Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)

[Guan Yu]

It would take a bit for the ammo to run out from Zeta's big gun, but eventually the click could be heard as the last of the belt clattered out to the catcher bag with the brass. Taking a moment to herself, the bunny lady would see that the gun was properly set down before she got up from the turret. She was not all that impressive a sight all things considered, given that she was fairly average in height and build, but there were aspects in her that told some stories about her past. Her left ear was missing a chunk from the top, making it about a quarter shorter than the right, and there was a scar going from the middle of her left cheek all the way to the side of her face. And once she got to a proper talking distance, another thing would come to light as Adelle could see a little mechanical unit attached to the choker around her neck. "So, what do you think?" she would ask, the voice not coming out right as she spoke, a split second delay being present before it sounded from the unit, in what was once called a "text to speak" female voice. Despite the apparent comfort of the facility she lived in, it looked like Zeta had seen her fair share of the world and it had left it's marks on her.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Greetings, miss Zeta. I'm Adelle, and your maid, Ushiko, approached me earlier about you procuring my old pistol that my father gave me. Also... that was awesome too, reminded me a little of myself when I shot this thing for the first time when my father taught me how to shoot" Adelle would say in greeting, not letting the voice box thing that the bunny woman had faze her any. "If you'd like to look at it, then here. I didn't keep it immaculate or anything. But I did make sure it stayed clean and well kept, so no rust or anything wrong with it," she added, pulling the thing out and making sure the cylinder was empty of bullets, before offering it to Zeta, handle first.

 

[Guan Yu]

Zeta would nod along as Adelle made her introduction, the appearance of the new gun making her act up as it was handed for her to look over. The grab on the gun was maybe a bit wild, but the bunny would go on to be absolutely respectful on it after as she quickly looked at some specific parts on it to confirm with her own eyes as well, even as Ushiko spoke up about it being a genuine article. Quickly producing a set of bullets from her vest pocket, Zeta would load up and fire the entire cylinder one-handed at a random target down range, the impacts barely straying from one another despite the rapid pace. Having done that, she would quickly flip the gun over and eject the brass before turning the gun over to Adelle again, probably not seeing it proper to fiddle with it too hard until the exchange of ownership was official. "It is indeed a genuine Mateba, and the condition is good for something this old. I think we have a deal on this. Name your price. We can trade it for something in my spare collection, or money if that is more in your needs to be fulfilled. But if you have something else besides that, well I think we can hear that out too at least."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Well in that case miss Zeta. May I see your spare collection? I'm always looking for newer and better firepower to take care of myself, and a bit of money couldn't hurt either. I would like to have some saved up just in case. But let me see what you've got that you're willing to trade for and we can go from there. Sound fair?" Adelle replied in a cheerful tone and would follow Zeta inside to look at her spare collection, thinking that a trade and a bit of money might be good to have.

All in all, Adelle did love her old pistol. Her father had given it to her after all, and she had fond memories with it. But she wasn't That attached to it, and she knew her father would definitely understand her trading it for a better gun, and or a hefty sum of money. It was also his old gun, as he'd upgraded to a couple of better pistols to use in his work and whatnot. She would look around Zeta's home and whatnot while following her along, taking in the sights, and seeing just what kind of person Zeta might be, based on what her decorations around the place were.

 

[Guan Yu]

With it being apparent that a trade would be happening, Ushiko would take the lead after collecting the ear protection in the range entry room. She would lead them across the property, which had five separate buildings of different sizes, each of them being fairly nondescript from the outside, though one stood out as each window had different types of curtains on them. The cow maid would see Adelle looking, and explained that it was the maid house, each of them having their own way to spice up their room in there. And just to make a point, a catgirl maid would appear in one of the windows, her uniform color being light purple.

At the other end of the area was a smaller building, a scanner and a card reader near the doors. Zeta would slap her hand onto the scanner, and the doors would slide open to let them go inside. A short stairway would take them down about ten feet, and there they would be met by three doors, the bunny taking them through the biggest one at front. The room beyond was something else, a long concrete hallway lit by cold, white lights on the ceiling. Both sides of this hallway were made up of shelf after shelf, all of them having haphazardly laid out guns on them top to bottom shelf. It was at least a few hundred firearms of all types laying about, from the dinkiest little pocket pistols and bolt rifles to more high-end looking assault rifles and even a few pieces of heavier firepower here and there, some of these guns having multiples present. Even this room looked like it could arm a small army, and Zeta had mentioned it was her spare guns pile, so it was likely that her actual main collection was even bigger than this one.

"Go ahead, have a look and see if something comes up."

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle gave Ushiko a nod when she explained the maids had their own house, and she even spotted one of the catgirl maids Zeta had, and couldn't help but feel the urge to rush up there and hug her and give her lots of pets. But she held herself in check for the time being and did in fact not do such a thing. Adelle followed Ushiko and Zeta through the scanner door and went inside, down the hallway and into the large room that had all of the different guns on it. She was surprised to see so many different guns in just Zeta's spare collection, and her eyes went wide at the sight of it all.

"Wow... this is... quite the spare collection, miss Zeta. Jeez... so many to choose from," Adelle said, very wowed by the sight.

She would walk up and down the spare guns pile, and looked over a little sheepishly at Zeta. "Would you be willing to spare some ammunition for whichever gun I pick too? I don't really got a whole heck of a lot of money to be honest. So it'd be a big help for the work I've been doing," Adelle would ask curiously as she paused and reached out for an battle rifle and picked it up, the one she picked being an M39 EMR (assuming she has them), and she would look it over, lifting it up to test the weight, aiming down the sights, and making a few motions as she made to pull it up quickly and aim down sights, before measuring the length of the barrel, checking how flush it could press against her shoulder, slapping an empty magazine in and letting it out to try and quickly reload it.

"Mmm, I watched my father use an old DMR a few times, and he taught me a lot about guns, because he was a bounty hunter himself that worked hard to provide for us. I got to shoot it once or twice, when I was younger. And he always did want to upgrade it over to an EMR since it had a longer range, and whatnot," Adelle would say, never aiming at her hosts of course, though she would aim around with it a bit.

 

[Guan Yu]

While there was some messiness to be seen in the shelves, the ordering of the spares still had the scattered piles somehow organized into categories of guns, and this would enable Adelle to see what she was searching for. And she could indeed find a gun that she was looking for, this particular specimen being in more or less unused condition. Everything she tested on the gun would run as expected, nothing suspicious showing itself as she did her tests.

"I think I can spare some, I don't think I have any of the rare calibers in here so it shouldn't be an issue."

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle looked quite pleased with finding her M39 EMR, and looked down the sights, and then back to Zeta. "Mmm, I like this one, I like it a lot. Say, do you happen to have one of those dual scopes by chance? That is basically one of those holographic or red dot sights, and you can bring up a larger scope and lock it into place, and pull it to the side when you want closer range? Maybe an Acog scope and red dot would be the best combo. I can give you all my spare ammunition for the old pistol in exchange for one, if you'd like. If not, I can find one I'm sure, at the gun shop I go to a lot for ammo," Adelle would say after looking the rifle over, and thinking she'd have to paint it a bit, and see about getting it in a dark metallic blue, or deep blue sapphire color, similar to her hair.

She would ask Zeta this, while still doing a few maneuvers, to see how well her body could handle the new rifle, at stretching around corners, things like that. It was heavier than her pistols and her SMG, for certain, but it felt about the same weight as her Benelli she'd gotten recently, which wasn't too much for her to manage.

 

[Guan Yu]

"It had something like that on it, I'll give you one from the stash." Zeta would agree, apparently having the removed optic stored in another part of the spares storage. She would let Adelle keep her bullets that still could go to good use on her other revolver, both it and her old gun being one of the .357 variety so there was no hassle in acquiring ammo for it. There were probably plenty of other .357 guns in Zeta's collection, so she was unlikely to be in short supply of the fairly common caliber.

Certainly the bigger rifle felt weightier and more demanding in Adelle's hands as she had mostly been gunning it with smaller pistol caliber guns up to this point, only really now having a full-size long gun, but that was something that she would get used to once she had time to acclimate and develop familiarity on the thing.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Ah that'd be great. I appreciate it, miss Zeta," Adelle would tell Zeta cheerfully as she got all of the things together, and whatnot.

Once the optics were brought out, Adelle would take the time to properly assemble them onto the gun's rails, and Zeta would find Adelle wasn't too shabby with how she handled the gun maintenance and whatnot. After she had the switchable sights out and attached, Adelle would take the time to zero the acog scope in a bit, and made sure the red dot worked, and even took the time to clean both of the sights with a cloth. She took every precaution too and anytime she saw someone moving in the general direction of the front of the rifle, she'd go out of her way to aim it elsewhere.

When all was said and done however, Adelle got the rifle and fixed a strap, if one was offered, to the thing and slung it over her shoulder. "I've mostly been using my pistols for fighting anything I had to. But I've always wanted one of these to be honest with you. They're such a good versatile weapon that can be used in most any situation," Adelle would say to Zeta, smiling over at her. "And if I find any other old or rare guns, I'll definitely let you know. I know you'd definitely take good care of them," she added as she prepared to leave, unless there was something else Zeta wanted to speak to her about or anything.

 

[Guan Yu]

Ushiko would leave the group and take one of the other doors nearby, coming back with a whole metal box of ammo and the optic, the latter being in a storage bag. With both of them in her possession, Adelle could look over and set her new gun up to her specifications as the scope went on quickly enough with the easy rail system. "It will be better with distance than a handgun, certainly. Use it well." Zeta would not dwell on the trade too much, but did take up on the offer on any future guns being introduced if she was missing them, or if Adelle had anything else that might warrant her attention.

Just like that, the busty girl was let go as it seemed she was wanting to go. As long as she and Rose were inside the compound, Ushiko would be there with them.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle would finish fixing up her new battle rifle, and nodded to Zeta. "Aye, and I don't have any major distance weapons myself," Adelle told Zeta with a smile as she finished up.

With that, Adelle would prepare to leave, but before she left she would turn back to Zeta for a moment. "Say Zeta, if you have anything you'd like to have someone pick up, say old guns, or something, maybe a quest or something like the guild offers, I'd be happy to help. It would not only allow me to help you, but it would also give me more experience in this line of work and stuff too," Adelle would tell Zeta, before she would leave, giving Zeta perhaps something to consider, and it would indeed give Adelle some potentially much needed experience with this kind of work, and provide her with some potential money too.

As soon as Adelle had gotten Zeta's response from that, she would turn to leave, making her way across the compound and walking out with Rose in tow, heading back to the house for the time being. "Well that turned out pretty well, and might give some potential work in the future too," Adelle would say as they walked home, looking and sounding in pretty high spirits after all that.

 

[Guan Yu]

"I'll send a maid if I have something. I have a lot of things to run and the maid staff can't handle quite everything all the time so I use free agent types occasionally."

As soon as the girls were out of the gate, Ushiko would drop out as she stayed to manage whatever it was that she had to in her maidly duties. With that, the girls had freedom to go back home, the trip back being uneventful save a few passerby looking at the awfully official-looking big girl in an office uniform going past them. Back home, things had not changed any from the morning, Taio still away in her clothing adventure by the looks of it.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"That sounds just fine to me. I'd be happy to help, especially if I get to come back here and hang out any at all. This place is like... almost a dream place for someone like me, with all the guns and stuff," Adelle chuckled to Zeta before leaving, letting Ushiko escort them out.

Adelle paid little attention to anyone that gave them stares as they went back home, and once they were home, Adelle would give a look around the house, and checked the time. If it wasn't past noon at this point, Adelle would head to check in on Kei to make sure she was alright, and if they had anything new for her to go do. She was feeling a little antsy, and despite having plenty of food in her fridge and whatnot for the time being, Adelle was the type that didn't like to be doing nothing, so she was eager to do stuff to improve herself, or have a little fun in the process of making some money to have plenty saved up... just in case. Adelle would ask Rose if she'd like to join her, but wouldn't pressure her or anything to do so, figuring Rose might want to do other things than just hang around her all the time, even though Adelle did really enjoy Rose's company, and liked helping her out too.

 

[Guan Yu]

Rose would opt to sit back for a while, probably still wanting to get to touch properly with her new hands, having only had them for a few days. But she would tell Adelle to come back and get her if there was something that might need her large presence.

Going over to the small restaurant would see it closed, but checking through the window would show Kei and the grand dad eating lunch at the counter, the mood inside looking generally happy after their reunification.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"You got it hon. Just relax and get used to things for now," Adelle told Rose and leaned over to kiss her lightly on the lips, a sweet and chaste peck, before she went over to the restaurant to check in on Kei.

Adelle saw that her and her dad were inside having some lunch together, and though she didn't want to disturb them, she did genuinely want to check in on Kei and see how she was doing and whatnot. So she would knock on the door and show herself to them, and give them a smile and a wave. If Kei came to open the door, Adelle would just stand there a moment before giving Kei a little hug. "Hey there Kei, how are you doing? I just thought I'd check in on you and stuff, maybe see if y'all had any word on other places like that to take care of. But more to check in on you of course," Adelle asked Kei.

 

[Guan Yu]

Once she knocked on the door, Adelle was let in by the grand dad, who hit a button on the back of his counter to unlock the door. From the look of things, Kei seemed to be just fine even after their ordeals, probably from previous experience if her other gadgets were as fiddly as her force field had been and left her in the mercy of the monsters in the caves. But how much of that her grandpa knew, the busty girl could not tell as it was not spoken of. "No? I mean I haven't even left here, and we haven't seen anyone besides you since last night." she would confirm not having anything new to share this fast after the previous investigation.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle knew Kei didn't want to talk about what had happened with her granddad, so she didn't bring up the details at all. After Kei responded, Adelle should have kind of figured they hadn't heard about any new places so soon, but it never hurt to ask, in her opinion. "Ah okay, well that's fine too. It looks like you're feeling alright too, which is even better. I got this earlier myself. Traded my old pistol for it," Adelle would say, showing off her new rifle to Kei, and her granddad too if he looked interested.

"Some lady named Zeta, heard that I had a pistol like that old one my dad gave me and stuff, and said she was a collector of old guns and the like. So I traded it to her, for this bad girl," Adelle would say after a few moments, more making small talk than anything.

However, if Kei would want to get back to her meal, after that, Adelle would bid them farewell and head to the guild hall on her bike, looking to see if Samson had any potential jobs for her.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Yeah I think I heard some mention of this woman a little while back. One of the Banisher agents is a frequent co-operator of hers and has done some side jobs with her to get some exotic firepower out from her storage." Kei would mention that she was at least knowledgeable of Zeta and her operation being a thing out there. "I'd recommend avoiding that particular one, she's... not the most tolerant towards other people and reacts pretty harshly if you do something she's considers wrong or a failure. Bit of a samurai vibe on her, massive mane of red hair. Usually carries a weird gun of some unholy caliber and a slightly longer, over-curved katana that is the primary thing you'll see her wield." she would go on to warn Adelle about this particular unsavory hunter of the Blades, the grand dad breaking up the silence afterwards with offering his own approval of this particular one and her acts, even if she was somewhat unsociable, likely giving them good leeway with his hatred towards the otherworld creatures.

As much as she was being considerate of it, the relatives did not seem to mind Adelle being there, even if they were eating. Said eating time would be interrupted somewhat by the sudden appearance of the weird pink-jacketed girl that Adelle had seen once in the hunter bar, the one who had been gobbling up jobs like no tomorrow since she had appeared. She would be there at the window where the busty girl herself had been just a moment before, and would use that unblinking stare she had already used once before as she looked inside for an unnecessarily long time, a full-mouth, vacant smile creeping on her features as soon as she realized she was being looked back at. But she would not try to get in, soon turning and moving on from the window to do whatever something like her did, probably another job.

"Aaaa... what the hell was that? She looked kinda cute but... that was some serial killer vibes, even if she didn't seem to want anything with us." Kei would speak up as soon as the girl had left the vicinity of window and moved on.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Banisher agent... hmm, I may have seen her at some point," Adelle commented, unsure if she'd seen the redhead that was mentioned or not, but she was fairly sure she had.

Adelle was glad that they didn't seem to mind her being there, but just as she may have been about to sit down to chat the two up some more, the pink jacket wearing girl came into view at the window. Adelle would smile and wave back to the girl when she did that... rather creepy and inwardly terrifying to be exact. After the girl had left, Adelle gulped softly and looked back over at Kei. "Y-Yeah... that was fucking terrifying, to be honest. Honestly, if she'd tried to come in here, I might have pissed in my pants," Adelle said, breathing a bit of a sigh of relief that the girl hadn't come in on her, though she couldn't help but feel curious just what that was about.