"Will this work, ma'am?"

"It damn well should. It has before."

"No, not the fold snare. The other...thing."

Nineteen scoffed. "We wouldn't be here if I wasn't certain. Now, back to work!"

The siren nodded and returned to overseeing the completion of a strange, gatelike device. As the lights built into it switched on, signaling its activation, the Enforcer snapped off a small shard of her crown and turned the radiant, crystalline mass about in her palm. She grimaced. Her body still ached a little from the beating she had taken in the southern ocean just a few weeks prior.

The readout she held in her other hand from a strange device, that would come off as oddly familiar to any commander tasked with the treacherous work of hunting the rogue Kansen dubbed "Ashes." It pinged faster and faster, as the gate breached the walls of the Mirror sea where she and her subordinates were hidden.

A lone figure fell out of the gate and hit the ground, stunned, as their rigging shorted out. They wore a dark lavender uniform, had long, similarly colored hair, blue eyes, a garrison cap, and a pair of distinct red eyeglasses. The uniform was stained with blood.

Nineteen strode forward to the figure and grabbed them by the neck, being careful not to choke them. She remembered almost fatally wounding New Jersey after catching her with a similar plan as this one, easily forgetting how to control her strength.

After a few seconds, she jammed the piece of her crown into the kansen's chest, right where their cube was. They jolted, and went limp.

A few seconds later, they began to move again, as flakes of light began to appear in her eyes.

V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V

"So, what do you think he wants from us, sis?"

Wisconsin and New Jersey were walking to the laboratory to see Martinez about something.

"Something to do with what he and those sirens have been working on in there for the past 2 weeks, that's for sure."

"Does it have anything to do with that trip they took to the far south?"

"Probably. Whatever happened, and whatever's being done with it, he, I mean, they're being real cagey about it. Especially Reno. It's not like her to be so subdued."

"Maybe she's focusing on helping Martinez in the lab." NJ chimed in.

"That could be it…"

They continued on deeper into the base, hearing arguing as they drew closer to the laboratory.

A synthesized voice broke out over the clamor as the sisters approached the doorway. "QUIET! They're almost here!"

The other voices were silenced. Among them was that of Martinez.

NJ peeked out from behind the doorway.

"Are we interrupting something?" she asked, sheepishly.

"Yes," said the three present Sirens. Astra, Surveyor, and Cartographer.

"No," said Martinez and Shangri-La.

"It's not finished-" Surveyor began, her voice stern but clearly tired of debating.

"It's finished enough." Martinez was clear that he wasn't going to take anymore arguing.

"Whatever you say, Sir."

Astra then spoke. "But, now that the intended user-"

"User of what, exactly?" Wisconsin demanded.

"-is here, we can finally see if it works. Give her the control unit." She didn't skip a beat while being interrupted.

Martinez carefully grabbed the device, a strange, mechanical looking bracelet, painted with a dark red accent. The same, or at least a similar shade of red that Wisconsin wore.

"Here."

"This is mine?" She asked, incredulous. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening, yet.

"Put it around your wrist, and let's go up to the docks. It's time to make some history.

V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V

XIX stared into the glazed, glowing eyes of the kansen before her. Once bereft, now cold and unfeeling. None but a pawn.

A pawn with the power of the Sun.