Diverting the mood into something less dramatic, I looked over at the backpack he had dropped on the floor between his legs.

“You going to show me the balls, or you going to make me guess?” I waggled my eyebrows suggestively at him.

He looked at me, confused for a moment, then down at his lap, then the backpack. Understanding lit up his face, and he grinned.

“You hardly need to ask; they are yours after all.” He shot back, picking up the backpack and handing it over to me.

Grinning from ear to ear, I grab the backpack.

Riffling through the backpack quickly, my augs read the data on each ball as I touched them. In the twenty balls he used, he managed to catch; 5 Model Ones, 4 Model Threes, 2 Model Fours, 1 Model Five, 2 Model Six, 1 Model Eight, 1 Model Nine, 2 Model Tens, 1 Model Fifteen, and a Model Twenty-Two, somehow.

Not a bad haul. I grinned in glee, and clapped my hands together!

“Yes! Thank you!” I practically shout, throwing my upper body at him in a hug.

He chuckled and patted my back. “Any time, Mori, it was actually quite fun.”

I moved back to my side, and resume flying the ship.

“Right, well, let me drop these off at the lab really quick and then take you home.”

He shrugged and kicked his feet on the dash. “No worries, I’m not in a rush to go anywhere.”

I reached over and slapped his feet of the dash.

“Get those bloody boots off my dash!” I jokingly shouted at him. with a grin.

He reeled back, literally trailing some Antithesis blood with his boots.

“Oh, my bad, I’ll get that cleaned up.” He sheepishly responded.

“It’s fine, the nanites will burn it and dispose of it.”

In practically no time we arrived at the lab, and I parked in the garage.

We exited the ship and headed towards the elevator.

“Am I allowed to be here?” Devoy said with some concern.

“Sure, what are they going to do? Tell me or you “No?”

“Fair point.” He shrugged.

I go through all the security checks to get into the elevator and we step in.

Normally it whooshes off to my lab, but this time it just sat there, nonresponsive.

Devoy looked at me with an 'I told you so' on his face.

Sighing, I dug into the security programs again and forced the elevator to move.

I looked back at him with a cheeky smile that said, 'Don’t doubt me or else', shaking my finger at his face.

He put his hands up in surrender, with a chuckle.

The elevator dropped down to my lab and the doors opened, revealing my mostly empty lab space.

It had the supplies that the corp were bringing me, updated by Merlin, the shelves for the armor being built, that were all empty now, and my cook pot.

Devoy looked around ,seemingly un-impressed, judging by his expression.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a work in progress. I just got the place.”

He laughed.

“No judgment here, it just does not look very much like a lab, more of a production line.” He said.

“Yeah, so far I have not had a chance to do much actual research, but...” I drop the backpack onto the floor. “With these I have something to dig into that I’ve always wanted to mess with. But I’m tired and want a bath, and I’m sure you are ready for…whatever you do to relax.”

“A shower sounds amazing right about now, I’m covered in alien goop.” He looked down at himself in disgust.

Absolutely, they will contain the antithesis for a very long time.

I drop the bag, and motion Devoy towards the door.

“Ready?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He nods and we headed back up the lift towards the Witch Craft.

We have a quiet ride back to his housing block, both of us too worn out to do much talking. I vaguely remember passing out a bit, even.

When we arrived at his place, he hopped out the back. “Have a good night, Mori, let me know when you are ready for round two.” He said, waving as he slipped into his apartment.

I think your “may” is more of a will, so sure, I will drive.

I feel the gentle surge of the engines lift the craft into the air and then drift into a nap.

I wake up to Gary’s mug carrying me into my apartment.

Not what a girl wants to wake up to, I try to wiggle my way out of his arms and right myself. I end up more tangled in his arms and wings.

“Gah, let me down, you ape!” I grumbled.

He quickly sets me down just inside the apartment.

“Be useful and make something to eat, please, Gary, I need to clean up.”

He bounded off to the kitchen, and I hear pots and pans banging around. Shaking my head, I make my way to the bathroom and draw up a hot bath with a healthy dose of bubbles.

I’m particular to raspberry and mango scented bath bombs, the heavenly smell immediately puts me into a relaxed state.

Stripping down I crawl in and sit, soak in the warmth and delicious smell; if there were a heaven, I’m sure it would be something like this.

With a clear head, I start pondering my next project. I want to figure out a way to better understand how Antithesis communicate, and see if there is a way to take advantage of that.

Every bit of data available suggests that they heavily rely on pheromones, I’m not sure that is the right thing to even call them. They are plants after all, so more of a type of pollen? Perhaps a bit of both, a chemical hybrid that can send more complex information than just “Come here” or “Go there”. I have seen the Antithesis work together in small teams, and there is plenty of footage showing them working together, too.

Of course I could ask Merlin for the information, I’m sure there is a catalog of raw Antithesis data detailing exactly what and how they work. However, that does not help me truly understand it, being given the answers does not lead to mastering the information and being able to implement it in a practical way.

I really need to get some solid lab time, but first I need to figure out a nice date with Devoy to make up for the cave diving.

It has already been dispatched to cleanse the area. You seem to be terrible at managing your secondary drones, so I have been maintaining them for you. If you were wondering, also your Owl is in the living room pestering Gary for scraps.

Sort of, they do require energy to maintain function, they can obtain it in several forms. Taking food and processing it down for its caloric value is one way. They could just be plugged in, but the AI that drives both Gary and the Owl are slowly evolving and forming personalities of their own. The Owl seems to really like bacon.

You could call it that, it does not matter all that much.

That is something near 60% of what contained owls are called, perhaps something more original?

A fine name, AI has been updated.

Given your social skills and awkwardness, nothing could make it not suck.

Of course you could, then perhaps a dinner at your favorite place, Juhnes? After that some sort of activity to wrap up the evening? Sending you a list now.

I opened the file he sent and took a peek at it.

* Amusement Park

* A Movie

* Live Show

* Casino

* Mini-Golf

* Dancing

* Paintball

* Sumo-Suit

* Base Jumping

Ooh, I like most of these, but what would be best? Vegas does not really have any good amusement parks, so that’s out. Movies are a bit cliché, and I can’t recall the last time I was interested in any of them. Gambling has never been an interest, though with Merlin I’m sure we could up our odds of winning. Come to think of it, any Samurai could hop into a casino and rob the place blind with the power of our AI. Mini-Golf sounds nice, I’ve always loved all the little themes and silly displays, I think we have our winner.

I make a quick web inquiry and see what Mini-Golf locations are available.

A small list appears in my head, Twilight Mini-Golf, PopStroke, KISS World.

Oh ho! KISS world, how appropriate for a date!

Of course, but I don’t…

Very well, tickets acquired.

With all that taken care of, it’s time to take care of my bath! I scrub down some more and hop out.

I toss on my pajamas and head out to the living room to find chaos.

Gary and Cosima are having a war in the kitchen, Gary is throwing everything within reach that isn’t food, trying to stop Cosima from eating the meal he has prepared for me on the table. Cosima is hovering in the air, trying to dodge said objects, while diving down and picking off broccoli, pork tenderloin, and random bits of anything it can grab.

A roller pin zips past my head making me duck to avoid it.

“ENOUGH” I shouted at them.

They both look over sheepishly, Cosima lands on the table and Gary hides something behind his back innocently.

“Thank you, Cosima plug yourself into the wall and get power that way, when I’m done eating you can have whatever is left over. Gary… thank you for protecting the food, next time make Cosima her own snack instead of making a mess. Because guess who gets to clean it all up now?”

He looks around realizing that the apartment looks like a warzone. I can see the moment it dawns on him; he has to clean it all up.

He gently sets down the pan he had behind his back. Looking dejected, he starts picking things up.

Cosima fluttered down to an outlet, she extended a cable and plugged it into the outlet.

Peace restored, I sat down and enjoyed what was left of my dinner. Once finished I headed off to bed, thinking of the upcoming date and how amazing it will be.

With nothing vital to do in the morning, I don’t set any alarms and awake slowly sometime around noon.

All is quiet in the apartment, too quiet. I shift the covers off myself and slink out into the living room to see what was going on.

On the couch Gary and Cosima sit staring at each other, no, not staring, glaring. Between them lies the remote control.

Great, another battle for resources, only this time it’s over what to watch.

“Gary, how about some breakfast please.” The only response I get is a nod.

Sighing, I stepped up to the couch and grabbed the remote.

“How about you go watch the TV in my room, Cosima. Gary spends more time cooking out here, he should get this TV.”

Cosima shoots me a evil look before flapping her way into the bedroom.

“Good grief, it’s like having children.”

Gary gives me a dirty look before scampering off to the kitchen to start breakfast.