Octavia stretched idly as she went over her mental schedule for the day. Now that she'd finished her morning ablutions, first up was breakfast with the family. After that was checking to see if she had any duties, and either fulfill them or check world events for any sign of Sigma. Admittedly, there had been absolutely no Sigma related activity since his fall at the Jakob Project, and there was every indication that his big plan had ended with his own downfall. Still, she'd never been one to take chances, and the very fact that Pink Pi-D had fallen completely silent after the events of Eurasia had left Octavia convinced that something big was coming on the wind. It might not be Sigma related, but she still needed to keep her eyes and ears open.
After duties or research, she would pop in on Axl during his work to see how he was doing, especially if he'd found any romantic prospects yet. If there were nothing of interest there, she'd spend the rest of the day playing with Harpy, Puppy, Maka, Shadow, and Omega. Her brothers and sister were growing rapidly, and would soon grow into the armor that had been designed for them to train and enhance their innate abilities. Her cousin, on the other hand, had finally outgrown uncontrolled Ether discharges, and was now an adorably precocious brat rather than an adorably precocious natural disaster. Thankfully, all the children had avoided becoming completely spoiled due to there always being the five of them around, leading to each of her siblings taking on responsibilities for each other and their cousin, and Omega getting just enough attention to be well adjusted rather than over-indulged.
At the end of the day, dinner with the family and an online game session with her friends. Having her full schedule firmly in mind, she made her way to breakfast, ready to either follow it step by step or to have it thrown out the window the moment she made it to the breakfast table. She was thus unsurprised when her day took the latter path.
As she sat down to breakfast, only Axl was present and he was looking rather down as he glanced back and forth between a news article and a report. "What's wrong, my little pony?" she asked softly, enjoying using her nickname for him even if it was more accurate to herself.
Axl sighed morosely. "We've been following back channels to see where the Copy Chip research began," he explained. "It was our hope that it would lead to information that we could use to determine if the remaining New-Gen Reploids were under any sort of control, or if they could be completely cleared of suspicion after Sigma's antics." He glanced away. "And...I was hoping, since we know I was the prototype that was the basis for the technology, it would also lead to my capsule. The Light hologram did say it was the only place where I'd be able to get the answers I want. So did Prometheus."
Octavia nodded. "I understand. I take it you reached a dead end?"
"Of a sorts," Axl admitted. "Apparently, it all stems from Giga City."
Octavia raised an eyebrow. "You mean that mobile city-nation? The one that insists on remaining independent of the rest of the world and refuses to accept the authority of the Maverick Hunters?" Octavia had found that particular place fascinating ever since it had been founded shortly after the Eurasia incident. Not only did it tend to develop technology that was incredibly advanced relative to the rest of the world, but there had been no reports - through official channels or underground chatter - of any Maverick activity. She'd always wondered how they managed it.
"Yeah," Axl confirmed. "And security's extra tight there because of having been moved to investigate an asteroid impact. Apparently, it crashed...not long after I was inducted into the Hunters, actually."
"And as a Maverick Hunter, you can't enter," Octavia mused. "They don't recognize our authority, so we have no official capacity to pursue an investigation."
"Yeah..." Axl pushed the documents aside and buried his face in his hands. "So close...so far...they didn't leave anything behind for investigation at their old location either...so my capsule's somewhere there."
Octavia frowned as she tapped her chin. "...Varia, give me any pertinent details regarding Giga City's civic and social structure."
"Retrieving," Varia responded, scrolling the data across Octavia's HUD.
Octavia looked through the pertinent details, then paused as she came across a particular file. "Hmm...Giga City seems to have a surprising passion for the concept of vigilante superheroes. The concept is...rather well respected, if the sheer number that have been lauded by the city's government since its founding is any indication."
"Why's that significant?" Axl asked curiously, knowing Octavia was going somewhere with this.
"Well, your fellows from Red Alert never were fully integrated into the Hunters," Octavia observed dryly.
"Yeah," Axl confirmed. "It was considered more effective to keep them as an officially separate reserve force, just in case something happened that Hunters couldn't be officially connected to. Why?"
"I'm going to apply for vacation time for the pair of us," Octavia stated calmly. "We've earned at least a year's worth after heavy-hazard duty. That ought to be more than enough to explore every inch of Giga City as civilians, if we're careful."
"How would we even get in?" Axl demanded. "I don't think they'd let Hunters in, even as civilians."
"Hunters, no," Octavia agreed. "But the leader of the vigilante organization Red Alert, taking his adoptive mother on a well earned vacation to get her off his back as far as marrying him off and getting her grandchildren?"
"Mo~om..." Axl groaned. As effective as he realized that cover would be - even if it meant leaving his guns behind and only bringing Red's Scythe - he was not looking forward to a vacation of matchmaking.