Disclaimer: This series and its characters belong to BONES Animation Studios

"Speech"/'Thoughts'

Daibachi Hotel (Japan, Capital City of Nagoya)

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" he said, catching the attention of the attendant behind the desk in front of him, "I have an appointment with the men staying in room 315. Can you ring them up please?"

She looked him up and down for a moment before answering. "Of course, sir. However, I must first ask if you have proper identification?"

He grinned at hearing this. Refusing the temptation to look down, he thumbed over an uncovered metal plate on the desk which swiftly took a blood sample for analysis. Making a show of it, he mock-yelped and brought his thumb against his teeth. The attendant handed him a napkin.

"Head right up, sir," she said, not batting an eye, "They're waiting for you."

Thanking the woman, he took an elevator to the third floor and soon he was knocking on the 15th door on the right. The door was answered by an aged man whose grey locks were gathering soot from his heavy cigar smoke. The man stood back and raised an arm, beckoning him into the room. Upon walking in, he saw two other men of whom he didn't recognize. All he really knew is that they were representatives of the Ministries of Defense and Finance.

"Welcome, Intelligence Officer Nakamura," said the man with the cigar, "I trust you've had a pleasant evening?"

"Pleasant enough," he replied, not liking these men's attitudes, "I'd rather get straight down to business, If you don't mind?"

Another puff of smoke. "No time for fun? A shame, but you are correct of course. We shouldn't delay any longer."

"So, what is the news on my proposal?"

One of the younger men shifted uncomfortably as the older man chuckled while taking out a confidential file.

"Well… We were considering just shelving the whole thing due to its economic and militaristic unimportance," he said, causing Nakamura to nearly pop a vein, "However, recent information has come to light which made us reconsider the relevancy of this project."

Nakamura raised an eyebrow. It wasn't a refusal, but it also wasn't an approval.

"What information?"

The man handed him an envelope which he subsequently opened and found overhead photos of the Pacific Ocean and a couple of blurry pictures seemingly taken from far away. All in all, they appeared to be showing a large, grey and green object floating over the water.

"America's latest weapon. A warship to top even the likes of Génération Bleu's technological prowess."

With the viewing of each picture, Nakamura's hands began to shake more and more. He began to feel heated in his formal dress and loosened his collar, but that didn't stop droplets of sweat from forming on his forehead.

"Have they… Have they made a statement?" he asked hurriedly, his face showing of worry.

The man shook his head. "When approached, they told us that the craft is under the ownership of a PMC which means that it falls outside of normal jurisdiction. We're thinking SENTINELS which we know has close ties with the American government, but have never been able to prove it."

"But what is the justification of this type of weapon?"

The man took another whiff. "Well, the excuse will always be defense against the Secrets, but we all know the real reason: continued military dominance. It's the kind of weapon that could capture a capital city within hours and render the military force of an entire country inert."

To relieve himself of a dry mouth which had been steadily forming over the course of the previous few minutes, Nakamura poured himself a drink.

"What about my plan? Is it approved or not?"

"As of this moment, neither."

He looked up at the men incredulously. "What? What does that mean?"

"It means that we approve, but the central government doesn't. They're still not convinced that the threat is that serious."

At this point in the conversation, the youngest man of the three stepped forward. It was odd for the agency to hire someone so young with such clean features, but Nakamura didn't give it a second thought. He'd dealt with enough troubled loners by this point.

"It's because of this that we must make an informal request to you on the behalf of your country," the boy said somewhat melodically.

"What is it?"

"Obviously, given its subject matter, this operation would never be officially approved, but we need something to push the government over the edge. In other words, we want you to use the information that you recently received from the organization known as Firecracker."

Nakamura was taken aback slightly. "How do you know about that?"

The boy grinned and waved him off. "Please, Nakamura, you're a lot of things, but subtle is not one of them. Anyhow, our desire is for you to use this information as if we outright refused your plan."

"What?"

The third man in the room pushed his glasses upon his face and took over where the last man left off with his deeper voice. "If the operation is successful, it will create a Plant Coral, which is likely to attract a Secret. If this is the case, then we plan to convince the provincial government to hire SENTINELS instead of Génération Bleu."

Nakamura tiled his head in confusion. "They wouldn't approve of that, would they?"

The man seemed intent of continually looking out the window, through the blinds. "Pied Piper is out of commission and Harlequin's projected orbital will take them out of range by the time the operation is under way, leaving the only available team as Goldilocks, and with their failure and near death a couple of months ago, the government is more likely to be susceptible to suggestion. Plus, SENTINEL's base in America is much closer to the coast than Gen. Bleu is in Switzerland. If we are successful, they'll be forced to reveal their super weapon well before they were planning to with their close allies."

"…and you think this will influence the national government to accept my plan?"

"Precisely, Officer Nakamura, and if we're wrong, then we'll get a new Plant Coral out of it; everyone wins. You must begin within the next few days or you'll miss your opportunity. Now, be off. We have much to discuss without you."

Nakamura left the hotel with his head swimming. By the time he was back in his car, he was laughing hysterically. If everything worked out, his every dream was about to become true. From the rooftop, the boy watched him, silently grinning and licking his lips. His yellow, inhuman eyes glinting in the moonlight.

Collective Unconscious

She'd opened her eyes, but it was pointless. The fog was so thick that she could barely see the end of her nose. She couldn't move either. Her arms and legs weren't just bound down, they were completely without feeling. Any attempt to lift them was met with failure. She yelled out and screamed for someone, anyone to find her and free her from this prison, but no one answered. Finally, she accepted the futility of her situation and began to close her eyes once again.

"Wait!" a voice called out faintly in the distance, regaining her attention, "Don't give in; I'll be there in a moment!"

Shortly after, she saw a light appear from the direction of the voice. It started off small, needle-thick in fact, but quickly grew larger with each passing second. After 30 seconds, it filled her vision from that direction and after a minute, it was swirling all around her. Being surrounded by this gentle green light began to relax her somewhat; it was like being encompassed in an ocean of warm, almost like the caring embrace of a parent or a lover.

Soon, the green light had completely driven back the fog and died down enough to where she could finally see where she was. She was lying on her back on a flat plain that went off in every direction only for the ground to meet the clear blue sky at its furthest visible point. Said plain appeared to be made up entirely of Scub Coral, though she'd never seen it lie this flat before. Having nowhere else to look, she finally looked down at herself which caused her to gasp in horror. Not only was her entire lower body covered in Scub, but it also appeared to be growing into her in addition to holding her there.

Thankfully, her savior approached, revealing its identity as the blue-haired woman.

"Naru!" She exclaimed, distressed.

"Wait. That's right," Naru said, her full awareness finally returning to her in the absence of the fog, "I'm Naru…" She shook her head violently. "What's happening to me?!"

The woman kneeled down next to her, a sympathetic look on her face. "Well, as you can see, the Scub Coral betrayed us. It's trying to assimilate you and absorb your consciousness."

She turned to look at her the best she could from her precarious position. "Why? I thought it knew we were fighting for it!"

The woman looked away. "It did, but the Scub Coral is a curious creature… Too curious for its own good, that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Despite our very thorough explanation which they agreed to, they couldn't help but try to absorb you and learn about the experiences in your head. Being of a collective existence, they're fascinated by your independent existence."

"And it couldn't hold itself back for its species self-preservation?"

The woman shook her head. "There was once a core to unite them on such choices, but after being separated from it, they can't be trusted to stay in complete consensus at all times. In the end, the temptation was too great."

Naru, feeling empty inside, turned to look back up at the sky. "So, I'm going to be eaten up? I'm going to lose everything that makes me myself?"

"No!" The woman nearly yelled, swiping her arm for emphasis, "I'm not going to let that happen! Neither are you, for that matter."

She turned back to see a determined look on the woman's face. "But how am I going to do that?"

"You're going to have to fight the Scub. Resist it at every turn. It's the only way to make it submit and assimilate with your body instead of the other way around. You can start by getting off of the ground."

Naru looked at her with incredulity. "How am I supposed to do that?! I can't even feel my legs down there!"

The woman rolled her eyes and gently gripped the sides of her head with her soft hands. So as not to harm her, the woman steadily brought their foreheads together until they were touching.

"Naru, you must remember that this is no more real to me than it is to you. This is only a mental image being projected in your own mind as a reaction to the Scub's attack on your body. You need to clear your mind of such thoughts and focus on yourself in terms of reality. Just focus on the fact that none of this is real. Concentrate."

Deciding it would be best not to argue and just take her advice, Naru closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could about real life. 'I'm not on top of the Scub. That's only a dream. In reality, I must be in the hospital at this point. I'm lying on one of those beds. Window to my right, probably a table with flowers. I'm in a white robe under a blanket, I probably have an oxygen mask on too. Ao would be by my bed side, holding my hand and probably crying himself silly right now.' She giggled to herself. 'Ao… Ao…' Her heart quickened its pace when she thought of the boy and the more she thought of him, the less she thought about being trapped. So, in light of this fact, she lost herself in the boy's every physical feature, every personality trait, every like and dislike, etc. that she'd learned about him since the first time they met. His image was locked solidly in her brain and before she knew it, the Scub had all fallen off of her legs and the woman was pulling her up and beaming brightly.

"Good job! Your thoughts were very… telling, but very powerful. I have no doubt that you'll be able to break free of the Scub."

Naru, whose head was still swimming with images of the boy, could only nod in response.

The woman lightly laughed before drawing the young girl into a hug.

"Listen, you can fight it and escape this place if you always hold on to the fact that you have somewhere to return to and to be there means everything in the world to you. I have to return to my duties, but I'll always be watching your progress from afar, understand?"

The girl looked up from within the woman's arms and nodded. "For when I do get out of here, how much longer do I have to hide it?"

"Not that much longer. I'll be making my debut soon enough." The woman smiled one more time, trying to pass on as much confidence as she possibly could to the girl. "Farewell and good luck." The woman gave one final sign of affection with a kiss on the forehead before fading out of existence, leaving the young girl alone.

With no emotional pillar to hold her up and no one around to judge her, she fell to her knees and burst into tears, letting out all of the stress and anxiety and sorrow that had been building up in her over the past couple of months. She couldn't tell for how long or even why it lasted so long, but she continued to wail as the sun of her mind quietly set, leaving her shrouded in darkness.

Génération Bleu Headquarters (Medical Examination Area)

After determining that Naru's condition wasn't contagious and she didn't need to be put into quarantine, she was roomed with Elena who was still recovering from the nerve damage that she'd suffered in the last battle. Ao didn't know what to think as he was lead into a meeting room where he was met with Blanc sitting at the other end of a table and Ivica leaning on a wall nearby. Before the man even spoke a word, his lack of a joking countenance already had Ao surprised.

"Go ahead and sit down, Ao Fukai," Blanc said solemnly. Ao did so and the man continued to speak. "Ao, do you remember your first medical examination upon entering the company?"

Ao nodded, though he was slightly confused. "Yes sir. We passed that checkup… didn't we?"

"Officially, yes," he said, folding his hands together, "Though, off the record, I only let Naru through tenuously. If your performance as a team, both in and out of training, wasn't up to par, then I wouldn't have approved her continued employment at all."

"I don't understand. What's wrong with her?"

Ivica stepped forward. His face was hardened, but inside he was worried for the girl and feeling sympathetic toward the boy in front of him.

"When you were first examined, we found nothing inherently wrong with you. Your results matched your mother's. Naru was another matter, though…"

"When we reviewed her scans, we discovered several Scub-based mutations within her," Blanc continued, "We would have held her back, but these mutations appeared to have beneficial effects such as healing her lungs…"

Ao's eyes widened. "So that's why… But if it healed her, then why is she here now?"

"Well, we've been using your weekly checkups to monitor the progress of the mutations and until now they've been strengthening her cell structure and improving her physicality, but a few days ago, in our analysis of her last examination, we noticed an abnormality in the results."

Ivica handed Ao a file which he opened to find a video pad. On the screen, a cell was portrayed being devoured by another cell.

"Rather than the two cell types merging as we've seen since our first observations, the Scub cells seem to be attempting to assimilate all other cells in her body. Essentially her body is a battleground now, with newly developed antibodies fighting to protect her from the Scub. We're not sure how to help or even if we're supposed to, so all we can really do now is to wait and see what happens."

"When can I see her?"

Ivica beckoned the boy over. "Come, You can see her right now."

The boy was lead out of the room, leaving Blanc alone with his own thoughts. The man proceeded to sit there for a few moments more before getting up and returning to his office.

Génération Bleu Headquarters (Medical Examination Area, Pilot's Recovery Ward)

The two passed Fleur on the way out. She nodded to him but otherwise they shared no other communication. Passing into the room, Ao noticed Naru lying on one of the beds, oxygen tubes feeding into her nose, and Elena on a bed right next to her, nose buried in a manga. He immediately walked over, sat down next to her, and wrapped his fingers around her palm. Elena gave a quiet snigger which went unnoticed.

"Well, I have other duties to attend to, so I'll leave you three alone," Ivica said as he left the room.

"…"

"You really love her don't you?"

*blink* *blink* "Eh?!"

Génération Bleu Headquarters (President's Office)

Fleur stood outside her father's abode with trepidation throughout her entire body. She wasn't even moving but staring at the doorknob. To cross this threshold was to destroy the wall she'd been building up for the past six years.

'It's not that hard. All you have to do is twist the doorknob and tell him how you really feel…'

"Um… Ms. Blanc?" asked Christophe's secretary asked, snapping her out of her stupor, "Would you like me to tell him you're here to see him?"

She shook her head violently. "N-No, don't do that."

The woman gave her a confused look, but went back to her work.

'God this is ridiculous! Why can't I just-'

She instantly froze as the doors to the office opened. Out walked Christophe in mid-conversation with Bruno.

"-and the girls should be alright if Hannah pitches…" the man stopped and scrunched his eyes a little as he noticed her, "Fleur…? Is there something you want to talk to me about, dear?"

The anxiety built up in her more and more as he walked closer and closer toward her. She could feel that wall begin to crack and shake and crumble apart. It came to a fever pitch when he reached out to touch her and she could take it no longer. She took off running away as far as her legs could carry her even as he called out after her.

He looked over at Bruno. "You know, that's the first time she's come to see me, unprompted, in years."

"Maybe," he said, holding up a very large arm, "she's finally starting to grow up…"

When she was a far enough distance away, in a smaller shopping plaza of some kind, she planted a fist directly into a wall and let out a frustrated screech. It drew much attention from everyone around her, but no one offered a hand of support.

Génération Bleu Headquarters (Medical Examination Area, Pilot's Recovery Ward)

"W-What are you t-talking about?" he stuttered out as Elena struggled to control her laughter.

"You're just too easy to mess with," she said, wiping a tear from her eye, "but seriously, you do love her don't you? You two clicked when you were kids and you've been nothing but stuck to each other since you got here. You're practically a couple already."

Ao remained silent, cheeks on fire. 'Sure we were close, incredibly close, but love…?'

"I-I've never… I…" he struggled for words, "I haven't… really thought about her that way before…"

She gave him a benign smile. "Well she seems enamored enough with you."

He sat up instantly. "What?"

"I can't speak from experience, at least not directly. I've never ogled over a guy, but," she said, holding a hand against her tilted head, "The way she looks at you, talks about you, even acts around you; you can just see her light up and get starry eyed even if she doesn't quite realize it herself." She closed her eyes. "It's really sweet actually."

He just blinked, cheeks blazing even hotter now, unable to find a response. In another moment, however, Ao could breathe a sigh of relief as Han came through the door a moment later carrying a couple of things under his arm. He approached Ao first, crouching to bring himself to eye level.

"How is she?" he asked, looking over at her.

Ao shook his head in an attempt to get his blush under control. "They don't know yet. She could go either way."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he said confidently, "You know how tough she is."

"Yeah." He smiled, his mood brightened a bit. "I guess I do."

Han gave a sympathetic look and ruffled his hair before walking over and taking a seat by Elena. He passed her a package making her raise an eyebrow.

"Got you a present," he said, giving her a wry smile.

Unwrapping it, she lit up. "Hey, it's this week's edition! How'd you know?"

Ao just stared incredulously. "Wait, you two are friends?"

She turned to look at him with an expression that dared him to explain why it was a problem.

"No, no. There's nothing wrong. I'm just a little surprised is all," he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Yes, we've known each other for quite a while. It appears we share a similar taste in music," Han responded, "One day, we just started talking and we've been friendly ever since."

Elena turned back to give him a sly look, "Yeah, I bet you didn't know he was an indie rock fan. He attends all of the Miller concerts going on every few weeks."

"I-I do not!"

At this point, being thoroughly weirded out by the conversation, Ao refocused his attention on Naru. Elena's words were still ringing in his ears and stirred up some odd feeling deep inside of him. Right now, he felt a deep confusion and needed something to get the entire thing off of his mind, so, among Elena teasing Han as he attempted to ignore her and work on his decoding with Georg on the tablet he had brought with him, he slipped out unnoticed.

Génération Bleu Headquarters (Business District; Gazelle Administration)

Gazelle was sitting at the table reviewing the latest intelligence information while enjoying a cigarette. There really wasn't much for them to do while Han decoded the first Page, so he had requested some side jobs from the president. Some of them were exciting and others not so much, but he found himself mostly enjoying himself more than when he'd worked independently.

He raised an eyebrow when Ao walked into the office. "Hey, kid. How'd you find out about this place?"

The boy swiped the smoky air out of his face while looking at him disdainfully. "I heard about it from Rebecka. Do you know where Pippo is?"

He tilted his head. 'Well that's probably the first time I've ever been asked that question by someone who isn't his father. Wonder what the kid wants with him,' he thought.

"Yeah, he's in the Rec Room," he said, pointing toward the door on the other side of the office, "What do you want him for?"

"I want to ask him something," he said nondescriptly as he entered said room. Gazelle just shrugged and went back to work.

Ao found Pippo sprawled out on a couch while watching an old movie channel on the television.

"A-Ao," he said, trying to get himself situated in an upright position, "What's up?"

Ao, suddenly regretting what he was about to ask, sighed and just came out with it. "Hey, you know Martial Arts, right?"

Pippo blinked…

Again…

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I studied lots of different fighting styles back when my father wanted me to join the military. Why? I thought you hated fighting."

He looked down at his feet. 'I promised that I would get stronger and I'm not about to back out now.'

"Teach me how to fight."

Pippo opened his mouth to speak and shut it again. He mashed a fist against his forehead in thought. Finally, after a moment, he found the words to speak.

"Alright, but on one condition…"

Ao nodded. "Anything."

"Tell me why."

He responded immediately. "For her."

Pippo snorted, but otherwise nodded. "I need to set up a dojo, so we won't start today, but when we do, I expect you there on time every other day. Until I'm satisfied that you're good enough, you only have permission to skip out when there's an attack, got me?"

He was suddenly feeling a chill run through his shrimpy body, but he agreed.

"Good, now get out of here. You should be with your friends."

Ao rode the elevator back down to the street level and walked out amongst the various restaurants and businesses. It had been a while since he had just walked out in the middle of town without any practical purpose. He'd hoped that Pippo would have started his lessons today so he could focus on something else other than his own thoughts, but that avenue had obviously failed and here he was alone and confused in the bustling center of the city. Walking by one of the more laid back cafes, he spotted a familiar face. There was Maggie sitting alone, having a cup of tea by herself. Remembering that he hadn't talked to her personally in… well, ever, he walked over.

"Hey."

She looked up at him for a moment, eyebrow raised, before she suddenly remembered who he was. "Oh! You're Ao, aren't you? Why don't you sit down? I could use someone to talk to anyway."

Following her advice, he took a seat. A waitress came over and he ordered a tea as well. "So, where are the others? I thought you guys were inseparable."

She smiled at him, happy to have someone to confide in. "Maeve and Chloe are out doing maintenance testing on their IFOs right now. I did mine earlier this week so I opted out."

"Oh…"

…

"You look like you have something on your mind," she said knowingly, "Care to talk about it?"

His eyes widened, but he considered it for a moment. If he couldn't distract himself, maybe the best thing to do was just address it?

"Have you ever…" he trailed off, trying to find the words.

She gave a light laugh. "Well, don't hold it in. Out with it!"

He gave her an exasperated look before continuing. "Have you ever felt deeply about someone, but you're not sure what those feelings are exactly?"

Maggie creased her eyebrows before coming to a realization. "Oh! You're talking about love, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know…"

"Well, I guess my answer would be yes."

Ao looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I felt like that for a long time about a close friend of mine. Even now, I'm not sure if I should move forward. She just seems so fragile sometimes, you know, like if I told her I wanted to date her, she might fall apart."

He paused for a moment at her openness, but decided to continue. "But you already know?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, silly. I'm only a teenager; I don't know the first thing about love and I'm pretty sure you don't either. The entire point is to get to know her and spend time with her first."

He was about to say something, but the words slid back down his throat as he realized the truth of her statement.

"I'm sure that, whoever she is, she's a nice girl, but my guess is that you're not going to know right away whether you want to marry her or not. Try spending some time with her and doing some things together. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

Finishing her tea, she got up and left some money for the both of them. "I never thanked you for saving us so long ago, so thank you and for talking to me today. I wish I could do more, but right now all I can do is pay for your tea." With that, she ran off into the crowd people leaving for their lunch break, her words still prominent in his mind.

Eglin Airforce Base (SENTINELS Active Duty Office)

Brooks sighed at his predicament. Apparently, Command had decided that it would be better for "workplace synergy" if he shared an office with Tanaka and First Officer Valatin. While Valatin was friendly, the smugness of Tanaka just seemed to radiate in his general direction whenever the man was in the room. It was unbearable.

Right now, Tanaka was thankfully absent and Brooks was stuck filing reports on the status of La Rose while Valatin was sorting through intelligence reports. Feeling stifled and tired at his job, he decided to hold a conversation with the man seated opposite to him.

"Hey, Valatin," he said quietly, with a roughness still in his voice.

The man looked up at him, shifted his eyes left and right, and responded. "Yes… sir?"

"Tell me about those reports, won't you?"

He clacked his tongue. "Captain Tanaka suggested that I shouldn't tell you about these. I'm not the biggest fan of the man either, but he hasn't been wrong about a lot of things."

Brooks rubbed his eyes. "Those are reports on Génération Bleu, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Then, seeing as there's quite a bit of animosity between us, wouldn't it be prudent to inform me of the intelligence being gathered so that I could be better-prepared for a confrontation in the future?"

"I guess…"

"So, go ahead. If Tanaka asks, I snuck the reports out and read them myself."

Valatin shrugged. "It's your funeral, not mine. We've been gathering intelligence on their combative and technological strength through our inside agent."

"Who's the agent?" Brooks asked, curiously.

"One of their pilots. She approached us instead of the other way around, can you imagine?"

"Can I see her?"

He passed him a photo. "Don't see why not."

Brooks looked at the photo for a second before his eyes widened considerably. "That looks just like…!"

'It can't be!'

A/N: Another talky chapter. Thankfully this one actually got out on time, though it's not as long as some of my previous chapters. I decided to dedicate some time to actually developing the different relationships that I've set up with people throughout the story in this chapter and set up and develop a couple of side-plots that I've got going. The next chapter is going to be focused on the combat between the Fish Secret and the first public appearance of the Roosevelt. Thankfully, we're drawing closer to the appearance of the Gekko and POLARIS which are the points that I really want to get to. As always, if you have any ideas or spot any errors, be sure to message me or leave it in a review. Ciao!