Chapter 26
Normally, I would protest. I would protest strongly, and I would protest harshly. But with Vert needing this just as much as I did, if not more so?
Then I was going to be content. Content. Not exactly comfortable, as while Vert was taller than I was, it was by about a half head or so. Making the attempt to fit me into her lap and rest her chin on the top of my head was a bit troublesome. And it wasn't like I was used to being cuddled like a stuffed animal, either. I figured Vert would be clingy, even without us being separated.
I knew everyone was looking at me, but I snuggled in anyway. I, really just needed a hug right now. Still, it was weird seeing everyone else's sisters. Especially when not transformed. Blanc, was almost what I imagined her to be, based on what I heard of her. Tiny, giving off a stoic first glance that was betrayed by the temper that ran beneath. Noire, couldn't have been any more Uni's older sister if she tried. I was starting to see where Uni got much of her mannerisms from.
Neptune? I would lie and say I'd never seen someone that looked so young give off crackhead energy.
But there wasn't a kid alive that at one point had maximum crackhead energy. It was like watching Ryan Reynolds, but small, with pink hair, and being unable to swear. I felt like there was something else I should add to that list.
We'd gone to Planpetune, rather than straight back to our respective nations. Histoire wanted to speak to us in person. She had plans on what to do next, or at least ideas. As Histoire was quite smart and very knowledgeable, I was more than willing to listen to what she had to say.
"I missed you," I heard Vert whisper in my ear, her voice soft despite how big her smile was. Heat began to rise in my face, still not used to having someone using me as a glorified plush animal. But that was hardly going to stop Vert.
"I missed you too," I admitted, meaning every word. I still didn't know what to call us. I knew Vert saw me as her sister, even if she knew that my feelings on the matter were, complicated. They hadn't become a whole lot less complicated over the past several years. It was still hard to see Leanbox as a whole time home, even if I had been living there for years. Stupid brain. Unable to do things without making it needlessly complicated.
My words caused Vert's grip on my waist to tighten even further, almost forcing the air out of my lungs. I chuckled despite myself. Even if my brain was a complete and utter mess right now, it was nice to have someone hugging me right now. It helped anchor me, at least a bit, to the real world around me. Something I really kinda needed right now.
If, at the very least, to stop my brain from circling around the toilet like an overly aggressive turd. Which was something it desperately wanted to do right now. Suppressing it wasn't a good idea long term. I'd have to release it somehow. But with Vert back I'd have some degree of free time.
Maybe. On that front, I wasn't exactly under any illusions. Vert was probably not in good enough shape to return to work immediately. I doubt any of our older sisters were in particularly great shape. If simply between lack of shares and general exhaustion. Meaning I was likely to be in charge for the remainder of the crisis whether I liked it or not. It wasn't that I didn't have faith in Vert or her abilities as a leader, but I imagined that she would need no small amount of rest and relaxation.
And time to get that was going to be little and far between while we finish off the rest of the ASIC. So what time she did have to rest and recover was time I was going to want her to spend on that rest and recovery. As much as possible.
Vert needed to recover. They all did. They all looked exhausted, but putting on brave faces for their younger sisters. I, too, had experience being the older sibling, and could very easily call BS if I wanted to. Or needed to, in the case of Vert. There was no doubt in my mind she would at least try to do paperwork if I took my eyes off her. That, or go screeching back to the MMO games she tended to play, accounts that have been sitting collecting dust for the past three years. Because I certainly didn't have the time or knowledge to even attempt to mess around with them.
I could feel for her on that front, at least. Having my old Warcraft guild collapse while I was away for college was not exactly a pleasant experience for me. And three years instead of just a few months, especially with outside-the-game troubles, would possibly do a whole lot more damage to a group's stability than Tomb of Sargareas apparently being bullshit. Even if things hadn't completely fallen apart, that was three years of missed content and activities.
Of course, I had no problem with Vert relaxing, but I also knew Vert was going to overdo anything related to MMO's. I was going to have to think of something to make sure she wouldn't. I'd seen what she could get like some days. It was for the best that she didn't get that far into things again.
Hopefully Chika would be able to help with that. I knew for a fact Chika was going to be extremely clingy for the next few days. Not entirely without good reason. But it was safe to say that I was going to be the one completely in charge for the next few days. Another joyful event, but it was something I was used to.
I had some idea what Histoire was planning in the first place. We were a bit on a similar wavelength like that. Our sister's being free was a good first step. Personal reasons aside, them being captured was the first major sign of things going to crap. Having them back was a major blow to the ASIC. However, it wasn't the only reason. Things had been heating up for a while even before I arrived in Leanbox.
But we had them back. Having the Goddesses back was the turning point I'd been aiming for over these past three years.
"You're thinking too much," Vert's words snapped me out of my thoughts, heat rising in my face as she chided me. How was she able to do that? She was gone for three years! She shouldn't have been able to just, able to tell when I was thinking too much! "Relax."
I blushed even harder. Stupid teenage brain running on hardware a decade out of date compared to the software of my spirit, mind, memories, whatever! Why are you behaving like this? Stupid, stupid brain!
I could see Uni smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. Which made me blush even deeper than I had been. I was not used to being like this.
But it felt still felt right. Vert needed this. I needed this. I was willing to admit it. Even if it was embarrassing to admit such things out where everyone else could see them.
"It is good to see all of you again," Histoire floated in the room. I didn't get to see her in person all that often. Seeing her through a camera didn't do her tiny figure justice. She was very much a small fairy, riding a book. Seeing her in person was always strange.
Her appearance brought smiles throughout the room, meaning that the feeling was shared. Histoire was an advisor to just about everyone, even if she mostly worked in Planeptune. If Neptune's behavior was proving to be anything to go by, the choice was beginning to make more sense. I wonder if Nepgear being the taller of the two siblings was some sort of symbolism. She was certainly the saner of the two, it seemed like.
"Histie!" Neptune shouted, almost trying to tackle hug the flying book in something that would certainly be painful for Historie to experience if the attempt managed to connect. Thankfully, it did not. Honestly, IF's no-nonsense attitude was starting to make sense as well. If she was having to deal with that on the regular, I'd get to the end of my rope in pretty short order too. Thankfully, Compa and Nepgear had the patience of a metaphorical Goddess. Maybe.
I wasn't sure what everyone's relationship was. Nepgear seemed to be the sane sister to balance out Neptune. Rom and Ram were adorable if a bit much to handle, though I wasn't entirely sure how Blanc handled their energy. Uni was the closest, as she seemed like the overachiever who couldn't get her sister's approval. Or always had that approval and just couldn't pick up on it.
Not helped by the fact that, again, Noire did not seem like the type to express herself emotionally all that well. A trait that seemingly carried straight to Uni. They seemed the most alike out of all the other sisters so far.
Which was again, still a bit of a surreal thing. I wouldn't be wholly surprised if everyone had met the respective other's older sisters, if only for a while as part of diplomatic functions. Maybe besides Vert. I'd heard a few stories. But I was the exception. The downsides to being the young one. Which was something I normally wouldn't think, even if it was true. By their standards, I was effectively the baby.
"It's nice to see that the stories of Vert's sister weren't exaggerated, either," Blanc sent a glare that fell somewhere in the distance of annoyance and teasing, as Vert stuck out her tongue in response. Though, by the fact she clung to me even tighter, there was something else there too.
"Yeah, congratulations! It took you long enough!" Neptune smiled, still nearly bouncing around. "Still, it's a bit weird." She stood for a moment. "Ah, Snapdragon, that makes sense!"
Alright, I was going to assume that they were feeding her drugs in the Gamindustri Graveyard for whatever dumb reason that I could allow myself to put into a box and throw it into some deep mental cravas to ignore until the end of time.
Thankfully, I didn't seem like I was the only one willing to ignore that.
"That is pretty fortunate. You managed to have someone there when you weren't," Noire commented. "Even if it was by the skin of your teeth."
"Yes, I'm sure Hinum did a fine job," Vert beamed with a smile, even as she held me like a doll.
"Well, nothing was on fire last I checked," I admitted, though given how we had been gone for at least twelve hours by this point, it wasn't like that could have changed. It shouldn't, as Chika hadn't contacted me of any emergencies, and was pretty happy to hear the news. But things could have changed. Maybe. Unlikely, but they could have.
It was really touch and go with the whole no arson thing for a few days, not going to lie. I had to FDR that shit. Do you know how hard it is to FDR something? Only slightly easier than trying to channel the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt and bull-moosing someone!
Yes, I was using bull moose as a verb, shush. At least I wasn't trying to talk someone into thinking the plural of moose was meese. Yes, that was a thing I have witnessed. No, I wasn't surprised when the other person started falling for it, English is a bastard.
"I'm sure all our sisters did a fine job," Noire said. God, how she was able to miss the wince on Uni's face, I will never know. Then again, I'd probably try to pass off anything that wasn't actively in the process of being smashed to pieces as a win. I wasn't going to correct, because Uni had done the best she could with what she had available. And I wasn't going to put that effort down, especially in front of her sister.
In part because she was going to do so herself.
"While I would not describe everything as fine, things could certainly be much worse," Histoire admitted, drawing our attention back to her. "At the moment, continuing to weaken the ASIC should be our main priority."
"But we've been doing that already!" Ram complained, kicking her feet.
"They still have Shares left. Even one percent is far too much in my eyes," I offer, doing my best to clamp down on my grin. It was best not to scare people. Especially Rom.
Like it or not, Airfore played by the same rules as any of us. If she didn't have any Shares, then she would be weaker. How much weaker? On that front, I had no clue. But we needed every advantage we could get. And crippling her before she could reach full power? Much less possibly escape? That was a good idea in my book. Not to mention, a form of payback, given that the ASIC had spent the last three years trying to do the same thing to us.
Irony was a friend of mine. A very close friend that I cared for dearly. Even more so given how I had little doubt they were trying to do the same with our sisters as well. The list of reasons I had to find a way to put the graveyard to the torch was only increasing.
"That does sound like a good place to start," Blanc admitted, the blank look on her face shifting for a few seconds, before resetting to her normal expression. I did like the start part because that was exactly what it was. A start.
Before anyone else could say anything, there was a rumble, the earth seeming to quake beneath our feet. That was, not a great sign.
Earthquakes didn't tend to happen in Gamindustri. Not without a cause.
Another reason to completely annihilate the graveyard, it seems.
"We need to look into that right now!" Noire was already standing up.
Oh. That was one, big, fat, stinking, absolutely not.
"Yeah, no," I crossed my arms, standing between Noire, well, all of our older sisters, really, and the exit.
The look on her face was perfect.
"The four of you are still exhausted," I said, doing my best stern old sister expression. Given how half of them were shorter than me, it might actually work. "Whatever that was, the five of us can deal with it, okay? So just sit back and relax."
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"We're going after them, aren't we?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"Vert, your sister is funny!"
"Your sister is a brat."
"Hey, don't talk about Hinum that way!"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
That had been a thing. I hadn't expected the rat, of all things. Much less Magik herself showing up. Thankfully, there wasn't any fighting, as I was pretty sure even now she could beat the five of us senseless.
Well, all nine of us. Because four people decided to show up after I explicitly told them to get some rest! Not that I wasn't happy to have to backup, but still! They needed to rest!
And on the front of rest, Vert and I were almost to the Basilicom. We decided that after the whole mess with Magik, and already being airborne anyway, that it would be best to split up and go home.
Though I was adding ROUS's, no matter how untraditional they were, to the list of reasons as to why the graveyard needed to be hit with an exterminatus. That was something I never, ever, wanted to see again. I generally didn't fear rats. But when you made one that big? Yeah, no, straight into the fire with that.
"It looks pretty from up here," Vert said, flying next to me. I still had no idea what to say. Even with the hugging and the crying, my brain was on lockdown.
"It is," I spoke after a few moments, looking down at Leanbox. Its lights shined in the night, like a crystal reflecting the moon. "I usually don't get to see it like this."
The admission was almost absentminded. I didn't get to see Leanbox from a high angle all that often. Not without, other factors being involved. Different fires that needed to be put out, countless missions, what free time I had was just about none.
Then I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders, Vert's body nestling between my wings, taking me a moment to re-stabilize.
"No matter what, I'm proud of you," Vert said, holding on tightly. Tears began to well up in my eyes again.
"Really?" I struggled to breathe. "I did a lot of things to try and keep things steady. To keep the economy running as best as I could. To make sure the people were happy and content."
The words began to tumble from my mouth, slowly at first, but the drizzle became a downpour, as I began to explain everything I'd done in Leanbox over the past three years. The interview with the news when I flipped the script on the ASIC. The anti-crime programs, and the economic incentives. Anything and everything just spilled out of my mouth. I probably sounded as if I was gibbering unintelligently at points, but I couldn't help it. The pressure release valve was blown open, leaving my thoughts to burst forward like a broken dam.
Vert hugged me tighter, not saying a word, just letting me exhaust myself as my body quaked, the stress screaming its way out.
"You did a good job, Hinum. The best job you could. I would always be proud of you," Vert said again, her voice sounding like sunshine, as we got closer to the Basilicom.
Then I was going to be content. Content. Not exactly comfortable, as while Vert was taller than I was, it was by about a half head or so. Making the attempt to fit me into her lap and rest her chin on the top of my head was a bit troublesome. And it wasn't like I was used to being cuddled like a stuffed animal, either. I figured Vert would be clingy, even without us being separated.
I knew everyone was looking at me, but I snuggled in anyway. I, really just needed a hug right now. Still, it was weird seeing everyone else's sisters. Especially when not transformed. Blanc, was almost what I imagined her to be, based on what I heard of her. Tiny, giving off a stoic first glance that was betrayed by the temper that ran beneath. Noire, couldn't have been any more Uni's older sister if she tried. I was starting to see where Uni got much of her mannerisms from.
Neptune? I would lie and say I'd never seen someone that looked so young give off crackhead energy.
But there wasn't a kid alive that at one point had maximum crackhead energy. It was like watching Ryan Reynolds, but small, with pink hair, and being unable to swear. I felt like there was something else I should add to that list.
We'd gone to Planpetune, rather than straight back to our respective nations. Histoire wanted to speak to us in person. She had plans on what to do next, or at least ideas. As Histoire was quite smart and very knowledgeable, I was more than willing to listen to what she had to say.
"I missed you," I heard Vert whisper in my ear, her voice soft despite how big her smile was. Heat began to rise in my face, still not used to having someone using me as a glorified plush animal. But that was hardly going to stop Vert.
"I missed you too," I admitted, meaning every word. I still didn't know what to call us. I knew Vert saw me as her sister, even if she knew that my feelings on the matter were, complicated. They hadn't become a whole lot less complicated over the past several years. It was still hard to see Leanbox as a whole time home, even if I had been living there for years. Stupid brain. Unable to do things without making it needlessly complicated.
My words caused Vert's grip on my waist to tighten even further, almost forcing the air out of my lungs. I chuckled despite myself. Even if my brain was a complete and utter mess right now, it was nice to have someone hugging me right now. It helped anchor me, at least a bit, to the real world around me. Something I really kinda needed right now.
If, at the very least, to stop my brain from circling around the toilet like an overly aggressive turd. Which was something it desperately wanted to do right now. Suppressing it wasn't a good idea long term. I'd have to release it somehow. But with Vert back I'd have some degree of free time.
Maybe. On that front, I wasn't exactly under any illusions. Vert was probably not in good enough shape to return to work immediately. I doubt any of our older sisters were in particularly great shape. If simply between lack of shares and general exhaustion. Meaning I was likely to be in charge for the remainder of the crisis whether I liked it or not. It wasn't that I didn't have faith in Vert or her abilities as a leader, but I imagined that she would need no small amount of rest and relaxation.
And time to get that was going to be little and far between while we finish off the rest of the ASIC. So what time she did have to rest and recover was time I was going to want her to spend on that rest and recovery. As much as possible.
Vert needed to recover. They all did. They all looked exhausted, but putting on brave faces for their younger sisters. I, too, had experience being the older sibling, and could very easily call BS if I wanted to. Or needed to, in the case of Vert. There was no doubt in my mind she would at least try to do paperwork if I took my eyes off her. That, or go screeching back to the MMO games she tended to play, accounts that have been sitting collecting dust for the past three years. Because I certainly didn't have the time or knowledge to even attempt to mess around with them.
I could feel for her on that front, at least. Having my old Warcraft guild collapse while I was away for college was not exactly a pleasant experience for me. And three years instead of just a few months, especially with outside-the-game troubles, would possibly do a whole lot more damage to a group's stability than Tomb of Sargareas apparently being bullshit. Even if things hadn't completely fallen apart, that was three years of missed content and activities.
Of course, I had no problem with Vert relaxing, but I also knew Vert was going to overdo anything related to MMO's. I was going to have to think of something to make sure she wouldn't. I'd seen what she could get like some days. It was for the best that she didn't get that far into things again.
Hopefully Chika would be able to help with that. I knew for a fact Chika was going to be extremely clingy for the next few days. Not entirely without good reason. But it was safe to say that I was going to be the one completely in charge for the next few days. Another joyful event, but it was something I was used to.
I had some idea what Histoire was planning in the first place. We were a bit on a similar wavelength like that. Our sister's being free was a good first step. Personal reasons aside, them being captured was the first major sign of things going to crap. Having them back was a major blow to the ASIC. However, it wasn't the only reason. Things had been heating up for a while even before I arrived in Leanbox.
But we had them back. Having the Goddesses back was the turning point I'd been aiming for over these past three years.
"You're thinking too much," Vert's words snapped me out of my thoughts, heat rising in my face as she chided me. How was she able to do that? She was gone for three years! She shouldn't have been able to just, able to tell when I was thinking too much! "Relax."
I blushed even harder. Stupid teenage brain running on hardware a decade out of date compared to the software of my spirit, mind, memories, whatever! Why are you behaving like this? Stupid, stupid brain!
I could see Uni smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. Which made me blush even deeper than I had been. I was not used to being like this.
But it felt still felt right. Vert needed this. I needed this. I was willing to admit it. Even if it was embarrassing to admit such things out where everyone else could see them.
"It is good to see all of you again," Histoire floated in the room. I didn't get to see her in person all that often. Seeing her through a camera didn't do her tiny figure justice. She was very much a small fairy, riding a book. Seeing her in person was always strange.
Her appearance brought smiles throughout the room, meaning that the feeling was shared. Histoire was an advisor to just about everyone, even if she mostly worked in Planeptune. If Neptune's behavior was proving to be anything to go by, the choice was beginning to make more sense. I wonder if Nepgear being the taller of the two siblings was some sort of symbolism. She was certainly the saner of the two, it seemed like.
"Histie!" Neptune shouted, almost trying to tackle hug the flying book in something that would certainly be painful for Historie to experience if the attempt managed to connect. Thankfully, it did not. Honestly, IF's no-nonsense attitude was starting to make sense as well. If she was having to deal with that on the regular, I'd get to the end of my rope in pretty short order too. Thankfully, Compa and Nepgear had the patience of a metaphorical Goddess. Maybe.
I wasn't sure what everyone's relationship was. Nepgear seemed to be the sane sister to balance out Neptune. Rom and Ram were adorable if a bit much to handle, though I wasn't entirely sure how Blanc handled their energy. Uni was the closest, as she seemed like the overachiever who couldn't get her sister's approval. Or always had that approval and just couldn't pick up on it.
Not helped by the fact that, again, Noire did not seem like the type to express herself emotionally all that well. A trait that seemingly carried straight to Uni. They seemed the most alike out of all the other sisters so far.
Which was again, still a bit of a surreal thing. I wouldn't be wholly surprised if everyone had met the respective other's older sisters, if only for a while as part of diplomatic functions. Maybe besides Vert. I'd heard a few stories. But I was the exception. The downsides to being the young one. Which was something I normally wouldn't think, even if it was true. By their standards, I was effectively the baby.
"It's nice to see that the stories of Vert's sister weren't exaggerated, either," Blanc sent a glare that fell somewhere in the distance of annoyance and teasing, as Vert stuck out her tongue in response. Though, by the fact she clung to me even tighter, there was something else there too.
"Yeah, congratulations! It took you long enough!" Neptune smiled, still nearly bouncing around. "Still, it's a bit weird." She stood for a moment. "Ah, Snapdragon, that makes sense!"
Alright, I was going to assume that they were feeding her drugs in the Gamindustri Graveyard for whatever dumb reason that I could allow myself to put into a box and throw it into some deep mental cravas to ignore until the end of time.
Thankfully, I didn't seem like I was the only one willing to ignore that.
"That is pretty fortunate. You managed to have someone there when you weren't," Noire commented. "Even if it was by the skin of your teeth."
"Yes, I'm sure Hinum did a fine job," Vert beamed with a smile, even as she held me like a doll.
"Well, nothing was on fire last I checked," I admitted, though given how we had been gone for at least twelve hours by this point, it wasn't like that could have changed. It shouldn't, as Chika hadn't contacted me of any emergencies, and was pretty happy to hear the news. But things could have changed. Maybe. Unlikely, but they could have.
It was really touch and go with the whole no arson thing for a few days, not going to lie. I had to FDR that shit. Do you know how hard it is to FDR something? Only slightly easier than trying to channel the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt and bull-moosing someone!
Yes, I was using bull moose as a verb, shush. At least I wasn't trying to talk someone into thinking the plural of moose was meese. Yes, that was a thing I have witnessed. No, I wasn't surprised when the other person started falling for it, English is a bastard.
"I'm sure all our sisters did a fine job," Noire said. God, how she was able to miss the wince on Uni's face, I will never know. Then again, I'd probably try to pass off anything that wasn't actively in the process of being smashed to pieces as a win. I wasn't going to correct, because Uni had done the best she could with what she had available. And I wasn't going to put that effort down, especially in front of her sister.
In part because she was going to do so herself.
"While I would not describe everything as fine, things could certainly be much worse," Histoire admitted, drawing our attention back to her. "At the moment, continuing to weaken the ASIC should be our main priority."
"But we've been doing that already!" Ram complained, kicking her feet.
"They still have Shares left. Even one percent is far too much in my eyes," I offer, doing my best to clamp down on my grin. It was best not to scare people. Especially Rom.
Like it or not, Airfore played by the same rules as any of us. If she didn't have any Shares, then she would be weaker. How much weaker? On that front, I had no clue. But we needed every advantage we could get. And crippling her before she could reach full power? Much less possibly escape? That was a good idea in my book. Not to mention, a form of payback, given that the ASIC had spent the last three years trying to do the same thing to us.
Irony was a friend of mine. A very close friend that I cared for dearly. Even more so given how I had little doubt they were trying to do the same with our sisters as well. The list of reasons I had to find a way to put the graveyard to the torch was only increasing.
"That does sound like a good place to start," Blanc admitted, the blank look on her face shifting for a few seconds, before resetting to her normal expression. I did like the start part because that was exactly what it was. A start.
Before anyone else could say anything, there was a rumble, the earth seeming to quake beneath our feet. That was, not a great sign.
Earthquakes didn't tend to happen in Gamindustri. Not without a cause.
Another reason to completely annihilate the graveyard, it seems.
"We need to look into that right now!" Noire was already standing up.
Oh. That was one, big, fat, stinking, absolutely not.
"Yeah, no," I crossed my arms, standing between Noire, well, all of our older sisters, really, and the exit.
The look on her face was perfect.
"The four of you are still exhausted," I said, doing my best stern old sister expression. Given how half of them were shorter than me, it might actually work. "Whatever that was, the five of us can deal with it, okay? So just sit back and relax."
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"We're going after them, aren't we?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"Vert, your sister is funny!"
"Your sister is a brat."
"Hey, don't talk about Hinum that way!"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
That had been a thing. I hadn't expected the rat, of all things. Much less Magik herself showing up. Thankfully, there wasn't any fighting, as I was pretty sure even now she could beat the five of us senseless.
Well, all nine of us. Because four people decided to show up after I explicitly told them to get some rest! Not that I wasn't happy to have to backup, but still! They needed to rest!
And on the front of rest, Vert and I were almost to the Basilicom. We decided that after the whole mess with Magik, and already being airborne anyway, that it would be best to split up and go home.
Though I was adding ROUS's, no matter how untraditional they were, to the list of reasons as to why the graveyard needed to be hit with an exterminatus. That was something I never, ever, wanted to see again. I generally didn't fear rats. But when you made one that big? Yeah, no, straight into the fire with that.
"It looks pretty from up here," Vert said, flying next to me. I still had no idea what to say. Even with the hugging and the crying, my brain was on lockdown.
"It is," I spoke after a few moments, looking down at Leanbox. Its lights shined in the night, like a crystal reflecting the moon. "I usually don't get to see it like this."
The admission was almost absentminded. I didn't get to see Leanbox from a high angle all that often. Not without, other factors being involved. Different fires that needed to be put out, countless missions, what free time I had was just about none.
Then I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders, Vert's body nestling between my wings, taking me a moment to re-stabilize.
"No matter what, I'm proud of you," Vert said, holding on tightly. Tears began to well up in my eyes again.
"Really?" I struggled to breathe. "I did a lot of things to try and keep things steady. To keep the economy running as best as I could. To make sure the people were happy and content."
The words began to tumble from my mouth, slowly at first, but the drizzle became a downpour, as I began to explain everything I'd done in Leanbox over the past three years. The interview with the news when I flipped the script on the ASIC. The anti-crime programs, and the economic incentives. Anything and everything just spilled out of my mouth. I probably sounded as if I was gibbering unintelligently at points, but I couldn't help it. The pressure release valve was blown open, leaving my thoughts to burst forward like a broken dam.
Vert hugged me tighter, not saying a word, just letting me exhaust myself as my body quaked, the stress screaming its way out.
"You did a good job, Hinum. The best job you could. I would always be proud of you," Vert said again, her voice sounding like sunshine, as we got closer to the Basilicom.
