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The grey room was normally used for customer conferences. It had once been the boardroom for the New-Birmingham mining company. The sense of power and self importance seemed to be seeping back out from the walls.
It was laid out with intent to impress. Three of the four walls were covered in various firearms, from a selection of handguns and assault rifles to a diamond bazooka labelled SHATTER-15M. All sheltered within glass cabinets. The fourth wall was a projected map of Survival Shot itself.
In the centre of the room, a conference table was surrounded by leather chairs, occupied by three of the most influential people in Fenspace, a cyborg, an android and a woman who was trying her level best not to burst out laughing.
"...I found him naked in the shower, unconscious. He must've overheated again."
Kotono surpressed a giggle behind her hands.
"It's a misfeature," Anika added, doing a bad job of hiding her discomfort "Not a design flaw."
"Why would anybody add something like that on purpose?"
Marsdens hard gaze completed the implied accusation.
"It's a long story." Jet answered. "I've already sent his schematics to A.C. She's offered to make the modifications."
The obvious conclusion being that it was some well meaning idea that backfired. First time builder's mistake.
Chris sighed, his smile returning. "Well, I've been speaking with Rei and we'd like to offer him a place to stay on Greenwood. He can be close to Rei, there's space for him to grown and to ride his bike through the city. " He scanned the room "Legally, Rei'll end up being his guardian and he'll probably have to attend high school until he can test majority. That's U.S. Law. "
Gina sat back in her chair, which'd been cranked up high enough that her legs were pressed against the bottom of the table. "And if he doesn't want any ties with a government? Well we can probably find a place for him on Atalante."
Marsden glowered. "Because being thrown into a fighter's cockpit is going to be great for his PTSD."
"That's a stereotype. There's plenty of things he can do that aren't related to being a pilot." She marked the point with a raised finger "Besides, for the next few months we're going to be pretty close to Frigga so he can always run home if he needs to. Or even stay here. And if he needs to head in-system he can even have his own ship."
Anika threw her as angry a glare as she could manage. Rei watched on quietly, analysing.
"We're here because we want to give him options other than staying on Frigga. It's too lonely out here for him," said Jet, trying to cool the argument.
"But we don't want him to think we're sending him away either," said Kotono "We have to be careful. If he wants to stay, we should give him that option too."
"But that's still puts him pretty far from Rei," said Yayoi. "Stellvia's close to Greenwood, close enough that he could travel with little trouble. It's close to Grover's Corners. There're no mundane ties. And if we found him a job, it'd definitely give him a sense of purpose. He's good enough to earn a job as a session musician on his own merits. " She gave everyone a slightly cheeky smile "And being Vice-President does give me some pull when it comes to hiring."
"Y'know. This is exactly the sort of thing that's annoying him!" Everyone's head to snapped towards Anika, who immediately regretted speaking up. She quailed back down into her chair as Gina loomed over her ."We're all doing this behind his back. I'm just saying it should be his choice is all."
"Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive," said Rei, her voice quiet, but certain.
Whatever Chris Marsden was about to say just died in his mouth.
Jet settled back into her chair. "We just want to give him some options, so he doesn't feel overwhelmed. It's his choice, that's a promise."
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?