TBVF: Chapter 6: Assemble to Disassemble
Title: The Blue Vast Future
Author: Ariel Chew
Genre: Sci-Fi, Humor, Friendship, Family
Summary: A SB#187 team aged-up to be in a Kaiju battle. Ariel’s merely a 21-year-old supervisor of Gamma Rapper, but with all the training of the Academy she has, will it prepare her for the biggest turns of events of the century?
~*~ “And everyone’s here!” Iris joyfully throws her hands in the air, making Ariel a little flabbergasted with the welcome.
Um.
“Alright Iris, you’ve done a job well done embarrassing her. Now; Over here, Ariel.” Zul urges, coaxing Ariel to take a seat next to him with a small pat on the empty chair, ignoring Iris’ cheeky grin and Asyikin stifling her laughter.
“Zul has a point.” Achik smiles warmly. “As much as it is entertaining to see Ariel getting all flustered, we are gathered here for a different purpose.”
Both supervisors nod, matching grim expressions as their Marshall. On the other hand, the two Assistant Marshalls exchange a look that made Ariel’s spirit drop even further than before.
“First of all, PPDC has issued a new operation communication notice.” Achik folds her hands neatly above the table, eyes trained solely on Ariel. Said person shrinks a little under the serious gaze. “Regarding the recent changes in the Headquarters, as well as the promotion of a new division leader, we will be initiating the cost-reduction plan as of tomorrow.”
Ariel sucks in a deep breath as understanding dawns on her, the severity of the situation hitting home.
Oh no.
“As in, reducing manpower in exchange for sufficient funds to run the new software?” Iris asks, looking less than please as she crosses her arms across her chest, leaning back with her shoulders squared. “How much more are they trying to wring out of us? Going so far as to deny us our rightful budget…”
“We all know there’s no point in convincing them to change their mind unless they feel the same pain that we feel.” Asyikin calmly explains, dissolving Iris’ temper with a short wave, deliberately ignoring the younger female’s bristle-like attitude that highly resembles one of a cat angered.
Ariel shakes her head; Now’s not the time for such silly descriptions. “W-Well, who are we planning to remove from our teams?”
Zul clears his throat at that, eyes avoiding the two female supervisors, one giving him a death glare if he were to say a word wrong while the other darting anxious glances towards him ever so often. “Majority of the J-techs team will be reduced, in addition to the overall staffs form all department. The names are all with Achik, so from tomorrow onwards, everyone will have to adjust to the reduced volume in noise.”
Ariel stills.
‘From tomorrow onwards’?
Doesn’t that mean… The notices have been given out before they were informed? Just how many people are in the dark?
“So you’re saying that we should assume neutrality in this matter?” Iris speaks again. “We’ve worked so hard just to come this far as a team, without the involvement of the PPDC, and now when they’ve seen what we can achieve, should we stay quiet and let them take us apart however they wish?”
“But we don’t have a choice, sis. They don’t want to give us the funds even though they know we need it.” Ariel pleads, darting intimidated eyes between her superiors and Iris.
“This is the ultimatum PPDC has given us. They are being inhuman with their ways, seeing we are few numbers and low in hierarchy to oppose them. What else can we do?”
“Ariel has a point.” Achik concludes, drawing all attention back to herself. “We have to go along with their decision, but this does not mean we agree to it.”
Ariel sneaks a glance at Iris, the older supervisor keeping her mouth pressed into a thin line. She looks back down and chews on her lower lip, guilt gnawing at the back of her mind.
“With that done,” Asyikin begins, nodding once when her eyes meet Zul’s. “We have one other announcement to make in regards to our two Jaegar teams.”
“We have decided to delegate the pilots for social duties.” Ariel and Iris share a confused look over Asyikin’s words. What?
“It’s simple. Basically all they’ll be doing are easy tasks like giving talks to potential candidates, joining the night patrol in the vicinity, feeding the homeless, etc, etc.” Zul pipes in. “The PPDC wants them to advertise the goodwill of the Jaegar program, at the same time being involved with the community while protecting them.”
This time, a blank expression covers like a wedding veil on Iris, but Ariel knows that the other is internally fuming from the news. Making the pilots be the PPDC puppets in raking in the bond sales and what not in the share market, is one aspect of the PPDC Ariel never knew until she first joined the supervisorial meeting.
Achik then timely clears her throat.
“These are the only two matters we wish to discuss with both of you. Now that everything is cleared, both of you are dismissed.” The Marshall turns to her two assistants. “You two are to give me a full report on the morning meeting, as well as the supporting documents…”
Ariel doesn’t hear the rest of the words, the clatter of Iris pushing her chair back as Beta Strucker’s supervisor excuses herself. Seeing this, Ariel does the same, hastily mumbles her goodbyes before hurrying after the older girl.
“[Sis? Sis, you’re walking too fast…! Slow down…]” She immediately switches to Mandarin once they are far enough from the LOCCENT Control Room, pleading in hopes that Iris will slow down. Thankfully, her wish is granted when Ariel is able to finally catch up, pausing almost breathlessly next to the other supervisor.
“[Sorry. I didn’t mean to let you see that side of me.]” Iris sighs, a hand massaging her temple gingerly while Ariel stares solemnly at the floor.
“[It’s not your fault. I agree completely with you, big sis. It’s just that… I don’t think Achik is able to say anything to change their minds either, otherwise she would have settled it without having to even tell us this news.]”
“[Mm. I know. Like I said, it’s a slip-up on my part.]” Iris smiles softly at the kicked-puppy look that Ariel is wearing, gently patting her junior on the head. “[The more important issue, is should we inform our respective pilots?]”
Ariel hopelessly shrugs, throwing in a forced laugh for good measure. “Um. Maybe yes, maybe no? Or we could just leave it to Achik…?”
At this Iris frowns, opening her mouth to say something when the trilling notes of a church bell going off has Ariel immediately retrieving her phone in urgency.
“Hello? Ariel speaking.”
“<Hey, Ariel. It’s me.>”
Ariel straightens, surprise sprawl broadly across her expression. “Affan?!” The girl takes a quick glance at her watch. “Ah--! It’s already that time!”
Soft chuckles emits from her phone, before a man’s voice is heard somewhere behind her. “Well, now that I’m here, you don’t have to worry about it.”
Ariel whirls around; disbelief on her face while Iris dons a suspicious look, whereas Affan nonchalantly ends the connection, tucking away his phone as Ariel does the same.
“Eh?! Wait, I thought we agreed to meet at the entrance?”
“You were taking a little longer than I expected. Also,” he starts, deftly avoiding Iris’ gaze. “It’s only right that the man should come and meet the girl rather than having the girl come meet him, you know?”
Ariel tilts her head slightly to the side, smiling dazzlingly at him. “Eh~~ How nice of you Affan~”
“Since when did both of you start going out with each other?” Iris interrupts pointedly. Ariel’s smile instantly dissolves to one of confusion.
“Um, we occasionally meet up for meals? And today Affan said he’ll be taking me to dinner…”
“What she’s asking, is that are we dating? ‘Going out’ technically is another way to say if two people are going out on dates.” Affan explains.
“We are dating?” Ariel asks back, looking confusedly between the other two. Affan rolls his eyes at this, tugging on Ariel’s arm.
“We aren’t. Now,” she yelps, looking the perfect part of a person in the wrong place at the wrong time, as Affan pulls her closer to him. “Come with me.”
“E-Eh?! B-But…” Ariel helplessly stares at Affan, who raises a questioning eyebrow on her doubt. She stills, a pout hanging on the edge of her lips when she turns to Iris, apologetic foreshadowing her pout. Iris merely waves the younger girl off, nonchalant about the whole situation.
“It’s fine. You two just go on ahead with your little date, while I’m going to have my nightly fix of caffeine.”
“Heh. Need a cup of your usual ‘Morning Joe’?” Affan smirks. “Or is it a cup of ‘Prince Gene’?”
“Oh no.” Iris teases, and Ariel inwardly gulps, remembering what happened between the two earlier in the Mess Hall when she sees a dark glint reflecting off Iris’ spectacles. “Such royal flavor can only suit the refined tastes of our mermaid princess. Am I right, Ariel~?”
“OH GEE! It seems like I’m awfully hungry now, so we totally should be going now before I starved, right, right??” Ariel loudly cuts in, subtlety thrown aside in favor of getting out of Iris range of teasing.
After all, there is a reason why no one should ever mess with Iris in terms of teasing.
“Hey wait a minute—Oi Ariel are you listening to me—“ Iris shakes her head, watching Affan being towed unceremoniously by an over-enthusiastic Ariel who is keen to get out of the place.
“This girl… Is she really going to be okay?”
~*~
Previous
Next
MasterPost
Author: Ariel Chew
Genre: Sci-Fi, Humor, Friendship, Family
Summary: A SB#187 team aged-up to be in a Kaiju battle. Ariel’s merely a 21-year-old supervisor of Gamma Rapper, but with all the training of the Academy she has, will it prepare her for the biggest turns of events of the century?
~*~ “And everyone’s here!” Iris joyfully throws her hands in the air, making Ariel a little flabbergasted with the welcome.
Um.
“Alright Iris, you’ve done a job well done embarrassing her. Now; Over here, Ariel.” Zul urges, coaxing Ariel to take a seat next to him with a small pat on the empty chair, ignoring Iris’ cheeky grin and Asyikin stifling her laughter.
“Zul has a point.” Achik smiles warmly. “As much as it is entertaining to see Ariel getting all flustered, we are gathered here for a different purpose.”
Both supervisors nod, matching grim expressions as their Marshall. On the other hand, the two Assistant Marshalls exchange a look that made Ariel’s spirit drop even further than before.
“First of all, PPDC has issued a new operation communication notice.” Achik folds her hands neatly above the table, eyes trained solely on Ariel. Said person shrinks a little under the serious gaze. “Regarding the recent changes in the Headquarters, as well as the promotion of a new division leader, we will be initiating the cost-reduction plan as of tomorrow.”
Ariel sucks in a deep breath as understanding dawns on her, the severity of the situation hitting home.
Oh no.
“As in, reducing manpower in exchange for sufficient funds to run the new software?” Iris asks, looking less than please as she crosses her arms across her chest, leaning back with her shoulders squared. “How much more are they trying to wring out of us? Going so far as to deny us our rightful budget…”
“We all know there’s no point in convincing them to change their mind unless they feel the same pain that we feel.” Asyikin calmly explains, dissolving Iris’ temper with a short wave, deliberately ignoring the younger female’s bristle-like attitude that highly resembles one of a cat angered.
Ariel shakes her head; Now’s not the time for such silly descriptions. “W-Well, who are we planning to remove from our teams?”
Zul clears his throat at that, eyes avoiding the two female supervisors, one giving him a death glare if he were to say a word wrong while the other darting anxious glances towards him ever so often. “Majority of the J-techs team will be reduced, in addition to the overall staffs form all department. The names are all with Achik, so from tomorrow onwards, everyone will have to adjust to the reduced volume in noise.”
Ariel stills.
‘From tomorrow onwards’?
Doesn’t that mean… The notices have been given out before they were informed? Just how many people are in the dark?
“So you’re saying that we should assume neutrality in this matter?” Iris speaks again. “We’ve worked so hard just to come this far as a team, without the involvement of the PPDC, and now when they’ve seen what we can achieve, should we stay quiet and let them take us apart however they wish?”
“But we don’t have a choice, sis. They don’t want to give us the funds even though they know we need it.” Ariel pleads, darting intimidated eyes between her superiors and Iris.
“This is the ultimatum PPDC has given us. They are being inhuman with their ways, seeing we are few numbers and low in hierarchy to oppose them. What else can we do?”
“Ariel has a point.” Achik concludes, drawing all attention back to herself. “We have to go along with their decision, but this does not mean we agree to it.”
Ariel sneaks a glance at Iris, the older supervisor keeping her mouth pressed into a thin line. She looks back down and chews on her lower lip, guilt gnawing at the back of her mind.
“With that done,” Asyikin begins, nodding once when her eyes meet Zul’s. “We have one other announcement to make in regards to our two Jaegar teams.”
“We have decided to delegate the pilots for social duties.” Ariel and Iris share a confused look over Asyikin’s words. What?
“It’s simple. Basically all they’ll be doing are easy tasks like giving talks to potential candidates, joining the night patrol in the vicinity, feeding the homeless, etc, etc.” Zul pipes in. “The PPDC wants them to advertise the goodwill of the Jaegar program, at the same time being involved with the community while protecting them.”
This time, a blank expression covers like a wedding veil on Iris, but Ariel knows that the other is internally fuming from the news. Making the pilots be the PPDC puppets in raking in the bond sales and what not in the share market, is one aspect of the PPDC Ariel never knew until she first joined the supervisorial meeting.
Achik then timely clears her throat.
“These are the only two matters we wish to discuss with both of you. Now that everything is cleared, both of you are dismissed.” The Marshall turns to her two assistants. “You two are to give me a full report on the morning meeting, as well as the supporting documents…”
Ariel doesn’t hear the rest of the words, the clatter of Iris pushing her chair back as Beta Strucker’s supervisor excuses herself. Seeing this, Ariel does the same, hastily mumbles her goodbyes before hurrying after the older girl.
“[Sis? Sis, you’re walking too fast…! Slow down…]” She immediately switches to Mandarin once they are far enough from the LOCCENT Control Room, pleading in hopes that Iris will slow down. Thankfully, her wish is granted when Ariel is able to finally catch up, pausing almost breathlessly next to the other supervisor.
“[Sorry. I didn’t mean to let you see that side of me.]” Iris sighs, a hand massaging her temple gingerly while Ariel stares solemnly at the floor.
“[It’s not your fault. I agree completely with you, big sis. It’s just that… I don’t think Achik is able to say anything to change their minds either, otherwise she would have settled it without having to even tell us this news.]”
“[Mm. I know. Like I said, it’s a slip-up on my part.]” Iris smiles softly at the kicked-puppy look that Ariel is wearing, gently patting her junior on the head. “[The more important issue, is should we inform our respective pilots?]”
Ariel hopelessly shrugs, throwing in a forced laugh for good measure. “Um. Maybe yes, maybe no? Or we could just leave it to Achik…?”
At this Iris frowns, opening her mouth to say something when the trilling notes of a church bell going off has Ariel immediately retrieving her phone in urgency.
“Hello? Ariel speaking.”
“<Hey, Ariel. It’s me.>”
Ariel straightens, surprise sprawl broadly across her expression. “Affan?!” The girl takes a quick glance at her watch. “Ah--! It’s already that time!”
Soft chuckles emits from her phone, before a man’s voice is heard somewhere behind her. “Well, now that I’m here, you don’t have to worry about it.”
Ariel whirls around; disbelief on her face while Iris dons a suspicious look, whereas Affan nonchalantly ends the connection, tucking away his phone as Ariel does the same.
“Eh?! Wait, I thought we agreed to meet at the entrance?”
“You were taking a little longer than I expected. Also,” he starts, deftly avoiding Iris’ gaze. “It’s only right that the man should come and meet the girl rather than having the girl come meet him, you know?”
Ariel tilts her head slightly to the side, smiling dazzlingly at him. “Eh~~ How nice of you Affan~”
“Since when did both of you start going out with each other?” Iris interrupts pointedly. Ariel’s smile instantly dissolves to one of confusion.
“Um, we occasionally meet up for meals? And today Affan said he’ll be taking me to dinner…”
“What she’s asking, is that are we dating? ‘Going out’ technically is another way to say if two people are going out on dates.” Affan explains.
“We are dating?” Ariel asks back, looking confusedly between the other two. Affan rolls his eyes at this, tugging on Ariel’s arm.
“We aren’t. Now,” she yelps, looking the perfect part of a person in the wrong place at the wrong time, as Affan pulls her closer to him. “Come with me.”
“E-Eh?! B-But…” Ariel helplessly stares at Affan, who raises a questioning eyebrow on her doubt. She stills, a pout hanging on the edge of her lips when she turns to Iris, apologetic foreshadowing her pout. Iris merely waves the younger girl off, nonchalant about the whole situation.
“It’s fine. You two just go on ahead with your little date, while I’m going to have my nightly fix of caffeine.”
“Heh. Need a cup of your usual ‘Morning Joe’?” Affan smirks. “Or is it a cup of ‘Prince Gene’?”
“Oh no.” Iris teases, and Ariel inwardly gulps, remembering what happened between the two earlier in the Mess Hall when she sees a dark glint reflecting off Iris’ spectacles. “Such royal flavor can only suit the refined tastes of our mermaid princess. Am I right, Ariel~?”
“OH GEE! It seems like I’m awfully hungry now, so we totally should be going now before I starved, right, right??” Ariel loudly cuts in, subtlety thrown aside in favor of getting out of Iris range of teasing.
After all, there is a reason why no one should ever mess with Iris in terms of teasing.
“Hey wait a minute—Oi Ariel are you listening to me—“ Iris shakes her head, watching Affan being towed unceremoniously by an over-enthusiastic Ariel who is keen to get out of the place.
“This girl… Is she really going to be okay?”
~*~
Previous
Next
MasterPost
Comments
Post a Comment