Circuit Relay

"Mill, Rania's here." announced Anyis, spying through the outdoor security camera's footage. "... And she brought a foreigner with her."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard the knocki- wait, what?" queried Mill as he processed what his Navi said. He glanced out the front windows, and yes, there was a tall, bald, foreign-born man with Rania. "... Well, maybe Rania brought more help. That would be very good."

"I think you're just praying things don't end up like the last time a foreigner approached your shop." suggested Anyis.

"... Yeah..." sighed Mill quietly as he made his way over to the entrance. He pulled the glass door open in front of him and stepped outside to meet the two people on the street's sidewalk. "Thanks for coming on such short notice, Rania. Who's the friend you brought along?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. A little jog like this isn't anything to worry about," she replied to Na'im, shaking her hair and then brushing a swath of bangs from her forehead. The hair immediately fell back to where it had been, nearly covering one of her eyes. She shook it once more, just to displace the bangs. "Darn..."

While Rania was busy worrying about her hair, Mill came to the door and greeted his visitors. "Oh, hey again, Mill" she replied, fussily pushing aside her bangs once more. "Let me introduce you two: Mill, this is Na'im. Na'im, Mill."

"And this group's supposed to get manual labor done? Not one of you look like you've ever moved a barbell in your life! I could probably do more from here in the PET," MeleeMan complained, mostly out of boredom. "Say, what am I supposed to do while you help Mill clean under the desks or whatever, anyways? I'm not going to just sit here bored for a few hours. Knowing you're just doing chores will make it even more boring."

Rania chose to ignore him, instead continuing her conversation with Mill. "Na'im's my buddy! We got initiated into the NetPolice together," she continued. "Anyways, sorry, I should probably let you cut to the point if you're on company dime or what not. Why'd you need me?"

Na'im simply looked at Mill as he was introduced to the man by Rania. It was then that he realized that he probably didn't have to come with Rania. Na'im, however, didn't immediately notice a Navi on the person he was standing in front of him. Nor did he even see a PET, although he had to have one. "So much for a first impression of his Navi," Na'im thought and glanced down at Rania once he heard MeleeMan speak up. "You'd be surprised," Na'im whispered and took Mill's hand forcefully in a handshake while smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Mill. Rania hasn't mentioned much about you, but I'm sure we'll get along without trouble," he continued said while in the back of his head some gears started to turn. "Wait a second, his name is Mill," he thought as he continued to shake Mill's hand, longer than one would do, "Didn't I trade chips with him before?" Na'im released Mill's hand and nodded at him approvingly. "Or maybe we've already gotten along," he said before taking a step backwards.

"I more or less just tagged along since I have a mountain of free time. I don't have any obligations, so I go where I please," he explained, figuring he would tell why he was actually there other than being Rania's friend. "Oh, and," he continued quickly after saying that with his voice a tad louder, "My Navi wanted to hang out with MeleeMan some more! Yeah, that's it." He then settled down again and asked Mill what was asked already, "So what can we help you with?"

Mill did a quick look over of Na'im, his eyes traveling up, down, and... further up, since the Whazzapian was a good few inches taller than he was. Well, whatever, Mill could trust Rania's friends... he thought, only to have memories surface of Erin beaning him in the face with a ball of sand. Maybe Mill should just be careful, then...

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Na'im." said Mill in response, before glancing around the surrounding area. "How about we go inside for now? No point in me just keeping you two out on the street like this." he offered, leading the two inside and back to the counter.

"So, about the job... The biggest tech firm in Electown reached out to all the smaller shops like mine in regards to a contract they won in bidding recently. One of the port cities in Netfrica is overhauling it's entire network, which is... well, a massive undertaking." said Mill, pausing as he scratched his head, wondering if that word actually did the scale of the operation justice. "Hundreds of subcontracts have been issued just like the one I have, so we're probably talking over a thousand people working on this between the distribution center here in Electown and over in Netfrica."

"... Ah, but don't worry, our particular job isn't that big. We'll just be organizing recycled hardware while our Navis establish a transport route for the software systems. We even have free choice on whether we want to just go to the distribution center or fly out to the Netfrican city, too. It seems like they've already got a pretty balanced workforce on each side." added Mill.

"Or, in short, you all will be playing packer while us Navis destroy viruses in a straight line across Netfrica Net." interjected Anyis from her PET on the counter.

"... Or that, yes." sighed Mill as he picked his PET up. "This is my Navi, by the way. Anyis, this is Na'im, a friend of Rania's." he introduced, perhaps for no reason seeing as Anyis didn't even remember who Rania was 5 minutes ago.

"Ha! You'd better hope it's not a straight line, or that means you guys aren't getting any, since I'll be the first one in. Or like.. a 3 virus wide straight line... Or something," MeleeMan laughed in response to Anyis' comment, feeling the impulsive need to try to one up her in conversation.

Ignoring MeleeMan's comment, Rania was taken with the idea of going straight to Netfrica by plane. Sure, they could just jack in and reach their destination, but hadn't she wanted to travel just moments earlier? And as she understood, by some feat of technology the planes were now capable of delivering passengers at astonishing speeds. She could be back so quickly her grandfather wouldn't even miss her, perhaps.

Still, how could she rationally say, "Let's fly out to Netfrica, bypassing the opportunity to quickly ride up to the DC and handle things quickly there," anyways? She'd have to either own up to her childish want to travel out of the country or miss out on her opportunity to travel.

"Well, hm... Going directly to the distribution center is an option, but if you ask me, they probably need more help on the Netfrican end. If they're the ones doing the overhaul, it'll be useful to see things from the area where the greatest changes are taking place," she managed to squeeze out, hoping to preserve her dignity by using some of the logic she'd learned from one of her college friends in global supply chain operations management. "I'd say it's worth the trip to Netfrica!"

Besides, if she looked at it this way, it was like she had more of a goal in mind. She'd be more motivated if she convinced herself that the company actually needed them to help out and weren't just giving this to Mill so that it got done, regardless of his credentials or individual identity.

"Well, looks like this is completely harmless after all," Na'im thought as he shrugged to himself while the two figures before him were talking, "Should I continue to tag along? Well it's not like I have plans. And it would look weird to suddenly leave them."

"I am used to travelling around," Na'im said to Mill, once Rania had told what she thought of the idea, "So Netfrica sounds fine. I have a friend there who runs a small hotel where I can sleep for the time being. If I'm going there I might as well stay a few days." Once again he shrugged, thinking that this way of life was completely normal for him while it may have looked weird for an outsider.

Djinni was still asleep, having no input at all on directions and destinations or even knowing what was waiting for her. But it wasn't like she ever complained about fighting, even if she didn't know the reasons for it.

Na'im walked a few steps away from Rania and Mill while taking a small foldable headset with microphone from his pocket. He slid it over his head, then connected it to the PET while manually inputting a phone number. "It's me," he said to the person on the other side of the line, "A few days, yes. Not sure how many. What do you want? You want me to get rid of him? I assume I'll get free room service in exchange. Yes. OK. You'll have to supply the goods. OK. See you soon." He hanged up, then glanced over his shoulder at Rania and Mill with a smile. "Shall we get going then?"

"......... Uh, yeah..." answered Mill with an uncertain nod, unable to put the words together to describe Na'im's highly disturbing phone call. Putting the contents of that call aside, Na'im was... talking into a large electronic keyboard strapped to his shoulder. Maybe he should just... leave that alone. This man lived in a different world from Mill, and that is how it should stay. "Well, if it sounds like we're going to Netfrica, lemme just message the coordinator to get the airfare taken care of..." he announced before turning his PET back around to face him and tapping some buttons. Just keep to your own business, Mill.

Well... Okay, so he wasn't quite sure as to what kind of tickets to get. Na'im was going to stay over a few days, apparently, whereas he himself was just going to make this a day trip. That much he knew. Rania, though... "Hey Rania, do you just want a round-trip ticket for today, or are you staying longer? The subway will still be running no matter how late we get back, but shifting timezones twice in one day can be pretty brutal if you suffer from jetlag."

So he says without a care in the world. To his defense, Mill had bounced to and from Sharo just a few weeks ago. A round trip to Netfrica and back in one day was no different to him, and no less feasible. Unfortunately, Mill gave absolutely no thought to the fact that he just suggested they fly back home, about a quarter of the way across the world, with just the two of them.

"Oh, er, no, I can't really stay a couple of days. E-Even if it is in a fancy hotel... Especially if it's in a fancy hotel!" she responded, trying to picture how in the world the sleeping arrangements would work out. She briefly paused to try to figure out what Na'im could have been talking about over the phone (it helped to think phone to herself, as opposed to keyboard), then eventually, like Mill, decided it was out of her depth. "I'll have to make it round-trip."

At the same time, she realized that she might be dooming Na'im to a lonely, multi-day stay in a hotel by himself for no reason. "I-It's not too late to cancel that stay, is it, Na'im?" she asked, thinking to herself that it sounded like he'd made a pretty big favor trade-in just now. Rania shifted awkwardly where she stood for a moment, then started jogging in place again. "Alright, let's head to the airport! But first, the metroline, cause I guess we have to take that to the airport," she reasoned, amazed by the thought of how much vehicular travel she'd be doing today.

"What do you mean 'cancel'?" Na'im asked as he looked at Rania with a raised eyebrow, "Who ever told you that I made this arrangement for all of us? I figured both of you wanted to get back as soon as we finished the job." After making sure that the PET on his back was tightly on its place he tapped the wheels of his right skate and did a spin in place. "What's the hold up though?" he asked and, while he understood that Rania would be more at ease running by herself, he grabbed Mill's and Rania's hands, "My client won't wait all day nor will yours. So let's get a move on already." He then started to skate ahead while dragging the two forwards, figuring that Rania would be capable of keeping up with the pace while it might've been torture for Mill. He, however, did not stop to wait for either of them and just continued to skate towards the metroline as Rania had said.

[Next stop: Netfrica; Bomber's coming topic]

"... And so that's where we are now. Besides the shop, anyway." said Mill as he opened the door, allowing his sister to walk in before he followed and locked the door behind.

"Wow... When it rains, it really pours for you, huh Mill?" asked Lilia honestly.

"Seems like it..." sighed Mill in response as he walked around the counter to check his computer. "Anyis, Magna, you there?"

"About time you showed up." grumbled Anyis.

"We are present, Operator." confirmed Magna.

"Good. Lilia and Euthenia are back from school, by the way." added Mill as he went into the back room for... something.

"I'm really sorry we couldn't help, Anyis, but it's great that you're all better now." said Lilia as she approached the computer.

Her approaching the computer, of course, meant that Euthenia would drop in on her fellow digital beings. She wasted no time in wrapping Anyis up in a hug. "Aww, big sis~! You're taller than me now, and so pretty~! Did you see Grants again~? Gosh, it must be great to have someone like that with you~! Oh, did your friends help out a lot~? I bet they did, you always have strong friends~!"

"Oh my god, make it stop..." moaned Anyis from within the vicegrip of Euthenia.

"Oh, but... It's so weird to see you without your gloves~!" announced Euthenia suddenly as she laced her fingers together with her sister's. "I only ever see your bare arms when we take baths together~"

"Do you really need to bring that up?!" snapped Anyis, before calming a bit. "But... you're right, it feels really weird to have absolutely nothing. Hmm... Gimme a few seconds." Anyis disengaged from her little sister with that, and closed her eyes. She wrapped her left hand around her right wrist, and... Behold! Anyis let ago of her wrist to reveal that it now had a gold bracelet on, with a single sapphire inset in that. "That's better." nodded Anyis with a sense of satisfaction.

Magna just stood to the side the whole time, observing the girl talk curiously. Since Euthenia was here, that naturally meant that her SP Ratatoskr was too. The red squirrel scurried his way over to Magna, and started sniffing around the golem's new legs. A few quick circles ultimately made him produce a "Chichichi!" sound which was probably some kind of acceptance, because Ratatoskr then climbed his way up Magna's side and perched himself on the golem's shoulder. This was basically the relationship the SPs of the Alidine household shared: the perch and the perching.

Finally, Mill returned to the storefront with a large cardboard box in hand. "What took you so long?" questioned Anyis as Mill put the box on the desk and sat down.

"Had to collect some things, aside from reinstalling all the upgrades I've bought for you." explained Mill simply. "I stored some of the stuff in the bomb shelter, so you can imagine how long that took to get together."

"... Eh? Bomb shelter...?" repeated Lilia nervously. Admittedly, that was a very abnormal term for this situation.

"Oh... right. You've never actually been here before, have you Lilia?" asked Mill rhetorically. "There's a bomb shelter underneath the store. The hatch is hidden in the back room. The previous owner was... strange like that, I guess."

"And Mill found Euthenia in that bomb shelter, just by the way." added Anyis.

"Yep~!" concurred Euthenia.

"... Uh huh. I'll just, uh... talk to you about that later, Euthenia." sighed Lilia, who really wanted no part of that nonsense. "Mill, can you just get your PET? Electown was not part of my plans for this afternoon..."

"Yeah, sure, that's what the box is for. Honestly, I hadn't finished it yet... I didn't think my old PET would burn to death so soon. Or at all." explained Mill with some very dry humor. "I don't really even want to use it right now, but I guess there's no choice. So, uh... You all need to swear that you won't say anything about it."

"Why? What's the big deal? Oh... I get it. It's really embarrassing, isn't it?" snickered Anyis.

"That'd be your problem as much as mine, so no. It's... a business secret, I guess." answered Mill after some thought.

"...?" Everyone just looked at Mill curiously.

"Oh come on, don't act like I just let this shop rot day in and day out!" whined Mill in response. "I've been trying to put together a new PET. Like, actually new. No previous model it's based on or anything. It's like... ah hell, I'll just show it..." With a frustrated sigh, Mill opened the cardboard box, extracted a few layers of styrofoam, and then finally pulled out the PET.

"Hmm... Oh! I know! It's one of those old phones, from the pre-Net era. A lot of people still had them when Euthenia and I were made. What's that going to help, Mill?" exclaimed Anyis before questioning her Operator.

"It's the PET! It's your PET, Anyis! Ugh..." groaned Mill as he held the device extremely close to the computer screen. It was about the same size as a Link PET, but pretty much the whole front side was a screen. There was a chip slot on one end, and a few other external ports on the side, but otherwise it was completely flush. The casing was all white and dark blue, clearly made in reference to Anyis when compared to Mill's old PET, which was mostly purple and orange in reference to Magna (whom Mill built it for).

"Uh... Okay? I don't really get it." admitted Anyis.

Mill hung his head in defeat, before turning the PET on. "Just get in..."

Anyis looked over to Magna, shrugged, and then lead the way into her new home. "... Ohhhhh. Wow. What kind of harddrive did you cram into this thing, Mill?" Now she got it.

"Best one I had. I used all my best parts on this PET, so you should start taking note of a lot of performance boosts compared to your old one." answered Mill smugly, enjoying the recognition however late it may be. "Like I said, though, it's not done. I can't really do much with software, so it's just running the Link PET's OS right now."

"Don't worry about that, it's not like I know anything better." replied Anyis, quickly dismissing that issue. "I never really decorated the old PET any, but... Man, this thing is just so spacious that I need to do something. Magna, you start thinking of things too."

"Understood, Mother Unit. I will construct furnishings for this PET when I have the appropriate amount of data." complied Magna.

"Um... Mill?" queried Lilia.

"Oh, sorry, do you want to jack Euthenia and Ratatoskr in? You probably can't get a good idea of the difference just looking at it like this." apologized Mill before offering his PET.

"Well, sure, I guess... I was just going to ask if we could get going, though." explained Lilia simply.

"Ah... Yeah, sorry. Let's get back home. Hopefully nothing else will explode the rest of the day..." wished Mill as he started cleaning up his mess before the two of them left.

(To ACDC)