Elias had turned over the contents of the few bags within the room. He had opened every drawer and cabinet in the small hotel room. Beyond clothing and some basic amenities, there was only one thing of much interest.
He shook his head and tossed the last few cards he had examined onto the bed. The cards were varied, with only a few stand-out selections. But there was nothing worth taking. He wasn't sure who James was, but he didn't know of anyone who went on vacation with three decks of Summon Monster cards. This was clearly a ruse to distract him from his activities that he was a fanatic.
He yawned and glanced out the window of the room. It was getting dark, and James had yet to return to the room. Could the receptionist have tipped him off?
Elias shook his head as he got up and began to pace around the room. No, they knew better than to cross Pyramid. Could he be a middleman for the acquisition of Arcane Slates? Who was he working for?
Elias couldn't shake the feeling that a war was brewing in the shadows. Whoever it was, it was unlikely that James was the only one. His only lead was the origin of the man's plane ticket. He would pick up the scent there and have the room watched in the unlikely event that James returned.
Elias silently cursed the lack of tracking magic cards. Sure, he could summon a Forest Wolf and try and pick up his scent in the literal sense, but that was very visible.
He decided there was no time like the present as he placed a finger on his earpiece and contacted his handler. "Shogun for Pyramid."
"Copy. Go for Pyramid."
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The night had assaulted James with a myriad number of visions and odd feelings. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton as she crawled out of bed, her eyes still heavy.
She couldn't remember it now but knew the dream had been very odd. But that wasn't too strange given what she had gone through the past twenty-four hours.
She shook her head from side to side as she tried to clear her head. That just made her head hurt, and she held it. Sniffling, she held back the breakdown that was threatening to overwhelm her. She didn't have time for that. She would be fine. So what if her body had changed, and her sleeping mind was full of unusual thoughts and feelings. She had a plan, and she was going to carry it out. If it didn't work, then she could break down.
She took a few minutes and calmed down before yawning again. She was apparently moody and still tired.
Clearly, this body hadn't made her a morning person, not that she had been before, but considering she had a fluffy tail now, nothing was off the table. It would have been helpful, she thought to herself as she stripped off her shirt and pulled on the spare one in its place. It yanked at her ears uncomfortably as she pulled it over her head and straightened it out.
She yawned widely, moved her tail out of the way, and sat back down on the bed. She still had a slight phantom pain of where she had kinked the furry appendage the previous day and had no desire to revisit that particular sensation. For that reason, this next part was going to suck.
Tossing the pants to the floor, she placed her feet into the holes and leaned over, pulling them partway up her legs. Then, she tucked her tail close to her right leg before wiggling the pants the rest of the way up.
She stood and ran her hands down her tail and into the pants to push the fur down where it had been mussed.
Finally, she buttoned the pants and walked around a bit. She decided that it was only slightly uncomfortable, and she would live with it.
She quickly donned the rest of her ensemble, consisting only of a beanie, socks, and shoes.
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At least she didn't look like a JRPG character or something, she figured, before considering the rest of her belongings.
She didn't have any bags except for the shopping bags and the tote bag. It was just a boring bag without even a logo on it. It also gave off fewer hobo vibes than walking around with shopping bags full of random stuff, so she figured it was safe enough to use.
With a sigh, she retrieved the robe, scrunched her nose at the smell it still had, and shoved it, her other clothing, and the devices into the tote bag, all of which barely fit.
She had tried to fit one of the devices into her pants, but the pockets were half the size she used to. She cursed herself for not checking when she purchased the pants but had been otherwise occupied at the time.
She slipped her phone, wallet, and the two remaining cards into her pants pockets before hoisting the tote bag over one shoulder.
She took one last look around the scruffy motel room and decided it was time to get her life back. She turned and walked out the door into the cool morning air, not giving the room a second thought.
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Soon, James was boarding a bus that should, after a few stops, drop her a block away from the card shop. She had already visited the ATM and dropped off her motel room key. The attendant, a different one from the one who had been present when she had checked in, hardly registered James' existence as she did so.
She had no intention of staying to be interrogated anyway since she had been forced to pay upfront. Apparently, that was the rule when paying in cash.
James hardly registered the handful of other individuals on the bus as she staggered to a seat. She had powered on her phone to pay the fare and decided to check the news as the bus went about its automated route.
There hadn't been anything about random monsters appearing around the city. The only thing that seemed unusual was that the massive traffic jams the other day were supposedly caused by several malfunctioning robotaxis that accelerated out of control and crashed into traffic. The companies involved hadn't yet made a statement about it.
Automated taxis and busses, like the one she was on now, had been in operation for nearly a decade without significant issues. Having so many fail, all on the same day, the day she also happened to run into real monsters and then even become one. James knew bullshit when she smelled it and sniffed. She regretted it immediately as the various smells of the bus and its inhabitants made themselves known to her. She shook her head to clear away the scents she had picked up.
James continued to look through her media even as her stop arrived. She picked up her bag and rushed from the bus.
How did the taxis play into yesterday's events, though? She had so little information, and the news sites probably weren't entirely accurate. She jumped down from the steps of the bus, only to collide with someone who had been moving to board.
The two went down into a tumble, with James getting the worst of it. "Ah, shit," James cursed, mostly at herself, as she pulled herself up from the ground. She hadn't been paying attention. Likely, her co-collider hadn't either.
She looked at the man she had bowled over in her rush. Only to yell, despite herself. "Paul!?"
Her friend blinked as he picked himself up from the ground. "Yeah. Do I know you?"
What was this? A daytime drama? How was he here!? Her mind reeled and sputtered as she realized her mistake. "I... Ah... You just look like someone I know!"
"Uhm... yeah." He said as he looked her up and down. "I'm Paul. Glad to know I'm not that unique."
Crap, not good. "Ah, yeah! They look just like you! It's not weird!" Stop, you idiot! She chided herself. She really needed to calm down.
"Uhm.. okay. Here, you dropped this," Paul said, handing her the oversized beanie that had somehow migrated from her head to the pavement without her noticing. "I like your cosplay."
"Cosplay!?" She squeaked as she took the beanie and jammed it down over her head. "Yeah! Itsa itsa.. It's for a thing. Well, I got to go!"
James glanced around to notice a few individuals paying far too much attention to her. The encounter hadn't been very quiet in her panic. She snatched up her bag and managed to restrain herself long enough to check that the two devices were still hidden within its depths before she dashed off.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, I guess," he said lamely as he watched the panicked young woman run off toward the card shop.
Moments later, James' heart hammered in her chest as she leaned against the wall outside the card shop. The encounter with her friend was the last thing she had expected, and she had immediately failed at everything.
She had lost track of her bag, revealed her monster features, interacted with Paul, a person she had kept out of the loop on purpose, and even called attention to herself.