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[MiniKitty]

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Maybe... I just... I just want now... But.. I won't wait longer though.

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The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

It got worse.

Living a normal life was unthinkable since Kristoff turned out to be alive. I had made my peace with that. But I had no idea it would get this bad.

I tried it. Really, I tried. Monique had her way to convince me to go shopping with her and Madeleine, so we went to the Foothill Shopping Megaplex in Ansten, the closest bigger city to David's Hollow. It promised to be a fun day on paper. Or, well, as fun as it can be to get dragged along by two girls who want to spend your money. Most of the time I just sat on benches while they tried out various outfits. Especially Monique. Madeleine on the other hand got quickly tired of it and simply joined me.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

I keep looking around, checking the surroundings. Of course there was nothing weird going on, just a regular fancy clothing store. Lots of families, bored men who get dragged around by their better halves, the obligatory mother with a crying baby somewhere in the distance, and lots of young women. Some of them kept looking over to me, which... was inconvenient in that particular situation, but eventually I figured they were just gossipping or recognized me from a dating app or NNStaGram. Or the silly OSN articles...

There is this typical pop music in the background. Every store was the same like that. Madeleine simply sat next to me and probably knew I was not very comfortable. She had a hand on my thigh and occasionally pecked my cheek as we waited for Monique to show off her outfits in front of the dressers. One of those rather revealing kusari slit dresses caught her attention.

Admittedly, mine, too.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

We later went to the jeweler next door. It was impossible to move past it without them wanting to have a look at needlessly expensive stuff and bling. I myself found some cool bismuth crystals.

Levan. Don't turn around. Woman following us for twenty minutes now.

I noticed.

Madeleine was right next to me, kissing my cheek as she whispered that into my ears. She definitely was a lot more helpful than Monique, who I always felt like she tried her best to take nothing serious.

What do we do?

We stay in public areas. Check her reflection in windows or mirrors to see if she is armed. Be subtle.

Dude, she is staring at us.

Do not panic. All will be fine.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

Lost her.

... that is not good. We should leave.

Good.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

Our hovercab is over there, Levan!

We will take public transportation for the way back.

Good idea.

Why?

I just like it.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

We arrived at the den. Nobody seemed to have followed us.

Monique seemed unbothered. Madeleine and I went up to the bedroom and sat down on the bed. She hugged me firmly.

I will pack my stuff.

You... want to leave?

Yeah.

... I do not blame you. This is getting too stressful...

No, you idiot. I'll pack my things and then we move to the Kay.

... you want to live on the Kay?

Levan, as long as this is going on, the Kay is the only safe place.
If someone is coming for us on Denver,
I want shields and armor between us and them!

Oh good. For a moment I thought you wanted to leave me...



Madeleine kisses me on the lips. After a few seconds, she lets go of me.

How could I?

Then this entire thing with Lea at New York happened. Monique is in the co-pilot seat, keeps smack-talking us and makes it awkward. Oddly enough... Lea seems to be interested, despite having said many times that she sees me as a brother.


Maybe... I just... I just want now... But.. I won't wait longer though.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

Lea, I-

Come on, you always wanted a blonde with us!

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

Do you want me to come...?

I'm sure you want her to come...

I am texting this entire time with Kristoff, who is with Caliban and Rebecca, smoking joints and drinking. Without question, I would have loved to have Lea over and... have that foursome... or just her. Crazy, how she simply considered it. Just like that. But Kristoff was with Caliban, who only recently turned out to be alive again. I needed to find out more about that. Desperately.

So I made the worst decision in a long time, turned down a foursome with Monique, Madeleine and Lea, and instead went to Coronado, to Barrier Gate, to see Kristoff. Caliban's ship. I entered the ship of the guy who wanted to kill me. Rebecca was there, too. Another person who tried to kill me. And Kristoff... red eyes, barely paying attention to anything, reeking of weed like the entire room. Watched him vomit. Had to carry him over to the Kay. Put a bucket at the bunk. Madeleine and Monique had set up a little room for themselves on the lower deck. So it was just him and me. I lay down next to him and fell asleep after a while, despite his stench. And when I woke up again, he was gone.


I begin to question my decisions. Is he worth all this? This idiot? This puppet?

Caliban is alive. He shows up, Rebecca starts drinking again, causes Caliban to consider slitting my throat, according to Lea, and then talks nonsense to Lea herself.

The scent of your fear is overwhelming, LEVAN.

I sit in the co-pilot seat, just reading something as Monique came over and sat down in the pilot seat.

Yo, whaddup?

Not much. Are you alright?

Just bored. Not much to do here, really.

We brought everything from the den here. Even Memo and Mika.
You chould just play on the console or something.

Na, I thought I spend some time with el capitano.

She gets up again and comes over, climbing on my lap, trapping me that way. Just as she closes in for a kiss, the screen flares up, showing a distorted comm feed.

...neural.override detected...
...defense.protocols disengaged...
...bitstream processing...
identified: Dezember 609
transmission point of origin: Gemini Kay MKII
currently connected to: NULL relay

...PROCESSING BITSTREAM...

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Mister Harlow, it's time to shaaaaàare what you have learned.

You are in the eeeyÿ[eeeeeee of the stooorrm.

Remember that only your f̷̗̌u̷̧̓l̵̻͘l̵͎̄ ̵͙́c̶͓̈ô̷̝o̷̙͐p̶̧͑e̵̡͝r̶̝̒a̴̙͌t̴͎͊i̵̧̒ỏ̸̭n̶̲̓ .will ensure you remain safe until it passes.

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...bitstream error...
...data salvage protocol failure...
...expunging records...

Her...

That... is creepy...

Monique slowly turns her head towards me as the image disappears. I am certain my facial expression does not give her any confidence in this situation being under our control.

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