Author's Note: Thank you to Dash master 48 for the consistent reviews and encouragement.

Chapter 6

"Yo, Sento. You finished with my upgrade, yet?" Banjo Ryuga sauntered into the lab beneath Café Nascita.

A mess greeted him. Which was not particularly unusual. Especially of late. The desk, of course, was in complete disarray: covered in cogs and disassembled technologies. The piles of schematics and reports towered as high as the computer they smothered. Banjo's usual exercise space had half a car and two pieces of machinery that Banjo didn't even recognise. Wires crossed the remainder of the floor and even the bottle purification capsule had been stuffed with Sento's latest projects. In fact, the bed was the only thing that didn't seem to have been used lately. Banjo would have to change that soon. It had been a long day.

"Sento?" he called again, leaning around a perilously unsteady stack of boxes.

There was still no movement.

Banjo frowned.

"If you're hiding 'cause you haven't finished, man up." Banjo tsked.

He stormed around the rest of the lab but there was no sign of the wacky cream trench coat or unkempt black hair.

"Not here?" he mused aloud.

He let out a sigh of frustration and bounced back onto the bed.

He'd just closed his eyes when the door to the lab burst open.

Banjo sat up expectantly but it was not Sento who walked down the stairs.

"Oh, it's just you, Misora." He dropped back to the bed.

A light wack to the head made him open his eyes again and he glared at Misora as she passed.

"Where's Sento?" she asked.

Banjo shrugged.

"Must be out."

"You didn't see him leave?"

"He was gone when I got here."

Misora moved to the computer, clearing the paperwork from the keyboard.

She stopped, head cocked, and lifted a piece of paper.

Banjo sat up.

"What is it?"

She held up the paper.

"He left a note."

Banjo launched out of the bed and slouched close enough to read the note.

Ghost needed help. Made an interdimensional portal. Gone through. Left an extra remote if you need me.

Sento

"Ghost? Doesn't he already have a portal?" Banjo asked.

Misora dropped the note with a sigh.

"I suppose it mustn't have been the right one."

"But he had a bunch of stuff to do. He still hasn't finished my upgrade."

"Whatever he was doing is still chewing up the bandwidth too. I had to borrow Sawa-san's internet to do my podcast again."

"I bet he's goofing off 'cause he's sick of us bugging him."

Misora nodded her agreement thoughtfully.

"We should chase him," she said.

"I'm in." Banjo slammed his hands on the table to psych himself up before turning and heading to the door.

"Banjo, he went through a portal. He's not going to be through there."

Banjo spun and straightened to his full height. "I-I knew that. Where's the portal?"

Misora raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged.

"What does a portal look like?" Banjo asked.

Misora shook her head and sighed again.

Banjo went back to the desk and rummaged through the papers.

"He didn't leave a picture!"

Misora joined him at the desk and helped sift through the documents.

After ten minutes she threw the pages down with a huff.

"I can't even tell what is a schematic, what is a report, and what is just him making notes!"

Banjo threw his share of papers into the air.

"It's all gibberish! Damnit, Sento! At least leave us with clear directions to find you!"

Misora began moving furniture.

"Maybe it's under here?"

"What stupid scientist makes an invisible portal?!" Banjo growled.

Misora moved another plaque.

Banjo followed.

They tore the lab apart and still nothing.

Misora upturned the bed.

Banjo pulled the wires.

Misora checked the fridge.

Banjo threw the chair.

Both of them pulled their hair and looked to the sky.

"Rrahh! SENTO!"

Alain could not stand watching his people suffer so.

They had finally been on track. The people had accepted his leadership. Makoto had accepted his friendship. He had accepted his future. They had been readjusting to their renewed society smoothly and the world had slowly been changing. There were plants. Green. Lush. Relaxing.

There was food growing. Grains, fruits, vegetables.

Strange animals had begun gathering with the terraforming. There had been just one or two beetles at first: causes of great excitement within his small community. Now there were even lizards and amphibians.

Alain had been positive. Truly positive for the first time since leaving the normal realm.

Then the sickness had hit. People had started falling ill one after the other. It had started with a simple fever but things seemed to be worsening. Some of the first victims were having trouble breathing now. Even with the medical supplies they had taken at the beginning of their journey, the victims were gasping for breath. Some had completely become unresponsive. The fever only worsened and Alain suspected his people would not be able to hold out for much longer.

At first, Alain had wanted to handle the problem himself. He cared deeply for his people but he also understood that they would face problems within their community and they would need to develop ways to resolve them. External aid was not always easily accessible. If it were, Alain would visit Takeru more. He missed the temple, missed the relaxed relationships, and missed the blue sky of the normal realm. But he knew Makoto missed it more. So he could not complain. And they had made the decision to leave.

Makoto had been the one to convince him to reach out for help. By that point Alain's concern had already weakened his resolve to solve complications internally. He just hoped that Ex-Aid and the other Rider - Build, was it? – would be able to help.

A knock on the door distracted Alain and he turned to see Makoto enter, supporting a young woman.

Used to this routine already, Alain rose from the patient he had been tending to and laid out another blanket for Makoto to lay the woman onto.

Both of them smiled at the woman sympathetically and she smiled weakly back.

Makoto motioned for Alain to follow him.

They convened outside the door.

"That was the last of the external villagers. Everyone else is now within Castle grounds," Makoto reported.

"Which means there was no point in the quarantine," Alain observed.

Makoto put a hand on his shoulder. "It was worth a try."

"Are there enough volunteers to tend the ill?"

"Everyone has offered their help. We're trying to limit it to people who are already showing symptoms in an attempt to slow the spread."

Alain shook his head. "It does not appear to be spreading through conventional means. There must be a cause. We need to find it!"

Makoto patted his shoulder one.

"It's ok. Ex-Aid is one of the best doctors I've ever met. If anyone can figure out the origin – and the cure – it'll be him."