Chapter 2: Two For One Asset

"Assuming that worse comes to worst, how likely is it that this entire ordeal kicks off World War Three?"

The synthetic yet distinctly male voice of Church's newest companion echoed about within his head as he soared over the United States. The waters of the Pacific Ocean were still some distance away, even at the speed he was flying.

Debatable, Operator A2. On one hand, per the Alaska Treaty, no country is allowed to withhold information regarding their I.S. If Japan tried to accuse the U.S. of 'stealing' the data for the Generation 4 I.S., they would essentially be admitting that they had violated the treaty in the first place. The data they have shared with the world to stave off suspicion is the bare minimum to get away with hiding the truth; the name of the unit, and some of its most basic armaments and specs. Not enough for anyone to try and copy its capabilities. In short, even if our mission fails and we are discovered, armed conflict is extremely unlikely.

Church shook his head as he flew, with the late afternoon sun behind him. While it may have been around 4 PM in Nevada, it was roughly 8 AM in Japan, and at his current speed he would arrive in just over four hours. In some basic sense it was almost like time travel.

Normally he'd push the engines situated on his back and legs a little harder to shorten the trip, but he actually needed some time to go over all of the mission details that had been forwarded to him after leaving the base. The Commander hadn't actually given him much in the way of such things. Thankfully, Cerberus was at least capable of providing him with information readily enough. Its troubling personality didn't seem to affect that in any way.

"So, the obvious most important thing is the fact that no one even told me what this Gen 4 I.S. looks like, or who pilots it, for that matter. Just a thought, but I might need to know that."

Rather than immediately informing Church of the information he desired, Cerberus sought to question his ignorance.

I find it odd that you are not aware of these facts already, Operator A2. The Gospel Incident received great publicity, with a large portion of it focused on the sudden appearance of the Gen 4 I.S. we are pursuing. How could you lack such information?

"Listen you-"

You are not required to speak aloud to communicate with me, Operator A2. This platform is capable of discerning your thoughts.

Don't remind me. Anyway, Infinite Stratos was kind of outside of the scope of my concerns prior to working for Umbra Stratum. And once I did get recruited, no mention of it ever came up outside of data regarding the Silver Gospel. If you're satisfied with my excuse, could you give me the information I need already?

With no rebuttal this time, Cerberus brought up the footage from the Gospel's last hours, pausing the recording at a moment when the AI controlled I.S. was locked onto the proper enemy.

Dominating Church's field of vision was a crimson I.S. with what seemed to be a full set of Fold-Out armor, something that truly set it apart from the other machines flying through the air in the shot.

This is the machine the Gospel encountered that exceeded all reasonable Gen 3 parameters. Its full capability is unknown, but it exemplified extreme speed, regenerating shield energy, and complete Fold-Out armor. Its pilot is Houki Shinonono, younger sister of Tabane Shinonono.

Houki, huh? She's pretty.

Is that truly all you are capable of noticing, Operator A2?

What? She's got blue eyes; that's pretty rare for someone of her ethnicity. It's kind of exotic.

That is not the only thing about her physical traits that is unusual for her people.

At first Church didn't catch onto the machine's meaning, but focusing on the frame in his visor again, he got the implication. She certainly was sporting an unusually large bust for someone of her age and descent.

"Hold on-"

You do not have to-

"I know, it's a habit alright?! It's not like I've ever had purely mental conversations before. Anyway, how can you berate me for noticing an aesthetic detail, then go out of your way to point out a far more perverted one? Are you even capable of understanding perversion?"

While I can objectively recognize the attributes of such a thing, I cannot understand its value or relevance to human culture. I simply pointed out the fact to gauge your own nature. Your bio-metric data clearly indicates that this 'perversion' increased your own-

"Alright, let's just stop that, shall we? Take me out to dinner first before bringing that kind of thing up.

I do not require sustenance, Operator A2.

With a sigh, Church tried to steer the topic back to the matter at hand. "Anyway, I guess that explains where this Houki girl got such a powerful machine. Although, that implies that Tabane Shinonono could crank out seriously superior I.S. whenever she wants. Why has she only made one if it's clearly within her power to make more?"

This question is valid, but we have no definite means of determining an answer, save a bloody and ruthless interrogation of the Professor herself. Unfortunately, her whereabouts are always unknown. We must settle for discerning the full capabilities of Akatsubaki: as it stands, our nation possesses no weapons that could feasibly defeat it, this suit included.

"I'm not exactly assured by the knowledge that Exeter is already inferior to the strongest I.S. around, especially if Tabane could just make more machines of that level."

It seems unlikely that she will. From my entirely objective and absolutely non-judgmental point of view, it seems that the criminally insane elder Shinonono simply acted on a nepotistic impulse for her floundering and useless younger sister.

Church was thrown off by the sudden shift to disdain, not quite sure what the deal was with all of these personality shifts. "That's kind of a harsh judgment; she did play a significant role in taking down the Gospel..."

While it pains me to be so cruel, it is the truth, Operator A2. Houki Shinonono is listed as a mere C-Rank pilot. Her skills are rather abysmal; the machine itself is just so advanced that it compensates for her shortcomings almost completely. That said, if the machine was designed specifically for her, it is very likely that her skill will significantly improve over time. You should take this into consideration in case the mission comes to blows, though it would be best if we could avoid violence.

"If the mission comes to blows there will be a lot of other pilots I still have to worry about. Now before we go any further, seriously: what the hell is with all these sudden personality shifts of yours? It's disconcerting."

I am cycling through various personality presets in order to determine one that is the most suitable in acting as your partner. Ultimately I will settle on an amalgamation of traits ideal for you. Until then, you must suffer my sudden shifts.

Church could only shake his head again, a little worried to discover which 'personality' Cerberus would settle on as being ideal for him.

"Just me and my schizophrenic robot pal, huh? Great. Well, no offense, but I think I'd rather spend this flight going over important information. Give me data on any pilot with a personal I.S.; bios, dossiers, battle reports, anything you can get me."

Excellent call, Operator A2. You know, they say killing someone you know well is a much different experience than eliminating a stranger. Study hard.

"Seriously, Cerberus, I can promise you that 'murderous psychopath' is not a trait of my ideal partner."

---

Standing at the head of her classroom near the end of the period, Chifuyu Orimura glanced down at a report she had received about a week ago, the intensity of her gaze just shy of a temperature that would incinerate the sheet of paper on her podium. It was a printed copy of a message from the Japanese government stating that an envoy from the U.S.A. would be arriving at the Academy today as a sign of friendship and trust between the two nations following the Silver Gospel incident.

That in itself was not suspicious, as relations between the U.S. and most of the developed world were strained after said catastrophe. The worst relations had definitely been between America and Japan, and so the Stars and Stripes were eager to prove that they had not intentionally sent an I.S. on a search and destroy mission, and that the whole debacle had well and truly been a horrific accident. In order to show their good faith, they wanted to openly share something they had been working on, even though it apparently wasn't an I.S., and they were therefore not obligated to share at all.

From a diplomatic standpoint it was definitely important and understandable for America to try and smooth things over as amicably as possible. But for the life of Chifuyu, she just couldn't see why they had to choose a boy to be their ambassador. Perhaps it was because he was the only one who could pilot whatever this new machine they had built was, but either way it made trouble for the whole school. It at least made headaches for Chifuyu, because she knew damn good and well what would happen when another boy made his presence known for some undetermined amount of time.

That was why she had put off informing the student body of this situation even though she had known about it for roughly a week. She'd thought about giving them a week to dwell on it, but that would have just made said week unbearable. Better to simply put it off as much as possible, though she had no choice but to tell them on the day of their envoy's arrival. Maybe they would get all of their nonsensical enthusiasm out of the way early? But casting her dark gaze towards Class 1-1, Chifuyu honestly doubted that it would be so easy. The class was full of airheads, some of which just happened to be expert pilots at the same time. In this room, she often felt like the only sane person in the whole world.

She would hopefully just drink away any headaches this situation provided for her, but for now the Japanese government was forcing it on her. Despite being the victims of the incident, they had to handle it with poise befitting the only country leading the I.S. training program. America was making moves to smooth over their mistake, and Japan had to graciously accept. Chifuyu was just a cog in the machine that was their graciousness, so she had to keep her complaints under wraps and handle the annoyance that was high school drama like a good representative of the country. Naturally, the other teachers around the school were delivering the same message to their classes as well.

"Alright everyone, calm down and listen up!"

Chifuyu easily silenced the classroom full of girls (and Ichika, of course) with her powerful voice. At least she still had some semblance of control over these hooligans. She imagined that it would not always be so easy, so she was going to enjoy that while it lasted.

"As you all no doubt remember, there was an international incident involving the Academy about six months ago. No, you still don't need details regarding that incident; all you need to know is that, because of said incident, an envoy from another country is going to be coming to the Academy for an undetermined amount of time. This envoy... happens to be male, but-"

Almost all of the girls broke out into excited gasps and chatter about a new boy arrival before Chifuyu had even finished. Needless to say, a single glare from their ruthless teacher was more than enough to silence them all, a promise of pain hidden behind her otherwise attractive visage.

"As I was saying, this representative is a male. Before any of you ask, no, he is not an I.S. pilot. That means this boy is not a student. He is not here to become a part of your daily school lives. He is an agent of a government, and is here for a very important international agenda. That said, how familiar he chooses to be with anyone here is completely up to him. However, if he makes it clear that any of you are bothering him or getting in the way of his purpose, you will leave him be. Is that clear?"

There was a collective sigh of disappointment among the girls, and more than a few rebellious or mischievous looks shared among them, but Chifuyu knew better than to think that she could subdue their curiosity entirely. It would be better to simply move on and let them suffer of their own accord if at all possible.

At roughly that moment, the bell ending the period rang, signalling a sweet release for the student body as they were free to go and fetch lunch. They began to file out as soon as that noise was heard, but Chifuyu stopped a small handful of them from leaving.

"Everyone involved in the aforementioned incident, please stay in the room for a moment. There's something we need to discuss."

With no room for disagreement given to them, Ichika, Houki, Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura all stayed behind in the room. Knowing that the teacher of Class 1-2 had been instructed to send Rin over here as well, Chifuyu only had to wait a few moments after everyone else filed out of the room for the Chinese pilot to make her appearance.

"What's the problem? What's going on?"

Chifuyu simply motioned for her to take a seat somewhere, as she had not yet explained anything anyway. Naturally Ichika's second childhood friend looked for a place next to him, but all of those seats were taken by the other girls, so she was forced to take a diagonal position with a scowl on her face.

The elder Orimura sibling didn't rightly care about such a minor issue as shallow teenage romance, because the situation at hand was much more important, and she wasted no time in explaining what that situation was.

"So, as I said, we're receiving an ambassador in regards to the Silver Gospel incident. As you may have guessed, he's American."

Always the most practical when it finally came time to discuss something of that nature, Laura crossed her arms as she posed the group question. "What is special about this American? There must be something particular about him that will make his presence a gesture of reparation by the United States."

"Exactly right. According to the Japanese government, America is looking to prove its innocence and goodwill by lying all of its cards on the table. They've been developing an aerial combat system to compete with Infinite Stratos. Despite having no legal obligation to, they're sharing information regarding this technology with us as a sign of good faith. Six months late I suppose, but better late than never."

Hearing that there was something new that was supposedly a match for the most advanced technology in the world put confused expressions on everyone's face, but Charlotte, being the only one with a production perspective on I.S., vocalized this first.

"A new system that could rival Infinite Stratos? That can't be. The nearest estimate on such an invention is decades from now, and even that's being generous."

"It's not my place to agree or disagree with that. Numbers aside, apparently it's the way things are. Wherever it came from or how it was made is entirely the problem of someone else."

Chifuyu examined the faces of everyone present, wondering what conclusions they were making. They would all be premature, but she was curious to know if any of them were making the right assumptions.

As their teacher, she liked to judge all aspects of their abilities, including general tactics. Unfortunately Ichika was the only one to pipe up, and he didn't usually make absolutely sound tactical judgments.

"So... is this bad? Everyone's acting like it's bad."

Naturally all the girls gave him a slightly judgmental look he was probably used to by now, but in the end he just shrugged. He didn't get what the big deal was, so he made that obvious. If nothing else, he was an honest guy.

Chifuyu decided it was best to just clarify things herself. "On a technicality, it's not bad. But only if everything is as it seems. If this is all really just a diplomatic mission to smooth over a terrible accident, everything will be fine. We'll run some tests on this new weapon, perhaps spar against it a few times, and the pilot will go home as soon as everything is over with."

"I feel a 'but' coming on."

"But, if the Silver Gospel incident was no mistake in the first place, it's possible that this new machine is just a second shot at achieving the same goal, whatever that may be."

Remembering the fierce battle that had been the conflict with the Silver Gospel, the present pilots all frowned, with Cecilia scowling the hardest. "In that case, shouldn't we bar the attempt...?"

Since it was the norm, Chifuyu half expected Rin to make some counter just because she almost always countered Cecilia, but the brunette was unusually quiet. A quick glance in her direction showed that she was apparently not feeling up to anything other than listening. She was frowning like everyone else, but to Chifuyu's trained eyes it looked more like pain than the result of worry. She'd actually been like this for the past week or so, at least as far as Chifuyu had managed to observe her. But the girl hadn't gone to the infirmary or made any complaints regarding pain, so it wasn't Chifuyu's job to talk her into doing anything she didn't feel like.

But since no one was going to immediately rebut Cecilia, it fell to her to do it. "I suppose I should make this clear. There is absolutely no evidence for this implied second strike from the U.S. I am merely saying that, objectively speaking, it's possible. It's also just as possible that everything is exactly as advertised, that there is no threat whatsoever, and that this envoy will be the most honest and kind person any of us have ever met."

There seemed to be a general unspoken consensus among the girls that the last part couldn't possibly be true, for reasons Chifuyu thought was silly. Not that her brother wasn't a kind person, as he definitely was, but she got the feeling most of the girls didn't actually have a firm grasp on the root of his kindness. Oh well, supposedly they would find out on their own in due time. Hopefully without too many broken hearts.

But back to the matter at hand, they had something important to finish talking about. "Anyway, the only reason I'm telling you all of this is because I at least want you to be on your toes. That said, on the very likely chance that this is a diplomatic mission as advertised, do not jump the gun. Don't make any assumptions on who this guy is or why he's here. Make a fair conclusion based only on evidence. Give him a chance, and only shoot him if you actually get a good reason."

She rethought that statement the moment it left her mouth. "And not the kind of 'good reason' you think is enough to shoot Ichika. If we have an international incident on our hands because one of you does something stupid..."

While she didn't finish her sentence, every girl understood the implication. If they didn't want to experience scorched earth from the legendary Chifuyu Orimura, they would step more carefully around this new arrival than they did with Ichika.

Which, from Chifuyu's point of view, would just be for them to act somewhat normal for once.

---

Around this time, Church was just beginning to cross into Japanese airspace: a situation that he questioned outright. He had, however, gotten a little more used to speaking to Cerberus in his head.

Shouldn't I be contacting Japanese authorities or something? How are they going to know I'm the scheduled arrival they're expecting?

Umbra Stratum has already established communications with the Japanese government. They are well aware of your presence, Operator A2. With your approach and intentions clear, is there truly any need for them to provide a fighter escort?

Church didn't say anything to that, perhaps accepting it as face value. He'd long ago learned to accept that Umbra Stratum handled things in high places through means he didn't understand.

As for Cerberus, it did not inform him of the radar jamming signal it was emitting from the suit right now. Revealing such info would have jeopardized mission parameters.

Naturally, Umbra Stratum was not at all interested in sharing Exeter's data or even its existence with the world at large. All of the information the I.S. Academy had received regarding Exeter's arrival and government sanctioned presence was forged. The Japanese government didn't even know Exeter existed. Ironically, Exeter would be waltzing around in the most important school in Japan, without any non-corrupt part of its government being any the wiser.

Of course, in order to maintain that charade, Cerberus was fully equipped and capable of intercepting outbound transmissions from the Academy as well. The AI would intercept anything and everything that would have revealed a ruse to either the government or the Academy, and even fabricate responses to all of those transmissions to avoid raising suspicions. No data regarding the X Platform would be revealed to Japan or to the world. Even the internet was being painstakingly combed through by several dozen dumb AI back in Umbra Stratum headquarters, ready to catch any mention of Exeter through some mundane avenue like social media.

Church had not been informed of any of this. Cerberus actually had permission to inform him if it was deemed necessary, but only if it was clear that such information would not lead to the pilot abandoning the mission. Cerberus had not known him long enough to make that assessment. It would continue to monitor the situation and reach a consensus when able.

As for Church, he was focused more on the secondary aspect of the mission, gathering 'real' combat data. He'd be expected to spar with all sorts of pilots and machines: probably the many Representative Candidates and their specialized I.S. he had read about on the way to the Academy itself. While he had actually faced off against many of their I.S. in simulations before, he knew that would not be the same as facing the real pilots. He couldn't help but wonder if Exeter could really stand up to some of them, and that was to say nothing about the presence of the legendary Chifuyu Orimura.

She was widely regarded as the greatest I.S. pilot to ever live, which was high praise even though Infinite Stratos hadn't been around all that long. Needless to say, Church was certainly not confident in his ability to fight someone of that caliber in no-holds barred combat. And that was just her. Even if he could feasibly defeat those aforementioned Representative Candidates in one-on-one combat (and he wasn't arrogant enough to simply assume he could) there was no way he could possibly take many of them at once. Granted, that kind of unfair match probably wouldn't come up, but the potential scenario still unnerved him.

Not that Church wasn't confident in his own abilities, but he knew what the reality of the situation was. As long as his guise of friendly envoy remained, cordial sparring matches were all he had to worry about, and that was probably for the best. After all, the slick angular streamlines of this machine looked much better when they were not crumpled, burnt, or bent.

Of course, if his less legal objective was discovered, there was always a possibility of a real fight with multiple enemies. In case that scenario actually came to pass, Church figured it would be best if he knew absolutely all of the advantages he may or may not have had.

"Cerberus, now that we know everything is nominal and the parameters of the mission in more detail, I need to know this; how exactly can you improve my performance on the battlefield?"

The cheeky tone he got in response may have been more worrisome than the murderous one from before.

Well, I'm glad you asked! Let me tell you-

---

A little while after class had ended, Rin found herself stumbling out of an elevator on floor twenty-three of the Academy Tower feeling a lot worse for wear. She wasn't sure why she had come up there, but it had probably been for the very minor fact that this floor was for some reason the only one that had a vending machine with her favorite soda in it. Not to say the Academy lacked cuisine from different cultures, as they certainly had plenty of that, but Rin had always been into a very particular and unfortunately not too popular brand. Sometimes it was hard to find even in China.

But her mind was not really thinking especially hard on soft drinks. She was admittedly kind of skeptical about the idea of a new boy at the school. After all, the last 'boy' had ended up being Charlotte. That said, there seemed to be no reason to fake a gender this time, so hopefully that wouldn't happen again.

Other than that, at least he was male, so there was no concern over the idea of another obstacle on her unfortunately faltering quest for Ichika's attention. He supposedly wasn't even going to be staying that long, so even if he had been a girl, at least it was temporary.

Truth be told, the cold war that was Ichika's pining girl club was not going especially well for Rin. Not that there was anything direct for her to point to, but she just felt like she was noticed less and less by her childhood friend. He didn't go out of his way to really talk to her or visit her very often. Rin almost always had to come to him first if she wanted to spend any decent length of time with him. And every time he bothered to make the distinction of her being 'the second childhood friend' she felt like someone had slugged her in the gut.

The thing about the human mind was that no one made distinctions unless that distinction had some significance for them. Ichika wouldn't have bothered labeling her as 'the second childhood friend' unless it somehow separated her from the 'first childhood friend' in a way that mattered to him. And considering how much time he willingly spent with Houki, Rin imagined that the way in question wasn't exactly good. She certainly felt like she was 'the backup' or something. Chopped liver maybe.

It had really only gotten worse since the Gospel incident. She and the others had succinctly interrupted that almost kiss moment between Houki and Ichika, but it wasn't like the implication had been wiped away too. Of course, everyone was telling themselves that it had just been Houki making a move and Ichika getting pulled along with it, but there was a chance he had just been doing something he wanted.

Stumbling over to the vending machine she was looking for a little haphazardly, Rin realized that her vision was swimming a little too much to be healthy.

Aside from her Ichika problems since the Gospel incident, Rin had been recently suffering from something more physical as well. It hadn't really been all that noticeable at first. Two weeks ago, she had a small headache. She had attributed it to dehydration or a lack of sleep, but it hadn't subsided in the following days. In fact, the next week her head hurt even worse, and by now, it sporadically felt as though her skull were splitting in two.

Contrary to the way people occasionally treated her, Rin was not a complete moron. She was smart enough to do the math and figure out that something really bad had happened to her, and she was even capable of pinpointing when it probably was. During one of the inter class tournaments, coincidentally about two weeks ago, she'd traded a blow for a blow with an opponent. The exchange had let her win the match, but had earned her I.S. a rather hefty strike that had careened her into the stadium wall at a pretty dangerous speed. Normally I.S. shields and inertial dampeners would have handled something that mundane, but those shields had been pretty low due to the match, and considering the low energy reserves, the defense barrier hadn't been as strong as it possibly could have.

All of this was to say that she was pretty sure she had a concussion or worse.

Unfortunately, despite being smarter than she was often given credit for, Rin was about as stubborn as advertised. She knew there was something wrong, and that it was getting worse the longer she didn't deal with it. But there was another individual division tournament just a few days away, and Rin had to crush it. She didn't have time to rest and recuperate for whatever amount of time the medical attention would demand.

She had a list of humiliating defeats in the recent past that she couldn't allow to stand. She had a reputation to uphold, and her own pride as well. As soon as the tournament was over, she'd go to the infirmary and find out what was wrong. That's what she told herself.

It occurred to Rin that it would be very dangerous if she experienced a migraine during the match like she was now, but she obstinately refused to admit to that possibility, even as her visual of the hallway tilted very dangerously and she was forced to lean against the nearest wall. Had anyone else actually been this high up in the tower, they definitely would have noticed her seemingly drunken stupor, caused by pain and little else.

Managing to recover for a split second, Rin took two more steps forward before tilting towards the wall again. The problem was, this time the wall had a big damn hole in it, because there was an open window right there. Why it had been left open was a mystery. Maybe some girl had wanted to relax with a nice breeze on this floor at some point, and she had forgotten to close it in her rush to return to class when the bell rang. Either way, it was open right now, and Rin didn't have enough control of her body to stop herself from essentially tripping towards it, and by extension the great expanse of open air beyond it.

A normal person would have been scared shitless, but Rin figured she'd be fine. All she had to do was activate her I.S., and she'd be fine. She just had to focus long enough to summon Shen Long. That was all she had to do, if only her view of the surrounding world wasn't fading quicker than her thoughts could amble though her mind.

---

Church had just finished listening to the longest spiel regarding abilities and tech and tweaks and everything else under the sun that he could have imagined. Turned out that Cerberus actually did have a very large influence on all of his systems. In fact, the little AI was so important to the suit's primary function that it would significantly increase his chances against any I.S., not to mention multiple of them.

If anything, the AI helped level the playing field. I.S. didn't really have a 'smart' AI in the same sense, but they did have a sentience of some sort to them that assisted the pilot in combat and general flight operations. Because of that, the pilots could react and move at greater speeds than would normally be possible. The same was true for Exeter now that it had an AI to assist in the same things. The fact of the matter was that machines were always faster than man, and in the high octane battles of the skies today, that kind of speed was almost mandatory. Either way, Cerberus helped with pretty much everything, and that was all that really mattered.

Thankfully, the long-winded spiel had helped pass the time of his flight. By now, Church was so close to his destination that he could see it with relatively low power magnification.

But speaking of everything Cerberus was capable of, keeping tabs on the sensors even when Church wasn't fell under its jurisdiction.

Operator A2, it would seem that a human life form is plummeting towards the ground from floor twenty-three of the I.S. Academy central tower. We should go watch, it'll be an experience!

Caught off guard by such an unexpected interruption, Church fumbled for words for a moment, since he needed a little clarification. "H-hold on, 'plummeting'? Like free-fall plummeting? Can you lock on?"

Must I?

"Yes!"

With what could only be understood as a metallic sigh, Cerberus reluctantly complied.

Very well, locking on to target individual...

Church redirected the thrust of his machine and launched himself towards the way-point that Cerberus had set in his visor. His AI companion was unfortunately not joking, which had been a distinct possibility before now. The falling victim was now at floor nineteen of the primary tower, and Church had just begun accelerating towards the Academy that was nearly a mile away. It was a damn good thing he had been so close when this emergency arose.

Church briefly acknowledged that this was not the most appropriate way for him to introduce his presence here, but what was he supposed to do, just sit and watch as someone fell to their death?

Completely unwilling to do that, he blasted towards the way-point as fast as Exeter's ionized thruster pack would take him, the scream of its engines something that would have been kind of intimidating for anyone that didn't know where it was coming from. He moved towards the person he was trying to save at Mach 1.5, because there was very little time to reach her if she was going to be rescued at all. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to go any faster, because if he impacted the girl in question at too high a speed, she would almost definitely be killed.

Target at floor 18. Approximately 252 feet until fatal impact.

As the Academy grew closer, Church angled his body so that he would intercept the target as soon as possible. The trajectory in his HUD was angled downwards quite steeply, however, which meant he would be catching the victim at a very low altitude. There would be no second chances if he missed. He readied himself for a dangerous catch and probably a dangerous landing as well: he couldn't slow down, or he would not catch the target in time, but if he stayed at the current speed, he wouldn't be able to stop Exeter before hitting something on the ground. All he could do was stay constant and hope for the best.

Fatal impact is imminent. May I say that we could always just let this happen and treat it as a visceral learning experience?

Church didn't have time to deal with Cerberus' sudden personality change. He kept flying at the trajectory way-point in his HUD, and readied himself to catch the victim as gently as possible.

He could see the falling person with his own eyes now. A somewhat short girl, with brown hair, twin-tails, and the standard uniform for the Academy, slightly modified at the sleeves. Based on her lack of reaction to falling towards certain death, she was probably unconscious. Church readied himself for the catch by activating the external inertial dampeners in the suit's armor. Hopefully, physics defying field would soften the girl's landing into his arms and she wouldn't break anything. Hopefully: after all, he only had a handful of seconds to catch her and find out.

Church saw the building he would probably crash into after catching the girl, and a cherry blossom tree that he would try to use to get the same girl away from that impending wreck. He could only hope physics was on his side today.

Approaching the girl's limp form, Church stretched his arms out and flew under her falling body, making an easy catch using the enhanced reflexes that Exeter provided him. Having broken the thankfully not terminal velocity she had been falling at, he released the air brakes on various points in his armor and reversed the thrusters at max power, decelerating as much as he could before dropping the girl into the tree he had noticed at a surprisingly survivable speed. Modern science scoffed in the face of inertia these days.

Unfortunately, all the brakes in the world wouldn't be able to stop him completely with the small distance left between himself and the building in front of him. Smashing into the concrete wall at decidedly risky speeds, any attempt at a good first impression was as good as lost.