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Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 3: Crisis Point


Nanami Touko
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The amount of energy in a closed spaceship seemed to remain constant, since as Elaine began to calm down somewhat, things ahead of them were seeming more and more frantic. Maybe Chris had figured out what was wrong with Kim and was explaining it to her. Brant wasn't quite close enough to hear them clearly, not while they were in the hangar. He'd just have to get filled in once they reached the lifts. There was also clearly something going on behind them but Brant didn't want to focus on too many things at once. He was already mentally worn out from the fighting.

Brant was kind of surprised to be thanked over something like this. He may have been living on and sortieing from the Avalon now, but he hadn't forgotten about her and B1A2. Elaine must have felt fairly isolated by this point. A bit strange with all the new people running around, but maybe she wasn't as good at making friends. Not everyone was as extroverted as Brant was or as magnetic as Firmia. "No problem, and sorry I haven't stopped by in a while or called. Still some bad memories with this place I'm working through. For now let's get up to the infirmary."

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"Oh, of course. I didn't plan on losing any body parts today, I still need my hands to write and control a mech after all..." She chuckled a bit as she turned to Tristan embracing Aly. Again her newbie status kicked in. She did recall seeing this guy here and there, but she never interacted with him until now. But he seemed special enough to be able to hug Aly and not be completely obliterated by her frustration. Speaking of which, Aliza kept note of Alriana's state. She was still emotional. She was guessing it wasn't just Louise, but Soor'Kan as well. It hadn't been a good day for anyone, but her day was especially rotten. She simply watched the scene in silence for a moment. "...well I'm glad she has good friends to lean on during rough spots like this." She turned to Tristan.

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No Breaks

"Ugh, fine..." Olivia started to get up, until Megumi offered the position to Nina... Not entirely safe, though. "I'll get your scanners ready... Guess I should be happy that a headache and some panic are the worst we're got on our hands." Better than more serious injuries, like Christina's.

"I'll help! Just tell me what to do. I'm good at listening to orders." Nina perked up, getting off the bed and standing at attention for whatever the doctor wanted.

TM10

"Considering how shy she is, it was likely easy, so long as Dima didn't think any of them were telekinetic at birth. And she mentioned that things started happening later... We'll call it luck. Maybe they just weren't tested after a certain age, and this sprung up past that. Lucky indeed..." Hannah was convinced something like that had happened, else Dima would have caught on. Whatever the case was, seeing the girl around and mostly happy was much better than an alternative universe where Dima figured it out. If he'd put either of these girls through what he put Firmia through... Hannah clenched a fist, tempted to slam it into the ship's wall to dispel that sudden anger... But having to fix a hole in the wall would be a waste of resources.

"The EU ship? Probably. In fact... Well, you should call Sasha. Erm. Like, right now. Ahahaha..." Hannah wasn't going to rat Galatea out, but having to continuously block Rex had gotten on the little AI's preprogrammed nerves after so many times. Now that Stan had gotten through to Sasha, she was likely already trying to get back in contact with them...

Hurried

"Even I can get frustrated! I was programmed for it! I was programmed for a lot, really, but that's not the point. Now give me the-- good, thank you for pulling it up." Galatea didn't hesitate to snatch that code and give it a ring, nodding and waving nonchalantly at Sasha's request to gather information. "I'll toss one of me into their system once I connect, there's no firewall in the EU's entirety that could stop me. Bunch of uncultured hicks over there, really... It's amazing they haven't lost already. Have you seen their tech? It's a mess. I'm glad Gaertner worked in the ANF's sphere..."

Read My Lips!

"Kim!" Chris hoisted the girl up and faced her, locking eyes, hands on her shoulders. Look at my lips! They are not moving! And you can still hear me, right!? You're reading my mind! Please confirm this, I need to know I'm not going nuts after that fight, and exactly what's happening to you! It was weird, talking in her head, but this needed to be done. Brant was already coming over with Elaine, Megumi would need to know exactly what was going on with Kim to even attempt helping.

Forget

"Uh... Aly? Sorry." Tristan hadn't expected to get pushed away, not that it bothered him, but after she'd been practically knocking him over at all turns... Something was definitely wrong, with how quickly those emotional lines of hers were racing. "Alright, we can go. That's perfectly fine..." Forget? An odd choice or wording, I suppose... Today must have been really hard on her... Ahh, I probably shouldn't have brought 'him' up so quickly. That was dumb of me.

"I'm glad you had no plans on becoming an amputee, Sergeant. And speaking of friends... I'm surprised Alriana didn't snap at you. Would you mind coming with us? I think she'd feel better having a few people around, and... It would serve me well to speak with more of the newer ship hands. I don't get away from the bridge much." He grinned sheepishly, glancing over at Aly. "I just, wanted to make sure you were alright, Aly. I'm sorry if I was too forward there... I didn't mean to bother you after all that." He almost said sorry again, realizing he'd done so while explaining himself. "Do you mind if we come with you to your room?"

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Chris was certainly adamant about this. Mind reading, pshaw, there was no way that-

Oh. Either Chris was a practiced ventriloquist and was adept at throwing her voice, or she wasn't talking. And if she wasn't talking, then...

"I'm... reading your goddamned mind." Kim responded, the reality of the situation finally slipping in, coming to the forefront above the emotional high of the hangar. How was this happening? Why wasn't her head literally exploding, or at the very least wishing it had, and leaving her bleeding profusely through various orifices on her face? Well, it was a good thing that it wasn't doing those things, but mind reading? It was unheard of, the only case she could even bring to mind was her own experience in the Artemis, so how...? 

Calm down. Taking a deep breath, Seung-Min blocked out the surrounding world as best she could, given it was going at her skull with an emotional battering ram. She could hear Chris's thoughts, but was that just proximity? Focusing on her? Kim tried focusing on Elaine... bad idea, but no thoughts... Brant? Not as volatile, and telekinetic, but... no thoughts. Chris again... thoughts.

"I... can't read anyone else here like this. I don't know if it's just proximity... it's not a TK thing, I'm not getting anything from Brant either... just you."

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With her minions both getting to work again, and Nina showing quite a bit of enthusiasm for helping out, Megumi felt a comforting wave traverse her entire body. It was a nice feeling, and once she didn't experience all that often. "Alright, as soon as the SIEG tank finishes draining, I'm going to open it and I'll need you to help me move Christina to that bed," the doctor indicated the one at the end of the row. Visitors might just appreciate that, but who knows?


Firmia hoped it was luck. The last thing they needed was Akilina clones shooting at them somewhere down the road ... As for her father, Rex, and this EU thing in general, Firmia supposed it would be a good idea to contact Galatea sooner rather than later. Hannah made it seem like a more urgent suggestion, though, almost as if ... "Wait, you don't think-" Without waiting for a response or even finishing the question, Firmia tried to contact the wily program.


Sasha couldn't help but scowl as Galatea got Stan back on the monitor.

"That was awfully quick," Stan grinned widely in greeting, "Did you want to have a word with our captain? Oh right, where's Firmia?"

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Mind Over Mind

"... Then maybe it's a Christina thing. Either way... Brant!" He had to know what was going on, and maybe had some sort of idea why. "Kim's reading my mind! I don't know how, or, when, but... She is. And it's really worrying." Even more of a reason to get to the infirmary quickly.

Orders

"Acknowledged! I will await the draining of the SIEG tank." Nina was entirely ready. 

"Gotta appreciate her readiness, if anything..." Olivia sighed, fiddling with the scanners.

Call Terminal

"I do think... Sorry, Firmia." Hannah smiled apologetically as Firmia attempted to hail the AI.

"What is it? I'm in a call." Galatea seemed to be able to handle multiple calls at once, now 

And on her other end... "Firmia's on her way, and yes. Also your ship is mine, thank you for allowing me entry. These firewalls are ancient..." Galatea had already sent a body over to the Athena, prodding it through the ship's security. 

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Tristan was just trying to help; he hadn't done anything wrong. There was no reason for him to apologize. "No. Not your fault." Or was it? He'd been the one to initiate the hug and went on to bring up the worst of the space cats. No, stop that! He cares about me! He wouldn't try to hurt me like that... And there he went, confirming that for her. At least she could grasp onto that certainty in her current storm of emotions. Wait, no, he'd gotten the wrong impression. She wanted him to hug her. It would have been fine if that damn cat hadn't been brought up. Even non-present he was still causing her problems! She needed to push Soor'kaan out of her mind before anything else.

She shook her head at Tristan's request. "No. I want to be, alone. For a bit. Then, I will be fine... again." She began to move passed Tristan, leaving for her room.

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The SIEG tank tended to drain only a bit slower than it filled, but there was still some waiting involved. The machine took care of some of the cleanup along the way, in particular the IV case, which disconnected and applied a small patch to Christina's arm. Megumi opened up the SIEG tank to manually remove the case from her patient's arm since the integrated arms had already retracted into their little hiding places. Next came the hard part.

"Time to dry her off," the doctor warned, removing the breathing mask. Lingering SIEG solution wasn't difficult to get off of someone, no more difficult than water at any rate, but with how much hair Christina sported ...


Hannah was right; Galatea had already gotten their prospective helpers back on the line. As annoying as it was, the feisty AI was too helpful 95% of the time to berate her for it, especially when chances were Galatea was doing what Firmia was about to ask her to do, anyway. The real issue was her methods, which the Alkaev was in no way sure about. "Galatea, if you're doing what I think you're doing, make sure they don't detect you. I want information on their ship and suits, but if you get caught it will make us look bad."

Did 'looking bad' matter if Galatea pulled off something major and took over their systems? Maybe. If the Athena had ANF defectors, this was some massive interference on their part, and not at all justified. On the other hand, maybe the ANF could justify hijacking an EU ship, depending on the situation. As for right here and now, Firmia wasn't worried solely about military politics. If the Athena crew panicked, they might see fit to pull some asset denial and wipe their systems--whether with a few keystrokes or firearms would be up to them. Either way, Firmia didn't want to risk botching the whole situation.


"Entry?" Stan looked mildly surprised, almost unfitting given the situation. "Oh, are we being infiltrated?"

"... да," Sasha said blankly. He was genuinely surprised, but not sure how to respond, now. He figured Galatea would be retrieving data. He didn't expect her to be so brazen about it.


When Brant learned what had emotions running high with Chris and Seung-Min, he picked up his pace, gently encouraging Elaine up to speed. "You mean like a psychic? What happened with the Artemis' T-link?" Or maybe it had something to do with the Sacarians? Maybe being around much stronger TKs was having an effect on them. Brant had certainly burned through his stamina more quickly than usual, and even had a faint headache. He definitely wasn't picking up anyone else's thoughts, though. Maybe some combination of factors allowed Kim to--temporarily or otherwise--leech abilities from the Sacarians? Could they read minds? If so then that was Abrams' theory for the time being.

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"She means reading her mind like... I can hear her thoughts directly in my head, but..." As Brant came a bit closer, Seung-Min focused on him again... still nothing.

"Only hers. Maybe it is because she's a clone of Christina... I don't... I don't think it's the Artemis... even when I had lingering effects after unplugging before, it was all hormone imbalance... it doesn't make any sense that this is happening, especially unplugged..." Kim clarified, the situation just didn't make any sense.

"The ARES system even went into standby before I landed... I felt it power down. Everything is coming into my head at an insane magnitude... it feels like my abilities just... doubled themselves in an instant, like my head can't keep up..."

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Busy Hangar!

That... had been so much. Makoto just witnessed Elaine damn well break down in the middle of the hangar. Louise was quickly taken by the androids, but not without first getting in a short brawl with Alriana that ended as abruptly as it began. Makoto subconsciously stepped back at the chaos. Wow, what's... what's going on? Things resolved quickly, Alriana defusing after brave attempts from Aliza and the ensign. That group also seemed to be going, now...

"Get better, Elaine..." Makoto was still impressed at just how shaken Elaine was. I know Louise is pretty messed up, but... did something happen? It was curious. Elaine also seemed to be leaving, for all purposes the hangar situation was pretty solved now.

Or was it? One woman he wasn't acquanted with came running and... was hugged by the Captain. What. Under closer inspection the machine she came out of was familiar --one of the farthest distractions dealing with the aliens. The group had some reason to thank them, so it made sense that Jess hugged her. Makoto made a salute, though it was unlikely that the woman would notice it, wrapped up in the hug.

But that wasn't all, another friend had finally made his way out of his machine --Tarquin!

"Heeey!" Makoto waved at Tarquin, walking towards him. "How did you manage it? These aliens are pretty strong, but, I think I did better than before, it's weird." Makoto fell back to the usual tactic of scratching the back of his head, letting ouf a chuckle. "But it's good. I was underwater most of the time, so I didn't get to see you in action much, but I'm certain I saw some shots that could only come from the Aria!" It was nice to see the two of them could put up a fight.

...It took a bit to realize Tarquin wasn't alone, as his usual self. "A-ah! Hello miss... uh!" He had no idea what her name was, who was she? Makoto clearly wasn't paying attention to some things, such was the cost of intense simulation runs. "Name's Makoto! What's yours?"

Orders Acknowledged

"Ah? Parts acquisition? Understood, I can give the boys an order. It'll be harder because most stuff's underwater now, but I reckon we can get them ready before the next half hour?" It actually was a tall task, but Ignatius could drop engine repairs until they were done collecting enemy parts now. He'd much rather have the ship flying sooner than earlier, but they weren't going to sink anymore.

"Buck is... making parts for something. Said he'd be right back." Ignatius honestly had too much on his mind to keep track accurately. The boy should be back by now? Nonetheless, that reminded him enough to call the kid.

"Hey Buck, how are things going over there? Android seemed to be a bit incompatible with people, but the Captain and our own androids handled her "

Lot to Learn

"Can I just talk with Christina instead? She's a weird one, she wasn't supposed to be a natural or something." And was also really nice to look at, Esther rationalized. "I don't need to be reminded of how good miss genius is."

Kazue being a shrinking violet wasn't something that Esther gave much thought, but that one was truly a shy woman, how curious. She wasn't the antisocial kind like Esther herself... it was mystifying that Vera looked up to her as well. Esther wouldn't have pegged Kazue for a martial artist.

"I'm just reporting... the very few things that happened while you left me here. It's not hard." Esther honestly didn't have much to do in the brig, aside from gaming, so visits like Thorvald's helped stave off boredom.

It's not like the brig was getting any livelier.

Cooped Up

Caroline had sneaked her mech into the hangar --as sneakily as a Legionary could move, anyways--, but kept from leaving the cockpit. Her feed was revealing a mess at the hangar floor, and one she watches very skeptically. Who was the android? Why did the alien attack them? Everyone was converging towards the scene, so that didn't look good. Nope. Not leaving the cockpit right now.

Thankfully it was short-lived. As things dispersed Caroline felt safe enough to open the cockpit entrance, making her way out with no haste to her pace. Things could still get hairy.

As the lift reached, she stepped in breathing a sigh of relief. These machines could be so tall...

Unsortied

"Captain Alkaev, mission over." Bonner sent a voice message, more protocol than anything. "If you have anything else for us to do, say the word. Lieutenant Lynx and I will be on standby."

"So what will you be doing now, Major?" Gordon seemed less curious than just moving the conversation on.

"I think I'm hitting my bed for a short while. I had lunch late," The Major stretched his arms out, unintentionally giving stock to his following point. "About two hours later, it's time for a quick nap. It's a habit from home."

"I see, I'm going to the showers and then prepare some food later. Everybody should be at least a bit hungry." Lynx's next course of action was a bit more complex, and perhaps helpful to the crew.

"That's nice. Wake me up whenever food is ready, if you can."

Both made way for their respective rooms.

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"Well, we did watch anime together with Vvi. We're getting to know each other a bit." She answered with a winning smile. 'Hm, he is kind of cute...and nice. I like him.' Still bird watching, even in a time like this. Hadn't rated him yet though, so that'll have to wait. "...oh, alone time?" Well it made sense, Aly had been through a lot. She didn't want to push her too hard considering what had happened. "Hm...ok." She called out as she walked away. "But you know where to find me if you need anything. Let's watch another episode this week!" Then she turned to Tristan. "I guess we're not as close as I thought. Not yet at least..." She rubbed her head. "Then again with everything that happened...I can't blame her."

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Oops, slipping into some jargon that the boy was not familiar with had dropped the clarity of Jess's comment a bit. An easy enough fix. "Ah, E-7. That just means," a slightly sheepish smile as she had to explain herself, "The seventh enlisted pay grade. Basically wanted to work up the promotion ladder till I hit Master Sergeant. Seemed like a good enough goal," she clarified as they descended the elevator into the hangar. His must be a curious case indeed if he wasn't really familiar with rank or pay, yet still expected to fight like a regular soldier day in and day out. And the boy really didn't look any older the more she saw of him. But that really wasn't her place to butt into.

"Not every road needs to mapped out ahead of time," Jess agreed. "Many people find something along the way on a fork in the path they hadn't considered." But though she said that, it still really felt for her, personally, if she didn't have a goal in sight, that being adrift in the waters of fate and just vaguely floating toward the future would feel incredibly dizzying. It was part of why the disaster had hit her so hard, upending everything as it had.

After settling the Aria into its docking location, Tarquin led the pair to exit the craft, and pointed out a bit of an oddity down below. Jess struggled to come up with a decent suggestion to excuse or explain what was going on, what with the unfamiliar craft and pilots in residence in the hangar, and even the boy didn't sound entirely convinced of the theory he floated. Luckily, it seemed she didn't have to, as a distraction swiftly imposed itself upon them.

Curious though the other goings on were, nothing seemed to be imminently dangerous, so the recovering pilot was willing to delay the investigation a little and deal with the hand that had been dealt them instead. The new arrival was certainly doing a bit of boasting, but--if she remembered, or properly pieced together from the comments, which which of their underwater allies this had been--it wasn't baseless or crass. When he finally seemed to register her presence, she raised her hand and gave a brief wave, scarcely more than a twist of the wrist... which thankfully no longer hurt.

"...Makoto... Makoto? That would, that would make you Mai's son then? Call me Jess, please. I spoke some with your mother, while I was recovering." That should be good enough for now, while she figured out if she was turning into some third wheel here and should let the boys on their own, or if it didn't matter either way if she stuck around and joined the conversation.

 


 

Ginger, huh. Calina's first words were pretty dismissive, and she only went on from there to try to provoke a heated response out of her. It was hard, but Abby bit her lip and didn't take the bait. People... should be allowed to lash out when they're hurting. Right? She grunted, before finally adding simply, "There's a lot more to her than what you see on the surface. Don't just write her off," A shrug punctuated the warning as they prepared to lower down, but Calina edged her out, making a grab for first descent, and hitting the ground running after that.

Well that meant no leisurely ride down for her. Abigail took things a little faster and a little looser than normal, landing with bent knees to absorb the shock, and jogging on over as--sure enough--somebody had taken aback by something they hadn't counted on, and was calling out to her for help.

It almost looked cute. No. It actually really was cute. The smaller, slighter woman having wrapped up the other in a tight hug she couldn't slink out of. It wasn't even a bear hug, just a nice, firm, 'Welcome home' hug. It was enough to make one laugh a little. Hopefully that didn't heat up Abby's hot water situation any further.

"Coming, coming, don't worry. It's fine," she called back before finally arriving within arms' reach. "Ha, Calina please, she's not trynna kill you or anything, just, haaaa." A bit of sigh here as Abigail tried to figure out how to start working the diplomacy. "Jess, thank you, but can you let her go now?"

Dammit, why'd this have to be so tense. More than anything she just wanted to fool around and go 'where's my hug', but... she forced a smile and nodded. "Managed to it back in one piece, but only thanks to some swift thinking by Calina here." Then again, her and her men's plight had also been what prompted Abby's foolish charge too, so... it was kind of like everything had just come out in the wash. "Looks like the Riese is still holding together?"

Uggg, nope, this whole fake, forced small talk, just wasn't quite sitting right. It's not that anything she'd said or asked wasn't true, or that it was unimportant, but it was woefully obvious in skirting the main point, baldly ignoring the elephant in the hangar. Grabbing both of the other women by the hands, Abigail started tugging, intending to drag them off to the pilots' changing room, where they could be a little more out of sight of the rest of the crew. Normally she might not mind so many eyes watching her, but right now...

Edited by Balcerzak
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Out of Mind

"Ah... Alright..." Tristan was rather surprised by Alriana's sudden need to be alone... You'd think you'd want to be around people you trusted when you were upset, but... She had a lot of problems if Soor'Kan was anything to go by, and they wouldn't be fixed within a day. "Alright, Aly. Take care of yourself. We're here to talk if you need to." He'd said we, hoping Aliza was fine with helping the alien, if they were already watching shows together.

Speaking of Aliza... "It's alright. That... Their leader, I suppose, came back to get his 'favorite', and send his underling after Alriana. I don't want to think about what favorite means, but I'm not going to let him get his hands on her again. As for being close, we can give it time. Aly's only been here for about a week, after all. Not that you've been around much longer, right, Aliza? Aliza is fine, right? I know I should be addressing you as Sergeant, but... I'm, pretty stuck up. Being more casual with the crew can't hurt. I hope..." A bit awkward for Tristan, he tried to smile, clearing his throat and pausing. "So... Er... Right... Would you, like to get something to eat? A friend of Alriana's is a friend of mine, and... Well, I still wouldn't mind chatting a bit with a new crew member."

Dryer Solution

"Oh, let me help." Nina nabbed one of the nearby towels and hopped up to help the doctor, waiting until things were disconnected before trying to help with her hair. It made Nina wonder, why had they kept her hair this long? Wouldn't it be an issue in combat? Curious... "Would a hair dryer be better for this situation? I guess that wouldn't be something that would be sitting around in an infirmary..."

Detected

"Too late," Galatea replied to Firmia, hopping in further until--

"And you aren't being infiltrated, Stan. You already are. Hello. Can you ask your captain to turn off this antivirus? It's annoying. And not in a 'oh no, I'm in trouble' way, more like, 'wow, I wish I had some bug spray', way. Firmia's fine, thanks for asking." Galatea waved nonchalantly at the man from his console inside the Athena, sending a few copies of herself off to explore the rest of the ship.

It didn't take long for an angry captain to contact Stan. "Stan. I'm going to give you one chance to explain to me why there's a program called Galatea inside of my ship, and why it's taking copies of our data. If your explanation isn't good enough, you get to be my stress relief for the evening. Sound good?" Troy wasn't expecting this program to talk to him, so when he finished and the tiny AI popped up on his command console, he nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Are you the captain?"

"What... Yes, what are, you?"

"My name's Galatea, pardon the intrusion. I work with Firmia Alkaev, Stan's been trying to call her, something about joining forces? I never did pick up, so all I have to go off of is Stan's short conversation with Sasha a moment ago, so--"

"Stop. Stop talking. Oh, my God." That was way too much, way too fast for Troy, sinking back into his chair with a sigh. "So why are you in here copying the data on my Athena?"

"Well because, why would we bother agreeing if you're just some backwater EU hick with a dilapidated boat trying to get a free ride?" Galatea scoffed as if it was obvious, going about her business.

"And, can I speak with this Alkaev you work for? Seems they're everywhere, nowadays..." The antivirus was doing nothing to halt this little AI, so no point in making a fuss. How frustrating...

"Oh, right." Galatea popped her main consciousness back to Sasha, waving. "Can you get Firmia over here? Their captain would like to speak with her. Also!" Galatea presented several files, titled one through seven, 'The Athena is Alright'. "It appears to be about as capable as a Krakan class, maybe a bit slower and bulkier. Definitely stronger than the Avalon! So I would say, working with them would be worthwhile~" Oh and--

Galatea connected Troy to her conversation with Sasha, the EU captain having sat up to prod the idle AI on his screen. "Nothing happening at all-- ... Hello. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

With that said and done, Galatea turned off her copies for the moment, and flopped in the corner of Sasha's screen. "What a workout..."

Get a Move on

"Oh, boy." It appeared that Galatea was having one of her moments. "Pardon me, Firmia." Probably best to get Firmia involved sooner than later, Hannah scooped the captain up into her arms and started making a quick job towards the hangar. It took her a little less than a minute, setting Firmia down in front of the door instead of carrying her in. "My apologies, but, with Galatea taking things into her own hands..."

Psychic

"Jesus..." Well this was a mess, Chris hoisting Kim back up and starting towards the elevator again. The android group had already gotten into the other one and disappeared, hopefully making it to the brig before Louise could cause anymore stress for Elaine. "Look, if the doctor can't sort this out, you might not be able to pilot the Artemis again. That ARES system whatever, and what's happening to you now, like... This is serious, Kim. I've seen a lot of artificials literally lose their minds because of TK issues, and now you're reading my mind, you're saying that things are going haywire, your head can't keep up... Just..." Not only had Christina nearly been killed, now Kim was on the verge of having a seizure. At least, Chris assumed that's what this was, just, what was going on?

The elevator door opened, nearly dragging the Korean inside, Chris waited for Brant with an impatient foot tapping the floor. "Fucking cats are making all of this harder on us, God dammit... Just, focus on me for now, okay Kim? I don't know what's going on, but, ground yourself. I know I'm not Christina, but I'm probably the second best, where your mind is concerned."

How Things Are Going

"Uh, pretty good, I guess. Looks like that situation handled itself... I'm printing some limbs for the woman we captured. She offered up her own... The aliens had some remote control over her, turned them off, so she couldn't move. Least I can do is provide some standard replacements, and we can study these and use them for whatever. I figure they'd be great for melting own and applying to joints! Or maybe a weapon to make it more stable. When you have a minute, come look at 'em and give me your thoughts." Buck was almost done, finishing the right leg, based on what Vera had given him. Then it'd just be hauling them upstairs. "Gonna need a cart for that..."

Livelier

"Why not both?" Vera smirked, it was cute having Esther try and circumvent things, but getting to know a natural would only help her control what she had going on in her head. "Still, thank you for telling me, and--"

"Wooooooow, they did a number on you. How disappointing... I figured if it was you, you'd have been able to win." Vera locked her eyes on the new voice approaching, shock filling her expression, unable to find words.

"Y... You. How. You... But you, ah..."

"You, you, but, how, hmhmhm, I suppose this was worth it if I get to see you this flustered." Louise smiled and shrugged, giving a small wave to Esther and Kazue as well, before she was ushered into Vera's cell by the androids. "Maximum security, hmmmm... And you, all to myself, completely defenseless... That's no fun at all." Louise sighed and sat down across the lieutenant folding her legs and arms.

"H-How? How!?" Vera was completely beside herself, how was this happening? That personality was too spot on to be anyone but Louise, but she'd died! She had one hundred percent been killed... So how...

"To make a long story short... Helena has a very soft side."

Letting Go

Jess smiled and let Calina go, the taller woman jumping back with a newfound worry, trying to regain her composure. "What the fuck was that?"

Jess couldn't help a small laugh. "I'll bet you weren't expecting to get hugged, but, I'm just so happy you're okay. Abby was beside herself with worry that you were all dead, and seeing her smile when she found out you weren't... I'd like to see her keep smiling like that. So thank you, for being okay."

A lot more than what was on the surface indeed. Calina was completely taken aback, she'd come in here ready for a fight, and the genuine sincerity was throwing her entirely off balance. "Y... Yeah... But..." Shit, she got me fuckin' good. Can't even snap back or I'll look like the asshole. Dammit...

"The Riese is holding together fine... Are you?" Jess turned to Abby, her attempts rather unlike her. This must've been awkward... And having her start tugging on the both of them confirmed that, Jess nodding in response. "Sure. You're coming too, right Calina?"

"You think I'm gonna let you be alone with her? Right after I get her back? Don't be stupid." Jess only smiled in response again, shaking Calina again, what was with her?

"Then I won't be stupid. We can talk about this as much as is needed." Luckily the hangar was rather clear now, save for a few small groups, so they were unimpeded, heading towards the changing rooms.

And once inside, Calina had steeled herself for another confrontation. "Alright, you little shit. I dunno what lies you fed Abby to get her into bed, but I'm gonna make things clear. She's my woman, and this whole nonsense of everything working out because of a few smiles? A pipe dream. Give me one good reason not to kick your ass and drag her out of here?"

Jess had been expecting something like this, though not quite as violent. It was almost funny, she smiled, trying not to laugh. "Well, for one, I don't think you'd be able to kick my ass. And I don't want to hurt you, so--"

"Don't get smart with me, pipsqueak!" Calina swung a fist at Jess, the comeback setting off her short fuse, and-- "Wh, What?"

Jess caught her hand, moving it down, and out of the way. "Right... So, like I was saying, I'd rather not hurt you. Can we talk about this, please?"

Calina pulled her hand back, stared at Jess, looked over at Abby, and couldn't quite make heads or tails of what was going on, but... Between this, and that death grip of a hug... "What, are you?"

"I'm an android. A rather advanced one, at that."

Well, that made sense. What didn't make sense was Abby. Calina looked over at her, eyes wide, her face reading 'what the fuck?' "You slept with a tin can!?"

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
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Abigail gave Jess a bit of a suffering look, shook her head and refuted a portion of her claim. "We already went over this, remember. You're human. Your mind, personality, everything you... absolutely human. Your... body's just a little different than most of us."

Then she had to turn back and address Calina, whose barbs were uncannily on point. No, it was hard to even face her right now. Abby ended up shifting her gaze slightly aside, looking past the rebel at the line of lockers. She could feel her cheeks heating up, going beet red.

"Look, it's complicated. And it's part of the reason I absolutely can't just toss her aside like you'd want me to. The ANF did her completely rotten, hid everything from her. Nobody knew. Nobody. Would it have made a difference if I'd known from the start," she started rhetorically, then paused. Probably, came an intense pang of guilt, inner demons whispering the reply she didn't want to hear. You're a bit of a shitter yourself, you know? Shaking her head, brushing the foul voices off, she continued. "Doesn't matter, because that's not how it happened."

"So yeah, I get the surprise, I get the upset. I get the disbelief, the 'this can't be happening', the anger, the fear, the pain. But for the love of God, can't you stop attacking her? If you have to sound off on someone, dammit, pick a better target. It wasn't her fault. I don't think she'd have been able to seduce her way out of a paper bag. I'm the one who pushed her up against the wall," Abby said while grabbing Calina by the shoulders and doing the same, "Kissed her, and asked her to love me." Her actions continued to echo her words, as she went in for a violent crush of lips, then softly whispered 'Please. Please, still love me.' Tears began slowly welling up and starting to drip from the corners of her eyes.

Pushing back away, their faces again at arms' length, Abigail continued. "If you're too upset right now, need to work it all off, we've got a gym just down the way, we can put on some gloves and you can beat the shit out of me until you feel better, can think clearer, and we can start to really talk. But just keeping going like this, senselessly lashing out without knowing any of the reasons, without even trying to find out... what are you hoping to accomplish? It feels like rather than trying to win me back you're more interested in pushing me away? That can't be what you want, it's not what anybody wants!"

Edited by Balcerzak
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The Guilty Ones

Abby was trying, in her own way. When she asked if she would have done different having known, Jess just smiled. Of course she would have, but that didn't change how she felt now. Circumstance was what it was, and Jess was fine with that. "It's okay, Abby," was all she could really say, the girl seemed to be losing it a bit trying to piece this together. And wow was she trying, Jess ended up blushing just a bit seeing how violently she was going about doing this. "Wow," what else was she to say? It was quite odd to see your lover kiss someone else, Jess had wondered if it would bother her, but... Nothing yet. Hopefully a good sign.

Calina was still trying to take everything in, the continued pushes from Abby quelling her frustrations, but that just made her feel worse, want to lash out more. If I'm the only person feeling this way, then I'm the problem, aren't I? "You can't just kiss away all your problems... Of course, I still..." Calina felt herself slump against the locker room wall, what a mess, what a huge mess, she kept repeating the phrase in her head like it would lead somewhere. "I'm not trying to push you away! I'm just, angry! And it's not even at anyone anymore, it's just, there. How am I supposed to be mad at the robot when she's all smiles, she's not fighting back, she's fucking hugging me and just being glad that I'm here? How am I supposed to be mad at you when this is already tearing you apart enough? And if I get mad at myself, I'll just... Blame myself until I run away, and do exactly what I don't want. So I'm just, fucking mad at nothing."

"Isn't that fine?" Jess walked up to the two of them and shoved Abby a bit closer, snatching Calina's hand and then gently taking Abby's. Calina tried to tug herself away, of course, but to no avail. "Calina, it's fine to be upset. I'm sort of, intruding on the perfect image you had of yourself and Abby, and if you want to lash out at me, that's fine. I can take it, physically and mentally. I managed to steel myself for this when Abby was writing that email off to Sena, I'm ready for whatever comes next. Honestly? I just want you two to be happy. That would make me happy. We've all been through a lot, you've both been through some terrible nonsense with the wrong sort of people. So Calina, if anything, please, don't hate Abigail over all of this."

Calina lost her will again, that ball of angry sitting there, unable to go anywhere. It was starting to make her sick to her stomach, but she couldn't let it go. She was even trying, to indulge this fembot, but it wasn't working. "I can't love you--"

"Who asked you to? Heh, but it's nice to know your mind was going there. Look, I just want you to love Abby. I love her too. If one day I we can love each other, that'd be wonderful. I'd want nothing more than to have this work out in a way where all of us are smiling at the end of it... But I know, right now, that isn't possible. So I'm not going to force it, okay? Abby is alive. You're alive. Be happy with each other. Please."

"Just..." What am I supposed to do? Is it really that easy? Words she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to. Maybe some odd trick of her ego, like listening to Jessica would mean giving up, losing, giving in, something. It was stupid, she knew it was stupid, but emotions were never simple. "What do you want to do, Abby? Are you going to stay here, or come back to my ship?"

Oh, I don't think Calina is going to be happy about what I have to say next. Jess was still all smiles, not letting go of either of their hands. Abby could answer this however she wanted.

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"That's..." Seung-Min started, pausing until Chris had finished bringing them properly into the elevator. The emotional high was coming down, she was getting back to bearable levels... this was fine, it was going to be fine. Stop piloting? With those Sacarians still out there? Absolutely not.

"I... can't do that, Chris. The world is at stake... I don't even know if the Artemis is causing this anymore." Kim retorted, shaking her head. Focus on Chris... it was certainly helping. With Louise gone and most of the drama surrounding her dissipating, as well as moving away from the epicenter, just having an anchor was bringing her down fairly well.

"If... this doesn't stop within the next hour or so... then I think it's just... me. Aftereffects never lasted long, they just hit hard."

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"Normally patients are awake when it's time to move them out of the SIEG tank," Megumi noted, "Shorter hair, too." She wasn't going to fault Christina for the look, even if it was a little inconvenient ... even if she was the classic damsel in distress. As for the hairdryer, Megumi didn't know of one, unfortunately. It was fine if Christina's hair was a little damp when they put her in the bed, but they had to at least dry it partway to keep the diluted SIEG solution from soaking into the sheets and making a big mess.

"Just help me dry her off enough to get into bed, then we'll move her."


Too late ... Firmia grit her teeth, but had to shelf her reply momentarily. It sounded like Bonner and Lynx were back already. Hopefully, that meant the salvage operation was going smoothly. She didn't have any new orders in mind for them if the area was safe, though admittedly the Alkaev felt a tad vulnerable with all her suits docked somewhere or another. There were much bigger problems to worry about, though. "You're both fine for now. I'll let you know if the situation changes."

With that, Firmia tried to think of how to salvage the situation. She had absolutely no business interfering with the EU's potential defectors, and coming up with a positive spin on Galatea's shenanigans was probably going to take a lot of posturing. There was no way to react in time to Hannah picking her up and carrying her off to the hangar. Some form of protest seemed fitting, something along the lines of 'I can walk,' but the Alkaev was too focused on figuring out what to say to the potential help to bother. The only things worrying her beside that was the potential of being seen being carried like this--not the best image for being taken seriously--and arriving before she came up with something. Hannah wasn't exactly taking her sweet time delivering her to the hangar ...

Fortunately, by the time they arrived, Firmia had a plan. She doubted the front she was going to put up would get any tangible results, only help her save face, but that was the primary goal anyway. If anything else came of it, that would just be a bonus. The fledgling captain owed the idea in part to Buck, her 'mark' in whatever the post-war world looked like, and in part to Vance, who used a similar tactic on her when they met.


By this point, Stan had opened up a bottle of scotch and was pouring himself a glass right onscreen. "Conquered instantly by such a cute--and potent--AI ... I suppose that's appropriate. I can only wonder what my daughter has in mind."

"We just want to make sure you won't be dead weight," Sasha put in mildly.

It wasn't long before Troy came onto the screen and only a couple of seconds after that when Sasha spotted Hannah entering the hangar with Firmia. "The name's Sasha, but can you hold for just one moment? Our captain just got here and you'll want to get this all sorted out with her."

"All grown up~" Stan mused aloud before knocking back a glass. Rex appeared right behind him and snatched the glass from him. "What the hell is going on now?"

"Oh, you are not going to approve," Stan smiled apologetically.

Firmia approached the monitor, having already donned her business face. The crying from a few minutes prior wasn't helping, as there were still telltale signs of it, but there was nothing the Athena's captain, Stan, or even Rex could do to coax any of that out of her. Instead, she pulled up the information Galatea had copied on when she reached the console. "You're the captain of the Athena, right? I'm the captain of the Avalon, Firmia Alkaev. I apologize for looking into your systems without your consent, but we're short on time and there is a lot we need to do to prepare. That was part of it. ... that aside, I have a proposition for you, if you're interested."

"A proposition for us? What are you-" "I didn't give you permission to talk to me, you crispr botched beta Brant." Firmia viciously cut Rex off, first verbally and then literally, shutting down the call between the Avalon's console and Stan's. "I apologize again. He still hasn't learned his lesson from before. Anyway ..."


So what was really happening here? From the sound of things, this might be something a bit removed from the Artemis' T-Link. Chris' outlook on the situation was understandably grim if Seung-Min was in danger from this. Again, Brant helped Elaine to pick up the pace until they reached the lift. He was even the one to get the thing starting up to the main deck. "An hour, you said? You'll be sure it's not just the T-Link after that?"

More and more Brant was wondering what could be going on here. If the Sacarians had caused this somehow, then Kim wasn't the only one in danger. When those overconfident cats were around, he could feel it, and the aura about them was oppressive. Brant's paternal instincts were extremely sensitive to danger, and the thought of Akilina winding up like this was way too much for him to deal with right now. "We need to figure out what's causing this ... and I'm just hoping against hope we're not just going to wind up like this from being too close to the Sacarians. How can we fight them if we wind up with sensory overloads like this ...?"

What would happen to his youngest if she wound up in Kim's situation?

The Kids Are Alright (3/3)

Spoiler

"We're done!" Liliana announced, hopping out of the washroom in a slightly oversized bathrobe... It almost looked like a big blanket wrapped up on her, but it was doing its job. Akilina followed in after her, offering a small wave, but looking a bit... Bothered. She didn't say anything.

"Hey, kids~ Ready for bed?"

"Ready for questions, but ready to get into bed, at least." Lili wasted no time in assaulting the bed with her presence, and snuggled up under the covers. Akilina joined her, looking momentarily better, the warmth of a proper blanket and the comfort of a real bed rather enticing.

"Alright... What's first, then?"

"We're not gonna start until Vasiliy is back," Liliana immediately answered, folding her arms. "He has to hear things too."

"Right, right. My bad."

"... Are you and daddy okay?" Aki finally asked, shrinking under the blankets some.

"Huh?" Oh, right. TK. Chris smiled, shaking her head. "Just some bad memories... We're alright, don't you worry. I promise."

"... Okay." That made her smile a bit, the genuine happiness coming from Chris was certainly convincing.

There was a thought, was Vasiliy at that age yet, or would it be a little longer before Brant had to consider explaining the birds and the bees ... and the stings. For now it was just the brief wait for him. Brant hoped it would be brief, at least.

"Should I go check or ...?" A question posed to the room ...

"Sure! Go get him! Chris, come lay in here with us." Liliana was ordering things, that appeared to be the status quo between the girls.

"Huh? What for?"

"So you can get comfy while we talk... Geez."

"Oh... Well, I suppose so." Chris was rather amused that the girl wanted to be so close to her already... "What do you think, Akilina?"

"U-Uhm... Sure. I don't mind."

"Alright, then. Make sure you don't take too long with Vasiliy, alright, Brant?" Chris crawled over and settled herself under the sheet, getting in between the girls. Liliana forced her way under Chris' arm and rested against her, and tentatively, Chris put the other around Akilina. The girl was sheepish at first, she seemed it towards almost everything but relaxed into it. Chris couldn't help the smiled that followed.

"I guess they really like me, Brant."

"Y-You're really soft, and... It's nice, feeling like we have a full family." Liliana huffed but didn't make to move.

"We are a family. The five of us." Chris felt Aki hug her as well after saying that, she was on cloud nine right now. All her Rosa worries had disappeared in an instant.

Family ... Brant was quietly dreading tomorrow. Maybe he should wait a while longer, after all. He didn't want to make that call and then have the inevitable negative outcome affect the rest of the day. At least if he had work to do, it wouldn't be dominating the time he spent with Chris and the children. For now, he had a nephew to bring back ... possibly rescue.

"I'll be right back," Brant said, stepping outside and heading to the next room over.

"Alright. Hope he's alright." Chris couldn't help the small bit of worry about what Tonya might be doing, but... Small was all it was. Brant left, leaving Chris with two girls, two girls that were getting increasingly tired, now that they'd gotten comfy.

"Lili?" Akilina started, stirring herself awake a small bit.

"Hmm?"

"I'm a Telekinetic."

"Wh-- R, Really!?" That woke her up, Liliana sitting up and staring at her.

"Y-Yeah... I didn't bring it up at the mansion because... I was scared they'd take me away. But, we're... I feel safe here, so I figured... I should tell you two, now. And Dad, and... Ch-Chris."

"I already knew... I am too, so, I kind of cheated there," Chris admitted.

"O-Oh... Wow... There's a lot of TKs around here..." Aki settled back down, Lilina staring at the both of them rather surprised.

"Next thing you'll tell me is that Firmia is one as well."

"She is."

"What!?"



Since her room was the next door over, it took Brant all of five seconds to reach it, and he knocked, hoping to see the two of them, and Vasiliy fully changed into his sleepware. When the door opened, he did see Tonya, though not in what she was wearing before. Apparently she was getting ready for bed as well, at least if the t-shirt and gray lounge pants were any indication.

"People ... always trying to take him from me," Tonya feigned a weak, bitter expression that nearly had Brant fooled, even in spite of her theatrics, "... why won't they leave us alone ...?"

"She likes to play around even more than my sisters," Vasiliy said, stepping into view just behind her. He had on a matching shirt and pants that had an oddly realistic mechanical pattern to them. He was definitely shaping up to be one of those tech loving boys.

"You had your fun," Tonya half turned to scowl at him, "so I should get to have mine. Seriously Brant, these kids are going to do wonders for us both."

"Oh? Well that's good to hear," Brant smiled, though admittedly he was a little lost on how they would help Tonya, specifically. "Need to take him from you for now, though. Ready to head back, Vasiliy?"

"... I guess," Vasiliy nodded after a moment. Tonya let him on by and he went back to the room a little ahead of Brant.

"Missing you, already? What'd you two talk about?"

Tonya smirked almost like a cat. "He just wants me to train him into a pilot when I've got the time. Naturally, I agreed."

Brant could only hope Vasiliy was more interested in piloting for its own sake, and didn't take any pleasure in destruction and the like. "Once an instructor, always an instructor," Brant noted, beginning to wonder if that wasn't her destined occupation in the end. "Alright, I've got to get back, too. Good night, Tonya."

She waved as he left, and quietly shut the door.


"Sorry for taking so long," Vasiliy said, a couple of seconds before Brant entered and shut the door.

"Alright, first question," Brant said, walking after Vasiliy toward the bed.

"Vasy! Did you know Aki is a Telekinetic!?"

"Well, that didn't last long..." Chris sighed, but smiled, waving at the boy from her spot under the covers.

"Oh, and, uh, questions... Why is Firmia's ship so small?"

Chris winced but held back a chuckle. She was so glad the captain wasn't here to hear that one... Aki remained quiet but didn't really seem bothered. She'd been planning to tell Vasiliy now that they were all safe and comfortable, anyway.

Brant had two things to wince about before he even knew it. Liliana could not get caught calling the ship small while Firmia was within earshot. The other thing ... Vasiliy had turned to look at Brant directly ... expectantly. "No one's going to make Akilina fight, right?"

"No," Brant said easily, shaking his head at the thought. That seemed to do it for Vasiliy, who continued up onto the bed and tried to find a good spot. Brant meanwhile sat down on the side of the bed, the designated 'get up and do things' person if it was necessary.

She was already covered in kids, so... "You can sit right here, Vasiliy." Chris patted her lap, smiling at him. He could sit in the middle until she had to go, they only had one bed, and considering how much of a big brother he seemed, he'd probably be sleeping there anyway.

"Well, of course, no one's going to make her fight. Goodness... It's just cool. I had no idea. So, why is the ship so small?" Liliana wouldn't let up...

"I..." Chris couldn't help her sigh, but she still smiled.

"I take it you three saw the Riese parked nearby on your way in," Brant said, as Vasiliy carefully moved onto Chris' lap. "I guess compared to that it's small, but historically ..." ... he wasn't even sure why he was trying to defend this ship; it was named after a small island ... "Eh, never mind. It's a Megalodon II class ship the ANF designed before the Kraken class. Things have just been getting bigger and bigger ever since. I guess that's the point I wanted to make ... ships used to be a lot smaller than this.

"We did! It was really cool." Though, Brant's explanation made sense, Liliana pouting just a bit. "I guess that means it's, like, one of it's class, or something?"

"I think so, Lili... There's no way Firmia wouldn't have one if they were common. Right?" Aki looked at Brant for confirmation, Chris taking a moment to pull Vasiliy into a small hug while he sat, relaxing among the question makers.

"Alright, well...  Are you guys winning the war?"

That was a rather surprising question... Chris had been expecting one of the girls to make awkward questions about Rosa...

If they'd seen it up close, all lit up at night, then Brant could definitely understand the awe. Maybe even the preference. As for Firmia not having something larger, she seemed awfully attached to the Avalon. Either she'd rationalized everything almost immediately, or she was just grateful for what she had. ... or both? "Firmia didn't seem to interested in getting something larger ... in fact, she's made it clear to most of us that she'll use the Riese as a shield against enemy attacks if she has to."

... and Brant couldn't argue with that after seeing a Kraken get vaporized. Maybe seeing that video had hurt her impression of the heavier ship classes.

"Are we winning? Mmm ... well, it's getting close. We got into a massive fight with Apotheosis out here before Firmia and Hannah went to pick you all up. We won that battle, but the ANF still had a lot of casualties. I think things are turning in our favor, but we shouldn't try to win through attrition." He thought of the clones as he said that, grimacing at Chris for a moment.

"That's good to hear, I suppose..." It was a mixed answer, but a decent one. As long as they could edge out over Apoth, and push it, that was the right direction.

"Erm..." Akilina spoke up, though she looked rather bothered. "If... If it's, better that we don't ask, about... About Rosa. We don't have to..." Chris looked down at her, tilting her head some.

"You guys can ask whatever you want. Even about that."

"I... I know you want us to, but... Firmia was... Really uncomfortable, talking about her while we flew over... I-In this, context. I don't want to make dad upset..."

The more Brant thought about it, the more he found himself worrying about his eventual talk with Rosa. As long as the children didn't know what she'd done, they probably wouldn't hate her completely, but they were inevitably going to learn the whole story. Keeping it from them wouldn't be a good start to the kind of family life Brant was preparing for. And if they did hate her ... well, that would just leave Brant. Having to deliver that news to them himself was even worse.

"It's too late," Vasiliy winced, pointing at Brant's frown.

It was faint, but it was there, but that frown was immediately wiped out by Brant's own laughter. "Just one more reason not to worry about that sort of thing. Ask whatever you want. I'll give you the best answer I can ... keeping your ages in mind."

"I... I know, Vasiliy..." Aki bit her lip, but Liliana shook her head.

"It's okay, Aki. We were going to be curious at some point... I'll cut to the chase, so this doesn't have to last longer than it needs to. Why isn't she here with you? Chris has been really nice, and I'm not going to burst into your life and challenge your decisions in relationships... But... How... How bad was what Rosa did, to end up away from you?" It had to be something really awful... There'd be no way they'd be separated if it wasn't.

Chris put an arm around Akilina and gave her a bit of a squeeze, trying to reassure her. The girl was probably feeling the turmoil in the room, it couldn't have been comfortable.

Brant frowned, again. Even if they hadn't been separated for that particular reason, it was still extremely bad. He felt a strong urge to try and lessen the blow however he could, and it wasn't the Stockholm syndrome at work this time, but it also felt like it wouldn't help ...

"... honestly, she and Firmia would never be able to agree on which of them should be the captain, so that's why she's not on the ship ... but ... the reason she and I aren't together is because ... after everything that's happened, I just can't. She wanted to be with me instead of her husband, Stan."

Vasiliy cocked an eyebrow, and Brant could tell he was wondering about his own father.

"I was way too young at the time. Sixteen ... so she tried to start a relationship with Rex, first. He was twenty-three, so ... well, she couldn't convince him, so she tried to force him to love her, instead. Didn't work, either." Brant sighed and mentally steeled himself for the sexcapade circus that was soon to follow ... "She and I always got along up to that point, so eventually ... I'd say about a month after all of this started, she tried to convince me that she and I should be together. I couldn't stand the thought of being a part of some affair, even if the marriage was arranged, and I was embarrassed by the idea in general. She'd already crossed the line with Rex though, so she wound up doing the exact same thing to me."

It's away, Brant mused, giving the children a moment to process that before he moved into the critical phase. It was tempting to try and diminish Rosa's crimes by bringing up Dima's involvement, but Brant wasn't about to take that route. He was more interested in making sure they understood why this had gone on for over a year without any kind of outside intervention. Obviously, this wasn't something Rosa could have orchestrated alone, and certainly not without Dima's approval ...

"I spent a lot of time trying to convince her to divorce Stan and keep my brother out of it, but once Dima caught wind of everything, he decided to try breeding TKs. Rosa just kept promising that we could have a legitimate relationship once her father was finished with all of us. I think she was almost satisfied though, knowing that her plans were lining up with her father's for once. That, and she was finally getting at least part of what she wanted from me. That's why I couldn't convince her to just ... stop ... ... it went on for almost two years before Dima finally pulled the rug out from under her. That's when she finally got it ...."

After that explanation, Akilina was trying not to cry. She could feel Brant's grief rather clearly, it wasn't making things easy to listen to. Whatever he was trying to keep safe for their ages, it was clearly weighing on him... And it was easy enough to fill in what he was blanking.

"I... I'm, sorry..." While Liliana couldn't feel what Brant was going through, the look on his face told enough of a story... They likely wouldn't be seeing Rosa in person any time soon... And for good reason, it seemed. "I... Thank you for telling us... Uhm... Did, you have anything you wanted to ask, Vasiliy?" Liliana had lost more of her other questions, Chris petting her hair gently.

It wasn't exactly easy for the blonde to listen to, again, and it definitely made her scowl... But... It was mostly over Brant. He was so torn up over this. And he could still bring himself to try and play friends with her, now. Just what would be happening, if she hadn't stepped up to this plate? She didn't want to think about it, the immediate answer of 'going back to her' sprung up. She wasn't going to regret being here for a moment if she'd at all prevented that in some way.

Vasiliy shook his head. "I was wondering how I was born ... and ... now I know. I ... do have other questions, but ..."

"Not the right time?" Brant asked, managing a pitying smile as his own emotions steadily came back to normal. That had been awful news to deliver, but none of the children seemed furious. There was more sadness making the rounds through the room than anything else ... and Brant suspected that was entirely his fault. Still, he preferred sadness to hatred. That was easier to deal with, as he was learning from personal experience.

"... questions about piloting," Vasiliy nodded.

"Well, I've got the day off tomorrow, so we can do whatever you want after breakfast," Brant promised, "Anyway, don't worry about things like this, so much, Lily. Some things just have to be said. Once it's done, it's done. See? I'm mostly better now."

"Do you think about anything but your Reign and flying?" Liliana sighed... It was nice to see that he didn't change, at least... "Uhm... Hannah said you were interested in AIs. I... I am, too, how hard is it to program something simple?" She spat her question out pretty quickly, a small blush covering her face. If Brant was alright, then worrying further might make things worse. Better to ask about something unrelated.

"... Breakfast?" Akilina poked at, wondering what the situation was for that. She was still picking up Brant's turmoil, but it was slowly fading. That was good... He wasn't lying to save face.

Brant supposed he could spoil what would otherwise be a pleasant little surprise in the morning, for Akilina. But first, Liliana's AI question. "Have you already started? I'm no expert but a simple AI is something I could probably write in about an hour. We've got plenty of time tomorrow if you want to work on something together," he offered with a big smile. Liliana liked AIs and Akilina was a TK, that was just lovely, not having to look far to see bits of himself, and those were just superficial things.

"What is for breakfast, anyway?" Vasiliy asked, seemingly curious, now.

"Oh right, I guess we'll figure that out once we get started," Brant said, his smile morphing halfway to something mischievous, "Figured we'd make it a family project."

"A family project?" Akilina seemed confused, but Chris smiled.

"I suggested I make breakfast for everyone, and Brant tossed in that we should all do it together. A nice, bonding time... Even if we make a mess. As long as we have something to actually eat by the end of things, heheh."

"Oh... That sounds like fun." Aki was on board, Liliana smiled along. It did sound like fun, surely this ship was stocked with plenty for that sort of stuff.

"An hour... I've been poking at things for a few months now and I can't make her work... And Zeus seemed so simple too..." Maybe she just wasn't cut out for AI dealings.

"A family project ..." Vasiliy was trying to envision the kitchen shenanigans but wasn't coming up with anything that felt realistic or likely. The servants tended to prepare things on the whole. While Vasiliy knew a little about cooking, he didn't have any experience. He supposed this was going to be a good opportunity to pick up a new skill ... or polish up on an old one ... cleaning.

"Show me, tomorrow," Brant said, curious about Liliana's current AI project. He doubted she wasn't cut out for it just because she was having a hard time. She'd already put in the time, so maybe now some outside help would get her the rest of the way to something functional. The enthusiasm that came with success would likely get her going from there. He wondered if Zeus was a failed attempt that she'd scrapped entirely in frustration, though ... "I'm sure we'll get it working, this time."

"I-If you're sure..." That made her smile, though she still had some doubts. "I... Didn't have any more questions. Aki?"

"Mmmm... Maybe in the morning. I wanna sleep..." Akilina yawned, and Chris shuffled a bit, sneaking out in between Vasiliy and Liliana.

"Then, you three should get to bed. It's been a long day... And we've got plenty to do." She pulled the covers up on the three and smiled, stepping over to the communicator on the wall. "Putting out room contact information into here, okay? If you need anything, anything at all, just ring." And that was her part done... Time to leave the floor for Brant if he had anything else to add.

"I'm absolutely sure. For now you all just get some rest. Twelve hours is no joke. And you look after your sisters, alright, Vasiliy?" Brant said. To his surprise, Vasiliy gave a quick salute. He sure took that one seriously. "Good," Brant saluted back, "Like she said, you can call us if you need anything."

"Goodnight, Brant. Goodnight, Chris," Vasiliy said as he settled into a comfortable position.

"Alright... G'night dad... M-Mom..." Liliana was trying hard, bless her little heart. They were going to have Chris crying before she even got out of the room. 

"Night..." Akilina joined in, shifting a bit to get comfortable. 

"Sleep well, kids." Chris turned out the lights, escaping the room and quickly wiping at her eyes. "God, damn that girl doesnt know how happy she's making me."

"You're really enjoying this mom thing," Brant tried not to snicker, "I'll just blame it on first impressions from the get-go but you honestly didn't seem like the type. You do now, but ... you know."

"Yeah, well... You also didn't think I was girlfriend material at first glance, and look where we are now." Chris smirked and started towards their room, arms behind her head. "You can blame Christina... I'm based on her and she's always been great with kids. I guess its a transferable skill. Not that I'm complaining... Your daughters are beautiful." Origins aside, he was a father proper, and his kids seemed wonderful.

She stopped herself in front of their door, smiling wide. "I couldn't be happier with how this has turned out."

On the contrary, Brant thought, she seemed like fine girlfriend material. That made him even more wary of her at first. Back then, it felt like he was being tested on his loyalty to Jessica. ... which universe was this, again? Brant blinked away the momentary confusion. "They're even better than I imagined, and there's no way Rex won't be proud of Vasiliy ... but also ..."

Brant stepped closer, only checking the hallway with a couple of glances before pulling Chris into a firm embrace. "Thank you." If she kept blowing away his expectations one after the other, they would never be able to wash away the blood. "I wasn't sure what to expect when I was coming to the hangar. I certainly wasn't expecting to find a happy mom along with my daughters and nephew."

That had been unexpected... But entirely appreciated. Chris hugged him back and chuckled at his expectations. "I'm full of surprises. I'm just glad you've liked them all so far."

"Yep ... though now I'm falling way behind," Brant noted jokingly. He needed to have a talk with Tonya sometime tomorrow, too. Everything that had happened tonight seemed to confirm what direction he needed to start pushing in. "Oh I've got it," Brant said, slowly ending the hug, "but I'll tell you about it once we're inside."

"You did fine with them... And I said to take your time with me. What are you missing?" Chris slipped into their room and quickly met bed, lazily rolling onto her back. "Can't think of anything over here..."

"Well ... I'll take things slowly but ... not too slowly," Brant mused, glancing at the comm on the wall. There was a slight chance the kids might need something, so best to not get into anything serious right now. Brant also didn't want to confuse Akilina by messing with Chris too much, right now. Maybe after she was used to the ebb and flow of the place.

"So, how much do you need to have on in case of some emergency?" Brant asked, already slipping out of his shirt, "That little nap yesterday taught me that less is ... generally better~"

Oh my God. Is this happening? Chris ended up sitting up and staring at him for a moment, unsure if he was implying what she thought he was, before losing her sweater and swallowing hard. 

"I can throw on a shirt before I'm out the door. Don't get cold feet now, flyboy~"

Brant was surprised again, though he knew this time he really shouldn't have been. "Let's not get too crazy. I don't want to scare Aki ... or annoy Firmia, if she's still up. I just know that I need to start chipping away at the damage those bastards did to my head, and showing you how I really feel ... not just mentioning it now and again."

Here was Chris, ideal in ways he hadn't even considered in the past, and still he didn't have the kind of drive he needed to fully appreciate her. For now, he could at least try and work on it. He could sort out that last detail with Tonya tomorrow.

"Alright, get real comfortable, Chris. It's not your typical massage, this time."

18

 

Edited by Phoenix
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Oh the grin Aliza gave Tristan was a fun one. It's been a while since she flirted with a male, especially one so handsome. "If you can call me Aliza then I can call you Tristan, only a fair trade right?" He was kind of an awkward guy, she could tell. But then again so was she sometimes. "And sure! I'm totally down for lunch if you are." With a turn she lead along. "Cafeteria's this way, right? I'm kind of beat after all that action, I'd like to unwind a bit with a nice sandwich..." Despite the crisis happening Aliza wasn't sure how to contribute to the recovery, but she could at least get to know more crew mates and help them out. Maybe he could listen to her troubles too. 'I'll catch up with Vvi later.'

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Liquid Jess

"Uh--yes! My mother is Mai! Right, and you're also Jess... well, you're gonna be Jess and the Captain's gonna be Jessica. It's nice to meet you, Jess!" It was surprising to hear somebody talk about his mother. All this time Mai had been at the infirmary, so Makoto never expected another pilot to bring her up. Of course, this Jess said she was recovering, so she must have spent some time there too, made sense. "She mentioned me, huh?" It put the boy to think about his situation a bit, what would his mother tell to others? Makoto had just butted in and decided to fight in a Phalanx out of stubborness, and definitely stuck out compared to any of the trained pilots in the Riese...

"I'm not really an official anything, I'm sorta winging it, but so far I've had... I've made it out alive everytime." He saluted, though more due to the uncertainty of how to behave in front of Jess. Out of the Riese pilots, Makoto mostly interacted with people his age. Or younger. "You're helping Tarquin out?" It certainly seemed like she was following him, too.

All Clear

"Understood, we'll be on standby." Bonner finished his report  with a final voice message, throwing a glance at his co-pilot as they continued out of the hangar. "That is probably all for today, what do you plan to do, Lieutenant?"

"Hmm. Dinner is soon. It's a good time to get started on cooking." Lynx noted, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh! I was hoping you'd do that. I'd rather a shower right now, but I can clean our rooms before that. Only fair." Bonner was content. They had their evening set. So long as circumstance did not push surprise missions. They would have an easy night.

"Yeah, sure."

She Who Should Not Be

"Mrr, because not both--" Esther froze. That was not a voice she ever expected to bothed her again. Looking at its source, Esther was greeted with... a very robotic attempt at Louise's face. What. What.

"What." Esther couldn't help it, processing that information was a task too ridiculous. Who asked for this? In her mind, that should have been an impossible scenario. "Helena wanted you alive? ... are you even alive?" This Louise certainly didn't look organic to Esther.

"What kind of fresh hell is this where you get a second chance at life but I can't even pilot my mech anymore?" Esther had to make that comment. It still bothered her something fierce. "So wait, why are you here, and not on a murderbot trying to get us out?"

More Work

"Right. That will have to be later, Buck. Crew is going to scavenge what they can from the fight. You'll have a lot of alien alloys to work with." At least that should get the boy excited, as for Ignatius, he'd appreciate feeling less overworked. "I'll forward the fact she's getting different parts to the captain. Sounds important. You need help there?" Hopefully they wouldn't need to start racing against time... time for Ignatius to briefly pause his work.

Captain. New captive is handing out her artificial limbs, getting standard ones. That's what Buck is working on.

Edited by Xinnidy
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The left corner of Abby's mouth curled up slightly, the reassurance from Calina enough to draw out an almost guilty half-smile. She was still loved. Shit was just... messy right now. There was still a chance, a good chance even, maybe. Nothing was irreparably fucked yet. The visible relief that knowledge brought to her face was clear as day.

"I know," Abigail sighed softly. "It's not very responsible of me. It's not fair, and kissing you won't magically fix everything. I know, I know all that. But, I still, I had to. I've missed you. Can you blame me?"

She didn't even need to wait for a response to that reflexive ending to realize it was a mistake. Abby flinched all on her own. Of course Calina could. Not only that, she had been. And rightly so. The rebel leader deserved all that blame, and probably heaps more where that came from.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, her tone more muted than it had been immediately before. As Calina proceeded to explain her current dilemma, stuck with an unhealthy dose of righteous anger, unconsciously summoned, but now untethered, with no target or direction. Just... emotional poison, filling her up, spilling over, with nowhere to go.

That was... awful. And Abigail was responsible. Her lips tightened, drew back a little, instinct yelling at her to bare fangs at the enemy. But when the root of the problem lay on the other side of a mirror, there was nowhere for her aggression to go either, and her expression fizzled, and died. All she was left with was empathy for Calina's plight, and no way to change it.

"That, that sucks, so much. I wish I hadn't put you through all this pain." The only small glimmer of good in this whole situation was Jess. It could have been so much worse. The less confident, more insecure Jess from roughly a week ago might have tried fighting, claiming Abby as territory, begun fending off the old rival come home to roost. But the kind and composed Jess of today had already defused enough of this ticking time bomb situation that even Calina was finding it impossible to truly hate her. That was... more than Abby could have ever really asked for. Maybe more than she deserved. Recalling the worries the woman had expressed in past conversations, it only underscored Abby's appreciation for this other wonderful woman she'd found, for how blessed she was. For this path of love and selflessness the captain was willing to take on her behalf.

And even as she reflected such, along came yet another example, as a friendly hand--palm firmly placed against her shoulder--pushed Abigail closer to where the defeated woman had retreated, slumping up against the wall. Then after helping them close that distance, Jess gathered both their hands in hers, squeezing warmly, sealing them together. It wasn't possible for Abby to imagine anything further she could ask of her, as far as helping to heal this rift she'd played a part in forming.

Calina's no-nonsense proclamation that she couldn't love Jess wasn't surprising... shouldn't have been, but Abigail still found herself taken slightly aback to hear it so soon and so plainly. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest, and time slowed a few moments before resuming its normal pace. No, that's right. It's the natural response, what was I hoping to hear? Caught up in this introspection, Calina's question took her off-guard, simple though it was.

"Uh, eh? Ahhh, do? Well, you know I've got no love for the feds, so... after we finish paying back Apoth and their shitty cats, mmmyeah. Making off into the sunset on the Deliverance would really be fitting, wouldn't it?" The matter of the future had briefly come up in some of their talks, but even still, Abby found herself turning to look at Jess after answering, but the sight of a disappointed frown beginning to form on Calina's face stopped her short.

"Oh, I'm an idiot. You mean right now, don't you. God." She cringed a little for being so dense. "Yeah, no... It's been too long, I gotta go see how everyone's doing. How the old girl herself is holding up. She didn't take reentry too badly, did she?"

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As Alriana left Tristan and Aliza behind, she similarly left behind any of her positive emotions. But, that was for the best(?). With her storm of emotions at least somewhat calmer she could now focus on the task at hand; namely suppressing Soor'kan's recent visit and the memories he'd brought to the surface. She just needed to... calm down and think of- "Good, now for the next test. We have to see how durable you are." Think of something other than the space cat until- "How dare you deny me!? I can touch whatever I own!" Until the memories stopped- "Fail again and you'll see exactly what happens when I stop caring."

She staggered, clutched her head, and stopped. Why!? Why were the memories so vivid now? It was as if she was back on the Sacarians ship and Soor'kan was speaking directly into her mind. It hadn't ever been like this before. This was... so much worse than the storm of emotions she'd been feeling mere moments ago. She'd take that, as distressing as that was, over these vivid memories in a heartbeat.

Were... were Tristan and Aliza still here? Maybe they could... help with this. Somehow. Talking wouldn't help, not with her memories so vivid, but maybe just being near them could do something. She scanned the hanger for a moment before she spotted them, apparently on their way out as well. She hurried over before they could escape. "I... changed my, mind. I will stay, with you two... for now. But, I do not want to talk." Somehow she looked worse than when she'd left earlier. "Too much... bad. Right now."

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A Deal You'll Hate

"Really? That's... Everyone will be happy to see you." And then I can... Calina took another chance to try and snatch her hand from Jess, once again, to no avail. "You can let go of me whenever you want, tin can--"

"If you're going to keep up with the jokes, it's Captain Titanium Can, to you." Jess stuck her tongue out and gently let go of Calina's hand, the woman still unsure of how to deal with Jess. A jealous or worried lover would have been simple, and this was so far from that.

"Right... Just... Jessica." Calina gave in, sighing.

"Yay, you can cooperate~ I'm so proud."

"I'm gonna go right back to Can if you wanna poke fun."

"I'm just trying to be cordial, let me have a bit of teasing." Jess pouted, Calina recoiled, and decided focusing on Abby would be easier.

"The Deliverance is fine... No issues with re-entry. Always was better with coming back into atmosphere, rather than leaving it. Anyway, if you're gonna come see everyone, then we should--"

"And you're going to have to wait right there, Calina." Jess had taken a few steps away, standing in front of the door to the locker room. Calina's stare turned into a scowl, biting her lip.

"Time for true colors, tin can?" What was she planning now? Had the niceties been a front? Probably, she had her hands on a bunch of fugitives, now, so she was just going to--

"I'd like for you to work with us in turning Apotheosis to dust. And I have a few good reasons for this, so please, hear me out. I'm only blocking the door so you don't brush me off, and rush out."

"Smart move, because I'm pretty much already gone on that suggestion. But you know what? You've helped Abby, and you've been alarmingly kind so far. I'll humor you, laugh, and then say no. Go ahead." Fight with them? Versus those crazy terrorists? They just lost Hilling, the difference in power was staggering, how were they supposed to help fight anything?

"I'll lay it all out, then. You're in possession of several stolen suits from Bismarck's facilities, and the ANF isn't going to let you walk away from just doing that. You understand, right?"

Calina grimaced... Was she going to report them? Would they ANF really care? They... They were prototype suits, so... I was so focused on saving Abby that I didn't... Why didn't I think this far ahead? An idiotic mistake, and an important one.

"I've already offered Abigail a pardon for her help in defeating Apotheosis. If you assist us, then I'm sure I can make one work for your entire group, as well... We're on our way to their headquarters right now, and it's going to take all we have to win. Plus... I don't really care about the ANF anymore. They made me to use me, and didn't think of the consequences when I realized what I am, and what my purpose here was to be. So..." Jess looked down, this part was the hardest of all of it. "Can... When this is all over, c-can I join your crew...?"

"... Hah?" The rest had made sense, help beat up some terrorists to make sure the ANF wouldn't be dogging them in whatever they did after this. But, what? Join her crew? "Are... What? Are you fucking with me?"

"No? Abby's not going to stick around here when things are all over, and I don't want to work for them anymore. So, it only makes sense to follow after her, with what she's planning to do. So... Think you could make use of one more pilot?"

"You... Ahah, what the fuck..." Jess was ready to throw away the life she had over this, what a woman. "And what do you think, Abby, hun?" Calina was still fighting that ball of anger, but this had quickly become ridiculous, and she was managing some amusement over it. "About all of this? Working with them, and then bringing... Jessica, onto our ship when all's said and done?"

World at Stake

"Then pilot something else! Goddammit Kim!" Chris bit her lip, trying to focus on Brant, not let the anger win, but it was so easy to let it in. "Ugh..." Brant was in, the elevator was moving, they needed to get this sorted. "If it's you, that worries me, for reasons Brant just brought up. Those Sacarians are... They're way stronger, mentally, than the rest of us. If this is going to start happening to Brant, Firmia, me, just... How are we gonna beat them, huh? Ugh!" Frustration was welling, this was too much to think about.

Dry That Girl!

"Of course, doctor. I'll handle her hair, then." No one knew that mess of locks like Nina did, after all. She had the same.

She Who Is

"I'm talking, I'm breathing... I could stop breathing. That's a weird thought. Anyway, I'm here, I'm queer, what else would you like, Esther, hun?" Louise scoffed, having her existence doubted wasn't any fun. Esther was free to do as she pleased, but that wouldn't be met with pleasantries. "I didn't come here to fight. I came here to surrender to the Captain."

"What." Now Vera was just as confused as Esther was.

"I'm done fighting, darlings. I've no longer any wishes to kill Alphonse, or destroy the ANF... I just want to see where life takes me, at this point. And this rabble, they're all I really know. So! Here I am, hoping they play nicely~"

"You... You're, still insane. Still Louise, then..."

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you. Sane now, at least."

Alloys Aplenty

"Oh, sweet! And nah, I should be fine. Thanks, though! Oh, right, the Captain... Thanks again. I'm just gonna cart these up, and then I'll come back down and help with the engine, or whatever else you need." Luckily prosthetic limbs weren't... Painfully heavy, much heavier than he wanted, but he had the strength to load them onto a cart. "Phew... Hope she appreciated this. Hope they work... They should work."

Changed Her Mind

"I'm used to people calling me by name, rather than rank. Around here, at least... The whole ship is rather casual. I'm not sure if all major operations are supposed to be like this, but I can't really complain." It was definitely odd... Maybe planned? The whole cast of the ship was strange, thinking about it, even from the onset. "Alright. Sandwich it is. Let's hit the elevator, and--"

Aly was back. Had something happened? That was a quick change of mind, maybe she'd thought of something? Or... Gotten lonely? Tristan shook his head a bit, rather than try to figure out why, he was just going to be happy that she wanted to be around. "That's fine, Aly. We don't mind you coming with us. Here." With a soft smile, Tristan held his hand out for her to take. Hoping that she understood the gesture, of course.

A Proposition

Rex and Stan were shut up before Galatea could get in a reply to the man's comments. "I'm definitely cute, but not in a million years, Stan-- wait, why am I even considering that? What... Gaertner, you programmed me for romance!? Out of all the useless additions you could've put in me, ohhhhh! You, you... Urrrgh!" Galatea punched the side of Sasha's tablet, shaking the digital screen some. "Fiddlesticks."

"Funny little program you have there... Captain Troy Lanzer, aboard the EUSF Athena. Hopefully soon to be just, the Athena. I've no issue with your little AI taking information from us, I have nothing to hide. I see you're already familiar with Rex... I hope it's positive familiarity, he's my favorite pilot~" Troy smiled, leaning forward just a bit. "Go ahead and tell me your proposition, little Alkaev, and please don't disappoint me. We're already on the run, here, just about crossed the Atlantic... We'll hit Canada soon. What comes next will depend entirely on if we can work together, so make it fruitful."

Galatea felt her code shiver, leaning back a bit. "I don't like him."

"Most people don't, but I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to save myself, and the pilots I've grown to like. Care about would be, rather strong terminology... But I definitely do like them. So, enough dawdling, tell me."

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
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"I mean... I can't be a hundred percent sure about anything... this isn't anything I've experienced before, but... fairly certain, yes." Seung-Min replied to Brant, though he clearly had additional worries... if it was the Sacarians causing this, then all the more reason she couldn't back down. They needed to be stopped, and if she herself had already crossed some mental threshold because of them, who better to do the stopping?

"In what machine, Chris? It's not like we have spares around that can keep up... no. I've had more exposure to the Sacarians than any of us. Our initial encounter, and I was the only telekinetic to engage the Lieutenant in that fight. If it's exposure to them that's causing this, then..." Seung-Min sighed, shaking her head. Anger was welling up in the elevator, but it wasn't intense enough to cause issue... yet.

"That just means I need to be the one to do it. If I've already crossed some line that the rest of you haven't, that just means I have less to lose. Besides, if there was one positive to all of this... despite everything feeling off and strange, if nothing else, when I was plugged in, I definitely felt more resistant to their mental pressure. The first time, it was unreal, like nothing I'd ever felt before, but today? I could feel it, but it was like a weight had been lifted off of my head." Kim continued, managing to stand on her own power by this point.

"I just... need to adjust to the heightened sensitivity. It caught me off guard this time."

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Getting Christina's hair dry enough to get her onto a bed would take some effort. Chances were the inbound TKs and Elaine would get here first. Assuming they did, Megumi thought she'd let Nina take over the drying completely for a moment. Speaking of the TKs, that seemed like a good opportunity to amuse herself, assuming things weren't too serious. The only frustrating part about this manual drying business was getting the patient's hair out from behind and beneath her. Since Megumi's hair was even longer, she had plenty of experience caring for it, both with and without appliances. Dealing with someone else's was definitely an interesting take on things.


This Troy Lanzer certainly was a character. Firmia wasn't sure whether to recoil at the idea of actually trying to recruit such a sly devil, or just appreciate his boorish honesty. Galatea wasn't a fan, though whether that was due to Troy's personality or the fact that her antics had little affect on him overall, Firmia wasn't sure. Admittedly being called 'little Alkaev' immediately put her off, as well. She kept her composure and stayed focused on her goal ... which she could actually sense morphing slightly even as Troy spoke ...

"I wouldn't say favorable, but it looks like I won't have to shoot him after all," Firmia forced a bright smile, "as for working together," the Alkaev's smile faded quickly as she steeled herself for this next part, "I'd like for your crew to work for me. Part of the reason I needed to see the details on your ship is so we can decide on the necessary upgrades in preparation for the next mission ... among other things. Whether the Athena joins me or joins the ANF determines the nature of those upgrades and the data we forward to you."

Sasha sighed in amusement. Firmia did not come up with this after some long deliberation; she didn't have that kind of time. No, she'd thought it up on the way down here and it was a good approach in Sasha's view, especially for something yanked out of the ether. Whether Troy bought into the Alkaev portraying herself as overprepared or not, she was clearly framing things in a way a survivalist could appreciate. Sasha personally wasn't sure about working with a man like this in the long term, but in the short term, it could definitely serve their group's goals. The 'military' wing of this new Alkaev group needed to grow, and quickly, if it was going to be taking on the kinds of challenges Firmia had in mind.

"We're a close ally of the ANF, but we have our own goals, and after this operation, we'll be operating independently for the foreseeable future." Now, why were they on the run, again? Firmia was missing a few pieces, but if they were hoping to defect--some of them at least--dissatisfaction of some degree had to be involved. Likely very terrible survival odds if Troy's latest quip was anything to go by. "We don't do suicide missions or give our people more than they've proven they can handle. I can also promise you far more autonomy than the ANF can, especially after such a huge loss of material and personnel. And of course, you would be paid quite well for your work. That's my offer, Captain Lanzer. We can discuss the details in private if you're interested."


Brant could see where Kim was going with this, but until they had some sort of idea of what was going on, they couldn't just assume that the pilots affected by the Sacarians to this degree were better suited to fighting them, even Kim, who was apparently handling the telekinetic interplay better than before. Just the same, what if it turned out to be the opposite of mere adjustment? What if it was more like attunement, and the more powerful Sacarians could use it to influence the lieutenant, subtly or more directly? That could get her or Christina killed in the thick of it. If Brant had to make a wager right now, he'd be in favor of Kim's theory, but they needed more information.

"Maybe if we had more time to figure out exactly what's happening to you," Brant offered, "but there's no way we can plan fighting the Sacarians around this yet. Think about it, Kim. If you're right about that resistance, then unless the same thing starts happening to the rest of us, you're our only way of understanding how it works and making it work for us. We can't just throw you at the Sacarians and hope they'll keep taking us lightly. In fact ..." Brant couldn't help but wonder what Firmia would think of all of this, and if there was any useful data on it in the Alkaev Journal. He hadn't heard back from Hannah or Galatea yet, so Brant assumed Firmia wasn't quite back up to speed yet. He supposed waiting until things were sorted out in the infirmary was a good idea. It wouldn't hurt to get Doctor Amparo's opinion on this, too.

"... yeah, I think we should see if Firmia can find anything useful in the archives once things settle down over there. I don't think the Sacarians are coming back today , so all we need to focus on is figuring this out. We can worry about fighting them once the alarms go off."

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Putting Up No Fight

"What, you're just here to give up?!" Esther was fuming. That was even more absurd than Louise being alive at all. "They made you an android and now you're gonna decide to bugger off? This 'rabble' is all you know?! I never undertood you, but I'm starting to think your brain works backwards!" Esther kicked the glass --a poor choice, reflected in an ensuing yelp as she flinched and picked her kicking feet--.

"Hnng, you got nothing in your mind for Apotheosis? Not even for Helena, or hell, Vera? You didn't know she was captured, it was just now!" Esther was absolutely livid. Why did she have more fighting spirit than anyone left at Apotheosis right now?

Brief Pause For Limbs

"Alright then. Just give me a heads up whenever you're done. Okay, Buck?" That should let Ignatius focus on his work for a while now. Ground crew was already sent out... and hopefully they should be flying without complications within the next hour or so. "She could have charred the whole engine if it went any longer... that double-crossing wench." Ignatius made sure to close his channel with Buck before letting that comment escape, followed by a defeated sigh. A lot of crewmen were in shock that Avery turned out to be a traitor, himself included, but none must have taken it as hard as Buck, from his story.

"Poor kid's gonna have trouble sleeping today..." Maybe he should keep company.

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