The next morning, professor Hawk was already up and working on his machines. Veronica stayed in her bed longer than needed. It felt like she finally had a good sleep after everything that had happened. The empty beds beside her made her know for sure she needed her sleep.

Eto was downstairs, following TYO-02 around and observing what he was doing. Vieli and Odilia made breakfast with what the professor had left.

'Morning,' Veronica said and everybody responded, except for Eto who still had his attention on the robot.

She looked around and for a moment, it looked like everything was fine. As if nothing was wrong and they all enjoyed their time. Ofcourse, this wasn't the case.

'Hate to be the one to interrupt a lovely morning but if we are gonna get through with the idea by confronting Ased and taking back the castle and town, we need to make a plan. Now,' the professor said, still looking at the machine he was working on.

'Well, what could be the plan?' Veronica asked and she took a seat at the table. 'You guys know this Ased guy and the town better than us.'

Vieli and Odilia joined her while serving something that looked like bread but was shaped differently. Some sort of raisins were mixed in the texture.

'Do you guys have any weapons?' the professor asked. Veronica thought about Eto's powers but other than that they had nothing. She took a bite from the food and slowly shook her head.

'Nope. Do you have some?' she asked and the professor looked at her with a tony smile.

Quickly he changed his forearm like he did with cooking only this time the replacement forearm was the loop of a gun.

'Multiple weapons in fact. But only usable by me,' he said, for the first time looking into the room. He held his arm up, showing the weapon to everyone.

They all looked at Eto who still had no idea the conversation was going.

'Well, he has something,' Vieli said and they all agreed. Eto’s powers were something everyone had witnessed.

'Do you know how to use a weapon?' the professor asked Veronica and she laughed uncomfortably.

'I know how to use a stick. Worked with those on the farm,' she said jokingly and the moment she said it, she thought how stupid it sounded.

Still, the professor looked up and walked to another desk with machines.

'I think I have something,' he said while searching between the parts.

Veronica stood up and walked to him, looking at the table until the professor found what he was looking for.

'Aha, found it,' he said and what he was holding up was indeed a stick.

'What's that?' she asked and he smiled while showing it to her.

'This is something I have been working on. It's still a prototype but for now it will do,' he explained. He held it in his hands while showing it to Veronica.

The stick was just thirty centimeters long but the professor pushed a button and in an instant, it flipped out to a long stick.

'Wow, that is cool,' Veronica said and her words took the attention of Eto, who quickly walked to them to take a look at it.

'Most batons are installed with a simple defense system such as electricity or fire. I've been working on this one to work with more than that. A more advanced system of the normal baton,' he said and he gave it to Veronica.

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'She held it and gave it a few swings, noticing how light it was.

'If you are capable of handling a pitchfork or something, this will definitely feel natural' he said with a wink. Veronica looked at it, feeling this was made for her and she could feel the confidence rise in her.

‘And this,’ Professor Hawk said and he pressed the last button.

Veronica felt the baton moving and around the hand she used holding it, a shield formed, connected to the long sides of the baton.

‘For self defense,’ the professor said to explain. Veronica gazed at it with wonder and after pushing the button again, the shield disappeared and the stick returned to his smaller size.

'Cool, can I have one?' Eto asked, looking at the baton. The professor put his hand on Eto's face and pushed him away.

'May I remind you that you already own a weapon' he said, laughing at Eto for interrupting the moment. ‘You are a weapon,’ he said laughing.

Eto looked at his arms and smiled. 'That's right.'

They got to the table but Veronica looked at a little machine at the side of the table and picked it up.

'What is this?' she asked. The machine was small, with a loop and different buttons.

The professor looked and smiled, knowing he could tell about one of his inventions.

'That is a Snapper 2.6' he said with pride.

'A snapper?' she asked because the name sounded familiar.

'Yes. A normal snapper is used to capture images and information of different animals, plants or other things for the Encyclopedia of the worlds. Normally you have to bring the snapper to the capital to submit your information but with this one you can upload it directly.'

‘Is it that hard to transmit stuff? Seems like something easy to do,’ Veronica said, looking at the object with curiosity.

‘True, but all information has to be screened before being uploaded. Misinformation is quickly spread and the council likes to keep things in order. Except for this baby here.’

'Sounds like that can't be really legal, now is it?' Vieli asked and the professor's smile turned into an evil grin.

'We can't always be legal now can we,' he said, enjoying the idea that he created something that goes beyond the legal boundaries.

'Cool,' Veronica said and then pointed the loop to the professor and looked into the glass.

'So if I want to take a picture of a Dhunn cow, I can do it like this?'

'Are you suggesting I'm a cow?' the professor asked softly. He seemed to enjoy seeing Veronica use his machine.

Veronica looked again at the machine and gave a smile of joy.

'Can I keep it?' she asked and the face of the professor suddenly changed. He looked at her seriously.

'Certainly not. That is a high priced prototype that I still have to show to the main center of professors. If I'm correct, that machine can make me rich.'

Veronica's face turned sad. 'Too bad,' and she returned the machine to the desk.

'Can we get to the plan?' Eto asked, waiting till they started to tell what they were gonna do.

Professor Hawk began sitting next to him and Veronica joined them, taking some food Odilia gave her.

'The way to the castle is a path through the foot of the mountain. No doubt the snow and ice would be thicker and harder as we would approach it. There's also a chance we would encounter some Capgelu bears although I don't know if they stayed here with the cold.'

'Capgelu bears?' Veronica asked. She loved to see some animals she had never seen but knowing it would be bears, she knew it could be dangerous.

'That's right,' professor Hawk said. 'Big furry monsters who roam the mountains. No doubt some are left who are hunting for food.'

Veronica looked a bit scared but Eto seemed fully convinced to go.

'I want to see some bears,' he said. It looked like he completely forgot why they would travel there for a moment.

'If it's alright with you, we are gonna stay in town,' Vieli said, holding Odilia near him.

'I believe this could be an adventure too great for us.'

The professor and Veronica nodded, understanding why they would stay. The encounter with Ased could be dangerous and it was no place for an old man and a little girl.

'Alright, I think the only thing left is for us to go,' Eto said while standing up.

Even though how dangerous their mission was, he seemed completely convinced to go and it was something that made both Veronica and the professor laugh for a bit, thinking about their conversation last night.

'Let's go!' Eto said when he saw everybody smile and before they knew it, he already marched to the door to leave.

'Wait,' the professor said and they all stood up.

'We're gonna need some stuff before we go,' and he walked to his desk to get some things before they left.