Sleeping was one of Church's favorite things to do, but ironically, he rarely if ever had much time to do as much of that as he wanted. It seemed like there was always a reason for him to get up early, and those reasons were mostly forced on him by other people. The morning after he had been invited to sleep in Rin's room was no exception.
"Hey."
While he could acknowledge somewhere in his subconscious that a voice was speaking to him, Church tried to ignore it as best he could. He just wanted the chance to actually sleep in one of these days. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen today, as his sleep was ruined a bit more thoroughly by a wad of some fabric hitting him in the face.
"Hey, wake up!"
Church cracked his eyes open reluctantly, acknowledging that he had been hit in the face with a sock. Across from him, Rin was sitting up in her bed, stifling a yawn. She was in the same clothes she had been wearing the night before, and she had neglected to untie her hair, so she looked as she always did. Church held back a yawn of his own as he addressed her.
"Ugh... what is it?"
"It's almost eight in the morning, so I kinda need you to get out of here."
Trying to wipe the grogginess out of his eyes, Church sat up in bed himself. "Well that's sudden. What's important about eight in the morning?"
"It's when Tina said she was going to be coming back. I'll admit I didn't really care too much about letting you use her bed for the night, but at the same time, I don't really want her to come back to this scene, you know? She might get a little mad if she finds out I let a stranger sleep in her bed and I need to take some measures to make sure she never finds out."
Taking that theoretical situation into consideration, Church couldn't say he disagreed with Rin's sentiment. "OK, I guess that's pretty fair. I suppose it was already generous enough letting me sleep here. Though you know, the bed in my storage closet is just about as comfy..."
Rin frowned at his statement. "Wait, really? I only offered to let you sleep in here because I figured you had iffy amenities. Why didn't you say anything?!"
"And skip a perfectly good opportunity to spend the night with a cute girl? Why would I do that?"
The brunette blushed slightly, but still managed to put up an irritable front. "Awfully underhanded of you... maybe I misjudged you?"
Church frowned at the insinuation. "Would you prefer if I didn't think anything special of your favors? Wouldn't that be insulting?"
Rin's frown took on more of a confused air as she considered that. "I... guess it would be, in a way... whatever! Point is, the favor's over. You got a good meal and a sleepover, so the least you could do is make sure I don't have to put up with anything awkward between Tina and myself. I need to make up her bed to avoid suspicion and all that."
"OK, that's fair... I suppose I have to check in with Chifuyu soon anyway. It's the weekend, but I don't think she said at any point that we wouldn't be doing tests on these days..."
The American agent paused for a minute to consider his next words. Aside from those tests he had just mentioned, weekends were actually going to be unique days of opportunity for him, precisely because the student body didn't have classes. That meant that Houki Shinonono had more free time and was presumably more accessible to him, a non-student that didn't share her schedule. These days would be a good time to try and get access to Akatsubaki in some regard.
Of course, that was a bit of a problem since Houki was the one girl in her social circle Church had scarcely been introduced to so far. He still had no believable reason to approach her right now. He supposed he could try and fabricate some sort of encounter with her, but that seemed like a pretty risky course of action. Then again, he was getting relatively friendly with many of Houki's friends, and it was a weekend where they didn't have to focus entirely on schoolwork...
"You plan on doing anything with your friends today, Rin?"
Getting up from her bed and stretching, Rin smirked. "Just can't get enough of me, can ya? I don't blame you, just don't get your hopes up. I didn't have any particular plans today, but I might ask Ichika if he wants to go into town..."
Naturally, this wasn't exactly what Church wanted to hear. Rin getting Ichika to herself didn't exactly help him since it would exclude both himself and Houki from any sort of interaction. That said, Rin wasn't quite done speaking.
"Although, I doubt I'd actually be able to get him alone, considering how this crap usually goes down... tell you what, if things go south and the whole gang comes along, I suppose I can invite you. But you have to be my wingman and try to distract the others, alright?"
Honestly, Church felt like he should be insulted by the notion of being invited on the condition of serving as a distraction to the other girls on Rin's behalf, but he supposed it was better than nothing. Since this outcome was desirable for his mission, he wasn't going to complain about it even if it wasn't very flattering.
"I'm sure my charm can distract at least one of your rivals."
"Well Cecilia's a bimbo, so you can probably get her out of the way at least. You've got a phone right? We should probably exchange numbers so we don't have to rely on a chance encounter if we want to talk. But-"
The girl raised a finger. "Bathroom first."
With that, she walked past Church and towards the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom, disappearing into it swiftly enough. This left Church to grab his phone off of the nightstand next to Tina's bed. Frankly, he didn't actually use it for much, since he didn't have too many people to talk to via such means. He'd had a few friends back in Bethesda, but joining Umbra Stratum had required him to cut ties. It was a shame, since Church had never found anyone else to play Triple Triad with.
But it wasn't like he didn't have anyone to talk to over the phone, made evident by the fact that it rang in his hands a few minutes after he grabbed hold of it. Church's first reaction as he looked at the familiar number was to frown. Not only did he recognize this number, but he knew they were the only people that would call him at this time of day. He supposed they may have had good news, but he was far too much of a realist to assume that.
Answering the call, Church raised the phone to his ear. "Morning, Doctor Warner."
On the other side of the bathroom door, Rin had just been about to come back out into the bedroom when she heard the beginning of Church's conversation. She knew that eavesdropping was rude and that Church probably deserved some privacy, but thinking about it, she didn't actually know that much about him. Her interested was piqued. And besides, she had let him stay in her room just a few days after meeting her, so encroaching on his privacy like this was quid pro quo, right?
With that in mind, she leaned up against the door and softly pressed her ear to it in hopes of increasing her odds of hearing the conversation. That said, she naturally couldn't hear whoever was on the other end of the phone, but she could hear what Church was saying.
"...nothing so far, huh? Is there any chance of something changing if we continue with these? Maybe they just haven't had enough time to work yet."
With only one half of a conversation to operate off of, Rin naturally had trouble figuring out what was being discussed. She supposed the only option she had was to keep listening as Church responded to something else that was said over the phone.
"No, I get it. They were experimental for a reason, I suppose. Does this mean we're going for the alternative treatment option now?"
There was a pause as the person on the other end spoke again, after which Church responded. "Yes, I get that it's expensive. I can cover it, just bill me the same way you always do. Thanks, Doctor Warner. Keep me posted."
After that, Rin heard a heavy sigh from him, which she took to mean that his conversation was over and that he had ended the call. Now was seemingly a good time to come back out, though she'd have to pretend she hadn't heard anything, of course. Opening the door that separated the two rooms, the girl took immediate note of a downtrodden expression on Church's face, though he plastered on a notably strained smile when he noticed that Rin had returned.
Not that Rin had doubted before that Church had problems of his own, but this moment really cemented the idea that he probably had some shitty things in his own life that a relatively new friend like Rin just wasn't privy to. Things that he hid from others in order to present a more friendly, amicable personality to them. Suddenly, Rin felt kind of bad about considering him as a means to an end as far as taking heat off of Ichika was concerned. That wasn't exactly fair to the guy who had saved her life and been overall quite kind to her.
Maybe she'd invite him out today regardless of what happened, though she couldn't deny a guilty feeling may have been the primary motivation for that.
"Alright, ready to exchange numbers?"
Perhaps thinking that Rin was none the wiser to his unpleasant exchange, Church wasted no time in pulling up his number so he could show it to Rin. Ordinarily he may have been flustered by this turn of events, but it really struck him as practical more than anything else. After all, it was probably safe to say that he and Rin would hang out from time to time at this point, and it wouldn't be very efficient to rely on a chance encounter if they wanted to communicate.
Rin figured it would be best if she kept up her usual behavior as she gave Church her number as well. "As they say, don't call me, I'll call you."
Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "That makes it sound like you're doing this reluctantly."
The brunette offered him a cheeky grin. "Nah, I just can't have people know that another boy is calling me, is all. Plus on normal days you have no idea if I'm in the middle of class or something. I mean, if you were like, dying or something you could call, just don't be one of those people that rings everyone up just because you're bored, you know?"
"No need to worry about that, Rin. I'm not the pushy type."
"Says the guy who was begging me to feed him."
Putting his shoes on so he could prepare to leave, Church let her know how he felt about that. "Oh, come on: I was very polite about that and was willing to accept a refusal if you were uncomfortable with it."
With a slight smile to herself, Rin conceded that point. "Yeah, I guess you were. I suppose you aren't a totally lost cause. Seriously though, I need you to get out of here so I can tidy up before Tina gets back."
Activating Exeter since he was obviously going to need it to avoid a broken leg, Church made his way to the window at the back of the room, opening it so he could have access to the outside world. He couldn't quite sneak out if people were out there.
That said, it was pretty early in the morning and it wasn't like there was much of a reason for anyone to be hanging out behind the dorms at this time of day, so the coast was clear. With that determined, Church turned back to face Rin one last time.
"Alright, I'm off. Thank you for hosting me, Rin. Would it be weird if I said I'm glad we met so soon after I got here?"
Rin folded her good arm over her cast and gave him a quizzical look. "Well that makes it sound like you're glad I fell out of a window and almost died, so yeah, a little weird. But I get what you mean: don't let it go to your head, but, uh... I guess I'm glad too. I actually haven't met too many guys I could stand over the years, so it's kind of nice to have a friend who isn't a girl... it gets kind of tiresome sometimes."
Church planted a foot on the windowsill as he prepared to leave. "I'll take that as a compliment. See you later, Rin."
The brunette gave him a little wave with her one good arm as Church hopped out of the window. Part of Rin was still extremely curious about his phone conversation earlier, but that was just her being nosy more than anything else. The two of them definitely weren't at a point where they'd be sharing stuff like that, so it wasn't like she could ask. Besides, right now she had to make it look like no one besides her had been in the room. The last thing she needed was for Tina to go around spreading weird rumors.
---
Not long after leaving from Rin's room, Church was heading back towards his own room in the main tower. He knew he probably needed to check in with Chifuyu and see if he was expected to run tests on the weekend like this, but he wasn't too keen on showing up in the shorts and t-shirt he had worn to sleep in last night. Maybe it was stupid, but he just felt uncomfortable presenting himself to Chifuyu of all people like that. Heck, she probably didn't care at all, but it was really more about his own comfort.
That was why he was heading towards his own room, just so he could change into somewhat more presentable clothes before reporting in. Speaking of reporting in, Cerberus apparently had some sentiment to share about that as Church slid open the door to his storage room turned living space.
Operator, might I suggest we report in to our actual superiors? It would be prudent to keep them up-to-date on our mission.
It's only been a few days. Do they really need a report already? It's not like we've actually accomplished much.
It would still be better to let them know the situation. We could receive valuable advice or new directives based on the situation you report.
Church offered the mental equivalent of a shrug as he took stock of the folded pile of clothes he had procured from town the other day. Technically, he really just needed to change into some jeans, though he would probably don his red jacket again. It was a personal favorite.
Fine, try to patch me through. Who knows what time it is over there...
A few moments after Church requested a connection, Cerberus alerted him to its success.
Connection with Umbra Stratum HQ successful. You may speak aloud to communicate, Operator.
Church said nothing to that since he was apparently connected to someone back in Nevada right now. Besides, he had to say something first since he didn't even know who he was talking to right this second.
"Operative A2, reporting in."
There was a drawn out yawn on the other side of the comms, which played in Church's mind just as if Cerberus was speaking to him. But soon after, he recognized the voice of Marcus.
"Oh, hey, Church. Was wondering when we'd hear from you again. Just didn't think it would be this time of day..."
"Sorry, Marcus. The Commander didn't actually give me explicit instructions to report in at any time. Cerberus just figured I should do so anyway. Not that I have a whole lot to report so far."
Since it wasn't like anyone could see him, Church went about the business of dressing himself as Marcus replied. "It's fine, I'm sure the Commander would have demanded an update at some point. So what do you have thus far?"
"Just some combat data. Most of it second hand observation data, some of it first hand against Byakushiki. Unfortunately, I don't have anything too valuable on Akatsubaki yet. Needless to say, getting my hands on Akatsubaki's specs is a lot more complicated than the Commander made it sound."
Church heard some sort of grunt that was probably acknowledgment from Marcus' end. "Well, send the data over anyway. It's all worth something. Plus it'll give me something to do now that you're gone and Strelka's found something better to do than annoy me."
Even though he couldn't be seen, Church cocked an eyebrow at that. "What could possibly entertain Strelka more than harassing you?"
"Beats me... it was business as usual until a day or two ago. Since then she's barely even touched her ADUs. I want to say I enjoy the peace, but I can't help but wonder what's demanded her attention these past few days... the few times I have seen her around she's looked unusually sullen, too."
"Marcus, are you actually concerned for Strelka? Never thought I'd see the day."
His friend in Nevada scoffed at that. "Yeah, right. I'm just worried she's cooking up a way to be even more of a pain. Forget about her. What about Cerberus? Impressed yet?"
"I suppose. I haven't actually had a chance to really test its limits yet since all I've done is spar. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to talk about it right now. I have an appointment with the locals, if you catch my drift."
Church was certain he could sense disappointment from Marcus as he responded to that. "That's a shame, but I get it. Just have Cerberus send his operational logs over every once in awhile, alright? You could also ask him to write up reports and send those so you don't have to call if that's convenient. Though I wouldn't mind a phone call every once in awhile, it does get kind of quiet out here..."
Done dressing himself, Church made his way back to the door of his room, bringing the conversation to an end. "I hear you, Marcus. I'll keep that in mind. Signing off."
With that, the communication was brought to an end, as acknowledged by Cerberus.
Ending communication, Operator. I must say, you were quick to shut down conversation about yours truly. But you had plenty of time to discuss Ms. Volkov?
Stepping out into the hall again, Church defended that exact notion.
Look, we really do have somewhere to be right now and it's not like I can just-
However Church planned on finishing his sentence, he was unable to do so, since the presence of a certain someone on the opposite side of his door startled him out of his thoughts.
"Whoa! Dammit, Tatenashi, why are you just standing there?!"
The cyan-haired girl was literally standing on the other side of his door, clearly waiting for him to exit from the room. She had that typical smile of hers on her face, but something about it seemed even more off-putting than usual today. Said smile didn't falter as she answered his justified query.
"Because I was waiting for you to come out, obviously. You're kind of late for your scheduled testing, aren't you? And where did you just come from that you weren't in your room earlier?"
Church did his best to keep a look of suspicion off of his face, though he naturally had to worry about Tatenashi right now. How did she know that he had been in the room just now? Had she overheard anything? And if so, what was Church going to do about it?
"What makes you think I wasn't in my room prior to now? Maybe I just didn't hear you knocking earlier. I can sleep pretty deeply, you know."
The smile still didn't fall from her face. "Because, I just saw you walk into the room a few minutes ago after stepping off of the elevator. Obviously you went somewhere."
"Am I not allowed to? And what, were you just standing at the end of the hall and spying on my door?"
Tatenashi's eyes gained a dangerous gleam as she leaned forward a bit. "Well, it's not so much that, it's just that I'm worried about the safety of the other students. Because you see, I heard something awfully interesting from Kanzashi last night..."
Recalling exactly what fiasco had occurred the previous day, Church immediately tried to defend himself. "H-hey, that was an accident! And I didn't see Kanzashi at all, it was just Charlotte!"
"Just Charlotte, huh?"
Realizing that it did sound a little odd to word it like that, Church nevertheless saw this as a good thing. It was preferable for Tatenashi to be focused on this. Maybe she was just acting this way because of the issue with her sister, which was better than her actually being suspicious of his real motivations. Not that it would be beneficial for her to think of him as a pervert, but it was better than her thinking of him as a spy.
"I'm just saying, Kanzashi isn't my type. And I'm not stupid enough to walk right into a room with naked girls and practically announce my presence if I was trying to be a voyeur or something. I just wasn't paying attention, alright? And I had trouble sleeping so I took a walk earlier this morning."
Tatenashi's expression was stern for a moment, prompting Church to wonder if she was convinced. But after a moment, she returned to that usual teasing look she most often sported.
"Oh, I see. So my darling sister isn't good enough for you, is that it? Are you saying she isn't worth peeping on?"
"Are you saying that I'm insulting her by not wanting to perv on her?"
"I'm just saying, you didn't say Charlotte wasn't your type. And hey, Kanzashi looks a lot like me! What are you saying about me?!"
Frankly speaking, Church did find Tatenashi more appealing than her little sister, though that probably just came down to the energy she gave off. But he was hardly going to say that, since he found the whole situation ridiculous at this point anyway.
"I thought you were interested in Ichika? What do you care if I like you or not?"
Tatenashi offered him a mocking pout as she crossed her arms. "It's the principle of the thing. Whether or not I like you, of course you should like me. What's not to like, after all?"
Church merely sighed, wondering if he had Tatenashi all wrong. Sometimes she seemed dangerous, but most of the time, she just came across as an airhead. Then again, it wasn't like acting was beyond the scope of someone talented like her. It would still be best to just play it safe.
"I take it I need to get to the RD room and talk to Chifuyu?"
"If she doesn't outright bite your head off, that is. Guess you won't go very long without her yelling at you after all, huh?"
Stepping away from Tatenashi so he could actually exit the conversation and potentially go about his business, Church remembered that he had said something to that effect when he had first spoken to the girl.
"Don't underestimate me. I don't think anyone could bear to yell at a face this charming."
Tatenashi didn't seem convinced of this, but she didn't say anything in response, which allowed Church to finally extricate himself from the situation and head towards the elevator. As soon as he turned his back on the girl, he frowned.
So, Cerberus: theoretically, what would you recommend doing if our operation was exposed?
The speed at which Cerberus responded to this question was a little alarming, frankly.
Termination, of course. We can't allow our operation to be exposed, especially this early on. Needless to say, a mysterious death would be the most efficient option out of all the ones we would have available. Why do you ask, Operator? Are you truly so concerned about Tatenashi Sarashiki?
Are you not?
Cerberus was silent for a moment, perhaps calculating some hidden factors Church himself was not aware of.
It is extremely unlikely that she overheard anything you said during your call. My calculations of the volume of your speech and the soundproofing of your surroundings, as well as her proximity to the door, all indicate that she likely did not know you were speaking at all within the confines of your room. While the possibility is not zero, it would be most unwise to act on that tiny possibility, which would bear a higher risk of compromising our mission. It is statistically safer to operate on the most likely possibility.
Taking all of that in, Church glanced over his shoulder at where Tatenashi had been standing, but by now, she was already gone. How she moved about so quickly or why she felt the need to do so, Church had no idea.
Yeah, I suppose that makes sense... still, something about her puts me on guard. Guess the best I can do is be careful around her...
With nothing else to consider on that front, Church put his concerns to the back of his mind and focused on his immediate future. While he had blown it off when Tatenashi mentioned it, he was actually a bit concerned regarding Chifuyu. She struck him as someone who was very punctual and expected everyone else to be so as well. Hopefully, the fact that he wasn't a student would offer him some protection from any potential ire.
---
By the time Church reached the R&D room he had come to associate with his testing here at the I.S. Academy, there was only fifteen minutes until nine in the morning, making him not too far off from being a whole hour later than he was supposed to be. At this point, he considered whether or not it would be a better idea to just skip town this particular morning, but then again, that might be pressing his luck even further.
Ultimately, he figured it was just better to bite the bullet. What could Chifuyu really do to him, anyway? He was an envoy from a foreign country. On top of that, while he had been told consistently that Chifuyu was a terrifying person, he had yet to actually see anything like that.
Keeping those ideas in mind for his own comfort if nothing else, Church opened the door to the RD room and stepped inside to see what was what. The room was situated as usual, though he couldn't see Kanzashi in the booth she usually operated. That was probably for the best, all things considered. On the other hand, Chifuyu was sitting at the desk she usually occupied during these proceedings, though she was focusing on some textbook at the moment.
Of course, a sharp woman like her tended to notice when she was no longer alone, so she was looking over her shoulder at him soon enough. The words that came out of her mouth weren't particularly stern in tone, but even so, Church got the feeling she may have been a little irritable.
"You're late."
Church wondered whether or not it would be more beneficial to lie or tell the truth, but ultimately he settled on just being vague instead. He could extrapolate on an excuse if it turned out he needed one.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if we were still doing this even on the weekend."
Chifuyu sighed, but it didn't seem particularly directed at him. "Ordinarily one would assume the weekend to be a better time for this kind of thing, since I don't have classes to teach. Unfortunately, most of my spare time on the weekend has to be used to prepare for next week, so my schedule is mostly the same."
Figuring that he could ride the coattails of Chifuyu's exasperation to safety, Church quickly took on a sympathetic tone, not that he wasn't being genuine about it to begin with.
"Isn't there some sort of dumb AI or computer program that could take some of the workload off of you? I imagine that some of your work is just the number crunching type that could be passed off like that, right?"
Turning her attention back to the textbook she had before her, Chifuyu managed to sound a bit more irritable with her response. "Some bureaucratic nonsense prevents me from doing that. My superiors don't want me using things like that for the 'crucial teaching and training of the next generation of I.S. pilots.' Guess they just want to milk me for as much work as possible. The Academy has a dumb administrative AI, but log reports would show that I was 'misusing its capabilities.' Unfortunately, all I can do about it is be frustrated."
Figuring he would eventually be expected to do so anyway, Church came and sat down in his usual spot not too far away from Chifuyu. "I have to say, you don't actually seem to enjoy your job that much. And someone of your repertoire could probably get whatever type of job she wanted. Why do you work here?"
Even though she didn't take her eyes off of the book she was reading, Chifuyu cocked an eyebrow. "Has anyone ever told you that you're unusually chatty with strangers?"
He wasn't sure if this was supposed to be evasion or a legitimate complaint, but either way Church didn't think it was a good implication. "Sorry..."
"Well, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Believe it or not, it's actually somewhat nice to speak to someone who isn't a student or a faculty member. I can't actually remember the last time I did that. The Academy is very self-contained. Working here limits your social options."
Church refrained from saying that he didn't view Chifuyu as a particularly social person in the first place, though he could admit that such a thing would be a bit unfair of him considering that he didn't actually know her all that well.
"I like to think I'm a somewhat interesting person to talk to. So far, you don't seem to disagree."
Chifuyu turned another page in the textbook. "Perhaps, but I must admit that my judgment may be clouded: as I said, I mostly interact with students and faculty, so by merit of you falling outside of those circles, you may strike me as more interesting than you actually are. Though admittedly, you have struck me as an objectively interesting person thus far. You don't see many people your age thinking so deeply about global socioeconomic issues, after all."
Recalling their conversation the other day about how Infinite Stratos had affected the balance of power between genders, Church figured he was supposed to take that as a compliment. He didn't consider himself a deep thinker so much as he considered himself a curious person. But there was no need to say anything like that to Chifuyu.
"I guess so. But, uh... about today's tests: if you'd rather focus on something else today, it's not like it has to be rushed. I have a pretty generous window of time to do all of this."
The woman he was talking to actually looked up from the textbook at this, looking at him directly. "Is that really acceptable? Surely you don't wish to have your job here needlessly extended to fit my schedule."
For the life of him, Church thought it was funny that Chifuyu believed him to feel that way. What, did she think this was a big hassle for him? Well, she obviously didn't know why he was really here, but even if he was here to do what was advertised to her, why would she think this situation was tedious for him?
"I'm not exactly in a rush to leave, Ms. Orimura. It's a rare day that a male such as myself gets to be in this position."
"And what exactly is 'this position' of yours?"
Church saw this trap for what it was, so he neglected to mention anything about being surrounded by so many girls. He got the feeling that wasn't the answer Chifuyu was looking for.
"You know, visiting one of the world's most prestigious institutions, getting to fight against Infinite Stratos in a controlled environment, holding discussions with one of the most illustrious women in the world... these types of chances don't come often. I might be inclined to get an autograph from you before I leave, it could do wonders for my social life."
The raven-haired woman beside him shook her head, seemingly amused by his answer. Maybe she thought it was silly. Or maybe she just saw right through it. Though it wasn't like he was being entirely dishonest here. He did consider himself quite lucky to be in this situation from a purely intellectual standpoint. Men rarely got this involved in the affairs of Infinite Stratos or its pilots. That said, of course he was also quite happy to be present around a bunch of beautiful girls, even if he didn't get to do much with them besides look and talk. He wasn't going to admit that to a woman like Chifuyu even if she was aware of it.
"Well, whatever your reasons, if it's no trouble for you to delay, we needn't do anything today. In fact, you may find it appropriate to set up a schedule of sorts to avoid any confusion in the future. I wasn't given any specific directions to speed this process along as much as possible, so we can take it at your leisure."
While he may have been jumping to a relatively bold assumption, Church couldn't help but comment on this. "You know, that kind of makes it sound like you don't actually mind having me around. You'd want to send me packing as quickly as possible otherwise, right?"
The woman scoffed at this, which was a little wounding. "You've simply succeeded in not annoying me thus far, or directly causing some hassle that could have been avoided. That's subject to change, so don't get comfortable."
Church's desire to say anything shrunk a bit at that. It wasn't necessarily offensive or anything, but it was still a pretty harsh sentiment. Then again, he supposed it was a bit presumptuous of him to assume anything about this professional relationship when he had known Chifuyu for all of a few days.
Operator, if our presence will not be required here today, might I suggest we focus our attention on the mission?
Having expected Cerberus to stay quiet during this time since it had been thus far, Church took a moment to formulate a response, as well as how he even wanted to answer.
Rin told us already what her plans are for the day. We might as well wait and see if that bears any fruit. If Houki and her friends end up going into town, our time would be wasted strolling about the Academy.
We could attempt to infiltrate more computer systems, Operator.
Do you really think there's a chance of us finding anything useful about Akatsubaki in any network we could access around here?
Cerberus did not respond to that immediately. After all, Church had a point. It was likely that there was valuable data on Akatsubaki stored somewhere in the Academy, but it was probably in a normally inaccessible location, and protected by many electronic warfare suites. Akatsubaki was by far the most valuable asset the Japanese government owned right now. They weren't just going to leave its specs lying around.
Technically, that didn't make this theoretical data inaccessible: if the network it was stored on could be located, Cerberus could probably infiltrate it successfully. But it was definitely a very risky option. Right now, it was still a safer bet to approach the actual Akatsubaki unit directly. That said, there was no telling what electronic warfare defenses the I.S. itself would have once that happened...
Frankly, Church couldn't help but wonder if there had ever been any intention for him to pull this mission off without Cerberus. Without his AI assistant, how would he have possibly hacked all of these computer systems? Then again, maybe the intention had always been for Cerberus to come along.
Either way, he didn't have the necessary means to really pursue the objective right this moment, so Church decided that there was no harm in staying where he was. Chifuyu had crushed his spirits a little bit, but technically she hadn't said anything bad about him. It wasn't even that he was on thin ice or anything. Besides, even though Chifuyu had said otherwise, he got the feeling that she did think well of him in some regard.
"What do you do to lower your stress levels, Ms. Orimura? With how much work you do, surely there's something."
The expression Chifuyu donned made it obvious that she considered Church's question to be ridiculous. "Bold of you to assume that I have enough time to dedicate solely to a stress relieving exercise on any given day."
"Well, what about things you could do while you work? Like listening to relaxing music, or something?"
Chifuyu flipped another page in the textbook. Church had no idea what it was she was looking for within it. "I don't know much about music. I don't even know where to begin to look for music of any sort."
Church found this response surprising, but he supposed it made some sense. Chifuyu didn't strike him as someone who had a lot of investment in the entertainment world.
"I have some recommendations that you might appreciate. I could send them to you if you'd like?"
For a moment, the older woman glanced at him, perhaps questioning his own investment in the matter. Ultimately, she didn't comment on whatever inner thoughts she may have been having.
"I won't stop you if you'd like to do so. Though it's hardly like I have headphones on me right now."
"I'll save it for the next time we meet for testing, then."
Thankfully for Church since he felt that the conversation might get awkward after this point, it was interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket. With no reason to expect a call from anyone else since he had already talked to Doctor Warner that morning, he assumed the caller was Rin, much to his pleasure. Well, he had to answer first to find out, so he wasted no time in withdrawing the device from his pocket and raising it to his ear.
"Hello?"
While it was slightly distorted, the voice that came from the other end of the line was definitely Rin's. "Hey, it's me. Like I figured, my plan to get Ichika alone for a date was a total bust, so... you wanna come with us to town?"
Part of Church admitted that he felt a little offended to only be considered as company under these circumstances, but he supposed it was only fair to expect. If someone could get the person they liked alone, why would they want to bring other people along? He just hoped that Rin didn't really expect him to try and take any heat off of her situation with the other girls. He couldn't imagine that any of them would care to pay much attention to him anyway.
And speaking of the other girls, Church only now considered that an outing such as this one might be pretty unpleasant for him. After all, he had just last night experienced a pretty awkward moment with Charlotte, and surely that would still be on her mind too. Cecilia didn't seem to like him at all, he had never spoken to Houki, and Laura... well, Church wasn't sure where she stood now. Even though she had come across as hostile before, the two of them had seemingly gotten along well enough last night.
All of that said, he felt the need to ask Rin a question. "I don't mind, but did you run this by everyone else? They won't be upset that I'm tagging along?"
He heard Rin scoff on the other end of the line. "What is this, a school field trip? I don't have to ask any of them for permission to invite who I want along. Besides, I'll probably need the company, all things considered..."
Church wasn't sure what to make of that last comment. He would have thought that, even with all of her other friends present, Rin would have preferred to have her focus completely on Ichika. This comment made it sound like she didn't think she was going to have much of a chance to even talk to him.
"Well, if you say so. When are we leaving and where should I meet you?"
"You know the tram station that connects the Academy island to the city, right? Just meet us there in thirty minutes."
"Sounds good."
Rin wasted little time in ending the call after his confirmation, leaving Church to pocket his phone and take note of a mildly questioning look from Chifuyu.
"What?"
"It sounds as though you have plans for an outing. I'm merely surprised that you've gotten close enough to anyone to warrant such an excursion with them in your brief time here."
"To be fair, I think I'm owed a little bit of friendliness from Rin, all things considered. Not that I'm lording our first meeting over her or anything, I'm just saying that saving her life was probably a good springboard for a friendly relationship..."
It wasn't clear what Chifuyu thought about that assessment, what with that expression that was always pretty difficult to read. Her words sounded accepting enough, however.
"Well, however you choose to spend your free time is your prerogative. Though I'm surprised anyone would willingly get involved in such a circus..."
Church didn't comment on that as he rose from his chair. He supposed Chifuyu knew better than he did when it came to judging those girls. "Well, it seems like we're going into town. Should I grab you anything while we're out?"
This question prompted another curious look from the elder Orimura. Maybe she was just too unused to socializing, but it still struck her as odd to be this friendly with a relative stranger. Maybe some people didn't find such consideration awkward. Or maybe Church was trying to express gratitude of some sort, though that was a little silly since Chifuyu had only done things that were expected of her job for him.
Either way, she wasn't going to stop him from doing what he wanted. The faculty lounge was running out of coffee anyway, and it would be at least a week before another shipment came in. If she ran out of coffee, Chifuyu wasn't sure she would be able to function properly...
"If you're willing, I could use more black coffee."
Frankly, Church was not surprised that Chifuyu was a black coffee kind of person. "Alright, I can do that. I'll bring it next time we have testing."
Nodding her confirmation of his words, Chifuyu said nothing else as she returned her attention to the textbook that she'd had since Church got here. Naturally, this left the young man with little alternative besides making his exit. Once he was outside, Cerberus wasted no time in questioning his behavior.
Operator, I fail to see any valid reason for wasting valuable funds on procuring resources for Chifuyu Orimura. She is, as it is said, 'out of your league.'
Church donned an unhappy frown at the assessment, partly because he was offended that his intentions were being chalked up to impressing a woman, but mostly because he didn't like the fact that Cerberus was probably right.
For your information, I'm doing this to further ingratiate myself with the people I'll be dealing with regularly. It's pretty obvious that I'm going to be spending a lot of time around Chifuyu while carrying out this mission. Anything I can do to minimize her suspicion or even distaste for me is worthwhile. After all, of all the people present at the Academy, I think I'd want to avoid her bad side the most.
Cerberus was quiet for a moment, almost like it was shocked that Church had actually provided a solid explanation.
I see. My apologies, Operator. It's just that your motivation is often so questionable when it comes to women, I simply didn't believe you might actually have the mission's interests in mind.
You know, I'm starting to wonder if you actually have any faith in me at all, Cerberus.
Much to Church's chagrin, the AI did not answer this question, simply leaving him to wonder as he headed for the tram station Rin had mentioned earlier.