RP XCOM: The Story of Defiance.

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 & ZombieSplitter53: “Facing Fears”

X-COM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
Primary Rec-room
Oct. 30th, 1600 Hours

“Hmmmm…” Jake tapped his pencil against his lip, looking at the scorched Ethereal mask with some disappointment. With part of it blown off, it was hard to translate the section that made up Ira’s exact title, or rank, or whatever the Ethereals called it. Sighing in defeat, he decided he’d just see if Emily could find out, and moved on to the mask of Ira’s lacky, this one much less fancy, and all the more easier to work on. “Should have worked on this one first,” he mumbled to himself, taking a drink from a glass of some fruity, fake-alcoholic drink the bartender had recommended to him.

“Nice collection you have there,” a familiar voice said from behind Jake.

Jake jumped a bit. “Atka!” He laughed nervously. “Sorry, I… I guess working on these masks, having them stare at me like this… kinda makes me jumpy.”

Atka shrugged. “Probably a rational response to them. Though you have to find it intriguing enough to study anyway, right?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. I read somewhere that one way to understand a group of people is to study their language. Tells you how they think, what they find important, how simple or complex they find certain things.” He scrunched his nose a bit. “Probably… sounds boring, huh?”

Atka shook her head. “I can appreciate that. Brought you something, by the way.” Atka pulled an intricate carving out of a small bag, the falcon atop the sea turtle shell, and offered it to Jake.

Jake carefully took it, turning the masks towards the wall as though he didn’t want them to see it. “This is… this is really cool. Where did you get… d-did you make this?”

The Inuit woman smiled. “The latter is correct. Made one of these ‘guardian spirits’ for Ayame too, though I haven’t shown her yet.”

“Wow, I… wow…” Jake just stared at the carving for a moment, taking it in. “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever given me something like this. I mean… like, not even close. I… this is so…”

“Don’t sweat it. It’s just something I do for friends… though I will admit I put a lot of effort into these two,” Atka said dismissively.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Jake smiled at her. “Thank you. Really, I just… wish I had something to give you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at those masks close up. The Ethereals are interesting, even if pretty much everything about their culture is out of wack,” the colonel stated.

“Of course.” Jake carefully put the carving to the side, and pushed the masks forward. “These are from the two Ethereals in Brazil. And I have others in my room. You can see them any time you wish. I was asked to translate them, so I have all of them except the one Dr. Anderson has.”

Atka looked over the masks with curiosity, noting the difference in design and ornamentation. “I can’t remember it exactly, but I know for certain that ‘Phobos’ had a mask far beyond these in terms of design.”

“Who, uh…” Jake leaned forward a bit. “Who’s Phobos?”

“Right, I just went over that in my head so far.” Atka chuckled. “I figured naming the leader of the Ethereals after the personification of fear was an apt description. He’s the one I met in my dream.”

“Really? How much of his mask do you remember?” Jake asked, hoping she didn’t take his question as a dismissal of how serious the situation had been. “Any symbols you could recreate for me would be useful.”

Atka closed her eyes for a moment. “I can try to sketch you something…” Borrowing Jake’s pencil, she started to draw a rough sketch of the mask, the memory unusually keen due to the unique circumstances of that fateful meeting.

Jake looked over the various symbols, rubbing his chin. “Wow, these… if you’re remembering these right, he sure is a complicated… this looks like a name… no, this is his name, I think. Which means his title is above… his name. Interesting. These are going to take me a while, but I’m… pretty sure I can translate them. Your ability to remember them sure helps.”

“Glad I could help, in any case,” Atka replied, finally laying the pencil to rest. “Wonder if this will give us any clues to his powers… I know he has a lot of it, but the only thing he used were those ‘binding’ threads that were probably just powerful telekinesis.”

Jake frowned, looking into Atka’s eyes. “I, um… I’m sure you’re probably getting tired of people asking you this by now, but are you okay? I know I wouldn’t be after an encounter like that. I know you’re stronger than me, but still.”

“I appreciate the concern, but yeah, I’m okay. I was a little shaken up… but even if I have to face Phobos, that’s something I have to do. I won’t run from that responsibility,” Atka responded resolutely.

“Well, you won’t have to go it alone. All of your squadmates are there to back you up.” Jake sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I… wish there was more I could do for you out on the battlefield, but I’m here to help you however I can from here.”

“Not everyone needs to fight. You being here to cheer me on is enough for me,” Atka said gently.

“I’m glad,” Jake said, but continued to rub his neck. “Atka, um… can I… are you happy? With… with me, I mean.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Atka replied simply.

The bluntness of the response seemed to make Jake relax a bit, but not by much. “I… I haven’t been completely honest with you, Atka. I mean, I… I haven’t tried to lie to you but…” He shook his head. “Maybe it was something of a lie after all.”

“You can talk about whatever it is if you want. I’m not going to get mad at you or anything.”

Jake sighed. “I… I’m not very strong, Atka. And I’m not very confident. I’m probably even less confident than you think. I… I thought if I pretended to be more confident, you wouldn’t just pass me off as some coward not worth your time. I hope if I could act more confident, it would become true. And I guess it has happened, to a degree. But I’m… scared. I’m afraid I am wasting your time. That any second, you’ll realize the mistake you made. And I’m not going to keep anything from you anymore. But, I… even if it was for the best, I can’t hide how I feel about you. I… love you, Atka. Like… love… love…”

“Jake, I don’t need the most courageous person in the world… that’s not what I was looking for. I was looking for someone that I could reach a mutual understanding with, someone who was honest and kind… and you’re all those things.” Atka leaned down to kiss him gently. “You won’t be able to convince me otherwise.”

Jake chuckled, his face reddening a bit as he let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks… I… that makes me feel better. I was just afraid… well, I’m here for you, through thick and thin. As long as you want me, nobody could pull me away from you. This… this Phobos couldn’t use his telekinetic binding things to pull me from you.” He looked away, trying to hide the embarrassment from his own corniness.

A small smile creased Atka’s lips. “Feel better now?”

“I do.” Jake smiled up at her. “How do you keep doing that?”

“Do what?” Atka asked with a bit of confusion.

“Everytime I set out to make you feel better, you always end up coming to my emotional rescue instead.” Jake placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and leaning back a bit. “Must be a natural talent. If this soldier thing doesn’t work out, you’d make an excellent therapist.”

Atka chuckled. “Perhaps, though I’d have to get formal training to get taken seriously in that regard.”

“I know you could if you tried.” Jake opened his eyes. “So, um… I have some free time. If you do to… which I guess, if you’re here… wanna do something?”

“Of course,” Atka replied confidently. “What did you have in mind?”

Jake eyes darted back and forth, and he shook his head. Get your head out of the gutter. “I-I don’t know, just… sharing a few drinks. Of… or exercising together. Or a… simulation, or… s-something.”

Atka shrugged. “Whatever you would find the most enjoyable. I have no objections to any of that.”

Jake smiled. “Well… I doubt that. I’m pretty sure I could think of something you'd object to.”

Atka raised an eyebrow mischievously. “Try me.”

Jake’s eyes wandered a bit. “Well… we could go back to your room and… I don’t know, fool around?”

The Inuit woman chuckled. “Is that something you really want to do?”

Jake’s smile wavered a bit. Wait… she… “Um… I-I mean, I… i-if you… if you wanted to, I… I’m game…”

“I did figure out that I ought to ‘live’ more, to not be so uptight,” Atka responded, her expression softening. “I… wouldn’t mind doing something like that, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.”

Jake just stared at Atka for a few moments, his chair slowly leaning back until it, and he, fell to the floor. Atka stepped forward to check on him, but he quickly jumped to his feet. “W-well, I… w-w-we could… t-try and… stop whenever you start to get uncomfortable…”

Atka tilted her head to the side slightly. “Are you going to be alright?”

Jake chuckled. “I… I-I’ve never felt better, to be perfectly honest.”

With a shrug and a smile, Atka mused,” I… hope Ayame isn’t around right now…otherwise I’m not sure where we could go.”

Jake nodded, and nervously followed Atka back to her room. It was vacant, Ayame likely either having a check-up, in engineering with Sunny, or exercising against doctor’s orders. As he closed the door behind them, the young guard couldn’t help but wonder if someone was playing a trick on him, but he didn’t see Atka being that cruel.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53 “With Our Powers Combined?”

X-COM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
Psi Laboratory
Oct. 30th, 1000 Hours

“Shush,” Jeanne said. “She’s waking up in a minute, and I’m not going to argue this…”

“All I’m saying is, it is my job!” Jean insisted. “Eva accepts it, and she’s my girlfriend. Why can’t you?”

“Because Alice isn’t just a machine to you, so you should keep… I’m not talking about this!”

The siblings stood in awkward silence as Mary’s pod slowly opened, the occupant coming to, the room’s lights dimmed so not to upset her.

“Uggh…” Mary grasped her head, “Eh’m eh’ suppose te’ have eh’ headache?”

“Some people have a bit of a headache, nausea, and the like.” Jeanne stepped forward in case Mary needed a shoulder to lean on. “It’ll pass in a few minutes.”

Mary took her first step out of the pod, the room spinning slightly, but enough to make her extremely dizzy. Her second step was aimed for the floor outside of the pod, but as she moved her her foot caught the edge of the pod, causing her to stumble over. Mary instinctively grabbed for the closest thing to her, Jeanne, but instead simply pulled her down too as Mary landed on top of her.

“Oof!” Jeanne flinched a bit, but smiled at Mary. “Are you okay, Mary? I… I-I guess we should put some mats in front of the pods.”

“Y-Yeh... “ She said as she held onto the outside of the pod, dragging herself to her feet. She looked at her hands, but seeing nothing really different she asked, “Se’ did ‘et work?”

Jeanne stood up, rubbing her backside lightly. “Yeah, don’t worry. Most people come out expecting to feel like they should be surging with power, and sometimes that’s the case. But usually not with blues or greens. Mostly because of how your powers work, and what they do.”

Jean grinned. “Of course, as a green, Jeanne could always just punch me and you could trying healing me.” His eyes widened at his own suggestion, knowing he didn’t need to give his sister any ideas.

“Eh’ could try ‘at.” Mary smirked at Jeanne.

Jeanne nodded, and cracked her knuckles. Looking a bit panicky, Jean quickly said, “Wait, Jeanne hurt her cul… her butt when she fell! You should try and heal that!”

“You’re giving meh’ permission te’ touch yer’ sister’s ass?” Mary’s smirk widened, before bowing a little, “Eh’ humbly accept…”

“Wait, it… it doesn’t hurt that much!” Jeanne quickly said.

Jean folded his arms. “Come now. This is for the sake of assisting one of the soldiers with psionics. Our job.”

Jeanne let out a soft whine, but slowly nodded. “N… n-no funny business.”

“Al’ight, je’ take your pants off an’ we can ‘et started.” The gunner chuckled.

Jeanne shuddered, and slowly did as she was told, Jean turning away slightly, though mostly to hide how much he was enjoying her humiliation. Turning from Mary in her modest undies, Jeanne muttered, “J-just… g-get it over with…”

Mary kneeled down, then spoke in a flirtatious tone,“Ye’ know, ye’ have eh’ really cute butt…”

“Th… thank you,” Jeanne chuckled nervously. “B-but I’m not… you know…”

“That’s eh’ shame…” She replied, raising her hands up and moving them over her backside. Mary focused on the idea of healing her, but after a few moments of nothing really happening, gave up, “Th’ hell? How do eh’ make et’ work?”

Jean laughed loudly, and Jeanne quickly pulled her pants back up. “She… sh-she groped your ass, and it didn’t OW!” She kicked him in the shin, hard.

As her brother limped to the side, Jeanne sighed and turned back to Mary. “You have green psionics, I’m sure of it. The readings didn’t lie. And biokinesis seems to be one of the first abilities…” She thought for a moment. “Maybe… maybe you can do something offensive…”

“How’er we going te’ test ‘at though?” Mary asked, standing up again.

Jeanne snared at her brother. “I took the first hit, no you take the second.”

Jean backed up a bit. “Now, wait a minute, I…”

“Do this, or we find a guy to grab onto your ass!”

Jean chuckled, but his smile faded when he saw how serious she was. “But… but I…”

“Come now,” Jeanne said mockingly. “This is for the sake of assisting one of the soldiers with psionics. Our job.”

Jean sighed. “Fine, let’s just… get it over with.”

“Hmm…” Mary said as she considered what she could try, “Eh’ know!” She said as she raised her hand, she pictured the muscles in Jean’s arm and a faint green glow formed around it, then, with a thought, caused them to involuntarily constrict, almost like he was being electrocuted, but without the pain.

“Whoa!” Jean gripped his arm tightly. “That… i-it works!”

Jean rolled her eye. “After one test? Come on.” She smiled at Mary. “How about a bit of a tummy ache?”

“Eh’ can try ‘at.” Mary said, now focusing on the muscles in his stomach, and with a thought, not only upset them, but gave him a decent bout of heartburn as well.

Gripping his stomach, he held up his free hand in defense. “O-okay, I… it works! You… you can stop now…”

“How about a brain aneurysm?” Jeanne asked coldly.

“I get it, I’m sorry.” Jean grinned at Mary. “Some people can’t take a joke.”

“Eh’ dunno… Eh’ know one more muscle weh’ could try…” Mary considered, looking down at his pants.

Jean quickly stepped back, and pulled a wrench off his belt, partially in defense. “I… I gotta… work on the, um… the pod…” He retreated to said pod, and it was his sister’s turn to crack up.

Mary laughed with her, but stopped after a few moments, “Se’ ye’ have no idea why eh’ can’t use meh’ healing?”

Jeanne shrugged. “Not sure . Probably has to do with the way you got your powers. Or the fact that you have a twin sister, which we’ve never unlocked in before. Or both. Maybe it’ll come with time, or maybe you just got… part of green.”

“Ye’ know, eh’ don’t just have one twin sister, eh’ have three…” Mary corrected, “Yer’ saying that they ell’ could’ve gotten different pieces of meh’ powers?”

Jeanne nodded. “It’s possible. We are only beginning to understand everything about psionics. But at least you have part of the powers, right?”

“True.” Mary thought out loud, “An’ et’ seems like I’m eh’ natural with ‘em.”

“And remember, if you need anything, the Psi Lab is always here.” Jeanne smiled. “Come back if you have any questions or concerns.”

Mary nodded, “Se’... Ye’ sure ye’ don’t like girls? Have ye’ tried et’?”

Jeanne eyes wandered to the side, and noted Jean was out of ear shot. In a low voice, she said, “I… I’d never say I didn’t like something I didn’t try… at least once.”

“Well, et’ least you’ve tried the thing that ye’ say you dun’t like,” Mary replied, smiling at her, “Not like that Atka, she doesn’t know what she’s missing if ye’ ask meh’.”

Jeanne shrugged lightly. “Well… some girls are just willing to take more risks. Not that I blame her.” Her smile wavered a bit. “The, uh… the rest of college freshman year was awkward with that roommate… believe me…”

Mary chuckled, smirking a little, “‘Ell, maybe she wasn’t very good in bed… Takes eh’lot more… finesse te’ make another girl come…”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

A Day in the Life of a Young Ethereal

0800:
Arise to find Desmond already awake and working. Discuss the nature of humanity with Sora over breakfast. Ask Desmond if he has any chocolate. He says he will see if he can find any.

0900:
Assist Jake in translating Ethereal language. Discuss the likely hood that General is my father, and my desire to stop him.

1000:
In exchange for my help, Jake offers me a chance to further my research into human culture by meeting his juvenile roommates. Rei is quite inquisitive, and we get along well. Hitomi insists on asking me about my powers, but I do not mind. Keiko incessantly smiles at me, telling me how cute I am and insisting we be the best of friends. When I ask why they are so friendly, they tell me of a rough start with the Chryssalid hybrid girl.

The girls offer me 'sweets', but no chocolate.

1030:
I find Buniq, the Chryssalid girl. We talk briefly after her brother convinces her to speak with me. I learn valuable information about the 'Honored Overseer', and give her advice on her psionics.

Meet Atka's family on way out. Find them pleasant, and they further my studies into human family structures.

I regret not asking Buniq or Atka's sister if they have candy.

1115:
Stand outside of lab for thirty minutes, considering whether I should confess to the captive Ethereal my role in her friend's death. See Ms. Lockheart, who advises against it, at least for now.

1200:
Work with Sunny on developing more powerful arc throwers in case any more captures are needed, as well as work on the medisprays. We are successful in both endeavors, despite Alice's experiment slowing us down.

Sunny informs me I ate all of her candy yesterday.

1700:
Risk a visit to recreation room. Mixture of confused, curious, or cold stares make me hesitate, but Atka and Ayame are there, and they encourage me to stay.

Suggested to try a 'chocolate milk shake'. Said shake falls before I can taste it when a drunken patron bumps into my table, and I am informed they do not have the materials to make another.

1800:
Relax in holo-rec room, using a simulation of a tropical planet I briefly visit some time ago.

1900:
Report back to Desmond, who has found chocolate for me. Says it is not very good chocolate, but I disagree upon trying it.

Do not remember the rest of the evening, other then some singing, some dancing, and some hugging.

 

[Adrammalech]

// PUTTING IN THE WORK //
Emily Fischer
XCOM Headquarters – Holo-Training Room
Siberia, Russian Federation
October 30, 2018 – 6:24 PM

Emily focused and flung her palm forwards, blasting a perfectly rounded sphere through a Thin Man cutout. She gave a brief bout of panting and smiled at the broken target. She went through her mental checklist as she took a breather, counting 39 successes and 42 failures. Only three more to 50%. The doors open behind her and she turned to see Sven walking through the doorway, picking up an old pulse sniper rifle off the practice weapon racks and whistling over to her.

“Come on, Emily,” Sven sighed. “It’s already an hour into my scheduled time, and I haven’t even fired a shot.”

“You don’t even need to. Seriously, everyone knows you’re a good marksman by now.”

“You don’t become a number one sniper being content and lazing about,” he said, holding his rifle on his shoulder. “I need to practice. Come on.”

“Fine,” she panted, “I’ll let you shoot…if you let me stay nearby.”

“I prefer solitude,” Sven shook his head.

“Consider it a situational change then.”

“Ugh, fine…”

He took a couple minutes to set up his firing position and the target he preferred, and then laid into his spot while trying to ignore the fact he was being watched. After a couple seconds of blank staring and focusing, Sven shot a volley of five shots, all of them square into the head of the cut out, two of them even overlapping. Sven stood beside the cutout, pushing a fingertip through the marks on the Thin Man’s head, the pressure easily ripping along the tear between its eyes. He gave an unusually wistful look towards Emily.

“Once upon a time, my biggest dream was to make a shot, right here. A perfect shot, straight through the brain.”

“Obviously you’ve done that by now,” she replied.

“Yep. Then it was two shots, the heart and the brain. Then two right through the brain. Then three in the same spot. I did it a couple times, then I said five in the same hole. Even my training officer said I should just be proud with three.”

“I understand that,” Emily nodded. “You don’t want to just keep doubling down, chasing some impossible trick shot, what with wind and ballistics and all that…”

“I did it once,” he smirked. “At a private range…no one ever believed me, but I did it. Five shots, one hole. The other snipers used to make fun of me for it…‘if Anderson hits a target and no one is there to see it, does it die?’”

“Sounds annoying.”

“Eh, didn’t do it for praise. Figure we’re alike in that regard.”

Emily nodded and Sven clicked a button and a target appeared far away, well past eyesight and into squadsight range. He leveled the pulse long rifle in his arms, firing a shot, taking a breath, firing another shot, and taking another shot. After a third, he smiled and pushed the button, pulling the holographic target back towards them, three closely grouped holes smoldering in its forehead.

“Almost,” he sighed.

“You really push yourself to that high a standard?”

“Not like anyone else is going to.”

“I’m getting bored just shooting for 50%. I’m surprised you have the willpower for something like that,” Emily shook her head.

“You gonna pretend like you don’t?” Sven retorted. “You make hurricanes with your mind and bitch-slap super-psychics just because you want to. Then you expect me to believe you can’t push yourself in a shooting range?”

“Well…when you put it like that,” Emily smirked. “I guess I can try.”

Emily backed away and focused with her mind, setting her mind and her body to the task. She fired one shot with ease, the spherical psionic ball punching through the target’s heart. She set up a second shot immediately, ignoring the instant pangs of pain growing between her temples, setting up a lance and throwing it and punching through the target’s lungs. As she set up a third, she strained and sweat, pain radiating in her brain and through her muscles. With an angry roar, she fired it and bashed it through the target’s stomach, stumbling back and collapsing into a panting mess.

“You alright?” Sven asked, taking her arm and helping her up.

“Y-yeah…did I do it…?”

“Yep,” he gave a small smile, “now you just have to get to 60%.”

Emily whined loudly at the idea, feeling as though she had a spike going through the center of her head. Sven helped her to her feet and brushed her off, her eyes locked in a wince and her body still swaying a bit as she recovered.

“C’mon, let’s get you a vitamin water or something,” Sven said.

“I’m…I’m good. You just enjoy your training time.”

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t leave you alone when you’re all disorientated.”

“Really, I’m fine,” she insisted, opening one of her eyes and giving a small rub on her forehead.

“Alright, suit yourself.”

“Thanks for the push.”

“Mmhmm.” He walked away from Emily and set up in the side of the room, summoning another target and lining up a shot.

Emily took off her training gear and took back her pistol, sneaking out of the training room just as Sven started to take his shots. She walked through the halls, debating whether to hit the cafeteria or the bar, as they’d both likely have some much needed nutrients. As she rounded one of the many corners of the hallways, she noticed a familiar face.

Dallas was there, talking to another woman. This one was older than the tech he was chatting up before, but still plenty attractive in her own way. Long, sandy hair; an hourglass figure hidden in a cozy-looking blue sweater; the perfect cuddler, really. As she scrunched her nose at how she looked, the woman moved forward and kissed his cheek. Emily’s feet flew forwards as if by reflex, and she pushed the woman away with a scowl.

“Hey! He’s taken!”

“Emily!” Dallas looked at her.

“Oh no, no…I’m…” the woman raised her right hand, pointing towards the wedding band on her ring finger, “I’m mar…well, widowed. I guess that doesn’t help me much. But no, I was trying to…”

“This is Abby, she helped me when I was depressed a few months ago. Remember this?” He pulled out the gold hairpin that Emily had mocked him for once upon a time. “Her daughter gave me this.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, we’re just friends,” Abby looked sadly towards Emily, “I spent a few good years in Quebec, and the kiss kind of rubbed off on me.”

“I’m sure you’ve guessed,” Dallas gave a slight smile towards Abby, “but this is my girlfriend Emily.”

“I…I…” Emily blushed brightly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shoved you. I don’t know what I was thinking…”

“It’s fine, I can understand where it’d be confusing,” the civilian chuckled nervously.

A small girl with flaxen hair rushed up towards them, tugging at Abby’s pant leg. “Mom, let’s go, I want to look at more things!”

“That’s my cue,” the older woman smiled. “It was nice meeting you, Emily, even if a bit awkwardly. You’re a very lucky woman.”

“Thanks again, Abby,” Dallas nodded.

“Of course. Stay safe.”

As she walked away, Emily turned towards Dallas, looking equal parts embarrassed and concerned.

“Listen, I know you’re going through a tough time with your brother, and I’m not always the most emotionally available or best socializer…but I love you, and we should be together, exclusively. Trust isn’t easy for me…so please don’t…do anything with anyone else, okay?”

Dallas looked down the hall, as if looking for someone else. “Don’t worry, I’m only interested in you.”

“Hey, look at me!”

He looked directly into her eyes and smiled sincerely. “I mean it.”

“Okay then…”

“Come on, you’ve been training too hard lately,” he wrapped his arm around her, “let’s go unwind.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

Chocoholic Part One (MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53)

X-COM Headquarters
Primary Rec-Room, The Bar
Oct. 31st, 1200 Hours

Jan’tiala sat at the bar, nervously looking around at all the patrons. She was nervous being around so many strangers, made worse by all the odd decorations sending chills down her spine. But she had come here on a mission. There was something at this bar that she needed to have, and she was going to get it, no matter what. She looked towards the bartender, who nodded, held up one finger, and stepped away.

Elizabeth bounced her way down the hall and towards the bar, a big smile on her face. Since it was Halloween, she was allowed a day off work and she wanted to unwind a bit before doing anything else. It was only noon but there was always time for a drink. Quickly slipping in through the doors as another had entered, she smiled and looked around, a little surprised to see a shrouded figure at the bar. Walking up, she smirked when she saw it was Tiala. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

The Ethereal jumped a bit, and quickly turn to Ellie. Oh, hello… um… She cleared her throat. “H-hello, Elizabeth. I am here to get a refreshment. How about… you?”

“I am as well, I got time off for the holiday so I wanted to relax a bit. You seem a little nervous.” Ellie stated as she sat in the stool next to the Ethereal.

“These… arrangements and items make me… uneasy?” Tiala looked at a particularly menacing Jack-o -lantern. “Has… X-COM joined… I believe they are called ‘cults’?”

Elizabeth giggled and she shook her head. “No silly, today is Halloween. Every October 31st, people dress up in costumes and take kids around door to door for trick-or-treating. It is basically going to people’s houses and getting free candy. It is meant to be a scary time, that is the whole gimmick. Though people also use it as a time to pull practical jokes on one another. I remember one year with my uncle, I hid in the closet and when he tried to look for me, I jumped out and scared him, things like that. It is fun!” Elizabeth smiled and lowered herself a little, embarrassed at the volume of her excitement.

Jan’tiala nodded. “Oh, I see. Very interesting. There are so few events amongst the Ethereals like a ‘holiday’. But this is interesting. Especially for the children.” She tilted her head, and slowly said, “Des… Mr. Walker… explained to me that I might have… said something to give you the wrong impression before. I wanted to apologize.”

“It is alright to call him Desmond you know?” Elizabeth waved her hand and gave a smile. “And don’t worry, to be honest I can be melodramatic for the sake of being melodramatic. It is sort of a quirk of mine.” Giggling again, Elizabeth smiled and called out for the bartender, wanting to get a drink. “So don’t worry, I wasn’t being that serious.”

Placing a frothy drink in front of Jan’tiala, the bartender smiled at Ellie. Tiala simply stared at her drink, her eyes widening a bit in wonder.

“What is that?” She asked, leaning forward in a bit of curiosity.

“Um… I believe it is called a chocolate milkshake,” Tiala answered. “I was told I would love it.” She shook her head, and definitely folded her arms. “I will try it, but I doubt it will be as good as people think.”

Ellie’s eyes widened and she nodded her head. “Are you crazy, they are amazing! There was this small ice cream shop by our house when I was younger and they made the best milkshakes...I am jealous…”

The bartender smiled, stepping away to get one for Ellie too. Jan’tiala slowly grasped the straw, taking a quick sip, then a slightly longer one. She shuddered, her cheeks flushing, and she let out what almost sounded like a purr.

“See, told you.” Elizabeth bounced in her seat a little in anticipation for her own and smiled at the Ethereal. “You look just like a little girl when she has her first milkshake.”

“It is… wonderful…” The Ethereal girl held it out for Ellie to taste, pulled it back quickly to take another drink, then held it out for Ellie again. “I believe… the word is… heavenly…”

Ellie pushed it back, letting the Ethereal enjoy her own drink, insisting she would just wait. “Yep, that is how I would describe it.”

Jan’tiala didn’t argue, taking a nice, long sip. As the melted mix of mix and chocolate ice cream slid down her throat, she hummed softly to herself, swaying back and forth in her own world. Her face was flushed, and she seemed to randomly giggle for no reason.

After a few minutes, the doors to the bar came open again and Desmond walked in, dressed in a plain gray T-shirt, black dress coat and black jeans. Seeing both the swaying Ethereal and his bouncy fiance, he approached with caution and came up between the two. “Enjoying yourselves?”

“Owe… ever… so much … Desmond…” Jan’tiala leaned over to Ellie. “Desmond is here…”

“I can see that.” Ellie looked over at Desmond and kissed him on the cheek, raising an eyebrow at her companion. “Don’t know what has come over her, she was fine a second ago and now she is acting like a...well you see…”

“She didn’t have alcohol right?” Desmond asked, looking at the bartender.

The bartender shook his head, nodding his head towards the milkshakes. “Nothing alcoholic in there.”

“You know…” Tiala took another quick drink. “They don’t… have… cocoa… anywhere I’ve ever… been. Think this place is the only… place?” She took another long drink, and gave the milkshake the Bartender brought Ellie with a look of longing, despite still having half her own left.

Elizabeth looked at her’s and drank it herself, glancing at Jan’tiala with a cautious look. “Mine…”

Desmond watched the Ethereal and he raised an eyebrow. “So...you have never had cocoa before coming here, and whenever you have it you get all flushed, happy and get lost in your own world?” With a long sigh, he rubbed his eyes and couldn’t contain a small chuckle. “Dear lord, cocoa is the Ethereal equivalent to drugs and alcohol.”

“Mmm… it is?” Tiala laughed loudly, then took a long, greedy drink. “So sweet… so nice…” She smiled at Ellie. “I… want yours…”

Looking at the Ethereal she pouted a bit and took another sip. “Do I have to?”

Tiala swayed a bit, and smiled. “I can… make it worth… it…”

She narrowed her eyes and nodded her head. “Go oooon.”

Jan’tiala lifted her hands, a slight glow in her hands. Motioning them, she sent tingles throughout Ellie’s body, waves of pleasure washing over her. “Want… your… chocolate…”

Elizabeth laid her head against the bar top, squeezing her legs together and her face turning deep red. “What...was that?” She asked, a bit panty.

“I can… do more… if you want…” Tiala reached out, caressing Ellie’s cheeks with two hands while reaching for her milkshake with a third. “For Desmond… too…”

The soldier reached out and grabbed the Ethereal’s arm, shaking his head. “You know you aren’t supposed to be using your powers like that…” He informed Tiala, a little disappointed in her. “Ellie, just let her have it, but after this you can’t have anymore without someone watching you.”

The doctor nodded her head, still flushed and trying her best not to move too much.

Jan’tiala dipped her head, slowly retracting her hand from the drink. She looked up at Desmond, her dark face tinted red. “I’m sorry… Desmond, I… I’ve never… felt… so strange…”

The soldier sighed, letting go of the Ethereal’s arms. “It’s okay to try and indulge yourself once in a while but it goes too far when you manipulate someone like that.” He looked at Ellie, a bit not knowing what to do with her. When he reached out to put a hand on her back, she jumped a bit.

Jan’tiala extended her hands again, doing what she could to fix any imbalances she made in Elizabeth. “I am… embarrassed, I… do not know why I did that. I… I am ashamed of my actions, and I beg your forgiveness, Elizabeth.”

“It’s...fine…” She sat up and rolled her shoulders, a little embarrassed herself. “I thought Desmond could be the only one to make me feel like that...what did you do?”

“Biokinesis…” Jan’tiala smiled shyly. “I… increased the… endorphin levels… and stimulated your… erogenous… zones. S-s-sorry…”

“It’s alright...I forgive you.” Ellie shifted herself a bit and looked down. “But I can’t say...that wasn’t...at least it felt good…”

 

[MarineAvenger]

Chocoholic Part Two (MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53)

Desmond stared at her with a little disbelief, rubbing in his face in regret of coming to the bar.

The Ethereal blinked several times, the effects of you intoxicating sweet wearing off. She looked at Desmond, then smiled at Ellie. “I believe… I have embarrassed him more than you…”

“Well, to bad for him. If my body felt good it does, I won’t lie about it.”

“Well… I could always do it for him too.” Tiala shook her head. “Though… I do not know human customs all that well, but I do not believe it is appropriate for a man who will soon be married to feel that pleasure from another woman.”

“Yes, but from what I recall, it is usually done by a human woman who sells herself for those kinds of services. Plus considering you are the Ethereal equivalent to a developing teenager, there is that sort of problem as well.” He stated, not sure where this whole side of Ellie was coming from.

“If you're worried about me, Desmond, you don’t have to be. In fact...I am actually surprisingly open to the idea….buuuut, if you don’t want to use this opportunity I will most certainly capitalize on this...after all, there are such things as bachelorette parties.”

Tiala lifted her arms, the slight glow returning to her hands as she awaited his answer.

He stared at them both with disbelief. “Wha...wait, wait, wait, wait...where is this coming from, Ellie? I know you have been a bit… frisky lately, but nothing like this…”

“I am exploring a bit more of my adventurous side, I never really had an experimental stage before all this. Remember...you were my first time.”

He was at a loss for words for words, looking between the two women like he was going to have a panic attack. Calming himself down a bit he crossed his arms and he shook his head. “You know what you are asking for, right?”

Ellie nodded, crossing her arms as well. “I am a grown girl you know…”

Still baffled, he quickly retorted without thinking, “Well isn’t that kind of onesided? It isn’t like you can return the favor.”

Jan’tiala lowered her hands slightly, worried she had caused a rift in her drunken stupor. “I… I could simply… enhance both of you and… w-watch. It would do wonders for my studies into… human cultures, and be enjoyable for you both…”

The two ignored the Ethereal, just staring daggers at one another. “Well it is my decision to make, if I want to do it I should be damn well able to do it.”

“This isn’t like that time with Eve, this is different.” Desmond told her sternly.

“And how is it? It is basically the same scenario but I am the one being offered the pleasure! I didn’t exactly see you refusing that, now did I?”

“You never gave me a chance to voice my opinion!”

“Well...well...err...you can be like talking to a brick wall sometimes!” Elizabeth shouted

“Yeah, whatever…” Desmond walked off, barging through the doors and leaving.

Sighing, Elizabeth laid her forehead down on the counter. “I swear…”

“No, I…” Tiala looked between Elizabeth, the door, and her empty glass. “Oh, dear, I… I have damaged your relationship, I…” Tiala got up, and held her hands up. “Please, stay here, I… I will be right back…”

“No…” Ellie said, her voice muffled from laying her head down with her forehead resting on her arms. Sitting up, Ellie sighed. “This...was bound to happen. This fight was a long time coming. It is normal for couples to fight sometimes Tiala...in fact, this is really our first major one. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“Oh, um…” Tiala sat back down, but gave Ellie a nervous glance. “But… it will be better, right? He seems to care a great deal about you, and you him. I would hate for you two to… separate.”

Ellie smiled lightly and looked down. “We have survived Moscow, two base assaults, a family ordeal, and a life threatening illness...it will take a LOT more than this to ever make us consider splitting up.”

“Good, good.” Tiala smiled back. “The last thing I need is to ruin the relationship of the man that… stuck his neck out for me so much… I believe is the expression.”

Ellie nodded her head. “Come on, let’s get on after him.” Elizabeth got up from her seat and walked to the door. “I do have a question for you though...if you are willing to answer it.”

Tiala followed closely. “Go ahead. Ask.”

“Well, it is sort of my job to understand how bodies work and well...how do Ethereals...you know...um, pleasure themselves? I don’t imagine they exclusively use psionics?”

Jan’tiala blushed a bit. “Oh, um… w-well, psionics are…. used a lot, with how my people’s bodies have atrophied, but… other than that, I… I mean, we… are very similar to humans. Compatible, I would… say…”

Ellie blushed a little too. “Oh...well then…” She blushed a bit and leaned into Jan’Tiala, telling her a crazy plan on how to solve their dilemma.

Back in their shared room, Desmond sat on the edge of his bed, there being two in the room but the couple just generally just sleeping in the same one, and regretted what had transpired back in the bar.

Ellie walked in, the Ethereal behind her and upon seeing his fiance, Desmond got up and the two embraced each other. “I’m sorry Ellie, I...don’t mind you being adventurous. I guess I just have a stick so far up my ass that I failed to see that you have some...pent up needs.”

Ellie squeezed him back and smiled. “I am glad to hear that…” Leaning into his ear, she whispered the same plan she had to Jan’tiala.

Desmond stared at her with a raised eyebrow and his mouth hung open. “You want...not just me...but us both...to sleep with an Ethereal?”

Ellie nodded slowly. “Yeah...I know it sounds crazy but it does technically fix our problem…”

“B-But…” He looked at the Ethereal and his mouth hung open. “Are you really okay with this?”

Jan’tiala rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I… do want to study… all aspects of humanity. The chance to… study something so… intimately…”

Shaking his head in disbelief, he sat back down on the bed with Ellie sitting next to him. “And...this is...possible?”

Ellie nodded. “According to her...she does have the necessary, ahem...parts to do so.”

“Uh……” Rubbing his face quickly, Desmond growled a bit and just threw his hands up in the air. “If we are doing this it better be in the next minute before my senses finally get the better of me.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
“Friends for Now, Family Forever: Part One"

X-COM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
Main Engineering, Work Space of Sonya Randolf
Oct. 31st, 1300 Hours

Sunny bobbed her head gently, a pair of headphones in her ears as she worked on a delicate computer chip. Distracting music might not be the best idea in engineering, but anything to distract her from the complaining of a certain android was welcome. She scrunched her nose as she oh so carefully used her abilities to test out some connections, and smiled as the power went through.

As Sunny finished, a hand tapped her on the shoulder, the volume of the music preventing her from hearing the person approach.

She spun around, rolling her eyes a bit, but her face lit up at the sight of her British roommate. “Ammy.” She pulled the headphones off, and asked, “How have you been doing lately? You… you look better then you did a while ago.”

“I’m fine,” Ammelia smiled, “How’re you and Alice doing?”

“Good, good.” Sunny’s eyes shifted back and forth. “I-I mean… I’m good, and Alice is… intact… ahem…”

Ammy noticed her friend’s hesitation and gave her a concerned look, “ I-Is something wrong?

Behind Ammelia, Alice let out a loud sneeze as she walked over, the heavy equipment looking odd in the hands over her child body, despite the ease she could carry it with. Her face was red, and she had a tired look in her eyes.

The sniper turned to see the small android with a mix of shock and confusion, “Wha- Alice? Is that you?”

“Yeah… hi, Ammy.” Alice sniffed, and place the equipment down, giving Ammelia a tired wave. “Don’t worry… I don’t think I’m contagious…”

“Contagious? You’re sick? Is that even possible?” She asked with even more confusion.

Sunny sighed. “It is an experiment. One I told her to WAIT TO DO!” She shook her head. “In her attempt to understand what it means to be human, she programmed her body to simulate being sick. Strep and… the flu, I think. She was going on and on about how easy it was, and how she didn’t understand why humans had such a problem…”

“Not now!” Alice let out what sounded like a cough and a sneeze at the same time. “It wasn’t supposed to last this long! Have you figured out what’s wrong yet?”

Sunny shrugged. “Not yet.”

“She can’t… Die from it, can she?” Ammelia asked, looking back over to Sunny.

Alice’s eyes widened, and Sunny raised a hand. “No, no. It is just a simulated illness. She has all the debilitating effects, but she’s in no real danger. She could be sick like this for years and it wouldn’t actually hurt her.”

“Years!” Alice stomped her foot. “I can’t take this another day! Fix it!” She stomped off, and Sunny covered her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh while she was still in ear shot.

“So… Why the child’s body? Did she ask for that too?” She said as she watched Alice turn a corner.

Sunny shook her head. “No, she just had the good sense to do it in her non-combat body.” Sunny turned to her computer. “But I think she’s suffered enough.” She opened up a file named ‘Alice’s Cure’, and downloaded the contents to a flashdrive, and grinned at Ammelia. “Hope she won’t be mad at me…”

Ammelia couldn’t help but smile a little, “How long have you had that?”

Sunny looked away. “Um… t… three days…” She turned back, a slightly pleading look. “You… you don’t understand! She was all like ‘This is nothing, humans just complain too much’. And she said she did it now because you can’t predict when you get sick, and I figured it wouldn’t be a fair test if she knew when it… would end…”

“I understand. At least you didn’t give her anything too bad, pneumonia wouldn’t have been very fun for her.” Ammy replied, nodding her head.

Sunny smiled, and jumped up. “I have a present for you.” She rushed over to a large, steel cabinet. Within was a variety of interesting bits of equipment. She pulled out a shiny new sniper scope, and brought it over to Ammelia. “For you!”

“Really?” She said as she turned the scope left and right, “What does it do?”

“Well, besides being extremely durable… and I mean that, I dare you to try and break it.” Sunny flipped a switch on the side. “You can program to connect directly to your artificial vision, so not only will looking through it be like an extension of your own vision, it’ll feed you tactical info, like enemy distance and wind and so forth.” She turned it around and pointed at the front of it. “And there is a sensor that’ll shut it down if it senses a bright flash, in case you can’t turn your vision of in time.”

“This is… Thank you so much, Sunny,” Ammelia said as she brought her in for a hug, “How long did it take you to make this?”

Sunny thought about it. “Well, um… it took a while, since I was working on the weapons, and…” She chuckled. “You know, constantly rebuilding the SHIVs. About a month. Though the plans for it took about another month to iron out. I wanted to make sure it was perfect.”

“Are you still planning to join Cross Tech after all this is over?” Ammelia asked, “Because all you’d need to do is show him this and you’d be hired in a second, not to mention your work with Alice.”

Sunny nodded. “I… I’d like to. And I know Mr. Zero would prefer me having a safe, stable home, even if I’d miss traveling with him. But…” She frowned. “I’m still only twelve. I know your father is opened minded, but do you really think he’d accept me so easily?”

“He might be a little unsure at first, but with my recommendation I’m sure he’d say yes.” Ammelia smiled, “Besides, you’re just as, if not smarter than most adult scientists.”

Sunny blushed a bit, returning to her seat. “Oh… I don’t know about that. I… I-I’m sure your father has the best minds in the world, and I’d struggle to keep up. Besides…” She tapped her head. “I cheat, remember?”

“It doesn’t matter.” The sniper responded, “You’d still be smart even without your supercomputer brain, you’d just have less… processing power.”

“I-I… suppose so.” Sunny smiled. “Thanks, Ammy. Have you thought about what you were going to do? After the war, I mean?”

“Sort of…” She replied, “I know that wherever I go I want to be there with Buniq… But since she doesn’t really have a home to go back to anymore, I suggested that we could live at Cross Tech together.”

“That would be nice,” Sunny agreed. “And no matter where you end up, I’m sure you’ll be happy.” He smile widened a bit. “And if things go as planned, you’ll get to see her pretty she is with your own eyes.”

 

[Frostlich1228]

“Friends for Now, Family Forever" Part Two

“Yeah…” Ammy said, hey eyes lowering a little, “Makes me wonder if the world that Acedia showed me was actually how the world truly looked or not.”

Sunny wondered on that for a moment. “Hard to say. Tiala told me her vision isn’t very different from ours, so maybe. Though… she might have just been showing you what would please you the most.”

“You’re probably right… At least it was beautiful while it lasted.”

“You’ll get to see it yourself, soon enough.” Sunny looked Ammy in the eyes. “It… it is really brave of you to continue to fight, and put you eyes on hold for us.”

“Thank you,” Ammelia smiled, “And I hope I didn’t worry you and Alice too much by being gone for five hours.”

Sunny bit her lip, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, um… A-Alice held it together o-okay, but… a-after the SHIV was destroyed and I lost the feed, I was… kinda freaking out…”

“It’s okay. At least you didn’t have to feed Acedia grapes, or rub her feet…” Ammelia replied, shuttering a little.

Sunny suppressed a laugh. “W-who had to rub her feet?”

“Poor Mary…” The sniper added, chuckling a little.

“Wow…” Sunny laugh out loud. “I’m surprised Mary didn’t jump out of the ship to try and catch the escape pod when Acedia fled. She must have been so mad…”

“I think she was more grossed out than mad.”

The pair shared a laugh as Alice walked up, ready to beg for relief for the hundredth time. Sunny quickly held up the flashdrive, and Alice rushed over, snatching it like it was an antidote to a deadly poison and plugging it into a port behind her neck, all the time yelling, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Being human’s not so easy then, is it?” Ammy asked, smiling at the android.

Alice shook her head. “No… but it isn’t fair if I don’t get everything, good and bad.” As her ‘illness’ was ‘cured’, she smiled and said, “Maybe I should try pneumonia next!”

Ammelia gave Sunny a ‘seriously’ look, and turning back towards Alice, “Trust me, you don’t want that, unless you want to be bedridden and coughing up snot for another week.”

Alice’s smile faded, and she muttered, “M… maybe I save that for when the war is over…”

Sunny rubbed her eyes. “Ya think?”

As she said that, a familiar gunner entered the room, standing behind her sister in the doorway while carrying a small alien drone in her arms, “Sunny?”

“Oh, hey Mary.” Sunny tilted her head. “What you got there?”

Ammelia turned to see her sister in the doorway, “Mary! When I went to see you they told me you left the Psi labs late last night, I’ve been looking for you all day.”

“Eh’ve been looking for ye’ too actually, but eh’ came te’ try an’ get my friend here fixed.” Mary said looking down at her disabled drone.

“Let me see it.” Sunny took the drone, opening up one of the back panels. “Hmm… it looks like the fuel system is burnt out. The aliens have been tinkering with these things lately to make them less useful after capture.” She rummaged through one of her drawers, pulling out a spare power cell, and pulled out the old one. “Can you… stand directly in front of it?”

“Eh’ sure.” Mary replied, doing as she was told, “Es’ that good?”

Sunny nodded, and popped in the new cell. “The loss of power should have wiped its memories and reset it to its original base programming.” The lights on the front of the drone blinked on, and beam of light shot out, scanning Mary from head to toe and back again. After a few more beeps and flashes, it rose into the air, and circled around Mary like a faithful pet. “There we go. It now recognizes your species as its controllers, and you as its primary master.”

“Heh…” Ammelia said looking up at the petite drone, “He’s kinda cute. Are you going to name him?”

“Eh’ didn’t consider it…” Mary said, quickly trying to think up a name, “How ‘bout… Gadget?”

Sunny nodded. “I like it. Simple but effective.” She grinned. “Just be careful. Those things can’t take much.”

“He’s made eh’ alloy, is he really ‘at fragile?” Mary asked, tilting her head slightly.

Alice lightly tapped it. “Why don’t you leave it here for a couple days. I’m sure there are a few things we can do to reinforce it.”

“Alright, eh’ can do that,” She replied as Gadget flew over to Sunny, “Thanks for th’ help, eh’ve been trying to turn him on ever since the mission.”

“That’s funny, Mary, you usually don’t have that much trouble turning things on.” Ammelia replied, smirking a little.

“Yeh’, guess eh’m a little off this week,” Mary smiled, proud of her sister for making such a joke.

 

[Adrammalech]

// THE END OF AN ERA //
Emily Fischer
XCOM Headquarters – Cafeteria
Siberia, Russian Federation
November 1, 2018 – 1:41 PM

Emily scooped another spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth, grinning happily. She hadn’t been training for something this hard since boot camp, and the days off were all the more enjoyable for it. Sven looked at her awkwardly, the only other person at their usual table, and no petty rumors or casual conversations to go along with it.

“So, did you do anything for Halloween?” he asked.

“Twann’n,” Emily replied with her mouth full. Sven gave her a look and she swallowed it down. “Training.”

“Where are you at now?”

“56%.”

“Not bad,” Sven noted, raking a knife down the side of a corn cob. “Know where the others are?”

“Nika’s working on something for me,” she sighed, her voice turning spiteful, “I don’t know where Dallas is.”

“Weird, he usually just chills out, at least when he’s not at OTS.”

Emily sighed, lifting another spoon of food into her mouth. As she tried to shake off the worries again, Nika rushed behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Umm…hey,” Nika said towards Sven, craning her head towards Emily and lowering her voice. “So, you told me to look out for ‘some wavy-haired model pretending to be a scientist’…

Emily put down her spoon. “Yeah…?”

“Well, there was this pretty hot woman in a lab coat talking with Dallas a couple minutes ago…”

“What were they doing?”

“She gave him a present, and then he hugged her pretty closely. I’m sure it was innocent…but I don’t know…”

“Where,” Emily asked angrily.

“Well, they were by the holo room…I think they might’ve gone in together, but I wanted to tell you right away.”

Emily ran directly out of the cafeteria and down the winding hallways of the base, being careful not to bring undue attention while still rushing. Her mind dueled itself, wondering if she was being paranoid or if he really was acting strange. She reached the holo-rec room and ripped open the door, jumping inside. A simulation was already underway, a gorgeous meadow with multi-colored wildflowers peeking up above foot-tall grass, nothing but verdant hills and lone trees in every direction. In the center of the room was a small cabin, the worn-out and candlelit windows indicating that it was in use.

“Jack! You better be alone in here!”

She chased by beautiful lone trees and their shadows, shouting after him. She kicked in the door of the cabin with a loud bang of brass and crunch of wood, glancing around for him before pushing away and running in a different direction, looking behind and inside the trees.

“I’ve been watching you, and I know what you’re doing! Why…why would you do it? Do this?”

The further she ran, the faster she sprinted, tears welling up in her eyes. Why would he be here? Why wouldn’t he answer me? His silence was all that was needed to presume guilt. She anticipated finding him, debating whether she would tear him in half or break down at his feet.

“I trusted you! I…I let you in! It was difficult, I’m difficult, I know, but I was trying!”

As Emily rounded the back side of the cabin, her jaw dropped in shock. Dallas sat still and smiling, the uninhibited grass and wildflowers curling around one leg as he sat on his knee. His arms moved forwards and his grin widened, presenting a tiny box of cardboard that he had presumably made himself.

“W-w-wh-what is this?”

“You’re not the only one who can devise a master plan,” he said, his smile beaming pure white at that point. “I’m sorry to make you worry, but I did want it to be a surprise. Everything you’ve been asking questions about, it’s all been going towards this.”

Emily continued to stammer. “T-the girls…t-the snooping around…?”

“The tech was making the ring, and I was going through your stuff to learn the right size. Abby gave me the idea on how to do it.”

“I t-thought you were going to ch-chea…” she sniffled and wiped her eyes, feeling even more embarrassed than the last time.

“Not in a million years. I love you more than anyone on this earth,” he stated, his voice cracking as he went, “we may not have been together for years or know everything about each other, but I am happy every second I spend with you. And I know this is sudden and scary, but I want every adventure and every memory I have for the rest of our time here, whether it’s just a day or forever, to be with you next to me.”

The box opened and produced a perfectly-sized ring made of alloys with a magenta gemstone, created on base with what they had available.

“Emily Fischer…will you marry me?”

For that moment, time might as well have frozen for Emily as the possibility that she never expected and hardly ever considered became real. Her cheeks flushed, her mind panicked, her eyes let out a tear, and her voice gave out. Her brain analyzed a million situations, wondering if there needed to be another addition in a long line of diving into the unknown, and as her defense mechanisms peeled away, she inked out a single word accompanied by a vigorous nod.

“Yes…!”

Dallas stood up to give her the ring before Emily jumped into him, tackling him into the grass and sending the little box flying out of his hands. She pinned him down by his shoulders and kissed him like it would be the last kiss she’d ever give.

“Love you, Em,” he grinned.

“I love you too, you stupid, romantic, evil mastermind…”

They laid for hours in the grass, together, only the simulated rolling rustle of the breeze and the soft giggles and whispers to fill the room.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Connections as the Moon Waxes, Part 1”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1600 Hours, November 1st, 2018
Barracks Lounge

Six figures sat around one of the lounge tables. There were two three-seat couches and two regular chairs. Naturally, Sarah was sitting by herself in one of the chairs, leafing through a book. If there was a cover on it before, there was not one now, as the sniper seemed to prefer if no one knew what she was reading.

In the first couch Guardian MEC Trooper Amanda Ortiz, talking with her brother Gabriel and the other two on the other couch. That is, Janina Adolfsson and Kevin Nash. The newly christened captain infantry had a pleasant smile on her face, while Kevin was sarcastic as always. On the other single chair was a new face.

A strongly built African gunner was conversing occasionally with his new squadmates, smiling if naturally apprehensive about being with such a tight-knit group. Kevin had lightened the mood with his boisterous laughter when he found out the man’s complex name: Masambe Muthambi.

The entrance to the lounge opened and from the doorway a head popped in, a girl with long, blonde hair looking at the occupants inside and smiling as she disappeared and a few seconds later pulling in another behind her, this guy slightly taller than her with longish brown hair and an annoyed look on his face. The girl elbowed him in the ribs and turned around to look at the team. “Hey...um my name is Saka and this is Minato. We were wondering if you guys would mind some company?” She announced cheerfully, Minato rubbing his sore ribs.

Janina smiled. “Of course. “Do you prefer to sit together? I can move if you need me to,” she offered, gesturing to the fact that the open seats were on either side of the table.

“No, it is fine.” Saka pulled on Minato’s jacket and forced him into a chair, she occupying the one next to him. “So what are your names?” Saka asked, leaning forward and eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Janina Adolfsson,” the officer replied. “Infantry Captain, and from the proud nation of Germany.”

Kevin chuckled. “Of course you’d tack that on. I’m Kevin Nash, U.S.A. of course. I’m an assault, and you might have heard of my last name. Dad’s a boxing champion.”

Gabriel glanced at the blonde shinobi nearby. “I’m Gabriel Ortiz, just security staff here. Used to be crippled before receiving help from our wonderful Dr. Randolf.”

“Amanda Ortiz, older sister,” the Guardian stated, smiling. “And someone who is very grateful to Sunny for everything she’s done.”

“Sarah Wong,” the sniper said cryptically.

“She is our sniper, but from what I can tell she doesn’t talk much. Not a bad philosophy,” Masambe finished for Sarah, and the Chinese woman gave a slight nod of approval. “My name is Masambe Muthambi… don’t expect you to get it the first time.” The African gave a hearty laugh.

“Masambe Muthambi.” Minato said clearly. “Don’t looked surprised, you tend to figure out hard names when you live in Japan all your life.” He played off like it was no real accomplishment.

She glared at Minato, trying to pronounce the name in her head but failing. “Well, my full name is Saka Hatake...I am the leader of the Hatake shinobi clan.” She waved and smiled, kicking Minato’s leg to make him talk further.

“Ow, watashi wa anata ga hanamochinaranaidearu chikau…” (Ow, I swear you are insufferable…) “My name is Minato Origawa...the Hatake’s best warrior. And she isn’t the leader, she has been demoted until older and able to return to Japan.”

“Shut up!” She pouted, crossing her arms.

Sarah did fix her eyes on the two, catching the Japanese. “Kore wa, sairento senshi o yūhatsu shinai koto o o susumedarou,” she said to Saka. (It would be best not to provoke the silent warrior.)

Saka smiled and kicked Mianto’s leg again, causing him to yell out another ‘ow’. “Kare ni tsuite wa shinpaishinaide, watashi ga kontorōru-ka ni kare o motte iru.” (Don't worry about him, I have him under control.)

Minato rubbed his shin and mumbled. “Buratto…” (Brat…)

Stomping on his foot, Minato yelled out again and got up from the chair, mumbling to himself in Japanese and finding another seat away from Saka’s abuse. “Akachan.” (Baby.) “So, how are the rest of you doing?”

Kevin shrugged. “As good as ever. Thinking about gettin’ some more gene mods, even.”

“We are relaxing for now, though things do feel a little different without our ‘intrepid leader’, as Kevin calls her,” Janina explained. “The Colonel is working with a new power she developed recently.”

“Colonel?” Saka thought for a second and finally got the name. “Her name is...uh...it starts with an ‘A’ right?”

“Yeah,” Amanda confirmed. “Atka Ipiktok, though we all just call her Atka since that’s her preference. Her last name’s really just her father’s name, anyway.” The MEC stretched her metallic arms into the air for a moment, even though she didn’t really need to. Force of habit, the medic thought to herself.

“Right...I’m sorry I am just a little bad with remembering names.” Fixing her hair, Saka looked at the group and with an even bigger smile she asked, “So...what do you guys usually do for fun when you are off? Just hang out here or do you guys do anything special alone or as a group?”

“Well, Simba here is a great sparring partner, as I have learned,” Kevin responded, jerking a thumb in an amused Masambe’s direction. “Sarah’s a loner usu-” The assault paused, seeing the hint of a mindfray spike based off Atka’s start to coil around Sarah’s hand as she flipped a page casually. “...she practices her skills alone or with Atka.”

“And we all play pool occasionally, of course,” Amanda offered, giving the Chinese psion a bit of a disapproving look, even if Sarah didn’t seem to care. To be fair, the guardian gave Kevin the same expression, before turning back to Saka. “That’s a popular pastime on base, if you haven’t noticed.”

Saka looked down, a little embarrassed. “Well actually...I’m not really supposed to be in...the...bar…” Saka pressed her fingers together and looked away, pursing her lips.

“Oh, for the love of...she is seventeen!” Minato informed them from across the room. “She is embarrassed by her age.”

Narrowing her eyes in Minato’s direction she nodded. “Yes, I am seventeen. I just never saw any use for going to the bar much.”

“Well, the pool tables are mostly beside the bar,” Gabriel explained. “And I’ve seen Buniq sneak into the bar before to eat with her friends, and she’s the same age as you.”

“Well to be honest, I don’t have a lot of friends on the base. I like to go out exploring and stuff and I have been training Buniq but other than her, I just don’t really talk to the other people unless they talk to me first. There was that exception with the Exalt girls though but I don’t know if I would really call them my friends just yet.”

“Well, you managed to find a friendly squad including a handsome man like my-” Kevin was interrupted as Janina grabbed him by his frazzled blond hair.

“Kevin. Underage.”

“Not in Texas,” Kevin mumbled.

“Does this look like the Lone Star State to you? You’re from New York City, anyway.” Janina replied with a roll of her eyes.
Saka giggled. “Thanks Jaina. And no offense Kevin, but you are not my type.” She said with a confident grin. “Word of warning as well...don’t hit on me in front of Minato.”

The warrior did look at Kevin with a scowl on his face.

“And before you ask, no it isn’t like that. Dude is like a brother so don’t make it weird.”

“No...I literally hate you.” He stated.

“Don’t mind him.” Saka stated.

Kevin laughed, the others seeming amused as well. “Don’t hesitate to stop by more often. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to,” Janina finally said.

“Yeah, you guys seem great. It is nice to meet new people I am just not very good at it. Plus it doesn’t help that I have to drag Mr. Brooding over there out of his room for just five minutes of fresh air. If it wasn’t for me he would become a hermit within the week.”

“I can hear you.”

“I know!” She yelled back.

 

[MarineAvenger]

DarkGemini24601 and MarineAvenger: “Connections as the Moon Waxes, Part 2”

After a couple of hours with spending some time with the squad, Saka and Minato left them and moved on, Minato resisting slightly less since he knew he wouldn’t be able to escape. After meeting the colonel’s squad, Saka was rather interested in meeting the leader herself and heard she spent some time in the refugee sector of the base with her family, so she began her search there, wandering around with no real idea to go.

“Why don’t you ask for directions?” The annoyed warrior asked as Saka managed to get them lost.

“Because, you never learn where to go by asking directions, now shut up and keep walking.” She snapped.

They finally did come across Atka’s family at a small ‘living room’ section between the hallways. There was a single, curved couch there, and it contained four occupants. On the far left was a girl who looked similar to Atka in simple clothing, though she wore a dress, something Atka seldom did. She was leaning next to a woman in her forties with odd computer ‘blocks’ on either side of her head, and something about that woman’s brown eyes seemed artificial.

The other two there were men. The older one was a wizened man, also in his forties, wearing more traditional Inuit clothing. Beside him was a much younger man in his twenties, with odd red eyes like computer screens. All four of his limbs were metallic.

Approaching them, Saka smiled and waved her hand, pretty much ignoring the quirks of the three. “Um...hi there. I was wondering if you guys were A...A…” Saka cursed herself in her head, trying to remember her name.

Minato rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “She is wondering if you are Atka’s family.”

“What he said.”

The older man smiled. “We are. I’m Atka’s father, Ipiktok, and this is my wife, Yaralria, and my daughter, Nouja.”

“I am Isitoq,” the cyborg added, looking over the two newcomers curiously. “Buniq’s brother.”

“Nice...we actually just came from meeting A-Atka’s squad and we decided we wanted to meet her ourselves so we thought we would come see you guys.” Saka looked to Isitoq and smiled. “Buniq’s a good student by the way. She is a little shy around me but she is an amazing learner once she gets a hang of something.”

Isitoq nodded. “I would expect no less.”

Yaralria looked over Saka for a moment. “If you do not mind me asking, how did you come to be a ‘shinobi’ if you are not Japanese?” The curious interface’s right iris split open for a moment to reveal a gray light, before she quickly closed it and she blinked rapidly with a hint of frustration at the unconscious movement.

Saka stared at Yaralria but just remained silent and sighed. “Well...I know I am French, and I was born in the city of Carcassonne but other than that, I don’t remember anything of my early life. As far back as I can remember I have been in Japan.”

Yaralria nodded slowly. “Apologies for... the eye. To return your answer, I shall explain part of myself to you. I was changed by the aliens when I was in their captivity, and now have access to a good portion of their technical knowledge due to extensive implants. Hence the ‘computer blocks’ and the modified eyes.”

“Don’t think you freaked me out or anything it is just I was caught a little off guard.” Saka smiled to reassure the woman and turned her gaze to Nouja. “I love your dress by the way…” Saka looked down at her own white silk one and swayed a little side to side. “I always wear this as much as I can, it is one of my favorite.”

Nouja smiled. “Thanks.” She looked over her blue dress from a moment. “Nothing fancy, but I like the feel of it.”

“Yeah, I do for pretty much the same reason.” Saka also wiggled her toes, one of the many days she went without wearing anything on her feet.

“Is being a ninja cool?” the sixteen-year old asked.

Saka nodded her head. “It is, but you need to go through a lot of training to become a full fledged one.”

“Well, Atka does train me hard to control my psionics.” Nouja smiled. “It’s pretty cool having mind powers, even if it weirds dad out.”

Ipiktok shrugged. “Odd, but don’t think I don’t take pride in your accomplishments. Or your sister’s… I can’t believe she can create mirages now…”

“Always surpassing me,” Nouja muttered, though it was in good humor.

Minato chuckled and rubbed his nose. “Sibling rivalry eh? This is why I am glad I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

Nouja shrugged. “I couldn’t imagine a world without her… I complain, but she’s someone I really look up to… and I don’t think I’m the only one that does,” the Inuit girl remarked.

Minato just shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, and I honestly wouldn’t care to know what it is like.”

Ipiktok sighed. “I doubt you can be so sure about that. After all, I didn’t exactly think I was the father type for awhile…”

“Well, even if I wanted to find out I can’t.” Minato simply stated, crossing his arms and not saying another word to explain what he meant.

Saka looked at him and her shoulders dropped a little. “You can talk about it you know? You don’t need to cut them off.”

Minato looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Why should I?”

“Why not? It is good to let it out, and you can’t use that ‘gaijin’ excuse because they are probably the closest to us as you are going to get.”

“But…”

“If you won’t tell them, I will.” She said sternly.

He stared at her and clenched his jaw with a little bit of anger before he put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Watashinokazoku wa shinde iru.”

Saka crossed her arms. “English.”

Minato glanced at her. “My...family is dead.”


Nouja looked down sadly. “I’m sorry…”

Minato just shook his head. “There is nothing to be sorry about. It happened a long time ago and I got over it. Like I said, it is no big deal.” The shinobi stated plainly.

Saka sighed in defeat. “Come on Min, why can’t you just open up to someone? If there is anyone you could talk to about this it is them!”

“You shouldn’t meddle in business that is in the past.” Minato walked off quickly, not saying a word more to Saka.

The girl growled in frustration and she looked to the family. “Can any of you talk to him? That guy just doesn’t seem to want to talk to anyone. And since it got brought up...I thought I might try and bring it up to try and help him but it looked like that idea backfired. Please, you seem like a tight knit family, isn’t there any sense you could talk into him?”

Ipiktok stood up and stretched for a moment. “I’ll do my best.” The wizened Inuit went off in search of Minato.

The shinobi was alone in a little secluded alcove of the refugee area, not far from where he had been before. He was sitting on the ground and had his hood pulled up over his head, just looking down at the ground.

Ipiktok knelt down nearby. “You don’t have to be constantly alone, you know. There are people that care about you.”

Minato peered up at him and sighed to himself. “How would you know what I feel? I like being alone, that insufferable girl just doesn’t know how to take a no. I am fine, though I am sorry if Saka dragged you into things she should not bother others with.”

“Is that really all it is?” Ipiktok replied. “No one can remain alone forever… men go mad like that.”

“I…” He looked away, a little annoyed. “Things have worked out like this for a while, I see no reason to change it because one person frets over everything.”

“At least think about it,” the Inuit man replied, before standing up again. “That one person does indeed care about you,” he concluded, before walking away.

Closing his eyes, Minato was silent for a while before cursing under his breath, scratching his head and getting up to rejoin his companion.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

"To Serve Man"

Ethereal Overseer Base 112-5I Somewhere in Australia
November 1st, 2000 Hours, Local Time

What... do you want... Invidia leaned back on her throne, looking half bored, half annoyed.

Honored One, I... I wish to inform you... your Grace... your aerial unit is complete.

Invidia perked up a bit. Is that so?

Indeed. What's more, the... the special clone you requested has been completed ahead of schedule.

Invidia rose from her seat, inciting a flinch from the Sectoid Commander. Ahead of schedule, you say? We aren't skipping out on any important processes, are we? I will not tolerate a job half-done.

N-no, sir, of course not! The oversized Sectoid instinctively ran his cybernetic left arm over the artificial left side of his face, a reminder not to fail his master again. I... I only wish to please Honored Invidia.

Hmm... I suppose you want a reward, then. The Ethereal lifted her lower left her arm, and the Commander dropped to his knees in pain.

A few minutes later, the cybernetic implant fell from his face, and he ran a hand around his restored eye. I... th-thank you, Honored One, I...

Shall I fix your arm as well?

The Commander lifted his arms and shook his head. That is not... I-I would like the chance to please the Honored One more before receiving further rewards.

Invidia nodded. Good answer. Now go, prepare my new pet. The Sectoid rushed off, and Invidia noted the odd glances for the Muton Elites. You have something to say!?

The Elites all straightened up, the leader of the pack saying, "No. Forgiveness. Just not... used to seeing..."

Invidia sighed. Superbia's little tantrum left me short staffed, and until I receive my reinforcements from Asia, I must... perhaps that blowhard had a point about... consolidating my forces... She pointed an angry finger. But make ONE mistake, and I will melt you into a puddle of mush and feed you to the Jie'los!

The Ethereal Overseer made her way to the labs, her escort following behind. She watched in silence as the pod finished draining and slowly opened. The occupant took a slow, woozy step out, and dropped to the floor, only avoiding slamming her face thanks to a quick shield by Invidia.

Now, now. Can't have you damaging yourself.

The subject coughed up some of the orange fluid from the pod. She slowly rose to her feet, and shivered slightly, the cold of the room spreading goosebumps across her bare, wet skin.

Invidia looked her up and down, circling around her like a farmer sizing up some livestock, like a plantation owner sizing up a potential slave. She ran her hand across the subject, across her cheeks, her neck, her chest.

Invidia spoke privately, the subject hearing nothing. Young... healthy... impressive. I can almost see why Luxuria would be tempted by such a... pathetic host. The Ethereal looked down at the Sectoid Commander. Is she an exact copy? I need precision here. Down to the last detail.

The Sectoid Commander nodded. Yes, Honored Overseer. Aged to 1.8 Cycles. 81 Deramarcs, 58 Feris. Hair length and color and skin tone match exactly. And we took extra care to replicate all know scars and blemishes. He pointed at a small, round, faded scar on her belly as example, then to one on her arm. She is, physically, exactly the same.

Physically, huh? And mentally?

She has all known abilities as the original, replicated to the best of our abilities. Memories and thoughts implanted, or removed, as you specified, Honored One.

Excellent. To the shock of every Sectoid, Thin Man, and Muton in attendance, Invidia slowly removed the outer layer of her robes, and wrapped them around the subject. Speaking in a public, irritated voice, she said, Can you not see she is cold?! In a gentler tone, she asked, Tell me, child, do you know who you are?

The subject slowly nodded. "I am... Subject 11-AI4, a human clone."

And your purpose?

"The... the infiltration of the human resistance and the destruction of all who oppose the Path of the Ethereal Ones and the wishes of my Honored Lord and mother, Aphte'thonus, known to the humans as Invidia."

Very good. And what are your wishes, child?

The clone smiled lightly. "O-only to... to do your bidding, mother. Am I to go to work now?"

No, child. Invidia placed her hands on the clone's shoulders. There is some work to be done first. And we must wait for a chance to get rid of your... lesser half. All in due time, though.

"I... I understand." The woman bowed her head. "Then what do you wish of me?"

Only to get comfortable, and to prepare. You were created for a great purpose, and I expect you to do me proud.

The subject's smile widened, and she wrapped her arms around Invidia. The other aliens took a step back, the Sectoid Commander in particular expecting the worse, but Invidia simply rubbed the back of the woman's head.

Speaking to the Commander alone, the Ethereal said, She is much too sentimental for my liking, much too... soft. If these are the original's base emotions, how that vile woman ever bested me is inconceivable.

I... a-anticipated you might feel this way, Honored One. I have prepared a number of brain scans, and have listed several areas of biokinetic reprogramming my Lord may wish to take... if it within the Honored One's desires, of course.

Excellent work, A-19. You are well on your way to redeeming yourself.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Uniting for the Future: Part One”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1000 Hours, November 2nd, 2018
Genetics Lab

Jessica wiped some sweat from her brow, taking a much appreciated sit in a much appreciated chair.

I don’t know how you can be so tired after pushing buttons and doing tests all day.

Hey, I’m pregnant, remember. If you were out as often as I was, you’d know how much my feet hurt after just a little bit.

Just have Modya rub your feet.

I can’t, because you always make him do it, and unlike you…

Yeah, yeah. Be a girl scout. And I’ll enjoy my foot rubs, thank you very much.

The door opened, and three soldiers stepped into the gene lab. The first was Captain Adolfsson, followed by Kevin Nash and John Harnet.

Jessica smiled, jumping to her feet and approaching them with the professionalism of a service clerk. “Hello. What can I do for you today?”

“I’m here for Neural Feedback,” Janina explained. “Figure I could use some psionic protection if I go up against another Ethereal.”

“And I’m after hyper reactive pupils and a secondary heart,” Kevin said, flashing one of his customary grins.

“Oh!” Jessica smiled at Kevin. “Welcome back. You… feeling alright after your previous trip here?”

The assault rubbed the back of his neck, looking down. “Uh… yeah. Sorry about that…”

Jessica shook her head. “I told you, it wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry about it.” She tilted her head towards John. “And you, sir?”

“Secondary Heart and Dextrous Muscle Fibers. I know it’s a lot… but I figured I should be more durable as a support trooper,” the support replied.

“Not at all,” Jessica replied. “There are those who have gotten far more. And I don’t blame you for wanting to load up. The battlefield is more dangerous than ever…” She frowned. “Not… not to try and push anyone, of course.”

Janina nodded. “Right. And I think for those that want a more ‘natural’ path to power, they’ve found their needs met with the help of those shinobi.”

“Reminds you of a bad B movie, doesn’t it?” Kevin suggested, looking up again. “Aliens vs Ninjas… almost as bad as Cowboys vs Aliens.”

Jessica grinned. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Desmond seems to do well for himself.” She turned away, muttering, “But I’m glad Sunny’s making that armor for him…”

“Atka seemed fairly happy with her archangel armor, though it would be interesting if we could integrate psionic amplifiers into a flight suit…” Janina mused for a moment.

Jessica thought about it for a moment. “Yeah… probably be hard… but I’m sure Sunny and D… Jan’tiala could come up with something. I’m sure Atka would appreciate it.”

“In the meantime, I’m ready to be upgraded,” Kevin stated proudly.

“Alright.” Jessica quickly moved to her chair, trying to hide the relief on her face to be able to sit again. “Now… Captain, you should be out in about three days, and gentlemen… about five or six. Do mind… you know…”

Janina crossed her arms. “Them first.”

Kevin groaned. “Why is it okay for you to look at us and not…”

“Because I’m not the one that’d be looking. Don’t know about John, but unfortunately your presence has resulted in him having the same fate,” the German replied, and eventually the two complied.

Jessica held back a laugh, and motioned for the two to enter the pods. She leaned towards Janina, whispering, “Putting that authority to good use.”

The infantry chuckled, and then stepped in after them.

Jessica typed in the appropriate commands, and smiled as the pods filled. As the three soldiers nodded off, her smile faded, and she sighed.

You… okay?

I… I don’t know. This just isn’t the first time I’ve wondered if we might be going too far…

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Uniting for the Future: Part Two”

A knock came on the other door, the one facing the main laboratory, interrupting Jessica’s thoughts. “Miss Lockheart?” a voice quietly inquired. “Can you open this door? It appears to be locked.”

Jessica tilted her head, and quickly stood up. “Sure, sorry. I was with some… patients.” She unlocked the door, slowly opening it.

The brown-haired copy of Lusett smiled slightly, though it seemed a little forced and thus came off as more unnerving than anything. “Hello. I wished to discuss something with you. Or… research it, rather?”

“Oh, of course.” Jessica quickly opened the door. “I just… anything you want to talk about, please…” She smiled nervously, trying, and failing, not to make it too obvious she was desperate for a good first impression. “I-I’m Jessica, but… you already knew that.”

Lily tilted her head slightly, pondering the awkward woman in front of her. “I understand that Elene tends to argue with you, or rather, your fellow personality, but I am sure we will have no difficulties.” A ghost of an authentic smile appeared on Lily’s face. “I am more logical than her, after all.”

Jessica chuckled nervously, and grabbed a chair for Lily, sitting in her own. “Yeah, thanks, just… you know, first impressions and… all that. So, what is on your mind, Ms. Exalt?”

“One of the soldiers you operated on for genetic modification. Name was… Masambe… um…” Lily trailed off.

“Muthambi?” Jessica finished with surprising linguistic skills. “That is right. Iron skin, Bioelectric skin, and… um… adaptive bone marrow, I believe.”

“I was curious about that particular subject… an erroneous part of his DNA allowed him to have two skin modifications with no ill effects. The condition related to this genetic variance is Sickle Cell Anemia, correct?” Lily prompted.

Jessica hesitated, wondering how much personal information she should share. Figuring Lily already seemed to have plenty of information, Jessica nodded. “That’s correct. Masambe has quite the potential to be a great soldier, but his illness held him back. But with our advancements in genetics and medicine, X-COM was able to give him the chance he deserved.”

“I was wondering if we could potentially work on a cure, at least for the adverse effects of the disease. The adaptive bone marrow could possibly be modified to do this,” Lily suggested. “I seem to have a penchant for medical sciences, in any case, so I figured I’d try my hand with your assistance.”

Jessica smiled. “I… of course. I’d love to work with you… or under you, whichever you… you wish. Do you… mind if I ask what the sudden interest is? Have… you always been into the curing diseases buisness?”

“Well, I am working on a cure for Desmond. The temporarily solution is helpful, but I wish to look into other genetic illnesses to deepen my ‘hands-on’ understanding.” Lily raised an eyebrow. “And it is continuing Lusett’s work, considering the adaptive cellular division serum she created for cancer patients.”

“Is that so?” Jessica’s smile widened. “Well, anything I can do to help people in general, and Desmond in particular…” Her smiled faltered a bit. “But… w… why me? I… at nineteen, I’m not exactly the leading mind in the field, and I’m sure your sister… well, she doesn’t seem to like me or Alex.”

“Three of us look eighteen, and are in actuality months old. Dr. Randolf is twelve. Thus, age is irrelevant,” Lily concluded. “And you have been working with the Tz6 for as long as we have, and are in charge of many genetic operations.”

Jessica rubbed her neck nervously. “Well, I… th-thanks. That… that is very logical, yet still flattering.”

Hey, can I talk to her?

What? Why?

Come on, I just want to chat. Two minutes.

Jessica gave Lily an awkward smile, chuckling.

The brunette looked over the other scientist in confusion. “Did I say something amusing?”

“No, I… I just…” Jessica scratched her chin. “My… sister… w-wants to talk to you…”

Lily shrugged. “Let her, then,” the Exalt concluded as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Jessica nodded, and closed her eyes. Opening them again, Alexia sized Lily up, and leaned forward. “You know… my sister is pretty smart. Like… like genius smart. But she’s also pretty nice. Like… stupid nice. She had this one guy approach her a year or so ago, wanted to work on this big paper with her. Next thing we know, he’s got this award winning article out. And guess who’s name wasn’t on it.”

“Your sister’s?” Lily surmised quickly.

Alexia nodded. “So… I just need to know, if Jessie helps you with this, and you make some ground breaking discovery… and I’m sure you will, you gonna steal the credit? ‘Cause she deserves at least half the credit.”

“Why would I not give credit to a collaborator?” Lily responded as if such a notion was absurd and not even worth considering. “That is not proper behavior for a scientist.”

Alexia raised an eyebrow, and studied Lily’s expression for a bit. Finally, she smiled. “Alright. Cool. I… oh, and I want to set the record straight about your sister!”

“I understand you were in conflict…” Lily prompted.

“That’s one way of putting it…” Alexia sighed, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Look, I… I’m impulsive, alright. Call it a character flaw. I tend to speak before I think, especially when I fell my sister is being insulted. But I… I have nothing personally against Elene, and I’m afraid I might have ruined their chance at having anything but an awkward work relationship before it started. I… I wouldn’t want to do the same with you. Especially when you’ve been so nice and all.”

“I believe Elene respects your intelligence, even if your personality can be abrasive sometimes,” Lily replied calmly. “She is very practical. Elene can deal with Emily Fischer, after all. She may be irritated by you sometimes, but she doesn’t hate you. Fischer though…” she trailed off ominously.

Oh… but I like Emily…

Jessie… time and a place…

Alexia nodded. “Well, good. Then I believe you and my sister will get along nicely. And I might not be as good as Jessica, but I’ll help however I can. Anything to help the soon-to-be-husband of one of my best friends.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “Hello Again, Part 1”

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1415 Hours, November 2nd, 2018
Main Gymnasium

“What the hell is that supposed to prove?” Scarlet Jacobs practically screamed at Elene as she shrugged off the mind control at last.

“I was merely showing you the technique. Albeit without tampering with your memories,” the heiress replied. “You did ask me to not hold back.”

“You didn’t have to be so high and mighty about it…” Scarlet snapped, crossing her arms indignantly.

Elene sighed. “Miss Jacobs, if you wish to use that ability you are going to have to train hard. I cannot easily demonstrate, especially when most are unwilling.” A vague smile crossed Elene’s face. “And my black-haired guinea pig is busy at the moment.”

“Creepy ice queen,” the Welsh-Palestinian rocketeer muttered. “Fuck… just… let’s do this another time. When your ‘guinea pig’ isn’t busy.”

Elene shrugged. “As you wish.” Turning on her heels, her labcoat faintly trailing behind her, the mistress of Legion departed, giving a slight nod to the sisters who had caught the tail end of the training session. “Hello Ammelia,” she said briefly, before disappearing around a corner.

Ammelia nodded towards Elene as she passed, then looked back towards her sister, “So, you wanted me to show you my new shinobi skills right?”

Mary stood quiet as she looked at the girl Elene had been talking to, a strange sense of Deja Vu washed over her as stared at the girl.

Ammy tilted her head a little, watching her sister stare at the girl, “What’s wrong?”

“She ‘ooks… Se’ fe’iliar… Beh’ eh’ ‘an’t put meh’ ‘inger en’ et’...” (She looks… So familiar… But I can’t put my finger on it.) She said, taking her eyes off the girl briefly to look at her sister.

Scarlet sighed at the memory of the departed Legon leader, and turned to head towards the door, starting to lift her headphones up, but paused when she saw Mary and Ammelia. The music players slowly slipped back down around her neck as she pondered the strange feeling she got from them. Have I… seen them before, somewhere?

“De’ eh’ ‘ow ye’? Eh’ ‘eel ‘ike… Eh’ve seen ye’ ‘ome’ere before” (Do I know you? I feel like… I’ve seen you somewhere before.) Mary asked the redhead, trying her hardest to recall where she had seen her.

Scarlet narrowed her eyes, looking over the British woman for a moment. “That hellish accent…” she muttered, then glanced at Ammelia. “And a blind girl…” You have got to be kidding me. Are they…? “Can I ask what your names are?”

“That voice…” Ammelia thought out loud, “I’m Ammelia… And this is Mary…”

Scarlet’s eyes darted around as if everyone else in the room was a malicious spy, and said quietly, “You’re the Thomas sisters, aren’t you? I’m Scarlet Jacobs… I don’t know if you remember me or not…”

Ammelia nodded slowly, eyes wide at the girl, “Scarlet… Jacobs… Did you use to go by…”

“Red!?” Mary spoke, instantly remembering the teenage girl from the orphanage.

==============================================================================

London, England
5:45 P.M., November 2nd, 2000
St. Josephine’s Home for Kids

“Rain. Typical London,” Scarlet muttered to herself, glancing out the window drenched in precipitation with more apathy than irritation. The teenager laid her head on the side of the desk, having no desire to work on the math worksheet given to her. Reaching to the headphones around her neck, the Palestinian-Welsh girl covered her ears and started listening to music, though at a reasonable volume. She slowly closed her eyes, starting to relax, hiding the reddish-brown irises from view.

A small brunette girl with, short, messy hair, walked up next to Scarlet, holding a homemade card made of out construction paper in her hand. The card was covered in reds, pinks, and purples, with the words ‘Happy Birthday’ written across the front in black. “‘Happy birth’ay Red! We ‘ade es’ for you.” (Happy birthday Red! We made this for you.) As she said that two more identical looking girls came up from behind her, the only difference being their hair style as one had curls, and the other had two long, braided, pigtails.

Scarlet slowly blinked, and after regarding the three for a moment, pulled off her headphones. “Birthday… right. I almost forgot. The day in which you’re one day closer to dying…” Seeing she was doing nothing for their mood by saying that, ‘Red’ sighed. “Thanks, though.” She took the card and did her best to smile, something she could only muster for the four sisters.

The girl with the braided pigtails stepped up, nudging the long haired one in the side a little, “Mary.”

The long haired girl looked over to her sister, “Oh yeh’, we ‘ave ‘omething else te’ ‘ow ye’ Red!” (Oh, yeah! We have something else to show you Red!)

Scarlet stared at them for a few long seconds, and then shrugged. “Alright… what is it?” Faint sounds continued to emit from her headphones, even though had them resting around her neck. Whether this was an accident or not was debatable.

The girl with short curly hair, Sarah, grabbed onto the leg of Scarlet’s pants, attempting to pull her forward, “Come on, we’ll ‘ow you!”

Scarlet groaned in defeat, and stood up. “Fine, fine… though I don’t want to leave Ammy out of whatever wonderful surprise you have in store for me.”

Mary pursed her lips a little, “Forget ‘er, why ‘ould you ‘ant to hang out wit’ such a loser?” (Forget her, why would you hang out with such a loser?)

Scarlet rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Don’t be a bitch, Mary. Let’s go get her.”

Katherine, the girl with the two pigtails, pouted a little, “Ughh… Fine…”

The three girls lead Scarlet into the girl’s shared room. The whole room was brown and gray, just like the rest of the place really, with bunkbeds on both sides to get the most out of the limited space the orphanage had. Near the back of the room, yet another spitting image of the girls sat on her bed, seemingly staring into nothing, a few teardrops in her milky white eyes.

Scarlet knelt down by the bed, her apathetic expression quickly replaced by a rare, tender one, even if the girl could not see it. She gently grasped the blind girl’s hand, embracing her gently. “Hey. It’s Red…” she said gently. “Do you want to come with me? I don’t think my birthday would be complete without my little sister, Ammy…”

Ammelia looked up towards the direction of the voice, a rare smile on her face as she stood up.

“Now ‘at we ‘ot Ms. Mutey no speak, we ‘an head te’ the surprise.” (Now that we got Ms. Mutey, no speak, we can head to the surprise.) Mary said, not even bothering to wait until Scarlet responded before walking towards the door.

Scarlet held up her hands to the other two sisters. “I think she cut my hands with how edgy that was,” she said sarcastically, before taking Ammelia’s hand again and following the short-haired quadruplet.

Mary, Sarah, and Katherine led them down the hall towards the cafeteria, during lunchtime the tables were packed with kids, but at this time of day, it was completely empty. The lights were completely dark when they entered, making it hard to see anything in the undersized eating area until Katherine climbed up onto a stool to flip on the lights. The whole room was filled with small, red, pink, and purple paper stars hung from the ceiling with thin strings, fours makeshift paper party hats were on the table, the sisters obviously didn’t take the time to make a fifth for Ammy.

All at once, the three sisters yelled, “Surprise!”

Scarlet’s eyes widened. “You didn’t…” A faint smile creased her features, this one more genuine. “Thank you…” She grabbed the paper hat meant for her, and placed it on Ammelia’s head. “Remind me to make one this nice for you guys… somehow… seriously, how did you even manage this?”

Katherine climbed off the stool, “We ‘ad to get Ms. Butthead to let us use th’ cafeteria for te’day, she said we ‘ould, beh’ only if we clean it all up ‘fore lunch.”

Mary smiled, “Et’ ‘ook lots of convincing! Annnd!” (It took lots of convincing! Annnd!) Mary said as she pointed to a cupcake on the nearest table, a single candle on it, this was even more impressive considering the fact that the orphanage caretaker pretty much hoarded all the sweets for herself. “We ‘anaged te’ snatch one ‘rom er’!” (We managed to snatch one from her! )

Red held her chest in mock horror. “Dammit, they found my weakness… sugar…” Scarlet sat down by the cupcake, and held it up in her palms. “To another year, and us all somehow succeeding even in this crappy world.” She took a deep breath, blew it out, and then took a bite of the cupcake, smiling in delight.

==============================================================================

 

[Frostlich1228]

"Hello Again, Part 2"

Scarlet’s eyes watered as the memories of the four sisters came back to her, and she had to turn away in embarrassment for a moment. “It… really is you two…”

Ammelia quickly walked up and hugged the girl, tears running down her face as well, “Red… How… You’re a soldier?”

Even Mary’s eyes watered a little, but she refused to let the tears fall, “Eh’ ne’er thought eh’d e’er see ye ‘gain…” (I never thought I’d ever see you again…)

‘Red’ rubbed her eyes for a moment, and then shook her head incredulously. “Well, being a soldier was the only real path for me. But.. look at this. The world’s been turned upside down. Ammy can see… sort of… and Mary! You’re not a bitch anymore!” Scarlet exclaimed with a slight grin.

“Yeh, eh’ ‘ppose ye’ ‘ad eh’ part te’ play en’ ivin’ me meh’ colorful ‘ocabu’ary.” (Yeah, I suppose you had a part to play in giving me my colorful vocabulary.) Mary replied, smirking a little.

“How’ve you been?” Ammy asked, letting Scarlet out of her grasp.

“Alright… past few years have been kind of hellish, but that’s the story of my life,” Scarlet responded, rubbing the back of her neck. “Though XCOM is probably the best thing to happen to me. Met some good friends among the other rocketeers. What about you, though? I always wondered what happened to you two after you left.”

“Ell’ ye’ watched us ‘ell ‘eave one ‘et eh’ time… Eh’ ‘ot picked up by eh’ ‘iddle class ‘ingle ‘ather… He was… ‘ood te’ meh… Beh’ he ‘ambled all ‘is ‘oney away out ef’ ‘pression, an’ ad’ te’ ‘end meh’ te’ St. ‘lizabeth’s en’ the ot’her ‘ide eh’ London.” (Well, you watched us all leave one at a time… I got picked up by a middle class, single father… He was… Good to me… But he gambled all his money away out of depression, and had to send me to St. Elizabeth’s on the other side of London.) Mary explained.

“And now you’re a soldier. Same path as me, I guess,” Red mused. “What about you, Ammelia? Got a new last name… otherwise I would have recognized you first thing. Married someone?”

“You didn’t hear? I always thought it would’ve been big news around the orphanage…” Ammelia confirmed, “I was adopted by David Cross, the Ceo of Cross Technologies, he changed my last name to match his.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened. “David Cross… damn, you got lucky… though you certainly deserved it. So he’s the one that developed your special eyes?”

“Mmhm” she replied, “And my artificial voice.”

“Sounds like a kick-ass father,” Scarlet offered.

“He is.” Ammelia smiled, “And he’s probably the only company still funding us.”

Red waved a hand dismissively. “No one liked the Council anyway. Being like this… truly free, it’s a good feeling. I feel like I’m actually accomplishing something… and being with two of my dearest friends again… makes even someone with a heart of stone like me emotional.”

As Mary stood and watched as the two talked about their fathers, she sighed, “Ye’ two ‘eally did ‘et ‘ucky… Eh’ ‘ight’ve te’ ef’ eh’ hadn’t ‘een such eh’ stupid kid…” (You two really did get lucky… I might’ve too if I hadn’t been such a stupid kid…)

Scarlet shook her head. “Trust me, you’re no worse than me. I tried being a teacher, but I was such an asshole they fired me and the military was practically the only option I could take to avoid being some sort of bum.”

“Eh’ ‘ouldn’t ‘ake th’ ‘ought of ‘eing ‘dopted eh’gan je’ te’ wind up et’ eh’nother or’anage.” (I couldn’t take the thought of being adopted again just to wind up at another orphanage… So I ran away… Figured I could make it by myself… It… Didn’t go well…) Mary replied, not sure if she wanted to tell her all of the details.

Red looked at Mary seriously. “You can tell me whatever you feel comfortable with. I’m not going to judge you. I dont’ have the right to judge anyone.”

“Eh’ was ‘ine for th’ ‘irst few ‘ears… Steal’in an’ doing odd jobs ‘ere an’ ‘ere… Beh’ after eh’while ‘at ‘opped ‘akin’ end meet se’ eh’ ‘ad te’... Sell myself… ‘Eal young…”(I… Was fine for the first few years… Stealing and doing odd jobs here and there… But after awhile that stopped making ends meet so I had to… Sell myself… Real young…) Mary admitted, she didn’t usually have a hard time telling people this, but Red saw her before all that, that happy kid, she didn’t want to tell her how she had to survive out there.

Scarlet frowned momentarily, but shook her head. “You’re alive now. You made it through all that, and that’s all that matters to me. And once this war’s over, we ought to go find the others. I’m sure they made it, too… and you know I’m not one to be hopeful.”

‘Eh ‘aven’t ‘alked te’ em’ en’ eh’ ‘ong ‘ime… Eh’ ‘member eh’ used meh’ ‘oney te’ ‘all ‘em, je’ te’ see ‘ow ‘ey ‘ere ‘oing. Sarah ‘old meh’ ‘er parents moved ‘er up te’ Sweden, she ‘as livin’ ‘ere when eh’ talked te’ ‘er. Kathy’s ‘amily took ‘er te’ Germany, te’ ‘ive in Berlin, said she ‘ants te’ be eh’ baker, but eh’m not ‘ure ef’ she actu’lly did or net’.” (I haven’t talked to them in a long time… I remember I used my money to call them, just to see how they were doing. Sarah told me her parents moved her up to Sweden, she was living there when I talked to her. Kathy’s family took her to Germany, to live in Berlin, said she want to be a baker, but I’m not sure if she actually did or not.)

“Hm… wonder if any of our German soldiers could attest to that. Point is, though…” Scarlet smiled. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

Jeneshisu Part One (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

X-COM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
Holographic Rec-Room, Simulation Jake Wiewiora 13
September 2nd, 1100 Hours

Keiko sighed as she looked across the lush field of flowers, the simulators producing a warm ‘sunny’ day. She was amazed at how realistic everything was, and wondered how much work the computer had to do every second to keep it running, she looked over at Rei and Hitomi, chatting softly, the latter occasionally giggling, and the former occasionally breaking her stoic expression for a slight smile. She was weirded out by the two of them for the longest time, but now that she had come to except it, she didn’t really know why she had a problem before. The young Japanese girl laid back, closing her eyes and listening to the chirping of the ‘birds’ in the distance.

Among the sounds of chirping and giggling girls, the door to the Rec-Room opened and a pair walked in, both of them holding a small package and both of them not looking like either wanted to be there. Noticing the group of four, the guy walked in the opposite direction of them and took a seat, the girl sitting somewhat closer to the group.

Jake looked up from his book, tilting his head as he watched the other two sit down. He thought for a moment, then stood up, slowly approaching them.

Both of their heads turned when they heard Jake approached, the man shaking his head and deciding to ignore him, the girl getting up and approaching. “Hi, can we help you?”

“Um, yes… I mean, no, I… I mean…” Jake scratched the back of his head. “I was… just wondering if you’d like some company. I brought some snacks. Not much, just what I could scrape together. But we always enjoy company.”

“We brought our own,” She stated, holding up the packaging. “Though I wouldn’t mind joining you guys. My name is Saka by the way, Saka Hatake.” Saka walked past Jake and went to go join the three girls.

“I’m Jake. Jake Wiewiora.” He waved his hand to each girl in turn. “This is Keiko Yoshida, and these two are Rei Takahashi and Hitomi Tanaka.”

“Nice to meet all of you!” She exclaimed, straightening her white silk dress and untying the string around her package.

Keiko’s eyes seemed to light up as she looked Saka up and down. “Wow, you’re… really pretty. I… I like your dress.”

“Thanks. I never got to wear it much before coming here and it is so soft and comfortable they are about the only thing I wear.”

“Are… are you a movie star or something?” Keiko asked.

Saka waved her hand and shook her head. “No, no nothing as extravagant as that. I am a kunoichi.” She stated happily.

“Really?” Hitomi scoffed. “Just ‘cause we’re kids doesn’t mean we’re gonna fall for something like that.”

Rei leaned close to her. “Don’t be so presumptuous… or rude…”

“Shinpaishinaide, watashi wa takusan iru koto o eru. Watashi wa sore o mite inai kamo shirenaiga, soreha hontōdesu. Kare wa dōyō ni shinobudesu.” (Don't worry, I get that a lot. I may not look it but it is true. He is a shinobi as well.) Saka stated in Japanese, nodding her head towards the man by himself.

“Um… s-speaking of your friend…” Jake raised an eyebrow. “Would… he like to join us?”

“Okora seru.” (Piss off.) Minato announced.

“Sorry about him...we recently got in a fight and some things got brought up. He is acting even worse now.” Saka stated with slumped shoulders.

Jake smiled. “Well… that’s okay. If he needs his space, then he can have it. Probably for the best.”

Rei pushed her glasses up. “Anata no nihonjin wa hijō ni inshō-tekidesu. Watashi wa sore ni motodzuite, sore o toru to, anata ga Nihon de no anata no jinsei no taihan o tsuiyashi, sei?” (“Your Japanese is quite impressive. I take it, based on that and you surname, you spent most of your life in Japan?”)

Saka nodded. “We are from the mountainous regions of Japans. We are apart of a secret congregation of clans that span back all the way to the early Feudal years of Japanese culture. As far back as I can remember I lived with my clan. And Minato over there lived in the mountains since he was born.” Saka’s stomach rumbled a bit and she finally opened her small package, revealing a perfectly made rice ball.

Keiko took a bit of a similar treat, not as well made as Saka’s but showing care. She listen to Saka’s words with great interested, but Hitomi only rolled her eyes. “Come on, Keiko. She’s only messing with you. Ninjas don’t really exist any more, if they ever truly did.”

“Oh yeah? Well how would you like to hear that our leader is actually one of your soldiers? I am sure he has more than proved himself in battle to live up to the hype.” She stated smugly.

“Is that so?” Rei asked, trying to hide it, but oddly more interested than Hitomi despite her more logical inclinations. “And who might that be… if I may ask?”

“Desmond Walker. Who do you think taught him all of his moves, or built up his body so much, and he doesn’t just use that sword because it looks cool.” Saka crossed her arms and smirked. “And he speaks Japanese...fluently.”

Rei smiled, but Hitomi just shook her head. “Prove it.”

Jake sighed. “Hitomi. I invited her over as a guest. Stop interrogating her.”

Hitomi frowned, and bowed her head slightly. “I’m… sorry.”

“It’s fine, it will be fun trying to prove you wrong.” Saka stated. She took a small bite of her food and smiled in delight. “But if you want more immediate proof…” She looked to Jake. “You know how to fight?”

“U-uh… y-yeah, but you don’t have to do this…” Jake slowly stood up, the way his eyes darted between Saka and Hitomi saying this would be needed to satisfy Hitomi, despite his words.

“Oh...you won’t be fighting me.” Saka stated with a smile. “You are fighting him.” She pointed to Minato but he just ignored her. “I said…!”

“I heard you, I just don’t care.” He told her.

Saka popped in the rest of her rice ball into her mouth and threw the balled up paper at Minato’s head, causing him to stand up. He was fairly average when it came to height and body type, if you didn’t know who he was, he wouldn’t seem all that special. “Fine, come here.” He stated, crossing his arms and looking at Jake. “Try it.” He taunted.

Jake swallowed hard. He resisted the urge to glare at Hitomi, and slowly stretched his arms. This is going to hurt, isn’t it? He took a deep breath, and charged Minato.

The shinobi sighed to himself, waiting for Jake to get close and swing a punch before making his move. Quickly diving under the punch, he jabbed his fist straight into Jake’s gut, putting a hand on his throat and foot behind his leg, pushing down on his neck, causing the guard to fall. Before Jake hit the ground, Minato had grabbed him by the collar and put him down gently so Jake didn’t get a concussion by accident. In a time span of only a few seconds, Minato had planted Jake on his back as if it had been nothing.

Standing up straight, Minato adjusted his intricate white jacket and glared at Hitomi. “Good enough for you?” He asked annoyed.

Hitomi smiled. “Well… you can fight pretty good, so yeah, I guess.”

Jake slowly rose to a sitting position, grateful he hadn’t eaten that much Yep… that hurt. He took a moment to try and catch his breath. “Th… thanks.”

“It was nothing.” He said, looking at the man and going back to his spot.

Saka smiled slightly, putting a hand on Hitomi’s shoulder and going over to help up Jake.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Jeneshisu Part Two (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

Jake chuckled nervously as he climbed to his feet. Holding his stomach, he asked in a low voice, “And you probably could have done worse, right? Not that… he had to try hard.”

“I’m the one that has to keep him in line so yes, I could have. I just didn’t want to fight you in front of the girls, would set a wrong example, and I wasn’t out to embarrass you… no offense.” She whispered back. Saka bit her lip and rubbed her arm. “Look, can I talk to you? It… is kind of important.”

Jake raised his eyebrows, and looked over to the girls. “You three just… chat amongst yourselves.” He stepped to the side with Saka, out of immediate earshot of the others.

“Is it true that you are...well, some sort of therapist?”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “I… I never thought I would say this, but it seems my reputation precedes me. I work with Dr. Parker as a part-time therapist, yes.”

“Well to be honest...I just heard talk about you and we just happened to meet so I thought I would ask while I have the chance. Could you...talk to Minato?”

Jake looked over to the Shinobi warrior, clearly trying to ignore the three girls cautiously making their way towards him. “Um… sure, it’s my job to help him if he needs it, though… he kinda also needs to want it, too. He doesn’t seem the type to talk to someone he just met, though… you seem to be good at persuading him.”

“Well that is the thing...I fear I may have...well, I may have been trying too hard to help him. He keeps pushing even me away more and more and if I don’t do something soon he may close up completely. I just...I think this is beyond me now.”

Jake smiled. “I’ll give it a try. I’ve been successful in opening up my fair share of introverts.”

Saka nodded. “Good...I guess I should tell you what caused all this shouldn’t I, if that would help?”

“Yes, though don’t tell me anything that might betray his trust.”

“It...well a long time ago, Minato...lost his family. He never knew his real dad, always resented him for that. So his mother raised him since he was a baby. When Minato turned seven, his mother had gotten pneumonia...a really bad case of it and she died. Minato didn’t learn till later on that his mother had been three months pregnant. He lost everything he had in one day and threw himself into his devotion to his training. He got so attached to it, he won’t let it go. To be honest if the girls weren’t Japanese he would have left already. I tried getting Miss Ipiktok’s family to help and the father did talk to him yesterday but Minato has talked very little to me since then. The subject of family had just come up and I tried to press him to talk about it. Well, you see how that turned out.”

Jake nodded. “I understand. It isn’t easy to bring up such hard memories, and being forced to can cause some… hostility.” He placed a hand on Saka’s shoulder. “But I’ll talk to him.” He quickly retracted his hand, frowning. “Sorry.”

“What?” She looked at her shoulder and just shrugged. “It’s fine to touch me, I am not a poisonous human.” Saka smiled slightly and she looked at Minato. “I just hope you can do something. Just...word of warning; he may or may not get physical. If he does...well, I am sorry in advance, but just remember that it wouldn’t be that personal, he just doesn’t handle things like this well. Being alone most of your life does that to you I guess huh?”

Jake only grinned. “Trust me, after some of the things my… ahem, friends have put me through, it would be nice to beat up by someone with a good reason.” He turned to Minato, took a deep breath, and walked forward.

Keiko tilted her head to the side, trying to look Minato from the side, while Hitomi went for the more direct approach laid down in front of him, smiling. Rei stood by his side, adjusting her glasses, and asked, “So, do you think your shinobi tactics will be effective against the aliens? I imagine your society has kept with the times, and as a member, you are quite skilled with a number of weapons, yes?”

“Small blades, long blades, hand to hand, guns and other means. Yes, we have kept up with the times, to do so would be plain idiotic. Any other questions or may I be alone now?”

“Hmm… No need to be rude,” Rei said nonchalantly. “I did not mean to imply otherwise.”

Jake quickly stepped up to them, waving his hands. “Come on, shoo, shoo. Stop bothering him.” He smiled awkwardly at Minato. “Sorry about them. They’re… a curious bunch, and you seem an interesting fellow.”

“In what way?” He asked, glad the girls were gone.

Jake chuckled, cautiously sitting in front of him. “Well, the way you floored me, for one. I mean… you could have destroyed me, and a lesser man would have. That you could disable me so easily and not actually… you know, break anything… impressive.”

“Do I look like a brute to you? Only ones without an ounce of honor in them would not know when to use restraint. I only used the needed amount of force, and that is all.”

Jake bit his lip. “You… are not one to take compliments well, I see. Though that shows you to be humble… unless it is actually pride that prevents you from being complemented by someone you so easily floored.”

“Your comment is not wasted. I was just stating it was nothing to get worked up over.” He looked at Jake up and down and narrowed his eyes slightly. “What do you want? I doubt very much that you came here to compliment my fighting style.”

Jake nodded. “That’s true. I’m sure I could beat around the bush for a while. Try and illicit something out of you. But that isn’t my style. Honesty being the best policy, and all that. I’m… I’m here because your friend is worried about you, and… I’m here to help.”

Minato rubbed his eyes. “Why does she insisting on meddling in affairs she shouldn’t concern herself with. Look, nothing you can say will do me anything so a word of advice…” Minato leaned forward. “Walk away and go.”

Jake took a deep breath. “I… what you see as meddling, she sees as an attempt to help a friend. She seems to care a great deal for you, and I am afraid she… she is quite insistent on you talking to someone.”

“And talk about what exactly?” Minato asked, wanting to hear Jake say it himself.

Jake swallowed deeply. “About the loss of your family, and the way you push yourself into your training.”

Minato clenched his jaw and flexed his hand. “It is in the past. And my training is my business, if I want to be good then I will work to be good. What is wrong with that?”

Jake nodded. “It is a noble cause, that is for sure. To be able to devote yourself to one thing, no matter what it might be, to the degree you do is impressive. But… there are those that care about you, one of which is right over there. She feels that you block out the world, push yourself in your training to hide from a pain you don’t want to admit is there. And she… she might be right. Your… ahem, hostility seems to indicate that much.”

“I am hostile because people like you and her. But I will indulge you, try and persuade me.” He told him skeptically.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Jeneshisu Part Three (MarineAvenger and ZombieSplitter53)

Jake’s eyes darted back and forth, thinking of the best way to approach this without turning Minato off, or getting his head caved in. He glanced over at Saka, sitting and talking with the girls, and asked, “What… do you think of Saka?”

“She is an insufferable pain. But...I have taken it upon myself to protect her. She is a clan leader after all and we had known each other for a few years since I was the Hatake’s best warrior. If you are asking if I have any feelings for her, no I don’t.” He stated coldly.

Jake smiled, and shook his head. “Not at all. At least not those kind of feelings. Though… I haven’t known those three for long either, but I care a great deal for them. Kinda turned into their guardian and big brother overnight. To me, that is what I am. They’re my little sisters, and I do what I can to protect them… especially from themselves. Can… you relate?”

“More or less…”

“And… what would you do if someone was hurting her.” Jake took a long, deep swallow. “Say, for example… I walked over there and… or, I don’t know, copped a feel.”

“I would be on you before you could notice there was a slight breeze from my movement.”

Jake shrugged. “Oh, well… I guess we’ll have to wait until we’re alone. I mean, she can probably take care of herself just fine. I’ll just have to sneak up on her.”

Minato lunged forward and had his hand around his neck. “You hurt her and I will be sure to break you in ways you couldn’t imagine.” He was squeezing Jake’s neck harder than he should have and shoved him backwards.

Jake rubbed his throat vigorously, coughing for a few moments. When he had enough strength to speak again, he muttered, “Y-you know, I’m… n-not a confrontational man. B-But I… probably would have reacted the same way if someone said that about the girls… well… maybe.” He shook his head. “Though… the thing I’d be the most afraid of is hurting them myself. Especially if I found out I was doing it and didn’t realize it.”

Minato was a bit shocked. “I-I would never…” Minato shook his head. “I would never hurt her. I have a very strict code against it...I refer to it as, ‘Fumeiyo no mae ni shibō.’. It stands for ‘Death before dishonor.’ A shinobi must never do anything to bring shame on himself, the top ones being to strike a woman without special circumstances, and to never use excess force on an already beaten foe.”

“And I believe you. You seem to be quite a noble man, one who would never hurt Saka if you could help it.” Jake leaned forward. “But there is more than one way to hurt someone. For example, if she was in pain, but refused to accept help, would that not hurt everyone who cares about her? Who want to help her, but can’t get her to accept the help?”

Minato was silent, just looking at Jake.

Jake sighed, rubbing his neck. “I… I will not force anything out of you. That isn’t how therapy works, and to do so would only make things worse. But you need to know that Saka cares about you, and is pained by your pain. And if there really is nothing to be worried about, talking to me would reveal that, and get her off your back. Just… I know what it is like to lose…” He shook his head, sighing.

“To what?” Minato asked, looking at Jake with a more curious look than before.

“To… lose your family…”

Minato sighed a bit to himself, looking down. “How?”

Jake shrugged. “I can give you the same answer that most people would nowadays. The aliens. In a bit of cruel irony, they were killed by one of those pods meant to abduct them alive.” He looked over at the girls sadly. “And… I’m afraid I’m not the only one.”

“A-All of them?” Minato said, his voice betraying him as there was a little shock in it but he quickly cleared his throat and returned to normal.

Jake nodded. “And I know how hard it is to talk about it. I… I know what happened to Keiko’s parents, but… I still don’t know all the details about Rei’s. It is too hard for her or Hitomi to talk about. So… I give them their space on it. Just… like I would do with you.”

The shinobi looked at the girls laughing with Saka and he looked back to Jake, closing his eyes and sighing. “So what now? I am not the kind of person who talks to get things off their chest if it wasn’t obvious already.”

“I know. And you aren’t alone in that. But my job is to listen, to whatever you might wish to talk about. And only… what you wish to talk about. You can get things off your chest, lemant, complain, whine, rage, yell. Whatever makes you feel better. People are often surprised how much simply saying a problem out loud, makes them feel better about it. And… if you need to take out your aggression.” Jake chuckled. “It is a little unorthodox, but I won’t stop you.”

“I thought I told you I don’t strike women without special circumstances?” Minato gave a faint hint of a smirk, the first since ever coming to XCOM. “You are not a bad guy. Granted you would never survive in the mountains but you are certainly skilled in your own right.”

Jake laughed a bit louder. “Thanks. I wasn’t expecting a compliment…” ...of sorts. “And I meant what I said earlier. You seem a swell guy. We just need to work on a way to let others see that.”

“Don’t think I am going soft, people need something to look up to. Though...I will be sure to try and hold back a little bit.” Minato’s smirk was gone but he looked up at the girls. “Will you adopt them after the war?”

Jake nodded his head, with practically no hesitation. “I haven’t told them yet, in case something happens, but I plan on it. I… I just hope Atka will support me in it.”

“I have met Atka’s family and they seem to be closely knit, if she is anything like them she will be on board with the idea even more than you.” Minato rubbed his nose and looked up at the sky. “You are lucky. You have a future life waiting for you after all of this. When I am able I will return home. This is not a life for me.” He stated in a serious voice. “This is just the life we lead.”

Jake nodded. “That’s fair. And understandable. And I’m sure Saka will be by your side. I doubt anything will happen to her as long as you are by her side.”

“I worry for her though. She has...talked about not returning. That a life of leadership wasn’t for her and that the elders demoting her till she was older was a blessing more than anything. If I am going to protect her...I may have to choose between my life and hers. I don’t know if I want to make that choice.”

“You should be honest with her, then,” Jake responded. “You should be upfront about your feelings. The last thing you need is to stay with her but have regrets without her knowing why, and leaving her without explaining.”

“We will see if I tell her. If nothing else maybe someone will come and effect me like Atka has done for you.” Minato got up from his sitting position, wiping off his jeans and looking down at Jake. “This doesn’t necessarily make us friends, but if I do find something to talk about, I may pay you a visit sometime.” He held out his hand to Jake to help him off the ground.

Jake accepted it. “My door is always open.”

Pulling Jake up with ease, Minato turned his back to the guard and walked to go join the girls.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Psionic Sisters

=X-COM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia=
=Psionic Laboratory=
=October 23rd, 1900 Hours=

Airi Akizuki casually strolled into the Psi Labs, here sister following behind with a bit more caution. The younger of the two looked around at the spacious room, and let out a whistle. “Dakara, koreha, ha~akkowai furui saionikkurabo nodesu ka? Sukoshi kuraiga, shikashi akka suru kanōsei ga arimasu.”(So, this is the scary old psionic labs, huh? A little dark, but could be worse.)

Marina sighed. “Being cautious and being scared isn’t the same thing, Airi. Besides, I don’t want you getting your hopes up over nothing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Airi laughed, and grinned at the two individuals coming to greet them. “So, you the guys that are giving everyone the cool new powers? ‘Cause I wanna shoot mind bullets and throw cars at people.”

Jean chuckled. “Well, it takes a bit of practice to get to that level, assuming you are the right color, but yeah, that’s us.”

“And if you have powers to unlock,” Jeanne added. “Not everyone does.”

“Oh, I’m sure I do,” Airi said. “Was just a matter of getting scaredy-sis to come too.”

A big, somewhat imposing grin spread across Jeanne’s face. “S… sisters, you say?”

Marina took a cautious step back. “Uh, y-yeah. Why?”

Jean rolled his eye. “Don’t mind Jeanne. We had another pair of sisters come in a little bit ago. After one of them proved to have psionics, Jeanne was a little disappointed the other didn’t want to be tested so she could study how the powers work between siblings.”

“But now, I get another chance!” Jeanne grabbed both their hands and pulled them towards her computer. Sitting down, she asked, "Names?”

“Akizuki. Marina and Airi.”

“And are you familiar with the procedure?”

Marina nodded. “Yes. Airi had so many people explain it to us, it is practically burned into our heads.”

“And if you test positive, would you like to be woken up and told first, or would you like to go straight into unlocking them?” Jean asked.

“Straight into unlocking,” Airi quickly answered.

Marina was a bit more hesitant, but nodded in agreement. “Are you sure?” Jeanne asked. “Because you shouldn’t feel…”

Marina smiled and raised her hand. “Thank you. But Airi and I talked it all out. And I don’t want her to go this alone.”

“Alright. Go ahead and strip down to your undies and we’ll pop you in.” As Jeanne finished the final preparations, Marina did as she was told, but Airi hesitated. “Something wrong, Miss?”

“Uh, yeah.” Airi folded her arms and stared daggers at Jean. “Your brother gonna go, or does he plan on sticking around for a peep show?”

“Come now, Airi,” Marina muttered. “You’re a soldier, this isn’t the first time…”

“Doesn’t mean I what some random engineer perving on me if I can avoid it.”

Jean rolled his eyes, stepping away from the pod his was fiddling with. “Ah Bon? Ce nouveau?” (Really? This again?) He placed his hands on his hips, and scoffed. “Now you listen to me. For what feels like the hundredth time, I am a professional. None of the men accuse my sister of this… perversion. If I wanted a job where I could see women in their lingerie all the time, why would I pick this, where most of the people I could possibly see have come and gone, leaving me with… pft, you.”

Airi’s stare turned into a scowl. “Left with me, huh? What is that…”

“Only that I am not interested in anything you’re selling.”

Airi let out a grim chuckle, slowly, almost seductively, pulling her shirt off and slipping down her pants. “Is that so? Well, too bad for you. Because I have… everything… some uptight greasemonkey like you could ever want. All tied up in a convenient package. So what… do you think… of that?”

“Oh, dear…” Marina took a step back. “This will not end well.”

Jean scoffed, and leaned forward, making it a point to show how much he had to do so to be on eye level with Airi. “Sorry. Still not interested. My Eva has twice has much as you do. Three times, even. In… heh, more ways then one.”

Marina’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”

Jeanne raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Airi’s eye twitched. “You… t-trying… t-t-to say something?”

Jean grinned. His eyes wandered down a bit. “I’ll admit, you’re well equipped for someone of your… stature…”

“Please don’t,” Marina muttered.

“... but let me give you the short answer….”

“Um, Jean,” his sister spoke up.

“...even if I was a… little tempted…”

Airi’s hands balled into raging, violently shaking fists.

“...I’m not interested in half-pints, mon petite cerise.”

Airi let out an animalistic growl, and tackled Jean to the ground. "Watashi no saizu no tanoshimi o tsukuru yōna, ha~a~tsu!?” (Like making fun of my size, huh?!) She pounded and clawed at him, the compact woman showing impressive strength. “Watashi wa kuso anata no kuchi kara anata no sumāto shiri shita o rippingu shi, anata no o shiri o sore o tsukidasu yo!” (I'll fucking rip that smart-ass tongue of yours out of your mouth and shove it up your ass!)

“G… get her off me!” Jean screamed.

Jeanne laughed hysterically. “Why? You brought it on yourself, Casanova.”

Marina sighed, and grabbed her pants, reaching into the pocket. “Are the pods ready?” Jeanne nodded, and Marina pulled out a small case. Opening it, she produced a long acupuncture needle. She watched her raging sister for a moment before flinging it forward, the needle poking into the base of her neck. Airi flopped forward, unconscious.

The three quickly put her in one of the pods, and Marina stepped into another. She smiled at the twins, and said, “Thank you. And it was nice meeting you, Jean, but… I-I’d suggest you not be here when we wake up.” The pod closed, and Jean collapsed to the floor, panting heavily.

==========

=November 2nd, 1900 Hours=

“But Marina warned you…”

Jean waved a dismissive hand. “It’ll be fine. It’s been ten days! And she’s been asleep.” The pods slowly opened. “I’m sure everything will be…”

Jean slowly lifted into the air, his entire body feeling like it would rip into pieces. Airi stepped out of the pod, an arm raised, her blond hair waving ever so slightly as a deep red aura surrounded her. “Watashi wa satsujin anata o kuso sa remasu!” (I will fucking murder you!)

As Jeanne quickly tried to wake Marina to get her to help, Jean pushed with all his might to lift his arm, holding a dozen flowers in his hand. “F-for… y-you…”

Airi tilted her head, her grip on Jean loosening a bit. “The fuck is this?”

Jean smiled. “I-in the language of flowers, the tulip is associated with new beginnings. The white tulip, in particular, s-symbolizes forgiveness, purity, and serenity. Please, accept these flowers… a-as a token of my sincere apologies. It was wrong of me to… insult a lady, especially such a lovely lady.”

Airi smiled, accepting the flowers. Her powers no longer fueled by her anger, she lost the strength to hold Jean, and they both fell to the floor. As Jean weakly stood up, Airi held her stomach in pain. Jean quickly took the tulips from her and replaced it with a bucket, the Japanese engineer making great use of it.

When she was able to compose herself, Airi grinned up at Jean, wiping her mouth and taking the flowers back, along with her clothes. “Thanks. You’re quite the charmer, I have to admit. But do anything to hurt that sweetheart of yours, and I’ll be back to kick your ass.”

Jeanne laughed. “Don’t worry about that. Eva is plenty capable of doing so for you.”

“So… Airi is red.” Marina held up her hand and observed the glow. “And I appear to be green.”

Jeanne rubbed her chin. “Interesting. sisters, yet not only different spectrums, but complete opposites. Wonder if this means it has less to do with genetics than we thought and more to do with personality.”

“Could be both,” Marina offered. “I am more like our mother, while Airi is more like our father. Perhaps, if you tested the respective parent, you would find they had the respective powers.”

“At any rate, I got my mind powers. Time to throw me some cars!” Airi held her hand forward, a chair hovering an inch above the ground for a few seconds before dropping back down. “Hey, what gives?”

Jean smiled. “Psionics are also linked to emotions. You’ll need to practice if you want to use that much power when not in a blind rage.”

“Great,” Airi muttered sarcastically. “More training.”

Marina smiled at her, and placed two glowing fingers against a pressure point on Airi’s back, her sister’s stomach ache easing. “I’m glad you talked me into this, Airi. These powers will go great with my knowledge of the human body.”

Jean and Jeanne bowed gracefully, the latter saying, “And remember. We are always here to help.”

Airi jumped to her feet. “Alright. Next stop, the gene-labs!”

Marina rolled her eyes, slipped her clothes on, and dragged her sister out of the room, not in the direction of the gene-lab, but in the direction of the showers and mess hall.