Kiru walked down the corridor. Today was finally the day they were going to infiltrate the capital. Over the last few days she had been practicing the mission in the simulator with her classmates. They had made some refinements to the plans. Mostly on the boat that would be delivering them to the town. It was registered as a passenger liner. One that was placed as up for sale, and was being bid on by several interested parties. One of which already won, and this was going to be the last cruise it made before going private. As for the buyer, it was naturally Megumi, and all the parties were her as well.

One thing they were going to do shortly after getting into town was to secure new routes for getting more infiltrators down to the surface undetected. There was a lot to investigate after all, and they could only get so far with just a handful. The more agents they could get into key positions the faster they could get the information they desired. 

Infiltration practice and planning wasn’t the only thing she had done over the last few days. She had also gotten herself familiar with the VR pods and what they could do. Simply put, they could do anything she could imagine and more. They allowed the user to experience virtually anything imaginable, even things she had never considered or thought possible. Although she had a feeling she had only scratched the surface of what they could do.  During her free time she had been exploring the astounding games it had to offer. They had proven interesting to play, some more fun than others. It was a shame she would not be able to play for a while.

She put those thoughts aside as she stepped into the gate room, where Megumi was waiting. Surprisingly, also in the room was Melia, who was staring at the gate with interest. Megumi noticed her gaze, and commented, “Melia simply wanted to see a stargate in operation. I, on the other hand, have a few things to say before you leave. First may I ask if you have made a decision about Ava’s offer.”

Kiru shook her head. She had thought about it, but it was a big decision. One part of her very much wanted to take command of a ship like this. It tickled her girlhood senses, but the prospect of not seeing her home or serving her people left her with trepidation. As such she was left adrift, with no idea which she should pick.

Megumi sighed, “I was afraid you would say that.” then she pulled something out, “Although, just in case, it might be best that we start on your education now. In many respects it’s lacking by Solean standards, but that isn’t your fault. I’ve loaded up an accelerated schooling program on this portable VR headset, appropriate for your general level of education and ability. Although, since I am not familiar with Neku schooling practices, I modeled the program after a Solean school. As for use, merely put it on before going to bed, it has been set to interact with your sleeping mind. For you, it will feel like a very vivid dream.”

Kiru gave her a look, and then glanced at the headset. Questions already blazing in her mind. Something about this felt... weird. Hesitantly she took the proffered headset, and asked, “Don’t you...”

Megumi interrupted, evidently having anticipated what she was going to ask, “have access to a number of your brethren to ask? Yes. Did I? Not really. While I did use a neural interface to interrogate them. I didn’t just look at everything they know. I tried to respect their privacy where I could. I avoided early memories like schooling entirely.”

That actually made a certain amount of sense. “I see.” she glanced back at the set, “I think this might be useful.” Although little did Kiru realize that she would later regret not asking more about the program. Instead she chose to change the subject. “Anyway, you said Melia is here to observe? What part of gate operation is she interested in?”

Megumi shrugged, “Not really sure. I think she mainly wanted to see one in use. Although to be fair I didn’t ask.”

“Why not?”

“Her reasons for being here aren’t all that important. Anyway you need to get going, we have a schedule to keep.”

Kiru nodded, and said, “Yes, right. Bye, catch up later!”

Then she rushed along to join her classmates. Just in time for the gate to activate. A swirling portal of blue-green energy that would instantly deliver her to its counterpart gate on the planet below.

Kiru stepped through the gate with her closest friends May, and Qei. She counted them among the good things that happened to her after encountering Megumi. Kiru did have to admit there was also something between her and Megumi. Although she wasn’t sure what that was, not quite yet. Kiru still hadn’t quite figured out what had led to them having sex that one time. The mere thought of that encounter got her a little hot, and if she was honest, she would have admitted not minding having another one. Not that one would be happening soon. Perhaps when she got back.

Her thoughts on that came to an abrupt halt when she noted her surroundings. The architecture was familiar, but what had drawn her attention wasn’t the structure. No, it was the view outside the ‘window’. The gate room was located at the top of a central tower that had a single glass dome for walls and roof. This provided her with a fantastic view of what could only be described as a city. It had a large central hub, and several attached outer hubs. Flowing metal structures gleamed under the light of a shimmering blue dome of energy. That dome being what caught her attention the most. It covered the entire city, and it was clearly holding back the weight of the lightless oceans above. Keeping the city dry, and safe for those here. It was a rather fantastic sight.

Qei suddenly said, “An impressive sight isn’t it?”

She nodded, and then a thought occurred to her, “What if the shield fails?”

“If the main generator fails, a back up would engage. A system that important naturally has multiple layers of redundancy,” replied Qei.

May nodded, “Not to mention that each section of the city here would have its own shields as well. So even if the main shield did somehow fail, we should still be safe as long as the secondary shields hold.”

“I guess that makes sense. Out of curiosity, would you two know what would happen if, by some chance, both the main, and secondary shields failed?”

“Automatic systems would deploy a hard pressure dome around the city in the event that imminent shield failure was detected. The empire values safety and reliability afterall. Not to mention it was specified in the outpost plans that Megumi made available to us. Did you not at least peruse them?” said Qei

Sheepishly she shook her head, “I was... preoccupied with other things.”

May nodded, “Yeah you seemed really in love with the simulators. Everytime we looked you were playing with them.”

Qei sighed, “Yeah you were spending perhaps a bit too much time in the simulators. Then again those things are known to be addictive. Maybe being away from the ship for awhile would be good for you.”

Kiru gave them both a look, “you two are making it sound like I’m addicted to them or something!”

Qei gestured towards the door, and they started walking. While May interjected, “Well, they are known to be addictive...”

Qei just nodded.

She found herself letting out a breath, but she didn’t feel like arguing with her friends. Especially when they already seemed convinced she was an addict. No amount of words was going to change their minds, she was sure of that. Kiru figured it would pass. It never occurred to her that they were merely teasing her. Besides, they had to get to the city’s port in time to catch their ship. While it could technically wait for them, they had a schedule to keep. One that had already been made, and it was best to stick to it.

They soon were talking about other things on their way to the city’s port where the transport that Megumi had arranged was waiting. The change in topic was very much a relief for Kiru. Instead much of the conversation was on the short sail into the capital. Something Kiru was very much looking forward to.

It wasn’t long before they reached the harbor. Kiru couldn’t help but stop and look around. Gawking like a tourist, but in many respects she very much was a tourist. Not to mention the harbor had this out of place feeling. Especially when you considered the fact that the city was at the bottom of an ocean. Yet its port looked not unlike those of any port town on the surface. It even had water where a few ships floated, docked to the piers. One ship in particular caught her eye because it looked like a typical Neku passenger liner.

Naturally she knew it was not. In fact she already knew it was holographic trickery, and the ship was more akin to a sub. Although since the projectors were active Kiru was unable to determine what it actually looked like. Everything she knew about it was what little Megumi shared. Admittedly that wasn’t much. She knew it had shields and a strong hull, but knew nothing of its engine configuration or weaponry. In fact she didn’t even know if it was armed. Although if things went to plan they wouldn’t need any weapons.

She didn’t have long to look, and at the prompting of Qei she rushed to board the ship. Once aboard she would have time to ask a few questions, and look around. They wouldn’t be arriving for a few hours anyway, but they did need to be aboard so the ship could depart on schedule.