Light...

Voices...

Darkness...

No...not this again...

Curses...

***

​I woke up to a white ceiling above me. It seemed I just keep on ending up in the same hospital room, but I suppose it doesn't matter as I sat up from my bed and looked to the door; next figure to step through the door will be Dr. Cherrylove in 3...2...1...

The door opened, and it was Dr. Cherrylove, which reminds me I really should be a psychic at this point.

"OH MY GOSH KARD! I'm so glad you made it back!" Dr. Cherrylove embraced me in a bear hug to the point that I was choking.

"Sorry," she said with a big smile as she pulled up a chair beside my bed then cleared her throat and said: "first I must congratulate you on receiving the Ila Badge, the highest medal of honor a solider can earn, for your heroic action during 'Operation Coldsteel'. And on top of that you get a special promotion from 2nd class private to 1st class sergeant, but I suppose we can save the formal declarative ceremony for later."

"Yeah, and now you're gonna tell me the part where I lost my right arm and you replaced it with a robotic one." I sighed. Dr. Cherrylove just kind of started at me in shock. After one look, I burst out in an uncontainable laughter.

"Alright, nothing to get awkward about. Really, I am used to losing limbs at this point. And if I get reincarnated, I want to be an octopus, cause they can at least grow their limbs back." I took my right hand out of my sheet, and sure enough it was once again identical to my left.

"Yes, and this is part where you tell me I was passed out in the hospital for a week." I turned and faced Dr. Cherrylove, who resumed smiling again.

"I am sorry to tell you, you were passed out for 1 week, you lost a lot of blood. A lot of things happened..."

"What things?" that grabbed my attention at once, as a million questioned surged forward to my mind, but in the I decided to put all to rest except for one:

"What's going to happen to Kuro?"

"Well," Dr. Cherrylove lingered on her word for a moment before finishing the rest of her sentence, "that depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On you, actually."

My jaw dropped. "Me?"

"That's right! You see, according to law, she would be handed over to the military judges, trialed and judged with all the formal process, and not being mean or anything, she's most likely going to jail."

"WHAT! Wait, so what do you mean by, 'depends on me'?"

"You see, you're quite famous in the military now, so your word holds certain power. If you speak up for her in court, your words would certainly be taken into account. And if she decides to join the Iron Angel division afterwards..."

"Afterwards?"

"Well, I can guarantee she will be protected from any sort of law suit, and given her incredible skills as a sniper, she will a great boost to the team as well. Also I think you two go pretty well together!"

That last sentence made me blush like a red light, and seeing my expression it was Dr. Cherrylove's turn to burst out laughing. And after what seemed to be a full minute or several eternities of uncontrolled laughter, Dr. Cherrylove calmed herself.

"Oh forgive me, just forget what I just said." She smiled brightly.

"Yeah, by the way I am always curious of what your age is..."

"Guess." She said with hand supporting her chin.

"24? Ok, 26 is the most I will go."

"Really? Do I really look that young?" she said with a flattered voice with one hand on her chest.

"Ok, just tell me what it is!"

"Well, I can't tell you my actual age, but I will tell you that my eldest son is about the same age as you."

WHAT? WAT? WUT?

I felt as if my entire world has capsized, like a dream shattered into a million pieces and got taken a dump on. And for the rest of the talk, I just kind of stared at her with my jaw hanging open the whole time.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"Yes! So...so what happened ... Isa?" I was a little afraid of the answer.

"Oh, you mean your superhuman commander? She got out of hospital a week before you did, and that red hair friend of yours..." there was no else she could mean but Rumble, "shattered bones all over, but he has fully recovered around now and says he also wants to join the Iron Angel division."

"I guess if he wants to, wait...is there any sort of requirement for joining the Iron Angel division?"

"Yes, but rules can be adjusted. Since you're the leader, you make the calls."

She flashed another bright smile at me.

That bastard...

I sighed at the thought of how annoying he would be, but I already had an answer for that in my head:

"I will let him in, but I will make sure to let him know who's the real boss." I grinned at then suddenly remembered:

"Wait, so what happened to Soulsteel?"

"Oh..." Dr. Cherrylove paused for a moment then said: "I know I am not supposed to tell anyone, but after the battle, Soulsteel was rushed to the medical plane, and died mysteriously during the transport..."

Cleaning up the tracks huh...

"Oh Kard! I almost forgot I have a surprise for you!"

"Huh..." I looked to her.

"I promise it will be great! Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so." I replied, wiggling my toes as Dr. Cherrylove backed up to give me space to get out of bed. After 2 weeks of not moving, there were certain physical repercussions, but aside from stiff body movement, everything else seemed fine.

"Well, your school uniform is on the desk there, I will be waiting at the door, or do you need me..."

"Nah, I got this, just wait for me."

***

Getting dressed with an overall stiff body was much easier said than done, but eventually I finished and Dr. Cherrylove took me into one of the IIMT underground facilities.

"This is the tech hive, where the top secret and latest technology are stored and tested, before surfacing for public use." Dr. Cherrylove explained as we pass through elegant futuristic white-arched hallways.

"Are you sure I am allowed here?"

"Of course, you have my permission. Just don't run off, or else things are going to get tricky..." her voice trailed off, as she led me around another white corridor, and all the way to the dead end of the corridor. Then without Dr. Cherrylove doing any sort of hand gesture, the wall parted its and revealed a glowing path ahead.

"Don't fall behind~" Dr. Cherrylove said walking through.

At the end of the glowing path were a normal-looking set of slide doors running counter to the décor. Dr. Cherrylove opened these with a simple swipe of her hand. The room beyond was completely dark with no light, then with a snap of her fingers the whole room was bathed in light. The whole place was completely white, and at very center stood a 3 stepped dais with a transparent pod that seemed a tad too large for humans, with its contents sealed away by some sort of fog. 

"Well, we have been working on this for a long time, long before the Iron Angel division was even created." Dr. Cherrylove explained as we continued forward.

"What's in there?" I asked, eying the pod.

"Here, I'll open it and show you." Dr. Cherrylove bobbed up the dais and tapped a few buttons on the pod. A second later, the hatch of the pod opened and the fog rushed out. I stepped onto the dais to get a closer look. Inside was a sleek white MS with the edges banded with orange. Standing just a little bit taller than me, and its overall design was complete badass.

"This is Iron Angel 001 G6. The world's first and only generation 6 MS." I was awed.

"You're probably wondering why I am showing you this MS. It's simple, because it's yours now."

"WHAT? No wait! You are joking right?" my voice ricocheted off the walls of the room, as my jaw dropped to the point in danger of unhinging.
"No, I am dead serious. After all you may be the only person right now in this world that can pilot this." It was clear that Dr. Cherrylove wasn't joking around, as I slowly avert my eyes away from her stare.

And it was just then I remembered what Dr. Cherrylove said before, something along the lines of:

There are things out there only you can do...

Well, I am not a complaint, I got this super badass looking MS given to me for free, and after all I did always want an MS.

"Dang..." I said, as I found myself nodding at the MS, "So when do we get started?"

Q: Did you enjoy this book? If so/if not why? (*≧ω≦)