Archive of Our Own ^beta

Commencing system boot. Exiting standby mode.

Optics and sensors went active, automatically adjusting for the dim lighting. It took a moment for systems to catalog the discrepancies between what was expected and what his optics registered. But the moment past, and he was able to orient himself to being in maintenance dock inside the J-Ark Beta.

A ping tapped against his AI; an equivalent to a tap on the shoulder.

Salutations, FuuRyu responded.

Mornin'! RaiRyu transmitted a facsimile of a stretch and yawn.

The young TOMORO class AI responded with a simple, Good morning.

Have a nice night, TINA-chan? RaiRyu inquired cordially.

Defragmentation and system maintenance discovered no errors, TOMORO-2198 answered promptly. If it weren't for the impish flavor of her transmission, FuuRyu might have concluded TINA had taken RaiRyu's inquiry literally.

Heh! RaiRyu chuckled.

What is the itinerary for today, TINA? FuuRyu queried.

Presently, the schedule is null.

FuuRyu and RaiRyu exchanged looks. A... null schedule?

This is standard when dealing with my captain, TINA assured them. My captain often does not exit rest mode until after sunrise. The schedule is then populated within roughly one hour of the captain entering active mode.

RaiRyu and FuuRyu exchanged looks.

Isn't that leaving things a bit...? RaiRyu searched for a proper term.

My captain uses chaos organizational methods often. Followed by a shrug emote. As FuuRyu attempted to formulate a delicate commentary regarding the wisdom of such an organizational system, TINA's attention abruptly shifted elsewhere. My captain is now active. Excuse me.

There was silence in the modified hold. FuuRyu looked at RaiRyu. RaiRyu shrugged, sending a look of, What can you do? Director Yang had mentioned something about civilians following different operational protocols than Three G or the Space Development Agency. Even so, they were unprepared for such... unpreparedness.

My captain has received a mobilization request. Civilian grade. Would you like to observe?

Observe?

Abruptly, FuuRyu was looking through a video feed not related to his sensors. Aloud, he heard RaiRyu whistle, impressed by how swiftly yet gently TINA had switched their visual inputs.

A warning next time would be preferred, FuuRyu requested.

Noted.

The visual feed shifted from one angle to another. A time stamp at the top right identified each scene's source. A moment more to orient location and place and --

The town around the lab sure has a lot of hidden cameras, RaiRyu hummed.

TINA noted, To a degree. Many of these signals originate from Laboratory # 5 itself. The scientists present are often testing improvements on long range observation systems.

Ah. There was Jessica Jamie Jenkins. She was wearing an emerald long tailed windbreaker over a ruby hued tank top and blue jeans ensemble. Her pace as she headed into a wooded park area was casual; however, she did seem to be in a rush. The visual feed lost track of her within the woods.

The next feed to pop up came sourced from the J-Ark Beta itself. It's advanced scanning systems showed colorless representations of the wooded area's flora. A person sized line of J-Jewel red moved through the recreation at a steady clip.

And then stopped.

RaiRyu's curiosity tickled the network connection. FuuRyu had to admit he was curious himself about -

The representation signifying Jamie began to move again. Along the vertical axis.

Client: Mrs. Gertrude Noris. Case: Locate and recover Mrs. Noris's missing four year old cat. Number of times to date case had been received and completed: Eighteen.

An adventurous feline, FuuRyu chuckled. RaiRyu and he had not interacted with domesticated animals, but they had found entertainment in watching pet videos on YouTube.

My captain has commented that squirrels are Mrs. Norris's cat's mortal foes, TINA concurred, her transmission touched with amusement.

The icon indicating Jamie reached a height of six meters. A fall from that height without armor to absorb the impact could be lethal...!

Jessica Jamie Jenkins paused at that daunting height. And stayed there. And stayed there...

After fifteen minutes of tension, Jamie began to move once again. Her icon moved as smoothly down the vertical axis as it had ascended. Even so, FuuRyu and RaiRyu were unable to circulate cooling air through their systems until Jamie was back on solid ground.

They had to wait ten minutes more for her to walk back into visual range. Strangely, Jamie was not wearing her windbreaker. Instead she had her jacket wrapped up in a tight spiral which she cradled in her arms.

Ah, TINA hummed, my Captain was required to use the "purrito" capture method.

The visual focused in so that FuuRyu and RaiRyu could clearly see a length of fur sticking out one end of the coat wrap. The fuzzy length slashed across the air with whip-like speed and force.

...she wrapped up the cat in her coat? RaiRyu blinked.

A necessary action. Mrs. Noris's cat's claws have punctured skin previously, and the cat has attempted to bite my captain before.

Ah. And so for the cat's safety, Jamie had effectively, gently, immobilized it.

The camera visual followed Jamie as she walked with cautious steps. After a twelve minute walk, Jamie arrived at a modest house with a white picket fence. A plump woman with shots of silver in her white/blond hair rushed out of the house, stopping at the patio. The woman seemed quite distraught. Jamie made her calm, nonchalant way to the woman, and walked with the woman into the house.

My captain has noted that Mrs. Noris often quote talks my ear off the busy body end quote. Okay to disconnect visual feed?

FuuRyu and RaiRyu confirmed. Just as abruptly and gently as before, their visual input source was returned to normal.

What qualifies as having one's ear talked off? FuuRyu wondered.

Conversations lasting upwards of two hours and whose topics vary no further than quote proper habits of a lady end quote to quote the scandal with the grocer end quote. Note: Scandal in question was a misunderstanding regarding a grocery employee's marital status.

RaiRyu chuckled, She makes -- what's that term? Mountains out of molehills?

Affirmative.

Silence lasted for one minute fifteen seconds.

So what do you do when you've got a null schedule? RaiRyu asked.

General upkeep of the J-Ark Beta. There are also minor project requests by Laboratory # 5 for calculation assistance, TINA answered promptly. Please be assured my captain is working on a way for you both to remain as active as you previously were. My captain's personal schedule indicates she will be meeting with Director Yang this afternoon to discuss your previous duties and schedules. My captain has stated her desire is to insure neither of you come to physical or emotional harm.

FuuRyu and RaiRyu blushed, such as Dragon-class mecha could blush. It sounded rather like Jamie intended to... to pamper them.

A secondary project is also to create employee handbooks for you both.

Wait. What?

TINA's emotions were dainty giggles. You both are employees of the Triple J Ninja Investigation Squad. As such it is important both employer and employee responsibilities are clearly defined. You may consider it an equivalent to the Three G rules and regulations charter.

A civilian variation on the charter. That made sense.

Incoming text transmission from my captain.

FuuRyu and RaiRyu waited. At length, TINA forwarded the text to them both: Help! She's launched into a discussion again about how I should be looking for a boyfriend! Evac ideas needed!!

Hum... Where is Jamie relative to our current position? FuuRyu inquired.

Displaying map.

Ah. So here was the J-Ark Beta parked in the lake. And here was Jamie's location. Main road went around the wrong area, and the side roads weren't... Ah-ha! The majority of side roads weren't large enough for their vehicle modes, but this road was just barely wide enough for one of them. It would put them close enough to be seen out the target's back door.

Dibs! RaiRyu crowed.

FuuRyu sighed. Fine. TINA?

The J-Ark Beta's subsonic hum gained intensity as the great ship moved off the lake bottom and headed to a point on shore where RaiRyu could disembark without getting too wet.

My Captain would request you drive safely and take no risks. While the conversation is embarrassing, it is not terminal.

Their "boss" was a worry wart. Aloud, RaiRyu acknowledged, "Roger!"

Then gleefully jumped out of the J-Ark Beta, whooping in delight at how he had to fly the distance between the ship and solid ground.

FuuRyu sighed. "At least he didn't land on his face this time."

Morbid curiosity from TINA. "Does he land on his face often?"

FuuRyu's sigh was answer enough.

If Mrs. Noris makes one more innuendo about how I'd be a great fit for her godson, I am going to do something drastic.

Listening to Mrs. Noris drone on about how her godson was a gift from the Lord to those "thoughtless inconsiderate ruffians" at Lab # 5, Jamie kept her expression somewhere between a neutral tea smile and a wince. Normally, after returning the terrorizer of squirrels, Mrs. Noris would just ask after her health and cut Jamie a check. But whenever Mrs. Noris thought Jamie might have fresh new gossip, the bat would drag Jamie into her web and start talking. Endlessly. Mrs. Noris's cat didn't mind, as the cat always went off to sulk after Mrs. Noris put up her usual fuss.

Jamie had learned the first time: Give her a breadcrumb, and Mrs. Noris would cut off the torture. So she had, a few times. A few too many times when Deus had been in town.

But what Mrs. Noris was after was classified. And so Jamie grit her teeth and considered it extreme endurance training.

TINA's too quiet for a busybody to hear voice whispered in Jamie's ear, "Rescue present."

Oh thank Bach.

Wait. Why was there a yellow shadow over Mrs. Noris's back porch?

"Boss!" came the not subtle stage whisper.

Jamie bolted to her feet. "Mrs. Noris I'm so sorry I just remembered I have an urgent appointment thank you for the tea goodbye!"

"But..." Mrs. Noris tried to stop her. If Mrs. Noris's hands hadn't been busy refilling Jamie's teacup, the old busybody might have succeeded.

"Sorry bye!"

Out the back door, make sure to close door so cat did not follow, over the porch furniture – seriously, why did Mrs. Noris have a luck cat statue out here? Those were for shops! – down the porch steps, jump over the tree stump –

A metal hand whose palm was as big as her whole torso, including neck and head, plucked Jamie from mid jump. Grinning like a freaking loon, RaiRyu set Jamie down on the ground, switched back to vehicle mode, and had his front door open for her. Jamie could hear Mrs. Noris rallying – and so she jumped in, unwilling to waste another second.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Jamie took a deep breath. "Thank you so much, RaiRyu!"

"Happy to help, Boss!" RaiRyu's dashboard lights twinkled. "Rescue is one of our primary directives."

Jamie... honestly blinked. Add that to the list of things to talk to Director Yang about.

"Can we make a detour to my condo?" Jamie requested. Taking into account her ride's size, Jamie amended that to, "...or at least the closest major street? I need to grab some things."

"Roger!" he giggled. RaiRyu was getting too much of a kick out of this.

At least he's not bored? Jamie mused. RaiRyu came to a complete stop, opening his door so Jamie could hop down in tomboy fashion. Not bored is good. But if he's here and FuuRyu's not, then FuuRyu's still on the Beta. And he might be bored? Bored giant robots would be bad.

Travel pack collected, Jamie locked her condo door. RaiRyu opened his door again when Jamie was close enough to hop in.

RaiRyu's voice sounded downright impish as he pulled away towards the main road. “So, Boss... What's the schedule for today?”

Schedule? What schedule? Jamie didn't do –

“Boss?” And if that wasn't a giggle in RaiRyu's voice, Jamie would eat natto.

Deliberately, Jamie bonked her overnight bag against her head. “I am so, so sorry.”

RaiRyu's dashboard twinkled as RaiRyu's laugh filled the cabin.

“I'm a terrible boss. Terrible,” Jamie moaned, only a little joking. “You and FuuRyu should never call me boss.”

“Sure, Captain!” RaiRyu laughed.

...walked right into that one, Jamie realized. Aloud she asked, “Don't call me captain.”

RaiRyu's quiet cackles were answer enough. Sighing, Jamie tried to change the topic: “So! Schedule.” Jamie pulled the TOMORO special laptop from her bag. Opening it, she brought up her calender. “In about an hour I've got self defense training. Do you know why Major Hyuuma is calling it Hyuuma High School? ...I shouldn't ask. Never mind.”

“Will you be requiring rescue from Major Hyuuma?” RaiRyu teased.

“J already has me covered,” Jamie answered, deadpan.

In fact, the idea of having a rescue prepped hadn't even been hers. It had been Renais's. Which, if Jamie were being honest with herself, was flat terrifying. Exactly what kind of hell was Hyuuma planning to unleash on a poor defenseless teenager turned cyborg?

But having J step in opened up an opportunity that was, almost, as scary as whatever Hyuuma was planning. And left a remaining question of if Jamie would go for it.

Shaking the thoughts for now, Jamie got to the more immediate concern: “You and FuuRyu will be transferred over to the Mobile Unit today. Not sure what they've got scheduled...”

“It'll be fine, Captain!” RaiRyu chuckled, pulling in to the J-Ark Beta's mecha maintenance hold.

Said the Dragon to the Lady who dared not venture from the Sapphire Tower, Jamie privately quipped, hopping back out with bag in tow.

...ooph. Now there was an idea: Introducing FuuRyu and RaiRyu to Grandfather. Grandfather. Giant singing robots. Jamie could feel her brain breaking already.

“Captain,” FuuRyu nodded in greeting.

Jamie froze. Turned so as to eye both Dragons with a look. FuuRyu had the decency to look at least a little sheepish, while RaiRyu's grin was “shit-eater” level and rising.

“J-Ark Beta course clear for Orbit Base,” TINA helpfully broke the stalemate.

Slipping the laptop back into her bag, Jamie headed out of the bay. She waited for the doors to close before sighing, “Let's get this day over with.”

“Roger. J-Ark Beta now launching.”

J – thought you ought to see this. G.

Soldato-J 002 reviewed the video file which had been attached to Shishioh Guy's terse note. He was well aware of what the video showed. J was simply having difficulty processing it.

The footage was from the security cameras within the largest training rooms on Orbit Base. The room itself had sufficient height and width for restricted flight, and could be modified to contain anything from obstacles to a Gun Machine sized mecha. At the time of recording, it had been emptied save for a grouping of thick mats laid out in a four meter by four meter square. J recognized those odd blue mats; Three G non-combat personnel habitually used them for close combat training so as to reduce injuries from hard falls.

In the center of those mats was Jamie in full armor, face pressed into the mats' padding, and Major Hyuuma with his boot pinning Jamie's hair. There was a streak of blood across Hyuuma's left cheek originating from a shallow scratch. The human looked baffled.

J rewound the video. There was no audio to distract from what was on screen.

Major Hyuuma was on the right hand of the screen. Jamie, not yet in armor, on the left. Major Hyuuma tapped his right foot, put his left hand on his hip, and pointed at Jamie with his right hand. Jamie reached for and grabbed the J-Jewel in her JJ-Ride. Major Hyuuma allowed another half minute to pass before sighing. Then without warning – from Jamie's perspective, as she had been looking at the mats – Major Hyuuma rushed forward. From the way Jamie reacted, Major Hyuuma had been yelling as he moved.

Soldato-J slowed the video to half speed so as to catch what had been missed before.

Jamie's head jerked up in time with her J-Jewel illuminating at full power. Flinching, she turned away from Major Hyuuma's punch, giving her back to the approaching enemy. It was a beginner's mistake which had J wincing the first time he'd seen this video.

Jamie's full armor completed Equip in time for Hyuuma's fist to impact the back of the right shoulder armor. The force sent Jamie twisting, balance lost.

Or so it seemed.

Jamie turned with the added force. Soldato-J stopped the video. Flames... Her footwork was horrible: Right foot airborne, left foot lifting up off the ground so that the whole of Jamie's weight was on the ball of her left foot. Jamie should have fallen flat on her face then and there.

Resuming the video, still at half speed, J watched as Jamie continued to turn. The left Regenerating Armor fan released from the underside of her left gauntlet. The fan was caught and opened in a smooth motion which spoke of either programming or practice. And as Jamie completed the turn, she sliced the fan up and outwards as though it was a blade. Hyuuma reared backwards in time to avoid any serious injury; the cut to his cheek was unavoidable given how close he was. Jamie's right foot was coming down so as to let her move.

J let the rest of the video play out at normal speed: Hyuuma caught Jamie's left forearm with his right hand. Before Jamie's right foot could touch the mat so that she could anchor herself again, Hyuuma yanked her forward and proceeded to throw her over his shoulder, then down into the mats, via a textbook perfect judo throw. Stunned, Jamie essentially allowed Hyuuma pin her.

Jessica Jamie Jenkins had no combat training. And yet, she was able to successfully parry Major Hyuuma's assault. Disregarding the hit as what Renais would call “beginner's luck” was tempting. However...

Rewinding the video once more, J pulled up the scene where Hyuuma's attack impacted Jamie's shoulder armor. Something, here, in Jamie's stance, seemed... familiar.

“J.”

Ah. The time.

Dismissing the video for now, J filed the inner orbital patrol report with Orbit Base. In return Orbit Base confirmed receipt and transmitted both docking instructions and a situation update. The Amaterasu II was in orbit on maneuvers around... the International Space Station? GaiGar was currently active assisting in a repair – ah. That explained how Guy had been able to send J the video. Galeon's on-board communication technology was on par with the J-Ark's, after all.

Renais was in France tracking down a possible Black Ghost connection with the 00-Number Cyborg Soldiers. Perhaps J should introduce Jamie to Cyborg Soldier 002 Jet Link? ...or perhaps not. There was a footnote Jet Link had succeeded in getting his legs partially amputated again. Such poor habits were not ones J wished to introduce Jamie to until after she had completed basic flight training.

TOMORO-0117 notified him of an, “Incoming communication from GaiGar. Audio only.”

“Forward,” J requested. The J-Ark would complete docking momentarily, and it would be unwise to dally longer than necessary given how Orbit Base was not designed for the J-Ark's presence.

Evolunder Guy's voice sounded clearly through J's radio. “Oi. J. Good timing.”

“Oh?” Docking now complete, J waited by the hatch for air pressure between the J-Ark and Orbit Base's spacewalk to normalize.

“Ah. Renais mentioned she'd been joking around with you about how Jamie might need a rescue from Hyuuma?”

The conversation had been more hypothetical than legitimate, true. Walking across the spacewalk, J inquired, “Yes?”

“Its... ah... not so much of a joke right now...”

J closed the Orbit Base side of the catwalk's door first before demanding, “Explain.”

“Forwarding video link.”

The video popped up in the far left hand corner of J's HUD and had no audio. It showed Jamie and Hyuuma in much the same position as the last video Guy had forwarded, except now Jamie was without those odd fans she favored. Hyuuma launched himself forward. Jamie attempted to dodge. Hyuuma succeeded in grabbing, holding, and then flexing back so that the back of Jamie's head impacted the mats sharp enough to cause injury to her neck. Hyuuma completed the flex by rolling so that Jamie hit face down in the ground with Hyuuma pinning her down with his knee and both hands. A measured beat – and then Hyuuma got up, body language as clear as shouts Hyuuma wanted Jamie back on her feet to do the exercise again.

“That was try number sixty seven,” Guy informed him.

...no wonder Jamie wobbled when she stood.

But she did stand, and move back to starting position. Hyuuma launched himself at Jamie again. And received the same results as before, save this time Jamie hit the mat back first via having her legs kicked out from under her. Jamie rolled to her stomach; got as far as getting to her knees before unceremoniously dropping to the mat. Hyuuma roughly reached down to bodily drag Jamie to her feet.

J dismissed the video feed as he was now standing outside the training room. Audible through the doors was Hyuuma's shout of, “Again!”

The door was locked. “TOMORO,” J ordered. Through the door he could hear what might have been the start of a protest cut off by Hyuuma shouting, louder, “Again!!”

“TINA has hacked in to Orbit Base systems. One moment.”

The door opened in time for J to see Jamie struggling to free herself of a choking headlock. The positioning of her hands was wrong, leaving her without leverage, and her feet were off the ground so she could not push back in a bid to destabilize Hyuuma's balance. Jamie's expression was twisted with pain, and there was an unusual flicker in her dimming J-Jewel.

J moved.

A punch around Jamie's head landed on Hyuuma's nose hard enough to cause the human to release his grip without causing accute physical damage. Once Jamie was clear, J followed up with a roundhouse kick to Hyuuma's midsection. The human skid back a half meter, arms reflexively covering where J's boot had connected. While Major Hyuuma was recovering his breath, J scooped Jamie up from where she had collapsed, and hefted her weight over his left shoulder as though she were a heavier than average sack of rice.

Wordless, J walked out of the training hall.

“Thank you,” Jamie murmured. Her voice was hoarse; barely audible above a wheeze.

“Injuries,” J demanded.

“My pride count?” Jamie inquired.

“TINA confirms no physical injuries beyond what Jamie’s internal repair systems can correct,” TOMORO-0117 answered.

“Wanted that rescue to be a joke.” Jamie twitched.

“Remain still,” J ordered. Injuries or no, J would not feel comfortable until after Jamie underwent maintenance. That flicker he had seen within her J-Jewel... It concerned him. To say nothing of her expression when –

She thought she was going to die.

Cautious of his burden, J increased his haste to the J-Ark.

She thought she was going to die. Because of a training exercise.

J reviewed his emotions as he waited for the space catwalk to connect to the J-Ark once again. Was the source of his frustration and fury his disapproval of Major Hyuuma's training method? Were his emotions rooted in his pride at counting Jamie as a friend?

Both, J determined, stepping from the catwalk onto the J-Ark. His fury stemmed from Jamie being a civilian ally he had failed to properly prepare for such harsh training. His frustration came from Major Hyuuma's training... techniques – techniques J would review with Renais first before taking further action. There may have been a logical reason behind Hyuuma's actions.

As the cyborg might say, Bullshit.

“I'm -” Jamie attempted to protest.

J placed her into the maintenance chamber. Jamie paled upon seeing his expression and made no further attempts to move. Stepping back, J watched as the maintenance system began operation.

“J.”

J did not remove his focus from the active maintenance system; however, he did acknowledge TOMORO-0117's summons.

“TINA has forwarded her gratitude.”

“TOMORO-2198 is in contact with her captain?”

The question was redundant. A TOMORO AI's communication with their Soldato – or in this case, their captain – could not be severed unless one or the other were terminated.

Nonetheless, TOMORO-0117 answered, “Affirmative. Presently, TINA is reporting her captain is expressing regret at having failed the training mission. Further,” TOMORO-0117 pressed on before J could speak, “TINA is reporting her captain is expressing regret at having failed to meet your expectations, J.”

His expectations? What? “I had no expectations of Jamie for today's training exercise.”

“Quote: If you are going to persist in the fallacy that Soldato armor is a symbol, then you will accept the consequences of your actions as a Soldato.”

J blinked. What did Jamie acting irrational in regards to wearing armor necessary for the successful completion of her mission have to do with the present situation?

“Ergo,” TOMORO-0117 continued, “so long as Jessica Jamie Jenkins wears Soldato armor, she is to operate under the expectation her conduct must be befitting of a Soldato. Including conduct during combat and combat training.”

J's jaw hung open. That... what... Resetting his vocal systems, J stated, “Such a conclusion was not my intent.”

“Recommendation: Clarification required.”

Indeed. “Time to maintenance completion?”

“Twenty minutes.”

J nodded. Time enough to collect – no, Jamie preferred not to drink alcoholic beverages. Did Orbit Base cafeteria keep Jamie's preferred brand of carbonated beverage in stock? Twenty minutes would be somewhat tight... But time enough to collect appropriate materials for a serious discussion.

“Kaidou Sakura requesting access.”

Requesting access? Mother was aware she was welcome aboard the J-Ark whenever she wished.

Rather than responding aloud, J simply opened the hatch as he was already there. He had no sooner done so than he found a picnic basket half as large as he was being handed to him.

“I'll have a talk with Hyuuma, J,” Kaidou Sakura stated, voice matching her coldly furious expression. “That was unacceptable of him. Inexcusable.”

J nodded dumbly. He concurred with Mother's opinion, but why...?

Before J could voice his question, Mother gave him a firm no-nonsense nod. And then headed back to Orbit Base, posture shouting her intent to discuss matters with Major Hyuuma immediately. The hatch closed on automatic while J was still staring after Mother.

Dazed, J checked the picnic basket. Part of why it was so large was due to the fact it was a prototype of miniaturized cold coat tech Dr. Liger had been experimenting with. Within the basket were four gallons of ice cream, each a different flavor, chocolate syrup, and a box of chocolate sprinkles.

Renais had previously confirmed ice cream counted as a “comfort” food type. J supposed it would suffice as a substitute for beer.

Being inside the maintenance chamber of the J-Ark was completely different from being inside the maintenance chamber of the J-Ark Beta.

Alright. Not completely different. Both systems were identical in what they did and how they did it. It was the... hmm... There wasn't really a word for it. Flavor came close, but that implied a taste and/or texture. It wasn't a pitch or a sound, more... More like listening to two different artists performing the same song. Both had the same musical pitch; however, just like no two people had the same heartbeats, no two artists performed quite the same way.

It doesn't help I feel like I'm in the principle's office, Jamie privately noted.

A bouncing red ball of light sounded like a tuba going up an octave scale, asking without words, Why?

Like it wasn't obvious? J was pissed. Jamie had never seen an expression so... so... so furious it could freeze freakin' lava! And he was pissed at her because Jamie had failed what Three G considered basic training.

No. Face facts. I hit a wall, and I gave up. I always give up. I'm not a hero. I'm not...

Jamie had disgraced the Soldato Division's memory just by putting on the armor. And had just handed J empirical proof the rescue going off so well had been a fluke. J had every right to be pissed at her. Hell, he hadn't even let her apologize before tossing her into maintenance! She'd screwed up. Again.

Like Anuty says: Only two things I'm good at is singing and dying, and I can't even get dying right.

The tuba's tone vibrated on a shocked vibrato decent down the C major scale.

...erk.

TOMORO-0117...?

Correct, said the tuba.

Jamie was sweating bullets, she just knew it. ...could you maybe forget I thought that part about my aunt?

Negative.

Great. As if things couldn't get any more embarrassing! Actually, they could, because Jamie couldn't let that comment sit without any explanation. The explanation was pure embarrassment – old style family feud embarrassment at that – but considering the alternative was J dropping by to visit with Renais in tow, embarrassment now beat being party to fratricide later.

Your panic is unnecessary. Any information gathered while in maintenance is treated as confidential, TOMORO-0117 informed her.

There's not telling specifics while still telling, Jamie countered.

TOMORO-0117 did a verbal hopscotch over the issue by saying, J would like to clarify an earlier miscommunication. Jessica Jamie Jenkins. Soldato-J 002 is not angry with you. He is angry with himself for not properly communicating the severity of Major Hyuuma's training session.

It was supposed to be basic training –

It was not, TOMORO-0117 cut the thought off.

Jamie... blinked. You mean that wasn't an endurance test?

Unknown. It was not basic combat training.

On the one hand, Jamie felt better about having failed. On the other hand, Jamie felt worse about having failed. If Major Hyuuma knew what he was doing – and he probably did; he was a senior Three G member – then he had put Jamie on “Normal Mode” because he believed she could take it.

That was not “normal mode”, TOMORO-0117 noted.

Point still stands: Major Hyuuma thought I could take it. I... couldn't.

Which meant Jamie had to roll up her (metaphoric) sleeves, brush off the dirt, and find a better path up the tree. Because it wasn't a cat stuck up a tree this time around. It was a pair of Dragons and a signing spaceship.

If anything happened to them because of something I should have been able to do but didn't...

TOMORO-0117's voice interrupted: Maintenance complete. Armor Equip Out. Exiting maintenance mode.

Something that kind of sounded like steam venting hissed around her. Blinking the post maintenance haze from her eyes, Jamie sat up. The maintenance dais shifted underneath her, lowering so that she could step out instead of hop out of the machine. Being back in plain cloths was nice; left her a little less weighted down by the word Soldato. Swinging her legs over the edge of the dais, Jamie put her feet firmly on the ground. Took a deep breath through her nose; released it as a tone one octave below middle C.

So long as I can still sing, I can still face the world.

Another deep breath to start moving up the scale and Jamie –

Damn near tripped over her own feet. J had been as quiet as a ghost and had just been there, standing at the maintenance room's entrance.

“You opted to Equip Out.” The tone of J's voice asked the question: Why?

Because I'm not a Soldato? Jamie thought but didn't dare say. But since no other words would come, Jamie did her best to look like she had an explanation without actually giving an explanation. She succeeded in looking sheepish instead.

J didn't move a muscle, but Jamie still got the feeling J wanted to sigh. Jamie opened her mouth to apologize.

“My comments earlier.” J hesitated. Jamie was trying to figure out what earlier he was talking about. “In regards to Soldato armor being a symbol.” J hesitated again. Jamie couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel the intentness of his gaze humming in the J-Jewel. “I apologize.”

...what?

“It is clear, presently, my words were incorrect. You required armor to successfully complete your mission. That the sole armor compatible with your specifications was Soldato armor is immaterial. However. It was,” another hesitation, “confusing. That you would wish to apologize for a matter you had no control over. You are Jessica Jamie Jenkins, irregardless of what tools you may use to complete your missions. I have never considered you otherwise.”

Jamie opened her mouth to say something. Stopped, and tugged on a green bang. For someone who measured out their words like diamonds, that had been the equivalent of a speech. And J had apologized to boot. He wouldn't just drop an apology unless he though there had been one FUBAR of a screw up on his part. Which meant this was serious; that Jamie needed to think before shooting her mouth off.

Wait. J said “irregardless of what tools”. But the armor's a symbol; it means something. Doesn't he –

Jamie would have clocked herself upside the head if J hadn't been watching her like a hawk. I'm a freakin' idiot. Deus is from another planet. Literally.

With all the baggage – and lack of baggage – that entailed.

“Apology accepted.” Jamie did her best to smile as she added, “I owe you an apology as well. I've never considered the armor as a tool. And the why not is... complicated.”

J nodded. Some of the tension eased, as if he was standing on familiar ground. With a slight smirk, J noted, “Blue Planet customs are often... complicated. Mother brought ice cream.”

Ice cream sounded good.

At some point Jamie was going to sit down and figure out when scenes like this stopped being weird. Following behind like a lost little duckling, then sitting at the tiny table in the J-Ark's little used kitchen across from Soldato-J 002 - across from Deus in full armor - felt as normal as sitting down to split an ice cream sundae with Grandfather.

Hum... It felt more nostalgic than normal, on second thought. It reminded her of when it had been just Deus and she working to find Deus's lost memories. It felt like those nostalgic feelings came from a lifetime ago.

J did not insist on serving out the ice cream so much as start doing so before Jamie could suggest she take care of it. If his idea of proper portions sizes hadn't been "enough to feed a cheerleader squad", it would have been just fine. As it was, Jamie had to blink to keep from staring at the mini mountain of mocha chip, dark chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream.

Once J had his own equally oversized dish served, Jamie dug into the mocha chip. Mmmm. J's mom had good taste. This was premium ice cream.

A few minutes of yummy silence past. Just long enough for Jamie to get her thoughts organized into some semblance of an explanation.

"Grandfather tried to teach me how to write a play, once. I wasn't very good at it. I kept putting in too many words. So Grandfather taught me about symbols instead." Jamie scooped up some of the remaining unadorned vanilla. "Did you know white is the color of purity? At least it is in the West. In a lot of Asian and Eastern areas, it's the color of death. It's the same color, but it means different things depending on who you ask."

Jamie added a few sprinkles before devouring the bite.

"When you have to be careful with your words, like in plays, you need to use symbols. But they only work if the audience comes from a background that understands what that symbol represents. And you have to be careful when you use that symbol because their meanings can change depending on how you use it. It can be tarnished, too, if it's used incorrectly. Or intentionally tarnished if you're trying to make a point."

"Hm." J contemplated a scoop of vanilla, looking as though ice cream could hold the answer to all of life's secrets. "Symbols do not exist within entertainment alone?"

"Nope. They work so well in plays because they're so pervasive in life."

And here was the hard part…

"Uniforms are pretty powerful symbols. They're a way of saying, "This person belongs to this team. This team belongs to this organization." Its color coding for people, basically. And the uniforms pick up meanings depending on how that unit or organization is viewed. How those people act while in uniform in turn reflects on their unit or organization."

Thoughtful silence.

"You know, nobody can tell the difference between the J-Ark and J-Ark Beta?" Jamie waved her spoon through the air both to acknowledge and dismiss J's look. "I know, I know. The Beta is smaller. But unless the two ships are side by side, or whoever is looking is using radar or something similar, they look exactly the same. And it's... like that for the armor, too. Hair color, size, they're not going to notice - not going to care in an emergency situation. Panicking people will see Soldato armor which means Three G which means safe."

A thoughtful humm. Jamie pushed around a half melted glob of dark chocolate.

"The Soldato Division was mass produced." J's gaze was years away, so he completely missed Jamie's double-take.

"Mass produced?" Jamie echoed, pulling J from those distant memories. "Like... test tubes and beakers and cackling mad scientists?"

"Abel does not cackle."

J was smirking as he said it. Which cushioned the shock of, holy shit the closest person I've got to a best friend is a literal test tube baby.

Jamie shook her head to keep her eyes from getting stuck. "Did... Did you have a childhood, so to speak?"

"No. The Zonder invasion was imminent."

"Oh." Jamie chewed on the thought around another bite of ice cream. The mental image of a thousand baby Soldato was swallowed up by the reality of the fact J had - "You were born wearing that armor."

J nodded affirmative.

That turned everything around on its head; at least when it came to J's reaction to Jamie's reluctance to wear Soldato spec'd armor. To J, that armor was as normal as blue jeans and t-shirts. It didn't have a history; it didn't stand for anything. It just was.

No wonder he keeps looking at me like I'm suggesting skinny dipping in the Arctic. From his point of view, I am.

It made her brain hurt.

"So you're... not upset I screwed up training?" Jamie asked. Because if he really wasn't -

J put his spoon down. "I am not."

Someone's not upset - not disappointed - that I screwed up.

The concept was so novel it left Jamie's chest feeling tight.

"I am curious. TOMORO."

The littlest window looking out into space flickered and blinked, turning into a flat screen. Displayed was a still picture of - ow. Yeah. The first time she hit the mat before Hyuuma had cranked up the difficulty level. More specifically before she'd hit the mat and had been flailing in a blind panic.

"You did not loose your balance," J noted. There wasn't so much as a hint of judgment in his tone. Just open curiosity.

"Oh! Um... Heh." Now Jamie could see what it was she'd done. "That's a pirouette. A bad one." Aunt Corynth would have helped Hyuuma kick her ass if she'd seen that.

J tipped his head a hair to the left in a wordless request for additional information.

Jamie obliged: "I took ballet when I was ten. It was Grandfather's idea; he thought it'd help mend fences with my aunt. Didn't exactly work since I have all the coordination of a week old duckling. When I got diagnosed with Huntington's, I gave up.”

Why bother trying when she was going to be dead before she’d ever get any good?

“Anyway," she pressed on, back on topic, "I was panicking when Major Hyuuma hit me, and through the armor it felt more like a shove, same way aunty would to get me to do it right, so..." Out of words, Jamie shrugged.

J chewed on that thought with a perfect poker face.

"You have training in non-combat techniques which, when modified, can work within combat parameters," J reasoned through Jamie's crazy. At Jamie's affirmative, J tapped his index finger against the table in a simple thinking metronome. At length J inquired, "Do you likewise have non combat training with fans?"

"Two months of Chinese fan dance lessons!" Jamie confirmed.

J gave another, Explain, head tilt.

"The instructor tossed me out on my rear. Metaphorically. Had no patience for uncoordinated kids who just wanted to play around with the shiney."

Grandfather had thought the whole incident had been a hoot; had even used it as the setting for one of his lesser known joke operetta.

"Have you received additional non-combat training?" J inquired.

Jamie nudged the dredges of her ice cream. Absently, she noted there was a lot less melted in the bowl then she'd thought there would be.

No. I'm trying to distract myself. Deus asked a question and he deserves the truth. Even if it does hurt to admit it out loud...

"When I was diagnosed, I..." Jamie tried to shrug it off. "I panicked. I wanted to do everything. Really, everything. I made a bucket list. It had go to the moon on it."

It also had meet an alien on it, which just went to prove not everything was impossible after all.

"I wanted to do everything... but I didn't have the..." Jamie faltered, trying and failing to find the right word. "I'd try something and hit a wall, and give up; tell myself it was impossible to move forward, and just... moved on to the next whatever it was. Like when I tried fencing: Sprained my ankle after the sixth lesson and never went back. Gymnastics: First time I went to try that, I saw someone fall off the parallel bars and break their arm in three places and decided right then and there to forget this BS even if it would have been fun.

"I could give you a full hour long rundown of what I tried, but the stories would all be the same. I'd run into something, some obstacle or block or whatever, and quit."

Jamie didn't dare look up from her ice cream bowl. If she looked away, she might tighten her grip too much and break the bowl. Or see Deus's expression. Fifty/fifty odds on which would be worse. But she wasn't done yet; there were still words she had to say, even if they tore at her throat like little jagged knives.

"I've always had a safety net, sort of. Doesn't matter if I fail, I'd tell myself. I'm going to be dead soon." Jamie tried not to curl into a defensive ball. "But now it does matter. It matters a lot. Because TINA calls me her captain and I... When I fail, she's the one who will get hurt."

Which frankly scared the hell out of Jamie to the point she wanted to go bury her head under a pillow until the world went away, damn it.

Tried that. Wound up with two singing giant robots in my protective custody slash ownership. Do not want to find out what the universe would slap me with this time.

Silence. Jamie pushed her spoon around the ice cream dish in an effort not to twitch. The silence drug on. And on. And on.

And right as Jamie was about to try and say something to break the tension, J stood up. His single command - request? - as he stepped away from the table was: "Follow."

Jamie took a second to put the dishes in the sink before scrambling after.

A few lengthy minutes later, and Soldato-J led Jamie into a medium sized room; probably one of the smaller holds used originally for who knew what. It was maybe half the size of the training room where Hyuuma had kicked her ass, and didn't have any of the impact absorbing padding.

"Equip."

Jamie gulped but did as bid. She had wanted to ask J for pointers, after all...

Yeah, pointers on J-Arks, Jamie's whimpering brain noted.

J grabbed Jamie's wrists, curled her fingers into fists, and moved her closed hands into position. J's foot nudged Jamie's right ankle out and forward until her balance was equally distributed on both feet. ...no, not quite equal. She was leaning forward a little, as if prepping to move.

"First position," Soldato-J 002 informed her.

The punch when it came was still surprising even if it was half expected – oh. Oh! That was why J had moved her arms like so. Made it easy for even a panicked thwack to knock a punch off course away from her face.

"Again."

J had to correct Jamie's stance... but hey. Points for getting close?

"Again."

And J didn't sound upset that he had to correct Jamie's stance damn near every time.

"Again."

I can do this. I can do this without failing.

"Again."

And Jamie was so focused on getting her stance right, she never noticed J's approving smirk - or that the J-Jewel was glowing in a faint iridescent light.

Settling his cup of jasmine tea between his palms, Long-Li Yang looked over the koi pond and breathed. This little quiet hideout was deeply restful; well worth whatever lengths Commander Taiga had gone to, to add it to Three G Orbit Base. There was a faint wisp of foreign to the design which betrayed it as a Japanese construct, but not enough to detract from the zen of this place. Breathing deeply, Long-Li Yang found himself feeling quite content, indeed.

The sliding screen opened with an unpracticed clatter.

"Excuse me," murmured a quiet voice.

At least Jamie Jenkins was trying not to disturb the serenity. It was more than he could have expected from an ignorant Westerner.

Long-Li Yang set down his tea cup. "You are late."

At least that is what he wanted to say. Yang kept the words sealed behind his teeth. The girl's heart seemed to be in the right place, but she was an unknown. True, she had done everything in her power to save FuuRyu and RaiRyu - but she now owned them as property. She could do so much harm to his...

Discipline cut the thought off.

"I apologize most sincerely for my tardiness, Director Yang. A previous engagement ran exceedingly long." The girl had yet to raise her eye to meet his; she was too busy seating herself at the tea table and fighting with he zipper of her messenger bag.

"It is -"

The battle with the zipper was won, but the victory caused a flurry of papers, pens, and other bits to be jettisoned from the bag. The girl's eyes went wide in embarrassed horror. Swiftly, apologizing profusely, the girl gathered all the odds and ends which had gone flying.

Yang pushed the horror from his expression. This was the girl who had won FuuRyu and RaiRyu a reprieve from BioNet? This was the Madam Wren who had paralyzed a room full of trained merchantmen by dint of presence alone?

Still waters run deep, indeed.

Now what was this? The girl had put a packet in front of him like an underling might offer their final draft of a field report for the home office; as though she expected Yang to rip into the document with a red pen to the point white paper bled from a thousand cuts. The cover page was bare save for a grouping of simplified Chinese underneath which was an English translation.

"TINA did the translation for me," the girl was saying. She was also saying something else - but Yang's attention had been broken by the bare line.

Triple J Ninja Investigation Squad Handbook for Employees FuuRyu and RaiRyu.

And hiding in the bottom left corner: Page one of two hundred.

The girl's voice went silent when Yang turned the page.

Table of contents line item one - by the Buddha! Capitalist girl gave them pay rates?! Break down of room, board, maintenance responsibilities - she truly does wish Three G to handle everything - that's absurd! Conditions where they may opt out of deployment?! Oh... ah. Differentiate between Three G and civilian grade deployment requests; only those under civilian have the opt out clause, good. Pay rate options? Donation charity list; all of these Three G vouches for - savings option, parts option?

Yang put down the packet.

"Did... Did I miss anything?" the girl asked cautiously.

The kitchen sink, Yang thought but dared not say.

"I will need time to review the document in full," Yang stated.

"Of course." She looked as though she had expected no less, though from the way her eyes were downcast she had expected some sort of reaction. "If... If it's not too much trouble, I also wanted to go over a schedule."

"A.... schedule?" Yang echoed.

"Yes." The girl folded her hands in her lap, betraying the nervous schoolgirl she was. "As you are well aware, civilian life, especially life for an American such as myself, is as different from military service as night is from day. I was hoping you might be able to... provide some pointers. On how best to establish a schedule for FuuRyu and RaiRyuu which takes advantage of their strengths."

...huh. The girl was trying to be demure and respectful of a senior official, and she did not allow her pride to blind her of a failing within herself. Both were positive signs.

"What itinerary do you presently have for them?" Given she was a civilian, Yang was not expecting much.

"Absolutely nothing."

...he had not expected that.

"We will review a standard day schedule for use as a template," Yang bluffed, thinking fast. Keeping FuuRyu and RaiRyu with her was necessary - and if he showed any doubt whatsoever, the enemies of China might yet be able to carry the day. But this...

This was going to be difficult.

Renais leaned forward, her weight taken by her elbow on the console and head resting in her open palm. The prickles of static from a secure yet suboptimal system amplified her fond, endearing expression. Had she been physically near, J would have yielded to the temptation to gather Renais close and cuddle. As it was, J struggled not to blush.

“You know why taking over is a bad idea,” Renais noted, tone fond. J did not squirm. Renais chuckled, “Which is why you’re asking for advice.”

It was not a question. J nodded affirmative regardless.

Renais’s fond expression turned contemplative.

“Evade and resist,” Renais determined. Nodded. “We know she can develop and execute effective battle plans. Those plans played to her lack of abilities.” A slight quirk of her lip. J nodded rather than sigh. “We also know she doesn’t have the aptitude for front-line combat. So, evade and resist. Tactical training, too.”

“Training?” inquired a voice from the background. A moment later, J identified the speaker as Cyborg 003 Francoise Arnoul.

A feeling of odd dread settled in J’s midsection. The sensation increased as Renais’s smile grew.

“They would be good teachers, J,” Renais pointed out. The suggestion was logical. Yet, for a reason J could not articulate, he was reluctant to involve them. Renais’s expression softened as she noted, “They’ll be kind to your friend. They’ve been through this, themselves, too.”

J yielded to the logic.

“I’ll talk to them. Until then, au revoir, J.”

The signal switched off. J’s nameless unease lingered.

“J. There is negligible risk,” TOMORO noted.

“I know.” It took some time for J to articulate, “I am concerned. This is uncharted space for Jamie. My support options appear… limited.”

“Comparison: Our actions are at present constrained to an equivalent of an Operator; to observation and suggestion of tactics only,” TOMORO hypothesized.

“Hm,” J concurred. Such inaction went contrary to his purpose. Decided, J drafted an email using his non-Three G account, and sent it. The act of having done something was soothing, even if it was silly.

Within minutes, there was a response. …of a sorts.

I’ve been working up the nerve to ask if you have a care and feeding guide for J-Arks which sounds stupid even as I type it because TINA said it’s all automatic and I shouldn’t worry but I’m worrying anyway and Dragon-class mechs! You have experience working with them and I mean TOM already gave TINA all the directions needed on the physical care part but you probably already noticed I’m a wreck always screwing things up so I want to cover all my bases and

There was a notice the email had attempted to be recalled.

Bewildered, J checked the time local to Jamie’s residence, and hummed, comprehending. It was a known fact Jamie had difficulty functioning logically after midnight.

J responded to the email with a plain directive: Go to sleep. We can discuss matters tomorrow.

The response was a simple, embarrassed, okay bye goodnight.

Smiling, though not quite sure why, J resumed his duties with a lightened heart.

A new day brought with it new challenges; though thankfully these challenges were much easier to deal with than yesterday’s. For starters, FuuRyu and RaiRyu were scheduled to spend the rest of the week at Orbit Base on assignment as part of the Mobile Division. That gave Jamie five days to wrestle with a proper schedule for the two and get the schedule approved by Director Yang.

Next on her list of easier problems to deal with was homework. While Major Hyuuma had not apologized for throwing Jamie around like a ragdoll, he had canceled the rest of the week’s “gym classes”. In place of “gym”, Major Hyuuma had sent over schoolwork for Jamie to complete before the end of the week.

On the list of somewhat complicated matters, J hadn’t said a word about her midnight email. His offer for lunch was still on the table. With Renais on her super secret mission, it would just be the two of them.

Maybe I should ask if Guy can be included? Jamie wondered as she wandered through the produce section. Guy’s J’s best friend. If anyone other than Renais could buffer J from my awkward crazy, it’s him.

But then, the main topic of discussion was going to be J-Arks (Jamie hoped). Wouldn’t it make things more awkward to have Guy be a third wheel?

Sighing, Jamie selected a pair of not-yet-ripe avocados. Too bad selecting the lesser of two cringe-worthy evils wasn’t as easy.

Jamie checked her list twice against the contents of her cart. Finding all items accounted for, she headed towards the checkout, determined to put aside her fussing until after the mundane was done. As she waited in line at the checkout, she pulled out her wallet. This week’s grocery budget was a larger line item than usual since she was being put on - ugh - a diet. Stupid cyborg systems and their requirement for ludicrous amounts of food…

“I guess even murdering bitches need groceries.”

Jamie startled, attention breaking away from her budget. Her mouth opened to demand - something, not even Jamie was sure what.

And then the face in front of her registered.

“Barry,” Jamie swallowed.

The boyhood face from her childhood twisted in a bitterly sarcastic sneer, adulthood making him vicious. The expression pulled at the scars crisscrossing his forehead, cheeks, and throat. The rocks at the bottom of the cliff had not been kind.

Jamie heard the telltale staccato assault of paparazzi cameras going off, and froze, gripped by understanding. Just like Lisa had in sixth grade, Barry was selling his story. Was selling the Jenkins name.

The poor guy, Jamie sympathized. I hope however much this is sees you through the year.

None of Jamie’s reactions were acting. She lowered her eyes, shamed once again by past sins. She said nothing as Barry rang up her groceries. She remained silent when the eggs were mishandled, the avocados bruised, the milk bag overloaded, and the frozen items set up for maximum thaw. A decade ago, Jamie had said her apologies. Saying them now would do nothing. Let her actions speak instead.

The camera was still clicking.

He overcharged her with a five percent random charge. Jamie let him.

“Go throw yourself off a cliff this time,” Barry ordered in a parting shot.

Jamie swallowed and collected her groceries without making eye contact. The clicking of the camera followed her home.

Once the door to her condo was shut, Jamie put the groceries on the kitchen counter. She went through each room of her condo and made certain every window was shut, her curtains fastened tight, and that there was nothing more scandalous than a tacky lawn ornament visible on her property. Then, Jamie leaned against a wall, and just… breathed.

“Captain?”

TINA’s voice in the condo’s silence had Jamie jumping halfway out of her skin.

“What is wrong?” TINA asked.

Jamie blinked. The realization had her dumbly going, “Oh. Right. This is your first scandal rag run.”

There was a three second pause. “Captain?”

Jamie picked up the TOMORO special laptop, moving it into the kitchen for ease of multitasking. “Let me tell you a bit about the paparazzi,” Jamie began.

Renais Cardiff Shishioh was on an undercover, silent, observe-and-report mission. The Cyborg Soldiers needed to know about BioNet. Renais - all of Three G needed to know about Black Ghost. It was critical, given there were as many differences between Black Ghost and BioNet as there were similarities.

Yet even knowing all that, Renais still froze stock still. She snatched a tabloid from the newsstand and stared.

On the front cover, large as life, was a photo of Jamie at the checkout register of a store. Grocery. Whatever. Splashed across the cover was the headline “Exposing a Murder! GGG Cover Up Shredded!”

Renais slapped down payment and stormed off.

Jamie dared to peek out her window. The sunrise caught on at least three camera lenses.

“Sixteen hours since the first photos were taken. I think this is a new record,” Jamie mused to herself.

“Captain. Your domicile is surrounded by fourteen individuals. This is,” TINA hesitated to say, “normal?”

“It’s above average for a scandal rag run,” Jamie acknowledged. Making sure the blackout curtain was firmly in place, Jamie headed back to the kitchen. Breakfast wasn’t going to make itself. Jamie hummed, “It must be getting extra attention because of my connection to Three G. Slander against heroes sells well.”

Popping the bread into the toaster, Jamie pulled out her phone. Mother had confirmed she and Grandfather would be on guard; since they were in Italy on tour, the splashback would be minimal. Mother’s text had confirmed Aunty would be too busy in Malian to give the paparazzi the time of day much less a chance for a photo. With Jamie being both target and readily accessible, she was left as the weakest link, and the most vulnerable.

There were no messages from anyone at Three G. Maybe the scandal hadn’t hit them yet?

Jamie caught her toast as it popped. Using up the last of the apricots preserve, Jamie assured TINA, “As long as I stay out of the way, it’ll quiet down within a week. That’s how long news cycles usually last. First will be the photos, then the archived photos, and then something new will happen and it’ll all be forgotten.”

“Captain.” TINA’s stoic voice took on overtones of shock. “Captain. They are accusing you of murder.”

“Attempted murder,” Jamie corrected, chewing as much on toast as memories. The preserves must have gone bad. They tasted like saltwater lake spray and rock as she swallowed. “I was seven or eight, I think. The same year I was diagnosed.”

The sound of the lake lapping at the rocks below was shattered by a chime.

“Captain. Urgent communication from TOMORO-0117. Soldato-J 002 has been alerted of the assault.”

Jamie nearly choked. “It’s a character attack, not an -“

“Soldato-J 002 and Guy Shishioh will be arriving at your location in fifteen minutes.”

“What?” Jamie squeaked. “W-Why?”

“You are under siege. This is unacceptable,” TOMORO himself stated.

“I’m not under siege! I’m laying low until -!” If shaking the laptop would have helped, Jamie would have. “Please tell me they checked with the PR department first! And that they’re not doing something - something -!” Jamie struggled for words. “Something stupid!”

There was a familiar lion-like rumble throughout the condo.

Jamie stared at the roof. “Oh no,” she attempted to deny. For surely there was no god, and if there was, He was a vengeful bastard who enjoyed torturing heroes and hapless bystanders.

“You said fifteen minutes,” Jamie pointed out, voice toneless.

“The timetable was escalated once conditions were verified,” TOMORO reported. He almost sounded smug.

“A lion landing on my front doorstep is going to make things worse,” Jamie meekly noted.

“Inquiry. Estimated time siege will be in place,” TOMORO asked as casual as if discussing the weather.

“My captain estimated one week under previous conditions,” TINA answered. Which was good, since Jamie was in the middle of panicking.

“Action from Soldato-J 002 and Guy Shishioh have altered variables?” TOMORO sounded clueless. Jamie was diving into her bedroom to throw on something resembling casual clothing without being too casual. Just glitzy enough to give an appearance of a put-together perfectly normal granddaughter of The Maestro.

“Affirmative.” TINA sounded utterly nonplussed. The exact opposite of Jamie, who was struggling on if she should throw together some travel bags or not. Were J and Guy stopping by to rescu- visit, or haul Jamie to a paparazzi free area? Lab 5? Tokyo? Neptune?

A trip to Neptune might not be a bad idea, Jamie’s befuddled mind pointed out. If there was one place paparazzi didn’t exist (yet), it was outer freaking space.

The front doorbell rang chipperly.

Jamie gave herself a glance in the mirror. Open mid-calf cream cardigan over slate gray blouse, blue jeans, and fuzzy slippers. Presentable. Photographable. Utterly doomed.

Opening the door, Jamie’s heart sank. J and Guy were in full armor. J’s look was set to frozen murder. Guy’s look -

Was impossible to see. The golden armored hero had yanked Jamie into a crushing hug right after she’d opened the door. The cameras had got to be going ballistic.

“It’s alright, Jamie-chan,” Guy promised. His voice was barely audible.

Please come in, Jamie knew she should have said. Instead her arms wrapped around Guy with a will of their own. Before she could consciously realize it, Jamie was clutching tight to Guy, tears burning in her eyes. It wouldn’t be right to cry all over him like some kind of sap.

It took some doing to get herself back under control. Stepping away, Jamie gestured for them to come on in. As they did, she hesitated for a moment. The sight of Galeon laying down on his belly, blocking all sight of the condo complex, was something, alright. Shaking her head at the silliness of it, Jamie closed the door.

“So is this a visit or a consensual kidnapping?” Jamie asked, leaning against the door, smiling through the drying tears.

J’s helmet hidden eyes narrowed.

“Three G Legal is preparing a counterattack,” Guy stated firmly, steel in his eyes.

“Probably a good idea. Juvenile records are supposed to remain sealed and confidential.” Pushing away from the door, Jamie headed back to her abandoned breakfast.

The lethal fury of J’s expression softened.

Jamie looked at her breakfast, unable to look at anyone else. “I was seven or eight. It was the same year I was diagnosed with Huntington’s. There’s a cliff by the artificial lake. It didn’t used to have a guardrail on it. I used to spend whole days sitting out there and staring, imagining adventures as a princess with pirates, knights. You know, silly things.”

Jamie paused for the beat of a heart.

“I don’t remember what was said or what happened exactly. I remember Barry saying something mean. I was even worse with words then than I am now. I lost my temper. I packed all my anger into my voice, and I sang at him. Barry got quiet and I ran off crying.

“They found Barry at the bottom of the cliff. Between the lacerations, the blood loss, and the hypothermia, his survival was heralded as a miracle.

“My singing was the same as pushing him off the cliff.”

Jamie stuffed a slice of toast in her mouth to keep herself from doing or saying something stupid.

Do something, J’s heart urged.

The insanity of the moment held J frozen, powerless. How did one battle this Enemy? It seemed too large; too complex. Too impossible.

Which was why he had asked Guy to assist.

The cyborg’s expression darkened into a look J had seen a lifetime ago. The Machine Kings had quailed at such a gaze. Surely, this Enemy would be no different.

“Jamie-chan.” Guy waited for Jamie to look at him. “I cannot - I will not - allow you to be attacked. Neither will J. And neither of us will allow you to stay in enemy territory.” Guy held up a hand to forestall Jamie’s counter. When she quieted, Guy ordered, “Grab everything you’d need for a month-long trip.”

Jamie startled, going still. “Month long?”

“Ah,” the cyborg confirmed. “A whole month.” When Jamie did not react, Guy nudged her shoulders with the palms of his hands. “Go.”

Setting her plate down, Jamie reluctantly complied.

“J.”

J remained silent, looking at the door Jamie had closed behind her. He could hear slow sounds of action taking place; an indication Jamie was following instructions.

“This was not an isolated attack. This is the latest in a prolonged assault against the Jenkins family. This is not a battle we can engage in.”

J nodded, concurring. This was a battlefield outside his capabilities. “Orbit Base is fortified against incursion,” J knew.

“Ah,” Guy confirmed.

“A month will be sufficient time to end this situation?” J asked.

Guy’s eyes narrowed. Had the door been the Enemy, it would have been dead. J hm’d in comprehension. The battlefield was obscured by the fog of war; the Enemy’s position, numbers, and fortifications unknown. Even so, Three G held no Warriors in their ranks unworthy of the definition, even if their wars were fought with paper and ink. This Enemy would be routed. It was simply a matter of time.

The door creaked open. Guy made an effort to calm his rage. How successful he was, was questionable. Jamie opted to only look through the door rather than exit.

“Will this place have a laundromat?” Jamie asked.

“Maa, Jamie-chan,” Guy rubbed the back of his head. “Orbit Base has a bit of everything!”

Jamie nodded, “Okay,” and shut the door. A beat past. The door reopened with haste. “Orbit Base?!”

“Wa-ha!” Guy held up his right hand in a peace sign.

“But… But Orbit Base is classified!” Jamie protested.

“It is!” Guy confirmed bombastically.

“I don’t have clearance!” Jamie exclaimed.

J cut through her panic with a clear, “Yes. You do.”

Jamie stared at J and Guy as though the duo had “grown a second head”, as Renais would say. Jamie’s mouth opened, yet no sound escaped.

“Pack,” Guy insisted, making gentle shooing motions with the backs of his hands. Jamie continued to stare at them. “Pack,” Guy insisted, firming.

A word escaped Jamie at last: “Groceries.”

“Ah, right, right,” Guy nodded. “You just bought some. It’d be a real waste if they spoiled. Ah! J and I can pack up the perishables so you can store them in the J-Ark Beta’s kitchen! While you pack!”

Jamie continued to stare. When nothing changed, Jamie swallowed, and slowly closed the door. This, at least, J recognized. Jamie was in shock.

Guy faced J. In Japanese, Guy swiftly informed J, “Mikoto has her room on Orbit Base near Renais’s and your own.”

J nodded. Even if his on-base quarters were not used often, the sentiment was appreciated. “A uniform as well?” J asked in the same language.

“But of course!” Guy confirmed. There was an edge to his laughter which was concerning - for anyone not within Guy’s Wings.

The news Jamie was being transferred to Orbit Base effective immediately sent a ripple of concern through RaiRyu’s circuits. That he was aboard Orbit Base with his siblings helped to cushion the shock. They were, all of them, attempting to process this sudden assault from beyond their purview.

“Do you have to look at those articles, Goldymarg?” AnRyu demanded.

“They’re so stupid and - and mean!” KouRyuu protested.

Goldymarg switched the display from one tabloid clipping to the other, ignoring the protests of the youngest Dragons. KouRyu and AnRyu visibly fumed, venting their displeasure. RaiRyu considered interceding. He stopped at the last moment, maintaining his silence.

FuuRyu’s voice broke the tension. Cooly, FuuRyu noted, “They are quality photographs.”

“FuuRyu!” both KouRyu and AnRyu pounced.

“FuuRyu…” RaiRyu was unsure what emotions he was processing. It felt as though there were too many bombarding his circuits at once.

“An investigator must set aside personal feelings during a case,” FuuRyu explained with cold, blunt logic.

RaiRyu wanted to scream. He kept his cry below the volume of a shout: “But it's Jamie sifu!”

“Which is why it is critical nothing in this investigation be overlooked,” FuuRyu doubled down.

RaiRyu could see it, now. The anger. The frustration. The helplessness. The fear. The same emotions that twisted RaiRyu’s circuits into tangled knots were twisting FuuRyu as well. Yet instead of sitting and sulking as RaiRyu was, FuuRyu was focusing on taking action. Any action, even one as minor as looking through photographs.

“What’s there to see? They all look ugly!” KouRyu declared, crossing her arms over her chest and snubbing the photos in their entirety.

“Wait.” Swiftly, as though the photographs were acid against her digits, AnRyu brought one of the photos forward. “The composition and lighting.”

“Ugly!” KouRyu repeated.

“This was not taken with a telephoto lens,” AnRyu deduced.

KouRyu eyed her sister. When she said nothing more, RaiRyu blurted, “So?!”

EnRyu crashed his left fist into his open palm. Several of the maintenance techs jumped at the sound. “So the photographer had to be inside the store!” EnRuy realized.

“Access the security tapes,” AnRyu promptly suggested.

“That is not possible,” HouRyu interjected. Various annoyed looks targeted the ice-themed Dragon. HouRyu reported, “The grocery store uses an online alarm system, but does not use an online storage system for their video. That is stored on a physical copy inside their building. However.”

HouRyu added a document to the file where the photographs were stored.

“The store’s general layout is required to be a matter of public record with the Fire Marshal's office.”

“HouRyu! You’re amazing!” KouRyu gushed.

FuuRyu brought up and enlarged the document. He indicated, “Jamie sifu was standing here.” A green dot marked the position. “Based on the angle and lighting, the photographer would have been here.”

“But that’s labeled for employees only!” RaiRyu noted.

EnRyu was the first to realize, “Then that means…”

The six Dragons looked at one another. None of them wanted to say the one - the only logical conclusion.

Goldymarg drove through the landmine: “Jamie got set up.”

AnRyu demanding, “Who?” overlapped with FuuRyu demanding, “Why?”

Annoyance in the form of building pressure hissed out of Goldymarg’s joints. “I don’t know who. This is a civilian matter,” Goldymarg reminded them before dropping the bombshell of, “We may never know who. But the why…” Goldymarg exhaled heated air through his vents. “My guess? Money.”

“Money?” HouRyu and EnRyu repeated.

“Money?” KouRyu and AnRyu echoed.

“That’s it?!” RaiRyu’s electricity sparked across his armor. FuuRyu schooled himself to show no reaction.

“This isn’t a planetary incident. This is small. Microscopic,” Goldymarg bluntly hammered home. “It feels like more, because it's Jamie. It’s our friend who’s hurting. But in the scheme of things, Jamie is one human out of seven billion. This is the damage level of micro armor abrasions. So yeah,” Goldymarg sighed, “money. Petty, cold, hard cash.”

“That just makes it even worse!” KouRyu denounced.

RaiRyu agreed wholeheartedly.

They sat in thick silence for a lengthy stretch of time.

“Do you think Guy-taichou knows?” EnRyu asked.

“Volfogg does,” Goldymarg answered.

Nods were exchanged amongst the Brave Robots. Volfogg was the best of them when it came to such miniscule, foreboding things. He would make certain those who needed to know, would. That those who could act, would.

RaiRyu bit down on his temper as he declared, “This sucks.”

The sounds of engines revving in agreement acted as his bulwark against the storm.

Renais did not buy the next day’s tabloids. The photographs of Galeon lounging were novel only because of the location being an unsuspecting suburban street. They weren’t very good photographs at that.

“Do I even want to know?” 008 asked.

Wisely, the Cyborg Soldier took Renais’s shark toothed grin as a no.

Guy was as good as his word: J and he packed up the perishable items from Jamie’s fridge, fitting it all into a single cooler that had appeared from nowhere. Not nowhere, exactly, but how Guy had gotten a twenty gallon cooler delivered without any of the paparazzi catching sight was a mystery Jamie would never solve. Jamie was also fairly certain she would never live down the embarrassment of Guy taking one look at her suitcase, giving her a forlorn, amused sigh, and showing her how to properly pack. J watching the entire escapade with hawk-like focus had either reduced or increased Jamie’s horror; she was still too numb to tell which.

Though maybe being shocked had been the point. Guy had been able to steamroll Jamie oh so gently into sitting in Galeon’s mouth - with both suitcase and cooler and, by some miracle, room to spare. Jamie had been unable to protest for the duration of the flight. And she’d been speechless when Galeon opened his mouth, showing off his little kingdom within Orbit Base.

Jamie hadn’t even had the wits to protest the room.

Waking up in said room, mind the kind of numb blank that came from too much having happened all at once, Jamie found she couldn’t protest it now, either. In the light of sunrise over Earth - which was an oh my god all on its own - the room looked plain. A simple futon bed set on a raised bed frame, hotel quality sheets and pillows, unadorned industrial beige walls, and a single person washroom with a postage stamp sized shower. It was by every possible measurement just a guest room.

A guest room on Orbit freaking Base.

Rubbing her eyes, Jamie sat up. She turned around in bed. The panorama of Earth was breathtaking in its simple majesty. Exiting bed, Jamie stood, cleared her throat, and went through her morning vocal warmups.

Grounded, now, Jame sat on the edge of the bed.

“So yesterday was a thing,” Jamie said out loud to no one in particular.

“Good morning, Captain,” TINA answered. Her voice came from a spot somewhere in the ceiling.

“Good morning, TINA.” Jamie twiddled her thumbs for lack of anything better.

“I have received a schedule from Three G Orbit Base Command.” Movement out the corner of her eye had Jamie turning back towards the panorama window. It turned out the window was partially a screen. TINA had put up a single page list of items. TINA continued, “Your presence is requested in the Three G Science Division after you have breakfasted. Major Geki Hyuuma has instructed bringing the Hyuuma High School assignments is mandatory.”

Jamie stared at the list. She sighed, foregoing her first question of why. Her second question was, “Did I pack those?”

“Negative. Digital copies have been downloaded to your tablet.”

A mild sinking feeling settled in her stomach. “Tablet?”

There was a blink of light from the nightstand. A state-of-the-art tablet in a Three G stamped case twinkled.

Yielding to the inevitable, Jamie set about getting the day started.

This was a test. A test of whom, himself or the girl, remained in question.

To Yang’s right, Dr. Liger was strangling undignified and improbable sounds from three sets of keyboards, as was usual for a Tuesday. On Yang’s left, Professor Takanohashi moved up and down the length of the laboratory room, performing his afternoon hula exercises. Various techs bustled about completing their assigned tasks. The noise of their conversations joined the subliminal hum of systems at work, creating a silence composed of white noise.

The far right quarter of the room, at the spot furthest from all doors, the serenity was broken by a new addition. The desk did not bother Yang, nor did the whiteboard. Both were small, efficient, and could be put to multiple purposes.

What concerned Yang was who sat at the desk.

Jessica Jenkins had been positioned so her back was to the wall and her expression clearly visible to all. There were bags underneath her eyes, her complexion was questionably pale, and there was a certain detachment to her expression that was concerning. Her elbows were planted on the table, the better for the girl to brace her head in her hands. Scattered around her were crumpled bits of scrap paper. The current focus of her gaze was a tablet computer.

When Yang walked over to the desk, Jenkins looked up. As he had the girl’s attention, Yang stated, “You are in a restricted area, Ms. Jenkins.” His demand to know why was explicit by his tone.

Jenkins turned the tablet around so Yang could clearly see the screen. Military discipline did not keep Yang’s eyebrows from climbing for his hairline. Passing familiarity with material particle physics allowed Yang to identify the formulas. They had been broken down into… an exam questionnaire?

Ms. Jenkins enunciated each word: “Major. Hyuuma. Is. Insane.”

“Maa, maa, that’s just the basics, Jamie!” Dr. Liger retorted without turning from his projects.

It was with a visible effort Jenkins reigned in her impulse to throw things at Dr. Liger.

Yang cleared his throat, regaining control of the conversation. “Be that as it may, it does not explain why you are in a restricted area.”

“Oh, because we asked her to come,” Professor Takanohashi answered in Jenkins’s stead. The man’s expression was the picture of innocence as he explained, “How else were we going to work on our projects and help Jamie-chan with her homework at the same time?”

Yang adjusted his glasses. It was too early in the week to be losing his composure. After a moment to recover, Yang looked back at Jessica. “I was unaware you were familiar with material particle physics.”

Jenkins’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened in a soundless start to a protest. Abruptly, Jenkins shut her mouth, groaned, and folded so that her forehead slammed into her crossed arms. Yang stared at her, nonplussed. The rest of the room’s occupants continued with their tasks. The situation remained as such for upwards of two minutes.

Composure regained, Jenkins withdrew herself from the desk. With a curt, “Excuse me,” Jenkins quit the laboratory.

“Two hundred and twenty two minutes!” Dr. Liger crowed.

Professor Takanohashi smiled; his hula steps increased in intensity. “I would say we have an eighty - no, a one hundred percent chance of having won the bet.”

Yang pinched the bridge of his nose and counted backwards from twenty.

Through the Soldato-class J-Jewel, TOMORO-2198 felt her captain’s frustrations exceed operational limits. Having been forewarned of this probability, TINA transmitted the pre-arranged contact signal to TOMORO-0117. In answer, her “older brother” patched through a signal from Three G Main Order Room. The signal was audio only.

“Major Hyuuma.” The sharp voice was identified as Operator Sakura Kaidou. Files from TOMORO-0117 reflected highly on Operator Sakura Kaidou’s character.

Noise spiked through the audio line. Filters identified the sound as originating from a dropped coffee cup. Concurrent with the coffee cup dropping was audio of an adult male emitting a high pitched cry. Further processing identified the emission as a “yelp”. The vocal pattern matched Major Geki Hyuuma.

“Major Hyuuma,” Operator Sakura Kaidou repeated herself.

“Maa, Kaidou-san.” The vocal patterns indicated Major Geki Hyuuma was concerned and under strain.

The voice of Assistant Operator Swan White indicated amusement in addition to moderate concern. “Oh, no, Kaidou-san. What did he do now?”

“I would like to know myself,” Operator Sakura Kaidou declared.

An audible gulp was emitted by Major Geki Hyuuma.

“Hyuuma-kun?” Chief Commander Koutarou Taiga. Vocal inflections indicated mild concern, moderate amusement, and curiosity.

“The physics equations were Liger’s idea!” Major Geki Hyuuma protested. His exclamation exceeded seventy five percent nominal volume.

“Physics equations,” Operator Sakura Kaidou repeated. Her tone did not indicate confusion nor inquiry.

A period of fourteen point six seconds elapsed.

Major Geki Hyuuma’s vocal inflections indicated extreme stress, specifically frustration. “The kid got screwed on her education, okay?! It’s like the minute it sank in she was terminal, she got thrown out to pasture, and no one gave a damn about her future! The assessment tests put her all over the goddamn chart! A year of remedial schooling! Minimum! To get her to American education standards for her age range! For math and science!”

Technical Operations Kousuke Entouji hypothesized, “Ano… Maybe Jamie-chan doesn’t test well?”

“That!” Major Geki Hyuuma exclaimed.

“So you put together a different assessment and called it homework so Jamie-chan wouldn’t worry?” Operator Mikoto Utsugi-Shishioh requested clarification.

“Except you weren’t sure what would go well in an assessment-as-homework, so you asked Dr. Liger,” Maintenance Director Kazou Ushiyama stated, vocal inflections indicating equal measures of concern and amusement.

“The man used to teach!” Major Geki Hyuuma exclaimed in his defense.

All members of the Three G command staff, excluding Major Geki Hyuuma, exhaled. The audio patterns indicated exasperation.

“Swan-san?” Chief Commander Koutaro Taiga paused. Once Assistant Operator Swan White indicated attention, Chief Commander Koutaro Taiga directed, “Would you go and ensure Jamie-chan is no worse for wear from Dr. Liger’s prank?”

“Yessir! I’m on my way!” Assistant Operator Swan White acknowledged.

TOMORO-0117 discontinued the audio transmission. “I have apprised my Soldato of this situation,” TOMORO-0117 informed her.

TINA transmitted a Red Planet glyph indicating her gratitude.

When Jamie sifu was distressed, her focus on her surroundings lapsed. It took only minor suggestions transmitted as audio cues to her internal radio to direct her onto a specific pathway. A path that would send her to the maintenance area rather than the aimless circuit Jamie was currently taking.

FuuRyu felt a modicum of guilt for his actions. Even though TINA approved, as did his siblings, it still felt like a breach of trust. He would apologize at the earliest appropriate opportunity.

“Jamie-chan!” KouRyu and AnRyu cheered. A moment later as Jamie came clearly into view EnRyu called, “Jamie!” HouRyu kept his voice modulated to a simple, “Jamie,” paired with a nod. RaiRyu’s greeting was a bombastic, “Boss!” FuuRyu nodded hello, refraining from adding to the cacophony.

Jamie visibly jumped a half inch off the ground. Once her feet returned to the catwalk, Jamie turned to face the Dragon Brave Robots.

“…hi?” Jamie responded, meek.

“Survived Dr. Liger’s lab, huh?” EnRyu chuckled, unreserved with his comradery.

Becoming aware of her surroundings, Jamie appeared to sink into herself. “Yes…?” She looked up at EnRyu as he had spoken. “But will I survive Security?”

“Eh?” EnRyu was the first of many to inquire.

“I am extremely certain this area is above classified,” Jamie stated. She looked small and vulnerable standing alone on the catwalk.

“Oh, it's fine, it's fine!” KouRyu attempted to assure her. AnRyu informed her, “It would be improper for you not to have access, Jamie-chan. You are FuuRyu and RaiRyu’s boss.”

Jamie shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just…” She pressed her hand against her forehead. “I’m a lot overwhelmed.”

FuuRyu leaned forward. After a moment to ensure Jamie would allow such an action, FuuRyu cautiously scooped Jamie into his hand. Leaning back into his seat, FuuRyu brought Jamie to his left shoulder. He remained motionless until Jamie slid from his hand onto his shoulder. As he lowered his hand, Jamie sat down. RaiRyu patched through an optic feed which allowed FuuRyu to see Jamie’s exact position relative to his head. To FuuRyu, Jamie still looked quite small; however, she no longer seemed so vulnerable.

There was no true silence within the maintenance area. The sound of maintenance personnel working on projects was constant. Jamie leaned into it. The tension in her posture relaxed at gradual increments.

“I apologize.”

Jamie startled.

FuuRyu repeated, “I apologize, Boss.” A moment to collect himself, and FuuRyu explained, “At my request, TINA notified us when you left Dr. Liger’s laboratory, and of your condition. You were distressed and distracted. I was concerned. I directed you here without your approval.”

The remaining tension in Jamie’s posture dissipated. The action of her patting FuuRyu’s shoulder was audible, though the sensation of it was too miniscule to detect.

“Next time, though… point me someplace where I can sing? Someplace soundproofed so I don’t hurt anyone,” Jamie requested.

Though her voice was at speaking volume, and should have been lost in the background noise of the maintenance area, all six Dragons heard Jamie clearly. Such was a consequence of FuuRyu courteously sharing his audio inputs for their convenience. If Jamie was aware the startled revs from their engines was because of her statement, she did not visibly acknowledge it.

“Singing is how I deal with stress. But I promised Grandfather.” Jamie hesitated. “I promised myself I’d only sing where others could hear if I can put positive emotions into my song. Negative emotions have negative consequences. What happened when I was a kid is the penultimate example.”

FuuRyu, RaiRyu, and the others remained silent, processing Jamie’s words. They each understood the necessity of caution in using their abilities. And yet…

“I humbly disagree.” As it was not possible to meet Jamie’s eyes, FuuRyu maintained his forward look. RaiRyu’s optical feed was clear: Jamie was confused. FuuRyu elaborated, “Boss. Maintaining high levels of stress is counterproductive. If singing is how you best process your emotions, then you should sing.”

“And shove someone off a cliff again?” Jamie rhetorically demanded.

“Captain.” At TINA’s signal, Jamie put her hand to her right ear. “It is part of my function as the J-Ark Beta controlling AI to monitor your physical and mental health. I can alert you if the probability of your song harming others exceeds seventy percent.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Jamie began.

“Correct. However, you are my captain. A modification of an existing function creates no hardship.”

“You shouldn’t…”

“Inquiry. Why not?”

Jamie was silent, expression indicating a level of shock. After a prolonged period of time, Jamie responded, “I don’t know.” Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Current probability of your song causing emotional damage: Sixty point two percent. Current probability of your current stress levels if unaltered causing emotional damage to those around you: Absolute one hundred percent.”

FuuRyu held his metaphoric breath. RaiRyu likewise tensed. HouRyu and EnRyu, KouRyu and AnRyu, and even Goldymarg - who had remained a deliberately isolated presence outside of immediate view - waited, on edge.

The first notes vibrated FuuRyu’s armor, shaking his GS-Drive and making the solid crystal core feel as though it were made of plastic polymers. Liquid sadness entwined with the background sounds of maintenance crews at work. It fluttered underneath the hum. It dallied around the echo of welding tools and heavy machinery.

And then it lifted.

Taking those sounds so common to FuuRyu - the sounds of Three G personnel working diligently for a better tomorrow; the noises of industry and maintenance; even the sounds of engines at idle - the music began to rise. It took those noises with their calming familiarity and began to entwine them into a sensation of peace. It was as though the Maintenance Division itself were repairing the damage which had caused the overwhelming sadness as readily as they would repair a damaged part.

The conclusion left FuuRyu feeling emotionally centered. Still concerned, yes, but those concerns had become manageable.

Work within the Maintenance Division continued without interruption.

“Oi. Jamie-chan. After all this shit’s been cleared up? I wanna hear you do a whole damn opera,” Goldymarg requested, voice quiet (for him). Revenant.

The last of Jamie’s sadness exploded outwards in the form of sputtering laughter.

Renais arrived on Orbit Base so late in the evening on Wednesday it was technically Thursday.

The mission debriefing was held by Volfogg. It lasted eight hours. The required post-mission maintenance took four hours, and only that long because TOMORO-0117 conducted a debriefing of his own. Checking in with KouRyu and AnRyu took thirty minutes. Putting a dent in the post-mission paperwork took an additional four hours.

The conclusion of Thursday saw Renais in J’s bed within the captain's quarters of the J-Ark. J maneuvered around Renais with care not to disturb her slumber. Her presence was a comfort J had missed.

J awoke in the early hours of Friday morning. Renais shifted so as to rest her forehead against his. The two relaxed in the warmth of one another.

“Bonjour, J,” Renais greeted, her eyes closed yet voice clear.

“Good morning,” J returned the greeting. Filling silence permeated his quarters. “Your mission concluded satisfactorily?”

“Hmm,” came Renais’s ambiguous response. Her body relaxed in time with her exhale. “Black Ghost has even less respect for life than BioNet. It was impressive.” Renais’s smile was akin to a forest fire.

J frowned, considering. Given such information, alternative combat strategies would be necessary.

“Maa.” Renais’s smile gentled, her expression becoming impish. “I saw the tabloid covers.”

The intensity of J’s frown increased into a scowl.

Renais pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. The contact reduced J’s annoyance. Renais stated, “The girls and TOMORO briefed me. Extracting Jamie was the right call.” Coy warmth shone in Renais’s eyes. “Your stealth tactics have room for improvement.”

“Hm,” J chuckled, acknowledging and accepting the tease for what it was. “To do less than face an Enemy directly is not in my nature.”

Renais giggled. The sound bubbled in J’s soul.

“You have outer orbit patrol next week?” At J’s affirmative, Renais suggested, “Take Jamie.”

Confused, J frowned.

“It's all routine, and it's not like you can’t be there in a pinch. It would give her and TINA something to do that’s them,” Renais elucidated.

“Ah,” J comprehended. The idea connected to a recent memory five days old. With all that had occurred, it seemed longer. J informed Renais, “Jamie expressed an interest in,” J paused to recall the exact words, “a care and feeding guide. On J-Ark starships in specific. Dragon-class mecha as well.”

Renais had stifled a giggle against J’s chest on the words care and feeding guide. Mirth brightened her eyes. “You handle instructions on starships, love. I’ll ask Director Yang to prepare a briefing.”

Finding the division of tasks acceptable, J spent what time remained before active duty wisely: Snuggling his soulheart.

There was something silly yet amazing about curling up on the shoulder of a giant robot for the express purpose of reading a good book.

Feeling her eyebrow starting to try and twitch, Jamie amended her description. The reading comprehension assignment portion of her homework was leagues better than the math portion. But if what Jamie was reading now wasn’t some kind of technical manual, she would be shocked. …actually, considering how Tuesday had gone, Jamie figured she had better check. Pulling up the tablet’s chat application, Jamie sent a message to TINA.

The reply back had Jamie groaning. Leaning back, she rested her skull against RaiRyu’s. The constant static of his armor tickled at her hair, almost but not quite a scalp massage.

“Why did Geki put in a Mark 1 1916 tank manual and call it reading comprehension homework?” Goldymarg demanded what Jamie was thinking.

“For real?” EnRyu reacted first.

“TINA? Am I allowed to veto homework?” Jamie asked aloud. No point in not considering her current company.

“Standby,” TINA requested.

A familiar voice announced, “Yes.”

Sitting up, Jamie looked towards the source. She wasn’t hard to find, standing large as life next to J on the catwalk. Laughing brightly, Jamie waved. “Renais! J!”

Renais tch’d. “You have too much patience, Jamie. Or you’re too naive.” A perfectly manicured brow arched. “Letting Papa get at you, I can understand. He’s as old as your grandfather. Hyuuma, though?”

“In my meager defense, I’ve never read a technical manual in my life,” Jamie retorted, grin unable to dim. “RaiRyu?”

Renais holding up a hand stopped RaiRyu before he could move. “Fly down here yourself,” Renais directed.

The order made no sense.

“Your armor’s flight scarf can handle a distance this small, ne, J?”

“Ah.”

“Flight… scarf…?” Jamie repeated slowly.

“Flight scarf,” Renais repeated. When Jamie did nothing more than blink, Renais picked up one tail of J’s scarf as an example. The look J gave her would have had Jamie in peals of laughter if she hadn’t been so confused. Reading the technical manual had turned off her brain, clearly.

“I’m not in… armor,” Jamie pointed out dumbly.

“So? Equip it,” Renais directed.

“Doesn’t the Equip system require base armor for proper functionality?” FuuRyu asked. At least someone could ask. Jamie was well and truly lost.

“That is a limitation of Blue Planet technology,” J answered. Thankfully he wasn’t wearing his helmet. Jamie was out of it enough she would have confused his curious look with a glare. “Jamie. Does your JJ-Drive lack an Equip system?”

Jamie blinked a few times before managing, “I don’t know?”

“You don’t know your own blueprints?” RaiRyu blurted.

If it weren’t for the constant noise of the Maintenance Division, the area would have been dead silent. As it was, from where Jamie was standing, RaiRyu was doing a good impression of blushing. Jamie was blushing for a different, equally embarrassing reason.

Okay yes, she should have asked. Maybe, even, gone over it in detail. At the very least, she should have had a general clue beyond cybernetics existing. But in the year and a half since Abel had blasted through her life, Jamie had been happily, blissfully existing in denial, thank you very much!

Except denial is so far from being an option now, it’s in another galaxy…

As Jamie struggled to regain some semblance of composure, J’s scarf stiffened. J seemed to kind of hover in place, feet leaving the ground without him actually moving. He blurred. In the span of a blink, he was standing next to Jamie on RaiRyu’s shoulder. Jamie startled - freezing, thankfully, instead of flailing herself right off RaiRyu’s shoulder. J held out his left hand. The depth of his blue eyes were as cool and as clear as the lake bake home.

Swallowing trepidation, Jamie took his hand. With deliberate, telegraphed motions, J turned Jamie’s hand so her J-Jewel was clearly visible. The fingers of his right hand were ghosts across the metal that formed the JJ-Drive’s casing.

“When was your last maintenance cycle?” J asked.

“Not counting the one after the rescue?” It hurt to think that had been last week.

“Ah,” J confirmed.

“Er…”

“Three months,” TINA came to the rescue.

“Inquiry. No maintenance has been performed since the conclusion of the Auction Incident?” TOMORO chimed in.

“There was no need. Civilian activity does not exceed parameters of internal auto-repair functions.”

“Even so, monthly maintenance is recommended,” TOMORO countered.

Jamie attempted a chuckle. The sound came out flat.

“Yare, yare, Jamie-chan.” Renais’s sigh was full of fond exasperation. “J?” When J met her eyes, Renais apologized, “Sorry. I should have let you go with your gut. This silly little gosling of yours needs a mama swan after all.”

Jamie knew enough about swans to know she should be offended. She was fifteen! Almost sixteen! She did not need to be mother henned! Jamie wound up to tell Renais exactly that -

RaiRyu, acting on Renais’s silent orders (had to be!), collected J and Jamie from his shoulder before Jamie could carry through.

“Now.” The heavy weight of Renais’s hands on both of Jamie’s shoulders cut off any prayer of protest. “You’re playing hookie. No more homework, and no more classes today. If Hyuuma has a problem with it, he can talk to me.”

“God help him,” Jamie mumbled before she could stop herself. Renais’s answering laugh twinkled through the area.

“I want you to tell me everything about the mess at the grocery store over lunch,” Renais commanded.

Yielding to the inevitable, Jamie rolled her eyes, and allowed Renais to drag her onward to her doom. …at least doom would be tasty.

Lunchtime at Orbit Base was the same as lunchtime at any other place Jamie had been to. Or at least it felt the same: The cafeteria had a line out the entrance. Three G staff members from various departments mingled in a homogenous mass of nationalities and uniforms. There were so many people J and Renais in their armor were just two more faces in the crowd. Jamie, too, was just another person getting lunch.

She heard the camera click.

Turning to the sound, Jamie saw a man in a Three G uniform standing next to the space windows. (Space windows - Jamie’s brain frizzed at the thought.) The man had a professional camera right up the glass and aimed out the windows. The flash was off, and the barrel of the camera had an extension around the lense; he might just be able to get a good, clear, glare-free shot.

The line moved ahead and Jamie returned her attention to it. Well, it and the menu J was handing her.

“You’ve got good ears,” Renais mused. She had a palmtop instead of a menu in her hands.

“I’ve been the Jenkins paparazzi darling since before I was born,” Jamie shrugged.

Renais chuckled, “Your grandfather would make a whole opera around you.”

…well he was. At least part of one. The Magnum Opus was so much more than just the Lady of the Sapphire Tower.

“Oh, it wasn’t because of Grandfather. I’m the dictionary definition of a bastard,” Jamie corrected.

J blinked. Anyone who’d been eavesdropping went dead quiet. Renais’s cold coat activating had everyone around them yelping.

Jamie pressed on with the full understanding that if she didn’t, Renais would yank the entire saga out of her with pliers: “The whole whirlwind romance took over the tabloids for about two months. Mother’s announcement she was expecting lasted two weeks. The Grammy drama blew it out before it even had a chance to become a thing. Oh, and then there was that,” Jamie paused as though just recalling it.

Renais’s glare intensified.

“One of my classmates who I grew up with sold a tell-all to the Dispatcher. She got paid a hundred dollars for her story, and another hundred for setting up a clandestine photo shoot. Grandfather got so angry about it. Those photos were worth ten times that amount. Highway robbery, especially when her mother needed it for her insulin payments, and the photographer knew it!”

An awkward bubble of silence descended around the area. Renais looked livid.

Jamie could guess why. “The grocery store wasn’t the first time I’ve been sold out,” Jamie confirmed. And clamped firmly down on the want to confess just how many times she knew of. From the intensity of her flat look, Renais was at risk of spontaneous combustion. J’s flat look was a matched set.

“You have been under siege for your lifetime,” J - asked? Stated? Demanded? All of the above!

“Assault,” Renais corrected, voice sharp.

“They don’t camp out in the bushes,” Jamie confirmed. Paused. “Usually, they don’t.”

The silence thickened. The line moved tentatively onward.

Renais shoved the palmtop into J’s unresisting hold. J nodded as though Renais’s snarl had been understandable words. A final glass-flat look at Jamie, and Renais left the line, hands firmly buried in her cold coat’s pockets. The frost mechanism left a trail of fog behind her.

I screwed up, Jamie knew. Making the joke about being a bastard? Should not have done that. Oh, she really should not have done that…

The line moved inexorably forward.

They reached the head of the line. The Orbit Base Cafe had waitstaff for peak hours. The young lady was professional to a T, not even so much as flinching at J’s clipped tone. Once J put in his order, Jamie put in hers, and held out her debit card. The cashier smiled, took Jamie’s card, and then returned it along with a receipt.

J stood off to one side. Considering there wasn’t a table free, that made sense. Jamie checked her receipt -

And choked.

It had what she’d ordered, yes. And the price in yen, which - well, prices in yen always looked triple what they actually were. What had Jamie choking was the final line. The total was zero yen. The notation line read, All meals free of charge for the hero who saved FuuRyu and RaiRyu.

Jamie was not going to burst into tears. She was not.

The single strong saxophone note had Jamie scrubbing her eyes dry. She folded the receipt and carefully slipped it into her wallet, right next to her debit card.

“I’m not a hero. You know that, right?” Jamie asked, words tight under her breath.

“Hm,” J affirmed. His left hand patting her head - hesitantly, and a pinch awkwardly - left Jamie feeling a little like melted ice cream. And that, Jamie was fairly sure, was that.

Until J stated, “You are a Warrior.”

“Deus!” Jamie yelped, hitting an A above high C.

“In training,” J concluded, lips curved in a slight smile.

Jamie blushed down to her toes.

Ten minutes later, she suffered another burst of emotional whiplash. J’s name was called across the PA. When J and Jamie approached the pickup counter, there were four boxes filled with food. Not to-go boxes. No. Shipping boxes a quarter Jamie’s height and as long as her arms. The attendant at the pickup counter was loading them onto a cart. They seemed nonplussed by J taking said loaded cart.

Once they were clear of the cafe’s traffic, Jamie pointed at the cart. Her bafflement was writ large across her face.

J said nothing, effortlessly pushing the hundred plus pound cart. Jamie got the doors open ahead of J - because really, what else was she going to do, stare? They headed into one particular room that seemed vaguely familiar in a broad way. Quiet, humming chatter filled the air as Three G did what Three G does whenever it was between saving the world.

“Lunch!” Guy’s voice rose above the soft noise.

Oh, Jamie realized dumbly. There’s so much food because there’s a lot of people here.

Chief Taiga whisked away a box with a, “Thank you, J-san.”

“Oi.”

Jamie did not jump halfway out of her skin, but only because Major Hyuuma sounded sheepish. The mountain of a man rubbed the back of his skull, eyes flicking to and then flicking away from Jamie.

“The homework.” Major Hyuuma paused. “It was another assessment test.” He rallied, “Because I figured your first assessment test was so bad because you’re bad at taking tests! Right? Right?!” The fact Jamie went, uhhh, was answer enough. Major Hyuuma barreled on, “So that was it! Last bit of it! No more crazy physics or tank manuals from here on out! Okay?!”

“…what did Renais do?” Jamie meeped.

Major Hyuuma’s entire posture and expression became deathly serious. “Renais has nothing on Kaidou-sama.”

It took Jamie a few blinks to process. She looked at J. “You told your mom?”

J arched a brow in a clear, And why should I not have?

Major Hyuuma was waiting for some kind of reaction. Jamie gave it to him: “Okay.”

“Good!”

And on that barked word, Major Hyuuma collected his lunch, and marched off to eat it.

Outer orbit patrol was… intriguing.

The J-Ark remained in its parking orbit, its command transferred temporarily to Renais. The only burden this placed on TOMORO-0117 was enduring close contact with KouRyu and AnRyu for a prolonged period of time.

The J-Ark Beta conducted the outer orbit patrol. Its captain remained the same. However, Soldato-J 002 boarded to act as instructor and advisor. The image of the Trinary Star System’s greatest warrior in full armor standing next to a plain Earth girl in a t-shirt and blue jeans was the visual definition of “dichotomy”.

Jamie’s nose wrinkled as she looked over the control console. “TINA showed me bits of this before. The stuff I needed for…” Her voice trailed off and she swallowed, a sign of her nervousness.

J lacked the appropriate vocabulary to assure Jamie this was not a test, nor a judgment, of Jamie’s abilities or knowledge. And so he waited, endeavoring to appear an encouraging observer.

“ES Space confuses the heck out of me. But it’s kind of like,” Jamie held her right hand angled underneath her left, “like a spot underneath space? Distance is shorter, so faster than light ’s possible. But to get there, you have to open a window. And make sure you close it or else bad things…?”

“All such calculations are handled by the AI system,” TINA assured her captain.

“…do I even want to know what the formulas look like?” Jamie tentatively inquired.

J’s lips rose in a hint of a smile.

“Right,” Jamie exhaled, rolling her eyes as she did so. Her focus returned to her command console. “ES missiles and ES mines have the tech needed to open windows. The Beta can remake them using its Regenerating Armor, but they’re so specialized, it takes a lot of time. And if anything goes wrong with the Armor, then…” Jamie winced. “Then I’m probably SOL anyway.”

As it was a statement of fact, J did not comment.

“Outer orbit patrol starts at Jupiter because of its high energy readings.” Jamie’s eyes flicked to him. At J’s nod affirmative, Jamie exhaled slowly. “So I need to tell the Beta the destination. And I do that by telling TINA. But then if I wanna do it manually…”

Unsaid but inferred, the exercise was to gain familiarity with the Beta’s systems.

Tentatively, Jamie inputted commands into the control console. Doing so took fifteen minutes. At the conclusion, Jamie cautiously drew her hands away. Tentative eyes looked up at J. J waited. Jamie swallowed.

“TINA?” Jamie requested.

There were minor errors. TINA highlighted them. Frowning with the force of her concentration, Jamie corrected them.

“ES Generator systems online. Course laid in for The Power.”

Jamie released an exaggerated exhale. Collecting herself, Jamie murmured under her breath, “Okay. Now I send an alert to Main Order Room. Wait for the okay. And then… go?”

There was such earnest eagerness in Jamie’s expression, J found it difficult not to chuckle in amusement.

The beginning marked how the entirety of their patrol would proceed.

Jamie asked questions. When the verbal answers provided by TINA proved insufficient, J would assist in providing visual answers, primarily by being an escort or a second set of hands to ensure Jamie’s innate clumsiness caused no harm. The result was a detailed examination of the entirety of the J-Ark Beta’s primary systems starting from the command deck, pausing at the engines, and concluding at the J-Jewel Generator room.

That the engines required no secondary fuel or propellant beyond J-Jewel energy baffled Jamie the most. The J-Jewel fibers and their functions confused her the least. How each system of the J-Ark Beta fit together into a whole would take time for her to learn.

It struck J, now, how much of his J-Jewel had resonated with Renais’s G-Stone: All of the “basics” Jamie was learning, Renais had known and understood within moments. The act of teaching those basics likewise struck J. It was… enjoyable.

The slingshot around Neptune for the return trip concluded, as did a break for meals. Once again, Jamie stood at the control console, J an observant shadow.

“The weapon systems. Hoo-boy…” Jamie visibly quailed, frightened. By the thought of violence, or by the thought she had control over such power? J suspected the latter.

J likewise suspected this was the true reason for Jamie’s request for a… care and feeding guide. A ship, Jamie could understand. A warship was more difficult for her to comprehend.

The control console displayed a model of the J-Ark Beta. As Jamie touched each section, she listed, “The missiles, which covers ES Missiles and Meser Missiles. ES Mines. The eight anti-meson cannons on the J-Bird. The ten meson cannons… are where?”

TINA highlighted the cannons locked inside the J-Ark Beta’s J-Bird’s frame. “Inaccessible outside of Queen J-Der mode.”

“Queen J-Der. The whole ship,” Jamie paused to swallow, “stands up.”

“Queen J-Der mode requires Mega Fusion. Mega Fusion requires Fusion to J-Der B.”

“What is Fusion?”

“Fusion is the process of a cyborg and artificial entity, such as an AI, synchronizing their systems. The target end result is to allow the cyborg to assume a combat form capable of counteracting Enemy threats.”

Jamie blinked deliberately.

“Example: An orchestra and a conductor. The conductor synchronizes with the orchestra to produce the end result of a performance. As captain, you are the conductor. The J-Ark Beta and myself are the orchestral instruments.”

An additional slow blink followed. Jamie turned to look at J.

J nodded confirmation.

“It's not just being a conductor, though. Is it?” Jamie shook her head, indicating the question was rhetorical. She stared at the displayed systems; her fingers brushed the non-conductive edge of the control console. Nodding to herself, Jamie resumed, “So that’s the meson cannons. The last weapon’s the J-Quoth. Why’s it listed as the strongest weapon? What’s it even do, make a black hole?”

The J-Quoth illuminated on the display. Pared down technical specifications appeared next.

“The J-Quoth at full power has ballistic properties sufficient to destroy Zonder barriers and puncture Primeval category armor. There is no known equivalent substance on Earth. The J-Quoth’s primary function was Zonder Core retrieval. Recommendation: Demonstration.”

“You have prepared a target probe,” J assumed.

TINA’s, “Affirmative,” was a formality.

“Hn.” J looked at Jamie. Reading his intent, Jamie gestured to the control console, taking a step back to allow J room. J stepped forward. The J-Ark Beta prickled against his J-Jewel; however, its systems accepted his input. After entering a pattern sufficient for a demonstration, J stepped back. An arched brow provided Jamie her… cue.

“TINA?” A thrum of J-Jewel energy signified acknowledgement. “Hit it,” Jamie directed.

“Roger. Commencing demonstration.”

The test probe was launched from a missile port. Once clear of the Beta, the probe unfolded, expanding outwards into a simple armored shell of equivalent size to a Zoner Core. The test probe matched relative velocity and came to a “stop” at a distance of one hundred and sixty kilometers ahead of the Beta. The forward viewscreen broke into segments. One partition provided a clear image of the test probe. A second partition provided a visual of the J-Quath charging. Both partitions combined took less than a quarter of the forward viewscreen’s total size.

“J-Quoth firing.”

The J-Quoth launched in a straight trajectory. As it approached the probe, it executed its distraction maneuver, flipping over itself in a corkscrew. It overtook the probe, turned in an eighty degree arc, and returned. The probe showed minimal damage within tolerances for a Zonder Core.

J looked at Jamie to gauge her reaction.

He had not expected her reaction to be awe.

“Beautiful…” Jamie had difficulty turning her gaze from the screen. “It flew,” Jamie announced, voice vibrating from her awe. When J did not react, Jamie reiterated, “It flew! Like a bird! It,” Jamie attempted to mimic the J-Quoth’s flight with her hands, “and,” she mimed picking up the probe, “and then it,” her hands waggled. Jamie then threw her hands in the air, unable to contain her excitement. “It flew!”

J stared, baffled.

Jamie’s excitement dimmed. “Okay. Okay,” she repeated as she calmed. “You see it, like, regularly. Not that fancy.” Fifteen seconds elapsed before Jamie cried, “It flew! Ohmygosh that was so pretty! Oh!”

J took a cautious half step back.

“Can it change flight paths? Like - like a bird does?” Jamie asked. Her excited expression was… intense.

“The J-Quoth flight path can be altered once launched,” TINA informed her captain. Jamie’s focus shifted from J to her control console. Her expression began to fall as TINA continued: “Mid-flight alterations require vector, velocity calculations prior to execution. Such calculations are resource intensive, and are defunct before flight correction data can be transmitted to an in-flight J-Quoth.”

“But it can be done…?” Jamie asked, tentative.

“Affirmative. Records indicate the maximum number of flight corrections possible: Three. Record was recorded by TOMORO-0117.”

Once again, the intensity of Jamie’s expression fell on J. Jamie requested, “Please teach me!”

Unable to formulate words, J’s jaw hung open.

“Please?” Jamie repeated her entreaty.

“Inquiry,” TINA interjected. “Captain, please explain.”

Jamie settled sufficiently to reduce J’s concern. Her dominant emotion, that of awe, added depth to her eyes. Once again her focus was on the forward monitor, yet her attention had turned inward.

“It was like watching a song.” A silent pause of fifteen seconds. Jamie shook her head negative. “Like watching the sky?” Jamie attempted to clarify. Another nod negative. “It was beautiful, and looked so effortless even though it wasn’t. And there’s, maybe, potential. Potential for it to be more.”

“The J-Quoth is a weapon,” TINA noted.

“But it doesn’t have to be just a weapon. Does it?”

The question - the entirety of the situation - left J mute.

The thing about the J-Quoth was going to bug Jamie until she figured it out.

If her mother or Grandfather had seen her, they would have warned Three G to either step up or step back. The expression Jamie wore whenever she was poking “The J-Quoth Problem” was identical to when Jamie had been an infant. She had been too young to articulate her desires; regardless, she had made it clear she was going to learn how her mother made such pretty noise. Or else.

As an infant, the “or else” had manifested as crawling out of her crib, voluminous wailing, and throwing tantrums. What the “or else” would manifest as for a teenage cyborg was anyone’s guess.

To Three G’s unknown relief, Jamie was unable to commit her full attention to the problem. Her schedule had been filled with an eccentric education plan spearheaded by Director Yang. (Director Yang found Jamie’s test results deplorable, and was taking it as a personal mission to correct her educational deficiencies. Major Hyuuma breathed a silent sigh of relief; he’d had the will, but lacked the skill to make Hyuuma High School work.)

When Jamie was not at Director Yang’s mercy, she was working on “homework” - assignments from Director Yang and her own personal projects. She was still determined to make a proper employee packet for FuuRyu and RaiRyuu! Part of doing so required a clearer understanding of - well, them. Director Yang assisted by providing Jamie a written manual regarding their specifications. The manual was part of Jamie’s reading comprehension homework since it used fifteen letter words like glitter confetti, sprinkling them into every conceivable space.

FuuRyu and RaiRyu blushed at the attention, and countered their siblings’ teasing with graceful aplomb.

It was when Jamie read through the specifics of GekiRyuJin that “The J-Quoth Problem” had a breakthrough.

Jamie traced one finger across the tablet screen, using it to help break down the words into understandable sections. Even then, she had to stop and pull up a dictionary - or ask the Brave Robots. HouRyu and EnRyu were being worked on by the Maintenance Division. Volfogg was in; an unusual treat from what Jamie gathered. KouRyu and AnRyu were helping Volfogg with something technical. RaiRyu and Goldymarg were challenging one another to find the internet’s “most amazing” video. FuuRyu had been drawn in to mediate along with TINA.

Jamie paused. She jumped back to the top of the page. Reading through it again, Jamie began to sit up.

“Boss?” FuuRyu asked, concerned. He had been the first to notice Jamie’s building excitement. She was sitting on his shoulder, after all. FuuRyu’s quiet question put a pause in RaiRyu and Goldymarg’s vocal debate.

Jamie was sitting half hunched over her tablet.

“Boss?” FuuRyu attempted a second time.

“Shuang… Tou Long…?” Jamie tentatively sounded out the name. At FuuRyu’s confirmation, Jamie requested, “It picks up people?”

“Ah… Yeah,” RaiRyu confirmed.

“The Jiao Dan Ji -“ FuuRyu paused. “What looks like a cement mixer,” he clarified. Jamie nodded. FuuRyu resumed, “The Jiao Dan Ji has sufficient power to break through most barrier systems and mecha armor.”

“My dumper can then extract the target civilian or enemy combatant,” RaiRyu explained.

Jamie looked directly at RaiRyu as her position on FuuRyu’s shoulder prevented her from looking at them both. “You can change the trajectory mid-flight?”

“Y-Yeah…?” RaiRyu confirmed, tentative.

“Is there video?”

A split second ping from Volfogg led to sound erupting from Jamie’s tablet. Jamie watched the video with an absolute focus that bordered on concerning. An additional ping from Volfogg alerted FuuRyu as to what video Jamie was watching: A recording from field practice. Jamie rewound the video, played a snippet, rewound, and played it again.

“Er… Jamie-chan?” KouRyu dared.

“How - wait,” Jamie stopped herself. “TINA?” A ping announced the J-Ark Beta’s commanding AI was at attention. “How come Shuang Tou Long can do mid-flight corrections, but the J-Quoth can’t?”

“Processing.”

As the seconds dragged on, Jamie tensed to the point she seemed to vibrate.

“Answer: The difference in scale of the two weapons is significant. The power levels of the J-Quoth are a factor of two times greater than the power levels of Shuang Tou Long.”

“Okay, but what if the J-Quoth got powered down by, like, half?” Jamie asked.

“The J-Quoth would loose combat -“

“Non-combat application!” Jamie interrupted.

TINA was silent for five tense minutes.

“In a non-combat situation, it is theoretically plausible. Notice: The difficulty of trajectory calculations and implementations would remain.”

Jamie pointed at RaiRyu. “How do you guys do the mid-flight changes so fast? Bigger question - can you show TINA how to do it?”

FuuRyu and RaiRyu looked at one another. Resetting their optics did not alter the situation.

“What you’re asking, Boss,” FuuRyu began.

RaiRyu concluded, “It’s because of Symetrical Docking.”

“That’s a no?” Jamie asked.

“Correct,” FuuRyu and RaiRyu confirmed.

“Captain. Anticipating your next question. Symmetrical Docking is a system unique to Dragon-class mecha. The system docks the AI cores, running their systems symmetrically. This system cannot be replicated by -“

“What about Fusion?” Jamie interceeded.

TINA went silent.

“Unknown.”

“Jamie-san.” At Volfogg’s page, Jamie whirled on him. “Guy-taichou in on rest shift. He is amenable to answering your questions regarding Fusion.” A smirk lifted Volfogg’s lip components. “As I understand it, the Fusion system in Galeon works on similar principles to the Fusion system of the J-Ark and J-Ark Beta.”

Goldymarg leaned away as though Jamie’s grin were a physical force. “Oi, oi. That’s a Science Division look!”

“Guy-taichou will meet you at Orbit Base cafe, Jamie-san,” Volfogg reported.

The girl effectively teleported away.

Utterly unnoticed in the background, KouRyu and AnRyu sent a message to Renais.

Guy exchanged a look with Mikoto. Mikoto kept both hands over her mouth to keep her laughter contained. The sight of Jamie bouncing looked too much like Mamoru hyper on sugar not to laugh. She was so excited, it was impossible not to smile.

Mikoto got her laughter under control as Jamie arrived.

Her eyebrows headed for her hairline as Jamie outlined her idea. Guy’s eyes likewise widened. Both of their expressions brightened into grins. It took no time at all for Guy to become invested. His arms swung wide in animated arcs, answers and and his own questions being fired off as fast as Jamie could respond.

Reluctantly, Mikoto pointed out, “You know you’ll need to be the one testing this, Jamie-chan? A formal test. With everyone watching.”

Jamie swallowed hard enough Mikoto could hear her teeth click. “But if it works…” Jamie trailed off, looking down at her hands fisted in her lap. “It’d be worth it. Even if it scares the c-crap out of me.”

Guy nodded, endless encouragement. Mikoto took hold of Jamie’s hands and squeezed.

“Okay,” Mikoto said simply. She smiled as she felt Jamie’s nerves settle.

“Wa-ha!” Guy cheered.

They got to work.

Renais reviewed the brief for Mission: Phoenix Dance. KouRyu and AnRyu were “looking” over her shoulder. In the doing, they bodychecked TOMORO, keeping his and J’s pointy noses out of it.

Renais added a request to the mission parameters. The request was seconded by Guy, who’d been in the middle of adding his own edits. By the end of the day, it would be approved by the Science Division. By morning, Chief Taiga would give final approval.

Now. How best to distract J?

Smiling, Renais sent a coded message to Sakura-san.

Two and a half weeks of dedicated work were about to be put to the test.

For once, Three G had the easiest part of the job: Observation. They had provided technical support, but no measurable material support. The Science Division had not been required to run calculations - or had even originated the theory to be tested. The entire Mission was the mad idea of an otherwise unremarkable civilian.

No one in any sphere Taiga knew would call Jessica Jamie Jenkins unremarkable after this! Success or failure, that Jamie had come up with the idea at all proved she had imagination. Bringing the idea to fruition proved her will. And that she was going through with it in spite of stage fright damning enough to cause illness proved her courage!

“J-Ark Beta in test orbit!” Swan reported.

“Monitoring systems active,” Entouji confirmed.

“Takehaya II reporting. Counterespionage measures in place and active. All sectors clear,” Volfogg verified.

“Science Division confirming all recording sensors in place!” Dr. Liger called. Visible behind him at the main lab, Director Yang adjusted his glasses.

“J-Ark in position.” A laugh escaped Kaidou-san. At Swan’s gentle prodding, Kaidou-san informed them, “Renais pulled the wool over their eyes.”

“J and TOM didn’t have any clue?” Swan asked. At Kaidou-san’s mirthful confirmation, Swan cackled, one laugh among many.

“That’s Renais for ya,” Hyuuma laughed.

“FuuRyu! RaiRyu! Standing by!” Ushiyama reported.

Taiga nodded. “Mission -!”

“Gravity wave detected!” Entouji warned. A moment of rapid tapping. “It’s an ES Window! 000 J-Ark detected! It’s Abel!”

“How’s that for timing?” Hyuuma grumbled.

“Maa, Hyuuma-kun. This may be a blessing. Entouji-kun.” Taiga ordered, “Open a communication line.”

Entouji nodded. A rapid patter of keystrokes - and the main screen activated. Lord Abel stared down on the Main Order Room in bland amusement.

“Good morning, Lord Abel,” Taiga gave an exaggerated nod. “Your timing is impeccable! We were just about to begin an experiment!”

“Oh?” A flawless brow arched into hair similar to a fireball.

“Yes, indeed. Jamie-san came up with the theory herself!” Taiga gaily announced.

Lord Abel’s second eyebrow joined his first.

“Would you care to assist with data collection? The theory involves the J-Quoth, and does not involve any classified Three G systems,” Taiga offered. “Any extra information would be a boon in refining Jamie-san’s theory!”

Lord Abel considered for a count of ten before answering, “Very well.”

“Excellent! Mikoto-san?”

“Transmitting parking orbit instructions!” Mikoto complied immediately.

“Received,” Soldato-J 000 acknowledged; his signal was audio only.

“What theory has Jessica Jamie Jenkins decided to test, Chief Taiga?” Lord Abel asked.

“That will be self evident momentarily. Mikoto-san! Swan-san!”

“All systems and personnel in place!” Swan confirmed.

“GaiGar confirmed at emergency standby!” Mikoto confirmed.

Taiga rose to his feet with appropriate pomp. “Mission: Phoenix Dance.” Taiga breathed deep. “STAAAART!”

“Roger!” Mikoto announced for the record, “Mission: Phoenix Dance, start!”

“This is not going to work,” TOMORO-0117 stated, petulant.

“Impossible,” J concurred.

“Shush!” KouRyu and AnRyu ordered. Renais added her glare to their order.

Resigned to this farce, J and TOMORO-0117 observed.

“FuuRyu and RaiRyu have begun Symmetrical Docking,” TINA stated for the record.

Swallowing down butterflies, Jamie tried not to think too hard about how she was in full Soldato armor. Or about how her hair was doing the swoopy thing. How if it weren’t for the helmet, her head would feel weightless - or inflated by her ego. What the hell had she been thinking to even suggest this?

Jamie ran through an A major scale.

Before her knees could knock her onto her ass, Jamie gave the command: “Fusion!” And jumped -

The automatic part of the system kicked in. Jamie was pulled up and back. The feeling of the Fusion cockpit’s semi-permeable wall melting around her still made Jamie shiver. She didn’t think it ever wouldn’t feel weird to some degree.

The feeling of Fusion was like walking up to a window. All Jamie had to do was push aside the curtain, and she could see outside. It still felt a bit - okay. A lot freaky.

The combined form of FuuRyu and RaiRyu was waiting. Amused patience brightened red optics.

“J-Bird Plug Out and Stand Up!”

Okay, so yes, Jamie was rushing through the commands, but -

But.

Oh god but.

Okay. Okay, her new strange metal too big feet were firmly on the Beta’s main body. Jamie J-Der B this was a mistake was not going to float off into space. Even if by some broken chance she did she was going to screw up this was a failure from inception just like her GekiRyuJin would catch her. And if GekiRyuJin missed, Guy wouldn’t. And even if Guy missed, J who must hate her for this waste of time would not miss. J never missed and she deserved a scolding for this crazy.

“GekiRyuJin,” TINA requested.

GekiRyuJin obliged. The tap to her shoulder was just enough to knock Jamie off the stagefright express. For now.

“Phase Two,” GekiRyuJin verbally nudged. His voice bubbled a bit like RaiRyu’s but had the same calming overtones of FuuRyu’s.

“You’ll use Shuang Tou Long to lay down an example multivariable flightpath,” Jamie recited when prompted. “Then Phase Three. I’ll try and follow that flightpath using the J-Quoth.”

“An attempt alone will constitute a success of Phase Three,” GekiRyuJin noted firmly.

“Right,” Jamie managed to affirm. That was what everyone had agreed on. Even her.

GekiRyuJin nodded firmly. The SP Packs on his shoulders activated, allowing GekiRyuJin to back up the ten feet two hundred kilometers, come on girl, get it together needed to safely kick off the experiment.

A twin set of twenty inch tanggu drums began a percussive beat in four/four time. The rhythm and tempo increased as GekiRyuJin lifted his arms. First to come up was his right arm, bearing the cement mixer like it weighed peanuts. The command, “Roar, Hurricane!” vibrated through vacuum, the first humm of a struck tuning fork. The command to, “Split the sky, Lightening!” crashed over the tanggu drums pausing.

Oriental infinity dragons burst forward in time with the tanguu drums launching into a dizzying, spiraling duet. The rhythm of the drums seemed all the more impressive than the dragons flying through space. The twin dragons chased the drumbeats over and around each other, playing -

Tag.

Jamie’s mind latched on to the idea. Closing her eyes, she could see the scene.

The Lady of the Sapphire Tower had gone to her window; the window looking into the mysterious forest. Opening it, she had been struck breathless. Twin dragons had soared above the forest. One dragon was as green as the evergreen trees’ leaves. The other was as yellow as the topaz jewels favored by the court ladies. As quickly as they had been seen, they vanished, lost beneath the impenetrable green. A moment’s heartache at their passing - and they were back. Waving and diving, passing above and below, they challenged one another into dizzying heights.

J-Quoth charged

A haunting cry as though the very soul of the world were given voice - and the Lady saw a firebird crest above the trees. It cried once again. Sparks sailed from its wings as it rose - rose to join the dragons and show the upstarts a thing or two!

The vision rolled as music out into the world, and Jamie was reduced to naught but its conduit.

The display of Shuang Tou Long was an eccentricity. Even if a multivariable flightpath were laid out, the J-Quoth would be unable to echo it unless that same path were pre-programmed. And so, J ignored it, instead focusing on -

J-Der B.

A thought, and Jamie’s vital signs were displayed on J’s HUD. There was a concerning peak in her adrenal levels. Her JJ-Drive energy output was too high. Minor errors that were individually not a threat to his friend’s long-term or short-term health.

Renais gripped J’s forearm. Before J could demand why, Renais commanded, “Listen.”

Listen?

J could hear the pulse of J-Jewel energy through his ship. The sounds of TOMORO processing sensor data. The hum of -

Startled, J stared.

J-Der B. Was humming.

J-Der B’s right foot tapped against the J-Ark Beta’s main body. The tapping was a steady, concurrent beat punctuated at set intervals by a double tap, a drum keeping time within a song. J-Der B’s left hand was likewise moving to a set rhythm. Her optics were offline, an act that seemed as inconsequential as it did inane. The humming grew louder as the J-Ark Beta’s J-Quoth completed its charge.

The J-Quoth took flight.

J-Der B sang.

There had always been an intensity to Jamie’s vocal performances. She threw all of herself into signing as a Warrior threw all of themselves into battle. Amplified by the J-Jewel, or Fusion, or something unquantifiable, Jamie’s song resonated all the more. The song invoked the same feelings J experienced whenever he looked upon the sky.

There was a phoenix flying through this sky.

The J-Quoth followed its standard flightpath. It performed a single corkscrew turn.

As the song began to rise, so too did the J-Quoth.

Renais squeezing his arm reminded J breathing was required.

The J-Quoth danced, reflecting and redoubling the song which it danced to. It followed within tolerable variances the multivariable flightpath GekiRyuJin had laid out. Then at the path’s terminus -

Renais snickered, catching onto the mischief in music before J could -

- The J-Quoth flew past GekiRyuJin’s left shoulder close enough the energy tail brushed his armor.

“Waha! Tag! You’re it, GekiRyuJin!” the cyborg laughed over the communication line dedicated to this… experiment.

“Oh yeah?” GekiRyuJin demanded, merriment brightening his voice.

The J-Quoth waggled its wings in a clear tease as the music leapt up the scales in thirds.

GekiRyuJin laughed boisterously. Once again, Shuang Tou Long was launched. This time, the energy forms that comprised GekiRyuJin’s strongest attack chased and were chased by the Beta’s J-Quoth. The duet - trio? - was immortalized momentarily in song.

J-Ark 000 established a private link with J’s J-Ark. Even as Lord Abel initiated communication, J could not take his eyes away from the dance.

“How?” Lord Abel asked in Red Planet standard. The word encapsulated multiple questions, the most applicable being, How had this come to be?

J squeezed Renais’s hand in a request for assistance.

Renais squeezed back. A silent notation, You know why.

The memory of outer orbit patrol returned.

It flew! Such delight in a weapon’s function. It flew! Beauty seen in the mundane. It flew! Glory not in power, but in potential.

“It flew,” J answered Lord Abel’s question.

Lord Abel stared, uncomprehending. “It is a weapon in working order.” Of course it flew, was inferred yet silent.

“But it doesn’t have to be just a weapon, now does it?” Renais asked.

The question was rhetorical. The answer was playing tag with twin dragons across the Blue Planet’s sky.

TOMORO hesitated to report, “J-Ark Beta J-Quoth integrity at fourteen percent.”

The J-Quoth - and the song - came to a close. The dragons who had been its playmates retired from the sky to rest. The J-Quoth made a final spiral down the octave scales, riding the last edges of its power to land.

The J-Quoth redocked with the J-Ark Beta. The song faded into the stars. Silence gripped them all in a comforting embrace.

J-Der B crossed her right leg over her left and bowed from her waste, right arm lifting to provide balance. She held the pose for a count of five. Rising, J-Der B jumped. Automatic systems took over, returning the J-Der B to J-Bird mode, and from there, redocking with the J-Ark Beta’s main body.

An explosion of applause erupted through the dedicated communication channel. Cries for an encore were equal with calls of congratulations. Renais joined the cacophony by applauding. Freed from the last of the song’s spell, J applauded, too.