Chapter 101 Feels Strange.

? After getting lunch Sam summoned Three and Nine for their daily examination. He had to make sure to remove all of the evidence from the report before sending it.

As he was going through the examination results he found something that shocked him quite a bit. Apparently Eir had considered Nine getting penetrated as damage and automatically fixed her hymen restoring her virginity.

He didn't know how to feel about that, however he liked the idea of every time feeling like the first so he chose to not let it bother him.

Once he was done with the report Sam went back to working on the Valkyrie heart.

Sadly by the time he was done with the second ring dinner time arrived. With the stress building up from the amount of concentration the task required, Sam found himself rather exhausted especially after how little sleep he got the previous day.

Deciding to take a long nap after dinner, Sam and Five went to the cafeteria in the Valkyries' residence where they met Nine and Three who were about to eat as well.

"It feels strange, having someone else eat with us." Three commented.

They were having beef ravioli for dinner. Most of the livestock the base is taking care of will be moved with them as well so it was decided that some need to be consumed in order to make transporting everything easier.

"Usually it's only the three of us, right?" Nine said, bringing a fork to her mouth.

"Doctor is busy. It's more practical for him to dine with us." Five added.

Sam kept his silence as he ate. A couple of seconds pass and the young Valkyrie suddenly slams her cutlery on the table.

"Alright! I can't take it anymore!" She said, pointing a finger in Sam's direction. "What the hell is going on here!!?"

There is a very specific reason for Three's sudden outburst. It was already a surprise that the Doctor had come to eat with them, but what she thought was weirder is the fact that both Nine and Five are sitting beside him leaving her alone on the other side of the table.

It's not that they had a set arrangement, however with the four of them being there she expected that two would be sitting on each side of the table facing each other.

"You two have been getting way too clingy all of a sudden! What's wrong with you!?"

Sam let out a long sigh as the Valkyries on his sides stared in surprise.

"Three, could it be…" covering her mouth as she gasped, Nine looked at the young Valkyrie with wide eyes. "Did you want to sit beside Doctor as well?"

"What are you talking about?" Three replied, Bernie expression spoke of how annoyed she felt. "I'm asking why you're so close all of a sudden? Besides, aren't we prohibited from making physical contact with…"

Coming to a stop, the young Valkyrie began to recall the time Sam had embraced her. She felt her face heat gradually and her legs gave in for some reason, forcing her to sit down.

"It doesn't matter what the previous rules are." Nine said, wrapping her arm around Sam's left while leaning against him. "We are Doctor's personal Valkyries now. We only follow what he orders us to~?"

"... what?"

After a moment of silence the young Valkyrie raided her head looking utterly confused. Sam sighed once more and was about to tell Nine to let him finish his food, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Oh! Right! You have yet to offer yourself to Doctor, right?" Nine said, her surprised reaction clearly fake this time around.

"W-what are you talking about?" Three asked, her eyes shifting toward Sam.

"You see, Three, both Five and I have offered ourselves to Doctor." Five nodded repeatedly as Nine spoke. "That means we no longer belong too the Resistance. We only follow orders given to us by Doctor and act according to his will."

The explanation seemed to confuse Zero Three even more, and she continued to stare at Sam as if to ask him what the blond one was blabbering about.

"You'll understand soon enough." Finally letting go of Sam's arm, Nine looked Three in the eyes and said with her usual smile. "Once you offer yourself to Doctor everything will make sense."

Though he didn't know why, Sam felt a little bothered by the way Nine had said those last words, and it seems he osmt the only one as the young Valkyrie went a little pale.

"Stop it, Nine." Sam said. "You shouldn't speak as if the matter is already settled. It's up to Three to decide whether she wants to become one of my Valkyries or not."

On the inside Sam wanted to reprimand Nine for her big mouth, even if the situation is his fault. She still doesn't know that others must not learn that she now belongs to him otherwise the likelihood of trouble coming his way will increase. He doubted that the young Valkyrie will tell on him, however one couldn't be careful enough.

"What are you saying, Doctor?" Nine spoke. "After all the kindness you treated her with, would she have a reason to refuse becoming yours?"

"It'll not that simple…"

In order for him to become the master of a Valkyrie Sam has to fulfill certain conditions which would result in their AI recognizing him as their lover. For Five it was interacting with her until her sturn mast shatters. Nine's condition were vague, however being intimate with her did the trick. Three on the other hand, it's no longer that simple in her case.

She's no longer bound by the restrictions of a normal Valkyrie so the previous condition wouldn't work on her.

'No, it's just that it's no longer guaranteed.' Sam thought as he locked eyes with the young one. 'I can still try to make her fall for me, and unlike those two, her feelings wouldn't be forced by her programming…'

As he continued to stare at her, Zero Three looked away as she began to blush. She kept stealing glances at him for a few seconds befor sitting down and focusing on her food once more.

'Maybe I'm closer than I thought.' Seeing how adorable the bashful Three looked, Sam couldn't help but smile realizing that his goal might not be as far as he thought.

~◇~

After dinner Sam went back to his lab and worked some more. He had to compose a report detailing what he learned from the progress he made so far.

Obviously he couldn't rely on his knowledge from the blue prints for this. He needed to make it vague and incomplete as if he was still in the process of studying the device.

As he type on the keyboard Sam noticed that Zero Five was slowly dozing off. Seeing her struggle to keep her eyes open caused his sleepiness to grow stronger.

'Maybe we should call it a night…'

Stretching his arms, Sam got up from his seat and faced the ponytailed Valkyrie.

"Five, you can go to your room now." He said. "We are done for the day."

"Eh? N-no!" Coming back to her senses, Five shook her head showing her refusal. "My job is to guard you for the entirety of today. If I go now that would mean Nine would have to take my place!"

"No, I just want to get some sleep, that's all. I think I'll be fine on my own."

"Then that's more of a reason to not leave!" The Valkyrie didn't hesitate to shoot down the idea. "I can't leave you alone in such circumstances. Your life might be in danger so I need to be close enough to act in case anything happens."

Though he doubted anything would happen to him, the look in Five's eyes told him that she wouldn't be backing down.

That said, with how sleepy she looked a few seconds ago he doubted that she could keep going for long. Her danger sense would still be active even if she falls asleep so it didn't really matter whether she's awake or not. After thinking it through for a few minutes an idea appeared in Sam's mind.

"Alrught." He said as he looked at his phone. "The bed here is a little small so let's go to your room."

When he checked the clock Sam was surprised to see that it was only a little past ten. Three and Nine should be asleep by now so no one should disrupt them from here on.

At first Five didn't understand why he had decided on her room and why the size of the bed matters, but then she suddenly got the idea that his aim is for the two of them to sleep together.

As she led the way Five felt her face heating up. Her chest was growing warm at the thought of what's about to happen, however she failed to consider that what Sam was planning might not be what she had in mind.

Once they were inside, the Valkyrie turned to face her master. She was about to tell him to wait as she changes into her sleepwear, however before the words could come out her mouth got sealed as Sam stole a kiss from her.

"Come, Five." Sam said, smiling at the frozen still Valkyrie. "I'll teach you a few things about what it means to be my personal Valkyrie."