Personal History

       Though assigned as a reconnaissance soldier within the Landing Zone Security Mobile Unit, Erika's demeanour resembles that of a fashion-obsessed young delinquent. When not preoccupied with her appearance or studying fashion trends, she's perpetually glued to her handheld console, prone to sudden fits of laughter or explosive rages. Only under Julius's strict supervision does she engage in training or mission duties. Yet, this very approach grants her a singular advantage.

       To Erika, her teammates were all a bunch of country bumpkins. Yet Julius was her superior, Sylvia was overly enthusiastic and Hannah was always a force to be reckoned with. Thus, finding herself at the bottom of the pecking order, Erika had to stifle her impatience and toe the line. Overly conscientious Julius constantly schemed to reform Erika's ways, but the little rebel had her countermeasures for the knight captain, merely slipping a few carefully selected romance novels or manga onto Julius's bookshelf was enough to extend the captain's routine reading sessions by several hours, watching Julius burn the midnight oil, diligently absorbing pure romantic energy with studious fervour until her cheeks flushed crimson and she couldn't tear herself away, always drew a smug snort from Erika: "Such a country bumpkin, still so green!"

       After completing the Republic's minimum seven years of compulsory education, Erika came from a remote knight's domain to work in the United Territories. This was precisely when the space race had just concluded and the United Dominion was in disarray. Yet to Erika, it appeared a vibrant land of opportunity. Whether it was the paved roads, the grand architecture, the flickering neon lights, the raucous pop music blaring through the streets, or the motley crew of Earthlings, everything seemed utterly novel.

       In the past, the two superpowers imposed strict censorship measures on cultural products imported into the United Federation, aiming to maintain Earth civilisation's favourable image and avoid conflict with local cultures on Nox. However, with the conclusion of the space race, such restrictions ceased to be enforced. Popular culture swiftly flooded in and Erika, like her Earth-based peers, soon found herself captivated by the latest fashions.

       On the one hand, driven by a yearning for fresh Earth culture, on the other, repelled by her own former "old-fashioned" image and lifestyle, Erika eagerly followed the latest trends. She learned to apply makeup, mastered fashion styling and sang karaoke, swiftly adopting the mannerisms of an Earth girl to perfection. Naturally, what she found most cutting-edge and wondrous were Earth's electronic gadgets, pagers, televisions and handheld gaming consoles. She took on various jobs, shop assistant, cinema usher, restaurant waitress—earning little but scrimping and borrowing to buy a handheld game console.

       Naturally, dressing up to look glamorous carries considerable risk. One late night, several drunken Earth hooligans mistook her for an easy target and tried to hassle her, only to end up with black eyes and swollen faces, had they not resorted to force but instead packaged their advances as "Earth's fashionable charm", they might well have achieved their aim with far less trouble.

       Upon concluding their investigation, the Security Bureau promptly offered Erika generous terms to join the Launch Site Security Mobile Unit, which she readily accepted. As it turned out, this proved a delightful misunderstanding for both parties: the Security Bureau mistakenly believed Erika to be a natural-born warrior, while Erika assumed working under Earthlings would be far more glamorous than serving tables, only to find herself facing tedious military routine and Julius's incessant lectures.

       Erica is reluctant to speak of her origins and family, yet she too descends from a line of knights. Her father had fallen to the status of a "Two-Foot Knight", reduced to poverty and living a life of decadence, yet he still insisted on training Erica to inherit the family tradition, forging her in a classical form of unarmed combat. Having endured considerable hardship through forced training, Erika seized the opportunity to escape her hometown for the Frontier, even adopting the name Erika as a fresh start.

Personal Report

       To Erika, being a laid-back recon trooper is just the most basic form of social security a way to muddle through life in this dazzling interstellar metropolis. What truly defines a fashionable girl in Unity City is a brand-new hairstyle, a shortened uniform skirt, and sparkling little accessories on her shirt. Unless Julius personally drags her out, she’ll dodge both training and missions whenever she can.

       In her eyes, everyone in the Unit is wasting their lives: Hannah wears her "don’t mess with me" face all day, Sylvia is always meddling in others’ business, and the funniest of all is Julius serious during the day, but curling up in bed with a romance novel and a pillow at night. Compared to that, Erika thinks her handheld game console is both stylish and cutting-edge.

       Erika was born in a declining village in the Republic of Ruvila. Her father, a down-and-out knight, never let go of his pride despite their poor living conditions. Since she was little, he forced her to train in the family’s traditional martial arts. Bored stiff with her life, Erika couldn’t wait to leave home as soon as she completed the Republic’s mandatory 7-year education, heading straight for the big city of Unity.

       Rushing traffic, whimsical architectural wonders, neon lights, raspy rock music from loudspeakers and all kinds of humans from Earth left her wide-eyed with amazement. Full of passion, Erika began reinventing herself, aligning her makeup and outfits with the fashion trends from Earth’s magazines. Besides shopping and karaoke, the quirky Earth-made electronic gadgets in shop windows especially tugged at her heart.

       She worked exhausting jobs like retail clerk, movie ticket checker, and restaurant server, scraping and borrowing money until she finally bought that GAMEGIRL an eye-wateringly expensive purchase by Earth standards.

       Big city life came with risks too one time, a group of drunk thugs started harassing Erika, thinking her small frame made her an easy target. In an instant, her long-dormant martial arts muscle memory surged back. By the end, the thugs’ faces looked like someone had used them as a paint palette.

       Julius thought she had struck gold discovering a hidden young knight of exceptional skill and tried all means to recruit her under her command. Erika, imagining a job in uniform would be way more glamorous than waiting tables, agreed. Looking back now, it's safe to say: they both miscalculated.

Interviews transcript

Interviewee: Julius
Why is Erika always missing when it’s time for duty? ‘Punctuality is the greatest virtue of a warrior wait, don’t tell me the younger generation doesn’t watch Blade Slash anymore?

Interviewee: Felice
Lieutenant, wanna join us for some KTV(karaoke television)? Erika would be thrilled! There’s hardly a single pair of ears in the whole Guard Bureau she hasn’t tortured with her singing.

Interviewee: Claudia
Erika always says, ‘JK school uniforms are the best urban camouflage’, and she keeps trying to convince me to wear one of those light, flowy skirts on missions. I don’t really care what I wear, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t teach this kind of theory at the military academy...