John felt pretty bad for practically imprisoning Tamara in solitary confinement. The room they gave her was luxurious, one of the many unused parts of the former Thorne HQ, close to Scarlett’s own area. It had everything someone could ask for, except companionship. “You will keep your creepy ass inside these walls, understood?” Eliza stated.

“Yes, Bloodmother,” Tamara obeyed and sat down on a nearby chair. They closed the door, waited for maybe some drumming on the metal plate. Even after John had locked it with a keycard, nothing could be heard, however.

John looked at the blue card for a few moments. It was his, able to open every single door in the building. Well, unless Scarlett decided not to, ultimately she could change which code corresponded with which security levels freely. The entire building was under her control and she wielded the circuits inside with the same precision as a brain surgeon moved a scalpel. Which meant that the card itself was replaceable. He handed it off to Eliza.

“…That’s not a ring,” the blood mage noted when she took it. “The fuck am I supposed to do with this?” She didn’t have her own one, as she never even stepped into this building without John around. Of the cliques that had formed inside John’s harem, Eliza and Scarlett shared none. As a matter of fact, the redhead seemed to associate with none of the girls closer. Given her secretive loner tendencies, that wasn’t too surprising.

Rave poked the smaller woman on the forehead. “Ya know ya gotta stay back in that line, stay with the baby joke,” the Lightbearer jokingly reprimanded.

“Well, somebody has to visit her at sometime,” John presented his logic for the decision. “Since you usually don’t have a lot to do and she only reacts to you anyway.”

“You expect me, slobby, perverted, fuck-ass human hating, piece of shit me, to go out of my way to visit that super fucking creepy piece of shit addicted to my BLOOD?!” Eliza laughed out loud. “Are you kidding me? I’m not doing anything for that whore.”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything,” John shrugged. “But I am going to be disappointed if you just leave her vegetating in there.”

“Es...ehrs...mhrm,” Eliza made a series of indiscernible noises. The idea of disappointing him clearly struck a chord with her whose sound she definitely disliked. Nevertheless, her natural reluctance was making a clear decision impossible.

The Gamer went ahead and opened up some more about his decision. “Look, we both know that your misanthropy is justified, but you’ll still have to get over it to at least some degree. I think that you having at least some responsibility for another person is going to be healthy,” as he said that, he got the sudden idea for a convincing cherry on top. “Just imagine its training for our kid. The way she is now, she is basically a four-year-old anyway.”

“…Okay, what-fucking-ever, wszystko jedno, I just have to visit her every now and again, right?” Eliza grumbled and put the card in a pocket of her leather pants. Although she still didn’t seem enthusiastic, the fact that she at least agreed was enough for John to reward her with a little kiss.

“Good,” he let all his approval flow into that one word while he pulled back, then he finally had to turn to the other matters of today. “Alright, I’ll go meet Scarlett now to talk political strategy. I don’t expect you want to join us?”

“Fuck no, I am going to watch some shitty sitcom and get this fucking thing off my mind for the moment,” Eliza erratically exclaimed and walked away, closely followed by Rave who winked at her boyfriend.

“Also gonna go with no, tiger,” she mused while waving goodbye. Neither of them wanting to go along was expected, given their disinterest in politics and all of that. That aside, John felt good knowing that they trusted him, or rather him handling his blindness, enough to leave him alone, even if it was just for the short stretch up the stairs.

While he had to head up to the same floor as the two girls, them going ahead and taking the stairs with the ease of the able meant that they were already through the teleporter by the time he got up there. He himself ignored the pavilion-esque outpost with its sky blue floor and instead turned towards the wall, which opened pretty much immediately.

Of course, Scarlett had been listening on every word they said, so her reacting quickly to his wish to enter was unsurprising. The wooden wall cover slid open, revealing countless cogs and mechanisms behind that turned this floor, even more than any other, into a place that Scarlett could manipulate according to her wishes. John stepped into the room and the wall closed behind him.

There was only a single table in there. Walls and floor were blank, revealing cables, resting limbs of metal, drones or other tools. Scarlett was standing in her usual position in front of the window that separated her from the outside, looking down on the city.

‘Wonder how much she invested into making those glasses secure from all manners of scrying,’ John thought as he approached her. Looking at her finely cut suit, he felt a light disdain for that style of clothes all of a sudden. It just didn’t define her ass properly, which was the most feminine thing on that androgynous beauty. Something about the way she stood thrust her hips out more than usual as well. He passed the metal desk, including her hat lying on top and stopped next to her on the window. Now that New York was in a level three barrier, the view from here was more fantastical than it had ever been.

He could see Liberty Island, the enlarged version with the Guild Hall structures scattered over it, and the numerous building projects all over the city. “You’re making my city quite productive,” Scarlett stated and took a huff from her cigarette while she reached between the red and black of her shirt and vest and pulled out a new keycard. “Don’t give away this one. Scrubbing all the access codes takes time I could use more productively.”

“Thanks,” John took it off her and put it into his inventory. She seemed taller than usual. “Don’t want to give Eliza access to everything? Don’t you trust her?”

“In my experience, people at that level of power don’t bother with double-checking everything,” Scarlett mumbled into her cigarette, speaking more clearly after she blew out the smoke. “So, no, I don’t trust her, but not for reasons of her personality.”

“Fair enough,” the Gamer had understood from the start, but he just wanted to start this conversation lightly. “…Sorry it took me until now to come here.” Although they had communicated through text, this was the first time in almost three days they saw each other. “I rationalized that you would have the patience to wait.”

“You weren’t wrong,” the Technomancer dropped the remains of her cigarette on the floor, where the ashes broke off the butt and all was quickly flattened by her elegant shoes. No, only the tip of her shoes. She turned around and there was a very distinct clacking sound.

“Are you wearing high heels?” John was entirely confused by that. Of all the people, Scarlett seemed too practically minded to get herself into that kind of shoes. The only person John found less likely to compromise her footwear like this would have been Lydia.

“Yup,” Scarlett answered and dropped into her leather chair. “Imagine this, you are trying not to worry about this guy that you’re using, being used by and that you feel strangely fucking attracted to. Then you get the news that he has gone blind and then he doesn’t even come visit you for two days. While you are working your ass off, looking at the situation pragmatically, you get a bit horny and look at yourself in the mirror, remembering that you aren’t the most feminine of fellows. Subsequently, you remember you both hate and don’t own any dresses, but you have these fucking shoes, right? Might as well put them on, see if he even notices.” She kicked both of the high heels of her feet and revealed the smooth scarlet stockings underneath. “Evidently yes, but he doesn’t sound attracted by them, so you are left with a very irritating cocktail of emotions. Speaking of which, you want something?” Fluidly, she gestured towards a part of the wall that opened up in response to show an array of cooled beverages.

“…I get the feeling I should drink whatever you’re having so you forgive me,” John said, walking over to that wall.

“You see that thing with the skull? Bring me that,” Scarlett instructed, head leaning on her fist, looking after him with her crimson eyes. “And bring ice cubes.” Tilted as her posture was, her sharply cut, neck-length hair fell partly over her pink lips. John went along with it, even taking only that bottle, two glasses and the demanded ice.

“I am really sorry,” he stated again, part of the floor suddenly rising as a stool. Not on the opposite side of the table, but right next to Scarlett. Sitting down, he poured both of them just a little bit. The black stuff that split over the cubes like oil around an iceberg seemed somehow more liquid than water. In silence, they toasted by meeting their glasses and threw the stuff down.

The glasses were put back on the table. John noted that Scarlett’s glass no longer contained the ice cubes. With a raised eyebrow, he looked over to her, clearly swirling the ice around in her mouth. Before he could ask what the point of that was, a burning sensation spread through his mouth and he very quickly picked his glass up again, throwing the frozen water where it evidently should have been from the start.

It melted much faster than usual, neutralized the hotness and left a strong, pleasant peppermint taste behind. “Phew,” John let out and then was met with a quiet snicker that quickly grew into earnest laughter. Within a few moments, Scarlett’s feet drumming on John’s thighs and he couldn’t help but laugh with her.

There was no saying what exactly was so funny, but the redhead seemed like she needed it and it just jumped over to John. They sat there, two of the most intelligent people that John was aware existed, like morons that heard a fart joke.

“You are such an idiot,” Scarlett finally reprimanded him, still chuckling a little. The smile on her face was slight, but it was there and it stayed. That was enough for him. “Do you make a habit out of drinking suspicious liquid marked with skulls?”

“Only when you’re offering,” John defended himself, Scarlett still using him as her footrest. Another thing he was entirely fine with. Putting his skills to good use, he began massaging her. “What are the odds I won’t even be able to know where I am in a few moments?”

“None, that stuff has less alcohol than beer,” Scarlett answered, swirling the bottle. “It’s just fancy mouthwash. Didn’t want to taste like a smoker in case this leads to more.”

“I see,” John touched some particularly good spot, or at least that’s what he assumed happened, as Scarlett slumped in her seat and sighed. “…Really sorry that I am only coming now.”

“Don’t be,” she stated. “Not your fault I don’t know how to deal with wanting you beyond your body. I am just happy you are fine… can you show me?”

John took off his glasses, hooking them into the neck of his shirt, and then, with way more effort, the contact lens in his left eye. There was no reaction upon seeing it, nothing major at least. The Technomancer just quietly looked for a few moments, then nodded.

“Don’t know what I expected,” Scarlett said and stretched towards her hat while John got the lens back in. That was a thing he was getting pretty good at, at least. Even without any visual support. The moment his hands were free again, the redhead threw something his way. With the way his perspective was currently a head lower, it was a wonder he caught it successfully. Even then, there were a few seconds of that wonderful game of ‘do I have a firm grasp or not?’ with his hands losing contact again and again until he finally had it.

John was holding some sort of sphere. Baelementium, as he quickly realized, and enchanted. “What is this?” he asked.

“A prototype for the core of the Mandala Sphere,” Scarlett provided the information he needed quickly. “Weak hovering enchantment, too weak to serve as a replacement, but it’s going to make your morning routine a bit easier, I reckon.”

Having a movable drone would indeed make it easier to find his way out of bed than searching for a pair of glasses would be. The two weren’t even mutually exclusive, so it was a good idea anyway. John expended a Possession Slot on the thing and was subsequently one perspective richer. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scarlett waved off. “Now show me what happened to the final product.”

“Well… you are not going to like this,” John warned her and reached into his inventory. What he pulled out looked like a bronze sphere of butter that had melted down halfway on one side like it had contact with a pan. Some of the shards for the other side were missing, making that half look more like a cracked egg.

“Oh fuck me, Sigmund needs to die for what he did to this thing,” Scarlett complained as John placed what was effectively just scrap on the table.

“What about for what he did to me?” John wanted to know.

“Your eyes, who even needs your eyes? Your dick is still intact, that’s all everyone cares about, stop whining,” the Technomancer let him know, a display of crude and rather dark humour. Not that John was offended by this, they just had their earnest moment, this felt more like their regular talks. The normalcy was pleasant. “You weren’t kidding when you wrote its unsalvageable. We’ll have to forge the entire thing again. Fucking fantastic, that’s going to guzzle a bunch of resources.”

“Yeah… well, all of that aside, there are several other things I want to talk about,” John wanted to move this along, put his glasses back on his nose and was ready to move this thing along when Scarlett opened her legs and his seat drifted as close as it could.

“No,” Scarlett said. “First,” her legs closed around his back, “you’re doing something for me.”

“…Can we just cuddle?” John joked.

“Want to speculate on the chances of that answer being positive?” the Technomancer returned.

Of course, they did more than cuddle.