AN: Rejoice, for I finally got my muse to coperate...
Chapter Four: Initial Meeting
Several weeks went by as Shion adjusted to life on the Dammerung. She had soon made friends amongst her peers at Vector, and just like the Director had predicted, nobody was able to tell that she had never interned. However, there was one person who wasn't willing to let it go completely…
"Damn it, Shion, he's being a complete and total prick!" The brunette sighed, putting down her fork.
"It's not as bad as when I first started a couple of weeks ago. He's just being overprotective, that's all."
"He's being a prick!"
"Can't you show some respect? He's your boss too, you know!"
"He's being a prick." Scowling, Shion picked up her fork again and viciously impaled a leaf of lettuce on it.
"You don't have to be so mean, Miyuki." The other brown-haired woman shook her head.
"It's a fact. He's nice to everybody except to you, I think you should go to Director-sama on him!" Shion sighed.
"Just give him some time…"
"That's what you've been saying for the past couple of weeks!"
"Change of subject." Shion ordered, reaching for her drink. "How much longer are we going to be in dry dock?" Miyuki shrugged.
"A few more days." The Dammerung was undergoing its major maintenance overhaul; the massive ship had been in orbit around Senir for almost a month now. "But it's odd; we usually go by Fifth Jerusalem for the overhaul." Miyuki had been born and raised on the Dammerung, and currently was in her final phase of internship at Vector. "Not to mention vacation days are coming up!"
"Thank goodness for that." Shion replied, leaning back in her seat and sighing. "The Chief's been like a demon, he wanted the basic OS and then some completed by the time we leave dry dock."
"I'm telling you, he's being a total prick!"
"Don't start that again!"
"P-R-I-C-K." A frown crossed Shion's face as she grabbed her drink, biting down hard on the straw. Miyuki was right of course, Kevin was being a total and complete…to put it nicely, meanie, and she wasn't sure if she could attribute it to her being a rookie any longer… Sighing, she looked at her watch, and almost had a heart attack.
"Oh no! The meeting over the OS started five minutes ago!"
"Run for it!" Miyuki advised. Shion didn't reply, throwing herself out of her chair into a sprint, tossing the soda into a nearby trash can as she ran through the lunchroom doors.
Oh man, he's going to kill me! And here things had been going so well! Today was the final day to work on KOS-MOS's basic OS, afterwards everyone would be granted some vacation time, and then back to work… Inhaling sharply, she dashed through the doors of the First Division's section, calling out apologies to the Realians on guard duty, and started to run up the stairs. Once on the upper level, she continued her frantic sprint, glancing down briefly at her watch.
Oh nooo… However, she didn't watch where she was going…
"Hey, watch out!" A voice yelled. Startled, Shion looked up to discover that she was barreling down on a slender black-clad figure directly in her path! Desperate, she tried to slow down, but her boots skidded and slipped on the tiled floor, sending her forward.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
One minute he had been standing there, talking with the First Division's director, the next he had heard someone call out. Curious, he had turned around…
And had gotten more or less body-slammed to the floor, the force of the impact also sending the Director stumbling, hot coffee flying out of his hand…which had resulted in a high-pitched female scream, two guesses just where the scalding liquid had landed?
"Aaaiiieeee!"
"Mr. Wilhelm! Wait a minute…Shion?" In reply to her name, the brunette groaned, propping herself up with both hands on either side of Wilhelm's body.
"Owww… Director, that…huh?" The white-haired man propped himself up on his elbows, fighting gamely to keep a smile from breaking out on his face.
"Could you be so kind as to get off of me?" He requested. Shion's face turned a bright scarlet, and with a shriek she threw herself backwards.
"M…m…Mr. Wilhelm!"
"Yes, that's my name." Wilhelm quipped, getting back up and dusting himself off. "Miss Uzuki, I presume?"
"I…I…I am so sorry!" Shion screamed, scrambling to her feet and rapidly bowing. "Please forgive me, I was trying to get to a meeting and I tried to slow down…"
"It's alright." The Vector CEO said quickly, lifting a hand to forestall any comments by the First Division's director. "It was an accident, and they happen sometimes."
"But…"
"I've heard many good things about you. Would you come by my office after you change your uniform?" At this, Shion flushed even more, one hand creeping up behind her back to feel the coffee stain.
"Y…yes sir."
Red eyes glanced over him as he stepped into his office.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Wilhelm chuckled, this was as worried as Voyager would allow himself to be. "Life often throws little surprises our way…I was just the recipient of one, that's all."
"More like assaulted by one." Voyager countered.
"Look at it this way. Because of our little collision, I was now able to arrange a meeting with Miss Uzuki. Otherwise, I'd have been forced to arrange it through her superiors." Wilhelm replied, moving towards his desk. "The silver lining in the cloud, so to speak."
"She's going to be very terrified of you." The black Testament predicted.
"Her fear will be an easy thing to soothe. Although…" Wilhelm turned to face Voyager, tilting his head slightly. "I'm not that intimidating, am I?" To this, Voyager pursed his lips and stayed silent, recognizing the query as a loaded question.
"…"
"You really think I am?" Wilhelm asked, mildly surprised.
"You…have a very…forceful way about you." Voyager replied. "And that is all I will say on the matter." The Vector CEO's lips quirked in a slight smile.
Fear roiled in Shion's stomach, an iron band pressing down on her lungs. Clad in a clean uniform, hair brushed and pulled back behind her ears, she moved with quaking limbs towards the elevator that led up to the Vector CEO's private office. The Director had given her an understanding smile, patted her on the shoulder, and whispered that he'd talk to Kevin for her…but it hadn't done anything for the butterflies in her stomach. Fingers interlaced to keep her hands from shaking, she stepped on the lift.
What would Mr. Wilhelm want to see me for? The elevator stopped, and Shion looked around in surprise.
"Oh wow…" She whispered. The room itself was diamond shaped, four large windows taking the places of the walls, providing a spectacular view of the stars. The colors were varying shades of gray and some purple, with the only other color being the red Vector logo emblazed on the floor in front of the desk. In awe, the brunette stepped off the lift, nervousness forgotten as she tried to take in the new surroundings.
"I assume this means my office meets with your approval?" At the familiar voice, Shion stopped stock-still.
Oh noo…you've been gaping like an idiot while he was in the room! Squaring her shoulders, Shion inhaled sharply and turned around.
"Mr. Wilhelm." She said stiffly, bowing.
"Please don't. There's no need for such formality." The white-haired man replied, coming from behind his desk. On the outside, Shion was doing rather well, but on the inside, the poor girl was a nervous wreck…Wilhelm found himself having to keep himself from smiling.
Somehow saying "I told you so" doesn't quite do it. Voyager remarked offhandedly in his thoughts. Wilhelm lifted a hand to his mouth to cover a cough, his eyes glancing over to the side, where the black Testament was hidden.
Be nice. He ordered. Diverting his attention back to Shion, he gestured towards the side table.
"If you would join me?" Nodding, Shion obeyed, sliding into the side table, clasping her hands in her lap. Wilhelm noticed the fine tremors rippling over them, her legs…
"There's no need to be so nervous, I just wished to have a chat with you. For the past month I've heard nothing but praises coming from the First Division about their new engineer…" He remarked idly, walking over to the drink cart located near one of the large windows, seeing Shion's reflection in the glass flush furiously.
"Oh, that…I haven't done much, really. You should be talking to the others working on the KOS-MOS project with me, I'm just the interloper."
"Would you like some water?"
"Um, yes please." Nodding slightly, Wilhelm returned with the water glass, sliding smoothly into the seat in front of her.
"Why do you call yourself an interloper?" He asked, leaning back.
"Well…" Shion looked down in her glass, as if the water could give her answers. "I think for starters, I got put in the wrong division…I haven't even gotten a chance to intern, and then I'm put on this top-secret project funded by both Vector and the military…" She trailed off, her green eyes lifting to meet Wilhelm's claret ones. "Sir, it's like I've been thrown into the deep end of the ocean, without a lifejacket. Not that I'm not grateful for what's been given to me, because I am, but…" She shook her head. "Something just seems very wrong about it."
She's more perceptive that I thought she would be. Wilhelm thought. Shion obliviously was still harboring suspicions of just how she'd been placed; she'd more than likely hold onto them until KOS-MOS was completed. But by then, it'd be purely academic; he'd have her well in his grasp, and the next part of the plan could be carried out. But until then, he couldn't risk her taking her reservations to the next level.
"Considering the information we were given…I believe you were in the top 20 for the SARs?" He queried. Shion turned bright red, but nodded yes. "Top 20 for SARs, your medical examination showed us that you have an almost a Realian-like capability with computers and interfaces, of special note are your Encephalon abilities...need I go on?" Shion squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.
"That's…that's just all book smarts and stuff…" She stammered out, her eyes opening. "There are lots of people in Vector much better qualified than me to have the job I have now, and I just feel so guilty thinking I robbed some hardworking man or woman who deserved it more than me of their rightful position."
"I'm sure that wasn't the case." Wilhelm soothed. And it wasn't, he had personally made sure of that. "Miss Uzuki, are you sure it's not something else that's bothering you about having this job? Is anyone giving you a hard time?"
Aside from my boss, who is a total pain-in-the-neck, or as Miyuki calls him, a total prick? Shion thought, unaware that Wilhelm had just picked up on that thought. But I can't complain about it… "Not really...sir. It's nothing that I can't handle." Liar. Wilhelm nodded, not letting on to what he had just overheard.
"I see." He hadn't bothered to check on the situation between Kevin and his new assistant, trusting that it would have worked out fine on its own, but from what he was hearing, things weren't going smoothly. Perhaps it was the tension between them that had Shion questioning the motives behind her placement…
"If you would like, I could look into the matter for you." He offered. As he suspected, Shion shook her head violently.
"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to!" She gave Wilhelm a small smile. "It's too late to change things around now; I'm involved too deeply with the program." She shrugged. "I'll just hang on until it's finished and then request a transfer to the Third Division; it's originally where I wanted to go." Before the Vector CEO could say anything in reply, Shion looked at her watch.
"Oh no, not again!" She cried, darting out of her seat. "Is this like my day to be late or something!"
"Another meeting?" Wilhelm asked, standing up. Shion nodded frantically.
"Yes, I'm so sorry…"
"It's perfectly alright. It was very nice meeting you, Miss Uzuki." Wilhelm said. Shion bowed.
"Likewise, sir." Moving at a half sprint/half jog, she got on the lift and bowed once more as it started to move downwards. Behind Wilhelm, Voyager rematerialized.
"Do you think he's got something to do with this?" He asked. Wilhelm turned his head slightly.
"The relationship between them…what is it like?"
"It's strained. Winncot came down on her hard at the beginning, but that was to be expected, the military also didn't approve of her joining the project, so he had to put a lot of pressure on her to meet their expectations fast."
"And now?"
"It's not as bad, but now I just think it's due to the fact that she's still inexperienced. Do you want me to speak to him?" The white-haired man turned around.
"No. They'll be apart for a while; perhaps the separation will do them some good." Voyager bowed slightly and then dematerialized from view, leaving Wilhelm alone with his thoughts.