Extraction phase. The Vault Z-4 perimeter drones had been cleared an hour earlier; a 300-year-old MilCorp reserve protocol activates. Six new drones rise from the rubble. The first hits Hina in the shoulder. Aika does not shout an order. She raises her arm and points at the MilCorp Berlin building above the vault. Samuel, formally: 'Command received. Stations one through five engaging.' All five PD turrets sustain fire. Building integrity drops to 23 percent in under a minute. Samuel requests ceasefire authorization; Aika does not respond. Yui runs from the ARK, Rika from the perimeter. They reach her at the same moment. Yui talks. Rika leans her shoulder against Aika's side like a wall. Aika takes ten seconds to lower her arm. Samuel: 'Acknowledged. Ceasefire. Standing down.' Aika sits down on the rubble. Akari, quietly: 'whoever built you made a better soldier of you than you ever admitted.' The half-fallen MILCORP BERLIN sign burns behind them. Nobody speaks on the walk back to the ARK.
He logged the first attempt, the second, the third. The eighth time I asked he stopped logging. He told me the probability once. I said I knew. He never told me again. He is not on my side. He is just…
Yui rewired Samuel's voice. He spent an hour calling me 'ma'am' during drill. Formal, polite, every single status report. From across the bridge I heard him say 'station ready, ma'am? acknowledged, ma…
I have been the perimeter for 299 years. I was built first to defend the team from outside threats. Yesterday I ran toward the inside threat for the first time. Aika was the inside threat. I did not k…