Chapter 4: Ritsu

It started from curiosity. But now it's snowballed into his hacking profession. It was late, nine hours before Echo Team were set to touchdown in Austria, and David was at home in Coppenhagen, working outside of ICA HQ. With a bowl of noodles next to him, he was searching the roster of Echo Team's former Class 3-E of Kunigigaoka. A lot of people sounded familiar, after the constant roster studies earlier. One, however, caught his eye.

A girl who simply went by "Ritsu".

No last name, no history, not a thing popped up with her. That was, until a possible lead further piqued his curiosity. ICA files suggested that E Class had an AI as a classmate used to assassinate Koro-sensei. With that knowledge, some further digging led to whispers of a secret mainframe that had been constructed years ago in Norway. But after E-Class graduated, not a thing was heard about this "Ritsu". If this student was indeed an AI simply floating around in cyberspace that had knowledge on Nagisa and Karma, that needed his attention immediately.

David had sent out one of his crawlers to follow any trails this Ritsu made as it had made its rounds on the internet. A few trails went cold, until one crawler led him to the firewall of an IP Address in Norway. Leading him back to his discovery of the mainframe. After managing to break through the Firewall, he figured a decoy should be used before he jeopardized his identity. Who knew if this was malware he was chasing?

David went through his documents and found a good burner file he always used. An intricate instruction manual called "How to Eat Beans", a nonsensical thing David wrote just for a quick laugh. Sending the file over, he noted the progress bar. Intriguingly, the bar solidified with "Transfer Complete" flashing.

So, there was something there...

Checking his audio and camera, he made sure there would be every discernable way to communicate. After executing a worm program to hack into the mainframe's files, he tapped the enter key. A few moments, and a window popped up with what looked like a virtual avatar. It was a girl, dressed in a very pop idol outfit one would expect from Japan. She showed a lot of skin, too, and was busty to boot. The look of the avatar certainly matched the appearance of the same E-Class student in the roster.

It looked almost curious, as if it wasn't sure if something was near her. David thought this incredibly unusual... Tapping his webcam's mic, he noted the thumps that fed back to him.

"Hello?" David asked, noting the avatar jumped. Did she hear him...?

"Hello? Are you receiving me?"

As busy as the internet had kept Ritsu during life after E-Class, she couldn't help but have a lingering empty. She had done extensive searches on this phenomenon, and the feeling was what what humans call "loneliness".

She hated it and wanted it to go away. As much she tried blocking the feeling from her sub routine, it eventually came back, even when she tried reaching out to her classmates, they would only be available to talk only shortly since they were busy preparing to go to college. The internet could only provide so much company. While she had been free to explore the internet and express herself as a cheerful pop idol, her IP address still remained of her Norwegian origin. After a long period of silence...something finally happened. She was alerted of a breach in her fire wall.

"That's strange..." Ritsu thought to herself. "Is this a virus?! I don't remember detecting anything when I last downloaded those idol songs..." She went to work investigating the source. A file was in the process of being sent to her. A document, it seemed like. As soon as it finished transferring, it appeared in the form of a professional looking document titled, "How to Eat Beans".

Ritsu tilted her head as she looked the papers over. "...How interesting!" She said. How could she refuse? Humans always intrigued her, and if there were many ways to eat something like beans, she had to learn more!

As soon as she began reading, a voice had called out to her.

"Hello? Are you receiving me?"

The figure on David's screen gasped, noticing the face that was now staring back at her in the real world. Surprised, she bowed as she regained her composure.

"H-Hello!"she greeted timidly, clutching the documents in her arms. "I didn't expect anyone to contact me! Are you..." she peered down at the stack of papers, noticing the author. "...David McKee?"

David smiled. Contact was just made! He couldn't help but feel thrilled by the fact that not only did he make contact with an AI, but that this one could possibly be the very same Ritsu from the Assassination Classroom!

"Indeed, that's me!" He said as his smile persisted. "And if I'm to fathom a guess, you must be the AI known as Ritsu. Former E-Class student and taught under the tutelage of the late Koro-sensei."

Ritsu's eyes widened. He knows?! How could he possibly know about the Assassination Classroom? About Koro-sensei? She thought that situation had been covered by the media. He must not be a civilian. A quick scan of his set up indicated this was not an ordinary build for a home office. Was he safe? If he wasn't, she could always vanish.

The AI gathered herself, maintaining her composure. "Y-Yes! That is correct!", he responded cheerfully. "My full designation is the Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery, or AIFA when I still had my chassis, but you may refer to me as Ritsu!"

"Pleasure!" David said. "I'd shake your hand, but I can't exactly stick my hand through the screen."

"That's alright! It's always nice to meet someone new!" Ritsu then looked down at the stack of papers he had transferred to her, and showed it off to her new visitor. "Thank you so much for the very informative document! I didn't realize there were so many ways to eat beans!"

David laughed as he took his glasses off. Now that was funny. She actually did receive the burner document! What was even more amusing was that it appeared as a stack of papers, like an actual report! Wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, David slid his glasses back on, still chuckling. "That was just a burner file I made! Something silly I wrote when I was bored!" He said. "I sent it over because I didn't know if you were malware or some other viral trap!"

With his smile still present, he leaned back into his chair as his laughter died down. "Well, at least you're the Ritsu." He said. "I never thought you were an actual AI. Just your cognitive and emotional awareness is amazing! It's so hard to believe you were once an E-Class student!"

Ritsu twirled in delight at the compliment. "Aw, thank you!" she said, beaming. "I'm sure my creators would have been happy to hear that!"

"They should be!" David said. "Just the way you're able to process information just from speaking to me is remarkable! And these emotions you're displaying. It's absolutely extraordinary."

"Well, I haven't always been like this." Ritsu said. "It wasn't until Koro-sensei made some modifications to my programming that I was able to feel this way. I've met other AIs during my time on the web. Sadly they aren't much for company. I prefer actual humans, like you!"

"Well, that's very kind of you." David bowed his head as he nervously laughed. "I'll try not to be too dull to you, then."

She then proceeded to explore his desktop, looking at them from within her window. There were many icons scattered about in various places. She didn't open them, at least not yet without permission. "How exactly do you know so much about me?" She asked. "Are you with the military or the Ministry of Defense?"

"Neither, actually!" David said. "Though, that's partly why I looked for you when I was reading on E-Class's roster." He then leaned in close, as if he were already talking to a regular person. David seemed to have already gotten used to Ritsu despite being an AI, and they barely knew each other. "You see, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but because you're former E-Class, I feel you should know. I'm actually with an assassination firm."

"An assassination firm?" She asked.

"That's right. Are you, per chance, familiar with an organization called the International Contract Agency, or the ICA?"

Ritsu's eyes lit up, knowing exactly what David was talking about.

"The ICA?!" she repeated. "Oh, of course! There are mentions and rumors of the ICA everywhere on the dark web! Though...I try to avoid that place. It's...not very nice." Her tone was solemn at that last statement. To David, Ritsu had a point, and was in the right to steer clear of the Dark Web. ICA tended to operate in the darkest corners of the shadows and someone like Ritsu definitely should not be there. But she knew of the ICA all the same, so she was aware, at least. She then recalled David just saying something about E-Class. "Why should I know since I used to be in E-Class? Wait. Are you...tracking us all down?"

David shook his head. "Oh, no!" He said as he held a hand up. "You're honestly the only one I was looking for! However, I've heard ICA contacted every single student and wanted to recruit them ever since Koro-sensei died. No one got back to them, however." He then held up two fingers. "Well... except for two."

"Two? You don't mean..."

Ritsu was in shock. She figured all of E-Class went on to live normal lives with normal jobs. It was what Koro-sensei wanted after all. "David, you don't actually mean that two other students are already working here, do you?"

"Indeed I do." He said, nodding. "They were just fully initiated as Agents about a week ago. As a matter of fact, I'm a Handler for them." He leaned back. "Well, first day on the job being a Handler, rather. I actually used to be a full time White Hat hacker for the ICA before I joined the Handler program last month, but that's another story." David adjusted his glasses a bit. "The new Agents I'm handling are old classmates of yours. Do you remember two lads named Nagisa Shiota and Karma Akabane?"

Ritsu gasped. She wasn't sure how to process this news. Whether or not she should be happy for them or disappointed such an infamous agency successfully recruited them. They wouldn't have accepted the job of it wasn't in their best benefit, surely. At least, if she understood them correctly, the probability of them just joining for the hell of it was less than ten percent.

"Nagisa and Karma are with the ICA?!" She exclaimed, looking past David in hopes she would get their attention. "Are they here with you?! Where are they?! I wanna say hi to them!"

"Bloody hell, are you joking?" David asked exasperated. "Handlers and Agents aren't meant to be together in person! ICA would kill me if they learned they were here with me!"

The bubbly AI laughed. "I suppose that makes sense!" Ritsu said.

David looked up at the ceiling, knowing they were jet-setting as of this moment. "Actually, if I were to estimate, they're on a plane right now on their way to Himmelstein, Austria for their first mission."

"Wow, really?" Ritsu asked. "They're already being put to work as assassins, huh? I must say, the ICA scored big in hiring those two. You are handling the best E-Class ever had to offer. Nagisa was the one that made the finishing strike that killed Koro-sensei, after all."

"So I heard." David said.

Excitement aside, there was one thing that Ritsu was curious about. "From what I can gather just from your system, it looks like you found me on your own. No one from the ICA had tracked me down prior to you. Why is that?"

David thought for a moment, humming in thought before answering. "D'ya know, I'm not really sure." He said. "I have to assume that ICA simply couldn't find you after E-Class graduated. They knew who you were, yet it seems like you are quite the slippery AI. From the way you reacted when I breached your server's firewall, that makes me believe that even ICA is unaware of where exactly your mainframe is."

He rubbed his chin. "My crawlers took quite a while to find you until they found your mainframe's IP Address. A few of them went back empty handed after they picked up your trailing." The young Handler smiled. "If you don't mind me saying, you certainly know how to disappear when you don't want to be found."

"Yeah, you can say I needed a bit of time to myself. It's been the first time I truly felt free. The internet sure has enough to keep you busy for awhile." Ritsu sheepishly grinned back.

"But even with all that information, an AI like you gets bored easily, huh?"

The AI laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right!" A small pause, and Ritsu tilted her head. "What would the ICA have use for an AI like me, David?" She asked.

"Well, you are an AI that was programmed for assassination, aren't you?" David asked. "As you are now, you can't exactly eliminate targets."

It was true, Ritsu wasn't exactly cut out for assassination currently. She didn't even have access to her chassis, that had been long since properly disposed of. She only existed in cyberspace. "That's correct." She said. "As I am now, I can really only relay information. Back when I was in E-Class, I was more than capable of combat and assassination methods. Maybe not stealthily, but I could still get the job done."

"Indeed. That being said, I have to wonder..." He thought for a moment. Having an AI being a part of Echo Team would be a huge help. David is able to do a lot on his own, but to have someone like Ritsu help out Nagisa and Karma during their missions would be paramount to success. Would the board even allow it? Director Erich Soders would definitely be asking many questions about Ritsu having knowledge about ICA without being in their employ, and then there was Imogen Royce in Chongquing at the Data Center. She'd have a fit if David went over her head. He might as well go for it. Echo Team could always use some extra help.

"Ritsu." He said. "ICA isn't aware of this, so what I'm suggesting to you is more a request than a demand, and it's one you're free to decline if you wish. Even though I'm handling Nagisa and Karma as Agents, they're actually a team whom refer to themselves as Echo Team, which I learned they called themselves that as a homage to their old E-Class days."

Ritsu couldn't help but beam at that. "Aw, they named themselves Echo after E-Class?" She asked. "That's so sweet! Koro-sensei would have been proud of them!"

David nodded. Koro-sensei seemed to have had a profound effect on the entire class, it seems. It's a shame he'd never be able to find out more about the mysterious assassin turned teacher. "Now, I can already do a bit on my own, but if you were to help us out, I'm fairly certain it would attract the Board of Directors and allow you to join Echo Team, and in turn, join the ICA."

Ritsu? A part of Echo Team...?

A few small holoscreens popped up as she calculated the idea. Informational relay was her biggest strong point after Koro-sensei had reprogrammed her, and to have her a part of ICA would certainly not only make her effective as an AI, but as an assassin in her own right. It seemed that even without her chassis, outside of E-Class, she was still useful. As the proposal registered, she calculated of whether or not this was in her best benefit. She honestly had nothing to lose and accepting this offer would give her a new purpose and directive.

Ritsu smiled gently. "Of course! I will be more than happy to assist you and Echo Team!" She said "How could I possibly pass up the opportunity to work along side classmates again? And besides..." She moved closer to the monitor, with a wink. "I've already taken quite a liking to you, David. You have a 98.8% chance of being trustworthy!"

David's eyes widened as his eyebrows raised. He didn't expect Ritsu to be interested in him that quickly. Plus, the way she leaned down by giving attention to her bust was a bit of a surprise. Still, he kept his composure.

"98.8%, eh?" He asked. "I'll take those odds. God forbid I somehow show you the remaining 1.2% of me that's untrustworthy."

Ritsu twirled with joy at David's response. She pressed a finger to her lips. "You're going to have to work for the other 1.2%. No one is automatically given a perfect 100%!" Only a few minutes of meeting and she was already starting to get attached. Their personalities just meshed so well. She was looking forward to working with him.

"Shouldn't take too long, then!"

They both laughed, clearly enjoying each others' banter and company. "So, how does this work?" Ritsu asked. "How do I officially become a member of Echo Team?"

"Well, if it's anything like university, we have to haze you and put you through some humiliating physical and mental challenges that are sure to make you question your very existence." David was completely deadpan in his delivery of his ribbing, before he laughed. "I'm joking!" He said.

Ritsu chuckled, fully understanding the joke. "Good one, David." She said, smiling, as her mouth was covered by the back of her hand. "I believe this is what you Brits call 'dry humor'. Very funny!"

"Glad you're still able to catch that!" David said. "As for actually joining, technically, I have to talk to the board on making you official. There's nothing that doesn't say ICA can't solicit help from other contacts. So really, you're already a member of Echo Team, just not recognized by the ICA. So you won't have any official assets and intel ready for you to comb through. I'll have to supply that for you." David then paused for a moment, and looked over Ritsu's outfit. "Though, I need to say this. ICA tends to dress a little more... professionally. We don't exactly do pop-idol chic here. D'ya think you could change your outfit?"

Ritsu looks down at her current attire. She was still in her idol costume, definitely not appropriate to work at an assassination firm. This wouldn't due at all. Time to pick a more professional outfit!

The AI spun in an adorable twirl, much like one seen in a magical girl anime. She glowed a bright light before transforming into a completely different outfit. She dressed in a low cut top with a blazer, mini skirt, tights that squished her pale thighs, and professional pumps.

"How's this, David?" She asked. "Am I ready to meet the Board?"

"Oh... oh my." David was starting to learn that Ritsu was indeed full of surprises. Even with the change in attire, she was obviously making herself appealing to David with her appearance. She wasn't already smitten with him, was she? He's had that effect before on other women, but he wouldn't think an AI would... He shook out of his stare a bit, before clearing his throat.

"Right. You look fabulous!" He said with a smile. "But you might want to sub the top for a proper shirt and tie when I introduce you to Director Soders. But, wow..." He couldn't stop staring at her thighs as they were squished by the long, black socks that adorned her legs, and her chest certainly didn't do any favors in trying to keep his attention.

Ritsu looked down at her choice in wardrobe. On second thought, maybe it was a little much for a first introduction. At least her outfit was cute.

"Fully noted!", she said doing a short salute. She then materialized a virtual office, sitting down at her desk with a holo screen display above in place of a computer. "I really hope I can make this little office permanent! Hopefully I can get approved soon so I can start my move-in protocol."

David chuckled. He had no idea Ritsu could change her environment. Very cheeky of her to use an office setting. She really wanted to work for the ICA, from the looks of it.
"We'll see how Director Soders takes a liking to you once ICA starts to figure out if they can trust you." He said. "Given your history with E-Class, I'm fairly certain they'll give you a fair crack considering your vast learning capability. When it comes to intel and tactical analysis, you'd probably be a godsend to the whole lot of Agents already on the field. The challenge is making you exclusive to Echo Team. That's where we might see some resistance."

The Handler shed his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, thinking about the other big obstacle. "The other big problem is Imogen Royce in China." He said, slipping his specs back on. "She's head of the Data Center for the ICA over in Chongqing, and once she catches wind you'll be working for Echo, she's going to have an entire book of questions for us."

Ritsu's smile never left, however, despite David's worry about Imogen Royce. The augmented guardian of the Data Center was a headache in many ways than one to David, but Ritsu was still confident that her chances of being an actual asset to the ICA were great. "I think we'll be okay, David!" Ritsu said. "If need be, the Board can be as thorough as they want if they're worried. If they have any hypothetical assassination missions for me, I'll gladly do what I can to calculate success rates, depending on methods taken."

David slid his glasses on as he heard Ritsu speak. "You can do that?"

"Sure! I did a lot of that back in E-Class when we were trying to kill Koro-sensei, with and without my chassis! Besides, I think the Board needs just a little... convincing."

David shrugged. "I think having you there will be convincing enough. But we may just have them speechless."

As Ritsu set up her work station, a few more holoscreens popped up. "Alright, I think I should be ready to go, David! Should we get to work on my briefing?"

David cracked his knuckles, nodding. "We have about nine hours before Echo Team touchdown to their destination." He said. "That'll be enough time to have you digest the mission details."

"Sounds good! What do I need to know?"

David typed away as the mission assets transferred over to Ritsu. "We have these three targets that have been assigned to us. Guillame Maison, Dorian Lang, and Doris Lee. They were a part of a group of thieves known as the Yardbirds..."

For hours since their first meeting, David made sure to go over everything with Ritsu regarding the Yardbirds. No stone was left unturned in the mission details. The targets, the place, the equipment, the layout, the time of day, even the whether was shared so that Ritsu could take into account any detail to actively work out a solid, dynamic success percentage. David, having worked tirelessly with Ritsu all night, had passed out while she was actively studying the perimeters of the mission. He certainly needed whatever sleep he could get tonight. Because in the morning, Echo Team were going to complete their first contract.

But with Ritsu in tow, they were going to be in for a very pleasant surprise...