Chrono X Angel, Book 6: Branching Paths

Chapter 2

In order to clear her head, Modred made her way down to the science labs where she had the ooze sample sent earlier. As she walked, Modred contemplated the events from earlier in the day, and Kasumi's flight. The Knight did not understand why she might have fled from her, but a part of her wondered if it was not somehow connected to the odd pink substance she had slipped in after she had lost sight of the elusive girl. The GARDNA science labs had not been able to accurately identify exactly what it was, though it was determined to be an organic compound and not some manner of regular adhesive.

"So it's... alive?" She had asked the scientist in charge of this particular assignment.

"Not exactly, this little blob isn't but it's definitely part of something bigger that was. It's like nothing I've ever seen before though... fascinating."

It was for this reason, to find out what Kasumi might be up to, that Modred had assembled Sarah, Rei and Nonami into her office the next morning. She had a new assignment for the three of them, one she knew they might not enjoy too well.

"Yer sendin' us undercover in a HIGH SCHOOL??" Bellowed Sarah incredulously, "Listen Modred, I know some of us might look th' part, especially N'nami, but as soon as any of us open our mouths someone's gonna know we ain't teenagers! As fer Kob'yashi, I'm sorry but no one's mistakin' her for a kid. No offense, Kob'yashi."

"None, uh, taken?"

Modred cocked an eyebrow in subtle amusement. She had expected this reaction from Sarah, and a perfect comeback.

"And here I thought the legendary infiltration expert Sarah O'Malley would relish the opportunity. Teens aren't exactly hard to imitate Sarah, just avoid using outdated memes and you should be fine. As for Rei, she will be disguising herself as a substitute gym teacher while the current one is... ahem, busy."

The Banshee grumbled at Modred's admonishment, but deep down knew she had a point. She had certainly hung around Usoko enough to be able to somewhat accurately act like her. The harder part would be dropping her accent.

"I'm guessing you've already made the preparations then, Ms. Pendragon?" Inquired Nonami, "So what is our purpose here to be? Recon?"

Modred nodded.
"You and Sarah will pose as siblings recently transferring in. Your codenames for the mission will be Yume and Yuki Shirogami respectively. Rei, yours will be Asuka Kobayakawa. Your mission is simple enough. You two will spy on the Occult Studies club and figure out what's going on there. Rei, you will use your position as a teacher to observe all the students and see if any others exhibit any... odd behaviors. Kasumi Ichinose is our main person of interest here, but don't let that distract you from any other potential leads or people of interest, alright?"

The three girls nodded, Sarah albeit reluctantly, and quickly changed into their green and white uniforms. They were a traditional sailor suit style, and even Nonami found herself blushing a little in embarrassment. The style looked as though it had been ripped straight from an anime. Nonami was a little sad that she would have to forgo her braid for now, as she needed to style her hair more appropriately for her disguise, but knew she could redo it later. Pieter, rest his soul, would certainly understand. Sarah however was far more reluctant to change her hairstyle.

"Nuh uh, I can't do it," she declared firmly when asked to straighten out her unique hair spikes. Nonami had always wondered about them, but had never given it too much thought as Spirits were known to be able to change their appearance at will.

"And why exactly not?" Inquired Modred, puzzled, "Sarah, you stand out as it is, but with those spikes..."

"They aren't just 'spikes', it's me comb!" She replied, a bit sharply, "Every Banshee has one, gets manifested th'same time we come into existence. Each one just as cursed as any other. Should a non-Banshee touch it, that being'll die by year's end. I keep mine wrapped up in m'hair cause it's th' safest place fer it. Keep it on me an' in a way I can't lose it unless I tried. If I lost m'comb, an' someone found it and died cause of me, I'd feel just horrendous. That's why I do this, y'understand?