The news spread like wildfire through the harem and they all met in the living room within half an hour. Enough time for Scarlett to put another triple espresso into her system. While he really wanted her to get a good rest, this situation required her to stay around. They could lose her at any moment if they weren’t careful.

“How old is that photo?” Rave asked the obvious first question. Anything older than a few days was useless to them, no matter where it was taken. Nia wasn’t exactly known for lingering at a certain location for a long time. The blank’s talent to appear at the right time did not apply in the opposite direction, making it hard to find her when one wanted.

“Two hours, maybe three, going by the upload date,” Scarlett answered. “I was just browsing some cat photos for relaxation, who would have thought I’d stumble over her?”

Of all the ways they had searched for Nia, putting out agents, informing their media team, random scans for her likeness by Scarlett and other, less proficient, Technomancers, it was by raw chance that they finally discovered her. It was just like her that it would be a picture of her petting an animal. The next question was also obvious.

“Where was it taken?” the Gamer wanted to know, already moving blocks and schedules inside his head.

“Miami,” Scarlett kept the answer short.

South, as Nia had said when she had appeared before Eliza a few months back. All the way down in Florida. An area under the control of unpredictable weirdos, as the rumours went. ‘Unpredictable and weird does fit Nia’s description somewhat,’ the Gamer fought and weighed different risks against each other.

Elsewhere on the couch, Scarlett sighed. “I have to advise against you leaving, but what are the chances you’ll listen?”

“Very slim,” John mumbled his answer, only speaking clearer once he redirected his thoughts to saying them out loud. “I get it. Me just appearing in the territory of a neutral party could be perceived as a threat. One false step and Fusion’s chances at peacefully integrating Florida diminish greatly.”

“Reminder,” Beatrice spoke up, “the first session of the House of Exceptionals is scheduled for Monday, third of September, two days from now. The House of Commons will meet the week thereafter to elect the Speaker of the Commons.”

“I know, I know.” The Gamer bit the tip of his thumb as his mind continuously turned around the best ways to handle this. ‘Could I just miss the session? No, it’s the first one, and if I’m not there to oversee it, nobody will have any idea how the system is even supposed to work. Can I push it back? No, I’ve invested too much time and work into making sure things get handled smoothly. I need to attend the House of Exceptionals meeting and everything afterwards. I can’t be the hindrance of the system when it’s finally starting up.’

He looked towards the Mandala Sphere. This was exactly the kind of situation that he had gotten Ambassador Double for. Entering a foreign territory without all of his powerset present seemed like a somewhat bad idea, but he would have to manage. Jack was among the easier things to temporarily fight without anyway.

“I have to take the diplomatic risk,” he finally announced. No matter how he thought about it, there was no timeline in which John Newman did not chase after one of his missing girls. He would have needed either an assurance or a plea from their side to stay away. “Now that we finally have an idea where Nia is, I have to go after her. The Mandala Sphere will remain here and allow me to take part in the initial meetings.”

“As expected,” Scarlett sighed and leaned back. “You know you’re awful, right? The first thought I have when you pull stunts like this is that I feel you’re giving me way too much fucking work.” She rubbed her eyes; coffee or not, she was obviously tired. “Then that fades and all I feel is the lingering happiness, because I know you would go to the same lengths to find me. You have your ways to be addicting. Must be all the oxytocin you make me produce with all of the fucking and the cuddling.”

“I won’t apologize for making you happy,” the Gamer smirked.

“Sure, you won’t,” she groaned and rubbed her temples. “That you can be at two different places will smooth most things over locally, at least.” Her hand lowered from her face and landed audibly on the seat of the couch. For a moment, the redhead looked through the room. “Eliza, you know you have to stay here too, right?”

“Yeah,” the blood mage rolled her eyes, as if she had just heard something incredibly annoying. “If someone feels threatened by John landing in their territory, what would they think if I drop down there, I get it.” Playing with the Magryph in her lap, she grumbled, “Not like I should fight anyway.”

“If their research is relatively old, they might be more afraid of Thana… but that makes little difference at this point,” John stated and looked over the rest of the room. The elementals would come with him. He could have convinced some of them to bind to Jack instead but didn’t see the point in doing so. Nobody else knew about this power and, even if they did, the Gamer would be surprised if there were people out there that expected a known Elementalist to appear without his summons.

The Artificial Spirits were a bit of a different question. Conceivably, they could distance themselves for as much as necessary. Taking them with him would definitely send the signal that he was around in full force.

Aclysia must have sensed his thoughts as she tensed up and gave him a pleading look. Whatever his decision was, she would oblige, even if it was clear that she would infinitely prefer to accompany him. Although weaker in intensity, Beatrice’s convictions were much the same.

Weighing the potentially unwanted intimidation factor those two represented against the duality of their companionship and the protection they provided if things did go south, John had to think about this for a minute. ‘It’s a shame that binding them to Jack for mental communication range also makes my copy the target for the teleport cooldowns,’ he thought. ‘I could keep them here and signal them to teleport whenever necessary otherwise.’ Always a little paranoid and resolving that their addition to the group wouldn’t up the risk of being perceived as a threat by any tipping margin, John said, “Aclysia, Beatrice, you two come with me.” Then he looked at Metra and added, in a sorry tone, “You should stay here though.”

The maids beamed with happiness, while the First of Wrath shrugged. It was plastered over her face and her thoughts, both equally easy to read, that she had anticipated the decision, even if she wasn’t completely happy with it. “I guess my job is to be the emergency protection of the Hudson Barrier?”

“And Jack’s bodyguard, yes.” The Gamer nodded. “If something happens and my double gets trashed, I won’t be around to repair it and natural regeneration is a tad too slow for my liking. It would be inconvenient.”

“Diplomatically speaking, it’s also a good move.” Scarlett yawned and decided that sitting was too much of a hassle. Lying down, she used Undine’s thighs for neck support, while putting her naked feet in Salamander’s lap, making sure they rested comfortably while also keeping them warm. “You’re basically the face of our war efforts, especially when it comes to rebel suppression of the rather brutal variety.”

“Hm,” Metra hummed and leisurely threw an arm over the back of her armchair. “Yeah, that’s what I do, I suppose. Not my fault that the fuckers refuse to surrender all the time.”

“You just fight with ethics from another time,” John pointed out. Although he reined in her worst excesses and had her mostly acclimated to the ‘nicer’ way of war in the current period, when she was on the actual battlefield, Metra brutalized her enemies. Not deliberately, most of the time, she just didn’t care for waging war in a clean way. If someone was her enemy, if they got in front of the bulldozer so to say, they would be ground to dust. That was all there was to it. He looked at his girlfriend. “You’ll just do whatever you want anyway, so are you coming with me or staying?”

“Do ya really need to ask?” Rave smiled broadly and brushed a strand of her wild, pink mane behind her ear. “Better question: when are we leaving?”

“Right now,” the Gamer responded. “Scarlett, can you get us a flight?”

“If you take the teleporter to DC, there are some last-minute bookings I can make,” the Technomancer informed him and the Gamer got up. “Just remember that I can’t fool the sensors all the way from here.”

“Right,” John, dragging the clothes out of his inventory, posed the question to the Artificial Spirits. “Do you want to use the teleport or are you fine with getting smuggled through in my inventory?”

“I… will use the teleport…” Aclysia slowly stated and shook her head in an apologizing motion. “I want to avoid that darkness wherever possible. I’m sorry, Master.”

“It’s fine,” he assured her. As long as she stuck with him the following three days, it wasn’t a necessary thing anyway. “Jack will tell you when we have arrived there. What about you, Beatrice?” While they talked, Rave went to put on her shoes. Unlike him, she hadn’t been naked, since she came to this meeting straight from doing actual work elsewhere.

“I can travel in the inventory,” she stated and began to shrink down.

“Alright then, I’m off,” John announced, quickly giving Eliza, Scarlett and Metra a kiss each. “You’re going to take a nap while we travel,” he told the Technomancer. “And you WILL sleep once you can’t help anymore.”

“So, I’ll never sleep?” Scarlett asked and raised her hands in a submissive gesture when the Gamer gave her a dark stare. “Alright, I’ll rest up somewhat.”

“You better, I want my property to be treated and maintained well,” he said and then smiled. “Just remember that I want you to be happy and healthy, okay?”

“Fine, fine, now get out of here, you don’t have a whole lot of time.”

The Gamer nodded and turned to leave. He picked up a miniature Beatrice on his way out and put her into his inventory. While his hastened steps carried him towards the door, the elementals went incorporeal. Only Rave walked behind him, the Mandala Sphere transforming into Jack and sitting down next to Aclysia.

As quickly as possible without outright running, they got to the Transport Station and found themselves over at the White House. At this point, its façade was completely restored. Proud and clean, it stood above the masterwork of a war memorial that had been erected in honour to those that had fallen to Sigmund. The traditional seat of the US president was kind of small compared to John’s Palace and definitely didn’t offer the luxuries his game mechanic fuelled home could, but the symbolic value of it was intense.

As per John’s wishes, it had been restored as a near perfect replica of the real-world side of things, rather than a restoration of the extra-impressive version Abraham had made of it. That didn’t change the silver and platinum coloured leaves of the nearby trees or the blue-tipped grass of the lawn. It was a nice mixture of mundane and Abyssal history.

Not that John had too much time to marvel at it. He passed the platform always in place for emergency press conferences. A couple of gardeners and interior decorators, going after their work to add the finer details to the restoration, waved his way. Not wanting to evoke the image of emergency, John waved back and slowed his step a little bit.

They went to the edge of the barrier and left. From there, they crossed a street and hurried over to a house in the area that John happened to own. He never really went in there, but he had really needed a garage for one of his cars. A black SUV, basically a copy of the first car he bought about three weeks ago, stood there waiting for him.

The duo got inside, John took the driver’s seat, and they drove as close as they could without getting tangled up in the traffic near the airport. John parked somewhere he was allowed to, then they walked the rest of the way.

All of that took almost the same amount of time as they needed to get through the labyrinth of the airport. Getting somewhat used to navigating these buildings, John and Rave found their way to their flight. Just in time to get into the queue for boarding as well, Scarlett hadn’t lied when she said things would be tight.

Once they were in the machine, enjoying the extra bit of leg room first class offered, there was no going back.

John looked out of the window as the airplane started to roll. “What do you think, will we find her?” he asked and then turned to look at his girlfriend. She was such a beautiful thing, from pink hair, over to the blue in her almond shaped eyes, to the way her pink, naturally glossy lips stretched when she smiled.

“I have a good feeling,” she only said and grabbed his hand. “I think we’ll stumble into her, one way or another.”

“Miami is a big city.”

“And we’re big people.” Rave stuck out her tongue, the piercing, currently only disabling the pink lustre in her eyes, adorned the tip of the surprisingly attractive muscle. John was pretty sure he was just conditioned to look at everything about her as attractive. Not that he was complaining. “We can do just about everything, as long as ya think about it and I keep nudging ya into being interesting,” she asserted.

“Am I not interesting enough on my own?” John wanted to know, while the airplane picked up speed.

“You’re okay, but I’m the real vote winner,” his girlfriend laughed. They leaned over at the same time to find each other’s lips for a quick kiss. They would have gone for something longer, but the take-off interrupted them.