This is a combat boomer?" Catty asked as she stood over the remains of the Ebisu Boomer.

"No its a new general purpose model made by Ebisu," Dustine shook her head then looked thoughfully at it. "Howver, it was probably modded by someone for combat."

"I see." Catty nodded.

Several rescue vehicles soon arrived along with what looked like a beetle like machine which landed down in the middle of the road. The medical and rescue teams quickly exitted their vehicles, gathered their gear and trotted over to the damaged vehicles.

"Wow." Lufy blinked.

"They're quick." Rabby noted.

"Indeed." Shildy agreed.

A brassy woman exitted the bettle like mech with the rest of her team and started to bark orders.

"Engineering teams! Get people out of the rubble! Medics! Triage the wounded," the brassy woman shouted as she walked towards Dustine. She turned, noticed the director then grinned at her. "Hey Ageni. Can't stay out of trouble can you."

"Oh haha." Dustine sighed.

"Excuse me but who are you?" Catty had to ask.

"Midori Sugiura," she smiled, "I'm a Caldwich-Archangel Emergency team commander. Please to meet-cha."

"Ah. Pleased to meet you too." Catty nodded.

"Hows our facility in the Koto ward?" Dustine asked.

Not bad. Could need some upgrades though, director," Midori winked.

"I'll look into it." Dustine nodded.

"At any rate," Midori pointed her thumb at the boomer. "Was this targeted at you're group, or just bad luck."

"You know I'm not sure." Dustine frowned. "Could have been bad luck. Looks like they altered the bot somehow."

"The attack coming just as we were passing by is suspicious," Catty noted

"Yeah." Dustine nodded and watched Midori's team use the jaws of life and other impliments to extract the injured civilians from the wreck. "I don't think this is USSD though. Not the usual tactic."

"Plus they have better covert mechs," Midori added

"Yeah." Dustine nodded.

"Hmm." Catty looked at the boomer again thoughtfully. "These boomers...could we talk more about them when we get back to the tower."

"Yeah." Dustine nodded and looked at Midori and waved to the wreckage. "You got this I take it."

"We'll help out the police when they arrive too," Midori agreed

"Great." Dustine nodded and climbed into her car. "Gnight Midori. See you around."

Illusions: Full Metal Tokyo Panic

Chapter 9

August 4th 2033AD

"This, ladies, is a Boomer," Natsuki said, pointing at the image of a 7 foot tall BU-55C combat boomer. "Or I should say the 55-C combat boomer. Its very resistant to small arms fire and it takes high powered rifles or ammo to take it down. "

She then clicked a button to reveal a BU-12B Battle boomer. Its hammer head cranium and bulky design made a few girls tense. "...and this is the BU-12B battle boomer. Its a anti armor unit."

Shildy raised a hand. "How common are they?"

"The Battle boomers? Not very common. THere was at least one or two used during some sort of rampage last year but we haven't seen them used lately." Natsuki answered. "However they have been sold to a few militaries around the world."

"What about those 55Cs..." Rabby pointed.

"They were a little more common last year and earlier this year." Dustine sighed.

"and you guys have been fighting them?" Lufy asked.

"Yep." Dustine nodded

"I see." Lufy nodded. "Anything else?"

"Then theres the usual mannequin boomer going crazy due to over use or recycled parts." Dustine replied as she shwed them a picture of a mannequin waitress boomer. "Not to mention construction and cleaning boomers as well.

"Generally how many boomers are there in this city?" Catty asked.

"I'd say...its in the thousands if not in the 10 thousand range." Dustine replied.

"EH?!" They blinked.

"Are they...controlled by something or do they have a free will?" Catty asked

"Well its a guarded secret but we've learned that GENOM has a control system to montior and update all of their boomers." Dustine noted.

"... so if Genom decided to go fully evil, you're all fucked?" Lufy asked bluntly.

"Forunately the powers that be right now would rather not kill any potential customers." Natsuki smiled grimly.

"You hope." Lufy snorted.

"There was a guy that tried to do that actually. His name was Maximilian Largo." Dustine replied. "He wanted full control of the OMS."

"And..." Lufy asked.

"We stopped him cold." Dustine grinned then sighed a bit. "Not without some troubles beforehand though."

"Still...you...no humanity might be on the precipice of something dangerous." Catty noted.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Dustine shrugged.

"This has been very informative," Catty noted as she got up and walked towards the door. "I need time to think for a bit. You'll know where to find me, Dustine."

With that she left the room.

"Catty..." Rabby sighed.

"I expect Catty is already considering possible counters," Eluza noted mildly

"Aye." Shildy nodded.

"I see," Dustine frowned then turned to the group. "Any further questions?"

"Could we get hardsuit training to deal with this probable threat?" Lufy raised a hand.

Rabby and Patty looked over at Dustine.

"If you wanna." Dustine mused then smirked. "But some of you were also voicing interest in joining the rescue teams last night too. That could be another option."

"Yeah." Shildy nodded then looked to Eluza and Rabby. "I have no further questions."

"None either," Rabby shook her head.

"Alright get going to your next classes." Dustine replied.

"You should go check on her in a bit." Natsuki glanced at Dustine. "Her usual space now is the terrace on the twentieth floor."

"Right." Dustine nodded. "Now what do we do about that seemingly random attack."

"Yeah that was odd." Natsuki frowned.

Thirty minutes later...

Catty was staring out at the city seemingly lost in thought. Dustine smiled wryly and her and walked over with two cans of cold tea in hand. She pressed the can against Catty's temple and she squeaked. She whipped around angrily, saw it was Dustine and pouted a little. "Don't do that."

"Sorry sorry." Dustine replied and handed her the can as she sat next to her. She popped open the top and took a short pull. "So...penny for your thoughts?"

"Would sabotaging them outright be not a good plan." Catty asked.

"Who? GENOM?" Dustine asked.

Catty nodded.

"No. Not a good plan." Dustine shook her head. "As much as I don't like them taking over every market...a lot of people rely on them for employment here..09and there's some really good people there. Really. The boomer threat IS a problem but sabotaging the company isn't the right way to go."

"I see," Catty nodded and sipped her tea. Dustine just sat with the concerned android. "How long will you fight?"

"Until GENOM produces stable products." Dustine shrugged.

"Hmm." Catty nodded. "That's dedication."

"Aye." Dustine nodded.

"Mind if I just sit here with you for a bit." Catty glanced at her.

"No. I don't mind." Dustine shrugged.

Meanwhile Chie Harada, amused, slipped away quietly.

Later...

"Alright! Last time we had a lesson on male anatomy." Haruka replied then gestured to Mai's brother and Kazuya "Today we want you interact with these men."

The solnoids blinked and then blinked again when Patty walked up. "I'll try first."

"Okay good." Haruka nodded.

Patty walked up to Kazuya. His girlfriend, an employee of C-A was also standing by. She walked up and bowed a bit."Hello I'm patty."

"I'm Kazuya nice to meet you too." Kazuya replied.

"Kazuya. Eh. Thats erm a nice name." Patty nodded.

"Do I kick him now?"

"NO KICKING." Haruka and Kazuya yelped.

"Okay." Patty nodded.

"Now, touch him casually."

"Do I HAVE too?"

"We want you to get used to it. How about...um...a hand shake." Haruka nodded.

"Okay." Patty nodded and held out a hand. Kazuya blinked then then they shook hands like it was nothing. "We've shook our female soldiers hands a few times as a way of saying thanks."

"Men's hands are weirdly furry."

"Yeah..."

"Warm though too." Patty smiled. Kazuya blushed. Akane Higurashi frowned and coughed.

"Ah we'd better stop." Kazuya sighed.

"Is something the matter?" Patty blinked.

"Women can get jealous at times." Haruka leaned in and whispered to her.

"Oh." Patty nodded then looked at Akane. "You are his...mate right?"

Akane blushed.

"Well this is educational." Spea murmured.

"Yes yes." Miti nodded.

"Hmm." Shildy nodded.

"Its a bit weird for my tastes." Lufy said as she sat in the back.

"Could we get a demonstration?" Spea asked curiously.

Kazuya AND Akane went pink.

"We have vids," Catty reminded them

"Oh."

"I'm kinda curious." Miti noted.

"I guess its kinda similar how females do it too..." Rabby noted.

"Oh and how do you know that..." Lufy teased.

"Well..." Rabby blushed a bit.

"Rabby not in front of the others." Eluza replied. Stopped then went pink.

"Oh HO," Haruka nurmured

Akane poked her,"Hush."

"They...do that?" Kazuya nosebleeds.

"Out." Akane pushed him out and went with him.

Meanwhile, Mai, who was also in attendance to the meeting, tugged Miti away from her brother.

"You're getting too close!" Mai ordered

"But he's so... cute! I can't explain it," she pouted

"Stil personal space." Mai explained then gestured to Takumi. "If he's not interested respect that okay?"

"Okay." Miti nodded, still pouting.

They did some roleplaying scenarios, and tried to get the girls comfortable with men. Some, however, clearly did NOT like them at all.

"All right all right. That's all for today." Mai clapped her hands. "We'll reconvene tommorrow."

With that the girls left the training room and Mai scribbled down some notes. "Hmm. Not bad. But Lufy and a few others don't seem interested in guys. That's okay I guess."

"What's the next lesson?" Haruka asked.

"Target practice for those who are interested in security." Mai noted.

"Skipping some of the other social lessons." Haruka arched an eyebro

"What the girls have basic social manners and are okay with greeting other people. I've lectured them on apporopriate apparel and dress codes around the city. What else is there to talk to them about?" Mai shrugged.

Haruka looked amused. "There are SO many things I can think of that could go wrong..."

"hmm..." Mai tapped her head. "More lectures then?"

'Yep." Haruka nodded and whispered a few suggestions to her.

6:30PM August 10th 2033AD T&H Tokyo Megatokyo Japan.

"Hi Fate." Dustine smiled. Catty smiled bashfully at Fate wearing some new clothes that Dustine got her. "I um brought one of my friends."

"Hello," Fate smiled at her then looked at Dustine. "Just the two of you?"

"Yeah. I think this should be fine." Dustine nodded.

"Alright. Welcome back. Catty."

"Thank you." Catty nodded.

"What's this I hear about you being GIRLFRIENDS?" Fate giggled.

"GAH. The rumor made it here too?!" Dustine blushed.

Fate laughed

Catty blushed alot.

"What are your plans here?" Fate asked as she walked with them into the interior of the building. Tsubasa and her friend Kanade were shadowing her this time.

"Catty was curious about my interests and I thought we could relax in the cafe again too." Dustine nodded.

"Okay. I'll take you up to the cafe." Fate smiled and lead them through the building. When they arrived Nanoha beamed at the pair. "Hello! Welcome to T&H cafe! Also welcome back Catty."

"Ah. Thank you." Catty curtsied. "We'd like a table for the two of us."

"Of course. This way please." Nanoha beamed and ushered them over to a table with a view of the city. A waitress came over handed them some menus. "Welcome can I get you anything."

"Could we have the sandwiches we got before?" Catty asked.

"Of course." The waitress nodded. "Anything to drink?"

"That tea that we had was nice as well." Dustine nodded.

"Mm. We'd like that too." Catty agreed.

"Very well. I'll have you're order soon." The waitress nodded, collected the menus and trotted away.

Catty watched her go and leaned forward. "Not that I mind but why here?"

"We're testing the waters right now." Dustine noted then held up a finger. "Soon we want you guys to be able to walk around and travel the city without looking over your shoulder."

"Hmm." Catty tapped her cheek. "I guess this IS a good test. But your logic might be flawed."

"Really?" Dustine sweat-dropped.

"Honestly I think my crew needs some more lessons before they're sent off into the world." Catty sighed.

"Hmm." Dustine tapped her chin.

"It's good that you're helping them though." Catty smiled and unconciously touched her hand.

"Thanks," Dustine nodded.

The waitress came back, smiled at the gesture and delivered their order. "Here you go, two plates of sandwiches and two cups of tea."

Catty blushed, retracted her hand and nodded. "Thank you."

Nanoha smiled wryly as watched the pair off to the side. Fate, also amused, was whispering in her right ear. The pair ate and chatted a bit, sharing the time with each other. As they chatted, Fate left Nanoha's side to return to her duties. After a while Dustine grunted then smiled contritely. "Oh that reminds me..."

"Yes?" Catty blinked.

"I'll be away for at least a week in a few days for the World Security Conference in Kyoto." Dustine smiled contritely.

"A whole week?" Catty blinked then looked a little sad and a bit worried. "Isn't that a bit long?"

"Well we have to have a few conferences considering the security of this world." Dustine sighed then nodded. "World leaders, and their security agencies, will be there as well as the various corporate leaders here."

"Ah." Catty nodded.

"...and there's also going to be an expo to show off their wares." Dustine noted then sighed.

Catty nodded, having a bit more understanding on how commerce works on this world, then asked her curiously. "If Haruka is your security officer would she be going too?"

"Most likely." Dustine nodded then held up a hand. "Mai and the others will stay at the tower here though."

"I see." Catty nodded then asked curiously. "Would it be wrong of me to ask to come with you?"

"Thats a big security risk," Dustine sighed.

"Yes I understand." Catty nodded.

"Welcome back. How'd the date go." Shizuru asked.

"We are not engaging in mating activities," Catty felt obligated to point out to her. "We're just exchanging interests."

"Sure sure," Shizuru giggled.

Natsuki added, "Calling it 'mating activities' is kinda awkward."

"Well, that IS what you are doing," Catty noted

Natsuki decided not to argue...

TO be continued...