ZZZ: Dawn of The Black Sun

Bronya isn't stupid, she knew what her mother is doing behind her back. The strange silo where she found Seele, she knew exactly what that's for. She knew about the bad men who hid around the Silo. She knew about the ever growing Hollow hidden deep beneath the school.

The only thing Bronya failed to understand is why. Why would her mother do this? How could she turn a blind eye to those Hollow Raiders? What if those people are the ones who took Teddy away from them? What can she possibly gain from this? There's just no way it's just money… right?

"Big sis Bronya!" Seele said, snapping her out of her thought. "It's the Sixth Street right?" she pointed at the digital display above the train door. "It's the next stop!"

Bronya nodded and stood up. "Let's go then," she smiled gently and took Seele's hand. "Stay close to me, alright?"

The two girls held hand as they disembark the train. It's really just like any other metro out there, but Seele took her time looking around. She paused near a corner, looked around a vending machine, and lingered at the entrance. It was as if she was certain that Teddy could be lurking around nearby.

"Haah…" Seele's expression fell a little after she's finished checking the public stall. "He's not here…" she muttered, hugging her bag tighter.

"We'll have Koleda and the rest to help you Seele,"

The two stepped out of the metro and to the bustling Sixth Street. Seele walked a step ahead of Bronya, stopping by a trash can nearby and to the 141 branch.

"Nennhhaaa!" the Bangboo trio at the front of the store spoke.

"Ah, umm, do you see a Bangboo anywhere? He's this big and wears a shark onesie…" Seele said.

"Nha! Nennha!"

Seele shook her head. "Noo! Not a new model! I want Teddy!" she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "2 stars! Terrible service!"

"Nha nha!?"

Bronya sighed a little and the two continued towards a café nearby. It's another branch of Coff Café, she rarely goes there, except that one time with her mom who met up with her friends. Apparently, cafe is a favorite place for teenagers and older girls.

"Maybe he snuck in there?" Seele whispered.

"Let's meet up with the others first, Seele..." Bronya took her hand and let her further to the 6th Street.

Soon, they found themselves in front of a large video store with a sign that says 'Random Play'. It's definitely Koleda's sister's place, where they gonna have their meet up. They took their time looking at the array of movies displayed on the entrance.

"Teddy..." Seele muttered, looking at the poster of the movie Tre Carls. Bronya knows how much Seele likes that movie, especially since she just adores Bangboos all the same. "Maybe he's inside?"

"Let's go," Bronya opened the door, revealing a large display room filled with hundreds of movies. She looked around the place, noticing how diverse and complete the collections are. From the old movies, all the way up to the Old Era collection, to the newest trending stuff. Even the ones that literally just came out on theater.

"Nhanha Nha!!!" A Bangboo called out to them, standing behind the counter.

"Hello, is Koleda around?" Bronya asked.

"Nhenha!" the Bangboo jumped down and showed them to the door that says Staff Room. The moment he opened it, the sound of movie playing could be heard. A few figures huddled up in front of an array of monitors currently playing the Rookie's Guide To The Hollow.

"Oh! They're here!" Kiana exclaimed, pausing the movie. "Bronya, Seele, over here! Get yourself comfortable!"

Bronya blinked slowly. "Bronya is led to believe that Idiotka forgot who the host of this establishment is," the girl turned to Koleda and nodded. "Thank you for having us, Koleda. I summarily apologize for subjecting you to baby sit Kiana for too long."

"Eh, it's fine, kinda expected it actually," Koleda replied. "Come on in, get yourself comfy,"

Kiana glared at Bronya as she sat down, puffing up her cheek in annoyance. "Why you!" she pointed at Seele. "You're so lucky your little sister's around Bronya! Lest I'll..."

"cry out to Mei that this one is bullying you again?" Bronya sat next to Mei and grab a dumpling. "Your cooking taste as wonderful as ever Mei,"

"Thank you Bronya,"

Kiana however just looked away from her, arms folded in annoyance. "Ugh, you're the worst..." she turned to Seele who somehow has a soft smile on her face. "Go tell your big sis to behave Seele!"

"Ehehe... I'm glad you get along so well..." Seele giggled.

"We don't get along!!!" Kiana exclaimed.

[LINE BREAK]

Qingyi stood in front of the video store. The sign says open and she can see some customers walking in and out of the store. Part of her was relieved. If a criminal activity is happening, they must be busy covering up the crime scene right about now.

"Excuse me," Qingyi opened the door, revealing business as usual in Video Store. A bangboo greeted her on her right and a blue haired girl walked up to her with a smile. "Are you the owner of this establishment? My name is Qingyi, I wish to talk to you about something,"

"Oh my gosh you're cute!" the blue haired girl blurted out before clearing her throat. "I mean, ahem, welcome to Random Play! My name is Belle, how can I help you? Our membership card is having 45% discount!"

Qingyi blinked slowly. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested," she cleared her throat. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Officer Qingyi from the Crime Investigation Department. We are currently investigating a group known as the Cunning Hares, we are hoping that you can fill us in on what you know about them?"

The video store owner tilted her head. "I mean, I guess I can," she shrugged and led her deeper in. "Come on, let's talk somewhere more private,"

The officer followed the woman up the staircase. A sudden chill ran down her artificial spine, her instincts are screaming at her to run, yet all her senses and sensors found nothing remotely dangerous about the girl walking next to her.

"Here," Belle showed Qingyi to a door. "After you~"

Qingyi politely refused and motioned at Belle to step in. The girl rolled her eyes and opened the door, revealing a large somewhat messy bedroom. The manager did a little twirl before sitting on a sofa, patting a spot beside her. "Sit down officer, let's get comfy, what do you want know about them?"

"So you do know about them," Qingyi sat next to Belle. "Can you start with how you can get to know about them?" she asked whilst making sure to turn on the record function on her system.

"How do I get to know them? Well, I guess, they hired me on the Inter-Knot?"

"Hired you?"

Belle put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, shoot..." she smiled sheepishly. "Yeah... Okay.. I'll come clean with you," she took a deep breath. "I'm the Phaethon."

Qingyi raised an eyebrow, so this girl is actually the Legendary Illegal Proxy, Phaethon. That explains so many things, if she's the Phaethon, that means she's worked with the Cunning Hares a lot. "Understood, we'll let you off the hook if you can help us with apprehending them,"

"Phew, alright then, so here's the thing," Belle cleared her throat. "First off, I've only done business with Nicole, hella stingy, she'll never pay back on time. Pro tip, when dealing with her, double your commission fee and ask for 100% upfront. Trust me, there's no other way for you to get paid,"

For the next hour, Belle talked a lot about each members of the Cunning Hares. Though the things Qingyi learned was... superficial at most. Or way, way, way too specific to the point of it being useless.

For example, the android, Billy Kid is obsessed with the Starlight Knight series. The white haired girl's favorite food is burger. Nicole has a mole on her left breast, something Belle learned after being particularly intimate with her. And that their newest member, Nekomata, secretly likes cat food. In other words, she learned everything about the Cunning Hares except for the information she wants.

"-seventy of Starlight Knight Season 3. But if you ask me, I think the Guardians of the Universe really doesn't live up to..."

"Ahem, my apologies Belle," Qingyi cut her off. "We're talking about Starlight Knights again,"

"Oh! Was I rambling again? Sorry, sorry, ehehe..." Belle rubbed the back of her head, giggling sheepishly. "But yeah, that's all I know about them, is there something else officer?"

Qingyi sighed a little and folded her arms. "It's alright... I have one last question. Was the Phaethon involved in the Vision case?"

Belle shook her head. "No, I didn't," she winced. "I don't deal with that sort of jobs, massive skill issue on my side. I only help them with smaller stuff like... I dunno, finding lost items in the Hollow and treasure hunting, they hired another proxy for stuff like that,"

"I see..." Qingyi nodded, so far, Belle has been nothing but helpful. The lack of useful information, Qingyi decided to chalk it off as the Cunning Hares being really good at keeping information. "What do you know about the other proxy they contracted?"

"Hmm... I believe it's the Mythical Proxy, Black Sun? They don't hire them too often, only for big jobs like Vision thing," she winced a little. "Honestly, I prefer not to deal with those sort of stuff, things can get really messy, you got me?"

Qingyi felt a sudden chill ran her artificial spine at the mention of that name. 'Black Sun', even as her subconscious access the Inter-Knot, the only thing she can find is that they are nothing more but an urban myth. This... 'Mythical Proxy' that secretly governs the world. 

"So the Black Sun exists?" Qingyi asked. "What do you know about them?"

Belle winced and held up her hands. "Ahhh... I really don't like talking about them," 

"I need information on them,"

"Look," the girl shifted around anxiously, glancing at a bangboo being charged nearby. "I know nothing about them, okay? All I know is that they communicate through a Bangboo. Any Bangboo, not a specialized one. Any stray Bangboo you find on the street can be their eyes and ears... They have control over everything..."

Any Bangboo? Considering the amount of stray Bangboo scattered all through New Eridu... If what Belle says is correct, then... Not even the NEPS has any chance against the Black Sun. Surely, this is just an exaggeration, right?

Still... Caution should be exercised. At the end of the day... Black Sun are not an ordinary proxy, if even someone with the fame as big as the Phaethon feared them... Then they are perhaps a vastly bigger threat than the Cunning Hares.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Phaethon," Qingyi spoke finally. "As a member of Public Security I must remind you to stay away from such illegal and unethical jobs," she nodded. "In any case, thank you for helping me on the case Belle," she stood up. "I will be in touch should we have anything else to ask, if that's alright with you?"

"Sure! Come on, let me lead you out,"

Qingyi followed Belle back down to the first floor. Right now, the case is practically a dead end. Between finding the Black Sun and finding the Cunning Hares, it's like deciding between looking for a needle in a haystack and a hay in a needles stack. Either way, nearly impossible.

"Wait! Officer!"

The automaton froze in her tracks just as she about to leave, she turned around to find a group of young elementary girls looking up at her. Wide eyes and full of hope, Qingyi felt like running for the mountains, because something tells her that they are going to make sure she won't...

"Sorry, excuse me, my name is Seele. Can you... help me find my missing Bangboo?"

...clock out early today.

Qingyi sighed a little and looked at the one who asked. A little girl with dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. Doe eyes, innocent face, there's really no way she could refuse without sounding like a monster. "Of course, can you please describe their appearance and where you lost them?"

The girls smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes! He's umm... His name is Teddy. He's a Sharkboo Model Bangboo, we lost him after watching a movie in a cinema in the Lumina Square, oh and he..." Seele goes in detail, describing everything she could remember about the Bangboo. Qingyi listened in closely, maybe if she solve this easy case, Zhu Yuan would let someone else deal with the Cunning Hares and Black Sun.

"Understood," Qingyi said after Seele finished explaining all the different ways Teddy could run. "I'll let you know when we have more information," she was about to leave when a hand grabbed her shoulder. "Please be patient, finding a Bangboo..."

"Let me help you officer," came Belle's voice as she stepped out of the video store, presenting herself. "I may not look like much, but I'm the best girl to find when it comes to finding lost items!" she grinned and put both hands on her hips. "What do you think, Officer Qingyi?"

Qingyi blinked slowly. "I suppose having your help would streamline the operation. Not to mention your... other expertise that might come in handy," she nodded and followed her out. "Follow me then, from now on you're an Assistant Public Security,"

Belle pumped her fist in excitement. "Yosh! Assistant Detective Belle is on the case!!"