Bronya
Inside her room, Bronya ran over her plan again, a series of logical directives that had solidified in the quiet of the night.
The faint, lingering warmth of her new life—the ghost of Kiana's laughter, the scent of Mei's cooking—had been scrubbed from her mind, purged by the return of a colder, older operating system.
On her primary monitor, the smiling, innocent face of Seele was gone, replaced by a simple, text-based overlay.
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Data Acquisition (Subject: Aoyama, Kenji). CONSTRAINTS: Maintain Cover. Avoid Suspicion. RISK ASSESSMENT: HIGH. Subject's social integration is a primary defense]
Her analysis from the night before was flawless. The primary obstacles were not firewalls or security patrols, but people.
[VARIABLE_KIANA: Impulsive, high-energy, low discretion. Emotional response: 94%. Logical response: 6%. VARIABLE_MEI: Perceptive, high-discretion, emotionally intelligent. Threat Level (Stealth): High.]
A direct approach to the target was inefficient. His "shields" would raise suspicion. Therefore, the shields themselves had to be co-opted.
The plan was simple: present a logical, non-threatening pretext that would weaponize their own desires. Subject Kiana desired fun. Subject Mei desired group cohesion. A "training exercise" satisfied both parameters.
Bronya's fingers moved across her keyboard, accessing the live security feed for the dorm's common room from a camera she had implanted herself.
The image flickered to life. The room was bathed in the soft, warm light of the early morning. Subject Mei was already awake, sitting on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea. Subject Kiana was, predictably, on the floor in her pajamas, smashing buttons on a controller, her tongue sticking out in concentration. The audio feed picked up a faint, muffled string of curses.
It was a scene of utter domestic normality. A low-stress, low-suspicion environment.
'Opportunity confirmed.'
The Silver Wolf was a ghost in the halls of St. Freya. And the hunt had just begun.
/ — /
Mei
The common room was warm and relatively peaceful if she tuned out Kiana's shouting. Mei had been up for an hour, and the air was pleasantly infused with the gentle, oolong scent of her morning tea and the faint, lingering sweetness of toast.
Across from her, Kiana was filling the room with a chaotic symphony of frantic button-mashing, muffled digital explosions, and the occasional, high-pitched "Gah, you piece of junk!"
Mei smiled softly into her cup. It was a perfect, typical Sunday morning.
The warmth was broken by a sudden, subtle shift in the room's atmosphere.
Mei looked up from her book and was surprised to see Bronya standing in the entryway. She hadn't even heard her footsteps getting closer, though that was probably because she was too busy relaxing.
Kiana, of course, remained oblivious, her entire world compressed into the glowing pixels on the screen.
Bronya simply stood by the entryway, waiting. Mei, finding the stillness a little unnerving, and wondered what she was waiting for.
Mei waited thirty seconds. Forty. A minute. Kiana's character on screen took a massive, screen-shaking blow.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Kiana roared, flinging her controller onto the sofa. It bounced, clattering onto the floor. "That boss is such a cheap fucking—!"
"Mei. Kiana. The Bronya requires your assistance."
Kiana, still fuming, blinked. "Huh? What's up, Bronya?" She immediately bent to retrieve her controller, her attention span already resetting. "It's not every day that you ask us for help—"
"The Bronya has recently finalized new CQC subroutines for Project Bunny," Kiana tilted her head, and Mei also looked confused. Bronya took their silence as a chance to elaborate further.
"The Bronya must conduct a stress test against a high-speed opponent. Subject Kenji is the optimal data source. The Bronya requests permission to utilize him."
Kiana, who had just picked up her controller, froze. The word "opponent" seemed to reboot her entire system. Her head snapped up, the frustration from her game gone, replaced by a manic, almost blinding excitement.
"A FIGHT?!" she yelled, jumping to her feet so fast she almost knocked over Mei's tea. "You're gonna fight Kenji with Project Bunny?! That's sick! Oh, oh, can I fight too?! Let's do a three-way battle! I bet I can take you both on! Or maybe a 2-on-1, me and Kenji versus Project Bunny—Mmphh!"
Mei quickly covered Kiana's mouth with her hand. "Kiana, slow down for a second."
The girl in question looked slightly offended at having her mouth covered but let out a reluctant "Mmph." She released her hand, and Kiana stared at her with a slight glare.
She needed to think about what this meant. 'Bronya asking for Kenji of all people? This is great!'
She had been worried about Bronya for a while now. She may have been close with her and Kiana, but was never really that close with Kenji, usually just talking to him a little before wandering off.
And now, she was using Project Bunny as a way to be social. To interact with someone. It was, Mei realized, the most "Bronya" way possible to try to make a friend. It was awkward and, frankly, adorable.
She had to make this happen. And she might not like to say it, but Kiana and she would only get in the way of Bronya and Kenji's well-needed bonding time. There absolutely can not be any distractions.
"Bronya, I think that's a great idea," Mei said while squeezing Kiana's shoulder slightly harder. "You need specific data, right?" Mei continued, turning a quelling gaze on Kiana, who was pouting. "A one-on-one session would be much more efficient. Kiana, your fighting style is all over the place, you'd just corrupt the data."
"Hey!"
'Kiana, read the room!'
Mei gave Bronya a smile that looked a little too cheery. "I think it's a wonderful idea. I'm sure Kenji would be happy to help you."
In response, Kiana deflated and slumped back onto the sofa with a pout. "Fine," she grumbled. "You two have your boring 'data' fight. I'm gonna go beat this stupid boss."
Bronya looked pleased and then walked off.
…
After hearing Bronya enter her room, Kiana turned to look at her. "So what was that all about? " She asked, still annoyed at having her mouth covered.
Mei rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Sorry about that, but I just didn't want us to get in the way." Kiana raised an eyebrow, "I'm sure you noticed that Bronya hasn't fully warmed up to Kenji yet. This could be their chance to get closer. I'm just afraid we would get in the way of that—"
Kiana's eyes widened in realization, and she was admittedly embarrassed at her little outburst.
"—Besides, it's been a while since we had time just to ourselves, no?" She finished with a coy smile, this time being the one to tease Kiana, whose face turned bright red.
/ — /
Bronya
Bronya's return to her room was as silent as her departure. The common room, with its chaotic, warm variables, was no longer a factor.
Phase one—the neutralization of the obstacles—was complete. Mei had been successfully co-opted, her maternal instincts weaponized to serve the mission's parameters. Kiana had been neutralized, her impulsiveness contained by Mei's influence. The path to the primary target was now clear.
Now for phase two: locating the target.
Bronya's fingers moved across her keyboard. Accessing the camera network was trivial; she didn't need his schedule, as the live feed was more efficient.
He was not in his dorm. Not in the cafeteria. Not in the library. He was, predictably, exactly where his data profile suggested he would be. The feed from Training Sector C-Block showed him on an outdoor track just finishing a run all alone.
Bronya terminated the feed. The target was located. The conditions were optimal for an approach: he was isolated, post-exercise, and likely in a high-compliance state.
She made sure her path to the training sector was quick, not wanting to waste time on variables that could hinder her operation. She moved through the academy's Sunday morning completely silently, and it wasn't long before she found her target.
Kenji was by the locker-room entrance, guzzling water from a bottle, his face flushed and his breathing still deep. He was toweling sweat from his neck, utterly oblivious to her approach until she was less than ten feet away.
"Kenji."
Her voice, flat and uninflected, cut through the quiet. He jumped, startled, fumbling the water bottle. "Oh—! Bronya, hey. Didn't see you there." He offered a slightly breathless, easy smile. "You here for an early workout too?"
Bronya did not return the smile. She stood with her hands resting by her sides."No. The Bronya requires your assistance."
Kenji blinked, his friendly expression shifting to one of mild confusion. "My assistance? With what?"
"The Bronya has recently finalized new CQC subroutines for Project Bunny 19C. The internal simulations are complete, but live-field data is required to verify combat viability. A stress test is now required to ensure everything is working properly."
She paused, letting the words hang in the air. Kenji just stared at her, clearly only following a few of the technical jargon. He looked like a lost puppy.
'The Bronya may have overestimated his growth.'
"The new program needs a live opponent. Your combat data indicates you are the optimal choice."
"Optimal? Wait. Are you asking me to... fight you?"
"The Bronya is asking you to spar. Your unique power-generation and high-speed maneuvers are the only viable test for the new parameters. Will you assist?"
A slow grin spread across Kenji's face. He looked like a boy who had just been handed a new toy. "So you want me to spar with Project Bunny?"
"Correct."
"That sounds sick! Hell yeah, I'll help! When do you want to do it?"
The target was acquired.
Bronya's expression remained perfectly neutral. The simplicity of his compliance was almost disappointing.
"Now," she stated. "The Bronya has already reserved Simulation Room 04. Your current, post-exercise state is acceptable for baseline data."
"Oh, sweet. Now?" Kenji looked down at his sweaty shirt, then shrugged, his grin returning. "Okay, sure! Just let me grab my gear and I'll be ready in a bit."
"That is acceptable. The Bronya will be waiting."
Bronya turned and walked away, her mission complete. Now all that was left was the more… difficult part.