"Man fears the darkness and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire..."
- Rei Ayanami
***
"I'm still not sure about this," Irene noted, jogging to keep up with her sister's brisk pace. "I mean, yes,
they've allowed me to operate alongside them, but another, so soon?" she said, frowning. "This is pushing goodwill a touch far, sister."
"If your mysterious employer wishes to take it up with me, I will certainly hear her out, but for the moment, this is why I suggested this idea to you in
the first place, if you'll recall," Reika noted, stepping into the testing range as Irene frowned somewhat behind her, before catching sight of the
red and blue armor currently being tested, a jet of flame surging forward to incinerate a target before whirling as a pair of new targets lifted up, firing
weapons. One was frozen solid a second later while the other drone found itself rooted in place by ice growing from the ground, moments before a bolt of flame
shot overhead and then shattered, scattering burning liquid fire in a downward spray over the two target drones with armor scorching heat before a final blast
destroyed both.
Irene watched the devastation with a semi-clinical bent, her mind snapping back to numerous combat tests of Scimitars in Crey. If this one had been one of
theirs, she'd have been among some of the most highly ranked ranged combat specialists available. The woman was like some kind of machine. But Irene
would've known if she actually was, and it wasn't as if Chang Enterprises lacked the financial wherewithal to hire specialists...
"....I'll bring this up with their leader, see if I can get a special consideration," she said, before staring her older sister in the eye
firmly. "But they are not going to be running around with the Sabre name and acting as some private hit squad," she said, her tone frosty.
Reika remained unmoved, but she was the first to look away from the stare down. "Of course not. Damaging Crey's enterprises hardly requires any
deviation from normal heroic activity, after all...." she noted, ignoring the resigned look her sister gave her. As she walked towards the debriefing room
to speak with the armored figure now exiting the testing range, Irene wondered yet again what kind of Pandora's box she'd opened with this....
***
"I still do wish you'd reconsider," Reika noted softly, looking at Peltier Sabre as she removed her helm. "Losing you to a stray field
operation would set us back months, and I like to think I'm able to be concerned for you as a friend," she said.
The blonde shook out short, shoulder length hair and looking back at her with intense eyes. "No, Miss Chang, I do not plan to reconsider. That portion of
my contract regarding my testing all the armors before they were assigned to operatives is non-negotiable."
Reika considered her for a long moment. "And this armor?"
"Far too volatile at this stage. I'll continue testing it until I'm certain it's safe," she returned simply. "Until then, no one
else but myself will use it."
Reika contemplated arguing the point further, but knew she would get nowhere. Looking at her for a moment longer, she nodded, turning away. "As you wish,
Doctor Akagi."
***
Ritsuko Akagi stepped into her luxurious apartment, smiling slightly at the chorus of welcoming meows from her various cats as she stepped through the door,
picking up Chandra as she stepped around Schroedinger and Kepler in turn. After seeing to her cats' needs, she prepared herself a small dinner and ate in
companionable silence, until the thud of the freezer door alerted her to the apartment's lone remaining resident coming out to greet her.
"Waagh," Pen-Pen noted slightly, the avian looking at her with more intelligence than even a genetically engineered penguin ought to have.
"...I'm fine, Pen-Pen," she said firmly. "I'm just tired from work."
"...waagh," he said, showing his opinion of her excuse, but the penguin did head off to his freezer again. Ritsuko watched him go but otherwise
continued eating, stroking Tesla as he rubbed up against her legs, crooning.
As she went to bed that night, she hoped the penguin hadn't been an omen of whether her return visitors would come in her dreams that night. She'd
hoped to actually get some sleep before work tomorrow...
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
- Rei Ayanami
***
"I'm still not sure about this," Irene noted, jogging to keep up with her sister's brisk pace. "I mean, yes,
they've allowed me to operate alongside them, but another, so soon?" she said, frowning. "This is pushing goodwill a touch far, sister."
"If your mysterious employer wishes to take it up with me, I will certainly hear her out, but for the moment, this is why I suggested this idea to you in
the first place, if you'll recall," Reika noted, stepping into the testing range as Irene frowned somewhat behind her, before catching sight of the
red and blue armor currently being tested, a jet of flame surging forward to incinerate a target before whirling as a pair of new targets lifted up, firing
weapons. One was frozen solid a second later while the other drone found itself rooted in place by ice growing from the ground, moments before a bolt of flame
shot overhead and then shattered, scattering burning liquid fire in a downward spray over the two target drones with armor scorching heat before a final blast
destroyed both.
Irene watched the devastation with a semi-clinical bent, her mind snapping back to numerous combat tests of Scimitars in Crey. If this one had been one of
theirs, she'd have been among some of the most highly ranked ranged combat specialists available. The woman was like some kind of machine. But Irene
would've known if she actually was, and it wasn't as if Chang Enterprises lacked the financial wherewithal to hire specialists...
"....I'll bring this up with their leader, see if I can get a special consideration," she said, before staring her older sister in the eye
firmly. "But they are not going to be running around with the Sabre name and acting as some private hit squad," she said, her tone frosty.
Reika remained unmoved, but she was the first to look away from the stare down. "Of course not. Damaging Crey's enterprises hardly requires any
deviation from normal heroic activity, after all...." she noted, ignoring the resigned look her sister gave her. As she walked towards the debriefing room
to speak with the armored figure now exiting the testing range, Irene wondered yet again what kind of Pandora's box she'd opened with this....
***
"I still do wish you'd reconsider," Reika noted softly, looking at Peltier Sabre as she removed her helm. "Losing you to a stray field
operation would set us back months, and I like to think I'm able to be concerned for you as a friend," she said.
The blonde shook out short, shoulder length hair and looking back at her with intense eyes. "No, Miss Chang, I do not plan to reconsider. That portion of
my contract regarding my testing all the armors before they were assigned to operatives is non-negotiable."
Reika considered her for a long moment. "And this armor?"
"Far too volatile at this stage. I'll continue testing it until I'm certain it's safe," she returned simply. "Until then, no one
else but myself will use it."
Reika contemplated arguing the point further, but knew she would get nowhere. Looking at her for a moment longer, she nodded, turning away. "As you wish,
Doctor Akagi."
***
Ritsuko Akagi stepped into her luxurious apartment, smiling slightly at the chorus of welcoming meows from her various cats as she stepped through the door,
picking up Chandra as she stepped around Schroedinger and Kepler in turn. After seeing to her cats' needs, she prepared herself a small dinner and ate in
companionable silence, until the thud of the freezer door alerted her to the apartment's lone remaining resident coming out to greet her.
"Waagh," Pen-Pen noted slightly, the avian looking at her with more intelligence than even a genetically engineered penguin ought to have.
"...I'm fine, Pen-Pen," she said firmly. "I'm just tired from work."
"...waagh," he said, showing his opinion of her excuse, but the penguin did head off to his freezer again. Ritsuko watched him go but otherwise
continued eating, stroking Tesla as he rubbed up against her legs, crooning.
As she went to bed that night, she hoped the penguin hadn't been an omen of whether her return visitors would come in her dreams that night. She'd
hoped to actually get some sleep before work tomorrow...
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."