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Three weeks flew by like a single moment. We were rotating shifts guarding the dump, waiting for the Wild Hunt's next move, and we were training, now not only with shards but also with the Coffins, as the still-far-from-perfect training capsules came to be called, thanks to me.
In that time, I finally realized one single thing: nothing was going to happen between Ciri and me.
It wasn't that I hadn't tried to court her, but simply by talking and lightly flirting, I realized that I was more than satisfied with her as a friend, and I was fine for her, too. But as a partner, she was more attracted to...
Saul...
Honestly, I was even a little stunned when I realized who our little princess had set her sights on, but I didn't get in their way. Especially since her choice, which did not go unnoticed by my girls, had eased the tension in my little family. No, joking with the girls was fun, and provoking their emotions by flirting with Ciri was enjoyable not only for me but for her, too, but...
In short, for about three days now, Ciri and I, by a silent agreement, hadn't crossed certain boundaries with our jokes and provocations.
"Attention, we are interrupting the broadcast due to an emergency situation. A strange... ahem... portal has opened in the center of Night City, and strange creatures are crawling out of it into the city. I understand how this news sounds to the average viewer, but per the request of the Police Department, I urge you not to approach Utround Street, or any adjacent streets.
A map appeared on the television screen, which had been on only as background noise until now. It had a red dot marked on it and a radius of a couple of kilometers, designated by a faintly glowing, translucent red zone.
"I repeat, all civilian personnel must stay away from Utround Street, specifically from house twenty-seven. If you are already there, close your doors and windows and do not leave your homes. The monsters emerging from the portal are currently being contained by the city police, but we do not know what else might crawl out of there..."
The image changed, and I saw the already familiar portal, from which the same short, dog-like creatures that accompanied the Wild Hunt were constantly jumping out.
"Well..."
Becca was with me today.
"...looks like they made their move."
"Yeah..."
I nodded, confirming the girl's words.
"And it's a very stupid move..."
"I disagree."
I shook my head.
"No?"
"In a way, this could cause us much more trouble. The presence of a portal to another world could lead to increased vigilance from the surveillance systems, which, if anything happens, could notice Ciri, and then the hunt will be on for us..."
"Well... we'll handle it..."
"Becca, fighting the whole world is impossible..."
I shook my head.
"...they'll bury us in bodies. So this move will bring us a lot more trouble than if they had just continued opening portals in the dump."
"Well... if you look at it that way..."
"Did you see?"
Ciri, who was practicing her sword movements in the courtyard, burst into the Behemoth and quickly found us, looking agitated.
"Uh-huh..."
I took a mask off the table—one that prevents any tech from reading facial biometrics—and tossed it to Ciri. The mask itself strongly resembled Kiwi's, except it had holographs hidden in it that slightly changed the proportions and color scheme of the face.
"Um..."
Ciri was confused.
"The mask will prevent you from being recognized by cameras, and it will be harder for cameras to even film you. And what they do film... that will be a hologram that won't allow them to connect the image to you in any way."
"Um... isn't there something simpler?"
The girl was a little lost.
"Is something wrong with it?"
I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Well... I'm already somewhat proficient in using the computer, so there are more comfortable things to wear that would prevent my identity from being established..."
"There are..."
I nodded a couple of times, and satisfaction and anticipation for an answer appeared in Ciri's eyes.
"The thing is, you don't have chrome. You refused biological implants. So you still have to be protected from the gases that some solos like to use, and flashbangs..."
I shook my head.
"In short, this mask isn't a miniature piece of gear for camouflage, but it serves not just one purpose, but several at once."
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"So what are we going to do?"
"Nothing..."
I shrugged.
"Nothing?!"
Ciri was clearly in shock at my answer.
"Ciri, running around the city is stupid. So we'll let the police deal with this... I don't think the attack is the main goal of opening this portal; it's more likely a scare tactic..."
"And it's entirely possible that it's a diversion."
Ciri took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Yeah, I understand all that..."
"And I understand that your Witcher training has imposed some specific, I would say professional, characteristics on your perception. So I'm not going to judge you."
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome. But for now, let's get back to our tasks. You train, I'll prepare for the future confrontation with the Wild Hunt, and also with your adoptive father who you were obsessed with..."
"Uh-huh..."
Ciri blushed slightly.
"...could you not remind me of that every time Geralt is mentioned?"
"I could..."
I nodded, agreeing that it wouldn't be that hard.
"...but you react so funny."
"Damn it, I was a kid! But old enough, and it's natural that I fell in love with such a strong man!"
"I'm not judging... I'd probably fall in love too if Geralt were a girl and I were in your place..."
"Cough..."
Ciri coughed.
"What?"
I looked at her in surprise.
"I... cough... I never thought about what would happen if Geralt were Garalta... Geraltina... Geraltissia?"
I laughed quietly.
"Alright, fine, let's go back to our work, since nothing requires our immediate attention."
"Alright..."
I had refused jobs from Rogue and Regina for now, citing personal problems. Both fixers were disappointed, but I gave them my word that if something urgent came up, I would at least listen to them and consider taking the job. So they took my wish to take a longer vacation than the one I had initially told them about with understanding.
"Alright..."
Ciri sighed and went back to training. I also returned to my work, in which Becca was helping me.
"But seriously?"
"I am serious..."
I glanced at Becca.
"...we could, of course, rush out and go solve problems that the police can handle. And mind you, the police, not Max-Tac. And the city still has those mercs they can hire to clean up the monsters."
"But that could have consequences..."
"It could..."
I nodded.
"But the fact that there would be consequences was clear the moment that girl fell out of the portal onto our car. I'll tell you more, even if I hadn't caught her and had put a bullet in her head before we even met, there would still have been consequences..."
"Yeah, I get it..."
"Well, then let's just continue to prepare for the meeting with those consequences. Especially since there really is a lot of work to do."
"Uh-huh..."
A Few Weeks Later
"Wait, that's... that's something new... a humanoid figure has appeared from the portal!"
"Give us the Swallow!"
The voice of the elf clad in plate armor was rough and extremely unpleasant. I, meanwhile, was just watching the news and grinning. Nothing would come of their approach. There was simply no one to look for us. Well, some might find out that there are some people who helped Ciri...
They couldn't track us anymore, as Lucy, Kiwi, and Judy had completely deleted all the data on us in the few weeks since the first portal opened...
We had become ghosts...
We didn't exist anymore...
And tracking us now was impossible. To be honest, I should have done that a long time ago. I had already run into the Big Leagues, so I should have thought about cutting the tails that could lead enemies to our weak spots. The only thing that stopped me was that we weren't messing with the corpos, so the probability of them really digging into us was small...
There was the situation with Mystic, of course... Biotechnica... and Arasaka, too, or rather, Hanako and Yorinobu... I hadn't met the latter, of course, but his possible interest in me was understandable. But all of that... although important, it didn't make me think about concealing data. And now, when the shit had almost hit the fan...
"They know our language! That's amazing, but what are they talking about a 'swallow' for? Why do they want an extinct species of bird?!"
"Give us the Swallow, and this will stop..."
The body fell with a hole in its forehead.
"Oh, my God! That was the first contact, and our brave law enforcement officers just zeroed out that sentient being! What will happen now?!"
The anchor was ranting, and I just shook my head. Today, Judy, Ciri, and I were on watch, and we were watching the broadcast on the side, which was showing unknown creatures coming out of the portal. Over time, that news had gotten a little old, but the appearance of a humanoid figure caused a new wave of excitement, and I'm sure that this broadcast will be rewatched, and more than once.
"Nothing will happen..."
I sighed...
"You think so?"
"Uh-huh... more monsters will just come out, and then another elf will appear... and then another, and eventually, a dialogue will begin. That is, if those frosty guys can keep their arrogance in check and don't start a full-scale battle after a move like that from the Night City police."
"Well... I can say that the probability of that outcome is very low..."
Ciri commented on the possibility of the method I described.
"...by the way, why are we still keeping watch here?"
"Because if your mentor is going to land anywhere, it'll be at the spot where he definitely met you, so he'll have a starting point from which he can begin his search for you."
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"Oh, nothing... I just thought that the more time I spend with you, in relative safety, the more I relax. I could have come to that conclusion myself; I just needed to think a little..."
Ciri shook her head, disappointed.
"Well... I guess that's not so bad... you'll at least get some rest..."
"That would be nice if I weren't about to go back to my own world..."
"Well, you're not going there alone, or do you think Saul would want to leave you behind?"
"He has too much chrome, and..."
"And he's already ordered synthetic and biological enhancements for his body from Vik. So he'll get rid of his chrome completely soon and will be able to stay in your world without worrying about his chrome failing."
"Um... you're not kidding, are you?"
A sea of hope was in Ciri's voice.
"I don't joke about things like that..."
"Good... so I wasn't wrong about him..."
"You weren't wrong, you weren't wrong... only he's going to have a hard time..."
"Hmm?"
"The clan... I might be the formal leader, and I'm the one who tells him what to do, but in practice, I'm more like a fixer, and he's still the one running everything. And leaving all of that behind..."
I shook my head.
"You can take all the power..."
"That's not even funny..."
I shook my head again.
"...managing a crowd like that isn't for me... I'd rather just dump everything on Panam..."
At that very moment, a portal opened over the dump, but it was a little different from the ones we had seen the elves use...
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