The Exeter Project

by Shadow0Fire

After the untimely destruction of America's rampaging I.S, the Gospel, the nation lost all privileges to own Infinite Stratos tech. It's new project, Exeter, carries the dream of a new breed of aerial ingenuity, and with it, the mission to become ruler of the skies for the USA. Only two things stand in the way of this dream; the I.S. Academy, and the heart of Exeter's own pilot.

22. Forged Anew

Before the final revision, the pacing of this story had everything up to now only taking place in the span of a few weeks. It was kind of crazy really. Granted, the timeline has only been somewhat stretched out, but I think the timeframe the story is operating on now is better than it used to be.

---

Compared to the rather exciting morning Church had experienced with all of the ladies, his afternoon was going much more quietly. With the exception of occasional giggling fits from Laura at his expense, Church was now having a mostly good day, especially since he was now on good terms with Rin again. The brunette had gone for a complete one-eighty: she was making efforts to be near him and engage him in conversation whenever possible. And there was an awful lot of blushing involved as well. Frankly, Church wasn't exactly sure what about their earlier conversation that morning had led to this shift in behavior. Sure, he had said some flattering things about her, but this was a big change.

Before, he had been convinced that she must not have seen him in any sort of romantic light at all. Now, he couldn't help but think the way she was acting was very similar to a girl that was interested in someone. Admittedly, he had never had a girl crush on him before, at least to the best of his knowledge, but Church was fairly certain that a desire to engage with someone and constantly be close to them while also being a bit shy and bashful were green flags for 'this girl probably likes you'.

Which was a little confusing, honestly. Based on his perception of the situation so far, Church had been pretty sure that all of the girls around him were head over heels for Ichika, with no chance of that changing. And yet, as the group roamed around the streets of Bath in the early afternoon, Church was subjected to a lack of personal space on both sides of his person thanks to Rin and Laura, not that he was complaining. To his humble observations, both girls seemed to have little interest with engaging Ichika to the same extent they were engaging him today. Although it wasn't like Rin had outright said anything along the lines of 'hey, let's go out' since this morning, and Laura had never said that at all. Maybe the brunette was just partial to him because he had flattered her.

In other words, it could all just be wishful thinking on his part. But maybe were there some pretty significant changes going on around here that he hadn't predicted? And if that type of thing really was changing, what did it mean for the mission? Of course he would be plenty happy with a girl as amazing as any of the ones he knew here being interested in him. But from a practical point of view, the possibility of such a thing presented many problems. The whole reason he had even ingratiated himself with this friend group was because they often spent time with Houki, his target. The reason they often spent time around Houki was because they often spent time around Ichika, whom Houki was often around herself. If their interest in Ichika dropped to a point where that was no longer true, it could pose a problem.

Of course, Church was pretty sure he was friendly enough with everyone in the group that he didn't need to be third-partied in anymore, but the point remained. A huge shift in group dynamics like that could complicate things. For now though, there wasn't much he could actually do about the situation until he knew how accurate his assumptions were. After all, until someone gave an unmistakable signal, they were just assumptions, regardless of how strong the coincidental evidence may have been.

At the moment, he could only ponder as the group continued sightseeing around the streets of Bath. No one had come into town with any specific plans on what to do with their time. So, the group had settled on sightseeing after they were finished with breakfast. After all, it wasn't like they couldn't come back at a later date, since they would still be on vacation for quite some time. Sightseeing gave them the chance to determine what they may have wanted to do when that later date came around. They'd already taken in the sights of a few town landmarks, but their day had only just begun. Church had no doubt that there would be some shopping involved somewhere down the line.

To his immense pleasure, Church found himself receiving numerous looks of jealously as he traipsed about the streets with two super cute girls at his flanks. They weren't nearly as buxom as the other girls in his proximity, but they were just as lovely: Church never would have thought himself to be this lucky a few years ago. Besides, maybe they weren't the most blessed in the breasts capacity, but based on his views during their time on the beach, Church knew that Rin and Laura compensated on the other end of the spectrum. He was perfectly fine with that. Completely, totally fine.

On that note, Church had been undergoing many pleasant fantasies since his day had turned around, mostly revolving around his two most favorite petite girls ever. Sure, he knew that such daydreams were technically bad for the mission and all that, but he was pretty good at compartmentalizing. He could separate those what-if scenarios from the dire reality that was likely his future with these girls. He'd rather be distracted from those kinds of thoughts, at least right now. There was no need to sour the whole outing when there would be plenty of time to wallow in reality later.

That being the case, Church was more than happy to engage in the mostly mindless banter his group was making throughout the day. By doing this, the young man found that he had made extremely good progress among this group of friends: most everyone spoke with him of their own volition to some extent, and gone was the sense of being an extra, unneeded wheel. Sure, admittedly Houki wasn't nearly as engaging with him as any of the other girls, but it wasn't like she forgot about his existence until someone forced her to remember it. That was pretty good. As for everyone else, it was almost like Church was as much of a regular here as they were. Very good for the mission, and extremely good for his personal happiness.

Unfortunately, the presence of Cerberus managed to ruin the innocent enjoyment of it all. Apparently, it felt the need to stay almost entirely focused on the mission to compensate for the fact that Church was willfully ignoring it today. The American agent was never able to go longer than a few minutes without the AI mentioning something about the mission and how it could be affected by ongoing developments. Honestly, Church was just doing his best to ignore it all right now. He was actually doing a pretty good job, but the act of doing so may have had him spacing out a bit from time to time, as evidenced by the next words that graced his ears.

"Hey, what are you staring at?"

Released from his inner thoughts by Rin's voice, Church realized that he had likely been staring off into space. Glancing down at the green-eyed girl at his side, Church made to answer her. "I wasn't staring at anything. Just lost in thought, is all."

For some reason this answer resulted in a disgruntled frown from the Chinese girl. "Seriously? How could a guy space out in a situation like this one? Ungrateful much?"

From his opposite side, Laura spoke up as well. "Indeed. Based on all of the jealous looks you've been getting today, it seems that everyone knows how lucky you are except for you."

Church readily defended himself. "For all you know, I might have been lost in thought about exactly that."

"Oh really? Someone with such a noble name shouldn't dwell on such things, don't you think?"

Since it was impossible to miss Laura's subtle jab, Church was unable to make any sort of retort. Even worse, Rin seemed both confused and curious by the exchange, and Church couldn't imagine that she wouldn't ask for clarification. Thankfully, Charlotte's charming voice interrupted before Rin had any chance to ask questions.

"Do all of you think we should go shopping for anything today? Does Bath have souvenirs?"

Being the most well-versed member of the party, Cecilia took it upon herself to answer. "Well this place prides itself on its namesake, so most people would rather visit the bathhouses than go for souvenirs. But we can do that some other day. Moreover, wouldn't I be paying for everything if we all went shopping at this time...?"

Considering that no one else was carrying English currency, everyone acknowledged that Cecilia was probably right. Rich or not, it would have been pretty unfair to make Cecilia buy everything for them. Even Rin acknowledged that.

"OK, but we can't just wander all day. Sightseeing is great and all, but this town doesn't actually have that many sights to see, as far as I can tell."

Cecilia didn't outright disagree with his. "Hm... with shopping off of the table and no need to eat again so soon, I would say we could go to an arcade or something of that nature, but that's not really different from anything we could do at the mansion..."

Being content with the situation herself, Laura simply shrugged. "Well, we actually could just continue like this: isn't just spending time together like this pleasant enough?"

Church himself actually agreed with the German girl. He didn't really care what they did as long as everyone was enjoying themselves. Besides, he thought there was plenty to see just in the foreign architecture. Unlike everyone else around here, he was American: his country wasn't super high on the list of 'interesting historical architecture'. He enjoyed just being in a place that felt so different from home.

"That sounds alright. Let's just do some sightseeing, even if there's nothing particularly special to see. We have all month to visit anything worthwhile, right?"

While Rin would have liked to do something a little more exciting with her time, admittedly, she was pretty happy with the way things were right now. She was content being at the side of a certain someone at the moment, regardless of what they were doing.

"I guess that's true... well, whatever. I guess we're just wandering around today."

With no one voicing any form of dissent, it seemed like the general plan for the day was set. But as for Church, his thoughts were once again interrupted by one particular companion that no one else could hear.

Operator, we've got a rather pleasant turn of events on our hands.

That being? This is serious, right?

Everything I say is serious, Operator. Regardless, you will at least agree in this instance. The Exeter suit will soon be under our control once again.

Doing his best to keep surprise off of his face for the sake of appearances, Church questioned this with confusion.

How? It'll be a whole month before we get back to the Academy.

Worry not, Operator. The Exeter suit is programmed to return to its pilot if it is ever separated from him or her. The only reason it did not do so until now is because it was not functioning.

OK, but how does it know where to find me? How on earth would it track me around?

Surely you have not forgotten the implant through which our symbiosis is facilitated, Operator?

Church would have scowled if it wouldn't have been out of place in the outside situation. Don't remind me... does that mean it's going to land right in the middle of the damn street? Won't a scene like that be a problem?

I will have the suit land back near the mansion in an out of the way location. As you say, we wouldn't want to give the Royal Air Force cause for concern: that said, I'll make sure Exeter stays off of the radar during its trip. There's no need to concern yourself with its safety for now.

Good. I'd rather not ruin today thinking about crap like that.

Cerberus did not seem happy with that statement, but it nevertheless said nothing in reply, leaving Church to his own devices once more. Thankfully that included a peaceful walk with his feminine company plus one, which included nothing serious or stressful at all. In all honesty it was the most relaxed Church had been in weeks. For the first time in a while he didn't have to worry about his mission, his lies, the potential treachery within Umbra Stratum, or the possibility of having to fight his new friends. Though it was a rare moment for him indeed, Church was enjoying a normal day as a normal teenager: albeit a very lucky one.

Normality had by no means been commonplace for him in the past few years. He may have only signed on with Umbra Stratum relatively recently as far as the span of his life was concerned, but even before that he'd been too busy focusing on his own goals to live a normal life. And after joining, everything revolved around fulfilling the organization's expectations so he could continue to reap their hefty benefits. Of course, serving the United States in some capacity was relevant as well, but frankly that was a minor motivator.

Of course he wanted to defend the U.S and serve his country: what patriot didn't? But at the time it had been about the benefits. It had been about the things Umbra Stratum would provide for him if he piloted their newest invention.

That said, he hadn't really known what he would be doing the day he walked into that warehouse in the far reaches of his hometown. It was the last place anyone would expect an extremely expensive government experiment to take place. All Church had known before going to that place was that the government would compensate people for their time if they took a compatibility test with some kind of equipment they were experimenting with.

He and a dozen others who needed some cash all showed up for a seemingly mundane government project: about seven of them had been tested, paid, and sent on their way before Church's turn came, and that was when his life had been turned around completely.

His young age had been irrelevant at the time, as Umbra Stratum didn't care about age: only potential. They had asked no questions of him when he came in for the test. They didn't care how he had gotten there, where his parents were or anything. They simply hooked him up to a tedious amount of headgear and conducted all the tests they wanted.

Church remembered the murmurs and the undertone of excitement when it was all said and done, though nobody said anything to him about the results. In the end, he was simply paid the promised six hundred dollars for his time. That seemed like nothing now, but at the time it had been a desperately needed boost in Church's finances.

That was when the good part came. They told him that his results were extremely favorable, and that they would pay him more and more money for more tests. Church would have gone along with that even if the compensation had been the same, but to his great surprise they said they would pay him exponentially more for each test.

With a deal like that, he had simply rented a hotel room near the testing location and spent the next few days going through whatever Umbra Stratum needed from him. He had made tens of thousands of dollars in that time, almost all of which went towards a very particular goal of his... but either way, Church had been all too willing to participate.

When the last of their tests were finally complete, Umbra Stratum gave Church one last proposition: become the pilot of their 'Exeter' suit, operate on missions of their choosing, and they would provide him with whatever he wanted within their power.

It was too good of a deal to pass up. He had been their optimal candidate, and they had been willing to pay him ridiculous sums to work for them, whether it was monetary or something else. With that offer on the table, Church could have been filthy rich: instead he had chosen to provide for a certain someone. Even today that was the terms of his cooperation with Umbra Stratum. As long as they kept their end of the deal, he was theirs. Not to say that he didn't value the chance to serve and defend his country, but...

"Church?"

Recognizing Rin's voice, Church turned his thoughts away from the past and back to the present. "Sorry, I zoned out again. What is it?"

The Chinese brunette pointed ahead of them to a stall vendor selling ice cream. "We're getting ice cream. Do you want something?"

"Oh, uh... chocolate is fine, I guess..."

"What, just chocolate? That's kinda bland..."

"Marshmallows too then?"

Rin smiled at him, apparently pleased with his choice in treats. "Now we're talking. I'll go get it for you."

"Hold on, you don't have to..."

Church tried to stop her out of courtesy if nothing else, but Rin was off to the stall before Church could do anything about it, alongside the others who were doing the same. That being the case, Church was left alone with Laura, much to his immediate misfortune.

"So, Percival..."

Church felt some sort of massive debilitating weight settle on his shoulders. "For the love of God, Laura, please..."

The silver-haired girl had a brief laugh at his expense, but she quickly settled into a smile. "Don't worry, I won't torture you with that forever. Only for today."

Church sighed. "You at least won't let the others know, right?"

"Of course not. I'm not that cruel, Percy."

The target of Laura's joke couldn't help but cringe. "I beg to differ..."

"Alright, I'll leave you alone for awhile at least."

Hoping she would stick to her word on that, Church tried to change the direction of the conversation. "So, do you not want any ice cream? Why are you still back here?"

Laura simply shrugged. "Well, it's not that... I just don't want any right now. You'll see."

"If you say so..."

At the stall itself, Rin had to wait behind the others since she had gotten there last. She also coincidentally ended up right behind Charlotte, who had been looking for just such an opportunity to speak to Rin when the others weren't paying a lot of attention.

"Rin, come here for a second."

Wondering why the French blonde was making such an effort to whisper, Rin nevertheless leaned a little closer to the girl, even though she didn't lower her voice to the same level. "What? What's with the whispering?"

"I just wanted to be polite, mon ami. I don't know if you would want anyone else to hear your answer when I asked what happened between you and Church outside of the restaurant earlier this morning."

Feeling a little flustered even having the morning incident brought back up, Rin narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "If you think it's personal, then why are you asking me about it?"

Charlotte didn't seem put off by this accusation at all. "Well, you have to tell someone, right? You must be overloaded with excitement, after all!"

"And what makes you think that?"

The French native cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her friend. "Did the two of you not...? Oh, sorry. I suppose I jumped to conclusions..."

Now Rin was just confused. She hated when people kept petering off before finishing whatever the heck they were talking about. "What conclusion exactly?"

Perhaps realizing that she had jumped the gun, Charlotte now appeared to be a little sheepish. "I just thought that maybe you two had decided to go out, or something along such lines..."

It took Rin a moment to process this statement, but after said moment, she was flabbergasted by it. She just barely managed to avoid raising her voice and drawing the attention of the others.

"What?! W-why would you think that?! That's ridiculous!"

"Is it...? It's just that you two have been very close since this morning, and you've both looked really cheerful about it. But if the notion is 'ridiculous', I may have misjudged your feelings. You really detest the idea that much?"

Though she was eager to continue denying Charlotte's initial assumption, Rin felt a little guilty about agreeing to the girl's second assessment. So, she simply didn't. "It's not that I detest it... it's just not what happened, and I don't want you getting any funny ideas! Why do you care, anyway?"

To this, the blonde merely smiled. "Boys are what girls are supposed to discuss among their friends, right? Considering how things have gone with Ichika for all of us, this was actually the first time I've had the chance to be excited for someone to hook up. Well, so I thought, at any rate. Please forgive my undue eagerness."

Honestly, it was hard to be mad in the face of such an innocent notion. Seriously, who even thought of things in this kind of light? Now Rin even felt a little bad for giving her the wrong impression. Although Charlotte's words made her think about what it would mean if it were the right impression... she denied the idea of dating Church purely out of embarrassed reflex, but by now, she knew the idea appealed to her. Just... how much, exactly? Was she just riding a high right now from their interaction this morning, or did she really want it? She'd been stuck pining after Ichika for so long, feeling romantic affection for anyone else was almost alien, and difficult to accept. Regardless, when Charlotte asked that question... Rin would be lying if she said the notion, theoretical or not, hadn't made her happy.

"What are you two doing?"

Apparently being a little too suspicious for a little too long, Rin and Charlotte were now standing under Cecilia's questioning gaze. At least she didn't seem aware of what they had been discussing, though she appeared confused. "I mean really, I can't pay for everyone's ice cream until you get yours, so hurry up. Quit dawdling."

With little choice but to comply, Charlotte and Rin went to make their order, though Rin was significantly more flustered than she had been just three minutes ago, courtesy of Charlotte's pointed questions. Of course, it was difficult to think about what flavor of ice cream she wanted at this point. Even as she stared at the list of available flavors on a sign before her, Rin's mind was somewhere else entirely.

She had always thought Church was handsome. Even the first day they had met, when she knew nothing about him, Rin hadn't denied that. But it wasn't like that was anything special. Lots of guys were handsome. Some were even sexy. But even Ichika had stolen her heart for more complex reasons than that. He'd been one of the first boys to protect her and care about her well being. There was, however, one thing that Ichika had never really done, and that was make her feel like a woman. He had never said anything to her that made her feel beautiful and desirable to him. And at this point, that made a world of difference between him and Church.

It sounded a little shallow, but only a fool believed there wasn't some superficial element to young love. Everyone wanted to feel desirable. Everyone wanted to feel as though they were attractive, at least in someone's eyes. And if it came down to romantic affection between two options, you would almost definitely feel partial to someone you knew thought you were beautiful compared to someone who never made such things obvious if they ever thought it at all. It felt nice to at least know that your attraction was reciprocated, if nothing else.

But what Charlotte was expecting was a little presumptuous, wasn't it? Going out so soon... all they had really experienced was an emotional moment that morning. Yes, Rin had to admit that they had shared some sort of connection in the car earlier. Love in a single look, not likely, but it had been something. The situation had been... difficult to categorize. Rin hadn't felt violated or ashamed or anything. She had felt smitten, actually. Looking into his dark blue eyes, being in his arms, being so close to his lips...

With her own thoughts making it hard for Rin to focus on reality, she did her best to ignore anything even remotely related to romance so she could just enjoy the rest of the day without passing out. With that in mind, she secured both her and Church's ice cream, and focused on making it back to him without making eye contact or anything else that would fluster her. For the most part that was successful, since Laura was at least right there to keep it from being just the two of them.

It briefly struck Rin that Laura was the only person that had not gotten any ice cream, but she simply labeled that as a lack of desire for any. She never suspected any ulterior motives.

Church accepted his treat with appreciation and a smile, neither of which helped Rin stay in control of her thoughts, but thankfully no one noticed.

As for Church, he simply made to take the first taste of his ice cream, but the relatively normal and innocent action went down the drain when he felt someone's hand wrap around the one he was holding the cone with just as his tongue made contact with the chocolate.

Too surprised to do anything other than look for the perpetrator, Church was shocked (though he had also expected it to be her) to find that Laura was taking a lick out of his dessert at the same time he was. The resulting proximity between them was... flustering, to say the least.

Naturally, Laura acted as though she had done nothing unusual at all, merely giving the boy beside her a knowing look as she tried to act innocent. "What? Sharing is caring."

For a reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, Rin reflexively crushed the ice cream cone in her hand without thinking about it. Perhaps this was what 'seething' felt like?

---

At the Umbra Stratum base in Nevada, Marcus sat at an administration computer in the engineering lab. As the head of the engineering department, he was perfectly allowed to be on this device, but even so, he couldn't help but glance nervously over his shoulder every now and again. After all, even though he was allowed to be on this computer, there were things stored on the server it had access to that he was not supposed to mess with. Things above his clearance... things that may have had to do with Church's hunch about some sort of traitor in Umbra Stratum.

Ever since the two of them had shared that discussion, Marcus had done his best to investigate the situation around the base. From casual, subtle probing of his coworkers to snooping around different computer systems and departments, he'd looked for anything or anyone that would support Church's theory. Thus far, he had not turned up much, but to be fair, Marcus' investigation had only scratched the surface thus far. If he was going to find evidence of foul play, it would probably be more difficult to find than what he had actually done so far.

For now, Strelka was still his main suspect. If Church was to be believed, the aircraft that had engaged him outside of the Academy was almost certainly a drone. Drone research and development was her department, and she had always been unhappy with the organization's shift towards smart AI weapons deployment. Marcus had never thought her capable of organizing a murder, but it wasn't like he really knew her all that well. Mostly they just didn't like each other, so it was perfectly reasonable that she was more ruthless than Marcus knew.

Although, if the Crucible incident really was an unplanned fiasco in the eyes of Umbra Stratum, surely the higher ups would have suspected her as well... and last time he had checked, that being this morning, Strelka was in no different position than usual. She certainly hadn't been fired, incarcerated, or hauled off and shot. She didn't seem particularly worried about any of those things happening either.

Marcus supposed he could have tried probing the woman with subtle questions about the incident, but if she really was guilty, all that would do was tip her off to the fact that Marcus suspected her. No, that wasn't a great plan. That was why he was trying to access confidential files though the administration server right now. This wasn't Strelka's computer, but she had her own dedicated section within the server, and if Marcus could get into that, he might be able to find something incriminating. The only problem was getting in without anyone knowing that he had been there.

Not that it was a huge problem: Marcus had designed Cerberus, after all. He knew a thing or two about this kind of stuff. In fact, he had already programmed a dumb AI to do most of the dirty work in cracking Strelka's passwords and authentications, while also erasing any trace of his visitation from the base AI that was in charge of digital security. All of that would supposedly go off without a hitch, but there was still the most dangerous part: actually uploading the program to the server, which he had to physically visit a computer to do. If someone looked over his shoulder with enough interest to identify his questionable actions, Marcus would be hard-pressed to explain it all away. Of course, he was mitigating the risk by being here after normal work hours, but on the other hand, that would just make him even more suspicious if someone did find him, because then he would have to both explain why he was here and explain why he was here at an abnormal time of day.

Taking all of that into consideration, Marcus was anxious as all hell, tapping his fingers nervously as he watched a progress bar on his program move at what felt like a snail's pace. He knew it was actually going at a perfectly normal speed, but it felt like forever under these circumstances.

"Dougley."

Marcus nearly leaped out of his skin, though thankfully, he managed to keep it down to just jumping in his chair. Glancing over his shoulder fearfully, the bespectacled blonde spotted one of his coworkers leaning into the room in the doorway. Well, better than seeing an armed guard at any rate...

"H-hey, James. What's up?"

"The Commander is looking for you. Couldn't find you anywhere... what are you doing here?"

Thankfully, a coworker in his own department was the easiest person to lie to. "Just touching up on some code from the Longcaster program. I know it can be done tomorrow, but I just can't sleep while having annoying issues like this on my mind."

The other man seemed to buy his explanation immediately. "Oh yeah, I get ya. That stupid bug was such a pain in the ass... better leave it until tomorrow though, apparently the Commander needs you urgently."

"Got it. Thanks."

With that, James turned and left the room, leaving Marcus alone once more. The young man breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to the administration computer. He didn't know how urgent exactly the Commander's summons were, but he did know it was a bad idea to keep the man waiting. But his program wasn't done being uploaded yet, and and it would suck to have to try this covert shit again later... deciding to conceal the program while it was uploading deep in the computer's systems so the casual passerby wouldn't see it, Marcus put the machine into sleep mode. Hopefully, it would be done with its work by the time he returned. With that out of the way, he rose to his feet and turned to make for the command center, where he presumed the Commander would be.

The dingy gray halls of the base were ones that Marcus was intimately familiar with, but right now, they were less familiar and far more foreboding. All the guards and security cameras seemed much more threatening than usual. He knew it was just because he sucked at acting casual and unfettered, but Marcus couldn't help but feel that every eye and lens was trained on him, already suspicious of his activities.

But he wasn't shot on the way to the command center, so Marcus convinced himself that nobody knew anything was afoot. Yet, at any rate...

Stepping into the command center, Marcus found it strangely devoid of personnel. Usually there would be several officers around, managing communications or information on global ops, but at this exact moment, the only person standing in the room was the Commander, his gray head of hairs turned towards the new arrival at first. Of course, it was a little difficult to miss the noise of the sliding mechanical door, so the older man turned his narrowed gaze in that direction immediately. Well, at least Marcus thought they were narrowed. Maybe it was just the crow's feet.

"Took you long enough, Dougley. Do you have no sense of urgency?"

Though he had practically left for the command center immediately after being told he was wanted there, Marcus knew better than to try and defend himself. That never went over well with this man.

"Sorry, sir. Did you need my assistance with something...?"

Marcus petered off, only just now realizing how odd it was for the Commander to need anything at this time of day. Sure, there was still work going on even at this time of day (Marcus doubted there was ever a time work wasn't happening in some capacity around here), but usually the Commander didn't have any urgent matters for people to attend to.

The engineer expected a tongue lashing from the man for being so unapologetic about his allegedly untimely arrival, but surprisingly, no such condemnation came. Maybe there really was something strange going on here.

"Listen up. I've got a meeting with someone soon and you're going to be a part of it. You're gonna act like you know what you're talking about and that you weren't brought in last minute. Understood?"

"Uh... yes, sir...?"

"Good. Here's the deal: we recovered the core of the Silver Gospel. Well, 'recovered' is stretching the truth a bit, unfortunately. We've pinpointed its location. A recovery operation will be underway soon. The person I'm about to talk to wants the core and its data recovered, examined, and available soon. They're expecting all of this to be done in a few more days, but the reality is that we haven't even started. Locating the damn thing took far longer than predicted. What matters is that they don't need to know about our situation."

To say this was all very sudden and unexpected would have been an understatement. Marcus hadn't even known that they were searching for the Silver Gospel core. He'd been adamant about finding it to recover its data not long after the destruction of the IS, but at the time the Commander had deemed it unnecessary and infeasible. Had that just been a front? But why keep Marcus out of the loop? Or had he changed his mind later? But that just raised the same question about keeping Marcus uninformed...

"So you want me to lie to them, sir?"

The older man gave a deprecating look. "Of course I do, Dougley. Do I need to spell this out to you? When they ask about the status of the core, spout some mumbo jumbo bullshit about our progress and tell them we're close to fully extracting all data. Say whatever you need to say, just make it sound like we're on close to doing that."

Normally, Marcus wouldn't dare ask a suspicious question at this point. But apparently he was needed for something and he might have had a little leeway in this regard.

"Sir, may I ask-"

"You may not. It's need to know. People who don't need to know don't want to know, because then they'd have to be handled. Just do what you're told, Dougley."

As the Commander moved to a console near the large briefing screen, Marcus' mind was racing. It was awfully suspicious that all of this stuff was coming up now, not long after the Crucible incident. Not to say that the two had to be related, but this was uncanny. What big secret was the Commander unable to reveal? Why was recovering the Silver Gospel core important? Who was the person on the other end of the line that wanted to know about it? He supposed all he could do was wait and see. After all, the Commander was opening a secure video feed on the briefing screen right now.

Marcus honestly expected to see a silhouette, or at best, someone whose face was conveniently cloaked in shadow. Maybe he had been watching too many movies. What he hadn't expected to see was a striking blonde woman with red eyes and a bath robe reclining in a luxurious penthouse suite... with a lot of cleavage on display, too. Despite himself, Marcus was drawn to that immediately. He didn't exactly get to lay eyes on a lot of beautiful women in his line of work. Sure, Strelka was objectively attractive, but his bitter rivalry with her made it impossible to see her in any favorable light.

At any rate, the blonde woman with the bouncing curls placed a glass of wine on a coffee table in front of her once she realized they were connected. She seemed to feel no shame or embarrassment about being seen in the state she was.

"Punctual as usual, Horace. Sometimes I wonder if you're nervous to keep me waiting."

Marcus glanced pointedly away from the Commander as the latter grit his teeth. Few people actually knew the man's name. Fewer dared to actually call him that to his face. To anyone else, the Commander would have nearly spit fire from his mouth. But to this woman, he was oddly forgiving, though his response still carried a subtle bite.

"I just have a healthy respect for professionalism, Squall. You could stand to learn a thing or two."

Marcus cocked an eyebrow, wondering if Squall could possibly be this woman's actual name. Surely that was some sort of code name, right? If it wasn't, then Horace didn't seem nearly as bad. Either way, the woman named Squall didn't seem bothered by the light jab at her expense.

"Fair enough. I have a date with Autumn soon, so let's get this out of the way, shall we? Where do we stand with this phase of Aggregate Paragon?"

Now completely lost, Marcus could only assume this 'Aggregate Paragon' was the name of some sort of operation or plan. At any rate, the Commander seemed to know all about it. "It's nearing completion. Dougley: report the situation on the Silver Gospel's core data."

Put on the spot very suddenly, Marcus fumbled his words a bit. He had expected a bit more warning before this part. "Er, y-yes, the core, it's, uh, we're nearly finished with it. The damage was significant, creating many difficulties, but a great deal of the data was recoverable. All that remains now is parsing some damaged fragmented data from the tail end of its operation time. Unfavorable conditions didn't do the core or its digital integrity any favors all this time. We'll still need to run a battery of tests to confirm the viability of a full restoration, but our latest Fujikawa Assessment has been very promising, with a 87% acceptability rate. We may even be able to salvage Fairchild in its entirety, though we cannot promise that at this time."

Squall seemed perfectly content to hear all of this. "All of this is to say that it will be finished when, exactly?"

"Er..."

Marcus glanced at the Commander, but his face was stoic and unflinching. Looks like he had to make up some bullshit without any guidance. "...a week..."

The Commander frowned a bit, prompting Marcus to amend his response a little. "Give or take a few days, ma'am."

This timetable also caused Squall to frown a bit, though it was quickly replaced with her casual grin. "I see. A little slow, but I suppose it doesn't really matter since we still don't have the Generation Four data from Akatsubaki. Speaking of which, Horace..."

With a twitching eyebrow, the Commander answered the unspoken question. "It's a work in progress. Our operative can't exactly abduct the girl and steal it. Unless you want to arouse suspicion that could lead prying eyes to Aggregate Paragon, that is."

"I'm sure there are ways this process could be sped along. If the girl suffers a sudden and unfortunate accident with your operative in the vicinity, surely no one would think that he copied her I.S. data before calling an ambulance?"

"You said yourself that acquisition needs to be discreet as possible. Even an 'unfortunate accident' befalling the target could arouse suspicion. This operation absolutely cannot be compromised, meaning even the tiniest of risks need to be mitigated if possible. And don't forget, our operative has a degree of volatility that needs to be managed. Being rash would be foolish."

The buxom blonde took another swig of her wine. "And yet, it's very possible the operation has been compromised already, hasn't it? That incident-"

Perhaps knowing what she was going to say, the Commander cut Squall off forcibly. One downside to having Marcus in the room was that there were some things he didn't need to hear. "Is being handled internally. You've got your own organization to look after, Squall. Doesn't Phantom Task have anything to actually do, or are you just sitting around waiting for us to do all the work?"

"Well, if you say so. As for us, I suppose Umbra Stratum has been doing most of the heavy lifting as of late. I'll tell you what, how about we contribute to Valravn's development? It could always use another lesson, right?"

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?"

"Oh, don't be that way. I'll let Autumn handle it. I'm sure she'll be able to contribute something to the final product."

The Commander cocked an eyebrow. "That's a big gamble to make with your woman's life."

"She won't die. She's resourceful like that. Can you say the same about Valravn?"

The Commander was silent for a moment, but responded soon enough. "Yes, I can."

"Then there's no issue. Besides, this phase of the plan could use a bit of galvanization, don't you agree?"

"Do what you want. Just know there will be hell to pay if things go sideways somehow."

Saying nothing further, Squall cut the communication from her end. The Commander was left in silence with a troubled look. Marcus didn't know if he was still needed for anything, and he also wasn't sure if there was anything else he was supposed to say. He had technically just heard a lot of classified info that he probably wasn't supposed to be privy to. Granted, he had no idea what most of that classified info even meant, but the fact that he had heard it at all meant he could be seen as a security risk. Marcus just hoped that wasn't actually on the Commander's mind.

"Sir...?"

Glancing over his shoulder, the Commander spoke dismissively. "You're free to go, Dougley. Take my advice, and don't speak a word of what transpired here to anyone. You know what happens to people who can't shut their mouth in Umbra Stratum."

Sufficiently nervous about all of that, Marcus nodded fervently. "O-of course, Commander. Trust me, I value my job and... other things... more than enough to know my place. As far as I'm concerned, none of this ever happened."

Saying nothing to that, the Commander turned and walked out of the command center, leaving Marcus alone and literally sweating as he contemplated all that had just transpired. He had come into this room hoping that no one would think he was suspicious of the Crucible incident. Now he was standing in this room, wondering just what was really going on at the highest level of this organization. Was the incident related to all of this somehow? What the hell was all of this codeword nonsense being thrown around? This whole time he had thought that acquiring the Akatsubaki was the end goal, but now it was obvious that it was just one step in some greater plan.

Either way, the man knew he had a lot of shit to look into... if he decided that he still wanted to do it after the Commander's not so subtle threat on his life.

---

When Church and his company finally made it back to Cecilia's mansion, they were all tired and pretty well-worn, though definitely not for any bad reasons. Church for one found absolutely no reason to complain at all, as he had been fatigued only by a pleasant day surrounded by pretty girls. He certainly didn't have the gall to complain about that. Although admittedly, Rin had gotten a bit ornery at times after the ice cream. A bit curious, that...

Despite that, the girl had kept her word. As Rin had promised earlier that morning, she had stopped by numerous stores in the afternoon to find the ingredients for Xiaolongbao. Church had no idea what that was, but he did know that Rin was an excellent cook, and he firmly believed that nothing she made could be displeasing, especially anything that she made especially for him. He didn't know what everybody else was eating for dinner, and he was sure that whatever Cecilia arranged for everyone would be great, but for now he was totally content to entrust his meal plan to Rin.

Frankly, Church could get used to the idea of a cute girl cooking for him on a regular basis. Not that he wanted to be spoiled, but having someone that wanted and maybe even enjoyed making something for you was really endearing. How could you not like someone that was willing to put effort into making you happy or treating you with something nice? Especially if the thing they treated you to was always delicious...

Needless to say, Church had eagerly been awaiting dinner all this time. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait terribly long after the group made it back to the mansion, as everyone was hungry by that time. Unfortunately for Rin, she was forced to use the same kitchen as all of Cecilia's chefs, but the lack of privacy was compensated for by the luxurious nature of the kitchen itself. It certainly had every amenity a chef could ever ask for. Besides, Rin would not have had any privacy regardless of location, as Church had decided to join her so he could watch her at work. On top of that, the people who cooked for Cecilia were all focused on their own tasks, and they were more than content to ignore Rin and Church in their corner of the massive kitchen.

Rin had been slightly embarrassed by the thought of being observed as she cooked, but on the other hand, she was happy that Church was so interested in something she loved. Sharing passions with someone, or at least having someone take interest in your own passions was a wonderful thing. That said, Rin took to her self-assigned task with vigor, while Church struck up conversation, his curiosity when it came to such things never sated.

"So what exactly is Xi-xiao-er... whatever complicated word you said before, Rin? Sure is a mouthful of a name..."

Having borrowed an apron from one of Cecilia's maids, Rin tied it around her waist as she provided an educational answer. "Xiaolongbao. They're steam buns cooked in a special basket called a Xiaolong, hence the name. Of course I don't have one of those, but I can manage to make them anyway. Unfortunately it won't really be traditional... normally the buns would be served in the basket they're cooked in, and on Napa cabbages sometimes. But hey, as long as it tastes good right? It's not like you'll know the difference."

"Hey, are you calling me a food pleb? I can still tell the difference between good and bad food."

"But have you ever had a real Xiaolongbao? If not, you've got no frame of reference to compare the ones I'm about to make to."

Admittedly, Church had no response to that. "Alright, that's fair... well, whatever. If you're making it, I'm sure it'll be great regardless."

Despite her best efforts, Rin couldn't help but blush. "C'mon, that's a lot of confidence considering that you've only tried one of my dishes before..."

"It was an extremely convincing experience."

"O-oh yeah? Well then, I'd better not come up short. On the bright side, I'll be using pork again, and you seemed to like that last time. Though I plan on making a few different types for you to try. Do you like crab?"

Church answered before thinking of the implications that could be derived from his words. "I've never actually had it. Or lobster, for that matter. I'm perfectly willing to try it though."

To this, Rin cocked a puzzled eyebrow at him. "You've never had crab or lobster? Like, not even for a birthday or something?"

Realizing that his answer could lead to some uncomfortable questions, Church tried his best to deflect. "Eh, it just always seemed a bit too expensive to justify. You could always get the same amount of chicken or something for a lot less money, y'know?"

Rin's puzzled look didn't really diminish much. Probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise, since Church was basically making it sound like he had been poor. Well, that wasn't all that far from the truth, honestly...

Either way, Church figured he should move the conversation to another topic before any troubling questions got asked. "So, you have any interesting food history to tell me about these Xiaolongbao? Are they from Jiaxing like the food you talked about before?"

Rin's suspicions weren't exactly put to rest, but this was a pretty good way to distract her from them. She was always glad that Church was so interested in her culture, so she wasted no time in giving a bit of an explanation of the food while setting up to actually make it.

"Nah. It actually started in Nanxiang, a suburb of Shanghai. But Xiaolongbao are pretty popular, so they expanded to other areas pretty quickly. They're actually considered to be a dumpling by most, but you shouldn't confuse them with jiaozi or wonton. Those are completely different. Buns versus dumplings, and all that."

"Where'd you learn how to make it?"

Church was a little worried that this question would touch on Rin's issues with her family, but to his surprise nothing of the sort occurred. "I taught myself. Lots of people like Xiaolongbao, and I figured it would be great to know how to make a favorite dish."

"So you didn't learn to make it because you actually liked it or anything?"

For some reason Rin seemed to think that this idea was ludicrous. "Of course not. Learning to cook isn't about yourself. A real passion for culinary arts is about what you provide for others."

"What do you mean? You do cook for yourself with the same level of skill, don't you?"

"Well of course I do, but it's not the same. When you cook for someone else, you do it to make them happy. To satisfy them. Seeing someone smile over what you've created for them is the number one reason I have such a passion for cooking. I love making people happy with the gift I have, y'know? Honestly I think every chef should live by such a motto."

Focused on her work as she was, Rin couldn't see the expression on Church's face, but when he offered no reply for more than a few moments, the brunette grew slightly nervous. Had she said something stupid?

"Uh, I mean-"

"Rin."

Surprised by the unexpected intervention, Rin looked over her shoulder to witness an unusually contemplative look from her audience. "Y-yeah?"

Church stared at her for just a moment longer, before breaking into an easygoing smile. "You really are a sweet girl, you know?"

Having expected something entirely different from such a serious face just a moment ago, Rin couldn't help but laugh a little. "You make that sound like you didn't expect me to be."

"Well, you do act a little coarse sometimes..."

"Is that a bad thing?"

The man behind Rin shrugged. "Nah, I like tough girls with a sweet side. Girls with multiple dimensions are my favorite kind."

Rin smiled to herself. "So I guess poor Cecilia doesn't have a chance, huh?"

"C'mon now, Cecilia isn't that bland. She's actually surprised me quite a bit lately."

"Speak for yourself. The only person less dimensional than her is probably Houki..."

Church folded his arms as he watched the girl cook for him. "And the sweetness disappears... you're harsh, Rin, seriously."

"Careful, you never want to get on the bad side of the person who cooks for you."

"Fair enough..."

"But on that point, Cecilia could kill you with her food even if you were on her good side. So watch out for that if she ever offers you a sandwich or anything."

Church couldn't help but wonder if this was another joke or not. "Surely she isn't that bad."

"Oh no, she is. That was an actual warning for your health just then. I wasn't even close to kidding. Seriously, hear me on this: do not eat anything Cecilia made without supervision. She put makeup in food once to make it look better. Ichika almost gave up the ghost."

Church honestly found it hard to believe that anyone could do that, but Rin was glancing back at him with a deathly serious expression. Still, makeup? Really...?

Before he could dwell on it further, Cerberus piped up in his head.

Operator, I am pleased to announce that the Exeter suit will soon arrive near our location. I highly advise that you retrieve it as soon as possible. I have directed it to land and remain in concealment, but even so, it would be unwise to leave it unattended for very long.

You waited awfully late to tell me something this important.

You were having such a good time today Operator, I'd hate to ruin it with something as mundane as your job.

It was impossible to miss Cerberus' sarcasm, though Church noted that his question had gone unanswered.

Any reason you couldn't have it drop somewhere nearby? It's not like the girls don't know about it.

Perhaps so, Operator. Still, it would be preferable to keep our reunion with it secret. The more harmless we appear to be the better for our operation.

Church made sure to keep a frown off of his face upon hearing this justification. Technically, Cerberus had a point: if no one knew he had the suit back, they could not suspect him of doing anything said suit would be required to accomplish. Then again...

If Exeter has left the Academy, it's almost guaranteed that Tabane and probably Chifuyu know about it. We have no way of knowing if they will tell one of the others, so there's not much point in hiding it.

Until that time comes, it would be better to take advantage of any opportunity. If one of the others is told, you can simply tell them that you did not think it important enough to share. Regardless of how you choose to handle that, I must remind you that the suit needs to be reacquired. Surely you are not comfortable with it sitting around on a beach by its lonesome?

Church was pretty sure the suit would be perfectly safe even in such a scenario, because it had plenty of safeties in place to ensure that some stranger couldn't just waltz up and take it. Still, he supposed Cerberus had a point about getting his hands back on it ASAP. Leaving cutting edge multi-million dollar technology just lying around wasn't good practice.

Figuring that now was as good a time as any since Rin had just started cooking, Church excused himself as nonchalantly as possible. "Rin, I'll be back in just a few minutes, alright?"

Rin looked disappointed to see him go, but she nevertheless nodded her confirmation. "Alright... I might be done by the time you get back, so don't take long, you definitely want these to be warm!"

Church felt kind of bad about not specifying his intentions, but justified it with the fact that it wasn't really anyone's business but his own. Possession of Exeter or lack thereof was technically of no concern to any of his friends.

Still, after leaving the kitchen Church nevertheless did his best to avoid the other girls, moving through Cecilia's mansion as inconspicuously as possible. It didn't seem too difficult at first: everyone was probably in the dining room waiting for dinner, and as an honored guest, it seemed like Cecilia's servants didn't really mind where he was going or what he was doing. There were probably some places around the mansion they would stop him from entering, but on the whole, the few of them that did spot Church did nothing to stop him.

So really, he didn't have to be that sneaky. He just had to check corners every time he came up to them to see if anyone problematic was nearby. He was coming up on just such another corner now, but he had yet to reach it and peer around the corner when someone stepped out in front of him. Unfortunately, this person happened to be Laura. Not that Church had anything against her, quite the contrary: but even so, she was one of the most astute members of the group, which made her dangerous to lie to. Crap, what was she even doing out here...?

The silver-haired girl seemed surprised to have run into Church as well. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to miss dinner. It should be ready soon, you know. What are you doing out here anyway?"

At this point, Church lamented the fact that he had not told anyone about his plans for the evening. No one actually knew that he was going to be eating with Rin specifically for dinner. If he had shared that info, it was possible that no one would be looking for him. Then again, it was possible that Laura had been doing something else entirely, and had just run into him in the meantime.

"Oh, well... I promised Rin that I would eat something she made for me, so..."

To his surprise, Laura didn't seem particularly troubled by this revelation. "That doesn't explain why you are out here wondering the halls."

Not wanting to get too wrapped up in a conversation even though he didn't want to blow off Laura, Church tried to think of a way to keep the conversation relatively short. He could have told her that he was just going to the bathroom or something, but that wouldn't hold up for long if she happened to pay attention to where he went after this conversation.

"It's going to take a little while for her to finish, so I figured I could take a stroll on the beach. It would be a bad idea to do it after eating, and I think it will be relaxing."

Laura cocked an eyebrow at him. "Since when have you taken strolls before dinner?"

"Since I started having a nice beach to walk on."

This joke earned a slight chuckle out of the girl, though she still sidled a little closer to her conversational partner. "Do these newfound walks have to be solitary?"

Operator, she wants to-

I know what she wants to do, Cerberus.

"I mean, I actually know how long it will take Rin to finish, but you don't really know how much time you have until your dinner is ready. You could be late."

This didn't manage to put Laura off in the slightest. "I wouldn't mind being a little late."

Crap, on one hand I don't want to say no, but...

"Well, uh.."

Seeing the hesitation in his voice and the consternation in his expression, Laura's smile fell. That she was disheartened was obvious. "If you'd rather be alone, all you have to do is say so. It's understandable after how merciless I've been today..."

"Hold on, Laura, it's not that... it's just... look, I would like to take a walk with you, just not right now. I promise I'll take as many walks on the beach as you want this month, just not tonight, alright?"

Laura certainly seemed confused by this promise, probably because she was left wondering what possible difference there could be between tonight and any other night. Even so, it was obvious that Church didn't want to talk about it, and she knew better than to pry. After all, she had immediately poked fun at him for the last secret he had admitted to her, so she wasn't in a great position to demand anything from him. Considering this, she offered a nod of acceptance as she took a step past him.

"Well, l I will definitely hold you to that. Try not to be late for your own dinner: Rin would certainly be devastated."

Church nodded his appreciation to the girl, then continued on his way, completely oblivious to the somewhat questioning gaze on his back.

Unaware of any potential new suspicions on his person, Church quickly made his way out of Cecilia's mansion and towards the beach that had been a sparring field a short time ago. Cerberus directed him towards the place where Exeter had apparently landed. It didn't take long to find, seeing as how the suit was conspicuous even in relative darkness, with it just standing tall and proud in the sand and all. Of course, the explosively displaced sand from its landing was no help either.

I thought you said it landed somewhere discreet.

We are on a private beach in the middle of the night, Operator. It's fairly inconspicuous. Not to mention that private grounds and airspace receives less scrutiny from the undesirables.

Unable to completely deny that, Church strolled up to his machine, noting that it was not in fact back to one hundred percent. Bits and pieces of its outer armor were still damaged, and he imagined that there were some other issues beneath the surface that still existed.

What's the deal? It came back without being fully repaired? Tabane is some slacker...

It is programmed to return as soon as it is functional again, integrity notwithstanding. As long as critical functionality is available, other systems can be restored later via nanomachines. Much as I hate to admit it, Tabane's laziness has no bearing on this situation.

With a shrug, Church took just one more step closer to his machine, at which point it scanned him with its visor. After identifying him as its pilot, the Exeter suit opened up like some sort of inorganic flower, allowing Church to step into it and be covered for the first time in a good while.

Reading the diagnostics first, Church confirmed that even some of the suits inner workings were not fully functional. However, it did seem that the nanobot repair routine was active, so the suit was well on its way to recovery.

Too eager to get back to its master to care for full repairs, huh?

Indeed. I suspect that Exeter will be fully operational in the next twelve hours or so, at which point we will be able to use it to scan Akatsubaki much more easily.

Which we then have to hand off to potentially crazy military figures with no regard for the lives of innocent people to do with as they please. Or some sort of mole within the organization who has the same problems. Win-win, am I right?

Exactly.

With a sigh, Church didn't bother pointing out his sarcasm, and instead allowed Exeter to fold into its standby state and began walking back towards the mansion. He had dinner to eat, friends to talk to: and a never-ending facade of sunshine and rainbows to keep up while he went about his clandestine operations.

---

The rest of Church's night went by in what felt like a brief flash of satisfaction. He ate dinner alone with Rin, since she wanted to talk to him about her food and how he felt about it. After all, there were plenty of tables in little niches and cubbies around Cecilia's mansion. Church imagined the girl also just wanted to have a conversation with him without any interruption, but either way, he didn't mind. He did feel a little bad about blowing off Laura earlier only to spend some alone time with Rin, but Church figured he would make it up to her later.

After a delicious dinner with plenty of enlightenment about food that had previously eluded him (most of it was related to Xiaolongbao, but hey, he liked learning), Church had persuaded Rin to eventually accept reuniting with the rest of the group, if only because it would have been rude to ignore their hostess and all of their friends for the entire night. Once that was agreed on, the two of them found everyone else relaxing in the recreational room following dinner. Not doing anything too energetic, naturally, but simply talking about whatever topic was on the table at the time.

Naturally Rin and Church had gotten a few probing questions and remarks about their absence, but a bit of smooth diversion squared that away readily enough, which allowed the two of them to enter the congregation of friends and the mindless chatter that occupied the room as everyone winded down for the night. Houki ended up badgering Ichika about his swordsmanship, both in kendo and in I.S. combat. Charlotte tried to edge her way into that conversation a few times, but failed to make any headway and eventually ended up talking with Laura about her Rafale Revive and possible modifications she could make to it.

Cecilia struck up a conversation with Church about procuring another vintage aircraft for the downstairs hangar, which he wholeheartedly engaged in. It actually got a little heated, as they genially debated whether or not another addition had to be a Supermarine aircraft, or if it even had to be British. With Rin having no one else to talk to, she tried to keep up with the conversation as best she could, but she didn't really have the knowledge base to make contributions of her own. Even so, whenever she asked about whatever her two friends were talking about, Church always pumped the brakes and made sure to fill her in. Even though she was out of the loop, Rin felt included, and thus was content enough with the situation.

Ultimately, Church voted for a Westland Wyvern S.4, one of his favorite designs. Cecilia assured him that procuring one would be astronomically difficult, if not impossible, since there was only one of those air frames still around, and it was currently parked at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. He jokingly suggested that she could procure the blueprints somehow and just have her company build one, but that too was shot down as being far more complicated than he made it out to seem. Unfortunately, his other votes for iconic planes, such as the A6M Zero, were equally unlikely. He had niche tastes, what could he say?

As the night wore on, people started calling it quits and going to bed. It had been a relatively eventful day, so many of them were tired. Church himself was wired from talking about military aviation, so the notion of going to bed didn't occur to him much even when Laura first announced that she was retiring for the night. He honestly thought it was a bit early for that, but she was a solider: maybe going to bed early was just a habit she had a tough time shaking.

The German girl did start a cascading effect though, as soon after more people started announcing their departure for the night. Ichika was next, which seemed to agitate Charlotte a bit for some reason. Maybe she was annoyed that he would retire for the night without even really talking to her this whole time. Although that was just Church's assumption on the matter. Either way, Houki quickly excused herself as well once Ichika was gone.

Around that time, Church found a lull in his conversation with Rin and Cecilia to excuse himself to the bathroom, so he took the opportunity to do so. In his opinion, the jaunt was fairly brief, but he got a text from Rin while he was busy telling him that she was going to bed, so maybe Church had lost track of time while getting down to important business. At any rate, by the time he returned to the recreation room, both Rin and Cecilia were gone. For a moment, Church believed himself to be the last man standing for the night, but a brief scan of the room revealed that Charlotte was still present on the couch, tinkering with some settings on a holographic display manifested by the gauntlet of her partially summoned IS. Perhaps she had been struck with inspiration from her conversation with Laura, but frankly, her expression didn't look particularly enthused with what she was doing. If anything, it looked like she was thinking of something else entirely and just trying to distract herself.

For a moment, Church contemplated whether or not he should announce his return, or if he should just quietly slip away and leave Charlotte to her own devices. It wasn't like they were strangers, but he didn't know if they were close enough that Charlotte would accept him as someone to talk to openly when she was feeling down. They were on friendly terms, but were they on 'share my problems with you' terms? Maybe it would just make things awkward if he tried to do something like that right now.

Surprisingly, Cerberus had no input here. Perhaps the AI was busy with Exeter now that the suit had been returned to them in less than stellar condition. There were probably all sorts of tests to run and systems to double-check. As it stood, Church was left to his own discretion. And ultimately, that discretion dictated that he should at least attempt to speak to Charlotte. After all, while it was just his assumption, he felt that Charlotte had been snubbed quite a bit this evening, and it would be kind of rude to further contribute to that.

"Staying up a little longer, Charlotte?"

Clearly a little surprised by the sudden arrival, Charlotte still managed to glance over her shoulder with a fair degree of calmness. "Oh, Church... eh, yes, I suppose I am. Cecilia and Rin have retired already, so it's just me now, tout seul."

Even to Church, the girl looked a little troubled. His desire to at least ask if she wanted any companionship was renewed. "Do you want any company? I'm not quite ready for bed yet myself."

Initially, Charlotte looked a bit sheepish. "Oh, well... you don't have to do that. I'd hate to be a bother."

"So you say, but I get the feeling you'd really like someone to talk to. Not that I claim to be psychic, and I admit that you could just want to be left alone."

A little embarrassed to be called out, Charlotte nevertheless didn't deny it. "Non, you are correct. You're very observant, Church. Sometimes I wonder just how much..."

Taking a seat on the couch at a comfortable distance, Church glanced at the armchair Ichika had been occupying earlier. "Depends on how many of my observations are accurate, doesn't it? Otherwise it's just me being presumptuous. Speaking of which, I hope this doesn't come off as too bold of a question to ask, but... are you and Ichika officially an item?"

Perhaps this question was a bit upfront, as a dominant blush took over Charlotte's features immediately, and she looked a little shocked to be asked such a question so suddenly. Even so, once she regained some composure, the blonde seemed more bashful than anything else.

"M-my, you really do pick up on things. How long have you been suspicious of that?"

"If I'm being honest, the thought occurred to me the first day I met you."

Now to this, Charlotte seemed genuinely shocked. "Wha-?! Really?! That soon... how though? I didn't think it was that blatantly obvious..."

"Eh... I just remember making a joke about you two being on a date that day, and neither of you actually said anything to the contrary. Instead it seemed to make both of you a little bashful, so it seemed like the joke may have been on the money. Though it was just a niggling suspicion at the time, there were other things later on that further cemented the idea."

"That alone was enough for you to be suspicious? I'm almost afraid to ask what else may have happened to tip you off."

Church glanced away from the girl for a moment. He didn't really want to tell her about the other stuff on his mind in that regard. Would she want to hear that he thought she was often upset by Ichika specifically because he wasn't affording her the attention a boyfriend should? That she seemed extra peeved about things that would have bothered any of the girls? And what about that conversation he had shared with Ichika before they had hit the beach that day? Not that the boy had said anything specific, but he had said some questionable things about leading people on to make them happy. He hadn't specified that he was talking about Charlotte, but...

"Church, can I ask you a strange question?"

Apparently thinking of something else while he was pondering in silence, Charlotte moved the conversation to that topic without delay.

"Uh, sure? I don't mind."

"Do you think Ichika and I are happy together?"

Frankly, the young man had not been expecting a question as pointed as this one. Sure, this was what they were talking about, but that was one heck of a loaded question to ask so suddenly. He especially didn't think that he was someone who should be asked this question. Maybe Charlotte was just a bit more comfortable with asking such things than most.

"Does my opinion on that really matter?"

The blonde smiled a bit forlornly. "I figure that it can't hurt to hear what an outside party thinks. Especially one who was seemingly aware of my relationship from the beginning. As I'm sure you've surmised already, none of the others know about this. And this is my first relationship, but ordinarily, your friends would tell you if they noticed something wrong, wouldn't they? I just... wonder if my limited perspective has blinded me to a few things."

Church supposed her logic made sense. It was easy to get lost in your own perspective when there was no one else to tell you what you were missing. Even so...

"And you want to talk about this with me?"

For the first time since this conversation started, Charlotte looked a little ashamed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even consider whether or not this topic made you uncomfortable. Especially with how suddenly I sprung it on you..."

"N-no, it's not that. For one, I'm the one who actually brought this up, if you think about it. I just didn't think you'd be comfortable enough to trust me with this type of personal conversation."

This time, the blonde smiled a bit more cheerfully. "Church, you think too little of yourself. Since I've met you, you've shown nothing but kindness and maturity. And of course, you did risk your life to save both me and everyone else at great risk to yourself. You most certainly have my trust. We are friends, are we not?"

She said that so genuinely that Church found it difficult to stop his heart from swelling. Unfortunately, knowledge of his ulterior motive soured the moment a bit. Of course, he couldn't let Charlotte know about that, so he simply acted as though nothing bothered him at all.

"I'm glad to hear you say something like that, Charlotte. But, if I am going to share my thoughts... keep in mind that it's just the opinion of someone who has been making assumptions based entirely on things like conversations and expressions. Don't put too much stock in it, alright?"

"Don't worry: I still know how to come to my own conclusions on things. Just say what you think, mon ami. I won't be offended just because you formed an opinion."

Though she said that, Church still felt a little awkward speaking his thoughts. He didn't want Charlotte to think he was intentionally trying to break up her relationship or anything. Still, she had asked for the truth. It would have been disrespectful to lie to her under these circumstances, right?

"Well, if I'm really being honest... the two of you don't seem... well, particularly harmonious, as it were. I mean, just from the outside looking in, and all. It just seems like you're unhappy or bothered pretty often specifically when it comes to Ichika."

At first, Charlotte didn't immediately agree or disagree with this assessment. Though she did seem a bit troubled by it. "How so, if I might ask?"

"Like tonight, I guess. Unless I'm mistaken, it seemed like you were upset by how hard it was to even talk to Ichika. I know he was talking to Houki, but... as your boyfriend, he should be aware enough to make time and attention for you, right? Sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to speak your thoughts for you, that's just the kind of vibe I was getting from the situation."

Charlotte chuckled bitterly. "Non, you are completely right. That's exactly how I felt. How I feel more often than I'd like to admit..."

"I kind of figured that. To be honest with you, it's not the first time I've noticed this dynamic between the two of you. Maybe it's just easier for me to notice from the outside looking in, but it seems like you're often having to try harder to get his attention than you should have to, as his girlfriend. I'd say he was intentionally ignoring you, but it doesn't even seem like that, really..."

"I don't believe Ichika is the type of person to really do something like that. Although admittedly, it might be worse that he isn't doing it on purpose. If he doesn't even know he is doing it, then it means he either doesn't really pay enough attention to me to notice, or he's just that obtuse... but I'd hate to hold something like that against him. It just wouldn't seem fair to condemn him for the way he is if it is outside of his control."

Church neglected to mention what he had been told by Ichika before. For one, he didn't exactly know what the boy had been talking about at the time. He could guess, but he didn't actually know. Secondly, whether he agreed with Ichika or not, it wasn't Church's place to share his secrets. What went down between him and Charlotte was none of his concern unless something untoward was happening. So as far as this conversation was concerned, all he could do was act as though he didn't actually know that information.

"Have you tried telling him any of this? I mean, like you said, it might just be that he doesn't know. While I do think some things should be obvious to people, you can't really blame anyone for not acting on things they aren't aware of."

The blonde beside him didn't seem particularly enthused with the suggestion. "You're right. I know that, but... well, on one hand I don't want to come across as demanding or entitled. On the other... I suppose I'm using this situation as a sort of measuring stick. I know it might be a little unfair, but I want the person I'm with to at least pick up on certain things without having to be told. I don't need someone to be psychic, but they should at least be able to tell when their partner is upset, yes? I mean, you noticed and you haven't even really known me for that long. Not to mention, as far as the reason he never notices... it often seems like he is too busy focusing on someone else."

While she didn't explicitly say her name, it was pretty obvious that Charlotte was referring to Houki. Admittedly, Church felt the same way. While he had only been observing for a brief time, it did seem that Ichika gave a disproportionate amount of his attention to Houki. It wasn't like this was just true of Charlotte either: all of the other girls got snubbed at least a little bit in comparison. At any rate, it was usually one of the other girls trying to make some space for themselves between Ichika and Houki, not the other way around.

One could assume that was because Ichika cared more about her than anyone else, but that was a pretty big assumption to make. There were other possibilities, and he would be remiss to not bring them up.

"Well, just to play devil's advocate, there could be something going on between the two of them that's not what you think. I mean, they were childhood friends, right? If something really bad happened to Houki, it's possible that she might tell Ichika and no one else... not to say that I know if it's something like that. Just, you know, it's possible. Though I haven't really seen any signs to indicate that Houki's going through anything particularly troubling..."

Charlotte was silent for a moment, perhaps pondering what Church had said. Though in the end, she actually smiled, which surprised Church. The look on his face must have been telling, because the blonde swiftly clarified why.

"I was just thinking that's it's thoughtful of you to consider the situation to that extent. Many people would be content to simply assume the worst and be mad about it. I hadn't even considered that possibility, and I'm the one actually in the situation. Ugh, maybe this is all more complicated than I realized..."

"I get the feeling that romance often is. At least, popular media seems to paint it as always being a hardship to overcome in one way or another."

"I think the hardest part is that I still don't really have a good grasp on how I feel about any of it, even having taken these new things into consideration. I'm just as confused on what I should do as before... not to say that our conversation has been pointless. Just that I'll probably need more time to make heads or tails of it all. Though unfortunately, being bothered by it right now makes it difficult to get sleepy."

Church glanced at a clock Cecilia had hanging on one of the walls in here. "Well, one A.M. isn't really that late, right? Maybe we should talk about something else, take your mind off of things. Then it will be easier to go to sleep. What were you looking at before I showed up?"

Perhaps agreeing with his suggestion, Charlotte wasted no time in answering truthfully. "Oh, just some different weapon configurations that I discussed with Laura earlier in the night. I can't help but feel like I'm falling behind a little bit compared to everyone else when it comes to our I.S. So I've been looking at potential ways to upgrade my weapons, and considering which ones I could feasibly replace with something unique. Assault rifles and shotguns seem so archaic compared to what everyone else has..."

"I suppose they do seem a little mundane compared to lasers and stuff. But they still have their uses. Projectile weapons probably just need to be supplemented with other tools to help them get into an ideal situation. Like... didn't Arquebus come out with a new stun needle launcher recently? Some sort of shoulder mounted EMP cannon, I thought."

Charlotte's violet eyes lit up as he commented this. "Oh, you know about that?! I'll be honest, I was looking into it, but I don't think my Rafale has the energy requirement or recoil dampening to support it. Have you heard of Balam's new Songbird model? It's small, but packs a big punch! I think a grenade cannon could greatly improve my firepower."

Using knowledge that he only mostly knew because he had been required to learn a lot about arms development during his training at Umbra Stratum, Church managed to carry on the conversation. Not that he minded, since Charlotte seemed to be enjoying this new line of discussion.

"I think you might benefit more from a dual missile launcher like the BML-G1 that Furlong Dynamics came out with a few months ago. You know the one, it fires missiles in a pincer fashion. Something like that might help you get around obstacles like Laura's AIC."

"Oh, that's a great idea! It might require a bit of tweaking to mount, but that would really offer new avenues of attack for me. Though they are supposed to be coming out with a newer model later this year that is an overall improvement. So perhaps I should wait before acquiring one? On the other hand, maybe I should make a shift to at least one energy weapon. Maybe one of the laser blades from VCPL? Though I do like the upcoming Ashmead pile bunker series from Balam..."

As the blonde continued to ponder with passion and fervor, Church realized that he probably wouldn't be going to bed any time soon, as this conversation was having the opposite of the intended effect, exciting Charlotte instead of helping her calm down. But honestly, he didn't mind that much: staying up late into the night to talk about guns with a pretty girl sounded like a dream come true that most men could only fantasize about. He owed it to everyone to not make light of the opportunity.

Even if it meant he'd be dead tired the next day. Ah, well. That was a sacrifice any sane man was willing to make.

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This chapter has some neat Easter Eggs. Will anyone catch them? Well, the references are pretty recent, so I'm sure a few of you will get it.