Of Gods, Men and Machines

by Manus Dei

Two decades after the Sigma Uprising, an unprecedented threat arises. As a new generation of heroes joins the old, plans are set in motion and secrets revealed... for many are the paths of power. (Spoilers for Cyberworld Immortals and Flowers Admist Rubble)

17. A Brief Respite

Chapter 17 – A Brief Respite

"I've had plenty of time to come to terms with who I once was and with what I've become. It's been a long and strange journey and the end is still unknown, but I know that should I falter, the others will carry this through.

Still, I fear that we are tampering with powers beyond what any mortal should hold in their grasp. Even now, I am haunted by the things I saw in that cave underneath the seabed and, despite the children's reassurances, I fear for their safety. The Son may be honorable enough, but the Father is a loose cannon and has already broken our trust. We must continue to grow our strength without relying too much on temperamental ghosts in the machine."

- Sealed notes of the First Imperative

On an alien command ship in orbit over Mars…

"What was that imbecile thinking?!" the alien officer a the beige uniform fumed, poring over the reports as his orange eyes sparked with rage and beads of sweat ran down his furrowed brow His black hair, cut short, in a simple and functional military fashion, was slightly oily after spending nearly three days without rest or taking breaks for personal hygiene.

Starting to feel the weight of fatigue himself, Zuuran remained silent and stoic, allowing him to vent. Despite the lack of rest, he had managed to keep his green uniform in pristine condition, and periodically refresh himself, but his green eyes, the same shade as the uniform, were starting to look bloodshot.

"Anthur has gone too far this time!" the officer continued. "Did he think the humans were just going to roll over at the sight of his showboating?!"

His composure continued to deteriorate further as he rambled on, but Zuuran said nothing.

"Not one, but two battleships lost, with nothing to show for it! It's almost as if he is intentionally trying to get us wiped out! Between his incompetence and dishonorable conduct, his family connections are probably the only reason why he isn't a grunt in the Penal Regiment or a corpse!"

The female alien in the priestly garments stepped into the chamber. With a furrowed brow, she let him finish his rant and then spoke her mind.

"Remember your blood pressure, Xelmath." she cautioned.

Xelmath let out a sigh and sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples.

"This whole invasion plan has been a complete mess from the start. We are just aimlessly throwing men and materiel away… and for what?"

"As long as his family continues to hold sway in the Council, it will be very difficult to change course." the woman noted. "This could all have been avoided if a different approach had been taken."

"Not too long ago, you asked me if I questioned the Emperor's wisdom, Aselia." Xelmath said pointedly.

Zuuran cautiously headed for the door and locked it.

"Should you still be here?" Aselia asked, eyeing the younger adjutant.

"To openly question the Emperor is a dangerous proposition in these dark times." Zuuran said, meeting her gaze. "But I am not a worm like Anthur. The Emperor is the Emperor, but my first loyalty is to the people who took me in and treated me like their own kin."

"And we appreciate your loyalty and discretion." Xelmath said. "But be careful. If I know Anthur, he will be looking for someone to blame for this debacle."

"I know." Zuuran said with a nod. "But how long is this going to continue? As you said, this whole thing was a pointless waste."

"How do you think I feel?" Aselia spoke her mind, her thin face marred by a heavy frown as her lips twisted into a bitter scowl. "I was finally able to sense the location of a meaningful artifact… only for that fool to lose two battleships and their crews on an infantile power trip."

"We would have lost a lot more if not for the centralized control systems." Zuuran pointed out. "But we're still talking about at least twenty crewmen aboard that second ship… not to mention the war suit pilots."

"This whole situation is ridiculous." Xelmath said, utterly disgusted. "The powers of the Oracular Order are being wasted here, along with the lives of our people. We are no closer to finding the power we seek."

"Or perhaps we are…" Aselia said with an inscrutable expression. "The strange energy we sensed may have faded once again, but..."

"But?" Xelmath asked.

"On our way here, I was struck with several visions." she said with certainty. "Later I discovered that each of them coincided with clashes between the Penal Regiment and those children."

"And what did you see?" Zuuran asked.

"The visions were fleeting, but I retained some glimpses." she elaborated. "Two identical men and two nearly identical boys, staring standing defiantly with an army of giants behind them."

Seemingly exhausted by the mere recollection, she rested her hands on the desk.

"I also saw… someone else. No longer a boy, but not yet a man, grieving over a bloodstained white bird until his eyes were tinged with crimson and a terrible flame swept across the sky on metal wings."

"Do you speak of our foes?" Xelmath muttered.

"We have caught glimpses of them on the field." Zuuran said. "But our understanding of them is still limited. Anthur and Belphes thought they could simply trample over them with brute force, and we all know the result."

"They are losing sight of our true purpose here." Aselia said with disdain. "They see it as merely an opportunity to flaunt their armaments."

"But even if we find what we seek here…" Xelmath noted. "Will it be enough?"

With a sigh, he sank back into his chair.

"There are so few of us left. Will even this be enough to turn the tide?"

"If not, then perhaps the natives of this world will finish what we started." Zuuran reasoned. "But I for one am not content to lower my arms and let this be the culmination of our history."

"Neither am I." Xelmath said. "But it was one thing to take what we needed from other worlds and move on. Anthur and his cronies are striking indiscriminately. Even against children."

"And those children have repeatedly humiliated them." Zuuran pointed out. "Quite the spirited lot. In different circumstances, perhaps they would have joined us against our true foe."

"Would you truly be so quick to stand side by side with a Machine Soul?" Aselia asked, though her tone and expression were completely neutral.

"I haven't forgotten what happened a generation ago." Zuuran retorted with disdain. "The reason why I ended up as your ward. But while I have no love for those things, I also haven't forgotten what led to those events."

"Then you are wiser than some of your elders." Aselia remarked with a smirk. "But take care not to voice that kind of thoughts in the presence of others, unless you look forward to being branded a heretic."

"Says the member of the Oracular Order." Zuuran pointed out.

"I am no longer a starstruck maiden." Aselia scoffed. "For all her sermonizing, the High Priestess is not the one risking life and limb on the field. When was the last time she left her gilded pulpit?"

"Perhaps in our desperation to survive at any cost, we are becoming no better than the beings that drove us to this state." Xelmath mused with a heavy frown. "Perhaps that is why we are reduced to roaming the stars in search of what we lost."

"Regardless, we must persevere." Aselia said. "Our search has led us here for a reason."

---

Meanwhile, on Earth...

With Lan finally taking another break, Hub took over at the lab, supervising the small army of technicians with the help of Tron. Brimming with energy as usual, Roll eagerly joined him, trying up the twins' notes and contributing with her own processing power to sift through the tremendous amounts of battlefield data and search for new ideas.

"I can definitely see why you'd keep all your notes in computers and tablets." Roll remarked as she sat at Lan's desk, going over a stack of papers and manually copying everything to a more readable format, her fingers tapping a keyboard at inhuman speeds. "I'm not sure any scanning software could recognize Lan's handwriting when he's in a hurry."

Noticing how quiet her husband was, she glanced in his direction.

"You OK?"

"Just wondering when our lives got so complicated." he said with a shrug, prying his gaze from one of the wall mounted screens where he was poring over some schematics and progress reports. "One minute we were just a bunch of kids busting viruses and now we're dealing with parallel Earths, Warriors of Light, alien invasions and giant robots."

"To be fair, I don't think you were ever that normal." she pointed out with a smile. "Then again, how could you be?"

"I'm not sure the word normal is even in our dictionary." he admitted, smiling back at her. "I'm just glad we get to spend our lives with our families out here instead of watching them from the other side of a PET screen."

There was a knock on the door and the two glanced in its direction.

"Yes?" Hub called out.

Tron entered the office and nodded politely.

"Mrs. Hikari, Dr. Hikari." she said. "The reports you asked for are ready."

"Thank you Ms. Bonne." Hub said as she crossed the distance to hand over a tablet. He took a moment to browse through them and then looked at her.

"And how's the general mood downstairs?" he added.

"People are understandably nervous, but everyone here trusts you completely." she said with a smile, trying to avoid looking directly at him.

"What's the matter with that girl?" Roll wondered, watching the subtle but sudden shift.

"Actually, while he goes over the reports, there's something else I wanted to talk about." she said, staring at the girl.

"Oh?"

"Saya mentioned you were working on a little side project of your own." Roll remarked with her usual beaming smile. "I'd love to see it."

"O-Oh." Tron stammered. "It's nothing special, really. J-Just a little something to keep myself busy."

"Still, I keep hearing about your talent ever since you started your internship here." Roll gently insisted. "This kind of stuff is really exciting."

Seeing Roll's beaming smile and the curiosity flickering in her green eyes, the young assistant found herself giving in.

"It's far from ready, but I suppose you'd still like it." she said, encouraged by her excitement. "Right this way."

Roll started following before stopping for a moment and glancing over her shoulder.

"I'll be back in a bit honey." she said in lieu of farewell. "Call if you need me."

"Will do." Hub said, smiling back at her. Once the two were out the door and out of earshot, he sat back down behind the desk.

"I don't know how she does it, but Roll gets even more adorable with age." he thought with a goofy smile before going back to the reports.

---

Elsewhere…

At Jasmine's insistence, Ms. Yumi had taken the day off as well. Not knowing what to do, she had decided to drop by the Hikari household. As she found herself standing in front of the home of the people who had treated her with such kindness, she was met by a familiar face.

"Come on in!" Mayl said with a smile as she opened the door of the right hand house for her. She still had a white apron draped over her shoulder and the scent of cookies wafted through the air.

The bright young woman had visited the Hikari residence many times since her unplanned jump

between worlds and each time she had been greeted with the same warmth.

"So, you finally decided to take our advice and take a break too?" Mayl asked, before closing the door behind her and ushering her past the entrance.

"Dr. Jasmine is worried about my health, especially given my… condition."

"I'll have to watch myself around that woman…"

"We may be no closer to figuring out where you came from, but I'm glad that hasn't slowed you down one bit." Mayl said, looking on the bright side of things as she and Roll tended to. "I'm you're with us."

"I'm going to miss this place when I do make it back home." Ms. Yumi thought, feeling a bit downcast at the notion but trying her best to hide it.

As she walked past the back of the couch and glanced at the TV screen, she saw what looked like battle footage from the Sigma Uprising two decades prior and stopped.

On the screen, fighting alongside familiar faces like Hub and X, she noticed a tall Navi clad in a suit of red plate armor with a matching helmet that concealed his face and strange pauldrons topped by what almost looked like fins. Armed with sword and shield, he was charging in the direction of a crowd of creatures resembling generic Navi models, apart from the fact that their bodies were completely black.

"Ah, those must be the Pseudonavi constructs the Professors mentioned before." she realized.

Then her attention was drawn to another figure that appeared on the screen.

Its presence was striking, emanating a nearly palpable dread, with a towering form. Its tall, muscular frame with rather bulky hands and feet was covered in menacing black armor. Its chest was decorated with prominent, large ornament, shaped like a stylized pair of open wings, with a circular core right at the center. A pair of large, jagged, serrated spikes protruded from both sides of each wrist.

Its elaborate helmet, which made the being look even more like a thing of nightmare, was shaped like an open crown with a cleft across the middle from the top to the space between the eyes, this cavity being occupied by some kind of bulbous red ornament with a blue core. A pair of golden spikes were protruding horizontally from the sides of the head like horns and the being's jagged mouth looked like a cracked furnace grate. The most disconcerting features, however, were probably the large yellow eyes that seemed strangely out of place, almost organic in comparison. To finish the bizarre ensemble, a large red metal disc, hovered behind its back, shaped like a crossed off circle with two spiked protrusions.

She froze in place at the sight, her eyes widening and her jaw slipping slightly open.

"It can't be…"

In the recording, the menacing figure raised his right arm and the spikes on each side of the wrists expanded until the metal merged together and took the shape of a wide v-shaped metal blade with the tip covering the fist.

"What the hell is he doing there?!"

As some of the volunteer Navis that had joined the battle recoiled, startled by the nightmarish being's appearance, the bladed fist shot through the air, over their heads, and cut horizontally through a good chunk of the advancing enemy line, spraying the air with disintegrating bits of data before retracting the blade and obediently returning to its owner.

Ms. Yumi blinked twice, with her eyes wide as dinner plates, and then turned to Lan.

"D-Dr. Hikari… What is that thing?"

"It's a long story." Lan said with an enigmatic smile, unsure how to tell her that an android from a parallel Earth had decided to show up for the battle in the Cyberworld in such an elaborate disguise.

"Actually…" Raito pointed out in X's direction. "That other Navi in blue next to Uncle Hub looks kinda familiar."

"You don't know the half of it…" Lan thought, trying to keep a straight face.

"Wait a minute…" Maito added, as the Navi in question fired a series of rockets, each tipped with a drill. "Isn't that…?"

"Maybe I should have been a bit more careful with the recordings…" Lan thought. "There are things they're not ready to know yet."

Then the footage on the screen skipped a bit forward and the Navi in red discarded his shield.

"I wasn't much of a shield last time, and you have no need for one here." he proclaimed. "So instead…"

And with that he drew his sword. As he gripped it with both hands and pointed it upwards, the crossguard opened wider and, as he pointed it straight up, the blade started quickly expanding to a ludicrous size, rising like a tower above the battlefield.

"Instead I will be a sword to cleave this filth. Your work here is too important to waste time with trash."

"That's fine and all." a female Navi with clad in some sort of gray riot armor chimed in before dashing in the shield's direction and picking it up with visible effort. "But don't just throw this away."

Noticing the change in Lan's expression as the recording continued playing, Ms. Yumi gave him a quizzical look.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"That was Gallant, a Navi created by some old friends." Lan said with a frown. "The girl next to him is Peach, another friend's Navi. They left us too soon."

She wanted to know more, but she had known Lan long enough to recognize a sore spot. Very few things got him down for long, she had already realized, and out of consideration for him she stayed silent.

The nearly identical cousins noticed something else, however. Emblazoned on the shield was a simple brand in the shape of a sword pointing downward.

"Wait, that mark on the shield..." Raito said, pointing at it for emphasis.

"Whose Navi exactly was that?" Maito added.

Lan let out a sigh and stopped the footage.

"Let's look at something else. Like the Red Sun Tournament."

The boys were surprised by the shift in his mood, but were quickly distracted by the additional footage of the twins' past exploits. Still, their words struck a chord with Lan.

"They do have a point…" he quietly reflected, while the boys excitedly watched some of his old battles. "The piloting suits. Not to mention…"

His thoughts were interrupted by Mayl chiming in.

"They're ready!" she announced, with a large metal tray laden with cookies in her grip. The sight and scent completely derailed Lan's train of thought and made it impossible for him to think of anything else at the moment.

"Looks like I picked the perfect time to drop by." Ms. Yumi practically purred, feeling her mouth watering at the sight.

Over the year since the twins had found her, she had grown to learn some of the quirks of her host family. While Hub had shown a considerable talent and aptitude for cooking, Mayl had refused to lag behind. To them, it was another way of spoiling the people around them, and the two would frequently try out new recipes together or bounce ideas off of each other. With Hub at the lab though, she had the kitchen to herself and had decided to treat the family to an old recipe that Ms. Yumi herself had grown to love.

"I need to talk to Gilliam again soon…" she thought, feeling a pang of guilt at her extended absence.

---

Meanwhile...

With a temporary lull in the hostilities, Shingo decided to spend some more time training with the Guts Brothers in the laboratory's gym.

"You're getting better at this!" Chisao said as the skinny boy, drenched in sweat, stood in a combat stance on a mat wearing a white t-shirt along with green tracksuit trousers and matching running shoes.

"Really now?" Shingo asked, taking a moment to straighten his glasses. "You're not just trying to make me feel better?"

"I think I see what the problem is." Dex chimed in, glancing from the spot where he was doing stretches in a sleeveless white gi with a black belt.

"Yeah." Chisao added. "Seeing is believing, I guess."

Though Navis did not technically need physical exercise to maintain their synthetic bodies, the ever spirited GutsMan had joined them as well, clad in an identical gi. As he prepared to give his opinion, however, something in Dex's yellow gym bag rang. GutsMan sighed and headed to the bench where the bag was set, then picked up his partner's PET. Seeing the name on the screen he sighed, but after a brief moment of hesitation he still answered the call.

"Oyama." he said.

"May I speak to your brother please?" a familiar woman's voice asked.

GutsMan sighed again and glanced in Dex's direction. Then Dex too sighed and nodded, understanding his awkward expression. GutsMan crossed the distance and handed over the PET.

"Ms. Nanako?" Dex called out, his tone and enunciation once again changing from a typical tough guy to a polite, professional public representative.

"Mr. Mayor…" the woman said in an unnatural, almost eerily calm tone. "Do you recall what day it is today?"

"H-Huh?" Dex muttered, straining his mind in an attempt to jog his memory before biting down a curse word as he finally remembered.

"Yes, Mr. Mayor." the woman said still sounding eerily calm. "The Emergency Committee meeting. Need I remind you that we are still technically in a state of emergency, and as an elected city official, your presence is needed?"

"I-I'm sorry." he stammered. "I…"

"You forgot." she deduced, before taking a deep breath. "Mr. Mayor, you are not setting a very good example by eschewing your duties. I understand that you have your own interests, and that your… side occupation is important, but there are people counting on you."

At this point Dex was feeling like a boy caught sneaking out of class to play with his friends. It was odd and a little awkward, especially for Shingo, to see the towering musclebound man with such a guilty look on his face and the way the timid-sounding woman had left him in this state without even raising her voice.

"How much time do I have to get there?" Dex asked, trying to salvage the situation.

"I anticipated this eventuality." she said. "I am already attending on your behalf. In the future though, please try to be a little more considerate of your obligations…"

"And of other people's feelings." she added under her breath.

"Wait wha-" Dex muttered, before the call abruptly ended.

"You know bro…" Chisao said, shaking his head. "You keep doing this and one of these days she's gonna resign."

"Maybe this whole Mayor thing was a mistake." Dex muttered, back to his normal tone. "All I do is disappoint people."

"You've got heart and guts." GutsMan pointed out. "That's what got ya elected in the first place."

"But you took on responsibilities." Chisao pointed out. "Can't forget about those."

"I guess we can't all run off to wander the world like Master Ryu." Shingo said, a little taken aback by the exchange. "Where is he anyway?"

"He's looking into some things related to that weird stone slab." Chisao informed. "He'll be joining us here later."

---

Outside, the Great Harpuia stood alongside the Gemini and Spark Machines. Maria and Aya had decided to practice their teamwork for a couple of hours until the third machine's arrival. Sage had dropped by to deliver a few items, then ended up staying a bit longer at their request to give them some pointers.

"Actually, could you show us that move you used last time?" Aya asked. "What was it called?"

"The Tornado Bullet, you mean?" Sage answered. "I suppose I can do that."

Once the girls moved their robots back to give Sage some space, the green machine made a backflip into the air, quickly gaining altitude, and then started spinning as Sage activated the wrist mounted energy blades. In the Great Harpuia's cockpit, Sage grinned, enjoying the rush of speed and the opportunity to show off his skills.

"SUPER ELECTROMAGNETIC SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" Fighter's voice suddenly blared through the comms.

"AH!" Sage shouted with a start, before clenching his fists and furiously glaring around. "What the hell?!"

To his credit, Sage managed to complete the maneuver without a hitch. A moment later, Fighter's laughter answered his protests.

"Are you trying to make me crash, idiot?!" Sage growled.

"Oh lighten up you stick-in-the-mud!" Fighter retorted before breaking into a bout of singing horribly off-key. "V V V! VICTORY!"

"That's quite enough out of you." Phantom's voice cut him off, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting something else and the transmission abruptly ended.

The Great Harpuia made a graceful landing, despite the circumstances, then froze in place for a drawn out moment as its pilot cast a withering glare at the communications console.

"Uh, Mr. Sage…" Maria called out from her cockpit, staring at the immobile machine. "Are you OK in there?"

"One of these days I'm going to…" Sage hissed with his eyes twitching in fury.

Meanwhile, at he Sanctum, Phantom, rolling his eyes, resumed reading his heavy hardcover book. Next to him, Fighter rubbed the sore spot at the top of his head.

"Hey, what's that?" Maria wondered as she sensed something approaching before the Gemini Machine's sensors had picked it up.

"Huh?" Aya answered, looking in the direction the Gemini Machine's head had turned to.

Moments later, the Leonarch flew into view, its radiant energy trailing behind it in streams that almost made it looked as though it had wings.

"It appears his time and control are improving." Sage noted. "Good."

"Ladies." Alexander said in a manner of greeting as his construct touched down.

"Did something happen?" Aya asked, a little concerned by his abrupt appearance.

"No, no. Nothing to worry about." Alexander said. "I simply thought to get a little extra flight practice."

With that, he stretched his limbs and climbed out of the Leonarch. Once he had climbed most of the way, he hopped down.

"I suppose we could use a break too." Maria reasoned before stepping out of her machine, soon followed by Aya.

The young heiress walked up to the taller boy and gave him a pensive glance.

"Does this extra training have something to do with what happened last time?" Aya asked, her tone unusually tactful.

"You could say that…" Alexander admitted, sounding a little vexed. "While I've been able to improve flight speed, endurance is a concern seeing how this machine relies on my willpower and mental focus."

"Two battleships in one day may have been a little too much, even for you." Aya remarked before her composure slightly cracked, giving way to a mischievous grin.

"Still, it is rather impressive that you made it all the way here from Albion in one go... Prince Charming."

"I thought I'd asked you not to call me that." Alexander weakly protested, going from confident heir to flustered young man in a heartbeat.

"You know she's probably gonna keep doing it as long as you keep getting all bothered about it." Maria pointed out.

"I suppose I still cannot be perfectly proper at all times." Aya conceded with a mischievous smirk. "But since you are here, I could use some fencing practice. Uncle Proto has been gone for too long and I would hate to let my skills rust."

"I would have to borrow one of your practice rapiers then." Alexander said.

"That was not the only weapon he taught me to wield." Aya pointed out with a hint of pride. "Perhaps some sword and shield practice will be good for both of us?"

"I… would rather not…" Alexander hesitantly said.

"Do you think I would not meet your standards?" Aya asked, frowning in annoyance.

"It's not that…" he tried to explain. "I just…"

"I get it." Maria chimed in with a knowing smile. "You're scared of hurting her."

"How do you figure?" Aya asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Amelia told me a few things about Alex and her brother." she elaborated, straightening her glasses. "They got into this stuff together but Atreus stopped sparring with anyone out of fear of hurting them. These two are cut from the same cloth, so..."

"Unlike him, I'm not scared of my own strength." Alexander corrected. "It simply feels wrong to engage in such rough antics with a lady."

"Oh get over it." Aya retorted, lightly punching his arm. "It is one thing to be courteous, but some of your standards are seriously outdated. Besides, those practice suits are so thick neither of us will feel a thing."

"After such a faux pas, I will not take no for an answer." she added, half-playful and half-serious.

"Well…" Alexander conceded, smiling rather sheepishly. "I do suppose I should make reparations."

"And no holding back either, or I will be offended." Aya added.

"I do not recall you being this bossy back then." Alexander halfheartedly grumbled.

"I may not be royalty like you, but I will be in a position of responsibility too in a few more years." Aya retorted with a smug grin. "I have to know how to get my way."

"Give your future spouse my condolences." Alexander quipped. "They will have their work cut out for them."

"Methinks the good sir doth protest too much." Aya retorted without skipping a beat. "Or is that a roundabout way of stepping forward as a candidate?"

"I'm not brave enough for that." Alexander said with a grin.

"Your loss." Aya scoffed before turning her attention to Maria.

"You should come with us. A lady needs to know how to stand up for herself."

---

Meanwhile, at the underground base underneath the Black Forest...

In one of the larger assembly halls, Gilliam stood before a platoon of soldiers, all standing at attention, clad in the bulky bluish-gray piloting suits that had become synonymous with the organization's MEC division.

"I have some good news." he announced. "Thanks to our partners from VTX and some additional assistance from other allies, we are making good progress on a batch of Gespenst units. A few should be ready within the next month or two… along with other items."

The soldiers stayed silent, but he could sense their excited tension, much like children about to open their presents on Christmas.

"Unfortunately, the production numbers are still limited, so we will continue to pursue development of our own MEC line in parallel."

He then pulled out a tablet and brought up a list of names.

"We have been collecting and sorting performance data since our first engagement. Based on our analysis, the following soldiers will be issued Gespenst units as soon as they become available."

He cleared his throat and then announced the names.

"Captain Rossi, Sergeant Germi, Lieutenant Kasamoto, Captain Roving, Specialist Cassel. Lieutenant Spacey, Master Sergeant Ryan and Sergeant Elson."

Despite everyone present being a trained soldier, there was some murmuring in the ranks. The Major paused for a moment and then read the last of the names out loud.

"And finally, Captain Lecointe, Lieutenant Zander and Captain Blazkowicz. Captain Deikun and Lieutenant Ray have already been issued their units upon their transfer to the Kiryu-Kai facility along with their promotions."

Another bout of murmuring followed, but the soldiers were clearly intent on hearing the rest and quickly went silent again.

"The rest of you, stay alert for updates." the Major continued. "We are already replacing our standard issue MEC armaments with the new magnetic accelerator weaponry, thanks to our colleagues in the engineering division and the field testing carried out by Captain Devon, Captain Deikun and Lieutenant Ray."

He paused again to give the soldiers time to digest the new information and then continued.

"We are also in the process of upgrading all Wardens to the new MEC-2 frame. The refit to Sentinel will be carried out in phases to ensure that we always have enough units on standby at any given time. You will be informed when your assigned units are due for refitting and briefed in groups about the new weapons and functionalities."

The Major then surveyed the chamber once again.

"The testers for the first set of Sentinels have already been selected as well. Lieutenant Scott, Specialist Cranston, Sergeant Kwan, Sergeant Taylor, Sergeant Hart and Lieutenant Oliver."

"Incidentally..." he added, staring intently at someone in the assembled crowd.

"Specialist Hayter, I have some questions about the proposal you submitted. Would you kindly explain to me why you and you friend Emmerich from engineering thought it would be a good idea to build a bipedal battle tank… armed with nuclear warheads?"

Some of the other soldiers laughed.

"Well Major..." a gruff-looking soldier with unruly dark brown hair and a three day beard replied, taking a step forward. "Any giant robot worth its salt needs a proper finishing move. At least that's what Hal told me."

"I will admit that your designs had some interesting ideas, such as the railgun and the plasma beam." Gilliam said in a neutral tone. "However, given the low mobility and especially the potential for collateral damage, I'm afraid your proposal will be rejected."

More laughter in the background followed and the eccentric soldier returned to his spot.

"Are there any topics that need to be brought to my attention?" the Major asked.

"Just one thing." another soldier said, stepping forward, wearing a pair of aviator shades and an unreadable expression.

What set him apart from most of the others, other than the height, was the fact that his hair, tied in a discreet ponytail, was a silvery white despite its owner appearing to still be in his thirties. The patches on his piloting suit labeled him as being both a MEC and interceptor pilot.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" the Major asked.

"I think you already know what I'm going to ask." the man said in an even tone.

"Your proposal of shifting more of our synthetic operatives to higher risk deployments?" the Major deduced.

"Quite." the man said, still unperturbed despite the subject matter. "We may be treated as equals here, but, technically speaking, we are not. Even setting the recall devices aside, we are still considerably more durable than the average human."

"I do understand your position, Lieutenant." the Major said evenly.

"It's a matter a matter of principle." the man said.

"And personal, is it not?" Gilliam retorted with a knowing smile. "After all, your niece and her friends are out there taking the same risks as our troops, despite being civilians… and children."

This remark elicited a bout of whispering among the ranks and a few of the soldiers glanced at their companion.

"You could say that, yes." the man said with a smirk.

"The Commander hasn't forgotten your petition and the overwhelming majority of the Navis in this organization shares your opinion." the Major said. "We are already taking measures to adapt our tactics."

The Major paused and delivered his final statement.

"Well, that's it for now. Our research and engineering divisions are working around the clock to help counter the alien menace. Stay together, stay strong… and stay focused. Dismissed."

---

Meanwhile, on the Earth next door…

"You've done better than I expected." the man in the black body glove said, deactivating his blade.

"Give us some credit." the man in the black suit of armor said in a nearly identical voice, tired and a bit sore but still satisfied. "This body may be mostly organic but we've made sure to take care of it."

"Not to mention…" he said, switching to his softer voice. "We've spent twenty years like this. We had to learn how to function without tripping on each other."

"Sometimes I think you two are just crazy." the man in the body glove said with a shrug.

"Says the guy who used to hitch rides on rockets." the armored man retorted, again with his deeper voice.

"I didn't say crazy was a bad thing." the man in the body glove scoffed.

"Anyway…" he added, his tone considerably more serious. "I imagine you're not gonna take on those aliens on foot. What are you planning?"

"It's still a work in progress." the armored man said in his softer voice.

"You do have a plan, right?" the man in the body glove asked, staring intently at him.

"The Biometals will come in handy when the time is right, but… we need something else." the armored man said, once again speaking with his deeper voice.

"Not to mention Model G still has some kinks that need to be ironed out." the man in the body glove pointed out.

"Yeah. The amplifier still takes a lot out of her when she goes all out. Can you believe she tried to go Starkiller on a battleship?"

The man in the body glove laughed in response.

"Actually, I can. No matter the Earth, it looks like that cute face always hides a fierce temper."

He then scratched his chin and reached for a pouch hanging from his belt. From it, he produced a strange green gem, small enough to fit in his hand.

"On a related note… Take this and keep it close."

"Are you sure about this?" the armored man asked, again speaking with a deeper voice.

"Don't worry. We have more than we know what to do with. As long as your courage doesn't falter, this will come in handy."

"Thanks." the armored man said, again switching to his softer voice as he took the gem in his gloved hand. Then the man in the body glove abruptly grabbed his shoulder.

"Just don't do anything stupid, you hear me? Both of you."

"Who the hell do you think we are?" the armored man scoffed, with both voices overlapping.

"You tell me." the man in the body glove flatly retorted.

"We are Zero. We are her sword and shield."

"A bit dramatic, but I suppose it'll do." the man in the body glove remarked.

"That's probably my fault." the armored man said in his softer voice, without a hint of shame. "I'm a bad influence on the other you."

"And now we should probably head back." he added, switching voices again. "X needs our help getting those molecular furnaces running... and people will start asking questions if we're gone for too long."

"You do that then." the man in the body glove said, before walking to a coat hanger set on a nearby wall and pulling out a white labcoat from it, which he quickly put on after a brief struggle to get his oversized ponytail out of the way. "I have things to do too, so we'll continue this later."

---

Several hours later, at a break room in the Kiryu-Kai facility…

"Gentlemen, once again you've exceeded the Commander's expectations." Gilliam said, though his expression was somewhat guarded.

"Those machines really are something else." Casval said, flashing a winning smile. "In fact, the reaction speed is so great I'm not sure some of our colleagues will be able to handle a Gespenst."

"That's because I've calibrated both your units to match your specific capabilities." Gilliam said. "That battery of tests we did before you shipped out wasn't just for show."

"Neither are these Gespenst, that's for sure." Amuro said. "But is that the only reason you came all the way here?"

"I have some other business in the region, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to get your firsthand feedback." the Major explained.

"Well…" Casval pondered. "If the enemy is going to start deploying more flying units, then I wonder how long the Gespenst can stay airborne."

"I did consider that eventuality." Gilliam said. "As you've seen by now, the Gespenst line has considerable aerial mobility. In fact, this is the second time I've flown here from HQ on the RV without any refueling stops."

"Line?" Casval wondered. "Does that mean there are more variants out there?"

"These models are equipped with very good flight systems." Gilliam said. "You may not be hunting down enemy craft anytime soon, but you should be able to stay airborne during most missions."

"If you don't mind me asking…" Casval said with a furrowed brow. "Where exactly did this technology come from? I know the MECs used plenty of conventional materials, but the Gespenst is something else entirely."

"Shrewd as ever, regardless of the iteration…" Gilliam thought. "I'll have to be very careful about what I say around these two."

"VTX already had considerable expertise and some functional prototypes as proof of concept." he explained. "I merely helped them refine some concepts."

It was technically true, in the sense that the concepts existed, but in a scattered form and mostly as smaller test components that would likely have never been assembled in such a fashion. In his long career, Gilliam had memorized the entirety of the basic schematics and still occasionally put together new variants in his mind as a way to pass the time.

"Well, gentlemen…" the Major said. "I'll be staying in the region for two weeks to look into other matters. Do let me know if you get any ideas I can use."

With that, he stepped outside the hangar and into an adjacent smaller one, exclusively occupied by the Gespenst RV. He locked the door behind him, climbed into the cockpit and sealed himself inside, then activated a most definitely non-standard subsystem.

One of the monitors lit up and an unmistakable face appeared on it. A man, somewhere in his forties or fifties, with a strong face showing the first signs of wrinkles but with a fire still burning in his gray eyes. His black hair, a bit on the unruly side, was beginning to sport some gray strands, but was still mostly unchanged from his younger days – including the spiked sideburns, pointing forward.

"Not to be ungrateful or anything, Gilliam, but you could answer our calls a little more often." the man said, looking a bit tired.

"I know. Sorry about that." Gilliam answered with an apologetic nod. "My hands have been pretty full."

The man nodded, but still looked somewhat tense.

"How is she?"

"Same as last time. In fact, I'd say she's in one of the safest places in this world right now. Relax."

The man sighed and rubbed his temples.

"This isn't an easy position for me, you know." he admitted. "She's almost an adult. I can't blame her for getting excited about having an adventure of her own, especially if she's already made friends on that side."

Gilliam smiled, his expression turning unusually soft.

"I imagine it's taking all your restraint to refrain from jumping into the nearest Cross Gate or getting someone else to bring you here, isn't it?"

"Don't even kid about it!" the man grumbled. "I mean, I could, but… I don't even know if there are any Cross Gates leading there. Don't want to run off and get lost too. Not to mention..."

"You don't want Lisa to think you don't trust her?" Gilliam surmised. "Or you don't want to make things weird by popping into a world where your face is plastered on TV shows, movies and action figures?"

"I'm still not sure you're not pulling my leg on that one." the man scoffed. "The main problem is finding a way to get you-know-what through."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you of all people would turn into a fretting parent." Gilliam noted with a hint of amusement. "But don't worry. Between the Robot Masters, X and their other allies, she's in good hands."

"Well, don't poke too much fun at me." the man retorted with an irreverent grin, pointing at the camera. "It could be you someday."

"Highly unlikely." Gilliam said, rather dryly.

"After what happened to some people we know, you can't be sure of that." the man pointed out, still grinning. "Remember Tetsuya? Remember Mr. Cleave? Anyway, can't you get her to the RV so I can talk to her?"

"Not if I want to keep her cover intact." Gilliam reminded him. "She's trying very hard to blend in and be treated like a normal person… even if her choice of borrowed identity was a bit unfortunate."

"Not to mention people could get the wrong idea if you tried to talk to her in private." the man conceded. "I know. I've been on the receiving end of stuff like that."

"Well, as I mentioned before, the suit Minerva built for her is still intact." Gilliam said. "I could adapt some of my spare parts into an amplifier for its communication system."

"We'd really appreciate that." the man said with a smile. "It was a relief to get some news, but… you know… We need to see her face."

"Not to mention her mother probably isn't too happy about this." Gilliam deduced.

"That's one way of putting it…" the man said with a wince. "She had a mind to get on the Kaiser and bring her home herself, until I reminded her we don't have a way of getting it there."

"I'll get started on the amplifier as soon as I can set some time aside." Gilliam said with a nod. "Relax. You'll both get to talk to her soon."

"But before you go…" the man said, his expression relaxing and an excited smile creeping across his face. "Tell me more about those Robot Masters."

---

That evening, at the Hikari residence…

As he sat on a chair at his home office, Lan once again recalled the scattered scenes he had witnessed in the mirror in the bottom of the Black Earth twenty years prior. The image had been too blurred and devoid of color to make out some details and he hadn't had the time to record anything, but the memory of the boy screaming in rage with glowing eyes and the girl who soon joined him returned to the forefront of his consciousness.

"What does this all mean?"

Whether the nanites coursing through his system had enhanced his ability to retain memories – psionic meddling aside – or there was something else at play, he could not say. Unfortunately, asking Serenade or Mamoru for answers was not an option. The former rulers of the Undernet had dropped under the radar months prior to the start of the invasion. He had little doubt that they were all right, but it was still concerning to be without news in such uncertain times.

It was still too early to go to sleep and he felt the need to find something to do. Eventually, he settled for sorting out the contents of some folders on the home computer he shared with Mayl. After a few moments going through old pictures, digital copies of his school diplomas and some other random things, Lan found an old sound file dated two decades prior.

"Huh? What's this doing here?" he thought out loud, recognizing the time stamp and file name.

Eyeing the icon on the screen, he couldn't help blushing like a schoolboy. He looked around suspiciously to make sure he was alone, then shut the door and dialed down the volume on the speakers. Satisfied, he sat back down and opened the file. Soon, he heard a recording of his younger self's sleep talk during a certain fateful flight.

"Oh Mayl... what are you doing?" Lan's voice muttered, sounding surprised. "You want me to what? Really?"

He winced, hearing those words and the enraptured tone. For a moment, he felt a bout of embarrassment and considered stopping the recording, but curiosity got the better of him.

"How can I refuse?" his younger self's voice continued.

At this point, he was glad that the children were downstairs, likely fast asleep, and that the computer had redundant security measures.

"Hmmm... so soft... so sweet... more! More!" his younger voice continued. "I swear, you've got magic hands!"

At this point his face was becoming rather flushed, but he still couldn't bring himself to stop the recording.

"YOU MAKE THE BEST RICE CAKES IN THE UNIVERSE!" his younger self proclaimed, still in the throes of his dream.

Lan stayed still for a few seconds in stunned silence… and then burst into a fit of laughter, recalling how Mayl had teased him after the flight. He had never actually listened to the full thing before, and so that memento of his younger days reminded him that despite everything else, his wife and food had always been among his favorite things in the world.

"We were so young..." he thought fondly once he'd finally managed to stop laughing and settled down. "So full of love and fire. I guess we really haven't changed in that area."

In nearby folders, he then found and opened up some of the pictures from that trip, and the following ones, including a few from their honeymoon a few years later. As he gazed upon all the different landscapes and the beaming smile of his and Mayl's younger selves, he was filled with a profound sense of joy and gratitude and, for a brief moment, he felt almost like a giddy teenage boy again.

"I figure I've got about sixty or seventy more years or so left on this Earth." he thought. "So far I think I've done pretty well. I still don't know what she saw in the dumbass kid I used to be, but I can't complain about the way things turned out."

"Dad?" Raito called out, peeking inside with a drowsy expression. "The hell were you watching over there? You probably woke up half the house with all that laughing."

"I'll tell you when you're older." Lan retorted with a grin. "Go back to bed."

Raito sighed and did just that, muttering something about silly adults. As soon as he was out of earshot, Lan stood back up, walked up to the door and stuck his head out.

"Honey, come see what I found!"

Quirking an eyebrow, Mayl put down the book she was reading in the living room, climbed the stairs and stepped into the office. Lan closed the door behind her and then played the recording again. Soon, both of them found themselves howling in laughter.

"I'd almost forgotten about that one!" Mayl managed to say, clutching her sides, struggling for breath as she finally ended up rolling on the floor.

"I guess at least I'm consistent." Lan quipped, trying to help her up before another fit of laughter sent him tumbling to the floor next to her.

As if on cue, another familiar face peeked through the doorway with a mischievous smile.

"Do you two need some alone time?" Roll teased. She had replaced her regular clothes with a simple two-piece pajama set (pink, of course) decorated with bird-shaped patterns.

"The floor?" Hub added in mock indignation, still wearing a blue shirt and matching trousers, but having relieved himself of his labcoat and shoes. "Really?"

"Don't make me go over there, smartasses." Mayl playfully retorted, fighting off another bout of laughter.

For once, Lan didn't give a damn about their teasing. Instead, in a rather catlike manner, he simply rolled over and nuzzled his wife's chest.

"I hope you appreciate how lucky you are." Mayl playfully scolded, running her fingers over his hair.

"Every single day." Lan answered, enjoying the close contact.

"The rice cakes probably help." Roll quipped with a grin, before moving in to haul both of them back up. "Now come on. The floor is no place for snuggling."

"To be fair…" Lan added, once he found himself back on his feet. "I'm not always thinking about food."

"Fifty percent food, forty-five percent Net Battling and gadgets, five percent… other random things." Mayl joked.

"Your percentages are a bit off, honey." he retorted, staring at her in such a shameless she couldn't help feeling embarrassed like a teenager.

"I'd say you're absolutely terrible sometimes." Mayl said with a mischievous smirk. "But I'm one to talk."

Then, she glanced at the clock on the computer screen.

"Anyway, you're supposed to be on break. Come on. You'll be cranky in the morning if you stay up too late."

With that, she grabbed him an arm and led him out of the office.

"I guess I shouldn't complain about having you tuck me in." he quipped along the way.

"Smartass." she retorted.

"What a bunch of weirdos…" Maito muttered to himself from the hallway, watching them go.

"Better this than arguing, I suppose." Raito pointed out, standing next to him. "Even if it can be a little embarrassing when they get all lovey dovey."

"Or maybe you're just jealous?" Suzu taunted with a mischievous smile, glaring at her older cousin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raito retorted, staring at her.

"Why don't we ask Maria?" the small Navi girl teased with a smug grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Raito grumbled, a hint of crimson creeping across his face.

"Sure you don't." Maito said, dripping with sarcasm. "And you really hate it when Aunt Mayl starts with the hugs and the homemade snacks too."

"Sh-Shut up!"

"But seriously." Maito said, shaking his head. "Why do you get so embarrassed about your own mom being affectionate?"

"J-Just not in public, damnit!" Raito grumbled.

"Get on with the times, Patch." Maito said, rolling his eyes. "Even tough guys love their moms. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"It's not that, OK?! I'm just not a little baby anymore."

"You know you'll always be her little boy. Deal with it."

"I'll remember that next time Aunt Roll is squeezing the living daylights out of you." Raito grumbled.

Knowing how the two could be when they started bickering, Suzu shook her head and headed back to her room.

"Oh stop being so self-conscious." Maito grumbled, rolling his eyes again. "How many of your diapers has she changed? Besides, you're moaning about that now, but you'll miss her when she's gone."

That struck a chord. Raito winced and glared at his nearly identical cousin.

"Don't even kid about that. I don't even want to think about it."

"Then stop being such a dumbass and enjoy your time with her while you can. You're in a hurry to be treated like a man, but sometimes you still act like a brat."

"And you sound like an old man sometimes." Raito grumbled, crossing his arms. "But you have a point. Now can we just drop it?"

---

The next morning, at the Hikari Laboratory's ground floor break room...

"Aww!" Axl pouted. "C'mon!"

"No." Ms. Yumi said, crossing her arms and scowling at him.

"But why?"

"If you know who they are, then you know how much trouble they can be. Especially… him."

"It's not like I'm gonna go and blurt out all the crazy crap their alternate universe selves did." Axl pouted. "I'm not stupid."

"Then what exactly are you going to do?" she retorted. "And keep your voice down!"

"It's a secret to everyone!" Axl said, flashing a cheeky grin.

"First Gilliam and now you…" she grumbled. "Am I the only sane person here?"

"You're tearing me apart Li-" Axl started to say in an exaggeratedly dramatic fashion before she pinched his lips shut.

"Are you trying to blow my cover?" she hissed in admonishment.

Axl tried to say something, but only incoherent mumbles came out. She sighed and released her grip.

"Why are you so scared of those two?" Axl asked, dropping the clown act.

"I'm not-" she tried to protest.

"You sure could have fooled me." he cut her off. "Really, why all this?"

"Because these two existed on my Earth as well." she said with a somber expression. "Because I've studied the history of other parallel Earths and whenever those two go to war, they and everyone around them suffers."

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Axl argued. "Sure, they got caught up in a lot of crap and started some of it themselves, but are you seriously blaming this version of them for it all? They didn't always end up killing themselves or each other. Hell, Char wasn't always-"

"Don't!" she cut him off.

"You're so scared of then that you won't even let me say his name out loud?" Axl retorted.

"Even if they're not our enemies… people who get involved with them tend to meet unfortunate ends." Ms. Yumi said with a pained expression. "I don't want anything to happen to these children or their families."

"So what happened to that whole Mazin thing?" Axl countered. "Creating new possibilities and all that?"

"Possibility can go both ways." she retorted. "I still can't believe Gilliam put both of them in Gespenst. There are things you shouldn't play with."

"Your old man would be disappointed to hear you speak like that." Axl said, shaking his head. "Don't you see? You're in the perfect spot to help create something new, something different."

"I… don't know if I can do that." she said, looking downcast.

"Why not?"

"I may not have lost my memory like I told the others, but… Do you realize how lucky I am to even be here in one piece? I did something incredibly stupid that could have cost me my life and made my parents miserable."

"So that's what this is all about." Axl realized. "It's not about the Comet and the Meteor. It's about you. You got spooked after that accident that got you here."

He let out a sigh and stared intently at her.

"Look, Lisa. I've been around the block a few hundred years longer than you, so take it from me. Sometimes, shit happens. Sometimes it feels like you're not in control of anything."

"Your point?"

"You're not gonna get anything done if you're afraid of the unpredictable… and I think you know it. You could have just asked Gilliam to take you home and forgotten all about this world, but you didn't. Why's that?"

"Did you seriously expect me to abandon the others after the kindness they've shown me?" she asked, offended at the notion. "After seeing what they're up against?"

"And because those kids remind you of your folks back in the day, right?" Axl deduced.

"A bit, yes, but what does that-"

"Lisa… Look at it this way, if it helps." Axl said with a smile. "What if that accident wasn't just a random thing? What if it took you exactly where you're needed?"

"I… what…?"

"Even before I found out that you and your family really exist out there somewhere, I always admired you lot." Axl said with a determined expression. "For being able to laugh at the impossible and create new possibilities."

"What…?"

"By the time I came along, X and Zero were already legends." Axl reminisced. "Bigger than life. I wanted to earn my place by their side. To be a hero too, like every boy dreams of."

"What does that have to do with this?" she asked, perplexed by his train of thought.

"The adventures of a certain kid with ridiculously pointy sideburns, his Invincible Fortress of Steel and all their buddies." Axl said with a strange intensity in his gaze.

"That stuff helped me deal with the crap life threw my way and live up to my idols." he elaborated. "So the day Lisa Kabuto of all people is afraid of new possibilities is the day I hang up my guns for good."

She did not have an answer for that, staring at him for a few moments.

"I… guess I underestimated you…" she eventually muttered. "I thought you were just a hyperactive troll."

"I get that a lot." Axl said, once again flashing a childish grin. "Especially from Cial."

"Who?"

"Never mind that." Axl said in a hurry. "The point is, you're on a whole new adventure. You should be excited to be here and see how much you can do."

"I… suppose you have a point." she hesitantly conceded.

"Of course I do." Axl retorted, looking rather chipper. "Well then, what do you say we go get the others and tell them-"

"No." she cut him off. "Not yet, at least."

"Why not?"

"Aside from the fact that I lied to them, I do enjoy being treated like a normal person." she explained, looking visibly uncomfortable, even embarrassed. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be the daughter of two legends? To have everyone's eyes on you?"

"Can't say I do. But then why did you borrow your mom's name and hairdo?"

"I-It was a spur of the moment thing!" she protested, visibly flustered. "I wasn't thinking straight and regretted it the minute I found out that her name is almost as well known here."

"Not to mention the whole fictional character thing, huh?" Axl cheekily pointed out.

"Don't remind me…" Ms. Yumi grumbled. "Between randomly finding that when I was browsing the TV channel list... and what I saw when I searched for my mother's name online…"

"Safe search is your friend." Axl scoffed.

Her right eye twitched and she bared her teeth for an instant before calming down.

"You know what?" she retorted, glaring at him. "I'm gonna let that one slide. Just this once. That said… maybe it's time I stopped copying her."

"Good." Axl said, showing an earnest smile. "The only person you need to be is you. And I'm not gonna blow your cover, but I think you'll be better off coming clean sooner or later."

"After I can find a way not to die of shame, maybe."

"You know the twins won't hold it against you." Axl pointed out.

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

"Right. You don't want them going full fanboy. Especially the Guts Bros. But in the meantime, there's one thing you should know."

"What's that?"

Axl's grin only widened as he elaborated.

"Considering where you are and the people you're with… By law of parallel Earths and Alouette's Unilateral Adoption Decree, that makes you part of our extended family."

"What…?" she asked, visibly confused.

"I'll explain it later. The short version is, you're one of us and I've gotta look after you."

"Are you coming onto me?" she blurted out.

"Lisa, please!" Axl jokingly retorted. "I know I'm dashing and ridiculously handsome, but do restrain yourself."

She stared at him, once again utterly perplexed… and then just laughed until she was clutching her sides.

"I'm not that brave." Axl added with a sheepish grin once she was done laughing. "Someone on the Earth next door would be very pissed at me, not to mention your folks back home. No, what I'm trying to say is… welcome to the Megaverse."

"The what?" she asked, still out of breath.

"It's a secret to everyone!" he said with a conspiratorial wink before tugging at her cheeks. "But see? You're laughing! That's a good start!"

"You have a really weird way of cheering people up." Ms. Yumi remarked. "But I can't argue with the results. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard."

"Hey, if it's stupid but it works…" Axl said with a shrug. "But I'm serious about that other part. You're one of us now. If you need anything or something's bothering you, just talk to us. Secret identity or not, we're here for you just like you've been for the others."

"I'll keep that in mind." she said, her expression considerably calmer and more cheerful.

His work done for the moment, Axl quietly headed out, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Still processing everything and without much else left to do, she headed to another room on the same floor. Even before she opened the door, she could hear the excited noises coming from inside.

"Take this!" Maito cried out as he slotted a Battle Chip into the receptacle on his blue PET. "Battle Wing!"

On the large flat screen mounted in front of the couch the two boys were sitting on, his avatar, nearly identical to his father's Navi form, grew a pair of black razor-sharp bat-like wings and charged at his opponent.

"That's all you've got?" Raito retorted, slotting a chip into his own identical PET. "Variable Sword!"

His own avatar, nearly identical to his cousin's apart from the metallic sheen on its blue outfit, summoned the blade in question.

"There you are." Ms. Yumi said with a smile.

"Hi." both of them said, without prying their eyes away from the screen.

While Maito tried to use the wings to slice at Raito's avatar, his cousin tried to bide his time, dodging and rolling until an opening presented itself.

"I'm beginning to see why this Net Battling thing has been all the rage for thirty years." she noted.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Raito boasted, entering the command code to transform the weapon into longsword configuration.

"It can still be a little jarring to think that so many of the people on the street could be Navis without me realizing it." she mused, resting her forearms on the back of the couch.

"Do you think someone out there could even be a Navi and not realize it?" Maito wondered while his avatar rolled out of the sword's way. "That sounds a bit scary."

"Who knows?" Raito chimed in with a shrug.

"Come to think of it, I had a hard time believe you're one too." Ms. Yumi said, glancing at him.

As the boys' avatars continued trading blows, another thought took form in her mind.

"You know, since one of you is human and the other is a Navi, and you're practically twins…"

"Yeah?" Raito asked.

"Have you ever tried teaming up like your fathers used to back in the day?" she wondered.

Both boys shuddered.

"Eh, that'd be weird." Raito said.

"Yeah, what he said." Maito added.

"It's one thing to go into Full Synchro, but I don't want to control my cousin like he was a video game character." Raito elaborated.

"Besides, those Cyberworld suits?" Maito added. "Too skimpy."

"You do realize your fathers wore suits like those in the real world, right?" Ms. Yumi pointed out.

"Yeah yeah." Raito retorted. "I guess they were braver than us."

"Don't diss the classics." Maito scolded.

"You just said you didn't want your-" Raito tried to point out.

"I don't want my ass plastered on a screen." Maito retorted, scowling as if he'd tasted a lemon. "Especially not for you to stare at. But rocking that classic superhero look out here? Maybe…"

"Like I'd want to stare at that." Raito scoffed. "Get over yourself."

"I guess that's why you use those avatar programs instead." Ms. Yumi realized. "And you don't actually see many people carrying their Navis in a PET."

"Right… amnesia." Raito realized. "Sometimes it's easy to forget, seeing how you keep cranking out one awesome invention after another."

"After Navis started getting Copy Bot bodies and moving into the real world, it just started feeling weird to do Net Battles the old-fashioned way." Maito added.

Maito stretched his legs, momentarily forgetting about the battle on the screen.

"It's funny how the weird becomes the new normal." he added, recalling a conversation with Shingo.

---

Five years prior...

"But so does that mean someone built you or…?" Shingo asked as he and Maito were sitting on a bench in the playground during recess.

"It's a long story." Maito recalled. "I don't know all the details, but it all started a long time ago when my father… died."

"I heard that part." Shingo said with a nod. "HBD. Hard to imagine how much suffering that condition caused now that it can be permanently cured in an hour."

"Then you know about how he was reborn as a Navi and fought alongside my mother, aunt and uncle against terrorists and criminals and all kinds of weird crap."

"Yeah. Some of that stuff was pretty out there."

"Some time after the Cybeast incident, a man moved to this city to work at SciLab. His name was Cadmus Atreides."

"Are you kidding me?" Shingo asked, an excited glimmer appearing in his eyes. "The Imperative lived here once?"

"Sounds like somebody is a fan."

"My sister is a huge fan of Dr. Ciel." Shingo clarified. "We still can't wrap our heads around some of their papers though."

"Well, yeah, both of them once lived here." Maito said, looking in the direction of the school playground fence. "In that house across the street from ours that's been closed off for years. As far as I know, they still own the place."

"I always wondered why nobody would move in." Shingo said, straightening his glasses. "Not to mention the military grade locks. But it's amazing. History was made in our backyard."

"So you know about their work with Copy Bot upgrades then." Maito concluded. "What you may not know is that my father was the first test subject. He was already exploring the world around him with an early model… but the prototype upgrades changed everything."

"Can you imagine?" Maito added. "Living your whole live behind a PET screen and then in a robot body that could only see and hear? And then unlocking all five senses and more? Getting to taste food, hold your family, feel like a part of the world?"

---

Maito's mind returned to the present… only to find out that his cousin had seized the opportunity to trounce his avatar with a well-placed sword strike.

"Eyes on the ball." Raito remarked with a smug grin.

"Why you little…" Maito grumbled, glaring at his cousin. "Rematch!"

"You're on!"

---

Meanwhile, in the lab basement…

"Wow…" Hub muttered with a perplexed expression as he watched Roll playing with the combat simulator, demolishing a slew of virtual enemies in a simulacrum of the X-1. The tablet with status reports was momentarily forgotten in his hand as he stepped behind the simulator chair to get a better look at the monitor.

Unlike the boys, who had fallen into a pattern of using the Buster and a random weapon selection from the machine's arsenal, her approach was more measured, dodging and weaving with the grace of a gymnast before delivering precise shots or closing in to dish out a punch or a spinning kick.

"Impressed yet?" she asked with a cherubic smile as she dodged out of the way of enemy fire before retaliating with another of the seemingly endless assortment of weapons – the Centaur Arrow, if he was not mistaken.

"Figures you'd go for the arrow." he remarked.

With a satisfied grin, she cleared the training exercise, stretched her limbs and looked at him over her shoulder from the simulator chair.

"So… When are you gonna let me have a crack at the real thing?"

"As if you needed my permission to do anything." he retorted with a smile and a shrug.

"Really now?" she joked, quickly getting up and heading in his direction with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. "Anything?"

"R-Roll, we're supposed to be working and there are other people here." he stammered, growing a little embarrassed at her tone and the way she was staring at him.

She quickly hopped forward and caught him in a bear hug before running a hand over his hair.

"I just thought you could use a little motivation boost."

"I won't exactly complain about that." he practically purred. She knew his weak spots far too well.

While he was managing to keep his own workaholic tendencies under control and coffee had no effect on his synthetic body, he too was beginning to grow restless about being stuck in the back lines, even if his work was allowing the team to keep on fighting. Roll was more than aware of this and had been trying to keep his spirits up however she could. By the look on his face, she knew she had succeeded. Enjoying the lingering contact, she stayed like that for a few moments before releasing him.

"Better?" she asked with a smile. He simply nodded in response.

"Well then." she added, chipper as always. "Since we're supposed to be working, what's next on the list?"

"Far too many things to count." he said with a sigh. "But unlike that brother of mine, I know how to delegate."

"You should probably start with that call." she suggested, pointing to one of the items on the list.

"Yeah…"

While the Titanium X forming most of the structure of the Robot Master machines was very sturdy by their world's standards, it was still not perfect. Producing flawless samples in large quantities had always been a challenge, compounded by the fact that any material transfers from the Earth next door were conditioned by the size of the gateway. X's plan to set up molecular furnaces locally had been postponed given the fact that there had simply not been enough time to do so during the process of assembling the Robot Master and Pantheon machines.

Even with the furnaces operational, they still weren't sure how long it would take to fully retrofit the machines. Still, according to X and both versions of Ciel, it would be more than worth the effort.

"In the meantime, I'll go make sure the Proto Machine's overhaul is finished." she said with a smile. "We want that thing to be ready just in case."

---

The next morning, in Neo Atlantis...

Refreshed after a thorough rest, Amelia decided to go for a walk, clad in one of her pink dresses and matching shoes, with a white wool sweater draped over her back to protect against the odd sea breeze. Blending in with the crowds, she took an electric bus to one of the seaside districts and descended from it on a white marble sidewalk in front of a large restaurant. Both it and the cafe next door were owned by a partnership between three families that dated back to the raising of the island and the founding of the nation.

At that hour, the cafe, decorated in a style reminiscent of a European teahouse with a Mediterranean touch, was still nearly empty, likely due to the fact that it was Sunday and the overall reduced crowds since the beginning of the alien invasion.

It was then that she recognized a familiar face. Though she was out of uniform, clad instead on a simple but elegant ensemble comprised of a white silk shirt, a yellow wool jacket, a matching skirt, black stockings and a pair of black shoes, her features were unmistakable.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?"

The petite Staff Sergeant raised her gaze from the blueberry shortcake in front of her and her face lit up with a smile.

"Doctor's orders." the young woman said. "Dr. Sune wanted me to take a break for my health's sake and Colonel Devon was heading here anyway to take care of some paperwork, so I ended up coming along for the ride."

"I thought she'd been reassigned to the Far East branch." Amelia said, scooting over to the table and helping herself to an empty chair.

"She has." Sarah explained, before switching to a lighthearted tone. "But you have no idea how scary that woman can be when you ignore her advice."

"You could have mentioned you were coming." Amelia said with a beaming smile. "We both missed you."

"I… didn't mean to impose." the young Staff Sergeant said, unusually timid.

"Is something wrong?" Amelia asked, seeing the stark contrast between the cheerful, almost bubbly persona she normally projected and the current display.

"I don't know." she admitted. "I've just been thinking about a bunch of things now that I don't have much to do."

"Like what?"

"Oh, random silly things, mostly. But after coming to the island, there's one particular thing on my mind."

With that, she leaned forward.

"Sometimes it feels like you and your brother are uncomfortable around me. That complicates things if we're going to keep working together."

"Is that really what it looks like?" Amelia asked, caught by surprise.

"Am I wrong?"

"Of course you are. He's worried about you." Amelia said, trying not to let anything slip about the storeroom incident. "We both are."

"Both of you? But why?"

"We know you." Amelia retorted with a shrug. "We don't need any other reason."

"Of course, that brother of mine can be a bit protective of the people around him." she added. "The Robot Masters, me, you. If someone isn't feeling well, it affects him."

"Really?"

"That's how he is." Amelia added with a smile. "And if he's not well, I'm not well. So if we look a bit tense around you, it doesn't mean it's your fault."

"I… see…" Sarah said, visibly relieved. "Has he always been like this?"

"Pretty much. I can be guilty of the same, but I learned how to manage it."

Sarah did not have an answer to that and instead stayed quiet for a moment. Feeling Amelia's stare, she finally spoke.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked.

"No." Amelia said, shaking her head. "You're looking better, that's all."

"What do you mean?"

Amelia straightened her glasses and leaned slightly forward.

"It's just you and me here. You don't need to keep up the cheerful act."

"You noticed…"

"Not at first." Amelia clarified. "But I've been keeping an eye on you. You strike me as the kind of person who's always trying to cheer up everyone around her. Just like Aunt Roll."

"I've never met her, but from what the boys mentioned… I can see why you'd think that."

"The difference is Roll has a bit more life experience and knows she can lean on other people." Amelia noted.

"My sister is pretty much my best friend." Sarah said. "But she has her own things to do and can't spend her whole time with me. The others mean well, but there are things you don't just bounce back from overnight… and I don't have time to wallow in these feelings."

"You're probably around my age, aren't you?" Amelia asked. "It may be hypocritical coming from me, but you're probably still too young to be handling an adult's workload."

"It does seem slightly hypocritical." Sarah retorted. "But you've got a point. The truth is, my sister and I were relocated to HQ to protect us. Some other staff did the same with their families. But I couldn't just stay in my quarters day in and day out reading novels. I had to make myself useful."

She sighed before continuing.

"I see Leo and other people I care about fighting out there, risking their lives. I need to do something to help, even if it's just preparing presentations and helping with logistics. But I can't help wondering something."

"What?" Amelia asked.

"Why did you choose to fight?"

"To be honest, my parents wanted to keep both my brother and I out of this." Amelia admitted. "When that failed, they tried to prepare us, still hoping it wouldn't be needed. I've got plenty of reasons to keep doing this willingly though."

"Like what?"

"Cliche as it sounds, I want to help protect the world." Amelia said with a determined expression. "Besides, our friends in the Robot Masters are fighting too and half of them are younger than us."

"That's fair…"

"But there's another reason." Amelia admitted. "That brother of mine is a gentle soul. Too kind and sensitive for his own good. But he still took on this burden without hesitating. I don't want to let him get hurt out there… or to let this war change him."

"Change him?"

"Ever since the invasion started, I see it in him." Amelia explained. "A pain that won't go away. And right alongside it, a fury that honestly scares me. I don't want him to lose himself."

"Family looking out for each other then." Sarah noted. "I can understand that."

"What about you?" Amelia asked. "Are you burning all your energy propping other people up? Forgetting about your needs?"

"I'm surprised. People who have known me for far longer couldn't tell… at least right away."

"Right now you don't have a briefing to deliver or a book to bury yourself in." Amelia said with certainty. Your guard slips here and there when you're not focusing on something."

"Besides…" she thought with a heavy heart. "Your crying face is probably still haunting my brother's nightmares."

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" Sarah remarked, though she managed to crack a smile.

Amelia shrugged.

"I can be subtle when I want to, but there are times when it's best to cut to the point."

"So where are you going with this?"

"You don't have to smile unless you really feel like it. And if you don't feel like it, then hiding behind a forced smile isn't the best way of dealing with the issue."

"I don't have time to feel sorry for myself."

"I get it." Amelia said with a nod. "At your age you're already doing something remarkable. Taking a position of responsibility. People older than you look up to you."

"My sister is the genius." Sarah said rather dismissively. "I'm just trying to make myself useful to avoid thinking about… other things."

"We all do what we can." Amelia said with a sigh, not taking her eyes off the other girl. "But you're selling yourself short."

"You're starting to sound like my sister."

"So that's two of us." Amelia remarked with a grin. "Two certified geniuses telling you to appreciate yourself. What more do you need?"

"I suppose… at a time like this… what I need is a friend."

"You have two right here on the island." Amelia pointed out. "A bunch more overseas. From what I hear you're practically the MEC division's mascot at HQ too."

"T-There's a difference between being a mascot and a friend, you know." Sarah meekly protested. "But I do appreciate the way people are looking out for me."

She discreetly glanced towards a table in a corner of the room, and Amelia recognized the blond man and the bespectacled brunette woman sitting there in plainclothes from the mission briefings.

"Even now." Sarah added, her tone barely above a whisper. "They didn't have to come, but they asked the Commander for permission anyway."

"You're making my point for me."

"I still feel a little guilty for taking up their time. But they wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Nobody wants to leave me unsupervised after what happened back then…" she thought, suppressing a wince of discomfort.

"I guess it's harder for some people to let others look after them." Amelia pointedly noted.

"You have a point." Sarah conceded before quirking an eyebrow. "But wait… Go back a little."

"Hmm?"

"You said two friends. Did your brother put you up to this?"

"Him?" Amelia scoffed. "Oh please. If he knew you're here he would have come himself. In fact, having visitors will be good for him."

"Meaning?"

"Workaholic tendencies run in the family." Amelia said with a grin. "Sometimes we need someone to grab us by the back of the neck and drag us away from work for a while."

"You too?"

"Grandma and I are usually the ones doing the dragging. But it can happen, like when I was working on my first thesis."

"But back to the subject…" Amelia added, straightening her glasses. "When was the last time you took a break from the mission briefing pep talks, picking tracks for the base PA system or organizing those mini-events to keep up morale?"

"So you know about all that…" Sarah muttered, genuinely surprised. "You've done your homework."

"All I had to do was keep my ears open." Amelia said.

"Honestly, your sister was a bit worried you might be chugging down too many energy drinks." she added with a smirk. "You don't need to worry about any of that morale boosting stuff around us. Just try to relax. And if we see you slipping, we'll be there to pull you back up."

"I... appreciate that." Sarah said with a smile.

"Now then… since you're here, why not let me show you around?" Amelia suggested. "If you have time, maybe I can even show you our place."

"Honestly, I still don't know how many days we're staying here." Sarah admitted.

"Right. You didn't come alone."

"Uncle Rich-... I mean the Colonel…"

"The Colonel?" Amelia asked.

"Colonel Devon." she clarified. "Leo's father. I guess you haven't met him yet. He's practically part of the family. He was coming here on business and thought a change of airs would be good for me."

"Hmmm…" Amelia muttered. "Is he… you know, part of you-know-what?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't really go into much detail about his work. Probably for my own safety. Anyway, he'll be back in the evening or tomorrow morning. Marco and Fio are keeping watch but they don't want to make things weird."

"In that case I don't think any of them will mind." Amelia reasoned, her smile widening. "You're in good hands with us. Where are you staying anyway?"

Sarah glanced around and lowered her tone.

"Since we don't have any bases around here, I'm staying at the International."

"I'm glad I decided to step out and do some sightseeing." she added. "I might not have run into you otherwise."

"For my part, I'm glad we finally got to talk like this too." Amelia said, cracking another smile. "Without your sister watching you like a hawk and my brother gushing over her… brains."

Her choice of words made Sarah raise an eyebrow.

"You don't think…"

"Nah." Amelia said, shaking her head. "I mean, both you and her turn heads everywhere, but he's got other things on his mind. Sometimes to the point of obsession."

"Reminds me of someone I know." Sarah said with a snort. "Rachel hates it if someone interrupts her work for silly reasons. I remember when she was back in school. Some guy tried to hit on her while she was working on her lab project."

"What happened?"

"She didn't say anything. She didn't move from her spot. She just gave him a death glare so bad he ran away crying."

That was enough to make both young women chuckle.

"I can believe it." Amelia said with a nod, recalling the intensity with which the young woman would throw herself at her work. Before long, she was bulging her eyes out and putting up a deranged grin. "I can just imagine her clutching a test tube and going 'My precioussssss!'"

That remark soon had both of them laughing out loud.

---

Meanwhile, at the Hikari Laboratory…

Sitting at his brother's desk, Hub pored over several design schematics and files related to the excavations underneath Neo Atlantis and the underwater ruins off the coast of Albion. The strange crystalline object X had brought them lay on the desk, mounted on a circular pedestal, with dots and circuitous patterns of white light flashing across its surface several times a second.

"So, what do you make of all of this, Usul?" he finally asked.

"I can see why X wanted me to come over." a soft male voice answered, seemingly from inside the artifact. "This technology is more similar to some things from my point of origin than anything I've seen in either of your Earths."

"It's definitely a strange set of coincidences." Hub pondered as he took the crystalline object in his hand, which glowed with a soft white light at his touch.

"Such things are rather rare, in my experience." the voice countered.

"Some of the systems inside the Leonarch and the Apotheosis are definitely too similar to your Radiant Shard's design." Hub said with a nod. "Even though they come from completely different worlds."

"And then there are the derivative designs you came up with." the voice added. "Your Radiant Circuit and the experimental systems you installed in the Gemini Machine. The fact that you were able to adapt this technology is impressive, but you are definitely retreading old ground."

"Could this mean that there were once Warriors of Light on this world?" Hub wondered.

"It is possible. Even likely. But I would have to see those machines up close to be certain."

"It would explain a thing or two…" Hub pondered. "Like how we were able to sense the inner workings of the Leonarch when our instruments failed. But if that's the case, what happened to them? How did these machines end up abandoned?"

"More importantly…" the voice added. "Are you sure it's a good idea to let those children continue fighting out there when they have all those unresolved conflicts?"

"We've thought long and hard about this." Hub said. "They are talented, but still have room to grow. Shingo and Aya at each other's throats half the time. The boys getting carried away and doing reckless things."

"I cannot read minds, but I can sense your unease." the voice remarked. "I wouldn't want to be in your place."

"The Guts Brothers have big hearts and there's no one I'd trust more to look after them, but they need help. Even a small distraction could have serious consequences out there. We can't let that happen."

"It sounds like you already have a plan."

"We're done planning." Hub said. "My brother and I know the odds. The kids have managed so far, but things are going to get worse before they get better."

Crystal in hand, he stepped into an adjacent chamber and the large reinforced metal doors closed behind him.

"The plans are drafted. The preliminary testing is done. The production queues are set."

He kept walking, past another doorway and into a separate hangar where he came to a halt in front of a massive set of metal scaffolding.

"We've done what we could on the lab for now." Hub said, watching the dozens of metallic arms mounted on the walls and on rails tirelessly moving parts and fitting them together within the scaffolding. "Soon we'll take our place at their side."