Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How're you all doing?

Alright then.

First of all, I'd like to thank VIKKUTORIA for her awesome, if incredibly insulting to me personally, review.

Not much else to say here, so I suppose we can start this new arc for real. Finally.

Anyways, here comes the new chapter of EUPHORIA! I sincerely hope that you enjoy, let us begin!

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

5th Of October, year 2022 - 13:23 - Leonardo's Point Of View...

The sound of cracking bones echoed throughout the dining room, a massive oval table covered in purple cloth stood at its center with chairs made out of synthetic materials combined with actual leather."Good morning, everybody."

A dual response came from the people sitting on the table as A and Tyrone looked over to me."See ya found yer new clothes, boss. Here's to hope I didn't fuck up too badly on the fashion choice."

Tyrone said with a grin. I merely turned to look at myself at a nearby window. A black hoodie with casual pants and comfortable military tie-in boots, with a striped and short-sleeved white shirt underneath."Its fine. I gotta ask where exactly you got me the boots, though." Not as much a question as it was a statement, Tyrone replied with a grin."Would you believe me if I told you that you could buy them in any normal store?"

A nod from me enticed a quirked eyebrow from him as I spoke."Dude, I actually couldn't care less. Anyways, you guys scanned the perimeter?"

Then A stepped forward and saluted me as if he was a soldier of some sort. Then again, he kind of is."Sir, the area around the mansion is clear of suspects, human suspects in any case. Maf-I mean, yakuza activity is near none-existent and the VIP we were meant to contact is currently in hiding, making such a thing fairly difficult."

"The peeps 'round here are friendly enough to foreigners, but the inner city is somewhat more... xenophobic. No one's really itched for a fight, but there were more stares than I'd usually receive. Might be just cause I'm black, though." Tyrone said whilst sipping on some Japanese beer whose name I could not pronounce.

"Good work, both of you... Ahh, what to do..."I sit down onto a chair and close my eyes for a moment."Tyrone, I want you to find out what happened to our reinforcements. Though their delayed arrival seems to be in our favor currently, I still want extra guards on duty. And if that does not work, then head out to recruit."

"Ya got it boss." He stood up from the couch he was sitting on and walked out of the building. I then turned towards A."A, I need you to find out which android company within Tokyo is the current leader on human-like robot bodies. Also, I want you to find the main tower of the Aurelius Company and map it out if you can't find the proper building plans."

"Yes, sir." And with that, he was gone."Belle, Anna, I'd like for you two to stay put for the time being, with nightly scouting of the area around us. Though our feast earlier today was nice, its sure to catch some inhuman attention."

Another nod comes my way, this time from the shadows behind me. The duo seemed startled momentarily by the fact that I could notice them, but neither commented on it, most likely because it was a test of some sort.

Standing up from my chair and throwing a look toward our fridge, I put a hand on my stomach."Not hungry at all, eh?"

"You... just... devoured... another... fifty... people..." Eadom's sarcastic voice echoed in my mind and I sighed."I suppose I did."

Oh well, time to go see mom, I guess.

A few minutes later... - A Cafe - Leonardo's Point Of View...

Following the GPS that mom sent me beforehand, I arrived at a very out-of-the-way cafe. Guess she does not want to be seen with me or something...

"There you are!" A woman exclaimed with quite a bit of excitement in her voice from somewhere behind me.

Turning around, I felt myself stop moving entirely, having to blink several times before adjusting to my mothers new look. An utter office lady style, complete with black stockings, high heels and a skirt that was way too short for my taste."I guess I am."

She quirked an eyebrow at my rather blank reply."I thought you said that you regained your emotions?"

I laughed at that, making her pause."I did, but just because I regained them does not mean I know how to properly use them. Anyways, its nice to finally see you again, mom."

A smile from her was my answer as she pointed towards the cafe."Well? Are we going to sit down or are you in some form of hurry?"

I shrugged."Nah, not really. I do have to make a call, but its something that can wait... probably."

Wordlessly, we sat down onto a nearby table and opened up the menu. In the distance within the cafe, I spotted a rather annoyed waiter snorting at us, most likely thinking that we are some form of couple."So, who are you gonna call? A friend of yours?" She asked me, halfway jokingly, halfway with a tone full of hope.

And, much to her joy, I replied with a nod."Yes, actually. I need to call Harold to get me a new capsule since I didn't bring mine here and I'm planning on staying for a while."

"Harold?" She tilted her head in confusion."Do you by any chance mean that AI?"

A nod from me was her answer as she let out a massive sigh."I should have known that a murderous robot would be someone you call a friend. Still, its a start, I suppose."

"Murderous robot? What?" I asked in confusion as she sighed again."Listen Leo, please don't go around telling people that an AI is your friend. People here do not take very kindly to robot-lovers."

"Why? Did something happen?" My confused look caused her to burst into a giggle as the waiter arrived."Good morning! What can I get for you and your .. friend, Miss Kurokaze?"

Mother sighed at the man in annoyance and I merely blinked at him, managing to reply before she could."Good morning? When its past noon? Hah, I like you friend. In fact, I like you enough to tell you that Miss Kurokaze over there is my mother... without punching you in the face for the obvious jab back there." A wink from me for the finish as the waiter stiffens and then lamely coughs into his fist."R-right.. so what can I get you two?"

"I'll have a cappuccino, thank you." Mother says with an amused smile which I mimic with ease."Same here."

A nod from him is our reply as he rushes away in shame."Hmph, good boy, that one. Just a bit too nosy for his own good, especially considering he works in a yakuza-owned cafe."

I quirked an eyebrow at her."A yakuza-owned cafe? That explains the place-where-you-don't-look style, but aren't you a General Superintendent? Isn't this a bad place for you to be?"

She sighed."Actually, I was about to get to that, along with the answer to your previous question."

A deep breath is taken as she continues."Japan, Tokyo city especially, has been under continuous assault from a terrorist organization named MAXIMA. Not much is known about them, except for the fact that they are a union of AI and Cyborgs who are trying to purge Japan off non-cybernetic people."

Oh. It would seem that the AI rebellion has already spread its roots. And MAXIMA? Wasn't that the name of that AI I saw in my dreams? Someone's very proud of themselves... then again, naming your organization after yourself is a good way to intimidate one's enemies, also its the very easy way out for someone not good at naming things, like me."Leo? You still with me?"

I blinked."A-ah, sorry about that. I was just.. thinking..."

She nodded."I figured you were. Good to see that my son hasn't changed too much from how I know you."

A laugh erupted from my lips."Hey, I just re-gained my emotions recently, what exactly did you expect? Some kind of anime-like radical change in character?"

"With you, I would not have been surprised even if that was the case. In truth, I didn't know what to expect... but you have changed, so props to your dad for that. I don't know how he did it, but at least you can genuinely smile now." Is her half-assed reply as I snorted.

"Well, my old man does have his strong points... hey, that reminds me, why did you guys even get divorced in the first place?" She blinked at me as if I was stupid."Leo, we both know who and what your father is. We also both know what and who I am."

A police superintendent and a mafia boss."Seems like a perfect power couple to me." She sighed at my answer."Yeah, I figured as much. Your father thought the same. He most certainly didn't expect that I would file a divorce once I learned who I'm married to."

I shrugged."Anyways, you were saying something about terrorists and the reason you're not afraid of the maf-I mean, the yakuza?"

A nod from her."Yes, the terrorists have been.. well, terrorizing Japan for a long time now. School shootings, robbery in broad daylight, loud, kilometer-long mobs and the like... There have already been enormous casualties and the relations between cybed' people, as they usually refer to themselves, and the normal's... and whatever the hell happened yesterday has the potential to be the turning point for a full scale civil war."

"Yesterday? What happened yesterday?" I blinked in genuine confusion which caused her jaw to momentarily drop."Are.. am.. really?"

"Look mom, I was in a self-induced coma for the last few days, wasn't even awake for my flight here. If you've heard about people dragging around an unconscious person out of a plane on a medical table then that was me. I just woke up today, literally half an hour ago." Is my nonchalant reply.

"I... see. Is that a part of your medication or should I be worried?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow as I waved my hand for her not to worry."In a way, yes. In a way, no. I'm meant to sleep a lot in order to recover but uh... lets just say that the coma was a result of me going on a gaming spree before I reached Japan."

Her blank stare meant that she bought it, but it also meant that she does not approve."You do realize that you're rich enough to buy more than enough game-ware to last you a century?"

"Well yes, but it would take time to set it up here and I didn't make preparations on time. The mansion we got was legit rented hours before the flight if my maids are to be believed..." I said while rubbing the back of my head lamely. Her eyebrow twitched."I don't know weather I want to yell at you for your laziness or the fact that you even have maids in the first place. Anyways, let me explain... yesterday."

She took in a breath."If you turned on the TV today at anytime, you would be bombarded with pictures of censored slaughter. A nearby park had apparently been targeted by MAXIMA sometime right after midnight, somehow managing to murder about fifty people while evading security at all fronts."

Oh, my little outing. Oh well, not that I care. In fact, a greater conflict will serve me well. Conflicts are what causes the wolves, the players on the world stage, to come out of hiding, after all."Interesting... but how do you know that MAXIMA caused this incident?"

With a quirked eyebrow at me, she relented with a sigh, showing that she was about to give me non-public information."Actually, we aren't really sure. Although the place is littered with guts and blood, this... brutal and inefficient way of killing is not MAXIMA style."

"Then why blame it on AI? Do you WANT to cause a civil war?" I asked her with a surprising amount of emotion in my voice as she blinked in surprise before adopting a proud smile."Guess you really are changing... In any case, it wasn't my call to make. However, we do have some proof of their influence, at least."

"Oh?" I asked, tilting my neck in curiosity."Our investigative department had one of the security VI bots dismantled. They found nothing wrong with the bots physically so naturally they went for their programming core..."

Oh.

Fuck.

Blinking at my daughters sudden inclusion, I closed my eyes and breathed in."What did they find?"

"Well, nothing much. Just that every single line of code was replaced with an exquisite ARIA WAS HERE sentence. Further probing showed that all the bots had the same problem, thus making it impossible to react to any danger around them or even turn on their sensors. The bots at the scene were seemingly all hacked at the same time, something which is extremely implausible unless a very powerful AI, namely this Aria person, was involved." My brain had experienced a civil war of its own for the duration of that sentence, a battle between the cringing side and the laughing side.

Thankfully, it was a total stalemate, resulting in a white peace which promptly resulted in my emotionless face right now."I... see."

Aria honey, you know that perverse subject we talked about a few days ago?

Uuhhmm... m-maybe?

Then you better prepare your best DADDY!; voice because when we get you a body, your raw ass is mine."Oh my... sounds kinky! Can I join!" Yomi adds on with her usual tone, her exclamation being more of a statement than a question.

Yes, you can. In fact, I'd love to have you around for this, we should both try our best to reel our daughter in. We are her parent's, after all.

Uh oh.

"You.. see? Huh, I guess that's about the level of emotion I expected from you." Mother said with a very disappointed voice, causing me to wake from my trance."Honestly, mom? With the kind of life I've been leading up till now, I think that hearing about fifty people dying and not showing emotion about it is perfectly normal. And besides, you aren't exactly the pinnacle of feeling yourself right now."

She merely shrugged."Meh, that's true too, I suppose."

"Sorry to interrupt and please forgive us for the long wait... we've had a slight problem with the servo-droid." The waiter from before approaches us, posture still ashamed as I turned to look at him and then behind him."A-ah, its no problem. We were caught up in our conversation so we didn't notice... anyways, there was a problem with Max?"

Mother asked as I quirked an eyebrow at that name and then turned back around to see the droid in question staring at me, its eyes glowing blue, almost as if uncertain, almost as if widened in shock. Max, huh?

The imagery of the dream flashes before my eyes and I grin, showing off my shark-like teeth and causing the *droid*, to flinch."Nice to meet you, my friend..." I whispered into my thoughts as the waiter left us and I calmly sipped on my cappuccino.

Mother merely quirked an eyebrow of her own at my antics, at least semi-interested in my change of demeanor as she turned to look at the droid."Something interesting about the robot?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow and I laughed.

"Oh no, absolutely nothing is wrong with Max." Was my totally-not-suspicious reply as she bit down her rebuttal and sighed, most likely realizing that she's not gonna get an answer anytime soon.

It would seem that I've found my first player. Now, all I need to do, is figure out how to politely introduce myself. Hmm, perhaps Harold can help.

I turned my head around, hoping to find a watch and noticing one on mother's left wrist."Oh, uh.. mom? Would you mind if I went to the toilet for a minute? I really need to make that call now."

She blinked in surprise and nodded."Fine, just... just make sure nobody hears you."

"Right, right! Be back in a minute. Don't run away while I'm gone, okay? I still need your help picking up the presents!" I said jokingly and she scoffed."Hah, you wish, brat... there's no way I'm missing out on a chance to change your wardrobe."

I blinked at that answer and looked at myself for a moment."What's wrong about my wardrobe?"

She waved me away whilst drinking her cappuccino and I shrugged, turning back towards the inside of the cafe as I searched for a safe spot to call Harold.

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

And that is it for this chapter of EUPHORIA!

Sorry that it took so long... I had a slight panic-mode problem arise in the middle of it after taking a couple days off.

One of my friends was kind enough to tell me that classes start again this Monday... which meant I had only a couple days left to finish a certain file.

Because, for some reason, people decided that it would be a good idea for students to have to catalogue the dates they did PE classes. Don't ask me why.

I really couldn't tell you. I couldn't really tell you why I even have PE in a fucking PHYSICS college in the first place...

But hey, what's done is done.

Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!