AI The Somnium Files: Into the Abyssmare (WIP)

Chapter O4-2S: D4 FES.

"Useless!"

Date is awoken by Mizuki yelling at him. He slowly stands up from his couch while Mizuki continues to yell at him.

"I called you a bunch of times and you didn't answer once!"

"Huh?" Date rubs his eyes, still in a sleepy state.

Aiba. Is this true?

"Good morning to you too, Date. There does not appear to be a single missed call."

"That's weird, I didn't get any calls last night."

"I bet you were out in a club somewhere, doing perverted stuff" Mizuki says. "You probably turned off your phone so you can focus on perverted stuff."

"No, I was in the police station working" Date responds.

Hey, Aiba. What happens if we get a call while in a Somnium?

"The call does not go through. However, there is still a record of a missed call."

But we didn't get any missed calls, right?

"Correct."

"Whatever" Mizuki says, heading towards the fridge. "I'm just glad that girl wasn't as scary as we thought."

"What girl?" Date asks.

"None of your business" Mizuki answers. "You couldn't even be bothered to answer your phone, so why should I tell you?" She checks up on her clione, then closes the door. "I'm heading over to Lemniscate now. I'm gonna eat lunch with Iris later." Mizuki grabs her bag and walks out the door.

The hell?

"According to her location history, it appears Mizuki was at Matsushita Diner last night."

I see. I guess I can ask Ota what happened later. But for now, it's almost noon. We should head over to Café Vinyl.

"I shall find the fastest route."

Date grabs his coat and heads out, locking the door behind him. He walks to his car, gets inside, and drives off. Moments later, he arrives at Cafe Vinyl.

"Oh, hello, Date."

Date walks in and immediately notices Hitomi sitting on the front counter.

"What are you doing here?" Date asks.

"I came here on Iris' recommendation" Hitomi answers. "What about you? How are things going with Iris' case?"

"I'm here on a lead" Date answers. Hitomi giggles at Date's answer. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing" Hitomi answers, suppressing a smile. "It's just, this isn't an official case, but you're still treating it like one."

"It's for Iris' sake" Date answers.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Hitomi asks. "Thank you for always looking out for her. There's only so much I can do, so I appreciate everything you do for us. So, what kind of a lead are you following?"

"I'm looking into a DJ Unit called L.M.O." Date answers, thankful that Hitomi changed the topic. "I was told one of their former members comes here often, at around noon."

"Ah, I suppose you're referring to Dennojo." Date turns and sees Ryujin standing behind the counter. "

How long has he been standing there?

"He has been there polishing glasses since before we walked in."

"I met with his granddaughter last night" Date explains. "She had a run in with one of the members of Abyssmare. Apparently that member knows about a unit called L.M.O."