Signas sat down at his desk. Alia sat in a chair on the other side of the desk. Activating a recording device, Signas began the questioning.

"Alia, you say you know this new Maverick," he began. "Now, any information would be helpful, so I need you to tell me everything you know about her. If you're caught withholding anything that could be of relevance, you will be dealt with."
"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Now, let's start at the beginning," he said. "When did you two first meet?"

"We first meet back when I was working under Gate," she said. "I was working on a project…"

"Excuse me, are you Alia?"

"Yes, I am," replied Alia, turning around from her computer. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jewel," replied the woman. "I've got a bunch of data disks here for you from Gate."

"Oh, just set them down on the floor. I'll take care of them."

Jewel set the box of disks down on the floor and sighed.

"Geez, sure are a lot of disks in there," she said. "Does he really expect you to look over all of them?"

"Every last one," confirmed Alia. "I'm specialized in data management, so that many aren't a big problem for me if I concentrate."

"Eh, I could never do that many," said Jewel. "Hey, you have the time?"

"Let me check…wow, is it lunch time already?" asked Alia.

"Guess so," said Jewel. "Well, I guess I'm gonna head back now. Nice meeting you."

"Hey, hold up a second," said Alia, getting up. "You wanna have lunch with me?"

"Really?" asked Jewel. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"You sound like you two hit it off pretty well," interjected Signas.

"Some people just do, I guess," said Alia. "Afterwards, we started talking a little more and before long, we were friends. We'd spend a lot of time talking during breaks and having lunch together and we became closer every time. Before long, we just were starting to see other as best friends.

"Once that happened, we did even more stuff together. Sometimes, we went out for dinner or went to a movie. We even had sleepovers at each other's places sometimes. All the while, we really grew on each other, so one day, I got her a present…"

"A present for me? What's it for?" asked Jewel.

"Open it first and I'll tell you," said Alia.

Jewel shrugged and opened the box. In it were contained two small red gems, each glowing faintly. Jewel gasped in surprise at them.

"Oh, Alia, this is beautiful!" she exclaimed. "You really got these for me?"

"Actually, it's more like they're for us," said Alia. "You attach them on your arm, like this."

Alia demonstrated by placing one on the back of her right arm. Jewel did the same.

"These are friendship gems," explained Alia. "They glow brighter when the wearer of the other gem is near, but more importantly, they're a symbol of our friendship. What do you think?"

"I love them," replied Jewel.

"After I gave her the gems, life just kept going like it always did," continued Alia. "Aoon, I was transferred over her to the Maverick Hunters and that just tore us up inside. I really don't want to go into too much detail about that, but let's just say it involved us both crying for a long time.

"It was hard for me to bear living without her, so I just buried myself in my work. I tried to communicate with her via e-mail, but for some reason, I never get any responses from her. Still, I couldn't just forget about her. She was too large a part of my life. That's why I reacted the way I did when I realized she was the Maverick."

"So, you know nothing as to how she obtained those weapons or armor?" asked Signas.

"No, sir."

"Is that everything?"

"Yes, sir."

Later that night, Jewel arrived back in Alia's room. Alia was wide awake and waiting for her. The two hugged, then they sat down on her bed.

"Alia…I promised I'd tell you what you should know and I will," said Jewel. "Is there anything you need to know right away?"

"Yes. Why did you ever reply to me when I wrote to you?" she asked. "I've sent you a ton of letters, but I never once got an answer from you. Why was that?"

"There's actually a very good reason for that," replied Jewel. "It'll also explain everything else as well."

"Tell me."

"It started just after you left. I know how you felt about me, Alia, and I felt the same. When you left, I was torn up inside so bad, I could barely get myself to work each morning. There were too many memories there, so I got myself transferred to the field of weapons development.

"At first, I just kept working like I always did, but before long, I wanted a change of pace, so I began to volunteer to actually test the weapons. To my surprise, they allowed me to and I was starting to get good at it. They had just put me in this new armor type when the building came under attack by a Maverick. Since there were no Hunters immediately available, I decided to take this and fight it myself."

"You really wanted to fight a Maverick yourself?" asked Alia.

"No, I didn't, but I felt I could at least make a difference," said Jewel. "Anyways, I fought him and won, but I became infected with the virus as a result from a wound I'd received. My colleagues tried to help me, but when even the virus program they installed in me failed, I fled, afraid I'd hurt someone."

"So, that's why you never answered me…"
"I didn't have access to any computers for a while, and when I did and saw your e-mails, I couldn't reply. How could I tell someone who worked for the Maverick Hunters what I'd become? What would you think of me if you found out?"

"I wouldn't think any different of you," answered Alia, putting her hand on Jewel's. "You always were and always will be my best friend."

Jewel started to cry and hugged Alia. Alia hugged back.

"Alia…I want you to help me get rid of this virus," said Jewel.

"Of course. How can I help?" asked Alia.

Jewel let go of Alia and handed her a small disk.

"This contains the schematics for my anti-virus program," said Jewel. "With the technology you have here, you could find some way to cure me."

"Jewel, we've been trying to find a cure for a long time now. I'm not sure if modifying your current program is going to make any difference…but I'll try," responded Alia.

"Thank you," replied Jewel. "I must go now. I'll come back every now and then to see how you're doing."

"Yeah, you can't just call me," said Alia. "Bye, Jewel. I'll see you later."

Jewel then leaped out of the window and teleported away, leaving Alia to stare outside for a bit, then go to bed for the night.