Chapter 34.2

Jason drove Alina and Alice through the mansion gates and the latter looked around in gleeful surprise while the former smiled melancholically. The house was huge, over fifteen thousand square feet, and just from the outside it seemed to be larger than even the Sage's mansion. The vast backyard and space around the house would make anyone doubt that this was located on a man-made island.

"This is …" Alina muttered as she and Alice exited the car.

"So … big!" Alice said. She stretched out her arms as though she wanted to hold the entire mansion in her arms while her big eyes were wide with joy. "We can play hide-and-seek for forever in here!"

"Huh," Alina said and turned to Jason who had just exited the car. "Is there no maid? Hey, don't look at me, I am not cleaning this big place. Ever."

"No maids or butlers," Jason replied. "All done by drones and bots."

"Huh, figures. And the security?"

"Also handled by them."

"Gardening?"

"By them."

"Cooking?"

"By th - Hey! You know it's done by me!"

Alina laughed at her success in stumbling Jason and Alice joined her. Together, the two cute voices made a wonderful melody and Jason shook his head and smiled, all the while leading them through the mansion's entrance instead of retaliating.

Alice took off and immediately recognized the items she had bought earlier in the day; the piano alone was too eye-catching to miss. She suddenly remembered Jason's words and looked around more carefully.

"If you and your mom don't like it … you could move to this city…"

Is this the place he got for us then? Alice wondered to herself. This morning … everything was to prepare this house. For me and mom. For our family.

She turned to Jason with teary eyes full of adoration and Jason smiled while nodding his head slightly and Alice realized her assumptions were correct. Jason didn't allow the two to think about the place as he urged them to instead get ready to head out once again when A.V.A sent a message to him.

"Dammit," he muttered with a grimace. Noticing Alina and Alice looking at him, he smiled and patted their heads.

"I have to go," he told them quietly and Alice's shoulders sagged.

"Does that mean movie night is canceled?" she asked in a deflated voice.

"No, no way," Jason denied quickly. "It just means I'll be away for the afternoon. I'll be back in the evening, I promise. Here, pinky swear."

Jason and Alice hooked their pinkies while Alina watched them with a smile. Jason held Alice's small face and kissed her forehead before turning to Alina. "Look after her for me?"

"Always," Alina whispered and Jason turned to leave when the former called out, "Jason!"

Jason stopped and turned to Alina when he heard her calling him.

"Stay safe," she said softly and Jason nodded with a grin.

"Always," he said, cockily repeating what she said to him moments before. Alina huffed and crossed her arms but still watched Jason leave with concern.

He's pushing himself, Alina thought, her eyes watching him worriedly. He can barely stand straight and he still pushes on … why doesn't he use his Practitioner abilities? He could at least use the increased strength and regeneration.

She sighed and turned to Alice, pushing her thoughts away.

"Hey, you ever play Assassin's Creed? Wanna try it?" Alina asked Alice who frowned and shook her head. Her mother would assassinate people for a living, why would she want to play that?

"No, I don't like blood," Alice said and Alina remembered she was a child, though she herself played such videogames at Alice's age.

Come to think of it ... that's not saying much, Alina realized morosely.

"Then what about … Angry Birds?" Alina asked. "You use birds to smack pigs. Sounds fun?"

"Not really. Why birds? Why not use a butcher and slaughter them?" Alice asked naively.

"Uh …" You just said you don't like blood! Alina thought in her head but wasn't sure if she should voice it.

"That's different, pigs are slaughtered by butchers to be eaten," Alice said when she saw Alina's stare while giving her a bemused glance. "Bacon? Ham? Beef roast? Isn't that obvious?"

"Oh, well, uh," Alina was stumped.

Jesus, kids, Alina thought. It's like they're aliens with the way they think. Wait a minute, beef ain't pork!

Alice, uninterested in talking with Alina, trotted to the window and watched Jason instead. This hollow feeling engulfed her the moment she realized that Jason was gone, it was as though she was missing a part of her.

Daddy ... Alice thought as she watched him speed to the hovercar.

***

"A.V.A, give me their location," Jason said quietly while opening the trunk of his hovercar. He pushed open a compartment under the floor, entered a password, and it opened to reveal his Phantom Armor.

"Affirmative," A.V.A answered as he placed the helmet on his head before asking earnestly with a barbed voice, "Are you intending to strip and dress in broad daylight? In front of an audience?"

Jason paused halfway through unbuttoning his shirt when he heard her. Soon he heard muffled struggling and noticed Alina grabbing Alice from a first-floor window, covering both of their eyes as she did so.

"I wanna watch! I wanna watch!"

Jason could vaguely hear Alice shout while struggling with Alina's hand that was firmly wrapped around her eyes.

"Uh, A.V.A? Tint the windows, I'll change while you drive," Jason said before stuffing his armor into his arms and rushing into the car. As the car drove off, the paint slowly became a matted black.

Soon after Jason was finished changing into his Phantom Armor, the hovercar stopped and returned back to the manor while his flying motorcycle came to pick him up.

"Jason … the missile," A.V.A said with some hesitation.

"Later, Ava," Jason answered as he sat in the bike that flew up into the air.

"But …"

"Later!" Jason said more harshly before sighing. "We'll talk about this in private. Tonight. I promise."

"Very well," A.V.A replied before going silent.

A nearby SecDrone pegged them when it noticed them not following the skylanes but soon it received a Phantom transmission from the bike. It allowed the flying bike to continue onwards without pestering them again. [3]

"How long?" Jason asked as a small window opened up in his helmet's HUD. It was showing a live feed of the battle occurring between three women through a hacked drone.

"You will reach their destination in two minutes and thirty-eight seconds," A.V.A replied.

Not fast enough … Jason thought as he revved the engine of his bike. Shit. Why did the three of them have to meet? The hell did I do to get this karma right now? What do I say to them? Oh, Melanie, these are the two I mentioned … try not to kill 'em... Oh hey, Lizzy, that's the mom of my daughter, but I still wanna marry you... Katie, it's great seeing you again. I lied back then and I still love you, even though I threw you under a truck and am currently juggling multiple women all at once... Fuck, it'll be a miracle if they don't try to kill me and then themselves. Or themselves and then me. Ah, fuck it, time to throw caution out the window.

[3] Skylanes are routes that flying vehicles must fly in, like the the Skyways from Back to the Future.