“Hey Kat, just picked up a project from the Family and figured I’d run it by you. You got a minute?”
“Of course! I just finished up my morning workout. What’s this project?” she said excitedly.
Leo couldn’t help but smile as he filled her in on the details. “Looks like one of the more recent Antithesis outbreaks in the city damaged some undercity infrastructure. With winter closing in there are some sections with no heating so I figured I could go drop some environmental heaters in some spots. You want to come with?”
A few moments passed in silence as Kat digested the information. “Sounds interesting. When were you planning on heading down?”
Leo dodged around one of the highrise buildings and pointed his bike towards the open parking area for his building. “I figured I’d head out in a couple hours. Got some new gear I need to get so I can head out suited up.”
“Sounds good! Send me a location for us to meet up later.” She hung up and Leo pulled into the parking area before sending his bike into the carousel.
Quickly making his way to his apartment he headed inside to see his mom sitting at the table with an older lady and a guy a few years older than Leo. Across from his mom was the bird statue that Aegys used to talk to his mom.
“Helen, may I go out?” Asked the bird figurine.
Leo’s mom responded with a cackle that would make a witch jealous, “Of course! I would be delighted if you did!”
The other two groaned good naturedly while Aegys’ figurine laid out his holographic cards and even let out a small burst of holographic confetti when the last card was laid down.
Helen looked up to see Leo smirking while leaning against the door frame. “Ah! Welcome home dear. How did your meeting with the Family go?”
Leo just shrugged. “It went alright, got a project that I’m going to go take a look at in a few hours with Kat. I see you managed to rope my AI into your game nights though.”
His mom just smiled with no remorse. “Of course! Aegys makes a wonderful card partner. Even if some people accuse him of cheating just because we have to use holographic cards.”
She says with a mock glare at Sheryl, who just scoffs with a smile. “It would be great if you could get him a body that can play with physical cards?” She looks at Leo with the kind of look only a mom could give while asking her son for something.
Leo tried to hold out, he really did, but in the end he had always wanted to pay his mom back for all the hard work she did for both of them after his dad died. He let out a long suffering sigh before smiling. “Alright! I’ll see what I can do.”
‘How much?’
‘If you had a physical body I would do my best to stare you down. We both know there are so many options for even a basic physical body you could use that it would take me years to just scroll through the options without reading.’
There were a few moments of silence in which Leo chose to stare hard at the bird figurine before Aegys responded.
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Leo thought for a second before responding.
‘Let’s get a decent security bot. Remind me later to work on setting up a full security system for the apartment.’
‘Give me one with two of the same pistols I use.’
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There was a sudden swirl of flames from the center of the living room. The flames unfurled into the form of a phoenix rising from the ground which then opened its wings to reveal a humanoid shape. As the flames died down they could see the form was a figure standing just shy of six feet tall and dressed in a well fitted suit that wouldn’t look out of place on a butler. The suit was darkly colored with a faint red undertone that seemed to show up in all of Leos purchases. The flames disappeared as the bot stepped forward into a deep bow.
“A pleasure to meet you all once again,” came Aegys’ voice from the holographic faceplate where he was currently displaying a human-like face.
Sheryl and her looked to Leo with wide eyes only to see him with his head in his hands. Sheryl spoke up, “I heard you were a Samurai since your mother told us, but this is something else entirely.”
Leo let out a long suffering sigh before responding, “Yea, Aegys tends to have a flair for the dramatic. But it doesn’t have a negative impact on me buying stuff so I’ve given up on trying to change him. Anyway, mom. Here is a physical body for Aegys, but it is also a security bot that can protect you if needed. I’ll let him inform you of what else it can do, I need to go gather up my gear.”
Leo turned on his heel and headed towards his room to gather up the weapons he left there. Walking into his room he closed the door and immediately began pulling off his street clothes and tossing them on his bed.
“So, I still have that new cloak ready to deliver right?”
“On the bed please, I’ll open it once I get my undersuit on.” There was a soft thump from his bed as Leo pulled on his Phoenix Down Bodysuit and slipped on his rings and arm guards. He stepped into his boots before turning towards the bed to see a large box laying there. The box had a picture of a Phoenix wrapping its wings around what looked like an anime version of Leo.
He smiled widely as he opened the box to reveal a resplendent cloak that seemed to shift colors as if constantly on fire. Pulling it out of the box he noticed that it was a lot bulkier than his original cloak yet still lighter in weight. Leo swung the cloak around his shoulders and rolled them to get it settled, once he did he turned towards the mirror set against his wall to take in the new cloak. It seemed to latch onto the shoulder sections of the under suit in a way that would hold it in place without getting in the way of his movements.
There was one section that hugged his form and fell down to just below his knees, on top of that was the part that was settled on his shoulders. Appearing to be made of feathers laid on top of each other it seemed to make him larger and more powerful, as if he could burn anything with but a glance. The lower half was taken up by a series of larger feathers, with the largest being six feathers that measured at around two feet long.
As Aegys spoke Leo grabbed one of the large feathers and pulled it off the cloak. Holding it in his hands he noticed how warm it was. After investigating it for a couple seconds he pressed it back into the cloak and marveled at how the feather moved itself back into place. “Good to know I can put them back.”
After looking over his outfit for a bit longer Leo left his room and made his way back to the living area. Once he rounded the corner he noticed that Sheryl and her grandson were sitting on the couch with some drinks while chatting with his mom and Aegys. As Leo came into view they stopped and stared.
He made his way to the front door and called out over his shoulder, “I’m off to take care of some business. Don’t have too much fun without me.”
Uncomfortable with the stares, Leo quickly closed the door and hurried down the hall towards the parking garage.