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-Nimbletainment press conference, 2039

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Mother sat there scrutinising Skyler and me for several seconds before she finally opened her mouth. “Oh Reina, how could you pull poor Skyler into something like that?”

“Pardon?” I said dumbly.

“I’ll admit I never expected you to become a samurai, but looking back it’s not too surprising. Your grandfather instilled you with an over inflated sense of honor and justice,” my mother explained. ” Remember when you got arrested by sector security for beating up those drug dealers when you were seventeen? You were so proud of preventing them from selling to those kids, when we picked you up from the station.”

Skyler giggled at the story, and I blushed slightly. “Mother, that was ten years ago! I was young and stupid back then!” I told her.

“But you never got it out of your system, that’s how you ended up in charge of the internal investigations department,” she sighed. “You even try to pull Skyler into your investigations. Remember Mitch Huxley? Once you got a little bit of dirt on him you went right over to Skyler and got her to help you!”

“Mother, Mitch Huxley was stealing your research and trying to sell it to your competitors. I went to Skyler because she’s the head of your legal team and I needed advice on how to handle it. We didn’t even handle the issue ourselves, Cascadian security did! And you signed off on it!” I told her defensively.

“I have other examples…” my mother started.

“Mother, Skyler and I were nowhere near each other when we were selected to become samurai,” I explained. “Even if we were together, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I could have done to increase her chances of being chosen. It was a complete coincidence.”

My mother glanced over at Skyler, as if trying to get confirmation. “Really?” she asked.

“Really really,” Skyler replied with a giggle.

“Well, if you're sure…” my mother said quietly. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands for a minute. “Are you at least staying safe? I know samurai are supposed to be superhuman, but I worry.” After a moment she stopped fidgeting and her head shot up, and she stared directly at me. “And you! You hate guns, how could you possibly fight the antithesis?”

“The traditional way,” I replied calmly. “I have been training since I was six afterall. The sword and bow do have their advantages over firearms.”

“Against monsters the size of buses?” my mother asked suspiciously.

“Occasionally,” I admitted. “Although Skyler is specialising in artillery, so I normally let her take care of the larger ones.”

“She was always the sensible one,” my mother said with a nod, before patting Skyler on the knee. That elicited another giggle from my girlfriend.

“We’re both fine, as you can see,” I said firmly. “And there’s nothing we can do about it now anyways. Once you’ve been chosen, you can’t go back to being a regular person again.”

My mother sighed again. “I know, I’ve heard the stories. I just worry,” she admitted. “I’m glad you both came back to me healthy and whole.” She leaned forward and caressed my face. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

I slipped off the couch and pulled my mother into a hug. “I’ll do my best to avoid doing anything stupid,” I promised.

“And since she’s terrible at that, I’ll be there to keep an eye on her for you,” Skyler added.

I broke the hug to give my girlfriend a disapproving look, but she probably didn’t even notice because my mother swept in and pulled her into a hug too. “Thank you dear,” my mother whispered. My expression had softened before they broke apart. I couldn’t stay mad at Skyler. Mostly because deep down I knew she was right.

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Skyler was the planner, while I tended to leap into action before looking. A habit I’d indulged far too often this evening, and would have to work on curbing before I ran head first into another Fourteen.

When my mother pulled back from hugging Skyler she had tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, and put on a brave smile. Both Skyler and I noticed, but refused to say anything.

“Now, I know it’s a little late, but will you two stay for dinner?” my mother asked hopefully.

Part of me really wanted to turn her down, I was so exhausted right now, but when I saw both her and Skyler’s expectant faces, I couldn’t say no. “Aunt Yun was going to warm up some leftovers to take home, but we can stay for a meal,” I admitted.

“Psh, you know how Yun is, she’s not going to warm up anything. She’s probably in there right now whipping you up a full meal. Come, let's head to the dining room and you can tell me all about your adventures today!”

She was right, I should have known better. Aunt Yun had always been proud of her cooking skill and even though she hadn’t whipped up a full six course meal, she had put together a fairly large meal. Skyler and I spent the next hour regaling my mother with a heavily sanitized version of our adventures. No mention of our more death defying, or gruesome adventurers. I’m sure my mother knew we were holding back, but she just smiled and prompted us to continue.

It was only after I couldn’t hold back anymore, and yawned at the table, earning a disapproving glance from my mother, that we stopped.

“I know you two must be tired, I’m sorry for keeping you so long. I may stop by your suite later to meet the new member of the family,” mother said as she hugged us good-bye. “Make sure you stop by again soon!”

“Don’t worry, we will,” Skyler promised during her hug.

She walked us to the elevator, joined by Agnes along the way, and raised an eyebrow at all the equipment we’d piled there. As soon as I’d grabbed my stuff, I leaned in for one last hug.

“Stay safe,” I whispered.

“That’s my line,” my mother replied as she returned the hug, rubbing me gently on the back. Once we split up, I placed my hand on the scanner and started the elevator again.

Agnes raised an eyebrow when the car finally arrived. “Looks like we’ll need to re-evaluate the building security system later,” she said.

“Skyler and I will look at it later,” I promised. “Even though we have a top of the line system, it’s no match for samurai tech. We may be able to do something to improve it.”

“And next time we stop by we’ll call first, we promise!” Skyler added as we stepped into the car.

The four of us waved at each other until the door closed, at which point I just collapsed onto Howie. “So… tired…” I complained.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re only one floor away from home,” Skyler declared as she hit the button. The elevator only moved for a few seconds before popping open on our own private floor, one floor down.

I say it was private, but the truth was half of it was used for both us and my mother to store things, and another quarter was used for staff quarters. Our area was just one corner of the floor. A cozy corner, but still nowhere near as large as my mother’s area.

“Make sure you lock off the elevator again,” Skyler reminded me as we got off. I grumbled slightly, but still slammed my hand on the panel and locked it down again.

While Skyler directed Howie into a nearby empty storage room, I stepped up our front door and placed my hand on the scanner. It took a moment to scan my DNA, and datakey, before the door popped open. As soon as I pushed the door open Cleo and Leah came running to greet me, followed shortly after by Aunt Cho carrying Lala.

“Shouldn’t Lala be in a separate room?” I asked as I crouched down to pet the two pet crazy cats at my feet.

“Normally,” Aunt Cho laughed. “I remember when you first got Cleo and Leah they needed to be separated for days, until they got familiar with each other’s smells. But when I came down they immediately seemed to love Lala.”

“Then why are you carrying her?” Skyler asked as she came in after me.

“Because those two wouldn’t stop trying to clean her, and giving her attention. She needed some alone time,” Aunt Cho replied with a huge smile.

“Well, I’m glad we don’t have to worry about them fighting,” I muttered as I stood up. I shucked all my equipment, and shoved most of it into the coat room, earning a disapproving look from Skyler. “We’ll organize later,” I promised as I carefully closed the door. I didn’t drop everything, I carefully took my new blade out, and placed it on a nearby shelf. “I need to get a stand for this one, and think up a decent name for it,” I said.

“Tomorrow!” Skyler declared as she stepped away from Aunt Cho, and Lala. “Thank you for all your help aunty, but we’re exhausted,” she said apologetically.

“Go, you young ones need your sleep,” the older woman declared with a smile. She pulled a small bag out of her apron and shook it, causing Cleo and Leah to follow her out of the room.

“Come on you,” Skyler declared, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the bedroom. Normally I’d take that as a sign that she was in the mood, but not tonight.

Once we got into the bedroom I shucked my Synth leather clothes and threw it into the corner, leaving me standing in the skinsuit armor. I just started to shuck it when Skyler snuck up behind me and put her arms around me, “How about you leave that on, just for a little while longer,” she whispered before kissing my ear.

I could feel myself blushing all the way to my ears, and I turned and kissed Skyler deeply. Guess she was in the mood after all.