Omake 35: Meanwhile at the MiH HQ (2)

Hannah was bored out of her mind.

With Bhediya not around to pet like the crazy dog-lady she was turning into to keep her stress under check, the pseudo-vampire could only pout and whine to herself, unwilling to drive crazy poor little Sarah as she failed to understand the degree of madness just bubbling at the lack of Action. And Dio. Especially Dio. Her beloved was overseas, facing what he described in his letters as a dangerous woman that came from the future. It would have sounded insane if the girl herself hadn’t already faced some oddities in the past few years. The world was bizarre and it turned crazier when someone tried to rationalize it. So, in a sense, the best way to win was by being one step away from defeat and always succeeding against the obstacles before them. But for boredom? There wasn’t much she could do beyond having chats with Erina, helping Sarah with her studies and keeping the company afloat by reasserting the influence they currently had in Britain and France. The latter country had been just a recent addition, just a few months before Dio left for his trip in the US, and it sure had been a distracting element compared to other things in the British Isles.

First, she had to admit that the oddity that was the French Intelligentsia was refreshing compared to the traditional sense driven by some British writers and artists. Emile Zola was a jovial man with a strange view of life. He had found himself in the middle point of some controversies, but he was better known for his unusual take on family and how some aspects could be tied to a degree of genetics. The rest of the avant garde was made by young men and also women who were interested in the company and sought a form of patronage. But it wasn’t just cultural-based as technicians, engineers and inventors were rewarded handsomely for joining and becoming part of Made in Heaven. There were many that saw the chance to test out some of their ideas until they managed to find a solution to some of the flaws tied to them. The first of many novel inventions was a proper parachute. It had been a project which was somewhat influenced by Dio’s thought and Hannah’s understanding of floating mid-air. Her Stand offered her the means to test out this specific experiment without suffering any damage or causing any causality among those that would have tried it on themselves. The result was an easy-to-use but difficult to produce parachute that was a hot sale for the military of both countries plus Germany, but also by the civilian governments as a way to prevent accidents for those using hot balloons.

Of course, this was the first of many useful experiments. Hannah was awed by the determination and sheer creativity of some men and women that were put at work. In particular, she eyed some of the ladies’ ideas in advancing some parts of fashion to be more reasonable and comfortable. Especially the underwear as a simplification just felt like a blessing considering how troublesome it was nowadays to get prepared as quickly as she needed without tearing apart any of her available dresses in the process. But among the myriad of available ideas that could be fostered and developed, one in particular caught Hannah’s full attention but also the disapproval of pretty much anyone that caught her studying this. Even Bhediya when he first heard about it before leaving to check on Dio. The Airplane was a combined effort by British and French scientists. Some of them had already started delving into this topic on their own, but they realized how a research group as well-assembled as the one MiH could have offered gave them the opportunity to realize their wishes at a higher chance of success. The idea of a flying vehicle that was faster, sturdier and possibly capable of long treks interested the young woman as she could imagine Dio’s face at the sight of her arriving where he was at a higher speed than a normal train could allow him to.

Of course, this was not a complete idea, and definitely one that was far from allowing her to pull that kind of prank. The first prototypes had been a bit disastrous, but they had been rightfully so to allow the scientists to study ‘what to do’ from ‘what to not do’. The plan was expensive, but it avoided the meaningless deaths of many pilots as the experiments were done carefully and through extensive care. Notes over notes, understanding flaws and rewriting mistaken thoughts, the process was maturing better prototypes on a daily basis. Engineers were starting to grasp the idea behind the entire situation, and were keen to drop their own notes on any errors they could find up close and personal. In the end, the idea of surprising Dio with that had to be shelved, but it was definitely going to be possible to make flights across the country by the end of the year. And that was still a major breakthrough for the sake of journey-making, thus bolstering trade and influence at the same time for the organization while also lessening the length of trips across the Channel.

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But beyond that, Hannah was still bored. So much so that she made a single request to Muddiburi. One that she easily realized was really bad on her at first due to how literally the old man took her words. She wanted a fight, a serious challenge. He gave her one in the form of a vicious hand-to-hand spar that put her on the ropes for the first few minutes. The brunette broke a sweat while trying to handle the insane speed tied to the man’s body, the Hamon coursing within him making his physical capacities exceed what would normally those be for someone his age and size. In a sense, Hannah was amused by it. And yet not. It was a challenge, but not one that actually sparked much in her as she eventually overwhelmed the teacher. Age was already making its way to him in the form of how resilient his body was nowadays, but he was far from retiring as a warrior.

Once again, before the blink of an eye, Hannah was bored and… the only thing this time giving her calm was rereading the latest letter from Dio. He stubbornly clung at the idea of keeping writing to her after ‘the little New York issue’, showing with this that he really meant it when he wrote he had left hastily due to how random events drew his attention away from sending the first letter out. She could forgive him for that, especially when he started to bring up little Bloody and the curious individual that was Kate Aryoko. A woman, but not a rival from the way Dio described her. He mentioned her as someone that Hannah would be more keen to befriend as he considered her as something of a close ally if not family at best.

Family-zone is just the better version of what Dio told me is a friendzone after all.

At least, that was what her logical self argued against her more jealous side. Still, she trusted in him to not make any ‘silly mistakes’ and that his promise for a pretty stone to put on her ring to make the whole worrying trip worthwhile if not more. She really waited to go through that marriage and…

“Hannah! I think I made cookies!”

Hannah’s attention was brought back to reality, her eyes widening as she saw a smiling girl holding a tray with… charred small things. Back in Dio’s old office, the pseudo-vampire had been trying to get the paperwork for today done. In a way, she missed Dio because she really didn’t know how horrifying this nightmare was to endure on her own. She was definitely going to give him some apologies for the times she teased him for any whining coming from this atrocious torture she was now struggling against. Still, her nose perceived a fire at the floor below and hopefully the workers managed to set out any issues before some gunpowder crate exploded. She wasn’t really planning to deal with that disaster for the third time this week.

“I think we agreed to cook together next time, Sarah. You know, to avoid messes like the fireworks accident.”

The girl pouted at being reminded of this so suddenly, so much that she dropped the hot tray on the desk and completely destroyed what were called ‘cookies’ into numerous black pieces of burnt compound.

Never too easy in this wild home of hers, but the soon-to-be crowned queen loved her subjects regardless of the strains those put to her sanity. After all, his king would definitely bring forth many gifts if he didn’t want to be punished for leaving her in charge of this maddening kingdom that they still both monarchs held dearly close to their hearts.