When Isaac left, Sera stood up and made her way to the exit as well. “If he’s gone, I’m gone. You know the deal.”

Jin had moved onto a new model he had started from scratch.

Lee had begun meditating, and his third eye reappeared, confirming that the limb was mystical and not a disease.

“So… How was the muffin?” Moca asked.

Kyrion noticed Moca’s heart rate had increased. “I’m seeing someone. Also, it was tasty. The salt really brings out the bitterness of the chocolate and coffee grinds.”

“I wasn’t asking you out.” Moca seemed confused, then worried.

“Hmmm? What’s wrong?” Kyrion raised an eyebrow.

“It was supposed to be sweet.”

.

“Use less salt and more sugar but you are onto something.”

“Also why did you think I was asking you out?”

“Your heart rate increased, so either you were asking me out, shy about me tasting that deliciously salty muffin, which is currently raising my blood pressure, or you were a distraction and worried that I’d notice something was being done behind my back.

“Uhh…”

Kyrion noticed someone run out of the room, their heart beating rapidly. Turning, he scowled as Kilo stood dumbfounded, his mouth stuck in an open position.

“So…Mira asked him out. Then ran away?”

“Stone Cold Kilo strikes again.” Moca shook her head.

“No… I think he said yes, and thats what shocked her. If you go in expecting to fail…”

“That heart rate hearing of yours…You wouldn’t have picked up on some information you shouldn’t have shared?”

“Hmmm? Kilo’s heart rate increased when lyra–”

“Mira?”

“Yeah, when she sat down. Then I discreetly nudged someone to act in a way that would cause Kilo to trip over himself in a response. It should take him a few seconds to come back.”

Kyrion could sense that Kilo’s soul had returned to his real body in shock. So he helped his cousin to a seat and kept an eye on him.

“Are you an Esper too?”

“A what now?” Kyrion asked.

“Like an empath? No if you were…”

“You ok?”

“Someone with psychic abilities. There have been quite a few people talking about them online recently. Jin is an Esper, for example. At least he seems like someone who’d be an Esper.”

“What can he do?”

“Not sure. He says it’s complicated.”

“I am probably not an Esper. Just observant.” Kyrion sighed in relief.

“Most Espers are quite observant.”

“If most amounts to two then your results are skewed.”

“Fair point.”

“Just curious, was the salty muffin really that good?”

“It tasted like chocolate cornbread. So I’d say it was good.” Food is sustenance, and he needs all the sodium he can get. Regeneration was sweat-burning work, even if it was cleansed the second it left his pores.

“That is…. Ok… I’ll go do my homework while waiting for Mira to come back.”

Kyrion made his way over to Jin. He knew when he was being too much for people, after all. “So, Jin what is–”

“Localized precognition.”

“That.” Kyrion pointed at the model.

“You’re interested in Swordam models?”

“Is that like a robot that you can ride in? If it was bigger?”

“This is a 1/80th scale model.”

“Curious. Would you happen to be an e–”

“An esper?”

“Engineer.”

“You don’t care about this magic stuff do you.”

“And you like trying to predict what i’m saying despite myself showing up to you as a blank. Your power can’t predict what I do next.Can it?”

“It has been wrong three for three. Similar power?”

“More complex. So Engineer?”

“Automotive Engineer, although that’s just so I can get to the parts I want to play with.”

“If you, say, had someone who could help you build a mech would you be willing to work with them as a subordinate in name but not position. See, i’ve wanted a mech for a little while now. But someone I know has wanted one for even longer. He can’t build it alone and doesn’t have all the experience you do with Swordam.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I would say that you’re insane, but if you are the guy then sign me up.”

“I’m not, but I am willing to help you get them up and running. Mechs may be the answer that the world needs.”

[MaStEr」Kyrion scowled as something entered his mind.

“If you can put a model kit together on you own, right now, then I’ll aggree. If you can’t then I set the terms.”

“As expected, Kyion finished his Swordam model in thirty minutes. Only he’d missed imputing quite a few pieces. Which resulted in some asymmetry and rigged up details.”

“Pretty good for someone who didn’t have an instruction manual, nor prior experience.”

“If you can get me the materials and tools, I’ll help you, otherwise leave me alone.”

“Do you need money?”

Jin looked at Kyrion as though he were a roach. “Who needs money when you have mechs?”

“I think i’ve just made a new best friend. Where do I get these kits for practice?”

“My dad sells official ones as well as some kits that we design and 3D print at our shop. Fan made Swordpla, which is hit or miss mostly. We also sell comic books and card game stuff. Do you know what Stc is?”

“I see… What is a 3D printer?”

“It lets us turn imagination into reality, albeit it’s limited to plastic.”

“Interesting. When are you free?”

“Club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays outside of events. I run the shop on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but am free on most Fridays and the weekend.”

“I guess I’ll–”

Mira re-entered the room and approached disheartened-looking Kilo. Both read the room and take their conversation elsewhere.

“Your name is Kyrion, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what the key that the dungeon requires looks like?”

“Not off the top of my head. Why? In my vision, there is a door that reads Kyrion is the key to me. So listen ye fools of this reality.”

“Karl sucks at riddles…”

“So you know that dungeon?”

“Potentially, but it shouldn’t be here if it’s coming. I need to buy a new T.V and some DvD’s. Karl loves some old fashioned mafia movies…You may also want to feed him a Swordpla. So he can pilot it. I’m 90% sure he jumped at a chance to come here, which shouldn’t be possible.”

“Are you the tiger Lee was referring too?”

“No. I’m probably the dragon, but don’t tell the others yet. I’m on vacation in this world.”

“You have world jumping magic?”

“Maybe.”

“Can I go?”

“Why?”

“I want to be able to build my mech without worrying about the supernatural FBI knocking on my door, also known as Cerberus.”

“Cerberus?”

“If your involved you must know about the cleaners?”

“Janitors, Slayers, and now Cerberus?”

“Yes, while Janitors and Slayers deal with problems that come from other worlds. Cerberus are who keep the worlds separate. Dealing with problems that occur when a human with powers shows signs of going insane.”

“In other words, we keep those with powers in check while policing the other two main branches.” Kilo sighed as he arrived, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Can you even talk about it?” Jin asked, cautiously looking around.

“All three of us are involved and Kyrion surrounded is in a sound distortion field.”

“We’re currently talking about Swordpla. So how did it go?”

“I think I now have a girlfriend. I’m not sure how it happened or how I managed to miss the cues. But I am now dating Mira, to get close to Mira.”

Jin shook his head. “She didn’t think you’d accept?”

“Apparently she didn’t want to get turned down and be depressed…But a certain idiot prodded her in the right places.”

“I do know acupuncture.”

“Not what mean cousin.”

“Now then, Kilo, your dad owns a scrapyard with a workshop, correct?”

“Yes?” Kilo squinted.

“Jin, you know how to draw a diagram or blueprint for the mechs right?”

“Yes I do.”

“And I have a way to get our materials just right. Lets meet up on Saturday after the dungeon.Then we can have someone drive us to the site.”

“Wait…Are we building mechs? How are we going to power something so big?”

“Lets see, since I’ll be making the engine, let’s call it the Life Engine. Converts sunlight into energy and turns co2 into oxygen through photosynthesis as well as gains maximum capacity over time. A mech that gets stronger the more it is used.”

“That goes against engineering logic, it must be able to break.”

“The parts will be metal but the engine will be mostly organic. Its intended that the engine is kept and sent to new mech as time goes on while the seeds it produces are grown into new engines over time.”

“If we can get this to work then we may have a fighting chance.” Kilo stated.

“Unlikely, an eco-friendly engine like that can only exist in a polluted world. Space battles wouldn’t be possible.”

“If we can get these off the ground then I’m sure you’ll be fighting in space, sooner rather than later. In fact we can focus on the solar condensing aspect in theory, after. As I only have a few months with you guys.”

“How are we going to get this done in such a short amount of time?” Jin asked.

“Easy peasy with my help.” Kyrion stated.

“Who’s gonna be our pilot?”

“Issac has a driver’s license. He could probably do it.”

“I don’t think he has the free time for that. We can always ask…Moca and Lyra incoming.” Kyrion turned off the ward before they arrived.

“It’s Mira. Why is that so hard to get right?”

“Because Al’mira is my great grandmother’s name.”

“Oh– So you don’t want to call me by my name because it sounds like your grandmothers?”

“It’s a superstition back home, don’t call on the ones above too often or else they will give you extra attention and make things difficult.” Kyrion paraphrased and made it more ambiguous.

The original saying, as his mother stated, went something like this. “Don’t be call’in them [redacted」gods names lest they decide to pay you a visit [Redacted 」all over your life. Those [redacted」should mind their own [redacted」business.”

Times like those helped remind Kyrion that his mother had been a pirate and a soldier longer than she’d been a noble. Or, well, she was both all her life, but pirates don’t exactly have a filter. Kyrion didn’t heed those words, and Imala did [redacted」up his life. “Odd [Redacted」.”

“That language was weird, what’s a Kouocengfalf?”

“My worlds swears don’t translate properly. It means to give someone extremely bad luck. Or cause someone a lethal amount of trouble with malicious intent.”

Kilo shot him a look, saying, “We both know that isn’t what it means, but that’s a nicer explanation, so I won’t correct you.”

“Anyway, superstitions aside, you may refer to me as the president as that is my roll for this club.”

“La Presidenta!” Moca saluted before heading off.

“I’ve had enough embarrassment for one day. Club has ended for the day. Leave when you’re ready.”

“Kyrion? I think it’s time to go home.”

“It just hit me. If your Kilo and the vacuum is Grover. Who the hell is Julien?”

Kilo clicked his tongue. “Do you really think my real name is a term that helps describe a number?”

“Ah. Defensive measure.”

“In a way. Also, all my records currently list me as Kilo; it is my legal name.”

Kyrion held up both his hands and surrendered. He would not push the subject further. He could see that it was a touchy subject.