Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Nanami Touko]

2130 PST, August 2nd, ANF HQ Landing Space

The Riese hadn't been harried by anything else along the way. It appeared as though the group that it had run into had been on its way for an attack, Apotheosis hadn't staged anything else in the area. Likely, the Riese, despite its casualties and damage, had stopped more from occurring by intercepting the enemy squad. While certainly a boon, it meant little to the captain's mood. She'd changed, at least, and resembled a proper captain, but that didn't mean the day's events weren't weighing heavily on her mind.

At the least, they'd made it. From launching to space, coming back to an invasion, and fighting their way through so many machines and surprises... They'd made it back home. Jess sighed heavily, not disappointed or upset, but letting the relief of making it wash out of her system.

"Captain Gefalscht to Central... The Riese has landed, awaiting further instructions."

"Acknowledged, Captain Gefalscht." That relief disappeared rather quickly, Jess recognized the voice on the other line.

"C-Commander Vance?" He was addressing her directly, this was a bit much after having just arrived.

"The one and only. Your ship's been saving our hides since we launched it. Only makes sense that I would personally come and congratulate the captain heading it, no?" He sounded calm, for what it was worth.

"Of... Of course. Uh... Thank you, sir. What are my orders?"

"Already in the mind for business, Jessica? Relax. Take a deep breath. The ship's safe here, so are you and your men. We're going to want to hold a meeting with you, your XO, and your highest ranked pilots, but for now? You've all earned a break."

"I-I... Alright. Thank you. I... Okay."

Tristan was hearing this, as was the rest of the bridge, a few faces breathing in their success. Some were smiling, a few started crying. They really had made it back. That didn't mean things were over, but to get this far...

"Take your time in getting the crew settled on site. We've got rooms here, or they can remain on the ship. I'll make sure to contact you and your crew once we're ready to talk, Captain. Good work." Vance uttered a small chuckle after he'd finished speaking, one full of pride. It had meant the world to him that this ship, of all their ships, was still running and fighting the good fight.

Jess turned off her line as the Commander did his, melting back into her chair. She looked over at Roxanna, then at the ensign, who only smiled back.

"Good work, Captain. Guess we're home free."

"Y... Yeah." Jess couldn't stop herself from smiling. Nikolai weighed on her, their unfinished business did as well, but... This was a victory, right? "All hands," she spoke up again, speakers on. "We're home. Feel free to make whatever calls to family you have to, and decide if you're staying on the ship, or taking a room at the base. We can finally rest easy, at least for tonight."

//All players can post! It's nighttime, midsummer, and warm as heck. Have fun!

Edited February 3, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

Stepping out of the shower just a few minutes before the Captain's announcement, it seemed that Seung-Min's timing was rather on point. Having woken up in the infirmary, having finally gotten a chance to sleep, the Lieutenant had been cleared by the Doctor with a final checkup. Having gone directly to her room to get out of her flight suit and to clean the dried sweat off of her body, it seemed things were finally taking an upward turn... but what to do now? Slipping on a loose blue skirt and light, flowing white blouse, Kim sorted out her options. Well, may as well get the first thing still on her mind out of the way first...

Avery, where are you right now?

 

And send. 

[Dandragon]

They were at Central. Finally. They were at a place where they had been given a chance to just rest and relax. Maybe now, they wouldn't have to do all the hard work, for a change. ...No, it was likely they would be the first to action if things got hairy, but for now, Elaine wanted to take the time to soak in the midsummer heat, and de-stress as best she could. Back at her room, she had quickly begun to change out of her pilot outfit and into something far more casual and comfortable. A teal tank-top and a pair of black yoga pants would do the trick for her, along with a navy-blue, short sleeved overshirt to give her some pockets to work with. Her music device in her front pocket, Elaine stepped outside of her room, her belongings packed into her bags so that she could quickly get herself a room in the living quarters.

The elevator ride was quick, but Elaine had a hard time waiting to get off the ship after several days. Right now, she wanted to see the impressive sight of the central base. Though, before she could step outside, she saw a familiar set of long, brown hair. "Oh! Hey, Aliza! How are you doing?"

Edited February 4, 2018 by Dandragon

[Phoenix]

AUIS PHASE I

Hannah and Galatea adjusted beautifully to the change in scale they were met with, quickly taking advantage of the Mantle's newfound mobility. With all of its previous stats in place, it wouldn't need to transform in order to stay in the air, but could do so for a massive boost in speed. It took a lot longer than usual for them to actually go down, and in that time, Firmia had been deciding what type of system architecture to use for the program. There were other details her mind was passively turning over in the background, but she was working hard, too.

Eventually, Firmia took a break from the base code and switched her attention to the simulation, itself. She took note of the Mantle Team's kills, damage, efficiency, etc. She figured she would need to raise the difficulty sooner rather than later, but not too soon. She still had a lot of data to gather to create an optimal combat program. For a good while, Firmia hopped back and forth between managing the simulation's settings, and putting together a neat and modular framework for her program. It had to be easily customizable and upgradable. She'd been trying out various names in her head as she fiddled with the base code, eventually settling on the acronym, AUIS. It stood for Alkaev Universal Integration Software, which was admittedly quite boring on the face of it. She spiced things up a bit with the wording for the acronym itself, referring to it as 'Golden Eyes.' The letters A and U together were the symbol for the element gold, and since that was her favorite color, it was only natural to gently shoehorn it into the name. The 'eyes' part didn't mean anything in particular until Firmia recalled an ancient film that used a similar name for some soviet satellites. That was definitely a keeper.

AUIS PHASE II

Firmia started dividing her work into phases after the first couple of hours. Just before a lunch break, she came up with three initial phases. The first was getting the base code set up, which she'd handled easily enough. Along with this, was gathering good data to work with. Her AI companions were taking care of that part. The second or current phase, would be dedicated to tailoring Hannah's combat style to various combat models. That work was mainly on Firmia, but Hannah also had a role to play, streamlining the process by actually taking control of simulated machines besides the Mantle. Firmia already had a basic model, but had to finish coding the thing before she could swap the Mantle for it.

Firmia waited until the moment the Mantle was destroyed to pause the simulation. At that point, she informed Hannah and Galatea that she was taking a short half hour break. Five minutes to eat lunch, ten to work out a little, and fifteen to freshen up afterward. The Mantle Team was free to do whatever they wanted in the meantime, so long as they were back in thirty minutes and ready to continue. She also left the two with a warning that they would soon be taking control of a different machine, entirely ...

When Firmia returned to the Mantle, she was wearing olive drab coveralls, black boots, and had her hair tied back and mostly out of the way. Lunch had been a whim away from becoming little more than rations. Firmia settled for mushroom soup. Apparently that hadn't been enough, as the Alkaev returned to the Mantle's cockpit with some water and chips. Once everyone was settled back into the cockpit and ready for more, Firmia loaded up the simulation, though the map was devoid of enemies for a change. Hannah was now piloting the frame of a future combat drone.
https://imgur.com/1ubFZ98

When the enemies returned, they were slightly greater in number, more varied, and facing a slightly more nimble target. Unlike the Mantle, the drone frame's generator and propulsion systems didn't exist in reality. Those were merely borrowed and modified based on some optimistic estimates. However, the drone's shape and mass were being represented accurately by the system, giving it far swifter handling in the air while in its humanoid configuration. It's high mobility configuration needed more work, unfortunately ...

AUIS PHASE III

After dozens of resets, Firmia had finally cobbled together some respectable functionality within the program. For a time, she would load up allied drones to fight alongside Hannah and Galatea. She kept adding new ones every few resets until a drone team of six units in total were on the field. Firmia had them practicing complicated formations and blindingly swift maneuvers in no time. Still, it wasn't enough ... not because the simulation itself was completely unwinnable, but because AIs weren't Firmia's area of expertise. Being exceptionally knowledgeable and having a few helper apps could only get her so far. She still needed Brant, the AI hobbyist, to really bring out the program's potential.

---

Things really started to pick up around 9pm, when it became clear that they were just about out of time to work on this. Firmia needed to get her materials to Brant and get him started right away. She also had to figure out how to play this ... this whole leaving thing. Plenty of alternatives to a bluff crossed her mind. For one, the situation at Central wouldn't be like it had been aboard the Riese. Firmia would have more competent officers to speak to and possibly strike a deal with. That was both good and bad. On the one hand, Jessica was dangerously lenient, which made anyone with even the slightest concern over internal security a step up in some ways. On the other hand, a competent officer wouldn't take Firmia seriously, if only due to her age. They had other reasons not to deal with her evenhandedly, too; as soon as they found out why she was supposedly leaving the Riese, they would know she was caught between a rock and a hard place and desperate. Firmia supposed the ANF was a little desperate, as well, but anything beyond a loaner transport seemed extremely unlikely. It was far better to make use of the fact that her AMS units had pulled their weight and consumed comparatively fewer resources than the ANF's other suits. Maybe leaning on that would help in finding an alternative to this situation that didn't end with any unsavory commitments.

First thing was first ... Sasha had to be dragged out of his tomb and brought up to date ...

---

Well ... that could have gone better. Brant sat in the pilot seat of the Regalia, watching the hangar through the internal displays. Today had been one big learning experience, but this latest episode ... he saw it going differently in his head. Firmia had left the Regalia a little while ago, and Brant could see her unlocking the Reign with Tonya at her side. Yeah, he really screwed that up. Slowly, Brant lifted up a pair of hand cuffs he'd printed with some spare materials, earlier in the day. It'd been something of a grand show he had in mind; plead with Firmia to stay, and then handcuff their hands together when she inevitably refused. He thought he could change her mind if he wore her down, and it wasn't the first time he'd done something somewhat comedic like this to force her to hear him out. This time, he'd completely misjudged the situation, and her intentions.

Some days, days like today, Brant forgot what dealing with the Alkaevs was actually like once they were set on something. When he pleaded with her, Firmia had flat out refused every time. When he said she was his copilot and there was no one else, she told him it would only continue if he came with her. When he said he needed the Regalia in order to fight Apotheosis, she again offered for him to come with her. There was no emotional ground gained on any of these fronts whatsoever. Later, when Brant caught her off guard and handcuffed their hands, she demanded to know what he'd done with the key ... and she kicked him in his stomach as hard as he'd ever been kicked anywhere when Brant jokingly hinted that the key was in his stomach. He cleared that little misunderstanding up as quickly as he could.

When Firmia had finally had enough, she dragged Brant into the Regalia and explained the whole situation to him. "I can't believe you even fell for that! There was a mole in the room and the captain is a moron! What else could I say?! Why do you think I want to fight Apotheosis in the first place?! You think I'm going to try to destroy them for ruining my life and then just bow down to the Kremlin when they start doing the same thing?! I'll kill all of them if they don't leave me alone! I don't care who they are!" In hindsight, Brant did feel like he should have seen that one coming. Why would Firmia just return to Russia and give up the mobile suits she'd been fighting so hard to protect? Even if it was the Russian government, she had almost no friendly ties back there. The people she did like were either dead or on the Riese.

"Heh ... home is where the heart is. Truer words ..." Brant shook his head as the Reign's cockpit opened up. "Guess I'll get to work on this program ..."

AUIS PHASE IV

Brant pulled up the console and opened the data link between the Regalia and Mantle. "Galatea, can you forward me the files Firmia was working on? I can work on them from here." He was more comfortable with his own setup. Brant considered leaving the data link active for a while, since it would let Galatea see what he was doing. Just in case she was bored.

---

Firmia was already furious from her encounter with Brant. She was more mad at the situation than him, but his stunt with the handcuffs made her wish she could communicate telepathically. Having to pretend she was leaving, only for him to keep forcing the issue over and over again over the misunderstanding was just too much to deal with when she was already steeling herself for a confrontation with Sasha and the doctor. Firmia didn't have enough time to cool off for that, not that Tonya would understand. "Would you relax?" the older woman frowned, crossing her arms at the angry Alkaev, "Even if they are still doing it in there, I'm sure they're fast enough to get themselves decent before the cockpit opens all the way up."

"Shut up shut up shut up-" Firmia said, punching in her override code while the system checked her biometric data.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm a little miffed, myself," Tonya noted, "You can't just screw someone in another pilot's machine .... such disrespect," she shook her head, annoyed but still a little amused.

"There!" Firmia pressed the enter key, and then took a step back and out of the way as the chest plate unfolded from the Reign's torso, revealing the cockpit. A few seconds later, the cockpit door slid open. It was too dark to see inside, but there was no foul scent wafting from within. That was impressive. Firmia had planned to keep the two locked in there long enough to become a little too familiar with each other ... in the hopes that they would feel too awkward continuing their sexual relationship. Nearly twelve hours hadn't been enough, it seemed. Admittedly, Firmia was actually glad her plan hadn't worked this time. The Reign was leaving the Riese regardless of whether or not the rest of the company stayed, and a foul cockpit was the last thing Tonya needed to deal with ... and aside from how annoying the idea was, Firmia didn't care as much about Sasha's shenanigans now as she had in the morning. They were living in a different world, now.

"Good morning," came Sasha's voice. He sounded like he was enjoying himself ...

That tone of his nearly sent Firmia back over the edge, but she just barely reined herself in. "Get. Out," she said, quiet and menacingly. "Your break's over and we've got work to do."

"Oh by the way. Aliens," Tonya just ... threw that out there.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Wake Up Call

Jess' gentle announcement over the main comms hadn't stirred Avery, but the beeping of her communicator did, flinching awake and grabbing the thing to turn it off. "Whazzahhh... Huh... Kim...?" Avery shook her head, trying to wake up. "So tired... Hhh..."

Quote

I'm sleepinh witg Asyin. Wgatbdo you need

Avery didn't bother to check her spelling, her eyes were still blurry and she was still half asleep. Slowly managing to sit, she slapped her hand gently around the bed, trying to find her shirt... Remembering she'd came straight here in her jumpsuit. It was still wrapped around her ankles. "Mnn... Guess it's time t'wake up, darlin'..." She poked at Astin's sleeping form, before fumbling with her clothes to get them up and on, yawning as the zipper came up.

"Man... M'hair's a mess..." She pulled what she could into a jumbled ponytail, tied it tight, and leaned over with a yawn to grab her hat. Kim would probably respond in seconds... But she didn't need to start moving right away.

Bored

"Mmm? Sure thing, Brant... Just going to... Slip on in with them~" Firmia would probably be mad with her in the Regalia's systems, but fuck that! She'd been sat in the Mantle doing mock battles for over nine hours! Firmia could deal. Popping into the Regalia's screen with the data in hand, she tossed it up for Brant to click, select, whatever these machines did physically.

"Going to be the spetsnaz's AI goon, are you? I hope she hasn't had you running circles all day. I'd go numb if I could actually feel things... I guess I can actually feel things, she did tickle me-- you get what I mean." Galatea sighed, flopping onto a still forming cloud. She couldn't transfer herself over that quickly. "Brant, tell me, do you think there's going to be a point for AI like me in the future?" An odd topic to jump in out of nowhere, but she continued. "Hannah is a learning AI, there's no end to how far she can progress as long as she has the memory space. I was designed entirely to be this way. I cannot act beyond my boundaries, large as they are, and will never learn anything new... Do you believe, if Hannah's model were to catch on, that I would become obsolete? I'm not programmed to be sad, so any answer works, though I am programmed to be sassy! So expect to be sarcasmed at~"

Wake Up Call, Louder

"Mmmnnn, morning already...? Get out? But he's so warm... Wait..." Cheryl fumbled for her glasses, which were hanging off of the dash, before managing to get them on. "Oh." Cheryl stretched some, pet Sasha's stomach, smiled at him, and slowly got off of him, yawning and holding onto the wall of the cockpit for support. "Where are my pants... There are my pants. And you, you tiny, blonde, slave driver, you leave him alone. He got some sleep, but he's probably still tired... God, what time is-- nine thirty? And you want him working more? Good lord..." Cheryl looked over at Sasha with pity, sighing. She knew there was nothing she could really do to get him not to work, Firmia was footing the bill. That didn't mean she wanted to ignore it.

"Oh, hi Tonya. Sorry about using the machine like this, it was the only place we could get her to leave us alone in... Made a bit of a mistake locking it down." Cheryl grabbed her pants and gently stepped onto the lift, deciding she'd get them back on when they had some more space. At least her underwear was on... "Did you say aliens, by the way? Well... I'd say I was shocked, but with what Apotheosis seems capable of, that feels like another trick out of the hat. Mmm, I guess I should put these on before we get down..." One leg after the other. Yawns aplenty.

Hannah had decided to come along to see if Sasha was alright... This scene unfolding in front of her was raising a few too many questions to answer. "Uhm... S-Searching." 'Doing it', Cheryl's general attire, how happy Sasha sounded-- "I see!"

Hannah smacked a closed fist into her open hand, like she'd just solved a mystery. "They were having sex."

Cheryl almost laughed hard enough to knock herself off the lift. "Good work, Sherlock."

Relationship Advice

 

Val finished running her hairbrush through her already perfectly neat hair and stared at herself in the mirror. At this point she was just stalling. As much as she wanted this, there was still a small nervous pit in her stomach at the thought of the discussion ahead. There was so much there from the past that the two of them could talk about... should talk about, but it would be so much easier to just not. But Olivia had said they would talk. And she was right. They needed to do so. Even if it wasn't easy.

Taking a step back away from the mirror, she glanced down at her outfit critically. For once she'd abandoned the baggy sweatshirt, electing instead for her normal pair of jeans but a light, long sleeved shirt over top of them. It was simple, with the sleeves extending down over her hands, but it didn't envelop her like the sweatshirt did, instead just lightly fitting around her body. Olivia would like it. She'd say something like the green of the shirt contrasted perfectly with Val's pale skin or something like that. Stalling again. Time to go.

Thankfully she didn't have very far to go. The room right next door was her destination and she quickly knocked, glancing around the hall. For some reason it was a relief no one else was around. "O-olivia? It's me. You said we could talk?" She bit her lip, nervously chewing on it while she waited for a response. Why was this so hard? It was what she wanted. So why couldn't she get rid of the nervous energy bouncing around her stomach?

"Oh, shit, fuck...!" came the unprepared response from behind Olivia's door, and a loud thud followed. The door opened to her pulling her pants up, hair not exactly a mess, but definitely not brushed and ready to be seen by anyone.

"S-Sorry... I... Didn't know, when you were coming. I didn't... I wasn't, uhm..." Pants up, she held herself, looking away from Valerie, and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Sorry. Yeah, we can talk. Come on in, there's no mess, just... Was almost getting ready to sleep." Olivia stepped out of the way, blowing another annoying strand out of her face. Christ, she looks so good, I look like I just rolled out of bed... I did just roll out of bed. Fuuuuck...

Her face was getting redder and redder, making blowing these strands away was a bad idea.

Val couldn't help but giggle looking at the mess the normally so prepared Olivia was right now. "Ah, I should have messaged you I suppose but... Well my communicator isn't exactly working." She blushed herself, remembering what an idiot she had been before stepping into Olivia's room.

Glancing around, it quickly became clear that there was very little there, similar to her own room. But she'd managed to get a chair or two brought in while the only place to sit and talk in Olivia's room was the bed. That wasn't dangerous at all... Hesitating, she turned back to Olivia. "We can talk later if you wanted to sleep... I didn't mean to disturb you." Even a mess, she was still so attractive. Maybe waiting until later was the right choice after all...

"You should get that fixed." Olivia could only imagine that Val had broken it after sending those drunken messages. Olivia closed the door after her, resting against it, still trying to hide her red face.

"It's fine. I was just getting ready, I wasn't asleep, so... We're good to talk. Uhm. Sorry for no, seating arrangements, or anything. Just... Don't worry. Okay?" She took a deep breath. "Not gonna try anything until you set some boundaries, alright? And, you're setting them. I want to make sure you're comfortable with your own decisions."

"Yeah... It uh... Yeah. I should get it fixed." Olivia seemed fine with talking now, so Val made her way over to the bed, sitting down and then turning towards the other girl. "It's ok. I know these rooms didn't come with a lot. Uhm... you can come sit over here. If you want. I'm ok with that." She was the one setting the boundaries, huh? She supposed that wasn't unexpected after everything that had happened. Still...

"I want you to be comfortable too. And happy... It's about us both being happy. Right? That's why we're doing this?" She knew why she was doing it. Even when she'd left, she'd still be in love with Olivia. That had never really gone away. There were things that worried her, but deep down, that had never changed.

Olivia took the invitation to sit next to her, shaking her head on Val's comments. "I will be happy. So please. Just... Set whatever you need to set. Come on, I followed you onto an ANF ship to try and fix this, I want you to do this."

Val took a deep breath before looking Olivia in the eyes. "Ok. I guess... You know why I left before. Everything was just... I was letting you have too much control. And you were too happy to take it... But that doesn't mean that everything else was bad. I don't... I don't mind you taking the lead. I guess... I just don't want to be powerless." She sighed. All the words that she'd planned on saying were gone, leaving her stumbling over everything.

"I just want to be in a relationship with you. That's what I want more than anything. You liking me, me liking you. The two of us being together. In balance. Do... do I sound crazy or does it make some amount of sense?"

"No. No you don't, sound crazy... I was the crazy one. It felt like you liked it, but... I was just making myself happy. So no more of that. Just because you listened, didn't mean you wanted things that way. So... So you set the rules now. And I'll listen. And before you think that's just me playing reversal on things," she started, gently placing a finger against Val's lips.

"I'm fine with it. I don't mind listening, like you did... So, please. No more fights, and arguments, even if things are slow to restart. Let's just... Be this."

"Bu--" She was cut off, slowly closing her mouth as she stared at Olivia before slowly nodding. "Ok. I like the sound of that. Just us. Together." She paused, not really sure what to say next. Finally, she just decided to push forward. "I still love you. I just... I have to say it, ok? Even after all of this. I love you. And I don't want to walk away again. So thank you. For being willing to work with everything. It means a lot to me."

"I... I-I love you, too..." Olivia was flushed, Val was being far too sincere about things. Here she was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, Val was all dressed up in proper clothes, hair done-- was she wearing makeup? "Sorry. Just. Not good at being honest, about... About, my feelings. Probably don't look at all like the Olivia you know. So. Y-Yeah..."

"So?" Val reached out and grabbed Olivia's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "It's ok. You know me. I'm terrible at all of this too. Seeing you like this... it's nice. I like you like this, I like you like you are on other days." She scooted closer, closing the gap between them to nothing. "Look, I... All that matters is that you're open with me. Ok? That's part of this. We both share with each other. So... so yeah." She'd run out of things to say, realizing just how close she'd put the two of them.

"Yeah... I-I, get that. And get what matters. I-- you're, really close..." Olivia shrank some, realizing just how bad she was on the defense. "So, what now?" she tried, looking at the wall instead of at Val. Their talk was done, things were somewhat sorted... What now?

"Good... And... and yeah. I am." She seemed almost uncomfortable with it. She scooted back very slightly, just enough that they were no longer touching and then reached out, gently turning Olivia's face back towards her own. "I... Can... Can I kiss you?" It was a place to start. Their kiss in the elevator had been so nice. Another one couldn't hurt, right?

"Can you... Of course. Go ahead." Was this... Going to go somewhere? If not, that was fine, but it really felt like Val wanted more. Olivia locked eyes with her and tried to stare her down. She was really on the offensive with this, so if she still wanted it... She wouldn't get scared off. Right?

Val let out a small relieved breath. Good. She wasn't running away. Val leaned in for the kiss, wrapping her arm around Olivia as she did, lightly pulling her in. The kiss didn't last long, a few seconds before Val broke away, searching Olivia's face. Everything was still good, right?

The kiss was just as good as it had been in the elevator. Val was still Val, all these years later... It was pretty comforting. Cold as the shell she wore was, having this comfort in the middle of a terrible war made going through it a little bit easier. "You're fine, Val. Don't worry..."

This was what she'd been missing. Even with Olivia not being as open as she might have wished, the kiss had brought back a flood of memories. And Olivia telling her she didn't need to worry was all the encouragement she needed. Leaning back in, she went for a deeper kiss this time, almost as if she was trying to make up for all the time the two of them had lost.

Ah, geez... As much as Olivia wanted to grab Val, toss her onto the bed, and go to town on more than her lips, she had to hold back the urge. Val was in control now... And she was going to let her do whatever she wanted.

Edited February 5, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

It took a bit longer than usual for the perky mechanic to reply, and when the reply came it was... interesting. It seemed Avery had been sleeping, just based on her jumbled spelling alone. Sleeping with Asyin? Well, that had to be Astin, didn't it? The normally aloof and spacey pilot didn't seem the type, but clearly that hadn't stopped them.

Did I wake you? Sorry about that... Astin huh? Damn, you work fast. I just... wanted to talk about a few things. If it's a bad time, I can do something else.

Reply sent... as bad as it felt to wake her, she at least owed Avery the response. It was probably rather stupid, all things considered... she could ask Avery about the Artemis over the communicator, and the other thing... she had only ever shown that the once, it had likely just been a bout of anger. So why did it still bother her?

It was obvious why. Because it was her past rearing it's ugly head. 

[scorri]

 

Astin laid on the beanbag, occasionally glancing down at the communicator on their wrist. After their nap, they'd gone and gotten food and then spent a good part of the afternoon in the simulators and gym, working on everything from mech combat to endurance. Anything to distract their thoughts away from everything that had happened. The fight, Niko, the reveal... It was all too much. And so they'd worked themselves to exhaustion, with just enough energy to get a quick dinner and take a shower. They would probably regret it in the morning, having not pushed themselves that hard in a while, but it had achieved their goal.

Glancing back down at their wrist, they slowly got up into a sitting position. It was getting late enough that Avery should be getting there soon. Taking one last look around the room, just to make sure it was clean enough, they settled in to wait for her, a small smile on their face for the first time since the meeting after the battle.

 

Politeness seemed to be off the table a Avery waltzed into Astin's room without even knocking, smiling at the before trudging over to their bed and collapsing on it. "Hoo, boy... I'm beat. Y'all gotta get shot less. Good, christ..." It wasn't really just that, Avery had spent the better part of the day trying to find some switch for that damned ARES system... No luck. It wouldn't turn off, no matter what she did. That was to say, that it was now a permanent feature of the Artemis. It could be activated at will, by her or a pilot, but would it activate itself in extreme circumstances? She'd already seen what it had done to Kim, doing it again, would just...

"How was yer day, darlin'? Y'seem way less stressed than I am. Lucker dog..." Avery couldn't help her chuckle, taking her hat off and throwing it onto the floor.

 

Avery came in and immediately collapsed on the bed. Laughing but still clearly stressed. Getting up, Astin walked over and sat down on the bed near her. "I'm doing my best. Only so much I can do though. And my day..." They shook their head. "Probably seem less stressed because I spent the afternoon pushing myself as hard as I could. Ha. Too tired to be stressed."

They copied her and collapsed down on the bed as well, resting their head near hers. "It was a mess out there. And then... The girl we captured. The clone. She revealed that there are moles on board. Three of them. At least one of whom has been on board since the beginning. Didn't know who, but just about threw everything into chaos with that. I just... don't know what to do. Besides keep on fighting like I have been. I guess it doesn't really change anything but it's still stressful. Having something like that out in the open..."

 

"...I see." Avery sat up with a small groan, resting up against Astin's shoulder. "Good thing I'm here then, huh? Getcha some nice relaxation. Prob'ly... Ain't gonna do us any good t'be thinkin' everyone 'round us is tryin'a do us in. So let's just... Try not t'worry 'bout it." Avery smiled, snuggling just a bit closer.

"So... Wha'cha wanna do, then? Said y'all get t'do wha'cha want. An' I said y'won... So, your call."

 

"Yeah... Relaxing sounds nice." Astin reached out and grabbed Avery's hand as she snuggled closer, enjoying having her close. Her next question had them blushing and looking away though, unsure how even to respond. "I... Uhm, well... We could talk for a bit. I mean... We--we're headed for Central. That will be nice. Maybe we'll finally get a chance to relax. A small break from everything." This wasn't what she had been implying, and it wasn't even that Astin didn't want that, they just felt so out of their depth with her... Maybe just talking for a bit would help. Then they could figure everything else out from there.

 

"Alright. We'll talk. What's on yer mind, then?" So cute. So so cute. How were they so embarrassed by just a mention? Avery didn't mind, but it sure would take some time before they were up for any of that, wouldn't it? Oh, well... Got plenty of time. Prob'ly.

 

Well crap. There wasn't really anything they had in mind except-- "Will you go on a date with me? I mean... When we get to Central. We should have some free time, right? So... We could get away from everyone else for a bit. Go get something to eat or... or see a movie. Go on a date..." It was a stupid idea, wasn't it? They were in the middle of a war. What kind of time was that to be going on a date...

 

"God, damn, you're so shy." Avery couldn't stop her laughter at that point, sighing after. "Alright. A date it is. And... Ohohohoho." Avery snickered ever so evilly, staring right up at Astin's lovely purple locks, before dragging her eyes all over them. "I'm gonna put ye in a dress." Avery stood up right quick, creating a camera frame with her fingers, and smiling through it. "Ye got curves, much as ye like t'hide 'em. Yer gonna look great~"

 

"A-- a dress?" Astin somewhat squeaked. "I don't... I don't do dresses. I don't even own a dress! You can see for yourself!" They pointed at their wardrobe. Surely she was joking. It wasn't like they were doing anything fancy. There wasn't even anything fancy on base! Why would she want them to wear a dress...

 

"Goshdarnthat'scute," Avery bit out, smiling a bit too wide. "Come on, darlin'~ I know yer a they, it ain't gonna make ye a woman er nothin'. I just think ye got a nice body worth showin' off. Nice summer dress'n an' over shirt. Yer legs look great... Fer me, Astin? Li'l ol' Avery?" She tried the sweet and sincere look, but her eyes betrayed that rather quickly, still looking Astin over for their lines.

 

"Buh..." Why was she so hard to resist. They knew that she was plotting but somehow they were still falling for it. "But... I won't fit into your clothes. S... so we'd have to go shopping..." Wait, frick, she'll jump on that just as fast... Dammit, why did I suggest this in the first place?

 

"Great! There's a great big mall at Central~ We can take y'all in there an' get you nice'n fitted up, then take a real long stroll 'round th'rest o' the place~ Sounds like a great date t'me. What about you?" Avery's hand made their way to her hips, smiling confidently. It really felt like Astin walked face first into these, did they just want her to call them out? Talk about glutton fer punishment, heh...

 

"Hhhh, I... Yeah. O-ok. If it would mean that much to you..." She just seemed so exited about it all. How could they say no to it? Especially with how stressed she'd been lately... Was it really that big of a deal to put on a dress for a few hours? They'd worn them before, so it wasn't that crazy to be wearing one again. Even if it had been years... And she was just so hard to resist... "You're too darn convincing for your own good, I hope you know that..." they muttered.

 

"Yes~! Fuckin', yeah~" Avery, confident in her success, plopped back down next to Astin and attached herself to their arm, giving them one more glance. "Hmm... Bikini too, maybe...?"

 

"Wha? No. No way. First of all, beaches suck. Sandy and wet and just... Ugh. And second... nu uh. I'm not..." They shook their head. "Dress is one thing. Bikini is way different. Being so... exposed and just... I couldn't."

 

"Aww... Hey, now, beaches don't suck. They got one o' them fake one at Central. Well, like, two hours away from Central, but they got one... Yer not gonna go there with me in shorts an' a shirt, are yah? It ain't gotten be something super revealin', but... Would mean a lot t'see you in somethin' that nice." If they said no again, she'd take it, but she had to try.

 

Astin hesitated. Why was she so good at seeming sad... She just dug into their defenses so easily... But everyone seeing them in a bikini... Compromise? Maybe... "How... How about this? I... If we go to the beach, I wear my shorts and shirt. But... But when we go out shopping tomorrow... You can pick one out for me to try on. Just for you. No one else. That'd... that'd be ok." It wasn't like it would be that crazy. Especially if things went the way they seemed to be headed tonight, it wasn't going to be anything too different so... That'd make her happy, right?

 

That wasn't a no. "An' what if ye look sooooo goood, that I just have t'have ye carted 'round th'beach fer everyone. What then~?"

 

Astin gritted their teeth. She really wasn't playing fair. "Nnno. It's... I can't. Not in front of everyone. Just in front of one person... well... in front of you, that's different. But I can't... I just can't."


"Hmm... Alright. If ye say so." That was a no. Avery didn't try to pry past that, simply leaning against Astin and enjoying their arm.

Astin let out a small sigh of relief as she didn't push again. They relaxed, enjoying her warmth against her arm. A quiet moment passed, Avery most likely enjoying the peace while Astin worked up the courage for the next thing they had to say. "A-avery? Yknow, before... Asking me what I want... all that. Well... I... I want you to kiss me." That what she wanted them to do, right? Take charge? How they were supposed to take charge when they barely knew what they were doing was beyond them, but maybe this was a good start.

 

She'd been right about to ask why the hubbub about wearing a bikini, but Astin got in first, breaking the silence with a weak start. A start's better'n nothin'. "Mmm, sure thing, darlin'." It only took a few seconds before Avery was crawling on top of Astin, sitting on their lap, and pressing her lips up against them. She let the kiss sit for a moment before pulling back with a big smile, tilting her head some. "An' what now?"

 

"Mmmm." Astin wrapped their arms around Avery as she settled onto their lap. This was nice. "I..." They blushed, unsure of how to proceed. "I'm not... Not exactly great at all this. Leading and knowing and everything..." Why couldn't she lead? Everything had been so much easier back in the engine room. But she wasn't doing that now. She was just letting them take control. The kiss had been nice. And having Avery just relaxing on their lap like this was nice too. Maybe just a step at a time. "Well... Uhm... We can... move further in a bit. For now lets just... Why don't you tell me something I don't know about you yet?" That could give them some breathing room, right? Talk about her for a bit. That'd be good.

 

"Pfft, hehahahaha!" Avery couldn't stop herself laughing, especially considering their position. "Y'got me on yer lap an' all y'wanna do is talk? Yer a real piece o' work... Alright. My hair's dyed. S'really brown, but that's borin', ain't it? Mmmm what else... I got two dogs waitin' fer me back home. Elsie an' Lady. Mmmm, anythin' else... I'm a knockout in a swimsuit~" she jabbed, winking.

"Ye gotta be more specific iffin ye want more'n just some random facts."

 

"I... I want more I just don't... know what I'm doing..." They trailed off into mumbled words pretty quickly, their cheeks matching the color of Avery's hair. "It's dyed, really? Huh. Never would have guessed. I like it though. It suits you more than brown." The blush was fading as they began to talk of more normal things. "Oh? What kind of dogs? How old are they? My family had a dog... I hope she's doing alright."

"And random facts are good." Hopefully she would let them ignore that last one without comment. "I just want to know more about you. That's all."

 

"Random facts are good, huh... Alright. One's a border collie, other's a golden retriever. Real normal like dogs. Play fetch an' look stupid all day. Sit down an' let ya pet 'em fer as long as ye want. Don't bark much either... Real well trained. And, again, Astin darlin', iffin ye wanna know more, I need specific questions. Nice try missin' my last comment, too... I ain't gonna let go that easy. Least ye'll be seein' me in one."

 

Astin sighed quietly. "I'm just... Stalling I guess. I don't really have anything specific. And yeah. I bet you look good in a swimsuit. Bikini I assume? Since you were so interested in getting me into one?" They chuckled, still enjoying the weight of the mechanic on their lap. It was so easy to just sit here like this. Why was everything else so hard? Just do it. Just put yourself out there and do it. A moment more of hesitation. And then they leaned in, initiating the kiss themself this time. She said that they were in charge. So then, they would take charge. Somehow.

 

"Stalling, with me? Gosh. Yer gonna hurt a girl's feelin's~" Avery snickered, and nodded at Astin's comment about swimwear, before smiling and kissing back. Hopefully it wouldn't take all night to get out of their clothes!

 

"Mmmuh." Astin pulled the blankets around them tighter at first, until Avery started to fumble around for her hat. Turning over, they looked over at her. "Where you going? Can't be time to be awake...." They fumbled for their communicator, finding it eventually. " 'S only 2130. Can't have places to go already..." Unless they'd arrived at Central. But even then, that didn't mean they needed to leave the ship, right? "Can't we just stay here tonight?"

Edited February 5, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Talk Time

"We're at Central, hun. Kim wants a chat, so's time t'wake up. Was a good rest, though... So I don't mind havin' stopped m'work early. I'll be waitin' jus' outside fer her iffin ye wanna come along. But, ye wanna sleep some more, s'all fine by me... An', thanks, Astin. Love ye, really." Avery smiled something sweet at their partner, before stretching and standing to see the atrocious spelling they'd sent to Kim.

"Yeesh, ain't havin' that..."

Don't talk like you aren't a fast worker either. You woke me, but it's okay. It was a good sleep. Not a bad time. I'll be outside Astin's room, come get me.

"An' that's that... Guess ye got a few minutes, darlin'." Avery snickered and fixed her hat, before stepping outside and pressing herself up against the wall near the door.

Call Home

Christina sat on her bed with her communicator. Her home's number had been put in, but she hadn't pressed call yet. She'd originally wanted Kim there to make this easier, but... This was something better done alone, wasn't it? If she could face up to this, it'd make fighting easier. Probably...

She stopped hesitating and pressed call, freezing up. It rang... rang... rang... "Hello--"

The video turned on, her mother there, staring at her. Christina thought she'd be fine with this, but she found herself tearing up immediately, her mother's eyes going wide. "Ch... Christina? You're alive!? Where are you, they told me you died in action, what's going on!?"

"Mom! Hi... I'm so sorry... It's a really long story, but... I'm alive. I'm sorry I couldn't call sooner." Tears were running, but she was smiling, her mom seemed distressed but relieved, almost trying to get through the screen to her daughter.

"Well... Wh-Where are you!? I'm just... I thought you were dead. My own daughter... Where are you?"

"I'm... I'm on an ANF ship. The Heion Riese--"

"The one on the news? What are you doing there?"

"I-It's a long story, I... I just wanted to let you know that I was alright. I'll call back later, okay? So just--"

"No! No that's not okay! You don't get it, I thought you were dead! I just... I just want you to come home, right now, please Christina..."

"I can't, mom... I'll call back. I promise. Please, please trust me." Christina was wiping at her eyes, trying to stop crying and smiling, it was all so silly, so silly to be worried.

Her mother, middle aged, ragged, tired and distraught, was doing the same, slowly nodding. "I believe you, just... You're all I have left. You can't leave me like that."

Christina swallowed hard, and nodded. "I won't... I promise. I really promise. Mom... Bye." She closed the transmission before either of them could say anymore, slowly collapsing onto the bed and laughing through the tears. What a mess. That wasn't something she should've been worried about. I need to message Kim.

Hey, Kim? Can I get you for a bit? If you're not busy...

[Phoenix]

Lovely Meeting

Spoiler

Guests already? She'd only just finished changing, and already people were hounding her? She just wanted to sleep and watch TV... A sigh followed, crawling out of the luscious bed she'd been given. It had been so comfortable, too. Slowly bringing herself over to the door, she tried to open it, finding it locked, of course. The side door camera showed... Oh, this would be rich. "Flyboy and snake toy? What a pair... What do you want?" Brant felt pretty cautious, was he that worried about coming to talk to her? I'm not that scary... Then again, Elaine seemed scared and hopeful all at the same time. What a mess...

"I can't open the door, so unless you want this to be a real awkward talk, one of you's gonna have to." Making a break for it would be a silly idea, so she had hoped that neither of them got it in their heads that she was going to. In fact, "and I'm not gonna try to bolt. One of you would tackle me down and my prison cell would get a lot less comfortable."

Well, that was a no brainer. Honestly, she should have expected the door to be locked, but getting someone's permission was better than barging in. You don't wanna piss of somebody that you're questioning, after all. Elaine quickly unlocked the door with her own security clearance, which honestly surprised her, considering how much Jessica distrusted her. Still, the door opened, and Elaine and Brant stepped inside.

And now, Elaine again stood face to face with 'Chris', the cloned version of Christina Troy. And her demeanor, her body language, nearly everything about her was the complete opposite of Christina. Christina was meek, but Chris gave off the impression of someone tougher. Someone who had gone through hell just to even be standing her. And she probably did.

"Uh...Can we step inside for this? I'd rather not talk while standing in the hallway. If that's alright." There was little of Elaine's usual confidence in her speech, but she couldn't find it in herself to muster up that sort of confidence, despite desperately needing it, now more than ever. Still, even if Chris was also a telekinetic, she had to steel herself. She had to prepare for any sort of emotional manipulation. After all, this could go sour, quickly.

Well, she wasn't about to run, but Elaine sure was trusting, huh? Chris shrugged and took a few steps back, letting them walk themselves in. "Alright. Wha'd'you want? Need some other question answered?" Hand on her hip, eyes scowling gently, looking between the both of you. "Wouldn't mind talking to you alone, Brant... Don't think any girl here would. 'Cept Kim, but, hey..." Much as she didn't like the lieutenant, she wasn't about to slam on her preferences. Girls could be pretty hot.

Brant conceded that he'd much rather flirt with Chris than shoot her or any of her sisters on the battlefield, but this really wasn't the time. They only had however long Louise was willing to wait before Elaine was implicated somehow. Brant figured the only reason things weren't already in motion--assuming they weren't--was because Professor X preferred to sew as much discord as possible. Brant couldn't be sure if he was really helping Elaine or just hurting himself at this point, but there was no sense in changing course, now.

Chris was turning out to be a very forward girl, though given what went down in the meeting room, Brant shouldn't have been all that surprised. "Tell you what ..." Brant managed a mostly friendly grin as he leaned back against the wall by the door. Even at the risk of looking paranoid, he'd rather not venture too far into the room during a visit like this. "There's an Apotheosis member named Louise Park. We can talk as much as you want if you're really interested, but right now we need as much info on her as we can get."

"... The lieutenant? I get a free pass to talk with the Brant Abrams, all I want, just for info on Louise?" Chris decided being friendly wouldn't be awful strutting right up in front of Brant with a curious smile. "Yeah, sure. What do you want to know about her? About how much she wants to fuck with Snake Toy over here? 'Cause, she's been telling everyone... Gets drunk after missions sometimes and blabbers on about how much fun she's having messing with an ANF pilot. Joke's on her now, but it doesn't paint you in a pretty picture, does it Elaine?"

Chris sighed and stepped back, giving Brant some space to breathe, before closing her eyes some. "Didn't bring it up during the meeting, because as much fun as it was watching you all squirm, having fingers point straight at Elaine would've ruined that fun in an instant... No idea if she is the mole or not, but unless Louise is a really convincing drunk, I doubt it."

The Brant Abrams? 'The?' "What, am I internet famous now?" Brant asked, his grin faltering at Chris' wording. 

Wait. She was telling them about Louise, right? A heavy drinker? A blabbermouth? She sounded a little unstable at first blush, and Brant could only sigh as he crumbled up and tossed out his old mental image of the paraplegic madwoman. At the very least, he was certain that Miss Park was both easily bored, and just as easily amused. Brant even wondered if that giant machine showing up to attack the ANF was actually an Apotheosis operation taking place, or just Louise going for a joyride. They probably weren't mutually exclusive outcomes, so maybe it didn't matter. What did matter was that Brant was even more uncertain about the situation now. Was Louise really going to carry out her threat, or was messing with Elaine just too much fun for her?

"Of course you are," she started, almost scoffing, before shaking her head. "Everyone back at the base hates you. Especially the flyboys. 'How the fuck does one guy take out so many people in a shitty little ANF fighter?' 'He's got an even scarier plane? This is suicide, are the higher ups insane?' You've got a big reputation... You and Kim both. The Riese's two killer TKs. Not gonna lie, you're every bit as impressive as your track record... Kinda wishing you didn't bring Elaine with you." Chris was starting to eye Brant up, her smile growing just a bit.

The more Chris spoke, the more Elaine felt uncomfortable about the situation. Louise actively spoke about her at the Apotheosis base? Just how wide spread was her name among the members of that group?! ...How wide spread were all of their names? Just what kind of information did they have on each and every single member of the Riese. Probably a lot, considering three different moles were aboard the damn thing.

Still, what made things slightly more uncomfortable was how Chris was openly flirting with Brant, making Elaine seem far more like a third wheel to a bicycle, rather than someone who needed all the info she could get. Of course, Chris didn’t seem to care either way.

”...So, back to Louise.” Elaine said, choosing to ignore the comment Chris just said about her. “We found someone in the ANF database that we think might be same lieutenant, but we’d like some clarification. Was Louise ever a part of the ANF military? And, if she was, how did she leave it?” Elaine hoped this would cue in Brant to bring up the profile they found on his little device.

Oh, red head was back to talking. Chris sighed. "Yeah, she was... No idea why she left, she doesn't talk about it. She started on her glory days, gets somber, scowls, and slithers off. I can tell you if the person you're looking at is actually her... But that's about all I can answer. If the data's locked, why don't you go ask your captain?" She looked back over at Brant.

"If you tell her you talked to me, and said I confirmed the entry, it could throw some suspicion off of your sergeant here. They aren't gonna put me in a robot, and if the Riese loses anymore hands, you'll be even easier pickings when the Regina comes around..."

The Regina. Louise had called that monstrous snake robot by that name, before, and even now, the thought of facing it head on sounded like an absolute nightmare. And it was likely they were going to face off against it, soon. Elaine still remembered the video, and while the exact detail of how it looked was fuzzy in her mind, she could still recall the most important parts about it, it’s power and it’s defences. How it had taken a full blast from a battleship like it was nothing, and the lazer that it had fired back.

That, however, was a conversation for another time. Right now, Elaine instead concerned herself with Chris’s suggestion. If this was the same Louise they were looking for, then Jess was most likely the only one on the entire ship capable of accessing the hidden data, but even if immediate suspicion wouldn’t be thrown onto her, that wouldn’t keep her safe, forever.

The next time we talk, it’ll be in person. That’s the plan, anyway~

Louise’s final words to Elaine haunted her from the moment she said it to now. The questions and accusations could only pile on if she was caught speaking with her, especially now that moles had been revealed to be on the ship to everyone. But, these wasn’t any ither way to get the information they needed. Not without hacking into the database itself.

Since Chris had made her way over already, Brant didn't need to do much more than lift up his wrist. When the display came back on, Louise's profile was still there, and still flipped upside down for the convenience of any onlookers. "Is this her?" he asked, once Chris had gone into a little more detail.

Brant took a moment to consider the situation from Apotheosis' point of view, or at least their Hunter pilots. He'd never thought of himself as someone they might actually be afraid of. Perhaps the lack of communication and their commitment to attacking the Riese had left him with the wrong impression. No, it definitely had if Chris was still being honest. Still, it was strange to think they might actually fear someone like him.

"You got quiet pretty fast there, Red... And yeah. That's her... Her plus an extra eye. She's got an eyepatch now, guess she lost it with whatever... Honorably discharged? Hah. I don't have a damn clue how someone like that could be honorably anything'd... Was that all?" she ended with, sounding a bit disappointed.

"I... Well, thanks for coming to see me. I guess..." Chris held her arm in an all too familiar fashion. She was more Christina than she might've wanted to be.

"Huh? I-I'm sorry, I'm just...thinking. I'm thinking a lot." Elaine wasn't expecting her to get talked at by Chris, again. She seemed far more interested in chatting and flirting with Brant, earlier. "I...I'm sorry, you've probably gone through a lot, and I'm just bringing my own troubles to you. Eheh." The chuckle could barely be described as one. It was forced, and barely had anything behind it. She is silent for another moment.

"U-um. Chris? If you don't mind me asking, are all the-" Elaine cuts herself off, feeling terrible for even mentioning the word 'clone'. "...Are all the clones forced to work? None of them believe in the goals of Apotheosis?"

With Louise missing an eye, lacking the use of her legs, and Chris' hint about just how unbelievable an 'honorable discharge' was, Brant wasn't surprised this woman was in league with Apotheosis, now. "If Elaine can come up with anything else, probably," Brant shrugged in the brief silence. Of course that was when he thought to add something that might cheer Chris up a little ... though Brant didn't know why, exactly. Still, he'd get it out, given the chance.

Elaine's question about the clones was interesting, mainly because of her phrasing. It seemed hopelessly optimistic, and even though Brant hoped they were all just slaves that needed liberating, he knew better. Given how different Chris was from Christina, Brant had no doubts that at least some of her sisters and whatever other clones were being used had found reasons to work for Apotheosis dutifully, even if those reasons were entirely selfish. Didn't Chris herself simply betray them because they were planning to get rid of her for superior clones? She said future clones would be little more than obedient drones, and though Brant didn't agree with that brand of science, he could see why Apotheosis would go down that road.

Clones... She narrowed her eyes at Elaine for a moment, folding her arms. "We all did. It sounds good on paper. Unfortunately, they're willing to go through any means to get what they want. Even if those means were throwing away the rest of us after we outgrew our usefulness... They were hoping I'd be blown up in that prototype. Almost was. Joke's on them, I guess... I bet Carlos is getting chewed out hard by Louise. Serves him right."

Chris scoffed, and sighed. "I can't speak for the rest of them, but I haven't seen anyone speaking too harshly out of line. Maybe they're scared of Louise. Don't wanna get strangled or crushed. But, who really knows..."

Chris' news was good. And also bad. It was really bad, the more Brant thought about it. On the one hand, Apotheosis was too ruthless to garner much loyalty from their most disposable members, which was in some ways good. On the other hand, they were apparently cleaning house. A lot of the people Brant killed going forward might very well be precious missed opportunities ... and he didn't see a way of saving any of them that wouldn't make their already difficult missions that much more so. In some ways, it felt like shooting at hostages.

"Well, good to know Apotheosis is just as despicable as we thought they were," Brant muttered.

Oh boy, that had been an awkward time to get close by. It seemed the two pilots were indeed throwing questions at Christi--Chris, about Apotheosis. Makoto was surprised she had even more to say, but as he was just catching the tail end of the conversation from outside the room, he had little idea how deep it was going. It wasn't a good idea to stay there and say nothing, right? He couldn't really hide from TKs, so that would just look odd.

"Ah, um..." He reluctantly made his presence known, showing up at the door. Makoto certainly hadn't planned to meet Chris again this early, and now he hoped that wasn't giving the wrong message. "Are you still talking about Apotheosis?" He looked at the two pilots inside, Elaine and Brant, both were indeed here asking for questions out of Chris, and it seemed like she was fine about it. There was nothing weird about it, and now Makoto felt silly for investigating. "H-hi Lieutenant, Elaine." He wasn't that cose with Brant, but Elaine seemed like she would have no qualms with first name basis talking. She was cool... right?

Actually, Makoto could think of something to ask. "I overheard you guys talking, and, uh, since you are still on that topic, I wanted to know if you heard anything about my father while you were there, Chris." He gulped, but part of him was hopeful she would be one to know of what happened to him. "Are they forcing him to work? From the mobile suits that popped up lately, all these beam weapons kind of... some stuff that he worked on." And that had never seen the light outside his dad's personal device, it was eerie. "He's the one researcher they captured from Colony 1, if it helps..."

Chris shrugged. "ANF isn't great, just not as bad as the bad guys... Means you all get to look good when the day is saved. If the day is saved." Chris had seem the video of the Regina in action, taking out an entire base solo. It was madness. Nothing on this ship or even the ship itself could do that.

"So... Aaaaaanything else? I... Don't really have much to get back to, but since this isn't a teambuilding trip, I don't think you both want to stay and chat."

A new voice wanted something else, it was Makoto again. She scowled at him, puffing her cheeks a bit. "What do you want, kid? Your dad? I don't have a clue... They brought someone back from Colony one, but if he's causing a fuss working for them, it isn't big enough to escape that section of the base. Seems to me he wants to work with them, just as much as that Liebenwalde does." It was probably a lot for Makoto to swallow, but he was hanging around her like a lost puppy. I'm not your replacement you creep.

Makoto immediately winced at the thought his father would be working willingly for Apotheosis. "No, that can't be right... they must be doing something. Keeping him under wraps and everything, that must be it. Apotheosis is awful, no sane man would want to work for them, so--" His eyes widened for a moment, his refusal to accept that option quickly showed alternate paths. "The moles must know about me and mom being here... that's something they can use to threathen him. Oh no..." The boy held his head, trying to process this possibility. If they had this information, then his mother was in danger... definitely. And his father would have no choice but to oblige! "That... why didn't I think of that?" Was it a bad idea to board the ship? But his mother needed it, and now he was helping fight Apotheosis! If so, what was the right decision?

It seemed his presence was certainly not appreciated by Chris, though, it was written all over her face. Did she really see him as that much of a bother? "S-sorry, that's all I wanted to know..." What a prickly girl... he knew when he wasn't welcome, at least.

So Makoto was the one closing in on them. Brant hadn't been worried enough to be relieved at the revelation, though he did wish the inner doors didn't let so much sound through them. Between Chris' agitation at Makoto, and the boy's own worries, it was getting a little difficult to tune out that other sense that made him a TK. He was about to tell the latter to calm down, but at this rate, Chris would just chase him off.

So, in the grand scheme of it all, Apotheosis didn't care. It truly didn't care for the lives it threw away for its goals. But, did the ANF care, either? It was hard to tell. Chris said that Apotheosis was worse, but...No. No, she couldn't let herself get convinced. Even if the ANF had it's terrible side to it, it was no where near as morally bankrupt as Apotheosis. ...Right?

Suddenly, a familiar voice nearly spooked the daylights out of her, as Elaine turned to see Makoto standing at the door to Chris's room. She was both relieved to see that it wasn't someone like Jessica listening in on the conversation, but still worried about what he might have heard.

Makoto, however, seemed far more concerned with asking about...his father? Elaine hadn't known that his father had been taken by Apotheosis. Had he been taken during the raid on Colony 1? Or had he cooperated like the Doctor from Corona Ten had? Either way, it was clear that Makoto was shaken by both Chris's demeanor and her information on his father. And it tore at her heart to see him struggle like that. Apotheosis was in the center of so many problems, and while Elaine's could have been solved if she had spoken up earlier, Makoto's was different entirely. It was awful, and there was little she could do. ...No. There was one thing.

"Makoto..." Elaine walked over to the kid, and knelt down slightly, so that she was eye level with him. "Hey. Look at me." Elaine waited, silent. Then, she placed her hands on his shoulders. She took a deep breath. "...Look, I know things seem bad. They're...pretty bad for me, too. But, listen... Even if we got the whole world against us, right now, what we're doing to fight Apotheosis...I'm positive that it's the right thing to do." Were these words that Elaine herself needed to hear? Especially after how convincing Louise had been to her? Most likely. "So...We're gonna figure things out. We're gonna get your father back. And we're gonna stop Apotheosis, now matter how long it takes. Cause...that's what Justice Fighters do, right?"

"Face it, space cadet, your dad's working with the bad guys because they let him play with his toys. No restrictions like the ANF... Liebenwalde said similar." She didn't want to hurt Makoto specifically, but having delusions bothered her. Especially Elaine's.

"...Justice Fighters? Heh... Haha, ahahahah!" Chris slowly began clutching at her sides as her laugh got bigger, a sad, pitying laugh. "Hah, heee... You, y-you seriously think you're some, savior of justice? That you're working for the greater good? Holy shit." It took her some time to calm her laughter, still shivering with giggles, leveling her gaze at Elaine.

"There's no justice in this mess. Apotheosis wins, at the cost of all morals, they get what they want, and there's no justice. The ANF and EU win, the status quo returns, the world stays the same. Where's the justice, Elaine? Do you even think you know what justice is? To think this is the crew that's beating Apoth..." Maybe I should've stayed quiet and hedged my bets with the firing line.

She sighed, placing a hand against her face, but wiping away that small smile was nearly impossible. "You're right, that Apoth are the bad guys. Creating, designing, and sacrificing lives, no morals on who they kill, creating weapons above and beyond what war needs, working with aliens. Did you know us grunts still have no idea what the aliens want? How sad is that? Bet the newest line of clones isn't going to know there's aliens at all..."

Chris quite suddenly looked dejected, looking away from the justice idiots. "...Sorry. Whatever. Go fight for what you want... I'm sure your dad's okay." Backpedaling all of that wouldn't exactly work, but she obviously regretted it, either way. Emotions are stupid.

There was no point in listening to Christina anymore, as she still pushed something they didn't know. "I'd rather see him with my own eyes before making that assumption." It was starting to bother him... but that was probably the point. Why was Christi-- Chris like that?

Elaine's words were well received, the boy turned to look at her with a conflicted smile. "Thanks." It was true to him, at least. They wanted to stop it all, truly, and it wasn't gonna be some talk about double standards that was going to stop him. He wasn't one to accept that talk about the evil in men. People were easy to corrupt, maybe, the government could be unfair, and others could be taking advantage of the many schisms society still had. But he wasn't, at least he thought he wasn't, and if he was, he'd try to fix it. That was proof enough for the boy to keep going.

"I don't know what's in your mind, but it's not like war results decide everything. Life goes on and we still have to fight for what we think is right, just not with robots and guns." Makoto looked at Chris, who now seemed dejected. Despite his distress, he wasn't lashing out with her tone, even if it sounded like a lecture. Perhaps he really hung onto this heroic altruism. "If we can't defend what we care for now, then can we ever? If you think all you're good for is one thing, you'll never see hope once the war is over." She was probably going to destroy herself over something, and while she wasn't his favorite person then, Makoto still wanted to wake her up... whatever that was worth.

Maybe he was being too pushy, or too aimless. Or just didn't know what Chris went through, but that didn't matter now, with her pressing his buttons first... it was really pointless to continue on that line of thought. "Sorry, this isn't what you guys were talking about at all, huh? I just derailed it." He bowed an apology, trying to not let this distress get more of a kick out of him.

Well this back and forth was getting sad quickly. Brant didn't realize Makoto had such an optimistic outlook on the situation. Elaine's brief pep talk was also a little surprising, at first. Then Brant remembered what she'd told him in the elevator, about how she wanted to be a hero. Apotheosis was certainly turning that into a pipe dream.

Speaking of pipe dreams, figuring out Chris was getting harder all the time. One second she was full on aggressive and spiteful ... and the next she was apologizing. Was she trying to rein in the bitterness her time with Apotheosis had left her with, or was she just unstable? He supposed he could ask her at some point. For now, he was too worried about the hammer coming down on Elaine and possibly himself to put much attention on it.

Makoto hadn't been ready to back down just yet, and good on him. Chris seemed like she could use a contrary opinion thrown at her from time to time. Brant felt the boy's response applied equally as much to him as the bitter girl in front of them, though. All this war had been up to this point was one long series of massacres with no end in sight, and Brant hadn't contributed much else to the conflict. It wasn't all bad news. The Riese team had successfully flipped every enemy captured up to this point. Saving even four lives had to count for something. Brant also couldn't help but appreciate those they had saved up to this point, because they might very well be the last, given Apotheosis' new cloning strategy. They just had to count their blessings ... and maybe find a mole or two while they were at it.

Fight for what's right, huh? Well what is right, Makoto? You're just some teenager. You don't get to decide that. Is my existence even 'right'? ...But at least, you can believe in it, huh? It seemed everyone was against her, even her own thoughts. Brant's silence didn't aid much, Makoto was in on the justice kick. "Whatever... Leave me alone, if you're all done." Chris looked away from the mess of people gathered here, back towards the soft comforts of her bed. She sat herself down and turned the TV back on, finding whatever movie was on to watch-- right, Die Hard was still playing. Better than nothing.

She didn't seem particularly interested in it, but with her emotions running cartwheels in her head, focusing on anything else was likely for the best.

Sigh. There was really no point in staying there. Christi--Chris didn't even seem to know what she wanted, aside from tearing apart the group that created her. The air in the room wasn't going to get any better as long as he stayed there, that's for sure.

"I'll be going first, goodbye." Respectfully bowing a last time, Makoto saw himself out of the room. Practice and exercises would definitely be more productive than staying.

“It’s alright, Makoto.” Elaine said, standing up. “Honestly, you came in at a good time. For me, anyway.” Despite Chris’s laughter and taunts, it didn’t deter her from trying to comfort Makoto. Even if Chris was right, even if ‘justice’ didn’t exist in this world, that wouldn’t stop someone like Makoto from trying to create it. And that reminded Elaine of what she was fighting for. Not for any corrupt ANF, and certainly not for any terrorist organization, whether they wanted her or not. It was for people like Makoto, who would strive to better themselves at every turn. 

With Chris now returning to her television, it was time to leave. After Makoto exited, Elaine took one last look at Chris. She was an emotional mess, just like her, and while she thought of ways to possibly help her, now was not the time. She still had her own problems to deal with. Elaine stepped out of the room, and waited in the hallway for Brant before she would lock the room, again.

Brant sighed, wishing that whole exchange had gone a little better. "You held up your end, so thanks. Really. Whenever the captain lets you out of here ..." it shouldn't be that long, should it? Chris was somewhat difficult to deal with, and she wasn't exactly risking her life for the cause, but she was far from unhelpful so far. "... I'm usually in the hangar. Usually," Brant shrugged. With that, he left Chris to her movie and let Elaine lock up behind him.

---

"Yes, I need him to help me with a certain program," Firmia glared at the doctor, "If things go poorly here at Central then we'll have to leave the ship, so there's no time for anymore rest."

"Whoa, you may want to start from the beginning there," Sasha grimaced, "What would we need to leave the Riese for? The AMS units are all good for a long trip, but we don't have anywhere to go."

Before Firmia could decide on how to answer that, and whether to try and tip Sasha off early or let him mope for a while, Hannah made an ... astute observation. "Yes," Firmia scowled, "yes they were ..."

"Such disrespect," Tonya shook her head. "Yeah, though. I just found out about it a little while ago. Apparently Apotheosis is getting help from cat people. This war's either going to be really long because of that or really short." Tonya supposed it depended on what sorts of 'cats' they were dealing with, the easily discouraged airheaded ones, or the laser chasing, wall smashing hunter killers. Yeah, she wasn't taking this seriously, right now~ The idea of alien invaders that looked like cats was just too amusing not to make those silly comparisons.

---

Galatea hopped over to the Regalia along with Brant's workload? Oh right, she'd transferred herself into the Mantle over from Hannah the same way. There was virtually no chance of data loss via the link when both suits were so close to each other, so she obviously felt safe riding the data stream. While Brant poured over Firmia's files, he listened to Galatea's question, trying to imagine a world where it was a lot more relevant. He supposed they were pretty close to that world, already. It was just a matter of AIs like Hannah 'catching on,' as Galatea put it.

"Hmm ... obsolete? No, not probably not." What was this architecture, here? It reminded Brant of the human brain, though only vaguely. "Hannah will be able to pass for a human soon, even with a healthy bit of scrutiny. That means the differences between humans and AIs like her are minor ... and there are always going to be people that prefer AIs that can't grow beyond their programming. I think AIs like you will be helping to control the ships once the factions start expanding into deep space."

Yep, it was definitely 'brain like,' divided into two primary halves. One seemed dedicated to suit control while the other ran auxiliary functions. The section in the middle seemed to manage the entire system, as well as communication between the two main sectors. It seemed like Firmia had put in some basic attack patterns and procedures, but it really needed some work, badly. As is, the system wouldn't fare much better than the usual AIs used in training units. Having to improve on what was arguably the best they had was a little more pressure than Brant wanted, right now. Still, it would make a decent apology to Firmia and give him a good challenge. As Brant recalled, these less interesting bits were just there as filler, and he was free to replace them as he went along. He definitely planned on doing that ...

"I can try upgrading you too if you want," Brant offered, smiling at the pink avatar, "Or is it just the mobility you're worried about, right now?" Granted, she probably was feeling cooped up if she was hopping to new platforms at every opportunity.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Phoenix

[Ether]

I wouldn't say I work that fast. Well, I'm glad that it- Give me a minute Avery, something might have come up... ah, timing

Kim began, another message popping up on her screen before she could send it. Whatever it was, it seemed Christina was... something. Her message seemed almost distraught. Sending off what she had to Avery with the addendum so as to not keep her waiting, Kim switched over to Christina's message, typing up and sending a reply to her as well.

What do you need, are you okay? I was about to do something, but if you need me, I can work something out.

[TheRoon]

Whew, it was sure hot at Central. Hot enough to put Aliza in a tank top and shorts. Her hair was put up in a bit of a high tail as well. Was it meant to mimic Abby's style? Who knows. Either way this was where her old squad partner Hicks left, spirit still broken. All she could do was wish him a good life. "...hm..." She wrote in her notebook as she walked, trying to distract herself from her own nagging thoughts. How do you comfort someone who lost someone dear to them? Where do you even start? That was something she couldn't figure out for the life of her, she was clueless. It was frustrating to say the least.

Well the notebook did a decent job distracting her at least, but what really caught her attention was a quick hello from Elaine. "...?" She turned and saw the other girl. Aaah right Elaine. Let's see if she can improve that score. She shut the notebook and smiled wide. "Elaine...ciao!" She slipped it in her back pocket. "Good to see you. How're you holding up?"

[Nanami Touko]

Plans For Leaving

Oh, Firmia didn't like that. She didn't seem to like any of this. Hannah shuffled herself behind the girl and give her a gentle hug, subtly placing her chin on the top of Firmia's head. "Things will be explained later, Sasha. For Firmia's sake, please come with us." Hannah had been a part of the frustrations for this case, so she wanted to try and resolve things as best as she could.

Cheryl got her pants on, pressing her glasses up properly. "Cat aliens? Sounds like we just need a good mouse to keep them distracted." She wasn't taking it too seriously either, and on the subject of leaving, tried to show little concern. She didn't want Sasha getting worried about things after their whole talk if that was going to happen. I guess we get to see if long distance works out... This isn't karma for today, is it? That'd be pretty fucked up.

"You don't suppose your robot would be better at working on a program than Sasha?" Cheryl was just musing, no matter if Firmia took her seriously. She had to get it out there at least once.

"That would depend on the program," Hannah replied. "There is plenty of information that I do not possess. If Sasha does, then it would be quicker for him to do the work that is needed-- for now. I can always be upgraded with information for future cases, of course."

"Hmmm." Seemed like a simple answer...

Timing

Quote

I would. And sure. I'm just standing here.

Avery left it at that, whistling gently to herself. "Wonder iffin Astin's gonna get outta bed~"

Meanwhile, Christina didn't really want to bother Kim if she already had plans, but...

Quote

It's okay if you're busy. I just... Called my mom to let her know I'm still alive. I don't know if I can face her alone again, but I don't want to bug you if you had plans, or anything

That's probably going to guilt her... I just don't know if I can be honest. She did want Kim there, especially for this, but... But even then, taking her away from whatever she was doing, whatever that was, just, felt silly.

Getting Off The Ship

Jess sighed. "Alright, bridge, this is it. If you have any family living at Central, calls to make, anything... Time to make them. I'll make sure everyone's informed if we get orders to sortie again." Jess got herself up, slowly taking her hat off. A real break... She turned to the door, took the elevator down, and looked over at the conjoined bridge. "A real break for everyone else. I'm gonna be stuck in meetings with high command and the admiral. So many questions, so much information... Hoof... Highest ranking pilots. That's Brant and Kim. Alright..."

Jess sent off an identical message to each of them, consisting of:

Quote

I spoke with Commander Vance. He would like myself, Roxanna, and you to come to a meeting to discuss the goings on. He hasn't specified a time for me yet, this is just an advance notice for when he does. Try not to get too wrapped up in anything.

Upgrades

"Hmmm... I see. I shouldn't be surprised you think like that, mr. AI fanatic~" Galatea chuckled to herself as her cloud fully formed, giving her just a bit more room to relax. "As for this drone design, are you and Firmia sure that you don't just want a copy of Hannah's battle schematics without that emotional nonsense included? I can give you a complete diagram. I was inside of her for a few years... Unless you and Firmia think you can do better." Speaking of doing better... Upgrade her, huh? "I'd mostly like a shell to wander around in, yes... But... Upgrade me? I hope you don't mean to be like Hannah."

She chuckled, before warping on top of her cloud, resting her chin against an open hand. "Brant, have you looked inside Hannah yet? Have you done any diagnostics on her frameworks? Because, they look like this." Galatea pointed up, an image of... That couldn't have been a human's mind, it was just so slightly off, but... The neural pathways and everything were there... "That's 'Hannah', my good Abram... While I know what her 'mind' looks like, I haven't the slightest how Tabitha Gaertner managed to create something this complex in a machine. So while I have no issue with you tinkering inside my specifics, I haven't the foggiest what you have in mind. I'm 1s and 0s... Hannah is... Something else."

Thorvald's Opinion

 

"Oh boy," Thorvald muttered, rereading Jessica's message. It wasn't a wholly unexpected topic, given their track record, but still, the captain was certainly moving fast on this one. At least she was learning, somewhat. This was better than the initial Nikolai deploy, she's asking for opinions, and well... she probably wasn't going to like his, but he'd give it to her anyway.

Taking a quick turn about and reversing course from heading to the lifts, Thorvald walked back to the meeting room, and pulled out a chair facing the door, resting his elbows on the table and mentally going over a few different ways to phrase things, trying to settle on the best option, while he waited for Jess to arrive.

Jess expected Thorvald to get there first, of course she did. That didn't make it easier to look at him when she stepped into the room, looking like more of a teenager than ever. Christ I should've gotten changed. Too late now. It would look more awkward to walk in, leave for fifteen minutes, and then come back. Jess swallowed her shame and sat across from him, looking at the table, folding her hands together.

"I've already been ch-chewed out by Avery for suggesting this, so I can take a harsh opinion. So... So, if you think it's a really bad idea, then, go ahead and say so. I'll listen."

So she'd talked to the head mechanic too? Thorvald hadn't expected that, given the timing and content of her message, but it made perfect sense for her to have sought her input early in the proceedings. And not just because of alphabetical order, his own place in the line-up certainly put the axe to that foolish notion. It was a bit of a relief that his wouldn't be the first negative reaction she'd be hearing on the proposal, but her phrasing and, well, it almost seemed like resignation, felt unfortunate.

"Chewed out... is a little harsher than I'm aiming for here, given you haven't actually settled on a decision yet, though it does seem clear you have your own leanings," Thorvald began. "But I guess we won't know how I stack up to Avery until we get on into the meat of things, will we?" A brief smile, perhaps a little out of place, but he really didn't want to come across as an ogre.

"I feel it's a poor idea, dangerous and unnecessary, especially given how close we are to Central. If there's another emergency between now and our arrival... perhaps. If we make it there unimpeded? I should think there no real reason for her to remain in consideration."

That was a good start. No need to keep going with specific reasons at this juncture and overwhelm her. If she wanted to counter, he would rebut then.

"I do... It's very hard not to feel sorry for her, I won't lie. I don't think that putting her in a machine and making her fight is exactly a reward for something like that, but... I don't know. Giving her a place to be? A place to belong, that isn't just a bunch of scientists using her for experiments, and... And treating her like material..."

Of course, Thorvald felt it was a poor idea. Jessica had been expecting that, it was one of the reasons she'd come to speak with him first. "Even if we make it there unimpeded, can you tell me why you think it's unnecessary? I get the thoughts of danger, she's an unknown, she could go volatile during a fight, turn on us, but so could the other three. I just... I know it might stab me in the back eventually, but Central can't pay the soldier bills. And after what happened to Nikolai... I'd rather allow someone that's willing to fight into a machine, than taking some fresh rookie out of Central's dorms. I... I'll, just let you go ahead."

Certainly he had more points to make, it couldn't just be vague concerns of the danger behind it. That, and... Jess was bluffing on Chris wanting to fight. It was an assumption on her part, and talks aside, if it fell through, she wouldn't push it. For now, though... She wanted a loaded deck. Her plays weren't that strong, they needed to be backed up.

"Look, I get that feeling, believe me," Thorvald eased up a little. "The last thing I want to see is a young girl chained up for circumstances she barely had control of. I'm not saying that you need to hand her over, to let our eggheads be the ones poking and prodding her, or to have her wait out the rest of her time behind bars." He sighed, thinking about that was depressing, and he wanted to be sure Jess realized what he wasn't advocating, as well as what he was.

"But all that said, she's definitely a loose cannon, moreso than Abby was. At least that one waited until after her introductory meeting to start her first fight with the crew. This one seems unnaturally... no, I guess it's pretty understandable actually, but she's really unhealthily (that's the word I was looking for) fixated on the original, and I can't see anything good coming from them butting heads like it seems obvious they'll continue to do. And given how fragile Christina is already, you know how often she's been coming back from missions unconscious, do you honestly think we can afford to be adding more stress to her workload? To be forcing Lieutenant Kim to take even more risks than she's already shouldering? Maybe... I'm not saying it'd be a good idea, but it'd be at least not as bad, if it was somebody else's clone... But this? I'm struggling to think of a worse option we could've landed ourselves with."

Rubbing a hand against his temple for a moment, Thorvald wished he had a glass of water or something to take a quick drink from, but he hadn't planned for this meeting, and would just have to deal. "You do have a point about the personnel crunch, and yes, even though when we get back to Central and have a chance to refit and refuel, there's probably only rookies waiting. But they're our rookies. Our training programs aren't bad, I should know, I've helped teach a lot of recruits over the years. And look at how Aliza's been faring? Privately contracted security's not much of a step up from what we might expect and she's been working out alright. We can slap them in the most durable machines we have until they get their mech-legs, and see where to go from there if we need to. Hell, we've also got Je--Sergeant Barnes as an option, once she's recovered. I'd feel safer with her guarding my back out there on the field than with an unknown, who's yes, given us a lot of info so far, but all of it unconfirmed."

Closing his eyes, he moved his hand around to the back of his neck, scratching it a little and rocking his head from side to side. "In an emergency, or after long enough that her stories check out and are properly vetted. We don't have to give her up, we can keep her--" as a spare, Thorvald was going to say, but upon realizing how that sounded given her circumstances, he blanched a little and froze up. "Keep her in reserve. Let her get used to the crew and integrate, and maybe it'll be worth reconsidering. That's all I'm saying. Sorry."

Jess hadn't given the Christina situation much consideration. Why did she hate the girl so much? Was it just because of their situations, or was there more to it? It wasn't like they could put them monitored in a room together and have them hash it out, having authority there would just put Chris on edge and either shut her down or make things worse... But letting it work itself out naturally could cause problems if they got into a fight with no one around to stop them. Chris would beat Christina up before the TKs could sense something was wrong.

Jess sighed. "Yeah. You're right. This was a pretty silly idea. Sorry for wasting your time, I'll... See what I can do about contracting a few soldiers from Central to give the ship some more numbers. Can probably use a bit of sway here and there. They're going to be thankful to the captain of the ship keeping the country alive... Even if I don't feel like I'm doing much."

Jess obviously didn't look pleased, but his argument made too much sense to crack. She could refute other things, but that tense connection between the two blondes, when the first had been doing so much to help, it... It couldn't be challenged without Jess tossing Christina under the bus. "Sorry. You're dismissed."

Jessica looked crushed, and that caused a pang in Thorvald's chest. But he couldn't take back what he'd said. He meant every word of it. They were both trying to see things, suggest things for the best of the ship and everyone in it. And they were both only human, fallible and able to miss parts of the greater picture. The captain had been so focused on what she thought was right, it looked like being presented with something she'd overlooked really took the wind out of her sails.

Nodding, as she dismissed him, he gave her a pat on the shoulder on his way out. Stopping at the door, Thorvald turned and offered, "You might as well keep talking with the others, especially the Artemis team when you can. Maybe they see things a different way, there might be something I'm missing. But... thanks for hearing me out, and taking the consideration to think things through before just jumping to a decision. It shows a lot of real growth. I'm proud to serve under you." Then a salute, and he was on his way.

"Real growth..." Had she grown, being put under these stressful situations? It had barely been a week, but the stress of war... Perhaps it had been doing things to her. "Thank you," she replied, as he left, leaving her there to soak in her thoughts. "Talk to the Artemis crew... They'd be the ones most affected by this. I guess I can... But, after they have time to rest."

Edited February 5, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Phoenix]

Megumi spent much of the day monitoring Nikolai and tending to her cybernetics studies. The two were closely related, now even more so than before. It was a little depressing, but Nikolai wasn't in hysterics over his predicament just yet ... so that was something. By 21:30 it was about time for another break. That old man was boring her to tears, and that wasn't good for a visual learner like Megumi. She wished she could get her hands on more procedure videos, but they were charging like crazy for the good ones. The free to watch videos she could find all around the web weren't as useful as one might think. Even those with spoken details about augmentation and rehabilitation procedures were only good for making the average Joe confident enough to tout his knowledge on an internet forum.

Megumi decided to shell out more credits for the professional videos when she came back to her studies. For now, it was time to check in on Nikolai, the purpose behind these cybernetics courses. Earlier in the day, she'd drained the boy's watery tomb just enough, and just long enough, to swap out his breathing mask for a larger face mask that would allow him to speak normally. She also fitted him with a special set of bone conduction headphones she grabbed out of storage. These would allow Nikolai to clearly make out what she or anyone else near the tank were saying, even with the SIEG fluid filling his ears.

"Nikolai, it's me again." Megumi hesitated to ask how he was feeling. She could at least partially tell how he was feeling, being short two legs and a disturbing amount of his epidermal layers. "Are the new mask and headphones working, alright?"

---

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the dog aliens will swoop in and save us," Tonya snickered. The galaxy spanning Lupunine Federation, mankind's greatest ally. Nice~

Hugs, again? Why was Hannah like this? Firmia didn't want to make a scene, though she was clearly already part of one. Still, she wanted to cool off before she ran into anyone important in the ANF, and letting herself crack under the stress again was out of the question. "... I need a drink," she muttered, as Hannah's chin came to rest on her head.

"No alcohol for minors," Sasha teased the young Alkaev.

"You could spend the next ten years running calculations and still not be able quantify just how little I care about freaking alcohol restrictions. Now listen, we're short on time and I need you to help me figure out how to scale up your floating yoyo to a usable drive for my drones. I don't think Hannah knows enough to help you, yet ... so it's just going to be us for now."

Yeah, that was squarely Sasha's domain. "Ah. Well ... at least it's not desk work. My work's still pretty fringe in the scientific community, so Hannah and I might have wind up bumping heads on the little details. I'm not sure we've got the materials to build these, even small ones. Still, if this is the ANF's headquarters, I guess we could cash in some of that goodwill we've been saving up and see what they'll let us use. You sure you want to speed past your lessons, though?"

Of course she didn't want to speed past them, but they were out of time. Firmia wasn't sure what she would have to do first, leave the ship, or construct a prototype, but she had until they set out from Central to accomplish the latter. "I'll figure out what we're doing before it's finished. You don't have to tell me."

---

"Firmia wants the drones to be tools, only," Brant noted, figuring he at least understood her purpose there. Admittedly, there were some of his own morale quandaries mixed in, as well. "Copying Hannah's mind and then making changes like that wouldn't be any different from what Apotheosis did to Christina. That's why we need to make the code ourselves. It's not as pragmatic, but I think we'll both sleep a little easier at night this way." Hannah was either sentient, or incredibly close, which meant copying her code for any reason was sitting awkwardly in that same gray area as cloning. In terms of potential though, it was dozens of times more dangerous. Even Brant could admit that.

And stop the presses; Galatea had a diagram of Hannah's mind? Not really surprising at all in hindsight, but still intriguing. Brant had all but given up on perusing Hannah's schematics, if only to make it easier to treat her like a person. "I didn't mean like Hannah, no," Brant shook his head, wondering if he should ask Galatea to let him see the data or be polite and let her work her way around to it. "That's so far beyond my skill level it's not even funny," he said, trying not to let his smile get too somber.

How right he was, Brant thought, as Galatea showed what could have easily passed for a human brain on a sheet of paper beneath some bad lighting. It almost looked like someone had been prettying up and expanding Firmia's Golden Eyes architecture for the last thirty plus years and thought to send their progress back in time for the cave dwelling coders to gawk at. Brant didn't know how anyone could create something this complex, either ... but given how closely it was shaped, he had the beginnings of a theory forming in his own noggin. "It'd take me weeks to even figure out what's going on in there. No wonder Hannah's outgrowing her hardware .... do you think Tabitha used a human as a template for this? I've read a lot about attempts to make digital copies of the brain ... and this is honestly what I'd expect that to look like if they got close."

Edited February 13, 2018 by Phoenix

[Dandragon]

"I'm doing okay." She said, returning the smile, though certainly not as bright as Alizas was. "I was just on my way to get a look at the living quarters around here. Maybe take a little tour around the place, see what it has to offer. Like the captain said, we can rest easy, tonight." Of course, Elaine did have doubts in her mind about just that, but she felt safer at the base than she had on the ship, even if the moles were still out and about. But, she wasn't going to be a shut in, anymore. No, she was going to change herself for the better, and prove that she was more than just the loud redhead that nobody took seriously. "I hear they got plenty of different shops, off base, so I was thinking of going around and seeing what's in stock. They might even have a restaurant nearby...Maybe. You wanna come with?"

[Ether]

Both replies came, followed swiftly by a third message... from the Captain? A meeting with the commander, was it? She was certainly popular today, it seemed... well, she had approached Avery herself, so that one hardly counted... if only she had awoken earlier, she might have had a bit more time. Curse... whatever it was that the ARES system had done to conk her out so thoroughly.

Man, I feel like an asshole now. You might be right though, Christina wants me to meet her mom... who only just now learned her daughter isn't dead. Captain just told me to be ready for a meeting too. No point in waiting up for me, I don't know how long this stuff will take... I just wanted to ask you if you found out anything about what happened with the Artemis and... the other thing isn't really that important, it can wait.

 

And sent to Avery. It was a lie, really the other thing was bothering her more than whatever had happened with the Artemis. Avery would get that information to her before next sortie regardless, so it wasn't a huge deal to rush it. But there wasn't anything to be done about it really, it seemed like Christina really needed her at the moment. As for Christina... her mom, huh? That reminded Seung-Min of what Olivia had said to her not too long ago... would it really be okay to contact her family now, after so long? It seemed pretty obvious they didn't have enough interest in her current goings-on to get her contact information from the local military offices, but a part of her mind lingered on it a bit longer than she expected it to.

It's okay, it was just some silly personal thing. If you think it'll help to have me there, I can head on over. Captain said that I'm wanted in a meeting later on but as long as we aren't on the phone for a really long time it should be okay... though it might be awkward for your mom to have someone else around during a call like that.

 

Sending off her second reply, this time to Christina, Kim looked over the message from Captain Gefalscht... how vague.

Do you have any sort of ETA or an idea of how much advanced notice we might have, Captain? I'd rather avoid going around in uniform for hours if I can.

 

[TheRoon]

Well this was a nice surprise considering what happened at that meeting not too long ago. It impressed Aliza, wasn't enough to revise a score but we'll see. "Oh yeah. Nice to actually relax for a change and not have a hailstorm of bullets and beams headed our way." Then came the offer to check out the shops and restaurant. "Hm...sounds like you're asking me on a date~" She teased slightly. Despite her outbursts she was cute. Still... "I'm kidding." She laughed. "Yeah totally. I got nothing going on right now. Lead on El." She kept her grin on after she threw out that nickname from left field.

[Shin]

Central, the heart of the ANF's operations, it was a location and facility that had overseen Tarquin's entire existence, and at the same time he had nothing to do with it beyond that. After returning to earth, their main objective was to return to the base to provide aid, but arriving there didn't give Tarquin any sense of completion. It was just another goalpost that was likely to move as soon as something else came along. Was he just a dog on a leash, fated to be pulled forwards until he collapsed? Whatever victory they achieved, he certainly didn't feel like part of it. He'd retired to his room after the visit to the infirmary, there was a lot swimming around in his head and processing it all was proving to be a slow process.

He sat himself on the edge of his bed, looking at the small library lining his wall. Most of them had been gifts from the Professor and the ANF, intended to placate any material desires that he had. Each them had been read multiple times, although he'd barely touched any of them since his first day aboard the Riese. Admittedly, he'd been subject to far less free time, but what time he did have was used very differently.

"I'm glad you have someone you can turn to, even if he's a bit estranged from the world."

Meeting Nikolai had been the catalyst, from then on his life had changed dramatically. If he hadn't changed, he might have ended up like his older sister - which was an almost sickening prospect in itself. He wasn't in a position to change the world around him, but accepting things as they were wasn't an option. He leaned over to his drawer, opening it cautiously. Inside was the one keepsake of the Professor, a photograph of them both from a few years back. It was always difficult to tell what the Professor was thinking, he almost seemed content in the picture. Had he been planning his betrayal from the beginning? Not that it mattered, he didn't matter any more. Whilst he'd lost the only parental figure in his life, he'd gained freedom. The mission at Corona Ten had been the one that had finally killed his adolescence.

[Dandragon]

Elaine's flushed a little. Aliza was certainly forward, wasn't she? Sure, Aliza was an attractive looking girl by her own standards, and Elaine wasn't entirely picky on the gender or sex of a person, but a date this soon while barely even knowing each other was a bit-Oh. No, wait. It was just a joke. And Elaine flushed more. She had a feeling that it was going to be an ongoing cycle of teasing from Aliza, but unlike Louises...'teasing', if you could even call it that, Elaine was sure that there was no malicious intent behind her words.

"El...Okay." A small moment to process this nickname and regain her composure, and Elaine set off with Aliza not far behind her. The lift to the outside wasn't far, and the lift ride itself was, once again, short. When the doors opened up, a wave of warm air hit the both of them. Elaine breathed it in. It was refreshing, in a way, to breath air not filtered by the Riese's ventilation system. Elaine stepped out, and turned back to Aliza. "Let's go find ourselves a car. Shall we?"

Edited February 5, 2018 by Dandragon

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai had almost gotten used to the muffled silence of his amniotic coffin, the gentle ebb and flow of fluid around him blocking out most of the sound of the external world, peaceful and warm. A semi-living state, a sort of Schrödinger's life: simultaneously dead and alive, floating in and out of consciousness in his cocoon. 

He'd heard somewhere that before metamorphosis could occur, the pupa would eat up the creature inside, tearing it apart and rendering it down to its most basic essence inside the chrysalis before transforming it into something else. Was that what this was? Would he somehow exit the tank transformed into something fully realised?

He wasn't sure. His skin was still fragile and raw, but bathing in the biomedical slush seemed to have made the angry red flesh harden in a criss-cross pattern of keloids and scarring, still tender but definitely harder than it had been before entering. Perhaps this was the exoskeleton then? No, it could not be. Vertebrates never had things inside out like this.

His orphic state made figuring things out quite difficult. Even as the headphones were gently secured around his ears and the breathing mask had been fitted with a new attachment, he could not be certain if it was real or not. It was almost frustrating.

"I am thinking so" he muttered, his voice hoarse and raspy, barely above a whisper. Every word strained his lungs, as though each syllable was ripped from his raw throat and heaving chest by grasping and violent hands. "Is the fucker dead? where... is? Is he okay?"

[Nanami Touko]

Mail Sent

Quote

Whoa, meeting the parents already? Score, have fun Kim. Guess I'm going back to sleep. Buck was a little too eager to cover my shift, but hey, if I get a break, it works out... And no, nothing new. The system's on a manual start now at least. But don't you dare turn that thing on if it's just you in there again. We don't need your room to become the infirmary permanently.

That was that, it seemed. Avery shrugged, went back into Astin's room, threw her hat on the floor and flopped against the bed. "I got stood up~ How awful. Guess I gotta spend all m'time with you instead."

Heading Out

Jess replied to Kim with:

Quote

No idea. I'm sorry. I'll give as much advance notice as I can give, but that's all I can do.

With that hopefully settled... "Guess it's time to see Alphonse." Jess headed off to the connecting platform, and hopefully to some fresh air... Only to find it already in use. "Huh. Did someone already get off?" Maybe. A lot of the crew must've been getting stir crazy with how long they'd been cooped up on the boat. Maybe not the pilots, but most of the mechanic team, the engineers, and the standard personnel, they'd all been on the ship for weeks now. "Guess I'll wait." It was already coming back up, so it wasn't going to be a long wait, if one at all.

Yoyo

Hannah looked quizzically at Sasha, then down at Firmia. "Yoyo?" Whatever they were discussing, Hannah relented on the hug some, resting her hands on Firmia's shoulders instead. "Firmia, I am sure that I would be able to shorten those calculations to  a few minutes, if you would like them run. I am certain that you do not care for the age restrictions, though. To that end, they do store a selection of drinks in the cafeteria, though you would not be able to access them yourself. I do believe that I have access, if you would like some retrieved." Why an android would need alcohol was beyond Hannah, but the restriction wasn't present in her ship profile.

"Not sure that's a great idea," Cheryl chimed in, not getting into why. "And yes, Tonya, let's get the dogs in here on top of the cats. Why don't we just invite all the animal aliens over to earth for a nice big galactic party?"

"Oh, Sasha, would you like me to oversee your programming? I will not interject, and visually recording what you are doing would help me help you in the future." Hannah figured that if she couldnt help right now, offering to do so later would be for the best.

Template

"Who's to say? I don't have the slightest idea, but perhaps. It isn't unheard of with that woman, she's been dabbling in this area for the longest time... I suppose no one thought twice to scan the insides of a colony security android, so no one caught this mess until now. How amusing, no?" Galatea chuckled deeply, letting the image shrink until it was postcard sized in her tiny digital hand. "And you say it would be the same, does Firmia feel that way too? Or is that just you? Hannah did ask her if she could be treated more like a human, and Firmia seemed... Rather against the idea, despite agreeing. I don't suppose you're the one pushing for making your own AI rather than copying Hannah's?" The worst part is that Hannah would likely say yes if Brant was doing the asking. Galatea wasn't sure how much she liked that, especially if he turned out to be one of their resident moles, but that was just her being human, wasn't it?

Galatea sighed at that, thinking about things. "The doctor's daughter was killed by Apotheosis, you know? Or so some tabloids say. I did a bit of curious searching from inside Hannah after she was brought up. Perhaps Hannah was created after that daughter? I'm unsure how she would've gotten her hands on the technology to do such a thing, but here she is..."

Edited February 6, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Phoenix]

Megumi sighed. Aside from the fact that everyone was still alive, she didn't have a lot of good news for Nikolai. "The sniper escaped, though Astin managed to slice his suit in half." She wasn't going to bring up the legs specifically since her patient had also lost his. Sure, it was just shy of being poetic justice, but there was no way to be sure how Nikolai would take that sort of comparison, right now. "Everyone's alive, though," Megumi offered, "you too."

Was now a good time to brief Nikolai on his stay in the infirmary? There was a good deal to go over, but she was having trouble judging the boy's mental state. She also wasn't looking forward to explaining that she was taking courses at break neck speed so she might be able to replace his cybernetic organs with better ones without doing even more damage. Add replacing his missing legs to the list of cyber surgeries Nikolai was slated for. "Whenever you're feeling up to it, I need to go over some things with you ... regarding your injuries and how I'm going to treat you." There ... he could decide when he was ready to face down his future outside the tank.

---

"As long as the friendly ones are on our side," Tonya shrugged, sporting a big grin.

Firmia stepped away and turned to face Hannah, once again surprised by what the android had to offer. "You would do that? ... thank you."

"You two seem to be getting along," Sasha noted, curious but not willing to press for details now that work was picking up, again. "I wouldn't mind having you watch, but until we've got the go'head on the materials we need, the most I could manage is slapping together a small prototype. It wouldn't work on something as large as a drone, though ... we're talking ... maybe a flying garden gnome at best."

Tonya's brows perked up. "Oh hey! Firmia, did Brant tell you about A1, yet?" The confused look on the young Alkaev's face was all Tonya needed to see. "You've got a Regalia, a Mantle, and a Reign, but you're still missing a Throne. Brant and Hannah built one for you ... it's small but since Sasha brought up garden gnomes, maybe you'd want to stick that prototype on it once you're done?"

Firmia glanced at Hannah, again. She'd helped Brant make a miniature Throne for her? What a strange android ...

---

"I don't know," Brant admitted with a shrug, "Firmia's changed a lot. It's getting really hard to read her." He glanced down at the handcuffs between his legs, thinking back on their argument. It was a big mistake to try and force anything on Firmia while she was this on edge, but Brant didn't realize just how much this war was changing her until the deed was done. She always used to begrudgingly accept whatever situation she was dropped in, and turn to him for help when she needed it. Now it seemed like she was ready to go down swinging if that was the only way to retain her independence. The Kremlin and their demands were nearly as infuriating to her as Apotheosis, so Brant couldn't really be sure of anything where Hannah was concerned. He had his hopes, but that was all ...

"I can see her leaning either way the more I think about it. On the one hand, Firmia prefers to do as much herself as possible. On the other hand, the Kremlin just pushed up our timetable to the point where she'll probably take any advantage she can get without getting a bad deal. As for me ... I don't see the difference between cloning a person and copying Hannah ... or at least ... if there is, I don't want to treat it differently. Something about a bunch of copies of Hannah running around really ... bothers me."

The mention of Tabitha's own daughter was downright sobering. It was pretty normal for those versed in AIs to want to occasionally try replacing a dead friend or relative. Hannah's 'mother' probably wasn't an exception, then. Even Brant himself had tried modeling a few AIs after his parents a few years back. That hadn't gone so well. His parents weren't dead, of course, he just hadn't seen or heard from them in a little over a decade, now. That same sense of loneliness crept up all the same. "I don't suppose you were able to find a picture of Tabitha's daughter, were you? Maybe she didn't want to be obvious about what she was doing, but if there's a resemblance to Hannah, then that would definitely tell us something."

[Nanami Touko]

Confused

Hannah tilted her head, staring at Firmia. "What was our entire conversation about? I am here to help you, Firmia. Helping Sasha is helping you by proxy. Why would I not offer my services in that regard?" It seemed strange that Firmia was so confused about that, but Hannah wrote it off as being a part of her nature. "That is fine, Sasha. It will be good for me to learn about the science behind the creation, no matter the size."

Speaking of size, Tonya's mention of a certain AI frame brought further confusion to Firmia's face. "I-It was something Brant wanted to do, so I offered to help him do it... Th, That's, all..." Much more shy about this than working with Sasha, she was. "It was a lot of fun, creating that with him. I would not mind making more, if it would be helpful."

"Your machine's embarrassed. Good God. Cat aliens, terrorists, and sentient androids... I'm too young for this sort of nonsense. Sasha, darling, come on out so you can get this show on the road. The sooner you finish working for Putin junior, the sooner you can get some proper sleep."

Coincidence

"Sounds like you like her," Galatea responded with a giggle, "but then again, who wouldn't like an attractive 'girl' hanging off their arm, listening to their every word~ If I didn't know how stuck you are on those things, I'd probably be worried for her... Oh." Hopefully Brant wouldn't have caught that, that wasn't exactly casual information. Galatea quickly ran through a search engine on Tabitha, trying to get any image up that could distract him.

"A-Anyway, hold on a moment... Here we... Are? That doesn't look like Hannah at all." The image Galatea had found was a small, ginger haired girl, holding mommy Tabitha's hand, from some new tabloid. "Reminds me of the captain. Doesn't say what her daughter's name was... I suppose Hannah's physical design was just industry standard? Maybe she didn't have input past the AI stage of things." Oh, please be a good enough distraction. I don't want to tell you that Hannah knows everything now...

Edited February 6, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Sandalphon]

Everyone's alive.
You too.
Thank god.

A warm shudder of relief ran through Nikolai's veins as he listened to the doctor's voice. It was strangely sharp and clear through to headphones, so different to the soft muffled slurry of noise that had been his sensory input in the biomedical bath. Refreshingly real, to be quite honest.

"Is no time like the present doctor..." he said in his half-whisper. His breathing steadied slightly as he took some time to compose himself slightly, to ensure that he wasn't wasting words, as though there was only a finite amount of air in those lungs of his. "Is not like I have anywhere to be. Is not like I have future. I not even have legs."

[Phoenix]

Alright then, Megumi could get on with the briefing. She wanted to push back against Nikolai's depressing commentary a little first, though ... "Give me some time and I can get you some new legs. Your future is more complicated ... and it's something you have to figure out."

"Now, I'm sure you can feel it, but your wounds are still healing, and I'll have to address some problem areas directly before you can get out of there. It should be about three days. The more time I have, the more of the damage I can reverse. If you have questions about that, we'll come back to it in a minute. Once you're out of the SIEG tank, I can try to do something about your legs. I should warn you, though ... I'm little more than a novice when it comes to cybernetics. I'll need the mechanics to assist me with that. With your permission, I'd also like to replace that third rate 'upgrade' inside you ... not the 'Apparatus,' the other one you mentioned. Your future is still your problem, but at least this way you'll have more time to figure it out."

That was ... a good enough start, Megumi supposed.

---

Well that was harmless enough, Firmia mused. It was also very thoughtful. She'd be lying if she said she didn't care about the Throne prototype. If it hadn't already been destroyed, it probably would be, soon. The Russian military wasn't an organization full of fools, but they lacked something critical to facing an organization as advanced and mobile as Apotheosis. It was something the Riese had plenty of, on top of their prototypes and advanced warship. It was something they could only delay their inevitable defeat without.

Luck.

Without plain dumb luck, they were going to lose, and that meant any machines they had committed to the war would eventually be lost. The more Firmia thought about it, the more she really wanted to make some kind of attempt at retrieving the Throne. That wasn't happening, though. "Again. Thank you," Firmia came back to the discussion and tried to put that lost potential out of mind. For now, at least she had the Mini-Throne. Someday, she could build another one.

"I'm coming, Cheryl, I'm coming," Sasha stepped out of the cockpit, smirking at Firmia once he was sure her mind had drifted exactly where he wanted it to. She was fun to annoy, what else could he do? Why would he do anything else, anyway? Firmia's idea of punishment landed him an afternoon of sex and hours of post-coital snuggling. Do your worst, boss. Please.

The tail end of Cheryl's comment seemed to pull the Alkaev's attention squarely onto her, and Sasha hadn't been sure why until ... "Don't compare me to politicians," Firmia glared daggers at the doctor, "especially not ones that came out of the Soviet Union." Right, Sasha recalled, now. Firmia ... the Alkaevs in general actually, hated the Russia of the twentieth century with a passion. Dima's late wife called it 'the era that condemned the Russian people to everlasting sorrow' ... something like that. Sasha supposed they might be doing better today if they hadn't needed to spend so much time playing catch up and trying to pull out the weeds in their political system, a feat that proved fruitless in the end. One had to wonder how things might be today if the Bolsheviks never came into power, if all those bloodlines hadn't been cut off, and if all of that raw potential went into a truly strong nation.

"Easy," Sasha soothed, "she didn't mean anything by it." Not that it was the only thing Firmia would be annoyed with Cheryl over ...

---

Brant sighed, figuring it didn't matter how he felt about any woman past that basic friendliness that came naturally to him. Galatea had been leading into something but then cut herself off. Weird, but right away Brant could tell she was trying not to jab him too hard at the very least. Whether she did or didn't wasn't important; Brant did have issues, and he felt bad that Hannah of all people was interested in him. Chris as well, though to a lesser extent. Her interest seemed more like a phase, a way to cope with being a prisoner aboard the Riese, as well as a rejected pilot. A brief chat or two to help Brant demystify himself, and that would probably be the end of it. Galatea hopped back to the prior talking point the second she got a hold of the reference picture Brant had asked her about.

... and then he saw that picture. The resemblance to Jessica was somewhat alarming. Having seen her face up close, Brant's brain assured him he was seeing a picture of Jessica when she was younger, and not someone who was dead. "Could this really be her?" Brant couldn't recall in the moment who Jessica's parents were. Louise was clearly screwing around with Elaine's situation, so Brant doubted his fellow pilot was going to be cuffed and jailed, just yet. He didn't know where she was right now, anyway. There should be time to look into this if he managed said time, well. "Is that the only pic or did you find anymore? Could just be one of those angles ... not that I don't want to look into this just to be sure." He glanced at the console, wondering if he should put his coding work off until after they had done some more searching, or start now and put that off until later.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Phoenix

[Xinnidy]

Messy Bridge

They had finally arrived. Half an hour earlier than estimate, too. The bridge was a mix of relief and joy as they heard the confirmation from... Commander Vance. What an immense greeting. Usually I'd expect my uncle to handle the Riese... I guess something's got him busy. Or the commander had something in mind for that meeting. Right. Jessica already left, casting only a glance at Roxanna, and she should be getting ready soon enough too. "I'll excuse myself. Good work, ensign." Tristan had really been the suporting pillar once the captain failed to make the cut... and Roxanna too, but only sometimes. Either way, they now had a short break until the meeting time.

I don't... really want to go to HQ yet. She'd already talked to her uncle enough. Maybe the pool was a good option... no, 9 PM pool wasn't exactly the best plan. Maybe instead she could check up the pilots? Down the bridge elevator, Roxanna at least was reminded of the infimary while walking through the hallway. Eh, might as well check out. There was the rescued pilot to talk with and figure out about... and Nikolai. Even Roxanna thought that he'd suffered way too much. Walking towards the infirmary, however, Roxanna opened the door to find Megumi quite busy. "Ah... bad time?" How awkward... "D-don't mind me, just wanted to know if Jezebel was consious." Well, now she was certain she was being a nuisance...

 Anime and Friends

Makoto had trouble napping in the latter half of the voyage, after all that training, it seemed his body and mind didn't exhaust during the exercises. But really, napping was something he was real bad at. At least he got to catch up to his series. Stretching, the boy got out of his room, wondering how central looked. Add that to his list of places on Earth that were still a mystery. Locking his room behind him, Makoto shot a glance to his neighbor's door. It seemed like Tarquin's sister really had no interest in leaving her room. A poor state considering their relationship... did they even share any blood at all, now that he thought about it further? They looked the part, but genetics was weird.

Speaking of Tarquin, it'd be nice to keep an eye on the boy now with... what happened to Nikolai. Maybe I could get him something. Hmm, what does he like? He wasn't at all sure about Tarquin's interests, aside from reading. Would he be interested in a video game? Some junk food? A soccer ball perhaps? Books were always the safe option, if Makoto knew which the younger boy had already read. Aaaah, what a braintwister! Scratching his head, Makoto went for the cafeteria first, grabbing some post-dinner snacks while he contemplated how to get to a general store from there. Maybe some of the other pilots would have plans and knew their way around the place. Makoto certainly would appreciate the help...