friends forever

I managed to avoid attention to myself quite well... I was never really comfortable when I'm with a lot of people... even today which Aunt pointed out to me so many times...

"This... is the knight's hall right?" if not then I should be at the opposite side... I'm still not used with maps... it's all too confusing for me...

a phone rings in my pocket, I took out my phone which was banned but thankfully, Aunt Theia made some... negotiations...

"hmm? who's this?" I ask, there was a long awkward silence for a follow-up but after a few minutes, someone finally responded

"Osiria!? oh! did I call someone else? sorry" it was my friend, Analisse. I call her Alice since it's a bit shorter and easier to say

"did you need anything? I'm fine right now since I don't have any school work"

"Nope, just called the wrong phone. (I keep mistaking it for your mother's...) well since I'm just in front of the school you're in at, why don't I visit your dorm? I've been quite lonely and I'm just with Orato right now, how are you buddy?" a small screech was heard after it... quite deafening...

"I'll come and meet you at the entrance, I don't think you're allowed to enter without permission..."

"oh I got permission from Aunt Theia, mother was quite worried about you so does Aunt Liliya since you didn't meet her so she wanted to give this to you. wait a sec, I'm coming over there" she hung up. I should really meet her there right now, I guess the knight's training room can wait... but really... who am I supposed to meet there anyway?

thankfully I know where the dorms are, I don't have to ask for people... I arrived in my own private room and Osiria was already there waiting...

"didn't anyone tell you to wait at the door rather than inside?"

"could you blame me? I don't like standing for too long" you-... haahhh... fine...

"Alright... alright. so? what did you bring?" she perks up and took out a huge... plushy?

"your mother brought you this, I think she made it considering how I haven't seen anything like this... didn't know Aunt Liliya could sew..." her carrying that thing is quite... astonishing...

"what did you want to do anyway? why'd you call?"

"oh! right, I was supposed to call Aunt Liliya but I missed the button and accidentally called you, mind relaying a message for me?" I nod. it was quite a weird message but it seems to come from Aunt Theia. about the news and how I'm holding up by myself...

"Considering that you're fine right now, I could definitely say to her that you're alright but it's probably better for you to call her" she has a point... no one really wouldn't be content when someone else says it... even if it's Alice...

"I'll call her tomorrow. by the by, do you..." she's already testing the beds...

"you don't mind me sleeping here for a night right?" she was... quite loose with it too... it's like she doesn't even care...

"what's in you're programming? is there some sort of bug? I should report this to Aunt Mei..." she started to panic, well... I couldn't really blame her for that...

"don't worry... I was just joking, I already know that you're like that." she calmed down and loosened up a bit.

"haahhh... you're always scary when you talk with your serious face... it's like you really mean it... well, I don't mind, just... don't tell her... alright?" I laugh a bit, she's quite quirky and upbeat for a puppet...

Analisse was made by Aunt Mei quite a long time ago when we were outside the world, she's quite protected by the whole family Mei has created since she's technically the youngest but Alice doesn't see it that way, more like they're pets... Fenrir and Fenris were mostly bullied by her and they couldn't do a thing...

other than that, Alice is a high-end Battleroid, unlike most battleroid, even the highest tiered ones, Alice has her own personality created by Aunt Mei, nurtured by Aunt Rin and then the pets took care of her in terms of security and common sense. Aunt Mei slowly made her grew up just the same as me, we look the same age; I'm technically older than her

she's done checking up on the room... even taking a pic of every single nook and cranny..."I'll send this to Aunt Liliya later... anyway, I hope you don't mind me taking up space on your bed" I shook my head, it's... too big to be honest...

"no, don't worry, we can probably fit one or two more people along with us if we tried to sleep there..."

she laughs "yeah! who thought about enormous beds anyway? is yours the only one like this?"

I... really don't know... I shook my head in response and she immediately understood "well... I don't consider you the talkative type... all I hear from you when we're alone is Phaedra this, Phaedra that, Omi's the cutest and the most elegant."

"ho? me talking about Phaedra might be fine but Omi is still the most elegant and the beautiful one here" "you dare challenge me and Orato? heh- it's time for you to eat your words!"

. . .

well... it didn't take long after someone reported us... we had a few battles with our pets and made a mess...we had fun in our mishaps and rivalry but-"what did both of your mothers say when doing these kinds of things?" my dorm guardian and Ether tutor... Erica. truth be told, she has a crush on big bro Ingrid.

both of us were sitting under punishment... just awaiting our devilish order...

"sorry... we promise we won't do it again here..." Alice took the first apology... I don't know if she's competing but she made a small smirk at me... as if she wasn't finished...

"Analisse... I'll document this and save it until you strike five, four more reports and you'll be immediately sent home for your punishment" the warning was apparently scary enough to make Alice freeze... well... I can only hope for mine to be lenient...

"as for you Osiria... I was quite sure you won't do this and made a promise to your mother that I'll make you behave, I'll be your dorm manager for the next 4 years and I'll bring the heaviest punishment possible to you so you wouldn't do this again. and don't even bother telling, I already called your mother about it and she seems fine about it"

what! did she really!?

"your reaction is as readable as always. yes. need proof? the text says so here, I'll print it out if need be, just a reminder that I can do whatever I want with you if you do so to annoy your colleagues and neighbor"

since... since when did miss Erica this devilish?..."I haven't enacted my revenge from you yet Osiria, just you wait" she leaves with a devilish smile on her face... those glasses aren't helping either...

we both shiver down to our spine... looking at air as if it was the end of the world..."let's... stop..."

"y-yeah... I'll... take a bath... I think I peed myself... I'm already wet down there..."

wrong choice of words Alice... but... yeah, that's the right words to describe it... if you're a masochist that is...

"wait... how can you be wet!? you're a puppet!"

------------

after a bath, we took each other's bags and rummage through and organized them, helping me with moving in. to be honest, I would've expected miss Theia to order a few of her servants for this but apparently -"you're supposed to grow up by yourself, don't expect me helping you in trivial matters"- and that's it.

we took some time to finish and I somehow started my old habit again...

"Osiria... stop. we're in a public place..."

"to me, it's my private room. if someone barges in it's their fault"

all along with organizing, Alice just ignored me and took it for granted...

"well~. I don't really mind you stretching and somehow revealing a bit of your panties, you're not even in a skirt"

"it's not my fault, I have a weak physique so I need to stretch every now and then" stretching has been my habit ever since we got into a ship back at that other world, it's not a bad habit per se but what's troubling my parents is my need to do so at every place I visit.

"just saying, if you're going to do it, do it somewhere you won't be seen" shrugging it off, she started gathering her things... is she?...

"what are you doing?"

"hm? organizing. what do you think?" huh? doesn't seem like it...

"wait.. is that-"

"oh scarlet, oh I missed you~" Analisse brought out her sword. bright red with a black, iron back, flexible and modified for her purpose...

"you somehow painlessly skimming your face in the blade isn't making me uncomfortable at all"

"Yeah, sorry for that but it's been a long time since I used her" I can't really say that missing a weapon is smart... or in the scope of common sense... but I really can't say having living wood as a friend is also in the scope of common sense...

the door opened- somehow... in the middle of the night? wonder who it is...

the door opens and revealed a quite familiar silhouette- "yahoo~ is this Osi-... Analisse?" it was Kris, a soldier from my mother's platoon. a Spirit of the forest but due to the name, she's simply a human spirit just reborn with abnormal Ether particles in the forest of Mhiel

"oh! Osiria! so you are here. I thought Analisse was actually going to school or something..."

"oy- that's rude, I simply don't have the time to go to school, it's quite boring". They started arguing with each other... they're not in good terms but they're logical at least, in terms that they won't fight as long as I intrude on them...

"so? what brings you here?" I didn't mind her barging in, both of them have practically the same habits of barging into someone else's room... I'm used to it

"oh- right. right. I was here to tell you that your schedule will be revoked for class purposes since we had some troubles with organizing the best environment for your class, you'll be under Flora Heiro in magic class-b for the second day. that's all"

she still had the uptight, military-like personality she had when they were in the military. seems like she really can't change...

"huh? what's with that?" Analisse began to question the meaning behind it, well... I'm also curious as to why. class purposes? best environment? did we really need that?

"I can't tell that to you Analisse. they didn't tell me the full story so I'm in the same boat as you all..."

"wait. aren't you a tutor here? what's wrong with that?" well... Alice's thoughts are on the point, I can imagine why but it won't help the situation...

"only the higher ones can be on their circle it seems... sir Ingrid seems to be there so you might as well ask him. that aside, why are you here Analisse, we don't approve of an outsider being here, especially sleeping in a dorm even if it's your friend"

really? I didn't know that... I would've declined her invitation if so but it seems it wouldn't matter...

"Aunt Theia already approved of me being here as Osiria's partner, go ask her herself for confirmation, I dare ya"

quite balsy for her... well she was like this in the first place

"*ahem* I don't need to regarding that response. I heard both of you got in trouble so I do recommend not being a nuisance for the others, you're not the only ones alone here"

we both nod and she left with a wave of goodbye. after that, we had a long conversation about ourselves, mainly both our pets... we reached the tip after so we went to sleep. both of us slept in the same bed since it's too large for me anyway. really... who designed these beds?

----------

the morning rise and I'm greeted with a half-naked girl... "good morning Osiria, I just took a bath and since we're both girls, you don't mind me just drying my hair here right?" yeah... she's that type... "I don't care, just please don't wet the floor, I'd hate slipping around the room"

as I was telling her that, the first bell rings and I started preparing my breakfast... was supposed to-

"I already baked a loaf and some eggs, hope you like it!"

we weren't in a segmented dorm, more importantly, I don't even know if there was a dorm such as that. I digress, I'm surprised that I didn't manage to smell it when I was asleep! and more importantly, she can cook!?

"c'mon, I baked and cooked just for you. the classes will start in around two in a half hours so best to prepare right now, we'll leave earlier right now since I'd like to ask you to escort me around the school grounds"

she asked quite a big request for me... more importantly

"I haven't even explored the place all too well yesterday, I don't know if I'd be much help in escorting you, probably best to go with a senior rather than me"

I wasn't quite sure at the layout thanks to the map and I confirmed that to her but she just ignored what I said...

"that's actually great! we could learn the layout together and with me around, you'd actually be a bit more courageous"

hey... that's quite harsh... but... she's right... I'm not really the bravest girl here right now, and plus, it's probably best if I go with her.

"I already memorized the map so the thing I only need to do is to get used to the surroundings" she packed everything in advance. probably preparing to finally leave my dorm... I feel somehow lonely when I see her packing...

"Alright then, I'll go and prepare the bath for you too, I'll be waiting in the front door of the dorms, thankfully this is an all-girls dorm so we won't have any problems with the boys"

guessing from what she said, I'd assume that she already took care of herself right? wait... she's a puppet... I keep forgetting that.

"Alright, I'll go and prepare, just wait for me for around... 40 minutes and we'll go"

she nodded and smiled, waved then left the room, I hope she'd be fine all by herself... she's a battleroid with common sense, the only problem is her personality...

I took a dip in the tepid water that Analisse prepared for me... it's... quite relaxing... feeling the warm water with some music in the background... I forgot to mention but my room was installed with calming music to help me relax a bit, only calming music so I can't change it to something else... but... I don't need to bother with it...

. . .

I took a long glance at the marble ceiling and reminded myself of an oath that was given to me prior to my return to Laplace...

"oh hello Omi, how are you today?" Omi Petchi... the butterfly that was given to me by Phaedra a long time ago before his disappearance. he was... mysterious... if I met him when I'm this old I probably would've avoided him... I was a child back then so I took no consideration that he could actually be someone bad. well... I'm not really regretting meeting him... he was nice... he gifted me a lot of things, also showing the past where my parents haven't adopted me yet when they were a child...

besides that, this butterfly has great compatibility with me... I didn't even need to reconfigure my Ether veins to properly link with it... thanks to this, I can finally fight all alone but it's best to hide this. Aunt Mei told me that this was an Ethereal butterfly that has not been recorded in history until our return to Laplace.

thankfully it can hide like pretend to be a hairpin or make its wings turn something similar to stitching so it can stick to my uniform and pretend it's a modification.

Analisse' owl, Orato Mathius is different though... well, of course, it wouldn't but from Aunt Mei's permission, Orato was allowed to show itself since it can defend itself even without Alice's help. her owl can transform into whatever it wants but at the cost of exhausting the Ether of the owner. Thankfully, Alice has a large Ether crystal enough to bank a whole 5 tanks, compact and quite efficient too considering that she's a battleroid

. . .

. .

.

I finally finish bathing and dress up to my uniform-... the scarf... should I?... I'll carry it just in case.

my uniform has a different color and has a small cloak as a bonus, the cloak is modified for cooling and heating thanks to the Ether crystals that Aunt Mei integrated inside, the blue inform, unlike the original white and gray-colored uniforms which everyone wears has zero to no modifications, the students need to modify it themselves and it's also encouraged to do so. mine was given by Aunt Mei but at the same time, my parents also modified it themselves... how much do they love me anyway? it's like it's too suffocating for me...

I finally finish preparing until I saw a couple of students in the area, they seem to be circling someone that I hope isn't Alice...

「woah... she's strong」-「I know right? is she a student here?」-「maybe we can follow her?」

as I would've guessed... it's Analisse... creating attention again I see...

I call out to her by waving my hand but the only one who responded was her owl... I wasn't quite sure but it seems to be something important?

"what's wrong? is there anything happening right now?" the owl responded with one hoot, meaning it was a yes... I can't think of anything wrong so I asked if it was important or trivial and responded with a screech... so it's in the latter? what's the screech? Alice didn't tell me anything about any screech!

a few minutes later, Alice called for Orato and instantly and silently knocked the opponent Alice was facing with... it seems that Alice finally noticed me.

waving at me, she signed that everything's alright now so I came in dashing through the crowd

"What happened here? what's wrong?" I asked, the crowd seems to be a bit wary ever since I entered the fray... are they afraid of me or just avoiding me?

"you can take a guess from the crowd themselves, these guys seems to be introducing some nasty rumors about you that I overheard so I asked Orato to do some bit detective work"

rumors? "what's the rumors about? ahh- besides that, should I call big bro? anyone will do really..."

she shook her head... "best not to get the teachers involved in this case..." is what she said... well... I don't know why but I feel like everything's resolved?

a while after, the crowd dispersed and what's left is me, Analisse and the three boys...

"What should we do with them?" I ask. they're unconscious which is surprising. there's no signs of bleeding too, just bruises and extremely shallow cuts...

"I'll handle them since I was the one who started all of this, I'll meet you up in the eastern hallway just at the front of the gym. oh, right.. umm... just go straight here and you'll see what I'm talking about"

somehow I don't want to know what she's going to do with them... so I leave her alone and head to where she pointed at. I gotta say... the place looks a bit livelier than at mid-day...

"hmm? is something wrong buddy?" Omi seems to be a bit hectic right now... I don't understand her though... I have no way of conversing with her unlike Orato... who can shriek and make noises... all I can do is guess from her patterns...

patterns... "oh! I got a great Idea! why don't you fold your wings for the 1st option and open them in the second option?"

oh! good... she finally calmed down a bit... seems like she understood what I'm going here...

"alright then do you want to eat or something?" I'm responded with a no... then... "do you want to explore or something?" folded wings, that's a yes right? then...

"I... don't really know if you're allowed to... Aunt Mei told me to keep hiding you..." after that, Orato changed her coloration from bluish-white to shining red couldn't that be a way of conversing too? I forgot she can do that...

"well... as long as you don't show yourself to anyone especially big bro then I'm fine with it" it flaps in the air and roosts on my head for a second then begins to change color then travel the school grounds. I didn't know they also had this kind of will... are all Ethereal beings like this? I'd like to meet someone who can talk...

I arrive at the place where Alice told me to go to and it seems that the knight's training grounds is just behind the gym... huh...

"hello freshman, we want to warn you that you're wearing inappropriate school uniform, you might get reported to the tutors if you don't change any time soon"

huh? aren't I infamous right about right now? surprising that some people still don't know who I am, especially with the extremely formal uniform I was given... well... I kinda mixed it up a bit since I wanted the scarf... I'm wearing it right now so I don't show my face all too much.

"y-yeah... but... I'm with privilege here... I kinda have to or else..." I stutter a bit but that's because I'm not used to arguing with another person who I don't know. I began explaining my lineage but she doesn't seem to buy it...

"I'm sorry but further lies will only worsen your situation... I'm afraid that you'll have to right now" she's really pushing me right now...

"I'm telling you, I have the privilege to. even if I want to, I physically can't" of course, she doesn't yield to it, she grabbed my scarf and-

"I warned you, you'll regret having to face me" then leaves the area... thankfully she didn't take the small cloak or I really will be unable to converse...

Analisse finally arrived after a few seconds... wondering why I look so empty, she asks-

"huh? what's wrong? did something happen?" she wasn't all that worried. well... I'm not really that mad about it...

"Someone took my scarf so I feel a bit naked right now..."

"huh... well... I'm right here, wanna get it back? I can beat them to a pulp if need be." wait! that's not what I meant!

"wait-wait, not, it wasn't really by force, forget about it, it'll come back eventually..."

I told her the rest and she seems to be less... vicious...

"well... if that so then I don't need to make it into a problem... as you said, it'll come back eventually. how about the tour? do you still want to do it?" she started scratching her head as if she was partly at fault here. well... she was supposed to be my guardian so leaving me behind really was her fault but at the same time, I'm the one who also fanned the flames...

"sure... I'll still go, I might not be as comfortable though..." she perks up and gives a warming smile. with a "well then? let's go!", we entered the school grounds, at least I know where the knight's training room is right now...

we still have 2 or less more hours for the bell to ring again. we have plenty of time!

guided by Analisse, we look around and found some interesting rooms...

"the summoner's archive?... bone manipulation room... I heard from my father that bone manipulation is extremely painful..." I don't know the specifics but thankfully I had Analisse who's the daughter of the smartest person alive right now

"oh? well why don't I give you a small rundown of it?"

-wind art and wind manipulation is different from every art and manipulation forms. wind manipulation just excretes foreign and biological mixtures in the air; such as poison, spores, or simply changing the wind's direction, my mother is the most popular of the wind art users as she uses her skills, rather to paralyze or poison them, she uses them as a way to convert wind to blood petals, her most prominent wind-blood art is the waltz of the dancing petals which is one of the most dangerous and hardest arts to master...-

-blood art and blood manipulation is connecting your blood or flesh with the blood of your own or others to form a shape or create troubling terrain. ever recorded in the past where uncle Kirin was still alive was Parva, a pure-blood-wind art manipulator. she can transform her Ether and disperse it like lightning bolts to connect with the blood of her own or her enemies and turning them into a giant ball and raining crystalized blood spikes then canceling her Ether connection to it and let chaos run wild, the theory behind it seems to be that the blood orb seems to target active Ether veins in the area and strike-

-and the last form is the bone art and bone manipulation technique. unlike all of them, this one uses your own bones and mutate it with your Ether Veins that are implanted within the bones of one as such, my father rarely uses this as it is rather painful and would cause one to run amok from the pain if left continuously. it's possible to live with like a scythe or a sword as hands or feet but from Aunt Mei's speculation, it would need 40 days to get used to it, if somehow this happened, returning to one's previous self would also give the person pain and need to get used to the original body physique for another 40 days so it's not recommended to use it for long periods of time-

"Unlike your father, the Fallen doesn't have the capacity to endure that much amount of pain so bone manipulation techniques is a bit of a last resort for anybody using it"

I see... I can't really use it but it's a useful trivia for me to know.

"that aside, we walked for quite a long time? how many minutes do we still have?"

I look at the giant clock just right outside the window and-

"huh... we still have about 120 minutes... we still have time." well... it's getting quite peaceful in the area, there doesn't seem to be any rush... is everyone not going for today?

Alice seems to have noticed too... it's quite ominous for a hall to be this baron...

we found a tutor and thankfully, Alice was the one to talk to her. "excuse me? why are there practically ghosts in the area?" ...

"huh? ghost?... ahh! you mean the halls? no one goes this early, seniors will be on the clubs or on their dorms at this time, wasn't there a notice on the board a while ago?"

huh? notice?... Analisse once again saves me from talking, thank you.

"notice? sorry, we're quite new here so we don't have any knowledge around the area, we're simply just exploring the halls and we got curious about the deserted rooms and halls"

"ahh- so that's why?... I see... well, you two have nothing to worry about, although... there's something I'm quite curious about... you two doesn't seem to be wearing the usual school uniform... aren't you two freshmen? if that so, I'll need both of you to return to your dorms and change back to your original uniforms"

huh?... I can understand Analisse but for me to be forgotten is quite... troubling... Analisse seems to think so too as we look at each other with confusion...

"I'm sorry, I'm not a student here, I'm just guiding her since she's a bit shy, but in the meanwhile, we should introduce ourselves first. it's quite rude to not introduce to a teacher right?" I nod in response but... she's smiling deviously again...

"yes, I shall go first then, I'm a tutor of Philosophy and arts, Jeff Linemen from the human kingdom"

human... that's quite surprising...

"I'm quite surprised to see a human teaching but I don't want to be rude, it seems that Philosophy and arts are for Humans and for the Floran and Reptilian's hobbies..."

"haha... I'm afraid so, as us humans don't strengthen ourselves anymore in terms of military prowess, some have resolved in teaching the basics..."

... it's quite a pity that the human race is the lowest race in power...

"Well then, we haven't introduced ourselves right? I'm Analisse V. Mei, also known as the human roid, and-" she looks at me. well... I don't have a choice...

"I'm Osiria Rosa; Liliya Rosa and Naoya Von Eisen's daughter." we both take a bow with a "nice to meet you". to be honest, it seems like we were going to punish him the moment we introduced ourselves...

as expected... he was quite shocked after hearing our names... it's known to the world that the trio; namely Rosa, Von Eisen and Mei are one of the highest in the food chain, serving all the lives of Laplace and the strongest of all the races even the dragon kind...

"T-THE Rosa and Mei? the daughters of the trio?!"

with a happy devious smile, Analisse nods with content... I'm quite scared that she has taken some of Aunt Theia's personality of having fun toying with others...

"P-Please forgive my rudeness! I didn't notice you were the daughters of the great three! please accept my forgiveness!" he was bowing so low that he's practically going through the floor... Alice looked at me with a smile and I responded with a small shrug... I don't really mind her doing these kinds of things but at least she had a bit of fun on the way...

after a while, we forgave him for not knowing who we really are, I'm not really the kind of person who would want dictatorship and punish every person who doesn't know me and nor does Alice but... she sometimes wants to mess with them a little... I don't dislike it, it's actually quite fun too but I feel like that's only a privilege for people who are the daughters and sons of the higher-ups...

"I'm really sorry for not recognizing you two... may the princesses be safe"

uhh... princess? "I-... I don't know if I like that... just call us by our names, we won't bite. we're still in our teens so it's fine"

Analisse saying something to calm a person down doesn't really help... but as long as she's trying... I think she doesn't like hearing herself called a princess... she's not pretty ladylike in the first place anyway...

after a while, we finally concluded the whole situation with nothing major happening... besides probably a trauma...

"so? did you have fun?" I tell to Analisse with a smile in her face... really... this girl...

"have fun? of course I had fun! messing with people's minds is something Aunt Theia does in her past time so finally doing it myself is a huge breather for me! oh god the adrenaline is rushing in me!" she seems so giddy about it too... I'm really scared that she'll become the second Theia if Aunt ever dies... which is probably unlikely...

we look at the central clock out in the window again and it seems that we only have another 40 minutes of past time... we started going through the place and somehow... we decided to do something stupid once again...

"hey? why don't we mess with a few more people again?" seriously... this girl... I keep saying that but I'm really afraid that my best friend will turn into a copy of Aunt Theia...

"sure... I don't really have anything that much to do anyway. so? what's your plan?"

she actually responded immediately... "let's go spar with the Knights! isn't it a good time to train ourselves too? it's been a long time since we actually fought so sparring might be the best way to catch up?

"you do know that I can't fight that well without Omi right? as of right now, she's just traveling across the schoolyard so I can't spar"

Alice shrugs, "don't bother with it, you can just support me in the backlines right? just focus on supporting and if the off chance of someone getting passed us then you can focus on evading!"

straightforward again I see... well... it's not like I can do anything else really... without Omi, I can't fight that well as support.

"... fine... if I somehow get injured in this fight you're buying me 10 bars of chocolate..." why not a little bet?

"what!? fine! there's only one condition, you don't purposefully injure yourself by the foe, alright? or else you're buying me juice and soda"

with a competitive rivalry, we shook hands and headed back to the gym where the knight's training room should be... I heard it was only for sophomores to Seniors and Grad Seniors... so we should be in trouble if I was the only one fighting here...

we arrive at the back door of the gym... we should find some pretty strong people around here...

with an excited smile, I see Analisse holding the handle with excitement. with a confirmation, she asks- "well?... are you ready?" with hands shivering in excitement, looking at me with a small serious grin, I respond with "well? let's go ahead" and open the doors. I wonder who we will be fighting against?