Eleven: The Sequel of AlterMyth

The Calm Before The Storm

Prologue

After Irys and Mumei shook hands in the Army Infirmary, the preparations for Operation Telstar went into full swing. In less than a few hours, soldiers from Mumei's and Kronii's units started appearing in the Infirmary with all sorts of equipment in tow. The soldiers brought in an absolute melange of things that Irys had never seen before in her life.

Irys and Bae watched the procession of things being brought in. The Victorian Era Nephilim innocently pestered the rat-girl to tell her what each and every single thing was. Bae, as annoyed as she was, put up with Irys' curiosity and answered as best as she possibly could: from M16 rifles to NATO code manuals to film projectors to stacks upon stacks of film reels and vinyl records.

Out of all the things that the MACV troops brought in, the vinyl records were what piqued Irys' interest the most. She picked a Dean Martin record from one of the stacks and regarded it with fascination.

"You're telling me these things play sounds, Bae!?" Irys gasped, turning the record to Side A, then side B and back again, "How in the world...!?"

Bae scratched the back of her head. Aside from military hardware, Bae was out of touch with technology that she didn't carry into battle. Naturally, the nitty gritty stuff about vinyl records flew over Bae's head and her rat's ears.

All of a sudden, Major Omega appeared among the soldiers. She cradled a record player in her arms and gladly answered the curious Nephilim.

"This is the machine that plays the vinyl records, Miss Irys." Omega spoke with surprising casualness, "See the grooves on the disks?"

Irys and Bae looked closely at the disk and nodded.

"The record player's pin runs through those grooves. They tell the machine what sounds to make." Omega continued her explanation proudly, moving her free mechanical hand to the beat of a song in her mind, "Music imprinted into vinyl, just like how music is imprinted in the human heart."

Imprinted in the human heart, huh?

"You alright, Major?" Bae raised her eyebrow, "I didn't know you could get so sentimental."

Major Omega, the normally stone-faced, commandeering officer, finally caught herself rambling passionately about music. Her once-perpetual poker face crumbled for a moment and the beginnings of a blush painted her fair cheeks and the tips of her ears. She cleared her throat, reverted back to her hardened persona and tried to save face.

However, Mumei popped up behind her carrying boxes of ammunition. The owl-girl overheard the conversation and grinned cheekily.

"You may not know it, but Major Omega was pretty dorky way back when she was a Lieutenant! Especially when it comes to music!" Mumei teased her commanding officer, "I've got all sorts of stories if you want."

"Lieutenant Nanashi!" Omega tried to snap, but her voice didn't come out as sharply as she would have wanted it to.

"C'mon, Mumei." Kronii followed after the owl-girl now, carrying a strange device with a wheel attached to it, "Save the chit-chat for later."

"Okay, Kronii~!" Mumei obediently followed, leaving the stiff and flustered Major alone for now.

Omega heaved a long, hard sigh, adjusted her grip on the record player she cradled and turned to Irys and Bae.

"Conference Room in 30 minutes - at the top of the hour. Don't be late." The Major gave her orders. She made an about face and rejoined the convoy of MACV soldiers bringing things in.

Irys tilted her head and hummed, "The Major has a cute side to her too, huh?"

"Eh? You really think so!?" Bae protested.