Rising in a female world (infinite stratos X male reader; Vol 1)

Chapter 19: Pushing forward

A/N: Chapter 19 is here. I really need to read more of the light novel because I'll have to tie things back with the main plot soon.

Chapter 19 Pushing forward

You woke up shivering. After running away you ended up falling asleep on a park bench. It wasn't a long sleep and the night was still young enough that people were still walking around you.

Because of the position you had slept in, your neck was stiff. This has turned into an issue. You only had the backpack with the research up to the point Tabane had begun trying to give you the answer. And unfortunately the part left behind was the most important.

"Gahhhh!" you screamed, getting some weird looks from passers-by.

After that outburst you sat down. You had no money to your name and returning didn't seem like an option. But there was something you could do to get the rest of the research. Have someone else do it. Have Chifuyu get it.

But that brought up the issue of contacting her. Although that had a relatively simple solution. Especially since getting locked up was no longer such a big factor. So you adjusted your backpack and started walking.

It took a while to get to the academy and the wait for the morning was still going to be long, since classes started rather late. The temperature was not helping, but luckily running laps around the street proved effective.

You entered and went to the restroom to freshen up somewhat. Then you decided to skip classes altogether and move into one of the labs you knew would be empty.

You logged in and began writing an email. Luckily the email being traced back to this computer and the academy was not an issue. You didn't want to drag them through more problems after all.

As you were about to send the message the door opened. You quickly pulled up the screen saver and turned around to see Lloyd walking through the door with ALL his equipment.

You jumped up to help him and managed to safely place the components on the table. He didn't really stop working but did notice your help.

"There you were. I was really scared about working without a compatible subject." he said.

"I've had some slight issues yesterday, but I also managed to go through some of the documentation and code at least." you replied, trying to ignore the term used to describe you.

"Let's hook you up. We have about three days left to get this working." Lloyd said, basically pulling you down with him.

You mentally shrugged. It had been your plan to return after all. So in the end all was still just according to keikaku (A/N: keikaku means plan). Lloyd connected everything and the slightly boring process of you going through moves and him tweaking settings began just like two days ago.

After a while the moves were pretty smooth and Lloyd clapped his hands excitedly before unhooking you.

"So fine movements are pretty good. That's a good amount of progress!"

"Can I see the code a little. I might have some ideas." you asked.

"Go for it. And then prepare to move the dial to 11. Let's see how far we can push this!" Lloyd excitedly declared.

"But don't we run the risk of running into issues?"

"We have quite a margin of error because I was lucky enough to get such a good tester replacement." came the answer, alongside a dismissive wave.

You shrugged and created a copy of the code. While the project had been your idea as well the line between confidence and recklessness was thin.

Lloyd left, taking a few things with him. He had probably been asked for daily updates and he also needed to keep up with paperwork to be let inside the IS Academy. Knowing him your papers were also being made.