[Center][b][u]9:00 PM, January 21st, 2026
San Diego, California[/u][/b][/center]

Leo rose from his seat at the bench as the hour struck, seeing the bus driver open the doors to his bus. After this one reaches Primm, he'll have to wait another day for the bus to Vegas. He approaches the bus, pulling his ticket out of his jacket, and steps aboard, pulling along his duffle bag and suitcase. The bus driver himself was probably in his 50's, and just looked [i]so[/i] eager to drive a near-empty bus for hours on end. He spoke to Leo in a tired voice.

[b]"Ticket, please."[/b]

Leo hands the driver the ticket and begins to find a seat, but was stopped by the driver.

[b]"Hey, one carry-on only! Anything else has to go in the storage!"[/b]

Leo looked around the deserted bus station outside, finding not a single soul but him, the driver, and the ticket-booth attendant waiting lazily in his little box, watching something on his phone. Leo turned back to the driver.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"C'mon, man, there's nobody else here. And do you really want to get out and open up the compartment, or do you wanna get going?"[/b][/color]

The bus driver stared him down for a second, before sighing and letting him pass.

[b]"... Oh, go ahead, I don't give a shit..."[/b]

Leo nodded his head and walked to the back of the bus, where the cool kids (and formerly oppressed minorities, but that's besides the point) sit, picking up the man's thoughts on his way:

[i]BORING AS HELL
TIRING AS HELL
STILL GETTING PAID[/i]

What a sad man. Leo takes a seat with his belongings and the bus, after a few hopeful (and legally required) minutes of waiting, shuts it's doors and begins it's journey.

Leo whips out his phone and notices a new notification. An Email, seemingly from a fan. But but this wasn't on his Arsenal fanmail email, it was his personal email. That's concerning. He read through the email thoroughly, partially out loud as he does when thinking. Good thing he was in the back.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"To Leo, from 'GirlGeniusJ355' at... She... She has her own email...?"[/b][/color]

Leo, now incredibly interested, continues to read on:

[color=9e0b0f][b]"... 'A gift from me to you'... Saw you were in Coast City... Welcome to town present... do do do do... See attached images."[/b][/color]

He opened the attached image, and saw the gift that was prepared: a futuristic-looking bow, with all sorts of fancy doodads on it. Leo can't exactly tell what they do, but it appears to have vents with tubes. Definitely for some sort of oxygen compression. Pneumatic, maybe? But then there's this crystal... What was that for? And what mineral was it?

But the questions can wait. That bow looks fucking awesome. Leo wants to shoot with it. Case closed. Continuing with the rest of the email:

[color=9e0b0f][b]"... The WB-B attachment..."[/b][/color]

Leo cautiously opened up the code and gave it a look over. This "WhistleBlower-Buster" program was... Well, Genius. He didn't even know what most of this meant, but he could tell it was some high-level stuff. After double-checking the code for any malicious code or backdoors, he sent the code to one of his Admins to implement it into the site. He finished the email:

[color=9e0b0f][b]"... Regards... 'A genius fan'... Yeah, no kidding."[/b][/color]

He noticed the P.S under the farewell, and his tone started getting excited.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"P.S.... 'If you want your gift just email me back, I'm sure we can figure out a pickup spot'?! Oh dang!"[/b][/color]

The bus driver gives Leo a look in his rear view as if saying "Quiet down, I don't need this right now". Leo got the message and piped down his happiness. He proceeded to type out a response in silent joy.

[hr]
[b][i]To: GirlGeniusJ355@ihavemyownemailservice.pizza

From: Leo$@bingfreeserver.com

Subject: RE: A gift from me to you!

Body: Hey there, person! Thanks for writing. Not even gonna ask how you got this email, because judging by your work (and username), you're pretty smart.

I've already got my site managers working that program you gave me into the site. The code was absolute brilliance. I'll be able to stream for a longer amount of time now. Thanks!

But now let's talk about that bow: it looks WICKED. I'm not entirely sure how it works besides the oxygen compression, but I'm sure I'll find out!

... Some packaged instructions would also help.

I'll be in Primm tomorrow on the 22nd before I head to Fabulous Las Vegas. If you can, I'd like you to drop the bow off on the roof of the hotel there. I'm sure you have a way. If possible, I'd like to send a gift of my own back! Least I can do!

Anyway, always nice to hear from a fan. I'm glad you enjoy my stream! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to have peeps like you as my fans!

Love,

Arsenal
[/i][/b]

[hr]

Aaaaaand sent. There we are. Leo switches to a music app and puts a pair of headphones on, drifting off to sleep as the bus makes it's journey to Primm.