- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
"I want you to understand that I'm not upset, just disappointed" is a helluva thing to hear from a Teacher. Never mind one that's superhuman.
From Sea to Sky (Blue Archive/Kantai Collection Crossover)
- Thread starter Numbers7o5
- Start date
- Crossover
"I want you to understand that I'm not upset, just disappointed" is a helluva thing to hear from a Teacher. Never mind one that's superhuman.
- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
Yeah I remember encountering a video on Hoshino vs Hina shortly after starting to read this story and thinking that some of those attacks would definitely hurt a battleship especially the laser that cleaved the train in two.
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
In some ways, that's correct. If it conceptually is likely to harm her, then it's certainly going to do at least noticeable injuries.
I think it's about time Nelson Sensei deploy her whole artillery park and unleash what she have keep close ever since. Sure, She'll be sitting duck, but Her AA gun and Secondaries will keep them at bay as long as her ammunition still remains. Main gun however, is overkill, and only use them on Kaiser forces.
- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
She can't. Ship spirits and halos do not play well with each other apparently. The most she can do is what she is doing now. Besides narratively it isn't remotely close for her to unlock her rigging.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
It is literally a matter of scale. The absolute smallest guns Nelson has are 2-pdr 40mm AA guns, which are larger than any true firearm carried by a student (20mm sniper rifles). Most of the grenade launchers are, IIRC, 40mm - but they have half the explosive filler and, like either a tenth or a third the velocity of Nelson's AA guns, and much worse rates of fire. Note that the Crusader tank also uses a 40mm shell, albeit significantly longer than Nelson's AA guns ... which packs ~85 grams of TNT compared to Nelson's guns' 71 grams of whatever-explosive-they-use. Above that are ... like, a missile launcher (60mm? maybe 70mm) and literal actual fucking artillery and tanks, being 105mm and 88mm. Nelson's smallest actual gun for use against surface ships? Is actually 152mm. Significantly larger than the artillery park used by Nagisa (the aforementioned 105mm pieces). (The 120mm she's using? It's actually an AA gun! It's not a very good AA gun, and it can fire on destroyers without being completely useless, but it's primary purpose was to shoot at planes!)
Nelson-As-Shipgirl, protected equivalently to an actual battleship, would be immune to everything except direct impacts to her eyes/ears/nose/mouth from vehicle-mounted cannons. Even destroyers-as-shipgirls, protected equivalently to their actual hulls, could pretty much ignore anything that wasn't actual tanks and artillery, although they would actually notice and be bothered by larger hand-carried weapons.
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
Yeah, the story thus far points it out but something is actively inhibiting her from actually calling upon her full rigging. There's some hints here and there why that is, but there will be an appropriate moment for it to come out. Things just need to be critical enough for the payoff of it to work. Folks familiar with the story of Blue Archive might have had some guesses as to when that is, but there's certainly a lot of good spots where it can happen.
How strong she is once she pulls it out is up in the air. However, it's notable that Nelson's tanking through attacks that in canon could knock out Serika with just a near hit even without the rigging.
As pointed out, Nelson once the rigging comes out goes from "an extremely dangerous squad equivalent unit in local engagement" to "strategically decisive element in the theatre" even with her not having a perfect 1:1 conversion of ship to shipgirl.
- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
I greatly disagree with that notion that Nelson with her rigging would be practically untouchable not just because it would be a bit dull but as the story of Blue Archive progresses more and more stuff pops up that looks like they would believably damage a battleship. Hina's train cleaving laser, Toki's mech suit, and jokingly that one muscle bound student that casually flips a tank but more seriously the Wrath of Set comes to mind. The story already points out that while Nelson has great firepower and is stupidly durable she lacks the more esoteric abilities that the students have.
Speaking of Nelson and students, I came across this.
View: https://youtu.be/W-5wqymXK4Y?si=FmsXdWoI2yBBs-Ew
It looks like someone has been taking notes from Nelson on the art of tank shell deflection.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
So, to get the obvious stuff out of the way: I did, very clearly state that Nelson protected equivalently to an actual battleship, would be immune to essentially every firearm in Kivotos. This is because handheld firearms are not designed to deal damage to kilotons of steel, and the things that can meaningfully damage kilotons of steel tend to be - by virtue of physics - not accessible save by vehicles large enough to maneuver those weapons effectively.
Relatedly to the above, any reasonable interpretation of the sequence of reading would indicate that the discussion in general and my post in particular was in regards to standard and common weaponry, not one-off superskills, outright magic, and other Kivotos-specific Wild And Crazy Shit.
Finally, of those specific things you list, I am completely unfamiliar with most of them. I suppose when they rerun the event(s) they appeared in on Global, I can learn about Hina's anti-train laser, or the Wrath of Set, or the student who can bench press twenty tons, but until then, I suppose I am just going to have to suffer in ignorance. With regards to Abi-Eshuh, however: first, it is a vehicle; second, it is a one-off supersuit; third, its primary armaments apparently are M134 miniguns (not particularly capable of damaging a battleship), and while the laser cannons are presumably more powerful I do doubt they would be significantly more effective against battleship outside of particular circumstances.
Ch. 12 - The Wasteland Ambush Pt. 2
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
Vol 1. Chapter 5 – The Ogdoad Unleashed
"NELSON-SENSEI DID WHAT?!" Ayane's shriek echoed through all their ear pieces. Shiroko couldn't stop her ears from folding flat at the sudden noise. She noticed that Serika's cat ears did the same, while Hoshino and Nonomi merely flinched. She could faintly hear an echo throughout the quiet neighborhood around the reinforced house.
Serika shook her head and hissed, stomping her fate to emphasize her point, "She's trying to hold off the Helmet Gang by herself!"
"Can she even do that?" Ayane muttered, voice clearly in shock. "She doesn't even have a halo!"
"Nn," Shiroko shook her head. "She can. Sensei is tough."
The machine gun shrieked as I swept it from left to right, knocking a few of the Thugs down. I could see the barrel glowing lightly in the night as it struggled to keep up the fire. The heat of the metal through the shroud was starting to cause my hand to shake and affect my aim. It was almost the end for this gun.
I just had to hold for a bit longer. It had been slightly over half an hour. Serika should have made contact with the rest of Abydos and was on their way back. This was OK. This was fine. Just something to laugh about later, over how close things got to being bad.
Murphy must have been listening because the machine gun decided this was its moment to explode.
Serika looked like she wanted to say something to Ayane, but stopped at the last moment. After a moment of uncertain silence, the catgirl answered. "I… I don't know! She was really beat up the last time I saw her!"
"To think the situation was this bad..." Shiroko heard Hoshino mumble, "I was wondering why she would send me a DM from the Official Schale Instaberry account rather than her Momotalk..."
"We have to help her!" Nonomi declared, grabbing her minigun and rushing in the direction Serika came from, only to be stopped as Hoshino grabbed her by the arm.
"What we need to do is to act as a team." Hoshino said, voice cool and steeled. "If we rush in half-cocked, we might distract her instead of help her. Ayane, have your drones fly ahead and try to reach Sensei. Once we know how she's doing, we'll figure out what to do from there. Got it?"
Shiroko nodded, while the rest of Abydos answered with a range of acknowledgement. At that, Hoshino nodded and pointed in the direction Serika came from. "Abydos! Let's go save our Teacher!"
The machine gun was useless as a gun now. I didn't have a spare barrel on hand and, with the barrel shroud torn open, I wasn't even sure if I could rotate the receiver to access the barrel. But what it still was, however, was a particularly large and heavy chunk of metal and wood.
Something that the first thug coming from my port side became acquainted with as I swung the weapon like a club, grabbing it by the shroud with two hands. The heavy wood and steel stock met the side of her helmet and shattered it, sending her flying away. I ignored where she landed as the next thug backpedaled away to gain distance. Commendable.
It didn't help her at all when a hammer throw sent the machinegun sailing through the air and into her visor.
Shiroko heard Serika make an indignant angry noise as she ducked behind cover, the ping of rifle fire ricocheting off the car echoing into the night. A second later, her drone took to the air and unleashed a barrage of rockets into the Helmet Gang's rearguard. Several of the Thugs were sent flying while a few managed to weather the storm.
Not that it helped when Hoshino leapt over their cover, shotgun at the ready. A few rapid blasts dispatched them. It was brutal work, but they were on a timer. Any fights that could be forced through needed to be forced through.
"Ayane!" She heard Hoshino call as the four of them continued pushing forward. "Have you made contact with Sensei yet?"
"No!" Ayane's voice buzzed over their headset. "There's a lot of sand from the blasts and artillery covering the parking lot. I have to bring the drones closer to the ground to try to find her!"
"Come on!" Serika shouted as she ran ahead. "We have to keep going!"
With the machine gun now thoroughly gone, I brought a sword and pistol from my stores with a twist of my will. With my left-hand aching as bad as it did, I doubt I could do any precision shooting with a rifle. But I could still grip a handle, and I could still swing my arm.
The alarm came almost a moment too late. An artillery shell bursting nearby almost knocked me to my feet. Blue hexagons flaring to life around me protected me from the worst of the shrapnel, but the force of the detonation shifting the sands was enough to drop me to one knee.
"I think I found them!"
I sucked in a breath and forced the pain down. I avoided a direct hit, but the pain of being jostled about was getting a bit much. However, that last barrage gave me the final bit of information Arona needed to triangulate where their Flak 41s were shooting me from. Now I just needed a way to reach them.
I forced myself back onto two feet. I still had duties left to fulfill, and I would not be found lacking. Another pair of thugs crested a hill. They froze as my gaze focused on them. Another obstacle. With a wordless growl I forced my feet forward and pushed towards them.
"What… is this?" Shiroko heard Ayane say, the shock bleeding through unfiltered.
Nonomi had a worried frown now when she asked "Did you find Sensei?!"
"No." Ayane answered. "But I know where she should be heading."
"What's the situation, Ayane?" Hoshino snapped; voice tight.
There was a long pause, before the elven Secretary finally answered. "There's a line of destruction, moving straight away from where Serika last saw her."
The thug behind the leading automatic rifle carrying girl fell as I emptied the entire magazine into her. The lead panicked and started to scramble away, only to stumble and trip over the comatose form of her partner. Good. She who dares, wins.
Without letting up, I pushed up the dune and smashed the butt of my pistol into the top of her helmet as she tried to stand up. The protective wear shattered, splinters peppering the ground around us. The halo blinked out and the thug fell to the floor unconscious. For a second I stood there, taking in long pained breaths as I tried to plan my next move.
A gasp caught my attention and I looked down the dune and found myself face to face with a whole squad of thugs. Their helmets kept their faces hidden from me but their trembling arms and legs were on full display. For a second, they and I simply stared at each other.
Then one of them tried to shoot me.
The rifle round caught me in the stomach but I forced the pain away. With a snarl I charged down the dune. I was amongst them within seconds. With every swing of my arm and shot fired, I remembered my promises.
I told Rin I would help Kivotos.
My blade catches a thug under the arm. It visibly dislocates but the Halo remains. A kick to the stomach solves that problem.
I told Abydos that I would help save their school.
The sword's enclosed handguard shatters another visor. The girl stumbles back and gives me enough space to empty my pistol through the open helmet slit.
I told Serika I would still be here when she got back.
A shotgun blast catches me in the shoulder. I let the momentum carry me into a spinning slash that catches the thug in the side of the helmet. The impact does not bisect the helm so much as rupture it and the girl was sent flying.
My Crew's Memories rushed to the fore and I witnessed every moment of their defiance and fury. It would be unbecoming to not match their expectations.
Failure here was not acceptable.
Falling here was not acceptable.
I would not allow defeat here, nor ever.
Arona's cry of "Watch out!" gives me enough time to jump for cover before another artillery shell burst catches me in the open.
As the ringing and pain subsides, I force myself up again. For a second, all was quiet. Then, a buzzing noise off to my starboard sees me whip around to bring my sword down on it. I managed to pull myself back at the last second as I recognized a familiar drone.
"Okusora?"
"What are you doing here?" Ayane heard Nelson as she looked over the Teacher on the screen. She looked bad. Cuts and burns dominated large portions of the Adult's uniform. Several sections were outright missing. She could spot several bruises and cuts covering the Adult. Worst of all, there was a large dark stain running down the Teacher's right side down to the top of her heels.
"Sensei!" Ayane shouted as she slammed the 'speaker' button on her drone controls. "You're hurt! Hold still for a second!" She had her drone drop the medkit it was carrying and watch as the red box dispensed the painkiller mist. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much judging by how much Nelson still winced.
"You best save that for the others." Nelson said, a frown on her face. "The healing effects of Kivotos have a diminished effect on me. Where are the others?"
"Everyone's coming to back you up!" Ayane glanced at the live map on another screen. "They should be there in a few minutes!"
"No."
The answer stunned her. "What?"
Nelson's voice was calm and even, a sharp contrast to her state. "The heavy artillery the Helmet Gang is using is still shelling my position. I suspect they intend to lure the Foreclosure Task Force with myself as the bait, then wipe everyone out with a heavy bombardment."
Nelson paused as she spun about to fire several rounds at something behind her. She heard a sharp cry of pain before Nelson turned back to the drone to finish her instructions. "The Task Force must destroy the artillery before helping me. There is a parkette 10 kilometers to my north. The fire is coming from there."
Ayane was silent. What Nelson was telling her made sense. It was the strategically sound thing to do. If the Helmet Gang had more than a few of these guns, most of the Foreclosure Task Force could be seriously hurt or worse by a sustained bombardment. Destroying the artillery first was the smart thing to do.
But what that meant for Nelson was unthinkable. The detour would add another fifteen minutes of travel time alone, never mind the time needed to fight. "Sensei... Are you sure?"
"Certain." Nelson answered, voice firm. Then she smiled, bright and confident. "Believe in your Teacher, Ms. Okusora. I will be fine. Your friend's safety comes first."
"You're our friend as well!" Ayane shouted. She wanted to say something else. Anything to convince the Teacher to accept their help. But that was the only thing that she could think of, at that moment.
Nelson stared at Ayane, gaze piercing through the digital relay. The Teacher opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, a series of detonations tore through the audio input and the video cut out.
"Sensei!" Ayane shouted, hoping for an answer even as the feedback announced her drone's destruction. She reached to switch the channel back to the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force, to urge her friends forward to help Nelson, when her hand halted. Nelson's assessments echoed in her mind. More than that, it was a simple question. Did she trust in the Adult to do as she said?
It was a few moments of hesitation before she made up her mind. She flipped the channel to speak to everyone else.
Renai moved her group of three forward over the dunes as the sand settled from the most recent barrage. They listened to her, but everyone was on edge. She couldn't fault them; she was on edge too. She didn't even have her usual squad with her. It was just anyone brave enough to try to get the reward for defeating the Adult.
From an objective perspective, this was absurd. 150 meters long, 30 meters wide. That's how large a space a single person, an Adult without a halo, was trying to hold. There were at least seventy-five members of the Helmet Gang present around the vicinity of the parking lot at the start of this entire shitshow. Another forty-six off sitting out of sight manning the artillery and tanks in reserve.
Renai wasn't book smart, having dropped out and all, but common sense said this should have been easy against everyone but the strongest of students. Monsters like Gehenna's Head Prefect. But here they were, almost an hour into this fight, and down to just eighteen members still in fighting shape. The artillery crew were down to their last few rounds. The tankers were getting nervous that they might have to go in before all of Abydos showed up. All because of one person. One haloless Adult.
Rabu had called every favour, cashed every debt, and rallied every member they had to prepare for this ambush. There wasn't anything left in reserve for a second try.
They couldn't afford for it to fail because of one Adult.
They couldn't let Rabu's efforts go to waste because of one Adult.
They had to succeed here, no matter what.
If they couldn't capture Serika then they could knock out this Adult and use her as bait. The rest of Abydos had to be running here right now to help this Adult, to rescue her. Abydos would never leave one of their allies behind. The Helmet Gang might not have the bodies to attack them en-masse anymore, but they still had artillery and they still had tanks. They could knock out enough of Abydos for the Helmet Gang to capture the school.
Renai believed it with all her heart. She had to believe it. The other possibilities and what it meant for them weren't something she could even consider.
"There!" One of the thugs with her shouted, pointing at a spot amongst the dune. She looked closely and spotted the Adult laying in the sand, face down. The uniform was in tatters and the only thing that seemed fine was the backpack, even if it was missing a strap.
The thug that spotted the Adult slowly approached the still body and nudged their side with their foot. Nothing. A prod from the shotgun barrel. Nothing. The thug turned to give Renai a thumbs up. "I think we got h-"
It was too fast for her to notice. One second the Adult was lying down, still. The next second, she had grabbed the girl by the ankle and thrown her to the side. The thug screamed as she sailed away, stopping only when she slammed into a building.
Renai and the rest of the thugs with her stared in horror as the Adult pushed themselves up, the sand pouring off their body like rivers of water. An unnatural chill set over the area, something that settled deep in her bones beyond the cold desert night. A half-broken cutlass, glinting silver in the moonlight, was still gripped in their hand. As the Adult looked up, Renai could see electric-blue eyes glowing in the moonlight from behind the veil of long blonde hair. The eyes scanned side to side slowly, looking for them.
Renai's had to force herself to breath as she froze in place. She knew fear. This wasn't it. It was something primal and old; the terror of prey in the face of a predator.
One of the girls panicked and took a step back. As she stumbled back, she slipped on the loose sand and fell backwards with a clatter. The noise echoed out over the empty lot. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the Adult's head turned slowly like a turret in their direction. Everyone was dead silent as the blue eyes locked onto them, hoping they had escaped notice. Then panic was truly felt when the Adult took a step towards them. Then another. And another. Renai wasn't sure if it was just her mind but she swore the sand jumped with every step.
She wasn't going to be here to find out though. As everyone with her broke and ran, she grabbed her radio and shouted into it. "Tanks! SEND IN THE TANKS!"
"No."
Everyone looked at her as Serika gave her answer.
"Why?" Ayane asked, confusion clear in her voice. "Nelson-sensei was right. We need to destroy the artillery first or else we might all get hurt."
Serika growled in annoyance. "Because I told her I would be coming back for her after finding you guys! I found you, so I'm going back!"
There were a lot of emotions bubbling in Serika's heart. She couldn't name all of them, so she focused on the one that came the most easily to her. Anger. Anger that her day had gone so disastrously wrong. Anger that she had left Nelson behind. Anger that she was being told to turn on her word. It wasn't the best choice, but it was the choice that would keep her going.
"But-" Ayane began, only for Hoshino to cut off their elvish operator with a sharp "Wait.".
As silence filled the intersection, Hoshino looked at her with a hard stare. "You'd run off even if we got you to agree, wouldn't you?"
"What do you think?" Serika snapped back, ears twitching as she matched the tiny president's stare with her own.
The two continued their stare down for a few moments, before Hoshino sighed and looked away. "We'll split up."
"Wait?!" "Are you sure?" "Nn." Ayane, Nonomi, and Shiroko all cried in surprise even as Serika gaped at the pinkette.
"Yeah." Hoshino scratched the back of her head as she looked around. "If Serika's going to run off by herself anyways, then we might as well split up. Shiroko?"
"Yes?"
"Make sure Sensei and Serika stay safe."
"OK."
"Alright, Ayane," Hoshino drawled as she rested her shotgun against her shoulder. "Nonomi and I will take care of those artillery guns, while Serika and Shiroko go help Nelson-Sensei. Try to keep an eye on both of us and drop off what supplies you can."
"You're really making this hard for me, you know!" Ayane said, exasperated but not rejecting the idea.
With that, the two pairs dashed in different directions. Serika hoped that they would make it in time.
It took ten minutes for Shiroko and Serika to get to the edge of the parking lot. At first, they encountered some more Helmet Gang thugs that were raring for a fight. For a moment, it seemed like they would have to struggle through the final cordon. But if that's what they would have to do, then that's what they would have to do.
Then, as they got closer, the demeanour of the thugs changed. At first they seemed jumpier than normal. Then the walking wounded showed up, panicking and running away at the sight of both of them. Then, as they got to within a block or two of the parking lot, it was a full-on rout. The thugs didn't even seem to acknowledge the two of them, busy running away or dragging as many of their friends with them as possible.
For a moment, Shiroko worried what this meant for their errant Teacher. Whatever happened was horrifying and terrible enough to spook this many people. The list of things that could cause such panic was small and she didn't want to bet on which one it was.
What Serika and her saw though, as they entered the edge of the parking lot though, was beyond her wildest imaginations. She heard Serika mutter a "What the hell?" in shock as they took in the scene.
The parking lot, to put it simply, was no longer there. It was a ruined scar of sand and asphalt, ripped into the earth of Abydos. Unconscious Helmet Gang thugs were everywhere they looked; lying in the sand, draped over fences, thrown through windows, and draped over each other. Craters from artillery shell barrages tore gouges into the sand and dirt. What they didn't see, or hear, was fighting. Aside from the crackle of flames and the distant sound of gunfire, it was dead silent.
"Damn it," Serika swore as she slung her rifle behind her and ran into the parking lot. "She's got to still be here! Come on, help me look for her!"
Shiroko nodded and followed the catgirl into the parking lot. As they climbed over a dune, she could spot the wrecks of two Crusader tanks sitting in the sand. The closer one, perched halfway up a dune, was missing its turret and had fire still licking out of the vehicle's hatches. With the unconscious crew lying around it with burned uniforms, it told the story of an ammo detonation. Who knew where the turret was now.
As Serika moved to check the area around the closer tank, Shiroko moved to the further one. She could only see the rear during their approach, but the torn off wheel spoke of something particularly violent occurring. As she got closer, she could see what happened. She thought she had been approaching the back of the turret. Now that she was next to it, she realized she was looking at the destroyed front of the turret.
She wasn't sure how but Nelson had cut open the turret face and ripped the cannon, along with the mantlet, right out of the tank. Then, if the impact marks told the story right, she used it to smash in the roof of the turret and engine. What happened to the cannon after, she didn't know. The crew were nowhere to be found as well, and she guessed they ran away.
"Shiroko," Serika's voice crackled on her ear piece. "Do you see her anywhere?!"
She decided against pointing out the panic in the catgirl's voice. Serika probably felt horrible enough as is. She was about to answer when the clouds blew past, and moonlight fell upon the parking lot again. In the distance, not too far from her, was a glint of silver.
She ignored the cries from Serika as she ran across the sand, climbed up a large dune, and looked down at the expanse before her. There, sitting on the hood of an abandoned half buried car, was Nelson. The Adult was in bad shape. What was left of the uniform was stained with gunpowder, blood, and sand. The backpack the Adult wore everywhere was barely hanging on with one strap missing.
The silver glint caught Shiroko's eye again and she followed it to the sword in Nelson's hand. There was barely a quarter left, and it was still held in her left hand and left to rest on her shoulder where it caught the moonlight. It was like using a signal mirror, Shiroko realized. A last-ditch effort for anyone to notice her.
She part ran, part slid, down the dune towards the Teacher as quickly as she could. Clearing the last bit of even sand, she came to a stop next to Nelson. Shiroko couldn't quite see if she was breathing or not, so she reached out to check her pulse. As soon as her hand brushed against the Adult's shoulder though, Nelson suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Slowly, the Adult turned her head to look at her. Shiroko swore she heard metal grinding against metal from the slow and unyielding action. But it was when the Teacher's eyes fell on her that she felt her breath catch in her throat. Nelson's eyes faintly glowed almost electric blue in the light of the moon, and there was not a hint of recognition behind them. Rather there was something that hungered in them. The cold touch of the hand around her wrist felt magnified by the uncaring stare looking into her eyes. Then the clouds blew back in and the Adult blinked.
When Nelson opened her eyes again, they were back to their normal blue-grey and a note of confusion and concern could be seen in them. "Shiroko what…" Nelson's voice was a discordant rumble, like two mistimed and off-tune audio tracks. The Adult paused, taking a breath to continue speaking. "What are you…" Shiroko's ear twitched as a raking cough passed through Nelson, her body shuddering from the effort. She couldn't quite pin it, but something about that quality just changed and aligned.
"What are you doing here?" The strange quality was gone, but Nelson's voice still sounded awful. It was hoarse and whisper quiet. "Where is everyone else?"
"Serika," Shiroko said, switching her headset's channel to the one shared by all of Abydos. "I found Sensei. She's… alive."
Nelson chuckled dryly at that assessment. She started to talk, only for a bout of coughing to interrupt her. Finally she managed to croak out a quiet, "A fair description."
The sound of Serika scrambling over the dune interrupted any further conversation. The catgirl spotted the two of them and she part slid, part ran down the dune, before coming to a stop in front of Nelson. As the catgirl looked at the Adult, her expression flipped between anger, guilt, and horror.
Shiroko wasn't sure whether Nelson noticed as well, but it certainly didn't stop the adult from beaming at the girl. "I gave my word that I would still be here, did I not?"
"I can't believe you made me worried about you!" Serika cried, before punching the Teacher in the arm. There wasn't really any force behind it, but both her and Serika flinched when Nelson grimaced from the impact.
"Speaking of-" Nelson said, as she looked around. "Is everyone here?"
Shiroko shook her head in response. "Hoshino and Nonomi are dealing with the artillery guns."
"What you mean to say," Hoshino said over her headset, "is that we already dealt with the artillery! Nonomi and I are heading over to where you guys are now!"
One of Ayane's drones descended from the sky, zooming to get a closer look at the Adult. Shiroko could hear Ayane choke on her headset before speaking. "Shiroko, Serika! You two need to get Sensei out of there now! She needs medical attention!"
Ayane hadn't even finished speaking before Serika growled and grabbed Nelson's free hand. "We have to get you to a doctor or a hospital or something!"
Serika slipped herself under Nelson's arm and tried to pull the adult into a standing position. She visibly strained at the effort, before the Adult sighed and forced herself onto her feet. "Please, Ms. Kuromi. I assure you and everyone that I can get back on my own power."
Nelson took two swaying steps. And then, she stopped. Slowly, the Adult tipped over and then, with a solemn finality, she slammed face first into the sand.
Ayane was silent. Shiroko was silent. Serika was silent, but only for a second. Then she scrambled over to where the Adult had fallen.
"Sensei!" Serika's cry echoed out into the night.
A shadowed robotic Adult, sitting in the executive office of a high-rise, looked over the city beneath him through the windows. As was proper, he was above the rabble here. Even if a certain thug had forced him to wait for a well overdue report. As he pondered the reliability of youth, his phone rang. He let it ring once, twice, and then he picked up.
"Well? Did you do your job?" he demanded before the person on the other end could speak; his even baritone voice betraying no hint of thought or emotion.
A young girl's voice on the other end stuttered. "Boss, we… we couldn't."
"You failed, even with all the equipment we so graciously provided?"
The girl let out a startled "eep" at the summary. "We tried, OK! But they have some monster on their side!"
He scoffed. "I thought you were above childish fantasies, Komakaze."
"It's real!" The girl shouted, a rare moment of defiance. "It was some Adult! She took on almost the entire gang by herself and destroyed two tanks with a SWORD! An actual LITERAL sword!"
He scoffed, the sharp noise echoing in his empty office. "Next you'll tell me they can shoot lasers from their eyes and fire artillery cannons one handed."
"Don't try to make excuses for your failure." He continued with a sharp tut. "You and your gang should have been more than enough for just a group of students even if they had an Adult with them."
Silence was his answer. It stretched for a moment before the girl responded. "There is no gang. Not anymore. The Helmet Gang's done. We're not recovering from tonight. Everyone's either left or going to leave. We signed up to beat up a school, not whatever the fuck tonight was."
"I fail to see how that's my problem." He said, and hung up. He sighed, as he rubbed his temple in frustration. This is what he got for hiring children to do proper work.
"You'd think a gang of students would be able to handle some other students." He muttered to himself, plotting his next plan of action. "If this is the situation, I'll simply have to enlist the services of more skilled professionals."
He pulled up the contacts on his burner phone, and scrolled over to a certain contact. The phone rang once, twice, and then someone picked up.
"Hello," A girl's voice answered, cooler and more composed. "Problem Solver 68. We'll do the crime if you've got the dime."
He chuckled at the inflated greeting, but answered them as proper. "I have two jobs for you, my dear fixers. A clean-up, and a shakedown."
AN: Did you know machine gun barrels will typically get so hot that they set the furniture around them on fire before they explosively fail? As far as I can tell, your average air cooled machine gun only actually can fire about a thousand rounds in rapid succession before the barrel or bolt locking mechanisms experience structural failure. So half an hour of extended fighting with the same barrel will definitely do it.
This chapter may have some answers. It may have some questions. We'll see where things go.
Thanks to my friend for beta reading!
"NELSON-SENSEI DID WHAT?!" Ayane's shriek echoed through all their ear pieces. Shiroko couldn't stop her ears from folding flat at the sudden noise. She noticed that Serika's cat ears did the same, while Hoshino and Nonomi merely flinched. She could faintly hear an echo throughout the quiet neighborhood around the reinforced house.
Serika shook her head and hissed, stomping her fate to emphasize her point, "She's trying to hold off the Helmet Gang by herself!"
"Can she even do that?" Ayane muttered, voice clearly in shock. "She doesn't even have a halo!"
"Nn," Shiroko shook her head. "She can. Sensei is tough."
The machine gun shrieked as I swept it from left to right, knocking a few of the Thugs down. I could see the barrel glowing lightly in the night as it struggled to keep up the fire. The heat of the metal through the shroud was starting to cause my hand to shake and affect my aim. It was almost the end for this gun.
I just had to hold for a bit longer. It had been slightly over half an hour. Serika should have made contact with the rest of Abydos and was on their way back. This was OK. This was fine. Just something to laugh about later, over how close things got to being bad.
Murphy must have been listening because the machine gun decided this was its moment to explode.
Serika looked like she wanted to say something to Ayane, but stopped at the last moment. After a moment of uncertain silence, the catgirl answered. "I… I don't know! She was really beat up the last time I saw her!"
"To think the situation was this bad..." Shiroko heard Hoshino mumble, "I was wondering why she would send me a DM from the Official Schale Instaberry account rather than her Momotalk..."
"We have to help her!" Nonomi declared, grabbing her minigun and rushing in the direction Serika came from, only to be stopped as Hoshino grabbed her by the arm.
"What we need to do is to act as a team." Hoshino said, voice cool and steeled. "If we rush in half-cocked, we might distract her instead of help her. Ayane, have your drones fly ahead and try to reach Sensei. Once we know how she's doing, we'll figure out what to do from there. Got it?"
Shiroko nodded, while the rest of Abydos answered with a range of acknowledgement. At that, Hoshino nodded and pointed in the direction Serika came from. "Abydos! Let's go save our Teacher!"
The machine gun was useless as a gun now. I didn't have a spare barrel on hand and, with the barrel shroud torn open, I wasn't even sure if I could rotate the receiver to access the barrel. But what it still was, however, was a particularly large and heavy chunk of metal and wood.
Something that the first thug coming from my port side became acquainted with as I swung the weapon like a club, grabbing it by the shroud with two hands. The heavy wood and steel stock met the side of her helmet and shattered it, sending her flying away. I ignored where she landed as the next thug backpedaled away to gain distance. Commendable.
It didn't help her at all when a hammer throw sent the machinegun sailing through the air and into her visor.
Shiroko heard Serika make an indignant angry noise as she ducked behind cover, the ping of rifle fire ricocheting off the car echoing into the night. A second later, her drone took to the air and unleashed a barrage of rockets into the Helmet Gang's rearguard. Several of the Thugs were sent flying while a few managed to weather the storm.
Not that it helped when Hoshino leapt over their cover, shotgun at the ready. A few rapid blasts dispatched them. It was brutal work, but they were on a timer. Any fights that could be forced through needed to be forced through.
"Ayane!" She heard Hoshino call as the four of them continued pushing forward. "Have you made contact with Sensei yet?"
"No!" Ayane's voice buzzed over their headset. "There's a lot of sand from the blasts and artillery covering the parking lot. I have to bring the drones closer to the ground to try to find her!"
"Come on!" Serika shouted as she ran ahead. "We have to keep going!"
With the machine gun now thoroughly gone, I brought a sword and pistol from my stores with a twist of my will. With my left-hand aching as bad as it did, I doubt I could do any precision shooting with a rifle. But I could still grip a handle, and I could still swing my arm.
The alarm came almost a moment too late. An artillery shell bursting nearby almost knocked me to my feet. Blue hexagons flaring to life around me protected me from the worst of the shrapnel, but the force of the detonation shifting the sands was enough to drop me to one knee.
"I think I found them!"
I sucked in a breath and forced the pain down. I avoided a direct hit, but the pain of being jostled about was getting a bit much. However, that last barrage gave me the final bit of information Arona needed to triangulate where their Flak 41s were shooting me from. Now I just needed a way to reach them.
I forced myself back onto two feet. I still had duties left to fulfill, and I would not be found lacking. Another pair of thugs crested a hill. They froze as my gaze focused on them. Another obstacle. With a wordless growl I forced my feet forward and pushed towards them.
"What… is this?" Shiroko heard Ayane say, the shock bleeding through unfiltered.
Nonomi had a worried frown now when she asked "Did you find Sensei?!"
"No." Ayane answered. "But I know where she should be heading."
"What's the situation, Ayane?" Hoshino snapped; voice tight.
There was a long pause, before the elven Secretary finally answered. "There's a line of destruction, moving straight away from where Serika last saw her."
The thug behind the leading automatic rifle carrying girl fell as I emptied the entire magazine into her. The lead panicked and started to scramble away, only to stumble and trip over the comatose form of her partner. Good. She who dares, wins.
Without letting up, I pushed up the dune and smashed the butt of my pistol into the top of her helmet as she tried to stand up. The protective wear shattered, splinters peppering the ground around us. The halo blinked out and the thug fell to the floor unconscious. For a second I stood there, taking in long pained breaths as I tried to plan my next move.
A gasp caught my attention and I looked down the dune and found myself face to face with a whole squad of thugs. Their helmets kept their faces hidden from me but their trembling arms and legs were on full display. For a second, they and I simply stared at each other.
Then one of them tried to shoot me.
The rifle round caught me in the stomach but I forced the pain away. With a snarl I charged down the dune. I was amongst them within seconds. With every swing of my arm and shot fired, I remembered my promises.
I told Rin I would help Kivotos.
My blade catches a thug under the arm. It visibly dislocates but the Halo remains. A kick to the stomach solves that problem.
I told Abydos that I would help save their school.
The sword's enclosed handguard shatters another visor. The girl stumbles back and gives me enough space to empty my pistol through the open helmet slit.
I told Serika I would still be here when she got back.
A shotgun blast catches me in the shoulder. I let the momentum carry me into a spinning slash that catches the thug in the side of the helmet. The impact does not bisect the helm so much as rupture it and the girl was sent flying.
My Crew's Memories rushed to the fore and I witnessed every moment of their defiance and fury. It would be unbecoming to not match their expectations.
Failure here was not acceptable.
Falling here was not acceptable.
I would not allow defeat here, nor ever.
Arona's cry of "Watch out!" gives me enough time to jump for cover before another artillery shell burst catches me in the open.
As the ringing and pain subsides, I force myself up again. For a second, all was quiet. Then, a buzzing noise off to my starboard sees me whip around to bring my sword down on it. I managed to pull myself back at the last second as I recognized a familiar drone.
"Okusora?"
"What are you doing here?" Ayane heard Nelson as she looked over the Teacher on the screen. She looked bad. Cuts and burns dominated large portions of the Adult's uniform. Several sections were outright missing. She could spot several bruises and cuts covering the Adult. Worst of all, there was a large dark stain running down the Teacher's right side down to the top of her heels.
"Sensei!" Ayane shouted as she slammed the 'speaker' button on her drone controls. "You're hurt! Hold still for a second!" She had her drone drop the medkit it was carrying and watch as the red box dispensed the painkiller mist. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much judging by how much Nelson still winced.
"You best save that for the others." Nelson said, a frown on her face. "The healing effects of Kivotos have a diminished effect on me. Where are the others?"
"Everyone's coming to back you up!" Ayane glanced at the live map on another screen. "They should be there in a few minutes!"
"No."
The answer stunned her. "What?"
Nelson's voice was calm and even, a sharp contrast to her state. "The heavy artillery the Helmet Gang is using is still shelling my position. I suspect they intend to lure the Foreclosure Task Force with myself as the bait, then wipe everyone out with a heavy bombardment."
Nelson paused as she spun about to fire several rounds at something behind her. She heard a sharp cry of pain before Nelson turned back to the drone to finish her instructions. "The Task Force must destroy the artillery before helping me. There is a parkette 10 kilometers to my north. The fire is coming from there."
Ayane was silent. What Nelson was telling her made sense. It was the strategically sound thing to do. If the Helmet Gang had more than a few of these guns, most of the Foreclosure Task Force could be seriously hurt or worse by a sustained bombardment. Destroying the artillery first was the smart thing to do.
But what that meant for Nelson was unthinkable. The detour would add another fifteen minutes of travel time alone, never mind the time needed to fight. "Sensei... Are you sure?"
"Certain." Nelson answered, voice firm. Then she smiled, bright and confident. "Believe in your Teacher, Ms. Okusora. I will be fine. Your friend's safety comes first."
"You're our friend as well!" Ayane shouted. She wanted to say something else. Anything to convince the Teacher to accept their help. But that was the only thing that she could think of, at that moment.
Nelson stared at Ayane, gaze piercing through the digital relay. The Teacher opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, a series of detonations tore through the audio input and the video cut out.
"Sensei!" Ayane shouted, hoping for an answer even as the feedback announced her drone's destruction. She reached to switch the channel back to the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force, to urge her friends forward to help Nelson, when her hand halted. Nelson's assessments echoed in her mind. More than that, it was a simple question. Did she trust in the Adult to do as she said?
It was a few moments of hesitation before she made up her mind. She flipped the channel to speak to everyone else.
Renai moved her group of three forward over the dunes as the sand settled from the most recent barrage. They listened to her, but everyone was on edge. She couldn't fault them; she was on edge too. She didn't even have her usual squad with her. It was just anyone brave enough to try to get the reward for defeating the Adult.
From an objective perspective, this was absurd. 150 meters long, 30 meters wide. That's how large a space a single person, an Adult without a halo, was trying to hold. There were at least seventy-five members of the Helmet Gang present around the vicinity of the parking lot at the start of this entire shitshow. Another forty-six off sitting out of sight manning the artillery and tanks in reserve.
Renai wasn't book smart, having dropped out and all, but common sense said this should have been easy against everyone but the strongest of students. Monsters like Gehenna's Head Prefect. But here they were, almost an hour into this fight, and down to just eighteen members still in fighting shape. The artillery crew were down to their last few rounds. The tankers were getting nervous that they might have to go in before all of Abydos showed up. All because of one person. One haloless Adult.
Rabu had called every favour, cashed every debt, and rallied every member they had to prepare for this ambush. There wasn't anything left in reserve for a second try.
They couldn't afford for it to fail because of one Adult.
They couldn't let Rabu's efforts go to waste because of one Adult.
They had to succeed here, no matter what.
If they couldn't capture Serika then they could knock out this Adult and use her as bait. The rest of Abydos had to be running here right now to help this Adult, to rescue her. Abydos would never leave one of their allies behind. The Helmet Gang might not have the bodies to attack them en-masse anymore, but they still had artillery and they still had tanks. They could knock out enough of Abydos for the Helmet Gang to capture the school.
Renai believed it with all her heart. She had to believe it. The other possibilities and what it meant for them weren't something she could even consider.
"There!" One of the thugs with her shouted, pointing at a spot amongst the dune. She looked closely and spotted the Adult laying in the sand, face down. The uniform was in tatters and the only thing that seemed fine was the backpack, even if it was missing a strap.
The thug that spotted the Adult slowly approached the still body and nudged their side with their foot. Nothing. A prod from the shotgun barrel. Nothing. The thug turned to give Renai a thumbs up. "I think we got h-"
It was too fast for her to notice. One second the Adult was lying down, still. The next second, she had grabbed the girl by the ankle and thrown her to the side. The thug screamed as she sailed away, stopping only when she slammed into a building.
Renai and the rest of the thugs with her stared in horror as the Adult pushed themselves up, the sand pouring off their body like rivers of water. An unnatural chill set over the area, something that settled deep in her bones beyond the cold desert night. A half-broken cutlass, glinting silver in the moonlight, was still gripped in their hand. As the Adult looked up, Renai could see electric-blue eyes glowing in the moonlight from behind the veil of long blonde hair. The eyes scanned side to side slowly, looking for them.
Renai's had to force herself to breath as she froze in place. She knew fear. This wasn't it. It was something primal and old; the terror of prey in the face of a predator.
One of the girls panicked and took a step back. As she stumbled back, she slipped on the loose sand and fell backwards with a clatter. The noise echoed out over the empty lot. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the Adult's head turned slowly like a turret in their direction. Everyone was dead silent as the blue eyes locked onto them, hoping they had escaped notice. Then panic was truly felt when the Adult took a step towards them. Then another. And another. Renai wasn't sure if it was just her mind but she swore the sand jumped with every step.
She wasn't going to be here to find out though. As everyone with her broke and ran, she grabbed her radio and shouted into it. "Tanks! SEND IN THE TANKS!"
"No."
Everyone looked at her as Serika gave her answer.
"Why?" Ayane asked, confusion clear in her voice. "Nelson-sensei was right. We need to destroy the artillery first or else we might all get hurt."
Serika growled in annoyance. "Because I told her I would be coming back for her after finding you guys! I found you, so I'm going back!"
There were a lot of emotions bubbling in Serika's heart. She couldn't name all of them, so she focused on the one that came the most easily to her. Anger. Anger that her day had gone so disastrously wrong. Anger that she had left Nelson behind. Anger that she was being told to turn on her word. It wasn't the best choice, but it was the choice that would keep her going.
"But-" Ayane began, only for Hoshino to cut off their elvish operator with a sharp "Wait.".
As silence filled the intersection, Hoshino looked at her with a hard stare. "You'd run off even if we got you to agree, wouldn't you?"
"What do you think?" Serika snapped back, ears twitching as she matched the tiny president's stare with her own.
The two continued their stare down for a few moments, before Hoshino sighed and looked away. "We'll split up."
"Wait?!" "Are you sure?" "Nn." Ayane, Nonomi, and Shiroko all cried in surprise even as Serika gaped at the pinkette.
"Yeah." Hoshino scratched the back of her head as she looked around. "If Serika's going to run off by herself anyways, then we might as well split up. Shiroko?"
"Yes?"
"Make sure Sensei and Serika stay safe."
"OK."
"Alright, Ayane," Hoshino drawled as she rested her shotgun against her shoulder. "Nonomi and I will take care of those artillery guns, while Serika and Shiroko go help Nelson-Sensei. Try to keep an eye on both of us and drop off what supplies you can."
"You're really making this hard for me, you know!" Ayane said, exasperated but not rejecting the idea.
With that, the two pairs dashed in different directions. Serika hoped that they would make it in time.
It took ten minutes for Shiroko and Serika to get to the edge of the parking lot. At first, they encountered some more Helmet Gang thugs that were raring for a fight. For a moment, it seemed like they would have to struggle through the final cordon. But if that's what they would have to do, then that's what they would have to do.
Then, as they got closer, the demeanour of the thugs changed. At first they seemed jumpier than normal. Then the walking wounded showed up, panicking and running away at the sight of both of them. Then, as they got to within a block or two of the parking lot, it was a full-on rout. The thugs didn't even seem to acknowledge the two of them, busy running away or dragging as many of their friends with them as possible.
For a moment, Shiroko worried what this meant for their errant Teacher. Whatever happened was horrifying and terrible enough to spook this many people. The list of things that could cause such panic was small and she didn't want to bet on which one it was.
What Serika and her saw though, as they entered the edge of the parking lot though, was beyond her wildest imaginations. She heard Serika mutter a "What the hell?" in shock as they took in the scene.
The parking lot, to put it simply, was no longer there. It was a ruined scar of sand and asphalt, ripped into the earth of Abydos. Unconscious Helmet Gang thugs were everywhere they looked; lying in the sand, draped over fences, thrown through windows, and draped over each other. Craters from artillery shell barrages tore gouges into the sand and dirt. What they didn't see, or hear, was fighting. Aside from the crackle of flames and the distant sound of gunfire, it was dead silent.
"Damn it," Serika swore as she slung her rifle behind her and ran into the parking lot. "She's got to still be here! Come on, help me look for her!"
Shiroko nodded and followed the catgirl into the parking lot. As they climbed over a dune, she could spot the wrecks of two Crusader tanks sitting in the sand. The closer one, perched halfway up a dune, was missing its turret and had fire still licking out of the vehicle's hatches. With the unconscious crew lying around it with burned uniforms, it told the story of an ammo detonation. Who knew where the turret was now.
As Serika moved to check the area around the closer tank, Shiroko moved to the further one. She could only see the rear during their approach, but the torn off wheel spoke of something particularly violent occurring. As she got closer, she could see what happened. She thought she had been approaching the back of the turret. Now that she was next to it, she realized she was looking at the destroyed front of the turret.
She wasn't sure how but Nelson had cut open the turret face and ripped the cannon, along with the mantlet, right out of the tank. Then, if the impact marks told the story right, she used it to smash in the roof of the turret and engine. What happened to the cannon after, she didn't know. The crew were nowhere to be found as well, and she guessed they ran away.
"Shiroko," Serika's voice crackled on her ear piece. "Do you see her anywhere?!"
She decided against pointing out the panic in the catgirl's voice. Serika probably felt horrible enough as is. She was about to answer when the clouds blew past, and moonlight fell upon the parking lot again. In the distance, not too far from her, was a glint of silver.
She ignored the cries from Serika as she ran across the sand, climbed up a large dune, and looked down at the expanse before her. There, sitting on the hood of an abandoned half buried car, was Nelson. The Adult was in bad shape. What was left of the uniform was stained with gunpowder, blood, and sand. The backpack the Adult wore everywhere was barely hanging on with one strap missing.
The silver glint caught Shiroko's eye again and she followed it to the sword in Nelson's hand. There was barely a quarter left, and it was still held in her left hand and left to rest on her shoulder where it caught the moonlight. It was like using a signal mirror, Shiroko realized. A last-ditch effort for anyone to notice her.
She part ran, part slid, down the dune towards the Teacher as quickly as she could. Clearing the last bit of even sand, she came to a stop next to Nelson. Shiroko couldn't quite see if she was breathing or not, so she reached out to check her pulse. As soon as her hand brushed against the Adult's shoulder though, Nelson suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Slowly, the Adult turned her head to look at her. Shiroko swore she heard metal grinding against metal from the slow and unyielding action. But it was when the Teacher's eyes fell on her that she felt her breath catch in her throat. Nelson's eyes faintly glowed almost electric blue in the light of the moon, and there was not a hint of recognition behind them. Rather there was something that hungered in them. The cold touch of the hand around her wrist felt magnified by the uncaring stare looking into her eyes. Then the clouds blew back in and the Adult blinked.
When Nelson opened her eyes again, they were back to their normal blue-grey and a note of confusion and concern could be seen in them. "Shiroko what…" Nelson's voice was a discordant rumble, like two mistimed and off-tune audio tracks. The Adult paused, taking a breath to continue speaking. "What are you…" Shiroko's ear twitched as a raking cough passed through Nelson, her body shuddering from the effort. She couldn't quite pin it, but something about that quality just changed and aligned.
"What are you doing here?" The strange quality was gone, but Nelson's voice still sounded awful. It was hoarse and whisper quiet. "Where is everyone else?"
"Serika," Shiroko said, switching her headset's channel to the one shared by all of Abydos. "I found Sensei. She's… alive."
Nelson chuckled dryly at that assessment. She started to talk, only for a bout of coughing to interrupt her. Finally she managed to croak out a quiet, "A fair description."
The sound of Serika scrambling over the dune interrupted any further conversation. The catgirl spotted the two of them and she part slid, part ran down the dune, before coming to a stop in front of Nelson. As the catgirl looked at the Adult, her expression flipped between anger, guilt, and horror.
Shiroko wasn't sure whether Nelson noticed as well, but it certainly didn't stop the adult from beaming at the girl. "I gave my word that I would still be here, did I not?"
"I can't believe you made me worried about you!" Serika cried, before punching the Teacher in the arm. There wasn't really any force behind it, but both her and Serika flinched when Nelson grimaced from the impact.
"Speaking of-" Nelson said, as she looked around. "Is everyone here?"
Shiroko shook her head in response. "Hoshino and Nonomi are dealing with the artillery guns."
"What you mean to say," Hoshino said over her headset, "is that we already dealt with the artillery! Nonomi and I are heading over to where you guys are now!"
One of Ayane's drones descended from the sky, zooming to get a closer look at the Adult. Shiroko could hear Ayane choke on her headset before speaking. "Shiroko, Serika! You two need to get Sensei out of there now! She needs medical attention!"
Ayane hadn't even finished speaking before Serika growled and grabbed Nelson's free hand. "We have to get you to a doctor or a hospital or something!"
Serika slipped herself under Nelson's arm and tried to pull the adult into a standing position. She visibly strained at the effort, before the Adult sighed and forced herself onto her feet. "Please, Ms. Kuromi. I assure you and everyone that I can get back on my own power."
Nelson took two swaying steps. And then, she stopped. Slowly, the Adult tipped over and then, with a solemn finality, she slammed face first into the sand.
Ayane was silent. Shiroko was silent. Serika was silent, but only for a second. Then she scrambled over to where the Adult had fallen.
"Sensei!" Serika's cry echoed out into the night.
A shadowed robotic Adult, sitting in the executive office of a high-rise, looked over the city beneath him through the windows. As was proper, he was above the rabble here. Even if a certain thug had forced him to wait for a well overdue report. As he pondered the reliability of youth, his phone rang. He let it ring once, twice, and then he picked up.
"Well? Did you do your job?" he demanded before the person on the other end could speak; his even baritone voice betraying no hint of thought or emotion.
A young girl's voice on the other end stuttered. "Boss, we… we couldn't."
"You failed, even with all the equipment we so graciously provided?"
The girl let out a startled "eep" at the summary. "We tried, OK! But they have some monster on their side!"
He scoffed. "I thought you were above childish fantasies, Komakaze."
"It's real!" The girl shouted, a rare moment of defiance. "It was some Adult! She took on almost the entire gang by herself and destroyed two tanks with a SWORD! An actual LITERAL sword!"
He scoffed, the sharp noise echoing in his empty office. "Next you'll tell me they can shoot lasers from their eyes and fire artillery cannons one handed."
"Don't try to make excuses for your failure." He continued with a sharp tut. "You and your gang should have been more than enough for just a group of students even if they had an Adult with them."
Silence was his answer. It stretched for a moment before the girl responded. "There is no gang. Not anymore. The Helmet Gang's done. We're not recovering from tonight. Everyone's either left or going to leave. We signed up to beat up a school, not whatever the fuck tonight was."
"I fail to see how that's my problem." He said, and hung up. He sighed, as he rubbed his temple in frustration. This is what he got for hiring children to do proper work.
"You'd think a gang of students would be able to handle some other students." He muttered to himself, plotting his next plan of action. "If this is the situation, I'll simply have to enlist the services of more skilled professionals."
He pulled up the contacts on his burner phone, and scrolled over to a certain contact. The phone rang once, twice, and then someone picked up.
"Hello," A girl's voice answered, cooler and more composed. "Problem Solver 68. We'll do the crime if you've got the dime."
He chuckled at the inflated greeting, but answered them as proper. "I have two jobs for you, my dear fixers. A clean-up, and a shakedown."
AN: Did you know machine gun barrels will typically get so hot that they set the furniture around them on fire before they explosively fail? As far as I can tell, your average air cooled machine gun only actually can fire about a thousand rounds in rapid succession before the barrel or bolt locking mechanisms experience structural failure. So half an hour of extended fighting with the same barrel will definitely do it.
This chapter may have some answers. It may have some questions. We'll see where things go.
Thanks to my friend for beta reading!
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- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
Well it is official, Nelson is a walking terminator and mummy reference. They nearly had her go full abyssal there which might as well be a bad end. They might need to have the medical school airlift her because I don't think they will be able to pull her out of the sand right now.
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
I'm sure Nelson will appreciate the airlift, given her opinion on helicopters.
- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
Better than becoming a mummy at least. Just wait for when the film club hears about this. They would likely be all over her in a heartbeat. Action! Drama! Mummies! Killer Robots! Explosions! It will be a block buster.
Well I assume that place has a film club. They have a club for just about everything else.
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
Following some discussion on the SpaceBattles thread, there's been a extension to the Helmet Gang PoV to give a look into why they kept on going after Nelson. There was some sentiments and intent in my planning that that wasn't being properly conveyed by my writing, so hopefully this new section makes it completely clear.
Ch. 13 - The Quiet Conversation
- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
Vol 1. Chapter 6 – Beset's Invoker
"Next Stop, Profundum Ward. Profundum Ward."
The calm digital tone of the announcer snapped Shiroko out of her nap. As she jolted awake, the movement shuffled and pushed Serika's head off her shoulder. The catgirl rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before looking around.
"We're here?"
"Nn." Shiroko intoned with a nod, moving to grab their belongings off the bag racks above their seats. "It's a short walk from the station to the Schale Building."
Serika's eyes narrowed at the description, before she asked, "An actual short walk, or one of your short walks?"
Her tone wasn't quite accusatory, but Shiroko understood. She liked to exercise, so her tolerance for distances wasn't the same as everyone else's. It had caused a few issues in the past, and Serika had certainly been there for more than a few of them. "Only ten minutes."
Serika stared at her, suspicion clear in her eyes, before she harrumphed and took the bag from Shiroko's grip. "Then let's get going. We need to make sure that Teacher isn't doing something stupid again."
"OK, follow me." Shiroko said, making her way to the train's exit into the station. As she stepped off, Shiroko blinked as a wave of people greeted her. She didn't have many chances to explore outside of Abydos, given the circumstances, so there was something novel about being in a place with so many people.
Her companion clearly didn't share her sentiment. Serika's eyes darted from crowd to crowd before she growled in annoyance. "Do we have to get through all of them?"
Shiroko shook her head and checked her phone. It was a bit more mazelike than the Abydos station, but she supposed even the smaller stations in D.U would be far larger than the stations still running in Abydos. With a grunt, she started walking towards one of the coloured exit signs, Serika following close behind her. Fortunately, with the map on her phone, they should be fine.
"We're here." Shiroko announced, staring up at the clean white building. It was an easy walk once they made their way onto the surface. Unlike Abydos, D.U was well kept and orderly. It was simply a matter of following the signs and walking towards the tower with the huge halo over it. Easy.
Serika seemed to have a different opinion, as she was visibly strained. She didn't look exhausted but the pace Shiroko took was clearly faster than what the catgirl expected. Serika looked at her, betrayal clear in her face, "You should have told me we were going to be jogging here!"
"What jog?" Shiroko asked, blinking in confusion. That was just a fast walk, hardly anything to get tired over.
Serika stared at her, expression unreadable, before she sighed and started walking towards the front door. "Well, let's not keep her waiting."
The inside of Schale's lobby was nice. It was large and well kept, with clear signage pointing out what paths to take. Most importantly, it had adequate air conditioning. That would be important with spring ending soon and summer around the corner. Other students were going about, some in uniforms from other schools and some with Schale Club Room staff tags.
The two of them stood around to look around the lobby before walking up to the receptionist. The dark-green haired girl quickly shuffled their phone out of sight as they approached, before greeting them with a smooth rehearsed "Good morning, welcome to Schale. How can I help you today?"
"We're here to talk to Nelson-Sensei." Shiroko answered.
The receptionist looked at her computer screen and frowned. "Nelson-Sensei is currently not taking visitors. Do you think you can come back later?"
"She was expecting us." Serika said, glaring at the receptionist.
The receptionist's eyes narrowed at that. She glanced between her computer and them for a moment before shrugging. "Well, if you say so. Let me get the Deputy Chief here to guide you in. Feel free to take a seat on the sofa."
Shiroko nodded at the receptionist and Serika snapped off a "Sure, whatever." but the two of them made their way over to the waiting area. After a few more minutes of quiet browsing on her phone, Shiroko's ears perked up as a familiar voice cut through the quiet lobby.
"Good morning Sunaōkami-san, Kuromi-san."
"Nn." "Good Morning." Shiroko and Serika greeted the speaker in response, standing up as they turned to face the speaker: Morizuki Suzumi. Shiroko had met the one-winged Trinity student along with the rest of Abydos when Schale had sent a helicopter to pick up Nelson. They didn't have much time to talk, just enough to briefly introduce themselves and help drag a semi-conscious Nelson into the helicopter.
She did wonder why Suzumi was so adamant going back by helicopter was considered a punishment for Nelson having upset someone.
"Thanks for coming to help," Suzumi said with a faint smile as she bowed briefly, before waving for the two of them to follow her. The three of them walked off into one of the corridors as Suzumi continued to speak. "Sensei usually handles a lot of the overhead things, but with her being... incapacitated for the next few days, we're all working hard to make up for it."
Serika's response was almost immediate. "Really? How many members are there in Schale anyways?"
"If you don't count the club room staff, there's actually only four of us." Suzumi answered, before tilting her head slightly in thought. "But really, I'm the only one who's usually free to take on the small stuff."
"How did Schale get anything done with just four members?" Serika muttered aloud. Shiroko wasn't sure if she meant to do so as loudly as she did, but Suzumi heard nonetheless.
The Trinity student chuckled awkwardly in response as she unlocked the Schale office with her club card. "Well, you've had Nelson-Sensei with you for a few days. I'm sure you've noticed by now that she tends to take things on herself."
Serika fell silent at that. It wasn't the first time Shiroko had noticed the normally rambunctious catgirl grow quiet over the mention of Nelson. It made sense to her. Serika was an independent person and someone had gotten hurt trying to help her. She didn't think that her fellow student was actually cruel enough to wish harm on someone else. But the fact Serika hadn't spoken with any of them was a bit worrying.
Still, Serika had gone along with Shiroko's plan to help out at Schale while Nonomi, Hoshino, and Ayane investigated the weapon caches they recovered. She didn't think Serika would have gone along with it if there wasn't some sort of reconciliation planned. She just had to believe their meeting and the next few days with Nelson would go well.
The meeting was not going well. Serika could feel her cheeks burning bright as she tried to look at anything but what was in front of her. Shiroko had a light blush as well, and was staring at a point directly in front of her. The only thing that interrupted the dead silence of the room was the quiet whirling of water being cycled.
Eventually, Nelson broke the deadlock with a sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in consternation. The splash of water kicked up by the move echoed throughout the elaborate bathroom, and threatened to shift the hastily thrown on towel. "Nobody told you why I was busy, did they."
"No." Shiroko managed to answer, expression completely flat.
The Adult sighed again at that, leaning back into the water. For all the injuries she had just the day before, Nelson seemed to be significantly better now. She grumbled quietly. "You accidentally call one person in for a meeting while you are bathing and somehow it becomes a hazing ritual."
Serika wasn't sure if Nelson meant for Shiroko and her to hear it, but the acoustics of the room were impeccable and the two of them had much better hearing than normal. She forced the situation out of her mind to say something, anything, to get them out of here.
"Why are you in a bathtub anyways?! Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"
That wasn't quite what she wanted to say, but it worked.
"Hmmm," Nelson murmured in thought, eyes closed. "It is quite the tale. I swear I will explain in due time, but trust that I heal best while immersed in this bath. Fortunately, the damage was not as severe as the initial assessments so I will be ready for light duty in a day or two."
"That doesn't explain anything!"
"I know. But the subject I wish to explain to you and your friends may explain this as well."
"What do you mean by 'you and your friends'?" Shiroko's question cut through the banter, echoing in the bathroom.
Nelson opened her eyes to stare at Shiroko, expression perplexed, but she still answered. "You and the rest of Abydos?"
"Aren't we your friends too?"
Nelson fell silent at that and the three of them lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the sound of water. Finally, after countless moments, the Teacher spoke. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, barely louder than the burbling waters of the bath. "I would make for a poor friend."
"No. You've helped us a lot."
"I do not refer to what I have done for Abydos, or even Kivotos." Nelson said with a sigh, fingers drumming the edge of her bathtub. "I refer to who I am and what I have done."
"Is it because you're a soldier?"
Nelson nodded with a sad smile impressed on her face as she gazed at the ceiling. "Correct. I am not a peaceful person, Ms. Sunaōkami. For all the violence and chaos in Kivotos, it is a place at peace. It is my duty to protect it, to protect you and every other student. But I am not a student. I am your Teacher. I am ultimately an outsider here, a stranger far away from the battlefield I belong on."
Serika cringed at the wording. Nelson didn't seem like she meant to use it, but it still brought to mind regrettable words shouted in a heated moment. Shiroko, however, remained undaunted. She stepped forward, locking eyes with the Adult as she spoke. "Then we'll help you find a place here too. Starting by being your friend."
Nelson looked doubtful at that declaration, maybe even regretful. "Do you really think it so easy? That simple friendship will help me belong?"
"Yes.'
Serika blinked at the sincerity of the answer, delivered with a heartfelt conviction. Then she blinked again when Shiroko and Nelson turned to stare at her. A final blink when she realized that she was the one who said it. She could feel her face rapidly warm as Shiroko gave her a small smile. Nelson's inscrutable stare, however, continued; and Serika wished the ground would swallow her now.
Then the Teacher smiled, a brighter one than what she had seen a few days ago. "Thank you, Ms. Kuromi. That means a lot to me."
Serika could only focus on that smile for so long before a familiar stab in her gut reminded her of something else. She pushed it down, focusing on why she was here. It'd help until she can talk to Nelson in private. At least, that's what she would like to believe.
She shrugged off the discomfort, trying to cover it with a dramatic put-upon sigh. "Well, Shiroko and I are here anyway. Just tell us what you need done."
"I can't believe I agreed to this!" Serika shouted over the commlink as a bullet plinked off the concrete roadblock, she had ducked behind with Shiroko. She stuck her rifle over the cover and let loose a long burst of gunfire, sending the thugs scattering for cover. "I thought we were just going to do paperwork!"
"Nn." Shiroko grunted noncommittally in response as she sent her drone into the air, the device hovering over their cover to unleash a barrage of rockets into the thug's positions. The explosions tore through what cover they had and sent a few thugs flying. Before the dust had settled, she popped over her cover, taking down stunned thugs with slow accurate bursts.
"Don't you start!" Yuuka shouted over the comms as she advanced, the noise of bullets bouncing off her shield caught on the mic. "Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Nelson-Sensei to stay in bed?!" A long rattling burst cut her off for a moment, accompanied by the sound of a thug crying out in pain. "I had to give her all the paperwork! All of it! If I didn't, she'd try to force herself back before she's supposed to!"
"Oh, so she just does that?" Serika asked over the comms before she stood up and mantled over the concrete roadblock, effortlessly firing from the hip as she and Shiroko advanced on the last holdout of thugs in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, on the perpendicular crossroad, Yuuka began her final advance.
It was going all according to plan, Hasumi thought to herself. She wasn't quite sure about taking on two additional students from Abydos, but they were efficient and worked well together and as a team with everyone else in Schale. There had been a gap in personnel count with Nelson-Sensei recuperating, Suzumi stuck on 'Sensei Watching Duty', and Chinatsu busy with Gehenna business. While Schale was on the backfoot, the various small gangs certainly weren't going to slow down as a courtesy.
A flash of motion caught her attention and she spotted a thug with a scoped rifle aiming at the Abydos girls from a second-floor window. Before they could even finish adjusting their stance, Hasumi focused her will, took aim, and fired. Her rifle retorted with a loud crack and her bullet punched clean through the cover, the rifle, and the thug's helmet. They slumped over, halo disappearing into unconsciousness.
As Hasumi lowered her rifle, she spotted Shiroko glance at where the thug had fallen over. The wolf-eared student glanced back at her and gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled in response. They were some kind girls.
It was a shame their school wasn't going to be around for much longer.
The Schale Café was an interesting place. To Serika, it was possibly the most interesting room of the entire building. Of all the rooms in the Schale Club Room, the Café was the only one that she knew Nelson-Sensei had decorated personally. Suzumi had introduced it as such when she showed them around the building. It gave anyone who looked at it an insight in the mind of its creator. Now, with it empty this late into the night, she had her chance to really look at the room.
And, well, it certainly said a few things. The interior was very clearly designed after some sort of bar or pub. Serika had seen them in movies, and the Café would have fit into any of them. The lights were dim by default, wood paneling covered the walls, several games were tucked into a corner of the room, and a large bar hugged one of the walls; upon which a massive cabinet filled with (empty) bottles of alcohol stood displayed for all to see. The furniture throughout the space were all simple but well-made wooden chairs and tables.
It was all very Adult.
But her eyes, trained from countless service jobs, could tell her that this was not an Adult establishment. The bar, tables, and chairs were all lower and the perfect height for most students. There was a distinct lack of anything alcoholic, with the taps for beer dispensing various sodas and the fridges containing stocks upon stocks of canned coffees. The decorations lining the walls were posters and advertisements for various events and films currently popular in Kivotos. It was a space for students to just skim the surface of the Adult, but made in good safe fun.
It didn't take a genius to realize that Nelson didn't put any accommodations for herself in this room. None of it was tall enough or sturdy enough for the massive Teacher. Serika was sure the Adult could have had something made if she wanted, and was just as sure that she had chosen not to.
Serika ran her hand against the surface of the bar, noting the quality feel and finish of the wood top. It spoke of the thought and care put into the Café. It was a place for the people Nelson looked after. It was a place that captured what the Adult thought would make for a relaxing environment. It was a place meant to showcase the Teacher's taste and peculiarities.
But it was a place Nelson herself would never be able to enjoy with her students.
A familiar stab of pain jabbed through her heart when she thought about the Teacher. She knew why and she was trying to find the time to talk to Nelson about it. But there was never a good time since arriving at Schale. If the Teacher wasn't busy, then she was. When she wasn't busy, Nelson was nowhere to be found. On and on it had gone the last few days. And now there was only one more day before they had to return, and she didn't even get a chance at all.
The beeping of the drink machine snapped her out of her musing. Warm tea secured; she sought out to find the other half of her late-night reveries. Figuring out where exactly Shiroko had gone off to.
Shiroko wasn't anywhere on the dorm floor. This late at night, there was only the occasional night building staff and the girl from the convenience store. None of them had seen the errant wolfgirl. Without any options, Serika expanded her search to the mostly empty ground office floor.
The range, gym, classrooms, and library turned up devoid of any errant wolfgirl, so Serika turned her focus to the last room Shiroko could be in: The Schale office itself. She had just turned the corner into the corridor when she froze from the echo of a voice.
"...gami, I understand the Council is lacking in resources, but I need additional support." Echoed the familiar voice of Nelson, spilling from a propped open door. The Teacher paused as the other party in the conversation responded. The annoyed click of the Adult's tongue was like a bullet in the quiet of the Schale Club Room.
"Yes, I am aware that my job is to help where the Council cannot," Nelson said, voice even but terse. "But the situation in Abydos is not something I can fix alone."
Serika leaned up against the wall next to the office's door. She didn't exactly want to eavesdrop, but she also still hadn't found Shiroko. Finding out about the Teacher's thoughts were… a bonus. An unintentional side effect.
She heard Nelson sigh, and the sound of hair flipping through the air. "No, I do not intend to abandon Abydos. The collapse of Abydos will not happen under my tenure. But I cannot see my duty through with the resources I have on hand both at the District and Schale."
Serika could almost faintly hear an equally exhausted voice sighing, the sound echoing loud enough from Nelson's phone for her to hear. And in that moment, between the Teacher's response, she heard a faint 'Nn'. Nelson was quiet for a noticeably longer time before she spoke again, voice hushed and restrained.
"I do not wish to drag this conversation out further, Ms. Nanagami. Please try to convince the other members to approve the emergency requisition." Another burst of speech from the phone, and another sigh from Nelson. "I really do apologize for this. Have a good night."
The room was silent for a moment, then the squeak of a chair leaning back and another tired sigh. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then Nelson called out, her quiet voice echoing into the hallway. "How can I help you, Ms. Kuromi."
Serika blinked owlishly, before slowly peeking through the doorframe into the office. Nelson was leaning back in her chair, eyes shut as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Shiroko was in the desk opposite of her, slumped over the desk in a deep sleep. After a second, the Adult straightened out and turned to Serika with a small smile. "Are you looking for Ms. Sunaōkami?"
Serika stepped into the room, looking at her sleeping friend. A blanket of sorts had been carefully draped over her and she seemed to have fallen asleep mid-paperwork. "Yeah, but I don't think she'd like it if I woke her up now."
Nelson laughed softly, the noise echoing in the quiet room. Her voice was wistful as she spoke. "She told me she would rest once I did. Unfortunately, I need much less rest than a growing student."
Serika sighed, exasperation creeping in as she took in the sleeping form of Shiroko. She had fallen asleep on a set of minor documents and a blanket had been hastily thrown over her. Still, "How did you know I was there?"
Nelson pointed to the tablet propped up on her desk. "There is a camera watching that hallway."
Which meant that she saw her the entire time. Great. Now she just wanted the earth to swallow her alive. Frustrated embarrassment crept in, before she clamped it down. Nothing important was happening, she was awake, and Nelson was awake as well…
"Nelson," Serika started slowly, glancing at anyth-was that a giant stuffed lion? No. She had to focus. "Could we… talk?"
Nelson looked at her, her gaze unreadable, before she nodded with a smile. "Of course."
The sofa in the lobby was comfortable. Serika didn't know why that detail stood out so much to her, as she quietly drank the tea in her hands, but it did. Actually, she knew exactly why. Across from her was Nelson. She hadn't had much of a chance to see the Teacher since her arrival, in between the healing and busyness. But the image of the Adult in her mind remained, a dominating figure who stood out in her uniform and stature.
But the person sitting across from her didn't really line up with that image. She hadn't really noticed it at the time in the office, but Nelson was clearly dressed for bedrest. Gone was the uniform, and in its place was a plain salmon pink long sleeve shirt, light grey sweatpants, and plain white lounge shoes. No signs of any bandages though, despite the injuries she had less than a week ago.
"Are you fine being off work so long?"
The question snapped Serika out of her reverie. She put her tea down on the table between them, electing to look at it instead of the Teacher. "Yeah, it's only a week and Master said he's fine with me helping here for a bit."
"That is quite nice of him. I know of quite a few superiors who would not be as kind."
"Of course, he's a good boss."
Silence followed the short exchange, deafeningly quiet in the empty lobby. It stretched for a moment. Then another. As the seconds ticked, Serika could feel her heartbeat in her chest and, faced with the familiar bubbling of frustration joined with embarrassment, chose to speak.
"Say, Nelson-" "Ms. Kuromi, I-" The two of them said at the same time. Serika's head snapped up to the Adult, who looked at her with a curious gaze before smiling and motioning for her to speak. She had the moment now. It wasn't time to back down.
"I, uh, never got to apologize. About everything I said." Serika forced herself to say. "So, I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted."
Nelson's answer came almost as quickly as Serika had apologized. She waited for any follow up or additions. When none was forthcoming, she couldn't help but ask. "Is... that it? You're just OK with just an apology?"
"Would it make you feel better if I was upset instead?" Nelson asked, one eyebrow cocked.
"No… not really."
"Then I forgive you for what you said."
"Are you sure? Because of me you got hu-"
Nelson cut her off with a single outstretched finger. The coffee can in her hand joined Serika's tea on the table. "You were not the reason I was injured that night, Ms. Kuromi. I knew that it was a possibility, and still made that choice to stay. As an Adult and your Teacher, my duty is to ensure your safety."
Serika stared at Nelson. Nelson stared back, the faintest hint of a smile on the corners of her lips. After a moment, Serika asked the question that had been itching on her mind "Why would you choose to get hurt even with everything I said to you?"
The Adult's smile went from faint to unreadable. After a second, Nelson answered. "Kuromi, I made that choice because I trusted that you are kinder than your words were. That you would learn, perhaps, to believe in my intentions and forgive my intrusion. Was I wrong in that?"
The smile that Nelson gave her was bright, reflecting the light of the moon filtering through the lobby. Serika still felt that pang of guilt, but it felt less intense now. Like it was something she could move on from. Her answer was simple. "No, you weren't."
"Then let us consider each other forgiven for our mistakes." Nelson said with a confident nod. The seconds ticked on in comfortable silence, before the Teacher sighed and stood up. "You should get some rest. You still have one day of volunteer work left, and it is getting quite late."
Serika's own eyebrow cocked up at that. "What about Shiroko?"
"I shall try to carry her to your room when I am finished."
"And how long is that going to be?"
"Within the hour. I am almost finished."
"Well, I suppose I can let her sleep a bit longer." Serika as she grabbed her drink at the same time as Nelson. "Still. Try to get some rest Sen…" Serika paused, voice trailing off as the familiar sense of awkwardness bubbled up. She grit her teeth as she forced it down and herself forward. "Try to rest as well, Sensei."
Nelson looked at her for a second, before patting her on the head with a smile. The touch was gentler than expected, and colder as well. Literally. Did Nelson take cold water baths? "Thank you, I will try my best."
An hour had passed and Shiroko was still not back in her room, so Serika had to go and figure out what exactly happened. The scene that greeted her upon her return to the office was not something she ever expected to see.
Shiroko had been moved, yes. But only from the desk to a sofa within the office. The same blanket she had earlier was now draped over her. That wasn't quite unexpected. But what she didn't expect to see was Nelson. The Teacher seemed to have sat down in a chair after moving Shiroko and simply fallen asleep. She hadn't even put on a blanket, only clutching her tablet to her closely as if it was some sort of security item.
She wondered if this was the first time anyone had seen the Teacher sleeping. It was certainly her first time. She wasn't even sure if Nelson slept until now.
As she watched Nelson's sleeping form Serika realized something. Nelson was different when she slept. The Teacher carried a certain energy with her when she was awake. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but the Adult always seemed driven to do something. But sleeping? There was a stillness and peace to her that Serika knew she would never see while Nelson was awake.
Still, it wouldn't do anyone good if the Teacher got sick right after healing from her injuries. It didn't take long for her to find the blanket cabinet (why did Schale have so many camping blankets?) that Nelson had pulled from for Shiroko. A toss and a few tucks, and the Adult was now properly warded from the cold.
Serika looked over Nelson to inspect her work and nodded to herself in satisfaction. No way her Teacher was going to get sick now. She was about to leave when her eye was drawn to Nelson's shoulder, so normally far out of her reach. Memories of an hour ago flashed through her mind. Well… there was nobody else here right now.
Quietly, she stepped up next to Nelson again. When she was sure the Adult was actually asleep, she gently patted Nelson on the shoulder.
"Have a good night, Sensei."
And with that, she left. Off to her own bed. Hopefully, Shiroko would get the sleep she needed on the sofa.
Shiroko woke up with a quiet "Nn" and equally soft yawn. The last thing she remembered was helping sort some paperwork so she must have fallen asleep in the office. She sat up to stretch for the morning ahead, only to pause when her hand bounced off the metal bunk above her. She paused, realizing something was off, before it clicked a second later.
Schale didn't have bunk beds.
Now instantly awake, she quickly blinked the remnants of sleep out of her eyes and looked about. She was not in the Schale office or the dorm she was sharing with Serika. She wasn't in her apartment back in Abydos either, strange of a possibility that may be. No, she found herself in a rather cramped room. Exposed pipes, vents, and supports ran across the ceiling and the room was illuminated by a single, flickering lightbulb. A simple closed hardwood door kept her from the hallway outside.
She wasn't in jail. The room was too nice for a jail cell. She also still had her uniform on, even if she couldn't find White Fang anywhere. She got to her feet and looked about the room for any clues. She managed to unlock the cabinets with a liberal application of a paperclip, but she only found a small folding desk in each cabinet and some old uniforms. No name tags, badges, or any signs of owners. After a few minutes, she wrote off the room. There were a few interesting things around, but nothing that pointed at an identity. With nothing else left to try, she went for the door.
The brass knob turned easily enough, but hinges creaked as if they had never been oiled. A silent metal walled hallway greeted her, no windows in sight and illuminated only by the flickering of the lightbulbs.
"Nelson-Sensei? Serika?" Shiroko called out as she stuck her head through the portal, glancing down both sides of the hall. Her voice echoed through the liminal space, fading off into the distance. Nothing answered. When the seconds passed into minutes, she stepped through.
A worn out brass nameplate affixed to the door revealed nothing. Looking around, Shiroko noticed that it was odd. The structure was well kept in some places, but completely worn out in others. As she stood there contemplating what was going on, a flash of movement caught her eye. She snapped her attention towards a corner where she spotted a uniformed leg and boot disappear.
She jogged over to the end of the hallway and glanced around it. Nothing.
"Hello?" Shiroko's call was met with silence again. Not a soul in sight. Then, the sound of someone walking up metal stairs echoed from the far end of the hallway. She dashed this time, sliding to a stop at the end of the corridor just in time to watch a hatch gently close at the top of the metal stairs. She leaped up the stairs, taking several steps at a time, and pushed the unsealed hatch open. By the time she opened it, she watched as another uniformed leg vanished down another corridor.
Shiroko narrowed her eyes. She was clearly being led somewhere. But by who? And why? She didn't know yet. However, she also didn't have any leads. What was it that Nelson-Sensei was fond of saying? She who dares, wins. Against her better instincts, she chased the specter.
Shiroko had been chasing her guide for a few minutes now, and had noticed a few things. First, wherever she was being led was up. She must have started somewhere low and internal, as the phantom was pulling her higher into the structure.
The second was the structure itself. It didn't make a lot of sense. As strange as that was considering she was apparently trapped in a liminal space made of metal hallways, there was just something wrong with the space itself. Some hallways looked new. Some looked worn and poorly maintained. Others looked like they had been rusting for decades. Sometimes, multiple different states would overlap. It was like a video game rendering failure, where multiple textures loaded onto the same object.
The final was more unnerving. Whatever it was that was guiding her was constantly changing. She could only ever catch glimpses of boots, pant legs, and the occasional sleeve but they changed ever so slightly. Different uniform colours, styles of boots, and shape of limbs. Or, on occasion, whether or not the uniform was pristine or damaged.
This had to either be a dream, or something supernatural.
The hatch at the end of the hallway slowly swinging open was her latest directional clue. Shiroko carefully made her way up the hallway, ears perked for any signs of trouble. She tucked up to one of the metal sides on the edge of the portal. When no further signs were forthcoming, she took a peek around the edge.
She seemed to be nearing where she was meant to be. For once, the hallway in front of her was not a strangely familiar repetition of another. To her right was a curving wall made of thick metal. To her left was a wall filled with circular windows. A quick tiptoed peek out of them revealed nothing but a black tinged expanse. With nowhere else to go, she followed the open doors before her.
Shiroko blinked as the hallways exited into a wedge-shaped room. The curved wall that had been on her right looping around. A part of her mind noted that it was never a wall. It was some sort of metal cylinder that ran through the center of this compartment. She ignored that small part of her mind as she took in what she wall in front of her had several small rectangular windows cut into the metal wall. She could see the glow of lights through them, so curiosity led her feet to them.
Shiroko's jaw did not drop at what she saw through them. Nobody else was here to prove otherwise. But she did stare at the outside in awe. Through the window and the cold metal wall, she saw a massive wedge-shaped expanse of wood and metal partially buried in the sand. Three gaping holes cut into the deck and crowned with steel broke the plane of brown. Lights from somewhere above her were shining down to light up the massive construction.
Shiroko was on a ship. She had been on a ship the entire time. And, if the dark blue surface above her told her anything, this ship was underwater.
Shiroko wasn't sure how long she stood there, watching the silent ship deck, before she stepped away from the windows. She wracked her brain trying to figure out what this meant. The dream theory was getting less likely by the moment. She didn't know enough about ships to dream about them and this felt… a little too real to be a dream. So, what exactly was going on?
As she pondered it, something caught her eye. The room was mostly bare, but on the ceiling were two projectors. Strangely modern projectors. Her eyes followed the wires hanging out of them and she followed it to the side of the room hidden by the cylindrical wall. As she turned the corner, she found a sturdy metal table set up against the curved wall. A bulky looking radio set, a stack of logbooks, and a VHS tape player connected to the projectors sat on the table. Next to the table was a metal shelf full of tapes.
She tried to read the logbook, but she couldn't understand the language it was written in. The same went for the labels on the tapes. She could see some numbers, but she couldn't make sense of them without the text. She was fairly certain they might be some sort of date log, but the numbers didn't make sense. The earliest tape started with 16 and went until 18. Then it skipped ahead to 27 for a few tapes. Then it skipped ahead to 40. Most of the tapes were numbered between 41 and 50. She tried to turn on the tape player to watch some, but it didn't seem to have any power.
That left the radio. It was a bulky thing made of two grey boxes, one with a speaker and the other with a handheld microphone. To her surprise, it was on and running. A quick inspection didn't reveal any obvious source of power. But she wasn't familiar with this model and the labels were in the same language as everything else. But she could identify a microphone and speaker when she saw one. Without anything left to try, she hit the big red button on the microphone.
"Hello?"
The speaker crackled in response and she heard… snoring? After a moment, she got a response. "Pancakes… so many pancakes…"
The voice over the speaker was a young girl, that much Shiroko was sure of. "Is somebody there?" she asked, hoping for another response. But, as the seconds ticked on with nothing but the sound of snoring, she had to move on. She should be able to hear if someone responded again.
But now that she had taken a step from the obvious point of interest, she could see a door cut into the metal cylinder. The door had a single windowed slit cut into it and, most curiously, a modern keycard reader was installed next to the door.
Shiroko couldn't find a keycard anywhere to unlock the door, either on the weird table and its assortment of items, or anywhere else in the room. Still, she was curious about what exactly was in there. Stepping up on her toes, she leaned against the glass and peered in.
She held back a surprised gasp when she saw a figure in there, splayed out over some controls. The lights inside the cylinder were off so she couldn't see much, but there was an undeniably human form with long pale hair in there. She went to rasp her knuckle against the window to check if they needed help.
Only for someone to grab her wrist, stopping her arm before she could try. "Now, now, now. We can't have you doing that just yet."
Shiroko pushed herself off the floor, sliding over the smooth linoleum surface to the other side of the room as she sought distance. She glanced up at the other being in the room as she slid to a stop. It was humanoid, but it was most definitely not Human. It had two arms, two legs, and a head. Its posture was rigid, like a statue.
Those were the only details she could pin down. Everything else shifted moment from moment. With every blink, the clothes, height, and even the gender shifted. The only thing that seemed consistent was the face. Or, rather, the lack of a face. There was a simple blank plane of flesh tone where the face should be.
"My, my, my, what do we have here. A lost pup?" The entity drolled, its body still and voice formed of countless hundreds speaking as one.
Shiroko wasn't sure who this was, but she wasn't about to drop her guard. Nothing that looked or sounded like this thing meant any good. "What do you want?" She demanded.
"Hear, hear, hear; there is no need for such impoliteness. We are as curious as you as to how you got here."
The figure didn't move. It simply was on the other side of the room in one moment, and then directly in front of her in the next. It was leaning down, to stare into her eyes where the sockets on its face should be. She shuffled off to the side, keeping one eye on the figure. After a moment it snapped back into a standing position with one hand on its chin.
"Ah, ah, ah, you must be one of the natives. An interesting nature has allowed you to find your way here." They declared with surety. "But you are far away from where you should be, little cù-sìth."
"What are you talking about?" Shiroko asked with a hiss.
The figure laughed; the countless echoing noise discordant against both sets of Shiroko's ears. "Timing, timing, timing our dear cù-sìth. You will learn in time. Would you like to try again?"
"Who are you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. My name is of no matter. I am merely the executive officer of this ship while its captain remains deposed."
She stared at the figure. After a second the figure shifted to mirror her own pose. As the seconds ticked into minutes, she finally asked. "… what are you?"
The figure did not smile. It could not smile. But she could feel the sheer joy that radiated from the figure. "See, see, see? That is the question you should have led with."
The figure shifted again, this time sitting on top of the metal table where the collection of goods sat. One arm pointed out at her and Shiroko couldn't help but notice the microphone in the hand. "Would you believe us if we were to say we are not your foe?"
Shiroko glared at the entity. It did not move, but it did sigh before speaking. "Temper, temper, temper, shattered cù-sìth. You will understand in time. But for now?" The figure shifted again, this time standing before the desk with the microphone brought up to its face. "We both have places to be. So, o' fragment mine, witness and twist. Inhale, endure, exhale, and awaken."
There was a sound of ringing and-
Shiroko shot up straight as her phone alarm went off, quickly blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She looked about the early morning Schale office, having been placed on the sofa. Nelson seemed to be asleep in the seat next to her, blanket draped over her sleeping form as well.
It was… a nightmare. Yes. That must have been what she saw there. A nightmare from the work of the last few days. She was sure it would fade soon enough. She still had one last busy day ahead of her before she and Serika were due to return, hopefully with Nelson in tow. She was sure this would be long gone from her mind before then.
But the memory of what she saw followed her all the way back to Abydos.
AN: A new player joins the table, with hand hidden, and the deck out of sight. Who could they be? What are their aims? And how much of what they say can be trusted? The answers may surprise you. Or they may not. But they are here nonetheless.
As always, thanks to my friend for beta reading.
EDIT: Fixed a few weird formatting things that got eaten by the text editor.
"Next Stop, Profundum Ward. Profundum Ward."
The calm digital tone of the announcer snapped Shiroko out of her nap. As she jolted awake, the movement shuffled and pushed Serika's head off her shoulder. The catgirl rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before looking around.
"We're here?"
"Nn." Shiroko intoned with a nod, moving to grab their belongings off the bag racks above their seats. "It's a short walk from the station to the Schale Building."
Serika's eyes narrowed at the description, before she asked, "An actual short walk, or one of your short walks?"
Her tone wasn't quite accusatory, but Shiroko understood. She liked to exercise, so her tolerance for distances wasn't the same as everyone else's. It had caused a few issues in the past, and Serika had certainly been there for more than a few of them. "Only ten minutes."
Serika stared at her, suspicion clear in her eyes, before she harrumphed and took the bag from Shiroko's grip. "Then let's get going. We need to make sure that Teacher isn't doing something stupid again."
"OK, follow me." Shiroko said, making her way to the train's exit into the station. As she stepped off, Shiroko blinked as a wave of people greeted her. She didn't have many chances to explore outside of Abydos, given the circumstances, so there was something novel about being in a place with so many people.
Her companion clearly didn't share her sentiment. Serika's eyes darted from crowd to crowd before she growled in annoyance. "Do we have to get through all of them?"
Shiroko shook her head and checked her phone. It was a bit more mazelike than the Abydos station, but she supposed even the smaller stations in D.U would be far larger than the stations still running in Abydos. With a grunt, she started walking towards one of the coloured exit signs, Serika following close behind her. Fortunately, with the map on her phone, they should be fine.
"We're here." Shiroko announced, staring up at the clean white building. It was an easy walk once they made their way onto the surface. Unlike Abydos, D.U was well kept and orderly. It was simply a matter of following the signs and walking towards the tower with the huge halo over it. Easy.
Serika seemed to have a different opinion, as she was visibly strained. She didn't look exhausted but the pace Shiroko took was clearly faster than what the catgirl expected. Serika looked at her, betrayal clear in her face, "You should have told me we were going to be jogging here!"
"What jog?" Shiroko asked, blinking in confusion. That was just a fast walk, hardly anything to get tired over.
Serika stared at her, expression unreadable, before she sighed and started walking towards the front door. "Well, let's not keep her waiting."
The inside of Schale's lobby was nice. It was large and well kept, with clear signage pointing out what paths to take. Most importantly, it had adequate air conditioning. That would be important with spring ending soon and summer around the corner. Other students were going about, some in uniforms from other schools and some with Schale Club Room staff tags.
The two of them stood around to look around the lobby before walking up to the receptionist. The dark-green haired girl quickly shuffled their phone out of sight as they approached, before greeting them with a smooth rehearsed "Good morning, welcome to Schale. How can I help you today?"
"We're here to talk to Nelson-Sensei." Shiroko answered.
The receptionist looked at her computer screen and frowned. "Nelson-Sensei is currently not taking visitors. Do you think you can come back later?"
"She was expecting us." Serika said, glaring at the receptionist.
The receptionist's eyes narrowed at that. She glanced between her computer and them for a moment before shrugging. "Well, if you say so. Let me get the Deputy Chief here to guide you in. Feel free to take a seat on the sofa."
Shiroko nodded at the receptionist and Serika snapped off a "Sure, whatever." but the two of them made their way over to the waiting area. After a few more minutes of quiet browsing on her phone, Shiroko's ears perked up as a familiar voice cut through the quiet lobby.
"Good morning Sunaōkami-san, Kuromi-san."
"Nn." "Good Morning." Shiroko and Serika greeted the speaker in response, standing up as they turned to face the speaker: Morizuki Suzumi. Shiroko had met the one-winged Trinity student along with the rest of Abydos when Schale had sent a helicopter to pick up Nelson. They didn't have much time to talk, just enough to briefly introduce themselves and help drag a semi-conscious Nelson into the helicopter.
She did wonder why Suzumi was so adamant going back by helicopter was considered a punishment for Nelson having upset someone.
"Thanks for coming to help," Suzumi said with a faint smile as she bowed briefly, before waving for the two of them to follow her. The three of them walked off into one of the corridors as Suzumi continued to speak. "Sensei usually handles a lot of the overhead things, but with her being... incapacitated for the next few days, we're all working hard to make up for it."
Serika's response was almost immediate. "Really? How many members are there in Schale anyways?"
"If you don't count the club room staff, there's actually only four of us." Suzumi answered, before tilting her head slightly in thought. "But really, I'm the only one who's usually free to take on the small stuff."
"How did Schale get anything done with just four members?" Serika muttered aloud. Shiroko wasn't sure if she meant to do so as loudly as she did, but Suzumi heard nonetheless.
The Trinity student chuckled awkwardly in response as she unlocked the Schale office with her club card. "Well, you've had Nelson-Sensei with you for a few days. I'm sure you've noticed by now that she tends to take things on herself."
Serika fell silent at that. It wasn't the first time Shiroko had noticed the normally rambunctious catgirl grow quiet over the mention of Nelson. It made sense to her. Serika was an independent person and someone had gotten hurt trying to help her. She didn't think that her fellow student was actually cruel enough to wish harm on someone else. But the fact Serika hadn't spoken with any of them was a bit worrying.
Still, Serika had gone along with Shiroko's plan to help out at Schale while Nonomi, Hoshino, and Ayane investigated the weapon caches they recovered. She didn't think Serika would have gone along with it if there wasn't some sort of reconciliation planned. She just had to believe their meeting and the next few days with Nelson would go well.
The meeting was not going well. Serika could feel her cheeks burning bright as she tried to look at anything but what was in front of her. Shiroko had a light blush as well, and was staring at a point directly in front of her. The only thing that interrupted the dead silence of the room was the quiet whirling of water being cycled.
Eventually, Nelson broke the deadlock with a sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in consternation. The splash of water kicked up by the move echoed throughout the elaborate bathroom, and threatened to shift the hastily thrown on towel. "Nobody told you why I was busy, did they."
"No." Shiroko managed to answer, expression completely flat.
The Adult sighed again at that, leaning back into the water. For all the injuries she had just the day before, Nelson seemed to be significantly better now. She grumbled quietly. "You accidentally call one person in for a meeting while you are bathing and somehow it becomes a hazing ritual."
Serika wasn't sure if Nelson meant for Shiroko and her to hear it, but the acoustics of the room were impeccable and the two of them had much better hearing than normal. She forced the situation out of her mind to say something, anything, to get them out of here.
"Why are you in a bathtub anyways?! Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"
That wasn't quite what she wanted to say, but it worked.
"Hmmm," Nelson murmured in thought, eyes closed. "It is quite the tale. I swear I will explain in due time, but trust that I heal best while immersed in this bath. Fortunately, the damage was not as severe as the initial assessments so I will be ready for light duty in a day or two."
"That doesn't explain anything!"
"I know. But the subject I wish to explain to you and your friends may explain this as well."
"What do you mean by 'you and your friends'?" Shiroko's question cut through the banter, echoing in the bathroom.
Nelson opened her eyes to stare at Shiroko, expression perplexed, but she still answered. "You and the rest of Abydos?"
"Aren't we your friends too?"
Nelson fell silent at that and the three of them lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the sound of water. Finally, after countless moments, the Teacher spoke. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, barely louder than the burbling waters of the bath. "I would make for a poor friend."
"No. You've helped us a lot."
"I do not refer to what I have done for Abydos, or even Kivotos." Nelson said with a sigh, fingers drumming the edge of her bathtub. "I refer to who I am and what I have done."
"Is it because you're a soldier?"
Nelson nodded with a sad smile impressed on her face as she gazed at the ceiling. "Correct. I am not a peaceful person, Ms. Sunaōkami. For all the violence and chaos in Kivotos, it is a place at peace. It is my duty to protect it, to protect you and every other student. But I am not a student. I am your Teacher. I am ultimately an outsider here, a stranger far away from the battlefield I belong on."
Serika cringed at the wording. Nelson didn't seem like she meant to use it, but it still brought to mind regrettable words shouted in a heated moment. Shiroko, however, remained undaunted. She stepped forward, locking eyes with the Adult as she spoke. "Then we'll help you find a place here too. Starting by being your friend."
Nelson looked doubtful at that declaration, maybe even regretful. "Do you really think it so easy? That simple friendship will help me belong?"
"Yes.'
Serika blinked at the sincerity of the answer, delivered with a heartfelt conviction. Then she blinked again when Shiroko and Nelson turned to stare at her. A final blink when she realized that she was the one who said it. She could feel her face rapidly warm as Shiroko gave her a small smile. Nelson's inscrutable stare, however, continued; and Serika wished the ground would swallow her now.
Then the Teacher smiled, a brighter one than what she had seen a few days ago. "Thank you, Ms. Kuromi. That means a lot to me."
Serika could only focus on that smile for so long before a familiar stab in her gut reminded her of something else. She pushed it down, focusing on why she was here. It'd help until she can talk to Nelson in private. At least, that's what she would like to believe.
She shrugged off the discomfort, trying to cover it with a dramatic put-upon sigh. "Well, Shiroko and I are here anyway. Just tell us what you need done."
"I can't believe I agreed to this!" Serika shouted over the commlink as a bullet plinked off the concrete roadblock, she had ducked behind with Shiroko. She stuck her rifle over the cover and let loose a long burst of gunfire, sending the thugs scattering for cover. "I thought we were just going to do paperwork!"
"Nn." Shiroko grunted noncommittally in response as she sent her drone into the air, the device hovering over their cover to unleash a barrage of rockets into the thug's positions. The explosions tore through what cover they had and sent a few thugs flying. Before the dust had settled, she popped over her cover, taking down stunned thugs with slow accurate bursts.
"Don't you start!" Yuuka shouted over the comms as she advanced, the noise of bullets bouncing off her shield caught on the mic. "Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Nelson-Sensei to stay in bed?!" A long rattling burst cut her off for a moment, accompanied by the sound of a thug crying out in pain. "I had to give her all the paperwork! All of it! If I didn't, she'd try to force herself back before she's supposed to!"
"Oh, so she just does that?" Serika asked over the comms before she stood up and mantled over the concrete roadblock, effortlessly firing from the hip as she and Shiroko advanced on the last holdout of thugs in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, on the perpendicular crossroad, Yuuka began her final advance.
It was going all according to plan, Hasumi thought to herself. She wasn't quite sure about taking on two additional students from Abydos, but they were efficient and worked well together and as a team with everyone else in Schale. There had been a gap in personnel count with Nelson-Sensei recuperating, Suzumi stuck on 'Sensei Watching Duty', and Chinatsu busy with Gehenna business. While Schale was on the backfoot, the various small gangs certainly weren't going to slow down as a courtesy.
A flash of motion caught her attention and she spotted a thug with a scoped rifle aiming at the Abydos girls from a second-floor window. Before they could even finish adjusting their stance, Hasumi focused her will, took aim, and fired. Her rifle retorted with a loud crack and her bullet punched clean through the cover, the rifle, and the thug's helmet. They slumped over, halo disappearing into unconsciousness.
As Hasumi lowered her rifle, she spotted Shiroko glance at where the thug had fallen over. The wolf-eared student glanced back at her and gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled in response. They were some kind girls.
It was a shame their school wasn't going to be around for much longer.
The Schale Café was an interesting place. To Serika, it was possibly the most interesting room of the entire building. Of all the rooms in the Schale Club Room, the Café was the only one that she knew Nelson-Sensei had decorated personally. Suzumi had introduced it as such when she showed them around the building. It gave anyone who looked at it an insight in the mind of its creator. Now, with it empty this late into the night, she had her chance to really look at the room.
And, well, it certainly said a few things. The interior was very clearly designed after some sort of bar or pub. Serika had seen them in movies, and the Café would have fit into any of them. The lights were dim by default, wood paneling covered the walls, several games were tucked into a corner of the room, and a large bar hugged one of the walls; upon which a massive cabinet filled with (empty) bottles of alcohol stood displayed for all to see. The furniture throughout the space were all simple but well-made wooden chairs and tables.
It was all very Adult.
But her eyes, trained from countless service jobs, could tell her that this was not an Adult establishment. The bar, tables, and chairs were all lower and the perfect height for most students. There was a distinct lack of anything alcoholic, with the taps for beer dispensing various sodas and the fridges containing stocks upon stocks of canned coffees. The decorations lining the walls were posters and advertisements for various events and films currently popular in Kivotos. It was a space for students to just skim the surface of the Adult, but made in good safe fun.
It didn't take a genius to realize that Nelson didn't put any accommodations for herself in this room. None of it was tall enough or sturdy enough for the massive Teacher. Serika was sure the Adult could have had something made if she wanted, and was just as sure that she had chosen not to.
Serika ran her hand against the surface of the bar, noting the quality feel and finish of the wood top. It spoke of the thought and care put into the Café. It was a place for the people Nelson looked after. It was a place that captured what the Adult thought would make for a relaxing environment. It was a place meant to showcase the Teacher's taste and peculiarities.
But it was a place Nelson herself would never be able to enjoy with her students.
A familiar stab of pain jabbed through her heart when she thought about the Teacher. She knew why and she was trying to find the time to talk to Nelson about it. But there was never a good time since arriving at Schale. If the Teacher wasn't busy, then she was. When she wasn't busy, Nelson was nowhere to be found. On and on it had gone the last few days. And now there was only one more day before they had to return, and she didn't even get a chance at all.
The beeping of the drink machine snapped her out of her musing. Warm tea secured; she sought out to find the other half of her late-night reveries. Figuring out where exactly Shiroko had gone off to.
Shiroko wasn't anywhere on the dorm floor. This late at night, there was only the occasional night building staff and the girl from the convenience store. None of them had seen the errant wolfgirl. Without any options, Serika expanded her search to the mostly empty ground office floor.
The range, gym, classrooms, and library turned up devoid of any errant wolfgirl, so Serika turned her focus to the last room Shiroko could be in: The Schale office itself. She had just turned the corner into the corridor when she froze from the echo of a voice.
"...gami, I understand the Council is lacking in resources, but I need additional support." Echoed the familiar voice of Nelson, spilling from a propped open door. The Teacher paused as the other party in the conversation responded. The annoyed click of the Adult's tongue was like a bullet in the quiet of the Schale Club Room.
"Yes, I am aware that my job is to help where the Council cannot," Nelson said, voice even but terse. "But the situation in Abydos is not something I can fix alone."
Serika leaned up against the wall next to the office's door. She didn't exactly want to eavesdrop, but she also still hadn't found Shiroko. Finding out about the Teacher's thoughts were… a bonus. An unintentional side effect.
She heard Nelson sigh, and the sound of hair flipping through the air. "No, I do not intend to abandon Abydos. The collapse of Abydos will not happen under my tenure. But I cannot see my duty through with the resources I have on hand both at the District and Schale."
Serika could almost faintly hear an equally exhausted voice sighing, the sound echoing loud enough from Nelson's phone for her to hear. And in that moment, between the Teacher's response, she heard a faint 'Nn'. Nelson was quiet for a noticeably longer time before she spoke again, voice hushed and restrained.
"I do not wish to drag this conversation out further, Ms. Nanagami. Please try to convince the other members to approve the emergency requisition." Another burst of speech from the phone, and another sigh from Nelson. "I really do apologize for this. Have a good night."
The room was silent for a moment, then the squeak of a chair leaning back and another tired sigh. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then Nelson called out, her quiet voice echoing into the hallway. "How can I help you, Ms. Kuromi."
Serika blinked owlishly, before slowly peeking through the doorframe into the office. Nelson was leaning back in her chair, eyes shut as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Shiroko was in the desk opposite of her, slumped over the desk in a deep sleep. After a second, the Adult straightened out and turned to Serika with a small smile. "Are you looking for Ms. Sunaōkami?"
Serika stepped into the room, looking at her sleeping friend. A blanket of sorts had been carefully draped over her and she seemed to have fallen asleep mid-paperwork. "Yeah, but I don't think she'd like it if I woke her up now."
Nelson laughed softly, the noise echoing in the quiet room. Her voice was wistful as she spoke. "She told me she would rest once I did. Unfortunately, I need much less rest than a growing student."
Serika sighed, exasperation creeping in as she took in the sleeping form of Shiroko. She had fallen asleep on a set of minor documents and a blanket had been hastily thrown over her. Still, "How did you know I was there?"
Nelson pointed to the tablet propped up on her desk. "There is a camera watching that hallway."
Which meant that she saw her the entire time. Great. Now she just wanted the earth to swallow her alive. Frustrated embarrassment crept in, before she clamped it down. Nothing important was happening, she was awake, and Nelson was awake as well…
"Nelson," Serika started slowly, glancing at anyth-was that a giant stuffed lion? No. She had to focus. "Could we… talk?"
Nelson looked at her, her gaze unreadable, before she nodded with a smile. "Of course."
The sofa in the lobby was comfortable. Serika didn't know why that detail stood out so much to her, as she quietly drank the tea in her hands, but it did. Actually, she knew exactly why. Across from her was Nelson. She hadn't had much of a chance to see the Teacher since her arrival, in between the healing and busyness. But the image of the Adult in her mind remained, a dominating figure who stood out in her uniform and stature.
But the person sitting across from her didn't really line up with that image. She hadn't really noticed it at the time in the office, but Nelson was clearly dressed for bedrest. Gone was the uniform, and in its place was a plain salmon pink long sleeve shirt, light grey sweatpants, and plain white lounge shoes. No signs of any bandages though, despite the injuries she had less than a week ago.
"Are you fine being off work so long?"
The question snapped Serika out of her reverie. She put her tea down on the table between them, electing to look at it instead of the Teacher. "Yeah, it's only a week and Master said he's fine with me helping here for a bit."
"That is quite nice of him. I know of quite a few superiors who would not be as kind."
"Of course, he's a good boss."
Silence followed the short exchange, deafeningly quiet in the empty lobby. It stretched for a moment. Then another. As the seconds ticked, Serika could feel her heartbeat in her chest and, faced with the familiar bubbling of frustration joined with embarrassment, chose to speak.
"Say, Nelson-" "Ms. Kuromi, I-" The two of them said at the same time. Serika's head snapped up to the Adult, who looked at her with a curious gaze before smiling and motioning for her to speak. She had the moment now. It wasn't time to back down.
"I, uh, never got to apologize. About everything I said." Serika forced herself to say. "So, I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted."
Nelson's answer came almost as quickly as Serika had apologized. She waited for any follow up or additions. When none was forthcoming, she couldn't help but ask. "Is... that it? You're just OK with just an apology?"
"Would it make you feel better if I was upset instead?" Nelson asked, one eyebrow cocked.
"No… not really."
"Then I forgive you for what you said."
"Are you sure? Because of me you got hu-"
Nelson cut her off with a single outstretched finger. The coffee can in her hand joined Serika's tea on the table. "You were not the reason I was injured that night, Ms. Kuromi. I knew that it was a possibility, and still made that choice to stay. As an Adult and your Teacher, my duty is to ensure your safety."
Serika stared at Nelson. Nelson stared back, the faintest hint of a smile on the corners of her lips. After a moment, Serika asked the question that had been itching on her mind "Why would you choose to get hurt even with everything I said to you?"
The Adult's smile went from faint to unreadable. After a second, Nelson answered. "Kuromi, I made that choice because I trusted that you are kinder than your words were. That you would learn, perhaps, to believe in my intentions and forgive my intrusion. Was I wrong in that?"
The smile that Nelson gave her was bright, reflecting the light of the moon filtering through the lobby. Serika still felt that pang of guilt, but it felt less intense now. Like it was something she could move on from. Her answer was simple. "No, you weren't."
"Then let us consider each other forgiven for our mistakes." Nelson said with a confident nod. The seconds ticked on in comfortable silence, before the Teacher sighed and stood up. "You should get some rest. You still have one day of volunteer work left, and it is getting quite late."
Serika's own eyebrow cocked up at that. "What about Shiroko?"
"I shall try to carry her to your room when I am finished."
"And how long is that going to be?"
"Within the hour. I am almost finished."
"Well, I suppose I can let her sleep a bit longer." Serika as she grabbed her drink at the same time as Nelson. "Still. Try to get some rest Sen…" Serika paused, voice trailing off as the familiar sense of awkwardness bubbled up. She grit her teeth as she forced it down and herself forward. "Try to rest as well, Sensei."
Nelson looked at her for a second, before patting her on the head with a smile. The touch was gentler than expected, and colder as well. Literally. Did Nelson take cold water baths? "Thank you, I will try my best."
An hour had passed and Shiroko was still not back in her room, so Serika had to go and figure out what exactly happened. The scene that greeted her upon her return to the office was not something she ever expected to see.
Shiroko had been moved, yes. But only from the desk to a sofa within the office. The same blanket she had earlier was now draped over her. That wasn't quite unexpected. But what she didn't expect to see was Nelson. The Teacher seemed to have sat down in a chair after moving Shiroko and simply fallen asleep. She hadn't even put on a blanket, only clutching her tablet to her closely as if it was some sort of security item.
She wondered if this was the first time anyone had seen the Teacher sleeping. It was certainly her first time. She wasn't even sure if Nelson slept until now.
As she watched Nelson's sleeping form Serika realized something. Nelson was different when she slept. The Teacher carried a certain energy with her when she was awake. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but the Adult always seemed driven to do something. But sleeping? There was a stillness and peace to her that Serika knew she would never see while Nelson was awake.
Still, it wouldn't do anyone good if the Teacher got sick right after healing from her injuries. It didn't take long for her to find the blanket cabinet (why did Schale have so many camping blankets?) that Nelson had pulled from for Shiroko. A toss and a few tucks, and the Adult was now properly warded from the cold.
Serika looked over Nelson to inspect her work and nodded to herself in satisfaction. No way her Teacher was going to get sick now. She was about to leave when her eye was drawn to Nelson's shoulder, so normally far out of her reach. Memories of an hour ago flashed through her mind. Well… there was nobody else here right now.
Quietly, she stepped up next to Nelson again. When she was sure the Adult was actually asleep, she gently patted Nelson on the shoulder.
"Have a good night, Sensei."
And with that, she left. Off to her own bed. Hopefully, Shiroko would get the sleep she needed on the sofa.
Shiroko woke up with a quiet "Nn" and equally soft yawn. The last thing she remembered was helping sort some paperwork so she must have fallen asleep in the office. She sat up to stretch for the morning ahead, only to pause when her hand bounced off the metal bunk above her. She paused, realizing something was off, before it clicked a second later.
Schale didn't have bunk beds.
Now instantly awake, she quickly blinked the remnants of sleep out of her eyes and looked about. She was not in the Schale office or the dorm she was sharing with Serika. She wasn't in her apartment back in Abydos either, strange of a possibility that may be. No, she found herself in a rather cramped room. Exposed pipes, vents, and supports ran across the ceiling and the room was illuminated by a single, flickering lightbulb. A simple closed hardwood door kept her from the hallway outside.
She wasn't in jail. The room was too nice for a jail cell. She also still had her uniform on, even if she couldn't find White Fang anywhere. She got to her feet and looked about the room for any clues. She managed to unlock the cabinets with a liberal application of a paperclip, but she only found a small folding desk in each cabinet and some old uniforms. No name tags, badges, or any signs of owners. After a few minutes, she wrote off the room. There were a few interesting things around, but nothing that pointed at an identity. With nothing else left to try, she went for the door.
The brass knob turned easily enough, but hinges creaked as if they had never been oiled. A silent metal walled hallway greeted her, no windows in sight and illuminated only by the flickering of the lightbulbs.
"Nelson-Sensei? Serika?" Shiroko called out as she stuck her head through the portal, glancing down both sides of the hall. Her voice echoed through the liminal space, fading off into the distance. Nothing answered. When the seconds passed into minutes, she stepped through.
A worn out brass nameplate affixed to the door revealed nothing. Looking around, Shiroko noticed that it was odd. The structure was well kept in some places, but completely worn out in others. As she stood there contemplating what was going on, a flash of movement caught her eye. She snapped her attention towards a corner where she spotted a uniformed leg and boot disappear.
She jogged over to the end of the hallway and glanced around it. Nothing.
"Hello?" Shiroko's call was met with silence again. Not a soul in sight. Then, the sound of someone walking up metal stairs echoed from the far end of the hallway. She dashed this time, sliding to a stop at the end of the corridor just in time to watch a hatch gently close at the top of the metal stairs. She leaped up the stairs, taking several steps at a time, and pushed the unsealed hatch open. By the time she opened it, she watched as another uniformed leg vanished down another corridor.
Shiroko narrowed her eyes. She was clearly being led somewhere. But by who? And why? She didn't know yet. However, she also didn't have any leads. What was it that Nelson-Sensei was fond of saying? She who dares, wins. Against her better instincts, she chased the specter.
Shiroko had been chasing her guide for a few minutes now, and had noticed a few things. First, wherever she was being led was up. She must have started somewhere low and internal, as the phantom was pulling her higher into the structure.
The second was the structure itself. It didn't make a lot of sense. As strange as that was considering she was apparently trapped in a liminal space made of metal hallways, there was just something wrong with the space itself. Some hallways looked new. Some looked worn and poorly maintained. Others looked like they had been rusting for decades. Sometimes, multiple different states would overlap. It was like a video game rendering failure, where multiple textures loaded onto the same object.
The final was more unnerving. Whatever it was that was guiding her was constantly changing. She could only ever catch glimpses of boots, pant legs, and the occasional sleeve but they changed ever so slightly. Different uniform colours, styles of boots, and shape of limbs. Or, on occasion, whether or not the uniform was pristine or damaged.
This had to either be a dream, or something supernatural.
The hatch at the end of the hallway slowly swinging open was her latest directional clue. Shiroko carefully made her way up the hallway, ears perked for any signs of trouble. She tucked up to one of the metal sides on the edge of the portal. When no further signs were forthcoming, she took a peek around the edge.
She seemed to be nearing where she was meant to be. For once, the hallway in front of her was not a strangely familiar repetition of another. To her right was a curving wall made of thick metal. To her left was a wall filled with circular windows. A quick tiptoed peek out of them revealed nothing but a black tinged expanse. With nowhere else to go, she followed the open doors before her.
Shiroko blinked as the hallways exited into a wedge-shaped room. The curved wall that had been on her right looping around. A part of her mind noted that it was never a wall. It was some sort of metal cylinder that ran through the center of this compartment. She ignored that small part of her mind as she took in what she wall in front of her had several small rectangular windows cut into the metal wall. She could see the glow of lights through them, so curiosity led her feet to them.
Shiroko's jaw did not drop at what she saw through them. Nobody else was here to prove otherwise. But she did stare at the outside in awe. Through the window and the cold metal wall, she saw a massive wedge-shaped expanse of wood and metal partially buried in the sand. Three gaping holes cut into the deck and crowned with steel broke the plane of brown. Lights from somewhere above her were shining down to light up the massive construction.
Shiroko was on a ship. She had been on a ship the entire time. And, if the dark blue surface above her told her anything, this ship was underwater.
Shiroko wasn't sure how long she stood there, watching the silent ship deck, before she stepped away from the windows. She wracked her brain trying to figure out what this meant. The dream theory was getting less likely by the moment. She didn't know enough about ships to dream about them and this felt… a little too real to be a dream. So, what exactly was going on?
As she pondered it, something caught her eye. The room was mostly bare, but on the ceiling were two projectors. Strangely modern projectors. Her eyes followed the wires hanging out of them and she followed it to the side of the room hidden by the cylindrical wall. As she turned the corner, she found a sturdy metal table set up against the curved wall. A bulky looking radio set, a stack of logbooks, and a VHS tape player connected to the projectors sat on the table. Next to the table was a metal shelf full of tapes.
She tried to read the logbook, but she couldn't understand the language it was written in. The same went for the labels on the tapes. She could see some numbers, but she couldn't make sense of them without the text. She was fairly certain they might be some sort of date log, but the numbers didn't make sense. The earliest tape started with 16 and went until 18. Then it skipped ahead to 27 for a few tapes. Then it skipped ahead to 40. Most of the tapes were numbered between 41 and 50. She tried to turn on the tape player to watch some, but it didn't seem to have any power.
That left the radio. It was a bulky thing made of two grey boxes, one with a speaker and the other with a handheld microphone. To her surprise, it was on and running. A quick inspection didn't reveal any obvious source of power. But she wasn't familiar with this model and the labels were in the same language as everything else. But she could identify a microphone and speaker when she saw one. Without anything left to try, she hit the big red button on the microphone.
"Hello?"
The speaker crackled in response and she heard… snoring? After a moment, she got a response. "Pancakes… so many pancakes…"
The voice over the speaker was a young girl, that much Shiroko was sure of. "Is somebody there?" she asked, hoping for another response. But, as the seconds ticked on with nothing but the sound of snoring, she had to move on. She should be able to hear if someone responded again.
But now that she had taken a step from the obvious point of interest, she could see a door cut into the metal cylinder. The door had a single windowed slit cut into it and, most curiously, a modern keycard reader was installed next to the door.
Shiroko couldn't find a keycard anywhere to unlock the door, either on the weird table and its assortment of items, or anywhere else in the room. Still, she was curious about what exactly was in there. Stepping up on her toes, she leaned against the glass and peered in.
She held back a surprised gasp when she saw a figure in there, splayed out over some controls. The lights inside the cylinder were off so she couldn't see much, but there was an undeniably human form with long pale hair in there. She went to rasp her knuckle against the window to check if they needed help.
Only for someone to grab her wrist, stopping her arm before she could try. "Now, now, now. We can't have you doing that just yet."
Shiroko pushed herself off the floor, sliding over the smooth linoleum surface to the other side of the room as she sought distance. She glanced up at the other being in the room as she slid to a stop. It was humanoid, but it was most definitely not Human. It had two arms, two legs, and a head. Its posture was rigid, like a statue.
Those were the only details she could pin down. Everything else shifted moment from moment. With every blink, the clothes, height, and even the gender shifted. The only thing that seemed consistent was the face. Or, rather, the lack of a face. There was a simple blank plane of flesh tone where the face should be.
"My, my, my, what do we have here. A lost pup?" The entity drolled, its body still and voice formed of countless hundreds speaking as one.
Shiroko wasn't sure who this was, but she wasn't about to drop her guard. Nothing that looked or sounded like this thing meant any good. "What do you want?" She demanded.
"Hear, hear, hear; there is no need for such impoliteness. We are as curious as you as to how you got here."
The figure didn't move. It simply was on the other side of the room in one moment, and then directly in front of her in the next. It was leaning down, to stare into her eyes where the sockets on its face should be. She shuffled off to the side, keeping one eye on the figure. After a moment it snapped back into a standing position with one hand on its chin.
"Ah, ah, ah, you must be one of the natives. An interesting nature has allowed you to find your way here." They declared with surety. "But you are far away from where you should be, little cù-sìth."
"What are you talking about?" Shiroko asked with a hiss.
The figure laughed; the countless echoing noise discordant against both sets of Shiroko's ears. "Timing, timing, timing our dear cù-sìth. You will learn in time. Would you like to try again?"
"Who are you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. My name is of no matter. I am merely the executive officer of this ship while its captain remains deposed."
She stared at the figure. After a second the figure shifted to mirror her own pose. As the seconds ticked into minutes, she finally asked. "… what are you?"
The figure did not smile. It could not smile. But she could feel the sheer joy that radiated from the figure. "See, see, see? That is the question you should have led with."
The figure shifted again, this time sitting on top of the metal table where the collection of goods sat. One arm pointed out at her and Shiroko couldn't help but notice the microphone in the hand. "Would you believe us if we were to say we are not your foe?"
Shiroko glared at the entity. It did not move, but it did sigh before speaking. "Temper, temper, temper, shattered cù-sìth. You will understand in time. But for now?" The figure shifted again, this time standing before the desk with the microphone brought up to its face. "We both have places to be. So, o' fragment mine, witness and twist. Inhale, endure, exhale, and awaken."
There was a sound of ringing and-
Shiroko shot up straight as her phone alarm went off, quickly blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She looked about the early morning Schale office, having been placed on the sofa. Nelson seemed to be asleep in the seat next to her, blanket draped over her sleeping form as well.
It was… a nightmare. Yes. That must have been what she saw there. A nightmare from the work of the last few days. She was sure it would fade soon enough. She still had one last busy day ahead of her before she and Serika were due to return, hopefully with Nelson in tow. She was sure this would be long gone from her mind before then.
But the memory of what she saw followed her all the way back to Abydos.
AN: A new player joins the table, with hand hidden, and the deck out of sight. Who could they be? What are their aims? And how much of what they say can be trusted? The answers may surprise you. Or they may not. But they are here nonetheless.
As always, thanks to my friend for beta reading.
EDIT: Fixed a few weird formatting things that got eaten by the text editor.
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- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
The last few chapters have actually been quite hard for me to write, as it contained a lot of relatively original material and scenes. While I was happy to write them, they took a toll on my writing speed and basically burned out my buffer. I'm going to be taking a week or two to try to regenerate the buffer before I post the next chapter, so there won't been any updates this next week and possibly the one after. Fortunately, we're a bit back on track for the story of Volume 1, so it shouldn't be as difficult for me to write as the last few chapters have been.
I'll still be around looking at this thread. Worst comes to worst, I'll post the next chapter I have ready after two weeks have passed. It's already been written, but I just want to keep it in the buffer so I have something to share down the line.
I'll still be around looking at this thread. Worst comes to worst, I'll post the next chapter I have ready after two weeks have passed. It's already been written, but I just want to keep it in the buffer so I have something to share down the line.
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- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
So Shiroko somehow found herself in Nelson's actual/original body. That makes sense given what she is, and calling her a cu sith is incredibly on point. So that is where the Abyssal side is being kept. If that is the captain then that means the abyssal corruption is still not fully gone. As for the entity I think thats the crew itself just superimposed into one collective entity instead of manifesting as a bunch of fairies. Certainly comes across as more mysterious and unnerving, but if they were even a bit malicious or aggressive then they would have done something instead of showing her the exit.
Now isn't there a team that specializes in paranormal activity?
Now isn't there a team that specializes in paranormal activity?
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- Location
- A never ending hell of Myoukous
Interestingly, at this point in the timeline, I don't think they're actually all that active or capable of doing anything.
Although I don't have much experience with publishing fanfiction, I do have my own set of favourite narrative tropes and concepts. Of which the most pertinent would be the idea of leitmotifs and motifs. Small things which might not be as prominent that appear constantly, which suggest or hint at the truth. Of course, it is a bit hard to do a musical concept in a purely written format, but I certainly enjoy using the concept in a much more simplified format.
I am unsure if this is an Abyssal entity. There has been one noticeable absence from the KC side, a shipgirl's Fairy crew. It this could be the crew manifesting in a more Fae like state then normally seen. Or I could be talking nonsense. We'll see.
- Location
- Chelsea Alabama
Really? I figured that such a task force would have quite a few stuff going on in the background given all the nonsense that goes on over there. Are they just hanging around in the science school now?
I think the crew is the entity that spoke to Shiroko just that they are manifesting as a singular collective instead of the bobble heads that we are familiar with.
It is the individual locked in the room that needs a keycard to open that I think is the Abyssal side. It could be Plana but I don't see a reason why the crew would lock her up and while Arona can access the broadcast system she exists in the realm within the chest plus she doesn't have white hair and no halo was discribed.
I think you are doing a good job using the concept in a written medium.
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Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Millenium's SPTF only has a single student at this point; it's not until later in the story that the beautiful omniscient genius is transferred.