The Slumbering Mantis Inn, Lane 37, Alfalfa Street, Dragon District, Xing Hong

  The warmth hit Xin like a wall as Jabari pushed him back through the inn's doors. After that drama in front of Bounty Board #7, the Slumbering Mantis felt like a sanctuary, so alive now with so many people, strange faces from all walks of life. Voices overlapping, glasses clinking, the sweet-sour smell of cheap Moon Ale mixing with food.

  "Music man like here?" H?kon announced from Xin's shoulder. "Pappa like here."

  "I do, little dragon. Come here to sing for tips every once in a while." Jabari's hand briefly touched Xin's back, guiding him past a table of bounty hunters. "I've also brought reinforcements for your papa's romantic education."

  "I don't need that…might be expensive…" Xin started.

  "Brother, you absolutely do." Jabari's laugh carried no malice. "Trust me. I've seen Draugs with better mating displays."

  Iron Roach looked up from polishing a glass. The cyborg barkeep's expression barely changed, but something in his posture looked like amusement.

  "Back already?" Roach's voice scraped like gravel. "Thought the blonde would've killed him by now."

  "The Nordling showed remarkable restraint. Lucky us, eh?" Jabari steered Xin toward a corner table where—

  Xin stared.

  The woman, an Imperial like himself, sat with her legs crossed, a ceramic cup of tea steaming between her pale hands. Up close, she was small, maybe somewhere around 1.6 meters, but the air around her felt charged.

  "I've always enjoyed a good cup of macha before dinner." Her soprano voice was like dagger wrapped in velvet. "It prepares the mind for what's to come."

  Her bob-cut hair caught the inn's lights like black silk, framing a face that belonged in those pre-war Japanese films he used to watch with his father. Her almond-shaped eyes were dark and deep, with something like a huntress's interest in their depths. Xin felt like a domesticated sheep looking at a wolf with all its teeth.

  She wore a kimono—deep purple with embroidery that seemed to shift when she moved. A Spirit Lantern floated at her shoulder, its hexagonal frame glowing with soft violet light that made shadows dance.

  "Pretty lady!" H?kon chirped, then tilted his head. "Smell funny. Like flowers and... scary?"

  The woman's laugh was musical, genuinely delighted. "What a perceptive little one! I do smell like cherry blossoms. The scary is just seasoning."

  "What's sea-zen-ning? Yummy? Magic?" H?kon's scales shifted to curious azure.

  "It's exactly what's needed to make things yummy." Fuuka played with her silky hair as she said. "I bet you don't have to worry about that."

  "HAW-koon confused." H?kon scratched his tiny head before pointing at Fuuka, scales brightening to happy gold. "You Flower Lady!"

  "Flower Lady." She tested the name, then nodded. "I accept that." Her gaze shifted to Xin, and he felt his higher brain functions stutter.

  She patted the bench beside her. "Sit, Xin. You look like you're about to faint, and that would be such a waste of entertainment."

  "Excuse me?" Xin snapped back to reality. "You know my name too?"

  "Roach told us. You're famous now with that terrible show at Board 7." Jabari was already settling on her other side, taking out what looked like a palm-sized Echo Drum, the device making a soft thrum as he set it on the table. "Xin, meet Fuuka. We met earlier today during bounty hunting."

  "Fuuka. You two here for the bounties, too?" Xin asked, then wondered why that mattered.

  "Roach! Moon Ale and silken tofu for three at this table?" Jabari turned to wave at the counter.

  "Coming right up!" Iron Roach's voice came swiftly.

  "Not originally." Fuuka's attention stayed on him as he sat, her proximity making his skin feel too tight. She smelled like she claimed—cherry blossoms—but underneath was something else. Iron? Copper? "You're a single man raising a Radi-Mon child. There's a story there."

  "Not much of one." Xin accepted the Moon Ale that appeared at his elbow, courtesy of a server who vanished before he could say thanks. Friendly as they were, these were still strangers to him. He wondered if they would understand the full story had he told them. "Found an egg. It hatched. Now I have H?kon."

  "Pappa is best pappa!" H?kon proclaimed, nuzzling against Xin's neck. "Gives good food and teaches about com-pewww-turs!"

  "A programmer in this day and age, when A.I.s have taken over so many things?" Fuuka's finger traced the rim of her teacup. "That explains the technical appreciation of…feminine architecture."

  Xin choked on his ale. Jabari laughed, drumming a quick rhythm on his Echo Drum that made nearby conversations pause.

  "Not everyone can be as smooth as us, Fuuka."

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  "Smoothness is overrated. I find stammering endearing." She leaned forward, and Xin caught himself tracking the movement of her collar. "Tell me, Xin—was your analysis of the Valkyrie's advertisement purely academic?"

  "I was... it seemed..." Words. He knew words. He programmed in multiple languages. Why weren't any of them working?

  Shazmeen appeared with a the plate of silken tofu, its portion generous, savory toppings atop it: soy sauce, scallions, and bonito flakes. "It's some time, Jabari."

  "Shaz. You've been doing okay?" Jabari lifted his head at the hostess.

  "Worse than last year. News of the Fenris Horde keeps scaring people off." Shazmeen shook her head as she set the silken tofu down before placing three pairs of chopsticks on it, the steel sticks clinking crisply against the porcelain. Three dishes were set, while a smaller fourth, meant for H?kon, was set beside Xin's.

  She then proceeded to fetch three mugs from under the table, filling them with Moon Ale. "I thought you've forgotten about us. The music scene on Venus is so much better. Safer, too."

  "May have walked out of the Mantis, but I'd never walk out on you." He took his mug and made a toasting gesture to her.

  Shazmeen gave a mischievous grin before turning and leaving. "I'll be waiting upstairs after midnight. Same room."

  Xin looked at them go. This was the kind of human interaction he'd wished to have.

  "Okay. Looking forward to it." Jabari nodded before returning his attention to Xin.

  "How did you even…manage any of that?" Xin spread his hands.

  "Just keeping up with my old connections." Jabari supplied as he sipped his ale. "Been celibate for years? Can't think straight?"

  "Libido rating of ten. I'm that guy." Xin admitted dryly, shrugging as he began using his chopsticks to take some of the tofu and place it in H?kon's small dish. The Diabolisk wagged his short tails and began enjoying it.

  Fuuka's eyebrows rose. "Ten? My, my. And you haven't exploded?"

  "It's...manageable." Xin focused on H?kon eating tofu despite his face burning. "Sigrun. She reminds me of younger days, when I still cared about taking risks and chasing what I wanted. Nowadays, I just play it safe and try not to get noticed."

  "Getting old?" Jabari said as he used his chopsticks to cut a piece of tofu for himself.

  "A content but unfulfilled life. Sad." Fuuka commented as she took a bite of the tofu clenched in her chopsticks.

  "Music Man has sad too!" H?kon said between bites. "Not ten-sad, but big sad. Smell like…missing some-one? Some-thing?"

  Jabari's easy smile flickered before resuming, sipping his Moon Ale, looking at H?kon with approval. "You're smart."

  Fuuka's tone shifted, gaining an edge of sympathy. "We're all missing a piece down beneath."

  "That we are." Jabari took a long drink before reaching towards his Echo Drum, patting it casually. "That woman, Sigrun. A Kraken beneath the Karma Moor mentioned her name. Something about Princess Fjeld."

  "Jabari, I thought we could keep that little secret between us." Fuuka teased as she reached for her mug of ale.

  "That'd have cost you two thousand ADs." Jabari grinned at her.

  Xin found his voice, desperate to shift focus. "You mentioned a Kraken said her name?"

  Jabari's drumming stopped. "Multiple times. I wonder what she has that the Fenris Horde wants."

  "House Fjeld has nearly a hundred daughters across Europa, the Moon of Nordlings." Fuuka sipped her ale.

  "Really? And I scared her off with my..." He gestured vaguely. "Everything."

  Jabari exchanged glances with Fuuka. "Could be she was one of the chosen. To be collected and harvested by Vuhk-stir, the Breeding Machine."

  "Sigrun Fjeld." Fuuka's smile gained layers. "Ah, this is delicious, ne? A princess being hunted by her own mythology."

  "Princess?" Xin frowned. "She didn't seem like—"

  "Not that kind of princess." Jabari's fingers found his drum again, tapping out a nervous rhythm. "The Kraken called her that. Said someone named Skarn was looking for her."

  "Primarch Skarn." Fuuka corrected as she set her ale down, reaching for chopsticks once more. "The Fenris Horde was but a minor nuisance in this system until he came along."

  "I'm surprised you Proxima people know him, though." Jabari eyed Fuuka.

  "We've always stayed informed, desho. After all, we seek to—" Fuuka caught herself as she met Jabari's gaze. Whatever she said next was apparently swapped in midway. "—help our fellow humans across the Seven Realms."

  The inn's warmth suddenly felt cold. Even H?kon's scales darkened, shifting to worried brown.

  "Skarn." Xin knew that name. Everyone who had watched the Atomic News Network in 2284 to witness Europa's fall from grace knew that name. "The Fenris Primarch."

  "The very same." Fuuka's lantern pulsed as she set it on the table. "Currently on Saturn, if the intelligence is accurate. Meanwhile, his lieutenants are deployed all over Mars, preparing to strike."

  "And you know this exactly…how?" Jabari's eye squinted.

  "My people are very good at what we do." Fuuka's smirk revealed nothing.

  "Sigrun's in danger." Xin mused out loud. He hadn't touched his food or drink.

  "Everyone's in danger, darling. It's Mars." Fuuka pointed her chopsticks at Xin. "But yes, she's in particular danger. And you, a civilian, absolutely should not take that Zephyrium bounty."

  "The HGZ contract?" Xin straightened. "Why?"

  "Because it's meant for professionals like me. And Fuuka, perhaps." Jabari picked up another piece of tofu. "The transport tunnels are outside city limits. The Karma Moor is crawling with Fenris scouts. That bounty was put up on Board #3 last week, over in Lion District. Everyone who's tried has either come back empty-handed…or vanished."

  "The payout is fifty thousand. Anyone getting it is set up for life." Xin said flatly.

  "The payout is bait." Fuuka's hand covered his, her touch surprisingly warm. "But think about it. High-Grade Zephyrium, just sitting in an accessible location? It's either a trap or guarded by something worse than the posted threat level."

  Xin mused. "For a single operator, that's—"

  "Suicide." Jabari cut him off. "I'm taking it because I'm confident, borderline stupid, and have abilities you don't. No offense."

  "Some taken."

  "Pappa smart!" H?kon protested. "Smarter than everyone!"

  "Intelligence without power is just creative dying." Fuuka released his hand, leaving his skin tingling. "Your PRIMAL stats are...unusual. I wonder how you'd even survive in the city—"

  Suddenly, a shout boomed from the inn’s entrance. “Hey! You the bitch that killed my boys?”

  "Pardon?" Fuuka looked at the approaching men, her teacup still raised.

  The lead man, a scarred Imperial man with cybernetic implants along his jaw, slammed a meaty fist on their table. "Don't play innocent, witch. Chen and Wen were good men. Found their corpses dry near that disgusting shrine."

  "If by 'good men' you mean 'attempted rapists,' then yes, they were exemplary." Fuuka set her cup down.

  "Lying bitch!" Another man reached for a modified 10mm with an extended magazine.

  Jabari's hand moved to his cutlass. "This is a place of business. Whatever grievance you have—"

  "Shut it, Maridian!" The third man spat. "This ain't your fight."

  "Music Man protect Flower Lady!" H?kon suddenly perked up, scales shifting to angry dark brown. "Bad men go away!"

  "Her friend's got some monster pet, too." The fourth man growled, pulling out a shock baton that crackled with electric blue energy.

  "Well then." Fuuka's Spirit Lantern pulsed, floating up to hover at her shoulder height. "Shall we dance?"