The Rebel Soldiers' last stronghold had been located, and that was good news.
But for New Eridu, now was absolutely not the best moment to strike.
For one thing, the intelligence still had to be verified as accurate, which would take time. For another, every organization in the city had just weathered a massive upheaval, so they needed a stretch of time to put themselves back in order.
Moving out in their current state would guarantee anything but the ideal outcome.
And so Geno and the others could enjoy a brief spell of peace.
"F*ck! Why is there another bug?!!!!"
Well. Apparently not all that peaceful.
"Why?! Where exactly did it go wrong?! Why is there another bug?!"
Geno stared at code that had run clean twice, only to throw a bug on the third run, and no matter how he searched he couldn't find the cause.
"Fairy! I'm docking your pay!"
[Objection: This is not my fault.]
"Not your fault? So it's mine?"
[Based on the results of the previous thirty-two trials, my answer is affirmative.]
Geno glowered at the big blue eyeball glaring back at him from the screen, all sharp edges.
The code that ran without a hitch on Fairy's end would spit out a bug the moment Geno ran it himself. Stranger still, every time he had Fairy patch it up, the instant it passed through his hands the same result would surface all over again.
"What is it this time, Geno? Why so worked up?"
The office door swung open, and in walked Twiggy, with the little rabbit Alice beside her.
"Small thing. Just a bug in the game. I'll have it fixed soon."
As he spoke, Geno hammered away at the keyboard again, but the machine's error chime rang out, marking yet another defeat.
"All right, if you can't crack it, change the mood instead. Why not come window-shopping with us?"
Twiggy sighed, helpless. Geno had been locked in battle with his code since yesterday, and Fairy hadn't gotten a moment's rest either—so much so that the poor AI lady had sent a distress letter straight to her.
What's that? You want to know why she didn't just complain to Geno directly?
Because he pays her far too well.
"But, I'm in the middle of—"
"Enough, enough, unwind a little. It's work or fighting every single day—your life isn't supposed to be nothing but that."
Twiggy hooked her arm around Geno's with a smile, and Alice, catching on, promptly claimed the other one.
Feeling the softness pressing in from both sides and the faint, girlish fragrance drifting around him, Geno felt his resolve melt like candy, no longer hard.
"Fine, then. All right."
Seeing Geno finally relent, Twiggy let out a quiet breath of relief, and together with Alice she steered him toward the door.
"Then let's get going! Perfect timing—the cinema just started showing a new film. Let's go watch it together."
"Oh… wait? We?"
Geno, who'd been letting Twiggy tow him along, suddenly caught up. By "we," Twiggy meant—
"You, me, and Alice. Something wrong?"
And she asks what's wrong… isn't this exactly a—
Geno had meant to say wasn't this a date, but on second thought, other people went on dates two at a time, whereas he was bringing two along at once—not quite the same thing, really.
So he instinctively glossed over the somewhat odd nature of their arrangement and went along with what Twiggy had said.
"No, it's nothing. Alice, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"Me? Hmm, how about we hit a clothing store first—perfect chance to buy you a few outfits. You've been wearing the same handful of clothes forever; it's a bit plain."
"Is it? I think they're fine."
Watching Geno look himself over and still fail to notice anything amiss, Alice let out a silent sigh, and beneath it lay a certain fond exasperation.
Geno was wonderful in every way—except that he had no self-awareness whatsoever.
He earned plenty, and on top of that the Timefield family was there to cover any shortfall, yet no one ever saw him actually spend a cent.
The most he ever splurged on was good food, and even that barely amounted to a flesh wound against Geno's available funds.
For as long as Alice had known Geno, it had always been these same few outfits.
A black shirt, a white shirt, a game-merch shirt, plus two jackets, and shoes all in stain-hiding styles—gray and black—the most vivid item being maybe that pair of brown leather shoes Twiggy had bought him a while back.
If not for a superb set of external assets making up for his lack of fashion sense, he'd have blended into the crowd long ago.
The thought led Alice's gaze back to Twiggy.
Should she say these two deserved each other as a couple? Their taste in clothes and their lifestyle might as well have been cast from the same mold.
All day long it was either the military uniform or the lab coat they wore in the laboratory, undershirts and tank tops mostly black too, and even their under—
Ahem, that part won't pass review, let's not get into it.
"Anyway! You two, right now, this instant—you're coming to the mall with me! I'm giving you both a total makeover!"
"Sure…" the two of them answered.
Though neither understood why Alice had suddenly caught fire, Geno and Twiggy obediently agreed all the same.
After that the three of them climbed into their own little car, with Geno playing chauffeur, and arrived at Lumina Square.
Since it was Saturday, the streets were packed with people.
"Ah, so many people. I feel my introvert side about to flare up."
"That's not introversion of yours—that's plain laziness!"
While Twiggy and Geno bickered off to the side, Alice had already begun picking out clothes for the two of them.
"This one, or this one? Twiggy! Which do you think looks better?"
Alice, a touch indecisive, tossed the question to Twiggy—after all, it was for her anyway.
"Uh… this one, I guess. Let's go with the left one."
With some hesitation, Twiggy chose the orange-yellow jacket and green underlayer in Alice's right hand.
Because the color scheme resembled the military uniform, and that green underlayer was the sort of style Anby often wore.
"Is that so? This set it is, then. All right, come try it on, Twiggy~"
"? Right now? Wa—wait! Don't drag me, Alice! Wahh!"
Watching Alice haul Twiggy away, Geno mourned for her in silence for one full second, then prepared to find any old spot in the clothing store to sit down.
Shopping really did drain a person's energy, after all.
"Hm? Isn't that Geno? You, of all people, coming to browse a clothing store—what a surprise."
A familiar voice rang out beside his ear. Geno, who had only just leaned back in his seat to rest, snapped his eyes open and turned to look, only to find a familiar face.
"Oh, it's you. Belle."
____
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