"Damn it, those girls did it to me again," Nagi complained, the white haired young man walking around his office as he waved his arms. First District was the most powerful high technology company in Fuka, employing much of the surrounding area in developing advanced robotics, as well as spin off technology. Studying a process he called Materializing Nagi had created unique fusions of blood and metal, which the accursed Hime called Orphans. "Calm down, Nagi," his second in command Alyssa Searrs said calmly. Nagi gave Alyssa a suspicious look as he returned to his seat. To get the financing he needed to start First District he had been forced to go to Searrs, and in exchange for their help they had saddled him with Alyssa. She was clearly brilliant, there was no doubt about it, but her loyalties were clearly with her family's company. Of course, the fact that the teen was a busty blonde was some compensation... "We both knew there were going to be issues as we brought the technology to the testing stage," Alyssa continued calmly. She drank some of her tea, "Our video of the latest model showed a sixty percent improvement to earlier models." "You got a point," Nagi conceded, "but the Hime still killed it." Alyssa finished her drink and set the cup down in it's saucer with a little frown as she called out, "Miyu!" Smoothly opening the office door their secretary, Miyu Greer, strode inside. Tall, good looking and wearing glasses Miyu would normally be just Nagi's cup of tea, but there was something off about the blue haired woman. There was a basic coldness about her dealings with anyone other than Alyssa, along with a shark-like deadliness in her gaze. "More tea, my lady?" Miyu asked, her eyes tender as she looked at Miyu. "Please," Alyssa held out her cup, the teen smiling up at her. Miyu poured the tea from the old fashioned pot without spilling a drop. "Would you like more too, sir?" Miyu turned to ask Nagi in a much less friendly way. 'No, Miyu doesn't like me,' Nagi mused with a sigh. "No thanks," he said aloud. Before she could leave Alyssa put a hand on Miyu's arm, "Stay a moment, please." She frowned, "Please report on what you saw at the Orphan battle last night." "She was there?" Nagi sat up in surprise, "that's dangerous!" "Trust me, Miyu can take care of herself," Alyssa told him, clearly trying to hide some kind of amusement. "Humph," Nagi sat back with a frown. "In addition to the Hime we've previously identified," Miyu said briskly, "a fifth unit involved itself in last nights battle. It appeared to be based on a serpent like design..." "What is it with little Mashiro using animals in her designs?" Nagi wondered aloud. "Unknown," Miyu answered automatically. "Any idea of the weapons or capabilities of the new suit?" Alyssa wondered. "Internal weapons are unknown at this time, but the suit registered a thirty percent improvement in speed over previous models," Miyu reported. "Mashiro is getting good at this," Nagi murmured, "never should have let her get away." "I've been wondering," Alyssa said after a moment, "you're obviously aware that Mashiro Kazahana is creating the Hime to oppose you, why don't you simply eliminate her?" Nagi looked at her in surprise, "Where's the fun in that?" Alyssa sweatdropped while Miyu hid a smile. "More seriously," Nagi said after a moment, "little Mashiro is a brilliant designer, maybe the match for anyone we have on payroll. Eliminating her would be a criminal waste, no?" "Fair enough," Alyssa admitted after a moment. She smiled as she got up, "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go get lunch now." "Have fun," Nagi said as he watched both Alyssa and Miyu leave. 'How many executives go to lunch with their secretaries?' he though, chuckling, 'Unless they're not just their secretary. Bad Alyssa, bad.' "Lady Alyssa," Miyu said quietly as they walked the halls to the elevator, "Should I take steps regarding Miss Kazahana?" Alyssa shook her head as they entered the elevator, "No, as much as I hate to admit it, the twerp has a point. Kazahana could come in very handy later." "When we make our move?" Miyu smiled slightly. Alyssa grinned back, "Exactly." Meanwhile, across the city at Fuka Academy the mansion home of the headmistress was busy with activity. Fumi Himeno smiled as the pink haired maid held the tray of tools and asked, "So who's armor will this be?" Mashiro Kazahana smiled as she leaned forward in her specially modified wheelchair, the twenty year old holding a wielding torch as she finished adding several connections. "I'm still working on the undersuit," she chided as she blew her violet hair out of her eyes, "besides, I still need to replace Yukino's suit with a upgraded version." Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans she looked rather rough around the edges, the opposite of her usual cool, controlled image as the Academy's young headmistress. Fumi carefully reached out to brush her mistress' hair back from her face. "Of course, ma'am," she smiled. Mashiro gave her a sweet smile, "Thank you Fumi." "You're welcome, Lady Mashiro," Fumi beamed. A bell rang off in the distance and Mashiro frowned, "I'm at a delicate stage in my work, can you get that for me?" "I'll be right back," Fumi said as she hurried off. Walking up the stairs from the sub-basement Fumi opened a concealed door into the lower level of the mansion, then up to the main floor of the building. Checking herself off she then hurried to the door, swinging it open with a cheery, "Yes?" "Fumi, hello," Yukino smiled, the brown haired young lady as usual looking like a prim and proper student. No one would ever expect that she spent her nights garbed in battle armor, battling monsterous creations of science. "Come in, please," Fumi stepped aside, "Mashiro's down in the lab, working. Should I get her or would you like to join her there?" "We'll go to the lab, please," Yukino said as she followed Fumi inside. Mashiro was putting the torch away as she heard them enter and called, "Could you pass me that wrench, please?" Yukino calmly picked up the one from the nearby table and passed it over, "Here you are." Mashiro looked up at her and smiled, "Hello, Yukino, how are you today?" "A little confused," Yukino admitted as Mashiro turned to the skeletal under body of armor and began attaching a component. "Oh?" Mashiro asked, the muscles of her arm tensing as she worked. "On our last outing, we were assisted by a woman in Hime armor," Yukino said, "one I've never seen before." Mashiro looked up from her work in surprise, "I didn't mention it?" Yukino grit her teeth. If there was one quality she disliked in Mashiro, it was the woman's tendency to hold back information or to conveniently 'forget' to tell them about something, for whatever reason. "No, you didn't," she said grimly. Mashiro batted her eyelashes, "I'm SO sorry! You see, I recently scouted out a ideal pilot, but I wanted to introduce her to you first..." "I'm terribly sorry," Fumi echoed, "I should have reminded Lady Mashiro to call you." 'Cut the act, please,' Yukino sighed mentally. "So," she asked as she tried to be patient, "who is the pilot?" A little sheepishly Mashiro said, "Shizuru Fujino." You could have heard a pin drop as Yukino digested that in silence. "Fujino," Yukino echoed, "the student council president?" "Yes," Mashiro agreed. "The biggest female pervert on campus?" Yukino whimpered. "I wouldn't go that far," Fumi noted, "Nao has the worse reputation." "Fumi," Mashiro's tone of voice said the maid wasn't really helping. "Sorry, Lady Mashiro," Fumi smiled. Yukino grabbed her head in both hands and groaned softly as she said, "Natsuki is going to have a fit." "I thought they got along well together?" Mashiro frowned. "Fujino is aggressive enough with Natsuki during the day," Yukino sighed, "I don't even want to imagine what's going to happen if they have to patrol together." "Oh dear," Fumi said after a moment. "That's a understatement."
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