Chapter 43: Omake 11: Ashe for the Future (C)
"I love you 3000." – Morgan Stark, Avengers: Endgame
The living room was decorated with all the proper things that were needed to celebrate quite the big feast that was today. Invitations had been delivered, food was either bought or prepared, and the gifts were all hidden away from the vigilant eyes of the birthday girl.
Nora hummed quietly, looking around for any clues that could help her find the surprising amount of boxes that I had to hide away from her patrolling. I had expected my girl to be this invested in the festivity, but I was a couple steps ahead of her and had everything hidden away from her sight.
"Daa-ad, come on! You can just show me some and I wouldn't tell."
"Sweetie, I told you that the gifts will be given to you after the cake is cut," I said as I finished setting the longer table for the rest of the invited guests.
With the good finances aiding in the projects of expanding the house, we ended up having a bigger living room, an independent kitchen and enough rooms for both Ren, Nora, and some more for guests in case of emergency.
Sienna was fine to stick by the bedroom, and sleeping there together became quite the common sights for anyone in the house checking. It became quite a common sight for people to also find Raven trying to infiltrate the covers of the bed and sandwich me between her and Sienna.
Those last set of mornings are the most awkward to get through without some shouting ensuing, but at least they stopped throwing aimless punches or kicks that would somehow hit me rather than their planned targets.
"But daaaad!"
"No butts, hun. Even if I wanted you would have to handle the fact that your friends will be sad to learn that you opened their gifts early?"
"O-Okay, I should be waiting but… I'm bored. And I can't hold myself from wanting to look despite that."
…
I sighed. "How about I show you just my gift?"
"Wait, really?" She asked with her eyes going wide at the proposal.
"Eh, sure. I guess I could already show you since it doesn't matter if I give this to you during the party or before," I said before moving to the sofa and picking the small box I had kept for the occasion. "Come here a moment."
She bolted without hesitation, almost headbutting me with how quick she was going, but I managed to catch her just in time. I swear, I was improving even more with how intense training was going and… who knows, maybe I wouldn't have to fear to have a 24/7 squad of guards every time we were out of Menagerie for the rest of my life.
"What is it?"
"Well, it's something I worked on with Watts. We've talked about this project for a long time now and this is the result of it."
Impatient and even more fascinated by my mysterious words, Nora didn't hesitate as I handed her the box. Opening it up, she pulled out the odd device out of it and… frowned.
"A glove?"
I snorted, remembering when I replied the same way to Arthur when he presented me with the final product. I had been there to offer some help with the features that could be implemented, but completely ignorant with how it was all going to be wrapped up into.
"Put it on."
The girl quietly complied, wearing the thing and… tensing up when the little watch's screen attached to it came to life.
"Initializing First Start."
"W-What?"
"It's alright," I said to reassure her, patting her head to calm her posture a little bit. We both waited for the quick process to be over and…
"Initialization completed. User: Nora Bukharin- Recognized."
"I present you with the Advanced System Hunting Equipment. Or ASHE for short."
"Oh? Is it meant to be owned by Hunters?" The child inquired eagerly and I gave a slow nod.
"It's main purpose is to offer numerous tools to people that are generally known to be wandering around in possible dangerous areas. It's main client target is going to be Hunters but… I believe it should be given to all people as it has a feature that will save many lives."
"Which is?" The girl pressed, completely engrossed by the obviously impressive system.
"Here, let me show you..." I said as I activated the holographic keyboard to enable the map. "As you see here, you have this map that can be increased or reduced with this command."
"Oh!" She exclaimed eagerly. "But… what are those red dots?"
"That's the danger," I commented quietly. "Watts managed to find a way to develop a system to keep track of Grimm's energy patterns all through a special radar system within the device. It also has a counter for personal Aura, a note section you can write in and… the capacity to send messages through it."
"Like a Scroll?"
"Something like that, but it can only send messages and call other users with the same device. It can't connect with Scrolls just yet… except my phone which is already registered in your contact registry."
"This is so cool and..." Nora paused for a moment and gave me a serious look. "Are Cindy, Emerald and Ren going to have those too?"
"For their birthdays, yes," I confirmed with a nod. "The devices will start being sold next month when we have enough numbers to offer enough to Menagerie's locals. The Chieftain was particularly interested since it offered the militia the chance to finally start killing off some of the Grimm in the Island."
"Oh… wait, does this mean this is the first one?"
"There was a prototype that Arthur kept but… yeah, you can say that."
"REALLY?!"
I chuckled, hugging the rambunctious girl close. "Of course."
A giggle, she swiftly returned the embrace by wrapping her arms tightly over my waist and pulling each other closer than before. I ruffled her hair from the back of her hair. It was starting to get a little longer than before, and I wondered if the girl was going to get a haircut anytime soon or opt for long hair.
The rest of the day went through smoothly. Nora was ecstatic with the presence of all her friends, and the gifts they had bought for her. The cake was a delicious three layers of whipped ice-cream between four floors of strawberry ice-cream.
Everyone was happy and I felt relieved to know now that I had given the kids a mean to be able to stay away from any hints of trouble through ASHE.
But the scientific revolution was far from over.
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