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

[scorri]

Val groaned as she woke up to a pounding in her head. Pounding and music. Depressing theater music, a song of lost love and broken hearts. She swiped her hand at the side of her head, trying to pull the earbuds out, missing twice before she finally managed to grab one of them. Tugging it out, she slowly rolled over, trying to figure out where she was.

The familiar sight of her belongings greeted her, and she let out a relieved sigh. Whatever had happened last night, she hadn't done anything too stupid. She vaguely remembered getting some beer from the ship's supply. She'd only planned on having a drink to help relax a bit and calm down after... everything with Olivia. Apparently she'd gone a bit far though. Still. She was here and she was alone. She clearly hadn't done anything too stupid. 

Or so she thought until she saw the flashing light on her communicator indicating she had an unread message. "Oh no..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astin stretched, sleepily reaching out, trying to find something in they're half awake state. When all they found were blankets, they sat up, blinking, looking around the room. No Avery. And with the way they were covered in all of the blankets, it seemed likely she had never made it back to her room in the first place.

Grumbling under their breath about girlfriends who work themselves to death, Astin got dressed in the spare set of clothes they'd grabbed the night before and then set off towards the elevator. Wherever she'd ended up fading asleep, they would find her and try and knock some sense into her. 

[Xinnidy]

Second to Spare

To Roxanna, after spending the past day on minimal rest, sleep came earlier on the night of August 1st, collapsing on her bed still wearing her uniform. It had barely registered for the XO when it had happened. After her argument with Jessica, and the girl's hostile response, Roxanna had spent most of her day questioning her reason to stay, and ended up falling asleep in the afternoon somewhere during her recently earned habit of staring to the ceiling while contemplating the void of her existential impact. What time was it... 0345? That was entirely too soon, but the XO didn't really have any better options. She could at least wash herself and get a fresh change of clothes, and then...

Should she really stay on the Riese? She had extra time to consider it while everybody else was asleep. In principle, she should try her best to keep her job, but it wasn't like anybody in the Riese wanted her there either. Maybe it would be for the best to resign... but could she actually live with herself like that? With no job and subsisting on her father's estate. While to many it was a clear shot at leisure and a good life, it just... struck a nasty chord in Roxanna's ego. It was unacceptable, she'd never live it down if she didn't make a name for herself, like her father and uncle. She had to be someone, and heavens know she'd be trying since coming of age, from dabbling in politics to military.

... She just wasn't very good at it.

Something about herself deflated that early morning. It was a slow one. With much time to ruminate on nothing, Roxanna was the first to get herself a breakfast, returning to her bedroom quickly after. The hours went by slightly quicker on a full stomach, naps bevoming very tempting... and then there was a surprising call coming to her tablet. "W-what...?" Ensign Abernathy? Who is --headquarters. The magic words sprung Roxanna out of bed in high alert, reaching for her device with a hasty hand. "Y-yes? This is Executive Officer Martinson. I hear you, ensign." A chill ran through her spine as Roxanna imagined what manner of matters would classify as urgent in these already dire times. "Please, go on--" And a knock to her door, just what in the...

Wait, what? Jessica wasn't around? As much as the pipsqueak was bad with leadership, shirking duties like this was far from expected from her demeanor, enough that even Roxanna was shocked. "I-- Wait, I'm coming, I'm up!" Damnit, with the call and everything, Roxanna would take forever to get ready while multitasking... nuts to that, then. No makeup, no uniform, sundress Roxanna would have to do. Grabbing her earphones and plugging them on the tablet, Roxanna held the device under her arm as she made for the door, unceremoniously opening it in front of the ensign. "Ensign Calvin? What's going on?" She spoke in a hushed tone, holding a hand over the minute microphone in her device. "I'm getting a call from HQ."

[Phoenix]

Spoiler

 

Sisterhood

As soon as the little avatar appeared on the displays, Firmia rushed over to the copilot's chair got to work. <"Dammit, I was careless ..."> That was the downside of screw type connectors. Once secure, you couldn't get them off as quickly as other connectors. Both Hannah and her digital brain tumor wasted little time in pleading with the Alkaev to hear the latter out, and not do anything irreversible. While resetting the entire system and effectively purging Galatea was an appealing counter play, Firmia had dismissed the idea rather early on. The reasons were piling up by the second, but the primary three would suffice to pursue other immediate measures. Firstly, Hannah was just human enough that Firmia didn't want to needlessly antagonize her. As long as there was some potential in the relationship, any drastic action had to be purely defensive in nature. The second reason centered squarely on Galatea, itself. Herself? Hannah couldn't access the program, but now it was in the Mantle, and more vulnerable. Firmia was already setting up a thorough scan; it was why she raced back to the copilot's chair in the first place. Hearing the little program out was fine, but Firmia wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to figure out as much as she could from her MS's own observations. The third reason was Brant. Their relationship was already a little strained. No need to make it worse by deleting a potentially award winning program, especially not one that was more concerned with friendship and fun from the sound of things.

"You go ahead and explain while the Mantle scans you," Firmia said, her only warning before starting the operation. Hopefully Galatea wasn't shy or ticklish; the system got to work immediately, poking and prodding as it tried to figure Galatea out.

"She's inside the Mantle's systems?" Brant chimed in over the radio.

"For now ..." Firmia's eyes narrowed at the little pink haired avatar.

Firmia was off to the co-pilot chair, and while the action worried the little program into thinking that she should've just stayed in Hannah's head, perhaps it was going to work out after all? It sounded like she was just doing a scan. A hefty electronic sigh resounded from the Mantle's monitor, Galatea trying to put on a smile as the scan began. She was unfortunately ticklish.

"H-Hah, I can t-take, this... Mmmm! Okay! I was designed by Tabitha Gaertner like Hannah t-told you that she was-- ahh, s-stop~" A small giggle fit interrupted her speech as she grabbed her stomach, closing her eyes and trying to bite back more laughter. "Th-This scan's really thorough! A, Anyway! And I was, told to keeeeeeep, an eye on Hannah. Give her, uh, i-instructions and adviiiiihihihihihice~! Stop! I-I can't take it anymooooore~" The giggle fit had turned into full on laughter as the program collapsed onto the bottom of the monitor screen, curling up and cackling quietly.

"T-Turn it ooooooff~"

"How much longer do you think the scan is going to take, Firmia...?" Hannah was having to hold back her own giggling and amusement, it was very strange, but funny, to see an AI break down like this.

"It depends on how big she is," Firmia sighed. This was awkward on multiple levels. "The transfer seemed pretty fast so it shouldn't be much longer ..." not unless the Mantle hit a snag or some part of Galatea it couldn't properly analyze. Of course, if that happened, she would immediately be notified, and could decide on what action the system should take from there.

"A ticklish program ..." Brant didn't know what to make of that, but he sounded far from worried or overly serious.

"Ahahahahaaaaa... Ahhh... I-Is, it over...?" Galatea wiped a pixelated tear from one of her eyes, tossing it aside as it disappeared into nothing. "Oh, you're so cruel. Touching me all over like that... You're lucky I like you. But, as your scan probably found out, I'm as harmless as I said I was! So... No more surprises until I can get on with the show?"

"Snrk..." Hannah couldn't stop herself, covering her mouth and trying not to laugh.

Firmia wasn't sure why Galatea liked her. The Alkaev knew full well she wasn't the easiest person to get on with ... but still, nothing had appeared worth worrying about. The Mantle seemed more concerned with where to store the guest program than anything. Crisis averted. Maybe. "Nothing damning came up, but I'm not letting my guard down, again." She hadn't let her guard down so much as misjudge the situation with Hannah, ensuring she was in no way prepared for this seemingly harmless infiltration ... but that wasn't terribly important, now. "What do you want, exactly?"

"To make friends and have fun." Galatea looked at Firmia like that was obvious information, wondering if she'd question it. Probably. "I was getting lonely just watching everything that Hannah was doing. And I couldn't even hear her, just everything that was being said at her. It was like... Being the star of a movie, but no one's actually looking at you. So I hopped out. I wasn't supposed to, but... Hannah's not supposed to have skin either, so I can break the rules some too!"

"I'm not?" Hannah was perplexed, if she was not supposed to have it, would her programming not have squashed the idea?

"You weren't supposed to, but I let that thought sneak through your subroutines. Don't tell them. I thought it'd be more fun this way! Oh hey, Brant, you're Brant, right? Guy on the radio? Can you make me a body too!?"

Friends and Fun, was it? "I don't know if you've noticed, Galatea, but we're in a war, right now," Firmia said, trying to find something to do with her hands besides cross them. She wasn't THAT annoyed, anymore. She was merely at a loss for what to do with Galatea sitting around in the Mantle's systems. Some ideas were forming little by little, but she still needed to feel the situation out more before getting too invested. "Friends ... sure, I guess ... but fun is a luxury with how often we get attacked or just run straight into Apotheosis."

"Err-yeah, that's me," Brant nodded invisibly to Galatea, "Nice to finally meet you, Galatea. As for the body, it's ... possible. I'm not sure what kind of body you want, though."

Great. Soon there would be two androids attached to Brant when he wasn't out fighting Apotheosis. "Uuuugh."

"Oh, calm down, Anastasia. Brant's a looker, but I'm not like Hannah. I don't do baggage. Already have enough to worry about making sure my big sister doesn't short out or run into an unsolvable question. Seriously, smart as she is, one of those paradoxes could still put her out. Sheesh."

That was interesting... Wait, big sister? "But I thought that I was the newer model of--"

"You are. But you were still functioning before I was... So you're the big sister, even if I'm smarter than you."

"A rude way to put it, but I see... How interesting."

"Anyway, I know we're in a war, but that's why I'm in the Mantle! You were all worried about copilots and junk, so I figured it'd be better if I could help Hannah not explode instead of sit there and watch. She makes some pretty crazy decisions, if you ask me... And I asked for a body because getting stuck in the Mantle the whole time would also get really boring. Yeah sure I could hop back into Hannah but then I can't say anything unless I override her! And then she can't say anything! It sucks!"

Galatea threw her arms up and went to collapse backwards, as a digital cloud of what seemed to be pillow appeared behind her, catching her fall. "So... Are we cool, Natasha? Not going to purge me and not afraid I'm stepping on your toes over your boy toy? You're still gonna have to deal with Hannah though, with or without me those subroutines are set. Good luck figuring out love, big sis~"

"I... That is not... Shush."

"As for a body, I want something that looks like me. Why don't you hop out of the Regalia-- that's what it's called right? Head on over, and take a gander? I'm not shy~"

Firmia hoped she wasn't this annoying to people, being a little sister, herself. On the bright side, Galatea's mention of the copiloting issue had been one of the many ideas floating around in Firmia's head, as well. She was less interested in the idea than Galatea seemed to be, but even she had to admit this digital sister was a better option than a human. No one could copilot the Regalia for Brant as well as Firmia could, and in the same vein, no one could copilot the Mantle for Hannah as well as Galatea potentially could.

"That looks like you?" To Brant, it sounded like she wanted a full sized body. "So full size, huh ...? I'm guessing about Hannah's height?"

"Not even close," Firmia said, noting Galatea's small stature.

"Alright, I'll come over and take a look," Brant said, ending the communication on his end.

"Lock the cockpit behind you," Firmia insisted, "Anyway ... we agree on one thing; Hannah's proclivity for melee combat can get her into trouble." That was a less rude way of putting it.

"Pbbbbt." A raspberry followed Firmia's stature comment, Galatea resting on her cloud pillow even further. "I can't change how I was made~ Gosh. So... So yes. Shorter than Hannah. And good luck getting pink synthetic hair!" A hefty sigh followed that, as Galatea waited for the cockpit to get even more cramped.

"It... It is not getting me into trouble. I am just choosing my targets poorly. Vera was not the person to challenge, and I... I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize... You know what you did wrong. Just don't get in trouble next time, sis."

"Sis... Heheh." That was instantly cheering up Hannah, mistake or not. "I have a sister... Here on the ship. How nice~"

"Glad you're feeling better... Hey, Firmia?" Galatea was less excitable now, perhaps having spent most of her energy. "Is there anything you can put me into so that I can go around the ship with Hannah? Even if it's something small..."

"A flash drive," Firmia teased. She took a moment to open the cockpit hatch and seen the lift down for Brant. By her estimation, it ought to reach the bottom a few seconds ahead of him ... "If you want a way to communicate ... well ... there's Brant's wrist tool. Maybe he has a spare one." She wasn't about to bring up her tablet. That was her mobile command center ...

Galatea had basically covered Firmia's main concerns regarding Hannah's actions, so she didn't have much to add there. As long as Hannah was learning and improving at a decent rate, things should work out. It was the repetition of the mistake that worried Firmia.

"A flash drive!? No! Those things corrupt so easily, I'd be pulling bug code out of my hair for weeks! You're terrible... A communicator like Brant's sounds okay. Maybe I'll just live in his and give you hell for being so mean." She stuck her tongue out again, but sighed. The lift had gone down for Brant, so she'd get to meet Hannah's object of attraction directly.

Hannah had gone quiet again, still studying this program as much as she could. "How are you so advanced, while I am... Still needing to learn so much?"

"Because I was made that way, sis. Just like you were made that way."

"That's... Too easy an answer." Hannah had no idea what this Tabitha was thinking with this situation.

Nope. Firmia wasn't getting caught in a back and forth with a program. Instead she gave the sisters a moment to themselves while she checked what Galatea could theoretically access, currently. The lift started back up about five seconds after it stopped, which meant someone was on their way up. Hopefully Brant. Taking a second to glance at the left side of the display, Firmia could see the Regalia's view of the hangar, and Brant was indeed on his way up, thankfully.

"Hey there," Brant carefully moved into the cockpit. There was nowhere for him to sit, so he only came in far enough to have a normal conversation and get a look at Galatea. Her pigtails were quite long, somewhat reminding him of another crew member with absurdly long hair ... "Yeah, the hair could be a bit tricky," Brant admitted.

"Heyyy, there he is~ What, that's all you have to say? Aren't I adorable, entrancing, and just the cutest little thing ever? Maybe that's why you're so slow with Hannah... You know she can help you with that, righ--"

That was enough of that! "Galatea! How about... You leave it there, and don't come back. To it. That would be better... Please." Hannah was glad she couldn't blush. "Wait how do you even know--"

"It's listed in your directory... But it would've been terrible if I gave you orders to do something stupid like that. So I didn't. You seemed happy clinging to his arm like that, it would've bee irresponsible to ruin it."

"That's all? That's... Wow."

"That's wow~"

"If you want a body, behave yourself," Firmia snarled. She didn't look up from the console.

"Don't mind me," Brant smiled an apology, "I'm almost numb to that sort of thing, now. I'm sure half the crew would be fawning over you, though."

"Don't encourage her," Firmia muttered. Things were looking good. Short of hacking her way in, Galatea's access was bare bones. That would have to change if she was going to become Hannah's copilot, but Firmia hadn't been won over, just yet. That didn't mean it wasn't a good idea. It just meant the Alkaev had some assurances to address before she could take that kind of risk.

"So, how are you feeling about all of this, Hannah?" Brant asked. He couldn't help but be concerned. A whole other person had just hopped out of her head.

"A new body isn't your say nerd," the program spat back, pulling an eyelid down at Firmia this time. It was schoolyard bully in its teasing attempts, but perhaps that was a part of the charm. The intended charm, anyway.

"How do I feel? I'm quite surprised, but at the same time, relieved and excited. I have family on the ship! It was a bit saddening to think of my sister models trapped up on the colony, but now I have... Well, her. It is also relieving to know that I will not have to be forced to follow any orders anymore. I would like my progression with you to be of my own design and desires."

"Hey, I made good decisions. Don't be like that."

"Some, yes. Others... Questionable."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Firmia retorted, not giving much ground, "but whether you copilot or just sit and watch IS my say."

Family was certainly nice, Brant agreed ... when they weren't getting people you knew killed. He also agreed with Hannah on the point of agency. Better if she could decide for herself what she wanted to do and how. Galatea giving advice was fine, but the high priority nudging seemed morally questionable now that the program had a face and a personality. "That's good to hear, at least. I was a little worried, to be honest ... oh and by the way, Galatea. If we do make a full sized ... mostly full sized body for you, it's going to take some time. I'll need some of the mechanics' equipment. Not to mention the hair ..."

"Ugh, you really are an Alkaev, aren't you?" Galatea rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll behave... Geez. And that's fine, Brant. Tell Buck about me and he'll be off in a flash, anyway. I'm sure you've all got some leftovers from those terrorists, right? I'm not picky about my materials. I just need to be able to walk around~"

Hannah couldn't stop herself from smiling at all of this, giggling again. "Thank you all. We're all like... A very dysfunctional family. Hee. It's nice."

At least Hannah was happy. Firmia wasn't going to complain, not when her real family was so much worse. It was weird to think of her and Brant as family, though. They were friends, certainly, but family? Hannah being Brant's family was a lot easier to parse since she'd tacked 'Abrams' onto her name. "Well, every family needs a head, otherwise it really is dysfunctional." ... and sometimes it was dysfunctional anyway. "That said, I'll be calling the shots going forward. I'm not unreasonable, but I know what direction we're headed in, and this war needs winning. Fun and games can wait."

"Just ... try not to cause a robot mutiny," Brant teased, "Anyway, once we finish up here, I'll let Buck know about you, Galatea."

"We'll get you one day, Firmia," they both said in perfect unison, and then both started laughing at that, quite amused that they'd had the same thought about Firmia's business like attitude.

"Sure thing, Brant. What do you guys need to put Hannah through now, anyway? Her load should be a lot lighter now that I'm not clogging up the system... This Mantle's really comfy, but I should do some remodeling-- Er... Re, decorating. On the monitors. Only. Heh." Galatea wanted to make things a bit more pink... A lot more pink. Firmia would probably lose her marbles if she came into the Mantle to see that one day.

"Pink would be alright. And yes, we have a simulation to run, I believe. Is that correct, Firmia?"

Even Brant couldn't ignore that short wave of anger that exuded from Firmia, however harmless it might have been. He hadn't known Firmia to be especially concerned with aesthetics. Running a company herself would probably make the way the mobile suits looked much more important to her than usual. It shouldn't matter how they appeared on the inside, though, right? "I can think of worse colors," Brant put in with a shrug, "... some tacky shade of green would totally ruin this cockpit."

"Yes, it's time for the simulation, now," Firmia said, smiling the most treacherous smile. "Brant, go and get the Regalia ready for our little competition, okay?"

Brant winced, realizing he had some of her wrath coming his way, too ... "Y-yeah, sure ..."

"Oh my Maker, she can smile," Galatea joked, a bit worried by Firmia's smile, but willing to take it in stride and see if things could get better. "Last question before I take a nap, is there anything you'd like me to do, copilot wise, for Hannah during this test? I'm sure I can be of use for your little cooperative maneuver." She'd been listening to the conversation from Firmia's end, after all.

"Can she?" Hannah asked, looking back with the most pleading eyes she could muster.

<"All the help in the world won't save you, but sure. Struggle for me,"> Firmia thought. "Sure, that's fine. I'm not going to give you access to any of the Mantle's systems until I feel I can actually trust you, but you seem to accomplish plenty by just prodding Hannah, so see if you can complete the simulation that way to start. Help her make 'good decisions.'"

"Hmmm... Okay. I'll do my best to keep her in line~ But first." Galatea snapped her fingers and the monitor backgrounds turned a nice, light shade of pink. Bubblegum. "Much better-- and that's my own filter, not touching your systems. Don't worry."

Hannah was worried, smile aside. "I shall reconnect myself, then. Hopefully the simulation will work out fine."

"Pink? Really?" Firmia asked, thoroughly unamused. Brant was still up here for some reason, albeit clinging to the lift. "Why are you still up here? This isn't that funny, is it?"

"Oh, I'm on my way," Brant promised, "I just want to be sure you don't want a ride down, too."

"Shoo. I'll catch up after the first round." She wasn't going to let Brant keep an eye on her from now until she was inside the Regalia.

"Yes, pink. If Hannah isn't bothered by it, then shush. You're going to be in another robot, anyway."

"I quite enjoy the hue, Firmia." Overruled by robots, what a day for Firmia. "Let us begin, then. Reconnecting... And, stabilized." Her load was much lighter now, Galatea smiling at her quite literally big sister.

"Have fun, Hannah. And good luck."

 

---

Dreams

The Regalia screamed through the skies above Corona Ten, its limiters disabled, its occupants in physical pain as they struggled against one another for control of the awesome power they had unleashed. The blue flames that erupted from this metal bird’s thrusters nearly dwarfed it, the slightest touch sending the Regalia in a completely new and perilous direction.

Brant couldn’t believe he’d made such a ridiculously simple oversight. Firmia had gotten a hold of a full G suit, and put that on atop her SKINsuit. It didn’t seem to matter that her ability to utilize the T-Link would be severely limited when she had no need of it. Brant meanwhile was only wearing his SKINsuit and helmet. Given his innate endurance, they were just about even, now. Firmia had the advantage, and unless he caught her completely by surprise, he was more likely to blackout as she was. They were already one minute into this battle, and Firmia was about to engage the limiters, again. Trying to throw off her hands was doing as much damage to him as to her, and only buying him a few seconds each time. This was the most difficult fight of Brant’s life!

Firmia engaged the Regalia’s limiters, drastically slowing the machine down, and then proceeded to disable some of the ailerons, leaving Brant with a turning radius as large as a small town. Moving quickly, Brant searched for a way to enable all the ailerons, regardless of whether they were inactive or not. Better than hunting them down one by one like Firmia was probably hoping he would do. It only took a moment to undo that bit of sabotage, and then Brant began to go into another maneuver, taking his hand off of the throttle to try and simultaneously disable the limiters, again. It was taking too long, and by the time he was ready to turn them back on, the lights on his virtual keyboard had winked out, leaving him completely unable to proceed.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“It’s a legitimate tactic,” Firmia called from behind.

Brant was losing, and badly. One minute to go, and the limiters were still off. If he took the time to reset his console and then disable them, Firmia would use that time to throw off his control of the Regalia somewhere else. Then, not only would he have to quickly deduce the problem, but also go about reversing the damage. All the while, Firmia, with her blistering typing speed, would find something else to sabotage. Brant thought he’d be able to catch her if he could just get the limiters offline once, but his fellow TK was just too fast. It almost wasn’t worth the risk to try anything else, as in the time he could accomplish one feat, she might just manage two or even three. That would explain why the ailerons were so eager to stay stuck in position after certain maneuvers. This was an ass kicking if ever there was one. The only option seemed to be to keep changing vectors. As long as Brant was pulling maneuvers quickly and unpredictably, Firmia was unable to do much more than hold tight and focus on her breathing.

The next sixty seconds were the most grueling. Brant gave the Regalia everything he could without putting himself down right along with Firmia, but he just couldn’t ragdoll her like this. He needed the limiters disengaged, but didn’t know if he had enough time to do it with his console completely dark. When he tried anyway, he felt only a momentary jolt from the thrusters … then everything returned to normal, the indicators on his console showing that the limiters were reengaged.

“What?! How?!”

“Macros,” Firmia shouted from behind him. “Bow down, foolish mortal!”

“You have got to be kidding …” That was it, then. She was fast enough to set up macros and counter future moves with a single input. He’d known her to be quick on a console, but it was as if the war with Apotheosis and this struggle to adapt had awakened her hidden potential. Ridiculous. How did she do things like this …?

“Damn!”

<“Hrrrrrrrg--TIME’S U- ...!!!”>

Brant began leveling out the Regalia and looked behind his seat. Firmia was out, a third of the way into His last ditch maneuver, but half a second after the deadline had passed. Sure enough, he was notified by Hannah and Galatea of his near victory … rather his narrow defeat. Acknowledging them, he promised to return to the Riese after getting the Regalia back on course. As the Regalia returned to normal flight, Brant took off his helmet and put it aside. The air in the cockpit quickly cooled his face and calmed him down. He’d lost the wager, but only just barely. That wasn’t the worst part, though. “Heh ... I feel terrible,” Brant said … somehow with a grin accompanying it.

“You should feel terrible,” Firmia muttered, apparently having come to at some point. She quickly removed her helmet and loosened the G suit. It almost won this for her by itself, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable to wear on top of the SKINsuit. “I’m going out of my way to help you, and you’d rather knock me out and go get killed by yourself. You think I want to be a freaking copilot when I could be piloting, myself? I don’t! I want as much control over what happens to me on the battlefield as you or anyone else does! I’m doing this to keep you alive, so you better feel terrible for wasting time and fuel like this! You should have just accepted my help!”

“It’s ... not that, Firmia,” Brant waved his left hand so she could see it.

“... what? What do you feel so terrible about, then?”

Brant was quiet for a moment, thinking back on how he felt just before this battle had started. He was anxious, and he could tell Firmia was, too, but more than that, he was actually a little excited. Brant couldn’t put his finger on the reason why until this moment. His smile only widened when he realized what he’d almost completely overlooked. “I always … ALWAYS wanted to take a pretty girl flying, but here I am, instead, putting you through a special forces grade, vomit inducing, rollercoaster ride. … so yeah, I feel terrible ... but only about that,” Brant smirked back at her.

Firmia didn’t know what to say, and eventually broke eye contact. “... watch where you’re flying.”

Brant righted himself and started his final approach to the Riese. “Abrams here. Exercise complete. Returning to the ship. Over and out.” Hopefully the craziness going on high above the base hadn’t raised too many eyebrows. It’d been a great test of the Regalia’s abilities … albeit an expensive test. Firmia probably didn’t care as much as she was putting on. After all, the ANF was footing the bill for the moment.

“I’m your copilot, now,” Firmia spoke up, making herself loud and clear, “I don’t want to hear any complaints about it from now on.”

“Complaints?” Brant shrugged. “We’re joined at the hip as far as I can tell. Why would I complain about you being my copilot? Weird request …”

Firmia didn’t have anything for that, so she huffed and that seemed to be the end of it. She was going to be piloting with him from now on. Brant still felt that wasn’t ideal, but he’d experienced the potential, firsthand. Firmia had stopped just short of taking the flight controls. She was more than capable of covering for his weaknesses. Hopefully she and Hannah were right; hopefully with Firmia here with him, Brant wouldn’t have to worry about either of them dying. Incidentally, Apotheosis seemed too busy--or too mesmerized, to bother taking shots at them. All in all, Brant was beginning to feel pretty good about this. For now he’d just have to be silly about it. That was the easiest way for him to cope with the loss.

---

A Potential Investor

This was going to be a nerve wracking test run, whether it succeeded or not. Ronald Fetter was a multimillionaire from Texas with a good deal of land. He was an aviation nut--Brant’s kind of company, and had his own airstrip for his collection of planes, helicopters, and other gravity defying vehicles. Naturally such a person would be interested in flying mobile suits, and could make a decent investor in Alkaev+. Firmia had plenty of potential investors in her notes, people she wanted to get in touch with in the future. Fetter had a unique quality among them; he owned an airstrip, one the company might be able to rent from him. Bases, even unfortified ones, were real game changers, and the more of them Firmia had easy access to, the easier Tonya’s missions would be. Being on the Heion Riese twenty-four hours a day was no different from living on Mount Olympus, and it was causing her to feel just as estranged from the rest of the world. It would be good to eventually lay some roots.

There was just one problem. This probably wasn’t going to be an airstrip they could use, not because Fetter was unwilling to let them use it, or would overcharge the company. The problem was Apotheosis. They had gone through some effort to destroy the AMS units, and there was no doubt in Firmia’s mind that they were tracking the ship and intercepting communications. Outbound if not inbound. Launches to and from the Riese weren’t going to go unnoticed, either, and if individual units were tracked, they might be attacked when they were most vulnerable. That was what bothered Firmia about this whole thing, and why she wouldn’t be satisfied until Apotheosis was slaughtered down to the last combatant. That was the only way to ensure her people and her company could survive.

This whole thing was actually a ruse. Fetter was arguably the least important of the wealthy Americans Firmia had decided to look into, and so he had to be her test case. If Apotheosis was so determined to destroy her assets that the Reign would be ambushed during any given mission, or her investors were directly attacked, then Firmia would have to completely change her approach to bringing in money. Reaching out to multiple investors only for them to all be killed and their assets razed would do more harm than good, so she had to see how much she could get away with at this point … and how much she couldn’t. Firmia hated taking a risk like this, but Brant had yet to design an AI that could pilot the Reign in place of Tonya, much less one that had any hope of surviving an attack. Firmia wasn’t even touching the idea of making a copy of Hannah or Galatea. Tonya was the only one that could both pilot the Reign and survive an attack without any assistance, so it had to be her. Firmia didn’t have to like it, though … she was resolved to get her drone program fully operational as quickly as possible.

---

Gamer Girls

The last thing Brant was expecting to find when he returned to his room with Hannah was Tonya wearing his olive drab coveralls and playing an MMO on his computer. Some investigation revealed that she had gotten curious and started sifting through his mail. Ellen's messages interested her the most, naturally, and Tonya replied. That would normally upset Brant, but this was Tonya so she was fully exempt from his wrath. Tonya and Ellen had gotten to talking and the latter quickly recruited her to the MMO she was now thoroughly engaged in. Strike Suit Magdun Online was the name. It was a massive single server multiplayer game with a hyper realistic physics engine, outstanding design elements, real life money making opportunities too numerous to count, and a respectable playerbase for its relatively young age. 

Given the war going on right now, Brant wasn't especially drawn in by it. He was getting plenty of the real thing, after all. Tonya was having a lot of fun, though ... and that was saying something. As the pilot of the fastest mobile suit on record, he would have expected her to not get drawn in like this. When she explained that it was good practice and would help her improve in some areas where she was weak in terms of combat performance, Brant started to see the bigger picture. Something like this didn't just have to be a fun little distraction. It could serve as an alternative training program with more strict progression elements.

Regardless, he had no intention of playing it right now. He had some free time, now, and something he needed Hannah's help with. After spending just a little time learning the basics of SSMO from Tonya and Ellen, the latter speaking through a chat program in-game, Brant left the girls to their virtual war, and got to work with Hannah. Project Silver was about to commence.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Phoenix

[Phoenix]

Obligations

After making sure Sasha got in touch with Ronald, Firmia got a call of her own … and not from the party she was expecting. <”What do you want?”>

<”So that’s how you’re going to speak to me, from now on?”> Rosa asked, her face and the room behind her taking up most of the screen on Firmia’s tablet. All Rosa would have been able to see was her daughter’s face illuminated by the tablet’s screen, and contrasted by an almost pitch black cockpit. <”You latch onto a single rumor and use that as an excuse to act out whenever you want?”>

<”I asked you what you wanted. Apotheosis is probably listening in, so make it quick.”>

<”You think they care about you that much?”> Rosa asked, clearly amused.

<”It doesn’t really matter since I’m on the Riese. Even the janitors matter, here.”>

<”Well,”> Rosa smiled, <”whether Apotheosis has or hasn’t taken note of you specifically, the Kremlin has. They haven’t contacted you directly because they don’t want to tip their hand.”>

<”Well that was a mistake,”> Firmia scowled, <”since you just tipped it for them by naming them.”>

Rosa chuckled. <”I could care less what they want, right now. They’ve already seized most of our assets. I’m calling you to warn you that they’ve issued an order for you to return to Russia with the prototypes. Despite your recent attitude, you are my daughter. I don’t want you to simply turn a blind eye to what’s happening back home and face any harsh punishments.”>

<”Harsh punishments?!”> Not entirely unexpected, but definitely too soon. What the hell was going on back there?

<”The Kremlin is aware of the transport disaster,”> Rosa continued, <”as well as the fact that you were picked up by the ANF. They’re willing to give you some time to conclude your business out there, but afterward, you are to find your way back here. They also want any and all data you’ve been able to collect for the war effort. They’re giving you two weeks to comply. After that …”>

Firmia could imagine. <”After that, they make sure these machines are all I’ll ever have …and then they’ll take them too, once they can spare the manpower.”>

<”More or less. You’ll be charged as an adult, as well. It seems like your little rebellion has run its course. Just like Rex.”>

Firmia minimized her mother’s face and muted the tablet. It took everything she had to fight back her own tears after that. They would imprison most people for life for disobeying government orders of this scale, assuming they didn’t just shoot them to make the transition of assets smoother. Being an Alkaev would keep her alive, and probably out of a dingy looking prison, but that was it. Even the Alkaevs couldn’t defy their government, especially not in wartime. Firmia didn’t have a lot of options, and her emotions were threatening to blur or just plain rub out what potential workarounds were trying to make themselves known.

<”What can I do …?”> She couldn’t eradicate Apotheosis in two weeks and be home in time for a medal. The thought of abandoning her country and trying to start over in America flickered across the mental landscape she’d escaped into. It was almost a beautiful idea, a beautiful and cowardly idea. <”I have to find a way to get out of this … some way to make a deal with them.”> Maybe she could get in touch with Jessica and see if the Kremlin could be placated with just some useful data. If it helped them against Apotheosis, then what Firmia was doing here in America was important, too. It would be valuable even to them. Either way, she had to think of something, and soon.

Firmia hadn’t come up with a surefire solution by the time she brought her mother back and unmuted her. Her eyes were teary still, but not one trickle had escaped. <”Finished crying?”> Rosa scowled at her daughter.

<”I don’t cry. I solve my problems. This one’s just going to take a bit longer. I have to think this through …”>

<”You don’t have any other options,”> Rosa insisted, though she sounded like she was trying to convince both of them at the same time. Firmia wasn’t buying it.

<”YOU didn’t have any other options,”> Firmia amended Rosa, <”You were in country and practically at gunpoint, but I’m in America and up to my ears in possibilities. I’ve just got to pick the right one to get them off my case. Then I’ll be out of this mess. You can just sit there and pout because you didn’t think of it, yourself.”>

<”... if you say so.”>

---

Project Silver

This wasn’t meant to be an apology or a thank you. Brant and Hannah had opted to make some bodies for his AIs, and Project Silver was a test case. It wasn’t just that, however. After the battle inside the Regalia’s cockpit, Brant felt he could accomplish more with this. That turned out to be right.

They had printed parts for and eventually assembled a 16 inch tall replica of the AMS Throne prototype. It was the only model Firmia didn’t currently have in her possession, after all, and its name alone held great significance to her, so it was the natural choice. This miniature Throne was not an inanimate model; it was piloted by B1A1, Brant’s data handling AI. It could move its limbs just like one would expect of a fully functioning robot, and though it couldn’t fly just yet, it could transform into the flight mode the latest batch of AMS units were known for.

The Mini-Throne had some features that Brant hoped Firmia would find useful. With an onboard 4 terabyte storage device--modest but serviceable, and its own small scanners, A1 could actually do a bit of work for Firmia, whether in the hangar, or with more mundane tasks. It would have been pointless to print a rifle for A1 if it didn’t serve some purpose, but all the mandatory equipment fit into the frame. Brant wound up building a 70 watt laser after the likeness of the hyper beam rifle, his excuse being that the short little AI needed some way to defend himself in the event of someone trying to dismantle him. Packing all that firepower into such a slim design felt just as complicated as the construction of the actual hyper beam rifle, which was itself something of a marvel. The shield was also equipped with some original equipment, a small high performance camera in place of the missile module. To round up the equipment, the Mini-Throne had two grappling hooks, one in each of its arms, to help it get to some higher positions it would otherwise have trouble with. As a mostly metal construction, the Mini-Throne weighed about five pounds.

Once the project was completed, Brant got the closest thing he could find to a gift box and sat A1 inside of it. A charging cable was still attached him, but it had plenty of reach. “Going to give you to her after breakfast, but for now just sit tight.” The Mini-Throne nodded his understanding. “Your new designation is B1A1-MT,” Brant added in amusement.

Unfortunately they hadn’t finished until morning …

Brant managed to get plenty of sleep, continuing with the final touches once he was up again, but it really should have been a one night project. Hannah could have probably handled things throughout the night, but Brant quickly decided they should both rest once midnight finally came around.

So it had taken a little longer, but they were finished, and this proof of concept was incredibly useful. Building a body for Galatea would be a lot more challenging, but it was certainly doable. Probably not with the equipment they had here, but it was still doable.

[Nanami Touko]

Selfless

 

Chips, pop, a few coolers, and her two favorite classic movies. That would be enough to cheer Abby up, right? Maybe... And some good company. That was all she could give, really... With the bag of snacks on one arm, and the drinks under the other, Jess was stuck with a dilemma... How was she going to knock on Abby's door? "Uhh..." With a mild blush, she knocked her noggin against the door, heavily enough to make one knock. "Ow... A-Abby? It's Jess. Hello?" Hopefully she was there, and Jess could get inside before anyone saw her. All these snacks and her pajamas, she probably looked like a proper college girl. It was far too embarrassing, really...

Roxanna, stay in your room. Ugh, geez.

At least she knew the standard room beds had enough space for multiple people to sit on, and the TVs were the proper size for movies. "I wonder if she even likes Pixar... Or knows what it is. That's one old company..." Between Toy Story and Wall-E, Jess definitely had an odd old collection of animated films.

Another knock on her door. Granted, many hours had separated the two events, and unlike the earlier one, she was properly awake and prepared for this one, having even been given somewhat advance warning that it was coming. Still, when she opened the door, Abigail was a bit surprised at the sight that met her eyes. An amused snort escaped her as she took in Jess's loaded down figure. She really was planning on staying the night then, wasn't she. Very well then, this development was within the range of expected outcomes. Abby was willing to play along.

"Well, come on in, let's not keep you standing out there in the cold," Abigail chuckled a little, breaking a smile. "I haven't much to offer as far as hospitality, but you already knew that and it looks like you came prepared." She moved to lighten the other girl's load by taking some of the refreshments off her hands and, clearing some space by pushing a few loose papers out of the way, getting them set down on the table for now. "What's this about Pixel, though?"

"Oh! Hey! It's not cold out here, silly. But, I would like to get in... The XO would never let me live this look down." Or Firmia, or a few other people, really... Jess wobbled inside and let Abby take some of her stuff, sighing and setting the rest down next to it before jumping back to standing straight while holding two movies out in front of her. Blurays. Ancient technology.

"Pixar! They were a movie company back in the twenty first century. They did all sorts of animated films, and... Well, I figured that we'd run out of stuff to talk about eventually. Maybe a movie would do your spirits some good... Or something. I brought two of my favorites hoping you'd like them, and... There's plenty to snack on, or drink, or drink," she added with hopefully enough of a telltale inflection, "if you need it. So... So yeah. Girls night? Does that sound okay?" Hopefully this wouldn't come across as too juvenile. Jess was an adult, but only technically... Abby wasn't that much older, but her life was a bit more... A lot, more mature.

Abigail grabbed something lemon-lime flavored from the drinks selection, not paying any attention to whether it was alcoholic or not, before peering at the covers of the movies thrust out at her. One of them seemed like it would be a hard 'no', it looked like a robot romance or something stupid. Like a bucket of bolts could learn to love, please. Still it was worth double-checking that it wasn't just some dumb marketing trick. Circling around behind Jess, making sure the door was closed (and locked for good measure), she craned her neck over the captain's shoulder, getting a glimpse at the summary blurbs on the back.

"Hmm, yeah, I guess kiddie films do kind of fit for you, but I guess some of them aren't half bad. Could definitely be fun, but I'm not sure it counts as a 'girls night' with just the two of us, not that I'm in the mood for a bigger crowd," Abby grinned a bit and continued circling the room, making her way to the edge of the bed and sitting down on it. "Still, if you're treating me to dinner and a movie I'm not gonna turn you down. I'd pick the one with the cowboy and the astronaut out of the two you've got there. You can toss it on whenever you want, not really sure what your master plan for 'operation cheer up' was, so I'm just gonna let you take the reins for now." She cracked open her beverage and took a swig, swinging her legs back and forth. Nice and refreshing. She'd made a good choice.

Jess still wasn't too sure about all of Abby's casual closeness... Like, yeah, they'd hugged, and she liked the woman, but she was so... Familiar, about her gestures. Well, if it made her more comfortable, Jess wasn't about to complain. All it gave her was a bit of redness anyway, nothing to worry about.

"They're not kiddie! I... Just, cuz they were made for kids..." Ohhh, she knew it! This wasn't going to help her image at all. Jess sighed, her plan was already falling apart, even if Abby seemed entertained. Oh, well... Jess grabbed herself a drink, making sure she wasn't hitting the booze just yet, and plopped herself onto the bed next to Abby, crossing her legs on the comfy sheets.

"Toy Story, then... I'll put it on in a bit. I did wanna talk, uhm..." A master plan, huh... "I didn't really plan much... I just, didn't want you to have to be alone. I guess that's kinda immature of me... Not much I can really do other than be here, huh? Heheh." If that did anything, that was fine by Jess. "How... How do you like being here so far? It's not exactly standard, your, uh... 'Recruitment'. I'm happy about it, having you around, even if you're... A b-bit touchy feely," she mumbled, blushing mildly. "Aside from that, you're a really good pilot, and you aren't trying to start anything. I think you're better than some of the others, if I'm being honest... I guess military training isn't all it's cut out to be, huh?"

And she was already blushing. Cute. Abigail couldn't wait to see how red Jess got when she managed to work up the nerve to come around to what had to be the real purpose of her visit. That anticipation was enough to put a check on her decision to be the assertive force in the relationship: she'd enjoy watching her childish captain stumble through things for just long enough, and then sweep her off her feet at the last minute. It would be grand. She still had some reservations that she was just using her as a rebound, a springboard out of depression, but even if she was, when it came right down to it, was that really so bad?

"I said it's fine," Abby gently reassured the girl. "There's plenty of good cinema made for children, they gotta get the parents to come along too after all. And I have to say, I'm gonna much prefer this to you hanging on my shoulder all through a Pride and Prejudice, gushing over how fabulous Mr. Darcy is, or something." That was a fate she would wish on precious few.

And then Jess had sat down right beside her, a comforting presence just inches away, explaining how she didn't know exactly why or quite what to do, but that she was finding she just couldn't leave Abby alone. That was enough to cause Abigail's chest to tighten up, and hearing her laugh a bit derisively at herself because of it only made things even worse. Grabbing a handful of blanket in her fist to distract herself and keep composure, Abigail turned to face Jess and answer the following questions.

"I... well, hmm. I think some of the others are starting to come around, I guess? So there's that. And it beats prison," she grinned and rolled her eyes, deliberately lowballing. Sighing and getting a little more serious for a moment, Abby continued. "I'm... Well, about as happy to be here, as you are at having me, I guess, given the circumstances, maybe?" It was a difficult subject, surrounded as it was with all the associated baggage. A teetering jenga of cause and effect, which consequences could be tied to which impulses: Who would be dead, who would be alive, if things had gone differently? If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, she'd be well supplied to throw a merry party. And frankly she was sick of treading those same halls of logic in the thoughtways of her mind. Perhaps it was rude of her to brush off the serious subject so suddenly, but this certainly wasn't cheering her up, which was ostensibly Jess's goal, so...

"And 'touchy-feely'? Please, Miss Tackles-Me-From-Across-the-Hallway, you've got to be kidding. I think that puts us at about one for one, doesn't it?" She blinked her eyes a bit coyly, before smiling and nodding at the further praise of her skills. Training certainly wasn't everything, one had to be able to put that knowledge into practice as well.

Was the talk helping? Maybe. Abby wasn't that easy to read when she wasn't crushed. That said, Jess had only seen her three ways. Pleased, broken, and now this... Unsure middle ground, of which she couldn't get a read on. Jess shifted herself a bit closer, but stopped when Abby retorted her touchy feely comment with a pretty rivaling example. "H-Hey! I was worried... Your email was... It was pretty short, and I didn't know what to do. I still don't, but... What I said wasn't about that sort, gosh. You know exactly what I mean, miss!" Jess stuck her tongue out a moment before sighing.

"Running your fingers over that damn tattoo, poking my back in that hug in the hangar. I know I let a lot of stuff slide, but it really feels like you just wanna push my buttons... And... Y-Your comment in the hot tub. Well... Nnn, never mind. Uhm, er... Hah, I'm tripping over myself again. You can get rid of the stutter but you can't get rid of the nerves..." Jess looked around the room trying to find what to say about things, deciding that a gently squeeze onto Abby's hand would suffice. "I guess if being your tease toy makes you feel better, I can provide. Don't really know how else to put it, and it kinda sounds awkward, but... I'm not oblivious to your smiles when I squeak and stuff. So I don't mind." With that awkward admission out of the way, Jess sighed.

"Okay! I should setup the movie..." Instead of reaching over for the disc and getting up to put it in, Jess manually turned Abby's TV on with the small device around her wrist, looking through the listings for a classical movie channel. "Let's see if I can get this movie started. I'm sure you'll like it a lot! Mmm, wonder if there's enough space on this thing to get cozy under some covers to watch..."

"The email... was a mistake," Abigail agreed somberly. "I shouldn't have sent it. I guess, I was crying out for help? I was bitter and hurt, and well, our talk was fresh on my mind and... I never should have laid the guilt on you like that. I'm sorry, Jess."

It kind of killed the mood a little, but it had to be said. "I don't really know what I was expecting, but, I think your silly overreacting did help. It was a bit embarrassing, but nothing I can't live with. Just, please don't tell anyone else about what happened. I'll... break it to the ones who I think should know about it, on my own time." Megumi had been busy today, what with all the injuries among the crew, so she hadn't got a chance, but she'd be sure to tell the doctor soon. Anyone else? Abigail had a hard time seeing any reason they should care. She wasn't fishing for pity, and what would blabbing to anyone and everyone actually accomplish?

The rest of Jess's comments had kind of thrown Abigail for a loop, and she was trying to parse them in a way that really made sense. What had she said in the hot tub that had set her off? Abby couldn't remember anything in particular sticking out, unless it was that she'd thought the barcode was poor taste, but she'd followed that up with excusing the mistake since it'd happened when Jess was drunk. Had there been something else? There had to have, but what? And it's not like she'd been the only one fooling around, the lieutenant was playing a big part in things too.

The comforting handclasp that followed had been appreciated, but was Jess's offer to be her squeeze toy really the big confession she'd been working herself up to? Like, Abby got that the poor girl was probably confused and didn't know how to say what she wanted, but even still, that was kind of... out there. Adding in her leading question about snuggling under the covers together and... Abby crossed and re-crossed her legs, shaking her head slightly from side to side. Her heart was pounding like a freight train. Could Jess hear it? Did she realize what she was doing?

Despite her earlier intention of just waiting to see how things would happened according to Jess's schedule, it seemed that there was no better time than now to just get everything cleared. Perhaps a bit more forcefully than she really intended, Abigail swung herself around, pushing Jess from where she'd been seated crosslegged in the middle of the bed so that her back was up against the wall, leaving enough room for Abby to kneel in front of her, sitting lightly on her heels in between the captain and the television, making sure she was the focus of her attention.

"Alright, enough of this pussyfooting around. You don't mind being a 'tease toy'? Is that all? That's what you really want to say? Well, that doesn't work for me. After stringing me along like this, at least give me a solid 'yes' or 'no', not some floofy half measure. If you need me to go first, fine, so be it. Jessica, I want you. Not as Captain Gefalscht. Just you, Jess, the woman. I've grown to like you. A lot. You've implied much the same to me. If this has been some misunderstanding, if this isn't the relationship you want. Just... tell me now. Otherwise," Abby leaned closer, finishing in almost a whisper. "I'm going to kiss you."

Wow, this channel had everything! She wished that she'd thought about this sooner, she could get here in her own room. She didn't have all of her movies on hand, so this would solve that. About to press play... The mood shifted rather suddenly. She hadn't been expecting shoving, her body going along with it simply to avoid getting pushed over, until she started to clue into what was happening. "Huh?"

Pussyfooting? Is that all she had to say... Wh-What? Jess' face slowly became redder and redder, unsure of where this was all leading. And-- "W-Wait, what?" She, wants me? Wh... What!? The empty expression on Jess' face might've belied how confused she was, but Abby seemed sure that she'd been leading her on... H-Hadn't she just been being nice? Wasn't that what you were supposed to do? Give people what they wanted when they were upset? Especially when you cared about them. This was... Not exactly what she'd been expecting, coming in here. The remote fell quietly out of her hand and onto the bed as she stammered to try and make an answer, but Abby had already leaned in, eliciting the sharpest of squeaks from Jess.

Oh gosh. Oh, gosh gosh gosh. What does, what, what, what's she going to do? What does wanting me entail? I've never had someone want me first! B-But what about Brant? But, I like Abby too, I... D-Do I like her like that? Jess found her eyes darting over the woman for a moment, how attractive she was had just become very apparent. It was hard to ignore her face that close, and the clothes she was wearing were... Fitting. To put it vaguely. Jess found herself swallowing instead of talking. She really didn't have an answer, did she? On one hand, she'd never had someone like her, not like this. It made her feel rather special, and it definitely didn't seem like a joke... On the other, she'd literally just told the Lieutenant that she'd loved him. Even if it was just some high school crush level love, her spark was there... Was his?

There wasn't much time to think about it anymore, Jess waiting any longer would likely upset Abby in some way... Jess wondered for a moment about the question, heart nearly beating out of her chest. Was this the relationship she wanted? I don't know... But there was Jess, always wanting to make people happy. She closed her eyes and leaned herself forward, just a bit. If it was something she didn't want, she wouldn't be so conflicted. Surely...

For a several scary seconds, Abigail doubted. When the squeak came, she was sure it was about to be followed by hands pushing her away. But then, Jess had closed her eyes, leaned forward, waiting. It wasn't a lie, she hadn't read wrong. Meeting her head-on, face to face, lips to lips, Abby drank in the warm, soft sensation, the sweet taste, one that didn't come from cola. Opening her lips just enough to push down around her partner's, then pulling them back ever so slightly, she reached one hand around the back of Jess's head while the other pressed firmly down on her upper back. The next moments felt like they lasted forever, but it was probably only scant seconds before they parted again, breathing heavily, Abby looking down, hoping to see eyes glistening back up at her with joy. She had to be careful not to go too fast. The pace had to be right, not just for her, but for both of them. It came as a bit of surprise, then, when she felt warm liquid running down her own cheeks.

The kiss came hard and fast, faster than Jess was expecting, or prepared for, but it felt... It felt really good. For as rough as Abby was being with her hands rushing around Jess' body, the sensation itself was like a gentle splash of water hitting her lips. How nice... This is my first, isn't it... It was a good first. It only lasted a moment, but Jess wasn't about to forget the moment, even if she was too scared to try and match the woman's movements. Jess' hands stayed firmly at her sides, the kiss broke, and she was met with...

"A-Abby?" Why was she crying? That was enough of a prompt to get Jess to hug her, hands slipping around her back and giving her a bit of a squeeze. "What's wrong? I... Was I bad? D-Did something go wrong? Um... I, don't..." Jess was almost tempted to kiss her back, but, in a situation like this, what exactly was best? Probably some patience. Whatever she was crying over was more important than that charming sensation.

Why was she crying? It was a good question. A damn good one. One Jess seemed on the verge of asking too, until she diverted the blame from Abby to herself.

"Hush, no, you didn't do anything wrong, you were wonderful," Abigail quieted her worries, and planted another soft short kiss on her lips to shut her up.

"If anything it's me. I'm a hot mess. I... I should be happy. I mean, I am happy. It's just... do I deserve this? I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and find it all taken away from me like everything else?"

"But-- Mn..." That quickly shut Jess up, and made her blush harder, but it let Abigail talk more. Enough to explain her worries... Jess didn't understand where they were coming from. A hot mess... You certainly are hot. "Nothing that's happened to you has been something you've deserved." Jess was confident in her reply, blush or not, not getting stuck on a single word. "You've been put through so much more pain than anyone deserves, Abby... I don't know what would make you think you don't deserve this. If this is what you want... If... If I'm, what you want, then you can have me. Okay?" Jess gently gripped Abby's shirt, swallowing hard again. That, that had been hard to say.

"If you want me, and you want me to be here... I'll still be here in the morning. I'll still be with you. I won't go away... Okay?" That was all Jess could offer. The best she could offer. Whether or not it was enough for Abby remained to be seen, but... Jess was committing to this. Even if she liked Brant, she liked Abby too... And the woman needed her. She didn't have anyone else.

When Jess grabbed hold of her shirt, Abby took that as a cue, pulling her in for a close hug, burying her face in the captain's shoulder. After a few warm moments, filled with a stream of reassuring words uttered by her ear, she leaned back again. Gently brushing some of Jess's bangs from her forehead, she answered her with a definite yes.

"You won't regret taking a chance on me, I swear it. Yes, I want you. To have you, to hold you, to make you happy. I'm... a bit rough around the edges, and I'll probably fuck things up from time to time, but," Abigail brought her right hand down, covering Jess's with it and pressing it against the center of her chest, "I like to believe my heart is always in the right place."

"Won't regret it, huh..." Jess smiled, unable to really keep pace with Abby's movements, letting her shift hands and positions around a bit. When her hand was brought up to Abby's chest, even if it was a heartfelt little moment, it made Jess jump, squeak, and turn that pleasant shade of red. "G-Geez... Don't, just put my hand there..." A little wiggling and she managed to get her hand free, taking a moment to breathe, only for a bit.

"Abby... Just... How did you end up here? I don't mean on the ship, just... You seem like such, a nice person. Yeah, you're loud and blunt, but... You're so caring and I haven't seen you start a single thing on the ship. How'd you end up on the wrong side of the law?" It probably wasn't a good idea to ruin such a serious moment with this question, but with how sincere and heartfelt she was being, like a normal person, Jess couldn't imagine her as some radical rebel. And yet, she had been. Whatever led to that, it must've been important to Abby's life.

"And... If it's too soon to tell me, I... Y-You can just do, whatever else you want. It's just, on my mind... That's all. I know we've only known each other for a few days, so... It might be too early, to tell me something like that."

Oh my god. Jess was so pure, so innocent. That touch just now had barely been anything, yet to squeal and squirm like that. And she was going to be all hers to teach and to mold. Just thinking about it gave Abby shivers.

And then the moment was doused with a bucket of cold water. The slightly wolfish grin that had been forming dropped to a neutral expression, and her eyes took a faraway cast. She couldn't blame the questions, hell if the captain was going to enter a relationship with her, she'd have been surprised if she never asked, disappointed even. But, coming now, when she'd much rather bask in pleasure, continue to fool around, sink her teeth in and enjoy. It was... the worst timing.

"Right, looks like I'm gonna need to break into the drink drinks," Abigail huffed ever so slightly, then scooted off the bed, walking over to pick up the pack of coolers Jess had brought along. Carrying them back with her, she tried, probably unsuccessfully, to keep the captain from feeling bad for asking. "Don't worry, if we're already close enough for kissing and more, we're close enough for you to hear my story."

Climbing back up on the bed, somewhat catlike, she crawled up alongside Jess, then twisted and plopped down beside her, nestling the coolers between them. Bending her knee and leaning up against the wall, she fished out a bottle, cracked it open, and took a deep pull. Peach, figures.

"Hmm, where to start..."

Oh... That had been the wrong thing to ask, hadn't it. Abby seemed to lose all momentum, scooting over to the drinks. "I-I'm sorry," Jess muttered, not sure if that would help either. She'd been too curious to keep that line of questioning inside, how pitiful. Even if it had been later, after Abby'd had her fun... Whatever her fun entailed. Jess obviously knew what tended to come from people like Abby, but... It wasn't like she'd ever experience it first hand. Really, the thought was too much to consider! Going from knowing each other, to kissing, touching, and...

If Jess could steam, she would be, grabbing a pillow and burying her face in it as Abby came back over with her drinks. "D-Don't drink too much... Uh..." Where to start, huh... Jess wasn't sure where to ask, getting close to the rebel situation could trigger something pretty bad happening again. Realizing that it might help, but not exactly knowing the best way to naturally ease into comfort, Jess, almost mechanically, shuffled a bit closer, put her hand in Abby's free one, and nestled her head against her shoulder. "Th-This is fine, right?" The pillow was still being clung to with her other arm, probably muffling her voice a bit, but they were close enough that it wouldn't case any problems hearing.

"I'm... More curious about before, you got to where you were. What brought it on. You don't have to talk about, uh... Y-Your group. I don't want to pull up anything that bad for you, right now..."

Abigail couldn't help but snort a little. She wasn't sure just what, probably it was the whole... everything, but it had caught up to Jess when she'd left her alone for a few seconds. Poor girl was practically hiding, yet still sought out a personal connection, resting up against her once she'd finished settling into place. "You're really too cute, you know," Abby remarked, shaking her head a little (thought not too much to disturb the nest) before returning to the questions.

"Ah, yeah, that sounds about right. The very beginning, then. Okay... Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away," she began, "Hey, don't laugh or I'll stop," she quickly tried to quash the giggling at her side, not actually upset, but faking a little. "I was, well, pretty much the complete opposite of a poor dirt farmer struggling to survive a life in the desert. No, this spoiled little rich girl, living her sheltered rich girl life was quite ignorant of hardship, at first. Maybe that's what made it sting all the more, later on, seeing the stark contrast."

A long pause, while she swam downstream through the current of her thoughts. Slow to continue, but eventually Abby added, "I guess, the funniest thing is, it didn't have to happen that way. I could have squished away the feelings, hid who I was, been the good doll for Mommy... Sorry, this isn't making any sense at all for you is it, without any of the context. I'm a really shitty storyteller, aren't I?" Big sigh, and another swig from the bottle.

"Yeah, yeah... You're cute too. That much isn't gonna throw me off." It wasn't helping her calm down, but it wasn't like she was going to melt at every little thing... Just, almost every little thing. How difficult...

Jess couldn't help the little giggle that followed Abby's fun little reference, even as she was warned to stop, and the comparison to one Luke didn't help things, another small snorted giggle sneaking out. It wasn't all fun and games, really. But... That was likely Abby trying to put a positive swing on her thoughts. Something to keep her grounded in some level of content rather than slip into painful old thoughts. Jess squeezed her hand tight.

"It's fine. You don't have to tell me more if you don't want to. I don't get the decision, because... I never had that life. But I can't imagine rich people have no problems. I'm sure they worry and stress and have their own issues. I'm sure some of them don't even want to be rich... So I won't judge you leaving that. It happens to all kinds." Jess was curious as to what this rich family was, though. Or, their name, to be specific. Casson didn't bring any rich and famous families to mind, unless they were business rich. Jess wouldn't be able to place them like that...

"You tell me whatever you want to, and stop when it gets too hard. I got a pillow right here. You can just lay down when you want to be done." Jess patted the stuffed puff resting against her chest and smiled a bit.

A snort and a smile. "Nope, you're not getting rid of me that easily," Abigail scolded. "You pester me for the story, you're gonna suffer through every off topic rambling that comes your way, missy. Anyway, you're wrong, I think, at least on one thing. My problem, what brought about The Fight, didn't have anything to do with being rich or poor. Well, not really anyway, the particulars would have been different, I suppose, but it would've happened all the same either way, I'm sure."

Abby squeezed her eyes shut, still angry at her parents, even these many years past. Time had not erased the hurt from her mother's self-righteous sanctimony, the betrayal from her father's stunned silence. "Daddy had invited over the Vanderbilts to talk business, I don't remember what precisely, maybe it was about expanding the tidal farms, or possible some problem with the latest generation of photo-voltaic hell-if-i-knows, it doesn't really matter. What matters is they'd brought along their little Emily. She was a darling, and my first crush. We'd finished having tea, and she'd begun talking about some boy she liked, yadda yadda yadda, on and on. It hurt to listen to, but still, it was spending time with her, so it's not like I'd excuse myself and run off to my room or anything, you know? Maybe it would have been better if I had? I don't remember how it happened, exactly, I know I hadn't suggested it, but I eagerly jumped at the opportunity... There I go again, skipping ahead a bit too much. Right, so, she was worried that when the time came, and he finally asked her, she wouldn't be any good at kissing, so, she thought maybe if she practiced..."

"For me, it wasn't practice. I don't think she realized, not at first, and the butler caught us before it really got far enough to where she'd have no way not to notice. It's probably best if she never figured it out, though..." Abigail turned and gave Jess a small, sad smile. "I had two choices: Tell my parents myself, or let the robot do it. I don't think the outcome would've been different either way, though. I got the message that 'girls do not like other girls' loud and clear. I guess I was always a rebel at heart, because I said fuck that noise, stole a mountain of credits, and ran away, catching a shuttle to the colonies."

So that was the story of all of this... It was a bit of a petty reason, but Jess couldn't say she didn't understand it. It was... Incredibly backwards for a family in this day and age, though. There were some history studies that mentioned a lot about how girls like Abby would get that kind of hate or ignorance from their parents, but... "What's... What's your actual last name?" It was a stab in the dark, but, there was no way, no possible way, that some random family would do that to their daughter. They had to be rich, famous, or rich and famous, so much so that they'd go to lengths to cover something like that up. There was no other way around it, at least in her mind.

Jess meekly eyed the cooler case as well, giving it a consideration. The drinking age in the USA had been lowered to match its northern neighbour at some point during the 22nd century. That meant she was good to go... And it wouldn't be too negligent, right? Another hefty swallow, and Jess picked one up, fiddling with the cap until the satisfying pop came off. She gingerly went about taking it in a bit at a time, unlike Abby's hefty gulps. "That's really shitty to hear, though... Good thing the military doesn't care, huh? Or... Or a rebel group, I suppose." Okay, the cooler had definitely been a bad idea. Truth told, this was Jess' first time drinking, and as tasty as the bottle had been, the liquor behind the juice hit her like a tonne of bricks. It'd take her a moment to breathe the feeling away and not melt into it.

Abigail was almost positive Jess could feel her wince as the subject of her real last name came up. Tilting the bottle, and discovering it was empty helped explain part of how she'd gotten so carried away she forgot about her cover, but the truth was, she just felt so comfortable around her. And hell, she owed pretty much everything to her at this point anyway. If it weren't for Jess, she'd still be looking forward to the rare but welcome visits from Megumi, and counting the days till they landed at Central and she was handed over, marched to her death.

"You, uh, don't believe 'Casson', do you...? I suppose that's fair. Might as well tell you now anyway, I'm sure you could figure it out after the other details I name dropped. Just, don't spread it around. That's not who I am. Not anymore."

Abby leaned over and whispered into Jess's ear, then as long as she was in the neighborhood, gave it a light nibble, snaking another bottle out from the pack while she was at it.

So she'd hit the mark. Whatever the mark was. And was going to get the truth straight from the rebel's mouth. It probably wasn't something big to worry over but-- "Hhhnnh!" The bite definitely was, sending a hefty shiver all the way down Jess' spine and causing her to shake a bit. "D-Don't... Do that..." What, wh-what had the name been? Ugh... Something, rock... Rocky... R-Rockefeller? Wait, what!?

"S-Seriously? I... That's... Their arrays are powering the ship, right now." That... That was really awkward. It felt awkward to Jess at least. The family she'd ran away from had ended up chasing her, in some fashion. "That's... That's a really famous family, Abby. I don't really know what else to say, that's... Wow..." Jess took another swig and sighed a bit, not out of sadness or anything, just catching her breath. These teases were so mean.

Watching Jess twitch from her attack, and maybe imagining how she'd look convulsing from other assaults, Abigail's parade was once again rained on prematurely. The Riese, was only flying, because of them.

"P-Probably some... other family with the s-same name... and business interests," she stammered getting progressively softer, all the while fooling nobody, least of all herself. She wanted to shrink up and disappear, and pulling her knees to her chest she tried doing just that. It didn't work.

"What, whatever happened to that movie of yours again?"

"A-Abby..." This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Jess had tiptoed around her crew to avoid this sort of thing, only to walk into another landmine. No, no she was supposed to be trying to cheer her up! None of this, this curled up sadness, no! Jess pushed the rest of the bottles out of the way and set hers down onto the nightstand, crawling in front of Abby and sitting on her knees.

"L-Look at me. Please... J, Just, forget about all of that discussion, okay? All of it. I nnnever asked... Focus on me. Do whatever you want. Just don't let yourself fall back there, Abby... I don't want to see you that sad. I should never have asked, I should've just let, you have your fun, so please. Have it. Smile, for me..." Jess meekly reached a hand out onto her knee, trying to get her to look up. "Please. Don't you like it when I squeak a-and shiver? You can just, make me do that. As much as you want. That'll make you happy."

The captain was being uncharacteristically assertive. No, that's not true. She's always had a spark to her. Remember that first confrontation, the shouting match, back and forth? Abigail couldn't imagine herself falling for a doormat, after all. But something about this all still seemed... off.

Oh. Was that what it was?

Looking up at Jess like she'd been asked, Abby tried to read the emotions in her face, as she went over what she'd just heard another time. She felt tired, spent.

Straightening her legs out, off to the side of the woman kneeling in front of her, she sighed. Yes, she'd been startled to hear of her birth family's connection to the ship, but the shock would surely have only been temporary. They had no control over her, even if she was here. It's not like they could just, flip a switch and turn off the technology, stranding them in the countryside. It's not like they could ransom the military into giving their daughter back. Plus, if they'd wanted to find her, they surely could have done so years ago, couldn't they have? It was all just a cascade of stupid bad thoughts, none of which mattered.

But Jess's reaction. That was guilt talking, wasn't it. That wasn't love at all. Whether she'd been forcing herself all along or not, she certainly was now. And that didn't sit right with Abby.

"I was just, a little shocked, it's not the end of the world. And this? People hurt other people, make them sad. It happens. When it does, you don't just..." Abby flailed her hands, slightly at a loss for words, "...just surrender yourself to them to try to make it all better. What do you want, Jess? Make sure that's a part of it, a part of everything you strive for. Sure, sometimes you'll need to compromise, but that never sounds like this. I don't want to be pitied, I'm not just some thing to soothe your guilt."

Scooting forward a little so she could place her hands on Jess's shoulders, she finished. "Think about yourself a little, will you?"

What? What sort of reaction was that? Guilt, pity? What the fuck? Jess felt a strange anger burning in her, something she'd felt when Roxanna tried to talk her down. Why had the XO thought she had to act some way for some hidden reason? Why had the XO thought there was some ulterior motive? And why did Abby, right now, think she was doing this to stroke some guilt in her, and not because she genuinely felt bad for the woman? Was she not allowed to? Did it have to be about that?

"No, you, you do not get to pull that on me right now," Jess said, anger mounting, as she pushed herself forward, Abby's arms off, and had the blonde up against the bed frame this time. "You think I'm here to make myself feel better? You think I can't just, actually care for you? What... What are you doing?" Jess had to hold that incredulous stare for a second, not having the courage to keep holding her there, backing off a bit. She looked down at the bed sheets, shaking her head.

"This isn't a game. This isn't me toying with you to make myself feel better. I said it when you started this." It took what she had left to look Abby in the eyes, and hold that look. That anger had burned down to ashes, it didn't last long, because unlike the XO, she wasn't at all upset at Abby. She was disappointed. "Do you want me or not? Because when you said you did... That made me incredibly happy. So don't... Don't make this into something it isn't, just because I go too far to try and help."

The tables turned quite suddenly on Abigail, the rebel not expecting the quite the level of force or determination that Jess had mustered, and quickly she found herself in much the same position she had put the captain originally, before their first kiss. It took her breath away, as she crashed backwards, and the smoulder she saw in Jess's eyes proved her feelings were not a lie. It was hard to understand, but her desire for Abby to feel happy, her wish to cheer her up was so genuine that apparently thought for her own self hadn't even entered the equation. Or maybe she was treating Abby as an extension of her being, of sorts? Did that even make sense? Did it even matter?

The answer was no. What mattered was hearing 'This isn't a game,' and then 'When you said you wanted me... that made me incredibly happy.' That and seeing what Jess was like with the fire really lit under her. All that combined to make Abigail more turned on than she had been in a long, long time. Scrabbling to push herself back into a position with any sort of leverage, she managed to keep from launching herself at Jess long enough to apologize. "I warned you I'm good at fucking things up and misreading situations. Forgive me."

"I already have," Jess responded, sighing quietly, trying to watch her. "Just... Don't tell me why I'm doing something. I know why I am... And I know that I'm excited to be here. So don't, spring this on me, and then try to play like I'm the one messing around. You wanted this... And I want you to have it. Have me. I want that. So... So just... Yeah." Jess felt like she'd been going in circles with that, shrinking down some onto the bed sheets. At least Abby got it now... Mostly. At least enough to try and listen.

"S-Sorry. I'm... I'm not good at getting upset, uhm... Uh... Y-Yeah..." Now she was fidgeting with her fingers. Jess got apologetic really easily, and getting angry at someone she liked was always worth apologizing for. "A-Am I, forgiven too...?"

That depends on how happy you make me, was a line that came quickly to Abigail's lips, but was just as quickly discarded. With the miscommunications already taking place, this was no time to joke around and cause more. Especially when it seemed Jess had spent up most of her energy, retreating again to a shy and unsure position. Dashing forward on hands and knees to cover the short gap between them, Abby lightly bonked Jess's forehead with her own, then stretched up to kiss the site of impact.

"Of course, you silly," she reassured her, then firmly placed her hands on each of Jess's shoulders and forcefully pressed her down, shoving her firmly until her back was up against the mattress. Straddling her by the waist, with one knee on either side, Abigail took a brief detour from manhandling the captain to grab the bottom hem of her own grey shirt, then using both hands yanked it up over her head, shaking her hair back and forth once free, making sure it was still properly done up. Whether or not her partner ended up losing any of her clothes aside, Abby still wanted one less barrier between them. The chance for Jess to put her hands upon her arms, her sides, her stomach, wherever, that was an opportunity she would willingly provide. At this point, in her opinion, the black sports bra she'd been wearing underneath was more than good enough as far as modesty was concerned.

Leaning forward, propping herself up with one hand on the bed beside Jess's shoulder, and caressing the girl's cheek with the other, Abigail drew her face very close, noses almost touching. "You offered, and I'm accepting..." she cooed lowly, "But if I get carried away, or you change your mind, get scared, any reason at all, you can always stop things. If you try telling me 'no' and I'm not listening, just sock me in the nose or something, that'll clear my head right quick." Then she paused, waiting for confirmation before continuing any further.

"Ah!" was probably the small yelp of surprise Abby was expecting from the bonk, but a longer, much more apprehensive one followed her getting shoved down to the bed and mounted. "Whhhh, wh, whhaaa..." Why is she on me whY IS HER SHIRT COMING OFF OH GOSH! Jess shrunk, flushed red, pulled her hands up to her chest and gulped. "I... Uh... H-Hi..."

You offered... I'm accepting? Oh... "I, er, I know I said that.. Y-You can do whatever you want... I... I'm not a liar. Hhh. Y-You can do, whatever..." Or at least I don't want to be a liar but my heart's going to jump out of my throat at this rate! "I... I'm just..." It was tempting to close her eyes and try not to take in all of Abigail, but she didn't want to make her scared or worried again. "I'm scared of having sex!" came the unfortunate squeaked confession, Jess sighing and fizzling out further.

"I've never done anything with anyone... Or... M-Myself, I'm... You're really bold, hah..."

Abigail could practically see the steam coming from Jess's ears, as the poor girl overheated in the furnace of her embrace. Her stammered walkback from her previous position was endearing, and expected. That's why she'd been so upset when she thought the woman was just giving in to guilt, after all. "Ah, and now we hear the truth behind the little mouse with the big words. You're lucky this lion remembers the thorn you plucked from her paw," Abby laughed, bright peals filling the room.

Rocking back on her haunches, Abigail gave the captain some of the space she seemed to desperately desire, smiling as she saw the hands Jess had brought ineffectually to her chest, apparently unable to commit to pushing Abby away. "That's fine, seriously. You're scared of sex? No problem, after all what did I just finish telling you? I've given you the power to decide when and where we stop. We'll have as much fun as you're comfortable with, and we'll both end up happy." Hopefully having cut through the nonsense, a slight smirk crept across her lips as she shrugged and continued with her matter of fact statements. "I kind of figured I might be finishing myself off after anyways, there's only so much you can ask from a first date, you know?"

Reaching forward, grabbing Jess's hands in her own, Abigail gave them a gentle squeeze. "You're so, so giving and honest and kind. I really hope no-one ever takes advantage of you. And me? Bold? Yeah, I guess. But life's too short, especially in our line of work, so..." She rolled her shoulders and tilted her head to the side, waiting for Jess to finish catching her breath and calm herself back down. "I probably did have a bit of a head start in that department, but the rest was just having to adapt."

So it was just intimidation, or... Or scare tactics of some sort. Jess sighed, flustered, mildly buzzed from her drink, and too embarrassed to think of any sort of snappy reply. Abby started laying on the compliments thick, and grabbed her hands, giving Jess a small flinch. "I'm... If you say so. I just, didn't want to see you rot away, or... You already know why. I didn't think I was being that kind or anything, just... Just, giving someone what they deserved. A second chance. It wasn't like you or your men were doing the killing on the colony, anyway..." That was getting into heavy territory, wasn't it? Jess gulped. She had to turn this around somehow, and...

She paused, and closed her eyes. Another deep breath, and her hands took Abby's, gently lowering it onto her chest with a small yelp. She bit her lip, squirmed just a tad, and then looked up at her again. "I must look like some scared animal... Or some kid not knowing what they're getting into. Barely a captain at all, huh?" She smiled wryly at that, unsure of what would happen next, but as long as Abby wasn't going to push the envelope... It wouldn't be an awful idea to test her own boundaries.

They're line of work, though? It was true that tomorrow, either of them could be dead. The Riese could be as state of the art as it wanted, and their machines could be as well tuned as they could manage, but there was no telling what was coming with these people. A new weapon, a better pilot, a surprise attack, anything could just... No, stop thinking about that. It was hard enough to look at Abby with her hand where it was, let alone think about all of that too.

Thankfully Jess had cut short the rehash of her reasonings before Abigail had needed to do something to change her off of that dreary topic. Her comment about the lion and the thorn had been purely for sport, and especially amusing considering the manner of pajamas the captain was sporting. Her patience had been rewarded though when Jess had made a bold move of her own, though the accompanying squeak perhaps betrayed that she may have been regretting it. Still, slowly but surely it was progress.

"Well, your heart is certainly beating like a wild animal's, but that's nothing special, I suppose. I'm sure you remember mine was racing much the same, earlier," Abigail attempted to pacify her insecurities. "And a captain isn't a one-woman army you know. Sometimes she has to trust in her experienced officers, to let them do the jobs they're trained for. Just because you struggle with one thing or another doesn't make you any less a captain." The metaphor at work here was heavy-handed, as 'experienced officer' Abby gently slid her palm along the top of Jess's night shirt, circling around without crossing any of the quite obvious contours in the landscape.

"Y-You... Stop with all the compliments. This is already driving me crazy, hearing any more..." Of course she remembered how hard Abigail's heart had been beating, and between their moments of silence, she could hear her own going mad in her ears. The slow touches didn't help, as Jess shivered more and tried to squirm her shoulders into the mattress, like such a feat was possible.

"Then... Show me what you're trained for, Officer Casson..." As bold an order as Jess was going to be able to give. This night was going to be a long one, wasn't it...?

 

In Reach

 

"XO Martinson! Thank God, we finally got through to the ship." There were some quiet cheers from the rest of the room, people obviously incredibly pleased with having reached the Riese-- or that the Riese was still functioning at all. "I've got direct orders coming in from High Commander Vance, the Riese is to intercept a high priority group while it is en route returning to HQ. My apologies, there was no time to wait for the Captain to become available." There was a bit of concern in this ensign's voice, probably wondering where the supposed captain that was leading this impressive ship was, but he didn't speak those concerns.

"To clarify further, long range scanners have picked up a group of unknowns an hour out of the Riese's position. This is a secure line, and I do not know how long it will last, so please, listen carefully... We have been unable to figure out the allegiance of this group, only knowing that they are not ANF personnel. Whether they are a rebel group, or a group of the Apotheosis terrorist faction, please head towards them and intercept. It is your own discretion for what actions are taken when you have gotten a better visual on them... The only reason this is being placed so heavily on the Riese is that their trajectory seems to be pushing straight towards HQ." With all the defenses there, that wouldn't have been a problem. Not normally, but...

"This is an issue because... We have had reports of a large mobile suit in the area. We're going to be referring to it as mobile armor from now on, simply because of its sheer size. We do not know if this force is moving to meet with it and attack Central, but it would be better to remove this threat before it hits home. Otherwise, the Riese is still scheduled to return to Central and report in to Admiral Alph--"

The call suddenly cut off, a 'Connection Lost' displaying on Roxanna's communicator.

Tristan grunted, furrowing his brow. "The secure connection must've been lost. Dammit... Still, this is incredibly important, XO. As well... We have picked up a distress beacon that lines up almost perfectly with this group we're being asked to deal with. I don't know about you, but if our objectives align, I'd like to respond to it. With this information, we'll finally have the jump on a group of these sons of bitches--" Tristan found himself pausing, blushing a small bit and clearing his throat. "Th-These terrorists, and have an easy upper hand. Should you rouse the crew, or shall I?" They could find Jessica later. Hopefully, she'd find herself before they had to.

Proof of

"Galatea," Hannah began from the Mantle, after Brant's little exchange with Firmia had ended, "why do you think Firmia cheated"

Galatea paused, glancing over at her sister, cocking a digital eyebrow at her. "Cheated?"

"Well... Brant was not wearing a G suit, and it appears that Firmia used many macros to make the Regalia less operable for Brant. More towards what she could handle and less for him."

"And you think that's cheating?"

"Uhm... Would it not be considered as such?"

"I think," Galatea began, sitting up on her comfy little cloud, "that Firmia was simply leveling the playing field. Brant has age on her, more flying experience, and is simply more suited for this sort of activity. You heard things yourself, even with all of those apparent advantages, she still passed out after three minutes. Barely won their little exchange, really... So if you consider all of that cheating, then perhaps..."

Hannah frowned, and would be blushing if she could. "I... I simply wished for Brant to win. Maybe then I could've been copilots with him..."

Galatea laughed, grabbing her side. She'd been expecting it, but not expecting to hear it put to straightforward. "You're adorable, Hannah~ Ahh, never change... Well, change, but keep this personality. It's wonderful."

Hannah didn't quite get the laughter, but smiled all the same. "If you say so... Sister."

---

Hannah had slept with Tonya and Brant, but the experience had made her feel more awkward than anything. Not because she felt that she was invading personal space; Brant or the other woman would have kicked her off of the bed were that the case... Mostly because she didn't dream. She had thought that maybe, after all she'd gone through recently, that something would've happened... But, as soon as she went into sleep mode, it was like curtains closing and opening, and suddenly it was morning. Black void in the middle, no explanation or anything of interest.

It made sense, of course. She was a robot. Why would she have dreams? There was nothing in her subroutines that she could find that would've triggered them. Then again, she hadn't asked Galatea yet, so perhaps there was something to be done there. Still...

"Tonya?" Hannah looked back at the woman after Brant had finished with their small model. "Might I be able to ask you a few questions?"

Edited December 16, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Shin]

"Half eight, thirty seven seconds ahead of schedule." Bill remarked looking down at his watch. Most of the crew weren't particularly early risers, and that gave him plenty of time ensure the lower deck's halls were clear. It was usually only the other support staff and one of the children he saw in the early morning but the ship had been relatively lively that day. The war situation seemed to be getting more tense, it was rather difficult to follow what was going on these days. He hadn't really understood the telemarketing thing from yesterday, but he was reassured that it wasn't going to cause him any trouble. It certainly was lucky that they had such a good medical team to keep an eye on people. 

The Heion Riese was a masterpiece, his dedicated cleaning crew had kept it pristine on the inside, despite the efforts of the oily boot bandit and the toast terror. Despite being on the ship at the centre of a global conflict, he was out of touch with it and the world as a whole. When things were all over, he had a lot of cricket to catch up on... and he was certain that he'd left behind his favourite Femme Fatale album. Perhaps it was in his sock drawer after all?

[scorri]

Val groaned aloud as she read through the two recent messages on her communicator, resulting in another wave of pain pulsing through her head. Her message was bad enough, but the single word response from Olivia cut deeper than she'd expected. She'd screwed up. That much was clear. Quickly typing up a message, she sent it without another thought before gingerly rolling back over and burying her head under her covers. Maybe once her headache went away she'd be more up to dealing with the world, but taking a sick day was sounding more and more appealing.

Quote

Sorry. Never should have sent that. Was drunk and jealous. Please ignore it ever happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astin stood in the elevator, arms crossed, waiting for the doors to open. As they slid open, they spotted Avery making her way towards them, clearly having just woken up. Sighing, they made their way towards her and shook their head. "Avery... You can't keep doing this. You have to take care of yourself. You're important to this ship. What happens if you burn out because you're not sleeping enough?" They hesitated, wondering just how dirty they should play and then just went for it. "Plus... I was waiting for you last night. I was hoping you'd come back but instead I just woke up by myself. It... it would have been nice, that's all."

Edited December 16, 2017 by scorri

[Shin]

Tarquin checked his sensors, the Luna was well within operational range, too much so for his liking. The sword-wielding mechanoid was menacing even from far away, he knew that it was more than capable of closing the gap. There was a decisive click from his rifle's action, it was ready to fire again. "Ich habe nur noch einen Schuss übrig, dann muss ich mich auf das Netzteil verlassen." he muttered under his breath, checking his radar again. His allies were scattered across the battlefield, most of them no longer operational. He'd already used up five shots trying to immobilise the Luna, but three of them had missed the mark entirely. The other two had done less than he had hoped. 

He heard the explosion ahead of him, scraps of a Heracles scattering as the Luna charged forwards. He wouldn't be able to win in close quarters. He took aim, raising his rifle and locking onto the Luna. Squeezing the trigger, his shot echoed though the canyon. The Luna's shoulder jerked backwards, but it hadn't been enough to halt the assault. There was no time activate the protocol, he could see the strange glowing light from Vera's blade as it drew closer. The damage he'd caused was visible across its body, but it was nothing compared to what he was about to receive.

"Scenario Complete: Mission Failed."

The phrase wasn't one that Tarquin particularly enjoyed hearing, and it wasn't often that he had to. He shook his head, stepping out of the simulator. It was the fifth defeat of the morning, probably a sign that it was time to rethink his strategies. He eyed the statistics screen quickly, the raw numbers had improved slightly, but not enough to affect the end result. They'd need a solid plan to take her down, one that involved finding a way to ensure melee encounters were survivable for his allies. 

It would be something he would have to discuss with the likes of Thorvald and the captain, Tarquin wasn't too keen on them all throwing themselves at Vera to die, not even Hedrick. He stepped out into the gym, making a mental note to deliver his lesson to Makoto eventually. Even after yesterday, everything had gone back to normal. Perhaps it wasn't that things hadn't changed, but more that he'd been able to adapt to his open existence. He wasn't the secret test tube boy anymore, he was... well, the test tube boy. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant for himself, he would have to add it to the list of things he wanted to figure out. Like why people kept on staying in other people's rooms, that was weird.

[Nanami Touko]

Target Practice

 

“Mmmmmm… Hmmmmmm… Hmmmm! Soor’Kan!” The quiet humming was quickly interrupted by an irritated voice, loudly groaning out a name. “There is nothing to do around here, and the tripe that these Humans pass off as entertainment, news, and sports, are all boring me. Give me something to do! Anything! Raid a base, support our grunts, challenge a superior-- I am losing my mind.”

“Gaal’Bathy, be silent.” A quiet growl met the complaints, sighing afterwards. “We are here to oversee the return of one of our subordinates. You may think the Humans beneath us, but that is only in power. Quite a few of them can be just as good a fighter, and even better a pilot.”

“Pff, feh. There is no Human that can best me. Or this machine.”

“That machine was made by humans. Once again, do not underestimate them; and no. We, are remaining here.”

“Rrrrrr… Fine. Fine! There is no convincing you after you’re--” A small bing from Gaal’Bathy’s machine distracted her, a smile quickly overtaking any frustrations. “A squadron approaches! The worms sending out morsels to feast on. Please, grant me this much! I can destroy them all from here, they won’t see a thing!”

“For the love of…” Soor’Kan sighed and grasped at the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, but opened one to check the radar. He couldn’t help but smile, despite earlier protests. “Fine… Admittedly, I am also bored. I suppose Trel’Vaar will not be displeased with us, as long as we remain here… You’re sure your rifle can reach them?”

“Without a doubt!” The large, cerise colored robot quickly settled onto the ground, unstrapping a rifle from behind it, and placing it ahead of itself. “One, two, three, four… Hmm, hmm hmm~ One at a time… Let’s see… Mark IIs? Disgusting. Not even that new, fat model. This will take no effort at all.” Gaal’Bathy started humming quietly to herself, aiming down sights, and--

“Fire, fire, fire~” Three large, violet beams of energy flew out towards the squadron, one after another.

Jess had questioned the purpose behind her latest set of orders. It wasn’t the principle of them, per se, patrols in general were a good thing, and definitely worth sending. However, why was it her squad, a bunch from way out on the frontier, who’d had to turn tail and retreat all the way to central? And why this location? It was certainly off the beaten path from any of the main directions the enemy could be expected to be approaching from. Still, the Major had set them out, in strict no nonsense terms, and there had been no arguing with them. They just had to make their sweeps, return to base, and make the all clear report. A waste of time and manpower, but nothing to be done for it.

“All right,” she called out over the comms. “This brings us to the edge of the designated route. I haven’t spotted anything out of the ordinary. What about you, Trish?”

“Nadda, all clear here, too,” came the reply. Pretty much as expected then, just have to check in with the other two, and they could be on their way. “Actually, wait a second, I think I just saw something gleaming over by seven o’cloaaaaaaah--” The pained scream quickly turned to crackling, static, then eerie quiet.

“Trish?! Trish, holy fuck. Bobby, Martin, did you two copy that? What’s the sitrep? Anything on scanners?” Furiously trying to regain sense of a situation suddenly spiraling out of control, Jess belted out rapidfire requests to the remaining two members, while simultaneously pivoting her craft and changing direction. Trish had been the left wing of their retinue, Bobby the right, and Martin had been pulling rearguard duty while she’d led the pack. So the best odds now would be for herself or Martin to catch sight of things.

“Making a beeline for her last confirmed position,” Bobby radioed back. “That did not sound healthy, gonna check it out ASAP.”

“Can confirm, that did not appear to be EM interference,” Martin checked in, then mused. “Something feels very wrong. Don’t see anything on sc--” His transmission went dead before he even got the chance to scream.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, it’s coming right for meeeeeeee,” was the last thing Bobby ever said.

Cold sweat drenched Jess’s face, as in two shakes of a cat’s whiskers their completely boring, routine mission had gone completely pear-shaped. It was her fault too, as squad leader, but what had there been for her to do that would have made a difference? Doubt was gnawing at her, and certainly wouldn’t help the situation. She needed to beat heat and retreat, immediately. Leaving her squadmates behind was a heavy burden, though the utter disappearance of their signals was all too reminiscent of a certain viral video.

“I’ll make sure to come back to confirm,” she whispered to their ghosts, “But forgive me for now, someone has to get word back to Central. That’s the mission!” Jess punched thrusters, and began zigging and zagging, heading for deeper tree cover. With a bit of luck, she’d either leave effective range, or make it too difficult to draw a bead on her position. And given that all of them had had top level training, it was definitely going to come down to luck.

“... ‘Bathy, you’re leaving that one. Don’t make me take the last shot.” Soor’Kan was enjoying the destruction through his monitor’s zoom, wondering what was going through the remaining pilot’s mind. It was always interesting to see how they tried to get out of these scenarios, whether they bolted or stood still, their minds unable to comprehend such quick destruction. “I suppose flies do provide some amusement…”

“I’m giving it some hope, calm yourself. Besides, I want this one to be prettier… It’s fun, shooting them down like that, but when nothing’s left but dust, don’t you think it’s so boring? Now…” Increasing the zoom on her rifle, Gaal’Bathy focused on in the zigzagging machine, rifle aimed at the thrusters. “Look at them go, so fast! Turn down the power, increase the speed… There we are~” One concentrated blast tore through the thrusters on the Velite, blowing out through the front, with special care done to avoid killing the pilot.

“Now we get to watch it smash into the trees. I can only imagine it’s body getting thrown about the cockpit.”

“Rook, you’ve been told plenty not to play with your food, so--”

“Hush. Let me have this much, I beg of you. I’ll follow up myself if there’s no explosion, now sit back, and watch~”

“Hrrrr…” The low growl wasn’t pleased, but it eased itself out with the camera on the machine. Hopefully this would be as spectacular as ‘Bathy was promising.

Okay, so far so good, looks like I’m going to make--A tremendous shudder shook the cockpit and countless klaxons blared their alarms. Whatever hit her craft had obviously been tuned differently than the others, but that didn’t mean the situation wasn’t dire. Sensors showed the lower body of the Velite had nearly been severed from the upper, after a blast aimed at Jess’s thrusters had punched a cylindrical hole straight through, with only the faint bits of metal around the rims left intact. And of course, that meant when it landed the step currently in progress…

A fresh squealing of metal tearing on metal echoed forth, almost drowning out the cacophony already in place as the Velite’s own weight, and the force of gravity finished whatever the enemy had started, ripping it in two. And without the legs, the upper body continued to rotate as it careened forward at a speed it could no longer safely accommodate, crashing into the ground, bouncing, and continuing to travel its original direction due to the cruel laws of physics.

At this rate, Jess’s only hope was the escape pod, a much smaller unit, equipped with its own minimal set of control thrusters. She obviously wouldn’t be making it back to headquarters with it, but it also was much less likely to kill her outright. Initiating self-destruct for the rest of the main body might also buy her time, if the enemy was satisfied and declined a closer investigation. At any rate, it certainly couldn’t make the situation worse could it?

Hovering her hand over the button, and biting her lip in indecision, the next impact made Jess’s choice for her, as button and hand violently collided. In fact, the shooting stars of pain informed her that most likely, several of the bones in her wrist had given up on their proper placement, either shattering directly, or being badly compressed by their neighbors being all too eager to take their place.

“Ffffuck,” she whimpered out sadly, between gritted teeth, running her gaze over the monitors. Self-destruct activation was successful, time to eject. One more button, other hand, no hesitation this time. The ball-like capsule was separated from the main body and basically in free-fall. Trying to manage its altitude, attitude, and yaw was difficult, especially with only one good hand, but Jess got it mostly under control, and it had slowed down enough by the time it crashed into the tree that the impact wasn’t fatal. Yes, one of its branches pierced through its protective barriers and straight into the cockpit, into her helmet. But she would survive. It wasn’t going to be pleasant, but she would make it. Only if help came. Help… the distress signal. Her final fading thought, seen through to completion.

What a spiral! What a glorious, life ending spiral. As the Velite crashed below the treeline, Gaal’Bathy let out a hearty laugh, only laughing louder as the resulting explosion presented itself from beneath cover.

Soor’Kan couldn’t help his own chuckle, sighing quietly. “I suppose it’s my fault for having doubted you. That was quite the show.”

“Of course it was, I’m the best shot in our legion, Commander! Trust me more often, will you~? Ahhh… That certainly livened things up, didn’t it? How much longer until those goons find themselves here, hmm?” Resting back in her seat, Gaal could only smile in satisfaction, rewinding a quick recording and playing it again all for herself. Beautiful.

“It should only be twenty more minutes. These Earthling timing mechanisms certainly are useful, aren’t they? Better than using the suns… Or sun. Can you believe they only function on one? Preposterous…” Without a response from his subordinate, he assumed she was amusing herself with what she’d just done. “Ah, well… Better than hearing her complain. We’ll be done here soon, anyway.” With a quiet flip of a switch, Soor’Kan decided to see if there was anything important he could glean from this program they called ‘News’.

Calm Response

Olivia got a ping on her communicator, snickering at Val's attempt to cover things up. A simple 'Sure' in response would likely make the girl even more paranoid, so she sent that and went about getting her breakfast... There was that Elaine girl. Hmm. No point in bugging her. She wasn't really her type, and... No need to get involved with more people than necessary. The cute ones were worth it. Olivia decided fruit, yogurt and granola would cover things, at least for now, and got to putting that together. "Only vanilla? Really... Ugh."

Guilty Party

Oh, hey, it was Astin. Probably coming to give her some lecture on-- yeah, there it was... And it was topped off with something that made Avery frown with a small bit of regret. "Oh, no! Astin, darlin', ain't no way I meant t'do thaaat..." Awww, she did feel a bit bad, but walking up to the pilot, she got an idea. Hanging lazily with her arms around their neck, she smiled. "You know how import'nt it is that these robots are all workin', right? An' I got a nice bit o' sleep in th'Ceres. Comfy chair... So. Tonight, y'can have me. 'Kay? Yer right. I overwork m'self, wanna get stuff done, like tinkerin'... But iffin yer that worried, then I'll put th'other mechanics on my stuff, an' give you whatever you want. Howzzat sound~?"

Edited December 16, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

The trill of her communicator alerted her to the new message. Pulling it up, and seeing the message of "Sure" made her throw her communicator across the room in frustration. "That stupid frustrating annoying... UGH-- owwwwwwwwwww." She groaned, clutching her head as her yelling set off a fresh wave of pain in her head. "She's just accepting this isn't she. I should have... Ugh." She stood up and slowly made her way over to the communicator that she'd just flung.

Picking it up and turning it over in her hands, she winced at the sight of the cracked screen. That wasn't going to be fun to deal with. Still, it was working. Sighing, she quickly sent back "Ok, good." to Olivia before making her way back to the bed. Burying herself back under the covers, she realized that she had to accept the real reason she was mad. This was all her fault after all. The only person she had any right to be mad at was herself. Olivia was just... doing what they'd agreed to. And if she wanted to change that, she'd have to... No. Bad decisions were made when drunk, true, but bad decisions could be made while hungover too. Chasing after Olivia wasn't the right choice. No matter how much she wanted to. There were too many things to be worried about with that, and she couldn't afford to get caught up in all of that again. Not now. Pulling the blanket back over her head, she did her best to ignore the pain in her head and get just a little bit more sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astin had been about to give themself a mental pat on the back with the way Avery was reacting until they became her support. And as she continued to talk, they slowly became bright red. This had managed to backfire spectacularly on them. While it did seem that the mechanic was going to try and take better care of herself, there was a whole lot more being implied in there than Astin had been trying for. "I..." Well what did you expect? You did say you were a couple now. And that you wanted her in the same bed at night. And it's not like you don't want it... Still bright red, Astin did their best to smile at Avery. "I... Yeah. That sounds... Sounds nice." There was no point in fighting things here. They'd committed to this and even if it was a bad idea, the best thing they could do was enjoy it while it lasted.

Wrapping an arm around Avery's waist, they gestured towards the elevator. "Were you going to get some breakfast then? Take some of my advice at least? Haven't had the chance to eat myself either so maybe we could go get some food together?" She was exceptionally pretty, they certainly couldn't deny that. Even after having spent a night in the cockpit of a mech. "You're really cute by the way. I'm glad I asked for that tour of the engine room. Never would have gotten this chance without it."

[Phoenix]

Tonya had no idea she would come to love that stupid game so much. She even had a dream about it. Ellen was a good salesman, and a decent commander, too. She was starting to hope she didn't have to run Firmia's little mission just yet, but if she did, the ace pilot had a way of making things more interesting when she didn't have to worry about being tracked. For now, it was morning and her stomach was very, very angry with her for skipping lunch and dinner. She would not get off skipping breakfast, as well.

First, though, Hannah seemed to want to talk to her about something. Hopefully these questions weren't about big, existential, robot issues. Tonya's wisdom primarily lay in pulverizing the 'other guy.' "It depends. What did you want to ask me?"

---

Excellent. That was the best way to describe Firmia's modifications to the Regalia's cockpit. It only took an hour to get the place up to snuff, about ten minutes of that time being used to swap out the old copilot seat for the Edict's pilot seat. It was the only part of the mobile suit that had likely survived the destruction of the Alkaev testing facility back in Siberia. The Edict's flight seat was a bit larger than the one it was replacing, but it fit inside the cockpit just fine. Firmia did have to retain the control sticks, unfortunately. The Edict never had a flight mode, and so its own controls would only be useful in MS mode. Fair enough; the AMS units were almost entirely modular in design for that very purpose. With how heated things were getting with Apotheosis, Firmia wasn't ruling out the possibility of having to pilot the Regalia, again during some critical moment, and so the swap was quick and deliberate.

The Alkaev's other changes were not only functional, but also quality of life enhancements. Firmia had put up a dedicated monitor in place of the collapsible one, and there was also a docking arm for her tablet inside its bulky case. This created a vertical dual monitor setup that she quite liked. Brant wouldn't be able to lean his seat all the way back while everything was deployed like this, but that was fine. People shouldn't fret over losing a feature they never used. Firmia needed the extra space to better facilitate her role. Being a copilot really was an annoying prospect, but she'd already decided to make the best of it.

<"I can already think of a few add-ons I want,"> Firmia grimaced after giving her surroundings another once over, "but I can only do so much at once." If she started trying to change things and the alarms sounded, that would just be awful timing. It felt like they were already overdue for another scuffle with Apotheosis. Better to not push her luck and try to get through the next sortie as is. That way, she could also address any flaws in the current setup. There were things that were worrying her a little about the current one, already, despite its functionality. Of greatest import was the docking arm. The arm didn't have the tablet so secure that it couldn't slip free with a big enough change in momentum. A flying armored tablet was the last thing she and Brant needed ricocheting around in the cockpit during a firefight. Another issue was her dedicated monitor. It wouldn't come loose during flight, but it wasn't stable enough to not vibrate under high stress; Firmia couldn't find a sturdy enough mounting on such short notice. The problem was that onscreen text wouldn't be legible under those conditions. She needed either a stronger mount, or some extra support. <"I need to ... think about something else, right now ... like breakfast.">

The cafeteria was someplace she'd rather avoid. Really, it was the crews quarters in general she wanted no part of, hence her still mostly empty room. Her luggage was stored there for the sake of convenience and decency, but the dressers were stocked with the ANF's own catchall wardrobe, and the Alkaev's bags were still quite full. Some days Firmia wouldn't mind just plugging into an outlet instead of eating, but it was what it was ...

When she emerged from the Regalia, Firmia found Sasha loafing around near a console linked to the Reign, along with several empty cans of espresso, and one half full one. Interesting that he drank those with a straw ... Firmia took the lift down from the Regalia, closed the cockpit up, and then made her way over to him. <"Good morning.">

"Morning," Sasha waved back without looking away from the console's keys.

Firmia tilted her head at him. <"No Russian?">

"Relax a little. I know we're not kicking off our shoes, but fights like these aren't won in a fortnight. We're gonna be here a while. Speaking of which. You ready for today's lesson?"

A 'fortnight' was two weeks, wasn't it? What had it been since she'd gotten here? Two days? ... and how long had this war ...? Ugh ... "... I should eat, first. I want to be able to focus."

[Xinnidy]

First Move

The revival of hope in the ensign's tone as their contact was ensured made that sense of urgency sink in further, it was almost disturbing how much the lack of communication had made them out of touch with HQ's struggles. Hearing that it was a direct order from High Commander Vance, no less, only made Roxanna more tense, her empty gaze at the ground belied by the balling of a fist. "A group of unknowns headed to HQ not too far from us. I understand. We'll intercept them as quickly as we--." And that was the end of the connection. Roxanna couldn't help a sigh, the tension not leaving her as easily as the conversation being cut abrupt. It was a grim prospect, with the suspicion of that mobile armor being around --no doubt they were talking about that eccentric half-snake unit--, and if that were the case, what could the team do? Most importantly... would the Riese handle it well enough? And just where is that pipsqueak when she's actually needed? The XO would rub her temples if she didn't feel hard pressed to cover for the urgent mission.

"I... yes, Ensign. I will rouse them. That distress signal can't be coincidence." With how it aligned with the coordinates of the unknown group, it had to be related, and probably meant for the worst. "Chances are they're hostile, so we can't let them reach HQ. We'll set the course there even if Jess isn't up. She has to still be here somewhere, and this is High Commander's orders." It wouldn't be an improper overruling by the XO, for once. "We'll get a jump on these sons of bitches." Whether Roxanna wanted the levity from Tristan's slip to stay and calm her down a bit, or whether she was being actually nice and playful, the XO actually had a half-smirk in her face as she backed his feeling. For once, not prudish or judgemental.

"Attention, all pilots and crew. We have an urgent mission from HQ, and are to intercept a distress signal within the hour. An unknown group is within the area, their affiliation is unknown, but expect hostile behavior. I need all on standby within the hour." And sent. A Riese-wide warning would be enough, they had the time, and hopefully Jess would be roused along with the rest. "Come on, Ensign, to the bridge." She could have been more prepared... but the nap was probably worth it.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Xinnidy

[Dandragon]

The remaining miniscule scraps of her meal had now been deposited into the trash bin, along with her disposable paper plate, and all that was left was the now half-full coffee mug, still warm to the touch. And just in time, for the communicator beeped now with the typical urgency of an important message from the captain or XO. A quick skim was all Elaine needed.

”Heh. Knew it.” With no time to finish her drink, she quickly set her cup down on the nearest table, and bolted out of the cafeteria, accepting of the fact that by the time she returned her drink would be far colder. There was no need for her to stop by her room, for Elaine had already been wearing her pilot suit, once again a result of her adapting to the unfortunate pattern of the last few days. Whenever the sun rose, Apotheosis was ready to strike. This time, so was she.

[Ether]

There it was, the Hyperion. A heavily armoured Apotheosis MP machine. Kim went over the enemy mech in her head, the experience she had against it. Reasonably heavy-duty barrier, high output energy weapons loadout, less effective on the physical side. Normally a medium level threat, but nothing she couldn't take care of. Of course, her current circumstances were far from normal. Sitting in the virtual cockpit of the ANF's flagship unit of days past, the Velite Mk.I, Seung-Min's opponent was a more daunting prospect than usual. But no more daunting than the Luna had been, and she had held her own against that... for a time. But that wasn't what she was fighting now.

Engaging the thrusters to move forward, there was a noticeable delay. She had grown used to that in earlier simulations, but it was still jarring the first movement. As she began to move, her opponent sparked to life as well, using it's superior range to fire off a volley from it's standard issue beam rifle. Turn 28.5 degrees, swerve into the hills, hold shield out towards the enemy to absorb incoming fire. Kim's fingers deftly issued the command, the archaic machine slowly responding to as it processed her blazing inputs. Perfect execution, four rounds of fire landed amiss on the ground, the fifth deflected by the Mk.I's shield. This was her window, the enemy would need to reload or swap weapons. Either option would take precious seconds as the Mk.I rocketed forward towards the Hyperion, shield and ballistic machine gun held in a defensive phalanx posture, Halfway through her charge, the gun had finally acquired range, as Kim pulled the trigger.

In response to Seung-Min's input, the light machine gun began to spit a ravenous torrent of hot lead towards the opposing Hyperion. As the hulking machine raised it's shield and with it, it's iconic barrier, the rounds from the Mk.I's machine gun delivered glancing blows at best, lightly denting the shield beneath it's barrier or plinking off of it's armour ineffectually. That was fine, raising it's shield delayed counter fire, as Kim began to drift into an evasive maneuver. The Mk.I was a slower, beefier model compared to the Mk.II or Mk.III, and it's OS and thrusters were outdated, slow to load and to fire. In order to properly evade, she would need to properly predict the incoming fire pattern, and input ahead properly to move in time. As the Hyperion's rifle began to glow, the Mk.I was already moving to the right, the first shot going wide. Banking around a low hill evaded the second, and launching out from behind said hill on a trajectory almost parallel to the Hyperion left the third shot miles off. In the time it took the Hyperion to reposition and fire it's rifle, Kim had already pushed the Velite into the air, leaping over the beam with ease, and finally bringing the Velite into full operational range of the Hyperion. Turning the thrusters to launch her machine directly at the Hyperion, the Mk.I smashed through the air, the wind roaring about it as Kim drew and ignited the Mk.I's other standard armament, the initial model beam sabre, shield held in front of the machine to absorb the fifth round of rifle fire as the Velite careened down towards the Hyperion at a fourty-five degree angle.

Ah, what a satisfying impact. Crashing hard into the Hyperion with her shield held to bear the brunt, her shield bash proved effective in displacing the machine. The Mk.I's relatively high weight lent itself well to a full-bodied ram, the Hyperion pushed backwards beneath the force of impact, unable to draw it's blade before the thrust of the Velite's own saber scraped against it's arm behind the shield, just piercing it's barrier enough to damage the armour beneath. It wasn't much damage, but it was a signifier of something that Kim had learned in a prior engagement. Without keeping at close range and limiting the Hyperion's options, the Velite Mk.I simply didn't have the tools to keep up. Low effective range and maneuverability left it a sitting duck if the Hyperion was to be allowed to pelt it at range, and that was not a scenario Kim was planning to allow. Keeping up offensive pressure as the Hyperion brought it's sword around to clash with the Velite's own sabre, Kim pressed further into the Hyperion using her shield for leverage, pushing the machine to a lower and lower angle until the force of the Velite's thrusters pushed it further back and into the ground, legs scraping through dirt and rock as both sword and shield were locked in combat. With only two choices, attempt to make ground and be left open to fire on it's back, or remain locked in a disadvantaged melee with the Velite, neither option would be exactly appealing. Pulling her sword up to swing again, the Hyperion attempted to break away as the lock temporarily ceased,

"As expected." Kim mused, as the beam sabre came down on the retreating Hyperion, bypassing it's sturdy shield and pressuring it's generated barrier, pressing the energy sphere into the hard ground until it gave, the sword cutting deeply into the Hyperion's leg as the impact swatted the machine back down into the ground, it's barrier dissipating momentarily. Pulling the Velite's shield back and striking down with the blunt instrument forced the Hyperion to raise it's own shield in response, granting an opening for another sword stroke, this time to the machine's upper leg. 

She could only keep it pinned so long though. As the Velite's sabre cut clean through the armour plating and electronics of the Hyperion's right leg, the machine managed to break free by jettisoning the lost limb, making distance faster than the Mk.I could respond. Punching the Velite's thrusters to maximum, the machine began to skim along the ground, keeping rough pace with the Hyperion horizontally, even if the more mobile machine was gaining vertical distance all the while. As the main gun of the Hyperion began to glow, Kim immediately forced the Velite into evasive maneuvers, the first blast barely missing the Velite as it scorched the earth beneath. That cannon would bust through her machine like nothing if left unchecked, and if it was in play now, this had to be ended quickly. Gaining slightly on the ground compared to the Hyperion, after a few moments the Velite MK.I began to overshoot it, forcing the Hyperion to slow down and redirect it's aim. That was the time to strike. Kicking off against the ground hard, and forcing the Velite to shoot up into the air towards the Hyperion at blistering speed, the metal hulk screeching through the air with it's sword and shield drawn, and before it could reach, the Hyperion's main gun fired. An immensely thick, hot beam raced towards the approaching Velite.

"One, I can take ONE." Kim roared as the cannon fire smashed into the Velite's shield. Pushing through the searing blast of energy, the Velite's shield first began to lose it's paint, bubble and broil as the metal began to melt beneath the pressure. Within seconds of sustained contact, the shield had melted away, and with it went the Velite's left arm. But it was enough. The Hyperion's main gun took enough energy to momentarily disable the barrier this late into combat. Left side scorched and melted away, what remained of the Velite Mk.I crashed into the flying Hyperion, beam sabre sinking into the cockpit of the Apotheosis machine, tearing it apart with ease. As the Hyperion's gun went cold, the Velite Mk.I kicked off it's momentarily floating corpse towards the ground, just avoiding being caught in the machine's self-destruct sequence.

As the words SCENARIO COMPLETE: MISSION SUCCEEDED flared up on her screen, Kim removed the simulation helmet with a sigh, and sunk into her chair. She had finally done it... it had taken a few attempts, but she had defeated one of Apotheosis' advanced new machines in a Velite Mk.I... no fancy T-link, so advanced Artemis weapons or systems... just her own raw skill. This had to be the right way to train, didn't it? Not allowing her machine to act as a crutch... such a thing would never fly on the battlefield itself, but here at least, it was an option. Stepping out of the simulator, two things happened in quick succession. First, a nearby pod announced Mission failure, the occupant torn apart by the simulation's approximation of the Luna. Next came the XO's message, news that certainly didn't bode well. Stepping over to the other pod, it appeared to be Tarquin running the simulation, as the young pilot stepped out into the gym proper.

"Specialist Herrington, we should... move to the hangar and prepare... to deploy."

Edited December 17, 2017 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

Call to Arms

Olivia had just put her spoon into her mouth when the call beeped into her communicator, sighing into the yogurt and rolling her eyes. "Time to go live in the infirmary again." She nabbed a plain bagel and some cream cheese packets before wandering off. It'd be mildly frustrating, but she could spread them with her spoon.

T-Link Surprise

Christina got the call right as she was coming out of the shower, nearly tripping on her towel, crashing into the bed. "Oof... Man... Wait!" Christina realized that, as terrifying as battle was, she'd get to plug herself into a T-Link again! "Sweet bliss... Oh, but... I... Mmmm..." She flushed red, fumbling for her clothes. "I have to see Kiiiiiiiim..." Since their last talk, the thought of seeing her was getting more and more embarrassing. They'd tried to kiss again-- and it had actually worked, despite her holdups, so... So what was she supposed to say? And Kim had started calling her 'honey', and just... "Uuuuugh..." And she STILL had a headache! "Time to face the music..."

Snatching Snacks

"Compliments'll get'chu everywhere, so--" The hasty beep on her communicator made her check it behind Astin's back real quick, sighing. "Better make that food t'go. Looks like we're in fer some more fightin'... Let's go an' get whatever you wanted, an' hunker down fer another round. An' don't worry, I ain't gonna ferget 'bout tonight. Promise." She saluted, winking at Astin, as she let them go and started for the elevator. "Come on, slowpoke~ Ain't got no time t'dally."

Important Questions

"I--" Hannah received the message from the XO internally, reading through it before registering that she had one hour to be properly prepared. "Right... Uhm. I am not a bother for you and for Brant, correct?" That was her first concern. They hadn't told her to get out, but that didn't mean she couldn't worry about it. "As well... Do you supposed it would be possible for a machine to dream? My apologies if that is not the sort of question that you have insight on, but I felt I should ask someone... A-Also... What, do you f, feel, about Brant...?" It was suddenly difficult for Hannah to be so straightforward, finding herself looking down at the floor. "He seems to conflicted on his own feelings for everyone that he cares about, other than that he does. I am content where I am currently, but I cannot help but curious. Is that wrong of me? If you do not wish to answer, that is fine."

Rouse up The Crew

"Aye aye, ma'am! I'll head back to the bridge, then!" Tristan was all smiles, appreciating that Roxanna had agreed with his quip, even if it had been out of line. They had a job to do now, beat up some terrorists and save a pilot. And with the position they had, there was nothing that felt better right now. Tristan started off towards the elevators at a brisk pace, running through the combat commands in his head already.

Groggy

"Mmmnnuhhh...?" Jess cracked open a very tired eye, her communicator was going off and off and off... What could possibly be so important...? "Abbyyyyyyyyyyy... Go check what that iiiiiis..." Jess put the pillow over her ears and groaned, trying to fall asleep again. She was way too tired to be dealing with anything right now... That's what she had the bridge crew for, right?

The problem with getting Abby to check, was Jess didn't even know if Abby was still in the room. Maybe if it wasn't taken care of in ten minutes, Jess could crawl over and see what the problem was.

[TheRoon]

Normally Aliza was an early riser herself, but she had some trouble sleeping a bit. Perhaps it was due to the fact her first battle ended with a lost life and a depressed former team mate. Well that did hang a little on her, enough to make her lose an hour of sleep tops. Still it took a bit for the Italian pilot to wake up even past her usual alarm. She grumbled as she sat up in bed wearing her baggy sweat pants and long sleeved shirt. Seemed a bit big on her as well. Either way she got up and went to the bathroom to prepare to well...capre diem.

Minutes later she was out of her room, dressed casually and walked along to get some breakfast. A quick shower and brush of the teeth was enough to get her back to her usual peppy self with some minor redness in her eyes from the shortened sleep. While she walked down the hall she took this chance to make some notes in her book. 'Had a nice meal last night with Abby and Elaine. Abby seems nice, Elaine...I can't seem to get a read on her. Abby is defo an 8 though, straaaight to the bird watch list.' She giggled at her own silly thoughts then continued onward as she put the notebook in her bag. But nearly dropped it when she heard a voice come from somewhere. With a startled gasp she realized the source...her watch!

Ah yes, she nearly forgot she was an official crew member as well. This was given to her when she graduated. It had everything a crew member could need on it including the ability to tell time. At least she assumed she hadn't fiddled with it yet. Nevertheless this was a call she couldn't ignore, so she made her way to get something to eat as fast as possible. "Go time already, that didn't take long..."

Edited December 17, 2017 by TheRoon

[scorri]

"There really is no break for anyone around here, is there..." Astin grumbled as they followed after Avery into the elevator. Leaning against the wall with a sigh, they smirked briefly. "Well then, if you promise not to forget about tonight, I guess I better promise not to give you too much work. After all, it'd be rude of me to get upset about you overworking yourself and then go and get my robot all beaten up. I can't promise for anyone else, but I'll do my best at least. Alright?"

[Phoenix]

"Huh," Tonya cocked her head slightly at Hannah. "The longer you're around the more lifelike you seem. I'm sure the dreams'll come, eventually," she waved the concern away. Brant was a trickier subject than he probably should have been, so Tonya chose to focus on Hannah's first concern, giving her thoughts on her student time to percolate. "I do feel like the two of us being in here is going to give the captain the wrong impression of Brant, but other than that, I don't care. Androids are interesting, so I don't mind having one hanging around. I'm probably more out of place in here than you are, anyway."

Having taken the time to consider Brant in light of the situation with Dima and Rosa, and even Rex, Tonya gave a long sigh. Articulating her thoughts wasn't going to be quick and easy, either. "As for Brant and his feelings ... well, I can't fault him for being the way he is. The conditioning he's gone through is no joke. That turned out to be a lot worse than I realized." It was actually surprising to see Rex behaving the way he was, these days; he'd gone through the same conditioning. Him being significantly older than Brant sounded like an easy, albeit incomplete answer. "I love messing around with him like this since he puts up with me and my shenanigans ... but I do worry. He's probably never going to settle down with anyone nice, thanks to what happened ... just like me. Until the situation changes though, I just want to make sure he's alright," she said, glancing in the TK's direction. He was on the far side of the room, at the makeshift workstation. "He's my student, so I'm going to give him all the 'fighting' tools I can." He wasn't just her student, he was one of the few good people she knew that wasn't dead or becoming psychotic.

---

Firmia winced as Sasha finished off his espresso with that straw. The sound was a little grating. It also distracted her from the mental puzzle she was trying to put together. That wasn't the only distraction, though. The extrasensory feel of the area was starting to shift, again. A situation was afoot. These lessons of Sasha's were still important, so Firmia wasn't going to bow out just yet. They were going to help her figure out how to build her own levitating prototype, but Sasha was really making her work for it. She supposed it was her own fault for agreeing with him about wanting to figure it out, herself. She still agreed with that style of learning on the whole, but they were a little short on time and he was feeding her vague basics in starvation inducing portions. Aside from whatever mess was quietly unfolding here and now, Firmia had about two weeks to convince the Russian government to not legally eviscerate her for going AWOL.

"Want me to say it another way?" her blue eyed sensei asked.

"... yes, please."

"Force and motion ... inertia and acceleration."

That was even more perplexing on contact than trying to consider 'movement versus stillness.' Firmia had to take a moment to come at the four main terms denotatively. Unfortunately, that wasn't bringing her much closer to a satisfactory interpretation of the grouping of those terms, not with her mind also trying to deduce what was going on around the ship. Figuring this one out would probably just have to wait ... "We'll ... pick this up later. I need to see what's going on."

"Apotheosis, probably," Sasha said indifferently.

"Yeah, probably ..."

[Nanami Touko]

Pristine Condition

"Hah!" Avery laughed happily to herself as Astin promised not to destroy the Ceres. Like that had worked before. "Good luck on that front, hun. Tell ya what, you bring th'Ceres back in great condition, an' I'll let you lead tonight. Howzzat sound? Think that's a pretty great offer. But, I don't think ya got what it takes t'bring th' machine back without needin' a buncha work done on it. Call me paranoid, but it just seems like it ain't Astin proof enough, yet." Ding, bottom floor. "Wha'cha fancyin', anyway?"

Pristine Conditioning

Hannah was pleased to hear that someone else thought her dreams and other related things would come sooner or later. "I seem lifelike because I am." That was a simple enough response to that statement, and Hannah was enjoying acting like she was living. Even if it was a mechanical fabrication, it felt real... And Brant said that everything she was feeling was real!

Speaking of Brant... What, was Tonya talking about? Hannah tilted her head. "I am someone nice! Brant can end up with me, if you do not believe that Firmia would be a suitable person." It seemed that Tonya didn't quite consider herself that person, so perhaps she wasn't worth worrying about when it came to that? That wasn't her concern right now, though.

"What conditioning are you talking about?" Hannah looked over at him, then back at Tonya, then back at Brant. "Brant? What is Tonya talking about?" This had to do with those files that she was told not to read, didn't it... The temptation to parse them was strong, but she held back. "I do not understand what you mean, Tonya... My apologies. If this is about the files that a 'Rex' sent, then, Firmia told me to keep those under lock and key. I... I have not been given permission to look at them. I would like to, but... It, it is not my decision." How frustrating...

Edited December 17, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

"I... bwah?" Astin could feel their face heating up at the offer Avery made and quickly found their feet to be far more interesting than anything else in the elevator. As the door opened and Avery asked another question, they quickly seized on the opportunity for a topic change, and ran with it. "Well, I, uhm, shouldn't eat anything too heavy. Not with a battle coming up... Or... potentially... It wasn't clear from the message...." They trailed off, glancing back down at their communicator, before snapping out of it. "Err, probably cereal. Yeah. Or maybe an egg or something. Nothing much. You?"

[Shin]

It wasn't a huge surprise to see Lieutenant Kim also using the simulators, rigorous drills were very much her thing. Not that it was a bad thing, the amount she threw herself into direct danger would call for the skill to back it up. He would have been curious as to what her simulation had involved, but the XO's announcement with its urgency took priority. It wasn't a call for briefing, it was to be ready for deployment. Tarquin did wonder why it was the XO making the announcement rather than the Captain or Ensign Calvin, but it may have simply been to save time.

"That would be the most suitable course of action, I agree. I anticipate there being urgent news, to forgo a briefing and have us prepare for launch is rather telling of the situation." Tarquin replied, mentally preparing himself for his first actual mission with the Aria. His previous training and the morning's session had given him some familiarity with the set up, but simulations could only replicate so much. He had been meaning to discuss the use of the Umbra with T-2, it would have been more polite to request that she passed it over to Nikolai. Hopefully she would be reluctant to pilot two days in row. "We were planning to deploy Nikolai in the Umbra, although I have not had a chance to speak with T-2 yet. Having both the Aria and Umbra working in combination would produce better results."

Edited December 17, 2017 by Shin

[Ether]

Deploy Nikolai in the Umbra? On surface level, it seemed like an odd choice, but scratching past the surface, it made more sense. T-2, or Talia as the others had come to know her, clearly didn't have the aptitude nor the nerve for piloting a mech, and Nikolai, whilst distant from most of the crew, was especially close to Tarquin specifically. If the two machines were designed to work in tandem as Tarquin implied, which made sense enough considering they were most likely both produced at this facility for the use of... the lab children, for lack of a better term, then placing Nikolai in it would allow the best synergy with Tarquin himself, as well as give the otherwise lone wolf Nikolai a synergistic partner of his own.

"T-2... Talia, does not seem... cut out for piloting. Nikolai does seem... like a better choice to fly the Umbra. Based on her... disposition the short time I met with her, I do not feel... she would be thrilled to retain... control of the Umbra. I suppose... we can only hope there is time to work that out... if the current situation is as urgent as it seems."

Second time's the charm?

It was probably about time to get up... as inviting as the warm, lightly scented bath water was, Seung-Min had been soaking for long enough at this point. After speaking with Thorvald, she had been cleared to leave the infirmary, and given a SIEG injection along with some painkillers. Her first stop after leaving was to check on Christina, but when she had come by the first time, the two sets of emotions within the room, as well as the generally happy feeling coming from within, had caused her to leave the pair be for a while. Instead of bothering them, Kim had ended up going to the gym and doing a few rounds of simulations as well as some strength and dexterity training. She was going to have to get herself cleaned and properly groomed after the hospital visit anyway, best to get sweaty before doing that instead of after.

But that was then, and this is now. Stepping out of the bath and letting it drain, Seung-Min slipped into something light and comfortable, giving her hair the attention it needed to recover from the onset of myriad frizz, it was still lightly damp by the end, but allowing it to dry on it's own wouldn't aggravate things further. Looking at the bottle of pills that Megumi had given her... take one every 6 hours... it had been just about that since she had left the infirmary, so she popped one of the pills into her mouth and let it slide down her throat... what a strange consistency they had. Setting off from her room and just down the hall, there was only one presence in Christina's room this time. Well, at least she wasn't going to interrupt anything as she gently knocked on the door.

"Chrissy? Is Kim, can come in?"

Christina could faintly feel the emotions that would go past her door, and those in other rooms. Without anyone to focus on, now that Makoto had left, she was doing her best to stay attentive and keep this stuff from overwhelming her, but it was difficult. No training, no other advice, no focus pillar... She'd definitely be getting another headache, and only so much advil could help.

A knock at her door would've distracted her, if she hadn't felt the wave of calm and relaxed energy hit her first. Kim... Huh. She'd expected her to still be worrying, but complaining about her being calm would've been foolish. "Sure. Come in. Door's unlocked. Just... Trying to keep my head from exploding." At least with how relaxed Kim was, it made things easier to focus on. With a small sigh, Christina quickly popped another Advil before laying back down and trying to focus on Kim and her pillow.

So she was still struggling to adapt to her new situation, then. Unfortunate as it was, that was nowhere near unexpected. It'd likely be a decent bit of time before Christina truly adapted to being a full time telekinetic. Pressing the control panel as Christina said the door was unlocked, Kim entered and closed the door behind her, looking over the room. Christina was lying in her bed, a bottle of advil in her hand as she appeared to just be settling back down, Walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge, Kim gently brushed her hand on Christina's shoulder.

"Just... focus on me. I know... you can do this."

"You don't have to sound so worried... You'll just actually worry yourself, and make it harder to concentrate. You do worry a lot, you know?" Christina sighed, but tried to smile, sitting up and resting up against the bead's headboard. "What'd you wanna talk about then, Kim? Must be coming to see me for more than acting as a pillar. Glad they let you out, though. You were pretty beat up..."

"I suppose... you're right." Kim replied, letting out a sigh as she tried to articulate her words. Even if Christina was unlikely to be up to continuing from earlier on he English lessons, she still needed to try and put the effort in when she was afforded the time to.

"Doctor Megumi gave me... a SIEG injection. We don't... have time to sit and wait... for me to recover naturally. I'll need to take painkillers... a bit stronger than your advil." Kim continued, snickering a bit.

"I just wanted... to see if you were alright. I came by earlier but... Makoto was still here. Didn't want to... interrupt you, it's good for you... to talk to more people after all."

SIEG, huh... Christina had heard of that, it was that fast healing drug... Wasn't Kim put into a vat of that before? She seemed to recall that, but her head was a bit fuzzy right now. "If your drugs are stronger, shouldn't you be going to lay down? You can't be feeling that great right now... And, yeah, Makoto was fine. He's really nice. I think you two would get along. Talked a lot about these animes he liked to watch. It was kinda nerdy but... In a good way." Hopefully that wouldn't be bothersome to hear. Kim was right that she needed to talk to more people. She didn't speak to a lot of them as it stood.

 

"I'm feeling... alright. It's military grade... stuff, designed not to hit as hard. I need... to be able to pilot on it, after all. I'm glad you two... got along, it's good... for you to make friends." Kim replied with a smile. It was true that she felt different from usual on this stuff, but she didn't especially feel the need to lie down or anything. Based on the effects it was more of a stimulant than anything, increasing alertness and energy and suppressing pain by overclocking the body's natural dampening systems... at least that was how it felt compared to other pain medication she'd been given in the past.

"I never really... watched anime. It's... kind of silly, but even though it's been... hundreds of years now, a lot of people in Korea are still... wary of the Japanese. I don't really... subscribe to that line of thought, but it's rare to find Japanese... products, in Korea. I suppose I could have... looked into them more in America, but it never... crossed my mind."

"You were probably too busy with your training. It had to have been intense for you to be how you are when you fight... No time to watch silly cartoons." She hadn't had time for it either, but that was for different reasons. Bootcamp had been hell for her. Barely passing and not having a good time during it... Whatever had possessed her to complete it, she'd definitely lost.

"This can't really be all you wanted to talk about, Kim... You tend to come and see me when there's something on your mind. I'm fine, so... Feel free to talk about whatever's up." Maybe she was just assuming the worst, but... Her relationship with Kim was a bit odd. Between the idol's odd attraction to her and that awkward moment at the pool, it wouldn't be wrong to say that there was still a lot unresolved between them.

"Yeah... I suppose you're right. Never really... had time for a childhood... in the traditional sense." Kim began, letting out a bit of a sigh. Christina wasn't wrong in her assessment, that much was for certain.

"I just wanted... to see if you were okay. But you're right... I am like that, aren't I? It must be... uncomfortable for you. I didn't... really have anything in mind, I just wanted... to see you."

"Oh... I, uhm. Sorry. Haha... I didn't really... Yeah. Sorry..." Speaking of awkward... Christina had grown used to Kim's checkups being followed by some form of worry, having it just be something casual was. "It's my fault, I didn't expect... Or, I... Rather... I'm so stupid. Just, shut up for a second, me." She sighed, sitting up a bit more, and placing a hand on her head.

"It's not uncomfortable. I just got used to it. Don't really know what to say to someone caring so much, and... With how you f-feel about me, I... I just never really feel like I deserve it. You say I help in the machine too, but I don't even know what I'm doing. Avery could calibrate the system to one person and you'd still do fine. I'm just another worry for you..."

"It's okay Chrissy... I do come across that way, heh. I'm not upset, so... don't worry." Kim replied, hoping that Christina wouldn't read too far into things. Still, what she said was a bit worrying... those underlying issues had always been there, but here they crept up again.

"Why don't you think... you deserve it? Isn't it... up to me to decide that? I think you do... and you do help in the Artemis. You keep me... level headed. Focused on... making it back alive. If it wasn't for you... I probably would have died today."

"That's... That's too far, Kim. You wouldn't have died. Don't say that. Don't... I'm not..." Why was it so hard to accept this from Kim, when Makoto's attempts earlier had settled so easily? Maybe it was just the subject matter, but... "There's no way you wouldn't have survived. No way. Someone else would've stepped in even if you'd passed out or anything like that. I didn't do anything. Why would you say that? That's... That's just crazy."

"It's not too far... it's true. I don't think... anyone would have had a chance to step in. First off... when the flank came, I shifted to focus... entirely on defense. If you weren't there, I might... have gotten cocky, tried to return fire. That... probably would have gotten me killed. Even if... it didn't, at the last moment, that unknown telekinetic... I don't know if you... felt it in the moment, but that field of yours... it slowed them down... shook their aim. And it was... because of that... that I even had enough time... to respond." Kim replied firmly. Christina had to understand, even if she was adamant on not understanding.

"You... saved my life today, Christina. I guarantee it."

"I... That's..." No, it makes sense. You don't have to keep pushing it all away. You didn't with Makoto. Why are you pushing Kim away? Are you scared? ... Yeah, you are. You're scared of her getting so close. She'll want to touch you. You know how she feels about you. She'll want to kiss you. And you don't know if you can return any of that without your idiot body getting in the way. That's why you keep pushing her away... That's why you're so scared. But what can I do? She's broken it down to the most basic, I can't just...

"...O-Okay. Sorry." She pulled her knees up, trying not to cry. Why did she have to be broken in this most ridiculous of ways?

The emotional storm flowing out from Christina wasn't exactly difficult to spot, and her body language confirmed it all the more. She had complied verbally, but her mind was still in turmoil, and the root of it all was obvious.

"Christina, it's... it's okay. You don't... have to apologize. I just... I want you to know that you are helping me, out there. You being in there with me... is important. It means a lot... I know it isn't easy for you." Kim replied, the hand that had been resting on Christina's shoulder prior pulling back, coming to a stop on Seung-Min's own thigh.

"And I'm... not going to do anything... that you're not ready for. You don't... have to be scared."

"What if i'm never ready? Ever? I don't... This is so stupid! I shouldn't have to feel like this for stuff that happened years ago!" Christina saw Kim's hand retreat, but shot her hand out and grabbed it before it could get out of her reach. She shivered, biting her lip, holding Kim's hand tight. "I don't care. It's stupid. I'm stupid. This body and my brain are so stupid... I shouldn't... I sh-shouldn't get scared just being close to you. I can already feel everything you're feeling, if that's not close enough..." She could feel her own hand trembling as it held onto Kim's, but she didn't care. If her body was going to be difficult, she was going to force it to work.

"I believe in you, Christina. But if that happens... so be it. I trust that you... wouldn't lead me on." Kim replied, surprised as Christina stopped her from retreating her hand, gently squeezing the trembling hand that gripped her own. Christina was trying to overcome this, so she had to be supportive.

"And you can feel me now... just like I can feel you. So... you know I'm not lying... to you. I promise, okay?"

Her whole arm was starting to shake some, but she didn't care. Even if it started to hurt, whatever. Her body could deal, her body would deal. This trauma was stupid and she wasn't going to lose to it... At least it was only a small shiver, despite it being her whole arm. She tensed her arm some and squeezed Kim's hand tighter, maybe too tight, trying to hold on.

"I know you won't... But this is just... I hate it. I hate not having control. It just reminds me of what's happened to me. I should be able to do this, no problem..."

"Then take control, Chrissy. Like you're... doing right now. Even if... it's in small steps. You're doing this... right now. You're in... control." Kim replied, letting Christina lead in whatever way she saw fit.

"Barely feels like it. You can feel my hand. My whole arm's shaking. It shouldn't be. You're beautiful, you like me, th-this isn't a prank, I should just... This is so stupid..." Christina buried her face against her knees, her arm slowly starting to calm down. She was definitely in control, but it didn't make the hill any easier to climb.

"You still are. It will... get easier with time. with practice. Barely in control will turn... into full control." Kim replied, giving Christina's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"That you... can do this at all, says you have what it takes... to overcome this."

"...So what now?" She didn't mind Kim being here, but... "If we don't have anything else to talk about, then... This is gonna get kinda awkward, don't you think...?" It was getting easier, yes, but that didn't mean she wanted to sit here holding Kim's hand for the next few hours.

"It's up to you, Chrissy. If you want... to keep going, I don't mind. Or if you... wanted to relax instead, that's... also okay. Anything... you want." Kim replied, giving Christina a wide smile as she seemed to acclimate to holding onto Kim's hand.

Christina paused, thinking about things, wondering if... "It'd be nice if you tried to push me some," she mumbled. They'd be at this for months if Christina didn't get any help, and Kim seemed so happy to passively sit there and wait... She didn't really know if she'd ever get this past hands at this rate.

"If that's what... you want, I can do that. I just... didn't want to go... too fast, for you." Kim replied, glancing over at Christina to gauge her response.

"I don't know what's too fast or too slow, okay? You're not telling me anything about how you feel or about what you want or about... About anything. It's all on me! I don't know me. I don't know anything about this other than stupid pranks and sick jokes... So don't ask me about speed, okay...?" Christina sighed, she had to admit, the pressure of all these decisions was getting to her.

"I see... I'm sorry, Christina." Kim replied, letting out a sigh... she didn't want to step on Christina's toes, but Christina herself didn't know where her own toes were, so to speak. 

"Just tell me... if need me to stop, okay?" Kim noted plainly, before removing her hand from Christina's abruptly. Her grip had been tight and desperate, which didn't lend itself very well to this sort of thing. Grabbing Christina's hands in a more intimate fashion, Kim allowed her fingers to entwine with Christina's, gently stroking and tracing her finger against the other girl's palm, following the natural contours of her hand gently using her fingernail.

"Huh?" The hold was swiftly stopped, and replaced with a more curious sort of touching. The hand stuff wasn't really bothering her anymore, even if it made her flinch lightly at first. Holding Kim's hand wasn't easy, but it was the easiest she could get done without having to violently recoil away. "This is fine. Just... Just so you know."

"Okay, going... try something else." Kim replied, releasing one of Christina's hands, whilst continuing to massage the other. Resting her newly freed hand on Christina's knee, Seung-Min began to gingerly massage the soft flesh of her leg through her pants, delicately exploring her lower thigh as a starting point.

"Something else, huh..." Seemed like the something else was her knee... And her thigh. Christina felt her body tense up, closing eyes. No, keep them open, you can't brace yourself if they aren't! With a small gasp she propped them back open and clenched her empty hand, trying to stay quiet. It wasn't that bad... I-It wasn't that bad.

"Feeling okay, Chrissy?" Kim asked, as she continued her machinations with Christina's thigh, not venturing further upward past mid-way, gently squeezing and kneading the soft flesh affectionately. She knew that Christina was tense from the emotion pouring out of her, but keeping her in an audible feedback loop would hopefully help keep her grounded.

"I... I guess," she choked out, coughing quietly, clearing her throat. "I guess." It didn't feel bad, not physically, but the reaction her brain was giving her was anything but pleasant. A nice flight response that she was trying to beat back. It was not working very well. "My thighs can't be that nice..."

"Nonsense... they're very nice." Kim replied, lifting her hand from Christina's leg and trailing it upwards, slipping it under the girl's sweater and pressing it against her stomach, looking over at her before moving.

"They're n... K-Ki... NNNN..." The hefty squeak that followed told Kim just how comfortable Christina was. With her eyes shut tight and her body trembling slightly, she couldn't even bring herself to talk. It's not that bad it's not that bad it's not that bad it's not that bad...

Pulling her hand back slightly, not retreating from the warm, fuzzy confines of Christina's sweater just yet, but at the very least no longer touching her skin, Kim softly reassured her trembling companion.

"Everything is going... to be okay, Christina. Try to take... deep breaths."

"I... It's n-not, okay... Wh, Where are you, e-even going...?" What was Kim trying to accomplish going into her sweater, anyway? This was just making her more worried than anything, and deep breaths were not happening.

"I'm not going... anywhere Chrissy. I was just... going to touch your belly." Kim replied, pulling her hand fully out of Christina's sweater and placing it at her side.

"See? Everything is... going to be okay."

"Hahh... Wh-Why my stomach?" Christina took a deep breath as Kim pulled her hands away, feeling a lot more comfortable knowing that she hadn't pushed things and was actually willing to stop when things got too uncomfortable. She hadn't even needed to say anything. "Okay... I know. Everything will be okay."

"Because stomach is... usually fun to touch and tease. The skin is... nice and soft, it moves with... your breathing without being... invasive. Plus for a lot of people... navel is sensitive, but they don't realize until... you show them." Kim replied with a light grin, placing her hand back on Christina's knee reassuringly.

"Feeling any better?"

"I-I see... That all sounds kinda odd to me. And my stomach will be sensitive anyway... Just because of how I am." How embarrassing. Kim put her hand on Christina's knee again... And her body didn't seize up. Good progress, she supposed. "Yeah. I do. Thanks... I guess I needed to get pushed some."

"I look forward to... being able to show you what I mean." Kim replied with a mischievous smirk, gently rapping her fingers against Christina's knee and lower thigh. She seemed to be taking this a bit better than the first time, that was good news at least.

"Maybe that's... the key then. Slowly increase... exposure. Still, after... that shock from earlier... seems like you could use a break, maybe?"

"M-Maybe... There are still things I'm worried about, s-so. Don't get too latched onto the idea." Kim doing things to her body was... Unimaginable. Christina had a hard enough time thinking about just a kiss, that... She blushed. "Do... Y-You want to try, another kiss...?"

"If you think you're... ready. I didn't... go near that because... didn't want to push too hard. It's your... decision." Kim replied in a more serious tone... that was going a good deal farther than her initial test touches, after all.

"i... I don't know if I am. Your call, Kim, I... I'm gonna try and trust you." That was a rather dangerous prospect, but she'd held up her trust so far. Might as well give her the benefit of the doubt, until proven wrong...

"Okay Chrissy... we'll give it a try. If it's too much, then... pull off, or push me away, alright?" Kim replied, continuing with her serious expression.

"I-I know... Well, actually, are you okay for that? You just got out of the infirmary... Should I be, shoving you, or..." That seemed mildly dangerous, considering the situation.

"I'm fine, Chrissy. SIEG works very fast, I'm... a bit sore, but functionally all healed." Kim affirmed, nodding her head to go along with it. It was important that Christina not freeze and fail to break off if it went badly for her.

"Alright, f-fine. Get this over with, and... Don't make me apprehensive enough to change my mind." Steel yourself, you can do this. It's... It's just a kiss. She's not going to touch you, not going to try and do more than that, you can handle that. Come on!

"Heh, alright... here I come." Kim warned, before leaning in towards Christina. Probably best to keep it simple, at least to start with. No teeth, no tongue, just a standard kiss until she had better acclimated to the idea. Gently pressing her lips against Christina's, Kim held them there for a moment, giving Christina a chance to bow out if needed.

"O-Okay!" Christina chirped out a response as Kim got closer and closer, forcing her eyes shut and squeaking heavily as Kim's lips met hers. There was that same panicked response, hands warily coming up and almost shoving out against Kim. Almost. It's just a kiss, it's just a kiss, it's just a kiss... Th-There's nothing else! It's just a kiss! She's a beautiful girl and she likes you, it's j-just, a kiss... Slowly, and very, she managed to put her hands down, but her breathing didn't get much better, nor did her body decide it was time to relax. A step forward, at the least.

Well, Christina's emotions had flared up like a candle being replaced by a floodlight, but she hadn't shoved her away yet. That was probably a good sign, though pushing things past simple was most definitely out of the question. Gently keeping the kiss going as she tasted Christina's lips, Kim watched the other girl for signs of things getting worse.

Okay... O-Open your eyes. She managed one, looking at Kim, gently kissing her, sitting there, not forcing anything. Her breathing slowly calmed down and she started to relax, sighing quietly into it. If it's Kim, it's okay. I... I can trust her. Christina slowly broke the kiss, heart still racing, but perhaps in a healthy way this time. "H-Haha... S, See? See, that w, was ffffine..."

After a few moments, Christina pulled away, but it wasn't in a panic, and her emotions calmed down to some degree before she had done so. Progress, to be certain.

"I'm glad, Chrissy. Are you... feeling okay?"

"A-Am I feeling okay? I, no, n, not at all... I'm shaking all over and my heart's pounding l-like crazy! But... I, I guess the latter's s-supposed to happen. Not all bad, then..." Christina managed a smile, trying to take the positives away from this rather than the negatives. "What, about you? How much of a d-disappointment, am I?"

"Not at all, silly Chrissy." Kim replied, accentuating her response with a decisive flick to Christina's forehead, before she pulled back a bit with a gentle giggle.

"I got to kiss you... and didn't even get shoved off the bed. Why would I... be disappointed?"

"Because... B-Because you probably want to do more things. Things that I can't even begin to wrap m, my mind around... And I'm here barely managing a kiss. What am I saying, I know that typical relationships are way slower, but... Either of us could be dead tomorrow, you probably want to get the most out of life. And I can't... I can't give that to you."

"But you're managing. A short time ago you couldn't... today you can. You're making a lot of... progress, Chrissy." Kim replied supportively, giving Christina a smile.

"We'll just have... to make sure we don't die, then. Don't worry about the... speed of your progress. You're making progress at all... that's really good."

Christina sighed, but smiled. "I guess I just can't disappoint you. Somehow, you're head over heels for me... I should try to be happier about it, huh?" She'd managed to calm down... And she had a lot more to think about. "Your english is getting a bit better, too. But, try to speed up when you talk. Not gonna be able to keep up proper conversation without going back into old habits if you pause so much."

Christina sighed, melting back against the headboard and looking up at the ceiling. "You really are too nice... And hot..."

"I just think... there's no point in rushing." Kim replied, her jovial expression twisting into a pout as Christina commented on her English.

"That's not... fair. Even this much takes... a lot of concentration..."

"Takes the English on the chin and entirely ignores any comments towards her attractiveness... That confident, huh?" That makes one of us. "If it's that hard then, keep it like this if you have to. You're still doing good. Maybe finding a show to watch would be a good idea, as long as it was in English. It'd help you string sentences together better, seeing them used naturally. Just need something good... Ask Makoto?" The sheepish suggestion elicited a giggle. The boy could use more friends, too.

"Hunny... people have been telling me how hot I am for years... years too many, all things considered." Kim replied with a sigh, retreating her pout and sticking her tongue out at Christina as she continued to comment on her English.

"I could... ask, maybe. But to be honest... I'd be more interested in something you would recommend. Something English from... the start is probably better for that."

"Honey? Don't get too comfortable there, Kim... W-We're not..." Well why not? Not like you're looking at anyone else on the ship and... Could you really do better? Really? "... On second thought, sure. Go ahead. I can... I can get used to that."

"As for wanting a recommendation from me, I don't really watch anything. I tend to play video games, and to my knowledge, we don't have any here. So I can, uh... Really tell you to play one. Or watching anything... Just ask him, he's nice. I bet if you told him you were an idol he'd flip out over it! He seems like that sorta person."

Christina backpedaling on her complaint was a good sign, at the very least, That she didn't have a recommendation was unfortunate, but what could you do, really?

"Glad to hear, Honey. And you think so? Maybe... I'll talk to him." Kim replied, allowing the word of the hour to roll slowly off of her tongue with a smile before continuing.

"Video games, huh? What do you like to play?"

"S, St... Mmmnn..." Getting used to that was going to take a lot of time. Honey... It sounded so foreign and pet namey, but it didn't feel bad, so she just... Tried to deal with it.

"Uhm. RPGs, like Skyrim Seven, Wyvern Adventure, Shin Megaman Tension, Personnel... Stuff like that. I like long games so I have something to care about for a while, and stuff like that. Fire Sigil is pretty good too... But, I'm not that great at strategy stuff."

"Hehe, that's cute... you're cute, honey." Kim noted with a smile, listening as Christina listed off a few games. She had heard of some of them, but those types of games weren't the sort of thing you could play co-op, at least insofar as she was aware. There went that idea.

"Sounds fun... I don't think those are multiplayer, but... I think it would be fun to watch you play... if we get a chance."

"Mmmmm!" Christina grumbled, grabbing the bed's pillow and diving her face into it. I see... The floodgates are open, now. She didn't want to push me before, but now that I'm more comfortable, this is my life. I'm gonna die.

"W-We can find s, something else to play together... Like Hyper Mash Friends, or Kirby's Sea Ride... Or something. There are a lot of games." Focus on the games, Kim. The games!

Sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry at Christina, Kim decided to give the girl a small break from the ramping assault as she opted to hide in her pillow out of embarrassment. 

"Aren't those games... more competitive? I was thinking... something co-op would be... more fun. Don't you think so... Honey?" Kim replied. Just kidding on that break thing by the way.

"Uhhh... Uhhhhh... M-Most of the coop stuff... Honey," she bit out, grumbling a bit louder, "is like, online games and stuff. We could try to set those up here... We have computers, right? I can't imagine we don't..."

Kim couldn't help but giggle at Christina's muted attempt... at least it was an attempt, after all. What she was saying made sense enough as well.

"Yeah, if you... bring up the room console you can... access an inbuilt computer." Kim replied. Actual break this time, promise. For now...

"Then, we'll try that some other time. How's that sound?" Christina kinda wanted her space now. The kiss, these compliments, all the talking... Christina hadn't ever really stared-- like, stared at Kim, had she? That had been the correct way to be, but now she was staring... And oh, boy.

"Uh... Th-Thanks for the talks, and... And stuff..."

"That sounds like... a lot of fun, Chrissy." Kim replied, smiling at Christina as she began to more obviously look the idol's way, her gaze more potent and directed than it had been prior. It seems like she had finally sparked something in Christina... time to test it.

"You're going to... ask me to go without... giving me a goodnight kiss? How cruel~"

"A-Another!? Kim, I... N... Mmn..." Christina buried her face in the pillow again, was this how things were going to be, really? The compliments she could learn to deal with, constant kissing, just... "Hhhh..." Stupid this is stupid.

She tilted her head up and closed her eyes. Kim could do the work, she didn't have it in her.

Well, she was acquiescing, if not taking the reins like Kim might have hoped... a bit too early for that still, it seemed. Despite that, Kim eagerly closed in as Christina made herself available, gently pressing herself against Christina's soft lips. As much as she wanted to tease her with a light nibble, pushing things tooo far wasn't a wise idea, so Kim opted to leave it at that for now.

There was her body freezing up again, almost losing her breath immediately. It still felt good, just... Something was off. Without knowing what else it could've been than her body being stupid, she wrote it off, as the kiss broke again. Christina gasped this time, shivering, leaning back, but the hefty blush on her face was too telling.

"Th... Th-There..."

"Chrissy is sweet... like honey." Kim cooed as she pulled away from Christina's lips, smiling down at her.

"Ahh... sorry if that was... too selfish. I'm just... really happy."

"Th... That's..." Christina bit her lip behind the pillow, blushing pure red, trying not to think so hard on things, but, just, just!

"That's s-so not fair."

"Isn't it an old... English saying? All's fair in love... and war?" Kim asked, pulling a bit further up to give Christina some space, sitting down at the edge of the bed rather than hovering over her.

"Mmm! J, Just! Talk, talk to you later. Ah, geez..." So not fair! Nothing was fair about this. Kim was suddenly pressing every button, and even if it wasn't pushing her limited boundaries, it was still so not fair to go from zero to sixty like she was. Christina fizzled behind her pillow again, not sure if she could take more.

"Hehe... sorry Chrissy, I couldn't... help myself. Let me... make it up to you." KIm replied, standing up from the bed for a moment to grab a nearby chair, setting it next to the bed and sitting down.

"Get... nice and comfortable, okay?"

Couldn't help yourself my butt you totally could've! You're doing all of this on purpose you Asian vixen! One more thing to do, huh... Christina was incredibly wary, at this point, but she sighed and put the pillow down, trying to calm herself. "O-Okay...?"

Despite the directed spout of anger coming at her from Christina's head, Kim didn't falter, clearing her throat just before she began to sing.

"엄마가 섬그늘에
굴 따러 가면

아기가 혼자 남아
집을 보다가

바다가 불러 주는
자장 노래에

팔베고 스르르르
잠이 듭니다

아기는 잠을 곤히
자고 있지만

갈매기 울음 소리
맘이 설레어

다 못찬 굴바구니
머리에 이고

엄마는 모랫길을
달려 옵니다

엄마는 모랫길을
달려 옵니다"

Stopping after a few minutes, Kim gave Christina a gentle smile.

"It's... a Korean lullaby. I hope... it helped to settle... your heart."

Was she going to try something else? It was Kim so... Probably...

...

"O-Oh..." That... That was beautiful. Christina started to smiled, feeling something warm on her cheek-- "Oh, I'm... S-Sorry..." Clearing her eyes on the pillow, she smiled back, not quite sure what to make of things. "That... That was wonderful. Thank you. No one's... I mean, that..." She couldn't stop smiling, it was making her blush more. She buried her face in the pillow again, for entirely different reasons.

"I'm glad... you liked it, Chrissy. I'll let you rest now... message me if you... need anything, okay?" Kim replied with a gentle smile, as she sat up from her chair.

Christina only nodded, unable to say anything. She was losing her marbles, how could she have been given something so beautiful, and from Kim, and she was... This was too much. So not fair...

[Phoenix]

Tonya supposed she'd been a bit too vague with her assessment. Sure, there were nice people around, but much like her Brant wasn't interested enough in anyone to actively pursue them ... and unlike her, he had been stripped of the ability to even try ... for the most part. Tonya had a theory, a potential workaround to his problem. She just wasn't willing to test it, here. It wouldn't sit right with her and this wasn't the best time, anyway. After Apotheosis was gone, Tonya would be more comfortable taking Brant through her own brand of therapy and mercilessly pushing his buttons.

"Well," Tonya frowned, "unless either of you are going to pull a Rosa, I really don't see that happening." She didn't know how she felt about an android and Brant hooking up long term, but immediately decided that she wasn't one to talk. The only meaningful difference between her and Hannah was that she would be too old and frail to be of use to anyone by the turn of the century. Nothing like an android to drive home the futility of things up to this point. Regardless, even a pixel bride was a step up from Rosa's abuse.

As Hannah continued, Tonya realized she'd inadvertently stepped into some darker territory. She didn't know why Firmia was hiding Rex's notes from Hannah, but she did know that curiosity was an incredibly difficult foe to put down, even temporarily. Brant had probably been tuning out the conversation, judging by his calm approach. That calm began to erode as he overheard the rest of Hannah's frustrations.

"That's-" Brant's Alpha Tool cut him off. Firmia was trying to get a hold of him. It might have been about that message. "One second ..."

Tonya decided to take the question. "Those notes are everything Rex--Brant's older brother--could dig up about the Alkaev company. Some of it he went through personally, along with Brant. That conditioning of his is kind of twofold, but I don't really want to get into it, right now." Tonya wasn't in the best mood anymore, now that her thoughts were on the past. "I'm not sure why Firmia's keeping that information from an android, but it's not like there's anything good in there, anyway. If nothing else, you'll get a terrible impression of us humans if the internet hasn't already done that for you."

Brant sighed, ending his relatively quiet exchange with Firmia. Her plan was to eat as quickly as possible and then see to some pre-flight preparations. Naturally Brant was going to be dragged into at least the latter part of that. "Yeah, that's ... about the gist of it," Brant put in shortly after Tonya, having caught just enough of her explanation to agree. He hoped this conversation was just about the Alkaevs in general and not Rosa. It sounded like it might be Rosa, though ...

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai stirred in his makeshift nest, which had, since the last time he'd collapsed in it, accrued an extensive collection of towels and pillows snatched from various sources. His eyes were bleary as he tried to find the source of the shrill mechanical beeping noise. He dug through the pile of blankets until he found the communicator, complete with summons from whatever authority figure had sent it (not that he bothered to learn who, it didn't matter in the long run anyway).

Some sort of threat, some sort of enemy, whatever.

His mind wandered distractedly as he slipped on an oversized sweater and a pair of woollen socks before putting his boots back on. Something about his dream, half-remembered, a mixture of memories and fantasy blurred together in a soupy mess of bitter coffee, the scent of gunsmoke, the sound of a crackling fire, and the awkward fumbling of teeth on teeth... he shook his head, trying to clear out the image of his face once more.

Not time for ghosts. Never time for ghosts. There was a threat, there was an enemy, there were more people that needed to be shot at lest they shoot at him first. Besides, he was needed today, part of a bigger plan today. Tarquin's machine had been conceived with its sister in mind, and he needed to pilot that sister. Slowly, almost mindlessly, he drifted towards the bridge. He would be alright, he'd already eaten yesterday, and the... mysterious coffee-like substance would still serve well enough to sustain him. He figured he should at least get acquainted with the new mechanical behemoth. His new pet killing machine.

[Nanami Touko]

I'll Eat Light

"Toast. Yer a real treat early in th'mornin'. Don't change, darlin'~" Doors open, Avery headed towards the cafeteria with full confidence in her stride. "Hope you don't get some bright idea an' go fergettin' my bet. Not that I mind makin' ye turn that nice shade o' red, but it might be fun t'play teacher once in a while." What to eat, what to eat... Astin wasn't on the menu, so, probably just go with the toast like she'd said. With what on it? Butter? PB? Ehh... I guess PB. Prolly gotta go brush m'teeth after anyway. "Go getchur egg," she spouted as they walked in, yawning, "an' don't worry 'bout seein' me off iffin y'have t'go quick."

Rosa?

"Who is... If I am stepping into information that I should not know, then I..." Hannah immediately looked at her information regarding Firmia on this Rosa, but the ANF didn't have anything stored. A quick cross-reference to Brant however, and it informed her that Rosa was an Alkaev. Perhaps Firmia's mother? There was little more information in her already stored banks, and she couldn't afford to lose focus by surfing the net for further information right now. She could look after... If she even wanted to. From the sound of Tonya's warnings, and how Brant had been 'conditioned', this Rosa woman was a part of the dregs of society. At least, behind closed doors. Hannah became immediately worried, looking at Brant, then Tonya, then the floor.

"I-I see... My apologies for digging. I..." How incredibly frustrating. Hannah hadn't ever felt this frustrated. She couldn't exactly hide it, giving Brant another heavily worried glance, before trying to look back at Tonya, with an entirely different question in mind. Perhaps it would help change the subject.

"Uhm, Miss Tonya... Can... If, it is possible, for you. Could... This is very awkward for me to ask, but..." Hannah was hesitating-- a pleasant experience, since it happened so little, and it was entirely against her programming, so she did have to resist a smile. It wasn't helping her ask the question, though. "Would you be able, to try and treat me more like a person? And less like a machine..." She brought her hands up against her chest, holding them together. "I realize this may be selfish! I... Brant, has said that he was going to treat me like, a woman. And not an android, or a machine. It has been a wonderful feeling, so I... Was wondering, if others could try to, as well... Though, I have not asked Firmia yet because I do not believe her able. Not as of yet." A wry smile slipped onto her face. Hannah's progression into displayable emotions was definitely improving by the day.