A visitor

The night passed uneventfully, as far as you knew. No disturbances, barely any movement from the two of you, having significantly depleted both bodies of energy throughout the past day. It felt so peaceful, particularly when your head found the pillows on Safiya's chest to be far more comfortable than the actual pillows on the bed.

Morning light poured in through the large windows and skylights, naturally waking you and Safiya after a restful sleep. You two stretched out, kissing one another in morning greeting before you both sat up to think about how to make the most of today. Of course, grogginess in the morning didn't help. "I think I saw a coffee maker downstairs, I'll go scout for something to put in it. Otherwise, might be good to take a trip somewhere further away from Spiral City until we figure out what to do with ourselves."

Safiya quietly nodded, her hand running along your arm briefly as she gifted you some leggings and a t-shirt, nothing too crazy but something to maintain some modesty in case somebody peered into the big windows downstairs--although being spotted at all might pose entirely new problems! Safiya herself donned a robe, in fuzzy black fleece, as she stood up alongside you.

Both downstairs, you fished about in the cupboards for mugs and little coffee pods for the machine, as Safiya leaned on the counter, her chest spilling out onto the cold granite countertop. Both of you had been fairly calm about everything, all things considered. You were probably being hunted by one of the wealthiest people on the planet who would undoubtedly want to exact revenge with interest upon you and your partner. But, at least for the moment, everything felt fine.

"So what do you--"

A knock on the door chilled you instantly, as you both froze like animals in headlights. Your first thought ran to 'King', but you'd done a good job to cover your tracks yesterday and felt like those Geistknights wouldn't be knocking politely. Maybe whoever knocked was merely selling something and they would just go away if you didn't answer.

Safiya's eyes widened all of a sudden, as she stood up jerkily, turning toward the door! You set down the coffee pods, shaking you head as you spoke just above a whisper. "No, just stay put, what are you doing?!"

"I can't help it!" Safiya hissed. "Something's moving me..!"

You watched Safiya awkwardly walk toward the door, sort of like her legs were being yanked along rather than her taking steps. She didn't know what to do, looking back at you with fear in her eyes as she reached for the door, pulling it open...

A woman stood outside, dressed in torn jeans and a biker jacket, her short and messy hair giving you the impression that she played guitar for a band that never made it out of the garage. But you knew better.

"M-Mona," Safiya said, blinking in surprise as her fear turned to confusion. "What are you doing here? How are you even here?"

Mona Yabusa. The quarter-Japanese woman owned half of Yabusa Motors and Robotics alongside her sister, Mira. While the latter rarely made a public appearance, you had seen Mona on the front of magazines and in videos online, often in recap videos of Y-con or other tech conventions where she helped demonstrate the latest technology Yabusa had to offer. The most famous photo you remember seeing of her was when she shook hands with the first bipedal Yabusa drone. She'd been in advertisements for Yabusa since she was a child, being one of the more recognizable faces in the tech world.

Squinting at the woman, she stepped inside. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, whether she was intrigued or furious by the face she was looking at. "An interesting body, Tex. She's familiar... oh! One of Emilia's, isn't she? Sapphire or something?"

"...Safiya..." your partner said weakly, as she looked outside at maybe a dozen Yabusa drones standing at the ready in the driveway.

"Safiya, yes! Yes, I knew I had seen her before." One smirk later, she'd moved on from that subject quickly. "Now, I know I gave you broad parameters in your mission to recover those nanites, but imagine my surprise to find you not even in the city, inside the body of the bustiest woman on King's payroll, and no box full of nanites. You know that time is of the essence, right?"

You stepped over to stand beside Safiya, looking down at Mona as you tried to calm your partner. "Ma'am, we were investigating a lead yesterday that we believed to be related to the nanites, and ran into a situation with King employees. Tex... took some initiative, to ensure our survival. These bodies might have knowledge of the whereabouts of the nanites."

Mona squinted at you, slightly surprised by your muscular and imposing figure for a moment. "And you are?"

"I'd made some decisions to expedite my search," Safiya said. "I can explain in detail later, let's just say our interests aligned after some events the day before. At the moment, my partner in Artemis here was injured by King's security as we tried to look into one of King's buildings where we detected a signal, this was how I could stabilize her. They'll need medical attention after I unbind them. Despite this, I have things under control, you didn't have to come down from Alaska..!"

With a smirk, Mona looked between you and Safiya, stepping toward the open living area. "Oh, don't worry, I didn't." Holding up an arm, a panel opened to show the machinery inside Mona's body! Or at least a seemingly flawless copy of her body. "I'm still in my office, but this gave me an opportunity to test out my Case-Endo combination. Remote-controlled Endo, and this outer Case designed to look as close to the real me as possible. I could be anywhere around the world pretty easily. Better than Hasegawa's little body-control goggles, if you ask me. Now, enough of that."

You glanced at Safiya as Mona leaned against the back of the couch, but the two of you stayed silent. "Your idea of 'under control' is a little different from mine, but I can work with this. We can figure this out. Long story short, you made some friends, you found some enemies, you stole the bodies of the enemies, and it turns out you liked them enough to stick around in them. Fine. Do you think the nanites are at that warehouse you were at?"

"We don't know," you said, taking a seat at the kitchen counter with one of the nearby stools. "According to my host, it's filled with all sorts of goods and machinery that King potentially stole."

"Hmm. Wouldn't surprise me if more than a few Yabusa projects are there, King and Hideki have been taking Yabusa IP for a few years now. The original phase binder, various machine designs... it's probably safe to say one of the two would have the resources and capabilities to take the nanites. I can have a chat with Emilia about that, and my Meteor drones can tear that place apart if there's any chance that Yabusa tech is there. But if the nanites aren't with King, then my immediate suspicion is Hideki. The SCPD apparently is taking up the case, but I'll be blunt, Tex: if you think these new friends of yours are capable enough, then I want to set up my own task force for fast and direct results and I want them on the team. Tell me what needs to be done to make it happen. Tech, bodies, money, that's all easy. But I need results within one week."

Mona had a clear and direct leadership style, as well as a clear understanding of the problem at hand. It seemed she had no trouble getting her own hands dirty, though one glance at Safiya made it seem like the synthetic being in that body had hoped that wouldn't be necessary, glancing away. "I'm sorry, I thought I'd have it done. Perhaps I've been a bit... distracted ever since I connected with a human."

Like a good leader, Mona picked up on this same vibe, and stepped over to Safiya, placing a hand on her shoulder as she smiled at your shapely friend. "Hey, now. I'm not going to hold a little fun against you. Maybe I came on a little strong here, that's how I have to be with my board members. Look, you've got a killer body, I love it, both of yours are great, I hope you have fun with 'em. Just name your terms, whatever you need to make this task force happen, I'm open to anything here, literally anything. And if you get the nanites, let's just say there's significant bonuses for everyone involved. Got it? So, tell me all the details and what you need from me and my teams, and I'll make sure everything's in place so you can get to work starting Monday."

This presented a unique opportunity, even though Safiya at the moment probably didn't see it like that. Having Mona's vast resources, even the woman herself, ready to put her full force behind a very aggressive change of pace seemed like a gift! Maybe she had some options for untangling these bodies and dealing with all the extra conscious minds in them... it wouldn't hurt to ask, she did say her offer of any help was quite literal!

It did, however, mean that likely you and the two Angels of the SCPD with you would be undergoing a very severe career change if you accept. Were you ready to leave the force, and the SCPD Angel program, so soon?