In the early morning Akio would be seated at his desk on his computer, he'd be awake an hour before he'd normally wake up. He'd be in the middle of a conversation with the person he spoke to online weeks ago, receiving the information the sender saw as necessary. There would be long intervals in between every conversation, so they'd do their best to make each discussion worth the time.
"You're a whistleblower right? So you've worked with Bronco in the past?" Akio typed out.
"In some way, shape, or form. Who exactly I was is something I prefer not to disclose."
"You're awfully secretive."
"It's for the best. I don't want to give away information that can narrow down who I am or where I am."
"Alright, anyway, I guess we can get back to talking about the Bronco stuff. So what's the company all about?"
There would be a small pause before response, the sender typing up a lengthy message. "As you may know Bronco is an American based vehicle and labor manufacturing company, however they operate not only in the United States but several other countries as well. They uphold a humble and noble look, an attempt to be on the side of the American people. It's all an act though, their intentions are a lot less heroic than they let on. I'm not sure if this is an event entirely relevant to someone like you, but over fifteen years ago the United States would enact the 'War on Terror.' By this time Bronco was still somewhat new to the scene, it being two companies merged into one. They took this opportunity to be a large supplier of weapons and vehicles to the US Military, turning a large profit from taking advantage of the timing. With the money they made from selling to the military, they sold their own labors en masse to the general public. Things begin to get sinister once their reach expands beyond just the borders of the United States, selling in locations overseas. This may not sound like a problem at first, but it's the fact that they predominantly would sell their labors in locations not too far off from areas of conflict. They'd do this enough times to the point where they'd inadvertently be providing the terrorist organizations they claim to be fighting against with supplies, instigating more conflict and playing both sides."
"I mean, if they're selling to terrorists, doesn't that sound pretty open and shut?"
"They sell to legitimate buyers, but state they have no control over where their goods end up. Either way, the stronger and more military built equipment would be going to the United States either way."
"Jeez, that's a lot."
"Taking advantage of global tensions and profiteering off the illegal use of labors, not just that but having their death squads do God knows what on the soil of foreign countries."
"And you said they operate in other countries too. Do you think they could even be stopped?"
"They're a big company, thankfully they aren't Schaft level. Our best bet is that the American branch is taken down and liquidated, cutting the head of the snake leaves the rest of the body to die."
"If this is even a question you could answer, why did you join Bronco in the first place?"
"Without getting into specifics, I wasn't exactly with Bronco. Even then, I wouldn't say that I wasn't involved with Bronco either. I knew people, a lot of people in fact. To them, I was just another link in the giant web they've been spinning made with middle managers. Their full intentions isn't something everyone knows, at least something everyone is willing to believe. Many are able to go about their day either doing business with them or working for them, what Bronco does in secret isn't the concern of the individuals at the bottom of the totem pole whether they'd want to know or not. When I truly realized the extent the company would go to turn a profit I felt sick. I felt ashamed of myself, what I had been involved in, and all the people who could end up hurt because of my complacency. This isn't a sentiment the others working at Bronco can share most of the time, this is just life for them. As much as I don't want to admit it, I can't blame them either. Apologies for the small tangent, it isn't wise of me to air out my frustrations to someone as young as you."
"No it's fine, I get it. These Bronco guys sound like bad news, and the police can't do anything about it?"
"I'm just as confused as you are, despite everything I've told you so far I don't have all the information in the world."
Akio typed up another message, however he hesitated before sending it. He then shook his head, pressing down on the enter key. "Is there anything I could do to stop them?"
The next message would be sent the next instance, "Don't get ahead of yourself."
"I mean, I know there isn't anything I can do directly but..."
"It's better to wait for the situation to be solved with time, any grand attempt to take them down in some blaze of glory wouldn't do a thing. I get that that's something that happens a lot in the shows you may watch, but this is real life. If I'm practically powerless to stop them, a child like you couldn't hope to do anything either. I'm not doing this to talk down to you either, I'm only saying this to make sure you remain level headed to this entire situation. Even if you succeed at taking them down, I bet they'd sure as hell drag you down with them."
"Fine. I was just wondering about it. It's about time that I get ready for school, so I'll talk to you some other time."
"Farewell, stay safe."
Akio closed the chat room and shut off his PC, then began to get ready for school.
As the bell rang signifying the coming of lunch time, the group congregated in the near empty classroom. Before they were able to discuss things such as after school plans and upcoming assignments, the boys would take notice of Satomi's stern expression. She had a stack of flyers bundled in her arm, slipping one out and holding it in front of the group.
"Ooooh, Are you throwing a party Satomi?" Sakamoto asked.
"Of course not! Why would I of all people be throwing a party—never mind." She proceeded to hand flyers to each of the boys, "I'm having a piano recital, and I'm inviting all of you because I deem that you are all good enough friends of mine."
"You never told us you played the piano...!" Akio said, reading the flyer.
"It's not like I have to tell you all every single detail about my life, I just never saw it as something worth mentioning."
"Well you're mentioning it now..." Sakamoto responded.
"Ignoramus—It's because I'm inviting you all to watch me play! This is something very important to me, so you should be glad I've decided to share this moment with all of you." She said as she struck a pompous-looking pose. Satomi would then turn around, walking to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are more people I plan on inviting." She said, exiting the classroom.
"Did you know she played the piano?" Akio asked Taira.
"Nope, I guess you learn something new about someone every day."
"Do any of you got any secret hobbies then?"
Mochizuki raised his hand up, "Well I guess I like to draw."
Sakamoto had a surprised look on his face, "You're a drawer?"
"...If you put the clothes on the outside, then sure, but yeah I draw." Mochizuki pulled out a sketchbook from his bag, flipping it open to reveal illustrations of several different kinds of buildings. "I remembered as a kid I always tried to draw the buildings that would be built by different construction companies. I guess you could say it's because of my Dad being part of Yotsubishi, which exposed me to all different kinds of projects and stuff." Most of the buildings were front facing, and there'd be slight smudging of lead on each page. Mochizuki seemed to prefer cross hatching when he shaded the buildings, then applying light contour shading whenever he drew the glass of the buildings.
"Dude, you're pretty talented..." Akio said while Mochizuki flipped through the book.
"You could definitely be some kind of architect one day." said Taira.
"A lot of this is nothing really, I've only drawn from actual buildings that exist. I haven't actually drawn anything original yet." Mochizuki responded.
Akio reached out, taking hold of the sketchbook from Mochizuki. "Let me see this for a second."
"Hey wait- Don't go too far!" Mochizuki said, reaching back out at his sketchbook while Akio flipped through it.
"Could've sworn I saw something around here, but all these pages are empty..."
Mochizuki put his hands together, "Hey man if you do see something don't say it ou-"
"Wooooah!" Akio would arrive at a page completely decorated in sketches and art of anime characters. Specifically female characters. They would all be drawn in a style reminiscent of anime from the late 1980s, having eyes with large highlights and flowing hair. There would me a myriad of different facial expressions and poses, dresses, tights, and other feminine leg wear.
"What? What?!" Taira said, trying to peek at the notebook.
"You can draw some really cute girls, Mochizuki!" Sakamoto said. Mochizuki covered his face as the three of his friends feasted their eyes on artwork he never planned on sharing with them.
"A big strong construction guy like you drawing girls in cute puffy dresses wasn't something I expected!" said Akio.
"Hey, at least that means if the architect plans fall through you can become a fashion designer or a mangaka!" Taira jokes.
Mochizuki groaned, "Oh...! It's just something I like doing in my pastime, okay!? Anime characters are just simple and fun enough to draw! And it isn't like drawing women is a bad thing, the way their bodies are shaped and all the clothes they wear and the hair they have is great for practicing and learning! Is it so wrong for a guy to be into that kind of stuff!?"
"I mean, no! Not at all man- It's just that the cute anime girls in contrast to the buildings in the earlier pages are a little ironic, so we found it a little funny y'know?"Akio said.
"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it at all man. No shame in being talented." Taira assured.
"Ah, well, thanks guys. I was honestly fully prepared to be made fun of. It's partly the reason why I don't tell people that I draw."
Akio gave Mochizuki a pat on the back, "Why? Are they gonna make fun of you cause you're actually skilled?"
"Eh, I don't know what I expect really, It's just something I'm a little insecure about. Maybe I'm just overreacting..."
After teaching the class about labor OS decision making functionality, Mr. Hayashi would finish up the main lesson for the day, walking back behind his desk and sitting down in his chair. "So, now that that's out of the way, I suppose we should try to figure out some kind of plan of action for the up and coming battle." He pointed at Akio. "You! The main man! Any updates with your Mama? No pressure of course."
Akio sat up from his slumped position, "Uh- Yeah! Everything is coming along fine! I was able to use my own data to replicate the Anchor in a training simulator where my Mom works. I didn't have anyone else's data so I ended up fighting against what essentially was a virtual copy of myself..."
Mr. Hayashi snapped his fingers, "Hey! It's better than nothing! Buuuuut, fighting against yourself won't be enough. If you want to improve your combat skills, it's best you'd have opponents who won't think or act like you do."
"Are we going to be doing some kind of sparring matches with the other group?" Akio asked.
"Unfortunately that's gonna be a no go. The Anchor is a training labor, and you can't just do sparring matches with it all willy-nilly. Every time we take those things out, even if it's just for a simple stroll across the field, a maintenance check has to be run on it to guarantee it's still in working condition. If we started rough housing in them on the daily following up on the event it'll be even more of a hassle to maintain."
"Doesn't the school have guys who can come in to do check ups on the Anchor?" Mochizuki asked.
Mr. Hayashi shook his head, "Nope."
"Well who does?"
"Who do you think is the only person here smart and capable enough of running maintenance checks on the Anchor?"
"Ooooh..."
"And I don't go home until I'm sure they're both in working condition too! Believe it or not your teacher wants to go home and fall asleep the second he touches a soft surface too!"
"Okay so if we can't use the Anchors then what are we supposed to do?" Satomi asked.
"Simple, we do the next best thing." Mr. Hayashi walked over to the corner of the workshop, wheeling something large over to the middle of the room. It was covered in a red tarp that'd promptly be removed by their teacher, revealing a labor training simulator. It didn't look as fancy or advanced as the ones at the training camp, though had the bare minimum necessities to function as intended. It had two monitors facing away from each other being held up by a steel rack, as well as seats with the control sticks at the side. Attached to it would be two headsets, most likely to simulate looking through the camera of a labor. Some of the wiring would be exposed and bundled together by zip ties to prevent entanglement, and luckily there was no need for safety concerns as they were safe to touch. At first glance it looked as if someone stripped down two arcade cabinets and pushed them together, only having the technology required to function instead of the cabinet itself.
"The school got us a simulator?!" Taira said out loud.
"Yep, it doesn't look too fancy but it'll work. Also technically I got you all the simulator." Mr. Hayashi replied.
"You mean you bought this thing for us?!" Satomi said.
"In a way, I brought it up but part of it comes out of my pay." Mr. Hayashi sighed, "...I do a lot for you kids, I hope you know that."
Akio got out of his seat, getting a good look at the machine. "So can we use it?"
"Yeah, go for it." Their teacher flipped the power switch on the machine, causing it to boot up a diagnostics screen. It let out an audible whirring sound due to the fans turning inside while there'd also be a slight humming sound of the computer attached to the machine. Everyone gathered around the machine as it'd list out several options for labor specifications and environmental settings. "By the way, it can process your movement data too! So, who's brave enough to challenge our head pilot?"
After a brief pause, Mochizuki rolled up his sleeve and walked up to the simulator. "...Let me at him!"
"You're on!" Akio responded.
The two sat on each of the seats of the simulators, facing toward their respective monitors. After putting on the headsets and inserting the movement data and the both of them selecting Anchors, they would be brought to a confirmation screen.
"For the sake of simplicity, the battle will take place on flat ground with no obstacles. While the simulation allows for a better degree of freedom, it's preferable if you duke it out with the same rule set we used during the midterm duel. Keep in mind this is a simulation, so the computer does its best to replicate movement and damage as accurately as possible. The real can always be different! With that being said, go ahead and confirm the battle!" said Mr. Hayashi.
After they both pressed confirm the environment as well as both of their labors would load in. Everyone else would be able to see what Akio and Mochizuki saw through the monitors, a first person perspective of one facing the other in Anchors. They seemed to be in an expanse of nothingness aside from a gray colored ground, and the two labors moved accordingly to the inputs done on the control sticks. The actual battle began once Akio advanced toward Mochizuki, running full speed at his opponent. While unexpectedly Mochizuki prepared for Akio's full on assault, raising up the arms of the anchor preparing to counter attack. Right as they were within arms reach of one another, Mochizuki's nerves would get the best of him, thus causing him to strike at Akio. Akio anticipated Mochizuki's reaction, dodging the strike and placing himself adjacent to his opponent. While the other Anchor's arm was still out stretched Akio took hold of it and moved in closer to Mochizuki, kicking in the back of it's knee joint causing it to stumble down. With that one move Akio was successfully able to restrain Mochizuki, winning the battle.
"That was... A lot quicker than I thought..." Mochizuki said, removing his headset.
Akio removed his helmet as well, "My Mom taught me that one, she used it a lot when she used to pilot the Ingram."
"You kicked my butt, but hey! That just means our teams in good hands!" Mochizuki got off the seat.
Satomi would then speak up out of nowhere, "Shinohara."
"Uh, yeah?"
"I'm next, I want to see how much better you've gotten."
Akio didn't consider Satomi to be the kind of person to challenge someone to labor combat, so her confrontation surprised him. "Oh, uh, Okay then.." He said.
Satomi sat down in the other seat, putting her helmet on and stuffing her hair inside. She inserted her movement data into the machine and they both would confirm the simulation, dropping the two in the empty expanse. Everyone watched on curiously as to how the battle would play out as the environment and labors fully loaded in. Akio would again be the first to approach, advancing toward Satomi to attack. Out of nowhere Satomi delivered a kick near the base of the Anchor's foot, trying to make it trip and lose balance. Akio caught himself and quickly turned around to face Satomi, having the Anchor's feet planted far apart to spread the center of mass to keep himself from falling.
"I thought she was going to try and work around his counter attack, but she shut it down completely... Not bad." Mr. Hayashi said.
Satomi would then approach Akio, their two manipulators nearly locking together as she tried to push him down. While Akio's stance was still squared Satomi tried to inch closer toward his side, trying to deliver another leg kick. Seeing this Akio threw open the arms of his Anchor, going in for a full grapple around Satomi and restraining her arms and body.
"What's he doing now? Is he going in for some kind of suplex?" Taira asked.
"Unlikely, a flashy move like that would be too dangerous for the kind of sparring we're doing. You'd be slamming the canopy directly down on the ground." Mochizuki replied.
While Satomi's arms and body were restrained, she had the Anchor's legs firmly pushing on the ground. It looked as if she was trying to push Akio down while he was still grappling her, Akio planted the Anchor's feet firmly on the ground in response. Right as all the tension was being focused in opposite directions of one another, Satomi unexpectedly shifted her weight to her right. The both of them would keel over as there was little to no resistance in that direction, causing them to fall down to the ground.
"They both went down!" Sakamoto said out loud.
"Wait, but then who wins?" Mochizuki asked their teacher.
"They both went down at the same time, and you can consider it a draw. However, they went down while Shinohara still had Shinshi in his grasp, so you could argue that he would be the winner realistically."
The two of them would remove their headsets as the simulator unloaded the labors and environment. "Man, I didn't think you could actually pilot like that." Akio said.
"It wouldn't be ideal for the gap in skill in the class to be off balance, someone needs to catch up to you. Imagine if something goes wrong and you can't pilot? We'd be at a disadvantage. I took it upon myself to do more studying and getting used to using the Anchor as a result."
"I guess that does make sense.."
"Hey, you both did great regardless! I'm happy to see things are finally coming along nicely!" Said Mr. Hayashi.
"So you think we got a good chance at beating out the other group?" Taira asked.
"For sure! Now that we have means to train then we've got this in the bag. Just don't fall behind in class alright?"
"Alright!" The group responded in unison.
"Okay! Let's run through some more simulations!"