YSS Kaiyo
Deck IV shower room
Darwin was midway through lathering his hair when the intercom blasted out for all members of the crew to report to their respective stations. That meant the Power Armor bay for the human. His heart stopped when he gripped the latch for the shower door only to find it jammed in place as a cruel joke by fate itself, his soapy fingers slipping and sliding around the latch clumsily. His haste didn't help it, either, his heart racing in fear of whatever chewing out he may receive at his inevitable tardiness. While his fingers were grasping, his head was racing for a last-ditch plan to get to the PA bay without looking like a soaking wet cat.
It wasn't hard to keep his hair in its usual style once it was dried, with it only being a tinge fluffier than normal upon leaving the towel's rush along his scalp.
His clothes clung to him as he made his way towards the PA bay, with it almost feeling like steam leaving him, stray droplets making it feel even worse for Darwin. What awful timing. The doors to the Power Armor Bay were flung open and a sigh like a dying fan left his lungs, shoulders drooping and eyes rolling back in relief at the sight of all of the others still getting ready.
"S-Sorry I'm late" he stammered. The smile of a fool spread across his cheeks.
Deck V Power Armor Bay
He didn't bother explaining himself, only stepped towards the polished Mindy propped neatly in its space, freshly cleaned not long ago after the incident in the forest. He could thank Miles for helping him with that. It was a pain getting all of the blood out of the crevices in the armor. It was a frustrating satisfaction getting to know the suit a little better.
Over the past while, he had begun to grow a smidge used to undressing in front of his comrades, but it aided in him learning to don the Mindy Armor relatively quickly.
It immediately began to wick the excess moisture away from the human the moment he pulled it on, feeling like a hardened secondary skin. Before putting on the helmet, he thought to do a clean sweep of the room at the rest of the team's faces just to see them with his own eyes alone. At the back of his neck, dread gripped against the bit of hair growing from it, whispering about mission eleven in vivid detail, painting the image of Shasse, of the forest's looming flora. He shook his head. Things will be different this time, and he knew it.
He just knew they will.
The helmet locked in place with a click. What was initially a dark bowl around his head steadily bloomed into a perfect image of the room around him just like he had seen before but... a tinge different. He couldn't tell if it was the HUD, or how the cameras interpreted the PA Bay's hustle and bustle, but it always felt off to the human how clear and yet unclear everything was. In the corner of his eye, he could see numbers indicating the current status of his entire suit. How much ammo is left in his pistol, for example.
He wondered what piloting these machines must be like for the Nekovalkyrja, the ones with SPINE built into their backs, capable of linking directly into the Mindy with nary a hitch, letting them pilot them even without a helmet (not that a mission such as this would allow for such a situation). He always felt like such a device tapped into the armor in an almost intimate way, linking the two and letting the pilot practically become the machine itself. He wondered why a human such as him was unable to receive such a treatment. Was his bloodline really incapable of getting a chip inserted into his system? He might propose the question to one of the XOs or maybe one of the higher ups on break or something if he ever gets the chance.
But those thoughts were tucked away while his gaze turned towards the ceiling of the PA Bay, as though he could peer through it and See Hoshi standing before Gravity and everyone else around her, giving out orders. He had no clue just why this mission was going happen until Eden had stood up to announce their exact intentions the moment he could imagine seeing the Chusa, snapping him back to reality and drawing his amber stare towards the Shosa.
Another dimension. It hadn't really been very long since they entered that of Ayenee, and they were jumping once more to one he had never heard of before.
Though he had heard the word "Sorairo" before. Never in the context of a dimension, just in Yamataigo conversations about the weather, or about what color of flower a customer in his mother's shop was looking for. Coriolis Coast Forget-Me-Nots always came to mind when he heard the word.
Perhaps the universe has an odd azure tint to it that gives it its name?