Cut. Peel. [h3]Cut...[/h3] [h2][i]Peel.[/i][/h2] A potato skin flopped into the sink to the choir of sizzles and boiling water. It was nice to be back in his proper lab, where he had a [i]proper[/i] kitchen. Sairyn inhaled the melody of aromas deeply and sighed as the stress melted out of his shoulders and potato peels fell into the sink, to be scooped by a mechanical arm through a miniature [i]Conduit[/i] to the chamber where the compost was processed and kept at the perfect temperature, later to be used as fertilizer for the hydroponic beds. Archer was right. He really needed to take some... HIM time... which was suggested in a moment of uncharacteristic fluster after fumbling one too many explosives. Everybody has an off day, right? No. Not everybody, not Archer. Archer [i]never[/i] has an off day, he's [i]annoyingly unflappable no matter how many times we [b]test[/b] him![/i] Stop. He's positively identifiable. Cut and peel. We're gonna make some latkes... or maybe just some perfectly crisp hash browns. The kettle whistled urgently, and he cut off the heat with a tap to the Slate that floated at his side and pushed the button on the grinder once, twice... thrice... [i]frice?[/i] No. Nonononono, nothing comes after [i]thrice[/i]. Perfect coarse grind emptied into the french press, followed by boiling water at the perfect temperature. Perfect. Simple was the order of the day... just some simple crisp hash browns... simple Benedict and crisp bacon, with hollandaise simply made from scratch. Simple fresh sourdough, with a simple yogurt parfait made from berries, nuts, and grains freshly harvested from the hydroponics. Simple. Squirreled away in a pocket of ExoSpace where nobody could reach or bother him, Sairyn enjoyed a relaxing breakfast in solitude. What had him so wound up? The fact that his gambit against Ares with the stealth drone came up empty, and somehow [i]he[/i] was to blame. This was exactly why he hated doing favors for SINS... or [i]anyone[/i], really. He huffed, sipping his coffee gingerly. It didn't help that he'd also lost the eerie cross-market staring contest he was having with the Ares CEO. The man seemed to be able to suppress all his involuntary body movements. It was like staring at a mannequin. Sairyn shivered. At least he was free to work on his own projects for the moment, which reminded him: Should he work on finding his missing agent? Or just trust that Maire had it handled? Then there was that blip with Felix disappearing off the Net and showing up at the stake out with the CEO's [i]Executive Assistant[/i]?? What. The. Hell? So hard to find good help these days. He simmered, remembering he was supposed to be relaxing, and instead ate in oppressive silence while he read reports from the Slate floating at his fingertips. [b][color=#ab6879]"System regression complete,"[/color][/b] a pleasantly clinical voice slid from the earpiece Sovereign normally spoke to him from, causing him to bolt upright and nearly spill his coffee. He'd forgotten to take it off. [b][color=#ab6879]"Systems compatible, resuming Framework formatting. Completed. Cooling silos online at 25%. Small power fluctuation detected within acceptable margin of error."[/color][/b] He raised an eyebrow. The blank framework he'd built finished regression and formatting earlier than he'd expected. A few contented swipes brought up the project schemata on his Slate, and he was greeted to the pleasant view of green check marks and progress bars filling. He hummed a pleased note and flicked through status screens and data telemetry while he finished his breakfast. If the rest of the boot went well, he'd be able to install a backup copy of Sovereign later in the afternoon... assuming he could find a way to rip one from the main server without pissing off Leonardo. [b][color=#ab6879]"AI systems online,"[/color][/b] she informed smoothly. Sairyn's spoon clinked against the glass holding his parfait as he froze. [b][color=#13B30D]"Ex[i]cuse[/i] me?"[/color][/b] [b][color=#ab6879]"The boot sequence has completed. Welcome, Guest User, my name is Monarch."[/color][/b] [b][color=#13B30D]"[i]Guest?![/i]"[/color][/b] He let his glass thump against the table as he scrambled for his Slate. [b][color=#ab6879]"You have a pending message on your device,"[/color][/b] she informed coolly. He swiped the notification bar on his Slate with a concerned expression. Nothing. [b][color=#ab6879]"Your other device."[/color][/b] Sairyn frowned and dug frantically into his coat for his Slatephone and clicked the screen on. Nothing. [b][color=#ab6879]"Your [i]other[/i] device."[/color][/b] The other device? The [i]Red[/i] phone? The one that only rang to one contact? That device? The one that was supposed to be dark to everyone but him? He pulled the modified, red-covered Slatephone out of an ExoSpace pocket with a swipe of his hand, and it materialized in a flash of white light. 1 Message. [center][color=#FF0080]Oh hai! Don't freak out or anything~~ but a shipment GIFT was taken without my permission and there might be a... teeny, tiny, mostly insignificant, highly unlikely chance that some idiot hits the power lottery and causes a problem :c[/color][/center] Sairyn spluttered, there were so many questions to ask. First and foremost on his mind was- [center][color=#13B30D]AGAIN?! CAN'T YOU KEEP A LID ON THAT SHIT??[/color][/center] [center][color=#FF0080]<(... ... ...)[/color][/center] [b][color=#13B30D]"Oh God, here we go,"[/color][/b] he muttered, rolling his eyes. [center][color=#FF0080]Hey hey! It has been YEARS since that happened, and THIS time was a severe fluke. Don't worry, love, [i]I'll be handling the repossession personally[/i]! :3[/color][/center] [b][color=#13B30D]"... Fuck."[/color][/b]