INTERLUDE 5

Thus do two weeks pass on Angelsteeth. Misery Nomaki, shoved headfirst into military life, is forced to adapt. No longer in control of when they sleep, when they eat, or what they are allowed to do. Ono Red-2 is pushed unceremoniously into the flow of Angelsteeth’s routines. This is how each day plays out: waking at oh six hundred to shower before breakfast, then a full morning’s worth of seraph practice. Lunch, two hours of physical conditioning, then break for curriculum time. They’re free to choose the modules they take; Tank does courses on practical machining, Spider does additional combat classes, the Lady Alodia Lightning ignores everything to sleep it off. Misery Nomaki chose classes on history and military tactics, jumping from topic to topic at will. They wanted to learn everything about the new world presenting itself to them.

The regimented structure of Angelsteeth deformed uneasily to accept Ono Red-2’s existence. Other servings had their practice time cut to let Ono Red-2 have daily sessions with the seraph simulators. It did not go unremarked upon; whispers filled the halls and corridors of the station. Part resentment, but mostly curiosity. After the dramatic repel of the Heretics, they burned for more miracles. They dealt with a lot in the name of the Faithful; it was only fair that the Larex Forge rewarded them. But the dismal results turned in by Ono Red-2 were disappointing. In the training runs they were regularly trounced by the other servings. Ghost often de-synced with their efforts, Spider often lost patience and surged forward on his own, and the princess was absolutely hopeless. In fact, it was Misery Nomaki, the one pilot not a saint, who was most proficient among them. The servings that faced them and won wondered if they had wild luck on their side, or was the outcome some part of the Demiurge’s will? Hir chosen learning the ropes of combat, same as everyone else.

Misery Nomaki studied their new comrades with the same curiosity as one does a new set of tools, keeping track of their natures and proclivities. Tank’s enthusiasm; Spider’s rough humor; Ghost’s strangeness; the charisma of Sunyata Diamond, their captain. The cold distance of the Lady Lee Alodia Lightning. They played out their role as Messiah, smoothing over squabbles and boosting the spirits of their new comrades. At night they slept, plagued by strange dreams that followed repeating paths. There was the dream they first had on the Capital, that of the sad white saint combing her long hair, speaking to the shade of a long-lost lover. A dream they had over and over. And then there were the dynamic dreams populated by the strange, lean creature they recognized as a second delusion. The Messiah deeply preferred the latter: it was one place they considered safe, where they could be raw and confessional with themself. After all, they were merely talking to another delusion, were they not?