Disclaimer: I don't own Muv-Luv Alternative or any of the characters. All rights belong to âge.
Yuuko POV
Once again stuck on how to complete the 00 unit, I was looking through some old files and data until I got a random call. Apparently a person was out in front of the base requesting to meet me about the XG-70. That shouldn't be possible, there is no reason for the Americans to want to talk about the weapon this early on when I still have no visible progress on Alternative IV. The Americans were still largely backing Alternative V and because there has been so little progress on my front, the Alternative IV backers have all been pushed onto the sidelines, unable to do much. Hurriedly, I asked for the name of who is requesting me and I was given the name of Shirogane Takeru. Wait a moment… that is a Japanese name, why is Japanese person coming to talk about the XG-70? I quickly search through the databases for this name and all that's coming up is the profile of a dead person.
His profile states that he had died 3 years ago, most likely killed by the BETA before Operation Lucifer. However, the area that he had died in piques my interest. It states that he lived in this area before his death, there is a chance that this dead person may have known of Kagami Sumika. I decided to take the gamble of meeting him and seeing what this farce is all about.
After all of his tests proving that he has no weapons and inputting his data into our database, he does look like an older and more trained version of the image. However, he could be wearing a mask to disguise himself. As I watch him come into the room, I make sure my gun is prepared so I can defend myself if he turns out to be hostile.
"Thank you for bringing him. You can leave the room now." I order the officer escorting him to leave the room. Now this is where things get interesting. He seems to be looking at me with nostalgic eyes even though I have never seen him in my life.
"What's your deal? How do you know of the XG-70?" I quickly get straight to the point.
"My name is Shirogane Takeru as you know, and you probably checked your database and realized that I am a dead person."
"This is what I am curious about. Why is a spy pretending to be a dead person out of all the choices?"
"This will be hard to believe, but I used to be a Causality Conductor and this is my third time traveling experience in this world ever since I got dragged here from my original world. My original world has no BETA and you are one of my teachers in my high school."
I look at this kid like he went crazy. First thing he tells me is that he is living proof of a theory that I worked on several years ago and abandoned in favor of working on the Alternative IV. His second fact is even more bizarre, I can see myself as a teacher, but he told me he was from a world without BETA.
'Wait a second he said used to be instead of is.'
"Let's say I believe you for a bit, what do you mean by you used to be a Causality Conductor? According to the theory, if you are no longer the conductor, there shouldn't be a force binding you to this world and you should be back in your original world. What you're saying fundamentally doesn't work out."
"In the last loop, the factor that made me into a conductor no longer existed, leading me to disappear from the last world. After disappearing from the last world, I was given a choice to come back or head back to the old world, so I chose to come back and fix the mistakes I have made. I most likely do not have another chance at looping now that I am no longer a conductor so this is probably my last chance. I can't give up and I need you to trust me Sensei! I have several things that can be used as proof."
*Flash*
The moment he called me "Sensei" something appeared in my mind. It was an image, actually more of a memory. This problem with this "memory" is that I have never had this happen to me in my life. It involved me fully drunk in a Santa dress and drinking with me was the man I am talking to right now. I see the calendar on the desk and the date was December 24th, which can only mean this was either the future or during the past 2 years. The worst part is that the memory leads to me and him having sexual activity. How could I do this! I should have no interest in younger men, yet I can't believe what is in front of my eyes.
I quickly pull out my pistol and aim it at him. "What did you do to me! Why am I seeing these things!"
"What do you mean? Don't tell me you are seeing images or memories? That shouldn't be possible now that I'm not a Causality Conductor!" He sends me a shocked look that shows me that it was potentially unintentional.
"Give me a moment. I need to call someone to confirm something, don't move from your spot."
I quickly call Irina to bring Kasumi over. With Kasumi's ability she can definitely check his this man was using Esper abilities on me just now and prove whether or not those were conductor related memories.
After checking with Kasumi, she tells me telepathically that she senses no psychic abilities in Shirogane Takeru and apparently that he knows who she is. Not as Trista Shestina, but as Yashiro Kasumi. As I gave Kasumi her name when she started following me, nobody else should know of this name unless they have been in this base before and have seen or met her. This fact definitely increases the possibility that he's telling the truth, as absurd as it is.
"Let me ask you this. If you are no longer a Conductor, when you first came into this loop, was there any difference compared to before? Were there any changes compared to the previous loops?"
"Now that you ask about it, when I came to, everything was the same. Same time, same date, and even where I woke up was the same. Everything was the same as the previous loops."
"This brings me to two possibilities. Either you are still a Causality Conductor and you are binded to the origin point of the loop, or you are no longer a conductor and a different power is now affecting you."
*Flash*
The moment I made that point, another memory flashes into my head. This time it's a memory of someone who is seemingly myself talking to a classroom. My clothes look a lot more revealing but they definitely fit my tastes and I am wearing a white lab coat. It seems like I am not talking to my own class but instead it is Marimo's class instead. In this class I spot Shirogane as well as all five of the political hostages of the 207B squad. There is also Kashiwagi Haruko of the 207A squad as well. I seem to be talking to Shirogane about him being a Love Nucleus and then the memory ends. Is this the true nature of what his power turned into? I should refrain from informing him and doing some more searching on this theory before I tell him. To think that what he is saying is potentially true with these memories is still shocking. My inner curiosity is definitely increasing and I will most likely keep him in this base just to satisfy my interest.
"Since we don't know what your power is now, you said before that you have proof that this is real. Now is probably a good time to show that is it not?"
He pulls out a thin stack of papers right off the bat. "Here's the first 5 pages of the theory to complete the 00 Unit. It contains the basis of how you can fit '15 billion semiconductors in the palm of a hand'. The deadline for the completion of Alternative IV is December 24th and I promise you that we will complete it way before then."
I quickly grab the papers and look over it thoroughly. These first few pages are already revolutionary and you're telling me there's more? If there is more than this I can definitely complete the 00 unit way ahead of schedule.
"So the me in the previous loop trusted you enough to tell you about the 00 unit. How did you come across the completed form of this theory? You definitely don't look smart enough to figure this out and it doesn't seem like the other versions of me in this world can solve this." I mock him while trying to satisfy my curiosity.
"Remember how I told you I was a conductor? You built a machine that allowed me to jump between this world and my old world with the help of Kasumi retaining my existence in this world. Using the machine, I asked the Sensei in the old world to write up the completed version of the theory. I was planning to bring the theory back to my old world as a souvenir but I found out there was another chance, so these papers will definitely save time."
"So where's the rest of the theory? If it's completed, let me see the rest of it so I can finish the 00 Unit ahead of time."
"That won't do, revealing too many things ahead of time or completing certain actions way ahead will lead to too many unpredictable elements thanks to the Butterfly Effect. That's what you taught me Sensei. I will give you the rest of the theory in parts as certain big events come by. This way it will also help build our trust with each other. I'm no longer planning on being your pawn, I want to be your equal." He looks at me with hardened eyes. It seems like his previous experience did build up his character. I can't look at him like a teenage boy I suppose.
I sneakily look at Kasumi to see if she can read the theory from his mind, but she subtly shakes her head. It looks like he either is guarded against her knowing her ability, or he truly doesn't understand the theory. If he holds the rest of the theory, he is basically forcing me to keep him around and I have to follow his demands if I plan on completing the 00 Unit. This may not be as boring as I thought. I suppose I can look at him differently, but for him to be my equal he still has a lot to prove. The next thing he brings out seems to be a type of military tracking device. "What are you bringing out now?"
"This is another proof that I am from a different world. Since there is no threat against humanity, the entertainment industry in our world is far ahead of this world, allowing them to produce handheld consoles for gaming."
"You're telling me your world has technology for games on par with our military level technology?" That fact heavily shocks me.
"I have 5 games with me that you should play through, I think they will heavily benefit pilot training as well as military strategy. One of them is even similar to a TSF simulator."
I slam the table in anger. "You think I have the time to play through all of these games? I'm in a rush to complete Alternative IV. I don't have any free time to play all these games!"
"What if I tell you that if you mass produce these games and consoles, it will increase humanity's success rate against the BETA by at least 20 percent. I am being serious, we can't afford to be sacrificing people's lives in these battles anymore. Any single life that can be saved must be preserved."
"You know that's impossible right? In the past few decades we've fought against BETA, we've been dealing with horrible odds. Even if we manage to break even in terms of losses, that counts as a win."
"I'm going to reveal a truth that can never be told to the public. If they know about this fact, humanity will fall into despair, if we want any chance for victory we can't allow anymore sacrifices. Every single human that dies in these battles leads to an increase in the BETA force."
"Wait, what do you mean? Don't tell me that humans are becoming BETA!" If that is the truth, then there may be potentially over 3 billion BETA at the very least because of the amount of lives we have lost. Not including the amount of reproduction or creation they can bring forth.
"Yes. Due to the fact both humanity and BETA are carbon-based lifeforms, the BETA treats us the same as them, recyclable material that is used to serve and collect resources for their masters. They treat silicon-based lifeforms as true living beings."
"How do you know all this, how am I supposed to trust you on this? If this is the truth, the odds stacked against us are practically impossible."
"I managed to communicate with the BETA Superior in the Kashgar Hive before I blew up the core. According to it, we have even more BETA within the Solar System, and they span even further outside of the galaxy. However, I plan on only driving out the ones on Earth and the Moon. As long as we can devise a countermeasure against them landing on the Earth and the Moon, they will give up as it will not be worth the losses for them. I will not tell you about the experience about the Kashgar hive anytime soon before you ask. There are very important details about the experience I can't reveal before the time is ready."
If he has managed to live through the Kashgar hive, that means his experience in piloting is very high as well as his knowledge about the BETA. Looks like I will have to buy into his plan and help him mass produce these games if they increase our chances by that much. Looking at the games, I see a tactical turn based game that looks like it would be good for strategy. There's also a espionage action game called M*tal G*ar Solid. There's a racing game by the name of F-Zero, maybe it could be good in increasing reaction, I'm not too sure. There's a puzzle game in the group as well. Lastly there's the TSF simulator game called Valgern-On. This one is probably the most important game in the bunch.
"If what you're saying is true, I will free up some time to play them and get some engineers to start working on mass producing these. Not like you will give me the rest of the theory soon anyways."
"If possible I would like for you to play Valgern-On first. Last loop we worked together with Kasumi to make a new OS for TSFs that increased their performance by 30 percent. With the previous loop's experience, I believe we can push the XM3 to have at least a 50 percent increase."
"I can definitely work on the new OS as a priority if you can promise me a 50 percent increase in performance. Though I will need to see your ability as a pilot first. If you can prove to me that you can do this as a test pilot I will give you a green light."
"Got it, let us head to the Simulator Room then."
After calling and clearing the simulator room, I watch him get set up in the Simulator with his fortified suit, he looks very familiar with everything inside. I am definitely anticipating how well he will perform. Maybe I should test him with something impossible to see his reaction.
"Shirogane, everything ready?"
"Yes. Everything is set up. A-6 ready to go!"
Interesting. He uses the number 6 instead of 1, he must have not been a leader in his previous experiences. I wonder why that is. Right before I am about to start, in the corner of my eye I spot Isumi walking in. I can't get her out of the room without making her suspect too much, since Shirogane is hidden inside the pod, I might as well let her watch.
"Simulation Operation A-5 starting, launching in 10!"
Isumi walks up right as the simulation starts. While paying attention to the control logs I ask her what the matter is.
"XO, I heard from Hayase that you brought someone into the room while she passed by. Is this a potential recruit for the squad?"
Of course it's Hayase who spots me, that battle maniac is always hovering around the simulation room. "Let's leave it as a surprise, though this surprise may change our struggle against the BETA."
"That's some very high hope. Why did you start off with A-5 XO? That operation took our entire squad of Valkyries 1 hour to complete and we ended up with 4 casualties. With only 1 pilot, 4 battalions of BETA with 10 Laser class is impossible!"
"Of course I'm not expecting him to complete it, I just want to see the extent of the pilot's abilities and how far they can go." Taking care not to expose Shirogane's gender. I don't want to reveal his identity just yet.
"What are these movements!" Isumi looks at the screen with wide eyes. Why would she have that kind of reaction? I glance back at the control logs and I see a ton of rapid inputs, some of which are not even properly executed, almost as if the TSF can't keep up with him. What kind of monster is he if not even Type-94 Shiranui can keep up? Looking at the screen I see him dancing in between the BETA, dodging very marginally and preventing the Laser class BETA, Lux, from firing upon him. If he can perform like this without the new OS, how much of a monster will he become with it? Both of us continue to watch with wide eyes, unable to make any remarks, entranced by this acrobat dancing within the horde.
Operation Complete. Time 49 minutes 47 seconds.
"Ma'am! I would formally request this pilot to join our Valkyrie squad! With this amount of ability, it will greatly increase the performance and safety of our squad." Isumi salutes and earnestly requests. This reaction is honestly not very surprising. After all we just watched a solo pilot complete an operation quicker than an entire squad and only lost an arm to do so.
"Captain Isumi, I cannot accept your request. This pilot's identity will stay hidden and I can't reveal it to you at this point. In the near future they will most likely work with you in completing my missions, but for now I will have to request you leave the room before the pilot comes out."
"Understood Ma'am!" She salutes and turns to leave the room. I can tell she is very frustrated by my response as not being able to recruit such a strong force must be disappointing.
"I am convinced, you can come out now." Shirogane comes out of the pod as Isumi just exits the door.
"I will assign you as a 1st. Lieutenant, you can complete missions for me with a special code name." This way he can stay hidden and I can keep him under my control.
"I would like you to place me in squad 207B instead. That squad is very important to future events and they have very high combat potential in the future. As they are my precious squad, I can quickly train them ground up to reach the level of the Valkyries."
"It must be because of your conductor status I'm guessing?"
"Yes, there's a chance they may get some of their memories back as I interact with them. If they can remember their combat and piloting experiences it will be a major help."
"Very well, I will assign you to squad 207B as a cadet instead. However I will still give you a hidden 1st. Lieutenant rank that you can show to others when you need to. This way Marimo can't obstruct you when you want to increase their training. Also I'll give u clearance to most of the base, I'm sure you know where everything is."
"Thanks a lot Sensei. I promise I won't let you down!"
"Don't call me Sensei anymore, I'm not your teacher after all, call me Yuuko instead, you wanted to be my equal right? Now go talk to Marimo about the squad and I'm sure you know which room I'm assigning you."
"Yes Yuuko! See you later!" He salutes mockingly and walks away. I wave him off with a smile,.I guess it's time to figure out what this Love Nucleus is and start working on these games.
Takeru POV
Walking down to the field, I think back on the memory that appeared in my mind as I was exiting the pod.
"Excuse me Captain Isumi, I want to be able to lead my squad better, but it feels like the more I push them the more it backfires on me. It feels like they're hating me for forcing this upon them but I need them to get better quickly so I can keep them safe."
"I understand what you're getting at. How about instead of pushing them, you pull them along instead?"
"What do you mean by pulling them? I'm not too sure I understand."
"Sometimes to lead, you don't have to always be in front of them. Look at me, I'm the leader yet my job is to be behind the squad. Observe what they're struggling with and stay behind them to further help them along."
She pushes my back as we walk towards the Professor's lab and I finally understood what she was getting at.
It must be because I saw a glimpse of the captain as she left the room. Though I wonder where this memory came from, I don't remember ever interacting with the captain before I joined the Valkyries.
The moment I walked onto the track field, seeing Marimo-chan's back, I started feeling tears coming to my eyes. Looks even after so long I couldn't hold back these feelings. I swear this time I won't fail, I will definitely save you Marimo-chan!
"Sergeant Jinguuji, I am Shirogane Takeru! Reporting into squad 207B!" I shout loudly and begin to salute. The moment she turns around to face me… *Flash* I start seeing that image that haunted me once again. Red blood dripping down her face, I try to extend my hand to pick up the parts that are falling off… I immediately bow down to avoid continually seeing that image overlapping her. I start feeling frustrated, balling my fists. I thought I had managed to cope with that incident.
*Flash*
"It's perfectly fine to be scared Shirogane-kun. Being a coward is not something to be shameful of. The most important thing is to stay alive. To carry the dreams and goals of those who were with you along the way."
"I thought I could change the world Marimo-chan. I got overconfident thinking I could lead the charge. In the end I couldn't do anything, I even let you down."
"Did you know how long the average pilot lasts in their first battle against the BETA Shirogane-kun? They call it the 8 minutes of death. You already broke that by a mile! The most important thing is to keep on living and I know you can teach your experience and give others hope to break past that time limit.
"That's right, I've already started to make changes to this loop. With the newly improved OS and these new training devices, the result this time will be different. No matter what, I can't fall here. I don't have any second chances.
"I heard about you from the Professor… You're a weird one aren't you. Instead of saluting, you are bowing to me?"
"Oh, sorry about that. I am here to fast-track squad 207B, here is a note from the professor." I show her the note that contains my hidden rank. She widens her eyes in surprise.
"Why suddenly this squad? She should know the importance of the members here…" She mumbles in confusion.
"This squad has high combat potential. I believe with 1 month of training I can push them to reach the combat levels of the special task force Marimo-chan!" I excitedly tell her while accidentally letting slip her nickname.
"I know I can't stop you from addressing me that way, but aren't we a bit unfamiliar for you to be calling me that 1st. Lieutenant Shirogane?" She looks at me disapprovingly. "Very well, I can't stop Yuuko from doing what she wants." She sighs tiredly.
"Oh could you treat me as a cadet while I am in this squad? It will make things a lot easier if the squad treats me as one of their own."
"Understood, I hope you don't push them too hard even if I can't stop you." She looks at me sternly. "I will call them over and introduce them."
Marimo-chan walks over to stop them in the middle of their run as they start gathering in a line. As they're gathering and I glance at each of their faces, I start getting flashbacks of their last moments before their deaths. Chizuru and Kei hiding their signals while blowing up the walls of the hive, making me think they were still alive. Tama holding waves of BETA back with her sniping while finally falling. Just to be used by the Superior to taunt me. Mikoto using up the last of her energy to open the entrance to the core. Lastly, there was Meiya. The scene of her confessing right before I was forced to press the trigger still vividly in my mind. I can't look at any of them the same way anymore. I can't treat them as if it was my first meeting with them. I treasure them all too much.
"Squad! We have a new member of the squad joining in today! As you see, he is a rare male soldier." Marimo-chan exclaims loudly.
"Shirogane Takeru here. I hope we can all work well together to graduate." I smile at all of them.
"Now that he's been introduced, you all can finish your laps! Sakaki, after the training can you lead him around the base?" Class rep nods in response. I can tell that Marimo-chan decided to have her lead me around so that I could start interacting with the squad more often.
After watching the five of them complete their laps, Class Rep leads me around the base introducing me to the facilities. I could tell she was getting really agitated as I kept speeding her along. I knew the base like the back of my hand after all. It was still fun to mess around with Class Rep while she is still stuck up.
We reached the PX, which is the Cafeteria fairly quickly. The squad was sitting at the usual table, that table was always reserved fully for our squad. I remember it had something to do with being potential pilots and wanting us to stay together. Add on the squad's special political status which leads to us always having an empty table to sit together in.
"Shirogane-san, Sakaki-san, over here!" Miki quickly grabs our attention while waving her hand and standing up.
We quickly sit down in the empty seats at the table. Looks like the squad had already grabbed some food for Class Rep. Thankfully I wasn't hungry since I'm not training with them yet.
Meiya shows a surprised face. "That was a fast tour."
"He didn't need my help at all, that's why." Class rep responds with an annoyed face.
"Hm?" Meiya was still confused despite the response.
"He knew this place like the back of his hand, he clearly wanted to get the tour over with as quickly as possible." Class Rep glares at me.
Miki looks at me eyes wide, I can almost see stars shining in her eyes while she exclaims "Wow…"
"Isn't that a good thing, Class Rep? It just means I'm prepared for this."
Kei joins the conversation confusingly, staring at me intently as she asks "Class Rep?"
I realize I accidentally let slip the nickname as I was having fun in the conversation.
Class Rep quickly follows up the question. "I have no idea why, but he's been acting overly friendly with me like that the whole time. I'm already sick of it."
Looks like I'm pushing too far on trying to blend in already. I need to take a step back and give them some breathing room. I quickly toss out a reason while apologizing. "Sorry about that. You look just like my class representative from high school."
"I don't know about that excuse." Class Rep responds.
As the tension was starting to build, a very loud savior solves this rising pressure. "Aah? You hate beans!? Are you stupid!?" Kyozuka oba-chan yells from across the PX, attracting everyone's attention. I miss the old friendly oba-chan, but I'm sure she'll warm up to me pretty quickly again.
Meiya attracts my attention again, "Shirogane, the Instructor asked me to give this to you."
Looking at her confusedly, Class Rep answers my confusion. "Ah, thank you. Shirogane, have that memorized by tomorrow. You have to recite the oath in order to enlist."
I totally forgot about the oath. Even though my rank is higher this time around, it still is my first time in the base so I still have to recite the oath to join.
"Oh, I got it. Thanks for passing this on, I'll have it memorized by tomorrow."
Class Rep starts looking at me seriously. I already know what's coming up. "There's something I want to ask you."
"What?"
"I'll be blunt. Can we expect much out of you? Instructor Jinguuji told us you were a 'special person.'"
I fake a surprised face. "Aaah."
"Is that 'special' compared to us? Out of everyone in the country? On the planet?"
I respond earnestly, no longer interested in trying to act special. "I'm not special or anything, I'm just here to try my hardest to accomplish my goals. Either I will accomplish them or I will die trying."
Meiya probably sees my determination as she responds. "That is good to hear."
Tama balls her fists under her chin and looks up to me. "Let's train hard, Shirogane-san!"
"A month from now, there will be a Comprehensive Combat Skill Evaluation. We have to pass it this time." Class Rep states seriously.
A month is definitely way too slow. However I think I can cut the time in half. I should definitely keep silent for now and improve their skills as quickly as possible the next few days. It does hurt that I will have to do it for Mikoto as well when she comes back.
"Definitely. It's meant to be the sum total of our first half of training, so they won't forgive any mistakes."
"You know about it?" Class Rep looks at me surprisingly.
"I've heard about it a lot. After all, passing it means we can start training as pilots."
Chizuru hums in response to my answer. Meiya then adds on. "Yoroi will be joining us pretty soon thankfully, so we can train as a full squad again soon."
I feign confusion about the name. "Yoroi…?"
"Yoroi-san had to be hospitalized after the last training exercise." Miki answers my question quickly.
"Yoroi's skills, especially in survival, are second to none." Class Rep looks confident while explaining.
"I see. I can't wait to meet her then."
"Anyway! We're expecting a lot from you joining the squad at this point!"
"Yeah, just go easy on me." I respond to Class Rep as they return the tableware and the squad leaves the PX.
Looking back at the progress today, man it's been a long day. The meeting with Yuuko was especially stressful. I couldn't afford to show any nervousness or weakness. It totally felt like I was acting as a different person. However I know that if I show any sign of weakness she will definitely take advantage of me. We definitely don't have a trusting relationship so I have to continually try to outsmart her to prevent her from treating me like a pawn. I should ask her for access to the brain room tomorrow so that way I can start building up my relationship with Kasumi again. I also need to stabilize Sumika earlier this time to prevent her from breaking apart again.
Now that it's dark, I should take out a few more sheets of the theory for the upcoming request I have planned. I also need to get some wood and start carving a Santa rabbit. I'm sure that will make Sumika happy. Before I sleep, let's read a bit of the Valgern-On battle guide and make some notes of TSF movement. With this it will be a nice ending to the first day. Definitely one of the most hectic days I need to deal with.
AN: Phew, long chapter! I don't know how some of these guys write over 10k words, big respect. Long first day for our MC. I tried to make the meeting with Yuuko as best as I envisioned it. There will be a lot of mind battles between the two, after all Yuuko does like holding all the pieces.
This chapter got released early since I had most of it written by the time I published Ch1. Don't expect Ch.3 this fast~ Hopefully I can get it out fairly quickly still. Next few chapters will be featuring some squad bonding moments~