Chapter 2: Adjustment

It was the day after Meta was brought aboard the GranEssex and Kurabe felt it was time to get him used to the ship and her crew.

"Meta, allow me to introduce you to Mercury."

To her, there was no better person to start that with then with the vice-captain of the ship, Mercury. There was one problem with this, though: Meta still seemed wary about her, despite showing much curiosity about the metal woman yesterday. Mercury herself could also tell that the child was wary as well, so she decided to show off her specialty. The woman's body began to morph into a different form, becoming a silver copy of Kurabe. This instantly grabbed Meta's attention with his hesitance dropping a little.

"How did you do that?!" He said in amazement.

Mercury gave a soft chuckle. "I am a Limet, a race of shapeshifters. I can become anything-"

She then morphed into an exact copy of Meta.

"Or anyone. I have my limits, of course, there's a few things I can't copy, and some transformations use up a lot of energy. When I run out of energy..."

She then morphed into a small silver blob.

"I revert to my original form."

His curiosity further piqued, the child picked up the small blob, which was roughly the size of his foot.

"Is this how you really look?" He asked.

He then gave the blob a light squeeze. "You're so squishy..."

Internally, Mercury was trying to remain calm. Not only did she not like being in her original form, she also didn't like being squeezed. But if it meant getting Meta to warm up to her, she would just have to deal with it.

"Squishy... squishy..."

Admittedly, Kurabe was much too entertained by the child's amusement to say anything.

"...what's this?"

He gave a slight squeeze to the blue, diamond-shaped object within the blob. That's when Mercury shot out of Meta's hands and transformed back into her preferred appearance.

"That was my core. My heart, in other terms. I'd appreciate it if you don't do that. Ever." She uttered, clenching her chest with her face a bright red color.

The child gave a silent nod, shuddering from how sudden the action was. It was then that Kurabe stepped forward and spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Meta. I should've mentioned that you can squish any other part of her but her core."

"You have nothing to feel bad about, kid." Mercury said, her composure regained. Though she did shoot Kurabe a glare as well.

"I... I'm sorry..." Meta uttered, looking down at the floor.

"I said it's fine. You didn't know. Just be careful from now on." Mercury then placed her hand on Meta's head.

There was a moment of silence.

"...why do you stay in that form? You're a lot cuter and squishier in your true form..."

Mercury's face became a shade of crimson. She was never good at receiving compliments like that.

"I just prefer this form. It's what makes me Mercury and not just another Limet..." She murmured while covering her eyes with her hat.

"It's also because you like to be tall." Kurabe said with a slight smirk.

"That's irrelevant, Kurabe." Mercury said with a pout.

The warrior only laughed in response. "Well, I have to go do some work now. You two get along now and enjoy your tour of the ship!"

This made her student concerned and confused. "Sensei, what are you going to do? You never told me anything about what's going on..."

"I have to fill out some paperwork to allow you to become my student and stay on this ship. I also have to do some negotiations with my colleagues..."

There was a moment of pause, as if the child needed to process this.

"I understand, sensei." Meta said, sounding somewhat worried upon hearing that. He then received a pat on the head from Mercury.

"It'll be fine, kid. No one's a more forceful-, I mean, skilled interrogator than her." She said with a slight laugh.

"Are they really that bad?" The child asked.

"Stubborn is a better term."

Kurabe gave a shrug as she said that. "Anyway, I'll check on you later, Meta. Listen to everything Mercury says, there's no one more reliable than she is."

"Ok." The child nodded in understanding.

"Good, I'll talk to you two later."

With that said, Kurabe closed the door to her room, leaving just Mercury and Meta in the hallway.

"Now I suppose I'll show you the most important facility first. Our first stop will be the command room.

Meta nodded in response and began to follow after the woman.

As the two walked Meta kept noticing crewmates wearing similar armor doing all sorts of different tasks.

"Ms. Mercury-" He suddenly asked.

"Please, just Mercury."

"...Mercury, who are those people? I figure they're other crewmates."

"Those are the Bukisets. They're normally armored mercenaries, though the ones here are under the direct command of Kurabe... and me when she isn't around."

Meta looked back at the armored mercenaries.

"How many of them are there?"

"There are eight of them on this ship."

"Are they all named Bukiset?"

"Yes, all of them are named Bukiset."

"How do you tell the difference between them then?"

"Small details. While each of them are very similar to one another, it's the small differences that make each one stand out. For example, the one sweeping the floor over there is left-handed, all the others are right-handed. The one polishing the windows over there always drinks orange juice even if orange flavors don't mix well with the food we serve. There are several others, but those are just a few examples. Being able to point out small details like that is a very important skill to have, Meta. Make sure to keep that in mind."

"I know... I had to be like that back when I was living on my own..." The child uttered with a sigh.

"Then you already have experience. Good, that'll make teaching you easier. Now come on, we're almost there." She seemed to grab his stub and drag him the rest of the way there.

Wherever this woman was taking him, she seemed to be very excited about it.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the command room.

"Alright this is the command room. Think of it as the main base of operations. We meet here for strategy meetings, giving out orders, and contacting and receiving calls. When she's not filling out paperwork or training this is usually where you can find Kurabe."

This made the child scratch his head a bit. "Then what's the purpose of her room?"

"Everyone has their own rooms. Mainly for recreational purposes or just to sleep. She prefers to handle paperwork and personal matters in her room."

"Personal matters?"

"Matters that pertain only to her. Like when her mentor just wants to talk with her, for example. Everyone's entitled to privacy, you know?"

He looked at her curiously. "I see. Privacy wasn't a thing back on that planet."

"Well, now you have it here." She replied with a slight laugh.

"So that room I slept in last night..."

"Yup, that was your personal room. If you want, one of these days I could help you decorate it to make it more personalized for you."

The child didn't really understand how they would do that when he didn't know what to do to make it more personalized for him, but he agreed to it anyway. After hearing that, Meta went off to look around the room. There was a large table in the middle of the room with various chairs against it and several large monitors on the walls. Some of these were blank screens, and others seemed to just project security footage from elsewhere in the ship. There were also several expensive-looking gadgets, likely for contacting people outside of the ship. Not to mention the room itself was massive, likely to fit the entire crew into this room. Such a large size also made the child feel small.

"...doesn't she ever get lonely sitting around in a big room like this?" The child suddenly asked.

"Maybe, but she usually isn't alone. She's always accompanied by someone, usually me. But now you also get to fill that role."

"What do you do in here?"

To the child, it didn't look like there was much to do inside this room if no meeting was going on.

"If there's no meeting going on, we use room to give out commands. Notice the communication device right there? It's connected to every speaker in the ship. This room is entirely for function. Now let's head to our next destination. I think you'll enjoy it."

Hearing that made the child excited.

While Meta was on his tour, Kurabe was in a meeting with the rest of the Grand Five. The Grand Five is the five greatest members of the organization, led by General Z, the leader of the organization as a whole and more importantly, Kurabe's mentor.

"That concludes my report on yesterday's mission. Now, on to the primary subject of today's meeting, the child, Meta. I would like to request permission to take him in as my student and allow him to live on the GranEssex."

General Z looked at his old student with an impassive expression, which then turned into a small smile.

"I don't see any reason to not allow this. If he truly is as powerful as you say, Kurabe, then I can't think of anyone better suited to teach him."

Kurabe smiled at this, but her smile faded when her "rival" spoke up.

"With all due respect, general, I have to disagree. According to her report, this "Meta" she is talking about is a child."

This was Reedy, the Silver Tactician. He was a Limet like Mercury and the head strategist of The Organization. In Kurabe's opinion, he was also a huge pain in the ass.

"Yes, but that has not stopped us from recruiting children before, has it?" She seemed to glare directly at him.

"No, but we've never sent children into war zones before either, Kurabe. I know you; you go overboard with all of your students."

"Experience is the best teacher at times. There's some things that are better learned on the battlefield than in a simulator or training room."

"Young Kurabe is correct."

This old-sounding voice came from Bio Raiden, known as "the Lightning Shinobi" and grandmaster of the Bio ninja clan. "It may be true that he is a child, he also grew up on Opasnost Star, the planet nicknamed "the death trap planet". He has lived in a war zone. He would be safer under Kurabe's watchful eye."

"I understand that and agree with at least getting him off that planet. What I disagree with is bringing him into war zones and traumatizing him more than he more than likely already is."

Reedy gave a matter-of-fact reply, pushing up his glasses.

"Speaking of which, it is quite irresponsible of you to not have him undergo a medical exam or a psychological evaluation, Kurabe. Though I guess that's a given due to how sloppy and spoiled you are."

"That's an awful lot of assuming you're doing, Reedy. For starters, I just met him yesterday. Do you really think I'd have enough time for either of those exams?"

"What were you doing during that time you could have been administering them? Taking a nap? Training extensively? Or did you simply forget about it?"

"I was busy trying to get him to warm up to me so I could gain his trust and he wouldn't try to attack or anyone else on my ship whenever we administered those tests! Also, when did I say I would be throwing him into a war zone instantly? That's just something you came up with."

Reedy only replied with an irritated sigh and pulled up a series of notes, presenting them as if it was evidence. "Every student that has quit learning from you has said that. Besides, that contradicts with what you said about experience being the best teacher and battlefields."

The warrior only gritted her teeth before quickly responding. "There's no contradiction. I said I wouldn't do it instantly. I still need give him that psych test and medical exam. Not only that, but I need to actually teach him how to fight properly. Once I believe he's ready, that's when I'll place him onto the battlefield. Also, every student that quit? You mean all five of them compared to the thirty that didn't? Reedy, I know exactly what this about. I get it, you're a father and don't like seeing children in pain. But, you have no reason to doubt me as a teacher."

Reedy sighed before folding his hands in front of him. "How do we know you're going to follow through with that promise? You're an impatient woman."

Before things could escalate, the final member of the Big Five spoke up.

"Reedy, I understand where you are coming from. However, you are being quite unfair. Kurabe does have the tendency to be hot-headed and impatient, yes. However, she never breaks a promise either."

Reedy seemed to groan, as if he knew that he couldn't deny that. The final member was a powerful mage named Momo, the Hidden-Fanged Witch. She was the head of the magic division of The Organization and usually the voice of reason in the Big Five, especially when it came to Kurabe and Reedy's arguments. Under normal circumstances, she is very soft-spoken and kind. However, all the other members know that there's more to the mage than what's on the surface.

"Let's bring this to a vote." Z said before any more debates could break out. "Momo, you go first."

"The child is a Star Warrior, correct? Then I have no doubts in Kurabe's ability to teach him. Though I would like to show him a bit of magic, if that's ok with you. I vote yes."

Z nodded at the response. "Reedy?"

The Limet became silent, as if he either refused to agree or he was thinking about it. Noticing this, the general decided to give him time to think.

"Raiden, what do you think?"

"I have no objections. Young Kurabe has proven herself time and time again. My vote is yes."

Z nodded before turning to his former student.

"Kurabe, do you promise to devote yourself to this Meta?" He asked with a deadly serious tone, much different from his initial kind one.

"I promise." She responded, her tone equally serious.

Z's kind smile returned. "You know my answer then. Reedy, have you come to a decision?"

The final member replied with a sigh, thankfully lacking any of his earlier exhibited hostility.

"Kurabe, allow me to ask you one single question: Why exactly are you so desperate to let Meta become your student?"

The warrior glared at him with a serious look in her eyes.

"He was abandoned on a planet where only the strong survive. He might be a sweet kid, but he unfortunately has a warrior's bloodlust. I already see a lot of myself in him, both the good and the bad. As a fellow Star Warrior... no, as another orphan who was lost for a long time, it's up to me to look after him. He was already on the path to becoming a knight the moment I met him. It's up to me to make sure he thrives as one."

Reedy stared at Kurabe, trying to analyze her to see if she was lying. No... all he saw was a woman who desperately wanted to watch over a child.

"Kurabe, if you screw up, I'm taking him away from you." Reedy finally said.

"So, is that a "yes"?"

"It's not a no." He uttered under his breath. His screen then turned off, signifying that he left.

"...you think one of the kids was messing with his device again?" Momo asked, Kurabe giving a slight chuckle in response as Raiden let out a sigh.

Z cleared his throat, immediately gaining everyone's attention. "Kurabe, as you now have a new student, here's your new assignment: I want you to spend as much time training him as possible, so you'll have two months of being off-duty. Don't worry about pay, this'll be a S-class mission, so you'll be compensated accordingly. Any objections to that?"

"I have no objections to this, sir." She then stood up and gave a bow of respect. "Thank you very much for this opportunity."

She was grateful that she kept her eye visor on at this time, as she began to feel her eyes water.

It didn't take Meta long to figure out that the place Mercury was talking about was the training room.

"Alright, we're here, Meta. Welcome to our training room."

The child looked around wide eyed at the large area. Various exercise machines were lined against the wall, but there was one thing that caught his attention completely.

"Mercury, what's with those robots?"

"These are robots used for combat training."

"Can I examine one?"

Upon seeing Mercury's confused face, Meta elaborated.

"Sometimes while scavenging for supplies, I would come across different types of machines. They always fascinated me." He seemed to utter shyly.

"Oh... then go ahead. Take as much of a look as you want."

The child quickly got to work. The training machines were about the same size as Mercury, and each had a symbol on the chest. This symbol presumably being the symbol of The Organization.

"Mercury, how powerful are these machines?"

"The strength of these machines vary based on whatever symbol you see on the front of the robot. It's based on the classification system used by The Organization."

"Classification?"

"The organization classifies missions, groups, and individuals with a ranking system. F rank is the lowest. F rank subjects are usually of no threat. Then E rank, then D, C, B, A and finally S rank. S being the most dangerous."

The child looked at the woman in interest. "Has sensei fought all of those?"

"Oh, definitely. I have as well. Would you like to fight one for yourself?"

"Uh-huh!" He nodded enthusiastically.

"Then let's start off with something simple. I'll have you fight two F rank and one E rank at the same time. Sound good to you?"

After seeing another nod, Mercury walked over to the wall and pressed a button on it. Then a part of the wall opened, revealing various training weapons.

"Pick whichever you'd like."

Meta walked up to the stash of weapons and inhaled a sword, gaining a purple hat. Other than inhaling, this was the inherent ability of all Star Warriors, known as the Copy Ability.

"Ah, you went right for the sword? How interesting."

"It's close enough to the sticks I normally use." Meta breathed in and out, his eyes becoming sharp and focused. "I'm ready."

"Good luck."

Mercury pressed a few buttons on a remote, activating three of the machines.

The two F ranks rushed forward with their claws, only for Meta to swing his sword horizontally, the sheer force of the swing tearing the robots in half. The E rank began to fire its gun arm from a safe distance. The child jumped up high and landed right behind the machine, thrusting his sword straight through it. He had defeated the machines in just under one minute.

"How impressive... though I guess that's expected from a Star Warrior like you."

Meta's eyes were still sharp. "Bring on the next one." He uttered.

Mercury shook her head. "No, this was just a taste of what's to come. You'll have plenty of opportunities to train later."

The child only pouted in response as his eyes lost all their previous sharpness. Suddenly, his stomach growled, causing his cheeks to turn bright red.

Mercury gave a laugh as she took his hand. "Come on, let's get lunch."

The cafeteria amazed the child Meta. After years of needing to scavenge for food and water, a place like this was almost unbelievable. Before Mercury could say anything, she was cut off by the child shouting.

"C-can I have all the food I want here?!" He exclaimed immediately with his eyes sparkling.

"Not all of it. You need to leave some for the rest of the crew." She said with a chuckle. "But you can choose whatever you want."

"But I don't know what I want! There's sooooo much good stuff here!" He exclaimed.

"Then it's a good thing you're going to be here for a long time." said Kurabe as she walked in through the door. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to try everything, Meta. Don't be in such a rush."

He still looked unsure about what he wanted to eat. Kurabe decided to do things herself and got a plate full of food for the puff.

"It's all good, Meta, so enjoy it, and please remember your table manners."

The child paused for a moment to think about what she had said.

"So... no inhaling?"

"No inhaling." She firmly nodded as she placed the food in front of him.

Meta looked at the dish for a moment before immediately eating everything on it. He absolutely loved every bite he took. Before now, all he had to eat was what he could find, mainly beef jerky. While he did find other things he could eat, they were either scraps or moldy. While he could eat the scraps, they weren't that filling unless he ate a lot of them. Not only that, but he also learned the hard way that he couldn't eat moldy food. As a result, he sometimes went to sleep hungry. That why this place was simply amazing. He could eat whenever he wanted!

Suddenly, he felt a pat on his head.

"Take your time, Meta. No one's going to take it from you." He looked up to see Kurabe quietly stroking his head.

With a nod, Meta kept eating until eventually his plate was cleaned off completely.

"So, what did you think?"

"This was great! Though I think I liked that chicken you made yesterday more."

His mentor gave a slight chuckle. "Well, thank you. I'd be happy to make other dishes for you sometime."

She then looked at Mercury, who had also finished eating. "Mercury, inform the crew that we'll be taking off in one hour."

"Right away, Captain."

As the vice captain saluted and walked away, she turned her attention back to Meta.

"So, what do you think of the GranEssex?"

The child seemed to hesitate in his answer for a moment. "I... I like this place but... it makes feel strange..."

"Strange how?" She asked, in a concerned tone.

"It makes me want to smile... I've never felt like that before."

The warrior smiled in response. "That means you're happy, Meta."

"That... so?" He uttered quietly. "I think I like it..."

Kurabe gave a slight hum. "Well, I hope you continue to feel that way-"

She was suddenly caught off-guard by a hug from the child. She briefly looked at him in surprise as she heard a few quiet sobs escape from him.

"Meta?"

There was silence as she placed a hand on his head and stroked him softly.

"...thank you..."

The hour of prep time has passed and the GranEssex was ready to take off. Meta was now in his room, looking at the planet he lived on for one last time. He felt the ship rumble and leave the ground.

"I suppose this is goodbye..." He uttered with a sigh.

"I assume you wanted to just say goodbye to it one last time?"

He turned around to see Mercury standing in the doorway.

"Not really. This was my home, but I don't feel sad about leaving it."

The woman gave a nod as she entered the room. "Yeah, after hearing Kurabe describe it, I can't imagine you'd ever want to go back here again."

"No. I hated this place, but it felt necessary say goodbye to it."

"Ah, I understand that." The woman nodded upon hearing that.

The two simply stood in silence as the ship continued to fly up through the atmosphere. Suddenly, Meta squeezed Mercury's hand.

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"...you're a lot better when you're squishy."

A bright red blush immediately shot across the woman's face.

"Y-you want squishy, huh?" Mercury uttered.

She then ripped off a small part of her body, which quickly regenerated.

"Here, kid, it's a stress ball."

The child took the blob and squished it in his hands. It was just like when he was squishing Mercury in her true form this morning.

"Thank you, Mercury!"

"No problem, kid! I hope you enjoy your time here!"

Meta nodded and went back to looking at the planet he once called home. Now he had a new home. A home he needed to protect. Suddenly, a wave of tiredness surged throughout his body. Mercury seemed to notice this as well.

"I'll let you get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, Meta!" She said with a smile before heading out of his room.

"Then... good night..." Meta replied quickly.

"What a strange phrase. Hopefully, I'll get used to it." The child thought to himself.

He then walked over to his bed and got underneath the blankets, curling up into a slight ball. It felt... warm. He let out a satisfied sigh.

"Good night, Meta." said Mercury's voice. Hearing this made him slightly jump awake.

"M-Mercury...? Where are you?" He uttered, tensing up.

"You know when someone says good night, you aren't supposed to wake up, right?"

Meta noticed that her voice seemed to be coming from the stress ball she made. He silently blinked in confusion.

"But how...?"

"I can talk through any part of my body, even if that part is separate from my main body. Now get some sleep, kid, no doubt Kurabe's gonna push you to your limit tomorrow."

He gave a nod in response. "Alright. Good night again, Mercury."

Meta quickly fell asleep soon after, dreaming about his new life with his new family.

Probably the chapter with the most character introductions in this series.

Hope you all enjoy it.