NT Rangers - Lad 36 - Sensitivity Training (Patreon)

Lacy continued running diagnostics as Drianna and Leto go another round. “How is it, Leto?” She asked.

“I can actually see it. The attacks as their coming at me. My body is quick enough to respond, as well.” Leto remarked in a surprised tone. She was not even breaking a sweat.
“Dri's training must be paying off.”

“It goes beyond that. You seem to have potential.” Dri stated.

“I mean... I did brawl a bit when I had to protect Lad, but he started doing whatever he could to keep us out of trouble with his trait so I never kept going down that road.”

Lacy smiled. “Okay! The Second Gen. Ranger Suit should provide some added tuning to your body and skills. It's not just armor, it meshes with the Core itself. That's why Dri is stuck in the Zero version.”

“Zero version?” Dri looked down at her suit. Blue and black.
“It looks the same as hers, just a different color.”

“That's just style, okay? Style. The Zero Gen. Suits provide some utility but they were mostly just uniforms for Team Zero.”

Leto stepped back from one of Dri's right hook, then wheeled around her and kicked straight for the girl's stomach. Dri turned her body, making the kick a glancing blow. Leto withdrew her foot before Dri could catch it. Both girls smiled at the successful exchange. It was successful in the sense that neither gained or lost ground. Leto shifted her eyes to Lacy for a second.
“Team Zero?”

Lacy smiled weakly. “That's right. They were established the moment ChesAn gained extraterritorial protections in Trysk and Orr.”

“Are they still around?”

“Some. Team Zero was lead by Kara and... They are not still around.”

Leto stopped and turned while Dri was in mid punch. She could not stop the momentum. “Hey!” The Traveler shouted. Without turning Leto turned to look at it with just her eyes and caught it. Dri smirked.

“I slowed it after you looked away, but still...”

“What happened?” Leto asked. She had misgivings about ChesAn and the Ranger project. Truthfully, she did not like what they had Lad doing and she was only joining so that she could protect and support him.
“Something bad?”

“It wasn't anything like you're thinking, okay?” Lacy explained. She sighed.
“We made a mistake in our initial push to build a team for the purposes of protecting ChesAn and going on missions.”

“A mistake?” Dri cocked her head to one side.

“Yes. We thought it would be fine so long as we payed people money.”

“Isn't it?” Leto shrugged.
“Isn't that what you did for Lad?”

Lacy smiled at the thought. “Hehe. No. Technically speaking, if Lad was only motivated by money he would not get in. The reason Lad got in was partially because of his trait, but also because of his drive to protect his family. Truthfully... Lad has beliefs that do not make him a true friend of ChesAn. We are not an incredibly altruistic organization. We do not do the most that we could do for the world, or even the city. We can be selfish and greedy.” She nodded slowly.
“But... Lad his faultlessly moral. He does not take the wrong path, even if it can lead to the right outcomes. That is what I thought when reading his psyche file and that is what was shown.”

“Wait... You took his trait into account? I thought he coasted through with it.”

Lacy giggled. “The process was actually quite scientific. We made a secret measurement of the effectiveness of the trait with entry interviews and I created an estimate of how much a score needed to be lowered to account for it and make an unbiased result. When the time came to bring him in for the final pass, Kara was placed in charge of the intake and I remained separate an impartial so that I could just objectively. If it was just down to his trait he coasted through. Based on adjusted scores... He made it on his own.”

Leto stood dumbfounded for a second, then covered her mouth and laughed. “Of course! How could I doubt that.” She paused for a moment, then asked.
“So... What happened?”

“Ah. Thought I had distracted you.” Lacy sighed.

“Team Zero was lead by Kara and it was filled with Masters from around the world that we paid to join. There was also Sherri and Melody, our other martial artists. For Aura we had Leage, another Fox and Renard. The only male. He was a magically enhanced Wolf from the Tintamere Academy that also came with a support team of other mages behind him. But, you're asking what happened not who they were. Basically... A team member, Melody, sold the whole team out to Fennek on a mission for more money and status than we had to give. Sherri was killed by her at the start of the trap and Leage followed. The backlash from that one ended up wounding 20 Fox handlers for... Reasons. Renard was mortally wounded and was taken back to the Academy for life-sustaining treatment. Kara was the only one that escaped due to her instincts.”

“Instincts?” Dri asked.

“Kara has a unique constitution among Masters. Her technique, 'Strings and Bells' makes it extremely hard for her to get caught out.”

“Sorry, Lacy.” Leto said apologetically.

“It's okay, honey.” Lacy pulled something up in front of her. A floating screen.
“Now... We know to vet people properly. If we can not, we know to make it so that they can not physically betray us. Right... Merit?”

“Hoo... You're pissing me off.” The bronze-skinned Jackal appeared from the back of the room. She had apparently been listening. While also wearing a green Second Gen. Suit she had on a thick composite collar around her neck.

“We have Blue, Yellow-” She smiled and nodded to Leto in her yellow suit.

“What about red? Isn't that important?” Leto questioned.

“Our Red is the reason we're forming this team. We need to retrieve her while the cats away. Our probing into the Sim suggests the main Echo captains and their leader all withdrew into it to follow our team. That means they're unprotected enough to pull off a little caper, okay?” Lacy winked slyly.

“That track!” Leto smiled.
“But then.. Shouldn't we have one more?”

“White.” A male voice came as Stephan emerged from a door behind Lacy. He was adjusting the tightness of some parts in annoyance.

Lacy squealed. Her tail and ears shot up and she rushed forward to fangirl over her husband as he walked in.
“You look so good!” She preened at his hair and clung to his arm. Stephan's lip quivered, he leaned away for a few moments before finally giving in to the wave of excitement. His typically calm expression cracked as his cheeks flushed. He pulled Lacy to his side with a hand on her waist.
“Hu hu hu.” Her eyes lit up.
“It's tight in all the right places.”

“Aren't you the CEO, though?”

“I'm also the best Controller in the city. Kai is a natural with her talent, but where do you think she learned this from?” He lifted the hand that was not clutching the excited and horny Lacy to his side. All around the room Drones lifted off. He closed his eyes.
“It's a little extra effort for me, but I'm used to multi-tasking. I relegate some processing power to set tasks for each drone on the fly and then that also leaves room to direct control one or two, depending on complexity. Controlling this many at once is no issue at all. The neural interface is almost as good as Kai's power, love.”

“I'm so happy to hear that!” She gushed, lifting one leg back, getting up onto the toes of her heels to kiss him on the cheek.

“How are we going in with one slave-” Dri nodded to Merit who simply sneered back.
“-and one less member? Isn't the red one the leader, as well?”

Steph smiled. “Good points, Drianna. That is why for this mission we are stealing a few members from Team One.”

“Oh! Janna and Joseph?” Leto's eyes widened.

“This could work.” Dri nodded.

-

Lad sat on the bed, Kara sat in her chair and the siblings stood along the side. The Princess was looking up, shaking. Lad could tell that she was thinking 'He has not invited me to his bed yet. Is now that time?' But he ignored her and Luire kept her from getting up and doing anything weird. Young sat on his knees in the middle of the floor.
“Sensitivity?”

“I'm honestly shocked you hadn't developed any of that yet with your trait.” Lad remarked.

Young looked up and to the left at the ceiling. “Oh... I dunno. I don't do stuff that seems too easy or boring. Besides, I thought I was decently sensitive already so it didn't matter.”

Lad pinched the bridge of his nose. “So that's what it was. It's an understanding problem.” He removed his hand and stared down at Young.
“You know in a fight when there's someone stronger than you?”

Cao Young smiled. “Yeah.”

“The point is you know. How do you think it would feel if you didn't know someone was stronger than you?”

“Well... I guess I wouldn't-” Youngs eyes widened.
“Adapt...”

“Bingo.” Lad pointed.
“That's your weakness, Young. We don't know what we don't know. You have blind spots where you simply have no capability. Your trait basically reinforces you to stagnate, because of course you'll automatically think you know everything with a trait that adapts you to everything and makes you invincible.”

Young blushed. “I see.”

Lad shrugged. “How would you know if you don't know? So I'll tell you. Sensitivity is like something you do for someone that your brain is going to tell you is unnecessary. Because you are you and no offense but... You're a bit selfish, right?”

“Ah...” Young cringed and rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled quietly.
“Yeah, probably. Definitely.”

“What if you meet someone stronger than you, but they don't want to fight?”

“Why wouldn't they?” He asked with genuine curiosity.

“Let's just assume they have reasons that are good to them. Maybe they made a promise.”

Young shrugged. “Why should that matter? We can still fight. So long as I don't hurt them too bad it's fine. If they're strong they'll be able to take it, anyway.”

“Why aren't you considering their circumstances?”

“Eh? Circumstances?”

“Young, they made a promise to avoid fighting... It doesn't make sense to you because you're only thinking from your perspective. What if you made a promise to someone.” Lad knew the answer since Young said it earlier. He was just waiting and leading Young up a logic tree.”

“I would have to keep it, regardless. If it wasn't something I couldn't keep I shouldn't have made it.”

“What if someone insisted you break that promise to the point that they'll hurt you.”

The corners of his lips curled down slight. “Well... That would just be unlucky. I think it would also be a bit... Unfair.”

Lad smiled. “You're getting it. But why should they care if it's unfair to you? Does it make sense for them if they have an interest in you breaking your promise?”

Young lowered his head. “It doesn't make sense... But it shouldn't be done. Is that what you're trying to say?”

“Yes.” Lad clapped. Kara was watching like someone hypnotized. She was amazed at how well Cao Young was being handled.
“You did something in a past life. You died on your own when you got bored.”

He nodded. “Sure. But that's up to me. If I'm bored and there's nothing left to do then why not?”

“So... Are you saying it makes sense for you to do it?” Lad smiled coyly, cocking his head to one side.

“Uh huh.”

“But, people loved and depended on you. Many people, from what I heard.”

Cao Young's eyes widened. “Many...”

“Many people. That's right. They relied on you in here, in their hearts and they enjoyed having you around. They were not bored to have you around at all.”

“But-”

Lad continued. “Were you in pain? Were you depressed or unhappy?”

“I was a bit unhappy that I felt like I had done everything. Mostly I was just bored.” His eyes glossed over as if he was experiencing an Echo. He bent over and clutched his head in his hands. He began to tear up again.
“I... Made a mistake. They weren't bored. Me leaving because I was bored of them was... No different from abandoning them. Saying I didn't like them or want them even though it wasn't true. I did love them I was just...” He trailed off.
“Hic...” Cao Young sniffed, holding back cry's.

Lad looked to Kara probingly. He could tell that she wanted to go to him at this point. Lad smiled softly and offered a short nod. With that Kara slipped out of her seat and onto the floor with him. She stared at him sternly, heart not completely melted or even warmed. Lad watched closely, because it was a course for her as much as it was for Cao. If she could not have a healthy interaction then there was no point at all in having either of them together.
“Do you remember, now, Young?”

“Yeah.” Young breathed.
“I remember you, Kara. I- I'm really sorry I left. I don't deserve for you to forgive it, though. I think... I made you and the kids believe I didn't love you all. That's not forgivable, I don't think.” He shook and shut his eyes tight while clenching his teeth.
“Augh... Having these feelings is so hard. I hate it! But at the same time... It's probably right, huh? I'm such an idiot.” He offered without looking at her.

She placed a hand on his back. He looked at her then. “This isn't me saying I accept your apology. I just think... At this point you maybe earned a few words.” She inhaled in a controlled fashion.
“You made me and the kids feel unloved. You probably didn't see the stuff after you left in that echo of your past but we cried for a long time. The kids hated themselves, not just for the feeling of not being loved but for gods sake! How can you leave a message to a bunch of growing kids that you're bored of them? What message does that send?” Kara looked down, tearing up along with him, now.
“I thought I fucked up again... Another Hero ruined and left because of me, you know?”

“That wasn't-” He reached out but she batted his hand away. He withdrew it.

“That's how it FELT. It fucked me up BAD. But, it was partially my fault. The truth is I never challenged you precisely because I WAS afraid you would leave. Then, when you left after I felt like I had done everything right and finally gotten into a place where I was happy with someone else it shattered me. How can I bring myself to give you another chance after-”

Young looked at her in a tear-filled panic. He waved his hands in front of him. “No no! I don't want another chance. You shouldn't forgive me! That's so messed up... Oh fuck!” He bent over, hurting in his stomach.
“Uugh... I feel like I'm gonna be sick. I thought I'd adapt to this feeling but it's not going away.”

Lad chimed in. “That's because that feeling isn't a bad thing. It's an aspect of sensitivity so of course you wont adapt to that. That's your body telling you how much you messed up. It's like a 'healing' reflex. You're sad, basically.”

“As it should be... Haaah...” He tried to control his thoughts and emotions. His mind was a maelstrom.

Kara looked to Lad with tears running down her cheeks and gulped heavily. The smile he gave her gave her strength. She steeled herself, took a deep breath and offered her hand to Cao Young.
“Let's... Both try to live on as separate people. I don't want you to be my friend or my lover anymore... Truthfully that thought makes me feel really sick.” Cao Young nodded, giving her a dejected stare. Kara smiled at him.
“But. It does feel a lot better to know that it really wasn't my fault. If most of the kids were still around they would want to know that as well, but they can't. That's the main reason why I can't really forgive you.” She closed her eyes and seemed to calm down.
“But thanks to this I've gotten over a hill I never thought I would. When the time comes I now know that this is what I need to do for someone else. I can't ask him to forgive me or be with me. All I can do is tell him that none of my behavior and nothing I did to him was his fault. Properly this time.”

Cao Young also calmed down. “I understand Kara. I am truly sorry so, yeah. Let's just live as separate people.”

“You have one more person to apologize to.” Kara claimed.

Cao Young looked over. Yeong stepped into the room. “Ah...”

“Do you understand?” Kara asked.

“Yeah.” Young stood up and smiled at Yeong.
“Hey... If I hadn't have done what I did you probably would've had a nicer family growing up. I dunno what someone like me can do, but at the very least I had a deep, negative effect on the family and you probably felt that the most recently. I'm sorry, Granchild.” Cao Yeong returned to the floor and bowed deeply.

Yeong stood by uncomfortably. “I mean... I didn't feel it as directly as that, but thanks anyway, Hal-Abioji.”

Lad waited a long time for everyone to calm down and get settled back in before he asked. “What's the best way to reach the Hero?”

“They're back the way we came.” Cao Young explained.
“I could feel it on the current that they're underwater somehow, in a place I'd already been to. Problem is, I dunno how you can reach them under there. They would have to come up to you.”

“Let me figure that out.”

“Lad.” Kara waved. He acknowledged her.

“We have Cao Young. We have a lot of strength right now. There's another possibility.”

“Go on?”

“What if we go to confront the Dark Hero? He's back that way anyway. We could be done with this chase and take our time to figure all of this simulation stuff out. As it is, we're rushed from having to race them...”

“Fair.” Lad tried to think.