“…So you accepted the offer in the end? You really are a weirdo, Lena.”
Taking command of a new squadron meant quite a number of things would have to be changed as well, and one of those things was the target data for her Para-RAID. Annette was the officer in charge of the Para-RAID development team, so all requests regarding adjusting Lena’s Sensory Resonance settings were handled by her. She also suggested they may as well have Lena come in for a medical inspection while they were at it, and Lena was in the middle of changing back into her uniform when Annette chastised her.
After putting the patient gown neatly on a coat hanger, Lena replied to Annette from the other side of the medical room’s reinforced glass window, still buttoning her blouse. The medical ward’s building had once been a royal villa during the monarchy age, so its exterior was that of a chic, classy Middle Ages estate. But on the inside, it had a certain tasteless, futuristic sort of design, defined by metal and glass panes that gave off a robotic, inorganic feeling. One of the glass screens had a video of tropical fish and coral reefs projected onto it.
“I mean, it’s just a ghost story, Annette. An excuse soldiers cooked up to skip work.”
Fastening both her stockings up with her garters, Lena felt her lips loosen with a smile. She did her periodic Para-RAID medical inspections regularly, so there was no need for Annette to worry. But she was a busybody, after all…
“The part about some of them committing suicide is true, though.”
Sitting on the other side of the glass wall, Annette casually added this tidbit while inputting the new settings into Lena’s RAID Device and sipping coffee—or rather, some muddy substance that was probably supposed to resemble coffee—from her mug.
“I don’t buy the whole ghost thing. The old guys probably made that up so they’d have something to gossip about. But it’s true. One blew his own head off with a shotgun.”
Having put on her skirt and jacket, Lena turned around, straightening her collar. She brushed back the silver hair that spilled over her shoulders when she bent forward.
“Really?”
“We got a request to check that it wasn’t some Para-RAID malfunction. Resignations aside, word tends to get out when someone kills himself.”
“And what were the results?”
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