Welcome to Gaia! ::

Although he had won the bet against Fae-Fae, Cypher wasn’t inclined to believe that it was anything short of luck that allowed him to hit the center target not once, but three times. With her promotion to Corporal, she clearly had more experiences here on Earth than he had been granted but with her level of charisma, he couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting her around.

Her weapon was indeed impressive, especially with the added upgrades. The targets he had set up might disagree with how easily her bolts destroyed them, but that was the point of their training session. Better to have found out with just the two of them that the material he brought was insufficient than to learn with a larger crowd who would no doubt judge him for not testing the training area for such variances.

Still, even though after two rounds, Cypher was certain that their shooting average would have produced a more accurate score that reflected their capabilities, and thus if the bout had gone on longer, Fae-Fae should have won their bet easily. Fortunately, her request at least sounded simple enough; to retrieve a tomato from Andreiya’s greenhouse.

Be it as it may, he hadn’t spoken with their fellow comrade since their arrival and was not privy to the reason why Fae-Fae had wanted him to retrieve a tomato for her instead of approaching Andreiya herself. But Cypher sought out the greenhouse regardless, hoping to ask for one to offer as a gift for her help a couple of weeks ago.

When he arrived, Cypher knocked on the door and waited patiently outside; if Andreiya wasn’t here then he’d simply reach out via ComTech and set up an appointment to speak with him since this wasn’t anything of high importance as opposed to a nice gesture.


[quote"Kyuseisha no Hikari"]

It was clear by his own demeanor that Cypher was incredibly confused by Andreiya’s look of alarm and worried questions. Out of concern, he turned to follow his comrade’s line of sight, hand placed on the blaster that hung from his hip in case he had unknowingly been followed.

Fortunately, the only living thing behind him was a pair of crows chatting away with one another.

“No,” Cypher’s head shook slightly as his stance relaxed considerably before returning his attention back to Andreiya. “Fortunately I’m not in any trouble.” At least not in the sense that he was at risk of bodily danger. In regards to his standing in the Vanguard, however, that was up for debate.

Aside from Fys, only Fae-Fae had spoken to him and even that was by chance rather than necessity.

“I actually came to ask a favor of you,” He stepped inside the greenhouse and paused to marvel at the variety of plants Andreiya had been growing. “Or to offer an exchange,” Cypher hesitantly added. A significant amount of hard work must have been put into his current project that it would be presumptuous of him to consider he might be given a tomato for free.

“It’s my understanding that you have grown something that Fae-Fae is rather fond of. It seems she’s taken a liking to one of your tomato plants,” Cypher eyed the one nearest to them; oddly yet somehow conveniently placed so that perhaps a certain Corporal could stop by for a small snack.

“I was wondering if you might have one that is ripe enough that I may have. She had helped me with someone recently and I would like to show my appreciation.”

His own research was progressing at a reasonable pace and had led him down an interesting rabbit hole, as the humans called it. One that incidentally involved carnival games. Rather than having stationary targets, these moved… more like rocked from left to right. But more intriguingly was that when hit, they fell backward. Hopefully, by implementing a similar feature to his current range, the targets he had acquired would have more longevity when put against a blaster like the one Fae-Fae wielded.

“Hmm?” He looked at the brilliantly red tomato and shook his head. “No, not yet.” Since that Senshi offered him the sticky covered apple that got his jaw stuck when he bit into it, Cypher had become far pickier, if not selective of what he ate.

“Had Fae-Fae won, I’d be here because she had asked. However, given the outcome of the game…” Kind of felt odd calling it that since it was more of a training exercise with a wager placed on the outcome of it. “I had decided to try and fulfill her request since it’s something she had expressed liking.”

“If there is something I could do to assist you in exchange for one, I would be grateful.”

Cy had only come looking for one and now he held two.

“Admittedly she didn't go into much detail about them. Most of our conversation was related to training and testing new upgrades that were added to her blaster. My last opportunity to use mine was met with abysmal aim and so she had assisted me with practicing.” He left out the part that he was trying to build a training ground area if only because he was concerned that if other Vanguards knew of it that they would become impatient for its completion or disappointed by the minimal progress he had made thus far. Or perhaps worse, completely uninterested which would ultimately mean that he had been wasting his time.

He brought the tomato up and sniffed it all the while half expecting it to smell sweet like the apple he’d been given. “Is it edible as is or does it need to be cooked?” If preparation was required then he was out of luck since Earth culinary cooking was beyond his expertise.

If eating the tomato raw as suggested would possibly cause a mess then Cypher would have preferred to wait until he was back in his own room before trying a bite. But with Andreiya’s expectant gaze he felt obligated to try a bite now. The first bite was clearly hesitant as he anticipated it being either overwhelmingly sweet or sticky.

He expected a crunch-like sound but was surprised, if not a bit confused, at how much softer the tomato was when compared to fruits of similar size. The taste was equally unexpected but not unpleasant. A bit seedy and kind of watery but he understood why Fae-Fae liked them so much.

Organic foods had a much better taste than ones that were processed or had artificial colors and flavors.

“It is- quite delicious. Thank you.” Cypher finished the last few bites of his tomato before addressing Andreiya’s other questions.

“Admittedly I’m not certain how her blaster functioned prior to her promotion.” He assumed it was much like his own but they did not speak nor fight alongside one another in the ambush since everyone was spread out around the various generators. “But the power behind her current one is strong enough to give me reason to either watch from a distance or look over my shoulder.” That first blast had nearly knocked her over.

Impressive that she held fast to it with the kickback it generated and he genuinely thought that she might have shot him with a second bolt if he had been behind her and the mechanics didn’t have the safety feature of a cooldown between shots.

“Admittedly I could benefit from more practice; the gravity here is… strange. And I haven’t kept up with training as much as I would have if we were back on Velencya.”

“As long as I engage them while powered, I haven’t had any problems with the humans. I have enrolled in their school system and have taken some in-person and couple of online courses. One of the other students had assisted me in obtaining an internship.” It was his understanding that most did not pay until the intern had become a designated employee of the company, fortunately, the one he was hired at did offer compensation for his assistance while providing hands-on experiences in his chosen field.

“The only other instance where I’ve engaged with the Senshi born to this world is when one of their Knights sent out a signal requesting aid. The Wonder with which they belong, or a guardian of, had become corrupted. I, and two other Cadets, helped along with several other White Moon individuals.” By his count, there were over ten at least, perhaps close to twenty if he’d guessed. None were hostile towards them and if anything the Knight seemed appreciative of the help.

“I’m ashamed to admit that I was unable to help as much as I'd have liked. But the experience has served as motivation for me to invest more time in redeveloping old routines.” No less than an hour a day devoted to training be it in shooting, combat, or endurance. Six months later and his body was still not fully accustomed to Earth’s atmosphere or gravity and he surely wasn’t acclimated to their seasonal weather changes either.

“I would not turn down the company if you’d wish to join me,” going home together was a nice idea, but the longer they spent here on Earth, the dimmer that flicker of hope became. Soon there would be no light and he would be left fumbling around in the dark unsure what more he could do.

Cyphers' expression remained passive despite Andreiya’s obvious concern. However, his mind was not quiet. There were indeed things he wished to say but the Corporal before him was not one with whom he could share them with. “I will endeavor to be more careful in the future.” He instead replied and left it at that.

“Neriyn was there and another Cadet.” One he hadn’t really made an acquaintance with since their departure from Velencya. “She had purple hair and yellow uniform,” if perhaps that description helped narrow it down. “We did not engage one another after we returned but to my knowledge, everyone was unharmed.”

He looked down then at the tomato he'd been given for Fae-Fae. "I should deliver this before it spoils. When you find yourself with spare time we can practice together." Cypher wasn't sure if he'd bring Andreiya to his training area, it would all depend on if he had new targets set up yet or not.