Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest)

[] Go through the Drone Patrol Route. You'll disable them as you pass by. You're not going to risk scratching your hull or exploding a mine.

You'll go through the Drone Patrol route. You'll take your chances going through their routes rather than crashing into a reef or being blown to pieces. Your Hull traveled silently through the waters. You were closing in on the Hunting Dogs' sensor range. You got ready and prepared yourself to release a counter signal.

There was a pulse escaping the drones as they moved by while you emitted the same signal. Their ping bounced against yours, negating one another before you took this chance to operate your processing power and release a pulse to hack into the Hunting Dogs' system.

You leaned on Mary's chair and let her pilot your Hull.

"I'll be right back, Darling," you told her as you closed your eyes.

"Try not to take too long," Mary murmured as she glanced at you.

You smiled. This will only take a moment. You transferred your consciousness through the connection you established with the drones before you found yourself well within their systems. It was like being inside a cyberspace.

Floating in empty space, you manifested within the Drones' system using your Mental Model as an avatar. You applied your will upon its core programs and replaced several codes that would set it to ignore your presence. You then transferred the instructions to the rest of the Hunting Dog drones before you re-emerged back into your Mental Model.

Mary was navigating your Hull well enough as the two of you passed through dangerous waters. The drones passed by harmlessly, sending false pings to their owners without divulging your presence.

This was a much easier mission than you expected.

"I think we can relax for now," you sighed as you crossed your arms.

"Can we? We still have a long way to go after all," Mary said as she focused on navigating through the dark ocean depths.

"Fifteen minutes isn't long, Mary," you told her as you looked up the monitor before you, "The facility should be nearby. Dive just a little bit deeper."

With the worse behind you, all that's left was to hand in the information.

.....
....
...

"You're the informants? I see. So things are picking up after all."

"We have no time to waste. Are you in need of escaping this place?" You asked as you sat on your seat beside Mary's chair.

"No need. But the city has been bustling. Some disagreements between two corporations are causing tension to bubble. These waters may just be stained in blood. If you're smart Fog Ship, you should take care. Humanity has grown some fangs during your sleep."

You frowned at the notion, "We'll keep it in mind. Data transfer complete."

"Give my regards to the captain. Looking forward to the fireworks he's making."

The channel went dark and you were left drifting beneath the Australian bay's waves. This really was just a warm up mission. Mary was looking through a few websites and was jotting down areas within a city map.

"Hm? Planning a detour, captain?" You giggled as you looked over her shoulder.

"W-Well, Mr. Chihaya didn't really say we shouldn't... And I sort of want to see what the city is like," Mary said as she looked your way.

"Gunzou should be expecting us to return. We can't just leave Blue Steel to Boston after all," you reminder her as you inspected the places she wanted to go.

It was just a bunch of night beaches and a dome made out of glowing glass.

"Please Surcouf? Can we go visit the city?" Mary asked you as she- Gah!

Those devilish eyes. They're convincing you with a silent argument! How devious... This child. She's growing stronger.

Well then...

[] Take a detour.
[] Return to base.
[] Write in...