The drone let out a soft beep and then hovered in the air. After that, a calm female voice echoed. "Unit Droni, powering on. Hello again, Miss Yuri, Miss Suzume, Miss Chihiro."

Yuri smiled and patted the drone a bit. "Hello to you too, Droni. We're doing a collab here in this onsen. Can you help us set up the stream?"

"Of course." Droni beeped and then slowly hovered around the area. "Beginning scan... replicating surroundings... overlaying avatars..."

Chihiro watched the sleek drone hover around the hot spring and murmured, "I still don't get this crazy blackbox technology John gives us. Like, there was that whole thing with Hana too... I swear she isn't just a robot or AI..."

Yuri flinched and said, "I had just forgotten about Hana... Senpai? Hana Senpai." She shivered and said, "Could we not?"

The IDOL body was supposed to be a lifeless automaton they could use for meet-and-greets, but for some reason Hana definitely had a mind of her own...

The implications were scary. Yuri kind of wondered if the VR stuff they used wasn't really VR too. She still remembered that incident where Chihiro went overboard and everything...

"Scan complete." Droni's calm voice echoed and she said, "Beginning stream..."

"W-Wait!" Yuri quickly looked at Droni and said, "This... won't ACTUALLY show us, right?"

Droni beeped and the camera at the front spun, like it was tilting its head. "Of course not, Miss Yuri. No video footage will be recorded or streamed. Only the motion data will be captured and sent. What the viewers will see is a 3D rendition performed and streamed from the servers of Myth Incorporated."

Yuri let out a sigh of relief. "That's good." She subconsciously tugged her towel and said, "I-It's not really us, but..." She blushed.

Suzume nodded in understanding. "Yes... although it will not be our true bodies, the fact that it will follow our bodies so closely..."

Yuri's face turned a deeper red and she muttered, "M-Maybe this wasn't the best idea..."

Chihiro rolled her eyes and said, "Don't be prudes. It's not like anything important will be shown. We'd get banned from UTube right away, even if John owns it."

Droni beeped and then said, "Miss Chihiro is correct. There will be tasteful steam to cover the most intimate areas."

Yuri let out a sigh of relief, calming down a bit. "That's good. So it'll just be like a hot springs episode in an anime then?"

Droni beeped again and said, "Correct, Miss Yuri. Though, if you wish, I can upload the uncensored version behind a paywall on the MIRAIZ app."

Yuri froze.

Chihiro hummed thoughtfully. "Well..."

"Chi-chan!" Yuri shrieked. "NO!" She shook her head and said, "ABSOLUTELY NOT! We're not those types of streamers!"

Chihiro looked over and pouted. "But the money!"

Yuri shook her head and said, "Money isn't everything! And what are you talking about money for!? You make the most out of all of us!"

Chihiro huffed. "You can never have enough money! Besides!" Her expression turned serious and she said, "I... need to make enough to convince Dad to retire. He's too old to be working such a dangerous job."

Yuri calmed down. Then she let out a sigh and said, "That's true. But you know that your dad wouldn't want you to do things like that for money, Chi-chan."

Chihiro crossed her arms and said, "It's my body and my life. I can do what I want with both."

Yuri sighed again and said, "That's true. I just... don't want you to regret anything later, Chi-chan."

Chihiro went quiet. Then she nodded. "...I know."

Yuri smiled.

Suzume glanced at the two and then said, "Um... should we get into the hot spring now then? We have been standing around in just towels for a while now and it is getting a bit uncomfortable."

Yuri blushed and said, "R-Right... I guess we should get started."

Droni floated towards Yuri and then said, "Currently, the waiting room has been set up on Miya's channel for the collab. Shall I prepare the virtual interaction zone for you girls?"

Yuri nodded. "Yes, please. We should get the chat prepared for us to look at and the preview too... I want to make sure we aren't showing too much."

Droni beeped and said, "Understood. Loading assets... synchronizing with users... displaying information directly to irises..."

Yuri blinked and then a holograph chat window appeared, along with a video feed from Droni's perspective.

The video feed showed an onsen, similar to the one they were in. But instead of a normal building, it was a moonlit hot spring with sakura trees surrounding them and pink petals drifting through the air.

Yuri blinked and then sighed. "I think I'll never stop being impressed at what we get to use..."

Chihiro reached out to poke the holographic chat screen and video feed before saying, "Me neither. Still think it's crazy alien future magitech that John and Titor are giving us, but hey, it's cool."

Yuri hummed and said, "Well... I guess we just have to go live, right?" She glanced at the chat and then said, "Should we slip into the hot spring now?"

Chihiro tossed her towel aside and instantly slipped inside the hot spring. "Don't have to tell me twice, Riri."

Suzume nodded and slipped into the hot spring next, gently placing her towel by the edge. She let out a content sigh and said, "I needed this more than I thought..."

Yuri still felt a bit awkward. She glanced one more time at Droni, carefully eyeing the video feed. "This... really won't show us?"

Droni beeped and said, "I can increase the mist settings if you desire, Miss Yuri. Or should I change the angle to only show your heads?"

"No. I'll leave it to your judgment, I guess..." Yuri folded her towel and then slipped into the spot between Chihiro and Suzume. She let out a content sigh as the warmth spread across her body, then she murmured, "Nothing left but to just do it..."

Chihiro chuckled and said, "Relax, Riri. We'll go viral from this and make up for it in dividends."

Suzume muttered a quiet prayer and said, "Please do not watch this stream, Mother, Father..."

Yuri let out a nervous laugh, realizing that her grandfather could be watching too... but she sighed and said, "Well. Let's start before I lose my nerve, Droni."

Droni beeped and then said, "Beginning stream. Worry not. I will ensure the video is tasteful but proper."

Yuri let out a wry smile and then took a deep breath. She watched as another video feed popped up of the UTube streaming window. And then a countdown started. Three... Two... One...

And they went live.