[Story/Post]

[heavenseclair]

[Months Ago]

"You want me to hire you?"

Mamoru looked up from a manilla folder that a young lilac-haired woman handed to him, her hands clasped together in front of her as she closed her eyes and waited patiently.

"Yes, I would assume that my scheduling this meeting and bringing a detailed resume would have sufficed to convey my intentions."

Mamoru glanced through the folder as he pondered. He didn't expect much, but he was surprised at the number of qualifications she apparently had in the areas of research and development, was recently graduated from Domino High, but a lot of it seemed bizarrely redacted, as well.

Which he shouldn't be surprised about. This girl was clearly something else-- she had assisted when he had been transformed by one of those crystals, and the amount of force she was capable of suggested that she was more than human.

But at the same time...

"I would've assumed you'd have wanted to stay away from LDS, given the reaction you've had before."

Lulu's expression shifted slightly. "Usually, yes. But I feel more assured if I were to take on a proper position here... and it may open up more readily available dialogues concerning the crystals, as well."

Annoyingly, LDS had been doing some very secretive research into the objects, and Mamoru was at least half-aware of the whole thing-- at least enough that there's a genuine warning posted to staff to not touch them and to inform security, if found.

Being hired on wasn't necessarily a guarantee in her case, but those higher up on the ladder had to be aware of her by now, right?

"Would you be able to learn how to operate the control terminal to start up the AI Machinery?"

"I would only need a moment with the machinery itself to gain and understandi--" "A yes or a no will suffice, alright?"

Lulu pouted a little, before nodding. "Yes, I can learn."

"Fine, you show me that you can keep a duel running while I'm the participant, and if nothing goes wrong, you're hired." Mamoru stood up, serious as usual, but on the inside, he was at least a little excited at the prospect. Whoever this girl was, if her qualifications could be used to allow him to first-hand test the equipment without any strange interferences, then it was all the better. His main assistants weren't exactly free of their own caveats, after all... including himself.

So he had to take whatever chance he could get, here.

-- [Now] --

"I think you should quit."

Lulu looked up from doing a diagnostic test on the machinery, addressed by the young man that she had been keeping a subtle eye on-- Akira.

Akira looked a bit frustrated, as though he had been gradually more and more annoyed at her presence, and she wasn't sure if it was because of a misplaced sense of jealousy, or due to her target expressing some of his own desires upon him.

Either way, she quirked up an eyebrow in a Spock-like fashion.

"I see no reason to quit a position I requested to be in." She looked back down at the readout coming up on the laptop that was attached to the system, her main attention shifting back.

"No, really, I really think you should quit. I dunno why I think it, but it feels like something bad is going to happen if you stick around here." Was it worry, perhaps? She wasn't sure, her main attention was focused on her current task, so it took her a moment to register and respond.

"I'm equipped to handle any strange or unexpected circumstances that may arise. You are aware of this, at the current point, especially after we had me test the machinery."

Lulu had given a rather stunning display-- not just from her Virtual World monsters, but just from her reflexes. It made the spectators think of an opposite spectrum version of Labrys, really... fast on her feet and her reactions when focused, but not a lot of physical strength to translate into aggression. Instead her behaviors seemed more geared towards self-defense against the poor hologram of the Shaddoll Winda that was pitted against her. (Labrys seemed to miss the comparison when it was pointed out to her.)

Akira had watched it, of course. If there was any clear evidence that she wasn't entirely human, it was that, at least to him. Which may be why he felt uneasy around her--

"I know. I know you're pretty strong, but... why are you even here, doing this work?"

"It suits my needs, currently. Please wait until the diagnostic test is finished before speaking more. It's difficult to split my focus."

Akira grumbled a little looking over her shoulder at the feed being generated. He knew enough about the system to tell that everything looked fine so far, but his uncle seemed uneasy about him actually handling the machinery itself to start up duels, for some reason... So why was this girl given that responsibility instead? He had even tried to teach Labrys it before realizing that caused problems, before even considering the idea of letting Akira run it... and then this girl just walks in and knows how to run it perfectly fine within less than a day?

It bugged him, but he let her finish the task at hand and close the laptop, as she finally turned in the chair to face him.

"You have complaints as to how I perform?"

Akira raised a hand, in a "stop" motion. "No, no, you do your work pretty perfectly, even if it's pretty single-minded? You're not really good at multitasking it seems like, but nothing you do requires you to multitask, I guess?"

"Then why tell me that I should quit? You are the one with the second-most authority in this labratory. Such comments can be taken the wrong way..."

"I get that, but I just-- I feel like nothing good is going to come of you staying here, that's all. I dunno what it is, I can't put my finger on it..."

Lulu pondered a moment, trying to place whatever emotion he seemed to be struggling with. Even if she couldn't emote too well, she knew emotions well enough. Young man, a bit flustered, seems concerned and yet annoyed, telling her to leave...

"Are you attempting to ask me out?"

"Wha-- what? Where did you get that from?" Akira stammered a bit, dumbfounded at that response out of Lulu.

"You are flustered, you seem concerned for my well-being, but your reaction is to push me away. So I can only surmise that you have interest in me.

So, if that is the case, perhaps going for... Coffee, would be a good idea?"

"Do you even drink coffee? I haven't seen you ingest anything the entire time you've worked here."

"I am capable of eating and drinking as any other [normal human.]" Her inflection changed a little with the last words, but her slight smirk conveyed that she was playing it up as a joke.

"I mean-- it isn't what I'm doing at all, so--"

"I think we would gain much from having a small meal together. Perhaps next Sunday, when we will be off of our work?"

"That's just-- I--"

"I think it is a wonderful idea." Lulu stood up and took Akira's hand, clasping it and shaking his hand. "Here is to a lovely date. I will now go and consider what to wear."

She let go of the hand, and left the control terminal, as Akira stared ahead, before turning to look at the door that Lulu left through, letting out a rather loud sound of confusion at the turn of events, unaware of the confusion also coming from his hijacker in the backround of his mind.

-----

[Post]

I apologize for the extended silence. I finished my current schooling, and have since been in the employ of Mr. Yamada for some time, now.

I also have a date next Sunday, so I must have all advice concerning this for my personal reference.

My goals otherwise have remained unchanged, I just hope I will be able to get a small step closer to resolving this, soon...