“Ha, I
knew I’d find you here.”
“Oh
man, you managed to spot me from clear
across the cafeteria,” Davídrius drawled, “what an accomplishment.”
“Oh, be
quiet,” Christeané retorted as he dropped his tray of food on the table across
from Davídrius and took a seat. “You’re always sitting over here, by yourself.”
“Has it
not occurred to you that I might actually want to be by myself?”
“’Course
it has.”
“Then
why are you here?”
“Hard
to talk to you if I’m not.”
“…Keh,”
Davídrius smirked despite himself, and then shook his head wearily. “You’re
ridiculous, you know?”
“That’s
what they all say,” Christeané responded around a mouthful of food, “Better
than being an asshole, I’d say.”
“Blunt
as ever, I see.”
“Eh,
you’re getting better. I heard you actually apologized to Kevérin yesterday.”
“Oh, so
you actually were referring to me
when you said asshole, tch. …Wait, you ‘heard’ about that? How–?”
“He
told me. He actually asked me if you were okay; he seemed to think something had
happened to your head, heheheh.”
“Of course he did,” Davídrius deadpanned,
“Alright, so, yeah. The whole thing with the Dark Ayas made me realize I wasn’t
really being too friendly, so I decided to try and change that.”
“Aww,
that’s adorable.”
“…And this
is why I keep to myself. I get mocked no matter what I do.”
“I’m
not mocking you, I’m applauding your progress!”
“Uh
huh. Sure ya are.”
“Though,”
Christeané began again after swallowing, “If you’re gonna apologize to Kevérin,
I think you should apologize to Rebehka and Kaoné, too.”
“…I’ll
think about Kaoné. She still has a worldview that I fundamentally disagree
with, so we’ll have to see. What’d I do to Rebehka, though? I haven’t said much
to her since… since, uh…”
“And
that’s exactly the problem. Weren’t you supposed to be practicing fencing or
something with her? According to Siyuakén, you’ve been blowing her off.”
“Well…
I guess, yeah. I guess I have been wasting her time, huh…”
“It
doesn’t have to be a whole thing, just say sorry. I’m sure she’ll forgive you.
She’s great like that.”
“And
you’d know, because…?”
“Aside
from the fact that I’ve known her and Siyuakén for longer than you, I think
it’s probably safe to say that I can read people better than you can.”
“Bullshit,
I can read people just fine.”
“Hah, I
have to agree with Christeané here.”
“Eh?”
Davídrius and Christeané both turned their attention to the end of the table,
where Rebehka was standing, food tray in hand.
“Mind
if I sit with you guys?” she asked.
“Sure,”
Christeané replied, patting the stool next to him.
“I’m
surprised to see you here without Siyuakén,” Davídrius remarked.
“Well,
I was going to have lunch with her,”
the Cryotechnic responded, “But when I went back to the office to get her, she
and Kaoné were in the middle of… a much-needed conversation, let’s call it. I
didn’t want to interrupt.”
“’Much-needed
conversation’?” Davídrius echoed incredulously, “About what?”
“…It’s
nothing,” Rebehka shook her head, “You don’t need to worry about it. What were
you talking about before, though?”
“Oh,
you mean why I mentioned you and Siyuakén?” Christeané smirked.
“Wasn’t
anything,” Davídrius declared stubbornly, “Nothing at-agh?!” He suddenly
flinched and then glared at Christeané, who had just kicked him in the shins.
“The
two of you are getting along just as well as ever, I see,” Rebehka remarked
amusedly.
“Hell
of an idea, kicking a Superspeed
Introtechnic in the shins,” Davídrius deadpanned, his scornful gaze set
directly on Christeané.
“Oh,
get over yourself,” the Superstrength Introtechnic replied.
Davídrius
sighed wearily. “Fine, fine, alright.” He then turned to Rebehka. “I’m… sorry,
for skipping out on our swordplay practice.”
Christeané
suddenly chortled, and was immediately decked by Rebehka.
“Don’t
even pretend that hurt,” the Cryotechnic stated flatly.
“Yeah,
no, I deserved that,” he replied cheekily.
Rebehka
sighed wearily before turning her attention back to Davídrius. “Apology
accepted. Do you want to keep up with the lessons?”
“Eh…
sure, guess so.”
“You
know what this means, then, right?”
“Uh…”
Davídrius hesitated, unsure of what to make of Rebehka’s question. “…what do
you mean… ‘what this means’?”
Rebehka
only grinned and laughed quietly to herself in response. “Meet me in the
practice room after work.” She then glanced over at Christeané. “You too,
Master Offender.”
“Ooh,
insulting twist on my rank. Clever.”
“Just
what are you tryin’ to get at, here…?” Davídrius replied uneasily.
“Don’t
worry,” Rebehka chirped, her expression dialed back from a shit-eating grin to
a mere smirk, “I’m sure some of the lesson will have actual practical value.”
“Wait,
’some’–?!”
“Hey,
it’s Siyuakén and Kaoné!” the Cyrotechnic spontaneously changed the subject as
she began waving over the two Chaotics who had just entered the lunchroom.
“…Bah,”
Davídrius scowled, “More people. I mean, it’s not like I sat way over here by
myself because I wanted to be alone,
or anything like that. Psh. That’d just be silly.”
“You’re
right it would,” Christeané smirked, “C’mon, who’d want to avoid friends like
us?”
“’Friends
like us’,” Davídrius snorted, “Hah, right. Who would…”
* * *
“I’d
like you to share less information with Hero Machina from now on.”
“What?”
Kievkenalis paused, glancing between Archoné Culana and General Rantéin
confusedly. “…Why?”
“If
your compatriots are anything to go by, the NSD is nowhere near as secure an
organization as I first expected,” Rantéin explained, ignoring the Archoné as
he willfully dived into the sandwich he was holding, “I find it increasingly
difficult to trust this international endeavor.”
“Well,
okay, but why sabotage it then?” Kievkenalis questioned, “Don’t you want it to
do better?”
“I do,
but not if it costs me confidential RPF information.”
“But…
that information has led to two of our most significant missions.”
“Missions
that Hero Machina handled remarkably poorly. If Nikéyin chooses to continue to
put her trust into such a group, I’m not sure I can trust her.”
“She
actually shares many of your concerns, Sulan.”
“…What?”
the General turned to glance at Culana, “Then why–?”
“I
convinced her to give them one more chance.”
Rantéin
facepalmed and sighed audibly. “Damn it, Pallan, is it too much to ask that you
tell me these things?”
“I’m
the Archoné. I don’t have to tell anyone anything,” Culana declared, though the
faintest tone of cheekiness could be detected in his voice.
“So…”
Kievkenalis spoke up uneasily, “Am I–?”
“I’d
still like you to be wary of what you share, Captain,” Rantéin insisted, “If
what Pallan says is true, then perhaps my loss of trust in Nikéyin herself is
unwarranted. But I still don’t trust the NSD – in the least, I don’t trust your
little ‘Hero Machina’ group.”
“But I do,” the Chaostechnic countered.
“That’s…
great, Captain, but your opinion doesn’t matter here.”
“If I
think you’re being unreasonable, it does. There’s precedent for RPF officers
sharing information to third parties if it’s mutually beneficial, and those
officers not being punished. Remember the Kai’dan thing? That was only two
years ago–“
“Captain,”
Rantéin interrupted, “Those cases don’t apply to this situation. Those were
about direct, immediate threats to the third party. The information you’re sharing, on the other hand–“
“Is
directly related to the well-being of the entire galaxy.”
The
General paused for a second before hanging his head in exasperation. “…Is this
something in the Oraculm?” he asked wearily, glancing over at Culana.
“It is
indeed,” the Archoné nodded.
“…How
many times are you going to allow me to make a fool of myself?”
“As
many times as it remains to be amusing,” Culana smiled cheekily.
“Sometimes
I wonder how I ever became friends with you,” Rantéin shook his head wearily,
“You’re insufferable now, I can’t imagine how you’ll be in twenty years when you’re
a crotchety old man without a care in the world.”
“I’m
sure you’ll be just the same, Sulan.”
“Aye,
but I plan to retire by then. You can’t say the same.”
“Oh?
You’re telling me you’re just going to abandon the RPF at some point in the
future?”
“Pallan…”
“I
jest, I jest.”
“Um…”
Kievkenalis spoke up quietly, “What’s the final verdict…?”
Rantéin
sighed again and wiped his brow before turning his attention back to the
Captain. “…Fine. Continue as you have been. But I still want you to think about
what you’re doing. If you ever begin to suspect that your fellow members of
Hero Machina are non-trustworthy, begin withholding information accordingly.
Understand?”
“…Not
sure if that will be necessary, but yes, I understand,” Kievkenalis nodded.
“Alright,
then. You can go,” the General watched as the Captain stood up and left the
room before turning to Culana. “Is it really too much to ask that you share
these things with me?”
“How am
I to know what information you need to know if you don’t tell me?” the Archoné
shrugged.
“I can’t know what to ask you for if I
don’t even know you have the information!”
“Quite
the predicament, then, hmm.”
“Oi…
alright, at least tell me this, Pallan: how significant is the information the
Captain is sharing – the task that Hero Machina is doing?”
“…I
honestly cannot say, Sulan,” Culana responded quietly, “The tasks they do are
indeed important. How important,
well… only time will tell.”
* * *
5 Hours Later
“Alright,
what’ve we got here… eh? Siyuakén?”
“Don’t
ask me,” the Electrotechnic replied as she leaned against the practice room
wall, observing the two Introtechnics as they entered. “Rebehka told me not to
tell you what we’re doing. She wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Oh
boy, a surprise,” Davídrius deadpanned, “I love
surprises.”
“Relax,”
Christeané remarked, stepping further into the room after removing his shoes
and poking the mats with his toes, “I’m sure she has a great idea.” He glanced
around curiously, inspecting the sizable sparring room. “…Huh, this is actually
a pretty meh setup.”
“Well
of course you’d say that, coming from East Nimaliaka…” Siyuakén snorted,
“…wait, have you never been in any of the recreational facilities?”
“Just
the gym… and that Chaotic Range over at the western base,” Christeané shrugged,
“Never much reason to come to one of the practice rooms. I always practice with
my hammer in a proper, Chaos Energy-rich environment. …Wait a minute–!”
“Ah, so
you’ve figured it out.”
The
three Chaotics in the room turned toward the entrance, where Rebehka was
standing, holding a bag of staff-like objects over her shoulder.
“So,
that’s what we’re doing,” Christeané smirked, “CENT field training, huh?”
“Exactly,”
Rebehka nodded, stepping into the room and depositing the bag to the side of
the doorway. She then glanced between Siyuakén, Christeané, and Davídrius, with
her gaze lingering on the latter. “Given what’s happened on the past couple
missions, especially back on Teghica, I figured we could all benefit from some
refreshers about fighting in a CENT field. I’ve already turned on the room’s
generator.”
“You
activated a CENT field–?!” Davídrius growled, tensing and stepping back
defensively, “The fuck? Why the hell didn’t you tell me you wanted to just
strip away all our powers?!”
“…It’s
just a CENT field,” Rebehka frowned, “It’s not permanent. And it won’t harm
you–”
“Won’t
harm me my ass. The only thing CENT fields are good for is disabling Chaotics
so you can trap or kill them. They aren’t training tools!”
“Relax!”
Christeané insisted, “They can totally be training tools. We’re in the middle
of a fortified military base anyways; we’re in no danger here. Not to mention
that any attack on the base would automatically shut the CENT fields off.”
“…Tch,”
Davídrius scowled, “…Alright. Fine. I’ll go with it today. But that’s it.”
Rebehka
glanced toward Siyuakén uneasily, who responded with a shrug. “…Are you sure?”
the Cryotechnic questioned as Davídrius approached the bag of staves, “If it’s
really that much of an issue, then I can turn the field off–“
“No.
I’ll be fine,” he responded stubbornly before snatching up two of the staves
and crossing to the opposite side of the room. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“If you
say so,” Rebehka replied uneasily, and then glanced down at the two staves in
his hands. “Hmm, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“What?”
the Introtechnic glared at her, and then down at his hands, “…Dual wielding? I
do it all the time.”
“No,
what you do is wave two swords around
at high speeds,” Christeané snorted, “Calling it ‘dual wielding’ would imply a
level of skill.”
“Thanks
for your resounding endorsement,” Davídrius deadpanned.
“He’s
right, though,” Siyuakén added, “Actually using two weapons at once is really
difficult. You manage to make up for your lack of skill with your speed, but–“
“I’ll
be fine,” Davídrius declared
stubbornly, “I’ve never fought in a CENT field before, but it can’t be that different for an Introtechnic.”
Rebehka
smirked. “Are you sure about that?”
“Enough
with the damn questions,” the Introtechnic scowled as he dropped into a
fighting stance, “C’mon, let’s do this already!”
“Well,
if you say so,” the Cryotechnic’s smirk spread into a grin, “Ready… mark!”
5 Minutes Later
“Ow…
oooowww… ow ow ow…”
Rebehka
stepped back and straightened up as she glanced down at Davídrius, who was
lying on his back. “That’s 10-0, my favor. Still sure about everything you
said?”
“CENT
fields won’t harm me my ass,” the Introtechnic groaned, “This is why you wanted to do CENT field sparring, innit? You didn’t
want to teach me shit, you just wanted to beat me up.”
“I
didn’t ‘beat you up’, I simply… showed you the error of your ways.”
“Like
hell you did,” Davídrius scowled, “…dammit, help me up.”
Rebehka
stepped over and grabbed his hand before yanking him to his feet. He
immediately grimaced and held his back in pain. “Goddamn…”
“Man,
that was quite the show, Davídrius,” Christeané smirked, “CENT field fighting
is just like regular fighting, huh? Does this mean Rebehka can kick your ass on
a regular basis?”
“Shut
it.”
“I hope
you at least see now that there’s a significant difference,” Rebehka commented.
“…I
guess,” Davídrius muttered, “But even then – I’m bigger than you, and I’ve got
longer reach! How the fuck did you take me down so easily?”
“It’s
because you don’t have any skill,” Christeané marched forward and snatched one
of the staves from Davídrius, “That, combined with the fact that you weren’t
expecting to be slowed down as much as you were. CENT field fighting is completely different from regular
fighting for Introtechnics – you have to keep in mind that the strength, speed,
and reflexes you’re used to, are no longer there. The difference between what
you expect and what actually happens can actually kill you, and it’s more
relevant to Introtechnics because our powers are more second-nature and
instinctive than, say, Cryotechnism.” He then waved Davídrius away. “I’ll show you the correct way to fight as an Introtechnic.”
“You’re
pretty confident, I see,” Rebehka remarked.
“I’m
from East Nimaliaka, of course I’d be confident,” Christeané smirked, “Our Introtechnics are better than the
average Chaotic anywhere else!”
“Alright,
that’s it,” Siyuakén grabbed a staff of her own and approached Rebehka,
gesturing for her friend to back away. “Enough with the shit-talk, I want to
see what you can actually do.”
“’Shit-talk’?
Ha! You have no idea how much I’ve trained, both in and out of CENT fields,”
the Master Lieutenant replied, “Buuut, if you think you can beat me, well, feel
free to try!”
“I’ll
do more than that,” Siyuakén taunted, “I’ll have you on the floor, just like
Davídrius!”
“…You
know, in another context–“
“Ready, mark!” Siyuakén lunged toward
Christeané, her staff stretched forward. He immediately and successfully dodged
to the left before swinging his staff laterally. Siyuakén quickly whipped her
staff to the side, blocking Christeané’s blow and immediately following through
to swing the staff down on top of his head – which he instinctively blocked by
grabbing the staff with his free hand.
“That
counts,” Siyuakén smirked.
“Bah…”
Christeané scowled, “…I haven’t done this in a while. You have to give me some
time to warm up.”
“Hah,
you want to take a moment to do that?”
“No,
that last point was fine,” Christeané backed into a fighting stance, “C’mon!
Ready, mark!”
This
time Christeané lunged forwards, the sheer power behind his move knocking away
Siyuakén’s staff when she tried to block. He immediately swung his staff to the
side in an effort to hit her, but she bent over backwards just far enough to
evade the swipe and then followed through the motion with a full backflip,
landing on her feet just in time to block another attack from Christeané. She
then moved to counter-attack, but Christeané dropped into a crouch and then swung
out with his leg, knocking Siyuakén off of her feet. He lightly tapped her with
his staff as she lay on the ground.
“You’d knock me to the ground?”
Christeané grinned.
“…Shut
up,” Siyuakén muttered as she jumped back to her feet, “Alright, next round
wins! Ready, mark!”
Christeané
lunged forwards again, but instead of blocking Siyuakén jumped back. The moment
Christeané’s lunge came to a stop she whacked away his staff and jumped forward
and to the left while swinging her own staff to the right. Christeané threw
himself to the floor to evade the staff, rolling once before leaping back to
his feet just in time to block a blow from Siyuakén. He then allowed her to
start several more attacks, easily blocking each of them, before he started a
lunge to the left. Siyuakén immediately swung her staff down on the location,
but as she did so Christeané slammed his foot into the ground, stopping his
left-ward lunge and sending him instead to the forward-right as he smacked the
staff out of Siyuakén’s hand. He then swung his staff back toward himself for
the point, hitting Siyuakén’s left side, just below her armpit – only for his
staff to rebound violently with an audible metallic clang.
Siyuakén
quickly stumbled back as Christeané stared at her confusedly. His expression
then changed to one of disappointment. “Body armor? Really?”
“…Well,
yeah,” the Electrotechnic replied uneasily. She then straightened up and
crossed her arms as she stared back at Christeané irately. “We may be in a CENT
field, but I’m not stupid; you’re really strong regardless. I didn’t want to
get hurt. Good thing, too – if I didn’t have the armor, that blow would’ve
cracked a rib!”
“…She’s
right,” Rebehka shook her head disapprovingly at Christeané, “You should be
more careful. The last thing we need is a preventable injury due to sparring.”
“I–!”
he started, but stopped himself and sighed resignedly. “Yeah, you’re right.
Sorry.” He then grinned. “I did win,
though.”
“…This
won’t be the last I hear of it, will it,” Siyuakén deadpanned.
“Nah,
I’m not as petty as Davídrius.”
“I’m
right here, you know!”
“I’m
going to leave before I actually get hurt,” Siyuakén turned toward the exit,
“have fun, guys. Rebehka, I’ll meet you at the apartment.”
“Aww, I
wasn’t that bad about it, was I?”
Christeané frowned and glanced over at Rebehka.
She
shrugged. “You were a little
over-the-top with that last attack. I don’t know though, I’ll talk to her
later.”
“I
guess I’ll take my leave then, too,” the Superstrength Introtechnic declared,
and then turned to Davídrius. “Remember what I said. Don’t take CENT fields
lightly and you won’t end up on your back.”
“Tch,”
Davídrius scowled, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Hah,
you can bet on that,” Rebehka grinned.
“Great.
Well, ‘night guys.”
Davídrius
watched Christeané leave before glaring at Rebehka resentfully. “…How much more
abuse am I gonna have to take?”
“Don’t
worry,” Rebehka shook her head amusedly, “It’ll be a normal lesson from here on
out. I’ve had my fun. Now, first things first, your stance was terrible…”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 36 ====================
* * * * *
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