Joshua clicked his tongue in frustration at how they described Altair. Even though he had been completely crushed by her he still didn't want to admit that she was special. Even though he had an Inborn Ability that would allow him to excel at piloting a Mecha, he still didn't want to give someone else the genius moniker, even if it was for a different field of combat.
Rictor ignored the obvious frustration that he sensed from Joshua and asked, "What did she say before she attacked you Josh?"
Joshua's brow scrunched up as he remembered the moments before Altair lashed out at him. He tried to remember exactly what she said but he couldn't do it. In the heat of the moment he had quickly forgotten how Altair acted and what she said before. It also seemed that his memories of the incident were a little jumbled from the repeated blows he took to the head.
He turned to Rictor and scratched his head sheepishly before saying, "I don't remember. It happened too fast so I'm not even sure if I heard what she said."
Rictor frowned at his words. He was hoping to get some more insight into Altair's personality from what she said before she switched how she was acting. Apparently he would need to decide based on what he knew already. To determine the best course of action for his friends he had to judge accurately.
Dornom kept hold of Vargol even though the danger had passed. He asked, "Why do you want to know what she said?"
Rictor glanced at him again before he walked back to the bed he was on before. On the way he said, "I believe we need to be extremely careful around her." Some things were just too dangerous to play with. He was already leaning towards having his friends avoid Altair and the more he thought about it the more sure he was. She was just too dangerous and unpredictable.
The others apparently did not agree with him. They all looked at him as if he was spouting nonsense. Joshua was the first to complain, "I know she's really good at fighting but come on. If we gang up on her there's no way she'll get out of it unscathed."
Rictor shook his head, "We might be able to but it would be a mistake." He sat on the bed behind him before continuing, "I actually think we shouldn't bother her at all to be safe."
Vargol exploded again in Dornom's arms, "Are you kidding me!? There's no way I'll forgive her for what she did to Alice! You expect me to just let her be?!"
Dornom appeared to share the same sentiment as he added, "What she did was uncalled for. Even though I don't like to be vengeful I think she at least owes us an apology."
Joshua scoffed, "You better have a good reason for even suggesting that, Rick."
Even though Rictor was the smart one of the bunch they were still young and immature. Rictor always had a hard time keeping them in line and focused on what was most important. He was used to this as he ran through his argument in his mind before saying, "Calm down. I don't mean that she'll get away for free. It just shouldn't be us who does anything about it."
Knowing that Vargol was going to shout at him again as soon as he finished talking, he held up a hand and continued, "First, hear me out before you say anything. Judge for yourself and try to not use your anger about it. I'm sure you'll come around to agree."
The rest of them all looked unconvinced. However, they all knew that Rictor's plans always played out well for them, so they decided to hear what he had to say. It was no exaggeration to say that Rictor's role in their group played as big a role as Joshua's strength.
Seeing that his friends decided to at least hear him out, Rictor smiled at them reassuringly before he turned his head to Joshua and asked, "First, you said that your adoptive sister has amnesia, right?"
Joshua nodded his head, "Yeah, that's right. Otherwise, why would she need to learn how to speak?"
Rictor asked a follow-up question to see if he had anything useful that he didn't know about, "Is that all the proof you have of that? Was there anything else strange about when you met her?"
Joshua's brow's furrowed as he thought back to when Altair showed up. He frowned and said, "She was tied to a bed when she was brought here. I remember my dad was pissed because she couldn't understand a word he said even though she had been learning for over half a year."
Rictor's eyes narrowed, "Interesting. Well that settles it then." He crossed his arms and looked at all of them at once, "Has any of you ever seen someone fight the way she does?"
They all exchanged looks with each other. It was as if the thought never crossed their minds to even pay attention to that. Rictor smirked at them while Joshua claimed, "I was too focused on trying to hit her to notice anything strange."
Dornom nodded in agreement, "Yeah. She's like a bee when you try to hit her. It's so weird."
Vargol frowned, "I did notice she was abnormally skilled at pushing my attacks away." He then looked up at Dornom and asked, "Are you going to let me go yet?"
Dornom blinked at him and chuckled, "Sorry, forgot." He then let him go.
Vargol started to straighten to clothes while he asked in an annoyed tone, "Did you notice something we missed?"
Rictor nodded his head confidently, "Of course I did." He straightened his back and continued, "You all know how we're taught to push attacks away with full force to minimize the risk of actually taking a hit, right?" They all nodded in confirmation to his words. Once they did so, Rictor went on, "She didn't do that. When Vargol and I were attacking her she barely twisted her wrist to deflect our attacks. Doing that is far more difficult and requires a lot more precision than what we are taught. It's also practically impossible to do from what we know and yet she seems to be able to do it with ease."
"Furthermore," he continued without letting them talk as he suspected they would say something stupid before he could finish making his point, "when she was dodging around Dornom's attacks, she was only shifting her body just enough to avoid getting hit. That also takes a lot of concentration and practice to be able to accomplish. And yet, she couldn't defend at all against your lunging grab. It even caught her by surprise from what I could tell. It was like she had never seen such an attack before."
They all had pensive looks on their faces before Joshua asked, "So? We all get that she's really good, what's your point?"
Rictor shook his head, "She has amnesia, right? Then how does she know how to do all of that? She's just been learning how to speak since she got here so when did she get the time to learn how to fight as she does?"
His friends seemed to be slow on understanding as they all shared confused looks. Rictor continued to push the point in, "I suspect she doesn't have amnesia. The way she fights is completely alien to us in the Empire. I can guarantee you that she isn't even from here."
His gaze turned serious as he stared straight at Joshua, "You said that your father told you that she was a daughter of a friend that he found in an orphanage. While I cannot say anything on the validity of that, if we assume that is true, then the orphanage she was at was not in the Empire. That much is a fact. It is there that she learned how to fight the way she can."
He paused for several moments to let that sink in before he added, "The question then becomes: why would they teach the children there to fight like that and for what purpose ultimately? Since she was strapped in a bed when she arrived it's clear that your father knew how dangerous she was right from the start. I'm guessing that, on the way here, she was disciplined heavily by the people your father hired and received even stricter discipline when she got here. That's why she didn't defend herself against you when you attacked her the first time. However, that was lifted, at least somewhat lifted, since then. Your father was probably worried that you would ruin her before she could benefit your family."
Joshua frowned as he looked deep in thought. Dornom and Vargol were strangely quiet as they considered his words.
But Rictor wasn't done with his analysis here, "The entire time we fought her, until the very end, she was holding back when she fought us. It's clear that we were just toys in her eyes."
He crossed his arms as he went to finish his argument, "She was most likely told to act as your sister Josh. That explains why she was acting so friendly to us before. However, given how she fights and her expression once she started fighting, I have to conclude that she is a psychopath. The military will love her but if you cross her carelessly she will kill you and make it look like an accident. Do not think of her as a Human. Consider her a predator while all of us are just prey to her. That is why I say we should avoid her."
He looked back at Vargol and said, "As to letting her be? No way. We need more information on her ourselves. But we cannot be the ones to act out against her. It's too risky for Josh because he lives with her."
Vargol squared his shoulders and looked displeased at what Rictor said. However, he couldn't think of anything to refute it as all the evidence was placed in his face. He merely spoke in a disapproving tone as he asked, "So what do you suggest we do then? Get someone else to do it for us?"
Rictor nodded his head and replied instantly, "That's exactly what I'm suggesting. But no one in our grade would do any good. I suggest we get some seniors to do the probing for us." He then grinned viciously, "I happen to know a couple seniors who owe me a favor. How about I ask them to do it in our place?"
Joshua clicked his tongue in frustration at how they described Altair. Even though he had been completely crushed by her he still didn't want to admit that she was special. Even though he had an Inborn Ability that would allow him to excel at piloting a Mecha, he still didn't want to give someone else the genius moniker, even if it was for a different field of combat.
Rictor ignored the obvious frustration that he sensed from Joshua and asked, "What did she say before she attacked you Josh?"
Joshua's brow scrunched up as he remembered the moments before Altair lashed out at him. He tried to remember exactly what she said but he couldn't do it. In the heat of the moment he had quickly forgotten how Altair acted and what she said before. It also seemed that his memories of the incident were a little jumbled from the repeated blows he took to the head.
He turned to Rictor and scratched his head sheepishly before saying, "I don't remember. It happened too fast so I'm not even sure if I heard what she said."
Rictor frowned at his words. He was hoping to get some more insight into Altair's personality from what she said before she switched how she was acting. Apparently he would need to decide based on what he knew already. To determine the best course of action for his friends he had to judge accurately.
Dornom kept hold of Vargol even though the danger had passed. He asked, "Why do you want to know what she said?"
Rictor glanced at him again before he walked back to the bed he was on before. On the way he said, "I believe we need to be extremely careful around her." Some things were just too dangerous to play with. He was already leaning towards having his friends avoid Altair and the more he thought about it the more sure he was. She was just too dangerous and unpredictable.
The others apparently did not agree with him. They all looked at him as if he was spouting nonsense. Joshua was the first to complain, "I know she's really good at fighting but come on. If we gang up on her there's no way she'll get out of it unscathed."
Rictor shook his head, "We might be able to but it would be a mistake." He sat on the bed behind him before continuing, "I actually think we shouldn't bother her at all to be safe."
Vargol exploded again in Dornom's arms, "Are you kidding me!? There's no way I'll forgive her for what she did to Alice! You expect me to just let her be?!"
Dornom appeared to share the same sentiment as he added, "What she did was uncalled for. Even though I don't like to be vengeful I think she at least owes us an apology."
Joshua scoffed, "You better have a good reason for even suggesting that, Rick."
Even though Rictor was the smart one of the bunch they were still young and immature. Rictor always had a hard time keeping them in line and focused on what was most important. He was used to this as he ran through his argument in his mind before saying, "Calm down. I don't mean that she'll get away for free. It just shouldn't be us who does anything about it."
Knowing that Vargol was going to shout at him again as soon as he finished talking, he held up a hand and continued, "First, hear me out before you say anything. Judge for yourself and try to not use your anger about it. I'm sure you'll come around to agree."
The rest of them all looked unconvinced. However, they all knew that Rictor's plans always played out well for them, so they decided to hear what he had to say. It was no exaggeration to say that Rictor's role in their group played as big a role as Joshua's strength.
Seeing that his friends decided to at least hear him out, Rictor smiled at them reassuringly before he turned his head to Joshua and asked, "First, you said that your adoptive sister has amnesia, right?"
Joshua nodded his head, "Yeah, that's right. Otherwise, why would she need to learn how to speak?"
Rictor asked a follow-up question to see if he had anything useful that he didn't know about, "Is that all the proof you have of that? Was there anything else strange about when you met her?"
Joshua's brow's furrowed as he thought back to when Altair showed up. He frowned and said, "She was tied to a bed when she was brought here. I remember my dad was pissed because she couldn't understand a word he said even though she had been learning for over half a year."
Rictor's eyes narrowed, "Interesting. Well that settles it then." He crossed his arms and looked at all of them at once, "Has any of you ever seen someone fight the way she does?"
They all exchanged looks with each other. It was as if the thought never crossed their minds to even pay attention to that. Rictor smirked at them while Joshua claimed, "I was too focused on trying to hit her to notice anything strange."
Dornom nodded in agreement, "Yeah. She's like a bee when you try to hit her. It's so weird."
Vargol frowned, "I did notice she was abnormally skilled at pushing my attacks away." He then looked up at Dornom and asked, "Are you going to let me go yet?"
Dornom blinked at him and chuckled, "Sorry, forgot." He then let him go.
Vargol started to straighten to clothes while he asked in an annoyed tone, "Did you notice something we missed?"
Rictor nodded his head confidently, "Of course I did." He straightened his back and continued, "You all know how we're taught to push attacks away with full force to minimize the risk of actually taking a hit, right?" They all nodded in confirmation to his words. Once they did so, Rictor went on, "She didn't do that. When Vargol and I were attacking her she barely twisted her wrist to deflect our attacks. Doing that is far more difficult and requires a lot more precision than what we are taught. It's also practically impossible to do from what we know and yet she seems to be able to do it with ease."
"Furthermore," he continued without letting them talk as he suspected they would say something stupid before he could finish making his point, "when she was dodging around Dornom's attacks, she was only shifting her body just enough to avoid getting hit. That also takes a lot of concentration and practice to be able to accomplish. And yet, she couldn't defend at all against your lunging grab. It even caught her by surprise from what I could tell. It was like she had never seen such an attack before."
They all had pensive looks on their faces before Joshua asked, "So? We all get that she's really good, what's your point?"
Rictor shook his head, "She has amnesia, right? Then how does she know how to do all of that? She's just been learning how to speak since she got here so when did she get the time to learn how to fight as she does?"
His friends seemed to be slow on understanding as they all shared confused looks. Rictor continued to push the point in, "I suspect she doesn't have amnesia. The way she fights is completely alien to us in the Empire. I can guarantee you that she isn't even from here."
His gaze turned serious as he stared straight at Joshua, "You said that your father told you that she was a daughter of a friend that he found in an orphanage. While I cannot say anything on the validity of that, if we assume that is true, then the orphanage she was at was not in the Empire. That much is a fact. It is there that she learned how to fight the way she can."
He paused for several moments to let that sink in before he added, "The question then becomes: why would they teach the children there to fight like that and for what purpose ultimately? Since she was strapped in a bed when she arrived it's clear that your father knew how dangerous she was right from the start. I'm guessing that, on the way here, she was disciplined heavily by the people your father hired and received even stricter discipline when she got here. That's why she didn't defend herself against you when you attacked her the first time. However, that was lifted, at least somewhat lifted, since then. Your father was probably worried that you would ruin her before she could benefit your family."
Joshua frowned as he looked deep in thought. Dornom and Vargol were strangely quiet as they considered his words.
But Rictor wasn't done with his analysis here, "The entire time we fought her, until the very end, she was holding back when she fought us. It's clear that we were just toys in her eyes."
He crossed his arms as he went to finish his argument, "She was most likely told to act as your sister Josh. That explains why she was acting so friendly to us before. However, given how she fights and her expression once she started fighting, I have to conclude that she is a psychopath. The military will love her but if you cross her carelessly she will kill you and make it look like an accident. Do not think of her as a Human. Consider her a predator while all of us are just prey to her. That is why I say we should avoid her."
He looked back at Vargol and said, "As to letting her be? No way. We need more information on her ourselves. But we cannot be the ones to act out against her. It's too risky for Josh because he lives with her."
Vargol squared his shoulders and looked displeased at what Rictor said. However, he couldn't think of anything to refute it as all the evidence was placed in his face. He merely spoke in a disapproving tone as he asked, "So what do you suggest we do then? Get someone else to do it for us?"
Rictor nodded his head and replied instantly, "That's exactly what I'm suggesting. But no one in our grade would do any good. I suggest we get some seniors to do the probing for us." He then grinned viciously, "I happen to know a couple seniors who owe me a favor. How about I ask them to do it in our place?"
