AN: Giving this frequent updates with shorter chapters thing a try! Seems like it might be a good idea after the giant update of the last 3 chapters. Lemmie know if I'm swinging too far in the opposite direction. Doing some experimenting with narrative structure as well.

Marie centered her phone's view on the gaggle of students outside the window and took a picture. She studied the output.

'Not bad. Good lighting, lines are clean. This one's a keeper.'

Four days had passed since what the students were now calling 'the Blackout,' and things on the module were more-or-less back to normal- -other than one detail. Marie found herself sighing wistfully as she gazed out the window of her office. Sakimori's lush green lawns were gone, replaced by expanses of gloomy black and brown. The carefully horticultured trees had all shed their leaves and their bare branches looked as if the module's climate-controlled winter had come early. Again.

'Might as well set the module to winter mode, the snow would look better than all that dead grass...'

Rather than taking such a drastic step, a few students had decided to replant the flowerbeds around the school so there would be at least some spot of color. They were outside Marie's window now, digging shallow holes and carefully positioning seedlings and bulbs donated by ARUS. And amongst them was a boy with a face prettier than any flower.

Marie felt herself blushing as she gazed at the Dorssian in the short-sleeved shirt. He'd set aside his crutch for the moment, sitting by the box which held the seedlings and passing them out to others to plant. His hair was a little ragged, but it was the perfect shade of pale lavender to set off his pale skin and violet eye. His nose was sharp and aristocratic, and his mouth (currently set in a smile from something one of the students said) wide and expressive. The line of his chin was delicate, almost feminine, but there was nothing womanly about the width of his shoulders or the lean muscle of his arms. A near-perfect picture. If there was one element which threw the composition off, it was the black eyepatch which covered his left eye- -but even then, it added a aura of bad boy mystique.

'If he lost that weird braid, and had his hair a little shorter, he'd make a ten out of ten shot. Yum.'

Marie took a picture of the Dorssian. And then another, mildly annoyed when one of the girls clustering around him got in the way. Audrey (she'd heard the name from other students) had become something of a hero since fighting on the students' side during the Blackout, and his good looks had made him an instant hit among the module's female population. And unlike the sour-faced L-Elf (who was admittedly good-looking in his own way), Audrey behaved like a normal human being, so enjoyed a level of popularity that the first Dorssian defector never had.

'Now if only those hussies would quit blocking my shot!'

There came a knock at her door, and Marie lowered her phone. It looked like Audrey's photo session would have to wait. "Come in!" She called.

The door opened to admit Midori-chan. Marie frowned. Midori-chan was usually pretty upbeat, but today her eyes were downcast, and her hands were fidgeting at her sides. "Midori-chan? What's wrong?"

"Hey, Marie-chan..." Midori-chan greeted her as she took a seat. "I, uhm... I was wondering... could I ask you a personal question?"

Marie hadn't expected that. She didn't much like to talk about her private affairs, except maybe only with Shoko, and even then only sparingly. But then, Midori-chan looked so troubled... "I guess so."

"Well, I, uhm, I heard these rumors about you a while back... just rumors, you know. And I didn't want to ask you about it, cause, you know, just in case. And it'd be rude besides... but something happened to me lately, and I thought that you might be able to..." Midori-chan trailed off, staring nervously at Marie's face.

Marie realized she was gazing dispassionately again, and forced herself to adopt a more concerned expression. "You can ask."

"Is... is it true you have amnesia?"

"Yes," Marie said flatly.

"Oh. Uhm... can I ask how, how bad-"

"Nothing before fifteen years old. The first thing I remember is the Welcoming Ceremony from my first year here. I was standing in the crowd with no idea how I got there or who I was. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I, uhm..." Midori-chan's voice lowered to a whisper. "I haven't told anyone else this, but I can't remember anything from before when I was six years old..."

Marie's eyes flew wide open.

"The worst part of it is, I know I used to remember. It's like someone just reached into my head and sucked the memories right out," Midori-chan went on. "And something else, too. I don't remember anything about this 'Blackout' everyone keeps talking about."

Marie felt a faint hope stirring to life. "Not at all?"

"Nothing at all," Midori-chan confirmed. "The last thing I remember is... walking. I was outside, I think. Then I'm in the hallway on the second floor, by B-2, and it's half the day later and everyone's telling me about this huge crisis we went through."

"I heard you'd gotten lost but found a flight suit or something?"

"I guess so, but I don't remember that either. I only heard about it from other people, like a day later."

"So you're missing those two episodes?" Marie asked, trying to hide the eagerness in her voice. "Anything else?"

"That's it, I guess," Midori-chan said. "I mean, that's all I think there is, anyway. Not like I can really remember if I'm not remembering something... I was wondering, uh, I mean, I don't know if there's anything you could do, but if you could help-"

"Lemmie see your hands," Marie said.

"My hands?"

"Yeah, lemmie see em."

Midori-chan slowly stuck her hands out, wincing as Marie grabbed onto them. "Ow! Marie-chan, you're hurting me! Leggo!" She tried to pull away.

Marie ignored her, tightening her grip until Midori-chan gave up and stopped struggling. She examined the skin of the other girl's hands carefully, turning them to get a good look.

'After all this time, have I finally found someone else like me?'

No, almost immediately she could see it wasn't true. There were minor imperfections in the skin of Midori-chan's fingers. A discolored splotch on her right middle finger, just below the nail. A hangnail on her left ringfinger. There were a pair of matched circular scabs on the meaty base of her left thumb, and an odd fading circular bruise on her right wrist. Marie let go of the other girl's hands, disappointed.

Midori-chan rubbed her hands. "What was that about?"

"I don't think you have the same kind of amnesia as me." Marie said.

"Huh? There's different kinds of amnesia?"

"I just mean we're not-" Marie stopped. Disappointment aside, she clearly remembered the shattering disorientation of her earlier days. Midori-chan's amnesia may be the normal kind, and she wasn't missing as much time as Marie, but the things she was feeling now were surely the same. "Maybe you were deprived of oxygen during the Blackout and it caused brain damage, and that's why you can't remember."

"Brain damage?" Midori-chan's hand flew to her temple. "Please, no! You really think that I have...?"

"Sorry. It's just a theory." Marie said. "I can't help you regain your memories..." She smiled wryly at Midori-chan. "If I could, I wouldn't be an amnesiac. But there's something important for people in our position. Something that can help."

"What is it?"

"It's best to look ahead, instead of looking back. Even if we lose our memories, we can always make new ones."

"But... what about my childhood? The time with my family? All those moments, they're irreplaceable..."

"At least you still know who your family and friends are. They're still alive, aren't they?"

"Yeah..." Midori-chan nodded. "But my family's all back on the sphere. And with the war..."

"The war will end!" Marie said. "Look forward, remember? You'll see your family again!"

"Look forward! Right!" Midori-chan nodded, a determined look on her face.

"Something more practical." Marie said, "Get into photography! Whenever something important happens, take a picture of it! Keep a journal, and write down everything about the pictures you take. Buy hard drives and back everything up in triplicate! So even if this-" She pointed at her own head. "-fails you again-" She held up her phone. "-this won't."

"Thanks, Marie-chan..."

"No problem."

"So, uhm." Midori-chan stood up. "Would you like to eat lunch together?"

"Sure." Marie checked the clock. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria in half an hour?"

"Okay." Midori-chan headed out the door. "See you then!"

As the door closed behind Midori-chan, Marie put down her phone and looked at her own fingers. Unlike Midori-chan's hands, her own digits were flawless: no cuts or bruises, no marks, not even a spot of dry skin.

It hadn't taken long for her to realize that she was different from everyone else at Sakimori. Apart from the amnesia, she had some kind of healing factor. Like everyone else, she picked up her share of bruises and cuts from everyday life, the odd paper cut or bump on the shin. But unlike everyone else, her injuries disappeared within seconds.

She'd had enough knowledge despite the amnesia to understand that this wasn't normal, and so she'd hidden it away from everyone else, even Shoko. Back when Marie was a first-year, she'd been lucky enough to not have a roommate, and nighttimes became the time for experimentation, morbidly picking away at her own flesh to see how far the healing thing went. One night, driven by her dark obsession, she'd gone far enough to-

The blades of the pruning shears were cold against her skin, rasping back and forth slightly as her hands trembled. Gritting her teeth, she forced the shears closed as quickly as she could. She was unprepared for the white burst of pain that shot up her arm, or the spurt of blood that left crimson droplets spattered across the bathroom mirror. The severed first joint of her pinky fell into the sink, and she dropped the shears with a clatter, groaning and clutching at her maimed hand- -but the pain was already fading, and she watched in sickened fascination as flesh and bone sprouted back like a time-lapse video of rain-soaked mushrooms.

The nail hadn't grown back immediately with the rest of the finger, but it had come back in over the course of several months, at the normal growing pace of a nail. Marie looked at her pinky now. It was indistinguishable from any of her other fingertips, with not even a line to mark that it had once been severed.

Marie had stopped the experiments after the pinky test, afraid of how far she might go. If she could regrow a finger, did it also mean she could regrow her limbs? Vital organs? Her head? Was she actually immortal? The questions haunted her, but she didn't want to find out the answers to them.

The internet hadn't been of any help. Online queries about "amnesia" and "healing factor" only netted her results about some ARUS manga character named Wolverine, a short, surly hairball of a man (although she had to admit that the JIORan actor who played him in those live action movies was incredibly hot) with metal claws that came out of his hands. She'd watched all the movies and tried to get into the manga, but was put off by its incredibly convoluted publication structure and excessive retconning. Read a dozen issues across eight publications just to get X-23's complete backstory? As if.

The other clue Marine had was the tattoo on the left side of her lower back. It looked a little like the Mitsubishi logo, only with parts of the diamonds removed. Perhapes a little too much like the Mitsubishi logo, because when she'd taken pictures of it and ran it through internet image searches, the only thing she'd gotten back was the Mitsubishi logo. The tattoo seemed to be related to her condition somehow though, because when she'd tried to cut it away, it returned, as if it was a part of her.

She'd been hoping so much that Midori-chan might provide her with another clue. But it looked as if Midori-chan's amnesia was the normal sort. Such a shame.

THREE WEEKS LATER

"Alright, hot stuff! You've got a photoshoot lined up in the afternoon tomorrow. It's a, whachamacallit, gravure shoot, so we're gonna go out to the beach."

"Mmm-hmm," Saki replied desultorily.

"And I've got a preview of your outfit! Check it out."

Saki looked up from her phone to the tablet that Taylor was pushing at her. She stared, the image on the screen temporarily taking her out of her funk. "Is... is that a Carmilla-themed swimsuit?"

"You betcha, kiddo. Look, it's even got the one green leg!"

Saki took the tablet from Taylor for a better look. It seemed like it might be pretty fun to wear. "What's that thing on the side? Oh, my goodness. Is that a swimcap? With the crest thingie?"

"Think so." Taylor shrugged. "Haven't actually seen it in person. Speaking of, what do those things on the Valvraves' heads do anyway?"

"No idea." Saki put down the tablet. "I didn't design the things. I'm just a pilot."

"And one hell of a pilot at that! Let's just hope there's no terrorist attacks tomorrow, am I right?"

"Right," Saki mumbled. She was meeting with Taylor, her new manager, a 51 year old man with a shaved head and a prematurely white goatee. At first glance Saki had thought he might be too old, but he had more energy than most people half his age, though his constant uptalking and bubbling energy got on her nerves a little. She'd signed a deal with an ARUS record company two weeks ago, and Taylor was part of that deal. He was an effective manager, nowhere near as good as Alice, of course, but good enough. To be fair to Taylor, she might be judging him overly harshly, due to the bleak mood she'd been in for the past few weeks.

Haruto had been extremely scarce since the Blackout, spending all his time with L-Elf and A-Drei. He said he was doing heaven-knows-what with security stuff. And it wasn't quite like he was actively avoiding her again, as he had done after the fight against VVV II. He sent texts to her regularly and even had time for some actual voice calls. But he was never around in person. The last time she'd seen him face-to-face had been days ago.

'And we were getting along so well too...'

She was feeling rather conflicted about the whole thing. It might not have been so bad if she was still in her tiny student dorm room, but the bigger room she'd shared briefly with Haruto felt so empty without him around. And the brief taste of companionship she'd had had only made her present return to loneliness harder to bear. But at the same time, if Haruto was doing important work, work that kept the module safe, wouldn't it be selfish to demand he spend time with her instead?

With some effort, Saki pushed Haruto out of her mind. It seemed like his absence was all she thought about lately. "Beach, you said? Sorry, but we're not supposed to leave the module. Official policy."

"No need, the beach is right here on Module 77! You guys have a waterfront in town, not a fifteen minute walk from the school! I scouted it the other day, it's right by, well, I don't remember the road name but I know where it is!"

Saki nodded. "There's not gonna be any swimming, right? I can't swim."

"No swimming if you don't wanna! Maybe a little wetworks, a little lying around in the surf, playing with sand, that sorta thing."

"Standard stuff, okay."

They chatted a little more about business. Saki was pleased to hear that the song-writing was going well, and she would have her first recording session in less than a week. She felt a little nervous about going back to work, but overall she found herself looking forward to the experience. Singing a song completely in English would be a new thing, but she felt like she could read from written lyrics well enough to make it work.

Shop talk over, Taylor took his leave, and Saki was alone in her room. She looked wistfully at the tablet which showed the bikini she was to wear. Maybe she could stand to head down to the hanger bay to get some practice in with Carmilla. The green Valvrave was now fully repaired, the special machine shops computers unlocked by Akira-chan last week. So the module now had the capability to replace any missing special gear the Valvraves may lose. And Kibukawa-sensei was even investigating the possibility of building completely new Valvrave units.

'More Valvraves... Haruto wouldn't like the idea of even more immortal cursed pilots...'

There was Haruto again. But now that Saki was alone, she could dwell on Haruto all she wanted. She looked at the tablet again, an idea forming in her mind. She picked up her phone. Text or call? She decided to call. It'd be harder for him to refuse if it was a live call...

...probably.

"Orrrrryyyaaaa!" Haruto yelled, doing his best imitation of Yamada as he planted his foot and pivoted, sending the actual Yamada tumbling to the floor mat.

"Hey, hey! Not bad, Haruto!" Yamada deftly flipped himself back to his feet, moving with much more agility than Haruto thought someone of that size should be capable of. "Nice job there!"

"Thanks," Haruto said. "But you let me get that throw there, didn't you?"

"Nah, man! You're selling yourself short! That was legit!"

"He's telling the truth, Tokishima Haruto." L-Elf remarked from his side of the room where he was fiddling with a tablet. The three were in L-Elf's security station, where Haruto had been spending a good part of his days in his efforts to hide his condition from Saki. As part of his routine, he had daily sparring sessions with Yamada. "You have shown marked improvement since the beginning of your training."

Haruto looked over at L-Elf. He didn't think the Dorssian would humor him, which probably meant he really was improving. "Thanks, I-"

"Boku ja nai, boku ja nai, boku ja naaaiii!"

Haruto crossed the room to where his uniform was lying on a chair. He rifled through it and pulled out his phone. "Moshi moshi?"

"Hey, Haruto!" Saki said cheerfully. "Whacha up to?"

"Not much," Haruto replied. "Doing some training with Yamada-"

"It's Thunder!" Yamada put in.

"-with Thunder." Haruto corrected exasperatedly. "Both he and L-Elf say I'm getting better!"

"Really? That's great!" Saki hesitated a moment, "mind if I take up some of your time?"

"A little break, Thunder?" Haruto asked.

"Go for it, man!"

Haruto nodded. "So what's up, Saki?"

"Just got out of a meeting with the new manager. He's got me doing this gravure photoshoot tomorrow. You won't believe what they've got me wearing!"

'Gravure, that means she'll be...'

Haruto gulped, his stomach doing flip-flops. A gravure shoot meant that there would be lots of skin. "A bikini?" He said carefully.

"Yes, it's a bikini. But you'll never guess what kind of bikini!"

"Uhhh..." Haruto tried to picture what would look good on Saki. Problem was, Saki made just about everything he imagined look good. "I dunno, a blue one?"

"It's a Valvrave-themed bikini!" Saki gushed. "Looks just like Carmilla and everything!"

"Oh." Haruto wasn't sure if he shared Saki's enthusiasm. It sounded kinda tacky... "You have it there with you?" He mentally prepared himself for Saki to send him a picture of herself clad in it.

"I only got to see a picture of it." He could hear the pout in Saki's voice. "Anyways, guess where I'll be doing the shoot!"

"The pool?"

"Nope! We're going to the beach! The beach!"

"That sounds nice!" Haruto meant it. When was the last time he'd been to the beach? Summer vacation of last year? "Hope you have fun!"

"Actually, I was hoping we could have fun there together," Saki said wistfully. "You've been working pretty hard, right? A break would do you good!"

Did he want to go to the beach with Saki? Yes, very much so.

'But right now? With the attacks going again? The last thing I need is to be at the beach with camera crews or whatever for the shoot, and get it caught on camera... not to mention what I might do to Saki if it happens again. Even if someone stops me, it'd still be traumatizing for her.'

No, the best thing to do would be to play it like he'd been doing for the past three and a half weeks, and stay well away from her.

"Sorry, Saki..." Haruto said, smiling sheepishly although she couldn't see his face. "There's still lots of work that needs to be done. We still haven't found the person that killed Beardy... and the security measures could still use some going over..."

There was a long pause on the line. Haruto was just starting to wonder if they'd disconnected when Saki spoke again, her voice considerably frostier. "Right. Lots of work. I understand."

"Saki..." Haruto didn't want to leave it like this. "I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"No apology necessary, Haruto. I understand, I do." Saki sighed. "I should get going. Piloting practice doesn't do itself, you know."

There was a click as she ended the call without bothering to say goodbye. Haruto stared at the phone for a moment before putting it on top of his piled clothing.

"Trouble in paradise?" Yamada came up to him. "Well, nothing like a good workout to take your mind off things. Let's get back to it!"

They went through a few more rounds. As much as he tried, Haruto couldn't manage to throw Yamada again.

Finally, Yamada called a stop."Hey man, I can tell you're not into it. So let's call it there for today."

"Sorry..."

"Nah, don't worry. Can't have a perfect session every time! You've been working hard, lots of improvement in your form and technique! But your strength could be a little better," Yamada said. "It's been three weeks! You hitting the weights like I showed you?"

Haruto nodded. "Yeah. I've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually. I've been following the workout you gave me. But... I don't seem to be getting any stronger. I'm supposed to be doing the heavier sets now, right? But I can barely lift the weights, and there's no way I can finish all the reps..."

"That's weird." Yamada squeezed Haruto's bicep. "Seems the same. Hafta take a look at that."

"Regarding that, I have an experiment I'd like to suggest," L-Elf said from his side of the room. "Tokishima Haruto, please record your current weight and begin consuming two pounds of youkan every day in addition to your ordinary meals."

"What... you're trying to get me to bulk up?" Haruto stared at L-Elf in confusion. "Aren't you the one that's always going on about 'youkan lacks nutritional value?' Youkan's just seaweed juice and sugar. Sure, it's got some protein from the red bean paste but not much. I'd just get fat instead of gaining muscle."

"Please humor me," L-Elf insisted.

"Alright..." He could feel his chest tightening up at the thought of trying to choke down all that youkan. He liked youkan, certainly, and Shoko's youkan was exquisite, but two pounds was a little...

'No, that's not it. This is-!'

"GUH!" The attack doubled him over, gasping and shuddering. His fingers bunched in the material of his gi.

"Haruto! What's wrong?" Yamada bent over him in concern. "You okay, man?"

"Yamada..." Haruto choked out, "Get... get a..."

"A what? Whaddaya need? The Heimlich?"

"Get out of the way, Yamada Raizo." Haruto was only dimly aware of L-Elf crossing the room towards them. The Dorssian's fist smashed into his solar plexus, spilling him to the floor.

"WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?" Above him, Yamada roughly shoved L-Elf away. "Haruto! Bro! Talk to me!"

"I'm okay," Haruto wheezed. He could taste bile, and he wanted to throw up, but at least the attack was over. "I'm okay."

"You better explain this shit, L-Elf," Yamada stood between Haruto and L-Elf. "Right now."

"Man," Yamada mumbled. "That's rough."

Haruto watched Yamada closely. The last time Yamada had found out details about being a Kamitsuki he'd been exuberant, laughing and making poses. But now he was scowling, his expression heavy. "I know it's alot to take in, Thunder." He hadn't told Thunder about what had happened at the shrine with Saki, though. That would have to remain a secret.

"So these attacks, you've been having em cause you're the first Kamitsuki?" Yamada asked. "This shit is gonna happen to all the rest of us?"

"There's nothing to suggest it will be the same for you," L-Elf said. "Tokishima Haruto's first attack, to my knowledge, was less than twenty minutes after his first exposure to the Valvrave. No other pilot has had similar attacks."

"I think if you guys were gonna have attacks, Saki would have had one already," Haruto pointed out. "Think it's just me."

"Still something to keep in mind..." Yamada mused. "I'm guessing this ain't something you want the others to know?"

"Please."

"You're one secretive bastard, ya know that?" Yamada shook his head. "I won't tell the others, but man, you need to seriously quit hiding shit. It's gonna bite you on the ass someday."

"It already has," Haruto admitted.

Yamada stared at him for a moment, waiting to see if he would finish the thought. When it was clear Haruto wasn't going to explain, he shrugged. "Whatever, man. Ain't my problem." He checked his phone. "I gotta get going. Kibukawa-sensei's got some new gear he wants Akira and me to help him out with. Says it's a two-man job, and I can't leave ol' Rainbow to go at it alone. Later!"

Haruto watched him go before turning to L-Elf. "So about those security assignments..."

Raizo looked at the thermal gauge on his console. 93... 94... 95...

"Nobu Lightning over 90," he reported.

"Go ahead and set up in the positions I told you two earlier," Kibukawa-sensei instructed.

Raizo dutifully pulled Nobu Lightning out of its circle (and about time, too. The motion was starting to make him queasy), hovering opposite Little Witch several hundred yards away. He looked over the recent addition to his cockpit controls, a small box with a row of six buttons. His Valvrave was carrying a payload of six canisters on its back; although he couldn't see them through his camera feed, he knew they were there.

Little Witch pointed the bore of her new weapon at him. The hastily-assembled device looked a bit like a supersoaker, Raizo thought.

"In, in position," Akira squeaked.

"Ready!" Raizo said.

"Valvrave General-Purpose Countermeasure, Test One, begin!" Kibukawa-sensei said.

"Little Witch, firing!"

-blap blap blap blap blap!- The familiar sound of sealant striking Nobu Lightning rattled through the cockpit.

"I'm gunked," Raizo reported. "Firing up one and two."

He reached out and pressed the first two buttons on the box. There were a pair of whumps as the unseen canisters detached from Nobu Lightning's chassis, but only silence as they exploded, spraying Nobu Lightning with a glittering silver mist. The thermal gauge immediately started to drop, ticking down to 71 within a few seconds.

"Ooooooh! It's like that cooling system in the hanger! But portable!" Raizo was impressed.

"Now do some manuvers," Kibukawa-sensei ordered.

"Orrraaa!" Raizo complied, striking a sentai pose with Nobu Lightning. "Hey, the goop ain't holding Nobu Lightning back! Awesome! What's in that stuff, Sensei?"

"It's a chemical solvent that dissolves the sealant. Water-based, so it retains the same cooling effect on the Valvraves. And we don't have any of those Dorssian boomerangs here to test, but it should have the same effect on them as we saw with the water that one time."

"Nice..." Akira whispered.

"It is, isn't it?" Kibukawa-sensei said smugly. "Fixes all three of our weaknesses in one easy solution! Let's just see them try to mess with us now! Come on back in, you guys."

Akira stared hard at her digital keyboard as her fingers danced over the keys. She finished the line of code she was working on, then scrolled back up to check it over. Looked good. It would have been better if she could blind-type, but the lack of tactile feedback on her digital keyboard made it extremely difficult. Maybe if she taped over where the home keys were on-screen?

'Set up an algorithm to check camera feeds for missing or looped footage, get it to trigger an alert in the system when it finds something...'

The problem with Module 77, Akira reflected, was that while there were cameras everywhere, there weren't enough eyes to watch them all. There was too much chance for something to happen on an unmonitored feed, with nobody ever seeing it. And even reviewing footage took up too much time. To that end, Akira had 'liberated' a piece of experimental software from a company based in Ireland, which allowed for the detection of edited camera footage in real time. There was even a function to identify and track individuals across multiple cameras, although Akira was still trying to get that part of the program working. The thing was easily confused by people of similar height and build in similar clothing, and in a school environment with uniforms like Sakimori...

'Still, if only we had something like this three weeks ago. Then we would have known when the camera in the hospital room stopped working, and we might have found out what happened to Beardy.'

Akira patted Ms. Tomato on the head. "But once I get this up and running, we'll never have to worry about intrusions again!" She told the green doll.

It was still a mystery of who killed Beardy and how they got his body to ARUS. But there it was. Beardy had mysteriously vanished from his hospital room, and a day later ARUS news reported that they'd recovered the body of Abdur Rashid al-Afridi from the wreckage of the space battle. L-Elf believed that there had to be an enemy operative on the module, but the camera in the room and in the medical wing had stopped working around the time the incident had taken place. And the only person in the area at the time had been Satomi.

There was a muffled thump from her left, and Akira looked over to see ARUS workers working on the nearby VVV V, painting the Beast High logo onto its shields as a pair of armed students from the Defense Force looked on. After the Blackout, L-Elf and Haruto were taking no chances. Everyone coming onto the module had to be registered, and students followed them wherever they went. Shoko-chan told her that many of the ARUS visitors were complaining bitterly about the heavy security, but so far everyone had complied with it.

'Not Unit Five anymore. Now it's Beast High. It's Inuzuka's Valvrave and he can name it whatever he wants, but ad space? Really? Talk about selling out to the man...'

Come to think of it, a can of Beast High would go down pretty well. Akira briefly considered texting Satomi, but then shook her head. The blasted ad was working on her already! She shrugged to herself, turning back to her work. However, after going through the program settings for a few minutes, something in one of the smaller windows at the side of her console caught her eye.

She double-tapped on the window to enlarge it. Until she got the monitoring software running, she had the windows on her console set to cycle between camera feeds. It was still a crapshoot if she actually caught something, but she figured if the feeds were changing she'd have a better chance.

Right now, the feed was of C-6, an unused classroom. Or at least, it was supposed to be unused. But there were a pair of students currently in the room, a brown-haired boy wearing a cap and a girl with a shiny golden ornament decorating her brilliant red hair. Akira didn't know either of them by name, but she'd seen their faces before through other camera feeds.

Akira squinted down at the monitor. Far from engaging in suspicious behavior, the couple in the feed were doing some heavy petting, their hands all over each other as they shoved their faces together. Akira felt her mouth quirk as the girl started pulling off the guy's jacket.

'Uwaah, they're really gonna do it!'

It wasn't the first time she'd spotted students doing the nasty. Even before the war started, there'd been cases of students sneaking off to have sex. Module 77 was a new module, and its population was low compared to the more established Module 17 where Akira was born, so there were always places for people to hide. But the rate of students having sex had exploded ever since Haruto and Saki-chan made their announcement. Unbeknownst to the pilot couple, there was even a camera in their room- -although Akira had never looked at the feed there. It'd be weird and squicky to see them doing stuff, since she knew them and all...

But complete strangers? That was fair game; no different from watching porn!

"Ceiling Akira is watching you!" She said aloud, giggling at her wit and reaching behind her behind her seat for a package of dried nori.

'Gotta have salty for sexy times!' She tore open the package and peeled off a crinkly green sheet, laying it on her tongue. On screen the two were now half-naked, going at it on top of the teacher's desk. She turned on the audio and the sound of moaning filled Little Witch's cockpit.

She watched them for a while, crunching away at her seaweed treat. In no time at all the couple was finished, the girl rolling off the boy and getting dressed. The boy searched around the desk, looking for his cap that had fallen off during the action. They finished putting on their clothes, exchanged a kiss, and then exited the classroom, holding hands.

'What, that's it? Talk about no stamina. Actual porn's much better. Wouldn't have time to get off to that, if I'd wanted to.' Akira put her half-eaten package of nori away. She returned the maximized window back to its place and cracked her knuckles. Time to get back to work. She'd-

-the feed on the window cycled, and she was looking at Inuzuka's office. Shoko-chan and Inuzuka were sitting across his desk from each other, chatting.

'Haven't talked to Shoko-chan in a bit. Maybe I should send her a text.'

"So Hassenfeld's put out their first line of Valvrave Plamo, and they're selling like hotcakes in ARUS. Even better than the projections!" Kyuma said excitedly.

"That's great, Senpai!" Shoko agreed. "Hassenfeld... that's the company that makes all the toy guns that shoot foam darts, right? How are they treating ya?"

"They're pretty fair," Kyuma replied. "A little pushy, maybe. They keep wanting to take liberties with the Valvrave Plamos. Like making more accessories and wanting to throw in extra stuff like transforming and combining."

"Oooo, the kids'll love that. Did you let them add the extras? Or are you too much of a purist?"

"Didn't add em, but!" Kyuma held up his hands, "not cause I'm opposed to it or anything. What I told them was, why don't we do the initial run with the basic package, you know, my U- I mean, Beast High with the shields, Carmilla with her yo-yos. And then once interest runs low on that, then we add the gimmicks!"

Shoko applauded. "That's brilliant, Senpai! Milk 'em for all their worth!"

"Yeah!" Kyuma laughed, "soon we'll be rollin' in cash!"

Shoko's phone rang, and she looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Senpai, gotta take this. Might be someone important."

"No problem."

Shoko pulled out her phone, looked at it, quickly entered a text, and then tucked it back into her pocket.

"Anything important?"

"Mmm-hmm! Very important. It was Akira-chan saying hi."

"Ah," Kyuma nodded.

"Speaking of Akira-chan, how's she doing these days?" Shoko asked. "I haven't been able to keep in touch with her as much as I'd like..."

"She's doing fine, I think. I'm not really sure; I haven't seen her since right after the Blackout."

"Wait, you saw her? Like, in person?" Shoko's eyes were as big as saucers.

"Yeah, she came out of her Valvrave for a moment," Kyuma explained. "Dunno if she's come out since then though."

"She got out!" Shoko squealed, grabbing Kyuma's hands. If he hadn't been across the desk from her, she probably would have whirled him around. As it was she just settled for waggling his arms over their heads. "That's such great news! I need to get her a present!"

"She's been talking more too," Kyuma offered. "I haven't known her all that long but I think she's opening up a little. Mostly to Yamada, of all people."

"Yamada," Shoko seemed surprised. "But he's so loud! Well, he's a nice enough guy. Anything else?"

"Dunno what else to tell you. L-Elf's been keeping her really busy lately with computer security."

"That's what she told me, too." Shoko released Kyuma's hands. "How about the rest of you pilots? How's everybody holding up?"

"Pretty well," Kyuma said. "Everyone's been working hard. Haruto's been doing his Defense Minister stuff, hanging out with L-Elf alot. I'm doing the financing, Akira-chan you know. Yamada's been doing some hardware testing with Kibukawa-sensei, I think. And Rukino-san's getting back into the idol stuff... although not everybody's working hard comes out to the same thing..."

"Huh?" Shoko looked puzzled.

"Sorry, crappy joke," Kyuma laughed. "I heard Rukino-san's going down to the beach for a photoshoot tomorrow. Talk about working hard or hardly working, right?"

"Oooooh..." Shoko's eyes lit up. "The beach, is it?" She looked craftily out of Kyuma's window, toward the blue water of the bay that surrounded Sakimori Island. "I think I'm getting an idea..."

The meal was exquisite as ever, but Chamca watched Alo carefully across the stone table atop the second-floor veranda. She was playing the charming hostess, as ever, but there was a sense of urgency in her actions, and her small talk seemed forced.

'Impatient. There's something she wants to ask very much and she just wants this play-acting to be over.'

Indeed, as soon as the meal was over and he'd used the customary spell to block out eavesdroppers, she immediately threw a question at him.

"Where is Prince Gabriel?"

"Still on Module 77," Chamca said apologetically. "It seems he was not with the other Dorssian prisoners when they were taken into custody by ARUS."

"So he was being held elsewhere?" Alo sighed. "Is he still in JIORan custody?"

"No. He appears to have defected to the JIORans."

Alo looked around as if to make sure the green bubble of Chamca's spell still surrounded them, her mouth a grim slash. "You mean he has been possessed by one of the artificial Magius? Overwritten?"

Chamca looked at Alo for a moment. 'Yes, that would bother you, wouldn't it? Hits too close to your ideals.'

"It doesn't seem like it," Chamca said, trying to keep his unease from showing. Of all the people that could betray him, A-Drei hadn't seemed a likely candidate, with his iron-clad loyalty to Dorssia. Although perhaps in the end his loyalty to his friend had been stronger. "They don't seem to possess other bodies unless absolutely necessary. It appears to be a legitimate defection."

"How do you know he hasn't been possessed?"

"Dosi has been observing him," Chamca replied.

"I see. Dosi has elected to remain on the module as well?" Alo asked.

"Yes. We've determined that the failure of the previous operation stemmed from a misunderstanding of the JIORans' crisis response. Since Dosi is already on Module 77, he may as well stay to gather intelligence for our next operation." Chamca smiled. "He reported that the JIORans are strengthening their security measures, both physical and digital. Nothing he can't handle, he claims."

Alo took this in. "So what is the next step?"

"We wait," Chamca said. "Dosi also reported that the JIORans are in the process of developing countermeasures to the tactics we've used to neutralize the Valvraves in the past. If that's so, we must have the ability to fight them on equal ground before we engage them again. There's two projects in development toward that end."

"Two? I only know of one, the refitting of the captured Valvrave unit. What is the other?"

Chamca smiled enigmatically. "The Children of the Valvrave."

Chapter 10 End

AN: Thanks to xchrispx and Christemo for beta reading!

One thing I always thought was silly about the show was how Marie seemed to have no inkling that she had high-speed regeneration. If you had that power, that's not something that you'd miss, especially after living with it for a year and a half. So Marie will fill a somewhat different role in this story than in the show (where she really was only there to die and make Haruto all emo again)

Next chapter is all outlined out and I'll be able to jump directly into writing! As always you can find updates on my writing progress in my profile.