I don't own Infinite Stratos or Diablo. Infinite Stratos and Diablo are owned by Isuru Yumizuru and Blizzard respectively.

A massive flash of red light ignited the night sky, hiding a streak of red light that darted across the sky and drawing the attention of everyone out and about in the streets. People looked up and panicked, thinking it was an attack from another country or the remaining terrorist organizations.

"Please remain calm!" a cop said as she walked around the streets.

Several IS pilots, who had been enjoying their night, summoned their IS and took to the air. Everyone watched with their breaths held as they patrolled the air, searching for anything amiss.

"Did you find anything?" a pilot said to the one across from her.

"No, nothing. Weird. My hyper sensors aren't picking up anything at all," the pilot replied.

"With that massive flash of light, you think we'd at least find something," another pilot said as she flew by them.

Tateyama Naval Base, Tateyama, Japan

"Get me those readings!" a scientist said as she ran with a stack of papers. Alarms were going off all around her and IS pilots and other troops ran down the halls in full combat mode.

"Wait!" her assistant said as she took off sprinting after her.

What the hell was that? Every machine in our room just stopped functioning for a split second. The source of the shutdown was over Tokyo. Was it an EMP? She thought as she and her assistant entered the control room.

General Karin Kobayashi wasn't one to have her nerves rattled. However, the shutdown of the entire base as well as every power grid worldwide was one that not only rattled her but also terrified her as well. She had been receiving calls from every major military base around the world and it was honestly giving her a headache. She just wished for it all to stop.

"General!"

Karin turned and saw one of the scientists that had been working at the base and her assistant.

"Doctor Miku," Karin said.

"General! That outage just now, we managed to get a glimpse of the source before our equipment went out. It was sudden but-!" Karin said.

"And where was it? We'll deploy troops to go investigate the area," she said, interrupting the scientist.

"It was high in the stratosphere. Before everything shut down, our cameras in the area managed to capture this image!" Miku said as she handed the general a photo.

The picture contained nothing more than a red flash of light in the sky.

"A red light?" Karin said.

"Yes," Miku said.

Karin studied the photo a bit longer before sighing. She pressed a small button and spoke loudly.

"False alarm! The source of the power outages was determined to be a natural atmospheric phenomenon! Get back to work!" Karina said. She ended her transmission and handed the photo back to Miku.

"Wait… I never said that it was an atmospheric phenomenon!" she protested.

"If you want to go look into this, then do it yourself. Otherwise, I won't indulge you and waste resources. Don't forget, I have a degree in astronomy. For all we know, this could be an airburst explosion from a meteor that entered our atmosphere," Karina said.

"I will follow up on this," Miku said.

"You do you," she said dismissively.

"Ichika!"

Ichika blinked as he turned around. Chifuyu walked into his field of vision, carrying another bowl of food, or slop she called food. Of course, Ichika would never have the heart to call his older sister's cooking slop.

It had been several weeks since the incident and the doctors had allowed Ichika to head home last week after determining that his injuries had healed up nicely. However, Ichika was required to see a therapist twice a week to deal with any mental trauma that the hospital psychologist wasn't able to address during his stay. He had only made two trips so far and he could honestly say without a doubt that this wasn't helping him. The nightmares still came and he began to fear being touched by anyone who wasn't his older sister. It was worse when it was a woman.

During his stay at the hospital, female medical personnel, workers, and visitors (except for his sister) were not allowed inside of Ichika's room for any reason. All of Ichika's nurses, his physician, and his therapist were all men. Any woman who was not Chifuyu Orimura sent Ichika into a state of panic. It had lessened while he was there to the point where he could somewhat tolerate being in the same room as a female but being touched was much harder to get over.

"Ichika! Are you alright? I didn't see you inside the house," Chifuyu said as she sat down next to him. She placed the soup down on the porch and looked at him expectantly.

Ichika picked up the bowl and stared at it. The dark sludge seemed to have a life of its own as it responded by bubbling at Ichika. He held back a grimace as he scooped out some soup.

"I'm fine, Chifuyu-nee," Ichika said as he blew on the spoon in an attempt to cool his soup down.

"Oh good. Just don't go anywhere where I can't see you," Chifuyu said.

"Mhm," Ichika said as he silently ate his soup. He fought with all of his will to keep it down. His older sister was many things but a good cook was not one of them.

"Chifuyu-nee," Ichika said.

"Hmm?" Chifuyu responded.

"Can I go hang out with Dan and Rin?" Ichika asked.

Chifuyu bit her lip. Ichika leaving the house by himself to go somewhere he might be taken again. All this without her supervision. Chifuyu couldn't have that happen again. She couldn't go through something like that again. That night she almost lost Ichika was the worst night of her entire life. She was about to refuse his request when her phone went off. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent it to voicemail.

"It's… goddamn it. Fine, but don't go too far okay," Chifuyu said, checking the caller ID.

"I won't," Ichika said, downing the rest of the soup and standing up. "Don't worry, Chifuyu-nee."

Chifuyu watched as Ichika went back inside the house and walked to the front door. She frowned. Ever since the incident, Ichika had… changed. It wasn't a positive change, to say the least. He had become… withdrawn. Less outgoing. The cheerful boy that had once been her brother had disappeared that night. Died in that warehouse from the torture and pain he had to endure. Feeling the buzzing of her phone, Chifuyu felt a headache coming and answered it.

Ichika needed a break. A vacation. Anything to get away from his older sister. While he understood why she was acting like this, Ichika missed his freedom. Freedom to do what he wanted and go where he wanted. Of course, that freedom was only there because Chifuyu was gone most of the time due to her work. But now, he was on constant lockdown twenty-hours a day. Chifuyu always seemed to be hovering over him, watching his every move like a damn hawk. If he had to guess, she probably got Tabane-nee to bug all of his clothes with tracking chips so she always knew where he was. And he understood why, Ichika always found himself looking over his shoulder whenever he was outside with his sister or even waking up, thinking that someone was watching him.

After a few seconds of walking, Ichika found himself at the doorstep of one of his best friends. Dan Gotanda. He rang the buzzer at their gate and waited.

The gate was opened by a young boy with scarlet hair. He wore a yellow t-shirt and brown shorts. He had hazel eyes that lit up upon seeing Ichika.

"Ichika! Dude! I haven't seen you since the tournament!" he said. He placed his hand on Ichika's shoulder and grinned.

"Uh hey, Dan!" Ichika said, stiffening upon contact. "Can, um, you take your hand off my shoulder?"

Dan blinked and felt Ichika shaking underneath his hand. He looked up at his friend and saw that his breathing was starting to get faster.

"Woah! Sorry," he said.

"I- It's okay," Ichika said, calming himself down. "The therapist said that it's normal for me to have an aversion to touch after what happened. Though, it's worse whenever a girl who isn't Nee-chan tries to touch me."

"Dude, that sucks," Dan said.

"Yeah," Ichika replied.

"Wanna come inside? Rin is here too," Dan said.

Ichika nodded as he followed Dan inside. Upon entering the house, Ichika heard the voice of Dan's mother coming from the living room.

"Ah, Dan, who was it?" she asked.

"It was just Ichika," he replied.

"Oh, well, tell him I said hi!"

"Hello to you too, Ranka-obasan!" Ichika said.

"Come on, the rest of us are upstairs," Dan said.

Ichika followed Dan up to his room. Upon entering it, he spotted a young girl about his age sitting on the floor. She wore her hair in twin tails with yellow ribbons and had green eyes. She wore a blue shirt with black shorts. The moment her eyes landed on Ichika, she smiled brightly.

"Ichika! You're here!" she said.

"Rin!" Ichika said as he sat down across from her.

Lingyin Huang was a friend of Ichika's from school. Ichika's nickname for her was Rin. Her family owns a Chinese Restaurant in town which Ichika visited often whenever he felt too lazy to make his own food. Though this was only when his sister had left him alone for periods at a time due to her job. Upon meeting the two had hit it off immediately and not later, he had introduced her to Dan. Because she was a foreigner, she was often the target of bullying at school and Dan and Ichika (mostly Ichika) stood up for her. The three were so close that they were nearly inseparable with only their classes splitting them apart.

"Ichika! You're okay!" Rin said as she glomped him. Ichika froze. His pupils dilated as his eyes widened. His entire body began to shake as his breathing quickened. Noticing this, Dan immediately dragged Rin off him.

Annoyed that her hug was interrupted, Rin shot him a glare.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

"Look," Dan said, pointing to Ichika.

Ichika had his knees up to his chest and his hands on the sides of his head. He was on the verge of hyperventilating as the memories of that night came rushing back into his head, assaulting him at every turn.

"No, no, no, no, no…," Ichika muttered.

"Ichi..ka?" Rin hesitantly called out.

"Ichika?" Dan said.

"No, she'll save me. I know she will. She will. She will. She will," Ichika said.

"Ichika!" Rin got down in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Rin! Wai-!"

"Shut up!" Rin said, glaring at Dan before turning back to Ichika.

"Ichika! It's me! Rin! You're gonna be okay! See?" Rin said, wrapping her arms gently around him.

Ichika froze when he felt arms snake around him, wrapping him in their embrace. A familiar scent entered his nostrils, calming him down enough to hear a voice penetrate through to his brain.

"I… chika!"

"Rin?" Ichika said as he came back down.

"Ichika, dude!" Dan said, kneeling next to them.

"I'm fine," Ichika said.

"You're not fine!" Rin said.

"I… just need somewhere to go where I can forget about all this," Ichika said.

Dan and Rin exchanged worried glances before looking at him.

"Ichika, where do we even go? Our parents and your sister will be mad if we go somewhere far," Dan said.

"Just anywhere. I need a change of scenery," Ichika said.

"How about the woods? We've been there before… to that area we always go to after class," Rin said.

"Yeah, let's go there," Ichika said, standing up. "Maybe some fresh air will get my mind off things."

"So that's what you want me to do?" Chifuyu said as she paced around their living room.

"..."

"A year? You expect me to be away for a year! I have someone that I'm taking care of-!"

"..."

"No, I won't leave him alone here with her! She's not qualified to be looking after any children! It's a miracle her sister is even a functioning person or fit to be a part of society!" Chifuyu protested.

"..."

"Fine, just give me a few weeks to get things ready here and then I'll be in Germany by the beginning of next month," Chifuyu said.

"..."

"Thank you," Chifuyu said. The caller hung up and Chifuyu collapsed into her couch. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in annoyance. The damn German Military had called in their favor at the worst possible time.

Finding Ichika was not something that she did all on her own. She grimaced. The German Military had been there at the Mondo Grosso and their highest-ranked military officer that was present had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

Chifuyu stormed out of the locker room with the Organizer calling out after her. She turned around and fixed the woman the worst glare she could muster. It was effective. The organizer stiffened and felt herself rooted to her spot.

"I will not participate in the match. Hand the title over to whatever bitch you're making me fight! I don't care," Chifuyu snarled. She turned around and walked down the hall before a voice called out to her, making her stop.

"So, your brother was kidnapped?" a person called out in a thick German accent.

Chifuyu whirled around and saw a woman with dark silver hair and red eyes looking at her intently. She wore a dark blue military uniform decorated with various pins and badges. The woman had a jagged scar running down the side of her face, making her look imposing.

"How did you?" Chifuyu asked.

"Know? You Japanese really should learn to keep your conversations a secret," the woman said.

"What do you want?" Chifuyu asked.

"I can help you track your brother down," she said.

Chifuyu's eyes widened momentarily before pinning her to the wall. The German woman merely smirked as Chifuyu's eyes bore into her with murderous intent.

"Tell me where he is and I'll do the rest," Chifuyu said.

"Sure," the woman said.

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes. "What's the catch? Surely, you're not just going to give me this information for free?" she asked.

"Of course not," the woman said.

"What do you want?" Chifuyu asked.

"You'll know it when we contact you. For now, just think of it as having an IOU for the German Military," the woman said. Chifuyu gritted her teeth and let the woman go. The woman smiled as she rubbed her throat.

"Where is Ichika?" Chifuyu asked, partially deploying her IS.

"In a warehouse on the outskirts of the shipping district by Tokyo Waterfront," the woman said.

"How do you know this? For all I know, you could've been the ones who took Ichika just to force me into this situation," Chifuyu said.

"Now why would we do that and have Japan declare war on us for attacking a family member of its Brunhilde?" the woman said. "We merely tracked them after some of our pilots spotted two mysterious IS that weren't affiliated with any of the countries here."

Chifuyu's gaze hardened as she turned around. She began to walk away without another word but heard the woman say one more thing.

"Just remember that favor you owe us… Miss Orimura," the woman said.

Chifuyu's grip tightened on her phone until cracks started making their way across the screen. How was she going to explain to Ichika that she had to leave him here for an entire year by himself? Worse, who was going to look after him while she was gone.

What if he gets taken again? Chifuyu thought in horror as an image of her younger brother being tortured flashed across her mind. His cries for help to his screams of agony etched itself into her mind. His begging for it all to stop while his body was being carved open slowly rang in her ears.

Chifuyu looked down at her phone and looked at a picture of her and Ichika on his tenth birthday. He looked so happy.

Sighing once more, Chifuyu began to mentally prepare herself for what she would have to tell Ichika when he got home.

Ichika walked listlessly through the woods, keeping on a path that he, Dan, and Rin had taken numerous times in their short lives. The trees cast a shadow over the forest floor while a cool breeze blew gently, giving Ichika a sense of peace. A squirrel ran across the beaten path, its cheeks puffed full of nuts, and dashed up into a tree.

"It's been awhile since we've been here. Just the three of us," Dan said from behind him.

"Yeah, it has," Ichika said, picking up a stick.

"Ichika, are you… feeling alright now?" Rin asked as she gazed at his back with worried eyes. Ichika's shoulders fell and his body slacked. He let out a tired sigh and continued to walk ahead of them.

"C'mon, the pond isn't too far from here," Ichika said.

Dan and Rin shot each other worried glances before running to catch up with their friend.

The place that the three children called the Pond was exactly what the name entailed. It was just a pond. Well, it was more than that to be exact. The Pond was a small grove located in the forests half an hour away from their homes and was a ten-minute walk into the woods. The three had happened upon it while walking there one summer afternoon to get away from their houses.

The grove that the Pond was located in was a small forest clearing with a small shallow pond that was seven feet deep at its deepest end. Cattails and reeds grew on the banks and the pond was home to several small fish. Birds and small animals could be seen in the Pond, drinking from the actual pond itself or waiting for prey to come to the surface.

Ichika smiled as he took off his sandals and dipped his feet in the water. The cool feeling of it washing over him put his mind at ease. This place. This was his and his friends' sanctuary. No one could ever take this place away from them.

He heard his friends step foot into the waters. Dan picked up a flat rock and tossed it, skipping it five times before it hit the water with an audible thunk and sank to the bottom.

"Five, not bad ey?" Dan said.

"You never learn that it's all in the wrist," Rin said as she skipped a rock. Hers made it to eight skips before sinking into the water.

"How about you, Ichika? Wanna give it a try?" Dan said.

"Sure," Ichika said, picking up a flat stone. He flicked his wrist and skipped it. His rock bounced across the water's surface three times before sinking into the pond. Rin and Dan looked at it with a disappointed gaze.

"Three?" Rin said.

"What? That's not bad is it?" Ichika asked.

"Ichika, that's like… below average," Dan said.

"Well, what is the average?" Ichika asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Dan said.

"Well, how do you know that it's below average then?" Ichika asked.

"He doesn't. He's just trying to make up for the fact that a girl can beat him in skipping rocks," Rin said as she skipped another rock.

"Hey, I can make it to nine skips. I'm just not trying," Dan said, huffing and crossing his arms.

Rin crossed her arms and smirked.

"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Rin asked.

Dan looked away.

"Well…," Dan said.

Ichika looked between the two and started laughing. The two looked at Ichika like he had gone insane as his laughter grew and grew in intensity. Ichika wiped a few tears out of his eyes. That was his first real laugh in weeks. Something he never thought he'd be able to do again.

"I… *haha* haven't laughed like that in weeks," Ichika said, wiping one last tear from his eye.

Rin and Dan shot each other a smile. The three kids walked out of the pond and placed on their sandals. They sat by the tree stump, laughing and joking. Ichika looked down and traced his fingers over some letters.

Ichika

Dan

Lingyin

"Do you guys remember when we carved our names into this trunk?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah, it was… that one week when we got in trouble for stuffing mud into that one guy's locker. The one who tripped Rin in the hallway," Dan said.

"That guy was a jerk," Rin said as she tossed a rock into the water.

"Well, it was worth getting that tongue lashing from Nee-chan about what happened. Though, she didn't have her heart in it when she was yelling. It looked like she was going to laugh," Ichika said.

"Chifuyu-nee? Laughing?" Rin asked.

"Those are two words that I never thought I'd hear in the same sentence," Dan said as he laid back in the grass.

"She can laugh, trust me. You just have to find something so ridiculous that she'll have to be a sociopath not to laugh at," Ichika said. He went silent at the thought of his sister.

"Hey," Ichika said.

The two looked at him.

"Do you think that… Chifuyu-nee's taking this whole protecting thing too far?" Ichika asked.

"Well, not really," Dan said. "If Ran was in the same situation as you were and I had an IS, I'd go rescue her and… change how I am around her."

"Oh," Ichika said.

"I'm sorry Ichika but Dan's right," Rin said. "She's your older sister. It's her job to look out for you."

"But… I think it's getting too far. Yeah, I'm happy that she's home more often and that she's starting to spend more time with me but…," Ichika said.

"But?" Rin said.

"I get what you guys are saying but… Chifuyu-nee never lets me leave her sight. I'm pretty sure my shirt is bugged with trackers so she can keep an eye on me. I… I just want some time to sort this all out," Ichika said. "What happened to me… isn't something I can get over by just talking it over. My therapist said… it would do me good to have some time to myself. For introspection or something."

"What's introspection?" Dan asked.

"I don't know but it sounds important," Ichika said.

"I mean, what else does she do?" Rin asked.

"Other than that… nothing else. It's like she's afraid of breaking me," Ichika said.

"Dude, what you went through can break someone," Dan said.

"I know and… I have nightmares about it but every time I bring it up when we're at home, she tries to change the subject. It's like her way of helping me get over this is to just forget it ever happened and just increase surveillance," Ichika said.

"Ichika, you know your sister better than anyone else. Maybe… this is her way of helping you," Rin said.

"Maybe," Ichika said. "Let's stop talking about this and talk about something fun."

"Like?" Dan said.

"Like the new Elder Scrolls game that's coming out," Ichika said.

"Elder Scrolls Seven? The one that takes place in Sommerset Isles?" Rin asked. She sat up.

"Yeah that one," Ichika said. "Are you guys getting it?"

"Kaa-san said that I had to bring up my grades before I can buy a new game," Dan said. "What about you guys?"

"Mama said I can get it when the game comes out," Rin said excitedly.

"Lucky. Chifuyu-nee still has me under lockdown," Ichika said.

"I can get you the game," Dan said.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Ichika said.

"Thanks," he said.

The three kids continued to chat more about their lives as well as any future plans that they had. Albeit, most of Ichika's plans included staying at home and trying to convince his sister that he was fine. As Dan was in the process of mentioning the vacation to Taiwan that his parents had planned for them, a rustling in the foliage caught their attention and caused them to go quiet. Ichika stiffened as all his danger senses went on overdrive. His breathing grew slightly faster and his entire body began to shake.

"Hey, Ichika. Calm down," Dan whispered.

Ichika nodded shakily. Rin looked at the shaking foliage cautiously before hearing footsteps. A dog stepped out of the foliage, frothing at the mouth. White foam poured from its jaws as it bore its fangs at the kids.

"Um, guys… that dog looks like it wants to eat us," Rin said.

"I can see that," Dan tersely replied.

"What do we do?" Ichika asked.

"Run obviously," Dan said.

"But what if it runs after us?" Rin squeaked as the dog began to stalk towards them.

Ichika looked down and saw a rock.

"I have an idea," Ichika said as he picked up the rock.

"What?" Dan said as he began to get twitchy.

"I'll throw the rock and stun the dog and then we all run for it," Ichika said as he tightened his grip on the rock.

"Are you sure that'll even work?" Rin asked.

"Yeah… it has to," Ichika said. "Ready?"

The two nodded as Ichika raised his arm. Without warning, Ichika threw the rock, striking the dog in the side, causing it to yelp. The three wasted no time and took off back into the woods.

Ichika, Dan, and Rin ran for their lives as the sound of a lone dog barking and howling followed them. As the three ran, Ichika tripped on a root and fell face first, scraping his knee.

"Ichika!" Dan said, jogging back. The sounds of the rabid dog were getting closer and closer.

Ichika looked up and yelled.

"No! GO! I'll draw the dog away and find another way back!" Ichika said.

"What!?" Dan said.

"No time!" Ichika said, getting up and turning deeper into the woods. The dog burst from the shrubbery and spotted Ichika running. It took off after him, leaving Dan and Rin watching in horror.

"We have to help him!" Rin said.

"No, we need to get help! Ichika's gonna be fine. He survived being taken by IS pilots, he can survive a dog. And besides, he can just climb a tree," Dan said. "Let's go get his sister!"

Rin nodded and the two began running as fast as they could back into town with one person in mind.

Chifuyu Orimura.

Ichika ran for his life as he navigated the maze of trees and shrubbery. Adrenaline fueled him much like it fueled his will to live when he was captured. He expertly hopped over a fallen log that was in his way. He glanced behind him and saw the hound gaining ground and getting closer, prompting him to run faster and faster.

As he burst through a large thicket, Ichika tripped on a rock and fell, peeling off more chunks of skin off his wound as he skidded across the forest ground. He looked up and saw the dog slowing down to stalk in front of him. Its white foamed mouth was open, bearing all of its teeth at him as a primal desire to kill flickered within its eyes. It barked and snarled as it crouched.

The dog burst off towards him and Ichika closed his eyes and raised his arms, expecting to feel pain and his bones cracking underneath the bites that he would no doubt receive.

He felt nothing. Not even the tickle of the dog's snout. No, all he heard were whimpers and whines. Not unlike the whines that belonged to an animal in fear. Ichika slowly opened his eyes and saw the dog whimpering and whining as it barked fearfully. It growled once more before taking off back into the woods.

Wait… woods?

For the first time since the chase, Ichika had taken a look at his surroundings. Death. All he saw was death. All the plant life in the clearing had died. A perfect circle where no life grew. The trees were gnarled and withered and the shrubs that encircled the clearing were black.

Ichika looked down at the ground beneath him and saw dead yellow grass.

"What… happened?" Ichika wondered as he stood up. He winced as the pain in his knee shot through his body. Ichika walked around and saw a small crater at the center of the clearing.

"A shooting star?" Ichika wondered as he stepped towards it. As he got closer, the feeling of dread coursed through his body. Images of demonic beings beyond the scope of human comprehension assaulted his mind. An image of a world filled with molten rivers, covered in a perpetual twilight entered his mind. Heat engulfed his entire body as the stench of sulfur entered his nostrils, choking his lungs. Screams of tortured souls rang into his ears as the vision continued. At the center of this dark, hellish world, stood the visage of a massive demonic figure towered. Its horns curved on its head, the maws on its shoulder growled while its long, slender tail swished behind it. Ichika took a step back as the figure launched itself at him.

Ichika froze as the figure got closer only for it to burst into black smoke before him. Ichika fell on his ass, breathing as if he had just run a marathon.

"What… was that?" Ichika gasped out. Pain assaulted his head as he gripped his temples. A trickle of blood came down Ichika's nose. His vision blurred before returning to normal.

The visions… they triggered when he tried to get closer to the crater. Common sense would say that Ichika should run. Run and never return but Ichika was a kid. And his curiosity overrode his common sense so Ichika pressed forward. This time, no visions assailed him. Only a pull. A seductive pull that grew stronger the closer Ichika got. When he arrived at the small scar upon the Earth, Ichika's eyes laid upon the source of this death. The source of the visions that assaulted him moments ago.

A rock. A crystal-like rock blacker than the void of the night sky lay in the crater. Whispers emanated from the rock as a familiar black mist rolled off it. Flashes of red light could be seen emanating from the rock in hypnotic patterns.

The whispers drew Ichika in as they whispered soothing words into his ears. It was then that Ichika made a choice. One that would forever change the course of his life and the fate of the world.

He picked up the rock.

Hey hey! This is the second chapter of the Infinite Stratos/Diablo Crossover challenge by Darkscythe Drake. I have to admit, I'm having fun with this. Though beginnings are hard and so are endings, the meat of this story will be where it's all at. As per the rules, I shall follow them in earnest while adding my twist to them. You guys ready! Let's do this! Next chapter, out in... well, the schedule will be updated to explain!