"Well then, this time's Shanxi-exercise was certainly a doozy! One for the annals, I say!" The man in front of them spoke, seemingly happier than they had ever seen him before.
Emiya vaguely remembered him as the man who had given them the original introduction speech, when he had arrived at this base. They had just returned an hour before. They had performed maintenance and check up on all their gear, gotten what was broken turned in and made lists of everything that was missing or in need of repairs and then gotten the rest squared away.
Most had been exhausted at this point.
Unexpectedly, they had all been brought back as one group, so Emiya had had plenty of downtime while waiting for a ride back.
In theory, anyhow.
In practice, he had spent most of the time avoiding people who wanted to make friends with him, as he simply tried to find things to do to pass the time. At first, he was dragged off before half-a-dozen technicians to show exactly how he had done what he had done with the weapons. Then, after proving that it hadn't just been a fluke and that he could do it on demand, he had to explain in exacting detail what it was that he was doing and how he had come to the conclusions he had.
It was the longest two hours of his life.
A lot of heads had been scratched during those meetings, as Emiya tried to get across how simple his hack had been. It wasn't until one of them understood it and began to talk about it in terms the others understood, that any progress was made.
They apparently read completely different manuals than he did.
Finally, he was given a pat on the back, a bonus to his salary and been made to sign an NDA to keep him quiet until the Alliance figured out a way to prevent what he had done from being repeated. For now, there were talks of a software block in the systems, but it was a hackjob at best.
Having nothing else to do, he had looked around for things to spend time on afterwards.
Things which kept him out of sight and let him be in peace, as apparently everyone had questions for him about the things he had done. Finally, he had managed to worm his way into the field crew that was repairing the vehicles and through pretending to feel guilty about wrecking another Mako, they had accepted his presence there.
Mostly they had had him standing by and fetching things, but ever so slowly he had wormed his way into a larger and larger role.
Shepard had found him at one point while he had been up to his waist in a Mako's engine, covered from head to toe in dirt and grease. She had taken one pointed look at him and then walked off while shaking her head with a smile.
Most of the technicians had laughed it off, until an officer showed up and shouted at everyone for letting an untrained recruit come into contact with Systems Alliance property. He had been given a slap on the wrist and told to go somewhere else after that.
At that point, most of the people around had calmed down and he could sit in peace for five minutes without interruptions.
When finally the exercise was concluded, they were all shipped back and now here they were.
Most were still utterly exhausted, their time under the N-line cadets had been more than a simple walk in the park. The fighting had gone on for days, apparently with no end in sight until casualties mounted so high that the simulation ruled that a ceasefire had to be pursued. He hadn't really cared about the rest of the exercise, but apparently the communication relay's destruction had been a godsend and this year had gone considerably better than most.
"When I first saw you, I saw nothing but soft and useless whelps! But I knew you had potential. Potential to reach heights never seen before! I said to you on that first day that only once you have graduated to E7 will you be worth a damn in my eyes! Well, that has changed. I have been utterly and completely proven wrong and I have never felt prouder of that fact! My expectations for you were completely blown away! E7? Hah! Already we have some among us who will be joining the hallowed ranks of the N-school! You have done me proud, boys!"
Which of course meant that the brass wanted to make a speech. It wasn't a bad one, really. But the timing was entirety off.
Most of everyone gathered here just wanted a hot shower, warm food and a soft bunk to fall into. They didn't give a damn about any of this; not right now. Looking back, they might feel good and proud about what they had accomplished. But right now, they were simply annoyed at being held in formation while having to listen to a man talk for an hour.
"Which is why I have decided, that in honor of your hard work, that you must all be rewarded! Effort and results ought to always be followed by equal exultation and reward! So do I say!"
That finally got some people's attention, as they seemed to perk up and stand straighter again. Some had seemed to be already sleeping upright.
"This coming weekend, I shall be granting all of you two days of additional leave, for a total of four days starting tomorrow morning! Now, get yourselves in order, for the last thing in today's schedule shall be the pre-leave check ups! Tomorrow morning, you shall all be leaving, first thing. Therefore all preparations for leave will have to be completed by tonight! I do not want a single shirt out of order in your rooms! You have all earned this vacation and I intend to give it to you, but only so long as my beautiful facility is left in flawless order in your absence! That will be all, NCOs, handle the rest!"
With that the officer crisply saluted them with all the gusto he could muster, while staring proudly at the formation, and then he waddled off.
;
Emiya settled down onto his bunk.
All around him, recruits were organizing their cabinets and gear. A few hours from now, the NCOs would perform the final checks; noting that everything was squared away in their lockers by regulation. That meant everything they had been given and would not be wearing when they walked out would have to be visible and in proper condition. Essentially it was to keep control over gear. From making sure no one kept sweaty or wet clothes in their lockers, where it could mold and smell over the weekend, to making sure no one grabbed all of their apparel and took it off-base and then late requisitioned for more.
Apparently, some of the poorer soldiers at one time had made some side-money by stealing and selling their underwear on their leave and then asking for replacements. Which was why they now were expected to fold and have visible every article of clothing and gear that they had in their lockers. Including their underwear.
That people wore their clothes when they left and returned was also checked, but through omnitool scans for some measure of privacy.
Most of them had been expecting that they would have days until they had to worry about it, thus the sudden rush and craze. That they had their first leave soon had been widely known and talked about, but the additional two days had changed everything. Everyone was running around like headless chicken, trying to get their clothes dried and folded up in order as they packed up their belongings in a hurry.
Emiya always kept his locker in order and he didn't have any extraneous belongings to worry about, thus his relaxed state on top of his bunk. He was an island of peace in the middle of a storm of chaos.
Beside him, Shepard was struggling with trying to fold one of her exercise one-piece suits into the shape and dimensions necessary to make her locker presentable for the inspection later. She looked up at him, for the nth time that day.
He ignored her, keeping his eyes closed as he simply smirked.
She sighed, remembering his answer from earlier. 'I'm not your mother. The manual's right there, if you don't remember how to do it'.
Emiya continued to catnap, waiting for time to pass. At this point that was all he seemed to be doing. With most of their time in basic training done, soon enough they would all be shipped off to their next destinations.
It was plain to see on everyone. There was a sense of accomplishment and purpose to them, even through the rush and rumble of trying to get all of their gear in order.
Even so, their NCOs found time for lectures. They hadn't had any off-base free time, yet. So that they ought to behave despite being out was being drilled right into their skulls, repeatedly at every possible instance. Everything they did out of the Navy, even when not wearing a uniform, would reflect on the Systems Alliance Navy.
'No drugs. No alcohol. No doing anything stupid. If you think I'd make you do laps for it. Don't. Do. It. Gentlemen. If she says no, that's your cue to back off. You fail to understand that simple word? I will personally hang you by your balls. That goes for you too, Shepard. I'll find an extra pair, just for you if I have to.
'No touching Susie. I assume you all know who I mean by that. Understood? Good. You'll all be taking urine tests when you come back, so don't think you're going to be able to pull a fast one on us. And drinking floor cleaner does not fool the urine test, either. Don't try it, for fuck's sake. Fuck this up and I will skin each and every single one of you motherfuckers alive and wear you as a poncho. Understood?'
Personally, he had thought it a little much, but given some of the boasts and plans for the weekend he was hearing, he was sure that it had been entirely necessary and that none of it had sunk in into half of the people who needed to hear it.
Returning to base would be interesting, to say the least.
Cassani came walking up to them with his hands in his pockets as he approached. "Heya."
Shepard looked up, nodding her greeting to the man, as she went back to trying to fold her jumpsuit. Emiya opened his eye and looked at him, making his own greeting with a nod.
"So... uh... Whatcha guys thinking about doing on leave? I mean, for the first time in like... forever, we can just go do whatever!"
Shepard looked up at him. "Probably just gonna stay here. The NCOs were making such a fuss about me being a woman, saying I had to remain at all times with two others. Might as well stay here and just relax if it's such a huge deal. Why?"
"Well, the thing is, Rodriguez is being a little bitch right now, so he's ignoring me. So I thought, whether you guys might want to come hang out at my place. Well, I mean, it's my grandmother's place since I sold my apartment when I enlisted... But there's plenty of space and food. I could show you guys the city and stuff, yeah?" Cassani spoke, beginning to ramble.
Emiya blinked. It seemed that aside from each other, the two troublemakers hadn't really managed to make any friends among the recruits. They had that air of dismissive superiority that turned to passive annoyance and aggression when someone tried to talk to them.
They were just childish, in Emiya's mind. They'd grow up fine; there was nothing wrong with their personalities, so they would turn into fine adults sooner or later.
Shepard looked up, thinking about it. "Yeah, I guess. What about you, Emiya?"
He looked at her, considering it. Finally he shrugged. "Fine."
Cassani grinned at that. "Awesome! Yeah, it's gonna be great! Let's uh—you have any rides?" He turned thoughtful, considering something as he scratched his jaw.
Shepard shook her head while Emiya considered that, finally shaking his own head in the negative.
"Yeah, yeah! Okay, right. You should have enough money, since neither of you ever spends any of your credit on anything from what I can tell. After they let us out, just come find me and I'll get us squared, yeah?"
"Sure." Emiya shrugged.
"Yeah, okay. Mind helping me with this thing?" Shepard repeated, looking up as she raised the tangled jumpsuit and undoing all of her efforts so far in trying to fold it up nicely.
Cassani blinked, before raising his hands and laughing as he backed away.
"Nah, you keep that thing away from me. I've just used the one and kept the other two spares folded up the entire time so I don't need to think about them. Good luck, but I ain't touching another of those."
Shepard scowled, before considering what he had said, looking at her locker.
"No." Emiya said simply, having already closed his eyes again.
"What?" Shepard asked, looking up from her thoughts.
"You are not doing like that idiot and only wearing one suit. That's disgusting. I'll break into your locker and unravel all of your clothes if I have to, so don't even think about it." Emiya said.
She blinked before scowling at him. Though it looked more like a pout. Emiya smirked as he kept his eyes closed. "You'll have to learn all that stuff sooner or later, so you might as well learn it now."
"I hate you." She grumbled, throwing down the suit and going back to trying to fold it up. Cassani laughed and walked away, back to his own bunk.
;
They stood in a formation, just in front of the base gates. Mere minutes away from their leave. That did not mean that their NCOs let up at all, though.
"Repeat after me; I will not drink!" They repeated, some shouting, some in a normal voice and some only moving their lips as they rolled their eyes. "I will not partake in any use of drugs I do not have prescription for, be it for recreational purposes or otherwise!" They repeated again and again, everything that was spoken to them. This was the fifth time since they had been told they would be receiving prolonged leave, already.
"And if we have to send out the military police to bring you in, may God have mercy on your souls for I sure as hell will not! Now, dismissed!"
As one, the organized formation scattered in complete chaos. Recruits rushing for the gates and grouping up, finding their friends and buddying up.
Emiya and Shepard were no exceptions, finding Franco in the throng and walking up to him from behind.
"Freedom!" Cassani shouted, raising his hands up into the air. Behind him, Shepard and Emiya stared at him with blank eyes; judging him. He turned around as he noticed them, blinking at their reaction. "Come on, guys. Four days of shore leave? Why aren't you excited?"
"Well, four days is four days. I don't really get the difference." Shepard said, shrugging.
Emiya didn't bother to even say that much, simply looking around bored.
"Fine! Whatever, be like that. Come on. Follow me." Cassani huffed and began to lead them away.
Reaching a large shuttle, they bought tickets and entered. Shepard seemed fairly familiar with the idea, leaving Emiya as the sole odd man out. I guess it's public transportation. Like a bus. Cassani must live close by, then.
He nodded to himself at that, sitting down in one of the seats. It looked like bus—or an airplane—too. With that, he opened his omnitool and settled down to read while ignoring the surroundings. Finally, after an hour Cassani notified him that it was time to get off. Emiya closed the omnitool and closed his eyes to wait for the bus to stop.
Overall the whole trip had been rather pleasant.
As they exited the shuttle, Emiya blinked as he looked out. He had expected them to have traveled perhaps some hundred kilometers at most. Looking up at the sun's position and noting how long they had been traveling, he noted a dissonance with that.
That, and the distinct architecture ahead.
Emiya turned around to look at Cassani.
"This is Barcelona?"
"Uh... Yeah?" Cassani blinked at that, as if it had been obvious.
Emiya blinked, realizing they had gone around the globe in less than an hour. Suddenly, he felt foolish for not having looked out the window during the flight. Had they gone to orbit or had they flown through atmosphere that quickly?
"Alright then." He said, accepting that. With eezo, even if did not reach FTL-travel, incredible speeds were still commercially available and possible to use, he realized.
Somehow, he wasn't sure if that had made the world smaller or larger.
They took a cab after that; a regular four-wheeled car that ran on the ground. Even as technology and progress marched on, old methods did not always fall away entirely. Apparently in old cities such as these, flight was relatively restricted.
Something about upholding a public image and maintaining the heritage sites Cassani explained.
Which meant that just as they had in the 21st century, the streets of Barcelona were still jam-packed with cars and pedestrians. Time hadn't changed the city much, as the old buildings and streets had been preserved as faithfully as possible.
Having gotten most of the way, Cassani suggested walking the rest of the way and they agreed, paying the fare and hopping out.
Cassani seemed right at home, not noting anything unusual as he navigated the street and Emiya had been to old cities such as this many times before. But to Shepard it was obviously an entirely new experience.
Unlike many of the metropolises of the 22nd century, Barcelona was a very spread out city. A lot of the time, they could see either the beach and sea or many of the old churches and towering structures in the distance as they continued walking.
There was little rubbish and refuse on the streets and what little grime existed seemed more like patina than anything else.
Cassani re-assured them that it was only a little further several times, but Emiya could tell he was taking a roundabout route, where he could show off all the best sights. He tactfully did not say anything, choosing instead to maintain the relaxed mood.
The mood among those walking around was relaxed and laid back, the warm sun and refreshing sea breeze keeping everyone outdoors in an energetic but serene mood. It wasn't quite so hot that people grew lethargic and sought the refuge of shadows, thankfully. A side-effect of the sea wind probably. They passed street vendors and performers, which seemed like utterly alien existences to Shepard as she gawked, tried out some of the local food in one of the parks and looked at the various sculptures around as they kept walking.
Winged angels, prancing horses, beautiful women clad in flowing dresses, bare-chested men with flawless bodies; all had been captured in stone with precision and skill that even Emiya could admire without hesitation. To Shepard, it must have seemed magical, as she tried out all the things they had bought and stared at all the marble statues.
She particularly enjoyed the jamón ibérico, a local style of cured ham made from the local breeds of pig. Served in thin slices along with manchego cheese, she had to go back for seconds and thirds before they could pull her along to keep going.
After the long way around, they finally arrived at an old looking apartment block. Gray stone, some six stories tall and with a hundred tales to tell, just judging by the sounds of life and chaos they could hear from the steps.
Cassani grinned as he lead the way inside. "Watch out for kids; they'll run right into your knee if you're not careful."
Shepard blinked at that, only for a troupe of six kids to run through the hallway from one end to the other in two seconds flat. The sound of screeching and laughter echoed as they disappeared somewhere down the hall.
"Huh."
They continued up along the stairs—made out of wood and much narrower than in Brazil, with wrought iron rails, Shepard noted with fascination—until they made it to the third floor. There, they made it to an old wooden door that looked like it was older than all of them combined.
That was Emiya's honest and impressed appraisal of the oak door.
Cassani knocked on the door and stepped back. A long silent while passed, until finally the door was opened with a soft creak of dried hinges.
Inside a grumpy-looking, wrinkled little old lady stood, staring up at them through the haze of tobacco smoke, a cigarette in her hands. She glanced at each of them before settling on Cassani.
"Franco. I should have guessed. Your mother still won't let you back home for running off to play soldier-boy?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cassani laughed lightly at that. "Ahahah, grandma, you know me so well. Mind if we stay here for a few days? Me and my friends have leave and I wanted to show them the city."
Between words, he peeked at Shepard and Emiya who were both raising an eyebrow at him. He didn't tell anyone we were coming over? Perfect. I don't know what I expected of him.
The grandmother sighed and began to close the door as she turned away, Cassani leaping to put a foot in the door as he began to plead. "Grandmother, you can't just leave us out here!"
"It's warm. Find a park bench and hope the police don't come to bother you." She said curtly, taking her cane to prodding at Cassani's foot, looking for his toes so that she could cause enough pain to make him pull out.
"But, grandma... Look, we can't have a girl like her sleeping outside!" Cassani tried, this got the cane to stop. She opened the door again and peered at Shepard who suddenly seemed nervous at being the focus of the little old lady's attention.
"Uh... Hi?" She waved her hand, trying not to look away.
Grandma stared for several seconds, looking Shepard up and down as she squinted. Turning to her grandson, she asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"
Cassani blinked, licking his lips and hesitating for a moment.
She took this for all the answer she needed. "Good. She's too pretty for someone like you. Come in and close the door behind you."
He made a nervous little laughter at that, following her inside as he motioned for them to follow with a thumbs up. Neither looked impressed but they followed him in nonetheless.
;
Having found a place to sleep and letting Cassani drop his stuff, they decided to get back onto the city streets. Grandmother did not apparently care one whit as she sat down by a recliner and glared at anyone when they walked within her sight.
"Hey, don't you have... Anything else to wear?" Cassani asked, sheepishly looking at the two others. He had taken off his dress uniform, getting on something more casual and light for the rest of the day.
Shepard blinked, looking down at her dress uniform. It was a neat and presentable suit; all show and no comfort or practicality. Looking at Emiya who hadn't changed out of his clothes either, she frowned.
"No?"
Cassani paused at that, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something but did not know where to begin.
"Shopping it is, then." Emiya said shrugging.
Shepard started at that. "Why? I thought these would be fine?" Motioning at their uniforms.
"We'll be the centers' of attention wherever we go." Emiya countered and Shepard couldn't disagree; they had gotten a lot of looks on the way here.
"Fine. I guess." She shrugged and Cassani nodded, thinking for a moment before he lead them away.
"You guys should have plenty of cash, right? I mean I never see either of you buying anything. No sweets, no cigs, nothing." Cassani asked as he lead them away. Both merely shrugged at that, saying they didn't have anything they really wanted to ever buy. "Well, it's fine. Let's get you some clothes."
They entered a street boutique some blocks away, filled to the brim with colorful and light articles of clothing of all kinds. Shepard looked around with raised eyebrows, touching fabrics here and there as she became overwhelmed with the selection presented to her.
Emiya simply found a simple pair of beige trousers and a light gray dress-shirt, buying several pairs after haggling for a moment.
"You've had these in stock for well over three years; no one is buying them from you old man. Just let me take them off of your hands to save space for more popular styles of clothing. I'm practically doing you a favor here. 20 credits for the whole bunch."
"You wound me, sir! I have a family to feed; you can't do this to me. Ah, ah... Martina, I can see the light at the end... 50 credits, I can't go any lower, sir. Please..." The old shopkeeper seemed to swoon, and take support from a wall at Emiya's words, but strangely enough Shepard could spot the smiles on both of their faces.
They're playing a game, aren't they? She realized, before going back to try and find something she could see herself wearing.
She continued to look around, until finally Emiya got the deal he wanted as he came back wearing the light trousers and the gray shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top buttons undone, letting him enjoy the warm day fully without fear of sweating overmuch.
On his feet, he had flip-flop sandals and in his arms he had his uniform and other clothes folded neatly into a small bag. She blinked, noticing that he didn't look half bad.
"Huh, a little out of style, but not bad. How much?" Cassani asked.
"25 credits for all of it, plus sandals and..." Emiya began, reaching for a pocket and whipping out a pair of sunglasses and put them on with one hand, finishing with a smirk.
"Okay, that's pretty good. How about you Shepard? Found anything?" Cassani turned around and asked.
She made a nervous little laughter, not quite willing to tell she hadn't found anything yet. "No, umm... I don't think I like dresses very much."
"Huh? But it's the best season for them?" Cassani asked, looking out to the street where dozens of flowing skirts and dresses could be seen.
"It's just, I don't think they're very practical." She protested weakly.
"That's not true." Emiya stated, far more firmly than either would have expected. They turned to look at him, blinking. "Skirts and dresses are plenty practical. Depending on the cut, of course. But that's true for all clothes, really."
Shepard raised an eyebrow at him as Cassani blinked some more.
"Mind... elaborating on that?" Cassani asked.
"Well, you can run and kick just fine in a dress. If you get wounded, you have plenty of good gauze and bandaging material on hand. Usually the more costly fabrics work better, too. If you're worried about it getting caught in things, mini-skirts work well too. Well, they show a little bit too much leg for my liking, but each to themselves." Emiya finished weakly.
Shepard and Cassani looked at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking but afraid of asking it out aloud. Finally, Shepard decided to have the guts and just ask.
"And this is from... personal experience?" She seemed unsure as to how to approach the subject.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind." Cassani hastily added.
Emiya blinked, suddenly realizing what they were thinking even as Shepard seemed to be intently looking at his waist and legs. She's imagining what I would look like in a mini-skirt, isn't she?
"Second-hand experience." He clarified.
"Ooohhh..." Cassani nodded at that, seeming not entirely convinced.
Shepard meanwhile was simply staring at him, considering his words carefully. She looked back at the rows and rows of clothing arrayed in the store, in all colors and cuts.
"So... dresses are practical?" She still seemed skeptical.
"Sure. I mean with tight-fitting clothes like these or those, it would be difficult to hide a weapon, for example." He nodded at his own apparel and Cassani before he continued. "With a long dress you could hide an entire shotgun underneath it. Or hell, strap a shotgun to one leg and an assault rifle to the other. Even tight dresses allow for small weapons to be hid in easily reachable but difficult to search places, allowing for some surprisingly dangerous moves." Emiya said with a serious look, rubbing at a spot on his throat as if remembering an old scar.
"Personal... Experience?" Cassani asked again, peering at Emiya who seemed to realize what he had just said.
He cleared his throat, before looking away. "Second-hand experience."
Shepard shook her head. "Maybe later. I'll just get something comfortable for now."
Emiya shrugged, not entirely sure how they had gotten into this conversation in the first place now.
;
After the shopping trip, they had gone and thrown back their stuff and then set out again.
They had walked around all day; already the sun was beginning to dip into the sea. At Cassani's behest they had visited several more modern establishments, where the most advanced of omnitool and VI technology was being presented and sold.
At Shepard's request they had walked around and tried the various stalls of street food once they got hungry again. And finally, at Emiya's urging they had visited several sights in the city. The two others soon realized that he was apparently quite impressed with Antoni Gaudi's architecture after seeing the Sagrada Família up close.
It was a massive basilica; a cathedral that had taken lifetimes to build. Gaudi had reportedly answered to the question of what he thought about having designed a building that would not be completed in his lifetime, with 'my client is not in a hurry' as well. At least that was what they were told by a local guide.
No matter the case, it had been declared a UNESCO world heritage site long ago and faithfully kept in good condition.
Shepard had thought the massive basilica quite overwhelming and even a bit haunting, but Emiya had enjoyed the tour both outside and inside so immensely that they decided to go see some of the famous architect's other works in the city.
Strangely enough, he also seemed rather interested in the clergymen for a while as well, until all of his interest vanished after talking with them for a short while. They toured the city some more, until they finally decided to head back.
"Tomorrow we could go to the beach, or even take a cable car to Montjuic. The castella is pretty cool, too."
As Cassani had taken a key with him, they didn't have to knock this time.
As they entered, they could smell a strange scent in the air. They walked in, finding grandmother in the kitchen. She seemed to be preparing something, glancing up at them and giving them a nod and a grunt as a welcome.
"Ah, do you need help, grandmother?" Cassani asked as he leaned around the corner into the kitchen, as if he was afraid of actually entering without permission.
"Set the table. You're not good for much else."
Emiya looked in, considering the kitchen for a moment. Not saying anything, he simply looked on with crossed arms and furrowed brows.
She looked up, brandishing a knife at him as she shooed at him with the flat of the blade. "Go somewhere else, you big lug. Dinner will be ready when dinner is ready."
"May I assist? I'm not entirely unfamiliar with seafood." Emiya answered, lowering his arms.
She merely frowned at him, before shooing him away again with her knife. "Away with you."
Cassani leaned in, nodding at his grandmother. "She doesn't have an omnitool. So no translator, you know."
Shepard who had been sitting by the table to try and stay out of the way blinked at that. "So she hasn't understood a word we've said since we showed up?"
"It's fine, it's fine. She doesn't much care about other people." Cassani reassured her as he began to set down some glasses on the table.
Emiya considered that, before shrugging. "Can I help? Handle squid well. Sorry, I do not speak any Catalan."
She looked up at him, putting down the knife as she walked up to take a closer look at him. Under the glare—or perhaps over the glare, as she barely came to his chest in height—Emiya did not flinch as he waited for her answer.
Finally, after ten seconds of scowling, she nodded at him to come into the kitchen and shooed him at the knife she had been using before.
"You speak spanish?" Cassani asked, looking both impressed and confused.
Emiya smirked as he took up the knife and looked back. "Just a little. And yes, I understood most of what you said in the showers then, when you thought I wasn't wearing an omnitool."
Cassani laughed nervously at that. "A joke, man. I didn't really mean it—It was Rodriguez who started it, anyway!"
"Your mouth still writes checks it can't cash, Franco." Grandmother said, scowling at him again and he seemed to wilt at that.
Shepard laughed at that and Emiya had an amused glint in his eyes as he began to prepare dinner. He noted the knife's condition before he began to cut. Even after a break of over a century from cooking, it all came back when he wanted it to.
He smiled again as he began to cut.
;
Overall it was a pleasant fare, if a bit simple. As Cassani's grandmother settled for the night after telling them to keep it quiet, Emiya considered whether he should go shopping tomorrow. If he bought more materials, he could surely try out new and interesting cuisines as well.
They walked around the dinner table, preparing some churros for dessert.
"I didn't know you could cook." Shepard noted as she helped clear away the last of the dishes from the table.
"Why not? Eating is the basis for a healthy life, after all." Emiya answered, as he put loaded up the washing machine, receiving the plates from her.
"Well..." She hesitated.
"No, I'm curious about that, too. You were like... Skin and bones when you first showed up. Normally you wouldn't think someone like that had a chance to learn how to cook. No offense or anything." Cassani butted in.
Emiya started at that, straightening up as he looked at them with narrowed eyes.
Cassani pulled back, raising his hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's..." Emiya blinked. Then, as if considering how to admit it, he spoke; "I just forgot. I wasn't always on the streets."
Shepard looked up at that before nodding as she looked away. "Sometimes I forget, too. It's weird. The Navy kind of just... drowns you in itself, so much that you forget about everything else."
"Huh, I guess they do. The immersion is pretty deep. I guess that's why they don't let us out until the end of basic; to make sure we're at least mostly conditioned before they let us out of sight. Hell, I changed my clothes earlier and automatically tucked my shirt in my pants like regulation says, without even thinking about it. That was kind of scary..." Cassani added his bit to the conversation.
Emiya sighed, drying his hands. This topic was getting too heavy and it was straying into a direction he did not like. He had been revealing a little too much for comfort, now that he thought about it.
"I was thinking about going shopping tomorrow for some more foodstuffs and try to make something more. Would your grandmother object to something like that? I don't mean to take over the kitchen, or anything."
"Huh? Nah, as long as she gets decent food, she's fine with just sitting by in her chair and smoking all day."
"Hmm, well then, I'll ask her tomorrow just to be sure." Emiya confirmed.
"Should we be going to bed soon? It's getting pretty dark already?" Shepard asked, looking out through the open window.
Cassani shook his head. "Not unless you want to deal with jet lag. We're a couple hours ahead in time, so we should be really waking up at noon tomorrow, to keep the biological rhythm."
Shepard blinked at that, before realizing what he meant. "Oh, right. Timezones. So what are we gonna do now, then?"
"We could go clubbing?" Cassani suggested, grinning widely.
"Eh..." Shepard protested, not at all feeling enthusiastic about that.
"Come one, we could go dancing and have a good time, eh Emiya?" Cassani tried to find some support in Emiya who was nursing a cup of tea now.
"I don't dance." But Emiya's statement cut that attempt in the bud. "I think I'll just settle down and read for the evening. The moon is quite pleasant, tonight."
Shepard blinked, looking out the window and noting the pale orb in sky just rising for the night. Somehow, Emiya's gaze seemed peaceful and conflicted at the same time. She hesitated, wondering if she could bring up Mars and try again...
No, I can't do that. But maybe they won't let him go, either. Then we could... What am I thinking? She shook her head.
"I guess I'll go lie down. Don't really feel like anything right now. G'nite, both of you." Shepard said, standing up to leave. Emiya looked up and made eye-contact with her, before nodding.
"Good night."
;
Emiya inhaled.
Usually he took off his omnitool before going to bed, but for now he would need it. He wasn't sure what would happen once he went back to base, but it was good to prepare for the eventuality that things might not go his way.
He closed his eyes as he began to focus.
Within the hedge mage circles and among the freelancers in the moonlit world, had existed many tricks and useful cantrips that had been shared and sold around for anyone with the connections or coin for it.
One of those was a method for dispersing your consciousness, to fall into a deep sleep that was very near a coma. Favored among those who often visited battlefields, it was a good method for dispersing mental stress quickly and getting back into the fighting. The usual was that one could stay up for thirty or so hours and then fall unconscious for two and wake up mostly functional and continue for another thirty.
Of course, it did have its downsides. It did nothing to physical exhaustion, beyond the two hours rest itself, and during this state one could not be woken up at all. It would leave the user rather vulnerable, but many still favored it in shifts, allowing them to maintain vigilance while a portion of a group or squad rested.
Emiya had rarely had need for such techniques. His sleep had always been strange, ever since the fire. He did not dream so much as he remembered things from his past or visited that realm within himself. If he wanted to sleep for just two hours and function mostly fine the next day, then he would simply sleep for two hours and wake up when he needed to.
His usual day, even before setting out on his quest, had been one that allowed very little sleep. He would train his magic for several hours after it got dark, often well past midnight. Then, each and every morning, he would wake up at sunrise to make breakfast.
Such a rest cycle often left him with less than five hours of sleep every night, yet it never seemed to slow him down much.
There wasn't even a need for an alarm clock; it was simply a matter of acknowledging that he had to wake up at a certain time, before he went to sleep and the rest took care of itself. Emiya felt that there was a certain weakness; a degeneracy to relying on such things, actually.
But right now, he would doing something a little different. Usually during his time in training, he would let himself fall either unconscious or perform breathing techniques for the whole night, making sure to take off his omnitool in case it kept unwanted records of his nightly activities.
Now however, that was exactly what he wanted. He had looked into it and he was fairly certain that their omnitools did in fact keep a constant record of their bodily functions. Which sort of negates the necessity of the urine test they threatened us with, he thought as he began to feel himself falling into an unconsciousness that resembled sleep.
Two hours passed and he began to feel his conscious mind returning.
He began to control his breathing; subtly and slowly raising it. He began to heat up his body, raise his heart rate and slowly his blood pressure as well. He raised it to levels where his body was sweating, as if he was running for his life.
Then he gasped, kicking off the blanket and jumping out of bed as he gasped for breath.
His bed was soaked; his heart was hammering so powerfully that he could feel it all the way in his head. His eyes felt like they were covered in sand and the sound of rushing water was in his ears. Without using the actual effective methods through breathing control, he slowly calmed himself down, until he took off the omnitool.
Night one, three more to go. He thought as he got up and went to take a shower. He would also wash the sweat-stained bed sheets; it was the least he could do after all of this. He might as well clean up the place while he was up.
There was a trick to cleaning new places; you didn't want to affect anything that could annoy the owners, so you had to sort of read how everything was organized and understand the person. It was actually rather similar to his Structural Analysis, in a sense.
You could tell a lot about a person's room. Even more if you could see their entire home. Cassani's grandmother was certainly a little grouchy, but going by the pictures adorning each wall of the house, it was obvious she had lived and loved a long and happy life. He guessed her annoyance mostly stemmed from her weakening body and inability to continue living as she had before along with the fact that most of her offspring seemed too busy to visit her.
Which meant he ought to be subtle about his housework. She took pride in it, he reasoned.
He could do that. Keep her from realizing until days after they left that someone had cleaned. Walking along the steps others tread was something of a specialty of his, after all.
"Might as well go buy some foodstuffs for breakfast later as well. Or lunch, as it will be." He nodded to himself.
Time seemed to go by in a blur, as he handled everything he set out to do in a quiet manner. His old home had been an old Japanese manor with its own charms and challenges, so he enjoyed learning about other old households. They each had their own charms and challenges as well, which made for interesting work.
Before he knew it, dawn came and he was offering breakfast to Cassani's grandmother. She frowned at him, but did not complain at the food he presented her.
A few hours later, Shepard woke up and Cassani soon followed after.
"Heya, good morning, or rather noon—Whoa, who made breakfast? Or is that lunch? Brunch?" Cassani asked as he entered the dining room.
"Guess." Shepard said, looking up as she munched on some baby squid with fried eggs. She had been skeptical about it at first, but now she had to admit it was delicious.
"Sit down. There's fresh orange juice and food. I went for a walk, so I borrowed your key. I hope you don't mind. It's by the table there." Emiya said, popping his head around the corner from the kitchen.
"Uh... No problem. Didn't even hear you." Cassani said, blinking.
Shepard huffed. "Well I sure heard you. You snore like a truck."
"Heheh, sorry about that." Cassani grinned in a manner that told he was anything but.
"I was thinking about taking another trip to the Sagrada Família. And to check out some of the other Gaudi sites." Emiya said.
"Huh, again? What about the beach? Or taking the cable cars?" Cassani whined.
Emiya shrugged. "Maybe later. You can go without me, if you want."
"We can go to the cathedral again, sure." Shepard answered, before Cassani could ask her.
"...Are you sure you don't want to go to the beach? It's pretty nice."
"Eh, it's fine. The beach can wait, you won't." She shrugged.
He licked his lips then, as Cassani looked at the two not quite following the conversation. He threw up his hands, shaking his head and muttered something about going to the tech-store himself alone, then.
"Yeah, alright. Let's go after, then." Emiya compromised and Shepard smirked at him. He figured he might as well do as she wanted, even if her attempts at subterfuge were paper thin.
He'd be gone soon enough, anyhow.
;
"So are you Christian?"
Emiya looked down at Shepard. He had been admiring the vaulted stone ceiling of the church they had found. Each stone here told him a story; a lifetime. It was actually rather fascinating. Most of his progress in the field of magic had come in places that rarely had enough historical sites like this for him to really try it.
Certainly, he found an occasional statue or wall in the deserts, but given that those who he had been fighting at the time had been going around and smashing such things, he rarely had the time to fully analyze or look into them.
"Not really. I had some... acquaintances who were Catholic, however." Emiya replied as he turned to look at the hooded sisters walking down the street, some dozens of meters away.
"Were you close?" She asked, tilting her head at him.
He hesitated, before sighing.
"Not really. With a few, sure. But mostly I worked together with some of them and... fought occasionally. I wasn't really friends with most of them." He admitted.
"Tell me about them?"
Emiya looked at her then. Was there any harm in telling her? It had been from his life. His 'first' life. But then, he could just keep it vague enough that it wouldn't matter.
"I had a friend and mentor who was Christian, but she was more of the 'I'll appear faithful when it's useful'-type, than a real believer. The only thing she really believed in was money and personal ability, I think."
Shepard blinked. "She sounds like a real character."
Emiya huffed, letting a small smirk. "Yeah, she was. We didn't stick together for long. A fundamental difference of values, I think. We parted ways rather early on."
"Difference of values?" Shepard repeated, not quite sure what he meant.
Emiya shrugged. "She said she believed in ruthlessly winning by any means necessary, even as there was a contradictory kinder side to her. I'm something of a pacifist, really. So we had some arguments and we parted eventually without reconciling those differences."
Shepard laughed at that, ignoring his look. Considering all that they had done, there seemed to be a rather poignant irony to him calling himself a pacifist.
"Do you miss her?" Shepard asked, she could see he had liked that person.
"Hmm. Who knows. I hadn't thought about her in... forever, so I can't honestly say I do. But I do think back on those times rather fondly." He turned to look at her. "How about you? Any friends you left behind?"
She blinked at that. "Umm, not really. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry..."
"Heh, as long as you realize you're doing it."
Shepard smiled at that, as he continued walking. They went through narrow streets and wide open plazas.
Trying out the street food, they compared the tapas and jamón from this vendor and that stall, debating the merits of each.
"The second was a rather curious man. I still don't think I fully get him, but if pressed to say what I thought of him, I would say that I despised him while still finding him fascinating. He was also the earlier friend's guardian, due to some deaths in the family. A rather sordid affair, that."
Shepard blinked and paused, before realizing Emiya was continuing where they had left off earlier. She hurried to keep pace with him, wanting to keep listening.
"I ended up having a fist fight with the guy at one point. Never saw him after that." Emiya continued talking, making sure that what he said was technically true, at least. "Well, some months later his daughter showed up and started hounding me. Prickly one that."
"Another girl?" Shepard asked, frowning at him.
"Hmm? Yeah, daughter, like I said." He said, blinking at her.
"Never mind. What was she like?"
"A real weirdo. A sadist and masochist all in one; a heart of gold but with a tongue like a thorned whip. Just like her father, she enjoyed needling people with their deepest darkest thoughts, though the motivations between them were vastly different, I think." Emiya shook his head, smiling ruefully. "We didn't spend a lot of time together, but it was still something of a friendship. I think she saw me as a lost cause, but still wanted to do something about me."
He shrugged.
They continued walking, making it to the boardwalk adjacent to the beach. Neither had bothered to acquire any swim wear, so they simply sat down in the shade beneath a tree and looked out.
"Huh, looks way different than I remember."
"Yeah, the sea is everywhere, but it's always different. I wonder if space is like that, too." Emiya mused.
Shepard looked at Emiya again, frowning at what he said. He would keep dropping hints like that; that he had seen many beaches before. But that didn't make any sense, given who he was. Who she distinctly remembered seeing the first time.
Was he lying to her? No, she couldn't believe that. She realized he wasn't telling her the whole truth, but she hesitated. Could she just ask? Straight up and without holding back?
She sighed, shaking her head and looking back out at the sea. She just had to accept that he was mysterious like that.
"There was one more, but that was mostly a working relationship."
"Hmm?" Shepard looked up.
"Then again, I guess she was my last friend all things considered." He made a little laugh at that, yet it didn't sound happy. Not at all. More like grim amused. She didn't like the sound of him, then.
"...Last friend?" She asked.
"Mm, most others left me before that. She was really the last honest friend I had. She was an extreme, like that. In a lot of other ways, too. She was something of a... missionary. Traveling the world and solving problems wherever she went. She really liked some of the food I'd made, too. She said I made the best curry she had had in ages." He shook his head. He remembered a shroud; something he had received a long time ago.
'You may be an gullible fool, Shirou... But, that's not a bad thing really. The world could use more people like you, to be honest. Well, they tend to die for a reason. I hope this will stave off that for a few years, at least. Wear it while remembering who you are, always.'
Emiya huffed at that memory. She had loved to lecture him, treating him as something like an underclassman and showing him the ropes when they worked together.
"Sorry, didn't mean to talk about inane things. Just airing my thoughts, a little."
"No, it's fine. I didn't mind." She said. "It's interesting, actually."
"Hmph, well I'm glad my life is that, if nothing else." He groused, standing up. "Let's head back. We can loop around by the open markets before they close down for the day and get something to eat for tonight."
"Sure. Wanna race?" She asked, raising a challenging eyebrow at him.
He huffed in amusement, shrugging at her in defeat. "The stand with the chocolate dip churros?"
She nodded and he took that as his starting signal, dashing off.
Behind him, he could hear her shouting about that being cheating.
;
Before they knew it, leave came to an end.
They did just about everything, taking the time to visit the castella on Monjuic and returning to the boardwalk to lie around on the beach. None of them had bought swimsuits, so they didn't bother swimming. Emiya had suggested teaching Shepard how to swim, but she had apparently already known how to.
Something of a surprise, that.
But even with Cassani's insistence, none had felt like going to buy swimwear and taking a dip.
But though four days was a long leave on paper, in practice the days seemed to go by in a blur. Emiya visited several of the churches in Barcelona, making a point to take routes that would take them by various food vendors, open air markets and other notable locations. They tried out all the dishes they could find, blowing a month's wages from their basic on nothing but food in just two days.
Cassani's grandmother glared at Emiya once she realized he had been doing far more than she had realized at the house, but had found nothing to complain about so ultimately she hadn't made a fuss about it. Cassani himself had gone over to talk to some of his relatives, leaving them for one day alone to relax.
Still, on the fourth day they began to prepare for their return to base.
By six in the evening—base time—they had returned and reported in. After that, they still had some free time left for the evening so they settled back into routine and waited for the day to end.
As more and more people trickled in, it became somewhat obvious that not all had listened much if at all to what the NCOs had been saying. Many looked quite hung over, others still swayed in their steps as they settled down in their bunks.
More than one had apparently smuggled in pizza in their pockets, slowly and silently suffering as they ate away at the cold and greasy food.
Tomorrow, according to schedule, they would be beginning to conduct interviews and processing where everyone would be going afterwards. They had already filled some quizzes before the final exercise, but those were mostly general questionnaires rather than anything binding.
But Emiya guessed a good portion of that might be pushed back for doling out punishments for those who had obviously been having too much fun on their leave. Rumor had it that the Military Police had had to pick up more than one recruit from some local jail around the planet.
Emiya actually felt it was the brass' fault, for letting everyone out so soon.
Letting them out into the wild immediately after the Shanxi-exercise was just asking for this kind of chaos. Drained and tired from the fighting, any and all thoughts of restraint would be so weakened that the results were obvious, really. He would have liked to say that it wasn't his problem, but given that he would be standing in formation while someone shouted at them for an hour tomorrow, he knew that wasn't true.
Well, hopefully it would not push back the other schedules too much. Then again, the longer he had to wait for his interviews, the more he could pile up 'sleepless nights' to use. Hopefully he would not have to, but he had no faith in that right now.
The system was based on a credit system where you could apply for different lines. The higher your credit, the higher priority you received for that line. This was to keep recruits motivated, so that in theory the best suited and interested could apply for the positions they were most needed in. In theory, nothing should have prevented Emiya from getting to Mars just as he wanted, but he still had his doubts.
Which was why he was once again waking up, covered in sweat and panting as he rolled out of bed. He had repeated his two hours of troubled sleep-trick every night and so far nothing had gone wrong.
He breathed heavily, enjoying the cool floor as his burning body calmed down slowly. His head pounded in sync with his heart, as he felt like blood would pour out of his eyes any minute now. This time I went a little bit too far... He glanced at the omnitool on his wrist; it was his trump card once things came to a head.
Replicating the effects of those nights, back when he was a child and still vividly remembered the fire, wasn't entirely too difficult. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding his adopted father, to ask for some sleep medicine.
They'd sat and talked in the middle of the night, staring up at the moon often in silent hours.
"...Emiya?"
He looked up, cursing in his mind as he stood up. He had thought he had been quiet enough; back in Barcelona no one had noticed a thing. "Sorry, Shepard. Didn't mean to wake you."
She sat up, staring at him with furrowed brows. Even in the darkness, it was obvious that he was soaking wet from sweat.
"Are you okay?" She finally asked as she got out of her bunk. Before he could say anything, she placed a hand on his forehead, he could see a frown on her face. "...You're burning up."
"Yeah, just woke up. It's fine. I'll go take a shower and then go back to sleep, so don't worry about me." Emiya said, standing up straight and exhaling slowly. He felt woozy, but that was to be expected.
It would pass.
He turned to his locker and began to take out the things he would need, while Shepard peered at him in the dark. As he turned to leave...
"Emiya."
He paused, not turning around. He inhaled, turning around to look at her with a relaxed look. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"I... Okay. It's nothing. Never mind." She whispered after a moment.
"Alright." Emiya said, leaving. For a moment there, he wondered what he would have said if she hadn't hesitated at the last moment.
;
Emiya let the recruit walk past him, noting the smile on his face as he walked out. Obviously he had gotten the posting he had wanted. Emiya hoped he would have similar luck.
"Next!"
Hearing the shout from inside, he walked in. He was the next in line and all. Closing the door behind him he walked up and saluted before settling at-attention before the desk. Four of the instructors sat there, all looking through various files on their omnitools and datapads.
"Serviceman Emiya, good to see you. Have a seat." One of them offered and Emiya obliged.
It seemed like a courtesy, but he found it amusing how the desk hid that they were sitting on taller chairs than he was. It would make them seem taller than him. With this, he would be sitting alone in a bare room and looking at four people who all had been ordering him around for the entirety of his stay at basic. For most recruits, facing a situation like this when they had mostly been with one or two instructors at a time and often hidden in a group, it would be a rather nerve-wracking experience.
The constant power play tactics were beginning to grow a bit annoying, Emiya felt.
In theory, he was allowed to choose where he would serve as his next posting, but it remained to be seen what practice was.
"Well then, it says here that you want to apply for..." The female instructor who had been the one teaching them trigger discipline and walking around with guns said, as she looked up at him. "The Technician vocational line over at Mars..."
"Haha, I'm sure we can cross that over for now. I'm sure you've re-considered your prospects since then. It is fine and good to be humble, but to underplay your own ability is no good either. After all, with your invitation to the N-school, all of this is just a formality—"
"Actually sir, I'd still like to apply for the G-line." Emiya cut in, keeping his voice neutral, injecting just a touch of nervousness.
The room went silent, as all four instructors blinked at him and then looked at each other.
They hesitated for only a moment before continuing.
"I'm afraid that is not possible, Serviceman. With your performance report and the recommendation of the N-school recruiter, at this point in time you will be going to the Villa. Having someone of your talent and ability apply for Mars of all places? No, that would simply be impossible." The oldest among them, who had mostly remained as a technical instructor spoke. "Looking at what you achieved in a few hours in Brazil; seeing your resourcefulness and outside the box-thinking, we could not in good faith let you go to waste at such a place."
Emiya kept his face carefully controlled, even as he mentally sighed. As expected. You want to play? Fine, let's play.
"But sir, I do not want to go to N-school. I've wanted to go to Mars since I first enlisted." Emiya objected, keeping it just a tad above a whine.
"It is admirable that you knew from the beginning what you wanted to do, but I do not seen any reason for the Navy to throw away a man of your capabilities on such a posting."
Emiya gave his final objection. "But sir, on the the enlistment contract the method was outlined as per page—"
"I am aware of the contract, however as per paragraph two-hundred thirty six, sub-section three, when the special forces are concerned the general enlistment protocols are exchanged for contract six-C standards, which was stipulated in your contract." He continued despite Emiya's attempt at an objection.
Emiya hadn't actually known that, since he hadn't been able to read all the fine print documents after the first level of attached documents. It wasn't a matter of him not being given access to it, but simply the fact that they threw so much paperwork at him that he hadn't even been aware of the possibility.
The enlistment contract was not simply a single piece of paper; it was an incredibly dense and well-packed network of documents and attaches, of which it would be impossible to gain an understanding in short order. This was how organizations like this operated; with enough bureaucracy, red tape and filibustering they could get what they wanted, since they set the rules for the engagement. With centuries of time, Earth's militaries had refined such practices, until there was nothing an individual could be do about it.
In fact, he felt that this was a perfect showcase of how blue teams and red teams respectively functioned, mentality-wise. The concept was at this point rather old, but in his time it had been the modern standard. The Alliance Navy was a large organization; it had the money, manpower and time to prepare for most every eventuality.
Such as this; a recruit who felt less than giddy about being railroaded into serving in the special forces. The Navy needed and wanted all those it could find to at least try, which meant that as long as there was a chance of him accepting this set of events and then perhaps even staying in the N-program, they had won.
If he went in and then failed to meet the standards somewhere down the line, that was another thing entirely. For the four instructors in front of him, that wasn't their problem; it was the problem of whoever had to deal with Emiya down the line. That was the power of manpower; specialists could handle almost every eventuality.
Just for this eventuality, they were willing to prepare and position themselves so that he would have no option but to accept. The paperwork had all been prepared for these kinds of events decades prior; the instructors knew how to handle these kinds of objections; the system was in place to swallow up the individual and turn them into a useful part of the system.
But that did not mean that he as the red team could not win. As an individual, he had many advantages that they lacked.
He could adapt quickly and freely, without having to worry about being bound down by other things. He could plan and enact tactics that they could not. He did not have to worry about his plans and methods being leaked out. He had read up on how the Alliance Navy strong-armed enlisted personnel.
They could not do the same to him.
"I—I wasn't told about this...!" He added a little crack to his voice, intentionally forgetting the 'sir' as he began to increase his breathing.
They had him cornered as far as the situation went. But that was fine; he still had arrows left in his quiver to loose. Already he could feel the pins and needles-sensation in his legs and the cramping in his stomach.
"If you wish to contact a military lawyer to consult about this, it can be arranged." The female instructor cut in, attempting to sound placating. But Emiya knew that would achieve nothing. As long as he played by the rules, he would lose.
Placate.
"But I think you should think this over, Serviceman. Getting a crack at the N-school is a great honor. In fact, I think we could arrange for you to be assigned directly under Lieutenant Commander Burnsfeldt, since you have shown such a great interest in tech." The oldest instructor spoke again, tapping at his omnitool.
Negotiate.
"Yes, that would be similar enough to the G-line, wouldn't it? Only, with better pay, better healthcare and advancement options. Humanity honestly needs people like you. You've the potential to go far and the Alliance would certainly help you with anything you want to accomplish along the way. With just ten years of service, you could—"
Distract.
They had all the tactics down for this game. So that meant he shouldn't be playing it at all; he should simply flip the table and change the game entirely. Emiya felt the level of oxygen in his blood rising; now was the time to act. Hypocapnia was nigh.
"No! No! I can't... I can't go back! I—" He stood up, jerking right up as he shouted. Combined with his heightened blood oxygen levels, the effects were immediate.
He blacked out instantly.
Or well, his brain did anyhow.
Somewhere inside, he still felt his consciousness existing and keeping track of everything going on. It wasn't like sleeping, where his attention was turned elsewhere as the brain handled the information gathered during the day and organized it while resting. This was more like having his screen go black, while everything else still continued working.
He hadn't ever personally done anything like it, but he had occasionally seen some of his schoolmates try to get an oxygen high through Hypocapnia. They called it the fainting game. By crouching down and breathing rapidly for thirty seconds and then suddenly rising up straight, the level of carbon dioxide in their blood would fall so low that the brain could not get enough oxygen, causing a blackout.
This happened due to the elevated affinity of oxygen to hemoglobin, the Bohr effect in other words.
The trick was to make it seem natural, hence his shaken up and angry act.
"Serviceman!" One of the instructors shouted, getting up from their chair. "Serviceman! What is the meaning off..."
Someone rushed to his side, raising him up as he had fallen over. They raised his face, opening his eyelids to look at his pupils.
"Get him to the doctor! Right now!"
He was carried on a stretcher; he could roughly guess where they were going, even through the haze of his brain slowly waking up. He'd gone there before himself, after all. He remembered getting Shepard that ice pack, again. They were heading for the infirmary.
They laid him on a bed and a person began to touch his wrist and neck, taking scans with an omnitool before turning around to talk to someone else, some meters away from where Emiya had been lain down.
"It was just hyperventilation. A panic attack, I think." A new voice said, one which Emiya recognized as the base doctor as the rest of his senses began to return slowly. Blackouts like this usually did not last long, as natural breathing restored the body to a natural state, allowing the brain to recover. "What exactly happened?"
"We were in the middle of conducting the interviews when he suddenly became erratic and then stood up, before falling over. I don't know what happened." One of the instructors spoke. It appeared more than one was present, as they made their murmurs of assent known.
"Well, that's unusual. What were you talking about?"
"We were merely discussing his prospects for joining the N-school. He was objecting, but we didn't think it was anything serious..."
The doctor made a sound of understanding and the sound of an omnitool being turned on was faintly audible. "Hmm, well, I'll just take a look at his biological outputs in the last..."
The doctor went silent, as there was a pregnant pause. Then suddenly, his fingers began to move like crazy as he began to investigate what he was seeing on his omnitool more thoroughly.
"What exactly have you been making this recruit do?" He ground out suddenly, with vehemence that made even the instructors take a step back.
"We have not—What are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? His records are all over the place! Look at this! He hasn't slept more than seven hours in the past five days! He's been suffering panic attacks every night! What the hell have you made him do?!"
"But... But, the recruits were on leave, we haven't..." Someone tried to protest.
"Shit... The Shanxi-exercise?"
"But he did so well? I saw the footage."
"That doesn't mean he couldn't have taken it poorly."
"Poorly is putting it lightly. For God's sake, the man has nearly been going into cardiac arrest every night for several days in a row, now!" The doctor spoke in a tone of voice that was close to a growl. "I don't know what the hell you have been doing, but I will be making a note of this in the reports. I have seen thousands of recruits through basic and I've never seen anything like this before."
"Well, that's..."
"And I will be taking him off all combat rosters for the foreseeable future, effective immediately. This man should be seeing a therapist, not being heckled to join the special forces of all places! Do you people have nothing inside those heads of yours or are they there just to hold the jars you call helmets?! Well?"
Emiya almost smirked then as the doctor continued to chew them all out, loudly, for the next ten minutes.
He had given them the possibility of letting him go to Mars, twice. But they had played themselves into this mess. The doctor's word would weigh heavily on them; giving a recruit shellshock was not something anyone would want on their record.
Especially someone who had been seemingly slated for N-school, days prior.
Check and mate; Mars it is.
;
MAJOR KUDOS to PseudoSteak & shadyxlr & Zantakio & Tactical Tunic for proofreading and helping out.
Just watched Presage Flower. Was pretty awesome; hit all the right notes. Except for Sakura. Before I began to write this story, I thought around about what kind of ME cross I'd like to do. One of the prospective ideas I had was Shirou, Sakura and Rider hopping onto an earlier Manswell Expedition and settling in Alpha Centauri. It had potential, but now I'm glad I didn't write it, because the movie managed to sour me on Sakura all over again. Hope the last movie manages to make me like her again.
