Chapter Fourteen - Sunday II - 接続 AKA Communication

Heh; total darkness in the hangar, apart from the glow of a laptop screen. To have set up office at one of the tables before sunrise? I approve of the dedication… Well, that’s presuming you’re not just playing games… ‘Good morning, Sensei! Planning to go and watch the sunrise, are you?’

‘How are you so energetic this early in the morning and why are you in such a good mood?’ And why are you roaming the dark without a torch?

‘Have you not been paying attention for the past few days or so? I’m pretty much always in a good mood, contrary to the image painted by what we’ve been up to; I’m not on active duty after all,’ Renka confirmed, gleefully. ‘I have blueprints for you. Given that we’re just four women rather than a state-of-the art development lab, it’s fairly rudimentary, but it should be a competent defender of our new home.’

‘Huh? Really? You’ve already finished that and I’ve got almost no information from this laptop in the meantime,’ Tsubaki glumly replied.

‘Aww, don’t feel bad, Sensei, I’m sure you’re not far off from getting through those defences and you can take comfort from knowing that the rest of us probably wouldn’t have the first clue on what to do if we were given the same task,’ Renka softly encouraged. ‘If you’d like to join me over at the next desk, I’ll run you through what I’ve come up with.’

So much for easing into the day by watching the sunrise. ‘Could we maybe discuss it on the roof?’

‘Eh?’ the captain’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she flashed a mischievous smile. ‘Sounds romantic; are you sure she wouldn’t get annoyed with you though?’ she asked, nodding in the direction of the small rooms along one side of the hangar.

‘She won’t,’ Tsubaki slowly replied, with a nervous expression. Maybe? Probably. Ugh…

Renka lightly giggled in response. ‘Relax, Sensei. Unlike you, she reads a lot and is well aware what the current situation looks like; I highly doubt she’ll feel threatened by me,’ she playfully advised.

‘Right.’ I have no clue what you’re talking about.

After the pair clambered up and set themselves down near the east–most corner of the large metal building’s rooftop, the pair gazed off into the distance in relative silence for a short while.

Yep; this is why I wanted to come up here; the sight of the sun greeting us over the mountains as it starts to paint a column of shimmer on the sea in the bay below. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks on the shore is also really calming. Despite how this feels a world away from where I was two weeks ago, it doesn’t feel like my life has become a complete disaster when I get to experience scenes of nature like this.

‘Yeah, Sensei; you should have come up here with Hikari rather than me. I wonder how long she’ll be able to restrain whatever she’s withholding before it all comes flooding out in one almighty anguish-filled torrent.’

Aside from the crashing of the nearby waves and occasional wailing from soaring birds, the coastal scene remained silent. Really, Sensei? Is a glum expression all you’re going to give me?

‘Probably not my place to meddle in your affairs, but it’s pretty obvious that you’ve got a ticking time bomb on your hands there and we all know what happens to those if left unattended for long enough.’

After taking a deep breath, Tsubaki’s head sank, to rest against her knees. ‘I know. It’s just a lot to think about, especially when it’s totally new territory for me, in a lot of ways.’

‘No excuses, Sensei; you’re an intelligent woman. You should already know that ticking time bombs won’t just magically extend their timer because you ask them to,’ Renka teased. ‘Seeing as you clearly don’t want to think about it now, how about these schematics to take your mind away from the issue?’

Renka placed two A3 sheets of paper on the patch of corrugated stainless-steel surface which separated the two women.

‘You have two proposals?’

‘Yeah; one for defending this place and I figured you might want to have a better aerial assistant to take on your travels,’ Renka cheerfully informed.

‘Hmm, okay…’ After a brief study of one of the sheets, Tsubaki summarised. ‘So, you essentially want to build a little armoured skid steer which can fire weapons?’

‘Yes and no; for the sake of convenience, we’ll buy an electric skid steer, get rid of the cabin and arms, add an automated control unit and then an offensive platform, along with some simple fire controls and threat detection sensors. Not the cheapest way of doing things for sure, but we don’t really have the luxury of time, so we’ll have to take that hit.’

‘The automated control unit is my biggest concern here; yes, they do exist, but they’re mostly sitting in development laboratories at the moment, along with the small form-factor processing power that’s required to effectively run them. You could probably take one from a self-driving car, but it’ll be pretty bulky and might not quite be capable of handling the processing of combat information, along with the standard environment behaviour parameters.’

‘I guess we’ll have to raid a development lab at some point then, won’t we? I’m sure that with the recent chaos there’s at least one nefarious company on this island where it might actually benefit the greater good for them to be robbed of technology like that,’ Renka playfully suggested.

‘Pfft, yeah; good luck finding them, this isn’t some science fiction story, where MNCs have underground or mountaintop facilities devoted solely to developing cutting edge military technology and even if they did, common folks like us wouldn’t get anywhere near them.’

‘You say that, but look at everything that’s happened to you in the past few days; it’s kind of obvious that we’re protagonists of a sci-fi,’ Renka playfully insisted, summoning an insincere frown.

‘Not that again; there’s a perfectly logical explanation for everything. For a start, it’s obvious that our understanding and knowledge of the world evidently had a lot of gaps in it previously,’ the doctor chided.

Renka simply smiled wryly before resuming. ‘In any case, we can at least get hold of the majority of the ingredients with a single trip west to the industrial capital, so I figured maybe we could all go out for a nice weekend shopping trip, later on. Naturally, we’ll have to leave some of it for tomorrow, but we can at least get started.’

‘Right. Are we not going to discuss the second proposal that we have here?’

‘It’s pretty basic, there isn’t much to discuss really; it’s a large quadcopter with folding arms which can suppress enemies using an air gun or gas plug launcher. I know you don’t like the idea of killing people, so I drew it up on the basis that it’d fire tear gas, bean bag rounds or something. Based on how much you seemed to enjoy playing with that drone yesterday, I figured I’d leave some of the options up to you, so it’s time for the quick-fire round. Autonomous or RC?’

‘Huh? Ah, um, autonomous?’

‘No time for questions, Sensei. Voice-control, yes or no?’

‘Yes!’

‘Night/ IR vision or thermal imaging?’

‘Night vision!’

‘Carry harness; yes or no?’

‘What?’

‘I’ll take that as a yes. Do you want the standard helicopter lighting for the rotors?’

Um, what?? ‘No!’

‘Cool, cool. It’ll be a chonky girl when it’s complete, so don’t expect something tiny and compact like that little thing you’ve been playing with. Getting most of the parts will be pretty easy, getting the flight controls and a battery that can keep up with the demand might be a less straightforward process though.’

‘So, when are we going shopping?’

‘Look at you, getting all excited. We’ll go in a few hours, when everything should have opened up. In the meantime, if you want a break from decryption, you can start working on parameters or whatever, so that your AI knows that we’re not her enemy.’

I can’t hear anything below; I wonder if those two are still sleeping or they’ve already killed each other. While Sensei has to sort out the mess that is her love life, I guess my mission is to get those two to at least coexist peacefully. A tall order because Kasumi got on fine with me from the very start and seems to be okay with Sensei, at least, for somebody with such a guarded personality anyway. Meanwhile, she ended up being the polar opposite with Hikari; a side of her that I’ve not really seen thus far. I wouldn’t be surprised if they both sleep with weapons to hand, so I should probably hurry back, rather than think about it…

❀

Ah yes; another outing and another flurry of automatic rounds off in the distance. With her wavering green eyes fixed upwards and out of the grey Hilux’s window, one of the second–row occupants queried, ‘Um, girls. Is it just me, or is there a large swarm of insects(?) hovering around the communication tower where all of that gunfire is coming from?’

‘No, Sensei, it’s not just you, I see it too. If you want communications restored for the hangar, this might be your chance, though if there’s that much gunfire, I presume the SDF are in the process of reclaiming the infrastructure. That said, it is very strange that a swarm of insects would linger near a firefight, especially one that’s large enough to be visible from a long way away.’

‘So, I guess we’re heading for the hills, to get a better look then?’

‘Yep! I’m guessing there’s roughly a hundred metres or so of elevation pretty close by, so it’s a perfect vantage point.’

Will I ever again see another day where I don’t get dragged into some form of conflict? the doctor asked herself, as she compressed back into her seat following the sudden roar of the truck’s diesel engine.

Within a few minutes, the four women sat or stood on the truck and studied the scene below. ‘Yep; it’s the SDF, alright. Who they’re up against is a mystery though. They look like they’ve been playing too many FPS video games or something because that’s the first time I’ve seen skull masks used anywhere else,’ Renka initially assessed.

‘Those are no ordinary insects either. From what I can tell, they’re repeatedly swarming the military officers and impeding their progress. I’m not sure what they’re using as an attack method, but it’s clearly wearing them down. It looks like a couple of them have been worn down the point of incapacitation, or worse as well.’ Tsubaki added, with a nervous frown.

‘Are we gonna head down there?’

‘Just me,’ Renka confirmed, as she swivelled and collected her backpack from the truck’s load bed. ‘If any of you three go down there, it’ll be a headache for everybody. The SDF will engage anybody who isn’t an officer or law enforcement official and if they catch people using abilities like ours, they’ll probably attempt to capture you. You go in without the abilities and get shot, well, we know the problems with that… Also, if they spot me operating with civilians, then I can definitely kiss goodbye to my military career.

‘I do want to collect some information though, so we can’t let the opportunity pass us by. I don’t know if the comms equipment will work, but I’d like your help while I’m down there, because whatever they’re using to defend the tower clearly means business,’ Renka concluded, as she finished sliding on and strapping up her kneepads, before donning her plate-carrier vest.

‘Disappearing from view every so often will help and Kasumi’s sound waves might need to be used if all else fails, but Sensei’s fields will have to sit this one out, because of the whole “special abilities” thing; the last thing I need is to become a special SDF experiment in a black research facility somewhere, especially after so perfectly concealing my own ability for years.’

‘Wait a sec, Captain; I have an idea!’ Hikari interjected, with a mischievous smile directed in Tsubaki’s direction. She yanked the doctor from her perch on the Hilux’s bonnet and quickly took both of the emerald-eyed woman’s hands into her own. Thank you yuri goddesses, for presenting me with such a convenient excuse.

‘What are you d-!’ the doctor loudly protested, face rapidly changing hue as her mint-green nails rose to chest height, interlaced between the purple nails of the hands which they securely clasped against.

‘Quiet, you. If you want to help the captain out, then trust me. Also, it’d help if you calmed down.’

Behind the lenses of her specs, Renka cast the pair an inquisitive glare. Here we go. I’ve no clue where you’re going with this, and quite frankly, we don’t have much time, but I’m intrigued to see where it goes if we let it play out. Go get her!

Calm down! CALM DOWN?!? As if the sudden situation wasn’t unsettling enough, you’re now staring at me, as if this is perfectly natural and the worst part is I’m quickly being subdued, as if a violent wave of terror but also comfort has washed over and completely submerged me, with currents that refuse to let me do anything other than allow the ravishing gaze of your beautiful amethyst eyes, the firm yet tender grip of your hands and the tempting smile, to effortlessly drag me closer to doing inappropriate things that I really shouldn’t here and now. Much like being thrown into an ocean of pleasure with stone shoes and bound arms, I’m completely helpless.

You’re so cute when you’re hopelessly defeated but still try to put up a fight, heh. Face; tomato–red. Lips; quivering. Eyes; dilated and slightly wobbly. Heartbeat; wild enough to feel through the limited contact. Mind; at a complete loss, heh. The sooner you give up and start to smile rather than whimper, the happier we’ll both be, Tsubaki. But that’s not what this moment is about anyway… ‘Show me what you’ve got,’ Hikari quietly commanded.

Voice extremely unsettled and shaky, Tsubaki responded, ‘W-, what do you mean?’

‘The field. What else? I need a good understanding of how your field works in order to make it useful for the captain.’

‘Ah, right… Of course,’ Tsubaki sheepishly accepted.

Eh, is that a hint of disappointment I hear??

Still with their eye contact and hands firmly locked together, a faint green glow enshrouded both women and after a few moments of quiet between the pair, the field glowed Persian pink for four or five seconds as Hikari beamed a friendly smile, before a brief violet flash preceded it vanishing altogether.

‘Thank you,’ Hikari softly concluded. ‘You can get going now, Cap; we can keep you shielded without you having to worry so much about becoming a government test subject.’

Renka giggled as she glanced away from her SMG, to Kasumi. ‘Maybe there’s hope for those two, after all,’ she quietly jested. ‘If you could do me a favour and not impede my weapons when casting the field, I’d greatly appreciate it.’

‘Good luck down there,’ the black and pink-haired woman calmly wished, as her glasses-wearing counterpart dashed off into the distance. ‘Are you okay, Tsubaki-Sensei?’

‘I’m fine, thank you. I just need a few seconds to catch my breath,’ she unsteadily replied, as Hikari spectated the disconcerted mess, smiling and snickering.

❀

Type-20s galore, in the hands of the guys and girls of the 10th Division… What a mess; at this rate, they’ll run out of ammo well before they get through even half of that swarm, Renka assessed, as she steadily advanced along the street, scampering from side to side and pausing whilst pressed against buildings. Ugh, it’s like trudging through a snowstorm or sandstorm; the insects make it a real battle to simply move, let alone fight.

Within a minute or so, she pressed herself against a wall, crouched. ‘So, uh, what are we looking at?!’ Renka loudly asked, amid the din of intermittent shooting and regular loud buzzing that repeatedly drew near.

After quickly inspecting the patch on the new arrival’s upper left arm, ‘Huh? An Ittō rikui!? You’re off duty?’ one of the officers quizzed with a surprised tone, as bullets swished along the main street.

Following a brief period, where her words were overtaken by the overhead high–pitched buzzing and sustained gunfire rattle, ‘Yeah; I handed in my service weapons at the relief camp where I was serving before taking my leave. Unfortunately, it’s been a busy couple of weeks since then, as the unusual loadout might suggest, Sergeant,’ Renka explained, waving her SMG and tapping her sidearm holster.

‘This was supposed to be a simple operation to reclaim the comms tower, but we encountered heavy resistance. Not just armoured targets, but also what seems to be a huge swarm of flying nano-bots, capable of delivering electric shocks and incapacitating even our officers when striking in large numbers. We did have quadcopters with us, but they were downed almost instantly, not that they’d have been much use against their drones anyway. I’m not sure if it’s the swarm or some fixed-location setup, but there’s heavy RF jamming deployed in the area, which is disrupting all of our comms equipment as well, Captain.’

‘Shit! What unit or units did they deploy for this operation, Sergeant?’

‘A section of sixteen officers; two teams of six, plus one team of four, Captain!’

And they’ve already lost at least half of them from what I could see; we need to wrap this up quickly. ‘Understood! Obviously, you can’t follow me, because I’m off duty, but seeing as I’m probably the highest ranked officer here, I’m gonna press forward and see what I can do for you guys and girls, Sergeant,’ Renka advised, with a friendly smile, as she inspected the thirty-round magazine from her MP5SD briefly, before slamming it back into the well and rising from her crouched position.

‘Give them hell, Captain!’ the officer encouraged, as his two nearby colleagues nodded in encouragement also.

So, I have no comms with the girls, no heavy ammunition and no idea how to deal with a threat as vast as this swarm. Oh, nice; we do at least a DMR operator keeping the strange-looking adversaries up at the comms tower’s adjacent building busy. Fielding a G28E2 as well; small world… That swarm is still thinning the SDF numbers at an alarming pace though, so maybe taking a wide route and making use of all of the noise pollution might be the easiest way to at least remove one threat.

The captain zig–zagged across the street a couple of times, bullets from further up the hill falling to her feet before reaching her. No doubt, this would have been impossible without assistance, even for me. That swarm really isn’t helping either.

After climbing a number of fences and scampering across back gardens, Renka paused. Right, so, now I can see what they’re up to. The SDF have already tagged two and neutralised two as well.

‘Fuck; now that’s a problem!’ Or an opportunity, though I can’t blow up the rocket while they’re in there, or it could destabilise the comms tower. With the sliding stock of her SMG set into her right shoulder, the captain lowered her right eye to behind the top–mounted AEMS sight. Supposedly this thing is good for out beyond 150+ metres, so I guess it’s the dioptre sight’s time to shine.

As one of the men in the small building rested an SA-25 on his shoulder, Renka quietly commented, ‘Time to see if that LARPing gear has any functional purpose.’

Amid the thunderous racket of bursts of gunfire, the unnerving buzzing of the robotic swarm and the energised shouting of the group taking cover in the small building at the foot of the large metal structure, an integrally-suppressed SMG emitted a quiet click and puffs of white smoke from its ejector port and suppressor end.

A man’s head forcefully jolted sideways before he limply fell to the floor and the bulky rocket launcher clattered against the ground. ‘Ah, I see the marksman is still operational as well. Six down, six to go.’ There’s really no time; I’m pretty sure the 5.56 crackle from downhill is getting quieter as well.

Renka broke cover and darted toward the small building, keeping her eyes fixed on the windows and the remaining six men. Two with BREN 2 BRs and four with MPX SMGs.

That’s right boys; the main event is right here, the captain internally commented as she took aim. Wisps of white smoke rose from the side of her MP5 and the exit of the suppressor, as pairs of fairly quiet snaps preceded both riflemen receiving whizzing bullets straight through their masks and balaclavas.

‘Great,’ the captain begrudgingly conceded, as she dove for cover. The SMGs have started purring and I guess with all of the GSDF out of the equation, the nanites have nothing better to do than deal with me.

I can’t see the enemy and can barely move with what’s effectively a dynamic buzzing shield protecting them.

Grimacing, and grumbling with irritation, Renka departed from her hiding spot and hurriedly circled the house before clambering onto the rooftop.

‘I can finally see something. It looks like Renka’s playing for time,’ Kasumi informed.

‘Eh? How come? Ah, never mind, I can see it now; she’s effectively stuck in a stalemate and I’m guessing she’s got no other support; I can only hear idiots going nuts with full-auto SMG fire directed up at thin air. Yawn,’ Hikari summarised, with an exasperated tone.

‘Tsubaki-Sensei, could you stop protecting her for a moment?’

‘What!? You do realise that’ll expose her to being taken out in the same way as her SDF colleagues!’

‘You have to smash a few eggs to make an omelette; just trust me,’ Kasumi calmly retorted, with an icy stare. Here’s hoping you can withstand those bugs for long enough, Renka…

Kasumi closed her eyes, as the swarm took another rapid dive towards the captain, who lay prone on the rooftop, as bullets ripped through the air over her head.

Here they come again. Following a few small spasms and her fingers involuntarily loosening from the MP5’s pistol grip, Argh, shit! No protection, huh? I hope they have a plan, because a few more seconds of this and I-

The entire scene turned silent in comparison with an elegant wail which comprehensively overruled the soundtrack of the battlefield.

‘I swear; I’ll never get tired of that voice. I really wish she used it more often.’ Hmm, that’s odd; the nanobots have been taken care of, but the asswipes in the building are still going at it. Then again, if there’s no SDF company left, I guess that means I’m free to clean up with the help of the useless couple watching over me...

The captain crawled back and dropped herself from the roof before advancing, with her SMG’s stock tucked into her right shoulder, aimed ahead, her eye behind its reflex sight and her right index finger resting against the trigger guard.

She came to a halt at the corner of her building, briefly lowered her weapon and quickly peeked around. Still four of them and they’re still aiming at the roof.

Renka shifted her gun’s position and peered through the sight with her left eye.

A single click, followed by a pair and another single click quickly and mercilessly resulted in three of the men collapsing after a sudden jerking movement of their heads.

‘Nice; a classic 1v1 duel.’ I guess the SMG can have a rest now then. I really should get a sling… Oh well; I’ll be back for you soon, my dear, she internally commented, as she carefully set the MP5SD down beside the building.

The captain lurched out from her cover, with her HK45T firmly gripped between her hands, its suppressed muzzle pointed toward the floor. Her knees remained bent and upper–body leaned slightly forward as she swiftly advanced on the building beside the fifty or so metre-tall metal, tubular structure, heavily adorned with dishes, wiring and poles.

Quick, loud knocks erupted from the small building, prompting her to sidestep and quietly send two rounds hurtling back in exchange, before sprinting to her target.

As she pressed herself up against the door, she studied, pained groans? Right, it looks like the SDF tagged two targets but didn’t kill them.

Renka quickly flitted across the door mouth before entering and silencing the pained groans, with two subdued snaps and puffs of smoke from her handgun less than a second apart, which caused both men to hang their heads, before blood dripped from behind the masks.

‘End of the line, bitch!’

Well, I guess I should have seen this coming.

‘You do realise you’ll probably kill us both, right?’ the captain coolly remarked, her expression blank, suppressed handgun muzzle trained at the head of the man standing in front of her and an index finger with a matte orange-painted nail at its tip resting against its trigger.

‘If I’m going to hell, I’m making sure you’re coming with me,’ the man bluntly informed, his expression concealed behind his skull–pattern mask.

‘Oh ho, is that right?’

‘Even if you got a shot off, the rocket would wipe that smug grin clean off your face.’

‘In that case, I surrender,’ Renka lightly admitted, releasing the combat grip that she held her weapon in and raising her hands.

‘Drop it and kick it over,’ the man commanded.

So much for wanting to take good care of it…

After complying, he further instructed, ‘Good girl. Now, down on your knees.’

The man wrapped his palm around the grip and collected the discarded HK45T, quickly raising it.

A twang and swish broke the silence that lingered in the room.

A long projectile had embedded itself in the man’s arm and by the time he lay paralysed on the floor, a towering figure with black and rose-coloured hair stood over him, with an ice-cold glare. ‘Nobody calls her a good girl or forces her to her knees but me,’ she sternly advised the man, who began to shake violently partway through.

I was never in any danger, presuming the energy-converting field was still active. Either way, I was planned on something involving burning his hands, but that was way cooler, or way hotter, I guess. You forcing me to my knees? That, I look forward to…

‘Thanks, I’m glad that you’re here, really, but you should get going before the officers out there wake up,’ Renka dismissed, with a friendly smile.

❀

‘No survivors on the assailants’ side and it won’t be long before the GSDF reinforcements turn up, to bring home the subdued officers. Some of their pulses are a bit faint, but I’ve seen soldiers in worse shape pull through, so hopefully they’ll all be alright,’ Renka informed, as she stashed away her weapons in the truck’s load bed and removed her protective equipment.

'I got a good haul of information as well, so I’ll fill you all in on the drive home, also I got you a little, or nanoscopic gift, Sensei. I think you’ll enjoy figuring out how it works,’ she added, holding up a black, half-shiny, miniscule object, between an index finger and thumb, with a teasing smile.

As the pickup truck swiftly weaved its way across the city, Renka revealed, ‘What you ladies all saw back there was probably similar to the backstory scenario that Kasumi and I were told of almost a week ago, in that city where we all met in the shopping centre.

‘I had a rifle through all of the phones of the neutralised targets and found that our good friends, CSS, had invited that mercenary group to test out an offensive weapon system that they’d been developing. Unlike the gang from back then, the information wasn’t as heavily secured this time; I guess they were more confident in a group of armed mercenaries than they were a street gang or something…’

‘So, they’re conducting those tests all over the island then?’ the truck’s black and purple-haired driver quizzed.

‘I can’t say for certain, but we know for certain now that they’re working with seemingly any calibre of armed group for the purpose of testing advanced combat technologies.

‘Hopefully, the SDF will be able to improve their knowledge base with what they pick up from that site, though I wouldn’t be surprised if CSS have the means to fully erase any evidence that could trace back to them before it’s too late. I can’t imagine they’d have been able to evade the NPA and the SDF’s intelligence–gathering capabilities thus far without it.’

‘Do you think they’ll be coming after us?’ Tsubaki unsteadily asked.

‘I guess we’ll have to wait and see. They didn’t have a problem forcing everybody from that beach on Friday, or forcing most of a city to flee, so I doubt they’ll have any moral objections to hunting down four women that have been interfering with their activities,’ Renka suggested.

‘I wouldn’t worry too much; you did just see what the four of us can pull off when we’re actually working together, didn’t you?’ Hikari added, with a jovial tone.

“When we’re actually working together;” please don’t remind me. My heart and mind weren’t and still aren’t ready. It’s hard to concentrate on anything meaningful when you surprise me like that. I guess I’m now paying the price for exclusively focusing on my studies and work before meeting you.

❀

‘So much for going out and getting equipment to help defend this place, huh? Oh well; I guess we wouldn’t have made much progress on a Sunday anyway,’ the woman with an orange streak in her hair reluctantly conceded as she continuously kicked her dangling legs.

The less animated woman, seated on the rooftop next to her, responded coolly. ‘You’re cleaning that thing already? You only got it a few days ago and it already needs cleaning?’

‘She doesn’t need cleaning, well, she does every four to five hundred rounds, but that’s beside the point. She runs better after a cleaning, that and the suppressors are known to lock themselves onto the barrel if they’re not cared for properly. Forget about the gun; there’s something more important that I wanted to talk about. I want to know; how does it feel when you use your ability to manipulate sound behaviour?’ Renka asked, her eyes darting away from the upper receiver and barrel shroud in her hand, towards the black and pink–haired woman.

‘It doesn’t really feel like anything particularly special for the most part. However, when I need to call on particular sound waves, it’s as if I can feel their travel and see them in motion. That’s how I figured out how to disrupt those nanobots earlier; when they made contact with you, or more specifically, your vest, I could pick up on the frequency of the sound they were emitting, which then gave me the idea of using sound waves with a higher, harmonic frequency to overload their processors. It was a guess that the components and whatever computer processor controlled their flight had a design limit for the amount of energy they were capable of handling.’

Renka’s eyes narrowed. ‘Did you come up with that, or was it Sensei’s idea?’ she quizzed, with a suspicious tone.

‘Tsubaki-Sensei actually protested when I told her to disengage the field for a moment.’

‘Hmm? You’re proving to have intelligence to match that striking beauty of yours,’ Renka lightly concluded, with a warm smile, resting her head against Kasumi’s shoulder, as the pair watched the sun, its colour almost matching the vivid orange of her hair highlight while it descended into the hills on the horizon.