In Need of Strength

While Ryker was pondering over his amulet, Caelus was looking at the compad, gently swirling the teacup in his hand as he inspected it.

"I was meaning to ask, but there seems to be some other entity occupying the compad besides R.A.I.S.U?" he finally said. Before Ryker could say anything, however, Bestie popped out of the compad with a nervous smile, bowing to Caelus deferentially.

{Hello, Mr. Caelus, sir. My name is Bestie, and I'll be living with your son from now on!}

Caelus just gave her tiny avatar a blank look and, seeing that Mini C was conspicuously silent, turned to Ryker for an explanation.

"Uh, guess a lot's happened on my end, too," Ryker said with a grin, and he quickly gave Caelus a brief summary of the events of the past few weeks, including everything he knew about the Friend System.