"I hate the Sirius Zone, I hate it so much!" growled Annette, as she drove back to Pine Springs.

Stefan’s house was in the Sirius Zone, and while it was built in the style of a Victorian mansion, it felt far more sinister due to the large automatic gate and spike strips that Anna had to open and disarm with an RFID key before Annette could enter the driveway.

"Ah! Finally back to something normal," she sighed in relief as her familiar streets came into view.

She parked her car, got out, and trudged up the driveway.

"Mikaela? I’m home," she called out, ringing the doorbell for good measure.

"Hi Mom. How was Mr. Stanislaus’ house?" asked Mikaela as she opened the door.

"Flashy," replied Annette, as she walked into the kitchen to get dinner prepped.

"Don’t bother. Captain Hawkins told me earlier that he’s invited us for a barbecue at 7," said Mikaela, as Annette reached for a package of ready to cook vegan meatballs.

"And did you tell him that I won’t eat dead animal?" asked Annette, as her hands shook in annoyance.

"He said that he’s getting extra corn and the cob just for you," said Mikaela, trying to imitate Edward’s Southern accent.

"Fine," sighed, Annette, cracking a small smile of amusement at Mikaela’s attempt at a Southern accent.

---

"Thanks, Captain Hawkins," said Mikaela as Edward handed her a steaming plate of sausage and roast beef.

"So, how was your first day of school?" asked Edward.

"It was OK. Anna had gone and cut her hair to stop her dad from sending her to some private school. Ms. Washington is our homeroom teacher, and she’s pretty nice. Then I got a ride from Mr. Stanislaus home, as I told you earlier," said Mikaela, between bites of meat and sausage.

"And why did you decide to ride in Stefan’s car?" asked Annette, as she peeled some corn and the cob.

"Seemed like a good idea, since Anna was being stubborn," said Mikaela with a shrug.

"Yes well, I hope you savored that moment, because Anna will be taking the school bus from tomorrow," said Annette.

"No biggie, Mr. Stanislaus said I could carpool with him whenever I like, I just have to give him a heads-up in the morning," said Mikaela with a smirk.

"Well, he’s setting a very bad example by driving that gas guzzler," said Annette.

"Hmph! You’re just mad because I called the Ioniq boring, which is true," shot back Mikaela.

"Driving to school shouldn’t be an action movie," said Annette, doubling down.

"It should be once in a while. Your car doesn’t even let you speed!" scoffed Mikaela.

"And that’s a feature I appreciate. I’d rather not get pulled over and fined every time I drive, thank you very much!" snapped Annette.

"And I thought it was guys who kept obsessing over cars," chuckled Edward, observing the bickering.

Mikaela finished her steak and sausage, and stood up.

"Thanks for dinner, Captain Hawkins," she said, before leaving the table, and heading to her house across the street, completely ignoring Annette.

"What am I going to do with her?" sighed Annette wearily.

"Pray that she grows out of sports cars before she’s 16?" suggested Edward, which earned him a glare.

"I don’t have the luxury of laughing about something like that, Edward. Don’t ever make light of such an issue again," hissed Annette, getting up and storming out.

"Those two are intense," muttered Edward, as he savored a second helping of his perfectly grilled steak.

---

"I can’t believe I turned down a position at St. Ignatius for this social justice dump. Why did I let my principles get in the way, and decide to make sure these kids don’t suffer?" sighed Maria Washington as she sat in the staff room, going over her lesson plans for the day.

"Morning, Maria. How are you settling in?" asked Connor Fisher, the PE teacher.

"Hi Connor. I’m settling in OK. This privilege weighted grading system we are supposed to use still pisses me off though. It feels so unfair to penalize students because of their socioeconomic background," replied Maria.

Connor leaned forward conspiratorially.

"I agree with you. The only reason they haven’t pulled that shit on PE is because they still want the sports funding. But keep your mouth shut about it. Principal Randall is pretty militant when it comes to that," he said in a low voice.

Maria nodded.

"I know. Anyway, how are the preparations for the football season coming along?" she asked him.

"About as well as can be with the current crop of couch potatoes I’ve got to work with," chuckled Connor.

"Well, I better get going. Nice talking to you Connor," said Maria, packing up her lesson plans, and standing up.

"By the way Maria. You’re looking really nice today," said Connor with a grin as he looked her up and down, taking in her black skater dress, pantyhose and flats.

"Thanks," replied Maria, blushing furiously and heading out the door.

---

"Hey, Anna. How was the school bus?" asked Mikaela as Anna entered the classroom.

"It was actually pretty fun. Got to meet quite a few seniors. You should try riding it too," said Anna.

"I’d much prefer coming in your dad’s Lambo. That was fun," said Mikaela.

"Ugh! He’s such an embarrassment! I’m here trying to have a normal and responsible school life, and he is just showing off in front of everyone!" grumbled Anna.

"Hey, I don’t see anything wrong with that," said Mikaela.

"Yeah, you don’t. You should have seen the dirty looks Dad got from everyone when he showed up in that yesterday. I just couldn’t bring myself to even go near him!" said Anna, her cheeks tuning pink with mortification from the memory.

"Hmm, Oh yeah! What was that private school he wanted to send you to?" asked Mikaela.

"St. Ignatius something. Can you believe that they make you wear a damn uniform there? And I would have had to write a test to enter? That was way too much for me," said Anna with a shudder.

"Settle down class," announced Ms. Washington, entering the classroom and bringing their conversation to a halt.

"Ms. Washington, do you have a date?" asked one of the boys, staring at her.

"No, and it’s rude to stare like that," said Ms. Washington, starting to have second thoughts about wearing a dress.

"Sorry, but you’re pretty," said the boy, averting his gaze.

"Well, thank you. Let’s focus on the lesson now, shall we? Today we will be learning ratio and proportion," said Maria, forcing down her blush.

---

"Nice to see you again, Hajime," greeted Aaron, as he, Friedrich, and Natasha entered the new Yamamoto Corp shipyard.

"It’s great to have you here," said Hajime.

He showed them to the main observation area where they could see the massive black stealth carrier that was the new JS Akagi being prepped for launch.

Aaron let out a low whistle.

"So that’s what your masterpiece ship looks like," he said, observing the carrier.

The ship was long, with a pair of low profile superstructures rising out of the sides flight deck area.

The hull was a sleek matte black, similar to the stealth hulls of Libya’s Philosopher class cruisers, the Aristotle, Machiavelli and the recently built Socrates.

However, unlike the sharp, knife-like shape of those ships, the Akagi had the long and narrow flat top of a full CATOBAR aircraft carrier, and unlike the minimal armaments of US carriers, was bristling with missile banks and cannon turrets like Soviet style carrier-cruisers, only these were mounted to the sides of the flight deck, giving a clear path for aircraft to catapult and taxi.

"This is indeed my masterpiece," said Hajime, looking over the carrier fondly.

"Where is the Japanese government? I thought they would be here for the big day?" asked Friedrich.

"Those snivelers can have their own ceremony once I deliver it. They don’t get to see the launch and sea trials," said Hajime.

"Playing things close this time eh?" chuckled Aaron.

"Well can you blame me? I sank billions of my own yen into building the first carrier hull only for them to scrap it before it could start sea trials!" snarled Hajime.

"I know. I was pissed about that on your behalf as well," said Aaron.

"Yeah, thanks for those gen2 construction drones by the way. I wouldn’t have been able to pull off the construction this quickly without them," said Hajime.

"Anytime," said Aaron.

"Time to get this thing running," said Hajime. He clicked open the announcement channel and bellowed in Japanese: "Launch the ship!"

The floodgates of the shipyard opened, and the huge carrier was slowly tugged out of its construction bay and into the Pacific waters.

"Light the reactors," ordered Friedrich in German.

One by one, the Akagi’s eight nuclear reactors which were provided by Albrecht Nuclear Systems, came to life.

The tug boat lines were cut and retracted as the ship’s compressor pump jets, and maneuvering thrusters activated.

The Akagi turned gracefully in a circle under its own power, as cheers erupted across the shipyard.

"What a beauty," sighed Hajime, tears in his eyes.

He turned to Aaron and Friedrich.

"We may have started as business partners. But allow me to consider the two of you as my closest friends, nay, my family. I could not have realized this dream without you," he said, bowing deeply.

"We are honored to be here as your partners and friends, Yamamoto-san," said Friedrich, deeply moved.

"The feeling is mutual Hajime. I am truly grateful for the ships you built for me as well," said Aaron.

"Thank you both," said Hajime.

After a second, he let out a wry chuckle.

"You know, when I first met Friedrich. It felt like fate. I felt that we were just two washed up old men dreaming about the glory days when our respective countries were poised to rule Europe and Asia. I didn’t bank on an American with Russian ancestry to come in and give us the missing pieces and drive to make our own enclaves with that same spirit that we started with. What do you say Friedrich? Did you ever think that you’d be able to build your nuclear energy empire before Mr. Zakhrov here came around?" he asked, clapping Aaron on the back.

"Well, no. I didn’t. I took what in hindsight was a massive gamble on funding the development of a mining robot from a 17-year-old kid, and he overdelivered in the best way possible," chuckled Friedrich, enjoying the rare sight of Aaron actually fighting down a blush.

"You guys. You’re just picking on me because I’m the youngest here," he grumbled.

"Hey, we’re serious. If you and Sirius Software hadn’t come along, we would have toiled for a lifetime to accomplish even a small fraction of what we’ve got today," said Hajime.

"True," agreed Friedrich.

"All right, I thank you both, but now can we do a shake down of the Akagi’s sail by wire and weapons systems?" asked Aaron, still uncomfortable with the praise they had given him.

"Of course," said Hajime, and he barked orders in Japanese into a radio.

The Akagi turned to face the open ocean, and sailed out until it was a small speck on the horizon.

Drones launched from the shipyard sped towards the ship, and were decimated as the Akagi fired its new rail gun anti-aircraft cannons at them.

"All systems are functioning," reported the Akagi’s communications officer in Japanese.

"I’ve seen enough. Captain, full shakedown," ordered Hajime in Japanese, and the Akagi disappeared over the horizon.

Hajime turned to Aaron and Friedrich.

"Let’s celebrate," he said, and showed them into a luxury dining area of the shipyard.