The Starchaser

by FireMonkeyDragon

One moment he was fighting an alien invasion, the next he found himself stranded more than a decade in the past. With no way back but forward, Adam takes this opportunity and sets his eyes on changing history for the better. With the universe as his stage and the stars as his audience.

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - First Snow in Autumn IV

---

It was a moonless night in Nagazora.

The stars' illumination was of little use with all of the neon light pollution the city produced.

Yet, in what was perhaps irony, the steel and concrete jungle rooftops were where it was the darkest. It was the easiest place for anyone, or anything, to slip in and out of the shadows, unnoticed by prying eyes.

Perched on top of one of the many tall towers was the World Serpent agent that went by the codename [ Macaque ].

Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since he had received his mission from Gray Serpent. The android had instructed him to head to the Far Eastern City and wait for further notice before continuing the job. And so he waited for the transmission as his eyes swept across the glowing skyline. His gaze lingered on the tallest skyscraper on the eastern side of the globe.

A construct made of the toughest, blast-resistance steel, with one-way windows that could withstand tank-piercing bullets, and electric purple lights running up its outside edges, was the headquarters of the largest and most famous technology company worldwide, Massive Electric Corporation.

Needless to say, it easily towered over its neighbors with an impressive one hundred and fifty floors. During the day, the building could even act as a massive sundial, casting its giant shadow across Nagazora. At the very peak of the skyscraper, several lightning rods were in place, boosting its maximum height even more. If the rumors were to be believed, then the electricity they gathered during storms was used to power the entire building.

For such an influential place, it wasn't a surprise that their powerful security force, made up of humans and mechs, was always on high alert, remaining vigilant under all circumstances with a controlled hypersensitivity to every strange sight, scent, and sound.

From his position, Macaque could see the patrolling mechas by the front entrance of the building.

Suddenly, he heard a series of quiet beeps, and he reached up to press on his earpiece communicator.

On the other end of the line came the voice of a woman. Her tone was slightly deep and gave off an air of professionalism.

[ Macaque, are you in position? ]

The black-haired male raised an eyebrow, "Jackal? I was expecting Gray Serpent,"

[ He has other priorities to attend to. I will be your coordinator for this mission. ]

"Hm? Aren't you busy with experiments to overlook?"

[ Of course I am. However, decoding and re-sequencing the genome of several failed experimental MANTIS will take a little while, so I volunteered. Knowing you, it shouldn't take long to complete the task anyway. ]

"...,"

[ Besides, I made some optimizations to your battlesuit, Will-O-Wisp, and I want to see the results in the field. ]

Macaque looked down at the gear he had currently equipped.

It was a black and red, skintight combat bodysuit with built-in Exo armor resistant to blunt force impact and comfortably lightweight. Around the shoulders and wrapping around the neck was a short hooded cloak that could also be pulled up to act as a scarf if the temperature dropped. Insulating his hands were a pair of black gloves with five peculiar white lines that stemmed from the wrist to each fingertip. Finally, like every member of World Serpent in history, a hood is optional, but a mask is mandatory. Macaque had his in hand. It was primarily red and white with blue details. The design resembled the animal that shared his codename. Only the mask took a few artistic liberties and was somewhat futuristic looking. However, even at first glance, anyone could tell it was a monkey.

The World Serpent agent focused his gaze on the ME tower as he stepped toward the edge of the building.

"Understood,"

In one of the numerous undisclosed World Serpent bases, the canine-masked woman turned to a large metallic table. Hovering her hand over it, a holographic keyboard appeared under her hand, and she entered a short code. The table glowed light blue, and very quickly, a hologram of the ME Corp Tower appeared in the center, along with several of its neighboring buildings. A small, flashing yellow dot gleamed to life on the side, on top of the adjacent towers, displaying Macaque's location.

[ Good. Before I give you the brief for tonight, I need to calibrate the system's link to see your movements in real-time. ]

Jackal turned and swiftly tapped on her tablet, and a double beep was emitted from the hologram as the yellow dot began to stabilize.

[ Macaque try moving around. ]

On the rooftops of Nagazora, the agent crossed to the other side of the building's peak.

[ Alright, all set. ]

Macaque instinctively nodded and returned to his original position, crouching by the edge that gave him a clear view of the ME Tower.

"Let's begin then,"

[ Three days ago, we lost contact with two of our spies in Anti-Entropy. That same day, signals from the Black Box hidden in the basement floors of ME Tower went dark. Moving it up to the surface is too risky of a move. Their leaders know that. So we suspect that AE has relocated it even further underground. We cannot confirm this with our scanners since it would require a much larger pulse to reach that far, and doing so would leave crumbs for the little birds to follow. So we need to do this the old fashion way.

Macque, you are to infiltrate the ME Tower and locate the Black Box. As of now, there is no need to retrieve it. AE won't be touching it anytime soon, so we only need confirmation of its current location.

And remember, the success of this mission depends heavily on stealth. Remain unseen and keep the bodies to a minimum, better yet, zero. That includes both flesh and metal. ]

"Got it," the agent responded.

[ Good. I'll contact you again once you enter the facility. ]

With that, the communication link between the two World Serpent members ended, and the bustling nocturnal sounds of the city made their way back into Macaque's ears.

In one smooth motion, he spun the mask in his hand before equipping it on his face as he put on his hood. The azure eyes of the mask flared for a second, glowing mystically in the night before settling down.

Suddenly, he was gone. Only leaving behind a small cloud of dust as he leaped off the building and onto the next rooftop.

With impeccable speed, the Macaque expertly maneuvered through the city's canopy like his namesake weaving through the thick rainforest. There wasn't a single drop of wasted energy or motion in his movements, an instinctual awareness built upon the years of experience and training he had received since becoming a member of the secretive organization.

In a matter of minutes, he had arrived at the end of the rooftops and perched at its edge to scout out the area.

Peering down, he spotted six mechas patrolling their programmed route at the front entrance. Keeping them company was a group of large, military-grade drones that circled the outside perimeter of the building. State-of-the-art security cameras, both revealed and hidden, watched the areas the robots missed.

It was safe to say there was no way in through the front or back door.

Going under wasn't an option either. Though the storm drains that ran through Nagazora's underground were large enough to fit people, the complex system of pipes inside the building was not.

Dropping down from above would prove to be a problematic and possibly unnecessary task too. The skyscraper was too tall to climb without tiring oneself out, and that wasn't considering the slippery exterior or the more robust security on the higher floors.

For now, Macaque decided to circle the ME Tower from the nearby rooftops, scanning the massive construction for possible entries.

Then, his eyes sharpened when he spotted an opportunity.

High up on the thirtieth floor on the northeastern side of the tower, a balcony stuck out. It wasn't too big or small, but sizable enough to fit at least twenty people.

An employee lounge, perhaps?

After checking around one more in the off chance that he missed something, Macaque determined that the balcony was the best route.

Eyeing the thirtieth floor's balcony, he took several steps back, carefully lining himself up to the protruding platform and calculating the amount of power he needed to generate in his jump to reach it.

Once satisfied with the distance, Macaque sipped in a deep breath and took off in a blinding dash towards the edge faster than the blink of an eye. He kicked off the rooftop and soared through the air toward the balcony. His dark attire allowed him to camouflage with the moonless night sky.

However, a problem arose.

When the masked agent reached halfway, he felt his body hover for a split second before slowly plummeting to the cold hard ground.

While the building he had leaped off of was ten stories high, he still had to ascend another twenty. A physical feat that no ordinary human could do, or even the average Schicksal Valkyrie could pull off.

Fortunately for the Macaque, he was far from the ordinary.

He was a scale of the World Serpent.

Despite all its questionable operations throughout humanity's history.

They were still the successors and descendants of the legendary Fire MOTH of the Previous Era.

And such an organization had its perks.

Macaque twisted his body in midair to be horizontal before aiming his hands toward the ground, stretching each finger apart.

The white lines on his black gloves shone a brilliant teal.

Out of nowhere, a sudden burst of strong wind came from beneath and propelled the masked agent higher and faster than before.

One somersault later, Macque landed on the balcony, his feet making no sound.

In the corner of his eyes, he spotted a pair of cameras slowly sweeping across the platform. Faster than the blink of an eye, Macaque ducked behind a set of tables and chairs, carefully ensuring that his body was hidden.

Simultaneously, his communicator began its quiet beeping.

He raised two fingers and pressed his earpiece, receiving the call.

[ I see you've found an entry. ]

"Yeah, but there are two cameras, and an automated door that I assume is locked, preventing me from going in. I'll need you to hack into their network and disable them for me,"

[ Already on it…and done. The door should work as normal and all cameras on that floor are on a temporary loop. You're safe to proceed. ]

The masked agent wasted no time and swiftly slipped inside the building. Looking around, it was as he had predicted. Rows of long tables and benches were lined up neatly throughout the lounge. In the corner was a set of leather sofas and on the other side was a string of fridges and microwaves engraved with the M.E logo. On the opposite side of the balcony was where the proper cafeteria was located.

With the security cameras distracted, Macque strolled through the cafeteria without too much worry.

"Alright, I'm in," he reported as he exited the dimly-lit canteen and entered a similarly dark, wide hallway, "What's next?"

[ Find the Box. Easier said than done, I know. AE and Ryoma are crafty; I'll give them that. There are ten sets of elevators in that building, but only one of them, along with the correct access card, and finger print goes down to the deepest basement floors where we suspect the Black Box is now held. ]

"I doubt the CEO keeps it in his office. If it's such an important item, then it's more than likely that he has it with him at all times,"

[ Agreed. Anyone else who has one of those cards is more than likely out of the country or in the safety of their homes right now. It would take too long and too troublesome to identify them, locate them, then rush here all in on night. ]

"Can't you just hack into their systems and find out that way?"

[ I can, and we would've if it were that easy. However, doing so from a remote location will leave traces of us. Miniature traces, but traces no less, and we can't risk that. Not to mention the protocol between the access card and their network is way more heavily guarded than just a few cameras or drones. ]

"Anti-Entropy counter hacks," murmured Macaque, vigilantly making his way through the skyscraper's interior.

[ Exactly, along with an entire labyrinth of firewalls that rivals both ours and Schicksal's. No doubt designed by Lieserl Einstein. ] added the canine-masked woman.

On her holographic map of Massive Electric Tower, Jackal spotted a set of red dots quickly reaching the infiltrator's position.

[ Heads up, Patrol Drones around the corner. ]

Macaque instantly sharpened his focus. The moment he caught a glimpse of the red laser lines of the drones' scanners, the world around him was drenched in deep blue.

It was as if time had stopped.

Using this fracture in time, the masked agent dashed forward and nimbly dodged the laser scanners. Weaving through the swarm of drones before they had any chance to confirm his existence.

When everything began to flow once more, the drones continued their patrol as if nothing had happened. Macque watched from behind a supporting pillar, and once the coast was clear, he began to move.

[ Macque, I need you to take a quick detour to Floor 3. Use the fire exit. I've already disabled the alarms. ]

"What's on Floor 3?" he asked while dashing across the corridor and silently slipping through the heavy metal doors into the long, airless, concrete staircase.

[ The main server room. Remember the USB in the case with your battlesuit when we delivered it to you? ]

"Yeah,"

[ Plug it into the mainframe. It contains a Trojan Horse created by Gray Serpent just for this operation. ]

"I thought you said that hacking in was too risky,"

[ I used the word "remotely." Think of the network as a fortress and us as the opposing army. We can launch siege weapons from a distance at the cost of being out in the open and vulnerable to heavy counterfire. Or we can infiltrate their walls under cover of night and weaken them from within. ]

Macaque hummed in understanding as he swiftly traversed down the stairs, "Sounds like I'm doing the latter,"

[ Indeed. While you'll be doing that physically, the Trojan Horse will do it virtually. Once injected, I'll be able to traverse their net until the virus fizzles itself out. ]

"How long?"

[ 5 minutes. Short enough to remain undetected. Long enough to gather all the intel we need. ]

A little while later, the World Serpent agent reached a metal door with the letter three welded into it.

He pressed the handle down and slowly creaked it open, ensuring no sound was came from the action. He glanced out, scanning the halls for any signs of movement, and just as he was about to exit, Jackal's voice stopped him in his tracks.

[ Hold on. Pinging scan across the floor…..Disabling cameras and alarms…Alright, you're good to go. ]

Macaque clicked his tongue quietly as he exited the fire escape, "You couldn't have done that earlier?"

[ Stop whining. The server room is to your right. Stay alert; there's a squadron of armed guards patrolling this area. ]

"I don't see anyone," the masked agent stated, lowering his voice to a whisper, "Probably on the other side,"

Taking advantage of the absence of guards thanks to their patrol route, Macaque darted across the hallway, keeping his vigilance.

It didn't take long for him to arrive at the entrance to the server room. The World Serpent infiltrator wasted no time entering and immediately searched for the mainframe. It wasn't the most challenging task. After trekking through rows of computers and bunched-up wires, he discovered a particularly large device with many small, blinking lights in what felt like the middle of the room.

"Found it," he reported.

[ Plug me in. ]

In one swift motion, the masked agent drew the hard drive from his pocket and slid it into an open slot on the machine.

[ The malware has been successfully uploaded. I'll be cutting transmissions for a bit while I dig around. Keep watch; that patrol will be coming back. ]

"Understood,"

After hearing the dismissive jingle of the communicator, Macaque made his way back to the room's entrance, keeping alert for any sounds, and his trained gaze locked on the door.

And after a minute, the automated door suddenly opened.

---

The sound of marching echoed through the silent corridors of M.E Tower's third floor.

Donned from head to toe in high-tech military armor and carrying cutting-edge weapons, a group of four soldiers was currently safeguarding the perimeter. Embellished on the back of their armor was a sideways 'S,' it was the insignia of the organization they served.

"Ugh, I wanna go home," groaned one of the soldiers positioned at the front of the squadron.

"You and me both," added the one behind him, rolling his stiffening shoulders.

The one beside them snorted in disbelief, "Seriously? Goro, Brendan, this is the fourth time you've both said that since we started our shift,"

"Can you blame us? It's so boring here, man," complained the soldier named Brendan, "We've been literally walking in circles for hours now. On this one floor, it'd be better if we were tasked to patrol multiple floors, but nooo. One. I swear I've seen this same limestone pillar at least three hundred times by now,"

Goro nodded in agreement, "B's right Yuta. Only last week, we were deployed to Siberia to eliminate a Schicksal spy, but now we're doing nothing but strolling around M.E Corp. Don't you think that's a bit of a downgrade?"

Yuta shook his head, "You idiot, this is an upgrade. We're being paid the same rate just to walk around for a few hours. That's a much better deal than risking our lives trudging through the thick snow just to take out a single person,"

"Besides, this floor is one of the most important in the entire building. Over there is the main server room where every single bit of data ever recorded in Massive Electric, and to an extent, Antri-Entropy, history is held. It's a privilege even to step foot onto this floor,"

"Yeah, yeah," Brendan waved him off, "It's times like these I wish I was transferred into Cocolia's branch. Heard that's where all the elites go recently,"

"I hear it's because Tesla and Einstein are pushing for more of their mechas to fulfill the combat roles rather than human soldiers. While Cocolia doesn't have that much preference, as long as they get the job done," said Goro.

"You make us sound like mercenaries," Yuta chipped in.

"Aren't we? We're not soldiers of any country, but an international, private, military organization that the world's governments have turned a blind eye to," said Brendan.

"Could say the same for Schicksal," muttered the fourth soldier, who had remained quiet the entire time.

A brief moment of quiet fell upon the group of patrolling Anti-Entropy soldiers. Their footsteps were the only thing that echoed through the halls before Goro decided to speak up again.

"Still don't get why they couldn't just use mechs to patrol here instead of us,"

"Apparently, they're all on the top floors and basement levels," Yuta replied, rubbing his chin.

"The hell's in the basement that's so important? Their special electric-powered sewer?" sneered Brendan, who rested his rifle behind his head.

Yuta shrugged. "Dunno, confidential information I guess,"

Another minute of silence passed before Goro nudged Brendan in the arm, a shit-eating grin under his visor that none could see but could hear from the tone of his voice.

"Hey B, admit it, you only wanna be in Cocolia's unit because you find her hot, huh,"

Brendan laughed in response, "Of course! Have you seen her? Light blonde hair, violet eyes, the perfect figure with that magnificent pair of E-cups. Hell yeah, I wanna transfer coz of her, I'm not denying it. Damn those lucky bastards who are already working under her, I don't know how they concentrate,"

"Because she'd skin them alive and feed their chopped-up corpse to the bears and orcas if they tried anything or looked at her in any sort of way," Yuta remarked with a matter-of-factly tone.

"Heh," Brendan simply placed a hand on his shoulder and shot him an unseen smirk, "Then my last words shall proudly be: Step on me mommy,"

Yuta brushed his hand off and looked back in disgust, though it went unseen due to his tactical helmet.

The third soldier snickered, "What? Not your type?"

"I prefer girls who are sweeter, graceful, and less barbaric,"

"Like Raiden Ryoma's daughter?" commented Goro.

"I'm not a pedophile, but yes, someone like that,"

Brendan placed his hand on his hips and proudly puffed his chest out, declaring, "I'm a simple man; I see a good set of breasts and a plump ass. And BAM! I'm in. Not like you guys, who are all picky. Y'all gonna stay virgins forever that way,"

The entire patrol halted as the other soldiers glared at the man with pure, unfiltered judgment.

He blinked, "What?"

"I'm married with a kid and another on the way," said Goro, "You're the last person that's qualified to call me a virgin,"

"I have a boyfriend," the fourth soldier simply stated.

"Ah, so that explains why you keep borrowing money from us. Spending it all in the red-light district. Should probably get tested soon," Yuta added with a condescending sneer, "Heh, manwhore,"

With anger and embarrassment fuming out of his ears, Brendan pushed to the front of the group and kept striding forward, "Argh, whatever! Let's just get this night over with,"

The remaining soldiers chuckled triumphantly, fist-bumping each other behind while going at their own pace.

"I'm gonna go take a look at the server room!" Brendan suddenly yelled from up front.

"Why!?" Goro shouted back.

"Change of fucking scenery! I'm gonna puke if I have to walk past that fucking potted fern by the third pillar from the toilets again!"

"Fine, fine, go ahead," the married man brushed him off with a wave of his hand, "We're not doing much out here anyway,"

"Hey, if you're gonna watch some porn in there, put your earphones on or at least lower the volume," Yuta grinned wickedly, "We don't wanna hear the weird kinky shit you're into,"

"Remember to clean up thoroughly with tissues after you finish! We don't want complaints from the employees to find mystery substances in cracks of their computers," the fourth soldier joined in, an equally evil smirk hidden behind his helmet.

"Fuck all of you!" Brendan announced, holding up the middle finger behind him as he disappeared through the automated door.

The remaining soldiers' laughter rang through the halls a while before the quiet settled as they continued their patrol.

They only took a couple of steps when Goro came to a sudden halt. Behind his helm, his brows furrowed as if he was solving an impossible question on a quiz.

Yuta and the fourth soldier looked back at their teammate.

"What's wrong, Goro? Need to pee?" asked soldier four.

The man shook his head, "If my memory serves me correctly, wasn't the door to the server room locked when we first arrived?"

"Locked? Brendan just walked through fine though," soldier four replied, "The door's light was green, wasn't it?"

Yuta rubbed his chin, trying to recall the details he had seen earlier that night, then, finally, his eyes widened.

"It was red when we first got here," he muttered.

The three soldiers exchanged looks. A single second passed between them, along with a shared thought and decision. Without wasting any more time, they rushed back towards the server room, rifles locked and loaded.

Very quickly, the automated door whirred as it gave the soldiers entry, guns raised, night vision visors activated, and all senses were flaring.

They walked forward carefully but swiftly with trained intensity, watching each other's back, and checking every nook and cranny of the server room.

"Brendan?!" Yuta called out, "You there?!"

"Yo B! Where you at?!" Goro yelled.

As they proceeded further, the maze of computers became more and more complex. Whispers were exchanged, and the squad decided to stick together; even though splitting up could have been faster, they had a better chance on taking on the intruder as a group, and it was safer in numbers.

The fourth soldier led the party through the labyrinth, with Yuta in the middle and Goro bringing up the rear.

It felt like an eternity had passed as they trekked through this unfamiliar environment. The darkness of the confined space, the knowledge that anything could be lying to ambush at any turn, and the slow, flashing glow of the computer lights released an eerie aura into the air.

But as soldiers of Anti-Entropy, they knew that this was what they signed up for, and it was already too late to turn tail. Besides, despite him being a pervert and annoying at times, their squadmate was still their squadmate, a loyal and invaluable brother-in-arms. Each of them knew that Brendan would turn the world upside down to find them if it was they who had gone missing on a mission.

Suddenly, the fourth soldier froze.

"Everyone stop!" he hissed aloud. The shaking in his voice was clear as day as he felt something warm and wet slither down his throat.

"What's wrong?" Goro immediately paced up to his side with Yuta beside him.

Only for the fourth soldier to violently wave his hand at them, signaling them to keep back.

"Don't come over here!" he urged.

"The hell do you mean?" Yuta replied.

A click was heard behind him, and Yuta looked to see Goro attaching a flashlight to the barrel of his rifle.

"Move a bit," he ordered, and the younger man complied, standing over to the side.

Goro raised his gun and shined the torch's light toward the fourth soldier.

Shock filled their wide eyes when they saw something glimmering dangerously under the torchlight.

A perfectly straight line that gave off a sharp gleam.

It was attached between the row of computers that walled them in.

On a level that reached an average man's neck. Accurate as well, far too accurate that it would slice into a man's artery if they simply walked into it.

And that very man stood in front of them.

Goro moved his rifle's flashlight toward their squadmate, and his fear was proven true. They watched as blood slowly seeped down the fourth soldier's neck, soaking his undershirt in crimson.

"Strings?"

"Move. Back. Slowly," Yuta told him in a low voice.

He rasped, "I can't…my ankles,"

Goro immediately pointed his flashlight down at the man's feet. Sure enough, the razor strings greeted his gaze with their deathly gleam. Only this time, they were in a position to be able to sever the arteries behind the knee and ankles if one attempted to move.

"I'll cut him out. Keep watch, Yuta," said Goro, unsheathing his combat knife from his side.

Yuta nodded behind him and spun around, vigilantly sweeping his eyes across the server room for any movements.

Meanwhile, his senior continued to try to cut open the wires desperately. But to no avail. It was as if he was cutting through solid steel. Clenching his biceps and quickening his movements, the older soldier pursed his lips, hoping to all the gods that he could release his junior from this spectral trap.

All of a sudden, a clink echoed through the whole room. Instead of his knife slicing through the strings, the string sliced through his knife. The sharp tip of the blade bounced and slid across the tile floor into the shadows.

"Fuck," Goro cursed and clicked his tongue before reassuring the trapped younger soldier, "Don't worry kid, I'll get you out,"

"Hey, Yuta, pass me your knife. I have an idea," the man said, raising his hand behind him.

His arm hung behind him for a few seconds, and he couldn't help but feel that something was off. Now that he thought about it, this whole situation was off.

"Yuta?" Goro looked behind him, and much to his horror.

Yuta was gone.

"Shit," was all he could murmur as panicked sweat rolled down his neck.

His fight or flight senses blared louder than any alarm.

Suddenly, an unseen, unknown entity slithered out of the shadows and from behind, latched an arm around his neck.

Before the soldier could react…

…His world went dark.

---

…

…

…

Macaque released his grip, and the unconscious soldier dropped to the ground.

With a flick of his wrist, the razor strings were released from their positions, returning to and disappearing under the World Serpent agent's sleeves.

The soldier they had trapped fell to the floor's cold tiles. Scarlet liquid still trickled from his neck, only it was much slower than it was initially. The string had been laced with a poison concocted that could paralyze and slow the blood flow of any living creature—giving them the appearance of death.

A helpful tool for kidnappings, assassinations, and many other contracts the Serpents assigned to him.

With all four of the patrolling soldiers dealt with, it was time to move forward with the mission.

As he exited the server room, his communicator began to go off again. A double tap later, and Jackal's voice echoed into his ear.

[ I've reprogrammed the network to accept the malware as one of its own native files. You should now be able to access basement Floor 31 without the access card. All you have to do is press the Floor 10 and 21 buttons and the same time. ]

"Right, and which elevator is it?" the masked teen asked as he approached a corridor with elevators lined up on both sides.

[ Third from your right. ]

Without another word, Macaque called down the elevator.

[ One last thing Macaque. ]

"Yes, Jackal?"

[ I won't be able to receive your signal once you reach the bottom floor or assist via the network; it's too far underground. You'll be going in dark. ]

"Understood,"

[ Then I guess I don't need to remind you of the level of security you'll be facing once you reach it. ]

"No," the young World Serpent member shook his head as the elevator dinged, signaling its arrival.

He got on and pressed the two required buttons, "But you mentioned that you made some adjustments to my battlesuit; I'd appreciate it if you tell me about them now before I accidentally activate something weird,"

Together with the whirring of the lowering elevator, Macaque heard an amused laugh from the Jackal before she responded.

[ Of course, of course. Two simple things. First, I've reinforced and upgraded your strings. They've been updated with two modes. Regular and Heat. You're already familiar with the former, while the latter is designed to be a more stronger variant. Created to make up the areas where the regular variant lacks. ]

"That's it?" Macaque questioned, lips pursed, "You're not going to tell me more?"

[ I would rather you discover it yourself. I predict and expect you to pick it up quickly. After all, you've been using monofilaments in combat ever since you joined World Serpent when you were a little boy. ]

A miffed sigh escaped the masked agent's lips as he watched the elevator's floor indicator drop into the negatives.

"Very well. And the other one?"

[ Electromagnetic Hacking. ]

The teenager furrowed his brows, "...What?"

[ Look, we don't have time for me to spill out all the finer details for you, so let me keep it simple. Your mask has been augmented to control the electromagnetic field within a certain radius. Through this field, you'll have the ability to manipulate any type of machinery that operates on electricity. Short circuit drones, shut down turrets, fry radios from the inside out, you name it. ]

"That's great and all, but are you going to tell me how to activate them? Or will I just have to figure it out again?"

[ It's similar to activating your battlesuit's "Time Fractures." But instead of slowing the time-space around you, through your mask's updated optical lenses, you'll be able to see the EM field and the pulsating energy that traverses it. Activate the hacks, and they'll travel via this field and into the target. ]

"So, by saying that its activation is similar to Time Fracturing…,"

[As you've deduced, your mask's new "EM Hacking" ability is powered and triggered by the condensed Honkai Energy contained in your Stigma. ]

"Ah," Macaque scratched the side of his head, "I think I understand now,"

[ You better, EM Hacking was explicitly created to counter Anti-Entropy's growing mecha legion and cripple Schicksal's battleships. To be honest, it's still in the refining stages of development, but Gray Serpent insisted on you being its first field test after selecting you for this mission, so here we are now. ]

"Nice of him to think so highly of me," the World Serpent infiltrator remarked, his words dripping with sarcasm, "Hold on, if I had access to this EM Hacking ability, why didn't you tell me earlier? I could've breached the protocols of the tower myself while you focus on your priority projects,"

[ Would you believe me if I said I was bored? ]

"...,"

[ Fine, I'll satiate your curiosity this time. The kind of hacks I used to guide you through the tower is primarily for utility and discretion while traversing cyberspace. EM was designed to be more combat-oriented and is still in its experimental stages. Test results show that overuse of EM Hacking can overload the Honkai Energy in one's body, causing instant zombification or complete self-destruction. I simply didn't want any of that happening to one of World Serpent's best assets. ]

"How thoughtful of you," Macaque replied drily.

[ One last thing. The "Systems" and EM both utilize a large amount of Honkai Energy, so…you…..don't…to….her….it…ac….nka…fo— ]

Static abruptly interrupted the transmission between the two members of the World Serpent.

The younger agent, Macaque tapped on the earpiece several more times in an attempt to get it working again but to no avail. His eyes flicked to the elevator's digital sign, displaying that he still had two floors before reaching the deepest part of M.E Tower.

The reason for the communication cut was apparent now. He was now too far underground for the transmissions to reach.

Macaque removed the ear-pierce, putting it in his pocket as the elevator slowed, and chimed.

The doors open, revealing a long corridor lit up by thin elongated lights high up on the walls on both sides.

At last, he had reached the bottom-most section of Massive Electric Industries.

A location where not even high-ranking government officials, prime ministers, or even presidents were permitted to enter.

It was possibly the most confidential floor in the country, one that imprisoned dangerous secrets from an era lost to time, with secrets that should never be given the chance to bask under the light of the world above again.

Especially if the humans of the current era desired for their peaceful lives to innocently continue.

Macaque stepped out into the eerily silent hallway. Despite walking with trained quiet steps, each footstep was a slight echo through the tight corridor.

Each of his senses was on high alert, and his muscles repeatedly tensed and relaxed. As if he was anticipating a sudden ambush of hidden turrets, mechas, drones, and even more Anti-Entropy personnel.

However, after traversing down the hallway, the lack of any form of security began to worry him the most. Three minutes had gone by without so much of a shadow of anything or anyone other than his own, not to mention that the corridor hadn't shown signs of any turns.

It was just one long walkway with a dead end.

And soon enough, he had reached that dead end.

The white wall at the end of the corridor stared back at him as he looked around in mild confusion. His gloved hands lightly glided across the hard surface, seeking any signs of a switch or something similar. After a minute, the results came up short.

Macaque scratched the back of his head.

Over the course of his career in the World Serpent, infiltrating high-security locations was the norm. Underground museum storages, hidden government vaults, secret military bases, heck, even that one time he briefly broke into the Salt Lake Anti-Entropy Base. He had seen and passed through many types of security, from awkwardly-angled laser lines, mecha squadrons, acid flooring, turret battalions, and so on. But this was the first time he had come across nothing.

It was just a plain old corridor with a dead end.

Had the organization's data been incorrect? Was the Black Box even here at all?

Despite the absence of anything, the masked teen remained stationed in his position. He didn't want to head back to headquarters without any results. If he did, Raven, Jackal, and at least one of the Gray Serpents would never let him hear the end of it. Especially Raven, no doubt that girl would pester him with remarks that he was now losing their contest of, "Who had the highest mission success rate".

The fleeting thought of the canine-themed scientist dragged along the memory of a snippet from earlier conversation.

"Through your mask's updated optical lenses, you'll be able to see the EM field….control the electromagnetic field,"

Macaque looked back towards the dead end as one hand moved up to touch his mask.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try," he said, lowering his arm and slipping into a relaxed combative stance.

Suddenly, he tensed every muscle in his body, and blood carrying Honkai genetics from his Stigma began to circulate faster and faster throughout his frame. Typically, doing so would allow him access to Time Fracturing.

However, this time, the world around him became dark green instead of a deep blue,

Gold and silver currents of all sizes surged in a simultaneous wild and organized manner. Mesmerized by the new sight, Macaque reached out to touch one of these currents. It instantly lashed out in response, and the masked teenager was just about to retract his hand when he saw the energy tendril pass through his arm as if he was a ghost. At the same time, another energy current gently brushed past his shoulders and floated around him in the same way a curious animal would before it left to continue on its route.

And that same route trailed toward the dead end.

Although, it wasn't much of a dead end anymore.

Under his mask, Macaque's eyes widened in surprise.

The streaks of electromagnetic energy were coursing through the walls on all sides like a wave of webs, converging at a central point at the corridor's dead end and intertwining to form an outline of what looked to be a hidden entrance.

The World Serpent agent paced over to the unseen doorway.

Carefully, he placed a hand on the wall, and the coldness of the metal spread through his palm.

Macaque sharpened his gaze on the wall and tightened his focus.

He felt his left shoulder sear for a second as his stigma suddenly flared up. The teenager winced from the discomfort but kept his concentration as rigid as stone.

The corridor abruptly began to rumble.

Macaque's vision immediately returned to normal as he whipped around, eyes scanning the trembling hallway, cautious of any new changes.

The masked agent leaped back when the dead end's wall began shaking more violently than any other. He half expected the walls on both sides to start closing in on him, but instead, the wall at the end began to move.

It was as if the wall was absorbed into the ceiling, slowly rising until it left a gap that only a person could fit through. Then, the corridor went silent once again.

Macaque remained rooted to his spot as he waited a while, anticipating any further surprises from the mysterious corridor. Only when the silence was uninterrupted for a minute did the infiltrator continue his mission.

After slipping under the high wall, he saw a staircase leading into the darkness further below.

Seeing no other choice, Macaque shrugged and proceeded to descend the unknown set of stairs.

He had only taken a single step down when suddenly, the whole staircase was rapidly illuminated by artificial lights one step at a time, revealing another small doorway at the very bottom.

Macaque speedily made his way down while still ensuring that his footsteps were inaudible.

Upon reaching the bottom, he pressed his body against the wall as he peeked through the doorway.

It was a large, spacious, dome-shaped room with an abnormally high ceiling. A single, large ring of light welded into the floor around the edges of the circular room provided a rather dim lighting. Aside from that, the domed room was utterly empty.

However, Macaque quickly saw through the security tactic, having experienced it only minutes prior.

The world around him became drenched in dark green, accompanied by the surging gold and silver webs of energy.

This time, the electromagnetic streaks were practically flooding the room, tumbling through the air, crawling up the dome's walls, and spreading out wide throughout the floor. The intricate patterns they weaved as they crossed over and under each other resembled an expensive contemporary artwork in a museum.

Macaque narrowed his eyes as he scanned the room, searching for a common point of convergence among the mass of energy.

It didn't take long to find it.

Like the nest of a funnel web spider, the interlacing strands of electricity that had linked closer to the entrance of the nest were even more profound than the outer threads. The access to this 'nest' was in the very center of the domed room, and in almost one-for-one imitation of the spider's natural construct, that nest continued even further underground.

The masked infiltrator pushed himself off the wall and entered the hidden, calmly strolling to this 'nest.'

"Let's do this again," he said quietly as he aimed his hand down at the nest's entrance.

As before, his stigma pulsed, and an intense burn flooded the nerves throughout his arm. Macaque grimaced as the heat felt like it had increased tenfold as if the blood in his veins had transformed into boiling oil.

For a minute, he could hear machinery faintly whirring from underneath where he was standing, before a small hole opened up in the floor.

Stumbling back, his sight reunited with normalcy as Macaque deactivated the electromagnetic hacking ability and gingerly held his still-searing arm.

Even with the flaring sensation swirling inside his limb, the pain drowned out with the masked agent's attention glued to the newly opened chamber.

Or more accurately, to the construct gradually rising out from within.

Soon, hovering in the middle of the room was a translucent, blue, spherical forcefield. As it bobbed up and down in the air, it emitted a low, haunting hum.

A fitting melody for the ancient diabolical object it contained.

Macaque eyes widened. Slowly but carefully, he walked up to it. The World Serpent agent even removed his mask to ensure he wasn't seeing an illusion.

No fancy patterns, no ancient hieroglyphics, it was flat, smooth, and perfectly even on all sides. It was also about the size of a small gift box.

Floating inside the barrier was a very simple-looking, dark purple, near-black cube.

"The Black Box," Macaque murmured.

His golden eyes were trained on the cube, mesmerized, and he slowly stepped toward it. With each step, a chorus of incomprehensible whispers slithered into his ears, growing louder and even more cryptic.

"A relic from the Previous Era,"

Unconsciously, he reached out to the barrier.

"And the old Herrscher of Corruption lies dormant within,"

Suddenly, he froze.

It was as if a switch had been flicked in his head as he instantly realized what was happening. The teenager snapped back to his senses and jumped several paces back, leaving a considerable gap between him and the box.

Despite being inactive for many centuries, multiple millennia, the cube from an age long forgotten still retained much of its malignant power.

With a wave of his hand, Macaque re-equipped his mask.

He relaxed a bit as he recalled the details of this particular mission. It was to locate and confirm the Black Box's whereabouts after it, very recently, disappeared from World Serpent's radar.

Not to retrieve it back to their base.

There was no need to get closer to that prehistoric prison than necessary.

Now all he needed was evidence that he had found it, and what better evidence than a few photos.

Macaque reached into his battlesuit's pocket and pulled out… a phone.

Compared to every other piece of World Serpent tech, such a small device would be considered primitive. But at least the camera feature was practical and could be used while off-signal, and a proper camera, no matter how small, would be too clunky to carry around in a battlesuit especially if a fight broke out.

The masked teen raised the device and snapped several shots of the Black Box, even circling it to capture the cube from all angles.

'That was easier than I thought,' he told himself as he put his phone away, 'Still, it bothers me,'

Macaque glanced around the room, 'For a branch of Anti-Entropy, why don't they have any security inside the most dangerous basement in the world?'

"...Ah, whatever," he turned back to the spherical barrier encased around the Black Box, "Time to put this back in the ground and get out of here before I jinx myself,"

The masked agent stepped closer to the dark cube but kept a cautious gap between them.

Raising his arm, he pointed his hand at the translucent barrier.

He released a small exhale, bracing himself for the inevitable intense burning of his stigma.

For the third time that night, this field of view was soaked in dark green, and the gold, silver tendrils welcomed him back. On cue, he felt as if flames swallowed his arm.

*K-K-...K-KRACK*

All of a sudden, the barrier released a tremendous pulse that sent the unprepared World Serpent infiltrator flying back with immense speed and crashing into the wall before ricocheting face-first to the floor.

Macaque winced from the sudden impact as he pushed himself up.

He didn't even get half a second to regain his bearings when blood-red lights filled the domed room, and the ear-piercing wailing of the alarms blared throughout the entire Massive Electric Tower.

[ EXCESSIVE HONKAI ENERGY DETECTED! EXCESSIVE HONKAI ENERGY DETECTED! ALL MEMBERS OF STAFF AND GUESTS, PLEASE EVACUATE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE 17 OF THE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL! REPEAT: PLEASE EVACUATE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE 17 OF THE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL! ]

A digital voice announced so loud that it almost drowned out the screaming alarm system. The masked teen was sure that even people outside of the M.E Building could hear it very clearly, perhaps even the neighboring towers as well.

[ EXCESSIVE HONKAI ENERGY DETECTED! EXCESSIVE HONKAI ENERGY DETECTED! DEPLOYING ANTI-HONKAI COUNTERMEASURES! DEPLOYING ANTI-HONKAI COUNTERMEASURES! ]

The teen immediately jumped to his feet as he heard a muffled vibration beneath the layers of announcements and sirens. Out of nowhere, the room's ceiling opened up, and three heavy objects dropped. Three audible thuds echoed and kicked up a large cloud of dust.

Macaque instinctively slipped into his fighting stance. Standing side on, he had a fist protecting his face and an open palm to guard out in front; his knees were bent with his stance wide and low.

Behind the dust shroud came a luminous, electrical, blue, and red glow accompanied by three distinct, low mechanical humming.

As the dust dispersed, two large, bulky, white mechas emerged from their hiding place.

They were constructed with the design of a traditional European paladin, with massive wing-like shoulder pads. Their knees were protected by tall, durable metal shields, and in their hands, both machines held a broad, blue-and-white greatsword nearly as long as their height. Neon blue energy coursed through their joints as they marched toward the World Serpent agent in unison.

The masked teen recognized the two hulking mechas.

[ Aesir Heimdall ]

A frighteningly powerful, robotic construct that excelled at everything it was programmed to do. From protecting its allies with its massive, near-unbreakable shields, to slaughtering enemies on the battlefield, mercilessly slicing entire squadrons in half with a simple swing of its greatsword.

But Macaque furrowed his brow at the sight of the two imposing mechas. It wasn't the first time he had seen one of these constructs; after all, he had sneaked past them in previous missions before, not to mention that World Serpent had seized a couple of them in the past to use as research and training dummies.

What confused him was that despite M.E and Anti-Entropy being well-known for their progression and multiple breakthroughs in the field of Mecha Technology.

The Aesir Heimdall, are creations of Schicksal.

Macaque narrowed his eyes, and upon closer inspection, saw the Anti-Entropy crest stamped on the chest plates of both mechs and deduced that these two particular models must have been snagged by AE during one of their Cold War-style skirmishes with Schicksal.

Before he could make a move, the third mecha made its appearance, stomping out of the dispersing mantle of dust. Its visor shone red as it strode over to the Heimdall duo and positioned itself between them.

[ Hephaestus ]

Created around the same time, it was Anti-Entropy's answer to Schicksal's paladin mech. Therefore it was similar in design and with the opposite color palette. Instead of blue and white, it was red and black. Like the Heimdall, it was large and bulky but fast and powerful. Tall, durable shields protected its knees and acted as shoulder pads. Its head was relatively small for its body size but sported a set of horns that gave the mecha an appearance similar to a minotaur. Last but not least, the crimson battle droid wielded twin blades. The weapons were shorter and slightly thinner than the Heimdall's lone greatsword but offered double the offensive capability.

[ Scanning area for Honkai ] The Hephaestus announced. Its visor gleamed red as it surveyed the room.

[ Scanning area for Honkai ] The Heimdall duo repeated as they began to do the same. They were turning their heads with their visors glowing blue.

Seizing this opportunity, Macaque took his attention off the three mechs who seemed to have left him alone. He slipped away from the vicinity of the combat droids and began looking for the exit to the Black Box containment room.

But he ran into a problem.

The alarms and emergency response system of the M.E Tower had shut every entrance and exit to the building. It usually wouldn't be a problem as it was a pretty common security practice for high-end facilities, and he could hack his way out. However, after carefully looking around the domed room while dodging the robots' attention, he couldn't help but notice that entrance had simply vanished.

Merged with the walls and effectively locked down this containment room from the outside. No one could get in, and no one could get out.

At that moment, an epiphany came to Macaque.

No wonder there wasn't security on this floor and why only a handful of people had access to or even knew about Basement Floor Thirty-one.

It wasn't meant to exist.

It was a well-hidden prison deep in the earth.

…A tomb.

The tomb of an entity that was supposed to die and be left to rot in the dead memories from an era multiple millennia ago.

That's why the two Heimdalls and that one Hephaestus left him alone. He wasn't their priority.

Yes, they were the guardians of this 'tomb.'

But not to protect the 'coffin' from outsiders.

But to protect the outside world from whatever lay dormant within.

And that was the same with the entirety of Basement Floor Thirty-one. Compared to the other floors in the building, it was simple in design, but that was because it served one purpose and one purpose alone. It was designed not to keep people from getting in…but to keep what it held from getting out.

Macaque clicked his tongue. Seeing no other option he activated the Electromagnetic Hacking System in his mask. He ignored the searing pain in his stigma, as he whipped his head around, searching for the energy lines' convergent point, which would be the exit.

Locating it was a swift task, and before anyone could blink, the masked agent dashed toward the hidden doorway. As he ran, he held out his hand, directing the Honkai energy that surged through his blood to be excreted out of his skin, latch onto the gold and silver tendrils and surf the electromagnetic waves to hijack the control systems of the exit.

The wall lifted, and the previously hidden door came into view. It began to open when—

*BAAAM!*

A massive, white broadsword crashed directly into the door, piercing through it like it was made from wet paper and subsequently halted any movement from the automated exit.

The Heimdall stared down at the masked agent with its haunting blue visor flickering with a twisted acknowledgment.

[ Honkai levels in lifeform have exceeded the average. Zombification imminent. Commencing elimination protocol. ]

The Heimdall tore its bladed weapon from the wall and stomped threateningly towards Macaque.

From behind, the masked teen could hear the same synthetic declaration from the other two mechas, and with a glance back, he confirmed that the second Heimdall and Hephaestus were also marching toward him at a rapid pace.

[ Honkai levels in lifeform have exceeded the average. Zombification imminent. Commencing elimination protocol. ]

[ Honkai levels in lifeform have exceeded the average. Zombification imminent. Commencing elimination protocol. ]

Before he knew it, Heimdall One launched itself into the air, raising its blade above its head, and swung it down so hard that a vast crevice split open on the floor.

However, Macaque saw the attack coming and managed to slip away to the side, only to run into the horizontal arc of the second white mecha's greatsword. The masked agent's body reacted faster than his mind as he immediately dropped to the ground and slid under the swinging weapon.

But no chance of rest was given as the Hephaestus came charging in, slicing its double swords in every possible direction of escape. Macaque sharpened his gaze and carefully watched the red droid's movements, searching for an opening. The moment he dodged Hephaestus's blades which collided with the ground, he leaped off the ground towards the AE mech and used its head as a launch pad to gain some distance between him and the three mechas.

The masked agent flew through the air and performed a nimble back somersault before softly landing on the ground at the opposite end of the room.

The three mechas turned toward him simultaneously.

Macaque tightened his fists as he prepared for the fight he could no longer avoid.

The Hephaestus led the charge, flanked by the Heimdall duo.

The World Serpent infiltrator jumped straight into the air to avoid being pierced by three swords.

He flipped over to reposition himself, allowing his feet to touch the ceiling before kicking off and rocketing down towards the three mechas.

With a flick of his wrist, he deployed the combat wires hidden underneath his sleeves and gripped them between his fingers.

But the mechas were relentless and never allowed him to strike back, continuing their bladed assault.

However, their hits have yet to land.

Macaque's focused golden eyes gleamed under his mask as he expertly evaded each attack, slipping and weaving the barrage of steel.

Suddenly, one of the Heimdall jumped back as the other moved to the Hephaestus's side. Macaque skidded to a stop as he observed his opponents.

The first Heimdall leaped into the air and spread its wings; at the same time, the Heimdall that accompanied the crimson combat mecha stabbed its greatsword into the ground. Its shoulder pads came together in front and formed a gigantic paladin's shield, and a forcefield materialized, encasing the two mechas.

Meanwhile, in the air, from its wing-like shoulder armor, the airborne Heimdall shot out a rain of homing missiles.

Instead of running away to avoid the explosive rockets, the masked agent dashed toward them. The second one of the missiles got close, Macaque tilted his head as it flew past. The fiery trail it left behind barely tickled his face.

Not even half a second after, the containment room erupted into dark blue, and everything slowed down.

Everything except for Macaque.

With the Time Fracture activated, the masked agent had a much easier time maneuvering himself through the missile barrage. Each projectile was decelerated to the point that it looked like they were simply hovering in place.

Very quickly, he was underneath the airborne mecha, and in an instant, he too was in the air, eye-to-eye with the Heimdall.

He lashed his arms out in quick succession, fiercely releasing the combat strings in his grip as they speedily wrapped themselves around the white mecha's wings and arms. Macaque hauled himself over and behind the knight-like war machine with a harsh tug.

Deciding that this was the perfect time to test out the new "Heat Mode" Jackal had implemented into his wires, the masked teen clenched his fingers akin to a tiger flexing its claws. In the same motion, he crossed his arms in front of him in the shape of an 'X' and pulled as he felt his Stigma releasing another pulse of Honkai Energy throughout his body. This time directed toward the underside of his wrists where the gadget containing the monofilaments was.

Suddenly, the wires he had deployed were coated in a blazing orange glow, and at the same time, the Time Fracture ended.

The infiltrator did not expect his strings to effortlessly slice through the alloy armor of the Heimdall like a hot knife through butter.

Without its wings to stabilize itself in midair and its arms to maintain its balance, the giant white mecha could only plummet helplessly to the ground. A large bang echoed through the domed room, along with a rippling wave of dust.

Macaque landed less dramatically close by and retracted his strings - which had reverted to their default state - back under his sleeve.

The teen looked down at his hands.

'So that's Heat Mode,' he thought.

Upon seeing the damage caused to its ally, the second Heimdall released a mechanical snarl and released its shield barrier, switching them out for its winged form before rushing straight for the masked teen with its greatsword raised. By its side, Hephaestus stomped rapidly to join its ally's side.

Like a bullet, the red mecha sped forward to strike first. Its double blades pressed together to form a sharp tip and with its activated boosters, blasted on like a torpedo.

The young World Serpent agent narrowly avoided the strike by swiftly jumping to the side and caught in the direct path of the Heimdall's descending greatsword.

Macaque gritted his teeth and flexed every muscle in his body to move in time. His experience and training as a member of the underground organization paid off as he slipped past the blade just in time. With an athletic twist that would put Olympic athletes to shame, Macaque leaped into the air and once again released the wires from his wrists.

However, the Heimdall had different plans as it suddenly whipped its massive metal frame around with a fist cocked back.

The masked agent's eyes widened in shock. Muscle memory instantly took over his senses, and in a split second, he automatically put his arms up to block the incoming punch.

His arms screamed with soreness as the giant steel fist crashed into his forearms, sending him flying to the other side of the room.

Tightening his core, Macaque snapped around midair just in time to catch himself on the wall before dropping to the floor.

Without wasting a moment, the masked agent raised his head to check the battle situation. It was no surprise that the two standing mechas were approaching him, weapons drawn. But there was one difference, the previously snow-white armor of the paladin mecha was now dyed blood red.

He had heard about this form. Whenever an Aesir Heimdall either: takes enough damage or decides that the threat level is higher than previously predicted. It would enter a Beserk State, signified by a color change from white to red. It was this form that earned the Aesir Heimdalls their notoriety. In this state, every stat it had previously, from defense to attack to speed to armor, would be multiplied at least by three.

In an instant, the crimson Heimdall closed the distance between them. Macaque responded with the activation Time Fracture, only to discover that the Heimdall was still able to retain a decent amount of its speed while stuck in slow motion.

An unrelenting rain of blade barrages followed, resulting in Macaque nimbly dodging each one while seeking an opportunity to counterattack. Both fighters, of flesh, and of metal, only increased their speed as time went back to normal. For the untrained eye, it looked as if two blurs were speeding across the domed containment chamber.

Eventually, Macaque had grown accustomed to the Crimson Heimdall's attack pattern. His body went into autopilot, slipping and weaving through its near-unseen strikes. At the same time, his other senses were given a chance to focus and discover an opening to return the hits.

Then he could hear another set of heavy footsteps charging towards him. In the corner of his eye, the masked agent could see the Hephaestus rushing at him, the horned robot unwilling to sit on the side any longer.

Suddenly, an idea popped up, and he gave a slight smirk.

Just then, the Berserk Heimdall smashed his greatsword down onto Macaque. But when the dust cleared, there was no one there.

The masked agent had whipped out his strings to latch onto the ground a few paces away in the direction of the incoming battle droid. With the extra anchorage, he could use it to pull himself out of harm's way with incredible speed.

Using the moment from that built up speed, Macaque dropped his body to the ground and recalled his wires as he slid between the incoming Hephaestus's legs.

Smacking the ground with one palm, Macaque flipped off the ground and turned back toward the Hephaestus.

He extended one hand at the mecha, and the lenses of his mask flashed green.

The Hephaestus began to slow until it came to a stop.

The Berserk Heimdall, however, was not so easy to halt its onslaught. Prying its sword out of the cracked and damaged floor, the Heimdall released spouts of hot air from its joints as it locked onto its target.

It lunged again with its greatsword raised above its head, ready to cleave the teenager in two.

Macaque simply stood there holding his arm while watching the blade come down.

*CLAAANG!*

The scream of steel against steel rang throughout the confinement room.

The Beserk Heimdall looked up slowly at the one who interfered. The Hephaestus stared back between the defensive arch it made with its double blades to block the singular greatsword.

When one pushed forward, the other responded with equal strength. The clash between formerly allied mechas lasted until both jumped back to separate themselves.

The Crimson Heimdall twirled its great blade as it returned to its fighting position.

Hephaestus stood in front of Macaque protectively with a stance of its own.

The World Serpent loosened his grip around his arm, and the singeing of his stigma had stopped. If he was being honest, he didn't know if the fleeting thought of a plan would work. But from the looks of it, utilizing the still experimental system, [ Electromagnetic Hacking ] to corrupt the Hephaestus to his side was the correct choice.

At the very least, it would make this fight easier.

Besides, he had to finish this up quickly and escape before the entirety of Anti-Entropy was upon him.

The masked fighter took several steps forward and jumped onto the Hephaestus's shoulders, using its horns as the reigns.

Like a bull, the Hephaestus spewed hot air from its helmet as it prepared for combat.

On the other side, the still-crimson Heimdall brushed its hand across its greatsword to sweep the debris off and gestured towards its former ally to "bring it."

First, there was silence.

The next second, the ear-splitting clangs and screeches of metal on metal relentlessly filled every corner of the containment room.

At first, the Heimdall had the Hephaestus on the defensive. In its boosted form, the paladin could dish out highspeed cleaves with its greatsword from every angle. The only saving grace of the Hephaestus was that its line of mechas was specifically designed to counter the Aesir Heimdall. It was innately a more agile combat mecha and, with its dual-wielding ability, could block attacks from multiple directions or defend with twice the strength.

The Heimdall was also beginning to slow down. Its built-in energy reserves were draining continuously for it to sustain its Berserk State, and now, it was paying the price for it.

Its movement became more sluggish, and its strikes looked to be weaker than before. Just moments before, Hephaestus had struggled to bounce back the heavy thrashing from its Schicskal counterpart, its knees had been shaking under the weight of the large cleaver, and it had nearly lost its grip on its own weapons twice.

Now, it was parrying the greatsword with ease.

Its endurance paid off, and soon enough, the Heimdall reverted into its base form.

The Hephaestus saw this as its chance to deal the decisive blow and pulled back both swords to slash the white mecha into three.

It failed to notice the gleam in the Heimdall's eye. The former Schicksal metal combatant wasn't going down that easily.

With one last spurt of power, it released its last resort and tightened its grip on the greatsword.

A single clean cleave. Straight up and through the Hephaestus's left arm.

The Hephaestus stumbled back as it watched its limb flop onto the ground, sparks flying from the severed joint. The weapon it held was still clenched defiantly in its hand, refusing to let go.

The Heimdall straightened itself, ready to use every last drop of its energy reserves to exterminate the threat. For a moment, its former Schicksal programming seemed to seep through as its systems recognized the red, minotaur-like mecha as an enemy it shouldn't show mercy toward.

Another cheap Anti-Entropy knock-off.

With a few heavy steps, the Heimdall took off full sprint, holding its greatsword with both hands as it kicked off the ground, all thrusters flaring as it flew into the air. It raised its blade high above its head.

One last strike.

Every bit of gas it had left in the tank.

Every bit of power that still coursed through its systems.

Every bit of it poured into this final attack.

Suddenly, the world around it was drenched in deep blue.

At that moment, the Aesir Heimdall realized…it had made a grave miscalculation.

It was too focused on dealing with its former ally and built-in rivalry with the Hephaestus.

In the heat of the moment, it forgot about the one who was the catalyst for all this fighting.

A human with abnormally high readings of Honkai Energy.

The Aesir Heimdall's programming recognized the human as a male; with that level of Honkai in his body, it would surely mean zombification, and any zombie was to be exterminated for the survival of humanity.

The Heimdall's memory card recalled the Valkyries it once fought alongside during its service under Schicksal before being stolen and turned traitor by Anti-Entropy. The female humans were the ones with a high enough adaptability rate to be able to combat the Honkai directly.

…Wait…no… There was one…one man.

One man with a higher resistance than almost any other Valkyrie it had encountered before.

The Heimdall searched its memory for that person. It was back when it had just left the factory, its first deployment into the field more than a decade ago. When its armor still shined, its joints well oiled, and its loyalty to Schicksal as strong as steel. During its first mission, amongst the valkyries was this man.

A man with white hair tied in a short ponytail and sported a short goatee, wielding a brilliant red and gold sword of fire. Capable of eliminating waves of Honkai Beasts in a single swing. A one-in-a-billion, Schicksal Knight.

The boy it had just fought and the knight deep within its memory card. Both of them had the same level of Honkai resistance.

…A shame… If only it hadn't been captured and corrupted by Anti-Entropy… It might've had the chance to scan this boy under more peaceful circumstances and then perhaps guide him to Schicksal's light. Maybe it could've had the opportunity to see another one-in-a-billion case grow into a fine warrior, just like that white-haired knight and fight alongside him against the Honkai threat.

Alas, this human boy no older than twenty, who it had mistaken as a zombie, was about to put an end to its mechanical existence.

Meanwhile, from behind the head of the stumbling Hephaestus, Macaque witnessed the leaping Heimdall and immediately activated Time Fracture before bursting out from his cover.

In a single bound, he sailed through the air toward the Heimdall.

No longer in Berserk Mode, the white combat mech had no way of moving within the time-slowed area, entirely at the mercy of the infiltrator, like a helpless bird in the presence of a snake.

Alloy strings slithered across the paladin droid, fastening around its wings and arms in the same fashion they had done to the first Heimdall.

The shadow of the masked agent zipped overhead, and the teen reappeared behind the mecha.

But instead of igniting the plasma coating over his monofilaments, Macaque allowed gravity to assist him in his speeding descent to the floor, forcibly hauling the Heimdall along by the strings as he dived down.

As the Time Fracture dissolved, the Heimdall slammed into the ground with a loud crash, leaving a small crater from the impact.

Before it could even recover, Macaque manipulated the mecha like a puppet with his strings still firmly attached. He pulled the Heimdall's damaged arms behind its back, leaving its chest wide open for—

The sound of steel tearing through steel filled the containment room as the Hephaestus regained its footing and used its remaining sword to impale it through the weakened Heimdall.

On its knees, the former Schicksal mech tried to pull the weapon out of its chest. Unfortunately, it was too weak, having used up all its power during its Berserk State.

But the Hephaestus was not done.

The red mecha stomped over to the side where the Heimdall's greatsword lay. It picked it up and dragged it back to its paladin counterpart.

The Heimdall raised its head to see the Hephaestus raising its own trusted blade against it.

And in a single downward swing.

Aesir Heimdall was split in two.

Its exposed circuits gave off one last light show of sparks before they finally died out.

All was quiet in the containment room.

Macaque shifted to face the Hephaestus, who had strolled to its new master's side.

The optic lenses of his mask briefly flashed green, accompanied by a single word that escaped the teenager's lips.

"Die,"

The Hephaestus emitted a mechanical hum of understanding before it reached up and grabbed onto its head.

A series of creaks and pops followed as it ripped its head somewhat messily off its shoulders. It wasn't done just yet as it lifted its decapitated head high before plunging it into its chest—the large horns adorning its metallic skull impaled through its armor and straight through its core.

The red mecha dropped to the ground with a loud clang, and its head still clutched in hand.

Once he confirmed that the two mechas were permanently out of commission, Macaque turned his attention to the malfunctioning exit doors.

The World Serpent agent began to pry it open with both hands; his left side was feeling weaker due to the lingering burning the stigma had left him that night. But no matter, he was confident in his strength, and it wouldn't be long before he could create a large enough exit for him to slip through.

However, in the midst of it, a familiar mechanical whirring reached his ears.

The masked teen looked over his shoulder to see a crimson mecha stumbling out of a large crater.

It was the first Heimdall he had incapacitated. All this time, while he had been dealing with the remaining two, it was struggling to get back to its feet, and without its supporting arms or wings, it had proven to be an arduous task. But, finally, it had regained its balance.

The surviving, armless Heimdall's armor began to change color from peacekeeping white to bloodlust red.

Without waiting for another second, the combat mecha charged, determined to make this its last stand.

Once in range, it kicked off the ground and chambered one leg before shooting it out, aimed toward the intruder.

Macaque released an annoyed sigh under his breath, "I don't have time for this, so allow me to finish this quickly,"

The teen took off his mask, revealing piercing golden eyes glaring at the incoming mecha.

He raised one arm at the Heimdall, his gloved fingers stretching apart.

The pale, white lines that detailed his black gloves were lighting up into an electric purple.

Simultaneously, Macaque's golden irises also sparked with the same stormy hue.

"ARCHON Systems - BEELZEBUB,"

All of a sudden, from the floors, ceiling, walls, and even the fading circuitry of the two fallen mechas. Electricity crackled and erupted from the myriad of sources and rushed towards the Heimdall with untraceable speed.

Ten of thousand upon ten of thousand volts of electricity surged violently through the mecha before it could even react.

In three seconds, it had been thoroughly scorched from the inside out.

Smoke had already begun seeping out of every available orifice in mass quantities before it even hit the ground—the currents of electricity that had dealt the damage dissipated as if they were never there.

Macaque's eyes swept over the room to ensure that there wouldn't be any more surprises.

Despite all of the fighting that had taken place around it, the spherical barrier containing the Black Box remained hovering in place.

The World Serpent agent stared at it for a few moments longer before he re-equipped his mask and dashed out of the containment room, making his escape.

---

Helicopters zoomed through the night sky.

Police cars rushed through the neon-lit streets, sirens blaring.

Media outlets scurried to the site of commotion, racing to be the first to publish a new juicy article.

Civilians poked their heads out the window to see what was going on, their formerly quiet night suddenly surging with noise and chaos.

In the center of Nagazora, the Massive Electric Tower was still shining with its grand violet lights illuminating the city's Central District, only now, the building had a new addition, the flashing warning color of red dancing alongside the regular purple.

Spotlights from the helicopters scanned the building from top to bottom as the Nagazora Police Department sent squadrons of their forces through the tower, accompanied by M.E's own security drones.

Curiosity-filled bystanders and journalists watched and recorded from behind guarded police barriers, their inquisitive voices rippling through the ever-growing crowd.

There wasn't an official statement yet.

However, the most popular word on the street was that M.E. had been broken into.

A first in the history of the renowned corporation.

Since it was widely known that this massive tower of technology was the most secure location in the entire city, perhaps even the whole country. The idea that something or someone had raided the place sent waves of worry among the ordinary citizens.

All of them were oblivious that the culprit was close by, watching everything going down.

From the rooftop of a neighboring hotel, Macaque sat with his back against the rooftop's protective cement railing.

His mask rested in his lap as he massaged his arm. The tingling and burning sensation were still coursing through. At this point, he had somewhat gotten used to it and expected it to last for a while longer.

Perhaps a day or two, maybe even a week.

His breaths were heavy as the repercussions of overusing his Stigma's abilities began tiring out his body. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but…it had been a while, that's for sure.

He was always careful of the amount of Honkai Energy he utilized, and in hindsight, he should've lessened the usage of [ EM Hacking ]. Especially since he knew very well that it was still an experimental system that the World Serpent Research and Development units were still working on.

Beeping suddenly came from his communicator ear-pierce.

Macaque answered it and was greeted by the fuming voice of the leader of said R&D departments, Jackal.

[ What the hell happened!? ] she demanded.

The teenage member of the organization could hear her heels clacking impatiently against the marble flooring of their headquarters as she paced back and forth.

"I've located the Black Box," the golden-eyed teen answered plainly.

[ And you set off all the alarms!? ] Jackal snapped, [ What the hell did I say about this being a stealth mission!? This type of shit is your forte! You were supposed to go in and out! That easy! ]

[ Relax, Jackal. ] A new but familiar icy voice joined in the call. [ Remember, we lost contact with Macaque when he entered the Containment Floor so let us listen to his debrief before we take any further action. ]

The black-haired teen heard the head scientist let out a huff but said nothing further.

[ Macaque, tell us what occurred down there. ]

He nodded and explained everything that took place within the deepest and most secretive chamber of M.E Tower. From the white corridor with a dead end, to using the new hacking system to reveal the hidden doorway, to finding the Black Box and triggering the alarms as he put it back in place, and finally, the fight with the three combat mechas before escaping via the same route he entered.

All the while, his two colleagues remind silent as they took in everything he had to say.

The substitute leader of their organization was the first to break the ice.

[ What's important is that you've acquired evidence of the Black Box's new whereabouts. ]

"I'll send the phone containing the photographs back to base along with my battlesuit and mask," said Macaque, "The Electromagnetic Hacking System needs more time in development, I'll admit it's useful, and I wouldn't have found the Box without it, but the recoil effects are too costing. I only used it a couple of times before my Stigma began acting up again. If it were anyone but me or Natasha field-testing, it would've proved fatal,"

[ I'll take a look at it.] Jackal commented as she tapped away on her tablet, [ I also see that you used the ARCHON Systems twice tonight. Once before entering the building and once, I presume, during your fight in the containment room. Macaque, you agreed that you would only use the Systems in dire circumstances. ]

"If I didn't use it down there, then I would've wasted too much time dispatching the last Heimdall. That and I didn't want to risk having all of M.E and Anti-Entropy blocking my exit or worse, catching me,"

[ You realize the consequences of using both the Systems and EM in one night within an hour of each other, right? And don't say you didn't know. I warned you when you were in the elevator. ]

"Must've been when the signal cut out," replied the teen, rubbing his forehead tiredly, "But yeah, I figured. I feel my body recovering at a much slower rate than when I only use the ARCHON Systems. I predict if I use either EM or the Systems any more times tonight, I'll be corrupted instantly,"

[ Then I approve of you taking a few days off before continuing your assignments in Nagazora. ] said Gray Serpent, [ …Or would you prefer to be extracted now and have Raven take over. ]

"No," the golden-eyed teen immediately retorted, "I can do this alone. I just need to rest my body for a day or two,"

[ Good. I expect satisfactory results by the end of the week. I have some matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first. ]

"Wait," Macaque spoke up, "I've been meaning to ask since this operation began. Why only take picture evidence of the Black Box? The thing was practically in the palm of my hand, so why not have me retrieve it instead? What was created by MOTH should be returned to MOTH, or at least their successors, right?"

There was a silent break where the young World Serpent agent could only hear the substitute leader's light, synthetic breathing and Jackal's fingers tapping on her tablet.

Finally, the hooded android responded.

[ Everything in existence has its purpose, and every happening has a reason. Time is the unseeable map to guide souls along the sea of fate toward the finality. Do not fret about the Box child. It is not yet time for it come back to us. But make no mistake, what is ours will always find its way home. ]

With that, Gray Serpent disconnected from the call.

[ I'll be off as well. I presume you don't have any further questions about your other tasks? ] asked the canine-masked scientist.

Macaque shook his head, "No, they're simple compared to tonight,"

[ Very well. ]

The earpiece beeped twice, signaling the end of the transmission.

A sigh escaped his lips as the young soldier lightly tapped the back of his head against the concrete railing, relaxing his body as he stared up at the stars.

Before long, he picked himself up onto his feet, knowing full well that he was too close to the chaotic scene at the Massive Electric Tower and had to get further away before deeming it safe.

He glanced over the railing to peek at the crowd that was still growing in numbers. Live broadcasts from news stations and social media influencers on the scene had caused a curiosity spike across the city of Nagazora, with more and more people leaving the safety of their homes to glimpse what was happening.

Each one of them oblivious to the sole culprit making his swift getaway through the city's canopy above them.

---

It was just before midnight.

The rhythmic noises of typing on a keyboard and pen scratching against paper filled the bedroom of the young heiress as she was finishing up the last of her schoolwork for the week.

This way, she wouldn't go stressing about getting it done during the festival and could focus on having fun and unwinding at Chiba Academy's grand annual event.

At long last, she had finally completed the last page of notes and mock exams.

Mei threw down her pen and smacked her laptop shut before leaning back on her chair, letting out a quiet moan as she stretched her stiffened spine and arms.

The purple-haired girl got up from her desk, deciding to get a drink of water before going to bed. In addition, the walk to the kitchen and back would be good for her body which was becoming increasingly numb from the long period of inactivity.

The halls of Raiden Estate were empty and dark at this time of night. All of the butlers and maids had gone home, and the ones who lived on the premise had retired to their rooms. But having walked these halls since she was born, Mei wasn't bothered by the dim interior and was even confident she could get around blindfolded.

Aside from that, the darker environment was a breath of fresh air. It allowed for the natural moonlight to seep through the windows, and she could even see the eternal sea of stars in the sky on cloudless days. The latter being a rare sight in such a brightly lit city.

It was quiet too, with only the cicadas, susurrating leaves, and whistling wind making soft, comfortable sounds outside.

Compared to the artificial glow and bustle of the city, it was less suffocating.

Mei reached the kitchen within a few minutes and poured some water into her favorite mug. She took quiet sips as she absentmindedly looked out the window.

Mei didn't know how much time had passed when she was suddenly startled by a thundering stampede of footsteps nearby.

Snapping out of her trance, Mei placed her mug on the table before jogging over to the main hallway.

The heiress poked her head out from behind the kitchen doorway, and her brows were raised almost immediately.

There was a horde of at least fifteen people dressed in suits or tactical police armor crowding around the estate entrance, some of whom she recognized, others not so much.

Leading them out the door was her father, who was also speaking frantically to someone over the phone.

She couldn't see his face from her position but could tell from his hastiness that something was up. The purple-haired girl knew it had something to do with the company and that she shouldn't worry about it since her father had it covered, as he always did.

But she had never seen him leave the house with that many people before, especially in such a hurry. Curiosity relentlessly clawed at her conscience as she tried to move past it and back to her room.

Unfortunately, her conscience lost the battle with curiosity, and Mei spun on her heels, heading straight back to the main hallway. Seeing that she is the heiress to the corporation, a bit of a peek into her future life wouldn't hurt.

As she tiptoed closer, Mei strained her ears to try and get a better reading of the situation.

She was only able to pick up the words "Containment," "Breach," and "Alarms," before the door shut closed, silence quickly filling the now empty hallway once more.

Mei slipped out of her hiding place.

She cocked her head to the side in confusion as she tried to gather information from the three words she heard.

"Containment, breach, alarms…?" Mei mused, "...Did one of the company's experimental mecha's get loose or something?"

The heiress's gaze remained on the front door for a moment longer, and then she shrugged. Whatever happened, she would find out in the morning anyway, so there was no point using precious sleeping hours pondering over it.

A yawn intruded her thoughts, and Mei took it as a sign to turn in for the night. She glanced at the front door once more before returning to her room.

---

Ryoma was pacing circles around his office on the very top floor of the Massive Electric Tower.

The clock ticked past midnight, marking the half-hour mark since he had received news that the alarm system in the building had gone off.

And it wasn't a basic alarm either.

It was the highest level of alert installed in the tower's systems. An advanced Honkai sensing device created by the scientists of Anti-Entropy that would trigger upon sensing an abnormal fluctuation of Honkai Radiation.

Only one room in the entire building contained such an alarming amount.

Basement Thirty-One.

A floor that only he and several other high-ranking members of AE knew about and had access to. It was a location so confidential that it wasn't even known to the people working under his own company, no matter what their status was. And for a good reason too, the fewer people knew about the Black Box hidden underground, the better for all parties involved.

Luckily, a good number of undercover Anti-Entropy agents employed in the corporation were stationed there just in case something such as tonight ever happened. A careful countermeasure put into place by the Sovereign himself.

Ryoma had hoped it was just a malfunction in the alarm system, but unfortunately, the sensor's readings were leading straight to the hidden chamber underneath.

To keep his people safe from being corrupted, Ryoma deployed a squadron of mechs and drones into the containment room to survey the situation.

It was just as he feared. Honkai Energy leaked from the barrier that safeguarded the Black Box. Though the amount was minuscule compared to the Second Eruption a decade before, it would still take weeks or perhaps even months for them to filter and purify the room back to levels safe enough for humans to enter.

The three dead combat mechas scattered across the room weren't reassuring at all.

Ryoma knew that he could just sum it up to a skilled intruder from either Schicksal or World Serpent breaking into his tower and failing to take the Black Box. But ever since the day his eyes had been opened to the revelation of the Honkai, he knew that it was never so simple.

Thus, he had one of his most trusted and experienced friends on call.

A holo screen suddenly materialized on the top of his desk, catching the purple-haired man's attention, and he quickly made his way toward it.

The person on the screen was a young woman with a tomboyish appearance. She had short messy, light blue hair and eyes that were a slightly darker shade of cerulean. She was also dressed in smart attire, completed with a tie and blazer.

[ Ryoma, ] she greeted.

"Einstein," the CEO returned the greeting.

[ I received your report. It's quite a situation on our hands, no? ] the blue-haired scientist pulled out her tablet and began to scroll through the notes she had received.

"Tell me about it," Ryoma groaned as he slumped onto his chair and massaged his temples, "I don't think I've felt this much stress since the Eruption,"

[ Then you'll be glad to know that the readings tonight are nowhere near high enough to trigger one. ] assured Einstein, [ If the Herrscher inside the Box had really awoken, well… we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. ]

"So you think the Black Box acting up caused the sensors to go off and not an intruder?" asked Ryoma.

Einstein nodded, [ It's the most likely conclusion I came up with. I went through the entire mainframe and couldn't find any signs of interference. No camera footage or alarm trips either. Although we can't rule out the possibility of an elite infiltrator, the chances are slim but not zero. ]

Ryoma sighed and leaned back in his seat, "Right then, what's your take?"

[ It's not anything complicated. From previous analysis, the Black Box tends to 'rumble' every now and then, emitting small pulses of Honkai Energy. Usually, it's harmless as long as it remains in the barrier. But considering that the containment room already had minor, albeit safe levels of Honkai energy floating around. It is possible that when the Black Box released a light pulse, it became a magnet drawing all of the room's energy toward it. ] explained the scientist.

[ The barrier couldn't simultaneously contain and defend itself from the sudden fluctuating Honkai energy. Eventually, that energy was able to drill a small hole in the barrier, thus releasing the leak. ]

"Then what about the Heimdalls and Hephaestus? You've seen the photos, and they're badly damaged,"

[ Yes, that is what worries me more, if I'm being honest. ] admitted Einstein, eliciting a raised brow from the purple-haired man.

The blue-haired woman noticed his perplexed expression and clarified, [ Don't you remember, Ryoma? The ancient Herrscher contained in the Black Box, according to the notes on the Previous Era, could freely control technology by hijacking the systems like one giant virus. I theorize that this energy leak briefly corrupted the mechas to fight against each other. ]

"That is concerning," muttered Ryoma, holding his head up in his hands, "My company holds an army's worth of mechs and drones, along with other technological advances. If they somehow get corrupted…,"

The man trailed off as he thought of the amount of destruction a mech army controlled by a sentient, prehistoric malware could cause, and an icy shiver ran down his spine.

[ Indeed. If all it took to corrupt them was energy from a simple leak, then the Herrscher of Corruption might not be sleeping as soundly as we thought. We must prepare fast and accordingly. ] warned Einstein.

"We'll need the Sovereign to fight against such an enemy," Ryoma stated quietly.

The blue-haired scientist's lips curved down into a slight frown, "Unfortunately, Joachim is still recovering from the Second Eruption. The battle against Sirin on the moon did more damage to his body and psyche than any of us could imagine,"

Ryoma stayed silent as he bitterly thought back to the war against the embodiment of destruction a decade earlier. His daughter was only two then, and the idea that she would never get the chance to grow up terrified and angered him to no end. But what could he do? He was just another agent of Anti-Entropy, high-ranking, yes, but at the end of the day, he was still powerless against the Honkai threat.

They fought behind the steel armor of their combat mechs, and even though it was much safer than what Schicksal's Valkyries were doing. Ryoma would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't want to go onto the battlefield and personally fight for his family's future. He knew that stepping onto the frozen wasteland of a scorched Siberia would mean certain death, but the thoughts kept flooding the forefront of his mind.

In the end, it was Welt Yang who convinced him otherwise right before the Sovereign left for the moon. He could still recall the very words said to him.

'Stay alive for your family, Ryoma. They await your safe return,'

Such simplicity those words exuded, but it still permanently changed the younger, more reckless version of himself and his outlook on life.

"How is he doing now anyway?" asked the purple-haired CEO, "I haven't seen him since 2005,"

[ Better. ] replied Einstein, [ He's doing undercover work as a teacher at St. Freya. It's going rather smoothly, and he seems to be enjoying it. ]

"That's good," Ryoma smiled, "And Tesla? Where is she?"

[ In Alaska overseeing the construction of the new Black Box containment chamber. She's fuming at the fact that her "children" were forced to kill each other, but you know her. When she's mad, she's motivated. ]

"Yeah, that sounds like her,"

Einstein slightly smirked before continuing, [ Don't stress yourself out too much, Ryoma. We'll be transferring the Box to the new location when it is finished, for now— ]

"Keep a tighter eye on it, I know," Ryoma finished her sentence before standing from his desk, "I have a better understanding of the situation now, so I'll be off first. I need to control the media before they make up wacky stories for their articles,"

The scientist nodded, [ Very well, then I wish you luck, Ryoma. ]

Ryoma waved his goodbye, "Thanks again, Einstein,"

The holographic screen dematerialized, leaving the CEO to his thoughts in his empty office.

From the window, he could see all of Nagazora below, including the growing number of flashing red and blue lights. A helicopter even flew past, unaware that he was watching it.

With a sigh, Ryoma turned and left the room.

Now, he just had to think of a solid cover story to tell the public; sometimes, that was more difficult than anything.

---

Chapter 6 - First Snow in Autumn IV

---

So this chapter took a bit longer than expected. Had to rewrite several parts because the chapter was either going to be too short or too long. Speaking of which, this is also (for now) the longest chapter I've written for the Starchaser. Will this record be broken in future chapters… yes… most likely… definitely. Especially once we get to the juicier sections of the Nagazora Arc.

Originally this chapter was meant to follow Adam, Mei, and Miyuki through the events of the School Festival. But then I remembered I introduced a new important character at the end of the previous chapter and didn't want to leave it hanging there. So I decided to delay the festival chapters and write this one instead.

[ Macaque ]'s official debut chapter. Of course [ Macaque ] is just a codename and more of him will be revealed in the future. All we know now is that he's another animal-based member of the World Serpent with a Stigmata. We also get to see a bit of his moveset with electromagnetic hacking, combat wires, and something called the Archon Systems(?). As the story progresses, more of Macaque's secrets will be unraveled.

How were the fight scenes by the way? I admit it's been a good while since I've last written one so I'm sure they might be lacking in some areas. Please let me know. There are some big fights that will happen further down the line and I want them to be good.

All in all, this chapter was mostly set up for the rest of the entire Nagazora Arc.

The next chapter will be about the festival. Y'know, for some slice of life before the slice and dice.

Anyway, that's everything for Chapter 6! If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review/follow/favorite. They're all greatly appreciated and are a source of motivation for me to continue writing this story.

Thanks for all of your support! Until we meet again!

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[ REDACTED ] Memory

I hurried through the base's halls to the mission deployment hangar.

The most recent set of contracts had been sent out earlier that day, but I only received them fifteen minutes ago for some reason.

And here I was, hoping to get some training in before dinner.

However, as an assassin of COCOON, it's my responsibility to hunt down and end the existence of Fire MOTH's enemies.

So my missions took priority over everything.

Such was the lifestyle of someone in COCOON.

Turning the corner, I saw a flash of pink hair and jumped back.

The girl yelped as she fell on her backside.

"Sorry I didn't see you there," I said as I offered a helping hand to the girl I had almost run into.

"No, no, it's my fault. I should've watched where I was going," she took my hand, and I pulled her back onto her feet.

It was then I got a better look at her. She was young, that's for sure.

A peppy-looking girl who seemed older than Griseo but perhaps around the same age as Kosma and Dystopia.

Her long hair was a soft pink tied back in a ponytail, although one of her bangs was a peculiar streak of red. It reminded me a bit of the cotton candy at the amusement park or the Cherry Blossoms that used to bloom in the Spring.

Her eyes were the color of the bright blue sky and full of wonder and innocence.

That was how I instantly knew she wasn't a member of MOTH. Such things were mythic luxuries that we gave up the moment we joined.

That and she was wearing a high school uniform while holding a small gift box in her hand.

…Now that I think about it, she does look a bit familiar.

But I quickly shook that thought off. I had more pressing matters to attend to.

"No, I'm in the wrong. I was walking too fast and should've slowed down at the corner," I tell her as I scoot around her, "Anyway, I'm sorry about before, but I really need to get going. Stay safe and see ya,"

"W-Wait!"

I pause and turn around.

"What is it?"

"Y-You work with my sister, right?" she asked, clutching the gift box close to her chest.

"Your sister?" I echoed.

The pink-haired girl nodded, "Her name's Sakura. I've seen the two of you talking to each other a lot, so I just presumed…" the young girl quickly bowed, "Ah! I-I'm sorry if I got it wrong!"

I shook my head, "No, you're right, she's a close colleague of mine,"

The girl let out a pent-up sigh of relief, "Haah, I'm glad. I was so nervous trying to talk to the soldiers here,"

"She talks about you sometimes, y'know," I said with a smirk.

A panicked expression crossed the girl's face, "W-What!? Oh no, nothing bad, I hope?"

"Don't worry, only praises…a lot of praises,"

"Ahaha, hopefully, nothing embarrassing,"

I walked up to her, asking, "So, what can I do for Sakura's little sister?"

"R-Right, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but…," the pink-haired girl extended the gift box toward me, "Could you please give this to my sister? It's her birthday today. I wanted to surprise her by coming here, though it looks like she's busy again. She's been working so hard lately that I think she might've forgotten about it completely, but I want to show her that at least I still remember,"

"Of course, I'm meeting her in an hour, so I'll hand it over to her then,"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the girl clapped her hands gleefully, "It's not much, but it's something from home, so I hope she likes it,"

"She will. It's from her little sister, after all," I reassured her before slowly beginning to continue to the hangar.

"Anyway, I need to get going now. It was nice meeting you, uh...Sakura's little sister,"

The pink-haired girl put her hands on her hips as she pouted, "I have a name you know,"

I scratched my cheek sheepishly, "Haha, sorry, Sakura definitely mentioned it before, but I forgot. What was it again?"

"It's Rin!" she greeted with a grin.

"Then it's nice to officially meet you, Rin. My name is ———,"