Sector Seven Hallways

Lambda after leaving Maro to her work closed the door behind her and began to wander the halls of the labratory, wondering where she should go next, the professor had left to go  to Kagutsuchi and she hadnt left any orders regarding her and so after she replaced her visor she began to float aimlessly around the intricate set of hallways that connected the various parts of sector seven. She noticed the lack of people and checked her built in clock and it read 23:30pm and she nodded at that which made sense why there was no one around and that suited her fine she didnt have to keep up her act.

Some few feet away from Lambda, sparks and a rift leading into the boundary opened, and out came the Murakumo Es, who was still a bit startled from Kokonoe`s appearance.
However, seeing her new location, she wasn´t sure if she just got out of the frying pan or landed in a crematorium. This place seemed oddly familiar, and the smell too felt like it was the same she had sensed when she first arrived in this world.
As her head turned to look around, she saw the blonde girl nearby, and her sensors went ape. Most processes in her brain where halted as she tried to comprehend what she saw before her- someome similar to herself, but everything about her was so alien and uncommon, she had trouble realizing who or what she was facing there.

She looked behind her upon sensing someone or something had warped in and spun around and gaped as she sensors indicated that this girl in front of her was similar to herself but predated any models or her series she had known "Who...are you?!" she was startled but regained her composture quickly and was scanning the girl to determine exactly what she was although this much was clear, she was not a normal human girl.

Es was unable to answer, her mind wasn´t done fully comprehending Lambda yet. As she did, she began to spout random information about Lambda.
"Hardened Tritanium combat armor- Deuterium fusion powered energy system- ultraviolet, alpha, gamma, theta and beta ray vision- enhanced muscle mass- subdermal kevlar armor- nanite aided regeneration- eighty-seven-terabyte harddrive memory space- seventy petaflop quantum computer aiding the neutal network..." Finally, she snapped out of it, blinking and looking a bit frightened. "Wh..who are... you?"

Lambda blinked as she heard the girl state her internal information and walked closer to her "Umm...I'm the Prime field interface unit number eleven, Lambda-11 to be precise, and who are you, you seem to be like me but much older" her scans coming up with information that cannot be correct "Designation Es-N?!" She looked the girl up and down and smiled a little "Would you happen to be the original line of Murakumos?" she blinked at the girl and was hoping that she was right, she was excited to meet one of originals from before the dark war.

Es was as frightened as can be, seeing the far superior being before her. The girl seemed friendly now, but that could easily turned around in a matter of moments.
She tried to look Lambda into the eyes, but she was too scared and looked at her neck instead.
"No. No... My Designation is Boundary Interface Prime Field Unit Embryo Storage, Prototype model. The Embryo storage-New models were made after the testing on me was complete... and... you look a lot like them, just with longer hair and smaller chest.."
She tried not to insult her but the difference was striking at best. Unfortunately her spartial transport wasn`t ready yet as it had drained her energy, and nothing in the near vincinity could be used as something like a weapon.

Lambda could see that the girl was terrified of her and she sighed lightly before nodding "Oh okay, but still records indicate that your line was completely eradicated during the dark war, how did you survive?" she wasnt insulted by the girls observation and actually agreed with her on the small chest department, she could see the fear in the girls eyes from meeting the successor to her kind.

Es slowly raised her head as Lambda still not gave off any hostility.
"One of them was left when i went into the boundary with the being known as the Black Beast to try and console it there.. but then something brought it out, and i was left behind. Since i had no means of return on my own with my energy depleted i stayed there until this cat lady named Kokonoe discovered me."
She shivered with fear.
"My scans say that happened not too far from here."

Lambda nodded slightly "It seems mankind couldnt leave well enough alone, humanity was decimated and the planet layed to waste when it emerged, if you dont mind me asking was the black beast always like that or was it something else before?" she was curious as this girl was part of the past, part of a time long since gone and brought into a new age with no knowledge of the world. She was also sure that the black beast was something that was created by man and not by natural means.

Es was a bit more relaxed, but still hard on the edge as Lambda`s questions continued.
"...It used to be a young man i really liked. Then the Grimiore that was given to him, consumed him, and as his soul was no longer able to restrain his power he became that thing." Thats all Es could say to it, afterall, she wasn´t even aware what the Black Beast actually was, or what it did to the world.

Lambda nodded at the news that it was humanitys fault that the world nearly ended and looked at her with a little pity "He was released fifty years later by accident and decimated humanity...the world as you knew it came to an end a century ago.." she could relate to the girl a little and smiled at her sensing that she had relaxed a bit "Am I making you uncomfortable Es?" she was worried for the girl.

Es shook her head, but it was true, the location, situation and the girl herself was making her uncomfortable. The sheer unimagineable power that this being before her had was quite unbelievable to her.
"Its just... this place... i`ve never been here before until today but... it seems so...f...familiar..."

"Let me get you out of these rags first, Es. A princess like you shouldn´t be wearing something like this."
The voice of her creator seemed to come from the hallway, but it was merely a strong memory. Still, she shook where she stood.

Lambda sighs as she looks at the girl "Oh okay...I'm sorry..I will go now" turning her back on the girl and wondered what was making her so nervous, maybe it was bad memories of her creation her own kind didnt have such nice origins either. She turns around and noticed she was shaking slightly and moved a little closer, reaching out to touch her shoulder to comfort her knowing what it was like to be so confused.

"Don´t worry about it. This grimiore is the latest, state of the art technology- you´ll be fine."
Es held her head and looked around, slowly, it all got more and more familiar to her.
"You made a friend, Es? Thats quite lovely. How many Progressors did you extinquish today?"

She snapped out of it as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and although she reached for Murakumo, it was not there... a hostile glance shot at Lambda soon softened up and got a bit tearful.
"I`m sorry. Its not you... its this place. This place is... is..."
She gasped as she thought that Unomaru would be coming up behind Lambda- but it was just a lavender haired woman, which looked a little bit like him.

Lambda looked sorry for the girl and tried to give her a hug and was glad that most of her memories during her creation and testing were deleted by the professor "If you want we could go someplace that doesnt remind you of...I assume is your creation" she noticed the girl before her was scared out of her wits and didnt notice the woman that was coming up behind her.

Es slowly nodded, staring into the hallway as Cajun Faycott walked by, patting Lambda on the shoulder and ignoring Es, suppressing her urge to gather data about her.
As she was gone, Es spoke up quietly.
"Anywhere but this place..."

Lambda thinks for a minute before she smiled a little and took Es's hand and turned to her "Well we have two options, we can go to the room the gave me in the dorm area or we can leave and go someplace else, I have somewhere in mind" she would leave it to the girl to decide, she was the one that didnt want to be here any longerand the dorms looked nothing like the rest of the sector.

Es nodded to her, feeling her heart race the more she was in this place. She was hyperventilating a bit, and the voices of her memories won´t stop.
"Outside... somewhere..." She muttered, biting her lip to try and focus. Her tiny hand held Lambdas rather tightly, guided by fear.

Lambda felt the grip on her hand and smiled as she embraced the girl lightly before she warped them to the Librarius district of Kagutchi, more specifically a quieter corner of the public park out of the way to let the girl calm down, she was concerned for the girl and guided them to a nearby park bench to sit and relax "Is this better?"

Es had to calm down for a minute, but then she answered with a simple nod, as the voices had stopped and the flow of memories were cut off.
"Yes... yes, this is better. Thank you."
She let go of Lambda, sitting down on the park bench and sighing deeply.
"It was that place afterall.. Somewhere near that location i must´ve been created... i can`t remember where, it was too long ago, but somewhere around that area.."
Mitsuba Sector laboratories, Department Seven.
Sector. Seven.
It all matched in her head.

Mai nodded and opened the can, drinking it all in one go, before setting the can down, taking a deep breath and letting it out.
"Noel, before... before this, back in the acadamy days, since the first day we´ve met- i´ve been lying to you. I`m not actually a girl, i´m... i was, a boy, until four days before i enlisted. When i was going through my father´s library to study as a sucessor to the Hazuki family... yes, Mai Hazuki is my real name, another thing i´ve been lying about- a grimiore disguised as a book fell into my hands and i foolishly opened it, not realizing what it was. It... knocked me out i think, i fell off the ladder i was on, and when i came to i.."

Mai swallowed hard.

"I was like i am now. My father never cared for a girl. I heard he had a few girls before, and gave them away after childbirth because he demanded a sucessor to him, a male... when i was born though he wasn´t quite satisifed until i would be a worthy head of the family. ....when i became a girl, i knew that my time had come, i couldn´t stay there any longer... so i changed my name, birthplace, and altered some of my history to enlist in the acadamy as Mai Natsume.... You... you guys always believed i was a girl, trusted me, and showed me so much i needed to know, while i never had the guts to tell any of you what i really was..."

She broke off there, close to the verge of tears, and hid her face in her hands, sobbing a little bit.

"T-time passed, and... i´ve learned to a-accept this... as it is... Hormones aside i never changed who i was though, Taro was a crush but i couldn´t feel attracted to him... my body is a woman, but my mind is a guy."

"...Oh."

Noel couldn't help but feel her heart break seeing Mai like this. Seeing her crying like this...it was too much too bear.

Without even thinking about it, Noel drew the bluenette into her arms, her usual kind smile on her face as she rubbed her friend's back soothingly. She was understandably saddened that Mai didn't tell them all this before, but she also understood that it must've been hard for her as well.

"It's okay, Mai." the blonde spoke in a gentle voice "To be honest, I don't really care. Yes, hearing this is shocking, but guy or girl...you're still Mai Natsume. The girl I consider among my closest friends."

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she spoke this last part "The girl I...I..."

Her timidity worked against her, as usual. The poor girl was struggling to get the rest of her confession out.

Mai closed her eyes and swallowed hard, before wrapping her arms around Noel`s waist and pulling her in close, her hand coming up to cup her back and hold her there- if Noel couldn´t say it, she´d need to calm her down, so Mai did the best she could to do so.She held her close enough to feel her heartbeat thumping out of her tiny chest, the bluenettes head resting on the blondes shoulder affectionally, while she rubbed her back a little.
"Thank you so much, Noel." She breathed out, her breath brushing against the blondes ear.
"Please, say it now... i think i´m ready for it." Ready for what the words mean, maybe. For what the consequences would be- likely not.

"The...girl I love."

There, she had said it. Noel Vermillion had finally admitted her feelings toward Mai. She was quite sorry that it took this long, and yet...she could not help but feel at bliss, being held in her arms like this.

"I..." the girl continued, feeling emboldened by the encouragement "I love you, Mai. I really do."

Mai bit her lip and drew Noel even closer, as much as her weakened arms allowed her at the moment, and nuzzled her ear with her nose gently.
"I love you too, Noel.. thank you.. for saying it..."
A knot untangled in her throat, and the tears that were coming up earlier had died down. Instead, she had a swell of happiness inside herself, she wanted to stand up and make out with her on the spot, but.. something told her she´d collapse if she got out of this chair. Not just because her legs felt like pudding after that confession.
"The..the only one i could trust as far as this... you." She whispered, her hands gently stroking the exposed area of her back, not quite daring to kiss her now, even though kissing was Mai´s thing, definitely.