Completely worn out, Maka slumped onto a bar stool. "Rum and coke," she said as the bartender made his way to her. She sighed and took the hairband out of her hair, letting her blonde locks fall down her shoulders. It had been a long day, but it was worth it. Stein had been impressed with her during her test. Starting out with only a knife, she had managed to take out sixteen of his men in only ten minutes. Her paperwork was finished in record time as well.
"They didn't tell us we had our asses kicked by the legendary Maka Albarn," a soldier nearby shouted at her. She turned to see three men she had sparred with from Spartoi. Rung, Ford, and Éclair if she remembered correctly. "'Angel of Death', right?" Rung continued. "People are still talking about how much of a badass you were in the war!"
She smiled politely and turned back towards the bar. The bartender handed her her drink. "Angel of Death" had never suited her. She had just been doing her job, that was all. It seemed that she would never shake the nickname.
"Mind if I join you?" a sweet voice next to her asked. Tsubaki took a seat next to her, already having her own drink. "Congratulations on making Spartoi. Black Star was glad his work on the new Landmate wasn't for nothing. Soul seems pretty happy about it, too. Not that he'd tell you if you asked him." She giggled a bit before taking a sip of her drink. "So how long have you liked Soul?"
"What?" Maka exclaimed.
The bioroid looked at her in confusion. "I just thought you had feelings for him. The way you look at him indicates as much."
She shook her head violently. "No, no, we're just… just comrades, okay? Besides, I should be asking about you and Black Star."
"What do you mean?"
"You two seem pretty close."
Tsubaki stared into her drink. "He was the first to accept me into Spartoi. Most members are humans, and my presence made them a bit uncomfortable. But he accepted me instantly and has been a good friend since."
"Never more than that?"
"Could never be more than that. Remember that bioroids have many of their emotions repressed. That includes love. We can form friendships and know kindness, but never love like humans do. I can understand it on an intellectual level, but love has little to do with intellect." She stretched out her arm across the bar and laid her cheek on it. "It's a bit disappointing. Even if he looked at me the way you look at Soul, I could never look at him that way. It's the one thing I envy about humans…"
Voice caught in her throat, Maka did not know what to say. She tried to find the words to comfort her friend, but before they could leave her mouth, the sound of glass shattering pulled her away from their conversation. She turned to see a soldier she had not met before tugging on a waitress' inky pigtail.
"Watch what you're doing, you bioroid bitch!" he spat at her. All she could do was sob and apologize. "Do you spill drinks on all your customers or just the humans? Do you think you're better than us? Huh?! Answer me!"
Tsubaki sat up and glared at the man. "Mors' Regular Army. Anger. An emotion I don't envy."
Maka pushed herself from the bar and stormed up to the soldier, slapping his hand and making him drop the girl's pigtail. "That's enough. You are harassing this girl, leave at once."
The man's friends all stood up, looking like they were ready for a fight. He simply growled at her and motioned for the others to follow him out, muttering something about "bioroid scum".
Maka turned her attention back to the waitress, now on the ground cleaning up shards of broken glass. "Are you hurt?" she asked, holding out a hand to help her up.
"I'm fine, really. It was my fault, I should have been more careful." She dumped the glass in a nearby garbage can and turned back to the blonde. "Thank you for helping me, Miss Albarn."
She should have been more used to people knowing her name by now, but it still took everything to not ask how she knew her. "It's okay, I was happy to help, Miss…"
"Tsugumi," she answered with a blush. "Harudori. I'd better get back to work though, thank you again."
She watched the girl bounce away to grab a broom in order to finish cleaning up the glass. Tsubaki grabbed the blonde's hand. "Look at you, hero!" she giggled.
"It was just the right thing to do. I don't understand why humans react so negatively to bioroids…"
"I can sort of understand. Here, let's talk about this outside, okay?" Tsubaki said, leading them out of the bar. "Humans feel threatened by our existence, thinking that someday we will rebel and take over. In order to prevent this, the D Tank was created at the top of City Hall. It contains a virus that, if released, would wipe out the bioroid population." She stopped in her tracks for a moment. "I know it's man's need for self-preservation, but it doesn't make it any less insulting…"
Maka took her hand. "It won't come to that. I promise." She would protect the bioroids, especially since one was now her friend. She smiled at the thought of Tsubaki as her new friend. Heaven knew she could use a few of those.
…
Members of the Regular Army stood at salute as they watched a helicopter land. A blonde woman walked out onto the platform, the decorations on her uniform indicating the rank of General. A male soldier fell out of line to follow her to a car waiting for her.
"Maka Albarn has signed on with Spartoi, just as we thought," he informed her. "Everything is falling into place."
"Good," she replied, crawling into the back seat. "Follow through with the plan, Colonel Free. I will not stand by and watch bioroids make us into their tools." She slammed the door, and the vehicle pulled away from him.
Once it was out of sight, he grinned. "Guess it's time, huh?"
…
Maka stared up at her new Landmate in awe as she waited for its mechanic to arrive. Motorcycles were one thing, but this was another. Given a little tutorial, she was certain she could figure it out, though. The sound of footsteps shifted her attention to one of the hallways. She was surprised to find Soul there. "Come to congratulate me?" she asked.
He tossed something at her. "Came to give you a gift." She caught it and discovered it was a pendant. "When I came to the city to find Kami Albarn, she was already gone, right? Found that with a note at her place. Said to give it to you."
"It's from my mother…?" she asked before placing it around her neck. She fingered it delicately. "It's beautiful…"
"She'd… be proud, I think…" he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
She smiled at him before remembering Tsubaki's words at the bar the other day. Her face blushed furiously, and she directed her attention back to the Landmate, hoping he hadn't seen. "Black Star's supposed to show me how to pilot one of these."
"Not too tough. You should be able to handle it."
They stood in silence for a moment before Black Star and Tsubaki entered the hangar, deep in discussion. "'Bout time you showed up!" Black Star shouted at Maka.
"I'm the one who's been waiting!"
He walked past her and placed a hand protectively on the Landmate, glaring at her. "Look here, girly, this baby is not cheap or easy to repair, you got me? Take care of my baby!"
"Yeah yeah, just show me how to pilot this thing, okay?"
The mechanic pressed a few buttons along the side to open the cockpit. "I gotta readjust the seat for you, so it'll take a minute." She climbed in and waited for him to set everything up. "Okay, this is the ignition sequence for the engine," he explained, pressing the sequence in Maka's control panel. "Kay, you should be good to go. Try getting a feel for it." He moved out of the way, motioning for the other two to step back.
Maka moved the controls, making the arms move, finally moving the machine from its sitting position. "Not tough at all, like you said," she said, smiling at Soul.
Red lights began flashing in the hangar, making Maka stop her test. A voice announced over the intercom, "Code Red! Code Red! Unidentified Landmates have infiltrated the bioroid care center! Multiple targets! Spartoi pilots are to mobilize immediately! I repeat: Code Red! Code Red! Unidentified Landma-"
Soldiers began piling into the hangar, each climbing into their own Landmates and heading out towards the care center. Soul ran to one of the nearest Landmates to climb in himself. "C'mon, are you coming with?" he shouted at Maka.
"She isn't fully trained in using one yet!" Black Star objected.
"Consider this training," Maka replied, closing the cockpit and following the others.