At first glance, working in a call center might seem like a monotonous job, involving hours spent in an uncomfortable chair, answering mundane customer inquiries over the phone, like troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues or dealing with malfunctioning blenders—typical of a bygone era, perhaps a decade or two ago. But...
"Hey Vaughn, focus up if you want a shot at unhooking Harmony's bra!"
Alliana's mischievous tone snapped me back to reality as bursts of vibrant lightning crackled around the room.
"Seriously, TL? Unhooking Harmony's bra is the last thing on my mind right now!" I retorted, and Alliana swiftly halted in her tracks. With a flourish, she removed her earring, tossing it to the ground, and just in the nick of time, dispersed the incoming bolts of lightning. Her attention then turned to what appeared to be a strangely familiar briefcase.
"Wait, does that mean you want me to unhook my bra instead? I mean, I'm wearing a sports bra right now, so maybe I cou—"
"TL!"
"Oh, Alliana, always the playful provocateur," I heard Harmony snicker, a stark contrast to her composed demeanor earlier. Perhaps the preceding events had pushed her to the edge. Regardless, we needed to wrap this up quickly, and I had to choose a specialization...
"Watch out, TL Willingford!" The man, presumably the Acedia Thesis agent, urgently warned us as a barrage of magic circles materialized on the walls, unleashing torrents of crackling lightning bolts aimed directly at Alliana.
"Harmony, another round of EMP shenanigans?" Alliana exclaimed, swiftly grabbing the mysterious briefcase while still holding onto my arm.
"Ama, Activate Defensive Protocols!" she commanded, and the briefcase transformed and morphed into an Ama, but this time, she stood at the height of a human. Her eyes gleamed with an eerie green light as she leaped in front of us, her hands raised to intercept the incoming electrical onslaught. The Acedia Agent could only gape in astonishment.
"Miss Liese, the anti-tech spell—"
"It's been ages since I've witnessed Ama in action, Alliana," Harmony declared, stepping forward as the automaton turned to her and offered a respectful bow.
"Miss Harmony, it is an honor to see you again," Ama replied in a mechanical tone, her arms now crackling with contained lightning.
"As impressive as ever. Are you, by any chance, ready to engage us in a little showdown?"
"If TL Willingford wishes to do so," Ama responded promptly, her anticipation for the impending challenge evident in her demeanor.
“Very well then. SME, I think this would allow you to fully understand the potential of the Acedia Thesis.” Harmony then declares while looking at the Acedia agent who prompty reached for his pocket and hand Harmony a tome bounded by what looks like rusted chains. With a flick of her fingers, the tome levitates and emits red and blue lightning, surrounding Harmony as she looks at Alliana.
“Alright. If this is going to happen, we might as well go all out Ama. Release all limiters but set protocols to injure, not kil-“
“What is going on!” I suddenly hear the Assistant Manager, Lydia’s voice echoing across the hall as she steps inside, her hands around her waist.
“Assistant Manager!” Harmony gasps at the sudden intrusion, the lightning surrounding her disappearing.
“Harmony. Don’t tell me you’re being overtly enthusiastic with the Thesis specializations again?” She sighs while looking at Alliana who can smirks.
“Oh, don’t be too hard on her, Lydia.” She then says as she walks forward, her arm still at my arm. “I guess it was a special occasion because I was the one who visited her this time.”
“I guess.” Lydia again sighs while turning her attention towards me. “So, SME. Have you decided on the the specialization that you wnat to take yet? I’m getting the feeling that Harmony here has only shown you the Thesis projects and not the established ones that’s being used by everyone but no matter, if its not too busy tomorrow then we can continue on with this and I’ll be personally supervising this time.” She looks at Harmony who can only nods. “Or, I will have someone control our Arcanae Coordinator’s excitement here.”
“My apologies again, Assistant Manager. I will do so much better.” Harmony says in an apologetic tone as Lydia shakes her head. “That’s fine, Harmony. The management is completely grateful for her efforts but we just need to fast track this and with TL Willingford and his SME being here for far too long, the team they left above is not at full capacity so let’s move along and head to the Techtrae Bay, shall we? Assuming that you haven’t been there yet?” Lydia then looks at Alliana who nods.
“Splendid. I will transport us there, Lydia.”
“Good. Its been a while since I’ve seen the bay myself. It’ll be like a trip to the memory lane.” She snickers.
“Its been fun, Alliana. I hope we can see each other again.” Harmony says returning to her graceful demeanor while waving her hand.
“Great! Now, I will have Ama transport us but oh.” Alliana stops short and let’s go of my arm.
“What is it?” Lydia asks.
“Whose bra are you going to unhook, Vaughn? I mean, I don’t mind if you remove my sports bra later but it would be much easier if you just unhook Harmony as she wears strap-“
“TL!! Can we just go?!”
