Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Admiral19]

There were so many fish around them, all of differing sizes; some that were slim and quick and darted through the water, some that were nestled in the sand at the bottom that only peeked out briefly, some that were larger and coasted through the blue, scattering groups of smaller fish as they moved. The blue tint around them was calming...Kanae could honestly get lost in this.

"Y'know, I think about floating in the water sometimes." Seemingly out of nowhere, Kanae began to speak. "Especially when it's like, really blue and calm. I saw an art piece with two people floating in the ocean and some sunlight filtering in and I thought "damn...I wanna find someone who will do that with me". Just sounds like the best feeling."

She looked back at the two trailing a little bit behind her. "What do ya'll think?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

There was something mesmerizing amidst the faint glow of the underwater tunnel. The entire place, almost devoid of people, felt like a pleasant dream. Akira felt himself lost within this feeling. The sight of Kanae walking slightly in front of them, illuminated by the gentle light...

Something was stirring in his heart.

"Kanae, I..." For a moment, he had almost lost his reason, until his phone began to ring. "Ah, crap," He quickly pulled it out, only to fall into a deep frown. The number shown on the display was...

"Sorry, you guys wait here for a bit. I have to take this call," He hurriedly made his excuse before moving farther away so the two wouldn't be able to hear him. Judging by his expression, it seemed that whoever was at the other end of the call wasn't exactly his choice of talking partner.

"Kanae..." Hotaru walked closer to her, and then looked straight in her eyes. In those pools of black lingered certain emotions. Longing, anxiety, and perhaps fear. Her thin fingers reached out at the hem of Kanae's clothes. She weakly tugged at it.

"If Kanae... if one day you've found that someone, will you still be with me?"

 

[Admiral19]

"Ah...alright."

Kanae didn't have much time to think about who Akira was going to talk to before Hotaru came up to her. She put a hand atop Hotaru's head in a comforting gesture. "Of course! I've been with you for this long, and I'll be here until you get sick of me! And besides, I don't even know when I'm gonna find that somebody, so even if I left you once I did, it'd probably be a loooong time from now."

She jokingly raised a brow. "Or, hey...maybe that someone will be you? Then I'll certainly be with you for a long time!"

She joked, yes. She was known for poking fun at Hotaru, calling her cute things until she either keeled over from embarrassment or punched her in the shoulder. She did that, but...

The water's glow reflected really well in Hotaru's eyes. Had they always done that?

A massive shadow passed above them, darkening their surroundings. Looking up, a manta ray swam above them, high above them like a flying kite coasting through the blue. "Woah!! Lookit that manta!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Her words had left Hotaru numb. Together with Kanae... the thought began to take seed within her, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt...

She winced as the manta ray's shadow passed by them, dragging her back from the realm of fantasy. The majestic fish was gliding through the water, flapping its fins as if they were wings. It was truly a sight to behold.

The hand tugging her clothes tightened.

"Kanae... I... did you really mean it? Will you still be with me, even if you found someone? No matter what happened...?"

The last part of her questions came out in a whisper, as if it was merely an illusion.

"...Even if I'm a monster...?'

 

[Admiral19]

"Of course!" Kanae took both of Hotaru's hands into her own. "I know what kind of person you are, Hotaru, and I wouldn't abandon that person even if she were a monster! I wanna be able to laugh with her, to drag her outside when she's been holed up for too long, to eat pineapple pizza with her to spite her brother, to..."

To what? There was more, surely, but...Kanae looked up at the gentle blue. The manta ray had long passed by now.

"Look, I care about you. I know I joke a lot, but I wouldn't joke about something like this." She looked back at Hotaru, into black eyes slightly tinted blue. "I was the one who reached out to you, but you've made my life so much better! I wouldn't abandon that for any reason!"

Kanae smiled, that smile that was so big and so bright and so Kanae. "I've trusted you to stay with me this long, and you did. I'd be such an ass not to return the favor."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

It would be a lie to say that she wasn't moved.

Hotaru was the first to break eye contact. She turned her head down, shyness taking over as her cheeks began to glow red. "I... I'll trust you, Kanae. You... you're not allowed to take it back..." she murmured with a faint smile.

"Haaah, sorry about that. My old man is getting on my nerves-- hmm? What're you guys doing?" Akira, finishing his phone call, returned back to see the scene of his childhood friend and his sister being awfully close to each other. A certain sense of urgency rose inside of him.

"...Nothing, we're just viewing the manta ray," Hotaru pulled her hands away, but still not daring to look at Kanae straight in the eye.

Manta ray... what manta ray? Akira raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the blue expanse above him. Oh, there's the manta ray... it was already so far away.

 

[Admiral19]

"If I do," Kanae said, "I'll let you beat the shit out of me for it."

This was the first time she'd seen Hotaru blush. It was...ah, it was adorable...

She waved to Akira as he came running back. "'Sup. Don't worry, I didn't hurt your precious little sister~" She fully expected to get punched for that, but it'd be fine. "Look, the gift shop isn't far from the tunnel exit, so that'll be our final stop. Onward!"

Kanae turned from them quickly, in that Kanae way that meant that she was excited to move along. But in reality, she was trying to hide a faint shade of red that had come over her face. Her hands felt...empty. Well, normally, they were empty, but...why did she care now?

She took a deep breath, willed her chest to stop aching, killed the fluttering in her stomach. When had all that gotten there...?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The two siblings watched their childhood friend taking her escape to the end of the tunnel. Hotaru was staring in a daze, while Akira kept sneaking glances at Kanae, then to Hotaru, then back to Kanae.

"...What did you guys talk about?" He asked his sister.

"Nothing," she replied curtly. "...Was that Genki?"

Akira faintly nodded.

"...You don't plan to tell me anything about it, Akira Tanaka?"

"It doesn't involve you."

"...It will be, if it involves Kanae."

Akira tightened his lips, but he didn't say anything. To be precise, he didn't want to.

"Let's go. Kanae will notice if we take our time," Akira said as he made his way over to Kanae. Hotaru took one last look at the gloomy blue over her before following suit.

 

[Admiral19]

The gift shop was a quaint thing; shirts up on hangers decorating the walls, shelves of mugs and toys and commemorative plaques, and a few people walking around looking to get something for a souvenir.

When the two saw Kanae again, she was fawning over a little music box. In the box was a seal with a ball on its nose that spun to the gentle, soothing music playing from the box. She probably wouldn't have noticed the two coming in if she didn't turn her head to look at another little toy. "Oh hey! Look at this!"

She held up something in her arms: a soft-looking penguin plushie that was the size of half her body. There was a little scarf around the plushie's neck with the logo for the aquarium on it.

"He's a big boy!" She looked off to the side. "But he's also kinda pricy. But isn't he adorable?!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Ah, there were lots of cute souvenirs in this shop. Kanae would love it. A bit too much, even. Akira sighed as he watched her absorbed in browsing over the little trinkets designed to drain the customer's wallet dry.

"He's a big boy, alright," Akira chuckled. It was like watching a mama penguin and a little penguin.

Hotaru squinted at the penguin in Kanae's arms. She walked over to her side, and then hugged her, pouting slightly.

"...Does Kanae like the penguin more than me?" She whispered so that only Kanae could hear her.

---

"Where's the kids?" Back at the lab, Shiori had returned from getting some snacks from a nearby convenience store. Seiichiro was still busy with his experiment, trying to perfect his de-monsterification serum.

"Having fun at the aquarium," He replied without turning his eyes away from the boiling beakers.

"Oh. It's nice being young," Shiori plopped down on a couch, cracking a can open.

"You're still young yourself."

"Oh," She turned her face away as she took a sip. "Right. When they return, you might need to tell them to stay inside for a while. There'll be something big happening soon."

"Hmm?" This time, it managed to draw his attention. "Something involving OLYMPUS?"

"Yes. They're finally going to showcase the finished P.A.S. units. There will be a public demonstration with OLYMPUS's private defense contractors first. After that, they'll slowly roll out the suits to law enforcements. I heard that one of the higher-ups will give his speech in person. So... yeah," she gulped the can down in one go. "If you guys are really on the run from OLYMPUS, you might want to lay low for a bit."

 

[Admiral19]

"Of course not!" Kanae made the penguin plush wrap its flippers around Hotaru in a hug. "Don't get me wrong, this penguin's adorable. But you're probably more adorable than five of these combined! Which is saying a LOT!"

Kanae wanted to buy something from here, oh she really did. If they didn't drag her out soon, all of her cash was gonna be gone in seconds!

"Oh!" Using the penguin's flipper, she pointed at a lava lamp with a oceanic theme. "Look at this! Ahh, it's so pretty!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hmmm," Hotaru rubbed her cheeks on Kanae in a spoiled manner. Ah crap, now it was a penguin family-

"Okay, okay, let's wrap it up for today. Your wallet is going to cry at this point," Akira decided to step up as the voice of reason as he pulled Kanae away from the lava lamp. "Excuse me, how much is this penguin?"

The sales lady was unable to maintain her professional face when she saw the girls cuddling on the plush. She coughed for a bit before mentioning a number.

"I'll pay for it," Akira pulled out his wallet. "No, I insist. Just take it as your homecoming present. I was planning to give it to you on that day when we were supposed to go shopping, but... well, a lot of things happened since then. Let me show you my cool side for once."

 

[Admiral19]

"Yes!" Kanae jumped in unrestrained excitement. "Thank you thank you thank you! Ahh, you're the best!"

The train ride back was easy; Kanae had fallen asleep hugging the penguin, holding it tight while leaning against Hotaru. Honestly, with everything that happened this week, Kanae deserved the sleep. She shifted a little, scootching closer to Hotaru's body with a content smile.

All in all, a successful trip, if all could be considered.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

On the train back home, Akira had the urge to pat the sleeping Kanae on the head, but he refrained at the last moment. Not just because he was shy, but because he felt mysterious pressure emanating from his supposedly-asleep sister... he would just let sleeping lions lie for now.

It didn't take long before they almost reached their stop.

"Kanae. Kanae, wake up," He had to nudge them awake. He knew that if he didn't, Kanae would've just slept all the way to the last station.

 

[Admiral19]

"Mmm...?" Kanae opened her eyes slowly. "Oh, are we almost there?" Good on Akira for that; she didn't want to be scrambling to get up when the train stopped. "Okay..." She nudged Hotaru as well, just in case she was asleep too.

Their return to the lab came with a good amount of fanfare thanks to Kanae. "Uncle! We have returned from our underwater sightseeing fest! Nothing blew up, right?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Seiichiro was the only person left at the lab when they finally returned. Shiori had gone home, while Mikawa and Shouji was in their respective rooms, the latter against his wishes. The moment Kanae mentioned about anything blowing up, he immediately shoved the pile of ashes on the table away.

"Nothing! Nothing blew up!"

"...Really?" Akira eyed him with suspicion.

"Really! How's your trip? Is it good?" Seiichiro decided to change the topic instead. "Shiori told me about OLYMPUS unveiling their P.A.S. suit in the coming days. It might be better for you guys to stay inside until then. I heard that a higher-up would show up to give a speech. Was it one of the directors, or a C-suites... I forgot the detail."

 

[Admiral19]

Huh. Well, nevermind that. There was gonna be an unveiling, hm? Laying low was probably best, considering it was still uncertain whether or not OLYMPUS was really at the helm of this whole business with the Kaiserin. Fortunately, there was some good news...

"Speaking of OLYMPUS!" Kanae set aside her penguin plush. "My folks are gonna be returning soon! My dad's worked with OLYMPUS before, and maybe he'll be able to help us shed some light on this medallion stuff! Ah, although...I'm gonna have to explain..." She gestured vaguely. "...all of this to them at once. That's gonna be fun."

Despite that, if there was anyone who could help gather some ideas for motives, it would be her old man. Probably wouldn't be happy that all this is happening to her, but help was help.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Your parents?" Seiichiro rubbed his chin, intrigued. "Hmm, are you absolutely sure that they're not connected to OLYMPUS still?"

"Or maybe, not everyone in OLYMPUS are bad guys. The people who had attacked us so far never said that they're connected to OLYMPUS," Akira suggested. They even showed certain disgust, as if mentioning OLYMPUS was a disgrace.

"Well, I have no idea about that!" The scientist huffed. "I only deduced that OLYMPUS is behind all this because of the documents that I found-"

"...Illegally," Hotaru quipped.

"...Legality aside, you guys have seen the monsters with your own eyes. Who else but OLYMPUS could do it?"

 

[Admiral19]

"Well, my dad quit OLYMPUS; he's got nothing to do with them." Kanae wondered what made him quit in the first place, but one question at a time. "We don't have to worry about his involvement, but who's to say OLYMPUS is even in charge?"

She leaned against the table. "All that we really know is that the ARMORs use a similar system to the P.A.S., and the P.A.S. was made by OLYMPUS. But the monsters came out of nowhere, and there isn't really anything explicitly OLYMPUS-adjacent about them. Maybe the argument can be made because OLYMPUS is the biggest company in Japan, but who really knows, right?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hnnng..." Seiichiro rubbed his temple. He was a brilliant researcher, but his expertise stopped right there. Political conspiracy like this was really not his strongest suit. "If hypothetically we accept that OLYMPUS has nothing to do with this trouble, then the only lead we would have were Shouji boy and that person from before. That kid who infiltrated this lab. But who are they? And what are their aim? World domination...?"

"The Kaiserin..." Akira looked at Kanae. "Didn't that woman who fight you say that name before? Do you think she's the one responsible for all this? Some kind of big boss or something?"

A sense of gloom began to creep into Seiichiro's mind. He was so sure that OLYMPUS, the big target out in the open, was their only enemy. But now there was this yet another suspect in the grand scheme of things, whose reach was equally as powerful? How would they even fight an opponent that they couldn't even find in the first place?

Their speculation was cut short when Hotaru let out a really big yawn. It seemed that the day's fatigue had finally caught up to her. She tugged at Kanae's wrist, silently asking to hit the hay with her.

 

[Admiral19]

"Gotta be. "Kaiserin" sounds like a hella important title, after all..." But even with that, even if they were certain that this "Kaiserin" had nothing to do with OLYMPUS, that still left every other question to answer!

"I understand if we're your enemy, but we are not the world's enemy."

That Rui person had said that...and they sounded pretty sincere...But there was really no way to confirm, so how could she trust them?

Hotaru tugged on her wrist before Kanae could think any harder. "Yeah, I hear you. We oughta get some sleep, right?" She gave another wave to Seiichiro before helping Hotaru to the room they slept in, letting her lean on Kanae's shoulder. "C'mon, off we go."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

***

At the deeper level of the underground base lied a huge chamber. With thick, reinforced walls surrounded by layers of earth, it was a room designed to withstand even the explosion of a small hydrogen bomb. Such was the caution needed when dealing with the full destructive power of the ARMOR system.

This particular experiment was insultingly simple. The medallion holder was instructed to perform their Finisher against a robot, a training dummy with numerous measurement sensors that could determine the particular strength of said finisher. Reconstructing each destroyed robot took a lot of money and manpower, but this was Aesir. Either of them had never been a problem.

When the holder was close to exhaustion, the moment that the ARMOR system detected the strain on their body, was the moment when the experiment truly began.

"Do it one more time. That should be your limit. Then, start the Overdrive system," Alfred nonchalantly ordered through the intercom. He was watching from the observation room as the subject performed yet another Finisher. The fellow researchers around him were busy comparing and processing measurement data fed from the ARMOR system into their computers.

They were testing a new addition to the ARMOR system; a small, separate compartment was added into the suit, containing a specialized mixture of the Jotunn serum. When the system detected heavy strain on the user, rather than automatically disengaging, it would prompted them within a short time limit to use the mixture as a hail mary solution to the limit of a human's body. If the user agreed to it, the Overdrive system would be activated, and the system would calculate the exact dose required for the specialized serum to be injected into the user's body and revitalize their spent energy.

Or at least, that was the intended plan. As they still had no reliable data of its usage, this early rendition of the system could only approximate the dose required. Too little would prove useless, but too much would introduce the risk of turning the medallion holder into a Jotunn, wasting all their efforts.

It was a risk that Alfred stoically accepted without the slightest of doubt. For the person risking their lives inside the training room, however...

 

[Admiral19]

"Satellizer ready."

Rui exhaled. It hasn't been that long since the last they used their ARMOR, but they still felt...out of practice, somehow. It didn't matter right now, though, because they needed to run through this experiment. They had already done two finishers, one more should do the trick...

The swords at their side began to glow a vibrant purple, sharpened to a point and ready to slice through. They charged towards the dummy, raised the blades high, and brought them down fiercely. The attack was powerful enough to send a shockwave blasting through the room; had it not been as fortified as it was, it would have surely collapsed.

"Strain detected." There went the ARMOR, in its monotone voice, letting Rui know that they had reached their limit...and indeed, it felt like they had.

But this time, the ARMOR did something different. "5 seconds until forceful shutdown. 5...4..."

"Override." Rui called out without...much hesitation.

"Override confirmed. Dosing."

Immediately, fire began running through Rui's body as the Jotunn serum was shot into them. A swell of power rushed into their muscles, almost too much for them to handle, but the swell also pushed out any weakness in their body, allowing them to stand a lot easier than they would have normally after using up their finishers. With that strength, they wound up another flurry of sword slashes, tearing at the dummy from left, right, and center.

It was a rush. But...it would be a brief one.

As Rui prepared to strike the dummy again, a pain rippled through their chest. They began to see stars, bright gold stars pulsing behind their eyes, and a very sharp, very terrible pain in their mouth. What the hell was that...?!

"Armor off!" In a panic, they let the ARMOR disperse, backing away from the training dummy. They felt around in their mouth for whatever that pain was and...

Their finger pressed against a daggerpoint end, much sharper than a canine should be, sharp enough that when they pulled their finger away, they could see a single dot of ruby red on its tip. Fangs.

Oh, gods.

"What happened?" They called up to Alfred, letting out a shaky breath. "How did I...how did I do?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Alfred was watching through the entire process. Although he wasn't happy that Rui had turned off the ARMOR system without his order, at least the effifacy of the Jotunn serum had already been confirmed. Noticing Rui's earlier actions, he quickly rushed down to the training chamber.

Upon entering the chamber, he immediately walked to their face and, without warning, shoved his hands into their mouth, pulling it wide open for him to see. The presence of a pair of decisively inhuman-looking fangs was a pleasant surprise.

"Interesting... so you are compatible with Strain C. Even though it was picked by random... fortunes truly favor the bold."

Alfred... was smiling. He wasn't supposed to; that grin on his face was horrible. His eyes were slanted upward into a crescent shape, and his cheeks were bulging out to the side, but it all felt so wrong, like the mocking smile of a hyena.

"It's me," Alfred spoke to the researchers above through his headset. "Subject Rui is compatible with Strain C. Record all the measurements that we have gained so far. It's a first. Do extensive comparison with results from Strain A and B."

"Congratulations, you have helped us pushing forward the boundary of progress," Alfred, still with that sickening smile, patted Rui on the shoulder. Unlike the Kaiserin, however, there was no trace of warmth on his touch. He gave off a vibe as if he was petting a mere animal.

"Oh, right, about what happened just then..." The smile receded, turning Alfred back to the cold researcher that he used to be. "To put it simply, you overdosed. It wasn't anyone's fault, mind. Your body was simply highly compatible with this particular strain of the Jotunn serum, far more than what we had seen in other test subjects so far. This was already the lowest dose that we had expected to have an effect on a human's body. But fear not, if we lower the dose next time, you wouldn't experience that transformation once again. Hopefully."

He let his words sink in for a few minutes before continuing.

"We'll stop the experiments for today. You should go to the lab to get a neutralizing dose. If you leave your body in this state for so long, you might not be able to return back to normal."

The "neutralizing dose" he was talking about was simply to inject the other two strains, A and B, in order to suppress the particular strain in their body as the three strains were opposed to each other. But it was merely a stopgap solution. After accumulating enough of the serum within their body, they would inevitably turn into a monster, just like the others before them.

But naturally, Alfred didn't tell them that. He had no obligation to.

 

[Admiral19]

Rui couldn't help but shudder at Alfred's horrible grin...it was sickening, almost sadistic in its nature. Like they were just a particularly fun toy to play with. But that was fine, wasn't it? Rui said that they'd be whatever they needed to be for the Kaiserin's sake. They couldn't be selfish by thinking about their own humanity.

Once Alfred had moved away(backed off), they went on their way to the lab. They prodded at their fangs again, a little more gently, lost in thought.

What would happen if they became a full Jotunn? They'd seen a few shows, a few anime where a human came gradually close to becoming a monster. Maybe it would be like those, where the human would lose themselves briefly but then remind themselves of their humanity and return to normal.

No. No, that thought process wasn't gonna work just like that. It certainly didn't work for...

"Rui!"

Down the hall was Aoi. What was she doing here?

"Are you done talking with Alfred yet? I need a sparring partner." Again...? But hadn't she already went a couple days ago? "Aina's gonna be out watching over the agents at the P.A.S. unveiling tomorrow, so she's getting ready. Can't really talk to her, so I went to you."

"Sorry," Rui said, speaking carefully so as to hide their fangs, "but I really need to rest. I'm...god, I'm out of it." Before Aoi could question any further, they dashed off to the lab, anxious to get away from her.