"I don't think she knows, Yuni," Mihara said, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Her partner shifted her feet, clearly uneasy about the conversation at hand. "I know it shouldn't be possible, but."

Her words hung in the air. It was later in the day. 313N had caused quite a stir with the stunt of hers, but the fact it had been aimed at Yuni's chest, rather than somewhere more vital, avoided the worst of things. Though they still weren't cleared to get her out, though that was going to be a problem of its own. To the average citizen, Yuni and herself were just regular humans. For 313N? It was hypothetically possible for her to pass as a human. But most civilians knew what a mass-produced Nikke looked like.

Getting 313N out to await a mission was complicated by that simple fact. Sneaking her back wouldn't be easy, but it also might just be necessary. Even if she was in desperate need of combat training as well, keeping her here was not good for her mental health. Somebody was going to press the Mind Switch button eventually, and then they'd all be in trouble. And it wasn't helping matters that 313N seemed to be intent on staring at that abyss until someone blinked.

Though it wasn't like getting 313N to accept the situation would be a simple task, either. How could it? She had no context for what was going on, or even what a Rapture was. And that was dangerous.

"What can we do about it? She isn't going to listen to us," Yuni responded with a huff. Part of the problem was, she wasn't wrong, either. 313N wasn't going to listen to them. It was understandable as to why, but presently no less problematic. Frankly, the only way to get her to listen was to show her. With her own eyes and ears. 313N was likely to dismiss anything less out of hand.

Which proved to be a self-feeding loop. 313N needed to be prepared to fight Raptures. But the only way to convince her that Raptures were real, would be to show her Raptures in person, rather than a hologram or training simulation.

"Showing her evidence would help if little else," Mihara said, frowning. But how to do that? Syuen viewed 313N as little more than cannon fodder at best, and a suicide bomb at worst. Getting her first-hand experience would be best. "A mission, maybe? Something simple, such as search and destroy?"

This time Yuni gave her a look. "A mission like that would see a Commander assigned to the team. With how she acted with Syuen, what makes you think involving a Commander would be a good idea?"

Mihara found herself pausing.

"It would be the fastest Court Martialing in the Ark's history," she muttered. If 313N was unable to hold her tongue against Syuen, one of the big three, she certainly wasn't going to restrain herself with a Commander. Something that would most likely end with her death, on or off the battlefield.

313N would not know how to handle a Commander in the field at all. The only thing that could keep her safe is if they had a rookie. Those only had a thirty percent survival chance. Of course, thirty percent survival was still not a guarantee. Mihara scowled. There went that idea. There had to be something they could do to convince 313N, on all fronts.

But the how remained illusive. There had to be some way to get through to 313N. One that didn't put her at risk of dying, or throwing her into the deep end straight away. Because at the end of the day, she was practically a civilian. Someone who should have no place on the battlefield. No training, NIMPH for unknown reasons not able to do its full function, and a lack of context that should only be possible if she'd spent her entire life, quite literally, under a rock.

If her memories were gone, but then NIMPH failed to upload new data, that would explain it, but that didn't seem to be the case. Her memory was still completely intact. Which made no sense still to Mihara, and trying to get answers out of 313N was like pulling teeth. Again, not wrongfully so, at this junction, but it didn't make her self-appointed job any less complicated.

It was simply feeding on itself. A lack of trust that could only possibly be reversed by throwing 313N into the deep end. Which wasn't going to work as it would most likely result in 313N dying, or worse. And there were far worse fates than death when it came to Raptures.

"Come on, you're going to need sleep. Worrying about this all night isn't going to do you any good," Yuni pulled on her arm, guiding her to a bed. Mihara stifled a yawn. Yuni did have a point. Staying up all night wasn't going to put her any closer to a solution. Neither of them. There would be time in the morning to start at least trying to approach the issue.

Ideally without firearms, or kicking, or threats of torture, or anything else. A nice, pleasant conversation over breakfast. That couldn't hurt matters, anyway. They certainly couldn't make things worse. Mihara sighed as Yuni curled up next to her. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

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I don't know which was more impressive. The fact they managed to get whatever this was to look like scrambled eggs. Or the fact that whatever this was had no taste. Seriously, how did you accomplish giving this no taste? That is a memetically bad level of cooking right there. Part of me was tempted to ask for my meal to be replaced, but I was still caught between being hungry and not hungry.

I nibbled and picked at my meal, a dozen other thoughts occupying my mind than the paradox of being hungry, but not desiring food. There were numerous things to keep my mind entertained. But, instead, I was focusing on one thing in particular. Not too long ago, a trio of girls came through. They didn't seem too abnormal, though there was a tattoo on one's shoulder that drew my attention.

I wanted to see it again, just to be sure it was what I thought it was. Because if that was the case? Well, frankly, it wasn't like it had any real power here in the real world, but anyone who picked that out unironically? Wasn't a good person by any stretch of the imagination.

The sound of footsteps made sure I had more reasons to keep my scowl squarely on my face. My "teammates", Yuni and Mihara. Aka, the sadistic child and someone I needed to find a phone for. Neither of them noticed, or more accurately, did not care that I was radiating 'do not get close to me' energy. And at least the scientists seemed to have enough brain power among them to start respecting my physical space.

Then again, I had no reason why I was expect people willing to torture someone gleefully would turn around and respect my basic wishes. That seemed like a pretty clear breach of well, everything at this point. Maybe if I kept my head down, I'd be overlooked.

No such luck. I was already spotted, and they were already headed my way. I did notice that their pace seemed to increase as the same group as before came back down. They sat strangely as if to shield me from view, but I already had the information I needed. So there were people with Khorne tattoos running around.

Then again, I'd been tortured, so maybe that wasn't much of a surprise. The two let out a sigh of relief as the trio exited the room.

"Are you trying to get her attention?" Mihara hissed as if I'd just crossed the devil himself.

"Their attention. It's not like any one of those three is worse than the other," Yuni scowled, poking gingerly at her plate of food.

"Oh no, people who give themselves a tattoo of the Mark of Khorne aren't pleasant, what a surprise," I rolled my eyes, returning to my meal, their presence giving me an excuse to eat this tasteless slop.

They both paused, giving me a confused look.

"Mark of Khorne?" Mihara paused.

"The big tattoo on her shoulder. The brand of a fictional deity of blood, skulls, and mass slaughter," I continued to eat away at my food. "I get that Warhammer isn't the biggest thing in the world, but it does have some pop culture presence." "

Both continued to look at me as if I'd grown a second head. Well, more so than usual.

"What year is it, exactly?" Mihara asked as I rolled my eyes. How committed could someone be to a bit? Seriously, I wasn't fooled by this crap, and I don't know why they were even trying to keep up the lie by this point. The greatest insult was the fact they seemed to think that if they repeated this whole bit enough times, I'd believe them. Maybe if I was still in elementary school, when my list of natural enemies was the neighbor down the street, my uncle, or Tiger, I might have believed this. But that was decades ago.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"The same year it was the last time you asked, 2023," I scowled, returning to my meal as the two whispered between themselves.

Seriously though, the fact that they could get something this tasteless was legitimately impressive. This was gag levels of terrible cooking. How did you screw up cooking so badly that food doesn't have any taste?

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"Alright, I don't think she's lying at this point," Yuni whispered to her as 313N continued to poke at her food with a faint expression of disgust. Mihara found herself struggling to say finally as a response. "She's keeping this up for far too long, and that's just not information someone can make up."

Mihara agreed. If what 313N said was correct, then it went a long way in simply confirming many of the rumors surrounding Exotic. She was going to have to put a word in. The tale may have been a tall one, but there were ways to spin things. The worst that could happen is that the squad got more oversight. And with a group of former, well, if what 313N said was correct, reluctantly former, terrorists got more eyes on them, that was a problem dealt with before it could blow up in their faces.

The question of how was concerning, but if 313N is telling the truth, then. It would explain a lot. 2023. That was before the Raptures even invaded by no small clip. Decades before the conflict ever started. She predated the Space Elevator. How did Syuen make a Nikke with memories of someone of a bygone era? Turning someone that old into a Nikke shouldn't even be possible, never mind that they probably would have died years ago, even with the Ark's medicine!

"Part of me wants to know what Syuen did to create something like this," Mihara muttered under her breath. "It explains why she knows nothing, but at the same time, how?"

How do you reason with someone who never even knew the war happened in the first place? That Humanity had lost and been driven underground? Were they cryogenically frozen somehow? And what exactly would the government do about someone like her? If 313N had memories of the time it was like before the Raptures came, even if it was a few decades before. Historians would love to pick her mind, and given she was a Nikke, the odds of that being literal were much, much too high.

Mihara didn't like that thought one bit, as it meant even the Ark wasn't safe. As a Mass-produced model, 313N might still have a chance of flying under the radar, but that was going to require her to stop mouthing off to anyone with authority over her. As Yuni had stated, thus far, 313N had not shown such an ability. Mihara wasn't sure if it was coming from 313N, somewhat justifiably, being angry at everyone and everything around her. Or that 313N was already displaying suicidal tendencies and just wanted someone to kill her.

It wasn't impossible. Most Nikke's weren't allowed to keep their memories of their human existence for a reason. Mind-Switch, increased suicide risk, and there were a whole host of issues that came with retaining one's memories. Even if they weren't manifesting right away, there was no certainty about later.

But she was at least eating and was hungry enough for seconds. Or was she that determined to find an excuse to ignore their presence? Hopefully, it was a good sign.

"It's impressive how this stuff has no taste," 313N seemed to mutter to herself, picking at a new plate of food. Mihara felt herself freeze, another concern reared its head. Of course, with that problem, came opportunity. Of course, 313N wouldn't know about Splendamin, either. That was something that didn't exist back then. While the fact that 313N could taste some sort of difference was, piacular, and quite possibly, telling of the quality, Splendamin's existing might be just enough proof to at least get her to start accepting things. But just how to approach the topic?

"So, you're one of those people who can tell Splendamin isn't real food?" Yuni asked, fixing 313N with a glare. It was too late for Mihara to stop her now, but maybe a more confrontational approach might work?

"Given how I don't even know what Splendamin is?" 313N crossed her arms, returning Yuni's glare with all the subtly of a Tyrant class Rapture that wanted you dead. It was almost impressive that despite everything, 313N was still willing to pick fights like this.

"It's just a jelly meant to be perfectly nutritious to humans, and artificially made to taste like food," Mihara hoped to defuse the situation, as 313N raised her eyebrow. She watched the expression of the mass-produced Nikke carefully, but the look on her face was telling.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it," 313N scowled, an all too frequent expression on her face. "If you told me it was corpse starch, I might be willing to believe you."

313N's eyes rolling said otherwise. Mihara resisted the urge to rest her face in her hands. Calling 313N stubborn would be an understatement. Understandable, oh so very understandable. After that, of course, 313N would rebuff any attempt to build bridges. They were trying to construct one on a smoldering field of rubble.

"We're trying to help, ass," Yuni crossed her arms with a huff, as Mihara watched as things were once again consumed by Artillery.

"Your 'help' was torturing me, hijacking my nerves on the regular, then throwing me into a simulation machine," 313N's voice was harsh. "While lying out your ass the entire time. What makes you think your help is wanted or desired at this point?"

Sadly, the only wrong thing was about them lying. Everything else? That was completely true. They were trying to build trust over a ruin. Such was always going to prove to be an uphill battle. Given how 313N acted, it may just be an impossible one.

"We were just following orders," Yuni scowled back. "We don't have a choice, just like you."

Mihara knew that was the wrong thing to say. She opened her mouth, hoping to defuse the situation before it got worse, only to glance at 313N.

If 313N was angry before, she was beyond even that now. She looked as if she was within an inch of leaping over the table to punch Yuni in the face, only prevented by Yuni's powers. Which was only adding to her temper. Mihara could almost hear the cracking, as yesterday's performance now looked like a gunshot next to a mortar.

"Following? Orders?" 313N growled out, an almost feral sound exiting her throat. "Do you have any idea how many atrocities have been committed throughout human history by people just 'following orders'?"

"No? You're willing to commit to the act this long? No knowledge of the Holocaust, where a minority group was slaughtered to such an extent, that there are fewer around today than before? No knowledge of the Trail of Tears? Slavery? Any number of tragedies that could have been prevented by someone being willing to do the right thing, rather than doing what you were told?" 313N's voice, and rage, seemed to taper off, falling back beneath the surface. But Mihara could still hear it sizzle, still present. It had receded, for now, but it hadn't done so by much.

313N fell back into her seat, saying a single thing before she returned to her meal.

"Pathetic."

Mihara fixed Yuni with a glance. That could have gone so much better. Instead, they'd taken several steps back. Perhaps she would need to approach the issue on her own, instead of with her partner. Though, she doubted that would matter much in the long run. She wanted to help, but maybe giving 313N time to cool down would prove to be a far more effective cure.

The problem was, that taking their eyes off her wasn't exactly an option. Letting her run around freely was just asking for even more trouble. Even without Exotic running around. Sure, 313N didn't seem to be all too inclined to trust them, but alliances of convenience rarely needed such things, especially when anger was involved.

Mihara frowned, thinking about how best to resolve the issue.

"Wardress squad, please report for mission briefing." A voice came over the intercom, jolting Mihara's mind to the present. Mission briefing? The jolt of electricity became a chill. No.

They were supposed to have more time.