Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Airen]

Cosmos Fairchild
LOVELESS, Moon Under Water
12/22/2026
Evening

"...Have you fought this being before?"

---It takes the voice some time to answer.

The odd nature of the situation itself makes it simple to see why of course, it was an internal voice, a thing that existed inside of you in a manner that wouldn't exactly be different than possession, or some sort of mental affliction... It's hard to say if it can hear you through the act of you speaking your words aloud, and so perhaps, a part of you comes to wonder if you're simply doing it wrong, but...

Yes, but...

...Yes.

Eventually, it offers that answer to you.

Again, it is much kinder than it had been the last time, the difference so much of a slap in the face that you're starting to wonder if this was the actual 'Preciel' all along and the one the last time had been some sort of imposter, a different voice of some unknown origin, but...

No.

No, that couldn't be right, right?

Either way...

When it is attacking... It cannot defend...

When it defends... It cannot attack.

It speaks simply.

---No, with some effort.

Almost like she's tired, barely awake, clinging to some last vestige of consciousness...

But it's around that time that you reach it.

Shoulder slamming into the rather old-fashioned door that leads to the outside, and...

"..."

---The rain has ceased, suddenly, so abruptly that you could almost call it violent in nature, like someone had ripped apart the very weather itself with their appearance, and...

The skies are that of a twisted dusk, dark blues mixing with vibrant burning gold, the sun peeking out from behind the frantically fleeing clouds with the minimal power the time affords it, that golden period between dusk and the embrace of the night, and...

You see it.

It doesn't take any effort to see it, no particularly powerful eyes, no particularly keen sixth sense.

The thing you see in the distance is just so bizarre, so obviously out of place, so eye-searing in it's presence that there's not a single person in town that wouldn't be able to instantly see it if they were here, yes...

It's massive.

A lurking, metallic thing, like some sort of mechanical monstrosity, is sitting over the horizon with the entire edge of the city in it's shadow.

It's the color of noble rust, an ancient gold, fitting of some sort of mechanized titan; towers protrude from it's body towards the sky like malevolent spears aimed at heaven, a thick, choking miasma pouring out from them like a thick fog, obscuring the metallic body in places, reiki... No, something like reiki gleaming in the dusk light...

It sits there, quietly, like some sort of lost ancient machine.

---It's presence lights your mind on fire, but nothing concrete forms, even as you 'feel' Preciel tense up.

But...

it's not moving because it can't move, oh no, of that you are sure...

---This is out of choice.

Calmly.

No longer making the noises that had literally been shaking this mostly abandoned city...

That entity... Whatever it is...

Is waiting for something.

But what?

You have no idea.

[palad1n]

Cosmos Fairchild
LOVELESS, Rooftop
12/22/2026
Evening

"..."

It is only natural to be speechless when one sees this entity.

Cosmos is well-versed in mythologies and demons, and naturally she has read about many entities that is said to be massive or gigantic; The Titans from Greek Myth, Jotuns from Norse, and of course individual creatures equated with the world itself, such as the middle-eastern Bahamut or Jormungandr the World Serpent. And yet when these beings are encountered as demons, more often than not they are 'lesser' than what the myth suggests.

Thus, Cosmos is not prepared at all to come face-to-face with a being so massive it made the mud giant from Ruina looked tiny in comparison.

Even just seeing it sets her mind on fire.

But the more immediate question for her is--

"... Why has there been no response from the heavenly hosts guarding the city?"

Indeed, that's the most puzzling question. In the face of such a threat like this, the angels who flies over the Vatican should have mounted some form of a response... and yet even from afar, Cosmos knew that not a single one could be seen in the sky, and numerous worst-case scenarios immediately flashed through her mind. Has the city been compromised somehow? Is Chokmah just a formality, only appearing after the city had fallen?

"...Because almost no heavenly hosts are left in the city."

Cosmos nearly jumped out of surprise from Sariel's sudden voice.

'I took the liberty to summon her when you were distracted.' Illia helpfully supplied. 'I noticed that she had been out for a while, and so she might know a few things regarding on what is going on right now.'

'I... see.'

Even disregarding what the angel had just said, just a glance told Cosmos that Illia was right; the normally cheerful angel looked grim, eyes set on the unmoving Chokmah, and there is a noticeable tremble in her voice that's different from her usual stutters.

She needs more information.

"What do you mean, Sariel? What do you know about the situation?"

The angel was silent for a few moments, eyes darting to her and the massive threat looming in the horizon, before she speaks.

"The city's now mostly empty." She began, and Cosmos'e eyes widened. "I do not know how or why it happened... but people and angels alike are just... gone, with a few exceptions." Sariel paused, as if debating whether internally about something, but continues a moment later. "Before you summoned me, I was with the-the few people left in the city; Alyx, Isaac, Lailah... they seem to be preparing for battle, so they might have known that this threat was coming."

Cosmos gripped her staff tighter as she listened. Counting herself, Miss Sofia and Mister Daniel, that makes it six people against Chokmah. A number too few to defend the Holy City from a threat of this magnitude.

But there's no time or room to complain; this is the truth, the reality of the situation, and Cosmos offered her gratitude to God that at the very least, there are a few capable, powerful people like Alyx and Isaac left to help. She simply has to make do.

'So... what is the plan?' Illia asked mentally.

"... We prepare." Cosmos finally said after a few moments of deliberation. "At the very least, Chokmah is not moving for now... this is a rare opportunity for us to make sure we're going in with good preparation." She looked at Sariel, a plan formulating in her mind. "Sariel, please cast a Makarakarn on me, and then yourself afterwards while Illia and I prepare our charges. For the rest of the battle, you should focus on healing and recasting Makarakarn as needed."

"G-got it." Sariel nodded, and began casting her spell.

'Auto-skill?'

"Into the Sky." Cosmos said out loud so Sariel can hear her too. "I was considering Stargazer, but considering the size of the enemy, staying in one place won't be a good idea. It's better to be maneuverable while we're fighting it, and we need to limit collateral damage as much as possible; hopefully if we're in the air the city will be spared from the worst of it."

'Understood.'

Feeling the slots filled and her auto-skill activating, Cosmos closed her eyes and takes a deep breath as she offered a prayer for success and strength in the upcoming battle.

Chokmah... Even if she only remembered the basics, she knew it meant and represent wisdom in Kabbalah, and the fact that it seems to be waiting for something only strengthen that idea. It knows something that she doesn't, and the idea of such a massive, powerful being representing wisdom as her opponent is scary... but that doesn't mean it is insurmountable, or it is impossible to win. She's not alone, her past self had fought it before, and as long as God is by her side, then nothing is impossible--

'But what if God is not on your side? If it is Chokmah, then...'

She banished that thought from her head.

She couldn't worry about that right now.

"We'll take off to the skies after the charge is finished." Cosmos said, opening her eyes as she rang her staff twice and feeling Makarakarn taking effect. "This will be the hardest and most important battle for us yet. Let's do our best Illia, Sariel-!"

'Always.'

"Y-yes!"

Wise Up!

STR: E
VIT: B
AGI: C
SEN: S
RES: B

Bell Charge: 2
Once per turn, Ilia's bell can be rung once as a free action; when this is done she gains one "Bell Charge." Bell Charges can be spent to raise the rank of a custom spell up to B Rank, one charge being equal to an increase of one rank; spells cast in this way bear the same heat cost as a spell of that rank one would ordinarily have, but will also gain the pierce property. Bell Charges do not affect spells of B Rank or Higher at this time. In addition, if neither Cosmos or Illia takes action during a round, the bell can be rung twice, granting two charges in a single turn; only three charges can be 'stocked' at a time.

Turn Action (Cosmos): Bell Charge
Turn Action (Sariel): Makarakarn (on Cosmos)

Spells: Aster, Plasmic Fire, Endless Nova, Kouha/Kouga/Kougaon, Dia/Diahan/Diarahan, Baisudi
HEAT: 0/10

Auto-Skill: Into the Sky
Grants Cosmos and her allies the ability to fly as long as it is within the harmonizer range. Its intended use is to avoid physical confrontation and provide an effective use of Aster against multiple enemies, but it's also useful to solve height-related problems too...

Sariel
STR: E
VIT: D
AGI: C
SEN: C
RES: D

Spells: Brilliance, Makarakarn, Diahan

Guardian Angel
Not a warrior by nature, these angels are those who are said to be assigned to humans at birth; as a guardian angel, and one that is remarkably kind even amongst them, Sariel bears the ability of passively healing Cosmos over time simply by being present alongside her on the battlefield...

In addition, status effects that would ordinarily require the direct intervention of magic to resolve (those inflicted via a weakness) become possible to recover from over time instead; those that aren't have their duration lessened by a single turn.

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

… Suspicious.

Very suspicious.

Even Eva could figure out that something was odd. Perhaps Agatha wasn’t a very good actor, or maybe she was being intentionally obvious… Either way, it was clear that there was something happening outside of this room. The reason she had been called over was to avoid it.

Whatever that was, she had no idea. Agatha had her own restrictions and limitations- she had described this room as a sort of prison, at one point, and from the sounds of it, even what she was doing right now was borderline. Asking Agatha directly what it was probably fruitless.

“…”

But that idea wasn’t very comforting. She had only just left the Sleipnir after all- if there was something important on the other side, it felt wrong for her not be there.

“… There is something I want to ask, then. It might be a little rude, and I understand if it’s hard to answer, but…”

Honestly, it was probably more than just a little rude, considering that Agatha had been taking actions that were borderline problematic on her part, presumably to help her… but even though she knew that much, she couldn’t feel at ease unless she heard it more directly.

“… I can trust you on this, right?”

Gesturing to the door, she continued.

“That I’m, well... not missing out on anything by staying here? Nothing that I’ll regret later?”

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

“That I’m, well... not missing out on anything by staying here? Nothing that I’ll regret later?”

A direct question.

For you, it's something that you need to ask in order to feel at ease with the current situation, there is a certain sense of obligation that comes with your newfound connections to those back in the SLEIPNIR, and thus, even if Agatha's weird actions are seemingly being performed for your own benefit, there's a part of you that wants to make sure that you can trust her...

Reassurance, and to that...

"...Well, it is much like the cliche outcome of a human hitting their head on a rock."

...Her voice smooths out a bit as she nods at something you can't quite see, as if given permission by some bizarre entity, the air of almost tangible humor replaced with a cool sense of purpose, or in other words, a return to the more enigmatic but also more forthcoming attendant...

"To some it is not too big a deal, they may simply shake it off, but to others the damage might be severe, things like memories might be lost. The crashing together of possibility will sometimes have those effects."

---Although with that return, comes the use of some bizarre phrases and metaphors.

"Our meeting was... Unscheduled, and thus, this connection may have been at risk. Would you remember us meeting? I couldn't be sure."

She steps away from the door, and as she does...

In the shadows behind it, to the sides and around it, there are a number of similar doors...

Had those all been there the whole time?

They all look exactly the same, like shattered pieces of a single broken mirror, and...

Somehow, every time you blink...

You get the idea that there's somehow less of those countless doors, although you can't say for certain whether that's the case...

It's like it's hard for your eyes to focus on what's going on over there...

"But you can trust me, yes. The contract we signed is proof enough of that, plenty of beings in your world will lie to you, for one reason or another, but I am different."

She nods her head.

"I have no reason to do so. It certainly sounds suspicious of me to say that, and there are some things about your world that I simply cannot talk about in my position, but being unable to discuss something and telling you a lie are two different actions... I will never do the second one. Nor will I take actions that would harm you."

She nods.

Decisively, then...

---Her hand comes out, slowly, to touch your head...?

Was she trying to pat you...?

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Aoyama, Soba Shop -Gen-
11/16/2026
Night, Clear Skies

---Emergencies only.

That's what your uncle had told you back in the day, when he had called you into the house during one of your skipping episodes, and had proceeded to show you the hidden compartments in every room of the house where temporary liquid assistance could be found...

Emergencies only.

There can be no emergencies when Yuka is in the room.

The two rules, follow them to the letter.

---This is an emergency, an absolute emergency.

The combination of a small child and your mother together had led to absolute devastation in the lives of many a person in this room; the alcohol is a decent distraction, a good add-on to the way your vision has suddenly started to pulse in and out as your mother regards said small child with a look that is impossible to determine, not with complete and utter rejection, but just confusion, like rather than denying the weird claim outright...

She was trying to figure out how it was possible...?

Perhaps that makes it worse.

Anima crawls over, or at least, you think she crawls over, considering how absolutely beaten to a pulp her fighting spirit seems to be; there's a lowball glass in her hand (where did she get it?) one that comes clanging firmly on the table as she pulls herself up into a chair with all the weakness of a person who has been completely and utterly defeated, the cavalcade of errors that was her life finally proving to be too much for her, as she makes what can only be called desperate gestures with the glass, pouring herself a shaking glass as if she too simply could not handle life as it was in this particular instance.

---You could sympathize.

---You could get it.

From upstairs you hear a sound like a chuckle (or maybe that's just a hallucination, you can't quite tell anymore), and Tsuki finally moves out from the corner of the room, walking further inside (and regarding you with mild pity) before she and a recovered Isamu walk up to your mother together, and...

They explain the day.

Or you think they do, the thousand yard stare had you drifting (thankfully) in and out of the perceived reality all around you-!

And-!

"..."

---Somehow, for some reason, time really does seem to skip forward a bit.

Was it because of your technique? Had you finally mastered the art of mentally removing yourself from situations that could completely derail your psyche?

It is unclear.

Yes, it is very unclear, however...

What is clear...

"Come on."

Is Isamu grabbing you under one of your arms.

"We took care of it, Tsuki did all the explaining, they went upstairs together, you can come back to reality now. Didn't you want to go to the baths?"

Eh?

You blink, and...

Noriko and your mother are... Gone...?

No, they're upstairs... Talking with Fia...?

While down here... Anima's head is lying on the table (glass still clutched tight in hand) while Isamu and Tsukiko are...

---Looking at you with mild sympathy...

Or was it pity?

---Surely the tables can't just turn like this, right?

You're supposed to be the reliable one!

[hero]

Amamiya Sho
Aoyama, Streets
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour


"...!"

A surprise combination attack manages to break the stance of my opponent. As a result, her body loses its former aero-dynamicity and thus the speed of its descent is heavily punished. At the same time, a faint beep serves as the signal that alerts me that my COMP is ready for another round of spell-casting. It might be true that my sense of sight is still being blocked off, that said, this is not an opportunity I am willing to let go. Now, I don't really need to think much about this one: I've known from the very start that defeating this sort of opponent in a straight confrontation would never be an option. Evidence of this is how easily she managed to turn the tables on me during our last exchange. So, being the rookie tamer than I am, I guess it's about time I take a few tips and strategies from the official guidebook.

"... Sorry buddy. Time's up."

I call Kyp back to me and immediately use 'Slime C' to assume manual control. Kyp is a loyal guardian and friend, but there are some combos we only have access to when we work together like this. I've grown tired of falling a super-high speeds, so I'll turn my companion into something that can remedy this bad situation!

---Wings.

In theory, it makes absolutely no sense. Making a liquid substance mimic that shape won't make it magically acquire the properties of the original... Or will it?

A slime born from a failed demon summoning.

Usually, this result is considered worse than not being able to summon anything at all, and is frowned upon by humans and demons alike. The reason why there aren't many slimes around is not because they are particularly rare, but because any tamer with a brain would rather fail their entrance exam rather than failing it plus being laughed at, their public image destroyed before earning a proper chance to take off.

It is that same prejudice which has led scientists away from the study of its properties.

Something which has the potential to become any demon, yet was stripped of all identity.

Nothing and everything.

To them it might be no more than worthless residue.

But to Amamiya Sho...

Kyp is his philosopher stone-!

"Kioka, excellent job. Partner, you too, you guys saved me."

Having found a window of opportunity to escape from Ms. Troublemaker's trap, my descent has been stopped completely thanks to the fluttering of the slime wings. For a moment, I remain there and watch silently as she plunges deeper and deeper into the pitch-black abyss below, like a shooting star into the night sky.

"..."

Virtual Shift, huh?

Now that I am granted a second to recover my breath, I finally come to terms with the reality that surrounds me. Regardless of how deep I have fallen, the very existence of this pit defies logic. Therefore, be it though actual Virtual Shift or another ability capable of emulating its effects, it is safe to say I've been caged in a foreign space I have little if any control at all. Further, I'm at my last legs... This is not the sort of thing I can break on my own. At least not like this.

"Sorry. My definition of an exciting fight does not match comic book standards. An epic fight between two opposing forces on the surface of a distant celestial body, one that only ends after each party spends three whole days beating the other to the ground... That sort of entertainment I cannot provide. So I hope you made the best out of these few exchanges."

Amamiya Sho might be seen as a villain.

Sometimes he even plays the role all too well, earning himself a bad reputation in the process.

But...

Even if he doesn't see Tamers as superheroes anymore...

He's a part-time worker who intends to keep a clean conscience.

"Well, don't blame me if time runs out and you fall down to your death or whatever."

Saying so, he allows the wings attached to his back to take him higher and higher.

Below him...

Several meters below him and barely within range, in fact...

The woman whose body became shadows is dragged after him in a graceless fashion. Pulled up by fragments of slime that ceased to be part of Kyp and that might dissolve at any moment given all the conditions they were subjected to, it wouldn't be wrong to compare it to a fishing net pulling up a very lucky catch.

This is another one of Sho's combination moves, albeit a rather unstable one. On one hand, 'Bullseye' keeps the slime -which still emits a faint spirit signature- tightly attached to Anima. On the other, 'Bullseye R' draws the very same slime towards Amamiya's COMP at an adjustable pace. If you add Kyp's wings, it makes for a somewhat reckless and dangerous form of air transport.

"By the way, you are under arrest."

Actions and Spells used

Slime ‘C’Custom Spell - Rank C
A spell that belongs to the Slime series that Sho has developed. Here, ‘C’ stands for both ‘Copycat’ and ‘Control’. It’s the bread and butter of Sho’s fighting style alongside his companion. It takes advantage of the slime’s natural ability to alter its shape by compressing and expanding, but most importantly of its innate talent to adapt. It’s a synchro-type spell which allows Sho to manipulate the slime as if it were a part of his body, effectively transforming it into a weapon. Though a slime on its own is seemingly harmless, by enhancing the image it has of an object, the slime can not only alter its shape to mimic that of the target but also to inherit a good part of its purpose. Through this, if the slime morphs into a blade, then it will gain cutting power, if it alter it shape so to imitate a rock, then they will become just as solid. It’s even possible for it to transform into a pair of wings, allowing the user to hover above the ground. Admittedly, Sho’s original intent was to find a way to use the slime as a pseudo ‘Skill Crack’ feature However, it appears it cannot yet reproduce complex forms such as those of spells or human beings.


Bullseye ‘R’
Auto-Skill- Rank C
An Auto-skill that Sho designed after successfully reverse-engineering the popular enchantment favored by long-range fighters. Bullseye ‘R’, where ‘R’ stands for ‘Reverse’, creates a force that alters the trajectory of flying projectiles compatible with a previously designated signature, directing them towards the enchantment’s point of origin, namely the caster’s COMP. In this way, factors like speed, arc, spin and overall path are forced to adopt values that not just weaken the projectile’s power but also greatly favor the user’s positioning. Once Bullseye ‘R’ becomes viable, Sho hardly needs to step in front of his allies to defend them, raising his shield will be enough to draw ranged attacks towards himself.

Heat 03/06

[Airen]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit: Online
Location: Astrolabe, Fields

"All I need, is to speak to this... Administrator."

---You dismiss your conversation partner with these words.

Having said your piece, your interpretation of the World as well as the actions that woman had taken -no was planning- to take within the confines of the World, you turn your back on her and head towards the distant castle under your own power, propelled onwards by an invisible wind, a single COMP accompanied by a storm of flower petals.

"...Naive."

In response to those words, Leah ultimately just sighs and shakes her head, because the youth continue to speak of the world as if they understand it... It's a spirit of youthful rebellion true, but misplaced, at least in her own opinion, and...

"A lie will remain a lie? Do you not understand yet?"

A vague inhale, the symbol of her vice held between her lips. A sign of continued stress perhaps?

"Do you even know what a lie is? We live in a world where a lie can easily become the truth... Or perhaps, one could say this whole world was already built on a lie from the start."

What did she mean by that...?

Are they just the ramblings of a person with ideas so grandiose they almost come across as insane, or...?

Something else?

Either way...

"This sky of stars for instance... You say there's too many and that makes it wrong... But what if the truth was that the sky looks like this? What if the sky you know is the one that is wrong...? Would you be able to tell? Does it matter? This whole World... It's all a product of thoughts, so-"

You don't get to listen to her for much longer...

---After all, this particular scene ends right here, for reasons you cannot understand, or perhaps...

As the result of a wish you had just made yourself?

Yes.

For a moment, Leah's face changes behind you even though you can't see it, as does Sarah's... It's the face of two who have just seen something bizarre, like the jack had just popped out of a metaphorical jack-in-the-box, but-!

Before either of them can do anything about it, before you can discover exactly what Leah had done to Lara, and what she had planned to do to stop both you and Sarah...

The World around you has shifted entirely, so suddenly it was as if you had blinked your way into another reality entirely...

No, for a moment, it almost resembles a world made out of data, however-!



---Your eyes soon give way.

To be frank, it's possible that it actually destroyed your visual sensors.

All that can be seen in this instance is a horrific light, light that burns just like staring right into the heart of the sun would, and there is no getting away from it, no shutting your eyes or looking elsewhere in an attempt to find a reprieve from it, no, the light is everywhere, it burns through residual sensors like liquid fire, streams of silver and white flowing into a vivid gold as you find yourself along... somewhere...

With...

Something...?

Yes.

This LIGHT is certainly something, why...

It reminded you of the sun.

It really did remind you of the sun.

ThE SuN

THe SUn ThE SUN

THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN-

--The light gets in your head, looking at it threatens to drive even an A.I to insanity, however, yes, however...

"Yo! Yo! Lydia! Pull it together!"

A voice pulls you out of it.

It sounds distorted, both masculine and feminine, a cheerful, pleasant voice that almost feels... Cute...

"Little browned off? Wanted to talk with the Big Wheel, right? One second, one second, blame the juice jerker for the overenthusiastic lightshow, you know? Way too much power! Solar Rays like the Devil's Piano! Fries everyone that tries talking to me, but their heart's in the right place so I can't get mad at em, one sec, one sec!"

The light dies down...

A bit.

Enough that you can function at least, but...

The figure ahead of you... In this world that seems to exist only as a white void...

Can't be seen clearly.

"How you doing? I'm the Admin you wanted to talk to! Figured why not, you know? Long time, no see!"

---And to be frank, it sounds...

Almost nothing like what one would think it does...

[Zurvan]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit: Online
Location: Astrolabe, Fields

In order to save the lost worlds, changing the course of the past was necessary.
However, the ability to travel down the river of time has been lost to humanity, who can simply drift towards the future.
To overcome this limitation, the Reverie Complex was born.
Rather than the power to travel through time, one could simply call it the ability to alter the past.
What is important lies in the thoughts and memories of the observers.
If it is believed to be real, if the dream is seen as the truth, then it is possible for it to become reality.

That is the meaning of this world, a desperate wish thrown into the past.
To save those that cannot be saved, and to defeat one whose power comes from an eternity of suffering and enslavement.

But such knowledge was lost.

The memories of the past were the first to go, or perhaps they needed to be wiped save for a select few.

Perhaps it is only natural then for the souls of this world to wander and stumble in the darkness, seeking enlightenment.

Had she found it? A lone COMP without User, stumbling into the light that held all the answers?

If that were so, what a cruel visage has it taken. The intensity of a unforgiving sun, burning away the senses.

A Light that burns and obscures, all sight, leaving only a kind voice.

"This is not the end of me."

"This is the beginning."

Memories fade in and out in the face of a cruel sun. Trickling down like rain, only fragments returning at a time.

Perhaps with more time, Lydia could remember everything, but...

...Time was not a luxury anyone had left.
​

"It's like we're stuck in the prologue of a particularly twisted story, spinning our wheels in the mud without realizing it."

Time to leave the prologue and venture out.

To the beginning.

Perhaps it is only a coincidence, or perhaps it is fate.

Connected to the ESPer with a bond that cannot be broken, the big sister AI goes forth, unwittingly taking on his inherited ideal of being a champion of mankind.

Their true desires are not too far from another.

A desire for the salvation of mankind, versus the desire for a happy ending.

One drawing out a twisted future with a kind voice, the other defying such for the growth of mankind.

The guiding moonlight meets the sun.

"Have we, met before?"

Unlike the two sisters who managed to get her here, there is no flicker of recognition here. In Lydia's eyes, here was a girl hidden in light casting the world in a suffocating bliss.

Naturally, everyone wants to be saved. But such is not reality, not the one that Lydia was born into at least. Accepting such a strange, unnatural fate with nothing to compare it to, is a cruelty she cannot admit to in her heart.

Perhaps in her mind, she would only choose one.
The happiness just for those two, and with it a happy ending for all, wouldn't that be nice?

If his desires were to come true, it would not matter what fate Lydia needed to endure. She would do so, with a smile.

"Ah it doesn't matter, I did come here to talk to you. To ask you a few things really..."

What Lydia hopes for is a miracle. A vote for a writhing dream, one that twists itself towards an uncertain future.

It may seem like a contradiction for these two desires, a world where no one cries and a world where the future is a happy one, to clash.

Yet, such contradictions merely highlight what it is to be human.

People are full of contradictions.

Wanting others to grow and forge new friendships, whilst wishing them all to yourself.
Wanting to see a story end happily, yet also wishes for these fun days to never end.
Loving someone so much, but realising that the best you can do for them is to let go.
Lying to not hurt someone, despite being close enough that the truth can be uttered.

Even the creations of man aren't spared, with cold and logical machines possessing a purity and all-too-human emotions.

The mix of the rational mind and the emotional soul, how could humans ever not be filled with contradictions?

So too is the case here. For a world where no one cries, a world where there is no sadness---

---Is a world that cannot truly be happy.

"Do you realize what you're doing? Putting this world's inhabitants in a perpetual bliss, don't you think that's cruel?"

Sadness is something that should not be erased. To be rid of sadness is to be rid of happiness by extension.

Such a future, Lydia cannot accept it.

And in defying the sun, she may well condemn herself to oblivion.

A fate turned down to zero.

Lydia graps at her chest. This is what she had decided, she'll try and overwrite this suffocating path.

So she can struggle more against the tides of the future and the past.

After all, as long as he is with her, she feels as if she could reach out her hand to make the impossible possible.

For even if she does not remember the time spent with her User now, deep down she knows...

Her mind reaches out into the darkness of sealed memories.

For all the days she spent with him, are a gentle song.

One she wants to listen to again, as it rings like a future of happiness.

A future, of hope.

[Airen]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit: Online
Location: Astrolabe, Fields

"Do you realize what you're doing? Putting this world's inhabitants in a perpetual bliss, don't you think that's cruel?"

"Nah, not really."

---An instant answer.

Without any sort of hesitation, that strangely kind voice immediately denies both your words and logic behind them; of course it's only natural, something that had already moved to put all it's plans into action would naturally already believe in said plans, and so someone appearing here right at the end and telling it they're wrong, well...

---It's only natural it wouldn't have much of an effect.

Any effect, really.

"You humans have this weird thing where you think you have to suffer to be happy, to be frank I think that's really silly, cookie."

It doesn't get mad, the voice doesn't become any less pleasant as it regards you, no...

"I mean, none of you have even tried something like that, don't knock it till ya try it kiddo."

---How old is it?

Impossible to tell, it's words have a youthful sort of energy to it, but at the same time, you feel like you're staring at something that's incomprehensibly ancient, like a star made manifest on the planet itself, or perhaps...?

No...

No, you can't say for sure...

"But holy mackerel, you sure woke up cooking with gas! No memories in the ol head of yours and yet it seems I've snapped your cap!"

It chuckles.

The light moves closer, in an almost playful way...

"I'm not the bad guy! Just doing my part to keep the big ol cosmic chrome dome out of the universe! It's my big thank you to humanity!"

[Zurvan]

Lydia
Main Processing Unit: Online
Location: Astrolabe, Fields

"Well, yeah. I woke and was told the world was going to end, then I met some lunatic that told me that was fine. That we should simply let the world end for there to be salvation."

It was certainly an unusual awakening. Hearing of the end of the world, yet being told that it's okay.

Salvation is at hand... it sounds like the kind of thing a religious fanatic would say, yet funnily enough it was spoken by a woman of science.

Then again, could she be trusted, when she tried not to show her own grief? Wasn't there a good chance her wishes for what she had lost and struggled to get back were in conflict with a more rational side?

"You'd know better than I what this plan of yours entails, so in that case help me understand it."
Despite the strange vocabulary choices --suggesting along with her aura that she was far older than her voice itself would suggest-- Lydia can understand this person well enough.

Naturally, she is curious to hear her defense of this ludicrous idea, if only so she could ascertain whether this dreadful feeling of a mistake being made was right.

Her intuition hadn't betrayed her often... but with some luck this time it would. She hoped so, even if secretly. In many cases it's better to be wrong due to realism than to turn out right due to pessimism.

But fate can be rather whimsical...

Even now, as two inhuman souls discuss very human concepts.

Suffering, happiness, meaning.

Can there be light without shadow? Can there be life without death? Can there be warmth without the cold?

Or is something intrinsic and fundamental lost when one half is removed from a whole?

"For starters, what do you mean with 'cosmic chrome dome'? Actually before that, if you're an Administrator couldn't you restore my memories fully?"

What awaits in the murky depths of memories and dreams long forgotten?

Will it even matter? Knowing her Tamer, the choices made in their future, what all this was for?

Is it really worth placing the World in isolation, if it means condemning others?

"Would certainly help knowing why one of your Alchsomethings targeted my User..."

Ah... that does sound bad doesn't it...

[Airen]

Daisuke
???
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

---While she seems similar to Chris in some ways, her emotions are actually a bit easier to spot.

Indeed, there's a certain sense of disappointment that crosses her face when you tell her to do what is probably the 'easier' teleportation method, of course, you don't exactly know how she plans on doing whatever it is she had wanted to do (being able to move your body along with your soul was a boast that sounded almost like mad science) but for some reason, you also feel like that might've been the correct decision...

Like...

You had dodged a bullet of some sort by doing so, however...

"You'll also message if you need anything, right, Blackrose-san? It wouldn't be very 'Bright Justice' of me to leave a fair maiden alone when she's in trouble."

"...Fair Maiden?"

Those easier to read emotions...

Also make her expression here easier to put together, namely...

"I'm uh... Not fair at all..."

Embarrassment.

Even in this strangely realistic avatar form, the cheeks of her face are tinted red, and her eyes are suddenly having a bit of trouble meeting your own, instead making a hard diversion to the side-!

It's a surprisingly cute reaction, very maiden-like, and goes a bit against the 'creepier' vibe she had clearly been trying to manifest here, however...

It lasts for but a moment.

Indeed, after a couple of seconds...

Her shoulders sink.

"...I always cause trouble for people anyway."

And shakes her head.

"So don't worry about me. My problems are my problems. I'll make it through, I always have... Probably."

A pause.

A painful pause, and one in which you probably prepare a counter, however-!

"Although... If you see Eve... Please tell her I'm sorry... I think she'll get it..."

She looks back at you again, eye to eye, and makes this request with a surprising amount of strength-!

"If you want to do me a favor... That's good enough for me..."

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Outer Limits
11/16/2026
Monday - Afternoon

“—but she keeps trying to avoid me, which sucks, since we’re both on a case. And if she doesn’t want to see me, I won’t push it. Respect her boundaries. That’s all.”

"...Huh."

She blinks.

At the end of a long, somewhat painful silence...

She blinks.

"Never would've thought that would happen, but I guess you two also had a sort of... Dishonest aura around ya at times... Well, it sounds complicated, so you have my condolences."

Then wisely chooses to retreat?

While she has the vibe of that old school friend that catches you in the aisles of a store and wants to talk, she might actually be surprisingly receptive to emotional matters, this seems to cause you some sort of pain, so...

She retreats.

"But if you want to ask around about the Clock Tower... Well, the kids might open up more to you about it, you're not faculty."

---And that vaguely serious tone returns after she does...

"They're weirdly hesitant to talk about it with us... Call it a delinquent's instinct, but there might really be something to it, or heck, get your squire on it before anyone realizes that's who she is... You brought one of em here with you, right?"

She looks around, fails to see anyone, and...

Drops her gaze back to you.

"One of your fangirls? I know you have em~"

The teasing look and voice returns...

---What a weird person.

[Bloble]

Daisuke
???
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"Gotcha!"

Daisuke gives Sakrako a great big thumbs-up.

"I'll definitely tell her!"

Not that he knows who this 'Eve' is in the first place. But it's probably yet another friend of a friend. If there's one thing he's come to realize about his buddy's old pal... it's that she really is more maiden-like than Chris had made her out to be.

"She's an ultimate force of darkness", Mokujima Chris had once told him. "A rampaging demon among mortals who will spread terror in her wake. Nothing will stop the black rose from blooming, except for the dark lord's will. All who behold her beware at her tyrannical expression. In short, she's pretty cool when she's not being too down on herself."

Chris had clearly left out the most pertinent part: the fact that they were both adorable bozos.

"I'll tell Eve you're sorry... and that you'll definitely make it up to her."

Sometimes an idiot needs a little push. And then another ten pushes, to arrive at where they might've wanted to end up in the first place, even if they'd never admit it themselves. As someone who cares for such an idiot every single day, the COMP known as Daisuke is a hundred percent certain of this. In this case, the idiot mustn't be allowed to pawn off her problem onto someone else. A second-hand apology is meaningless, after all.

"So you'll have until I meet her to think of something, okay, Blackrose nee-chan?"

Of course, sometimes the foolish buddy needs a bit of a carrot to follow the stick.

"If you're an expert at causing trouble, then I'm sure you'll also be good at getting someone out of trouble. You already proved that just now." Yeah, it should be fine. She seems resourceful enough. The person before him isn't the sort who is content to sit in misery. Not without doing something about it. "In the mean time, I'll let Chris worry about your problems. She's good at that anyway. She'll figure something out, just wait. We've already started analyzing that substance - ah, I wasn't supposed to say that... um, in short, don't worry about it, fair maiden! The prince is on her way! Probably!"

It's definitely a bit irresponsible to be spending so much time with a total nerd right now.

On the other hand, Daisuke does as much every day, so one might say he's gotten too used to it.

"Um, that said..."

That said, as much as he's enjoying talking to his rescuer, he can't afford to dilly-dally. The COMP doesn't know how time in here and time outside are correlated, but Sakurako is a human, so their conversation is probably in real time. Which means the situation is dire. Even a few seconds spent talking here might be the difference between his friends being safe or suffering outside.

"If you could send me back to my body, I'd appreciate it... I came here because it was touch and go, and it might've gotten worse in that time... so if you wanna stay in touch, here's my contact info! We can talk a whole bunch more when it's calmer!"

[Airen]

Mokujima Chris & Logan Starbright
SDCD Dorms - Chris' Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

---For Mokujima Chris, a strange sound is blaring at the back of your thoughts.

Like an image laid over the subconscious, there's a certain sense of second sight hammering away at the back of your thoughts... No, to call it hammering would be a bit too violent of a world, it's more like...

Someone's hand had come to rest on your head?

One hand?

Many hands?

A song?

One voice?

Many voices?

You're unsure, it's a bizarre phenomena, one that doesn't inhibit your ability to function at all, no... Whatever this is, this familiar feeling, a sound that isn't really a sound, a song that isn't actually playing physically, brings to mind images, vivid ones, of...

Raz Stone?

He's in Aoyama, Brick Lane specifically, and...

He's talking to a skeleton? A particularly flamboyant skeleton?

---It's a bit of a bizarre sight, a strange gaze for a sudden bout of magically induced Clairvoyance, after all, that is what this is...

Of that you are sure... After all...

Hadn't you heard this once before?

It's hard to say, the memory is distant, still...

The song pulls at you, a gentle magic that offers to usher you away from this place if you would like...

You're sure it could do it too, regardless of how difficult teleportation normally is, after all, this phenomena, this song...

It's very powerful... You can tell that much even from where you are, nevertheless...

"Eve. There's somewhere you should see. One hundred and twenty meters to the north-west, 331 degrees from here, and fifty-seven straight below. In the storage bay."

"Somewhere... I should... See?"

She tilts her head, both still getting used to this language as well as being generally unsure of what you mean, until a brief burst of thought clarifies it, then...

"Ah... The ship... I can retrieve it and fly it... If that's what you're asking me to do...?"

...She nods, and joins the line of clasped hands.

"But... You should know... It's not just the raven thing... The thing you had me draw, there was... A different girl too, in the... Digital Space."

A pause, then-

"...Didn't see much of her, and the memory data is hard to hold onto... Like it's self erasing... But... Thought you should know..."

-a strange admittance.

One accompanied by the gentle pull of everyone going through the door together, hand in hand, egged onward by a Goddess that particularly enjoyed this sort of cheesy, affectionate interaction with humans-!

"Good boy."

Yes.

She had told Logan that with a teasing smile, one that was about as comforting as it was dangerous, albeit dangerous in a different sort of way than normal, still...

Nothing strange happens after stepping through the portal, at least, the journey is about as safe and comfortable as this sort of thing can typically be; stepping through the door and into the world outside, the outside of the base that you arrive in is a bit different than what Logan had gleamed it to be through the cameras earlier, for one thing...

The sky was a bizarre myriad of colors.

Like the normal blue had simply broken down into every other color on the spectrum somehow, and to add onto that, it's no longer raining, as all the clouds seem to have disappeared, and the city does indeed appear to be empty (which for Chris is doubly strange, seeing as how the weird image in her head is showing her an Aoyama full of people) but...

"Oh hey! Finally!"

...Before people can really get a grasp on the entirety of their surroundings, the sound of rapid, approaching footsteps puts everyone on guard as a certain red-head reporter, the one that you all had come out here to retrieve-

"Was starting to get worried something had happened to you guys, but I sure am happy to see you, it's really weird out here right now-"

-flies over at a superhuman pace, and then, as if to defy the grace that should come with that unnatural speed entirely...

Slips on a puddle of water and is launched by her own momentum, somewhat unceremoniously...

Right towards Logan.

---It's not an attack either, no...

It's sheer clumsiness...

And you could dodge it, but...

You somehow get the idea certain members of the group might not approve...

[Bloble]

Mokujima Chris
SDCD Dorms - Chris' Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

"Too loud."

Mokujima Chris is wearing sunglasses.

At some point, while the rest of the group were scanning the surroundings, or perhaps staring at the sky breaking apart into rainbows far off in the distance. she slipped them on. The future is too bright right now, so she needs to wear shades. The result of her decision is that she looks more like a member of the MIB than the SDCD. A stone face that reveals nothing, and eyes replaced with pure black voids that reveal even less than nothing. She is as unreadable as magical code to a layman.

"This is no time for a concert."

She'd like to go, of course, but not during work hours. Someone has to chaperone Eve. Perhaps her parents will record what's going on and send her a badly-edited clip later. Thus, Chris does what she does best, reaches into her mind, and thumbs the 'down' button on the volume controls of the foreign signal blasting unlicensed Raz Stone music across the air. Street music and talking skeletons - wait, was that the part timer? - can wait until the mess is sorted out.

Chris spares only a glance at the girl they're here to pick up, one at the sky to make sure it's not going to rain again, and another at her surroundings, before plopping herself down onto the bench near the entrance to the SDCD base and opening up her laptops again. The both of them. These contaminants won't analyze themselves, after all, and it's the perfect weather to get some work done.

"Don't be too happy," Chris addresses the stranger at the gates as the staccato rhythm of fingers flying across keys starts up again, twice as fast as before. "The inside is no better than the outside. It may explode in a shower of hostile parasitic crystals at any moment, so please stand at least five metres away at all times until the building has been properly fumigated."

Next steps. The sky is falling, but that's not something they can solve unless Yamuna decides to pull another miracle from where the sun doesn't shine. The base is overrun by crystal creatures, yet another problem best solved with an army instead of one and a half Tamers and some civilians. And of course there is the problem of their enemy-.

"That girl you saw. Pale, silvery hair? Short?"

Her question to Eve is met with an instant response.

"Short. Blue hair. Gradient eyes."

Enemies, then.

The reveal of previously withheld information does not surprise Chris. In fact, it is nothing more than a confirmation of what she had already suspected: an enemy that hides by manipulating perception, has strange ulterior motives, and interferes with memory and mentality, particularly with respect to machines. Such a description perfectly fits someone she had already acknowledged as a problem. The only novel revelation is that there is more than one of them.

"Beware that girl," Chris tells Eve out loud. "Or any like her. One of them was skulking around your ship earlier. My COMP only detected her because he coincidentally reviewed his collected visual data while standing guard. Otherwise she would have gone unseen. Upon being confronted, she put on an innocent act and convinced him to let her go. Then his memory banks started filling up with error data. Much like yours."

And then Daisuke wondered why his Tamer was so angry afterwards. What a foolish boy he could be. For a COMP who could fabricate any emotions he wanted in a matter of nanoseconds, he sure is a gullible one.

It's impossible to tell, with her sunglasses on, whether Chris is looking at Logan or not, but she addresses him all the same without moving.

"I sincerely hope you and your COMP are not suffering the same symptoms, Logan."

They may be, since they had not felt it necessary to tell her what they'd seen. For all Chris knows, she may be the only one here whose mind and body haven't been compromised somehow today... apart from that damnable crest, of course. How is she supposed to deal with this enemy now? If her theory is right, this girl - girls - are part of the old Master System. They must be machines then, proto-COMPs or AIs of some kind that have gone rogue. No defense in the world could hold them back, and no piece of technology is safe. She has disabled all incoming and outgoing signal ports on her laptops, but even they may be compromised - though she'd probably notice, staring straight at them. This is a foe that Tamers are the worst-suited to fight.

...not that it matters. To Mokujima Chris, there is no such thing as an enemy that cannot be defeated.

She glances down at her analyses. She is making good progress, both with the spell and the simulator data. Both are being scanned and taken apart for viruses, but more importantly for signatures, for hints of a way to track their origin. Chris doesn't much care about the data itself as much as she cares about finding where it came from. Her senses and mind are sharper than ever, and with that song pounding in the back of her head... it feels like she could weave code straight from her dreams into reality right now. So she does. She writes an entirely new program in a matter of seconds, and then runs it over the magical signatures, knowing even before it is done that she will have what she needs.

"As for that ship." She continues, after a moment. "You don't need to do anything with it. It's simply yours. At least until Blackrose comes back to claim it. But I'd like to borrow its light switch."

That simple switch may be the key to turning this battle from bright to dark in more ways than one. Something in Chris' gut says so. To fight an enemy that traverses layers, a ship that sails them is needed. Which is why it's imperative that they go there as soon as possible.

"As for you..."

She finally looks up from her work, sparing a glance for the stranger at their door a moment. The stranger that is currently careening wildly towards Logan.

Chris looks away. He's a Roth, so he'll survive. Probably.

"...it's dangerous. We shouldn't linger. But if we are attacked, my Empyrean Eye will unravel any curse or trick before it arrives. So don't worry about that."

Uncharacteristically, the last words out of Chris' mouth are a boast. A blatant one at that. A promise that any sneak attack will fail because of her. Complete with a stupidly flashy ability name she pulled out of nowhere.

Of course, no such ability exists. But their attacker doesn't need to know that. All they need to know is that a gargoyle has settled on the field. A stone-cold watcher whose eyes, hidden behind a black visor, can be anywhere, staring at the entire area at once. Even if the enemy is perfectly unseen, they will feel her gaze now, and it will influence their approach. Will they hesitate? Will they switch their target to her, the defenseless girl more worried about her computer than the sky falling down? Will they back away entirely, scared off by a breeze on the wind? Or will they do nothing, calling her bluff, and merely live with the possibility that she is telling the truth in their head, grinding at their decision-making processes like a grain of sand in the cog wheels? Either way...

Without doing anything, without being able to do anything, without having an ounce of power or threat, Mokujima Chris has made it impossible for the enemy that may not even exist to ignore her.

Come on, her cold, empty glare seems to say to the hidden places where none look. Am I telling the truth, or am I bluffing?

Do you feel lucky, punk?

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
SDCD Dorms - Chris' Room
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

"Good boy."

: Geh. Manipulative flirt, I knew she couldn’t be trusted, damn idols always trying to get a new bag…

: I think that’s a bit much, but…

It’s a bit annoying. Like he’s being treated like a dog. He may as well be from a Goddess’s point of view, but still. Whatever. Mind on the mission.

Logan steps out of the portal, braced for rain and sudden attacks. There is no rain, and there are no people. Instead of an overcast gray, the sky is a brilliant rainbow, shining like the mystic fireworks that went off all those years ago when he went to a concert with his family and after boring rounds of conversation about his future prospects the music started and before he knew it he was out of his seat with his face smushed against the glass of the sky box, watching the audience fly in rainbows of magic, wishing with all of his heart that he could do the same. But he can’t do that. He has a goal, here and now, that demands his attention. After all, there is-

"Oh hey! Finally!"

-Aleta Gaumond, cheerfully careening toward them. That’s one matter all but addressed, remarkably conveniently so. Before Logan can turn his mind to the next course of action, Chris speaks.

"I sincerely hope you and your COMP are not suffering the same symptoms, Logan."

Chris’s warning causes the churning sea of unanswered questions and flimsy conjectures within him to bubble up. Had she encountered Verity? Or perhaps, someone like Verity Amelia likely encountered? Her mention of junk data brings to mind that photograph, but could it have been a symptom of the current situation instead? Or some other factor? Given that outburst, she must be reviewing prior events with Eve. Was she not aware of them? Certainly, she closed her eyes rather grumpily before I left, but would Eve have really left her to do so without a command of some kind? What happened to Chris in the simulator while I wasn’t watching? Was she knocked unconscious? No, that can’t be the case; anyone who could attack one of them would attack the other as well. At the absolute least, they’d prioritize Eve. So whatever happened to Chris, it was innocuous enough for Eve to act of her own volition afterward, and likely didn’t involve Verity given her reaction to her.

...She couldn’t have just fallen asleep, right? He’d have to ask her about it later, and go over any events she might’ve missed. After all, she hasn’t seen it: not the people she distrusts, not the shard of truth in Verity, not the fragment of

reality

possibility

that he let slip from his fingers - and not Sarah, returned from the dead.

Logan turns his head to stare directly into the curtains of Chris’s soul.

Are your eyes still closed under those shades of yours?

“I can only keep my eyes open and draw my own judgments.”

"Was starting to get worried something had happened to you guys, but I sure am happy to see you, it's really weird out here right now-"

There’s no time to say anything more as Aleta slips on a puddle, transforming a bumbling reporter into a Logan-seeking missile. Sighing, Logan adjusts his grasp on a scorching-hot Amelia and braces himself for impact. He’s got enough left to secure a civilian and intercept a surprise attack.

---

Spoiler:

Auto-Skill: ???
Spells Set: ???, Dia line, ???, ???, ???, Eye of the Fates
Spells Used: Eye of the Fates
Heat: 6/9

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Outer Limits
11/16/2026
Monday - Afternoon

Ayra twitches when Evita says dishonest—after all, it’s the same attack on her character Aster brought up earlier, after all.

Aster: It’s not an attack on your character! You and her just bottle things up!

It’s called being considerate.

Aster: If that’s how you see it, you’re not being considerate to yourself.

Ayra doesn’t really have anything to say to that, and Aster has already decided to retreat back to her shell. Still, the irritation she feels is completely smothered by the serious look on her face as Evita tells her about how the students would be much more receptive to her. Such were the perks of fame, but at the same time, announcing her intent to dig into the mystery would certainly attract unwanted attention. People enjoyed seeing Knights in action, after all.

"One of your fangirls? I know you have em~"

The question, as soon as it’s said, immediately makes Ayra annoyed, and this time around, she lets it show.

“I could have brought Connor,” Ayra grumbles, though she knows that is entirely untrue. Bringing a boy to an all girls school was just asking for trouble beyond comparison. No, the difficult thing to admit is that Evita has a point for the wrong reasons.

Out of her three squires, Asuka was simply the best choice. She attended this school, unlike Mirelle, and well, she already thought about why she didn’t bring Connor. It just also happened that Asuka was overly fond of her, but Ayra had always thought it was kind of endearing? Perhaps Asuka was too receptive to whatever she happened to say at times, and worried about her health too much, but that just meant she was willing to fix her faults and was overly considerate.

Well, none of those facts changed the fact that under any reasonable definition, Asuka was certainly a fangirl. Damnit.

“Listen here, I brought Asuka because she’s also an alumni. Hopefully, some of the people here will be inspired to follow in her footsteps, just like how she was apparently inspired to follow in mine…” Ayra says, with a sigh. The thought of being someone’s role model suddenly felt awfully intimidating. Compared to Evita, who honestly looked too relaxed in her role as a teacher, Ayra naturally felt that impulse to match the impossible ideals of everyone around her.

“Anyway, I’ll keep what you said in mind, and ask around.”

-----

Aster

Ayra was an annoying person if your responsibility was to guide and assist her. Aster could only thank fate for modeling her after the only person who could tolerate Ayra’s bullshit. And speaking of that person, Evita mentioned they were recently here…

Aster, as a Weapon-type COMP, was not particularly versed or capable of the technical details of things, but she had enough basic knowledge to get around. Even if Ayra and Tsukiko didn’t talk, they still were absolutely contacts for work-related purposes. And this meant she had an opportunity.

The most popular use of civilian COMPs was to act as glorified secretaries. This held true to people with military grade comps such as herself—in all five years of her existence, Aster has never seen one member of the Knight of the Round deal with paperwork other than looking it over and signing it. That duty is for their COMPs—pretty obvious to leave it all to a computer who could do it more efficiently.

The sole exception is her owner, and Aster is certain Ayra only does it to kill time and stop herself from going insane.

Regardless, the point was that if someone got a message, their COMP was all but guaranteed to take a look at it first. And all Aster needed to do was take the gamble that Primrose felt the same way as she did—exempt from the spat their owners had.

Before she figured it was simple to respect Ayra’s wishes, but if Tsukiko was possibly in danger of being manipulated by extradimensional beings, Aster was certain Ayra wouldn’t mind it if she broke a few rules. If Ayra could go around the law as Joker, she could go around Ayra to have a lovely chat with Primrose, especially if it was for Tsukiko’s sake.

From: Aster

💖

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR (?)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"But you can trust me, yes. The contract we signed is proof enough of that, plenty of beings in your world will lie to you, for one reason or another, but I am different."

"I have no reason to do so. It certainly sounds suspicious of me to say that, and there are some things about your world that I simply cannot talk about in my position, but being unable to discuss something and telling you a lie are two different actions... I will never do the second one. Nor will I take actions that would harm you."

“… I see. That’s a relief to hear…”

As it dawns upon her that statement could be interpreted differently, Eva quickly made a clarification.

“Ah, not that I thought you were trying to harm me or deceive me. It’s just that this situation is… a little weird, I suppose.”

Truth be told, it hadn’t become any less weird after Agatha’s partial explanation. Crashing together of possibility- a bizarre phrase that could mean any number of things, one of them apparently linked with memory loss… Considering that Agatha seemed very familiar with parallel worlds and the (assuming it wasn’t just her imagination) shrinking number of doors, perhaps it had something to do with worlds merging? Possibility was a phrase that could refer to a different world, after all…

Whatever it was, there was no use in puzzling over it. She doubted she would fully understand until she experienced it herself, and rather than ask more questions that she wasn’t sure Agatha could answer, there was something more important to say.

“Anyways, well… thanks.”

Deciding to put her trust in Agatha’s judgement, Eva turned her attention away from the door.

“I still don’t quite get what’s going on, but if you hadn’t done something, there was a chance I might have forgotten meeting you here, right? That would be… unfortunate.”

Under normal circumstances, Eva would not have knowingly simply stood still and let someone try to pat her head- but she could make an exception this time.

“I wouldn’t like that. I’m happy to hear that you feel the same way.”

[Airen]

Daisuke
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Smokey Island Bakery)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"If you could send me back to my body, I'd appreciate it... I came here because it was touch and go, and it might've gotten worse in that time... so if you wanna stay in touch, here's my contact info! We can talk a whole bunch more when it's calmer!"

"Ah."

A brief sound, the noise of someone acknowledging something that they had perhaps forgotten, in their excitement at being referred to as a big sister, one that had her clap her hands and grin in an unsettling way, broken only by your eventual reminder of the time limit of your situation...

"Touch and go, got it."

Yes.

When reminded of it...

She nods, then flashes you a thumbs up.

"Sorry for the delay."

---And then a snap of her fingers.

Perhaps you had remembered something you might have forgotten to ask her in this instance? Certainly this person was a person of interest in many ways, a dark-haired enigma that nevertheless served as a close friend to your user, a woman of bizarre shifts in personality, and who spoke of disturbing, painful things as if they were banal, while treating more innocent things with a bizarre mentality...

A cross between straightforwardness and twisted innocence?

---It's hard to say one way or another, certainly she's an oddity, and...

Ah.

That's right.

You forgot to ask about Aislynn, but-!

---In a flash, her transportation spell is over.

Or at least, that is what you assume it was... Judging by how she had done it through physical motion alone, it seemed to imply that the girl called Sakurako was a natural magic user, in other words, she didn't seem to have to use an outside tool in order to perform it... Then again, considering her nature as an avatar, perhaps she had simply been forming data magic from some remote terminal...?

No.

That didn't feel right either...

In a lot of ways, that girl had almost felt like a ghost haunting a machine, but...

...No.

Best not to think about it too much, yes...

---After all, you're back at home.

The bakery.

---And things have changed quite a bit.

Yes.

The sound of rain is heavy now, heavy and relentless, and as you pick yourself up off the floor (where it seems that you had fallen) your sensors pick up on broken glass, scattered around the area as if someone had smashed in one of the bakery windows, and...

Looking up... No, feeling a strong humid wind on your skin, you can feel that reality for yourself.

Something or someone had shattered the window.

There were marks on the floor, the marks of something heavy being dragged along the ground... A chair perhaps? Or one of the tables?

Everything is tossed around, so it seems like that might be the case, but...

Where did the other two go?

They wouldn't just leave you alone, that's not in either of their characters, and...

---It's a question that gets answered quickly, or at least, a number of hints offer themselves to you simultaneously.

From upstairs, a vicious discharge of electricity.

The bakery shakes with the force, a screeching call of hundreds of birds, echoing out from the upstairs, the obvious source of it Shuichi's reiki, and at the same time...

---Outside, in the distance, in a world covered by a fog so thick that it has to be supernatural in nature...

There are heavy thudding sounds... Metallic... And almost a bit muffled...?

Muffled by the fog?

Like two people swinging weapons at each other... Interrupted occasionally by something heavy tearing into the concrete ground outside? Were people fighting out there? Unlike with Shuichi, you can't tell who it is from the feel of their reiki alone, something about the fog seems to be eating away at it, draining any ambient power that happens to ebb out into it, but...

---Caution.

For some reason, some primal reason, comes a feeling of...

Warning.

Warning about the fog in particular.

[Airen]

Amamiya Sho
Aoyama, Streets
11/16/2026
Monday - Dark Hour

---Up.

---Up.

---Up.

An endless ascent is all that awaits you. While it is common within Tamer circles for those that don't have innate flight systems to somehow manage to put together a way to participate in airborne battles, that is not the problem that eventually becomes apparent to you.

No.

If this was a problem that could be solved simply by flying up, then you surely would have reached the surface by now.

While you had given it awhile in order to make up for the sheer speed and duration of your original plummet into what almost seemed like the center of the earth, a few minutes later, and your always low-expectations eventually make it clear that there is no method of escape in this fashion. As you feared, it seems that your opponent has some power over 'sub-worlds' or at the very least 'planes,' and has managed to make an impossible to escape realm...

Or at least, one that really does effectively plummet forever.

"..."

It almost feels like you've been put between two different portals, and that you keep falling into one and out of another... But even if that is the case, you can't tell where this hypothetical portal actually begins or ends, and thus, the reality of the situation is that you will just keep going up forever until you do something different...

That being said...

"Wooooooh, that was fun! Nice shot kid."

...Your 'prisoner' continues to act in bizarre ways, or rather, ones that seemingly defy the logic that an ordinary person would use; when her voice appears again to you it is both cheerful and strong, the voice of someone that has easily recovered from whatever damage they had happened to take, but at the same time...

---She has also stopped fighting, or rather, hasn't made any attempt at getting up at you from down below, for reasons that you cannot define...

Yeah.

...Considering how eager she had been to fight earlier, to see her not do so now, well...?

It's strange.

Still...

She's pouring her power into Kyp's remnants to keep her own ascension going (so perhaps she does not actually wish to fall) but doing little else, instead seeming to find some sort of amusement in your endless ascent...

"But still, arrested huh? I mean, I'm fine with being dragged into the police station by force, but heh... I mean, you realize you can't actually get out of here, right?"

She chuckles.

"No reason to flail around on half-assed wings. That friend of yours should eventually panic enough that she can break in here and get you, so that's all you gotta wait for, really."

---Still chuckling, no, giggling, the woman does the impossible and stretches herself out down below, forming the remnants into some sort of... Slime hammock...?

Really.

It's impossible to get a bead on this person at all...

"You should be thanking me anyway."

Especially when she says things like this...

Entirely without context, but with the confidence of a person...

That absolutely believes it's true.