"An International Conference has suddenly been called for. The conference will take place in the country of JanuEri. Being the first International Conference since 2038, there is no way to expect what will happen, exactly. Be ready to turn on your radio or your TV to tune into the live recording of the conference on April 16th."

Kuro groaned in his restraints. He punched a hole in the tape covering his mouth with his tongue. The tongue elongated to hit the power button on the radio.

These people haven't done a single thing with me yet. I could leave, if I wanted to... Kuro thought to himself.

...but I wouldn't have to if the Coupe cared.

The door opened, revealing Uyama and Enjō. "You heard, didn't you?" Uyama exclaimed, "We're going to Janu! Also, sorry about not feeding you yesterday." They quickly ran away and closed the door.

What am I supposed to do with that information? Pack up my stuff?

Omega woke up from his deep sleep really rashly. His covers were all over the place, pajamas rolling up at the arms and legs.

"Hey! We're going to JanuEri!" Enjō shouted through the door.

When did I get an alarm... He got up from his bed with a drooping face, drooling from the mouth. "January..?"

"Jan-oo, air-e! JanuEri! We're taking a ship there tomorrow."

Omega jumped out of his bed, "Tomorrow?! Why so suddenly?"

"No complaining, we have no choice!"

Omega flopped out of his bed and got his scarce belongings packed. Then Uyama called for a "Breakfast Assembly".

"We meet! We discuss!" Uyama chanted with his fork in the air, Enjō joined in, "In the meat, we trust!"

"In the meat we trust..." Omega mumbled as he started eating and turned everyone's attention to Kuro on the other side of the table, "Are we ever going to let him go?"

"Will we let the invisible man go?!" Uyama rang out again.

"Uh...to be decided!" Enjō raised his fork dramatically.

Omega shook his head and reached over to Kuro and carefully removed the tape from his mouth.

"Thank you for your consideration," Kuro moved his cheek muscles, "But I could've gotten out myself."

Kuro reveals the rope he was tied in only just a moment ago. "And I have multiple times."

Omega turned to Uyama and Enjō, who had the most devastated looks to their face.

"So, we're going to JanuEri? Why me, specifically?" Kuro chuckled, laying his head on the table.

"Um—I guess it was because we thought you'd starve otherwise, but..." Uyama murmured nervously, "I guess that's not the case, nor has it been."

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"What actually are you?" Enjō dropped the Breakfast Assembly persona.

"An invisible snake-man."

"Seriously?" Enjō's eyes widened.

"Yes, seriously. I liked invisible supervillains, but I liked snakes too. So I wanted to be an invisible snake-man."

Uyama shrugged, "Not a lie."

Enjō shook his head, "Anyways, we're all cool. The conference in JanuEri, what's that gonna be about?"

Uyama scratched his beard, "I'm not too sure myself. I just know Steele is going, and so are most political leaders. Except for the prime minister of Abadd. He's never come to those."

"But the last one was in 2038, wasn't it?" Omega asked.

"He's lived a long time thanks to his soul. He's almost... 125? Nobody knows when he's gonna rot at this point." Uyama snickered.

"The president in JanuEri's going to have home advantage, right? Out of all places..." Enjō crossed his arms.

"What is JanuEri?" Omega was befuddled by the whole conversation, not having known most of the world.

Just as Uyama was going to answer, Kuro spoke up, "It's not the worst place, but it has a dark past. In the 18th century, JanuEri's secret police kidnapped a dozen people and did experiments on them—made them faulty superhumans. They rebelled and the secret police was disbanded."

"It's changed now, though. Most places have, except maybe Abadd." Enjō winced.

"Well, JanuEri hasn't gotten much better-"

"Enough of the history lessons! I know how we'll get there. The Gila Liner." Uyama leaned to Omega and whispered, "The North Tugst Ocean was where the bomb hit. It was so powerful it evaporated that entire part of the ocean. Now it's full of hot, radioactive sand, and junk that nobody wants. That's why the Gila is a huge, radiation shielding, sand-treading ship."

"And look at you, social studies teacher." Enjō grumbled. Uyama shrugged and backed off.

"When are we going to leave for the port?" Kuro asked.

"Tomorrow...morning!"

———

"Yo, Iseri! Are we-" Kitt sneezed, "Are we going to the I.C?"

Iseri stopped in her tracks and side-eyed him before responding, "You are, I'm not. I have more important things to do. Stop yelling in the hallways." She continued to walk away before Kitt grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait, why? Did something happen?" He let go of her shoulder.

She peered at him again, noticing a new sheen in his eyes. She crossed her arms and looked away with her sharp chin in the air. "It's nothing serious, anyway, the details are just between me and General Machida. You have nothing to do with it." She walked off, leaving him by himself in the hallway.

His jaw dropped so low it looked unhinged. He took two steps back and tripped on his untied shoelaces. "What-What-What did she say..?" Kitt slowly rolled up into a ball on the ground with his hands on his head. "No, that's not possible. No, no, no, no. The age gap..." He began to count on his fingers, "That's like, 30. No that can't be. No way..."

"Are you alright, Kitt?"

Kitt threw his head up in shock, "Machi!"

Machida gave him his hand, helping him up to his feet. "Why were you laying there?" His eyebrows furrowed.

Kitt groveled on his knees and grabbed Machida's shirt, "Is it...is it true?"

"Oh, you're talking about the conference. It'll be us two going when the Gila Liner leaves tomorrow. Iseri's staying here to investigate a new case."

"You're not lying?" His voice cracked and his eyes began to water.

"No..?" Machida backed up a couple steps.

Kitt looked down and fell back down to his knees, "Thank you...Thank you."

———

"THE GILA LINER LEAVES IN 30 MINUTES, PLEASE BOARD THE SHIP WITHIN 20 TO SECURE YOUR POSITIONS BEFORE WE LEAVE." The speaker of the Gila roared.

Uyama was at the wheel, still driving on the highway. "Damn! No way we're gonna be late!" He gritted his teeth and pushed the gas pedal even further.

"How am I already hearing the ship? We don't even see it yet!" Omega's yell tried to overpower the earsplitting Gila.

"It's just that big of a deal, I guess! Look how many people are coming!" Enjō looked out of the window, multiple cars were speeding down the highway.

"When did everyone get so passionate? Nobody seems to care in the city!" Omega leaned forward in the backseat.

"They're prolly not from the city! We live at the capital, and it's called the "City of Broken Passion" for a good reason!" Enjō rested his arm outside the window.

"There it is! The Gila!" Uyama pointed and swerved on the road a bit.

As the giant ship came into view, it towered above everything. It resembled the shape of a trilobite. It's lobes flapped slowly, with green smoke pumping out of pipes on its backside.

Omega furrowed his brow, "It's ugly."