As soon as she entered to the taxi station, the closest vehicle automatically opened its doors. And she gladly fell into the comfy embrace of its seat.

Unlike the resort, her city wasn't windy enough to reduce the onslaught of the summer heat. But on the other hand, as soon as the taxi received the destination, she could open a window and passively enjoy the view instead of walking.

As the city whistled by, Tsune kept glancing at her phone. Her attention was on the satellite map and the faintly glowing dot in its center. Her location marker smoothly moved through the streets, showcasing yet another subtle difference between this world and Earth that she was interested in.

No roads had sharp turns, always changing their direction slowly. And even when the available space was limited, such as the entries to the elevated skyroads, they chose to do it in a wide semicircle fashion.

The blonde leisurely tried to argue with herself about whether the reasons behind the road design were from tradition, or pragmatism. But as her taxi passed through the legs of a construction mech that carefully walked through the streets, a strikingly different idea took her mind.

It appeared when the blonde saw that the robot was carrying a container almost as big as her family house. Its metal structure was bent and scratched around the handle points, showing this was a routine task. And it was held higher than most of the surrounding buildings.

An involuntary chill went down her back when she imagined the giant stumble. That container would smash through the roofs like a mace.

"I wonder if the spiral power antennas double as shield generators."

-

As Tsune's destination laid in the central district, the skyroad rose higher and higher. Eventually it left the suburban city far below.

Now the road went around the middle of high rise buildings, that were so tall their tops looked close to the clouds. Whether they were wide and flat landing pads, or needle skyscrapers with holographic advertisements, all of them were massive.

And as she saw before her car came to a stop, the skyroad floor was covered with shops, workshops and entertainment as densely as the ground level.

-You have arrived. Second Layer. Shop *Service Uniforms*-

-

In the shop, the first one she met was Eider. He was in the same black suit that he wore in the resort. And the similarly dressed Hem stood near him, reading a book.

'Wasn't Den supposed to come?'

Eider hit the other boy with his elbow to make him return her handwave and answered.

'Aery refused to let him leave her side. Said she already bought hers.'

Tsune looked at the other boy, who looked anywhere but in her direction, and her hands rose in exasperation.

'Its not that I don't believe you, but if its another love angel play, I'll just leave. No harsh feelings, but I had enough of that at home. '

'That I promise. She did it last minute when I already talked Hem into leaving the hangar. And If I rescheduled, he would be too deep into his project to go outside.'

Eider walked around the black haired boy and lightly pushed him forward.

'Come on, tell her what you've been working on.'

Hem quickly stepped aside to keep his distance to the blonde, before going back to his book.

'Its not ready yet. And I didn't take my phone, so let's just do what we came here for.'

'I agree.'

Tsune's cold voice put an end to the antics and, defeated, Eider made a wide gesture down the hall.

-

But the task was harder to do alone than the girl imagined. She had to study the labels and cross reference them with the shop's knowledge site. And the costumes weren't just clothing.

The one that attracted her attention the most was a blue bodysuit. It came with a lot of accessories and gadgets in a separate package for a separate price. Looking at the cover image Tsune imagined herself in it and smiled. It would make her look like a science ninja.

The only problem was not knowing how to use the devices and its manual was no help. It assumed she already knew all of the technical words and abbreviations it had.

She spun a slim metal device that was supposed to attach to her hip. Then played with long forearm bracelets, looking both on outside and inside surfaces. But neither action could help her understand their purpose any further.

"Well, I'll just go for looks then."

-

Half an hour later, she gathered several suits she liked, including the likely winner. And then presented them to Eider. As Den's representative, he gave her opinions of his own.

'This one.'

'Its not a pilot one, its personal defense.'

The girl put down a leathery bodysuit with neon seam lines and turned to the other candidate.

'This one?'

The boy took the two piece suit with a lot of straps and button anchors and looked at the label. Then he carefully glanced at her figure and put it aside.

'No offense, but I don't think you'll fit.'

'What about?'

'Its a mass produced wrap type for enviroment protection.'

To showcase his words, he took the matte sleeve of a suit that looked like a long sheet. It was several times bigger than his arm, but after wrapping it around, the material layers clung together like they were glued.

And before Tsune could point at her next choice, he took the initiative.

'The honeycomb one piece is universal. Its a nanomesh that adapts to your needs. If you can afford it, I have nothing. I'll just go sulk in the corner.'

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

'How do you even know all of this?'

Eider flashed a smile.

'You need to know these things to make new contacts on the Ring. I can help you to choose if you want.'

'Help me with accessories then.'

-

"He's such a spoilsport."

Tsune went to the changing room with the last option, a blue two piece made from dense cloth. It was close to the science ninja one but with only two simple devices.

When the girl put it on, she couldn't help but feel disappointed. She imagined the trip as somethng between the start of an adventure and a museum of past legends. But he made it so routine.

And even as thankful as she was for his help, he completely failed to read the mood she had built up.

"What am I even thinking about. He can't read my mind."

'I'm done.'

'Okay. Now put the belt around your waist and mold its plastic around as you want. Then attack the short stripe to the collar. They'll monitor your health and let you access them wirelessly for as long as they have body heat.'

The girl pulled down the zippers on her arms and thighs. With the bodysuit now looking as a summer sleeveless shirt and shorts, she put the rest into a bag and went out. Her job here was done.

-

Back at home, as Tsune stuffed her purchase into the wardrobe she heard her mother's call for lunch. And that was when she received the news.

'By the way, your father had something important to tell you yesterday, but you were already asleep.'

'What was it?'

'I didn't ask.'

'Why didn't you wake me up before he left for work?'

'Well, if I did, it would distract you from your shopping trip. Its no fun when your thoughts are elsewhere.'

The blonde could only sigh and finish her meal. Even if Lady Red had the best intentions, it just made her worry about her father more.

-

Tsune spent the rest of day watching a movie. It was a story about a small workshop owner who struggled to balance helping those around him and reaching success.

But when one of the local mech teams declared that the city must bend to their will to remain safe, he rose up to the challenge. Together with a small circle of people, bound together by daily interactions, he fought the former protectors who spiraled down into villainry.

"This is so annoying."

As the credits rolled, she leaned back, resting her head on top of the chair.

Even after the whole day of guessing, the possibilities of what she could expect from her father were still too varied. It could be anything from a cake as an apology for not being able to meet after her vacation, to being transferred to another planet.

It was getting annoying enough that the girl was ready to speak her mind.

'Are you worried for father?'

Hearing her mother's voice come from the kitchen, the blonde sighed and turned the tv off. Even if feelings could be hurt in the process, she needed to say it.

'I'm not worried for him, I'm worried about him.'

Once inside the kitchen. Tsune saw that her mother ignored the automated systems.in favor of manually cooking. And judging by the timers on the stove and oven, her father's return was still far away.

'And if you asked him, I wouldn't have to worry.'

'Sorry, but we prefer to leave work stuff at work. And, well, my specialty are people, his are robots, we would argue anyway.'

Her mother winked and moved the lid off a boiling pot with a single lightning fast motion. Scooping a full spoon of the evening light soup, she offered it to her daughter.

'Maybe its how we remained together for all these years. Remember my advice when you meet that special someone.'

'Mother, please!'

'Now taste this for me, okay? If its ready, you can have supper before us.'

-

The time was close to midnight when Tsune finally relented and went to her bedroom. Even if Lady Red wasn't against her waiting even further, tomorrow's heat would less than tolerable if her body was off balance due to lack of sleep.

"Just need to delay it by this much."

If what her mother said about the assistant device being brought every night was true, then there was a chance to set things straight today. And if Tsune was right about stove timers, she knew the right clock settings to talk to him.

-

An obnoxiously loud sound hit hard and she opened her eyes. Above, blurry white sleeves fumbled with her phone to turn the alarm off. She brushed several strands of hair away to attract his attention.

'Mother said that you have something important to say.'

'I just wanted to boast a bit about our success at the lab, But I'm not sure if it's that important.'

'I thought it was something over the top again. If you want do something for me, can you tell me about it before you do it?'

Her father quietly laughed as he took out the assistant device to return it.

'Your mother gave me quite a mouthful when I made you this. So, when its done, we'll go to the lab and you'll make the decision by yourself.'

Suddenly, his expression turned serious.

'She also told me a boy called you for a shopping trip. Is there something I should know?'

With a sigh, Tsune shook her head and laid back down. The important matter has revealed itself and paled in comparison to the promised decision in the future.

'No, one of them was worried about you being overprotective, but otherwise they are nice people.'