The group ended staying on the planet Tenrei longer than they had expected, mainly because Yuuno had to figure out how the new ship's interfaces worked such as reworking the display language to one he was more familiar with and going through the operator's manual. As there was much to read, he didn't rest properly for the past few nights as he kept reading and working things out.
Although deciphering the language was simple enough, he ran into another problem. The ship's systems were locked with command passwords. Thankfully, Material-D and Material-S managed to get a few primary ones open, mostly by guessing on words related to that girl love thing the Reverend had been preaching about earlier. "I managed to get this one unlocked, peon."
"Thanks. I'll get to it once I finish over here." The Librarian's attention was focused solely on the displays in front of him that were showing him engine schematics. "Let's see... where's that fuel mileage number again?"
"You're welcome." The Hayate replica took out her fan to cool herself off and glanced out the ship's window where Material-L was playing outside with her brand new dog summon. Rai was trying to get her new dog to do some tricks but was having little success. Obviously because of the way it stared at her in annoyance while she tried to get the dog to follow her example of rolling over in the ground.
"Yami, can you please call Rai in for lunch?" asked Seikou from the side as she took out the day's rations and started dividing them up into equal portions for four people.
"Call me 'Your Majesty'!" grumbled Yami before she headed to the hatch to get Material-L. Once the Fate replica got word that lunch was being served, she dismissed her summon and zipped inside the ship past a bewildered Lord of Darkness.
"FOOD!"
"Goodness... I have never seen you this hungry except for chicken!" Material-S passed on one plate to Rai while another plate went to Yuuno who accepted it quietly before heading back to work.
"I know!" As she plowed into her meal, Yami quietly connected with her device.
'Both yesterday and today, Material-L has brought out that summon of hers. Something like that would normally cost her an extraordinary amount of mana and drain her to the point where she would be starving for Linker Cores. But yet, her energy levels have remained stable.'
Well? Don't you have something to say to me?
Yami ignored the smug tone of her Device while keeping an eye on the feasting Rai. 'Okay, so you were right on that regard. And I myself feel a bit stronger than before despite not consuming Linker Cores or taking additional mana from that peasant in the past few days. What next?'
As things stand, the first injection has worked to create a foundation for your internal mana generators inside your Linker Core. It can now convert standard nutrients from the food you consume into units of mana. Of course, another injection would most likely improve the conversion rate.
'I see. I'll keep that in mind.' Just as Material-D disconnected herself from her Device, she heard Yuuno shout out in triumph.
"I got it! I finally figured out how to fly this thing!"
His outburst was followed by mocking applause coming from the Lord of Darkness. "Bravo, peon. That only took you... what? Forty something odd hours to do?"
Even as Material-S frowned in disapproval at her friend's wicked tongue, it didn't bother the Librarian at all. "Say what you will but if I interpreted the engine specs correctly, it's gonna be a smooth three day trip to Mid-Childa from here! Ah, I can't wait to get back to my old office! And I want to see Nanoha and the others again!"
Seikou's sharp hearing picked up on that name that he just said. For some reason, she was curious to know more about that name but that can wait for a moment. "Only three days?"
"I know!" exclaimed Yuuno with the excitement of returning home reflecting in his tired eyes, due to the small amount of sleep he had gotten while working on the ship. "These guys were using an X-3 Xros Virsago Drive as their primary means of propulsion! Far more powerful than what I had back on my old ship! Once we get off this planet, there should be no problems getting back home!"
That was when Material-L perked up from her clean plate. "Ooh, poor choice of words there, Yuu-nii. Now the universe has an obligation to throw everything including the kitchen sink to mess things up for you."
"Oh, come on! Stop joking around, Rai-chan!" laughed the blonde male. "This is going to work. It... it has to..."
The Fate replica shrugged, not even picking up the sudden fatigue in Yuuno's tone during that last bit. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."
The only response she got was Yuuno drifting off and slumping in his seat. "It... has... to..."
"Whoaaaa... they really renovated this place! Look at it, Tea!"
The orange haired enforcer merely sighed in irritation at her friend's antics upon stepping into this place again after four and a half years. She could understand the whole nostalgia thing but still... "Subaru, would you please act more professional? You are a Sergeant for crying out loud!"
"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're not curious about how they spruced up the old HQ!" exclaimed Subaru in her usual energetic tone.
"That can wait until after the meeting! Let's go or we're going to be late!" growled Teana as she walked on and saw the small crowd gathering near the area ahead. As the duo arrived, they spotted many familiar faces in the crowd. Senior officers such as Nanoha, Fate, Signum and Vita were present along with former members of Riot Force Six like Alto, Vice and Griffith. A few new faces did pop up though such as...
"Gin-nee? And everybody else too...!" Indeed, all of the other Nakajima sisters had blended in with the crowd.
"Yo!" greeted Nove casually as Subaru and Teana made their way through.
"You all got orders to transfer to Special Duty Section Six as well?" asked Teana.
"It was Yagami-san who made the arrangements," said Cinque. "The fact that N2R and some of Battalion 108 have been transferred to this unit means that she is really taking this threat seriously."
"Speaking of transfers, Erio and Caro will be joining us too, right Gin-nee?"
Ginga nodded. "They're on their way from Supools as we speak although I do recall that they intended to make a detour to Carnaaji to recruit Lutecia. Commander Yagami's working to pull some strings and temporarily lift her sentence while the threat is still at large."
All of a sudden, the small chitter chatter began to die down as Hayate Yagami, dressed in a blue military uniform complete with a dress shirt, tie, jacket and skirt, came into view of everybody and stepped up to the podium to face the crowd. She was accompanied by a tiny silver haired Unison Device dressed in the same uniform as well except the one thing that most people noticed was that the little one wasn't looking like the cheerful energetic being they all remembered. "Hello everyone. It's good to see that everybody's healthy and I wish that we had reunited under better circumstances however we have a powerful threat on the horizon and it's our mission to ensure that they never set foot on our home." She paused for a moment. "First, I would like to clear up any misconceptions that are out there, beginning with this one."
A presentation screen popped up behind to show off the images of the three women who had broadcasted themselves all over Mid-Childa a few days ago before playing back a part of the clip. "...You will never get Yuuno-san back. I will never allow someone who has such kindness in him to work for such evil people. You had best hope, for your sake, Evil Admiral, that we never meet in person, for I shall not hold anything back." While that played on, Teana noticed Nanoha's sudden shift in posture out of the corner of her eye. The Captain's eyes were as hard as steel while one of her hands was rubbing against the pendant form of Raising Heart... as if itching to let loose on the enemy.
"The accusation that was just thrown at Admiral Harlaown has absolutely no basis. This is most likely a tactic to throw the public into confusion. Sadly to say that it worked and regardless of the press conferences we held to clear Chrono's name, there are still those who want these allegations thoroughly investigated. If any one of you is contacted by a member of the media, please do not comment on the situation as the position of the Bureau has already been clarified," said the Commander. "The next misconception I would like to address is the assumption that these 'Materials'-"
"Wait a sec. 'Materials'?" asked Vice in a puzzled tone.
"It was how they identified themselves along with a title so for now, we will be labelling them as 'Materials'," explained another male voice in the crowd.
"Thank you, Verossa." Hayate waited a moment to get her train of thought back on track. "As I was saying before, there has been a misconception that the 'Materials' are more powerful than myself, Captain Takamachi and Enforcer Harlaown. We cannot confirm or deny this so we are operating under the assumption that they are equal in power to ourselves. However due to the fact that they don't have Limiters and are openly hostile to members of the Bureau, it is highly recommended that none of you take on any of them alone." When no one said anything, she continued on. "As it stands, with the imminent threat of these 'Materials' and the threat that they pose to Mid-childa, we have been taking the time to move several prisoners that have been on world to other penal colonies until this threat has passed."
"Why prisoners?" Wendi asked, confused as to why they would bother moving such people off world.
"A precaution to say the least. If they were to free all the prisoners to create havoc, it would divide our forces even further to their advantage."
Wendi nodded at Hayate, before frowning slightly. "What about civilians?"
"We're going to make sure that the civilians are kept out of this." Hayate leaned against the podium. "The rest of the Bureau agrees with me in that these 'Materials' must be kept off planet if possible. Fortunately for us, we're going to have some additional help from the Saint Church."
And on cue, three new females popped up behind Hayate by phasing through the ground. "Ta-da! No need to fear! Cute Church Knight Sein-chan is here!"
"Was that really necessary?" asked the girl hanging on her left arm in a quiet tone.
"We had to make a splashy entrance, Otto! That's the way we show style! Showmanship!" Sein turned to the other girl hanging on her right arm. "Don't you agree, Deed?"
The nun merely shrugged indifferently while Hayate giggled. "As you can see, these three will be acting as the liaisons between us and the Saint Church. Please welcome Sein, Otto and Deed to Special Duty Section Six!"
Yuuno groaned once as the sleep that had claimed him due to exhaustion started to leave him. He found that he had been moved to one of the small quarters in the back. And another thing… he felt a female body snuggled up against him. Judging by the way she was clinging on to him, it must be Material-L.
"How long was I out for?"
"Sixteen hours," replied the polite tone of Material-S who had been sitting right beside his bed on a small stool.
"Sixteen hours? Huh… I guess I must have been more tired than I thought," chuckled the Librarian while stroking Rai's blue hair. "So we've taken off, I presume?"
"Yes. Yami is keeping an eye on regular ship functions. And as you can see, Rai wanted to take a nap with you."
"I see." He paused for a moment, letting the peace and quiet settle in before he thought of something. "You know… we never did get a chance to have a proper conversation and get to know each other."
"What would you want to know about us?" asked Seikou in that tone of hers.
A part of him pondered whether he should start poking around the possibility of a connection with the Book and Reinforce but decided that he could work up to that point once they seemed more comfortable and open with his questions. "For starters, what life was like for you in the past? Rai told me a few stories but it's… kinda hard to interpret when she adds in all these sound effects like 'WHOOSH!' and 'Zap! Zap!'"
A faint smile appeared on her features. "I see."
His eyes glanced at the seated Nanoha replica. "And the thing is that lately, I've been acting somewhat selfish for the past while. All this time, I only thought about getting myself back home when I haven't even considered what would happen to you three if you were to try and enter Mid-Childa."
"Just what do you think would happen?"
Yuuno leaned back into his pillow while he thought about it. "I can think of a number of outcomes and most of them aren't exactly nice ones. This is why I need to know a bit more about your background. I have a few connections that I can use. After I have put together a proper citizen's application and a background case for the three of you, I can use my network and make sure that case is read by non-biased and reasonable authorities. Once the review is complete, hopefully you can get full citizenship and start a new life of stability rather than just drifting from one world to the next without any sort of certainty for the future."
"You would… do all that for us?" asked Seikou, with just a hint of astonishment in her tone.
"Of course," replied the young man with a small smile. "What type of friend would I be if I didn't do everything I can to help you?"
There it was… that warm feeling again. She rather liked this warmth but she couldn't let herself get distracted. "I will do my best to answer whatever questions you may have but I request that you answer my questions as well. I myself am curious about your world, the type of life you have there and the company you keep." If anything, she at least needed to know more about the person he mentioned back on Tenrei.
"Huwwahh?" All this conversation had finally shaken Material-L out of her slumber. "W-what's going on?"
"Nothing really. Yuuno-san has agreed to answer some questions that I have," replied Seikou to the yawning Rai.
"Questions? Ooh! I got one that I really need answering!" exclaimed the Fate replica in an excited tone as she took the Librarian's face with her palms and forced him to look at her.
"And what would that be?" He can only imagine what she would perceive as important.
"What do you think of the name Kero-chan?"
There was an uncomfortable pause before Yuuno answered. "I certainly hope that's not going to be my new name."
"Of course not! Yuu-nii is Yuu-nii!" said Rai with a weird sparkle in her red eyes.
"Uh… in that case, it's a good name."
The rather deadpan answer from Yuuno was enough to get the blue haired woman all excited in that she scrambled out of the bed, inadvertently kneeing him in the stomach while she rushed out of the room to head towards the command centre. "Yami-chan! Yuu-nii agrees with me! Kero-chan is a good name for my doggy!"
"DAMMIT, CALL ME 'YOUR MAJESTY'!" roared Material-D in the background.
Seikou shook her head as he coughed. "She has been… rather excited about that summon beast of hers." Seikou still wasn't sure how she could summon such a thing, but she just ignored it. When it came to Material-L, it was always easier to ignore the weirder things that she did.
"I get that." Yuuno coughed and rubbed his gut. "Damn, she's strong."
"Indeed." Seikou nodded to him. "So, how about a trade?" When he raised an eyebrow at her, she shifted in her seat, mostly to get a bit more comfortable. "You ask a question, I answer. I ask you a question, you answer. Fair enough?"
"Alright." Yuuno took a moment to think of his first question. "Where are you three from originally?" Hopefully that could give him some information on just who could get their hands on the Aces' DNA and clone them.
"I… Am not sure. Yami said that her first memories were in a forest, near a large mansion and surrounded by cats. Rai-chan said that she was at a shrine of sorts. A dog was licking her face until she scared it away. As for myself, I was at a beach by the ocean." Now it was her turn again. "Have you always gone out searching weird burial sites?"
"Most of my life. One of my first digs ended up more trouble than it should have been, but I'm glad it did…" Seikou's eyes seemed to respond to his answer, but she stayed quiet as Yuuno thought about his next question. "So, if your first memories were by a beach, when did you meet Rai-chan and Yami?"
"Shortly after, the three of us ended up meeting on top of a rather tall building of steel and windows. Before we left the planet, we had a feeling that staying where we did would lead to our demise. There was a lot of snow, for some reason." Her turn again. "Why are you glad that one dig ended up being more trouble than it was worth?"
Yuuno gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I found these Lost Logia called Jewel Seeds at that time." It wasn't something that he told most people, but it wasn't a classified matter, so it didn't matter what he told, as long as he kept certain details to himself. "I met two of my best friends because of the Jewel Seeds. Now, other than needing to eat Linker Cores…" Again, something about that was really tickling the back of his mind, but he just couldn't place it. Not to mention that it left a bad taste in his mouth when he mentioned that. "What else did the three of you do?"
"Travel, mostly." Material-S shook her head. "That and looking for more ways to survive. The three of us went from one world to another, battling several enemies across the planets and learning what we could to live on." From the way she was talking, Yuuno couldn't tell if she was saddened or not. But the way the wistful look to her eyes made him wonder about the validity of some of the rumours surrounding the more violent worlds that the Bureau covered. If the Materials had been on those worlds and caused problems, then the only reason that they had been able to do stuff like that was because the Bureau hadn't been actively involved. Or at least, that's what he thought. "Yuuno-san, your friends, you met them with the Jewel Seeds. Can you tell me more about it?"
Yuuno shook his head. "Not really… I met Nanoha when I was injured. I was desperate and I called out, calling for anyone with any hint of magic to find me. What I got was a girl who never had any sort of contact with magic before in her life. But in the end, she saved my life and in a sense, made me the way I am today."
There was that name again. For some reason, Material-S felt a burning need to find that person and then beat her until she couldn't move ever again. The fact that someone like her had a hand in shaping his life… it was highly irritating.
"Of course, if I had known that I'd be basically forced to become the head librarian of the Infinity Library, I would have insisted that Nanoha blast Chrono a few times." Sure, he and Chrono were friends, but that didn't mean that he didn't want the Admiral to get roughed up a little bit for all the excessive work requests heaped on him over the years.
"Excuse me?"
Seeing her curious look, he pulled out a small data device and pushed a button, pulling up a group photo of his friends. "Chrono's the guy on the left. The woman by his side is his wife, Amy. The three in the middle are Hayate, Fate and Nanoha. The ones on the left are Signum, Vita, Shamal and the blue wolf is Zafira. The little girl in front of Nanoha is her daughter, Vivio."
There were so many vaguely familiar faces but her eyes widened upon seeing a particular one that she had seen recently. 'Yuuno-san considers Evil Kyon as a friend?' It was a disturbing thought but then she remembered how he had earlier said that he was essentially forced to that job of his. The only likely explanation is that he was prone to long-term isolation in that post. On the rare occasion that someone came to visit him, he would desperately latch on for company until…
That seemed to be the only thing that made sense. Seikou unconsciously reached for the slumbering form of Luciferion in an attempt to remain calm. Never had she felt her emotional control slip so much. 'Never again… I won't let them do as they please to him ever again!'
Yuuno grew concerned at how quiet she had become and got out of the bed. "Uh… Seikou? Are you…"
"Don't worry, Yuuno-san." She reached out with her hand and gently stroked his cheek, causing him to blush slightly. "The sources behind your sadness… I will deal with them when the time arrives. This I promise."
'What could she mean by that?' He didn't have a chance to find out as the ship jerked slightly, getting a startled look from the two of them. Without hesitating, they both dashed out of the room and made their way to the command centre. "What happened?"
"Like I would know, peon!" shouted Material-D in irritation. "The display just started spewing nonsense about an anomaly forming right behind the ship!"
"I told Yuu-nii he shouldn't have tempted fate!" Rai was heard yelling happily.
"Let me look!" He stumbled a bit as the ship shook again while quickly examining the display. "A fluidic warp bubble? How did something like that…?"
Seikou frowned upon hearing that. "Fluidic warp bubble?"
"I call dibs on popping it!" shouted Material-L.
"A side effect when the space-time fabric is warped!" Yuuno quickly sat down at one of the command consoles and began to work frantically. "These things can easily propel a vessel several dozen light years in a random direction once it's caught inside! We could wind up anywhere if I don't properly defuse this…!"
"Ooh… that means we'll be lost in space? Will we see deep space fishies?"
"Not now!" hissed Yami while Yuuno tried to work.
"I won't let that happen…! Not when I'm this close to getting back…!" Unfortunately, the mathematics behind computing such compensating variables is quite different from the regular system used to cast magic. No matter what he did, he couldn't quite get the bubble to defuse and it slowly started overtaking the ship.
"We're not going to make it!" exclaimed Seikou in an alarmed tone as the display showed the bubble slowly enveloping the ship's outline.
"NOOOOOOOO! ! ! !" It was all Yuuno could howl out as his sight of dimensional space through the ship's windows spun out of control.