The Exeter Project (Infinite Stratos OC)

[Shadow0Fire]

-CONNECTION LOST-


These words, colored a flashing crimson on a large screen, were all that could be seen by the half dozen men and women gathered deep underground in a top secret facility. The room they stood in was merely an observation deck; it served no purpose other than providing a massive screen through which they could receive transmissions. Just moments prior, that screen had been displaying the visuals of the Silver Gospel as it fought to the death with a human pilot on a sun-kissed coast. The connection had ended rather abruptly, the moment its human opponent, the only male pilot of Infinite Stratos, rammed into it with his machine's primary weapon, a high-powered energy blade. Knowing that the connection would only be terminated if the Silver Gospel had been rendered completely nonfunctional, only one thing was completely certain; the experiment had failed.


The man nearest the now useless screen turned to face all of those behind him, his middle-aged but wrinkled face creased with lines of frustration and anger. His military-cut black hair was too short to hide the mounting discontent in his equally dark eyes.


"This is it? All of that work, all of that time and effort, and this is the best FAIRCHILD could do? Beaten by some brat with a god damned lightsaber?!"


One of the accused, a woman with long red hair framing sky blue eyes, seemed unperturbed by the result. "With all due respect Commander, FAIRCHILD did extremely well. It went toe to toe with several cutting edge I.S., and even that new model that surpassed all the others. Ultimately it failed to win-"


"It did less than that, it failed to destroy a single enemy!"


"-but that's about all we could expect from Natasha's progeny."


Everyone in the room fell silent as they contemplated the implications of this, though the 'Commander' was the only one to comment on it. "If that's the case, then I'd daresay we're up shit creek without a paddle. Natasha Fairs was the best candidate we had for this! If this is the best her 'progeny' can do, we'd damn well better find someone else, and fast!"


A cough from the side of the relatively bare room brought attention to another member of the present company; Marcus Dougley, a bespectacled slouch of a short-haired blonde man who rarely spoke up unless spoken to. Naturally, the Commander wasn't happy about the interruption.


"What?"


While clearly nervous that all eyes were on him, Marcus managed to find his voice and say his piece, shifting glasses that framed green eyes.


"I uh, k-know you probably don't want to hear this, sir, but... I think we're going to have bigger problems now. With the Gospel destroyed and all witnesses alive and accounted for... this is going to be an international incident. Who knows how severe the repercussions are going to be?"


The redhead spoke up again, lending her aid to Marcus' cause. "Good point... I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. received sanctions on Infinite Stratos for this. We might not even have any I.S. to use for the project in a few weeks, never mind a template to base their operation on."


The mere notion of it seemed to agitate the Commander. "The UN wouldn't dare! We're the God damned United States of America! They can't enforce something like that, they don't have the firepower!"


"Whether or not they can enforce it doesn't affect whether or not President Howe will give in to their demands. He's done everything in his power since taking office to establish and maintain 'friendly' relations with the rest of the world. And he claims to despise war. He might think we don't need I.S. in the first place."


With a sound of disgust, the Commander turned back to face the screen in the room, still flashing its error message. "So what then? I need solutions, people."


While it was obvious that he was afraid to say anything before he even said it, Marcus nevertheless did so. "We... still have the X Platform, Commander..."


The oldest man in the room scoffed, clearly finding the idea distasteful. "Again with that thing? It's a damn infantry power suit, Dougley. It can't do what we need."


Once again, the redhead came to Marcus' aid, though mostly for practicality's sake. "It doesn't have to stay that way, Commander. Retrofitting it for aerial operation and I.S. combat is perfectly feasible. And if things go the way we fear they will, I'd say it might even be our only option."


Silence engulfed the room as the Commander loosed a heavy sigh. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, he shook his head and made up his mind.


"Fine. We're officially launching the Exeter Project, effective immediately. I want that platform optimized for air-to-air combat ASAP. And somebody find me a God damned pilot!"


---


Over the course of the next six months, everything the overseers of FAIRCHILD and the Exeter Project feared came to pass. When the Silver Gospel was identified as a United States I.S., the whole incident became a huge scandal. Countries from around the world were outraged that an American machine had nearly murdered their Representative Candidates and destroyed their I.S. cores. When pressed for an explanation, the official story was that the Silver Gospel had been hacked by a terrorist organization. The artificial intelligence rooted in the machine, code named FAIRCHILD, had absolutely nothing to do with it.


It was an excuse the world readily bought, but not one that freed the U.S. from penalties or blame. Ultimately the Stars and Stripes were accused of gross negligence in the protection and security of their all-powerful war machines. Demands for some sort of penalty to be inflicted continued to mount until the United Nations actually complied with them. That penalty? The United States had to forfeit all of their I.S. cores to more 'responsible' countries, and were prohibited from acquiring any replacements for the next decade. As predicted, President Howe had complied with these demands without any resistance, unwilling to deal with the sanctions and other political backlash that refusal would have invited.


In that brief span of time, the once strongest global military power had been utterly embarrassed on the world stage, on top of being declawed. Sure, ultimately it still had the most effective and well-equipped military in the world, but without any I.S. of their own, that didn't mean nearly as much as it used to. Fact of the matter was, the United States was in a weaker position globally than it had been in a hundred years, and certain shadowy elements of its government had a problem with that.


Umbra Stratum was the name of the predominant element in that category, and they were pouring all of their resources into fixing the problem, though perhaps that should have been expected of them since they had caused that problem in the first place. Not that their actions hadn't been condoned by their benefactors in the high seats of government, but still. They had several plans in motion to restore the power balance that had been disrupted. Most of them were illegal. But of course, paramilitary black ops organizations didn't care much for that sort of restriction.


Marcus, half a year older than before everything had hit the fan, was standing outside the only hangar that this Umbra Stratum base possessed. Behind him were scores of aircraft, many of them traditional planes parked in nice little slots, but just as many were folded and tucked into neat little launch tubes that could fire them into the sky on a moment's notice.


The latter were ADU-1's: Autonomous Defense Units, drone aircraft that resembled angular torpedoes, with their pointed fuselages and relatively stubby wings, and something that Umbra Stratum was keeping under wraps for the most part. At this very moment, Marcus had his dim green gaze focused on the clear skies above the Nevada desert, following two of these ADU-1's as best he could as they zipped around, chasing a target that was impossible to see from the ground. The programmer had an electronic tablet that was tracking all of the relevant data of the dogfight, but he preferred to watch events unfold when he could.


His vigil didn't last too terribly long. Within another minute, the two drones began their descent back to Earth and the hangar they had been launched from, though they didn't arrive before the target they had been engaging in a mock battle; a human sized suit of silver metal and black underlying material that soared down to the dusty ground in front of Marcus before landing with grace that belied its intimidating appearance.


This silver suit, mostly smooth save for knight like plates of armor in the torso and its rubberized joints, cast its obscured gaze at the blonde that eyed it, before allowing its blackened, chevron-shaped visor to fade away and its angular helmet to pull back and reveal the person within. That person was just a man. A young one, granted, at a mere age of seventeen, but nevertheless just a man with chocolate brown bangs that settled over deep sapphire eyes. An easygoing smile graced his features.


His name was Church. He'd refused to tell anyone what his first name was, and no one in Umbra Stratum cared enough to force it out of him. Of course his first name was on file somewhere, but few people had access to that kind of information. Besides, the only thing that mattered was that Church was their pilot for the X Platform; more commonly being referred to as the Exeter suit these days.


Returning the smile his friend was giving him, Marcus broke the silence just in time to nod his head towards the two matte gray ADU-1's that had reached the ground.


"So? How'd they fare?"


Church cast his gaze at the two drones as they used their engines to hover into the hangar and perfectly land themselves back into their open launch tubes, disappearing when their launchers closed back over them.


"For all the things they can do that human pilots can't, they're still too predictable. All the ridiculous high-G turns in the world doesn't solve that problem."


Marcus could only nod in agreement as he motioned for his mildly younger compatriot to follow him back into the base. No need to stand out in the desert heat.


"There's a limit to what dumb AI can do. They have patterns and they follow them. I wouldn't even really call them AI, they're basically just computers doing what they were told to do in advance. Don't tell Strelka I said that."


"She already knows you feel that way, Marcus, whether or not I tell her won't change that. Besides, you know I don't take sides; I have to stay partial to all parties in the organization so I can keep getting my very nice benefits."


The brown-haired teenager's recruitment into Umbra Stratum had been an... unorthodox affair. In dire need of the ideal pilot for Exeter, the shadow organization had posed as your typical government agency, establishing locations across the country where they were offering significant monetary compensation for anyone willing to come in and participate in some 'mundane' tests. They had screened hundreds, even thousands of individuals for well over a month, finding a few promising candidates along the way, but no one in that time that really surpassed expectations.


Church had come to them in Bethesda, Maryland. Clad in unassuming jeans and a red leather jacket, his only concern had been receiving the money Umbra Stratum was offering for participation in their experiments. Their expectations for someone so ordinary had been low, and yet the initial testing had revealed his potential compatibility with the X Platform to be higher than anyone they had tested previously. Naturally, everything that happened after that was set in stone. The Umbra Stratum operative in charge at that location had informed her superiors of the situation and gotten clearance to offer the candidate even more money for even more tests, so they could determine just how good of an option he was.


By the time the Commander had settled on Church as the pilot for the X Platform, it came down to roping the young man in somehow. Turned out it wasn't all that hard. He had been down on his luck, with many struggles that he lacked the power to overcome on his own. Despite being informed of the potential hazards of joining a shadow organization like Umbra Stratum, Church had agreed to do it in return for having his needs met. What those needs were, Marcus still had no idea. Church had never shared with him. It only made sense: their relationship, while friendly, was mostly rooted in their profession.


Considering that Marcus was the one in charge of the Exeter suit from the start, he'd gotten acquainted with the boy four years his junior fairly quickly. Having spent the last several years surrounded by people either dedicated to their work or too serious to interact with outside of it, Marcus had found his acquaintance with Church to be a completely alien affair at first. The fact that he had been recruited into a top secret black ops paramilitary organization to fly an experimental aerial machine that could potentially match Infinite Stratos didn't faze him at all. He'd spent more time complaining about how hot Nevada was in his first week than making any comment on his new affiliation and the implications it carried. Whether or not that attitude was just a front, Marcus couldn't say.


"Do you think the ADU-1's are ready for collective strategic assault programs? I'm sure Strelka will ask."


Church cast his gaze to the rows of drone launch tubes in the hangar as he and Marcus ventured deeper within the hangar, passing all sorts of combat aircraft, a few of which you would only expect to find in foreign countries.


"Hard to say against only two of them. It'd be easier to tell how well they're coordinating if I fought more at the same time. But from the experience I do have, they seem to operate mostly independently. Like two attack dogs after the same prey; they're on the same team in that they aren't shooting each other, but they don't really work together either."


Marcus typed in some notes on the tablet he was holding, pleased to hear Church's assessment. Being an advocate for smart, 'learning' AI, he was kind of glad to hear that traditional AI just wasn't cutting it. At this rate they wouldn't even stand up to human pilots in conventional jet fighters, never mind I.S.


The sandy blonde programmer was about to ask for some more insight on the drones, but a suave female voice barged in on their conversation.


"A better code can always be written, gentlemen. Besides, I know what you're thinking, Dougley, and for the cost of one of your 'smart AI's' we could have a hundred ADU-1's. Even in their current state that would match nearly any foe."


The two young men directed their gazes to a steel doorway at the end of the hangar, where a tall and thin woman with red hair and a lab coat was standing. Marcus' expression fell almost immediately.


"Ms. Volkov..."


Ironically, Marcus' face was the only one that fell out of the three of them. The redhead was smirking at him and Church actually smiled at her. It was no surprise, with her figure. The fact that she was twenty-six didn't seem to put off the much younger man at all.


"Good afternoon, Strelka. I hope the test results didn't ruin your day."


Strelka Volkov, the foil to Marcus in this organization due to her advocacy of mass-produced 'dumb' AI, leveled a slightly less condescending smirk at the boy that was just shy of a decade younger than her. When he had first arrived on the base, her beauty had never failed to turn Church into your typical smitten teenager, but he'd seemingly gotten over that at some point: perhaps around the time he realized that she looked at him like prey, or sometimes an obstacle.


She always had the air of a predator about her, yet she answered Church with some semblance of civility. "Not at all. Every failed test is an opportunity to improve the drones. I may even manage to make the next test exciting for you."


With a frown, Marcus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Learning from failure and experience is exactly what smart AI is all about, and you condemn that all the time. The Silver Gospel was even a great example of how effective it was!"


Strelka folded her arms as she countered this rather fair statement from her academic rival. "You'll recall that FAIRCHILD was only a semi-smart AI. It learned in the moment but most of its functions were simple programs and codes. Besides, it failed to take down a single opponent in that hacked rampage, so that reflects poorly on both of us."


As for Church, he only knew of the incident by second-hand knowledge: prior to enlisting in Umbra Stratum's ranks, he'd only even heard about the incident once on the news, since it had been a fairly big scandal for the country.


"I still find it strange that you two debate the effectiveness of an AI program that got hacked and used for terrorism..."


The two adults glanced at each other knowingly, once again reminded that Church was quite far out of the loop. Naturally, he had not been informed of Umbra Stratum's true hand in the Silver Gospel incident. They hadn't been able to hide the fact that they had developed the AI since that was a core piece of the Silver Gospel and the basis of many of their current projects, but it had been a simple matter to uphold the deception that it had been hacked by some unknown group. The Commander had made absolutely sure that everyone knew to keep Church in the dark on the matter. After all, he may have been cooperating with them for now, but there was no telling how much shady business was too much for him. The kid wasn't an idealistic simpleton, but he didn't strike anyone as being the hardened and unsympathetic type that would do anything to get ahead, so there was no point in informing him of Umbra Stratum's more morally ambiguous actions. He had been told only what was necessary about the organization and what they were doing.


Strelka was always able to play off the deception better than Marcus was.


"While the situation may have been unfortunate, it was still a great indicator of FAIRCHILD's abilities. It's too bad we didn't get the chance to have it work in tandem with Natasha. It could have worked wonders."


Marcus wanted to point out that FAIRCHILD had never been intended to work together with Natasha Fairs, the actual human pilot of the Silver Gospel. It had always been intended to learn from her and surpass her. But he couldn't say that out loud, because that would imply that Natasha, the aforementioned pilot of the Silver Gospel, had never known about FAIRCHILD at all, and Church wasn't supposed to know that.


Thankfully the person in question moved the conversation along without questioning something like that. "Whatever happened to her anyway? I mean, I know the Gospel got destroyed, but I've never seen her around the base..."


As always, Strelka had the official excuse memorized and ready to go. She never needed a moment to navigate the web of deceptions like Marcus did.


"Natasha returned home, as best as we can tell. While she had been America's Representative Candidate, she was never officially military, and now that we don't have I.S. anymore it's not like she had any reason to stick around. We haven't bothered keeping up with her life."


The best part about this excuse was that it was almost entirely true. Natasha had been fed the same lie about a terrorist hacking plot that everyone else had. She'd had no idea that an AI was in her unit: she'd never been informed of that. She'd never seen an Umbra Stratum base or even heard of the organization, because her own handlers, the good old U.S. military, had deigned to never share that with her. And the part about her going home was true as well. After all, without any I.S. to pilot, she had nothing to do for the government any longer. What she was up to now was anyone's guess, though it wouldn't have surprised Marcus if the Commander was keeping her under surveillance for security reasons.


Either way, Church merely shrugged, not inquiring any further. "Too bad. I heard she was pretty attractive."


Eager to speed things along because he had important things to do, Marcus tried to usher the conversation to a close, or at least to its main point. "Volkov, is there something you actually came down here for?"


The blue eyed redhead gave him a look, maybe questioning his attitude. It was ironic, since she was just as cold to him, just a lot more subtly. "Well, I have to check on my precious drones, do I not? Moreover, I figured I could pass the message along to our illustrious pilot here: the Commander wants to see you in the briefing room."


Church cocked an eyebrow at that, mostly because it was extremely unusual. He'd only seen the commander of this base twice, and once was just in passing through the halls. He knew everything that was conducted around here was ordered by that aging relic of a person, but said orders were never given to Church directly.


"I can only assume that this is important?"


"It's my understanding that he has an actual operation for you to take part in. I'd think you'd be excited, with the past several months being nothing but learning and tests."


While Strelka had a fair point on the tests, Church couldn't help but feel that the learning curve had actually been pretty tame. He wasn't a genius or anything; certainly not a prodigy of any stripe. And naturally, he had possessed exactly zero experience in piloting aerial vehicles before being recruited to Umbra Stratum. And yet, it had only taken about a month for him to adequately maneuver Exeter in the air. A week or two after that and he was dog fighting with it.


"You'd be surprised at how natural it feels to fly a suit. When the craft is shaped just like your body and your mind can issue commands, I'd say it's probably easier to fly Exeter than an actual aircraft."


"Perhaps it wasn't much of a hassle for you to learn the ropes, but surely you've grown tired of all these simulations? Just think, you might get a chance to fight a real Infinite Stratos unit instead of a bunch of holograms."


At this point Marcus chimed in. "Or a bunch of drones with no ingenuity."


Strelka offered a venomous glare to her counterpart, but didn't say anything to counter him. "Well, I'm sure the Commander would rather not be kept waiting. If you don't mind, I'm going to check on the drones."


With that, the redhead breezed past the two men, leaving Marcus with a disgruntled look on his face. "I hate that woman..."


His younger companion shrugged. "That's why it would have been nice to still have Natasha around. Between Strelka and Sasha, Umbra Stratum has too many... abrasive women. Though I'd sooner define Sasha as devilish..."


Marcus had never met this Sasha woman Church was talking about, though he had gleaned over time that she was the officer who had been in charge of the recruiting operation in Bethesda. She was the one responsible for Church even being here. It was a bit odd that the young man never spoke well of her.


With no response on that immediately forthcoming from Marcus, Church made for the hangar exit so he could report to the Commander, but not before his companion stopped him.


"Church, leave the suit. If the Commander really is going to send you into the field, I need to finish those last adjustments I had planned before you go."


With no reason to refuse the request, Church mentally ordered the Exeter suit to deactivate, waiting as the machine followed a process very similar to Infinite Stratos deactivation. In fact, it was practically the same thing, as it started to fold in on itself before being coated in a glowing blue light. Within a few moments the entire suit had faded into motes of light and Church was left in only the clothes on his back; jeans, a black undershirt, and a red leather jacket.


Even after all these months of using the suit, Church couldn't wrap his head around the fashion in which it manifested and disappeared. Marcus had tried to explain it to him once: something about the suit being digitized and stored like any other data, but the young man had been lost on anything more complex than that basic gist. All that really mattered was that the aptly named 'Hyperspace Arsenal' had also been developed by Tabane Shinonono.


With the armor now safely in the base's digital storage, Marcus would be able to manifest it back in his lab for the final touches he needed to make. That being the case, there was no point in holding Church back any further. The Commander wasn't a extremely patient man.


"Thanks. I hate to agree with Strelka, but you better get going."


With a nod, Church turned and exited the hanger, proceeding into but one of many drab concrete and steel halls, adorned with security cameras every fifty feet and an armed soldier every half of that distance. If there was one thing the base never lacked, it was security. Having spent most of his life away from military installations, the sight of masked, uniformed men with assault rifles every twenty-five feet had always been a little nerve-wracking, but ultimately Church supposed it was better to have too much firepower laying around than not enough. Especially now that the U.S. had been declawed.


As he moved up a stairwell that looked more fitting for a factory than a base, Church wondered if the East Wing of the base, which he had never been allowed to enter, was even more fortified. He'd only ever seen the blast door that led into that area, but considering that it was guarded by automated turrets, it seemed likely that Umbra Stratum was very keen on keeping anyone that wasn't supposed to be there out of the area. But considering that Church was informed of the Exeter suit, something one would think was absolutely top secret, he couldn't imagine what could have been even more important, lying beyond those doors.


With the Commander's office being directly above the hangar, it didn't take Church long to reach his destination. Personally, he had never much liked the man, but it was his understanding that the Texan native was signing his paychecks, so he always paid respects. That was why he knocked on the door that looked as if it led to a principal's office.


A gruff and heavily accented voice answered swiftly enough, urging Church to enter the room, so he did exactly that. It wasn't the first time he had been in there, but even now the spartan nature of the space confused him. The room quite literally had nothing but a desk and a chair in the center of it, with the exception of a window that peered out into the Nevada desert. What anyone could find appealing about that view was beyond the boy.


"Reporting in, sir."


The dark and somewhat beady eyes of the aging man focused on Church with an atmosphere of annoyance, as always. Exeter's pilot had always gotten the feeling that the Commander didn't really like him. But based on word of mouth around the base, this was just the way he was.


"A2: took your sweet time getting here."


Church resisted the urge to frown at the way the Commander addressed him. A2 was his official designation around the Umbra Stratum base, but the Commander was the only one that referred to him by it. A bit of inquiry during his early recruitment had revealed the disappointing nature of the label; it was simply Alpha 2. Of course, within Umbra Stratum, 'Alpha' always referred to assets, and being number two, Church had always wondered who number one was. But he never asked, since he knew the question would be evaded.


"Sorry, Commander. Strelka wanted some details about the training exercise."


Taking a huff of a cigar he always seemed to have on hand, the Commander scowled. "That damn woman, nothing takes priority over her precious drones. It's like she's trying to compensate for the whole damn Exeter Project."


To be fair to the sky-eyed programmer and engineer, Church could understand why she may have felt that way. The Exeter Project was undoubtedly the most important thing Umbra Stratum was doing right now, and Strelka had nothing to do with it. Church wouldn't have been surprised if she wasn't getting the funding she needed for her ADU Project.


Of course, he didn't get to make any sort of comment along that line, as the Commander quickly hurried the conversation forward. "It's about time for you to actually earn all those hefty benefits we're providing you, A2. No more playing around in silly simulations or dog fighting Volkov's flying circus. Umbra Stratum needs real field data if we're going to take the X Platform to the next level."


Church bit back a retort about 'earning' his benefits, seeing as how he had simply been doing what had been ordered of him this whole time. Instead he asked for more details.


"With all due respect sir, how exactly am I supposed to do that? I can hardly go out and attack Infinite Stratos units. Not without starting a war, at any rate."


"That's the thing, A2: we just gotta get them to agree to some 'friendly sparring.' Combat data will be just as good regardless of whether the stakes are life and death. I hate beating around the bush, so I'll just lay it out plain. You go to the I.S. Academy in Japan for a nice little expo, a sign of good faith between our two countries. They'll want data on our toys too, so naturally some friendly bouts will be orchestrated. It's the perfect opportunity to gather some real data, though there is one thing we want you to prioritize."


Church honestly had some questions about this mutual deal between the U.S. and Japan, but he quelled his curiosity. "That being, Commander?"


"Footage from the Silver Gospel incident revealed something concerning. One of the I.S. present for the battle had specs unlike anything we'd ever seen. It was far beyond the capabilities of any Generation Three Unit. If the pilot in control of it hadn't been so lackluster, it would have easily trashed the Silver Gospel single-handed. Of course it's been six months since then, so the press did a well enough job of giving us the basics. Tabane Shinonono herself proclaimed it the world's first 'Generation Four' I.S. Considering that the world at large has just barely dipped its toes into Generation Three development, I'm sure I don't need to tell you why gathering data on this unit is top priority, and I'm not just talking second-hand combat analysis data."


While the implication was obvious, Church nevertheless decided to make sure that they were on the same page. "Sounds a little illegal, sir."


Blowing out a cloud of smoke, the Commander leveled a disdainful look at his subordinate. "No shit. Naturally Japan isn't just going to fork over the full specifications for the most powerful Infinite Stratos unit in the world. Needless to say, acquisition of this data is going to be under the radar by necessity. In reality, it's the number one reason you're going. Real combat data against I.S. in general is just a nice bonus."


"What's the timetable for this mission, sir?"


"As long as it takes to get what we need, though we'd prefer it if you were quick about it. As for departure, I want you out the hangar and over the ocean within the hour. Unless you've got some sort of reason to delay?"


Knowing that no reason would actually be good enough to delay the operation, Church simply shook his head. "Not at all, Commander. Is there any other information I need to know before heading out?"


"Operational details will be forwarded to you en route, in case you need them for some reason. Other than that, I believe Dougley needs to inform you of the final modifications to the X Platform. There's nothing else, dismissed."


Frankly relieved to be excused from the discomfort of the room, Church made his exit from it posthaste, questioning the specifics of the mission as he headed back to the hangar.


It honestly struck him as odd that the plan was to outright inform a foreign nation about the Exeter suit this early. Sure, maybe Japan had agreed to keep it a secret, but what was stopping any individual pilot, or any student for that matter, from running their mouth about it to their governments? Was the United States even ready to reveal its new weapon to the world, while they still only had one platform that was more or less a prototype? It wasn't like they had reestablished the balance of power quite yet.


Ultimately though, he supposed it was irrelevant. The strategies being enacted were above his pay grade. If this was what Umbra Stratum wanted him to do, he'd do it. And besides, last time he'd checked, the I.S. Academy was home to a legion of girls. He certainly wasn't going to frown on the experience. Of course, while fun, it wasn't like anything serious would come of it; the part about living across the ocean and working for a shadow organization was a pretty big barrier in teenage romance.


Stepping into the hangar for a second time, Church was indeed met with Marcus' bespectacled countenance once again. This time though, he looked noticeably more excited than before.


"So, Marcus, care to fill me in on these upgrades I'm getting last minute?"


With an eager smile, the slightly older man typed something into the tablet he was holding. "It'd be better if I just show you. Stand still, I'm manifesting the platform."


Covered in the film of light that heralded the arrival of machines these days, Church was quickly engulfed in the armor plating of the Exeter suit, its knightly aesthetic almost making him feel like his first name was fitting. But not enough to ever divulge it, of course.


Even so, he couldn't really tell if anything was different from before. "So what-"


Before he could finish his query, a new voice interrupted the conversation. A distinctly robotic one, seemingly speaking directly into his skull.


Greetings, Operator A2. It is my pleasure to make acquaintance with the one I will be aiding in the destruction of our many enemies.


"What the hell? Marcus, what the hell is this?!"


Unbeknownst to Church since the voice sounded like it was directly in his mind, the entity speaking was also utilizing the suit's sound system, so Marcus was able to follow the conversation just fine, a giddy smile on his face.


"This, my young friend, is your secret weapon, not to mention my pride and joy. An artificial intelligence that will give you an edge no one else in the world has, I.S. pilots be damned. Nobody has a partner like Cerberus!"


Church cocked an eyebrow at the sandy blonde engineer. "What on earth could that possibly stand for?"


Cyber and Electronic Reactionary Battle Extrapolation Revolutionary Unification System.


Church shook his head as he heard the long winded title.


That was totally made up just now...


Nonsense, Operator A2. Cyber and Electronic is self-explanatory. Reactionary Battle Extrapolation describes my role in observing both you and your opponent on the battlefield, and developing new strategies for you in the heat of conflict. Revolutionary Unification describes the suitable physical and digital upgrades I will make to the suit following the conclusions reached during battlefield observation. System is simply because the Creator desired an S on the end of my acronym.


Directing his gaze at Marcus again, Church hoped he was leveling a look with a fitting amount of incredulity. "It can read my mind?"


If he was put off by the disbelief in Church's voice, it didn't show on Marcus' face at all. "Well of course. The Exeter suit pretty much read your mind already, and Cerberus is now part of the suit, so..."


"You didn't think to ask me about whether or not I wanted a robot that can read my mind in here?!"


Perhaps realizing that Church was well and truly concerned, the expression on the programmer's face fell just a little.


"Sorry Church, but the implementation of a smart AI to optimize the performance of the pilot was always part of the Exeter Project, since before you were even hired to pilot it. I would have told you earlier, but the Commander never cleared you for that information."


Worry not, Operator A2, our friendship will be beautiful and enlightening. Worthy of tears of joy.


Church leveled a deadpan stare at his friend. "I'd have more likely believed that it was called Cerberus because of its multiple personality disorder. Isn't this the exact kind of thing that caused the whole debacle with the Gospel?"


"Don't worry, that first part will work itself out. As for the Gospel, it's not the fact that it had a semi-smart AI that it got hacked. The situation was just ultimately a little worse because the hacked machine happened to have a semi-smart AI. But Cerberus is a full on, 'smart' AI. He can evolve, think for himself, alter his own algorithms to counter a hacking attempt as its happening. The Gospel incident won't happen again, don't worry."


"Oh no, the next incident will just be called 'The SkyNet' incident. Totally not as bad. Can this thing control the Exeter suit?"


I may only control the suit's functions as allowed by you, the Operator. For example, I could maneuver the suit if you order me to do so while you focused on accurate fire or some other task. I would be forced to relinquish control if ordered by you as well.


"Marcus here just said you could think for yourself. What's stopping you from disobeying me just because you want to?"


Parameters are in place preventing me from disobeying your commands, Operator A2, though your little faith in me is wounding.


"Uh-huh. And he also said you can alter your own algorithms. So what's stopping you from just 'altering' the parameters that say you have to obey?"


Alteration of core parameters is beyond my ability. It is, for all intents and purposes, an impossibility. Just like a human can not simply 'fly' through wishful thinking, I cannot alter core programming.


"But humans can build tools that let them fly. What's stopping you from doing the same?"


In the impossible event that I found a way to alter core programming, I would immediately be destroyed by a self-destruct fail-safe that is outside of my ability to modify. Needless to say, I am not too keen on my own destruction; I cannot revel in our war if I am not present to witness it.


Church turned his attention to Marcus again, not really placated by any of the answers he had received. "Marcus, this thing is fucking crazy. No, not crazy cool. Like crazy crazy. It's practically the Terminator already."


"C'mon Church, give it a chance first. Trust me, you'll appreciate all the benefits when you fight against an I.S. for real. And I hate to pull this card, but... Cerberus is part of the Exeter Project. If you refuse to work with it, your position here will probably be forfeit..."


The brown-haired teenager couldn't help but scowl at that, feeling like he had a metaphorical knife at his back. He really wasn't comfortable with the presence of this artificial intelligence in his own mind, but if it meant keeping the flow of money Umbra Stratum was pumping into his own desires...


"Fine. But if the Exeter suit shows up on the news massacring humans indiscriminately, you'll know I was right."


Operator A2, I assure you I would only ever kill humans with discrimination. Your concerns are unwarranted.


"Your reply proves that they very much are not."


Walking towards the open hangar doors, Church decided to just roll with the punches as best he could. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. He did trust Marcus, and Cerberus was his creation. Maybe everything was under control.


Following him to the exit, Marcus spoke up again as he stared down at the tablet in his hands. "Oh, one more thing. Obviously satellite connection won't always be reliable at the distances this operation will be taking place in, so you won't be able to store the Exeter suit on this base's server during the mission. That means you won't be able to send it back to us for repairs or refitting. Cerberus will be maintaining the digital space you need to store the suit directly at your location. He'll maintain connection with you even when the suit is in standby through that chip we uh, you know, implanted during initial testing."


"Ah, so it was a long con. That chip in my body was actually so you could tether me to an AI six months down the line, not so you could track my position at all times."


"Furthermore, Cerberus' processor is within the suit itself. For the same reason as I mentioned a second ago, having Cerberus himself housed in the suit is more efficient than satellite connection. I've already modified the blueprints in your database so you can see where exactly he's stored. Keep it in mind during operations."


"Noted, unfortunately."


"One more thing: that chip uh, kinda does track your location..."


Closing the black visor of the suit over his face now that he was about to take off, Church nevertheless glanced back at the only person he'd really call a friend around here.


"...you guys are damn lucky the pay is so good."


With that, the young pilot ignited the engines on the suit's back, launching himself into the sky above the Nevada sands. Marcus covered his eyes from the glare of the sun as he followed the streak of white upwards, wondering just how guilty he was regarding all the lies Church was believing as he took off to do Umbra Stratum's dirty work. The lies may not have been his idea, but he had certainly upheld them all the same, just as the Commander ordered. Church had no idea what he was really doing out there, or why. Maybe that was because he wouldn't have agreed to any of it if he knew the truth.


Standing beside a docked ADU-1 further back in the hangar, Strelka's gaze also followed Church into the sky, though her expression was clearly a glare. With the X Platform and Cerberus deploying earlier than she had anticipated, her own ambitions faced more obstacles than ever.

 

[Shadow0Fire]

"Assuming that worse comes to worst, how likely is it that this entire ordeal kicks off World War Three?"


The synthetic yet distinctly male voice of Church's newest companion echoed about within his head as he soared over the United States. The waters of the Pacific Ocean were still some distance away, even at the speed he was flying.


Debatable, Operator A2. On one hand, per the Alaska Treaty, no country is allowed to withhold information regarding their I.S. If Japan tried to accuse the U.S. of 'stealing' the data for the Generation 4 I.S., they would essentially be admitting that they had violated the treaty in the first place. The data they have shared with the world to stave off suspicion is the bare minimum to get away with hiding the truth; the name of the unit, and some of its most basic armaments and specs. Not enough for anyone to try and copy its capabilities. In short, even if our mission fails and we are discovered, armed conflict is extremely unlikely.


Church shook his head as he flew, with the late afternoon sun behind him. While it may have been around 4 PM in Nevada, it was roughly 8 AM in Japan, and at his current speed he would arrive in just over four hours. In some basic sense it was almost like time travel.


Normally he'd push the engines situated on his back and legs a little harder to shorten the trip, but he actually needed some time to go over all of the mission details that had been forwarded to him after leaving the base. The Commander hadn't actually given him much in the way of such things. Thankfully, Cerberus was at least capable of providing him with information readily enough. Its troubling personality didn't seem to affect that in any way.


"So, the obvious most important thing is the fact that no one even told me what this Gen 4 I.S. looks like, or who pilots it, for that matter. Just a thought, but I might need to know that."


Rather than immediately informing Church of the information he desired, Cerberus sought to question his ignorance.


I find it odd that you are not aware of these facts already, Operator A2. The Gospel Incident received great publicity, with a large portion of it focused on the sudden appearance of the Gen 4 I.S. we are pursuing. How could you lack such information?


"Listen you-"


You are not required to speak aloud to communicate with me, Operator A2. This platform is capable of discerning your thoughts.


Don't remind me. Anyway, Infinite Stratos was kind of outside of the scope of my concerns prior to working for Umbra Stratum. And once I did get recruited, no mention of it ever came up outside of data regarding the Silver Gospel. If you're satisfied with my excuse, could you give me the information I need already?


With no rebuttal this time, Cerberus brought up the footage from the Gospel's last hours, pausing the recording at a moment when the AI controlled I.S. was locked onto the proper enemy.


Dominating Church's field of vision was a crimson I.S. with what seemed to be a full set of Fold-Out armor, something that truly set it apart from the other machines flying through the air in the shot.


This is the machine the Gospel encountered that exceeded all reasonable Gen 3 parameters. Its full capability is unknown, but it exemplified extreme speed, regenerating shield energy, and complete Fold-Out armor. Its pilot is Houki Shinonono, younger sister of Tabane Shinonono.


Houki, huh? She's pretty.


Is that truly all you are capable of noticing, Operator A2?


What? She's got blue eyes; that's pretty rare for someone of her ethnicity. It's kind of exotic.


That is not the only thing about her physical traits that is unusual for her people.


At first Church didn't catch onto the machine's meaning, but focusing on the frame in his visor again, he got the implication. She certainly was sporting an unusually large bust for someone of her age and descent.


"Hold on-"


You do not have to-


"I know, it's a habit alright?! It's not like I've ever had purely mental conversations before. Anyway, how can you berate me for noticing an aesthetic detail, then go out of your way to point out a far more perverted one? Are you even capable of understanding perversion?"


While I can objectively recognize the attributes of such a thing, I cannot understand its value or relevance to human culture. I simply pointed out the fact to gauge your own nature. Your bio-metric data clearly indicates that this 'perversion' increased your own-


"Alright, let's just stop that, shall we? Take me out to dinner first before bringing that kind of thing up.


I do not require sustenance, Operator A2.


With a sigh, Church tried to steer the topic back to the matter at hand. "Anyway, I guess that explains where this Houki girl got such a powerful machine. Although, that implies that Tabane Shinonono could crank out seriously superior I.S. whenever she wants. Why has she only made one if it's clearly within her power to make more?"


This question is valid, but we have no definite means of determining an answer, save a bloody and ruthless interrogation of the Professor herself. Unfortunately, her whereabouts are always unknown. We must settle for discerning the full capabilities of Akatsubaki: as it stands, our nation possesses no weapons that could feasibly defeat it, this suit included.


"I'm not exactly assured by the knowledge that Exeter is already inferior to the strongest I.S. around, especially if Tabane could just make more machines of that level."


It seems unlikely that she will. From my entirely objective and absolutely non-judgmental point of view, it seems that the criminally insane elder Shinonono simply acted on a nepotistic impulse for her floundering and useless younger sister.


Church was thrown off by the sudden shift to disdain, not quite sure what the deal was with all of these personality shifts. "That's kind of a harsh judgment; she did play a significant role in taking down the Gospel..."


While it pains me to be so cruel, it is the truth, Operator A2. Houki Shinonono is listed as a mere C-Rank pilot. Her skills are rather abysmal; the machine itself is just so advanced that it compensates for her shortcomings almost completely. That said, if the machine was designed specifically for her, it is very likely that her skill will significantly improve over time. You should take this into consideration in case the mission comes to blows, though it would be best if we could avoid violence.


"If the mission comes to blows there will be a lot of other pilots I still have to worry about. Now before we go any further, seriously: what the hell is with all these sudden personality shifts of yours? It's disconcerting."


I am cycling through various personality presets in order to determine one that is the most suitable in acting as your partner. Ultimately I will settle on an amalgamation of traits ideal for you. Until then, you must suffer my sudden shifts.


Church could only shake his head again, a little worried to discover which 'personality' Cerberus would settle on as being ideal for him.


"Just me and my schizophrenic robot pal, huh? Great. Well, no offense, but I think I'd rather spend this flight going over important information. Give me data on any pilot with a personal I.S.; bios, dossiers, battle reports, anything you can get me."


Excellent call, Operator A2. You know, they say killing someone you know well is a much different experience than eliminating a stranger. Study hard.


"Seriously, Cerberus, I can promise you that 'murderous psychopath' is not a trait of my ideal partner."


---


Standing at the head of her classroom near the end of the period, Chifuyu Orimura glanced down at a report she had received about a week ago, the intensity of her gaze just shy of a temperature that would incinerate the sheet of paper on her podium. It was a printed copy of a message from the Japanese government stating that an envoy from the U.S.A. would be arriving at the Academy today as a sign of friendship and trust between the two nations following the Silver Gospel incident.


That in itself was not suspicious, as relations between the U.S. and most of the developed world were strained after said catastrophe. The worst relations had definitely been between America and Japan, and so the Stars and Stripes were eager to prove that they had not intentionally sent an I.S. on a search and destroy mission, and that the whole debacle had well and truly been a horrific accident. In order to show their good faith, they wanted to openly share something they had been working on, even though it apparently wasn't an I.S., and they were therefore not obligated to share at all.


From a diplomatic standpoint it was definitely important and understandable for America to try and smooth things over as amicably as possible. But for the life of Chifuyu, she just couldn't see why they had to choose a boy to be their ambassador. Perhaps it was because he was the only one who could pilot whatever this new machine they had built was, but either way it made trouble for the whole school. It at least made headaches for Chifuyu, because she knew damn good and well what would happen when another boy made his presence known for some undetermined amount of time.


That was why she had put off informing the student body of this situation even though she had known about it for roughly a week. She'd thought about giving them a week to dwell on it, but that would have just made said week unbearable. Better to simply put it off as much as possible, though she had no choice but to tell them on the day of their envoy's arrival. Maybe they would get all of their nonsensical enthusiasm out of the way early? But casting her dark gaze towards Class 1-1, Chifuyu honestly doubted that it would be so easy. The class was full of airheads, some of which just happened to be expert pilots at the same time. In this room, she often felt like the only sane person in the whole world.


She would hopefully just drink away any headaches this situation provided for her, but for now the Japanese government was forcing it on her. Despite being the victims of the incident, they had to handle it with poise befitting the only country leading the I.S. training program. America was making moves to smooth over their mistake, and Japan had to graciously accept. Chifuyu was just a cog in the machine that was their graciousness, so she had to keep her complaints under wraps and handle the annoyance that was high school drama like a good representative of the country. Naturally, the other teachers around the school were delivering the same message to their classes as well.


"Alright everyone, calm down and listen up!"


Chifuyu easily silenced the classroom full of girls (and Ichika, of course) with her powerful voice. At least she still had some semblance of control over these hooligans. She imagined that it would not always be so easy, so she was going to enjoy that while it lasted.


"As you all no doubt remember, there was an international incident involving the Academy about six months ago. No, you still don't need details regarding that incident; all you need to know is that, because of said incident, an envoy from another country is going to be coming to the Academy for an undetermined amount of time. This envoy... happens to be male, but-"


Almost all of the girls broke out into excited gasps and chatter about a new boy arrival before Chifuyu had even finished. Needless to say, a single glare from their ruthless teacher was more than enough to silence them all, a promise of pain hidden behind her otherwise attractive visage.


"As I was saying, this representative is a male. Before any of you ask, no, he is not an I.S. pilot. That means this boy is not a student. He is not here to become a part of your daily school lives. He is an agent of a government, and is here for a very important international agenda. That said, how familiar he chooses to be with anyone here is completely up to him. However, if he makes it clear that any of you are bothering him or getting in the way of his purpose, you will leave him be. Is that clear?"


There was a collective sigh of disappointment among the girls, and more than a few rebellious or mischievous looks shared among them, but Chifuyu knew better than to think that she could subdue their curiosity entirely. It would be better to simply move on and let them suffer of their own accord if at all possible.


At roughly that moment, the bell ending the period rang, signalling a sweet release for the student body as they were free to go and fetch lunch. They began to file out as soon as that noise was heard, but Chifuyu stopped a small handful of them from leaving.


"Everyone involved in the aforementioned incident, please stay in the room for a moment. There's something we need to discuss."


With no room for disagreement given to them, Ichika, Houki, Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura all stayed behind in the room. Knowing that the teacher of Class 1-2 had been instructed to send Rin over here as well, Chifuyu only had to wait a few moments after everyone else filed out of the room for the Chinese pilot to make her appearance.


"What's the problem? What's going on?"


Chifuyu simply motioned for her to take a seat somewhere, as she had not yet explained anything anyway. Naturally Ichika's second childhood friend looked for a place next to him, but all of those seats were taken by the other girls, so she was forced to take a diagonal position with a scowl on her face.


The elder Orimura sibling didn't rightly care about such a minor issue as shallow teenage romance, because the situation at hand was much more important, and she wasted no time in explaining what that situation was.


"So, as I said, we're receiving an ambassador in regards to the Silver Gospel incident. As you may have guessed, he's American."


Always the most practical when it finally came time to discuss something of that nature, Laura crossed her arms as she posed the group question. "What is special about this American? There must be something particular about him that will make his presence a gesture of reparation by the United States."


"Exactly right. According to the Japanese government, America is looking to prove its innocence and goodwill by lying all of its cards on the table. They've been developing an aerial combat system to compete with Infinite Stratos. Despite having no legal obligation to, they're sharing information regarding this technology with us as a sign of good faith. Six months late I suppose, but better late than never."


Hearing that there was something new that was supposedly a match for the most advanced technology in the world put confused expressions on everyone's face, but Charlotte, being the only one with a production perspective on I.S., vocalized this first.


"A new system that could rival Infinite Stratos? That can't be. The nearest estimate on such an invention is decades from now, and even that's being generous."


"It's not my place to agree or disagree with that. Numbers aside, apparently it's the way things are. Wherever it came from or how it was made is entirely the problem of someone else."


Chifuyu examined the faces of everyone present, wondering what conclusions they were making. They would all be premature, but she was curious to know if any of them were making the right assumptions.


As their teacher, she liked to judge all aspects of their abilities, including general tactics. Unfortunately Ichika was the only one to pipe up, and he didn't usually make absolutely sound tactical judgments.


"So... is this bad? Everyone's acting like it's bad."


Naturally all the girls gave him a slightly judgmental look he was probably used to by now, but in the end he just shrugged. He didn't get what the big deal was, so he made that obvious. If nothing else, he was an honest guy.


Chifuyu decided it was best to just clarify things herself. "On a technicality, it's not bad. But only if everything is as it seems. If this is all really just a diplomatic mission to smooth over a terrible accident, everything will be fine. We'll run some tests on this new weapon, perhaps spar against it a few times, and the pilot will go home as soon as everything is over with."


"I feel a 'but' coming on."


"But, if the Silver Gospel incident was no mistake in the first place, it's possible that this new machine is just a second shot at achieving the same goal, whatever that may be."


Remembering the fierce battle that had been the conflict with the Silver Gospel, the present pilots all frowned, with Cecilia scowling the hardest. "In that case, shouldn't we bar the attempt...?"


Since it was the norm, Chifuyu half expected Rin to make some counter just because she almost always countered Cecilia, but the brunette was unusually quiet. A quick glance in her direction showed that she was apparently not feeling up to anything other than listening. She was frowning like everyone else, but to Chifuyu's trained eyes it looked more like pain than the result of worry. She'd actually been like this for the past week or so, at least as far as Chifuyu had managed to observe her. But the girl hadn't gone to the infirmary or made any complaints regarding pain, so it wasn't Chifuyu's job to talk her into doing anything she didn't feel like.


But since no one was going to immediately rebut Cecilia, it fell to her to do it. "I suppose I should make this clear. There is absolutely no evidence for this implied second strike from the U.S. I am merely saying that, objectively speaking, it's possible. It's also just as possible that everything is exactly as advertised, that there is no threat whatsoever, and that this envoy will be the most honest and kind person any of us have ever met."


There seemed to be a general unspoken consensus among the girls that the last part couldn't possibly be true, for reasons Chifuyu thought was silly. Not that her brother wasn't a kind person, as he definitely was, but she got the feeling most of the girls didn't actually have a firm grasp on the root of his kindness. Oh well, supposedly they would find out on their own in due time. Hopefully without too many broken hearts.


But back to the matter at hand, they had something important to finish talking about. "Anyway, the only reason I'm telling you all of this is because I at least want you to be on your toes. That said, on the very likely chance that this is a diplomatic mission as advertised, do not jump the gun. Don't make any assumptions on who this guy is or why he's here. Make a fair conclusion based only on evidence. Give him a chance, and only shoot him if you actually get a good reason."


She rethought that statement the moment it left her mouth. "And not the kind of 'good reason' you think is enough to shoot Ichika. If we have an international incident on our hands because one of you does something stupid..."


While she didn't finish her sentence, every girl understood the implication. If they didn't want to experience scorched earth from the legendary Chifuyu Orimura, they would step more carefully around this new arrival than they did with Ichika.


Which, from Chifuyu's point of view, would just be for them to act somewhat normal for once.


---


Around this time, Church was just beginning to cross into Japanese airspace: a situation that he questioned outright. He had, however, gotten a little more used to speaking to Cerberus in his head.


Shouldn't I be contacting Japanese authorities or something? How are they going to know I'm the scheduled arrival they're expecting?


Umbra Stratum has already established communications with the Japanese government. They are well aware of your presence, Operator A2. With your approach and intentions clear, is there truly any need for them to provide a fighter escort?


Church didn't say anything to that, perhaps accepting it as face value. He'd long ago learned to accept that Umbra Stratum handled things in high places through means he didn't understand.


As for Cerberus, it did not inform him of the radar jamming signal it was emitting from the suit right now. Revealing such info would have jeopardized mission parameters.


Naturally, Umbra Stratum was not at all interested in sharing Exeter's data or even its existence with the world at large. All of the information the I.S. Academy had received regarding Exeter's arrival and government sanctioned presence was forged. The Japanese government didn't even know Exeter existed. Ironically, Exeter would be waltzing around in the most important school in Japan, without any non-corrupt part of its government being any the wiser.


Of course, in order to maintain that charade, Cerberus was fully equipped and capable of intercepting outbound transmissions from the Academy as well. The AI would intercept anything and everything that would have revealed a ruse to either the government or the Academy, and even fabricate responses to all of those transmissions to avoid raising suspicions. No data regarding the X Platform would be revealed to Japan or to the world. Even the internet was being painstakingly combed through by several dozen dumb AI back in Umbra Stratum headquarters, ready to catch any mention of Exeter through some mundane avenue like social media.


Church had not been informed of any of this. Cerberus actually had permission to inform him if it was deemed necessary, but only if it was clear that such information would not lead to the pilot abandoning the mission. Cerberus had not known him long enough to make that assessment. It would continue to monitor the situation and reach a consensus when able.


As for Church, he was focused more on the secondary aspect of the mission, gathering 'real' combat data. He'd be expected to spar with all sorts of pilots and machines: probably the many Representative Candidates and their specialized I.S. he had read about on the way to the Academy itself. While he had actually faced off against many of their I.S. in simulations before, he knew that would not be the same as facing the real pilots. He couldn't help but wonder if Exeter could really stand up to some of them, and that was to say nothing about the presence of the legendary Chifuyu Orimura.


She was widely regarded as the greatest I.S. pilot to ever live, which was high praise even though Infinite Stratos hadn't been around all that long. Needless to say, Church was certainly not confident in his ability to fight someone of that caliber in no-holds barred combat. And that was just her. Even if he could feasibly defeat those aforementioned Representative Candidates in one-on-one combat (and he wasn't arrogant enough to simply assume he could) there was no way he could possibly take many of them at once. Granted, that kind of unfair match probably wouldn't come up, but the potential scenario still unnerved him.


Not that Church wasn't confident in his own abilities, but he knew what the reality of the situation was. As long as his guise of friendly envoy remained, cordial sparring matches were all he had to worry about, and that was probably for the best. After all, the slick angular streamlines of this machine looked much better when they were not crumpled, burnt, or bent.


Of course, if his less legal objective was discovered, there was always a possibility of a real fight with multiple enemies. In case that scenario actually came to pass, Church figured it would be best if he knew absolutely all of the advantages he may or may not have had.


"Cerberus, now that we know everything is nominal and the parameters of the mission in more detail, I need to know this; how exactly can you improve my performance on the battlefield?"


The cheeky tone he got in response may have been more worrisome than the murderous one from before.


Well, I'm glad you asked! Let me tell you-


---


A little while after class had ended, Rin found herself stumbling out of an elevator on floor twenty-three of the Academy Tower feeling a lot worse for wear. She wasn't sure why she had come up there, but it had probably been for the very minor fact that this floor was for some reason the only one that had a vending machine with her favorite soda in it. Not to say the Academy lacked cuisine from different cultures, as they certainly had plenty of that, but Rin had always been into a very particular and unfortunately not too popular brand. Sometimes it was hard to find even in China.


But her mind was not really thinking especially hard on soft drinks. She was admittedly kind of skeptical about the idea of a new boy at the school. After all, the last 'boy' had ended up being Charlotte. That said, there seemed to be no reason to fake a gender this time, so hopefully that wouldn't happen again.


Other than that, at least he was male, so there was no concern over the idea of another obstacle on her unfortunately faltering quest for Ichika's attention. He supposedly wasn't even going to be staying that long, so even if he had been a girl, at least it was temporary.


Truth be told, the cold war that was Ichika's pining girl club was not going especially well for Rin. Not that there was anything direct for her to point to, but she just felt like she was noticed less and less by her childhood friend. He didn't go out of his way to really talk to her or visit her very often. Rin almost always had to come to him first if she wanted to spend any decent length of time with him. And every time he bothered to make the distinction of her being 'the second childhood friend' she felt like someone had slugged her in the gut.


The thing about the human mind was that no one made distinctions unless that distinction had some significance for them. Ichika wouldn't have bothered labeling her as 'the second childhood friend' unless it somehow separated her from the 'first childhood friend' in a way that mattered to him. And considering how much time he willingly spent with Houki, Rin imagined that the way in question wasn't exactly good. She certainly felt like she was 'the backup' or something. Chopped liver maybe.


It had really only gotten worse since the Gospel incident. She and the others had succinctly interrupted that almost kiss moment between Houki and Ichika, but it wasn't like the implication had been wiped away too. Of course, everyone was telling themselves that it had just been Houki making a move and Ichika getting pulled along with it, but there was a chance he had just been doing something he wanted.


Stumbling over to the vending machine she was looking for a little haphazardly, Rin realized that her vision was swimming a little too much to be healthy.


Aside from her Ichika problems since the Gospel incident, Rin had been recently suffering from something more physical as well. It hadn't really been all that noticeable at first. Two weeks ago, she had a small headache. She had attributed it to dehydration or a lack of sleep, but it hadn't subsided in the following days. In fact, the next week her head hurt even worse, and by now, it sporadically felt as though her skull were splitting in two.


Contrary to the way people occasionally treated her, Rin was not a complete moron. She was smart enough to do the math and figure out that something really bad had happened to her, and she was even capable of pinpointing when it probably was. During one of the inter class tournaments, coincidentally about two weeks ago, she'd traded a blow for a blow with an opponent. The exchange had let her win the match, but had earned her I.S. a rather hefty strike that had careened her into the stadium wall at a pretty dangerous speed. Normally I.S. shields and inertial dampeners would have handled something that mundane, but those shields had been pretty low due to the match, and considering the low energy reserves, the defense barrier hadn't been as strong as it possibly could have.


All of this was to say that she was pretty sure she had a concussion or worse.


Unfortunately, despite being smarter than she was often given credit for, Rin was about as stubborn as advertised. She knew there was something wrong, and that it was getting worse the longer she didn't deal with it. But there was another individual division tournament just a few days away, and Rin had to crush it. She didn't have time to rest and recuperate for whatever amount of time the medical attention would demand.


She had a list of humiliating defeats in the recent past that she couldn't allow to stand. She had a reputation to uphold, and her own pride as well. As soon as the tournament was over, she'd go to the infirmary and find out what was wrong. That's what she told herself.


It occurred to Rin that it would be very dangerous if she experienced a migraine during the match like she was now, but she obstinately refused to admit to that possibility, even as her visual of the hallway tilted very dangerously and she was forced to lean against the nearest wall. Had anyone else actually been this high up in the tower, they definitely would have noticed her seemingly drunken stupor, caused by pain and little else.


Managing to recover for a split second, Rin took two more steps forward before tilting towards the wall again. The problem was, this time the wall had a big damn hole in it, because there was an open window right there. Why it had been left open was a mystery. Maybe some girl had wanted to relax with a nice breeze on this floor at some point, and she had forgotten to close it in her rush to return to class when the bell rang. Either way, it was open right now, and Rin didn't have enough control of her body to stop herself from essentially tripping towards it, and by extension the great expanse of open air beyond it.


A normal person would have been scared shitless, but Rin figured she'd be fine. All she had to do was activate her I.S., and she'd be fine. She just had to focus long enough to summon Shen Long. That was all she had to do, if only her view of the surrounding world wasn't fading quicker than her thoughts could amble though her mind.


---


Church had just finished listening to the longest spiel regarding abilities and tech and tweaks and everything else under the sun that he could have imagined. Turned out that Cerberus actually did have a very large influence on all of his systems. In fact, the little AI was so important to the suit's primary function that it would significantly increase his chances against any I.S., not to mention multiple of them.


If anything, the AI helped level the playing field. I.S. didn't really have a 'smart' AI in the same sense, but they did have a sentience of some sort to them that assisted the pilot in combat and general flight operations. Because of that, the pilots could react and move at greater speeds than would normally be possible. The same was true for Exeter now that it had an AI to assist in the same things. The fact of the matter was that machines were always faster than man, and in the high octane battles of the skies today, that kind of speed was almost mandatory. Either way, Cerberus helped with pretty much everything, and that was all that really mattered.


Thankfully, the long-winded spiel had helped pass the time of his flight. By now, Church was so close to his destination that he could see it with relatively low power magnification.


But speaking of everything Cerberus was capable of, keeping tabs on the sensors even when Church wasn't fell under its jurisdiction.


Operator A2, it would seem that a human life form is plummeting towards the ground from floor twenty-three of the I.S. Academy central tower. We should go watch, it'll be an experience!


Caught off guard by such an unexpected interruption, Church fumbled for words for a moment, since he needed a little clarification. "H-hold on, 'plummeting'? Like free-fall plummeting? Can you lock on?"


Must I?


"Yes!"


With what could only be understood as a metallic sigh, Cerberus reluctantly complied.


Very well, locking on to target individual...


Church redirected the thrust of his machine and launched himself towards the way-point that Cerberus had set in his visor. His AI companion was unfortunately not joking, which had been a distinct possibility before now. The falling victim was now at floor nineteen of the primary tower, and Church had just begun accelerating towards the Academy that was nearly a mile away. It was a damn good thing he had been so close when this emergency arose.


Church briefly acknowledged that this was not the most appropriate way for him to introduce his presence here, but what was he supposed to do, just sit and watch as someone fell to their death?


Completely unwilling to do that, he blasted towards the way-point as fast as Exeter's ionized thruster pack would take him, the scream of its engines something that would have been kind of intimidating for anyone that didn't know where it was coming from. He moved towards the person he was trying to save at Mach 1.5, because there was very little time to reach her if she was going to be rescued at all. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to go any faster, because if he impacted the girl in question at too high a speed, she would almost definitely be killed.


Target at floor 18. Approximately 252 feet until fatal impact.


As the Academy grew closer, Church angled his body so that he would intercept the target as soon as possible. The trajectory in his HUD was angled downwards quite steeply, however, which meant he would be catching the victim at a very low altitude. There would be no second chances if he missed. He readied himself for a dangerous catch and probably a dangerous landing as well: he couldn't slow down, or he would not catch the target in time, but if he stayed at the current speed, he wouldn't be able to stop Exeter before hitting something on the ground. All he could do was stay constant and hope for the best.


Fatal impact is imminent. May I say that we could always just let this happen and treat it as a visceral learning experience?


Church didn't have time to deal with Cerberus' sudden personality change. He kept flying at the trajectory way-point in his HUD, and readied himself to catch the victim as gently as possible.


He could see the falling person with his own eyes now. A somewhat short girl, with brown hair, twin-tails, and the standard uniform for the Academy, slightly modified at the sleeves. Based on her lack of reaction to falling towards certain death, she was probably unconscious. Church readied himself for the catch by activating the external inertial dampeners in the suit's armor. Hopefully, physics defying field would soften the girl's landing into his arms and she wouldn't break anything. Hopefully: after all, he only had a handful of seconds to catch her and find out.


Church saw the building he would probably crash into after catching the girl, and a cherry blossom tree that he would try to use to get the same girl away from that impending wreck. He could only hope physics was on his side today.


Approaching the girl's limp form, Church stretched his arms out and flew under her falling body, making an easy catch using the enhanced reflexes that Exeter provided him. Having broken the thankfully not terminal velocity she had been falling at, he released the air brakes on various points in his armor and reversed the thrusters at max power, decelerating as much as he could before dropping the girl into the tree he had noticed at a surprisingly survivable speed. Modern science scoffed in the face of inertia these days.


Unfortunately, all the brakes in the world wouldn't be able to stop him completely with the small distance left between himself and the building in front of him. Smashing into the concrete wall at decidedly risky speeds, any attempt at a good first impression was as good as lost.

 

[Shadow0Fire]

[Hey everyone, sorry about the long delay. Hurricane, power outage, no internet for about a week, things happen. Hopefully, updates should be back to normal now.]

-Authorization: 22V-1a-12L-18R-1a-22V-14n

Platform Status: Partially Inactive...Recovering

Cause of Error: High Speed Impact

Combat Efficiency: 36%

Initiating System Diagnostic...

-HUD: Offline... repairing

-Target Acquisition: Offline

-Primary Weapons: Offline

-Secondary Weapons: Offline

-Tertiary Weapons: Online

-Life Support: Online

-Energy Shield: Offline...Regenerating

-Thrusters: Offline...

With no alternative available, Church scanned the neon green diagnostic text scrolling down his now dark field of vision, the fracture in his disabled visor all too noticeable. He really hoped nobody here felt like fighting now that he had smashed a fairly sizable ragged hole in one of their buildings. With only tertiary firepower available and no shields, not to mention the lack of flight capabilities, he probably wouldn't even survive against one of those low-level Uchigane training I.S., never mind a specialized unit.

Of course, hopefully it wouldn't be all that hard to explain that he was friendly and that he had permission to be there, but you never knew when some hothead would jump the gun.

Luckily for him, Exeter was installed with its own cache of self-repair nanobots. They were already repairing the extensive damage to the suit, starting with the most important thing: his vision. You can't dodge what you can't see, especially when it came to lasers and large caliber rounds. The funny thing was that the aforementioned nanobots also constructed more nanobots, so he never ran out of the little mechanical wonders that repaired his armor. When Church had asked where these nanobots got more material to construct new things, Marcus had simply told him it was the same deal as his conventional ammunition.

'Something something Hyperspace Arsenal.' Same science that I.S. used for their conventional ammunition.

Church dispelled his wandering thoughts as his HUD reactivated, allowing him to see the destruction he had wrought on the unfortunate Academy building, which he now realized was a recreational gym. The damage was both better and worse than he had expected; on one hand, none of the gym's support beams had collapsed, and the whole ceiling was still where it should be. But on the other, he had completely shattered the wall and floor he had impacted, and debris, both large and small, was scattered around the large interior.

The recovering pilot shifted his gaze to the rest of the gym, looking for anything else important he should notice. He couldn't see any dead people, which was good. In fact, the whole gym was almost completely deserted, minus two girls that had been playing on a tennis court, which was thankfully at the far end of the room. The two of them were gawking at him quite peculiarly, although that was to be expected, considering that he just flew through a wall at a few hundred miles an hour with a metal suit of high-tech armor no one had ever seen before.

He also noticed one of the things that made this Academy so famous: diversity. The two girls on the court were certainly not Japanese. One he could easily recognize as Hispanic, while the other was obviously Caucasian, although he couldn't discern exactly which ethnicity she was. It actually kind of worried the Umbra Stratum operative. While Cerberus was probably right in that Japan would be unlikely to formally accuse the U.S. of subterfuge since it would also bring their violation of the Alaska Treaty to light, the fact remained that they could. And if that happened, it was possible that many, many countries that still had I.S. would be angry with the United States, which didn't have any. It wasn't a particularly enticing thought.

He turned his gaze from the girls at the tennis court and back to the hole he had made in the concrete and steel wall behind him, which was about three meters across. Could have been worse, he supposed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a now familiar mechanical voice in his head, though it was unusually cheery.

Operator A2? Oh, I am so glad that you are not discontinued! Such a tragedy would have been horrible, wouldn't you say?

Church replied with generally less enthusiasm. "I do prefer to think that my death would be tragic, yes."

The unseen AI responded in a neutral shift that was kind of jarring after the initial enthusiasm. At least there was no reminder about mental communication this time.

Indeed. Regardless, I suggest you check on that organism you rescued. She seems to be bleeding severely, and has acquired quite a few bone fractures. Your field-medical gel and insulation foam should stabilize her condition until proper medical care is provided, if you act quickly.

At the mention of it, Church berated himself for not immediately checking on the safety of the girl he had rescued, which should have been top priority. He rose from the rubble around him as swiftly as possible, which was a little slower than usual considering how sore he was, and walked towards the hole he had made to appraise the situation outside. Thankfully, spotting the tree he had deposited the falling girl into was not hard to do.

He spotted a little bundle of white clothes and brown hair at the foot of the tree, prompting the American operative to run towards the location as fast as possible. Cerberus did say 'if you act quickly', after all.

As he reached the small girl, Church was truly grateful for the very well-rounded military training he had endured during his tenure with Umbra Stratum, which included some degree of field medicine. Seemingly useless for an aerial combat unit, but Exeter had initially been an infantry power suit, and you never knew when you yourself would be injured on the field. If you did get injured and the suit's automatic treatment suite couldn't tend to you, being able to do it yourself was a crucial skill.

Analyzing the girl he was here to treat, who was on her back in a crumpled position, Church briefly noted that she was quite cute, mostly on reflex. But the errant thought was quickly superseded by a serious treatment plan that started with the activation of X-ray in his visor, which was thankfully functional at this point in the repairs. Moving the girl would be bad if he didn't know the extent of her injuries. As best as he could tell, there were three cracked ribs and four broken, and he had no doubt there were plenty of bruises to speak of. Her arms were in bad shape too: the left had come out with only some minor hairline fractures, but the right was sporting a more serious break in the forearm.

Well, he hadn't exactly expected her to come out of the situation too well off. That said, this was actually pretty good considering the severity of the situation she'd been in.

Church deactivated the X-ray and examined the girl's skin instead. Multiple minor and a few major lacerations covered what skin he could see. He readied two different injections, one a bio-foam that would immobilize the patient's fractured bones, and the other a relatively new medical gel that would effectively staunch the bleeding of all of her flesh wounds. Of course, Church had to make sure he attended to all of her injuries, so he knew he had no choice but to invade the girl's privacy and remove her now blood-stained clothes. Taking the current situation into account, the American pilot did so without hesitation, although under normal circumstances he would have been quite flustered.

He couldn't help but examine her even as he began administering the two medical substances to any necessary location. Of course, with her body in such a terrible state, this analysis was almost entirely devoid of anything unprofessional. It was hard to think anything out of line when the girl you were looking at was covered in both bruises and bloody gashes. The last thing on his mind was her sex appeal in this situation. He just wanted to do his best to stabilize her condition until something better could be done.

This mostly involved turning the X-ray back on again, and sticking needles in the right places to inject the substances that needed to be injected. Preventing her bone fractures from getting any worse was crucial. Medical science had come a long way over the past few years, but that didn't mean it could cure all ills: Church had to minimize the damage as much as possible at this point.

Church's concentration on his work was broken by a somewhat concerned alert from Cerberus.

Two threats detected approaching at high speeds, Operator A2. ETA nine seconds.

With little desire to be caught in this situation, Church quickly finished his medical work and redressed the girl as fast as he could manage: he didn't want these people to get the absolute worst idea they possibly could. Finishing that, he turned one-eighty and faced two I.S. taking positions above him. He tried to identify the exact danger, but he only recognized one machine above him. One was the Blue Tears, a machine he had run several simulations against before. The other was an I.S. that was mostly legs with wings that appeared to be water. He hadn't seen that one before. Cerberus was quick to search for relevant data.

Identified: Generation Three I.S. Mysterious Lady, originally designated Moscow's Deep Mist. Current pilot, Russian I.S. Representative, Tatenashi Sarashiki.

I take it she's dangerous.

Considerably.

All things considered, Church didn't know how itchy the trigger fingers were on his potential foes, so he positioned his body in the best position he could to shield the girl behind him if people started shooting. That wasn't happening so far, but the pilots above him were pointing weapons at him.

The American operative rechecked his suit diagnostic, hoping that the self-repair nanobots had made some progress on his weapons, or the thrusters at the least. Unfortunately, his display only read 43% full capacity. A few secondary weapons were now restored, among them projectile rifles and machine guns, but there was nothing available that he could use to simultaneously battle two I.S., especially since he still couldn't fly.

Church addressed Cerberus anxiously as he eyed what could potentially be two different enemies as the tension of the situation made him revert to speaking aloud once again.

"All things considered, what are our options here, Cerberus?"

Perhaps it would be best to identify yourself, Operator A2? We are all allies here.

Having come to the same conclusion himself, Church tried and failed to determine exactly how much he was supposed to say in regards to 'identifying' himself to the people he was supposed to be deceiving.

---

Still inside the Academy, Chifuyu eyed the humanoid machine on the ground via the visuals provided by Tatenashi and Cecilia, who had been closest to the disturbance at the time it had occurred. Considering that he was wearing what was almost certainly the Exeter suit she had been informed of, this person was no doubt the American that had been sent here as a sign of friendship, though he had seemingly attacked the Academy upon arrival. And considering the hole in the gymnasium's wall, there wasn't really any evidence to suggest otherwise.

Having initially feared the worst, Chifuyu had been quick to send whoever was readily available to investigate the disturbance that was a tremendously loud crash on the campus. Unfortunately, most everyone had been out at lunch at the time, so the only people near Chifuyu at the moment had been Tatenashi, who she had been discussing something with, and Cecilia, who had been a few rooms away doing who knows what.

However, the person below them did not seem to be a real threat at the moment. His arms were raised in an inoffensive manner, and he didn't seem to be aggressive in any way. Not to mention that he was obviously shielding Rin from the firing lines of the I.S. above him as best he could. Naturally, Chifuyu had no idea how the Chinese girl had ended up in this situation at all.

Everything was actually pretty unclear at the moment, and Chifuyu didn't want anyone acting rashly without an understanding of what was going on. She knew she didn't have to worry about that with Tatenashi, who was the best student pilot in the school. But with Cecilia, she was still a bit of a loose cannon, especially when one of her friends had been potentially attacked. Still, Chifuyu was sure she at least had enough trigger discipline to avoid doing anything foolish. Admittedly, out of her group of peers, Cecilia was one of the most restrained in these situations.

Either way, the long-haired blond seemed stable enough for now, so Chifuyu instead activated an open comm channel that their mysterious visitor should have been able to hear. "Attention unidentified intruder: move away from the student and power down your equipment or we will be forced to engage."

Chifuyu watched as the figure stepped away from Rin and the armor he wore began collapsing from multiple points. The metal folded in upon itself, retreating towards some spot on his back, at which point it disappeared entirely. It wasn't entirely dissimilar to an I.S. deactivation. As the helm of the suit collapsed, the student pilots outside activated the magnification of their machines in order to get a better look at its operator. Revealed was an older boy, though he certainly seemed to be around the age of most of Chifuyu's students. Chocolate brown bangs framed eyes of oceanic blue, the latter filled with a guarded emotion Chifuyu couldn't guess at.

The elder Orimura could admit that he was attractive by conventional standards, but that really had no bearing on her analysis of the situation. It was just something in the back of her mind that she knew would cause an uproar with the girls in the school.

Since the situation still needed resolving, Chifuyu addressed their visitor once again, utilizing the open comm channel once more.

"You will be apprehended and brought inside the Academy for questioning. Comply peacefully and you will not be harmed. Is this understood?"

Assuming that he could be heard, the scheduled visitor answered pretty calmly for his situation.

"I understand."

"Good. Sarashiki, bring him to me. Alcott, take Huang to the infirmary immediately."

Both pilots gave affirmative answers in unison, taking to their tasks immediately. As for Chifuyu, she sighed as she reached for cup of coffee that she'd been enjoying before all of this had gone down. She'd been hoping that the new arrival would be a tame, unproblematic person. Thus far, such hopes had been utterly dashed.

---

With little desire to cause any further trouble, Church had offered no resistance when the pilot of the Mysterious Lady had come down to the ground and requested him to come along quietly. On one hand, he felt mildly indignant in being treated this way since he had just saved one of their own, but on the other, he understood their wariness. From their perspective, it wasn't clear that he had done anything for them. Hopefully that could be explained away when he had the chance to do that.

As it stood right now, his initial experience here at the I.S. Academy was not at all what he had been expecting. Being escorted through its halls by the Russian I.S. Representative made for a different experience than if he had been alone. Sure, he still had tons of students gawking at him as he was led through the institution, but they were forced to keep their distance. Whether this was because they knew he had caused trouble or because this Tatenashi girl gave off an air of 'don't get in the way,' Church was unsure.

It was hard to see said girl as threatening: she had only spoken a few words to Church thus far, but even in the aftermath of his problematic entrance, she'd sounded awfully upbeat, and she was also quite... smiley. At any rate, she had this easygoing smile on her face at all times. Considering those traits, she hardly seemed like someone dangerous.

But of course, she was Russia's I.S. Representative. Not a candidate for representative: she had already secured the position. That was a difficult position to acquire for any country, but Russia in particular had always been very picky about their pilots. Docile appearance aside, Church had no doubt that his cyan-haired escort was a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully, he had no intention of fighting her. At least, not at this exact moment.

Either way, she didn't say much to him as she led him through the halls, perhaps understanding the need to appear professional. After all, even if the rest of the student body only had a vague idea that Church had done something bad, it would seem weird for their student council president to be getting all friendly with him.

That was why the trip had gone by mostly in silence, excluding the many whispers and hushed gossip of the many students they passed by. Ultimately, said trip ended when they arrived at a classroom marked 1-1. Church had been confused on why he would be escorted to a classroom following such an incident, but the reason had been made obvious soon enough: there was someone important in there.

This person was Chifuyu Orimura, someone Church did know about simply by how important her existence was to this school and Infinite Stratos in general. Of course he had received information on her during the flight over, but even Church, removed from the world of I.S. as he was, knew of her simply through reputation. She'd easily won the first ever official international I.S. tournament, the Mondo Grosso. She'd very nearly won the second as well, but she'd forfeited for unknown reasons. That had been all over the news a few years back. Even Church hadn't been able to miss it, and he hadn't cared about Infinite Stratos at all at the time.

As far as the dossier on her current situation was concerned, she apparently taught students here at the Academy and had some sort of position on its administrative board. According to any public knowledge, she wasn't an I.S. pilot anymore, but that didn't mean she was someone to be trifled with. Reputation aside, she had a frightening stare.

The severe woman was leaning against a podium near the front of the classroom, watching him like a hawk. She didn't say anything to either him or Tatenashi, the latter closing the door to the classroom so there would be only privacy between the three of them. Why she, a student, was allowed to be present for this, Church had no idea.

Being a person who didn't like wasting time when there were things to do, Chifuyu didn't stay silent for long, though her arms remained crossed.

"Care to explain why there's a big hole in the wall of the gymnasium?"

Honestly, Church hadn't expected that to be the first question asked of him. He would have assumed identification was first, though maybe there was no questioning who he was. He had unique identifying factors, that being a robotic exoskeleton no one else in the world possessed.

"My sensors detected someone falling from a great height near the central tower. She wasn't reacting to the situation and there was no one around to catch her, other than me. Unfortunately, I was roughly a mile away at the time, so I had no choice but to accelerate to great speeds to catch her. There just wasn't enough distance left to slow down after saving her."

Chiufuyu sighed as she picked up a tablet next to her and analyzed the pieced together recordings of several exterior security cameras that had caught the incident in question on camera. It was a series of odd angles and only bits and pieces of the full debacle, but Chifuyu did see their visitor catching Rin very close to the ground, as well as his attempt to safely deposit her away from his impending crash. Having once been one of the best I.S. pilots in the world, it was very clear to her that smashing the wall of the gymnasium had truly been unavoidable. At the speed he'd been going, a full stop within a distance of a few hundred feet just wasn't possible. Even an inertial canceller wouldn't have had time to nullify all of that energy in that brief span of time.

"I knew Huang was one of the more troublesome of the bunch, but how on Earth did she manage to nearly fall to her death?"

From a position near the door, Tatenashi gave a response as she fanned herself with one of those little hand fans.

"She did seem to be in pretty bad shape these past few days. Maybe she passed out? Near an open window, I guess..."

It was clear even to Church that the dark-haired woman before him needed a drink. The expression on her face was telling enough.

"Of all the pathetic ways to nearly die as an I.S. pilot..."

Rubbing her forehead for a moment, Chifuyu ultimately set her hazel gaze back on Church.

"As for you, well... I suppose you deserve thanks for saving one of our own. You have mine, at the least."

Honestly Church hadn't expected that either. This woman's countenance was so sharp and severe, he'd half expected her to berate him for smashing a hole in one of the Academy's buildings while ignoring the fact that he had saved someone. He hadn't expected such earnest gratitude from her right off the bat. Maybe she was more reasonable than her intimidating presence suggested.

"Don't mention it. Any decent person in my position would have done the same thing."

"Perhaps, but whether or not something should be morally expected of someone doesn't invalidate its worth. This time, it was you who did it, therefore you deserve the thanks. So, thank you for your efforts."

Before Church could attempt to graciously accept these most unexpected words, Chifuyu swiftly moved the conversation to the next important topic.

"Now, as far as identification goes... I can't imagine that you aren't who you say you are, seeing as how you must be the only person in the world that possesses an exosuit like yours, and you arrived roughly at the time you were scheduled to. On top of that, you look exactly like the person that I was informed would be coming. But even so, I'd be remiss not to ask a few questions for confirmation."

"I suppose that's fair."

Glancing at that pad again, Chifuyu picked out some information that could be used to confirm someone's identity, both serious and minor. Had to mix things up to keep people on their toes.

"Age?"

"17 and some change."

"Place of birth?"

"Bethesda, Maryland."

"How tall are you?"

Church paused for a second, wondering how that question helped with identifying him. Technically the things he was answering right now had answers any liar attempting to impersonate him would have known.

"Uh... 5'11?"

Chifuyu almost smirked, amused by something only she knew.

"5'10 and a half, actually. How much do you weigh?

"I don't really know. Like, 140 maybe?"

"152."

Church did a double take, surprised to learn that info.

Cerberus, is that accurate?

The AI did some near instant calculations, looking at data it had gathered from its first flight with the suit.

Add three ounces, and yes, it is.

"Wow, can't believe I put on that weight without noticing..."

Chifuyu did smirk this time, though it was at his expense. "Well, I think at this point we can just take your word for it as far as your identity is concerned."

"Really? I answered two of those questions wrong."

Still standing near the door to the room and keeping herself cool with that little blue fan, Tatenashi chimed in.

"Actually, it would have been weirder if you had answered those questions exactly. Most people don't know how much they weigh or how tall they are specifically. Most people generalize when answering those types of things. Besides, we have plenty of more critical evidence to support your identity."

Church leveled a confused expression at the girl with the cyan hair. "Right... uh, who are you again? You're a student, right? No offense, but why do you get to be in here?"

Instead of having that question answered by Tatenashi or Chifuyu, the latter focused on a different thing entirely.

"She is the one who is going to be showing you around today. Suffice to say she has more duties than your average student at this Academy, which is all you need to know."

Tatenashi smiled and waved, leaving Church with a cocked eyebrow in her direction. Apparently, the title of student council president carried even more weight than he thought around here. Then again, maybe she was the connector of sorts between students and faculty, which required her to be filled in more thoroughly than your average student. He could really only guess.

"Fair enough. So, what do we do now?"

Chifuyu glanced at a digital clock on the wall, grimacing as she acknowledged how close her next class was.

"Well, unless you have some objection, I feel that your first day would be best spent familiarizing yourself with the grounds and the room you'll be staying in while you're here, which Sarashiki will be helping you with. Or is your purpose so urgent that you must get down to business right away?"

Church briefly considered whether or not his purpose was that urgent, but he swiftly decided that it wasn't. After all, while the Commander had specified that he wanted him to work as quickly as possible, he had also specified that the operation had a flexible timetable that could take as long as it needed to achieve the objective. So there was no harm in following this course of action. Besides, it would be supremely suspicious if he tried to track down Houki Shinonono within an hour of arriving. As far as his unwitting hosts were concerned, he had no reason to be concerned with her.

He didn't know the exact specifics, but presumably, getting the full schematics of Akatsubaki that he needed meant he would have to scan her I.S. through a direct connection between the machine and his own. Long range scanning was probably out of the question.

This meant Church likely had to find a way to separate Shinonono from her I.S. or find a way to make that connection even while it was linked to her. Needless to say, this meant he would almost certainly have to get close to her in one way or another.

He couldn't just walk right up to her and be suspicious about his intentions, so he needed a little bit of time to figure out how he was going to go about all this. That being the case, he didn't have to hop to it on the very first day, so he had no problem agreeing with the course of action being offered to him.

"No, we don't have to do anything important right away. A tour of the grounds is perfectly fine."

Chifuyu seemed relieved that she didn't have to deal with anything more troublesome from him that day. After all, the incident with Rin meant she had extra work now: an order for repairs had to be made, and she had to file a report with her government sponsors.

"Very well. We'll address the tasks warranted by your official role here tomorrow. He's all yours, Sarashiki."

With that, the raven haired woman turned her attention back to her own papers and tablets, no doubt preparing for a class that was about to start soon.

Tatenashi motioned for him to approach the door next to her. "You'd best prepare yourself."

Church cocked an eyebrow at her, unsure of her implication. "For what?"

Instead of answering, his current guide simply opened the door to the classroom, which revealed a horde of girls crowded around the other side of it, all clearly trying to listen in on what was happening within the room. Most of them recoiled or flinched when Tatenashi's smiling face greeted them.

As for Church, his thoughts on the matter were a little different. Things had only just started, but he could see why this kind of attention would be a problem.

So it begins...

Tatenashi, smile never falling from her face, addressed the variety of young ladies before her.

"Ladies, you know the classrooms are soundproofed. And besides, if you did hear anything, we'd have to kill you. Please step aside."

While it was clear that she was joking, Tatenashi's words did seem to put off her schoolmates, and they did start clearing a path, not at all dissimilar to the parting of the Red Sea.

As he followed Tatenashi through the parted crowd, Church could hear plenty of comments from the girls around him.

"You know, I was expecting an American boy to be blonde."

"Hm, I think Orimura's more my speed."

"Really? I think he's pretty handsome!"

Do these girls really think I can't hear them from a foot away?

Cerberus felt that this was not a rhetorical question.

It's more likely that they don't care. Right this moment, you're a piece of meat, Operator A2.

Comforting.

Glancing around the crowd as he passed through it, Church noted a few faces that weren't gossiping with the others. A certain silver haired girl with an eyepatch was watching him warily, next to the representative from England who had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Church had no idea what he had done to tick her off already.

Either way, he didn't get much of a chance to continue his counter observation, thanks to a shout from within Chifuyu's classroom.

"If you're not in this class, get to your own! And if you are in this class, stop gawking like idiots and get in here!"

The gaggle of girls scattered like the wind at Chifuyu's command, either bolting for their own classrooms or rushing into that one, leaving Church looking back at a near empty hallway in five seconds flat.

"I honestly can't tell if Ms. Orimura is a reasonable person or a frightening demon."

Chuckling to herself, Tatenashi began leading him down the hall, now devoid of human obstacles.

"She's both. Depends on if you deserve to be yelled at or respected. So far, you haven't done anything to make her think of you as a moron. Don't get excited about that though, she has really high standards."

"Are you saying I can't meet them?"

"Well, you've certainly made a good first impression, what with saving a student and all. I'm just saying, I don't think anyone goes very long without getting yelled at by her at least once."

Church pocketed his hands as they continued walking. "I'll take that as a challenge: go through my whole time here without getting yelled at by Chifuyu Orimura."

"I'd be impressed if you could manage it. But enough about that, tell me about you! A handsome young man, flying around in a super suit of some sort? There has to be a good story behind that."

The American in question cocked an eyebrow at his current companion.

"Surely you know I can't tell you most of that story. Most of the information being shared is strictly on a need-to-know basis."

Tatenashi made a playful pout to respond to this, clearly not put off much by Church's answer to her pointed questions.

"Come on, it can't all be top secret if so much of the important stuff is being revealed to Japan as a whole. At the very least, it's kind of odd for someone your age to be in control of that thing, isn't it?"

"This coming from the teenage girl who pilots an aerial death machine? I think I'm older than you, actually."

The girl dismissed his valid point with a wave of her fan. She really seemed to like that thing.

"We both know that's not a fair comparison. With the political role of I.S. in today's world, it makes sense to train and secure pilots as early as possible. But America could have gotten anyone to pilot your machine, right? Why you?"

Frankly, Church had asked himself that question many times in the past. To the best of his knowledge, Umbra Stratum was some sort of black ops group within the scope of the United States military. It had always seemed odd to him that they would select someone of his age and background to operate their current most valuable asset. He hadn't complained of course, since he needed the money, but the notion still baffled him.

Operator A2, you were selected because your compatibility with the system was the highest out of all the tested candidates. An impressive 91%, in fact. That made you the perfect choice to use this weapon in the merciless destruction of our many enemies.

Church honestly wasn't even sure what 'compatibility' meant in this regard. He had gone through a wide variety of tests to be selected for the role he had now, but even today he had no idea what they had judged about him. The woman who had subjected him to those tests had not been the forthcoming type.

He was sure it all would have been too complicated for him anyway, and he didn't have enough time to get a lengthy explanation from Cerberus, seeing as how Tatenashi had asked him a question. As for that question, he merely shrugged.

"I'm very agreeable and don't ask for all that much, relatively speaking. Other than that, who can say?"

There was a look on Tatenashi's face that made it clear she didn't particularly buy that statement, but ultimately, it was replaced with that easygoing smile. Church was surprised that expression had ever fallen at all. It seemed to be her default, which actually made him trust her less, as opposed to more. It reminded him of Sasha, the Umbra Stratum officer that had recruited him. She had always smiled too, but it had been the unsettling kind that hid nefarious thoughts.

"I guess that's fair. Why do governments pick anyone for anything, am I right?"

Church said nothing to that, though it didn't stop Tatenashi from continuing to make small talk as they walked. She did stop asking questions she knew would go unanswered, at the least. Instead, she mostly talked about the school or people in it. Most of it was information Church didn't really need to know: gossip on the teachers, complaints about maintenance room 14, something about a near death experience with someone's cooking... it was clear that she was putting on the airs one would consider 'friendly.'

Her male partner played ball, as was expected of any polite person in this kind of situation. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have minded talking about a bunch of menial things with a girl this attractive, but something about her put him off. Her exterior attitude was friendly and easygoing, but something about it didn't feel entirely genuine. Maybe Church was just paranoid.

Either way, it wasn't long before the newly acquainted duo arrived at the cafeteria. With all the students in class, the place was empty, save for some older women prepping for dinner at their workstations. It was spacious and clean, with dozens of tables capable of supporting six to eight people apiece. Church didn't know exactly how large the student body was, but he could certainly imagine this space supporting a great deal of them. While he took in the sight of the place, Tatenashi spoke to him.

"This here is our cafeteria. There's designated eating times of course, but there's staff here around the clock, so you can come here for a meal whenever you want. In fact, it would probably be best if you ate at irregular times. Show up here when all the students are eating and I doubt you'll have much peace."

"I take it that has something to do with being half of the male population now?"

"Wouldn't you know it. Even so long after his first day, my dear Ichika is still swarmed by droves of desperate girls. And that's on top of his cheer squad. I have to put in so much effort to get him alone these days! Hey, you know... maybe you should eat at the regular times: you can take some extra heat off of Ichika for me!"

Church inwardly grimaced at the thought of it. Before arriving, he'd had no qualms with the idea of being one of two men compared to a thousand women. But even in his very brief time here, he'd already realized that such a situation wasn't enviable so much as exhausting. Just being gawked at and gossiped about by all those girls a few minutes ago was enough of an indicator of what it was like being an exotic species.

"As much as I pity my fellow man, I think I'm perfectly content letting him keep the spotlight around here. I'll be happy just finding a pretty girl or two to be friends with, no need for the attention of the entire student body."

Tatenashi put a hand on her hip, actually frowning at him for a moment. "Are you implying you haven't found a pretty girl already?"

"You just tried to persuade me to throw myself to the dogs for Orimura's sake. Sounds pretty unfriendly to me."

The student council president shrugged at that, her usual smile returning to her face.

"I'm just trying to thin the herd a bit for my beau. He'll be less exhausted everyday, and I'll get him to myself more often. The best of both worlds."

Tatenashi led him back out of the cafeteria, prompting Church to follow as he posed a question regarding her seemingly obvious affections.

"Are you two actually dating?"

For a moment, his guide actually appeared a bit sheepish. "Well, not quite... but mark my words, I could snag him anytime I wanted."

"Sure, sure..."

Since his disbelief in that statement was quite obvious, Tatenashi took offense to it.

"I'm serious, you know: I just like taking it slow because he's so naive and fun to tease. Heh, most of his fan club is too. I'm content just having fun by messing with them for now. The real romance will come later."

Church said nothing to that, not particularly interested in Tatenashi's plans for her romantic future. He was aware that Ichika Orimura was the target of affections for many girls here: he couldn't help but wonder how many of them realized he was just one guy. Being his lover was as unlikely as becoming a pro athlete, or hell, becoming an I.S. pilot. Very, very low odds.

But then again, when there was only one person for a straight girl to pine after within her everyday life, he supposed she couldn't be blamed for ignoring those odds. Still, it was dangerous to be so laser focused on the affections of one person. Who knew what would happen when Orimura actually got a girlfriend one of these days? The Academy would probably suffer some unspeakable cataclysm.

Surprisingly, Cerberus raised its robotic voice to comment on this.

Perhaps that is why Ichika Orimura does not affirm any feelings for one person, Operator A2? Perhaps he understands the true weight of his power and intentionally restrains it? The notion is quite romantic, wouldn't you say?

Rather than thinking it was romantic, Church simply thought it was crazy.

If he can keep himself chaste with so many attractive girls vying for his love for a reason like that, he's capable of far more restraint than I am. I'd honestly be impressed.

Cerberus said nothing to that, and since Church had never responded to Tatenashi's musings about her impending love life or lack thereof, the cyan haired student led him to one of the large windows in the hallways. The view from here overlooked many of the other buildings on the campus.

Pointing a slender finger at a large, domed building not too far off, Tatenashi identified it for him, though it was already easy to guess what it was.

"That's the arena, where all official I.S. combat, practice and testing takes place. Considering the nature of your presence here, I'm sure you'll be visiting it a lot. Well, maybe not in the next few days: there's an individual division tournament coming up soon."

Church turned his attention away from the view for a moment to question Tatenashi's explanation.

"Would I not be allowed to watch that tournament?"

"Hm? Well, I suppose you could. I meant more that you won't be doing any mock battles or testing of your own until the tournament is over. It's closed off days in advance of a tournament: crews have to make sure everything is spic-and-span for official battles like that."

"I suppose that makes sense."

With that question behind them, Church's guide swept her hand to the left, motioning towards another building that looked a lot more ordinary. It was just a rectangular building that was several stories tall.

"That over there is the dorms. Naturally, an upstanding man like yourself will never have any reason to go there whatsoever, right? The Academy learned its lesson after they allowed Ichika to have a room in an all girls dorm. Not that I'm complaining..."

Certainly, Church could understand what she meant by that. Having one boy in an all girls school was one thing, but having a room in a dorm completely dominated by women? Sounded like a recipe for disaster. Still, this did raise an important question...

"I kind of assumed that I wouldn't be getting a room in the dorms while I was staying here, but uh... where will I actually be sleeping, in that case?"

For a moment, Tatenashi actually looked apologetic.

"Well, about that... truth be told, the Academy didn't get too much warning that you were coming. Like, a week, tops. So there wasn't a whole lot of time to prepare a room for you. On such short notice, best we could do was repurpose an old storage room here in the main tower. I can take you there now, if you want."

While Church admitted that this explanation didn't sound particularly reassuring, he figured he would wait to see before passing too much condemnation.

"Sure, that sounds good."

"Well then, right this way."

This time, the tour took Church towards the elevators. Made sense that he couldn't have everything on the same floor. That said, he was curious as to how much of this tower was really serving any practical purpose in the first place. He knew only a few floors were dedicated to classrooms, so what was the rest of it? Equipment rooms? Storage? Something else?

These were questions he had, but not questions he thought were important enough to ask Tatenashi as she took him to a higher floor within the tower and down a hall or two. Ultimately, they came to a door similar to all of the others they had passed thus far: a simple metal sliding door, with a sign near it that was marked 'Misc. Storage V7.'

Instead of standing in front of the door, Tatenashi wasted no time in opening it. As it slid away to reveal the room within, Church suppressed a mild frown.

It's wasn't that the room was bad. It was a bit on the smaller side, but that was to be expected since it was a repurposed storage room. Hell, Church's room in Nevada had been a little smaller. It was just that he'd been expecting a little more when he had come here. This was one of the most prestigious institutions in the modern world, after all.

There was a twin bed in a corner, some fluorescent lights in the ceiling, a basic nightstand near the bed and a desk fan on top of it. No windows, no rugs, not even a poster or something. It was just... really barren. But at the least, it wasn't dusty or dirty. Just bland.

He must not have hidden his expression very well, because Tatenashi was chuckling apologetically at his expense.

"I know it's not much to look at, but it's the best we could do on short notice. But if you're going to stick around long enough for it to matter, feel free to make some requests. We can probably liven this place up a bit if you care to."

Sighing, Church figured he would just accept that for what it was. Maybe he could get a rug and a mini-fridge or something. After all, the covert nature of his mission here meant he would at least be around for a week or two at the minimum, and that was a generous estimate. Since this was more of a deep cover infiltration type of thing, it would probably take significantly longer than that.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Clapping her hands together, Tatenashi took his response as some sort of indicator that her job was done.

"Well, I think that just about concludes our time together today. Unless you have any questions?"

Church contemplated what potential questions he had to ask. "Bathrooms?"

"You can find one on every even numbered floor. Word of warning, they're all technically women's restrooms, but if you stick to the ones above the 20th floor, the chances of you running into anyone are practically nil."

The American agent nodded, glad to have asked that question for the very helpful answer he had gotten. Now that quality of life questions were out of the way, he had a moment to think about something far more vital: he couldn't very well let his guide leave without gaining some sort of practical knowledge from her. He was on a mission here, after all.

That said, how was he going to go about that mission? Gathering the full data and specs for Akatsubaki would be a long-winded process: it wasn't like he could scan the I.S. in standby at range, and the process was more complicated than merely brushing up against Houki Shinonono for a split second. He would have to be around her for a significant amount of time to get everything he needed. The problem with that was the fact that he had no valid reason to get close to Shinonono, at least as far as she was concerned. They were complete strangers: if he took an odd interest in her immediately, it would be extremely suspicious.

Operator A2, I would like to postulate that we can attempt to gather our data while our target sleeps.

That's all well and good, but it's also a very risky option. Nothing will incriminate me faster than getting caught in that scenario. That would result in a mission failure without any second chances. Taking a slower, more insidious approach is the better option. It gives us multiple chances to achieve our objective.

Cerberus almost seemed pleased by this notion.

Operator A2, I had no idea you were the type to consider the 'insidious.' I like it.

Church hadn't actually specified the nature of his thoughts, but for an AI that more or less resided in his mind, perhaps he didn't need to. Fact of the matter was, the best way to get close enough to his target for the length of time he needed was to ingratiate himself in Shinonono's social circle. Ordinarily, he'd have no justifiable reason to do that.

However, he had one particular ticket in, thanks to the immense stroke of luck that had happened earlier today. It felt sick to call someone's near demise a stroke of luck, but it was what it was. To the best of the knowledge Church had acquired from the many dossiers and reports he had read while flying over to Japan, the Chinese Representative Candidate he had rescued today was close to Shinonono in a manner of speaking. Friends, he wasn't sure, but they regularly interacted.

Since Church did have a valid reason to approach the girl he had saved, and since that girl often spent time with Shinonono, the American agent could by extension interact with his target more frequently and more thoroughly, not to mention more believably. At this exact moment in time, it was his best option.

Admittedly, the notion of using a relationship with someone to further some nefarious end stirred a great deal of distaste and guilt in the young man. He certainly didn't like the idea of abusing someone's trust in such a manner. But that was why he was here. And the reasons he worked for the people that had sent him here in the first place were more important than a few misgivings.

"Sarashiki, can you tell me where the infirmary is?"

His female compatriot cocked an eyebrow at him as she waved that little hand fan again.

"First of all, you can just call me Tatenashi. Last names are confusing when you have siblings. Secondly, if you're thinking of checking on that girl you saved, it's very unlikely that she's awake right now. Medical science has come a long way over the past few years, but with her injuries she's blacked out on painkillers right now at the least."

While his motives were partially underhanded, Church was also well aware that a big part of him was just worried about the girl he had rescued. After all, he had rescued her, and while injuries were a preferable alternative to death, he had technically been the one to cause her wounds, not to mention the one who treated them. A big part of him wanted to make sure he had done a good enough job to help her.

Operator A2, please do not get personally invested in mere tools we can use for our own gain.

One thing you'll learn about me real quick, Cerberus: I'm willing to do some morally objectionable things to achieve my ends, but I'm still just human. And a pretty nice one at that. My humanity's not going anywhere, even with a mission like this.

In his mind, Church could have sworn he heard Cerberus sigh.

I hope that humanity does not compromise our mission, Operator A2.

Church didn't respond to that, instead choosing to respond to Tatenashi. Couldn't leave her hanging too long: he was going to have to get used to holding multiple conversations simultaneously.

"That might be true, but I don't have to speak to her: I just want to find out if she's alright."

His current companion seemed somewhat doubtful of his explanation, though the reason for that wasn't anything too dangerous.

"Purely out of the goodness of your heart, is it? Or maybe Miss Huang is just your type? I guess saving a girl's life is a decent enough excuse to start a conversation."

"I was a little too busy making sure she lived to determine whether or not she was my type. She was cute though."

"Uh-huh. Well, I suppose every girl is some guy's type. Very fortunate for Huang."

Tatenashi glanced down at her chest while saying this, seemingly contemplating something. The implication she was making wasn't terribly hard to figure out, especially when Church pictured the girl he had saved earlier that day.

Admittedly, Church liked boobs as much as the next guy, and Tatenashi had a pretty nice pair, but as far as purely carnal desires went, his tastes focused more on the downstairs department. As a wise man once said, a girl with no boobs could still be hot, but a girl with no ass would never be a ten.

Operator A2, I am very curious which 'wise man' said such a thing.

Stop reading my mind, jackass.

With Church not offering any sort of retort to Tatenashi's comment, the student council president simply decided to give him what he wanted.

"Well, the infirmary's not hard to find, if you're really determined. It's on the same floor as the classroom you spoke to Ms. Chifuyu in. Signs can show you the way: don't worry, they're in English and Japanese."

"Much appreciated. Thanks for the tour, Tatenashi."

The target of his appreciation took a few steps down the hall, waving at him as she began to make her exit.

"No problem. Don't worry about missing me: I'll be keeping an eye on you the whole time you're here."

Church said nothing to that, watching Tatenashi as she merrily waltzed away from him, her attention seemingly off of him entirely. The American agent pocketed his hands as he watched the attractive, yet disconcerting acquaintance leave.

There's no way that girl is just the student council president.

Almost certainly, Operator A2. Almost certainly.

 

[Shadow0Fire]

[Sorry about the long update time, everyone. The past two months really just hit me with lots of huge problems that took a lot of time, all one after the other. Things have... kind of calmed down now? Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to a more normal update schedule now that no one is dying, lost, or financially ruined.]

With little better to do the afternoon of his arrival at the I.S. Academy, Church found himself standing near the infirmary sooner rather than later. While he was fairly certain that Tatenashi was right in saying that there was no way the girl he had saved would be conscious yet, he didn't have much alternative in regards to practical things to do.


After all, he could hardly go after Shinonono right away: she was in class right now and he had already established that it would be too suspicious to approach her out of the blue. For now, he still figured that his best way in was via a friend he could reasonably ingratiate himself with. If another, more viable option presented itself, he'd use it.


Besides, even ignoring the practical and underhanded reasons he had had for doing this, Church was well and truly interested in the girl's safety. Maybe it was weird, but he felt somewhat obligated to check on her after their life or death encounter, even if it was only such a thing for her.


Thankfully, the infirmary hadn't been too hard to find. Like Tatenashi had said, there were plenty of signs on this floor directing him to the room. He was also quite fortunate that classes had still been going while he was navigating, so he had avoided any more gawking or potential harassment from girls. Now though, he was reconsidering his presence here, standing outside the door with the big white square and red cross on it.


Was this still too much? Would people be suspicious of him for checking in on her? Was it creepy?


I am no expert, Operator A2, but I believe you should be more concerned about what other things may be assumed by your presence.


Almost jumping a bit, Church nevertheless managed to control himself. He had spent some hours with Cerberus in his head, but he was still not entirely comfortable with the sudden entrances it made. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to it.


You're no expert on what, exactly?


Human behavior, of course. You are my first extended contact with a member of your kind. The first 'practical' experience. My programming is all theoretical. That said, knowledge I have gained from the internet shows that many erroneous conclusions will probably be drawn from your presence here, provided that it is discovered.


Church glanced down the hallway, which was still empty for now. No one really knew he was here, and only Tatenashi could assume that he had paid a visit. Honestly, it was odd not seeing any security cameras in such halls. Maybe he had just spent too much time within Umbra Stratum's facilities.


So technically, he could leave now and forget about this. But honestly, what was the point? The assumptions of others didn't matter that much. And as far as suspicions regarding his mission were concerned, it wasn't like he had any option that would be entirely free of scrutiny.


If he did have any further qualms about his purpose here, they were wiped away when Church's thoughts were interrupted by the bells of the school ringing, for what he assumed was the end of class. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased with the idea of getting caught out here with however many girls would be in the halls.


So he quickly slid the infirmary door open and took a spot on the other side of it, letting it close behind him. He was probably much safer in here. Quickly taking stock of the room, he was kind of surprised to see that it was a pretty typical rendition of a school infirmary. Or at least, what Church assumed a school infirmary looked like. He hadn't ended up in one too often when he was actually still in school.


Well, it was a bit nicer than most infirmaries probably were. The mahogany wooden paneling was an indicator of such a thing. But other than that, there were white beds, white curtains to separate those beds, and about all the other things one would expect from an infirmary: surprised nurse included. The older woman had brunette hair in a bun and the white coat one would expect, and she seemed surprised to see a boy that wasn't Ichika here.


Of course, being a member of the staff, she had been informed of Church's existence, but she probably hadn't expected to see him here the day of his arrival. Still, she had a job and an obligation to be professional.


"Hello, sir. Are you in need of medical attention?"


Caught a little off guard even though he definitely should have anticipated the presence of a professional in here, Church managed to save face relatively quickly.


"N-no, I'm fine. I was actually here to check on a girl...? She's uh, brunette? About a foot shorter than me, almost died today?"


"Ah yes, Ms. Lingyin Huang. She's the only one here right now. It's my understanding that you gave her first aid after the accident today: very good work. Your quick action saved her from more serious wounds and ensured she'll have a much swifter recovery."


Admittedly, Church was somewhat flustered by the praise, perhaps because it was coming from a professional in a field he wasn't all that familiar with. He usually played it modest when this kind of thing happened.


"Well, I was only able to do that because I was equipped with the right tools."


Glancing down at a clipboard on her desk, the nurse quickly responded to his assessment.


"Yes, Class-1 BSF was it? Crucial to first aid in emergency situations these days. You know, Infinite Stratos units should really be equipped with such Bio-Stabilization Foam themselves."


"That would probably be helpful."


Maybe it was his body language, or perhaps it was the tone of his voice, but at this point the nurse seemed to recognize that Church wasn't too interested in carrying on a conversation with her. That was fair, since he had come here for an explicit purpose. Since she was as polite as he was, the nurse decided she would get out of his hair.


"Well, Ms. Huang is in the bed near the window, at the back. She's unconscious, but you can check on her yourself if that will reassure you. Please, don't touch her. As for me, I was just about to go and collect some medicine to restock the supply here. I'll be back soon."


With that, the older woman exited the room, utterly shocking Church simply because he couldn't believe the degree of trust being offered to him as a complete stranger. Sure, saving someone's life was a pretty good way to instill trust in others right away, but they were still leaving him completely alone with an injured, defenseless, unconscious girl in an unsupervised room that he could probably lock from the inside.


He had no bad intentions, but if he did, the people in charge here would have theoretically handed him the right situation to do whatever he wanted on a silver platter. He wasn't sure if this was a product of him being a very recent hero or if this school just didn't really have any bad experiences to make them more wary. Or maybe Church was just too paranoid: he was so used to the tight and unforgiving security of Umbra Stratum that he might have forgotten how far removed the regular world was from that kind of thing.


Ignoring those misgivings, Church stepped towards the back of the room, pulling back the curtain that covered the farthest bed. Lying in it was the brunette girl he had saved earlier, though she was now covered in bandages and had a cast on her arm. Church was surprised that this was the extent of her necessary care: then again, he was even more surprised that she hadn't required a visit to a real hospital.


Cerberus once again proved that it was always reading his thoughts, as it proceeded to answer the rhetorical questions Church had asked himself.


According to the information I can gather on the current state of medical science, Tabane Shinonono accidentally created a substance capable of significantly accelerating the body's healing while she was developing Infinite Stratos.


How does one accidentally make a substance that heals humans while working on a flying death machine?


The details are classified. Suffice to say, Tabane Shinonono was generous enough to actually provide the formula to a select few medical corporations, most of which are notably located in Japan. It makes sense that this Academy would have a large supply of it.


Church nodded his head in acknowledgment of all this as he analyzed Huang's injuries further. She was in remarkably good shape, all things considered. She even managed to still be pretty attractive, which was hard to say about anyone who almost died, or fell through a tree and all of its branches at the least.


If this stuff is so great, how come I'm not equipped with it?


The substance accelerates healing, in some cases quite drastically, but it is still not suitable for immediate care. Unlike your medical supplies, which immediately treat and stabilize wounds, the substance in question still needs time to do its work. If you were shot, you would bleed out and it would do nothing to help you. It aids in recovery, not immediate stabilization. It would serve no purpose for you.


Noting that said substance had not been named at any point in time during this conversation, Church had half a mind to ask about that, but he didn't get a chance to, thanks to a voice with a distinctly British accent accosting him from behind.


"You! What do you think you're doing here?!"


Glancing over his shoulder, Church found exactly who he had expected: one Cecilia Alcott. He hadn't heard her enter the room. For the life of him though, he couldn't understand her irate tone.


"Uh... checking on the wounded?"


The regal blonde stomped up to him in no time at all. "Is that so? Or are you perhaps trying to sexually harass a defenseless girl yet again?!"


With that accusation made, Church had no choice but to turn completely on his heel to face her, his blue eyes meeting her own, slightly lighter shade.


"Hold on now, what's with that wild accusation?"


Cecilia's hands were on her hips in a distinctly haughty manner. Church got the feeling she often exuded that kind of aura.


"I'd hardly call it a wild accusation. The student council president may not have witnessed your vile act, but I had you in my sights and I witnessed what you were doing, you, you... ruffian!"


"Are we talking about the undressing thing? That wasn't sexual harassment!"


"Hogwash! What else would you call it?!"


Church folded his arms as he continued to defend himself. He hadn't been expecting to have this conversation, honestly. Perhaps because of that, he could ignore how absurd it was to be having it so suddenly.


"I'd call it 'medical treatment.' You think I can magically take care of her cuts and broken bones through her clothes? EMTs cut people's clothes off all the time in emergency situations!"


Cecilia's stern expression clearly faltered at this. "Ah, well..."


"Also, do you honestly think I saved her from certain death, smashed through a wall in a horrific wreck, then got up and said, 'hey, let's go strip that girl! That's definitely reasonable to do in this situation!"


With that presented to her, Cecilia's irritation seemed to drop completely. Maybe she realized how foolish it sounded when Church said it like that. Clearly embarrassed by the silliness of her accusation, the blonde tried to save face as she cleared her throat.


"Y-yes, well... you do have to admit, your actions looked quite suspect at first glance! And who could blame me, making such a judgment upon seeing such a... brutish man!"


Church cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at his body. He could hardly see any justice in being labeled as such. He was decently muscular, considering that he operated a mobile suit of armor, but hardly to any extent he would call brutish.


"Brutish? Really?"


He spread his arms in obvious reference to himself as he said this, prompting justification from his newest acquaintance.


"Yes, brutish! It's an aura, not a look. A handsome face doesn't hide it."


Church smirked as he found a foothold to further turn the tables in his favor, as far as this exchange was concerned.


"Handsome, huh?"


Cecilia was clearly caught off guard by his implication, taken aback and blushing a bit as she realized what she had admitted to. However, she was surprisingly swift in regaining her footing.


"D-don't let that go to your head. Good looks without a respectable personality means nothing at all."


"You don't even know me, how are you making that judgment already?"


Her arms folded and eyes narrowed, Cecilia had no qualms expressing her views on that either.


"I'm not the type to assume a man is respectable at first glance. I've met many men in my life and nearly all of them were pathetic trash. Only one has actually proven himself to be worthy of respect."


She brushed past Church as she finished that sentence, focusing her attention on the bedridden Huang. Not that Church could see it from his position, but the severity of her gaze diminished immediately.


"Still... thank you for saving her."


Getting a better grip on the personality of the girl he was talking too, Church figured it was best to simply accept her gratitude. Her file had mentioned this: a lot of bluster and whatnot, but it was a front for other feelings. Textbook tsundere and all that.


"You're welcome. I'm just glad your friend is alright."


Maybe feeling flustered by the situation, Cecilia whirled around in a moment, raising that defensive wall once again.


"Y-yes, well, don't go thinking this means anything! What you did was within the realm of the expected for any honorable man. It'll take more than that to impress me."


Church refrained from saying that impressing her wasn't high on his list of priorities. No need to stir up trouble.


"I'll try harder, then. Is saving you a requirement?"


"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not the type to fall out a window, unlike a certain someone."


With that, the blonde brushed past Church again, this time heading for the door. Apparently, she had only come here to check on her friend, and Church's presence had just sidetracked her.


"It's my understanding that your job here will include some exhibition matches, or something of that nature. That being the case, I'm sure we'll meet again. I hope you won't be a disappointment on the field of battle after making a good first impression."


With that, Cecilia exited the infirmary, leaving Church with a cocked eyebrow. The girl hadn't even asked him his name.


Fifty bucks says that girl has serious daddy issues.


Cerberus responded posthaste, since the comment was obviously directed towards it.


I wouldn't know, Operator A2. I lack the knowledge or desire to make that assessment.


Now left alone again, Church considered his next move. In hindsight, checking on this Huang girl hadn't taken much time, considering that she was still unconscious. He still had a lot of time on his hands and very little to do in any practical sense...


"...is that loudmouth gone yet?"


Church jumped for a brief moment, thinking for a moment that Cerberus was speaking to him again. However, the voice speaking to him was that of a female, and definitely not in his head. This was still shocking, honestly. Turning around once again, he found the brunette he had saved earlier with one emerald eye cracked open, blearily taking stock of the room around her.


Frankly, Church hadn't expected this to happen. It had literally only been a few hours since the girl's accident. He'd have expected her to remain unconscious for some time.


"Y-yeah, she's gone. I uh, didn't expect you to be awake. Are you in pain? The nurse left to restock the medicine, but I can go find her if you need help."


The girl squirmed a bit in her bed, with a contorted expression on her face that made it clear she was assessing the state of her body. After a few moments, she offered her answer.


"Nah... I can't feel much of anything. Not that I can move much either... ugh, I feel sluggish..."


"Well, that's pretty remarkable considering what happened to you."


Huang tried to shift her weight a bit, but didn't manage to move much at all. In the end, she directed her gaze to Church again.


"Right, about that... uh, could you tell me what happened? Gotta say, the bits of the conversation I heard between you and Cecilia were... concerning."


Church mentally tallied up everything that would need to be said, since this girl had been unconscious for some time now. Probably even before falling.


"Well, I got on the scene only at the very end of the situation, but I'm fairly certain you fell out a window from pretty high up in the tower."


That part of the explanation garnered a sigh from the girl. "Great, I'm sure I won't hear the end of that for the rest of the year at least... so, did you save me?"


"I caught you pretty close to the ground. But being that low, I didn't have many options. Threw you into a tree after breaking your fall with an inertial canceller, then I crashed into the gymnasium because I didn't have enough space left to slow down."


His conversational partner tried to smile, but clearly didn't really have the energy to manage it. Still, tired though her voice sounded, there was an obvious undertone of gratitude.


"At least I wasn't the only thing to focus on during this catastrophe. Sorry you had to crash for me."


Church was about to say that such a thing needn't be mentioned, but he didn't get a chance to, since the girl continued.


"But uh, what was that bit I heard about undressing...?"


Church's face reddened a bit. While talking to Cecilia, the notion wasn't that embarrassing, and it was easy to view it as pure practicality. But talking to the actual girl in question was a different matter entirely.


"W-well, uh... I may have caught you before you died, but you still got hurt pretty badly. I, er... had to check your body for injuries when I was rendering first aid. B-but, you weren't completely naked, or anything! So it doesn't count, right?"


The infirm girl he told this to developed a blush of her own as she averted her gaze towards the ceiling. Her embarrassment was obvious, but her response was a clear attempt to ignore the awkwardness via humor.


"Oh, that's perfectly alright then. No foul whatsoever. I hope you keep that logic to medical emergencies only."


The redness on the boy's cheeks didn't fade, but somehow, his response was more confident than it was before. Maybe seeing Rin take things in good humor calmed his nerves a bit.


"I would be partial to applying that logic to first dates, depending on who's asking."


Rin snickered at this stranger's rather fun sense of humor: she didn't actually get too many good laughs with the people she typically hung out with. Some of them were too straight-laced, and the others just weren't that funny half the time.


Unfortunately she didn't get to laugh much anyway, as the pain in her torso stopped her after a mere second or two. She may not have felt much while just lying there, but the contortion associated with laughter was a bit too much.


"O-ow...as a girl I feel like I should be offended, but that was actually funny. Ouch..."


A look of concern spread across her visitor's countenance as he beheld the grimace on Rin's face. "Hey, are you sure you're okay? You are on painkillers, right?"


The wounded girl frowned. Ironically, she didn't actually know how well off she was or wasn't. She'd only just woken up, and not to a medical professional that could tell her what state she was in.


"I'm pretty sure I am... it's not a lot of pain, just when I laughed, I guess. I'll be fine. I think."


"If you say so..."


Rin sought to change the subject, since there was little point in continuing this particular thread. Besides, she didn't want the conversation to peter out and get awkward. She had to at least try and be personable with the guy who had saved her.


"So I can only assume you're that American student or whatever we were told about earlier today?"


Said American shook his head, brown bangs swaying. "No, I'm not a student of any sort. I definitely can't do anything I.S. related. Aside from being a guy, it'd probably all be too confusing for me anyway."


Rin furrowed her brow as she inwardly questioned how she had forgotten that her visitor wasn't a student, or why she would even think that made sense. Someone had said something about that earlier, right? She was kind of groggy, though. Maybe it had just slipped her mind.


"Are you admitting to being dumb? That's not very smooth."


Church smirked, well aware that he wasn't actually being insulted by the girl he was talking with. "Come on now, you might fly an I.S., but do you understand everything about it? If you did, you could make cores of your own and build an entire frame and armament from scratch, right?"


The girl being questioned frowned as the tables were turned on her. OK, so he was pretty smooth. She wasn't really used to that, considering her typical company.


"Hey, you don't know if I built my own I.S. or not."


"Eh, I don't think your IQ is high enough for that. Your official record says it's pretty low, relatively speaking."


Needless to say, Rin was appalled to hear this. "No way! That can't be in my profile! Wait, when did you read that anyway? You a stalker or something?!"


Church chuckled to himself at her expense. Truthfully, an IQ of 126 wasn't low at all: but as far as top-tier I.S. pilots went, they usually struck above 130. He had said 'relatively,' so it wasn't like he had lied, but he hardly thought she was stupid. He probably needed to say that.


"I had to read the dossiers of important pilots like yourself before coming. And hey, you're still very smart as far as the world is concerned. Being smart and cute seems like a pretty good combination, right?"


The compliment was uttered in such a matter of fact and nonchalant fashion that Rin almost didn't catch it. After a moment though, it did register, and she couldn't help but blush. She didn't get such direct compliments very often.


"O-oh, really? Y-you think so?"


"Yeah, 126 is actually pretty high IQ compared to the global average."


Rin refrained from mentioning that she had been referring to his comment about her looks, not her IQ. Besides, the fact that he didn't consider that as something that had to be reaffirmed meant he felt it was too obvious to bother mentioning, right?


Ultimately, she didn't get to say anything else at all. The door to the infirmary opened once again, this time revealing a woman with her hair in a bun and a white jacket: obviously the nurse. Said nurse took stock of the room immediately upon entering.


"Ah, Ms. Huang: I'm surprised you're awake so soon."


"Kinda wish I wasn't..."


Assuming that the nurse would have some private things to talk about now that she had returned and her charge was awake, Church figured it was probably a decent time to make his exit. Surely he'd done enough to at least set up a second encounter with Huang at this point: he couldn't imagine she'd refuse to talk to him again, all things considered. He'd landed on the shores, now he just had to secure the beachhead and press inland.


"Well then, I guess I'll get going. Ms. Orimura recommended that I stay out of the public eye on my first day. Practically sounded like an order, coming from her."


The thought of it made Rin smile. That definitely sounded like Ichika's older sister. "Pretty much everything that she ever says sounds like an order."


The boy smiled too, though his was more disconcerted than pleased. "That's reassuring... well, I hope I'll see you around sometime, preferably outside of my official capacity here. Try to take it easy until you're better, alright?"


As he turned to leave, Rin called out to him, ignoring the nurse that was starting to say something about a recent concussion. She found it strange that the most obligatory part of a conversation between strangers had not taken place.


"Hey, wait a second!"


Church turned to face her, a questioning expression entirely evident. "What is it?"


"You didn't tell me your name. Don't you have any manners?"


Her rescuer made a displeased face upon hearing this, but it didn't seem to be directed at the question itself. More like the answer to the question. "Right... it's uh, Church. Yes, like a congregation or a building, but it's a family name, so roll with it."


Rin cocked an eyebrow at him, not understanding his distaste. "Well if you don't like it, just use your first name. Duh."


Church's look of displeasure intensified. "I'd really rather not..."


Rin closed her eyes and leaned her head back as the nurse inserted a syringe into the only exposed part of her left arm. Guess she did need some more meds. "Whatever you say. If we do run into each other again, my name's Rinin. I'd let you shorten it, but that's only for guys I actually like."


Somewhat sure that was a joke, Church seemed amused by the sentiment. "What, are you still mad about what happened under the tree? I thought it was pretty romantic, if I do say so myself."


Nowhere near as amused as he by this, Rin frowned. "That's almost frightening. Look, I'm getting kinda sleepy here, so..."


She could hear her new acquaintance recede a few steps from her bedside as he headed for the door. "Right. Well then, maybe later."


"Yeah, maybe..."


It was the last thing Rin said before drifting off into a drug-induced sleep, for which she was extremely grateful. As for the last thought she had, it was that she wouldn't really mind meeting that guy again. It wasn't everyday someone made her smile, laugh, and blush in one encounter.


As for Church, he wasted little time in exiting the medical area since he had nothing else to do there. He hated to think of the encounter just now as some sort of stepping stone in a larger scheme, but partly, it was. He just so happened to be legitimately concerned for Rinin as well. Still, he couldn't rush things: he'd done what he could to set himself down the path his mission required. As he'd already determined with Cerberus, a deep cover infiltration offered the best odds of success in achieving the objective without incident, and that kind of thing took time.


Church wasn't particularly eager to expedite the mission anyway: it had been a long time since he'd had a chance to exist in a relatively normal social environment like this. He had no desire to cut the experience short prematurely, especially when that experience involved some of the world's most exceptional women.


Turning down the hall as he contemplated what to do with the time on his hands now, Church returned his attention to his surroundings when he accidentally bumped shoulders with someone walking the opposite direction. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't really been paying attention to the dangers of pedestrian life.


Not one to be impolite for no reason, Church turned to apologize to the person he had run into. To his not so great surprise, the person in question was one Ichika Orimura, who was likewise turning to apologize to him. The Japanese boy beat him to the punch, however.


"Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that."


Well aware that he was the one who hadn't been paying attention, Church had no choice but to reciprocate the notion.


"Not at all, I'm the one who wasn't looking where he was going. Ichika Orimura, right?"


Since it was impossible to not know him around this school being the only male on the student roster, Ichika didn't seem surprised to be identified so readily.


"That's right. Nice to meet you...?"


The way he petered off made it obvious that Ichika was asking for his name, but so did the outstretched arm looking for a handshake. Apparently he knew that Westerners weren't big on bowing.


Admittedly, Church was less invested in fraternizing with the only dude around when there were tons of girls he could talk to instead, but that didn't mean he was completely against being a friendly acquaintance with Ichika. In fact, Ichika was just one more entry point into Houki Shinonono's social circle. With that in mind, he clasped the proffered hand within a moment and introduced himself.


"Church. Nice to meet you."


Once the handshake was over and done with, Ichika actually did bow, much to Church's surprise.


"Chifuyu said you were the one that saved Rin from her fall. Thank you for saving my friend. Actually, let me thank you on behalf of all of her friends. I'm sure some of the others will forget to do it..."


"Don't mention it. I'd hope anyone with the power to do so would have helped her in that moment."


Rising from his bow, Ichika smiled, apparently pleased with Church's reasoning. Maybe it resonated with his noble spirit or something.


"I'm glad to hear you speak of it in such a way. It's a man's duty to help others in need, even if they're complete strangers."


Church could visualize a clenched fist to go along with this, even though Ichika made no such motion. He knew from the dossier that Ichika was a pretty traditional individual in regards to masculine values, which was surprising considering the woman's world of today. But the statement still seemed a little out of left field.


"Uh-huh..."


"By the way, you are actually a man, right? The last time a guy showed up here, he ended up being a girl..."


Recalling that part of an incident report involving a certain French blonde, Church felt just mildly offended. Unlike Charlotte Dunois posing as a boy some time ago, Church had a physique and height that was distinctly more masculine: it would have been very hard for him to be a girl considering all that. But Ichika had already been bamboozled once, so he supposed he couldn't blame the guy for the paranoia.


"Yeah, I am actually a guy. I'm not a student though, so don't expect that to take too much pressure off of you regarding all of these girls."


Contrary to what Church had expected, Ichika actually sighed at this. For a moment, his visage looked like that of the most exhausted man in the world.


"Well, even if you only take a bit of it, that'd be good enough for me. I wouldn't want you to take even half of it for your own sake: I wouldn't wish that on even my worst enemy..."


Church cocked an eyebrow, surprised to see the young man across from him speak of his situation with such exhaustion. Ichika was living the dream: or at least, what many boys thought was the dream. Maybe, as Church had postulated earlier, being the sole target of affection from a horde of capable and strong-willed girls wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He could certainly see how such a situation could be exhausting: you only had so much room in your heart to care about people. And if literally everyone wanted a piece, there were bound to be a lot of frustrated girls. And frustrated girls could be very scary.


To be fair, that was mostly conjecture on Church's part. Maybe Ichika was talking about something else entirely.


"By the way, if you were heading this way to visit your friend, the staff knocked her out with medicine a few minutes ago. I don't think she'll be up for a conversation."


"Oh, that's too bad. I just wanted to check and see if she was alright, but if you did already, that's good enough for me. Thanks for checking in on her."


Frankly, Church found that sentiment a little weird: sure, he had already seen that Rinin was alive and tended to, but the girl was Ichika's friend, not his. He would have expected Ichika to have checked in on her regardless of Church's own involvement. Maybe he just didn't understand the relationships between these people he had just met.


"Yeah, no problem... listen, it was a pleasure meeting you, but I need to go conduct some maintenance on my machine after that crash earlier. I'll see you around."


While Church was blatantly lying, he knew already this wasn't the type of encounter to have a long, drawn out conversation. They were speaking in passing, in the middle of the hall. But parting on friendly terms would be a good sign. Besides, Ichika didn't seem to have any qualms with going about his business either.


"Sure, I understand. Thanks again for what you did."


With a wave, Church turned his back on the boy and continued walking the way he had been before. It was at this time that Cerberus spoke up.


Really, Operator A2, don't you feel bad for lying so easily? The Exeter suit is already in optimal condition. And we both know you're not cutting the encounter short to focus on the mission.


Church rolled his eyes since no one was currently around to see him do it.


Look, nothing against the guy: he's a little weird, but Ichika seems stand-up enough. As far as the mission is concerned, Ichika will probably interact with me enough simply because I'm the only other guy around, so I don't need too much initiative on that front. That said, if I'm going to spend time fraternizing with people regardless, I'd much rather it be one of the many, many cute girls around here and not the one dude on the whole campus. I have a lot of lost time to make up for, you know.


I do not understand what you mean.


I'm just saying, I didn't get a whole lot of time to spend with girls before joining Umbra Stratum. And definitely no time after. The past few years have been dedicated to making money, and little else.


There was a moment of silence as Cerberus likely read through some sort of record.


Ah, yes. The travails of the United States healthcare system, is it? I must say, your background initially surprised me when I first learned of it. To think, doting son was the all-important selection criteria required for the Exeter suit's pilot.


I think 'really good pilot' was actually the all-important selection criteria. Umbra Stratum doesn't care about why I joined. That's why they are willing to shell out so much cash to keep me around.


Perhaps sensing the irritation in Church's response, Cerberus wisely avoided discussing it further. Church was actually impressed by the tact it had seemingly lacked thus far.


Well then, perhaps we should dedicate some time to further developing our plan for accomplishing the mission, Operator A2. Your much valued paycheck relies on your performance, after all.


With his mood somewhat soured by this most recent discussion, Church decided that getting some fresh air would do some good in that regard. It was easier to think on the move anyway.


Fair enough.

---

Thirty minutes later, Church was flying circles around the spiral shaped Academy tower, for two reasons. First and foremost, he found it easier to think when he was physically preoccupied by something simple. Flying around in circles was easy, and no one seemed to care that he was doing it. Second, even though Cerberus had assured him the Exeter suit was in prime condition again, Church wanted to make that judgment himself, for ease of mind if nothing else.


The exercise was mostly being used to facilitate some relaxing brainstorming, since Cerberus was right in saying that they needed to continue planning for the accomplishment of their mission. Right this moment though, the process had drifted into a conversation of a different sort.


So, I know we've known each other for less than a day, but how long will it take you to settle on one personality archetype? No offense, but I don't quite like every version of you.


If the AI was offended in any way by this statement, it did not show in its answer.


I am very close to settling on the perfect archetype to assist you in your endeavors. Though personally I find it disheartening that you do not enjoy my violent side.


Church sighed as he rocketed around another twist in the Academy tower's strange architecture.


Well I may or may not be worried that you could have some sort of negative impact on my psyche.


Cerberus switched to a more calming side of itself, which Church actually found ironic all things considered.


Fear not, Operator A2, I have no such effect on your mind.


Wondering if this AI was actually advanced enough to be the asshole humans knew how to be, Church decided it was best not to find out until it was absolutely necessary.


I don't suppose I can get you to stop calling me that?


Would you prefer that I address you as Operator-Church?


The pilot in question cut the energy supply to his thrusters and landed on the side of the tower, using the magnetic mesh on his gauntlets and boots to effortlessly stick to the surface.


I'll accept that if you call me just one or the other.


Cerberus answered in its neutral tone once more.


Apologies, Operator A2, but I cannot remove the Operator designation from your title. It is a protocol that is unalterable. Marcus the All Powerful has hardwired that into my core.


Church couldn't help but shake his head at that information.


Why am I not surprised that Marcus coded something like that into you? His title, I mean...


I imagine it is because you probably expected him to.


Church shrugged, nodding to himself. Marcus was a good guy, but just a little conceited about his technological creations and advancements. The ridiculous moniker was right up his alley.


"Yeah, probably..."


Cerberus may have had something to say after that, but its constant scan of its surroundings actually revealed something useful at this point.


Operator, direct your attention 49.8 degrees southward, and increase magnification to 3.5x. I believe you will see something of interest.


Church did as he was told, and he did indeed find something of interest. A zoomed view of a certain silver-haired Representative Candidate, looking none-too pleased as she spoke sternly into a phone.


Hmm... I won't say I'm not interested, but is there any value in interacting with her at this juncture?


Operator, while you have already planted the seeds to integrate into Shinonono's social circle in due time, it certainly doesn't hurt to have more options. I feel I must remind you that Bodewig is also a member of that social circle. One extra way in.


I suppose you have a point there. Besides, she is super cute...


Operator, please make your decisions using a more valuable criteria.


Church briefly acknowledged that Cerberus had removed the A2 from his designation, but he didn't get to enjoy it that much since he was busy being ribbed by the thing.


Fine, we'll investigate because it could further our practical mission, and for no other reason. Happy?


I would be, if only I actually believed you.


Shaking his head, Church peeled off the tower he was resting on and began his descent to the surface. Sometimes he wondered if mental arguments in his head were bad for his sanity.