"He's been at it for how long?"
"For almost nine hours since he started working around seven this morning, Ms. Sumeragi. He only had a few light breaks and one lunch break as well," replied Mileina from her post on the bridge. "Right now, Setsuna's taking a second shift in overseeing his training."
"If anything, this proves he's serious about this," chipped in Allelujah who had taken a shift in administering and reviewing Rai's mobile suit training earlier.
"So how would you rate him?" asked the strategic forecaster. "You think Rai's got the skill set to help out with combat operations in a mobile suit?"
"He responds well as a subordinate on the battlefield. He doesn't have any problems following orders and backing up his teammates. At the same time, he can also take on a leadership role if needed." Even though Marie was the one speaking, it had been Soma Peries who carefully and thoroughly worked their latest member to the bone with simulations based on some old HRL missions when it had been her time to supervise his training. As that personality didn't file any sort of complaint, she must have been satisfied by his performance.
"I can't really argue with what Marie brought up," admitted Allelujah. "Honestly, I can't understand how he could adjust so quickly from one type of unit to another."
"He said something about alternate memories floating about in his brain?" Lasse still wasn't sure what to make of that to be honest. "That's kinda messed there."
Before anyone else could reply, they heard the door to the bridge open to allow Setsuna and a tired Rai, dressed in a loosened white piloting suit, to enter. The white haired young man had his helmet off, allowing his sweaty head to get some needed fresh air. "You two taking another break?" asked Sumeragi.
"For now, yes. I figured that it would be best if he properly introduced himself to the rest of our support team," replied Setsuna before letting the white haired youth take the stage.
"Er... hi? I'm Rai and I'm pleased to meet you all! And I'm honestly sorry for not thinking things out a bit more regarding the Geass experiment last evening."
Sumeragi gave a small smile. "Don't put all the blame on yourself. I should have taken better precautions too as the ship's Captain and Strategic Forecaster."
This caused Rai to snap to attention and salute. "I appreciate your kindness, madam!"
"No need to go too far with formalities. You can call me Sumeragi like everyone else." She paused to point out fellow members of the crew. "You're already familiar with fellow pilots Allelujah and Marie so I guess that leaves..."
"Lasse Aeon, ship's pilot and gunman and the spare Meister when things are really in a pinch," said Lasse in his quick introduction.
"And I'm Mileina Vashti, mechanic and second CIC operator. Let's get along well, okay?"
"You seem a bit more energetic than that other CIC operator, Ms. Feldt." Rai had met that young lady a bit earlier in the day when she worked together with Setsuna on some small maintenance tasks. Such a quiet woman...
Mileina gave a sunny smile upon hearing that. "So you want me to be the one to send you off before each mission?"
"That would be..." He paused upon noticing something on her monitor. "What's that you're looking up there?"
"Hm? Oh, it's just information gathering and getting an idea of how the world is receiving the announcement made last night. Why?"
The Geass user got closer to the monitor just to confirm what he was seeing. The search engine, owned by BIGLOBE, showed several results including online articles and some video links. The one that caught Rai's eye in particular was one that had a thumbnail picture of Milly Ashford. "Can I see that one please?"
Mileina nodded and clicked on the link which allowed the video to begin streaming. "Good morning, students of Ashford Academy! This is your Student Council President Milly Ashford with today's announcements! Today's feature announcement was supposed to be on the upcoming school festival with all the fun things we can do but that's being pushed back to a bit later on the show since we all heard a particularly interesting announcement last night, which has gotten the entire student body talking. An announcement made by the organization called Celestial Being."
"What's special about her?" asked Marie.
"She's an old friend. Long story but I'll tell you later," replied Rai.
"I'm certain that we all have the same questions: Where did these people come from? How did they build such giant and advanced Knightmare Frames? But more importantly, how will our world change? They have identified the Empire as the source of conflict in our world which means inevitable change for all of us. Today, as you go to your classes, I want you to give some thought on the current Britannia. Look deep within yourself and ask whether the current status quo is something worth crossing swords with Gundam. Because this isn't going to be like any ordinary war that's been fought in history. Victory won't be decided by conquering the enemy and slapping them with a number this time around. Like it or not, Gundam won't be going away anytime soon."
'So even the Prez is taking this seriously,' thought the white haired young man to himself.
Milly's tone then changed to the lighter and more playful one that he was familiar with. "Anyways, let's get on with our regular announcements starting with the upcoming school festival! Bring all your friends, family... heck, even your neighbours or that Eleven across the street! This special event is open to the public! We have plenty of things going on! Aside from a special tribute to honour our own Knight of Seven, Suzaku Kururugi, the Giant Pizza event will make a trimphant return so make sure you bring an empty plate and stomach!"
"Suzaku the Knight of Seven? How did... wait a second. Giant... pizza?" Those words sparked an idea inside the Geass user's head. "That's it! Giant pizza! Setsuna, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
The other young man thought about it for a moment before he figured out where Rai was heading. "...... you're thinking that C.C. woman will be there?"
"I don't think she'll be there. I know she'll be there. This can be our chance to do some investigation on Geass and where better than to start from asking the source? Besides, it's not like I could turn down an invitation from Milly herself!"
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(Posted Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:13)
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