FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7** : Of Trust and Mystery**

Today's visit at the market proved to be fairly different than the usual, mostly because it wasn't only Minos and I keeping an eye over the stand.

Smiling eye-to-eye, Taffy had surprised the two of us by deciding to join us for the whole shift, proclaiming that she was free from work for that day as she had been having some… minor trouble with the recent arrival in town.

Miles wasn't a bad person, or at least he didn't look one at first sight and with some bantering. The Cat Prime was amicable, inquisitive and incredibly familiar to my mind because of the relative sadness coming off from his usual staring.

I had caught up with this right by the moment he decided to pick a beer to waste the morning, something that someone his age shouldn't be doing without a proper reason and… most of the time this meant that there was some drama, or worse, a tragedy behind this behavior.

Yet what truly got the Bunny to request a sudden day off from the owner of the establishment was more related to something that had happened 'after' the meeting at the bar. During on her way back to her home, Miles had been walking right on the opposite direction she had taken and had stopped in a drunken stupor to barrage the unsuspecting young woman with flirtatious comments.

Nothing too obscene or crass, but the magnitude and suddenness of this situation had proven to be fairly overwhelming for Taffy, prompting her to make a swift run back to her safe haven.

It wasn't unusual, the girl had commented about the matter as if to try and give reasons behind the Cat Prime's… cat-calling.

I was doubtful of that, feeling that Miles should be calmly reminded that it wasn't acceptable this kind of attitude. Just a normal warming, nothing completely unreasonable and… violent.

Oh, my mind had been quick to come up with a fit of aggressive resolutions, but the quiet recollection from the bunny did give me time to let the little anger to simmer down, just enough for my logic to pick up a safer and more comfortable approach.

Still, the anti-climatic epilogue helped in putting up some tales from Taffy's past as the young woman comfortably slipped away from the recent topic to address something I had been completely unaware of.

Taffy had tried to be a chef.

It had been just a handful years ago, the Bunny trying to get some experience and legitimate certification of her culinary expertise, something that proved to be far beyond her competences because of two distinct issues she slammed into right as she began this challenge.

The first one was the fact that the Alodia's Cooking School was a prestigious and very strict-kind of school, a proper academy recognized as one of the best in the sector in providing International-tier chefs that were highly-demanded by many functionaries, diplomats and even foreign leaders around the vaster world.

The fact that the girl was more of a 'practice renders perfection' than the 'book-stickler' that the school wanted from students, that had been the very issue that had kept her from securing a stable post there and was always forced to face numerous 'threats' in the form of difficult cooking exams.

Determination, willpower and knowledge over the subjects were enough to put her to a sufficient grade as clumsiness (to a degree worse than the one she was still struggling with), ineptitude as a strong leader and a low self-esteem proved to be her downfall.

In fact, the second issue and the very problem that got her to quit the harsh trials near the very end of her career at Alodia's was the fact that she had been missing some documentation during her enrollment to the Cooking School.

There weren't clear instructions regarding the composition of the Curriculum containing the required papers to legally accept students in, this bureaucratic mess resulting in many apprentices to be expelled out of nowhere and without hesitation.

Protests had been erected against the establishment, but the prestigious reputation and the impressive legal team available to the school was enough to deter a grand majority of those wronged by this lazy situation created by the academy itself.

Taffy should have been expelled by all accounts, and she admittedly said that she should have left the moment she realized about this predicament, but the principal of the school decided to give her a 'chance'.

The Bunny Prime was deprived of a social group, forced to attend classes as 'willing' assistants to many teachers and then she was forbidden to take part at sport activities 'for the sake of not having her forget her ambitions'.

I had felt fury rising with past's one, Minos seemingly in the same tune as he huffed with some irritation at what he was hearing from the girl. Seriously, what kind of trash would go for that crap?

She giggled as I voiced this inner question for her to hear, a sudden blush appearing on her face.

A pretty smile was then displayed, a tiny smirk reaching out too as she started to thank us for the support and sympathy over her previous plight while also offering another slice from the chocolate cake she had brought for today.

The sweet treat was delightful and the chocolate had been given a hint of strawberry before being used to coat the texture of the cake. It was a good delicacy that gave me the energy of going through the stand-duty and keep up without any major difficulty with her stories.

It was around two hours after beginning the shift that I decided to intercede with a topic of mine, feeling like I might as well disclose about a good hobby of mine that turned out to be a good way to get some income out of it.

“You know, Taffy," I started with a nod, my voice catching both Primes' attention. “That reminds me of how the misadventures I had as a photograph until just a year ago."

Green eyes glinted curiosity, same for Minos' red ones and I decided to not draw out too much the quiet.

“I spent a good amount of years trying to get some professional degree as a journalist," I narrated with a calm tone, mind wandering right back at when I had started to mess around with my camera. Or… what became 'my' camera after my parents' death.

A little device that once had been my mother's as she had indeed ventured herself over the opportunity to become a food journalist before settling as a house-wife for the sake of giving me a decent childhood.

She had tried to think of some way to keep up both with her work while also keeping a presence around me but… this wasn't something truly reconcilable because of the long shifts she was supposed to go through.

There was also the fact that the hard-work of the chores was difficult at first and that she did face her sheer amount of troubles while keeping watch over my growth and my education, but she was a strong woman that managed through and through.

...

'O-Okay, returning back to the story.'

“Simple photography, maybe an article or two," I continued with a small smile. “But I never went too deep about the prospect of becoming affiliated to some major newspaper."

“Why so?" Minos asked curiously. “I thought that a stable line of work would have been a good way to secure a decent livelihood." He explained with an intrigued tone, something I had been ready to reply to, but Taffy decided to jump in.

“It's more of a unique situation about journalism itself. Many prefer to not get attached to any major news-network for the sake of not getting tied in some unpleasant correlation in case of scandal," She blinked, glancing once more at me with a sad expression. “There is also the fact that the income wouldn't be as good as freelancers would get."

I smiled and nodded, hand reaching to pat at her shoulder. “It wasn't that bad," I commented mirthfully, trying to defuse the glint coming from the Bunny. “The risk of freelancing was balanced by the opportunity of meeting various important people without getting screwed by the reputation of any of the big names."

“So the more riskier, the higher the pay?" Minos simplified and I gave him a simple nod.

“In a nutshell." I replied with a nod, both smiling at the quirky answer.

But before the discussion could have continued beyond that confirmation, our attention was drawn by a curious song originating from… Minos.

It was a catchy tune that lacked any familiar notes and voices, just a woman giggling mid-singing while the man's voice nervously continued with the confusing and undecipherable lyrics.

Like a karaoke made by a familiar… voice.

Minos' face turned red as he slowly went to pull out his phone from the pocket of his pants and… his color drained back to normal as he noticed the name displayed there. “It's Naerie," He said with a quiet tone, but it was still loud enough to get a surprised blink out of me and… a confused and suspicious frown from Taffy.

I noticed her reaction and nodded at Minos as the Bull passed me the device. “It's a friend of Minos, He will explain and… I will be back soon."

The Bunny looked ready to ask for more details but the fellow Prime stopped her by starting to explaining her the situation without adding any of the 'weird' details of the predicament that I was dealing with even now.

I put the phone by my ear and I spoke. “Hello?"

“_ Hello and good morning, Matt. _" The same dull-like tone as last time greeted me, to which I smiled a little.

“Good morning to you too, Naerie," I said with a calm but happy voice, getting a hum from the other side of the call.

“_ Oh? I thought you would still be sleepy this early in the day- " She mused distractedly, drawing a curious blink at the unexpected comment, but then she continued. “ Anyway, I have some news regarding your situation. I managed to get some more data and… things are far more complicated than I had initially thought and the investigation will be a little longer than expected. _"

“Really?" I asked with a surprised tone. “Is there anything I can do, maybe give some more info about-"

I was pretty sure that I could have at least forwarded some more help. I knew that some of the things about me that weren't exactly saved up for people to know and make use. But just as I offered this, I was interjected by the Prime on the other side of the call.

“_ There is plenty of data about yourself, enough to at least give me a way to properly understand what could have happened to you and… the issue is more related to a 'lack' of means to corroborate the data. _" She explained, pausing for a moment as she gave out the proper cause of this delay.

A lack of means? What kind of 'means' was she referring to?

Actually, I knew very little about the kind of power the young woman could exert to truly search any possible hints to the mysterious situation of that very night.

Or better, I was terribly clueless about the full reach of the girl's mother about the case as Minos had originally gone to ask her for help about my simple plight.

Still, I couldn't help but let my thoughts wander at that confusing day, the hours I had completely forgotten about it. My mind was blank about it, nothing left only the after-taste of a hangover that had fully-materialized right as I woke up.

“That sounds rather confusing. I don't want to sound demanding but-"

“_ The investigation is going to be dealt with and concluded without further issues, Matt, " Naerie interrupted with a sigh. “ It's just a minor obstacle that I plan to solve today. My mother is currently free and I think I should be able to get access to proper instruments to overcome this issue by the time I finish talking to her. _"

I blinked, flinching a little as I considered the fact that from Minos' wording Naerie should have been able to have completed everything by now.

This new development disproving that this wasn't actually the case… did leave me somewhat unnerved to the core.

'What happened that night?'

“I see..." I hummed softly. “Then I suppose I will wait for another call from you?" I pointed out at the young woman.

“_ I will call sooner compared to last time, " Naerie mentioned dutifully. “ Despite the limitations imposed by the fact we can talk to each other only thanks to Minos, I will see for things to be solved quickly- _"

“I understand, Naerie," I interrupted with a small smile, sensing that she was indeed stressing out how she was putting grand effort on the matter.

Something I was more than happy to appreciate, but also something I think I didn't stress enough to praise. “I can feel from your voice that you mean it. I'm not doubting you and I'm glad that you are giving it a mindful study."

There was a pause, utter silence coming from the other side of the call as I waited for some answer to that and-

“_ Thank you, " The girl said with something in her usual tone. “ I will make sure that you will be informed of any news about the matter. _"

I blinked. “You are welcome and… remember to not stress yourself over my case, it's… not that important to warrant that much time." I said with a genuinely concerned edge, then blinking again as I decided it was good time to end the call.

“An I hope to hear from you later." I asked with some hesitation, a little nervous over the fact I might have been a little forward there.

I mean, I didn't expect her to react to this little informal comment and yet, I was proven wrong by the response followed.

“_ I will call you soon, " She said quickly, something different in her words. “ And bye. _"

I smiled and nodded. “Bye."

The call ended there, the phone going silent.

My stare lingered for a moment at the quiet device before I slowly started to make my way back to where Minos and Taffy were calmly waiting for me and I thought that I was finally done with anything even remotely strange for that day and… I was proven wrong when I turned my sight at Taffy and saw her puff her cheeks in a pout.

Arms crossed, green eyes narrowing on me with a steel-like tone and her entire body twitching in annoyance, I was conflicted by how adorable and concerning that full-body expression the Bunny was delivering back to me.

I blinked, eyes glancing barely at Minos and the Bull 'looked' away in a rather faux and 'naive' way.

Another blink, my lips parted to ask what was going on, but the girl jumped at the opportunity to finally dispense me with the truth. “Matt, we are good friends you and I, correct?" She started, my mouth closing quickly at the sharp and sudden question, I found myself frowning at the query and then I nodded.

She huffed. “Please explain to me when you were planning to finally tell me that you don't know how did you end up here in town?!" Her irked tone, coupled with her cheeks puffing once again in renewed irritation, but I glanced once more at Minos with a neutral stare, the man giving up even more hints to his guilt by the way he kept looking away from me.

'I thought we were bros!'

“And don't try to focus on poor Minos," The Bunny snapped with some fury. “I had to literally press him to tell me about this and- Did you even think of ever telling me about this? Or were you expecting for this to pass unnoticed and-"

“I don't mean to sound harsh, but this isn't even much of a problem," I tried to interrupt. “In fact, Naerie said that things were going to be fixed soon and-"

“T-That isn't even the problem!" Taffy shot back with a snort. “I want this situation to be solved because I care about you… but I would have liked to know." She admitted with a sigh. “Matt, you are one of the few friends I've in town, the other one being Minos and… you promised me that-"

Her eyes went wide as I zeroed the distance between us and gave her a hug. She tensed up in her chair, her face pressed on my chest as I snuggled the top of her head.

“That I would let you help me," I ended the sentence for her, a tiny smile playing on my lips. “I know and… I'm sorry. I will not do anything like this… ever again." I promised and soon she melted in the hug and I found her own arms wrapping around my chest.

“Dummy," Taffy sighed tiredly as she leaned her forehead on my chest. “Silly dummy."

I smirked and nodded, a little glad that there hadn't been a greater escalation.

That had been… quite unexpected and I was worried by how things could have turned out to be if I hadn't given some more thoughts about the promise I had to uphold to her.

She trusted me to do that and… I kept my promises I made with people, like the one I had with Diana and Randal about-

…

…

Wait. I glanced back and turned at the now emptied stand and then glanced at Minos. “N-Not that I'm trying to break the moment but… what happened to the stuff in display?" I asked quietly, the Bull's red eyes blinking before shifting to look at Taffy.

I looked down and I was graced by a gorgeous smile from her.

“I decided to help a little and… people know me in town. They just accepted the prices and said it was actually pretty affordable." She admitted happily and I squeezed the hug a little more tightly and snuggled on her pink-hair.

“Thank you, Taffy." I replied with a sigh, the girl more than happy to be blissfully glomped by the embrace I had initiated.

Yep, things were going to be fine now.

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The halls of the humongous mansion that was owned by the High Prime were impressively decorated, a recognition to the powerful role and duties bestowed to the one and only lady Ambar, with paintings, family pictures and various other art-related pieces that granted prestige to the every corner of the beautiful home.

Yet that day, the ones that led directly to the woman's office were soon turning to be the setting for a rather unusual scene for many of the servants around there to witness it.

Naerie, the quiet but blunt daughter of the important woman, was calmly pacing back and forth through the single corridor where the closed room was, barely paying attention to the surprised looks coming from the people walking around for their chores.

She was clearly waiting for her mother's free time, maybe to disclose about something important that she had to tell her and… she looked rather different than usual.

She seemed nervous, someone with a decade or two of service at the home would have commented, her body just a little tense but far from the usual relaxed stance she was seen sporting in normal situations.

The simple fact that the girl had been pacing back and forth since she had arrived to the place rather than taking a seat nearby the closed door as to patiently wait for Ambar's soon-to-come free time was the first, if not the strongest, clue that something had gotten to the younger Bear Prime.

And whatever was causing this 'distress', it had left the young woman rather nervous and interested on getting a meeting with Lady Ambar as fast as possible.

It was the first time the girl had appeared this much 'emotional' over things in her home, or at least before the sight of so many people, and these hints of frustration that she was so carelessly sporting on her expression were possibly from the unknown research she had been doing in her mother's stead for a close friend of the High Prime.

It wasn't unusual for the young woman to be taking several tasks and duties from her mother's ever-growing burden, with Naerie having more than once vocally agreed that she had merely wanted to lessen up the load of problems, paperwork and general interventions in which the highest role in the Prime's government was required to give a look or more about.

And proving to be someone that stood on par to the exceptional leader of the continent in terms of beauty, intelligence and determination, the girl was also well-accepted as a good replacement in the few cases where the High Prime was supposed to be around to either mingle, strike deals or even be there as a calm presence but couldn't for better reason.

Which hardly could translate in anything even remotely serious nowadays.

The only thing that the younger Prime couldn't certainly compare to her mother was the Crest of Wisdom.

Lady Ambar had been the guardian of this strong connection to the deities of old even before the beginning of the Galactic War, people easily recognizing the might and the tactical cleverness she displayed in those trying times.

Sadly, the Crest had been rarely used by the woman, the Lady pointing out how smooth things were going for their civilization and that using the incredible power of Wisdom so selfishly would only anger those that had dispensed her this responsibility.

And she wasn't lying regarding the state of things, actually one could say that she was minimizing the height of her leadership with the curt reply to this crucial question.

Humanity and Prime-kind had been prospering from the eternal alliance for centuries now, the combination of both cultures promoting the best and optimal future for both races as they all walked towards a shining path of success and ever-lasting peace.

Yet, unaware to the servants' distracted thoughts about the matter, Naerie wouldn't have certainly declined any help coming from the Crest of Wisdom to answer some curious questions she had regarding the surreal situation that had developed during her investigation.

It had been a quite the curious week of work, she reckoned with a blissfully quiet thought, her mind reminding her of how a silly discovery of hers born from tiredness and boredom regarding the surprisingly-complicated case about Matt Newcastle had led to a confusing and suspicious revelation about the mysterious situation itself.

While the data available to her about the human's life, personality and general characteristics had been proven genuine and legitimate thanks to an accurate and precise study of the security system that had the first duty of keeping it all safe from any unpleasant eyes, her light-blue eyes couldn't help but widen up for a brief moment as she came to realize the presence of this minor and almost insignificant detail that gave off the worst development possible.

The information about the human was well-summarized and cataloged, the life-points brought up by the program being more than enough to give the young Prime a full sight over the young man's life and any possible hints and clues that could have suggested to anything regarding the 'fateful' night proving to be missing or even eluding her numerous analysis.

His photo had been there too, giving her a calm smile as she silently studied the case of this unique individual… and nothing came up from these first few days.

Everything was confusingly normal and there wasn't any anomaly that could allowed her to establish a lead to follow and determine what had happened that specific day.

Naerie had closed her eyes, leaned her back silently on her chair as she tried to plan out her following resting schedule. The case had indeed took her out from her usual daily routine, causing her to lose some precious sleep hours she wouldn't mind to obtain once again.

Then she returned to stare silently at the screen, trying to find anything from the initial page for the umpteenth time. It was a task she had gone through numerous times now and she was indeed feeling irritated at the lack of major progress about it.

Her eyes settled to finally lazily glance at the photo, her mind finding it curious how she was aware of his current looks while he was supposedly unaware of hers.

She had been surprised to learn from Minos that the young man was completely unaware of her real identity and that… had left her quite interested about the way he spoke to her. Quite formal, but not too much.

He was polite for the sake of being polite with another person. Which was an eased versions of the overly-formal tones she would have to endure during normal functions with her mother.

Then the girl's eyes wandered below his face, ignoring his blond hair and dark-sea orbs as she suddenly found a strange element fixed within the photo. A detail left by the camera responsible for taking this photo that finally gave her something to work with!

Naerie had given the picture little attention for a solid three days of dutiful research, her mind giving priority to the words and the text rather than the seemingly-normal image she had been provided with and then, after these three days of endless studying the case, her tired stare ended up falling to the edge of the picture where a small, and almost impossible to see at first sight, manifested to her brain.

The photo was supposed to have been taken five years ago during a renewal of Matt's ID card and passport. In fact, the date in the description presented right below the picture assured that it had been taken in 2212, the month and day ignored as the young Prime fixed on only the year.

If the young woman had to assume from the truthfulness of the folder given by the system that the image itself was legitimate and not a counterfeit to skeptically analyze for some foul manipulation, then the series of yellow numbers written there for everyone there to see were to be taken in with a serious and undeniable mindset as they were part of the proper picture.

The reasoning behind this thought was actually simple as, instead of the expected '2212' given by the machine-provided description, the photo gave a completely different date that had left her… quite stomped. It was the first time for Naerie to see an impossibly-genuine proof as the one she had just proven and yet it was there for her to see in its full glory.

Still, the Bear Prime ended up dropping in what seemed to be a rather deep rabbit hole with the revelation that would follow up after that discovery, finding out about something a little more concerning and somewhat worrying than a mere case of kidnapping.

Without hesitation, the young woman had gone to check for anything regarding a 'Mattia Castelnuovo' right to the date mentioned and…

The Prime did end up finding a single match in her quick search and it was about someone with the name connected to the '2014' year she had found in the photo.

That little number was enough to send her stomach knotting nervously at the impressive result it had just yielded, revealing something she wouldn't have expected to find with that shocking connection.

Showing the same calm smile and portraying the same appearance that the girl had just witnessed shown in the picture, Naerie blinked several times at the same photo she had just came to look at.

It was here, the same picture that she had just come from thanks to the strange hint, but differently from the original file, there was no description to this file compared to the one she had just left from.

The young woman then proceeded to check for any hidden content that could have been masked by any lock on the system and her blue eyes had softly narrowed as she realized about the interesting large size of the file, hinting that it was indeed hiding something.

It was as big as the one she had just finished to study from, much less that a Gigabyte, but the girl soon realized that she couldn't actually access to the entire data because of the powerful lock set on it.

An odd development that did increase the worry currently stirring within her chest and enough to seek support from her mother for some answers about the maddening matter.

Naerie had been given access to the highest-level parameters of the system that contained, preserved and studied the data of the people living in Neo-Earth, thus providing her with the power to supposedly enter any profile she wished to look at thanks to her mother's trust over her good-will.

Of course, this was done in the name of duty and serious working as the security of the files was their utmost priority for the sake of keeping relations warm with the rest of the world.

Yet, with the file denying her true access, the Bear Prime was stopped from getting the answers she had wanted to bring up in the next call with Matt and she was also proven that her current security permissions weren't the highest possible.

She had sighed back then, once again leaning on her chair as to seek some advice over the matter and… she had promised to the young man some answers about what had happened to him.

The case was absurd, yet the normal citizen did need to learn about the truth of what had gotten him to instantly end up in Gossamer without any known means and reasons.

The young woman reflected on the very individual and she came to realize that the true reason she was this determined to find a solution to his worrisome problem was a little beyond sheer professionalism.

Considering the quirkiness of her usual days here at home and even outside, Naerie wouldn't be lying in saying that the minimal note of informality coming off by the end of the brief exchanges she had with Matt had been quite refreshing to digest compared to other individuals she knew about and she couldn't help but also compare these to the few times she would spend around Shin.

The eldest child of the Crest of Light had been her first friend, her childhood friend, someone that Naerie wasn't afraid to give blunt thoughts about doubts and situations she was aware of and she was happy to know that he was glad to spend some of his free time around her.

Being a hard-working student and a sociable individual, Shin was always there to gladly accept her invitations for some discussions and chats, sometimes leaving her with a minor doubt of doing bad towards the altruistic Tiger Prime.

It would always leave her quite doubtful the fact that with her request for help, Naerie was always depriving her close friend of the opportunity to get some important stuff done or even… get a girlfriend. He was already of age to know about the responsibilities of a relationship beyond mere friendship and the Bear Prime only wanted the best for him.

Which was to see him in a happy family with someone he loved to the fullest.

And it was her personal duty as his first and closest friend to make sure he would attain that happiness in due and proper time.

It was, in her genuine opinion, the highest of duties she could have been bestowed with, even beyond the mere one proposed by the role of High Prime.

But she was digressing with the unrelated topic, her mind returning to the present as she decided to finally stop with her silly pacing and to instead finally check on her mother's office.

While Ambar's schedule did say that there was a supposedly two-hours long meeting happening inside her office, the secretary sitting in the booth just outside the High Prime's room had been confused as she had denied the presence of any important individual coming to visit for that day.

Mustering up a determined sigh, Naerie decided to venture inside the office and prepared herself to deal with whatever was going on inside the office with her usual calm composure and her steel-like mind.

The young woman stepped inside the mostly silent room, quiet giggles greeting her ears just a moment after door behind her had closed shut and… she glanced at the origin of the noise, her sight landing right by the small area where the couches were.

Lying on her toned belly on the long couch nearby her desk, Ambar continued to mirthfully stare at what looked to be a photo-book.

The scene struck familiar to the girl, her eyes assuming a little more of panic as she walked towards the fellow Prime and… Naerie was given hint that it wasn't 'that' very photo-book she had made sure to have erased from existence.

Instead, what was displayed by the book was quite… familiar. And undeniably cute by just a glance.

The first of the many pictures was what had truly compelled the girl to pause from her planned request, just to see the one which childhood was currently being treated as a sweet mean to reach wholesome amusement from her giddy mother.

Set down on a bed and with his arms spread and waiting for a hug, a little human toddler was staring at the photographer (and the one watching the adorable picture) almost in a craving way, selfishly but cutely demanding for some cuddling.

He seemed so frail and innocent, him and his little tuft of sandy hair that-

…

Naerie blinked, tilting closer to see that the child had also a pair of dark-blue eyes.

Just like Matt Newcastle.

Her brain went still just for a mere instant as she recoiled from the cute sight and the sudden realization, her eyes slowly turning to the woman currently endeared by the thick book in her hands.

It was curious to see her mother spend her free time with a photo-book rather than enjoying the boons of her charms.

Yet the fact that she had been busy with anything different than this was more than enough to put the girl in a relaxed mood.

“Mother," Naerie started, waiting for Ambar to grace her presence. The woman did in fact realize of her rather close presence, the Bear Prime almost jumping in surprise at the call from her daughter.

Eyes going momentarily wide open, the High Prime relaxed quite quickly the moment she discovered whom had decided to interrupt her own 'study' of this curious character.

He was quite… adorable as a child and part of her mind couldn't help but wonder how he was faring right now.

Seriously, who wouldn't want to know how a cutie had turned out to be after a decade or two? Maybe even three and four?

“Oh, Naerie," She greeted with a nod and a tiny smile, sliding up the couch and taking a seat on it, gesturing her child to sit on the newly-created space beside her. “I didn't see you coming and… I hope there is a good reason to interrupt my important meeting."

The young woman blinked at the 'chiding' but complied with the request from her parent, relaxing a little at the surprisingly-comfy furniture.

“There is no one here-" Naerie tried to say, only to be interrupted by Ambar.

“Nonsense," The woman replied happily, bringing up the book. “In fact, I have the adorable fellow over there that was entertaining me with some amazing feat… like trying to get a hug out of me and-" She blinked, tilting her head to the side as if to think about something important.

“Do you think I should ask your dad for a son or… even another daughter?" Ambar's smile widened at the self-proposed idea. “Would you like to become a big sister, sweetie?"

The immense and sheer effort displayed by Naerie in not getting distracted by the confused request was portrayed by how she calmly replied back to her cheerful parent's silly escalation caused by the impossible to determine amount of sugar in those photos.

It was still a good question, but one that would have to wait for a better moment.

“Mother, I think we can discuss about this on a later date," The young woman said with a sigh. “I think you should see this now. It's important." She brought up the hologram with the second file regarding the human.

At first the High Prime had blinked at the sudden request, but soon she was humming quietly as she stared at the file herself with a proper glance.

Her eyes lingered for more than a handful of seconds, narrowing as she fixed her attention at the issue shown in front of her.

Then Ambar blinked again, this time her whole body tensing up just a little.

Differently from just a few moments ago, the quirky cheerfulness had vanished as a serious expression had appeared on her face.

The device was finally given to the Bear and the older woman started to study the document itself with an intrigued glance, her fingers wandering over the authorizations attached to the file.

None were being unlocked, even when the High Prime, the founder of the security system itself, was the one forcing the locks open.

“Now, isn't that surprising..." Ambar mentioned with a calm tone, her lips twitching in a flinch. “And also quite familiar, now that I think about it."

She then nodded and glanced at her daughter. “Is this the file about the human-"

“It's a second file dedicated to him." Naerie interrupted. “I found it thanks to the date shown by the picture-"

“Which would mean that someone had indeed hacked within the mainframe and created two different files from nothing." The woman finished with a sigh. “That is something that is indeed interesting… but I think I will have to ask to the only individual capable of doing this kind of stuff without leaving a single trace."

'So, mother knows about someone capable of doing this? Why didn't she tell me abou-'

“Still, I want you to return your focus on the 'why' he was brought here," Ambar mused back. “I don't think he is aware of what is going on and I would prefer him to be blissfully unaware of what you just discovered her."

“I'm supposed to call him soon-" Naerie tried to reason, hoping for her mother to not deny her the chance of getting some proper answers out from whoever she was going to meet up with soon.

“Oh?" Ambar blinked in surprise at the mentioning of this detail. Then her eyes glinted teasingly. “Does that mean that someone is interested in providing information to their 'client'? Do I need to bring him to dinner already or-"

“Mother." The quick interjection was met with silence. “I don't see him like that and I ask you to not disturb him for such a silly reason."

There was a pause…

Then Ambar smiled brightly and nodded.

“Sure thing, sweetie," She started with a happy tone. “But maybe you should take the day off for today." The woman concluded with another nod.

… “What?"

“You seem quite tired," The High Prime pointed out while humming, tilting close as to look at the girl's eyes. “And you have sleep-bags. Just get a day off so that mommy dearest doesn't feel concerned about her little cub."

Then the wise Bear Prime shrugged, smiling a cheeky smirk. “Maybe do some paperwork by home or… have fun with Shin?"

The young woman frowned at the innuendo thrown by her parent, but sighed as she realized that she was indeed feeling quite tired of what had just happened in the last three days.

She was a Prime, the daughter of the leader of the Prime-kind too, but Naerie did also spend three days trying to conclude this nigh-impossible case at once.

She had burned her energies in long studies and track-searching, all leading up to this frustrating development that pushed her out of the case. It was annoying… because she did want to call once again Matt.

To tell him that there had been a breakthrough, that she was really there to bring an end to this query and… she sighed and nodded.

“I suppose I can take a break." The girl admitted, a yawn trying and failing to reach out from her lips. “Also, I think I will contact Shin too-"

“Make it a full-day off to enjoy with Kate's sonny or I will see personally to recover your picture book and-"

“Try that and I will burn the strange clothes you keep in your wardrobe." Naerie shot back coldly, referring to the curious dresses that were inspired to some… cartoons?

Even Shin knew about them but he would turn rather shy when she would ask some explanation about those. It was like there was something 'off' about these that put her quite… in an embarrassed mood, especially by how skimpy some of those clothes were.

But feeling fairly tired and in need of some rest, the young Prime merely nodded as she stood up and started to walk towards the door-

“By the way, dear," Her mother said calmly and genuinely curious. “Is there something you wish to tell me about Matt Newcastle? Anything that I can find… interesting~?"

Naerie closed the door behind her quickly, a muffled groan managing to get through the small barrier she had put between herself and the rather-perverted woman.

“Meanie~!"

She let out a sigh as she nodded at the nearby secretary and started to make her way back to her room, her shoulders slumped a little as she wouldn't mind crashing on her bed for… a few hours.

Another sigh and Naerie was finally off for some proper rest…

Completely unaware that things were far more complicated than she thought them to be.

-----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-

AN

So, what do you think?

_ Other than the fact you should take the same advice I gave to my daughter? _

I'm fine-

_ It's almost midnight and you have been awake for almost twenty hours now. Go to sleep- _

I'm going, I'm going but… what do you think?

_ About what in particular? _

How I have shown you and how I alluded to-

_ It was well-done. Honest. But I think you need the sleep. _

I-I'm fi-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

_ Sigh, what a lovely dummy… I wonder if you are ready for tomorrow's surprise. Because I sure am~! _