"August, why do I have to stay behind? I could be useful for recon. I've done it before." I whine, bored.
"I dunno. Cause you'll get bored and kill a man over slavery within five minutes tops. They want this done delicately. Not with wanton madness." August says, quick and annoyed.
I sigh, annoyed as well. I just watch youtube on my phone while chilling on the bridge of August's ship.
"Jacob, you want reminded of cringe stuff? I'm feeling forlorn." August says, bored and slightly sad.
"So you want therapy about the past? Sure, what's up?" I say calmly.
August moves to a chair across from me. And smokes her vape forlornly. She's mentioned before that she does this cause of me. She thinks I smoke to look cool. Which I don't, I'm just a chainsmoker. I smoke my vape as well.
"So I think about relationships I've had on this ship. And wonder who's good dating material. I'm like, so close to ruining our merc group by trying to date someone again." August says, slightly sad and blunt.
"Damn. Please don't, I like our merc group. It's already stiff enough without blowjobs ruining everything." I say seriously.
"Yeah, but we're barely friends anymore. It's just you, me, and Lucius mainly hanging out. Lucius has dated all the women in the group except Grimmer. Why can't I date someone else?" August complains.
"Who are you gonna try dating?" I say, annoyed and bitter.
"What about yourself, Jacob? You were my first bodyguard." August says lovingly.
I actually am shocked a bit by this, staring at her nervously in response. She just smiles and stares at me with love in response. And I smile back a bit.
"Do you remember what happened with my mom and her castle? I barely remember why I even wanted her dead these days." August says warmly.
I cringe a bit at that serious question. And decide to make a joke.
"Stuff like this is why you're single."
August glares and flips me off.
"So are you rejecting me?" she says angrily.
"I'm considering it. I'm just shocked, is all. I don't want to jeopardize the gang." I say, annoyed and serious.
August sighs, annoyed.
"I bet this is about how I mentioned Lucius dated me first." she deadpans.
I roll my eyes, and almost walk away on the spot. I stand up, and take a few steps away.
"August, that was so fucking annoying. Yeah, being Lucius's eskimo brother makes me hesitate, I admit." I say angrily.
"Ah who cares, we kill people. Your dating pool is small based on that alone. Just give me a shot." August begs with dark sarcasm.
I turn to August, and gladly consider it. She's hot as fuck, but she's my boss. I don't want to ruin my relationship with my boss. I'm not like a pervert like Lucius the Incubus is. He moves on from people on purpose. I actually want to keep August if we fall in love. And August is known for being too manipulative. I know she's used her body for things she's regretted. She uses her body like a tool in every way if necessary. And I hate that about her. She's complained about it before, but she still does it.
"Why are you asking this now, while on a mission?" I complain.
"Cause I barely care as well. We're all rich and powerful enough to be considered S class or whatever. Top Ranker, Demigod, blah blah blah." August says warmly. "We might as well date while on the job. Stress relief is great during warfare, especially with sex."
"So blunt it's wrong." I complain, a bit sickened.
"It's true. But ah well Jacob. I made my case. You can quit within the next few days if you want. Let the whole merc group fall apart. I can retire today and chat with losers online for the rest of my life." August says with jaded whimsy.
"Why are you testing it? Are you that desperate? And why now?" I ask, annoyed.
"Why now is a good question. I dunno Jacob. The flow of life says I had a few boyfriends before you. You did as well. Chelsea told me you and her had a weird relationship before she joined our friend group. On her home planet. You flirted pretty hard at least." August says warmly.
I sigh, utterly annoyed with that flashback.
"Alright, ignoring that." I cringe. "I'll let ya say what you want. I need to consider this some more. I'm worried about losing my job if we break up after all." I say seriously.
"Fine. I'll ask again a few days after this mission is done. I'll give you until then. Anyway, want to hear about the recon we've got from the scouts?" August asks warmly.
"Sure, why not?" I say warmly.
"Command Bot, bring up the recon videos on the hologram projector." August commands calmly.
In the center of August's bridge is a hologram projector currently showing the whole planet's surface. For some reason it's mainly green land, barely any water.
Anyway, it shifts over in a storm of swirling particles to resemble observations of the outside.
"Let's do Nathaniel first. He's just got sky data, it'll be easy to review. I told him to only do our local area as well." August says warmly.
We see clouds and the ground below, far in the distance below.
"He's pretty high up." I say calmly.
"Not really, it's only a few thousand feet. Enough to do variables like stay below radar levels if that's still true. But we're in magic land, so I'm a skeptic as of now." August says calmly.
Nathaniel mainly shows just the land and barely talks. However, it's at the end when things get weird. And awesome for me. A portal shows up in front of Nathaniel and kidnaps him with ease due to Nathaniel not being able to stop on a dime. However, the camera is still connected for a few seconds. Long enough to show off his local area. There are some brands, and a big logo on a wall. The logo looks like some gamer tech shit, so we're dealing with some modern tech brand's lab.
"I think I need to go find him." I say eagerly.
"Jacob, stay. I will tell Grimmer and Shadow to look for him. Meanwhile, we watch their footage as well." August says, warm and nervous.
She pats my forearm like I'm a dog needing steadied.
"Be good, please. Nathaniel is strong, he can solve that for himself." August says warmly.
I sigh, annoyed. And lean back in my chair.
"I gotcha, I'll stay put." I say with a complaining tone.
Grimmer and Shadow's footage shows nearly the entire country. It has all been terraformed to be a suburban society with a 1920's Americana aesthetic. Truly a dreadful reality to be forced within. They do have modern tech, so it's basically a Fallout world. How annoying.
We end up watching it for hours, as it shows everything but at a absurdly fast pace. We have to slow down the footage to process a lot of the world properly. Which is good for getting lots of footage, bad for normal people like... Well, like August to process it. I could watch it in real time just fine.
It's a funny dynamic cause I often get asked stuff like:
"So did you catch anything in the microseconds, soldier boy?" August asks warmly.
"No, I haven't. Nothing like that at all." I say warmly.
But I did once or twice. Mainly strange vehicles or once a cop. Who wielded a longsword and a plasma pistol. The cop wore a blue and black uniform, studded with steel. With a leather backpack that held a car battery or something.
"Strange police force. They'll be fun to fight." I say, eager and slightly bloodlusted.
"Please don't get into unnecessary fights. We pay for every injury and funeral for the civilians regardless of if they're mind controlled or not." August says warmly.
"Ugh, cringe." I complain.
As we observe the footage, I just say my usual line.
"We've got this in the bag with me, Shadow, and Grimmer alone based on speed output. They don't measure up to us yet besides with teleportation. And that's if they're pinpoint accurate with those portals." I say, analytical and cocky.
"Shadow has a suspicion of where Nathaniel is at, by the way. It's a military base. Want to go wreck it? By yourself, of course." August says with a flirtatious tone.
"Sure, why not? I'd love a good fight." I say with happy malice.