Author's Note: Not much to say that I haven't already said, Read, Review, Favorite and Enjoy!
Chapter 54: Political Science: Hanging Rope
Tatsuya was in the school's laboratory late into the evening, it would seem that he would be the returning chief magical technician of the Nine School's competition in a couple weeks, and as such he would now be getting a head start on C.A.D. related engineering projects. Even though his job was programming and tuning, and thus his skills would be put to best use in the last minuet work. That said there was a number of new events that year as well. In addition to the returning Monolith Code, Mirage Bat and Pillar Break solo and Co-Op along with the new events, Boat Gunner Solo and Co-op, Shield Down Solo and Co-op and Steeple Chase. Counting the Rookie and Senor events, it was a grand total of eighteen separate events. After last year he couldn't blame them for wanting to shake things up a bit.
"Pixie, how are things coming over there?" Tatsuya asked the Android Maid.
After implanting the parasite, Tatsuya got Rebecca to program extensive C.A.D. engineering expertise into a program that he then uploaded into the android, who was now mounting a C.A.D. turret onto the end of a plastic row boat.
"The machinery is being attached as planned, your air mine program has been loaded onto the turret with the psion fuel tank primed and readied." Pixie stated letting out a humble bow. "Good. And the Shield Down events?" Tatsuya asked looking at Pixie with interest.
"Using your program that manipulates magnetic fields as the basis..." Pixie brought over what looked like a grapple gun attached to a reel of black line. "I've built this grapple gun capable of firing a projectile to hook the enemy shields. The cable is composed of copper and Carbon Nanotubes, it can be manipulated using the magnetic fields generated through the use of your C.A.D. program." To demonstrate Pixie fired the cable at a dummy mounted shield, the magnetic cable was manipulated and yanked the shield off before tossing it away.
"Good. It gives me a chance to focus on some intangible elements of this competition. Something is very wrong about this year's competition." Tatsuya stated scratching his chin.
"What do you mean?" Pixie asked looking at Tatsuya confused.
"Last year we dominated the NSC, in spite of overwhelming opposition in the form of rampant saboteurs and tough competition due in small part to Klaud's cards, and my programming skills. If they were trying to shake things up they would introduce new things that would force us to adapt our tactics. Instead they take two of the events that we made the most of and combined them together, and then they made two of them. That's the same as Handing us two victories. On top of which we have a cavalry battle and shield warfare, head to head combat focused events, the same as Monolith code, which the two of us also crushed. Then there's their choice in returning events..." Tatsuya stated entering deep thoughts.
"Let me guess, all of which you crushed?" Pixie asked predicting a pattern.
"Especially Pillar break, in which we literally took bronze silver and gold, and Monolith code, in which our victories were described to be, well, crushing to put it bluntly." Tatsuya stated deep in thought.
"If I may be so bold to suggest?" Pixie asked raising her hand. "As I understand it First High has, well, placed first for three years in a row, it would be hard to pick out events that you weren't top tier in."
"If that was all then I wouldn't be so worried. But they're also making Klaud participate as well. In spite of the fact that after the events of last year they should have grounds to ban her entirely, and in fact did ban her until it was amended a short time ago." Tatsuya explained his eyes narrowing.
"So a increase in combat focused events specifically naval, group, one on one, Calvary, siege and areal." Pixie stated counting off her fingers.
"Wait what did you just say?" Tatsuya asked looking at Pixie with a shocked look on his face.
"I merely pointed out that all of the events are focused on different aspects and levels of warfare." To Pixie's statement Tatsuya's eyes darted around the room as a realization suddenly came to mind.
At once Tatsuya pulled Pixie in and gave her a kiss on the side of her head, a act that immediately made her perk up, before Tatsuya rushed out of the room.
Klaud was getting settled into her apartment again, she had school in the morning so right now she was just brushing her teeth before she went to bed. Then she heard her phone start to ring as she rinse and spit.
"Please don't be Tatsuya, please don't be Tatsuya, please don't be..." Klaud put the phone to her ear and in the process confirmed her worst fears. "Hey Tatsuya! How are yah doing this fine evening?" Klaud asked already with a good idea of what her answer would be.
"Not good. I have reason to believe someone has hi-jacked the Nine School's Competition." Tatsuya stated in his all business tone.
"So sorry, I have to go to bed right now." Klaud stated her thumb hanging over the hang up button.
"They've turned it into a war game!" To Tatsuya's snap, Klaud put the phone back to her ear. "Talk fast." Klaud stated all business.
"Squad combat, areal combat, naval combat, one on one, siege. These are all different types of combat, they're also the focus of the individual events, on top of which they've put you who had consistently systematically destroyed every event that you entered in back into the events in spite of the fact that you were suppose to be banned!"
"God I hate the government!" Klaud stated smacking her hand into her face. "I'll let my parents know. Who knows maybe that bunch of thugs that gave us so much trouble last year wouldn't mind returning the favor?" Klaud stated as she entered her room for the night. "I would feel better if I knew what they were planning on doing though."
"War games means that they're trying to train somebody, the covert nature of it implies a secret project so... super soldiers?" Tatsuya proposed as realization started to sink in.
"Super soldiers...? Tatsuya, what did your aunt do with those parasites that you gave her?" Klaud asked sounding mighty suspicious.
"If we're lucky the same thing that I did with the one I had." Tatsuya stated prompting Klaud to give him a highly suspicious look through the phone. "I'll explain it in the morning, team meeting first period."
As promised, the student council room was taken over the next day, a sign was pinned to it which announced to those who would read it that a co-ordination meeting was taking place between the Student Council and the Public Morals Committee and they asked not to be disturbed. Not that they were doing much, having just been introduced to Tatsuya's new parasite infested minion.
"Hello." Pixie greeted in a polite but dull tone of voice.
"So you took the android maid that our dearly departed seniors made, and you had a parasite take over it?" Erika asked looking incredulous at the contraption that Tatsuya had built.
"Yah know, when I told yah how to make a familiar, I expected theoretical, not... this." Klaud stated gesturing to the android.
"Wait you told him how to do this and you expected him not to do it?" Leo stated pointing to the machine in question.
"Yah that was my fault. He was looking for a guinea pig in reprogramming the human mind. Yah know, without actually using a human as a guinea pig." Klaud stated letting out a exasperated sigh.
"Alright, so what, did you call us in today just to discuss the results of your little experiment?" Rebecca asked looking at Tatsuya and the robotic maid with deep seated suspicion.
"No. It is my belief that someone has turned the NSC into their own personal war game." Taking out his phone, Tatsuya held up a email from Four Leaves Technology that he had gotten last night.
"'FL waiting to pick up experimental organisms from 1H.' Does this mean what I think it does?" Rebecca asked after reading the contents of the document.
"It means that the people we thought came by and picked up the parasites, didn't. Who did?" Tatsuya asked scratching his chin.
"Ah, my Dad called earlier." Erika mentioned holding up her hands. "Mentioned that he would be home late cause he had to play body guard for some hush hush stuff for the government, that he had to escort from a hotel of all places."
"A hotel, why did he have to transport it from a hotel of all places?" Klaud asked before something clicked in her head. "Tatsuya, the four leaves thug that picked up the Parasites, did you recognize him?"
"He wasn't a thug, he was a colleague from the same department that I work at." Tatsuya stated cocking a suspicious brow at Klaud.
"Does he normally do pick ups?" Klaud asked getting increasingly suspicious.
"No." Tatsuya stated cocking a suspicious brow at Klaud. "But there's no one from that place I would trust more."
"Is that how he introduced himself 'your most trusted colleague?'" Klaud asked looking suspicious.
"Yes... which was strange now that I think about it." Tatsuya stated as he scratched his head.
"Ugh!" Klaud groaned leaning back into her chair.
"It wasn't your colleague, lord knows that would have been infinitely better!" Literally wiping her aggravated look off of her face, Klaud turned her attention back to the conversation at hand. "It was a illusion, your colleague didn't pick them up my Dad did! He was using illusion magic!"
"Were that the case." Tatsuya stated in a tone of voice which showed his strong disbelief that it wasn't. "Then my elemental sight would have picked up on it and informed me if someone was using magic on me."
"Oh really. Close your eyes and think about your sister." Following Klaud's instructions Tatsuya cocked a suspicious brow before closing his eyes. "And open!" When Tatsuya opened his eyes he was shocked to see two Miyuki's. Clearly a product of Klaud's illusion magic. "Hmm." Narrowing his eyes sharply, Tatsuya examined the two Miyuki's, and found them to be identical on every level. "Can't tell the difference can yah?" The Miyuki on the left asked in Klaud's voice. "Everyone, what do I look like right now?"
"Cheese Burger." Leo commented raising his hand in the air.
"My Dad." Erika stated mimicking Leo's actions.
"Tatsuya?" Miyuki asked looking confused.
"A giant Klaud shaped rainbow cause you're using the illusion card." Rebecca stated alone in being unaffected.
"Precisely." Klaud dropped the illusion and returned to looking at the assembled individuals. "It doesn't manipulate light it messed with your head!" Klaud stated pointing both of her fingers to her head. "It takes the form of whatever is inside your head at the moment, and builds evidence in your mind, the more you try to prove that what you're looking at isn't real, the more real it becomes to you."
"Hmm. What a troublesome magic." Tatsuya stated letting out a dissatisfied sigh. "So to counter it..."
"You'd need to think about wild and ridiculous things that you'd know you'd never see in real life!" Klaud stated making a show of sitting straight and looking smug. "Not your area of expertise is it?" Klaud asked cocking a coy brow at Tatsuya.
"No it isn't." Tatsuya admitted looking dissatisfied. "My your family is full of dangerous people isn't it Klaud?"
"Yes it is." Klaud stated looking dissatisfied and looking around somewhat angered.
"Wait so your Dad went through the trouble of stealing the parasites just to give them to the Ten Master Clans?" Erika asked looking confused.
"It's precisely the kind of thing that he would do, dangle a new toy in front of their noses and see what they do with it." Rebecca stated letting out a tired sigh. "If they manage to do something good with it, all the power to them. But if they turn around and try make it into a weapon to attack him with, then he gets someone to make an example of."
"Give em enough rope to hang themselves. Age old tactic for gauging a ally." Tatsuya stated letting out a sigh. "In any case we should probably start coming up with a plan to take these whatever they are they're using the Parasites to make out."
On that note the group turned their attention to someone who had remained silent during this entire exchange, Azusa, who was stiffly sitting in her chair. So stiffly in fact that it was strange. Poking her in the side, Leo accidentally knocked her over.
"Whoops."
