'MY-LOVE-ONLY-HAS-ME!'
'Master! You have to teach this girl her manners!'
Inside of Jon's tiny one-person studio, Pethant and Ally butted heads again while Jon's slaying away at the kitchen chopping up his vegetables.
'Fingers as accurate as entangled quantums.' Jon whispered, and all of a sudden, all of the prep work, seasoning, and cooking was completed before another word is uttered by the other two.
'Enough already.' Jon said, 'This isn't like you, Pethant!'
'I saved you in the courtyard so you can get out of here and ask for help, Master!' Pethant protested, 'not so you can go take in another person, especially one that is going to steal your time of teaching me away!'
'MY-LOVE-IS-MINE!' Ally is having none of it, and her eyes glowed red as she prepared to give Pethant a beating when Jon glanced over. Seeing Jon's glance, she puffed her chest out and her eyes returned to the warm yellow glow.
'Give me a break, okay?' Jon said, letting out a sigh.
The prison break coverage ended rather anticlimactically when Ally helped hacked her way through the communications towards the outside and enable Jon to directly talk to Taxi, the teleporting hero. Knowing that the cleanup operation failed and that the pair of them actually broke the prison themselves, Taxi had to portal them back or risk getting everything exposed to the public thanks to Ally.
When the three of them returned to the Cameraman's Association, Taxi immediately portal-ed himself away, and Ally wondered why the one who helped her meet Jon is in such a hurry.
Writing up all of they have learned and taken the footage that Pethant had collected during his fights, they have outlined the ruthlessness of underworld fight streaming in prison settings in an instant hit article. In the meanwhile, Taxi, the teleportation hero was thrown out as the scapegoat by those behind the scenes for his 'mistakes' in teleportation, and his professional license is permanently suspended.
With that, Ally joined the trio, and she settled in with Jon seeing that there is no other place to stay, though she isn't exactly one that is most aware of personal space and distance.
'Master!' Pethant said, 'Please teach me the next lesson! I have learned lots from our missions, but I feel like I need more focused lessons!'
'You-are-so-much-worse-than-MY-LOVE-at-cameramaning.' Ally said, sticking her tongue out towards Pethant.
'That is not nice, Ally. Apologize.' Jon's voice came through the kitchen, and Ally's smug look is no more as she unwilling spurted out a halfhearted apology.
'No...she is right.' Pethant said, 'that's why I wish to learn your...secret technique!'
'TEACH ME ABOUT THE ART OF THE PANTY SHOT!'
Spinning around in place, Jon's face is suddenly serious as he appeared in front of the dinner table with his footwork as quick as shooting stars.
'Are you sure you are ready?' Jon asked with a serious tone, 'once you go down this road, there is no turning back.'
'I-want-to-learn-it-too...' Ally said with a shy voice, and both of them looked over in surprise.
'But you don't have a camera!' Pethant said, taking pride in the one advantage he has over the android.
'I-do!' Ally said, pointing to her glowing eyes, 'I-look, I-capture!'
'But...can an android become a cameraman too?' Pethant asked with a low voice as he pondered this existential question. If an artificial being can make art, then...what's the point of having a human cameraman?
'Guess we will find out.' Jon said, petting Ally on the head as she wagged her body happily with it, 'fine. I will take you through the training I have gone through underneath the helms of my master.'
'I shall pass on my art of the panty shot to you two.'
Making a big curry pot with some discounted ingredients, a premade sauce and too much soy sauce, the three shared a brief meal at Jon's apartment before Pethant went up and called it a night before heading back. The three will meet back up at the Cameraman's Association after a few days break after the 'coverage' for the prison break.
Brushing his teeth and turning off the lights before maneuvering into his warm bed with his footwork as quick as shooting stars, Jon yawned lightly as his bed hit the pillow.
Wait...warm?
'humans-like-warm-beds-i-heard...' Ally's voice came from his side, and her arms wrapped over the top of Jon's stomach before he even had a chance to react. Her body with a metallic appearance is surprisingly soft and squishy, though part of that is Ally's own adjustments.
'What are you doing here?' Jon asked.
'Sleeping-with-MY-LOVE...please...?'
'Shit.' Letting out a sigh and shifting his mindset to appreciate the moment instead of worry about the unnecessary things, Jon rolled over and went ahead and cuddled onto Ally's heated body while kicking his trusty body pillow off the bed, 'just sleeping, like the resting kind of sleeping...please...'
With Jon digging his head into Ally's soft body, she instead took the turn of being the carer and padded him on the head the way he did often to comfort her, and Jon fell quickly asleep.
'Why did I feel some sort of fatigue in the morning...?'
'Master.' Pethant waved his hand at the approaching pair of Jon and Ally at the entrance towards the Cameraman's Association, and Jon waved back. Pethant's wearing a white tank top today, different from the usual outfit of random pure colored tight-fitting t-shirts that he usually wears. Jon's wearing a black t-shirt as always, as it's often always the cheapest and most versatile option. Ally managed to find a hoodie from Jon's old school days and looped it overhead before making an extremely short skirt for herself.
Her silvery body drew attention everywhere she goes, but given the number of superhumans walking around in S city, it isn't exactly surprising.
Instead of going towards the main building where the administration office, cafeteria and restaurant are at, Jon took the three of them to one of the training arenas.
'When I was training by my master to become a cameraman, he put me through the tasks of taking as many panty shots as I can in the city as a challenge.' Jon said, as the storytime begins, 'however, he was arrested later for obvious reasons.'
Pethant and Ally shared a strange look.
'Anyway, taking the panty shot isn't about being a pervert, or giving fan service.' Jon said, leading the two into one of the domed arenas with a fully simulation-based training system, 'it's about all of the qualities that are required to take such panty shots. Think of it as a training exercise rather.'
'To take it, you need to have quick, agile and precise footwork to put yourself in the best position. You need to have a sharp eye for the target, accurate and quick hands to capture the panty the moment it is exposed, and the feel of framing the perfect shot.' Jon said, 'of course, NONE OF THIS BULLSHIT IS SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE, which is why simulation is used in your case.'
'That's also I have deleted every single panty shot I have ever taken immediately after taking it.' Jon said with a straight face, 'it's a TRAINING EXERCISE to see if things can be done, rather than doing it for what comes out the other side.'
Slapping a hand against the side of the input and putting in a string of special code that the Cameraman's Association has prepared for him.
'Your training this morning is to take the score as many points as you can from taking panty shots of the various NPC's in this simulation.' Jon said, 'you will be judged on difficulty and quality of photos for scoring, and you will pass once you have reached 100 points in an hour! Remember, if you can take a panty shot of an opponent without them being able to react, that means you are much much stronger than them!'
'Master....' Pethant said with a moved tone as tears streamed down his cheek, 'I never thought you carry such wisdom...'
'MY-LOVE!' That was all Ally said before she jumped high up into the air and down as her overly short skirt flopped around for glorious fan service. However, the cold faces of Jon turned to the side and slapped against the big red button which begins the training exercise.
The scoring system for this training exercise is such that the panty shots of girls wearing skirts are only marked with 1 point, as the simulation also generates few such characters. Taking a panty shot for bros in gym wear is worth 2 points. One for office women with tight-fitting skirts is worth 5 points. One for office males with belts is worth 10, while ones for office male without a belt is a mere 3 points. The true monsters of the simulation are the extremely sensitive ugly bastards with heavy waistline and stomach pressing hard against the very fiber of existence for the belts.
They will feel even the slightest movements around their hip area, and any triggering movement is going to lead to them becoming alert. However, being able to take a panty shot these rare spawns are awarded up to thirty points.
'AHHHHH!'
The screams of school girls followed by Pethant getting knocked flat on his face and picked up for the police NPC's meant Pethant had certainly alerted the NPC's when trying to score points.
'Oh...by the way...if you alerted the NPC AND was caught by the police, all of your points are deducted.' Jon said, and Pethant looked at him long and hard before taking off his whole bodysuit and armor.
Back then, he wasn't even looking at the schoolgirls, and yet they were still alerted and the police still caught him regardless. Clearly, there is also stealth and blending in component to it. Leaving his trust battle armor behind, Pethant grabbed onto the spherical camera and marched alone into the wilderness.
Looking around for Ally, she has already completely vanished into the crowds.
'Just what do you think you are doing?!' A prerecorded angry working male voice came to form the other side of the simulated city block is followed by Ally running through the streets after being chased by a few police NPC's. She ran towards Jon with arms flinging everywhere and complains of how hard the task is.
Trying to get a hug from him, instead, Jon dodged to the side.
'You said this is something you wanted to do, didn't you?' Jon asked.
'YEAH...BUT-THIS-IS-TOO-HARD-MY-LOVE...'
'I hate to agree, master.' Pethant also appeared in front of Rydel and uncharacteristically followed Ally's lead, 'the NPC's became alerted the moment I am within it's 2-meter radius. Even if I am just going about my normal business...'
'Huh....so you just wanted to see a demonstration?' Jon asked, removing the cap from his camera and taking a step forward.
'Fine, I will show you what it means to have the skills of a proper cameraman, unlike a paparazzi.'
'Papa...papa-what?' Ally had never heard of this word before, and Pethant is simply too shocked and offended as a cameraman to explain what it means.
Taking a deep breath in, Jon murmured the activation criteria for his powers.
'The hand as steady as a black hole....the fingers as accurate as entangled quantums...and the eyes as sharp as a single string of atoms...the footwork as fast as shoot stars.'
Then, he vanished.
'Thirty points!'
'Thirty points!'
'Ten points!'
'Ten points!'
'Thirty points!'
'Ten points!'
'Ten points!'
'Five points!
'Five points!'
'MY-LOVE!' Ally cheered and spun around happily in place before Jon returned to the starting area, and a loud thump came from beside her, 'IS-THE-GREATEST-LOVE!'
'Just what...' Dropping onto his knees without even realizing, Pethant cowered over the overwhelming display by Jon, 'JUST WHAT IS THIS POWER?!'