"Hey! Hold on you two! Melody, stop doing whatever it is you are doing!" I shouted as I wadded over.
Melody turned to me with a savage look, but I glared at her. This was her idea, and for once, a girl wasn't just going to fall in line with Melody.
I could also see how Firaga's stark comments would set Melody off, and there were better ways to say things. Still, she wasn't wrong, and unlike more of the others, Firaga wasn't friends with anyone besides Gaia just recently.
"Melody, you can't expect everyone to be as forward as you are or to want to share private things. Firaga shouldn't have put it that way, but she does have a point. I think we all need to cool down here for a second," I said, and Melody shrunk back down, but she crossed her arms over her breasts.
"You are my boyfriend, and I have been okay with all of this because I know what the other girls are doing with you. It's not a secret, and I half pushed for it, but she is throwing all that trust in my face! She is acting like she is just going to take you for herself, and I will not stand for it!" Melody stated, and I nodded, looking at Firaga.
"Hearing what Melody said, what do you think about things now?" I asked her.
"I understand why she is upset, and I will agree to announce if I do so, but I am not looking to make friends. I will eliminate all the Villains with Daniel's help, so I can do what I love. I just want to eat metal, nothing else, but I don't want to have to keep starting all over again. It sounds like this was your choice, but I am not what you expected," Firaga stated.
"No, you aren't, but I don't know if that's a bad thing or not. I will respect your privacy but do not assume Daniel is there for the taking. I love him, and he loves me, and I am making an effort to learn about and love each of these girls like family. I wanted to be the same as you, but I will try a different approach. I am sorry that I lost my temper," Melody explained.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I was at fault for my brass comment earlier, but I lacked proper understanding of the situation and spoke too soon," Firaga said, and Melody nodded.
I sighed; crisis averted, for now, but what would the future hold for these two and myself? On the positive, everyone was safe, and there were no signs of Villains yet, but that was suspicious.
"Sofia, don't you think it is odd that we haven't seen any more Villains?" I asked, and she shrugged.
"I guess so, but really, there aren't many people in Canada or large cities. The fact that we have seen five so far is pretty good for us, I think. The rest are going to have a long trip," Sofia explained, and I nodded.
"I guess so, but I am worried about all the ones coming up from the states. How long do you think it would take for them to gather in one place?" I asked.
"One to two days, depending on how far they were coming, but then you would be looking at between three to five hundred AI. Do you really think that is what is happening?!" Sofia asked, suddenly freezing for a moment, then looking at me.
"Not that many. Most of the AI are cocky, from what Orphus has said, so the smarter ones will likely send thirty to one hundred as a test to see our strengths. We will have to ensure that no one escapes the forest if they enter. Gaia, I need you to try to find a way to create a signal that blocks out AI with the Villain Itch. If we can do that, it won't matter if some getaway. We can just block the AI from being to enter with their host," I explained, turning to Gaia.
"That is an excellent idea, and I will get to work on that right now. If you need me, just summon me, but I will need all of my body to do something this major," Gaia explained, and I nodded, but Firaga turned to her.
"You are leaving?" She asked, and Gaia nodded.
"Yes, I have some things to take care of for now, but when I am done, we can talk again. Give the other girls a chance. They may still be young, but they each have unique personalities. It will do you good, but I am sure Daniel won't mind if you stay by him for now," Gaia explained to Firaga, and she nodded.
"I will try but do not do well when talking with others. I do not lie about things, and people find that offensive," Firaga stated, and I grinned.
"Don't worry about that. Everyone understands now, and they will be patient with you. All you have to do is explain yourself, and we will all do our best to understand you," I said, taking Melody by the paw.
I waded over and sat down beside Firaga, pulling Melody down on my other side. She had changed back to her cat person form and was now leaning into my side like nothing had happened.
"Do you think you will be able to stop that many?" Firaga asked me.
"Villains? I think so, but it won't be easy. I am already getting everyone in both cities prepared and off the streets right now. The Paw Patrol is informing everyone of the danger that could be incoming. Once everyone is inside, the girls will announce what to do if an attack happens. I am also giving the Great Trees instructions on how to deal with the Villains," I explained.
"You aren't going to just kill them all?" Firaga asked, and I shook my head.
"No, the ones that we will fight will hopefully be just humans with systems. With Gaia's help, we can block the AI from influencing their hosts. That means that some of the ones that enter our forest aren't going to want to fight, so we will capture them and put them to sleep. The rest that continues forward are real Villains, and those ones we will be killing," I said.
"If we killed all of them, we would have had to kill you, right? There is also a chance that the AI is like you even if the host is bad, but that one will be a lot harder. Maybe we should try to capture as many as possible, but then we have to worry about killing them if both are bad," Melody considered.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I think that you should be killing the ones that attack. If the AI didn't want to do something, it would stop the host. The ones that will be coming will be the most aggressive, I think. There is no point in trying to save them. You will put too many people's lives at risk," Firaga explained, and I had to agree with her on that point.
"Oh! Well, if that is the case, then. We will turn them all into shiny metal!" Melody declared, and I laughed as Amy and Marley came over to join us.
"What if you run into someone with really amazing powers? Like the boy you captured earlier? Are you going to try to capture them then?" Marley asked.
"That is a good question, but I still don't know how to put someone in the body. I will have to try editing the body, but I will be asking people to get into foreign bodies, maybe even of different sex. I will have to try and figure out how I can get the System out of the body instead," I explained, but then Sofia, who had frozen this entire time, came back to life.
"Firaga, have you ever eaten a Villian? I would assume not, or maybe in one of your past lives, but that can't be reached. We should take a chance and let her eat the massive Villain that you just killed. You said that we can trust her mostly, but I am curious to know what will happen to the System. I think that this is a low-ranking System, so now would be the best time to test my theory," Sofia said as she waded over to where Firaga was sitting.
"What theory do you have?" I asked.
"First, before I answer you. Firaga, do you mind if I examine and try to change some things inside you? It won't hurt, but if I can do this, it will make it less of a theory and more of a sure thing," Sofia asked, and Firaga nodded.
Sofia reached her hands forward, placing them on Firaga's soft face, which looked made of steel. Vines crawled out, and the vines pierced into Firaga's skin, but she didn't flinch; instead, closing her eyes.
"There we go, now I am mostly sure that this will work, but there is a slight problem," Sofia explained, and I frowned.
"Woman, I have no idea what you are talking about! What did you even do?" I asked, and Sofia grinned.
"She can now eat Systems, but I don't know how to get them out of her yet. I think you might be able to help with that, you know. I won't push it, but you giving her a System after what I did will pretty much ensure that everything works out. At least that is what I gleaned from Orphus since your System helps with growth," Sofia explained.