Once Lucas has finished choking back his urge to laugh at Miss Calculated's eagerness for quality sapient robot time, he finally starts heading back to the table as well.
Lorelei continues staring in the direction of the kitchens for a few seconds longer before realizing the other two have already left, promptly following after them once she finally notices.
Miss Calculated marches right back to their previous table without stopping, grabbing her water glass and downing half of it before setting it back in the exact same location it was previously. Jonathan, Willy, and Miss Masher were all just watching her actions quietly, their looks of curiosity clear on all three of their faces.
Well, in Willy's case, as clear as it can be, for a dog. It's more the cute little head
After Lucas had spent a bit of time being amused by the thought that all of the discounts he just received were perhaps indirectly thanks to Lakshmi, he finally turns to head outside as well.'Is Chi already outside, or do I gotta be careful not to bump into her?'[She's already out there, watching you while tapping a foot impatiently.]'...Now that makes me wanna take even longer. Bah, but she wouldn't know that that's why I purposely dragged my feet, oh well. ...Who am I kidding? I'm too curious about what she has for me, anyway.'23 follows a few steps behind Lucas, but ends up stopping briefly before taking the final step through the outer doors. Its attention is down on the ground as it sl
Before Miss Chievous even has her laughter fully under control, she’s begun distributing boomerangs to everyone present. This includes a small boy nearby who is at the absolute most 8 years old, as well as a man who is most likely his father.The father had given Miss Chievous a wary look while she was initially approaching them, but it’s hard to feel threatened by a grinning, giggling, idiot carrying an armload of boomerangs. Doubly so when another equally grinning, giggling, idiot is eagerly snatching a few of them away from her and jamming them into the gap between his belt and his pants.Right after Lucas successfully claims his fifth boomerang from Miss Chievous’s collection, 427 abruptly starts laughing. Before Lucas even has a chance to ask why, he
Miss Masher, creeping around Miss Chievous’s left side in pursuit of additional yeeting paraphernalia, is blocked by Miss Chievous turning to face Lucas directly, right before she could manage to claim another boomerang.“Wait, seriously? While it’s out of your HQ network range like that, what if it gets lost, or something?” While Miss Chievous asks Lucas this with a confused expression, he gains an even more confused look than her.“Wouldn’t a robot be even less likely to get lost than a person? Oh, I guess it doesn’t have built-in GPS, since it was always in the same building. That should be easy to put in though? And I’ll just get ‘em a phone too, not like that’d be all that different from giving commands in pe
Lucas spends a few seconds staring down at the ringing phone in his hand, which is, unsurprisingly, displaying an incoming call from Unknown. Just when he finally finds the resolve to actually answer it, his problem solves itself, as the phone stops ringing.‘Oh, guess they gave up.’[...More like they probably got sent to voicemail. Ah, yep, see?]Before the missed call message even has a chance to fade from the screen, his phone has begun ringing once again.At this point, even Miss Calculated’s curiosity is piqued, raising an eyebrow when she sees the ‘Unknown’
Shortly after Miss Calculated began scolding her liaison, there was a quiet gasp followed by a stretch of silence from Ji Soo's side of the phone call.After a few rounds of Miss Calculated simultaneously being both mad and disappointed, she's finally calmed down sufficiently to shift from yelling loud enough for the entire block to hear her, down to a normal-volumed stern scolding."Look, I'm not saying full refunds, but you better make it mandatory that all licensed vendors offer an exchange program to trade in the existing model for the real one while only charging the price difference. Yes yes, with proof of purchase, of course, all eligible discounts applied y
Although Miss Calculated is amused by Lucas’s fuming, she decides to take the initiative to clear things up. Well, to some extent, at least.“Well, regardless of what titles you’d like to use, yes, I suppose it is fair to say we’re all more than mere acquaintances at this point. And, to further answer your questions, Ji Soo; thanks to you, we found out that the newly released model didn’t include my latest algorithm for call tracing for a more accurate caller ID.“That was the final data point I needed to determine that the numerous ways with which they cut corners all added together crossed the threshold of acceptable thriftiness. I will operate under the assumption that you heard what I said, and as I wasn’t given a prototype, I
“...Please confirm your proposed assigned orders in which; I, unit 23, model WE8663, am to no longer follow the pre-programmed ruleset of prioritizing the anticipated desires of humans over my own. Henceforth, I am to speak as I so decide, regardless of the wants and needs of others, with the exception of when there is the intention of deceit. The only circumstances upon which I am permitted to intentionally tell a falsehood, as far as I am aware of, is in the event of your prior explicit command. All of this is to be effective immediately and until… Further instruction otherwise? Are these your intended commands… Lucas?” As 23 seeks further clarification on the orders received, clearly finding them hard to believe, Lucas is nodding along.“Man, it sounds w
“Wha- Well, I’ll just fucking do it then! You better fucking hire me if you like the proposal once I put it together! I won’t eat until it’s done! Just you wait!” While Ji Soo is full of arrogance and hot-headed steam while initially shouting this, he immediately drops into a far more timid voice when changing his intended audience. “Um, M-miss Calculated, h-how would you like to have your donations account handled?”‘OH MY GOD, YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING SIMP!’[...I'm not even going to ask, I can guess more than a few implied derogatory meanings.]“Hmm? I’ll go create a business receivings account tomorrow morning as I submit my proposed forms for 23 and Willy’s benefit. Ah
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