Valet- "Pray, follow me; she doth await thy presence."

Kate- So, you'll be my full-time Cere from now on?

Cere- Yeah, sorry, I got blocked on the way. I was hosted on a cloud; I'm now using your ware. I'm not as powerful in this form, though. I'll still be able to use cloud extensions when we have access to the public network, but here, we shouldn't use anything; their local security is quite paranoid. Unexpected data usage would be spotted quickly. A single stakeholder doesn't control Paradise's grid like this one.

Kate- Marcel will be fine, right?

Cere- You mean if he levels up during his grind? Don't worry; God has your back. His own code poses no danger. He'll make sure you don't turn into a brainless NPC. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to get a few injections of micromachines while we're here. It could give you an edge.

Valet- "Fair Lady Aiko, may the garden's grace delight thy senses. Thy royal kin, her majesty, thy sister, hath come to bid thee company."

Kate- "Oh! Hum... Thanks, bud, here's your tip."

What with the look? What bit him?

Cere- I think you insulted him with the tip.

Gwen- "Kaaaaaate!!! Honey, thank you for cooooming!"

Kate- "Yeah... hey..."

Gwen- "So, what do you think?"

Kate- "Those bio-trees? Like real, real?"

Gwen- " Yeah, they can all make fruits! Can you imagine? Just one of these produces tens of them if not hundreds."

Kate- "That's a lot of fucking trees..."

Gwen- "Here, catch!"

Kate- "Wa's that? Saw those once, I think? Much smaller, bruised like it had been playing rough with a stick in a bondage dungeon."

Gwen- "Apple, five of this quality could pay your safe house's rent for a month."

Kate- "That's why you marrying the dude? Fruits? Planning to become a gardener? Gwen Gardner... not seeing it."

Gwen- "Dehehehe! You can be such a toaster sometimes. The garden is nothing compared to the whole."

Kate- "So what's the con?"

Gwen- "Not this time, this end game."

Kate- "Can't be love, can it? His circuits are on the fritz. Can't be your type."

Gwen- "He's absolutely my type, filthy rich and not ugo."

Kate- "What about his game? You never liked that stuff. Said it was for defect."

Gwen- "Let him play with his toys; he'll wear out my holes less. I'm fine with that, he got the credits."

Kate- "OK, see it now, richest dude, perfect mark, easy gig."

Gwen- "It's not I dislike him. We share... let's say we share ambitions for Paradise. You have a share in it too. You'll be making your account server RAM just to keep track of all the ink soon. Enough for you to treat the Hundred and Ones like paupers on the street."

Kate- "Fuck Gwen, I swear, what shit are you trying to drag me into this time?"

Gwen- "Nothing on the Dark Side, you got no cool. I'm just going this game like a queen instead of a fuck-pawn."

Kate- "If you play too big a game, it won't be that simple. Chess isn't a group sport."

Gwen- "Let's enjoy the garden a bit, shall we? It's been a while. How are you doing?"

Kate- "Better, been keeping busy. Cherry helped me find a team. Good, money been rolling in. 'Nough to take a break between jobs. Guess this is meaningless now, though."

Gwen- "Like the gift?"

Kate- "The arco? Dun'know yet. Didn't go. Nice stacks generator, though. Thanks."

Gwen- "That's just a taste of what's to come. There are a few hundred in Avalon. All clean, zero gangs to shit on the ground and no corpo to fuck us over. Honestly, I kinda like the game too. Created your character yet?"

Kate- "Didn't have time to think about it."

Gwen- "We nobles have access to special classes. In your case, you could probably go for a blue blood true noble or a noble of the sword."

Kate- "Weird classes."

Gwen- " Blue blood is reserved for upper echelon noble titles; they are beasts of social skills and have special authorities and perks to support their influence and give orders. They are the ultimate support for large organizations. Sword nobles are probably the best weapon class and can choose one of their mental stats to support their gameplay and gain a secondary skill tree to support their land. Though they are a bit more generalists."

Kate- "How that work, by the way, stats?"

Gwen- "That's the cool thing! Not only do you get an in-game bonus to succeed rolls, you also get injected with microbots able to improve your body. Reflect your stat augments in real life; or the other way around, really. They modify gradually your biology, highjacking natural cell regeneration to do that."

Kate- "Like the mind migration process to artificial brains?"

Gwen- "Yep, same process, though our microbots are better than those the corpo use on the public. Near 0 risk of rejection, no inflammation risk. Perfectly bio-compatible."

Kate- "Reminds me that I'm late on the next dose of micro for my transition."

Gwen- "Don't worry, we'll fix that, part of the process."

Kate- "When you add mental stats, doesn't it fuck with who you are though?"

Gwen- "Sure, no worse than a cere or cognitive chippin'. If anything it's more seamless and integrated to you. It doesn't feel like an add-on strapped on top in a dark corner of your mind. It's a bit like becoming neurodivergent on the gifted spectrum, with increased connectivity and faster synaptic response times. Nothing huge, but it does make you more creative and sensitive to stimuli, and you start having more ideas and connecting more concepts. But you keep your memories..."

Kate- "Be real with you a sec, the grunts all seem a bit out of it."

Gwen- "Don't worry, nobles don't get the law and order package. Plus we are working hard on making it perfect. Merlin said a big update is on its way, for this week she said. Should fix a lot of current kinks."

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Kate- "What about the other classes? What they look like?"

Gwen- "mostly what you'd expect from the classics. You'd get more out of a noble class though. They are inherently better. I have access to a unique legendary one as the queen."

Kate- "Just realizing now how much you're into this..."

Gwen- "It's way more fun than I thought honest. At first, I did it to hook him. Now I kinda go by myself throwing spells at the monsters and stuff. Makes me feel... majestic."

Kate- "So I kinda get how the micro tune you for cunning mostly, what about social?"

Gwen- "Good question, it will slowly idealize your body's proportions over time, tighten your pores, erase old scars, make your hair healthier and give it volume. It will also enrich your voice's harmonics and reinforce your synaptic connections used to notice social cues."

Kate- "That's a lot... wait you're not wearing makeup are you?"

Gwen- *Wink*

Kate- "So that's your build?"

Gwen- "My title gives me a lot of extra points. I put a bit in everything physical to be in good shape, then dumped the rest in social and willpower."

Kate- "What does willpower do?

Gwen- "Mental resilience, does the adrenal scrubbing control, keeps anxiety and fear under control and helps keep your focus on something when you need to. It's also the main casting stat for the AR game."

Kate- Could use a lot of that.

Cere- Do you really? When was your last panic attack, Kate?

Kate- ... ... ... t'was over a month back, I think. Might be right, Watson helped a lot with that flashback.

Cere- I must admit it was crudely effective. It was about as brutal as smashing you on the head with a club to fix a brain tumour, but it weirdly worked out.

Kate- Cave woman Kate reporting in, never was much of a sheltered princess... wait, how do you know that?

Cere- I retrieved your past Cere's memories to better interact with you.

Kate- I factory reset it...

Cere- You truly believe a corpo would let that kind of data disappear on your whim?

Kate- Guess not.

Cere- Don't worry, they won't get that data anymore, I cut them off and feed them bullshit.

Gwen- "Gwen to Kate, Gwen to Kate, are you online, Kate?"

Kate- "Sorry, just made me think how much I've grown lately."

Gwen- "Still look the same to me."

Kate- "Haven't had a panic attack in a while, got some help. Also, got myself a decent team. I think I'm turning a corner."

Gwen- "Eeeeeh? Don't care, what you think of my fountains? They are based on the ones that used to be at Versaille back in the day."

Kate- Bitch...

Cere- She doesn't want to hear about other people's emotions, that's a serious flag for antisocial behaviours.

Kate- "Fucking waste of water if you ask me."

Gwen- "We can afford it."

Kate- "Lots o' peeps don't have enough water to drink."

Gwen- "Who the fuck care if peasants can't drink? They'll just have to do something about it by themselves."

Kate- You're saying the quiet part out loud, entitled bitch.

"Easier said than done."

Gwen- "I'm bored now! Let's talk about something else. Need your help with a tiny something."

Kate- *Sigh*

Here we go

"Let's hear it."

Gwen- "It's super easy! You just gotta talk to Cherry for me. Call it my wedding present. See, easy."

Kate- "What about?"

Gwen- "Just an alliance with Avalon. The Asstro gets a powerful ally; we get angels' know-how."

Cere- Ain't gonna fly, sister! Not giving you my shinies.

Kate- "Shit, Gwen, that's a huge ask and you fucking know it!"

Gwen- "That's nothing for you to concern your head about. All you have to do is to get me or Arthur a foot in the door for a talk."

Kate- "What the fuck did you do for her to hate your gut enough that you can't even call mom?"

Gwen- "Nothing big, she's just freaking out over nothing."

Kate- "Gwen, she doesn't do that! We both know it, so out with it."

Gwen- "Nothing big, just a bit of corpo spying and light blackmail."

Kate- "YOU DID WHAT? YOU COULD HAVE EVERYONE KILLED WITH THAT CRAP!"

Gwen- "You're so fucking dramatic. The Asstro has enough dirt to bury the whole city and the army to keep that shit safe."

Kate- "You should have put your fucking points in cunning, dumb bitch. The Asstro don't get nuked because it's threatening no one. We don't play the game for a reason! Frankly, I'm flabbergasted you didn't get shot on the spot as an example!

The second we start using that shit, we sign our death warrant. Corpos tolerate us because we are inoffensive and convenient as a neutral ground. We just need one big player to decide we stepped on the line and no combat cyborg will stop a fucking nuclear strike."

Gwen- "Then they'd get shot at by the others, and the public would shit on them daily until the end of times."

Kate- "Not if you syphon them, they won't. They'll be laughing their ass off."

Gwen- "Why do you think I'm offering an alliance with Avalon? We have missiles as well. That alliance will be strong enough to play for a domination play."

Kate- "Gwen, nukes are not bullets; nobody wins that exchange."

Gwen- "Why do you even care anyway? Aren't you on the out? I'm not asking much here, just a talk."

Kate- "Shit, alright, can do that. Might be shit didn't consider that Cherry might agree to... but don't get your hopes up."

Gwen- "See, wasn't a big ask sis. So, what build do you want to do? I could use a meat shield tomorrow."