Lucas spends a few seconds staring down at the ringing phone in his hand, which is, unsurprisingly, displaying an incoming call from Unknown. Just when he finally finds the resolve to actually answer it, his problem solves itself, as the phone stops ringing.

‘Oh, guess they gave up.’

[...More like they probably got sent to voicemail. Ah, yep, see?]

Before the missed call message even has a chance to fade from the screen, his phone has begun ringing once again.

At this point, even Miss Calculated’s curiosity is piqued, raising an eyebrow when she sees the ‘Unknown’ being displayed.

“Hmm, may I? Unless you were planning on answering it yourself, of course.” Miss Calculated is completely unable to resist attempting to unveil just who it could be that not only cracked her latest algorithm already, but also wants to harass Lucas. It’s a Venn diagram with very little overlap, after all. At least, as far as she is aware.

“Eh, I’ll do it. Well, here goes nuttin’.” Immediately after Lucas finishes saying this, he decisively taps the little green button to accept the call. Pausing a moment to make sure the call connected, Lucas sets it to speakerphone and casually drawls out a lengthy “Ye-llow” in greeting.

“FINALLY! Took you long enough! Seriously! You obviously were just holding your phone not even five minutes ago! And! What do you mean you-” A flustered male voice starts rapidly shouting through the phone, causing Lucas to make an amused grin.

Lucas had raised an eyebrow in question while looking up at Miss Calculated when the stranger started ranting, but she simply looks confused and shrugs, clearly not recognizing his voice.

Lucas broadens his smile further, feeling a spark of mischief. Adapting his best customer service rep voice, he cuts the stranger off with a jovial tone.

“May I ask who’s calling?” While Lucas asks this in an intentionally slowed-down voice, he leisurely walks over to lean against the outer wall of the restaurant, the main entrance of which is just a few feet to the side of the stretch of wall they're loitering near.

The two more chaotic members of the Sisterhood of Evil both stifle laughter at Lucas’s overly polite provocation, the sounds of which are mostly drowned out by the passing traffic and the general ambient noises of the area.

Miss Calculated is staring at the phone, deep in thought, clearly more concerned with identifying the caller.

“Wha..? Bah, what does it matter? Just, tell me, were you pulling my leg when you said you haven’t even made your site yet!? Did you hire Miss Calculated to set up an A.R.G. or something to hide it, trying to get people to unlock it first for even more publicity!? What the fuck!?” After the unknown man sputters briefly, he managed to sound even more flustered than earlier as he continues attempting to interrogate Lucas.

While Miss Calculated didn’t seem to gain any insights as to his identity just yet, she did at least develop an amused smile from the call out.

Miss Chievous giggles a bit louder this time, elbowing her twin and quietly mouthing out “You totally should.”

Considering the thoughtful look that has taken over Miss Calculated’s face, she seems to be taking the suggestion to heart.

‘Uh, A.R.G.? That sounds familiar but I can’t remember...’

[An Alternate Reality Game. It’s interactive transmedia entertainment, developing in real-time based on player interactions, generally requiring a large number of participants to complete. It has been… A long time since anyone bothered coordinating one. Though, given how much attention you and Jonathan have been attracting all of a sudden, that’s not the strangest guess. If someone pulled it off, that would certainly lead to global-scale attention for even a small brand new organization.]

‘OH! I messed around with one of those once during the promotion for a video game release! Holy fuck, that was elaborate. This dude seriously assumed we put that much work into our dumb organization?’

[...You said it, not me.]

Lucas noisily clears his throat, not letting go of his act, though he does feel rather flattered by the assumption that this is all an elaborate and carefully planned venture, as opposed to a rushed impulsive decision on his part.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you if I don’t know who I’m speaking with.” Surprisingly, Lucas manages not to crack while he maintains his exaggerated professional mode, though he does snort out a quiet snerk of laughter once he’s done.

Both Miss Masher and Miss Chievous have their hands over their mouths as they suppress their laughter.

While Miss Calculated manages to keep quiet, her amused grin has grown further, and she even gives Lucas a quick thumbs up.

Willy is sitting down on the sidewalk just to Lucas’s side, staring up at the phone, with his tail wagging in a display of his own amusement.

23 is much less concerned with the stranger antagonization going on behind it. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, it is slowly taking in the sights and sounds of the passing traffic and pedestrians, most of which are giving the group a wide berth. It has received numerous strange looks, given how unusual it is for a service bot to just casually stand around outside in the first place, let alone with the odd objects currently in its possession.

“Ugh! Fine! I’m CoffeeSoul from the stream chat! All three of them, don’t pretend your PR person keeping track of it all didn’t notice me! Now! Answer me!” When the unknown man gives this answer, all of the four people gathered around Lucas’s phone have blank expressions.

“Uhh… I don’t have a PR person. Definitely not one that somehow managed to watch all those random recordings lately. Sooo… CoffeeSoul who?” Lucas drops his act at this point, now using a more normal tone instead.

“YOU WHAT!? No, seriously, there’s no way you’ve been this viral without it being completely orchestrated!” When he starts winding up to continue ranting, Lucas cuts him off by loudly clearing his throat again.

“I’m not answering any more questions until I have a name and an explanation as to how you managed to block your ID.” While Lucas takes on a firm tone, Miss Calculated nods repeatedly in agreement, not that the stranger knows this detail.

“For fucks sake! My name is Ji Soo Choi, happy now!? And the latest blocker updated practically a month ago, how is that strange!?” Before Ji Soo finally answers, there’s the distinct thump of something being heavily impacted, one could perhaps speculate that it was the sound of a desk being pounded by the fist of a certain provoked individual.

Hearing the second sentence, Miss Calculated’s smile stiffens, and her eyes narrow as she starts pulling out her phone. After angrily tapping through her contacts a few times, her expression continues darkening as she impatiently taps her right foot rapidly, peevishly waiting as the call rings twice and then finally connects.

“CHESTER! JUST HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS DID YOU MANAGE TO FALL SHORT ON THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE ZXM-9001!? NO WONDER YOU DIDN’T SEND ME A PROTOTYPE! NO! I DON’T CARE THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO EXPENSIVE, JUST CHARGE MORE FOR THE DAMN PHONE THEN!” Even though Miss Calculated took a few steps away before beginning her phone call, she yells loud enough that even the people across the street are aware of her conversation.

‘Bwahaha, nerd rage activated!’

[...]

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 14.80 (+.01 +.01 +.01 +.01 +.01 = +.05 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 4.50* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are extremely high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.25* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals, even more people are realizing he's an impulsive idiot.)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 5.48 (.1 +.01 +.01 = +.12)

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 3.0* (+.25, More than just overly-paranoid people are suspicious at this point.)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now.)

Supervillain social circle size: 14

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, back in the apartment once again, and dumping a half-dozen knives, two lighters, and a slightly crushed pack of cigarettes onto the coffee table from out of his pockets: Seriously! What am I supposed to do with all the weapons I disarm from people! What? No! What the hell do we need so many knives for, 011!?

Willy, his tail abruptly ceasing to wag as he turns to look at Miss Calculated fuming on her phone: Whine...

Lucas, his amusement growing as Miss Calculated continues raging into her phone: Dude fucked up something fierce, hahaha!

427, similarly amused, but holding back: [So, I started looking into Ji Soo, and his natural powers are enhanced gustatory ability and olfactory sense… He’s just a conventional nerd, apparently.]

Author, snickering: You’d think he’d be a renowned chef or something with that combo. But, nope, he hates cooking.

Mr. Quacks, stealthily throwing out the pack of cigarettes so Jonathan doesn’t follow through with his original intent from back when he was (poorly) attempting to mug that bodega: Quack.