Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-03 – Lessons Learned-

"Right, today's the day," Laura said.

"But it is Sunday," Saeryn protested, "no classes."

"She's still out and about, walking around. All you have to do is slip something identifiably hers out of her bag when she's not looking. I thought you two had a distraction all planned out?"

"We did," Rhys grumbled, "but it won't work on a Sunday. No classes, everyone's going to be spread out all over the place, not clustered in classrooms."

"So you improvise," Laura said unsympathetically.

Rhys glared at her for that. "Why do you need us for this?"

"Because everyone's suspicious of me," Laura said, before turning a wide-eyed pout on the twins, "I can't for the life of me understand why no one trusts innocent cute little innocent me, but they're just so suspicious and mistrustful whenever I'm around. It hurts."

"You are actually tearing up," Saeryn commented flatly, "you should go into acting, you could be a soap-opera star."

Laura laughed, lashing out a lighting-fast hand to ruffle the girl's hair. "You're cute when you're trying to be insulting, you know that?"

Saeryn pushed her hand away with difficulty, and turned away to fix her hair back into the straight fall the twins preferred. "We won't be able to proceed until lunch time, at best," Saeryn said. "We will need the press of people to distract her."

"Good enough. You should be able to give our little present back to her at dinner, then."

00000

Yussef watched as Zafira closed the door behind Didier, then swept his gaze over the ten students gathered in the main workroom with him. They all shared a general look of confusion and disgruntlement, which he could understand, it being Sunday morning and all. But his sympathy for them was strictly limited by his appreciation of just how important the next two hours would be, and he strode to the front of the group with a loud driving step.

"Good morning everyone," he said, focusing their attention fully on him, "and welcome to Small Unit Tactics One-Oh-One." He stopped a few meters short, hands clasped in the small of his back, and smiled ever so slightly. "I will be your teacher, despite Zafira-sensei's presence."

They all blinked at him stupidly for a second, before Mercedes blurted out, "Come again? You're a teacher?"

"In this course, yes," Yussef answered. "When it became clear last year that the school was under some sort of threat, I put together a training program to make sure my friends and I could watch each other's backs if trouble happened. It turned out to be a good thing I did, though I freely admit to having made some mistakes. Last year, I excluded some people I shouldn't have, focused on the magic more than I should have, and at the same time failed to allow for the flexibility magic allows. This year, with the assistance of Zafira-sensei and Vita-sensei, I've corrected those mistakes, and improved the course all around, for your benefit.

"I am not, despite the popular myth about how magical combat works, going to teach you martial arts. I am no martial artist, though Signum-sensei has been teaching me the sword. What I am going to teach you is how to think under pressure, how to keep your head about you when buster spells are flying, and how to keep aware of your surroundings and thus able to respond to any dangers that occur. The lessons I will be relating to you are the same lessons that let us second years escape the campus last February, and the same lessons that made New Delhi a snap. The same lessons that soldiers have studied since the time of Mohammad, since Alexander conquered the world, since men first picked up a weapon to hunt.

"With only a very little luck, none of you will ever apply what I teach you here, outside of this class and maybe a board-room. If you do end up in a situation where these skills apply, they will be the only thing that can save you. All the magic in the world won't help, if you can't keep your head about you well enough to use it."

He paused, turning to face the chaotic jumble of shields that turned most of the workroom into terrain. Zafira had finally shown him how to activate the shields and how to program them, and this was the first time anyone else had seen his efforts. It looked properly difficult, but he thought it would not be too difficult for the new kids, in and of itself. "What you see before you is a maze," he said, "though not a traditional one. There is no 'one safe path', there are several. At the far end of the workroom is the safe-zone. To reach it, you will have to slip past my opposition in the maze. If any of your reaches it, I will give all of you passing grades for this course for the year."

"Which means none of us will make it," Kaemon muttered, just audible.

"Five to one none of us make it half way," Chen-chi said, then held out a hand, "any takers?"

Yussef grinned, turning to face Kaemon, and shrugged. "It is theoretically possible that one of you could make it. To do so, however, all of you will have to already know what this class teaches. Before any of you whine about me having a device, however," he removed Zulfiqar's dormant form from his wrist, and tossed it under-hand to Zafira, who caught it with a shake of his head, "Zafira-sensei will hold onto that for me, until this test is over. I'm going in now. Five minutes after I do, by Zafira-sensei's count, all of you go in at the same time. Use any entrance, any path, any methods you like. If you can make it past the maze, you make it past this class. Five minutes."

He turned and trotted into the maze, feeling the sensors register his presence, and trigger the shifting program. Ever so slowly, inside the maze and out of sight of the first years, the shields began to rearrange themselves in a pattern as near to random as any computer could manage. Yussef paid the changes little mind, working his way deeper into the maze. Just before he reached the center, he nodded to Luke and Ichigo, setting up their ambush point, and grinned at the thought of the first-years' probable reaction to the contents of the maze.

Ten minutes later, he was still waiting, and growing a little concerned. "Allison, Juliet, anything on your end?"

The two girls were watching over the safe-zone, a last line of defense in case any of the new kids really was good enough to make it that far. But if one of them managed that trick, even if they did not reach the actual safe-zone, it would seriously blunt the lesson. Allison answered for both of them, "Nah, not a peep. What's the hold up?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Yussef commented, "stay sharp, the twins might just be good enough to get through to you."

Allsion laughed, "Aahhhh, is Yu-chan worried about getting beat by a couple little girls?"

"Sorry, Laura, I didn't quite catch that."

"Bite your tongue," Allison snarled.

Chuckling at the exchange, Yussef let the spell fade, and cocked an eyebrow at Marcel. The French boy shrugged, before reporting, "Roughly what we expected. Toushiro and Mariachi have the twins pinned down, but the two of them are shielding each other. Not a good shield, mind you – about where we were last October or November – but good enough, with them watching each other's backs. The surprise is Didier – he's very well hidden, moving very cautiously. I've got a monitor on him, but can't tell where he is. Luke and Ichigo are looking for him, should have him shortly. Noah's moving up to assist Toushiro and Mariachi."

Yussef nodded along, quietly impressed both with the new kids, and with how close the class was coming to his projections. He had expected the twins to last the longest, hoped for it in fact, though he had no intention of letting them get any further. Still, Didier was going to be problematic, especially if he lasted much longer. Re-shaping the communication spell, he ordered, "Noah, hold up a bit. Toushiro, Mariachi, keep the twins pinned, but don't take them down yet. Wait for Luke and Ichigo to snag Didier."

"Roger that," Noah replied, followed by the other two.

Yussef re-targeted the spell again, "Luke, status."

"Think we've got him," the Australian murmured back, "A hollow where a couple shields don't quite meet. He's good at rabbiting, though. Dodged a couple shots I was sure would catch him."

"Get him quick, please. This is taking too long"

"Yeah, figured that. Now shut up and lemme get back to it."

Didier proved not to be where Luke thought he was, but close enough that when Ichigo and Luke moved on that space, they scared him into bolting. Yussef watched on the screen, impressed by how well the young African managed to make use of cover, but Luke and Ichigo had been right on top of him, and their very-low-powered busters, caught him less than a minute after he broke cover. Noah, Toushiro and Mariachi rolled the twins a minute later, and Marcel triggered 'end of scenario' alarm, causing the shields to pulse once and vanish. The twins got further than Yussef had expected, almost half way across, but still painfully far from the finish line.

As the first years were hustled back, Yussef strolled along with Marcel just a step behind, contemplating what, specifically, he was going to say to them. Judging by the glares being aimed at him, no one appreciated his little trap, but that would just make his points stick harder. He was momentarily distracted when Zafira raised one open hand, Zulfiqar resting on his palm. Yussef nodded, and summoned the device to his wrist just as he came close enough to speak.

Not giving the first years a chance to complain, he asked, "Why did none of you make it?"

"Because you cheated," Ekavir answered, waving at the second years. "You never said anything about these guys!"

Yussef smirked. "Did I say I would be the only one in the maze? Did any of you ask? Regardless, that is not the reason you failed. I'll give you a hint, it's related to who got the furthest and how they did it."

"The twins and Didier have done this before," Mercedes said, but her tone suggested she was very uncertain about it, "they've fought before?"

Yussef shook his head, "No, experience was not the deciding factor. Kaemon has actual training..."

"Only in kendo, not ninja games like this was," Kaemon interrupted.

"... and you, Mercedes, have some self-defense training. The two of you have the closest thing to 'military' training that all of you are thinking of. No, the reason the twins got the furthest is simply that, of all of you, they were the only ones who worked together. All of you headed out on your own, treating this like some sort of race. The twins went together, watched each others' back, and acted cooperatively. Remember the condition of passing? Any of you makes it, all of you pass. Had the ten of you worked together, you could have overwhelmed any two of us you ran into. You would have taken casualties, but you would have been able to get one of you through to the safe zone.

"One of our guest teachers told us last year that time to think was the most precious thing you have in any sort of battle. The easiest and most reliable way to do that is to have someone watching your back. History has proven time and again that people working in unison, as a team, can defeat many times their number of less organized foes. When we faced the Circles last year, we were outnumbered every time, yet we triumphed, because where the Circles focused on enhancing single fighters, we concentrated on working as a team at all times. Teamwork defeated them, and that is what I will teach you here, what I taught these gentlemen last year. You may never need it for battle, I hope you never do, but it will still be useful for the rest of your lives.

"Cruel as it was, this little exercise demonstrated two things. One, the fact that those who worked together got themselves further than those who tried to run solo. Second, it showed you kids precisely where you'll be next year. You thought it wasn't fun being on the receiving end? Wait until next year when you get to do the same thing to the new kids.

"For now, what we're going to do is work on working together." Yussef accessed the room controls through Zulfiqar, and brought up a new series of shields. "Some of you may have seen something like this in the past, though they're usually made with ropes, hence the common name of 'ropes course'. We have a series of exercises which, in order to get past them, you must work together."

Sure enough, the shields that formed were long rods, rather than walls, supported between or around columnar shields. The rods interlaced and overlapped, some creating nets, others simply hanging in air. The first years looked doubtfully at the course, then back at him, and he just grinned. "Guys, let's show them how it's done."

00000

Kaemon hesitated for a brief moment when he saw the sparring circle already occupied, then continued walking. Laura was alone, progressing through a kata at very high speed, so once he reached the pillars, he just dropped his bag and leaned against one to watch.

She nodded once to acknowledge his presence, but did not slow down in the least. Still weaving through the training, she asked, "So, you going to take Sensei's offer?"

Kaemon had to think for a second to figure out which of their many teachers she meant, before realizing it was Signum-sensei. "Um, still thinking about it, to be honest."

"You should, she's the best," Laura called. "I still can't touch her."

Kaemon shook his head, "But I'm no martial artist. I just like kendo."

Laura just laughed as she slowed to a halt, converting the kata into a strolling walk towards him. "That'll last a session, I bet. She says you're good enough, you like kendo, it'll be good reinforcement for the magic."

Kaemon shrugged, "but not necessarily what I'm interested in. Are you going to be much longer?"

"Unfortunately she is," Signum said, making Kaemon jump. He had not heard a thing and she was standing practically at his shoulder. "Laura and I have a session scheduled for now. Since you are here, perhaps you would be interested in an experiment?"

"Ah... I'm not sure that would be wise, Signum-sensei."

Laura giggled at that, then said, "Oh come on, K-chan, I won't hurt you."

"Laura, behave," Signum said. "Kaemon, this would not commit you to anything. But Laura has only sparred with me, and it would do her good to face a different opponent."

Taking in Laura's grin, and realizing he could walk away from this with physical bruises or verbal scars, Kaemon sighed, and nodded his head. "All right, sensei."

Signum's expression did not change in the least, but he had the distinct impression she looked smug, all of a sudden. Laura just giggled evilly. Signum spoke first, "Did you bring your kendo armor?"

"No, sensei, I was just going to practice alone, I did not expect to spar. The bag is just water and a couple towels." He hefted the wooden sword in his hand, "and my bokken, of course."

Signum thought it over for a second, then nodded. "I can provide the armor. Laura, bring up your own, please." Signum pulled a necklace out of her collar, and a moment later it flashed into the shape of a heavy sword. "Levantine, Ward of the Defended."

Kaemon could not help flinching as the purple light washed over him, but it settled around him without harming him. When he looked down, he found that the spell had created padding over his clothes, roughly analogous to kendo armor, but covering far more and replacing much of the usual stiff bracing with more padding.

"My version of something Zafira helped Yussef create last year," Signum commented as she stepped closer and checked the armor, tugging at various places to make sure it was seated properly. "Last year's events made it clear I had been lax in considering the students' safety. This should protect you from most low-grade magical attacks, and will more than suffice to blunt any blows from sparring." She grinned slightly, "though I promise, you will still bruise."

Kaemon shrugged fatalistically at that. Bruises were part and parcel of kendo, though he was fairly certain he would have some unique ones after this. Still, nerves or not, he could not deny being somewhat curious. Laura was the second most visible student from the prior year, after Noriko-hime, and the idea of seeing if she was as good as the media made her out to be was irresistible. He was a little curious what she would be using for a weapon, though.

Signum watched him enter the circle, then asked, "Do you remember where it is, Laura?"

"Hai, sensei," she sang, then closed her eyes, held out her hands, and said, "Hicho Zwei." When the light that coalesced above her hands cleared, she held a long wooden shaft wrapped in twin lines of black, at the end of which was a wider curve of wood with a vaguely blade-like shape – a training version of a naginata.

Oh, this is so not good, Kaemon thought as he proceeded through a warm-up routine. Just think of it as taking on sensei back in Osaka. Winning is not the goal, learning is. Strengths and weaknesses. She has the advantage in reach and skill, probably in speed as well. But she is impatient, direct. Wait for her attack and reverse it.

When he was warmed up, he found Laura practically bouncing as she waited for him. He shook his head, glanced at Signum, and when she made no move or gesture, took up his opening stance. True to prediction, Laura barely gave him time to get set before she charged, five long strides then a leaping lunge. Kaemon watched her come, and stepped into the lunge, catching her weapon on his, using the bokken to lever her naginata to his left, then snapping the blade around in a fast slash.

The usual response was to duck under the blow, but Laura surprised him by blocking – with the armored panel on the back of her left fist. The surprise held him static for a moment, unable to adapt to the alteration from what he had expected. Then a cannon hit him in the side just beneath his left arm, sending him stumbling him sideways. Surprise made him trip over his own two feet, and he tumbled to the ground. He started to get up, just in time to find the wooden 'blade' of her naginata hovering over the bridge of his nose.

"Point," Laura said, then whipped the blade away and extended a hand.

Taking the offer at value, Kaemon let her help him up, then ran one hand over his ribs. "Ow."

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, hefting the naginata, "this thing's lighter than Hicho was, just a bit. I'm still getting used to how much force to use with it."

Rubbing his side, Kaemon asked, "How'd you hit me that hard? You were over-extended, didn't have the room to swing."

Laura shrugged, "I broke the rules." She stepped back, and extended the naginata again, assuming the same position she held when she hit him, left arm folded around her torso holding her weapon from underneath, right arm out and up at ninety degrees to block. "See where the haft is?"

He could see the difference between what he expected, and subconsciously allowed himself to see, and what she was actually doing immediately – her grip was for a right-handed attack, and had she not been blocking, that hand would have been forward of her left, controlling the weapon's direction. But that same grip mandated that the haft pass beneath her right arm, whereas it was currently beneath her left arm. "You used your body for leverage, instead of your wrist."

"Yup. I may not be a big bruiser, but a whole-body strike like that'll still raise a bruise. Problem with a strike from the wrist, like the one you tried, or even shoulder, is that while they're fast, unless you're lunging, you won't get your whole body into the blow."

"You tricked me," he realized with a start. "You knew I'd block your first strike, and lead me right into opening myself up."

"And you followed along like a kid to a candy store," she replied with a grin.

"You did well to turn her first strike," Signum told him. "As fast as she is, with a weapon you are unfamiliar with, she had a good chance to score then and there. To not only turn it, but counter... not a bad beginning, but you can do better. Reset."

Twenty minutes later, Kaemon was bruised, battered, and seriously wondering if he actually had a choice in taking up Signum's offer. It had not been a very long sparring session, not at all, but none of the fights had lasted very long. To his pleasure, he had managed to at least hit Laura one out of three bouts, though he had not won any of them. She was just as fiendishly fast as he had heard, and he found himself thinking and reacting in the structured norms of kendo, rather than the free-form manner of actual combat, to his detriment.

"You should take her offer," Laura repeated as they walked back towards the dorms. "You're too linear in your fighting, and you spend too much time thinking, but you're quick and stubborn enough to be good at real swordsmanship."

Signum had said much the same before dismissing them, though he had noted she was much harder on Laura. Still, "I'm not that interested in martial arts. I like kendo for the competition, the discipline. Martial arts is about hurting people, however much people claim it's all 'self defense'."

"Yeah, that it is," Laura agreed softly. "But it's also about discipline, control, self-knowledge. You'd learn a lot more of all of that from Sensei than from kendo. What's better, K-chan... knowing how not to hurt someone when you've got a bokken in hand and they're in kendo armor, or knowing how not to hurt someone when you've got a device in hand and they're trying to kill you? Been there, done that, and if sensei hadn't taken me in hand last year, I'd be dead right now."

"All that is over, isn't it?"

Laura shook her head, "not by a long shot. The Circles are still out there, and they may be scared and gone to ground now, but they're not going to stay that way. Even if they do, there's all sorts of big bads on the loose out there in the galaxy at large. They come to Earth, we're going to be the ones dealing with them. You don't absolutely need Sensei's training to handle that, but it'll sure help."

Further discussion was cut off by a most unexpected source. The twins materialized out of the Girls' Wing as he and Laura passed, and said in unison, "We have it, Sims-san."

Kaemon had thought the look she gave him when he agreed to spar was evil, but the manic grin that appeared on her face was downright terrifying, made worse by the speed with which her prior seriousness vanished, and by her sole response of, "Eeexcssellent."

00000

Shortly after dinner, leaning back in a chair turned half around, Mercedes watched Aria and Noriko fiddling with the four foot tall electronics cart off to one side for a few curious minutes, before asking the question on everyone else's mind. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Depends on what you think it is," Lotte replied from across the table, one ear flicking incessantly. "If you think it's something fun, you're wrong. If you think it's the most insidiously vicious of public humiliation systems known to any sentient race, euphemistically referred to as a karaoke machine, you're probably right."

Mercedes was comfortable enough with her teachers now to smile at Lotte's disgruntled tone, but not quite comfortable enough to laugh outright, "Don't like them, huh?"

The ear-twitch became more violent for a few seconds, while the other ear flattened completely, "You're hearing isn't as good as mine, Mercedes-chan. Not nearly as good. I can't believe Hayate-sama allowed that torture device in here!"

"It was a combination of birthday and report card present," Noriko said, taking a step back while Aria fiddled with connections in the back. "Hayate-sensei agreed I could bring it and set it up so we could have some fun here beyond studying all day every day, though if we have any discipline problems it has to go away. So, if last year is any indication, it should be here all year."

Sprawled half over the neighboring table, only technically sitting in her chair, Laura asked, "You actually going to sing, Riko-chan? Do you even know how?"

Noriko shook her head slightly, "I will sing, yes, and I do not embarrass myself, but I am not trained. You're not supposed to know how, anyways. You're supposed to have fun, to laugh. How about you, Laura? Care to try your hand at it?"

Laura smirked, "Nah, I'm not even allowed to sing 'happy birthday'. Windows break, puppies run screaming, that sort of thing."

Mercedes would have commented, but a gentle touch on her shoulder interrupted her. Turning, she found herself face to face with the Stepford Twins. They blinked at her in unison, then one held out a PDA. "We believe this is yours, Mercedes-san," the other said. "We found it in the Library just now."

Reaching out with some confusion – she remembered her PDA being safely tucked away in her bag in her room after studying for an afternoon in the library – Mercedes took the item, and tapped it alive. Sure enough, the login display came up with her avatar and ID. "Whoa, thank you," she told the two of them honestly, "I would have been looking for that for ages."

"You are welcome, Mercedes-san," they replied in unison, making her shiver a little, then turned and strolled over to an unoccupied table.

Mercedes shook it off. They may be creepy, but they've been polite enough so far. But man, if I ever see one of them walking around with a knife... scratch that, if I ever see one of them, I'm running for the hills.

She headed into the dorm, moving at a quick walk so she would not miss the unveiling of the school's 'public humiliation system'. She reached her room, unlocked it and went to enter when a pulse of magic from her hand distracted her. She glanced down in time to see the PDA in her hand glowing, then a fluttering drew her attention upwards again, and she gasped in shock, feeling like someone had punched her in the gut. For a second, all she could do was stare at the carnage, at the twisted wreckage of what had been her room, at her torn and shredded clothes, the smashed desk and computer, the utter devastation.

Then realization struck of what had happened, who was responsible, and rage exploded. I thought they were being nice! I was going to be friends! She spun about on her heel and this time there was no 'walking' about it, she hit the door to the common area hard enough to slam it back on its hinges and make Cid-chan jump half out of her chair. She almost hit the doors to the dining hall as hard, but remembered the presence of Aria and Lotte at the last second, and settled for striding across the large room to where the twins were sitting, heads together.

They looked up as she crossed to them, and she threw the PDA down on the table from a good three meters out. "What did you do?! What was it?! It had to come from that thing, the pulse was the only thing that could have caused it! There's nothing left! Nothing but wrack and ruin! Storms don't do that much damage, and you two did it, didn't you?!"

They blinked at her again, and asked, "Whatever are you talking about, Mercedes-san?"

Mercedes had to count to ten before she took a swing at the both of them. Yussef used that pause to reach in between them and pick up the PDA. "Calmly, Mercedes, don't jump to conclusions." She turned her glare on him, only to have him wave behind her. Looking back, she blinked in surprise, to find the entire room just as badly wrecked as her room had been. Strangely, though, no one was looking too upset, but mostly ruefully amused. A shift of motion focused her attention, and she realized that the only person present whose face she could not see was Laura, who was hunched over in her chair shaking. "A purely optical illusion," Yussef continued, and a second later another pulse of magic washed over her, and the room suddenly snapped back to normal, "no sound or touch, no smell or taste, just the sight of destruction. Not bad, ditz, but you're going to have to be careful. We're wise to this one now."

Laura stopped suppressing her laughter, and almost fell out of her chair laughing so hard. "Come on, Yu-chan! You know I've got better tricks prepped just for you! Let the prank fit the victim, ne?"

"I await your antics with my usual stoic dread." He turned and offered the PDA to Mercedes again. "Sorry about her, but it's clean now. My word on it."

Mercedes remembered at the last second not to snatch the PDA, and not to light into the American ditz. Don't yell at her, she reminded herself, just ignore her. Nodding to Yussef, she said, "Thank you, Yussef. Do you think you could show me how to do that, how to clean off someone else's magic?"

"Not tonight, but certainly. I think I have some time free Tuesday afternoon..."

"Wednesday," Marcel interrupted, "an hour after Lotte-sensei's class. Or Thursday seven to whenever."

"Dibs on Thursday," Toushiro called out from a table by the doors, "we've almost got a curved version of the reactive shield working, and I wanna see something blow up in his face for once."

00000

Laura dropped into the space between the twins while Mercedes was being distracted, dropping an arm over each twin's shoulder. "Beautiful work, girls, just beautiful. I hereby christen thee Wrack and Ruin, and welcome you into my service. Who're we going after next?"

"Preferably no one," Lotte said as she leaned over the far side of the table. "That was a mean trick, Laura."

"She deserved it."

"She had already been chastised for her behavior the first day."

Laura laughed, "No, Lotte-sensei, not for that. She deserved it for being stuck-up in general. A spoiled little rich girl to balance Yu-chan's being a spoiled little rich boy. I civilized him, I'll civilize her, too."

Lotte gave her a jaundiced look, then pinned the twins with a glare. "How much did you two have to do with this?"

"Everything," Saeryn replied calmly.

"We obtained the PDA for Laura-san," Rhys added.

"With full understanding of her plans," Saeryn finished.

"Aho!" Laura swatted both of them upside the head, "You're not supposed to admit things like that!"

Rhys tried to hit her back, though Laura blocked it. Saeryn settled for smoothing her hair and shaking her head. "Denials would not have been believed. Better to accept the consequences and move on."

"True, true," Lotte said, "and you get points for honesty. Laura, you're confined to the library from end of classes to dinner, confined to your room after dinner until first class, and not allowed in a workroom outside of class, for the rest of the week. Twins, you've got the same restrictions through tomorrow and Tuesday. I'd be nicer if you'd done it to Yu-chan, Laura, but Mercedes is a first year. She's too new for anything this rough."

As Lotte walked back over to 'help' her sister with the karaoke machine, Laura commandeered the chair next to Rhys. "Seriously, you two, thanks. If she tries to get back at you let me know, I'll keep her focused on more important things."

"She will not focus on us," Saeryn predicted. "She will focus on her tormentor, rather than the tormentor's assistants. You do, however, owe us."

Laura quirked an eyebrow at that, "Oh? and here I thought I was already helping you with your magic. What is it you think I owe you?"

"Paradox."

Laura coughed in surprise, folding forward until she caught herself on the table. "Paradox? The Hell you talking about? Nothing's worth my device."

"We do not want your device, Laura-san," Saeryn said.

"We wish to study it," Rhys finished.

Laura stared at them for a second, trying to figure out if they were bluffing or not. She had learned first hand why none of her teachers had let her near their devices last year. It was not that they did not want her studying devices or were worried about her damaging them, it was that such things were extremely personal, intimate. The bond between a mage and device, however far from or close to sentience any given device reached, and only considering 'normal' devices, rather than oddities like the Deva ones, was a deep, personal and private thing. Bureau law, Hayate had explained the second day of classes this year, recognized that familiars were mostly independent but still bound to obey their creator, thus making the creator responsible for the familiar in the same manner as a commander was responsible for his subordinates, a parent for their children. In contrast, and helping explain why devices were so well defended, that same law recognized no difference at all between a mage and their device, even in the case of manifestly independent ones such as Reinforce.

Thanks to all of that, and the specific circumstances of her own experience, the idea of letting anyone else take a peek at Paradox made Laura distinctly uncomfortable, despite knowing that the design was quite well known to all her teachers. Showing it to these two was a whole other question. "Why? Why study it, when you'll get to make your own..." She trailed off as the question answered itself, then sighed and shook her head, "You two terrors think you're going to build your own devices this year, don't you?"

"You did," they chorused.

"And paid a price for it," Laura countered. "Riko-chan and I are in almost as much danger from our devices as whoever we're using them against. Yu-chan's in more danger, since, you know, he's so hopeless and all."

"We wish to study your device," Saeryn repeated.

"We will study it," Rhys added, "with your assistance, or with Maricopa-san's."

That was going too far, and Laura almost let her see just how bad. Then she got her temper under control, and smirked, then lunged forward, pinching Rhys cheek. "Oh, you are just too cute when you're trying to be all evil and intimidating! I wish I had a camera!" Rhys twisted free, staring at her in utter shock, and Laura laughed, "Don't try and threaten me, Ruin-chan. Here, I'll give you an example." The communication spell took some work, since she had not used it for a while, but it came together, "Allina-chan? Got a question for you."

"Sure thing," Allina replied, audible to the twins.

"What would you do if someone asked you for a copy of Paradox's design?"

There was a moment of silence, then, "I dunno, laugh at them? I'd probably fob off the fake design 'Jana and I cooked up over the summer. Suitably sabotaged, of course. Why?"

"'Cause the twins are precocious, and I'm furthering their education in mischief."

"God spare us all," Allina prayed. "Just so you know, I'm blogging this. It's morally requisite, warning everyone on Earth."

"Oh, everyone already knows," Laura answered proudly. "They helped me get Mercedes just now."

"We're doomed," Allina moaned, "utterly doomed."

"Yup!"

"Well, go doom someone else, please. 'Jana and I are working on our own device designs."

"Sure thing, Allina-chan. Thanks!" Laura let the spell fade. Then she dropped the smile and fixed the twins with an almost-glare. "I will think about showing you the document I used to design Paradox. I will agree to assist you with your device designs, whenever you are allowed to begin. But you try to pull something like that again, you try to steal someone else's design or 'borrow' their device, I'll be all over you like dirt on the ground, and what I did to Yu-chan last year will seem like paradise."

Certain that the silent duo was sufficiently intimidated and educated for the moment, Laura got up to head back over the karaoke machine that was apparently undergoing final checks. She reached for Hayate as she walked.

00000

Hayate was in her office, going over initial impressions with Shamal and Tai-yu when she felt the touch of Laura's mind. 'Yes, Laura?'

'Just thought you should know, sensei,' Laura said, sounding inordinately pleased with herself, 'Wrack and Ruin are already plotting nefarious means to build their own devices.'

'Wrack and Ruin?'

'The twins. Mercedes named them, just now. Ask Lotte-sensei about it, she loved it!'

'I highly doubt that,' Hayate countered, contemplating what carnage could have earned the twins those names, then confirmed, 'The twins are really pursuing devices?' That was highly surprising, especially given the girls' Circle origins. Hayate had expected Mercedes or Chen-chi to be the first to make efforts in that direction, and expected the twins to avoid devices as much as possible.

'Yup, really. They tried to con me out of Paradox's design, then tried to get Allina to fork it over. I told them not to, but they'll probably try something anyhow. Just thought you should know now, instead of when they start hacking the network.'

'Thank you, Laura, I appreciate it. Don't give them any help yet, but... if we do decide to let them try it, would you be willing to help them?'

Laura chuckled mentally, 'Sure, gotta keep my minions in hand, after all.'

Hayate felt a sinking sensation at that, 'Minions?'

'Yup, minions! Got Mercedes, now they're going to help me get Yu-chan!'

The sinking sensation became a full-on plummet, and she closed her eyes for a moment, sending a prayer to the Heavens for strength, before replying. 'Please, don't get them into trouble, Laura.'

'Not too much, at least,' Laura said, 'I'm just going to get them to loosen up.'

Hayate could only shake her head as the connection faded, to find Shamal and Tai-yu waiting patiently for her. "Laura just informed me of the twin's precociousness." Briefly she explained what Laura had told her, including the nicknames. She managed to keep it to a smile as Shamal's frown deepened, remembering the blond woman's comments over the summer, and how those comments had become less forgiving as Cid-chan integrated into their family.

"I suppose she is the best to balance them," Shamal allowed, "I just can't help thinking she's going to get into even more trouble this year, and drag them along with her."

"Nothing too wrong with that," Tai-yu countered. "Given their probable training and upbringing, they've probably been extremely sheltered... no, not sheltered, but... isolated, limited contact with people their own age. A little wildness would be good for them, and from what I've heard, a little steadiness would be good for Laura."

"True," Shamal agreed, "we'll just have to keep an eye on things, as usual."

"I'm surprised by the twins' interest in devices, though," Tai-yu said. "They should be far more afraid of them. They're young enough they would not have heard much in the way of actual Circle history, but they will have heard the basic legends and tales, all of which are big on the message of 'artificial magic is vile'."

"I am surprised as well," Hayate admitted. "They have the control, but not the experience, especially not in the magic we teach."

"Neither did Laura, or Noriko and Yussef," Shamal said. "We can keep them from making the same mistakes those three did, so I don't really see a reason to stop them. But, not yet. Give them a few weeks to get settled and see if we can find out why they are so interested."

"Don't put them in the regular device class, though," Tai-yu said. "The conflict with their schedule is minor, but they have started to interface with their year-mates, and altering their schedules would undermine that."

"No, we wouldn't alter their schedule," Hayate agreed easily enough, "but we would allow them to build devices on their own time. Possibly, at least. I agree, Shamal, we need to watch them a little longer, make sure they settle in."

"And find out why they are interested in devices in the first place," Shamal finished.

00000

hwsod: Thank you very much! Sorry I didn't reply last chapter, I didn't get your review until after I'd posted last chaper.

Kell Shock: I understand your opposition and argument, but in counter – modern high-security computers are set up with 'limited access', but are still frighteningly vulnerable. Don't worry, though, Allina and Niranjana will enjoy success, but not what you're fearing. The twins are normal, just not very well socialized, and anyone who's met her knows that Laura is nuts:). I've always pictured Cidela as 'mousy', just never said it in so many words – none of the second years would call her that, just out of politeness. As for the familiars, based entirely on tidbits heard in Nanoha As and ye olde Wikipedia, I have the impression that yes, it is a constant drain, that worsens when the familiar is in larger forms and/or performing drastic magic. Hayate's ability to maintain three familiars without apparent strain is a major indicator of her strength. As for how the Lieze twins survived Admiral Graham, I never mentioned it, but he did not die unexpectedly, and he gave them a reserve of energies to maintain them until they could speak to Hayate. Mercedes' 'just desserts' are above, though that is not the end of the matter. Tai-yu will be teaching, but not a class of her own just yet. Her presence in Egypt was due to the fact that she was the most familiar of Hayate's people with the Circles, thus the best to advise Yuuno on his interactions with the Circles. Marterosian is an Armenian name, chosen to give the twins a unique heritage other than 'southern belles', and I got it from an acquaintance of mine, who provides the visual inspiration and name for the twin's father.

CrimsonDX: Natalia's eye-patch was a compromise. Her eye has a further role to play, but having it constantly active would probably result in suicide of one form or another. So the eye-patch to keep it under control. Allina and Niranjana will have some problems to work their way around, but it always struck me as a logical counter to a device mage.

Eternal Longing: Thank you for the compliments, but I'm afraid daily updates would be impossible. I sometimes go a couple days without writing more than a sentence, and sometimes get half a chapter done in a day. Laura is back to 'normal', though how's the above for mischief? The relationships are clearer because I've already got them planned out this time, though not all the relationships are as they appear so far. Yuuno's name is something of a self-correction – I finished Path of Vengeance with his marriage to Nanoha, but referred to her as 'Takamichi' when she guest-taught Lotte's class n Academy Blues. So he followed some 'rare traditions' of his homeworld and took his wife's last name. It probably also helps with the whole 'recognition' factor, since there are probably several 'Scrya' family members running around the Bureau, but there's only two 'Takamichi'. Yuuno was handling the diplomacy because he's the most diplomatic character I remember from the series (short of Chrono's mother, who's retired), and because, as Head Librarian, he would be the most authoritative person involved in the proposed data exchanges.

Natimus Prime: Your method seems like a lot of effort, but seemed to work out fine. Too much like work for my tastes, though:). I already have the devices figured, and there will be a roughly equal mix of Midchildan/Velkan designs, with a couple surprises for fun. More will be made of Allina's & Niranjana's plans, which should make for pleasant surprises all around. Laura's recruiting of the twins was for contrast, an 'odd trio' as opposed to an 'odd couple', but also because I have some plans for them. You're right, though, there will be friction, and Laura will quite happily cause most of it. Verner's supposed to be laconic, quiet, easy-going and calm, but you know what they say about the quiet ones. More of the original cast will be appearing, though not for a while, they play a part in the major plot. Kriegsen will also be showing up, though some of his machinations are already appearing. As I told CrimsonDX, Natalia's eyepatch was a compromise – I was originally going to have her follow through on the idea of taking out her own eye. Glad you're enjoying the story!

TheWhiteMonk: I'm guessing 'impressed' is some combination of red, green and blue. I've got two Side Stories in the works, but merrily proceeded to stump myself with both of them, as well as get sidetracked with other projects. While I've seen digests and reviews of Machiavelli, I haven't actually read any of his books, though I have read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. While I thank you for the compliment as to the complexity of the plot, I prefer to call it 'Byzantine'. Machiavelli has some bad common connotations, while most people today seem to have never heard of Byzantium. Finally, a most heartfelt thanks for the comparison to David Weber – he's far better than I ever expect to be, but the comparison is appreciated.

SpaceBrotha: Waiting all day? You've gotta be in Europe, then, 'cause I posted about ten or eleven in the morning, US Eastern time. Unless FFN was its usual efficient self… The devices won't all show up at once, and they should be interesting, as not all of them will be 'standard' designs like Yussef's and Laura's. Still a couple months in-story time down the road. In standard terms, Allison could be more dangerous than Laura, but she lacks Laura's creative unpredictability – Laura will always be able to surprise whoever she's up against, while someone could study Allison well enough to predict her. You're right, though, she's far less concerned than Laura with what damage she might inflict on an enemy. I agree with most of your arguments on why hacking a device won't work, but the AI one is a wash – Allina's device will have its own AI, programmed to find the weaknesses in device AIs that aren't seriously programmed to defend against such attacks. Though that doesn't counter the issue of how to open communications between the two devices. Ekavir's approaching Niranjana was (and remains in his mind) solely about getting the best tutor he can, though his interests are changing. Here's Laura's (first) target, and yes, she's giving the twins as much trouble as she's giving anyone else. I did have fun with Cidela's scene, though I like Chen-chi's reaction to her as well. How the second years react to someone calling Cidela a 'mouse' would probably depend on the tone and circumstances – so long as it wasn't used to be mean, there wouldn't be a problem. Verner's calm personality, and the reasons for it, will be demonstrated in due course, though it's not as dramatic as you're suggesting, sorry. As for Laura's vow not to kill, it's a limit, not a weakness, and one of the oldest continuously used definitions of what is 'good' includes the line 'Thou shalt not kill'. I'm quite well aware of how it can get her in a jam, but for her it is a matter of personal conscience. Tai-yu was present not so much to interface with the Circles as to advise Yuuno on how to do that. As for his power with a device, that's an interesting question, now isn't it? You are quite right that Natalia has no idea how accurate her predictions are, since she has yet to encounter anyone she predicted would be dead already. That will be developed later in the story, though. The 'self-fulfilling prophecy' or hurrying fate along is a concern, but on the other hand, she did give her grandmother a chance to say goodbye. I know about the problem with the future-quote, but pushing for names won't help. I'll reveal them when I reveal them, though you've gotten two above (Wrack and Ruin), and future chapters will answer such questions.