Chapter 11

“Alright, that’s it, I need a fight and I need one today.”

Hresvelgr were well-known as a lustful species of AI girl, not just in that they were prone to flaunting their closer appearance to human women than most Factory Advance models, but in that whatever they took an interest in, they hungered for with a rarely-matched intensity.  There was no such thing as casual time-wasters for them; they felt compelled to become top-quality exemplars of whatever hobbies they indulged in, pursuing it with the same seemingly-boundless energy that fueled their signature arsenals.  Most AI girls had at least a passing interest in battle, but there wasn’t a Hresvelgr out there who didn’t crave the thrill of combat.  For one to go without it for three years, aside from mock battles with fellow underground girls, was unbearable.

“There’s gotta be an arena around here somewhere, right?” Haruko asked Ayane over breakfast.

“I guess?  There’s one at the mall, I’m pretty sure.”

Haruko raised her eyebrows.  “Wait, seriously?  You’ve never been to one?”

Ayane shrugged.  “We didn’t have an AI girl.  What’s the point without one?”

Haruko grinned.  “Girl, you’ve been missing out.”  She turned and put a hand to her mouth, calling upstairs.  “Sis!”

Sayuri came down after a few moments, a watering can in hand from caring for the deck plants.  “Yes?”

“Get your gear polished.  We’re going battling~”

<><><>

The three had little trouble finding the arena, as it was one of the mall’s anchor stores.  Sayuri and Haruko both came without their shells, instead riding in Ayane’s bag along with two of Haruko’s Mr. Chargers in case they needed them.  It felt strange to Ayane to see them this way, even though she knew these were their true forms.  At least their voices were the same, she thought, and Haruko was fairly similar in appearance to her shell.

“This is it.” Ayane said, looking over the lavish front entrance to the store.  “Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

“Trust me,” Haruko replied as they entered.  “You’re gonna love it.”

Inside, the store was one open area that spanned all three floors of the building.  The dominant feature was a vast holosseum sphere two stories high, floating above their heads as it was projected by dozens of emitters scattered around the edges of the store.  Projected on its surface was a full-on war between AI girls of all makes and models.  They were engaged in a payload match, the team marked in blue on the scrolling leaderboard trying their best to push a cart through the arena while those in red tried to stop them.  Girls joined and dropped out as they and their watching masters pleased, the game continuously running now that school was out.  Over twenty smaller holosseums ringed the edges of the large one, playing host to individual matches and team battles.  Along the walls sat kiosks for each of the major manufacturers, as well as the registration booth needed to play.

“Welcome.” said the registrar, a Harmony Grace sitting behind a tiny counter on top of the bigger one.  “Are you looking to purchase a day pass, or a lifetime membership?”

“Lifetime.” Haruko said without hesitation, prompting a sheepish smile from Sayuri.

“Day pass for me.”

The Harmony Grace looked up at Ayane expectantly.  “Alright, that’s one day pass and one lifetime.  Your total will be-”

“Oh, no no, she’s not our master.” Sayuri interjected.  “She’s family.”

“We’re showing her around.  Girl’s never been to an arena before!  Can you believe it?” Haruko asked, giving the registrar an incredulous smile.  The nun-themed Shinki looked up at Ayane again, this time to bow her head.

“My apologies.  I’ll need your master’s registrations, then...”  Both Sayuri and Haruko provided their information, edited so that they were registered as belonging to their own shell identities.  It was a bit ballsy, Sayuri thought, especially since Haruko looked quite similar in both forms, but apparently the differences were enough that the registrar didn’t bat an eye.

Their respective passcodes safely secured in memory, the two returned their attention to Ayane, whose gaze had drifted back to the large-scale battle taking place.  A Fubuki had snuck behind the blue team’s lines and was knocking out their covering fire, the holosseum camera struggling to follow the raven ninja’s movements as she flicked from place to place.  A Jinrai on the blue team soon noticed her, and the two began to duel, trading shuriken back and forth while dancing across the rooftops.  The grace and athleticism on display as they flipped and twisted around one another’s attacks stirred something in Ayane, making it hard to look away.

“Told you she’d like it.” Haruko whispered to Sayuri.  Sayuri nodded, opting to let Ayane continue watching for now rather than interrupt.  The two AI girls set to looking for an open holosseum or one accepting new competitors, wanting to warm up rather than jump straight into the big team match.

Fortunately, they weren’t left looking for long, as they found a Stylet and Eukrante loitering with their master at one of the tables.  The master of the pair was a prettyboy who was trying way too hard to look cool, Sayuri thought, between being overdressed in black for the summer heat and hair that was clearly dyed silver.  The three stood with matching folded arms, closed eyes and confident smirks.  Sayuri wasn’t quite sure why, especially as it seemed like most of the other customers were quietly ignoring them.

“Looking for a fight?” Haruko asked as she and Sayuri landed on the other side of the table.  The Stylet gave a chuckle.

“Fufu...at last, worthy opponents!”  Sayuri wondered how long they had been standing there, as the Stylet looked over at her companion with a cocky grin.  “Kaze!  Master!  Let’s show them what we can do!”

The Eukrante nodded, brandishing one of her swords.  “Right, Sora!”

Their master - the registry screen that popped up showed his name as Daigo - brushed aside a lock of his hair.  “Very well, then.”

All four girls called out in unison as the holosseum projectors fired up.

“Session, go!”

The arena disappeared to Sayuri and Haruko’s sight, replaced with a stone temple overrun with vinery.  They immediately spotted Sora and Kaze up on a ledge ahead of them, though not for long as the two charged.  Kaze took the lead, one sword raised ahead of her, while Sora hung back and opened fire with her gatling gun.  Sayuri flew away to the left to draw Sora’s fire, while Haruko met Kaze’s charge head on, using one of her gunblades to parry the Eukrante’s opening blow and the other to bash away her followup.  Haruko lifted her knee and fired her leg thruster to push the two apart, leveling both guns at Kaze and opening fire.

“Running away?”  Sora took the bait and chased after Sayuri as the wingpack-equipped Innocentia led her away from the other pair, into the structure ahead.  As they entered, Sayuri reconfigured her staff, detaching the handle and splitting the remainder into a solid sword and a beam saber.  Sora continued firing away as she chased Sayuri down the tight corridor, most of her shots hitting the easy target Sayuri’s wingpack made.  Before she could take too much damage, Sayuri ejected the pack, letting it fall backwards while she dropped and rolled to the ground.  The sudden loss of velocity was too much for Sora to react to, and the Stylet grunted as the ejected pack rammed into her, knocking her to the ground as well.

“Oof!  Why you…!” Sora drew a katana from her thigh, running at Sayuri with the blade held in both hands.  The two began to clash blades back and forth: Sora was clearly unskilled with a sword, but Sayuri wasn’t much better, finding it difficult to do more than dodge and block the Stylet’s wild swings.

Outside, Haruko was faring much better against Kaze.  The Eukrante had to stow one of her blades whenever she wanted to use her double-barrel beam rifle, while Haruko’s gunblades were just as good at every range.  Kaze was more agile, and Haruko took a few hits whenever her opponent managed to achieve an unexpected angle of attack, but Kaze wasn’t skillful enough to turn her momentary gains into a lasting advantage when faced with a Hresvelgr’s overwhelming firepower.  Their battle took them all around the arena, causing vast amounts of collateral damage to the structure both from stray shots and from each girl getting smacked into more than one pillar by a well-placed kick or well-timed slash, Kaze more often than Haruko.

“Not bad, not bad!” Haruko cheered, blasting away with both guns.  “C’mon, make me work for it a little!”

“What’s with this girl?!” Kaze groused, shielding herself with her wings as she barreled back into close range.  This time Haruko was ready when the Eukrante slipped around behind her, only to find her blade blocked by one of Haruko’s tailblades.  “Eh?”

“Gotcha!”  Haruko gave a predator’s grin as she twisted to point her tail cannon at Kaze, firing point-blank into her opponent’s stomach.

“Guh!”  Kaze took the hit and fell towards the ground, even as Haruko prepared one of her kind’s favorite signature moves.

“Beryl Shot Launcher!” the Hresvelger called out, drawing both of her gunblades across her chest and charging them up with enough power that the green crystal blades began to glow.  “Tornado Typhoon Cyclone Slash!”

The sonic boom erupted from her swords as she swung them in unison, connecting with the falling Kaze and sending her plowing into the ground hard enough for the earth to rumble.  Inside the tunnel where Sayuri was still fighting off Sora, the earthquake made both girls stumble back from one another.  Sayuri reacted slightly more quickly than her foe, recombining her weapons back into their staff form and grasping it with both hands.  Violet light built in the space between the blades for a few seconds and erupted out in a beam wide enough to fill most of the corridor.  Sora threw up her arms to block out of reflex, but her model’s lack of armor and weight did her in.  She went flying out of the tunnel, coming to a skidding stop next to Kaze with both girls knocked out.

The holosseum faded, leaving the four AI girls on the table once more.  Daigo’s jaw was dropped and he was clutching his head with both hands in bafflement at the defeat, not helped by Haruko giving him a cocky grin of her own.

“Thanks for the warmup~”

The Hresvelgr sailed off to refuel, while Sayuri took a little longer to recover her wingpack and make sure it was still in working order after the damage taken in the virtual space.

“See you around!” Sayuri said as she donned her wingpack and waved goodbye, taking off after her friend and leaving the dazed duo lying on the table.

“We’ll get you next time...” Sora groaned.

Ayane, meanwhile, continued to watch the large-scale match, hardly noticing when her cousins joined in on the blue team after they’d repaired and refueled.  Sayuri was only a modest contributor, mostly taking potshots with her staff, while Haruko had a blast hovering over the cart and firing at everything in sight.  Ayane’s attention remained focused on the more agile members of both teams, doing her best to follow the Fubuki that had first caught her attention until she dropped out.  Her master was standing at one side of the large holosseum, a quiet-looking girl with long, dark hair.  Ayane recognized her after a moment as Keiko, a classmate from their junior year.  She’d never known she had an AI girl, although she’d never spoken much outside of what was necessary in class, mostly keeping to herself.

“Are you alright, Shizuka?” she heard Keiko ask the Fubuki, who bowed on one knee.

“Yes, master.”  Keiko gave a faint smile at the response, petting Shizuka’s head with a finger.

“I think that will be all for today.”

The pair soon departed.  On their way out, Keiko’s eyes briefly made contact with Ayane’s.  She seemed to recognize her as well, but said nothing, leaving with her Fubuki resting in her handbag.  The distraction was enough to break the spell over Ayane, and she started looking for her cousins, finally spotting them on the large screen.

“Cry some more!” Haruko roared between bouts of laughter, mowing down another wave of attackers under a torrent of blasts.  “Ahahaha~!  Cry some more~!  Haha...ha...”  As if someone had hit a switch, the Hresvelgr’s shots slowed, then ceased as her eyelids drooped and her flight sputtered out, leading her to collapse onto the ground behind the cart.

Sayuri groaned at the sight from her spot behind cover.  “Out of energy, really?”  She made her way out onto the field to grab her friend and recall them both from the battle, transporting them back to the station they had entered the holosseum at.

“Zzzzz...”  Haruko didn’t protest, out cold in power-save mode.  Sayuri looked around for Ayane, waving when she spotted her.

“I think we’re done here.”

<><><>

“So how was it?” Sayuri asked as they made their way home, Haruko still asleep in Ayane’s bag and plugged into one of her Mr. Chargers to refuel.

“It was...” Ayane thought back to the display the ninjas had shown her, the moves she’d dreamed of being able to perform in her gymnastics done with ease.

“It was cool.” she admitted after a moment.  “Can we go again?”

“I don’t see why not.” Sayuri replied.  “I’m sure Haruko’s going to want to go daily.”

A car drove by, briefly interrupting their conversation.  A few seconds later, Ayane thought she heard someone wailing in disgrace from a block behind them, as if a prettyboy had been splashed with mud.  It wasn’t her problem, she decided, as the trio made their way home.