeps offering to take me out."

"The outfit you showed me was pretty cute." You say idly. "You could probably just shop by yourself."

"Yeah, but she wants to make it some kind of bonding day out?" Elan shrugged. "Some sort of girl thing."

"I've never really understood that." You admit. "I mean, me and Kara went shopping the other day, but it was just kind of..."

"A thing?" Kara shrugged. "I've never gotten it either, but considering my, uh..." She gestured to her face. "Our things that live in our heads now, plus that stuff about Valkans thinking differently, maybe... that's no coincidence...?" Her voice got quieter as she spoke.

"I mean... possibly, yeah. Easy told me that they engineered a bunch of bad stuff out of themselves, but I'm not sure the urge to dress up girly was one of them."

"Skaal told me that Valkans can't go mad from isolation. I- I mean, I was complaining about being cooped up in my room, but he seemed to be talking about prisons." Kara lapsed into an awkward silence.

"What's bothering you about it?" Elan asked.

"Just that..." Kara grimaced. "Are we like- are we freaks? Er- not freaks exactly, but is this why I don't have that many friends? Why we're friends? Did we get drawn together because we're all fucked up the same way, or that our Valkan-ness just made us all loners?"

You're not quite sure what to say to that. It was a question you'd considered before- at least, if you qualified as some kind of sociopath compared to normal humans. LL had been pretty adamant that you weren't a psycho, but some of the things it said didn't sound like super friendly traits, either...

"It's probably related, right?" Elan suggested. "My bones were screwed up, Valkan or not that's one way to set you apart from the other kids. Tiiris-" He gestured towards you. "Had to take constant breaks because her eyes would give out. It'd be the same way if she was just blind."

"Eh." Kara made a noise. "I see your point, but still... what if we're never able to connect with normal people? What if we're too removed?"

"Your dad and my Dad aren't Valkan." You say. "I wouldn't say I'm disconnected from him."

"True..." Kara sighed. The afternoon light started to dim as you passed down into Miir's first floor and it was blocked by the giant plates of the floors above. "I'm not used to my... you know..." She gestured to her head.

>>4303481
"Your rider." You glance at her, then back at Elan. "You start hearing it yet?"

He nodded a little, his expression more somber. "Yeah..."

"Now..." Kara began. "I'm not having second thoughts. I'm not saying I don't want it, but... how do I interact with it? It's... there, and that's fine. But I'm not sure how to treat it. Is it like Skaal? Does it have opinions I should listen to?"

You shake your head. "It's designed to work alongside you. Mine just helps me out without any extra thought." You pause. "Due to what they are... I don't know if they actually have independent ideas, or if it's just you."

"How do you treat yours?" Elan asked.

>I don't think about it much. It's just part of how my mind works now.
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.
>A quiet friend- or a good neighbor, more accurately. It's not me, but it shares my head and is always trying to help out.
>[Write-In]

>>4303482
>It is me, and I am it.

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.

>>4303482
>It's just part of how my mind works now.
>Kinda messy.

But it is weird. LL said the neural network connects to neurons and neurons connect to it, and thoughts go back and forth without knowing exactly where they're from. Removing either part would be worse than a lobotomy. It's weird sometimes touching something and realizing for the first time that yeah we can get diagnostics readouts from Valkan machines, or control adrenaline or nausea levels. It's like discovering a skill that we didn't know existed. But if that's true it's sort of like a mind control thing, isn't it? Control over things that aren't normally controllable? We don't like that thought. But the AI didn't like that thought either, and we still don't, so what difference is there? If it wants to fade into the background, and it does, that's good right? Or is that all us wanting to fade into the background, and how would that even make sense? But the machines don't connect to the Abyss and we do that, too, and are usually surprised by it. But she doesn't want to fade into the background, and the AI does, so which of us is the machine part? Except she doesn't want to BE us either, just together but distinct. Or is that wrong and it's all subconscious self-deception? How messed up can a machine half get if it learns deception and self-loathing from its other half, but by that point in development is there any even a distinction between the two worth worrying about? How many halves do you have to have before you're officially a clusterfuck, and how do you fit them all together?

It's weird.

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.

A personal assistant with complete access to your brain!

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.
>A quiet friend- or a good neighbor, more accurately. It's not me, but it shares my head and is always trying to help out.
Something between the two
Have we taken time for integration yet?

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.

>>4303482
>I don't think about it much. It's just part of how my mind works now.

>>4303482
>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.
I wonder if the machine heart can keep secrets of its own.

>It's like a very good personal assistant. Always there, but never a nuisance.
Writing.

>>4303697
No, although it's the kind of thing where it's still progressing, just at a much slower pace than if you chose to do it all at once.

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"It's like a very good personal assistant. More of a partner, maybe? To me, at least." Your implants hum in agreement. "Always there, but it's never been a nuisance." You smile a little. "Frankly, the first few times it took control I totally freaked out. But just... trust me. It wants to make this work as much as you do."

"All Valkans have this?" Kara murmured.

"The ones with implants do, and they all have those." You hesitate a moment before continuing. "Regular Valkans, though, they have kind of a different relationship with them, I'm told. The merge goes so deep they can't split apart their own thoughts from the AI's. Like, they don't even have a conception of a division between the two."

Elan shivered. "Euugh. Sounds creepy."

"It's important to them. Like, really important to them. More than once I've had AIs freak out when I told them I didn't have AIs. How did ST phrase it when we first met? Barbaric medical practices? Mutilation?"

"Babaric medical practices, yes." ST confirmed, making Elan jerk in surprise, and Kara to jostle out of the thoughtful silence she had lapsed into. "Along with an incomplete mind."

"Is my mind 'complete' now?" You ask with a gentle smile.

"I would say it's maturing beautifully."

"Beautifully?" You quirk an eyebrow. "I think that's the floweriest thing you've ever said to me."

"Yes, ma'am."

You snort and lean back in your seat before glancing in the mirror. Upon seeing Elan's wide eyes, you glance back at him. "Everything okay?"

"What was that?" Elan asked in disbelief.

"Huh? Oh." Right, you'd never introduced Elan to ST. "That was ST, my- er, it's basically a Valkan car. Can't officially get a driver's license, after all."

"A car? What's the point of making a car so intelligent?" Elan asked with confusion.

"It's a bit more complex than that..." You begin as ST pulls over in front of your apartment. "But, ah, here we are..." You open your door, followed by Elan and Kara carefully clambering out. Elan in particular shuts his door extremely carefully- so lightly in fact that it doesn't latch properly, and has to close itself the last inch on it's own. "Ah, so up here. I don't think I've ever brought you here, Elan?"

"Something about there being no elevator." Elan frowned at the stairs leading up to your apartment. "I can see what you mean. Nothing I'd have problems climbing, but if I fell down these..."

"You'd have a bad time?" Kara offered.

Elan winced. "I'd probably break my bones worse than I did at the mall."

"Speaking of..." You shut your own door. "How are your bones?"

"Better." Elan admitted. "Ever since I- er, you know what I mean. They stopped aching a lot quicker than I thought they would. I don't know if it's my imagination or some kind of feedback, but they feel stronger."

"So when do I get to meet Ellen?" Kara gave him a grin as you all ascended the stairs.

"Whenever I feel like trying to force a change again."

>>4304621
"It hasn't happened randomly again?" You ask as you fumble with your keys.

Elan shook his head. "Not yet, no. Sometimes I feel like I'm kind of close, but it never quite happens."

"I suppose that's better control..." You mumble and you push open your door. "Dad! I brought friends!"

"If it helps, it mostly happens when I'm relaxing?" Elan offered. "Playing video games, grinding out my dailies, shitposting, stuff like that?"

"I'll admit, I barely know anything about this stuff." You say, stepping into the house with you get no response back. Knocking on your father's bedroom door, you poke your head in and see it's empty, before circling the living room and kitchen. "Alright, looks like he's out." You look back at Kara and Elan. "Two of you are probably starting to get hungry again, right?"

The mention of food earned you both of their attention, Kara's head swiveling over to you in a flash and Elan's head snapping up from his awkwrad shuffle in the entryway.

"...yeah, I remember when my implants were growing in." You smile a little and gesture to the kitchen. "Come on."

Sitting the two of them down in your kitchen, you begin rummaging through your cabinets looking for something to make. Easy appears next to you at one point, pulling cans from their spot on the shelf into it's grasp as you bang pans together. You look for a conversation topic...

>Try to discretely ask them if they've developed a Shadow.
>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?
>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.
>You should probably tell them about Netana basically finding you out.
>Show them the autopsy report and ask them what they think about your mother's death.
>Either of you interested in going to Kana to look for my mom's Valkan car?
>Look over your grimoire together- or more specifically, have Easy translate passages for you.
>There's a crazy Valkan out in the middle of the ocean who keeps broadcasting this message...
>[Write-In]

>>4304625
>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?

We can lend her the rosary like we did for Elan if she wants it though, we should reveal where we found it if she asks.

OR

>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.

Mention the Rontah and the warskins / drones we managed recover from the Tanoh.

>>4304625
>>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?
>>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.

>>4304625
>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.

>>4304625
>>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?

>>4304625
>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?
>There's a crazy Valkan out in the middle of the ocean who keeps broadcasting this message...
"Has your bio-antenna grown in yet?"

>>4304625
>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.

>>4304625
>>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?
>>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.

>>4304625
>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.
Robot talk. It seems like such a strange and far away lifetime, way back when we weren't drowning in drones.

>>4304625
>You should probably tell them about Netana basically finding you out.
and/or
>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?

>Elan's already started to develop his powers, but what about Kara?
>It's a good time to bring up the drone conversation with them.
Writing.

"So, um..." You jab a wooden spatula into the pan and stir around the mess of leftovers inside around. Easy was busying itself with a more proper meal on the prep table next to the stove, leaving you to make a meal out of the cold spaghetti, vegetable soup and little dish of sweet sauce left in the fridge. Combined all together, it made a twisting mess of brown pasta and sliced greens that you weren't entirely sure would taste good, but you had a sneaking suspicion the only thing consuming Kara and Elan's minds right now was more calories. "Elan's obvious experiencing his powers, but what about you, Kara?"

"What do you mean?"

"Starting to feel any..." You search for the words. "Weird lapses in perception? A cold feeling in your chest, disconnection from your body?"

"I've had hot flashes?" Kara offered. "Granted, all of that could have gotten hidden under the other dumb shit that's been happening to my brain lately."

"Headaches?"

"No." Kara smiled savagely. "I'm hopped up on so many stimulants right now I don't think I'd feel it if my arm got cut off. No, more like a vision quest except it's a journey to the center of my cerebellum than to the lands of my ancestors."

"...what?" Elan gave her a blank look.

"My symptoms so far have been feeling my, er- what did you call it, Tiiris? A rider?"

"Yep." You nod. "I think that's the technical term. Maybe. Actually, don't believe me."

"Whatever. My rider slowly going through my entire brain and setting it in order. Before I had it dose me up with the good stuff I was also kind of sore? I'm hungry, too. Hungry a lot."

"Doesn't sound like you're developing any powers yet." You ponder. "Might not happen without the rosary, which is good since we can wait until after you stop having the splitting headaches and mood swings to give you superpowers."

"My swings aren't that bad-" Kara started to raise her voice before catching herself rising up out of her chair and plopping herself back down with a deep breath. "Hoo boy, they are though."

"Wouldn't be a fun intro." You smile, then frown at your impromptu stir fry. Just... keep adding salt, Tiiris. Salt and water until you think it's edible. "How are you doing with Skaal, by the way? It seems to be, ah, struggling to keep up with you a little."

Kara smiled. "I like Skaal." Her smile faltered a bit. "...but I'm not sure how much Skaal likes me. He doesn't seem to be happy doing domestic stuff, which... well, makes sense considering he has a gun for a face. It's not what he was designed to do, but I don't know how to make him happy. Should I tell him to guard the house? What if he shoots some person on the street? Is it rude to ask him to do my laundry? He offered, but I keep feeling like I should have said no..." She trailed off.

You feel a slight blip through your connection with Easy, and glance over your shoulder at the adjutant, who was busy carefully measuring spices into a bowl. Dishing out your... strange creation into two bowls, you take them over to the kitchen table and set them down thoughtfully, thinking for a moment.

>'Happy' is kind of an abstract concept when it comes to AI...
>You're probably reading too much into it. Drones really aren't as emotive as a human is. Usually.
>Maybe it's something in your approach to it. As a military drone, it probably has a different temperament compared to a regular adjutant.
>You want to take this one, Easy?
>[Write-In]

>[Optional] 'It'. Not 'he'.

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?
Maybe try talking to Skaal using military terminology? "Obliterate this dirt" "Wipe out my clothes"

>>4306499
>"Obliterate this dirt" "Wipe out my clothes"
He'd just blast it with a plasma bolt and incinerate it

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?

>>4306484
>Maybe it's something in your approach to it. As a military drone, it probably has a different temperament compared to a regular adjutant.

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?
Sounds good. To be honest I don't think we have quite figured out what 'happy' is to our drones, anyway. And Xol doesn't seem to fit the mold, either.
>[Optional] 'It'. Not 'he'.
Well, maybe. Some of them seem to identify as... intelligent animate objects, I guess would be the best description? Deliberately leaving their voices as mechanical as possible.
And then there's ones like Easy, formal and butlerlish, or HH who seems to have a Harrison Ford vibe going on, despite looking like a featureless monolith.

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?
>[Optional] 'It'. Not 'he'.

>>4306484
>You want to take this one, Easy?

Skall is probably also struggling to adjust to getting used to doing everything without a team / support network behind him, this is likely also being compounded by most of the things he is being asked to do, are likely outside his skill set and on the edge of the functionality granted to him by his chassis / components and so is having to kludge a solution together based on what he can do to and attempting bend it into what he was asked to do as best he can.

>>4306484
>>You want to take this one, Easy?

>>4306484
>Maybe it's something in your approach to it. As a military drone, it probably has a different temperament compared to a regular adjutant.

>You want to take this one, Easy?
Writing.

File: god can't help you now.png (238 KB, 494x317)

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Work picked up on me. Update tomorrow.

Can't believe Bentus is fucking dead.

You slowly shift your gaze behind you, before turning around entirely. "Something you want to say, Easy?"

The drone glanced at you before immediately turning it's attention back to it's preparation. "No, ma'am."

"Ma'am?" You laugh deeper than you expected. "Is that what you call me?"

"Miss." Easy corrected itself.

"Okay, spit it out then." You tilt your head. "Got anything to add?"

Easy looked back to you, then swiveled it's gaze to Kara. "You should trust your drone more."

Kara frowned. "I do trust him."

"Then it can handle itself." Easy replied. "It won't shoot a pedestrian. You can depend on your drones, just like they depend on you." It paused, as if gathering it's thoughts. It was throwing out transmissions to the other drones rapidly as it spoke, getting quick replies in return. "We do not feel satisfaction or dissatisfaction as you do. Skaal is having difficulties because it is not an adjutant. It was never trained or designed for the task it now has, so it may appear to be frustrated simply because it is confused."

Kara thought. "'As you do' implies that you do feel it in some way, though."

"True." Easy replied. "I find satisfaction in working. Completing tasks. Organization. Caring for my master. I 'like' these things. Skaal likely has a different set of priorities, but they should be fundamentally similar."

"So I should find work more suited to it?"

"We don't care about idleness or the suitability of our work. Skaal is unhappy with it's performance, but it will learn. The most you could do is acquire an adjutant to alleviate it's workload." You felt it hesitate for a moment before continuing. "...was it lonely, Kara?"

"What was lonely?" Kara asked in surprise.

"Growing up without an adjutant." Easy replied. "Was it lonely?"

"I-" Kara seemed slightly taken aback, but lapsed into thought. Her implants pulsed gently beneath her skin. "I suppose to a Valkan it would be, but I've never known anything else."

"I see. Thank you." Easy bowed it's body forward. "Ask Skaal about weaponry. I believe it would enjoy explaining it to you." Then it turned in place and resumed it's work.

Kara looked after Easy for a moment, frowning. "Lonely, huh..." She swallowed, smiled and shrugged. "Okay, so he's a gun nut. Easy enough."

"I was finished."

"What-" Kara blinked, then snorted.

Easy emitted a beeping tone before carefully starting to spread it's spice concoction over a cut of meat on the table in front of it.

Tension successfully broken, you turned back to the two of them, then shrugged. "No drone worries for you, Elan? No new friends since the last time we met?"

Elan shook his head. "Nope. Other than your, uh, what is LL actually?"

"A medical drone. General care, I think?"

"Right." Elan nodded. "Other than him, haven't seen a drone around my house at all." A thought seemed to occur to him. "Is that normal? You kind of seem up to your tits in robots around here."

>>4308574
"I think my situation is at least a little strange." You admit.

>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.
>Tell them that you've got a lot of drones around after boarding the Tanoh.
>Really, you don't have that many drones...
>[Write-In]

>>4308576
>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.

>>4308576
>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
Also, ask Easy how many drones the average Valkan would have had

>>4308576
>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
We've got even more in the back, we really are the AI Woman. Don't forget Scuttles!

>>4308576
>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.

>>4308576
>>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.

>>4308576
>>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
>>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.

>>4308576
>Really, you don't have that many drones...
It's not that many. Barely even in the double digits. We can count our flying tanks on one hand.
>Tell them that you've got a lot of drones around after boarding the Tanoh.
Okay, maybe that's many. And I guess we've got the cargo swarm, too... and a spaceship.
>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.
But hey, if they want a helperbuddy, we could probably find one!
>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
...or a warmachine or two, you know, just between friends... we didn't even go to Hull II intending to acquire warskins, it just sort of happened...

Is the lifesuit done repairing yet?

>>4309216
Notes say on the 12th.

>Tell them about the other warskins- SX2404 and UP8903.
>Ask if either of them would be interested in an adjutant.
Writing.

"Why the question, though?" You sit down. "Interested in having an adjutant of your own?"

"A little." Elan admitted. "You seem to like yours, and it seems useful. You wouldn't happen to have a spare one, would you?"

"Nah, I'm fresh out." You smile and shake your head.

"It would suck if they were super rare..." Elan mused.

"It would." You stop as a thought occurs to you, and you twist around in your seat. "Hey, Easy. How common are they? How many drones is a normal amount?"

"Every Valkan has an adjutant." Easy answered, busy manipulating the controls of the stove. "We're assigned at birth. Usually an adjutant is constructed specifically for it's charge, but sometimes we were passed down or given as gifts. On fleets like the 13th, adjutant supply always exceeded the population, so we were usually reassigned. You are my second master, but I waited for nearly two hundred years after the death of my last master."

"Really?" You blink. "If you didn't come to the surface with one of the survivors, though, how did you get down here?"

"My former master was assigned to Sauhs- the Tagaran Government termed it Hull VIII. I survived the crash and exited the wreckage after my master perished. I wandered until ST called me to your location."

"I see..." You roll that thought over in your head a moment. "So, just an adjutant, huh?"

"No, most Valkans also had a strider - that's the civilian version of a warskin. A transforming vehicle, able to bond with it's pilot and protect them from most atmospheres and terrains and travel short distances in space. Most Valkans received one as part of their coming-of-age. I believe Tagaran automobiles are treated much the same."

"Not everyone gets or can drive a car." Elan offered.

"My 'schizophrenia' disqualified me." Kara offered. "Er, kinda. They said they might not let me get it..."

"Then not entirely similar." Easy corrected, flipping a steak with it's manipulation beam.

"Although..." You consider, looking over to Elan. "I don't have any spare adjutants, but I do have two warskins that found their way to me."

"That's a really ominous name." Elan raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that bad. You just met mine, actually."

"...what, your car?" Elan tilted his head. "So it really is a Valkan car?"

"Yeah, ST. I wound up with two that I don't need since I already have ST- SX2404 and UP8903. And, uh..." You think. "They're way more than that. It's- er, difficult to explain..."

>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."
>"It's a shapeshifting car that turns into a killer robot."

>>4309686
>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."
They could probably do with some maintenance / repair work if we could find somewhere to do so.

>>4309686
>>"It's a shapeshifting car that turns into a killer robot."

>>4309686
>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."
I know ST is technically a killer robot on account of being capable of violence and having a giant cannon, but it's always so absurdly mellow, verging on Zen, that I don't feel like the term fits.

>>4309686
>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."

>>4309864
I mean, it has expressed intent to kill anyone who tried to harm Tiiris

>>4309686
>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."

>>4309686
>"It's a shapeshifting car that turns into a killer robot."

Play Hardspace: Shipbreakers and imagine you're ripping Valkan ships into pieces.

>"Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."
Writing.

"...maybe it would be better if I just showed you." You muse, then look over your shoulder. "Hey, Easy. How long until those steaks are ready?"

"They need to marinate, then I need to wash and tenderize them." Easy responded. "I would say about two hours."

"Alright!" You stand up with a clap of your hands. "We'll head out, then. Hurry up and-" You glance down at the empty bowls in front of the two of them. "...eat? When did you two eat all that?"

"When it was hot." Kara said bluntly.

Elan pushed the bowl away from him slightly. "Tastes like sauce and starch."

"You still ate it." You reply.

"Yeah, I liked it. Kinda tasted like motor oil." Elan replied idly, standing up.

"Right." You cough. "Let's head out to... uh." You ponder. "Uh... huh..."

"To?" Kara asked.

"Give me a minute, I'm thinking." You tap a finger to your lips. Where to, actually? There weren't many places you could get privacy that were also close by. You could head down to the abandoned factory level, nobody would notice a few kids mucking around down there. Still, that still left the potential that someone could happen by and see you. But nobody was really looking for you, were they? It would be sheer luck if you were discovered, same as if you went to the forest.

The forest was a lot further out, and a lot more private, but it would be more noticeable if someone was paying attention and heard a bunch of teenagers chatting while a robot stomped around. Nobody had come by when you were firing off a plasma rifle, though...

You make a mental note to start working on some kind of hideout. There had to be Valkan magic that could help, right? While the Rontah was certainly helpful, if you intended to stay in Miir, you really needed some place bigger than your tiny little apartment to run your Valkan operation out of.

The cave could work, but that was a bit of a trek. Hard to zip otu and back in time for steak... that said, you probably didn't need to be back in two hours exactly. Easy wouldn't serve you cold food. It seemed to be a point of pride for the adjutant that you were always handed a hot meal upon walking through the door.

...you're pretty certain if you told any engineer that AI probably used their immense calculation skills to time cooking food perfectly rather than do anything special, they would probably laugh you right out of the room. Tagaran science had this funny way of feeling almost quaint after being introduced to Valkan technology.

>Factory floor is way closer, and nobody will be around on a Sunday.
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.
>THE CAVE is distant, and very, very isolated. Sounds perfect.
>[Write-In]

>>4311332
>THE CAVE is distant, and very, very isolated. Sounds perfect

>>4311332
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.

I'm not sure that the cave would have the space we need, if we wanted to demonstrate anything, also it houses a crashed ship so if anyone catches us while we are present there would be no getting out of it, though it would likely arouse minimal additional suspicion, since the crashed Warskin would likely be the focal point for someones attention when they eventually happen across the cave.

If we are going to be spending more time in the forest, it might be worth it to try and find some camping gear so we could at least assist with obfuscating the reason we are in the forest, from the casual observer.

If only we had a Warskin that was kited out for EW, though ST and the others are likely going to be far more than enough to provide adequate forewarning for most approaching emitters, this time at least.

>>4311344
>If only we had a Warskin that was kited out for EW
From your inventory:

>ST0504
>A ‘warskin’- a Valkan personal vehicle designed explicitly for combat in addition to normal life. Second only to Easy in it's worry over you. Currently configured for assaults on heavily armored targets, carrying an anti-material railgun in addition to an electronic warfare suite. Specializes in infiltration and sabotage. Currently lacks a drone complement. Transformable.

Although it should actually read 'specializes in infiltration and sabotage against non-Valkans' come to think of it.

>>4311332
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.

>>4311358
All of a sudden ST managing to break into all of the electronics we have asked it to, as fast as he did makes even more sense.

Spending some time learning how to pilot a Warskin, or bonding further with ST could also be a good use of our time.
Where in the Fleet ST was assigned, how he ended up in the scrap yard, knowing what drones would complement ST in it's current role, and how they would fit in with our our current drones.

Whenever we get around to actually dealing with the cult (at very least the local chapter) aren't going to have a good time while they figuring out what is going on while they struggle to communicate with one another.

>>4311332
>THE CAVE is distant, and very, very isolated. Sounds perfect.

>>4311332
>>4311332
>THE CAVE is distant, and very, very isolated. Sounds perfect.

>>4311332
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.
A forest walk will already be new and interesting for Elan without throwing a cave expedition into it. If stairs are on his Avoid list, nature was definitely a 'from a safe viewing distance' sort of thing.

>>4311332
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.
Things that happen innawoods stay innawoods

>>4311332
>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.

>>4311332
>THE CAVE is distant, and very, very isolated. Sounds perfect.

>Go to the forest. Simple, familiar and isolated.
Writing.

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Unnamed Forest, Outskirts of Miir
10th of 6th, 1173. 1:00PM.

"Pretty bumpy road." Kara cleared her throat, her voice warbling slightly as you passed over a bumpy patch of gravel. The trunk of a tree passed just a few inches by your window with a hollow rush of air.

"Uh, we left the road a while ago." Elan pressed his head up against the window. A bump knocked his head against it. "Ow!"

"You okay?" You glance up at the rear view mirror with concern.

"A little bump like that won't kill me." Elan rubbed his head. "Still hurts like a bitch, though, so clearly I'm not a calcium god yet."

"What even is that?" You ask incredulously.

"I dunno, ask a Valkan."

ST pitched over a particularly large root, sending you all bucking forward in your seats. It's front wheels touched down on the smoothed dirt below as a familiar clearing fell up into your view. The clearing was shaped almost like a crescent- or more accurately, a bean. A wobbly, rounded shape than bent back on itself. A few of the trees bore scorch marks that clipped their trunks or ended their branches, although on some of them the effects of rot were slowly beginning to hide the evidence of your practice shots.

You notice the ground beneath your feet was drier than usual. The coat of leaves mixed with dirt was slightly rubbery and slick, but your boots didn't pull or sink into the mud like usual. Lightly kicking the pileup on the forest floor, you breathe out. "This is pretty far out from any prying eyes. I've come here a few times for, uh, things."

"Things?" Elan asked, carefully stepping around the roots. "What sort of 'things'?"

"Please tell me you have some kind of secret base." Kara said, taking a running hop down from one of the taller roots.

You smile, then turn. "ST, mind explaining?"

A loud metallic clack sounded as ST's surface sprang forward. Thousands of hexagonal panels that coated ST lifted up - some bent around corners or deformed to fit into bends - standing on end like a sea serpent's mane. Each panel was crossed with strips of green, matching up perfectly with ST's traditional disguise as the green station wagon. Underneath the scales was a skeleton of a car, the metal itself shifting aside to expose the same gleaming black internals that you saw beneath the outer shell of any drone.

Kara swore, and you could hear Elan suck in a breath of air, followed by the rapid shuffling of leaves.

ST's windows abruptly went dark and slid away to joint it's counterparts inside the cockpit. You could swear just for a second that through a gap in the parts, you could see a single chair waiting for you inside. Getting to see it transform up close and in broad daylight like this, you realize that ST wasn't hiding inside the car. Or- well, all of it wasn't.

>>4312733
A folded up set of what looked like black boxes popped out the right side and began shuffling around, attaching themselves to each other's ends instead of simply shifting around each other. It's not until it forms a long, thin protrusion from ST's right side that you recognize it's cannon for what it is. Pods and sensors slid out from the front and sides as the main body took on a more tapered, aggressive shape.

Then it stood up. Exposed motors and hydraulics extended down into the leg, and kept impossibly extending as ST rose taller. Hexagonal scales, now colored a familiar dusty orange began clacking down on top of each other, forming square armor that clamped down and fused into a single shape. With a soft click, the cannon spun backwards over it's shoulder and pointed back towards the ground behind it.

"Hey, ST." You say softly, before remembering that you came here with two other people and looking over at them. At some point, Kara had either tripped or fallen down onto her ass, her hands to either side of her as she looked up at ST with wide eyes. Elan, shockingly, had stayed on his feet, but had gone very pale and rigid. You cough a little, then gesture to your warskin. "This is ST0504."

"Hello." ST said politely.

Kara slowly blinked. "...is this why you weren't worried about visiting Jess? You had a... a Valkan walker with you?"

"A little." You admit with a smile. Carefully, you pick your way down the roots to the clearing, turning around to face ST with Elan and Kara. "Uh." You cough. "Okay, I didn't think past what to do at this point." You gesture at the trees around you. "This is where I've come to practice a little. It's private so no one hears the banging..."

"Banging?" Elan says a little dumbly.

"Yeah, because of-" You stop at the sound of breaking wood. Looking to your right, you see Kara staring at ST, her face ashen. One of the roots of the tree she was sitting underneath had crushed itself in her hands. "Kara?"

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Kara asked, her voice trembling. "We're so fucked I mean that thing's a tank."

ST lowered itself closer to the ground, pulling itself inwards to appear less threatening as you moved a bit closer to her.

Kara was pale, shaking slightly and breathing quickly. "I don't know if I can do this..."

"Do what?" You ask, moving a little closer. Elan seemed to be wandering over to the two of you, although he seemed equally distracted by ST's presence.

"Be a Valkan." She hissed through her teeth. Her implants were flaring again, working overtime on something. "I- I'm not capable of taking this all in stride like you are, Tiiris. I thought you meant some kind of cutesy driver or talking car, not... that."

>"The only difference between you and me is that I hide my anxiety better."
>"Don't think about what it means for anyone else, just think about what it means for you."
>"That doesn't sound like you."
>"What are you afraid of?"
>Just give her a hug.
>[Write-In]

>>4312736
>"What are you afraid of?"
Her panicking might be being made worse by the implants a little, if we talk her though what she is feeling and try and get her to calm down as best we can by reassuring that we will take these things at her pace and that she is safe.

Just Imagine how different things would be now, if we had been caught at the front gate, noticed when we cloaked up, or the Tanoh's doors wouldn't open for us while we were at Y'avel.

>>4312736
>"That doesn't sound like you."
>"The only difference between you and me is that I hide my anxiety better."

>>4312736
>Get ahold of yourself!

>>4312736
>"What are you afraid of?"
>"That doesn't sound like you."
Her fears are coming from something, whatever it may be. But it also doesn't sound like her. She was pretty gung-ho about coming along with her combat drone, back when we felt the weird stuff at the mall.

Also she just crushed that tree root with her bare hands, so she may be having that Abyss awakening we were wondering about.

>>4312736
>>"That doesn't sound like you."
>>"What are you afraid of?"

>>4312736
>"What are you afraid of?"

>>4312736
>Just give her a hug.
>"What are you afraid of?"

>>4312736
>Just give her a hug.
"When I first saw it I was just as afraid as you are."

Bentus has an essay to wrap up real quick, update later hopefully.

>"What are you afraid of?"
Writing.

Bentus lives!

"Something have you spooked?" You sit down next to her, frowning.

"I... I just..." Kara twitched. "I'm not sure I can be... this." She gestured at you. "I- I'm not worth... I'm not special. I can't..."

"I'm not special, either. Just lucky." You say gently. "What are you afraid of?"

"You totally are!" Kara whined. "I can't do this. I'm not a..." Her breath picked up. "I can't do this, I can't do this..."

"Slow down on me, Kara." You edge a little closer to her. "Just... breathe."

Kara's breath only picked up, growing more and more erratic as her implants blazed beneath her face. A twitch developed on the left side of her face, and she gave out a tiny wince of pain. Instead of crushing the tree roots beneath her hands, she was now bracing against them as she shook in place.

Your concern turns to a hard frown. "LL." Kneeling down next to her, you reached out to steady her, then hesitated as you saw the wisps of Abyss energy begin to dance across the surface of her body. Was it safe to touch her?

"I just wish I-" Kara frowned, then lifted a hand shakily to her head, pressing her fingers into her forehead and rubbing it gently. "I...?" She winced again, squinting down at the forest floor as she swayed.

The shape of your medical drone detaches from the side of ST. "I see it. She's having an episode. Lay her down before-"

Kara gave a pitiful little gasp, her hand going limp by her side as she suddenly pitched forward. Her arm clumsily scrabbled for the root or the trunk of the tree next to it, but something stopped her fingers from closing all the way. One of her eyes was dull and unfocused, and she made short, unintelligible sounds.

"Kara, are you okay-" You heard Elan's voice start to say as she suddenly fell forward.

There wasn't enough time to do anything fancy. You find yourself lunging forward, throwing a leg forward into the tangle of roots and bodily catching Kara's midsection on your torso. Her body starts to pitch over the top of your body and you have to reach up and push her forward to shift her into a more manageable position. Your boot is shoved in an odd, twisted position inside the tangle of roots that you don't think is entirely natural, but you ignore it and the wet clicking of joints resetting into their normal position as you pull it out.

Elan arrives at your shoulder and helps pull Kara back off of you, bracing her back as the two of you straighten her out onto her back. "What's wrong with her?" He asked in concern.

LL arrived at your shoulder, arms already extending to poke and prod at Kara's head. After a moment, it announced. "Nothing's wrong with her, it's just a seizure."

"A seizure?" Elan asked in alarm.

LL's main camera rotated to face him for a moment. "Forgive me. There is nothing to be concerned about, her implants are simply performing an overhaul."

"She got awfully stressed and self-conscious before passing out..." You murmur.

>>4315358
"Probably the onset of the seizure. Her emotional state is volatile."

"But she's going to be okay, right?" Elan asked with concern.

"Yes." LL replied.

"If it's anything like mine was, she's going to wake up feeling better than ever..." You muse.

"This happened to you too?" Elan asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't realize it was this dramatic from the outside..." You frown.

"...are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" You tilt your head.

"Just... seems scary." A thought seemed to occur to Elan. "Wait, is this going to happen to me?"

"Unlikely." LL responded. "You have no major neurological disruptions to correct."

"Thanks?" Elan tilted his head at the drone.

"Don't mention it."

You glance between your friend and your medical drone a few times before shaking your head. "Here, help me move her somewhere more comfortable."

The three of you move Kara over to a softer patch of dry grass in the center of the clearing, laying her down with your bag under her head as a pillow. Her eyes flickered slightly underneath her eyelids occasionally, and sometimes they would open and stare at the sky blankly for a moment before closing.

"That's creepy..." Elan muttered. "What do you think she's dreaming about?"

"If it's anything like mine, she's awake, but whatever senses her implants are fucking with are gone." You say idly. "I went blind during mine. But considering how complex Kara's was... I think she might be dead to the world right now."

You see Elan look at you with a considering look. "You really are amazing, aren't you?"

"Me?" You snort. "Come on."

"I'm serious." He insisted. "Do you even get how nuts some of the stuff you've done is?"

"We're Valkan, I think crazy might be in our DNA. Literally, even."

"I'm Valkan, and the most adventurous thing I've ever done is turn into a girl, then sneak out to buy a frilly bra." Elan gave you a flat look. "Hell, I was even at the mall with you, and yet you're the one who recently- oh, I don't know, broke into one of the most secure military complexes on the planet?"

"It wasn't that secure..." You mutter.

"Then what about finding your car there?" Elan throws a thumb back at ST, who was currently hunched down in the middle of the clearing, unmoving except for the waving of one of it's antenna in the wind. "Or figuring out magic on your own? And finding a real Valkan? Even if you had help, that's still pretty amazing."

>It's not strength, it's dumb luck. Everything you've done could have been achieved by someone else if they got lucky.
>Bugger if you know.
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.
>You might just have a weak sense of self-preservation...
>[Write-In]

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There seems to be some law of questing where when I'm sure about the direction of the next update and know exactly what I want to write, it takes several hours as I write a multi-post epic. But when I'm unsure, I'll spend hours turning it over and thinking about the writing, getting a good idea of the exact contents, then I'll sit down to write it and it turns out to be half a post.

>>4315360
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.

We don't even know if the book is important. Only that something with a signature dropped it off, and that someone is looking for it.

Something else that would be interesting to know is what Scuttles was doing up the tree we found him in.

>>4315360
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.
And a mixture of luck and a potential of having a weak sense of self preservation. Or as Easy put it: "So very Valkan... curious to a fault."

>>4315360
>Bugger if you know.
>You might just have a weak sense of self-preservation...

>>4315360
>You might just have a weak sense of self-preservation, but curiosity clearly did not kill the cat
Quoth XKCD - "Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone batshit insane", and that person may be us

>>4315360
>It's not strength, it's dumb luck. Everything you've done could have been achieved by someone else if they got lucky.

>>4315360
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.

>>4315360
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.

>>4315360
>Bugger if you know.

>>4315360
>>You might just have a weak sense of self-preservation...

>>4315360
>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.
Elan found a real Valkan, too. It's not as hard as it sounds.

>You were just in the right place at the right time. The sketchbook came to you, and that put you on the right path to get everything else.
>You may just also be a tiny bit crazy, but you're not saying that out loud.
Writing.

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"I... I'm really... not." You smile at Elan. "I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess. Anyone else could have done what I did." As long as they made some of the same reckless decisions that you did. Okay, not that reckless. Yeah, maybe a little reckless.

"Could they, though?" Elan had an unconvinced look.

"Sure." You shrug. "I didn't make any fantastic breakthroughs or genius-level deductions. I got where I am through random googling and the help of some very nice robots." You smile up at ST above you. "Kathari's sketchbook could have come to anyone else. It just came to me."

"Kathari?" Elan tilted his head. "What, you mean that little sketch journal you were sticking your head in?"

"Yeah!" You carefully reach over and tug the lip of your bag open - trying not to disturb Kara - and slowly drag the sketchbook out by the tips of your fingers. When you get low to the ground, you notice that Scuttles is still inside your bag, legs carefully bending the top of the bag upwards. "...what are you doing?"

"Providing cranial support."

You glance at the back of Kara's head, then down at the scarab before nonchalantly pushing yourself back into a sitting position. "Remember this?"

"Yep." Elan took it from you and turned it over in his hands. "This really led you to all of it?"

"In a way." You shrugged, plucking it back out of his hands. "There are a few keywords in here that I was able to use- Valkans use a couple of weird terms, and so I was about to find other things connected to Valkans through just a search or two. A bit of deduction, nothing more."

Elan slowly nodded. "Right. But... okay, if this is what started everything-"

"The terrorist bombing probably contributed." You admit.

"Right, but if this is what gave you a lead..." Elan paused as a thought seemed to occur to him. "...how did it come to you?"

"I'm not sure." You admit. "I saw a signature-"

"Like those little tags I see on your drones?"

You nod. "Yeah. I used to see them as these weird washed out balls of light. One came into Sana's shop while I was there. When I caught it, it just... disappeared."

"It turned invisible?"

You shake your head. "No, I swear my hand just went through it like it wasn't even there. I grabbed something, but it was this book instead."

"Drones can't become intangible, can they?" Elan asked. "Was it some kind of magic spell?"

"Can magic turn things intangible, though?"

"I don't fucking know, it's magic." Elan shrugged. "Are you sure it wasn't something else?"

"Pretty sure." You glance at your bag briefly. "I remember it skittering. Wasn't you by any chance, was it?"

"Negative." Scuttles replied.

You lapse back into thought for a second, rubbing your chin with a hand. "Actually... I did see a signature a few times that day, and one shortly before that."

"Why wouldn't that have stood out to you?" Elan asked.

>>4316813
"I see all sorts of whacky things when I'm having an episode, I didn't think anything of it at the time." You wave it off. "But... I saw this really bright one before I got into work that day, then later, I might have seen one inside a car..."

"A car?" Elan glanced up at ST. "So, a warskin?"

"Or a strider." It corrected him, leaning slightly out from it's perch to look at the two of you.

"Yeah." You nod. "It was... a bit of a junker- kinda like you when we first met, ST. Old and running even if it didn't look like it should have been."

"Kind of a conspicuous disguise, isn't it?" Elan asked.

"Very." ST agreed. "Such a disguise would have been more appropriate to an environ such as the junkyard. Or another place where scrapped cars are kept, such as a used lot, or a restoration shop. Why it didn't assume a more appropriate form is unclear. Changing form should have been simplicity itself."

"Was it damaged?" You ask.

"The ability to transform is fundamental to our nature, instead of being granted by a specific component." ST replied. "Even if I was split in twain, the part of my mass that my core was still attached to would be able to transform as freely as my whole, within mass restraints."

"But you have parts that can't change in you, right?" You point out. "The heavy equipment."

"Correct. My armaments and ammunition, for example." ST flipped forward the cannon mounted to it's shoulder. "Along with my sensors, central core and active armor. They are designed to break apart to a limited degree to facilitate my transformation, but I must locate places for them inside myself when transformed. I typically format my ammunition racks into the backs of the seats, for example."

"So what if just had something really big inside of it, so it couldn't transform?"

"Possible, but it would not prevent it from changing it's exterior appearance."

"...what if." Elan finally spoke up. "It wanted you to notice?"

You glance over to him. "...go on?"

"Like..." Elan pursed his lips. "What if the first pass was to get your attention, because it knew you could see it, then the second pass was to let you know it was there or something, then the third..." He looked down at the sketchbook. "Was to give you that."

"Why would it do that, though?" You ask, glancing down. "Did it realize I was Valkan or something?"

"Orders to do so?" Elan suggested. "Maybe whoever it's master is wanted you to have it."

"If that's the case..." Your eyebrows twitched slightly. "Then it's master would know that I'm..."

"...is that bad?" Elan asked.

>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.
>Bad. Apparently there are creepy cults started up around Valkans.
>Maybe a little. Whoever sent this seems to be pretty benevolent.
>I'm not sure.
>[Write-In]

>>4316815
>Bad. Apparently there are creepy cults started up around Valkans.
There are many possible reasons for doing so, very few of them could be considered positive especially since we don't know whose orders it was acting on. For all we know it could be one of Kathari's drones trying to find a student for her, or trying to see if we can drag our mother out of hiding since we noticed the oddities surrounding our mother's 'death'.

Maybe we should consider turning over the book to Sana, or placing it somewhere so she finds it so she can make a small fortune and then follow the guy back home after he turns up to get the book, and proceed from there.

Finding out witch side of the civil war our mother was on could help limit the possibilities.

>>4316815
>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.

>>4316815
>Bad. Apparently there are creepy cults started up around Valkans.

>random googling
Yet another phrase that makes no sense for people not from Earth to say.

>I typically format my ammunition racks into the backs of the seats, for example.
Why did nobody freak out at this? Kara at least has the excuse of being catatonic at the moment.

>>4316815
>>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.
Why do everyone want to dissect me?

>>4316815
>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.
Flashbacks to Hammer Guy. Did we ever look into that, by the way? If we haven't, then we should.

>>4316979
Going by the implication that Tagara is a lost colony and a fragment of future humanity that forgot where they came from, the Watsonian explanation would be that Tagaran is a descendant of English and "google" has survived within the common lexicon as simply a word for using a search engine. Of course, the Doylist approach would be that Bentus fucked up again.

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>>4317014
Might have fucked up a little chief.

>>4316815
>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.

>>4316815
>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kidnap me.
Tell him the truth about death cults too.

>>4316815
>Bad. Apparently there are creepy cults started up around Valkans.
Probably a cultist, not necessarily a death cult. If they were murderous, we would've been hammered already. If they were benevolent, they could have chosen a contact method less likely to get us into trouble.

Or Mom's busted-ass old car, still checking in on her kid once in a while. Long trip sneaking over from Kana, though.

>>4316815
>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.

>>4317282
It's worth noting that you don't know when the car was moved to Kana, just that it's been moving around a lot and was only recently moved to Kana.

>>4317425
Hell, good enough for me. Sign me up for team It Was The Car.

Now to get to Kana. Oh hey, Elan's mom can get us bogus IDs, so we could even go incognito!

Brilliant plans really just come together perfectly in Tiiris's life. If you disregard the broken laws and accidental explosions, I mean.

>>4316815
>Usually, very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.
>It could be someone like hammer guy, or a death cult leader. Or it could be someone benevolent, or at least neutral. Like Kathari herself or... mom's warskin.

My power company is staffed by real useless pieces of shit, you know that? Fuck, I had more reliable service and cheaper bills when I lived off the grid.

Update sometime here.

>Very. There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me.
Okay, we're back. Writing.

"Very..." You murmur. "There are some people who would want nothing more than to kill me..."

Elan looked at you appraisingly. "Having to hide ourselves because of what we represent- I mean, people really wouldn't like Valkans running around, especially with the... magic and the drones. I get that. That makes sense to me. But I have the feeling you're not talking about any of that."

You nod, slowly. "First of all is the government. I've spoken to a few people involved and apparently the government does not have a great track record on keeping their captured Valkans alive. And I do mean 'captured'. Even the ones who haven't done anything end up in custody."

"For their own protection, of course." Elan drawled. "But- so do they die being experimented on or something?"

"Not even that." You murmur. "The way he put it, it sounds like they don't even make it to the dissection phase before they 'accidentally' lose them."

"That... makes more sense than it should." Elan winced. "I've met my fair share of military guys through Dad. They're all these tightly wound up hardliners. You know, the whole 'rah rah the threat is ever present' guys. The reasonable ones got out and went back to the private sector after the war ended."

"That's the impression I got as well." You nod. "A few reasonable ones are still there, but they're a minority."

"Imagine being more concerned with keeping the budget high and clinging onto past glories than doing your jobs..."

"Eh..." You shrug. "I don't think we have room to talk. Seems like our Valkan ancestors were the same. Apparently they were religious fanatics? Split off from the other Valkans to run into the edges of known space to rebuild their empire? Or something dumb like that?"

Elan gave you a look. "...are you seriously telling me we're descended from the Valkan equivalent to rednecks?"

"I, uh... er..." You scratch your neck. "Probably?"

"...yeah. That tracks." Elan shook his head. "So the government, the public and..."

"The cults." You finish. "There's more to them than I thought."

"Oh, do tell." Elan deadpanned.

"Seems like a lot of them were actually started by Valkans."

"...religious nutjobs finally just going completely insane?" Elan asked with an almost hopeful tone.

"Nope, it's more of a power base. Willing minions, secretive, able to shield them from the authorities, that kind of thing..."

"Does that mean that the cultists who blew up the mall have- had like... a plan? They were doing something there?"

"I-" You shut your mouth. That hadn't actually occurred to you. "I'm not sure? What could they possibly gain by doing that? The Valkans who run these things don't want to be found."

"Smokescreen, maybe?" Elan shrugged. "Distract everyone so they could grab something else?"

"Like what, though?"

"I... okay, got me there." Elan admitted. "It's not unreasonable that some of them slipped the leash, as it were. They might have just been genuinely cra-"

>>4318258
Kara stirred. Her eyes refocused, and she blinked rapidly before making a face. "Ugh..." One of her arms quested around before finding a purchase on the soil and leaves.

"Here." You quickly stand up and move to the other side of her, inserting a knee behind her back to brace her. "You okay?"

Kara groaned and rubbed her temple furiously. "Yeah, I..." She blinked and looked around the clearing. "Hey, where is everybody?"

"Everybody?" You ask, tilting your head.

"Yeah." Kara frowned. "I heard- you two were talking to someone. And there were all these people around me, there was shouting and..." She rubbed her forehead more furiously. "Maybe I was just dreaming it..."

"Anything you saw was probably the implants." You grunt as you heft her forward. "I had a freaky experience when mine rewired."

"Maybe..." Kara worked herself into a squatting position and stayed there for a few moments. It was only when she seemed satisfied that she wouldn't topple that she rose entirely to her feet. "Okay, that's probably a bit too much outside for one day."

"Prrrobably." You check your phone. "We're almost out of time anyway. Er, at least for getting back to dinner on time."

Kara nodded, carefully picking her way across the clearing. Her footing seemed sure enough, but she still walked very carefully, looking around at the clearing with a frown like she hadn't seen it before. Even as ST dropped down from it's perch and began reconfiguring back into a station wagon, she was twitching in place slightly, occasionally flexing a hand and looking at it with a strange expression.

"...everything okay?" You ask, leaning in.

"...yeah." Kara said quietly, twisting her arm around. "I'm trying... I feel weird. Like... the wires in my brain weren't plugged in all the way. Moving feels different, my nerves..." She touched a hand to her head, ignoring Elan question ST about the possibility of it turning into a sports car. "...it's quiet." She finally said.

You smile at her. "Yeah. Yeah it is, Kara." After Kara is seated, you clamber your way into the car yourself.

"I still don't see how it would be inefficient." Elan was saying from the backseat as the two of you slip in.

"Race and track vehicles are rarely designed for comfort or spacing." ST replied. "Furthermore, I would not benefit from their designs as I cannot change my mass. My highest speed form is my general combat form. It functions as an aircraft or hovercraft- not a wheeled or tracked vehicle."

"I don't- oh, uh, you doing okay, Kara?" Elan's voice switched to concern as she seated herself with a slight groan.

"Better." She admitted. "But also worse? That was kind of rough..."

"Uh, anything I could do to help?" Elan asked.

"Nah..." Kara rubbed the back of her neck. "I think I just need to get some food in me and go home."

"Well, Easy's got that covered." You gently tap on the dashboard, prompting ST to begin maneuvering it's way out of the clearing.

>>4318259
"Alright..." Elan shuffled back into the passenger seat with a slight sigh before buckling himself in.

The car settled into an awkward silence for a bit, gently bumping and swaying on the forest floor as it made it's way back onto the trail you'd used to get this deep in the first place. Then, Kara suddenly spoke up. "You know, you could do something."

"Like?" Elan glanced up.

She looked up in the mirror and gave him a grin. "Turn into a girl for me. I wanna see."

Elan scoffed. "Oh, come on." He looked up and saw Kara's grin on the side of her face, then his eyes widened. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Sure." She shrugged lightly. "I had a freaky seizure, Tiiris showed us weird robot stuff. Now it's time for you to show us what you can do."

"I've already seen it." You offer.

"You can see it again." Kara shrugged. "That is, if you're willing, Elan."

>"Don't listen to her."
>"Go on, show us."
>[Write-In]

>>4318261
>>"Don't listen to her."

>>4318261
>"Don't listen to her."
We should hold off until we are somewhere safer, since we don't know for sure that someone isn't watching.

>>4318261
>"Don't listen to her."
Not now

Interesting. Prophetic foresight, or simple hallucination? Crowd of people shouting, Tiiris and Elan talking to someone Kara didn't recognize...

>>4318261
>"Go on, show us."
Doesn't apply to this at least. No danger of a shouting crowd forming while driving in ST. Also, Elan wasn't in girl form.

>>4318261
>"Don't listen to her."

>>4318261
>[Write-In] "It's up to you, Elan."

>>4318261
>"Don't listen to her."

>"Don't listen to her."
Writing.

"Don't listen to her." You scoff.

"He offered! It's not like anyone can see."

"The windows, Kara." Elan sounded more amused than anything.

"Actually." You say carefully. "The windows are fake, ST controls what people can see in here."

"Wait, really?" Elan said. "What, he could make it look like anything was happening in here?"

"Not anything." ST said. "It is difficult to create and render a full-detail projection while also performing other tasks. Generally I only remove figures from the inside of the car, like drones. But I could present a completely false image, such as an occupant."

"See? It's not trouble." Kara grinned weakly, but then she blinked and shook her head lightly, her implants briefly blinking.

"I'm not sure you're in any shape to appreciate it." You gently knock her, then glance back at Elan.

"No, it's o-" Elan began to say, then he stopped. His eyes narrowed for a second, his eyes flicking towards Kara, then staring forward. "-oooften difficult for me to do it on command. I'm not feeling up to it. Yeah."

Kara sighed. "Yeah, no problem." She managed a grin. "But you're not getting off that easy. Someday, the truth will be revealed."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll take it to my grave." Elan had a disproportionately large grin as he leaned back.

You quirk an eyebrow in the mirror at him before relaxing back yourself.

---

Isle of Illiir, Northern Sea
10th of 6th, 1173. 2:45PM.

His fingers sunk deep into the sand. Water spilled over his head once again, throwing it forward into the ground. Wet sand plastered up against the front of his visor, and he groaned slightly as the water held him against the sand. When it passed, he forced himself back to his feet and stumbled forward. The tide was coming in, the water rushing forward behind him as he scrambled forward ahead of the current of heavy salt water.

A warning tone emitted from his suit, the intake valves along his back opening with a hiss to let to let in air to refill his depleted tanks. Unhappy red symbols were flashing about the state of his body temperature and calorie intake. All of those could wait for now, he had to...

Raising his head, he realized a woman was sitting on the beach ahead of him. She was perched on a rock, legs folded beneath her. A rifle was lain across her lap, although she wasn't pointing it at him. He stared at her, even as water lapped around his hands and knees.

Very slowly, she tilted her head at him. "...and what's your name?"

---

Virtual Home Cinema, Miir, 2nd Floor
10th of 6th, 1173. 4:35PM.

"Thanks for the steak..." Kara groaned and stretched out her shoulders as she clambered out onto the curb.

"No problem, I'm sure Easy was happy to cook for more people than usual." You roll the window down, trying to ignore the obvious solid gap of machinery between the two 'panes' of the glass. You lean forward onto the sill. "Think you'll be okay for the rest of today?"

>>4320233
"Uh, maybe?" Kara touched her face self-consciously. "I thought I would be able to go on longer, but all I feel now is tired."

"Yeah, that happens." You tilt your head. "Well, LL will be there, so don't worry about it too much."

Kara nodded slowly, then took a step back. "Right, I'll try not to worry about my magic seizures." She gave a little wave, then turned around.

"Oh, and one more thing." You clear your throat slightly. "Think about the... the car thing, okay? You don't have to let me know right now, just..."

Kara nodded. "Yeah. I will. Just need to clear my head first, though."

"Right." You smile and give a little wave before pulling yourself back in and rolling the window back up.

"I'll take one, by the way." Elan piped up from the backseat as Kara unlocked the side door and slipped back into her dad's shop, although not before pausing briefly and shaking her head to clear it. LL's data-tag followed soon after her.

"Figured." You give a light grin as ST rolled back onto the street. "I'll get in touch about that, then. Just... later."

"After me and Kara are done going crazy?" Elan raised an eyebrow.

"After." You confirm, glancing out the window as the second floor dropped away beneath the riseway.

"...well, I do have- actually." Elan put a hand to his mouth, thinking. "No, it's fine."

"What's fine?" You raise an eyebrow, then have to squeeze your eyes shut as the afternoon sun suddenly shines in your eyes. ST pulled off from the riseway onto the smaller substreets of the third floor, making it's way towards the suburb where Elan lived.

"Nothing!" Elan smiled. "Just sinister plans."

"Do I need to be concerned?" You quirk an eyebrow.

"Only if you're Kara." Elan smiled.

"...oh, you're planning something." You look up into the rear-view mirror. "How badly is Kara going to get it?"

Elan glanced out the window as his street came into view. "Get what? I'm doing nothing to her."

You roll your eyes. "Fine, keep it to yourself."

Elan grinned at you before opening the door. "Not saying anything yet. At least, until I have more than a vague idea. I'll let you know if I have any brainwaves, though."

"Right..." You drawl, before leaning forward and smiling. "Good luck with your dastardly plans, then."

Elan just gave a little wave before shutting the door with a click. Backing away, he turned and unlocked the gate, disappearing behind the tall hedges that lined his lawn before shutting it behind him. Quietly, you tap on the dashboard, and ST pulls away from the curb.

---

Residential District, Miir, 1st Floor
11th of 6th, 1173. 9:00AM.

You stare at the scene in your living room. "...morning, OH."

>>4320234
"Good morning, miss." The drone didn't pause in it's work, instead continuing to focus on the lifesuit with a pale blue beam. The suit dangled from the ceiling fan by a small metal hanger of some kind, positioned just above a plastic bin, which was collecting the black repair slurry that slowly dripped off the suit every second. A spike projected from OH's casing, occasionally sending out a brief spark of light to the suit. "Your father has gone to work."

"...yeah, it's Monday." You stare at the suit. "What are you doing?"

"Patching a few of the heavily damaged systems." OH replied. "I should be complete by early morning tomorrow."

"Alright, then." You eye the lifesuit a few moments more before going to make your breakfast.

You told Easy to let SX2404 and UP8903 know that they might be needed soon the next time the Rontah surfaced, but you didn't tell them whether to come ashore or not. Considering Kara and Elan's conditions, it might be wise to hold off on that one. That said, it was a new day.

What will you do?

>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] Up to Reese for Jess' training camp. Although, you wouldn't be able to take Kara and Elan until their implants had finished growing in.
>>[Sub-Option] That message was still transmitting every night. It's time to see if this 'Kathari' is the same one who wrote your journal.
>>[Sub-Option] Netana belongs to a cult, and from what you've learned so far, a lot of cults were started by Valkans. A thorough investigation would behoove you.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
>>[Sub-Option] Your mother's death had 'suspicious' written all over it. Passively gathering evidence hadn't done anything for you, it was time to start getting yourself into trouble.
>>[Sub-Option] Mom's car had done some traveling. What were your options for getting to Kana?
>>[Sub-Option] Something else. (Write-In)
>[Write-In]

>>4320235
>>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
More robots

>>4320235
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.

>>4320235
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.

Finding additional Valkan Salvage, before we go up to Jess's could allow us learn more from Jess, eventually be used to restore additional functionality / repair the damaged Warskins, or build new drones once we learn how to do it.

We still need to get around to seeing what Talor wanted to tell us, and figuring out why the strange man was looking for Kathari's Sketchbook. /spoiler]

>>4320235
>Begin planning for another big task.
>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
Taylor. Taylor was looking into the black market all on her own. Only reason she couldn't help us personally was because we wanted entry to Hull II, not smuggled objects.

>>4320235
>[Sub-Option] Mom's car had done some traveling. What were your options for getting to Kana?

>>4320235
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.

>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] What would it take to acquire some Valkan hardware? Especially a drone for Elan, or maybe a new body for TP9093.
Writing.

Elan had expressed interest in a warskin, and that was good - hell, that was easy for you, considering your surplus of them - but that drew attention to your other issue. To a point, you had far too many war machines, and not enough drones with utility. It was easy for you to give out a giant death machine, but something so basic every Valkan had their own was beyond your current capabilities.

That was a problem, but you weren't quite sure how to deal with it. If ST had put out a call for any free drone to come to you, and Easy and OH were the only two that showed up, that must mean the candidate pool was quite small indeed. Unless...

"Easy. ST." You pause, before adding. "And OH, I guess. Why were you two the only drones to show up when ST called? Shouldn't there be tons of free drones out there?"

"Relatively speaking." OH answered. "I would estimate that perhaps a thousand remain intact. I do not know the exact concentration within Miir."

"We were among fifty units that found shelter in this city." ST said. "If you recall, the other forty eight serve other masters."

You perk up slightly. "Could you tell me who those masters are?"

"Unfortunately not. Like us, they have likely increased security protocols since finding new masters. I do not know if they are even within the city."

You sigh and lean back. "Probably too much to hope for." You sigh and tap a fork on the plate in front of you. "I need to find some more drones, but if there's no simple way to just whistle and get some, that leaves..." Your eyes narrow. "You said that there were a thousand 'intact', OH, would that count deactivated or partially scrapped drones? Like..." You consider. "That one that, uh, Jared kept as a fancy statue?"

"No, miss." OH confirmed. "Simply active units I have observed transmissions from."

"So that means there are more drones than just the ones in 'circulation', as it were..." You muse. "Getting drones from the crash sites is obvious, and I'm sure there are just a few random ones here and there - like how my plasma rifle was hidden in a wall, and Scuttles was in some tree. But I'm not sure how to hunt any of those down other than waiting and hoping I get lucky. And if it was so easy, other Valkans would have done it long before me..." You move slightly to the side so Easy can slip some vegetables and eggs onto your plate. "What do you know about the Valkan black market?"

"It is highly secured. I have never seen it in person." Easy said. "Often, they sell trinkets that are impressive to ordinary humans. They are quite aggressive about security."

"Do you know how to get in?"

"Depends on the smuggling circle. Generally it's by invitation from a member within only. A playground of the ultra-wealthy."

>>4321813
"So like that one rich guy we knew had stuff..." You muse. "But that doesn't make sense. What happens if they don't want something? Who do they sell it to?"

"I wouldn't know." Easy said. "The one time I approached, I was discovered."

"They also keep much of their communications offline." ST offered. "It makes it difficult for me to gather information."

"So they know about what you guys can do..." You fold your arms. "That makes things difficult. I wonder if..."

>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
>Taylor and her Dad were involved with the military, they had to know.
>Jess wasn't exactly involved with civilization, but she was an actual Valkan who you were pretty sure you could trust.
>[Write-In]

>[Optional] Tell SX2404 to come ashore.
>[Optional] Tell UP8903 to come ashore.
Totally not a vote that was accidentally cut off from the previous post.

>>4321814
>Taylor and her Dad were involved with the military, they had to know.

With the Tanoh's destruction, Y'avel's longterm future is likely up in the air since the personnel, material and funding could probably be better used elsewhere, so i would assume that most of the stuff that was liberated would be moving into storage elsewhere. So it would likely provide a good opportunity for expensive, rare, or important things to go 'missing' during the transfer and if the military was looking to plug these leaks, we could probably help out in a couple of different ways.

Do we know what kind of drones SX2404 has with it / is missing.

>>4321814
>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
Can we try stealing from that rich guy with a large collection?

>>4321813
>Taylor and her Dad were involved with the military, they had to know.

>>4321814
>>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
>[Optional] Tell SX2404 to come ashore.
>[Optional] Tell UP8903 to come ashore.

>>4321814
>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?

>>4321814
>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
We needed to pay her a visit anyway. I wonder if she hears the Karhari broadcasts.

>>4321814
>Jess wasn't exactly involved with civilization, but she was an actual Valkan who you were pretty sure you could trust.

>>4321814
>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
Making sure to explain why we want to contact the black market in case she has a better method of acquiring drones (or has some herself she could share with Elan)

>>4321814
>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?

>>4321814
>Taylor and her Dad were involved with the military, they had to know.
>[Optional] Tell SX2404 to come ashore.
Rather go with the person we know has researched the black market, rather than the one we don't know at all.
But it's a decent excuse to meet Tina, I guess. Elan would be... thrilled... I'm sure...
SX would be good match for him in temperament, probably. Seems like a thoughtful and relaxed warmachine.

>Elan's stepmom was Valkan - what's more, an adult Valkan. Maybe she would know about the black markets?
Writing.

Elan's mom... what was her name? Tina, right. She was Valkan, and old enough to be married to Elan's dad. That had to make her at least... what, forty? Unless Elan's dad had an eye for younger women. Then again, eternal youth seemed to be one of the package deals with your implants, so she might even be older than him.

At the very least, she'd been able to identify herself to Elan, which meant she probably had some kind of Valkan upbringing. Whether that was like Jess, with Valkan parents growing up on Tagara, or she was a direct survivor of the 13th or maybe she just stumbled into it like you did, she had to know something. At the very least, she'd know what direction to point you in.

Reaching over, you pick up your phone and start a text towards Elan, asking if he'd be willing to introduce you to his stepmom before hesitating on the send button. Was it really a good idea to get him involved? His implants were still growing in, and you really shouldn't give him any reason to go out of the house until they're done- hell, maybe not even until he has sufficient protection like you do. It's not like you couldn't ask to meet her alone and not tell him what you wanted. Well, you could, come to think of it, but that would only pique his interest.

You could just go and see her when you knew Elan wasn't in the house. It would be going behind his back, but... you'd know it was private, at least. Unless she just went and told him anyway- but, if you had to guess? She was good at keeping secrets.

>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
>>[Sub-Option] Ask him not to pry or get involved.
>>[Sub-Option] Keep your reasons under wraps, make it seem like you just want to get to know her.
>Go see her when Elan isn't around.
>[Write-In]

>>4323377
>Elan's mom
>Not Elan's stepmom
>literally the first two words
God dammit me.

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
Explaining everything is probably the right thing to do, and since we kinda helped Elan out massively, she may be more able than Jess to answer some of the more general questions about what life was like for the 13th.

She might also be able to provide more general information about what Kallis might have been getting up to as a sworn Knight, or possibly be able to help arrange for us to (legally) get to Kana in order to find Jeanne's old car.

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.

>>4323377
>>Ask Elan to make an introduction.

>>4323378
Must be Tiiris projecting. A mom's a mom, and a stepmom is clearly a step up from a deadmom. (lucky Elan, gets one of each)

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
We do this the way we do most of our Valkan interactions: mostly oblivious to the consequences.

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
>>[Sub-Option] Keep your reasons under wraps, make it seem like you just want to get to know her.

>>4323377
>>Ask Elan to make an introduction.

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
I imagine Easy will want to tag along if we're going to go meet another Valkan again

>>4323377
>Ask Elan to make an introduction.

>>4324082
Speaking of Easy, does Tina know we have robutts around?

>Ask Elan to make an introduction.
Writing.

>>4324121
She knows you have at least one- LL has been going to Elan's house to check up on him and make sure he's drinking his slurry.

Hukak Household, Miir, 3rd Floor
11th of 6th, 1173. 11:00AM.

"So." The woman reached out and lifted her mug to her lips. "You're... Tiiris, right?"

"Um, yes." You nod. Resting on the table in front of you was your own mug- coffee, you think, but it seemed a bit late in the day for it. She'd just made it and set it down in front of you without even asking as soon as you walked in, and was drinking deeply from hers as you waited for her to answer.

Tina Hukak was a woman perhaps in her twenties, with straight dark hair pulled back into a loose bun. Her eyes were deeply set, with lines picking out the edge of her eye sockets. Combined with a thin cheeks and a hawkish nose, and she had a surprisingly gaunt look to her. She wore her wedding ring on her right index finger instead of her ring finger and wore a purple hoodie. Cradling a coffee cup as she was, resting it on the palm of her left hand between sips, and she looked almost like a graduate student, not someone who's supposed to be in their... was she really thirty?

From the description Elan had given to you before, you're a little ashamed to admit you'd thought she'd be some trophy wife or gold digger- on the contrary, she dressed like she almost couldn't afford to. She certainly nailed the 'young-looking' part of that, though.

Elan didn't have a cup, instead watching passively from the kitchen table while you two awkwardly stared at each other from across their kitchen island.

Speaking of living up to stereotypes, she certainly lived up to her college student look from her apparent love affair with that coffee mug. Finally pulling it away from her mouth, she eyed you carefully. "Tiiris? Clever name."

"...clever?" You ask.

"It's Valkan, but there are enough hippie parents who named their kid Tiir or Tiira or Tiilafa or whatever pretentious hippie shit they could come up with these days that it doesn't stick out as very unusual. Tagaran enough to be normal."

"Thanks?" You smile slightly in confusion. "But, ah, Mrs. Hukak-"

"You can just call me Tina." She waved her hand dismissively. "Or Kadia, if you think that'd be more honest."

"Um, right." You nod, then glance sidelong at Elan. "Ah..." You hadn't expected her to launch right into it. You'd expected some awkward pleasantries at first, then you'd get a chance to ask what you wanted. Well, there was still time for pleasantries, you suppose...

>"I'm wondering what you could tell me about the Valkan black markets."
>"You probably know the Valkan, er, community better than I do. What places should I avoid?"
>"How did you and Elan's dad meet?"
>"You don't look like I expected you to."
>"...is this coffee or something else?"
>[Write-In]

>>4325336
>"You don't look like I expected you to."
Uhhh yeah. When I picture a 'Tina', it's not usually a Visigoth in a purple hoodie. Anyway:
>"You probably know the Valkan, er, community better than I do. What places should I avoid?"
The only other Valkan we know is pretty uninvolved. Or so she says.