With Lucas's mood nearly as elevated as the crushed vehicle he is carrying lifted over his head, Lucas finally makes it to the opposite sidewalk.
All of the random pedestrians in the area scatter, not willing to make any assumptions as to his goals while wielding such a weapon, leaving him and Jonathan a wide berth. Of course, no good samaritans try to help Jonathan up, nor so much as attempt to warn him of the approaching madman that is waving around a whole-ass car. Selfish jerks.
Back by the entrance of the alley, both Miss Calculated and Miss Masher are now standing by Willy. The still-recording office employatrix isn't far behind them, with her phone's focus on Lucas once more.
Willy lets out a long, low, whine, then runs in a small circle around Miss Masher, and
Taking a moment to bounce a bit, jostling Jonathan around to make sure he's secure, Lucas starts walking to the edge of the sidewalk, stopping when he's just a step away from the street.'Hey, waitaminute, he was zoomin' around all over the place at MF's, why didn't he get tired then?'[Those were smaller bursts, and at nowhere near the same top speed as he was just sustaining in order to accomplish all of the tasks he just completed. Though yes, he certainly was tiring himself out then, that's part of why he settled down to try on shoes when he did. Also, it was part of why he was compelled to take a second nap, leading to why it took so long for him to get ready after your… Break time.]'...Oh. Oh right, uh, do we need to move these cars off the s
Now that their group is collectively gathered on the sidewalk near the mangled motorized machine mound, Lucas clears his throat a bit awkwardly while debating what to say to politely encourage Clementine to be on her way.Having determined that the pile of wreckage seems stable, Miss Calculated began rummaging around the edges, snooping through glove boxes and armrests in case there was anything of interest.Willy had gone on his own excursion, his tail wagging excitedly when he finds a half-filled bag of beef jerky.Miss Masher has wandered back over to the pile and began exploring her potential as a modern artist.No wait, false alarm, she was re-arranging some car parts so she could pull out the backseat from
After quietly pocketing her latest find, Miss Calculated surveys the wreckage rollup one final time before taking a few steps away."Hmm, I know you joked about burying her corpse under this mess, but I feel like that would just be excessive at this point? Also, short of re-arranging it all, I believe we've combed over it all well enough to find everything of value, short of gutting the copper to sell for scrap. I imagine that is a bit… Beneath the gentlemen in attendance, though." Deciding she's more interested in continuing on to lunch, Miss Calculated speaks up to redirect the group's attention.Lucas turns to face her with a large smile, relieved that he didn't need to be the one to call for the end of the impromptu looting session."Ah, uh, yeah. Besides, w
The assembly of dorks eventually, finally, make it to Miss Calculated's intended destination. Jonathan had spent the majority of the trip there continuing to try to hide his face, with rather limited success.When they were close, but not quite there yet, Miss Chievous had serenaded the group with an impromptu song. She went on in great detail about her love for lobster tails, as well as the fate held in store for all of the lobster tails that were to soon be brought before her.Miss Calculated and Miss Masher were both completely unphased by her performance, but Lucas felt similarly inspired by it. Here's hoping the restaurant has a full lobster tank, because they're going to be absolutely decimating it.Jonathan's groans were rather indicative of his lack of apprecia
Before anyone has a chance to explain to Miss Masher why they're laughing, another service bot has come over to join them, at a far faster speed than most bots tend to travel at.It's wearing a long apron and has an even less vaguely humanoid configuration than a standard service bot. Most notably, its four longer-than-normal arms are each comprised of a series of small segments, making each look like a tentacle made of metal rings while allowing full flexibility, yet still being capable of supporting weight.'Oh! It's kinda like Doc O- Er, never mind. Not like you'd know what I'm talking about anyway, bah.'[Ah, you gave some imagery that time as well, another show I take it? Hmm, that looked like cybernetics… But that doesn't seem very feasible, the m
Before even opening the menu that was handed to him, Lucas turns to look directly at 23."Hey, before we even start gettin' lookin' into everything, can we order one of every appetizer? Just bring 'em out as soon as they're ready? We're starvin'. Oh, you got wings, right? Uh, just bring a platter each in every sauce they come in. If there's anything you guys want extra of, go ahead, it's all good. Oh, we're gonna be orderin' a bunch by the way, do I gotta do some partial prepay or somethin'?" While Lucas casually money-flexes without even giving 23 a chance to react, Miss Calculated raises an eyebrow questioningly. Miss Chievous's eyes widen in surprise, gaining an excited smile before long. Miss Masher also has a similarly excited expression, truly understanding they really can go all out on this meal.Rewind, who was initia
After some time spent peacefully looking over their menus, Miss Chievous finally works up the nerve to ask her burning question."Sooo… What about leftovers? It's okay to order a little extra… Right?" While she tentatively asks this, she's peeking over the top of her menu, closely observing Lucas in order to gauge his reaction."Eh? Sure, just don't order anything you don't plan on legitimately eating at least some of, I guess. Don't go crazy. Is that a good idea though? We're gonna be out for a while, an' any leftovers'll go bad before you'd get home to put 'em in the fridge, yeah?" After giving consent, Lucas's attention is then fully pulled off of his own menu by her excitedly hopping in her seat a few times, followed by dropping her menu and reaching into the messenger bag she brought from home.<
The ill-advised drinking contest ends with Lucas slamming down his empty glass first. Thankfully, he managed to hold his strength back just enough that he doesn't even crack it. Truly, a proprioception-related miracle.Barely a second after him, Miss Chievous does the same, but with a far less enthusiastic expression."Fuck, I didn't think you'd actually beat me! Baaah, no fair!" She shoves her empty glass over in front of Jonathan, then flops forward onto the table, openly sulking."You weren't going to even get anything if you won anyway! Now Mash is probably going to have to carry you out of here when we're done!" Even though Miss Calculated is clearly scolding her, Miss Chievous giggles a few times, with her face firmly pressed against the wood of the table.
Lucas and Jonathan—dressed decently but nowhere near as fancy as yesterday—are most of the way to Cat’s Paw Cafe, pointedly not utilizing the stinky subway station to get there.‘Ya know, it’s been surprisingly peaceful, yeah? Though, not havin’ people gawk as much as yesterday is kinda nice. All that attention was gettin’ old fast.’[Ahem, well, fortunately, Boss System approved my long-term task priority filtering proposal.]‘Oh? Whassat?’[Compared to before, now it requires an opt-in before being bombarded with every single task in range. Before receiving alerts—and therefore penalties for ignoring them—we’ll run the calculations of the tasks’ estimated impact vs. potential unwanted attention. This effectively weeds out a majority of minor tasks—plus some moderate ones—by accounting for how suspicious it would be for you to know the event was taking place, let alone be believably compelled to interfere. I knew there was no need to ask if you were interested in activating it immedi
Once the allotted thirty minutes have passed—precisely down to the second—427 tentatively undeafens Lucas. At first, all he can hear is a booklet’s pages being flipped through, followed by Lucas grumbling.Hesitantly removing the remaining sensory suppressions one at a time, 427 nearly sighs with relief upon discovering that Lucas is standing in the kitchenette by the new automatic drip coffee maker—thankfully dressed—in the midst of poorly attempting to demystify its instruction manual.‘How the hell is this so complicated?’[Ah, making good on your promise to Jonathan?]‘Oh, thank fuck; yer back. Took ya long enough.’[…Hello, again, to you, too.]‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Welcome back. So, anywho, can ya scan through this or somethin’ and tell me how to use it?’[…I already looked up the instructions from everything’s model numbers earlier. First, measure out—]427 guides Lucas through measuring and grinding a serving’s worth of coffee beans and setting it up in the machine with such in-d
For a few peaceful minutes, Lucas delights in demolishing the delicious delicatessen delivery. As Jonathan reaches for his coffee cup to gauge if it’s cool enough for a sane person to drink, he ends up cutting himself off with a yawn, earning a side-eye from Lucas.“Hey, ya barely got any sleep, yeah? Instead of havin’ caffeine, shouldn’t ya go take a nap?” Upon Lucas’s question, Jonathan pauses, looking at the contents of his mug with an obvious longing. “I’ll make ya a fresh one in like half an hour; I’m sure 427 can figure out howta use whatever newfangled machine ya got,” Lucas continues, his eyes also fixed on the beverage.[…I suppose I appreciate your vote of confidence.]Jonathan’s gaze lingers on the coveted coffee for a moment before he sets it back on the table. As soon as he lets go of it, Lucas lays his claim upon it.“Um, o-okay, yeah. I just, um, sh-should take a shower first,” Jonathan stammers as he stands.Lucas hums an agreement around a mouthful of coffee.[Did y
Thankfully, there are no further interruptions during the rest of this round of deliveries. Or even during the next one, either.Once Jonathan finally has the fourth and final load of freight, he makes a detour to a delicatessen. More specifically, the one where he previously purchased yesterday’s breakfast.After equally uneventfully acquiring milk, third breakfast for himself, and first breakfast for Lucas—since he’d totally only eat sugary baked goods if real food wasn’t conveniently available—he makes his way home.With his back to the recently re-locked front door, Jonathan reclaims the last armload of supplies as he looks at Lucas’s still-shut bedroom door.‘…Our food will still be too hot to eat for a little while; I’ll make some coffee first.’Jonathan may or may not be making up excuses to keep putting off waking up Lucas in the hopes that he’ll do so on his own, knowing full well that he probably won’t.While taking longer than necessary to decide which appliance to christen
“Ah! Um…” Jonathan’s face scrunches up a bit as he looks over his pending purchases.‘Can we at least turn off tasks while my hands are full? I really don’t want to drop everything and have it get broken or stolen by the time I get back to it… It will be annoying enough having to run back and forth a bunch.’[Requesting temporary task suppression… Permission granted; disregarding minor tasks for one hour at no penalty, effective immediately.]Jonathan barely represses his urge to sigh with relief.Before Ji Soo works up the nerve to express concern over Jonathan’s vacant stare at the wall behind the service bot, Jonathan’s attention returns to reality and redirects to said bot.“Um, c-could you hold some of it for a few minutes once I’m done paying? I-I won’t take long… Like, five minutes?” Before fidgety Jonathan even finishes asking his question, the bot is already nodding.“Certainly. Do you wish to use a private scanning kiosk to complete your order?”‘I’m surprised it’s even an
Jonathan, however, doesn’t hear the utterance of recognition. Unaware, he continues his quest for a coffee maker.A short time later, Jonathan stands--while quietly grumbling--before a row of two-in-one coffee/espresso machines.Behind him is a sea of drip coffee machines, with cold press equipment further off to the side. Alongside the arrangement of two-in-ones sits a selection of espresso machines, both automatic and semi-automatic.‘How are there so many!? What even are the differences? Wait, no, don’t answer that. The technical details will probably just be even more confusing.’[Understood.]Although Jonathan notices movement in his peripheral vision, he doesn’t outwardly react to the recent arrival at the end of the aisle. Instead, he pulls out one of the two-in-one machines set at eye level, rotating it so he can read the back of the box.“Ah! Don’t get one of those! That entire line is overpriced trash,” the newcomer blurts out, muffled by the layers of carbon-filter fabric f
After the harrowing--see also; totally normal--experience of getting his hair professionally cut, Jonathan blinks a few times as he looks himself over in the mirror. ‘Oh, wow. That’s way better.’ He’s now sporting a long-top, backswept, tapered hairstyle with a rounded back. Given how clearly tense he was throughout the entire cutting process, a trendy skin fade would have fairly obviously been too much for his liking. After giving Jonathan a few moments to make his mental evaluations, one of the hairdresser’s dreadlocks uses a soft-bristle brush to clear away the loose hair clippings around the collar of the barber cape. A few other coils of his hair organize the various tools he used, setting them aside for cleaning. Meanwhile, he quickly sweeps aside the bulk of the rogue tufts of hair on the ground in a much more conventional hands-on-broom method as he uses the mirror to make eye contact with Jonathan again. “Lookin’ good, mon. Well? Whaddya tink?” His question pulls Jonath
Once Jonathan is finally en route to the hairdresser...[Safe distance from Mikah’s power detected. Alert; you have exceeded 10 GDV. You have one enhancement available.]‘Oh! Um, you said before that rank three vision should be good enough to see through Maria’s powers, right?’[Correct, rank three should be sufficient as long as her target is in motion. Rank four would be necessary to see anything stationary, given the current strength of her powers. Please be aware that going beyond rank three for any individual enhancement has additional requirements.]‘Three should be good enough to avoid most of her pranks... Use my upgrade on vision.’[Please confirm that you would like rank two vision.]‘Yeah.’[Understood. Please close your eyes during calibrations to avoid nausea.]Jonathan slows from running at enhanced speed into a normal-paced jog for a few steps, then stops and shuts his eyes.[Bzzt... Calibrations complete.]He opens his eyes and looks around, blinking several times.‘Wo
The duo’s fiery funnel further forces the growing multi-car pile-up towards the middle of the street for a few seconds longer. Finally, the flames falter and fade. After a short delay, the wind wanes as well.‘Oh, I shouldn’t give them any extra reasons to think I’m a threat.’Jonathan swiftly shuts and pockets his switchblade as he follows the sidewalk. While doing so, his attention flicks between the ongoing chaos in the street and the front door of Howling Cartographer’s HQ lobby.Ashley steps through the door with Jason right behind her. They both take a moment to appreciate their destructive handiwork with smug expressions. Considering that Jonathan is conspicuously the only person still in the immediate vicinity, they quickly focus on him.Before either of them manage anything beyond a glare, Jonathan raises both hands in a submissive gesture, showing that he isn't wielding a weapon. "I-I just wanted his gun!"Ashley's exposed eye squints with amusement, the not hair-hidden cor