Chapter Eight: Put to Work

(Author's Note: If some of you are lost up until now, the fanfic takes place inbetween the first game. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day, guys.)

Inside one of the many cabins on the Elsa, Shane laid on the floor looking at the ceiling with the lights off. She told Shion and the others she would rest a little bit more before getting up and walking about again. Her bright red-violet eyes flickered in the darkness as she sat up slowly. She placed one arm on her knee, looking at the wall.

''Okay, get a grip,'' she told herself. ''None of this is real...it's only a dream...right?'' If it was... She touched her bandaged shoulder. I would've been bleeding or in pain right now. Shane laid back down on the floor, closing her eyes.

''Shane...''

Shut up.

''..Shane, wake up...''

I said shut up. I'm trying to sleep.

''Shane. You must fight until the very end...protect yourself...''

''Didn't I say I was trying to sleep?! Shit!'' The milky haired girl sat up, swinging at an unknown person. She opened her eyes and looked around. A dream...? Shane stood up as she walked to the light switch, turning on the lights. She looked around the room to see noone was there.

Damn, now I'm hallucinating...

Shion walked to the cabin where Shane was as she hummed to herself. I hope she got enough sleep, she thought to herself. She was upset about losing her phone... She reached the cabin and knocked on the door. ''Shane? Are you awake?'' She heard movement in the room and stepped back some when the door slid open. Shane stood in the doorway, her hair dishelved.

''Oh, were you sleeping?'' The milky haired girl scratched the back of her head. ''Yeah, kinda,'' she replied. Shion smiled some. ''You must be starving. Come on, I've made rice and curry for everyone.'' She heard her stomach growling loudly as she held her stomach. ''Alright. I better eat before my stomach caves in.'' The two laughed, walking to the Elsa's resturnant.

''Ah, so there's our sleeping guest!'' Captain Matthews yelled as Shane and Shion walked inside the resturant. Shane waved some as everyone on the ship turned to look at her. ''Don't yell, Captain. She's half-awake right now.''

He had held up his hands in response, nodding his head to Shane. ''Sorry about that,'' he said.

''Ahh, it's alright. I got a little sister who does the same thing to me.'' Damnit, what's wrong with me?! I shouldn't say anything about my home... Shion turned to her, helping her walk down the stairs. ''You have a younger sister?'' Shane nodded. ''Yeah. A little stinker, too.'' The milky haired girl walked over to a table and sat down. She watched the light-brown haired woman walk over to the stove, fixing her a plate. She yawned softly as she felt a strong arm wrap around her shoulders.

''Eh? Nani (what)?'' She looked up at the dark blonde who has a grin on his face. ''Hey there.'' Hi, sexy blonde who is considered a incubus in disguise--SHUT UP, SHANE. ''..Hey,'' she said, moving her hair out of her face.

''I'm Tony. We didn't get to meet properly before on the bridge.''

''Yeah, you were piloting the ship...why are you next to me?'' Tony chuckled to himself as he moved some the hair out of her face. ''Well, when I saw you being brought in by that android girl, I couldn't help to notice you white hair.''

Is he doing what I think he's doing?

''Oh really?'' Shane asked him. ''Or was it something else you were noticing?'' She watched him as he chuckled to himself again. ''You could say that. Say, when we reach Second Miltia...you, me, and a hotel suite.''

He is.

The milky haired girl stared at him then moved his arm off her shoulders and slowly setting it down on the table. ''Sorry, but no thanks,'' she told him. ''I'm a minor and it would be considered statuetory rape if anyone saw us together. So get it through your head and your dick that I don't want to go on a date with you.'' Hammer burst out laughing when she finished.

Shane looked around the room see Shion holding her plate of curry, looking in both awe and shock; Captain Matthews hiding his face and laughter again; Allen sitting at the table with a ''thank god, I hope he understands'' look on his face; chaos with a slightly amused look on his face.

''Uh...sorry, Tony..'' She said, looking down at her hands.

He sighed and patted her head. ''It's alright. I deserved it.'' Shane blushed some. chaos had smiled at her as he looked down at his hands. She's a special girl...

After everyone was done eating, a full (and content) Shane was laying her head on the table and snoring lightly. Shion looked over only to smile at how peaceful she looked in her sleep as she washed the dishes with Allen.

''…So, what're we going to do now?'' He asked. She looked at him. ''Well, we certainly can't leave KOS-MOS to her own devices, can we? She's functioning independently!'' Allen groaned to himself. ''And to think, we were supposed to get vacation time once we completed the startup experiment and turned her over to the Second Division,'' he said in an hopeless voice. She giggled at him.

''You're starting to sound a lot like the Captain. There's no use crying over spilled milk, you know. The first thing we need to do is to contact Headquarters and ask for instructions.''

''So I guess we're stuck with these guys for a little longer...and her, for that matter.'' He looked back at Shane who had turned her head to the other side. Shion put down the plate in the warm water as she looked at Allen with a confused look. ''Huh? What do you mean?'' she asked.

''I got a little suspicious, so I checked this ship's registry. Did you know that these guys are with the Kukai Foundation? That place is bad news. I heard a rumor that it's just crawling with mutants.'' He continued. ''And I couldn't find anything about that Shane girl. It's like she doesn't even exist or something.'' ''Hey, that's kind of a racist comment and who knows here Shane came from. That's for her to know and for us to find out. But listen, Allen. Sure, it's a well known fact...The Kukai Foundation was established by the Miltian government as a specialized military group.''

Shion continued, ''But they only held that status until the completion of the post-war proceedings. Although…they haven't gotten around to demilitarizing quite yet, they're being run like any other valid foundation nowadays. You know…as a matter of fact, their current director received a lot of praise for taking in and protecting victims in the days before the Species Preservation Act. He's really to be commended. Now what was his name… Umm…''

''Gaignun Kukai.''

The two turned to the doorway as chaos walked over, looking at Shane. ''Oh, chaos! What's up?'' He smiled and said, ''Oh, I just dropped in to see if there was anything I could help out with.'' She nodded then handed him a towel. ''Oh, thanks! We could use some help drying the dishes.'' ''Sure thing.'' As they washed and dried the dishes, the milky haired girl sneezed.

''Whew! That's everything.''

''Yup.'' chaos looked over at the table where there was a full plate of rice and curry. ''Huh? What's this? Is this for...''

''Oh, that's for the Commander…Shane already ate about 3 bowls,'' she said.

Allen dried his hands, looking at them both. ''Come to think of it, he didn't join us for dinner, did he?'' ''No, and I even called him… Oh, well. Shane, wake up!'' The milky haired girl stirred in her sleep then sat up, groaning. ''Wha...whazzat?'' Shion walked over to the table and picked up the plate. ''I'll just heat it up and let Shane take it to him.''

''...Lazy, aren't you, Chief?'' She put the plate in the microwave, setting it to 30 seconds. ''No, I'm not. So don't call me that, Allen!''

''Okay...Well, how about we call it a day?''

''Good idea. Oh…'' chaos looked at Shion. ''Did you forget something?'' She asked. ''No, but… Where did KOS-MOS go?'' She walked over to Shane and set the plate down. ''Oh, KOS-MOS? She's being tuned in her service module, down in the hangar. It'll probably take a few more hours. …Oh, did you want to go down and talk to her? I'm sure she'd like that. And Shane?''

''Oh, really?'' The white haired boy asked. ''Of course.'' ''Thanks. See you later.''

''Bye!'' Shion waved at chaos as he left the kitchen. Shane yawned, scratching her head. ''Nani na mou (What do you want)?'' ''Sorry for waking you from your catnap, but I want you to do something for me.'' She nodded her head to the plate in front of her then looked at Shane's half-awake expression. ''I want you to take that to Commander Cherenkov, okay?''

Shane groaned as she stood in the elevator, holding the tray with the plate of rice and curry. I don't see why I have to give food to that homicidal maniac...though I better not say anything... She yawned loudly as she reached the 2nd floor, stepping out of the elevator. ''Now if I were insane and gun-crazy, where would I be...?'' Shane walked around until she found chaos turning a corner. ''Oi, chaos!'' He looked up at her as she ran up to him.

''Shion told me you went to visit KOS-MOS. Were you able to talk with her?''

He shook his head. ''No, she seemed to be asleep, so I didn't want to bother her. I'll try again later.'' Shane turned her head to cough, trying not to cough on the curry. ''That's too bad,'' she said, clearing her throat. He smiled at her. ''But she was quite beautiful, even asleep.'' She blushed, looking to the side some. ''Yeah, I bet...Shion would probably be glomping you right now for saying that. By the way, have you seen that commander?''

''I saw the Commander go into the maintenance lab. Just go up the elevator on the left, in the angar up ahead.'' She nodded. ''You're a great help, buddy. Thanks,'' she told him as she walked to the maintenance room. The doors opened to her as she looked around inside. Oooh, spooky... Shane walked inside as the lights turned on and it scared Commander Cherenkov, who was standing next to KOS-MOS' maintenance bed.

''..Oi, Commander. I couldn't find ya in your room and Shion was worried you might starve..''

He turned to look at the girl. ''...You,'' he said.

''..The hell are you doing?'' Cherenkov looked back at the android.''…I was looking at her.''

''...At KOS-MOS? With a loaded pistol in your hand? And with the lights off, no less?''

''Ah, this, it's…it's a bad habit.'' He said.

Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that... ''I see. Well, you are a soldier, after all, ne?'' He chuckled nervously, nodding. ''Ah, yeah…So this is the android that can take on the Gnosis… She sure doesn't look like it,'' he said.

''That's what Shion says.'' She handled him the tray, turning to turn her head and cough again. ''Don't worry; I didn't contaminate your food.'' Cherenkov nodded, taking a seat and eating the rice and curry. ''But...'' He looked at Shane. ''..But regardless of what she looks like, she's still considered a weapon.''

''I suppose you're right… Before we left the Woglinde… What was his name? Lieutenant Virgil? He was killed by this android's battle algorithm.'' She looked up at him, scratching her head softly. ''Really? Did he get into the line of fire or something...?'' Cherenkov nodded at her question, continuing to eat. ''Oh man...'' ''I'm not trying to blame that girl. Logic, reason…they can bring about death. Happens all the time.''

Shane nodded then looked at the floor, scratching her right foot with her left. ''I never thought she could do something like that...I mean, she could, under the right or wrong conditions.'' He looked up at the girl. ''The Vector girl,'' he began to say, ''she programmed her basic logic architecture, right?'' She yawned loudly which startled him and placed her hands in her pockets. ''Yep, pretty much. Shion thinks of KOS-MOS like a daughter or maybe like a friend, I don't know.'' He looked at his plate, nodding some. ''I see… Well, I doubt we could've saved the Lieutenant from that situation anyway.''

''Thanks. I'll tell Shion you at least tried to cheer her up.'' She then looked at his plate as he began to eat again. ''...I noticed you eat neatly...''

Cherenkov looked at her. ''Hmm? Ah, that's part of who I am. At least now…that is,'' he said slowly. Shane sat down in a seat from Cherenkov. ''So...what happened? Shion told me you were on the Woglinde ship, right?'' ''Why...why do you ask?'' She shrugged her shoulders some. ''Just wondering, is all. She said you seemed different from the other crew members somehow.''

He finished his dinner, giving the dinner tray to Shane and stood up.

''The Woglinde task force was assembled hastily. Besides, I'm a soldier. I'll go where I'm assigned.'' Cherenkov stood up and left the room.

''A…soldier, huh?'' Hmph... She looked at KOS-MOS then stood up, coughing hard. ''Damned cold...''

Shion was in Shane's cabin as she cleaned up around the bed and threw away the bloodied bandages. She was unconcious when she came here, she thought to herself. Shane apparently heard my name somewhere before...but where? She held her head as she tried to comprehend all that. She sighed to herself, washing her hands in cool water.

''I guess I'll have to ask her myself,'' she said. Shion dried her hands and walked out of the cabin until the intercom came on. ''Hey, Ms. Vector! If you're just lounging around, come to the bridge for a sec!'' Captain Matthews' voice yelled.

She looked up at the intercom. ''What could it be? I wonder if something happened?''

Shane was already at the bridge, arms folded as she stood with her back against the wall. She watched the Elsa crew with a tired look in her eyes and face. Then was confirmed with a soft yawn that made chaos glance back at her. The milky-haired girl looked at him then waved her bandaged hands in front of her. He blinked at her and smiled, turning back around to the computer screen. Shane sighed. Geez, she thought to herself. I'm so frickin' tired but I don't want to go back to sleep.

''Hey, bandage girl.'' She looked up at the captain.

''What?''

''How ya feeling now?''

''Meh, don't sweat it, Capt'. I'm alright, just tired.'' She covered her mouth with her arm, coughing into the elbow. ''And you're sick, too,'' he told her. She looked at him. ''I know that much...'' The doors slid open as Shion walked inside. She looked over at Shane who was holding her head back and holding her nose. ''Damned runny nose,'' she muttered.

''What the…? There it is again. That's so weird…'' Hammer said as he looked over his console. ''What is it?'' He glanced back at Captain Matthews. ''It's the catapult deck. There seems to be something wrong with the hatch.''

''Air pressure?'' He asked. ''No leaks at the moment. I wonder if it's the electrical system…'' Shion walked over to them. ''Shall I take a look at it?'' Captain Matthews looked back at Shion and nodded. ''Ah, that'd be great. Doesn't look like a leak, but be careful, just in case.'' ''Got it,'' She walked out of the bridge to the catapult room. Shane scratched the back of her head as she started to walk out. ''You stop right there, bandage girl,'' Captain Matthews said. ''Since you're still recovering and all, you should do something to speed up your recovery. That is, until we reach Second Miltia.''

She turned to him. ''...In other words, you want to put me to work?''

He grinned at her and said, ''Yup.''

Chapter Eight: End. (Okay, I mentioned Gainun. Also, you noticed I replaced Shion with Shane when she takes the curry to Cherenkov. ...Now we wait as things get good...J/K. R & R!)