Shirogane Takeru

November 29, 2001

Hangar

"Sensei, good morning."

"Hm-umm… morning-." Kouzuki greeted me sleepishly, yawning and stretching as she fumbled almost over the railings of the catwalk overlooking the TSFs.

"You want a cracker?"

"…Why would you even offer me that? What part of my body expression told you I wanted a cracker?"

"You look so cranky though."

"You better start laughing cause I definitely won't." I really should find something better to tickle her funny bone.

"What's got you so worked up, sensei?"

"I'm still researching their damned reactors, but there's nothing for me to work on… you said that Target One is the brain and the rest of the Hives are just messengers, right?"

"Yep."

"…Then I see where V is coming from, taking out their command is only a natural step to take. Cut off the snakehead and the body dies? Is that how the saying goes?"

"Pretty sure everyone dies without a head."

"Hmm, we need more time… there's still so much left to do." Yuuko-sensei wasn't alone in her struggle, my memories might have decayed through every death and reincarnation, but what threatened our existence was a calamity not even the power of time-travel could solve.

"-…Oh, Yuuko… and Shirogane?" Marimo-chan postponed our discussion via her sudden entry.

"It's a Marimo-chan! Yeeee!"

"Shirogane… sir, please stop talking to me." Rejected by a disinterested look, it couldn't have been worse.

"We're doing a mock battle thing today, yeah? You got the teams all sorted out?"

"Yeah, it will be you, Sakaki, Ayamine and Yoroi against Kagami, Mitsurugi, Tamase and Yashiro." Fighting the cadets had an added benefit of putting me in some very low Elo matchups, felt like I was on a Smurf account.

"Sensei, should I job?"

"…What?" Professor Kouzuki had that mildly confused and slandering glare which few ever replicated.

"No, I mean like- taking a dive and- like lose on purpose."

"Why do you ask me? Why would I care?"

"But its- er- hmm… nevermind." Sensei sure as all hell didn't give a shit about the XM3's performance if she wasn't the one to invent it.

"Marimo, I coming with you to watch their fight, alright?"

"Oh, yeah of course."

—

Nothing inspiring took place during the short briefing which Marimo-chan told us the comp setup and mission objectives. A bunch of really boring stuff that literally could drive down the attentiveness of any man, no matter how many cups of coffee was ingested by their system.

"Takeru-chan! So rare for you to actually be a part of the class!" Sumika hopped over for some pre-game taunts.

"Well, this's as close to a class field-trip as I'm gonna get so my bar for when to come back is just that low. You dumbasses have no chance anyway, I'll just kill y'all and go back to bed."

"Holy crap, I'm gonna spoon-feed you those words letter by letter Takeru-chan you big stupid idiot!" Sumika stuck her tongue at me and peeled back her eyelids, doing everything a typical retard would.

"Whaaaateveeeer~ man~! You're never gonna climb outta bronze anyway, you're the kid that plays quick match and spawn-peek dudes all day."

"You're talking about like- three different games at once."

"Whatever, I don't care! Ahaha!"

"You just watch, I'm so not gonna lose to you today!"

"Yeah sure, you know what. If you actually do win I'll give you a treat, as long as you're a good boi."

"Yaay! Takeru-chan is the best! I'll give you a good beating and show you who's the boss!" Had me shivering in my boots.

"Okay, now fuck off and don't come back."

Sitting down as the pilot of a brand new Fubuki reminded me of how the view from inside a TSF cockpit invoked a surreal astonishment in me when I first took that seat, and how quickly that childish delight died as I witnessed the brutality of war. If our peaceful life were to ever return, I wouldn't mind forgetting these days of vicious bloodshed. However, in the present what I needed to be was a soldier, and I couldn't see any other characters to pick.

Hiiragi ruins

Our two teams separated once we reached the battlefield. Fifteen minutes stood between me and the completely humiliated look on Sumika's face once I totally abolish her amateur self.

"—Squad leader Takeru, what motivated you to join our training today?" Class rep radioed me over the comms and her round glasses flashed up within a square popup.

"—I gotta at least hit that minimum attendance requirement or passing might be difficult."

"—…Hooky every day." Ayamine's comment added nothing to our conversation.

"—But she does have a point, how can you even improve if you never learn?"

"—Takeru's got the highest score out of all of us, I'm sure he'll do great!" Mikoto was the only bro amidst a sea of hoes.

"—I'm not so sure. I mean, we never saw his piloting outside the aptitude test, he never joins any of our training sessions either. Takeru, can you really hold your own with the new OS?"

"—…He could be the worst pilot of us all." Only when it came to hurting my feelings did Chizuru and Ayamine work together like a charm.

"—But what if I turn out to be the worst pilot and need you guys' help to win?"

"—Like hell that will happen… wait- huh?" Takeru used Flatter! Ayamine became confused! It hurt itself in its confusion!

"—Alpha team leader to CP, can I get an update please." Pursuit evaded.

"—Five minutes until mock battle starts, now is the time to check your weapon systems one last time."

"—Roger that, can I get the detail of this training exercise again?" The trick was to keep the distractions going, give my dumb teammates no room to budge back into our talk.

"—Very well. Your mission is the complete annihilation of hostile forces in play while your data-link is down and cannot provide friendlies' markers in real-time. Furthermore, your mission timer is one hour, after which the team with the most undamaged TSFs left will be the winner. Is that clear?"

"—Yes, Ma'am!" Everyone answered enthusiastically, all were looking forward to graduating from tricycles to bicycles that have a small wheel screwed on the back.

"—Alright team, I'll talk strats for a bit, that okay?" No one disagreed or had the interest to.

"—We will divide off into two groups. Mikoto is with me and Class rep with Ayamine. Keep engagement shorts and keep on the move, don't get picked off and don't get stalled out. Basically, apply hit-n-run tactics, and bless your rolls, obviously."

"—Wow, those're some basic plans you cooked up, Squad leader." I was already down a couple of hit points from Chizuru's sneak attack before the game even started.

"—Yeah? And you got any better pro-tips, glasses?"

"—…Don't die?"

Hangar

"And with that, our urban mock battle exercise is now complete."

"Salute the boss."

"Ahhhh… ahem! This afternoon will be simulator training using the data from this exercise. Dismissed!" Clocking herself out for an early leave at four O'clock, Marimo-chan ditched the trainees to their own will.

"-But hold up one moment, boys and girls! Before leaving would you like to kindly offer your opinions on the new OS? It is your first field-testing, after all." A cheery Yuuko-sensei wiped away her earlier frown to sweetly reap the latest feedback on our advanced piloting system, and the excited smiles aplenty all around were evidence enough of our achievement.

"It was amazing, Professor! You really are the smartest person around!"

"I kind of find it hard to believe such a big difference is possible! The controls were unusual and sensitive at first but once you get used to it- feels so natural, like walking or breathing."

"Indeed, to be given such an honour as to serve the purpose of test-piloting your latest invention can already stand a prestigious esteem, yet the OS allowed us control over the machines like the limbs of our own body… truthfully a blessing unfolding itself."

"Good times were had…"

"I feel like I could do anything I want with those! They let me move so smoothly!"

"I see… I see. Glad you enjoyed it." Sensei continued to gloat in glee, not worrying herself over about how plagiarism could put her a couple thousand in the red.

"Takeru-chan, you aren't gonna say a word?" Sumika wondered whether I wanted to take this case all the way to the Supreme Court.

"It's fine, I'm just gonna let her do her thing."

"Now, as much as I'd like to say I forged this beautiful idealization of science, I did say its core was provided to me by a friend. Wouldn't be right for me to take all the credit." Only then did sensei remember what that weird letter C inside a circle stood for.

"Overall, the new OS, XM3 will be installed onto all of your simulators. Don't hold back and play around with it all you want, if you have questions go ahead and ask Shirogane for help, he's more experienced with the machine."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Very good, team. I'm gonna go now, bye." A splendid entrance would be meaningless without a graceful exit, fortunately, Yuuko-sensei had neither tucked away in her lab coat.

"Takeru-chan, surprisingly quiet when Kouzuki-sensei was garnering all those praises for your OS! What does it mean?"

"This's called concentrating, you should try it, good for your mind."

"Huuuuh~! Could it be…~! That you're like- super bothered by our team winning the mock battle!" Fact: Sumika's team won, assumption: my lack of verbal exchange was due to her victory.

"No, the engagement was- errr… complicated. Mikoto ate shit harder than I thought, but class rep and Ayamine carried pretty hard too. For your side, Tamase kept it safe in the back and Meiya made some bold plays. And you two…"

"-Yeah- yeah I get it. OMG, thank you so much for going easy on us, Takeru-chan. I'm so very sorry the situation forced you to lose to a bunch of idiots in bodysuits, okay!?" Sumika was offended easily by my calculated overview, something I thought I composed objectively to the best of my abilities.

"No, it's not like that. I didn't try-hard at this thing but I stopped jobbing after the half-way point, wasn't gonna make it otherwise. Also, near the end I was actually trying to kill you and Kasumi, couldn't cut close enough though." When the one-hour time limit came up, the two badly damaged TSFs on Sumika's side triumphed my unscathed survivor.

"Huh, now that's seriously unbelievable! I know everyone's good at flying and stuff, but are they that good?"

"You can already notice how much they've improved since the beginning, remember when they used to complain about how hard to handle the XM3 TSFs are?"

"Guess so… I just didn't think the deviation would be this wide, is Takeru-chan looking forward to what other changes might be coming?"

"Definitely, boys. Feels like we finally drove out of the parking lot."

Kouzuki Yuuko's office

Rock, paper, scissors! …Rock, paper, scissors! …Rock, paper, scissors!

"…"

…

"You can't make me do this."

-AHAHAHAHA! Get~ Fuckeeeed~! You autistic rabbit- you! Kasumi not only swallowed the bait, my entire fishing pole went down her throat with it.

"I'm nervous, I'm underprepared. This is a form of child abuse."

Then you should go to the nearest adult for help, so let's do this. Unless you wanna lie to me. Kasumi contemplated her own unlucky predicament harshly with a furrowed brow, however, all that deliberation did for her was adding a toil to her sigh as she accepted the inevitable.

The card reader readily beeped green at the swipe of my access card, unsealing the door to Yuuko-sensei's office. What awaited our admission was a nearly pitch-black room without a source of light, the setting awfully resembling one particular incident which was fated to take place throughout the multiverse.

~Hello darkness my old friend~ …~I've come to talk with you again~

"Ha-hello darkness my old friend… I-I've come to talk with you again."

A period of awkward silence so long even Gandhi himself would turn impatient befell the three of us after Kasumi read my lyrics without a sense of artistic integrity.

"The Professor would be saddened if she knew she missed the chance to listen to your beautiful voice, Yashiro Kasumi… -chan?" And so our secretive auditor revealed himself, the James Bond of Japan's MI6; my good friend Yoroi's dad, Yoroi.

Who are you.

"Who are you?"

"Yes, sorry for forgetting to introduce myself, I was just too surprised to see you're really here." Yoroi's remarks were obviously more addressed towards me than Kasumi, but I had no shame in propping her in front of me as a shield against our friend, literally. He took a couple of steps closer and was very looking forward to pinching my cheeks like a clump of playdoh.

Yo don't be creeping up like that bro.

There was another pause, Kasumi turned around to fire me one of her fiercest death glares so I returned her hostility by a harsh squeeze on her shoulder.

"You, don't be creeping up like that." Her rehash of my phrase had robbed it of all the emphasis holding the personality together.

"Hoh? Letting a young girl protect you, Shirogane Takeru-kun? Not a very manly thing to do. Unlike a real man, what do you think, Yashiro Kasumi-chan?" The guy was seriously patting his own back like a champ.

I'm a big, independent girl who needs no man's help.

"I'm a big, independent girl who needs no man's help." Guess that must had lined up with her own perspective of her characteristic.

"Is that so, I sure hope you can take good care of Shirogane Takeru-kun here. But don't worry about me, I'm only a somewhat suspicious character."

I'm gonna somewhat put your ass six feet under.

"I'll somewhat bury your buttocks six feet under." She kept altering my words just a little, and by doing so injected so much unintended hostility into our conversation.

"Now that's a really mean thing to say, you're making me wary, Yashiro Kasumi-chan." Yoroi sarcastically faked a shocked look and rattled his hands around, not taking the entire situation anymore seriously than I was.

I like your suit, it's kinda green and silky.

"I like your suit, it's kind of green and silky." The classic Yoroi re-direct, I could do it too.

"You have good eyes, it's tough to get your hands-on quality like this nowadays…"

Just kidding I hate green.

"-What do you say, Yashiro—"

"-Just kidding I hate green."

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be the one to claim we had the upper hand in a battle of wits where neither opponent could truly understand the mentality of the other, but this time we fucking got him. Yoroi's expression wasn't fazed in the slightest, however, I could swear the smell of mild annoyance was flourishing in the air.

"-Such a commotion… what are you all doing in my office?" Yuuko-sensei said let there be light, and there was light.

I missed you, mommy.

"I missed you, матушка (mother)." Apparently, Kasumi's childhood wasn't too Japanese.

"Not interested in whatever shenanigans you two are up to, so leave me out of it." The fun police struck again.

"Good evening, Professor Kouzuki."

"…The Imperial Ministry of Intelligence has no manners at all. I never gave you permission to… in fact, no, you never even asked for an appointment, did you?" Yuuko-sensei blamed Yoroi for breaking and entering, without the breaking part.

"Well, what can I say? I went to go knock on the door, and it just swung right open."

"You've got a clever answer for everything, don't you?"

I agree with the stranger, that happens a lot to me as well.

"I agree with the stranger—"

"-You two shut up. I can't be bothered to mess with you idiots." Triggered sensei was fast in her rejection.

"My excuse has been reinforced, Professor." Hectic team swaps had unbalanced the match to a two-versus-one, Yuuko-sensei's victory appeared further away at every glance.

"Jesus, stop already. You didn't come here just to make small talk, so get to it."

"Well then, I was just introducing myself. I am Yoroi of the Imperial Ministry of Intelligence, Second Foreign Affairs Division."

Yoroi, feels like I've heard that name before.

"Yoroi, feels like I've heard that name before."

"I hope you're taking good care of my son, Shirogane Takeru-kun." On that glorious day, we were all gays. Especially me since Yoroi's point of focus was directed at me for those words alone.

I think that isn't what I saw in the showers.

"I think that isn't what I saw in the showers."

"…Hahahaha… good fortune to you." The spy-man's reply came much slower than his regular tempo, and it's meaning just equally unexpected.

"-Okay, stop. What are you really here for?" Yuuko-sensei had hit a brick wall that signalled the end of her tolerance.

"It's about the XG-70 deal. Figured you might be interested." The impression was given off that we were clearly on much more serious topics now.

"And to think we call our nations 'united'. Can't even conduct simple military negotiations between member states without bringing in a third party to mediate."

"America sees the UN as nothing more than a nuisance, after all. I'm sure they only intend to do the bare minimum required to save face…" That was the part where things got actually super boring and I couldn't be bothered to pay my ears their proper wage to slave on.

Time-out, give me a TL;DR of their talk, Kasumi.

"The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean…" Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopedia created through the collaborative effort of a community of users known as Wikipedians.

Wait, wait no. Not the birds, the XG stuff and the coup stuff.

"The United States Congress has yet to settle the voting for the transfer of research of the XG-70 project to Alternative IV due to the lack of result from Professor's research. Furthermore, the newly formed Strategic Studies Group within the IJA supported by the Ministry of Defense and Internal Affairs could be planning a coup d'état against the Diet, giving foreign power an opportunity to destabilize Alternative IV."

I honestly couldn't tell why I went to Kasumi for a short explanation to cure my boredom, because it definitely wasn't short and any less boring.

"That's nice and all, but let's talk about why you're really here. I can't imagine you'd drag yourself all the way out here just for that." As I always knew, Yuuko-sensei was really hammering hard from the whole 'greater good' angle, meaning she didn't care too much about Japan's future on its own.

Fuck this and me. Kasumi, give me another quickie. I just couldn't. Talking politics was one thing, only listening to people talk about it could put anyone to sleep.

"Section Chief Yoroi is accusing Professor Kouzuki of issuing orders predicting the Niigata invasion and preventing the HSST strike yesterday. He seems to be under the impression that the Professor has access to information regarding the future provided by us, however, he only sees it as a wildly intriguing guess. Professor Kouzuki has refuted him at every turn."

Alright, just as boring as last time, what's wrong with me?

"Besides, why aren't you investigating it yourself before you ask me about it? That's your job, isn't it?" The eventual conclusion of their plot was finally upon me.

"You're absolutely right… well then, I suppose I'll heed your advice and investigate on my own." Even if Yoroi dug up concrete evidence of mine and Kasumi's involvement, I believed 'time-travelling Jesus' would be a net he wouldn't think to cast.

Aren't you gonna see your daughter before you go?

"Are you not visiting your daughter before you go?"

"…Oh, right. I knew I was forgetting something. I came here under the premise that I was checking up on a certain special girl of mine."

Did that dude just try to lay his hands on my bitches? A bold move indeed.

"Which one?" Yuuko-sensei asked, not out of pure curiosity.

"Which do you think would be more interesting."

"…I wouldn't know."

Then let me help you decide. At the same time I published the next quote in Kasumi's script, I gestured for her to pass me the phone on sensei's desk.

"Then let me help you decide." Speed-dial was the basic function of any telephone.

"—Sup. Yoroi, Yoroi Mikoto, my dude. Funny story for you, I got your dad here with me, …yeah, dude's got a suit and everything. He's at XO's office right now, seems like he's lost, wanna swing by and pick him up real quick? …Sick, great I let him know you're coming. …Alright cool see ya." I saved my voice all this time only to speak at the denouement of our encounter, but for the sake of Mikoto I was confident that my last words would turn into her introduction.

"Shirogane… Takeru, I will admit you're a… wondrous young man." Was Yoroi Sakon letting lose a faint smile? Unlucky for me, his fedora covered the view.

~I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was~!

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was."

"Ahahahaha… is that so, is that so."

And thus, the curtain draws upon our first meeting. The only actor in sight, Yoroi took a short bow and exited the stage to the left.

"-Wow! It really is dad! What're you doing here, dad!?"

—

"Sensei, the switch isn't working."

"You sure you're pressing the right one? The button that says 'make coffee'?"

"Do you think I'm blind?"

"Check the cord."

"…Oh, okay- oh yeah it's working now." Without studying the inner-workings of a coffee maker, I could only guarantee the black liquid dipping through a filter and into the pot was in fact, coffee.

"Shirogane… you know anything about what Yoroi said?" Yuuko-sensei had a whole interrogation planned out from the moment she sat down in her office chair.

"There's gonna be a coup soon, that's pretty exciting, I guess."

"Do tell."

"Some dude named Sagiri and his buddies are gonna be marching through Tokyo and popping the gramps at the Diet, talking about wanting to let the Shogun be in power and how Japan has fallen so much to western influences. You know, the usual Imperial spew."

"The nationalists are all singing the same song, not like I completely disagree with their arguments. Still, hearing the recording of a man yelling the same thing over loudspeaker tends to get old quick." Pragmatism was sensei's political belief and she backed that party for over decades.

"Obviously they'll eventually be a lotta gunplay for everyone involved so the festival won't be a total bust, but Alternative IV won't be getting the spotlight. If you want more details, ask Kasumi."

"Doesn't sound too engrossing, so what will I be getting out of this, exactly?"

"Shit, mostly. We embarrass V and their CIA pals a bit for sucking ass, can't say it means too much though. Oh, granting there is one thing. You wanna meet Koubuin? I reckon she'll be pretty fond of IV." Sho-chan best waifu.

"The Imperial government isn't too attracted to the Alternative Projects when they were first revealed, although maybe the Shogun would bear a different view. Sure, I'll talk with her if I have the opportunity."

"Alright, I'll get that ball rolling. I've collected quite a stash of walkthroughs for the coup, I'll have Kasumi send you the details. There's some prepping work I need to finish up, but we should mostly sail on through just fine."

"If that is the case, I will start preparing our operation outline immediately." The earnest Kasumi had been putting a couple of overtime hours on her clock for the last few weeks.

"Very well, Shirogane. I'll provide you with support whenever I can, let's see what kind of schemes you can cook up for me."

12/5 could be considered as the first boss fight in my playthrough of life, still, when had the first boss in a video game posted as a challenge.

November 30, 2001

Shirogane's room

"TAKERU-CHAAAAAN! TAAAKEEERUUUU-CHAAAAN!"

What the fuck is wrong with this woman.

"TIS MORNIN'! GET THE FACK UP POOOOOOOOI!"

Sumika wins, fatality.

—

"We've known each other for a very long time by now, yeah?"

"Hu-huh? Isn't that obvious, Takeru-chan! I'm like- your best-est-est friend, slash girlfriend, slash wife, slash… sex toy?"

"The feminists around the world look up to you as their inspiration."

"I hold very traditional conservative value and am saving myself until marriage!"

"Yeah no I totally get that, it's the poop-hole-loop-hole except your ass goes around your whole face."

"Aaaaah! You got me! But I thought your favourite is putting it in the bum-bum!?"

"I'm gonna fuckin' put your bum in your— actually this's actually what I'm talking about! We've known each other for so long that it's… it's like I know you just as well as you know yourself, you get what I mean?"

"Sure, sure! If I change my voice I can one hundred percent pretend to be you and nobody will notice!"

"Yeah, kinda like that. And- I dunno, it's hella weird, my dude."

"I know right, see if I just like calm down a bit I can talk just like you. Just have to say 'yeah', 'so', 'my dude' 'man' and 'gonna' a lot."

"AHHHHH- stop that right now you dumb bitch! That was so uncomfortable my brain's gonna melt! I can see my own characteristics scattering into the void!"

"Ahahaha! You're so predictable, Takeru-chan! Get told, get told!"

"I'm so fucking done boys, why did I even bring this up…"

"I dunno! I came here to wake you up for the operation… and we'll be late if we don't hurry! -C'mon dude, gonna need you to speed it up and move it already, you autistic fat retard."

"AGRRHHHA! FUCKIN' STOP! …STOP! …KILL YOURSELF!"

Hangar

"That is the mission overview! We'll be deploying in thirty! Make any final adjustments you require to your frame and prepare for launch!" Isumi was bitching something or another about the mission we were preparing for, not like a scout op on this small scale even mattered at all.

"Captain, I need your approval." Kasumi submitted a PDA to Isumi seeking endorsement.

"2nd Lt. Yashiro…? You want to switch from Rush Guard to Sweeper? In the briefing XO said your sniping capabilities are superb, that's why I gave you this role."

"I insist, ma'am. I will perform more adequately given this equipment."

"If you say so, I'll call it in."

—

"Takeru-chan! Are you ready to go?"

"Pretty much, my unit is good for launch. You?" Sumika hopped over when I had one foot already looped around the rope elevator.

"I'm good too! …Oh geez, it's been so long since I shot up some alien monsters!"

"And it could be even longer, we might not run into anything this time."

"Naaaah~ we'll definitely find at least a couple hundred BETAs in there, I remember this!"

"Oh yeah? Hit me with that calculated clairvoyance." One more perk of Sumika being an ageless droid manifested itself.

"We'll be rolling in there, looking around getting bored, being told we've gone far enough and go back after running into just a bit of hostile."

"How reassuring, guess I don't have to wish you a safe trip or anything."

"No! what? You need to always be protecting me, Takeru-chan!"

"Nah, go eat shit."

Gunma, Sadogashima Stab

"—Valkyrie-1 to Valkyrie-Mum. We have entered the Stab, proceeding to investigate surrounding area."

"—Valkyrie-Mum. Copy that, report any activities and retreat if the situation develops disadvantageous."

We entered the Sadogashima Stab from its Gunma exit, the furthest one to reach into the mainland. The entryway itself was about thirty degrees downwards, just so happened to be convenient to fit our TSFs. My initial estimations of the Stab would be about seventy meters high, and the width was around the same.

"—All units, formation Arrowhead 1. Continue surfacing at seventy percent throttle, report all findings immediately and stay on high alert."

"—Copy!" Our machines floated smoothly into the dark unknown, blasting away the old silence of the huge tunnel that threatened to entomb us at its leisure.

—

Mankind's limited time on this earth flew by equally for every person, but that day we were the only ones wasting ours.

"—Attention, all units. We are coming up on an intersection. Divide into two groups and continue searching." What an ambiguous choice, left or right.

"—What are the teams, Captain?" Hayase's relaxed character was brought on by the equally relaxing journey, menace seemed adamant about hiding its horrid self under the cover of quietude.

"—Let's see then… Shirogane, Hayase, Suzumiya, Kagami and Yashiro. I will take Munakata, Kazama, Kashiwagi and Tsukiji. Hayase, you guys go left and we'll head right, keep radio contact."

"—Roger!"

—

"—Hey, hey. Carbon-1, Shirogane. You seeing anything interesting?" In hindsight, Hayase deserved praise for holding her complaints in until an hour had passed.

"—That's a negative, I read nothing on scanner."

"—Damn, man. You're hella more serious than I thought."

"—Copy that, Valkyrie-2. I concur."

"—…C'mon, man~! Don't be such a bore, there ain't gonna be anything here! We're just wasting time, you know?"

"—That I agree with, it baffles me also that your team was sent down here instead of a regular unit, and my guys somehow got dragged into it as well." I could understand my own involvement in this mission, but I couldn't help but feel the Valkyries' inclusion was overemphasizing the importance of sealing a hole.

"—Speaking of that, what's up with you guys? You're with Squad 207B but are actually officers already? Is that even legal?"

"—I'll… have to give you a 'that's classified'."

"—Ahh… you're no fun, whatever." The hassle of a woman had finally ceased to bother me.

"Takeru-chan, Takeru-chan, do you not like Hayase or something?" If only the number of annoying women could be less than one.

I just don't have anything to say to her.

"Tcccch~ that's just because you're playing your video game!"

Victory favours the prepared.

"Wrong quote again, how are you this dumb?"

How are you not shutting up yet? Our conversation was bound to forever be in circles.

"Kasumi-chan! Takeru-chan doesn't love me anymore!" Realizing the futility of competing against video games for my attention, Sumika went to her best friend rabbit next.

"That is very unfortunate."

"I know, riiiiight~? So, what it is you're doing?"

"I am currently studying the Kama Sutra for future references." Although her rabbit friend was the blight of another bucket of problems.

Kasumi, I know sex is cool and all, but you wanna know something that's way cooler?

"What is it?"

Praising our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

"…Amen."

—

"—Valkyrie-Mum to all units. Report your status."

While the end of our long tedious journey was still nowhere in sight, Suzumiya thought it appropriate to request another update after three hours of total boredom. During that time, we drove a bunch and ran into a bunch of splits in the road, investigated them and found absolutely nothing, that was about it.

"—Valkyrie-1 to Valkyrie-Mum. Nothing to report."

"—Valkyrie-2 to Valkyrie-Mum. Nothing to report."

"—Valkyrie-3 here. We also got nothing to report."

"—This is… this's- errm… -ah, fuck… ahhh, fuck."

"—Carbon-1, resay your last. Have you discovered anything?"

"—Nope! No, no. nope! Carbon-1 here, reporting jack shit, CP." Best save in NHL history.

"—This is Valkyrie-Mum, all copy. The current scan percentage of the Sadogashima Stab is at eighty-one. Continue to investigate all accessible tunnel entrances."

"—Roger."

"—Shirogane, did you fucking forget your callsign?" It there was one person who wanted to pick this fight, it would be Hayase.

"—I dunno, man. Carbon is kinda a common word, you know? Not that cool sounding, you know? I'd much prefer Wolfe schlegel stein hausen berger dorff-1 as a callsign."

"—Alright, copy that, Go-fuck-yourself-1." Thus, the noisy woman was no more, nor did anyone else make noise for quite a bit.

Aren't the Phase 4 Hives supposed to only have Stabs that're ten klicks long? I'm not feeling ten klicks. I did what I could to start a conversation some minutes later with my ESP friends.

"Takeru-chan, you know how sometimes when you play Minecraft and you just don't wanna think and instead wanna dig two-by-one in a straight line for a couple hundred metres? It's kinda like that." For once in her lifetime, Sumika actually had a point.

You'll never find diamond digging like that though.

"That's just because you haven't been digging far enough."

—

Another half an hour later, Suzumiya back at home base radioed in.

"—Valkyrie-Mum to all units. You are currently approximately two hundred meters below the ocean floor, estimated distance to the Sadogashima hive is thirty klicks. It has been determined any further exploration will be too dangerous for this operation. You're ordered to finish marking any undiscovered locations and make your way back to Gunma."

Suzumiya and whoever made the call probably did it with a clear head. Were we to travel further beneath the ocean and enter the main Hive itself, a lotta unpleasant things would jump out at us from many different places.

"—Valkyrie-1 copy. All units, regroup at the checkpoint ahead and we'll turn back." We were running amok on whichever passage we desired before the Captain reeled us back in at a convergence of the tunnels ahead.

"—Carbon-1 calling it in, we're at the rendezvous point. Standing by." My team was the first to enter the intersection. A few seconds later, the Captain's party entered from a tunnel to our left and Hayase's group appeared off to the right.

"—All units on station, this area has been thoroughly scanned and we're returning to base."

"—Captain, wait… there's another entrance right to our seven O'clock, there behind that rock formation." Munakata was the first to discover an extra opening between the cracks on the walls, a sheltered slit only twenty metres wild, barely enough to fit an armoured TSF.

"—Oh- this area has been mostly scanned and we'll RTB after completing the scan. All units, go take a look, it's a cave of some sort."

Though going inside the crack, we had reached a place more accurately described as a hall than a cavern. The ceilings were unnaturally high and the room was much bigger than any of the earlier locations found. Plus, the ground which we stood upon reflected a shiny blue sparkle for reasons unknown.

"—What is this place? It's just a dead end."

"—This place is giving me the creeps, there is nothing around here… can't we just go?" Akane and Tsukiji shared their dislike of our new destination, I wouldn't be too incorrect to assume their sentiments were mutually shared by their teammates.

"—…Agreed, I'm not picking up anything on the scanners either. It could had been a G-Element deposit for a while, before the aliens moved it somewhere else." Hayase remarked more casually than the others, but her voice still trembled just a bit.

"—Wait… wait, hold that thought. That thing up there… that pillar looking thing with the glow…? Boss, can you see it?" Munakata spotted some faint light awfully far in the distance, she placed a marker at the location which caused the intrigue.

"—Yeah, I see it too. It's a bit dark but you can sort of see a column, going from the floor… wait, there's actually a bunch of them." Kashiwagi noticed.

"—That… could it be…?"

"—Aw, holy crap… those are… brains, aren't they?"

"—Yeah… doesn't look like anything else to me…"

The devastating finding was made apparent and undeniable when we all zoomed closer towards that blinding light. Like the rest of the wordless Valkyries, I too was also bewildered by such a revelation that the moment of realization passed on without a single conclusion reached.

"—Oh, god… that's just like what our repor— Huh-? Hey-hey, Carbon-2, your vital readings are spiking here. You doing okay? I know this is somewhat shocking, but yo—"

"—It's not me…! I didn't want it…! TAKERU-CHAN! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Sumika's terrified scream, its sharpness could pierce even the bedrock surrounding us.

"—Shit-! Sumika! Chill, chill, calm down now!" Was it futile to hold down the arms of her TSF as if they were her own? In the limited time I had to react, I failed to concoct a better plan than being near her.

"—NO, NO, no! STAY AWAY…! It's not me! I didn't do anything wrong…!" Sumika stepped backwards erratically and her guns so suddenly fired at random, we were forced to evade the endless shower of bullets soaring without a target in sight.

"—Carbon-2! 2nd Lt. Kagami! Snap out of it!"

"—Sumika-san, cease!"

"—Sumika! Stop it!" Perhaps words were useless in calming the nerves of a frenetic android, Sumika's moment of loss seemed never-ending.

"—Valkyrie-Mum to all units! Report your status!"

"—Damn…! Captain, she's gonna attract any nearby BETA if we let her be!"

"—I know, Hayase! She is suffering from some kind of psychotic episode! I'll have to hit her with the hypnotic program."

"—Wait, Isumi! You don't know what you're doing—!" My warnings were just a fraction of a second too late.

"—O soldiers under the rain of blood, the black mist, the night rainbow, O soldiers whose souls are guided by the white water's surface, the drops of the moon…"

The suggestive hypnosis's lyrics resonated within my TSF, within seconds I was assaulted on all front by the agonizing pain of its work. As the first model of her kind, the 00 unit had a passive defence system against all mental attacks and hypnosis, it was designed to block out all signals from reaching her central processor. Realizing the hypnosis's sound, Sumika herself must have done some type of counter-hacking into our machines instead.

"—…Arghh! Wha— Why are the phrases playi— AAGA!" The others too cried from the intense labour of the mind. Maybe their suffering was much worse than mine.

"Takeru-san, I can ease your hypnosis trigger but not for long. We have to stop Sumika-san as soon as possible."

Yea-yeah got it. You grab her from behind and hold her, I'll doing something at the front!

I dodged and weaved in-between the wild sporadic waves of bullets, closing the distance to Sumika's TSF and disarming the assault rifles she held in her grasp. At the same time, Kasumi wrestled and won against the Mount Pylons spreading chaos on the Shiranui's back, putting the rear guns out of commission.

I climbed out of my own cockpit and onto the hull of hers, the manual ejection lever accepted my input and soon Sumika's chair sild out from within her frame to breathe in some of the underground air mixed in with spent gunpowder.

"Really need you to chill the fuck out about now, Sumika. You're making me do work that I'd rather not do."I decided to adopt a less aggravated demeanour as opposed to the screaming and crying 00 Unit.

"-Haaah-! Haah…! Don't… blame me! It's- it's not me, it's not fair—!" When we finally met eye contract, I couldn't stop myself from noticing her usually lovable face was dirtied by her tears and saliva, her pink hair brushed into a fuzzy mess and scratches laid all over her forehead inflicted by her own nails.

"Aye! Let's calm down now, woman. Nobody's blaming you, uh-huh? You ain't got to explain anything, yeah? It's okay- it's okay. I gotcha, you're fine with me."

If there was a guidebook for the proper procedure one should take in the situation of a rampaging supercomputer, I'd appreciated if someone could help me study it. Otherwise, just petting and hugging the 00 Sumika hoping she would regain her senses appeared to be working.

"Takeru-chan…! Takeru-chan! I… I was… sorry about that…" And thank God it worked just fine and fast.

"Hey, hey it's all good, we'll figure something out later." Once Sumika was welcomed back to earth, the hypnosis gradually stopped for all the members of the A-01.

"—This is… this is Valkyrie-1… a-all units- report your conditions." Isumi was the first to recover and demanded the others to do the same.

"—Valkyrie-2 here, I think I'm fine… my head hurts like a bitch though."

"—Valkyrie-3. Will be back on my feet… sometime. Otherwise, still functional." One by one, the squad recovered from the previous attack.

"—Shirogane. How is Kagami…? She back to normal…?"

"—Yes, ma'am… I-I apologize for that… incident." Sumika herself found the strength to announce her own recovery and admit to her mistake.

"—Okay… at least you're still here with us, Carbon-2."

"—…What the hell just happened!? Did- did she do that to our OS? How did she even do that?!"

"I don't know, our system just got—" Kazama and Munakata's discussion was rudely interrupted by the blaring alarm of impending threat and the flashing red text occupying the majority of our screens.

"—Code 991! We have incoming BETA forces. They're advancing on us from the tunnels!"

"—Valkyrie-1 to all units, formation Circle 1 around Carbon-2 and re— huh- what the hell…?" Isumi's confusion was soon mirrored by many of the other Valkyries, for some reason none of their machines was willing to be booted up for combat.

"—My frame! It's not responding!"

"—Mine's down too…! What's happening here…?"

"—I'm no good! The system is up but I can't move this!"

"It's probably my fault… I'm not sure what I did but their TSFs aren't gonna move without a full reboot, but yours and Kasumi-chan's should work. She protected you from… from me." During the time of crisis, Sumika whispered the truth to me through another telepathic message. I heard the fragile voice putting her feelings of guilt and sorrow to the side in order to focus on the most important tasks at hand.

"—Carbon-3 to Valkyrie-1, my surface fighter is fully functional. I recommend all units to execute a full reboot of their OS. I will stall the incoming hostiles until all units are combat-ready." Kasumi had already picked up the cue and was busy preparing for battle.

"—Carbon-3! Negative, we don't have an estimate of the BETA numbers, it's too dangerous to go alone!"

"—Our options are limited to one, Captain. Carbon-1 will assist me in delaying the inbound enemies, please reboot ASAP." Kasumi was adamant about her plan and Isumi knew there was no other way.

"—Valkyrie-1 copy, you may proceed, Carbon-3. —And you, Shirogane. You're gonna cover her back?"

"—Yeah, I'm heading out now." After the brief strategic meeting we shared over the comms, I looked back to a tear-eyed Sumika still clinging to my arm.

"Sumika, I'll just be gone for a second, okay? I just have to swat some flies and will come right back to you."

"You… promise to come back, right? Takeru-chan won't leave me behind like last time, right?"

"Yeah- yeah, totally. You wanna see me run to the tunnel and back? …Wanna see me do it again?"

—

Author's note

Thanks for reading, idiots.

BETA done by chad001