‘And that’s why you’ve been assigned as the ASF’s spokesperson for this event?’
‘One reason. I am actually a liaison officer too, you know. The point, since you wanted me to get there, is that I’d like you to keep your eyes open. Let me know if you spot anything that could be a problem.’
‘How long have you known me, First Lieutenant?’
‘Uh, it’ll be a bit less than eighteen months. Seventeen, maybe.’
‘And you haven’t figured out yet that I always have my eyes open?’
235/8/9.
‘Okay, I know it’s relaxation time, but I just want to check up on our current situation.’ From her current position – horizontal on her usual seat in the sauna – Mitsuko did not exactly sound business-like.
‘Up to our necks in steam and suppressed sexual tension,’ Nava said.
‘Not that kind of situation,’ Mitsuko said.
‘There’s sexual tension?’ Melissa asked.
‘I think “suppressed sexual tension” is something of a redundant statement,’ Rochester said.
‘What I meant,’ Mitsuko said before the conversation could get further out of control, ‘is whether anyone can think of anything we need to do tomorrow. If not, we get three days to bask in the afterglow of work well done before the symposium starts on Tuesday.’
‘That’s a strong incentive to forget to do some things,’ Courtney pointed out. ‘This is actually supposed to be our summer holiday.’
‘Be conscientious. I can’t think of anything right now that needs doing. Chess, how’s the reference database looking?’
‘I’ve just been tweaking things for the sake of it for most of today. On Monday, I’ll take a fresh, empty copy of the schema and run a full import of everything we’ve collected. That’ll optimise all the data access and keys. Then I’ll export it to a datachip so you can use it on your ketcom.’
‘Could you do two exports? Then Mel and I can both have a copy.’
‘No problem. And the import process is all automated, so it’s not like I have to watch it. It’ll take… thirty minutes to set everything going. Another thirty to do the exports when it’s done.’
‘Okay. Can anyone think of anything we haven’t researched?’
‘That depends,’ Nava said.
‘On what?’
‘On whether you include the things we should have researched but don’t know we should have.’
‘Huh?’
Courtney answered. ‘She means that there are bound to be things we couldn’t possibly have thought of. Information we might need but we simply didn’t know it was needed or that it existed.’
‘In any battle,’ Kyle said, ‘it’s the stuff you didn’t know that you didn’t know that trips you up every time.’
‘You people are speaking English, right?’ Melissa asked.
‘It makes sense,’ Rochester said. ‘In the scientific method, nothing is ever proven, because there may be evidence contradicting a hypothesis which you just don’t know about yet.’
‘So, what you’re saying,’ Mitsuko said in a musing tone, ‘is that we may be faced with something we haven’t anticipated, and then we’ll have to wing it.’
‘That’s a succinct summary, yes,’ Nava said.
‘But there’s no point in worrying about something like that because we can’t anticipate it. Is there anything we can anticipate that we haven’t dealt with?’
Steam hissed into the silence.
‘That’s a no then,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Nava’s reports are going into the database, right, Chess?’
‘Yes, but you should read through them. Mel too.’
‘Of course. I plan to do that before the panel, so it’s fresh in my mind.’
‘Me too,’ Melissa said, even if that was the first time she had thought of it.
‘Great. I declare us to be on holiday until Tuesday. We may return to the steam and sexual tension.’
‘Suppressed sexual tension,’ Nava corrected.
Rochester shook his head. ‘That’s still redundant.’
235/8/12.
It had been something of a lazy weekend. They had slept in – well, they had got up late anyway – and gone out shopping or to sit in cafés to watch the world go by. The sauna had seen less use because they were not as stressed, though they had ended up all sitting in the sento-style bath on Sunday night because their feet were aching after a day wandering the city on foot.
And now it was Monday evening and the stress was starting to ramp up again. They had not retreated to the sauna again. Yet. Instead, they were sitting in the lounge, watching coverage of the Shinden Annual MagiTag War Games.
‘There’s Naomi,’ Courtney said, pointing at the ridiculously huge wall screen.
‘And Francis Goretti,’ Nava said. ‘It looks like they went with the expected line-up.’
‘Once again, the Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery team is favourite for the junior title,’ an announcer said over the video. ‘With almost the same line-up as last year, including their captain, Naomi Himura Sonkei, they appear to be a shoo-in for the top spot. However, this will be the last year Naomi Himura can compete in the junior competition, so everyone will be carefully examining his teammates for signs of weakness they can exploit next year.’
‘No pressure or anything,’ Melissa said.
‘And my decision to avoid that seems like even more of a good idea,’ Nava said.
‘In the senior competition, we’re once again expecting great things from Leontina Bisset Firmin’s team, the Firmin Commandoes. Six-times winners, the Commandoes have won three consecutive titles and are aiming for their fourth. After today’s preliminary matches, it looks a lot like they’ll take the top spot on the podium on Friday.’
‘To be expected, in some ways,’ Kyle said. ‘The Firmin clan is known for their combat skills.’
‘You mean they’re known for producing some of the most active mercenary units in the Clan Worlds,’ Mitsuko said.
‘And that.’
‘They used to be one of the most powerful clans around. Peace hasn’t been kind to them.’
‘So they turned into mercenaries?’ Melissa asked.
‘Pretty much,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘They used to supply a lot of people to the ASF. Marines for the most part. Now, most of their people end
