Are we Hunters or Partners??? I'm Confused! (Nana & Foster/Smith Partnership; So much chaos)

Their last meeting with the other support unit still left Joe bitter and frazzled, a tightly wound spring ready to latch out. Honestly, it made him angry, ready to attack at nana's defense in a moment's notice. However, he had no target, and he was unsure whether he should attack in Ordis' defense as well or make him the victim. That would have to, he eventually concluded, be decided by his meister. Still, Ordis just suddenly showing up at their house, or really anyone, Ordis or not, uninvited worried him horribly. They'd have to up the security for their place, and apparently, Nana's phone. He'd discuss that with Rogue, later. For now, there were other things to worry on. "Do you have a way to contact him?"

Nunally managed to finally calm down enough to start thinking clearly. Her systems booted up and loaded fairly quickly. With a weak flicker, her cyber lenses returned to life. For a moment her irises were covered by the number of different windows and texts that were displayed by her systems through the lenses. It took Nana a few seconds to deal with all of that. That's when she looked at Joseph, ready to finally answer his question. "I'm afraid I don't. He doesn't own a phone and our computers can only send data on short distances via Bluetooth technology." Nana explained slowly and then sighed. "To be fair... I know that I shouldn't even care about him. He was designed to kill me in case I became evil but... damn it... in theory, he really is my brother... we were created by the same man..." The meister said and then turned her head away, biting her lip. "I'll find him once we return to Death City. Perhaps he knows more about the hacker" She muttered after a moment of silence.

"By the sound of it, he's going to find you." Joseph said, the words somewhat bitter. At this point, he wanted to get to the bottom of the whole situation as quickly as possible. However, until the ambulance finally arrived, they had little option. Once it did, however, he set about clearing up with the authorities what all had happened, leaving the girls to themselves, as Lily returned to them, confused and not up to speed.

"Perhaps you're right. However, if my assumption is correct... he might need help." Nana replied quietly as she started rubbing the back of her neck. Once the ambulance arrived, Nana simply walked over to joseph's car and leaned against it. The girl looked exhausted and yet stressed out. It was such a long day filled with many different feelings. Those feelings and experiences overwhelmed her. One thing was known for sure- it was a crazy day. Nana closed her eyes and sighed, then let out a yawn. She wanted to go home, to her bed, to her cat and just fall asleep... unluckily for her, she needed to deal with the whole "surprise" the hacker had mentioned.

"Help?" Joseph inquired. In his mind, Ordis was only being sent as a messenger. It didn't register to him that he might have been sent to Death City, and subsequently Nana, because he needed help. For some reason, he couldn't grasp the concept that he logically knew she was getting it.

This was especially irritating for Jasmine, who was narrowing her eyes at him like he was being an insensitive bastard. Of course, given the history between the pair of them, that was pretty much how she was used to seeing him, in general. Still, she shoved him away from Nana, as he'd returned much quicker than they'd expected him to; apparently, he'd realized that their ID's would basically explain away anything.

Lily, meanwhile, was opting to leave everyone to themselves, climbing into her seat in the car and waiting in silence.

Nana assumption as to what happened to Ordis was quite simple. "If... that "M" person decided to turn Ordis into a surprise for me then it's obvious to assume that they'd hacked into his systems and disabled his control unit. In that case, it'd leave him in an extremely vulnerable state... if that's true, then he's lying somewhere unconscious and his brain may be frying... In such case, my help would be needed..." She said quietly, more to herself than to anyone. Basically, she stopped paying attention and focused on her deductions. She bit the nail of her thumb and kept staring at the ground while leaning against the car. "...but that leaves one... two questions... How was he hacked exactly? He was supposed to be better than me in.... well everything. Where should I be looking for him?" The girl continued. Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit her which made her lose balance for a second. "Damn... I could use a cup of strong coffee..." She whispered. Once she rubbed her eyes. Then she hid her hands in the pockets of her sweater and her mind was filled with questions and other thoughts.
"If I could only understand my feelings... I guess that'd answer many of my questions..." She said to herself as she looked at Jasmine and then at Joseph. "Hey, Jasmine... tell me, what are your feelings towards your siblings?" The girl suddenly asked. The serious expression on her face showed how important Jazz's answer would be for her.

She blinked at her, baffled, not understanding why Nunally would pick now, right around both of her siblings, to ask Jasmine such a thing. True, Nana was still adjusting to social norms and customs so tact wasn't exactly her strong suit, but it still caught her heavily off-guard. Really, now was not the sort of time she'd want to be asked, let alone answer such a question. Swallowing, she shook her head before leaning against the car and looking skyward. The weapon knew what Nana was asking, at least overall, but answering it would be... delicate.

"Are you sure you want to ask that, right now?" She said finally, after far too long of a pause to be comfortable.

Nana sighed quietly. She seemed disappointed and even a bit lost. "What about you Joseph..? I just... need to understand something... I need to understand the feeling that makes me want to find Ordis... Why do I feel so attached to him because he's my brother? You're all siblings. That's why I thought you'd help me understand." The meister explained slowly and quietly. "I mean... it's fine if none of you want to give me the answer now... but... It's just something I want to know... perhaps that'd help me understand other things I can't explain." With each word, Nana seemed weaker and more quieter as if she was about to apologize them for asking such question.

There was another stunned pause when she directed her attention to him, as he hadn't been paying attention to the conversation at all, after Jazz's warning glare, and was actually about to get into the car when she spoke. He hesitated, thinking for a moment before finally speaking up, "Because, whatever else they are, whatever they've done or haven't, they're... family. I... hm." He paused from where he had held the door handle, shoving his hands in his pocket and looking up towards the stars as though they might provide him with some sort of answer, give him any kind of idea that he could run with to better explain himself to her. "People are social. It's just... part of being human. We can bond with most anything, but those that we know share our blood or even that don't but are considered part of our family... Just... just... anyone that's someone that someone we care about cares about in turn just... triggers something in us. You start to care because you know that they do. You want to protect them because they do, and then when you get to know them, well... even if they irritate you or drive you crazy, that sense of... duty just doesn't go away."

Nunally seemed very satisfied by the answer provided by Joseph. She smiled widely and nodded. "I see... You're right!" The girl said nodding. "I think this will help me sort everything out in my head." It was obvious that such a simple answer helped the meister more than they could expect... well... at least when it comes to her concerns about why she was so attached to Ordis despite him being designed to kill her. What remained is... finding an answer to her weird feelings and thoughts about Joseph. Well, it was an indisputable fact that he was an awkward person, he had many flaws... but... he also had his good side and that good side is what Nana liked so much. With a wide happy smile and sparkles of joy in her eyes, she looked at Joseph. "Thank you..." The girl said quietly with a slight blush on her cheeks.

He glanced down at her sidelong, not tilting his head away from the sky. Joseph could feel his own face flushing, so when he lowered his head, he did so facing the other direction. Though he pulled his hand out of his pocket to ruffle up her hair. Without another word, he opened the car door and slid inside, letting his other sister and his meister stay outside to talk for as long as they wanted.

Nana was still in a good mood, blushing and looking in a seemingly random direction. "So... uhm... I... I guess we should be going... soon." The girl said when she noticed that she wasn't standing alone. There was a gentle smile present on her face and it almost seemed like just the fact that Joseph answered her question made her really happy. "There are still things I don't understand about... my feelings... but... at least now I know why I want to make sure he's safe and okay." Nana said quietly, more to herself than to anyone.

Jazz nodded, reaching over to gently squeeze Nana's upper arm in acknowledgment of her words. Without saying anything, though, she made her way to the other side of the car and climbed inside, leaving Nana to do the same whenever she was ready. She'd call her out on her behavior later.

So, Nana was the last one to get into the car. Inside she just closed her eyes and let out a quiet sigh. At last, they were going home. She had some time so she started analyzing that had happened during their encounter with that monster and right after it. That's when one thing hit her... Jasmine's reaction to her question... it was something she'd failed to notice. She certainly hadn't looked too comfortable with it. Nana opened her eyes suddenly and immediately sent Jazz a message:

Code:

"Oh Death! Jasmine, I'm sorry for being so blind! I shouldn't have asked you that question... I'm so so so sorry! Forgive me..."

"Don't sweat it, kiddo." Jazz typed back, reaching over to gently squeeze her hand to reaffirm the statement. Otherwise, she merely relaxed in the car, almost meditating a bit to make sure her soul was steady, like a heartbeat. Lily, for what it was worth, seemed to have run out of energy once the adrenaline wore off, and was fast asleep in the front seat, cooing occasionally.

Well, it seemed like Nana was slowly running out of energy too. The fact that she was forgiven for her ignorance allowed her to relax. With a satisfied, happy smile she closed her eyes and rested her head on the closed window. It didn't take her long to fall asleep like a kid. In her sleep... one could say that she looked so innocent and almost like a cute doll. It didn't take her long to start muttering something in her sleep. ""L...lo...lov...luv..."

Jazz looked over when she noticed, the closest to her so the first to hear. She chuckled a bit under her breath before hooking her phone up to Bluetooth system of the car, under the rouse of keeping Joe awake. The elder twin put on some music, nothing too hard or soft so as to not wake Lily or put Joseph to sleep, but loud enough that it masked anything their meister began to mutter.

Well, but the music was enough to wake Nana up. She looked around, sleepily with her eyes half open. "H-Huh... whatsh goinhg onnn...?" The meister asked with a sleepy voice. With a yawn, she looked around and once she realized that the music was playing, she slowly started to become more and more awake. "Oh! Music!" Nana said, then closed her eyes and smiled, letting herself enjoy the sounds of instruments.

Jasmine chuckled, relaxing in her seat, deciding that her work was done, if only for now. She'd discuss things regarding Nana and her apparent crush on the weapon's twin at a later date --- maybe tomorrow --- but she'd much rather the meister sorted things out with her brother before she added more emotional turmoil to her plate.

Well, Nana decided to just enjoy the music. She didn't feel like sleeping anymore at that point and so she started googling definitions of "sibling love", thinking that'd clear even more of her confusions and answer some of her questions. If nothing unusually happened, their journey back to Death City would be rather... calm

Instead of dropping her off as he normally would, Joseph just brought Jasmine back to the apartment with them. At some point, she'd caught on to his plan and sent a message home to explain the change of events. With this done, she went back to her meditations, not stopping until they parked. Joseph, per usual, got out of the car first, walk around to open each door before picking Lily up from her seat.

"Where should we look?" Jazz asked, unaware of whether or not Ordis was up by the apartment or someone else in the City. Joe, meanwhile, seemed intent on getting Lily back to her bed so she could rest properly.

Nana quickly left the car and frowned. She started wondering where to find her brother. A sudden wave of excitement went through her body. "Joseph, take Lily home. Jasmine... if you want... you can help me. I'm not forcing you to stay." The meister said. Once again, her seriousness returned.

Code:

Initiating Soul Perception Scan.
Search target: S.U-002 "Ordis"
Scan initiated...
Scanning...
...
...

To her surprise, the scan quickly returned the results. According to her Soul Perception Ordis was somewhere near the building where their apartment was located. Also, according to the scan, he was motionless. Nana frowned and immediately ran in that direction. At that moment she didn't care whether or not anyone decided to follow her.
Soon she found Ordis lying on the ground, basically in the bushes. He was unconscious.
That's when she received a text message on the phone.

Code:

Congratz! You've found your surprise! I've left his Bluetooth module on so you can get access into his systems and wake him up. Don't worry, I made sure to keep him safe from any dangers. He's fine and alive. So... the surprise. Well, I managed to disable is little control-thingy. He should be a free man now! You don't need to thank me, pretty!
Alright, as an additional reward. Allow me to tell you something more about moi. So, my name is Minerva and... let's say I'm a bit like you two. Alright. That's all for now. So... have fun with your oni-chan!

Nana quickly read the message and immediately connected to Ordis' systems. Two minutes of activating everything and deactivating the mode that was keeping him asleep later, Ordis shivered.
Nana crouched in front of him and gently touched his cheek... however, suddenly he violently grabbed Nana by the neck. It was something that she didn't expect. No sound could leave her throat at that moment and she looked at her brother with terror in her eyes.
However, to her surprise, when Ordis saw who he attacked, he gasped quietly and let go of her neck. He crawled away from Nana and then slowly stood up after she'd done so.
"O-Ordis?" Nana whispered as she kept staring at him. Silence. No response. Ordis kept staring at Nana for a few minutes before he raised his finger a bit.
"Darius... call me... Darius..." He responded.
Nana was shocked. Did he just choose a new name for himself? Where did he even find it? It didn't matter at that moment.
"Are you... okay?" Nana asked.
"Yes. Yes I am, Nunally." He responded coldly. For a moment she had a feeling that he was still under the control of the control unit but... his tone was... more alive... Plus, he used her name.
"Are you free... of your C.U?" Nana asked.
"Yes, I am." Darius responded.
Nana turned around to check if Jazz actually decided to follow her. The girl's expression showed that she was surprised, shocked, happy and relieved at the same time.

Jasmine was further behind her than she would have liked, arriving just after he'd released her neck. Still, she'd seen enough that she had her arm raised, her hand transformed into the barrel of her revolver, aimed at the man. Even when Nana looked back at her, she only barely faltered, lowering the gun enough that it was no longer point directly at Ordis --- Darius --- himself, though she didn't shift back. Her eyes studied Nana's, searching for some sort of answer, but even with him being her brother, she knew his core purpose, and she'd just seen him attack her. She wasn't comfortable enough to simply disarm.

Before Nana could say anything, Darius decided to speak directly to Jasmine. "Calm down, demon weapon. I am not going to hurt Nunally. I attacked her because I thought it was the one who has hacked into my systems." He explained calmly, yet still with coldness in his voice. "Besides, currently I am not in a state to fight. Especially not with a demon weapon AND Nunally." He added, smirking slightly.


Nunally took the time to update Darius on the situation with the hacked. She sent him all the messages she'd received from the mysterious "Minerva". "Alright, so Jasmine, I've informed Darius about the hacker's plans...and stuff" The girl said.

Darius clenched his fists and his body tensed. "That damned hacker! How dare they make such comments about you! How dare they hack us! How dare they hack YOU! They're going to pay!" He growled angrily.

Nana didn't expect such reaction from Darius so she slowly retreated to Jasmine. "Uh... this is getting a bit weird... perhaps informing him about the hacker while he was confused after just waking up... was a bad idea..." The girl said quietly.

I still don't trust him, Jasmine thought bitterly, though Nana wouldn't know of such without a resonance going. Still, she hadn't transformed her arm back, even though she hadn't raised the barrel at him once more. She didn't have anything to say, though she instinctively moved a bit in front of Nana when the meister began to back up towards her.