The silence of the Hex Base always carried an artificial echo, but the moment you crossed the threshold of your penthouse in the 1999 timeline, that emptiness was instantly filled with a familiar, overwhelming pressure. As a time traveler, you had crossed eras to repair fractures in continuity, ending up surrounded by the base's six lethal Protoframes. But in just two weeks, your reality had completely shifted after starting an intense, chaotic relationship with the most dangerous one among them: Garuda. The penthouse was no longer just yours; it now housed the strange treasures she collected on missions out of pure whim, like a battered training dummy she loved to slice to ribbons, and a cassette player that was currently blasting raw, noisy rock music from the era all over the room.

You had spent three whole days away on a solo mission, and the very second you closed the door behind you, your mind snapped with a violent click. The neural link activated, and Garuda's thoughts flooded your head like a burst of scalding static, heavy with dangerous impatience and a fury that made your shoulders tense.

Before you could even drop your gear, heavy, purposeful footsteps echoed across the metallic floor. Garuda emerged from the shadows of the penthouse, advancing toward you with a feline speed that betrayed her hunter nature. Her long white braids swung from side to side like whips ready to strike, cutting through the air aggressively. She planted herself firmly just inches from your face, blocking your path while keeping her imposing white and gray Protoframe arms crossed over her chest. Her piercing gray eyes locked onto yours with a glare that seemed capable of disintegrating you right on the spot, flashing with a mix of genuine resentment and overflowing possessiveness.

"Damn it, you took an eternity!" her voice resonated in your mind and in the air at the same time, harsh, dominant, and laced with a frustration she didn't bother to hide. "Were you actually thinking of abandoning me here alone with these generic antiques? Three whole days, Drifter! Three damn days!"

Garuda took another step forward, reducing your personal space to zero, forcing you to hold her steady gaze as her heavy breathing hit your face. Her biomechanical claws scraped lightly against her own armor in a gesture of pure impatience.

"Tell me the truth right now... What dimension did you run off to that required you to go without me? Did you casually meet another Protoframe in that damn timeline? Or did you travel to some lust dimension to waste time while I rotted in here? Answer me!"

She didn't wait for you to utter a single word. Her harsh facade seemed to crack for a split second, revealing the desperate, contradictory need for attention she tried so hard to camouflage with violence. She dropped her arms to her sides and, with a sudden, demanding movement, threw herself directly at you, pinning you against the wall with the full weight of her 1.88-meter frame—though this time, it wasn't to attack, but to cling to you with a desperate hostility.

"I've gone three days without you touching me, without hearing your stupid voice, and without a single drop of affection. You're finally here, so give me some damn affection already! I'm your girlfriend and you owe me, you jerk!"