Recovering from their shock, everyone looked at Xyra who was now looking down in embarrassment.
"Uhm, I don't see a problem with that, but is that fair to your team to just up and leave?" said Gray.
"…n-no... but that was before… I mean… I don't trust them… none of them talked to me after… you know… finding out I k-killed someone…" said Xyra looking a little upset.
Gray scratched his head and looked at everyone else to get their thoughts, but Stacia had already walked over to her and gave her a big hug and said "We will gladly welcome you, but you have to tell your current team so they don't feel betrayed."
Xyra looked down at Stacia and nodded with tears in her eyes and barely whispered "…nk you…"
"Hmmm?" Stacia said to Xyra
"Thank you." Xyra whispered again
Gray smiled at Xyra and Stacia glad that Stacia seemed to be good at this sort of thing since he wasn't very good at comforting people except in a direct and blunt way.
Xyra left everyone to go find her team and tell them she wanted to leave them.
__________
"Yeah, that's fine, we're probably going to disband anyways since our friends from before are now here too. We're gamers so we're used to it being a sausage party anyways!" said the captain of Team EXPANDS when Xyra informed his team that she wanted to leave.
"…oh… sorry…" whispered Xyra, apparently the rest on Team EXPANDS were used to her low volume so nobody needed her to repeat that.
"Do you have another team in mind or something?" asked Paul
"Steel Wolves… Gray's team…" said Xyra with a slightly blushing face.
"Hmmm…" Paul said while appearing to be thinking to himself.
Xyra bowed politely then left to return to Gray and the others
"Ok, so now we gotta change our name anyways, can't be Team EXPANDS without the 'X', so what word can we use with an E, P, A, N, D, and S?" said the captain of Team EXPANDS.
"You guys should do Team SEDAN then" said Paul "I'm going to go with Xyra"
"Damn it Paul, not you too, fine whatever!" said the captain of the team formerly known as Team EXPANDS, now Team SEDAN.
Paul ran off to catch up with Xyra.
"Can we please use a real name instead of our first initials?" complained one of the other members of Team SEDAN.
"That's probably a good idea, it'll be a pain in the butt once we get more members…" said the team captain of Team SEDAN.
___________
Gray and the rest watched Xyra come back to them in a better mood and smiled when they saw her, then they saw Paul next to her also approaching them.
"Thanks for walking her over Paul, you didn't have to do that" Geoff said
"I'm not walking her over… I'm joining too!" declared Paul
"No, you can't, we would've had a perfect guy to girl ratio!" complained Geoff "Gray! Say something!"
"If that's all you're worried about Geoff, Paul can take your spot then." Gray said while smiling like the devil himself.
"I'm… I'm fine with Paul joining…" Geoff said disheartened
"Welcome to the team Paul and Xyra! What mechs do you two have and what are your proficiencies?" asked Gray
"Just the starting mech and I'm a tank! I like to protect people!" said Paul valiantly.
"…Starting mechs… scout… sniper… I'm good at not being seen…" Xyra whispered.
"Ok, so Xyra is a hunter of sorts and Paul is suicidal." Said Gray while nodding to himself.
"Suicidal?!? What are you talking about? I take the hits for my teammates!" Paul said hotly.
"Ok, then how many times do you see a human soldier stand up and intentionally take bullets for another repeatedly even drawing attention to themselves to do so?" asked Gray.
"Huh? I do it all the time in other games! Doesn't every team or squad need a tank or two?"
"This isn't a game remember, you can be on point, but don't take a shot for others unless you can put a barrier between you and them or the objective is to protect them. Just diving in front of them will get you and the other person killed." Gray said seriously.
"Uhhh, Gray, didn't you jump in front of that rat to protect me?" asked Yurika.
"That… ummm… that wasn't the same thing…" said Gray while scratching his nose
"Ohhh?" Yurika said grinning devilishly at Gray.
Gray started to look flustered and finally said "ANYWAYS! Just don't get yourself killed without a plan of action otherwise you'll just get killed and not be able to protect who you are trying to protect."
"So you planned to let that rat bite through your arm?" said Geoff
"…all part of my plan…" Gray said smugly, not going to admit that he was being a hypocrite since he didn't really have a plan at that time.
"Anyways, let's get to matchmaking! We need more merits if we want to get more mechs and guns and such."
Gray and the newly expanded Steel Wolves headed over to the simulator pods for matchmaking.
__________
"Can you hear my song of yearning...
Can you see my passion burning...
I need a hero to save me...
Please hero set me freeeeee!"
Princess Bang-gwi was singing passionately while wearing a long pink evening gown similar to the one Miss Maven wore for her recent concerts that would be burned off at the start of each concert. Princess Bang-gwi mimicked Miss Maven by letting her hair down and then pretending to click a button in her outstretched hand.
"Ok, now I just need to sew two inner layers to this dress, the first with the highly flammable stunt gel, and the second with the evaporating hydrogel to keep it from burning myself. It's amazing the kinds of things you can find out just by searching the internet for them." Princess Bang-gwi thought to herself.
She was already very pleased with how the dress looked and had to admit that AI were very good at replicating existing dresses even if one couldn't design one from scratch. Unfortunately for her they were not able to sew the double-inner layer as it wasn't exactly something normally done so she had to look up how to do it herself. After finding the materials needed she added them to her online shopping basket and asked for express shipping.
"Can't wait can't wait can't wait!" Princess Bang-gwi said excitedly.
Chuhan Jwi peeked in to see what the princess was up to since she heard her stop singing and then mumble.
"What are you doing miss?" Jwi asked Princess Bang-gwi
"I just ordered the last bits of materials to finish this dress!" said Princess Bang-gwi excitedly.
"Is that the same one from that video, the one that gets put on fire?"
"Yes!"
"You're not planning on lighting it on fire while you're wearing it and doing the same thing as Miss Maven right?" Jwi asked the princess seriously.
"Of… Of course not! I'm… I was just ordering some extra padding for the dress to fit better and make it more comfortable to wear!" said Princess Bang-gwi coyly
"Fair point, compared to Miss Maven you are a bit… lacking…" Jwi looked at Princess Bang-gwi's chest while grinning.
"Still more than you…" Princess Bang-gwi countered while snickering and looking at Jwi's almost flat chest.
Chuhan Jwi's eyebrow twitched as her anger started rising "Princess, I think you've been putting on weight, as your advisor I think we should cut back on your desserts… all of them… and give you a more vegetarian diet" said Chuhan Jwi as she left to go inform the kitchen of her plans to change the Princess's meals.
The Princess ran out of the room screaming "Noooo! You're perfect Jwi! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the Princess grabbed Jwi's arm and was trying to pull her back towards her room as Jwi kept walking steadily towards the kitchen.
"Any man will be lucky to marry you Jwi! I can even recommend a few younger men to you if you want!" begged the Princess.
"Oh?" Chuhan Jwi stopped walking, then turned to face the princess and her eyes appeared almost red as she was even angrier than before. "Are you saying I'm old?!? And whose fault do you think it is that I'm still single? If you weren't such a handful I could have more time to myself!" Jwi said angrily while pinching the Princess's cheeks with both her hands as the Princess continued to apologize.
"I sowwy I sowwy!" the princess could not annunciate clearly with her cheeks being pinched hard.
Finally Chuhan Jwi's rage subsided after a few more adorable 'I sowwy's from the Princess and she stopped pinching her cheeks and then patted her head gently.
"I know, and it's not your fault, I willingly serve your family and have never regretted it for a second."
"Jwi…" the Princess smiled affectionately at Jwi as they walked back towards the Princess's room.
As they reached the Princess's room, Jwi smiled affectionately back at her and said "No desert for a week" and then slammed the door behind them.