[Vol. 1] Chapter 009: Ark Express

Time passed as Commander was allowed to rest so his arm could heal. A few days into his short break, Commander was done wasting his time doing nothing important so headed out first thing that morning. Considering his run in with Soline recently, he decided to see if she was around. Even though he had time off, Commander still sported his dark brown military uniform. It made him easily identifiable as he walked into the nearest shop, although that wasn't his reason for wearing work clothes. It was just that he was so focused on becoming a commander that he failed to bother buying and using casual clothes. After a long internal debate while he walked through the shop's aisles, Commander settled on getting some sweets for Soline and her coworkers. He couldn't go wrong with candy. With the small pouch of sweets shoved into his coat pocket, he entered a train station before the morning rush and took a seat, waiting to see if Soline showed up at some point.

Sure enough, after two trains came and went, a third stopped at the station and a short girl with white hair stepped off a carriage. As expected from Nikke at this point, they always looked the same. It was especially true for Soline, since this was her job. Her white shirt and deep blue coat and skirt was the uniform she wore every single day. But she didn't seem to want to fashion her hair into a different style or wear any accessories. Besides Anis' hair clip that presumably had the practical application of keeping hair out of her face, Commander hadn't seen a Nikke that had an item on their person for the sole purpose of simply wanting it. Was it because they didn't see themselves as human so they didn't think they were allowed accessories or other items of clothing? Were they not allowed other outfits? Whatever the reason, Commander wished to make Nikke feel human again and part of that may end up coming down to letting them get involved with fashion.

The girl swept her eyes over the station and locked eyes with Commander, choosing to walk up to the young man after spotting him. "How's your arm?"

"Broken." He grinned as her eyebrows lowered to create a slight glare, clearly agitated by his remark. When he first met Soline, Commander was under the impression that she was similar to Rapi. She seemed like the serious type so it would be easy to get under her skin. "It's just fine, thanks."

It'd been three or four days since he'd been at the hospital, he wasn't quite paying attention to time right now because there was no reason to. Since it was his forearm that'd been broken by Rapi's weight, Commander decided not to bother with a sling. Instead he rested his arm, wrapped in a thick white cast, across his lap. When he was walking around he just let it dangle to his side. There was a risk of bumping into someone and causing himself pain, but that would only happen if he was careless when there were hordes of people walking the streets. During the day, when everyone was busy fulfilling their role in the Ark, there weren't too many civilians around. Commander had yet to bump into anyone.

His arm wouldn't be in this state for much longer either. After roughly a week of letting a limb recover on its own, the Ark would attach a bionic arm to Commander. This device would allow him to use his arm again. The young man had occasionally seen people walking around with metal exoskeletons attached to a leg, so he knew what to expect. The bionic equipment would take pressure off Commander's arm by essentially acting as an external bone, allowing him to complete tasks such as heavy lifting even though his arm is broken. It's not perfect though, a bionic arm is far from being armour. Commander would still have to be careful his exposed limb doesn't get hit. The positives far outweighed the negatives though. Commander was just happy he'd be able to use both hands again.

"Where are you heading?" Soline asked after taking a moment to calm herself.

"I'm already at my destination. I just wanted to see you." Seeing the young girl turn bright red, become frantic and stutter so badly she couldn't complete a single word, Commander reached into the pocket of his military coat and pulled out a small pack of sweets. "Here, as thanks for keeping the trains running. Share them with, erm, Brid and Diesel, was it? Share it with them too."

"R- Right…" Soline went quiet and used both hands to accept Commander's gift, looked them over and then put them in a small coat pocket. "Thanks…"

She was cute when she was embarrassed. Commander couldn't help but think that one day, if he had a daughter, she could end up acting like Soline. A bashful, well-meaning girl just trying to do the job she'd been given. But with that out of the way, Commander stated why he was really here. He was bored and simply wanted to help out. Soline raised her eyebrows at his declaration of wanting to aid her, but she didn't turn him down. She'd take all the help she could get. Pulling a spare blue armband out of her skirt pocket, the Nikke almost handed it to Commander before remembering one of his arms was broken. With her face turning a bit red again, Soline slipped the armband up Commander's right arm for him.

"Now people will think you're part of Ark Express, so there shouldn't be any problems. But stick with me for now, I'm the adult around here. I need to show you the ropes." Soline told her temporary employee. She had now become more interested in the man. At this point he had to know she was a Nikke, and by extension it should be easy to guess her coworkers, Brid and Diesel, were also Nikke. Ark Express occasionally received help in the form of young volunteers from high school. They were tasked with gaining work experience and so they helped keep the peace on the trains for a week. Besides that, no one ever sought to aid Nikke in the Ark. Especially military personnel like commanders who thought such tasks were above them. And yet here Commander was, doing something no one else in his position would even consider doing. He was a strange one.

Commander questioned in his head whether she was a child or an adult but didn't say anything. He just followed Soline as she boarded a train heading from the military headquarters to a civilian housing district and watched closely. Soline would walk from one end of the train to another, ready to help out at a moment's notice. More often than not, the carriages were peaceful and Soline had nothing to do, but occasionally some passengers would get rowdy so she would ask them to quieten down a little. She went on to explain that sometimes a lost kid needs help or drunks start a fight with each other, but this was how it was most of the time. Nice and quiet. Just her presence was enough to get people to follow the rules.

It seemed like an easy enough job so Commander was fully on board. The pair got off at the next train station so they could monitor the people as the morning rush started. While waiting to catch separate trains, Soline stood silently by Commander's side while occasionally peering up at the young man like she wanted to grab his attention. She was too embarrassed by the words swirling about her mind, she couldn't say it. Once a new vehicle arrived and Commander stepped onto it, the young girl grabbed his coat. He turned around and saw her looking at the ground, her face turning red again. She was easily embarrassed. With how often her face changed colour, Commander almost wanted to joke about her being a chameleon. He didn't though since he got the feeling this was something she struggled with. There was a fine line between teasing someone he barely knew and kicking an acquaintance while they were down. Perhaps after Commander got to know Soline better he'd be more okay with teasing her.

"Umm, your number…" She squeaked, barely getting the words out. There was a pragmatic reason for wanting Commander's number. He was just a volunteer, he had no idea what to do if a problem actually occurred. Having a valid reason for such a thing didn't stop Soline from flushing red. She'd never traded numbers with a man. She had to keep telling herself it was totally normal. "Just in case, you know? If you need help."

Soline was a thoughtful girl, if nothing else. Commander wondered what other sides of Soline he would see as time passed as he took his phone out of his pocket and clumsily used it with one hand, trading numbers with the now silent and crimson-faced Ark Express employee. Saying thanks accidentally, Soline rushed to shove Commander onto the train he was already partially aboard.

"I- If you need me, just call. I'll be there." She declared as the train doors closed, separating her from Commander.

Smiling and waving at the Nikke as the train began to move, Commander began to patrol up and down the carriage while finding it amusing that Soline said something so cheesy. It's something he expected from Marian, who had repeatedly made it clear she would protect him no matter what. Every seat appeared to be filled thanks to the morning rush, but no one was causing any problems yet. Some glanced at Commander before returning to whatever they were doing, whether it be talking to a friend or reading a book, but there was one woman in particular who was taken by Commander. She observed the man with the blue Ark Express armband for a moment before approaching him from behind after he'd passed her seat.

"Such a solemn look is unwelcome on the face of such a fine gentleman." She said calmly, her voice so soothing it could put a child to sleep within seconds. Commander was a stoic man, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. Like he longed for something he could never have. She couldn't let that slide. 

Commander turned around and looked down to meet the eyes of a woman with lovely green irises. She wore golden glasses and her light blonde hair was mostly bundled up above her shoulders, except small amounts of locks she allowed to droop down to her ample chest. The most surprising thing about her was the fact that she was wearing a standard black and white maid dress with all its frills. Since he'd already stolen a glance, Commander noticed how the buttons atop her chest seemed strained like they were about to pop off, unable to contain her fat. Like all maids on idle mode, this woman had her hands clasped and resting against the front of her body. The image of a maid, someone who existed to serve people, doing something as normal as catching a train to her destination threw Commander off a little. It didn't match in his head for some reason.

The woman was also stunned into silence for just a moment. When Commander had passed her, she had only glanced at him. She could tell from her one second viewing that he was handsome, but she hadn't expected him to be this perfect. If she didn't know any better she felt like she had approached a model or actor. Being the mature woman she was, she didn't let her surprise show and she was also quick to compose herself. Speaking again, a kind smile appeared on the woman's face that reminded Commander of Marian. "I'm sorry to call out to you all of a sudden, but you seemed distressed."

Did he really look that depressed? He thought about it for a moment and realised why. He'd once again, for the thousandth time since her death, thought of Marian. He just couldn't get her out of his head. Even though there seemed to be no cure for Nikke corruption, he still felt like if he'd done something differently then Marian would still be here living the life she deserved. Forcing himself to reciprocate the woman's smile, he spoke with a deep voice. The polar opposite of the maid before him. "It's nothing. Just remembering a friend."

"And so you're working to take your mind off such sorrow? It must have been recent then, and for that you have my condolences."

This woman was perceptive. After getting his arm treated at the hospital by the short pink-haired girl, Commander had gone straight home to rest. Then he spent all day every day remembering what he'd lost. Flower and Sun was still a sore spot too. They had covered Commander from an explosion but doing so had resulted in their own deaths. He was alive right now because of the three Nikke he'd lost. During the day Commander would trawl shopping centres mindlessly, play games at the arcades to try and take focus off his fallen Nikke, drink beer at a bar to drown in grief, sleep in late because of his depression and then do it all again. He couldn't continue like that until his next mission so he forced himself to find something to do, and working alongside Soline seemed like a better use of his time. But at the end of the day he was still just putting off mourning for the allies he'd lost.

"In my experience, it is best to mourn when you're ready." 

The woman continued to keep that gentle smile plastered across her face. She had no way of knowing, but her expression was reminding Commander of Marian. At first it upset him, to see such a reminder of what he'd lost, but then he realised just how much he liked that smile. For a brief moment it was like he was allowed to see Marian again, and that gave him some closure. He was granted the fortune of seeing Marian one last time before properly saying goodbye. While understanding it may be time for him to mourn Marian, Flower and Sun, the train started to slow down as it approached the next station.

"My apologies, but this is my stop." The woman bowed deeply and was about to turn to walk to an exit. Since the pair were standing in the middle of a carriage the woman either moved past Commander or walked away from him so she could get off the train. Clearly she was going to attempt to walk away from Commander. Before she could go through with that choice, however, the young man she'd consoled put a hand out for her.

"Right this way, ma'am." If only Commander had two fully functioning arms, he would've mimicked what he'd seen a butler from a show do and put a hand to his chest while gesturing with his other hand. But alas, he only had one working hand right now so he could only gesture to the exit to his back. 

The woman hid her surprise well, to the point where she didn't think the young man noticed. Since she was a maid she was always the one to treat others as if she served them, so to have a man act this way for her was unique. She gladly followed behind Commander and was astounded when he got off the train, turned around and held a hand out for her to grab. She was a mere maid, but this man was treating her like an esteemed lady. Chuckling with a smile much bigger than she'd ever shown anyone, she thanked her butler while placing her hand on his and stepping off the train. She did her best to hold back on putting too much weight onto his hand. For some reason she didn't want this man to find out she was a Nikke. If she revealed such information about herself she feared Commander's opinion of her would drastically change. 

"Thank you, sir." She beamed, going along with the roleplay.

"It was the least I could do." Commander wanted to say it was his thanks for her approaching him and comforting him, but she seemed smart so she must've gotten the point.

"I look forward to seeing you again." She blurted out without thinking. Considering she was a grown adult, she wasn't going to turn red out of embarrassment like Soline would, but the woman was still flustered to some degree because she hadn't expected herself to say such a thing. Sure, the man who appeared to be a commander was easy on the eyes, but she'd just met him. This was no way for a lady to act, to be enamoured with the first gentlemanly person she came across.

And then it crossed her mind again. This young man was a commander, she could tell by his uniform. Nikke were well aware of the statistics for a commander's survival out in the field. A huge majority died on just their first mission, and from there the statistics somehow got worse. After every mission a commander's chance at living long enough to come back to the Ark was cut in half. Considering this man's broken arm, he'd likely already survived a mission or two. The woman was hit by a wave of sadness as she realised she likely wouldn't see him again.

Keeping the facade going, Commander replied. "I would enjoy a thoughtful conversation with you over the finest cup of tea some time, ma'am."

A small laugh escaped the maid's mouth as she pressed curled fingers onto her wet lips. Perhaps she should invite him out. Commander's job was a tough one that could easily result in his death as early as tomorrow, and a Nikke's love life was non-existent. Perhaps they would both benefit from exploring romance together. There was a part of the maid that didn't want to miss this chance of a lifetime, she really wanted to take advantage of this scenario and experience a love life, if just for a day. But at the back of her mind, the maid believed she couldn't do this to such a fine man. It wasn't fair for him. She was a Nikke, and he was a commander. She wanted to be good faith and believe it wouldn't matter to him, but surely he would just treat her as a tool if he found out who she really was. All commanders were the same. She was there to fulfil a role, whether it be on the battlefield or at the cafe, and nothing more. Romance was not available for Nikke.

She was annoyed at her own indecisiveness, she wasn't usually like this. It wasn't every day that she came across someone like this commander. Pushing her doubts and worries to the back of her mind, the woman threw caution to the wind and spoke her mind. "I would love to have a drink with you too."

After exchanging numbers, the woman grabbed her black skirt that was so long it almost touched the ground and lifted it while taking a deep bow. With a lighter step than normal she walked upstairs and onto a semi-busy street. Once she was out of sight and Commander was back aboard the train, he looked at his phone and finally learnt the woman's name. Ade.

Smiling to himself while doing his job and patrolling train carriages, the rest of Commander's morning was quiet. This gave him time to think. It was definitely time to let Marian, Flower and Sun go. They'd occupied his mind for long enough, he couldn't let this drag on and affect his life and work. Once he went back up to the surface he had a squad to keep alive. It was a big responsibility that couldn't be taken lightly. If he lost Nikke because he was too focused on the past then he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Around noon, Commander departed from a train in a shopping district because he'd seen two drunks fighting in the station through the train's windows. It wasn't even midday yet. What had tempted these men to drink so early? The thought bothered Commander, because until today he had been using the loss of friends as an excuse to let himself go. He was in no position to criticise others for their poor decisions right now.

Ignoring his still healing arm, Commander got in-between the two fools and received a punch to the gut for his efforts. He wasn't exactly angry about it. His muscles did a good enough job at dampening the drunk's feeble hit to the point where it was barely noticeable, but he still retaliated. Grabbing the man's arm before he could retract it, Commander yanked him close and headbutted the man into the ground. Letting go of the drunk's arm, Commander staggered backwards a step or two and rubbed his head. The drunk's head was tougher than expected. To his surprise, Commander felt a liquid. Headbutting the drunk had split his skin and caused a small amount of blood to be released. It was a superficial injury, a tiny cut. Nothing to worry about.

Lying on the ground, cradling his bottle of alcohol while talking to himself, was the other drunk. Seeing someone knock out his drinking buddy with one hit made him cower in fear, taking solace in his intoxicating drink.

Sighing, Commander pulled his phone out and rang Soline. After telling her of the situation, she rushed to the scene and somehow arrived within minutes. She stopped just short of revealing herself so she could calm her racing heart and straighten her hair a bit. She would never admit it to the man, but she'd run along the tracks at a pace she'd never accomplished before. There was just something about this commander and the way he treated her that made her want to perform at her absolute best. For him. 

"These two again." She said with disdain in her voice after walking to Commander's side, nudging the knocked-out man with her foot. "And you, Commander. You've got a broken arm already. Are you trying to end up in the hospital again?"

Watching him shrug, Soline grew annoyed and pointed at a bench while barking at him to sit down. It was a good job an adult like her was around to sort this kind of situation out. Once Commander was seated, Soline pulled a small box out of her coat pocket. Inside the box were a selection of plasters of various shapes and sizes for just this occasion, with a couple of other basic medical items thrown in for good measure. Using a tiny bit of cotton to clean Commander's wound, Soline soon put a plaster across the small cut.

"There's dinosaurs on it but you're just going to have to deal with it. I'm usually looking after kids." Soline was often treating children that had fallen and scraped a knee after messing around, so after a while she started to appeal to said children by using plasters with pictures of them. All boys love dinosaurs so they were a good option.

"Sure thing, thanks boss." Commander replied, seeing a smug look appear on Soline's face. Praise was clearly something she enjoyed.

Even if the injury wasn't worth talking about because it was so minor, the fact that Commander had been hurt on the job meant he had to take the rest of the day off. There were reports to fill in, but Soline, being the good adult boss she was, decided to let Commander off the hook. She'd deal with the messy paperwork created by this incident. Commander did attempt to argue back, but Soline wasn't having it. She was glad he still wanted to help in some way though so she convinced him that getting his boss a drink was more than enough. Other Ark Express employees were bound to show up so he should probably get a drink for everyone. Commander recalled Soline mentioning Brid and Diesel. They were likely the other employees that were going to show up, so Commander had to make sure to get four drinks.

Getting to it immediately, Commander headed up onto the streets. The digital sky above shone bright like the real sky so Commander raised his hand to cover his eyes. He saw mothers with their young children walking around while a small number of four-wheeled vehicles drove across roads. It was the middle of the day after all, most people were at work or school right now. Heading to the nearest cafe according to a map on his phone, Commander soon arrived at a corner where a sizable coffee shop was situated. There was a bit of a queue, people were grabbing a drink during their break from work, but he didn't mind. He could wait. He was about to enter his own little world and wonder about work-related topics like what his next mission could be, but he was distracted by the girl in front mumbling to herself.

"This time for sure…" She said quietly, holding a drink close to her tiny chest.

Listening to her some more, Commander observed the strange mix of clothing she wore. A regular, white buttoned shirt and a skirt with green camouflage on it. Either she was a Nikke or she was a bit of a military enthusiast. Normal people didn't wear woodland camo to a cafe. The girl rivalled Soline in the height department, so it was hard to say for sure, but Commander just had this feeling that the person in front of him was a Nikke. The military camouflage definitely helped sway him.

Minutes passed as the line slowly moved forward. Commander continued to listen to the girl hype herself up to do something. She was fairly quiet so he didn't catch everything, but from what he could piece together she'd been given the wrong drink and wanted to exchange it for a drink she actually wanted. She seemed to lack courage though. Commander could imagine her chickening out at the last second. She was putting in serious effort to force herself to do something as simple as exchange a drink.

"What do you want?" He moved a few feet forward and stood in-line with the girl. She was clearly startled as she looked up at Commander, allowing the young man to see the girl's bright pink eyes situated behind massive glasses that seemed made for an elderly woman. Commander could easily picture those glasses on every grandmother to ever exist.

Stuttering and stammering her way through every word, the girl eventually managed to give Commander her order. Commander then went next and bought a number of beverages. Himself, Soline, Brid, Diesel and the shaking girl with dizzy eyes next to him for five drinks in total. Right before Commander ordered he realised he didn't know what the members of Ark Express wanted, so he winged it and hoped for the best.

Once she'd gotten her order, the girl fought her way through a sea of stuttering to say thanks. Commander just smiled at the girl as he grabbed his palette holding four drinks and exited the shop. 

Arriving back at the underground train station in no time, Commander immediately saw two people that stood out. They had to be Nikke. They were both taller than Soline. One was wearing a uniform somewhat similar to Soline's clothes, with a big difference being that she was wearing a vibrant blue coat over her shoulders. At her waist was a pink pouch holding who knew what. Her brunette hair was well groomed and shone brightly thanks to the station's light as it swayed around the back of her hips.

The other woman was more stern looking, possibly because her job was harder than her colleagues. She wore a different, smaller hat compared to her two teammates, and didn't seem to abide by the same uniform code. Her shirt had to be a few sizes too small because her large breasts seemed about ready to pop out from the sides, but she wore a long blue dress that covered most of her legs. Thick black boots covered the rest. Pouches of various shapes and sizes were strapped to her waist and her orange droplet earrings were obvious when contrasted with her short white hair.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Commander said after getting close enough.

While Commander presented coffee to everyone, Soline introduced her teammates. Their best worker, Brid, was the woman with her breasts wanting to break free of her shirt's constraints, while Diesel was the brunette with a smile permanently engraved onto her face. Despite appearances, Diesel was actually the leader of this group. It was explained that Brid already had enough on her plate with running the trains so had passed on leadership rights to Diesel.

Managing to illuminate everyone on who each drink belonged to, everyone took a sip of coffee and seemed pleased enough. For the hardest worker, Commander had gotten a strong coffee. To his surprise Brid mentioned how it wasn't strong enough, but it was definitely a good choice for her. He figured someone in this group would be drowning in work so got her the strongest drink, but to hear it wasn't strong enough amused him. He'd remember that for if there was a next time. Diesel got a middle of the road coffee, not too strong, not too weak. Commander had the same. Soline, despite wanting to be seen as an adult, likely couldn't handle the bitterness of coffee with no sugar so he got her the sweetest coffee available.

Sitting on the benches were the two drunks from earlier. One of them spoke up. "Can I have some?"

"No, just sit there and shut up." Brid said with a hint of annoyance, handing her coffee to Diesel so she could start tapping away at her large touch screen tablet that she had tucked under her arm until now.

Slumping his shoulders, the drunk got consoled by the other drunk. It sure was a weird scene. They were fighting five minutes ago, but now that one couldn't get a coffee he was sulking and being comforted by the man he was fighting. 

"I appreciate the help, but we'll take it from here. You can go home now." Brid said nonchalantly to Commander. She already had enough problems to deal with, she didn't need the hassle of keeping a volunteer on the job after they'd been hurt. Someone was bound to start a weird rumour about how Brid forced even injured staff and volunteers to work. It was best to let Commander go for today.

Nodding without protest, Commander understood his position and was ready to leave. Before she let Commander go, Diesel rushed to finish her drink, choking on the last bit before throwing her cup in the bin by the bench and approaching him. Without hesitation she reached into her pink pouch, pulled out some sweets and asked Commander a question. "You did a good job today, so here's some candy."

  Seeing no reason to refuse, Commander accepted and shovelled two small pink spheres into his mouth while a strange feeling washed over him. He had a suspicion he was being treated like a child. There was just something about the way Diesel spoke that made Commander feel like she was treating him like he was a kid. Was it a younger sibling thing, perhaps? Either way, Commander observed the flavour of the sweets. Strawberry. Couldn't go wrong with that, it was a classic.

"What are you going to do now?" Soline spoke up while Commander swallowed the sweet he'd been given. She was genuinely curious. From her point of view, Commander was looking for activities to fill time until his next mission so being let go from his volunteer position in the middle of the day was probably throwing him off. She almost regret letting him go, worrying if Commander was going to struggle with his newfound free time. 

He thought about it for a moment and responded. "The war memorial."

In the largest district in the Ark there was a park, and in that park was a large memorial to everyone that'd lost their lives since the Raptures invaded decades ago. It was mostly for humans to remember their dead relatives and friends, but since it was a general memorial with no names, Commander could treat it as if it was a memorial for his fallen Nikke. He'd been putting it off for days, it was time to finally mourn for Marian, Flower and Sun.

"Okay, well, see you around Commander. Stay safe."