“Aw, fuck.”

“Are you not happy to talk to me?” My father asked. “It’s been years since I last saw you. I’m just trying to catch up.”

Noah read the room and left the cockpit. He could tell that I wanted some privacy, thankfully.

I sighed. “Cut the bullshit. We both know why I cut contact.”

“I had total trust you would survive that. You’re very talented, after all. Must’ve been my genes.” My father chuckled. It was a low chuckle that was devoid of friendliness.

“Yeah, whatever.” I scoffed. “What do you want? Get to the point already.”

I could hear the creak from Father’s seat as he leaned forward. “I don’t want anything. I was only calling to let you know something.”

“And that is?”

“That you’re the Togumo with the human in that viral video.” Father said.

Fuck. My father was a mercenary, but he also did some bounty hunting from time to time. The fact that he discerned my identity from that video was a very bad sign.

“What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“Well, the bounty on that human is quite large, and my connection to you means that I have a massive lead over the others. I’m just formally announcing that I’ll be visiting you. And when I visit, you’ll hand over that human.” My father said.

“What makes you think I’ll just hand him over?”

My father laughed. “I’ll get him one way or another. You’re running around with a lot of creds. It’d be a waste if you had it.”

I cut the call and pressed my hand to my face. My father was not someone I wanted to deal with right now.

“Noah, I need to talk to you!” I called.

Noah reappeared, emerging from the bedroom.

“Are you done with your call?” Noah asked.

“Yeah, I just cut it. It was my father, who I haven’t talked to in years.” I said.

“And by the sounds of it, you don’t like him very much.” Noah noted.

“He’s a mercenary too, so he pretty much taught me everything I know. I was a part of his merc crew for a while until we fucked up a job and he cut me out to dry. Used me as bait and got me into a sticky situation, then left me for dead. So yeah, I don’t like him.”

“Yeah, I can totally see why you don’t like him.” Noah replied. “My parents were kinda bad, but in a normal way. Your dad is totally crazy.”

“That’s not the worst part, though. I don’t know if you overheard, but basically he was calling me to demand that I hand you over. He’s coming after your bounty.” I sighed.

“What are we going to do, then?” Noah asked.

“We’re probably going to have to shoot him.”

----------------------------------------

After that bit of bad news from my father, I received good news from Yori. They had finished both of our suits and were sending it over to us. It’d arrive at the station we were headed to at roughly the same time we did, so Noah and I would be able to pick it up almost immediately. I also told Yori about my father.

Yori: Damn, your father decided to pop back up again, huh. I remember when he ditched you the first time. That shit sucked, but at least it got you away from him.

Saka: Yeah, he’s only motivated by money. He’s a greedy bastard. Thanks for letting me crash at your place back then, by the way. That got me back on my feet.

Yori: Don’t mention it, that was years ago. Anyways, I hope the new suits I made for both of you help out a bit. They’ve got some new things, so I also sent over manuals on how to use them. The suits should give you an edge over your father.

Saka: Thanks, Yori. I appreciate it. I need anything I can get. My father is one thing, but the last time I checked, he has dozens of people on his crew. We’re super outnumbered.

Yori: Can’t you run or hide from him? How is he tracking you down, anyways?

Saka: I have no idea how he’s going to find me, but he sounded really confident. I feel like running or hiding would be useless. My best bet is to probably confront him, or force him into a trap or something. I have no idea how, though.

Yori: Good luck with that. Kick his ass for me!

Saka: I’ll try.

Yori: Hey did you see that new TV show about the Xilashi and Sabi couple? The size difference is INSANE. I wonder if his toothpick can even-

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I closed Yori’s message board.

----------------------------------------

For the remainder of our journey, Noah and I chilled and watched TV shows on our tablets. I was bored enough to try out Yori’s recommendation, and it was surprisingly good. I also forced Noah to start my favorite shows and I amused myself by watching his reactions to my favorite scenes. It was a really good way to pass the time, and soon enough, we arrived at our destination.

This station wasn’t really a station at all. It was a city on a moon. A small moon with an atmosphere, oceans, and grasslands. It orbited a much, much larger gas giant. This whole moon was pretty much a huge trading hotspot thanks to its bountiful resources and beauty. Moons that were like livable planets were rare. There were five cities on this small moon, and every single one of them specialized in trade. We were stopping here because the population was high and there tended to be a lot of work for mercenaries like us.

Our stealth ship was rated for atmospheric entry, so we were perfectly fine. I hadn’t done an atmospheric entry in a while, but the autopilot took care of most of it so no problems arose. Soon after the heat dissipated from our ship and the sky turned blue, the Komori docked at a docking bay in Zip City.

Our first order of business was to visit the post office. Yori’s suits had arrived about an hour before us, so they were ready to be picked up. Noah and I visited a nearby vehicle rental, only to find that they were out of motorcycles temporarily. The only similar thing they had was a moped.

Noah and I rode our dinky little moped down to the post office.

“Y’know,” Noah said, “This is a lot lamer than the motorcycle we used.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.” I grumbled. “Maybe if we come back tomorrow they’ll have something better. But I just wanted to pick up our new suits as fast as possible.”

“I don’t know, this moped is pretty nice.” Noah teased. “I think we should keep it. It’s intimidating.”

“I’m not buying a damn moped.”

I had nothing against mopeds, they were just a little too slow. The motorcycle was definitely more my vibe.

After several excruciatingly slow minutes passed, Noah and I finally arrived at the post office. I scanned my tablet on a locker, and out popped two packages. I double checked to make sure that they were the right ones, and we were soon on our way back to the ship.

We opened Noah’s suit first. It was pretty similar to Noah’s old suit, but it was black and gray instead of navy blue. The helmet visor was still heavily tinted, and the suit had a few more attachments on it. I read the manual that Yori had included.

I didn’t change what Noah’s suit was shaped like by a lot because of the data I got a few months ago. I just added improvements and changed the color. Anyways, his helmet now has a flashbang cell, a strap on the back for his rifle, and a hidden knife compartment. I also added a smoke emitter so he can make a smokescreen, although it's very limited in use and you have to load a smoke grenade into it. Overall, I just added a few more tricks that Noah can use to get out of sticky situations.

Noah nodded. “These new gadgets are definitely going to be useful. Yori really stepped up their game. Hurry, Saka, let’s see yours.”

I ripped open my package in excitement. It was a lot smaller than Noah’s which had left me baffled since I got it. Inside the package was… a bundle of wires? It had some compartments attached to it, too.

I picked it up and held it up. The bundle of wires neatly unfolded into a silhouette of a person. A silhouette of me, actually. It was a series of wires that made a Togumoid shape.

I tilted my head in confusion. “This doesn’t really look like a suit, does it?”

Noah pointed at the manual that was still inside the box. “Just read that.”

Surprised, aren’t you! This is a new prototype suit I cooked up. I was actually working on this at the suit department in the military for a while. They wanted a discreet suit for undercover operations. This is one built specifically for you, in my free time. It’s basically wires that function as a suit. You wear them under your clothes, and they function exactly the same as a suit. You still have suit functions like shields, oxygen, and whatnot. The wires pretty much create a force field more flexible and stronger than standard, allowing you to be shielded without actually wearing a suit. On top of that, people can’t even tell you’re wearing a suit! They’ll think you’re just in plainclothes.

I know this is a far cry from your old armored suit, but you did ask for something discreet. This is as discreet as it gets. I guarantee it's easy to move in, and it’ll keep you safer than the last one. Oh, and make sure to send me the data when you get into a gunfight. I’m still developing these.

“It’s definitely not what I expected.” I muttered. “It’s barely a suit!”

“I can tell it’s something amazing, though.” Noah replied. “You’re going to be wearing the first of its kind!”

“Alright, let’s go try these on, then.”

Noah went to the bathroom to change while I stayed in the bedroom. I had to strip off my clothes, since it was meant to be worn underneath them. It was seriously difficult to get my legs and arms into the wire frame.

“Are you done yet?” Noah called. “I’m good over here!”

“Not yet!” I screeched.

The bathroom was connected to the bedroom. If he came out, he’d see me changing.

After a few more frustrating minutes of trying to squeeze myself into the “suit” later, I was finally done. I threw on my clothes and jacket over the wiresuit and rotated my joints. No chafing, no uncomfort.

“Okay, you can come out now.” I called.

Noah stepped out of the bathroom, wearing his new suit.

“Hey, you look a lot more tactical now. And edgy.” I teased.

“Hey, at least I’m not wearing a micro bikini.” Noah retorted.

I laughed. The wiresuit did look a lot like a micro bikini, except it crossed around my body several times, not just covering the vital bits. But, with my clothes over it, nobody could tell it was even there.

“Okay, well, these new suits should help hide our identities. Everyone is still looking for a Togumo in a dark purple suit and a human in a blue one. This should get them off our backs, for a while.”

“Agreed.” Noah said. “These suits are pretty nice. We should send Yori a gift in return, or something.”

“That’s not a bad idea. If we spot anything they might like let’s grab it.” I stretched my arms and legs again, testing the wiresuit’s full range of motion. It didn’t restrict my movements at all. It was perfect.

“By the way, are we picking up a job today?” Noah asked.

I shrugged. “Up to you. I’m a little tired from the trip, and I kind of want to explore this city a bit. Do you want to work?”

Noah shook his head. “Let’s explore this city. This moon is a lot nicer than the last one we were on.”

We hopped off our ship and got back on our dinky little moped. It was starting to grow on me. It wasn’t as cool or fun as the motorcycle, but the moped was chill and low effort. It was perfect for a leisurely tour through the city.

Zip was a pretty nice city. It was a trade hotspot, so it was a tourist hotspot as well. Downtown Zip had dozens of skyscrapers, and even a tower that stood higher than any other building. The streets were crowded and there were tons of pedestrians. Not far from downtown was a huge park that surrounded a lake. Noah and I got off our moped for a bit to walk through the park. The weather was nice, and the park’s foliage and vegetation were perfectly maintained. Zip was probably one of the best cities I’ve been to.

Of course, this was limited to the rich parts only. If you went to the outskirts of Zip, you’d see a lot of poverty and homelessness. But today we were tourists, so Noah and I just went around the best sightseeing spots.

Our tour around the city took the entire day. After we did some sightseeing, we did some light shopping, bought a souvenir for Yori, and visited the night markets to get some takeout food. Zip had an entire area where food stalls would come out at night and sell delicious, cheap, and fresh food. Noah and I grabbed a wide variety of delicacies and took them back to our ship.

“You think Yori would like what we got them?” Noah asked, while eating. We were sitting at a little table that was built into the wall of the ship’s bedroom.

“Yori loves alcohol. I’m sure they’ll be happy.” I replied.

We had gotten Yori a few bottles of local wine that was only made on Zip. It was relatively famous. I’d heard of it a few times from people bragging about how good it was. It was expensive to buy outside of Zip, but on Zip, it didn’t cost that much. I’d even gotten a few bottles for myself, and stored it in the food stash. I planned to bust them out sometime later and test if they truly were that good.

“Y’know, Noah, hanging out today was pretty great. I was pretty stressed about the whole father thing, so being able to relax today was amazing.” I said.

“Hey, I’m just glad I got to explore another alien city. We didn’t take much time to explore the stations that we were at before, so walking around here was pretty exciting. It’s not so different from human cities, but everything was still familiar.” Noah replied. “And don’t worry about your dad. We’ll take care of him together.”

“I’m glad you have my back, Noah.”

My tablet dinged. I checked the contact. It was unknown, again.

“What is it now?” I complained.

I opened the text message that came in.

Hello, Saka. This is Bubbles. I noticed you’re here, in Zip. I happen to be here as well. Are you available to meet for a chat?

Bubbles was the suspicious and secretive mercenary back on Maralu. I had wondered if he got out of there alive. I wasn’t too close with him, but he gave off the impression that he was a nice guy. But Bubbles was still a mercenary, a skilled one at that. This was probably a trap.

Sure! When and where?