Achievement unlocked: Get yourself kissed by imaginary girls.

That's it. I have no real author's notes this time.

I, Meia, stride down to the cell area where John spends his time.

The new year had come and gone, and not much had actually changed.

Sure, he's become a bit more open with me. And Dita and Zan for that manner. But he's stubbornly refused to let us watch the rest of those Dee... Dee things. Those disks. The ones that have really, really important things about our future.

This had brought a point of contention between us these past few days.

I had managed to get one concession out of John: He had let us watch the show up to the Christmas episode. Dita had managed to snag the box for a brief minute when John had gone to the bathroom, and said that we were less than half-way finished with the show. Even if it only shows important events... how much do we have left to go through?

It was also disturbing to relive my past once again, this time with several other people watching. An entire episode was practically dedicated to me watching my past, my failures as a daughter.

It hurt to see my parents again, even in the distorted, animated versions of themselves. After that episode, we had broken up for the day, and I had to Pry Dita off of me with a crowbar to get her to stop crying for my sake. She's too nice of a girl, really.

Still, John refuses to allow us to watch anything more, anything past where we already are chronologically. When I asked him, he smiled slightly and shook his head. That was the day before yesterday. Then, I demanded it. He had lost the smile, and continued to shake his head, staring down at the small plastic box in his hands.

Yesterday, I had ordered him to relinquish it. It's too important to not use. It could save all of our lives.

It hurt immensely when he stopped looking me in the face, yet still held the box. His eyes lost a bit of their glow, the mischievous glow he got when he was being his normal pain-in-the-ass self. No, they... look like they did back when he first got on the ship. I don't know what that means, but it can't be good.

Regardless, this time, he doesn't get a choice. This time, I brought backup.

"You really think this is gonna work?" Del looks at me with her ever present grin.

I glare at the acid green eyes of my backup. Of the security personnel I trust, Del's the only one with significant first-hand experience with John, and thus my first choice for backup. I decided it would be okay to tell her about the object holding our fates. "It better."

Del folds her hands behind her head. "You're not worried that this is gonna make him hate you?"

"I am." I say quietly. "But I can't put everyone's lives on the line for personal reasons." I think back to the strategy session, where John had basically pointed out that we only really needed for fighters fielded at any given time, namely, those of us the Paksis "chose." I had told him his personal odds of survival, and he hadn't seemed to care.

Del purses her lips. "I could take it from him. I don't care if he hates me."

"He knows you work for me." I say with a heavy sigh. "Despite what he insists, he's generally good at picking up subtle clues."

Del drops her hands, examining the laser on her ring finger as it passes. "What do you even see in the guy? You used to hate all men just as much as Cel on the bridge."

"Is she still wearing the bear costume/" I ask wearily.

"It's a reindeer, for now." Del says. "But my questions still stands. What do you see in him?"

"...He's saved me multiple times."

"Yeah, but he's caused you a ton of trouble as well, right?" Del presses. "I get that he's got the whole 'mysterious' air about him what with the shapeshifting and the fact he knows us a lot better than he should, and he has that video of us or whatever, but he's still a guy."

"I fail to see your point."

"He's the enemy." Del reminds me with exasperation. "We're at war with Tarak, and we've been raised to view men as vile, yet you, Dita and Zan all seem to think he's pretty cool. Did he do some sort of hypnosis on you?" She frowns, honestly a rare sight on her face. "He's just not that attractive, and it's certainly not his personality you like. That seems to change weekly."

"If he's to be believed, as well as that video we found-"

"Which he could have made."

"It was in the Christmas episode." The words sound strange coming out of my mouth. "So he didn't make it."

"Sure." Del shrugs, and her smile returns. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Me? I think I'll stick with girls, at least for now."

"...For now?"

"Hey, who knows what the future holds? My last girlfriend broke up with me right before we got sucked into this journey, and we've still got six months." She smirks at me. "Maybe I'll change my mind and take him away from you."

"You'll have to get through Dita first." I shake my head. "I didn't realize you and Hannah broke up."

"Ah, well. She didn't like the whole 'pirate' thing." Del doesn't drop her easy smile, somewhat worryingly. "She gave me the ultimatum of leaving her or leaving the pirates."

"Hard choice?"

"Not really. I can't abandon my family, can I?"

"I suppose not."

We arrive in front of the cell area to find several other people standing around. For some reason, they're all wearing space suits with the seal engaged. I recognize both Paiway, Barnette and Cel inside the suits.

Between them and the cell is Dita, desperately attempting to keep them from doing... something. It hadn't escaped my notice that the laser rifles had been produced, and those are normally reserved for major uprisings. Del takes the initiative and steps up right next to Barnette.

"Someone tell me what's going on?" He smile continues to remain permanently affixed, which works to unnerve those who hadn't expected her. He ring powers up, whining slightly as it builds up a charge.

Oddly, Paiway is the one who rounds on Del ans responds. "John is a liar! He's going to get us all killed, and he's holding back knowledge that could save us!"

I scan the faces in the space suits behind Paiway. One of them looks particularly guilty. "Barnette..." I say warningly.

"It's not my fault, Jura got drunk and had me fetch Paiway to get rid of her hangover!" Barnette defends herself. "I... may have also been slightly tipsy."

Dita bursts past the space suit clad women. "They're going to lock him up!"

"He lives in a cell." I point out. "They don't have the authority to lock him up and restrict his movements anyway."

"But you do." Del says. "And we can for the same reason anyway." She glances up at me with a malicious gleam in her eyes. She's having way too much fun with this.

Dita looks back to me desperately. "You're not going to lock him up, are you?"

"...I won't if I don't have to." I finally answer.

Dita's expression stiffens and she tries to push back to the cell, but Cel snags her shoulder. For a bridge girl, she sure does have a decent grip.

The others part as I head up to the cell. I close my eyes, prepare myself mentally, and then open them back up and glare at the cot where John is.

Where John should be.

His cell is empty. Not just of him, but of everything that made the cell his, ignoring a hole in the wall he had spliced his transformer into. That had been removed, along with all his bags and little machines he was working with.

I round on Dita. "Where is he?"

She looks away. "I-I don't know what you mean."

"Dita. Look at me." She reluctantly looks back into my eyes. "Where. Is. He."

"Well..."

It's cramped inside a vanguard, especially with all of my bags packed alongside me.

The launcher is already primed, and I grab the launch system in the crouching position that allows me to launch without tumbling.

The last thing I need to to be out of control when Meia figures out what I've done. It will only be a matter of time.

Barnette, Paiway, and a few other girls had tried to gang up on me in the kitchen. At first, I didn't understand what they were yelling at me about. This time, the relationship between the males and the females on the ship was a lot better than it was in the anime. So, why are they trying to evict me?

Then they started aiming the rifles at me, and I had bolted for the door. I felt the first blast zip past me as the air heated up noticeably.

It took a bit more shouting as they chased after me for me to realize exactly what was going on. They're coming after for me because of the DVD. They never say that outright, but they do mention seeing the future and a video.

Looks like Meia had enough of me resisting handing the DVD over. It does worry me that she had even gotten Paiway in on the action; She's the only one who's quite that short even in the space suit, so I had instantly recognized her.

It looked like I have to scramble and get out of the Nirvana. I had already been prepared for this, sort of.

See, I had decided to watch the next few episodes of Vandread to prepare myself for what was coming next and decide just how much was healthy to share with the rest. Episode eleven has Hibiki running away in his Vanguard, but from the same male-female tensions that pervade the entire series. SInce those had largely been resolved, I had thought I might be safe. I still packed my bags just in case.

Of course, getting to my room would be hard with others hot on my heels. Enter Dita.

Dita agreed to run interference for me, and I asked her to call after me while heading towards the bridge, as if I was just ahead of her.

I assume that since I had time to snag my bags and rip the transformer out of the wall and I wasn't ganged up on trying to leave my room that Dita had been successful. That didn't mean everything went well for me.

There was one of the women in space suits guarding the hangar. Not really in the mood to actually hit someone for the moment, I did something I had told myself I wasn't going to do.

I transformed into Meia and told the woman to hurry up and reinforce the cafeteria, John had been wreaking havoc in the kitchen. It was a direct order, and one that had come from their dear leader. The woman practically jumped to obey.

It allowed me to access the hangar without resorting to violence, but it still leaves an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

As I give the mental command to open the outer door to the Paksis (which has been remarkably compliant today), I glance up at the launch crew window. If this had been a regular-use hangar, then the maids of the Reg would be looking down, ensuring everything got launched correctly. On another ship, that room acts as the control tower for all incoming and outgoing spacecraft. In our case, it was usually empty. After all, our four ships had the Paksis looking after us.

I suppose the fact that the room was lit up was what caused me to look.

Meia, Dita and Zan are looking down from that room. Their expressions are complicated with many emotions, but the all share a bit of sadness.

They don't know I can see them. The Vanguard has 360 views when the Paksis lets me use it, and it doesn't need to turn its head. Externally, there was no motion. I could leave and pretend I didn't see them, if I want.

I purposely turn the torso to face them, then back to the launcher. Their presence has been acknowledged... and their unspoken message rejected.

"Launch." I order the Paksis.

In the command room, Dita falls to her knees and starts sobbing.

Personally, I feel a chill settle around my spine. He actually left. He... I didn't think he'd go through with out. If only I could have figured out the communications controls faster-

Zan sags into one of the chairs.

Del, standing next to the door out of sight of the hangar, remains silent.

Dita suddenly springs up and bolts for the door. I don't need to read her mind to know what she's doing, and I snag her collar as she passes by.

She looks up at me sullenly. "But-"

"He made his decision." I say, forcing my voice to be calm and cool. I think it still shuddered a bit though. "There's no point in chasing him."

Zan looks up at me. "Why not?"

I point to the monitor. It says there's nothing currently outside the Nirvana. "He's already disabled the radio and the IFF. Out there is space, and we have no idea where he's going. Unless he starts broadcasting or we silhouette him against some large star, we're not going to be able to find him."

"So, we don't know where he went?"

I rub my forehead. "There isn't any nearby habitable planets nearby, and the only course he should know is the one back to Mejare."

Del quietly adds to the conversation. "There might be other spaceships out there."

"Yes, but we don't know for sure... If we had that video." I mutter to myself.

Dita rounds on me, anger on her face for the first time since I met the girl. "Was it worth it? Was it worth driving him off?"

"I had nothing to do with the others." I say as calmly as I can.

"But they had the same goal as you. Take the DVD away and watch it against his will." Dita accuses.

"I was just trying to be prepared for the next threat." I say, my calm exterior cracking. "It could save our lives!"

Zan stands up. "Maybe. But I think he'd tell us if we were in danger." She looks at me with cold eyes. "I guess you don't trust him that much."

"Wha-" I splutter indignantly. "Of course I trust him! He's the only thing making sure we get home. Without him, we're at less than half our combat forces! We can't make it home without him."

Zan and Dita stare at me.

"...Do you even care that he left?" Dita asks quietly.

"What are you talking about, I-" I feel my cheeks heat up. "I love him."

"But you chased him out." Zan says. "And you only seem to want him around for his firepower."

"No, that's not true-"

But the two are already moving to leave. I try grabbing Zan's shoulder, but she shrugs my hand off.

Once they fully leave the room, Del peels herself from the wall. "Well, that could have gone better."

"I do love him!" I turn to Del. "I... I just realize he's not just important to me! His knowledge could spell the difference between us making it home and all dying out in this giant vacuum!"

"I believe you, Meia." Del says. "I get where you're coming from. You're just the kind of person who thinks of other before yourself." She gestures vaguely at the door. "They think very short-sightedly, but definitely more romantically. Which is why John had Dita hinder you, and not the other way around."

My shoulders slump. "Why couldn't he just tell us what's coming? There has to be a reason."

Del makes sure the door is shut. "Want to find out?"

I look up. Del is smirking once again, holdinging out a small box. It beeps, and the display updates with a set of coordinates.

"I may have snuck a tracker into John's machine." Del says while looking at her fingernails. "After all, he seems like the kind of guy to accidentally get lost in space. No telling where he could end up flying too."

Magno holds her head in her hands. "Please, go over it once again."

BC awkwardly shuffles in her spot. "Meia has deserted, along with John."

"Why have two of our most important pilots disappeared?"

BC hesitates. "It seems that there was a portion of the crew that tried to lock the males back up, led by Paiway and Barnette. Bart and Duelo are currently back in their cells, but John decided to run rather get locked up once again."

"Hasn't the boy been living in his cell up until now anyway?"

"Yes, he has." BC confirms with a look of unease. "And he's never protested being locked up either. There must have been something else going on this time."

"So he ran. Why did Meia run?"

"Del reports that she followed after him in an attempt to retrieve him, or at least find out his motives." BC frowns. "Del's hiding something, but I'm not sure what- or why."

"We can ignore that for now." Magno raises her head. "Who is this 'portion' of the crew?"

"As I mentioned, Paiway and Barnette seem to be the leaders. Cel, Kuberra and Ferris were also mentioned by Dita, and there might have been more. I'm still looking into it."

Magno sighs. "Do we at least know why they decided the men need to be locked up?"

"They object to the freedom the men get." BC says. "They say that Bart has become too friendly with the female crew, and that Duelo... er, molests them when he does his examinations." She looks at a screen only she can see. "Those claims of molestation seem to be largely unfounded; while he is touching them, it's to check for medical problems, like a doctor should."

"And what of John?"

"It seems the fact that he knows the future has leaked a bit. Paiway was adamant that he is a liar and out to kill all of us."

Magno crosses her fingers and stares into the middle distance for a minute. "I wonder."

"Yes?"

"Paiway is, for all intents, still a young girl. Maybe she's just jealous of Dita's attention being shifted away from her?"

"Possibly." BC concedes. "Still, we've lost a few critical assets today, and somehow I have a gut feeling that things are going to get nasty very soon."

"It never just rains, is it?"

BC nods glumly. "It certainly seems like it's going to be pouring buckets."

I stare down at the DVD in my hands. There's little doubt in my mind where it had come from, at least now that I knew that the Fixer isn't telling the truth. At least, he's probably not telling the truth. To be honest, I'm not sure I trust the other two I met in that white void universe either. I don't really have a way of telling who is telling the truth either way, or if there's a third, real truth.

In any case, I bet the Fixer gave me this DVD. It also fits in with what the other two said his goal was, alleviating boredom through screwing with universes. Throwing this DVD into the mix had certainly changed a lot of things.

If only it hadn't existed, or if I had just gotten rid of it when I found it...

I really wish it wasn't here. I don't think the other noticed, but during the show and when we talked about it afterwards, they used some particulier language that set me to alert mode. One good case I can recall is Jura saying, "Oh, so that's how it's supposed to go."

From what I gathered from the Fixer and his enemies, there really isn't a set path a universe takes, no fate. However, with no outside influence, any system remains static.

This means, if I hadn't shown up, everything would have gone the same as it did originally, for better or for worse. It's only outside meddling that allows the current situation. But, Meian, Dita, Zan, Barnette and Jura had begun to talk the same way I used to think, that there was a "correct" way for this to go. If I can say I've learned anything, it's that there isn't a correct way to do anything. Correct is a matter of opinion.

And when Meia and those other started demanding that I hand it over, so that they can figure out their next move...

I guess I panicked, but I still don't think I should show them any more of it. I'll get them ready for what's ahead, but I... I can't trust them to be as detached as I can be. I realize I sound like a hypocrite, but I've at least had some amount of training in examining distasteful subjects with a logical thought process. I don't think they'll be able to accept that our reality isn't that one anymore, with a completely different end path. It's inevitable, since I was sent in to stir the pot.

Anyway, my possibly stupid reasons aside, I now find myself in a situation. Primarily, that I have no idea where I am.

Yes, I had managed to launch myself into space without a backup plan. In the original show, Hibiki had launched on Paiway's birthday, and presumably within a day had found the people that were being harvested for their skins. They has taken him in, and then gotten blown up in what felt like a hour's time, before Hibiki had grown desperate and passed out, only for Rabat to save him.

I had asked Dita a few days ago, and Paiway's birthday is in six days. Which means I'll be drifting thoruhg space for six or seven days, assuming I didn't end up off course and thus missing that fleet entirely. After all, space is big. It's practically a miracle that Hibki managed to stumble across anyone else, given just how big-

A lone pip shows up on the monitor. I drop the DVD and put my hands on the controls. I had disabled all my transmitting devices (That I thought they'd track, at least. I might be sending Bluetooth connection requests) when I had left the station.

That means that there's really only one thing this could be.

Meia wouldn't risk sending people out on a wild goose chase.

The pip is much too small to be the Nirvana, or really anything bigger than a single starfighter.

It looks like the Earth robots have already found me.

I stop accelerating, and draw my sword. I briefly notice a shape blot out a star, heading right for me. The sword comes up-