"Not everyone is like you, Britannian Royals." C.C. dropped a bombshell as Kallen looked at Marcus with wide eyes.
The Exiled Prince raised his hands in defeat as he pulled out an eye contact case and removed his blue eye contact before storing them away.
"You are a Britannian Prince?" The crimson-haired girl gawked at him.
"Exiled, you might have heard of me, Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince."
The girl still gawked at him before snapping out.
"So is all of this to impress your daddy?" She got a bit angry.
"Impress? For exiling me? For being an asshole? Do you even hear that is coming out of your mouth?" Now Marcus got angry.
"No, I shall crush his Empire with an even greater one! Before my creation, his will be insignificant!" His reply made her take a step back.
"...okay, okay…" She is not used to how intense this guy can be. Maybe that is why he was able to build those things.
"Good, that you understand." He relaxed a bit before looking at C.C.
"No, you are simply upset that someone gave you something you can't get rid of. Your reaction is a natural one. Just look at Kallen."
"..."
"Instead of getting over and accepting it, you've been brooding for years." He explained to her.
"..."
The green-haired girl turned around, walked into the room, and closed the doors behind her.
"...Is it wise to provoke her like that?" Leila asked, and she was a bit worried.
She has no idea of this witch's limits. Having her so close to their power base is dangerous.
"And what do you buy that?!" Kallen got snappy as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"You will be annoyed for following me for a considerable amount of time. Girls are emotional beings. So when it doesn't go how you want, females get snappy.
Like that witch." He pointed at the room.
"She was like that for centuries."
"...Seriously? She is a real witch!?"
"Not in a literal sense. Her character is that of a witch. She revealed my identity on purpose to make me suffer." He shrugged while mentioning the last part.
As if she would damage me like that.
"...I see… but then how is she that old?" Kallen asked.
"Strange powers, she has some sort of mark that gives her immortality and eternal youth.
She can share it, but this power awakens like some strange power."
Now that he mentioned that, he walked back to his table and checked the drawers.
Soon enough, he pulled out several green hairs he had in a glass tube.
'I guess I will start biology soon.'
"Legion, order the entire biology curriculum for PhD and equivalent doctorate levels."
[Which part of biology, sir?]
Hearing a synthetic voice speak from all sides made Kallen a bit jumpy.
"That's the virtual butler of the workshop. The Artificial Intelligence that runs all of the machines and robots, Marcus calls him the Legion." Leila explained to the jumpy Kallen.
"... so man-made person of some sort?" Honestly, the crimson-haired girl should watch more sci-fi movies because she struggles to catch up with what is happening around her.
"A program so advanced it's self-aware."
"...oh…"
'If he can make things like that, then his goals are not in the realms of fantasies…'
"Anyway." After sending a couple of messages, he was back with Kallen and Leila.
"I want you to jump into one of the simulators." He pointed at spheres on the side.
"Inside these spheres, you will run a combat simulation in a bedrock KK unit. Legion will gather data once we have sufficient data. Then we can develop a machine just for you."
"...A custom model?" She looked with wide eyes at him.
"Indeed. Everything will be tailored for you." He said with a smile, making her blush.
'Damn this guy… he already has a European girl, yet he is doing this to me!'
But then she realised this guy was of Royal Blood!
'No wonder! Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'
"...I see… then I shall start now!" She snapped out before pumping herself up!
"Leila assists her if she doesn't understand anything," Marcus instructed his darling.
"Alright." She nodded before looking back at him.
"What will you do?"
"Finish the Blackbird project and make space for the next one."
As he said that, holograms came to life around him. He began to put things together, as basically everything has been tested separately; all that is left is putting things together.
His drone carrier is fully functioning, so he already has a flying frame model that he can use.
"I see…"
Leila got nervous. He was getting close to finishing his big plane. That means he will be travelling to the Islands in the Pacific, where he will begin building his true base… her new job!
Well, it was her idea to leave the base under the academy, so she should not be complaining about what he will do.
As he was focusing on his work, Kallen looked at Leila.
"So… umm, what should I do?" The Crimson-haired girl asked the blonde. It was the first time she was talking with her like that.
"Follow me." Leila motioned for her to follow. The pair walked to the spheres on the side.
"Inside these, you will experience what it means to pilot a KK unit."
"...What does KK mean?" Kallen asked Leila. The naming was very specific, so she asked.
"It means Knightmare Killer."
"..."
The answer got the girl a bit spooked. A machine meant to end Knightmares, it was not what she was expecting. She was expecting a bit more classic military naming.
"Once you're inside one, Legion will test you for preferences. Like ranged or melee, once he finds what you like, he will begin developing a customised machine just for you." The blonde explained to Kallen as they arrived at the closest sphere.
The moment they got close, a section opened for the new pilot.
The crimson-haired girl looked at the sphere, wondering how this even works.
"Good luck. Marcus sees something worthwhile in you, so don't disappoint him." With that said, Leila walked away.
"...Right…"
With that said, she walked in, and what she saw was a seat with control sticks.
'That's it?'
Regardless, she sat down in the seat. The moment she did, the whole thing reacted!
The seat adjusted to her size and height, the entrance closed, and the screens turned on.
Then holograms manifested around her.
'I-I see…these are like monitoring consoles.'
Instead of oil or energy levels, she has the reactor's stability and how much the machine is tapping into borderline limitless power that it can use.
Now it made sense!
Regardless, she didn't expect a complete 360 view! After looking around, she was ready, and the capsule knew.
[We shall begin with bedrock model 00 Lugh. From there, we will figure out what your preference is.]
As the AI said that the surroundings shifted, she quickly figured out that she was now inside a machine, and before her were Sutherlands…
An army of Sutherlands!
"W-Whoa!"
The girl scrambled as the machines opened fire.
She was able to dodge a decent amount of enemy fire.
But it was a new machine with unknown controls and no idea of its specs, but! Her natural instincts took over, and she got out.
'Those gunshots did nothing.'
Kallen swiftly noticed that those rifles were useless against her.
So she switched to attack. A casual shot of a beam rifle erased Sutherland's upper part.
The girl's eyes trembled at such a sight.
'What power!'
She swiftly switched to a beam saber and began to slaughter Sutherlands, who tried to attack her.
After several kills, Kallen overcame her excitement and began to feel that something was lacking.
The feeling of completely overpowering her enemy began to dissipate. She lacked something…
The next thing she did was to use brute force. The girl holstered all of her weapons and began to beat up these Knightmares.
It was far different from using a beam rifle or saber. Yes! When a fist connects with an enemy, she feels a rush of excitement!
Just like that, she found her calling! To destroy enemies from up close!
Meanwhile, outside the sphere, Leila was watching the girl's progress.
'She is good. Better than any of us.' The girl compared Kallen's parameters with the other three.
None of them match this crimson-haired girl's natural instincts.
But that's about it. No tactics, no foresight. This girl was good at fighting, a perfect ace combatant and nothing more.
'I suppose this fills up the roster. Marcus is the commander, I take the role of field control, Milly is the sniper, and Kallen is the vanguard.'
As she pondered, Legion reacted and began to adjust the machine for Kallen. Designing the next KK for the crimson-haired girl.
~~~
After another seven hours, it was getting late, and Marcus terminated Kallen's session.
"Hmm? What's going on? I was having a good time!" The girl poked her head out of the sphere.
"It's late. You should be going home soon." Marcus walked over.
"...Oh, right." She wasn't happy to hear that.
She left the sphere and looked at him.
"We are midway through designing the machine." He looked at the big screen, and she followed his gaze.
Her eyes widened as she saw the model pieces.
The hands of the machine looked longer than the other four; the fingers had claws. It was a brute-style of mobile suit.
"KK-31 Dagda. A melee-type Mobile Suit. I have started developing specific technology for its hands. It will use a microwave-style of damage.
"...Microwave? Like the ones we use to heat up food?" She was confused. What can a microwave do!?
"Yes and no. A microwave is basically a sound wave at a specific frequency. This is similar; Dagda will use frequency waves upon collision to vibrate the enemy mech. It would shred enemy machines."
"...Oh, I like the sound of that!"
"Indeed. Legion picked up your desire for more carnage, so he suggested this. All I needed to do was find a way to make it happen." He shrugged, internally surprised that Kallen would reach a point that the AI found it worth naming a machine Dagda… one of the most famous Celtic Gods.
"...And you just did?" She bit, deadpanned, how easy he made it sound!
"Yes, well, how else can you get a more destructive punch? Just watch a superhero move one or two, and you will see supersonic punches; all I needed to do was find something similar.
So what did I do? Waves, soundwaves and something similar. Since I had all the energy I needed from the Fusion Reactor, I came up with a microwave-style damage-dealing."
He explained to her.
"...It doesn't sound easy." She deadpanned even more.
"Yes, well, I do have Eidetic Memory, I can recall at a moment's notice what I could need."
"...That explains a lot." All of a sudden, it made sense!
"I guess. Anyway, now the next thing." He shelved his perk for a bit and moved to another topic. "Your public persona. Kallen Stadfeld, you need to join a club; the student council will help you with our activities."
"...I guess. I never cared much about my student life."
"You should, good grades help you skip classes, and people will associate you less with bad activities."
"...You are an expert at this, aren't you?" She was surprised; the girl never considered that! There was a reason after all! She hates her Britannian heritage.
"Indeed. It's human nature, Kallen. When you are a top student, no one would imagine that you are part of an organisation that tries to take over the world." He said with a straight face, making her lips twitch.
She tried very hard not to laugh.
"Yes. I see your point. I will try to do that." She replied, trying to sound serious.
"Good, then I shall contact Milly; she will organise your admission into the Student Council." He nodded before motioning to follow him. He still needs to give her some gadgets, like a new phone.