John watched the little circle in the middle of his television screen as the connection loaded. ‘Come on, pick up,’ the Gamer thought, glancing repeatedly at the time. They had agreed on it days ago and made extra sure to speak about the same time zone. He really wanted to talk to Momo and see her face while he did so. It had been too long.

Finally, the loading screen made room for the visual of Momo. Rather than have her smile at the camera or anything, he and the gathered harem bore witness to the artificial support narrowly dodging a fireball. Something in a Semitic language was shouted, John didn’t understand anything of it. He hadn’t looked into learning anything in the Arabic ballpark yet.

All he knew was that Momo herself was shouting something back in the same language. The angle of the camera changed a little bit, allowing John to see a second fireball clashing against a translucent blockade of white mana. The wall flared for a moment, absorbing the impact effortlessly, then was dismissed by the flying white-haired woman that had conjured it. On the ground below, there was a man shaking his fist at the sky, conjuring a third fireball in his left hand. The floor around him was covered in large tiles of a red, black-spotted stone.

“What’s going on?” John asked, hoping to get an answer. He was only minorly worried, since Momo had already displayed the ability to block the attack without problem. If things got dicey, she could always fly away as well.

“Somebody doesn’t want to share his wireless,” the sassy support pointed the camera at her own face. She was as pretty as ever. Her round face, covered in a fair bit of dust and dirt, was framed by her incredibly straight, white hair. In an unexpected change, it was now so long that most of it reached beyond the frame the camera revealed, currently being her shoulders at the lower border. Only her bangs and the strands directly around her face had kept the old length.

“I like your new hair,” Rave commented, evidently not taking the situation all that seriously.

“Thanks,” Momo smiled and changed the angle a little bit to show more of it off. It was extremely long, going all the way down to her butt. The lower half of it was bundled together by a metal ring. On the occasion of this camera change, John also got to see that she was hovering above some massive, beige building, with pools, decorative palm trees and large windows. “I decided I liked it longer.”

“Neat.”

The third fireball crashed against another shield. John only heard it as Momo didn’t even bother to readjust her camera. For a moment, she turned away to scream something towards the ground. John did not need to know the exact words to extract the meaning, being something along the lines of, “Can you PLEASE chill?!”

“Why are you even hooked up to his wireless?” John wanted to know.

“Because I am broke, apparently, so I ran out of prepaid internet and now I have to rely on other things!” Momo exclaimed, while hovering over the building. Angling the flat roof between herself and the pesky presence, removing the guy from the scene. “I had to fly all the way to Israel to find a place that had both good wireless and was in a Protected Space.”

“Well, that answers about half of the ‘where are you’ question I was going to ask next,” John said and leaned back. He put an arm around Aclysia’s shoulder. It was odd to feel her warmth only through a layer of cloth, especially on this couch. In order to not be too distracting, the harem had put on some casual clothes (or hid their sexual bits otherwise, in the case of Siena and Undine). “Would still like to know more specifics. Is that some sort of hotel or are you invading some rich Abyssal’s mansion.”

“Pretty sure it’s the former, give me a second,” Momo flew back over to the court in front of the building and aimed her camera at the entrance. Despite the clearly eastern architecture, the entrance had that typical pavilion design that was common among hotels, especially in the west. Two rows of letters, one in the Hebrew and one in the Latin alphabet, spelled out the name as the ‘Resting Place of Arames’.

Notably, the fireball thrower was no longer there.

John put the name into the Abyssal equivalent of Google, while Momo flew back above the roof. “Was just the first place I reached,” Momo explained. “Don’t think of anything bad is going on, see you calling me at the agreed time, try to accept and suddenly that ass is chucking fireballs at me! Who does that?”

“You know he might be running into the building to block wireless for you specifically?” John asked, while browsing the website of the hotel. ‘Founded by a person called Arames about 200 years ago, who came across the site and decided this would be a nice place for a rest. I had hoped for some greater history behind that name.’

“Yeah, currently thinking about how to solve that,” Momo scratched her head with the tip of her staff. Silver lines ran in jagged and spiralling patterns over the black surface of the shaft, leading up to a large, equally jagged hook at the head of it. It looked somewhat impressive, but given that it was supposed to be a legendary artefact, TIolyst struck John as somewhat underwhelming.

A new fireball clashed against Momo’s shield, coming along with a bunch of annoyed screams. The fireball thrower must have hurried to get onto the roof and was continuing his assault from there. “You have a very persistent guard on your tail,” Aclysia noted in a semi-approving fashion.

“Why do you sound like you are happy about that?” Momo pouted, the lower of her intensely pink lips pushing forwards.

“If somebody was trespassing on Master’s territory, I would be acting much the same,” the weaponized maid explained.

“I just need the internet connection!” she looked down at herself. “Although I wouldn’t complain about a shower. I found a cave system yesterday that only existed on the Abyssal side of things. Thought it was a Natural Barrier at first, but nope. Nothing alive there whatsoever. Found some kind of pre-IBMA barrier maintenance device in there. It’s only as large as a shoebox, if you can believe that.”

John whistled, his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop, darting up to Momo on the television (and the camera placed underneath it) occasionally. Given the immense size of a regular IBMA, that did sound impressive. “How large is the barrier?”

“It was about 2 kilometres across,” Momo said. “It collapsed after I removed the device and left, predictably. Didn’t find anything else of importance in there, only some dust that could have been paper at some point.”

“Kind of annoying that the site disappeared regardless,” John hummed, leaning back after having sent an email. “I guess that’s just the nature of past Abyssal civilizations. They drop completely into the void and remain unfindable forever, once lost.”

“Really annoying, yes.” Momo nodded and whirled her staff to create a new wall to block the next fireball. “Almost as annoying as that guy. Oh, fantastic, he got some help on the roof now. Huh?” She raised one of her white eyebrows and looked down.

‘That was pretty quick, they must have a Technomancer,’ John thought and looked over to Scarlett, who gave him a smug smile. ‘Or mine pulled some strings.’ “What’s going on?” the Gamer asked in a playful fashion that made it clear he knew something.

Momo immediately read that and reported, in a dry tone, “Some manager looking dude just went on the roof and is now waving me down enthusiastically. Almost as if someone has just sent over a giant check to give me a room and solve the problem with the wireless.”

“That someone sounds like a really magnanimous fellow,” John giggled, while Momo went on a slow descent. The phone was put into a breast pocket, an addition that the Artificial Spirit could make freely to her outfit. It allowed the group to see, at a lower angle, what Momo was seeing.

“I think he is a bit of a scheming dick,” was the last Momo said before she switched into Hebrew and talked to the guard and the manager. Judging by their tone and expressions, John guessed that Momo was being a bit mean about the fact that throwing all of those fireballs against her shields was a complete waste of time and apologetic for using the network unannounced.

The guard seemed like he couldn’t care less and marched off as soon as he was given permission to, while the manager guided Momo into the building. The inside was decorated with turquoise stones, gold-framed painting and illuminated by soft, magical light. It didn’t take too long for Momo to be led to a dark, wooden door and handed some sort of key card. The manager then bowed and walked away.

Momo pressed the card against the electronic lock and entered. The rented room was more of an apartment. The first thing one saw when entering was a queen-sized bed, its covering and the carpet it stood on both having a burgundy red colour. Said carpet was an extra layer between the bed and the black tiles of the floor. Beyond the foot end of the bed, separated by a step’s distance and on top of a mahogany drawer, stood a large TV. At the far end of the room, several glass panes and a door showed a respectable balcony, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. To the right was an inbuilt kitchen, to the left a door that presumably led into the bathroom.

Momo turned towards the door, but not to walk towards it, instead stepping up to a table that had previously been out of frame. Like the drawer, it was made of mahogany. A laptop sat on top, looking to be of rather high quality. Opening it, the support said, “Neat, that has a camera too,” before sitting down on the office chair that came along with the table. “Fat chance, but you didn’t arrange this to be put here to take it with me?”

“Even I can’t work that quick,” John answered, “but you can have one if you want to, it is your birthday… Oh, right, happy birthday, Momo!”

“Ja, happy b-day!” Rave echoed and so did the rest of the harem, one after the other.

“Thanks, thanks.” Momo placed the phone down so they could see her while she booted up the laptop. “Gimme a sec, I want to see if I can get onto the browser version of Discord on this. I can barely see you all on that tiny phone screen… Oh hey, don’t even need to get into the browser, it’s pre-installed.” A few moments of soft tipping (and a minute of verifying that the new log-in was valid) later and the angle suddenly switched.

The camera quality went up a notch, which only made Momo look more beautiful and dirtier. More dust and dirt stuck to her clothes, particularly her poncho. Something she was all too aware of, inspecting herself on the display of her own screen.

“I look terrible,” she noted, but ignored it in favour of looking at the people she chatted with. “You, however, look fantastic. Did you get even buffer since the last photos I got?”

“Oh yeah, raised my Charisma some more, want to see?” John flirted back and teasingly grabbed the edge of his shirt.

“Sure, I am confused why you’re all dressed anyway,” Momo said and winked at the camera. “Aclysia, seeing you naked would be a great gift, you know that.” Both the weaponized maid and John answered the request and lost their clothing. The Gamer didn’t even bother with any pretence, he just stripped completely.

“Ah, this is way better,” he sighed and kissed Aclysia’s now naked shoulder. “Like what you see?”

“You’re more chiselled than all of the statues I found so far.” Momo’s voice rang with genuine respect. “Not that I ever really saw you before you got somewhat buff. By the time you created me, you had already invested somewhat into Physical Stats, but still – nice.”

“You know.” John grinned. “Anyway, since this is the first time you can actually see them, let me introduce Beatrice and Scarlett to you.” He gestured at the passive maid, who simply bowed, and the Technomancer.

Momo clearly enjoyed the sight of having a second Aclysia around. While her obsession had, by her statements, diminished, it didn’t change that she was attracted to the older Artificial Spirit. Not that there was any way to blame her for this, Aclysia and Beatrice each had one hell of a body. Not that the rest of the harem was any different, which was why Momo’s eyes clearly moved all over her screen.

Scarlett crossed her legs and looked directly at the camera. “I was told you’re another smart girl?”

“Smart enough to recognize a hot redhead, but I think that doesn’t prove much, given how obvious that is,” Momo flirted with the Technomancer. “Love what I heard about you, although you should quit smoking. It makes the kisses a bit ashy.”

“Maybe if you quit being useless overseas, I’ll think about it,” Scarlett announced. “Depends on how good the extra kisses would be. Although that is also reliant on whether or not you decide to re-join this fucker’s harem.” She pointed at John with her thumb. “I do many things, but I don’t like to love outside this already oversized web of relationships.”

“I’ve come to a decision on that front.” Those words had John lean forwards in a deeply intrigued fashion. Most of the harem followed the motion, eagerly staring at the screen as the silence grew. “But I won’t tell you yet.”

John threw a hand into the air. “You know I am 99% sure I know the answer already and that I’ll like it. You can just tell me!”

“But it’s so fun to watch you squirm under the last 1%,” Momo hummed.

“Dick move!” Rave complained.

“At least it fucking proves that our techno-angel there is some level of smartass,” Eliza spoke up and got some confused glances. “What? Every last fucking smart person we meet is a giant, teasing cuntwaffle that likes to run circles around everyone with their ‘superior intellect’. Exhibit P.” She pointed at the nude Gamer.

“That is fair enough,” John laughed. “I assume the P stands for pervert?”

“No, it stands for pussy-filler, cause you should cream me repeatedly until I’m starting to bloat with cum again, you absolute cunt. BREED ME!”

“Again?” Momo asked with a raised eyebrow. “You managed to do that before? I know that spa day with Nathalia was really extensive, but beyond that…”

“Cumslut got pretty ridiculous eventually.”

“Ah… well, pivoting from Cumslut, I see that Gnome and Undine both evolved. You both look good. Like the new hairstyle, Gnome.”

“Thanks!” the autumn elemental stated and, made self-aware, brushed through her partly braided hair. “I-I really miss you, Momo,” she mumbled, then repeated it louder, when they had to be afraid the microphone hadn’t picked it up. “I really want to spend some nights talking about nonsense with you again and… I think you’re sexy and smart and… I just want you back with us, okay? Like, properly…” Embarrassed, Gnome fidgeted with her hands, pushing her fingertips together only to draw her hands apart repeatedly, and averted her flustered eyes from the camera. “…so…I hope John is right about your decision and… yeah…”

“…I… uhm,” Momo had not been prepared for such a heavy dose of earnest sweetness and stumbled for a moment. “I miss you too, Gnome. That’s all I’ll say for now, okay?”

“Okay.” The autumn elemental nodded.

“I miss you as well,” Undine said out loud. “You are a reliable voice of reason. We all need that sometime.”

“You lot are making me blush,” Momo said, as if she wasn’t visibly red already. “Anyway, last I heard from you was when you called regarding that whole minister idea. Anything exciting happened since?”

“Nothing too out of the ordinary,” John began, “but also enough that is noteworthy.”