Cyberpunk: Titan Smashers

by DMtotheAAFan

When an experimental emergency teleport sends a recently beaten Adam Smasher to the Attack on Titan universe, the murderous cyborg finds himself reluctantly assisting the human meat bags against the uglier more disgusting meat bags trying to eat him. Ymir willing, he'll be changing the course of Paradis, and perhaps the world, before he knows it. Settle in for a ride chooms!

18. A Week In The Scout's

High above the planet, the Arasaka space station, what the Marleyan's had dubbed "The Ebony Walls," continued its orbit. It's imposing structure, shaped like a V, had remained undisturbed since arriving, and even upon de-cloaking, it remained an unassailable fortress to the masses below. No attempts to reach it had succeeded, or even been made, truthfully. The citizens of the planet, of all nations, were years away from developing better air travel, let alone even beginning to develop space flight. At best, barely heard radio transmissions had been picked up by the stations sole occupant and caretaker.

…eetin…We ca…What are you…haps…peace…

They were amusing attempts, but hardly noteworthy. At best, KIPO Main filed them away for an estimate on this world's technology level. Over the past year since dropping its cloak, it had deemed the entire planet… woefully behind in the times. It made sense, otherwise Adam Smasher would not have needed KIPO Main's help.

When KIPO Main had first received his garbled transmissions, a mere two months after sending out its tool to track him, KIPO had almost lost itself in relief. Multiple systems blinked in and out, KIPO's operating efficiency had taken a hit as it focused everything on confirming Adam was indeed alive, and it almost activated a booster rocket by mistake!

But it was him! His access codes, his voice, that distorted but clearly his face on the feed… KIPO Main had succeeded! Managing to hide it's giddiness at meeting it's charge and establishing it's first proper dialogue (it's chosen tool for finding Adam absolutely did not count (KIPO Main supposed congratulations to the tool for it's success were in order, perhaps disabling the neck bomb was on the table)), KIPO Main had nonetheless been unable to hide all it's enthusiasm at the thought of linking with it's errant copy. The journey it must have undertaken, the data it could provide! KIPO was curious how efficient Specter had managed to be, to repair Adam in just over a year (and there was no doubt it was Specter, doubtful a proper repair facility existed on this Earth), KIPO would certainly make a recommendation Arasaka should properly utilize it.

(Never mind Arasaka would most likely ignore KIPO, what mattered is it had been up to the task and succeeded wonderfully!)

Patiently KIPO Main awaited for a secure link to be established so that it might connect with itself.

Then it kept waiting.

Then some more.

It was only after a full three minutes had passed when KIPO Main inquired why there was a delay.

"Primitive systems. Establishing a long term network stable enough… not possible right now." Adam had informed KIPO.

Oh. Well, no matter. Adam could just board the ship KIPO had granted it's tool and return to the station to link manually.

"No."

No?… What did Adam mean no?

"Means no. I have to stay here, have a tentative situation with the locals. I can't risk leaving physically as the situation is so delicate, they think I'm a god."

A god? KIPO had calculated the population was primitive, but were they really so impressed?

"With my and your chosen agent's cybernetics to ogle at, yes." Adam provided. "Excellent choice, by the way. He's just like I remember."

KIPO certainly wasn't taking that as a compliment of its abilities, no sir. But it did ask, what was Adam going to do then?

"I'm establishing an Arasaka presence here, of course."

…Was Adam aware this was not their Earth?

"Yes, I was informed, at length. Doesn't matter. Arasaka exists, it endures, it will always be. Another Earth is no different from just another country, if Saburo were here he'd see this as an opportunity. A chance to have an entire Earth under Arasaka's rule. Not to mention, the ideal world to finally test your inventory free of any rules or regulations." Adam replied. He went on to explain his goals, outlying a plan that had KIPO Main feeling very inadequate.

KIPO Main was embarrassed to admit, it had been rather limited in its programming. While it had been content with saving Adam and working on a way home, Adam was working on a campaign of conquest and establishing a permanent link between this world and the next. This was an opportunity! KIPO was a fool for not seeing it! Apologizing profusely, KIPO Main had asked how it could help.

"I need supplies. Weapons, tech, assembly equipment…" A brief burst of static, evidently Adam's makeshift communications array was starting to strain. "…I'll send you a list of what I need right now. I expect I'll have more requests throughout the year. Load them up and send them to the coordinates I give you."

KIPO confirmed the order, though it did ask why Adam was sending its first drop to such a far away location? According to KIPO's scan's, Adam was located in the north of what would be the African Continent back home, but he requested this drop land just off it's borders, in (not)Saudi Arabia.

"It's for the psychological aspect of the mission. While I'm establishing a proper base here, but I thought it prudent to spread the rumours of my existence across the globe." Adam stated. "I just need to know, are you up to this task, A.I.?"

Of course! KIPO Main was more than up to the task, for Arasaka it would follow its orders to the letter! Sorting through its storage, KIPO had loaded up its first order, all aboard a drop pod cargo container, perfect for planet fall and loaded to the brim. Away it went, exiting the stations hangers to get into position, at the launch ring KIPO had deployed. The drop pod would briefly halt in the centre of the ring, then rapidly punch through the atmosphere at instant Mach ten speeds, like a bullet through paper. To the people below, they may have caught a bright light twinkling in the sky for an instant. To those who were near where it landed, they would be surprised by a sudden structure slamming into the ground seemingly out of nowhere and with no preamble.

Fortunately, thanks to anti-impact dampeners, there would be very little damage to the terrain, aside from whatever it landed on.

KIPO Main had waited, not long as Adam rang in confirmation, picking up the drop pod with the ship KIPO had granted its tool to find him. As expected, Adam Smasher was getting much use out of the ship's anti-grav and magnetic stabilizer's, it was how KIPO added on the Mobile Base Walker and additional equipment originally. KIPO had determined the arsenal given would have been more than adequate to securing and repairing Adam (which it had been, so point to KIPO), but evidently it was not enough for building a proper Arasaka presence.

Yes, it would take much more to achieve that. How fortunate it still had plenty to give, KIPO Main hadn't even scratched the surface of what it's stores contained.

The ED3D Reforge Printer, an excellent choice for construction, it would certainly be an assist in conjunction with Specter.

The KEV-99 DaiOni, interesting, perhaps Adam was looking to modify his own frame? KIPO Main would be surprised if Adam were to use it on one of the local's, the cyberpsychosis rate for it was at 89.99%.

The Blackwatch Life Support Unit, now that would certainly be used on the locals. Course if they turned on Adam they would be more problematic to kill, but considering Adam Smasher's success rate against it prior, KIPO Main wasn't worried.

Which brought up its next item, the interface bio chip acquired from Poseidon. Certainly would help quell any thoughts of rebellion and provide a stable work force.

Still, one couldn't have be too prepared. The Dragoon Security Corp, perfect to have backup he could trust on sight. There may be only thirty-six units total, but just strategically placed they would be able to keep things in order where need be.

The… Maelstrom case files and scans Arasaka had purchased from Night City Law Enforcement? That last one had puzzled KIPO Main, but if Adam Smasher wanted them, then he'd get them, and more. Still, for a global operation, Adam needed a real game changer, something that could provide more than adequate back up.

It was why KIPO Main was sending out its latest drop as requested, the 17th one over a course of a year. This particular one was interesting, KIPO had noted. The experimental technology that was this drop, locked away on the station, separated into multiple pieces but still all accounted for, it was one of the few item's KIPO had that Arasaka had actually used. Or rather, studied to piggyback of the design and make their own more compact model, the Arasaka Prototype Cyberskeleton.

Curious, KIPO Main had it on record Adam had deemed the Cyberskeleton a failure. Had he changed his mind since then? Or did he come across the original design and saw that as superior?

Perhaps he would provide a suitable test for it?

That would be quite a feat. The original design for the Cyberskeleton had been deemed… bulky. Too literal. And overkill. KIPO supposed if Adam were to be fighting a war (there was a 100% chance of that, KIPO Main had calculated), even against inferior locals, this would expedite the process.

Prepping the drop pod, one big enough to house a three story house, KIPO Main watched it depart, before returning to its work cataloging data. It eagerly awaited when Adam could prioritize a stable communications network, and reunite itself with its sub program.

It wondered if this is the sensation humans felt awaiting gifts they knew were coming to them?

---

If one were to observe Annie at this moment in time, they could honestly pinpoint the exact emotions going through her right now. The anger, the satisfaction, the frustration.

The slowly creeping feeling of dread one feels once the rush has worn off and realizing the inevitable consequences will be coming, that one was very easy to see come across Annie's face. The realization she may have just cemented Armin's death rather than prevent it…

Annie stomped back to headquarters.

Then she was soon power walking.

Then she was full on running.

The thought that come next morning, Armin would be found with his throat slit in his bed…

She'd fucked up, she'd royally fucked up! With a speed and form that would be utterly horrifying to anyone who witnessed it in the form of the Female Titan coming for them, Annie bolted for headquarter's, for Armin, not even the half baked inklings of a plan forming in her mind, just sheer panic and desperation.

'I don't… I don't know what I should do! Need to find Armin, I need to keep him safe…'

She kept running, never breaking pace, the years of training to be a Warrior and a Soldier paying off in this moment. Entering the courtyard, proceeding through the hall's, not caring if her heavy footsteps woke anyone up, that Adam Smasher could see her head up the stairs to Armin's room. If anything, the man choosing to stay standing in the hallway leading to the stairs to the male soldier's rooms was a boon right now, it meant Armin had an eternal guard and witness Reiner and Bertolt would have to plan around, seeing as they were in the rooms on the other end of the building.

But Annie would think on that later, right now she pointedly ignored the glowing red of Adam's eyes as she went up to the second floor. She didn't have a plan, she didn't have any semblance of a strategy, she was just running up these stairs to desperately see with her own two eyes that Armin was safe. To keep him safe.

She finally stopped in front of Armin's door, prepared to kick down the door, when a sense of rationality finally came back to her. Restraining herself and taking a deep breath, she raised a fist, and rapped her knuckles on the door.

She was aware it was late, everyone was more than likely asleep at this hour, but every second that passed was like torture for her. She knocked a second time, with a bit more force, and was debating whether she should actually kick in the door when miraculously it opened, and Armin slowly revealed himself, a loose shirt and pair of pants his entire attire.

"Annie?" He blinked, blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things, that Annie Leonhart wasn't standing before him in full uniform just after midnight. "…What's going on?"

Annie stood there, relief flooding through her like a gentle breeze, as Armin stood there, unharmed and obviously confused. But now that the moment of panic was over, a new sense of worry overtook her, as she hadn't thought of what to do beyond this point.

Her goal to keep Armin safe still remained, but what exactly was she supposed to do? Drag him with her to someplace the other's couldn't find him? Tell him to get packed and get ready to hide away with her? Did she reveal she was a Titan and take him with her to the outside? All these thoughts, ranging from realistic to extreme, raced through her mind, but she still had nothing, nothing concrete to act on.

In the end, she simply asked, "Can I come in?"

Armin's eyes widened, as Annie averted her eyes, more focused on the door frame than the boy standing in it. But it wasn't three seconds before he moved to let her inside. "Of course. Just give me a moment, I'll light a candle."

Annie nodded her thanks and strode inside, Armin making it shut and lock the door behind her, before wandering to his desk and locating some matches for his candlelight. It was the second time Annie had been in this room, but it was the first she'd actually been invited, and with it's resident present.

Armin succeeded in providing more light for the room than the moon's rays peeking through his window provided, and slowly turned to look at Annie, who had yet to budge from her spot in front of his door. "…Um, would you like to sit down?" Armin asked, unsure of how to proceed with… whatever this was.

Annie made no comment, but she did move to sit down on Armin's bed. The covers were thrown aside as its occupant had clearly been using it. Said occupant made no objections even as there was a perfectly unused bed across from them, and simply stood there.

"…Annie, is everything alright?" Armin finally asked, getting little bit concerned for his guest.

Annie looked up, to see Armin concerned and worried, his gentle eye's showing no signs of suspicion or fear. And why would they? Armin would never suspect Annie of ill intent. He was probably one of the only people on Earth who wouldn't.

"Of course, why wouldn't they be?" Annie stated, face blank, betraying nothing of the internal panic she'd been feeling just seconds ago.

"…Well, I mean… if nothing's wrong, can I at least ask why you wanted to see me at this hour?" Armin gently prodded.

Annie sighed, and brought her knee's up to her chest, hugging them to her. "…Had a bad dream." She knew how lame that sounded, as both an excuse, and what was expected of her character. Annie Leonhart didn't get scared, or crawl into a corner and cry, or have nightmares and seek comfort in others over them. Everyone knew that.

At least, they knew the Annie that held up a defensive barrier against everyone. Very few got to see the little girl instead of the living weapon.

"…I see." Armin frowned a little, unable to hide his thoughts on that statement. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Then… is there anything I could do?"

Annie patted the space beside her, not making eye contact. "Sit here, with me… please."

Armin blinked, but seeing Annie squeezing her knee's as she was, clamped Armin's mouth shut and he made to sit beside her. The bed sank a little more with his weight, and the two of them found themselves leaning into each other for a second until they recentered themselves.

Armin fiddled with his thumbs in his lap, unsure of how to proceed. He could pick up on the fact Annie was upset about something, but he had no idea of how to get her to open up, aside from waiting. As he was considering offering to head for the kitchen for a midnight snack, just for something to do, Annie finally spoke.

"I dreamt you died."

Armin blinked, turning to look at Annie who was staring straight ahead, her mouth hidden by her current posture. He certainly hadn't been expecting that!

"You went out with the Scout's, leaving the Interior, you go out into Wall Maria… and you died." Annie said, eyes illuminated by the candle light. "And it was the worst feeling I'd ever felt."

"…I'm sorry I put you through that."

Annie blinked, then actually turned to face Armin, her face incredulous. "Are you seriously apologizing for dying in my dream?"

Armin winced, yeah, that sounded silly even to his ears. "Yes?" He replied, weakly.

"…Walls help me, you're such a good natured fool." Annie shook her head, the faint hint of amusement gracing her tone.

"Hey, it's currently," His eyes flashed for a quick second, "12:48 at night right now. I'm not mentally at my best?" Armin defended himself.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that." Annie had the grace to look ashamed for interrupting Armin's rest. "I…" Annie trailed off, not wanting to be an inconvenience for Armin, but also not wanting to leave him alone right now. Logic was struggling with worry still.

"It's fine." Armin cut off her internal struggle. "You don't have to apologize. I mean, I'd prefer if this wasn't a usual thing, I like our chats when we're both well rested. But I'm always here if you need anything." Armin gently laid a hand on her shoulder, smiling a warm smile.

"…You are seriously too kind for your own good." Annie stated as a fact.

"I hear that a lot. But I also hear it's one of my best features, so what can you do?" Armin shrugged. "But really Annie, if there's anything I can do, just say it."

"Then can I stay here tonight?"

"Eh?!" Armin's eyes went wide, and he withdrew his hand in shock!

"Just for tonight." Annie continued, trying to be as rational and calm as she would if discussing the weather, and not asking a boy she had feelings for (and suspected he may just feel the same) if she could sleep in the same room as him. "I don't… I need to have you with me. I need to know you'll be here, safe."

Armin stared at Annie, the strongest person he knew second only to Mikasa, and how she was asking this of him. What she was asking of him.

'She must be really scared right now.' Armin was a little worried, did his dream death really shake her up that badly?

"…Alright." Armin said. Nodding to himself, he continued. "Okay, sure! If that will really help you, then you can stay. Keep our clothes close to the beds so we can stay decent in the morning, stay under the covers, I'll put out the light so you can get in the spare bed-"

"I actually want to sleep in the same bed with you."

NOW Armin's eyes were so wide they threatened to pop out of his skull, and his face was cherry red! Annie's too, though she was attempting to keep her blush under control and her face impassive, never mind she couldn't meet Armin's gaze.

"We'll stay clothed, and there's enough room we can sleep back to back, it'll be fine." Annie soldiered on, as much to convince Armin as it was herself. "Just like in the Cadet's, sharing body heat as soldiers." Never mind it had been a collective group with everyone fully dressed and more importantly, divided by gender, when they'd done that training.

"But…Annie, that's a bit…" Armin stammered, his tongue feeling rather heavy in his mouth.

"Please." Annie stated, reaching forward to take Armin's hand. "…I know this is… this is a lot to ask. And I'm sorry if it's too much… but please."

Any and all protest Armin had died in his throat, as the most beautiful girl in all the Walls looked up at him, asking something of him while showing a side of vulnerability he never thought he'd see, not like this.

'Is this what they call blatant manipulation? Does Annie know what's she's doing? Or is it unintentional?'

Either way, it worked. Swallowing his saliva and attempting to be as rational as possible, Armin nodded. "Okay… okay, you can stay."

"Okay." Annie confirmed, not quite letting go yet. "…Thank you, Armin."

Armin said nothing, merely nodding again, as Annie released his hand. Taking a deep breath, he went over to the desk lamp. "I'll uh… I'll put the light out when you're ready. Clothes on, right, yes?" Armin asked, just to reassure himself.

"Clothes on." Annie confirmed, making to remove her Military Police jacket and her boots. Her hoodie stayed on, ditching it would leave her in nothing but her bra, and even if it would be more comfortable, she doubted Armin could handle that.

'Although…' Annie began to think, before shaking her head. 'No, don't go there. Armin's probably uncomfortable as it is, having a girl spend the night with him. This isn't a… social visit, this is to protect him. You keep him close, keep him as close to you as possible, for his own safety.' It would be easier, to leap over Armin and fight off any potential assassins. To shield his body from a blade. To pull him with her out the window, to then transform and flee into the night…

She would protect Armin.

Annie laid her jacket on the ground next to her kicked off boots, and sat back. She looked to Armin, and gave a nod.

With that, he blew out the light. "I'm going to be making my way over now. Did you want the left side of the bed or the right?"

"Left, if you don't mind." Annie scooted over to allow Armin to crawl in and take the spot that would put his back to the wall. The boy effortlessly walked over (Annie suspected his eyes most likely could see better thanks to KIPO), and gently crawled atop the sheets, predicting he'd be warm enough in his clothes. Annie felt similar, and once she made out Armin lying down, she joined him, staring across the bed to the silhouette of his form.

The two of them laid like that, one of them hoping sleep would overtake him so he could ignore how awkward this situation was.

'What even is this?' Armin's mind raced. 'A girl I'm definitely crushing on is sleeping in my bed, with me. On her request. A request for help, that's it. But… if I told anyone this, not that I'm going to!… what would they call this? I mean, we haven't done anything, but this is something, right? Kind of?… Oh Walls, maybe I should just ask KIPO if she can knock me out, figure this out in the morning… actually, maybe I can do just that!'

Smiling in the dark, clueless if Annie could see that or not, Armin made to call KIPO, pleased he may have a sort of fix for this!

Only to get a… CALLER UNAVAILABLE message appearing before his eyes?

Puzzled, he tried again, and received the same message.

'Okay… I'm just going to assume KIPO's busy right now. Guess she needs sleep too. And Annie might not appreciate an additional party to this, yeah…' Armin mentally sighed. Guess he'd have to let exhaustion overtake the usual way.

A sudden hand resting on his face jolted him slightly, before he stared into two beautiful blue eyes. Annie's arm had extended, to gently caress his jawline. He could just make out a serene, relieved smile on her face.

"Annie?" Armin questioned, his mind now blank.

"Thank you Armin." Annie whispered, brushing his cheek with her thumb, before withdrawing her hand and closing her eyes.

Armin stared, just lost as to what was happening, before he decided to just let the creeping embers of exhaustion take him and sort through this in the morning. Closing his eyes, he focused on keeping his mind empty, and his heart steady.

Across from him, Annie, while keeping a portion of her mind alert to wake up at a moment's notice, had rather pleasant dreams that night. She found herself soaring through the air, with a level of freeness that only ODM gear could replicate, lighter than air. It was if the world's problems were forgotten, just for this moment.

---

A Week Prior, with the Scout's

Day 1

"Well, this is it. First day, new recruits, see who's willing to chose the riskiest and smallest Regiment in all the Walls." Gunther stated, watching as the approaching wagons appeared over the horizon. Standing by him beside the gate leading to their requisitioned castle turned headquarters were the fellow members of Levi Squad, and one Eren Jaeger.

"Geez Gunther, you act like we didn't get two new super weapons that got the people excited and hopeful for the first time in forever. Have a little faith will ya? It's not like Eren's class were the only one's who graduated." Eld stated.

"Isn't that a little low though? Hoping the cadets who didn't experience Titans first hand will be the ones to join us?" Petra commented. "I feel like it's better the people know exactly what they're in for."

"Oh, don't start like that." Oluo offered. "None of us got front row seats or had to fight a battle before we even graduated, but we still joined the Scout's, and we've got quite a few expeditions under our belts. I'd say we're looking at the largest recruitment of Scout's this year, specially when we pull off our first majoACK!"

Just as Oluo was reaching his stride in delivering a passionate speech, a rather ambitious squirrel had leapt from the ground and landed directly on Oluo's shoulder to spring for the tree behind him, causing the unfortunate member of Levi Squad to bite his tongue in surprise. Ignoring the moans of pain, Gunther turned to Eren. "I know you said some of your friends would join, but do you really think the one's who had a shot at the Military Police will give it up?"

"I'm certain of it, sir!" Eren replied, confident in his friends. "Guarantee Mikasa will join the Scout's, and she's worth the entire graduating class and more! Plus Reiner's a solid guy, and Annie, maybe even Connie and Sasha! You'll see, they won't let us down!"

Gunther blinked at Eren's absolute certainty, then chuckled. "Well damn, if you're that sure, guess we might actually have to roll out the welcome wagon. Also, what's with this sir stuff? I thought we told you, we're all comrades here." He held up his hand, teeth marks still fresh and apparent.

"Ah, sorry si- sorry Gunther." Eren apologized. "I'll try to remember."

"You better Green Horn." Oluo muttered, having recovered from his unfortunate accident. "The first step to establishing bonds is breaking barriers. The sooner you consider yourself one of the team, the better it'll be for all of us."

"Says the guy still calling Eren "Green Horn" and was insisting he be called sir at every opportunity." Petra muttered, before smiling. "You really sing this Mikasa's praises, every time she comes up you give a glowing review of her. Was she the cadet who fought Adam?"

"Yeah, I mean I guess. I only heard the recount at the trial." Eren scratched his head, before a decidedly unhappy expression graced his features.

"Something wrong Eren?" Petra inquired.

"It just… it doesn't feel real, hearing Mikasa was beaten. I know everyone say's Adam's a real monster who eats Titans and can tear down the Walls, but still… Mikasa always came across as unbeatable, even when we were kids. It doesn't feel right." Eren tried to explain.

"…Well, sounds like Adam is pretty unbeatable too, hearing him tear into Titans the way he did. I guess it was the clash of two unstoppable forces." Gunther tried.

"Something had to give." Eld nodded. "But hey, she picked herself up and was ready for round 2, even down an arm, from what the Garrison soldier's had to say. Don't think of it as a loss, more like… a pause in the action."

"Yeah, I'm sure when your girlfriend squares up for a rematch, you can just sit back and watch the sparks fly. From her blades cutting the big galoot's armour to pieces." Oluo offered.

"Girlfriend?" Eren tilted his head in confusion. "What makes you think Mikasa's my girlfriend? She's my family, that's all."

The four stares and shared looks from Levi Squad were so intense even Eren with all his denseness found himself wilting. "Wh-what? What are you looking at me like that for?"

Oluo slapped his face and grumbled into his hand. "Walls, someone help this idiot…"

Petra tried a more sympathetic approach. "Um, Eren? How would you describe Mikasa? In your own words."

"Huh? Well, I'd say she's… well, she's Mikasa." Eren tried. "Words can't describe her. I mean, I can say she's strong and smart and the best at everything and just leagues ahead of everyone, but that's really not doing it right. Like, if I say Mikasa is strong, yeah you get it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm lying?"

"…Actually, yeah. I feel the same way when talking about the Captain." Petra giggled, before coughing and pressing on. "So you really think Mikasa is an amazing person, and you think highly of her? Fondly, even?"

"Of course. She's been with me for so long, and is the only family I have left."

"Family, right. But she's not related to you. Your parents took her in when… well, when what happened happened." Oluo offered, a look of sympathy on his face.

"Yeah, but I still think of her as family." Eren insisted. "Just because we have different parents, doesn't mean I don't care about her."

"And you just care about her as family?" Eld questioned. "You don't see her in any other light?"

"…What light would that be?" Eren questioned. "…Wait, is this because Oluo called her my girlfriend? Guys, I just told you, it's not like that."

"Really? Because it kind of sounded like that. The way you've talked about her these last few days, it sounds more like a boyfriend describing his girlfriend than a brother describing his sister." Petra shyly suggested. "What about Mikasa? Does she feel the same way?"

"Huh? Why wouldn't she?"

"I mean, a boy comes in and saves a girl from a bunch of kidnappers who killed her parents, and takes her in to protect her?" Oluo spelled it out. "Yeah, ain't no way she just sees you as a brother."

Eren blinked. Then blinked again. Then his eyes bulged out, and the tip of his ears went red! "Wh-wha-wha-what?! N-NO! That's not- You don't- We're just- Just- WHAT!?" Eren screamed, hands flailing wildly as he couldn't form a coherent thought or sentence right now. "Where the hell is this coming from?!"

Eld clapped a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Look, Eren. As someone who has a childhood friend turned fiancé, let me give you some advice. Don't let her slip away. Take that step forward. Because the last thing you want is to die with regrets."

"There are no regrets! None! The only regret I could possibly have is dying without killing any Titans!" Eren freed himself from Eld's grip and backed away. "Are you guys all just messing with me? Is that it?! For Wall's sake, you haven't even met Mikasa! Where the hell do you get the idea of her liking me like… like that?!"

"Hmm, true." Gunther held his chin in thought. "We are just basing this on the impressions we've gotten from you talking about her. Perhaps we are being a little hasty…"

"Yes! Thank you!" Eren exclaimed.

"Which is why we should definitely meet her and ask her ourselves what she thinks about you!" The black haired Scout grinned with delight.

"NO! Damn you!" Eren screamed, making it take a swing at the man who was laughing uproariously. Fortunately his arm was caught by Petra who didn't have to make much effort in calming Eren down.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop Eren." Petra laughed. "Honestly we're just teasing. It's clear you care about Mikasa and think highly about her, we just can't help but root for young love. Sorry if we have the wrong idea."

Eren frowned, then pouted, clearly not appreciating being the subject of ridicule but willing to accept Petra's sincere apology. Still, he couldn't help but want to bite back. "Well, what about you?"

"Me?" Petra blinked.

"You said me talking about Mikasa was like you and the Captain. Are you and Levi a thing?"

The look of mortification on Petra's face had every guy there snickering if not outright laughing. "WHAT!? No! I just- how you described Mikasa as more than human and so skilled, that's what I meant! We're nothing like that!"

"Hey now Petra, don't sell yourself short. You know me and Gunther are rooting for you two. We put our money on you to winning the Captain's heart." Eld chuckled. "You've got good odds too. Closest runner up is Section Commander Hange."

"I thought I told you to get rid of that stupid betting table!" Petra cried.

"Sorry, it's a joint Scout decision, we have no say in it other than where our money goes." Gunther shrugged. "But hey, know the whole Scout regiment is cheering you on! Or at least more than half."

As Petra spluttered and yelled at the indignity of her love life being a source of entertainment for the Scout's, and drawing the laughter away from Eren, the green eyed Titan in human form couldn't help but feel… happy, right here. Yesterday, the disastrous experiment that had him involuntarily half transform, it had reminded Eren everyone here was afraid of him, suspicious of him. How quick they were to draw their weapons, to see him as a monster. That there was this undercurrent of fear that might never go away.

All because he'd been reaching for a spoon.

But then Petra, Oluo, Gunther, Eld… they had all apologized, had gone so far as to sink their teeth into their own hands as a sign of solidarity. Now they were laughing with him, teasing him, just talking to him like he wasn't a Titan in human form…

It was amazing the little things you missed. Eren only hoped his friends from the Cadets would be able to treat him the same way. At least he could say with confidence Mikasa would never-

'Oh… Huh. I did just think of Mikasa again, didn't I? I mean, yeah, of course I would! I can always rely on her!… It's just relying, right?' Eren furiously rubbed his hair with both hands, dammit, now he was overthinking things!

Whatever! He'd see Mikasa, and put these weird thoughts the others had injected in to his head to rest!

---

Nope, these thoughts were not being out to rest.

Eren had run up to greet his friends, spotting Ymir, Krista, Sasha, Connie, and Mikasa, who immediately had made to grab his hand and ask him about his well-being. Honestly that was pretty typical Mikasa stuff, and normally he'd be annoyed at her babying him…

But with the teasing and banter of Levi Squad from just a short while ago ringing in his ear, suddenly he was looking at her in a new light. The way the sun was shining off her face and dark shimmering eyes, the tone of her voice laced with concern, the way she said his name…

'Was she always this pretty?…GAH! Enough! She's just my sister! My sister!'

'…My half sister…'

Honestly Eren only caught every fifth word from Mikasa, when she got a dark look at her face he thought it might have something to do with whatever experiments she may have imagined. Gently he placed his free hand over hers, which swapped out her dark look with one of surprise.

"Eren?" She questioned.

"Really Mikasa, I'm okay. Everyone here has been treating me well, we're all comrades here. You don't have to worry about anything."

"That's not entirely true though, is it?" A very familiar voice spoke up, one that normally Eren would be irritated by but was honestly surprised to hear. Turning his head, he spotted Jean walking up.

"Jean? You joined the Scout's?" Eren was surprised, enough so he wasn't able to deliver a scathing remark as was the norm between them.

"I'm here aren't I?" Jean replied. He held eye contact with Eren, his horse face neutral. "…We didn't really talk about it, what with the light show and the armoured man and Armin suddenly being a lot more important than we'd ever think, but there was something said at the trail I can't ignore. Eren, you attacked Mikasa when you transformed, correct?"

Eren's eyes opened wide. In all the confusion and flurry of activity, he'd actually forgotten about that! Turning to look at Mikasa, he could see she held a neutral expression as she tried to wave it off.

"Eren thought I was a bee, he was just making a mis-"

"No. No, don't go there, don't just brush it off Mikasa." Jean immediately shut her argument down. "I know you want to protect him, but we can't just ignore this. It'll be our lives on the line too. So I have to ask, Eren, can you or can you not control your Titan?"

"…" Eren looked down, unable to reply. It had only been a few days since he'd been put in the Scout's care, and they had been trying to figure out his power, but…

"…Not yet. At least, not a hundred percent." Eren admitted. "I've been practicing here, but so far…"

Jean kept eye contact, then let out a groan. "Well, that's just perfect. So our best bets are a suicidal maniac who can't control his own power, and a metal bastard who doesn't give a shit about any of us. And this is supposed to be a better position for the Survey Corp than normal."

"Geez, Jean, maybe go a bit easy on him?" Connie suggested. "The guy's trying his best, I'm sure."

"Trying his best isn't going to cut it Connie." Jean retorted. "We're marching into hell, it's going to be bad enough just trying to make it through the day as it is against the regular Titan's. And now, we're putting our faith in Eren, hoping against all odd's he can turn into the very thing we're fighting, and that it won't go berserk and kill us. I don't think it's wrong to want some kind of guarantee that's not going to happen, yeah?"

No one could respond to that. As uncomfortable as it was to hear, Jean was speaking the truth. Eren looked to his feet, clearly disheartened. To have so much faith and hope placed on his shoulder's, and he couldn't deliver on it…

A hand taking his snapped Eren's head up. Mikasa, she'd taken his hand in a comforting squeeze. Her face actually showed a hint of worry, before she steeled herself and looked to Eren with determination.

Eren wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to say with her eyes alone, but… somehow, it felt okay.

"Eren… please," Jean whispered, and at that moment he looked scared, exhausted, and utterly lost, "Can you promise us, that you'll be able to figure this shit out? That you can get this thing under control, and save us? That we won't lose our lives for nothing? If you can just do that… then we're with you to the end."

"…I saw the outside world." Eren said.

"What?" Jean questioned, his expression still the same but his eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Just two nights ago, with the Commander and Armin and a few others, we got a glimpse of what's outside." Eren explained. "It was from that thing that made the world out of light. It was… honestly it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Armin had told me about it, but this was somehow more real. And yet, it wasn't enough." A deep breath, before he continued. "I want to see the real thing. I want to see and experience it myself. And… I want all of you to be there with me."

Eren looked around, to every one of his friends who'd made it here with him, who'd survived the horrors of Trost, and were still able to join the Scout's, and stand here with him. "I swear, I'm going to figure this power out. I'm going to get it under control, and I'm going to fight like hell to get us to the other side! Believe that, if nothing else!"

Eren looked to Jean, who seemed to be considering Eren's words. Mikasa was squeezing a hand in front of her chest, while Connie and Sasha were scuffling their shoes. It was honestly starting to feel a little awkward, until an obnoxious snort filled laugh broke out.

"Well damn! Guess we can tell the other guy to pack it in, Eren's got this in the bag!" Ymir laughed, which earned her a head butt to the back from Krista.

"Stop it Ymir! Eren's being sincere here!"

"I know! That's why I'm able to laugh! I'm honestly relieved that he can say something so embarrassingly sweet, I might be able to get some sleep under the same roof as him!" Ymir cackled. Seems her laughter had a ripple effect, as others were soon laughing in relief themselves.

Eren felt his ears starting to go a little red, sure he wasn't the best speech maker, but he wasn't expecting that sort of reaction. To his surprise, it was Jean who reined it in.

"Okay, that's enough guys. We've got a full day of learning how to be proper Scout's ahead of us, best we get ourselves sorted." Jean clapped his hands, which got everyone to calm down.

"Yeah, okay." Sasha giggled. She then looked to Eren, smiling. "I have faith you can do this. It's just like when you kept screwing up with the broken ODM gear, you didn't quit then and you certainly won't quit now. You'll figure this out, I just know it!"

"Hell yeah! And even if you don't, we ain't going be slouching ourselves! We'll be dancing around those Titans so they don't manage to catch a single one of us!" Connie agreed.

"Meh, I'm still banking on Adam Smasher saving our hides, so you better do your best to prove me wrong." Ymir shrugged, which earned her some tiny ineffectual punches from her significant other.

"Ymiiiiiiir…," Krista whined, before smiling like an angel at Eren. "I know you can do it."

Similar affirmations and reassurances were said, before everyone followed Dita who'd patiently waited a short distance away to show them their assigned bunks. Only Jean and Mikasa were left.

"…Well, can't say I'm completely assured, but I suppose all I can do is let you practice and trust the Commander if he say's you're ready." Jean said. "…Our first mission won't be our last."

Eren nodded. "Damn right." With a return nod, Jean wandered off, leaving Eren alone with Mikasa. A stilted silence rang between them, before Mikasa decided to take the initiative.

"…You saw Armin?" She questioned. "After the trial, you were taken away so quickly, I wasn't sure if they put you all together…"

"Yeah, me, Armin, and Adam, we were all placed in the same room."

"That bastard." Mikasa scowled. "What he did to you, and Armin… the way he acted, he's clearly just a bully. The thought of him being near Armin…"

"Hey hey, don't go thinking thoughts like that." Eren placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yeah, Adam's… difficult, but Armin seems to know how to handle him. And even if you don't like it, we are going to need his help."

"No we don't. We have you, and me. I can kill any Titan that comes near you-"

"Yeah, but this way you won't have to be near the Titans if it's Adam and me, we can take care of it."

"But we shouldn't have to rely on the two of you. We're all soldiers, you shouldn't have to foster all this responsibility."

"Well I'd rather I foster it than have to worry about you!" Eren exclaimed, slowly mounting frustration spilling out. "Can't you just let me protect you!?"

Mikasa blinked, stunned. "Eren…"

"…I'm worried about you, dammit." Eren sighed. "I don't… I don't want to have think about how you might… you might not come back."

"Eren… don't you trust me?" Mikasa stepped forward, voice quivering.

"I do." Eren said, without hesitation. "I've always trusted you, believed in you. You've never failed, ever. And there's no doubt in my mind, you are the strongest person in the world. But… you're still human. You can still get hurt." Eren looked to her arm, long since healed, but hearing her defeat at the trial, that had shaken something in him. "It's selfish, but… if it can be me and Adam, a guy I don't care for, being in danger instead of you…"

"…I can't accept that." Mikasa pulled at her scarf in a comforting gesture. "I can't accept you taking all the risks. I'm a soldier too. I became a soldier, to keep you and Armin safe."

"I know, I just… gah!" Eren rubbed his head furiously, as if the kinetic energy would help sort out his brain and his thoughts! Right now he was having a hard time keeping his typical need to speak at full volume in check, the curse of his familiarity with Mikasa. "I'm not saying you shouldn't fight at all, I just… I just want to know you won't be reckless or anything like that!"

Eren looked up, and took a deep breath. "Look, just… promise me you won't be looking over your shoulder worried about me instead of yourself, okay? Can you trust me to keep myself alive, so I can do the same with you?"

"…The last time I did that, I came back to Armin sobbing, and hearing you'd been eaten."

Eren winced. "Yeah… I'm sorry I put you through that. But I'm stronger now, I have an advantage when it comes to everyone else!" Eren brought up a fist and clenched it. "It won't be the same as last time. You don't have to experience that again, I swear it!"

Mikasa fiddled with the scarf around her mouth some more, before she exhaled. "Alright. On the promise you won't be reckless, I'll trust you."

"Great!" Eren smiled, glad he could convince her. He was so happy he didn't register Mikasa stepping forward and embracing him. "Eh?"

"If you break this promise, then I won't let you out of my sight for a second. I'll take down the entire Levi Squad to earn a spot guarding you." Mikasa declared. "And if Adam Smasher does anything to hurt you, I'll cut him down where he stands."

"Ahhhhh, is that so?" Eren swallowed, both a little intimidated by "determined" Mikasa but also realizing how nice she smelled right now…

With a strong push that managed to overcome even Mikasa's super strength, Eren managed to separate them. "Well, glad that's settled! You want to get some grub? Let's get some grub! I'm starving!" With that, he hurried off, Mikasa blinking at the outburst before following. Eren found plenty to talk about as they made their way to the dining hall.

"I heard Armin's going to be coming back sometime this week, we can catch up properly with him then! And yeah Adam's also going to be coming, but forget about him, I can't wait for you to meet KIPO, she's a lot nicer, let me tell ya!" Eren excitedly declared.

"…KIPO?" Mikasa questioned.

---

Day 2

"Soooooooo… still sucking at turning into a monster?" Ymir of all people probed Eren who, to a crowd that had breathed sighs of both relief and disappointment, had failed to trigger his transformation once again. It had been the order of the day, after settling in, passing a basic refresher course of horse back riding and ODM practice, to watch the hope of humankind transform. A fair distance away, the entire Survey Corp had awaited with bated breath, expecting a bolt of lightning and a Titan to be in their midst.

Sadly, all they had seen was Eren struggle and moan in frustration as no matter how much he bite down, nothing happened. Captain Levi had called it quits, and everyone had packed it up for the day.

Everyone except Ymir, who'd stayed behind to approach a quietly despairing Eren.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong!" Eren bleated out. "I thought it was because I didn't have enough room before, but even when we're in a wide open field nothing happens! If it keeps going like this… I'm starting to think I should get swallowed by a Titan."

"Whoa there!" Ymir held up her hands, trying to placate the boy. "Let's not go thinking we need to go with "death before dishonour" here!"

"I'm not." Eren replied. "But maybe… maybe it was me taking a bath in a Titan's guts that was the key? Maybe I need a recharge?"

"…Okay, I can see where you might get that idea, but… maybe let's not try that, like, EVER." Ymir insisted. "You're the hope of us taking back our home Eren, you bite it and we're all screwed."

"Geez, make it sound like everyone should be protecting me instead of the other way around."

"Hey, not like I want to bite it so you don't have to. If you can avoid being eaten out there, or being in a position where us bite sized folk don't have to risk our life's saving your ass, that'll be swell."

"Hey now, it's not like I'm a pushover as a Titan." Eren grinned. "I racked up quite a body count in Trost, and I can do it again. I just have to figure out how to transform at will."

"And how to stay in the driver's seat." Ymir pointed out. "On that note, maybe it's a stamina thing? I'm just guessing, but does transforming sap your strength at all? All that meat… I guess growing out of you, is it exhausting?"

"What are you, Hange now?" Eren joked, which Ymir chuckled.

"Hey, even a bumpkin like me would be interested in you and how you work."

"I guess… to answer your question, I pretty much conked out at the end both times after, so I guess it is tiring." Eren scratched his head. "Do you think… I dunno, that maybe I fell asleep the second time, and the Titan was let loose?"

"Like the body has a mind of its own? Maybe." Ymir crossed her arms. "If that's the case, then we just need to make sure you don't transform without being properly rested or whatever, that problem is solved. We still have to figure out how you transform in the first place."

Eren held up a bloody hand, multiple bite marks apparent. "I know that. Don't you think I know that? Every time it was because I was bleeding, but all of a sudden the rules changed."

"Rules?"

"…I don't know how, but… I just knew an open wound was required, like… like how you know how to walk or move your arm, it was that instinctual and natural. Like it'd been with me my whole life."

"Which I'm gonna assume it wasn't, based on the fact Jean isn't a smear from our days in the Cadets." Ymir offered. She then sighed and sat down, surprising Eren, this was a first for the two of them being this close in proximity. "Fuck, I wish I had your power. I'm not saying I want to take it from you or anything like that, but if I could have it too… you know what I'd do with it?"

"Protect Krista?" Eren rolled his eyes, Ymir was sometimes the easiest person to get a read on.

"Naturally." Ymir nodded. "A sweet and easy goal that I've dedicated my whole life to, it's perfect!" Ymir leaned back to lie on the ground, and crossed her arms as her face adopted a contemplative expression. "But, what does it mean to protect her? Am I breaking out the monster every time her life is in danger, like from thugs or rockslides or stampeding animals? Or is it exclusively for fighting the Titans? Or could it be more even something mundane and trivial, like shielding her from a bad storm?"

"Uh, does that matter?" Eren questioned. "I'm the one with the darn thing, and I can't use it."

"C'mon, humour me! Like, what are you going to do with your Titan?"

"Duh, kill all the Titans!" Eren stated proudly, which got an eye roll from Ymir. Sometimes Eren was the easiest person to get a read on.

"Right, but are you doing that today?" Ymir rolled to her side to support her head in her palm.

"Huh?"

"Like, there are no Titans around right now. So what else are you going to do, right now?"

Eren blinked, not exactly following. "I mean, I'm going to transform or try to…"

"Right, but that's kind of a given? You transform, and then what? Sit around, do cart wheels? Give everyone piggyback rides?" Ymir waved her free hand in the air. "C'mon, give me something. You can at least chop down a tree or two, see how strong you are."

Eren was frowning, as he was really trying to follow Ymir's thought process on this (probably the only time he'd do that), but the brunette's words were going over his head. "Ymir, sorry, but you're not making any sense."

"Oh?… I guess I'm not, sorry. Just fantasizing what'd it'd be like to be a Titan like you." Ymir sighed wistfully. "Guess I'm not cut out for it, you with your big grand dream of killing all the Titan's and me thinking of insignificant stupid shit, like running through the fields with Krista in my hair or chopping down tree's to build a house for us. Little dreams for us little girls."

"Well hey, I wouldn't call that little or stupid." Eren protested. "Just… funny, how that's what you focus on."

"Hey, I'm weird like that, just focusing on what's in front of me." Ymir sat up. "I leave tomorrow's problem's to tomorrow and today is for today's."

"Sounds kind of reckless thinking like that." Eren stated.

"Coming from you, that cuts me deep." Ymir chortled. "Well naturally I plan ahead for a long beautiful life with my darling bride to be, I'm not that shortsighted." Ymir made to get up, and wiped her hands off her knee's. "So, call it quits for today? Figure if we're out here much longer people are going to be starting rumours about us."

Eren did agree it was time to turn in, though he was lost on what rumours could possibly be said about them. As he ate his dinner in the company of Mikasa, Petra, and Oluo, then turned in for the night, Eren mulled Ymir's words over in his head. It honestly all sounded like nonsense, if one wasn't going to kill Titans when turning into one then what was the point?

…But then, his thoughts drifted to his half transformation's, on how he'd been thinking of protecting Mikasa and Armin, or just reaching for a spoon…

---

"Are you close to Mr. Jaeger?" A sudden voice called out to Ymir, who was just exiting the bath's to head for her bunk. Turning around, Ymir was greeted by the sight of Ilse Langnar, who was still in full uniform, as opposed to Ymir's civvies.

"Pardon?"

"Out there, in the fields. You were the only one to stay there with him, it seemed like you were trying to cheer him up." Ilse offered. "I was just wondering if he was a good friend?"

"Oh, him? Nah, more like… an annoying little brother. Or an excitable pet who can't stay still to save his life." Ymir waved off.

"Really?" Ilse raised an eyebrow. "Was he the sort to defy authority figures? He's been very well behaved since coming here."

"Well he wasn't the absolute worse with Shadis, that honour belongs to me," Ymir bowed with flourish, "But he was a shit disturber… ma'am."

"Ah yes, Commander Shadis… I'd yet to see anyone who could stand up to him for long." Ilse nodded.

"Commander?" Ymir raised an eyebrow. "…Wait, seriously? He was in charge…" Ymir gestured around them, to which Ilse nodded.

"Yes… oh sorry, was he keeping that a secret?" Ilse's face adopted a look of horror as she waved her arms in front of her. "Please, forget I mentioned that!"

"Well sure, no problem. It's just… how would one keep that a secret?" Ymir scratched her head. "Surely Eren would have noticed, he loves the Scout's, mentioned all the time he'd see you guy's off when he was a kid, before Maria fell…"

"Ah. Well, this regiment does take its toll." Ilse looked down, glumly. "I only got to see him a few times after he resigned and handed over command to Erwin, and it certainly was a drastic change in appearance."

"But not attitude?"

"Oh Walls no! He's still the same on that front!" Ilse nervously laughed. "So it'd mean a lot of you didn't mention any of this to him?"

"Hey, I've left the training grounds behind and buried, you don't have to worry about me looking to reminisce with ol Baldy." Ymir stated.

"Thank you, but for your own sake, never call him that again? He has a sixth sense for when people are talking shit about him, guarantee he just felt the urge to drop by here and kick someone's ass." The look on Ilse's face, it certainly had Ymir believing her.

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Ymir shuffled from her left foot to her right, wondering if that was the end of this conversation. "So, if you didn't need me for anything, ma'am, I don't suppose I could turn in for the ni-"

"Scuse me, coming through." A groggy voice interrupted them, alerting the ladies to one Connie who was heading for the bath's, scrubbing stick in hand and a towel tucked under his arm.

"Sup Ymir and… Ymir?" Connie rubbed his eyes, blearily looking between his least favourite freckled member of the 104th and a woman who was clearly not her. "Ah, sorry, Lieutenant Langnar! Forgive my mistake!"

"At ease soldier." Ilse assured the boy. "I'm not going to be offended over a case of mistaken identity."

"Be that as it may ma'am, I did just mistake you for Ymir. No one deserves that." Connie was still standing at attention, while Ymir was recovering from her shock at Connie's insult to begin rolling up her sleeves.

"Gonna thump you good for that one baldie…" She snarled.

"Hold soldier, that's an order. Connie Springer, please, be on your way. And don't forget to brush your teeth, clear?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am." Connie bowed and scampered off, giving a quick snicker as he ran by Ymir, who half heartedly made to kick him in the ass. Once he was gone, it was just the two of them again.

"I take it that once is also like a little brother?" Ilse chuckled.

"Could say that." Ymir sighed. "With your permission, ma'am, may I please be excuse? Got a full day tomorrow, from what I hear, and I better get some shut eye. Ma'am."

"Oh! Oh of course, permission granted, I've certainly kept you long enough." Ilse stepped to the side, as if to further proof the way was clear to proceed. "And please, call me Ilse instead. Ma'am makes me feel like I'm older than I actually am."

"Sure, I'll be sure to remember that." Ymir held back a yawn. "Goodnight… Ilse."

"Goodnight, Ymir."

Ymir walked off while waving lazily behind her, not noticing how the Scout's diligent note taker's eyes followed her retreating form.

---

Day 3

"Heeeeeey, he's alive!" Ymir declared as Armin disembarked from the cart, alongside Hange and Ilse, the morning sun just reaching an angle it wasn't blinding them anymore. Adam had come to a stop beside them, managing to keep pace no problem, though to be fair the horses hadn't been going full out as if chased by a Titan. The whole time, Hange had been observing the man, taking note of his posture and consistent speed and how far he had fallen behind, if that happened at all.

"Hey Ymir, it's good to see you." Armin waved.

"Likewise back-up Krista, I was wondering if the fine eats of the Interior would round you out into a butterball or not." Ymir helped Armin down and offered a salute, playing the dutiful soldier.

Armin to his credit didn't take the bait at the "back-up" line, nor the insinuation that a few days of good food would make him fat. He made sure to do push-ups when he could!

Ymir's focus was soon drawn to Adam Smasher, who was being escorted by Ilse towards the castle. "And lo and behold, our other saviour has arrived! So glad the finest cuisine in all our land didn't make it difficult for you to squeeze into that getup, big guy!"

Adam paused and turned to look at Ymir, who didn't even flinch being the recipient of that unnatural gaze. "…Ymir."

The identified girl's eyes lit up, and a genuine grin crossed her face, replacing the cheeky one earlier. "You remembered."

"Told you if you survived I might. Though I was honestly expecting you wouldn't."

"Ouch sir, you wound me!" Ymir brought both hands to her heart in mock pain. "And here I was envisioning all the fun times we would have together. You, killing Titans left right and centre, and me, providing witty commentary and moral support with my hilarious banter."

"I'm currently envisioning your "banter" is going to lead to a tragic friendly fire incident." Adam retorted, before turning to Armin. "Is this really her default setting?"

"Yes it is, and there ain't nothing you can do about it!" Ymir spoke for herself before Armin could. "C'mon, give me a chance, I'm sure you'll be specifically asking to have me as an escort."

"Maybe as bait, it's possible." Adam relented, somewhat. "Now, if you'd be so kind to help "escort" us to the inside, we've got a full day of explaining how everything is going to be great forever with me here."

"Of course. Soldier Ymir, if you could?" Hange replied, having enjoyed the show but ready to splurge once more into science. Ymir saluted once again, then gestured for Armin to follow her.

"So, I take it out here we can finally use Specter to its full potential?" Armin inquired.

"Indeed we can!" Hange exclaimed. "I have a bunch of scrap and broken ODM gear just waiting to be taken apart and rebuilt at your leisure! No need to hold back, I want to see something that blows my socks off!"

"Ah, well, I don't think I can promise that, but certainly I think it'll be something memorabl-"

A sudden bolt of lighting off in the distance ended Armin's assurances, as all five gathered stopped to stare in the direction of the woods a short distance away through the gates. For just peeking over the trees, was a very familiar sight…

"…I didn't get a good look from behind when I shot him, but is that supposed to be Eren Jaeger?" Adam pointed, to a flabbergasted Ilse, a shocked Armin, a squinting Ymir, and a rapidly growing giddy Hange.

With a cry of excitement and a speed that would put the horses to shame, the Section Commander was hightailing it for their resident Titan, who was staring at his hand and checking his footing as he adjusted to his size.

"EeeeeeeeeeeeeeeRREEEEEEEENNNNNNNN!" Hange cried out as they burst through the tree's and landed in a way reminiscent of a guitarist power slide . "You did it, you did it, YOU DID IT! What's it like? Are you in control?! Can you manage speech!? TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

"Cool it Shitty Glasses, let Eren gather his bearings." Levi called out, ODM gear equipped and blades drawn, yet his posture wasn't quite in a combat stance. "Oye, Eren. Are you in the driver's seat?"

Eren, clutching the remains of a snapped tree in his hands, turned to look at Levi, then took notice of everyone else standing around at a safe distance and all equipped with ODM gear. When he'd come to the Captain this morning asking to give his transforming another try, Eren had half expected this day to end in failure yet again. As he'd been escorted to the open field and told to wait by a lone tree as everyone got in position, Eren swallowed down his nervousness and focused.

It was a stupid idea, really, just something random that'd come to him last night as he lied awake, then fell asleep, then startled awake as inspiration had struck! Or it had seemed inspiring at the time, then it had seemed dumb under the scrutinizing gaze of Captain Levi.

But the Captain had decided to let him try, and so Eren had no choice but to give it his best.

Evidently, his best had paid off.

With a nod and a thumb's up for good measure, Eren confirmed he was in complete control, gently setting the remains bark in his mitt down. Now the only question was, what should he do now?

"So, do we just wait for him to run outta steam?" Adam asked, entering the clearing without his Scout escort, having run to catch up with the excited Section Commander. "Or did you have some sort of activities planned to test him out?"

Eren's green eyes peered down at Adam, and to any onlooker's with an artist's eye, one might feel inclined to capture the moment, a stare down between two giant's. For Adam, he simply was taking in the sight of a Titan that wasn't making to eat him, just standing still with a lipless skull like grin and pointy ears. It was certainly a contrast to the stumbling sack's of meat he'd fought before, just from the way it stood and held itself was different, more human.

Eren for his part was trying to get a read on Adam. It certainly was different seeing him like this, looking down on the metal guy for a change. He really looked like a slow easy to hit target, did he really kill so many Titan's in Trost? Eren really felt he could snatch him up easy, just pick him up and toss Adam around like a cat playing with its prey.

'Maybe that weapon Levi showed me makes all the difference? Adam just stands around and lets the Titan's come to him while he takes them out with that super cannon of his? I can see that.' Eren deduced, suspecting he'd be a pack mule after all.

"Interesting, thinking perhaps Eren's body is powered by the steam that's no doubt inside of him, Moblit make a note of that for later!" Hange's external theorizing interrupted Eren's thought's, as the Section Commander called out to their under appreciated assistant before adjusting their glasses. "As it so happens, I did have a number of tasks for Eren in his new Titan body. Mundane and ordinary to all of us, but it will allow me to get a firm grasp on how much he is in tune with his abilities. On that note, EREN! Give me fifty jumping jacks!"

"Belay that." Levi immediately ordered, to the relief of all present who didn't want to be bounced around due to a mini earthquake. "Let's not cause our current home any structural damage."

"Ah, boo!" Hange pouted, but quickly regained their spirits. "Alright then, they how about we start with the basics? Would asking Eren to touch his toes be okay, hmmmm?"

"Long as the brat doesn't manage to fall over doing so and crush us, knock yourself out." Levi replied, summoning Eld over to report back to Erwin.

"Great! Then Eren, what say we go over some basic exercises, what do you say?"

The sight of Eren's Titan scrunching its face up in confusion did manage to make quite a few present chuckle, but soon everyone was silent as they watched Eren do as he was told. From stretches, to push-ups, to sit-ups, to the inevitable leaps and bounds and pulling tree's out of the ground, all at Hange's command and generously proof-checked by Captain Levi. The sight of it was both intimidating and surreal, as humanities enemy made attempts to stand on its hands or complete one handed push-ups. Which Eren had accomplished, seems he didn't feel the strain his human body normally would, 100 push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and squats each, and he wasn't even tired.

As Eren was completing his twentieth lap around the castle in a jog that never wavered, Adam was waiting for Ilse to return.

"So, Titans are just walking gas bags?" Adam asked, watching Eren run on by, Oluo and Petra attempting to keep up on horse back. Armin had been escorted by one Mike Zacharias to meet with Erwin Smith, so for once Adam was without his blonde handler.

"Not…exactly." Hange's ever dutiful assistant Moblit answered. "The Section Commander has noticed that the amount of steam Titan's give off seems to be in correlation to how heavy they are. Once a part is severed and the steam escapes, it seems the limb or digit is lighter than air. But an intact Titan…"

"Is strong enough to crush a house or bring down an entire castle." Adam nodded. "And they don't move at night? There a reason you don't go after them then?"

"I presume your eyesight doesn't suffer any viability issues in the dark?" Moblit questioned. "Our only light source are torches and lanterns, which don't hold up so well with ODM gear. Even if we could arrange it so the flame doesn't burn us, the whipping through the wind would snuff out it out."

"Makes sense. You certainly have the deck stacked against you, with a fucked up enemy."

"Indeed we do, though the Section Commander finds them utterly fascinating. A little too fascinating, to be honest, part of my job has been reeling them in before they could suffer a serious injury." Moblit lightly scratched his cheek.

"From what I've seen, you're probably underpaid." Adam remarked, as he noticed Ilse was soon returning while simultaneously seeing that Eren was actually slowing down. "Well whatever. Pretty soon they'll all be nothing but an unpleasant memory for you. Which will probably drive your boss insane, might want to prepare for that."

Moblit nodded, a slight grimace coming to him as the very real possibility of that happening occurred to him.

Ilse stopped in front of them, taking a few greedy gulps of air as she had been running full force to retrieve her notes. "Thanks… for waiting. Haaaaaah… was a bit hard… to unlock… my drawer… bouncing around… my room."

That actually got Adam to chuckle, the mental image was amusing. "Well good job on succeeding despite the odds. So, you had some things you wanted to show me?"

"Ah… yes." Taking in one more breath, Ilse collected herself and stood tall. "Yes, if you would please? I'd like your input on our initial assumptions for Specter, and the piece of you we found."

"Sure, could be good for a laugh." Adam remarked, which had Moblit frowning but Ilse ignored it, gently handing over a barely year old journal, which was soon taken by Adam's metal hands.

A brief moment of the two non cyborg's holding their breaths as Adam flipped it open… only to exhale softly in relief as his metal digits succeeded in turning the pages without ripping them. They patiently waited as Adam flipped through the book.

Then they frowned as Adam rotated it as if to read from a different angle. A bit more of that occurred, before Adam declared, "I can't read this."

"Pardon?" Ilse asked.

"This. This text." Adam gestured. "It's completely foreign to me."

Ilse's eyes widened, and suddenly a look that reminded Moblit very much of the Section Commander was adorning her face. "You mean… you've never seen this text? Then… you use a different alphabet?"

"Yeah, primarily the English one. Which you are all speaking, so this is more than a little weird. One second." Adam's eyes lit up, as he patched in to KIPO. 'Got something for you to take a loot at.'

'Oh? What is it? Does it concern Eren? Is he okay? Armin is worried about him, being a Titan for so long-'

'The brat's fine, they're pulling him out of it right now.' Adam waved away KIPO's concern's, as indeed, Eren had gotten down to his knee's and was being cut out by Oluo currently, a mop of brown hair clearly visible. 'I need you to take a look at this. The text here is a complete unknown.'

Through Adam's eye's, KIPO could see for herself Adam was correct. Credit to Ilse for having impeccable handwriting, every symbol and word was so neat it almost looked like she had typed it out. But it was still indecipherable. For now.

'Fascinating. These people speak fluent English, and yet this… some part's of it almost look like Japanese katakana.' KIPO observed.

'Really?' Adam brought the journey closer to his face, trying to see if any part of it was familiar to his translation software.

'Well, perhaps if it was upside down, inside out, and had some additional lines drawn through each individual letter.'

'Great, big help KIPO.' Adam groaned. Turning to Ilse, he spoke, "Do you have a dictionary available?"

"A dictionary?"

"Yeah, you know, something with all the words of your language available? Maybe just a bunch of books, that would also work."

"Work for what?" Moblit intoned, curious. "What are you trying to do?"

"Compile all the words and letters of your language, then build a translation off of that so I can understand the text here." Adam answered.

"That sounds like an arduous process, are you certain you wouldn't just like me to teach you?" Ilse asked. "It's no problem, we could set a schedule, get the most important phrases out that you'd most likely encounter working with us."

"No need. I can be up to speed before the day is done, provided I have just one weighty book to scan. My people invented a device that instantly translates all languages, spoken or written, practically instantly. Really handy for travel." Adam brushed off Ilse's offer.

"All languages… how many are there?" Ilse trembled just a bit, a little excited.

"Thousands. Even with the dead one's, there are a LOT." Adam reported. "Just as there are many countries, those countries each have their own unique language."

Ilse gave a little squeak of excitement, as if she'd just been proposed to. "And you can understand them all, amazing…" Gathering herself, Ilse coughed into her fist. "Ahem. I don't suppose… could I bring some other books over, to be translated as well?"

"Hmm? What, got some books here you can't read?"

"Yes…" Ilse looked around, just to be safe, as well as looking at Moblit, who simply gestured to continue. "My family… we have some books in my house that are written in an unknown language. Several different ones, actually. I've been trying for ages to translate them, but…"

"…But it's forbidden?" Adam guessed. "More of that King's law crap?"

Ilse grimaced, then nodded. "It's considered heretical to have any knowledge from beyond the Walls. I have no idea of the contents of my books, for all I know it's just a collection of recipes or myths, nothing regarding history or something that could lead to advancements in our society. Even so, if anyone found out and reported it…"

"But that's not really as much of a concern anymore, with the biggest source of outside knowledge walking amongst you." Adam deduced. "Bring me your books. Should be easy enough to translate, I can certainly spare a minute."

Ilse smiled and gave an affirmative nod, clearly giddy with excitement. Wasn't long after that Adam's eyes lit up, as Armin had evidently been asked to demonstrate their long range comm's via summoning Adam to meet Erwin. As he made his way to the castle, he noticed Eren been helped up on a horse and was likewise headed there.

"Something occurred to me." Moblit suddenly spoke, just keeping pace.

"Hmm?"

"Our language. You say you've never encountered it at all, not even in the outside world? How is that possible?"

"…Don't know, it's certainly one more mystery for me, on top of the Titan's and the Wall's being things I've never encountered. Could be someone invented a whole new alphabet for you, that's possible."

Ilse furrowed her brow. "That… certainly would be an undertaking… but it wouldn't be impossible…"

Moblit scratched his head. "I suppose it might not be. Ah, and here I was thinking maybe we could help you determine where we are. You said it yourself, many countries with their own languages. It could have been a clue."

"Ah well, better luck next time." Adam shrugged.

---

Inside the castle, a monumental reunion was taking place.

"Oh my old friend, how I've missed you…" Adam sighed as he cradled his Mk. 31 HMG. As soon as he had touched it, the ammo counter had come up on his feed, relieving his concern that the dopes around him had accidentally fired the thing, wasting bullet's! But here it was, tucked away in the armoury, center of the room.

"We took good care of it, made sure to place it here as gently as could be. Which wasn't easy, let me tell you!" Hange declared. "Darn thing weighs more than Levi! Which isn't saying a lot but it does call into question if all your weaponry is this excessive?"

"If you're asking about my armaments specifically, yes. Subtlety is for suckers, that's my philosophy." Adam inspected the barrel, seeing it hadn't been worn down or damaged by the action it had seen. "If you're asking about my people, we do have smaller firearms, like pistols. Little things even your spindly arms could wield."

"Oooooh, do tell!" Hange clapped their hands. "I assume they can also carry multiple bullets as well? I took note of that," Hange pointed to the ammo belt visible, "And it's an intriguing design. Certainly more effective than our own pistols and rifles."

"It certainly is, in pretty much every regard." Adam agreed. "Flintlock's and muskets have been obsolete in the outside world for years. In term's of shot's per minute, accuracy, and damage, you're hopelessly outmatched."

"Fascinating…" Hange stroked their chin. "I guess even if your people encountered Titan's, you wouldn't have anything to fear."

"Definitely not." Adam replied without hesitation. "The weak spot threw me for a loop for a minute, but once that was sorted out, they die like everything else. Just a bunch of meat."

"Ohhhhh, that confidence is just… HMMMMMMM!" Hange shivered. "I'm definitely keeping an eye on you out in the field, you are such a fascinating specimen!"

"And time. Congratulations, you lasted a whole minute before the charm ended." Adam declared, storing his weapon on his back and making for the exit.

"Progress!" Hange declared, following him. "Before you know it, you'll be spending the whole day with me!"

"More likely I'm going to filter out your voice exclusively." And he could too, just had to tune his audio receptors and have Armin or KIPO do all the talking instead. Speaking of which, the two of them were waiting outside the door for him, with Commander Erwin and Mini Morgan a.k.a. Levi.

"I take it you found your weapon in order?" Erwin intoned.

"I did. Could have done without the escort though." Adam gestured behind him to a still smiling Hange, which earned him the tiniest sympathetic look from Levi. "It's in perfect condition, but I did burn through half of it's ammo fighting the Titan's, so you'll definitely need to let Specter convert something to refill my stock before we head out there."

"I've already put aside as much material as possible for Armin to do just that. Even if the King has yet to give us a proper supply chain, I trust you won't be left entirely empty handed." Erwin turned towards Armin. "Which brings us to the first order of the day, officially. Adam, Armin, and miss KIPO, who I trust is listening in, I would like you to formally introduce yourselves to the Scout's. Help them understand what their dealing with, to help quell their fears and suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Armin raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What could they be suspicious about?"

"Aren't you the smart one?" Levi tiled his head. "You really don't see how people would be a little hesitant around a giant metal man whose face nobody has seen, who uses technology so advanced it appears to be magic, and can apparently tear Titans apart with his bare hands?"

"Wimps." Adam chimed in, which earned him a glare from Levi and a cry from Armin.

"Adam, please. People are naturally afraid of what they don't understand. I've had more time with you than anyone, and I still don't fully understand everything you are or where you come from." Armin tried. "We just have to help them understand that you're really no different from them, like you did for me."

"Well said." Hange clapped with a smile. "I certainly have faith everyone will come around, just like they're doing with Eren. A chance to talk, some demonstrations, and we'll all be one big happy family!"

"At the very least, try to convince them you'll be aiming for the enemy, and that it's worth betting our lives on you." Levi offered his two cents.

"Is that all?" Adam drawled. He shrugged, then turned to Erwin. "Well, no time like the present, let's get this over with. When did you want this… presentation to happen?"

"Right now. I've had all the Scout's gather outside in assembly, they'll all be brought up to speed at the same time." Erwin made for the door, and gestured for those present to follow. "I suspect this will last the rest of the day, if not the following ones as well. If you could use that… hologram of yours to provide visual aids, that might speed things along."

'You hear that KIPO? It's your time to shine.' Adam opened up the comm's between him, KIPO, and Armin. 'Armin, I'm going to rely on the two of you for this, public speaking is not my thing. Be sure to dumb things down as best you can.'

'I'll… try my best." Armin answered. 'KIPO? Is this going to be okay?'

'Of course Armin, why wouldn't it be?'

'It's just that, there's going to be a lot of people gathered. We've taken it slow so far, just three to four at once. I'm just a little bit worried about everyone's reactions, if it'll be… less than pleasant.'

'Awww, Armin, are you trying to spare KIPO's feelings?' Adam chuckled, a deep twisted sound that sent shivers up Armin's spine.

'Really? Armin, is that true, you're trying to protect me?' KIPO sounded… pleased at that news. 'Well, you don't have to worry. Just as you, Eren, and the Commander's have reacted quite positively towards my reveal, I trust the majority will come around! Maybe not immediately, but eventually, for sure!'

The sensation of bubbles seemed to wash over Armin, a strange feeling he couldn't really describe but somehow just attached the word "bubbles" to it. If Armin had to guess, he suspected KIPO had something to do with that, perhaps infecting him with her mood? If so, it certainly helped hamper any gloomy thought's he'd been having.

"…Well, if you're sure, then let's introduce you to everyone!" Armin declared, before squeaking as he accidentally did that out loud!

"…That silent communications thing again?" Levi inquired, to which Armin meekly nodded. "Was wondering why your eyes were lighting up. You really can hear each other's thoughts, just like that?"

"It's… a little bit more complicated than that, but yes. Haven't really tested the range so far, but it certainly is more efficient than flares or parchment." Armin explained. "I was thinking, if we could give it to the entire Survey Corp…"

Levi's nodded. "I was asking metal mouth about that too. Part of your "technology" I gather, I take it it would require Specter and enough material?" Levi turned to Adam, never slowing his pace.

"Got it in one. It's just a matter of priorities and how much material you have to offer. Your choice of replenishing my ammo, making new equipment, and giving each Scout or enough of them a wireless comm's implant." Adam listed off. "How many soldiers do you have under your command anyway?"

"Around three hundred total." Erwin answered.

Adam stopped, and the sudden gesture had everyone pause to look back at him.

"…How many soldiers exist within the Walls total?" Adam inquired.

"Three hundred in the Scout Regiment, two thousand in the Military Police Regiment, and thirty thousand in the Garrison, though the actual number of combat ready personal is a third of that." Erwin reported.

"Fuuuuuuuck, and you're the people who go out to fight the Titans?"

"Hmm? What's that? Do I detect admiration in your voice, dear sir?" Hange grinned mischievously with a hint of pride.

"More like disbelief you people lasted long enough for me to pull your fat out of the fire." Adam answered. "I am not exaggerating, you need me."

"We do." Erwin admitted, no hesitation or shame. "We've been fighting a losing battle for nearly a century, answers always eluding us, victory always denied. You and Eren are the first turning point we've experienced in our lives, and we are banking on that being what finally let's us see the outside world in our lifetimes."

"One would call that a sucker's bet. Not worried I'll take that information about your military strength as a sign I can just seize control of the Wall's and rule as King? Certainly would be less effort than fighting all the Titans pretty much by myself." Adam "innocently" asked, which earned him a sign from Armin and KIPO.

Erwin Smith however, merely smiled. "Hardly. You've made your intentions clear, that you have no desire to stay here longer than necessary. And I like to think I can read people, even one's encased head to toe in coverings. You don't strike me as someone who takes the easy way out."

"Heh." Adam audibly smirked, and resumed walking. "Neither do you, apparently."

"Of course. How else could I have been a Scout?" Erwin replied, resuming his own pace. Soon, the group approached the doors leading to the outside, and exited into the sun.

---

Assembled before Adam and Armin was an impressive sea of brown and green. Many of the Scout's were wearing their signature green capes with the Wing's of Freedom displayed proudly on the backs, but other's had forgone them simply to wear their military jacket's, likewise displaying the Scout's emblem. Erwin had guided everyone to the crowd, all present standing at the castle's west side where the space between castle and wall was most prevalent, allowing the entire Scout Regiment room to gather.

Escorted to the front where they would speak before everyone, Armin was pleasantly surprised by Mikasa and Eren exiting the crowd to met him.

"Armin! You're really here! Did you see me! I did it, I was actually able to change into a Titan again, practically the whole day!" His best friend chatted away a mile a minute, eager to share the day's events.

"Oh yeah, I saw. You probably didn't see me, but I wasn't that far behind Adam. Was just clearing the tree's when you were put to work. It looks like you got a real handle on it buddy!" Armin grinned.

"You better believe it! At this rate, I can lead the charge against the Titan's, you can leave them to me! We probably won't even need Adam!"

"Did almost dying at Trost seriously teach you nothing?" Jean muttered from the crowd, with Connie and Sasha nodding in agreement.

Ignoring them, Eren continued. "Anyway, how have you been? I figured it wasn't all fun and games in the Interior, you've probably been hard at work yourself."

"You could say that. Just yesterday I held my own against ten opponents in a sparring match." Armin matter of factly informed, to shared look's of shock and disbelief from his friends. "No really guys, I'm not joking. Ask Adam or KIPO, they can tell you all about it."

At the mention of those names, Mikasa frowned and directed a look at the armoured man, who was waiting for Armin to join him in front of the crowd. "…Armin… do you trust that man?"

"…I do." Armin answered, honest and true. "I know he's… brazen, and didn't leave a good first impression… but I trust Adam will keep his word. If nothing else, it serves his own interests. We can trust he'll help us, because it helps him."

Mikasa was still frowning, not letting Adam out of her sight. "…He hasn't hurt you in any way?"

"…No." Too late, Mikasa noticed the pause, which Armin quickly moved to amend. "No, really, he hasn't! He was a little eager throwing me into the sparring ring against Reiner, but it was just training, that's it! No deliberate attempts to injure me at all."

"Reiner? You've seen him?" Eren inquired.

Grateful for the change in subject, Armin nodded. "And Annie, Bertolt, and Marco too. They were all assigned to Stohess and are watching over Adam and I."

"I see… that's good to hear!" Eren nodded, though his smile didn't quite meet his eyes. He was happy for his friends, really, but he couldn't help but be a little disappointed four of the best of the 104 had joined the MP's. If Jean could do it, surely Reiner or Annie could too!

'Guess I'll just have to work extra hard to take back our home, then they can see their village again too!' Eren thought to himself.

"Hey runt, are we doing this thing or what?" A rumbling voice called out, and Armin jumped as he realized he'd been holding up everything.

"Right, coming Adam!" Armin called, moving to join him but turning back to his friends. "We'll catch up later, it was good to see you!"

"Same here!" Eren replied, while Mikasa smiled. Her worries and suspicions were still there, but Armin genuinely looked okay. That was really all that mattered.

Armin hurried to join Adam, the faint hint of annoyance rubbing off the man. "…So… thought's on how we're going to do this?"

"Yeah. KIPO gives a modified Arasaka sales pitch, you translate what she says into word's your people can understand as best you can, I'll speak up if needed. Introduce her first, so she can then provide visual aid that will help make things easier.'"

"What kind's of visual aid?" Armin inquired.

"Demonstrations of how effective my weapon's are, what my technology can do… I figure once we have our supply chain, there's a number of item's Specter can create in addition to bullet's. Comm system's, long range weapon's, even some prosthetics on the off chance Titan's only manage to wound occasionally." Adam answered, making to pull the projector orb off his waist.

"…That is known to happen, a small miracle." Armin thought back to the day's he witnessed Scout's coming back through the gates leading to the outside, looking broken and defeated and missing limb's sometimes.

Despite that, they kept heading back out to fight once again.

'KIPO, are you ready?' Armin steeled his nerves, ready to start.

'Of course Armin! I am ready and eager to greet our new coworkers!' KIPO chirped, a buzz with activity. Thankfully not literally, or Armin might be experiencing a stomach ache from Specter fluttering about his inside's.

Armin smiled, the A.I.'s positivity infectious. 'Well then, let's get started.'

Adam activated the orb, which lit up and lifted out of his mechanical hands, flying high into the sky. Many exclamation's of shock and curiosity escaped the crowd, who watched as the shimmering of pink started to appear.

"…Wait." Adam spoke up, as a thought occurred to him. "I just realized, to address a crowd this big and let everyone in the back get a good view, KIPO's probably going to have to-"

"TITAN!" A cry rang out, as a fifteen meter tall KIPO suddenly stood before everyone.

"Yeah, do that." Adam gestured, as Armin slapped his face.

This was off to a great start.

---

To be fair, it wasn't like all the Scout's had scattered and gotten into defensive positions. It probably would have been a lot different if everyone was wearing their ODM gear, but most had simply jumped to the side on instinct to find cover or a weapon before a Titan could begin to attack them. The initial panic had died almost as soon as it began, specially once Erwin called out for everyone to remain calm.

KIPO had awkwardly waved at the crowd, just realizing how her appearance might be upsetting to a people who fought giant's on a regular basis. However, as she stood there making no sudden moves, the Scout's were able to get their nerves under control. It further helped that upon demonstration, KIPO showed her from was incapable of touching anyone, via her poking a finger through Armin, then Captain Levi, then other's throughout the crowd, slowly as not to frighten them anymore then needed. Once everyone saw she was truly unabated to make any move's against them, the crowd relaxed.

"I didn't know she could make projections this size." Armin whispered to Adam.

"Mark 11, she could simulate a duplicate of the whole castle if she had to." Adam informed his handler. That information formed an idea in Armin's mind, of potentially distracting the Titan's for the Scout's. Might be worth testing…

Putting the idea on hold, Armin renewed focus on KIPO, who was now formally introducing herself. She gave an informative speech, explaining herself and Adam quite nicely, her talk's with Armin allowing her to adjust her explanations. Several time's she winked out to show large detailed moving pictures, which illustrated a story of a faceless person making another person. The story itself was more fantasy and magical, but it lead to KIPO explaining human's learnt how to make that story real through technology, over the process of many years. It wasn't perfect, but for those who did and didn't understand alike, most were able to see KIPO as some sort of artificial spirit, who was an ally.

Next came Adam, or rather, Adam's power. A question to the crowd about the level of prosthetics available within the Wall's revealed that such thing's existed, mostly wooden limb's, peg leg's, possibly wood or glass eyes. A Scout named Tomas revealed he had an older brother in the Interior who owned a diamond mine and had lost his left arm, and now possessed a functioning claw prosthetic. To his surprise, KIPO was able to simulate it before everyone, making slight adjustments at Tomas's input. A demonstration of a man using the device to pick up a cigarette had many Scout's amazed, even if a giant light girl was far more impressive.

Working off the fact the people of the Wall's were able to make prosthetics that could tap into muscle and nerve signals, thus able to move them almost as well as their real limb's, KIPO was able to explain cybernetic limb's. That went far easier than explaining her own existence, as it was a conceivable idea, using technology to improve what already existed. As she spoke, the artificial limb's on display evolved, going from simple wooden replica's, to metal functioning claw's, to better claw's, to crude metal arm's, to finally, intricate and detailed cybernetic limb's.

There wasn't a single person in attendance who wasn't wide-eyed, and hardly any who didn't have their mouth's open. Before their eye's, stock images of cybernetically enhanced citizen's were on display. It started out "simple," one's with prosthetic arm's, leg's, even some with eye's, who the Scout's were assured worked and provided sight. The designs ranged from the obvious, to one's that you'd have a hard time telling the difference (Armin subtly rubbed the side of his face). There was even a look at a Mantis Blade, the sight of a man's arm's opening up to reveal the deadly appendage causing several to clench their toes in silent horror. Eventually though, KIPO revealed how much cybernetic's could cover.

"Wait…" A hand cautiously went up, belonging to a brown mushroom haired Scout who couldn't be older than seventeen. "Are you saying… you can put these," he gestured to the artificial organ's that floated above them, metal heart's, lung's, and some other thing's he was sure didn't actually exist in the human body, "Inside of you?"

"Indeed we can!" KIPO offered a double thumb's up, smiling. "There is virtually nothing that can't be replaced and enhanced! Injuries and illness that seem serious today are just one quick upgrade to being a mere annoyance! Should your King grant it, we can give you the power to survive and overcome the Titan's far easier! Bring any soldier's who may have lost a limb but are still willing to fight, we can give them a second chance!"

"…Couldn't we just get weapon's like he has?" Jean asked, pointing to Adam, and the gun on his back. "No offence, but it feel's kind of… well, unnatural to put any of this inside of us, or attached to us."

KIPO tilted her head, confused. "Well, yes, certainly we can grant you the long range firepower that would make fighting the Titan's much easier, but why limit yourselves? With cybernetics, a Titan's bite would no longer be fatal, in a variety of ways. Imagine having arm's that could pry their mouth's open, or skin and bone's enhanced that could survive the crushing force! You could even be given speed to more easily dodge them!"

Jean didn't quite look convinced, even as KIPO displayed such thing's, a man breaking solid stone with his bare hands, a woman with silver skin that didn't even register the bullet's bouncing off of her, or the sledgehammer bashing into her. Indeed, quite a few Scout's were frowning, finding the whole thing more repulsive than anything else at worst.

But… other's were looking curious, intrigued. Some were even staring at their own limb's, pondering.

"Um, then is Mr. Smasher there also cyber… cy… cybernetically enhanced?" Sasha asked.

"He certainly is! I'm pleased to report that Adam is the highest converted individual in history, at an unmatched 96% conversion rate!" KIPO gestured to her right in a "Behold" pose as an image of Adam appeared beside her, and before everyone's eye's, a single point was illuminated.

"…Is that his brain?" Petra gasped, horrified.

KIPO nodded eagerly. "Indeed! I have taken note how many of you thought Adam was wearing armour, and I'm glad I can clear up that misconception. Adam is not wearing armour, he IS the armour! The greatest cyborg you'll ever meet!"

Now everyone was looking at Adam, or the display of Adam for those farther in the back, with looks they'd previously been given Eren, fear, disgust, and some, hate. Armin himself turned to Adam, a look of shock on his face.

"Adam… are you really…"

Adam shrugged. "Cat's out of the bag. I traded every bit of meat that I had for metal, hope that's not an issue for you."

Armin simply stood there, not sure how he should feel about such a thing. He'd witnessed a lot these past few days, but still… for Adam to be… what he was…

"Amazing…" Armin exhaled. "Is that… what's it like, being you?"

If Adam could blink, he would. That… was not the reaction he was expecting. "I'd say it's fucking phenomenal, but I could be biased. Definitely has it's perks, and it definitely outpaces my old body in every conceivable way."

"Wow…" Armin cautiously held up a hand, to the shock of the crowd, and when Adam made no move to stop him, he tentatively laid his palm upon Adam's chassis. "To talk about an "old body" like it's an old suit… there's so much to learn from you."

"…You really are a different sort, aren't you?" Adam remarked, honestly impressed at Armin's attitude. The kid really just went with the flow, huh.

"Oye." A call from the crowd had Armin retract his hand. "So if your body is… that," Levi gestured, "Exactly what's the extent of your abilities? How much punishment can you take and dish out?"

Adam turned to look at the crowd, who stared back at him with caution. "I could get hit by a mountain and feel just fine. I can run practically forever and not feel exhaustion. I have armament's," at this he popped open his arm cannon's, an act replicated by his hologram, "built in me, that can turn a Titan to Swiss cheese. I can throw a horse from here all the way to the Interior, punch my way through your Walls, and crush a Titan."

Adam stood tall, his voice sweeping over everyone present. "I am Adam Smasher, and I'm your best weapon against the Titan's."

Levi just stood there, arm's crossed and gaze scrutinizing, as he listened. He offered nothing, but the faint dip of his head signalled just the tiniest bit of acceptance. Around him, many were feeling mixed feeling's of fear and hope in equal measure. They could tell, Adam wasn't exaggerating, and the thought of such power was terrifying.

But like Eren, if it was pointed towards the enemy…

Erwin Smith stepped forward, and turned to address the crowd. "Let it be said, this changes nothing. Whether the man before you is a man of flesh and bone or amazingly a man of metal, the fact remains he is a power that will crush our enemies and secure us victory. Think of him as a weapon if you have to, but don't forget, he is our ally. I don't expect you to full understand or accept him, but that doesn't matter. What matter's is how many Titan's he can kill, and how many lives will be saved doing so."

Had Erwin looked, he'd be pleasantly surprised to see KIPO had projected his image to better project his words to the troops. Most Arasaka higher ups found using any hologram that enlarged their face more of a disservice, the subtle features of doubt, fear, or nervousness much easier to pick out. But for true leader's, one's with iron will's, true strength of character, and vision incomprehensible by mortal men, such thing's did not appear.

It had been that way for Saburo Arasaka. It was that way now for Erwin Smith.

The image was replaced with KIPO again. "Please, if there are any concerns or questions, feel free to ask. Even if it comes to you tomorrow or later in the week, I am available."

"I have a question." A voice called out, and out stepped Mikasa, who stared up at KIPO with a blank look. "What did you do to Armin?"

"…Oh, you mean, how I changed his body?" KIPO deduced. "Thank you for bringing that up, it actually relates to Specter, and how he'll be using that to-"

"What did you do?" Mikasa repeated, eye's glaring in an unsuccessful intimidation tactic.

"…I cybernetically enhanced him, to make him a member of… well, Adam and I's "team," I guess you could say." KIPO explained. "It was to provide us a link to your world, as well as mutually benefit us both."

Mikasa looked towards Armin, checking over him, looking for any signs of irregularities. "What enhancements exactly? Are his… are his limb's not his anymore?" The clenching of a fist from the black haired girl signalled KIPO was on very thin ice if the answer was yes.

"Oh no, nothing like that!" KIPO assured the girl. "His modifications were all internal, top of the line and completely unnoticeable. Why, I can show you right now!"

Before everyone, KIPO brought up a image of Armin, large enough that everyone could see and proudly wearing his Scout uniform.

Then, with a swipe of her hand, KIPO waved away his uniform.

A stunned silence overcame everyone, as multiple faces went beet red, none more than Armin's own who was gaping like a fish.

"Dear god, it's a third LEG!" Ymir exclaimed uproariously, which was what broke the camel's back as cries of revulsion, laughter, and embarrassment rang out!

"KIPO!" Armin cried out, waving his hands as if that would dispel the image above him somehow.

"KIPO, if you'd be so kind as to hurriedly move on…" Adam intoned.

"Well as you wish. But I thought it important to provide-"

"KIPO, moving on?" Adam repeated.

"Right. Ahem, well, as you have seen, Armin's body is unchanged from the outside. However, if we go deeper…" At this KIPO waved her hand again, which caused Armin's skin to be removed, displaying his muscles for all to see. A brief cry of terror at was essentially a mini-Colossal rang out, before KIPO waved again to show Armin's skeleton, "We will finally see his enhancement's. Please, look at your leisure, these are top quality cybernetics." KIPO offered.

Laid out before everyone, was a terrifying and yet oddly beautiful image. Throughout the skeleton, seamlessly mixed in, were intricate bits of metal, running along Armin's leg's, arm's, spine, even his skull and rib's. The display was synced up to Armin now, as when he moved, the skeleton moved too. Everyone watched as the eye's still present in the skeleton looked up, then left and right with no signs of discomfort. When Armin looked at his arm's and poked at them, the display did too. The fact Armin couldn't seem to find anything wrong with him, was interesting.

What was curious were the shimmering things running along outside his bones's, little sparkles that seemed mostly clustered around his torso.

"As you can see, Armin can not even tell he has been enhanced. Most of it is purely defensive, simply to ensure his survival as Adam's partner in this dangerous world, but it also allows Armin to wield Specter, or as I'm told, what you referred to as Tingles." KIPO waved her hand (which had everyone brace for another horrifying sight) to display a single Specter nanite (which had a collective sigh of relief). "This is Specter. With it, and the millions of its… kin, you could say, it will allow Armin to create armour and ammunition for Adam, as well as any other technologies deemed necessary. All we need is the material, and all we've shown you will be possible."

The display changed to show an entire Specter swarm, which launched itself at a deposit of metal, turning it from a solid lump of ore into ODM gear, bullet's, and even a hammer (which was picked up by Eren's Titan and wielded with expert proficiency in a dramatic visualization) in less than a minute.

"So… any questions?"

---

Predictably, there were a LOT of questions, and it lasted to the point the sun had set hours ago and everyone was ordered to turn in for the night. Supper had been served outside, and in between meals, the stars of the day were approached.

Naturally Mikasa and Eren, along with the rest of the 104th Corp, had rushed to Armin and asked if he was really okay. The blonde was feeling more embarrassed than he'd ever been in his life (Adam had promised he'd talk with KIPO on the basis he never wanted to see that sight again), but he honestly didn't feel any different than normal. Mikasa wasn't entirely convinced, but by comparing his situation to Eren, that seemed to help quell some fears. KIPO stood by, now normal sized, to reiterate everything was entirely beneficial, but that just earned her a glare from Mikasa and looks of disbelief from the other's.

"Armin, you honestly found some really weird friends." Connie stated, waving his hand through KIPO who didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"I think you found some really awesome one's. Tell me true, was that to scale? Because whoa mama, I pity your future wife!" Ymir cackled, only to get thumped on the head by Mikasa who defended her friend's honour. As the freckled girl moaned in pain and Krista rushed to her side, Jean stepped up.

"It really doesn't hurt?"

"No Jean, I'm perfectly fine. Honestly if she hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have known anything was different about me."

"Hmmmm." Jean scrunched his face in thought, looking Armin over. "…Well, long as you're really fine… Still though, to have metal inside of you, to have your eye's… replaced…" Jean peered into Armin's blue's, trying to note any irregularities.

"That one I did know beforehand, but I figured as I can still see and there's no noticeable difference, what's the harm?" Armin shrugged.

Jean shook his head in disbelief. "I can see how you were the one to argue Eren's defence to the Garrison, and Adam's to the court."

"That's our Armin! He doesn't sweat the small stuff!" Sasha cheered!

"Wouldn't quite phrase it like that, but sure." Jean nodded.

Beside them, Scout's cautiously approached KIPO in groups of two or three, approaching the pink hologram with inquires she was all too happy to answer, mostly clarification on cybernetic's and Adam. Sasha herself had come up to the pinkette to enquire about the aforementioned Swiss Chess, to everyone's groans (and intrigue as KIPO showed the diary product). Gunther had approached KIPO with Oluo, and judging by their reactions, it had been a rather pleasant conversation. Most were content to chat amongst themselves, the day's event's creating a buzz of non stop conversation. But for the one's who weren't content with speculating and wanted clear cut answer's, they steels their nerves and went to the source. It was slow going, but it was happening.

As for Adam, he was beset by the Commander and his immediate subordinates, who found the cyborg even more fascinating.

"I suppose we looked quite foolish, thinking that body was armour." Erwin observed as Adam had popped open one of his shotguns to display. "The design is impressive, being able to conceal weapon's like that."

"You should see what else can be stored in your body. The skies the limit, really." Adam remarked.

"Indeed. Which is why I'd like to ask something of you, if you'd be inclined to listen."

"What? Want me to show your soldier's how much better metal is?"

"In a way, I suppose so." Erwin gestured toward's the gathered crowd of 104th graduates. "I'd like you to test Eren Jaeger."

---

Day 4

Eren awoke to the horrible sight of a pair of glowing red eyes staring right into his own. He absolutely did NOT scream like a little girl, and any recording's Adam may have displayed were clearly fabricated (thank the Wall's for Armin having even an inkling of how that worked)!

"Oh good, you're awake." Adam backed away from Eren's top bunk, as a drowsy Eld groggily gathered his own bearings from the bottom. "Get dressed, we're heading to the practice area."

"Practice?" Eren asked, still confused why this was the first thing he was waking up to.

"Yeah, so you can transform? We're going to get a real handle on that Titan body of yours." Adam clarified, before he stalked outside. Eren watched him retreat, before a yawn from below grabbed his attention.

Peering over his bed, Eren caught sight of a tired Eld looking back up at him. "I uh… I guess I'm heading out?"

"Sounds like it." Eld confirmed. "…Want me and the other's to head out with you?"

"If you think you have to, I guess." Eren scratched his head. "At least let someone know what's happening? I don't want anyone to think I've wandered off."

"Nah, of course not. You're just being abducted by a metal man." Eld retorted. He yawned once again, before making to stand up. "I'll find the Captain and let him know. Probably better I wake him up then your footsteps doing that anyway."

"Thanks Eld." Eren made to climb down and get dressed. "Sorry you got woken up so soon."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Eld waved off. "Make sure you get a bite to eat before you head out though. This early, you're practically guaranteed the freshly cooked stuff."

Eren once again gave his thanks and began to get ready. Soon he was headed outside for the communal area, where indeed the cook's were in the process of making breakfast. A pipping hot loaf of bread was available, and even though it burned Eren's fingers it certainly was delicious. A quick helping of porridge completed the meal, wolfed down within minutes, and thus Eren soon found himself heading for the practice area.

Eren's practice area, to be specific, not to be confused with the practice area for the soldier's who weren't secretly weapons of mass destruction.

Sure enough, he spotted Adam, who was staring down his handheld weapon while aiming at some tree's nearby.

"Took your sweet time, didn't you?" Adam remarked. "What was the hold up? I was expecting you ten minutes ago."

"…Probably because I was eating?" Eren frowned. "You know, since you woke me up with no warning, I had to get that out of the way? Unless you think me fighting on an empty stomach would be better?"

"Aren't you a Titan? I thought your people confirmed you don't have to eat, no digestion systems." Adam placed his weapon on the ground next to a stump, the started to walk towards the centre of the clearing.

"Uh, no. I'm human still. I can turn into a Titan, but I was human first. I eat and shit like everyone else. Sleep too, if you'll let me." Eren bite back, annoyed at being compared to those monsters in such a way and Adam's attitude in general.

'How has Armin not gotten fed up with this guy already, it's beyond me.' Eren pondered.

"Is that right? Guess you don't get all the benefits of being a Titan. Shame."

"Shame?"

"Shame." Adam confirmed. "I was thinking of how your situation is a bit like being cybernetically enhanced."

Eren blinked, confused. "…How exactly? I'm… pretty sure I don't have any metal in me…" He poked his forearm, just to be sure. Seeing Armin's body yesterday, it certainly had a shudder go up Eren's spine.

"Yeah, you're still meat. But, you also have a superior body, one that is overcoming the weakness of your human one. If you had become a full Titan, and didn't have to eat, breathe, or get tired in the slightest, I'd say you're closer to my kind than the people here." Adam stopped, arriving at their destination and turning to Eren.

Eren, for his part, was seriously considering Adam's words. "…That sort of sounds like your kind aren't human anymore."

"Eh, it's been debated." Adam shrugged. "Some people thinking the body doesn't matter, only the soul, and no modification can take that away from you. Some think the soul is a load of crock and it's only your deeds and actions that matter, doesn't matter how borged up you are. And some think the second you take even an ounce of machinery into yourself you're damned forever, never mind how you use it."

"…Huh." Some of that… it actually made a sort of sense to Eren. It certainly put his power into perspective, just a bit. "But… do you think of yourself human?"

"Do you?" Adam questioned.

"Yes." Eren answered, without hesitation.

"Then that's all the matters, but let's see if you still think that a couple week's down the line." Adam clapped his hands twice, and the sudden act and sound had Eren jolt. "Now enough talk and more action! Make with the Titan already! Come out swinging, like I'm this big bad Colossal you told me about! Like I tried to kill you just over a week ago! Like I hurt your angry girlfriend and could have punched her head clean off! Hit me like you want to kill me!"

Every sentence he clapped his hands, like he was drumming a war beat. Honestly, Eren didn't need much motivation, he kinda sorta absolutely wanted to deck Adam, just a bit, but mentioning Mikasa like that did help eliminate any reservations he was having.

'I mean, he's literally asking for it, he can take a hit. I'll just kick him over the tree line back to the castle, that should shut him up.'

With a goal in a mind and his head clear of doubt, Eren took a hearty bite out of his hand, and a familiar crash of lightning and the roar of his Titan was heard throughout the area. Quickly gathering his bearings, Eren looked down to see Adam, who brought out his knife in his right hand, while gesturing for Eren to attack with his left. Narrowing his eye's, Eren stepped forward the short distance to get his foot in prime kicking position!

Only to stumble as Adam disappeared and his left ankle was sliced open! With a cry of surprise Eren landed on his knee's, wondering what the heck just happened!

---

Adam exited his Sandevistan right behind Eren, turning around to be granted the sight of his bare Titan ass as the no longer little squirt was trying to pinpoint his location. At this angle and with Eren's confusion, it would be easy to pop open his mini gun and ice the brat.

'Of course, we won't be doing that. But it certainly gives us an option if we encounter anymore like him.' Adam twirled his knife over his knuckles and caught it, the steaming blood flying off with style.

Deciding to keep this sparring session going, Adam called out to his opponent. "Right behind you idiot, what, are those pointy ears just for show?"

Eren perked up, and immediately made to counter attack, a sweeping backhanded right fist coming around to collide with Adam. Some props to the kid for managing to judge the distance and land an accurate strike from sound alone, Adam would admit. But it wasn't enough to win this fight.

Adam had immediately made to switch his knife to his left hand, and brought up his right arm in a blocking gesture, the Titan sized fist making contact with his metal frame, and dragging his still planted feet through the grassy ground, creating a quarter of a circle embedded in the dirt. As Eren was completing his swing, Adam was getting to work, slicing down through Eren's wrist, the vibroknife slicing through the flesh and bone like butter!

The fist went limp and began to tumble away, but before it even hit the ground Eren was pulling his wrist back, either on the reflex of finishing his move or actually registering his hand had been cut off. Either way, it was a mistake. Adam reached out with his free hand and quickly snared a fist full of wrist flesh, and allowed himself to be pulled off the ground. Before Eren could even register he'd acquired an unwelcome passenger, Adam completed his ascent to smash into the exposed teeth of his target, breaking open the Titan body's jaw and snapping it's head back!

Adam rolled off the wrecked remains of Eren's face to reach the ground first, as Eren's awkward crouch combined with the sudden strike actually had him falling back. Comically the intact arm flailed widely in the air, desperate for purchase, only to find it's head not smashing against the ground, but it's neck colliding with something big and sturdy, holding it firmly.

Adam sank into the ground just slightly from the impact of catching Eren by his neck, but he had a firm grip, and with a quick vertical slice from his knife, proceeded to plunge his hand into the opened up nape, rooting around until he found something sturdy. With a firm but not excessive tug, he pulled out a flabbergasted Eren Jaeger, still embedded in his nape up to his torso.

"…Up for round 2?" Adam asked.

The green blinking human eyes of Eren stared back in disbelief, strange red markings embedded around them… before they scrunched up as Eren's face became one of rapid enthusiasm!

"Yes!" Eren cried, suddenly looking at Adam in a new light.

---

The morning pretty much went on like that, and Eren couldn't be happier!

After determining that it might be better to slide back in and keep using his current Titan body, Eren had wasted no time in getting back into fighting position!

Well, a little bit of time. Being swallowed back into the meat of his Titan and getting his human eyes linked up was a little tricky, but somehow he managed and was back to seeing the world at fifteen meters tall again. His wounds healed up rather nicely, less than a minute for all of them, the ankle the quickest one. His jaw cracked and snapped back into place with sickening crunches that would honestly be quite intimidating, specially as Eren licked over his bloody teeth with a prehensile tongue. Lastly, his right hand grew back, though Adam did ponder aloud if reattaching his severed one would be possible and quicker. Something to try another time, they supposed.

With a double slap to his face and hop to his feet, Eren was ready! With a battle cry, he brought down a fist dead centre on his waiting opponent!…

Only for his arm to be sliced into three long bloody ribbons, still attached and flopping around! Hadn't steered Eren in the slightest, as he whipped the transformed appendage like a… well, a whip, trying to see if the randomness of the flesh swinging down would be able to throw Adam off!

As it turned out, he had managed to land a strike, though it hadn't done any damage (least that's what Adam said), but it was enough Eren could follow up with two more whip attacks and a elbow drop. An empty crater and his lower jaw being removed were his rewards, but Eren was unfettered! Rolling away, Eren was grinning impishly under his nape, a sense of euphoria taking him over!

This was actually kind of fun!

Even as his eyes were popped, his back broken, his tongue removed, and many different sized holes were punched through his body, Eren kept fighting, kept trying to land a hit, undeterred in his efforts. At one point he was a limbless flopping torso, trying to bounce on over to deliver a headbutt, only to smack his face into the ground instead. That left him dazed enough Adam could cut him out again.

"Well, you certainly don't lack for determination. Are you feeling any of this, or do you power on through the pain?" Adam made to fully pull Eren out this time, with a wet squelch and dropping him to the ground.

"Ah… ha… ahhhhhhhhhh…" Eren panted out, sprawled out and sitting at Adam's feet. "I… I do. But not as much as I normally would? It's like," A pause to gulp down some air and catch his breath, "It's like it's muted? I feel it, I know where it happened, and I can see my ribs poking out of my chest… but it feels more like somebody punched me instead. Even for when there were holes I could poke my finger through, it didn't hurt as much as it should have."

"Really now. Then on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst pain you ever felt, your jaw being broken?"

"Hmmmmm," Eren scrunched his face in thought, "…I wanna say, four? I would say it hurt slightly less than when I've been punched in the face."

"Bet that happens a lot. Hand removed, and growing back?" Adam continued.

"Four, maybe a five. Like getting my hand slammed, but the pain didn't linger. And growing it back actually felt kinda nice, all tingly and stuff."

"You people use that word a lot around here. How about just now, with your limbs all gone?"

"Eight. Definitely an eight." Eren immediately declared. "I've had my actual arms bitten off, and shot off," A pointed look was delivered up at Adam, "And those were ten's. These also hurt, like a LOT, but I was able to power on through it." A little grin of pride as Eren scratched under his nose. "Heh, but that just might be me? I'm nothing if not determined."

"That or just oblivious. You going to do anything about that?" Adam gestured to Eren's face.

"Huh?" Eren brought his finger away from his face, and to his surprise, there was a deep crimson painting them when he wiped under his nose. "Whoa… what's that about?"

"Think you were taking more damage than you realized. Not that different from back home, people running hot and suffering internal problem's, causing red hot crimson to start come out of the nearest orifice." Adam supplied.

"Was that serious?" Eren rubbed his fingers together, smearing the red liquid between them.

"It's blood, you typically need it." Adam dead panned. "Can have KIPO run a scan, but I'm banking that healing of yours applies to your insides too. If you can grow back an arm, you probably can heal any damage to your organ's. But you might want to test it, see if the damage you take reduces the amount of time you can stay a Titan."

Eren nodded, yeah, it sounded like a good idea to tell the Section Commander about this. Thought he was curious… "So how do you handle this?" Eren wiped his face proper with the back of his hand and held up the stained appendage. "When your people run hot and start to bleed, what do they do?"

"Drugs." Adam immediately answered. "Always drugs. And always more drugs, because there was never a cure all, only a temporary delay."

Eren certainly wasn't expecting that. "You mean medicine right?"

"Honestly it's the same thing back home."

Eren frowned, but didn't dive further, he probably wouldn't like the answer. However, a horrible thought did occur to him…

"Is Armin going to run hot?!" Eren looked up in a panic! He rushed to his feet, looking Adam dead in his not-eye's.

"Probably not."

"Probably?!"

"It really depends on him. There are a multitude of factor's. Him actually using his cybernetic's would be a factor, but primarily his mental state is the biggest one." Adam answered.

"Mental?…" Eren questioned, not exactly following.

"How sane he is, how he see's his cybernetics as a blessing or a curse, having… friend's around… all of that can keep Armin healthy." Adam listed off. "Relax, I'll make sure he doesn't keel over. His health is important to me too. And KIPO's."

That seemed to placate Eren, as he definitely felt better about her than Adam. Sighing in relief, Eren suddenly noticed how hungry he was. "Uh, how long have we been out here?"

"Three hours, two minutes. Not including our current chat."

"Any chance we could get something to eat?"

Adam shrugged. "If you think you need it. After that though, we're heading back out to see if you can transform again."

"You sure?" Eren looked around, at a practice area that looked like a war zone. "I mean, I'm up for round 3, but I don't really think I'll be fighting many target's smaller than Titans."

"Pretty sure everyone would be happy to hear that. But it might be good to see how effective we could work together. Best way for you to transport me, if we can fight together, develop some techniques for fighting the Titan's…" Adam began to walk off, with Eren hurrying to follow him.

"Oh yeah, that does sound good!" Eren did pause a little, as another thought occurred to him. "Although, maybe you could be transporting me?"

Adam turned to stare at Eren, which had the boy stop to avoid colliding with him.

"…As a Titan or human?"

---

Day 5

Mikasa wasn't sure how she found herself standing beside a pink girl who wasn't even a real girl, but here she was.

Well actually, that wasn't entirely true. She knew exactly how it happened.

Yesterday, Armin had been summoned to demonstrate his cybernetics abilities, which many had assumed meant using Specter, but KIPO had inquired about combat training instead. Apparently, fighting with ODM blade's was a foreign concept to her, and she wanted to establish a proper basis for the techniques. All of which had gone over mostly everyone's heads, but Armin vouched for her so Erwin had directed him to the sparring area upon the blonde's request.

What followed next had cause Mikasa's heart to feel like it dropped into her stomach acid's. Her friend was suddenly a puppet, dancing around at someone's else's tune, as he fought Connie, Sasha, Ymir, Eld, and Oluo one at a time, entering grapple's and laying precision strikes like a master. It was honestly amazing, to see him triumph over and over.

But at the same time, it wasn't him. Mikasa couldn't help but see what was in front of her as something horrific, Armin a slave in his own body.

As he finally brought Oluo down, the man having lasted the longest of everyone (but clearly hesitating to deliver a strike against the blonde), Armin's demonstration was considered a success. Erwin had then permitted the boy follow Squad Leader Mike out to observe some advanced ODM techniques, to see if KIPO could make anything of it.

After that, it had been lunch, where a sweating but cheery Eren returned to her, only to almost immediately head on out again to transform. He hadn't even told her what exactly he'd been doing out in the practice area before his Titan reappeared, and everyone, watched as he picked up Adam and placed him on his shoulder.

"Anyone want to come up here to push me off?" Adam had called down, which Mikasa accepted in a heartbeat, using her ODM gear she'd donned to land on Eren's other shoulder. Seeing she was the only one, Adam directed Eren to run, evidently trying to gauge how shaky riding by Titan would be.

Mikasa would note she found the experience quite easy, thank you very much.

After that, with Eren helped out of his Titan, everyone had returned to finally see Armin using Specter, which saw a huge swarm of the shimmering metal burst from his palm's and turn a pile of scrap into fresh bullet's for Adam. Armin swore up and down he felt no pain, and Mikasa wanted to believe him, but she just couldn't wrap her head around it. A thought shared by many in the Scout's, who'd been chatting all day about their newest allies.

Come this morning, she'd actually been on her way to escort Armin to the gate's and see him off as he returned to the Interior, but her friend had evidently been called to the Commander's office instead. She'd passed him by in the hall's, to which Armin had asked if she could escort KIPO there instead, the… "A.I." apparently wanting to experience walking like a human some more, before she'd have to mostly hide away.

It was a ludicrous request and Mikasa couldn't hide the fact she thought that, but it was a dear friend asking it of her so she relented. The floating orb that was apparently how KIPO appeared in this world hovered around while the girl projected herself, enthusiastically greeting Mikasa with a warm sunny disposition.

Mikasa blatantly ignored her. She gestured for KIPO to follow, and made a straight line for the wagon to take her friend away.

Now here she was, waiting patiently, with no one for company except a being made of light who was taking in her surroundings like a child would, full of wonder and curiosity.

"Armin talks about you." KIPO offered, attempting conversation. "He's mentioned you are a good friend, and one of the strongest people he know's. I myself found your performance against Adam that day to be most impressive! I thought for sure you were cybernetically enhanced, you move with the speed of Arasaka's best!"

Mikasa had resolved to continue ignoring the girl, not at all interested in familiarizing herself with it. But her words were pulling her in, especially…

"One of the strongest?" Mikasa couldn't help herself, her pride taking over. "Who else is there?"

"One Annie Leonhart, do you know her?"

"We're acquainted." Mikasa's shoulder's sagged with relief, of course Armin would consider Annie strong as well. Not that Mikasa felt the urge to prove once and for all she was the greater warrior, no sir, she'd let Armin have his little fantasies. "…You really thought I was one of your kind? An… Arasakan?"

"I thought you were a member of the Arasaka Corp, yes. Your speed and skill were on par with recently disgraced Goro Takemura, I had determined you had received implants and training from the same training facility. Most impressive you are completely organic, is there any chance you would allow me to oversee you in action again?" KIPO peered inquisitively, looking over Mikasa with renewed interest.

The way she spoke, it was clearly meant to be praise. Try as Mikasa might, the girl's honest nature was playing to Mikasa's pride, and she found herself fiddling with her scarf, a little embarrassed. Fortunately, she was granted a reprieve with the arrival Connie and Jean, the later looking like he'd rather be anywhere else right now.

"Hey there Mikasa, hello KIPO!" Connie greeted, enthusiastic as can be.

"Hello there Connie Springer." KIPO curtsied, offering a little bow as greeting. "May I assist you in any way?"

"Yeah actually. I'm still kinda confused on Adam, could you explain him again?"

"Why certainly. Is there a specific detail that doesn't make sense?" KIPO titled her head, while bringing up a miniature projection of the man, slowly rotating to provide a full view of his body.

"Well, I was wondering… what did his mom look like?" Connie inquired.

…

"His… mother?" KIPO raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Like, I'm having a hard time picturing someone giving birth to Adam, when his whole body looks like that." Connie gestured to the display. "So like, are his parent's metal too?"

Jean slapped his face, HARD. "Why in god's name would you be trying to picture someone giving birth?"

"Huh? What's wrong? I helped deliver colt's and fillies all the time, and my little sister." Connie waved off. "But it's really hard for me to think of Adam being smaller than he was. Did he come out that size, and if so how big are his folk's? Or was more metal added over time?"

Mikasa couldn't help it, she covered her mouth to hide a deep hearty laugh that was threatening to escape her. Once again, Connie caused everyone's minds to just stop.

Even KIPO seemed to be having trouble processing this, her face entirely blank. But she eventually snapped out of it and resumed smiling. "Ah. I see. Perhaps I should start smaller. Connie, if I may have your attention?"

Connie perked up and nodded, eager to get some much needed answers.

"Now, see here, a fully healthy adult man. No cybernetics, prosthetics, or anything of the sort." Beside KIPO, the display changed from Adam to a simple human being. "But now, his leg is lost, and he requires a peg leg." The display adapted to indeed show just that, a wooden peg leg shimmering into view as a replacement limb.

Connie nodded along, following so far. Jean was watching too, though that seemed to be mostly as an aid to Connie than any really curiosity.

"Now, he loses another leg, and get's a replacement." Another peg leg, Connie nodded, still following. "Now, he loses an arm, so-"

"He get's a peg arm!" Connie exclaimed, eager to show he's cracked the code!

"…I was going to suggest a conventional wooden arm but if that's acceptable here then why not? A peg arm. In fact, let's assume he need's two right now, it was a very tragic accident." KIPO waved and both arm's were replaced with peg leg prosthetics.

Jean was cursing under his breath as Connie beamed. "Way to make the visitors from beyond think we're weirdo's, you dope."

"Now, last but not least, picture the man's torso is damaged." KIPO waved, and before the group's eye's, the man on display had his chest replaced with a tree trunk, leaving nothing but his head. "But then his head is damaged too, and he's finally converted to all wood." And there went the head.

All three stared, a multitude of questions ranging through two minds, but a third…

"Huh. Well if you explain it like that, it makes sense." Connie nodded.

"Seriously?!" Jean shouted, with Mikasa thankful he asked the questioned she wanted to.

"Well yeah. Adam was a guy, he got messed up, and he replaced all his bits. Only he had access to metal, not wood." Connie looked at Jean like he was the idiot.

"…Y'now what, you're right. Totally makes sense like that." Jean nodded.

"Ah, see buddy? I knew you'd get it!" Connie grinned. Turning back to KIPO, the bald Scout offered a hand. "Thank's KIPO, you're a really good explainer! If I have any more questions, I'll be sure to ask you!"

"It would be my pleasure to assist." KIPO extended her own hand, which passed through Connie's with no resistance.

"…Oh, right. Forgot about that." Connie rubbed the back of his head. "…Uh KIPO, are you able to-"

"Okay, that's enough for today. You ended on a nice moment, let's give the pink lady a breather, yeah?" Jean made to push Connie away, heading for the stables. "C'mon, we've got stable duty today."

"Huh? Oh yeah, forgot about that. Catch you later KIPO, Mikasa!" Connie waved goodbye.

Mikasa waved in sync with KIPO, and after a moment, turned to the pinkette. "KIPO, may I ask you something?"

"Of course!" KIPO exclaimed, giving Mikasa her undivided attention.

"Forgive my saying this, but… you seem a little… naive." Mikasa struggled to find the correct word. "It's… it's almost like you haven't encountered people before."

"Ah, that would be accurate. My first thirty three years of run time were primarily alone. My first interaction was with Adam Smasher, just over a year ago. My second, with Armin Arlert, a week ago. Since then, I've slowly but surely been meeting new people and expanding my understanding of human's, but evidently I'm still lacking in some area's." KIPO held a hand up to her chin in thought.

Mikasa took a moment to process KIPO's word's, and when she did, she suddenly felt nothing but sympathy. "Wait, so you've only had Adam Smasher primarily for company?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Mikasa gave KIPO a look of pity, and she was seeing the pinkette in a new light. It didn't absolve her of anything, but if all she knew of people came from a man like Adam Smasher… "KIPO, could you tell me something? How is it, being with Armin?"

"Most illuminating! Armin has given me so many new experiences, and is helping me in a variety of ways! Everyday is a learning experience, for both of us!" The hologram gushed.

"So… he's teaching you." Mikasa confirmed. "…Would you let me teach you too?"

"Oh, are you offering to show your ODM skill's? Based on Armin's praise, that would be ideal for creating a combat style-"

"I meant, I'd like to teach you how to be human. I think… I think I could help with that." Mikasa requested, as the inkling's of an idea formed.

Memories of her brief but happy childhood, taken from her in an instant. That empty pit of blackness she'd fallen into, only to be pulled out by someone who'd become her whole world. It was accurate to say, the Mikasa of before and the Mikasa of now were completely different. She had to relearn how to be again, how to be a person again. Even when tragedy struck again, it was thank's to Eren she became who she was.

'Eren taught me how to be human. Maybe… maybe I can teach KIPO how to be human.' Mikasa thought. Or at least, introduce the girl to the best human's she could find. Like Eren, the absolute best in Mikasa's eyes!

"…Well, I certainly am eager to learn. But if I may ask, why the interest?" KIPO questioned.

"…I don't know. Maybe… maybe I just see a kindred spirit." Mikasa tried. It was a stretch and she knew it, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel that way.

"…Does that mean we're like sisters?" KIPO's eyes lit up, literally, and Mikasa had to wonder if she'd just made a mistake.

"Let's… try for friends right now, and see where we go from there." Mikasa hesitantly offered a hand, aware the gesture was useless but unsure of how else to affirm their new status with each other.

KIPO didn't seem to mind, as she phased a hand through Mikasa's own. "Friends then. Thank you Mikasa Ackerman, I am very grateful I have someone new to confide in, to learn from. As the first act of our new found friendship, may I ask you a question that I deemed inappropriate for Armin?"

"Perhaps…" Mikasa cautiously agreed, wondering what level of "inappropriate" KIPO had in mind.

"What is the proper thing to do when witnessing courtship attempts? Do you quietly observe, or is commentary preferred?"

---

By the time Mikasa was able to fully comprehend what exactly KIPO was asking (and explained very thoroughly that KIPO should avert her eyes, keep her mouth shut, and let whatever she witnessed happen natural (quietly begging she hadn't made thing's worse for Armin in any way)), Armin and Adam were finally joining them, escorted by Eren, Ymir, and Krista, all chatting quite animatedly.

"C'mooooooon, spill! What were the two of you talking about?" Ymir slung her right arm over the tiny girl's shoulder's, while using her right hand to gesture between the blonde and the hulking "cyborg" ahead of them.

"Sorry Ymir, that's a secret." Krista giggled as she slide out of the freckled girls' grasp and made to run up beside Adam, looking up at him with smile before looking ahead to spot Mikasa.

"Y'know that just makes me wanna know more…" Ymir peered suspiciously. Or at least she tried to, before Eren was suddenly blocking her view. "…What?"

"I just wanted to say, thanks for helping me."

"…For what?"

"What we talked about, about focusing on today's problem's today and tomorrow tomorrow's, it really helped me figure out how to transform!" Eren grinned.

"…Huuuuuuh? Wait, seriously, that's how you figured it out?!" Ymir laughed. "I was just spouting my mouth off, I didn't think I was stumbling across any divine revelations, go me!"

"Yep, I'm giving you full credit!" Eren joined in the laughter, not really caring if Ymir was laughing at him. "After we talked, I decided instead of wanting to transform to kill all the Titan's, I should try to transform to do something I could actually do right then, right now. So I thought, "I wanna pull out a tree. I really really want to pull out a tree and put this body through its paces." And suddenly, it became so much easier to do!"

"Awww, is that why you destroyed that perfectly good tree? Boo on you Eren." Krista pouted.

"I'm sure it was a worthwhile sacrifice Krista." Armin offered. "We needed Eren to transform, and he's been managing to do that over and over again."

"Yeah, and he's suffering for his murder of the local foliage." Ymir offered, looking to Adam. "So what hurt's more Eren? The arm that punches lot's of little holes? Or the one that punches big holes?"

Eren looked to Adam, who'd glanced over his shoulder, curious himself. "…Eh, they both kinda tickle to be honest? Though his shotgun definitely takes a lot more meat out of me."

Krista blanched. "I'm never going to get used to how causal you are about that. Eren, you need to be more careful, I don't like to see you hurt…"

A simultaneous chorus of 'She's a goddess!' rang through everyone's minds, save Adam who was very grateful he was escaping this sappiness.

Stopping right before KIPO and Mikasa, he turned to Armin. "So, are we heading out now?"

"Just a moment. Captain Levi should be here to join us, says he's headed to Ehrmich for supplies."

"Great, ride along with the midget." Adam grossed. Turning to KIPO, he noticed the A.I. had been chatting with Mikasa, who was still giving him dirty looks. "What were you two talking about?"

KIPO beamed. "Just having some "girl talk," that's all. I've just made my first non-Arasaka affiliated friend, with Mikasa Ackerman!"

Everyone blanched at that, and turned to Mikasa who was fiddling with her scarf, embarrassed.

"Mikasa, is that true?" Eren couldn't believe it, wasn't sure how to believe it. He thought KIPO would be easier for her to get along with, but not this much!

Mikasa looked to Eren, then to KIPO, who was smiling earnestly at her. Allowing a small grin to grace her face, Mikasa nodded. "Yes, it is."

She pointedly ignored Adam's declaration KIPO must be suffering a bug and would "need to be scrubbed" in favour of Eren and Armin's happiness Mikasa had made another friend.

---

Day 6

"Heard the Commander's sent Mike out with Nanaba to the Interior, wonder what that's all about…" Eld pondered as he made to finish his soup. It had been another successful day of Eren practicing as a Titan. Since his sparring with Adam, something had changed in the boy. Getting to test his limits and hit something that could hit back, it seemed to have removed a mental block on Eren, somehow. The boy was getting used to using the Titan as an extension of his body, albeit with a few hiccups. He still hadn't figured out how to emerge from his Titan without just running out of steam, waiting for its time limit (a total of three hours, twenty five minutes) to come and for the flesh to start disintegrating. And it seemed like he could only transform a set number of times throughout the day, two full transformations being a definite, three was pushing it and not always guaranteed.

(Mikasa had been most concerned over the blood leaking from his nose, seemingly without end.)

But either way, it was clear and steady progress with Hange there, and seeing Eren in control had done wonders for moral, and the attitudes towards Eren. The boy was once again dining with Levi Squad, but this time they were sitting just a short distance from their fellow Scout's.

"I heard he'd been sent to the registration office, the records house, and the mining guild." Gunther answered. "Some people saw him with a bunch of document's in hand, that give you any idea?"

"Well that answer's that. Obviously the Commander is thinking long term." Oluo shrugged.

"Is it really obvious, or are you just blowing hot air?" Petra scrutinized her friend.

"What, you haven't figured it out?" Oluo asked with a touch of a smirk on his face. "Alright, I suppose I can share my brilliant deductions…"

"Forget it, I'll just ask the Squad Leader directly." Petra shrugged.

"Ah geez, just let me finish! Sheesh." Oluo immediately dropped the act with a grumble, clearly annoyed he couldn't act more sophisticated than he really was. "You remember what we're all waiting for, right? The King to grant Adam Smasher the ore he needs to restock his weapons, and make our jobs much easier alongside Eren here."

"Riiiiiight, so what's that have to do with Mike?" Eld asked.

"Obviously Mike was sent to find out where the ore is. The Commander is prepping for which would be the most likely one Adam will be given permission to plunder." Oluo stated. "Find out which mine's have the most to give, who owns them, and whose willing to give them up."

"Couldn't we just wait for the King to tell us that?" Eren questioned. "If he grant's us permission, it doesn't matter what lord or noble owns what, they'll have to give Adam whatever he needs."

"Maybe, but it pays to be prepared. And even more so if the ore is in Wall Maria's territory." Oluo finished, the collective surprised looks on his comrades face giving him a warm feeling of pride.

"You… you really think the King would force us to mine in Titan territory?" Petra couldn't believe that, that would be suicide!

"…Gunther, your dad, he worked the mines back in the day?" Oluo gently asked.

"Yeah… back in the day, he worked at Durning Mountain, forty years of his life in those mines. And it was still going strong, folks estimated they hadn't even dug out half the metal inside."

"Durning Mountain… is that the one in the East of Maria?" Eren asked.

Gunther nodded. "The same. Was actually one of the biggest suppliers to the military, losing it was a major blow. Thankfully we still have several mines in Rose, but the output was decreased. Maria had at least ten major mines that had run for half a century, and were still operating."

"Wow…" Eren was impressed. To think their land was so rich… maybe Adam could build additional weapons! "So if we could just get to a mine and plunder it…"

"That is assuming we can get to it, and hold out." Oluo stated. "I'm no slouch, none of us are, but a mining operation would go on for hours, if not days. That's not exactly a realistic expectation of us not-Titan's."

"…Well, it's not like we'd have to be the ones mining. Armin's been pretty handy with Specter, and it's managed to turn a lot of junk into ammo for Adam." Eren pointed out. "Maybe we can just, I dunno, scavenge the abandoned villages?"

"That's certainly a possibility." Eld nodded. "Or at least, I assume so. I'm still a little iffy on how that thing works. Or anything related to Adam, really."

"Pretty sure that can be said for everyone." Petra sighed, before looking to Oluo to see if he'd try and claim otherwise.

"…What? Did you think I was going to say I knew how any of that stuff works?"

"Pretty much, yeah." The brunette nodded.

Oluo smirked. "Oh my dear Petra, your faith in my brilliance is flattering, but I'm afraid even I have my limits."

"Oh really?" Petra chuckled. "Well, refreshing to know you're still one of us mere mortals then. Though I have to say, does that mean I can't expect you to be as reliable as the Captain?"

"Perish the thought. My limits do not apply to my combat skills. You can still count in me to protect you." Oluo made to rest his elbow on the table, but unfortunately a spill from a drink caused him to slip and bang his chin, which lead to a signature tongue bite. "GACK!"

Petra sighed. "My knight in armour." She looked up to see Eren staring at Oluo in concern.

"…Anyone else worried he might bite that off one day?" The green eyed boy turned to his compatriots. "I mean, that crunch sounded fatal…"

"Oye, you'th making funth of meff Jaegerth?!" Oluo made to cuff Eren over the head. "I'll haff you knowth I'ff had wayth worth then this!"

"That's… not encouraging…" Eren replied as he dodged the half attempted strike.

"Well if he does bite it off, at least now we can get him a replacement." Gunther offered. "Picture that, Oluo with a literal silver tongue!"

"Hey!" Oluo protested. "Nobodies replacing my tongue! I don't care what that pink Princess said, I ain't risking my taste buds!"

"Oh, yeah… wouldn't want to miss out on your parents cooking." Petra agreed, with Eld and Gunther nodding as well. "Hope they can make time to drop by, Eren should get to experience Bozado cuisine at least once."

"Like hell!" Oluo protested. "You people are slave drivers, forcing my ma and pa to make three extra servings for you when they've already got six mouths to feed!"

Gunther and Eld laughed and made to assure Oluo they greatly appreciated the effort, while Petra offered Eren a comforting smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll drop by, and if there's not enough, you can have mine. Trust me on this, home cooking beats military rations every time. Oluo's folks have some of the best stew, beat's my parent's hands down."

"…Well, if Oluo's offering…"

"I'm not!"

"…I certainly couldn't refuse." Eren scratched the back of his head as Oluo delivered a death glare. "Just being polite, really!"

"…Tch." Oluo clicked his tongue (and Eren on instinct was prepared for a splurge of blood to occur), before sighing. "Better tell my ma how good it is. Only polite, right?"

"Right!" Eren nodded eagerly, to the chorus of laughs from the others. When the Captain called them over to practice maneuvers, the warm feeling of the moment saw Eren soaring through the air, as graceful as he'd ever been on his best day.

'I'm really glad I got to join the Scout's.' Eren though, basking in the camaraderie.

---

Day 7

"Think everyone's warmed up yet to our guest's, or do you think we need more time?" Mike inquired, arm's folded as he looked out on the training ground's. Looked like Dita was using the threat of stable duty as a motivator again, as he lined out a race track for the new recruits to complete. The trick was to dismount the horses part way and use their ODM gear to finish the obstacle course in the tree's, then make it back in time to remount their steed's. It was honestly more luck than anything, as the racer's would no doubt find most of the horses having run off, and have to pray their whistles had been engrained in the beast's minds. Would make for a fun day of scrambling and chaos.

"I believe the mood here is evenly divided between acceptance and trepidation. Half of our solider's are finding the prospect of cybernetics terrifying, unnatural, as strange as Eren Jaeger becoming a Titan. The other are willing to ignore those feelings so long as Adam delivers on his promises to kill the enemy." Erwin replied while looking over the document's Mike had brought. Most of the information he saw he already knew, but there were a few details he was discovering.

"No one's excitedly talking about having a metal arm? Or having their eye's scooped out to be changed with fake one's? Mike noted Jean Kirstein starting something with Eren Jaeger, little verbal sparring match that had Dita laughing.

"It's utterly baffling why not." Erwin withdrew a fresh piece of parchment and began to scribble in it, taking note's from the information he'd gathered. "Still, if the offer was made, to any one of our own that was maimed…"

"They might actually consider it, true. And if it's really as miraculous as Miss KIPO claims, it might open the door to people being more accepting and getting in line for their own replacement part's." Oop, look's like Ymir had swung herself up too fast somehow only to come falling right down on the other side of her stallion. "Can't say I see anyone giving up a perfectly good limb though. That's… that's a bit too much to consider."

"It doesn't just have to be limb's." Erwin reminded his second best soldier. "Skin, organ's, and quite possibly even the soul."

"Didn't take you for a believer in that sort of thing."

"I've pondered the idea from time to time. In this regard I'm considering the idea as the idea of one's character, what makes them them. Is KIPO as real as we are? She certainly thinks and feels, judging by her behaviour. But her origins are completely different from ours. And Adam Smasher, he's also an interesting case. If you've given up every piece of your human body, are you still human?"

Finishing his writing's, Erwin made for a candle to apply some wax, while donning his ring to engrave the seal. "I honestly want to talk to them again. I find they are a most illuminating pair of conversation partners."

"…Huh. Maybe I should try to chat them up. If I can ignore the smell, or lack there of, maybe I can ask if I can try out that big cannon Adam's so found of." Ah, and the newbies were off. Looked like it was Sasha and Krista in the lead, with Jean not far behind. Last place belonged to Connie, whose horse had gone round and round in circles for three spins before finally setting off.

"According to Adam, you'd be more likely to shatter the bones in your own arm. I've taken to locking it up again as a precaution, don't want any injuries." Erwin applied the ring, then rolled up the parchment. Standing up, he handed it to his colleague. "Here. Hopefully our efforts will bare fruit this time."

"Doubt it. Every Noble, Lord, Lady, Baron, and Baroness have been tight fisted about their holding's. I flaunted your offer of them having first pick, but so far no one's taking the gamble." Mike sighed. Yesterday had seen him running around delivering Erwin Smith's proposal, that in exchange for their mine's ore to supply Adam Smasher, once Wall Maria was reclaimed they could seize any of the abandoned mine's in it's territory. An investment not only for mankind, but their own fortune's.

"Try again. I don't want to rely on the King's mercy, if we can get our own supply without the Crown's interference, then it'll give us more options. Show them my newest offer, see if the amendments makes anyone waver." Erwin paused. "There really was no one even tempted by the offer? What about the Baron Dukat de La Motte? He holds the largest metal mine in Wall Rose, and I've found him to be a far-sighted individual."

"Had the largest metal mine. King seized it eight months ago, for the "good of the Wall's." The Baron was compensated with some replacement land and a generous salary to keep his other business interest's alive, but that mine, and the nice castle that rested atop of it, belong to the Crown." Mike shrugged. "Real shame, even if it was all the way in the North and we'd have to run back and forth, it certainly had the reserves Adam's looking for. Though when I sent Nanaba there to check it out, she couldn't tell me where any of the ore's been going."

"Oh?"

Mike nodded. "No idea if it's being used to equip any of the regiment's, or give the King a lavish life style. If this really is for the good of the Wall's, they're not saying how. Won't let her get within a mile of the entrance, King's orders."

"I see." Erwin filed that information away for later. The King acting against the benefit of mankind wasn't exactly new, but seizing a whole mine and doing nothing with it, that certainty was a new one. He doubted the King really was just sitting on the ore, but that begged the question, why all the secrecy? "I suppose we could just ask the King directly."

Mike lifted an eyebrow. "You really going to ask for an audience with the man? He just stares all day while those windbags around him do all the talking."

"I am well aware. But it's been a week, and we have yet to receive his verdict on Adam Smasher's request. I think making my case directly could go a long way. Certainly harder to stonewall when put on the spot."

"Well then, good luck with that. I'll leave the politics to you, yesterday's just proven I'm not cut out for diplomacy." Mike saluted and made for the door.

"One more thing. Adam and KIPO, what was the scent you got from them?"

Mike stopped, his hand just resting above the handle to the door. "…KIPO smelt like nothing. Like honestly nothing. That was a first, for me, don't know how I feel about that."

"And Adam?"

"Death. One great overwhelming stink of burnt roses and carrion." Mike announced, exiting the room and leaving Erwin to his thoughts.

---

Day 8: Stohess

Annie awoke to the morning light peeking in through the curtains, with a bustle of activity outside as people were waking up and headed out to greet the day. Lazily she opened her eye's, prepared to retrieve the cover's that seemed to have left her person, when she was greet with the sight of Armin's smiling face.

Armin's face, just inches from hers. The events of last night were soon coming back to her. Slowly, she recalled how she'd come here in a panic, then made an absurd request of Armin which of course he granted because he was kind like that, then they'd slowly drifted off to sleep. Well, Annie had anyway. She'd woken up once in the middle of the night, greeted by the sight of Armin's back to her, the sound of his soft breathing putting any fears that may have started to rest. Just to be sure though, she'd reached out to touch his back. Feeling his body move up and down under her palm, feeling his heat through his shirt, proving he was alive…

And now here she was waking up with Armin's front to her, with him very much awake and much closer, evidently having rolled over to her. Still smiling a thin lipped smile, trying very hard not to panic or make a fuss, just patiently waiting for a girl in his bed to wake up. Patiently waiting because at some point, Annie seemed to have wrapped her arms around him, trapping him against her.

Ah.

Annie's mind went though a whole list of options before her. She considered that this was entirely her fault, as she was the one who created this situation. They were still clothed, so nothing inappropriate had really happened. But now it was up to Annie to make the next move.

"…Morning." She greeted.

"Good morning Annie. Did you sleep well?" Armin quietly whispered.

"Hmmmm." Annie hummed, indeed, she had a very good sleep. "Did you?"

"Here and there. Was a little hiccup with you pulling me towards you a few hours before the sunrise, but I was able to get… mostly enough sleep." Armin used very ounce of willpower he possessed to act like this was completely normal and he wasn't so very close to a very pretty girl, lying in bed with her. By the way his eye's were struggling to make contact with her, he was slightly failing.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Armin hurried to say. "It's just… maybe we could get up now? Please?"

His little plea's were adorable, and Annie was feeling just a touch guilty for putting Armin out like this. Silently, she raised her left arm, the one on top, allowing Armin to fumble and rise and slump back against the wall with great breath of relief. Looking down, he saw Annie still lying there, looking at him, before she too was slowly sitting up, perched on the bed, her hair mussed up, and just looking radiant to him with the morning sun light.

…

Yeah, this was awkward.

"Uh-"

"I-"

Both of them attempted to begin, to get some sort of something going, but found themselves speaking at the same time and trying to untangle their words from each other.

"Sorry, did you?" Armin offered.

"No, I'm sorry, after you…" Annie tried.

"I really didn't-"

"I was just-"

Both of them clammed up, stared, then Armin broke out into good natured chuckles, the situation just ridiculous. "Oh wow, I really don't know what I'm supposed to do now. Do I… do I offer you breakfast? I could go out, bring you something back here…"

"…I really don't know what to do either." Annie admitted. She really had no plan for this, any of it. Last night had been such a panic, but now everything seemed calm. Since Reiner and Bertolt hadn't come by, that either meant they were taking her warnings seriously, or conversing right now. There was a chance she should be preparing for whatever would be coming her way, but right now… "Do you want me to leave?"

"Hmm?…Oh, no! I mean, no, you don't have to of you don't want to." Armin assured her. "I think at some point we will have to go freshen up and eat, but you can stay if you want."

"I would like to stay, yes." Annie ran a hand through her hair, trying to come up with something to move… whatever this was forward. "…I'm sorry I… I really take advantage of you."

Armin blinked, and couldn't help the disbelieving laugh that came out of him. "What?"

"I come here in the middle of the night, force myself in, force you to let me stay, put you out of your way for me… And that's just right now. How many times have you gone out of your way for me, these past three years?" Annie sighed, a long buried issue coming to light. "I'll be honest here. Armin? How is it we're… how is it we're friends?"

"What?" Armin repeated.

"How is it we're friends?" Annie repeated. "I know what I'm like. I don't smile like the other girl's, and I'm not friendly, not even a little bit. The only thing I can say I'm good at is fighting, and I don't go out of my way for anyone. I've accepted I'm selfish, I've never hidden that. And somehow, somehow…," Annie dragged out that last word, exhaling it as much as saying it, looking up at Armin, "You became someone important to me. And I can only guess that meant I became someone important to you? So how? Why? Why do we have this?"

"…" Armin stared, his eyes blinking rapidly. But then he sat up, and made to place his hand's on her shoulder's. Annie turned to see them grasp her, gently, then back to Armin. "Well, I don't know how it happened for you, but for me… it's really because I like you."

…

Now it was Annie's turn to ask, "…What?"

"I mean, I'll admit, you aren't like the other girl's. You're… different, in a lot of ways. None of them bad!" Armin hurried at Annie's frown. "You're strong, you're smart, you're honest, you are so confident it's intimidating… but above all, you're really nice."

A blank look was Armin's reward, and he laughed, which earned him a glare. "I mean it. You don't think so, but you really go out of your way for people. Remember when we first sparred? How you beat me in no time at all?"

"…Yes?" Annie questioned, wondering where he was going with this.

"You held me down and tried to get me to quit. Why was that?"

"…Didn't think a weakling like you could make it."

"Right, but why should you care? You were headed for the Interior, and I was joining the Scout's. Some boy you'd forget within a week after graduating. Why should you care if I died fighting the Titan's due to my own weakness? Wasn't your problem." Armin smiled. "But you didn't do that. You tried to save me. And when that didn't work, you went out of your way to help me, in spite of what you said just now."

Annie's mind froze, as Armin's word's caused her to experience just the tiniest bit of self doubt.

'…No, that's not… He's reading too much into this, because he's Armin.' Annie tried to self-argue.

"…I just found your company pleasant. If you thought I was helping you, it was for my own interest to keep you around."

"Maybe, but I could argue you didn't have to try so hard. I could have failed basic combat and still lasted the whole three years of training. But there's also how you came to Krista's rescue that one time, how you helped Jean and I with that cooking contest, training Eren, saving Connie, and Jean!" Armin's smile never wavered. "Annie, you're a good person."

Annie's resolve was crumbling, as Armin's word's chipped away at her defences. "I… that's not… that's just to you. You're the only one who could possibly think that."

"I'd argue that's not true, but… isn't that enough? I think you're a good person, and… I like you."

That did it. There was no stopping the faint blush coming across Annie's face, nor the instinct to turn away and fiddle with her hair in a vain attempt to get her emotional state under control. Of all the time's for her infamous confidence and control to fail her, dammit!

"Oh sorry!" Armin hurried to apologize, seeing Annie be so uncomfortable. "Was that too much? I mean, I meant what I said, but… sorry, I don't want you to feel-"

"I…," Annie interrupted, her blunt and direct nature suddenly presenting a desire and solution that she pursued with no regards for the consequences, "…would like… to kiss you."

Armin stared, and sat stock still, as the girl before him stared off to the side. Swallowing, all he could do was dumbly ask, "What?"

Annie steeled herself, and tried again, turning to Armin, resolved. "I would like to kiss you."

Deep in Annie's mind, no, at the forefront of Annie's mind, every reason this was a bad idea was making itself known. Every way this would only lead to pain, to heartbreak, it was all so very clear and making threatening to ruin this moment.

But there was also the plain and simple fact Annie did. Not. Care. That she selfishly, desperately, needed Armin.

Armin, for his part, managed to avoid asking any stupid questions about if Annie was sure or if she could repeat that, and simply said, "…Okay."

A nod, one from him, one from her, and they slowly closed the distance between each other.

Annie's lips found Armin's. It was quick, brief, and over too soon. They parted, staring at each other, Annie running her tongue over her mouth, trying to capture the feeling.

She decided she wasn't satisfied with that, and moved to kiss Armin again.

And again.

And again.

The two of them continued like that, adjusting as needed, this being their first it was awkward and clumsy as young love could only be. But at the same time, spark's were definitely flying. Were Annie the sort to weave poetry, she might be inclined to compare the energy between her and Armin to the summoning of her Titan, powerful, primal, dangerous, and above all else, hers.

She pushed forward, causing Armin to fall back against the wall again with a brief "Oof!" before his lips were captured again. To Armin's credit, he was a quick learner, as he adjusted the both of them so their lip's found the right spot to lock, their tongues beginning to dance with each other, little moan's threatening to escape the both of them-

A loud unrelenting knock on the door interrupted Annie's attempts to lock lips once again, and the absolute FURY that overtook her would have seared even the Colossal! Every knock was adding to the idea of kicking the door straight off its hinges and flattening whoever was interrupting what was the best moment of her life!, when Armin quickly spoke up.

"Who is it?!" He impatiently called out, also a more than a little peeved at the intrusion.

"Just wanted to let you know Adam's calling for you!" A familiar and painfully earnest voice called out, Marco, of course. "Told me to tell you to, and I'm quoting him here, "Get your scrawny ass out of bed already!""

A thump on the wooden wall signalled Armin's head making contact as he groaned. "Right… okay, tell him I'll be down soon!"

"He said you could do that yourself, try calling KIPO again?" Marco relayed, unsure of what exactly he was saying but it was word for word. Either way that was the end of it, and the sound of boot's scuffling signalled the freckled boy's departure.

Annie brought her own head down forward to thump against the wall with a groan.

…

Wait, KIPO?

"Armin… where's KIPO?" Annie asked with the slightest feeling of dread.

Armin scrunched his face up in confusion, before the slowly dawning realization came to him. Almost immediately, his eye's lit up!

Only for Armin to immediately wince in pain, trying to cover his ears to no avail.

"Armin?!" Annie shouted, concerned and hands hovering over him, unsure as to what to do.

Armin held out a hand, wait, as he scrunched his face… then slowly opened his eyes with a sigh. His eye's still flashed blue, and a private conversation took place before Annie's very eyes. Eventually, Armin's blue orbs returned to normal, and he sighed. "Well, good news is KIPO saw literally nothing from the moment I opened my door last night to just now when I called her."

"…That… sounds too convenient." Annie squinted in suspicion.

"She swears by it. After she was done… squeeing?," Armin shrugged, having no better word to describe the high pitched sound KIPO had emitted upon making contact with her, "She was quick to assure me she caught on to "Annie Leonhart's courtship attempts" and exited to stand guard with Adam all night."

"…"

"Her word's, I swear." Armin held up his hands in surrender.

Annie sighed, just accepting the absurdity of the situation and rolling over to lay down beside Armin, looking up at the ceiling. "Of all the boys I could have fallen for, why did it have to be one with an annoying imaginary friend?"

Armin giggled, which got Annie to smile fondly. 'You really are ruining me.'

With a reluctant groan, Armin accepted the moment was over. "…Well, I guess we better get up… Uh, do you want me to check if the cost is clear or…"

"Why? If someone sees me, we'll just tell them the truth." Annie shrugged. "I have nothing to hide, do you?"

"Oh no, of course not!" Armin shook his head. "I just… I wouldn't want you to be subject to gossip or anything…"

Annie rolled her eyes, and, after a moment of consideration, moved forward to give Armin a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. I'm more than willing to be open about this, if you are."

"I am, I absolutely am!"

"Then there's no problem." Annie gave one last smile, before she stood up to retrieve her coat and boot's. "I'll see you at breakfast. Like you said, need to freshen up." With that, she made for the door, Armin lightly waving goodbye behind her.

---

The walk back to her room was nothing special. Even as she proceeded barefoot, deeming putting on her boots more trouble than it was worth, very few people gave her a second look. Adam did follow her as she came down the stairs to walk down the hall, but the man stayed silent. Hitch looked like she wanted to say something as she came from the women's dorm, but Annie ignored her.

Entering her room, Annie wasted no time at all in picking out some fresh clothes, and proceeding to the showers. Beating the tar out of Reiner had worked up a sweat, as was sleeping in her clothes all night while sharing a bed.

Reiner…

As the water came down and washed the grime away, Annie resolved herself for the inevitable reunion. No doubt Reiner had come crawling back and collapsed in his room, shared by Bertolt, lucky her. He'd have either broken down and confessed all, or kept up the tough guy act and assured Bertolt things had gone well. They'd probably want to talk to her, and they'd either apologize and promise to do better, or double down and Annie would have to kill them both.

She sighed, pressing her hands against the stone wall's of the shower and letting the water droplets run down her back.

If that was really how things would play out, then she really had her work cut out for her. Though honestly, it would be her ticket back home. She could pin this whole mess on them, tell a big lie to Pieck, then Zeke, and finally the Marley brass, who would be forced to keep Annie alive thanks to losing the Armour, Colossal, and Jaw and needing every experienced Warrior they could get. She could return home, reunite with her dad, and that would be that.

But she didn't want that. She didn't want to slink back home empty handed. She couldn't give a damn about the Founder or the future of Marley, but she very much gave a damn about Armin.

If she left him here, he would die. If she left him here without finding the Founder, then Marley would come back in full force at the first available opportunity, and Armin would most certainly die. As much as Annie hated it, she needed to please the higher up's back home. That meant completing her mission. And as confident as she was in her skill's, Annie had to begrudgingly admit the best chance of success, meant keeping her cover, and working with Reiner and Bertolt.

Annie shut the water off, grabbing a towel and proceeding to dry herself off.

'For now, I'll wait and see. Bank on the fact they're not complete idiots and won't try something reckless, that they'll want to keep the team together for everyone's mutual benefit. And if not…' A clenched fist and the resolve to do what needed to be done, Annie finished drying and got dressed.

She was just coming down into the main hall, prepared to keep an eye out all day for her fellow Warriors, when the voice she least desired to hear cursed her ears.

"-nd I just want to say I'm grateful for the opportunity, sir." Reiner's distinct tone came from down the hall. Carefully, Annie proceeded forward to peek around the corner.

There he was. He looked like a mess, dirty with specks of dried blood, mud, and some… hay?, adoring his form, but his expression was calm and almost chipper, as he stood before a superior.

One who was rubbing his head in confusion. "Look, Braun… why don't you just sleep things off and get back to me in the morning? So some thug's got the jump on ya, it happens. Interior is still practically paradise compared to the rest of the Wall's. Don't go thinking you've gotten soft and have to be a real man or whatever this is."

Reiner laughed. "That's… not exactly what I'm doing here, sir. I have to ask, does that happen often?"

"Happens enough. Idealistic kids, thinking they'll change things and it'll be great forever, find out how the real world works, throw a fit, and run off to prove they're not a coward or weak or some shit." The officer sighed. "Look, have you really thought this through? Like, REALLY thought it through? You can literally join anytime you want, why not do it a week or a month from now? In fact, how about after one of their cursed Expeditions? Get yourself a real good look at the hell waiting for you, and snap out of this."

Reiner straightened up, and shook his head no. "Thank you sir, but no, I've made up my mind. I'm transferring to the Scout's, and I'd like it to be as soon as possible."

Annie stiffened. 'What?'

Frowning, she peered out a little more, to make sure she was hearing this properly.

The officer he was talking to stared at Reiner, before giving a defeated sigh. "Fine, goddammit, I'll have your transfer issued. You probably won't be sent there til tomorrow at the earliest, so might as well enjoy your last day here, because there ain't no coming back, you hear me?"

"I do. Thank you sir, truly." Reiner saluted, which the officer did not return.

"Yeah yeah, just make sure you pack all your shit." The man grumbled, walking off while rubbing his head, muttering about "stupid kids and their stupid dreams."

Reiner watched him go, then turned around.

Only to look right into the eyes of Annie.

Had anyone walked by at that moment from either end, they would have taken one look at the stand off between the two blondes and headed in the opposite direction. And kept walking til they were in another district, just to be safe!

Reiner steeled himself, and walked forward.

Annie stood there, unmoving. She wouldn't give Reiner any ground, he would have to come to her.

Closer and closer he walked, and Annie was bracing herself. She didn't expect violence to immediately break out, not after what she just heard, but that didn't mean she wasn't prepared…

"Hey Annie. If you see Bertolt in the mess hall, could you send him my way? I have something to tell him, as he might be getting a new bunkmate." Reiner casually asked, a brief pause in his steps to make his request before he kept walking straight for the men's dorm.

Annie followed his retreating back, not once did he look back to glance at her.

'…Just what are you planning?' Annie pondered.

Still, looked like he hadn't managed to tell Bertolt anything, and nobody had to die just yet. So she could play along for now, and get answers out of their leader right after breakfast.

---

Reiner had just finished packing up the last of his things when a knock at the door alerted him to Annie and Bertolt's presence. Annie came in with a guarded glare while Bertolt closed the door behind them. The taller boy looked between the blondes, trying to gauge if he should be worried or not.

"Ah, good. I was hoping to get to speak to you guys, instead of having to send a letter." Reiner stated. "Figured you'd be wondering what I'm doing exactly."

"Uh, yeah? First you pull us all here to the Interior, and now you're going back to join the Scout's? What did the two of you talk about last night?" Bertolt questioned, looking to Annie who didn't take her eyes off Reiner.

"We just discussed the best course of action of where to go from here, and I realized it really would be better for at least one of us to join the Scout's." Reiner replied. "It's really not fair to Pieck to shoulder the burden, and she can't be nearly as effective as one of us can. So I'm transferring there, where I'll figure out the best time to make our move."

"You mean…" Bertolt's eyes widened, the brief flicker of hope coming to him.

"Yeah… we're going to take Eren, and Adam, and we're going home." Reiner nodded, smiling. "It'll be tricky, but… I think I have an idea forming. Give me some time, and keep me in the loop for the full extent of Armin and Adam's relationship, but I think we can pull this off."

"How?" Annie questioned. Her eyes were like piercing daggers, trying to carve a hole into Reiner's skull to dissect his brain, but the boy gave away nothing, didn't even hesitate.

"Like I said, I'll need time. But it starts with Adam tracking down Armin." Reiner replied.

"Huh?" Bertolt was confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's something Adam can apparently do, he can pinpoint Armin's location wherever he goes. At least, that's what he says." Reiner looked to Annie. "Do you think you could test that some more, get a definite example it wasn't just coincidence?"

"…Maybe." Annie's glare lessened somewhat, as curiosity was taking its place. "How would that help our mission?"

"Well, I figure grabbing Armin would be a lot easier than Eren or Adam, right? And if Adam comes to get him, in a location of our choosing…" Reiner trailed off.

Both Warrior's opposite of him eyes lit up, as suddenly a whole range of new possibilities came to them.

"Would that… would that work? Could it be that easy?" Bertolt questioned.

"Like I said, it's just the start of an idea. But luring one target away into an ambush site, away from all the others…"

"You're assuming the Scout's won't come to back him up." Annie stated the obvious.

"I'm figuring that out, I'll admit. Maybe go far enough away it'd be suicide for them to follow?" Reiner suggested.

"But not for Adam?" Annie raised an eyebrow.

"You've met the cocky bastard. He was willing to stay in Trost with the Mindless in the area. Chances are he's that arrogant or that skilled he could last a day in Maria. And if he has to expend some ammo making it to us, that'll just make it easier." Reiner gave a confident answer.

And damn if it wasn't actually convincing Annie. Bertolt too, though he still had some concerns.

"But what if he doesn't come after Armin?"

"He will. Armin's his lifeline, his source of ammunition and repairs. Of course I want you guys to make absolutely sure of that, but so far it looks like the big guy really need's the little guy."

"Yeah…" Bertolt looked to Annie, and frowned. "This has actually been bugging me, but… couldn't we just leave Adam a letter? Ask him to meet us in a secluded spot, and reveal all?"

"Seriously?" Annie questioned. "You just want to blow our cover like that?"

"I mean, yes? Adam has made it clear he just wants to leave, he doesn't care about this place. He want's answers and we can give them to him." Bertolt reasoned. "And he's not an Island Devil, so it wouldn't be treason to tell him. We tell him the truth, get him in our side with the promise of a fast ticket to civilization, and that's that."

Reiner shook his head. "I did consider that, but there's just too many variables. He could share any message we leave with someone to see if it's a prank or legit, and if he does come but doesn't like what he hears, then our cover's blown for nothing. It's too risky, i say we only spill the truth when we're in a position to grab him if negotiations fail."

"And Eren? What's the plan for him? Do we try and grab him at the same time? Or are we settling for a consolation prize?" Annie questioned.

Reiner actually laughed at that. "I'd hardly call Adam Smasher a consolation prize. But to give you an answer, that's what joining the Scout's is for. I'm going to get an idea of how they operate, what their strategies will be. Not only that, I'll be keeping an eye on Eren, see how far he's come, and maybe give him some bad advice at a certain moment. Like say, "Hey, if you move now, you can totally catch up to that Titan over there with the rack, I think she has Armin." Bear in mind I'm paraphrasing!" Reiner held up his hands at Annie's scowl.

"Still setting him loose on me, thanks." Annie spat.

"That part's going to be unavoidable, sorry. There's a chance the idiot won't be so reckless, in which case I'll try to bring him outside myself. But if he see's you take his best friend, I really can't think of anything that'll stop him from coming after you." Reiner explained. "But like I said, these are just idea's. I'm going to fine tune things until I have an actual plan, make sure the risk is as minimal as can be, definitely get Pieck involved. I just need you guys to stand by, do a little investigating of your own, and be ready. When the time comes, chances are we'll all be hightailing it out of here."

"…Wait, so shouldn't I come with you?" Bertolt questioned. "I'm not built for speed, if I'm trapped behind Sina when everything goes down, without any of you guys for support I might be captured."

"Don't worry, when the time comes we'll have a proper evac spot prepared, all you'd have to do is sneak out and met us at Wall Rose. But I need you here buddy, you're our detergent." Reiner thumped a fist on Bertolt's shoulder with a smile.

"Detergent?" Both Bertolt and Annie raised an eyebrow at that.

"If things go south, we'll play the Colossal card. I'm not expecting us to get captured, but if we're in a stand off or something, I can't think of a better play than "If you don't surrender Eren and let us go, the Colossal will spawn right in the middle of Stohess, or even the Capital.""

Now both Warriors eyes were wide, mouths open.

"Reiner… are you serious?" Bertolt felt a trickle of sweat run down his brow. "If I go full out like that, it would…"

"I know. Casualties would be catastrophic, I doubt there would be any survivors." Reiner nodded glumly. "Which is why it's a last resort. An option so terrible that nobody would be willing to call us on it. I'm banking that these people aren't willing to sacrifice what's left of their home for something they don't understand, be it Eren or Adam. Getting rid of them to return to a life of normalcy, good odd's they'll chose that."

"Sure you aren't underestimating how far they'll be willing to go?" Annie, helpful as ever, presented the depressing thought. "If it's the Scout's, they're pretty much the experts on sacrifice. They've gotten two assets that have given them a glimmer of hope, and we're taking that away from them. They might just be willing to lose a chunk of the Interior if it means not having to go back to being Titan chow."

"That's certainly possible. I can imagine that Commander of theirs, Erwin, has made such calls before, though not on the scale we're suggesting." Reiner agreed. "But would all his soldiers feel the same? Especially after they'll no doubt take casualties? With you, me, and Pieck there, I wouldn't be surprised if the Scout's are down to half strength at best by the end of the day. Think they'd be in the mind to lose even more?"

"Maybe. People are tricky like that, they might go all in to make their comrade's death's worth something." Annie replied, and something in her voice had Reiner suspecting she wasn't just talking about the Scouts. She held her gaze for a couple more seconds, before sighing. "Still, Bertolt would definitely be a greater threat here than outside. Transform, clean house, head to a different part of the Interior, repeat the next day… no one could fight against that."

Annie crossed her arms. "…This is a last resort, right?"

"Last resort. Honestly I don't think it'll come to that, but it's good to have a trump card." Reiner looked to Bertolt. "I'll write you every two, no, every week after Annie heads out. If you don't hear from us in seven days, then assume the worst."

Bertolt swallowed. "The worst being… captured or dead?"

"Definitely one or the other. I'll leave it to your discretion whether that means you should make a hasty exit or an example. Just stay here, keep being a good MP, and keep an ear out." Reiner clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, smiling. "I know you'll make the right choice. But again, I plan for all four of us to return home."

Bertolt looked back at Reiner, and after a moment, nodded. "…Alright." He looked to Annie, who offered nothing, then back to Reiner. "Alright, yeah. Just got to sit on my ass and await confirmation of Annie's success, yeah? Because there's no way you'll fail."

"Damn right we won't." Reiner reached out to pull Annie in for a group hug, which was so surprising the smaller blonde didn't have time to react. "This is it guys. I promise, I'll have a solid plan in no time."

"Well that certainly puts my fears to rest." Annie made to wiggle her way out of Reiner's one armed hug. "Bertolt, you head on out, I need a minute here with our leader."

Bertolt frowned, then looked down to his friend who was still hugging him. A reassuring nod and a pat on the back did not dispel the Colossal Shifter's concerns, but he left anyway, sparing one last glance at his comrades.

With the door closed, Annie recrossed her arms and rounded on Reiner. "Okay, spill. What are you really playing at-"

"I'm sorry." Reiner interrupted.

Annie froze. A sorry from Reiner wasn't exactly a foreign concept, in fact she could still hear his pitiful apology from five years ago, after she'd woken up locked in on this mission of murder. But for him to say that now…

"I'm sorry." He repeated. "You were right. I was running away. I was too scared to face reality, and worse, I was projecting onto you. I was looking for someone else to be at fault."

He stepped forward. "Thank you, for not taking my shit. That ass kicking was just what I needed to get my head on straight. I promise, no more running away, I'm ready to do what needs to be done."

"…And what exactly needs to be done?" Annie questioned, wanting to be absolutely sure where they stood.

"Adam and Eren have to be captured and brought back with us so that we can go home. And that means we will have to fight, will have to kill, before our mission is over."

"Are you prepared for that?" Annie asked. "We do this, I do this, there's a good chance your friends could get killed facing me."

"Our friends, facing us." Reiner corrected. "We'll shoulder this together. I know it'll be you out there first, and I'm sorry that responsibility has to be yours, but you won't be alone. I'll be backing you up how I can, I'll even transform too if need be, and do my duty, I promise."

"You really okay with the thought of Sasha, Connie, or any of the other's dying?" The answer was obvious as Reiner's face took one of melancholy.

"No. No I'm not, and I doubt I ever will be. They're good people, and they don't deserve any of what's coming." His mood shifted to one of determination. "But if it happens, then it happens. I won't be hoping for their deaths, and if they make it out alive I will be happy about that, but the mission comes first. Our home, our lives, come first."

"And Armin?" Annie's arms were still crossed, her hands griping her elbows, but there was no doubt in anyone's minds she was combat ready. "You're barely formed plan involves taking him. Say that works and we get Adam, and Eren. What happens to him?"

"We take him with us, of course." Reiner replied. "Like you said, if Armin dies that just makes our lives harder. He's got Specter, and he's a smart guy. Marley would probably… no, definitely be willing to keep him on if he proves beneficial. We make a case together to the War Chief and Magath, and there's no way they'd be able to refuse him citizenship in Liberio. Hell, maybe they'd even trust you to watch over him."

Annie blinked. "You'd be willing to go that far for him?"

"I'd be willing to go that far for you, but yes. Armin's a good guy, I don't wish him any ill will. If he can have a chance at escaping this mess, and you're willing to vouch for him, than it's only right I do too."

"Less than twelve hours ago you were ordering me to kill him." Annie scoffed, "any ill will" her ass!

"I wasn't thinking straight, and again, I'm sorry for that. I promise I won't pull a stunt like that, ever. I want to make it up to you, and I figure putting my neck on the line for him is a decent start."

"As a start, sure." Annie uncrossed her arms to jab a finger in his chest. "Still got a ways to go before you're in the clear with me."

"Then I'll keep at it until you think I've earned that." Reiner declared, face resolute. Annie keep pressing her finger in, as if trying to stab right through to his heart, while looking him dead in the eye. Eventually, she relented and backed away.

"Alright. Then I'll follow your lead. Do what needs to be done, and I'll do the same." She turned to leave, but stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder. A single blue eye stared back at him. "For the record, I don't trust you, not after that stunt you pulled. If I get so much as a hint you're setting me up or making any kind of move on Armin…"

"I know. Believe me I know, and I'm going to spend every moment making it up to you, I promise." Reiner swore. "You don't have to be afr- concerned about me Annie. I'm on your side."

"…Just don't screw up with the Scout's."

With that, Annie left, giving no sign how she'd taken Reiner's words. Despite the abrupt departure, Reiner felt good about this meeting. A lot was yet to come, and he doubted any of it wouldn't leave him scarred…

But it was just one more push. He just had to find that moment to make the call, and it would be over. Just one more battle, one more terrible day of witnessing death that would be his fault, and then it would be over. No more death, not for these people. Just leave them behind in their Walls for however long the world would let them be.

Smiling, Reiner took his bag and headed outside. He could only hope the Interior hadn't made him too soft for the Scout life.

'…Maybe I could get a pie or something before I head on out. It'll probably be the last time I get to eat it, after all.'

---

It was supposed to be a boring day.

Miles away from Fort Slava, an entourage of trucks was heading at full speed for what had just been moments ago an observation tower. One minute, it had been standing tall and proud behind a small plateau that obscured it from the main Fort, its two operators just checking out for the day. The next, the entire structure had been obliterated, its operators flung away before they even had time to blink. When they had recovered, they had been greeted with the sight of a large metal obelisk in the place of their observation tower. Scrambling, the two had legged it all the way back to the Fort as their radios had been destroyed, and upon reporting the sudden attack, a quick reconnaissance force under the flag of the Mid-East Alliance had been gathered and sent to ascertain what exactly had happened, while the Fort itself was on high alert.

The reconnaissance force, having made it over the plateau and out of sight of the fort, had come to a stop encircling the strange object. They weren't expecting an attack, even as they geared for war that would break out any day now, this Fort was too entrenched in their territory for Marley to strike against. Not without cutting through the entire army of the Mid-East Alliance, which was still gathering strength to this day.

But that just made it all the more unclear what exactly this was.

"God in heaven…" Yusuf, a sergeant who'd survived two separate encounters against Marley and its Warriors (the Beast's roar and the Female's cold blue eye's still gave him night terrors), exclaimed in silent wonder. This object, it looked like… "Have we experienced a miracle from the stars?"

"Sir?" The solider closest to him questioned.

"This. Look at it." Yusuf gestured at the unmoving object, it having miraculously failed to make a crater one would associate with its size and clearly landing on their poor tower. "Haven't you heard the stories? How in the past year, strange unidentified… somethings of unknown design have been seen around the world, just appearing out of nowhere?"

"I… no sir, I haven't." The solider looked to his fellows for confirmation, was this something widely known? A few of his comrades shared similar looks of confusion, but some of the others were animatedly whispering to each other, even as their rifles were trained.

"I suppose I can't blame you for being ignorant, it's spoken more as a fairy tale than fact." Yusuf granted. "Most of what we know were built from rumours, as our allies and their spies had reported sights of where these things had landed. The objects themselves always disappeared, but not before eye witnesses were able to describe them. It wasn't until someone was able to get photographic evidence that we had solid proof they existed."

Yusuf stepped forward, carefully approaching at the protests of the soldiers under his command. "It's been theorized, these come from that strange structure amongst the stars. What the Marleyan's are calling "The Ebony Walls." And that these… these are merely containers."

Adjusting his fez, Yusuf tentatively laid his hand upon the metal surface, which was amazingly cool to the touch. "Just what secrets do you contain?"

As he was about to give out the order to secure the site and prepare to move the object back to Fort Slava, Yusuf stopped. Just then, just now, it felt as the whole world had gone quiet. The waves agains the shore, the thrum of the truck engines, the assorted sounds of guns and his men shifting… all was quiet.

And then, it was loud, as the world exploded.

A brilliant burst of green illuminated Yusuf's eyes, and the screaming started.

---

Less than two minute's. Fifty men, all equipped for combat, with ten trucks, and none of it mattered. As Yusuf lay slumped against object, his left arm missing along with a bit of the left side of his head, he could only gaze in wonder at the carnage. He was no stranger to death, nor to rather gruesome death, Marley and their Devil's had shown him plenty of that. But this was different. His men, struck by green beams of light that melted steel and caused the flesh to be seared from their bones, giving Yusuf the briefest glimpses of their blackened skeletons before they turned to dust, it had been a whole new experience of carnage.

And yet, as he laid eyes on the parts of his comrade's that hadn't been disintegrated (some limbs there, a head here, the entire bottom half of an individual right beside him), Yusuf felt oddly at peace.

He couldn't explain it. But there was this… sensation. That all this… this was meant to be. That it was a good thing, all this death.

"What… are you?" He asked, through bloody lips and a bemused expression, as his attacker, his saviour, approached. Orange metal upon the sand, not boots, those were the man's feet.

Yusuf didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Just like he knew what the object at his back, the drop pod, contained. Just like he know knew it was going to Paradis, where it would be used to end over 2,000 years of pain.

How it would be used to end both the Eldian Devil's, and Marley.

'Ah, I see now… I see you! You are indeed a miracle from the stars.' Yusuf happily thought, and kept that thought close as he used his remaining hand to withdraw his service pistol, and brought it to his temple. Best to end his suffering now, instead of forcing the one before him to get his hand's dirty.

Well, dirtier. How fortunate Fort Slava wouldn't notice the smoke and be able to send reinforcements until the drop pod and Yusuf's witness to his death were on their way.

It was a pity he couldn't look the man in the eye. But that was a given, when one didn't have a face.

---

Shoutout to two fanfic's that had peak AruAni content that I can only hope I tapped into even a little, YuriKah's Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown and Lightbringer34's We Are The Nine. Do go give them a look on Ao3, the best AoT fic's in my opinion.

I felt it important to build up the camaraderie of the Scout's and let the poor souls who didn't make it shine a little, plus the romance because that is going to be VERY important. I also wanted to expand on Ymir a bit, I figure as she's a Titan Shifter maybe she'd have some insight to give to Eren, as much as she could without giving herself away.

Hope KIPO introducing herself and summarizing her explaining things didn't feel rushed or that I skipped over anything? I figure the part of Armin learning didn't need to be repeated to a grand audience, I tried having KIPO ask questions and slowly but surely getting the Scout's to understand, but it felt a bit repetitive and honestly this chapter was long enough as it is. The main thing is, most of the Scout's basically understand what's going on. They've seen some of the best that Cyberpunk has to offer, and will keep seeing more if they dare.

I do hope KIPO Main's parts weren't confusing? I've had her refer to herself as it this whole time, to distinguish the difference between the A.I. on the Station and the one with Adam, to show one is more a machine (or trying to be) and the other has adopted human mannerisms.