Manaka
I pop my mouth a little. So boreeeddddd….. “Ughhhhhh” I surf the news a little, but there’s just depressing s**t about the wars. Is this world literally all wars? Hell, the Edo Theory feels real, but it’s just a theory… Eh. I blow a raspberry. I check the IR scanner and realise Iris is asleep. Heh, I can troll her. I ping her implants with a file transfer request.
Iris
My eyes shoot open. Manaka’s room. I hope this is actually important. It’s just a file transfer request? I decline and make my way to her room, not bothering to change clothes more than my labcoat. I knock on the door.
Manaka
“Come in.” I watch Iris come in, she seems to be in pjs and her labcoat. “F**k you want?” “I’m bored, play with me.” “F**k it, I’m not going back to sleep anyways.” I smile, “How good are you at Combat Lightning?” She shrugs, “I don’t usually play video games.” I walk her through setting up an account for it, “Now, I like to use my Brain-Computer interface with it, but usually it’s a console or PC game.” “And I’m guessing you have one of those here? I don’t have the luxury of an eye screen.” I nod, tilting my head toward my old laptop. “Yeah, I have an American Windows 25.” She squints her eyes. “I’m gonna give you 15 minutes to clear anything I shouldn’t see from that thing.” I yelp and start transferring all my important and… uh… embarrassing stuff off my laptop. “If there’s one thing I learned in college it’s to never open a teenager’s laptop if it’s not yours.” I nod, slightly flushing with embarrassment. “Sure would have been a good life lesson for Noruma…” Iris thinks out loud. I cough, “Eh?” “She might be your age but don’t think she has social experience. The kid’s homeschooled. Never even seen a public school in her life.” Ouch… she’s innocent as hell, “Wow, she must be really innocent then.” I hand the laptop to Iris, already opened to Combat Lightning. I walk her through the basics of ground battles. “No, Iris! This isn’t a game with HP! You can’t just rush a KV-2.” “Watch me!” She could not. Turns out, being around her can be fun though. I party up with her, I’ve already completely researched all the Ajakon and half the Soviet tech trees. I invite Noruma into the party as well. We play a good round, then we get smoked in another. Iris is…. Really good with Italian tanks for some reason, “You’re good at this Iris, damn.” She looks quite proud but I have no clue why, probably shouldn’t question it too mu- “HOLY F**K I JUST RUSHED 4 KING TIGERS-” And my tutel is dead… Welp, time to use a nuke. I get an annoyed look from Iris. “C’mon, I was farming kills.” I laugh, “Tutel died, so I had to get revenge.” “What a teamplayer.” “P-please don’t argue guys…” “Sorry Noruma.” I go to our next match, “Oh shoot, we got uptiered!” I focus more, and I hear Iris’s chair shift a little. “Why is it so warm in here? Is your ventilation broken?” I tilt my head, “What do you mean by that Iris?” “Maybe my heat receptors just need recalibration. Feels like hellfire in here.” I shake my head, “Wow, Noruma, you’re going wild with that SPAA” Noruma is being a troll with SPAA, killing a Tiger with one. Flustered and amused giggling is heard from the other end. “Watch out-” My… Chi-Ri II gets ripped to shreds by a stupid Pe-8 bomb. “Omygod I’m sorry! (,,>﹏<,,)” I laugh a little, “It’s alright, let me respawn.” I laugh as I respawn with the Ajakon M36 and start wrecking spawnkillers. At the end of the match Iris speaks up. “It’s been a while. We all have work this morning. I’m gonna go make sure Noruma is alright. You get some rest. Doctor’s orders. Good night. Also, don’t do this again. My room’s usually not this cold.” I realise, “Eh? Just put on more blankets. I’ll go to sleep, just get into more comfy clothing!” I push her out of my room and I lock the door, kinda sleepy. I tuck myself into bed and fall asleep.
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Part 4