Joe woke up feeling strangely tired. He's usually the kind of guy who falls asleep on command and will stay out like a broken light bulb until he's completely rested. That morning, however, his first thought upon regaining consciousness was that he really didn't want to get out of bed. That's not to say he doesn't get enough rest. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed that he had slept for a full ten hours, much more than the usual six to eight hours. An accumulation of mental or physical fatigue might explain his condition, but given his effortless lifestyle, it's definitely not the cause.
The culprit for Joe's occasional listlessness was none other than the king-size bed. The mattress is composed of highly adaptable smart foam that adjusts its shape and temperature to ensure maximum comfort. Joe had never experienced such extreme comfort in real life until a week ago, and he was quickly hooked. The natural light pouring in from the windows also gives the room a soft, relaxing glow. Last but not least, Maggie sat at the foot of the bed with her eyes closed. In addition to being a sight to behold, she also hums a melodious tune right under her nose.
Overall, the master bedroom was immersed in an almost idyllic calm atmosphere, and Joe felt that his movement would somehow destroy it.
"Good morning, Master Mulligan."
Then Jeeves went right through like a proton torpedo.
"Your breakfast is ready, I suggest you eat it before it gets cold."
The robot butler walked silently to the bedside, holding a special plate in his hands, from which an incredibly tempting fragrance floated. Even Joe's advanced laziness couldn't resist the enticing smell, so he sat up and leaned against the backboard. Jeeves placed the small table on his lap so that he could look at his meal. There were two sausages and two strips of bacon, both grilled to perfection. A fried egg seasoned with spices is placed on another plate. Two slices of fresh toast with marmalade awaited him, starberry flavored judging from its pale pink color, the "dessert" part of breakfast. Of course, no British meal is complete without a hot cup of tea.
"Gee, Jeeves. Did you blow a fuse or something?" said Joe, suddenly feeling wide awake. "I can't eat so much."
"My daily diagnostic scan shows no faulty components, sir. Do I want to run another one?"
The man winced as he was subtly reminded that he was talking to something, not someone.
"That's not necessary," Maggie interjected from the foot of the bed. "That's enough for now, Jeeves."
"As you wish, ma'am." The butler bowed before leaving the room.
"Seriously, this is too much," Joe turned to Maggie.
"I recommend you eat as much as you can. Squeeze it down if necessary."
"……What?"
"Your body is fragile and borderline unhealthy. Now that I can better control your food intake, I can design a diet that alleviates this in a natural way."
"Ah. Right."
They did talk about it yesterday. Joe felt a little guilty because he just couldn't thank Maggie for giving them this luxury. Of course, he had his reservations at first, but once he settled in, it seemed too good to be true. The girl assures him that his presence and constant presence as her anchor is reward enough, but he doesn't feel that way. So, he came up with an idea of how he could get better at this "anchor" thing, and it was decided that he would work on his poor physique. This would put a lot less stress on his body in case Maggie had to regroup again.
So Joe ate a hearty breakfast. By the time he finished the last slice of toast, his stomach was as full as it could get. The girl completed the task for him with joy and joy. Watching her chew bite after bite of toast with marmalade, Jo realized two things. First, she probably thought there would be leftovers from breakfast, which is why she instructed Jeeves to make the candy in her favorite Starberry flavor. Another thing is that Joe does have room for one last "dessert" piece.
That being said, Maggie gave me a good morning kiss, which she happily obliged. Just a regular one. The first cosmic kiss is a special moment. Everything after that is normal. That’s not to say they aren’t compelling. Quite the opposite. Greeting Maggie with his own lips was the highlight of Joe's day. It made him feel giddy, excited, and unbearably optimistic. His only complaint is that he wishes his girlfriend would initiate a kiss from time to time. Of course, she started it the first time, but that was after he forced himself on her. Lips. No matter what. The key to the problem is that Joe has to do this every time, which makes him feel embarrassed and greedy, so he subconsciously holds back.
After breakfast was put together, Joe went into the automatic wardrobe and got dressed, leaving Maggie in the bedroom to continue her work. The girl has a host of new responsibilities that require a lot of calculations and analysis. As a result, she typically spends 8 to 12 hours a day doing "unfathomably intellectual" stuff. She usually put her duties in order while Joe slept, but last night's puzzle seemed particularly challenging. The man has no idea what the hell she's doing, and even if he asks her to explain, he doesn't understand, so he's out of trouble.
As Joe walked through the living room, he noticed their semi-permanent guest was inside. Instead of his usual military uniform, Agent Johnson wore a very unfeminine white and blue tracksuit. Apparently, it was the only set of casual clothes she'd bothered to bring. The reason she's wearing it now is because she's working out. As an active duty soldier, she must maintain a certain level of physical fitness at all times. She's also a psyker, which means her mind muscles have to be just as strong. That's why she exercises both sides of herself every morning. At that particular point in time, she was doing one-handed push-ups while using telekinesis to move a 20-kilogram dumbbell up and down. The sight of her upper body bobbing up and down in time with her "brain rep" never fails to impress Joe.
"Good morning," he greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning," she replied breathlessly. "Is shift three still busy?"
"Yeah, but come on, AJ. She has a name. We talked about it."
The woman refused to respond and continued stubbornly with her exercise routine, and Joe sighed deeply. He tried several times to get her to relax, but she refused to acknowledge Maggie as a person. She had always treated his girlfriend as a thing, a potential enemy to be wary of. This passive-aggressive hostility is one of the many reasons why Joe has never had any luck with human women. He just doesn't know how to deal with this attitude, so he usually just withdraws and runs away. However, he felt so confident every time he and Maggie kissed that he decided to push it a little further.
"Okay, let's hear it. What did she do to piss you off again this time?"
Agent Johnson's movements stopped. She sighed heavily. She had no particular beef with Joe. He was just a naive fool who got sucked into the madness of Malaslak, the Vortex Watcher. If anything, she kind of appreciated his nonchalant attitude. This helps her stay mentally stable, otherwise the Level 3 course would drive her crazy. Or, it will be done faster than it is now.
"I was asked to write 42 haiku poems by noon today," she shared.
"Ah. What is haiku?"
"It's an old format with a weird specific number of syllables. I guess the upshot is that it doesn't have to rhyme, but that just makes it weirder. Who's ever heard of a poem that doesn't rhyme?!"
"Obviously Maggie did it."
"I figured at least this would be better than the counting exercises she had me do. I mean, seriously, what kind of assignment is, 'Start counting and see how far you've come in six hours?' What the hell?" has no meaning?"
"Maybe it's like those cheesy martial arts movies. You know, the teacher makes the students do seemingly random chores to build muscle, and they don't realize it."
"I didn't really think about it. I mean, I was told I would be participating in experiments, so I was expecting more experiments. Like, weird machines, invasive mind-reading, or being bombarded with brains every day. Stuff like that, you know?”
"Wait. Do you want to use your imagination?"
"Not great, but it's better than giving you a piece of wood and asking you to carve it into a toothpick. Where did it get a piece of wood?"
"Hmm. That's where one of the dining room chairs goes. Anyway, try to think on the bright side. At least you can drink Jeeves' tea as much as you like when you're done with your daily routine."
"...the tea Jeeves makes is delicious."
"I know, right?" Say what you want about the smarmy director, but he knew his accomplices. "
"Hey. Don't make me mention Millington, or I'll be court-martialed before you can even mention the medulla oblongata."
"Is that... is that French or something?"
"Electronic warfare. In the name of the Queen, no. That's the scientific term for a part of the brain."
"Ah. Actually, that reminds me."
Joe walked into the living room instead of standing in the doorway. He turned to the rather large portrait of Mecha Elizabeth II and waved at it. He fulfilled his civic duty, left Agent Johnson, returned to her fitness center, and walked into his new favorite spot, the game room. There is a multipurpose entertainment table in the center that can accommodate any leisure activity including but not limited to poker, snooker, chess and a host of board games. The walls are lined with monitors, terminals, arcade machines, holographic projectors and other forms of electronic entertainment.
However, Joe was not interested in any of this at the time. Being a man of habit, he made a beeline for the four cutting-edge virtual reality pods at the other end of the room. One of them is technically his old, battered, possessed pod, but that doesn't mean it's any less than the smooth, shiny pods next to it. At least in Joe's humble opinion. He climbed in and logged into V-Life, just like he did every day.
As usual, the first thing he did was check his email. It has nothing but a few hundred new ads. There is one from Culle
The message mostly consisted of raves about some obscure shooter that he called "disgusting!" Joe wasn't particularly fond of that type of game, so he wanted to leave it alone until he read its core mechanics. The main feature of the game is that players need to control a giant transforming robot to suppress the original inhabitants of a hostile alien world. It's aptly named Colonial Mission 3: Director's Cut XT
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ed", evoking the ancient spirit of the original British Empire. In other words, use advanced military technology to absolutely control large areas of land.
However, Joe doesn't particularly care about this morally objectionable subject. He couldn't understand it at all. He just wanted to be a giant transforming robot, so he added the title to his to-do list. There were about 180 books before that, so there's a good chance he simply won't get around to reading this one. He then said he also received an email from his mother. Nothing special, just a routine greeting and asking him how he was doing. He saw this as a good opportunity to tell her that he had finally found a stable girlfriend. He hadn't done this before because he didn't want to get his mother's hopes too high. Or his own. However, his relationship with Maggie had grown to the point where he had no qualms about calling it romantic, so he sent the woman a long, rambling message about how wonderful the girl was.
Then he decided it was time to tell his pals about the incredible place they both had moved into. He felt embarrassed at first, mainly because the decoration inside was so fancy. Over the past week, however, he and Maggie had given the place a thorough inspection. In fact, the girl did most of the work. Instead of throwing away old furniture, she used her space magic to transform it into a more comfortable, simple style. Of course, there's a proper official term for this technology, but Joe is a simple guy, so "space magic" is enough for him. Regardless, his only contribution to the redecorating effort was to provide Maggie with a vague sense of beauty and let her take care of the rest. Apparently, she just recreated furniture she found online because it was easier than creating new designs on the fly.
Still, the end result was pretty good, so Joe felt he deserved at least some of the credit. What's more, the new apartment is now the kind of place he can show off without hesitation, so he sends a message to Karen and Benny inviting them to come over sometime. The pair responded almost immediately, saying they were excited to check it out and offering congratulations. Only then did Joe realize that he would have to explain where, how, and why he and Maggie got so much stuff from nowhere. He thought it might not be a good idea to reveal her true cosmic self, but at the same time he didn't want to lie to his best friend. He was sure Maggie would find a way.
After finishing his personal correspondence, Joe took a quick look at the community message board. There was a discussion that had just ended that caught his attention. It seemed that some of the more rebellious residents were laughing at the stern female superintendent. Joe didn't like teasing her because she was just doing her job, but he had to admit, some of the stuff in it was funny. The other new topics were nothing noteworthy, just the usual neighborhood arguments. Like a strange smell coming from an apartment, someone hogging the elevator, or a heated discussion between fans of rival sports teams. There weren't any official announcements for residents' attention, so Joe decided to stop browsing the public forums and instead entertain himself with a little gaming.
Especially in Star Engineer, he wanted to express his creativity by building an entire space station from scratch. While he chose to do it on a whim, it's actually a serious time commitment, taking a single player over 60 hours to complete. Joe was determined to put in the effort because he had a special idea in mind. He wanted to design a sturdy industrial unit with a focus on efficiency that he could proudly show to Maggie. Girls love this kind of stuff, so he has a feeling she'll appreciate his thought and effort in this area.
However, as soon as he started planning things, a slight beep sounded in the back of his head, reminding him that his presence was needed in the real world. There's nothing else to do, so he abandons his project for now and emerges from the pod to find Jeeves waiting for him.
"Excuse me for interjecting, Master Mulligan. There is an uninvited guest at the door, and I have strict instructions not to disturb Mrs. Wu unless absolutely necessary."
"Oh, yes, good. Who is it?"
"Sir, this gentleman identifies himself as Officer Grant Maloney."
"Yeah. Well, I'll get him in. And get the kettle boiled in the meantime, okay, Jeeves?"
The robot butler just stood there, its camera face flicking and clicking as it tried and failed to parse the request.
"I mean make more tea, you damn fool," Joe changed his request.
"Right away, sir."
The man shook his head in disbelief and trudged toward the front door. He kept forgetting that Jeeves' program couldn't understand such roundabout utterances as "put the kettle on." Just two days ago, the housekeeper was stuck in a logic loop for an hour because he was present when Joe tried to explain to Maggie how he "turned off the TV." Thankfully, an age-old tech support method solved the problem by turning it off and on, but the man began to worry that he might one day accidentally break Jeeves forever.
"Good morning, Mr. Mulligan."
"Good morning, officer."
As soon as Joe's face emerged from behind the front door, the two men greeted each other.
"I'm a little surprised that you've found this place. It seems like your dream of being a detective is not far away, right?"
"Haha. No, Mr. Mulligan. It's a simple question, find your new place to live. I also happened to notice that Miss Wu got her citizenship, so congratulations to her. I guess that's happened since we last spoke many things."
"Yeah, it's a bit spiritual. We even have a robot butler named Jeeves, how sick is that?"
"Oh, that's a butler?" That explains a lot. "
When Maloney looked up Joe's new address, he couldn't help but notice that "Mags Oh" was also listed as a resident. Based on the facts, he deduced that the non-aggression pact between the girl and the soldiers was in effect. However, there's obviously more to it than that. First, Maggie was granted diplomatic status, like an ambassador or foreign dignitary. Between the new apartment and the robot butler, he deduces that the deal has gone far beyond its initial scope. Judging from the current situation, it is developing in a good direction.
"So, you're here to see Maggie?" Joe asked.
"Indeed. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hear her opinion on the case we're working on."
"No trouble at all, but you'll have to wait a while. She's doing some heavy mental work right now, but she should be done soon."
"It's okay, it's nothing important. I'll come back later."
"Are you sure? I'd be happy to show you around if you have nowhere else to go."
"Well, okay. If you insist, then I will accept your proposal."
After a painful exchange of politeness, the officer walked in. Joe immediately started showing off the place, starting with the game room and redecorated living room. The police officer was genuinely impressed and complimented the couple on their simple yet homely decor. Later, Joe led Maloney into the living room and told him to relax and watch Jeeves make tea. Unfortunately, his owner failed to mention that there was a third resident in the apartment. The police didn't know either because the man's name was not on the list of permanent residents. The man also had no idea that there was a guest at home.
So when Maloney walked into the living room and nearly bumped into Agent Johnson, both men went into a panic. The woman's first reaction was to elbow the stranger in the solar plexus, knocking him unconscious. Then she grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and pressed his face against the wall. The officer took several minutes to recover from the surprise attack and then retaliated without hesitation. He kicked his attacker back and grabbed her leg with his foot. This caused her to lose her balance and loosen her hold on him. Maloney breaks free and deftly tackles Johnson. He pinned her to the ground and pressed his knee into her back, making sure to hold her down. The woman struggled, but as expected, in a physical contest, she was unable to defeat the much heavier man.
However, this is far from being the primary resource for elves. Although she was a little exhausted from the workout, she mustered up enough mental strength to call upon her psychic powers. A large, invisible hand grabbed Maloney's torso and lifted him off the woman's back. It lifted him into the air and hung him near the ceiling. The man tried to break free on instinct, but the only thing he accomplished was knocking over a vase with his foot. At least it didn't hit the floor, as the soft carpet cushioned the impact. Realizing that further resistance was futile, the officer stopped flailing and quietly activated the distress beacon on his belt, calling for backup.
Meanwhile, Agent Johnson struggled to his feet and looked up at the mysterious intruder. The second time their eyes met, they both froze a little. There was an awkward silence for a moment, but they almost instantly recognized who the other was. Their confusion was understandable, as they had only met by chance about two weeks ago. Even then, they had not spoken, let alone under extraordinary circumstances.
"What in the name of the Queen is going on?!"
The physical confrontation happened so quickly that Joe only showed up now to see what all the commotion was about.
"Uh..." Agent Johnson grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't recognize him at first and I kind of overreacted."
"A little?! The owner raised his voice. "What kind of madman would suddenly attack someone?! Or a police officer?!"
"I said I'm sorry, okay?!" I was so excited just after my workout that my arms started moving before my brain even started. "
"That's fine, but you shouldn't apologize to me!" Joe pointed at the still-suspended police officer.
"I want to come down now," Maloney pleaded.
The woman set him down gently, and he quietly canceled the signal for reinforcements. When he was settled firmly on the floor, AJ muttered another apology and retreated to the guest room to hide his embarrassment.
"Oops. What happened to her?" the policeman asked.
"Oh, she's just a little nervous because Maggie made her undergo some complicated psychic training. Please don't think too badly of her."
"Ah, that explains it. Miss Wu does have a way of making people lose their balance sometimes. What's her name?"
"Agent Sarah Johnson, but I'll call her AJ"
"Okay, okay, just in case I don't get a chance to do it myself, just tell Agent Johnson, I totally understand and there are no hard feelings. Or accusations."
"That's all. Now, please don't hold yourself back. Jeeves will be here shortly with tea."
"Thank you."
Both men walked through the violence gracefully, chatting happily about innocuous matters while the butler served them tea. Then, the topic gradually turned to Maloney's case. The policeman was hesitant at first, but he thought it would be okay to share. After all, the matter isn't that sensitive and sharing some juicy details won't cause Joe or himself any trouble. He wasn't even sure if his suspect was actually a criminal. So Maloney broadly explained the case he was working on while avoiding details like names, times and locations.
Long story short, there was a suspicious person who frequently traveled between four adjacent galaxies, and Bart Bond-4 was one of his stops. He comes about every two or three months, each time with a bucket-sized storage container filled with sand. The suspect would then transport the container to a location on Earth via a private space shuttle, then come back a few days later with slightly different sand. It was obvious that he was smuggling something, but no one knew what it was. The authorities have meticulously tested the strange cargo again and again, but all results indicate that it is just ordinary sand that can be found on any wild beach. It was also sanitized per protocol, so they couldn't even blame it on him.
"So, yes, the docking authorities have gone crazy trying to figure out this guy's deal," Maloney further explained. "I had nothing else to do, so I decided to give it a try. My luck wasn't very good either, so I kept looking to Teacher Wu for guidance."
"Wow, that sounds complicated. Any progress so far?"
"Not much, I'm afraid. I sent inquiries to other systems, but it was the same story everywhere. Just a guy moving sand."
"Maybe it has something to do with religion?"
"That's what I thought, but even then it's so vague that it's almost non-existent."
"So he's a moron. I say, let him be. He's not hurting anyone."
"I don't know... I watched some interviews with him by colleagues. He seemed to be in complete control of his powers. He also had his own shuttle. You need to go through a careful psychological evaluation before being allowed to do one of the experiments."
"Hmm. It's weird that you mention that. In fact, Maggie wants to get her own shuttle license."
"Really, what now?"
"I know, I'm shocked too, but apparently she wants to take romantic joyrides in space. She's already starting to pick out which model to buy once she makes enough money."
"That's great, but you'll have to wait a while. The shuttle is too expensive."
"Oh, it can't be that bad. I mean, your Beach Nuts have one, right?"
"No, I'm serious. Even a semi-decent economy car costs about half a million pounds."
"Ah!" Joe's eyes widened in shock. "This is crazy! I might have to talk to her about it."
The simple-minded man shook his head in disbelief at this ridiculous amount, and his words gave the policeman a rather strange idea.
Didn't his suspect change planes every time he went through customs?
