"Yawn..." With a yawn, Wise woke up from his sleep at 7 in the morning. Getting out of the room, he greeted Belle, who had just finished getting dressed and was heading downstairs.
"Hey there, Belle. Had a good night's sleep?" Wise asked.
Belle agreed with him, "Yesterday definitely tired us out. I mean... having an honest-to-god Ethereal helping us with commissions and celebrating with him? Yeah. I'll be surprised if I'm not a little bit excited."
"You got that right. Anyway, I'm gonna go shower, go check up on Michael first. After I'm done, we'll go straight to Lumina Square to get that ID."
"Sure, don't take too long now."
With a roll in his eyes, Wise went to the bathroom to refresh himself. All alone, his mind began to wander to the events of the last three days.
Having a bit of a breather, it was then that Wise's brain began to truly catch up and comprehend what had been happening the last few days. He silently laughed at the absurdity of it all.
From having been hacked by a mysterious hacker and, in turn, losing their Phaethon account in exchange for saving the Cunning Hares, having a powerful mysterious AI uploaded to their HDD, the Cunning Hares being saved by Fallen Angel, an Ethereal which had eluded even the best of the best of HIA Investigators, being commissioned by Fallen Angel for the sole purpose of him wanting to get out of the Hollow, and last but not least, having said Ethereal live in Random Play with them and complete commission.
Wise didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry at the SHEER absurdity of it all. For a moment, he honestly thought that he had been dreaming all this time, and at any moment, he would wake up from this bizarre dream. Looking at the mirror, Wise smirked at himself, thinking that Belle must've had the same thought as him.
Shaking himself out of his thought, Wise then finished showering and dressing up. Going downstairs to the HDD Room, Wise was confused to see Belle standing in front of the room with her jaw on the floor.
Curious, Wise went to shake Belle's shoulder, "Belle? Are you..." The words died in his throat as Wise finally saw what Belle saw.
'The Queen' of New Eridu, the famous singer and actor Astra Yao, is currently in the room, singing one of her songs, "Original Me".
Wise rubbed his eyes, yet no matter how hard he rubbed them, the figure of Astra Yao was still there, still singing, blissfully unaware of him and Belle staring at her, dumbfounded.
"The me I know will be known to you..." Finishing singing, Astra Yao finally faced the two siblings. "Oh, hey there, Belle and Wise, I see you two are up." A very male and familiar voice came out of Astra Yao's mouth.
"Why are you two looking at me like that?" "Astra Yao" then looked at herself before muttering a very quiet, "Hey there~."
Lights then enveloped "Astra Yao's" form, causing Belle and Wise to look away for a moment. When they looked back, a very smug Michael confidently waved at them. "Tadaa... Here, I got some red bean buns from the store earlier. Want some?"
.....
The ride to Lumina Square was understandably quiet as Belle and Wise refused to make eye contact, let alone start a conversation with Michael. Not after the whole impersonating their idol, Astra Yao.
"Can you guys please say something...? It's starting to get really awkward, you know."
Wise, who is driving, sighed as he talked to Michael. "What exactly are you expecting us to talk about? The fact that you can mimic other people's appearance and even perfectly emulate their voices?"
Belle agreed with her brother. "Not only that, I almost had a heart attack when I saw Astra Yao, only to be crushed when I realized that it was you..." The disappointment in her voice is very noticeable.
Michael could only give an apologetic smile at the two siblings. "Eh-he. I'm sorry, alright. I didn't know that both of you are big fans of her."
Belle and Wise exchanged eye rolls in response to Michael's apology and gave Michael a side eye.
"Alright, alright. I promise to NEVER again impersonate as Astra Yao without Belle and Wise's permission."
Belle and Wise looked flabbergasted at Michael's vow. "Hey! What are you implying?!" Said Belle, trying to defend herself. "Are you insinuating that we want you to transform into Astra Y-HMPH!"
Wise's hands quickly shut her up as she realized the trap she had fallen into.
Michael quickly changed his voice into that of Astra Yao. "Oh? So you do want me to transform into Ms. Astra~."
Wise, hearing "Astra's" voice, almost swerved into a pole as his focus wavered for a moment.
Needless to say, the rest of the way was quiet after that.
.....
After parking at a nearby spot, Michael got out of the car and marveled at the sight of the Square.
"A lively place, isn't it?" Wise said as he and Belle caught up with Michael.
Michael agreed with Wise. "Yeah..."
Belle grabs Michael and Wise's arms as she drags them to the PubSec. "Come on, boys, better get this done with early."
"What's the hurry, Belle?" Wise asked as he struggled to keep up with his sister.
They stopped for a moment as Belle turned around to explain to the two. "Well... We do want to be quick so Michael can finally have a valid ID. The other reason is..." She pointed her finger at Michael. "We're going shopping!"
While Belle was excited, Michael looked at her in confusion. "Shopping? Not to sound ungrateful, but I don't really need any daily necessities."
"Of course I know, silly. What I mean is that Wise and I are going to give you a tour while we are shopping. That and your phone are in dire need of replacement." Belle points out.
Wise, curious, asked Michael, "Actually, I've been meaning to ask, how did you manage to find a perfectly functioning phone while in a Hollow? You didn't steal it from some Hollow Raiders, did you?"
Michael took out his beat-up phone. "Nah. I just lucked out and found this junk half-corrupted in an abandoned store. It took a bit of effort to remove the corruption, but after that, the phone miraculously worked. Mostly anyway." As if on cue, an electric spark lights up on the phone.
"Wait? You can also remove corruption from machinery?" Asked Wise.
"Yeah. I actually tried it on this phone after observing how Ether can also corrupt a machine. There is a drawback, though. The more advanced the machine is, the more time and energy I have to use to remove the corruption."
Wise had a thoughtful look on his face. "Huh. That's definitely a useful ability."
"Alright, alright. Enough chit-chat. We can ask Michael questions AFTER we're back home."
"Ow. Wait, Belle, not too hard."
Michael followed behind, smiling as he saw the siblings' interaction.
.....
Nervously entering the PubSec office, Belle and Wise's heartbeat shot through the roof as the gravity of their action finally dawned on them.
They are bringing a notorious Ethereal into a place full of Public Security Officers. If even a single one of the Officers or Securityboos even suspects anything, saying that they're screwed would be an understatement.
Not only that, they're pretty sure that PubSec has Ether monitoring devices littered throughout the building. After all, they're usually the first to arrive at a scene of a Hollow disaster before any HIA Investigators arrive. They counted their blessing that no sort of alarm went off the moment Michael entered. They definitely need to ask him how when they get back home.
Still, after getting their number, they took a seat at the front to wait where every person in the office could see the nervous look on the two faces if they bothered to look. For the first time in Phaethon's sibling life, they're not nervous because of the fear of getting caught as an infamous Proxy, but something arguably far worse.
The siblings' eyes subtly glanced at their surroundings, fighting their instinct to jump up in panic at the sight of anyone even remotely looking in their general direction, which they are pretty sure makes them look even more suspicious.
When they looked at how Michael was holding himself, they could only stare at the bored look that he was sporting on his face as if nothing was happening.
They both looked at each other after that before letting out a sigh of relief. Perhaps being laid back and not at all tense like Michael currently is, not such a bad idea after all.
"WOOF! WOOF!" A loud bark of a dog rang out in the lobby, startling both Belle and Wise out of their seats.
Turning their neck to their side, which they're pretty sure is going to give them whiplash, they saw a K9, with the K9 Officer not far behind, in front of Michael, barking nonstop as if sensing something.
"Eugene? What's gotten into you? Is there something wrong?" The handler asked, his vision firmly on Michael. Whatever expression he might've had was concealed behind his helmet.
By this point, every person in the office was staring at Michael. The officers, in particular, looked tense with some of them inching towards their weapons, ready for any threat that might spring.
Yet, Michael remained ever calm with not a single worry on his face. "Is there something wrong, Officer?"
The officer only shook his head and took out his notepad and pen. "Nothing to worry about, citizen. Name and ID, please."
"Name's Michael. No last name. As for ID... I'm actually here to collect it after I lost it in a Hollow disaster." Michael answered calmly.
"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that. Must've been tough for you." The officer sounded remorseful. "I must, unfortunately, conduct a spot check, however, on suspicion of possibly carrying an illegal substance. Please cooperate fully and raise both of your hands."
Michael did as asked and raised his hands, allowing the officer to pat him down. When his hands reached Michael's pocket, he must've felt something. He reached into it, pulling out a half-eaten red bean bun.
Belle and Wise, along with the entire lobby, breathed a sigh of relief as the object was revealed to be just a half-eaten hot dog, which the K9 promptly started licking.
"Is this what you've smelled, Eugene?" The now embarrassed officer asked his companion, to which the K9 barked in confirmation.
Michael let out a hearty laugh as he gave the go-ahead to give the food to the K9 as a treat.
"I'm sorry for any inconvenience, sir. You're here to collect your new ID card, correct? Here, let me help speed up the process as compensation."
The officer then led Michael to an empty counter, where he began to temporarily man it. Speaking to the officer manning the next counter, he retrieves the ID.
After making sure that everything was correct, the officer gave Michael his new ID along with the relevant documents and advised him to be careful so as not to lose this one.
Acknowledging the advice, Michael thanked him before making his way to the sibling who was busy petting the K9 earlier.
"I've collected my ID." Michael showed his shiny ID to them.
"Great. Come on, don't wanna waste any more time. Shopping awaits!" Belle hastily said, to which Wise shook his head as they headed out of the office.
.....
After the trio left, Benjamin couldn't help but sigh as he wrote his reports about the incident earlier, his K9 companion at his side, staring at him innocently as if he didn't just embarrass the two of them.
"Hey there, Benjamin. Busy writing reports, huh?" One of his colleagues, Amy, asked. "I heard what happened at the office earlier from Conrad. This little guy must've been hungry."
Benjamin only groaned. Of course, news always travels fast. He just didn't think that it would travel that fast. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. Anything else?"
"Nothing. Just came to see you and Eugene, although..." Amy stopped petting Eugene. "Have you heard about one of us who encountered Fallen Angel a few days ago?"
Benjamin thought for a moment. "Dave, right? What about him? Last I heard, he was being questioned by Section 6." It's rather hard to forget the officer, being the one to officially make contact with the Ethereal that is currently the talk of the city and all that. Benjamin still shudders at seeing the Ethereal, even if it was just a recording by a survivor that night.
"Apparently, words on the circle are that he has been anxious and twitchy ever since that night, and even gone ahead and asked for an extended break, citing mental health."
"Not surprising considering the state of health of his mother and niece." Benjamin could only feel sorry for Dave. While he himself doesn't have anyone with Ether Regression Syndrome or Cognitive Corruption Syndrome, he can sympathize with Jason.
"Yeah. Hopefully, everything will go well for the guy."
.....
"Phew, that was tiring..." Belle groaned out, her body crashing onto the couch in the HDD room as soon as they went in.
"You know, maybe we shouldn't have spent an entire day shopping. Not only that, you didn't even help carry anything." Complained an exhausted Wise as he and Michael set down the stuff.
"Hey! Picking out items is also hard work, you know." Belle then blew a raspberry at her brother. "Anyways, since we're all tired and all, how about we relax and watch TV together tonight?"
Michael and Wise shrugged their shoulders. "Sure/Why not?"