"Good morning."
Looking up from his tray, Sam was met with the beaming smile of a certain female coworker. He hadn't noticed when she took her place on the opposite side of the table, alerting him to the fact that he might be doing worse than he thought.
"Good morning, sergeant Kurokami." He said, returning the greeting.
"You don't seem to be doing well, Doctor. Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"
"... yes… you could say that."
Zero Five's question ended up bothering him more than he thought despite having concluded that all of it was nothing but a misunderstanding.
As the ponytailed Valkyrie had mentioned, the way those "girls" speak, behave, and interact is no different from a normal human. If it weren't for their outstanding looks they'd easily pass for normal humans, and even with that one might not notice the difference unless being informed beforehand.
'Someone who knows nothing about them would probably think they're just a bunch of cute girls.' Sam thought as he bit into his toast. 'Especially Zero Three. She could easily pass for a normal high school student.'
"Did something happen?" The woman sitting opposite to him asked.
"No, nothing in particular..." Sam replied.
Obviously, he had to be careful of who might learn of what happened.
The existence of Valkyries' was met with fear and criticism ever since they'd been revealed to the public. Humanity had suffered a lot because of the Calamities and no one wanted another apocalypse, because of that, all eyes were on the walking weapons, waiting for the moment they would show any sign of rebellion.
That said, the Valkyries still managed to gather quite a significant amount of support and a lot of them had their very own fan clubs. The Resistance did well in marketing them as idols and their otherworldly appearance made it a big success.
"Lack of sleep could affect your performance. We're still in a military base and any mistake could be fatal." Said Kurokami, pointing a plastic fork at him. "You don't have work in the morning, right? Why not take this opportunity to get some rest."
"It's nothing to worry about, I'll be fine," Sam replied.
"If you say so. But please make sure not to push yourself too much."
Most of the time the three Valkyries were on standby in case the Calamities made an appearance. Only once the clock hits eleven do they put on their equipment and go out to perform other duties, which include patrolling the surroundings of the military base, practicing their maneuvers, and scouting the Red Lands.
His job wouldn't start until after they returned in the afternoon, which meant most of the time his mornings were free.
Normally, one would use such an opportunity to rest and relax before any emergency renders it impossible to do so. However, Sam had his reasons for waking up early.
"Things have been quiet recently." Said the female sergeant. "I wish these days would continue."
"Indeed. Though the longer it does the more tense I get." Sam replied before sipping his coffee substitute.
"The calm before the storm, huh? Let's hope nothing bad happens."
Kurokami Shizuru. A young woman of Asian descent a year younger than Sam. She styled her dark hair into a bob cut and wore big glasses with a red frame. She was a bit on the short side, thin with curves in all the right places. Compared to the Valkyries she might look below average, however, if put against the other female soldiers, her cuteness would shine the brightest.
Shizuru was a kind and caring person. The two of them became acquainted after transferring to this military base around the same time and ever since they'd been eating their meals together.
"Well, all we can do is enjoy the peace while it lasts." Sam replied.
"Ah! Come to think of it, I've finished that book you lent me." Shizuru seemed to get excited all of a sudden. "To think the culprit was the mayor's daughter all along."
"I see. Then I can assume it was to your liking?"
"Of course it was! The mystery was well developed and the writing was perfect. The characters were all likable, too. The author must've been quite skilled."
"Indeed." Sam nodded, remembering the book's contents. "It's a shame that they'd been lost to the war."
"Are there any other works by them? If possible I'd like to borrow more…" Shizuru asked, her eyes showing a hint of sadness.
"I'll check the library later. I was planning to get a few books for myself as well."
Due to the nature of his job, Sam didn't have many friends. Most envied the fact that he could get so close to the Valkyries, which were treated like the local goddesses of the base. He was shunned by most people, but fortunately, Shizuru didn't seem to care about his position at all.
The only reason Sam bothered to leave his bed so early in the morning was so he could spend as much time with this woman as he could. Their posts and schedules were completely different so the only time they get to meet is during mealtimes.
Sam does have romantic interests, obviously, but he wasn't doing it for that. Shizuru was the only friend he had on forty sixth base, other than a certain troublesome someone. He wanted to keep that connection no matter what, but that was also the reason he couldn't make any moves on her.
"Talking about books again?"
Still, leaving things the way they were wasn't something he could afford. Sam wasn't the only one who had feelings for the Asian girl and his competition didn't seem to have any of the problems he had.
Turning in the direction of the voice, the two were met with an energetic greeting.
"Good morning, you two!"
"Good morning, Sergeant Clementine." Sam replied, holding back the urge to sigh.
Jordan Clementine, a young man around Sam's age as well, with brilliant orange hair that matched his outgoing personality.
Unlike the weak scientist who's mostly skin on bones, Jordan was a part of the infantry and had the athletic body to go with it. His face was decent as well which led Sam to look like a malnourished orc if they were put side by side.
"C'mon, I already told you to drop the formalities," Jordan said as he took a seat beside Shizuru. "We aren't strangers anymore. Right, Shizuru?"
"Eh!? Well…"
Anyone with two working eyes could see that Jordan was after Shizuru, though the woman didn't seem to like his approach that much.
"Anyways, sounds like you've found another interesting title. What's it about?"
"A mystery where a bunch of men die." Said Sam in a dry monotonous voice.
"Hahaha, that's one funny way to summarize it." Jordan forced a weak laugh, clearly catching on to Sam's annoyance.
"It's a mystery after all. You can't talk about it without spoiling the whole thing."
"Then maybe I should read it as well."
The tension between the men was visible. For a while now Jordan had started joining them as they ate trying to get closer to Shizuru. Obviously, Sam didn't appreciate the third wheel, but in the end, he couldn't just chase him away.
Unlike Sam, Jordan wasn't afraid to flirt and didn't spare much in his effort to get the girl, even though his actions have yet to show any success.
"So, Doctor." Jordan began and Sam grimaced. "Any new stories about the Valkyries?"
"Nothing, as usual." Said Sam. "As I've said before, just because I monitor their condition doesn't mean I know more about them than anyone else."
"C'mon! You meet them every day, right? You should've learned one or two things by now."
This was one of Jordan's strategies. Every now and then he would bring up the Valkyries, trying to lower Shizuru's opinion of Sam by mentioning how he's always with the more attractive idols.
"Or maybe…" leaning in, Jordan said with a somewhat sinister smile. "Were you too busy feasting your eyes that you don't remember anything else?"
"You know, everything loses its luster once you see it enough times." Said Sam, his eyes narrowed into a cold glare. "Nowadays it's just tiring to deal with them."
"Ooh! That does make sense." Jordan said, glancing at Shizuru by his side. "Me, on the other hand, I can never get tired of looking at a girl I like. You'd have a difficult time keeping a relationship going with that attitude, Doctor."
"Humans and dolls are different things," with that, Sam stood up and lifted his tray. "Well then, I need to get going."
"Ah! Look at the time!" Shizuru exclaimed, looking at the large digital clock near the canteen's entrance. "I need to get to my post!"
Before Jordan could say anything the girl picked up her tray and ran away.
"Tche…" the orange head clicked his tongue as he watched her go. Once she was out of sight he turned to Sam, his attitude taking a 180° turn.
"You just have to be around all the time." He glowered. "How about you stop getting in my way?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam shrugged the hostility like he did with everyone else. "Anyways. She sure doesn't like being around you, huh?"
This wasn't the first time Shizuru took off the moment it seemed like she'd be alone with Jordan. It could be that the girl was quite perceptive, seeing through his act and choosing to keep her distance. That gave Sam some hope. At the very least she was fine with sitting alone with him, and that was a plus.
Unable to forge a reply, Jordan continued to glare as Sam left feeling victory for the first time in a long while.