Story: CG Miscalculation

 

Cecile Croomy locked her eyes on the monitors, hands clamped so tight to the console her knuckles went white. Outside, the engines of the Sutherlands made the whole research facility shudder with noise and vibration. She'd locked everything down. A ring of Knightmare Frames stood guard, unyielding steel just outside. No one was sneaking in, and more importantly, no one was getting out.

She hit her headset. "Status."

"Perimeter sealed, Ma'am. We've got eyes on the targets, but they're moving faster than these cameras can keep up," came the security lead's voice.

Cecile's jaw tightened. Sakura was an anomaly-something that broke every scientific rule Cecile lived by. She wasn't alone, either. She'd brought a companion, a glasses-wearing girl who moved with such eerie exactness Cecile's instincts screamed danger.

"Stay sharp," Cecile ordered. "They're boxed in. No backup, no escape. Keep your positions. Wait for my order to breach."

She stepped away from the screens, heels rapping sharp and quick on the shiny floor. She felt a spike of pride. This was what control looked like, every factor planned out, every threat neutralized with the use of reason first and force later.

Then a voice rang out, light and mocking, way too close. "You really think a few tin cans are going to stop us, Cee-Cee? Oh, sorry, that's someone else isn't it?"

Cecile went cold. That didn't come from her headset. She spun, fingers already on the alarm at her belt, but someone beat her to the punch There was a flash of white, a blur of movement, and a small, surprisingly strong hand clamped down on her wrist which kept it from moving even a nanometer. Sakura grinned inches from her face, manic and amused all at once.

"Tin cans? I love tin cans. They crunch so nicely." Sakura's giggle danced in the air, sweet as candy, but her grip felt like a mechanical vice.

"How did you-" Cecile started, yanking uselessly. "The locks! Everything's-"

"Binary encryption, was it? Honestly, your system was just itching for a rewrite," another voice called out.

Sae stepped forward from behind the servers, glasses shining in the fluorescent lights. She held a device lit up soft and blue in her hand. "Nice security. A little bland. I convinced the mainframe we were air vents."

Cecile stared at her like she'd grown antlers. "But you're just a student. You can't! What you're describing is-"

"Science only stays impossible till someone bigger figures it out." Sae moved closer, peering at Cecile like she was a frog under glass. "You're stressed. Heart at one-ten. Pupils wide. You're in terror mode, but you're still trying to calculate your way out. Amazing."

"Let me GO!" Cecile twisted, managed a kick.

It felt like kicking a brick wall. Sakura didn't even blink. Instead, she shifted her weight, swept Cecile straight off her feet, and dumped her hard on the polished floor. The wind rushed out of Cecile. She gasped, struggling for air while Sakura perched on her hips, grinning down.

"C'mon, grumpy-pants." Sakura nuzzled Cecile's cheek, warmth and mischief in her voice. "We're not here to hurt you. Not like you think. You're just wound up too tight. All science, no spark. So boring! You need something new."

"What do you want?" Cecile's words rasped from her chest, each breath dragging.

Sae came closer, holding up a small canister. Something thick and oddly bright swirled inside, like liquid rainbows. Cecile knew that stuff. The solution Nina had botched, the one that rewrote DNA-it was the key to the whole mess.

"We want a third," Sae said quietly, her eyes hungry for data. It was a similar expression to one she'd seen in Lloyd more than once, but somehow even more terrifyingly clinical. "For a proper study-for the 'Sakura-effect' to be real, we need someone different. Someone logical. Someone like you."

"No. No, get away! I'll have you both arrested! I'll-" Cecile's half-threat ended as Sakura gently shushed her

"Relax," Sakura whispered, pressing a finger to Cecile's mouth. "It's nice. Like sinking into a hot bath. Or a hug you never want to end."

No one waited for her answer. Sae hit the device. Light burst out from it, pouring into her eyes and into her brain, through every pore and vein. Cecile opened her mouth, ready to scream, but all that came out was a gasp as the heat hit something deep. Her body twisted, muscles contracting, bones shifting with odd, soft pops. The weird part was, it didn't feel bad at all. Actually, it felt kinda... nice.

"Oh, look, it's working!" Sakura cheered, eyes wide as a kid's.

Colours swam before Cecile's eyes. The sterile lab, the world of measurements and rigid rules, melted away, replaced by heat and instinct. Her old logic just... broke apart. Something wild moved in to take its place.She felt her skin prickle. Her years of pale, fluorescent-lit skin turned golden and alive. Her facial features sharpened, her eyes burned with clarity she'd never felt, and her lab coat just vanished-gone, no fuss. The tight blouse beneath clung to her, shifting into rich red silk. Her pants slid upward, fabric folding into a crimson skirt that felt almost indecent. She felt every inch of her skin, the touch of the air, the burn of energy she couldn't measure-only feel.

Her mind changed too. The old, cold Cecile voice got locked away somewhere distant. She didn't care about theories. She wanted to jump right in, to spark chaos, not contain it. The light faded. A different woman pushed herself up from the floor, everything about her smoother, fiercer. And much more Japanese than Britannian.

She stretched. Not a glance at the monitors, not a thought for the steel soldiers outside. She flexed her fingers and smiled, savoring the heat glowing from her palms.

"Wow." Her voice had changed too. Confident, deep, oddly alluring. Nothing like Cecile's old tension. "I feel... alive. Actually alive."

Sakura all but squealed and threw herself at her. "She's here! We did it!"

Sae adjusted her glasses, playing scientist right up to the end. "The shift's rather dramatic. Seeing it in person makes it clear how fundamental it is. How's your memory?"

The new woman-Kiyomi-just smirked. "I remember scientific facts like stories I heard once. Now, it's all music. Energy singing to me from everywhere. Including you."

"You need a name," Sae pressed. "You can't be Cecile while you're like this. Who are you?"

That fire inside her roared. She closed her eyes, listened to it, and a name slid out: "Kiyomi."

Still clinging to her, Sakura grinned. "That's perfect! Pretty and spicy! Now we can grab what we need without blowing everything up, yeah?"

Instead of brushing Sakura off or snapping at her, Kiyomi just patted the girl's head. "The codes are still here," Kiyomi said, looking at the console, but not interested in using it. "But this? This is too slow."

"What do you mean?" Sae leaned in.

Kiyomi walked to the server hub, skipped the keys and passwords. She placed her hand on the cold metal, shut her eyes, and pushed. Not logic, not calculation, but rather pure undiluted instinct. Her own will focused heat which was fed right into the machine.

Monitors flickered, alarms faded to green. Out on the field, every Knightmare dropped into silent standby.

Sae gaped. "You interfaced, just with bio-electric energy. No neural link. That's- "

Kiyomi shrugged, heat in her eyes, a grin twitching on her lips. "Theory's just a handcuff for the timid. Machines are just waiting for someone to listen."

Sakura danced with joy. "She's awesome! Now, can we go? Before the robots wake up?"

Kiyomi laughed, and it was nothing like she'd ever sounded before. Somewhere, she remembered the old Cecile, alone, stuck inside her own rules. Having to clean up after the Earl of Pudding's bizarre decisions. This new feeling was freedom. Unrelenting freedom!

"Lead the way, Sakura," she said, somehow perfectly fine with not being in charge. "I'm starting to like this kind of unpredictable world."

The trio moved out, and the balance between them felt completely new. Sakura was the heart; Wild and impulsive. Sae was the mind; sharp and craving knowledge. Kiyomi was something different; spirit and intuition. They hit the vault. Normally it'd be locked down with layers of security. Not anymore. Kiyomi touched the lock and it just opened, as if it was always meant to.

"This almost feels unfair," Sae said, carefully packing the best gear. "If we could do this to others, imagine it - a society built on intuition and intellect. No more mindless obedience-"

Sakura just groaned, all the patience of a child. "Boring! Who cares about all that? I wanna see if there are any cute pilots out there instead."

Kiyomi watched, feeling a hungry spark inside she couldn't quite name. She looked at each of them - so different, but perfectly balanced together.

"We should go," Kiyomi said, but it was almost an afterthought. They weren't worried. Not anymore.

"Let's make some noise, then," Sakura said, grabbing their hands.

Stepping out into the night, Kiyomi noticed the world had changed - stars weren't just balls of fire, they were threads in a living web. The wind felt like a living thing. She glanced back at the gray facility, which suddenly felt distant and small.

Sae noticed her lingering. "You good, Kiyomi?"

Kiyomi turned, and smiled, feeling her skirt fluttering around her. She checked out her new friends, and bit her lip while thinking about how absolutely fuckable they were. Amazing, truly amazing!

"I'm perfect. I spent my whole life looking for answers. Turns out, you just have to stop asking and start feeling."