< Day 0 >

< Level: 1 >

< First Floor Living Quarters (M-WI “Core Team) >

“Hmhmhm~ Hmmmmm~” A certain bunny eared woman hummed as she charged headfirst into a spacious room, her hands held out like the wings of a bird. Her ears followed the form of her hands as she claimed the center of the room, filling her lungs to the brim with the untouched air.

“Pwaaaaaaaah~!” She exhaled, throwing a thumbs up at her straggling coworkers, who were more cautious when entering unfamiliar territory than this reckless bunny. “Walnut. Flowers. Rosy perfume~! Is this heaven or what!?”

Urusai began twirling around, the mat underneath spinning along with her. Somehow, her bunny ears managed to maintain her momentum, much to the joy of Leo who watched with vibrant eyes and a wagging tail.

She came to a complete stop, placing both hands on her hips as if to boast as Leo approached her.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

However – He walked right past her, approaching the central living room that they’d be sharing for the foreseeable future.

“There’s mementos on the furnishings!” What Leo was actually interested in were certain trinkets from their old homes, each left on small tabletops, couches, and desks scattered across their quarters. “Wow, wow, wow. How thoughtful of them!”

Items such as books, gemstones, boxes, clothing and other personal good were individually wrapped in a fragrant pink ribbon, each marked with the name of their owners.

“ImpulseWorks ought to put them in boxes. Or at least send a Blessed here with one of those… what are they called? Spatial Storage?” Sharka mumbled, passing by Urusai with a grumpy demeanor.

“Only if you have something to hide. They call it Dimensional Storages. Apparently, it’s some cool Atelier Item from the Chained Theocracy.” Rossette hummed, pausing briefly before the largely ignored Urusai. “Sorry love. Tough crowd, huh? Hey!” She called out to Sharka and Leo ahead. “You know what they say: don’t make a bunny depressed.”

“Who the hell says that?” Sharka snapped.

“’They’ do.” Rossette tilted her head, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, who’s ‘they’?” Sharka grumbled, unwrapping a ukelele. “A damned miracle it came in without a bad string. That’s Act X’s strings for you.”

“A person named ‘They’, I believe.” Leo answered, gathering the items as he began to distribute them one by one. “A giant metal bat for… you madame?”

“Oh wow. They really sent this here too. Used to swing at skulls with this.” Rosette remarked, taking the bat into her hands as she assumed a batting position. “O-Oh, sorry. That was a joke. Well, I guess it’s a joke now. You didn’t grow up in the Subderma, didya?”

“I heard kids liked to run at you with forks and stab your ankles.” Urusai added, still frozen in the middle of the room. “Like the people in S4. Or anyone from Grandis at this point.”

“You think he’s from the backwaters like us? With that kind of hair, I half expect him to be an heir to some kingdom.” Sharka said, before Abra suddenly spoke up.

“What ear?” Leo spoke, mishearing her words.

“Ears?” Urusai bounced off him, irritating the moody shark-girl as she marched away with her belongings.

“Nice to see you all getting along.” Abra spoke as he remained at the doorway with folded arms.

Outside was a large corridor wide enough to comfortably send dozens of people along side by side. A loud, howling breeze swept by as a massive fan-blade spun at the furthest end of the tunnel, shielded by many hundreds of massive, wooden grates. They were far down enough where air would be a problem, but that fan was not to vent air here.

Rather, it was an intake fan to send air deeper underneath, as if something down there required it.

His gaze firmly rested on those vents before he finally entered the warmth of the room.

Their shared quarter was essentially a scaled down version of the Reception, containing more than enough furnishings to hold a small gathering. A jeweled chandelier hung atop the center of the room, radiating luxurious elegance; perfect for the number one team on the site, as Urusai pointed out.

“One of One. Let’s hope we can keep being number one.” Abra sighed as he strode past, his eyes studying the room closer whilst the others immediately cozied up to their new home. “Or get reduced to just one.”

“I’ve been active in several Sites now. No one’s kicking the bucket on my watch!” Urusai proudly assured.

“What Sites were those?” Abra asked, his voice an echo, as he investigated the rest of their living quarters, finding numerous rooms, such as washrooms; toilets; a kitchen area, which was powered using magical stones; and finally, their individual rooms.

Their rooms were located the closest to the entrance. This was to speed up their response time to an emergency.

“E-K4 and F-H5. I had a lot of fun in F-H5. Did you know that our Navigator used to work with me too!? Isn’t that – awesome!?” Her ears punched the air in joy, causing Leo’s eyes to bounce as they hypnotized him.

“Hey. Come back to us.” Rossette snapped her fingers repeatedly in front of the canine Demi-human’s face, bringing him back as he wildly shook his head. “Really? What’s going to happen to you if a Corrupted starts throwing up their ears like that?”

“I assure you; I will be perfectly fine!” He smiled.

“So I’ve heard.” Abra’s voice responded muffledly through the walls. “E-K4. A Killzone Site. Did you partake in the termination of Corrupted too?”

“A-Ah… well… Let’s just say I got a little too excited when they handed me one of those projectile shooting things.” Urusai sheepishly admitted, receiving a photograph from Leo. “Thank you~”

“The pleasure is mine.” He bowed.

“A gun?” Abra wondered. “The Standard Issue Repeaters?”

“Yeah, that! The kind Scarlet Logic likes to use!” Urusai exclaimed, looking at her photo where a bunny girl with only one ear stood. She was outfitted in crimson, metallic garbs that tightly conformed to her body.

“So we gotta watch our backs. Good to know.” Sharka’s voice could be heard through the walls as well.

“That puts projectile weapons out of your reach. Good thing you’re honest.” Rossette complimented.

“Not that. I just uh… well, was a little too good at my job. Hey, what’s with that look? You can’t say you don’t believe me after telling me I’m honest!” Urusai complained.

“I like being alive. Sorry darling.” Rossette shrugged. “Well, get comfy now. Tomorrow’s gonna be the first day. Heard the first week isn’t so bad.”

“Did you hear that from ‘they’ as well?” Leo asked.

“Can you please shut up about ‘they’ already!?” Sharka shouted.

As one could already tell, their group was far from normal.