Spiral energy. An infinitely useful and fickle resource. A spiral war party need not bring any fuel, but only maintain the morale of their soldiers to keep their war machines running.

The main problem facing engineers once spiral power was used to fuel war efforts was consistency. How could they keep spiral power flowing no matter the situation, even if their soldiers were outmatched and defeat seemed inevitable? Their solution was one as old as the human race.

Prostitutes.

Although "pleasure girls" was the more politically correct and widespread term, they weren't much different than their predecessors. When spiral power was first harnessed there was public outrage at such an immoral act becoming government protocol, but results spoke for themselves. Battalions who boycotted the use of pleasure girls didn't succeed in nearly as many missions at the others, and the practice was slowly taken in by the entire military and gradually desensitized to the population. At the time of the war against the Anti-Spiral, they were as accepted of a profession as a lawyer or politician. Disgraceful and disliked, but necessary.

During these wars, the Vigilance was a dreadnought-class spiral battleship tasked with defending a sector of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The minefield of space rocks was the perfect natural blockade against the Anti-Spiral, and Humans were not going to let an opportunity go wasted. Battleships were assigned to defend the belt at regular intervals and defend it at all costs.

The Vigilance was knife-shaped, with the command station located at the top rear and the rest of the ship thrusting forward before coming to a sharp point. Artillery was located along the protruding edges of the ship, while sleeping quarters and other civilian services were located more frequently in the interior of the ship. In a cafeteria, specifically Cafeteria D, Akio Tetsuri wrestled with a stubborn appetite.

He poked a thin slice of meat ration with his fork absent-mindedly. Just by looking at it he knew he could not eat it without forcing it down. All around him, his fellow pilots had long since abandoned their meals. Now they occupied themselves with various testosterone-fueled activities varying from leg, arm, and full body wrestling to screaming arguments and, of course, flirting with the pleasure girls milling around the cafeteria. If they weren't doing any action mentioned prior, than they were most likely teasing and bullying fellow pilots, it created a certain pecking order among the soldiers and came as naturally to them as breathing. No one said a word to Akio, though.

Akio was a Daichi pilot and somewhat of a minor celebrity among his comrades. Daichi were tiny robots only five feet tall that were essentially heads with stubs for arms and legs. The incredible thing about Daichi mechs was first that their build was almost indestructible, second that they were the most efficient modern conduit for spiral power, and third that they could combine with any other mech to create a new one more powerful than the last two. Daichi pilots needed to know how to pilot a vast array of different ships and have the smarts to figure out completely new controls in the middle of combat. Only the skilled were chosen for Daichi pilots, and due to that only 2% of the pilots on the Vigilance were Daichi pilots. To symbolize their rank, they wore their symbol around their neck on silver chain, the famous Core Drill.

"A Daichi pilot? Ooo~" A voice rang to his right in a light british accent. When Akio looked up at her he had to look through his own raven bangs, but his limited view was more than enough.

It was the cutest pleasure girl he had ever seen on any of his assignments. She has a heart shaped face, with a pointed chin but softer features near her eyes. Her skin was smooth porcelain that he swore he would have seen his reflection in it if he tried. Her hair was a wonderful confluence of gold and auburn, creating a shifting shade Akio could not pinpoint as any one colour.

"Yes, I am." Akio met her cloudy grey orbs and smiled politely.

"Is it true that Daichi all have drills strong enough to pierce mech armour?" A sultry smile reached her lips as she settled onto the bench beside him. "An impressive feature, but I was wondering if a Daichi pilot could lay to the same claim of an impressive drill..."

"I'm not interested." The same polite smile flickered for a moment for Akio returned his attention to his meager meat ration. He had never bedded a pleasure girl, and he did not plan on doing it any time soon. The girl huffed and a look of disappointment reached her face as she stood.

The woman took the rejection surprisingly well, and even advised in a motherly tone, "Alright, if you insist. Just remember the facts, if you want to fight like three of your regular self then you better find someone."

Akio returned his attention to his cold meal. Well, at least he looked like he did. In truth he was reanalyzing the controls and differences between the various mechs his Daichi could create, and even brainstorming new ones in his head. It was difficult to imagine what a Daichi might create when mashed with a random machine, but Akio had a hunch for predicting them and having the upper hand in battle.

It was good that he was smart, because Akio seriously lacked in other departments. During training back on Earth, soldiers had their spiral power output tested. They were left to calm down amidst their thoughts in a blank, windowless room for a whole hour before they were hooked up to the power reader. The pilots would then have to summon as much spiral power as possible. The controlled environment ensured a fair situation for each pilot to be scored in. Sadly, Akio scored dead last in his class. He remembered seeing a classmate named Erik that he had pegged a dunce stomp on his own toe and use the pain to output three times what Akio had. He was too calm, and rarely got riled up like Erik or his peers, let alone with the ease they showed.

"Why don't I show you around my bed tonight, eh sweet thing?" A voice from the past called out. Actually, it was the voice from the past. When Akio checked over his shoulders, his suspicions were confirmed. Erik lay about ten feet to his left, with a leg up on the table. He was leaning on that with an elbow, and had a shit-eating grin on his face. His newest victim was the pleasure girl from before.

"No thank you." She lifted her nose and stepped around him. The rejection made a choir out of the nearby soldiers, who laughed without restraint at their teammate's misfortune,

"Listen here you little slut." Erik growled, latching onto her arm. "This is gonna happen regardless of what you think, and it'll be a lot more enjoyable for you if you don't resist."

"Let me go, this is wrong!" The woman stated firmly, fighting Erik's grip. She must have been stronger than he expected, because she broke free of his grip and took a step back before glaring him down.

"Are you deaf or something, lady?" Erik's disheveled blonde hair fell behind his head, reaching his shoulders.

"You're the one who I would assume is hard of hearing, Erik." Akio spoke up, surprising both of them. He was still sitting at the table, but had somehow appeared right beside them. "She rejected you twice, accept your fate and move on. I'm sure there's a lower level whore whose standards you fall within."

Erik's eyebrows lowered in anger, while the girl's raised in surprise. Most pleasure girls had some class and standards, but the lowliest of them were forced into the dirty, seldom used cargo bays. It was an area lacking cameras and filled with stowaways, where soldiers would sneak into to exchange various contraband, fight away from the eyes of their officers, and meet with pleasure girls.

"Akio, you bastard!" Erik clenched his teeth, but did no more. Striking a fellow soldier was bad, but striking a Daichi pilot was really bad. "This is her job! If any of us refuse to do our jobs, we get shipped back to Mars on the next supply ship!"

"She is doing her duty, in fact." Akio placed his fork on his meat, finally abandoning it. He rose from his seat and grabbed her by the arm. "I'm taking her up on her offer, and bringing her to my room right now."

Whispers passed through the crowd. They had all heard Akio reject her, but Daichi pilots had first dibs on pleasure girls now that he changed his mind.

"Alright, she's yours for tonight." Erik huffed. "But tomorrow, you better get ready gal. Because it's gonna be a hell of a night."

"Let's go." Akio demanded, dragging her through the parting crowd and across the cafeteria. From here, it was only a short elevator trip and walk to Akio's dorm.

"Thank you." Lights flashed against their skin as the elevator rose. "He was a horrid being, that one."

"Yeah, Erik's a real fine gentleman. I'm sorry that he tried to corner you like that." Akio rubbed the back of his neck, under his hair. "Sorry I handled you rough."

"It's quite fine, I just never pegged you as the rough and aggressive type." Another sly smile reached her lips. Akio rolled his eyes as the elevator doors opened. Luckily, his room as only a few doors down.

"It's not much, but it's better than most." Akio said as the door shut behind him. The room was almost entirely coloured a dull cobalt, just like the rest of the ship. It was only as wide as the bed that sat at the far end of the room, and the only other furnishings were a small table and two folding stools. The wall above the bed was a window currently pointed towards Mars. The copper planet was a distance away now, seeming about the size of a moon. Akio immediately made for his bed and lay down on it, reaching for his reading glasses. With them on, he grabbed one of the two books in the room.

"How would you like to go about this? People have lots of different preferences, so we should discuss them beforehand." The girl laid her cardigan on his stool before fixing her hair.

"What's your name?" Akio asked, flipping through pages of mech schematics.

"Amber." She answered like the question was nothing more than filler.

"Well Amber, take no offense, but I haven't any desire to have sex with you." Akio said casually, not even looking up from his book.

"Having a change of heart?" Amber sunk onto a stool, crossing her legs with a sly smile. "Could it be your first time?"

"It's a long story." Akio muttered, like he was only half interested. "There have been way too many rumors about the way Erik treats pleasure girls for me to let you go to his room. Due to that, you can stay with me tonight. Although I won`t force you to stay, I can assure you that you'll be safe here."

Amber looked at the ground. "I've heard a lot of the same things; the girls talk a lot when we aren't working."

"Mhmm." Akio hummed while reading his book. Amber shifted in her seat; the silence was like a wall between them.

"Thank you for letting me stay the night." She gulped. Her soft eyes fluttered their gaze around the room, but found nothing extraordinary to look at. "Akio, was it?"

"Akio Tetsuri." He finished, running his finger over the schematics for the ship's main turrets. I wonder if I could combine with these…

"Japanese?" She asked curiously, to which he nodded. "I'm from Dublin, but I've always wanted to go to Japan." Akio did not reply and continued to read. The silence returned and Amber couldn't help but wonder if she could last all night.

"You're restless." Akio observed, to which she sheepishly admitted. "You've been doing all but this in another's room before, and expect it. Hell, when was the last time you've had a conversation that wasn't related to your job in some way?"

Amber blinked, he was right. Recently she had been so absorbed in the scene that she had forgotten the real reason she was here. She had been drunk on the high pay, the nights of fun with stunning specimens of men, and spending time with her fellow girls.

"You're a human, not a pleasure girl." Akio frowned at a schematic, holding it sideways. "Don't ever forget that. Try to find solace in the silence."

"Thank you again, Akio." She nodded at him.

"I'm going to go pick up my uniform from the wash, you're welcome to come with me or stay here."

"I think I'll try to find solace in the silence." She smiled, sly.

"Good luck." Akio grinned for the first time that day. He brought the uniform back to his room, though he usually kept it in his mech. Whenever he had to man it, even in an invasion, it was such a congested rush to leave the hangar, not to mention Daichi pilots always left last, that it was best to put it on while he was waiting in his mech. When he returned Amber was already sleeping in his bed. With a sigh, he retrieved his spare sheet and set up a place to rest on the floor.