"We have no idea how she does it. By all accounts it shouldn't be possible without violating the privacy-regulations around other Vanguard, but according to Lyona, she has never supplied her with any information on newly initialized fox-themes Vanguard. She just knows. And that is confusing a lot of us AIs."
— Protector AI Huxyan
Aisha groaned and threw one of her pillows at the wall, awoken by a knock on the door. Yelling out a brief “Just a minute!” She scrabbled for her combat dress in an attempt to be a minimal level of decent.
Mentally cursing whoever decided that visiting a college student at 10am on a Sunday… wait it was a Monday. Fuck it, guess it wasn’t too unreasonable, time to be polite.
Straightening the dress out a little she moved towards the door, fox ears twitching as they attempted to pick out clues as to who was visiting. Quinn would have likely messaged first, was this someone from the university trying to get something from her?
She unlocked the door and swung it open, and her jaw dropped.
"Good morning! I hope I didn't wake you up? I know how the uni/college life can be, so I decided to come by a bit later than I'd usually do?"
Standing in the door was a tall woman, height augmented with a pair of large fox ears of her own. Long white hair cascaded down her back, framing a bespectacled face of pearl skin. A large sword handle protruded from behind her, and a small exotic firearm sat on her hip.
Oh fuck, it was Foxfire.
“Uuuh, no I was already awake.” Aisha rubbed at her eyes, hoping it would make the just awoken crust disappear. “Its a Monday, I was going to class, definitely. But uh, Hi!”
Her ears drooped, "it's okay, you don't need to lie to protect my feelings. I'm sorry for waking you up!"
Aisha nodded. “Could you give me just a second then?” Without waiting for much of a response, she turned away, briefly gave a fangirl shriek into a closed fist, then turned back around.
“Okay, I can act like a normal fucking human. I appreciate the visit, what can I do for ya? I uh…” she glanced back into her room, finding the remnants of the 6-pack of Nimbletainment brand Cola she’d partially worked through the previous night. “I have soda, but not much to eat.”
"Oh, uh no, no need for any of that. You don't need to do anything, I just like to come visit new fox-themed Samurai, because, surprisingly, I love foxes. Oh also we can just get some food from our AIs. My treat!"
Aisha backed into the room and held out an inviting hand. “Sounds good to me, I’m not sure I’ll ever turn down free food.” She pulled out a chair, grabbed the backpack off it and tossed it onto the bed, then sat the chair down near where Luna was walking over. “Here.”
The older Vanguard sat down in the provided chair. "Thanks! Any preferences for the food?"
“I’d take a protector grade Idli if they can do that?”
"I don't see why not… Lyona? Oh also a reisfleisch for me please."
A pair of containers dropped onto the desk nearby, and Aisha scooted over to sit on the bed next to one of them. Opening it up, it contained a bed of orange rice speckled with vegetables, topped with hearty chunks of meat and garnished with parsley.
“Oh, I think this one’s yours.” She passed it over, grabbing the other and cracking it open to find the rice cakes and chutney she expected. She grabbed one, dipped and popped it into her mouth, resisting the urge to collapse back onto the bed at the sheer luxurious taste of it.
“Holy fuck. How can this possibly exist.”
Luna, who had grabbed her dish and started eating it as well, simply responded: "Class IV is a pathway to many abilities, some consider to be… Unnatural."
Aisha forced herself to pause between bites to respond. “I may have made a mistake, I’m not sure Nani’s Idli will ever be the same after this.”
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"See that's the best part: It somehow doesn't ruin normal food in comparison, that's only an issue with class I and II food."
“Good to know… Shit, I may have to rethink my plans to do anything but climb the tiers now.”
"I don't think that's the best of ideas," Foxfire chuckled, "the biggest reason why I'm tier V is because I've had a 32 year head-start. Not saying you shouldn't try to become stronger or kill Antithesis, but there's not really any rush. The three most common causes of death among Vanguard is the first incursion, which you survived, pissing off an older Vanguard, which I'm not sure why you would ever do that, and even if, just call me, I guess? And of course getting overconfident roughly 5 years into the job. So just don't do that and you'll be good. Oh also have my contact-data, if you want to."
A moment later, Aisha got a ping on her augs. A quick flick of her eyes revealed that she now indeed had the option popped up to save Foxfire’s contact, which she quickly accepted, giving the older woman a thumbs up between mouthfuls.
"So what are you studying?"
The two spent the remainder of the meal nerding out about Physics. To both of their amusement, Lyona and Vyshnu also joined in a few times, having arguments about concepts Aisha had never heard of after some part of the two Vanguard’s discussion set them off.
After they were both satiated, Aisha scooted forward again on the bed. “So, not to be ungrateful, but what did you actually visit me for?”
"Ah right! You have gotten some fox-based upgrades and, because no one ever tells you this and they don't even put it in the fine-print, I like to go around and tell Vanguard like that, hey if you experience this, this and that, that's normal, no need to panic over anything and yes, if you don't like it, there are ways to turn it off. Basically no one expects their bionics to come with a set of new instincts they're not used to and AIs don't have the best track-record of considering that."
Aisha frowned. “What sort of instincts?”
"Nothing too big, mostly just an urge to pounce into loose snow or a pile of leaves, especially if you can hear something moving in it, wanting to curl up in something soft, kind of like a nest of pillows and/or blankets to sleep and being a lot more touchy-feely with people you know, like and trust. That's more or less it? Oh also if you have romantic partner(s), ask them to gently scratch the base of your ears next time you see them."
“Gotcha. I’m uh, honestly kinda down with that then, I don’t mind getting the urge to be kind of a weirder goblin sometimes. I gotta ask though, is the ear thing like an... In private thing only because I only just started seeing this girl.”
"Well it is somewhat intimate? But not more than holding hands or cuddling. Probably don't do it while out in public still, but it's nothing sexual or lewd."
Aisha flashed a cheeky grin. “Not near as lewd as hand holding, got it!”
"Pretty much," Luna nodded, "moving on: Tail-care! How much do you know about hair-care?"
Aisha unconsciously twined a finger into her hair at the mention. “Enough to keep it healthy and looking good, but I’m not like a hair care nut or anything.”
"So you know about the shampoo only your head, hair-mask once a month, let that seep in for at least 20 minutes, rinse, apply conditioner, rinse off 3-5 minutes later? Great. Your tail is going to be very different. For one you won't be able to use the same shampoo or conditioner for it. And also good news: You don't need a hair-mask for it either, because the fur generally isn't long enough to warrant that. As for what products to use," she pulled out some bottles of shampoo and conditioner out of thin air, "I personally use these, but that doesn't mean it will work for you. Your AI can tell you what will and won't work, so ask them. And lastly, and this is important, you can blow-dry your tail, but only until the underfur is dry. After that, let it air-dry and brush it while still damp. Also brush your tail at least once a day, it gets very messy very quickly if you don't."
Aisha glanced around, seeing if she could even see where her hair brush was in the clutter. “Good to know, I’ll make sure to do that.”
"Oh also, don't use a hair-brush for that, it's been designed for long hair, not tail-fur. You can use a comb or alternatively this brush."
Once again out of thin air, she produced a brush and set it down on the table.
“Thanks! Do I need to do anything special for my ears?”
"That depends on a lot of things and you should probably ask your AI about that."
Vynshu interjected. “I have it down to discuss with you later.”
Aisha nodded. “Well damn. I appreciate all the help, I’m guessing you learned all this shit the hard way? That probably wasn’t fun.”
Luna shrugged, before shaking her head.
"Well… Not really? I mean it kinda was, but not the way you expect. Let's just say my hairdresser is very passionate about hair-care and as I discovered, also tail-care."
“Fair enough. Well, I don’t know if I can, but if I can ever give you a hand with something, do let me know. Least I could do”
Luna got up and walked towards the door. “Oh, there is one thing. Make sure you don’t miss class next Wednesday, I’m guest-lecturing your Theoretical Physics 3 that day. Talk about new research and all that.” She opened the door, turning back briefly. “See you Wednesday!” And she was gone, the door closing shut on its own with the sudden absence of a vanguard holding it open.
Well damn. Aisha thought. Her friend Nathan was going to FREAK.
Do you want more interludes (assuming it doesn't detract from regular chapters)
