Lanfen did not bother to resist when she was deprived of her belongings. She was barely even coherent when they secured her hands with large cuffs and carried Lanfen into an arriving helicopter. When the aircraft had landed, all she could make out in the darkness with her tired eyes were the 'S.O.N.G.' emblems on its opening side-doors. Maybe she had heard of it at some point, but Lanfen could not care to remember. The entire time she sat in the helicopter's seats with her escorts at her sides, Lanfen simply stared at the metal floors beneath her, eyes still sore from all the tears she had shed.
An hour had passed. Possibly even longer than that. She felt the helicopter judder upon touchdown. Following her escorts' lead, Lanfen was brought out of the aircraft to step into some sort of small landing bay. Following it were long hallways filled with people in navy-blue uniforms. Many of them were running from one area of the place to another with a sense of urgency. It was clear to Lanfen that whatever they intended to do with her, it was to be dealt with only after they were done with the issues they were currently occupied by. For now, all they did was bring her into a medical bay to clean up the few injuries she had received.
Lanfen had honestly forgotten that she was even hurt to begin with. She was growing accustomed to the taste of copper in her mouth.
Once her wounds were cleaned up and treated, the personnel escorted her through the halls again to bring Lanfen into a small, dark room. That hallway lights poured into it to shine onto a bed, a table near the door, and another open door that lead to a simple bathroom. After speaking into the comm beads in their ears, they undid Lanfen's large handcuffs, handed her a bunch of plain, grey clothes, and wordlessly exited the room. The sliding door closed up and locked itself shut with a distinctive ring.
Standing in the darkness of what she assumed to be her detainment room, Lanfen slowly changed into the clothes she had been given, and left her old ones in a nearby basket before dragging herself over to the bed. The metal floors were cold to her bare feet. Her new outfit barely shielded her from the chill of the room. After everything that had happened in the past couple hours, Lanfen lied down on the small bed and buried her tearstained face in its thick blankets. It was only when she felt her guard finally drop did she begin to cry again. Everything that she had been holding back was released all at once, and by that point, Lanfen couldn't restrain her tears any longer.
"Mei..."
It hurt to even utter a single word. While most people would find themselves terrified at the thought of being dragged somewhere by armed, unknown individuals, Lanfen still could not bother to care. She had consigned herself to whatever they had planned for her. It's not like anyone would miss her now if she were gone. Lanfen might as well have died in the attack on Yamaku City.
She pulled the pillow underneath her head, eyes kept open for what felt like forever. Her fingers would twitch every now and then, as if just to remind Lanfen that she was still alive. Physically, at least. Her mind, on the other hand, was a drifting, incoherent mess. She constantly replayed the events of tonight, over and over, to try and make sense of it. To find out what she could have done to prevent what Lanfen was still refusing to believe even until now. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when there was a gentle knocking on the room door.
Moving herself into a sitting position with whatever strength she had left in her, Lanfen slouched against the wall next to her bed as the locks on the door undid themselves with a loud click.
Sliding open to one side, the light from the hallway made Lanfen squint her eyes while a familiar young man with blonde hair walked inside. It was the one that lead the group which had brought her in. Holding a tray of food in his hands, he placed it on the table near the closing door, and flicked open one of the switches on the wall to turn on a small table lamp. The dim, yellow light was the only thing that even allowed Lanfen to notice the fresh-looking meal the man had brought. He looked only about a few years older than Lanfen herself.
"We will be giving you some time before we intend to question you," the young man spoke up in a formal tone. "For now, you can just wait here. Until then, we'll be providing you nourishment three times a day."
Lanfen only had enough energy to give a slow nod. Narrowing her purple eyes on the man, Lanfen's hands slowly caressed her wrists. She could feel the marks that had been left by the large handcuffs she had been brought here in, "Tell me..." Her words were hush, but clear in the silence of her detainment room. "What happened... tonight...?"
The blonde man considered his answer and walked over to the farthest side of the room. He clicked on a few buttons on the wall that Lanfen had not noticed, prompting a large monitor screen alongside the interface to switch on. With a few more inputs into the control pad, he displayed numerous images of population centers across the world. All of them were visibly ravaged by the same armoured knights that Lanfen had fought off a while ago. Countless ambulances and paramedics were rushing to save the dying. Fire trucks were trying to put out buildings that were doused in purple flames. While some cities had already been cleared of the threat, there were still a few others that were in the middle of active combat.
"They're called 'Distortions'," the man in the suit said, contempt clear on his tongue when he referred to the knights. "We're still trying to figure out where they came from exactly, but it's clear that they're some form of battle automata." He clicked another button, bringing up more images and recorded sightings of the knights. Instead of the axes and shields that Lanfen had become familiar with, these ones were wielding blades, bows and arrows. "The death toll has currently risen to over 23,000 and counting. It's only been a little over 2 hours since their attacks had started."
'Distortions'. Lanfen imprinted that very name within her mind. Digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands, Lanfen looked away from the screen and hesitantly asked, "... And what about... my sister?"
He switched off the monitor and returned to the door. Avoiding Lanfen's gaze, the man turned away from her when he finally answered, "I'm sorry." The words felt like a nail in her chest. And it was the only thing that she honestly needed to confirm it. While Lanfen tried to hold back her tears, the man reached into his suit and carefully approached her. From his pockets, he pulled out a pair of smartphones: One was Lanfen's. The other belonged to Kai. "I managed to find it before we had to leave. You... have my condolences."
The screen of Kai's smartphone was completely shattered. Some of the internals were already visible through the broken casing. But the keychain that had been clipped onto it - the keychain that Lanfen had gifted to Kai during dinner - it had only a few noticeable scratches on it. Taking the devices into her hands, Lanfen placed hers aside and held onto Kai's smartphone in both of her shaking palms. She tightened grip on it as Lanfen squeezed her eyes shut and held the phone to her chest. The sight that Lanfen had seen when she pushed aside the last of the building debris would not leave her vision, no matter how many times she tried to deny it.
Lanfen heard the man step away from the bed. "I understand that you are facing an unfathomable loss right now. But, I must ask why were you in the possession of an experimental piece of technology?" he gently inquired, returning to the table near the door. "I have met many people in my life, and you do not strike me as anything other than a regular civilian."
Wiping away the stray teardrops in her eyes, Lanfen looked straight into the man's eyes, his face barely lit by the room's small lamp. "I wanted to save my sister," she bluntly answered, fingers grasping the sheets of her bed. "I accepted it because I needed power. The power to get her to safety. And yet-" Lanfen remembered the words she had declared to the woman in the azure suit. The oath that she had made right to her pale face. In the end, Lanfen realized it was all hot air. "And yet..." Her voice started to trail off.
Clearly aware that she would not speak any further, the blonde man excused himself with a formal bow and went over the door. With a few clicks, it slid open for him to leave before it once again locked itself with a high-pitched ring. As Lanfen's head rested against the hard, steel wall of her detainment room, she could smell the aroma of the food that was on her table. Her stomach grumbled, but Lanfen could not bring herself to eat. She couldn't even bring herself to quench her parched throat with the water they had provided. But before she could try and lie down to sleep away the pain, Lanfen heard a few voices conversing outside her room. It did not sound like the man from earlier.
Shielding her face from the light of the hallway with her hands, two men entered her detainment room this time. One wore a black suit similar to the blonde man from earlier, his brown hair kept short and proper while his posture remained formal. The other was a man with a large physique and striking red hair. Wearing a matching shirt with a pink tie that was tucked into his breast-pocket, the larger man's companion handed him a data-pad to display a pair of holographic dossiers. Lanfen wondered what they were even here for when her eyes widened slightly at the images of two familiar people on the data-pad's projected holograms.
"Cassandra Jiang Lanfen," the large man addressed her in a deep voice. "So, you are the child of Keith Silverstein and Margaret Jiang Pao-Lin?" He gave her a wondering look and Lanfen slowly nodded. His expression seemed to soften when she did so. "I see. Our time is short, but I will assure you that you will be treated well here in our custody as long as you are cooperative." He closed up the data-pad in his hands and handed it over to his companion. "Even with the crimes of theft that are being charged against you, I'm sure you have your reasons for being in the situation you're in."
Sensing the honesty within the redheaded man's voice, Lanfen muttered a few words in reply, "... Thank you."
The large man's companion went over to the room table and placed a different data-pad next to her food tray. He seemed almost concerned that it had yet to be touched, "You can read up on who we are using this," he politely informed her. "While the information here is highly classified, take it as a gesture of our goodwill. We only wish for this situation to be handled without unnecessary harm."
With that done, the two excused themselves from the room and headed out the door to attend to whatever urgent matter that seemed to require them. Once their footsteps were out of earshot, Lanfen hesitantly got out of the bed and walked towards the table that was barely lit by a small, hanging lamp. The tray of food they had provided her made her mouth water, but Lanfen chose to simply grab the data-pad they had given her before sliding back into the bed. Lifting a hand to wipe away a few lingering tears, she settled herself down again in the soft cushions and closed her eyes for a moment to remember that cloaked figure. The one that had taken the life of her little sister.
Holding the data-pad close to her chest, Lanfen bit into her cracking lips until she drew blood.
The barking of Chris' twin double-barrel rotary guns went on till the ringed moon showed itself in the night skies of London. Using a combination of her Symphogear and Chris' own in-the-moment trigonometry calculations, the crimson Adaptor had expertly landed every single shot she fired ever since the rifts first opened in the night skies of Japan twelve hours ago. Her Symphogear had a bullet readied for every Category-1 Distortion that was sent her way, and while any regular military would have had their ammunition reserves run dry halfway throughout the fight, Ichaival would sooner break apart than leave Chris' heavy weapons wanting.
Sitting tight in the small passenger hold of the V.T.O.L. aircraft that S.O.N.G. requisitioned to go and retrieve her, Chris' gloved hands tightly held onto her metal harness. Through the windows of the aircraft, she solemnly gazed down onto the wrecked streets of London, a tired yawn subsequently escaping the short woman. With the confirmation that the remaining Distortions in the country were eliminated, her battle was over. Extended deployments weren't unusual in S.O.N.G., but jumping from one warzone to another across the world in the span of half a day made Chris' eyelids heavy. The winter cold wasn't making it any easier to not fall asleep.
Snow that was as white as Chris' own hair fell onto streets that were littered with a mixture of crimson and emerald sand. All of them were the remains of the Distortions that her bullets had ripped apart with ease. Chris could see ambulances and military vehicles trying to navigate through the debris-filled roads while the aircraft flew in the direction of Japan, soaring at speeds which only increased the further time went on in the passenger hold. The Category-1 Distortions were nothing too different from the Noise when it came to giving her a hard fight, but the damage they left behind was not as clean as the carbonized remains the Noise often left.
A mental image of the bodies that Chris saw in the streets of London made her take out her smartphone to text a few of her friends: Ayano Komichi, Godai Yuki, and Kaburagi Otome. Or rather, Godai Otome, now that she thought about it. Taking off one of her mittens with her teeth, she typed in a few quick messages to check up on them, and felt relieved when all three replied to her in an instant. Since the attack only occurred after Chris' reunion with her friends had ended, she had no time until now to actually call them up. Japan was 8 hours ahead of London's time-zone, so it was probably morning time there by now.
Komichi was the first to reply back to Chris. "We're A-OK! Hope you can get some rest soon, Chrissy."
Yuki was the second. "Komi' and I managed to get out of Mitakihara during the confusion. Outside of a few scratches on my van, we're all good."
Otome was the last. "My area was unaffected by the incident, but thank you for your concern. Please take care of yourself!"
Letting out a sigh of relief, Chris pocketed her smartphone and rubbed her hands together for warmth, "Thank god," she quietly muttered while she breathed into her palms.
Half an hour had passed as Chris waited for the aircraft to finally drop her off in the S.O.N.G. submarine. The passenger hold wasn't exactly spacious, but with Chris being the only one in it, the hold gave her a decent amount of room for the short woman to stretch her legs in. She was considering maybe falling asleep for the ride when the wrist communicator on her left arm rang with an audio transmission. Judging by the feather symbol and the ID number on the holographic display, she could tell who it was. With a tap on the interface, Chris held up her wrist to her face to dryly answer the call.
"Already back at base, Chairwoman?"
"Indeed, I am," Tsubasa answered, sounding formal as ever. "Maria, Akatsuki and Tsukuyomi are still on the way, so it's only Tachibana and I for now. I was simply wondering if I could check up on your end of the situation as well, Yukine."
Chris didn't know where to start to even describe their current situation. "Well, I'm doing fine myself," she mused, resting her head against the hard wall of the passenger hold. "But the world just got hit pretty hard, huh? Can't help but wonder on how the fuck are we going to clean up after this mess."
Despite the red Adaptor's crass language, Tsubasa did not disagree with her sentiment. "As the Head of the Kazanari household, I intend on ensuring that we will be able to rebuild after this, Yukine," she declared. "The number of lives lost thus far is already difficult to fathom. But we must push on regardless for the sake of those who could not. There are still countless people that require help long after the end of this battle."
"No arguments there," Chris said, silently appreciating how stalwart the Head of the Kazanari household can be in such times. "Hey... Chairwoman," she said, hearing Tsubasa reply to her call for the woman's attention. "I think I'm gonna take a nap while I'm on the way, but before I get to that... you wouldn't have happened to hear something about some new Symphogear-Wielder in Japan, have you?" she asked with a tired cough. "Maybe I was just hearing things, but I could've sworn there was something like that being screamed over the comms."
Tsubasa paused before she replied, "Your assumption would be correct, Yukine. Tomosato detected a seventh Aufwachen signature in Japan merely 12 hours ago. Ogawa and Tsuchiya have already apprehended the Wielder, but for now, we'll have to save the questions regarding it for later. We can solve the mystery of the SG-r04's return and its mysterious Wielder after we've counted our losses."
It was definitely one hell of an evening, Chris thought to herself. They already had their hands full dealing with an enemy that's just practically appeared out of nowhere, and now here she was, hearing about how a failed lab prototype is suddenly now up and running. Chris probably shouldn't have betted her money on the thing getting chucked somewhere into S.O.N.G.'s storage pile. "Well, whoever that new Wielder is..." Chris said, getting comfortable in her seat for a well-deserved nap. "Let's just hope they can help with whatever that's coming next."
Downing down another steaming cup of Tomosato's mix, Commander Genjuuro laid back in his command chair to take in the gravity of their predicament. The last of the arriving Distortions had been eliminated, and with their world-wide battle having finally ended, the bridge crew of the S.O.N.G. submarine were allowed to rest for the time being. Fujitaka, Tomosato and most of the operators were either sleeping at their posts, or chatting among each other with mugs of coffee in their hands. Those who had left for a meal in the mess halls or an extensive nap in the barracks had been replaced by their reserve operators for the meantime.
Either way, the Commander felt that the crew had earned their moment of respite, especially after hours of scrambling to defend against the Distortions incursions. Glancing over to the deployable benches that had been set up on the sides of the bridge's entrance, the gathered Adaptors themselves were using the time they had right now to recollect their strength.
Unsurprisingly, Shirabe and Kirika were leaning against each other while they slept. Since they had insisted that it was better for their blankets to be distributed equally among the crew, the two shared a single blanket of their own to keep themselves warm. A half-asleep Hibiki was sitting next to them, her smartphone in hand as she slowly texted messages back home to Miku. At the bench on the other side of the entrance, Tsubasa was in the middle of deep slumber as she rested her head on Maria's lap. While her body lied across the length of the bench, a sleeping Maria leaned against the wall behind her with her hand on one of Tsubasa's cheeks.
Even with all the powers that were granted by the Symphogear, the Adaptors were not immune to exhaustion.
The command center's doors slid open and Commander Genjuuro got off his post to welcome the arrival of Yukine Chris. Already changed into her Adaptor uniform like everyone else, all six of S.O.N.G.'s Symphogear-Wielders were now back in the underwater vessel. "Good work out there, Chris," he said to the short woman with an almost fatherly smile of approval.
"Yeah, and thanks for the quick ride, Old Man," Chris dryly replied, looking over to the other resting Adaptors. "Guessing it's time for our usual briefin'?"
Nodding at Chris' assumption, the Commander gestured her to start waking up her fellow Adaptors while the Commander disposed of his coffee cup into a nearby bin. A few friendly words to Maria and Tsubasa brought them out of their slumber, and a playful bonk on Hibiki's head made her brain kick itself back into gear. But when it came to Shirabe and Kirika, the nudge in the shoulders that Chris gave them would not rouse the two women out of their comfortable cuddle. A subsequent blunt comment from Hibiki on how the pair had grown taller than Chris by now only provoked the red Adaptor into stripping them of their blanket, a fiery act which actually woke up the groaning duo.
All six Adaptors stood to attention. With Hibiki in the center, some of them were still clearly exhausted from their extensive fight as Commander Genjuuro formally addressed the gathered women.
"Hibiki, Tsubasa, Chris, Maria, Shirabe, Kirika. In spite of the casualties that we were unable to prevent, your efforts have managed to save more lives than we can even count," he said, arms crossed over his chest. "We were caught off-guard, there is no doubt about that. But it still didn't stop us from preventing a disaster that a world-wide attack like this could have caused." He looked over to the monitor screens, all three of them still having yet to show any signs of enemy activity. "While I would like to act as though this battle is this last we've seen of the Distortions, that likely isn't going to be the case."
"They can send as much as they want, but we'll scythe 'em all down anyway!" Kirika boasted, flashing an eager smirk.
The twin-tailed woman next to the blonde calmly agreed with her. "I'm just relieved that we managed to protect our university, even if there were still a few people who ended up getting hurt."
To the Commander's left, he could see that Tsubasa did not share the same sense of hopefulness that the duo had, something which prompted Maria to comfort her by holding onto one of her hands. While Tsubasa was the first to return to the S.O.N.G. submarine, the extensive paperwork that she had to deal with as Head of the Kazanari Household kept her well-occupied long after Hibiki, Kirika and Shirabe had returned as well. Such is the duty that was placed on her shoulders. Meanwhile, Chris seemed to be taking in the situation better than the sword-wielder, and even though their global battle was an undeniable tragedy, Hibiki's own fiery spirit had yet to be dampened by recent events.
An incoming transmission appeared on the central monitor screen of the bridge, scaring its operators to abruptly end their rest as the audio transmission was coming from none other than the United Nations itself. The Commander furrowed his brow at the familiar symbol of U.N., its ID code marking out the caller to be the world council's spokesperson. "Fujitaka, answer it," Commander Genjuuro ordered, facing the monitor screens.
Holding back a yawn with one hand, the operator connected the line, allowing the diplomatic voice of the council's spokesperson to address them through the bridge's speakers. Despite the events of the past day, they sounded as polite as they typically were. "Greetings, Commander Kazanari. It's certainly a relief to see that you and your forces have all managed to weather the storm."
"The feeling is mutual, Spokesperson," the Commander replied, sitting back down at his post while the Adaptors silently stood to attention behind him. "You could say that the lack of communication from the council thus far felt like an ill omen to us."
"I assure you, the council has some of the best security they can afford outside of heretical technology, Commander Kazanari," the Spokesperson said, almost with a tinge of amusement. "Although they are disappointed by the devastation that has been wrought by our new foe, the world council extends its gratitude to S.O.N.G. for its efforts in pushing back these horrendous attacks on our lands. Were it not for the assistance of your Adaptors across the world, many a life would have been lost. We can only pray that those who could not be saved shall find eventual peace in the afterlife."
44,000 casualties and rising, the Commander mentally noted. Even if it felt almost like a miracle that a world-wide attack claimed such a relatively low number of lives, the massacres carried out by the Distortions were nothing if not wanton butchery. At this rate, the casualty count was nearing the same numbers of the infamous concert attack that had been carried out by Noble Red years ago.
"As for matters unrelated to this global tragedy," the Spokesperson continued, shifting the conversation with ease. "The council is relieved to hear that not only were you able to retrieve the experimental SG-r04, but apparently, it had been activated in the defense against the Distortion menace. This is most intriguing."
The mere mention of the SG-r04 made the hairs on the Commander's large arms stand upright. "It was awakened by a civilian. We've already brought her in for questioning, but we only intend to do so only after we've settled the current situation with the Distortions and the damage they've incurred on our population centers," he explained, quietly wondering if the retrieved relic interested the council more than the amount of lives that were lost. "Alongside that, while we were able to recover the SG-r04, we were unable to attain any information regarding the 'leader' of these Distortions. All we have for now is a recording of the message they had broadcasted before the attack."
"The latter is quite understandable. The enemy essentially had the opportunity of surprise on their side. Still-" The Spokesperson words turned firm. "The council is currently demanding that S.O.N.G. formally deploys the SG-r04 against this new threat as soon as possible, Commander. The United Nations desires your Adaptors forces to double their efforts in the face of this new threat, even as they're considering utilizing a contingency plan initially proposed by Kazanari Yatsuhiro years ago."
Hearing this news of the Kazanari Household's involvement, the Commander looked over to Tsubasa, who was evidently aware of this judging by the look she gave him. He glanced back at the central monitor screen and said to the Spokesperson, "While I will not disagree to the notion of bolstering our Adaptors' numbers, we must at least consider the possibility of the SG-r04 having been tampered with before we had retrieved it," Commander Genjuuro argued, knowing full well that the Sword of Damocles was nowhere even halfway completed before it had been stolen. "We are not even aware of who managed to complete the SG-r04 to begin with, let alone how its completion was even possible."
"Do whatever you must to quell your worries, Commander Kazanari. But the council's order remains as it is," the Spokesperson declared. "Even if we may have to consider the possibility of recruiting the person currently accused of stealing the SG-r04, the deployment of the next-generation Symphogear is crucial in the council's willingness to continue backing both S.O.N.G. and its efforts. Especially when its clear that there's only so much that six Adaptors can do to defend our world." With their intent made clear, the Spokesperson proceeded with the end of their conversation. "Best of luck, Commander. May you and your forces stay strong."
The transmission ceased, allowing the bridge crew and the Adaptors to relax once the symbol of the United Nations disappeared from the central monitor screen. Some of the operators went back to their much-needed rest, while a few others chose to check their terminals for any updates they had received during their respite. Getting out of his command chair with a subtle grunt of frustration, Commander Genjuuro saw that not a single one of the Symphogear-Wielders themselves seemed to enjoy having to deal with the council. It was a feeling he shared but would never voice considering the professionalism that was demanded by his position.
With the atmosphere of the bridge softening up again, Hibiki stepped forward with her hand held up and an eager question of her own.
"Master! I want to ask if we can know more about this new Symphogear-Wielder."
Having expected to hear this from Hibiki as soon as it was convenient for her, Commander Genjuuro looked over to Tomosato as she finished pouring another cup of her own coffee mix. "Tomosato, bring up her file, please." Hearing a quick confirmation from the operator, a few inputs into Tomosato's terminal brought up the Wielder's acquired profile on the central monitor screen, giving them a good look of the woman that Genjuuro had met with in her detainment room. The Commander was at least glad that they managed to bring her in without any form of conflict.
'Cassandra Jiang Lanfen'. 22-years old. Born on the 1st of April, 2027. Filipino-Chinese descent. A graduate from Lydian Academy and a resident of Yamaku City in Japan. From the information that Clan Hida had gathered on her, Jiang held no records of any criminal activity in her past, nor did the woman ever participate in anything that would make her suspect of collaborating with the Bavarian Illuminati. Retrieved CCTV recordings showed her to be partaking in regular day-to-day activities in the time leading up to the Distortion attack, but when it came to the timeframe where she had been seen fighting with the SG-r04, there was no footage that showed her actually receiving the relic.
"The same age as the Dummy, huh?" Chris remarked while the others looked on at the footage of Jiang's battle.
"We'll be questioning her on how she attained the relic once she's had her time to collect herself," the Commander explained, gazing at the CCTV footage on the screens, "I don't think she's in any condition right now to be talking." When Hibiki lifted her hand to curiously ask why was that the case, Genjuuro recalled the information Kagero that had provided him. "From what Tsuchiya has reported, her younger sister was apparently a casualty of last night's attack. He found the woman sitting by herself in the ruins of Yamaku City after she had eliminated the attacking Distortions."
It wasn't surprising that out of all the Adaptors that heard this, it was Maria who appeared to be the most sympathetic with this Jiang person once she had heard Genjuuro's words. While Tsubasa tried to awkwardly hold onto the woman's hands to try and ease her wife, the Commander looked at his terminal and noticed a notification that was coming from the submarine's laboratories. He approached his post and clicked on the interface to answer an audio transmission from Professor Elfnein.
"Do you have any news, Professor?"
"I have, Commander," Professor Elfnein replied. "First of all, I must report that after analyzing the SG-r04, I can conclude that the prototype Symphogear is indeed fully-functional. I cannot find any traces of tampering within its internals, as it appears to have been completed without any deviation from the original design." Her explanation lifted some of the concerns off the Commander's shoulders, but the fact that it was completed by an unknown party still concerned him. "In addition to this, I have also finished an analysis regarding its recent Wielder. Using combat data gathered from the Sword of Damocles, Cassandra Jiang Lanfen can be confirmed to be a naturally-attuned user of the Symphogear system."
"We've finally discovered another one after all these years, have we?" Tsubasa mused, her fingers tightly intertwined with Maria's.
"Thank you for the work, Professor, and do rest up when you can," the Commander suggested, turning off the transmission to turn back to the gathered Adaptors. "Now then, does anyone have any other questions?"
"Will we be able to determine when the enemy will attack again?" Maria asked, prompting Fujitaka to speak up from his post as he folded up a thick blanket in his hands.
"With the information that the Professor's decrypted, our sensors have been updated to track the energy signatures emitted by both the 'rifts' and the Distortions," he said, holding back another yawn. "As long as our information is correct, we should be able to detect the locations of the rifts before they're even fully open. This'll give us a chance to be ready the next time those Distortions come knocking on our doorstep."
With her arms held up in the air for a stretch, Tomosato chimed in as well. "Our operators have confirmed that the information provided by the Bavarian Illuminati matches everything we've seen so far, Commander. Right down to the exact details of the enemies' capabilities and weaponry."
Relieved that they won't be caught off-guard again by the time of their next battle, Commander Genjuuro faced the six Adaptors to finally relieve them of their duty for now. "Rest up while you can," he told them, knowing it was what the women needed most right now. "We don't know when or where the Distortions are going to strike next, but as long as we're prepared, S.O.N.G. won't be lacking its efforts to continue saving lives. Carry on."
Dismissing themselves from the bridge in unison, the Adaptors turned to the entrance of the command center and headed for the submarine's sleeping quarters. But while the others went on their way to catch up on their strength, Hibiki stayed back by herself to ask the Commander another question. It was one that the Commander was also expecting to hear from her the moment they had received word about bringing in a new Symphogear-Wielder.
"Master, will it be alright if we could talk with this 'Jiang' person?"
The urge to reach out to someone and understand them was an essential aspect of his student, no doubt about that. Sadly, the Commander had to answer her with a shake of his head, "Right now, the council's prohibiting us from making unnecessary contact with her until we've retrieved the information that we need," he said, subconsciously remembering the lifeless look he saw in the woman's purple eyes. He had not seen eyes like that for the longest time now. "For now, you'll have to wait until then, Hibiki."
Although she was disappointed by his answer, Hibiki's determined smile did not leave the woman's face. "Whoever she is, I've got a feeling that she's not as bad as the council thinks she is," Hibiki claimed, holding up a clenched fist as she winked at her Master. "S.O.N.G. has a knack for bringing in lots of great people, doesn't it?" Her cheeky observation got a small, honest laugh out of the Commander, and with that, the woman turned around towards the bridge entrance to catch up with the other Adaptors.
The woman's bright spirits were always appreciated in times like these. But as Commander Genjuuro heard the command center's doors close back up, the large man returned to his post to stare at the monitor screens of the bridge. He thought about the demands that the council was placing on S.O.N.G., and even though the fight against the Distortions surely called for an increase in their forces, the Commander could not stop himself from worrying about the power the lingered within the depths of the now-completed Sword of Damocles.
Lanfen rarely bothered to switch on the lights of her detainment room as time went on. They had given her spares of the grey clothing she had been handed upon arrival, and while the clothing itself barely looked like anything more than a prisoner's uniform, she had little to complain about when it came to the hot waters of the bathroom shower. The meals they had given her tasted fine, but Lanfen could only stomach a few bites before she would eventually throw up more than what she had initially ingested. Water had an easier time staying in her stomach, at least.
Judging by the time that was shown on her data-pad's clock, it had been 34 hours now since the Distortions first landed. In that timeframe, Lanfen had spent hours tirelessly scrolling through the information that was available on the data-pad. She first went through the holographic articles to read up on the devastation that had been caused by the Distortions, and as the casualties finally totaled to a count of 48,084, Lanfen felt a sickening sensation within the pits of her stomach. Countries everywhere mourned the lives that had been lost, all while the Kazanari Humanitarian Front was doing its best to rebuild and help those had been affected by the attack on their population centers.
Once she had read enough about the global disaster, Lanfen accessed S.O.N.G.'s records to read up on their countless missions against paranormal threats over the past decade. Whatever S.O.N.G. intended to do with her, Lanfen was under the assumption that they wouldn't be letting go of someone that had seen information like this so easily. She could not see an endpoint that did not involve her somehow getting further involved with S.O.N.G. as the details of the organization was laid bare before her. Noise. 'Alca-Noise'. 'Autoscorers'. And now, Distortions. S.O.N.G. had matched each and every one of these enemies with the power of so-called relics shards like the one Lanfen had attained.
And yet, even though Lanfen had acquired such an incomprehensible, near-limitless power, she had failed to protect her own little sister with it in the end.
Lanfen held all the strength of the Symphogear system, and she was still completely helpless in the face of that cloaked figure.
The memory of her attacker ignited a proverbial fire within her eyes. Rising up from underneath the blankets of her bed, the mere image of that cloaked being caused a scowl to form on Lanfen's tearstained face. Her braided hair had turned into an unkempt mess over the past day, and the latest tray of food that S.O.N.G. had provided her still sat untouched on the table near the door. As Lanfen tried to bury the memory of the sight she had witnessed beneath the burning debris of Yamaku City, she grabbed the data-pad next to her hand, and hurled it against the wall with whatever strength she had in her.
It made a loud snap when the data-pad's screen shattered against hard metal. It was probably loud enough for someone outside to have heard it, but Lanfen didn't care.
As pieces of the device laid scattered across the floor of her dimly-lit room, Lanfen had found no satisfaction in what she had just done. Instead, she only felt a growing sense of remorse. Closing her eyes, Lanfen buried herself underneath her blanket and lied in her bed until her memories of that night ceased to haunt her. She had run out of tears hours ago. All she had left to do now was stew in the shadows of her detainment room, unsure of when S.O.N.G. would come inside to finally deal with her. A part of her almost wished that her Symphogear had not saved Lanfen from the attack that had killed her sister.
The blankets of her bed felt far thicker than ones Lanfen had in her own bedroom. Her pillow would be perfect to sleep on if she was able to close her eyes without falling into some sort of nightmare. Now that she was unable to keep track of how much time was passing, Lanfen stared at the ceiling above her and occupied herself with a memory that she had not recalled for ages now.
It was the night before the day of their parents' memorial service. Lanfen remembered hiding away in her bedroom to cry ceaselessly for hours. Since the young Kai had yet to understand what had even happened to their parents, Lanfen refused to break down while she was within eyesight of her younger sibling. Kai was only 11-years old then. No child deserved to hear what Lanfen had spent days preparing to tell her. The look that Kai had on her face when she finally realized why their parents wouldn't be coming back still tore at the woman's heart to this day.
But when the two sisters had to attend the memorial service itself, Lanfen had not shed a single tear, even while her sister cried freely at her side. Lanfen didn't permit herself to. Not while Kai relied on her to be her dependable older sibling. She had held onto Kai's hands for as long as she could during the memorial service, and had worn a proverbial mask that shielded everything away. All of it - Hidden underneath a stoic façade that nobody but her sister could see through. As Lanfen slowly donned that 'mask' again just for a few minutes, she slowly turned her head to gaze at the two smartphones that were resting on the room table.
The keychain that Lanfen had bought for Kai shone brightly underneath the lamp's yellow light, its material barely stained by the rubble it had been found in.
"Forgive me," Lanfen quietly pleaded, drawing the cold, uncaring air into her lungs. The silence of her detainment room was unbearable.
Two hours had passed - or maybe three - by the time Lanfen heard a knocking on her room door. It felt too early for her to be receiving lunch, and her breakfast had yet to grow cold on her room table. Getting up from her bed as she shielded her eyes from the hallway's light, Lanfen saw a familiar blonde man standing at the open doorway, his hands folded behind his back. He casted a worried gaze over to the remains of the data-pad on the floor and turned back to the unkempt woman to calmly speak to her.
"They intend to question you now. Are you in any condition to do so?" he asked, stepping inside the detainment room.
Lanfen got out from under the blankets and ran her hand through the sides of her head. She had no more tears to shed. Not for today, maybe. Her mind also felt clearer than it had been compared to the past day or so. Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, Lanfen swung her legs over to one side of her bed and felt the cold, metal floors beneath her bare feet, "I am," she stated, standing up on her legs.
The man seemed to doubt her words, but he voiced no argument as another person in a suit came into the room with the same handcuffs they had brought Lanfen in with. Taking the large metal cuffs off the person's hands, the blonde man approached Lanfen, opening up the device with a few clicks on its key-pad. "My apologies. It's standard procedure," he said with a genuine empathy. He received no reply other than Lanfen lifting her hands for him to restrain her. "They say you haven't been eating your meals."
"I'm fine. I didn't need it," she muttered, wincing slightly when the large handcuffs covered her hands and secured themselves around her forearms to encase them in what felt like a steel coffin. The entire thing felt weighty as Lanfen held up her restrained forearms, and placed on a pair of footwear that the blonde man's companion had also brought in for her. When she was promptly escorted out into the hallway, the lights outside her room felt almost blinding to her squinting eyes.
The sounds of their clacking footsteps filled the cold air as Lanfen followed the pair through numerous large hallways. She still had no idea where they were, but Lanfen could tell that it was some sort of headquarters. There was a low rumbling somewhere in the distance, something akin to a loud reactor or engine, but Lanfen could have been mistaking it for something else. Aside from that, the curious looks that Lanfen was receiving from the crew of the base felt almost palpable. All of them were dressed in the same navy-blue uniform that had the distinct badge of S.O.N.G. on their chests.
"Please, head inside," the blonde man instructed after they had halted in front of a door at the end of another unremarkable hallway.
Following his orders, the door slid open for Lanfen to step inside the small room that she had been escorted to for her 'questioning'. While the blonde man waited outside, a camera that hung in the corner of the room's ceiling stared at Lanfen. In front of her was a table where two familiar men were waiting for her. One of them was the large man with red hair, and the other was his formal companion in the black suit. While the redheaded man sat down on a chair, his companion remained standing with a data-pad in his hands as he gestured Lanfen to sit on the chair meant for her.
Resting against the backrest of her seat, Lanfen placed her restrained hands on the table to alleviate the weight that her handcuffs placed on her forearms. She did not know whether or not she should wait for the two men to speak up first.
"My name is Kazanari Genjuuro, Tactical Commander of S.O.N.G.," the redheaded man introduced himself, resting his elbows on the table between them. "This is one of my aides, Ogawa Shinji, and we will be the ones questioning you regarding the events of the past few days. Will that be alright with you?" He was formal, but not distant. He seemed to be just as uncomfortable as Lanfen was underneath the piercing gaze of the camera that was observing them from the corner of the room.
Lanfen hesitantly nodded. "I've no complaints."
Holding up the data-pad in his hands, Ogawa displayed a holographic image of the red pendant that Lanfen had been given during the attack. "This is the SG-r04, Sword of Damocles, which I'm sure you are familiar with by now," he began, typing a command onto the data-pad to show recorded CCTV footage of Lanfen's battle. "It is a property of both S.O.N.G. and the United Nations. Before you had utilized it approximately 39 hours ago, it had been stolen from our possession by the Bavarian Illuminati. May we ask where and how did you attain such an item?"
She remembered the pale face of the woman in the suit that had given the SG-r04 to her. "... It was a woman. A woman in a blue suit. Blue hair. Pale face... I was running. She saved me after a Distortion had cornered me and-" As she described the woman from what she could piece together, Ogawa recorded her words into his data-pad. "I... I didn't get her name. But when she asked if I wanted the power to save my... my sister." She drew in a shaky breath. "She gave me that pendant. And told me to sing if I wanted the use it."
"Did she ask for anything in return?" Commander Kazanari inquired, listening intently to her story.
"No. She didn't," Lanfen whispered, unsure of whether or not if that woman was even real. "It was given to me just so I could save my sister..." Repeating those words felt akin to gargling metal needles in her mouth. She had 'saved' no one. No one but herself. Staring at her weighty handcuffs with eyes that had dried up a while ago, Lanfen quietly waited for the next question to come.
It was the Commander that asked this time again, "Do you have any past experiences with paranormal events such as the Noise?"
"No. I've never encountered the Noise myself. Or paranormal creatures. Not until recently, that is," Lanfen added. Her purple eyes took a peek at the camera on the ceiling and she felt her brown skin shiver underneath its focused lens. There was another exchange of silence as Ogawa showed the Commander something that was on his data-pad. She had a feeling that their next question wasn't going to be a pleasant one.
After reading whatever Ogawa had showed him, the Commander looked back at Lanfen and slowly asked, "Do you have any next of kin?"
Relatives. Lanfen had to hold herself back from scoffing at the mere mention of it. Clenching her hands however she could within the metal coffin that were her handcuffs, Lanfen felt disgust dancing on her lips when she bitterly answered his question, "My sister was the only family I had left in my life. If any of my relatives are still out there, then they'd want nothing to do with me."
The two men calmly took in her answers and considered them for a lengthy amount of time underneath the watchful gaze of the room's camera. Their expressions betrayed nothing about what they were thinking, so Lanfen waited as Ogawa typed away on the data-pad faster than she could consistently perceive. The Commander, on the other hand, was looking at her with a subtle hint of concern in his eyes. He definitely was not the type of person she had expected from someone that looked as fierce as he did. When Ogawa whispered something into the man's ear, the Commander stood back up and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Thank your for your time," he said. "We will be returning you to your room now until further notice. For now, we will-"
"My parents," Lanfen suddenly cut him off. Lifting her head to meet his gaze, her next words sounded almost like a plea. "Did you... know them?"
Ogawa and Commander Kazanari looked back at each other, as if wondering whether they were even allowed to answer Lanfen's question. While the camera in the corner of the room maintained its watch on them, Ogawa looked back at the woman and politely addressed her curiosity, "The late Keith and Pao-Lin were once operatives of S.O.N.G. You have our apologies, but this information had to be kept classified due to the secrecy of our organization. I hope you can understand why we had to keep your family in the dark."
She didn't know whether to be mad or grateful that it took this long to even know why her parents had disappeared from her life. Why Lanfen had to be the one to essentially raise her little sister. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Lanfen gave Ogawa a slow nod anyway, all while whispering an almost inaudible, "Thank you." Hearing the door behind her open up, she stood back up and followed the blonde man from earlier out of the room. She turned her tired gaze away from the Commander and Ogawa as she did so.
Making their way through the hallways to reach her detainment room, Lanfen's purple eyes could barely focus on the path that was ahead of her.
With a few quick inputs onto the keypad of Lanfen's handcuffs, the heavy, metal casing loosened their grip on her forearms, allowing the blonde man to slowly relieve Lanfen of her restraints. As he left the large handcuffs on the detainment room's table with a low thud, Lanfen took a few steps back from him to notice that the broken data-pad on the room floor had already been disposed off. Still feeling remorseful for what she had done, Lanfen caressed her marked wrists and scanned the man before her with tired eyes.
"Your name," she spoke to him in a low voice, getting his attention. "I never got your name."
He gave her a polite smile and folded his hands behind his back. "You may call me 'Tsuchiya Kagero'," he said, sounding far more casual than when they had initially met a while ago. "You are Cassandra Jiang Lanfen, are you not?"
"I am," Lanfen replied with a nod, taking a note to remember the man's name. Sitting back down on her bed, she removed her uncomfortable footwear and placed them aside before looking back at Tsuchiya. "Thanks for... retrieving my sister's phone," she told him, finding it hard to truly voice her gratitude. "It means a lot to me."
Tsuchiya gave a formal bow, saying, "I'm happy to assist someone however I can. Even if our experiences seem to be the other way around, it's pleasing to see someone who just so happens to be similar to me in a certain way." His remark made Lanfen perk her head up in confusion. Seeing this, Tsuchiya held up one of his wrists and pulled down the sleeve of his suit to showcase a pink, white and light-blue armband. The familiar colours immediately made her understand as Tsuchiya suddenly held one of his fingers to a comm bead in his ear. "Yes...? Understood."
While Tsuchiya abruptly headed out of the detainment room to attend to some matter, a tired Lanfen glanced over to the room table and rested her eyes on the two smartphones that were lying on top of it. Hearing the room's lock ringing in the air, Lanfen dragged her body over to the table and slowly picked up Kai's broken device. The toy that hung from it by a chain softly jingled, causing a cold shiver to run down Lanfen's spine as the memory of that cloaked figure reappeared before her narrowing eyes.
She felt tears trail down her face once again. But they were not tears of sadness. Instead, they were those of blooming, incandescent hatred. Lanfen could feel proverbial flames burning within her eyes. A fire conjured purely out of the loathing she held for both the cloaked figure, and the Distortions that had thoroughly ravaged their world for some horrendous crusade against Humanity. The hand which had wielded the Sword of Damocles ached at her side. It ached for the sensation it had felt when she had cleaved through the Distortions one-by-one. With pursed lips, Lanfen reached for the toy that was attached to Kai's smartphone and gently detached it from the broken device.
Leaving Kai's smartphone on the table, she attached the keychain onto her own device with a soft click and stared at the toy as it swung back and forth on its silver chain.
When she heard a sudden knocking from the room door, Lanfen quickly wiped away her tears and squeezed her eyes shut to recollect herself. As the door slid open, Lanfen saw that Tsuchiya had returned, this time holding a large suitcase in one hand and a data-pad in the other. An aura of business-like formality could be felt around him again while he placed the suitcase on the table, and handed Lanfen the data-pad. He gestured over to the room's large monitor screen, and the moment she had turned around to face it, the screen switched on to bathe the dimly-lit room with light, all while showcasing the symbol of the United Nations.
"Greetings, Miss Cassandra," an androgynous-sounding voice politely addressed her through the monitor's speakers. "I am the spokesperson of the United Nation's world council. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
Tsuchiya silently stood on one side of the room while Lanfen returned the diplomatic greeting in kind, replying, "I take it that there's something needed of me?"
"Correct. After much consideration by the council, the United Nations has formally decided to offer you, Cassandra Jiang Lanfen, a chance to be recruited into S.O.N.G. as their seventh Adaptor. In other words, a Symphogear-Wielder," they stated, causing Lanfen's eyes to slightly widen as their words rendered her speechless. "As you are the only thus far that is capable of wielding the SG-r04, the U.N. intends to employ you in the defense against paranormal threats that may pose a danger to the safety of our world. If you accept this offer, the council will be willing to overlook your 'theft' of the SG-r04. They will also be providing funding for the duration of your employment, in addition to whatever S.O.N.G. shall provide you."
In her head, Lanfen knew that this wasn't going to be a real decision. Opening up the data-pad in her hands, she scrolled through the terms of their agreement and immediately saw that refusal of the offer would mean her immediate imprisonment based on Lanfen's current charges. She was hardly surprised by the hand she was being dealt with. "Will I essentially be a soldier?" she inquired, looking back at the monitor screen.
"Think of yourself more as 'disaster relief personnel', Miss Cassandra," the Spokesperson corrected her the same way an adult would point out a child's silly mistake. "Your duty would simply be to follow the orders of Commander Kazanari in order to carry out work that no regular military can ever hope to accomplish. Aside from that, you will be allowed to return to your old home and live out your life whenever you are not on an active mission."
There was nothing left for Lanfen to lose in this deal, she dryly thought to herself. As the data-pad in her hands displayed the end of the written agreement, Lanfen lifted her hand and signed it with a few strokes of her signature. After hitting the 'Accept' button, the device rang with confirmation and shut itself off. "I'll do whatever I have to if it means taking out the Distortions," Lanfen quietly swore to them. "I can promise you that."
"We look forward to seeing your results, Miss Cassandra," the Spokesperson replied, sounding noticeably pleased by her decision. "You may find additional details regarding your duties within that device. Since I'm sure that you may be finding yourself overwhelmed by your new responsibilities, you can expect us to contact you again at a later time. Until then, may the heavens smile upon your efforts, SG-r04."
The audio transmission on the wall monitor ended, and the symbol of the United Nations disappeared from the screen, allowing the shadows of the detainment room to creep back in. As Lanfen placed the data-pad on the table, Tsuchiya visibly relaxed himself before speaking up, "You have our apologies for this, Jiang," he said with an almost exasperated glance at the room's deactivated monitor screen. "S.O.N.G. does not often carry out the immoral task of plucking someone from their former life. But, this is sadly a decision that not even the Commander is capable of going against."
"It's fine." Lanfen waved off his apology, leaning against the room table with a hand on her hip. "I've no former life to return to anyway... Not anymore."
Wordlessly respecting the decision that she had just made, Tsuchiya reached for the suitcase he had brought and inputted a 16-digit code into its keypad. He gently opened up the suitcase to showcase its contents, and Lanfen subconsciously drew in a breath when she saw the S.O.N.G. uniform they had prepared for her. Alongside it was a black-and-white tie and undershirt, a familiar red pendant, and a rectangular wrist device that she had also seen being worn on the arms of everyone in this facility thus far. Lanfen took the device and held it to her arm for its automatic strap to tighten around her wrist in a flash.
"That communicator will be used for every manner of business related to S.O.N.G.," Tsuchiya explained as Lanfen opened up its holographic interface to explore its numerous options. "If nothing else is required of me, then I shall be taking my leave now," he said, heading over to the room door to permanently undo its inner lock. With a glance at S.O.N.G.'s new Adaptor, Tsuchiya gave Lanfen a friendly smile, "May fortune favour you, Jiang."
Lanfen could not give a smile in return. But she tried her best to give a respectful nod in place of it. "... Thanks, Tsuchiya."
The door closed itself, this time without an audible lock, leaving Lanfen alone in her room. With Tsuchiya gone, she went about changing into the winter uniform they had requisitioned for her. Relieved to be finally rid of her prisoner uniform, Lanfen replaced it with a navy blue jacket, a matching pair of pants, and a black-and-white undershirt. The measurements were perfectly accurate to her body, to her surprise. As she slipped her feet into a pair of boots and secured the uniform's pouch to her belt, Lanfen looked at the relic pendant in the suitcase and watched it shimmer underneath the table's yellow lamp.
Tightening the black-and-white tie around her neck, Lanfen swore a wordless oath right then and there to wield her powers for the sake of avenging her sister. She promised to Kai - and herself - that no matter how many Distortions she would have to kill, Lanfen would master the power of the Symphogear before she would find the cloaked figure that had took Kai away from her. As a proverbial fire swirled within Lanfen's eyes, S.O.N.G.'s seventh Adaptor look forward to the day where she would seize her sister's murderer by the throat, lift them above the ground, and hear them shriek while she buried the Sword of Damocles within their chest.