10 TEN

It's late in the day now. Miu, Alto, and Matsuda were still filling in their applications on their tablets. They've been on the tablets for hours until Officer Flute spoke up.

OFFICER FLUTE

"Alright, you guys should take a break. You've been at these for a good while, you guys should go get some fresh air."

MIU/MATSUDA/ALTO

"Yes, sir."

MIU

"Just gimme, like, five more minutes. I'm on the last paragraph."

ALTO

"Last what??"

MATSUDA

"Not surprising. Good thing I'm at least a third through the last set of questionnaires."

ALTO

"Wait! Hold on! What are you two saying right now?! There's like 20 sections with a hundred questions in them!"

MIU

"Pfft! Don't exaggerate so much. It's just the paragraph answers that are long."

Officer Flute leaves the room to take a call while the trio talk among themselves.

MATSUDA

"Though, to be fair, the questions are an absolute pain to solve. If these were math questions I'd have gone through them in a heartbeat. I hate problem solvers. I gotta really rack my brain for those."

ALTO

"You don't seem to be having that much trouble with them if you're already on the last segment."

MATUDA

"Hey! She's done with all of them! Don't look at me."

MIU

"Well I gotta do this much to show I'm shooting for the top."

ALTO

"Whoa~..."

MATSUDA

"Leave some room for me when you get there, will you?"

MIU

"There's always gonna be a space for you, dude."

Matsuda smiles at Miu who giggles back.

MIU

"Hey, alto."

ALTO

"Mm?"

MIU

"What do you wanna do? Since you're taking the same test."

ALTO

"I want to be in the science division. I've a knack for chemicals and experiments. And since dad wants me to be part of the investigation department, I figured it would be the best place to make everybody happy."

MATSUDA

"Ah ~. That makes sense."

MIU

"Well, that's cool. I'm glad you found a compromise for what you want to do."

Officer Flute walks back into the room and sees everyone still enjoying their conversations. Miu finishes up the last bit on her tablet then shuts it off and puts it down to stretch.

OFFICER FLUTE

"You kids ready to go? You can come back and finish it later or finish them at home."

ALTO

"Eh? Really?"

MATSUDA

"Thank the heavens."

Matsuda stands and stretches his whole body out before walking out the room with a sigh. Alto and Miu follow after him out to the station front and see Officer Kosuke pulling up in the patroller and steps out, rushing into the station as if he was late for something. Miu sees Plutos in the front passenger seat with his arms folded at his chest. The dashboard seemed to have a display on it in front of him as he stared at it blankly, but for some reason she could tell he was annoyed by something. She could see something waving around him that made the air around him quiver.

ALTO

"Geh! Wh-what's he doing here now?"

Alto sneaks behind Miu nervously as he speaks. It made sense after he was one shot in an instant before even doing anything. Officer Kosuke rushes back out to the patroller and gets in, handing Plutos something that he got from his office. Miu runs to the patroller before they drove off and gets Plutos' attention.

MIU

"Hey! Um… c-can we talk when you get back?"

Plutos looks at Miu curiously, then steps out and pats her head. It just dawned on them both that they were the same height.

PLUTOS

"... When I get back, do you think you can take me shopping for some clothes? I'd like to finish that tour of the area. I may have a device that can teach me about everything here, but nothing beats the real experience. Right?"

Miu looks back at him blankly as if he said something strange. Then again, he did seem like the type to put entertainment over work.

MIU

"Uh… yeah. Sure. I can do that. Um… When do you what to do that?"

PLUTOS

"When you feel like talking after I return. That sound good?"

MIU

*Thinking* He was listening? Uh… okay. Then, I'll see you soon."

PLUTOS

"Splendid. I'll return soon."

Officer Kosuke suddenly leans over the passenger side and interrupts them.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Hey. Before we get there you might wanna be in your weakest form. You can't be going around showing off your strength to guys like him."

PLUTOS

"Your sheriff sounds like an ape."

Plutos suddenly shrinks a bit and returns to his pink and bronze form in front of everyone at the station, leaving everyone but Miu in shock from his sudden change before them. His off white body was pink and bronze again with a purple tip on his tail. His clothes were bigger than

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Please don't say that to his face. I don't wanna get fired because of you."

PLUTOS

"I'd rather you not be fired either since you've become a reliable asset."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Against my better judgement."

Officer Kosuke and Plutos leave in the patroller. Miu and the others watch as they drive away. Matsuda and Alto look at each other and Officer Flute looks at Miu in amazement.

OFFICER FLUTE

Miu.

MIU

Hm??

OFFICER FLUTE

You must stay cautious of that friend. Don't forget.

Miu only looks back at the patroller as it vanishes in the distance.

Elsewhere…

Up in the northern district, where Thermo had destroyed and taken over a strange organization of Acrosians, the Namekian race that lived there were repairing their homes and removing the tower just as Thermo had told them. The Namekians insisted on allowing him a place to rest for a while since he had nowhere to go at the moment. Thermo decides to take advantage of the opportunity and has them work on rebuilding a new place in the village image. He didn't want to stand out too much so he told them to make sure the new build blended in with the village. The elder of the village approaches him nervously and gets his attention.

THERMO

"... what is it?"

ELDER

"I wish to… make a request, sir."

THERMO

"Depending on the request, I may have an interest."

ELDER

"There is an area in the mountain that only you and the other two are able to explore. You see, there is a Namekian in the mountains that chose to isolate himself because of a prediction he had of the dangers that would approach the village."

THERMO

"And this is interesting to me, how?"

ELDER

"Uh!! You see."

"Let me explain."

Another namekian approaches Thermo and the shivering elder, tapping the elders shoulder his body was horribly scarred as if he was a war veteran.

BONGA

"My name is Bonga. I'm the previous chief's son. I think you will find this to be very interesting. Will you hear us out?"

THERMO

"Ooh? You sound confident about this story you'll tell me. Fine. I'll hear you. But it doesn't mean I'll do anything about it."

BONGA

"... I hope that changes after this. About a hundred years ago, there was an odd namekian that started living in the village. His skin was darker and he had four tipped antenni rather than the round tips like us and unnaturally red eyes that would glow. He was far more sensitive to energy than the rest of us and the elders had called him the unnamed one instead of naming him since he refuses to respond to a name. He is very strange, to the point where he would suddenly switch from somber empty expressions to instant rage when he felt something off about the village. Not many would pay attention to him either, until someone noticed that the predictions and insight were always on point. But by the time we all started to take note of his previous rants, he stopped speaking of them all together, as if they never happened. Then just last year he suddenly left saying the village was going to be in severe danger if he didn't hide. He said he would return once the danger mostly passed, but… namekians can't survive such harsh climate changes no matter the circumstances. It's getting close to the colder climates this year and the snow has been falling heavily up there since last week.

We know he won't come down unless prompted, but we're all worried about him. But we can't go up there without being victim to the harsh cold."

THERMO

"I still don't see why I need to be bothered about this."

BONGA

"If his predictions and insights are as precise as the elders told me, then he may know quite a bit of information that might help you with what you may need. If you can get him to return here, he could answer any of your questions. I overheard your conversation earlier from your device. It sounded like your brother needed some help but you don't want to deal with his troubles at the moment. The unnamed namekian might be able to help him out while you deal with what you want here."

Thermo takes a moment to think about the information he just got. Hemight actually be able to find some information about the few energy flows he felt from the mountain earlier. This namek may even be the one he was curious about.

THERMO

"... That is interesting enough. So, you wish for me to find this namek. Do you have any information as to what he can do aside from his premonissions?"

BONGA

"Despite his aggressive nature, he was a good namekian with the nation's interest at heart. Nothing really stood out aside from his wicked temper and harsh personality."

THERMO

"I'm not asking about his personality. I'm asking if he had any other special powers he displayed. WHat was he capable of that made him stand out the most for him think leaving was the safest option he had?"

Bonga and the elder hesitated for a moment before the elder chose to answer.

ELDER

He has a special ability that only us elders know of but even we don't know exactly how it's possible. Please come this way."

Thermo follows the elder to the elders hut and they serve him fresh crustaceans and sparkling tea. Thermo takes a sip of the drink out of curiosity since he's never had a drink that had bubbles fizzing in it. The sharp tang mixed with the fruity flavor was more refreshing than the drinks from his home planet and made him hum in delight from the sensation.

BONGA

"I see that the meal is to your liking."

THERMO

"Mm!! Ehem! It's… interesting. Now, what is it that I must know aside from the strange namek, that has you coaxing me into this?"

BONGA

"Eheh. As I've said before, the dark one fled to the mountains for some reason and he hasn't come down since. We humbly ask that you at least seek him out and see how he is fairing in the mountain. That is, if you are so willing."

THERMO

"So I don't need to convince him he chooses not to return?"

BONGA

"Yes. So long as we know he is doing well, that's all that matters to us."

THERMO

"And what of this item he left behind with you?"

BONGA

"... elder."

ELDER

"... right. It'd be best to show it to you. Bonga go and get the item."

Bonga leaves the hut and goes to a neighboring shack to grab a box. He returns with it moments later and carefully sets it on the table.

ELDER

"This is the item. It is one of the many that he has shown us before taking the rest with him."

The elder opens the box and struggles to lift a large stone sphere out of it and sets it on the table next to the box.

ELDER

"Phweh! Hah… I'm not as able as I was in my youth. Goodness."

Thermo looked at the sphere for a while but didn't understand what was so special about it. As he stares at the sphere, it suddenly rises off the table and starts to spin on an axis slowly then rotates a few times before slowly floating back down to the table. The Namekians had panicked during the process, confused by the sudden motion of the sphere.

THERMO

"... hmph. Doesn't seem all that interesting. It's only a stone ball. What significance would this hold for him to leave you with one and take the rest himself?"

ELDER

"Bueh!!? Uh.. w-well, the strange thing is that there are multiple of these of the exact same size and shape. And the nameless one had once said they granted wishes. But he never told us how to activate them."

BONGA

"He said they belong with a tribe like ours but we didn't understand what he meant. Like he was saying they belong to us but…"

THERMO

"Say no more. I understand what's happening now. To an extent at least. Once I confirm something with an acquaintance of mine, I'll see what I can do."

BONGA

"So you'll help us!? Really??"

THERMO

"I don't see why not? This became more troublesome than I thought it would, but I'm sure we can figure something out about these."

ELDER

"Oh thank you!! Thank you so much!"

THERMO

"Wow. I didn't expect the enthusiasm. What is actually special about this namek that makes you so concerned?"

ELDER/BONGA

"Eh?"

THERMO

"Well, it's fine. I'll head out after another drink."

BONGA

"Ah. um. If you'd like, we could make you as much as you like for your return.."

THERMO

"..."

Thermo stands and walks out of the hut and floats away from the village.

THERMO

"I'll be back for those soon."

BONGA

"... huh. Seems like that worked out well enough."

ELDER

"Well, we shouldn't dally. Let's get those drinks ready for him. And a hearty meal too."

BONGA

"Indeed."