F7 settled down with a sigh. They didn’t understand why they became upset – so far none of their targets were a very grateful bunch. Being taken for granted was in the job description of every administrator, at this point in their life it was nothing new. And yet Ren’s dismissal stung. F7 frowned mockingly at themselves for expecting anything from a stupid cattle like a target.

[Master, you have incoming communication from HQ. Would you like to accept the call?]

“Yes.”

F7 quickly smoothed their expression to look polite and indifferent and greeted the woman who showed up on the hologram.

– Administrator F7 I presume? – she asked. – I’m Senior inspector Vargas from the Department of Research, Analysis, and Defense.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s good to see you. Were you able to determine what happened with my system and target?”

– I have good news and bad news, Administrator. The good news is that we were able to develop a new type of firewall for your protection, so what happened shouldn’t occur again.

“That’s great I guess… What’s the bad news, ma’am?”

– The bad news is that we were unable to track the hacker. Whoever they are, they managed to bounce their signal all over the galaxy before we lost it. However, their coding style suggests that this hacker might be one of ours.

“What? Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest that we do our jobs successfully?” 

The energy the Soul Procession Department provided the many solar systems, planets, and space stations across the galaxy, powered the Empire entirely. There was nobody who didn’t use it in their daily lives one way or other, so it made no sense for anyone to interfere with their work like this. Especially not a colleague. And even if the culprit wasn’t from the Soul Procession Department, they would use soul energy for their electronics too, like the computer they used for hacking. 

F7’s eyebrows wrinkled as they suddenly thought of something. “How is it possible that you already have this new firewall? I just notified you about an hour ago.”

– You are not the first one to come to us with this problem. Though these attacks may seem merely annoying pranks at first, there were instances where data or soul energy was stolen. Thanks to your quick thinking to record your work while under attack we managed to learn a lot about how this individual operates.

“So… would this be a new kind of piracy?” – asked F7 thoughtfully.

– We don’t know either what their objective is. Simple greed is safe to assume, I guess. At any rate, you are to continue your assignment. Also, you are not to terminate your current target under any circumstances. While the new firewall will keep the hacker from interfering with your target, it will also let them sneak around in your systems–

“–To catch them or learn about them.” – F7 cut in.

– Yes, that’s right.

“Why weren’t we administrators notified about a threat like this?”

– And that brings me to the other order I must relay to you. Anything you know about this hacker is confidential. The higher-ups are keeping it this way to maintain the public image and to keep the employees from getting the wrong idea.

“What would that be?”

– Since it’s possible to steal now, it’s okay to do so.

“Oh.” – F7 muttered dumbly. That possibility didn’t even occur to them. 

– ‘Oh’ indeed. You don’t have to sign another non-disclosure agreement as this situation falls under the umbrella of the NDA you’ve signed when you joined us. HQ wants to handle this quietly, keep it in mind.

Was there such a thing? F7 didn’t remember. It’s been hundreds of years since they started this job. 

Now that I think about it, what did I do before…? They couldn’t recall their life before work. That doesn’t sound normal… F7’s discomfort was understandable – even if they were hundreds of years old, with their body modifications there was no way they would forget anything to this extend. They could remember back to their life vividly and in great detail up to when they started to work, but nothing before that. Hmm, I need to look into this…

Then they thought of something else they needed to ask.

“How are they messing with the Luck stat? I mean that’s the most obscure one on the list. Do you think they somehow managed to harness the forces of fortune?”

– …We don’t know. – The woman across from them on the hologram opened and closed her mouth like she wanted to say something, but decided against it. – Anyway, I had my guys send you the firewall, so you can have your AI set it up. Remember, that everything about this is confidential. I have work to do, so so long.

The hologram flickered off with a buzz. F7 narrowed their eyes at the empty space the woman’s head floated at a second ago.

“She sure took off quickly… Suspicious.”

[Master, would you like me to install Improved Firewall v92.02?]

“…Yes.”

As the AI installed the firewall, F7 kept thinking about the conversation they just had. While they were glad that HQ was taking this seriously, even providing them with the necessary tools for defense, their mind wasn’t at ease. F7 had a feeling that things were far from over regarding the harassment towards themselves and Ren by the hacker. But it’s not like they could do anything about it right now anyway. 

Ren and his mother hadn’t reached the town they were heading towards yet. With nothing else to do, almost on a whim, F7 had the AI pull up their information from the database of the Soul Procession Department. 

It showed their work record since they joined the department. Every assignment was carefully recorded, the reports dated both central and local times. And yet there was no information about their life before their sign up.

How is this possible? F7 wondered with a frown. They ordered the AI to pull up their data again, and to their surprise, they got a warning notification.

[Warning! This file is only available to those with S-level clearance or above. Provide identification by transfer.]

There was a box below where the code of one’s identity could be ‘beamed’ from a person’s personal computer that was embedded in their temple. F7 didn’t have S level clearance, theirs was the lowest one possible, level G. They didn’t care about levels or clearance as the minimal one they got when they started to work was enough for their assignments. It surprised him though, that the file was classified towards even them, of whom the contents of the file were about. F7 quickly sent a message to their boss to receive permission to be able to read the file or at least find out how to get the level of clearance needed. They knew their boss was a busy man, so they didn’t bother waiting for an instant answer, instead, they turned back their attention towards Ren and his mother.

Meanwhile, the two of them reached a small town named Hubbletooth. Why would anyone name their town that made no sense to F7. They watched as the guards begin kowtowing towards Erin.

“Lady Erin! W-what a pleasant surprise to see you here! Welcome to our humble little dirt nest!”

“Yes… I say this to you every time I come here, you don’t need to prostrate yourself that much, Steve.”

Steve’s face flushed red as he clumsily scrambled to his feet only to bow deeply.

“I am not worthy of your benevolence, good lady! It is the greatest honor of my life to be in your presence!”

“…You said that last time as well.”

“L-lady Erin, y-you’ve remembered my words! Uwaaaaah, I’m so happyyyyyy!” – For the first time in his life, Ren saw a grown man cry tears of joy. F7 on the other hand saw this kind of thing many times before and wasn’t impressed. – “Thank you so very much! Uwaaahhh!”

“You honor us with your arrival Lady Erin.” – said the other guard, who bowed lightly and appeared much more composed. “May I ask the reason for your visit on this fine day?”

“Good to see you too, Ivan. I came with my daughter to buy some supplies. The storm the other day got our house really badly.”

“Yes, that was indeed brutal. Let me call the Mayor and he will help you get sorted. I assume you are staying for the night?” – the guard, Ivan froze up for a moment as Erin’s words sank in deeper. – “Pardon, did you say you came with your daughter…?”

“That’s right. This is she. Wave ‘hi’ to the nice guards, Tesha!” F7 felt Ren listlessly wiggle a paw.

For a long moment, both of the guards were extremely silent as they stared at Ren with eyes the size of saucers seemingly frozen in place. Then… 

“So cute.” – Ivan mumbled with a blush spreading across his face. – “Wittle Tesha, sho tiny…” – he cooed.

“My, what an adorably young miss!” – exclaimed Steven so moved, tears and snot ran down his face. – “’Sniffle.’ Lady Erin, uwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Thank you so much for blessing us with you little girl! ‘Sniffle.’ Uwaaaaaaahh, so happy!” – Steve was on the ground again attempting to kiss Erin’s feet, which she dodged effortlessly.

Ren’s discomfort from all the attention spread to F7 as well. They both sighed inwardly at the same time, which greatly disturbed F7 causing them to ‘Humph!’. 

“Steve, Ivan, please keep down your voices. You will scare Tesha.” – warned Erin gently.

“Yes, sorry.” – Ivan said, trying very hard to collect himself and assume a professional look. Steve on the other hand howled even louder.

“PLEASE FORGIVE MY IMPUDENCE LADY ERIN! I WILL CUT OUT MY VOCAL CORDS TO ATONE!!!” – and he pulled out a knife and proceeded to do just that. Erin twisted the knife out of his hand and lightly slapped him.

“What did you promise me about self-harm again, Steve?”

“…T-that I wouldn’t try to do it again…”

“Good. I will give this back to you, so don’t do anything to hurt yourself, alright?” – Erin handed back to him the knife. – “I’m trusting you here, Steve.”

“I won’t let you down, Lady Erin!” – Steve whispered loudly as he took back the knife gingerly.

It was then, that F7 and Ren noticed a huffing round ball of clothes heading in their direction from the street across them with the speed of a speeding boulder rolling down a mountainside. When it came closer, F7 realized that the ball of clothes was a very chubby man, with fat shaking everywhere on his body like jello. His face flushed red from overextending himself from running. He wore a three-piece tweed suit made of earth-toned materials. The pants only reached down to his knees, and he was wearing stockings on his calves, his disproportionately small feet snug in his brown, polished leather shoes, with a large, shiny brass buckle on top of each.

There was a wide white cloth tucked into the collar of his clothes, with several stains on it, indicating that the man just interrupted his mealtime to greet them. Even the wispy mustaches by the sides of his mouth had some sauce on them.

He had small, beady gray eyes, balding blonde hair, a big bulbous nose, and of course chubby cheeks. 

A small crowd followed behind him, many of them looked like they were also in the middle of dinner when they decided to come out. He theatrically opened his arms wide and greeted them.

“Welcome, welcome Lady Erin! What wind brought you to us today? Come, come, there is a feast at my house, if it pleases you, grant me the joy of becoming my honored guest during your stay!”

“Thank you, mayor. I will take you up on your kind offer.” – and she took the arm of the mayor, and started leading him towards his house presumably like she owned the place.

There were so many things Ren wanted to retort at, he didn’t know what to start with. To their great displeasure, F7 felt the same way.