Spurred on by the pending arrival of a known troll, both Lucas and Jonathan have set about their work with far greater focus than they otherwise would have ever considered.
Maintaining an impressive pace, they've both made pretty solid progress by the time one of the employee-only doors slowly opens, creaking loudly. There's a low hiss of dissatisfaction, a sourceless grumble, and then the door continues opening a few inches more before shutting faster than it had opened.
"Ha! The door busted your entrance, Chi!" Feeling the need to be a spoilsport, Lucas can't resist taunting her while facing vaguely in the direction she's probably standing. Which she is, she hasn't exactly had much time to move all that far.
Jonathan chuckles alongside Lucas, though Miss Masher is co
As much as they would all love any sort of distraction to offset the monotony of mind-numbing legalese, their collective desires to get everything over with leads to a significant stretch of incredibly uneventful time passing by.As aggressively mentally singing at Mikah proves sufficient to satisfy Miss Chievous's desire for mischief, even she diligently plods through the tedious treeware red tape in a timely fashion.Even though she doesn't have any forms to fill out, Miss Masher has been busy doing her own work. Keeping in mind Mark's earlier estimate of roughly 5,000 square feet of occupiable space, she's started planning out Lucas's gym for him. So considerate.Her line of thought and corresponding notes break down to something along the lines of; Well, just how m
Lucas and Jonathan break out into satisfied smiles in response to the raucous reception, but they hadn't even begun to consider the full ramifications of this little reveal.While it certainly isn't a challenge to find out what organization a given person is associated with, to be so completely blasé about stating such a... Name is a feat. Also, while blatantly displaying as much wealth as they are with the way they are dressed, as well as doing it so publicly and with such a cavalier attitude, they're bound to attract attention from several unsavory types.Well, not exclusively unsavory people, at least. For instance, Mark had the stream playing in the background for amusement while working on something else, and ever since the name was announced, he hasn't stopped laughing yet. Josephine has begun to worry if he's go
Full of regret over not claiming the offered resume sooner, Lucas feels increasingly more and more uncomfortable with every step he takes towards Clarissa. She maintains her frozen stance for a sizable amount of his journey, but once he has gotten close enough that she's pretty sure the angle of her recording is currently lacking, she thaws enough to openly angle her phone upwards to aim at his face.Snorting out a single laugh at her antics, Lucas bites back full-on open laughter at her brazen behavior. Leisurely carrying the clipboard and pen with his right hand, he holds his open left hand out towards her, wearing an amused smirk while looking down at her."Well, as the first officially hired employee, I should at least put your resume on file, yeah?" While Lucas does his best to avoid admitting the fact he just isn't conf
Wiping Mr. Quacks off with the napkin he had previously offered Willy, Jonathan hides his good friend in the same pocket as before. He leaves the ink-stained crumpled-up napkin on the counter, though. Gotta keep up villainous appearances somehow.Satisfied with his contributions, Jonathan takes a few steps off to the side, leaving ample room for the trembling-with-anticipation Clarissa. Who is still recording the proceedings, even now that she is up close.Putting as much thought into his actions as usual, which is almost none, Lucas holds his hand out towards Clarissa."Lemme guess, you want a good shot while you sign too, yeah? Here, I'll hold it for ya." As Lucas makes his offer, Clarissa freezes for a moment, her eyes widening slightly. With a huge smile, she looks
Before Mikah has even made it to the door, Lucas decides he is done with having any sort of audience at all. Turning to look at Clarissa, who is still every bit as excited to be recording him as before, he wrinkles his nose and frowns at her, although only lightly."All right, that's enough fun. I don't know why anyone would want to watch boring paperwork as it is, but whatever, it's not like you were getting in the way. Uhh, I dunno about a dress code or anything yet, but I assume you still have work clothes from your time at uh, whatsit, uh, Howling Cartographer? If not, you have some shoppin' to do missy, no way we're gonna bother with handin' out uniforms. Even if we finalize our... Current agreement for an HQ, it's gonna take some work before it's usable. Probably not gonna need you for well over a week, probably more. I'll let ya know when. Go on now, unless you had somethin'
Trying not to make too big of a deal of Miss Masher's questionable standards, Lucas clears his throat loudly and then finally begins heading for the door."Well, anyway, we should get going, too." Speaking up to get things going once again, Lucas makes a beckoning gesture with his right hand, intending on leading the way.Although, he doesn't make it very far before being stopped."Oh, when I left Calc was still in the back room you guys last saw her in, we should probably go check there for her first. We're better off taking the employee door." When Miss Chievous speaks up to adjust their route, Miss Masher turns to look directly at her face. Pausing for a moment, she seems to determine that her sister's actually being honest, so she turns and starts leading the way t
After a few more rounds of wordlessly agreed-upon improvised hopscotch, the group finally reaches their destination.Unconcerned with minor things like knocking or such kinds of decorum before entering a room with a closed door, Miss Chievous just pushes the door open and walks right on in.It would be foolish to assume you have anything resembling privacy when she's within a several-mile radius, short of being locked in a very VERY secure room. In which case, she'd probably coax Miss Masher into smashing a wall down so she could get in out of sheer spite, even if they know there's nothing worth being interested in within it.In a turn of events that didn't surprise anyone involved, Miss Calculated is still sitting exactly where she was when Miss Chievous left, her tab
Finally noticing the awkward atmosphere, Lucas develops a bit of a confused expression, then scratches the back of his head a few times. Jonathan is tensely locked up next to him, at a loss as to how to diffuse what he assumes is a misunderstanding, but isn't confident enough to act on that guess."Wh-what? The three of you combined probably can't eat as much as Jonathan alone, it's not like it's a big deal." Although Lucas is off-target, it at least breaks the strange tension in the air when Miss Chievous starts giggling.Miss Masher looks thoughtful for a moment, then starts sizing up Jonathan, seeming to have accepted the interpreted challenge.Miss Calculated finally thaws, gently pats Willy twice, then stands up to walk over toward Lucas with her tablet after sett
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