QJ walked with Angel toward the central Exodus Hub while discussing their new plan.
Angel's beautiful face showed the humor she felt. "Their deity is a Spider Queen? Obviously, these Daekar are a race of geniuses."
"Obviously," QJ agreed straight-faced. "Are you okay undertaking this diplomatic mission alone?"
Angel nodded. "I'd bring you or your dad. Anyone else would get in the way."
QJ embraced Angel, taking a moment to straighten her crown. "Don't overreach and keep me updated."
Angel ducked forward, giving QJ a peck on the lips before retreating.
QJ shook his head, smiling as she entered the Iron Mount gate. "When did I get so busy? Crap, I still have to meet Morgana."
[Whisper: QJ/Morgana] I have a few things going on, but I still remember you wanted to meet. Later tonight, okay?
[Whisper: Morgana/QJ] That works. I'm working on inventory, so I'll be in my shop until late.
[Whisper: QJ/Morgana] Perfect. Cya later.
QJ logged out, stretching in place before opening the door to his VR chamber. A chorus of murmurs from the living room caused him to peek into the common area where all his roommates had their faces pushed up against the front window. "What's going on?"
Lotte glanced back, maneuvering her crutches to turn toward QJ. "Someone is dropping off a truck."
"My truck is finally here? Insurance claims take forever!" QJ clapped his hands together and headed for the door, motioning for Lotte to go first.
"You had your truck fixed?" Lotte asked.
QJ shook his head while holding the front door open for her. "No, it was totaled. I took the buyout and got a new one."
He stopped halfway down the drive and watched his new ride being downloaded from the flatbed; by then, the rest of the household had joined him.
Breeze sighed heavily before noticing a second vehicle was also being downloaded. "Is that yours too?"
QJ shook his head. "It's the house vehicle. We'll keep the keys next to the front door for us to use."
Breeze's dark face lit up in a brilliant smile. "Really? The new EV mid-size sedans are so sleek. Can I drive it first?"
QJ shrugged. "Let's check the charge; if it's good, you can pick up our pizzas."
"Shotgun!" Sato followed Breeze to the curb while QJ signed the paperwork.
With Sato and Breeze gone, QJ, Wu, and Lotte set up the patio for dinner while Nina played with Fen.
The purple-haired demon splashed with the white wolf pup, laughing loudly while the others hid smiles. Nina wasn't known for her cheerfulness, so seeing her cut loose was nice.
"You do realize that Fen is a developing LAI?" QJ removed two beers from the cooler Wu dragged out and handed Lotte one while they lounged poolside.
"He's brilliant," Nina responded. "If he's a hybrid like the Silverfangs, when will he change?"
"I'll find out," QJ replied. "Kenzo did say that being old, young, or weakened from illness or injury can affect an individual's ability to change."
Fenrir dog paddled to the side of the pool and pulled himself up before shaking off the excess water and plopping down on his side.
While the housemates enjoyed pizza by the pool, the group slowly increased as virtual and real-life guests appeared; Jacob, Aji, and Wren arrived while Mai Tai walked over from her parent's home.
Both of Jinn's daughters looked like her, but Mai's personality was entirely her own. She wore a swimsuit that bore the colors of the Italian flag, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and a white silk wrap tied around her waist.
"I brought your t-shirt back," Mai said, holding up a folded shirt and placing it on a nearby chair with Lotte's towel.
"Help yourself to pizza, Mai." QJ was surprised that Mai joined them; the [Red Player] incursion utterly shattered her status as an unknown. "Do you have representation yet?"
Mai nodded, "Same as you. Mom asked Anna to represent me."
QJ turned on the hot tub's virtual interface and grabbed another slice of pizza while their virtual guests made themselves at home.
"What do you think?" Wren modeled a conservative blue one-piece swimsuit. The songbird smiled, her blue eyes flashing with humor.
"Looks good," QJ admitted. Wren's blonde hair fell loosely to her shoulders; her figure was more curved than the rest of the Songbirds, but despite her playful nature, she was more conservative than the others.
Wren smiled and sat beside Aji. "I'm looking forward to talking to Kenzo. I watched some of the videos in his library from his first few days."
QJ grinned and eased himself onto the tile, letting his legs rest in the water. "I can't imagine having the engineering interface he's using. I'd probably never sleep."
"Do you think he's lonely?" Wren asked.
QJ considered the question for a moment. LAIs surrounded Kenzo, but he was the only player. Unlike QJ, Kenzo hadn't grown up in an environment saturated with LAIs. "Ask him," QJ didn't know enough about Kenzo to say one way or another. "My guess is that he misses his parents, but he seems to have come to terms with the rest."
Just before 8 pm, Ringo made an appearance. She greeted everyone with a smile before spotting QJ. "We received Alliance documents from Fora and Concert Hall."
QJ eased out of the hot tub and grabbed Lotte's crutches before helping her to her feet. "Yeah. I talked to Dad and Uncle Jangles earlier. An alliance will allow us to build an embassy in TAP and travel back and forth."
QJ left the group and headed inside. "Let me log in virtually to the house, and we'll get the ball rolling with Roxy."
Wren and Ringo followed QJ into his room, where he easily slid into his VR chamber and closed the door, only to appear in the entryway in comfortable jeans and a t-shirt.
Ringo high-fived him when he entered his room virtually. The white bundle known as Fen bowled into his legs a moment later. QJ picked him up without pause and answered the HUD on his desk. With a few adjustments, he enlarged the screen and sat at his desk while his guests sat on the bed.
"QJ!" Roxy smiled. She was seated at a small desk with Bai, who was dressed in silk lounge clothes. "I'm almost ready. I can transfer the Gaia feed to your HUD."
"I'll send you the login information for our home VRP, and after talking to Kenzo, you can visit anytime." QJ returned Bai's wave. "It's good to see you both again."
"Same," both Bai and Roxy spoke at the same time.
The screen changed to a dock landscape centered on Kenzo, seated beside Sun Silverfang.
"QJ!" Kenzo returned the big grin. "It's nice to see you again."
QJ gestured toward his guests. "Agreed. You remember Ringo, I also brought a special guest. I have the honor of presenting Bia Zu, aka Wren."
Wren bowed her head slightly, her full lips curved in a smile. "When QJ said he was contacting you, I asked to be here. I hope that's okay with you."
Kenzo nodded, his smile widening until it looked almost painful. "I'm glad you did. I told QJ I was a big Songbird fan; I didn't expect he'd show up with one. It's cool that you're here."
Wren glanced at QJ. "Maybe we can set up some sort of comm between Gaia and the Songbird. All of us watched the raid. Your abilities are amazing. I'd like to track your stream."
"I'll ask Roxy," Kenzo replied.
"Here's why I contacted you," QJ held up Fen.
"A Silverfang," Sun spoke, leaning forward slightly, causing her silver hair to fall loose from behind one ear.
"You can see that so quick?" QJ asked.
Sun nodded. "Not only that, he's from my line; odd since my last offspring was Mika."
Sun suddenly changed into her wolf form, and almost immediately, Fen began squirming and whining until he managed to get loose and jumped at the image of the Silver wolf on the desk HUD. Sun howled, causing Fen to do the same. The two wolves stared at each other for a handful of seconds before Sun resumed her human form.
"What do you think?" QJ reclaimed his hold on Fen and returned to his chair.
"He's mine," Sun's beautiful face showed her confusion. "I'm not sure how or why."
QJ exchanged glances with Ringo before returning to Sun. "I don't know anything about what he needs. When will he change?"
"I'll walk you through it." Sun flashed a smile that lit up the HUD. "We'll do it together."
"Just like that?' QJ asked.
"Of course," Sun replied. "We don't change until we reach three or four years of age. By then, his wolf form will be fully mature and quite powerful. We grow to adulthood twice as in Gaia, once as Cani and the second as human."
QJ whistled softly. That would mean that someone nine or ten years old probably already took part in numerous hunts and maybe even war parties. "What about animal instincts, hunting, killing, procreation?"
"HAHAHAHA," Sun's laugh was echoed by Wren and Ringo. "What are you asking, QJ?"
"What's funny? That's a legitimate question." QJ glanced at Kenzo, who was similarly confused.
"The mating instinct in Gaia hybrids surfaces once their human forms have matured." Sun's eyes strayed to the wolf pup. "Fenrir is a name from our legends."
"Ours too." QJ scruffed Fen's ears. "So I don't have to worry about him changing for a while?"
Sun nodded. "The mother can force the change for short durations, but that's only done on rare occasions."
"Really? Why would you want to do that?" QJ asked.
"It's rare; I carried my niece's child back from Jela on a hang glider. Could you imagine getting Fen to stay a few hours?"
QJ shook his head. "I see your point. I assume they revert?"
"Yes, within a day or two." Sun played with a strand of her silver hair. Kenzo and Wren were speaking separately, but she was uninterested in their conversation. "Where do we go from here?"
"We were given wolf mounts as a reward for the Gaia raid, somehow he slipped in," QJ explained. "Just tell me what to do."
"Just let him be a wolf," Sun responded. "Take him to the wilds and let him hunt. Let him interact with the other wolves, although they'll probably be scared of him."
QJ laughed. "When I first summoned him, the rest of the wolves froze in place."
"I'm not surprised. We should speak a few times a week, " Sun said, leaning back on the dock.
"I'll see if we can set something more permanent up. Thanks for meeting with us." QJ scratched Fen's ears. "How old will he appear at three or four when he changes?"
"Five or six, he'll be able to speak within a few months of his first natural change."
After speaking at length about diet and care for Fen, QJ said goodbye to Sun and let Wren use his desk HUD to talk more with Kenzo while he logged into GnG with Ringo.
"That's the busiest I've ever seen your place." Ringo wore a bright smile. "Sun is obviously taken with you. Did something happen in Gaia?"
QJ shook his head. "You were there the entire time I was."
Ringo snorted. "That doesn't mean nothing happened. Why are we headed to OPC?"
"Morgana wants to discuss something, and I wanted to talk to you." QJ stepped onto the GnG Platform and opted for a direct port to OPC.
"OP business or personal?"
"Both," QJ answered. "How do you feel about an off-the-books hit in Martial Law."
QJ's words instantly gained Ringo's interest. "Martial Law? Did they do something to us?"
"We're teaching the Yucatan Guild leader an important life lesson." QJ paused and let his words sink in before continuing. "Bianca Ito is the Guild Leader of Yucatan in Iron Mount and also is a member of Rising Sun in Martial Law."
"She's a guild leader in one or both?" Ringo asked.
QJ shrugged. "Unknown. As Yucatan's Guild Leader, she gave final approval to come after OP. We're going to show her why that was a bad idea."
Ringo turned down the alley leading to Morgana's shop. "Is our team ready for Martial Law?"
"Maybe, but it's too risky. We'd bring a different group," QJ replied while opening the door to the black market shop.
"What group?' Ringo stepped through the door, noting the stacks of inventory all over the floor. "Switch to group chat."
[Group: QJ] Me, you, my Dad, Uncle Hash, and Uncle Jangles."
[Group: Ringo] Say no more. I'm in!