Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
10: 27 A.M.
“Vince, you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, Satoshi, I’m okay.” he said to him, trying to answer as fast as he could. For the past five days, he had been like this, trying to distance himself from everyone, avoiding training, especially with Satsuki, and just doing nothing.
“Only time can tell…hmm. Wish that wasn’t true.” he thought, still concerned that Vincent’s sudden change in behavior happened that day. It had been 5 days since. All of Sky Squad was going to the maintenance room of the 216th HQ, with the exception of Satsuki herself, who went there earlier. “
At least Shell Bullet’s gonna get repaired….but why in the world would you have to make me put a bandage on?” Vincent said out loud.
“Hey, you said it hurt.” Sydney replied jokingly, to which Satoshi laughed.
“Urusai!” he yelled, embarrassed and mad at both of them. It was a half-truth; the sensors were sensitive enough to feel pain, but that was it. The true reason:
“…Hey, Angie, could I ask you to put some gauzes or something where Vince’s Device was?” Satoshi asked, smiling mischievously.
“Why?” she replied, confused. “It’s not like there’s any-,” she said before realizing Satoshi’s own intention. She just shook her head in disbelief, and said to him, “You’re cold sometimes, you know?”
Chuckling, Satoshi just replied, “Still, I wonder what people are going to say.”
His trick had worked; people thought that Vincent’s Device was actually his arm, and asked a lot of questions about it. Vince had not yet found out who did this, and it was fun to see him not know, since everyone in Sky and Thunder Squad was in on it. Stifling his laughter, Satoshi planned on when he would tell him.
“Maybe when his Device’s repaired, I’ll tell him. He’s gonna be ticked.”
“Hey, where’s Satsuki? I haven’t seen her yet.” Vincent asked, wondering where she ran off to.
“She’s already at Maintenance, waiting for us.” Satoshi replied. He just scoffed, and said,
“She’s pretty impatient.”
“Well, Margaret’s one of the few things that Satsuki has.” Satoshi said, defending Satsuki’s reason.
“You know how Satsuki and Margaret are; they’re like sisters.” Sydney added, further reinforcing Satsuki’s position.
“Agh, I don’t get how someone could care for their Device like they were an actual person.” Vincent replied.
“They help us do our job, so it’s natural to care for them.” Satoshi added.
“But caring for them like they're someone else? I don’t get it.”
“Then ask her, not us.” Satoshi said to Vince.
“We don’t have any Unison Devices, so we wouldn’t know.”
He sighed, then looked out the window and put his left arm on it, putting his hand into a fist.
“Everyone I’ve cared about…dead….all dead.”
“Hmm…” Satoshi could only say while Sydney stayed silent. After a while, he moved out, saying,
“Let’s go. The past is the past, let’s just leave it and go.”
“Alright then.” Satoshi replied, and let Vincent lead on. He then talked to Sydney telepathically.
“I wish I could believe Vincent’s words…” he said.
“Why?” she asked, confused.
“I know there’s something wrong with him. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if that's the case.”
“Hmm…maybe time will tell.” Sydney said, but Satoshi was determined to find out.
“You’ve read his profile, right?” he asked. “
Yeah, I did.”
“It’s his past that bothers me right now. I’m worried that it’s starting to catch up.”
“How?”
“It’s true, he lost everyone he’s cared about. I'm guessing he cares about us more than anyone else now, even if he doesn’t show it.”
Sydney realized what Satoshi was talking about all along.
“Then that means…”
“What Betrüger did to Vincent probably involved both us and his past, but I’m not sure what he did.” Satoshi concluded, still regretting a bit that he didn’t know what Vincent’s problem was.
“He’s still someone who's affected by it.”
“I see…we should take him to see-“ Sydney suggested before being interrupted.
“No, then he won’t talk. I have someone in mind, but that’s for later.” Satoshi said.
“Seems like you care for him.” Sydney replied.
“Well, I care for everyone, as both a friend and a squad leader.” Satoshi replied back, and the conversation ended as all three of them went inside Maintenance.
When all three got inside, Satsuki, Armay Manette, the technical chief of the 216th, and Margaret all waiting for them.
“Well, well, look’s like Margaret’s okay.” Satoshi remarked.
“Hai!” she said happily out loud, making everyone smile, even Vincent.
“I’m going to be okay, but according to Armay-sama, I have to take it easy.”
“I’m still glad you’re okay, Margaret.” Satsuki said quietly, but still glad that Margaret was back to normal.
“It was easy; I had no problem with it. Don’t thank me that much.” Armay said, trying to sound as humble as she could.
“Still, thank you.” Satsuki replied.
“Now that’s done, what about MY Device here?” Vincent said loudly.
“I’m getting tired of wearing a bandage everyday!”
“Seems like we brought the impatient one here.” Sydney said jokingly.
“URUSAI!” Vincent replied loudly to her, ticked off.
“Alright then, I have one thing to say.” Armay said after everyone else had a chance to laugh it off. She then became nervous, trying to make up an excuse.
“Well?” Vincent impatiently said.
“Truth is,” she replied nervously,
“I-I can’t put your Device and arm back together.”
“You got to be kidding me.” Vincent thought.
“So, let me get this straight. You can’t get my Device back together, but you can repair a Unison Device without any problems.” he said, and Satoshi knew what was going to happen.
“Let me explain.” Armay said hastily, trying to calm Vincent down a bit.
“Your Device and arm is grafted onto you, and trying to repair it would be like trying to make a prosthetic arm. I don’t know how to put it back on.”
“Fine…I believe you.” he said disappointingly, knowing that Satoshi was nearby.
“If that the case then, who else could do it?”
“I know of a person. My father and I have met him before.” Sydney said after thinking it over for a while.
“The only guy I could think of is…must be.” Satoshi thought. He then started to list down some possible aspects about the person Sydney was talking about.
“Lemme guess, he has a prosthetic left arm, used to be an Enforcer, and knows several people, including the Aces of Riot Force 6.” Armay knew exactly who Satoshi was talking about.
“Aurion-sama!” she said.
“Right…” Sydney said, surprised that both of them knew who she was talking about so easily. She then asked them,
“How did you know him?”
“Hehe…I met him with Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate one time. He was very…..interesting.” Satoshi said, in apparent embarrassment.
“You could say I learned a thing or two from him.” Armay explained, also in apparent embarrassment.
“I see….” Sydney replied, disappointed.
“Don’t worry about it, Syd.” Satoshi said to her comfortingly, trying to cheer her up.
“So, I guess that means a trip to the Tech Department.”
“Then let me go too.” Armay said, wanting for Satoshi to agree.
“If I could see how to put it back together, I could do it myself-“
“-so that we don’t have to ask.” Satoshi replied, interrupting her.
“That’s a good reason…Okay, then.”
She sighed in relief, and said to all of them,
“Then let’s go!”
As all of them left Maintenance, Sydney restarted the conversation before.
“So, who is this someone you were going to ask in order to help Vince?” she asked.
“Simple. We already discussed it back there.” Satoshi replied smugly.
“Then that means….oh, no…”
“It wont be that bad….well, maybe.”
“I hope it isn’t.”
Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
11:20 A.M.
“Well, there he is.” Satoshi said to everyone else, seeing Aurion out of the group of scientists and technicians nearby, reading some book from Earth, from the balcony up above.
“Let’s get this done then.” Vincent said, leading the way. Everyone followed him, except Sydney, who proceeded to go into a different direction.
“Where are you going?” Satoshi asked.
“Helping my father out with some things, why?” she replied.
“I-it’s nothing; I was just asking.”
“Nothing, huh?” she said slyly, not believing his answer.
“I guess you’re not that concerned.” She added, her voice sounding disappointed.
Satoshi just sighed.
“Fine, you got me.” he said, relenting.
“I just like to know where everyone’s at.”
“Right…I believe you.” Sydney sarcastically remarked.
“Anyway, see you later.”
“Right.” After saying bye, Satoshi caught up to everyone else.
“She got you there…” Armay commented.
“Don’t…please.” he replied, trying to make it not a big deal.
They soon got downstairs, and approached Aurion, ready to convince him.
“Well…if it isn’t Satoshi.” Aurion said after looking out from anyone who was going to talk to him.
“Hey there, Aurion.” Satoshi replied. “So, Armay’s here too…” he noticed, and started to do his trick. Taking his left arm off, he managed to terrify Satsuki, Margaret, and Armay, while Vincent looked in surprise and Satoshi chuckling.
“Aurion-sama!” Armay replied, scared and mad.
“Do you HAVE to do THAT when I’m around?”
“It’s funny to see your face when I do this; never gets old.” he said happily, chuckling to himself.
“How did he-?” Vincent said out loud, surprised.
“W-who the hell is this guy?” Aurion, seeing that his prank worked, revealed his own prosthetic arm and Device. “Well, that was fun, right Cipher?”
“[Yeah. It scared all of them, and you had a kick out of it. Very cold, there.]” Cipher replied.
“I still wonder how you do that…” Satoshi said, wanting to know. “I just don’t know…” Aurion replied.
“Wait…you mean that he’s the guy that’s supposed to repair my arm?” Vincent said again, shocked.
“Yeah, he is. Why? You have any problems with him?” Satoshi replied.
“It’s either working with him or letting your Device stay in disrepair.” Vincent just shuddered a bit.
“He’s the best chance I got. I’m gonna regret this….” he thought.
“A Device, huh? What is this about?” Aurion asked, wondering what everyone was saying.
“Oh, gomen, we didn’t tell you.” Armay replied. She then took out the remains of Shell Bullet and Vincent unwrapped the bandages, revealing a jagged cut on what was still stuck on his arm, looking like it had been hacked off instead of being cut cleanly. “His Device, I assume.” Aurion said, pointing at Vincent. He looked at the cuts from both of them, and said, “Why is it that you asked me to do this?”
“His Device is like a prosthetic arm to him too, like yours, Aurion-sama.” Armay explained quickly.
“I don’t have that much experience with prosthetics, but we knew you could possibly do it.” Armay then tried the puppy-eyes tactic on him.
“Pleeaaaase?”
Knowing what she would do, Aurion gave in immediately. “Alright, alright…I’ll do it. It’s going to take some time, though.”
“Arigato!” she said happily, while Satoshi looked at her, shaking his head, in disappointment.
“Just because you learned how to do it from Keroko….”
“How long exactly?” Vincent asked, trying to prepare for the worse. “Oh, you’ll just have to sit there for about 2, 3 hours at best….if you stay still.” he replied.
Vincent then looked at Satoshi, and said to him in defeat,
“There’s no choice, huh?”
“If you want to get this fixed, yeah.”
“I hoped this was quick…this sucks.” Vincent thought. He then sat down, and put what remained of his Device/right arm on the workbench. Before Aurion got started though, Satoshi motioned him to come to where he was.
“I’m sorry, Aurion, but I have to talk to you about something in private.” He said when Aurion got to where he was.
“Vince, you don’t mind if I talk to him for a while, do you?” Satoshi then asked.
“Agh, take your time; I’m not complaining.” Vincent replied quickly, and then sat there, waiting while he was talking to Armay and Satsuki.
“Alright then…” Aurion said, while everyone else besides Satoshi and him disappearing.
“Isolation Field, huh?” Satoshi remarked, knowing what Aurion had done.
“Right…now, what is it you want to talk to me about?”
“It’s about the boy you’re about to work with, fixing his Device.” Satoshi replied.
“What about him?”
“You heard about our operation 5 days ago that involved Riot Force 6, right?”
“Yes, I have.”
“So, how’s everyone? I haven’t had a chance to check on them.”
“Nanoha’s gonna be fine, as well as Fate and Keroko. Everyone else had minor injuries.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“It’s still a wonder how that Betrüger could hold off against all of you.”
“I’m still wondering about that too, but that’s not why I wanted to speak with you alone.” Satoshi then got to the point.
“While in battle, Betrüger did something to him. It…It affected his mind severely, I think. Ever since then, he’s just not what he used to be. Usually, he’s not the type of guy to think of the past, just to go on with the future. Lately, though, he’s been the opposite. I think it has something to do with us and his past of losing people.”
Aurion then spoke. “He’s affected by his past, and it involves all of you? I think he’s afraid of losing all of you guys to him then.”
“I see….” Satoshi replied, confirming what he had thought before. “So, why is it that you need my assistance?” Aurion asked.
“He’s also a proud boy; he’s not gonna speak of it to all of us.” He then looked down on the floor for a couple of seconds and sighed before continuing. “
I want to know if it has truly affected him. My worst fear now is that he’ll go off alone and fight him in some way.” Satoshi then stopped, looking at the ground again, before saying,
“Can you check if he’s likely to do that? Please?”
Aurion took a moment to think about Satoshi’s offer. “You’re concerned about your squad, I understand. After a while, he decided to help him. “Alright then, I’ll check when we’re testing his Device after it’s been rebuilt.”
“Thanks…” Satoshi replied in relief.
“Just do what you have to do.” he added, giving Aurion a data disk.
“Looks like you owe me one then.” Aurion said to lighten the mood. “Cipher, take note of it.”
“[I already took notice of it. I’ll inform Satoshi when the time comes.]” Cipher replied. “Alright then.” And with those last words, the Isolation Field went down, retuning them back to reality.
“Took you guys long enough.” Vincent said.
“Hey, it was important.” Satoshi replied back at him nonchalantly. “So, shall we get started?” Aurion asked. “Armay, take a seat nearby. It’s not gonna be fun learning something if your back’s aching.”
“Satsuki, Margaret, you guys stay here.” Satoshi said to both of them.
“Why?” Satsuki asked.
“I’m gonna have to go somewhere for now.” he answered, and told everyone else,
“Later.”
“Take care.” Armay said before she started to learn how to put back Vince’s arm.
“He’s off somewhere…” Vincent remarked snidely. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s wrong.” Aurion replied. “Now stop moving; it’s gonna take longer.”
Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1: 07 P.M.
“[So, where are we going anyway?]” Cipher said, trying to find out what Satoshi was going. For the past hour and 15 minutes, he had seemingly been going everywhere, and there seemed to be no end in sight.
“There’s a novelty shop, usually containing things from Earth.” Satoshi explained.
“[Oh, it’s that place…]” Cipher replied, knowing what Satoshi was talking about.
“[But why the long drive?]”
“I just like to take the long way sometimes.”
“[Right…]” Cipher replied back sarcastically.
“What’s with the sarcasm today?” Satoshi asked, a small grin oh his face.
“[I don’t know. Must be one of those days.]”
Satoshi laughed for a while, and after calming down, he said happily,
“Man…this day’s a good day.” He then took out some sort of music player, picked one song, and started singing to it.
“Oh yeah what we're living in (let me tell ya)
It' a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big
That should be small
Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doing for us.
And I'm giving all my love to this world
Only to be told
I can't see, I can't breathe
No more will we be
And nothing's gonna change the way we live
Cuz we can always take and never give
And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, it's a crazy world we're living in
And I just can't see that half of us immersed in sin
Is all we have to give these-“
“[Uh, we’re here.]” Cipher said to Satoshi, interrupting him.
“I see. Well, let’s go.” he replied, shutting off the music player, and getting out.
“[That was pretty good. I liked it.]” Cipher said after being out of the car, complementing Satoshi’s singing.
“Thanks.” he replied.
“[Maybe you should sing for Sydney someday.]” Cipher suggested.
“That’s for later.” Satoshi said as they went in. The shop was filled with things, a lot from Earth itself. Nobody was near the door or the counter.
“Nobody’s nearby….I’ll just wait.” he thought as he took some time to look while he was waiting.
“[Lots of things here….]” Cipher remarked as Satoshi was looking through the shelves.
“Yeah, there is.” Satoshi replied before something caught his eye. It was a maneki neko, something that Satoshi had seen when he was a boy. He just stood silent, holding the ceramic cat.
“[Remember something?]” Cipher asked. “
I remember seeing these things when I used to live on Earth.” Satoshi replied, smiling a bit.
“I used to see it a lot, I thought it was everywhere. They were interesting to me. I dunno why they didn’t scare me.”
“[I see.]” Cipher replied softly. Satoshi then put it back, taking a look at it for a while.
“It’s brand new. It just came in yesterday, you know.” a woman’s voice came up behind Satoshi, startling him.
“What the?" he said out loud, backing up and almost bumping into a vase, nearly breaking it.
“Hey, watch it! That’s a rare item right there!” she yelled angrily at him out loud.
“Ne, you shouldn’t scare people like that.” Satoshi replied disappointingly at her.
“It’s bad for business.”
“Well, it’s not my fault that you get surprised often.” she said again, still frustrated at him.
“Let’s just stop arguing, Saika, alright?” he replied back, annoyed.
“I just want some info.”
She stopped for a while and replied sadly,
“Mou~ you’re no fun…”
“I’m not playing today, Saika….” Satoshi replied back, sighing.
“Fine…” she said, relenting.
“Let’s go to the back room.”
“Good…” Satoshi thought, relieved that Saika and he wouldn’t get into a long argument like what happened most of the time. Both of them went into a room out back, where there were several old computers ready, from individual profiles of TSAB members to live feeds of cameras almost everywhere.
“[Still using these ones?]” Cipher asked, sounding indifferently.
“At least they work well.” Saika replied to Cipher. Someone else then came in and saw both of them.
“Ah, Sato-kun!” she said softly, happy to see him.
“Hey there, Rushuna.” he replied.
“So, what do you need?” Saika asked, sitting down on a chair.
“You guys know about Betrüger, right?” he replied seriously.
“About what happened to all of you? Yeah, we have. I’m guessing you want info on him?” Saika asked, leaning forward.
“If I didn’t, why would I come here then?” Satoshi replied with a smile on his face.
Saika leaned back on the chair, and told him,
“It’s gonna take some time to get everything, about 45 minutes to an hour, tops.”
“I’m okay on that, just go ahead.”
“Alright then…” she said. Saika then turned to Rushuna.
“Let’s get started.”
"Right..." Rushuna replied as she started typing.
“Well then, time to wait….”
Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:35 P.M.
“Well…it’s done.” Aurion said, and everyone was relieved. Satsuki and Margaret were almost about to sleep, Armay had barely managed to stay awake, and Vincent was actually sleeping by that time.
“Hey, you, wake up.” Aurion said again to Vincent.
“Huh….what?” he replied, half-awake.
“You’re done.” Armay said. “He woke up after that and saw that Shell Bullet was already repaired. “Take some time to move it.”
“Alright then.” Vincent said to Aurion, and he got up. Moving his arm a bit, it seemed that Shell Bullet felt different.
“Hey…you seem lighter.” Vincent remarked to Shell Bullet.
“[Es ist eins des Aufsteigens, das er.]” Shell Bullet replied.
“Really?”
“There’s other things that I improved.” Aurion said again. “Let’s take a field test of sorts to see what I’ve done.”
With a grin, Vincent said,
“Let’s go then.”
“Hey, you owe me one.” Armay said to Vincent, smiling.
“Fine….thanks.” Vincent said to her, sounding pained when saying “thanks”.
After a while, all of them went to a room where Devices could be tested easily. Vincent was in the actual testing area while everyone else was inside another room, where they could see the testing room through one-way glass. “Alright, let’s get started.” Aurion spoke into the intercom. “I’ll send several training Drones; just take them out using all your Forms, no spells until later.”
“Right.” Vincent replied.
“This is gonna be a piece of cake.” he thought as the Drones came. He started with Faustform, punching through some Drones.
“I seem to react to things faster.” he thought as he punched his way through two Drones. Vincent then switched to Blattform, where two things happened.
“The blade doesn’t take the place of my whole hand now….and it’s an energy blade now…” Cutting through a set of 4 Drones, he then switched to Leitungform.
“Agh…it’s like I’m slowing down.”
“Hey, what gives?” he yelled to them.
“This is like it’s taking more out of me now.”
“It’s supposed to be like that.” Aurion replied. “But watch.”
Several Drones now targeted the magical wires. To Vincent’s surprise, the wires held up, unlike before.
“Oh, I see now. Might as well get used to this.”
“Everything’s working out…” Aurion thought, seeing that everything was working as planned. He then quietly shot off the intercom, and started what Satoshi wanted to do.
“Let’s see if you can stand this.”
“Man, this is great!” Vincent exclaimed happily, having recently taken out the rest of the training Drones.
“[Es ist als Torte... einfach]” Shell Bullet replied.
“Hey, send out some more Drones, I’m waiting!” Vince yelled to them, but there was no answer.
“So, I’m impressed boy, you managed to get that thing repaired.” Betrüger’s voice suddenly came out as he appeared out of the shadows. “What the? How did
you get here?” Vincent replied angrily.
“Easy, I just took down anyone who got in my way.”
“You…..you bastard…” he said, thinking the worst has happened.
Meanwhile, everyone else was looking at this, and they thought that Betrüger came in.
“Aurion-sama, we should tell him!”Armay shouted out.
"Vince! Vince!” Satsuki shouted on the intercom, but he didn’t pay attention. Then, a couple of binds surrounded Satsuki, Margaret, and Armay.
“What the hell are you doing, Aurion-sama?” Armay shouted out before the binds took hold of them. “The intercom’s out; he can’t hear us.” Aurion replied back. “I don’t want you guys to bother him.”
“But…why?” Armay asked him.
“It was a request from Satoshi.” he answered indifferently.
Vincent was ready to take down Betrüger again as he looked towards him.
“Damn it….you’re going down…”
“Really, huh? Then let’s go.” Betrüger said, taking out his Device.
Everyone else except Aurion looked, shocked and terrified about Betrüger.
“Let’s hope that what Satoshi and I talked about isn’t the case….”