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March 7th

69 Days until Leviathan attacks Brockton Bay

=====

Lunch was a peaceful affair.

Well, as peaceful as it can get with an embarrassed Taylor not looking at Rita while paying attention to Fu Hua's critiquing, Theresa seemingly distracted by something over the internet, Himeko working with Bronya on something on their shared tablet, and Kiana eating like Kiana.

At least she still pays attention to table manners, enough to not be compared to Jabba the Hutt at least.

Well alright, it's a bit of an exaggeration.

Mei is making sure that Kiana doesn't act like a complete savage; using bread to wipe bowls of soup or stew clean*, not taking more than a spoonful of food, properly cutting meat, and most importantly, not talking with her mouth full.

Mei had shoved a piece of baguette into Kiana's mouth the moment she started gushing about her 'Mei-senpai's cooking', and Kiana had taken the lesson to heart. Or at least she did once she managed to get it down.

I suppose that by having finished their tasks for the day early contributes to this behavior, since it means that Kiana doesn't have to hurry to do anything.

Though seeing her devour food fit for people in greater amounts than her would be quite a terrifying sight for anyone else.

That's probably a couple thousand, down the drain.

Ah, Himeko is talking.

"The simulations will take a bit longer to finish apparently, so we'll go first, then Fu Hua and the twins go last."

Taylor blinked. "Simulations?"

"For fighting against Honkai Beasts." Himeko grinned. "You were supposed to fight them next, but can't right now. You've already fought mechs, so what's left is fighting at a 'street level'. Fu Hua is teaching you martial arts, but they're primarily rated for taking out targets; this lesson will be for subduing them."

She waved, and Taylor stood up to follow.

"Well, I call it 'street level', but it really isn't. Having to send you out just to beat up some thugs is a waste of time, wouldn't you agree?" Between one step and the next, a greatsword appeared on her back. "But there will be a time where you might have to fight your opponent without killing them."

"So you're actually talking about fighting capes." Taylor guessed. "At least ones that can't be killed."

"Can't be killed legally." Himeko corrected her. "This country's confusing stance on who can and can't be killed makes it easy for assholes to roam free, which is why we're going to open a section dedicated to black ops."

"The initial plans were to use the Immortal Blades for those, but Theresa had stated her intentions to make them a more public unit." Himeko coughed. "So after your training, we'll have to request for some other people to be brought over. Or at least we'll start with one, because we're not sure if they come out loyal."

'Power?'

"The inbuilt directives prevents them from betraying you, not to mention that the other factions are some flavor of well-intentioned."

'Factions?'

"Main factions you'll need to know for now are Saint Freya, currently consisting of Theresa, Himeko, Kiana and Mei. Anti-Entropy, or Negentropy, consists of Bronya and the Vollerei twins. There's Schicksal, where Rita and Fu Hua are allied with, though Fu Hua defected because of some...arguments. The fourth is World Serpent. They're extremists, but their goal was saving humanity."

"So who should we bring over?" Taylor asked.

"An assassin sounds like a good place to start." Himeko suggested.

"Bronya technically qualifies, considering her history as a child soldier, though I have someone in mind already. She'll be with the next batch of AI, but we'll release her early. She won't have much time to interact with others outside of those in the simulators when she has to continue learning though."

'It's not like I'll hold that against her.'

I sent a smiley at her. "I know you won't."

'Though...can't we just encode all the AI at once?'

"We could. It'll take an hour or two to finish though."

'It's fine.'

"Found someone?" Himeko asked as Taylor's vision refocused.

"Yeah. World Serpent?"

"Oh, them." Himeko had a complicated expression on her face. "Well, I guess it's fine as long as they're willing to let past conflicts go, I guess."

They stood awkwardly for a few moments before Himeko coughed.

"Let's just get to the training now, shall we?"

---

"Theresa's supposed to be participating, but she's handling some paperwork as she plans to open a restaurant."

Taylor blinked. "Restaurant?"

"She says it's a PR move. Providing food at less cost and all." Himeko rolled her hand. "It fits with the religious theme she has going on. That means that it's just the three of us for now."

Taylor blushed and eyed the maid who had been following in complete silence. "Rita's distracted though."

Rita blinked and smiled. "Ufufu. Fear not, for I can focus on any given task if need be." A scythe appeared on her hand.

"We'll start out at a distance from each other." Himeko pointed at the distance, the surroundings changing as she did so. "Taylor, you go stand there."

Taylor nodded and started walking. By the time she turned, Himeko had her greatsword out and planted on the ground.

"Right, so we'll keep going until you're too tired or I say so." Her voice came out of the speakers. "Since there's no easy way of telling how much damage Brutes can withstand, we'll just practice for enemies with normal levels of durability. If you deal too much damage to us, then you'll have to start over. I'll consider you 'passed' once you can safely incapacitate us consistently."

"Okay." Taylor breathed in and steadied herself. "I'm ready."

"Let's start then."

While Himeko started running, Rita disappeared. Taylor, eyes wide, leapt away and twisted herself to catch a glimpse of white before she had to dodge again.

"I'd say something about a panty shot, but Rita wears black lace."

'Not the time!'

She was ready the third time, and managed to block the strike with her forearm. Unfortunately, Rita just pulled back, the scythe blade cutting Taylor's arm open in a spray of blood.

"Nggh?!" Taylor leapt away, hand trying to squeeze the wound shut.

"Taylor, you can heal this damage quickly. Ignore the wounds and keep going!"

Breathing heavily, Taylor nodded, seeing the cut sealing itself with a hiss. "P-Probably should've grabbed the shaft instead, huh?"

I choked back a laugh. "To be honest, those fancy clothes of yours isn't the best armor to have. We'll make sure to get you properly reinforced clothing later."

Standing up, Taylor gave a nod to Rita, who was slowly walking towards her.

With a smile, Rita disappeared again.

This time, she reappeared in front of Taylor, scythe already swinging towards her head. Taylor had a hand ready to catch it, but at the last moment, the scythe was pulled back, Rita spinning with the motion and thrusting the spearhead on the other end of the shaft to Taylor's midsection.

Taylor managed to catch this in time, but it was still enough to send her flying backwards.

"Oof." She deadpanned as she hit the ground. "This'll make things harder, I can tell."

Rita appeared again, and Taylor backed away from the first swing. The return swing she managed to slap away, considering Rita only had one hand on it. Rita only took advantage of this to spin the scythe above her head and strike again, jumping to maximize the force.

Taylor managed to catch that, but Rita just yanked the scythe away, taking the resulting opening and swiping at Taylor twice, ripping through her clothes and sending her flying again.

This time Himeko was waiting, and we realized this when she caught Taylor, and sent her back to Rita with a kick.

"Fighting against a tag team with a speedster and a fucking tank is going to be a pain, I can tell already."

Taylor replied by releasing her limiters, and punched the ground as she landed. The resulting explosion of dirt kept Rita from pressing her advantage, which Taylor took advantage of herself, launching herself forward and unleashing a flurry of blows.

Of course, Rita defended herself quite impressively, given that each strike knocked her scythe out of the way, by keeping herself just out of reach.

And Himeko took this opportunity to make an entrance, forcing Taylor to back away as she made her explosion of dirt. Grabbing Rita, she threw the maid, the impromptu missile flying towards Taylor with her scythe held out, sure to cause severe damage should the weapon connect.

Taylor ducked underneath in response, and grabbing a stocking clad leg and slamming Rita down, kicking her in the midsection as she lifted the maid back up.

Himeko leapt over Rita without missing a beat, feet pounding on the ground as she rapidly closed in, greatsword held out and already in the beginning of a swing.

"That big thing needs to hit its target with the middle of the blade to deal the most damage. Get inside her range; she'll have less options then!"

Taylor ran, punching upwards and sending the greatsword and Himeko off balance.

She then struck out with her knee, folding the Valkyrie in half and sent her flying as well.

Himeko laughed as she stood back up. "Good job! I wasn't expecting you to win this fight, to be honest. You seem to be holding back then, until you started attacking yourself."

Taylor rubbed her forearm. "The sudden wound caught me off guard. I wasn't really expecting it."

Himeko nodded to Rita, who was walking towards them. "Her weapon is just sharper than mine. You'd have no problems blocking mine with only minimal injuries."

"That really isn't reassuring. What if my hand got cut off?"

"Then we can reattach it." Himeko hefted her greatsword on her shoulder. "Okay, let's start over. I don't think normal people could take that kind of force without hemorrhaging."

---

Himeko coughed. "She'll be fine."

"She was impaled on a rock." Rita glared. "And this happened despite you saying that she needed to hold back to prevent such things happening in the first place!"

"We were fighting! That's normal, even if it is an uncommon occurrence." Himeko had a sheepish grin on her face. "I'm sure Taylor will agree with me."

Rita turned away. "Then perhaps I'll just withhold your alcohol privileges until the end of the month."

"Rita? Please don't joke about that."

Rita just started walking away.

"Rita? Hey. Rita! Please, I'm sorry!"

March 8th

68 Days until Leviathan attacks Brockton Bay

=====

Taylor opened her eyes. She was in a reclined position, with her body covered by a blanket.

"I'm in bed?"

Himeko leaned in, from her place beside the bed. "Sorry about that last hit. I was quite sure you'd be able to withstand that, or at least heal from it. I guess you're still acclimatizing."

Taylor threw the covers off her and lifted her shirt up, probably replaced by Rita after she transformed back from sexy Bella, and found nothing. "Clean healing?"

"I will just answer that with 'yes, your wounds were cleaned, and yes, you did heal your injuries without scarring'." Himeko and I answered at the same time.

"Okay then." Taylor let go of her shirt and took a deep breath. "I don't feel as bad as I should be with getting knocked out from my body being slammed into the bedrock."

"Probably because the resulting wound is already long gone." Himeko and I answered again.

'Okay, seriously. Just let her answer.' Taylor chided me, then focused back to Himeko. "I'm not sure if I'm suffering from shock or something. Should I continue training or not?"

"Probably keep it until tomorrow. We'll see if the incident catches up to you psychologically, and Fu Hua can help you with some exercises to deal with it." Himeko placed a hand over Taylor's. "This can happen again in the future, unfortunately; it's something you cannot avoid when you fight. But we are here to help you cope with that, okay? Don't try to bottle things up, because it mostly ends badly for everyone."

Taylor nodded. "Okay."

"Now, Rita wanted to make you breakfast, so I'll just be on my way." Himeko glanced nervously at the door. "She's rather angry at me for what happened."

"I'll try to change her mind then?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks."

Himeko poked her head outside-

"What are you doing?"

Himeko flinched, then stood straight and coughed. "I'm done talking to Taylor. She's awake and hungry now, so I'll be off now!"

Taylor coughed to hide the giggle as the door opened wider, and coughed as her spit went down the wrong hole in surprise as Rita came through, pushing a cart laden with covered plates. "Isn't that too much food?"

Rita shook her head. "It's possible that your greater capabilities also comes with a higher nutrient consumption, so your meals should address these concerns." She lifted the covers from the plates, revealing a large variety of dishes. "Carbohydrates for energy, iron for proper blood cell production, unsaturated fats for longer lasting energy, fibers, proteins, and other nutrients to keep your body healthy..."

"Why do you sound like you're reading off a list?"

Rita blushed and didn't answer. Instead, she took a plate and sat beside Taylor.

"I shall feed you."

Taylor sat up. "Rita, I'm fine. I can sit down on the table-"

Rita laid a hand on Taylor's shoulder, and gently but firmly pushed her back down. "I shall feed you."

Taylor blushed herself as she stared at Rita's eyes.

'Beautiful.'

I must say, Soulium Avatars are very impressive constructions, because I can definitely find myself getting distracted in those eyes, looking at them for hours...

Rita pulled away, an empty plate in hand, and exchanged it for a bowl of soup.

"Uh, Taylor?"

'Beautiful.'

Well, I guess Taylor wouldn't be used to looking at such beauty, especially not in shithole Brockton Bay, and certainly not in that landfill they call a school.

Taylor blinked, her vision blurring then clearing, probably from keeping her eyes open for that long.

Taylor closed her eyes. "Oh, that itches."

When she opened her eyes, Rita had leaned closer again, a damp cloth in hand.

"Allow me."

Taylor closed her eyes and allowed herself to be cleaned. A camera feed popped up on her HUD and showed the action from another angle.

It looked like Rita was kissing Taylor, really.

"It is done."

Taylor, completely red-faced, opened her eyes and stared at the bowl near her face.

"Let us continue."

And again, Rita leaned close enough for Taylor to refocus on her eyes. Clearly, the maid intends to distract her mistress and feed her at the same time.

'Ah...'

It was curious on my part, how Rita knew to use her beauty to her advantage, but she does have a connection to the internet, not to mention that again, Taylor does not have much interaction with others to desensitize herself to beauty, so whatever curiosity I had was mild at best.

Still, Rita kept repeating this process, the meals numerous enough that I started to count the duration by the third dish, around 3 to 4 minutes per meal with Taylor distracted.

And it was when Rita had passed the 5 minute mark with this session that I noticed the both of them not moving.

"Taylor?"

Nothing.

"Hellooooo?"

Rita pulled back, and I noticed a smudge of soup on her lips.

Oh.

OH!

Rita, you absolute minx!

Took advantage of Taylor's distraction, you did!

I'd say something about Taylor needing to get this over with and rest so she could get back to training, but I'm way more interested in this yuri-yuri development!

Still, Rita might be pushing too quickly, and might end up pushing Taylor away if not handled correctly.

Mmggh...

Get Taylor's attention off Rita, or keep watching and see where this goes.

Five minutes. Let's give them five more minutes.

---

"I love you."

I was speechless with shock.

Wow, way to jump right into it, Rita.

"W-What?" Taylor croaked.

"I love you, My Lady, My Mistress. You, who is my everything."

Taylor licked her lips. "Why though?"

Rita tilted her head. "Hmm?"

"Why are you even attracted to me?"

"Who wouldn't be attracted to your dedication?" Rita stroked Taylor's cheek. "Your drive to persevere, for this mission you no longer need to involve yourself in?"

"But I do need to." Taylor argued. "What if something happens? I need to be there-"

"To what? Put yourself in danger as well?"

"But even one more person can help us. I can help."

"But I do not wish to." Rita pressed herself to Taylor. That uh, that looks like a red flag. "You can have the power of an army at your fingertips, but you would wish to risk your life in the battlefield? As your maid, I cannot, will not accept that."

"Stop!"

Eyes wide, Rita pulled away.

"I don't want to feel powerless anymore, okay?!" Taylor bowed her head, fists clenched. "I don't want to be unable to do anything, like when my mother died."

"But we will not stay dead, it is simple enough to inhabit another body-"

"It doesn't matter!" Taylor cut her off. She looked at Rita with blurry eyes. "I do not want to treat you all like disposable soldiers, because your life is just as important as mine!"

Both were silent for a while. Taylor took the time to calm herself down, wiping at her eyes.

"I understand." Rita nodded, standing up. "Do...do you love us?"

"It's hard to not get attached to everyone, when we'll be working together."

Rita reached for Taylor, but hesitated and crossed her hands. "Do-do you love me, just as I love you?"

"I- I don't think I can answer that now." Taylor sniffled. "I don't even know if it is love or I just like looking at you."

"I see..." It felt awkward, seeing the cheerful Rita look so down like this. She cleaned up quickly, and in a short amount of time was already at the door. "...please call if there is anything you need."

Taylor nodded, and that was that.

Rita left.

The door closed.

And I feel guilty now.

I didn't know that adding an affection multiplier to Rita during her creation as a joke would lead to this: a complete rollercoaster of emotions most likely stemming from her witnessing Taylor be beaten and knocked unconscious.

A waifu doesn't always agree with the main character, who knew?

March 13th

63 Days until Leviathan attacks Brockton Bay

=====

"There are steps for our AI's learning process. There's the local education to ensure they don't miss something that should be obvious, but they also have proper education, up to college level. Of course, it depends on the college itself." I sighed. "I don't think there was much of a difference between my high school and college education."

"Mmm." Taylor grunted.

"Because of the vast differences between events, our educations are quite different as well. We never had Parahuman related subjects, for one. So what they would have at the end is a combination of your world's education, my world's education, and their world's education. By this stage, they would start branching out into specific subjects. Most of which would be considered normal skill sets, then there are subjects like hacking, corporate espionage, theft, assassinations, etc. Not that there are actual subjects about performing such things here of course. Although 'ethical hacking' is a thing, but it doesn't seem to be public information."

"Mmm."

"Never mind. Anyway, they learn by going through records of such actions. The simplest route is through viewing recordings of these crimes: they recreate the scenario in a virtual environment, discuss the actions of the criminal, and point out what was done incorrectly, and what would have been the correct action. Oddly enough, I keep thinking that they wouldn't need these things, because digital information storage has been becoming more and more widely used back home. Like, 'Oh, they're AI, they can just go into their computers and take their shit, and even closed networks wouldn't work on stopping them.' But in a world with Parahumans, paranoia often pays off. I can think of a few people who can do those, which justifies such things."

"Mmm."

"Which makes skills like thievery a necessity. 'The really important shit might have been written by hand or by a typewriter. Those documents might be located inside a safe.' Things like that are possibly used. Our Valkyries can technically brute force things, because nanomachines, but clandestine operations can only qualify as such when they don't leave evidence. This is why Raven is getting an accelerated course, actually: after she finishes this stage, she'll be brought out, while the others continue to the next part, which is practicing social skills. It's a bit of a sacrifice, since I believe that socializing with normal people, and being able to act like a normal person is necessary for blending in with the public. People who are different tend to grab attention, and the people here seem to have a suicidal tendency to record everything."

"Mmm."

"And it's not like it's going to be a permanent thing; they can share information with each other, being connected to the same network and all...though now that I think about it, they should have the processing power to learn and take action simultaneously. It just takes less space to do the lessons in a virtual environment...which can be solved by expanding our base, because we have tons of material just sitting doing nothing, even with the Mars mining base also expanding, and the asteroid replacement project still ongoing..."

"Mmm."

"I feel stupid now. You know what? Let's expand the base. A portal system will be needed to facilitate faster travel, but it's doable. So is expanding food production facilities, vehicle and mech factories, and building more non-explody power generators. Let's accelerate the Mars base expansion as well, I want to experience space, even indirectly and behind a barrier that keeps the air in."

"Mmm."

I sighed.

Taylor hasn't been as responsive after her talk with Rita. Sure, she's kept her training, and she has been performing well in combat, turning up good results every time, but it was clear that their conversation was still in her head.

And I can't help with it; my own social skills are nonexistent, and any knowledge about romance doesn't cover these things.

That's what makes movies or books with such elements trash, in my opinion: it's always such a fairy tale-like series of events that ends with two people coming together, that none of them seems to explore the idea that maybe, just because one person likes another to the point of obsession, doesn't mean that it'll be reciprocated.

Anime doesn't count either: their approach to that particular subject is also rather questionable in quality. Evangelion fits the closest, but since all the characters in there never got to the romance, it still falls below the mark.

"Taylor?" Himeko called, poking her head through the doorway. "The demonstration on Quantum Collapse is ready."

---

Taylor stared blankly at the creature that used to be a Honkai Beast, specifically a Chariot. We were in a heavily-defended area, built to contain the imitation Honkai Beast should it somehow gain sentience.

The gorilla-esque creature had...inverted, to put it lightly. We can only be thankful that Honkai Beasts don't completely imitate living beings, otherwise we'd have to put it out of it's misery. Not that it deserves it, but better a clean death than...inside out.

Er...back to Hara the Chariot.

Honkai beasts had crystalline bodies, similar to the Endbringers, the only difference being level of density. That I remember clearly from a scene where Kiana thought cooking a mini-Ganesha was a good idea. It was theorized that by practicing Quantum Collapse on more and more powerful Honkai Beasts would allow us to prepare for the Endbringers; like the strongest Honkai Beasts, each Endbringer has a different appearance and capability, so the best options we have are dodging as well as hit and run tactics, as well as giving us a proper perspective on the sheer size they have, and training drills for evacuating the Bay's citizens.

Despite our capabilities for large-scale imitation and construction however, constructing a replica of the Bay would take up space, which would serve better for other facilities. Instead, the Valkyries would perform these drills in a virtual environment, where various personalities could be constructed from the cooperative to the most stubborn. At worst the Valkyries could just grab the person and we can defend ourselves in court from the inevitable stupidity; while part of me thinks the best of people, that part is only perhaps a three out of a hundred parts, with the rest having a cynical stance on humanity, with Americans in particular.

One would think that humanity would immediately cooperate when their life is on the line, but people will refuse to part with their belongings despite reassurances that they will be replaced without cost. Or cooperate at all, really.

Himeko came up to the beast, and poked it with her sword. It shattered immediately.

"This shows that yes, we can hurt the Endbringers." Himeko paused, then pursed her lips. "I mean, unless they start cheating, that is. Speed would still be the deciding factor, and if those things decide to fuck us over by abruptly changing behaviors, then the battle becomes significantly harder."

"Which is why pulling out all the stops might be required, depending on our results." My voice, a robotic monotone, came out of the speakers. The Valkyries blinked, but otherwise didn't react; AI-chan would've stopped me if I wasn't utilizing Taylor to enter commands and act as a text-to-speech input for me. "We're starting with constructing the PRI-ARMs, essentially weapons containing the power of miniature fusion reactors, not like that makes a difference when it somehow blows up."

Taylor frowned. "That sounds risky."

"Either the Endbringers end civilization in a few decades or we fuck up and blow up the eastern seaboard. Ironically, considering the levels of firepower we have waiting underground, the PRI-ARMs might technically be weaker than the heavy artillery platforms and mechs."

"So they're smaller, weaker, but still enough for the fight?"

"Obviously. Main advantage of smaller weaponry is mobility."

"But they'll be able to damage the Endbringers?"

"Taylor, you just saw a possible outcome of fighting them." I sighed. "While our chances of actually inflicting that level of damage to them is microscopic, destroying them is still a possibility before they manage to escape, or at least keep them stunned long enough to follow with a finishing blow."

"We're going to start training then." Taylor rolled her shoulders and flexed her hands. "No time like right now to do this."

"Yes, but we're holding off on that for now." Theresa cut in, skipping through the entrance. "While keeping this big guy for a few days turned up nothing, we're still taking precautions, so the Arena will get heavier plating and shielding, so it's closed for the time being. We're going outside instead!"

Taylor wobbled slightly. "What?"

Theresa pulled out a piece of paper and presented it smugly. "I got permission to open a restaurant! It took a while, but I managed; the PRT had buried this particular rule for so long that Director Armstrong took a while to find it."

Taylor blinked, then shook her head. "What does this have to do with me?"

Theresa raised an eyebrow. "So you have less options to mope around, obviously!" She crossed her arms and huffed. "Look, your argument with Rita is understandable, given that it took a longer time for her to catch up with her lessons led to her quickly becoming infatuated with you, and your past experiences souring you to social interactions, but you can't keep hiding forever. This will help you interact with the girls, and a change of scenery is for the best."

"A break would help." I chimed in. "Seriously, take this opportunity to unwind. It's not like you're progressing slowly; on the contrary, your progress has significantly improved after you stopped hesitating in the middle of combat."

Taylor sighed. "Fine."

"I get the feeling that Miss Durandal is going to get along with her." I heard Schere from somewhere out of sight.

"Why exactly is she getting released with the next group?" Kiana whined. "She's a total slave driver!"

"Kiana, we can't get tired anymore." Mei told her.

"But that's worse!"

---

"Director Armstrong." Theresa greeted the overweight black guy in a suit. That's the Boston PRT Director, apparently. She waved her hand in our direction. "If I may, these girls are part of my organization, Saint Freya."

He smiled at us. At his side, a hero in Tinkertech armor waved at us. Bronya tilted her head, then waved back. At his other side, another man in a suit, possibly an aide, was busy tapping with his phone, and a few PRT troopers behind him sized us up.

"It is always a welcome experience to meet those who are as invested in helping others." He came up close, and shook Theresa's hand. "Are you all going to be working at the restaurant or something?"

Theresa shook her head. "No, they're just here to help set up. And also because they're feeling a bit stir-crazy; constant training and studying is allegedly hell for students and all that, at least according to Kiana."

"There's no 'allegedly' if it's true!" Kiana shouted from her place behind everyone else, until Mei shoved a piece of bread in her mouth.

"I'm sure many other students would agree with the young miss." To his credit, the Director only chuckled. He then cleared his throat, his face growing serious. "Still, I must warn you that this area is somewhat close to Blasto's area of operations; while he does take care to not let people get involved, and his creations will self-destruct if deemed too much of a threat, it doesn't mean that others would share the same courtesy. And while the Teeth were greatly weakened by the arrest of their Parahuman force, the Butcher might appear suddenly and cause problems for everyone. In such an event, an emergency line is available, which will alert us and we can work on cordoning the area. Stevens, if you would?"

His aide, the aforementioned Stevens, presented the phone he was fiddling with. "Please note that it is for emergencies only."

Himeko took the phone and smiled. "Don't worry, we're won't abuse this trust placed in us."

He nodded, and went back to Armstrong's side.

"And that's settled." He gave us a nod. "Perhaps I could pay a visit when you open, but for now I have to get back to my duties."

"We'll see you then, Director." Theresa grinned and waved. When the PRT had left the area, she turned around and grinned. "Alright, let's set up the restaurant!"

---

Taylor huffed as she placed the table in its designated area, marked by bright orange tape. "I'm not seeing the 'interacting' part I was promised."

"We haven't started group activities yet, like cooking." Himeko snorted, setting down her own table. "Give it time, the girls are still unloading appliances from the trucks."

We used massive trucks to move cooking appliances, just to maintain cover. The PRT might possibly have security cameras in the area, but there shouldn't be much satellites that have powerful cameras. If there are any.

The restaurant itself was huge; I can't imagine the loan we'll have to pay in the future, given that space is probably at a premium here. From the entrance to the kitchen counter, there was a large area enough to comfortably serve maybe a hundred people? I can't properly count until everything is in place, but there will be less seating available than the space suggests: Theresa plans to place an area for live music to be performed. Mei agreed to be the singer, although we will need more girls to arrive first before we can get a proper band going. Instruments would also be a concern, but not much.

"You know, I forgot that we would need guards, as well as hostesses for the restaurant." I noted. "We should get some of the Blades here to take those positions."

Taylor relayed my suggestion, and Himeko nodded.

"That does sound like a good plan, though we'll need more girls to take up kitchen and waitress positions. We only have like two dozen Blades at the moment."

"Okay, that might be a bit much, since the Blades are meant to be soldier-ish, or something along those lines." I pointed out. "I'm thinking more of clones. I started thinking about it when I remembered the girls' processing power, and controlling multiple bodies at once should be possible, even if they'll be limited to non-combat duties."

Himeko paused at that, balancing a table on her shoulder as she thought it through. Then she placed it down on its spot. "It's doable. I haven't experienced any difficulties multitasking paperwork, so we could test it out with a basic stick figure first, I guess? We'll have to use someone else though, because the girls here are already known, and Kiana will be too distracted if she's surrounded by Mei clones."

"No I won't!" Kiana exposed her eavesdropping with her shout. "Please give me more Mei!"

Mei, for her part, grabbed Kiana's collar and pulled her away.

"We still have to move the stove, Kiana."

"B-But Mei harem!" Kiana started tearing up. "Please, I want more Mei!"

Himeko shook her head. "So, do you have any ideas?"

"I do have someone in mind..." I mused, thinking about a rather silly event that started an entire side story on its own.

"Good." Himeko nodded. "Now then, let's continue moving tables."

"Hey Taylor," I caught her attention as Himeko walked away. "Are there any negative opinions about animal ears on girls?"

"Miss Theresa? I'm the inspector, here to inspect your establishment."

"Yes, welcome. Shall we start? While we are still setting up, I do want to have the underground storage checked. It seems a bit too large to be allowed."

"Oh no, that's normal, so long as it doesn't pass the physical limits of your property. Otherwise you'd have to fill out more paperwork."

"Please don't scare me like that, I don't think my hands can take it. The staircase is this way, if you would."

Theresa and a guy in a suit walked by at the edge of Taylor's vision.

'I don't think I've heard about Parahumans with animal ears before.' Taylor admitted, as she kept moving tables and chairs. 'Other than Case 53s maybe, but they don't seem to have them either, at least from what I know.'

"Mouse Protector. She wears mouse ears on a helmet as part of her costume." I noted. Then I remembered what would happen to her and sent AI-chan to deal with that issue. "And you might be thinking of the local 53s, in Faultline's Crew: Gregor and Newter. They don't have the ears."

Well, those two were the ones mostly presented in fanfics. There are presumable others that I don't know about, or they haven't been described as 53s because their mutations aren't as severe.

'Well, I don't think there should be a problem? Not like people would say no to sex appeal.'

"...True." I answered cautiously. She'd said that last part so venomously that I'd have tried to dance around the topic, but it's not something I'm good with in the first place, so I fell back into being as bluntly honest as possible. "But I will admit that my primary reasoning would be because they haven't come out yet, so the public's first impression of them would be correlated to the restaurant. They'd think less 'cape', and more 'waitress' or 'cook'."

'You just want to see more girls don't you?'

"I will admit that I do want to see her, mostly because her story with another girl resembles Kiana and Mei's quite closely. The other girl is Kiana's ancestor too."

Taylor turned her head to look at Kiana. She was carrying pots and pans that like someone with too much energy and too little patience would: recklessly. Mei followed behind at a more sedate pace, carrying glass pot and pan lids.

'Is she going to be as...'

"Kiana-like? Not really." I snorted. "Kallen Kaslana is actually the strongest Valkyrie of her era, considering that her accomplishments had far surpassed the others at the time, with the discipline of someone in such an importatnt position. A very 'Knight in Shining Armor' stereotype, but without the negative connotations of such."

Taylor nodded slowly. 'I'm interested on how she'd do here, though we're getting distracted. What about the other one?'

"Sakura." I hummed. "Girl forced to be a shrine priestess, in her village of complete ingrates. Meeting Kallen was the best thing that could have happened to her, really. She can't do anything against the villagers because of a promise made to her late sister."

'Sister, huh?' Seeing that most of the tables are in place, Taylor sat down. 'Is there any data on her?'

"No? Well, there is the speculation that, due to a series of events, her sister is actually a small floating fox girl."

'I'd like for a better explanation than that.'

"Fine, give me a moment." I sighed, then started recalling my memories. "The sister became a host for a Herrscher, and was captured by the organization the girl belonged to."

'Wait, didn't you say she's a priestess?'

"The Herrscher was awakening, so the soldiers killed her, which proved to be the wrong action to take, since its powers were based on the concept of 'Corruption', which allowed it to hack the servers and lay waste to civilization."

'I don't follow. When was this, exactly?'

"The Herrscher was trapped in a container, one that Kallen stole from her former organization and took to the village where Sakura is."

'You're just going to ignore me, aren't you?'

"The sister's soul, or at least her personality, still existed in the container, and there was something that allowed the Herrscher to start corrupting Sakura as well, which forced Kallen to fight her."

'...'

"The Herrscher was defeated and trapped in the container again, and the sister came out of it without her memories, and was renamed Higokumaru."

'...is that all of it?'

"Yeah, although I think I got some details wrong."

'How about we start with the fact that you weren't even talking about the same people? You said that Sakura was a priestess-'

"Shrine priestess-"

'I know, shut up.' She snapped, punctuating it with a hard slap on the table's surface. 'Then a Herrscher lays waste to a civilization. How would she be able to meet Kallen then?'

"Uh..."

'And a Sakura was a member of this organization that killed her sister. How would Kallen get a hold of it and take it to Sakura, who is now, somehow, in a village?'

"..."

'Then Sakura gets corrupted, Kallen fights the Herrscher, seals it back in the container and the sister pops out without memories and got renamed. Wouldn't Sakura at least recognize her own sister?'

"Oh." I cleared my throat. "I might have gotten my timelines mixed. There are two eras in my story."

Taylor tapped the table impatiently. 'Go on...'

"Okay. First Era Sakura has a sister named Rin. Rin becomes a Herrscher's host, but Rin is still herself, right until she dies and the Herrscher is freed. The Herrscher takes advantage of the fact that Rin was killed inside the organization's headquarters and infects their servers, and launches nukes that laid waste to what little remained of civilization."

'I can follow now. Keep going.'

"First Era Mei, who was a super genius, trapped the Herrscher in a box that's supposed to harness its power without the Herrscher's innate capability of taking over the host. The process would technically would take too long to be useful immediately, but that Mei was planning for the future. The weapon was meant to be found by the survivors of her other project, which ensures that humanity lives on in case their efforts were futile."

Taylor looked at Mei, who was busy cooking lunch, with Kiana hovering behind her. 'Okay...'

"Fast forward to the Second Era, where Kallen finds out that the organization she was working for was conducting human experimentation and runs off, taking the box with her. I can't remember why she took it though."

'Is there any information on this?'

"No. Anyway, Kallen meets Sakura, the Herrscher takes the chance to escape the box but gets beaten and sealed. First Era Rin pops out, I don't know how, without her memories. So Sakura takes her in and names her Higokumaru."

Taylor sighed. 'Well that's a better explanation at least. How do you know about her, exactly?'

"Kiana, Mei and Bronya met her in an incident, and Sakura offered her help in return by possessing Mei's body if needed." I said, then laughed. "I've gone on another tangent though, and this time I sucked you in."

'That you did. Now, how does that relate to her working here?'

"Well, she is a good cook, at least from what Kiana said. And to be honest, my story explains why she got the ears: it was a side effect of the corruption."

'Would she be a problem as she is now?'

"No. She has a gentle personality already, and if she wasn't the shrine priestess I'd reckon she'd have been a housewife."

Taylor sighed again. 'Right, so Sakura would also be good here, because she can cook and fight. Do you have anyone else in mind? I don't think we'll have enough employees otherwise.'

"We can get Higokumaru as well. We can also get Fu Hua extra bodies like Sakura, since one looks different enough to be considered a sister, and the other looks nothing like her." I paused, then thought things over. "We can technically give Theresa siblings as well, and make it seem like they came from another area, or that they were the ones who didn't appear in public before. Really, we're well hidden, so we can spin some stories about them being situated in other states and were recalled now that we have, quote unquote, 'established a foothold'."

Taylor nodded. 'Let's keep them in mind when we get back then.'

"Why? We can do it now. You don't even have to pay attention to the process much. I asked you so I can determine if you're fine with it."

'Uh, yeah. Go do it then?'

"I'll do that." I noted Mei coming to the dining area with trays of food. Kiana was behind her, carrying her own as well. "In the meantime, why don't you go have lunch?"

---

"Are you open right now?"

Taylor looked at the entrance and beheld the...speaker.

And wow are they gaudy; they were a couple, so stereotypically 'snobbish elites' to the point of parody. Both embodied the 'has money to show off, but somewhat lacking in common sense' trope, wearing overly formal clothing - with the female wearing an expensive-looking dress and jewelry, and the male had his hair slicked back and wore a blazer over a shirt - in a restaurant that clearly, blatantly stated that it isn't open yet with the big sign on the front.

That, and their off-putting behavior, like their smiles not reaching their eyes and their words sounding so damn rehearsed, most notably makes me wonder if they're baiting idiots to come and steal from them, which is somewhat of a red flag to cape shit.

Fu Hua, who was at the entrance when they appeared, blinked and cleared her throat. "I apologize, but we're still setting up, and won't be available for a few days. I was fairly sure we placed a sign and all..."

"Taylor, how about we go outside and get some fresh air?" I suggested. "They're putting off cape vibes, so let's warn Himeko, then take a walk. I'm not sure if we should interact with them, because potential capes that look that gaudy are generally dangerous enough to be a bit...eccentric."

'Won't I be useful though?'

"The girls can fake their emotions better, considering the whole AI thing." I pointed out. "You might clue them in to your suspicions if they can see you."

'I- okay, good point.' She went to the office, which is just an unremarkable door with the word 'office' written on a piece of paper and taped to it. "Himeko? There are people outside-"

"That give off a cape feel." I chimed in.

"That feel like capes," Taylor rephrased my words. "So I'm going to take a walk outside, and get away from the line of fire."

Himeko stood up, while Theresa nodded. "That's fine. Just wear your suit, since no one knows you're in Boston and all. Go take someone with you as well."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Taylor nodded and went to a storage closet. Pulling out her suit, she put in on and sighed. 'I'm still not used to how I look.'

Spoiler

"You're not exposing as much skin as some of the suits the girls have worn." I laughed. "Trust me, 'Casino Bunny Girl' is not innocent, but it's not as provocative as the Knight Battlesuits. Oddly enough, Kiana's Knight Moonbeam is less provocative as her White Comet, but for everyone else, there's a lot of titillating views."

'And I suppose that's the most important thing to you, isn't it?' She grumbled as she hefted her hair. It slid off like water. 'I hope this wouldn't cause trouble for me.'

"You've worn it fighting against several mechs and Himeko, you're fine." I waved off her concern. "And for the record, the sexiest battlesuit I've seen is Bianca's, who will appear with the next group. Now that's a good proof that a functioning battlesuit can also look perverted, because Valkyries don't require as much armor as normal people would."

Taylor sputtered as I showed her an image of the armor in question.

Spoiler

'What is that?'

"The lewdest Knight battlesuit in existence!" I chirped. "While Bianca's skills do require significant room for her arms and legs to move properly without being restricted, whoever made that armor took it hilariously far. Look at the boob plate that doesn't even cover those big jugs completely. Look at the fact that there's only minimal effort put into making back armor which means that her top is near-completely exposed. Look at the unnecessary waist skirt that only highlights her legs, clad in armored thigh highs."

"I don't feel as bad about my own outfit all of a sudden." Taylor squeaked, giving a thankful look at her own bunny suit and shuddering. "How about we get someone and head out?"

---

"Thanks for accompanying me."

"It's no big deal!" Kiana chirped as she cheerfully walked beside her. "It's not like we've seen the outside much anyway!"

Spoiler

Taylor stared downwards and let out a sigh.

Kiana blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Er, nothing much. I was thinking about how revealing our outfits were, but I'm fine with not showing my body off."

Kiana grinned and ran her hands on her stomach. "Well I'm not shy about showing off these abs to the world! Not like anyone else besides Mei-chan are allowed to touch-"

Mei, who had been quiet since going outside, had covered Kiana's mouth with a blush. "Please don't shout our relationship to the world."

Kiana took Mei's wrist and laced their fingers together. "Eh? Didn't you want people to know?"

"Kiana, there's holding hands in public, and then there's making a proclamation for anyone to hear." Mei scratched her cheek. "And I don't want others to take your words as a challenge."

Kiana squealed and hugged Mei tight. "Mei-chan~"

"Kiana..." Mei sighed, but smiled and pulled herself off Kiana. She cleared her throat. "Although Mi- Bella, the main reason why we don't wear much armor is because evading and not getting hit is much more preferable. Freedom of movement is important when getting hit might be the end for you."

Spoiler

Taylor stared at the bared cleavage and gave a nod. "I'll still avoid flashing people, thanks."

"It's not exactly flashing." Mei blushed and raised her collar (?) over her mouth. "When we realized that people can see our underwear, we started wearing shorts for modesty-"

"Mei?" Taylor saw her freeze, then turned toward the direction she was looking at. "So, bad guys?"

"Guaranteed."

"Yep."

"I don't know who they are." I noted as I took in their appearances. "While I could link names to powers, I never paid much attention to appearances."

A jacket and mask-wearing boy who smokes, a svelte girl wearing a biker helmet that hides whatever hair she has, a jock wearing an old military vest with many deep pockets and a cyborg minotaur were walking down the street, and froze upon seeing us.

For a moment, everyone looked awkward, as if the other side was trying to think of an excuse and failing. It almost felt like a comedy routine. Or a bar joke.

Then Taylor was suddenly between the latter three, and the smoker was nowhere to be seen.

[Valkyrie_Ranger: they got Bella!]

[Shadow_Dash: aim to incapacitate!]

And the situation got violent.

Spoiler

Taylor jumped away from the three, and helmet girl was the only one who jumped back in turn. Cyborg minotaur tried to grab her, only missing with inches to spare. Jock pulled out something from a pocket, and Taylor twitched, then backed away as the pavement exploded in a shower of dust.

Minotaur took advantage of this and closed in, a fist lashing out towards her. Taylor punched back, and while her feet sank slightly into the road, the minotaur was sent flying back. The other two dodged the airborne form, and jock took the opportunity to fire another projectile, this one scoring a hit and drew blood. Taylor hissed as the wound closed.

"She's a Brute!" Jock yelled, jumping back. "Sun, scorch her!"

'Sun' raised her hands in front of her, and there was a brief flash. It was intense enough to blind us momentarily, and leave blue spots in Taylor's vision. She healed the damage, but that was enough for 'Sun' to scorch her as Jock ordered; she grunted in pain as skin burned, flaked off, regrew and burned off again.

"Ssssssiiiiiiiiihhhhhhhhhhhttttttt!" Taylor hissed, her voice raspy as she breathed. Whatever had caused the burning was gone, but it dealt collateral damage; the road was darker within the immediate area compared to the parts farther out, and the windows in Taylor's peripheral vision had cracks in them.

Bright flash and fire-related power, a minotaur with cyborg parts, a jock that fires bullets with his hands...

Where was the guy who started this?

"Gonna take up a bit of your vision for a moment, Taylor." I warned her, then opened a link to Kiana and Mei's memory logs, and played the initial scene from their point of view on fast forward.

(Taylor disappeared, and smoker appeared in her place.)

("Bella!" Kiana yelled.)

Spoiler

(She jumped and sent a flying kick at him, which he avoided by disappearing, replaced by a garbage can that took the hit and spilled trash onto the asphalt.)

("Over there!" Mei said, spotting smoker standing near a lamp post, then he disappeared again, replaced by a small air conditioning unit. "He's a teleporter!")

("I see him!" Kiana jumped and ran up the side of a building, jumping up the edge and aiming her guns midair. She drew her guns and fired. "I've got you!")

(Her shots missed, hitting another garbage can as smoker blocked Mei, who was running towards Taylor's aid.)

No, if his only power is swapping places with other people and objects, then he's-

"Trickster." I stated, watching the replay as Mei produced solid light clones and sent them towards him. "The guy who instigated is Trickster."

Spoiler

("She's a Brute!" Jock Ballistic yelled. "Sun, scorch her!")

'I haven't done my research on capes outside the Bay, sorry.'

(Trickster grimaced and tossed his cigarette away, swapping places with the lamp post this time that a Mei clone cut in half. Mei took the time to step on the cigarette as she passed by it. Even in the middle of a fight, she's still safety conscious. He reappeared where the lamp post was, obviously, with his back to Sundancer's attack.)

"The Travelers. A group of mercenaries with some really troublesome members." I explained as Taylor stood up, just in time to catch the falling minotaur and slam it to the ground. "I don't know who the minotaur is, but the jock is Ballistic, who can impart kinetic energy to whatever he touches and send them flying. The girl is Sundancer...because she can make suns."

'How are we not dead, exactly?' Ballistic tried to grab Taylor, only for Taylor to sidestep his lunge and spun around to kick him. 'You saw the damage, and my throat needs water from her dehydrating me.'

"Let me change my words earlier then; while I could link names to powers, I never paid much attention to appearances or personalities." Taylor stumbled and hissed as another projectile hit her thigh with a splash of blood. "One probable cause for her hesitation is that the amount of collateral would slap these guys with Kill Orders or Birdcage, and they don't have any influence with the public the way larger organizations do."

(The girls had no problems seeing through the sudden bright flash, and Kiana managed to tag Trickster in the leg with a shot. He bit down a scream of pain and probably not a small amount of surprise, and swapped with a vase. The girls looked around, but he didn't reappear after a few seconds, they headed towards Taylor.)

'Doesn't stop them from maiming a Brute.'

Minotaur got up and tried to grab Taylor, only for her to kick it in the groin. When it barely reacted, she aimed for its knee instead, stomping on it then using it as a springboard to launch herself upwards, grabbing both its horns then yanking down savagely as she raised her knee to kick as well. It collapsed on the ground, unresponsive.

"Stay near Ballistic or minotaur!" I barked. "Sundancer can't attack without harming her teammates in the process. Avoid looking at her as well; only Ballistic and minotaur here can harm you, Sundancer and Trickster don't have the powers or weapons for that!"

'Right!' She kicked an incoming car flying at high speeds, and and it crashed somewhere behind her as she stood near minotaur again.

Minotaur disappeared.

"What?"

"Projection!" I shouted in realization. "Run towards Ballistic!"

'On it!' She charged towards Ballistic, who was pocketing a phone. He grimaced and placed his hand on another car, but Taylor was anticipating it. She leapt and kicked down, perhaps a little early; her foot had only hit the bumper, but with the speeds involved it didn't matter much, sending the car flipping that she ducked under and continued her stride.

Gunfire alerted us to Kiana's presence, but Ballistic seemed to have noticed it, as he managed to dodge out of the way.

Another flash blinded us momentarily.

"Ballistic, we're outmatched!" Sundancer shouted as stood far away, a black spot surrounding an untouched area surrounding her. "We're leaving!"

"You're not getting away!" Taylor shouted, blindly grabbing his arm, her vision still spotty but enough to not miss.

"I beg to differ." He slammed his captured arm into Taylor's chest, sending her flying backwards. Digging her heels into the road slowed her down, digging small trenches, before Mei caught her with a grunt.

There was a yelp, and Taylor looked up to see Kiana pinning down Sundancer, cuffing her, while the Mei clones had subdued Ballistic as well, their bodies holding him by the arms, his forearms bound by handcuffs, the type joined by a rigid bar to prevent his hands from touching anything.

"Well, that was rather exciting."

'Yeah.' Taylor groaned as she stared at the damaged surroundings. "We're not in trouble, are we?"

"No." Kiana huffed, then flinched as we heard sirens come closer. "I - I mean, we did capture the bad guys, right?"

"We shouldn't be? They did attack us first."

==========

"Hmm. These Saint Freya women, they do seem like a threat. Managing to subdue a Sonnenmacher is by no means easy or simple. Is there anything else?"

"Nein, Mein Führer."

"Inform the Empire about these race traitors, and then kill them. I shall not have our ancestor's legacies besmirched by those who fraternize with the lower races."

"Understood."

"Also, do ensure that whatever happens, they will lose, ja? Teach them that they have already lost, the moment they stood against us."

"Jawohl, Mein Führer."

"Excellent, Herr Nebel. Then get to it!"