RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3, Aftermath

"That was yesterday. You're grasping at straws - we were already released from duty," was Mara's no-nonsense retort. More bubbles rippled to the water's surface.

Tom sighed.

"Fine. You're the super incredible awesome Chusa sprite. Will you please come up now before I start throwing wrenches into your capacitors?

He bent over and started reaching down for the Sprite.

One of Sumaru's eyebrows twitched as he caught Kôsuka's telepathic message, his day just got a lot more curious. "Understood, I will be there momentarily," he responded the same way he was contacted. Then he brought his bowl up to his mouth and finished up his breakfast swiftly, drinking the warm tea in one shot to wash everything down. He wasn't really enjoying the food anyway, his mood faded his tastes.

The samurai brought his dishes back down the stairs and placed them in the proper place, before making his way out of the room yet again. He did however take a moment to glance at his flower arrangement on the table, and curiously wondered if anyone else noticed. But that was the extent of his pause, he had things to do now, he wouldn't dare make himself wait.

The platinum haired Neko moved briskly through the Miharu, again knowing exactly where he wanted to be and got there quite fast. In the recreation bay he approached VR chamber nestled in the back and had the MEGAMI notify the people within that the Juni had arrived as per Kôsuka's request. He waited, straightening out his robes and adjusting his weapons.

Mara's target had closed in, going even so far as leaning his face down into range. The sprite obliged him by having her head swiftly emerge from water... before squirting out a strong jet of water in the Raltean's face.

Takuma's notepad continued to fill itself with words. Takuma's cup continued to empty itself.

***

Ryota lunged forward at his opponent. His sword flowed through the night sky.

Air. The blade cut harmlessly through the air.

Splash. A red, hot liquid splashed on his arm and the ground. A blade long enough to go through his entire body protruded from his chest.

"I'm sorry, but it's over," his opponent said without remorse in his voice. He grabbed the handle of the blade and twisted, rippling the disgusting sound of ripping flesh through the air.

*

Satoshi launched from his sleep, landing in a sitting position on his bed. His skin felt hot and sticky from sweating profusely from that nightmare. After a moment of letting the morning air catch up to him, Satoshi went to get out of bed. His feet were tangled in his sheets, but his body kept moving. With his feet anchored to the bed, Satoshi swung forward to the ground.

Slam. His forehead landed on a pencil that lay on his floor. He slowly got up again, now free from the sheets. Satoshi could feel a bruise on his head and only hoped it wasn't noticeable.

It was. A thick red line ran right across his forehead. His short black hair did not run down far enough on his forehead to hide it either. With a sigh, he brushed his teeth, fled the bathroom, and ran downstairs.

"Good morning," he said, seeing his ten-year-old sister at the kitchen table enjoying a bowl of cereal. Her dark hair risked falling into the milk, but she kept tucking it back behind her ear in the nick of time. She responded with a smile and turned her head back to the television, tuned onto the morning news. A quick double take showed she noticed his forehead, but she quickly pretended not to notice.

"What, your watching the news now?" Satoshi asked, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Nah, mom just left it on," she answered without much enthusiasm. Satoshi shrugged in understanding and chugged the glass of juice.

Something on the screen caught his eye. A photo of a face that seemed familiar appeared.

"Something happen?" Satoshi asked his sister.

"They found a body last night, stabbed in the back with a knife and left in a field. No idea who did it."

"Ryota..." Satoshi mumbled, looking at the face once again. The picture held similar to the warrior from his dreams, from his long brown hair to his stern and serious face. His eyes looked like they could scare dogs away.

"Huh? How'd you know his name?" his sister asked, now looking at him in curiosity. As is to echo his thoughts, the reporter mentioned his name.

"Ikeda Ryota" Satoshi tuned out the rest.

”A-ah, I’m not sure… I must have seen his face on the net last night and forgot.” Satoshi felt a little pale and shaky. Either it was coincidence that the figure on the screen and the one from his dream looked the same. Maybe there was a picture of the victim that he saw before he went to bed. He did not remember seeing one, however.

“Well, I need to leave if I want to make it to school, so later!” he said, throwing on his shoes and rushing out the door. Just after Satoshi left the room, the reporter's words echoed to now absent ears.

"The body was found at 2:38 A.M., after a couple reported hearing strange noises that night.

***

Takuma gazed at the notepad in delight.

"It may not be that great of writing, but there's at least some kind of plot forming," he said to himself. The technician spun the contents of a nearly empty coffee cup around before downing the contents.

Hmm. Now I just need more characters... he thought, glancing around the wardroom. More people seemed to show up while he was concentrated in his paper. Maybe I could base some character off some of the crew... I'd probably want to ask them if it'd be okay first. If they looked at it later and saw themselves unexpectedly, that could be an... odd situation. At the very least, I should stop sitting in the corner and talk with the crew a bit more. He noticed a slightly quiet conversation between Kai and Yuzuki and decided it may be a good place to go.

After refilling his cup with some juice and snagging some toast, he headed towards the table where Yuzuki and Kai were sitting.

"Good morning Kai and Yuzuki," he said happily. The successful writing session seemed to put him in a bouncy mood. "Mind if I sit with you two?"

"Thank you, now if y-"

BAM. The water splashed into his face. Tom paused a split second, in surprise, but then put his hand on the sprites head with an affectionate smile. He let it rest there.

The smile lingered just a second longer before he dunked her head down into the water with the palm of his hand.

"As I was saying, THANK you for being a good friend, Mara."

ON
As Miyoko nearly finished the last of her pancakes, she was approached by Yukari. Clad in her stretchsuit uniform with her ribbon tying her hair back, she sat down in front of Miyoko with a weak, apologetic smile on her face. Her small tray only had a plate of four negiri and a cup of mango milk. "Saito-san," she said quietly. She was in a position that did not stop Miyoko from eavesdropping...
...on Kai.

"Mm?" Miyoko looked up only reluctantly, fork still in her mouth. It was a bit of a debate whether she wanted to talk immediately... the pancakes had moved into her mouth, put up a Do Not Disturb sign on her lips, and started doing sweet, sweet things to her tongue. But, then, it would probably be some flavor of insubordination to not respond. Miyoko hastily gulped down the last bite of pancakes. "Hello."

"I am sorry to disturb you," she said, leaning in toward Miyoko, almost bowing. "I apologize for my behavior in the bath. It was rude, to telepathically transmit with you so close."

"Oh! No, it was, it was fine. I realize that you and Freeman-Juni likely had... catching up to do, after yesterday's events."

Yukari shook her head, just a little. "It was still rude. I was not feeling well, in my mind, and I could not confront him about my worries when we were alone." She actually bowed in her seat.

Miyoko pushed her plate away from her a bit to signal that she was done eating... if she had to apologize for eating while Yukari was apologizing for the bath thing, this could go into infinite recursion and get messy. "I think those sorts of worries probably take precedent over me soaking in the tub..." She then remembered Mara walking in as she left. "Did you... complete your conversation?"

Yukari's eyes fell to her food. "I believe it is a conversation that will not end for some time. But we parted ways ... satisfied with our answers."

The sensor specialist took the hint and backed off of the topic. "Well, that's... good. I know that it's not exactly easy to get privacy on here."

"Impossible," the Shosa replied, a dash of malice spicing the word. "Such is the military. But you need not worry; I do not believe our vessel has strong feelings about your life."

Miyoko just sort of raised an eyebrow at that. "I wasn't aware that she did about anybody's."

"I was also unaware." Yukari took a polite sip of her mango milk. "She likely is listening to us at this moment, consciously or not. It is a strange realization to know your home not only hears you, but cares for you."

Miyoko eyed the ceiling suspiciously before looking back to Yukari. "Given the amount of targets she has to pick from, I'd say that she must have found the conversation particularly interesting."

"The fumblings of a Nekovalkyrja and the logic of a man are so interesting?" Yukari smiled at that, putting her hands on her upper arms, with her elbows on the table. "It is good that she cares. She protects us, values us, as we value her. But I have not experienced an IES-unit like this one. She is different."

"Well, I can't say that I've met another quite like her, myself... perhaps it's the prototype thing, or us being her first crew. Who knows."

Yukari's brow furrowed, her eyes on her negiri. "Perhaps." Computations sparked inside her head for a moment before she looked up. "What does your day hold for you?"

"Very little..." There was the pressing matter of Sanjuro's third e-mail, but she was saving that like a particularly savory last bite of pancake--okay, so Miyoko was still a little hungry. Other than that, though, she had no plans. "Though I'll admit that I'm unsure of what the schedule for the day looks like."

"I am not sure." Yukari's expression turned sheepish. "My stomach was defying me to continue without nourishment, so I came to eat something small. I must ascertain the last backup Murasaki-Shoi had to determine if a ceremony is required. I must also restock the ship and be updated on her condition."

"Ahh. Well, I don't forsee any need for my skills today..." Miyoko glanced back at the wardroom window, showing the curve of Yamatai below, "So I expect to have little to do."

"Oh. ... If you wish to assist me, to stay busy, I would be happy to have your help. Our restive periods are rare; I do not want you to waste them assisting me."

"I had more than my share of Yamatai during our leave. I think that I can pass up staring at it from space for a few hours if you could use the help."

Yukari smiled warmly for the first time in what felt like too long. "You have experience with the Soul Transfer machine, yes?"

"Rather more than I'd like..." Miyoko practically shuddered at the memories of giving the entire crew backups. "I take it you need help checking when her backup was?"

"Yes." Yukari frowned. "Murasaki-Shoi was an ad hoc addition to our crew, and originally an NH-27. I do not know what her past was like beyond her file, which suggested she went from vessel to vessel."

"Well, that at least means that if she wasn't backed up here, there was likely one on another ship, right?"

"Yes, but Miharu seems to maintain her independence from PANTHEON, which puts us at a disadvantage. If she does not have one, we will have to manually contact other sources." The Shosa's eyes almost lit up; she was working a puzzle.

"And it could prove difficult to get them if some of the other ships are on duty..."

"If they still exist." Yukari nodded and took a generous bite of a nigiri. "The Shoi was an intelligence operative for at least one period of her service. The effects of that tenure might also hinder us."

"Ah. You think there might be extra restrictions on how long her backups can be retained or where they can be stored?"

"Or just that we'll have trouble finding them due to the secrecy?"

Yukari nodded again, quickly scrapping one riceball and dabbing her mouth with a napkin before speaking. "We are not a genuine unit of SAINT, and are unfamiliar with its regulations. There is no telling what we will find, if we are forced to look. The Shoi could have been, or even still be, considered a highly valuable operative."

Miyoko nodded. "... let's hope she wasn't, or we'll get scrutinized a bit too much about just what circumstances she died under. Still, it's sounding like quite the headache either way."

"I believe it could be so. I do not look forward to it." The Shosa frowned as she sipped her mango milk. "But we have little choice. Murasaki was a comrade; we have a duty to her memory."

"Mm." Miyoko nodded a little, leaning forward and propping herself up with her elbows as she considered it. "Well, being in orbit around Yamatai at least seems like the best place to be in such a circumstance... at least we're not on assignment where we might have to go into communications blackout or something."

"That is what we must be careful about." Yukari chomped another riceball. She had not realized how hungry she was, but still finished her food and dabbed her face before speaking. "We likely will have to route our communications through a different transceiver. Miharu will help us with that, to protect her identity."

"Well then, let's hope we have a backup for her."

Yukari nodded, then looked at Miyoko's plate. "You ... are not done eating, are you." Her face broke into a little smile.

Miyoko eyed the pancake remnants. "I've had enough... Deaths take priority over pancakes, by some strange criteria that I have yet to fully figure out. Besides, the less I eat now, the more I can eat later when Tom's doing the cooking, hmm?"

Yukari stopped before taking a bite of her third nigiri. Her face flushed red as she put it down. "You are correct," she said, sipping the milk. "I should eat no more as well."

It was all Miyoko could do to restrain herself from grinning at Yukari's reaction. "Well, if we've both had all the food that we intend to, shall we head to the medlab?"

"Yes," Yukari said. "I will work on the restocking of the ship as we walk." She picked up her tray and headed for the small fridge, planning on saving her food, as she drank down the mango milk.
END

Sanjuro slowly looked over his charts once more as he took a seat at his small desk near the front of the medical lab. Everything looked stable...but usually, that was never reassuring enough to put the doctor off edge. The office chair beneath him squeaked slightly as he sat down, scooting it up to his strangely cluttered desktop. Stacks of documents, medical analysis and all three of his datapads running through three separate programs in unison left little room for anything else other than two elbows connected to a tired medical practitioner.

The doctor allowed himself to yawn, blinking several times afterward. Not surprisingly, Sanjuro had kept himself awake since the whole ordeal with the prisoners, only allowing himself short naps between analysis results. Looking around the medical room reveal no large issues; patients were stable and resting well, and the hemosynth tanks were in full working order. Sanjuro allowed himself to replace his usual straight-backed posture at his desk for a more comfortable one, resting his head in the palm of his hand, propped upon the desk. He began thinking how now was not the best time for a short rest, that there was still work to be done as always...but even Sanjuro's questionable judgment couldn't hold back his drowsiness. Eyelids trembling, the doctor fell head-first into a stress-induced catnap.

Nyton gave a quick nod to Heram and stood up. "Very well then. Let me get a few things and we will be on our way." he said before looking at Masako. "I apologize for having to leave so soon, Kurohoshi-Juni, but we have to go." Nyton then added.

Nyton quickly walked over to the serving center and retrieved some chopsticks along with a glass of orange juice. Tucking them both under the tray cover and quickly checking to ensure the food was still emanating some warmth he then looked over at Heram. "Now we are ready. Follow me sir." was all he said before leading off again.

Once they began walking again Nyton quickly went over a checklist of what had been covered. Now that they were in transit he then decided to approach an earlier topic. "Sir, you mentioned that Eve had been contracted to kill certain figures to influence Ralfarian politics. How did you get in contact with her so that you could confirm this?" he asked casually as they walked. Nyton moved slowly now, taking care to balance Kotori's breakfast.

"She has been captured by SAINT before," Wazu explained, dealing with his tray of food first before following Nyton out of the room. His limp was far more pronounced as he moved quickly to get beside Nyton, walking more normally afterwards, doing his best to ignore the twinge of pain each time his foot hit the ground.

"I talked to her one of those times. She confirmed that someone had contacted her and had her carry out the assassinations. She even offered to tell me who it was if I were to give her some children to keep her company in her cell."

The sprite turned this over in her head, passing the concept of a self-propelled pair of legs meandering around the ship through the sieve of conceivability. The resulting image was amusing at the very least. She couldn't help but smile.

Yuzuki put her elbows on the table and folding her arms - this conversation was getting easier. She was interested, and didn't have to force anything anymore. The topic was so innocent, she no longer found herself having to beat the reoccuring images of the previous day out of her mind: Her tray wasn't completely forgotten, however - she remembered suddenly to take a sip of her soda. The moment she started drinking, though, her stomach reminded her that the liquid was the only thing she'd taken in for at least twelve hours.

She ended up draining most of it before putting it down.

"So," she said, looking up again, "It's just a toy? You are going to do it all yourself?"

Nyton just nodded slightly as he listened to Heram. Odd to seem bothered by this information earlier and then calm about it now. Could he be lying? he thought.

"How were you associated to the investigation of her targets and able to get close enough to question her? Also if Eve had been captured then how did she escape?" Nyton asked, refraining from adding 'again' to the sentence. Eve had an odd record of being caught and released several times. A note that made him believe it very possible that someone high in SAINT was involved as per Heram's suspicions.

“I do not know how she escaped that time,” Wazu said, definitely speaking faster and putting less thought into his words now than before.

“When I left her she was behind an Impervium wall. I have not seen her since.” His voice was annoyed and a bit angry at this point.

“The two people killed on Ralfaris were my mother and her caretaker. I assume you already know the rest of why I am no longer a Taisho.”

"Maa, I guess that's true." Yoroko responded to Rin. "Saa, I don't have a lot to do today, I'll help. After all, if by merely being a sprite you hold yourself responsible for maintaining the ship then how much more responsible is someone assigned to the ship?" Yoroko turned back and began to eat. The Hei had no expierience whatsoever with repairs, other than what she was taught concerning armor repairs, so it would be quite the experience for her.

Listening carefully it appeared to Nyton that Heram had become less guarded now. The inflection in the man's voice was made apparent upon hearing that Eve's effect in his life was personal in nature. Personal vendetta. Not surprising but also unfortunate. That will make him difficult to reason with. Nyton thought.

"You experiences are something of a history lesson now. Regardless of the decisions made in the past the present is what matters. Especially the matter of how you were found recently. What exactly happened before we found you? Did she still even remember you from the previous time you spoke to her?" he asked, maintaining a neutral tone.

“I did not get a chance to see her while in captivity so I can not say as to if she remembers me, but the model of body she used back then was supposed to have perfect memory.” Wazu said.

“I was caught because I was asking questions around a shipyard I think sold her group starships or starship components. How they decided to detain me I can not say either.”

Wazu was still angry about getting dragged through this again. For years he had been trying to put this behind him with varying degrees of success but he was certain now the only way to do it for sure was to get to the center of what was going on and find the person responsible, the one that had been pulling Eve’s strings.

Kai waved lamely to Takuma before Muttering "Sure, I guess you can" and turning back to Yuzuki. He took a bite of his rapidly dwindling food before answering her. "I guess it's a toy. I wanted to give it the ability to take orders and bring me food or maybe help at parties or something, but I don't really know how." Kai sorta kinda grinned, looking somewhat sheepish about his silly idea, and his lack of knowledge on how to make it happen.

The anger was obvious now. While it could have been fake there were facts supporting Heram's claim. Nyton had researched Eve extensively even through her career as an assassin. He listened carefully and nodded along, not wanting to seem eager or dismissive. Nyton was still cautious though for Heram was crafty and could still be putting on some sort of air to make him more sympathetic. Another factor in mind was that unfortunately, while Heram's insight on the past were supportive, his contribution to recent events was almost non-existent.

"You have my condolences for the loss of your family, sir. Eve is a danger to everyone, not just the Empire." Nyton replied. Before more could be said though, they had arrived at Kotori's doorway. "Sir, we are here." he said, slowly stopping in front of the door.

Nyton turned to look at Heram. "Now then, please remember that if there is going to be any chance for you to find justice for your family you must be able to focus. I can only assist so much but ultimately it will be up to you to prove your merit to our investigation. Be polite, show respect, and know your limits. Are you ready?"

Oh great. Now Yoroko wanted to help repair.... Rin nearly facepalmed. The ship really was going to blow up. They were all doomed! The sprite took a silent bite of food, before she replied, "You don't have to. After the Taisa had all the new sprites created for the mission, we should have enough hands helping, especially once we actually get to a station to get full repairs."

The first moments of Mara being dunked under water had the sprite thrash in protest, but she quickly calmed down and just opened her eyes in the water to glance up at Tom.

"I'm not sure you're cut up for the military, Tom. I feel there are places where you could successfully apply yourself constructively and not feel that you are under such duress," The sprite told him telepathically. "You're a good engineer though. You've put up with me great, so I'm sure the next ship you'll end up on will be in good hands too."