Another Chapter Flies By

Exam Details:

Quite a bit of time had passed since a certain re-quip mage went into hiding on an entirely different planet from her home. How much time she didn't know, she wasn't the type to really keep track of that sort of thing. She took it a day at a time, as much as she possibly could anyway. Everything was new to her. The lifestyle of the planet, the environment, the lack of magic users. It took time getting used to and there were times when the days just blurred together very rapidly. Losing track of the amount of days and weeks was easy. That is, assuming the planet even went by the same time rate as her home planet. She probably could have asked the two brainiacs that came with her, but she didn't care enough to even remember to ask when she had the chance.

Where had she vanished to? A planet known as Mirai. An advanced planet that used intellect and super technology to be powerful instead of the magic of her own home. A planet that at one time had tourists come and go, as well as new inhabitants that wanted to get away from magic entirely and call the technological planet home. A planet that was once connected to the Wakusei Portals, but was disconnected from that portal system shortly after she made her journey to the other side. Why it was disconnected she and her two companions did not know. It was likely a government decision to cut costs or to prevent uncertain enemies or dangers from coming in, or going out. That had already happened once and led to Aliarey having to take care of the mess. It was a job and so she got paid, but it would have been a disaster if left alone to become a bigger problem. Either way, the disconnection worked in her favor. Those that she had made enemies of and were looking for her no longer had the means to check that planet. She could become a memory at home and live in whatever peace the planet of Mirai had to offer. If peace were a thing that the blonde haired mage ever had a habit of having in her life. No, life was more of the same for her, just with a different environment and different rules to break.

All of that was not very important though. She still made money taking on jobs, some more difficult than others, and somehow survived no matter what sort of trouble she got into. The real highlight of her time in Mirai was becoming a sort of experiment herself. The data she had stolen before had been cracked, unlocked, studied, and used. It was supposedly a way to mix an advanced technology of the planet with the natural magic systems of those that were born and raised on her own planet. That sounded cool, if not a bit vague and possibly dangerous if things went wrong. But her friends needed a guinea pig and she was really the only one capable of doing it since they themselves lacked a high enough magic power, and they needed their big brains intact to solve any issues that may arise. The citizens of Mirai kind of lacked the magic necessary, even the ones that moved in from their planet. Not that they could really advertise for volunteers without getting caught. Unless they tricked people into it, but hey! They weren't evil bastard masterminds that forcefully used people in evil experiments! No, Aliarey would suffice, and she agreed to be a part of it because... well they agreed to pay her for it and also drop the rest of her debt towards them. That seemed like a good enough trade off if it all worked. Profit, debt free, and maybe some cool new tricks that she could add to her arsenal. Thus far, it was a success.

Tune in to the current day where Aliarey was just getting a normal check up to make sure the minibots that had been injected and started taking over were not... well literally taking over or killing her or something. She felt fine aside from a few headaches, and there may have been a few times when she thought certain things in that head of hers that were clearly not her own, but nothing really serious. Sure her power levels may have unnaturally increased a rank as soon as the lacnites came into the picture. Sure sometimes the technology around Mirai might have gone a little crazy whenever she was around. And okay, sure they gave her some abilities that she couldn't control all the time. It took her ages just to figure out how to remove the disguise the lacnites had generated. Everything was fiiinnnneeee anyway. Just fiinnneeeee and dandy.

"Yo, you done yet? Can I get out of here already?" Aliarey asked, looking up from the magazine she held in her hands and glaring at the one that took way too long checking her status. A small lacbot hovered over her, beeping and booping in whatever techno language it was using while also poking her with a needle. "Hey! Stop that!" The small machine was slapped and shooed with the magazine, an action that caused the beeping and booping to increase in frequency as if it were upset at being swatted at like a pesky fly.

"No, I'm not done yet. And stop hitting my machines. They're a pain to repair and expensive," remarked the young man in the room that was busying himself with staring at some fancy data on a screen. He had been one of the two to come with her to that planet, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire between the company she stole from and her. Granted, taking the data instead of turning it in to the client was kind of his idea in the first place. He had wanted to study it and make use of it for himself. As far as he saw it, it was competition and he wanted to get ahead of what they were all doing. The advanced technology interested him and their own planet was very limited in that regard, even in the countries that were supposedly more advanced than Fiore. "For some reason they all demand therapy sessions after dealing with you."

"Well then they shouldn't poke me with needles. Simple, right?" The small bot quieted down she noticed, and had tried to use the conversation as a distraction as it moved to the other side to try and poke her in the other arm. The icy blue glare stopped the robot and it shyly hovered away, pretending that was not its true motive. "Why am I being poked with needles this time anyway? Usually those fancy scanners are enough. Or even just testing out in the field."

"Just being thorough. I actually wanted to chop off your arm and see if it would grow back since my results seem to indicate a high rate of replication. I think they'd actually be able to create a whole new one better than the old. Kind of like the disguises that are real and not entirely magic." Trey looked up from the screen and saw the expression that was mixed of anger and horror for even thinking of that idea. "Good thing I decided against it and went with the needle prick, huh?" He smiled innocently, truly seeing no wrong with his original idea. The man turned back to the screen. "But yeah, other than seeing if any wound would be healed, I wanted to test the blood. They're affecting more than your magic and physical capabilities."

"What? You afraid I am going to bleed robotic fluid instead of human blood, or something?"

"Of course not. That's something in science fiction novels. I highly doubt you'd instantly turn into a cyborg or android that normally walk around here just because they're in there. That's stupid. You'd need to replace parts first and you're not there yet."

"...I was joking. If I start doing that just kill me, please."

"Sure thing." There was a moment of silence that followed. Well a moment of silence from him. The hovering lacbot and Aliarey still went at it over that needle prick and blood draw. The bot eventually won with its tactic of duplicating itself as a distraction while the real one took the blood. Victory boops and beeps were sounded as it quickly left the woman and went to place the blood in a tube for later study. "There's one other thing."

Aliarey glared at him once more while pressing her free hand tightly on the small wound in her arm. It hurt. She didn't like it. And sadly she was more like a baby when it came such mild injuries. Through the song of ows she actually wanted to cry. How dare they stab her with such a weapon! "I swear if you say that you decided to chop my leg off to test your theory I will shoot you."

"No, I don't intend on chopping off your legs. I need you running so you can do all the missions for the professor before he gets the idea of sending me to do it all. I'm too fragile for it. Which brings me to what I was about to say. We need to get back home."

"The heck?! Why?"

"Because the professor is homesick."

"That's... not even close to being the reason is it?"

"Not at all." The young scientist rolled the chair he sat in out from behind the desk and spun it so he was facing the requip mage. "I came across some other useful data that I wanted to check out."

"Oh?" Aliarey folded her arms across her chest and eyed him suspiciously. "And just where did you get this data this time?"

"That's on a need to know basis. You're not on the super privileged list of the super privileged. All you need to know is what the data is. Or at least the base of it."

"And that is?"

"A scavenger hunt. This planet cut off its ties with other worlds, and so we need access to the portal magic back home. It just so happens each component is tied a planet already linked up with the system. There's also a part in our world itself.... somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"That one is a little vague with its clues for some reason. I'll be able to plan things out better once we are there and set up."

"Welp, sounds great. Have fun. I'm staying right here."

"You're coming too."

"Am not."

"You kind of have to all things considered."

There was some truth to that. Unless she wanted the tiny tin cans running through her blood and magic going into whacko mode for whatever reason and being left with no way in her not very smart mind to fix it, she had to go wherever he and the professor did. Well, at least be on the same world instead of being completely cut off anyway. The blonde rolled the blue orbs on that now scowling face of hers. "So you're forcing me to come with, okay. Just how do you plan to get back anyway? The portal connection is gone if you can actually remember that in that supposedly smart brain of yours."

"Yeeeaaaahhhh, that's where you come in. I have a plan and I need you to do it."

"Whoa, Whoa, WHOA! You are pretty much saying I have to tag along with you two back home and with that you have the nerve to say I have to help with getting us there?"

"That's exactly it. You're smarter than I remember. Must be the lacnites thinking for you. Anyway, there are pocket portal devices all around this place if you noticed. One of the more common ways to travel around here."

"Yeah, so? Last I checked they don't connect to other planets."

"Most don't. But they are fully capable of doing so. I think. I haven't really tried it, but with the right coordinates I think I can get it to work."

"...I don't think I'm ready to be the test subject for this."

"Ah, don't worry about that. I just need you to get the coordinates. I think they are still in the old office of the company that once ran the portal system on this side. Break in, snatch them, and hurry along back here so I can input them in. I'll have already tested it on another planet. Maybe. This is all being planned with the expectation that nothing goes wrong."

"Terrific. Do you at least have that lacbot unit ready for me to use yet?"

"Those won't be operational for a while, so no. You'll be doing this on your own for now aside from me on the other line of the communicator if you really need to bother me with something you messed up again."

"I don't mess up THAT often. But when this is done I still want to know all the details for why we're moving. Labeling it as a glorified scavenger hunt isn't really all that convincing for me, you know. I don't know if you remember or not, but I kind of have a target on my back by two super secret shady organizations."

"Two super secret shady organizations that have probably already found a way into Mirai by now and still haven't found you, if they even care anymore. I'm not saying go out and declare to the world you're back so they can find you, but I am saying that enough time has probably passed. Plus we both know you can alter your appearance if needed. It's nothing to worry about. So can you get going already? I have work to do, and so do you."

"I never said I would do this. I am comfortable right here."

"I'll pay you."

"The heck? Do you really think I'll do any dangerous job for money?"

"I'll let you play with the new prototypes I've been working on."

"And?"

"And I'll get the lacbots in working order asap instead of putting them at the bottom of my priority list."

"And??"

"...Fine. I'll give you a re-match in laser tag."

"That's not what-"

"That's as far as I go. I have put my laser tag grand champion title on the line for this mission. I can't be anymore serious or rewarding than that. See ya and good luck." The man then disappeared as the floor beneath him and the ceiling above glowed brightly, blinding her for a moment, and when she could see again he was gone. A teleportation beam device. She had seen them all around Mirai and its buildings. He was likely in some other office or room now. "How long have we had those installed in this place?" Probably since day one and she just now noticed. Well whatever. She supposed that she should get going and complete the newest addition to her day's agenda, if only to figure out the real reason as to why they're suddenly going back home. Not one of them was really home sick, and there were plans for the pieces and parts that they wanted her to find during this... Aliarey sighed as she thought the words... "scavenger hunt" that covered the span of the galaxy. There was something else to it other than adding it to a collection or just experimenting, and until she could mind read she was just going to have to play along and hope it got her closer to what she wanted to know.

Aliarey had made it to the building where the old Wakusei Portals linked up to. It wasn't hard to locate like all her other past theft jobs. Everyone knew where it was, after all. Although it did seem to be quite abandoned from what she could tell from her distance. Her guard and defenses lowered completely as she got closer and confirmed it. Stealth would now be thrown out the window. It was weird. Surely the place could have been used for something else. Now that she thought about it the entire area around the building was deserted when the last time she was there it had been a busy plaza. The hell happened to make it a ghost town? Nothing that made it to the news anyway. Guess it was a good thing she and the others got far away when they first arrived on the planet. Well whatever. The job just got way easier. As she entered the building and ventured through Alia was surprised that her luck had not ended. No huge mechanical monstrosity had burst through the walls. No alarms went off. At that point she was starting to feel uncomfortable that not even a single security guard was walking around.

Would her instincts be right and the mission was actually way more complex and dangerous than originally planned? Of course. Her instincts were always right. There was much danger and fighting to be had. She got what she needed by the end of it, most certainly, and all with her in one piece too. There may have been a few hiccups here and there, but it was a mission success! Would the glorious details of gloriousness be written here? No. She'll maybe have some weird flashback sequence while writing it in a report or something and get some mad awesome life experience points for her thorough writing skills and patience to even write it all out in the first place.

For now, the report was left undone. The requip mage and her two friends had got their own small and secret portal between Mirai and home online. Pretty much immediately they all went through it and set up a new home base for their stuff. It was time to get to work on finding the pieces for whatever those two were building that had pieces scattered all over different planets connected to the Wakusei Portals. What order they'd be going in, who knew? At present she had some downtime to get back to doing some of the old fashioned typical jobs she was used to doing before moving. Naturally she'd avoid any of the super dangerous life threatening stuff only to get pulled into something of that category anyway, as always. Just like old times. And so, the exam of rank passage that the gods of the universe had bestowed upon this woman had been completed. Some have drama. Others have difficult challenges. Aliarey just walked through normally without concern or care, ignoring all of that massive baggage. Such is the life of one that has no real direction and just exists. Maybe that'd change at some point.

(Word Count: 3139)