Friday Afternoon Part 2

After watching Ed's favorite anime for almost an hour, Ed placed the fried chicken on a plate while Liz began serving strawberry ice cream.

She handed two servings of the ice cream to Leo and Nel.

“Here’s yours, Rin,” Liz said, offering me a serving with both strawberry and chocolate ice cream.

“Guys, I’m starting the new episode of the anime,” Ed announced, holding a piece of fried chicken.

It was Liz’s turn to pick the new anime, and as expected, she chose her favorite genre of cooking, which only made all of us hungrier.

“I’d like some egg fried rice,” Nel suddenly said, blushing slightly after realizing what she’d said.

“We can get some later,” Liz replied.

After the first episode, both Liz and Nel started craving egg fried rice.

Ed quickly ordered six portions, which arrived in just five minutes.

Liz and Nel’s eyes lit up as Ed handed them their plates.

The fried chicken paired perfectly with the egg fried rice.

“Liz, do you want another half portion of egg fried rice?” Ed asked his twin sister, glancing at her plate.

Liz silently nodded, then handed her plate to Ed for a refill.

Leo and Nel were still happily eating their meals.

After a few minutes of resting, we prepared for the virtual skydiving.

“So, what do you guys do after watching anime?” Leo asked, his curiosity piqued about what was coming next.

“Normally, we explore the Old World virtually, based on Akasha’s memory before the Great Mechanical War,” Ed explained.

“Other times, we do extreme activities in the virtual world, like skiing, mountain climbing, paragliding, and so on,” he added, smiling.

“Wait, don’t tell me today’s one of those times?” Leo asked.

“Yes, you’re right, Leo,” Ed replied.

“Are you guys ready?” I asked.

“Let’s go,” Liz and Nel replied enthusiastically.

“Akasha, permission to use the virtual world,” I requested.

“Permission granted,” Akasha responded.

“Augmenting Full Perception… Transferring five consciousnesses to the Virtual World,” Akasha added.

In an instant, our consciousness was transported to the virtual world lobby.

“Requesting location to transfer,” Akasha prompted.

“Location: Grand Canyon,” Ed replied.

“Location specified, requesting for exact location on the Grand Canyon” Akasha asked.

“Location: Grand Canyon Center, 30,000 feet above the ground,” Ed added.

“Wait, brother! Did I hear that right? 30,000 feet… Don’t tell me…” Liz said, her voice tinged with fear.

“Skydiving, huh?” Liz added, now fully realizing what was happening.

“Have you two ever free-fallen from the sky?” I asked Leo and Nel.

“This is our first time,” Nel answered, nervously.

“Don’t worry, Nel. Even if you fall headfirst, you won’t die,” Liz said proudly.

“Transferring to a specified location in 3…” Akasha counted down.

“Wait, where’s our parachute?” Liz asked, suddenly panicked.

“That’s the point, sis. There isn’t one,” Ed said with a devilish grin.

Liz’s face went pale for a moment. I grabbed her hands to reassure her that I was with her.

“2… 1… Transferring to location,” Akasha finished.

In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves 30,000 feet above the Grand Canyon.

I quickly held onto Liz as we plummeted through the sky.

Ed grabbed my other hand, then Leo’s, and Leo and Nel followed suit.

We formed a circle as we fell, or honestly more like a starfish.

Liz and Nel closed their eyes, likely trying to block out the terrifying sensation of freefalling.

“I’ll be fine, brother,” Liz said, trying to muster some confidence.

After a minute of freefalling, Liz opened her eyes.

Her face lit up with awe as she saw the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon stretching out below us, hundreds of miles long.

“The view looks majestic,” Liz said, her voice filled with wonder.

Nel opened her eyes to see what Liz was talking about, but both of them forgot that they were still falling at an incredible speed.

The red, orange, and gold rock formations below reflected the light of the setting sun, creating a breathtaking scene.

We all savored the view for a full minute before Liz and Nel suddenly realized how close we were to the ground, still a few kilometers from impact.

“I guess I’ll enjoy the view for a few more seconds,” Liz said, accepting her fate as we plummeted toward the ground.

“Akasha, requesting deceleration,” I called out.

“Deceleration activated… reducing the free fall speed to 0.1m/s,” Akasha responded.

Liz and Nel had their eyes closed as we slowly descended. I quickly landed on the ground, catching Liz and lifting her into a princess carry.

Leo did the same with Nel.

“You can open your eyes now, Liz,” I said.

Liz slowly opened her eyes and, realizing I was carrying her, politely asked me to put her down.

“I thought I was going to die there,” she said with a sigh.

“Didn’t you say that even if you fall headfirst, you won’t die?” Ed teased.

“Brooooooother!?” Liz shouted, chasing after Ed with a smile.

Nel and Leo chuckled as they watched the siblings.

“Did you guys have fun?” I asked.

Ed and Liz turned their attention to me at the question.

“I never realized that watching with friends, eating food, and falling from the sky could be so much fun,” Nel replied.

“Can we come again?” Leo asked eagerly.

“Of course! You and Nel can come every week,” Liz said with a grin.

“You can look forward to even more fun things coming your way,” Ed added.

“See you next week, Liz,” Nel said.

“I’ll be waiting, Nel,” Liz replied with a smile.

“Akasha, requesting halting of Full Perception Augmentation,” I said.

“Request granted,” Akasha replied.

“Returning five consciousnesses to reality,” she added.

I woke up to find Liz cuddling on my chest.

“Before you go, would you like some coffee or hot chocolate?” Ed asked.
“Coffee,” Leo and Nel replied in unison.

“Liz and Rin?” Ed asked, looking at us.

“Two hot chocolates,” Liz replied.

“Wait a bit, I’ll make some,” Ed said as he got up.

I opened two bags of cookies and handed one to Nel while we waited.

A few minutes later, Ed returned with five cups of hot drinks, three cups of coffee and two hot chocolates.

“Before, I wondered why there were three bags of cookies. Now I know why,” Leo said.

“It’s for the afternoon tea party,” Liz replied.

“You mean coffee and hot chocolate party,” Nel added with a smile.

Liz and Nel chatted as they enjoyed their hot drinks and cookies.

“I know we said goodbye for today, but it’s just so much fun hanging out with you guys,” Nel suddenly said.

“Yeah, no wonder you’ve been doing this for eight years,” Leo added.

After a while, Leo and Nel bid us goodbye as the sun began to set.

“Rin, take care,” Liz said, looking worried as I headed toward the door.

“You too, Liz,” I replied, offering a reassuring smile.

As I walked away from their house, I realized she hadn’t asked if I was free this weekend.

I guessed that Akasha must have informed her about the Death Doll sighting near the outer Grid.
As one of the protectors, I was being called to the Frontiers, the outermost regions.

My great-grandfather had requested my help securing the area.

According to Akasha, Professor Gregory had already gone to the other site, as the others were tied up with their current tasks.

The good news was that there had been no casualties, but the problem was that there was no one specialized in close combat, aside from my great-grandfather, who was on par with a Death Doll.

That's why my great-grandfather had asked Akasha if I could assist in securing the area.

Normally, Akasha would deploy one of her Reapers, but most of them were scattered across the world, searching for Andromeda's factories.

While those factories should theoretically all be destroyed, monsters like the Death Dolls from the Great Mechanical War have been appearing recently in various locations, which led to the worldwide search a few months ago.

I made a mental note to bring more condensed black cubes tomorrow as I continued my walk home.