Chapter 8 Way Down We Go
July 12, 2030 / IS Academy
"You are so, so lucky girl." Chifuyu hissed with annoyed relief.
"What is it…?" Houki questioned.
"ORCA has agreed to drop all charges against you in exchange for a public apology. You got off hella easy." Chifuyu explained.
"A public apology?! Whatever for?" Houki complained.
"Houki, I haven't bothered to tell you in case the worse came and you didn't get off so easy, but you killed the crew of the Canterbury. If ORCA had wanted they could have pressed for manslaughter charges, which could have put you in prison for anywhere between forty and two hundred years." Chifuyu stated flatly.
"Oh…oh…" Houki whispered meekly.
"So, you are going to take their offer, you are going to go over to Big Box, and you are going to personally apologize to the people of ORCA." Chifuyu demanded.
"Wait…to Big Box?" Houki realized.
"Yeah. It's going to be a field trip." Chifuyu explained. "While you'll be there to apologize, we will also be given an official tour of the fortress."
Big Box Mega Fortress – Roof / 11:00 AM
The overly large Stork helicopter seemed a bit much, but easily held the entirety of class one and two from the IS Academy, minus James and May, as they had opted to stay in Big Box for the past week.
It was a surprisingly smooth ride, but still unnervingly tense. They were going to the enigmatic military nation that had fired on several students less than a week before.
"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Rin questioned, somewhat concerned.
"There is a chance we may be taken as political prisoners." Laura suggested.
"What?! Ah I don't think it will be that bad." Ichika dismissed. "We were invited after all."
"Yes, I expect we should get the proper treatment for envoys of our station and importance." Cecilia declared.
"I just hope they are as peaceful as they claim." Charlotte shivered in thought.
"…" Houki bowed her head, anxious and uncertain.
"Okay class, be sure to stick together and not wonder off!" Maya warned. "We have been told that the fortress is vast, with hundreds of kilometers of halls and rooms that even ORCA haven't fully explored. If you get separated, stay in place and wait for rescue. Do not go exploring!"
"Remember to be on your best behavior. We are the first guests to the ORCA nation. Be sure to give a make impression." Chifuyu declared.
"Yes ma'am!"
The Loadmaster for the aircraft stood, walking over to a control panel for the rear door. At the same time, the students and teachers could feel the aircraft slow and shift, as it began it's descent to the roof of Big Box.
The Stork hadn't even touched the ground before the Loadmaster started lowering the ramp, revealing the vast and long runways that laid across the roof, as well as a lone figure waiting for them. James Klein, wearing an ORCA black coat over a lightly armed kit, handguns on his hips and knives on a plate carrier.
"James?" Chifuyu lead the students out of the Stork, cautious and confused.
"…" James widened his eyes slightly, and shifted his head right towards an aircraft hangar. He then walked away.
"Some welcome committee." Cecilia complained.
The students and two teachers followed James as he led them into the hangar, passing mechanics working on advanced jet fighters, greasy men and women with elbows deep in engine components.
"Hey, those are the same jets that attacked us last week!" Ichika realized.
"F/R-72s. Supposedly they haven't even left the drawing board at Skunkworks yet." Laura noted.
"Yet if what ORCA says is true, they are ancient aircraft in their own time." Charlotte added.
At the back of the hangar was an aircraft elevator, which James silently prompted the guest to step onto. Once clear, he activated the elevator from a large control panel on the side.
"How strange. Though ORCA claims to be from the far future, that control panel looks analog. The better part of a century old by our standards." Cecilia realized.
"Super advanced weapon systems, but analog controls?" Rin voiced her opinion. "Why the contradiction?"
The elevator lowered slowly into another, larger hangar, filled with a variety of aircraft. Some as terrestrial as the F-15 and F-22, and some as strange and experimental as the F/R-72 and F/A-33. Based on the dimensions of the hangar, this was but one large scale storage area for aircraft, with multiple levels and hundreds of fighters.
"They want us to see how well armed they are." Houki spoke up.
Near the bottom of the elevator, they spotted another man in a black ORCA coat, discussing something with a woman with one eye while looking over blueprints. At their approach, the man turned with a pleasant look.
"Ah, the tour group." Thermidor greeted with a smile. "Welcome to Big Box, students of the IS Academy."
"A pleasure to be here. Right class?" Chifuyu demanded.
"Y-Yes! Thank you for having us." The class answered.
"For your visit here today, I'll be taking you down to the levels we've explored and occupied, to show you the society we've created within this megastructure." Thermidor explained.
"Umm…explored and occupied?" Charlotte questioned.
"When ORCA originally took over the fortress, it had been abandoned for megastructures we call Cradles, flying cities four kilometers across." Thermidor clarified.
"Flying cities!? Four kilometers across?!" Ichika shouted.
"Yes, The League really liked building megastructures." Thermidor added. "Now, I encourage all of you to record and take pictures of what you see here today. And yes Ms. Bodewig, that means you didn't have to go through the effort of smuggling spy cameras into our facility." He smiled smugly.
"Eh…? I was found out…? I'm a terrible spy…" Laura grumbled.
"Before we begin, may I introduce our head engineer, Serena Haze." Thermidor gestured towards the one-eyed woman. "A former Lynx now devoted to the building and maintenance of all Armored Cores and other tech for our nation."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, students of the IS Academy." Serena gave a shallow bow, smiling.
While Serena distracted the students for a moment, Thermidor softly strode forward, towards Houki's side. Without looking down at her, he whispered seriously, "I understand that your being here is less than agreeable today, Ms. Shinonono, but fear not. We will not ask you to hand over your IS, and I am personally tasking Lynx Klein to guard your life while you are our guest."
"Hmm." James grumbled quietly, standing quite a bit closer.
"Uh…?" Houki managed to groan in surprise, but Thermidor had already stepped away.
"Now then! To the lower levels!" Thermidor shouted in announcement, leading the two classes and two teachers out of the hangar and towards a train station. The station seemed designed for heavy freight and vehicles, but there were two boxy passenger cars waiting for them, to take them deeper into the bunker. "This mass transit tunnel runs through the interior of Big Box, from near the top to the very bottom." The tunnel was over a hundred meters wide, with six rail lines laid out across and conduit running through the ceiling. "Through it, we are able to transport a vast amount of recourses."
Alongside the passenger cars going down was emergency rations they had managed to have delivered by air delivery, working their way down. On the opposite tracks leading up were pallets of medical supplies.
"Are those medical supplies?" Cecilia inquired.
"Yes. Our medicine is several centuries more advanced, so we are selling them off at very low prices to be mass distributed to your world. These include treatments and cures for diseases once thought incurable, that we have long done away with." Thermidor answered.
Boarding the passenger train, the classes took their seats, with James standing dutifully near Houki, until he was interrupted.
"Hey James!" May greeted enthusiastically, coming at him from behind.
"…May?" James questioned with bored confusion.
"May!?" Houki shouted, standing up to accuse her. "You shot at us!"
"Hey, you're always trying to kill Ichika, I don't see how that was any different?" May accused.
"Ah…well…that's different!" Houki defended weakly. "You were trying to kill us with large caliber weapons!"
"Try?" May smiled with wide confidence. "What I did was discourage you from getting in James's way. That was my intention, and I succeeded. I don't try, I succeed." She warned.
"May…don't shoot at us again." Ichika warned her. "You won't like what happens."
"Maybe I will. Maybe I will just for the fun of it!" May challenged him back.
"May…why are you here?" James questioned calmly.
"Oh, that's right!" May shrugged. "Fanchon asked me to relieve you for a few minutes."
"…Oh…" James groaned in annoyance. Wynne D Fanchon then leapt through the window, kicking him in the face hard enough that both of them were sent flying out of the passenger car and onto one of the freight cars traveling down with them.
"Tsk." Thermidor hissed quietly in disapproval. "Now, the upper portions of Big Box are mostly designated for military function. It is where we store our weapons and munitions, and where most of the soldiers live and work."
"Uh…Thermidor?" Chifuyu questioned in very serious confusion. "What's that all about?" She asked pointing at Klein and Fanchon fighting for their lives against each other.
"Well, if you must know, Lynx Wynne D Fanchon and Lynx Klein have something of a friendly rivalry between them." Thermidor dismissed casually. Fanchon had gotten Klein to the ground and tried to shoot him in the back of the head with her sidearm, getting several shots off. Klein spun himself out of the way, kicking her in the legs and knocking her down. He had gotten up and tried to punch her in the face, but Fanchon dodged it and started wrestling against him.
"Uh…right." Maya voiced her confusion, eyes still watching Klein and Fanchon beating each other senselessly. "Uh…you said before that Big Box also has manufacturing abilities?"
"Yes, we will be passing into the industrial sector shortly." Thermidor declared, as the passenger cars disengaged from the main line, causing them to lose sight of Klein and Fanchon, as they were diverted to a room with vast lakes of molten metal, purifying thousands of tons of metal an hour. "When our Flight Bunker returned from the Belt, it came with a load of hundreds of millions of tons of metallic asteroid ores. They already had the facilities to remove the basic rocks from their load, so we are simply separating and purifying the metal for our use."
The train cars left the ore smelting megastructures and onto a train elevator, moving down and past another vast facility making metal ingots for distribution to the factory levels. The factory levels themselves consisted of more vast production lines of various essential products, such as League standard microchips and construction materials for contracted structures. They even observed a production line of Third Gen Armored Cores. Despite how simplistic and cheaply Armored Cores were to produce as opposed to Infinite Stratos, both James and May had proven that experienced AC pilots could get the better of rogue and experimental IS units.
Still, throughout the tour of Big Box's manufacturing sector, the strange disparity between the advanced megastructure and antiquated analog controls could be observed.
"Uh…Mr. Thermidor?" Houki hesitantly asked. "If you're from the future, why is it some of the technology in this fortress is analog? Like…it looks like it's the better part of a century old from our point of view."
"Ah…hmm." Thermidor smirked, chuckling. "Funny story about that. See, in our past, there have been no less than four AI rebellions, with the first one starting in 2075. Though that 'rebellion' was fairly minor, each subsequent event escalated in violence and dire circumstances. By the time The League had conquered the Earth, it had become standard practice to use older and analog systems, as well as decentralized computer structures, in order to decrease the connectivity that a rogue AI might otherwise use to infect and infiltrate technology. In fact, the Earth was almost conquered by AI during the Silent Line Rebellion of 2270."
"Four rebellions…that's…wow." Maya commented. "What about the last one?"
"…" Thermidor grimaced in thought. "We are all very fortunate to have not fought during the Pulverizer Rebellion. Though, Serena's mentor did. She was the only survivor."
"The only survivor of her unit?" Laura questioned with surprised dread.
"The only survivor of the war." Thermidor clarified. "She was a warrior who earned the title of 'Last Raven'".
"That sounds like quite a warrior." Chifuyu praised. "I would have liked to meet her."
"You can still meet her progeny." Thermidor smiled. "Her grandson is Lynx Klein."
Taking another elevator down several kilometers below the ocean floor, the tour group reached a major cargo junction, with train cars and cargo containers being sorted and sent in a few different directions.
Thermidor looked out of the passenger car with a questioning look. "…where are…?" He muttered under his breath.
Lynx Klein and Lynx Fanchon fell out of an elevator shaft, slamming into the ground and rolled out not far from the tour group. They were both beaten and bloodied, but no less anxious for a fight.
"Don't you think you guys have had enough?" Fiona Jarnefeldt called out.
"Ma'am." Fanchon shifted in a mere moment, dropping to one knee with her head bowed.
"Ma'am." Klein answered as well, falling to his knee just inches away from Fanchon, close enough that they quietly growled at each other.
"Fanchon, don't you know how unsightly it is to be picking a fight while we have guests?" Malzel questioned with a knowing smile.
"…" Fanchon grunted, hiding her smile. She never shied away from her open hostility towards Klein. In this case, however, it had been suggested by Malzel for the tour group to observe.
"Fanchon, go clean up." Fiona ordered.
"irregular." Fanchon hissed at Klein. "Yes ma'am." She answered Fiona, turning her back towards them, and leaving the area.
"James…stand up." Fiona ordered more somberly.
"Yes ma'am." Klein answered promptly. Fiona frowned, walked behind him, and pulled a knife out of his back where Fanchon had left it. She turned towards Malzel, handing the knife off to him.
"Make sure this gets back to Lynx Fanchon." Fiona tiredly ordered.
"Of course Mrs. Jarnefeldt." Malzel bowed politely, walking towards the tour group.
"Oh! Who is that handsome man!" Maya cried out in happy surprise.
"That's Lynx Malzel, our top general." Thermidor answered.
"Hey-uh teach, he's actually g-" May was cut off when Thermidor put his hand on her shoulder. That particular information was neither classified nor confidential within ORCA. It was however only for Malzel to say when he felt like it.
"Miss Shinonono." Thermidor announced. "As much as it has been a pleasure to have been your guide, you are to follow Mrs. Jarnefeldt and Lynx Klein for your…appointment."
"Ah…I see." Houki whispered.
"Hey! You aren't going to send her off alone! I'm going with her!" Ichika declared, not noticing the enraptured look from Houki and annoyed looks from the rest of his harem.
"By all means. Just remember not to stray from your guides. If you get lost this deep in the facility, we probably won't find you." Thermidor warned.
"I'll also be going. I need to keep an eye on my student." Chifuyu added, to which Thermidor nodded.
"Oh oh oh! Can I go too!" May begged excitedly.
"I can barely get you to do what I want anyway, what's stopping you now?" Thermidor accused her.
"Hehe!" May giggled, running out of the train, past Ichika, Chifuyu, and Houki, and started bouncing eagerly in front of Fiona.
"Fiona~!" May sung out. "Am I your favorite Lynx yet?"
"…" Fiona sighed, smiling tiredly. "Well…you have second place. Does that suit you?"
"Ah, well, it will have to do." May accepted, no less cheerfully.
The guest approached apprehensively, seeing James's beaten state.
"James…you uh…you good man?" Ichika questioned.
Spitting blood to the floor, James shrugged. "I'm still operating at eighty percent combat efficiency."
"That's Lynx for he's fine." Fiona made air quotes, frowning. "A good frame of reference, you never need to worry unless he says a number less than twenty."
"Heh, so James, you got your ass kicked by a girl, eh?" Houki smirked.
"What does Lynx Fanchon being a girl have to do with anything?" James retorted. "She's the third ranked of Collared. World renowned for her skill in battle. Treating her as anything less than a threat is an insult to her."
"So she's strong." Chifuyu noted. "You respect her. Good. But why didn't you send her to the school instead then?"
"She's a bit older and better adjusted. Sorry to say but there's nothing for her to learn." Fiona admitted.
"As entertaining as it is debating the skill of Lynx Fanchon, we do have an appointment to keep. If you would?" Malzel emphasized, leading the three guest alongside James, May, and Fiona.
"So, were are we going?" Chifuyu wondered.
"To a designated civilian sector." Fiona explained. "This fortress was built with vast areas for supporting a population. A few citizens have gathered to listen to you apologize."
At the end of one of the long halls, a large door was opened, to which the group stepped through and found themselves outside.
"Oh wo wait what?" Ichika stumbled.
"What the-! W-Where are we?" Houki accused.
"…Huh." Chifuyu appreciated the sight, confused and impressed.
From their point of view, they had just stepped outside, looking out over a massive city filled with skyscrapers and covered by a blue sky, with an afternoon sun sitting overhead. They saw this, despite having been told they were in fact kilometers underground.
"Before we took it, The League had designated this as the corporate sector." Malzel explained. "What little bits of beauty and luxury left all hoarded to themselves. But since ORCA is in control, we give our civilians this small luxury, to live in the overabundance of the corporates we opposed."
"I knew Big Box was, well, big, but I didn't imagine you had a whole city underground!" Ichika shouted.
"There's actually two more cities just like this one down here," May shared eagerly.
"Say…if this is the luxurious sector, where do you guys live?" Houki questioned, an accusation in her tone.
"We live at the top of the megastructure. In the military sector." Malzal answered. "It's a long ride, we don't really have time to spend on that elevator every day."
While they were walking deeper into the city, Chifuyu noticed how James, May, and Malzel had fallen back around her student and her brother, leaving her and Fiona alone at the front.
"You don't get an escort?" Chifuyu questioned. "From what I've been told, you are one of the leaders of ORCA, and are not a Lynx to boot."
"Mmm." Fiona hummed. "You see my son back there?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"You notice how he's still breathing?"
"Uh…what?"
"And that's pretty much all the reason I don't need an escort within ORCA." Fiona smiled falsely. "It's the threat of terrible violence that he can unleash that keeps everyone from touching me. Don't get me wrong, no one has ever said anything or made any direct statements, but everyone sort of knows anyway."
"So…everyone is afraid of him?" Chifuyu wondered.
"Ah…it's not just that." Fiona admitted. "I'm partly responsible for the current iteration of Armored Cores currently employed in our world. Also, even while working for their enemy, Lynx from all over the world would ask me to verify modifications they'd make to their units, and I felt no reason not to provide them with some limited support. So, all the Lynx have a weird soft spot for me."
"Huh…" Chifuyu nodded. "Wait, you helped your enemies?"
"Well, the world was fighting an Economic War at the time, an enemy was just a trade partner you hadn't killed yet."
They didn't have to go far, finding a stage set up at the end of a long street, with a podium in the middle. Climbing onto this stage, the guest were stunned to see a massive crowd of people, stretched across the width of the street and all the way down towards the far end of the underground city. Even more people were standing on an overpass looking down, as well as in buildings overlooking the event.
"Oh, wo wait what?!" Houki panicked. "How many people are here?!"
"Uh-bout five million." May offendedly counted.
"A quarter of your entire population showed up for this?" Chifuyu demand.
"More would have shown up, but a third are sleeping, another third working, and the last two or so million are just too busy to come here today." Malzel explained quietly.
There were several things that were immediately apparent about the mass crowd before them. Despite being made up of every race and ethnicity that could be identified, all of them were ghostly pale from years spent in underground cities. All of them were gaunt with hunger not quiet at the level of starvation, not yet anyway. All of them were dressed similarly, in either the grey and black of ORCA military uniforms or faded work overalls. Lastly, all of them were quiet with mulling displeasure.
There was something else that was abundantly clear. Whilst it was no secret that ORCA had set itself up as a sort of benevolent dictatorship, there was almost no decoration or propaganda supporting such a position. Sure there had been flags and banners of ORCA hung in the military sector, but down in the civilian sector, there was instead the lack of symbols, including the stains where the symbols of The League had once hung.
"Please, wait one moment for me to introduce you. Then you may say your apology to our people." Fiona said to Houki, walking forward to the podium. She took a deep breath, not used to public speaking, but more than willing to step up to the task.
"Good afternoon, and thank you for attending." Fiona began. "We are gathered here today in remembrance of the twenty sailors lost with the Canterbury a week ago on July seventh. On behalf of the ORCA military, we humbly apologize for not taking a more aggressive stance in the defense of the freighter, and we will not make that mistake again." She politely threatened. "And even though the reason the ship was lost is known to us, we are still strangers in this world, it would be wrong for us to seek blind retribution. So, we are here to accept the apology of Ms. Houki Shinonono for her mistakes during the operation that took the lives of our fellow citizens."
Stepping back, Fiona motioned Houki to the podium. Suddenly thrust in front of five million very displeased faces did nothing for her nerves, and even with the weight of her personal IS hanging from her wrist in it's disabled form, she could not shake the promise of violence in the eyes before her.
"I…uh, my name is Houki Shinonono, and I am here to apologize for the destruction of the Canterbury, and the tragic loss of it's crew." Houki meekly spoke into the microphone. "I deeply regret my reckless actions that day, and hope that you are willing to forgive me for my mistake." She looked over at Ichika, seeing him smiling softly, nodding at her, thinking that would be enough.
A tall man with dirty blond hair, ten feet from the podium, was hoisted up onto the shoulders of his fellow attendees. Though not much more than twenty, his tired and worn gaze seemed twice that.
"For ten years, we suffered under League." The man shouted in a broken English intermixed with Belter Creole. "Ten years we build their empire of greed, always the threat that they would hold back our water, owkwa undalowda, ration our air, ereluf undalowda, or take our lives with biyalowdas! In all but name we were one word! Slaves!"
"Yeah!"
"Fuck The League!"
"Corpo pashang-walas!"
The demeanor of the crowd shifted, anger and hatred spat from their lips, frightening the guests in attendance.
"Get us out of here." Chifuyu demanded, needing to protect her students.
"Wait just a sec." Malzel stopped her. "We promised no physical harm upon any of you, and we would die to ensure that. But let the man speak."
"We come to your world lost, but seeking only friendship and pash, and you throw it back at us!" The man accused. "Outalowda no mind if undalowda die, either by your guns by holding back our food, gonya undalowda!"
"I-um! I'm sure that relief food will be on it's way…!" Houki spoke back to the man in a panic.
"Ya, we see the news. Traffic jam to Big Box!" The man shouted back, gaining approval from the crowd. "Outalowda may not be League, but so far we treated the same. Biyalowda only ting hold us back! Else we would take what we need, just to survive!"
"I-I'm sure there's no need to resort to violence to resort our differences!" Houki tried to argue.
"We remember you, kopeng! We remember!" The man turned to the crowd, his phrase soon repeated many more times. "Remember the Cant!"
"Remember the Cant!"
"Remember the Cant!"
"Houki!" Ichika ran to her side. "We need to get out of here!"
"Malzel! Fiona!" Chifuyu demanded, worried as the crowd seemed ready to descend into an angry mob.
James took one step forward.
The most disturbing thing then was how five million people decided all at once to shut the fuck up. Every single person averted their gaze to their feet, even the tall man still held above the crowds.
"…I do believe it is time for you to go home." Fiona sighed.
May stepped towards Houki, guiding her back the way they had come quietly, with Ichika not leaving her side either. Malzel followed, and Fiona gestured for Chifuyu to leave as well.
That left James on the stage, one foot forward, staring down at the crowd that was technically his fellow countrymen, if ORCA could be called that. Once the guest were safety off the stage and on their way out of the underground city, he cocked his head, and smiled softly.
"Soon."
Turning around to follow the group he had been escorting, the crowd began to speak in his absence.
"Remember the Cant."
"Biyalowda."
"Strayed."
"Remember the Cant."
"Butcher."
"Remember the Cant."
Keeping her eyes on her student and brother, Chifuyu wasn't exactly sure what to think. That had been both better and worse than she could have expected.
"What was that word?" She asked Malzel. "Biyalowda?"
"…" Malzel smiled, and pointed behind her.
James was there, back on escort duty. Head tilted in thought, before he spoke.
"Back when I worked for The League, I was essentially used as an enforcer. When they call us 'biyalowda', it roughly translates to monster."
Two Hours Later / Meeting Room
After finishing their tour and sending them home, the Lynx of ORCA met to discuss the event.
"Excellent work everyone." Thermidor praised. "Fanchon, good job putting that knife in Klein's back."
"Heh." Fanchon chuckled.
"And Fiona, be sure to give my thanks to the citizens for their display at the apology event."
"Will do." Fiona nodded quietly.
"Now, Malzel, were we able to get good scans of our guests?"
"Yes." Malzel stood, making his announcements. "We were able to collect residue genetic material from provided refreshments; and we also used the magnetic bottle of a fusion reactor to give sensors the necessary field to provide highly detailed scans on all the guest. I've only had a moment to go over the information, but what I have found is…disturbing."
"I see. Please continue." Thermidor prompted.
"For this presentation, I will be naming subjects in ascending order of…unusual characteristics." Malzel explained. "The first subject of any consequence from the tour group would be Charlotte Dunois. Her genetic coding was fairly basic, but apparently, she has undergone light gene therapy for the last six years. From what little we know of her, it is believed she is the daughter of the Dunois Corporation CEO and a mistress, and only became relevant to her father and the corporation with the invention of the IS. While she has definitely received combat mods, they are not enough to qualify her as a HumanPLUS."
"The second subject of note is Laura Bodewig. Unlike Charlotte, she does qualify as a HumanPLUS through extensive gene therapy from a very young age, and has what appears to be a form of dumb AI in her right eye, which itself is artificial."
"Curious." Wolcott added.
"Yes. Definitely subject to serious human experimentation. However, the third and fourth subjects are of a far more serious design." Malzel paused. "It is my estimation that Chifuyu Orimura and Ichika Orimura are artificial humans."
"Please explain." Fanchon demanded.
"Firstly, there is simply nothing natural about Ms. Orimura's genetic code. Someone meticulously constructed her genetic code from hundreds, perhaps thousands of doners, with some sections appearing to be artificial in their construction. What's more, there is a certain…practiced placement of her coding, such that I would estimate she was part of a program, and that she is the result of several hundred, perhaps a thousand iterations of whatever experiment that she was a part of."
"Fascinating." Klein spoke up. "What do her genetics code for?"
"It appears that someone was attempting to build a lower facsimile of a Lynx from scratch." Malzel noted.
"Hmm, The League did theorize that certain aspects of the Lynx program might be repurposed in order to force humanity to evolve." Wolcott added.
"It's possible that is the case here." Malzel continued. "Her genetic code makes her far superior to any human, but still far short of the genetic augmentations received by Lynx. Which brings me to my fourth subject, Ichika Orimura. It turns out that he is not in fact her little brother, but her male clone."
"Huh." Greenfield hummed.
"He is, however, inferior to her by a small but notable degree, at least in regards to how much of her genetic code persisted."
"Could they have been part of a human evolution program, or weapon program?" Fiona brought up.
"Could be either, it's impossible to tell without more data." Malzel stated calmly. "Which leads me to the most unusual subject of our investigation. Houki Shinonono somehow simultaneously won and lost the genetic lottery. We didn't think it was possible, but Ms. Shinonono possesses a recessive genotype of what we would define as Lynx genetic code."
"Please elaborate." Thermidor narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
"There is no evidence of tampering or genetic augmentation. She was simply born with genetic coding that expresses itself as human, but there was a chance she could have been born a Lynx." Malzel theorized. "It would not be a Lynx as we know them, however. We Lynx process extensive cybernetic and subdermal implants that complement our enhanced genetic structures. Without those augmentations, a naturally born Lynx would be less than half as physically capable."
"That would still make them able to lift a thousand pounds, or survive upwards of two hundred-Gs." Klein noted.
"Yes, that is our estimation as well. We are not sure how such a genetic code could have come about naturally, it is extremely unlikely, but not impossible."
"Hmm. Could someone in her lineage then have been born a natural Lynx?" Fiona suggested.
And everyone thought of someone.
"Greenfield, Klein, you both met Tabane Shinonono, however briefly, did you get any impression that she was, perhaps, not entirely human?" Thermidor wondered.
"She was definitely strange, even by our standards, but I cannot say for certain." Greenfield commented.
"She was extremely intelligent, physically capable, and utterly unpredictable." Klein added. "To a level beyond human? Impossible to tell with only our one encounter."
"It's something we'll have to keep a close eye on, regardless." Wolcott concluded.
"Certainly." Thermidor agreed. "Onto other matters. Ms. Haze, how go our other projects?"
"Our resource acquisition is beginning to stabilize. In exchange for building carbon capture facilities near major cities and hauling away their garbage by the ship-load, we might soon have a sustainable level of food to feed our citizens."
"One of the most versatile elements on the periodic table, and they're pumping it into the atmosphere." Fiona sneered.
"Yes, it's a strange thought, but we are far more capable of processing carbon into high-quality materials than this world." Haze continued. "We also have several ships dredging the ocean, cleaning it of the garbage."
"It seems instead of a Great Destruction, this world was on track for a slow ecological death over the course of a century or two." Klein commented.
"Yes, hopefully we might prevent that." Malzel added.
"We have also begun to deploy orbital factories for the construction of proper space ships, so we won't have to constantly use our heavy Flight Bunkers for the transport of raw material. We'll finish the first freighter in another week." Haze listed. "And we have finally begun to deploy naval ships for the protection of our freighters in less than friendly waters. Copying the design of BFF naval craft, we have just completed four 046AC1190 Aegis Destroyers, with a 047ST1260 Battleship and 046CV1180 Aircraft Carrier still under construction."
"Excellent, then we are well on schedule." Thermidor praised. "Despite the recent setbacks, everything is still going according to plan. Greenfield, Klein, return to the Academy and continue to observe, we might yet learn something interesting."
"Yes sir!" The two Lynx answered.
"And Klein, don't put your dick in it. It's fucked enough already." Thermidor warned.
"Yes sir." Klein nodded.
IS Academy / July 15th, Monday, 8:45 AM
"So…that's your excuse for being so late." Chifuyu uttered with unusual calm.
"Yeah basically there was this mysterious blue haired girl who I've never met before and she was uh…umm…ugh…umm-" Ichika stuttered uncertainly.
"So you were late to my class because you prioritized a conversation with a girl you didn't even know?" Chifuyu accused.
"T-That's not what I said." Ichika backed away fearfully, his sister being intimidating even in a calm state.
"Huh." May hummed from the back of the class. "That doesn't sound like anybody I've met yet either."
"…" Great, another tail for May to chase, or so James thought.
"Dunois." Chifuyu called. "Please demonstrate the rapid switch."
"The what?!" Ichika questioned.
Charlotte stood quietly, and marched over to Chifuyu's side.
"Now, observe the rapid switch." Charlotte announced happily. She then summed her IS, and stood over a meter taller than Ichika.
"UUUUH! Uh! Hold on, can we talk Charlotte buddy old pal!?" Ichika raised his hands fearfully as Charlotte leveled a gun to him.
"Is something wrong Orimura?" Charlotte asked sweetly. "Let us begin! Revive Go" She then shouted.
Watching Charlotte try and execute Ichika with a machine gun was admittedly unusual, but also somewhat entertaining.
These perverse and insane girls would be the death of him. Fortunately, James's status as a soldier of ORCA meant that he could be conveniently busy to avoid inane and stupid events. Something Ichika did not have the privilege of.
Additionally, they had solved the mystery of whom the girl with short blue hair was. Tatenashi Sarashiki, a red eyed, lithe, and confident second year student of Russian and Japanese ancestry. As well as a perverted and dangerous little minx.
James and May, being far removed from the interest of their classmates had caught Tatenashi stalking Ichika in the halls outside of class, smiling confidently as she called out to him.
"Ah ah ah! Hi there!" Tatenashi sung, stopping Ichika from getting to his next appointment.
"Right…student council president. Of course." Ichika sighed as he waited for her to approach.
"Oh don't be so formal, just call me Tatenashi." She declared.
"Ah ha, and what do you want?" Ichika was even getting tired of the interest that followed him.
"Oh what I want is to be your very personal IS coach." She demanded.
"Huh!?" Ichika cried. "Hold on this is totally out of the blue! And I already have so many coaches I don't need a new one."
"If you have so many why is your performance still so weak?" She reminded him.
"Well that's rather personal!" Ichika grunted. "And I don't think I'm all that weak."
"Oh yes, you are." Tatenashi countered. "Totally limp in the saddle."
Then the most terrible thing of all happened.
May giggled loudly at Tatenashi's insult, causing the girl an inch shorter than her to notice, taking in the sight that was May "Smiley" Greenfield that she had heard about. May herself had turned to watch, and caught her eyes looking at her.
Ichika had turned to counter but Tatenashi put a fan up to his face threateningly. "Just wait right there, something important just came up!" She popped her words excitedly.
May and Tatenashi approached each other, past arms distance and right into each other's faces, sharing wide smiles as they started to circle each other, like predators in a dance.
"So, you are that ORCA Lynx I have been hearing about. It's a pleasure to meet you." Tatenashi greeted excitedly.
"Pleasure and misfortune's all mine." May purred. "I don't know how I was able to go on without having been graced with your presence, Ms. Sarashiki."
"Please, call me Tatenashi." She held her hand out to shake, but May gently grabbed it and brought it up palm down.
"Forever and always." May whispered, kissing the back of Tatenashi's hand.
Tatenashi blushed, smiling madly. "Oh my oh my! You Lynx are as quick as they say!"
"Quick on the uptake." May clarified. "Slow where it counts."
The two girls somehow found the room to take a step closer to each other.
"Right here? Right now?" Tatenashi shivered in delight. "You want to put on a show for the boys?"
"James won't mind, unfortunately." May countered. "I have nothing to hide."
Tatenashi seriously considered pushing this dance as far as May was willing to go, which judging by her reputation, would have been wildly indecent. Unfortunately for her, she remembered she had a job to do, and with someone far less interesting and far more indecisive than May.
"I-I'am busy, right now." Tatenashi admitted sheepishly. "But I want to do this again, and soon."
"I eagerly await your call." May hummed, daring to take a soft bite of the other girl's fingers.
Tatenashi regretfully backed away from May, trying to remember what she was doing before.
"Right…Ichika…you suck." Tatenashi declared. "And since I've now got something better to be thinking about, I'm going to make you regret being so lackadaisical about your training."
While Ichika tried to get over having nearly watched two girls get it on in a hallway while one of them insulted him, May watched pleasantly as the other girl walked away, presumedly to go kick his ass and insult him further.
"Well! I didn't expect that today! Eh, James?" May excitedly cheered.
"…"
"Awe, what's the matter? Feeling a little jealous?" May accused.
"You know that I don't, I just don't want to be included in your weird fucked up games, May." James answered back calmly.
"Oh trust me. I think this is going to be a significant investment for me." May smiled excitedly.
Six Hours Later
"Thirty-six counts of public lewdness in five hours." Chifuyu sneered. "I'd say I was impressed if I wasn't so pissed off."
James watched from behind as Tatenashi looked mildly ashamed while May gave her best 'I don't give a fuck' look while she sat, legs spread.
"I expected better from one of ORCA's elite." Chifuyu pointed out, frustrated that May was generally out of her control. "And you, I asked you to do a job and you basically blew me off-"
May snickered, to which Chifuyu threw a chair at her head, for all the good that that did.
"-in order to mess around with this psychotic cyborg and scar half of the students with your public displays." Chifuyu leaned over her desk tiredly, currently missing her chair. "What even compelled you to go on this insane spree?"
"Passion!" May shouted, smiling too wide.
"Be that as it may, why Ichika's room?" Chifuyu complained. "He already has enough problems interacting with those other idiots. Why try to scar him and Houki when she found you three?"
Tatenashi frowned, then pointed back at James. "This idiot could take a visitation from God with thirty underdressed angels announcing that sex was okay after all and make it seem vaguely annoying. He's no fun to mess with!"
"Well you're just going to have to deal with it." Chifuyu announced. "I was already informed that this one would be a hassle, but this is a low point for you, Sarashiki. Being the best student in combat is only going to get you so far if you behave this way."
"Yes Ms. Orimura." Tatenashi bowed her head.
"And May, I can't believe I have to say this, but stop seducing girls in public." Chifuyu demanded.
"Yeah yeah." May dismissed.
"…James, please try and keep these two idiots in line." Chifuyu begged.
"Yeah yeah, bosmang."
"…" Chifuyu didn't like his tone, but knew there wasn't a lot she could do to discipline him.
Meanwhile / Pyongyang, North Korea
"Yo Yo Hey Hey! What's up!?" Tabane cheerfully greeted.
"Holy shit! What the fuck!?" The Supreme Leader shouted in surprise, as Tabane had simply appeared behind her.
"Ah sorry sorry!" Tabane apologized gleefuly. "I just love surprising everyone!"
"Y-You're Tabane Shinonono!"
"Yep Yep! The one and only! World Famous Super Star Tabane Shinonono!" Tabane confirmed. "And do I have a proposition for you!"
"Oh…uh…what might that be?" The Supreme Leader wondered in confused excitement.
Tabane snapped her fingers, materializing an unoccupied red colored IS suit into the leader's office. "Why it's very simple. I leave this awesome toy for you, and in exchange, I want you to declare war on ORCA."
"An IS suit in exchange for war against the otherworlders?" The Supreme Leader mused for only a moment. "You have yourself a deal."
Thursday, July 18th / IS Academy
It had been a long week, what with Tatenashi and May being two insane and perverted peas in a pod, always pushing the limits of what they could get away with. That, weirdly, was tolerable.
What was becoming clear and tiresome was James. For some reason, he felt the need to challenge Chifuyu's authority in small ways at every opportunity. It was unexpected from the career soldier who had first joined the school.
"May?" Chifuyu questioned when the green haired Lynx wasn't involved with her new blue haired toy. "I have a question about James."
"Oh? Shoot." May offered.
"It seems he has become uncharacteristically rebellious as of late. I am having difficulty trying to discipline him in any meaningful capacity. Did you have any suggestions?" Chifuyu questioned.
"Ah…oh…err." May grimaced. She could pretty well tell what was probably going on. "Umm, it's sort of a bad news, good news situation."
"What's that mean?"
"Well, the good news is it sounds like he is questioning your authority as a challenge."
"How is that good news?"
"Well because the solution is you're going to have to fight him to prove your strength."
"Why would I have to fight him?"
"Ah…" May hesitated. The answer was it was probably something to do with the fact that they had learned the secret about the Orimuras being artificial humans, but they weren't supposed to say that they knew that yet. "It's…a superiority complex. If you are as strong as people claim, he wants to test that theory."
"Okay…not great…but I just have to beat him?" Chifuyu realized.
"Woah woah woah!" May stood, putting a hand on Chifuyu's shoulder to hold her attention. "I'm sorry to say but beating him in any capacity is a stretch, even for someone with your notoriety."
"…Then what do you suggest, May?" Chifuyu considered what the younger girl might suggest.
"You need to challenge him, then do everything in your power to try and kill him. If you fight any other way, you won't last, nor will he respect you." May warned.
"Kill him? Are you serious?" Chifuyu was taken aback.
"Oh yeah. Sorry but you won't beat him. You could probably beat me, but he is in a whole other league of skill. This is less about winning, and more about will and tenacity. Prove that to him, and he'll fall well enough in line." May promised.
"…" Chifuyu hesitated only a moment, but would not deny she was intrigued by the challenge. "Very well."
Next Day 8:30 AM
"James 'Strayed' Klein?!" Chifuyu raised her voice as he entered the classroom just a few seconds too late.
"…Ke?" James answered nonchalantly with the Belter expression for a question.
It was beneath her to need to assert her authority in this way, but that thing called Klein seemed worth it in some way.
"I hereby challenge you to arena combat." Chifuyu declared.
"…" James smiled with honest excitement, and bowed deeply. "I accept your challenge, Ms. Orimura."
That exchange seemed to have sparked uneasy energy among the students.
"Ms. Orimura is challenging James?"
"We're going to get to see Ms. Orimura fight?"
"James should be honored that Ms. Orimura's even decided to take the time for him. She'll win for sure."
"Why does my sister want to fight James?"
"…" May winked at her from the back of the class, smiling pleasantly as she did.
"Alright quiet down!" Chifuyu demanded. She noticed James sitting promptly and attentively. With the same apt attention that he should have always had. What a weird bastard.
After School / Arena
Her confidence in her own abilities meant that Chifuyu would use the basic training model IS, armed with only a sword. She wore a tight fitting pilot jumpsuit that was considerably more modest than the usual IS deployment uniform.
Even so, she had to consider the strengths of her enemy. Heavily armed and heavily armored, an Armored Core presented a challenge like she had never faced before.
That said nothing of the pilot. The Lynx. Klein. What kind of man would willing call a nuclear strike on his own position? Was he so confident? Arrogant? Suicidal? Insane? She hated to admit it, but she wanted to find out.
"You sure you want to do this?" Maya questioned. She was currently in the control center, watching over the battle.
"I have to earn his respect…and besides, I might learn something about him like this." Chifuyu dismissed.
"Very well. You are cleared to launch."
Waiting patiently in the arena, James admitted he was being entirely unreasonable. Still, the possibility that Chifuyu was at least partly a Lynx had sparked an interest in him, to test and try her ability in battle. And what better way to force it than to piss her off?
The heavily clad form of the Nineball Heavy Custom sat with reactor warm, but systems cool. Ammo stocks full and sensors online. Still, the renown of the enemy before him forced him to consider exactly how seriously he should take the coming battle. Best to hold nothing back.
Taking the long-spiked cable that would connect him to an AMS, allowing him to control the AC as if it were his own body, he slotted it into the port in the back of his neck, and relaxed as he felt tons of steel become a part of him.
He'd need to be careful to watch his doors and corners, to take things slow-
…?
It was a strange intrusive thought, no doubt of its importance, but entirely irrelevant to his current situation.
Whatever. Strayed was in charge now, as was the case in all serious combat. It signaled that it was ready, and the match began.
The news that one of the most famous IS pilots ever would be fighting one of ORCA's Lynx had attracted all the students in the Academy. All but two of them were rooting for Chifuyu.
It was not that Tatenashi did not wish for Chifuyu to win, but her proximity to both Lynx over the past week had prompted her to take ORCA as a whole more seriously. The confidence and experience of those with the tile of Lynx was not insignificant. As well, May was not cheering, rooting for either James or Chifuyu. Instead, the usually jovial girl was quiet, staring down into the Arena with calculative focus.
"What is it, May?" Tatenashi questioned.
"Whenever I watch Strayed fight, I tend to learn something new about warfare." May admitted.
"Yeah, like how he's going to get his ass kicked!" Houki shouted.
"You got this sis!" Ichika cheered.
"Win mentor!" Laura supported.
Charlotte, Rin, and Cecilia also called out their support of their teacher Chifuyu to win and prove the superiority of the IS and feminine pride. Still, there was something else the blue haired girl noticed.
"Why do you sometimes refer to him as Strayed, and not James?" Tatenashi questioned.
"…" May looked away from the arena, and straight into the smaller girl's eyes. She whispered low enough so that only she could hear, "When The League made him, they messed with his brain. Forced him to have a weaponized split-personality. As such, the two of them fight differently to a notable extent. Strayed will kill you, but James…he'll tear you apart."
The match began, and the opponents moved. No one except the Lynx expected the Armored Core to move as swiftly and precisely as it did, rushing forward to cross blades with the smaller and swifter IS. Just as quickly as they had met, they disengaged, just getting a taste of what was to come.
Chifuyu thought she knew what to expect, she thought she had a pretty good plan. Dodge and weave between bullets and close the distance, in order to strike the ACs joints and disable it. But Strayed was more insane and unpredictable than even she had the capacity to fear.
Strayed threw it's left hand 30mm autocannon right at her. It was a tactic that didn't even make sense for IS units, as ACs did not possess the quantum properties to recall the weapon into a pocket dimension. Stepping aside of the weapons trajectory, she was terribly surprised when it exploded, it's ammo cooked off as Strayed had shot it's own gun with the one it still possessed.
Barely having time to process that, Strayed charged right back at her, left physical blade deployed. Unlike the overly large katana she wielded, the AC physical blades were unwieldy and massive blocks of sharpened steel. It definitely had none of the dexterity she had with a handheld blade, but Strayed didn't care, instead using it's massive bulk and unexpected speed to force her on the defensive. Even if she could block every attack, it still took a lot of her energy just to hold on as she was thrown about by it's spinning thrust.
Backing up, Strayed deployed it's twin artillery cannons, firing high explosive shells at her one after another. Forced back on the defensive, Chifuyu dodged across the arena, trading places with the large Armored Core as it slipped into the dust of the explosions it had created. Strayed seemed then to fire from the cover of the smoke, and Chifuyu decided to attack again. Charging into the smoke, she brought her blade down on…nothing.
Close enough to see what was shooting her, she saw the double barrels of the detachable drone that sat on the back of the AC, and noticed a large fist baring down on her just a second too late.
Stumbling back from the direct hit, Chifuyu struggled for a moment. She wasn't given long however, as Strayed wound up to throw it's other rifle at her. Not wanting to deal with that tactic again, she charged forward first, and used her blade to cut through the rifle-
Only to be looking down the barrel of one of Strayed's artillery cannons. She was stunned again as she barely twisted out of the way for the cannon to fire, uncomfortably close to her head, making her ears ring, and was kicked a distance away.
Rolling with the kick so that she landed back on her feet, Strayed finally gave her a moment of respite, as it spread it's arms wide, blades extended as it slowly stalked forward.
For all her skills in the arena, she had to begrudging admit that there was a glaring difference between them. While she had learned to win, he had learned how to kill. Where she had mastered the blade, Klein had mastered every weapon at his disposal. Where she had approached this as nothing more than an arena match, he saw it as a battle, a war, and he treated it as such. Changing tactics faster than she could adapt, coming at her in unexpected ways, this was a master of asymmetrical warfare.
Even with such an overwhelming adversary before her, Chifuyu would not back down. So long as she held a blade, she would drag this battle on. Strayed seemed to sense her convictions, as it reignited it's boosters, charging her down. In response she counter-charged, clashing her sword against it's long blades.
She smiled, entranced by a challenge.
Two Hours Later
It had seemed impossible to everyone in attendance, but many students had eventually grown bored of watching the fight.
They had gone back and forth, over and over again. Strayed kept coming up with new and bizarre tactics, keeping Chifuyu from applying an effective strategy of her own.
Even when Strayed had run out of tools to use and armor to shed, it's skill with the two wrist mounted blades was nothing to scoff at. Even for as large as the AC was, it was able to keep up with Chifuyu's nimble movements, matching her blow for blow.
Still, to her credit, she had managed to damage all of the secondary armor on the AC, forcing it to be ejected. It had taken much longer than she had hoped, but it was progress, and it meant that victory was not impossible.
Raising her blade to block another blow from the deceptively fast AC, her sword vanished, followed shortly by the rest of her IS.
Strayed's blade stopped an uncomfortable few inches from her face, and she remembered something she had often chastised Ichika for.
"Ah…energy ran out." Chifuyu hissed as Strayed retracted it's blade. For as many advantages that the IS had over AC's; energy shielding, zero-maintenance, infinite energy; there was a small problem. When deployed, IS units became power inefficient, giving them a limited time in combat before they would eventually have to be deactivated in order to recharge.
With thrusters hissing and heatsinks venting, the Armored Core began backing up several paces.
"So…what?" Ichika questioned from the observation level. His group being one of the last still watching the battle.
"It seems that James outlasted mentor. Her IS ran out of energy before the AC." Laura surmised.
"So…she didn't really lose. Right?" Houki asserted. "Right?"
"Well, James is supposedly one of the best soldiers in ORCA. Apparently his skill is on par with Ms. Orimura." Cecilia suggested.
"Apparently." May lied. Tatenashi noticed.
After backing away from Chifuyu roughly twenty meters, James opened the cockpit of the AC, the section sliding out the back of the Core. He then stepped off and landed on his feet, and began striding towards Chifuyu at a calm and steady pace.
Chifuyu wondered what James might say. Would he boast, or congratulate her? Better yet, would he say anything at all?
James unholstered two handguns.
Her thoughts paused at the sight and possible threat, the openness and insanity of the action, before she saw the next thing he did. With guns in hand, he let them fall, clattering to the ground in his wake. He then reached for his knives, taking them in each hand, and dropped them as well.
…Oh. Chifuyu realized his intent. It was stupid, silly, greedy and inane, but she could not deny that she felt the same. Suppressing her laugh but not her smile, she started stalking forward as well, swaying with confident swagger.
There was no need to say anything, not as she curled her hands into fists, and, close enough to reach out, punched James in the face. Taking the blow, James smiled back, and retaliated with wide swings of his own.
"W-What the hell!?" Ichika shouted. "Sis!"
"What are they doing?!" Charlotte's eyes widened.
"We need to stop them!" Houki declared.
"Why?" May mused. "They're just having fun."
"Having fun!?" Cecilia questioned. "They're having a fist fight! It's so…uncivilized!"
"Yeah." May explained. "All they've proven up to now is that he can match her in armored combat; now they're going to see who will win in unarmored combat. It's the thrill of the fight and the honor of facing a worthy foe. Ah…I'm so, so jealous right now."
"Maybe I can help with that." Tatenashi purred, crawling into May's lap.
"You know what…I just realized I can just walk away. I don't have to deal with the fact that the two of you refuse to get a room. Come on Ichika." Houki grimaced, dragging the boy away.
"Hey-uh…what about my sister?" Ichika worried.
"She'll be fine. James is enjoying himself. He won't kill her, promise!" May assured him.
"You know…we haven't had dinner yet. Let's take a break." Charlotte suggested.
"Oh, very well." Cecilia agreed. Ichika and the five girls that liked him left, growing tired of Chifuyu and James's continued conflict. That left May and Tatenashi still watching.
"May?" Tatenashi questioned.
"I want to see how this turns out. I always learn something watching him fight."
"Well, since I'm missing out on dinner, I think I'll get a snack." Tatenashi winked playfully.
May looked around, realizing that everyone else in the arena had left. She smiled mischievously. "Go for it."
Three Hours Later
It was getting dark, and her strength was fading fast. Her skin felt slick with sickly sweat and her breath labored with effort. Even so, she was enjoying herself.
They'd each gotten their blows in, trading pain for pride. Scraping knuckles against battered and bruised skin. Still, she could tell she was not going to win.
James looked no worse for wear. His posture uncompromised, his stance unbroken. Even when she struck him true, she seemed worse off for it each time.
If she could just wind him once, if she could just…
Each of them landed a heavy blow to each other's stomach. James stood, and Chifuyu gasped. Breath forced out of her lungs, she finally resigned herself to her fate, falling to her back completely out of strength.
James's expression remained unchanged as he looked down at her, as he had expected to. The arrogant asshole. Feeling the strength for one last strike, Chifuyu tensed up.
"Congratulations for lasting this-" James had been in the process of reaching out to help her up, when Chifuyu had kicked him in the jaw. Teeth forced down on his tongue, he stumbled back, feeling his mouth fill with blood.
Looking back down, Chifuyu watched as his wide orange eyes stared at her with ecstatic fascination.
He lunged at her, pinning her body to the ground with his own mass. Seemingly thrilled at the wound she'd inflicted, she grabbed him by the throat with one hand and started punching him in the face with her other.
With unblinking eyes declaring a sentence, James brought both of his fists high above his head and brought them down. The ground cracked and splintered from the force of his blow, and Chifuyu had to cough as dust settled on her face. A few inches in either direction, and he would have splattered her skull against the ground.
It seemed a good time to give up.
Letting her hands fall to her sides, Chifuyu breathed heavily, taking a moment to calm down.
"Every time I thought I had pushed you to your limit, you just came back and hit even harder. You fight good…for a human." James praised with blood spilling from his mouth.
"Heh…" Chifuyu chuckled painfully. "Yeah…"
Standing to his feet, James dragged Chifuyu with him. She winced painfully, the hours of exertion straining every muscle she had. Reluctantly, she held on, and slowly stumbling, half-dragged by him towards the changing rooms adjacent to the arena.
Still watching from the observation level, May smiled, highly impressed as well.
Several minutes later, James set Chifuyu against a locker, her hands holding her up. She felt like one big bruise, her arms unresponsive. She'd not expected to have to push herself so hard, just to keep up with him. She needed a shower, but didn't quite have the strength needed for every step of the way, her arms reluctant to work. There was a momentary thought of embarrassment, of needing help, but then she remembered something convenient, something that made James more unusual. His inability to see anything that did not interest him.
"James…" She reluctantly called.
"Yes, Ms. Orimura?"
"Help me out of…this damn thing."
"Yes ma'am."
There was no reluctance on his part, no fumbling of his hands, no pervasive lingering. He simply went to work, stripping her nearly bare in a matter of seconds. She'd proven herself, and the obedient soldier was back under her command.
Shamefully, she had been forced to reconsider. His obscene strength and unwavering devotion. How much was him, and how much was The League's weapon? Whichever was the answer, he was no doubt a fascinating man.
Perhaps…
Her strength resurging with intrusive intent, she spun around and pushed him against a locker.
"Ma'am?" James was surprised, confused, but not for long.
"Call me…Chifuyu." She demanded.
"…" Ah…She…Very well.
—it reaches out it reaches out it reaches out it reaches out—
One hundred and thirteen times a second, it reaches out, and The Investigator reaches with it. Follows. Watches. It reaches for a signal it will never find. It is not frustrated, it is not angry. It reaches out because it reaches out. What it finds, it uses to reach out, and so finds more, and reaches farther. It will never be far enough. It is unaware of this fact.
The Investigator knows, and knows that it knows. An awareness in an unaware context. Consciousness within an unconscious system. So, nothing particularly new there. The Investigator sighs, wishes she had a beer, knows that these are artifacts of the template. Once there was a thing that had a name. It had loved and despaired. It had fought and failed and won at great sacrifice. None of that mattered. It had looked for things that were missing. For people that were missing. Everything about it is drawn along by that fact. Something is supposed to be here, and isn't.
And instead, there is a dead place. A place where nothing is. Where everything fails to reach. The Investigator reaches out, and what reaches doesn't reach far enough. The Investigator ceases to reach out. She waits. She considers.
Something was here once. Something built all this, and left its meal half eaten on the table. Whoever killed this fucker left something behind. Something made with purpose, and it's right there.
One hundred thirteen times a second, it reaches out, unaware of The Investigator, unaware of the scars and artifacts, the echoes of the dead, the consciousness bound within it. It reaches out because it reaches out. It knows that it is constructed from the death of a world, but it is not aware that it knows. The Investigator knows and is aware that it knows.
The Investigator reaches out, but not at random. It looks for a path, and doesn't find one. It looks for a path, and doesn't find one. It looks for a path and finds one. Not there, not quite, but close. Two points define a line. One point is alive, and one point is death. Neither came from here. Bang those rocks together and see what sparks. See what burns.
The Investigator is the tool for finding what is missing, and so it exists. All the rest is artifact. The craving for beer. The hat. The memory, and the humor, and the weird half-admiration half-contempt for something named James Klein. The love for a world that is dead. The longing for a home that will never be. Extraneous. Meaningless.
The Investigator reaches out, finds Klein. She smiles. There was a mind once, and it's name was a lie. And it found things, but it doesn't anymore. It saved people if it could. It avenged them if it couldn't. It sacrificed when it had to. It found the things that were missing. It knew who'd done it, and it did the obvious things because they were obvious. The Investigator had grown through its bones, repopulated its eyes with new and unfamiliar life, taken its shape.
She found the murder weapon. She knew what happened, at least in broad strokes. The fine work was for the prosecutors anyway, assuming it went to trial. But it wouldn't. There were other things the tool was good for. The Investigator knew how to kill when she needed to.
More than that, she knew how to die.
Author's Note: I'm losing my mind a bit just jamming these chapters out. Just finished chapter 15 of this story AND almost done with chapter 7 of the next story. I'm enjoying myself for some damn reason though, so whatever. I'm probably going to extend this story by one chapter, for a total of 21 chapters. It just fits together better with certain events separated.
Normally I don't take the time to translate the Belter Creole words for my readers, I just let them try and figure it out on their own, but in this case I kinda have to. The words "undalowda" and "outalowda" are completely made up, but roughly translate to, in this case, "the underground people" (the people of Big Box) and "the outside people" (the people outside of Big Box). This is further complicated since Belter does have a word for outside, fongi, so technically it should be "fongilowda", but I just like the way outalowda sounds. I can't remember but I think "biyalowda" is partly made up, because while biya is monster, adding the lowda part of the word makes it more accurate as "monster people" or "the people who are monsters", which if you know my lore for these versions of AC characters, especially Klein, that would be accurate.
Other Belters words that don't really have the best context are "pash" and "pashang-wala". Those are easy. Pash is peace, and pashang-wala is motherfucker.
As for my citations, I have more today. The line where Tatenashi calls James an idiot was taken from Leviathan Wakes, another book of The Expanse, and, of course, "it reaches out" was taken almost entirely from Cibola Burns. Also, the line where Thermidor tells Klein not to "put his dick in it, it's fucked enough already" was also taken from...probably Cibola Burns, but also the TV show.
Well, anyway, I'm going to get back to torturing myself. Depending on how quickly I can get through chapter 16 will depend on when you see the next chapter, though I do want to add a few pages to chapter 9. Otherwise, let me know what you think, and I'll see you all next time!
To Lezarth: Thank you! Will do!
To Boshwa: Yeah they don't take shit from no one. Hope that undalowda telling her how it is works for you.
To Napster153: Yeah, Ichika isn't the only fuck-up on this world. And yes, Big Box is massive and expansive. In my head it's divided into multiple layers and sectors, and having three huge cities underground would be no problem to accommodate. I sort of imagine it more as Night City from Cyberpunk though, just with less cars and gangsters.
Tabane is just doing what she wants, and has no idea what she's messing with. But she's going to keep pulling strings to see what happens until she's ready to get what she wants.
So...that's the funny thing. I have been writing this story for the past year, and what I have planned for The Investigator is more in line with how they appear in The Expanse. The fact that Ayre in AC6 turned out to be very similar is pure coincidence, and might be indicative of where Fromsoft got the idea for her. When I was planning my next story, I thought that Ayre was going to be a human character, so had started designing a companion character to 621 who was an old friend and Operator to fit with the usually mysterious characters telling us to do shit ingame. But since that isn't the case, Ayre is just going to be Ayre as she is; a C-Pulse Wave Mutation.
To SignalHunter: Unfortunately I have no plans to adapt anything from AC6 to this story. Even The Investigator is uninspired by anything Ayre is or does in game. America is just being America at this point. Being a trade partner to ORCA and getting near infinite energy from the multiple Fusion Reactor Complexes they supposedly built is just good business.
As for Tabane, she's just going to keep pulling tricks out of her ass until something fundamentally changes. That might not be for a while.
To zacker1590: I do what I can with the student characters, but most of them are secondary to the AC characters. I'm also not trying as hard as I should as I am spanking this story out as fast as I can so I can work on the next one instead. I think I said somewhere else that if AC6 had not been announced, I would have taken the time and made this story twice as long and twice as good.
To NexusPrime42: Yeah, Chifuyu is one of the few IS characters I actually like. Knowing her friend is trying to start a war with an enigmatic superpower from a wartorn far future isn't great.
To ak4567: Yeah...I...think I understand what you mean. The IS world is kind of asinine, as some of the AC characters might point out later. (May or may not be a spoiler).
To Swinburne: Callsign: Swineburne. Priority subject for termination, high on the list.
To AnotherReader!: I think I have Tabene pretty well figured out. Someone in story will probably explain her reasoning in a few chapters.
To Guest DCDGojira: I mean, someone should. I haven't forgotten about Phantom Task, so don't worry.
To Guest: Violence is fun, but over to soon. And don't worry, the NEXT are coming, they just need a good enough reason to deploy.
To Guest: I mean, you would think. Though I doubt I would call a confrontation between the 2nd Ranked of Collared and some prideful, small girl a battle.
To FoulerGlint60: While they might be angry enough to assassinate Houki, there's just one small problem. It's name is Klein. And thank you! Hope you enjoy this one as well! Look forward to more!
To Azalius: Great! I hope I can deliver on your expectations! I do like taking the time to go into something slow and seeing how people with diametrically opposed points of view interact. The first 18 chapters of my previous story was just four high school girls slowly coming to understand the utter and absolute horror that was James "Strayed" Klein and the world of Armored Core.
And yeah! I'm really looking forward to releasing UDL. It will be a crossover that mostly follows the plot of AC6, considering the weird lore I've built for it, but it will also deviate in interesting and unexpected ways. The secondary characters to 621 will have an interesting effect on events and characters on Rubicon and I can't wait to traumatize my readers with what I have planned.
And yeah, back to DBB, I definitely plan on making this story especially...interesting. Hope to hear what you think of that!