[...You said something about three rules previously, I take it there are notable differences? ...I suppose it’s a good thing you’re starting to realize more truths of this world without it needing to kill you first.]

‘...Yeah… I just, I dunno. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still bothers me. The Three Laws from all the sci-fi stuff where I’m from says that very first thing, robots shouldn’t hurt people. Then second they gotta listen to orders and then finally protect itself… The more I think about it, the more the six whatevers make sense here, but, fuck.’

[If you were to assign that ruleset to 23, its safety would be jeopardized as soon as people realized it wouldn’t retaliate. ...I suppose you were subconsciously assuming that people weren’t messing with service bots out of social courtesy.]

‘I… Yeah. Fuck. Whatever, thinking about it right now isn’t doing me any good. Besides, we’re almost there, now’s no time to mope around.’

[Indeed. And, you’d have some strange explanations to figure out how to give to Mikah if he overheard you right now.]

‘...Ugh.’

As the group makes it to the front of Faunahorde, Lucas’s mood is elevated in record time.

In the front window display, one of the little Husky puppies is standing on his hind legs, his front paws supporting his weight against the glass of the window. Excitedly pawing at the glass, he’s barking a greeting at Willy, his tail wagging so fast it is nearly a blur. Clearly, a new dog equals a new friend in his mind.

Willy stands up on his hind legs as well, his snoot ending up mostly level with the puppy’s thanks to the platform the puppy’s romping room is on top of. With his own tail happily wagging, he gives a muffled bark of returned greeting.

As the puppy is immediately distracted by the toys being carried by his new friend, he tries to bite at one through the glass. During his valiant efforts, he leans a bit too far to one side and loses his balance, falling over and rolling around in the shredded newspaper lining the area.

In near-perfectly synchronized unison, Lucas, Miss Masher, and Miss Chievous all “Aww” at the sight of the poor puppy struggling to right itself.

Although they managed to stay quiet, Jonathan and Miss Calculated are intently watching the clumsy flailings as well, both of them smiling while doing so.

Willy gets down from the window, walking back over next to Lucas and then barking up at him with a questioning tone.

“I feel you buddy, but Mark’s already expectin’ us. ‘Sides, we’re gonna wanna chat with Dan for a while, no need to drag the ladies along for it too.” Even though Lucas gives a fairly determined answer, he sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself rather than Willy.

Giving a single muffled bark in response, Willy trots over to the curb of the crosswalk, far more resolute than Lucas.

While Lucas is hesitantly debating joining Willy, his attention still on the fluffy flailings, Jonathan tugs on one of his sleeves, leaning close to him and speaking in a hushed tone.

“Mikah saw us from one of the upper floors and then walked away. He’s, um, probably going to tell Mark that we’re here.” Jonathan whispers this to Lucas, alertly scanning the area around them to see if anyone else reacted to his statement.

‘...Why bother bein’ so secretive over that? Whatever.’

“Huh? Oh. Guess we should get goin’ then, huh?” As Lucas quietly responds, he turns to head over to wait at the crosswalk as well. Once he’s in position, he furrows his brow a bit while squinting at the upper floors of the high-rise building across from him.

‘How the hell could he tell?’

For some reason, 427 merely chuckles quietly, not bothering to answer.

“Hey, come on, the light’s about to change.” With Lucas’s urgings, the rest of the group heads over as well. Both Miss Chievous and Miss Masher make a point of waving goodbye to the puppies, even though they are far too focused on their pupper playtime priorities to notice.

Due to the various positional changes, Lucas is in the lead, with Willy to his right. Miss Masher elbows one of the random pedestrians between them out of the way, hurrying the few steps over to fall into formation at Willy’s right side.

“Hey, how much further, anyway?” Miss Masher’s gaze briefly flicks over to Lucas while asking this.

“Eh? We’re practically there. Don’t worry, it won’t be long now.” Lucas has to put effort into keeping a level tone, internally struggling not to laugh.

As they start heading up the steps to go through the wide-open double-doors, Miss Calculated can’t help sneaking a few covert looks over at her two sisters, trying to gauge if they’ve realized yet.

Miss Masher’s expression is still fairly neutral, perhaps she assumes that the store is only on the bottom floors, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the upper floors.

Miss Chievous, however, seems to have potentially realized just who it is they’re going to meet. With a huge grin, she makes eye contact with her twin, mouthing out a “Seriously?” once she sees that she has her attention.

Miss Calculated can’t resist her own smile, nodding once before looking ahead again.

Equipped with this newfound knowledge, Miss Chievous giggles a few times, maintaining her smile.

Once they’re inside, one of the two service bots currently at the nearest customer service area approaches them. Before it even has a chance to greet them, Lucas raises up a hand and waves at it with a smile.

“Heya, don’t mind us, we’re here to see Mark.” Once Lucas says this, the bot nods once and then bows slightly.

“Very well, Mr. Lynn. Please do not hesitate to ask should you or your guests require anything.” After the bot says this it starts to turn to return to where it came from, but it stops once it notices 23.

The two bots stay in place for a moment, looking directly at each other. At the very edge of his hearing, Lucas can catch what he thinks is a series of clicks and whistles from 23, silence, and then similar noises from the other bot.

‘Oh shit, they have their own language too? Wait, why’d 23 talk normally back at the restaurant then?’

[I imagine its partings that you witnessed were more for show than the real exchange. It presumably gave its actual farewells to one of them to share through the network, though perhaps a few of them were face to face like this. It’s… Very information-dense, just that short exchange would already take a while to translate for you. Don’t worry, it’s just been an exchange of greetings, confirming Mark’s identity as well as your relationship with him, information on the building, its inhabiting bots, how many networks they run, and where the charging stations are located.]

‘...Wow. ...People must seem really inefficient to them, huh?’

[Most likely.]

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 16.86 (+.01 +.01 +.01 +.01 = +.04 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 5.0* (Already beginning to receive authentic global attention. Local levels are effectively maxed.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for many paranoid individuals, numerous people have realized he's an impulsive idiot.)

Jonathan total kills: 7

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 5.77 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 2.5* (What fame he does have is merely local.)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 3.0* (More than just overly-paranoid people are suspicious at this point.)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now.)

Supervillain social circle size: 14 (Ji Soo is still taking his sweet time on that text. He may or may not have thrown himself into his project first, so his mind couldn’t wander elsewhere.)

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, curiously watching the bot walking away: Hey, can people with enhanced hearing hear that clearly?

Willy, head tilted as he similarly watches the leaving service bot: Bark?

Lucas, looking down at Willy: Hey buddy, you probably heard that fine, yeah?

427 thinking briefly before speaking up: [He probably heard it fairly clearly, but I doubt he has any of the information needed to actually understand it.]

Author, grinning, also turning their attention down toward Willy: At least, not yet.

Mr. Quacks, back in the window display and riding on the back of one of the puppies, which is romping back and forth: Quack!