Story Reader / Affection / Camu: Crocotta / Story
3:35 p.m., Command Central Office, Council Building
Come in.
You enter the office to see Hassen flipping through files at his desk.
...You notice Asimov's sloppy handwriting on some of the papers. Those must be the records from your previous failed simulation.
Ah. Good afternoon, Gray Raven Commandant. Have you had a good rest these few days?
You young people sure are energetic.
You gotta be confident in yourself, young one! I trust that you'll be able to take on other jobs soon, right?
I'd like to talk to you about your experience in simulated missions with Camu via remote connection and what you think about it.
I'll get straight to the point. The Council had a meeting over the data collected in your previous simulation.
I have two things I'd like to discuss.
First, the previous few simulated missions were indeed tougher—or, if I should say, they targeted Camu's weak spots especially. I'm sure you've noticed.
It might seem cruel of us, but if we can't pinpoint and deal with the weak points during training, things would only get worse in a real battle.
We've adjusted the battle plans accordingly.
We want to make sure that Camu deserves to be on the team despite all the risks he brings.
That's why we want to reconfirm this.
Commandant [player name], are you still willing to continue working with Camu in combat via remote M.I.N.D. connection?
...Is that your answer?
I see.
Before you leave, I have one more thing to say.
I made the right choice assigning him to you, [player name].
Perhaps you'd like to hear HIS choice.
Hassen simply smiles in his usual benevolent way and gestures at you to close the door when you leave.
The corridor is empty. If your memory serves you, Camu should be in the office on the opposite side.
You have just decided to wait when the office door opens.
You are about to leave when the office door opens.
Camu comes striding out. The mild annoyance on his face is replaced by a constrained expression.
What did they say to you?
O-Oh?
Camu stares at you in suspicion.
And what did you tell them?
?
That's what I thought.
Camu squints. Looks like he has already guessed the topic of your meeting.
Hey. What did you tell them?
Camu freezes, as if not expecting such a direct answer. It's rare to see him so baffled.
...So you gave up on me, huh.
Revolting. And you were spouting all those pretty words yesterday...
Do you really think I—uh, what?
...Hey! Are you ******* trying to die? Playing with me like that?
Camu looks genuinely enraged.
You won't find anyone better than me anyway.
Is that important?
Enough. I'm not falling for that again!
I already agreed to cooperate from the time being. I'd rather you hone your skills a bit instead of acting like my therapist.
Of course. I want to shut that creepy nerd up with an impressive performance.
Of course. You owe me.
You'd better not be late. I hate waiting.
I'm not the one asking you to come, though.
You'd better be.
