Here we are, chapter 3, my dear readers. I'd like to take a moment to thank my 2 reviewers so far, northernlion196 and RebornExile. I appreciate the criticism very much and will apply your suggestions from this point forward. Hopefully I'll find the time to fix the previous two chapters later on. Well then, on with the show!
Chapter 3 - To advance
Dinner was a much livelier affair in the Colasour home when the colonel was visiting, or at least it felt that way to Patrick. She had told him before that for all of his shortcomings he really knew his way around a kitchen at least. So he did his very best whenever she dropped by to please her. The fact that the twerp complained much less on such ocasions also made the colonel's visits all the better.
"It still keeps shocking me to know you can actually cook. This is pretty good." The aforementioned twerp said with a mouthful of lemon-cream salmon. Even after all this time she still snarked at him at any possible opportunity.
"Nena, please do not talk while chewing. It's disgusting." The colonel chastised her.
"Yes, mooooooom..." Nena countered, but obeyed nonetheless.
"So on my last session, doctor Schmidt helped me realize I need some sort of closure regarding my brothers." She suddenly pulled out of nowhere, without turning her eyes from the food. "I was wondering if you'd help me with that, guys", she finished, and waited.
"And how can we help you, Nena?" The colonel replied, while Patrick simply kept eating and looking to each woman in turn.
"I heard funerals without the body present are a thing, so...yeah." She finally lifted her eyes towards Kati, expectant.
Kati wiped her mouth in a proper way, placed her hands on the table. She sipped her wine, then decided. "Very well, I really don't see a problem, it should be doable. Lieutenant, do investigate about the necessary steps to make it happen, please."
Patrick quickly wiped his mouth and swallowed. "Yes, Colonel, you can count on me!" He assured her.
"I also thought about something else, from the therapy. I wanna get a degree in Nanomechanics and Quantum Computing." She dropped the second one, which actually shocked Kati and made Patrick choke on his wine.
"Those are some rather interesting fields of study. Very wide fields of application." Once she recovered, Kati encouraged Nena's interest, even when it was rather...odd how it all seemed to go in the right direction for the plans they had for the Drei's former pilot. "Would you be ok with the military college or did you have any other in particular?" The instruction from her superiors had been to keep her as close as possible and under constant vigilance. As unorthodox as it was to have a former terrorist in a military college, she guessed the necessary people would be convinced, one way or the other.
"Nah, that one should be fine. It's just for the degree and then the license to work on the field. I've been made aware of the fact that I won't live on the government's money forever." She said, and then added. "Besides, that way I'll be closer to the object of my interest: mobile suits. What better place than one close to where MS development is the focus?" She just stared at Kati while taking another bite and chewing on the fish.
"Certainly, I see your point. Then I will look into that one myself. I will also have to consult the judge about it, I hope you understand."
"Sure, no prob. It's not like I do a lot of anything else so I'm cool with waiting." Nena assured Kati and then drank some water. "Well then! Thanks for the meal, Patters! I'll leave you guys to your little date, I'll be in my room. Later!" She stood up to leave her empty plate on the dishwasher then left them as she had said.
"...Patters?" Kati questioned.
"Eh...we've been living together for almost a year already, we've established some sort of roomies' relationship. She's Nenners." 'Patters' replied.
"I have to admit I'm surprised she warmed up to you like that. She's not as sullen as before."
"Such is the Colasour charm!" Patrick pointed at himself with his thumbs, grinning.
"I can see that." She smirked, amused. "I'm glad to see I was right to leave her with you. Seems like therapy has worked quite well, although..." She hesitated. Was she right about her suspicions?
"Something wrong, Colonel?" He inquired, worried, while bringing his wine glass to his lips.
"No, it's nothing, perhaps I'm simply being paranoid." Maybe the young woman just needed some stability to normalize her life. If it helped Kati towards their plans then so be it, she'd take it. Nena's 18th birthday was coming close and then she'd be able to propose for her to help with analysis on the Throne Drei.
Nena turned on her computer, a gift from Kati. As nice as she was being to her, she could see the signs, she had stopped being na ve a long time ago. They wanted something out of her. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to go along since it aligned itself with her own plans. She'd play the good girl role, get the simpleton's trust as well, get herself ready access to her Throne Drei and resources to develop an even better machine. She'd then find out where that bastard was hiding and then...
The computer's screen shone on Nena's face, as she awoke from her stupor. She entered her queue and read the news about how the world was coming together now to form a worldwide federation, and she allowed herself a small bit of bitter satisfaction at seeing the whole point of Celestial Being coming to fruition. "We got what we wanted, brothers." She thought to herself. "But i'm not quite done yet myself."
An idea formed in her head, why hadn't she thought about it before? She prepared herself to establish a connection and then...she stopped, what if they were monitoring Veda? Had the military found out about it? She decided instead to turn around and ask her purple companion. "Uh, Haro? Do you still have a link to Veda, by any chance? Don't start it up, just tell me."
"Yes, always available! Yes always available!" The Haro quickly informed her.
"That should come in handy." She mused. "But I wonder what will happen with Veda now? After debating with herself for a while she decided. "Welp, nothing risked, nothing gained." If she wasn't the one connecting then it should be fine, she hoped. "Celestial Being is done, I got access to a supercomputer server and there's no one who can stop me. Seriously, why didn't I think about this before?" She celebrated, then extended her hands to grab Haro. "Ok pal, I'm gonna use you as a client to process some inquiries with Veda, let's hook you up to my computer."
"Right away! Right away!" Haro opened its arms, floated towards Nena's computer and tossed a wireless SNW connection to it. And then it requested a session with Veda.
It appeared strange to Regene Regetta to see an inquiry being made to Veda in that precise moment. There should be absolutely no one except for other Innovades capable to establish connections with it after all. And then he saw the client's ID, Haro unit 3347-HJP, the unit assigned to Team Trinity as he recalled. This would most definitely be very interesting.
He ordered Veda to file the requests under his private drive.
"Let's see here...Veda, tell me what happened to the four main Gundam units." She thought as she wrote the inquiry.
A volume of files appeared on the Veda interface and she went through each one in turn. She kept a note to try and get her hands on the Kyrios unit data in the future, the only one the Federation's military had managed to capture. "I've never felt as focused as now...", she reflected, then she noted the details about the final fate of unit Dynames. She read the unit and the pilot that had done the deed. And re-read it. That bastard had done this one too, it seemed. She decided this information could be very useful in the future.
Every bit of information provided her with something useful, she took more and more notes. And then she requested information about the accursed Al-Saachez. "...what?" She did a double take. Missing in Action? Where the hell had he disappeared to that he could evade Veda? This was most frustrating and infuriating, so she slammed the desk. Then taking a deep breath she reflected, at least he was probably still alive. She'd have her revenge yet. But that still begged the question: -where- was Gundam Throne Zwei, then? She got her answer right away after she asked Veda.
"They have Michael's suit as well, huh?", she made yet another mental note, to get her hands on her brother's Gundam in the future.
After getting her inmediate queries solved, she went and requested miscellaneous information about MS specs that only Veda-approved users had access to. It would come in handy, of that she was certain. She bopped Haro playfully, this session had been rather fruitful.
As Haro brought its hands to where Nena had bopped it she closed the connection to Veda. "Haro, we're done for now. End the session, buddy."
"Session closed! Session closed!", it notified it's user, then stored it's arms and bounced to Nena's bed. Seeing her purple companion roll around on her bed made her realize she was rather tired now, so she prepared herself for sleeping. She was now much closer to her immediate goals.
A couple knocks shook Nena out of her reverie. She was already lying in bed, reading a book before sleeping, so the light was on. She supposed she couldn't quite blame the doofus if he guessed she was still up. So she rose and opened the door.
"'Sup?" She asked.
"Can I come in, Nenners?" Patrick tried.
"Sure." was her reply and she offered the desk's comfy chair as she sat on her bed.
"I dunno how to say it so I'll just say as it goes. You don't need to, like, hurry up and get out of the house anyday in the future." He said all of a sudden. And she really didn't know what to say to that. So they sat there for a while, her gaze trained on him but lost, his expectant and nervous.
He tried again, "I mean, yeah, the government won't pay for you forever but...I mean we've been already living together for a while. Man I suck at this." he reflected.
"Are you proposing to me or something?" She blurted out.
"What?! Dude, no, what the hell?! You're like my little sister!" He yelled, alarmed.
Nena would reflect that, after learning a bit more about Patrick's past, this was the moment when they really started becoming a family. She really never, ever expected to find somewhere she'd belong after losing Johann and Michael. She had already accepted she'd live her life alone, never making any connections with people. She wondered if that was the therapy or something brainwashing her. Maybe she just also looked for someone to trust.
"I do like working on Mobile Suits, you know? Jeez, stop being so corny." Nena tried to hide her embarrasment behind a facade. She was definitely -not- expecting this. A small part of her said this was also part of the plan to get her to trust them but was quickly squashed when she remembered this was Patrick she was talking about. She turned to the side, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "You'll still be stuck with me for a while, I guess we'll see what you think after that." She hesitated, then added. "Uh...thanks, Patrick. For that and, um, everything so far."
He simply ruffled her hair, which earned him a 'HEY!' from her, smiled, then left the room. It'd take Nena a while to go to bed, with conflicting feelings inside of her.
A month passed since Nena told Kati about her intent to get a degree, so she found herself in the Brussel's Military College's Dean of Engineering's office. She was actually wearing a blazer and a pencil skirt, which Kati had gotten for her. She felt at the same time both uncomfortable yet mature, professional yet stuffy. It seemed sometimes her life had become a series of conflicting situations.
The dean re-read Nena's file, lifted his gaze towards her, smiled, then kept reading. Nena smiled back, and kept staring at nothing in particular. What were the higher ups thinking? While he couldn't deny a direct order from the headmaster, the prospect of having a former criminal in his academy was unsettling, to put it mildly. "So, Miss Trinity," at this she visibly sat a little bit straighter, "tell me what's your reason for joining us in the academy."
'To take revenge on my brothers' murderer' she thought. "Mobile Suit development has always been fascinating to me. In my time as a pilot I always enjoyed the feeling of freedom behind the controls, and to give maintenance to my Mobile Suit after that. As I'm not allowed near a combat Mobile Suit for the time being, development is my goal now."
"Ah yes, I'm aware of your story." The court had assured him the Trinity girl was 'sane' enough to interact with other students, according to her progress in therapy. He had his reservations but he figured that she'd be in a military college, instead of a civilian one. Her peers would be surrounded by security in the end. "I'm sure it'll be quite fine in that regard. I've read your dissertation on solar particles and the improvements on the TAU Drive you propose are fascinating. I have to admit it is already post-graduate quality work." And it was. If anything, this was the girl's saving grace and the one reason he used to convince himself enough. "As such, I propose we first perform an evaluation, it might help you achieve your goal that much faster."
'Score, team Nena, with a little help of Veda.' She thought for a moment, a smile betraying her thoughts. She allowed herself at least that much since it would be the natural response anyways, even if not for the same reasons. "I would love to take the examination, thank you."
"Well, then that just leaves one more thing: what are your plans after obtaining your degree, Miss Trinity?"
"I plan to further my studies and obtain a doctorate in mobile suit advanced aerodynamics, and another one in nanocarbon-synapse quantum computer architecture. I have certain ideas regarding the development of a new machine and I'll need knowledge on those two specializations. I'd like to be involved in every step of the process." 'And then kill Ali Al-Saachez with that machine' but the dean didn't need to know that. She smiled a little smile with her eyes closed. Charming mode, engaged.
'Just who is this girl?' the dean thought alarmed, managing to keep himself composed. "Why, those are some rather ambitious plans, indeed, in very deed! It is very refreshing to see a youngster so decided and focused. And brilliant! I expect great things from you, Miss Trinity. With the pending considerations and protocols, I do believe you're very welcome then, to join us here at the Brussels Military Academy!", the dean rose, and extended his hand towards Nena. He just hoped it'd be alright.
She shook it with her smile intact. "Thank you, dean. I won't disappoint."
"Dude, I could've totally come without you for this." Nena complained to Patrick. She was wearing some sort of camouflage stamp baggy pants, a tight fitting black shirt covered by a maroon jacket, military-like boots and a brown beanie. She called it her 'undercover duds', even sticking as much of her long, crimson hair as possible under the beanie.
Patrick on the other hand had just gotten out from his duties at the base, so he was wearing his traditional blue uniform. "Well, I need some relax time too. I have to wonder what went through my head when that plan included you, tho'..."
"Bite me." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"I have a better idea. Let's bite some icecream." He attempted to pacify her.
"Oh boy, I could totally go for some icecream right now!" She forgot everything about her snarkiness at the prospect of frozen goodness.
As they sat to enjoy their icy treat, she started listing the stuff they needed to get. "So imma need an electronic notepad for school. Wish I could take Haro but I don't think they'll appreciate a classmate carrying a toy with her. Man, I will need a lot of clothes as well, so we'll have to do a full tour."
"It's military college, you'll have to wear the officer's uniform, you dummy." Patrick told her.
"Whaaaaaaat?" She lamented. "That totally sucks! Wait, the officer's uniform? I'm gonna have to wear the same thing Kati does?!"
"Yup." He replied, then licked his icecream.
"Talk about a letdown..." She lamented again, then took a big bite out of her icecream. "Well, I guess there goes my whole day's plans, then."
"They're very into discipline at the college, Nena. I don't think it's gonna be quite like you think it'll be." He warned her, as he thought he should. He didn't want her to go with false expectations to a place where such thing could get her punished.
"Stop raining on my parade, man. I know that." Ok, maybe she didn't know exactly how strict they'd be, but she couldn't help but be excited. She didn't interact with people her age at all. She could only remember the guys at Celestial Being besides her brothers and that made her kida sad.
Perhaps perceiving her quickly diminishing mood, he spoke up. "Ok ok, sorry! Hey! I heard they're featuring a new movie today at the cinema. Wanna go catch it?"
Dejected, she just answered. "Meh. I'd rather just go get the notepad then call it a day, now." She wiped her mouth with the icecream cone's napkin then tossed it to the trashbin.
"It's about badass martial artists doing badass gunkatas..." He let the bait sink in the pond of Nena's attention.
She bit immediately. "Really?! I mean...I guess I could tag along, if you're that desperate to hang around." She tried to recover some of her decorum.
"Nothing would please me more, m'lady." He bowed, extending his hand towards Nena, the remainders of his cone on the other.
"Ugh! You're so sneaky." She took his hand.
For some reason whenever Nena speaks I hear Persona 4's Rise Kujikawa's voice...
Anyways, as always, your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I've enjoyed writing it. See you next time!