They spent most of the afternoon moving in.
Some of Sakimori's faculty had opted to live off-campus in the city blocks surrounding the school and commuted to work every day. Most, however, had lived in their own dorm, placed slightly off from the rest of the school buildings. All of the faculty save Kibukawa-sensei and Nanami-sensei had been taken by the Dorssians, so the teachers' dorm was now vacant. Together Haruto and Rukino-san selected a room on the ground floor with a view of one of the bridges leading off from Sakimori Island.
They started with Haruto's room, 'borrowing' a dolly and some empty boxes from the dock where ARUS ships were offloading supplies. Back at the boys' dorm, they parked the dolly outside Haruto's door and went in to pack up his stuff.
As they worked, Haruto was surprised at how little he actually owned. Summer and winter uniforms. Gym clothes. A few changes of casual clothes for the weekends. Laundry basket. Briefcase. Tablet. Laptop computer. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Shampoo. He scarcely owned more than the clothes on his back, it seemed.
Well, those and the ero-mags hidden under the mattress of his bunk. Not that Haruto thought he would ever look at those again. Just thinking about them brought on an unpleasant twinge of guilt. Might as well leave them behind and maybe someone else would find them.
"Hey, Haruto? You moving out?" A voice came from behind him.
Haruto looked. Peering in the doorway, his ever-present headphones around his neck, was Seiya-kun.
'Rukino-san said it was okay to tell people... so... I guess this is it.'
"Hey, Seiya-kun!" Haruto said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "Yeah, I'm moving in with Saki. We're getting married!"
"You, what?"
"I'm moving in with Saki." Haruto repeated.
Seiya-kun's eyes were bulging out of their sockets as his gaze flicked from Haruto over to Rukino-san. "You-you're joking, right? This is a joke, right?"
"No joke, Seiya-kun! Haruto and I are engaged!" Rukino-san said.
"Ah... Ruki... Ruki... you..." Seiya-kun's eyes filled with tears. He suddenly bowed to them, then turned and ran, his voice trailing off as he sped down the hall. "CONGRATULATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!"
Haruto winced. That didn't go nearly as well as he'd hoped.
Rukino-san sighed. "Didn't think he'd be that upset. I'll talk to him later."
"You know Seiya-kun?" Haruto was surprised.
'I don't think I've ever seen them talking. Then again, she seems familiar with Otamaya-kun too... and what's with them calling her "Ruki?"'
"Mmm-hmm. I see him every day when I go out with Carmilla." Rukino-san frowned. "Well, used to. But Carmilla's all busted up now."
"Don't worry, I'm sure Carmilla will be fixed in no time!" Haruto smiled reassuringly.
"Right. Thanks, Haruto." Rukino-san smiled back at him.
"Haruto? What's up?" Another voice sounded from the doorway.
Haruto looked towards the door. A small group of students was standing around, probably drawn by Seiya-kun's wail. He took a deep breath.
'Here we go.'
The other students they ran into didn't take it nearly as poorly as Seiya-kun. Some seemed confused, others straightforwardly congratulatory. But most started texting away on their phones immediately and Haruto had the feeling that despite what Rukino-san seemed to want, the entire world would know before the day was done. Still, they had some time.
After moving Haruto's stuff over to their new home, they headed over to the girls' dorm and started in on Rukino-san's belongings. She owned alot more outfits than Haruto, but Haruto noticed that even though it took longer to pack up Rukino-san's stuff, no one showed up to ask about their activity. In fact, only one girl poked her head in the door, took a long look at them, and left without saying a word.
'Does Rukino-san really not have any friends at all?'
When he thought about it, he'd only ever seen her with Aina-chan. Before the war started, Rukino-san had just been "Aina-chan's quiet friend" to him. He'd exchanged what, less a dozen words with her in total over the entire school year? But now...
Haruto watched as Rukino-san sat on the floor, happily folding clothes and putting them into a box. He had to admit he preferred this Rukino-san much more than the sullen one that just fiddled with her phone in the background.
'She seems much happier now than she was back then... could I be happy with this too?'
Haruto's thoughts continued in that vein as they headed back with all of Saki's possessions boxed up on the dolly. When they arrived at their new room they spent some time sorting out their belongings and settling in. By the time they were done, it was 16:40.
Rukino-san came out of the bathroom from where she was putting away a large number of brightly colored plastic bottles. "All done!" She chirped, holding up her hands in front of her eyes to make a picture frame as she surveyed the room. "It's so home-y, isn't it?"
Haruto followed her gaze and had to agree. The room was far larger than the student dorm rooms, and had its own bathroom and small kitchen area, as well as an offset sleeping area with a bed. There was a small living room area with a narrow couch (big enough for two) and the black bar of a holographic display along the top of the wall. The floor was carpeted with light beige. Essentially, they had their own apartment.
"There's just one problem..." Rukino-san said.
"What is it?"
Rukino-san pointed at the bed. It was a single, meant for one person. "There's only the one bed."
Haruto felt the blood rush to his face. For a moment he imagined Rukino-san curled up against him in the bed, her soft, warm body pressing against his... guilt overtook him again and he rushed to apologize.
"Ah! I didn't think about that! I'm sorry!"
"It's no problem!" Rukino-san waved him off. "It's just Kibukawa-sensei and Nanami-sensei living here, so we can just take a bed from another room, right?"
"Right!"
Luckily, the beds in the teachers' rooms were actual beds, with wooden frames and mattresses, instead of being metal frames bolted into the walls like in the student dorms. They managed to drag one back to their room and push it into position a few feet away from the first bed.
"Phew!" Rukino-san wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Should we push them together? Or is that fine as is?"
"They-they're fine as is!" Haruto gulped. Sleeping together with Rukino-san in the same room was one thing, but he didn't think he could handle it if their beds were together.
'But if we're going to be married, eventually we'll have to get closer, right? How do I...'
It was a troubling thought, and not something he'd really considered before. He'd rushed into the idea of marriage without thinking through just what exactly would happen. Touching. Intimacy. The guilt wormed through his gut again. What to do?
"Haruto? Are you okay?"
Rukino-san was staring at him. With an effort, he forced a smile to his lips.
"I'm okay! Don't worry about me!"
"Huh." Rukino-san stared at him for a moment. "Have you eaten today, Haruto?"
Now that she mentioned it, he hadn't eaten since breakfast. "I am kinda hungry." He admitted. "Let's go down to the cafeteria and get something." The prospect didn't really excite him. There were sure to be more students asking them about their marriage there, and he wasn't quite sure how prepared he really was for what he'd gotten into.
Rukino-san seemed to pick up on his hesitation. She looked over at the kitchen area. "Or I could make us something."
Haruto was torn. On the one hand, he was curious about Rukino-san's cooking. On the other...
'I didn't decide to marry her just so she would cook for me!'
"I can cook!" Haruto said quickly.
"Hey! Don't look down on my cooking abilities just because I'm an idol!" Rukino-san huffed. "I'll have you know I cooked for myself for three years... well, when I wasn't touring."
"Huh? Your parents didn't cook? When you were at home, I mean?"
"Nah, I wasn't living with my parents by then."
Haruto did a quick calculation. Rukino-san would have been, what, 12 to 14 years old? Sure, she would have been on the road alot, but she wasn't living with her parents at all?
'Then again, who am I to talk? It's not like I had the most normal home life either. But at least Dad would come home most days...'
"Were you living with a relative? You weren't stuck by yourself, right?" Haruto asked.
"Yes, by myself. Anyway!" Rukino-san tossed her hair, her voice taking on an edge. "I don't wanna hear you question my cooking skills, Mister I-Can't-Make-A-Crepe!"
'Looks like she doesn't want to talk about it anymore...'
"That was 'cause I've never made crepes before! Normally I do better! I'll show you!" Haruto insisted.
"Alright..." Rukino-san pursed her lips. "I'd like to try... your napolitan."
'Does she mean neopolitan?'
"Na... what?" Haruto stammered. "You mean, like the ice cream?"
"No no, not neopolitan. Napolitan. It's Italian! ...I think. Napol... Naples? That's in Italy, right?"
"Sorry... never heard of it."
"Oh, is that how it is?" A smile crept over Rukino-san's lips. "It can't be helped then. I'll make it myself. Haruto, you can be my sous chef."
'At least she's not cooking by herself.'
"Got it!" Haruto nodded.
"We'll need some ingredients." Rukino-san put her finger on her chin in thought, a posture that Haruto found incredibly cute. "To the supermarket!"
Raizo grinned as the one-eyed Dorssian stared in horror at the video playing on the cell phone. Served him right.
"That's not me! I didn't do that!"
"You don't see anyone else dancing in that video, do ya, ya Dorssian bastard?" He taunted.
"You made me do this? You damned freak!" The Dorssian hissed at him.
Raizo was unfazed. Some people just didn't know a Dark Hero when they saw one. "I ain't no freak! I'm a Kamitsuki! Get it right!"
"All I see is a freak!"
"Maybe you should get your vision checked then, ya cyclops!"
The Dorssian looked about ready to rush him in anger. Raizo crossed his arms, daring the Dorssian to come at him.
'This guy ain't no pushover, though. Gotta watch it.'
From his brief time jacking the Dorssian's body, Raizo could tell that the guy was skilled. Way skilled. Much better than he himself was. But that was just fine, he wouldn't get any better unless he fought against stronger opponents. And he was itching to deck a Dorssian since the Dorssian bigwig's speech this morning.
L-Elf coughed. "My apologies for using this method, A-Drei. But it was necessary to demonstrate the Kamitsukis' abilities to you."
'A-Drei, is it? What's up with these Dorssians and weird names?'
A-Drei sighed. "You could have just had him make me say something, you know."
"Where would the fun be in that?" Raizo laughed.
A-Drei shot Raizo another glare, then looked back to L-Elf. "L-Elf, I... I'm sorry. I should have known you weren't the one who shot me. There's no way you would have done that."
L-Elf shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I would have come to the same conclusion as you given the circumstances." He put his hand into his pocket, withdrew a small object covered in tissue paper, and extended it towards A-Drei. "Here."
'Is that how it is? Those two are old buddies?'
Raizo watched the Dorssians a little closer. Yeah, for sure. There was some history between the two.
A-Drei took the object and unwrapped it to reveal a purple glass eye. He hefted it in his hand, then looked thoughtfully at L-Elf.
"I left it in." L-Elf said. "It might be useful someday."
"Thanks." A-Drei smiled and carefully fitted the glass eye into its socket.
L-Elf tipped his head toward the cell's wall, in the direction of the other prisoners. "Are any of the others here loyal to the Royal Family?"
A-Drei shot a glance towards Raizo, then shook his head. "No, they're all Colonel Cain's men. Even if any of them were Royalists, I wouldn't know."
"I see." L-Elf said. "Were you the one that persuaded them all to surrender?"
"Yes." A-Drei nodded. "When I saw the Colonel achieve the primary objective, I ordered my squad to surrender rather than go down fighting. I also..." His gaze locked onto L-Elf's eyes. "I also thought if I could get access to you I could talk you out of whatever craziness was going on, and we could go back home together. I never could have dreamed of these..." He glanced at Raizo again. "Kami... tsuki. L-Elf, you're not thinking of using them to...?"
"He ain't 'using' us." Raizo growled, his pride pricked. "We're helping him. And he's helping us. Mutual assistance, like."
"Yes." L-Elf said. "I calculated that with their help, our Revolution could be carried out within a few months rather than in three years like we originally planned."
A-Drei blew out a breath. "Alright, I will talk to my contacts and see what I can do."
"You'll have to keep a low profile." L-Elf said wryly. "You and the other prisoners aren't exactly popular on this module."
"Understood."
"Hey, wait a minute. You're letting him out?" Raizo was outraged. "This here's one of the assholes that attacked the module!"
"I also attacked the module." L-Elf pointed out. "Yet we're working together now."
"You didn't use no poison gas!"
"Neither did A-Drei." L-Elf said reasonably. "The order to do that came from higher on the command chain."
"Wait. What poison gas?" A-Drei broke in.
Raizo scoffed. "What, don't try to pull one over me like you don't know!"
"I don't know. What poison gas?" A-Drei demanded.
"The drill that Colonel Cain attacked the Module with also dispersed nerve gas into the lower levels." L-Elf said. "Twenty-five students were killed by it."
"But... the New Guinea Agreement. How could Colonel Cain..." A-Drei mumbled.
"What, are you shocked?" Raizo pressed. "Ain't that normal for you Dorssians? Killing civilians?"
"No, it's not!" A-Drei looked genuinely troubled, his hands curling into fists, . "I'm sorry, uh..."
'What's this guy's deal?'
Raizo crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The name's Thunder."
"Thunder, I apologize for what my people have done to yours." A-Drei said awkwardly. "The truth is, Dorssia was not always like this. And stopping our government from pushing around weaker nations is one of the things we Royalists are trying to accomplish, so-"
"You can drop that crap right there." Raizo was getting pissed off now. "Actions speak louder than words, and I don't care if you're sorry for whatever. You're in the army, ain't you? That means you were helping push around those 'weaker nations.' You wanna help us now, fine. But don't give me no smarmy bullshit about being sorry."
A-Drei's mouth set. "Fair enough."
"I take that to mean you have no further reservations about A-Drei joining forces with us, Yamada Raizo?" L-Elf said dryly.
"Hmph." Raizo glowered at L-Elf. "Whatever."
"Shall we go then?" L-Elf looked to A-Drei.
Raizo followed the Dorssians silently as they left the cellblock. He didn't quite like it that L-Elf was treating him like some kind of lackey. When the defector had come to him earlier and asked him to use his Jacking experience to help with a prisoner, he hadn't been sure what to expect. But whatever it was, he hadn't been thinking they'd be letting one of the Dorssians out of prison without even a slap on the wrist.
'But if this A-Drei dude can help us, then shouldn't we take him?'
It hurt his pride to admit it, but Module 77 needed all the help they could get. Enough students were dead already.
Up ahead the two Dorssians were chatting it up, reminiscing about some old war stories in... Beirut? Wherever that was.
'Yea, those two are definitely buddies. Bros.'
The buddy-buddy antics of the two reminded Raizo of his own bros. Nobu. Tatsumaro. Kengo. The new ones, his fellow pilots. He didn't know them as well yet, but he was getting there. Haruto. Rukino. Kyuma. And now that Rainbow chick.
The Rainbow chick. Now there was a weird one. Normally Raizo would have said there was no way he could entrust his life to someone who never showed their face, but actions spoke louder than words, and she'd been the one to haul his ass out of the fire. Literally. So he really couldn't hold her hiding in her Valvrave against her.
'Renbokoji's little sister, huh... Wonder what she looks like. Cute voice, at least. Kinda squeaky.'
The student council president had blond hair, so Rainbow was probably blonde. And probably tall, too. Renbokoji was tall. Dressed all prim and proper? Maybe.
Suddenly, Raizo's hazy mental picture of Rainbow popped into focus. In his mind's eye he saw an image of Renbokoji Satomi in a long blonde wig, dressed in a girl's uniform, his hairy man-legs displayed proudly.
"WAUGGH!" Raizo shuddered and stopped in his tracks, shaking his head to clear away the horror.
"Yamada Raizo. Are you all right?" L-Elf turned back to look at him.
Raizo didn't like how L-Elf was staring at him. Almost as if the Dorssian was sizing him up... Not aggressive like, more like he was expecting Raizo to come at him. What the hell?
"Yea, I'm fine."
L-Elf nodded and turned away, Raizo following, a scowl appearing on his face. He'd have to keep an eye on this A-Drei guy.
"Aaaaaaggggghhhhh." Haruto half-screamed.
"Eeee!" Saki nearly dropped the spoon she was using to stir her pot of noodles. "Haruto! What happened?"
Haruto was blinking rapidly, his hands curled into claws near his face. "I! I rubbed my eyes!"
Saki looked at the half sliced pile of onion on the cutting board in front of Haruto. "Don't rub your eyes with onion juice on your fingers!"
"I couldn't help it! It was a reflex!" Haruto wailed.
"Rescue towel on the way!" Saki grabbed a clean dishrag off the wall rack, ran it under the faucet, and stepped over to the counter near Haruto. "Here, lemmie see."
"I got it." Haruto took the dishrag from her and wiped his eyes. "Thanks, Saki."
'Aww. I wanted to mother his a little.'
"You okay?" She decided to tease him a bit. "You sure you can handle that onion?"
Haruto shot her a defensive look as he put the dishrag down. "I got it! It's just been a while since I chopped an onion, that's all!"
"Just making sure!" Saki said lightly, turning back to her pot.
The sounds of knife slicing through vegetables and meat continued for a while behind her.
"Done!" Haruto went over to the sink to wash his hands.
"Great!" Saki looked over to where the chopped onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and meat sat in neat piles on the cutting board. "Switch jobs! You watch the pasta and I'll start on this stuff."
Haruto went over to the pot as Saki ladled some cooking oil into a pan, waited for it to heat, and then started to scoop the sliced ingrediants in. The meat and vegetables sizzled as they hit the hot oil.
"I think the noodles are about done." Haruto said, trying one. "Yup. Done."
Saki pushed the meat and vegetables around the pan. Added a sprinkle of salt. "Okay, go ahead and drain it."
"Gotcha." Haruto picked up the pot of boiling water and noodles with a dishrag and started to edge around her on his way to the sink. As he passed behind her, his hip brushed lightly against her rear, and Saki felt him jerk away.
'Oh crap, the water!'
She whirled around, expecting the worst, but Haruto was balancing the pot carefully, the liquid inside sloshing like mad but not slopping over the edges. "Haruto! Are you okay? Did it get on you?"
"I'm okay!" Haruto said quickly. "Sorry, I, uhm, I'll be more careful!" He gingerly made his way to the sink and started to pour off the water.
Saki turned her attention back to the pan. Haruto's clear dislike of touching her was starting to bother her, although she was determined not to show it. It seemed like as long as he could prepare for it, he was fine, but if the contact came suddenly he recoiled.
'Does he find me repulsive? Because of what happened?'
Then again, she thought with some relief, he had shoved her away the first time she glomped him. So maybe it wasn't that. Hopefully.
'He just doesn't find me attractive?'
The idea was absurd. Saki knew she was pretty. As much as she hated it, she took after her mother. And there was her whole idol career which had hinged at least in part on her looks.
'But what if Haruto doesn't see it that way...?'
"So, uhm, Saki. Where did you learn to make this?" Haruto's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Here and there." Saki said. "I had it all over the place, back in the Homeland and on the Sphere. Eventually I put together my own recipe from stuff online and what I liked."
"Ah."
Saki eyed the contents of the pan carefully. The veggies were getting soft and the meat was nice and browned. "Okay, Haruto, noodles in the pan!"
Haruto levered the noodles into the pan with a pair of chopsticks. Saki added a healthy glop of ketchup, pepper, another sprinkle of salt, and stirred. "Do you want your napolitan spicy, Haruto?"
"Yes, please!" Haruto smiled broadly.
Saki reached for a bottle of hot sauce, then had second thoughts. She scooped half of the finished pasta onto a plate and added hot sauce to the portion still in the pan. "No hot sauce for me, gotta watch my complexion." She plated the spicy pasta.
Haruto was rummaging in a drawer. "I got the chopsticks."
Saki set the plates on the table. "No no, we need forks to eat napolitan! It's more au-then-tic!"
Haruto came over with their forks, and they sat down facing each other over plates of pasta. ""Itadakimasu!""
Saki watched as Haruto put a forkful of pasta into his mouth. His brow creased and his blue eyes slid to the side as he chewed carefully, his cheek swelling out a little. Ah, he was just too cute!
'I could watch him eating all day...'
"So... how is it?" She asked.
"Hmmm..." Haruto swallowed. "I like it! Didn't know ketchup went so well with noodles. I usually put it on eggs." He took another bite. "The veggies are good too."
'Success!'
Saki smiled and dug into her own napolitan.
Saki pulled the dripping towel away from her face and looked in the mirror. Her skin was perfectly clear, not a single blemish in sight. Flawless skin was a perk of being a Kamitsuki she was rapidly coming to take for granted, although it never hurt to check for acne, just in case.
Back in the 'bedroom,' if the sleeping area could be called that, Haruto had changed into a t-shirt and shorts and was arranging his pillow on one of the beds. He looked up as Saki left the bathroom. "All done?"
"Not quite." Saki carefully put her ribbon down on top of table, went over to her drawers, and pulled out the soft shirt and shorts she wore to bed. She looked towards the bathroom again, then had other ideas.
'Let's tease Haruto a little... and make sure about something, too.'
"Ha-ru-to~" She said, drawing his name out. "It's cold in the bathroom, so I'm gonna change out here, okay~?"
"Eh?" Haruto backed up a step, his face going red. "Wait, Ruk- I mean, Saki, hang on!"
'Ah, he's so cute!'
Saki started to undo the buttons on her shirt collar. "But I don't wanna wait! I wanna get comfy!"
"Just h-hang on! I can wait in the bathroom!" Haruto stammered, his face getting even redder as he waved his hands in front of him.
Saki caught Haruto's eyes darting to her upper chest, even as he backed away.
'So he IS still attracted.'
It was a relief to know that Haruto wasn't repulsed by her. He was just apparently bad with girls. Saki decided that she should probably back off a little. She let her hands drop from her collar. "I have an idea, Haruto. I can change here under the blankets, and you don't have to go wait in the bathroom, okay?"
"No, it's okay, I don't mind!" Now that the immediate threat of her nudity was gone, Haruto hurried around her towards the bathroom door.
"It's cold in the bathroom. Hey, wait!"
But Haruto had already disappeared into the bathroom. Saki stared at the closed door in disappointment.
'Pushed too hard, did I?'
Feeling guilty that she'd chased Haruto away, Saki quickly changed into her nighties.
"All done!" She announced. "Haruto? You can come back in now."
The bathroom door opened a crack and Haruto's voice came out of it. "It's okay to come back in?"
"Mmm-hmm!"
Haruto came back into the room, edging around her bed gingerly on the way to his own. "So, uhm, lights off now? Or do you want to do something first?"
"Do something? What do you mean by that, Ha-ru-to~?" Saki deliberately touched her fingers to her lips.
"No-no! I just meant, like, like, if you wanted to surf the web, or read some, or talk! That was all!" Haruto said in alarm.
'Talk some, huh?'
Saki thought about it. Honestly though, it had been a pretty big day and she was kinda tired. There'd be plenty of time to talk about things with Haruto, right?
"Just sleeping's fine."
"Ah, okay..." Haruto crossed the room, clicked off the lights, then came back to lay down on his own bed. He pulled his blanket over himself. "Sorry, I'm just kinda nervous. I've never slept with a girl before..."
"Oh, really...?"
"Agh! No! With a girl in the same room, I mean!" Haruto squawked. "Well, other than Shoko... But only when we were little kids!"
It was the first time since Haruto had left Shoko's office that Shoko had come up between them. Saki wasn't quite sure how to treat the subject. She decided to settle for diplomatic.
"Lucky Shoko."
There was a long silence, before Haruto's voice spoke out of the darkness.
"Thanks."
Saki lay back and closed her eyes. It had been a big day, but all in all pretty good. Annoying Dorssian speech aside, she'd moved in with the boy she loved, and those weird attacks she'd been suffering seemed to have become a thing of the past. Things were going great.
Now, if only she could get a good's night sleep without any bad dreams.
As a general rule, Soichi hated having his work interrupted.
It was such a waste of his time! Of his productivity! His genius!
Was it any wonder then that he resented his captors, the ones responsible for the greatest and still ongoing interruption of his entire career?
Some of his coworkers hated their captors because they were a foreign power, but that wasn't the reason for his own resentment. Soichi may have been born a JIORan, but he didn't feel any particular loyalty to his country of birth. His work transcended such small-minded concepts like nationality, anyway. Too bad his peers were too small-minded to see the bigger picture. No, no. Patriotism wasn't the issue.
Oh sure, the Dorssians had provided him with an excellent working environment. Funding wasn't a problem: all he had to do was fill in the proper requisition forms and a few days later, whatever equipment or supplies he wanted was delivered. And there was no annoying bureaucracy to go through to approve experimental procedures, no need to worry about the legal or moral aspects of his research.
But these things weren't nearly enough to compensate him for his losses. Twenty-three years! Over two decades of work, almost half his life! Straight down the drain! And the boy, his pride, lost to him!
And so he resented them. Sure, the progress lost could be recovered, but it was the principle of the thing! Soichi had his pride as a scientist, after all.
There were caveats. There was no way for work such as theirs to be conducted in complete isolation. The scientists needed access to online gene databases, and so their captors had been forced to provide them with internet access- -of course there were strict safeguards on their network to limit them to a handful of sites. But how were the Dorssians to know that Kitagawa-san from the engineering team had a background as a programmer of military-grade networks and could evade their security?
And so he, as well as the other JIORan staff members, knew things. Things the Dorssians wanted to keep from them. He knew that the Dorssians still had not captured Module 77. He knew that their soldiers had been repeatedly repelled by the Valvraves.
'In retrospect, weaponizing them wasn't such a bad thing after all, eh? Looks like those military types still have their uses.'
Most importantly of all, Soichi knew that Haruto, his crowning accomplishment, had achieved his full potential. Was it any wonder his son had risen to the prominence he had achieved on the world stage?
'As befits his status as the first of a new race. Ah, it's enough to bring a tear to his proud father's eye!'
But the current situation couldn't last. Soichi had no illusions about that. Although he'd never really kept up to date on international affairs, even he knew the power of the Dorssian military wasn't to be trifled with. They would overwhelm the Module eventually. And his son was largely untaught, unfamiliar with his new existence. He had to find a way to bring the boy to him, to instruct him. To guide him.
And to do that, he needed the Dorssians.
And once the boy was at his side, well. The future was full of possibilities, wasn't it?
The console in front of him beeped, calling for his attention. The future had to wait. First, this video conference.
Soichi pushed the accept call button. Not that he really wanted to, but he didn't have much of a choice when his captors demanded he attend a video conference, did he?
The board in front of him flashed green, indicating he was connected. But no image appeared on the holographic display in front of him. Instead, it displayed a rectangular black field with a four-leafed clover and the words "Audio Only."
'Figures. They don't want me taking a look at the backers in this "council" of theirs, huh?'
Soichi kept himself from rolling his eyes, acutely aware of the small black holes of the cameras watching him from the sides of the room. He'd already figured out that his captors weren't any official branch of the Dorssian government or military. They were some kind of fancy secret club, judging by how they referred to themselves in their communiques. Not that Dorssian internal politics meant anything to a scientist like him, of course.
"Good morning, Professor." A smooth voice spoke over the connection.
"Good morning!" Soichi said cheerfully. It was always good to affect a pleasant attitude with the money men. "How are you gentlemen and women today?"
"Just fine, thank you for asking." The voice replied. "We've called you today to address the Council regarding the VVV Project subjects."
"Of course. What is it you wanted to know?"
"An overview of the subjects' superhuman capabilities will do for now, Professor." A different voice said. "What exactly are they capable of?"
Soichi fought to keep from rolling his eyes again. JIOR or Dorssia, government payroll or secret club, it seemed money men were the same everywhere. He'd covered that topic and more in the report he'd written for them when he'd first been captured, but it seemed the fools hadn't even bothered to read it.
Just as well. He never got tired of talking about his work, after all.
"Let's see... to begin with, we activated the latent Novus subjects in two Iterations over the past eight years, with a third Iteration being prepared but never actually tested prior to the... ahem, takeover. The properties of the subjects differ depending on which Iteration they belong to.
"The first Iteration was activated when the first batch of subjects were nine years of age, one male and one female. Now, at the time we didn't have the field units, so there was no way we could predict the changes in the subjects' physiology as a side effect of the Rune manipulation. Although in hindsight, of course, it should have been obvious.
"It was only after a freak lab accident that we understood the full implications of the Tokishima-Kurosawa Rune Mirroring Process... that's named for me, you know. Both the activated subjects sustained severe injuries during the accident. The female subject was killed immediately, and the male died of his wounds several days later. However, despite the physiological deaths their bodies suffered, and the resultant destruction of living brain tissue, their consciousness was preserved due to being mirrored from within the Rave Engines. They were fully capable of cognition and communication... Well, what communication they were capable of with their reduced sensory and motor capacities. The female subject had significant problems in this regard. She was missing half her head, after all!"
Soichi was grinning widely as he relived those halcyon days. To think, subject A0595 had remained capable of such high cognitive functions after such severe damage. It had been an incredible moment of discovery. And oh, the implications!
"Unfortunately, we were incapable of repairing the damage to the subjects' bodies... or of halting their... uhm, ongoing physical deterioration. My colleagues were of the opinion that their continued animation was causing them severe distress. I objected strenously, of course, but in the end I was overruled by the "ethics" committee, and the subjects were destroyed via incineration of their remaining body mass and purging of their Runes from the Rave Engines. It was such a shame that there was nothing left."
"The second Iteration was activated when the first batch of subjects were eleven years of age, again one male and one female. The second activation mix contained various improvements from the one used for the first Iteration. By using the Runes mirrored in the Rave Engines as a template, it was possible to create a system wherein the subjects' bodies could be reconstituted using Runic energy in the event of injury. This had the side effect of stopping the aging process as well, effectively rendering the subjects immortal!"
Soichi's grin fell a little as he recalled the spectacular failure which had occured after that.
"As it turned out, the second Iteration was deeply flawed in other ways. During the first test of the field units, a year and a half ago, both subjects displayed severe Rune leakage. The male subject was killed, and the female suffered complete amnesia as a result of Rune depletion and was rendered useless. Following her recovery she was then rehabilitated into the high school setting, where I was told she had integrated well.
"After that, we prepared a third activation mix. Some of my colleagues were concerned that it caused Iteration two subjects psychological trauma to remain conscious despite severe injury, so the third mix included a system where the mirrored consciousness would be switched 'off' in the event of severe physiological damage. What this means in practical terms is that if the subject suffers injury which should kill or severely disfigure their bodies, they are rendered unconscious until the damage is repaired. Of course, the rune leakage present in Iteration two was also addressed.
"The Iteration three mix was scheduled to be tested sometimes later this year. Ideally it would have been used as the final production model of Novus... but since we've never seen it in effect we can't rule out the possibility of additional quirks."
'Of course, I know that Iteration three HAS been tested, and it's performing better than I had ever dreamed!'
"And are you capable of producing more of the... activation mix, as you call it, here in our facilities?" The second voice asked.
"It would theoretically be possible, although with no definitive formulas, we can't gurantee its effectiveness." Soichi said. "And the activation mix is completely useless with no latent Novus specimens to use it on..."
"Would it be possible to convert adult humans into Novus specimens using genetic and Rune manipulation?" A third voice asked.
Soichi sighed. Why did these fools never think their questions through? If it was possible, JIOR would have done it already, wouldn't they? "No. The conversion process must be performed in vitro, at the zygote stage of development. It is not possible to transform an existing adult Homo sapiens into a Homo sapiens novus."
Although, he reflected, there were certainly ways around that technicality, as his own work showed...
"How long will it take you to reproduce the work you did in JIOR here?" The second voice again.
Soichi could figure out what the voice was hinting at. "You mean, how long will it take to produce new Novus subjects from scratch?"
"Yes."
'Captured a Valvrave unit, have they? But found out they couldn't use it the hard way?'
He schooled his features to impassiveness, and told his first lie.
"Eight years."
"That long?" The third voice came on, sounding annoyed. "We were under the impression that the VVV Project was in maturity and was entering its mass production phase... How could it take eight more years for you to replicate your work?"
Soichi allowed a hint of bitterness to creep into his voice. "Our computer systems in the JIOR lab were designed to purge all data related to the project if the proper safeguards weren't followed. During the takeover, Dorssian soldiers attempted to access the system without the proper authorization, and as a result all the data was dumped. We're working strictly off our memories here; the first time it took over fifteen years to create the first Novus subjects... although that was before I became project leader. Eight years is a significant improvement."
That was another lie, of course. Soichi had an excellent memory, and could recreate his work almost in its entirety from what he could remember. In reality, it would take him no more than four months to create new Novus subjects. Of course, it would still be a long way from a modified zygote to a mature specimen, ready for activation.
"Eight years is too long." A new voice came on. "Perhaps one of your colleagues should be assigned to project director instead of you; maybe they could get the work done faster."
"Perhaps." Soichi crossed his arms. "Or perhaps not. I was project director for the last twenty years. There is no one on the project team more dedicated or knowledgeable than me. You could give the project to one of your domestic researchers, of course, but it would take them years to simply become familiar with the subject. Eight years is the absolute minimum."
He wasn't afraid of calling this council's bluff. And bluff it was. Everyone on the call knew it. Over the years there had been all those complaints from those mincing JIORan officials about his ethics and morals. The buffoons had even threatened him with jail time once! But in the end they'd been forced to keep him on. Just as these Dorssians would be forced to as well.
The reason, of course, was that Tokishima Soichi was a genius.
'My genius makes me indispensible to the VVV Project. Everything around here only exists because of me.'
The voices on the other end of line the were silent. Probably sitting there with their finger on the mute button, trying to figure out how to capitulate gracefully. It was time to give them a way.
"There might be a way that the work could be accelerated..." He said slowly into the silence, as if the idea were just occuring to him. "If you could bring me some test subjects, some currently existing latent Novus, I could reverse engineer them. It would be even better if you could acquire an activated subject, should one exist."
The silence on the other end of the call continued for a few moments. Then the first voice, the one that had opened the call, spoke up.
"How long will it take to complete the work if you had such test subjects, Professor?"
Soichi looked up briefly, as if in thought. "Half a year to a year, perhaps? No more than a year."
There was another silence.
The first voice spoke again after a long while. "Thank you for your time, Professor. We'll take your input into consideration."
Chamca ended the call. For a moment, the only sound in the Council chamber was the gurgle of rushing water from the falls outside.
"This changes nothing!" Tinaguna spoke up again, the long white beard of his host body bouncing against his chest as he gestulated angrily with his hands. "Will you all be so blinded by the prospect of immortal bodies to ignore the obvious threat? I said it before: The creatures on that Module are too similar to us; should they be exposed, it'll only be a small step from there to US! We must eradicate them for our own safety!"
There was a rustle around the Council at Tinaguna's words. Chamca was pleased to see that there seemed to be far more dissent than before Tokishima's testimony. Tinaguna was a powerful member of the council, in charge of the Arctic Phantom fleet and their resupply bases. But the support for his viewpoint was eroding.
"Why should we go out of our way to destroy a valuable resource?" Dosi challenged from the outer ring, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. His current host body was an Olympic champion of some kind. An Australian, Chamba believed. It was impressive to look at, but wielded very little in terms of political power. Dosi had acquired it shortly after the takeover of JIOR in a testament to his vanity. "We are Magius; the humans exist only to serve us as chattel. Inferior creatures like them aren't a threat and never will be. All we have to do is reach out and claim what they've created for ourselves!"
Words of agreement sounded from all around the chamber. Tinaguna's eyes darted around the room, a scowl appearing on his face and his ruddy wind-chapped features growing even redder. A few of his followers began to shout back at Dosi.
"Not just immortal." from the center of the room, Vicereine Daitya's cold voice sliced through the tumult, averice burning in her host body's dark eyes. "Eternal. Bodies which never age, and cannot be killed. Imagine the influence we could wield. No more of this discontinuity between hosts. No more having to transfer power through our hosts' descendants. We will no longer be bound by these humans' fleeting lives. We will finally have suitable bodies, fitting vessels for our majesty."
"With all due respect, my Vicereine..." Tinaguna lowered his voice as he addressed Daitya. "The purpose of this Council above all else was to ensure the secrecy of the Magius, that we could continue to operate hidden from the eyes of humans. This entire debacle resulted from the humans capturing two of our kind. Can we really risk the consequences of further exposure?"
Daitya's lips curled up a smile. "Consider this consequence, Tinaguna. Our secrecy was a result of necessity, a concession to the numerical superiority of the humans. It would have been impossible to force them to acknowledge our dominion in ages past. There have always been too few of us, too bound by our hosts' wretched mortality to risk open confrontation. But now the humans have given us what we have sought for centuries. A means to openly enforce our domination. With these unaging, eternal bodies, what human agency could oppose us?"
Daitya looked over the chamber slowly. Even Chamca felt a chill as her glittering eyes raked over him among the gathered ranks of Magius. "The time has finally come to rid ourselves of this chafing secrecy. No longer will we be forced to skulk in the shadows; we will walk openly among the humans, and they shall rightfully acknowledge us as their masters."
Tinaguna scowled and looked away. Chamca saw that he was unswayed despite the Vicereine's words. There were those who had become so hidebound by their centuries of enforced secrecy that they couldn't comprehend a change in their circumstances.
'No. Rather, they are afraid of such change.'
The rest was more argument and posturing. Chamca waited patiently, sitting out the storm of words. He himself was of the opinion that the imitations represented a threat, but not enough of one which demanded eradication. Rather, it would be more logical for the Magius to make what use of the imitations as they could.
And since the Vicereine herself seemed to agree with his viewpoint, there was no need for him to interject into the discussion.
"This bickering achieves nothing. Let us vote." A familiar voice said. Chamca looked to the side of the room, where the holographic display showed the shimmering figures of the dozen or so council members who could not physically be at the meeting. Towering over them all was the figure of Mirko, inhabiting the body of Amadeus, dressed in his full regalia. It amused him to see many of the Council with Dorssian hosts snap to attention, the action ingrained into their bodies at the sight of their Chancellor.
'Myself as well...' He noted the sharp, military set of his own host's shoulders wryly. 'In the end, the humans still have a greater influence on us than we'd like to admit.'
The voting passed without incident, and Chamca looked over the final tally: 64 for exploiting the imitations, 28 for their destruction, and 9 who abstained from voting. Wonderful.
'Those 9 abstainees... those who wanted to integrate the imitations into the Council again?'
He eyed the holographic display. Yes, there was Alo, her host body looking demure as ever, eyes downcast with her pink hair trailing over her shoulders. Unlike Mirko, who was dressed as if attending a function of state, her host body was clad in a simple pink dress, the only clue to her human social standing the diadem shining from her forehead.
Although Chamca did not approve, even in disgrace and isolation, Alo was still a member of the Council. When the issue of the imitations first came to light, she had been the loudest to argue that artificial or not, they be accorded full rights as Magius and brought into the fold-although she'd clammed up quickly once popular opinion turned against her.
'Still, for 9 members to abstain from the vote in protest. Nearly 10% of the Council...'
"It seems this Council has agreed on a course of action." Daitya said. "We will move ahead with our exploitation of the so-called Homo sapiens Novus. Let us begin to lay plans toward this end." She gestured with one hand. "Chamca. You have served us well in striking a blow against the Module and capturing one of the Valvrave units. I would like for you to engineer our next action against the Module as well."
"Thank you, Vicereine. It will be my pleasure to do so." Chamca rose from his seat. "In fact, I already have set plans in motion for this very purpose. I merely need the assistence of a few other members of the Council to carry them out fully."
"This Council is at your disposal," Daitya inclined her head. "Since we already have the Valvrave unit on hand to study, we no longer need the other units. You are hereby authorized to destroy them."
"There is no need for that." Chamca said. "Despite what many believe, the Valvraves are not the key factor in this situation."
"Oh? I seem to recall the Dorssian military being defeated multiple times by them," Tinaguna called out.
"Nevertheless, the Valvraves are not the lynchpin in the imitations' defense. That would be Module 77 itself."
"Huh? What do you mean?" A scowl spread across Tinaguna's broad face.
"The Valvraves have always been used in the defense of the module," Chamca explained. "But they are dependant on the module for resupply and repairs. In addition, all the imitations' claims to sovereignty rests on their control of the module."
Tinaguna fingered his beard, his scowl slowly replaced by a crafty smile. "So you mean to destroy the module then?"
"Not necessarily. It will be enough to simply dispossess them of it. Once they are off the module we can use our political influence within ARUS to make sure they never get back on. Without the module they're no different from any other JIORan refugee group. They can then be dispersed among other JIORan refugees within ARUS, and harvested at our leisure- -to give to the Professor as research subjects, or for activation as host bodies. Whatever we wish."
"Hrumph." Tinaguna made an old man sound. "Sounds like a rather delicate operation. I'd like to know how you're going to pull this off when Dorssian and ARUS military forces aren't allowed within the neutral zone."
"I plan to make use of a third party, of course." Chamca turned to another member of the inner ring. "Kichuksana, I need to engage the use of one of your Phantoms." Kichuksana was in charge of the Middle Eastern Phantom fleet, and his host body was a high-ranking Dorssian commander, in charge of the region's security forces. Luckily, he belonged to the faction which wanted to exploit the imitations, so his cooperation was guranteed.
The short olive-skinned man with the strong chin nodded. "Certainly."
Chamca tapped the console built into his desk. "I'm sending you a list of aquisitions I'd like for you to make. As well as delivery instructions."
Kichuksana looked at his desk display for a moment, his host body's eyes widening in shock. "These... four names. You want them all? I don't think that..."
"Any one of the four will do," Chamca said. "I included all of them just in case."
"I see." Kichuksana rubbed his chin. "And these others? Do you need them to belong to any particular... uh... affliations?"
"Anyone will do, so long as they're Pashto."
"Hm. Should be easy enough." Kichuksana mumbled. "Phantom T-342C is operating out of the Logar River. It can depopulate one of the small villages in the Logar Valley area. I assume you don't have any particular use for anyone we harvest other than the young adult males?"
"You can keep the others."
"Very well. Phantom T-342C will collect your acquisitions and rendevous with you at your meeting point in three days."
"Thank you, Kichuksana."
Chamca looked towards the holographic display, to the image of an elderly man in a business suit. "Parnja, I have need of your shipyard facilities."
"Anything you need, Chamca." Parnja's host was a business mogul, in control of many commercial space development interests throughout ARUS.
"I need berthing space for 38 ARUS Splicers, to have an operating system wipe and be refitted to my specifications. I will provide the ships in four days, but I need you to cover any additional spare parts."
"Very well. When will you require this work done by...?"
"Eight days from now."
Parnja sucked in his breath through his teeth. "Which gives me four days, huh? You know, Chamca, I can't make any promises until I see a list of these refits you want..."
"Understood." Chamca nodded. "I'll send you a full list after the meeting. Will that be satisfactory?"
"Quite."
Chamca smiled. Everything was going according to plan.
Chapter 4 End
********** OMAKE **********
***RUKI'S CORNER***
***RUKI'S HAPPY LUCKY NAPOLITAN***
Hi, everyone! Rukino Saki here, and today we're gonna make Napolitan!
What is Napolitan, you ask? It's a super-yummy noodle dish originally from Italy! We here in JIOR have put our own spin on it, and it's become an old favorite all around the Homeland and the Sphere! Readers from ARUS may find it a little different from what you're used to, but give it a try and you'll see it's really tasty!
Here's what you'll need to make Napolitan:
***INGREDIENTS***
THE NOODLES
200g (about 7 ounces) of noodles. I like udon myself, because it's softer, but if harder noodles are your thing you can use spaghetti. Really, any wheat flour noodle will do so long as it's not something funny like macaroni.
THE VEGGIES
1/2 bell pepper. Whatever color. I'm partial to green myself these days. You can all probably guess why!
1 onion.
60g (about 3 ounces) of mushrooms. White button mushrooms are best, but you can substitute whatever mushroom is your favorite. If you want to use dried mushrooms you'll have to soak them beforehand.
2-3 cloves of garlic.
THE MEAT
100g (about 4 ounces) of bacon, ham, or sausage. I think bacon works best here. It's so tasty and the fat that cooks out of it is great. Sausage is also good but only second best, and ham, well. Ham is a little harder to play with. Sometimes it dries out when cooking and then it gets a little tough and weird. If you're watching your weight but still want that meaty goodness, you can add 80g (about 1/3 cup) of chicken stock instead of meat.
THE EXTRAS
80g (about 1/3 cup) of ketchup. The ketchup is essential!
Soysauce
Cooking Oil. Whichever kind you like. Me, I like BUTTER!
Salt and pepper.
THE HELPER
1 Helper. It's always nice to have someone to slice the onion. Today helping me out in the kitchen is Tokishima Haruto, The Boy Who Fought The World. But he doesn't just fight Dorssians, he also cooks! He's also our taste-tester because as crazy as it sounds, Haruto's never had Napolitan before!
Let's get to it!
***PROCEDURE***
Boil your noodles. Add a pinch of salt to the water to give your noodles a little flavor. If you're using spaghetti and you want firmer noodles, you should cook them until just before al dente. If you're using udon and want softer noodles, go ahead and cook them normally. Drain your noodles as soon as they're done.
While the noodles are boiling, have your helper slice the veggies and the meat into thin slices. And also mince the garlic.
Put a little cooking oil in a large pan. Depending on what meat you're using, the next step will be a little different:
BACON: You can use a little less cooking oil here, because fat will render out of the bacon. Put the bacon in first and cook it on medium heat until fat renders out and the meat turn brown, then add the sliced veggies. There's no need to add salt here because there's plenty in the bacon. Cook on low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and turn translucent.
SAUSAGE: Put the sausage and the sliced veggies in the pan at the same time, and add a little salt to pull water out of the veggies. Cook on low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and turn translucent.
HAM: Put the sliced veggies in the pan, and add a little salt to pull water out of the veggies. Cook on low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and turn translucent. Once the vegetables have softened, add the ham. It gets overcooked and hard easily, so that's why we're adding it last.
CHICKEN STOCK: Put the sliced veggies in the pan, and add a little salt to pull water out of the veggies. Cook on low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions soften, but are not quite translucent. Add the stock. Turn the heat on high and reduce the stock by about half, stirring frequently.
Add your drained noodles to the pan and mix in with the contents on medium heat. Once everything is mixed, add in the ketchup. Add a spoon of oil, and season with soysauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. If you're into spicy food you can also add hotsauce of your choice.
Plate and serve! Makes enough for two.
A/N: Thanks to xchrispx and Christemo for beta reading! And thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! I do love reading them so!
Sorry if this chapter was a little slow, but the plot is going to pick up soon, as well as the relationship(s). We'll get there in a little bit.
Papa Tokishima was by far my favorite part in this chapter to write. Sorry, Haruto, Saki, and Yamada! You just don't hold a candle to the craziness that is Papa Tokishima! Best character in the series! And if you like Papa Tokishima, why not check out The Return by Redhazard? It's an awesome VVV fic and Redhazard dares to do what I do not: keep the canon ending of the series and rectifying things afterwards!
I really was disappointed by how the Magius just ended up being largely a faceless mob in the series, so I'm gonna try to inject some life and personality into them. They're gonna be somewhat altered from the canon portrayal to keep them differentiated from the Kamitsuki.
To ed665: I've been sending you pms with answers to your questions, but I'm not sure if you've seen them. So uhm, if you read this, please check your pm inbox!
I have to apologize for that omake. I have no idea what was going on when I wrote that. Napolitan is kind of an odd food. It's a doubly-interpreted dish, being a Japanese interpretation of an American interpretation of an originally Italian dish. Saki is wrong, the dish definitely does not originate from Naples and it is NOT authentic italian. In fact, it was created after WWII during the American occupation of Japan. The recipe in the omake is something I put together myself, and I've tested it (with ham), so don't worry, it works. However, I do have a disclaimer: I don't particularly enjoy ketchup on my spaghetti, so I can't actually tell you if it's a GOOD napolitan. It tasted 'okay' to me. So if anyone wants to put the dish together, lemmie know how it turns out and what you think of it!
Hope you enjoyed reading and here's to seeing you in the next chapter!
As always, updates on story progress can be found in my profile!
