Trying to survive

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe whistled looking at the two newcomers, "Family definitely got a lot bigger, well I am done buying stuff for modifications and the like." She didn't get to see them hatch exactly, which was unfortunate but it couldn't be helped. She took out a file from her sleeves, it was more blue prints. However not all were on her lab, some seemed to be more... humanoid. It was a complete experimental design, but she never said anything about them. "I think I have everything I need... I'll need to smelt most of the parts but that shouldn't be too bad, should we head back to the house? I don't mind driving anyone around, however; I can't go into the wild without fixing the ship first. I can float around town like a delivery truck while fixing stuff, however. It'll be best to get all that information first, either way. It's a simple system think about the plant and it's area to the main computer and you'll see a hologram of the area that you can interact with."

She smiled at Ricter's proud moment, "Well aren't you the proud little home owner, I'll be sure to make you something battle worthy out of honey when we have the ability to get honey. Well... unless Nola has the ability to make honeypot ants, too. Haha, maybe.... mechanical bees. First things first I need to fix up the new stuff. So are we all splitting up or am I floating people around? Either way I can pick people up after I am done the ship, I have no exact time on how long this'll take. Also don't worry I won't break the house, I'll be rennovating using the landing pad as the base so if anything happens it's only my stuff broken." She adjusted her spectacles wondering where she could get a corpse, she needed one to make a proto-type unit. "Also don't forget I must run tests on you four for the telepad eventually, okay?"

She'd begin walking back to the house, waiting for more answers about things. Basically how she'd be spending her day, though it seems she was thinking of more than just a ship renovation.... What was... on her mind? The golden gaze on the pink haired nekomata was stern and stotic, she was still making calculations in her head.

 

[Sosina]

At being nibbled playfully the two worker ants giggled and wriggled about before the hugging came to an end, one letting out an audible "Awww...but I like Hugging mister squishy...he's soft" but they let him go for now as their queen seemed to need them to focus as she explained there was another in the colony that they would need to know and then that one arrived.

The two smaller worker ants looked to Kokonoe as she walked over and started to talk, the two of them then looked at each other and one pointed to Kokonoe as the other looked to Nola and Asked "This one looks different too, it's not a mister squishy but a Tall one right?" And Nola nodded before the two girls looked back to Kokonoe and said in unison "Tall one...." before heading back to be by their queen, both talking in their own language as they waited for their queen to tell them what they would be doing.

Nola meanwhile looked to Kokonoe and nodded and then to Ricter as he walked off the two workers looked over to him and then started talking to each other again in a series of mandible clicks, antenna wriggles, and body language. But Nola meanwhile looked back to Kokonoe "As I am heading out to get the things that Mister squishy has asked for and you said you couldn't head out, I suppose I have to head out with my workers to gather the needed plants, I have the description of the plant that Mister Squishy gave me, that should be enough, and if you can help mister Squishy in town that would probably be nice" she said as she looked at the taller Woman then she turned to her workers.

"Okay Workers, we are going to go look for these plants for Mister Squishy, this means we are going out of town, if we run into any danger I understand you are not warriors, but you are still able to fight, while we have no weapons we still have our fists, if we do have to fight we fight as a team understood?" she said as the two workers immediately stopped talking to each other the moment she addressed them and stood at attention as she spoke and as she finished they replied "Yes my Queen!" and Nola nodded as she started to lead them off towards the town gate.

 

[Ricter]

While everyone else was beginning to seprate, going about their work at their own pace, Ricter had his own things to do, mostly in the vein of finishing his deliveries. Making it home he would rummage through his fridge to grab a couple of boxes, most were a modest size and some small enough to carry, over all it didn't hinder his movement any, leaving him capable of carrying all the orders he needed delivered.

His objective was to get them to his clients, many of which bought things like lollipops and donuts, in addition to other treats he had for sale. Leaving out as soon as Kokonoe was coming up towards the house he would pass her by as he had little to say, scampering along the streets as his day would be mostly centered on doing this.

Meeting different venders, Ricter would begin giving them their orders and having them sign out on a sheet of paper or digital pad so he knew they were the person who got what they wanted form his shop. But, in the middle of his runs he wondered what the others were doing, and if Kokonoe was enjoying her soon to be invention and if Nola and her two workers would be safe out there all alone.

Though, they weren't really alone now that he began to see the power in numbers, enough power to lift him like he was a toy at only being a minute or so old. They were quite impressive for their species, much more than himself, he just hoped Nola could rebuild her species once more, and if he could help do this he would offer as much of his own personal resources as possible.

 

[Kokonoe]

"Ricter." She said while carrying stuff, "Want me to float you around like a delivery truck?" She'd ask as they were together by the looks of it, soon she'd enter the house after waiting or an answer and bring Nola up to the computer to learn about the area. It was nice as it almost seemed like a small map of the world, though not fully developed. "It's not great, only places we've visited, thing of the items Ricter needs and those areas will glow a bit and then just zoom in on them by thinking of the glowing areas." She'd hand Nola a Megaphone, "This can communicate magically to the ship, at least that's the setting I have it on. If you're in danger Ricter and I can fly over if need be." She'd say before going on to start her building in some way.

If Ricter agreed she'd fly around town will renovating the ship, even hanging off of it upside down like a crazy person as people stared. It was easy and painless as they could use a ladder to get to vendors or use a little window on either side to deliver to the top floors of houses through windows. It was a convenient ship after all. Kokonoe's building was rather quiet until something popped or zapped her, in-which it was hilarious as her hair went everywhere. Later on she'd be covered in smudges and some minor electric burns, still reading her blueprints, eventually the ship would start to scan... Lifeforms were recorded on the screen, even recognizing multiple races. People who were known by name to Kokonoe were even named or nicknamed. The one cat-like humaniod instead of listing the name was added as 'Looks like my dad.' Much to her dismay.

"Abort abort, no... don't damn it... Ricter don't look at the screens I am... it's broken. Yeah." She would say lying if Ricter was flying along with her along with attempting to smack it in order change the record, it failed of course as the ship responded in a voice, "You designed me to do this, so why should I change the record you have?" Kokonoe facepalmed and went back to the important work as the ship proved her in the wrong. Eventually even material items were identified on the screen. She'd redesign the outside next, surprisingly making the rocks into weal metals through magic. She sighed a bit as she started on the telepad and linking it to the biological scanners, that way it could scan the organisms that were calibrated to it. If Ricter was there she'd of course ask to run some of the tests now, again looking at her second blueprint and then shaking her head no for some reason. "They'll be pretty simple, I can do them in-between orders.

Of course if she wasn't with Ricter it'd end up about the same, minus her waiting to administer tests, as well as working on a more secretive project after.

 

[Sosina]

Taking the information and heading out of the gat Nola and her two workers started to search nearby the walls first, not for the Plant in question, more for familiarizing themselves with the area, after all this was Nola's first time out, as was also true for her workers, and the group of them quickly finished checking the nearby area and leaving scent markers they could pick up with their antenna for later navigation if it got to dark to see normally, With that done Nola looked at the information and nodded to herself as she remembered what the creature looked like who's den was where the plants grew and she showed it to her workers "This is our target, these flowers, the creature makes it's den near such things, or they just happen to grow in the places it lives, ether way killing it is not the goal, collecting the flowers is the goal"

The two workers nodded then one asked "My Queen what of resources for the Colony? Should we also procure meat and other things for feeding and building materials?" she asked as the other nodded again, showing that as workers they were more inclined to think of the needs of the colony in a growth and resources sense.

Nola nodded "Yes we will hunt the smaller creatures as well, I don't know if we have the strength or numbers to take out one of the larger ones, so we will collect what resources are safe to collect, you are the first workers of the Colony, Don't go throwing away your lives trying to get more resources then we need at the moment understood?" she said to them and the two workers nodded and Nola nodded back before heading out.

The Tall one had given her a map to where they last collected these plants, and honestly she wasn't sure if there would be more there, but it was a good place to look, though apparently they had gotten there by flying, meaning they didn't have a proper overland route to the location, that was an issue for her and her workers but it was easily solved, for her kind anyway, as they left scent markers for them to follow on the return trip. "Keep your eyes open and watch out for anything that might give us trouble and make sure you have your armor grown, we could be attacked at any time" she said to the two workers who replied "Yes My Queen!" as they made sure to watch around them as well as start growing their battle carapace, though all of them could use their antenna to sense the air pressure around them and use that as well, it never hurt to be observant or cautious.

As they walked along the two could sense and see would a large assortment of creatures some raptors that ran past several meters to their right clearly hunting something else, and not apparently interested in what they priceved as three insects, and the group continued on, walking along the jungle floor, and often times over fallen trees to span some crevasse's, nothing much was really bothering the girls, they even managed to spot some large ant like creatures that walked past them, and gave then a check with their antenna.

the Large ants made aggressive postures for a moment but Nola gave them some of the food that was in the egg bag she had, the one Ricter had let her use, she had filled it with some simple provisions, and now it seemed some came in handy as the ants stopped acting aggressive and took the offered food, And then the ants seemed to lok into the sky antenna flailing.

Nola and her workers did the same, they had felt the pressence to and now they could hear a sound most ants species, even Formica, dreaded, the sound of insectile wings in the air, the buzzing of hornets, "Incoming! High!" she called as the workers looked up and grabbed things like larger rocks as a swarm of giant hornets buzzed in, and the large ants standing near the trio seemed to panic as they seemed to be hunted by these hornets.

"ATTACK!" She called out as she and her Workers threw large rocks and heavy logs at the Honets, the ants with them seemingly staying near them for safety in numbers, then again as none of the three they ran into were soldiers judging by their scent it made her wonder why they had none of their own soldiers with them. A moment later that was answered as one of the Hornets dropped the head of one of the soldiers of the giants ants, clearly they hornets had attacked the large ants before and these three managed to escape.

Now, the large ants were part of another colony, technically a rival colony, but Nola looked at them a moment then the Hornets, and she then looked to her workers "Protect the other workers" she said as she grabbed a large branch and got ready to fight, yes she should let them die to let her colony have more room, but at the same time the destruction of her own Colony was quite fresh in her mind and she just couldn't let the normal ants die when she was right there.

Now normally people would try to avoid being stung, but as one hornet swooped in Nola rushed at it as her Workers stood near the other workers and guarded them, the one aiming for Nola caught her and started to try to bite and sting her, taking pieces of her armor, however Nola was strong, and she raised the branch she was using as a club and smashed it down hard on the head of the hornet killing it instantly before she looked to the workers.

Behind her the workers were pinning down the Wasps and dealing with them much the same way she had, or by removing their wings and letting the giant ant workers finish them off so they could attack other Hornets, so she moved back into the circle to make sure they would all stay safe. With the Hornets swooping in and the ants waiting for that opportunity to take them down to the ground and rip them apart, Eventually the swarm gave up, though they had managed to do some damage to Nola and her workers, it was all to their armor not to them themselves, and as they let the armor fall off at the retreat of the Hornets they started to eat the armor shards to recycle them.

After that Nola gave a little wave to the giant ants as she and her workers regrew their armor and they headed off to find the caves, it was a risk yes to help the other ants, but it was one she felt good about taking, and best of all they had gotten some giant Hornet parts for eating and resources, so it all worked out.

The trio continued on untill Nola checked her map and nodded to herself, the area matched the location mentioned on the map and she looked to her workers "Okay we are finally here, we just need to find the plants pick them and leave, remember if you see or sense the large creature run, we can't fight it as we are now got it?" she said and the two workers nodded "Yes My Queen" they said with a little salute, the Hornet parts being carried in a large container made of their stone like building material that they could produce.

So with that the trio started to search and thankfully it seemed the large creature was out hunting or something as they located a cave and started to look around the place, it was rather obviously the den of one of those large creatures, as they could find giant bones and the like all over the place, "Spread out and search" she said as she headed to one area of the cave, the two workers nodded and headed to other parts of the cave as well, leaving the large container full of giant Hornet parts near the entrance for the time being.

At first the search was slow, only finding one or two on the cave floor, and after only getting five total Nola nodded to herself as she regrouped with her workers "Seems they got most of them on their first visit...we need to go elsewhere to find more...come on" she said as she headed out, the two workers grabbing the container and following after her.

As they continued to walk Nola continued to map out the route they were taking, for Ricter and Kokonoe, since she didn't know if they could follow the scent markers she and her workers were leaving behind. Eventually though they ended up coming to an area that had a lot of dead trees knocked over and while normally this would be a barrier to most people, Nola and her workers could walk right over it easily, "Well lets get climbing...secure the container and lets go" she said as the workers nodded and grabbed firmly to the container with all four arms and started to Follow Nola along the twisted and fallen trees.

Or at least the trio had wanted to but as they drew closer the large barrier was suddenly busted down by the very creature Nola hadn't wanted to run into, "RUN!" she called out at the beast roared after knocking the trees aside, apparently quite angry, as it seemed to just want to fight, though as she seen something else flying off that was carrying away a large animal she could assume the thing was hunting and had it's kill taken away and now it was angry and hungry "Crap...." she said as they started to run from the large creature, and it was thankfully not that fast but it seemed to be rather persistent.

The three ran from the beast, and normally they could have just burrowed to get away, they had the container with them that had the Hornet parts and the flowers in it and she wasn't about to abandon the flowers that Ricter needed so she continued to run the way they had come, as she didn't want to get lost in the jungle ether and this was the only direction they could go in that was marked. "You two go on ahead and stow those Supplies" she called to her workers "YES MY QUEEN!!" they called though she could see the concern on their faces, and it was understandable why, they were probably fighting a very strong urge to drop the supplies and grab her and just run, but they followed their orders as Nola threw a branch at the beast to get it's attention.

The good news was it worked, the bad news was it had worked and the large beast turned to face her as her workers Scurried off to hide the supplies for the time being, and she picked up a large rock and tossed it at the beast as she made her way up a tree causing the beast to roar and try to knock the tree down, "Not my best Idea...." she said as she looked around and nodded as the trees branches were easily growing close enough to another tree's branches for her to jump to it as the tree came crashing down, and the beast searched around having not noticed.

With that distraction successful she climbed down the tree and followed the scent trail of her workers, they had taken the container and hid it in a high cave and were just about to head back out when Nola joined them "Good news...they are easily distracted..." she said as she sat down, to catch her breath and she looked at the two that quickly rushed over to her and started to check her for any wounds "I'm fine...just tired.." she said to reassure them.

The two sighed out of relief and the three of them sat up there in the cave waiting for the monster to leave, though as they waited Nola noticed some of the flowers they had been looking for growing in the cave "Looks like it worked out in the end we found all we needed" she said with a smile as she and her workers picked the flowers and stowed them in the container, gathering a bit more then Ricter had asked for so they could have a little stockpile at his home when they got back.

It took a few hours but finally the creature left the area and Nola and her workers set back out to head home, though from all the activity and the need to grow their armor twice they had run out of food and were feeling rather sluggish "Come on we should be fine we know the way back and we still have our armor" She said to her workers who clearly didn't have the same stamina as her as they were quite tired from having to move around in the restricting armor, they were workers after all not warriors so she wasn't to surprised.

As the group neared the halfway point back home the two workers needed to take a rest, "Sit and rest for now...lose the armor too that should help" she said to the workers who nodded and shed their armor and started to eat it to reclaim some of the resources, and as they sat there Nola looked at them, they would need names, she had been so focused on getting the things for Ricter and Kokonoe and repaying them she had totally forgotten to give her workers names, "I should give you two your names now..." she said to them smiling as she walked over to them.

The two workers looked up at Nola a moment and excitement was clearly in their eyes after all they had a working knowledge of the colony, and one thing that signified belonging was a name, and they sat there shifting to a more polite sitting posture. "Yes My queen" they said in unison as they smiled up at her.

Nola only placed a hand on each of their foreheads "As your Queen I give you these names, rememebr them and carry them with pride as you serve the colony...Rise Sonna Nola....and Astra Nola" she said to her two workers, Sonna smiled and stood as did Astra and they bowed "Thank you for our names Your highness..." they said in unison as they then lifted the container once more and the three of them continued their walk. Sonna and Astra getting a bit of energy back from the excitement of gaining their names and from having digested the remains of their armor.

Finally the trio walked into the city all three of them heading strait for Ricter's home and arriving there walking in and setting the large container down that held the giant Hornet parts and the flowers "We are back!!" Nola called out wondering if the others had managed to do what they had planned to today

 

[Ricter]

Running into Kokonoe seemed like a given, and he wasn't one to ignore or even turn down a request like the one she offered. Only if it wouldn't be any trouble to herself as he wanted her to work on her things and wishes too. Not just fly him around the city to fill out a few dozen orders that he didn't get done yesterday.

Surely she ment well by it all, and not only this he got to see the city in a brand new way, flying around as they held minor conversations and he would manage to work out getting both the money and delivery settled for each customer they visited. Though he would look at the screen and multiple light up do-dads that Kokonoe had on display, what seemed like a scanner was built and it was taking digital samples of everyone's anatomy.

But something popped up, "Looks like dad?" Which made Ricter wonder what her dad looked like, but instead of a humanoid f some kind he noticed it was a cat, similar to many of his clients. Making him wonder how that would work, Kokonoe is part cat, and if her mother was human then...Okay, he began to understand it now which made him fluster a tad due to what he heard.

"Sure no worries."

Ricter said as he smiled and looked away from the screen, even whistling innocently as if he didn't already understand the implications of her birth, but it wasn't that bad. In fact given Kokonoe was here and now his friend it just meant he was happy she was here to spend time with him and help out with things. Similar to Nola and her now two children, which even if she called them workers they were her children in his book.

Once the runs were complete he would smile and hop out of the ship, "Thank you for helping me get the orders done, it looks like its already a little past noon. Did you finish your repairs and stuff?" Inspecting the ship it seemed she worked on it while they were doing the runs, which was fairly amazing that she could pull that off on a moving vehicle but she had full control over this and so wouldn't wish to get an explanation as to how.

"Oh right, you wanted to do those tests right? I have time now, we can get them over with and what not."

Which was when Ricter would walk into the store and notice Nola and her two daughters were here, making him smile as they seemed to have gotten what he asked for. But also had something new too, "Hm? What's that?" He asked, it looked like a giant bee, or at least parts from it, which he would inspect for a second but would look at the flowers first and detail them for a moment or two.

"Exactly what I was looking for, here you go, you can use this to buy things in the market that should help you expand your colony, Nola." He offered her a pouch full of silver, the coins would shine and shimmer in the light while also clanking together in the leather pouch. It seemed like a lot as Ricter always paid well, but it was all for her hard work and dedication, "Are you all okay? Would you like some donuts?"

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe would continue her repairs and small talk with Ricter answering any questions he had in mind. Even starting an argument with the main frame in a funny fashion over how that wasn't the name of that race of cat people, the computer brang up programing as a comeback. It sounded like sibling rivallry for a bit then a drama before the two giggled it off for being irrational about it. "Yeah my dad was a cat, we never got along well in the end. He left me with a science sector to protect me, since I was basically abandoned I harbor ill-will. Nothing I can do about it now." She said to Ricter, as she finally installed the telepad into the floor. It began to talk about how it needed calibrations to the users to be saved in the database.

As it repeated herself Kokonoe yelled about how she knew with some foul choice words, she began to wonder about why it was talking and then looked at the main frame. "Don't make me think that the pad is talking you prankster!" To which the mainframe database laughed. "You two I swear once I make you both bodies I am soooo grounding you for a week." Seems her database was a type of real life form... With emotions. These two seemed to be children, Kokonoe was of course kidding.

After a long day of repairs she was disheveled, covered in oil and electric burns. "Yeah I think I have everything complete, minus those tests yeah. They allow the teleporter to work on you. It's simple stuff for the most part. Mostly just physicals and a few other tests some using chemicals and the like. How were the deliveries?" She asked since Ricter and his clients had a good laugh at the tempermental nekomata scientist. It was a great delivery day and the best part was there was still a good bit of battery left on the ship.

Kokonoe followed the fluffy ferret into the shop, "Hey, you three great job. How was the jungles of Kraw?" She asked with a wave the was covered in black sploshes of oil. "I'm mostly finished on renovations, minus the tests. I'll have to calibrate all four of us, though. We can do it after washing up and food, how's that sound?" She said starting to get ready to shower off today's work and a sweat. Heading into the shower for a few minutes before popping out with her hair down, and ready to help prep for making some food. "Unless you'd rather run the tests first up to you both." She was pretty relaxed and happy today, her golen gaze was more gentle than stern today. Maybe it was the shower and yelling at the computer.

 

[Sosina]

Looking around it seemed no one was there at the moment but then the door opened again and in walked Ricter and Kokonoe and Nola smiled as she looked over to the two of them "Oh we got several parts from Giant Hornets and thought we would bring them back, we need to start making Weapons soon if we want to go out and make a proper colony" she said as the weasel was looking at the parts and inspecting the flowers and hearing they got the ones he wanted Nola smiled "Glad to know we got the right ones, though you did give a good description of them so it was easy" she said as she took the payment.

Hearing him ask if they needed donuts she looked to her tired out Workers and nodded a moment then looked to Ricter "That would be great we used up a lot of energy looking for these and while we got some back eating some of the Hornets, some food will do a world of good for Astra and Sonna" she said as the two workers perked up at hearing their names and the nodded before getting up and both hugging Ricter

"Welcome home Mister Squishy" they said a bit tiredly but they hugged him and seemed to just want to cling and snuggles with him for the moment as they kind of just curled up and let the weasel carry their weight which was rather light as they were smaller then Nola herself.

Nola only Giggled as she walked up and gently plucked them off of Ricter though as she did they would flail a moment and let out a little "Nuuu" only Making Nola giggle more "Come on Let go of Mister Squishy he will need room to cook and we need to clean up a bit....well I can you two can rest you did good work" she said and the workers nodded a moment before sitting at the table Thought it was obvious that they didn't want Nola to do all the work as they figited as they seen Nola set to work sorting through the Hornet parts and making a lid for the container for now.

Nola noticed this and smiled "Don't worry you will get stronger, you were only hatched today, Besides until the Colony is built and populated I can work as well" The two workers nodded at this and relaxed a little though they still seemed a bit restless, but once the work was done and Nola joined them at the table they seemed to completely relax finally.

Nola waited for Kokonoe to finish her shower...whatever that was...and once the tall one entered back into the room she looked over at her "The jungle was fine, other then some giant wasps and the large creature that tried to eat us after we had most of the flowers, it was perfectly okay, even made some friends I think" she said as she then listened as Kokonoe said there were four of them and she seemed a tad confused "Four...but there is five of us" she said to the feline as she looked over to her two Workers then back to Kokonoe.

Though on hearing about food she smiled "Food would be nice....oh we should clean up" she said looking to her workers who nodded and all three started to gently nibble at their bodies gently, cleaning themselves much the same way ants would, even helping each other to start to groom the places they couldn't reach. all three relaxing as they let themselves feel safe in this place that Nola considered home, and so too did her two workers.

 

[Ricter]

It was always nice to see his two friends, namely Kokonoe and Nola, enjoying themselves to some degree. He had only just met them not too long ago but it felt like they were building a small family together, just not in the conventual way of doing so, specially given the verity of species they were over all. "Okay, I'll make some for you both right away." Ricter openly seemed fine with the occasional hugs, and would grow used too it from the two smaller ants, cutely clinging to his body and nestling themselves into his fur.

Eventually they were pulled from his warmth with mild protests by their queen, making him smirk at their distress but he could just give Nola a nod as he would make his way into the kitchen. As Kokonoe passed he would be sure to comment as she made her way to the bathroom, "I hope this place doesn't remind you too much of your dad if you dislike him that much, especially me, I wouldn't want to be on your bad side." Clearly a joke but he would let her go off to get washed up as she may find that the bathroom had been expanded, instead of just a shower it held a nice big tub and even some space for racks and bins too.

The construction guys really put a lot of effort into renovating the building, it was much bigger, more roomy and had plenty of space for everyone, at least for the time being. He had no clue how big Nola would wish to make her empire be, but eventually they might have to go out and stake their claim in the wild, but until that time came they seemed better off just working together for the greater good, and for money of course.

Ricter would spend about ten or so minutes taking out trays of food from the freezer, from donuts, to simple things he made prior so that they could have a meal for today. But this was lunch so he wasn't looking to be overly fancy, instead as he began to warm them up in broth a microwave and oven Kokonoe and Nola would notice the table being set up with donuts, mashed potato's, corn, and also peppered stake.

The meal was prepared ahead of time so it didn't take long before it was all beginning to waver through the home, yet as he began placing things on the table he would ask for help from Nola as he passed by. Knowing she may want to assist him and not tucker out her already tried workers, but bringing up small talk in the mean time.

"So, how do you plan on rebuilding your colony, Nola? Were you going to dig underground? Or maybe have a sort of building structure?" He asked, just wondering if he could help but telling her how she might use her money to assist in these things. It seemed like a massive undertaking, one that would take tons of planning, helpers, and money if she choose to spend it on that, but he was more than willing to assist his friend rebuild her fallen family.

Once Kokonoe came out of the shower he would smile, "You look nice with your hair like that, oh uh I made food, we can do the test stuff after we finish." He commented, as that seemed like the best time to do it since after their meal he contemplated taking a nap.

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe paused before moving all the way into the shower, "....I-it's not that I dislike him... I spent most of my childhood in his care... It's more that he left." She was looking down when she said this, an emotion that was seldom seen on her face at at given time. Normally it was replaced with comical over the top rage or a smugness that could enrage even the most patient of people... But no... for once she was drop dead serious. "It's not anyone's fault the world went to MAKOTO." She paused again looking at the megaphone, "You censor that to our worst fighter? I must have programmed you spitefully... Well off to shower."

Of course she'd see the expanded tub and take more time than normal to wash up by organizing everything of theirs, putting her stuff on the top shelf before taking a bubble bath. Sinking her body in and using her magic to make her own massage jets, it could be heard from the other room as the bubbles cycled. She finished by showering it all off. Which is why she walked out so relaxed and content, though her pale skin was red due to the heat. "So good..~ Also yeah I already calibrated myself to the telepad, so I only have to do you four. Though the word us probably wasn't the best word choice... A-also thank you Ricter..." She sighed happy with a slight chuckle over the compliment as she went off to help Ricter, setting the table. The dishes clanging a bit as she walked, a gentle clack as they hit the table... She was eerily silent, she has no shoes on making her unheard outside of the dishes. She stretched out into her chair which she basically lived in before this, spinning in it for a bit. "You should know frozen food like that can ruin the taste and sometimes the nutrients. We should keep a bigger fridge in a place like this." Kokonoe with her random realizations on how to help, "But I'm also sure you could also sell frozen dinners like that and people would buy them, after all your cooking is amazing.~"

The nekomata seemed to be more expressive today as she moved her massive amount of pink hair behind herself so she couldn't get it in her food. Thankfully her hair was fully dry, "Also the colony conversation peaks my interests as well." She said to Nola.

 

[Sosina]

As Ricter set the table Nola started to help as they waited, and when the donuts were placed on the table, every once and again one would disappear and one of the two workers would be chewing away happily, and looking a bit more perky as they happily enjoyed the sugary treats, and with happy little churrs they waited as they simply snaked a bit as they waited for the rest of the food to be served.

Then the question was brought up about her building her colony and she looked at Ricter and Kokonoe and she sat down and scooted closer to Ricter, as she started on her food, thought Kokonoe mentioned that frozen or cooled food reduced it's value and Nola shook her head "But food is food at least right?" she said as the two workers nodded rapidly as they happily ate the food provided and seeing Nola scoot closer to Ricter they also did much the same.

"As for making my colony first I need to increase the number of workers I have, normally I would try to make a starting basic home to start to make my workers in and I was going to in this town but then you guys took me in, so I don't need to make a starting base, and can focus on making more workers..umm..unless you guys don't want me to start making my workers here?" she asked looking a bit worried as she ate a bit more food with the two workers looking on looking a bit worried as well.

 

[Ricter]

"No not at all."

Ricter tried his best to clearify as he noticed Nola and her two workers concerned expressions, making him feel bad about asking the question. "On the contrary, I would like to help you as much as possible, which is why I offered you currency, I also wanted to see if I needed more space and if you would need a bigger area once you gain more workers and what not. Its no burden to me, I have plenty of money to use for things like building, resources, and the like, but I wanted to be sure I didn't do anything too big before you were well ready."

Looking to Kokonoe next he added, "Same for you, I don't know your plans but if it requires more land I'm sure we can possibly work out finding a big plot somewhere in Kraws landscape, clearing it out and establishing a good home stead. With your knowledge I'm sure it would turn out nicely." It would seem the weasel had a lot in mind, from start to finish he didn't have every intention of staying in this city, eventually he wanted to find his own space to set up his business and possibly others in that location.

It would take a lot of money, resources, and time, but he was becoming rather rich thanks to Kokonoe and Nola working for him, the money he would get from his errands would just keep piling up at this rate. It wouldn't be long before he could afford to have people clear out a large section of land for Nola to have her colony in, and for Kokonoe to enjoy doing what ever Kokonoe enjoyed doing.

As for him he might work on expanding his business, or get into other things like running a guild, or making other buildings for medicine and the like, a town or small village was what was being pictured in his head. Though it was only being pictured this way thanks to the efforts of everyone around him, besides he couldn't just hoard money, that was unhealthy, he would rather do something with it, something productive and that would help everyone around him.

"I hope its not too ambitious, I would like to help as much as possible, and if it means offering you a bigger and bigger home I'd be glad to provide it to you, Kokonoe and you two, Astra, Sonna." He stated all they while enjoying the food he had made, it turned out alright, even if it was frozen not too long ago. The weasel wasn't much of a picky eater after all.

 

[Kokonoe]

"Yeah we just need to know how many we need to house... Though... At the moment it'll be seven." She said looking at her files, seven? Why would she say seven? She didn't even seem to notice what she said, was she tired? She quickly jumped to another subject, "I'm sure a small town for a guild-like base of operations would go beautifully, at least the place I last worked in was basically several cities coated in pure metal underground... It went so deep under the dirt I am surprised I saw any sun at all. Besides, it seems this town treats non-human humaniods like second rate people... I noticed most your clients aren't human, are elderly, or are children that think you're cute." She said with the most blunt realization possible, "But me being more like them seem to have an easier time, but let's face it I get special treatment around here because people find me desirable. Makes haggling easy, though." That basically explained everything, she knew manipulation tactics.

"Also then they probably won't see what I stored up in my lab for later since it's probably morally wrong to people like them." She said, unknown to both of them she'd found corpse of two young children and decided to make artificial biological bodies from both... She was planning to smelt them to create mechanical-biological life. However; they were only a prototype for her main project. With all the riches hey were raking in she could resume her Magi-Tech Sciences... and she chose one hell of a set of prototypes. They would be close to the main unit in power... but the main unit would be much stronger in the long run. It was something she'd done her entire life, she'd keep going until she herself would make a unit she could use herself to take don any opponent that crossed her path; namely Terumi whom she hated for killing her mother. She would make a unit more powerful that Amerterasu and attempt in making the unit like the Susanno'o Unit so she could use it freely herself.

"It's not too ambitious, mine are if any. We are all going to help each other, Ricter." She smiled at him before scratching under his chin, "Astra and Sonna, also nice to meet you, thank you for helping Nola. Also Nola, thank you for not getting hurt. After smelling that gluttonous reptile had been near you, I assume you saw another one of what we took down... So I guess a smaller one stole it's old den... When they eat something it's when they are at their weakest, I ended up using a last resort attack on it. I hope you didn't have to fight it right?" With all her seriousness, the side that actually showed genuine concern in her voice was the most bewildering. In public she seemed completely different, but with this small group she was much different, more kind with her words unless something worried her. It was refreshing from her snide tones.

 

[Sosina]

"We are not strong enough to defend against a beast like that, so running was the only option, once we have sufficent numbers a beast like that wouldn't be a problem but.....I would need warriors to properly take it down with out to make casualties" she said as she remembered the large reptile that had chased them, getting a single warrior would greatly increase their ability to defend themselves, especially if they could also procure weapons for her and her workers to wield, but any warriors would need weapons as well, and while it was possible to make simple weapons out of the building material they could make they wouldn't be the best weapons, maybe a bit above stone, and they would break eventually, metal weapons would as well, but they were more effecient as they could be repaired maintained, and it would take far longer to break them, resource wise it was the best option for a new and growing Colony to get their hands on raw ore to make their own, or to buy, scavenge, or other wise find such weapons.

Nola's Mind had been put at ease though when she heard Ricter mention he wanted to help as much as possible, though hearing he wanted to make a home out in the jungle, it made her think she needed to make warriors all the sooner, after all they were part of her colony, she had to protect them, and the only way she could do that is by making warriors, she would need to make her Colony, she would need to defend it, and she would need to make sure she could protect Mister Squishy and the Tall one.

With this on her mind Nola finished eating, and she hopped up from her chair "Sonna, Astra help me with the dishes" she said and the two workers finished off their own meals and hopped up "Yes my queen!" they both said and as they collected the plates they both gave a hug and snuggle to Ricter and one of them looked at Kokonoe, Nola and her workers had both heard her say seven, Nola didn't pay it any mind, and Sonna didn't seem to ether but Astra looked at Kokonoe.

"Don't try to take over the colony with your own offspring....we might only be workers but we will fight if we have to" she said quietly to Kokonoe, she was clearly on edge around the other Female, then again Formica were ants, and there was another Female in the same area as their Queen and it suddenly increased the number count, Astra seemed to assume it was Kokonoe trying to take over or trying to match her Queen and she clearly didn't like that Idea.

With that she grabbed the used plates and rushed after Sonna and Nola and the three started to take care of all the dishes, all the while it was quite obvious that Nola was preoccupied with something as she stood there and the two workers did their jobs of drying and putting the dishes away .

 

[Ricter]

Washing didn't take long at all, if anything he was quick to get things done and make sure that they would have time to sleep after all this was done. As for him, Ricter had no indication that he wished to stay up for very long as it had been a long morning and a nap was needed. But he still had on more thing to do for Kokonoe which was some tests so her teleporters would be operational.

Looking over to Kokonoe as well as well as Nola and her two servants he would perk up but not notice the small conversation the other girls were having as he walked towards Kokonoe's lab area, only pausing to call out. "Kokonoe? I'm going to meet you in your lab, or at least at the door, so we can get what you wanted finished."

He didn't have much else to say on this since the neko woman was going to be running the show on this but he had every intention of ensuring that she got all the information she needed, or at least as much as he was willing to offer. Either way he waited and watched for her to come around the corner and get these odd tests rolling.

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe shook her head at Astra, "Don't confuse off-spring with experimentation... Well they are biological, it's a long complicated process. Though they are children, but they are for something that if I explained you wouldn't know what I was talking about. They are based off my research from my home world, mostly classified information... but basically it's something to help tap into infinite energy and power sources. I have to continue my research and hope for a breakthrough so I can send data to the current Kokonoe in another timeline." Kokonoe could break minds, she knew about timelines and alternate universes... She even calculated she's not part of the time line anymore, her timeline is gone... Not only that she's aware of them all, and the circumstances that seem to happen... Did she live multiple lives from time travel formulas? She didn't say much about that, she was the one normally making alternate time lines in a lab that connected in the middle through a pocket dimension... Of course she had plenty of first hand experience.

"First thing of course I have to find the current me of the main timeline and send my research through a link, only way to do that will be through the prime fields we research. So I am making prototypes with shoddy materials." She began speaking to herself before Ricter's voice broke through, she turned and nodded. "Sounds good, I have to run tests individually on each of you. To avoid crowding in the lab one of you at a time is preferred... My research experiments are taking up a lot of space at the moment and I've yet to tidy up and the like." She said walking towards the lab door and looking into an eye scanner to open the door before placing her thumb onto a pad so the door opened after recognizing it was Kokonoe. This research must've been important as she never locked up her lab. "Come in, it's safe."

As the two walked down the tunnels the door closed behind them with a hiss, not locked but there seemed to be a change in air pressure and temperature...? It seemed cold, oddly enough. That was unusual for Kokonoe. She took a coat from the rack beside them after they were apparently sterilized by the tunnel, she pulled it on due to the cold temperatures inside. "Safety procedures, don't worry I'm not working with viruses... I'm more worried about the experiments I have getting sick, they have an iffy immune system currently. As they walked down the tunnel the lights flashed on, before a glass door closed behind them and they were raised up by an elevator, the cold air was more apparent as the doors opened to the lab. There were tests set up already, as well as two children laying on an autopsy table... They didn't seem to be alive, but they didn't seem quite dead either. "I've been trying to resuscitate the cells in their bodies, since I don't have enough organic material to make more. I might need more than just my own genetics to make the cells work properly, I can't smelt them and make them live without the threat of decomposition. Then again with only female genetics I guess I only have half the equation." This was some of the research she spoke of when they first met, making mechanical life through a lifeless or cloned body. "Well, if you want to help me with them tell me, for now that chair will be fine." Before they started she put the two kids into incubation tubes since the material didn't seem to be activating, they had to stay stable until then.

She points to a chair, she'd take out a stethoscope and listen to the Weasel's heartbeat, writing down something on a clipboard before measurements and weight came into play, the simple stuff. Next up was a paw print of his front and back paws, "See mostly mundane stuff so far, next is the X-Ray. It'll scan bone structures, it's harmless of course. Just lay on that table... and... close your eyes." She waited and a bright flash erupted in the area, she took out a full body scan on her friend's skeleton and amazingly front back and side views due to magi-tech. Next she explained about a small blood test... it'd hurt as she needed a needle to do so. It looked like a pencil sharpener, she pressed a button on the top and a pin-prick was left behind. It felt like a pinch, she ran tests on that as she went back to test the weasel's blood pressure and the like. One before the treadmill, and then tested heart rate and blood pressure after running the weasel on a treadmill.

"Next I have to test your body when you have adrenaline rushes, since I'm not going to attempt to murder people to trigger it... I invented this chemical to test it for me." She holds up a spray bottle, "This is of course the last test of calibrations for you, then I only have to plug in the results. for the most part." She hooks up a bunch of sticky wires to the weasel like she did on the treadmill before spraying him twice with the spray bottle and went to observe the results. She truthfully wasn't sure if it'd work, or if it only worked on her test subjects. She shrugged in a chaotic neutral manner, "Feel any different?"

 

[Sosina]

Seeing the two head off Astra had to think on what Kokonoe had told her, though she in the end decided to keep an eye on the other female, last thing they wanted was a struggle for dominance with one that could apparently take out those large lizards, but still Astra worried about her simply ousting her queen and trying to take over.

Nola mean while finished with the dishes with the help of her two workers and she smiled and hugged them as they ahd all been put away, though without looking around she noticed that Ricter and Kokonoe were not around simply thanks to her ability to sense pressure, something her two workers had as well, but there was another skill she had to teach them, how to open their hive mind, with her being the only other of their kind on the planet she had to teach them herself, thankfully she had learned, not in the best manner possible but she had still learned so she could at least teach the two of them "Okay you two come here....we are going to have you learn something.....I don't expect you to get it right away so don't worry about that, we can work on it more and more later till you learn how to do it properly" she said as she lead her two daughters to the bedroom and they all sat down.

"It smells like Mister squishy!!" Sonna said happily as she then started to roll around and collect the things that smelt of Ricter and passed them out to the others "it's like his warmth and softness is inside these" she said as she wrapped the blanket around herself, while both Nola and Astra where hugging the pillows that smelt more like Ricter then Kokonoe, Astra seemingly giving those the evil eye.

"Ahem....right...so I am going to start teaching you two how to open your hive mind, it's osmething that will become very important to have access to once the colony grows larger, so pay attention okay?" she said to the two and they nodded enthusiastically "Okay close your eyes, and picture the three of us....now imagine drawing a line to each of use, from one to the other, then linking use all together.....strengthen those links, and start to try to send a message through those links...don't speak...think of the message and imagine it traveling down the link" she said knowing that it would take some time for them to learn, but they were not going to really be going anywhere for a while she thought.

 

[Ricter]

Being subjected to a number of tests wasn't too out of the ordinary for Ricter, not that he was used to this treatment he was more so just happy to assist Kokonoe with her work. What ever that work seemed to be that is, either way as he had his blood drawn, ran on a treadmill, and even more so had to take eye exams and the like, the weasel would perk up when she would take out a spray bottle. Wondering what was in it as he looked to the woman with expecting eyes, as if she would explain sooner or later.

When he was sprayed he would cover his eyes with his paws and sniff the air a bit, sneezing once before looking around. He felt normal, at least for a few seconds, but no sooner would his eyes dilate and his vision began to get hyper focused even as he looked to Kokonoe he could see every detail about her as his heart rate increased.

"I feel...sorda different, everything looks more detailed, and I'm...antsy."

He knew himself fairly well and what he was feeling wasn't natural, in fact after a few seconds of this his mind seemed to go blank as if going through a small mental coma. But he would be fine as no sooner after some long standing minutes he would 're-awaken' in his own head and see that he was perfectly fine, at least by what he could tell. Was the test over? Maybe, he had no clue, but it seemed like Kokonoe was more than fine with possibly ending things soon so that she might talk to Nola next.

On being told that everything was finished, and that she got plenty of data on him as well as DNA from samples, he believed he was free to go and with a smile he nodded, "Okay, I'll go and get Nola then." Ricter advised to his friend, already making his way for the door. But when he went towards his room he would peak in as he knocked gently, glancing in and seeing the three girls he would smile and slowly move into the room as they seemed to be in a trance.

"Nola, I think its your turn, Kokonoe wants to do a few tests. Also if she sprays you with a bottle of stuff and you feel odd don't worry, it won't cause any bad effects." He advised to his little ant friend.

 

[Kokonoe]

As she finished up the tests, her last one was a simple adrenaline rush, with a weasel's instincts it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. A few thumps were heard through the sound proofing as she ended up chasing a feral weasel. She ended up having her clothes clawed and her hair messed up, thankfully she eventually baited the weasel to get the tests done... get some DNA and had a way to reverse it from some sweets she had. It was like giving medicine to a dog, hiding the medicine they would spit out in food... but in this case it was the cream in a doughnut.

"Taste good?" She said petting Ricter who seemed to finally go back to his normal self, "The tests are done, you were quite a handful." She pulled out a lollipop and handed it to him as if she was a school nurse. "We can get the others now of course." The lab was a bit... everywhere, things we're knocked over and there was a general mess. "I'll clean up and follow you out..." She said before starting on that whole fiasco of cleanliness due to Kokonoe's curiosity and lack of impatience. "Also.... now I know." She said vaguely, with a cat-like smile. She'd plug the data in the computer and file it next to her own data in the telepad calibrations, it began to code itself as any AI Kokonoe made should... Though what type of AI could do something like this? One that was programmed to think like Kokonoe? She talked about placing souls into machines so could it be a living machine in stead of an AI? Kokonoe never stated either outright.

Kokonoe would follow Ricter out, keeping the door open. Her hair was a mess, and she was writing something on a clipboard; a note to self, spray bottling a weasel makes them hard to control. Her clothes seemed to be torn in a few places, she could adjust the formula later to make it a tad better for general usage. The DNA of course was well appreciated and she'd ran tests on Alpha and Beta with her own and Ricter's the cells seemed to be more stable and reproducing at a steady rate. The bodies themselves weren't yet alive fully but she had the materials out to make them live yet again soon to come. She even got the casting out for when the organs themselves start to work, how long this process would take is unknown to her... though it seems the two she'd chosen ended up being male and female... She'd never used a male to smelt into a prime field before, the closest it's ever come to that is Hakumen. That wasn't too bad, she was more so hoping not to completely fail since she didn't have materials for a redo... They were very expensive prototypes, after all! She decided to let the AI handle things a little in the mean time, she had a lot to do in the coming days. She'd look over her blue prints in her wait, sticking a lollipop into her mouth in the mean time.

 

[Sosina]

As the Girls sat there Listening to Nola they then realized...she had stopped talking halfway through, the air pressure changed, she wasn't making any sounds but they could still hear her, the two of them realized this was what she was talking about when she mentioned their hive mind, but they could tell their thoughts were not reaching her, They could understand that it must have been training, or maybe because they where not fully developed? But they would want to make the connection two way soon so they wouldn't have to be far from each other.

It was about that time that a mister Squishy entered the scene and the three girls could sense him from the air pressure and the scent of the weasel, and the three of them looked over to him as he walked into his bedroom, "MISTER SQUISHY!!!" the two workers said as they hopped off the bed and gently picked up the weasel and carried him back to the bed snuggling and starting to groom him making happy chittering sounds as they did so.

Nola meanwhile looked at Ricter as he told her Kokonoe was ready for her and she nodded though as the two workers brought him over she snuggled close for a moment too as she groomed the top of his head, looking a bit like she was nomming on it as Kokonoe walked in soon after. So She rather reluctantly Detached herself from Ricter and got off the bed and walked over to Kokonoe, "You had tests you needed to do on me?" she asked as she looked at the Tall one.

Meanwhile Astra and Sonna continued to groom Ricter in their own Insect like manner, while also using their hands to comb his fur as they finished cleaning it and trimming it a bit with their mouths and tongues, as they looked after him like he was one of their colony mates, after all The queen said he was so that's all they needed to know to treat him as one.