Story: CG Miscalculation

 

Nina Einstein is prone to panic, just in case you had not noticed. As a girl who took her research seriously, there were certain expectations of her. The calibration of her equipment chief among them. She kept a security log of who came and who went, and to her great annoyance, when she checked it this morning... Part of it had been scrubbed.

That made her gulp a bit. That was not a good sign. That was not a good sign at all. In fact, it wasn't in the same universe as a good sign. One specific section of the recording was gone. Worse yet, there were signs that her equipment had been used last night which she did not fully recall.

Oh, and for good measure? She checked further ahead and two Japanese girls had left the room. One of them was that troublemaker who had been on the news. The other was... someone else entirely who Nina did not recognise. The troublemaker, Sakura, turned right towards the camera and put the index and middle fingers of her right hand on either side of her mouth, then licked right in the middle of them.

She'd left it like that on purpose. As if somehow she knew that Nina wouldn't remember what had happened, and - Oh dear, oh dear, she seemed to be hyperventilating. She quickly grabbed a plastic bag and took several ragged breaths into it. She'd let someone in, had she? It had to be someone she knew. Who would it be? Milly? Kallen? Shirley? Lelouch or Rivalz? Maybe even Sayoko or Nunnally...?

This was bad. She should probably, probably take the equipment apart. If she'd done this weird thing to someone else, then - Oh dear! It would be really bad if this happened to even more people!

<i>But then, if you take it apart, you wouldn't be able to figure out why it's happening to you.</i>

And here we have Nina's own curiosity battling against the logic of her actions. Her initial thought was correct, yes, but her scientific curiosity... That was something else entirely. It was perhaps her greatest weakness. Aside from the nervousness and the racism and the generally timid nature - Actually, put it like that and you could probably dump all of her weaknesses into the same box.

Lack of social skill. Which, of course, is the greatest strength of her other self, is it not? A nervous gulp escape from her lips, and she tried - oh how she tried - to calm herself down.

She really should not dismantle it, should she? How else would she figure out what was going on with her! Of course, she'd have too take extra precautions. Make sure nobody else was exposed to it. Ah, let's see... Facial scanning! That's it! Biometrics like that would be ideal! It wasn't too hard for her to put something together. That way, even if the other her shared her memories she wouldn't be able to do much of anything at all!

Nina left the room, nervous as a mouse that woke up inside a den of cats. Now she had to try to work out who had come in here and been exposed as well. She should be alright. Right? Yeah, she should be fine! A little bit of social deduction should carry her through the day!

She ran into Milly first. The pretty blonde stretched and yawned, then noticed Nina looking at her. She twisted into a model-like pose.

"Quick, find a camera~" Milly teased. "You'll only see perfection like this... Oh! Every day you attend Ashford Academy~"

"Did you sleep alright last night?" Nina asked, her voice timid, trying to dance around what she really wanted to talk about. "I've not seen you yawn like that before."

"Hrm, had a really weird dream," Milly said. Ah? Could it be... Was it her?

Meanwhile, Shirley stumbled into the room, dragging Lelouch behind her. Nina, due to her social ineptitude, paid them no mind. Right now she was laser focused on Milly. If she was going to 'recruit' someone, it would be her, right? As council president she would have full access to - 

"Hey, guys!" Shirley said. "I saw Lelou here teaching Nunna how to play chess, isn't that adorable?"

"Oh, come on Shirley, knock it off!" Lelouch said.

 "I'm just trying to share my interests with my sister. Do I deserve to be teased for that?"

"Maybe, if you insist on using those interests to gamble~" Shirley sang. Had Nina been paying less attention to Milly, trying to determine if she was showing any signs, any symptoms, she might have noticed the peculiar spring in Shirley's step. Indeed, Milly let out another yawn at that very moment. "Huh? It's not like you to be so sleepy, council prez!"

"Sorry, sorry~" Milly chirped. "I had a rough night's sleep last night."

Oh, did you now? How suspicious. Nina narrowed her gaze on Milly. Alright then. In that case, tonight she would set up hidden spy cameras to watch Milly's every move! If she caught the girl in the act, without her knowing about it - then she could use that as evidence to - 

======

"Fair warning," Sakura said to her new partner later that night. "My boring half might set up cameras in your room to try to catch the transformation."

"Huh? That's annoying!" Sae chirped. "Almost as annoying as this facial recognition tech she's set up on her equipment. I cannot do any research like this." She paused for a beat. "Unless... We get some equipment that's not here!"

Now that was what Sakura was talking about! Marvelous! Having a partner, especially one as sexy and brilliant as Sae, was exactly what the doctor ordered! "What are we going to need?"

Sae pushed her glasses further up her nose, a wicked, devious grin crossing her pretty features. "First of all," she said. "Let's pay a little visit to that laboratory across the street. The one that is very obviously making use of Suzaku as some sort of test subject~"

Ooooh, now she was talking Sakura's language! Kukuku! Absolutely splendid! Time to get the show on the road!

======

Within the military, there are numerous ways to punish someone without putting on the books that they are being punished. This is normally done to make it clear that they have made someone higher up Not Happy With Them, without risking further disciplinary action from their own superiors. Alternatively, it could be done to, for example, admonish someone who is otherwise showing promise without putting a black mark on their record.

Villetta wasn't sure if it was one of those reasons, or perhaps something else, that had caused her to wind up in this position currently. She let loose a weary sigh as she stood outside the school. Tomorrow, she will begin as an undercover teacher. It was a nothing assignment. She was meant to keep an eye on Suzaku Kururugi, owing to his new position as ASEEC's most valuable pilot.

According to the brief, that Eleven, that Honorary, he was scoring ridiculously high on all the simulators he'd been put in. She was certain he was cheating somehow, but hadn't quite figured out the trick yet. Anyway, her role here was to make sure that their precious pilot wasn't targeted by the Black Knights, or the Japan Liberation Front - after all, not only was the the last son of the former Prime Minister, but he was one of the very few people in the Britannian military to talk to Zero directly and in person.

On top of that, there was also Sakura to consider. A new, mysterious figure that was wreaking havoc. She hadn't appeared last night, but that hardly meant anything. It was a mystery that needed to be solved, and that was what she'd much rather be involved in.

Oh well. That was a problem for tomorrow. She turned around, and - 

"Huh?" she asked, whirling a full 180 degrees in a moment. "Nobody there. I thought I saw movement, but -"

No matter. She wandered off home wondering at the trajectory her life was taking... and more to the point, oblivious to the direction it was going to take before too long.

======

Phew, that was a close one! That mysterious, tall tanned beauty nearly spotted them! Luckily, Sakura and Sae were fast enough that they were able to get across the street before she could whirl around to see them.

"Alright, now for me to make a great big hole and -"

"Get every Knightmare within ten miles on our hot butts befoe we get what we want," Sae interrupted. "And, on top of that, they will follow us back home, which will cause problems when we turn back to normal in the morning."

Sakura grumbled. She hadn't broken anything lately. Or gotten laid in a couple of days now. She wanted some action. Some dick would be nice, but she'd take some pussy too. Maybe fool around with Sae, a little bit...?

Anyway, Sae pulled out a gizmo she'd whipped together in the lab, tapped it against a window - and used it to open it up from the inside. Impressive feat, she had to say. Almost as impressive as folding a Knightmare in half with your bare hands.

Kukuku! Alright then. Time for the two of them to sneak inside. Cause a little mayhem. Retrieve some equipment, for sure - and then, then they'd get right back to some right proper mischief~

=====

Clever though Sae might be - and she is, make no mistake about it - it doesn't take an awful lot of cleverness to recognise the need for a silent alarm. Cecile was actually the only one in that night, aside from security, which meant she'd have to take charge while Lloyd got a nice nap.

As such, she hurried along to the security room, and what did she see...?

"It's Sakura."

It was indeed, and she'd brought a friend with an amazing pair of legs. Wow. You could model with those legs.

"Bring in every Knightmare inside a ten mile radius," Cecile sighed wearily. She pinched the bridge of her nose and had so, so many regrets right now. "I get the feeling we're going to need them."