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Life goes on	By : walkerofdarkness Category: +G to L > IS: Infinite Stratos Views: 4169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos or the characters from it. I do not make any profit from this story.

Chapter List
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Tags: Nosex

Chapter 2

Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.

-Horace
Walking through the first set of security doors, Kirika tried not to let her excitement show as she entered the main area of the Maintenance Branch. The sharp tang of metal clashed with the acrid smell of ozone and other indistinct smells. Voices shouted for attention over the echoing rings of metal on metal and the squeal of power tools.
“You need something first year?” A stern voice asked, startling Kirika. The voice’s owner was a young woman, her ebony skin a sharp contrast to the grey coveralls. Over her nametag was a small patch that read ‘third’.
“Sempai, I was sent here to see Branch Chief Pickett,” Kirika replied, tiling her head towards the ground in deference. Emerald eyes never left the older girl, cautiously watching for any attack gesture. “Orimura-sensei gave me those orders.”
Eyes widening at the name, the third year grunted lightly. “Chief Pickett’s in her office I think.”   Getting the necessary directions, Kirika bowed respectfully and headed towards the far corner office. Dodging and weaving around people going about their tasks, Kirika tried not to stare in admiration as she came to an open doorway set flush against the wall.
The office seemed small, with an oversized desk set against one wall, a couple of storage cabinets and a floor to ceiling display on the far wall. Three chairs were visible, all of them practical but none gave the appearance of comfort. The desk had a scattering of papers and a series of small circles staining the top. Kirika took a fast glance, not really focusing on details as she grew more comfortable. Her voice was barely a murmur as lips twitched into a quirky grin. “My kind of place.”
“So glad you appreciate it student,” a voice announced behind Kirika, causing her to jump lightly. Spinning around in mid-air, Kirika found herself facing an older woman, just barely into middle age. Her dirty blond hair tied was tightly against a narrow head, while brown eyes showed wisdom even against the almost youthful face. “Just who the hell are you?”
Snapping to an attentive posture, Kirika locked her eyes on the far wall. “Kirika Nakano, first year student member of class one!” Her voice threatened to break, but she focused and kept it level. “Orimura-sensei sent me over here because I need to get extra IS training.”
Nodding slowly, Maintenance Branch Chief Amanda Pickett motioned for Kirika to sit in a chair as she leaned on the corner of the desk. “Aight, yeah. I remember seein sumthin about that.” The voice drawled on, reflecting on a southern heritage. “So you’re the reason my entire schedule is thrown out of whack?”
Flushing at the implications, Kirika swallowed hard under the scrutiny of the older woman. “Yes ma’am,” she barely managed to squeak out.
“Aight, let’s git started then,” Chief Pickett stood up straight and glanced over the teenager sitting there. “Did you bring an IS suit with you?”
Mentally flatfooted, Kirika waited a moment before responding. “An IS suit? Yes ma’am, I’m wearing one under my uniform.”
“Okay, go ahead and strip down. Toss your stuff in one of the storage lockers and you can git it later.”
Kirika quickly stripped out of her uniform, careful to avoid wrinkling it in the process. Folding it loosely, she placed it onto an empty shelf in a cabinet already cluttered with devices of varying types. Feeling better without the extra layer of clothing, Kirika turned to face Chief Pickett again. The older woman nodded once and walked out of the office beckoning Kirika to follow.
Clearing the doorway, Chief Pickett put two fingers into her mouth and cut loose with an ear splitting whistle. Heads turned towards Pickett as Kirika slapped her hands to her head reflexively. Pointing at one person, Pickett waved her over. Kirika noticed it was the same third year who had helped her previously. When the older student got closer, Chief Pickett motioned at Kirika. “Take her over to unit P68 and get her seated in. I’ll be right along.”
Walking around people and their projects, the third year quickly lead Kirika to an Uchigane near the far wall. Grabbing a short metal ladder resting against the wall, the third year set it up and rested a leg on the support side. Kirika scampered up the ladder and stepped into the Uchigane, feeling a tingle as the cool metal brushed against her exposed skin. Hunching over as she carefully turned in place, Kirika dropped into the IS’s metal legs.
The third year, having climbed the ladder herself, stepped onto the Uchigane close to Kirika. Hands ran through practiced motions as the pressure collars on the legs were checked and sealed before skimming the IS suit to Kirika’s waist. Running her right arm down the sleeve, Kirika tried to help only to have her free hand slapped away. Sighing inwardly, Kirika just let the third year do the work as she concentrated on the new feelings from being strapped into an IS.
Kirika was just seating her left arm when Chief Pickett joined them, holding a small tray containing two objects. Experienced eyes scanned the teenager in the training model, looking for any out of place items. Finding none, Pickett grunted once. “Good work as always Nafosa. Here.”
“Thanks Chief, “ Nafosa said as she looked down from her work for a moment. Stretching down, Nafosa picked up the proffered devices from the tray.    Affixing each one to Kirika’s temple just above her bangs, Nafosa stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. Chief Pickett watched as Nafosa professionally cleared the ladder and returned it back to storage.
Looking up at Kirika in the Uchigane, Chief Pickett frowned slightly. “Aight, normally we do things differently than this, but since Instructor Orimura wants you to get trained fast, we have to do it fast. Hope you don’ have a problem with hard work kid.” Flipping the tray over revealed it to be a tablet pressed into alternate service. Tapping on it lightly, Chief Pickett thumbed through screens until finding the desired one.

The Uchigane hummed to life and started to flash a HUD in front of Kirika’s eyes. Metal collars tightened marginally, the pauldrons floated up to a stable position above Kirika’s shoulders. Chief Pickett watched as the Uchigane came alive, checking the tablet’s display for any irregularities. Failing to find any, Chief Pickett looked up at Kirika as she was working her hands in the gauntlets. “Enough grabassin’, I ain’t got time to let you play.” Chief Pickett looked down to make adjustments on the tablet. “Okay, I’ve set your Passive Inertial Canceller to sixty percent. Means you won’t fly, but you also shouldn’t fall. I want you to walk your IS over to the elevators for transport to arena four. Jus remember, you do anything really stupid and I’ll kill the suit on you.”
Swallowing softly, Kirika looked down to make sure she wasn’t going to step on anyone. Raising her head with a determined look, she lifted her left foot in an exaggerated movement, the IS responding to the control. The foot surged upwards, almost going into a kick before Kirika compensated and stomped it down to the ground. Blushing furiously, she glanced up to see if anyone was staring at her. Seeing no one, Kirika focused on moving her right foot now, trying not to repeat her previous mistake. The right foot went through the process of the step smoothly compared to the first attempt.
“Come on, git movin’. Ain’t got all day,” Chief Pickett complained, walking ahead of Kirika. Shifting her position bit by bit, Kirika managed to start walking behind the older woman, albeit in a wobbling course.
After several near accidents, Kirika managed to get herself positioned on the platform where Chief Pickett was waiting. Chief Pickett tapped a control on her tablet and the platform shook with a vibration before dropping down into the concealed shaft. Kirika watched the entire process around her as the platform shifted to a horizontal transport, eyes wide with awe.
Chief Pickett thumbed through several screens before looking back up at Kirika in the IS. “Aight honey, what the devil is goin on around here?” she demanded of the teen. “I don’ recall the last time I had Instructor Orimura ask for this kind of treatment. Least not for a first year.”
Caught off guard at the question, Kirika focused on the older woman. “Well ma’am it’s...complicated,” she started weakly.
The platform vibrated a second time as it started to climb up. Chief Pickett nodded sagaciously. “Yeah, I reckon it is. So consider it an order to simplify my life and tell me about it.”
Kirika realized the trap and resigned herself to her fate. “I agreed to an IS match with another student to determine who was our class representative.”
A single eyebrow cocked itself up at that info. “Who’s the other student?”
“Cecilia Alcott,” Kirika replied with a touch of exasperation.
Tapping the tablet’s screen again, Chief Pickett played with the device a moment. Finally, a picture appeared on Kirika’s HUD. “This her?”
“Yes ma’am,” Kirika answered as the platform came to a rest in a large room with a couple of people sized doors and a long corridor off the ground.
Skimming over the data on her screen, Chief Pickett’s eyes started to widen a bit. A toothy grin broke her lips, and pale blue eyes started to shine with mirth. “Honey, you’ve got balls the size of a Brahma bull’s,” she said with a momentary bark of laughter. “Jack shit for brains, but huge balls. Welp, let’s get this show on the road.”
Chief Pickett deftly manipulated the tablet, playing with various settings. Kirika started to float higher off the ground as the IS grew lighter. “Aight, I’ve set your PIC to full power, but your thrusters are still disabled until you get into the arena proper. I’m gonna go git in the control room for the arena. You git yourself out to the arena grounds.”

Kirika watched dumbstruck as the older woman started walking away. “Pickett-sensei how am I supposed to get out to the arena grounds without the thrusters?” Chief Pickett gave no sign that she heard the question and just kept walking out of the room. Eyeing the room carefully, Kirika looked around for any possible solution to her problem. Come on, your wasting time, she chided herself mentally.
Feeling the tips of her armored feet start to skim the ground gave Kirika an inkling of inspiration. That might work. Walking carefully in the IS, Kirika positioned herself so that she was more or less in line for the launch corridor. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kirika took a pair of quick steps and jumped in the IS. The PIC negated the external gravity around the IS and let Kirika somersault in the air towards the launch corridor. Clearing the lower ledge, Kirika bounced off the top of the launch tube and rebounded towards the bottom. Rolling to get her feet down, Kirika managed to use her momentum to keep moving down the launch tube.
Two minutes and nearly a dozen bone jarring rebounds later, Kirika found herself at the open edge of the launch corridor. The arena seats were empty and blue skies shone through the forcefields that encapsulated the arena. Taking in the entire scene before her, Kirika closed her eyes for a moment and imagined the roar of a crowd as she entered the field ready to do battle.
“Git a move on honey.” Chief Pickett’s voice interrupted Kirika’s fantasy, bringing her back to reality. “I’ve enabled your thrusters now so you can start flying. Jus’ think about it and ya’ll take off.”
Visualizing the flight controls, Kirika took off shakily into the still air.

<—*—>
Hours later, Kirika walked slowly into her dorm room. Her body was sore and drenched in sweat from all of the day’s exertions. Passing by the bathroom brought the sounds of Houki in the shower again. “Well, that was a spectacular failure,” Kirika murmured to herself.
Exhaustion setting in, Kirika flopped down hard onto the bed. Letting her eyes drift close for a moment, she replayed the entire training session. Bouncing down the launch corridor, nearly a hundred crashes in the abortive flight training. Little wonder I’m sore. Opening her eyes, Kirika got up from the bed and sat down at her desk. Running hands over the terminal, she accessed a program and started working quickly. Her fingers made delicate adjustments to the developing image on the screen in an effort to match it up to the picture in her mind. Finalizing it, Kirika saved the image and brought up her email. Using an address from memory, she sent out a brief email with the image attached.
Now for the hard part, she thought to herself. Pulling out a desk drawer, Kirika found her cell phone right where she’d left it. Thumbing a speed dial, she raised the device to her ear as it started to ring. A gruff voice grunted from the speaker exactly as intended. Kirika’s eyes flicked over to the far side of the room, listening for the stop of running water. “It’s me,” she stated simply.
Another grunt came from the phone. “Listen, I need a favor.” Kirika started, resolving herself to her decision. “How many projects do you have that are supposed to be finished in the next ten days?” Listening to the response, Kirika nodded mechanically. “Okay, I need you to pull everyone you can without delaying those projects. I’ve sent you something I need made, and I need it done ASAP. The email is a rough sketch, plus how I think it should work. Cost is no object, getting it done is the only consideration. Triple shift it, offer them double overtime, whatever it takes.”
A long pause carried over the phone, the clicking of a keyboard the only sounds heard. A soft moan came through next as Kirika expected. “I know, I know. It’s not the normal sort of thing for you guys. But after all the years I’ve heard how good you are at everything,” she paused as her voice grew sweeter, “it’s time for you to guys to prove it. You can either shit or get off the pot. Today is Tuesday. I need it made and sent via courier out to me no later than Friday evening.”
The muted response was livid and understandably so. But even as Kirika heard the words, she already knew the outcome. Hearing the shower sounds end, she quickly said goodbye and hung up. The phone was stowed back into the drawer and the monitor cleared as the bathroom door opened to release a curtain of steam. Houki walked out, again with a towel wrapped around her and a second dabbing at her hair. “Hey Rika,” she greeted, continuing to dab at her damp hair.
“Hey,” Kirika replied with a weary grin. Houki came down to sit at her own desk, her hands making steady movements through her hair. Blue eyes traveled over Kirika’s form for a minute taking in the situation.
“You look tired. How was the training session?”
Cocking her head to the side, Kirika let her grin drop. “Feel like I got worked over by a couple of guys with attitudes. I’m stiff and sore in places I wasn’t aware I had. Piloting one of those things can be a real workout.”
“I can imagine,” Houki said mechanically, her eyes growing distant. Kirika watched for a short moment as Houki’s hands continued to work.
Watching for a moment longer, Kirika felt a surge of frustration in her chest. Grabbing a brush and rising, Kirika motioned to her roommate. “Come here Houki.” Confused, Houki got up and walked closer, only to be grabbed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Kneeling down behind the taller girl, Kirika started running the stiff brush through the long hair, careful not to pull on some strands. “Sorry Houki, but it was going to get on my nerves eventually. Figured I’d get it out of the way now than let it blow up later.”
Houki started to jerk at the first pull, but soon relaxed into it. After a half dozen strokes, she found the strength to talk again. “How is my hair going to get on your nerves,” she asked wryly.
Snagging the brush on a loose snarl, Kirika tugged gently to pull it free. “Well, it’s not just your hair. It’s a lot of, well, you.” Pulling hard, the brush almost got away as it came loose. “I mean, look at you. You’ve got the kind of body that can ensure the attention of any man in the world. Most women too for that matter. And yet you don’t seem to know to care about it. Ryou-chan would have dragged you into a salon kicking and screaming.”
“Ryou-chan?” Houki asked, the sudden change in topic distracting her.
“One of my few friends, back in Tokyo.” Kirika’s tongue peeked out of a corner as she worked on a particularly hard hairball. Leaning forward across the taller girl’s shoulder, she glanced into blue eyes to avoid noticing anything else. “Not as tall as you, and I don’t think she’s quite as attractive as you. Ryou-chan would deny that of course. But I’ll tell you this, when we hit the clubs in Shibuya, she doesn’t pay for anything. She knows what she’s got and how to work it without being trampy.”
“Oh,” Houki said quietly. One hand came up pull the towel tighter on her chest as her eyes dropped down, breaking the contact. “I guess I’ve been busy with my kendo to notice that sort of thing. But I have seen the attention I’ve gotten from some of my teammates, some other girls at times.”
Leaning back on her feet, Kirika grabbed up the spare towel and strained out water from Houki’s hair. “Probably a lot of jealousy. I mean, if I hadn’t had so much time hanging out with Ryou-chan and others, I’d be a bit jealous too. Let’s face it, one of your breasts is worth both of mine and then some.” Feeling the tremor in Houki’s shoulders, Kirika realized she’d touched a nerve. “But don’t let that get you down. Just learn what it can do and how to best to control it, like anything else.”
Finding most of the hair straight and dry, Kirika tapped her roommate on the shoulders. Standing up, she walked around to see the taller girl lost in thought. Tossing the towel onto the chair, she looked straight at her friend. Mulling over her next question, Kirika quickly came to a conclusion. “Shinonono-san, can I ask a favor of you,” she asked formally, all playfulness gone.
Houki’s eyes flicked up to meet hazel ones intently. “What kind of favor, Nakano-san,” she replied neutrally. “Because if you think I can give you secrets about an IS due to my name you’re sorely mistaken—“
“No no no,” Kirika interrupted, one hand waving the objection off. “Dunois-san said she’d teach me how to pilot an IS for my match. I should be good on that regard.” Sitting down backwards in the char, she leaned heavily on the frame in exhaustion. “My favor is to have you help me learn how to fight without an IS.”
Confusion crossed Houki’s face as her lips parted slightly. “What?”
“It’s like this. I’ve been in a handful of fights over the years. None of them were really organized things like an IS match. All I really know about fights is to hurt the other person enough that they want to run away or to get you the chance to run. Figuring out an opponent’s strategy, making a plan to counter it, how to see their weaknesses, I don’t know any of that.” Kirika paused to point out the gym bag sitting at the foot of Houki’s bed. “That’s stuff you know that I’d like you to teach me.”
Houki’s lips closed as her mind raced over the idea. “I think I could do that. But I want a favor in return. I want you to teach me how to be a bit more feminine.”
“Deal,” Kirika agreed with a smirk on her lips.

<—*—>
Entering the arena the next day, Kirika stopped cold at the sight before her. An IS sat there waiting for her, hunched over to allow easy access. But it wasn’t the Uchigane she had used yesterday. “That’s not right...” Kirika started, her voice trailing off.
“Oh, it’s right honey,” Chief Pickett’s voice said from behind Kirika, causing the teen to jump slightly. “I made some calls last night, got you a different IS to use for your match. It ain’t as good as the one Alcott’s usin, but it should drop the odds from ‘requires an act of God’ to ‘insanely difficult’.”
Shifting a package under her left arm, Chief Pickett walked past the young woman as she kept talking. “There are some conditions to using this Rafale Revive. The primary pilot for it has allowed you to borrow it, but if they need it for any reason they get it first. Since you probably won’t have time to get familiar the weapon transfer system, we’ll have to figure out what load out you’ll use in your match.”
Chief Pickett glanced over her shoulder at Kirika, motioning the teen to hurry up. Breaking into a light jog, the teen moved quickly to climb into the Revive. Settling her legs in comfortably, Kirika watched the instructor’s actions intently as the older woman easily adjusted the IS with one rough hand. Rolling her left hand, Chief Pickett showed Kirika what had been carried under her arm.
It might have started out it’s life as a motorcycle helmet. Designed to cover the crown of the head, it lacked any face protection and barely dropped down the sides of Kirika’s head. Two long grooves have been cut out of the top of the helmet for reasons that Kirika couldn’t make out. Looks like...what was it called...a spork that was bent. Kirika’s eyes glanced inquisitively from the object to Chief Pickett.
“Called a couple of friends. This helmet was designed to help a pilot synch up to her IS faster. More sensors used, gits us brain data more efficiently. But it’s a prototype so it might have bugs to work out. Good thang I’ve got you to use as a lab rat.” The older woman plopped the helmet on Kirika’s head and smoothly secured the straps. “Jus lemme know if you get any shocks from it.”
Chief Pickett reached into a pocket and produced the neuro-sensors for the Revive and attached them to Kirika’s forehead in the grooves of the helmet. “Pulled your data from yesterday, plus the stuff from your qualification fight and dumped them into the IS’s computer. I also added a program to the Revive, it should help auto-tune the system to you. I think.”
Kirika’s mouth dropped open as the older woman stepped away from her. “Pickett-sensei, why do all this for me? It sounds like a lot of work.”
Brown eyes crinkled in a mirthful expression at the teen. “Ain’t really a big deal. Gits me a chance to play with some new toys, which I enjoy as much as the next woman. Sides,” she drawled, stretching the word out, “I’m American. Means I’ve got this problem with unfair fights. Unless I’m the one doing the fighting.”
Calling out to no one in particular, Chief Pickett stepped away from Kirika in the Revive. Frowning a moment, Kirika felt the IS hum as it powered up around her. The HUD flashed for a minute and disappeared. Feeling lighter now, Kirika took a few tentative steps from the start position, getting accustomed the new weight.
“Aight, enough of that,” Chief Pickett growled.   “Had a thought about thangs yesterday. Might make it easier for you to fly at least until you git used to the controls. I know you’re young, but did you learn to drive yet?”
Stopping mid-stride, Kirika turned back to look at the older woman. “You mean a car Pickett-sensei? Yeah, I know how to drive a car.”
“Some lil rice burner I bet,” Pickett replied with a grunt.
Relaxing as she fell onto comfortable ground, Kirika kept her voice neutral. “You’d lose Pickett-sensei. It was a Shelby Cobra GT500. Six on the floor, double clutched with a custom engine. Went from zero to one hundred in five point three eight seconds.”
Eyes widening at the description, Chief Pickett nodded once. “I take back that ‘rice burner’ comment. Aight, close your eyes for a bit. Don’ open them til I tell you to.” Confused, Kirika closed her eyes and waited. Seeing the student comply, Chief Pickett started talking again. “So sitting in your car, that beastly engine rumbling through your seat. Red light’s shinin through the front.”
As Pickett’s words reached her, Kirika felt the image form in her mind. The bass vibration of the engine leaving a pleasant tingle in her stomach and other places. Safety straps snug on her shoulders, the gauges all in their proper places. The clutch was firm under her foot, the cool leather of the gearshift reassuring her.
“GREEN LIGHT, GO GO GO!”
Without opening her eyes, Kirika felt a tug as the IS leapt off the ground. Her bangs whipped across her face for a moment before settling down. In her mind the car gave a bone rattling roar as the clutch came out and put on the power.
“LEFT TURN!” Chief Pickett’s voice came out from a spot near Kirika’s head. Eyes still closed, she saw her hands swinging the wheel over, braking just enough to keep control.
“RIGHT!” Kirika actually felt the car swing around and try to fishtail out as she forced it through the new turn.
“RED LIGHT!” The gearshift popped into neutral as a foot slammed down hard on the brakes to an accompanying squeal. The car nosedived against it’s own weight before coming to a stop.
“Okay Nakano, go ahead and open your eyes.” Kirika opened her eyes to find herself floating in the Revive near the top of the arena.
“Wow...” Kirika breathed reverently, looking down at the distant teacher.
“Some people jus need a better image to wrap their brains around than that arrow and dot thang.” Chief Pickett’s voice said by way of explanation. “I reckon that might include you. Control, can you show us the replay of her flight just now?”
A window popped up on Kirika’s HUD, showing her standing near the older woman. The video played out quickly, with the IS promptly responding to the images in her mind. Kirika watched how her body swung wide with the turns, limbs flailing uncontrollably during the shift right. Ending, the image froze to a still of her in the current position. “Control, how’d the EEG read?”
“Readings are strong, but also a bit dirty. There still seems to be some interference,” a high pitched voice replied. Kirika jolted in surprise as she recognized the voice. “Pickett-sama, I think the problem is with accepting the auxiliary inputs from the helmet feeds,” Maya Yamada concluded.
“You’re probably right,” Chief Pickett admitted, the voice growing distant as her mind started to work on it. “Welp, I can adjust later after I git more data to evaluate. For now, jus let her fly, but push her. More data I git, the better I can finagle it. You understand honey?”
Not realizing the question was for her, Kirika was slow to respond. “Yes ma’am.” Watching Chief Pickett start to walk away, Kirika focused on that same mental image from before. The IS twitched and started to drift forward under marginal control as sweat broke out on her forehead. This should be easier now, I hope, Kirika told herself. Now I just have to prove it to myself.
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Life goes on