BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
With reluctance, I force my eyes open before getting up and turning off the alarm from my PDA. I check the clock, 8:00 AM. For once, in a damn long time, I've somehow slept a full eight or so hours without the aid of sleeping pills. Unzipping my sleeping bag, I get up before stretching, a yawn escaping me, with another, smaller yawn sounding out from the workbench.
Picking up the Shittim Chest, Arona greets me.
"Mornin' Sensei! Sleep well?"
Shaking off the sleep, I slip on my ballistic vest before locking it in place with its velcro. "Surprisingly, I wonder if I acclimated a bit too fast." I tug at the neck of the vest before getting comfortable.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
I shrug. Don't know if and when I'll go back, so I probably shouldn't get too comfortable. But, I suppose some exceptions could be made.
Grabbing my pack and donning my "GP-10z" gas mask, I attach my sling to my rig before hooking it to my RPK. "What time are we supposed to meet Rin, again?"
Arona looks at her wrist, a watch materializing before she looks up. "Right now, it's 8:14 AM, so we have forty-six minutes before we need to head to your office. That's where the Acting President is supposed to meet you. Along with the documents she's bringing."
"Right... documents."
Loading a few magazines into the vest, I place my PDA into a breast pouch alongside a few batteries.
"Ugh." I sound before facepalming.
"I-is something wrong?"
"No... well, just a little."
Without my exoskeleton, I have to apply any medicine manually, rather than relying on the suit's medical suite. Wordlessly, I head over to the damaged frame before turning it over and disconnecting various tubes from a small steel box. Unlatching its lock, I'm met with various syringes and syrettes connected to tubing, which I proceed to disconnect carefully before setting them aside.
Military-Grade Stimpaks, fast acting and very effective at patching up all sorts of wounds.
Morphine ampoules, perfect for numbing pain.
Epinephrine, for a quick boost of energy and near-instantly regulating the heart, should the need arise.
AI-2 analgesic syrettes, mainly for pain relief, but can find some use for wounds.
As well as bandages, tourniquets, and various anti-radiation and anti-psychic meds, I largely doubt that I'll find radiological and psychic threats here, but better safe than sorry. I decided to leave the various other drugs behind in a secure container I found. I highly doubted that fentanyl, as much good as it can do, is legal, even here. Carefully placing the medications in a smaller pouch, designated with a red cross, I attach it to my hip before giving myself another look over.
Guns, er, Gun? Check.
Ammo? Check.
Medicine? Check.
PDA? Check.
Arona?
I pick up the Shittim Chest and slide into my ballistic vest, placing it into a hidden pouch.
Check.
Taking out my PDA, I check the time, 8:44 AM. Time to get to work.
"What happened to your previous wear?" Rin asks, setting down the large pile of paperwork.
"The Fox, that's what happened." I deadpan.
She nods as if I said something wise before handing me a small stack.
"Also, you wouldn't happen to have spare kevlar sheets laying around anywhere, would you? Maybe some mil-spec textiles?" I ask, taking the documents she handed.
"If the Crafting Chamber didn't have any of those materials, I largely doubt anywhere else will have them. Sorry, Sensei."
Well, that puts a damper on things.
"But, the Engineering Club at Millenium might have what you're looking for. If not, they could most certainly synthesize it. They are quite handy, despite their... eccentricities."
"I guess I'll stop by when I have the time."
"Ah, that reminds me." She taps her chin with her pen. "Do be sure to visit the academies while you're at it. Acquainting yourself with them and their respective heads will do greatly in establishing rapport."
"I'll be sure to do that." My eyes reluctantly hover over the paperwork. "I suppose we should get to work?"
She smiles in my direction. "Let's."
Suffice it to say, I very much lacked any skills when it came to white-collar work. My PDA was a godsend when it came to translating whatever the documents had for me, but when it came to interpreting the jargon, I was lost.
A fact that doesn't go unnoticed by Rin.
She had dropped off a proverbial mountain of paperwork, all likely a buildup from before my intervention, as most documents were essentially requesting all sorts of aid and material.
I get done signing off one document before looking over at Rin, who had done about a dozen.
"...So, is this what you've been doing your entire career?" I ask, setting down my pen and slumping back in my chair.
Her pen stops moving. "Nothing this severe since... well, since the GSC President disappeared."
Well shit, way to ruin the mood.
I clear my throat before grabbing another document. "So, what's this I hear about SCHALE having an assistant?"
"Ah, you're referring to the assistant program." She pushes up her glasses. "Simply put, it's mainly to establish rapport with the numerous academies. Since SCHALE is supposed to be a neutral party, all students from all academies are free to apply and assist SCHALE in its endeavors. This acts as a sort of bridge between all participating academies, as well as the GSC."
"I see, and assisting SCHALE includes this?" I point to the daunting pile of paperwork.
She gives a small smile. "Yes, including this."
I sigh before adding the finished document to my paltry pile. "When should we be expecting recruits?"
"Anytime today, before closing, of course. Applicants are free to come in directly or send their application over email."
Speak of the devil and ye shall arrive. Before I could ask about said applicants, the intercom buzzed alive, Ayumu on the other side.
"I believe we have an applicant waiting to see you, Sensei, should I bring her in?"
"Go ahead Ayumu."
The intercom light turns off as Rin stands up, taking the documents with her.
"I'll leave you to it then." She hefts the stack before heading towards the door.
"Wasn't that for me?" I point to the paperwork.
"Yes, but..." She fails to meet my eyes. "Lacking a better term, you're quite inexperienced at this."
"...No comment."
"No need to worry, Sensei, I can handle this much easily. I'll see what I can do about easing you into this role."
"Got it, much appreciated, Rin."
She nods before taking her leave. That is, before she nearly bumped into what I could assume to be the applicant Ayumu sent.
"W-watch where you're going- Eh? Acting President?"
"Miss Seminar."
She crosses her arms. "It's Yuuka, thank you very much."
"Mmm hmm." Rin merely sounds out before leaving.
Yuuka gives the Acting President a glare before walking further into the office, her scowl changing into a smile as her eyes meet mine.
"Sensei! I've come to apply for SCHALE's assistant position personally!" She walks over and hands me her application.
Wordlessly, I take the document. Suffice it to say, I do not understand it in the slightest before I hold up my PDA, using it to translate the text.
Hayase Yuuka, treasurer of the Millenium Academy Student Council, "Seminar". Now that I think about it, the documents before had a few from Millenium...
I tap my vest where the Shittim Chest is.
"Yes, Sensei?" Arona sounds in a whisper.
I lean down closer. "Remind me to visit the academies."
"You got it, Sensei!"
"Hmm?" Yuuka sounds out, looking in my direction.
"N-nothing, just looking over your application."
Pretending to look over her document, I catch her staring, her eyes looking me up and down.
"Curious?" I ask as I gesture to my kit.
"Ahem, didn't mean to stare, but what happened to your other suit? And helmet?" She pauses before locking onto my gas mask. "And why the mask?"
"Suit got messed up by the Fox, helmet really only works with the suit, both functionally and aesthetically, and the gas mask, well, I like it when I have something to cover my face."
Notably, she displayed her confusion on the last answer.
"Yeah yeah, anyways, I'm supposed to be interviewing you or something?" I gesture to an office chair in front of my desk.
She takes a seat before sitting up straight.
"No need to be all prim and proper, just relax. We fought side by side, after all."
A faint blush creeps up her face before she relaxes.
"So... Says here you're a treasurer for a branch in Millenium Academy that goes by "Seminar"."
"Indeed." She says with some smug.
"You handle all sorts of finances?"
"Quite efficiently, if I do say so for myself."
"Why'd you want to apply for SCHALE, then? Last I checked, which was today, we don't exactly handle money."
"W-well, I heard that they were looking for applicants, so I said, 'why not?'" She stammers out before squirming a little in her seat.
My eyes narrow a bit as I studied the Millenium student before shrugging and accepting her application. If I'm going to be signing off documents all day, I'd most certainly would like as much help as possible. Standing up, which catches Yuuka off guard, I lean over and extend my hand.
"Welcome aboard, Yuuka."
"Y-yes! Sensei!" She exclaims, shaking my hand with a renewed vigor.
Speaking of finances...
"Hey Yuuka."
"Hmm?"
"You wouldn't happen to know the conversion rate of rubles to the money here, would you?"
"Roo-bulls?" She asks, her head slightly tilted to the side.
"...Nevermind." I pat the Treasurer's head, which she complains about, but makes no effort to stop me. "Looks like my currency's useless here."
Swatting my hand away, she clears her throat before looking up to me. "May I see what kind of money you have? Maybe I'm just hearing you wrong."
Patting myself for my wallet, I pull it out of a pouch before opening it, before I am greeted by a familiar gold, rectangular piece of plastic.
"Don't remember putting that there..." I whisper.
"Don't remember putting what, where?" Yuuka asks, trying to look over my arm.
"A-ah, don't worry about that." I pull out a few bills and present them. "Any luck with these?"
Taking the loose bills, she eyes them with scrutiny before confusion takes its place. "I've never seen these bills before, are they where you're from?"
"Yup, I'm assuming they're not accepted here?"
She hands the bills back. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
"Flat broke it is..." My hand reaches my chin.
Being outright broke was nothing new to me. I think back to when I had to go almost weeks without food, subsisting on mostly just water before getting paid from a job. Good times.
"But what about that?" She points to the golden card peeking out from my wallet.
Pulling out the curious piece of plastic, I raise it up before letting Yuuka take a look. "Not sure, I found this on my person when I arrived here, never seen it till yesterday."
"Huh." She briefly inspects the card before handing it back.
"Might have to ask Rin about what kind of pay I'm to expect, otherwise..."
"You don't know the details of your pay!? That's almost the most important thing!" The Treasurer exclaims.
I cross my arms. "Yeah... we didn't exactly have the time to pour over the details." I wave my hand. "Saving the city and what-not."
"W-well, if you don't mind, I could help you with that." Another faint blush appears over her cheeks.
"That'd be greatly appreciated."
A bout of silence rings out before Yuuka comes to a concerning realization, to her, at least.
"Wait, if you're broke-" A statement I scoff at. "Then what did you eat yesterday?"
I unhook my pack from my rig before digging around and taking out an American MRE and tossing it over to Yuuka.
"One of these, and some water. Not that bad once you get used to them, granted you get lucky with what main course you get. Lasts long too."
"So you've been eating these for how long?" Her eyes pour over the English, confused about the new language.
"About as long as I've operated in the Zone."
"When's the last time you've had a proper meal?" She looks at the packaging sideways.
"Are these not proper meals?"
"Far from it!" She exclaims, almost crushing the package.
"Hey, careful there, that's my dinner. Also, according to the United States Military, that is a meal befitting a US Marine."
"You-Nighted States?"
I extend my hand, gesturing for the MRE, which Yuuka relinquishes. "Yes, the United States."
"Is that a city?"
I shrug, side-stepping the question, before shoving the MRE into my pack, which Yuuka rolls her eyes to.
"We don't exactly have any work to do." I look up at Yuuka. "You don't suppose we could clock out early?"
"Already trying to leave early on the first day of work?" She places a hand on her hip.
I put my hands up in defense. "Hey, Rin took all the paperwork."
"Don't you have prospective applicants awaiting your approval?" Her eyes narrow a bit.
I sigh before retaking my seat behind my desk, which Yuuka nods in approval before taking her own on the couch, taking out her phone and tapping away. I lean over on the desk, my head propped up by my hand as I watch the clock on the wall. 11:49 AM.
"Hey Yuuka."
"Hmm?" She sounds, looking up from her phone.
"What time do we clock out?"
"You seriously don't know what time you get out?" She eyes me with disbelief.
I gesture for her to go on, which she rolls her eyes at. "5 PM."
I sigh. "Still got around five hours."
About an hour or so has passed before I resigned myself to cleaning my RPK. Laid out atop a towel, I disassembled my rifle, cleaning kit to the side as I collect the ramrod and clean out the barrel. Satisfied, I set down the barrel before moving onto oiling the trigger group and bolt. After sufficiently lubricating and wiping away the excess, I reassembled the rifle, charging the handle a few times before loading in a magazine and switching on the safety.
Can't remember the last time I had this much free time. Back in the Zone, it was always bounties, fetching items or clearing out mutants that filled in the day. Needless to say, this was kind of uncomfortable. Clearing up the desk and setting aside the cleaning kit in my pack, I look over to my assistant.
This time she's typing up something fierce into what I assume to be her calculator, before leaning over onto the coffee table and writing something down into a notebook, next to a whole bunch of what I assume to be receipts. Seems she's pretty engrossed in her work as she doesn't notice me approach. I look over her shoulder to see a bunch of values neatly written in boxes, the same "Y" symbol I saw back in "ANGEL 24" placed before the numbers. Most likely a ledger. True to the title, she was indeed a treasurer.
I look back over to the clock. 2:09 PM. Maybe I could sneak out for a few.
Walking towards the office door, I peek over my shoulder, Yuuka still too focused to notice my departure. Taking the chance, I head out the door and into the elevator, taking myself back to the basement. Ain't got anything much better to do, so I'll try my luck fixing up the arm on the exoskeleton frame.
Back in the Crafting Chamber, I remove and toss my gas mask to the side before pulling up my workbench, the exoskeleton frame splayed out across it. Pulling up a stool, I get to work, maneuvering a magnifying glass hooked up to a standing arm over the artificial muscles and servo motors. I glance over to my arsenal of tools, hopefully these'll suffice over an actual exoskeleton repair kit.
Thankfully, the damage was only localized to the left forearm, and nothing was destroyed. With some luck, and a little elbow grease, the suit's diagnostic reported only minor damage. Best I can do for now without proper tools and replacement parts. I wipe the sweat from my brow before grabbing a towel and wiping my hands clean of grease.
"Do you do this all the time, Sensei?" A voice rings out from my vest.
Sufficiently cleaning off my hands, I pull the Shittim Chest out, the screen turning on and revealing the little A.I.
"Eh, more or less, I guess. Knowing your way around tools and machinery is important in the Zone."
She leans on her desk, propping her head up with her hand. "What kind of things did you have to fix up?"
"All sorts of machines and items. You name it, I've probably had a hand in fixing it up. Guns, gun components, armor, armor components, weapon attachments, generators, PDA's, sometimes even people." A grin appears on my face. "And more often than not, for a price."
"So you're a handyman!"
I shrug. "That's one way to put it."
"Wait..." She pauses to contemplate my words. "People?" Her head tilted to the side.
"Yup, sometimes people get hurt, and without any medics or doctors around, I had to patch up more people than I can count."
"So you're a doctor too!"
A smile crosses my face. "Heh, maybe if I could get my medical license."
She gives a small chuckle before her face turns stern.
"Uh, Arona?"
"You might want to let Yuuka and the Acting President know that you're alright..."
I scramble to grab my PDA and check the time. 6:24 PM.
So much for sneaking out for just a few. I smell like grease and sweat, but oh well. I wipe my face off with a fresh towel before donning my gasmask and heading towards the elevator.
"-I swear if he disappeared just like the President!-"
"Sounds like she's distressed." Arona comments.
"Yuuuup." Better go fix that.
I push open the door to the office before Rin and Yuuka twist their heads to meet me.
"Hey." I say with a wave.
"Sensei!" Both call out.
"Yeah, that's me."
"Where have you been/did you go?"
"I was in the basement, working on something."
Rin pinches the bridge of her nose and Yuuka facepalms.
"Er, did I do something wrong?"
Rin glares daggers at me and Yuuka throws her arms up in frustration.
I scoff. "What, did you think I'd disappear or something?"
"With how the President did just that, yes." Rin replies, her voice downcast.
Whoops.
Silence befalls the room before Yuuka clears her throat and looks over at Rin.
"Well, now that he's here, I believe you have a letter for him?" She gestures towards me.
"Right." Rin walks over to the desk and picks up an envelope before handing it over to me.
I look over to Yuuka. "Good save." I whisper.
She returns a nod in my direction before taking her leave.
Taking a seat on the couch before inspecting it, I put my PDA up to it so I could understand it.
To: Artyom-Sensei, Advisor of SCHALE
From: Abydos High School
Huh, I think I remember seeing this academy from a few documents from this morning. I glance up towards Rin before she gestures towards the envelope.
Opening it up, I pull out the letter.
To the Advisor of SCHALE,
Hello, my name is Okusora Ayane, a first-year student at Abydos High School. I hope this letter finds you as we are in dire need of assistance. Local gangs have targeted our academy and have been constantly harassing us. I suspect that they are attempting to drive us out to take over the academy. So far, we have been doing our best to push them back, but we are running low on supplies and ammunition.
As such, I have sent this letter as a request for aid. If it isn't too much to ask, please help us, Sensei.
Well shit, first day on the job and a huge request already. I look up from the letter, meeting the eyes of Rin.
"Do we have any info on..." I look back down at the letter. "Abydos High School?"
Her face scrunches up before she takes out her tablet. "Abydos High School, one of our oldest running schools and also the one facing the threat of being shut down, due to the district having faced desertification, causing most if not all development and business in the area to cease completely. This has caused a mass exodus of the citizenry and student body to other districts."
I recoil in confusion, how'd a place like this have a desert? As far as I know, the climate is mostly temperate.
"It has also accrued a large amount of debt. It seems the students have taken it upon themselves to somehow repay that debt."
"Debt to who?"
"The Kaiser Corporation, a megacorp with many ties in the city." She scowls. "A PMC being one of them."
Private military, eh? Reminds me of the Mercs back home, works for the highest bidder.
"Most confusingly, the academy only houses five students."
"Why don't they leave?"
"I'm not sure, perhaps they have strong ties to the academy?"
"Must be damn strong then. Do we have anything on the students?"
Rin taps on her tablet a few times before handing it to me. Looks like dossiers on the students in attendance. I glance over them before landing on the final student.
Takanashi Hoshino, a third-year student and vice-president of the academy's student council. I notice that she's the VP, with a glaring lack of the main "P".
I frown, seems like Kivotos has a recurring theme of having missing presidents.
Maybe she'll have some information for me. I hand the tablet back to Rin before rising to my feet.
"Do we have anything on the docket for tomorrow?"
"I don't have anything listed for you tomorrow..." She frowns. "Do you plan on heading to Abydos?"
"They did just ask for help and they're under attack." I look at the clock. 7:01 PM. "Also, isn't that what SCHALE is supposed to do? Help out other academies?"
"SCHALE is supposed to be an independent investigatory club, but I suppose their role also extends to assist other academies."
"Done deal then."
I head towards the door before I stop in my tracks.
"Also, they've requested for aid, what kind can we provide?" I hand the letter over for her to take a look.
"Ammunition, I suppose that isn't impossible to provide." She pulls up her tablet and looks at their dossiers, getting a bead on what ammunition they require.
"7.62x51, 5.56x45, 9mm, 12 gauge shells." She begins tapping away at her tablet before looking up at me.
"I've gone ahead and placed a requisition for ammunition, it'll be shipped to the academy in the morning tomorrow."
"Much appreciated, Rin."
"Not a problem, Sensei."
I wince, forgetting one more thing, which Rin perceptively takes notice of.
She sighs before lifting up her tablet once more. "I suspect you have something else you must ask?"
"Yeah... think you can get me a helicopter to transport me there?"
She taps on her tablet a few more times before looking up.
"Thanks a bunch."
She rolls her eyes. "Is that all?"
"Nothing else comes to mind." I look at the clock again. "I suppose it's time to clock out?"
"Indeed... also, Sensei."
I stand stock still.
"Do let us know when you leave, especially when you're on the clock."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
I look out the window down to the area below, and lo and behold, there is indeed a desert. Much to my confusion, it seems climates work way differently here than back home, because I could've sworn we had just passed snow. I'm busy watching the numerous abandoned buildings and houses pass by before my pilot radio's me.
"We're at the LZ! I'll drop you off here!"
"Roger that!"
Hopping out the helicopter, I slide shut the door before looking at the cockpit, the pilot giving me a wave before lifting the bird up.
"I'll be heading back to the clubhouse, just give me a call and we'll be right back!"
"Copy that, safe flying."
"Stay safe, Sensei!"
The helicopter fades into the distance as I scan my surroundings. Whole lotta sand. And it's hot. No wonder everyone ditched the area.
"Hey Arona." I call out as I take out the Shittim Chest.
"Hmm?"
"Think you can get me a map of the area?"
"On it!"
A few minutes pass as I walk around the area. Plenty of buildings, all of which are buried under sand. Till Arona gets done working on that map, I resign myself to attempting to dig a way to the front door of a house.
"Sensei?"
I grunt in response, shoveling sand out of the way with my hands. I'm getting close though.
"Are you trying to break into that house?"
"I'm lookin' for clues as to how this place turned into a damned desert."
"Well, I have a map of the area- oh! Maybe I can link it to your device!"
I pause, sand escaping through the cracks of my hands.
"You can access my PDA?"
"If you allow me!"
"How does that work?" I continue shoveling sand, just about done.
"I'm able to upload myself from the Shittim Chest directly to any device! Just as long as there's enough RAM and processing power, I should be able to work there."
Well, not like I have anything particularly damning on it, maybe the notes and images regarding the mutants and anomalies can be pretty terrifying. Maybe the messages too.
"I'll allow it, just steer clear of the bestiary and messages, there's some particularly nasty looking monsters on there from back home. So unless you want nightmares..."
She shudders. "A-alright then, it'll just be a moment."
I get done moving away the sand before my PDA rings out.
"Ta-dah! What do you think, Sensei?" She gives a little twirl before putting both hands on her hips.
"Not too shabby, so you said you have a map for me?"
"Mmm hmm! Here, I'll show you."
She turns around and hops us, tapping the "Area Map" tab, displaying a satellite view of the area. Desert, really.
"Very nice, good work Arona."
"Hehehe."
"Oh!" I lift up the PDA to meet Arona. "Think you can adjust how the translator works?"
"Translator?" She turns around again and eyes the tabs before hopping up tapping the tab, revealing the lone microphone icon.
"So far, it's been constantly a drag to wait for the PDA to translate, think you can somehow, I don't know, streamline it?"
"I... think so." She disappears from view. "Ah! Looks like there's a backdoor into this program! Like it was made for me!"
"I see, what can you do from there?"
"Hmm. I might be able to lower the latency between you talking and the translator, well, translating."
"Please do."
A few moments pass before Arona pops back into view, wearing a white hardhat and a neon yellow safety vest.
"Done!" She beams me smile.
I select the microphone, the icon flashing green before I speak out.
"Testing, testing."
As soon as I spoke into it, my words were translated nearly immediately. No longer with that awful robotic voice either.
"Very well done, Arona."
"Not a problem!"
"Tell you what, you let me know if I can do something for you, a Stalker worth their weight never leaves debts to anyone who does good by them." I flash her a wink.
"Then you better be prepared!"
"I'll see to it that I am." A smile forms under my mask as I put the PDA back into its pouch.
"Anyways, let's see if we can get any information from this house." I try the door handle. Locked.
I look around my immediate area for anyone. Nothing.
I take a step back before reeling back my leg to kick the door down. Giving a good kick near the handle, the lock breaks and the door gives way, revealing a living room. Stepping in, tracking sand all over the floor, I internally apologize before scanning the room. Decently furnished, save for the copious amount of dust that covered nearly every surface. Thankfully I have a mask on.
Furniture aside, nothing noteworthy, looks like the owner took everything worth taking with 'em. I peek into what looks like a bedroom, similarly bare, with all the drawers, cabinets and closets empty. With nothing to show for, I leave the house, closing the door behind me.
I open the map up and make my way towards the academy before a bicycle zoomed past me, picking up dust and sand. I watch as the cyclist slowed down before doubling back towards me.
"Are you lost?" The white-haired cyclist asked.
Sunaookami Shiroko, a second year at Abydos. I take note of her appearance, as true to the dossier, she indeed has wolf ears. A white assault rifle is slung over her shoulder, another SIG? Seems they have quite the fanbase here if SIG has products in wherever the hell Kivotos is.
I hold up my PDA. "I've a map. I assume you're a student at Abydos?"
Her ears stand on edge as she freezes up. "How'd you know?"
I point to her lanyard, displaying the Abydos School symbol for all to see.
"A-ah."
I put both hands into the neck of my vest, letting my arms hang. "Anywho, I heard Abydos has some sort of gang problem?"
Her eyes go wide. "S-so you're Sensei?"
I nod.
"That means you got Ayane's letter?"
"That I did."
She breathes a sigh of relief before looking back at me.
"Then there's no time to waste, we need to hurry and get the rest to meet you."
"Yeah..." I look back down at my PDA. "We still have a way's away till we actually get to the school.
"Oh." Her ears droop slightly.
"You wanna walk with me? Unless you want to go on ahead."
She hops off her bike. "I'll walk with you."
We walk for a few minutes uphill, the faint crunch of sand under every step filling in the silence. That, and the sound of Shiroko's bike as the wheels rotate.
I look down at the rifle slung over her shoulder, taking in its details. She catches my stares before unslinging her rifle and handing it to me.
"You sure?" I point to her gun.
"Nn."
Taking up the rifle with both hands, I inspect it. Suppressor, a four-times magnification scope and a foregrip. Girl knows her stuff. My eyes move onto the mag well, the Abydos symbol printed on it. Satisfied, I hand the gun back to her, which she re-slings over her shoulder.
"Want to take a look at mine?"
She nods.
Unhooking the sling, I check if the safety is on before handing it over. I watch as she looks over the gun with unbridled curiosity.
She points to the magazine. "Why's it so big?"
Leaning over, I unlock the magazine and show it to her.
"It's a quad-stack magazine." I shake it. "For the same height of a standard magazine, it holds twice as much. Twice as fat though."
She chuckles as she reaches for the magazine. I watch as she attempts to re-seat it, though it takes her a few tries before she gets it right. She hands back the rifle before I hook it back to my sling.
"Why do you have a gas mask on?"
"This?" I point to my face.
"Nn."
"It's a long story." I attempt to dodge the question.
"We have a long walk too."
"Nothing gets past you, huh?" A smile forms under my mask.
She merely looks at me expectantly.
"Well, I originally had a helmet instead of this. It had all sorts of gadgetry, night vision, advanced filtration, a built-in communication suite. Plus, it was practically bullet proof."
Her eyes light up at that last part.
"I also had a suit to match, but that got ruined." I point to my current kit. "Now I'm stuck with this. It's still a good piece of gear, but nothing like my other suit."
She stares at my ballistic vest and rig full of magazines.
"Yup, I don't have a halo like everyone else." I tap my vest. "So bullets hurt me a lot more than it does you."
Her ears droop down once more, and her eyes are downcast. Probably should steer clear about referring to injuries. Or getting shot.
"You wanna know where I'm from?"
Her ears flicker before she looks back up. I look at my PDA, we still have a few kilometers till we reach the academy.
I look across the sand covered lands as we walk. "Where I'm from, there's next to no sand, mostly forest and snow." I lean over to her. "Cold too."
"What is it called? Where you're from, I mean."
"Ukraine."
"You-crane."
I chuckle. "No no, Ukraine."
She gives it a few more tries, to no avail.
"It's a beautiful country. But there's a city within where I lived most my life. It's also the reason why I have all this." I gesture to all my gear.
One of her ear's droops in confusion.
"It's called Chernobyl, and in that city is an area called the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, but we just called it the Zone for short."
"It's a dangerous place, full of bad people." I let my arms hang as I grabbed the neck of my vest.
"Is that why you have all that on?"
"Kind of. As much as there's bad people, there's also a whole lot of nasty critters out there. Some even go invisible."
Notably, she isn't convinced.
I shrug. "Believe me or not, they exist and haunt the night."
"Now then." I look over to the white wolf. "Why don't you tell me about Abydos?"
"So this place wasn't all sand?" I ask, as we pass through the double doors of the classroom.
"Nn, before the desert, Abydos used to be one of the biggest academies of the city."
"You sure took your time- Eh? Who's this adult?" A black-haired student points out. This time it's cat ears, huh?
"Nn, Serika, this is Sensei."
She pauses, looking back and forth between me and Shiroko.
"Wha-!?"
"Ara~? So you're the new Sensei everyone on Momotalk was talking about!" A very cheery voice calls out as a door adjacent to us opens.
I turn over to greet them. "That I am, you are?"
"Ah, I'm Izayoi Nonomi." She extends her hand out.
I reach out and shake it. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Oh!" She pulls the black-haired student to her side. "This is Serika-chan!"
I nod towards her. "Nice to meet you."
"Yare yare, why's it so noisy this time of day~?" A small, pink-haired girl mutters as she slowly makes her way into the room.
She opens one eye to look up towards me. "Ah-ha~, you must be Sensei, nice to meet you." She lazily extends a hand.
I return the sentiment. "Likewise." I then release her hand. "You must be Takahashi Hoshino."
"You know her already, Sensei?" Shiroko chimes in.
"Mmm, I did look into the students that still attend Abydos, that much I did. As far as I know, you all are up against some sort of gang?"
I turned away from the pink-haired girl, but I could still feel her gaze. Looks like she doesn't trust me.
A new face enters the room. Sharp ears, not too dissimilar to Rin's. "That's pretty much it, Sensei. Thank you for coming to help. I'm Okusora Ayane, the one who sent out the letter."
I nod in her direction.
She pushes up her glasses. "To get you up to speed, we are currently up against the 'Kata-Kata Helmet Gang', who have been attacking the school for a little under a week now. We've been able to push them back without too much trouble, but without resupply, we had to conserve what little ammo we have."
"No resupply..." I place a hand on my chin before looking at Ayane. "I assume this has to do with the debt?"
Everyone winces, save for Hoshino, who still has an eye on me.
"Though, you guys should've received a shipment of ammo earlier this morning."
This gains the attention of everyone.
"Shipment?" Serika pops in.
"Yeah, for your corresponding weapons."
Ayane looks over to Hoshino, who simply shakes their head.
"Looks like it was intercepted then..." Ayane whispers.
Well shit. Can't leave 'em out to dry when I got this far.
I sigh as I get up, gaining everyone's attention. I unhook my pack and set it down on the table. Luckily, I didn't unpack the magazines I looted off the bots, and I still have some 12 gauge from my Saiga-12.
Setting down the magazines and boxes of shells on the table, I watch as their faces light up.
"It isn't much, so you might have to watch your shots still, but a few more mags don't hurt, right?"
I turn over to Hoshino, a box of shells in hand. "Shotgun, right?"
She looks at the box then me before gingerly taking the shells.
"I don't think I have anything for you though..." I look at Nonomi's minigun. Now that, is a proper weapon.
"That's okay, Sensei, I appreciate you doing this for us, though!"
Serika and Shiroko split the ten magazines between each other, Nonomi's busy removing the large box magazine from her minigun, checking how much 7.62 she has left.
I look over to Hoshino, who's busy loading up a bandolier with shells. Ayane's setting up some sort of laptop before setting a large polymer case to her side. Opening it up, it revealed an expensive looking drone.
I'm about to ask her about the curious device before an explosion rings out near the front gate.
"Looks like they're back!" Serika exclaims, loading a magazine and charging her rifle.
The girls give themselves one more equipment check before rushing to meet the gang at the main gate. Ayane looks away from her laptop before staring at me.
"Er, will you be staying here too, Sensei?"
I pull my rifle into my arms before flicking off the safety and charging it.
"I came here to help, so I'll be doing just that." I turn towards the door before Ayane could protest.
Rounds were already flying in the air by the time I made it to the main gate. I watch as Nonomi hefts her minigun before sending a burst into a group of the gang members, shredding them in the barrage. One of them gets a few shots off, the rounds impacting the blonde. She doesn't react much though, as she shrugs off the rounds. Tough gal.
Shiroko and Serika took it upon themselves to cover the flanks, assuming cover on the left and right sides of the gate, putting down bursts into anyone that make it past the gate.
Hoshino was in the middle, out in the open holding a shield just as tall as her, blind-firing her shotgun while advancing.
"Looks like they got a hold on this, huh?"
"Not quite!" Arona chimes in.
I look back over and watch as Shiroko hits the deck, a grenade soon exploding where she was hunkering down. She takes a few rounds before returning fire and backing up into a new position.
Hoshino is pinned under a hail of fire, similarly with Nonomi, and Serika is caught up with her own problems.
I watch as the gang members take some space, slowly advancing through sheer weight of number.
"Shit." I mutter as I advance myself, moving from cover to cover.
I switch my RPK to full auto before bracing myself against a concrete planter and holding down the trigger. The gun roars as the rounds impact the opposing force, dropping the gang members one by one. Shoving the empty mag into a dump pouch, I fish out another from my rig before loading it into my rifle and charging it.
"Sensei?"
I look over to my side to see Shiroko beside me, who's covered in concrete dust, I watch as she looks back over and chucks a frag grenade, the explosion reporting a few seconds later.
"You okay?" I question before sending a burst down range.
"Nn, you're going to fight with us?"
"Yup, what kind of Sensei leaves their students out to face their problems themselves?"
"Thanks, Sensei."
"You got it."
I peek over my cover to see that Hoshino recovered, still advancing towards the gate.
"Hoshino!" I call out.
She looks over to me before I move to assume cover behind her shield.
"Got room for two?"
She's about to say something before I leaned to the side, letting my rifle do the talking. Unfortunately, a round hits true and impacts my right upper arm, causing me to get back into cover. I hiss in pain, suppressing my urge to curse.
"Sensei!?" The pink-haired student turns to me, still holding onto the shield steadfast.
"It's nothing!" I get back up and return fire. I feel blood slowly seep into my sleeve, but they don't need to know that right now.
I duck back into cover behind her shield, a shit-ton of rounds impacting and ricocheting off of it.
"That's a damn fine shield you have there!" I peek past it before recoiling back, a round narrowly grazing me.
She merely looks at me before her eyes drifted towards my right arm, the sleeve nearly fully coated in blood.
"Hey! Don't worry about that right now!" Her eyes come back to me. I look around for Shiroko, who's currently pinned.
"Think you can distract them for a few?"
She gives me a nod. "Yeah, I can do that, Sensei."
"On my mark then."
I get ready to sprint towards the pinned wolf. "MARK!"
Hoshino then proceeded to dash forward, advancing as she fired her shotgun. With all fire redirected towards her, I hightail it to Shiroko, diving into cover next to her.
I suck in a few lungful's of air before getting to a knee. "Got anymore grenades on you?"
She turns to her side, grabbing her schoolbag before dropping it in front of me. Unzipping it open, it revealed a bouquet of what I assumed to be M67's.
I pat her on the head before grabbing a few and shoving them into an empty pouch.
"I'll pay you back for these."
She nods before picking up her rifle. I peek over our cover to see Hoshino had done a damn fine job being a distraction. A bit too good. With the amount of fire she's taking, you'd think that her shield would practically disintegrate, instead, she has it propped up against her as she takes shells from her bandolier and loads them into her shotgun, the shield seemingly perfectly fine.
With the gang fully distracted, I advanced towards the left side wall, pulling the pins of the grenades. Hugging the wall, I toss a grenade up and over, the explosion reporting a few seconds later. Their gunfire ceases for a few moments, allowing Hoshino to reposition into a better spot before they continued their assault. Sprinting towards her, I assume cover behind her before waiting for a lull in gunfire. Taking the chance, I toss the other two frags in the middle of their ranks, taking out another sizeable chuck of their forces.
"Ready to mop up the rest?"
The pink-haired student gives me a grin before nodding. I look back at the rest of the girls before gesturing to them to push up.
With my little stunt, we were able to easily mop up the rest. Those that we couldn't take out turned tail and retreated back to wherever they came from.
"We did it!" Serika exclaims, followed by her taking a seat on a concrete planter before dusting herself off of dirt and debris.
"Nn, they sent more this time." Shiroko takes a seat next to her.
"Good job guys!" Nonomi sits in between the two before wrapping her arms around them.
I look up to see a drone hovering in the air, I take it that's Ayane's, likely using it to monitor the battlefield.
Though Hoshino reserved herself to watch me. "You're hurt."
I subconsciously shift my arm away from them.
"Eh?" All the girls look at me, including Ayane, who's drone hovers closer.
Their eyes lock onto my now blood-soaked right arm before I wave them off.
"It's nothing." I say as I wrap the tourniquet above the entry wound and tightening it.
"T-that is most definitely not nothing!" Serika exclaims, her eyes wide. "Ayane, can you send us a first-aid kit!?"
A blue display of her appears below the drone. "On it!"
Shiroko and Nonomi watch in silence.
I begin wrapping the wound tightly with bandages before another drone swoops in and drops off a large red first-aid kit.
Shiroko gets up before grabbing the box and heading over to me, Serika in tow.
I open my mouth to protest, but my eyes glance over to Hoshino, her eyes no longer seeing me with suspicion, but with concern.
With a sigh, I took a seat on the ground as I allowed myself to be treated by the schoolgirls. Not something I'd ever think of happening, but here we are. I watched as they deftly removed my old blood-soaked bandages before replacing it with fresh, and surprisingly high quality, ones. It takes a lot out of me to not voice my pain as they worked, but I'm sure they noticed me wince.
Once they were done, I inspected their handy work.
"Not bad, you guys patch up a lot of wounds?" I ask, feeling the soft bandages.
"...Nothing this serious." Shiroko answers, her voice small.
I glance up to her, she's much more shocked at the fact I took a round rather than her taking a whole grenade. My eyes wander over to Serika, who's faring similarly, if not worse. Nonomi walks over and takes a seat next to me, wordlessly, she places a hand on my shoulder. She's worse for wear, but otherwise completely fine. Hoshino stood in place, but her eyes haven't left my wound.
This was new to me, having others that actually cared about my wellbeing. Back home, we're fully expected to not come back after heading out for a job or excursion, but such is life in the Zone. She gives, and She takes even more. If these girls are going to take me getting shot worse than even myself, looks like I'll have to change how I operate.
I sigh before tapping on Nonomi's hand as I get to my feet, dusting myself off. I turn to face the group.
"Hey, chin up girls, we pushed them back, didn't we?" I walk over to my dropped rifle before re-slinging it to my rig.
"Now's the time for the best part!"
The girls look at me in confusion. I wink as I walk over to one of the unconscious gang members before removing a magazine from their rifle and grabbing whatever extra from her pockets.
I glance over. "To the victor, the spoils!" I wave the magazine in the air.
Shiroko's ears stand on edge as she walks over next to me, I watch as she swiftly rifled through another's pockets, swiping magazines and grenades.
"Attagirl." A shit-eating grin forms from under my mask.
I watch as she pulls out a blue balaclava and puts it over her head, her ears poking out from openings at the top, a number two sewn into the forehead. Out of her blue scarf, she somehow produces a black sack, putting her loot into it.
I shrug. "Now we're talking." I crane my head around to the rest of the girls.
"Gonna help or are you all gonna stand around and watch!?" I wave a magazine at them.
Serika couldn't help but smirk and Nonomi smiles. Hoshino looks stoic, but I could see the edges of her mouth creep upward ever so slightly.
Smiles work better on you all.