RP: Section 6 Nagato-senpai.

[Kim]

Part 1

-- Osman University, Technology Room 2 // Class: Working with Military Electronics --​

Jay was fairly uncomfortable underneath his calm appearance. Sure, his face was disguised by an active-camouflage mask, but the thought of revealing himself to dozens of unaffiliated students made him nervous. What if someone recognized him? Or worse, what if someone was to look into his identity? Regardless, these students needed to be eased into the educational experience - as much as he wished he could leave them to their own devices. He watched from the opposite wall as the students began to file into the class to be greeted by an overenthusiastic teacher.

Aster had looked at her schedule and was actually quite excited to be in a class labelled as "Military Electronics". She shifted the weight of her backpack against her shoulder and her slightly unbuttoned black uniform jacket as she walked through the halls and into the classroom. She stopped to look at the distortion over Jay's face. Violet eyes appraised his face curiously. She stood fairly close to him as she stared up at him. "Nan desu ka."

With most of the students now in their seats, the teacher would begin explaining the plan for the semester, appearing to fall on deaf ears.

Jay continued to watch from the side of the classroom, noticing the inquisitive student out of the corner of his eye, settling his gaze on her for a moment but ultimately deciding that there was no reason for concern at the moment.

Aster sat down near Jay, still glancing over at him as the teacher started the lecture. She was not trying to hide her curiosity. She knew it was rude but it was strange. She wanted to know. As the teacher droned on, she pressed her arms down on the desk and placed her chin on her arms. She huffed as she glanced at Jay again.

The teacher now spoke up to the class.

"Ok, now that we have that over with, I need to get a sense of where everyone is at in their knowledge. My assistant will now give you each a set of parts and tools. From these parts, I ask you all to make a simple device of your own design."

Jay took his cue to fetch a trolley with trays of equipment and materials from the back of the room, passing out a tray to each student.

Aster perked up at the idea of doing something besides listening to the teacher drone on. She sat up at her desk and waited. Her eyes followed Jay and the trolley he pushed. Her fingertips tapped lightly against the desk.

The teacher continued his description of the task.

"It doesn't have to be terribly complex, just do what you can. The only stipulation I'm going to make is that it must serve a purpose, and you need to be able to state that purpose."

As the teacher continued his description, Jay went on with handing out the trays. When he got to Aster, he stopped momentarily - long enough to get a good look at her, but not so long as to arouse suspicion.

I'd better keep an eye on this one. He thought.

The Geshrin-Nepleslian teenager very much looked her age of 16. Her face was unadorned with make-up, not that she needed it with her clear complexion, dark pink lips and that shy blush on her cheeks. Her violet eyes were appraising but had a distinctly Yamataian shape and her shoulder length hair was secured into two ponytails.

She stared at Jay's mask and the distortion longer than was polite. . There was something of recognition in her gaze as she accepted the tools and parts, looking away only long enough to hold the weight of the metal and plastic in her hands. "Sono nan desu ka?" She asked softly, her eyes lingering on the mask for a moment longer.

"Anata no kadai." He responded, taking the switch to Yamataigo - quite literally - in stride.

Wrapping up, the teacher would give the students one last line.

"I'll leave you all to your work now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or my assistant, Mr..."

There was a brief pause as the teacher attempted to recall the cover name that had been given to Nagato.

"Sakata."

Aster looked down at the computer parts she had been given and stared it them for a long moment. She started putting her device together, keeping to a simple design that she had done before. Her focus remained on her project before she finished and looked up at 'Sakata' again.

The rest of the class, meanwhile, would continue to tinker with their own devices - to varying degrees of success.

Aster looked around the classroom and sighed, leaning down against the desk and placed her head on her arms, still watching the student aide for a few minutes before she closed her violet eyes.

Having finished passing out the trays, Jay returned the trolley to the back of the class. On the way, he noticed that Aster appeared to have already finished her project.

Interesting...

Her breathing was soft against her arms as she napped for a few minutes before she raised her head again and looked around the classroom again. She rubbed her eyes. "Is it time to turn in yet?"

Jay whispered something in the teacher's ear before walking over to Aster.

"I'll be evaluating your project personally." He said calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Aster smiled brightly. "Hai, senpai." She waited for him to ask for the device. It was about the length of a soda can and was shaped like a gauntlet to be slipped over a wrist slightly larger than hers.

"May I see it?" He asked politely.

Aster nodded and offered the device up. "Careful, the front lever when depressed forward will deliver a shock. It's a lower voltage shock knuckle sort of thing. I didn't have a strong enough battery for a higher voltage shock, but it's a concept I've been working on for a while." She added brightly. The device had a forward lever that could slide forward and down across the knuckles with a counter lever that was gripped easily enough if the user made a fist.

"Interesting... and it took you how long to make this?" He continued.

"From the parts here, a few minutes. I still need to do more testing and refining of the design. I thought a combat non-lethal delivered from a punch was an interesting idea, but this set-up would only work for a few contacts before the battery is drained and it just ends up being similar to brass knuckles. With stronger metal and better insulated, it might last longer or have a greater impact with less risk of also shocking the user," Aster explained rather proudly. "I think I spent a few months figuring it out."

Jay seemed impressed. "Not bad. Section 6 could use people like you."

"Arigatou, senpai," Aster beamed. "I'm here as a Section 6 intern, actually." She pointed to the colored uniform she was wearing. "It's been a lot of fun so far with Miss Ironhart." She pointed up to his face again, "Gomen but.. are you wearing something? It looks... strange."

"Excuse me?" He responded, taken by surprise at the remark.

Aster rose to her feet and moved closer to him. "May I?" She held her hand up by his face. She wanted to touch his face but wanted permission.

Now clearly uncomfortable, he stepped back.

"I should really be going..." he muttered.

Aster watched him retreat with wide violet eyes. She lowered her hand. "Gomen nasai, senpai." She bowed low apologetically. When she rose she pursed her lips together. "Did I pass?"

"Pass? This doesn't count for marks. It's just to see where you are at so we know who to focus on later on."

As he walked away, he would look back in her direction.

"But if it did, I dare say you would pass with flying colours."

Aster settled back down in her chair, pleased as she smiled. "Arigatou gozaimasu, senpai."

As she said that, the bell rang for the next class.

 

[Kim]

Part 2

-- 188604, S6 boardroom // Post-meeting --​

When the board meeting finally concluded, Aster remained sitting at the table with her data pad. She had smiled at Jack and Rose but waved them on. She wanted to compile her notes on the designs she had proposed. She hummed softly to herself, finally relaxing in her chair.

Jay also remained, though he was taking a moment to call a few SABER staff, putting into action the anticipated expansion plan. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice the sudden change in attitude on the part of the intern.

Violet eyes glanced up at the only other person in the room and she looked startled. "Oh, senpai, did you need me to go? I just wanted to put my notes together so I could work on these designs some more and have something for my mother to work with." Aster offered an apologetic smile to Jay.

"No, it's fine. I'm just -" Looking up from his datapad, Jay suddenly realized he knew this face from somewhere - though it barely showed on his face. "Have we met before?" he continued after a brief pause.

Aster tilted her head to one side looking at Jay. "I don't think so? You sound a bit familiar though?" She tried to remember where she might have seen or heard him before. "Do you teach at the University? I don't think I've seen you around the lab."

'Shit' he thought, now remembering where he knew her from. Taking another moment to compose himself, he continued. "I assume you have high security clearance, working in the lab and all?"

"You mean all those videos and papers that I signed when I got here? Yeah. I have all the accesses they need me to have to help Rose and Mr. Pine. Rose doesn't really stop working unless she's home with Sarah but even still.. I have homework for her," Aster added with a smile. "Why do you ask?"

Visibly more relaxed at her answer, Jay casually avoided the question. "I did help out at the university once... though I didn't expect to see anyone from there. Then again, I'm surprised I didn't recognize you right away."

"Oh?" Aster leaned more toward Jay, her violet eyes shining and full of questions. "What class was that? They tend to run together after a while. You.. remember me?" She smiled with a gentle blush on her cheeks.

After subtly putting his call on hold, the lieutenant continued. "Oh, of course. I believe it was Military Electronics, when you made the the... stun gauntlet? Yes, it was quite impressive. In fact, could you get that design to weapons dev? The team doesn't actually have any nonlethals for their suits." He added this last bit with an air of seriousness.

"Really?" Aster perked. "I... hai, senpai! I'll take it to them right away." She tilted her head for a moment in recognition. "Oh, you were wearing that thing on your face? How come? It's not like you are ugly or anything?"

At this, a smile passed across Jay's face. "Well, I can't just be showing my face everywhere I go now can I?" He said, then looked down. The smile now disappeared from his face, he continued in a sombre tone. "Look, there are things about me that are better left unsaid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to."

"Isn't that true for everyone, senpai?" Aster thoughtfully replied as she smiled up at him. "I'd like to know more but I will go talk to Weapons Development, since you are busy. Ja ne, senpai." She gathered her datapad and headed out of the conference room with a swish of pleated skirt.

As he returned to his calls, Jay couldn't help but wonder what she meant.

 

[Kim]

Part 3​

-- Section 6 R&D Garage --
--1 week after the Board meeting--​

The different brainstorming that had happened at the board meeting led to different strings of concepts and ideas to try. It had occurred to Aster that she could make an attempt to covert the Gumdrop APC for aquatic use. She was laying on her back, with her upper body entirely eclipsed by the Gumdrop APC that was above her. She had chosen to use the skintight black undersuite of the Revenant armor as a type of coveralls for the day. She stared at the thickly mud caked under-carriage and cursed, "Fuck". It was filthy, like they had deliberately drove it through the thickest mud they could find before letting her work on it.

The conversion was just one part of the project, she had to also perform maintenance on it... once she could get to the under carriage. She stared up at the undercarriage with a sigh and reached for her toolbag, groping the air for the heavy bag. "Sore wa doko ni aru..."

At that moment, a familiar voice came from the entrance.

"Excuse me, is this the gumdrop upgrade project?"

"Hai!" Came the girlish reply from beneath the APC. "Over here!" Aster pushed herself out from under the vehicle on her dolly and slowly rose to her feet, lifting the safety googles to her forehead. "Oh! Konnichiwa, senpai!"

The Saber officer was surprised to see none other than the intern herself slide out from beneath the muddied APC.

"Oh, I didn't expect yo- I mean, I didn't expect this to be the all-important U2 project. Did you not get enough funding? I could talk to some people..."

"Well.. Miss Ironhart is pregnant and Beaumont and Mr. Pine won't let her work... I'm bored so here we are!" Aster replied with a enthusiastic bounce. "I might have got here early to work it out on my own a bit. I just didn't expect them to not wash it first. I guess I could hose it off and move it somewhere else but then I'd have to wait for it to dry to work on it again." She beamed at him.

Jay rolled his eyes at her response. "Yes but..."

He took a second to refocus himself again before continuing - something about this girl kept throwing him off.

"How are things coming along?"

"Well, I really only just started. It needs some maintenance done to it too. I was taking a look at the undercarriage to get a feel for the layout as it actually is versus the blue prints. It's mostly heavy, so the trick would be installing ballasts and giving it tracks to move along the bottom of the ocean or whatever.. but then there is the propulsion to consider if it's on the surface of the water," She looked from Jay to the APC again, thoughtfully tapping her chin. But the undercarriage needs to be encased to protect it from corrosion and flooding."

Jay stroked his chin as he listened to Aster's report, considering possible solutions. Even so, he was having trouble focusing on the conversation with all the questions flooding into his mind. He certainly hadn't expected to see her here, much less running the project.

"Well, you really only need to switch to an air-independent propulsion system - that way you can replace any oxygen storage with degasification equipment."

"That is an idea! Wouldn't the heat displacement be the problem then? Could change out the thermal coating for insulation?" Aster replied, leaning on the APC carefully as she considered the suggestion.

Jack exited his office across from the labs main floor and decided to head to the garage to look over one of their recent projects. He entered the large chamber that spanned two floors and had various vehicles on each level. Near the back half of the chamber stood Jay and the intern Aster Blake, but it was strange how she was the only one working.

"Hey Aster, Jay, Blake why are you the only one working on that vehicle?" He said taking a quick look around seeing no one else, "Work is supposed to be supervised, here hand me that tool kit over there and I'll help, Jay you grab one too."

"Miss Ironhart put me in charge of the project since it was my idea," Aster replied brightly. She grabbed the toolkit and carried it over to Jack. "Dozo."

Jay jumped slightly upon recognizing the voice of his superior.

"Of course, Mr. Pine. I was just discussing Ast- the project's progress. I think we have a good starting point."

Rose looked up from her print in the advanced prototype sector of the main lab, calling out, "I'm supervising, but still, her project, her parts. Morning, Jack." she dove back into her work, large sheets of algaia paper being doped with graphene electrolytes and slid together to form battery cells.

"Rose! I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy. Hmm, no heavy lifting? Then why do I hear one of the part machines running? Plus if we have an intern working on a project, don't you think it would have been wise to assign her staff, instead of having her do it ALONE." Jack shouted back clearly irritated, "By the void, thick headed, more stubborn than Zeke was." he grumbled to himself as he began working after setting aside his leather jacket on a cart.

"Well Jay if your staying, grab a tool and work. Set a good example, we're a team here, so we need to help each other out. No one is alone, we need to remember that." he said, "So what am I doing Aster? Where do you need me?"

"She was supposed to request staff! I handed her the forms and said to handpick! Also, I have Algaia paper and graphene electrolytes! Not exactly heavy!" Rose' tone matched Jack's aanoyance before she lowered her volume, grumbling something about planning to ger a forklift.

"Ano.. the forms are complicated and I don't know a lot of people," Aster pouted for a moment as she considered Jack's request for direction. "I guess, we can do the maintenance on the Gumdrop first before we tackle shielding the under carriage from salt water?" Aster thought about what tasks needed to be done.

"Besides, she needs more time time with senpai!!"

At this, Jay tried to change the subject back.

"What exactly is wrong with this thing anyway?"

By this point, he had completely forgotten why he was here in the first place.

"Have to remove the lubricant, and coolant, contaimination is a common problem for most maintenance issues on APCs from what I was reading in the maintenance forums! Dirty lubricant is really bad?" Aster replied with a smile ans she blushed, finally realizing what Rose said.

Jay pretended to be doing something useful as he tried to figure out what he could possibly help with.

"Senpai? How are you with lubricant?" Aster asked innocenty enough. "You can help me with that? Mr. Pine, do you think you can cycle the diagnositics while we drain the fluids from him?"

Snapping back to reality, the flustered commander responded uncomfortably.

"Oh, uh... well... I suppose I could give it a shot. Though you should know this isn't really my area of expertise."

Aster smiled brightly. "This is my first time too, so we can figure this out together." She turned and gathered the equipment she needed for this particular process, partway disappearing in large cabinets as she rummaged. Eventually, she pulled out a giant pan, filter, socket wrench, funnel and a filter wrench.

Jay shrugged as the intern grabbed the equipment. "Oh well. First time for everything, I suppose..." he said as he slid underneath the vehicle to look for the valves.

Aster returned and set everything down. She slid under the APC beside Jay. "So the schematic says that the drainage valve should be... here." She pressed against his side and pointed to a thick patch of mud above Jay's chest. "Just have to break a piece off to get access to the hole, but... we'll get drenched if we stay under here once it starts draining. We have to slide the pan under here once the cap is off."

"Already doing so." Jack said as he replaced a minor sensor and checked a stabilizer, "Also there is a cord in that bottom draw for popping the cap, so you don't have to be under the flow after." He added passively listening as he worked. Status read outs scrolled across his vision as he checked the condition of all systems.

"Domo," Aster replied. "I was watching the maintenance videos with the manual earlier, I forgot about the cord draw."

"Right then." Jay said as he moved away from the valve - and, not so coincidentally, Aster. "We all set to go Jack?"

Aster rolled out from under the APC and slid the large pan under it. She rose and dusted off her undersuite. "Pan is in place, let me unscrew the cap to release some of the pressure." She opened the hood of the Gumdrop and located the appropriate cap. She unscrewed it. "It's open. we should be could to drain it, right, Mr. Pine?"

"Yes, so who wants to "pop the cork"," he chuckled having gotten smudges on himself as he was slightly enjoying the distraction from normal work.

"I got it," came the reply from Jay as he pulled the cord unceremoniously. As the fluid drained out, he spoke quietly to Aster. "Why does this vehicle have hydraulics again?"

Aster leaned closer and whispered back, "It's a land based armored personnel carrier, it still has a wheel train and with each being capable of independant movement. Even if those drives are electric based, they still need the hydraulics."

"Right, but does it not have anti-gravity engines?" he continued. "I mean, why not just lose the wheels and run the thing off of the hyperspace tap?"

"Maybe it was oversight when they designed it? Or there was some sort of concern about accidental intake of foreign materials into an engine? Or maybe concern about a fuel drain over sustained periods or... demo, they wanted something that could still work if something happened to the anti-grav? The design spec sheets says the wheels are under their own power source but they can only sustain for a day without recharge," Aster replied with a shrug.

"Regardless, it might be a good idea to remove one or the other to make room for all the modifications." he replied, his voice now raised to conversation level.

"The wheel wells are shielded, so we'll need the torch," Aster chimed. "Rose! We're going to start cutting the plating off." She called towards the office.

"Okay, use a plasma cutter and be careful! Jimmy, John, get in there and make it happen!" two lab techs looked up from their work stations and started gathering tools for the job with every intent to help Aster at her direction.

"Hai hai! PPE time! I need you guys to extract the wheels. It should have finished draining so.. let me pull the pan out. Senpai, have you ever used a plasma cutter before? It'll go faster if we tag team the process, we have the welding gloves and visors over in the cabinet," Aster asked as she walked to the cabinet to pull out her protective gear.

"A few times, though admittedly I'm not that good." he said as he slid out from underneath. As he got up and walked over to the cabinet behind Aster, he continued. "I used to work with thousands of different weapons, but since then it's just been a few custom ship modifications. Seems pretty straightforward though."

"We just need to make the cuts clean so we can pull the wheels and axles out," Aster smiled as she moved away from the cabinet, pulling on the PPE before she grabbed the plasma cutter and walked back to the APC. "Jimmy, John could you start with the wells on that side? Jay-senpai and I will take this one, once the panels are gone, we can pull the wheels out."

"I'll help with that. Let's get this done boys, you heard the lady." Jack said moving to take one of the torches, "So what exactly are you doing with this vehicle, Aster?"

"We're converting this APC for underwater use, so we'll have to remove the wheels, seal the undercarriage against salt water... install a hyperspace tap? Or an air-independent propulsion system? I just thought it might be an idea to prepare the chassis for conversion," Aster replied. "Then we can start submersion testing once the welds hold."

Jay briefly leaned into Aster. "It already has a tap." he whispered.

 

[Air Admiral]

(Part 3 supplemental)

After what several hours of effort, the start of the vehicle conversion process was complete so that they could possibly start with the submersion and water displacement tests in the next couple of days. Aster removed her goggles and gloves with a satisified sigh. She smiled brightly at the others and blushed lightly as she looked to Jay. "Ano.. senpai.. koban ni issho ni bangohan o tabemasen ka?"

"Watashi wa sore ga hoshīdesu, Ms. Blake." Jay replied, roughly removing his own mask and gloves. "Watashi wa isogashikunai."

Her violet eyes brightened. "Watashinoie de gogo 7-ji ka?" Aster asked quickly, smiling. "Anata wa nani o tabetaidesu ka?"

"Anata ga kokochiyoi mono wa nandemo" he replied, smiling back. "Surprise me."

"Hai," Aster beamed. "Oh! I live a couple of houses to the right from Rose, you know where she lives?" She asked after a moment.

"Of course. 3rd house, isn't it?" he said, grabbing his jacket from a hook near the cabinet.

"It is," she checked the time, she had really only given herself a couple of hours to prepare. "Rose, Mr. Pine, I think we're good to go for the day. I can pick this up with the team tomorrow after class." Aster quickly started putting her equipment away. "I'll see you soon, then."

Walking towards the entrance, Jay called back "I look forward to it!"

"Hey Jay, I wanna talk to you first before you leave. In my office, or in the hall. Your preference." Jack said closing a tool kit before following Jay.

"Oh, uh, of course sir!" he said. "Right here is fine, unless this is important..."

He looked to Aster for a brief moment, "The hall will do then, just as long as we can't be overheard."

"Ok then, what's up?" He asked, not quite understanding what Jack could be concerned about.

Aster was cleaning up her area, oblivious to whatever was going on with Jack and Jay.

Jack looked around as they entered the hall, even peeking back into the garage a moment. He offered a fist bump as he began to grin, "I am proud of you, Jay."

"Excuse me, sir?" Jay responded, even more confused.

"I hang around Sarah all day. She speaks Yamataigo. I'm proud you scored a date my isolative friend." Jack explained still grinning.

Jay finally reciprocated with the fist bump. "I suppose you could see it that way. As it is, I have a few questions for her anyway."

 

[Kim]

Part 4

--- Osman, Section 6 residental neighborhood.---​

Aster hurried around her house's kitchen, checking the timers on the various things she had cooking. "Surprise me," he said. She had her brother on speaker phone as she prepped. "Justus!! What should I do?! Do you think that Ember's curry recipe will be good enough?" She fretted.

"Yomena! You are cooking him dinner! Calm down! You know that curry just makes itself once you get it into the pot. You got the rice going right?" A calm male voice replied.

"Hai. I have 5 minutes before it's done," Aster replied chewing on her lip.

"You got this! If you were older, I'd say to open a bottle of Pinot Noir. You have what, water, pop..?" Aster's older brother asked her calmly.

"Pop, tea... water.. do you think mom will get mad?" Aster asked as she fussed over her hair next.

"Nope. Mom has always been hands off in regards to our relationships. You saw how she was when I was dating Stacey, you'll be fine! I gotta run, Yomena, I start work in a few minutes. Let me know how it goes! Love you, sweetie, have fun!"

"Love you too, oniisan!" Aster closed the commslink and sighed. Her eyes looked to the clock, she had a few more minutes before Jay was supposed to arrive.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Jay had arrived early.

"Miss Blake? I apologize, I'm a but early..."

Aster hurried to the door, fussing her hair smooth again before she opened the door. She smiled brightly. "It's fine, please come in." She was wearing a simple, clingy black spaghetti strap dress that stopped at mid-thigh. "Everything is almost done."

"Great. Is there a place I could sit down?" he asked politely. He had chosen a simple dark grey suit with a red trim on the collar. This was what he usually wore to formal events, though these were rare for him.

"Hai," She gestured to the large black sofa in the middle of the living in front of what was a large view screen with several gaming systems hooked into it. The lower floor of the house was sparsely decorated with a couple of shoji screens and a kabuto centered on top of an overstuffed bookcase of dataslates and old school technician manuals. There were a couple of paintings that he could see from the main entry, one on the hallway wall, one was a warm painting of a Yamataian sunrise and one in the dining room, a cool colored beach painting of a Jiyuuian sunset over. "Please have a seat. Would you like something to drink? I have some tea, and pop, water?"

"Tea is fine, thank you." Jay rarely drank it in his years in the black market - alcohol and coffee were much more prevalent - though he much preferred it. "Will you be ok then? Is there something I could help out with?"

Aster smiled brightly and shook her head. "I will get you some tea then, senpai. But no, thank you, everything will be ready in a few minutes, so please, make yourself comfortable." She hurried off to the kitchen to get the tea. As he looked around, he would notice that there was a fire extinguisher in each room along with what was probably a gas mask bag.

As he saw this, he chuckled quietly. 'Such a lack of confidence...' he thought. His thoughts now turned to his main interest. "So what are you doing here anyway? I mean, I don't want to assume, but few locals here speak Yamataigo - even fewer with such an accent."

"Ano," she replied shyly as she returned with a tray holding 2 Yamataian style teacups, a teapot, and two dishes one with sugar and the other milk. She set the tray down carefully on the small coffee table in front of Jay and the couch. "My mother, guardian really, found out that Section 6 was looking for interns after she went of to Onishima system for work with ONI. After the incident with her assistant, she decided that it might be a good idea for me to come out here to work instead of with her company." She sat down and grabbed the handle of the teapot and carefully poured the tea into the cup closest to Jay before she poured some into her own. "Dozo," she set the pot back down again.

Jay thanked her briefly before taking the cup. "Regardless, you and I both know there's something else." he continued before taking a sip. "Trust me, I know when someone's holding back."

"Hmm?" She picked up her own tea cup and sipped it for a moment. "Her assistant was held captive for several several ONI personnel and colonists and other Jiyuuians that were taken during the war. They were recovered by the Colonial PACT's Marine forces and returned to us. My mother, felt that with the creation of another nation in the United Outer Colony space, and the proximity of Leo Star Fortress to Asteria, that it might be safer for me to come here. Are you familiar with what happened to us in the colonies during the war?" She smiled slightly as she looked up him with growing curiosity in her violet eyes.

Jay relented when he saw her confidence waver. "Somewhat, though I must say that was before my time."

"We, myself, my siblings and my mother, were on Mayer Station during the black out and the invasion..." Aster paused and looked down at her cup for a moment. "We were trapped there for 2 years but we saw our friends.. change..into.. things. So many died... I was only 8 at the start of it." She paused and looked up at his eyes for a brief moment before she looked away again. "When the YSS Aeon rescued us, of the several thousand that were stationed and living on Mayer, there were only 100 of us left." She sipped her tea again before she set the cup down on the table.

At this, the commander's expression softened. "I know what it's like... to lose everything." There was a pause before he continued. "I must admit I never had much in the first place, but I understand to a certain extent."

Aster looked back up Jay with a soft smile, "We survived. It was hard but, we are alive and for many years still together. My sister and brother are still on Leo. My mother never.. she was displeased with what happened. She finished out her time with the Star Army and then retired, was scouted by other Jiyuuian survivors of the war and off she went to Hades system to run that corporation. And.. here I am, learning how to create things."

After having another sip of his tea, he responded. "Yes, it's kind of therapeutic, isn't it? Building things to make up for everything that was destroyed?" After this, he paused again, deep in thought. "I suppose it's only fair that I tell you my story now." he continued. "One condition, though - no one hears anything about this. As far as I know, not even Uso is fully aware of this."

"It is," Aster tilted her head to one side a nodded. "I promise that whatever you say is between us." She watched him curiously.

"Right..." he continued. "First thing you should know is that I had no family. I was created by Psychopomp as a trial run of a 'production model' clone, but apparently there were mutations. Thanks to that, my body is quite receptive to implants - hence the eyes." he said, tapping his temple to indicate it. "I was stolen as an infant by some Nep crime boss, then spent a few years with a black market weapons dealer. Then he let me go, and I came here looking for a job." After that, he sipped his tea. "Anyways, that's my story in a nutshell."

She seemed to consider this. "I'm sorry for what's happened to you in your past. How do you want to build your future?" She gently placed her hand on top of his. "I want to build something good, as I get the knowledge to do it."

"Future?" he responded. "This is pretty much it, as far as I'm concerned. USO has been good to me. Plus, it doesn't hurt that a third of the bosses here have personal beef with them. Might just give me a chance to wipe them out." As he spoke the last bit, a slight smile passed across his face.

She returned the smile, leaning a little bit more forward, "What will you do when they are gone? It's good to have an enemy to fight but eventually, there has to be something beyond that conflict, ne?"

"That's just a sideshow, as far as I'm concerned. There will always be people like that in the universe, and killing a few of them won't make much of a difference." Jay said as he looked down at the ground, his face now devoid of emotion. "No, this is personal. Until now, everyone I ever knew was hunted down and killed by them - most likely after being interrogated. Once they're gone, I'll have a clean slate."

She continued to watch him, "There is life beyond the mission, Jay. Are you afraid of this.. death continuing?" Aster wrapped her hand around his, a little bit more solidly. "Or maybe I should ask, what you are your intentions towards me?"

At this, he smiled and looked up again. "When we first spoke, that day at the high school, you made me feel something I've never felt in my entire life - comfort. Even then, I could see that you had been through things. The kinds of things that change you for life. Then again, so have a lot of people. But you... you make me feel like I have a chance."

She blushed lightly as she beamed at him, "I like you too, Jay." She replied softly. "Ano.. Koko kara doko ni ikimasu ka?"

"Shirimasen..." Jay blushed for the first time in his life. "I guess we'll see where it goes from here."

"Yūshoku o tabemashou," Aster squeezed his hand and continued to smile. "Watashi wa anata o watashi ni sa sete kurerunara, anata o motto yoku shiritai to omotte imasu." She rose to her feet and gently led him towards the kitchen. "I suppose, my brother in-law might make some sort of suggestion about waiting for dessert or something silly. But let's start here and see how far the night takes us. I live alone, so we don't have to worry about too much."

"That's reassuring." he said as he followed her "Anyways, I'd like to forget about all that - if only for one night."

Aster blushed shyly as she thought of her brothers' suggestions and advice before Jay arrived as they reached the kitchen and turned to face him. "Ano.. W.. watashi... kisushite mo īdesu ka?" Her heart raced, as she waited hopeful, for Jay's answer.

The rice cooker and the crock-pot's timers chimed cheerfully as they both switched over to warm. The savory, hearty aroma of the beef curry filled the small kitchen. The sweet fragrance of apples, carrots, caramelized onions, mixed wonderfully with the spicier scents of cumin, cardamom, turmeric and the aromatics of cinnamon, and cloves.

"Tsuneni." he answered, pulling her close. Without a moment's hesitation, he kissed her. All his life, all of his experiences, had been leading to this moment. All of the emotions he'd been holding back were released in that moment.

Though she had asked if she could kiss him, she hadn't been expecting him to pull her close. She savored the passionate press of his lips against hers and enthusiastically returned it as she wrapped her arms around Jay. After several minutes of silent entanglement, she broke away, meeting his eyes and asked quietly. "Jōkai ni ikitaidesu ka?"

"Whatever makes you happy." he whispered back. "We don't have to decide now..."

Aster pressed against him and smiled. "It does make me happy," she softly replied as she kissed him again. She pulled away again to lead him away from the kitchen.

Jay followed close behind. "I guess it's decided then." he said as the last of his facade fell away.

Aster eventually terminated their track to a neatly kept bedroom with a large pile of parts and datapads on a large desk beside it. She whistled and the lights to the room came on. On the desk was another prototype of the gauntlet she had put together when they first met. "Ano.." She took Jay's hands in hers and was suddenly unsure of what to do. All of her effort of will had been to get him this far.

Noticing her hesitation, Jay looked right into her eyes. "Aster, you've given me so much tonight." he said as he walked her over to the bed. "Whatever you decide, I want you to know that I'll still love you. If nothing else, I owe it to you for listening to me."

She sat down and looked up at Jay in amazement and blushed. "I'm just a little nervous... I haven't before, but I want to... with you." She reached out to him and pulled him closer.

"Then don't be. I haven't either, but I'm going with what feels right." Putting his hands on her shoulders, he continued. "If I hadn't, I wouldn't have met you. If you hadn't, we wouldn't be here. Emotion is what makes us more than a bunch of cells."

Aster leaned forward and guided Jay's hand lower. "This feels right, we just have to go slow," she gently kissed him again, slipping a hand under his jacket.