Sun's apartment had become a graveyard for Ace's human experience experimentation.
In one corner, a high-end espresso machine hissed and let out a puff of steam, a small puddle ofblack liquid pooling beneath it. In another, a half-assembled model ship listed to one side, its instruction manual covered in what looked suspiciously like brimstone.
And on the wall, a brand new 4K television, purchased to replace the last one, had a perfect, spider-webbed crack in the corner from where Ace had "tested its durability."Sun stared at his open laptop, his face pale. The screen displayed his bank account balance: ∆0.30.
"Ace. We need to talk," Sun said, his voice strained.
"My 'funds' are not an infinite resource for your... 'experiments'.To think humanity would want to replace its efficient workforce with this mechanical dung bettle." Ace replied, not looking up.
He was currently trying to terrorize a small, robot vacuum into submitting to his whims and oddly the robot seemed to feel that terror. With a whimper, the robot began glitching and within seconds *kaput*.
"That's not the point!" Sun said, exasperated having once again seen another of Ace's project bite and a small fortune of his evaporate.
"You've been on this 'holiday' for weeks, but you're just consuming things, a big old consumer!"
You're not experiencing why humans need a holiday! To understand the sweetness of the break, you have to understand the job. The responsibility."
"You... you should get a part-time job. As an experience."
Ace finally looked up. His expression one of profound offense.
"You forget your purpose, Sun. A job? And what's that you called me ? A consumer?"
The room became colder, but it was the aura that Ace exuded that made Sun truly shiver.
He made a mistake.
"I have consumed legions, I have consumed hordes. I don't just consume. I don't just experience."
"I PLUNDER I RAVAGE AND I TAKE!"
"And now you want me to work... on my holiday? Tell me Sun, doesn't it seems like a contradiction?"
"Exactly!" Sun said, grasping at straws. "It's the perfect irony. It's the most human experience of all. Besides... we're broke. And that means no more of that shaved ice dessert you like."
Ace froze. His eyes narrowed. He remembered the divine, frozen delight. He considered this.
"...Fine," he said, standing up. "I shall find... a 'job'. It sounds... tedious. A new experience."
---------------------------------------------6--------------6---------------6----------------------
"Sweet Haven" was just as he remembered it, bright and smelling of sugar and fruit. Ace's mood had improved, his mind set on his reward. But when they entered, Charlie and Tim were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a woman in her forties, her hair tied up in a practical-but-messy bun, was wiping down the counter. She looked tired, but her smile was warm.
"You... are not the small child who provides the frozen delight," Ace stated, looking genuinely confused.
The woman laughed. "Charlie and Tim? No, I'm their Aunt Lena. I'm the one who actually runs this place. They just 'help' on weekends." Her smile widened. "You must be Ace and Sun. The boys told me all about you. Thank you for saving them."
"He's the owner?" Ace whispered to Sun. "The children are not the proprietors?"
"That's... generally how it works, Ace," Sun whispered back, embarrassed. He turned to Lena. "It's a great shop. Ace here is actually... uh... looking for a part-time job. To, you know, 'experience' the neighborhood."
"Oh!" Lena looked bewildered but charmed. "Well, I'm not sure if we're hiring, but.."
The shop's bell jangled violently, cutting her off. Three men swaggered in, their movements loud and obnoxious. The one in the lead, a young man with a faint, crackling Aether-glow around his fists, put his boot up on an empty chair.
"Lena," the man sneered. "I'm here to make you that final offer. My construction firm is buying this whole block for a new commercial project. I need you to sell the shop. Stop making this difficult for me and sign the papers."
Lena's face paled, but she stood her ground. "Jinx, I told you. This shop belonged to Charlie and Tim's parents. It's not for sale."
"Wrong answer," Jinx said. He gestured, and one of his goons knocked a display of cookies to the floor, the jar shattering. "Maybe you just need some... convincing... that your operating costs are about to go way up."
Jinx's fists crackled with Aether.
"Sell me the shop, or I'll tear it down."
Just as Sun tensed, preparing to take Jinx down, Ace stepped forward, his expression one of pure, curiosity.
"Is this also a continuing human custom?" Ace asked. "Forcing a sale through... applied vandalism? Fascinating. Is this still considered 'a negotiation'? I thought the current age was enlightened, but even now the devil lives in."
"What the hell are you on about ?"Jinx looked perplexed. "I'm don't with this. Now we do it my way.."
He snarled, then looked Lena and who looked confused and then shocked.
Lena screamed "No!"
Jinx threw a sloppy, Aether-infused punch aimed at Ace's face.
The punch didn't land. Ace caught Jinx's fist in his open palm, stopping it cold. The Aether-glow sputtered and died instantly.
"You are weak and you lack the skills," Ace observed, his voice calm. "There is no skill, and no refinement. You are like an empty vessel."
He applied the slightest amount of pressure. A sickening crack echoed through the shop. Jinx's face went white with pain as his wrist broke. Before the man could even scream, Ace flicked him on the forehead.
Jinx and his two terrified goons were sent flying backward as if hit by a truck, crashing out the open door and sprawling onto the street.
The shop was silent. Ace turned back to a stunned Lena. "I have reconsidered," he said. "I will work here. This 'job' seems... eventful."
"You're dead!" Jinx shrieked from the pavement, cradling his broken wrist. "Do you know who I am?! My brother will..."
"He will do what, Jinx?"
The voice was mild, almost warm, but it cut through Jinx's screaming like a knife. A large, impeccably dressed man stepped out of a luxury black vehicle that had purred to a stop at the curb. He had a warm, benevolent smile that did not, under any circumstances, reach his steel-like eyes.
Jinx froze, his terror palpable. "B-Brother! I... he..."
The man, Kaito, ignored him. He walked into the shop, his gaze sweeping over the shattered cookie jar, the stunned Lena, the tense Sun, and finally, the calm Ace. He bowed deeply.
"My humblest apologies," Kaito said, his voice smooth as silk. "My foolish younger brother has caused you trouble. I am Kaito, and I will compensate you for any damages."
Sun's blood ran cold. This was Kaito. "The Smiling Buddha." The Guild Leader of the entire Golden Palm Guild. And he was apologizing.
Kaito's gaze settled on Ace, his smile still in place, but his eyes sharp and analytical. "My brother, for all his faults, is a C-class brawler. For you to handle him so... effortlessly. You must be a practitioner of some note. I don't believe we've been introduced."
Before Ace could answer, the bell jangled again. Clio Vance entered, dressed in civilian clothes. She stopped dead, her eyes widening as she saw the leader of the Golden Palm.
"Master Kaito?" she said, her voice tight with surprise. "What...?"
"Ah, Ms. Vance. A pleasure," Kaito smiled, his eyes glinting. "I was just... handling a family matter. And you?
The bell jangled again. A man in a rumpled suit, looking exhausted, stumbled in. He saw his wife, Lena. He saw Clio, a high-ranking Siren. And then he saw his own boss, Kaito, the Smiling Buddha, sitting at a table. He froze.
"M-M-Master Kaito?! Ms. Vance? Lena? What... what is going on?"
"Ah, Mark," Kaito said, his smile widening. "Good of you to join us. Your family's shop is quite noteworthy."
The shop was now impossibly crowded, the air suffocatingly tense. Mark looked like he was about to faint. Sun looked like he was about to phase through the nearest wall.
The bell jangled again. Charlie and Tim burst in, home from school and oblivious to the web of power and fear concentrated in their tiny shop.
Tim, seeing both Ace and Sun, ran past everyone, straight to Ace, who was now behind the counter, curiously holding a 'Sweet Haven' apron.
"Ace! You came back!" Tim cheered, then tilted his head. "...Are you gonna work here?"
Ace looked at the apron, then at the chaotic, silent tableau of the fuming Clio, the terrified Uncle Mark, and the smiling, dangerous Guild Leader. A slow grin spread across his face.
"I believe I am," he said. "Now, about my wages..."