Chapter 163 - Splitting The Party

Upon the humans finally reaching a lull in their nonsense, 23 walks over closer to Miss Calculated. Its movements are overt enough that she notices, leading to her turning around to face it with a questioning look.

“If you would be so kind, Mary, would you come with me to inspect your prospective temporary workspace? It will still take some time before it will be suitable for use, however, it would perhaps be best for you to evaluate if my proposed arrangement is to your liking? I am fairly confident that my estimates will suit your needs, but it would be most efficient to make the confirmations in advance, in the event of a miscalculation on my part. ...Oh. That… was not intentional.” After making its request, 23 locks up a bit after its accidental pun.

Miss Calculated smiles and chuckles a bit, accompanied by mixed light laughter from some of the others in attendance.

“Yes, of course. Ah, do you want to take a look to give your approval as well, Mark?” There is still a tinge of amusement to Miss Calculated’s voice as she answers 23, fading a bit but still not completely gone when she addresses Mark.

“Hmm, certainly. Considering it’s another floor that has been left to vaguely instructed service bots… Perhaps I should make a point of overseeing those areas more often. After seeing just how autonomous 23 is… Well, let’s say I’m really looking forward to seeing how many other advanced models we can find.” While Mark is musing, Mikah’s face lights up, having been reminded of the business plans regarding bot acquisition.

“Right, right! I imagine that you’ve taken more than enough photos for now, correct? How about I drop you guys off on your floor so you can get started on clearing it out, and then I’ll head over to accounting? I’ll get them up to date on our plans, and we can start figuring out the exact numbers for it. The sooner we get started, the better, and all that.” Mikah turned to face Lucas while asking this, showing some legitimate enthusiasm about getting things in motion.

Before Lucas even has a chance to give any sort of reaction, Miss Masher has already cheered and started marching over to the elevators.

“Yes! Finally! Let’s go!” Miss Masher doesn’t even remotely attempt to contain her enthusiasm, disturbing the fluffy cuddle pile into wakefulness. On her way to the elevators, she reclaims the messenger bag which Franz had been on guard duty for, by using it as a pillow, disrupting his rest even further. She is, of course, gentle about the process, not just heartlessly yanking it out from under him.

Lucas heads over to the animal assembly as well, laughing while doing so. He kneels down and gently scoops up Sylph, then nudges Willy a few times to make sure he actually wakes up.

“Come on buddy, time to change locations. Ya wanna go check out the HQ, or go on over to Dan’s place?” As Lucas asks this, Willy slowly stands up, making a huge yawn. After initiating big stretchums protocols, he looks thoughtful for a moment, and then he lifts his head up to point his snoot at the ceiling, barking once.

“You got it, buddy. Once you get a good look around maybe you and Jon can go chillax at the spa together.” When Lucas says this, Jonathan stops in the middle of walking over to the elevators, looking at him with a confused expression. Similarly, Miss Chievous has also stopped to look at Lucas curiously, too.

“Eh? Why do ya look surprised, kiddo? Did ya think I was gonna make you drag shit around? You should go get more sleep! Me an’ Marsha got it, don’t ya worry.” After Lucas says this, Jonathan’s confusion clears up quickly, replaced with a small smile.

“O-oh, yeah. Th-thanks, I’ll try. Um, d-don’t forget what we, um, talked about though, okay?” Once Jonathan says this, it’s Lucas’s turn to look confused.

Having overheard their exchange, 23 reaches over, holding out the keyfob that Mikah had given to it earlier, now offering it Jonathan.

“Here, if you will be separating from the others, you will need this more than I.” Once 23 says this, Jonathan accepts the keyfob and tucks it away into a pocket, after a short delay of looking it over.

“Oh, um, thanks.” Jonathan doesn’t exactly manage to be much more eloquent when addressing a service bot.

Sylph had been looking up at Lucas for a few moments, but had shut her eyes to drift off to sleep again while he was gently petting the top of her head. Apparently, she deemed his hands a sufficiently secure resting location, flattering him immensely, and completely distracting him from Jonathan’s reminder as soon as he notices.

‘Yesss~!’

Franz had also drowsily stood back up when he noticed Willy doing so, similarly stretching and yawning. Looking around a bit, he seems to notice Dan’s absence, turning to look at Willy and growling out a few subvocalizations at him questioningly.

Realizing that Lucas’s attention is focused on the peacefully napping supreme one, Willy bites and tugs on his pants leg a few times to get his attention, then points his nose in the direction of Faunahorde and makes an inquisitive bark after looking back at him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, Dan probably went back. Uhh, should they stick with us, or should one of us walk ‘em back and open the door for them..? Wait! I owe you pets!” Upon Lucas making this very important realization, he gently sets Sylph down on Willy’s back and proceeds to get on his knees and bearhug Franz, earning some eager tail wags.

Mark snorts with amusement while watching him, pausing in the middle of the process of walking over to one of the elevators with Miss Calculated and 23, but after a brief delay he stiffens up.

“Wait! Don’t get his hair everywhere! Also, Franz can take Sylph and himself back to Faunahorde just fine. Chobin or one of the others always keeps watch when any of the animals are out and has a button to open the door to let them in. Even if they can’t all directly talk to each other, Daniel has coordinated a few signals that all the animals there understand, so you don’t need to worry about it.” Upon Mark’s request and clarification, Lucas whines and releases Franz. After patting Franz’s back a few times, Lucas stands back up begrudgingly with a sigh.

“Chobin..? Fine, fine. Sorry buddy, I’ll get you later, I promise.” After saying this, Lucas looks down at himself, immediately noting the sizable quantity of fur he already got all over his suit in that brief timeframe. “...Okay, yeah, I can’t really argue.”

After chuckling briefly, Mikah stops outside the doors of the elevator and turns to look at Lucas.

“Hmm? I’m sure you’ve seen him by now, Chobin’s the raven that’s often on lookout duty at the front window of Faunahorde.” Shortly after Mikah says this, Lucas gains a look of understanding. Once he finished speaking, Mikah then turns his attention over towards Jonathan.

“I’m pretty sure he already completely forgot what you were trying to remind him of. If you’d like, you could tell me, if that’s easier for you than saying it out loud..?” After Mikah makes this offer, Jonathan locks up for a moment, then seems to take him up on his offer, as Mikah gains a thoughtful expression while looking at him.

Understanding that it’s time to go home, Franz rubs up against Lucas’s legs and barks once, then pads over to boop Sylph with his nose, inciting her into hopping up to fly over and land on top of his head. After giving her a few moments to get settled in place, Franz happily trots his way out the wide-open front doors of MF’s and goes to wait at the crosswalk until it’s safe to cross the street over to Faunahorde.

‘Too cute!’

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Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 17.19 (+.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 5.0* (Already beginning to receive authentic global attention. His local levels are effectively maxed.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for many paranoid individuals, numerous people have realized he's an impulsive idiot.)

Jonathan total kills: 7

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 5.97 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (What fame he does have is predominantly local.)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 3.0* (More than just overly-paranoid people are suspicious at this point.)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now.)

Supervillain social circle size: 15

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Little character theater:

Jonathan is busy nervously passing on the agreed-upon information from his and Lucas’s brainstorming session, stressing over making sure there aren’t any hints of, well, anything incriminating.

Willy does one more looong stretch, then trots into the waiting elevator that Mikah, Jonathan, Miss Masher, and Miss Chievous are all in, several of whom are staring at Lucas.

Lucas, staring off stage in the direction that Franz and Sylph left in, taking an embarrassingly long time to realize only he and the author are left on stage at this point: Eheh, oops.

427, sighing with relief: ‘Thank you, Jonathan. At least ONE of you are reliable.’

Author, shooing away Lucas with both hands: Go on, git!

Mr. Quacks, still over in Faunahorde, watching as Chobin hops over and pecks at a large button, pushing the door open so Franz can come inside: Quack?