Motion on a fourth dimensional plane

Note: This chapter took much longer than anticipated. It was due to a sudden problem when my Windows Update automatically installed an update and restarted my machine. I lost nearly half of the finished chapter, and for about a day or so, I lost the will to write. But, I persevered, and alas, I got it finished.

This chapter felt boring to write. It's mainly the Sergeant's views and feelings about the residents of Hinata-Sou. I felt this sort of chapter was necessary from his view, as a 'recollection' phase to think over all he has seen so far. I also took some time to describe a bit more about Sergeant Randall. Not much, since that's reserved for later chapters, but some minor details to get things going.

Before I continue, I have to address a few things. First off, in response to Silent Kill's review (thank you for such a great review, by the way) - yes, I made a brief mention that most of this is inspired from Battlefield: 2142, but what I mean by inspired is that the universe Sergeant Randall is from was created by myself as an original work, but elements relating to or based off from Battlefield: 2142 were used to a certain degree. The MCU77 Walker is based off of the walking mechs that are taking centre stage in the new Battlefield game, and Sergeant Randall's combat armour is a bit similar to the European Union soldier, albeit bulkier and more robotic. The years and such are close, mainly because any number with '42' at the end sounds badass. The two universes are different, and I just want to make that clear. I'll reveal more about the universe the Sergeant is from in later chapters.

Other thing I need to bring up - what are Motoko's attacks? What does she actually say when she does her ki attacks? I need to know because I never actually caught what they were, and this entire time I'm been fudging the whole process by having Sergeant Randall describe her screaming something in Japanese and then he goes flying. If anybody can give me a list of her attacks and what they do, that would be greatly appreciated.

Last, I don't know if this is possible, but is there a map of Hinata-Sou somewhere on the internet? I know the manga has a few maps, but they're a little broad and don't give me much to work with. I've been using as much from the manga and anime to get a rough idea of where everything is, and I feel I could do better if I had a map. If it's not possible, then disregard this last one.

In the mean time, enjoy, and I'll get back to my writing, both next chapter and back to Halo as well, since I feel I've neglected my other story for a bit too long. Accursed writers block...

Chapter 3: Dramatis Personae

I remember the aftermath of a battle I had served in North Africa, crossing the border from Algeria into Tunisia. We had broken through the Bloc lines and had them on the retreat. While some of our forces pursued them, my unit, as well as a few others was tasked with cleaning up any remaining forces in the area. I had cleared out a bunker when I found the remains of a Bloc officer's kit. In it was, interestingly enough, a poetry book - a poetry book. If it were a field manual, I wouldn't have been surprised. If it was a war novel, I wouldn't be too surprised. I would be a bit curious if it were a novel, mainly with what it would be about, but a poetry book? Judging the rest of his kit and his office, this officer must have been one of those artistic guys that would get shot while prancing around the battlefield looking for uniquely shaped rocks. I know, because it's usually me or somebody in my unit who shoots them, and my kill count for these guys was currently at nine – tied for third amongst my regiment.

The book had a bunch of poems written about war, soldiers, and all the like, but there was this one poem that disturbed me quite a bit.

It was a poem that compared a soldier in battle to the ultimate, hybrid animal. The soldier in question would have the 'eyes of an eagle,' the 'ears of a fox,' the 'nose of a bloodhound,' and all the rest. It was a fairly romanticized view of the war and its affects on a soldier. Reading over it several times, I was quite disturbed, mostly by the way it talked about soldiers, and how…outdated…it was.

True, war did some funny things to your senses, but enhancing it? Not a chance in hell. I don't know what it may have done to soldiers in the past, but for the few of us fighting The War, it was more like it had retarded our senses. Take sight, for example. Sure, we got used to seeing a little farther with the help of our helmet mounted tools, but the most we could ever generally notice were just minor details or general outlines. If it was shaped like a Commonwealth soldier, we'd wave to it, if it was shaped like a Bloc soldier, we'd shoot it. Also, most soldiers end up developing tunnel vision or simply get screwed up peripheral vision, thanks in large to our helmets and the displays, also by the repeated reliance on motion trackers, radar, and thermal vision. Not exactly an 'enhancement', per se.

Hearing was a funny, if not obvious one – if it didn't sound like your gun, get your head down, because it was probably a Bloc rifle. Better yet, if it was loud and had a long echo following it, get your ass inside a bunker or behind cover, because it was a Bloc artillery piece. And then, there's my personal favorite – if he's talking to you and he isn't speaking English, shoot him, or at least beat him with your stock and call it an accident.

Smell was also a funny one to bring up. The rule was - if it didn't smell like anything you can recognize, more chances than naught, it was warm, cooked food. Due to the amount of time spent around everything else – vehicles, weapons, dirt, etc, most of those smells blended into one general area. Food, especially cooked, smelled completely different and outside of that area, which explains the reasoning.

In this case, I could smell something, and it sure as hell wasn't anything I've smelled before.

Commonwealth soldiers were given packs of C-482 rations. Military food in the Commonwealth, compared to the supposed horror stories of the ancient Meals, Ready-to-Eat more than a century ago, had come a long way. Not only could the rations last for the better part of a century, but they were now compressed down into several small, lightweight blocks loaded with nutrients, vitamins, and all the rest. Hell, the rations even had nanites to ensure the food would go down without any digestion problems, and for a whole bunch of other reasons. There was no longer a worry about soldiers eating the wrong foods or going hungry – whenever we ate, we actually ate healthier and got more essential nutrients than the average civilian back home.

The problem, however, was that a C-482 ration block had absolutely no taste.

The nanites within the ration blocks were also designed to suppress the taste of the block. I never tried first-hand a ration block without the nanites but the numerous horror stories from that end were enough to convince me otherwise. The lack of taste would allow it to be consumed more easily, in theory. It was true – no taste meant we'd chew it and shallow it quickly, but in the end it was the equivalent of eating a soft piece of chalk. With no taste, it didn't even feel like food. It got rid of our hunger, that's for sure, but being tasteless was something that the soldiers, including myself, never got used to.

Luckily, Commonwealth base camps often had certified cooks and personnel to make real food. Sadly, the amount of time spent away from camps and on the move meant it was a rare luxury. Even worse, base camps were almost rarely set up.

I ate a quarter of a tasteless ration block while I finished destroying the information, both the notes and the select pieces of data on the hard drive. After I finished, I left the room and journeyed around the tunnels for a bit, finding some new entrances up to the building in the process. I was back at the entrance leading to the kitchen when I caught the scent.

Incidents like this had happened in the past and it was always awfully tempting for soldiers to investigate the smell. Thoughts of warm, cooked food that actually had taste was always irresistible. I rarely fell for that call now, having been enlightened about the possible risks of following such reckless behavior. Back when I was Private, I was more likely to follow the scent, but three ranks later and a few years of service, I was invulnerable to it.

Looking around, I then realized I was already halfway up the tunnel with no intention of turning back. Shit.

Experience and rank my ass – I continued up the tunnel to track the scent.

I had gotten to the poster covering the entrance when I stopped. I switched on my thermal vision and looked around, picking up only a source of heat form the stove. Something was cooking there – food? Hell, if it wasn't, I was going to be very upset.

After making sure the surrounding area was clear, I moved the poster out of the way and crawled into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was it – a boiling cooking pot, filled with whatever I had smelled earlier.

After making sure to cover the entrance behind me, I walked up to it, pulled down my face mask, and took out my most vital tool, stashed safely away in an easy to reach pouch – my racing spoon.

My what? The racing spoon was a time honored tool used by soldiers for more than a century. Mine was a reinforced titanium spoon taken from a cookhouse back at base, shortened and smoothed down in certain areas. The purpose of it was to scoop up as much food in one quick swipe as possible on the go. This could be done anywhere, preferably at base, where when the cook isn't looking, which you'd then run by, scoop up a chunk of whatever he had cooked and go.

I opened the top of the pot. Inside was a beige soup, with bits of onion and tofu inside – miso soup, if I had to guess. I dipped my spoon in, scooped up a large spoonful of the soup and drank it.

I sighed for a moment. It was warm, and the sweet and salty taste of the miso soup was amazing. I had it before, a long time ago when my mother used to make it, but after growing up and serving in the military, never again. Even so, this one was astonishingly delicious. I felt like picking up the entire pot and running with it. Then again, somebody had taken the trouble of making it, so I decided to leave it behind.

It was too bad – it was really good.

My radar then picked up somebody coming. I hurried back to the tunnel and took cover inside of it, making sure the poster was covering the entry. I switched my thermal vision on and watched as somebody came out and tended to the pot of miso soup. Judging from the shape and size of the person, it had to be Shinobu.

I reached for the side of my HUD and pulled out a small fiber optic camera. It was a rarely used tool, but was fitted onto our HUD's if we ever needed it. It was a fiber optic with a camera fitted at the end, and was both flexible and small. The purpose was to check corners before actually moving, since it was a camera, and since it could also be bent and maneuvered around easily. Unfortunately, it was really cumbersome to use and in practice, it would just be easier to check corners the conventional way.

I wondered for a few years what we could actually use it effectively for, and now I had the answer.

I slid it slightly past the edge of the poster and switched on a separate viewing window. The image then appeared, giving me a live feed of the kitchen. I adjusted and panned the camera around to get a better look.

Shinobu was there, ladle and ingredients in hand, tending to the soup. So, she was the cook? If I had to guess, Shinobu was only twelve or thirteen years of age, but she was already doing the cooking? Better yet, she was actually good at it – the taste of the miso soup still stayed with me. When my kid sister and I were around the same age as Shinobu, we were a pair of idiots who needed our parents to make excuses for how useless we were.

Shinobu, on the other hand, was something else - responsible, capable, and certainly skilled. She was still a child at heart, but I had the feeling there was more to her – somebody far beyond her age locked deep inside.

"Heeeeeeey, Shinobu! What's for lunch?"

"Miso soup, and I'll be making some curry later, Su-chan."

I panned the end of the camera around a bit, and sure enough, the Molmolian, whom I was now sure was named Su, came into view. She practically slid into the room and began jumping around Shinobu. Her movements were almost like a monkey, but I doubt even a monkey would be that hyperactive.

"Oh, Su, did you ever find your hard drive?" Shinobu asked.

Su then dropped down from the ceiling and pouted, her seemingly sugar-induced high fading off in an instant.

"No, that mean soldier stole it! And he ruined my wedding gown!"

Shinobu nearly fainted when she heard Su mention 'wedding gown.'

"Ahh, wedding gown? Are you – are you…?"

"No, it was a gift from my sister, and it means a lot to me," Su explained, calming down the previously freaked out Shinobu. "But the mean soldier lit a fire under it and the smoke ruined it!"

A wedding gown? So that was what I used. Come to think about it, it was made out of a piece of really good material. It was the same category of items that most soldiers, assuming they were lucky enough, would find and sell to the locals to earn some extra money. How much of it did I really ruin by using it to keep the smoke and ashes under the table while disposing of the notes?

Su's mention of the hard drive also caught my attention. I still had it with me, now cleared of all vital information. I needed to return it as quickly as possible.

"Hey, where are you?" Somebody new then came into the kitchen.

"Hm? Oh, good morning Sarah!" Shinobu greeted the newcomer.

I could almost feel myself quake in fear when I realized it was the evil blond kid. She burst into the room wearing what looked like a miner's headlamp on top of her head and carrying a small notebook in her hands.

"Come on! I think I found the tunnel he used!"

"Uh, tunnels?" Shinobu curiously asked.

"We think the soldier is using the tunnels under Hinata-Sou to hide," Su explained. "That's why he's been able to disappear so quickly!"

"Since we've got some of the mapped," the blond kid, Sarah, continued, waving her notebook in the air. "We're going to go down and find him!"

"Shinobu, want to come?"

"N-no, but shouldn't you let Keitaro-sempai and Naru-sempai know what you're doing?"

"We'll let Naru decide what she wants to do with the soldier when we capture him" Sarah replied, her voice in the most evil tone possible.

"Operation: Capture Evil Soldier, go!" Su shouted in glee, as she and Sarah then ran out of the kitchen.

I paused for a second and let the information sink in. Those two knew about the tunnels? This was bad. My only means of safety was now compromised. I needed to keep moving. I slowly shuffled down the tunnel and back down below. As soon as I got there, I checked by motion sensor – so far, nothing.

Should I stay inside the tunnels, or should I relocate somewhere else?

Moving as far from those two scouring the tunnels was preferable, but that possibly meant going up into the main building. Was it worth the risk? In avoiding those two and being forced to encounter the others?

I had to consider it at least. I kept moving, back to the other section of tunnel I found earlier with the rooms. It was the same place where I had disposed of the remainder of the notes. I sat down outside one of the rooms, in order to contemplate my next move. Staying in the tunnels would be a good idea, but I'd be spotted by Su and Sarah almost instantly if they journeyed anywhere near here.

I sidetracked myself for a moment and thought about the two. Along with Shinobu, the three of them were the youngest residents of Hinata Inn. I had the strange, sinking feeling that Su was related to the same Molmolian king my regiment was ordered to overthrow. If so, this was going to be an extremely awkward situation – interacting with the ancestor of the same person my squad had killed a century later.

For the most part, she was a bizarre figure. She always wore a happy grin that spread ear-to-ear, was always jumping and bouncing around, and she even seemed oblivious to certain things going on at the same time. Was there some other level to her, other than a child stuck in a perpetual sugar-high? Somebody who is hiding behind a layer of false emotion?

Or was she simply an insane and energetic person?

As for Sarah, I could almost connect with her. She definitely isn't from around here, her natural blond hair and Caucasian features a definite giveaway. She was also surprisingly fluent in Japanese. She's almost like me – another foreigner, the definition of foreigner for me being taken to the next level, and we were both not of complete Japanese origin. On the other hand, she appeared almost genuinely evil. Whether it was the mischievous smirk on her face, prankster mentality, the giant stone artifacts she seemed adept at tossing and throwing – I made a mental note to stay away from her.

I immediately went back to thinking about the impending situation. Escape and evasion wasn't going to help here – there was no place for me to escape to. Outside of Hinata Inn was a completely different world. Walking out there with my weapons and equipment would be even worse. After that, there was the question of where I would even go. Being 1999, there isn't exactly an army outpost or base camp located anywhere nearby. I suppose my best bet was to stay here, at Hinata Inn.

For a moment, I considered handing myself in. It would take away the struggle of having to constantly hide, and I could relax a bit more. Better yet, Commonwealth soldiers weren't completely restricted from interacting with civilians. If I was lucky, I could befriend the residents and stay within their safety and away from the outside world until I could figure out what to do next.

On the other hand, my initial introductions weren't the friendliest, seeing how I held Keitaro hostage and held the others at gunpoint, and the residents don't seem to be too thrilled that I'm here anyways. Well, maybe Su and Sarah, but I take it they're only thrilled because they can hunt me down and do unimaginable things to me.

It was a tough choice, but at least it was an improvement over being stuck in enemy territory. Well, at the current rate, this is enemy territory. Whether or not to hand myself in – I'll figure that one out later.

I was about to continue on, perhaps find another place to hide at for the time being until I noticed something next to a door. It was a tattered and worn piece of paper pinned next to a door with Japanese writing on it. I leaned in closer and activated some scanners to make out the writing.

Moé.

What does that mean? It sounded like a name. Curiously, I opened the door and walked into the room. I was mid-stride through the doorway when I realized I should have looked through the room with thermal vision first. That way, I could have seen whatever was inside before walking into a potentially unknown situation.

My foot touched the ground, and I nearly recoiled out in shock.

There was somebody else in the room.

I raised my rifle and kept it pointed at the figure. In the corner of the room was a figure, apparently human-shaped, seated in a chair with a large cloth covering their body. I switched on my thermal, and realized there was no heat emanating from the source. Was it a corpse? No, it wasn't. There weren't any signs of decaying or rotting matter.

I shuffled in closer, keeping my assault rifle level at the figure. I was right in front of the figure when I lifted the cloth up and away. I found myself nearly recoiled back in shock when I realized there actually was a person underneath.

The person appeared to be a girl, with faded blond hair that evenly framed the sides of her face and her green eyes. She was dressed in an old red dress that seemed reminiscent of a time gone by. She was still, motionless, and without any life present. There were no thermal signatures emanating from her – if I had to guess, she was dead, but that didn't account for why her eyes were wide open and why she was still in good condition…

I then noticed her hands, and I found that my muscles were tense and shaking. Sweat rolled down my back and I was unable to move.

This 'girl' was a doll.

Her arms and fingers were segmented, made of separate and individual parts. I then noticed that her eyes weren't real, but merely painted on.

I turned around for a second, breaking my moment of awkward inability to move, and I took several deep breaths. My hands shook, and I was chilled to my very core. It was a little known fact that the few team mates and comrades who knew often joked with me about. It was something that nobody who would know me at first glance would be able to identify, let alone understand why it was.

I was scared of dolls.

…

Was it a rational or irrational fear? Fuck that, I don't care – I was simply scared regardless of whatever category it fell under, and now I was scared shitless. I had a severe case of pediophobia – fear of dolls. I don't remember when it first developed – probably back when I was a kid, but somehow it did, and to this day, dolls equaled death for me. It sounds more like a joke, and even I would have wanted it to be, but no, it's very real and it affects me quite drastically.

Hell, when I was five years old, I strayed from my mother while inside a toy store and ended up in the middle of the doll section. They were selling a new type of doll that was making a comeback for that moment in time, one that resembled the really old porcelain dolls, the ones that look more lifelike and older, with the old Victorian-era dresses and clothes. Seriously, if I ever find the same son-of-a-bitch who thought that was a great idea, I am going to have his ass fragged.

When my mother and the staff found me, I was huddled in a corner unable to respond. It would take me three hours to leave the store, plus nearly a month of therapy by specially trained doctors to even help alleviate the already abnormal level of fear. It's an improvement as of now, but I still feel extremely uneasy around them.

It's funny, almost. I'm a soldier. I've seen hell – I've seen people die right in front of me, get blown to bloody shreds by artillery, get dismembered, or simply perish in some of the most gruesome ways possible. None of that gets to me as of lately.

But dolls?

I looked back at the doll. The way it sat there…the eerie similarities to a real human being…

Those were the things that got to me the most.

Hello! Who are you?

The voice caught me off-guard. I raised my weapon and scanned the room, looking from side to side. No, the room was empty. There was nobody here except for me. And the doll, but it didn't count. But I swear I heard something.

Who are you? Do you know where Kei-kun is?

There it was again. I looked around again, but still nothing. Lowering my rifle, I tried to calm down and think logically. There had to be some explanation for all this. I haven't been sleeping well lately. Even though I was used to it, and the nanites were aiding by injecting a steady stream of drugs to keep me up when needed, even the enhanced Commonwealth soldiers needed a bit of sleep now and then. It could also be attributed to being stuck underground for so long, or some type of combat fatigue.

Hell, could it also be a side affect of time travel?

Whatever it was, it didn't really matter. I realized I still had the cloth in my hands. Turning around, I figure the least I could do to combat my pediophobia was cover the doll and prevent eye contact.

Do you know where Kei-kun is?

The voice, again! Where the hell could it be…coming…from…

I looked down at the doll. No…fucking…way…

It is an inanimate object – emphasis on 'inanimate'. Dolls don't move, dolls don't talk, and dolls certainly don't do anything other than sit on a shelf and stare back at you…

Suddenly, a series of mechanical clicks then sounded off.

The doll's head rotated and looked up at me.

What's your name?

HOLY SHIT!

I threw the cloth over the doll and ran out of the room. I closed the door behind me and ran down the hallway. I…did…not…see that. That doll did not look at me. That doll did not move under its own power and just look up at me. That doll certainly did not talk to me…

Holy shit!

When I felt I was far enough from the room and the freaky doll, I sat down for a moment, still shaken by what seemed to happen.

Did that doll actually talk to me?

No….it wasn't possible.

But it moved!

No…it wasn't possible.

I heard the voices!

No…it wasn't possible.

It was communicating to me…

…

I swear to god, I needed to see a shrink.

After a few minutes of sitting in the corner taking deep breaths and letting a few antidepressants take affect, I was fine. The encounter with the doll scared the shit out of me, and worse, it felt like for a moment the doll was actually a living thing.

I forced myself to stop thinking about it. As far as I was concerned, I saw nothing.

To help with my forced denial of what I may have witnessed, I found one of the new tunnel entrances and started to crawl up it. I had no idea where it would lead to, but on the other hand, moving through it would allow me to get a good fix on alternative paths through the building, all of which I needed if I wanted to survive here for the time being.

I had found the apparent exit a few minutes later. It was covered by a piece of wall panelling, which was interestingly hinged in place. I switched on my thermal vision and motion tracker first before entering, remembering what happened when I didn't do so. Satisfied by the lack of motion from within the room and the lack of heat signatures, I opened the panelling and crawled out, landing a bit smoothly on the ground. The room itself seemed like a typical, tradition Japanese room. It wasn't just in the design, a uniform feature of the other rooms that I missed while on the run, but it was also with the elements spread out amongst it.

The most prominent feature was the full sized suit of samurai armour in the centre of the room. A quick scan of the room also pointed out the swords, the wall hangings with Japanese symbols and writing, and other small but distinctly Japanese items and décor. If I had to guess, this room belonged to Motoko, the swordswoman. I could tell that her room was at least set up and laid out in her interests. This room was a place of sanctuary meant for a warrior – exactly what Motoko is.

Motoko was an interesting figure. I've served in the military for close to eight years now, starting from a jaunty young age all the way until now. I've met a wide range and variety of peoples, and the ones who struck my attention were the hardcore career soldiers and gung-ho types. They were all good soldiers, but the amount of dedication and discipline they exhibited could not match that of Motoko. She was a true warrior, completely dedicated to protecting the people around her. The way she attacked me, either physically or verbally, when I was around was not rude or unpleasant by how I viewed it.

Instead, it was only a show of devotion. She was here to protect the residents of Hinata Inn. If she were a soldier, Motoko would be the most loyal and most obedient one possible – the same type I would trust my life with. Ironic, since she was out to get mine at the moment. As a soldier, she would be one of the best, forever vigilant and forever loyal to her cause.

I walked over to her door and snaked my fibre optic camera through a small opening and checked the outside. The hallway outside was the same one I was running down last night. The room right next to Motoko's was the one with the indoor jungle. I marked the location of Motoko's room down on my rudimentary map. Interestingly, I also noticed the hallway was now fixed. There were still parts that looked off, like a patched up article of clothing or an improvised and hastily re-armoured vehicle, but it was fixed, nonetheless.

The person responsible for doing the work around here must have been a miracle worker – especially to have gotten it done overnight.

I then proceeded to look around the room. There wasn't much to find in Motoko's room – everything was neat, tidy, and in place. Curiously, I walked by her desk and I decided to look through it. Doing so brought up some interesting thoughts – was it moral to look through somebody else's belongings? The items in one's desk, in particular, were private property, and they weren't exactly things that were meant to be viewed by anybody else, especially somebody not from around there.

Then again, I've rifled through an officer's desk and completely took it apart for papers, maps, and pieces of intelligence, and had done so without much of a thought.

But this wasn't the same. Morally, I should stop and be on my way…

…hey, what's this?

A small stack of paper then caught my eye. It wasn't the stack of papers, but rather, their location in the desk. They were pushed back into a far corner, hidden beneath a stack of other miscellaneous materials and objects, clearly not meant to be seen by anybody else.

What could be so important about these stacks of paper that they needed to be hidden…oh…oh…oh…whoa…that was…unexpected.

I did a brief skim and I realized it was a short story. Taking a more in-depth read over of the sheets, I was compelled to keep reading. The story involved a young woman, bound to serve her family as a warrior and wielder of a sword. She enters town one day and meets a young man, another warrior. Some type of incident happens and she becomes offended, and a dual between the two occurs. The young man proves to be stronger, and defeats her. She has lost her honour and her self-respect, but she becomes intrigued by the male, and she begins to follow and watch him. She is able to find his weaknesses, but each time she does, she finds herself more and more intrigued, and is beginning to feel previously unknown feelings. The climax of the story occurs when she encounters him one night, just the two of them, and she is caught between trying to redeem her honour, or to act upon the mysterious feelings she has developed…

…whoa…

Had there not been the behaviour modifying nanites, I would have found myself pleasantly intrigued. Unfortunately, it only raised a single thought in my head – was this written by Motoko?

I was no English professor, but even I'd say it was well written. But if it really was written by Motoko, it raised a whole bunch of other questions about her. She was a strong and independent woman, one that doesn't require help from anybody else and also appears as one who doesn't even have a sense of love. Then what about this short story? Was there some other level or part of Motoko? She is almost exclusively a warrior, but is there some other part of her, one that is softer and more caring?

Of course there is, only she keeps that part hidden behind a barrier stronger than a thousand pieces of nanomaterial armour.

I returned the sheets to their previous hiding place and rearranged everything back to the way it was. I had stayed far too long. It was time to move out. Moving back to the trapdoor, I got in and moved once again. I followed yet another tunnel and kept moving in another random direction. Where I'd end up – I had no idea.

Suddenly, my motion tracker spiked. Something was moving. Worse, it was close by, and close by translated into 'directly inside the tunnel I'm crawling in.' I had to move – now. I crawled along and made it to another exit. The object covering it was a wall hanging, which I pushed out of the way and exited out of. At the same time, I checked my thermals – nothing came up, yet.

Which room did I exit into? Judging from my now-updated map, I was on the same floor as Motoko's room. This room was also neat and tidy. Strangely, I recognized the place, in particular, the location of the window, and also the yellow stuffed animal on the floor.

Of course – this was Naru's room. I remember the last time I was here – last night, when hiding from Motoko. I never got a good look at her room last time, and now I had a better chance. Her room was just as neat and tidy as Motoko's, but on the other hand, her room felt more modern. In particular, there were a lot of shelves in her room, all jammed back with books. There were a few stuffed animals here and there, but otherwise, all books.

I picked a shelf and looked over it – the entire shelf was loaded with textbooks and study guides. It wasn't restricted to only that shelf, but almost all the others were also filled with others. If I had to guess, Naru was a student or academic, but hell, 'student' wasn't even a word to describe the sheer volume of study material in her room. Naru looked about seventeen, and therefore, she was likely to in high school. When I was still in high school, I barely had books on my shelves. Then again, all my study material was all electronic, and one digital storage unit equalled several textbooks.

A small table sat in the other section of her room. A trio of textbooks occupied the spaces in the corners, while a notebook and sheets of paper covered the centre. I walked over to them and took a look, finding only numbers and long calculations.

It looked like calculus, or trigonometry, or some other type of mathematics. I don't know – it all looked the same to me. I never liked math. I was more of an English and history person than anything else. The vast quantity of written numbers and words on the single sheet of paper baffled me. I thought I'd seen the worst in my day – I almost pity Naru, and any other students from this time era.

The presence of the study material seemed contradictory to the type of person Naru appeared to be. Her fiery attitude, her incredibly powerful punch – had there been a punching bag in here I wouldn't have been surprised, but sadly, no, which left me wondering more about her. Her attitude and strength screamed 'brute' but her looks, her long and gorgeous hair with the two antenna-like strains, and the amount of books and material in her room said something else.

Was she an unruly and perpetually pissed off brute only wanting to beat anybody in her path, or just a shy girl?

Regardless of the person she is underneath, I had to stay away from her. Aside from Motoko, Naru was the most dangerous individual I could risk an encounter with. I had to be careful. Of course, in addition to either Motoko or Naru, there was also Haruka. I walked over to the window and peeked out. I spotted her out in front of the main entrance, sweeping path out in front. Luckily, she was facing away from the front of the inn, so she couldn't possible see me.

Haruka was definitely one to watch out for. Her proficiency with firearms, made evident by the tight groupings she fired at me last night, was proof alone of how well trained she was. What struck me as quite odd was how monotone and mellow she was. When she had her gun pointed at me last night, she spoke to me without fear and with an unnervingly calm demeanour. Even when I held her nephew hostage and had a huge assault rifle pointed at her, she made her demands without worrying about any of that.

There was much more to her. I had the strange feeling that I had only seen the tip of the iceberg about Haruka – and that worried me. I was tempted and quite curious to ask where she had gotten her training from. The way she held her weapon and her accuracy suggested at least some degree of paramilitary training. Hell, she could have even served in the military during the past, but that seemed unlikely in my opinion.

Then again, I could be wrong.

My motion tracker then picked up a signal, very close to the room. I switched on my thermal vision and spotted two people walking towards the door. One of their outlines matched that of Naru.

I had to get out.

I tried to get back into the tunnel, but I found two more thermal signatures moving in from that location. If I had to guess, Su and Sarah were closing in.

I swore mentally, shouting more curses and swears than I would ever do.

It did nothing, however, to ease the rainstorm of sweat dripping down my back. Of course, the drugs kept that under control, but even so, I was in a very bad situation. I looked out the window – damn it, Haruka was there. If I tried to climb out, I'd be spotted by her instantly. My three exits – the door, the tunnel, and the window, were all covered.

Was this it? Was I going to be captured here and now, while stuck inside somebody's room? Was I going to be beaten and then interrogated? Was I condemned here for no reason, a soldier at the wrong place and time?

I looked down at the yellow stuffed animal. What are you smiling at? Seriously, what animal is it supposed to be - bear, squirrel? It was the same one I accidentally kicked over last night and almost got me killed. How was I to know that it would make a squeaking sound? On the plus side, I didn't know about the trapdoor under it and that turned out to be a life saver…

Wait a minute – trapdoor?

Well, the same stuffed animal that I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be was going to save my life a second time. It sat on top of a wooden board, which I quickly kicked aside. Turns out, the 'trapdoor' wasn't much of one, rather just a hole. It was small, but just barely wide enough for me to slip through with my equipment.

For once, I'm thankful I didn't leave base camp with a full rucksack.

I then hopped down through the hole and down below. I was now one floor below Naru, Su, and Sarah. The increased distance wasn't going to help me out completely and bring me into the clear, but it helped – a lot.

"Narusegawa?"

I then froze as I heard a voice. I redirected my gaze to the desk and the person sitting at it. It had to have taken me less than a second, after realising there was a hole down to the room below, to formulate my plan and proceed with it. During that time, I had neglected to check the room with my thermal vision.

And because of that, I found myself staring at Keitaro.

His back was turned, but he had managed to turn around just quickly enough to catch sight of me. His response was pretty much the exact same as all the other times he has spotted me – eyes bugging out and jaw hanging several inches.

I acted based on instinct. I raised my rifle and got him in the chest. It was a second and a half later before I realized I had shot Keitaro. The stun rounds were still loaded in my rifle. Seeing how Keitaro lacked any ability to stop or deflect the rounds, unlike Motoko, he was an easy target. Keitaro froze in place as soon as the round struck him, four hundred kilovolts of electricity passed through his body. He shuddered for a moment, and then fell forward on his face with a solid thud.

Keeping my rifle on him, I advanced forward. Was shooting him necessary? Come to think about it, shooting him was necessary. I certainly couldn't hold him hostage yet again, and expect to walk out safely. Once I reached his unconscious body, I flipped him over, found the small piece of metal pinned on his chest and plucked it off, dropping it into a pouch when I finished. I couldn't afford to leave behind any evidence that I had attacked Keitaro – again.

So, this was his room? In contrast to the others, it was quite dull and had very little personality. Naru's room had her books and Motoko had her traditional Japanese décor and her swords, and Keitaro's room just had everything scattered around. Still, his room was located in a strange place. I remember that it was his head that popped through the hole last night, and then forced an unfortunate encounter with Naru's fist. I made sure to mark the location of his room on my map. I then glanced over the papers and open textbook on his desk. Curiously, they too, were study material. In Naru's room, she was studying math, Keitaro, on the other hand, was studying English.

Curiously, I looked over his notes and the work he was doing. Most of it was wrong and grammatically incorrect. Well, not 'most of it', but rather, all of it. I couldn't be completely harsh with Keitaro for doing so, since English isn't his first language, but given the amount of notes he had and the amount of writing, he should have been able to at least get some of it right.

Keitaro was somewhat of an interesting character. From what I have seen so far, he was the only male resident of Hinata Inn, excluding myself now, of course. Given the type of people around him, most would say that he was very fortunate – one guy amongst several women. Most people I know would dream for this type of situation. Then again, it does seem as though he meets Naru's fist quite a fair bit, or at least a rather overwhelming degree of abuse.

And all of that didn't seem to even hurt him. He was sent flying through the air by Naru's fist and the most he seems to get is a sore back. He gets hit by an apparent energy weapon, which I needed to take a look at next time, and he's still fine. I practically run over him and hit him in the back, point blank, with a ring airfoil round, and he's still fine. Was this guy invincible? Part of me told me to get a genetic sample from him when I have the chance – there had to be some type of gene that was doing this. The thought of invincible soldiers brought a nice, warm feeling with it.

Genetics and invincibility aside, I took note of his desk. Interesting – both Naru and Keitaro had a large amount of schoolwork and study material present. Neither Motoko nor Su, with her jungle of a room, had anywhere near the amount of schoolwork present. What were Naru and Keitaro doing then? What were they forcing themselves to study so hard for?

I had no time to figure that out. I had to keep moving. I could hear footsteps from Naru's room above. Either Naru or Su and Sarah had come in, and they would undoubtedly notice the open hole. I made my way to the door, and took a half second to scan the outside with my thermal. With that done, I got out. I needed to lay low for awhile. I had no idea how far the kitchen was from here, so I took my chances.

I immediately got out of his room. Looking back at his door, I then noticed a sign hung over the top of his door – 'Manager: Urashima Keitaro'. Keitaro was the manager of the inn? Well, that was quite interesting. That would explain why he was the only male resident here. Ignoring it, I walked a few metres down beside Keitaro's room. I then found myself opening another door and walking into another room.

This room – I remember it. When Naru sent me crashing through the floor and walls, I ended here. This was the fox's room. Funny, I knew everybody else's name, but the drunk and curvaceous fox was still unknown to me. Her room was far different from the others, and the look of it screamed 'modern.' Banners adorned with giant Japanese characters mixed with English letters graced part of one wall, while the other had a long shelf proudly displaying a collection of beer and sake bottles. Actually, there were a lot of them in her room, so many that the fox's room reeked of alcohol. In the middle of the room was a small table, apparently constructed from a glass pane with three wooden barrels beneath it. Simple, yet highly expressive for the type of person the fox appeared to be.

This girl, whom I only referred to as 'the fox,' was an interesting one. So far, my impressions were that she was extremely laidback. I'd go as far as to even say she has a drinking problem. The sheer number of bottles in her room was more than enough evidence for that. If I had to take a wild guess, she'd be right at home with a company of soldiers on leave with their nanites switched off.

Carefree, laidback…this fox was an interesting person. I wasn't much of a shrink, but her drinking problem suggested something. More chances than naught, anybody who drinks an inordinate amount of alcohol is doing so for a reason. In this case, what was hers? Of course, she could also be just a bit of a party girl, but I had a strange suspicion, as with all the other residents, that were was another part to her.

…

So far, my attempted analysis of the residents wasn't working as I was hoping, but at least I've now seen all the residents of Hinata Inn and mapped out their rooms on my map. Looking around her room, I wondered if there was another tunnel entrance around here. Much to my misfortune, I didn't think of that when entering.

I now found myself standing inside a girl's room with absolutely no idea where to go now. There had to be some type of entrance in this room – so far, the pattern was with a hole hidden behind some random piece of cover, or a trapdoor style panelling. I started my search, starting by pulling up any loose posters or coverings. Damn it – nothing. There had to be something, some loose panelling, or even a discoloured section of wall, something to help me get out of here.

I began moving some of the boxes around, trying to find some way out, when I accidentally opened one of them. Next thing I knew, I found myself staring at something…peculiar. Taking a closer look, I realized it was clothes. Well, actually, women's clothes. Well, to be more specific, women's underclothing.

…

I'll cut to the chase – I was staring at the foxy girl's lacy red brassiere.

Conveniently located right next to it was a matching pair of red underwear. Actually to be more politically correct, a matching red thong.

…

Well, this was all extremely unexpected. I shut the box and resumed my search. I had to admit, the racy choice in underclothing was worth noting. Upon seeing that, several conclusions could be made about her. But my conclusions would have to wait – I still needed to find some way out of here.

Pushing aside the boxes, I then spotted a suspicious piece of panelling. It was somewhat discoloured, and closer inspection would allow one to see that it was perhaps removable. I unsheathed a combat knife and dug into an edge. With a slight pivoting motion, I was able to move the panel.

Below it was a long dark tunnel. It was small, but was just wide enough for me to slide through.

Bingo – my exit.

I was lucky to have found it quickly enough – my motion tracker picked up movement, and its thermal signature matched that of the fox, and she was heading this way. I got into the tunnel and slid feet first all the way down. When my feet touched the bottom of the tunnel, I reoriented myself and crawled along. The tunnel here was very small, so small, that I had to resort to crawling on my stomach in order to get through. While I had a strange and almost unexplainable fear of dolls, I was lucky not to have one of small spaces.

My slow crawl continued on. According to the diagrams and maps that I had, I was moving far from the old tunnel I had located from before. If so, I was crawling into unknown territory. This didn't bother me all too much, since I needed to find a new tunnel to possibly hide in anyways. I was quite intrigued about the number of tunnels that ran inside and below Hinata Inn. Not only were they of great length, but they were of incredible complexity as well. The tunnels under Hinata Inn were more than enough to put a mid-twentieth century Vietcong tunnel network to shame. And that was saying a lot – even into the twenty-second century, tunnel networks in the middle of a battlefield never reached the number and complexity of those during the now ancient Vietnam War.

As my crawl continued for what felt like the better part of an hour, I began to hear noises. They were close by, from the sounds of it. Interesting – what noises could I possible be hearing here? My audio sensors picked up and analyzed the sounds – it cross referenced the audio stream with stored data, and matched it with running water.

Was there running water near my position? If so, this was an interesting place to find an underground river or something. I had crawled forward only a metre or so before I began to realize the ground was getting softer, and that the noises were getting louder. Was I getting closer? If I was, is getting closer necessarily a good thing?

I had no time to ponder that question just as the floor of the tunnel below me gave way. I found myself in freefall for a split second, which ended quickly when I hit something with a loud splash! Within moments, I was being propelled along by a rapid stream of water.

There actually was an underground river here. Why it was here, I did not want to ask why. Hell, I didn't want to ask why for most of the strange occurrences I've found at Hinata Inn so far.

The river flowed in one direction, and I let it carry me along. I didn't need to worry about drowning, thanks to my equipment. Especially after I recovered my helmet, I've returned to my usual habit of keeping my facemask up and over my face and nose at all times. My facemask was not merely a piece of cloth-like material to keep my face warm or to keep up with the 'robotic soldier' image – it was actually made of semi-reinforced material similar to my outer layer of soft armour, with a smooth woven inner layer for comfort. The outer material, like the rest of the suit I wore was waterproof. Along very top of the mask and on the inside surface was a small colony of nanomachines, not unlike the others I already had. When my facemask was in position over my face, these nanomachines create a firm seal with the skin below my eyes and on top of my nose that would not allow anything through. The other nanomachines in the inside surface of my mask could reposition themselves to either give full, free passage of air through my mask, or close it off completely to prevent anything from passing.

As soon as I hit the water, they closed off my mask. With the seal in place, and with a few tanks of auto-refilling oxygen now being channelled into my mask, I was able to operate underwater without risk of drowning. It was but one of the many things that made the Commonwealth soldier the pinnacle of military supremacy. Like the US Navy SEALs of the twentieth century, we too could operate sea, air, and land.

Hell, we can do it better.

The flowing current carried me along, and eventually, I found myself shot out and floundering about in calm waters. When I regained control, I swam for the surface and emerged with water beading and rolling off my armour. I then looked around, trying to figure out where this underground river had taken me. I was hoping it wasn't some lake outside of Hinata Inn, but if so, I hoped it was close enough to the building. Thankfully, I recognized the familiar colours and designs of the walls around the area.

Taking another look, I realized I knew this place. It was the outdoor hot springs. I was here the day before, when I was getting my ass handed to me by Naru's fist and Motoko's sword. I carefully looked around me, making sure at least they weren't here. Lucky for me, they weren't.

I got out of the hot springs and moved on. Judging from the sky above me, I was probably down in the tunnel for a longer amount of time than I had thought. The sun looked as though it was ready to call it quits for the day. It wasn't dusk just yet, but if I had to guess, it would be in another two hours.

I made my way for the door. I had to get back to the tunnel and hunker down for a bit. My hand had barely reached the handle of the door when my motion tracker picked up something moving in from behind. Turning around, I spotted nothing. A second later, something came drifting down into view. As my eyes took notice of the new arrival, I realized it was a turtle. The shell was quite a giveaway. The turtle glided and then came to a gentle landing on the bottom of its green shell.

…

Wait a minute, could turtles fly?

No, it didn't fall off a high edge or something – this turtle actually glided in and landed much like a small aeroplane. Actually, it seemed to have near VTOL-type flight control, as it flew in and came to a sudden yet elegant landing. Its forward pair of arms, or flippers, was quite long and was also shaped like a set of wings. Then again, they looked more able to glide underwater. As for gliding in the air…it looked impossible. The turtle then turned around and stopped as it spotted me. Its mouth then opened, forming a noticeable smile.

Wait a minute, could turtles smile?

Come to think about it, this wasn't any type of turtle I had ever seen before. Its skin was of a fair yellow shade and even its shell was of a single green colour only. I wasn't much of a zoologist, but I swear, this turtle's traits were unique and almost alien. Even the shape of its head and the way of which it was able to smile at me looked unlike anything I had yet to identify. I was tempted to think it was technically an undiscovered species, perhaps wiped out before The War started? The turtle continued to smile at me. It then raised one of its flippers into the air, as though trying to wave.

"Myu!"

…

Wait-just-one-freaking-minute-here…could turtles talk?

"Myu? Myu!"

The turtle continued to chirp at me while waving its flipper. I continued to stare at it, dumbstruck over how it was perhaps even possible. Turtles couldn't talk…right?

"Myu!"

Okay, maybe it was possible. This turtle did appear to me as quite friendly. The way it smiled and waved told me that it was at least alright with me being here, unlike the other residents. Then again, assuming the only means of speech possible from it were squeaks and chirps, it wasn't that much of an improvement.

"Myu!"

"Uh…hi."

It was indeed quite awkward – I was trying to talk to an animal. All throughout my life, I've never had a pet before. As a result, my ability to handle animals was somewhat…stunted. In this case, I was with an undiscovered species of turtle capable of basic speech and flight. What was I supposed to do?

"Hi, my name is Sergeant Randall," I greeted, albeit quite awkwardly. "What's yours?"

"Myu! Myu!"

I had the strange suspicion this turtle was only capable of one type of sound. As such, communication was going to be difficult. Then again, it at least knew basic body motion – it continued to wave its flipper. Seeing how I had no other way to talk to it, I waved back. For a moment, I thought of how ridiculous I looked. I was a heavily armoured soldier, waving to a small, talking turtle.

"Myu!" the turtle returned, also waving.

The process of waving at each other continued. By the tenth or eleventh waving of my hand, I started to smile. I had to admit, this turtle was quite adorable. It wasn't as slimy looking as a regular turtle and it sure as hell didn't give the impression that it would pass along salmonella poisoning. As part of this newly found comfort zone, I tried something new. I stood tall and straightened my back, and I gave the turtle a salute.

The turtle looked at me curiously for a bit. It probably didn't know what I was doing. Hell, even I didn't know what I was doing. I was saluting a turtle, for goodness sakes. Well into the 22nd century, most regiments have stopped using animal mascots, which negated the soldiers from saluting any animal with an apparent rank higher than themselves.

"Myu?" the turtle chirped, curious to my new posture. It then returned the salute, smiling happily as before. "Myu! Myu!"

This was going well. The two of us stood there, saluting to each other. I eased off, and then got back to trying to get the door open. As I did, my motion tracker picked up a new pair of contacts. I turned back around – damn it, they were also behind me. Looking back down at the ground, the turtle also seemed to know they were coming. Its once happy smile and face had turned to a horrified moan. The turtle quickly lifted itself into the air and fluttered away with the pacing and speed equal to that of a scared bird.

I decided it was in my best interests to get my ass inside and behind the door as quickly as possible. The inside was clear, thank goodness. From the looks of the place, it was the changing room. It was at the doorway when I had technically met Naru, and her fist. It was an improvement from being outside, but now that I was here, I needed to get out as soon as possible. The thought of being ambushed while inside a changing room was not pleasant.

I did, however, take some time to listen in on what was happening outside. My thermal vision picked up the two new contacts. Their size and signatures matched those of Su and Sarah.

"Hey! Aren't we supposed to be looking for the soldier?"

"I know, but Tama-chan is here! I can finally catch and get a taste of her!"

"No! Stop trying to eat turtle!"

That was definitely Su and Sarah outside. But that was the least that was on my mind. Did I just hear Su right? Did I just hear her say she was going to eat the turtle? I now saw my salute with the turtle, a female one apparently named Tama-chan, with more meaning. God speed, good turtle, God speed. She was facing the bleak and overwhelmingly frightful situation of being consumed by Su.

On the other hand, it was providing me with a great window of escape.

I was mere moments from leaving the door and entering the rest of the building when my motion tracker picked up additional contacts. My thermal vision helped me to pick them out behind the wall, closing in – fast. From the looks of it, Naru, the fox, and Motoko were going in for a bath.

Shit!

I had nowhere to go. I couldn't risk venturing outside, with Su and Sarah possibly hanging around there. I wasn't concerned by the fox, but Naru and Motoko alone were enough to tell me that I needed to act – now. The changing room had very little cover to hide behind, not that cover even helped. There had to be some place I could slip into. I frantically searched the area, and my answer came when I found a small closet, tucked away in the corner. It didn't take me long to open it up and hop inside. The closet was cramped, barely enough for me to fit in. Somehow, I managed. My assault rifle poked out a bit, but it was fine.

Outside, I could hear the doors open as the three gorgeous women stepped in. I pulled out my fibre optic camera and slid it out through a small crack in the door. Sure enough there they were…disrobing.

I couldn't be any more thankful for the nanites that were in operation inside my body right about now. Otherwise, it would have made for a rather awkward situation.

"Maybe he just fell asleep, y'know?" the fox said, continuing part of the conversation the three were in just moments before.

"He was lying there drooling, with a picture of me right next to him!" Naru angrily replied. "And he even wet himself in his own sleep as well! What sort of dirty, perverted thoughts was that idiot thinking about?"

"I do not trust Urashima," Motoko said firmly, as she removed her clothes. I didn't notice it before, but I'm now sure she was actually wearing a hakama. It seemed to suit her quite fell, I might add.

"You must be careful around him, Naru-sempai, even if you two are studying together."

"Maybe he just likes you…" the fox then commented as she neared Naru and lightly tapped her side with her elbow. It was hard to tell, but I swear, both of the fox's eyes were opened, and her arched eyebrows suggested she was implying something.

"Kitsune! Keitaro's just a pervert!"

They were talking about Keitaro, that's for sure. Come to think about it, the stun rounds do send a pretty hefty voltage into the body on contact – often for somebody being shot the first time, the voltage can screw around with the muscles just enough that the victim may unintentionally release any bodily fluids or waste.

I suppose Keitaro had woken up discovering he had wet himself during that process. I wasn't sure whether to feel nothing, or to be amused by that development.

Keitaro wetting himself aside, I now knew the fox's name – Kitsune. Interesting, since the word 'kitsune' referred to a fox, which was what she was.

Keitaro, Naru, Motoko, Shinobu, Su, Sarah, Kitsune, Haruka, and Tama-chan – nine individuals that I have made contact with. Eight of them live in the building, and of those eight, four were major threats to me. This group of nine were easily the most offbeat and most distinct group of people I have ever met. I've met myriads of soldiers and individuals during my time in the military, but even an entire company of them could not match the zaniness that these nine had with them.

Interestingly, I found myself watching the three women change. Kitsune easily had the largest bust of the three. It wasn't just her bust that caught my attention, but also her long legs and creamy white thighs. Her figure was simply amazing. Her choice in underwear was a step up from the rather provocative set from her room, but it did little to hide her impressive figure. Naru had a smaller frame and her body shape and profile was on the slender side. She wasn't as openly curvaceous as Kitsune, nor did she have the large bust. However, her sizes definitely weren't insignificant. In the end, Naru was simply beautiful when considering her body and her lovely face. Unlike Kitsune, Naru's choice in underclothing was normal – white bra and panties, not much of a surprise, since Naru didn't seem to be as 'showy' as her friend. Motoko surprised me quite a bit. Her hakama actually hid her figure almost too well. Without it, the shape of her hips became more pronounced and full. Interestingly, she did not wear a bra, but rather, she wore a wrapping that kept her breast bundled down. Without the bindings, her chest was actually much larger than first glance. Motoko was smaller than Kitsune, but larger than Naru.

In normal circumstances, anybody standing in the same spot I currently am would consider this heaven. Who could possibly not enjoy staring at three beautiful women disrobe? Unfortunately, all I could do is merely watch on with neither desire nor lust.

Upon enlisting with the Commonwealth military, all recruits are put through a boot camp that trains them physically and prepares them for service. After passing all that and officially becoming a Private First Class, soldiers receive their injections and implants. Devices are installed all throughout the soldier's body and injections containing nanites are made. The nanites, working along with the installed devices, allow them to administer drugs for multiple uses, or simply 'rewire' certain responses and such. One area that the nanites are programmed to take affect on is our sex drive, by suppressing it. Recent brushfire conflicts prior to The War have found that soldiers were susceptible to sexually transmitted infections, and that often, some would take part in activities of a negative nature in regards to the image of their military force. It worked perfectly, seeing how nothing terrible has happened to Commonwealth soldiers yet, but it has its own disadvantages. Namely, the nanites became an object of spite amongst the soldiers, and the whole idea of sex suddenly became a joke.

Currently, my best bet was to wait until they finished changing and then slip out. It shouldn't be too hard – how long could they take to change?

"Is there a spare towel around here?" Kitsune asked, unable to find one.

"They should be in the closet back there" Motoko replied, pointing towards the corner.

Her finger pointed towards the closet I was in. I looked around, and realized there were towels inside this closet. Kitsune then started to walk towards my position.

This was bad – very bad.

I pushed all the towels forward and tried to squeeze back into the closet as far as possible. Maybe I could stuff enough towels in front of me, and Kitsune would just take one and go. Her eyes weren't opened that much, maybe she'd miss me. I kept pushing myself farther back. I could hear the door open as Kitsune grabbed a towel. She then stopped, both of her eyes suddenly opening.

I was spotted…shit!

Suddenly, I felt myself fall backwards. I then found myself in freefall. Was there a tunnel located inside the closet? As I rapidly fell farther from where the back of the closet logically was, I realised I must have accidentally forced it opened when I kept moving back. Was this an unexplained and illogical occurrence, a deus ex machina, or merely a lucky break?

Whatever it was, it was great. I was just spotted by Kitsune, and now I had gotten away.

Suddenly, I came to a sudden stop. My back took the brunt of the fall, leaving me to look up at where I had fallen from. This was the bottom of the tunnel I dropped into. I took little time to roll around and crawl, getting as far as possible. There was no doubt Kitsune had warned Naru and Motoko that I was hiding there. If so, Hell hath no fury like two pissed off women ready to kill.

Again, I had come upon a new tunnel not on any of my maps. Figures, given my luck so far, I had yet to suddenly drop into a tunnel and recognize where it was and where it would lead to. I had to move along this one and hope that it would lead somewhere. The though of having to crawl through unknown lengths of underground tunnelling for so long was not pleasant, but it was surely better than having to face off against both Naru and Motoko.

I pressed on. There wasn't much worth describing about the small tunnel – it's dark, cramped, and occasionally, thoughts of claustrophobia flashed through my head. Again, I wasn't claustrophobic, but the thought of the tunnel collapsing on me was always present. It was all normal. Joining the military had shown me that fear was always present. Whether it was in the small things, such as whether I remembered to bring the spare ammo or the maps, or fear for my own life and being killed, fear was always there. Hell, there was definitely the fear of things not going the right way – enemy soldiers suddenly appearing where they shouldn't, equipment suddenly failing, hostages and demands being made out of the blue…

Accidentally travelling 146 years back in time…

There wasn't anything a soldier could do about it. To quote the popular mantra amongst soldiers and individuals for as long as time itself – 'shit happens.' It was the way war and battle always operated in. Everything was random and unpredictable. The best anybody can do is prepare as best as they can, go in calm and ready, and when the shit really hits the fan, keep their head on straight and make it out alive.

That's what I needed in order to survive this.

It was a long crawl before I came to somewhat of a dead end. The end of the tunnel was a massive disappointment, seeing how I certainly did not want to have to crawl back around, but a closer inspection showed it was covered only by a loose wooden board. I pushed at it just enough to dislodge it, and I crawled out of the tunnel.

I was expecting to find myself back underground, in yet another new section of tunnel, but instead, I was inside a small closet. After checking the area, I opened the door and walked out. From the looks of the hallway I had stepped out into, I was on the first floor. Well, it was better than nothing. I suppose I could make my way to the kitchen to get back to safety.

Pulling up my map, I marked its location and followed it. After travelling around for a bit, I had come to the front foyer. I could recognize the shape and look of the foyer – I have been there twice already, back in my own time, and on the first day when I was running from Motoko. From my position in the hallway leading there, I could see outside, where the sun had looked as though it had mostly set. I had spent a long time crawling in the tunnel and the night was nearing. The kitchen wasn't far. I was about to exit the hallway and enter the foyer, when I picked up several thermal signatures.

To be precise, there were eight signatures in total – all of the residents were gathered in the foyer. From the looks of how they were arranged, there was a table in the corner of the foyer and they were all seated or around there. Trying to cross the foyer was now turned into a nearly impossible task.

"We couldn't find him, and we looked everywhere." Sarah was addressing everybody there.

"Where could he be hiding at? Are you sure you checked everywhere?" Motoko asked. Her voice was firm and decisive, and it was as though there was a tactician in her.

"We checked all the tunnels that we know about," Su explained. She didn't sound all too serious, but rather a mix of energetic and lazy. "We found three new ones, but no sign of the evil soldier."

"You must find him!" Naru shouted. "We don't know how dangerous he can be."

"I agree with Naru-sempai," Motoko continued. "He was watching Kitsune, Naru, and I while we were changing. He is as vile, perverted, and immoral as Urashima."

"Hey, hey, hey, what's with the personal attacks?" I could see, but I had the feeling Keitaro was squirming from what Motoko had just said.

"He was w-w-w-watching?" Shinobu asked. Her voice was especially fearful.

"All of us must all remain vigilant. This soldier is well armed and could be extremely dangerous," Motoko continued again, her words so carefully chosen to be as negative towards me as possible. "He may try to assault any one of us if we let our guard down."

"Uh, Motoko, could you stop that?" Keitaro's voice was feeble, and somewhat apologetic. "You're scaring Shinobu."

"Haruka-san, what do you think?" Kitsune asked.

"These are really strange circumstances." As usual, Haruka's voice was calm and difficult to pick apart for emotions. "There's no doubt this soldier is very well trained. Trying to capture him won't be easy."

"But we have to do something!" Naru urged. "We can't let somebody like that lurk here! Shouldn't we get help or something?"

"True, but who would we call? The police? The Japanese military? The United States Marines Corps?" Haruka asked, somewhat amused.

"We should contact the military at least," Keitaro added, "Maybe let them know they have a soldier missing and that he's been hiding here."

The residents continued their conversation. I have to admit, I was somewhat flattered that they were talking about me. However, they did mention calling in the authority – be it the police or even military. That was bad news for me. Then again, Haruka did have a point – even if they were going to call in somebody, who would they even call?

Hell, considering that I was a soldier from an organization yet to exist, how would all that even work?

Their conversation continued on, but was interrupted when I heard a familiar chirping sound. Suddenly flying into view was Tama-chan, the turtle. She landed straight ahead of my position in the middle of the foyer.

"Oooh, did you come to let me eat you, Tama-chan?" Su asked in a hungry voice.

"Wait, did we feed Tama-chan yet?" Keitaro asked all of a sudden, seemingly unaware that the turtle was going to be made into a meal for Su.

Tama-chan then looked in my direction. As soon as the turtle had seen me, she smiled. Wait a second…this was bad. If Tama-chan could see me, would she reveal my location to the others?

"Wait, what's Tama-chan doing?" Naru asked.

Don't do it…don't do it…don't do it…I hoped Tama-chan would not do it. I tried to signal to her not to wave, or do anything…

"Myu!" Tama-chan happily chirped, raising a flipper in a salute.

…

SHIT.

"What's that?" Shinobu asked, puzzled as everybody else in the foyer was. "Is that a…a…"

"A salute?" Haruka said, finishing Shinobu's sentence.

I could hear a shuffling of feet and bodies. They knew I was here now. I tried to think over my options. I could drop a flashbang, or I could just run. But they were too close. I had my stun rounds. Maybe I could lure them into the hallway and take them down one by one. I could make for the kitchen and the tunnel entrance there. I could double back to the rooms and find the tunnel entrances there. I could do lots of things, but I had to get away, I had to…

"Hold fire, I'm coming out."

I could run, but I had run for too long. The noose was tightening, and it was now time. Was this the right choice? Tactically speaking, was it smart to surrender myself, especially to a group of civilians from a different time era? And especially to a group of people who already wanted to kill me?

Of course not, but I was too close to their location. They would either catch me on the run, or catch up to me and figure out where I have been hiding at. Trying to get away now would only make the whole situation even hairier. I figure this is it – this is my solution on how to coexist.

I was going to hand myself in.

Was I going to regret this decision? I certainly hope not. I wasn't sure how long I was going to remain here, but I felt I had no choice. With my back to the wall and all exits blocked, surrender seemed to a good idea. I had no regrets. These were civilians and people that I did not hate nor dislike. If it were a squad of Bloc infantry, I'd frag them here and now.

Generally speaking, I wasn't surrendering – merely, apologizing for has happened, and trying to reconcile with the residents. After that, I could continue on without any sort of pressure or fear to keep hiding. I made sure my rifle was slung down in front of me, hopefully to make a peaceful gesture that I wasn't going to harm them. I walked out into the foyer with my hands in the air. Eight pairs of eyes stared at me as I moved in. Even Kitsune's fox-like eyes were wide open as she watched me. Keitaro, Naru, and Shinobu's mouths were wide open, shocked over what was happening.

All of them were shocked. They had only known that I was here, but they had not actually seen me this close. With my armour, I was a six-and-a-half foot, nigh-robotic soldier more horrifying than anything the residents of Hinata Inn had ever seen. To remove that image, in the hopes that they would see me as a normal human being, I removed my helmet, revealing my face to them.

"Listen, I apologize for what has happened so far since my arrival here," I began, talking to them in Japanese. The residents stared at me in even more shock – they probably didn't expect a Caucasian to talk to them in almost perfectly fluent Japanese. "I am a soldier, and I require assistance."

I walked closer to the table they all were sitting around at. Luckily, nobody freaked out. Shinobu, frozen and almost petrified in fear, slowly shifted away. I let her go. She was probably the most frightened of what was currently going on. She slowly shuffled away from the foyer, trying to get as far from this as possible. I had gotten close to the edge of the table when I stopped. I looked into the eyes of all the other residents. Mostly everybody was shocked. Only Haruka and Motoko were different, Haruka being calm, and Motoko being cautious. She had her sword, and she kept one hand on its hilt, ready to strike.

"You must understand, I can explain everything. I'm not from around here, and I require a bit of help…"

Suddenly, something hard struck the back of my head. The hit caught me off guard, and I collapsed to the ground. I groaned in pain for a moment, blinking and trying to recover. My vision was blurred, and I didn't feel like getting back up. Worse, my head hurt like hell. I could see Shinobu coming closer, looking over me. In her hands was a large frying pan, which she held onto with a death grip. If I had to guess, that same frying pan was the one that got me. Out of all the others, Naru with her punch, Motoko with her sword, Haruka with her gun - Shinobu was the one who had taken me down.

Suddenly, everybody else was on top of me. Su and Sarah leaned in close to stare at my armour, finally being able to see it close up in detail. Kitsune stood idly by, watching me, and as did Keitaro. His gaze was filled with surprise and confusion. He was looking at the same person who had attack him many times by now.

Naru, Motoko, and Haruka reacted differently. Naru had her foot on top of my chest, keeping me pinned to the ground. Haruka did the same, but in addition to that, she had her Browning out and aimed at my face. Motoko had her sword unsheathed with the blade hovering dangerously close to my neck.

"So, what do we do with the soldier now?" Su asked, somewhat anxious for an answer.

"Interrogation would be a good idea," Haruka replied, her voice, again, without any sort of emotion. "But first…Naru, would you like to do the honours?"

"Sure."

Naru then lifted her foot from my chest. She then brought it down on my face with such speed and force. I then blacked out, thrown head first and violently into the realm of unconsciousness. It was clear what was going to happen to me – I was going to be interrogated by the angry residents of Hinata Inn. If I had to guess it would involve a fair bit of torture. Whatever the case, I made my decision, I'll stick by it, and I will not regret making that decision. It was too late to reconsider, and as my experience goes, I won't sit around whining about 'what if.'

The only thing I could do now was survive.