Young Writers Society

ANTARCTIC BANK OF COMMERCE est. 2045
A bank for you

Account Holder: Edelgard Emmeline von Bellingshausen

Spoiler! :

Glacier Supermarket -45,93 ANT$ (08/07 11:12 pm)
Thank you for your visit!
Glacier Supermarket -79,99 ANT$ (08/07 11:58 pm)
Thank you for your visit!
Glacier Supermarket -11,39 ANT$ (08/08 1:22 am)
Thank you for your visit!
Glacier Supermarket -49,55 ANT$ (08/08 2:01 am)
Thank you for your visit!

The list goes on...

Account balance: -26.910 ANT$

Edelgard spoke after making sure Sadie had read everything to the end.

"I just want to know if you can do it," Edelgard replied, "So, can you do it? If yes, I want to see results tomorrow morning!"

She thought for a moment.

"We have a guy on the second floor with computer knowledge. I call him usually Eyetea, so make yourself comfortable there."

...What was hacking?

They knew what ABC had to be. Banks were a thing back where they were from, and they may or may not have stolen some Fatui money before. It wasn't exactly hard. They just slipped on a Fatui mask, a dark outfit, and bam. One easy entry into an otherwise sealed vault.

But as far as Berry could tell, hacking wasn't the same kind of physical thing. It was more...distant. Almost like astrology, and maybe like alchemy. They peeked over at the paper that Miss Edelweiss had passed off to Sadie, unable to do much more than just observe as the two hashed out the specifics of Sadie's test. Berry was sure they'd be getting a test of their own soon, seeing that Miss Edelweiss frustratingly didn't trust them yet. They just needed to figure out what their skill set was going to be. They couldn't exactly say the truth, could they? That would stupid. Even if being truthful about some of what they could do would mean they could be more useful to this group, and theoretically help themself get home faster...

...Berry was hating how good this stupid idea was starting to sound.

"Sure, no problem." Sadie shrugged. Mr. DeLuca usually demanded six-figure pulls at a time, with the occasional million or two dollar job. There was a reason he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. That he kept Stephanie on retainer and sent her in on Sadie's behalf absurdly frequently. She was an investment, and she was worth it. She looked up at Edelgard. "But you've yet to convince me why I should. The interview goes both ways."

"It already goes both ways, otherwise I wouldn't have given you personal information," Edelgard clarified to Sadie, "Besides, you're just proving that your skills are good. You will only be invited into important business and talks after I have convinced myself of your abilities. Any other questions?"

Edelgard yawned briefly and mused that it was time to lie down. Or to go to her favourite bar, and hope that later she might find a penguin in the alley.... Then the idea came to her and she turned to Berry.

"For a certain mission in the near future, we need a penguin. You make sure we find a suitable candidate. The more the merrier, of course," Edelgard explained, "I advise you to look in side streets and alleys, you'll find more there than on the main roads."

Berry doubted that the group actually needed a penguin for the supposed mission, but they weren't going to argue. They didn't need to reveal their acting skills if Miss Edelweiss thought they were skilled at doing grunt work.

And besides. Catching a penguin seemed fun, and Berry seriously doubted they'd be able to do it again before they got back to their world.

Berry eagerly nodded.

"I can do it!" they promised, a genuine grin on their face.

"Mm...yeah, sure, whatever." Sadie lazily stood up, glancing back at the bank statement. "I'll do this, but you better make it worth my while when I do. I'm not the kind of person that gets cut out."

"That all sounds very promising!"

Edelgard clapped her hands and was sure that she could finally have peace for the rest of the evening.

"Good luck to you both. And when you're done, report to me, as long as I'm not asleep, I won't complain either."

With a broad grin, she put her feet up on the table and tried to pretend to doze.

What a bizarre person. Sadie glanced at Berry, trying to gauge what they thought of it all, then stepped towards the door.

Berry followed Sadie to the door. They were already trying to think of how they could get their hands on a penguin. Maybe two penguins, one for themself and one for Miss Edelweiss. They didn't entirely know what to do with the penguins once they had them, but people walked around with animals all the time in Teyvat. Baizhu and Xiangling of Liyue both had them. Thoma had one in Inazuma, and the outrider in Mondstadt's bunny thing had to count as an animal, right? Berry could totally make having a penguins be their thing.

“So, uh…” Sadie looked over at them as they got to the hall. “…you ever catch a penguin before?”

"No," Berry said. They thought for a minute, and then a bit of the actual Berry slipped through their usually clueless facade. "But I'm sure it'll be fun."

They looked over at Sadie.

"Have you caught one before?" they asked. It wouldn't hurt to get pointers if she had.

“No.” Sadie scoffed and shook her head. “It’s stupid to try. Have fun with the rabies.”

Berry blinked.

"What's rabies?" they asked, actually confused for once.

“Heh.” Sadie smirked. “Guess you’ll find out.” Okay they probably wouldn’t — she hadn’t heard of rabid penguins before. But. It still seemed like a stupid idea.

Berry immediately tried to come up with what rabies could be, and almost immediately after that realized they really didn't know.

"Are rabies baby penguins?" Berry asked. Baby birds were usually called chicks, but maybe penguins were the exception. Berry didn't know. Earth was weird. They didn't even have visions here.