Test Drive

Yinuo took a deep breath, calming her mind, before staring at the display outside of the monitors, placed like windows around the cockpit.

"Does my Doppel have a name?"

Yinuo asked, just in case, but Melody shook her head. "Nope. Having a named Doppel takes time, so this machine doesn't have a name yet."

"Got it. Then, Quinlan Gaudin with Unnamed Doppel, heading out!"

*BOOM!*

A single heavy step caused the entire cockpit to shake quite a bit. Despite the anti-vibration measures placed, they were jostling wildly inside the Doppel's head!

Yinuo frowned, seeing that controlling Quinlan's Doppel wasn't as easy as Melody's. 'This thing has too much energy! It's like I'm trying to tame a wild spiritual beast barehanded!'

Each move that Yinuo tried to make was done with over-the-top power behind each action. The Neuro Cockpit was already following her accurate movements, but the power behind each action wasn't matching at all!

"This... is difficult!" Yinuo groaned, seeing that it wasn't working the way she wanted at all.

For starters, she tried walking around. Each step was so heavy and forced that they left marks on the ground of the stadium. Ignoring the damage done to the ground, she continued taking one step after another, slowly adjusting the power behind each action.

About a minute later, she could finally move the Doppel as fluidly as she does her own body!

"Amazing, Quinlan! As expected, even without your memory, your body remembers the controls!" Melody cheered excitedly from the backseat.

Slowly, they increased the difficulty of the training. Moving from walking to running to even adding jumping around and other acrobatics. In just moments, Quinlan's Doppel was now moving like a veteran gymnast, jumping around and performing triple backflips without breaking a sweat!

Melody was surprised by a different thing. Although they were moving violently, the cockpit stayed stable. It was as if they were on flat ground, other than the small jerks from sudden changes of direction and centrifugal force acting on them with every turn.

'Even with memory loss, he's still this good as a pilot?!' Melody was actually losing her cool while observing Yinuo. 'He's even better than me on piloting skills alone!'

She remembered Quinlan had once controlled her Doppel, Sylveria, back when they fought the first dragon-shaped Echo from before. She was unconscious back then, so she couldn't watch it, but seeing her in action now, she was finally convinced that Yinuo did defeat the Echo herself!

{Control Tower to Quinlan Gaudin. Please halt actions immediately.}

Suddenly, the voice of the control tower fell on the two of them. Melody quickly frowned, thinking of the reason why they were forced to stop, but couldn't help but laugh after the voice continued.

{You're destroying the ground of the first stadium. Please do your tests in moderation.}

"Ahhh... Hahaha."

After the warning, Yinuo was forced to limit her training to moderate actions that wouldn't leave deep impressions on the ground.

After that, they tested out weapons. The sword and shield weren't to Yinuo's taste, so she decided to ditch the shield and use two swords instead. Melody was surprised that she chose the same thing that Quinlan was accustomed to using from way before—twin blades!

Just for the sake of it, Melody also told Yinuo to try out the guns. Although it took her a few shots to get used to the aim and recoil, she soon managed to master it completely and could hit the center of the target even while running.

"This is the first time I saw a spray that's all in the bull's eye!" Melody roared in disbelief.

After all, the gun should have slight trajectory alterations due to the gun's muzzle expanding due to heat. Despite that, Yinuo could actually calculate and predict the path the bullets would take and make micro-adjustments to her aim!

"This is too easy to use but is also easy to dodge. I have no use for this," Yinuo decided after completely overwriting all records for all the training weapon categories.

After completing all their tests, Yinuo finally returned to the hangar. It was a tiring experience, but fulfilling in its own way. After the two got out and stared at the Doppel, which didn't even overheat despite how much it was moving around, Melody sighed in admiration.

"It's great that it's fully functional now. I dare say it's even better than before!" She mused. "With this, I think they'll be willing to allow you to accompany me in the Pursuit Unit!"

"That's good." Yinuo nodded, a faint smile on her face. "That means I can also protect you this time."

"...!"

Melody, hearing Yinuo's gentle tone, couldn't help but blush. However, Yinuo didn't notice this, as her gaze was focused on the newly popped-out window before her.

[Congratulations! You have completed the Side Quest: Repair Quinlan's Doppel!]

[Reward Received: Qi Gathering Pill x1]

She finally completed another one of her side quests! A smile appeared on her face naturally, and she wondered when would be the best time to use the pill.

Just like that, the two of them walked out of the hangar while chatting idly, mostly regarding the procedures for applying to join the Pursuit Unit. 

"... So, first thing tomorrow, we'll need to register you and your Doppel at the Control Tower. Then, you will need to go through a thorough screening before finally being selected!"

Yinuo nodded her head as she listened, muttering, "That sounds like too much trouble just to join a suicide squad."

The purpose of the unit was, after all, to investigate if there were more of those dragon-shaped Echoes on the other side of the ocean.

Melody smiled wryly upon hearing this, adding, "Well, to increase the success rate of the mission, the administration decided to take the best of the best only."

*BEEP!*

"...?"

Suddenly, the smartwatch on Melody's left wrist released a soft beep. She quickly stopped, checked it, and quickly frowned. "It looks like Benno will be participating too."

"Benno...?" Yinuo tilted her head, feeling like she had heard the name before. "Ah, the one who was to duel with me? Wasn't that set for tomorrow?"

Participating in the same mission as the one that almost killed Quinlan before was weird, but Yinuo didn't really mind. 'If he tries to do something to me, then I'll just handle him then and there.'

Seeing the worried look on Melody's face, Yinuo smiled and nodded. "Don't worry too much; I got this."