It was a brand new day and I was making Kevin, Elysia, and Himeko train early in the morning. "Come on, gotta build up that stamina! If you can't beat the enemy you gotta run. If they're too far you have to walk." He psyched them up.
Elysia was panting and she was starting to get tired "We've been running for a long time now, hah, hah. Can't we like do something else for now!?"
Ein: "We're in modern times Elysia! You gun things down, not throw hands. So you better be the fastest or inexhaustible to survive!" He then hit her softly on the butt with a stick.
Elysia: "Ow! I know already, bad guy. Such a slave driver." She muttered.
Himeko: "Hah, you really have to step up your game Elysia. You might be athletic enough, but that isn't gonna cut it."
Kevin nodded "Elysia, even the basic honkai beasts can outrun you and roll all over you in a few seconds. We've gotta be in our best condition." He shakes his head.
Ein: "Umu, well said team. Now you'll be on training for some evasion. I'll have you guys dodge like you have a 3rd eye on the back of your heads! Now, one last lap."
They all saluted and said yes as they continued to run for one more lap. Ein gave them some breakfast "I need to talk to Mei, Kevin is she in the lab or in her room?"
Kevin: "She's still probably in her room. Dr. Mobius just lets her do her own thing."
Ein: "Alright, you guys rest and then we'll try marksmanship with the targets moving as fast as a seraph class. And the one that has the worst accuracy will be coached by me!"
Elysia: "Ehhh, you gotta be kidding me!? Is there at least a reward or something?" She huffed.
Himeko: "You just need to do your best Elysia. I sure won't be losing though."
Kevin: "Ohhh, it's a competition then!"
I then waved them goodbye and went to Mei's room. I knock at her door "Mei-chan! I need you for something."
I hear a bit of rustling and then the door opened. "What is it Ein? I've been resting as you said so you don't need to tell me again okay?"
Ein: "No." He entered the room and saw books and papers scattered all over.
Mei: "Ahhh! I haven't cleaned up you see." She said sheepishly.
I sigh "It doesn't matter, but clean it up later. Don't want you to trip in here. What I came here for though is I want you to look into these." He gave a flash drive to her.
Mei: "What is this? It must be pretty important if you asked for my help with this." She eyed the flash drive
Ein: "It's the work of my parents. Apparently they've been trying to make nano-bots that can absorb and manipulate honkai energy. Mobius is preoccupied with another project and this isn't her specialty."
Mei was shocked "This is... An important piece of research Ein. Are you sure you want me in on this?"
Ein: "Umu, just like in the old days right? 2 heads are better than one. Besides, I'm a soldier too so I can't put my full attention on it."
Mei: "Un, let me check it first and then we'll try to research more about it." She said excitedly
Ein: "It needs a specialist about quantum mechanics. We don't understand honkai energy that much, and if we complete this we can make some important breakthroughs."
Mei nodded "Yeah, these can help us clean up irradiated areas quickly and repurpose the energy instantly. Though this will need a lot of funding."
Ein was picking up some of the papers on the ground "If they don't, then I can invest the project, I might not be as rich as Eden, but I'm still loaded as hell." Then he saw a project that Mei was working on.
"Project Prometheus?" He read it quickly and he saw that it was an A.I. that theoretically has the computing power like of Laplace's demon. "Oh, this is certainly a good project Mei-chan. Although you'd need a planet sized computer for it to work like Laplace's demon."
Mei scratched the back of her head "Well, it certainly is ambitious. But I don't need it to compute everything like that, we just can use it to predict honkai eruptions or certain disasters so we can avoid it pretty easily."
Ein: "Yosh, I'll let Mobius know about this and we'll pitch it on the higher ups. This can be a game changer. Oh, and so we can get support I think we should weaponize the nano tech that my parents researched about. Those higher ups will surely accept it instantly, trust me." I remember that in my old world, nuclear weapons were prioritized by the super powers rather than clean energy.
Not that I just want a really cool weapon or something. "I'll leave you on your own for now. We'll talk about this later alright?"
She didn't listen and was glued to her computer, reading the research he gave.
Ein then left and closed the door to her room.
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Now we were in a simulation room where the trio are training for marksmanship. "Alright guys, this is a competition. Winner takes all, and the loser stays here with me. Participation awards are for those that don't have what it takes to win. It breeds pussies that are mediocre, so try your best to win."
They then got fired up and Kevin was the first to go. He quickly gunned down the seraphs accurately, then there were dozens of them flying in the air and he got confused as his accuracy dipped a bit as he got a total of 80%.
Ein: "Good job Kevin, you got a little hiccup there in the end but it was excellent marksmanship, those guys are pretty quick after all."
Himeko went next and it started like Kevin at first and at the last bit she struggled as well. With a total accuracy of 76%.
Ein: "Passable Himeko, at least you got more then 75%. We're using 0 based grading here. Remember, the 2nd place is the 1st loser."
She nodded but she was a bit frustrated. Elysia then went and it went fine at first, but she completely flunk the part where it's most important. Scoring a 61% accuracy
Ein: "Elysia, you panicked at the end. This isn't like you. I'll shape you up, so prepare yourself." He said with steel in his voice.
Kevin: "So what's my reward then?" He excitedly asked.
Ein took out a bowls of ramen of all kinds of flavors. "You're gonna have the naruto special Kevin. Miso pork, seafood, tonkotsu, shio, shoyu. Eat anything and I'll refill them up with another."
Kevin's eyes sparkled as he drooled. Elysia and Himeko just looked at it and was pretty envious.
Kevin: "Ooh, your special ramen!? This is a feast!" He then ate them up just like a certain fishcake as the bowls started piling up. He ended up eating at least 3 bowls each of the flavors.
I didn't know that Kevin loved this so much. I only found out when I served some back then when they had their first cheat day. He certainly was very happy. (Pic)
Ein: "Now, we're done for today. Elysia, you stay here with me."
Himeko and Kevin left and Elysia was the only one behind now.
Elysia: "Sorry, Ein. That was pathetic of me, I'll do better next time for sure." She said quietly.
Ein held Elysia on the shoulders "Ellie, is there something wrong? You're the best shooter out all of you three. There's something bothering you isn't it?"
Elysia looked down on the ground "Just a bit, I guess I lost focus for a bit huh?"
Ein: "Come on then, let's go somewhere so you can relax a little."
Ein grasped her arm and walked slowly to his planted sakura tree. It was growing quickly and is now a meter tall at least. "So? What's been bothering you Ellie? It must be something serious if you're getting distracted."
We sat down near the little tree and enjoyed the soft wind that caressed our skin. "Well, when the final level of the simulation came. I just remembered some things." She said while looking at the sky.
Ein: "Ahhh, that is a serious concern. So? After you remembered it, there must be cascading thoughts after right?"
Elysia sighed "Un, we then saw you hack up the honkai beasts with surgical precision and all we can do was give cover fire, but you didn't even need it. I just felt so useless, I thought that if you were incapacitated I can't do anything in that situation but just spray and pray."
We then became silent for a moment "I see. But you know Ellie, if you didn't do that some of them might have leaked out and killed more people you know? I think you guys did a good job on containing them to me. And what you're thinking is just a what if too. You can't do that Ellie, if you keep asking the question what if. You won't be able to keep moving forward." I patted her head gently.
Elysia bit her lips, and was starting to get teary eyed. "I know! I know... But what can I do? Himeko and Kevin are stronger than me. Kevin is improving quickly, Himeko has more tactical IQ than me. I just can't keep up with them, with you."
I hugged her tight as I whisper "You don't need to Elysia. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses right? Kevin can get single minded and short sighted, making him reckless. Himeko can be too focused to notice her surroundings or not think out of the box. Sacrificing versatility for efficiency."
Elysia: "I just... Can't help it, I don't think I can stand beside you and be of assistance. Be useful instead of just being a burden. It eats at me that I'll be happy with you without doing anything important."
Ein: He flicked her forehead "I think you're the most important part of the team though Ellie. You're the heart of the group, without you Himeko will be stiffer. Kevin would be charging through everything because of tension without you making the mood lighter. I might be the brains and brawn of our squad, but I rely on you too to keep our morale up."
Elysia rubbed her forehead and stared at me "Is it really that important? I don't think so."
Ein: "Umu, when you're tense in the field. You can get tired easily and you'll be too fatigued to fight mentally. And that leads to disaster. You make me relax too, or have you forgotten that you told me to rely on you right on this very spot?"
Elysia's eyes widen then she smiled sweetly "I did huh? Are you serious about that though? I didn't really thought that it would be important to you or anything."
Ein: "Look at you, being so modest. It makes me uncomfortable really, it's fine to be anxious and worry sometimes Elysia. Just don't let it get to you, it will put you down in a spiral of negative thoughts. So how about you think outside of that and know that you're already standing besides me. Your support is important to me and it makes me feel refreshed and happy honestly."
Elysia looked at the blue sky "So that's what you think huh. And I'm that important to you and the group?"
Ein: "Definitely." I pinch her cheeks "You're my cute little supporter. It will be pretty bland here with just us without you." I smile at her.
Elysia: "Then... You won't mind if I do this?" She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Her sweet scent wafting to his nose.
Ein: "Hmm, I do mind. So for my revenge I'll do this instead." He held the back of her head and gave her a kiss, his tongue asking for entry. Coaxing her lips to open as he dominated Elysia's tongue and mouth.
They parted with a thin string of saliva as Elysia panted a bit. "I didn't know you were so daring Ein-kun~"
Ein: "You seduced me. As a gentleman, I can't say no to a beautiful lady trying her best now can I?" He then put her on his lap and hugged her from behind.
Elysia snuggled and leaned on his chest as she sighs "This is pretty nice~ can we do this again?"
I pinch her cheek and whispered sweetly "Hmm, you gotta earn it though Elysia~" Then he softly bit her earlobe, teasing her.
Elysia shivered "Mou~ we're outside. What if somebody sees us? You brute!"
Ein: "Hoh? But you liked it. I felt your body agree."
Elysia: "Ein... I promise that I'll keep on supporting you. Just like that faithful day right on this hill." She kissed my forehead.
Ein: "Yeah, thank you Ellie. Do your best, I'm here as well so you can tell me your worries. I'm your friend too and that's what friends do."
Elysia nodded "Un! I love you Ein. I'm so happy when I met you, you're honestly such a bad guy for making me worry like that." She pouted.
Ein: "I love you too Elysia, you sweet little thing. Don't change, and what do you want me to do for your forgiveness my lady."
Elysia snuggled closer "Hug me tighter. It makes me forget the bad things in this world. I feel so warm when you hug me." She closed her eyes
I hug her tight as we then enjoyed the nice breeze and warm sun shining on us.
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Thanks for reading guys, I'll be starting to make Prometheus. And for the hax of herrschers, the research team will start to develop soulium. Thanks again! ciao