Cross Ange: The Knight of Hilda

Chapter 12: Angelsong

Like her predecessor, Jasmine preferred to do all business out on the sales floor where she could keep an eye on both the merchandise and the customers. As such, the management office for Arzenal's mall was little more than a large walk in closet dominated by rows of cabinets containing hard copies of sales records, back orders, and customer tabs. The Inspector had often complained about how long it took to track something down but Jasmine had a dislike of those datapad gadgets. Their files could be hacked into, altered, and you'd never even know it. At least with a good solid lock you could tell when someone had broken in. But a paper trail was not what Jasmine was searching for right now. Amidst the boxes of aprons, cleaning supplies, and junk scattered around the floor; something very important had been hidden. And she desperately needed to find it. Damn it where is it? she cursed. Rio was waiting for her and she couldn't put it off any more. Behind her, Vulcan whined and Jasmine turned to glare at him.

"No I didn't lose it!" she snapped. "I just...don't know where it is. Don't give me that look!" Jasmine took a look around the cluttered room and an idea came to her. "Vulcan sweetie," she sang, "could you do Mama a favor?" Vulcan sat down and casually scratched at this ear with his back leg. Unbelievable, but Jasmine didn't have time to argue. "I'll give you three burgers. Take it or leave it." Vulcan thought it over, then perked up and wagged his tail. Now that they had an agreement, Jasmine reached up to a nearby shelf and pulled out a locked box. It had been the first place she had looked but unfortunately it had yielded no result. But something else in here might. Reaching in, Jasmine pulled out a string of smoothed pebbles and held it out to her dog's snout. "Get the scent," she told him. "Now find it." Vulcun took in the bracelet's scent and then began snuffling around the room. Hopefully, by the time she got back he would have found it.

Thankfully, the rest of the day had gone on without incident. After his "interrogation" of Ange and Hilda, Bronson had shown him around to the infirmary where one of the pilots from second squad, Chelsea, was being treated for the second degree burn on her arm. In another bed, a girl from third squad lay in traction, her arm (according to her chart) having to be surgically reattached when an attack by a Brig-class punctured the hull of her Glaive. Even if her arm recovered enough to regain the minimum amount of mobility to pilot a Para-mail, Rio knew she'd still have months of recovery to achieve that. And in that time, Arzenal's administration would fine a million cash for each day she missed active duty. This place needs to burn, he thought. But at least Maggie kept his time there from being boring. Jasmine was right in that she had a talent for getting under a person's skin. While there, the smell of whiskey on her breath was so strong he could smell it a meter away and the Inspector had admonished her for it. So in retaliation, Maggie had called her over, cut a glance in his direction, and whispered something that made Bronson's face flush as red as a tomato before half fleeing out the door.

"What did you say to her?" he had asked. Maggie gave a shrug.

"I simply asked how she liked being under an officer of your caliber. Or if she'd rather be over you." After that, Bronson had escorted him to the various training facilities; the flight simulators, the obstacle course, and the shooting range. The later of which was being used by the first squad. Salia he had to admit was an impressive shot scoring up to a 98% on semi-auto and up to 80% on full auto. The rest of the squad though left a bit to be desired. Vivian, the youngest of them, was the only one who shot close to Salia's level. Two others, Chris and Rosalie, did alright on semi but their full-auto scores were atrocious. They also tensed up considerably when he stood behind them. No wonder they were benched without Hilda and Ange, he thought. Then there was Ersha, the girl who had been coaching the schoolchildren from earlier. She had the lowest of the entire squad, though Rio assumed that it wasn't entirely her fault. It seemed to him as though her center of balance was a tad off compared to her squad mates. Also, though he couldn't be sure, he felt as though she were keeping an eye on him for some reason.