Gaston stayed on the lab-ship while taking in the view of oriental sea for himself. The world was either peaceful or chaotic enough that it would require super-powered individuals to interfere when there was trouble brewing. Most of his job was mostly monitoring the situation in the surrounding area. The current technology allowed him to connect to the security footage surrounding the ship.
The AR mod allowed him to make a 360° view of the ship. Of course, he had to minimize the display to make sure that it did not interfere with his watch over the sea. Technology is useful and recent advancements made it harder for criminal elements to to criminal acts, but there are anti-security measures that are made and not every superpowered man or woman stays on the good side of the law.
“What’s your status, Adjutant?” a voice called to him.
“Stable. There are no rattlers around the area. There is a change in weather, over.”
“Let me check the news.”
The bridge connection became static. Gaston leaned on the bulkhead. He checked on his mobile phone, typed in a reply and then turned on the receiver with his AR-module’s eye tracking.
“Expect rain showers and winds, Adjutant.”
"Roger that.”
Gaston looked at his mobile device. Janna was arguing over whether she should bash someone’s head. Gaston replied to her mindless chatter and typed in that she shouldn’t. It must have been quite a problem if Janna, of all people, was complaining about her colleagues.
“Huh?”
He looked up at the sky. A drizzle of rain started pouring. He took shelter near the opening leading to the lab-ship while watching the white-clothed sailors adjusting the equipment on the deck. The lab ship has four cranes that are handled by a specialized crew that pulls the monsters aboard.
Gaston made a quick dash for the tower that handles the system. The crane operator was using this automated system that handles the complex motions of the crane. Just below the operating stick of the crane were the manual controls. The mechanical controls were rigid and robust. Then again, because of certain effects of ichorium that they need a backup control system in case there is a sparticle burst. The crane operator took a glance over his shoulder.
“Adjutant, how can I help you?”
“Anything to report?”
"I can give you the data feedback from the AI, Sir."
The crane operator dragged a button on the touch screen and set the crane to pull the creature by adjusting the parameters. The sensors on the crane was quite top notch, seeing that the operator was rather comfortable in letting the machine do it.
“Mine if I make a data-link?”
The crane operator took his gloves and pressed his thumb on the biometrics. Immediately, Gaston saw a notification on the top left corner of his HUD. He made a connection, typed in his ID code, and waited for permission. He made a system report using the crane’s AI and gathered data.
“Looks like the cranes are operating well. There are problems in the joints, but that isn’t fatal enough to suspend operations.” Gaston made a scan of the cranes. He then switched to the 3D model of the lab-shit. He noticed that one filter was functioning beyond the 80% required output.
“Bridge, I’m sending a screencap of my current HUD.”
“Roger that, receiving.”
Gaston sent the image to the bridge.
“Looks like one of the filter tubes is not functioning within standards. I will have an engineer check it up.”
Gaston wasn’t usually this nosy. But the idea of having the ocean below his feet intimidated him. It would be fine if he was close to shore, but knowing that he was currently on the edges of the Pacific Ocean made him alert. Although Japan was just minutes away from their current location. He didn't want to be careless in deep waters.
It’s best if I keep myself occupied. Gaston traveled his gaze on the flat seas and the graying clouds brewing up. The crane should be fine for now, better enter the deck before this weather picks up.
He entered the interior of the lab-ship while avoiding the white-clothed crew members who were rushing to enter the ship as the rain poured harder. Since he would rather not bother the crew in the processing deck. He made his way to the private cabin, took his laptop out and connected it to one of Janna’s private encryption lines. He opened his browser and browsed through the streaming channels and wondered if there were any weather chasers observing the anomalies.
On the screen there were only streamers fishing or chatting with their audience. Most of them have breakers guarding them and are rather armed to the teeth. They can find breakers, but their grade levels depend on what serum they get from the government. There are also illegal serums that allow breakers to reach million-dollar grade, but the maintenance of said grade was rather costly. He could tell that they were low-graded breakers that depend on the tools to make a living by streaming.
He scanned the rest of the streaming channels only to find none of the weather chasers. He searched for the address of the maritime website and read on their notice that there was no watercraft around the area. Looks like there will not be any trouble regarding any stray ships coming around this place.
Gaston started typing on his laptop when a window popped up. Janna’s half-asleep face appeared on the screen. He minimized the box to the upper left corner of his screen. “Are you making a report right now?”
“You look like shit.”
Janna frowned. She adjusted the medical eyepatch and tugged on the strap. “You keep chatting with me during my break time. Hmm, how’s your work there?”
“Awful, but manageable.”
“That's so. Well, work hard to pay your debts.”
She took something offscreen and started drinking it. Gaston scrutinized the can she was holding. Seeing Gaston looking at her that way, she snorted.
“Déu meu, I will not drink this evening, goodness, you're worse than an overprotective lover.”
“More like I don’t want you going on a rampage. All your replies are just ranting about your colleagues. Try not to kill anybody please.”
“Now you are just wounding my heart.”
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She acted as if it hurt her, but she sipped on her drink. Gaston typed his report in and made a summary of what he had observed during his time here in the lab-ship. Janna gave an inquisitive gaze to Gaston.
“I hope you didn’t call to just stare at me.”
Janna didn’t reply. She took another sip of drink.
“Is that coffee?”
“It is.”
“You shouldn’t drink fifteen cans.”
“I don’t drink fifteen cans.”
“Janna.”
Gaston said with a heavy tone.
“Yes?”
She replied, wondering what made his voice heavy.
“Do you think that this company will flourish even more?”
“If they keep going this way, then yeah.”
Janna’s voice was sure. Gaston hovered his fingers on the keyboard. The tips of his fingers making a crisp mechanical sound.
“The Babaika Lions have been under watch now. What makes them interesting is that their recent expansions clarify that they have an advantage regarding managing their own affairs. Lady Romanov is a savant in the areas of networking and she makes the best choices to people who she wants to work with. I’d say it’s talent on her part that she could make so many changes. She’s one of the finest upstarts and we should do our best to connect with the Lady.”
There was merit to it. Not to mention that she was ready to make Gaston her adjutant since he was ‘reasonable’ to her. Gaston hated the idea of someone tightening a collar around his neck, but it was better than having the UEDF hold her.
“She made quite a deal.”
“I know. She told me about it brazenly.”
“She’s confident and I like that. But she’s playing with fire, acquiring you and my debts for her to exploit. She actually contacted me already about this and she had made sure she will take all of our debts.”
“And if she’s become a pest?”
“Who knows? She might have purchased the debt we owe, but it doesn’t mean we truly work for her. It’s best if you pretend to be an exemplary employee so that she wouldn’t suspect so much from you. If my understanding of the Lady is correct, then as long as you do your job well, then there should be no problem.”
“You should be here.”
“No, thank you. I may hate some idiots here. But it’s better than having a job like yours. I don’t enjoy fighting.”
“And you think I enjoy it?”
Janna looked at him stupidly for a moment.
“Of course you don’t. What kind of idiot enjoys risking their life like that?”
Gaston stopped typing. He hovered his keys on the space bar with his eyes wandering somewhere. Janna looked at him with a rather blank look. She clapped her hands loudly to bring Gaston back to the present. Janna’s face became sharper and there was an annoyed expression on her.
“Should have gotten the Doc to talk it out of your system.”
“I would, but it’s not like I have time to sit around.”
“Mr. Professional, as always, I miss the lazier you.”
Gaston started typing again. His face became blank.
“Is that why you called me?”
“Not really. I need you to know that our friend there in Japan is now marked by the cult. I had told him to stay still, but our friend is rather impatient. So I told him to leave you behind for now. And here is why we rarely gave these local police officers a chance to work with us. It’s a good thing that you are offshore at the moment.”
“How’s his chances?”
“Very low. I’m sure you told him he should take it slow. The cult he’s trying to expose has many eyes and ears. If he gets done, then that is his fault. A shame since he was a rather brilliant officer of the law.”
“I guess he didn’t take our warnings seriously.”
“I had expected it.”
Gaston made a loud press of the space bar of his laptop’s keyboard. He inspected the keys, scrolled up the page of the document of his report.
“I hope your report isn’t overly long. I hate it when you go into detail about what you had done and what you had seen.”
Gaston ignored Janna as she made loud sips while staring at him. He didn’t understand the reason she called, but usually when she calls and stays online long enough. There was something that she needed to do that required her to wield a weapon.
“Are you going to a storming event?”
“Worst. I have to enter a split-realm with a bunch of buffoons to collect a sample.”
Janna could barely contain her anger at the thought of entering this split-realm. Gaston wondered what they did to make her feel so annoyed, but other than the chance that she might attack them. Janna was a professional who would do her job as best as she could. The UEDF did not employ her for her beauty. But because she was good at what she does.
“I guess it’s tradition now for you to annoy me when you are going to be deployed.”
“Who else am I going to talk about this? Not that our friends are so free that they would hear me out. Your schedule is less strict than ours and honestly I rather be an adjutant than stay in this place filled with utter fools who can’t even fathom how entering a split-realm without a proper plan is the most idiotic thing for them to do.”
She complained with all of her heart. Gaston thought of something.
“Maybe they make you do what you do since they need a wrangler for these idiots you speak off.”
“I wish they were just idiots. At least you can fool idiots, but one of these retards thinks I want to have sex with him just because he thinks he’s handsome and I looked at him long enough once!. Believe me when he says shit like I was just being shy, it makes me want to stab him in the front."
Gaston smiled at her rather crude language. Janna snorted at that smile and clicked her tongue loudly. She clicked her tongue loudly and pointed at Gaston, “You think it's funny!?”
“Have you complained to HR?”
“Those spineless pricks wouldn’t do anything to them. Do you understand my pain, Gaston?”
“I don’t.”
Janna crushed her coffee can and threw it on the side. “Anyway, I’ll be moving out soon. Gaston, be careful out there. I know that there are forces trying to make moves in that area of the world. CERN believes that it’s because of the split-realm openings there, and perhaps it’s because they fear another event might occur and destroy the balance that there are insects trying to crawl in. Our world’s like a seesaw right now. We try to keep things balanced but the rate that these monsters are appearing has been faster than usual. ”
Gaston stopped typing. He placed his hands aside and said calmly.
“I hope you don’t overdo yourself, Janna.”
“You take care of yourself. Don’t do things they do not pay you to do.”
“I should be the one saying that.”
“It’s hard to be the best, Gaston.”
She shrugged and gave Gaston a smirk.
“Anyway, I should get going.”
“Goodbye.”
Gaston cut off the call and scanned the report he just made. Not all days were exciting and there were simply days where he could do nothing other than make his report and watch others go to their battles. Paperwork was a big part of his duties as an adjutant, and he was fine with it despite how many would choose killing monsters instead.
Fighting truly wasn’t something he looked forward to doing.
"I guess I should make a report about the weather," Gaston told himself. His fingers once again typing away.