False Advertising [Job | Bass]

job:

Naru's golden gaze glinted with awe at the pure size and sheer amusment this theme park seemed to produce. All around her were massive constructions made to make people laugh and enjoy themselves. She had never heard or seen anything like this before. Why hadn't she? It seemed EXACTLY like something SHE would be super into! Well, at least she knew about them now, and was super excited to join in on the fun! After all, everyone around them looked like they were having a great time! The Kitsune's ears twitched and she turned to her side to Bass. "Well? Whaddya say? Wanna go try a few of these things out! I'm super pumped!" She exclaimed through a cheerful, and energetic grin as she quickly pranced around within a close distance of her friend, only distracted by a passing cart filled with Cotton Candy. It smelled amazing. However, her ears twitched again when she picked up on the most unusual sound. Seemed like a woman was in a bit of a pickle. She turned to see exactly that. A middleaged woman crouching down in front of two boys, talking to them quickly. It seemed she was in a bit of a rush. Curious, Narumi meandered her way over to the girl, not looking to see if Bass would follow. However, as soon as the woman noticed Narumi on her way, her eyes widened and she quickly approached! Taken off by this sudden move, the kitsune's ears would pop up in a surprised manner. "H- Hi! Sorry to bother you, but could you take this and watch these two for a bit! I'll be back for them later, I promise!" She said quickly, shoving a note into Naru's hands just as she passed her, waving to the two children who now stared at Narumi and Bass. The fox looked over to Bass and gave a nervous chuckle before slowly opening the note.

A theme park was a place filled with rides and other attractions designed to thrill, excite or otherwise entertain individuals. For Bass it was not so much the thrills of riding the rides or trying out the machines that interested her. No, it was the machines themselves and how they were built. That and why exactly they thrilled or excited individuals. It would be a good research topic and allow her a greater understanding of humanity. Narumi on the other hand seemed rather excited to ride the rides and sample various things. Bass wasn't exactly adverse to this as experiencing them would be a vital part of her research and understanding. Besides, she was built or so she seemed to be with the capacity for joy and other emotions so perhaps these rides could even thrill her and that thought interested her perhaps even more than the research opportunity.

It seemed through that rides and such would have to wait for Narumi was distracted by a woman with two smaller humans, children if Bass remembered the term correctly. Bass tilted her head in confusion as the woman handed Narumi a note and hurried off promising to be back later for the children. It seemed that somehow Narumi and by extension Bass, as she was here with Narumi, had become babysitters or childminders or whatever term you wanted to use. Bass glanced over and read the note over Narumi's shoulders. It seemed that one of the children liked to run off if he didn't get his way and the other would follow. Bass sensed a faint magic presence emanating from each of them so it seemed they had potential. At this age they likely could only amp up their physical capabilities or perform small tricks, but still it could prove an annoyance.

"So which of you is Zach and which is Chris?" Bass asked in her usual tone her crimson orbs sweeping over the pair. It would be useful to know which child was which so that she could keep an eye on the one most likely to run. "And which ride do you want to go on first?"


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"W- Wai- hold on a second!" Narumi called to the woman as she left, but it seemed she either couldn't hear the Kitsune or was completely ignoring her. Either way, the woman vanished into the crowd and she could no longer see them. "Uhh..." Narumi would stammer, before silently looking down to read the note. It went as follows:

"Hello to who ever is reading this, my name is Alice. I'm a busy business woman who has a set of ten year old twin sons. I was wondering if someone can take care of them for the day while I go out of town on some business. My sons want to go to this new amusement park that I can not take them to, because I'm so busy. So I'm asking you to take them. Their names are Zack and Chris. Zach is a wild one and will run from you if he doesn't want to be where he's at. Chris is more calmer, but he'll follow Zack if he runs. Please down let them wander off or get hurt."

Processing the information, the fox looked back up towards the two boys and then to Bass who had apparently read the note over her shoulder. Interestingly enough, the robot lady seemed not to care about being forced into the this situation. Then again, she wasn't a human so she didn't share the same 'laziness' she had noticed from many of them. Bass asked the two boys what their names and they just stared at the two with awe. It was only now that Narumi realized that their appearance may be strange to the kids, seeing as many of the people here seemed to be fairly normal. At least by this world's standards. They did indeed stand out. "I-
I'm Chris." One of them finally said while the other continued to remain silent still staring at them. Not that they still needed an answer from him. Switching to her friendly happy side, Narumi smiled and leaned down to eye level. "Well then cuties, my name is Narumi! Just like my friend Bass here asked, where do you want to go first?" She said through a charming smile. The two boys looked to eachother and smirked, quickly grabbing Naru's hands to lead her. She laughed a bit and motioned Bass to follow as the two lead her through the crowd and finally they stopped. Looking up Narumi was in shock. They pointed up towards what looked like a MASSIVE ride. It had all sorts of swings and tracks on it, with very graphic signs posted on it. Not only that, but there was a HUGE line. This did NOT look like a ride for kids. Not at all. "Uh.. IS there another ride you'd like to go on?" SHe stuttered still looking up at the huge ride. They quickly shook their heads.

The line they were lead to was quite extensive and for that reason obviously incredibly popular. Bass stared at the line momentarily and then walked over to the side leaving Narumi with the pair for the time being. The line was longer than it looked considering it curved multiple times and even seemed to go inside a small building and judging by it that would add more time. Bass focused and a thin layer of mist began to sweep along the ground that ended up in a radius of 100m from her. In her mind immediately the entire 100m radius of mist was mapped perfectly in her mind. Based on how the queue sides went she estimated it would be several hours before they managed to get onto the ride. Whilst initially this seemed like a problem Bass had also seen that the height restriction of the ride would not allow either child to get on board. This would not be checked until the very end where the boys would be rejected by the custodian of the ride, if her knowledge of amusement parks was correct. It would be a good way to keep the boys in line, both figuratively and literally, whilst they waiting for this Alice to return. She nodded and returned to the trio who had moved forward about ten spaces in the time she'd been away.

"Based on the queue size and where we are I estimate about four hours wait time. Possibly longer depending on how many can ride this ride at once." she whispered to Narumi. "Could be a good way to stop these two running off if they are stuck in this queue and as they don't meet the height requirements...they won't get on so its just a time kill."

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Narumi crossed her arms and looked at the massive ride while Bass was observing the size of the line and assessing their situation. She wasn't convinced. Her ears twitched towards Bass when she leaned in to whisper to the Kitsune. "Yes. Indeed. I do believe that is good plan." She nodded before turning to the two boys. "Alright you t- Boys?"m She stopped mid sentence to see that there was no one there. Her eyes widened suddenly and looked around. There! In the far crowd the two were running as fast as they could! "EUH! Bass! Quickly!" She yelled, sprinting after them!

The boys may have been young, but they appeared to be smarter than the Kitsune had initially thought when the chase began! They ran straight into another massive crowd gathered for a parade! When she spotted them, the two nodded at eachother and split up. "GRAAH! I got this one!" She yelled back to Bass, quickly darting through the crowd towards Zach hoping Bass would focus on Chris.

It seemed that Bass had made a miscalculation on the enjoyment factor the boys had expressed. It also seemed she'd miscalculated how small and slippery children could be or how quick witted. It was as if they had awaited for Bass to distract Narumi briefly with the whispering and then used that time to escape. Based on her knowledge of human psychology she suspected that this was a ploy for attention from this Alice. They wanted time with her and not some random strangers.

The intelligence of the children was quite high as they used a crowd of people as blockade and hiding spot before splitting up and running off in opposite directions. The speed at which they were running seemed abnormally fast for humans, especially small children. It seemed their magic potential related to speed. An annoyance, but not one that would deter Bass. She had a few tricks up her sleeve.

She considered calling in Treble, but thought that might be a bit too extreme and cause some panic. He wasn't exactly the most subtle of creatures. Then again perhaps in his liquid mode he might be useful for a trap if things didn't go to plan. Instead she decided to show off her own magic and focused her body reshaping as she activated Assault Mode. Her body was restructured by her nanites to improve how her mechanical muscles functioned and making her more aerodynamic allowing for greatly improved speed.

In order to increase grip she manipulated her feet to create small running spikes allowing her to run at maximum speed without fear of slipping. Even with Chris' enhanced speed he was no match for Bass who was soon running along side him and gave him a jovial salute before swerving round in front of him stopping him in his tracks. He tried to swerve off to the side and continue running, but Bass caught him by the collar and lifted him off the ground where he struggled and then stared at her fear in his human eyes.

"Do not struggle and do not fear. I will not harm you. I just do not wish for you to get lost or come to harm. It would be inconvenient for me and upsetting for Alice." she said and then thought about it for a moment. "And probably Narumi as well." Chris sighed and asked to be let down promising not to run off. He had come to the understanding that escape was not possible unless he was really clever. There was still a look in his eye suggesting he'd try to escape if an opportunity presented itself, but for now that wasn't something he was going to do.

Bass lead Chris back to the point where they'd initially met the two and sat him down on a bench. Now all she had to do was await for Narumi to get back with the other one. "There are better ways to get attention you know. I'd suggest perhaps excelling at schoolwork." Bass said perhaps one of the most kind things she'd done. "Or if you like I could speak to Alice and see if there is anyway Narumi and I can alleviate some of her busyness so that she had more time for you and your brother." Bass paused considering whether it was a good idea to offer Narumi's services or not, but she was sure the kitsune wouldn't mind and it seemed to have made the child happy and his desire to run off again seemed to have decreased.

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"OI! Get back here!" Narumi yelled as she sprinted through the crowd, trying her best not to shove the people in her way. It seemed Zack had little issue with that though, seeing as he was much shorter and could easily maneuver between through the people better. As he continued to ignore her, she got angrier and her eyes turned blue, increasing her own speed just as Zack's apparent magical influence did to him.

Narumi had an idea however, seeing the massive parade floats. With her expert acrobat skills she'd slide underneath the metal fence dividing the crowd from the road with the floats. Flashing onto one, sprinting across it and jumping onto the next as her eyes were trained on the crowd to where she could see the little boy running. With a jump, roll, slide and finally one final leap, Narumi skidded on the other side of the crowd just as the boy came out.

"Now we'll wait here for your mother and you can think about what you've done." Narumi scolded as she walked back to Bass and Chris carrying the boy with one arm wrapped around him. She was relieved. to see Bass had caught the other one with no problem.

It was not too long before Narumi arrived literally carrying the other child beneath her arm. Then again Bass had lifted Chris off the ground too, but he'd been smart enough to not run away after being put down. Perhaps due to the fact he might be scared of Bass. She wasn't exactly the friendliest looking of individuals, unless red eyes and black metallic skin were your things. "As I said to your brother....running away to get attention is not the best way to get attention." Bass said in her usual tone. "However, in order to allow you to gain more attention from your parents I plan to volunteer to help your mother if I can and thus reduce her busyness so she has more time for you two." This seemed to calm Zack a little bit and it seemed that Bass' analysis on the situation had proved correct. They weren't bad kids. They just wanted a bit of attention from their mother who was normally bus. It didn't help they were developing magical skill either. "I might also suggest that you be sent off to one of the guilds for some study. You have magical ability and it would be a shame to waste it."

When Alice eventually arrived Bass took her off to one side briefly to explain exactly what had happened and what she'd said to the boys. "In truth a few weeks at a magic guild could really help them. They'll have fun, get lots of attention and maybe even earn some money. Plus its never too early to start thinking of a career. As I said to them they have potential and it would be a shame to waste it just running off." Alice seemed quite shocked at the revelation, but did consider it and nodded in agreement. "Also, if myself or perhaps even Narumi can help you out again in any way then we'd be glad to do so, but i'd prefer not to be babysit so perhaps we can help you with other things so you have a bit more spare time to spend with them. They are good kids after all." With that said and the reward gotten Bass handed over some contact details to Alice and then told Narumi it was time to go. This impromptu job was complete.

"Now let's go enjoy some rides."