I waited for Mira to get in the shower before I bought the flowers from Hummingbird. I wasn't a hundred percent what to expect. The Aether trembled, and a cardboard box popped out like some kind of wild express delivery.

"Oh…" I stared at the box, hesitantly reaching out a hand to it. There was a note stuck to the top of the box.

I pulled it off, opening it up. It was done on fancy flower stationary. 'Thank you for the purchase! Enjoy your flowers, new Scion! Hope you live longer than the last guy!'

Beneath it was an ink print of… a hummingbird foot? Claws? Something like that. The letter was nice… I hoped I lived longer than Nathos or whatever his name was too. Shouldn't be too hard if I played my cards right. Not dying was, of course, my main goal.

The box held several packs of seeds in it. I thought Hummingbird would just send over flowers or something, but nope. Just seeds. I guess I should've seen this coming… at least I had more than I thought on hand. It wasn't 25 EF for a single flower, but 25 for a pack.

The Mutant Hibiscus had twenty-five in the pack, and the Aethieral Lavender had only three. Total of six. It should be fine? How did planting these work- wait, no. I couldn't just go off of common standards. These were mutant plants from Hummingbird, not just any other plant.

Thankfully, the bottom of the box also had a list of instructions for how to tend to the plants and best ways to use them. The lavender could just be left out and it'd affect an area, but the Mutant Hibiscus was recommended to be either brewed into a tea or made into a paste. No idea how to do either one of those. One step at a time, Shiro.

Um- okay, I needed soil, right? And good water. A bunch of other stuff like that too. Shopping tomorrow? Might be nice for Mira to go and do something normal anyway. The canteen's water was probably the best I could do on that front, but the other stuff I'd have to go out and buy.

I held the seeds for a moment, feeling an unnatural connection to them. EuGH- plants… be better off without them. What could I do other than get used to the sensation though? At least these ones weren't affected by She Who Grows.

I eyed them for a moment longer and then tossed out my Transporter to start opening a portal. Best I keep these stored somewhere safe. They were 25 EF, after all. Be a real shame to lose them somewhere.

While I waited for that, I leaned back in my chair, the one klept from that tie-dye boss. I pulled up the interface one more time and bought Echidna's Modification Services for fifty EF. Just like last time, an ethereal box popped up in front of me.

First and foremost, I tried the Jade Dagger. The price of modification jumped drastically up to 150 EF. I couldn't even afford it at 101 EF. It seemed multi-modification wouldn't be cheap. Something to think about moving forward.

I pulled out the Jade Dagger and tossed in Crow's Canteen of Chaos instead. It was about time I got my best tool a buff. I was hoping for something like recharge time, duration increases for the created fluid, or something along those lines.

[Multi-Chamber - Gain three additional Subspace Chambers, allowing for four different liquids.]

[Illusive Canteen - The canteen looks like just a normal bottle to others.]

[Fox's Funtime Flask - Change the name of the canteen. Also, grants the ability to pour Foxfire from the canteen.]

Hmm… Fox's Funtime Flask, eh? Foxfire… I was tempted. I was really tempted. If it wasn't for Multi-Chamber, I would've taken it. Having four different liquids though… and they'd be Subspace Chambers? Was that what the canteen was? I definitely noticed it could store more liquid than it looked like at first glance. Didn't this mean I'd have four times the quantity, though it'd be split between four different liquids?

There wasn't even a speck of hesitation in what I picked. Multi-Chamber it was. I wouldn't always have the right liquid for the right job, but I'd be far more prepared with four separate liquids. Maybe I should get some actual medicine? I should've done it before now that I had infinite storage.

I'd been putting it off since I could only have one, and Pervider venom was just a catch all with its stasis. It wasn't great at healing, but it'd keep people alive long enough to see an actual medic. No reason to keep avoiding it though.

So much to do, and that wasn't even including-

"What the hell is that- some kind of rift- watch out, Shiro!" A hand grabbed me, drawing me back away from the Transporter.

"Wha- Mira?!" I staggered back behind her. She put herself in between the portal and me. The now opened portal. "I-it's fine. It's my tech."

"What are you talking about- is that a drone- what's going on?" Mira's back looked surprisingly strong in front of me considering all that's happened. It brought memories back- memories that only stung when her Halo Cortex caused her to triple ask questions.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Um-" How did I even explain this? "It's- it's like a subspace? On the other side, I mean. Goes to a hidden bunker in the Aether."

"How the hell did you get this- what corp did you rob-?"

That- no, I shouldn't be hurt by her assumption. She didn't know how heavily I got into Tech stuff. To her I was still just her broke thieving friend, now a majestic techie. "I didn't- Raijin, but that's-"

"You stole from Raijin!" Mira jumped in surprise, looking back at me with wide eyes.

"Chek- it wasn't even that hard… and this is my own tech! I hand built almost everything." I moved over to my wrist pad carelessly thrown onto a table and brought it over, controlling the drone. It flew around to prove my point, though it continued to sustain the portal. I likewise tossed the seeds through the portal before I could forget.

Mira leaned against the wall, staring at me with eyes held wide open. She had on the same clothes from before the shower. My stuff was too small to fit her. Yet another thing to go buy tomorrow. So much to do on that list… and I'd need to actually go buy food. The canteen was out of commission for the next twelve hours at least.

"Still- I know you said you were good at making stuff now- a hover bike and a portal to another dimension are completely different!" She may have a point there. I had help though from the eidolons themselves.

I deactivated the portal, and the Transporter automatically flew back to its charging port in my bag. "C'mon, Mira. You can't be surprised by just this much. What will you do when I show off my other stuff in the future?"

She froze. "Do you- do you have something crazier than a hover bike and a portal to the Aether- how did the Eidolons not tear her apart- what about the sprites- isn't the Aether dangerous?"

"Um-" I thought through all my tech. "Not really? I have a bunch of stuff not tech-related though."

"Like what?"

I casually checked the time. "Let's go to sleep… if I start telling you everything that's happened, we'll be up all night. You take the bed."

Mira stopped me with a hand on my sleeve before I could head for the shower. Her aggression completely fell away back to being completely timid. She stared at the floor and spoke extremely soft, "C-can you… sleep with me? I- I don't-"

I patted her hand gently. Like this, she seemed like the little sister in our relationship… at least, as long as no one looked close. She was so much taller than me now. Such a thought made a bolt of bitterness surge through me. "Chek. Let me just take a shower."

"Right- right… yeah." Mira shook her head and released my sleeve. She tapped the side of her head like she was calling her self an idiot and threw on a fragile smile. "Do you- I'm sleepy- have anything fun around here?"

I pulled out one of my phones and tossed it to her. "Knock yourself out."

"Thanks."

I looked at my mikata for several lingering moments before walking off toward the bathroom. I was so ready for a hot shower. I'd been keeping up a strong front, but Mira wasn't the only one who knew how to cover up her tears.

— — —

I ended up having to lull the both of us to sleep with Lethargic Presence. She couldn't fall asleep, and I was having a hard time sitting still. My Perk worked like it usually did, allowing us to pass out without much resistance under its continuous presence. I doubted it at first, but it was definitely a top-grade Perk.

After that we went shopping. It was a little rough? Shopping was always a pain, but add in the fact I had to park on the roof of nearby buildings instead of a parking garage and it was a hassle. I was worried about someone klepping my bike. I'd need to get the stealth module up and running soon… or an autopilot that could keep it up in the air.

Outside of having to go up and down a bunch of buildings, it was fine. Mira- she struggled with clothes shopping. Her halo made anything that wasn't a button up a pain in the ass. Only super oversized t-shirts, sweaters, and collared shirts worked.

Not to mention we drew eyes. Her halo was conspicuous. As far as I knew, there wasn't any chrome like it on the market. At least, not common chrome. It evoked a certain intrigue that caused people to look for far longer than it should've.

I felt like running constantly. I was used to blending into the background and fading out of people's perception. That wasn't possible with my mikata drawing eyes like some kind of super model.

She was… holding up. The eyes and gazes didn't seem to bother her at all. I was a little envious of that. Mira just followed me around like a lost chick, holding my hand whenever she started to drift again. She didn't care in the slightest about other people.

A few people even approached us to ask about the Halo. Her expression crumpled the first time. After that, I liberally used Fear the Reaper to keep a field around us cleared out. I probably looked like some kind of monster to other people, but it was fine if Mira could have a few moments of peace.

Eventually, we got all loaded up and headed for a parking garage near the speakeasy. I tossed the Transporter out after we landed in a blind spot… might be worth adding a Blackout module to the Transporter? The energy drain through… regardless, I need to get my bike back down to finish of its armor, paint it, and add a few features.

Mira drifted off while we waited, leaning against one of the concrete barricades looking out over the streets. She was in a button up shirt now, though kept the fixed Sorrow jacket. "Thanks, Shiro."

"Don't mention it." I touched my Transporter, jolting the converters with my kinetic ability out of her view. Back to full charge. I left it to do its job and moved to the barricade next to her.

"How can I not- I thought I was going to die down there, never seeing the light of day again… never seeing my family again-" She cut herself off with a sniffle.

I awkwardly. wrapped my arm around her shoulders. The height difference was just so… so annoying. She'd grown since I saw her last, to the point I had to look up to meet her eyes. "But we're out now… and I'll never leave you alone again."

"Heh-" She rubbed at her eyes and looked down- ugh- on me. "Don't threaten me."

I pointed out and down the street, shifting the subject to hopefully keep her mind off of things. "My hidden bar is right in there. When I found it, it was horribly burned and left to rot… it looks pretty good now though."

Mira followed my finger toward the apartment building. "I'm excited to check it out- how'd you come to own it- what are we waiting for?"

"Luck, really. It was a good find. I'm going to drive my bike through the portal, and then we'll be good to go." I checked back on the Transporter. Just a few more minutes.

Mira followed my gaze toward the portal. "Can I- can I come with you in there- what's it like in the Aether?"

"Chek." I nodded to the slowly opening portal. "You've already been there once. It's how I got you out back then."

Mira's expression fell once more. Ugh- there I go bringing her mind back to it. I was so bad at this. "I don't remember much of that- did she drug me- after you appeared, everything faded."

I rubbed at my face and messed with my bangs. "Um- sorry. I- I was in a rush a-and-"

"It's fine… I'm out, right?" Mira forced a smile once more.

"Chek…" I watched her for a moment longer and then turned back to look at the slowly forming portal. Any moment now.

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