BI - Ch.2 ¤ Discovery

"Audrey Owens?"

I was a little shocked when I caught sight of the liaison agent that came to pick me up. I have always been someone who had an easy time remaining stoic or largely indifferent towards most things, but even I could hardly keep my composure in this situation. If her voice sounded natural enough to fool most ears, her body did not look so.

I... honestly I had heard rumors, both good and bad - mostly bad - but I could never have prepared myself for this. Her entire body was made of metal in an astoundingly accurate emulation of a normal human form down to most details. Even clothing had been simulated through color and design to resemble closely an elegant and sober black dress with relatively short, asymmetrical skirt and slightly exposed "back". Her "eyes" were two finely shaped optics that radiated a faint but... strangely warm blue glow that nearly entranced me in fascination.

"Correct, that would be me."

I simply wore my usual outfit, starting with steel-capped combat boots and black stockings marked with a trio of thin lines that ran on the sides from within my boots to the upper end of the fabric. The outer two were gray while the central line was red. They fell just a little short of my skirt, which wasn't exactly the most decent length, but I didn't exactly get to -design- my magical girl outfit so I'll just be content with the fact that it doesn't get in the way when I need to run.  It matched in colors and design, though.

Above that my costume featured a slightly too short, tight gray undershirt topped with a sleeveless black vest, neither of which managed to properly cover my navel. Seriously, why did it have to be so lewd? I was feeling so unprofessional next to my liaison's dress. My red hair was kept neatly in a ponytail as usual and reached all the way to my waist, resting onto my backpack along the way.

"I am Roxane, from the Fourth, I see you are early." she stated with a calm, neutral tone that was difficult to read. I nodded lightly.

"Better early than late, I think." I tried to mimic her composure and to avoid looking too taken aback by her appearance. Not that it was displeasing at all, mind you, just... unexpected.

"It is of little concern. If you are already prepared, then we can leave immediately." She shifted her position lightly and motioned to the VTOL behind her.

"That would be appreciated, I have no businesses left to take care of here." I nodded my head slightly in respect - or at least I hoped it would be perceived that way.

"Very well then, we shall depart." Roxanne made her way back to the aircraft and I followed. Its engines had been staying warm since it landed. Most would have found the sound to be unpleasant noise, but I had always enjoyed those. The small roar of the machine spoke of the power and stability of its engines, which I found comforting.

The inside of the craft was pragmatic; of decent comfort without skirting with excess. I tucked my backpack in the luggage compartment but kept my rifle with me. It might not have been the most convenient choice but I'd feel awkward to be spending a several hours flight without it. Especially if there were any turbulences.

"It is a peculiar weapon you carry." Roxanne opened conversation after we finished settling down and the sound of the take-off quieted down. "Was it difficult to get authorization to bring it?"

I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "No such thing, this is both my partner and my pride and joy. I've made it and took good care of it and in return it served me well every time I needed to rely on it." I smiled a little sheepishly, realizing that my enthusiasm was showing.

The Liaison agent gave me an inscrutable look for a moment before letting out a small "I see". For a moment I felt like I was being studied and judged but I couldn't tell if it was in a good or a bad way. I tensed slightly with nervousness, all the flaws and drawbacks of my creation making me suddenly very self-conscious of my shortcomings, especially compared to the marvel of technology that was her body. Still, I would persevere; that was the only valid choice.

I caught myself trying to guess what could have been going through that head of hers. Did she approve of my enthusiasm or did she find it disruptive? Did my craft look decent or was it actually an embarrassment? Normally, I would say that knowing my luck it was probably the later on both cases, but honestly? I truly felt like my luck was starting to turn. My request was approved and if this girl was any indication, the 4th was even more fascinating than I had imagined. Considering this, I allowed my bothersomely pessimistic self to hope.

"I'm sure you must be getting this question a lot, but..." she perked up lightly at my comment and made 'eye' contact. "This metal body of yours, I assume it's something reserved to the top, such as rank leaders or equivalent and other important figures?" I managed to keep my tone as level and neutral as possible. Although I asked, I was fairly sure what the answer would be.

 "That is inaccurate, actually." Roxanne responded with a small smile. She seemed to be observing me with more attention as she continued. "It is common to all those who pass the trial year and join the Iron Circle."

My mind went blank with both surprise and realization. My eyes widened and my carefully maintained composure fell. In hindsight I must have been looking pretty stupid, all dumbstruck like that, but I couldn't process that thought at the moment. The few seconds it took for what she had said to sink in felt like entire minutes to me, but eventually my mind returned to 'consciousness'.

I could have one too one day, that was what it meant. I... honestly could have never imagined such a thing, even in my wildest dreams... I was so sure I would be fated to only look from the sidelines and long... and yet...

I took a long breath and tried to mentally slap myself out of it, with moderate results."I.. see.." I managed faintly, struggling with every fiber in my body to try and recover a modicum of dignity after that shameful display. I was unable to erase the small sheepish smile that lit my face and my body relaxed a little more than I would have wanted it to. When I was finally able to stop thinking about my shame and start thinking about the world around me again, I noticed her own smile had remained as well. She seemed somewhat amused, actually.

I cleared my throat lightly to prevent myself from stuttering before I tried to speak up again. "Well.. either way.. I believe I've heard the flight would be long, so if you don't find it impolite, I'll take a few hours to rest.." I could hardly believe how meek I sounded when I said that, but she didn't make any comment on it, simply giving me a small nod.

"Go ahead, I will make sure to wake you up in time for the last part of the flight." last part? was there going to be something special before the landing?

"Thank you, that will be appreciated." I remained quiet, not mentioning that I doubted I would stay asleep for this long. I had actually, a few days ago, adjusted my sleeping schedule to the timezone I had heard their headquarters was operating in, in preparation. I would hopefully be fine when I arrived there, I just needed to finish the "night" I had cut in half to be present at the meeting.

====

"You've been awake for roughly an hour, haven't you?" I opened my eyes lightly and gave a little nod at her rhetorical question. I supposed for someone like her it was easy to spot the differences. "Was there a specific reason you were pretending such?"

I blinked once, a little surprised by the second question but understanding where it came from nonetheless. "Well, I wasn't really pretending per say, it's a sort of... 'human trick' I guess." I scratched my left cheek with a lone index, but found myself to be not as nervous as I thought I would be. "Basically, I can enter a 'state' where I rest but I'm not actually fully asleep so I retain a degree of awareness.. am I making any sense?"

Roxane gave a small nod, but her expression remained unreadable to me. "You do, actually, I could put it as being akin to the low power mode of many devices, though with an energy gain." That was surprisingly accurate actually. I was concerned for a moment I would have a hard time explaining things or relating because of the differences between our bodies but I realized that even between flesh or steel we were still similar in ways.

"That does sound fairly close to it yeah." I allowed myself a small smile and straightened my position slightly while remaining relaxed. Now that I had gotten some good rest I was a bit more solid and not as.. intimidated anymore. Quite frankly? a little something inside of me found Roxane's presence strangely comforting and soothing, but I couldn't tell exactly why. I managed to catch myself in time to avoid leaning in her direction and barely suppressed a blush.

"Is something wrong? you flinched for a second" So I did, eh? Well, it could have been worse.

"It's nothing to worry about." I quickly swapped the topic by pulling up my rail rifle and giving it a customary inspection to see if anything had been affected by the flight so far. I could never repeat or stress it enough, but the smallest of mis-calibrations easily could spell disaster in the fragile balance of energy and metal that was my weapon.

"You seem a little overly stressed with this maintenance, it could reduce your overall performance and awareness." She eventually accepted to move on.

"It's a necessary burden for a delicate machine, but I do understand where you're getting at here." I responded softly as I continued with my task.

"Trust in the Machine Spirit and it will repay your sentiments." I paused at the sudden, unfamiliar term and looked up from my work with a small blink, repeating it faintly: 'Machine Spirit'... I have never been the spiritual type, but this had a different ring to it. It felt different, and more right in ways I would struggle to describe.

The rest from then on was more idle small talk.

====

When I saw it, I immediately fell silent. I was at a complete lack of words, even worse so than earlier. I looked and looked but no matter how much I did I still felt like I was in a dream. It was so surreal, so bigger-than-life, that I simply had trouble processing it. The only thing that allowed me to confirm that it was in fact not just me having some acute form of hallucination was the cold hand of Roxane gently nudging my shoulder.

"Are you alright? You seem to have spaced out." the Liaison's steel features shifted to what I could approximate as a smirk. "I did mention this was a sight you wouldn't want to miss."

"I.." I struggled to compose myself despite the awe. "Honestly couldn't have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes even if you had told me in advance. It's... frankly amazing."

In front of us stood the most massive and most complex piece of military hardware I had ever seen. The engine of destruction was humanoid in shape; a true Titan of a stature too colossal to be properly appreciated. Its sheer bulk and size threw off my sense of scale and dwarfed its environment, making it nigh-impossible for me to try to give it numbers without proper references.

Its arm sections sported unspeakable weaponry which I had no doubt could obliterate entire city blocks in one apocalyptic salvo. Its torso and absurdly large shoulder sections seemed to sport entire installations within and above, possibly even the entirety of Officio barracks, armories and other components. Of its gargantuan cylindrical feet, all I could say was that they looked like they could crush an entire armored column underneath their bulk.

"This.. this is the 4th's Headquarters?" I mused out loud, more trying to convince myself than actually asking a question.

Roxane offered a small nod. I was split between a dozen comments I couldn't chose between, racing too quickly in my mind. Too soon the aircraft started its approach sequence and set its course towards  one of the giant arms. I took deep, slow breaths, trying to calm myself as much as possible under the amused eye of my Liaison. If I didn't know any better I would have thought she was actually enjoying my reactions of disbelief. Soon, all too soon, the craft touched down and immobilized itself.

I was extremely tense when I stepped down on the runway that ran across one of the Titan's arm. Faced with such a beautiful sight, I couldn't help but wonder if I was even remotely good enough. Everything to this point had far exceeded my expectations and it blinded me to the idea that I might be the one not up to -theirs-. I realized this now, and it humbled me greatly. If I wanted to be allowed to remain here, I would have to give it my all. Without holding back, every step of the way. But I was determined to make it happen.

I quickly noticed we were expected as we made our way towards the appropriately massive gate that led inside the fortress-giant. The being that awaited us there was similar to Roxane in the fact that she had a steel body, but that was where the similarities ended. If the liaison officer's was made to resemble the human body as closely as possible, this one was an imposing, daunting weapon looking more like an animated suit of armor than a person. With a towering stature, the iron-grey armor plates of her torso looked like they could shrug off all but the heaviest of calibers, and then some more. Strangely enough, her helm looked like one of those in medieval Japan movies, but that wasn't the only oddity my eyes caught. Some sort of Warhammer of a radiant gold-like metal reflected the desert sun mercilessly.

Roxane stepped in between us to do the introductions. "Warsmith" She commenced with a small and quick curtsy. "This is the candidate from the 8th Officio, Vindicare Owens." she gave a small hand motion towards me before shifting her position and making a gesture towards the Warsmith. "And this is our esteemed Warmaster Dammekos."

My heart almost skipped a beat at the announcement. I had not expected the Warmaster herself to come greet a lowly transferee like me in person, but this time I managed to keep myself together. My boots clanked together to attention and my right hand raised in a sharp, military-precise salute. "Warsmith." I didn't know what were the customs of the 4th, but I felt like -some- display of respect was appropriate, even if it wasn't the right one.

The imposing leader responded to my salute by a simple, no-nonsense nod that prompted me relax my posture and bring my arm back down as quickly as it was raised. When she responded, her voice was authority made manifest; solid, confident and strong, yet concise, to the point and without undue arrogance." I'm Petra, you can use my name or keep calling me Warsmith. Welcome to the Olympia."

I suppressed a blink, somewhat taken aback by the offer of such informality. I wasn't exactly one for protocols and the likes myself, but I could hardly act this casually without feeling like I was disrespecting her. "Thank you, I am at your service from this day on." I chose my words cautiously, avoiding the word 'care' to try to show I was not expecting any gentle handling or special treatment.

The Warsmith observed me for just a few seconds, but it almost felt like that was all she needed to see everything. This was probably an effect of the daunting aura she had. "I'll show you to your quarters and explain a few things along the way."

Roxane moved back next to me before chiming in. "Normally a full tour would be on the order of the day, but our early arrival didn't coincide well with some schedules so that will have to wait for tomorrow."

I nodded lightly as they opened the way into the bowels of the beast. I honestly had no right to complain at this point. "I'll wait for when it's convenient to you then, there's no problem." I tried to offer cooperatively.

"It'll be tomorrow. I'll make it happen." Petra's words were quick and completely uncompromising. It almost felt scolding at first, almost causing me to flinch, but I then realized it might just be her way of saying things.

The inside of the Olympia wasn't nearly as.. majestic as the outside, but I was somewhat relieved about that. I had yet to see the extent of what it held, but any machine of this gigantic scale  had to be a very well oiled organism, so to speak. Superfluous elements would make operations less smooth and could get in the way of more important elements. It fit me just right; to be pragmatic rather than a show-off like the bitches I left behind.

As I observed more the raw steel all around us, it reminded me of how I had never been on a ship before - nor on a plane, save for the one that brought me here. I couldn't help but feel like the carefully maintained walls were worlds tougher than the puny materials used in the buildings I was used to. I struggled to gather my thoughts for a moment, then I finally understood why the uniform surfaces, structures and devices of polished grey appealed to me so much. It was their unity of purpose; the whole "being part of something greater" aspect where every single cog had its place in the behemoth-engine.

"You've been rather silent." Roxane spoke up and made me realize the atmosphere had grown a little cold at my quietness.

"Ah, my apologies, I was just a little lost in contemplation." I rubbed the back of my head slightly, this time responding with a softer, more honest tone. "The Olympia is just so impressive, I couldn't help but see how efficient everything is..."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." She gave me a genuine smile. "Besides if you have any questions about the design, you can ask the Warsmith."

I blinked once and looked up to her with a small "hm?"

"I created it with our Incubator's help." Petra stated, matter-of-factly again without any hints of arrogance or false modesty.

I blinked once more and tried to imagine the impossibly complex task. It was difficult to believe something like this could have been conceived by only two people, even if one of them was an alien mastermind posing as a demented housepet. "As... impressive as that is.. I assume most of the data is actually pretty confidential."

"It is." she replied, her ironclad tone unchanging. "I appreciate your enthusiasm Roxane but don't get too caught up into it."

For the first time today my Liaison seemed to get rather flustered at the reprimand, bowing with a profuse apology which earned her a short but no doubt painful stare until we eventually simply moved on.

The rest of the trip was tame, if a little more quiet, and we arrived to the living quarters soon enough. The activity there was a bit more faint than I expected from my time at the 8th - not that it was any reference to be comparing such radically different Officios - and Roxane explained tentatively when I spoke up, still seeming a slight bit shaken by her earlier misstep.

As I could understand, the 4th Officio was split between 12 Orders each of which with their unique specialization and function as well as their own installations. The living quarters were this quiet due to the vast majority of the girls being either at work at their own Orders or visiting others that caught their fancy in their free time. She gave me a quick rundown of each's purpose and I nodded in acknowledgement. It did sound like many of them were very interesting so I could definitely see myself spending my free time "exploring" other venues. If I was judged worthy of staying here and joining one in the first place, that was...

When I reached my quarters I wasn't surprised to see that it was the same as the rest of the walking fortress;  minimalistic and focused on purpose rather than comfort. Honestly I'm pretty sure any other girl from the 8th would have complained about the spartan conditions - that bedsheet looked like it wouldn't keep anything warm - but I knew better. I gave my thanks and the Warsmith returned to her activities, leaving me alone with a quickly-relaxing Roxane.