"Eyes, huh… I can do that. I'll let ya know as soon as I get my hands on a decent model. You do want a decent model, right? Not that commercially available crap any civ can get their hands on?"

"Yep, that would be preferable," Amelia managed to say sweetly, her previous bout of emotions sufficiently overcome for that sweet mask to come right back up. "I need something reliable I won't have to replace any time soon."

"Heh, yeah, checks out. What about you, big guy? Need a pair as well? I can hook up two at no more difficulty than I can hook up one. I noticed those fancy glasses of yours."

It was impulsive. It was potentially stupid. Still, I couldn't stop myself from tugging the glasses just far enough down my nose for my eyes to peek out.

"Nah, I'm good."

Yuri jerked like I'd shot him, and his expression went into a funny rictus of shock.

"Uncle, put the gun down," Amelia sighed. I had to tilt my head a little to catch sight of the gun he'd apparently drawn and hid just outside my line of sight. That was kind of… impressive.

Seeing as he was still staring, I pushed my glasses back up, feeling inordinately sheepish.

Oops?

"I… see, won't be needing a new pair then," Yuri finally rasped. The gun vanished so quickly, I could only wonder where he'd put it. "Anything else, though? And I'm guessing you'll need me to connect you with a reliable ripper, too?"

"A ripper contact would be nice, yes. As for anything else… Mmmm… Adrian's got the best eyes he can get and pretty decent arms, but… yeah, if you get me some kind of military grade spine enhancement or replacement for him, that would be great. Could use a replacement for back musculature too, at the very least."

"Grafted muscles ain't that expensive, but bone replacement? You sure you don't want to go with bone lace instead? Replacement is definitely costlier…" Yuri stole another glance at me. "You sure your guy can take that kind of surgery, too? That stuff can mess with a person's head. Won't push you to full-out cyberpsycho status, but it'll deffo make you more irritable if you're not already used to modding yourself."

"Eyes and arms, remember?" Amelia questioned archly.

Yuri just scoffed. "Yeah, I remember, little menace. I also remember his reaction to my guys. Not exactly the behavior of a perfectly sane individual."

He had me there.

"He'll be fine. Trust me on this." Her faith in me was genuinely touching, even if I was the tiniest bit worried. Still, we had discussed the possibility of these enhancements quite a bit over the past few days. Not breaking my spine if I used my arms recklessly? Yeah, that definitely appealed to me.

"Sure, sure," Yuri grumbled. "Guess I have ta. Anyway, that be it? Eyes, better muscles, spine. Anything else?"

"Well…" She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook her head. "Not right now. I want to get the eyes first, and then I'll plan things from there. As for Adrian… I mean, I'm just shooting right for the stars here, but… If you have a full ribcage and spine replacement combo, with some protective mesh added in, I'd go for it. It would make a truly massive dent in my savings, but it would be worth it."

Yuri whistled, giving me some premium side-eye as he did. "Fuck, little menace. You're really serious about this one if you want him so well protected, huh?"

Amelia almost flushed harder than when we'd confessed our feelings to each other.

"Fine." Yuri shook his head. "I'll be on the lookout for that. I'll even give you the family discount for his shit, too, if you're really that fond of him…"

"Um, uh, t-thank you," my stolen lab assistant stuttered, embarrassed but unwilling to deny any of Yuri's allegations. Which… honestly, it heated up my own cheeks and made happy butterflies flutter inside of my chest.

It felt nice to be appreciated, okay?

"Actually…" I cleared my throat. "If I can interject?"

Yuri didn't say anything, but he sure did arch his eyebrow in a way that was somehow both encouraging and mocking.

I plunged ahead. "She needs at least some basic firearm training. Her father wasn't huge on letting her develop any skills she didn't 'need.'" I did full air quotes on that one. "So unless you get on her operating table willingly, she's not gonna be much threat to you."

"That true?" Yuri turned to eye his niece, who reluctantly nodded. "We'll remedy that, then. I can't have you coming here, or even your fool of a father will eventually pick up on it. But I'll give you an address, skinny. You'll take my niece to it and help her learn how to use a gun, understood?"

"Crystal clear, sir. I'd be more than happy to." I just hoped I could remember enough not to make a fool of myself in the process.

Then again… yeah, Mela had definitely managed to mentally and emotionally scar me enough during her 'training' for it to be carved into my brain potentially forever.

"Hrm. You have the right attitude, at least," Yuri muttered, then turned back to Amelia. "Fine. I like him enough. I'll put some actual effort into finding mods for him from one of those brands I know you like."

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"I was, like, what? Six when we last talked? How do you even know what brands I like?"

She pouted a little, but Yuri just smirked.

"I know because you wouldn't shut up about your mother's job and cybernetics, even back then. Or have you tasted change since?"

"…no."

"See?" He laughed, and years fell away from his face, even if just for a second. Then an inscrutable expression slammed into place over his features, and he hesitated. "Listen… Amelia, I'd happily find this shit for you. I'd give it to you for free if you'd let me. But… I have to offer, you understand. Will you let me hide you? Ship you out of this city? I know it's a tough thing to consider, but —"

My mind was reeling at the offer, but Amelia's answer was immediate.

"That won't be necessary. We'll be fine. We don't need to run away."

"But —"

"No. Actually…" It was her turn to hesitate. "Maybe. Can you get us into the slums? A few things we're planning would be a lot easier to pull off there, and Adrian still has some people he's worried about and would like to look for."

I'd mentioned the Kittens to her only in passing while we were snacking and watching bad shows. The fact that she remembered made my heart skip a beat.

Yuri sighed. "I wish I could, but I can't. Same reason why I'm not offering you passage out of the city right the fuck now. Everything's still on lockdown. It's difficult to shift people and goods around. Still, you should really consider —"

"I said no," Amelia snapped, a lot of the warmth and happiness that typically shone in her eyes fading into a cold sort of fury.

Yuri slumped a little deeper into his chair. "Okay! Okay… Just, I know you, little menace. And I knew my sister. The last time I saw her, she had that same look in your eyes you currently have. And I never saw her again. I'm just asking you to be careful."

"I — I will be. We will be. I've got Adrian helping me, and we have some unique advantages you don't know about, so… so don't worry so much. We'll be fine. Just… please make sure the ripper you send us to is reliable? I am talking 'won't share client info under torture or threat of death' reliable."

"That is typically the kind of rippers I work with, yes," Yuri stated drily. I had a feeling he was more amused than insulted by his niece's doubt. "Don't worry. I'll be sending you to a discreet professional who could pass even your mother's exacting standards."

"Thank you. Really. This means a lot to me. I… I know we haven't seen each other in years, and —"

"None of that, little menace. Sure, I missed the chance to watch you grow up, but I can at least help now. I'm sorry I can't do more. You know how it is. Your mother and I both earned our way into the inner districts. I told her not to marry that core trash, but she — I mean, I know he's your father…"

"No, no, you're right!" she assured him. "You didn't say anything I haven't already thought about him. You've been downright nice, really. Fucker didn't deserve your sister."

"He really didn't. You're the only good thing that came out of that marriage," Yuri grumbled, a far-off look in his eyes. "You might justify all the horribleness your mother went through. On your own. I sure know your mother never regretted having you, at least."

Amelia was trying very hard not to cry, but the emotions playing out over her face were plain to see. She suddenly stepped forward to draw Yuri into a hug. While neither broke into ugly tears or anything, their eyes were suspiciously twinkly when they parted.

"T-That's it on my end." Amelia tried for a gruff, professional tone and failed miserably. "Let me get you my scroll number so you can contact us when everything's ready."

Yuri, meanwhile, was much more adept at switching to gruff professionalism on a dime, whether tears were glistening at the corners of his eyes or not. "Awfully bold, handing out your number like that. Could be risky."

"Oh, trust me, I'd love for someone to try some shit." Amelia smirked like a Cheshire cat as she pulled out her scroll and tapped it against one Yuri procured from somewhere. A chime rang out as their respective contact information was registered.

"Confident in your security, then? Good. Even so, just remember not to be reckless."

"Not planning to be."

"Excellent, excellent. Now, I'm going to have one of my guys lead you out through a different entrance into the building. It's a lot more subtle. We use it for some of our… finer, rarer stock. Can assure you your father wouldn't even know to snoop around it."

"Thank you, Uncle," Amelia whispered. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Oh, I can make a guess or two," Yuri laughed. Then that same mischievous tone snuck into his voice, and his eyes lit up in a way that reminded me so much of Amelia, I could only stare. "Just promise me one thing?"

Clearly Amelia sensed a trap, because she was eyeing him with the kind of suspicion I reserved for slum burritos. "I can probably do whatever you want, but I'd like to hear your request first."

Yuri leaned in, making Amelia subconsciously mimic the gesture. "You two make sure to use protection, you hear me? I'm too young and pretty to be a grand uncle already!"

My face erupted into heat. Amelia's went downright nuclear.

"You — you…!" she screeched, turning away and stomping towards the room's exit.

"Does that mean you won't make the promise?! What are you planning, Amelia?!" Yuri shouted after her, though the effect of his 'desperate demand' was a little undermined by all the snickering.

"I should, uhhh, hurry after her," I mumbled as she tore the door open.

Not waiting for her uncle's reply, I bolted for freedom.

Yuri's eyes must have had that feature to prevent them from lighting up during calls. A guy was already waiting for us outside, ready to guide us out of the store. Well, that, or the poor fellow had been waiting outside of his boss's office the entire time.

Amelia was still fuming when we made it out onto the street, though I was fairly certain it was mostly a mask for her embarrassment. At the very least, she was pointedly refusing to look anywhere near me.

I said nothing. I just snatched up her hand, which was balled into a fist, and theatrically swung our arms between us. Finally, she relented and uncurled her fingers, letting me intertwine them with my own.

Then she said something quite unexpected.

"I'm sorry."

"Come again?"

The words were just as soft and quiet as the first time around. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for?"

"For, you know… declining my uncle's offer. We could have been out of this stupid city. Away from my father's immediate reach. We could have just lived our lives, started some kind of businesses or something, spent time doing —"

"It's fine."

"But —"

"It's really fine, Amelia. There's no way I'd leave you here, and I have plenty of unfinished business myself. We'll be fine."

I wasn't lying. Sure, when she'd first said 'no', I had a moment of extreme dissonance. A part of me was relieved. A part of me wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.

So much of my misery was tied up into Zanos. My mother's death. Whoever the fuck my father was. My eyes. Kittens. My kidnapping and torture. Most of it was fucking hell.

Still, the city was all I'd ever known.

Plus, I didn't want to leave without permanently neutralizing the threat her father posed. If he ever caught a hint of our survival, even if it was in a different city, I sincerely doubted he'd decide to leave us alone.

No, he needed to die. The Kittens needed to be avenged. And I needed to figure out Essence. All excellent reasons to stay in Zanos, where I already had suitable targets meant to make all my plans and dreams come true.

The city also had the undeniable advantage of hosting Amelia, so there was that. I was absolutely not going to leave her behind. And not just because she was a surprisingly amazing kisser.

I squeezed her hand. "Let's just go home, yeah? This day's been tiring."

The smile she gave me rivalled the sun. It was definitely much prettier, at least.

"Yeah, let's go home."

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