The next day, when Hathaway Noa met Kenneth Sleg aboard the Haunzen shuttle, he could clearly see the faint dark circles under Kenneth's eyes.
Recalling how Kenneth had flown into a rage the previous night, muttering the name "Kimberley" under his breath, Hathaway felt it was necessary to try and coax some information out of him.
"Is something the matter?"
Hathaway took his seat in the Haunzen's passenger cabin and buckled his safety belt. "You look like you didn't sleep well at all."
"Ah... it's you. What a coincidence that we're on the same flight."
Kenneth, dressed in a sharp white suit, rubbed his eyes. He noticed Hathaway was still wearing the same suit as before. "Last night, the former commander made it impossible for me to sleep. He left behind a complete disaster, and now I'm the one who has to clean it up."
Knowing that Hathaway was the son of his old superior, Bright Noa, Kenneth thought for a moment before giving a brief, vague summary of the situation without leaking classified specifics.
Kenneth hadn't slept a wink. The after-action reports he had received at 3:00 AM Earth Standard Time had sent his blood pressure through the roof, thanks to Kimberley's sheer incompetence.
Following the previous reckless blunder at Oenberi, which had wiped out 40% of the Kimberley unit's MS stationed in Australia, this latest operation was even worse.
The garrison forces from New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands had all suffered devastating blows. Of the units that managed to retreat, less than 10% of their mobile suits were still functional.
Furthermore, according to the combat logs, the "Zeon Remnants" had deployed only four mobile suits on the Palmerston North battlefield, and only three more in the Tasman Sea interception team.
Those seven machines alone had utterly decimated a force nearly dozens of times their size.
What pained Kenneth the most was the current state of the Penelope.
Both multi-purpose shields and the right arm were severely damaged, a massive amount of armor had been sliced or melted away, and its primary armaments were essentially scrap.
Add to that the salt-water soaking... Kenneth could already imagine the nightmare of a maintenance schedule required to bring it back online.
"I see... it sounds like you've had it rough. Much like me, burdened with plenty of worries."
Hearing Kenneth's words and recalling the events of the previous night, Hathaway had already pieced together a rough picture of what had happened in his mind.
"Tell me about it... Thank god the appointment came through and I intervened when I did, or the mess would have been even bigger."
As if finding a much-needed outlet, Kenneth continued to vent. "I can't take it anymore. I'm going to go wash my face—I just spotted a very lovely flight attendant."
Having let off some steam, Kenneth realized he shouldn't say much more.
He prepared to use his most familiar method of relaxation to temporarily forget the mountain of problems Kimberley had left behind.
Perhaps he could strike up a "story" with that beautiful stewardess—at least one last night of bliss before officially taking command tomorrow.
Watching Kenneth's retreating back, Hathaway lowered his head slightly, lost in thought.
It seemed that while he was away from Earth, the Kimberley Unit had suffered a humiliating and massive defeat—one significant enough to drive Kenneth, the man sent to take over the unit, into a state of visible fury.
For someone like him to be this enraged, the losses must have been catastrophic.
'Who did this? Gawman and the others? No... at the end of the day, the Messer is just a mass-production unit. No matter how much you push its performance to the limit, it couldn't achieve something on this scale.'
'Could it be those mysterious "Zeon Remnants"?'
Hathaway was so absorbed in his deductions that he completely failed to notice a girl with long golden hair sitting a few rows away.
Currently being pestered by a Federation official, she cast an intrigued glance toward Hathaway, who sat with his head down and fingers interlaced.
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Meanwhile, the "Zeon Remnants" currently occupying Hathaway's thoughts had long since disengaged from the Palmerston North battlefield and returned to the Nahel Argama.
"Captain, Mayu looks like she's in much higher spirits than before," Shinn remarked over the comms, watching a mass-sent video Mayu had recorded from the bridge.
In the clip, Mayu was vibrantly chatting about her discoveries in New Zealand and promising to hand-deliver souvenirs to everyone on the ship.
"She definitely looks more energized. At least she's not slipping into those sudden dazed states or mental spirals anymore." Roz finished watching the clip and closed the window.
He took a deep breath, settling into a more comfortable position in his pilot's seat. "You, Stellar, and Graham head to the bridge first. I need to make some minor adjustments here; I'll head up a bit later."
Shinn blinked. He'd heard before that Roz had already tuned the Sinanju to a state of absolute perfection.
Why the sudden need to tweak the data now?
"Is it... has the Machine Spirit awakened?" Shinn asked instinctively, his voice dropping to a cautious whisper.
It was an open secret on the Nahel Argama that Psycho-Frame components personally handled by Roz tended to bind with his brainwaves, with a high probability of manifesting a Machine Spirit—after all, the "Miss Penelope" unit in the hangar still let out rhythmic huffs of cooling steam every now and then.
"If you know, then don't ask. Just give me some private time." Roz watched as Shinn promptly cut the channel, secured the Banshee, and was immediately intercepted by Stellar.
Once they were clear, Roz shut down the Sinanju's external comms and rubbed his temples.
"That young man is quite considerate, isn't he? Knowing to leave you some private time."
The Machine Spirit's voice drifted from behind him once more.
"Shinn might be a bit reckless in a fight, but his emotional intelligence is usually on point." Roz dropped his hand. "Now... don't you think it's time we officially met?"
"What an impatient man..."
The Machine Spirit's mature voice let out a couple of soft chuckles. "But I don't dislike it. After all, it's you."
In a mere flicker of the eyes, a phantom manifested within Roz's vision.
A mature woman with vibrant red hair sat to the right of his pilot's seat, leaning back and watching him with an expression of pure intrigue.
She was wearing a red long-sleeved jacket and black half-finger gloves. Her grey camisole tank top highlighted her undeniable fullness to the late degree, while her black miniskirt wrapped around her curves, pressing and deforming against the uneven console on the right side of the pilot's seat.
Her legs, plump yet tightly muscled, were clad in sheer black stockings; she sat with her legs crossed, dangling a half-off short combat boot from one foot.
Even knowing that a Machine Soul has no physical weight and was merely a visual projection, Roz still subconsciously worried that the figure before him might crush the Sinanju's console.
Compared to the "teenage mother" vibe of the Unicorn Gundam Machine Soul, or the mix of capability and eccentricity found in Penelope's Machine Soul, AllMind, the Sinanju Machine Soul before him possessed a sense of "maturity."
Roz pondered for two seconds before settling on that description.
Despite being a newly born Machine Soul, she inexplicably felt like someone who had experienced a great deal, carrying an air of unhurried, lazy composure.
"Oh? Are you staring blankly?"
The red-haired woman reached out with her black half-gloved hands to cup Roz's face. Her lips parted and closed as she teased him in a lazy, mature female voice.
"Or perhaps, do you want a hug of love?"
"Things like that... let's save them for later."
The Machine Soul lady's proposal was quite tempting, and Roz did his best to suppress the urge to agree immediately. "You haven't been awake long; I think it's better if we get to know each other first. I am..."
"Roz. I've heard your name from AllMind."
The Machine Soul suddenly leaned in close to Roz, her red eyes locked onto his. "Serial number MSN-06S, name Sinanju. Or would you like to give me a different name? I'm actually quite looking forward to this part."
At that moment, through the phantom sensations transmitted from his body, Roz could even feel the warm breath of the Sinanju Machine Soul brushing against his face.
Naturally, he couldn't just call her "Sinanju." After all, she—much like the Unicorn Gundam's Machine Soul, and AllMind—had already transcended the physical shell of the mobile suit. She naturally required a new name to be addressed by.
So, what name should he use to address her?
Roz began to recall the various concepts he had envisioned during the design of the Sinanju.
Come to think of it, when it came to this Sinanju's appearance, he had originally wanted to reference the Ver.Ka version.
However, because it needed to accommodate an internal mobile suit, Roz had thought it over and eventually settled on the most stable original design.
At this thought, a spark like an electric current flashed through Roz's mind. He looked up at the Machine Soul lady before him.
"Ver.Ka... Kara? How about that name?"
"Naming me after an appearance model? You really are something."
She seemed to have read what he was thinking directly from his heart. "But, it's not bad."
With that, the Machine Soul—now accepting the name Kara—leaned in close to Roz and kissed him.
Roz could even feel the sensation of Kara extending her tongue and swirling it against his own.
"Phew... that's my reward to you."
After several minutes, Kara finally pulled away from Roz.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, watching as Roz was forced to swallow the saliva that had begun to pool in his mouth from her actions.
Her eyes crinkled further, and the corners of her mouth curled into a mysterious smile.
"AllMind should have told you, right? Under normal circumstances, our appearance and personality are generated based on the machine's exterior and the spirit you pour into it."
Kara vaulted down from the right console of the pilot's seat. Straddling Roz's legs with her own, she leaned down close to him.
"Unlike AllMind, I am special because of the internal machine."
The cockpit, which had originally seemed quite spacious, suddenly felt inexplicably cramped to Roz. He could even feel the massive pressure of Kara's chest squeezing against his own.
"Mm... I understand, but this design was a necessity for me in this world," Roz explained, taking a deep breath.
"I never said I hated the way I look now."
Kara smiled, placing a finger over Roz's lips to stop him from speaking further.
"However, I really do want to see the moment when this layer of dust on my body is finally swept away."
Kara looked into Roz's eyes, slid her arms under his armpits, and pressed her entire body tightly against him.
Kara's sudden embrace caused Roz to freeze for a moment. Rather than a hug, it felt more like she was using him as a body pillow, her hands rubbing against his back.
"As promised—a hug of love."
As soon as Kara finished speaking, she abruptly vanished from Roz's sight.
Along with her disappearance, the sensation of something pressing against his body vanished without a trace.
"I still have so many things I want to talk to you about—about you, about me, and about that love for you within my heart that, like AllMind, is inherited from the Unicorn Gundam's Machine Soul code..."
Kara reappeared behind Roz, wrapping her arms around him and leaning in to speak into his ear. Roz could even feel the sensation of her breath against his ear. "But I'm not the greedy type; I won't monopolize all of your time. After all, there are other women who love you just as much as I do, right?"
With that, the Sinanju's Machine Soul disappeared once more.
The panoramic cockpit, which had been displaying the view of the Hangar, was shut down by Kara, and the cockpit hatch was opened as well.
"Remember to find time to come back to the cockpit and practice. To be honest, during that last battle, that dance wasn't performed very well. I'll have to give you some one-on-one lessons."
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