Scenario: Exponential Invasion (IC)

[Izurich]

[fieldbox=, Red, solid]

"Well, uhm..." Asking Ellen out directly may not be the wisest move, in Akni's mind, her reasons were quite justified, but as the beautiful upperclassmen pointed out her folly, the redhead pursed her lips. Akni swore she could feel a few droplets of sweat trickling down her face, not because of the heat. Her crafty mind quickly worked on a saving throw, looking up at the taller girl, she smiled thoughtfully. "No, not really, you can say that I am the one who asks you, maybe for some tutoring." Fortunately, Miss Ellen agreed. "Haha, yeah, that's good... thanks." 'Farron' rubbed the back of her neck, grinning sheepishly, calm, don't look stupid now.

Right, numbers, Akni didn't have a retro external commlink device like the rich cyborg, hers was implemented together with the micro implant in her head like most other people, only select niche groups were using those old school gadget nowadays. She mentally input Ellen's numbers, "Alright, received. Here's mine, girls." then gave out her own to everyone who was interested. "Hehe... Ellen's numbers... hmmm..." To be honest, she may be a tad bit too happy at receiving such a mundane information. "Soooo, let's go home no-..." Then the party crasher arrived in the form of a raven-haired quiet detached girl with a whorish cyberframe that showed too much skin than necessary.

".........." Despite trying to maintain her composure, one could feel Akni's fiery eyes staring at Yu Ri with a hellish glare, the contempt and malice just dripping from her red irises and twitching lips. Who on Central City did she think she is?! Just some unknown upperclassmen who would stay in the shadows if not for being chosen by Srade. "If she wants to tutor me, it's none of your business! Nothing wrong with th-...! ....ah..." Akni shouted, stopping midway with a look of horror. She had no justifiable argument to go against Yu Ri's suggestion, much to her chagrin. "Ha..." Looking down, Akni realized she was unconsciously clenching her free hand to the point it became white. What was this burning feeling? She had never been this... petty before, did the power given to her had some side effects? One thing for sure however, the envy was so potent, it started to overpower her logic. "Tch... n... nevermind... Fine, I can move fast anyway should a threat comes up."

Akni's mood turned sour, for now, the redhead took the 'If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything' stance. She just stayed silent, drawing back into the background, watching as her comrades talked with each other. Ellen agreeing to Yu Ri's idea wasn't even surprising, she'd do the same thing if she was in the older blonde's shoes. The club suggestion was nice, but... That'd mean freaking Yu-Ri had to be there, not just the two of them, nope, not the same thing. "Ha..." Fine, at least it was something. "Volunteer club sounds good, simple and effective." She seconded Remi's suggestion.

The diminutive fairy in her hands finally chimed in, her cute squeaky voice was very much welcomed to ease her grumpy mood. "...hmmm, recycling?" Ah, she meant scavenging, "That's nice, it will go nicely with the volunteer club theme." The redhead smiled, raising Mita slightly, her fingers gently massaging the tiny girl's body, "We're in this together, Mita." The next suggestion was instantly met with a look of disapproval from the detective, "Wha-... Idols? ...Nope, you have been watching too much TVs." Where else could she pull off that kind of conclusion other than the mainstream media? To finish it off, the green girl innocently pointed out a very out-of-place statement, "Porn-... fff... are you being serious?!" Akni's cheek took on a deeper rosy color, not as deep as her hair, but enough for them to be noticeable. For fuck's sake, Mita, Two of them weren't even fully developed yet!

Oh no... Chie, come on, she couldn't be serious, no way she'd agree on being idols. "We're going with Volunteer Club, girls, it's the best bet." Putting the matter back, it seemed they had higher priority to attend. "Yeah, I hear it, rumbling..." She let go of Mita then puts her hands on her hips, "I think we should check it out, who knows if it's one of Lesadra's cronies, better to end them before they arrive."

[/fieldbox]

 

[ERode]

Adopting underclassman? Geez, looks like the rich really have spare time, if they had time to just pick up kids from the side of the curb and give them special treatment. There were online classes that you could download off SmartTube. There were supplementary materials you can get for your lessons. There was a whole bunch of more effective ways to learn, instead of having some uncertified teenager teach you…so really, Yu-Ri decided that it was just some silly bonding thing.

Farron was after Ellen's ears, and Chie was zooming in on Remi's lack of a chest. These amateurs.

The black-haired girl pointedly ignored Farron's fuming and sputtering, focusing instead on the Ellen's suggestion of a club. Her eye twitched slightly at the blonde Remi's suggestion of a volunteer club, before Mita went on about some more profitable possibilities. JK pornography or JK idol club? Those didn't sound so bad, as long as the others were talented enough for that. Seriously putting those bits into consideration, Yu-Ri mulled over it in her head, nodding slightly as they others snarked or chatted.

The sounds of an airborne vehicle made itself known, but Yu-Ri disregarded that, instead raising up her hand. "I'm for becoming idols," she chimed nonchalantly, "We make money, we have excuses to go around the city, and we can support an electronics recycling campaign as well. We have reasons to be together at any time by hand-waving it as training sessions, and, most importantly, if we have to, we can say that our Cyberframes, without the modules loaded, are just costumes."

"Also, volunteering is a waste of time. I have work on afternoons and evenings, so unless we're going to be doing actual work, I'd rather not join a club."

 

[R-9 Pilot]

[fieldbox=", #5fd4a3, solid"]

"I don't think idols is really the right move," Ellen said, pretty clearly unsure of that suggestion. It was a little...extreme for a school club, and she wasn't too confident in her own ability to sing, dance, and put up with annoying fans. "I'm pretty sure it's a lot more work than it looks, if we're serious about it." She nodded at Yuri's comments. "...And if we want to get paid, for that matter. We can't just decide one day we're performers, put on shows, and magically get money. We'd need to actually try out at an agency and get hired. And trained. And we can probably kiss all our free time goodbye for that mess." It was a realistic approach to the situation.

"There's probably a more productive club than volunteering, but I'm not sure there are many that exist to simply make money, either." She had picked up on one of her classmates' major concerns, at least. "And whatever we do, we could definitely still do some sort of recycling thing, without being too suspicious." She shook her head and sighed. It seemed like it would be difficult to get everyone onboard with a single idea, but she'd at least go with the majority. "We don't have to act immediately, so we can think things over for a day or two." She had been too busy mulling things over to notice Farron's sputtering jealousy (or rage) at being cut off from an easy visit, not that she would likely have realized why the younger girl would react in such a way if she had.

Chie's mention of a sound did bring it to Ellen's attention, her cat ears cocking to point vaguely in the direction she thought it was coming from. "Yeah...I hear it too. sounds like some kinda copter of some sort." Not the most unusual sound in the city. "It's probably nothing to worry about." Likely just a CDF patrol or similar.

She stepped out of the elevator, which had arrived at the ground floor. "Well, for now, we've got to get going. Maybe we can see what's making that noise if we hurry." With that, Ellen headed toward the school's entrance. Or exit, from this direction.

[/fieldbox]

 

[Insomnant]

27092115581918648.4​

Mita hadn't meant to start a debate with her helpful suggestions, but it seems she's done exactly that as sides begin to form. The idea of the girls being pop singing stars might have been a bit ludicrous given their actual goals, and yet Chie seemed to like the idea, while Remi wasn't sure. Akni steadfastly refused and wanted to volunteer, and Yu-Ri was the exact opposite. Ellen came in with a doubtful assessment but by then the tech-fairy didn't even care what they went with, she just wanted the fighting to stop! Akni's finger massage was nice and relaxing but once it ended with the girl releasing her to plummet downward for a split-second before her wings deployed again and caught her with a green glow spread between them, so she could float back up. "Please, it's not worth fighting over- it was just an idea..." she squeaked unhappily, but by then the focus of the group had shifted as they clambered out of the elevator and into school's front lobby. A few adults and several kids were still milling about, so Mita bolted for Akni's backpack, tugging at the zipper so she could scramble inside.

Outside the noise was clearly that of a helicopter- a pair of them actually, Hornet Strike Aircraft by name. By the time the five girls got outside, both of the sleek white vehicles had their twin fanjets angled backward to propel them over the school in a criss-crossing trajectory directly overhead. Their red and blue lights strobed at the tips of their wings and antennae in a distracting manner, and the high-caliber autocannon slung underneath pivoting this way and that. They weaved back and forth in a pretty obvious search pattern, with the roof of the school building serving as the focal point of their grids. A few bystanders on the street were sparing the duo of gunships with some wary glances, especially after what had transpired just a few hours ago, but most were still focused on completing the afternoon exodus of school children packing into unmanned cars and buses picking them up to take them home.

"Mmm! Perhaps, we should get out of here...?" Mita piped up from Akni's backpack, her emerald eyes and a little tuft of bright green hair poking out from the opening between zippers. "It would not be wise to be caught by the authorities..."

 

[Izurich]

[fieldbox=, Red, solid]

Two were set on Volunteer Clubbing, two set on becoming 'idols', and Ellen provided a logical explanation to the foolishness of this idol idea, she couldn't believe Chie could consider being one, Yu Ri? She couldn't take the girl seriously anymore, some part of her mind bet the black-haired girl said so just to mock her. At least, she could enjoy the twitches of the older blonde's adorable cat ears, they fixed her mood somewhat. Mita was right, no need to argue over such a small matter, like it or not, they'd have to work together in fighting off Lesadra and her Seething Daughters.

Walking out of the elevator, "..." Akni quickly held her backpack closer, looking over her shoulder to make sure Mita was safely hidden inside it. The noises were ringing in their ears, coming from a pair of HSAs hovering their way towards to the school area. The redhead pursed her lips, she wished she could tell the group why they were here, but... she couldn't without her cover being blown. From the reports she had gotten out of her CDF SmartView implant, these copters were here to investigate an anomaly in the air traffic that transpired about half an hour ago. "Heh... damn it, Akni..." Nope, she couldn't tell anyone, not even her superiors, that she was the very object they were searching, her aerial display of power spooked them, ah well, Mita said they'd be found out, but surely not this early.

"...Yes, we should," Akni nodded, agreeing with Mita, "I don't think they are searching for us." Just herself actually, "but let's just leave, okay?" The redhead usually went home by foot since the CDF had rented her a studio apartment not far from the school grounds, for practical purposes of course. "I'm going home, girls, so... see you tonight. Keep us updated, okay, Srade, Mita?" Waving good-byes at the group, the redhead half-ran towards the school gate then made a right turn once out.

Man, she'd have to explain to her handler why she didn't report the suspicious air activity even though she was around the vicinity, more paperwork. "Detective Akni Moretz, alias Farron Sky, mission report..." What to say, what to say? Damn it, paperwork... sigh. Ah right, most likely Mita (and Srade) would find out about her true job soon, let's hope they could keep a secret, eh?

[/fieldbox]

 

[R-9 Pilot]

[fieldbox=", #5fd4a3, solid"]

Ellen gazed up at the HSAs circling above the school. It wasn't often you got to see something like that. "Huh, I wonder what they are looking for," she said in response to Farron's assertion they weren't looking for them. Which would be silly. Why would they go looking fro a group of schoolgirls who were a bit late getting home. These might be dangerous times, but they weren't that dangerous. And she doubted Chie's family had the sort of pull to get CDF to look for a daughter who was a little late getting home. Maybe they could send their own private security, but even that would be just a little unusual. "It'd be pretty weird if they were here to pick one of us up or something."

"I guess it's time to go our separate ways," she said to the others. "I'll let you all know the moment I spot anything, if I do. I'll try not to do anything solo." It was easy to say, but she got the feeling that unless they spent most of their time together, there was no way they wouldn't be working independently or close to it, at times. Maybe smaller groups, but the whole team ma not be able to assemble immediately at a moment's notice. They'd all have to be flexible in their strategies.

"Although," she said specifically to her fellow upperclassmen, "If either of you would like to get together to deal with some homework, I'm happy to play hostess." The quicker they get that done, the better, anyway. If their new job was to sneak out at night and patrol the city, that would mean less time for everything else. To say nothing of them problems inherent in a fixed school schedule, should anything happen then.
[/fieldbox]

 

[Atenthirtyone]

[fieldbox=, pink, solid]

"Aaaah? Miss Ellen is extending an invitation?" asked Chie with half-opened eyes. Didn't she have to have dinner with her parents at that high class restaurant? She was told to wear something nice, which was pretty code for We're gonna show you off to people. It might be even another meet and greet with a boy and his family for a potential arranged marriage. Arranged marriage, an ancient tradition of selling off your daughter to gain more political and economical status. Chie dreaded having to enterain another boy, most likely years older than her. No, that's not for a few days. Chie would be able to avoid being visually and occasionally physically groped by some top university graduate at least for a few days. She might as well have fun til then.

"I would be honored to see your household, and do homework." said Chie with one of her better curtsies. Ellen had always been an interesting fellow classmate. They were both seen as heiresses, although the Irving was likely far more wealthy and influential than the Mont at this point. Oh, Chie can't wait to stay late at a classmate's house, and get her mother's message about missing curfew. She would be able to counter and shut up her mother into a stutter by saying she was engaging in networking with a member of the Irving family. Oh, this will be a grand and interesting evening.
[/fieldbox]

 

[ERode]

Well, the reality of it was pretty sad, if they were going to be 'official idols'. The raven-haired Yu-Ri wondered whether or not any of them would be heavily opposed towards going underground instead, but then realized that it wasn't even something worth considering. After all, her rich classmates were probably still stressing over 'purity' and 'arranged marriages', while her underclassmen probably hadn't even had their first kiss yet.

Nevertheless, Yu-Ri agreed with Ellen's statement. The girls could come up with a decision at a later date, and, judging by Mita's reactions towards the heated debate, the android probably didn't mean to start an internal war with her suggestion as well.

When she stepped out of the elevator, the sound of the CDF helicopter became louder. With twin rotors and a dangerous-looking autocannon, Yu-Ri definitely didn't want to be noticed by that mechanical beast. She kept her head down, wondered what it was all about, before realizing something. Srade never mentioned putting up some sort of invisibility field or stealth system on the rooftop during their little after school training session, huh?

Which meant that the authorities, unless they were too busy circlejerking off CGI pornograms, would have definitely noticed Farron's little display. The slender girl let out a sigh, and said, as Farron ran off, "Next time, subtlety will be appreciated."

Yu-Ri waited for those red twintails to disappear out of her view, before turning towards Ellen. Chie was already on board with witnessing Ellen's hostess skills, and she said, "That'll be nice." Her parents wouldn't mind anyways, and she can just cancel her appointments for the evening. Not like her customer was a high roller, anyways.

Popping up the texting module for her SmartView, the girl sent off a laconic, sincere to her 'friend' as she waited for the cat-eared classmate to lead the way.

 

[Ailucia]

[fieldbox=, yellow, solid]

At the end of the day, who cared what they truly became, it was all a front for them to go do something completely different anyways. If they got asked again Remi would probably just join with the idol side definitely so they could finally decide on something. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, even if a few certain others would definitely steal the show with their assets.

She looked up at the helicopters, a small smile appearing on her face. One day she might be able to pilot one of those and chase down criminals herself. Heck, maybe one day when Remi and her sister are both a part of the force they could work together! But these kinda thoughts probably aren't the best considering its likely someone called them over here because they weren't as subtle as they thought they were. She couldn't think of any other reason for them to be here at least.

Remi turned towards the direction of her house and began to silently walk away. She already tried to invite people with her, and if they don't want to come then that's okay, all she needs is her older sister anyways.
[/fieldbox]

 

[Insomnant]

27092115581918747.0​

And so, without a decision made on the nature of their cover for spending time together, the group split up. The two younger students went their separate ways, while the older ones stuck together, and Mita remained with Akni. She hadn't wanted to choose favorites but through a lack of a decision to abandon backpack, she wound up with the red head. Which was fine, she laid back and closed her eyes and relaxed. For now, her job was done- until the girls needed instruction or teaching she could go into standby mode.

The other asset of Srade's was the stealth drone above, but even knowing it was there, Yu-Ri, Chie, and Ellen would have a hard time picking it in the 'empty' sky above the sidewalk, or the corner of the room. Luckily it didn't follow them into the residential building, though given its invisibility, its departure would be difficult to note as well. And speaking of following, as the five spread out from the school the aerial vehicles above maintained their search, rather than starting to hunt down the innocent-looking schoolgirls.

The walk home for Remi would include a surprise detour, as Street W-13 had been closed at its intersections with both S-14 and N-15, only a few blocks south from the school. It was a testament to the marvels of modern architecture that they hadn't heard the commotion earlier that day. From the looks of the carnage she could just catch glimpses of past the CDF roadblock, it looked like the noise must have been substantial. The front of the shopping mall across the street from the First Central Bank still had a gaping hole where the helicopter had crashed, though by now the fires had been put out, and work crews were in the process of securing parts of the wreckage with a crane to lift it out. Meanwhile construction teams had a scaffold assembled in preparation of layering the concrete to repair the wall, but they were busy sipping coffee and watching the cleanup team work. On the ground, men in protective orange gear and facial masks scrubbed busily between parking spots, frothy cleaning fluids rejuvenating the dried, darkened red puddles until they ran into the drains or got sucked up into the large tank on the back of the white truck nearby.

Otherwise, the CDF presence wasn't too elevated beyond normal, though pedestrians seemed cagier than usual, with many hands in pockets and sideways glances around- whereas before they might have been more content chatting seemingly with no one or even watching videos or browsing the DataNet while walking. As it was, social media was abuzz with whispers of discontentment. Public status messages above people's heads blared their thoughts to everyone with a MindSpace or SmartBook or Chirpr account. OMG can you believe this? Another detour! §GonnaBeLate and Mom: Go get some groceries Me: Do you want me to die?! Mom: Yes I love bananas more than you Me: UGGHHH and fuk terrists not no one mess wit me an 5-Street Bandits gonna fukkem up!!! and Tired of this shit, thinking of moving, who's with me?

Videos had begun to surface of the last attack, shaky and distant from the actual action, though just like the previous ones, they were swiftly taken down and accounts banned. The official news agencies were reporting a casualty count of 19 dead civilians, 2 CDF Enforcers wounded, and another 7 killed in the line of duty along with the pilot of the Viper Transport Aircraft. Debate raged on about a new wave of security measures being considered by the Central City Council, with an emphasis on increasing surveillance penetration and 'pre-emptive' social media analysis to try and predict who else might snap and go on a rampage.

Meanwhile critics insisted that the surveillance in place hadn't been enough to stop the latest perpetrator, who had been identified as Chloe Carson. The image on the TV that was now attached to that name was of a gaunt blonde woman, mid-twenties, with a distant look. Footage playing on the news outlets showed her standing in line at the bank to speak to a loan originator, fidgeting in place before the man behind her tapped her shoulder. The speed with which she swung around was matched by the abruptness with which the video cut to black so that the following violence wasn't shown.

Aside from all the commotion however, the day proceeded like normal, and as the hours ticked by, Mita was getting more and more anxious. After dinner she cleared her throat from her position in the air above Akni's shoulder. "Ah... shouldn't... I mean if you are- don't you think this might be a good time to start patrolling the streets? Or- if not- maybe, check in with the others? To see... when they might want to?"

 

[Izurich]

[fieldbox=, Red, solid]

"Welcome home, Farron Sky"

The apartment's housekeeping A.I switched out of standby mode as soon as Akni passed the biometric palm scanner. The automatic door slid up as she entered, then back down along with a locking beep. "Ha..." Akni sighed heavily, trying to take in all that happened, from the maddened rampage and this whole Valiant Sentinels business. She had been accessing the CDF resources through her implant, nineteen civilian fatalities, seven enforcers downed, two wounded... and the ensuing disruption of public order through mass fear, something must be done about this.

"..." Her expression turned serious as she put her school backpack down, sitting on the sofa, "I don't exactly get a lot visitors, but I welcome you, Mita." Akni gave a tired smile at the emerging tech-fairy, "I think it's safe to assume that Srade obviously checked our backgrounds first before selecting us, so... you may already know that I'm actually Akni Moretz, junior CDF investigator, but still, don't tell the others, okay?" The redhead stood back up, then stretched her body, "Mmmmh... ha... gonna take a bath first then work on some reports, sigh..." With that, she made her way into the bathroom, "You can... do whatever you'd like to do in the meanwhile"


---

The hours passed, Akni finished up her report on her ongoing investigation of drug trafficking and underage prostitution around Central City, she made up an excuse of not being aware of what exactly happened in the airspace above the school building, only that she heard some 'loud noises', should be good enough, such events weren't included in her assigned tasks anyway. She also called her father, explained the same thing, keeping anything she knew from Srade a secret. If there was a time where she'd have to spill the beans, it'd be in the future, not now, the current situation was much too sensitive and muddled.

Akni made herself an instant lasagna for dinner, she was just finished when Mita quipped. "Yeah, patrolling is nothing new to me, Mita." The detective replied as she reached for a hidden compartment behind the flat screen TV, taking out a CDF custom sidearm, one modified to be lighter and smaller so even a young teenage girl like her could safely wield it. "I don't think I'll need this anymore." She had a cyberframe now after all, ", but... just in case." The girl hid it in her jacket, smiling at Mita, "I hope I'm not making a bad impression, can't just tell everyone I'm not 'just' a schoolgirl, y'know?" She opened her other jacket pocket for Mita to hide, "Right, let's go." All set up, she exitted her home, idly sending a message to her comrades,

"Girls, I'm heading out now, I'll tell you if anything comes up, vice versa."

[/fieldbox]

 

[R-9 Pilot]

[fieldbox=", #5fd4a3, solid"]

Ellen's residence, like many in the city, wasn't a house so much as an apartment situated in one of the buildings on Avance Physique's local complex. The company wasn't quite so large and influential to have extraterritorial status, but it did still ensure a safe and monitored environment for its employees. There was enough room for the family of three to be comfortable, with a couple bedrooms, a full kitchen and dining area, a living room, and so-on. Not complete affluent living like a private estate somewhere cordoned off from the urban sprawl, but certainly not terrible, either.

The rooms were tastefully furnished, from what Chie and Yuri could tell, though Ellen quickly got them both into her own room for an easier time dealing with homework and talking free of parental interruptions. Her parents did know she was having guests, she'd notified them on the way over. Ellen's room was pretty typical for a girl her age. She had a few posters on her walls, alternating between pop stars, cartoon characters, and armored heroes. Her bed was piled with a clutter of stuffed animals. Her desk wasn't quite bare, and actually had a luxury of actual writing paper, a rare sight in the modern age. She also had an acoustic guitar tucked away in one corner. Overall, the place was a little messier than one would have expected.

True to her word, Ellen actually did start by digging out her homework, and cajoling the others to do the same. They could help each other if they got stuck somewhere.

---

With two extra people at the table, dinner was a bit livelier and more crowded than usual. Ellen's mother was a decent cook, and the Irvings had real meat on the table, not some sort of substitute. Chie and Yuri both had their share of questions to deal with, since Ellen didn't usually bring friends home. Farron's message cut into the after dinner conversation, at least over the AR interfaces for the teenage girls. "Won't your families worry if you stay out too late," Ellen suggested to the other two. "I can walk you home, at least." It wasn't the greatest reason to be wandering around after dark in the city, but it was hardly the worst one. Can't exactly say "mom, dad, I need to go patrol for supernatural evil with my friends, here."

[/fieldbox]

 

[ERode]

Yu-Ri had a hard time keeping her face expressionless as Ellen guided the two girls to upper-class side of town. The apartment elevator was fast and quiet, the carpet was clean and soft, and the soundproofing on the walls was silent. The moment she entered the corridors of the floor Ellen's apartment was on, the raven-haired girl was struck by just how pleasantly quiet it was. Air conditioning kept the temperature at a cool 18 degrees Celsius, and the artificial flowers put to spruce up the area around the elevator was another sign of wealth being used extraneously. From tall, tinted windows, she could appreciate the lights of the commercial district without being blinded and deafened by them.

The cat-eared girl's suite itself was equally nice. Yu-Ri bowed and introduced herself properly to a set of parents that actually cared about who their daughter brought in, and the wooden floorboards felt nice to set on. Though it was a bit immature, she found herself sliding on it with her socked feet. Like skating, except not.

There was jealousy and envy, yes, when Yu-Ri witnessed just how much was wasted on pointless luxuries, but more than that, the young girl realized that she could use this quite well. Popping open her SmartView and bringing out the holographic keyboard, she sat down and got started with homework, occasionally asking a few questions about Ellen's interests and hobbies.

---

Dinner, though, proved to be a dangerous juncture. Real meat really was hard to come by, and while Ellen's mother wasn't exactly a five-star chef, the fact that the meat tasted real, with a genuine umami flavor and juices flowing with each bite, Yu-Ri's discipline was being tested heavily. Throughout the conversation, she remained as cordial as possible, doing her best to look into people's eyes instead of on the table, where the meat laid.

It worked fairly well, honestly, and after a while, Yu-Ri was fairly confident that she had made a good second impression with Ellen's parents. Of course, she didn't mention her current living conditions, but she did her best to humbly impress upon them her own artistic talents and her scholastic success. Can't exactly look like a leech riding on the coattails of Ellen, after all.

Akni's message cut in partway through, and a beat later, Ellen spoke up, weaving an excuse for the three of them to head out. It was sort of a bad excuse, with how if Ellen walked the two of them home, she'd be walking back alone, and a family like the Irvings probably had a personal transport they could use to send the two back, but, well…

"Thanks, Ellen," Yu-Ri smiled softly, "It's been a pleasure meeting your family. Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Irving!"

Hopefully her parents won't notice this problem if they acted fast enough, hm? Bringing her dishes and utensils to the washing machine, and then heading towards the doorway, Yu-Ri slipped on her shoes and waited for the others to start heading out.

Easiest 'job' ever, really.

 

[Ailucia]

[fieldbox=, yellow, solid]

Remi looked onto what aftermath of the carnage she could over the roadblock. I wish I could just go over and check it out, I wonder if these suits have some kinda invisibility function I can try out. Well, even if she was invisible who knows what else the CDF had to track people with, it was probably a dumb idea anyways.

-----------------------

Remi entered her house with a smile on her face, the long weird day finally being over... for now. "Sis, I'm home!" She happily called out, to no response. Heading over to the kitchen, she found a note on the table that read 'Going to study super late with some other cadets in training! Dinner is in the fridge, do your homework!' Her happiness lessened, heading over to the fridge to heat and eat her dinner now so there would be a good amount of time between dinner and fighting to let it all go down.

She changed out of her school get up, wearing something that would be better for running should the need arise. Immediately she began to hit the books and started to study and homework for a bit to pass the time. There was also the fact with the more likely than not constant searching they will be doing, she will start to slack in school. Remi was by no means dumb, but her good grades were only due to actually studying.

With her day's worth of homework done, Remi decided to go out for a jog. They needed to go around searching places anyways and she also needed her daily cardio, so this was two birds in one stone. As she ran across the first block of her neighborhood, she got a message from Farron. Tch, do I really have to tell people I'm going out?

She thought deeply about what she should say herself, leading the blonde girl to send her reply. "K"

[/fieldbox]

 

[Atenthirtyone]

[fieldbox=, pink, solid]

Ellen's home was about what Chie had expected out of the fellow heiress. It was a large comfortable living arrangement located in one of the nicest and safest parts of town. In fact, Chie's personal apartment was located in the very same area. The two of them probably would get off at the same subway stop. However, Chie had never seen Ellen at the subway stop. As a member of the archery's club, Chie was pretty much required to show up to morning and afternoon practice on a daily basis. It was tiring, although quite fun. Chie particularly enjoyed outscoring her upperclassmen, and seeing their quiet frustration and contempt. They would smile on the outside praising her, but in reality they would curse her. Or spread rumors. Chie sighed at the thought while the three upperclassmen were working on math homework.

The three of them were all excellent students, all capable of scoring top scores on exams and answering every little question from their teachers. The homework was frankly a bit insultingly easy, but Chie had fun socializing while pretending to need the assistance of others. Surely, none of them actually needed help. They just all ended up splitting the workload, and copying each others' answers. It saved a lot of time, which was nice. There really isn't a point of practicing math once you knew the methods and the tricks that most teachers used.

Dinner with the Irving family was a bit different than Chie's. They were friendly, and looked like they genuinely loved their daughter. Chie looked with a bit of jealously, as Mrs. Irving cooked herself for the whole group. In the Mont household, they had maids for everything like that. Well, that was when Chie still lived with her parents. She managed to convince her parents that she would practice independence and an apartment closer to the high school would make her schedule more efficent. Now, Chie mostly relied on the advanced automated cooking appliances in her apartment to cook. Honestly, this cooking felt warm and fuzzy, and nothing like anything Chie had ate in years. Her family now only went to 5 star restaurants when they had their 'family dinners'. Family. A loving family.

It was getting late when Ellen suggested that Chie and Yu Ri should head home. When Ellen suggested that they should be walked home, Chie saw the real meaning behind it. So that was when they were going to go on patrol for the evening.

"Oh, I would love the escort. Thank you kindly, Miss Ellen." answered Chie in her most delicate voice, sliding just enough innocence so that Ellen's parents would no doubt hear it. Yu-Ri had already bolted out of the door, but Chie had appearances to maintain. And honestly, she had no rush. It wasn't like she was actually heading home, and even if she did, there would be nothing waiting for her. Chie took the time to thank Mr. and Mrs. Irving, receiving a warm hug from the mother. She made a typical school girl comment that made the father laugh. Adults are so simple to impress as a girl.

Chie and Ellen slipped on their shoes, and walked out the hallway and saw Yu Ri waiting by the elevator. "My, my. Miss. Yu-Ri, you are a hasty one." said Chie said playfully with a small giggle.
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[Insomnant]

27092115581966043.9​

Thankfully for the mentally weary Akni, Mita matched her energy level instead of maintaining her previous chipper energy levels. "Ah, well thank you for having me, Miss Farron." She fluttered into the air and shook her head to set right her hair, aside from the rebellious lock that remained perpetually curled upward. "Mm! Your chosen method of identification is your own prerogative, of course! I am only here to assist you, not expose any secrets you may have!" she promised with a nod and a smile, left to flutter about Akni's empty apartment to examine the decorations. Eventually she returned to the backpack that had carried her in and curled up inside of it to go into sleep mode.

She came to after an hour and a half and floated back out with a yawn and a rub of her eyes, before her visor snapped back into place to let her check in on the situation outside the apartment. Of course... the lack of intel made her sleepy pout develop into a full frown, only able to look through the eye of the single surveillance drone which had yet to find any sign of a new threat on the streets of the city. Nor did monitoring social media reveal any hotspots of activity beyond the expected mundane disputes. But the tech-fairy knew that statistically something was likely to happen and it made her calm demeanor melt away to reveal an anxious energy. After zipping in circles a few times and traversing the length of the apartment a few times, she flew up behind Akni as the girl was finishing her food, to ask about heading out.

And thankfully the reply was an agreement, that made Mita smile gratefully with a warm smile, her six wing-shards bouncing with a flash of bright green. "Oh good! I would feel much better if we could be on hand to prevent... things from getting out of hand," she stated with a single confident nod. Though her head tilted curiously as Akni armed herself... with a pistol. "O-oh, no, you probably won't... but okay!" she agreed, glancing off to the side and offering a polite shrug. "Your life is yours to live, I am not here to judge anyone!" she chirped with a returned smile, before giggling when offered a pocket, even though perfectly able to fly for herself. Though it would risk others seeing her, so she darted forward and pounced into the pocket, squirming to get upright with her chin and fingers resting on the hem of the pocket. "Watch out, Lesedra, here we come!"

---

Ellen's parents did indeed have a vehicular transport, and although perhaps caught off guard by the abrupt end to the visit, they seemed to buy the idea of Ellen escorting her friends home... With the caveat that they take the family car to do so. The upside to that of course was the self-driving car did not require an adult to operate it, and being down in the building's garage they could probably get away with simply leaving it there and Ellen's parents would never know it hadn't left, outside of specifically looking into its travel logs.

But all the same, be it individually or in a group of three, the girls hit the streets. With minimal cooperation, but perhaps that would come in time. Luckily the night was relatively quiet, perhaps as a result of the increasing sense of worry as people sought to stay off the streets. Akni's CDF activity monitor on her SmartSense kept her informed on a number of incidents around the city:

• Block 7-12, Central Park. Mugging reported, two victims, one on route to the hospital for potential broken ribs. Four or five suspects, officers dispatched to search.
• Block 6-15, ReVizion Therapy Center. Security alarm triggered. Fire alarm triggered. Dispatched fire containment drone to verify, any officers in the vicinity able to investigate please respond.
• Street N-17, between E-8 and W-9. Manual vehicle control engaged, erratic driving reported. Lockdown drone dispatched, officers en route.
• Block 5-14, Economy Housing Unit 8. Minor vandalism and property damage reported. Low priority level.

All in all, nothing new or surprising, perhaps even calmer than usual. Social media buzz had already moved on to the hottest trending topic: discussion of the upcoming season of Combatball, the latest sport trend that combined football and simulated warfare using augmented reality and replica digital firearms to add a tactical element. The two most notorious teams, the Shrieking Screamers and the Red Skulls were having a feud on Chirpr with insults flying back and forth and threats on the parts of their fans but it was likely just normal DataNet bluster.

It wasn't long after the girls set out that the sun finished its downward trajectory, sinking below the horizon to cast the city in darkness. The pale blue cones of light provided islands of glaring illumination under the LED street lamps, and at night the style of foot travel switched from hurried walking to anxious jogging, if not furtive prowling. Night was when gang presence seeped out onto the streets and suspicious squinting stares met any who didn't look like they belonged. Including five young school girls on a nebulous mission.[/hr]

 

[Izurich]

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Patrolling may be a new experience for the other 'Valiants', but for Akni, she had done so a couple of times for a number of work-related reasons. For example, spotting underage prostitution acts in progress was obviously best viable in nighttime. Unbeknownst to Akni, a certain dark-haired girl in the team may cross paths with her on unfriendly terms, it was only a matter of time if the girl chose to continue her unlawful occupation. For now, they were partners under Srade's guidance. Pulling up her hood so it partially covered her facial features, she took the first step out of her apartment's curb.

"ID: 00084157, Akni Moretz, CDF Junior Investigator, commencing patrol at 1900 hours." The redhead mentally wrote in her logs through her SmartView as she walked. "..." A thought came to her, the risk of having to expose - at least - her cover as Valiant Red might be higher than she initially predicted, unless she could come up with a way to keep skewing the reports. At best, it'd only her buy time, she just hoped the CDF could accept this, her satisfactory track records and her father being a Senior Investigator could help her case. By instinct and habit, Akni was about to head to the seedier parts of Central City, namely a red light district. However, accessing the SmartSense gave her a couple of interesting options.

"Hmmm..." She stopped under a traffic light, leaning her back against the pole, hands inside her pockets, seemingly watching the passing vehicles. Block 7-12, just the usual mugging, officers were already dispatched too, crossed that off the list. Street N-17, most likely just a drunk driver or a kid who somehow accessed his parents' personal transport, similar case with the authorities already on the way, crossed. Block 5-14, vandalism, nothing new, crossed. Now, Block 6-15... "Curious..." a branch of one of the well-known therapy centre business franchise, their services included cybernetic attachments for the disabled which made them prime targets for burglary, a bunch of those things could cost a fortune. Plus, only firedrones had been sent, no personnels yet. This was their chance.

As a junior investigator, it was not her duty to respond to these kind of emergency calls which worked in her favor, she didn't need to report that she was in the vicinity. Akni set up the GPS in her SmartView, Block 6-15 was not that far from her current location. "We're heading to Block 6-15, Mita, keep your guard up." She whispered towards her chest as the redhead jogged towards the aforementioned block. How to tell the other Sentinels without coming under suspicions of 'knowing too much'? Heh, easy.

"Girls, I'm at Block 6-15, ReVizion Therapy Centre, found something interesting, come here now." 'And Remi, stop responding with a 'K', was what she wanted to type next, but decided against it.
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[ERode]

As the other two arrived, Chie amused by Yu-Ri's antics, the Chinese girl merely shrugged. It looked like Ellen's parents turned out to be ideal after all: loving, but not overprotective. Lucky girl.

The trio, forgoing the usage of Ellen's family car, hit the streets instead, a motley group if there was any. In a different world, perhaps, this combination of the busty, the flat, and the quirky could have made for a fun, fluffy show, but here, their meanderings had a rather serious purpose. Fewer people were on the streets than normal for that time of evening, and Yu-Ri, scrolling through her social media feeds, whistled lightly. A lot more active and involved than normal. She played with her bangs, decided that people must be desperate to cling to 'safe, indoor activities' during a time where public spaces were so dangerous, and then looked up at the night sky.

Fluorescent light created beacons of safety and clarity, even as a sense of danger began to mount in the atmosphere. A combination like this, that of three high school girls with vastly different bodily features, would definitely attract some unwanted attention, huh? It was still safer than her own neighborhood, but Yu-Ri found herself becoming more and more aware of her surroundings, a certain sharpness entering her steps as she began to trace the movements of other strangers around her.

"Girls, I'm at Block 6-15, ReVizion Therapy Centre, found something interesting, come here now."

A message popped up on her Smartbook, from the flamboyant red-head that lusted after Ellen.

Yu-Ri stroked the back of her neck, and replied quickly.

"K."

After that, spinning on the balls of her feet, she said, "Read it? Let's go."

 

[R-9 Pilot]

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Ellen had no problems ditching the car for the moment. If she really ended up needing it, or transport in general, she could call something in. So, no real need to worry about hoofing it in the meantime. Besides, it was nice to go for a walk, sometimes. Her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket, she walked along with Chie and Yu-Ri. "I hope neither of you lives too far from here. Walking all the way across town would be...a little much." It could be done, or more likely they'd just take the metro or some other public transport if they were going that far.

Even in the best of neighborhoods, the setting of the sun was a worry. Sure, Avance Physique had their own security patrols in the area, and CDF response was also quick in the neighborhood, but the night had been the time that dangerous things went on the prowl since humanity was living in caves and banging rocks together. Ellen had her own reasons to be nervous, as her mind briefly wandered back to the events of a few years ago, in which she was roughly grabbed off the sidewalk and pulled into the door of a waiting vehicle... She shook her head to clear it. Not only was there safety in numbers, but she was confident she could take care of herself, now. It wasn't what her cyberframe should be used for, but if anyone tried to give these girls trouble, they could be in for one hell of a surprise.

"It's strange at night," she said. "You can hardly see any stars, these days..." Must be a bit of a romantic streak talking, but between the buildings and the light pollution, the night often had a sort of luminous gloom all it's own, never truly descending into darkness, just different depths of shadow.

Farron's message immediately got her attention, and Ellen quickly pulled up a map on her SmartView, to check 6-15 against their current location.
"On our way," she replied. "Might be a while, we're a few blocks from there." They might be able to cut through a few alleyways, but at a time like this, that was probably easier said than done. Ellen picked up her walking pace, not quite breaking into a jog. She just hoped the nervous energy and butterflies in her stomach died down by the time they arrived.

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[Ailucia]

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Remi jogged along the sidewalk, her mind filled with thoughts. She thought of the fun times she had with her parents and sister before everything went to crap. Remi was really bad at doing this observing and patrolling thing, more interested in keeping her steady pace and being contained in her thoughts. Now that she thought about it, she seemed to be taking the same path her parents used to walk with her. Wait, then that means I'm close to- As she turned the corner, she ran into a park. This was the last place they did something fun together as a family. There weren't many clouds in the sky, but she definitely felt raindrops start to hit her face for a few seconds. If there were actual passerby they might have mistaken the girl for crying. Eventually she shook her head and dried her face of the rain, running into the nearby girls bathroom as she tried to think of anything else.

On the bright side everything seemed quiet enough, no criminals to catch or thugs stealing purses. Should I transform if its something like that? She wasn't too sure. While it could put her in danger, not doing it might allow the criminals to leave. Which is the right choice...

Her thought was interrupted by Farron's message, letting her know she found something. "I guess I should head over." She said aloud to herself, sending the girl a text of her own, "brt". She started to pick up her pace into a small run, not actually knowing where she was supposed to go. "Like I KNOW where the therapy center is, does she think I SHOULD know huh?" Remi clicked her tongue as she turned on a navigation software on her device to figure out where to go.

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