A Return to Eden

by Oromoris

Eight years after the passage through the gate, debris from space lands near the new civilization rising from the ashes of the old world. The past haunts the present, but a peaceful future can be found in this new Eden.

3. The Old-World Computer

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are two brief mentions of attempted suicide in this chapter. While the subject is only briefly mentioned, it still remains within the story. If you are sensitive to such topics, it is mentioned is in: Scene 15 (Paragraph 95)*, Scene 29 (Paragraphs 48-50). Of course, if you are struggling with something like this, get help. I sincerely apologize if I miscounted scenes or paragraphs.

*(By paragraph I mean every time a new line begins, whether it's someone new talking or even just a singular sentence.)

---

It had been two weeks since they had gotten married, but it still felt unreal for him.

Hiro opened his eyes slowly and looked beside him, to Zero Two's side of the bed.

Her absence confused him for a moment, before he heard beans being ground, and smelled the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee.

He closed his eyes and smiled.

"I've got to be the luckiest guy in the world," he thought to himself.

With one quick motion, he sat up and swung his feet off the side of the bed.

He looked down at his legs as he pushed himself up to stand.

One was the color of his normal skin, the other had retained the deep blue color of his Klaxosaur skin.

Ikuno's miraculous reattachment of his leg went near-perfectly, but for some reason his leg wouldn't adapt like the rest of his body.

Hiro didn't care, as long as it worked.

He quickly threw on some pajamas and hurried to put slippers on his now cold feet.

Stepping into the dimly lit kitchen, he saw Zero Two dumping comical amounts of sugar into one of the two mugs she had prepared on the counter.

"Good morning, darling." She said in a soft voice.

"Good morning, Zero Two." Replied Hiro.

After taking a sip of the sickly-sweet coffee, she closed her eyes to enjoy the silence of the morning.

"Thank you for the coffee," said Hiro, as he walked over to kiss her on the cheek.

She simply smiled and gave a hum of pleasure.

Hiro looked at the sky out of a large window above their kitchen sink.

Although the clouds blanketed the sky, the dim pre-dawn landscape was illuminated by what little light there was reflecting off the snow.

After admiring the view for a moment, he looked for his apron, and got to work.

Since their return, Hiro had learned that he was very talented at cooking.

He was nowhere near as good as Futoshi, but it made Zero Two happy.

That was good enough for him.

Zero Two sat on a barstool at the countertop as she watched Hiro put together their breakfast.

"What did you want to make today?" She asked.

"I was thinking something simple," responded Hiro. "I was just going to fry up some eggs and toast, with some ham to go with it."

Zero Two began to speak before Hiro interrupted her.

"Don't worry," he said with a smile. "The ham has been marinating in honey since last night."

Zero Two smiled and watched as he started to navigate the kitchen, searching for ingredients.

As Hiro was cooking the ham and the eggs he stopped and looked up in contemplation.

"You know," he said. "Sometimes I find myself craving bear meat now."

Zero Two laughed before responding. "Well, you're welcome to go and find a bear."

"I think you were pretty good at it."

"Yeah, but do you remember how I looked after all of that? You were worried sick."

"Maybe but…. hmm."

"What is it?"

"Just thinking about you back then."

"What, covered in blood?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"I found myself oddly attracted. My wife bringing back something she had just killed with her bare hands was kind of stimulating."

"What?"

"I'm honestly just as confused as you are."

Zero Two walked up and hugged him from behind. "You can be weird sometimes, darling."

"Watch out for grease."

A popping sound came from the pan of sizzling ham, and a few small droplets flew upward.

"Ow!" Started Zero Two, quickly stepping back and covering her arm.

"Like that."

---

The two Klaxosaurs began their day just as dawn arrived.

They quickly cleaned their kitchen and dressed themselves, meeting in their living room to leave together.

It took them a moment before they realized they didn't have anywhere they needed to be.

They didn't start working until the next day.

The couple awkwardly sat in their living room trying to come up with reasons to leave the house, until a ring from their doorbell startled them both.

Zero Two was the first to arrive at the door, throwing it open to reveal the smiling faces of Ichigo, Goro, and their son Yuuma.

"Hey you two," said Ichigo. "Mind if we come in?"

"Not at all," replied Zero Two.

The three walked in, Goro and Ichigo sitting in the living room while Yuuma searched the house for Zero Two's hidden treasure trove of sweets.

"What brings you three over?" Asked Hiro.

"We were just going to check in and ask you two whether you wanted to come do something with everyone," said Goro. "But seeing as you're already dressed, I assume the answer will be yes."

"Where is everyone going?" Inquired Zero Two.

"Ice skating," answered Ichigo. "I have a feeling you two will be good at it."

Hiro and Zero Two looked at one another.

"Well," declared Zero Two. "It's not like we have anything better to do."

As the group prepared to leave, a confused Goro questioned the Klaxosaurs.

"Wait, if you had nothing better to do, then why were you getting ready to go out?"

Hiro thought for a moment before responding.

"…We were going bear hunting."

Zero Two began to laugh while Goro and Ichigo looked at one another in confusion.

---

When the group arrived at the frozen pond in the park, they found that the rest of Squad Thirteen had already begun skating.

Except for Miku and Zorome, who sat in the snow at the pond's embankment.

"Zorome can be pretty thoughtful when he wants to, can't he?" Said Zero Two.

"Yeah," replied Ichigo. "You two haven't been around for long enough, but they care for each other far more than they show around others."

"You know this how?"

"Well, we spied on them of course."

"I see I managed to corrupt you all before we left."

"How do you think we found out about Ikuno's girlfriend?"

"They're already married," said Hiro. "They've told everyone about it, in a way. Why would they try and hide it?"

"I don't know," responded Goro. "Those two used to argue incessantly; maybe they just wanted everyone to treat them the same way."

"They do still argue from time to time," said Ichigo. "But not in the same way."

"When they're alone together, Zorome's a total softie."

"When they think they're alone together," corrected Zero Two.

"You know," said Ichigo with a mischievous smile. "Zorome calls her 'love' when we're not around."

Zero Two let out a quick laugh. "What a marshmallow."

"You two aren't much better now, are you?" Commented Goro.

"Fair enough," responded Zero Two.

Grabbing Hiro's hand, she began to pull him towards the pond. "Come on, darling!"

Ichigo and Goro stood at the top of the hill overlooking the pond, watching the rest of Squad Thirteen show the two Klaxosaurs the basics of skating on the icy pond.

Zero Two was quick to learn, while Hiro slowly circled the pond, running full speed into the embankment whenever he needed to stop.

Goro looked down at them and smiled.

"What is it?" Asked Ichigo, leaning forward to get a better look at her husband's face.

"I just feel giddy, is all," answered Goro. "I know it's been nearly a month and a half, but they're alive."

"I get it," said Ichigo. "I haven't felt like this in a while."

"I don't want to take advantage of the fact that they're back."

"Me neither."

"In a way, they're return makes me realize how lucky we are that all of our friends made it out. Any one of us could have died."

"I hadn't thought of it that way before, but you're right."

Goro put his arm around Ichigo's shoulders. "Thanks for surviving, Ichigo."

"Gross," said Ichigo, fighting back a smile. "Hiro's corniness has rubbed off on you."

"Hey, I'm being honest here."

Ichigo rested her head on his shoulder. "I know. I'll say the same; thanks for being here with me, Goro. Thanks for being alive."

"Who's being corny now?"

"I think there's a time and place for it. I like to hear it sometimes. It reminds me how sweet my husband is, and how much I love him."

They stood there for a few moments, enjoying each other's warmth.

Hiro and Zero Two suddenly stopped skating at the same time.

They looked at each other and nodded, as though confirming something without speaking.

They made their way back to the embankment, and quickly started putting their shoes back on.

The rest of Squad Thirteen ran over to interrogate them.

"What's wrong?" Inquired a flustered Naomi.

"It's coming," said Hiro, while lacing his boots. "A big one, at that."

"What is?" Asked Kokoro.

"We'll explain in Hachi's office," answered Zero Two.

"We need to get there as fast as possible," said Hiro.

"We'll go with you," said Miku.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Wait, Miku," said Zorome. "You shouldn't be running."

Miku looked aggravated for a moment before caving.

"Fine," she responded. "We'll meet up with you all as soon as we can. See you in Hachi's office."

The rest of Squad Thirteen joined the two Klaxosaurs as they sprinted towards the spire in the distance.

---

"A Super-Lehmann class!?" Shouted Nana.

Ai stood with the rest of the children near the back of the office, watching the monitors display a monster all the adults seemed to recognize.

It was a long snake like creature of black and blue, with a set of massive wings on its back. It scuttled across the landscape with dozens of thin legs on each of its sides, ending halfway down its body, leaving what seemed to be a tail to slither across the ground. Its long neck became slenderer until it led to a wider, scaly head with three pairs of bright blue eyes.

She didn't realize how large it really was until she saw it dwarf one of the mountains it walked past.

"I guess it was foolish of me to think that there would only be one," said Hachi.

"Why is it coming here?" Inquired Aiko. "The Klaxosaurs don't have any issues with us anymore. If anything, they seem more than happy to leave us be."

"I don't know," said Ichigo. "What do you two think?"

Hiro and Zero Two were deep in thought.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us," answered Hiro.

"But it is coming here with purpose," added Zero Two.

Hachi called an attendant from outside, and immediately began to give him orders.

"Stock the emergency bunkers at the bottom levels of the spire, I want them prepped and the citizens inside by midnight tonight."

"Of course, sir." Said the attendant as he left the room.

"I feel it would be best to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Even if it doesn't intend to cause any harm, a creature that large might cause widespread damage to the city if it manages to get inside."

"There won't be any city left if it comes inside," interjected Ikuno. "We'll have to start from the ground up if it comes to that."

Ai comforted the smaller children, who were starting to become visibly frightened at the beast.

"It'll be alright," whispered Ai. "The spire will protect us."

The children began to calm down, but still looked distraught.

"Judging by its speed," said Goro. "It's about a day and a half out, right?"

"That seems to be the case," responded Hachi.

"Should we ride out to meet it?" Asked Futoshi. "If it's coming here with a purpose, then maybe it won't have to come to the city if it can deal directly with us."

Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement.

"What about us?" Inquired Ai from the back of the room.

"It might be dangerous," answered Ichigo. "Even if it doesn't want to hurt us, it might accidentally cause some injuries."

Ai simply nodded, knowing there was no point in persisting.

"What I want to know," said Zorome. "Is why it's going so slow. It has that massive pair of wings, it could get here as soon as it wants, so why is it crawling?"

"It's crawling slowly, at that," added Mitsuru. "It looks stiff, like it's trying not to move too much."

Everyone watched the footage for a moment before Zero Two pointed to the screen. "I see it."

Hiro nodded a moment later, while their human friends searched the video for what they saw.

Flying the drone in closer, they saw what they meant.

On the Klaxosaur's back was a large building.

An APE-era facility, similar to the ones in which they found the abandoned parasites like Naomi.

"Goro," said a flustered Ichigo. "I thought you said that you had found all of them?"

"I had," said Goro. "There were no more in any APE records, and my sensors never picked up anything."

Hachi was lost in thought as he stared at the footage. "Maybe it was simply somewhere else, but I thought that Dr. Franxx's files were the ultimate record of the APE-era. I was cocky, I guess."

"It's alright," said Nana. "If we take some heavy aircrafts out there, we can retrieve the facility without the Klaxosaur having to come all the way to the city."

"It's time to go then," said Hachi. "We'll gather all of the aircraft we can, and head out as soon as they're fully charged."

He looked at everyone in the room. "I want you all to come if you can, especially," said Hachi, pointing at the Klaxosaur couple. "You two."

"What're we going to do?" Asked Hiro.

"I don't know," he said. "But you might be the ace up our sleeve."

---

Zero Two looked out of the window of the aircraft at the sun rising over the mountains.

Hiro's snoring as he rested against her shoulder broke her from her stupor.

Looking around, she saw the rest of Squad Thirteen asleep in their chairs as well.

The trip to meet the Klaxosaur took them the entire night, and the uncertainty of what the day would bring kept many of the squad members from falling asleep immediately.

Hiro began to mutter in his sleep.

Zero Two looked over and smiled, he talked in his sleep often, revealing his subconscious thoughts.

A large portion of the time, it was about her. According to Ichigo, when she piloted Delphinium with him, it was the same.

It made her happy.

"...ero Two…"

She looked over at him to see if he was waking up.

"…retty…"

Her smile grew wider.

"…fodder…"

It faded.

"…not food…"

She hoped he had forgotten that. "Maybe that was hoping for a little too much," she thought.

"…you're cooking?" Asked Hiro in a mumble. "…love your cooking…borgar…"

With a sudden start he woke up.

"Sorry, Zero Two," he said groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"It's fine darling," she responded. "You talk a lot in your sleep."

He looked concerned for a moment. "What did I say?"

"Something about fodder."

"I meant nothing by it."

"I know, you started talking about my cooking a moment later."

"It sounded nice."

"You're the one who cooks, I make the coffee."

"Let me rephrase that: it sounded like a nice idea."

Zero Two chuckled quietly.

The other team members slowly woke from their light sleep, as the sun began to shine above the mountains into the windows of the aircraft.

"Darling," said Zero Two.

"Yes?" Replied Hiro.

"Your head is still on my shoulder."

"Well, I'm comfortable now, so I might as well stay comfortable."

She fought back a smile and shook her head.

A roar echoed through the mountains, and the grogginess of Squad Thirteen quickly dissipated.

"We've almost arrived," said the pilot over an intercom. "We'll be touching down soon, so prepare yourselves."

"So much for being comfortable," complained Hiro.

"Come on everyone," said Ichigo. "We've got a job to do."

A groan emanated from the rest of the passengers.

---

The Klaxosaur had stopped moving and rested on its belly as it saw the human aircraft approaching.

A set of massive aircraft attached themselves to the facility balanced on its back, and slowly lifted it off to set it on the ground several hundred meters to its side.

"Finally," it thought, as it stretched its wings and shook its massive body to relieve the stiffness of the journey.

Many human aircraft had landed not far from its head, observing it as it rested.

It moved its head slightly so that it could more easily see the people watching it.

They were friendly, but many of them seemed slightly nervous.

The Klaxosaur let a sudden breath out of its nostrils, steaming the surrounding air and making many of the more easily frightened humans run and hide behind their nearby vehicles.

It closed its eyes and let out a deep sound comparable to laughter.

A human came closer with a capsule full of a radiant orange liquid.

Is that…Magma?

It was one of their last capsules of it. They had decided to be rid of it, but they couldn't figure out where exactly to put the volatile material.

Are they…trying to feed it to me?

…Klaxosaurs don't eat…

…and that's not enough to qualify as a meal…

The human looked almost dejected when the Klaxosaur didn't open its mouth.

…Might as well throw them a bone…

The Klaxosaur wrapped its snake-like tongue around the capsule, and with an exaggerated gulp, swallowed it.

The humans let out a cheer.

Everything was calm for a few short moments.

Wait.

That smell.

The child's scent.

The princess.

The Klaxosaur suddenly opened its eyes and frantically searched through the crowd of humans to find those bearing the scent.

It caught sight of two individuals with red and blue horns, making their way closer to it.

"Klaxo-sapiens," it thought. "I didn't think there were any others."

It kept searching the crowd as the pair stood next to its massive head.

Star Entity's scent was closer.

But the princess hadn't revealed herself.

It only saw the two Klaxosaurs now just underneath its eyes.

They bore the smell of the child.

The princess was meant to lead the child into battle.

If they are the ones bearing its scent…

The princess…

As though reading its mind, the pair began to comfort the Klaxosaur to the best of their abilities.

It began to weep.

---

Naomi stood at the door of the facility as someone dealt with the computer locking the entrance.

With a hiss, the old hydraulics began to jitter, then slowly lower the door of the facility to the ground to create a ramp.

Warm air rushed out of the entrance as the investigation team turned on their flashlights and walked into the eerily quiet facility.

Large aisles devoid of light lined the room, as Naomi attempted to discover whether the facility was indeed empty, or whether it housed more survivors, as they had hoped.

An engineer ran past her to a dark computer terminal, and after plugging in a computer of her own, the bright lights of the facility began to turn on one by one.

The pods lining the aisled began to glow, and inside of each were children of varying ages trapped in a deep sleep.

Naomi looked towards an assistant behind her.

"Do they have the cures ready at the entrance?" She inquired. "There are more in here than we originally anticipated."

"Yes ma'am," replied the assistant. "A series of medical personnel are standing ready at the entrance to administer the shot to as many children as necessary."

Naomi's tense shoulders relaxed.

"No more advanced aging," she thought. "I wonder if there are only little ones, though."

As she walked through aisles, she looked in each pod, finding more and more young children.

Another team member began to inquire of those around him. "There are so many small children. Do we have the resources to take all of them in?"

"Of course we do," stated Naomi. "We built the city with this kind of scenario in mind."

From a far corner of the facility, an engineer cried out. "I found an older one! An ex-parasite, by the looks of it!"

Naomi hurried to the pod to take a look.

As she ran, she felt a small tinge of dread at the parasite's wakeup.

"The little ones are easy," she thought. "It takes a while to explain what happened to an older one."

Sometimes it takes longer to explain how their squad mates are dead.

"They always think you're joking about the purple aliens," thought Naomi.

She let out a deep sigh just as she arrived at the pod.

She was tall, with short black hair and tan skin that contrasted the white uniform she was sleeping in. Her build was stockier than Hiro's, but thinner than Futoshi's.

"Is this the only one?" Inquired Naomi.

"No," replied an engineer. "We've found two more, one of which had a malfunction in his tube."

"What does that mean?"

"He was asleep, but the advanced aging has already affected him quite a bit."

"Oh, hell."

"Yeah."

Naomi thought for a moment before continuing. "Since there are so many little ones, we should ask some people from the outside to come and help, it might help the process run a little smoother than with just us."

"Yes ma'am!" Said an attendant, as he saluted and ran off.

"And tell Hachi to get in here," she shouted after him. "If they see an adult, it might calm them down some!"

She turned back to the pod housing the ex-parasite.

"Well, everyone," she said loudly. "It's time to get to work."

---

She didn't remember falling asleep, much less falling asleep in a facility like this.

She went to sleep in her room like she had every other day.

Why was she here?

What was this place?

She covered her eyes as light began to pour through the opening in her pod.

She heard voices, but couldn't see anything.

A voice rang out to her more clearly than the rest.

"Hey there," called out the gentle voice. "What's your name?"

She was confused as to what she meant by name; but she could guess what it was she wanted.

"Uh, I'm, um," she stuttered. "I'm code five-three-nine."

"Nice to meet you, five-three-nine," responded the voice.

Her eyes slowly began to adjust, just enough for her to see the outline of a woman.

My name's Naomi.

---

Hiro and Zero Two comforted the klaxosaur until it reluctantly crawled back in the direction it had come from.

"What was that?" Inquired Ichigo. "I've never seen a klaxosaur cry before."

"It smelled us," said Hiro. "We were Star Entity's pilots, so our scent is indistinguishable from- "

"The princess'…"

"…yeah."

The mood was somber for a while until children began to pour out of the facility, and medical personnel began the exhausting process of distributing cures while weathering an onslaught of panicked questions from the children.

Squad Thirteen sighed as they made their way over to comfort the children.

An older child, just shy of the age of a normal parasite, led a young girl by the hand as he sought someone to properly explain the situation.

He quickly approached Squad Thirteen.

"What's going on," he said, showing a façade of strength to inspire the children around him.

He was obviously panicking.

"I thought that Papa didn't need us anymore, what does he need us for now? Who are you guys? Where are your APE uniforms? Where are we? I'm not taking any shots until I see an adult in uniform. Where are our orders? What do you- "

He saw Hiro and Zero Two, and his eyes widened at their horns.

"…woah."

Zero Two spoke with typical delicacy.

"Papa was a bastard and we killed him."

The children around the boy began to cry, and Ichigo immediately started scolding Zero Two. Zorome broke out into laughter and Miku began to reproach him similarly.

The boy looked dumbfounded for a few moments until he became visibly angry.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?" He shouted. "THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD JOKE ABOUT!"

He looked around.

None of the adults around him were in uniform.

Oh no.

It's true.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW!?" He shouted again. "WHAT PURPOSE DO WE HAVE!?"

The boy's face betrayed the fury he felt inside.

He began to walk towards Squad Thirteen while radiating bloodlust.

Hiro forced his horns to grow only slightly, and his eyes began to emit the familiar blue glow.

"Stop." He said sternly.

The boy's anger turned into a primal fear.

The children behind him stopped crying.

"Hiro," interjected Goro. "Stop, I'll handle this."

"Wha-what is that thing?" Asked the panicked boy, pointing at Hiro.

"A librarian," joked Goro.

The boy didn't laugh.

"Well," continued Goro. "It's true, Papa's dead."

"And you killed him?"

"Papa planned to destroy everything."

"Papa would never- "

"All the adults of the old world are dead."

"…What?"

"Papa killed them all."

"That's not possible."

"Do you see any old-world adults around you?"

"…No."

"That's because Papa- "

"No, you guys just overthrew him in a coup and killed everyone, you've doomed humanity. You're here to kill us, aren't you? We're just another stop on your path to destroy APE!"

Goro let out a deep sigh and pulled out a tablet from his pocket.

He looked past the boy and addressed the children behind him. "Hey, little ones, look away for a moment."

They hesitantly turned around.

Goro began to play footage from the war with the Virm.

The boy's eyes widened as he heard Papa's voice confirming Goro's words.

He vomited onto the ground as he saw a Franxx being torn limb from limb, and heard the screams of agony from the pilots within. The pilots were saved by another Franxx, but as the footage moved upwards, he saw that many others were not so lucky, as the sky was alight with Franxx and klaxosaurs being destroyed by warped purple figures.

"Do you understand now?" Asked Goro.

The color had drained from the boy's face, and it took a few moments before he slowly nodded.

"Now we need to give you all your shots. And now that your stomach's empty, we'll go have some hot rations in the transports. Does that sound good?"

The boy was led by Goro like a child.

---

A little girl wrapped her tiny hand around Naomi's finger as she steeled herself for the shot.

It was clear that this girl had been put into stasis at a very young age, no more than four. Perhaps it was because of something like this.

The girl was sweet, and incredibly gentle.

Perhaps too gentle to fight klaxosaurs.

The girl shut her green eyes tight as she felt the needle go into her arm.

"Alright," said Naomi in the softest voice she could muster. "What's your code number?"

"…eight-seven-three," replied the girl.

The nurse pulled out the needle.

"See, simple as that," said Naomi. "Do you feel better now that it's over?"

The girl slowly nodded.

Naomi flashed a bright smile. "Good."

She started to walk away, but the girl tightened her grip on Naomi's finger.

Looking back at her, the timid girl stared down at the ground, wavy brown hair covering most of her face.

Naomi crouched down to be at eye level with the girl. "Alright eight-seven-three, do you want to come help me?"

The girl nodded, and Naomi thought she saw a slight smile for a moment.

"Then let's go."

She picked up the girl and swiftly threw her onto her shoulders.

After an hour or two Naomi had taken a liking to the girl; she had a similar personality to her own.

She felt something new, something she had never felt before.

A strange desire to protect the girl was growing within her.

As the girl accompanied her through her work, she couldn't help but wonder what it was.

"What's your code?" Asked the girl.

"My code was seven-zero-three," responded Naomi. "But my name is Naomi."

"Name?"

"We don't use code numbers anymore."

"You use names instead?"

"Yep."

"What is a name?"

"It's something people call you by rather than a number. When someone hears your name, they think of you."

"What's my name?"

Naomi laughed. "I don't know, maybe we should ask Hiro, he can give you a good name."

"I want Naomi to name me."

She felt a pang in her chest.

"Um, well…" she said while deep in thought. "How about…Shizuko?"

"What does Shizuko mean?"

"It means 'quiet child.'"

"…Am I quiet?"

Naomi let out a short laugh. "You are. You're kind of like me in that way."

"Is it really alright for me to have a name?"

"Everything was explained before you got your shot, right?"

Shizuko simply nodded.

"Then you won't have to worry about any of that again. You can do whatever you want."

Naomi heard Shizuko giggle for the first time.

---

After an exhausting day of dealing with panicking children, Squad Thirteen sat down for a much-needed rest.

Hiro fell asleep on his wife's shoulder, and Zero Two was fighting to keep her eyes open.

"What happened to the whole 'we klaxosaurs don't need to sleep' thing that you two were pulling?" Joked Ikuno.

"That doesn't apply when dealing with hundreds of children," replied Zero Two.

Squad Thirteen all showed sympathetic smiles.

"The transports are all full," said Ichigo. "Everyone get ready, we want to leave before dusk."

The sleeping members of Squad Thirteen were shaken awake, and started to groggily rise to their feet.

"Hey," said Zorome. "What are we going to do with the plus one?"

He pointed at Naomi asleep against a transport, a sleeping Shizuko clamped to her arm.

"Wake up Naomi, but let the child sleep," replied Mitsuru. "I'm sure she wants the girl to stay with us."

The members of Squad Thirteen grinned at the sight.

"Hey," said Ichigo softly. "Naomi, we've got to go."

Naomi reluctantly opened her eyes, and held Shizuko in one of her arms as she walked back to the transport with the others.

Squad Thirteen shambled to their seats in exhaustion, carelessly dropping themselves into the comfortable padding.

Zorome attempted to help the pregnant Miku sit down as slowly as possible.

His gaze was fixed on her stomach, and his face betrayed the stress he felt in helping keep the baby healthy.

Juxtaposed by the warmth of Miku's affectionate expression.

"Zorome," she said softly. "I'll be ok. I'm not going to break, being pregnant doesn't make me weak or fragile. I'm not even that far along."

"I know," he responded quietly as he sat beside her. "I just…don't know what else I can do. The least I can do is to help keep you both safe from anything."

"We'll be okay," she whispered while grabbing his hand.

"…Alright."

"And besides, that was just me sitting down. What did you think was going to happen?"

Zorome began to blush as he explained to his wife. "W-well everyone else was just hopping into their chairs, and I thought that maybe you were going to trip, or fall, or the chair would break, or- "

"Zorome, I'm fine. You need to stop overthinking things."

"That's impossible. My first child is being born and no advice I get seems to make me feel any more confident."

"Trust me, it's that way for me too."

They both smiled and closed their eyes.

It wasn't long before all of Squad Thirteen was asleep, and night had descended outside.

---

Naomi awoke to Shizuko's shuffling in her lap.

The child's eyes began to open and she slowly stretched her limbs.

The cabin of the transport was lit only by a few dim lights around them, blanketing their surroundings in a harsh blue glow.

"Shizuko," whispered Naomi. "It's late, you should be asleep."

Shizuko didn't answer, but looked awestruck at the two sleeping Klaxosaurs beside her.

"Oh yeah," thought Naomi. "She hasn't seen them yet."

The girl began to crawl closer to the two, but stopped when Hiro began to show his fangs in his sleep.

Shizuko quickly began to bury herself in Naomi's embrace, as though to hide herself from him.

"Listen, Shizuko," said Naomi. "You can't go near those two when they're asleep."

Shizuko nodded without taking her eyes off of Hiro.

After he began to show his claws, Zero Two's hand tightened around his, and he fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Naomi sighed as she began to doze.

"We need to solve that problem sometime," thought Naomi. "Hopefully soon."

She thought about the events before the wedding.

"This is a superficial solution."

---

It took the city nearly a week to recover from the sudden shutdown and mass integration of young children.

None of Squad Thirteen had been able to work at their regular jobs, and had gotten little rest. None of them had even returned to their own homes in the week since their return.

Organizing programs that hadn't been used in years took far longer than any of them had thought, and although the city was prepared, it didn't make things any easier.

When Squad Thirteen had finished, they all seemed to be dead on their feet.

"We're going to bed," declared an uncharacteristically tired Zero Two.

Hiro quickly agreed, and the rest of Squad Thirteen began to follow suit.

"I've got one thing I need to do before I head back," said Naomi. "See you all tomorrow morning for Futoshi's."

A half-hearted cheer arose from the dissipating group.

Naomi turned around and began to head towards the spire.

She abruptly threw open the doors to Hachi's office.

"This may surprise you," she declared. "But I'm going to adopt Shizuko."

Hachi never looked up from his work.

"Alright," he said calmly. "The paperwork is already on the desk outside."

Naomi had a look of utter confusion.

"Wha-," she stammered. "How did you- "

"Oh, come on. It's been obvious since day one, hasn't it?"

"I would've thought you would try and talk me out of it."

"Well, it's true that you two haven't known each other for very long, but you're one of the few school teachers in the city. You of all people know children, so I have no issue with you raising one."

Naomi couldn't help but smile as she walked out of his office to the desk outside.

"Oh, and Naomi," called out Hachi.

"Yes?" She inquired, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"She's been asking me if you could adopt her a few times a day."

Naomi's chest tightened.

---

Hiro jumped into their bed and buried his face deep into his pillow.

Zero Two shambled over to the other side and laid down similarly.

They both laid face first into their pillows, completely stiff.

"Darling," said Zero Two, muffled by the pillow.

"Hmm?" Answered Hiro in a similarly muffled voice.

"When was the last time we showered?"

"I don't know. Frankly, I'll worry about that later."

"Same."

They turned over and closed their eyes.

When they opened them again, seventeen hours had passed.

Hiro and Zero Two had awoken at the same time, and both groaned as they began to feel the soreness racking their bodies.

"What time is it?" Asked Zero Two, lifting her head off of the pillow.

Hiro looked over at the clock as he slowly opened his eyes. "It says it's seven in the morning."

Zero Two groaned and buried her face in her pillow.

"Work doesn't start until tomorrow," said Zero Two through her pillow.

"We're back where we started," responded Hiro. "What do you want to do today?"

"After breakfast with Naomi, lets lock ourselves in the house. I don't want to do anything today."

"I'm good with that."

The two sat in their bed for a while longer.

"We need to get up," said Hiro.

"I don't want to put on pants."

"I don't want you to either, but we have to go."

The two groggily left their bed and left for Futoshi's restaurant.

---

Naomi was deep in thought from the moment she woke up.

As she secured her prosthetic to her right arm, she thought of Shizuko, and the decision she had made.

When she came to, she was already in the process of brushing her teeth.

"What do I know about being a mother?" She thought to herself. "Of course I've taken care of Squad Thirteen's children from time to time, but this is totally different, isn't it?"

She was outside before she had realized it.

Walking absentmindedly through the snowy streets, her stupor was broken by the sunrise shining directly into her eyes.

"Everything will be ok," she thought, taking in a deep breath. "You're a member of Squad Thirteen, there's nothing you can't do, Naomi."

She walked into Futoshi's restaurant to see her squad mates zoned out inside of a booth.

"Hey everyone!" She said cheerfully, as she slid into the booth.

She was met with glares from everyone else at the table.

"This might come as a shock to you guys," said Naomi excitedly. "But I'm going to be adopting Shizuko."

The group responded with dead silence.

"That's it?" Inquired a disgruntled Zorome. "I had to wake up for that?"

"How did you guys know?"

"She's been following you around all week," interjected Ichigo. "You two were inseparable despite us working on something as boring as organizing government programs."

"Seriously," said Zorome. "Miku came here while having really bad morning sickness."

Naomi felt like hiding. "I-I'm sorry, I just thought-"

"It's fine, it's fine," said Goro. "I don't think any of us would have eaten if it weren't for this."

"Well, what is everyone doing after this?"

"Staying home," said everyone in unison.

Naomi smiled and looked down at her food.

"Have you told Shizuko yet?" Asked Mitsuru.

"No," replied Naomi. "I wanted it to be a surprise. I'm going to pick her up after this."

"Do you have room in your house?" Inquired Kokoro.

"Yeah, the house is a little large for just one person."

"Are you nervous?"

"I'm absolutely terrified."

Miku and Zorome nodded in sympathy.

"But I'm excited at the same time," continued Naomi. "Although the more I think about it the more I feel unqualified."

Ichigo swallowed her food before interjecting, "If you're waiting for a sudden welling up of confidence, it's not going to come."

"That goes for you two, as well," said Goro, while pointing at Miku and Zorome with his fork.

Zorome held his head in his hands, "I know."

"Your house may be big enough," stated Futoshi, "but do you have stuff ready for her?"

"I bought the bare essentials yesterday," answered Naomi, "like a bed and toiletries. As for the rest, I was planning on going out with her to see what she wanted."

"It's going to be a bit of a sensory overload for a kid who just shifted from the APE facilities to a normal life," said Aiko.

"Do you think it will be difficult for her?"

"How could it not be?" Asked Mitsuru, "We didn't really own anything apart from our yearly gift from Papa."

"If she can't pick out anything she just wants, maybe I can start with a small bit of spoiling."

"Like a gift?"

"Yeah. Ichigo, would you mind?"

"Don't worry, it's no big deal," replied Ichigo, "I'll have it done soon. What should it be?"

"I think a bear will be good."

"What are you guys talking about?" Asked Zero Two, with a mouth full of food.

"Every time a child is born in Squad Thirteen, Ichigo makes them a stuffed animal. They're really durable, and will probably last the kids until they are older than we are now," said Miku.

"Cute."

"It's nothing really," said a blushing Ichigo, "I just think it's nice to have something like that when you're little, and I can make them unique for each child. I just want it to make them feel special and different."

"Can I have one?"

"Zero Two, you're an adult."

"Yeah," replied a chuckling Hiro, "we're-"

A confused expression came across Hiro's face.

"Wait…" he pondered aloud, "how old are we?"

"You two should be twenty-four this year," answered Naomi.

"Wow, we're basically almost dead," joked Zero Two.

"You two should at least be able to add the eight years onto when you left," remarked Miku.

"Yeah," said Hiro, "but for five of those years we were practically dead, so it feels strange to acknowledge it as time that actually passed, if you know what I mean."

The table went silent for a moment.

"That got really heavy, really quickly," said Ikuno.

"Sorry."

"Well, you're both fine now," interjected Kokoro, "but I'm sorry that you both lost some years."

"You did get to skip out on an absurd amount of farming and construction," said Goro.

"Was it that bad?" Inquired Hiro.

"It was pretty difficult for around the first three years, then all the infrastructure began to finish at around the same time," said Mitsuru, "the farming became more automated and the job market opened lots of new opportunities for employment and industry. Once the spire was completed, the city was what you see now."

"How did you build all of it so quickly?"

"The old plantations," replied Ikuno, "just one was enough to supply enough raw materials to build the spire twice over."

"Ikuno figured out how to make solar panels that were far more sensitive to light, and enough capacitors to last a few months in case anything happens to the electrical grid," said Ichigo.

"My lab also created a 3D printer that used the recycled metals from plantations to make the specific parts of the spire, and the basic structure of many of the smaller buildings."

"Wow," said Zero Two, "you guys became pretty advanced pretty quickly."

"One thing bothers me, though," said Hiro.

"What is it?" Asked Goro.

"The spire is very sturdy, and far more advanced than a lot of the buildings around it. That's just what's above ground as well; the underground is filled with capacitors and rations too, right?"

"Yeah. Along with some water recyclers and greenhouses for more crops."

"It's almost like you are all preparing for an apocalyptic event."

The table went silent.

"Is there something coming that we don't know about? Something that will leave only the spire standing?"

"We don't know."

"What?" Exclaimed Zero Two.

"Zero Two," said Ichigo, "while we were going through some of Dr. Franxx's old files, do you know what we found?"

"What?"

"We found the Earth's population from when Magma energy started being harvested."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Replied Hiro.

"After the battle at the Gran Crevasse, and the invasion of the Virm, all of the old-world adults died. That was a major drop in humanity's population; several million people died in the space of a few months."

"I know."

"That was nothing compared to one hundred years ago."

"I thought the adults were all of the old world's population."

"No, not even close."

"The adults were just the people who could afford to live on a plantation," interjected Goro, "The richest families and individuals in the world, exclusively."

"Before the plantations," said Ichigo, "there were eight billionpeople alive on Earth. Eight billion."

Hiro and Zero Two's eyes grew wide.

"There are, right now, six thousand three hundred people alive. Ikuno, what's the percentage drop in population from one hundred years ago to now?"

Ikuno pulled out her tablet and began a calculation, quickly holding up the tablet to show the absurdly large percentage on screen.

Ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine-nine-nine-nine-two-one-two-five percent drop in population.

"Do you have any idea the kind of existential dread that overcame the entire city?"

"Rather than a new start for humanity," said Ikuno, "this city seemed like a way to ease humanity into a slow and painless extinction."

"A record number of people checked into the psychiatric ward at the hospital, and there were multiple failed suicide attempts," stated Naomi darkly, "luckily, no one was lost, and the situation became better, but the future seemed cold and uncertain."

"Hence, the spire. If anything else happens, we should be fine in the spire."

"What about another invasion?" Inquired Zero Two.

"We have a theory about that, which seems to have been proven in recent years. It should mean that there isn't going to be another invasion."

"What's that?"

"One hundred years ago, there were programs that were searching for extraterrestrial life, but there was nothing to be found. A number of theories came about, some suggesting that humanity was a pioneering species, others suggesting that humanity was closing in on extinction. It became a puzzle in the form of the Fermi Paradox, which implied that the galaxy should be teeming with sentient life, and there is no explanation as to why it isn't. We found the answer."

"What is it?"

"The Virm."

"The Virm were the answer?"

"Papa killed all of the sentient life that we should've been finding."

"So…we're alone?"

"Yeah. As sad as that sounds, it also means that there is no chance of an invasion."

"With that," said Mitsuru, "humanity's survival is assured."

"So it's not as much preparing for the apocalypse," interjected Hiro, "but cautious optimism?"

"That's a good way to put it, yeah."

The table was silent for a moment.

Hiro smiled as he spoke, "I guess we did get to miss all of that anxiety, huh?"

"And so did all of these new children," remarked Goro, "All of the others helped at least a little in the construction of the city. Now that it's done, it might be even harder for them to acclimate."

"I hadn't considered that," said Zorome.

"It makes sense," inserted Aiko, "when you're building the city, it will reflect you in some way. These kids have nothing to latch onto apart from the shared experiences of the ex-parasites around them."

"It might also be difficult to integrate them into the city alongside the growing number of children being born. The experiences and disciplines will be very foreign to them."

"I've been working on something for the past week in that same train of thought," said Ikuno, "not only will there be some differences in the way they were brought up to this point, but also biologically as well."

The members of Squad Thirteen realized what she meant immediately.

"The yellow blood cells…" said Ichigo.

"Yes, so I've had to be very careful in how we regulate the classification of citizens within the city. One wrong transfusion- "

"And someone dies a painful death," inserted Zero Two.

"So the medical records for this generation are going to be a pain to keep up with."

Ikuno looked profoundly tired for a moment, more so than the other exhausted faces around her.

"Anyway," she continued, "moral of the story, you'll be fine, Naomi, but at the same time keep a very close watch on Shizuko's medical records."

Naomi's face was pale.

Kokoro tried to lighten the mood with a smile, "this conversation has gone a little off the rails; how about we talk about something else?"

Squad Thirteen spent the next half-hour talking and laughing about whatever they fancied as they ate, until the tired members dispersed to return to a long rest.

---

Naomi stood in front of the building in which Shizuko was housed.

She was past simple nervousness.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in-

She walked through the doors.

"Oh!" Started a staff member, "Miss Naomi, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, thank you," replied Naomi.

"What is it that brings you here today? It's a bit early for the new children to attend orientation, isn't it?"

"I'm not here for that today."

"What would that be?"

"Do you know Shizuko?"

"Oh, the girl who had a name before she arrived, right?"

"That should be it."

The attendant saw the papers in Naomi's hand and grinned.

"Ah. So that's what Mr. Hachi meant."

"Has she been doing alright?"

"She's been doing fine," replied the attendant with a laugh, "but I was beginning to wonder why she wouldn't unpack any of her new clothes."

"She never unpacked?"

"Nope. It's as though she was getting ready to leave."

Naomi smiled warmly.

The attendant led Naomi through the building until they arrived at a large common area where children were running, laughing, and playing.

She saw Shizuko standing near the edge with a small suitcase in hand.

Naomi held out her arm, and a giggling Shizuko ran to wrap her hand around Naomi's finger.

"Let's go home, Shizuko," said Naomi softly.

Shizuko grinned, and Naomi's fears melted away.

---

Hiro's alarm caused him to start suddenly.

Zero Two hadn't fallen asleep, but just laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He looked over at her blank expression.

"Don't make that face, you're giving me flashbacks," he said in only a half-joking manner.

She laughed before answering, "Don't worry, I'm still here."

"I don't really feel tired anymore, just…lethargic."

"I know what you mean. I can't really go back to sleep, but I don't want to get out of the bed either."

They turned to face each other, and clasped the other's hand.

Smiling, the two locked horns.

"Then let's stay here all day."

The peace of the moment was interrupted by their doorbell.

Hiro spoke with a broken voice, "why can't we just relax?"

"After this, surely…"

"We'll be there in a moment!" Shouted Hiro at the door.

The pair shambled to find some clothes appropriate to answer the door in, eventually deciding that whatever mismatched pajamas they were wearing were sufficient.

Hiro threw open the door to see Naomi's smiling face.

"That's twice now, Naomi," said Hiro with thinly veiled aggravation.

"Wh-what?" Inquired a now confused Naomi.

"Nothing, it's fine."

"W-well, anyway," she continued, "I just wanted to introduce her to everyone."

"Oh!" Exclaimed Zero Two excitedly, "is Shizuko here?"

Naomi gestured to her side, where Shizuko had hidden herself behind Naomi's legs, stealing occasional glances at the Klaxosaurs.

"No need to be afraid," said Naomi softly, "they're your family now."

Hiro crouched to be at eye level with Shizuko before speaking, "it's alright, we won't hurt you."

"You have sharp teeth," said Shizuko defiantly, "I saw them on the plane."

"…and?"

"You'll eat me up, like a wolf. I don't wanna be eaten."

"Shizuko!" Reproached Naomi.

"Well, Shizuko," said Zero Two in a soothing tone, "you know what these teeth are really for?"

Zero Two pulled a piece of caramel out of her pocket, and took an exaggerated bite out of it with her fangs.

Naomi and Hiro smiled, and Shizuko couldn't help but giggle.

"And it's a little hard to be scared of them when they're dressed like this," joked Naomi, "isn't it, Shizuko?"

Hiro was puzzled for a moment until he looked at what he was wearing.

He was wearing a pair of loose bright blue sweatpants with cartoon bears on it.

His t-shirt was even more embarrassing.

It had a faded print showing a cartoon Strelizia lying down at the beach.

Above it the t-shirt said 'Strelizia letting go of the Stress-lizia.'

It was a dumb shirt, but at the time he had felt almost morally obligated to buy it.

"H-hey Zero Two," he said while blushing, "are these even my pants?"

She silently shook her head while holding back laughter.

Naomi began to laugh, and Shizuko started to visibly relax.

"See, Shizuko," said Zero Two, "we're just like you."

Shizuko gave a hesitant nod and sheepishly stepped out from behind Naomi's legs.

"I'm sorry," remarked Shizuko softly.

"Don't worry about it, I've been subjected to worse," said Zero Two with a smile.

"I'm sorry about the other day too."

"Wh-what happened the other day?"

"They gave us dino chicken nuggets at the cafeteria, I thought it hurt your feelings."

Naomi snorted, and Hiro broke out into laughter.

"D-don't worry about it," replied a quizzical Zero Two, "I've never really thought about dinosaurs like that."

Hiro looked up at his wife and spoke while grinning ear to ear, "if we ate some, would that make us cannibals?"

Zero Two shook her head.

"All right," said Naomi warmly, "I just wanted Shizuko to see everyone before we went back to the house."

"Alright, see you later!" Replied the couple.

When they shut the door, the two let out deep sighs of relief.

"Now, let's hurry and turn off all the lights, so that people think we're asleep," said Hiro, "I can't deal with any more people today."

"Agreed," sympathized Zero Two.

The two laid down in their bed, and simply enjoyed each other's company, talking and laughing with each other for hours on end.

Things went silent for a moment, as they appreciated the new experience.

"It's nice to know that now," said Zero Two, "when I want to be home, you'll be there."

Hiro touched his horns to hers and smiled.

"Where's this coming from?"

"It's just nice. To know that I'll always be able to find you, rather than having to search, or fear being separated again."

"I won't let anything separate us."

She nodded and smiled.

"And besides," continued Hiro, wrapping his fingers in-between hers, "you were there with me when we saw it. We're not bound by flesh alone."

Zero Two closed her eyes and smiled even wider than before.

"I'll always be yours," he said with finality.

She leaned in and kissed him, "I love you, my darling."

"I love you too, beloved."

---

The pair woke up early that morning.

They were both having their first day of their new jobs.

But not dull, randomly assigned jobs. These were jobs that they wanted to do.

Zero Two's career as an artist.

Hiro's career as a librarian.

Their occasional involvement with teaching the children literature and art.

To them, the world seemed wider and full of more potential than ever before.

They felt more powerful than they ever did in Star Entity.

Zero Two put on her typical overcoat and red scarf, throwing clothes in a pack for when she would begin painting.

Hiro donned his regular blue scarf and peacoat, making sure that he seemed as presentable as possible for his first day.

"Alright," said Hiro enthusiastically, as they stood outside their front door, "I'll drop you off first, then head on to the library."

"Thank you, darling," replied Zero Two warmly.

The sky was bright blue, and the snow on the ground reflected the blinding sunlight from below.

In the distance, Hiro spotted clouds dark as pitch.

"It's supposed to snow this evening," said Zero Two, as though reading his mind, "don't worry, it won't be until after we leave for home."

The tension in Hiro's shoulders relaxed.

The two began their commute into the city.

"So, where is your first job?" Inquired Hiro.

"Futoshi's restaurant," answered Zero Two ecstatically.

"That's good, the walls were kind of plain."

"So is every other wall in this town. That's good for us, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the only artist left; I have a monopoly on the market."

"That's…surprisingly insidious."

Zero Two put her hands on her hips and let out a fake maniacal laugh with the deepest voice she could muster.

Hiro looked at her and smiled.

"Well," continued Hiro, "what are you going to do at Futoshi's?"

"I've been thinking about it," responded Zero Two, "and I want to do a graffiti version of Chlorophytum and Aiko's Franxx. I already showed Futoshi a draft before, and he liked it. I want it to be a surprise for everyone else, though."

"That sounds nice. It's like a callback to the owners."

Hiro stopped in his tracks.

"Wait," he said, "what's graffiti?"

Zero Two smirked, "don't worry about it, I saw it a lot in the ruins of bigger cities."

"What's it going to look like?"

"It won't be totally in a graffiti style, but I am going to use the same technique for coloring it. I want to make it bright, like it's coming off of the wall."

"If you're making it, I'm sure it will look fine."

"Fine, you say?"

"Sorry, I meant 'hot damn, babe, your art's gonna look fantastic.'"

Zero Two choked on air before bursting into a fit of laughter from the unexpected joke.

He smiled and began to chuckle himself.

Hiro could listen to her talk about art all day.

"Oh, we're here," exclaimed Zero Two excitedly, "I'll see you later, darling!"

She gave him a quick kiss, and walked into Futoshi's restaurant.

Hiro felt a twinge of sadness at not being able to talk to her more, but she seemed so enthusiastic he couldn't help but feel proud and be supportive of her.

"Alright," he said to himself, "to the library."

After another kilometer of walking, he found himself at the foot of a large flight of tan concrete stairs.

He scanned the building from the ground up.

The entrance was two oak doors in an archway, around three meters tall, surrounded by flat gray slatestone.

The massive building was over a hundred meters wide, and the length was twice that. The walls were covered in large gray slatestone, making it distinct from the red-bricked buildings on the same street. Large windows revealed dozens of people inside, some reading novels, others using public computers, and he thought he saw one or two of Ikuno's scientists pouring over research.

The city had obviously let some architect have free reign over the design of this place.

The library was over one hundred meters tall as well, making it one of the largest buildings in the city.

Hiro took in a deep breath, and made his way up the stairs.

The doors sensed him approaching, and swung open to reveal the astonishing place he would be working.

---

Zero Two hadn't fully realized what Futoshi had done for her until she was walking to the storeroom to change her clothes.

The restaurant wasn't closed that day, in fact, it was quite busy. He had moved away the tables from around the wall she would be painting at, leaving a mat on the floor underneath.

If anything, it was like the tables were arranged away from the wall like it was a stage.

He was helping her get publicity by having her paint in front of his sea of customers.

"Thanks, Futoshi," thought Zero Two, "you're really a great guy."

Zero Two's attention shifted to Goro and Ichigo in a booth not far from the wall where she would be working.

She walked up to the table and greeted them cheerfully, "hey you two! What brings you guys here today?"

"Oh, hey Zero Two," remarked Ichigo.

"Hey," said Goro, "we're having date night."

"It's a bit early for that," said Zero Two sarcastically.

"Well," interjected Ichigo, "we were supposed to have date night sometime last week, but with the new children coming in, we couldn't ever get around to it."

Zero Two gave a sympathetic nod.

"You two have a fun date," said Zero Two, "I'm going to change so that I can paint the wall."

"We'll be watching," replied Ichigo with a smile, "the painting of course, not the changing."

Zero Two walked into the back of the shop and prepared herself.

She changed into a long-sleeved white t-shirt, and put on white overalls, matching with the worn-out white shoes she was wearing. It was an outfit that she didn't have to worry about getting dirty.

If anything, it would be fun to watch the white clothes slowly gain more and more color from the paint she would be working with.

She pulled her hair into a messy bun, and put on the final piece to her outfit.

It was a white baseball cap that said 'Strelizia' on the front.

She wore it backwards, to keep the hair in her bun from getting covered in paint.

In the back were two frayed holes that she had cut with scissors, so that her horns could poke through.

She grabbed all of the paint and brushes she needed, and walked out into the dining area.

Seeing Futoshi in the kitchen she waved at him, when he looked over, she spoke, "thanks, Futoshi."

Futoshi simply smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

Zero Two felt all of the eyes in the restaurant on her as she set down her tools and began painting.

Her smile stretched from ear to ear as the day went on.

People walking in and out for different meals would stay for longer than normal to see the new art form that was being displayed.

When her concentration was broken as she began the final details of the painting, she noticed that a small crowd had gathered inside of the restaurant.

When she was finished, she stepped back to look at the entire painting.

It wasn't terribly complicated. It wasn't meant to be realistic; it was meant to be fun.

The painting had the two Franxx reaching out towards one another, their purple and orange coloring a bright neon popping off of the wall.

The background of the painting was splatters of bright neon paint dripping down the wall, colors of green, blue, red, etc.

It broke up the monotonous walls of the restaurant, giving a vibrant life to the already bustling building.

"Yep," thought Zero Two, "this is a good start."

---

No matter how many times he walked through those doors, Hiro would never quite get used to how massive and elegant the library was inside.

It was slightly dimmer than he would have expected, the areas not being bathed in sunlight were illuminated by warm orange light, similar to those he would have found in a home, rather than the harsh white light he saw in most public buildings.

There were four floors, each surrounding the massive foyer where the elegant tile floor made circular patterns with the brown and black stone.

The walls were dark gray stone, and the architecture reminded him of the old-world cathedrals he had read about it books.

Each level had railings where people could look out over the first floor, and through those he could see dozens of bookcases, along with what must have been hundreds of people walking around.

"Well," he thought, "this is where most people go to read and relax."

"Oh, is that you, Mr. Hiro?" Asked a petite woman from behind the front desk.

He looked over to whoever had just called out his name.

"Ah," she continued, "I guess I shouldn't have had to ask, with those blue horns of yours."

"Hello," replied Hiro, "I'm here because I start working today, it's nice to meet you."

She reached out and shook his hand, "it's nice to meet you as well. I'm sure you read the pamphlet explaining exactly what you would be doing here?"

"Yes, I've made sure to memorize everything."

"Memorize?"

"Y-yeah?"

"You weren't required to memorize it; we have other employees here who can help you out if you had any questions."

"O-oh."

The woman laughed, "you know, Mr. Hiro, I had heard about you some, but you completely betrayed my expectations of you."

"What do you mean?"

"You and your wife saved humanity. I thought you would act more…pompous, and regal. To be honest, I was kind of dreading it."

"Wow, thanks."

"No offense intended."

"It's fine, I never really expected to get any special treatment out of it. This life that I have is more than enough."

"Oh, congratulations on your wedding, by the way. My son was sick that day, so my husband and I couldn't make it, but I heard it was a nice ceremony."

Hiro smiled, "yeah, it was."

"Alright, since you've memorized what exactly you'll be doing, would you mind helping up near the public computers? Some researchers are working there today, and they might need some help finding everything."

"Alright, leave it to me."

"Ok, here's your lanyard and nametag, you can leave your peacoat here."

Hiro took off his black peacoat and put on a lanyard that said 'Staff' in large lettering.

He pinned his nametag to his long-sleeved gray t-shirt. It said 'Hello, my name is Hiro.' As though people wouldn't recognize him anyway.

He walked up several flights of stairs, eventually finding the rows of computers on the third floor, right next to a window which was bathing the room in sunlight.

Men and women in white lab coats were gathering books and papers, hustling back to their respective computers whenever they had gathered whatever they needed.

In the corner sat an old man struggling on a computer.

Wait, an old man?

Hiro felt completely and utterly confused. Everyone in the city was relatively young, as there weren't any adults left. The closest thing they had were the immortal caretakers, who were physically only a few years older. Eventually, they would appear younger than everyone else.

Realization hit Hiro a moment later. Naomi had told him that when they had gone to retrieve the children from the Klaxosaur the week before, one of the ex-parasites had a malfunction in their stasis pod, so his advanced aging had affected him while he was still asleep.

"What an awful fate," thought Hiro to himself.

He walked over to the old man to give him assistance with the computer.

"Hello sir," said Hiro, "do you need some help?"

"Um, yes please," stammered the old man, "I can't quite figure out how to…is it upload or download? Well, whatever, I need to move these files from here to here and I can't quite figure out how."

"Here, I'll show you," replied Hiro with a smile.

As Hiro began to work, the old man attempted to spark a conversation.

"You're Mr. Hiro, right? Nice to meet you, you can just call me Elias."

"Likewise, Elias," said Hiro as he worked on the computer.

"You're with that Squad Thirteen, right? The same one as that kindly Naomi lass."

"You know Naomi?"

"Why yes, she was there when I was woken up."

"About that wake up, I'm sorry we didn't find you all sooner. If we had, maybe you wouldn't- "

"It's fine," interjected Elias with a warm smile, "I don't blame any of you."

Hiro smiled in response.

"And in all honesty," continued Elias, "I didn't really want the advanced aging cure in the first place, so I never took it. Actually, I didn't want to be woken up at all."

Hiro stopped working.

"What?" Asked Hiro in confusion.

Elias had a forlorn look on his face as he responded, "the reason I was sent to that facility was because my partner died during battle one day. Losing her…broke me. I felt things with her I never felt with anyone else. The sudden loss of that was too much to bear. Even…even after all this time, I'm still in love with a girl who died twelve years ago."

Hiro's chest tightened.

"When they tried to find me a new partner," said Elias, "I could only really think of her. I wasn't able to connect, so they sent me off."

"I-I'm so sorry for your loss," said Hiro apologetically.

"It's not your fault," said Elias with a tired smile.

Looking at him closely, Hiro noticed that Elias' face had laugh lines from a long time ago.

Who knows when he stopped laughing?

"I thought that, maybe, if I didn't take the cure, I'll be able to see her sooner. That's all I really want," continued Elias.

"You'll be able to see her again," said Hiro sternly, "I know for a fact that you will."

Elias looked thankful as he responded, "thank you kind boy, that means a lot to me. And although I won't be here for much longer, I want to thank you all for allowing me to live a quiet life for now."

The computer dinged as the files finished downloading.

"Oh," said Hiro, "your files are done. Do you mind me asking what they are?"

Elias slowly clicked on the file, and a picture covered the screen.

It was a picture of her in a plantation's birdcage, the trees adorned with pink flowers.

She was laughing and spinning in the woods, the picture evidently taken as a surprise.

Her wavy dark hair seemed to have been flowing in the wind as she spun.

Hiro couldn't shake the sense of familiarity. She must've been one of the thousands he had met in the garden.

One of the thousands who didn't make it.

"Is that…?" Asked Hiro.

"Yes," answered Elias.

They stared at the picture for a few more moments before Elias broke the silence in a soft voice.

"I-I want to thank you for this. To l-let me see her again before…"

The old man was clearly fighting back tears.

"I understand," said Hiro, "believe me. Would you like me to move this from the computer to your handheld?"

"You can do that?"

"Of course."

As Hiro worked to move the picture to the old man's private device, Elias sniffled and attempted to revitalize the conversation.

"She was smart," he said, "funny too. And as a pilot, holy hell, she was deadly as a honeysuckle."

…What?

"Pardon?" Inquired a confused Hiro, "what do you mean 'deadly as a honeysuckle?'"

"Oh," said Elias, "it was a sort of inside joke with the other pilots from Plantation Thirty-Five. We overheard some of the adults saying it once, and the phrase seemed so ridiculous we began to say it sarcastically."

Elias smiled faintly.

"Maybe it was our own little way of rebelling," he continued softly.

Hiro nodded and finished downloading the image.

"Here you go," said Hiro, "that should be all of the files."

"Thank you, Mr. Hiro," said Elias, "I'll be on my way now. Good luck with the rest of your day."

"Thank you, sir."

The rest of Hiro's day went smoothly.

He impressed his peers with his ability, despite it being his first day.

Hiro was too embarrassed to tell them it was because he had memorized everything by accident.

---

Zero Two stepped outside just as Hiro arrived to pick her up.

"Hey darling," she said warmly, "did you have a good day?"

"It was great," responded Hiro, "I'll tell you the details later."

"Why not now?" Asked Zero Two with a confused expression, "we have a while before we get back home."

Hiro pointed upward at the black clouds covering the sky.

She was too busy to notice while she was working.

"They said it's going to be a blizzard, a big one at that."

"Oh. So we really need to hurry then."

"Yeah, we REALLY need to hurry."

The two walked at a brisk pace, until a Zero Two looked behind her a few minutes later to get a glance at the city.

She couldn't see the edge of the city at all.

The snow was coming fast.

"H-hey darling," she said, "I think we should start running."

Hiro's eyes widened as he looked behind him, "maybe we should."

Hiro picked Zero Two up in his arms and sprinted back towards their home.

By the time they had arrived home, the visibility was two meters at the most.

Hiro opened the door and laid Zero Two down on their sofa, before walking back to close the door.

On his return trip he threw on the lights, which cut off mere moments after turning on.

Less than ten seconds after the sudden power outage, Ichigo sent a message over the Squad Thirteen chat.

"The power just went out here. Is everyone ok?"

Although the two could see perfectly well in the dark, Zero Two started lighting what candles they had in order to illuminate the room.

"We're good here," responded Hiro.

Squad Thirteen quickly began sending in responses.

"Affirmative, squad lead," messaged Zorome, in what he inferred was a joking tone.

Hiro smiled down at the conversation before putting the device back into his pocket.

He laid on their sofa and watched as Zero Two walked around, lighting candles as she went.

"So you never told me," she said, a face bathed in dim orange light, "how was the library?"

"It went well," said Hiro, "everyone was very impressed with my ability despite it being my first day."

"Did it go well because you memorized the pamphlet?"

"Y-yeah."

"You didn't need to memorize it, did you?"

"No."

"Told you."

"There was that old man there though. He's had…a hard time since waking up."

"O-oh. Is he in pain?"

"In a way."

"What do you mean?"

"The girl he was in love with died. He wanted to die in his sleep in that facility."

"Oh no…"

The atmosphere grew more subdued and silence prevailed. The two grew still looking at nothing in particular.

"You know…one wrong move and that could've been us. That was us for a while."

Zero Two finished lighting the last candle before responding.

"But if you look back at it like that, darling, you won't be able to enjoy the time we have now."

She walked over and lay on top of him, looking him directly in the eyes. She gently stroked the hair away from his eyes, and rested her palm against his cheek.

"All we need to do," she continued, "is to not take what we have for granted. Focus on how you feel now, and the hope you have for the future. That's all that matters."

She closed what little distance lay between them, and shutting her eyes, sealed their lips together in a long kiss.

A long while later, they broke and Hiro smiled as he responded.

"You know, you can say some pretty profound things sometimes."

Zero Two brushed her hair behind her ear and touched her horns to his.

"You should know that by now, darling."

They enjoyed the shared warmth between them as the wind from the blizzard outside howled against the windows.

"It's dangerously cold," continued Zero Two with a smirk, "we really need to preserve body heat."

It was plenty warm inside.

"That wasn't very smooth," said Hiro with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Well, I don't need to always be profound. Sometimes the best way to convey something- "

Zero Two kissed him again.

"-is to be direct."

The kisses came in droves.

The snow was the heaviest the city had seen that season, the thick blizzard grinding everything to a halt for a few still hours.

It was the last snow of the winter.

Soon, the air was warm, and the trees full of colorful blossoms.

---

"So, Ikuno," said Hachi, "what's the situation?"

"If anything, it's mysteries on top of mysteries," she responded.

"Anything…dangerous?"

Ikuno let out a deep sigh, "no, but that makes it all the more unnerving."

"What do you mean?"

"My gut is telling me something is wrong, but every single piece of data shows me I have nothing to worry about. It's frustrating, because I know; I know I know I know, that something is off here, it's far too abnormal. Plus, there's more than one thing happening at the same time. My mind is buzzing with questions. 'Are they related?' 'How will each affect the other?' 'How can we prepare ourselves for a worst-case scenario?' I feel like my head is going to explode."

"I understand where you're coming from, but draining yourself won't solve the problem."

Ikuno went silent.

Hachi continued, "When was the last time you went home, Ikuno? When was the last time you went to the park or out on a date with your girlfriend?"

"Ok, so I've stayed at the lab for the past two weeks, but- "

"Ikuno!"

"I know, I know; but there is so much I still need to figure out-"

"This isn't healthy," said Hachi sternly, "after you brief me on everything, I'm giving you mandatory paid leave."

Ikuno hung her head and let out a deep sigh.

"Fine," she said.

"I'll give your girlfriend an opportunity to take you out as well."

Ikuno smiled warmly.

"Thank you for that," she said softly, "she's been feeling like me recently."

"Then that's all the more reason."

"I feel like she's been a bit more nervous around me than usual as well."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know, to be honest. She can be kind of spontaneous at times, but, you know, in a good way. It's not easy to get an accurate read on her. Recently it's made me a little worried, though."

"Do you love her?"

Ikuno tried to hide her smile, "yeah. I really do."

"Then everything will be fine."

"You know, for being pretty emotionless most of the time, you can be pretty cheesy sometimes."

"Hiro's influence, no doubt."

Ikuno chuckled and they went to her office.

On the massive monitors above her desk were displayed multiple video feeds of Klaxosaurs several kilometers from the edge of the city. Not close enough to warrant concern, but enough to make their presence known.

"What are they doing?" Inquired an incredulous Hachi.

"A large number of small Klaxosaurs, only slightly larger than large animals, have made their home around the city, alongside one or two Gutenberg class and several Moho class. It's as though they've made a perfect circle around the city with their nests, regardless of terrain."

"Is it a siege situation?"

"No…it's not that."

"Do you have any idea what their intent is?"

"I think they're standing guard."

"They're…guarding us against something? If they're expecting something we have to make extensive preparations."

"The Klaxosaurs are by far the most powerful beings in the galaxy right now, there's nothing to defend against."

"Then…why are they…?"

"I think it's like guards on a castle wall."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that they are simply here to patrol the perimeter. They're not expecting anything, there's almost a one hundred percent chance of humanity's survival at this point. It's just as though they feel obligated to guard us. Like patrols on a castle wall; nothing is coming, but they patrol all the same."

"Well…maybe it's a blessing."

"Let's hope."

"Do you have any idea why they feel they need to guard us?"

"Well, the Klaxosaurs are relatively benevolent, but I have no idea why they would go out of their way to protect us."

Ikuno's face betrayed a revelation.

"I just had a thought," she said slowly, "but I'll need time to make sure it's founded. I'll report it to you later."

Hachi knew it would be better to hear the more fleshed out theory, so he let it drop.

"Now," he said, "you said there was something else."

"Yes," said Ikuno, "and honestly this one scares me just as much as the Klaxosaurs."

The two moved through a series of rooms, until the entered an elevator that would take them to the basement of the lab.

The entered a larger room, brightly lit and painted white.

The edges of the room were filled with whiteboards and computers, hastily written notes and calculations decorating them.

"What's that?" Asked Hachi, pointing to the object in the center of the room.

Men and women in white lab coats circled a computer, running back to their desks or boards to hastily scribble something down, then rush back to it to write more notes.

The computer in the center was unlike anything Hachi had ever seen.

It was small- small enough to be carried by a single person, but not in their pocket.

The screen was solid and opaque, contrary to the translucent and adjustable orange panels that the computers and devices Hachi worked on were made of.

A number of cables ran from the back up into the ceiling, evidently to charge the bulky battery in its base. It looked as though they had to create an improvised charger for the machine out of spare parts.

"That," said Ikuno, "is the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"It's an old-world computer. THE old-world computer. No matter how many plantations or facilities we scavenged, we could never find any. This is the only one."

"Then, where did you find this?"

"It was in the storage compartment of that parasite facility we found a few months ago."

"Why are you telling me about this now?"

"Because everyone here assumed, fairly I might add, that restoring an electronic from the old world was a fruitless endeavor. It was just a fun side project when we didn't have much to do. We only messed with it because we thought we could maybe – maybe – get the power button to work for a few short moments. I still don't understand how it could possibly be working after all these years."

"Well, isn't this great though? A wealth of knowledge ripe for the taking?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Theoretically?"

"All of the information we know can be useful to us is locked behind passwords, encryptions, and a medley of other headache-inducing safeguards. As of the moment, we are only able to look at the most public of files."

"But what about this is a problem?"

"It's one of those public files. When we connected the computer to the net, it uploaded a single file."

"I don't like where this is going."

"That's what I feel inside as well, but the file itself is relatively harmless. If anything, the file's just weird."

"Then why did it automatically upload the file if it wasn't something harmless?"

"We don't know," sighed Ikuno deeply, "but what we do know, is that although the computer has been disconnected, that file is still up there, in the net."

"Well, one file won't hurt."

"But the file is replicating itself, that's what's worrying me."

Hachi stood shocked for a few short moments before regaining his composure.

"It can do that without using a computer?"

"That's the problem, it's using every computer."

"…don't tell me."

"We've found the file hidden on every computer we've searched. Everything from the library computers to personal devices; from electronic readers to the damn power grid."

"But it does nothing?"

"The file's only purpose is to duplicate itself."

"That's it?"

"As far as we can tell."

"Can you start counteracting the file's progression? Maybe upload a file that deletes the other file?"

"I would love to, but this being an old-world computer, things aren't that simple."

"What's the problem with it now?"

"The code in the file is in a programming language that hasn't been used in over one hundred years, and we have to use a file of the same type to make a program deleting it."

Hachi rubbed his temples, "oh, hell."

"You don't understand the half of it," said Ikuno with an exhausted expression, "we have to decipher the whole thing from scratch. It's a mess; random terms thrown around with little to no explanation, commands that counter each other, minor typos that ruin hundreds upon hundreds of lines of code."

Hachi bit his nail as he thought deeply.

"Don't let this leave this laboratory," he said sternly, "it may not appear to be a big deal right now, but I don't want to cause even the slightest panic."

"Understood," replied Ikuno tiredly.

"Is there any chance of this…turning into something?"

"No. The only way to make this program do anything more than what it's doing now is to modify the program and upload it to the net as an update to the original file, which would have to be done from this computer, or one with a copy of the source file."

"And that can't happen because- "

"Because the last person who understood this code died over eight years ago."

Hachi looked at the floor as he attempted to think through the situation.

"Do you understand why I've been here these past two weeks now, Hachi?" Asked Ikuno, "between the Klaxosaurs and this stupid computer, I've been trying to come up with solutions to problems that I don't even understand yet."

The two began to head back towards the front entrance of the laboratory, and continued to talk.

"I understand," said Hachi, "believe me, I do. But you need to get some rest. As of now, you have five days of mandatory paid leave."

"Five!" Exclaimed Ikuno, "Hachi, they need me here!"

"Why do they need you here?"

"Well, I'm the one who organizes everything! I have to-I have to supervise everything! I have to be here to direct everything! I need to help figure out the code!"

"And what exactly are they going to be doing differently while you're gone?"

Ikuno wanted to protest, but he had her.

They had been going at it around the clock to find out the secrets of the computer and how to combat the replicating file ever since it had turned on two weeks ago. Whether she was there or not, that was what the rest of the staff were going to be doing. Her not being there would affect the speed of the endeavor, but she couldn't be of much help if she was too tired to think.

Just the thought of her own bed began to make her light-headed.

"Was I really this tired?" Thought Ikuno to herself.

Hachi noticed and put on-

"Wait, is that…a smug expression!?" Continued Ikuno in her mind.

"Fine," said Ikuno, "maybe now I can ask Nanami what's been bothering her."

While Ikuno was distracted, talking to herself, Hachi looked over and saw her.

Ikuno's girlfriend Nanami, sitting at her desk across the room, hidden from Ikuno by the small borders in between desks.

Ikuno was right, she looked in disarray.

Her curly auburn hair was tied up in an extremely messy bun-if it even classified as a bun anymore.

Her grayish-blue eyes were studying the thing that Hachi presumed was causing her discomfort.

An engagement ring, still in the box.

"Yeah," he said while hiding a slight grin, "you two should definitely talk."

---

Hiro and Zero Two laid down in the soft grass underneath the large oak tree in their front yard.

They were dressed casually, with simple athletic shorts and t-shirts to be comfortable in the hot weather.

Maybe lying flat on their backs, very near the sidewalk would be considered strange, but hardly anyone walked past their house.

Their neighborhood was mainly made up of Squad Thirteen, who already knew of their eccentricity.

A dark storm front covered the sky, as the two felt the breeze against their skin, and heard the rustling of leaves in the tree above them.

They enjoyed watching the occasional flash of lightning, and waiting for the inevitable distant clash of thunder.

The two felt the soft grass against their bare legs and feet, tickling what skin might've shown on their backs.

Zero Two lay with Hiro's head on her stomach, playing with his hair with her fingers.

Hiro lay with his arms and legs sprawling outwards.

Zero Two studied what skin was showing.

His right leg was still blue from where it had been artificially reattached, the rest being the natural color of his skin.

All throughout his arms, legs, and torso were dozens of scars from when shrapnel had been thrown from Strelizia's destruction.

"But he's here all the same," thought Zero Two with a smile.

"Should we go in before it starts raining?" Asked Zero Two softly.

"I don't know," answered Hiro in a similar tone, "it feels so good right now."

"We can open all of the doors and windows."

"Yeah, but if you stay out here, your t-shirt will get wet."

"Stop," said Zero Two with a chuckle, "besides, you might get sick again."

Hiro chuckled.

"And this time," she continued, "you won't be able to convince me you can go to work."

Hiro's chest resounded with what had turned into a deep laugh, "you were so mad."

"Damn right I was mad! You collapsed in the library bathroom!"

"It was just a cold; I didn't think it was a big deal."

"It was a cold with a forty-degree fever."

"Well, yeah, but we don't really get sick."

"Obviously, darling, we can still catch colds."

"Well here, let's compromise," said Hiro, while gesturing with his hands, "let's leave the t-shirt out here to be rained on, then you put it on while we're inside."

Zero Two chuckled and furiously ruffled his hair with both hands, "how about we both go inside, warm and dry, and we cook together as an apology for not taking care of yourself."

Hiro smirked, "that happened a month ago."

"Darling, you should just accept this."

Hiro let out a sarcastic sigh.

He was honestly excited to cook together.

"Oh well," he said, "I'll take care of myself more. Let's go and cook."

They rolled away and pulled each other up, making their way inside just as the rain began to sweep through the empty city streets a few kilometers away.

As Hiro began to decide what to make, and put on his generic 'Kiss the Cook' apron, he resumed their conversation.

"So," he said, "I heard that you're working on a project from Goro, what's it going to be?"

Zero Two paused as she was pulling her hair up into a ponytail, mumbling through a smirk as she held the hair tie in her teeth.

"It's a surprise," she said mischievously.

"Well, I can't wait."

"I'm sure you'll love it, darling."

Hiro continued to ponder about their meal as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze running through their home.

"What about…pizza?"

"What?"

"Futoshi showed me the other day, it's an old-world dish."

"Sure!"

"It's not sweet."

"Th-that's alright, I've been trying to branch out."

Hiro smirked as he began to gather ingredients.

As Hiro was distracted with the food, Zero Two's face split with a wide grin.

She sneaked over to a speaker they had gotten as a wedding gift.

Zero Two began blasting her loud music, and Hiro started and threw whatever was in his arms.

She began to hold her sides and doubled over laughing as a chuckling Hiro picked up the ingredients he had dropped.

He took it in stride, and quickly began dancing and singing with the song, a wooden spoon as his microphone.

Zero Two began laughing even harder, tears streaming from her eyes.

---

Ichigo and Goro were enjoying a quiet afternoon on their porch.

The only sound they could hear was the heavy rain hitting the roof and leaves from the trees around them, and the occasional rumbling of distant thunder.

Ichigo lifted her fresh tea up to her lips.

Music suddenly began blasting from the house across from them, alongside someone trying and failing to sing along with the melody, making them both start.

Ichigo spilled some tea onto the ground, and Goro had thrown the book he was reading by accident.

"What the hell!?" Exclaimed Goro.

After the initial shock, Ichigo chuckled quietly, "those two are going to be the death of our quiet lifestyle."

Goro smirked as he spoke, "well, I don't mind."

Ichigo pulled a handheld out of her pocket and sent a message to the pair, "Hey, what the hell was that?"

Futoshi responded as well, "I thought a transport had crashed outside."

The Klaxosaurs sent a picture of the two of them, covered in flour, "we're making pizza."

"You're wearing pizza."

Goro let out a deep sigh, "They're children."

Ichigo began to laugh.

---

After trying for months, Ai had finally broken down all of Shizuko's subconscious emotional walls.

Ai was incredibly smart for her age, and she knew how to deal with children younger than her.

But Shizuko was difficult.

Not that anything was wrong with her, but she was a kind and gentle soul that fell victim to APE's abuse.

Shizuko had become quick to take to aunt Naomi, but that was simply because the two were very similar. Without that innate similarity and shared experience, Shizuko had some difficulty adapting to the naturally born children from Squad Thirteen.

While her parents hadn't told Ai the details of their childhood, she began to realize just what it might've been like through Shizuko's attitudes and reactions to things.

When Shizuko met other children, she had to stop herself from asking for a code rather than a name.

She forgot names often, not out of any sort of malice, but as Ai had put together, not many children around Shizuko stayed for long at The Garden.

It would be difficult to constantly place names with faces if all of those people were going to be spirited away, never to be seen again.

When aunt Ichigo had given her that stuffed bear, Ai saw her squeeze it painfully tight against her chest.

It was like she was afraid of letting it go, lest it be taken from her.

When she saw Shizuko holding aunt Naomi's finger, it was the same. At times, she saw aunt Naomi's finger turning purple from the grip.

And Shizuko had…difficulty keeping up with the rest of the children. The more she looked around the city, the more she noticed that other children from the facility were similarly frail.

When she had asked her parents, they said something about yellow blood cells, and how many of the children would suffer from sudden fevers, or trigger the fevers themselves if they strained too much during play or exercise. Once they had reached total adulthood around the age of twenty, the instability of the blood was gone, as the yellow blood cells had fully acclimated to the semi-incompatible human biology.

However, Shizuko was only four.

As Ai sat with a panting Shizuko, helping her cool down so a fever wouldn't erupt, she began to understand the adults' feelings.

Papa, Virm, old-world adults, whatever names they used, she hated them as well.

But it was a testament to her hard work that Ai was able to have Shizuko's trust in moments like this.

Recently, Shizuko's expressions had become more apparent around the other children, and she began to call them by name.

It was as though she was finally enjoying herself with them rather than treating them politely, as if she didn't expect herself to have the time to get to know them.

The other day, they had all stayed the night at uncle Hiro and aunt Zero Two's house, and Shizuko laughed and played the entire time.

The other children had picked up on what was happening as well, and now they all seemed far more relaxed.

One day, they would ask her about her experiences before stasis, but for now, all of the children helped Ai gently introduce Shizuko to a normal life.

Shizuko's breath began to stabilize, and she took long swigs of cold water. Eventually, she took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, finally calm and cool.

"Are you ok?" Asked Ai gently, rubbing Shizuko's back, "you don't need to worry about us, we want you to be able to play with us."

"I'm alright," said Shizuko, in her typically soft voice, "I can keep playing as long as I want."

"If you're sure."

Ai hopped off of the bench, quickly turning and picking up Shizuko to set her on the ground.

"Thank you," said Shizuko.

"Shizuko," addressed Ai, "most of us are going to have to go back to class soon, are you going to be ok going to the psychiatry ward?"

All of the recent additions to the city were required to check into the psychiatry ward of the hospital once a week, in order to maintain their mental health and attempt to alleviate the trauma from their APE upbringing.

Shizuko smiled as she nodded, "I'm a big girl, I can go."

Ai smiled and nodded. Shizuko was capable, she trusted her.

And uncle Hiro was the one going to take her this week. There wasn't a lot that could happen to her with him around.

---

Hiro found Shizuko waiting on a bench outside of the library as soon as he finished his work, preparing to go to the psychiatric ward of the hospital for her weekly checkup.

A toothy smile split her face as she saw Hiro walking towards her.

"Shoulders!" She exclaimed with childish excitement, "Shoulders!"

Hiro smiled and, with a single swift motion, lifted Shizuko up onto his shoulders.

She giggled and wrapped her tiny fists around his horns to keep balance, as he held her ankles to keep her from falling.

"Thank you for taking me, uncle Hiro!" Said Shizuko.

"Don't worry about it," replied Hiro, "I'm your uncle, it's my job."

Hiro's smile turned into a soft grimace as he thought.

This was also his opportunity to try something.

Maybe, he and Zero Two could find some help there.

They had thought that maybe things were subsiding, and they prayed that the dreams were gone, but they had never really disappeared. Their temporary solution would never solve the underlying trauma from their fighting the Virm, it only let them sleep a little more than they would have normally.

It had come to a head when Squad Thirteen's children had come to sleep over at their house.

When Ai heard something in the night, she was worried for them and decided to check in their room.

She had seen the two of them having nightmares again.

When Ai told her parents this, Squad Thirteen pressured them to try and find a therapist at the psychiatric ward in the hospital. The ward was originally intended to help with things like depression and bipolar disorder, but had since tried to include therapy.

Ever since he and Zero Two had returned, and the effects of major trauma became more widely known due to their total breakdown, more and more people had realized that they had been suppressing their emotions as an unhealthy coping mechanism.

So the government believed that a major investment in studying therapy was a way to benefit the overall health of the city's residents.

The charge was led by one Miss Hiroko, who was now in charge of the therapy department, and if rumor had served him right, someone who could help him and his wife.

"We're here!" Exclaimed Shizuko. She must have noticed that Hiro had zoned out.

"Alright," said Hiro with artificial enthusiasm, "hop down, let's go inside."

Shizuko nodded and grabbed his hand once he lowered her to the ground.

They walked through the familiar hospital hallways and found the psychiatry ward, and, after dropping Shizuko off at her appointment, Hiro went to find Hiroko.

The receptionist was quick to allow him access to her office, understanding the circumstances quite easily.

Hiro knocked lightly on the door, "Miss Hiroko? May I come in?"

"Of course!" Sounded the voice of the woman through the door.

Opening the door, his mind raced suddenly.

Familiarity.

An unexplainable familiarity that brought him to a halt.

He'd never met this woman before, so why did he feel like he had seen her?

He felt like he had seen a major part of her past, but that made no sense.

Maybe he had met her at the garden? Hiro had met lots of people there, and many faces around the city bore some slight familiarity.

But this was different.

She stood by an open window, the warm breeze blowing her long, wavy dark hair behind her ear to reveal a toothy smile.

Unnerving familiarity.

A memory of flower petals eternally frozen in time.

A lost smile, breaking the spirit of those left behind.

And for some reason his thoughts dwelled on…

Elias?

---

Zero Two was thankful.

Hiro had managed to get them appointments with the head therapist of the city.

She was proud of him for not being so weak as to reject help from others, as they had both been before.

Instead doing the opposite, and actively seeking out help when the solution didn't lie with themselves alone.

"When we're both free," she thought with a smile, "I'll show him the finished surprise. Before anyone else."

They interlocked their fingers as they walked through the park bathed in the dim light of sunset. The warmth of the day still held in the air, as the light faded and bright lampposts marked the path they walked.

The small lights of fireflies floated above the pond, around the trees, resting on the grass.

The inquisitive lights flew closer to the pair, shining brightly in the quickly darkening evening.

Silence prevailed over the park, save for the chirping of insects and the occasional bird.

The silence was disrupted by rustling in a bush just off of the path nearby.

Almost all of Squad Thirteen was crouched behind the cover; a smiling Ichigo waving the two over.

The pair quickly snuck over to where their friends were hiding, forgoing all questions until they were similarly hidden.

"What's going on?" Inquired Zero Two in a low whisper, "and where's Ikuno?"

"Hachi gave us a tip," said Ichigo with similar volume.

She held up her handheld to show a videocall with Hachi on the screen.

Rather than risk being heard over the speakers, he simply waved.

Nana was in the same room as Hachi in the background.

"Ikuno's just over there," whispered Zorome, pointing at the wooden bridge that crossed the pond further down the trail.

A pregnant Miku was on a similar call with him.

"Hey," whispered Hiro with concern, "shouldn't you be with her?"

"Who do you think was the one who wanted me to come here? She's at a bench further down the path, since she can't really sneak around like this."

Zero Two had a sudden realization, "does this have to do with Ikuno's girlfriend?"

Squad Thirteen smiled and nodded in unison.

"You guys can't get a good vantage point here," she continued, "let's climb up the tree."

Zero Two boosted an agile Hiro onto the thick tree limbs of an oak tree nearby, and soon all of Squad Thirteen was observing Ikuno and Nanami on the bridge.

The two were staring at the pond, observing the fireflies hovering just above the water.

Their voices rang clear in the park they thought was empty.

Ikuno looked in their direction and squinted.

"Crap!" Exclaimed Zero Two inwardly, "our eyes!"

"Darling!" She whispered, "close your eyes!"

Ikuno stopped squinting and began to wipe her glasses.

"What's wrong?" Inquired Nanami.

"It's nothing," said Ikuno, "I thought I saw some fireflies, but the color was off. My glasses must be dirty."

Zero Two opened her eyes.

Nanami stared directly at the tree.

Her smirk indicated that she had noticed Squad Thirteen.

She kept silent.

"Mental note," thought Zero Two, "Nanami is sharp."

"So, Ikuno," said Nanami softly, "there's something I want to talk about."

Ikuno nodded, "I wanted to talk to you too."

Nanami's eyes widened slightly, clearly caught off guard by the comment, "um…ok. You go first."

"Is something bothering you, Nanami? The past few days you've barely talked to me at work. I know that we're busy and all, it's just…I love you, Nanami, and it hurts when you don't rely on me. If you're in trouble or struggling, I'm always going to be there for you. So, if anything is wrong, please, please, tell me about it, I don't want you to be suffering alone."

Nanami's expression turned from worry into an affectionate smile.

"There's no problem," she said softly, "I'm not suffering or anything. Work has been hectic, but it's something outside of that."

"What is it?"

"A major life decision. I've already made it; I just didn't know when to act on it."

"What? You're not making much sense. And 'didn't?' Do you know when to now?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Right now."

Ikuno's eyes widened as Nanami proposed.

Every member of Squad Thirteen grinned ear to ear at the sight.

Ikuno was a mess of tears and mucus, with sobs echoing through the park, Nanami helping her dry tears with her sleeve.

It was a quick proposal.

To many, it would have been unsightly, with the hastiness and the tears.

But it was heartwarming.

And for some reason, it was beautiful.

---

Ikuno had hardly slept that night.

The early sun shone through the windows of her home, illuminating the room she was sitting in with a yellowish-orange light.

She sat staring in silence at the ring, inside the open box facing her on the table.

"Holy hell," she thought, "it actually happened."

Her handheld buzzed against the table.

She hesitantly picked it up to see who had sent her a message.

Zero Two had sent a message over their Squad Thirteen chat.

"Hey, Ikuno, when are you getting married?"

Ikuno's cheeks reddened from embarrassment.

She began to frantically deny her claim, until she calmed down and thought it through.

"They don't make these kinds of jokes unless they already know something is up," thought Ikuno, "so that means they probably repeated what they did in the transport a few months ago."

She wanted to be angry, but she knew that they were simply interested in her happiness.

She loved those guys.

"I'm assuming," typed Ikuno with sarcasm, "that you nosey bastards spied on me last night."

"That we did," responded Ichigo.

"You guys aren't very creative, doing the same thing twice."

"Hey," said Hiro, "Zero Two and I didn't get to spy the first time, so it's only fair if we all did it again."

"Why did my love life become the thing you all would spy on?"

"Because we're interested, and without our spying you would hardly tell us anything," argued Miku.

Ikuno couldn't fault her on that point. On the transport, she wasn't going to tell them about Nanami until they had returned from the crash site.

"I don't want my friend to suddenly announce her engagement without me knowing anything beforehand," continued Miku.

It's not that she wanted to keep her friends out of her love life, but it was a question of how to bring it up casually, without causing an uproar.

That wasn't her squad though.

They were going to make a big deal of it because it was a big part of her life, and they were happy for her.

While she pondered, a question made its way into her mind.

"Wait," she said, "how did you all know what was going to happen?"

"Hachi told us it was going to happen," said Naomi.

Ikuno sighed.

"I need to get some dirt on him or something, so he'll finally stop pulling this kind of stunt."

"We'll go and spy on him next time," joked Miku, "that way we'll be even."

"Well, we already know that he and Nana are together."

"Anything further could be used as political blackmail," said Goro with sarcasm.

Ikuno smirked.

"We'll figure something out," said Ikuno with finality.

It took a minute before someone continued the conversation.

"Well, anyway," said Kokoro, "we're all happy for you, Ikuno."

"Thank you all, I really appreciate it."

"But seriously," said Zero Two, "when's the wedding?"

"We don't know yet. Things have been hectic recently, so we've been totally focused on work."

Ikuno wanted to tell them about the computer, and her theory on the surrounding Klaxosaurs, but Hachi had a gag order in place. If the two of them were to trust anyone, it would be Squad Thirteen, and although Hachi would most likely have been fine with them knowing, she didn't want to risk it.

It could disrupt their peaceful and happy life.

---

Zero Two smiled as she painted in the park, illuminated by the morning sun.

It was a simple commission; a painting of the war memorials in the park.

Her time painting was quiet and peaceful, the only sounds disrupting her concentration being the chirping of birds, or playing of children.

She worked hard to make sure the painting was up to standard, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

The several gray memorials, with innumerable code numbers carved into them, sat within a copse of trees atop a hill overlooking the center of the park.

It was slightly awkward painting the small memorial beside of it, dedicated to her and Hiro.

Zero Two suggested they take it out, considering they were, well, alive, but everyone still seemed opposed.

She had never managed to learn what the other memorial was, though.

It was an obelisk that was of similar height to her, pitch black and without any sort of engraving.

While the memorials themselves were somber, and brought up painful memories of violent deaths from war with Klaxosaurs and Virm, they paid respect to the sacrifice for humanity.

The obelisk seemed…somewhat darker.

As though it was a reminder of something more insidious.

Her fascination was broken by Yuuma's cheerful voice.

"Aunt Zero Two!" He cried with child-like enthusiasm.

Zero Two flashed a smile as she turned to face him.

"Good morning, Yuuma," she said in a soft and gentle tone.

Ichigo was beside him, holding his hand as they walked through the park.

"Another commission?" She asked.

"Yeah," replied Zero Two, "it's kind of somber, but their partner's number is here, so they have some attachment to it."

Ichigo nodded. It was a common story.

"Hey," continued Zero Two, "why does everyone want to keep our memorial?"

Ichigo smirked as she responded, "well, it's already there, so we might as well keep it. It's pretty too, right?"

"Maybe. But we're not dead."

"Would you two rather have statues in town?"

"We have the corpse tree in the park already."

"Yeah, but -wait, what did you just say?"

"We have the corpse tree in- "

"What the he-" she looked at Yuuma beside her before rephrasing, "what do you mean by that?"

"You know, the big tree in the park, where my corpse was."

"This is terrible in a lot of ways- "

"Well, if I was used as fertilizer, I might as well have some say in what it's called."

"That's not happening," said Ichigo with exasperation, "even if it's for you two, no one is calling it that."

Zero Two smirked as Ichigo realized she had just been toyed with.

"You're still easy to mess with."

"That's still terrible," said Ichigo, while hiding a grin.

"I'm going to keep calling it that, though."

Ichigo let out a deep sigh.

"Hey," continued Zero Two, dropping the cheerful tone with which she had just been speaking, "what is the other one? This weird obelisk."

"Oh, that's a memorial to Squad Thirty-Five."

"What happened to Squad Thirty-Five?"

"When they were fighting the Klaxosaurs, they never suffered a single death in combat."

Zero Two was taken aback. That was an impressive record, only held by exemplary squads like the Nines and Squad Thirteen.

"No deaths?" Inquired an incredulous Zero Two, "then why the memorial?"

Ichigo's expression became more macabre as she responded, "during the chaos and confusion of when the Virm first invaded, Squad Thirty-Five was ravaged."

Zero Two's chest tightened.

"When the combat shifted away from fighting the Klaxosaurs and towards working with them to fight the Virm, many died at the Gran Crevasse, and later in space," continued Ichigo, "by the end, only a single pilot remained. Her partner launched her out of the capsule just as it began to explode, and she went into a coma."

"Oh…"

"When she woke up a year later, she learned that everyone had died. We put her under careful watch, and she seemed to be getting better after a time. She was clever though; it was all a ruse. I found her just as she began to try and hang herself. Luckily, she hadn't tied the noose correctly, and I got her down before she suffocated to death."

"Is she alright?"

"She is now. She devoted her life to becoming someone who could help others manage their grief and hopefully prevent any suicides. You should know her, it's Hiroko after all."

"Our therapist?"

"That's her."

"So, this memorial isn't just for the dead members of Squad Thirty-Five."

"No. It's for the survivors too; everyone who lost all they had in the war."

Zero Two grimaced. The thought of something that dark slithering under the surface of the peaceful city made her feel despair. Parasites finally being able to live freely only after having lost everything was a terrible fate.

"Zero Two," said Ichigo, interrupting Zero Two's dark thoughts, "people are doing better."

They both looked to the gray memorials engraved with the lost parasites.

"We just want to save every life we can," continued Ichigo, "if there is a way to preserve a life, no matter how difficult it may be, we will do it. Regardless of previous conflicts, it doesn't matter, now that we have the opportunity, we try to help and protect all the life we can."

Zero Two looked at the memorials once again.

She saw something that proved her point.

Nine Alpha.

The Nines were listed alongside all of the normal parasites.

Even further down was something that really shocked her.

The Klaxosaur Princess, and the innumerable Klaxosaurs whom she loved millions of years ago.

An idea entered Zero Two's mind.

The thought would grow and develop over the coming days.

"Save every life, huh?" Thought Zero Two. "No matter how difficult, regardless of previous conflicts. Absolute forgiveness…"

Ichigo broke her from her stupor, "Zero Two? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, I just had a thought."

I need to talk to Ikuno.

---

Zero Two wasn't quite sure how to approach the topic. It was a strange request, to be sure, but it was something that she was determined to try.

Save every life.

Ikuno had allowed her into the lab, and the two of them were standing in front of what must have been several thousand liters of Star Entity's liquid form, held inside a massive tank the size of a large swimming pool.

"So, this all came from the wreckage near the city?" Asked Zero Two.

Ikuno nodded, "not long after you two got back, the arm began to basically just melt into this stuff."

"Why did you keep it?"

"Well…we could use it for something, maybe? If Hiro is caught in a freak library accident," she said with sarcasm, "or something goes wrong with you, we can reconstruct body parts or use it as a sort of medication."

"You took all of this for a hypothetical?"

"It's also a little cool. It's a living fluid, do you understand how unnatural that is? I mean, sure, it's not as impressive as when the mind was present, but it's still alive."

"Could you use it to help humans?"

"I haven't found any way to, no."

The two were silent for a few moments before Zero Two hesitantly broke the calm.

"Umm," said Zero Two quietly, "could you repeat what it did with me?"

Ikuno's eyes widened as she processed what she just asked.

"Good idea!" Exclaimed Ikuno, "we might be able to create entire creatures if we can-"

"Do you think you could bring back the Nines?"

Ikuno looked at her in shock.

She was deep in thought for a few moments before answering in a somber tone.

"I know what you're thinking," said Ikuno apologetically, "and I would want to do that too, but they were far closer to human than Klaxosaur. I'm…I'm sorry, Zero Two. They're were just human enough for this not to work."

Zero Two's mood became more somber. In life, she was never close to them. Over the past few months, however, she began to feel some sort of emptiness knowing that they were gone. They weren't necessarily evil, they were just children who did what they were told, and looking back as an adult made it seem even more tragic. From what Hiro had told her, as well, the Nines played an integral part in getting him to her, while they fought Virm in orbit.

It was a strange feeling. A new form of compassion that she hadn't felt when they were fighting eight years ago. People she had once hated, who's very existence seemed antithetical to hers, were now people she could never get to thank for what they had done for her.

It was a one-eighty she never thought herself to take.

"…I understand."

"And besides," continued Ikuno, "we would need some cell samples of them if we were to rebuild their whole bodies. When the Virm attacked, their belongings and medical records were destroyed, so we don't have anything to make them out of."

"Could you have used my cells?"

"Their cells had undergone some mutation that deviated from yours, it made them human rather than Klaxosaur. Maybe it was like Hiro's transformation, but reverse?"

The two sat in silence for several minutes.

"…I am sorry," continued Ikuno, "Zero Two. I would want to save them too; I'm sure everyone in the city would want to."

Zero Two cupped her chin as a thought she had considered…far stranger…came up once again.

"So if they're closer to Klaxosaur than human, you can remake them?"

"Yeah, but it's a little too late for the Nines."

"Ikuno," said Zero Two mischievously, "is there someone else you can bring back?"

---

Hiro awoke to Zero Two's gentle voice.

"Good morning, darling," she said in a serene tone.

He grinned as he responded, "good morning, Zero Two."

"I have a surprise for you, but you need to get ready."

She smirked as she stood up and walked out of their bedroom, already dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

Hiro quickly launched himself out of bed, and looked outside through the window.

Fog reduced the visibility to a few meters at most, blanketing the entire dim pre-dawn landscape.

Hiro quickly threw on some shorts, and strapped sandals to his feet.

He met his wife by the door, and she, after grabbing his hand, flashed a warm smile and led him outside.

The tan sidewalk guided them through the opaque wall of fog that blinded them in the cool morning, the dew on the grass dampening the road and turning the tan concrete dark brown.

Zero Two gripped his hand even tighter than before, and soon they were in a jog into the unknown wall of mist before them.

She looked back at him and smiled, hair blowing behind her.

Hiro was awestruck for a moment. It had been a while since she showed this much near child-like excitement for something.

He smiled in return and matched her pace.

The two ran through the darkness of the empty city streets until they arrived at the base of the spire.

Zero Two recklessly threw open the doors, and guided him into one of the elevators further back in the room.

She practically punched the button that would bring them to the top of the spire.

He looked out of the glass walls at the city below as they rapidly flew up the tower.

They shot above the sea of fog enveloping the surrounding area, covering entire mountains and hills, wispy tendrils reaching up towards the heavens like an inverted cover of clouds attempting to return to the sky.

The expanse above was similarly blanketed in low-hanging clouds. No sky was to be seen, but the clouds were still light gray in color. Hiro thought that if he could touch them, they would be soft and smooth.

The two flat seas of gray extended into what seemed to be infinity, framing the dim horizon like a dark painting.

It seemed almost alien, like he was flying far above what he ought to be seeing, sandwiched between two layers of clouds and looking into the vast, empty expanse they walled off.

As they reached the top of the glass tower, the sun began to peek above the horizon and ascend into the frame created by the land and sky.

Zero Two smiled as she pulled him out of the elevator by the hand.

They were in a room with three walls of thin glass, the fourth of which was open to the east, giving access to what looked like a large patio built on the roof of the spire.

He had never seen this place before, but he could tell by the painting of a bird on the floor that this was one of the places Zero Two had worked before.

The sun was slowly crawling its way up the sky, now bringing new color to the clouds.

The clouds were dyed with a mixture of bright orange and a pink the color of grapefruit.

Yellow colored the border between the purple backs of the cloud and the orange and pink fronts.

Hiro was awestruck at the view. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

It was just him, his wife, and the tower.

This view was a secret between the three of them.

A cool breeze rustled his hair and broke him from his daze.

Zero Two had been watching him with a smile, allowing him to feel the same awe that she had the first time she'd seen it.

"This," said Hiro softly, "this is quite the surprise."

Zero Two smirked as she responded, "this is just to set the mood, darling."

Zero Two handed him a brown paper package, then walked onto the open patio. She stared at the beautiful sunrise as her hair blew in the cold morning wind.

Hiro looked down at the package he had just been given and began to unwrap.

The Beast and the Prince.

It was bound just as he had remembered it.

But this one was…new?

This wasn't the same one they had made together at Plantation 13.

He quickly opened the stiff front cover to find the drawing he had made printed inside, on the very first page.

Underneath was text saying 'My husband's contribution.'

Hiro chuckled to himself as he flipped the page.

The illustrations were beautiful and vibrant, just as he remembered.

The same sad story lined the pages.

Until the end.

At the climax of the story, as the princess ran from the prince's castle, he spotted her from the top of a tower.

Without hesitation the human prince dove off after her, the full moon illuminating the scene and filling it with color.

Ashen wings sprung from the back of the prince, and he flew to confront the princess.

She was mortified by what he had become, blaming and cursing herself for his transformation.

The prince reassured her, and after a few brief pages, brought her back to the kingdom.

The happy end the story deserved.

Zero Two had created these new pages herself, and they blended seamlessly into the book, at times surpassing the quality of the original.

He looked up at her and smiled.

The orange sun was higher now, encapsulating his wife's figure in an orange and pink outline as she stood observing the beauty of the landscape.

It was the end of the story, but he continued to flip the pages.

The next page had a picture of Squad Thirteen.

Underneath was text saying 'To my family.'

Hiro's smile grew wider and his eyes grew softer.

Flipping the page again he found a rough pencil sketch of himself.

It was a copy of a pencil drawing that had been printed into the book, on a blue page the color of his skin.

His portrait had a soft smile on his lips as he looked down at whatever he was cooking.

It was a scene from their daily life. His morning ritual of cooking breakfast was captured perfectly in the rough sketch, exuding the gentle life of which he was so proud.

Underneath was the text that spoke the most to him.

'To my darling, the prince, who became a beast to bring me back.'

He looked up at her again, his eyes watering far more than he thought that they would.

"Why am I crying?" He pondered.

It didn't matter.

He ran over to her, and hugged her as tight as he possibly could.

She went stiff from shock for a moment, before she gently wrapped her arms around him.

With the wind blowing across the sea of fog, it would've been hard for the two to hear each other, so Hiro leaned in and spoke directly into her ear.

"I never once thought of it as becoming a beast," he said, "I never saw you as one either. Human or Klaxosaur, I would've come for you either way. You know that, right?"

"I know," whispered Zero Two into Hiro's ear, "and I love you for that, darling."

She gave him a quick kiss before they renewed their conversation.

"Did you like your surprise, darling?" Asked Zero Two warmly.

"I love it," he responded instantly, "I love it so much."

She smiled as she tightened their embrace.

"I'm glad."

"…I'm glad you changed that bleak ending, too."

"It was a stupid ending for a children's book."

"It just felt needlessly sad."

The two sat in silence for a few moments before laughing again. Two adults, criticizing an ancient children's book. How silly, they thought.

The orange sun kissed their skin as they embraced on the spire's precipice, the windy morning finally revealing the foggy city far below.

---

Ikuno felt far more motivated after her mandatory vacation.

Whether it was the rest, her excitement over her engagement, or a combination of the two was unclear.

Whatever it was, she now felt she could cut through this stupid computer's defenses like a hot knife through butter.

Not that anyone was around to see her excellence.

She had given her peers the go-ahead to have a few days of rest of their own; shifting into a sort of three-day shift schedule.

One group would focus all of their efforts on cracking the computer for three days and nights, until one of the other two groups would come and take over. This would give each group three days of continuous work, then six days of relief.

The whole system might have just been rendered unnecessary though.

Ikuno had decided that she alone would qualify as the 'fourth group' for the first session. She would then join in with the third.

After her five days of rest, she felt she could handle it.

The security that withheld the secrets they wanted were kept in the virtual equivalent of ringed walls, the outermost seemingly the most formidable.

They were restricted, forced to figure out the ancient code that made the computer's security work. Infinite numbers of passcodes and lightspeed encryptions made those walls seem even more insurmountable.

But maybe it just needed a fresh perspective. A new way of approaching the problem.

Forming a mental image in her mind, Ikuno had been struck with genius.

They had been working with the computer.

Their intent had never been to preserve the ancient computer. They knew how computers worked, they just wanted the information and then they could be done. After the information was theirs, it would be nothing more than a toy for the scientists to play with.

If she came at the computer with her own, more authoritative approach, she could overcome those walls with superior programs and technology.

Ikuno had grabbed a computer and disconnected it from the net, so that the ever-present file wouldn't propagate further, and she began to work.

She worked on a program that was more insidious than what they had been doing before.

If the security was a castle wall, they had been shouting guesses at the guards at the gate.

What she was about to do was more intense than that.

Her program would build its own walls, infinitely larger and more grandiose than whatever that old computer could call 'defense.'

Ikuno's walls would combine with the ringed castle's outer wall, and make it her own out of sheer power.

Once the walls were hers, she could open the gate whenever and however she wished.

It was only a matter of time until the rest of the ringed fortress fell as well.

Ikuno had figured everything out herself, in less than three days.

"This," she thought, with an air of well-deserved arrogance, "is why I'm in charge."

She connected the quarantined device to the ancient computer and let the program run its course.

The pride she felt would soon turn into horror.

This abominable machine.

The computer dinged as her program successfully commandeered the ancient computer's security, and she rolled over with a grin splitting her face.

While her program worked to break down the other walls, she looked at the first of the files to be revealed.

Hemlock.

It began with a confident keystroke.

She opened the file.

…

Ikuno was a veteran.

She was a veteran in a war that involved more than bullets.

She had heard the screams of agony as parasites felt artificial limbs being torn from their bodies.

She had seen capsules crushed between giant mechanical jaws, seen blood flowing freely from the bodies of children no older than thirteen.

She had seen bloody smears where bodies should have been, flesh and bone mixing into the soft soil where they were crushed underfoot.

Ruptured organs, splintered bones, loose intestines, marshes of blood covering battlefields like carpet.

But this was far worse than anything she had ever seen.

She vomited within seconds of seeing the first image.

Tears flowed as though her eyes were reacting to the image independently of her body.

Her mind tried to rationalize the abominable.

Limbs don't bend like that.

Humans don't have that much blood.

Organs don't look like that.

This has to be fake.

This can't be real.

It can't.

It can't.

IT CAN'T.

SCREAMS CAN'T SOUND LIKE THAT.

HUMANS CAN'T BE THIS CRUEL.

EYES CAN'T CRY TEARS OF BLOOD.

BONES CAN'T SHATTER LIKE GLASS.

FLESH CAN'T TEAR LIKE PAPER.

BLOOD CAN'T BOIL LIKE WATER.

MUSCLE CAN'T UNRAVEL LIKE TWINE.

IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T. IT CAN'T.

STOP IT!

THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!

CAN'T YOU HEAR THEM SCREAMING?!

Ikuno was a mess.

She was hyperventilating. Her stomach forced her to vomit, but there was not even bile left to expel, so she fruitlessly retched over her chair. Tears were flowing more freely than they ever had before, mixing with the sweat that now covered her body, soaked her clothes, and dripped off onto the floor.

IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE.

The computer broke her from her daze with a ding.

The second wall had been broken down.

Another poison.

Fire Lily.

She desperately hoped this file would be better than the last.

She was wrong.

It was worse.

Each ding of the computer brought about a new file.

Nightshade.

Blood.

Oleander.

Muscle.

Castor.

Tendon.

Foxglove.

Sinew.

Wolfsbane.

Marrow.

Jequirity.

Bone.

Each file a poison.

Each file revealing a new level of cruelty Ikuno never thought possible.

Her eye was caught by the final file. It was hidden, with more security than all of the others combined.

The name didn't fit with the rest, nor did it indicate the horrors contained within.

Honeysuckle.

---

Hachi rubbed his temples.

What had happened?

Ikuno was strong.

He was mortified when he was told the attendant he sent found her in that deplorable state.

She wasn't sick, so what could it have been?

Ikuno told him that she had cracked the computer, and discovered every file.

He had her sent to the hospital, and it appeared she was suffering from something akin to shock.

Ikuno had been to war. She had seen a living hell, and come out on top.

And yet something caused her to completely break down, in an era of peace.

As he followed her to the hospital, she made him swear to not look at the files in the computer. She told him that he wasn't given permission even to look at the computer while she was in the hospital.

Ikuno insisted she was fine, but…

He had never seen her like that before. Maybe he had panicked, but he wanted to be safe.

What's in that damn computer?

The image of the computer changed in his mind. He had imagined the ancient device as a wealth of knowledge, although maybe an inconvenience at times.

Now it seemed…insidious…abominable.

Nana burst through the doors to his office.

"Hachi!" She started, "is Ikuno ok!?"

"She insists she's fine," said an anxious Hachi, "although I don't believe that for a second. I've sent her to the hospital for a day of rest and a full psychological evaluation."

Nana sighed a breath of relief mixed with hesitation, "I'm not sure how relieved I'm allowed to feel by that."

"I don't know how to feel about it either. This seems far more serious than I thought."

"How's Nanami doing?"

"She's with Ikuno right now. She was a little shaken up as well."

"From seeing Ikuno?"

"Yeah."

"Kids shouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing."

"They're not kids anymore."

"Fair enough…"

The two stood in silence for a few moments.

"I assume you didn't come just to hear about Ikuno, though."

Nana nodded.

"I was in the library," she said, "and one of Ikuno's researchers told me to give this to you, as quickly as possible."

He looked at the report.

His eyes widened with shock.

"What's wrong?" Asked Nana.

"It's the file in all of the computers."

"The duplicating one?"

"Yes."

"I thought it was harmless."

"That's the thing."

She looked at him in confusion.

"The file's changed," continued Hachi.

He got up and walked to the window overlooking the city.

Thousands of people, completely unaware of the dire situation they were in.

If the file had changed, that meant the computer's owner was still out there.

Among the thousands of peaceful residents-

There was a monster.

---

Ai led Shizuko by the hand as she guided the children through the foggy streets to the park to play.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the fog began to dissipate and reveal the early-morning streets.

To say the children weren't slightly spooked as the dark figures began to appear suddenly from the rapidly disappearing mist would be a lie, but they soon recognized the friendly faces they passed every day.

"You're too little for classes," said Ai to Shizuko, "are you sure you'll be fine with Aunt Naomi all day?"

"It's fine," said a grinning Shizuko, "I used to have classes all the time. I'm used to sitting still."

Ah. She forgot about that sometimes.

She's grinning about something horrible again, like it's normal.

"Well, I guess us natural born are the minority here," thought Ai, "maybe we're the ones with abnormal experiences."

Ai saw something out of the corner of her eye.

Just above the top of the rapidly dissipating fog.

"What was that?" She thought.

There was the mountain to the north of the city, past all of the farms.

But she saw that every day, so that couldn't have been what startled her.

And they were walking southward.

She thought she had caught a glimpse of something darker, despite the light from the sun.

A distant roar echoed through the streets.

Everyone on the street paused for a moment, as they looked up from whatever they were doing.

Adults and children alike searched for what had made the sound.

The fog had completely disappeared at this point, and all of the adults had begun moving as though nothing had happened.

"Oh," she heard a grown-up saying, "is that one of those Gutenbergs that moved in recently?"

"Yeah," said another, "I'm glad I share it's sleep schedule. If that thing roared like that early in the morning, I think I would have to call Maria and find our Franxx."

The other adult laughed, "you couldn't have killed a Gutenberg if it laid down and let you."

"Hey, come on, I was pretty good."

"Well, if we needed to, we could just ask Hiro and Zero Two."

"That's cruel; don't make 'em kill their own kind."

"I guess that is pretty cruel."

"And besides, if we killed one, the Klaxosaurs would wipe us out in an instant, with or without those two."

"I dunno. We get Kokoro to shoot them from here? I think we could keep them at bay. She's a hell of a shot, you should've seen her in action."

"Was she really that good a shot?"

"Yeah, at the Gran Crevasse I saw her take aim and kill twenty Klaxosaurs with one bullet."

"No way, with one bullet?"

"Yeah, her aim is scary. I imagine that getting on her bad side feels like being paper getting put in a hole-punch."

"Does that mean Mitsuru's a good shot too?"

"I don't think so. The male was necessary to pilot, but the female was the body of the machine. While Mitsuru could be good with a mech's gun, Kokoro has it like muscle memory."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Why're you talking about killing those things, anyway? They're harmless."

"I'm just saying, if they mess with my sleep schedule, even they won't be safe."

They both laughed.

"You know," one continued, "Yuki's probably so pissed right now. He just got done with one of Ikuno's hellish three-day shifts. Just when he gets home to sleep, our dear guest here shows off their singing voice."

The two continued to walk off into the distance when it finally came fully into Ai's field of vision.

A huge black and blue cobra showed its head in the distance, its fangs in full display as it yawned.

It looked so small from here.

But she had seen videos of them before.

That thing was probably only slightly smaller than the mountain nearby.

And that Klaxosaur specifically looked oddly familiar…

…And almost lonely…

Shizuko's tiny fist had tightened around Ai's with uncharacteristic strength.

When she looked down, her face was pale.

"She must not be totally used to it yet," thought Ai.

"Don't be afraid, Shizuko," said Ai, "they're not the bad guys. APE was."

Shizuko hesitantly nodded. She didn't want to be afraid, but it was still strange to shift alliances so quickly.

"And besides," continued Ai, "aunt Zero Two and uncle Hiro are Klaxosaurs too. Are you afraid of them?"

"No," said Shizuko with a forced smile, "uncle Hiro is a dork, I'm not afraid of him."

"Uh, Shizuko, where did you hear that word?"

She looked up in confusion.

"Naomi called him that when we ran into uncle Hiro yesterday."

"Maybe you shouldn't call people that."

"…Ok."

Ai giggled to herself, but was soon wrapped up in thought.

Those adults were right, if they started a war with those things again, humanity would be wiped out in mere moments.

But she overheard Ikuno talking to Nanami the other day, and her theory on why the Klaxosaurs were here in the first place.

As long as Hiro and Zero Two were in the city, nothing could happen to it.

As long as humanity accepted Hiro and Zero Two, they would be their protectors.

From now until the end of time.

---

Hachi studied the report that had been sent by Ikuno.

The file was given a deceptively sweet name.

Honeysuckle.

He had skipped over the previous ones, as Ikuno had given him a quick summary of what was inside.

Hachi didn't care to see that.

This file, however, contained the worst of it. He couldn't see the images, as Ikuno had redacted them, but he could tell what they might've looked like from the descriptions underneath.

Rather than imagining what the experiments might've looked like, he plipped the page to read one of the results of the experiment.

It was a long passage, a catalogue of events from the beginning of APE's rise to power.

April 27th, 2025.

The politicians are becoming more and more restless.

The mining of Magma has already begun to affect the Earth's environment. Not that they care about that, but APE is gaining more and more support from the richest donors on the planet. Their funding is beginning to run dry, and their luxurious lifestyles might come crashing down soon.

Normally we could brush them aside, but they've begun to side with those environmentalists who they shunned for so long. Surprisingly, they're getting more and more support from the middle to lower class.

Well, it doesn't take a genius to see who's going to survive the coming storm.

The experiments are going well, although I've had to…convince a few of the scientists to stay on board.

"No, no, the Hippocratic Oath!" They cried. Fools, the lot of them. The Hippocratic Oath died with Hippocrates.

It's a new world now.

Although I will admit, when that patient's heart exploded with enough force to kill the person next to him with one of his shattered ribs, even I was a little unsettled.

Hachi became a bit queasy.

Who knew Magma energy could be so potent in a weaponized form? However, as impressive it might've been, we don't need something that inspires instant fear. We need something creeping and insidious, something that inspires absolute terror throughout the course of time.

I want something untraceable, something that can be seen as a natural occurrence while having a one hundred percent kill rate.

I want an abomination.

Hachi flipped the page.

October 19th, 2025.

Well, the experiments are going well, as usual. The locals began to ask questions about the disappearances, so we wiped the town from the map. We've got some good hackers here; they managed to erase an entire village from all public and private records. Are you kidding me? How cool is that! If they could make a virus that impressive that worked on humans, I would pay for their Plantation admittance myself! I sent Papa recommendation letters for them; it was the least I could do. After all, I am a kind and considerate person.

With this influx of test subjects, though, we've had a higher kill rate because of the expectance of more spares.

I am uncomfortable with killing the kids, though, so I send them to one of Papa's facilities. Although, I don't know if that bronze-faced bastard is doing anything better than what we're doing here.

There was one that looked like my late daughter. It gave me a bit of pause before I pulled myself together.

I will say that some of our attempts have been getting…less than ideal results. Overall, the experiments are going well, but some of the ideas I was excited about testing have been catastrophic failures.

I want something subtle, not like that guy the other day.

Bleeding from the sweat glands in your skin, can you imagine that? Not one or two, that guy was bleeding from all of them. His skin practically painted itself red, head to toe. I thought blood was too thick to come out of sweat glands, but apparently not. Anything's possible with Magma, I guess.

The political power of the so called 'Green Movement' is increasing. I'd like to finish this soon, so we can clear the rabble for when the Plantations are finished.

January 9th, 2026.

So one of our brightest had an idea last night. We're stuck thinking about outdated ideas of poison and assassination with Magma, but why not use nature against our opponents? Viruses were recently classified as living creatures, which should mean that we can use magma on them like we would use on humans or anything else. Imagine an immortal virus, one immune to any antibiotics or even engineered bacteriophages, wouldn't that be fantastic? We could create a common virus, but make it invincible with just a little injection. There's only a limited amount of Magma that can be injected, but that's fine. A single bacteriophage in the body, with some help from Magma, can produce Magma-less clones indefinitely inside the body. We were afraid that it wouldn't be able to clone itself due to the sterilizing nature of Magma, but since a virus reproduces mainly by aggressive takeover of a cell, it doesn't apply in the same way. While we are going to have a ground zero for the virus, we'll have to have a worldwide operation to keep this virus supplied with Magma. I conferred with Papa about this, and he gave me the go-ahead to begin infiltrating water treatment plants and aquafers and injecting microscopic amounts of Magma.

This won't affect the humans, but it will supply the virus with more than enough to keep propagating immortal bacteriophages.

With this, it will be an untraceable illness that looks like nothing more than a mutated strain of tuberculosis or influenza. How terrifying is it that we can make a disease appear no more dangerous than the common cold, only for it to be the deadliest virus on Earth? I'm so excited to test it out.

The best part is I don't even have to work on a cure! If the virus infects someone who has already undergone the Magma treatment and become immortal, the bacteriophage has too much Magma to deal with, and just ODs on it and dies. I love my job.

Those politicians and activists have been getting cocky. There was a terrorist attack on a Magma mine the other day, and you can see them lie through their teeth when they condemn it. If we finish this soon, though, we won't have to worry about that anymore.

April 15, 2026.

So the day's arrived.

We decided that it would be too dangerous to go after the parents, so we're going to infect the kids first.

A lot of the politicians' children go to some fancy private school together, and with the upcoming summit, all of their parents will be in one place as well.

The kids are going on a nature tour as a field trip, and we decided that this would be the best opportunity for starting with patient zero.

They're all pretty young, and when we scouted the place they would be touring, we found a bunch of honeysuckles next to a stream.

What does every kid do when they see a honeysuckle?

They drink that sweet nectar inside, of course.

Eureka.

We've placed some of the immortal virus in every honeysuckle along the river, so infection is assured. Once those kids get back to their parents, it'll look like a cold. Soon, their parents will catch it, and when they go to the summit, everyone there will catch it, etcetera, etcetera.

It might take a while before bodies start hitting the ground, as antibiotics can still kill the copies of the original bacteriophage, but that original strain can't leave the body. Eventually, as more and more Magma is ingested from water sources around the globe, more of the individual bacteriophages will become immortal, and soon their bodies will be completely filled with a virus that they can't kill. Later, we'll gather the Magma energy from their corpses, but even on a global scale we used hardly any at all.

Admittedly, I don't like that we have to use the kids to do this, but I understand it's the way to arouse the least suspicion. Kids touch everything, of course they'll catch a cold somewhere. They're under careful watch at all times, so outright assassination or an upfront attack with a biological weapon will oust us, or not be effective. APE has lots of power, but not enough power to fight off a superpower's military.

It'll take a few years to wipe out seven and a half billion people, but I'm willing to wait and watch. I want to see my horrid little abomination bring the world to its knees.

June 21st, 2026.

Holy hell, these Klaxosaur things are making my job so much easier.

My creation now goes completely unnoticed, and with decreased access to healthcare, the virus is taking effect far faster. The death toll is now in the hundreds of millions, and yet everyone is blaming those monsters, isn't it great? Thirty million people in a major metropolis, all gone within seventy-two hours of first infection. Not a peep! "It must be those damn blue beasts!" They cry on the news. The gullible fools.

The scientists have begun a saying around here, talking about the Klaxosaurs.

"Deadly as a honeysuckle."

Hachi wanted to keep reading, but he felt sick.

"A virus?" He thought to himself, "I knew APE killed opposition in secret, but this killed off anyone who didn't depend on Papa."

He remembered the beach that Squad Thirteen had been to, and how there was ample vegetation and shelter.

Someone could have easily survived there, with ample resources at arm's length.

So why wasn't there anyone?

Papa had released a virus to kill off the independent, the poor, the middle class, anyone who didn't follow him blindly or couldn't afford to.

The Klaxosaurs definitely helped, but he had always found it strange that those massive beasts had managed to track down just under eight billion tiny humans, almost too small for creatures like them to see.

He hoped that the files in the computer were just copies of reports someone else had submitted, but he knew that it most likely wasn't that.

The owner of this computer was most likely the same one that wrote this report in the first place.

"Damn it," said Hachi with a tired chuckle.

He was silent for a moment as he pondered the implications.

The owner of this computer was out there in the city, and he hadn't the slightest clue as to who it was.

An invisible threat that could wipe out the entire city given enough time.

With a background in pathology and computer sciences, what problems could they cause? What could he do to stop them?

They had a mind that rivaled Ikuno's, which was a scary enough thought in and of itself, but there was something more.

While Ikuno was an expert when it came to the modern problems and solutions, the owner had a deep understanding of old-world sciences that had long since passed out of knowledge.

It's not they were more advanced, but that they were so long ago that countering them would mean having to regress from what progress had been made.

They were fighting a losing battle before they even knew there was a war.

"DAMN IT!" Screamed Hachi from his desk.

Outside everyone paused and looked at his office with shock. It was the first time that Hachi had ever shown that much emotion.

This alone made everyone realize just how bad the situation had become.

"That bastard is already inside every single computer left on Earth," thought Hachi, as he got up to pace around his office, "we can't trace where he's updating the file from, because the source file and the copies are completely identical."

He walked to his office's doorway and observed what things could possibly have been infiltrated.

His computer, his handheld; hell, even his electronic book reader was completely at the mercy of the ancient file.

Nana poked her head through the door and spoke softly, "Hachi? Are you alright?"

Hachi held the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he responded, "yes, I'm…I'm fine."

She walked in and wrapped him in a tight hug, "no you're not."

"No," he said, revealing a level of tiredness he refused to show to anyone else, "I'm not."

"Come lie down," she said while guiding him to the couch in the corner of his office, "trying anything right now won't lead to anything."

As Hachi sat down on the couch, his eyes already looked to be getting heavier.

Nana caught a glimpse of the file sitting on his desk, "is that…?"

"Yeah," he responded, "although the images have been redacted."

"Should I read it?"

"I don't think so. Even without the images, it made me sick."

He looked nowhere in particular as he spoke, "what am I even supposed to do? What can I do?"

"You aren't alone in this, we're here with you."

"I'm the one who was put in charge, it's my job to keep everyone safe, but this bastard is putting everyone in danger, and no matter what I do, nothing changes. I'm throwing everything I have at solving this problem before it gets any worse, and the situation is still spiraling out of control."

"You have the smartest humans left working on the problem, it will be solved. And screaming in your office won't solve anything."

Hachi's shoulders slumped as he responded, "you're right. As usual."

She placed his head on her lap, and began to run her fingers through what little hair was on his head.

"Why don't you fall asleep?"

Hachi kept attempting to close his eyes, only for them to shoot open again and again.

"Heh," he said with a tired smirk, "it seems like I can't. I feel like I'll have a nightmare. How childish of me."

"Then focus on my voice," said Nana softly, with a smile, "I'll help you fall asleep."

She threw a nearby blanket over him, and began to hum softly, as though coaxing a child to sleep.

It was working, though.

"It's so warm," he thought, "and soft…"

"Thanks," he said, drifting into sleep, "…I love you…Na…na…"

She smiled warmly as she looked down at his sleeping face.

It was the first time he had told her that.

Hachi had trouble with expressing his emotions, so she was prepared to see it through actions rather than words. He always tried to express what she meant to him, and he was having a genuinely difficult time without putting it into words. He frequently brought her flowers and once made a disastrous failed attempt to kiss her, but was never quite able to find the words to describe what he was feeling.

It seems he was able to overcome that for her alone.

He loved her twice as much as she had previously thought.

"I love you too, Hachi. Sleep well."

---

Nanami pushed Ikuno through the halls to the old-world computer in the basement below.

The room now had a sign on its entrance, saying, 'Notice: viewing of files Hemlock, Fire Lily, Nightshade, Oleander, Castor, Foxglove, Wolfsbane, Jequirity, and Honeysuckle has been prohibited. A gag order has been put in place: information regarding the computer is not to leave the laboratory.'

Underneath was an even more ominous sign.

'THREAT LEVEL: RED'

She could assume that without the sign, as Hachi's recently handpicked security force defended the laboratory like it was a fortress.

A few steps behind her was her bodyguard and the commander of the force.

Goro.

Next to him was the strategist in command of the investigation and allocation of forces.

Ichigo.

They had considered Hiro and Zero Two as candidates for the position, but it was decided that they would be better assets if used in a hand-to-hand assault situation, rather than investigation and security. Once the identity of the computer's owner was confirmed, they could lead the charge in apprehending them.

Ikuno's mind ground to a halt, "assets? Come on, Ikuno, they're your family."

Most of Squad Thirteen had been kept in the dark, but Ichigo, Goro, and Kokoro had been selected as security.

Goro, for his quick reaction time and general level-headedness.

Ichigo, for her intelligence and investigative skill.

Kokoro, for her expertise in handling a gun.

Wherever Ikuno went, those three were nearby.

Goro and Ichigo would be a few steps away at all times.

Kokoro would take position from a vantage point with a sniper rifle, keeping an eye on everyone and everything that got close.

It was difficult for Kokoro to hide what she was doing from Mitsuru and her children, but the public would be notified about the situation after it had been rectified.

In a way, the four of them inwardly hoped the computer's owner would come after Ikuno. If they came after Ikuno and made themselves known, they could apprehend them or Kokoro could…solve the problem.

That was a dangerous line of thought to go down, though, so they quickly put an end to those thoughts.

The doors to the basement opened, and Ikuno's heart sank.

Every time they saw the thing, it broke their spirits just a little. It was like the computer was sucking out their life force, and they were exceedingly tired.

Researchers were nearly sprinting back and forth between the computer and their desks, as the program they were all so afraid of was changing in front of them.

She saw figures laying on the ground at odd angles near desks on the floors.

Ikuno couldn't tell whether they were taking a much-needed opportunity to sleep, or had simply collapsed from exhaustion.

She suspected it was the latter.

"Ichigo," said Ikuno calmly, "can you call some medics in here? We need to either help those scientists get back on their feet and working, or out of here entirely so more can take their place."

A wide-eyed Ichigo nodded and radioed in for help.

Ikuno let out a deep sigh.

She knew how that sounded. She didn't want to be this cruel.

But this code was leading to something. Every day the researchers took to study the code was another day for the computer's owner to advance the program towards their inevitable goal.

The thing it was leading to was going to be big.

Everyone working in the lab was scared out of their minds.

They found a way to impede the progress of the owner in a minor way, though.

The lab had created its own dummy file that acted similarly to the file they were fighting.

It would copy itself to every computer that contained the file, and find it within the directory.

Their code would then place both itself and the hostile file into a folder, then delete the folder itself.

This meant that the hostile file would be off of the computers until it was updated, then the lab had to create the program all over again, which could take the entire day.

They had abandoned the project after a few cycles of this, and their main strategy at this point was to pray that they managed to decipher the coding language before the file was completed.

Ikuno's daze was broken by medical personnel filing out of the elevator behind her, followed closely by more scientists.

The collapsed researchers were unceremoniously taken out of the room. They were thrown over shoulders or dragged by the arms across the tile floor.

The new scientists quickly began to resume the work of their incapacitated colleagues.

"Ikuno, are you alright?" Asked Nanami.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm fine, don't worry about me," she replied half-heartedly, "if you're going to worry about anyone, worry about them."

She pointed to a scientist who looked dead on their feet.

As he ran to his desk, he tripped, and slammed his head onto the edge of the table.

Out cold, blood poured from his temple and now broken nose.

"Medic!" Cried Ichigo.

"Get another researcher down here!" Added Goro.

The group let out a deep sigh in unison.

They watched silently for a few more moments.

"I think this qualifies as a hostile workplace," said Goro, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hell," said Ikuno, "if we get through this, each and every one of them is getting a medal."

"How long have you guys been doing this?" Inquired Ichigo.

"We've been working on the computer's duplicating file for a while now, but it just got this bad around a week ago, when the file began to change."

Ichigo's walkie-talkie sounded with static for a moment before Kokoro's calm voice radioed over.

"We've got someone trying to enter the lab. A woman looking in their mid to late twenties, tall, wavy dark hair down to the small of their back. Looks like she doesn't have the key to the door. Do I keep watch or do I take the shot? Over."

The juxtaposition of Kokoro's innocent sounding voice, and the brutality of what she just suggested unnerved the group.

"That's Hiroko," said Ikuno, "I called her over, an attendant should be letting her in momentarily."

Ichigo nodded before answering Kokoro, "That's Hiroko, she was invited. You're loaded with non-lethal, right? Over."

The walkie-talkie was silent, until they heard the sound of a rifle being reloaded.

"Am now. Over," said Kokoro.

A shiver ran down Ikuno's spine.

"I think she's adjusted a little too well to this situation," remarked Goro.

Ichigo let out a deep sigh, "I just hope nobody has to die."

Ikuno held her head in her hands for a moment, "honestly, getting shot by Kokoro would be less painful than having to deal with this nightmare."

The others gave a sympathetic groan.

The elevator doors opened, and Hiroko walked through as the concussed scientist was being dragged out.

"I see things are going well here," she joked.

"Have you read the file?" Inquired Ikuno.

"Yeah, he's quite the case study."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Well, he puts no value on human life, and he's dangerously unhinged. Aside from that, he is incredibly intelligent and resourceful. In the past not only did he manage to create the deadliest disease to ever exist, but he did it without being discovered by anyone. If the Klaxosaurs hadn't destroyed the surface, he would have."

"He's that dangerous?" Asked a panicking Nanami.

Hiroko nodded, "and looking through all of the files, there's a pattern that reveals something else."

"What's that?" Inquired Ikuno.

"It's his daughter."

"The one mentioned in the honeysuckle file?"

"Yeah, although he never states explicitly that he had a daughter until that report."

"Well, we already knew that she was dead, what else does she have to do with that?"

"It's trauma. He hides it in his work, but some of the phrases he uses, his disregard for human life, some of the strange word choices, it all points back to some sort of trauma. It seems like his daughter died as a teenager, and after that he buried himself in work. He keeps distancing himself from reality until he becomes someone who views the problem from an objective perspective, like it didn't concern him. That and the fact that he was hesitant to harm any children, despite his general apathy towards everyone else."

"So, he's a broken man," said Goro, "does that make him more or less dangerous?"

"I think it makes him more dangerous. He has nothing to lose."

"Why would he go after us, though?"

"He's…unhinged. He's doing it for no other reason than that he wants to, as far as I can tell."

"…That's it!?" Said Ichigo in nearly a shout, "he's putting us through all of this for, what, entertainment!?"

Hiroko simply nodded, unphased.

"Is that everything you could gather from the files, Hiroko?" Inquired Ikuno.

Hiroko furrowed her brows and cupped her chin as she answered, "that's everything I know for sure. I have a theory, though."

"What is it?"

"When I was still at Plantation Thirty-Five, an adult came to me one day and asked me to escape with him."

"What?"

"It was creepy and unnerving. He said that I was the spitting image of his daughter, and that he didn't want me to die on some barren battlefield."

"Do you think-"

"I think it was him, yeah."

The group sat in silence for a moment.

"He wanted me to abandon my squad," she continued, "so of course I told him off. A few days later, while I was talking with another adult, I mentioned him. They had no idea who I was talking about. When I recalled something that he said, "deadly as a honeysuckle," and said it out loud, their face drained of color. It was like I had said some sort of taboo."

"So they knew who you were talking about after that, huh," interjected Goro.

She nodded, "I couldn't get a good look at his face, since he was wearing one of APE's masks. When I looked him up on Dr. Franxx's files, neither he nor that phrase ever popped up."

"So we have no idea when or from where he infiltrated the city."

Ichigo hung her head, "well, crap. This just got even harder to solve."

"Could he have come from that last facility?"

"I don't know," said Ikuno, "that computer was found there, but all of the people inside had been in stasis for well over ten years."

"That man attempted to take me nine years ago," interjected Hiroko, "so I don't think it's any more suspicious than any other facility."

"Why did he wait until we had that computer before starting all of this?" Asked Goro.

"Maybe it was the only one that had the software he needed, since it was an old-world model."

"So you're telling me that every single adult male in the city is equally likely of being the suspect?"

"Yes," answered Ikuno.

Goro and Ichigo held their heads in their hands.

"A few days ago I was worrying about what Zero Two was teaching Yuuma in school," remarked Ichigo, "now we have a whodunnit on a city-wide scale to be worried about."

Ichigo stood, thinking deeply before her face betrayed a revelation, "hey, Hiroko, do you think you can let me into the medical records at the hospital?"

Hiroko furrowed her brows and cupped her chin, "it'll be difficult without explaining what's going on…but yeah, I can do it."

"Ichigo," asked Ikuno, "what are you thinking?"

Ichigo smirked as she explained, "if they're in the city, they have to be registered at the hospital."

"Yeah?"

"If they're an adult, then their physical will have shown signs: sterility and small doses of magma, right?"

"But what if they're one of the Caretakers? They have Magma in their blood too."

"Then we'll just have to ask Hachi for a favor. He might have to lock them down, or keep closer surveillance until this whole thing is over."

Ikuno didn't like how her friends were willing to go farther and farther to catch the computer's owner. This needed to be solved before desperate measures were taken.

"But if they're good enough to commandeer all of the computers in the city, won't they just hack the medical records?" Asked Hiroko.

"But we have something more substantial than the digital records. We have the bloodbags."

Hiroko's eyes widened as she realized what Ichigo was saying.

Ichigo continued with a grin, "each and every citizen has one bag of their own blood stored in the hospital, because of the wide range of yellow blood cell counts in the blood. A transfusion would be far too dangerous if the yellow blood cell counts didn't match, so in case of emergencies, a personal blood bag is stored there."

"So if there is a blood bag with Magma in it, or no blood bag at all-"

"Then we know exactly who they are."

For the first time in a long while, they began to see some hope.

"Hey," chimed Kokoro over Ichigo's walkie-talkie, "Hiro and Zero Two are running towards the lab, over."

Ikuno smirked as everyone around her looked confused.

"I think they just accidentally proved my theory."

---

Hiro and Zero Two were some of the chaperones for the school's field trip.

Although they were only part-time teachers, they were still loved enough by the children and staff that they frequently found themselves helping with such events.

The trip itself was just a hike up the nearby mountain; a simple excuse to let the kids out of the city every once and a while.

The teachers felt slightly apprehensive due to the mass increase of Klaxosaurs near the site, but they knew that the creatures were harmless, so the go-ahead was given.

The sun was high in the cloudless sky as the heat beat down on them in waves from above.

They were dressed casually, the pair dressed in simple t-shirts and shorts. Zero Two wore her white baseball cap, covered in splattered paint from all of her commissions. Hiro wore a bucket hat, just large enough to seem comically large for his head.

Zero Two whipped around to face their classes.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked with child-like enthusiasm, "everyone have sunscreen and snacks?"

The group of children nodded in confirmation.

A rosy-cheeked Hiro looked over at his wife and smiled. She had gotten to be very good with the kids. Her days of bribing children with candy were over.

Zero Two enthusiastically grabbed Hiro's hand with her right, and a child's with her left, Hiro mirroring the same.

The chaperones dispersed throughout the group of children grinned at the sight and followed suit.

The dirt path was wide, and the slopes on each side gentle, so there was no worry of any hikers falling off.

It cut through the dense woods that covered the mountain, shading the path and keeping the children cool, while breaks in the green foliage above allowed for sunlight to brightly illuminate the path before them.

"I can't wait to see this in fall," said Hiro to Zero Two, "I bet it'll be like nothing we've seen before."

"Maybe it'll be even nicer," replied Zero Two, "it won't be as hot."

The child holding Hiro's hand broke into the conversation.

"We have a big festival here in the fall!" Cried the boy with enthusiasm, "there's lots of candy and games!"

Hiro looked down at the boy and smiled, before looking back at his wife.

"Well, that's that," said Hiro, "I guess we need to make plans for the fall."

"Maybe I could paint something," she said.

"Maybe I could cook something."

"Yeah, if the line is too long for Futoshi's, people will come and eat yours."

"You know, sometimes you cut deep."

"I'm sorry, darling. I, for one, love your cooking."

Hiro puffed his cheeks in a pout.

Zero Two chuckled as they began to reach the top of the mountain.

It was a flatter area devoid of any trees, covered in grass and boulders. This is where they would eat, and the children would play.

A Moho-class, with four legs and circular eyes sunk directly into its torso, was sitting on the far end of the clearing.

All of the children began to giggle and run into the field to play, at times being captivated by the sheer size of the Klaxosaur that was simply sitting and watching them play.

The other chaperones hesitated for a moment before joining the children.

Zero Two and Hiro stood alone and grinned as they watched the peaceful scene from just inside the forest.

They heard a child wheezing and fighting for breath behind them.

They whipped their heads around to find Ai trying to help Shizuko regulate her breathing.

Shizuko's eyes were wide, and she was soaked in sweat.

She struggled to breath, gasping and wheezing, as she locked eyes with the Klaxosaur.

Zero Two called out, "Naomi!"

While the children and other chaperones remained distracted, Naomi whipped her head around to see Zero Two beckoning her over.

She sprinted between the pair to Shizuko's side, and wrapped her in a gentle hug.

"It's alright, it's alright, sweetie," said Naomi softly, "I'm here. Naomi's here, nothing's going to happen."

Shizuko's breathing got better, if only slightly.

A concerned Ai stood between Hiro and Zero Two, and tightly gripped their hands.

"I-I thought she was g-getting better," said Ai in a shaky tone. She seemed on the verge of tears too.

Ai was a kind child.

Zero Two knelt down and comforted her. This trip had turned into an ordeal.

It was about to get worse.

"BEAR!" Shouted a chaperone, not far from where they were.

The five of them searched for where the voice had come from.

The children had scattered, the adults trying to gather them closer to the Klaxosaur, hoping that its imposing size would ward off the large animal.

The bear ignored them, but was by no means perturbed by the Klaxosaur.

It approached the five of them slowly.

"Ai," said Zero Two sternly, "get behind us."

The pair's horns grew slightly, and they flashed sharp fangs and claws.

Naomi held Shizuko and Ai in her arms as she tried to pull them further away from the bear.

"Shouldn't it be afraid of the Klaxosaur!?" Cried Ai in a panic.

Naomi spoke as calmly as she could, "Klaxosaurs don't hunt or fight other animals; the bear knows it's not a threat."

The bear began to charge at Hiro and Zero Two.

Naomi braced herself, "close your eyes, you two."

The two put up a good fight, but the bear was massive. It was far larger than the one that Zero Two had hunted in the forest months before.

Zero Two slashed and bit its joints and tendons while Hiro distracted it by slashing at the bear's soft eyes and nose, with the occasional attempt to tear out its throat.

Soon the pair was standing in front of the bear, exhausted and with clothes soaked in blood.

The animal didn't even acknowledge the dozens of deep cuts that lined its body.

In a final push, Zero Two attempted to snap the joint in one of its front legs with a kick.

When her foot made contact, it was stronger than she anticipated.

Her eyes widened as it swiped at her head.

Hiro jumped in front of her and put his arms up into a block.

The bear made contact with a crushing force, and it threw the two of them onto their backs. Had Hiro been human, his arms would have shattered.

The bear walked towards Naomi and the two children, the easier prey.

Naomi laid on top of the children, in a hope to shield them.

The bear suddenly stopped.

It looked up from them and began to sniff the air, as though it sensed something was off.

A large creature of black and blue lunged from the nearby tree line.

What would have been called a small Klaxosaur, an insect in comparison to the Franxx they had driven years before, was twice the size of the bear.

It looked similar to the wolf that was Strelizia's stampede mode, except without any eyes and teeth, its hinged jaws looking more similar to the square cogs of a large gear.

It had knocked the bear onto the ground, and held the base of its neck between large mechanical jaws.

Placing its front paws onto the head and chest of the bear, it began to bite with strength greater than it ought to have.

She heard the crunch of bone as the jaws made contact with the spine, and the Klaxosaur whipped its head back suddenly.

It ripped out part of the spine and the flesh around it.

Blood and spinal fluid began to spray from between the jaws of the predator and the corpse of its prey.

Naomi and Ai looked up in shock, as Shizuko was shaking even harder than before.

Klaxosaurs weren't supposed to do that.

They were friendly, but they weren't protectors.

What had changed?

Naomi looked around her.

Just behind the tree line that surrounded them were dozens of similar Klaxosaurs, presumably a pack to which their protector belonged.

The Klaxosaur that had just killed the bear trudged over to Naomi, still laying overtop of the children.

Shizuko was crying in terror now.

It seemed almost taken aback by the tears.

The beast approached the three slowly, and lowered its blood-soaked head onto the ground as though to watch Shizuko.

Naomi began to slowly lift herself up; Shizuko so tightly clasped to her arm she was lifted up alongside her.

The Klaxosaur lifted its head up off of the ground to follow Shizuko.

Naomi decided to take a gamble.

She hesitantly reached out her shaking hand, and placed it onto the smooth head of the Klaxosaur.

It pushed its head against her hand softly in friendly response.

"Sh-shizuko," said Naomi in a shaky voice, "it's friendly, see."

A crying Shizuko slowly turned her head to see the Klaxosaur being pet by an enthusiastic Ai, and an injured Hiro and Zero Two.

"It doesn't want to hurt you," said Naomi in a now calm voice.

Shizuko swallowed the lump in her throat and raised a shaky hand.

The Klaxosaur all but jumped into it.

It was almost as though it was trying to prove to Shizuko that it had an amiable nature.

Juxtaposed by the blood dripping from its maw.

Shizuko's fear wouldn't entirely pass that easily, but she began to calm herself.

"See?" Said Naomi to Shizuko, "they won't hurt you. What Papa said was a lie."

A pale Shizuko nodded and began to stroke the featureless head of the Klaxosaur.

After a few moments, the Klaxosaur turned to Hiro and Zero Two, and bowed its head.

It was waiting for something from them. Hiro and Zero Two had no idea what to do, but the Klaxosaur desired something.

Something. Anything. Affirmation, condemnation, congratulations, a reward, a shaming, execution. Anything at all.

But why from them?

Zero Two hesitantly walked towards it, and placed her forehead against the top of its head.

She felt something deep inside telling her to do it.

They stood still for a few moments. All sound had ceased on the mountain, as though even the birds and insects knew not to disrupt this moment.

The blue of the Klaxosaur pulsed for a moment, and it slowly pulled itself away from Zero Two.

The entire pack disappeared back into the trees, leaving no evidence that they had been there at all.

Everyone was silent as the insanity of the past few minutes fully sank in.

"What now?" Asked Naomi, while comforting her still trembling child.

"I think we should take everyone back," said Hiro, "I think that's enough for one day."

And I need to ask Ikuno some questions.

---

Ikuno, Nanami, Hiroko, Ichigo, and Goro went up the elevator to meet Hiro and Zero Two at the door.

They couldn't let them know about what was in the basement just yet, so they would have to pretend that everything was fine.

Zero Two threw open the door and immediately shouted, "IKUNO!"

"Yes?" Responded Ikuno calmly, as Zero Two stopped just in front of her, Hiro being dragged by the hand.

"Do you have that lock of the Princess' hair I asked you to get?"

Ikuno nodded with a grin and went to grab something from her office.

Everyone around Zero Two looked at her in confusion.

"Why did you need the Princess' hair?" Inquired Ichigo.

"I'll tell you guys later; for now, I need to check something."

Ikuno couldn't withhold her excitement as she handed Zero Two the cylindrical container with Dr. Franxx's sample of the Princess' hair contained within.

Zero Two quickly opened the capsule, and to the disgust of everyone around, began to sniff the hair.

"Zero Two," said Goro slowly, "what the actual hell are you doing?"

She reached over to a surprised Hiro and pulled him closer to her.

Her deep inhales were the only sound filling the room.

After a few moments her eyes widened and she looked up at Hiro.

"It's gone," she said softly, "her scent is gone."

Hiro understood what she meant.

"So," he responded in an equally shocked tone, "our scent isn't like Star Entity's anymore?"

Ikuno rolled in between them, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"If I may explain," she said with confidence, "I think you two still smell like Star Entity, but not the Princess."

The group looked at Ikuno with confusion.

"What do you mean? The scent of Star Entity and the Princess is the same, right?"

"Star Entity smells like its pilots."

"But that Klaxosaur that saw us a few months ago- "

"Thought it smelled the Princess? Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe?" Said Zero Two.

"Hiro," said Ikuno, pointing her finger between Hiro's eyes, "you were in the pilot's seat with the princess for a short time, right?"

Hiro nodded.

"You're right, the scent from Star Entity and the Princess is the same."

"Then why- "

"She piloted with you in Strelizia, and her scent was already embedded within Strelizia's capsule when it merged."

"So all three of our scents were mingling," said Zero Two, "the entire time we were up in space?"

Ikuno nodded.

"Our scents must have just recently turned back to normal then?" Inquired Hiro.

"I would assume so," replied Ikuno.

Zero Two and Hiro looked at each other in distress, clearly unable to realize what exactly was going on.

"One obeyed you," said Ikuno smugly, "didn't it?"

The pair's eyes grew wide as they looked at Ikuno.

"How did you know?" Inquired a shocked Hiro.

"I had a theory."

"But if it isn't because of the Princess' scent, then why…?"

"You two are the last of the Klaxo-sapiens, and the last remaining pilots of Star Entity. Every Klaxosaur can identify you now as a unique scent separate from the Princess. Their allegiance has shifted."

Goro held up his hands as he spoke in a panicked tone, "hold up, what's that supposed to mean?"

Ikuno turned around to face him.

"It means that we celebrate the crowning of a new Prince and Princess."

The lab was totally silent for several moments as everyone except the enthusiastic Ikuno attempted to fully comprehend what they had just been told.

Ichigo held her head in her hands as she nearly shouted, "what the hell!? So those two are the…they control the…we're allied with…"

"Is that why the Klaxosaurs have been encircling us recently?" Asked Nanami.

Ikuno nodded. Her theory had been proven correct, exactly as she had imagined it.

She felt a warranted arrogance.

"Any friends of theirs," said Ikuno while pointing at the couple, "is a friend of the Klaxosaurs."

Once again, silence prevailed.

"So," said Hiro, clapping his hands together, "good news then."

Ichigo and Goro looked at him with confusion.

"That's all you have to say about this?" Asked an exasperated Ichigo.

"You realize you could take over the world like this, right?" Inquired an equally flustered Goro, "I mean total dominion for as long as you could possibly live. Maybe as long as the original Princess."

Zero Two trilled her lips in a form of apathetic disapproval.

"That sounds tiring," she said in a boring tone, "and I like what we're doing now."

"I don't really want to live that long, either," said Hiro in a similarly disinterested voice, "all it really means to me is that the city has some extra security."

Goro lifted his chin and ran his fingers through his hair, as he let out a deep sigh.

"Screw it," exclaimed Goro as he threw down his head, "I don't care anymore."

Ichigo still had her head in her hands as she spoke, "me neither. Extra security is good enough for me."

Nanami and Hiroko were the only ones in the room still stunned.

"Is that all, you two?" Asked Ikuno, "if so, we're a little busy, so we have to go. Maybe you should report this to Hachi, though."

"That's all we had to ask," said Zero Two, handing Ikuno back the capsule containing the Princess' hair.

The two began to walk back out of the laboratory, before Zero Two looked over her shoulder and called out to the group.

"Oh yeah. Do any of you know where Kokoro is? We got attacked by a bear and now Ai is fine, but covered in blood."

"SHE'S WHAT!?" Bellowed the gentle Kokoro over Ichigo's walkie-talkie.

---

Hiro and Elias talked as Hiro worked at the computers in the library.

It had become almost a daily ritual. A few minutes a day, the two would engage in a short conversation.

Elias didn't have much time left, and Hiro felt as though he needed to be the man's friend in his last days.

They talked about anything and everything. The weather, the last book they had read, what music from the old world they listened to, etcetera.

They tried to avoid talking about the parasite days, though.

After a few minutes of working on the computer, Elias would always excuse himself and go. Hiro would continue on with his work, and the day would be done just like any other.

Hiro stacked shelves and assisted readers until his day was over.

"Oh," he thought as he began to leave, "I forgot something at the computers."

He jogged up the stairs humming to himself before he arrived at the computers.

A photograph lay on the floor near where he had been sitting.

Hiro slowly picked it up and studied it.

He felt something deep inside.

Confusion, and familiarity.

---

Ichigo and Goro sat in the chaotic basement as Ikuno led the scientists in figuring out the computer language that the dangerous file was written in.

Ever since Ichigo had ordered the investigation of the blood bags in the hospital, she had nothing left to do apart from guarding Ikuno.

Her phone rang.

"Hello?" She inquired.

"Hey, is this Ichigo?" Inquired a man sheepishly.

"Yes, this is her."

"Uh, I don't know quite how to say this ma'am, but uh…"

"Spit it out," said Ichigo. She was losing patience with this whole situation.

"Y-yes ma'am! Wh-when Niko did his daily rounds in the spire today, he found that a handgun had been stolen from the armory!"

"WHAT!?"

Everyone in the room was looking at Ichigo, who was now standing with her phone in front of her face.

Ichigo didn't care. This was bad.

She didn't have to guess who had taken the pistol, there was only one criminal in the city. Sure, he had been a threat before, but now he had a gun as well as complete control over every computer in the city.

If security hadn't been stationed at the lab, everyone working to stop him could have been murdered in one fell swoop.

Ichigo couldn't worry about hypotheticals. She had to take action.

"Alright," she continued, while holding the bridge of her nose, "alright. I need you to report to Hachi, and tell him to send more security forces to guard the armory, to cut off his ammunition supply."

"Yes, ma'am," said the man through the phone.

"Also, I need you to tell him to allocate more forces towards guarding major civilian centers. I'll try and find out if there are any other facilities where he can find or create any more weapons."

Ikuno looked back at Ichigo as she spoke, "let's go to the hospital later, we should make sure that none of the vaccines are missing. If he is able to engineer some sort of virus like he did a hundred years ago, it won't matter what we do here."

Ichigo nodded.

"Yes ma'am," repeated the man.

She hung up and held her head in her hands.

Goro gave her a tight hug, and she buried her head in his chest. Her frustration started to dissipate, but no matter what, she felt stressed beyond belief.

"What can he do with one handgun?" Asked Nanami, "sure it's dangerous, but we have far more firepower than him. Additionally, if he uses it, he will have revealed himself, and won't be able to escape."

"Unless he murders someone in secret," said Ichigo, "if that happens, we still wouldn't know."

"And this gun might give him something to negotiate with," said Goro, "he could take a hostage, or threaten a citizen to give him supplies he can use to make something even deadlier."

The group let out a deep sigh.

"Ikuno, you figure out the computer, I'll keep in contact with the security forces and Hachi from here while we guard. Once they are done investigating the blood bags in the hospital, we might have him, so you don't have to worry about anything else."

Ikuno nodded. Figuring out the computer language needed to counteract the code was all she could do to help.

"How close are you to figuring it out?" Asked Goro.

"We're close," said Ikuno, "but everyone is stressed, because we don't know how much longer we have."

"Have you been experimenting?" Inquired Ichigo, "you know, trying to make your own programs in the language and stuff?"

Nanami let out a sigh, "we have, but it's been difficult. Even our most complex programs don't hold a candle to what we're trying to stop."

"How complex?"

"We've managed to figure out how the file was duplicating in the first place. Essentially, we've arrived at the starting line, but the race has long since begun."

"But if you're that far along, shouldn't a code this old be susceptible by now?"

Ikuno straightened her glasses, "in theory, but the program is rewritten every time he updates the file. No matter how much we mess up that code, it will be fixed by the end of the day."

Goro cupped his chin as he thought out loud, "is there another file you can use as reference?"

"There is, from Dr. Franxx's files. That being said, it doesn't help much at all."

"Why not?"

"There's no key. It doesn't tell us what everything does, it just…exists as a file."

Goro let out a deep sigh, "so you might as well look at the first file."

"Exactly. Although I'll still be looking at both just in case I can find something out."

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Well," said Ichigo suddenly, in an attempt to raise morale, "I'm glad you're able to find out anything at all. I'm not smart enough to figure all of this out."

Ikuno put on a smug face, "don't worry Ichigo, it's just that I'm exceptional."

Everyone gave her a dry expression.

"I'm cancelling our engagement," said Nanami in a monotone voice.

"W-wait NO! I-I-I-"

She noticed everyone smirking around her.

Perhaps she should be humble until they figured this whole thing out.

---

Hachi was sending more and more of his forces to guard places that the computer's owner had been or would potentially go.

He had ordered an immediate investigation of all storerooms and rations; making sure that the old-world adult hadn't meddled with anything else.

They had cut off his supply of ammunition when they blocked off the armory, but he could do enough with the nine bullets he had.

Hachi made sure that the water and food reserves hadn't been infected with anything, as that could wipe out humanity in an instant.

Every time he felt he had ensured something's safety, something else appeared vulnerable. He was being reminded daily that he was at the mercy of a monster.

Even for the emotionally repressed Hachi, the stress was beginning to get to him. He was eating and sleeping less, he felt dehydrated, his skin grew pale, he had become far skinnier, he felt hot flashes, and a pit had formed in his stomach that seemed to gnaw at his very soul.

This ordeal was quite literally draining the life out of him.

At times he felt like screaming, others, crying. He constantly wondered if something as simple as flipping a table would make him feel better, only to realize he would only have to clean it up again.

Bags had formed under his eyes, and his eyelids felt perpetually heavy despite his inability to sleep. Nana and his duty to the city were the only things keeping him going.

"We can do this," he thought; vainly attempting to rekindle his own spirit, "humanity is tenacious."

Things couldn't get much worse. The best-case scenario would be Ikuno figuring out how to stop him, and Ichigo finding out his identity, but he wasn't focusing on the best-case scenario.

If the computer's owner took the foolhardiest action, he would reveal himself with the handgun. Attempting to use the handgun without prior preparation would only lead to Kokoro clearing the contents of his head with her sniper rifle. The handgun was most likely only to assure his own safety if his other endeavors failed. If the pistol was going to be used, it would be pointed at a hostage.

The second action he was preparing for was a takeover of all the computers in the city. Neither Hachi nor Ikuno knew what exactly what the file was going to do, but they knew that it wasn't something that would permit them any kind of control. If he took away the city's computers, they would have to start all over again. There would be no electricity, there would be no water recyclers or emergency crops, there would be no automated farming, they would be left with a shell of a city which was once the pinnacle of humanity.

When APE had been defeated, they had to start from what they had previously considered the absolute beginning.

That wasn't the case. Back then, they still had technology.

In the event that they lost the computers, they would have to truly start over. Thousands of years of technology rendered totally useless for an indeterminate amount of time.

Finally, there was the event that scared him the most.

A virus. Whether it be new, or the same he had used to wipe out humanity before, it didn't matter. The reports from the computer said that a major city with a population of thirty million was completely decimated within three days.

With only a little over six thousand people left, it might only take a matter of hours.

A matter of hours…

The thought echoed in his head and ate away at his sanity.

However, as long as he could identify the problems, he might be able to maintain what was left.

"Uh, sir?" Inquired an aid at the door.

Hachi snapped out of his daze.

"Yes?" Inquired Hachi, in a melancholy tone.

"In the chemistry lab, we found that someone had taken some chemicals."

Aw, hell.

It couldn't be for the virus; he would need more than a few chemicals to create something as complex as that.

"Which chemicals?"

"Uh, let's see…"

The aid continued to read a short list of chemicals and the amounts taken thereof.

Hachi began to lose hope he didn't know he had.

The aid noticed Hachi's pained face and continued.

"A-are you okay, sir? What's wrong with these chemicals?"

"Oh, it's nothing," said Hachi with a forced smile, "they're useless. A researcher most likely used some but forgot to log that they had been taken."

The aid responded with a relieved sigh.

"That's good then. I was worried it was something bigger."

"Thanks for the report. You can go now."

The aid saluted and walked out the door, closing it softly behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Hachi's head fell into his hands.

That wasn't some random assortment of chemicals.

The computer's owner was building a bomb. A small bomb, but a bomb nonetheless.

But a bomb didn't fit in with the rest of the plans. It was too…direct. Sure, he had taken a handgun, but it seemed as though it was only for security. Everything else was subversive and intangible.

A bomb was too in-your-face.

Hachi's stress was higher than it had ever been before.

Things kept piling on and on. Problems sprouted up whenever he wasn't looking. Although he could count the issues on one hand, they felt innumerable.

He called Nana.

"Hey," he said softly, "are you busy?"

"No?" Responded a confused Nana, "what's this about?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really…I just…wanted to hear your voice."

She let out a sonorous laugh.

"Do you mind…coming to my office?" Continued Hachi.

"What for?"

Hachi struggled to put it into words.

"I just need to see you."

Nana was silent.

"I understand," said Nana, "don't worry, I'm coming."

---

Hiro held the photo tightly in his hand as he jogged down the wide library's stairs onto the street below.

The streets were seeing their usual clutter as most people were leaving work. Hiro would have normally found it easy to navigate, but not while he studied the picture in a daze.

He needed to find Hiroko. Last he had seen her, she had been working in the lab with Ikuno. That's where he would start his search.

He wasn't absolutely sure that the woman in the photograph was her, as the photo was obviously an older one, but she bore such a striking resemblance that he couldn't get the thought out of his head.

As he continued to study the photograph, a new question took shape in his mind. This was an older-looking photo. The woman in the photograph had to be eight to ten years younger than him, but she was wearing clothes that hadn't become popular until a few years after the war with the Virm. Everything would be explained if Hiroko was the one in the photo.

Well, almost everything.

The place he had found the photograph would imply…

He hit his head against the glass entrance to the lab.

Hiro whipped his head around to make sure no one had seen his blunder, and luckily the street was empty.

He felt a pair of eyes burrowing into the back of his head, but he couldn't see anyone.

Something glinted on the rooftop across the street, but he thought it was just a coincidence.

He threw open the door to see Ikuno, Nanami, Ichigo, Goro, and Hiroko all standing there to meet him.

If his mind had been clear, he would have found it suspicious.

"Perfect!" Said Hiro loudly, "I've been looking for you, Hiroko."

"What is it?" Asked a confused Hiroko.

"I found this photograph, and I hoped you could shed some light on what it might be."

Hiro held up the photograph for her to see, and after her eyes widened, she ripped it away from him with uncharacteristic force.

She studied the photo so closely it nearly touched her nose.

After a few moments the color drained from her face.

"What is it?" Inquired a now offput Hiro.

Hiroko shakily showed to photo to the others around her, who began to react similarly.

"Is that not a photo of you?"

"N-no," said Hiroko.

"Well, damn. I thought I was onto something."

Hiro cupped his chin as he thought to himself, not noticing the whispered conversation of the people around him.

"…that's the daughter, right?" Asked Nanami quietly.

"It has to be," said Ikuno, "holy hell, she looks just like you, Hiroko. It's like I'm looking back to our parasite days."

Hiro interrupted their conversation.

"Hey Ikuno," said Hiro quizzically, "I think I might know who this may be. I can't explain why she was wearing these clothes, but I think it was Elias' partner from Squad Thirty-Five."

Everyone looked up at him in shock.

"He was in love with her," he continued, "and he has a couple of other photos he's shown me on occasion. I was thinking that if you could show me the old records I could find out who- "

"Hiro!" Said Goro suddenly.

"Wh-what?"

"Did Elias tell you that he was in Squad Thirty-Five?!"

"Y-yeah…he did. Is there something wrong?"

Hiroko pulled out a device from her pocket, and after a moment held up a picture for him to see.

It was the same girl from the photo Elias showed him.

"Is this the girl that he showed you?" Asked Hiroko, with her jaw clenched.

"That's her! Did you know her?"

"Of course I do. That's me from ten years ago."

"That's great!" Exclaimed an excited Hiro, "Elias has thought you were dead this entire time, you have to go meet him!"

Hiro slowly noticed the grim expressions worn by his friends.

"Hiro," said Hiroko slowly, "Elias isn't from Squad Thirty-Five."

"…what?"

"I'm the only one left from Squad Thirty-Five. Every other member is dead, I know that for a fact."

Hiro's eyes widened as he tried to make sense of it all.

"Then…who…what squad was he from? Why does he have your photo?"

"Because he's not a parasite," said Ikuno, "never has been."

"He's an adult from the old world," added Ichigo, "an extremely dangerous one, at that."

The room was silent for a few moments longer, until Ikuno broke them from their daze.

"Hiro, when did he show you this photo?"

"Uh," muttered Hiro, coming to his senses, "He never showed me that one, only photos from inside a birdcage. I found that one near the computers at the library."

"Does he go there often?"

"Every day. The first time he showed me one of those photos was on my first day working there. He needed help moving some files around on the computer."

"He was moving files?"

"Yeah, I think they were photos."

"What about recently?"

"I haven't had to help him with that recently, I just assumed it would be stuff for his job, or more photos."

Ikuno turned to the others behind her.

"Well, I think we just found where he was updating the file from."

Hiro's expression betrayed his confusion.

Goro was quick to notice, and soon, they began to explain everything.

---

Ai and Shizuko were walking through the silent park.

The sun was getting low in the sky, and the streets were becoming less and less crowded.

For them, it was time to head home after a long day of playing. All of the other children had gone home already, but Naomi was running late, and asked Ai to keep her company.

An old man walked towards them along the empty path.

"Uh," he stammered, "are either of you, uh, Shis-, no, Shiz-Shizuko?"

"It's not a complicated name," thought Ai.

"That's me," replied Shizuko warily.

"Ah, good. Can you come with me? I'm a friend of Hiro's and we need one of Squad Thirteen's children for something."

He held out his hand with a grin on his face.

Something felt off.

Shizuko began to take a step towards him before Ai stepped in front of her.

"If you're looking for one of Squad Thirteen's children," said Ai sternly, "I should be enough."

"And you are?"

"Ai."

A toothy grin split Elias' face.

Something was really off.

"You're Mrs. Kokoro's daughter, right?"

Ai nodded; her jaw clenched.

"Excellent," continued the old man.

Ai turned around and looked at Shizuko, trying to show a calm façade.

"C-can you wait here for Naomi, Shizuko?"

Shizuko gave Ai a hesitant nod.

A familiar red caught her eye from further down the street.

Good. She had a plan now.

Ai looked towards Elias before speaking as sternly as she was able to.

"Alright, let's go."

Shizuko sat on the bench watching as the two walked away, until she noticed Ai's hand motioning behind her back.

A clenched fist, then two fingers; repeated again and again.

Shizuko's eyes widened.

Zero. Two.

She hopped off the bench and began her search.

Ai was quietly trying to not panic as she noticed something hidden on the hip of the old man.

Was that…a gun?

She had never seen one before, but from what she had heard, there was no mistaking it.

"You're a clever girl," said Elias, "and soft-hearted too. Maybe too much for your own good."

"What are you going to do?"

Elias shrugged.

"Continue my research."

"What research?"

"You…you don't need to concern yourself about that, sweetheart."

Him calling her sweetheart sent a shiver down her spine. It was too familiar and comfortable, considering she was a hostage.

"…do you think you're getting away?"

"Of course. I've spent the past few months preparing for it. I made a small blunder today, but my plans will work all the same."

"What's going to happen?"

Elias smirked.

"In a few minutes, everything that runs on electricity will shut down completely. No more lights, no more computers, no more medical devices or farming equipment. A return to the dark ages, for the lot of your defective parents."

"Defective?"

"Your parents, and all the other adults of this place, were created solely to serve my generation. Make no mistake, the lot of them are inferior creatures. The closest thing they have are those pale imitations of my generation's greatness, the caretakers, or whatever they call them. This 'civilization' that they've created shows me nothing more than how much they've forced humanity to backtrack because of their so-called 'trauma.'"

Ai had heard some of the old-world adults spoke from the caretakers and ex-parasites, but to hear it in person was a new experience entirely.

It was so unreasonable, and dripping with vitriolic hatred.

"Doesn't that make us defective as well?"

Elias looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"No. You natural-born children are blameless."

"Then why are you taking me?"

"Well, I preferably would've grabbed that Shizuko girl. An ex-parasite holds no value in my eyes. If she was hurt, or I had to kill her, I would have felt nothing. A real person such as yourself holds more value than the lot of them combined. You were smart to have forced me into this situation, though."

"Why is she not real?"

"Hell, she was sent to a facility at the age of four. If your parents, some of the greatest pilots to ever exist, are defects, then that child is an abomination."

"Then why were the children frozen in that facility you were in?"

"It was a moment of…weakness. I made the mistake of seeing them as real, and hid as many as I could from APE. Make no mistake, I realize that I was wrong now."

Ai went silent.

"Don't worry," continued Elias, "even those defects can recognize the value of a natural-born human. They'll come to get you back. For now, though, you're my bargaining chip."

"Where are we going now?"

"Away. Far away. Don't worry, as soon as my escape is assured, I'll let you go."

"Do you think the Klaxosaurs will leave you alone?"

"I have an idea for that. That's why we'll be stopping by the hospital first."

The sun began to set, and the lampposts around the city began to illuminate the darkening streets.

Elias smiled as he pulled out a handheld device, typed a command, and hit enter.

---

Ikuno sat staring at the two files. One was from Dr. Franxx, and the other was the file from the old-world computer.

The others sat a short distance away near the glass doors of the lab as they tried to figure out their next move.

They knew who the culprit was now, but they still needed to stop Elias' program before he executed it.

She had almost grasped the entire coding language. Everything was beginning to come together, and she was confident she could stop the program within the next few days.

Comparing the two programs, she saw something in Dr. Franxx's file that intrigued her.

Something called a Boolean statement.

It wasn't included in Elias' program, but it was simple enough to understand.

Something caught her eye.

The program was beginning to compile.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Shouted a panicked Ikuno.

It was a massive program, and its progress was slow, but once it was finished compiling, there would be no going back.

The others looked at her in alarm.

"H-Hiro! Go disconnect the old-world computer from the net! Goro, you go disconnect one of the servers! All I need is one!"

The two hesitantly nodded and sprinted towards the computers and servers.

A moment later, Ichigo spoke in a panicking tone, "uh, Ikuno? The lights in the city are starting to go out."

As she finished speaking, the lights of the lab turned off, and the red emergency lights kicked on.

The dim red glow showed the rows of computers turning off, one by one.

A shout from the basement alerted Ikuno that Hiro and Goro had succeeded in disconnecting the devices before the program could be executed on them.

Good. Maybe she could fix this.

Hiro and Goro threw open the door that led to the basement before questioning Ikuno.

"What's happening!?" Inquired a breathless Goro.

"Elias started the program," said Ikuno, attempting to remain calm, "he's shut down everything that's connected to the net."

"That's…everything, isn't it?"

Ikuno nodded.

"Oh hell."

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Al-alright," exclaimed Ikuno, "you all need to go and find Elias and distract him. I'll come up with something from here. If you can keep him distracted, he won't be able to notice that I'm meddling with his program."

The others nodded.

Ikuno held Nanami's sleeve as the others began to run out the door.

"Ikuno, I need to go," exclaimed Nanami.

Ikuno pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"That's for luck," she said, "and no matter what, stay safe."

Nanami nodded, and sprinted out the front door.

---

The group ran out the front door confidently, but soon realized they had no idea where to begin. The night was nearly pitch black, with only Hiro's glowing eyes and horns to guide them through the night.

They stood still in the street, trying to think of where they should start looking.

A bright light blinded them from the direction of the spire.

It was dead silent as the flames licked the side of the massive glass tower, until the sound of the explosion finally reached the group, the force nearly throwing them to the ground.

"A BOMB!?" Shouted Ichigo, her ears still ringing.

"Is he near there?!" Responded Hiro in equal volume.

"Wait!" Said Nanami, "wait and think. The spire could never be taken down with a bomb. An explosion like that is meant to be flashy, nothing more. That won't even scorch the pavement around the tower."

"A distraction?" Asked Goro.

"He's got to be trying to draw us away then. Let's look in the opposite direction," answered Hiroko.

"But the spire is the center of the city, the 'opposite direction' could be literally anywhere," said Hiro.

They all sat still for a moment, until they saw a pair of glowing red eyes and horns bobbing in the distance.

"That's Zero Two!" Exclaimed Hiro, "but why is she running away from the spire?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Nanami.

"Normally Zero Two would be the kind of person to go and help," answered Ichigo, "she must know something."

"That's the direction of the hospital," said Hiroko, "something must be going on there."

The group looked at one another and nodded, quickly beginning to run down the dark streets toward the hospital.

---

Kokoro ran across the level rooftops on the street until she came to a ladder.

Strapping her rifle to her back, she climbed down and made her way closer to the red dots she saw glowing in the dark.

"Zero Two!" She shouted, hoping to catch her attention.

The glowing eyes stopped bobbing up and down, and faced her direction.

"Kokoro!" Shouted Zero Two in a panicked voice, "I have bad news!"

"What is it?"

"Ai's been taken!"

Kokoro caught herself before she fell to her knees.

"W-what?" She said in a wavering voice.

"Shizuko saw Elias take her away, saying he needed one of Squad Thirteen's children."

"W-w-why would Elias need Ai!?"

"He needed a hostage," said Ichigo, catching up to the two.

Tears began to stream from Kokoro's eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," she said.

Everyone nodded, and they made their way towards the hospital.

---

Nana and Hachi sat in the office together on the couch, beginning to doze off.

When the lights cut off, they hardly noticed.

Then a bright light shone through their window, and the entire tower shook.

They heard panicked voices all around them, and Hachi sprinted to look out of his office windows.

It was the bomb.

Was that all there was to it?

That explosion wouldn't shake a single bolt loose from the spire. What was that meant to accomplish?

His phone rang, and he nearly dove to his desk to pick it up.

"Hachi," said Goro over the phone, "get to the hospital."

Goro hung up the phone, and Hachi was left perplexed for a few moments before looking up at Nana.

"We need to go to the hospital."

---

Ikuno looked at the last working computer on the planet as she tried to figure out what she could do to stop the program in its tracks.

If she didn't do it correctly, the computer would shut off, and they would lose everything.

If the others kept Elias occupied, she could do a rough fix of the file to where it wouldn't work.

Her hopes rested entirely on the fact that her friends would keep him busy.

She was scared beyond all reason.

Taking in a deep yet shaky breath, she began to edit the program.

The problem with the hundred-year-old computer language was that it was temperamental at the best of times, and completely uncooperative at the worst.

A single typo would mean the entire program would stop, and the computer would have difficulty finding and identifying the problem in any way that would be intelligible to someone without years of experience.

She needed something simple, but she didn't know where to look.

And she needed to find it before the computer's battery ran out.

Her eyes darted back and forth, between Franxx's file and the program.

Wait.

What was it called?

A Boolean statement?

There were no statements like that in Elias' file, but Franxx's was full of them. It was most likely a personal preference, almost like a penmanship quirk.

And it was all she needed.

She began to frantically insert her own code, putting a few lines for her own satisfaction.

bool newPassword;

newPassword = 'EliasIsABastard';

cin newPassword;

if (newPassword = true) {

cout "I WIN\n;"

break;

}

else {

();

}

Ikuno waited with bated breath as the computer slowly began to read the file.

She felt a feeling of victory like never before when the program compiled correctly.

Ikuno connected the computer with the last remaining server, uploading the program to what remained of the net.

Plugging in the rest was a risk, but it was the only way to restart all of the computers that had been shut down due to Elias' program.

She hoped that the split second it took for the servers to run the program that it would run hers rather than his.

If she managed to update the file in the net before it shut itself down again, she could turn everything back on again.

She closed her eyes and connected all of the servers.

Ikuno sensed the dim red lights shut off, and the room was totally dark.

Then the first computer turned on.

Then another, and another, until all the desks were alight.

The overhead lights turned on, and Ikuno nearly cried in relief.

---

Miku and Zorome were in the hospital when the power went out.

At first they thought nothing of it, just something that cut their visit a little short.

Then they heard someone sprinting down the hallway.

Zorome stepped in front of Miku to get a better look at who was running through the dark hallways.

He saw Elias with a terrified Ai clutched in one arm.

"HEY!" Shouted Zorome, "What're you doing to Ai!?"

Elias didn't reply, pulling out his gun and firing a shot towards Miku.

Zorome took the bullet and hit the ground.

"ZOROME!" Cried Miku.

His face was contorted in pain as he fell onto the floor.

"I'm fine!" He reassured through clenched teeth, "I'm fine!"

Elias sprinted past the two as Ai began to scream and punch Elias' back.

Soon they disappeared around a corner, and the couple couldn't hear Ai's screams any longer.

"Z-Zorome…?" Said Miku, tears filling her eyes.

Zorome looked up at her and smiled, "I'm fine, love."

"W-w-where did he hit you?"

"Don't laugh."

"How am I going to laugh in this situation?!"

"He shot my ass."

Miku sniffled and couldn't help but laugh between tears.

"See?" Said Zorome with a slight smile, "I told you."

"Shut up, you idiot."

They were both silent for a moment.

"Please don't do that again," said Miku with a broken voice.

Zorome pulled her into a hug, "you know I can't promise that."

She helped him up and walked him into the nearest room.

---

"WHY'D YOU SHOOT UNCLE ZOROME!?" Screamed Ai.

"He got in my way," said Elias calmly, "if he had just stayed still, he would've been fine."

"LET ME GO!"

"Now sweetie, you know I can't do that."

"SHUT UP!"

"That's not how a young lady should speak."

"CHOKE AND DIE!"

"Miss, you need to learn to respect your elders. Seems those defect parents of yours don't have the capacity to teach basic lessons."

Elias stopped in front of a large door.

"Ah," he said with a smile, "finally."

It was where the blood bags were kept.

When his bomb had detonated, everyone who had been searching through the room had gone to assist in possible relief efforts, leaving it completely empty.

He confidently kicked open the door and began searching through the multitude of identical plastic bags.

"Red, red, red, red, re- ah!" Exclaimed Elias, "blue!"

Holstering his gun, he pulled a knife out of his pocket, and poked a hole in the bag of Zero Two's blood.

"If my theory is right," thought Elias aloud, "no matter what I do, the Klaxosaurs will leave me alone."

He turned and looked at Ai before continuing, "it'd be best if you looked away, child. This may make you sick."

To Ai's horror, he began to chug the contents of the bag, until nothing was left.

"W-w-wha…w-why?" Inquired a disgusted Ai.

Elias flashed an eerie smile as he wiped his mouth, "The Klaxo-sapiens were masters at using magma. Down to a biological level, they're compatible with its use. They were too cowardly to take advantage of it, idolizing the chaotic life that Earth exuded, but when the time came they realized how useful it could be. Even my generation paled in comparison to their greatness in wielding it."

"So what?"

"The Klaxosaurs serve the Klaxo-sapiens. The magma flowing through my veins should react, and fool the beasts into thinking I am one of their masters. Especially since I now bear the scent of a pilot of Star Entity."

"You really think drinking it will work?"

"It worked for your uncle."

Her eyes widened.

"You don't know how difficult it was to befriend him," said Elias with disgust, "listening to some filthy half-breed beast who thinks he has it all figured out because he has a quiet life. The audacity."

He picked her up again and quietly walked out of the storage room. They returned to the hallway they had sprinted through a few minutes earlier.

A pool of blood was slowly creeping its way across the hallway, separate droplets forming a trail into one of the surgery rooms nearby.

"It looks like your uncle survived, sweetheart," remarked Elias, "still hurts like hell, though."

Ai breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she felt relieved, she was still stuck in a situation she couldn't escape from.

And if Elias escaped, it was only a matter of time until almost everyone died.

She began to cry.

---

Finally, most of Squad Thirteen had joined together while sprinting towards the hospital.

Along the way, more and more people from the city joined their charge, following the light emitted from Hiro and Zero Two's horns.

If Squad Thirteen was heading away from the explosion, then the problem lay elsewhere.

Maybe they could help.

They gathered across the street from the front of the hospital.

There must have been a hundred of them.

Elias stepped out of the glass front doors; the barrel of his pistol pushed hard into Ai's temple.

He only saw the two pairs of horns of the Klaxosaurs awaiting him.

"You bastards are clever," said Elias in frustration, "but if you take one step closer; I blow her damn brains out."

Ai began to voice a terrified whimper and tears began to pour from her eyes.

"Can you take the shot, Kokoro?" Inquired Ichigo in a whisper.

Kokoro's voice was shaking as she responded, "no. Ai's head is in front of his chest, and his body will spasm if I shoot him in the head."

Ichigo scowled.

"Why are you doing this, Elias?" Asked Hiro.

If they could get him to talk, Ikuno would have the time to restore power to the city.

"I'm doing this because I want to," replied Elias smugly, "because my research is my life. Now I can cull your generation of rebellious parasite failures."

"What do you gain from that?"

"…Entertainment? To be honest, I simply feel like it."

"When did you become alright with killing children?"

"When I began to live in your society. How do you regress so far in such a short period of time? You parasites are a blight. I'm simply going to restart with the natural-born children."

"Even though you protected those children before- "

"That was a mistake- "

"And began to see your daughter- "

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY DAUGHTER YOU FILTHY HALF-BREED!"

Silence descended over the dark city street.

"…So if you had taken Shizuko…"

Elias sneered, "if I had taken Shizuko, she would've been splattered onto this street a long time ago."

"You bastard."

"Maybe, but- "

Elias' monologue was cut short as the lights of the city began to turn on, revealing the multitude of people across the street from him, and locking the hospital doors behind him.

"WHAT!?" Shouted Elias.

He frantically pulled his handheld out of his pocket.

A message from Ikuno was displayed on the screen in large letters.

I WIN.

Elias shook in rage.

He needed to get to a computer if he was going to fix the program.

But now a hundred people had their eyes on him. He couldn't keep a hostage and fix the program.

He was desperate.

His gun faltered for a moment, no longer pointing towards Ai's head.

She took the opportunity

Ai stamped her foot down with enough force to break his toe, and bit off a chunk from his arm.

Elias screamed in pain; taking a few steps back as he clutched his arm and supported himself with the hospital's wall.

Ai began to sprint across the street to her parents.

A gunshot rang out, and Ai saw dirt kick up in front of her.

Everything was silent for a moment as she ran.

"Ha!" She thought, "he missed!"

She felt something rise in her throat, and time began to slow.

Against her will, she coughed.

What's this red color?

Rose petals?

No, these are droplets of something.

Am…am I falling down?

My legs aren't doing what I want.

Why does my stomach feel so hot?

My eyes are so tired…

Her eyes drifted to her parents, frozen in time.

Their faces were covered in tears, and it looked as though screams were escaping their lips.

Why?

Please don't make that face.

Mom…dad…

Everything I do, I do to make you proud.

My favorite thing to do is watch your smiling faces.

You always look so warm and happy.

So please-

Please don't make that face.

---

Everything was silent as Ai fell face-first into the asphalt street.

"AI!" Screamed Kokoro.

Elias had just lost his only advantage.

Hiro and Zero Two wasted no time in attacking.

A panicking Elias fired wildly towards the two, barely missing those in the crowd behind them.

Zero Two was the first to get there, sinking her fangs into his forearm, burrowing into the bone within.

She began to whip her head backwards just as Hiro arrived, ramming his horns into Elias' torso.

His dominant arm ripped off at the shoulder, blood spraying and painting the sidewalk beside him.

Hiro didn't stop, his horns exiting the other side of Elias' torso and through the glass entrance of the hospital, pinning him.

Elias screamed in agony.

But he remembered one thing.

The knife.

With his remaining arm he reached into his back pocket and flipped out a large knife.

Hiro's eyes widened as he realized what he saw.

Hiro began to pull his head back just as Elias slashed.

Blood began to spray from his neck, and he felt a sharp pain in his stomach as Elias kicked him back.

Hiro put as much pressure as he could on the nicked artery, but began to pass out from blood loss.

"DARLING!" Screamed Zero Two.

An unconscious Hiro was dragged into the crowd, where he was immediately given first aid.

She heard Elias' footsteps grow closer, and whipped around to face him.

She shouldn't have gotten distracted.

Before she could even see him, she felt a sharp pain rip across her belly and a blow to the side of her head.

She fell back to her knees.

Elias' footsteps resounded as he sprinted away.

Hiro was covered in blood.

Ai was on oxygen, barely holding on.

More doctors were running towards her.

She thought she heard one of them saying something.

"Oh, hell," he said, "they're slipping out!"

Zero Two looked down at the ground.

She saw something in the corner of her vision.

Something like a chord coming from…

Wait, were those her…

She began to vomit from pain and anxiety.

Ichigo surprised her when she forcibly grabbed her face.

"Zero Two," she said calmly, "I need you to look at me."

"B-But," stammered Zero Two, "Ichigo, are those my inte- "

"Don't look down. Just focus on my face."

"Is d-darling, is Hiro al- "

"Hiro will be fine, his cut has already healed, he's just unconscious."

"What about Ai?"

"…she's…she'll be ok."

Zero Two knew she was lying, and began to panic once again.

"Zero Two, focus, look into my eyes. Your wound is healing already, but we need to clean it first. We'll have to keep re-opening the wound until we've cleaned your- "

She cut herself off for a moment.

"Until we've cleaned the wound," she continued slowly.

Zero Two's consciousness began to fade as she felt the slash across her stomach open again.

She heard hundreds of enraged roars in the distance, like a choir resounding off the tall buildings in the narrow city streets.

Something was coming.

Everything went dark.

---

Kokoro wasn't allowed to follow Ai into the hospital yet.

Only surgeons could be in the room as they performed the operation.

As her daughter and her best friends were rushed through the front doors, she sat shellshocked on the ground, tears cutting rivers across her face.

Elias was still charging towards the closest transport, far down the street.

If he reached a transport, he would escape.

All of this would be for nothing.

Hopelessness began to set in.

Roars began to echo through the city streets, causing everyone to start suddenly.

Kokoro felt something. A presence behind her.

It was an instinct he had learned as a parasite, and nearly forgotten in their peaceful life.

She slowly turned her head to see a multitude of small Klaxosaurs stalking their way through the streets.

The glowing eyes of Gutenbergs flashed above even the tallest buildings.

The city was surrounded, and they were pouring into the streets from all sides like a flood.

"What's happening?" Inquired someone from the crowd.

"They're angry," answered Nanami.

"Why?"

"Because Elias just attacked the new rulers of the Klaxosaurs," remarked Goro.

The crowd went silent for a few moments.

"He's almost to the transport," said Hiroko solemnly, "what can we do?"

Kokoro had almost forgotten about the weight she felt on her shoulder.

Her sniper rifle.

She stood up with a start and took off the strap.

Pointing the rifle upwards, she made her way through the crowd until she found herself in front of everyone.

Everyone looked in stunned silence as the gentle Kokoro kneeled down and chambered a round.

She could shoot him in the chest. That way would be quick and painless. Plus it would be the easiest shot to hit.

But that was too generous.

That would never quell her rage.

Kokoro looked down the sights and aimed directly for his knees.

She waited for the moment that the knees line up as someone runs.

It lasts for a split second, but it is still there.

The sound of the high-caliber rifle firing deafened those closest to Kokoro.

Elias' knees nearly evaporated from the force of the bullet ripping through them.

As he screamed in agony, he desperately crawled towards the transport with his one remaining limb.

The Klaxosaurs stalking through the streets now pounced on him like hungry wolves.

His screams echoed through the city for several minutes as the Klaxosaurs ripped him apart, until the agonized bellowing was abruptly cut off by a sudden and sickening crunch.

Kokoro sat back down and cried out of frustration.

She thought that having Elias suffer would make up for what he did to her daughter, maybe give her and her family some satisfaction.

She was going to have to kill Elias anyway; he couldn't be allowed to escape. Kokoro made it painful so that she would feel better.

But that wasn't satisfying at all.

---

The doctor talked to Ai's family in the waiting room, bringing both solemn news and a hopeful solution.

"How are her chances?" Asked an anxious Mitsuru.

"As things are," answered the doctor, "about fifteen percent chance of survival."

The couple's eyes widened.

"I-Is there anything we can do?" Inquired Kokoro.

"I have an idea, but it will have some side effects."

"What is it?"

"A mixed blood transfusion."

"What's that?"

"Rather than a traditional surgery, we'll use a blood transfusion that's ninety-nine parts human and one part Klaxosaur blood."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Said Mitsuru.

"If the concentration of Hiro's blood was any higher, then yes."

"What will it do?"

"Well, when we studied Zero Two and Hiro's blood, we found that it had some interesting properties, mainly the one that allows them to heal so quickly."

"In the blood?"

"Yes. Klaxosaur healing isn't a process like our human one. Rather than a slow reconstruction of the tissue, Klaxosaur blood has a property that causes the cells around the trauma to undergo mitosis at an unnatural rate."

"So they just heal really fast?"

"Sort of. Think of the process as a…controlled cancer. The cells replicate at a level that would be uncontrollable for our bodies. It's like the body allows a sort of controlled chaos in a very specific area. Rather than forming a tumor, it's used to form tissue."

"So…you're going to use this property to heal Ai's stomach?"

The doctor nodded, "this way, we won't have to worry about the blood loss during surgery as well."

Mitsuru cupped his chin, "what are the side effects?"

"Firstly, she'll be sterile."

"I don't care."

"Secondly, she'll change just a little."

"What do you mean?"

"Minor Klaxosaur features will present themselves. Nothing major, but her teeth will become fangs and her muscle density will increase dramatically."

"Muscle density?"

"While her frame will largely remain the same, her muscles will become more potent. She'll be about twice as strong as her peers for the rest of her life."

"Is that it?" Inquired Kokoro.

"Yes. For anything else to present itself, the body would have to undergo significant changes to skeletal and muscular structure."

"If the only side effect is that she become slightly Klaxosaur, then I don't care in the slightest."

Kokoro nodded in agreement.

"One more. She'll be under anesthesia for a few days. Since Klaxosaur blood is a natural carrier of yellow blood cells, she'll have a high fever. Luckily the body is most hostile towards the cells during the first injection, so they'll be completely eradicated and she won't have to deal with the long-term effects."

"Oh," said a slightly disappointed Kokoro.

As long as he saved her child.

That's all that mattered.

---

Ai's head was swimming.

She felt like she had been asleep for a long time, and couldn't open her eyes for a few moments.

When she had regained control of her body she stretched and slowly opened her eyes.

The smiling faces of Kokoro and Mitsuru were the first things she saw.

They were inside of a hospital room lit by the early morning sun. She sat in a hospital bed that was far too large, pillows stacked all around her.

"Good morning, Ai," said Kokoro in an almost inaudible soft voice.

Ai let out a tired giggle, "good morning, mommy."

"We're so proud of you," said Mitsuru softly, "you saved Shizuko's life. You were so, so brave."

"…I wasn't brave, daddy. I cried a lot. I was really scared."

Mitsuru patted her on the head and smiled, "being scared doesn't mean you weren't brave."

Ai looked across the room and saw her younger siblings asleep on a chair, nearly stacked on top of one another.

Kokoro followed her gaze to the chair and smiled again, "they've been in here with you for the past few days while you were asleep."

Ai smiled warmly.

Mitsuru walked over and gently woke the rest of his children.

The children's eyes grew wide as they woke and they jumped into Ai's bed.

They cried as they hugged her as tightly as they could.

While her younger siblings sat around her, Ai felt something strange.

As she spoke, she felt something pricking her tongue.

"Mommy?" She asked, "what's poking my tongue?"

"Ah. That's the side effect of your treatment, Ai."

"What happened?"

"You were given a transfusion with some of uncle Hiro's blood mixed in. You're still human, but you have a little bit of Klaxosaur in you now."

"Will I be able to do all the cool things uncle Hiro and aunt Zero Two can do?" Inquired Ai ecstatically.

Mitsuru laughed, "you'll be a little stronger, and you have fangs, but you won't be able to do all the things that they can."

Ai looked a little disappointed.

"Hey daddy," said Ai with enthusiasm, "let's arm wrestle, I'll beat you with my superstrength now!"

"You're not that strong just yet."

She began to absentmindedly feel her fangs with her tongue, surprised at their sharpness.

Her eyes widened as she realized something.

"Is uncle Zorome alright!?"

Mitsuru and Kokoro were surprised for a moment before their faces softened.

"He's alright, Ai," answered Kokoro, "he's almost totally healed."

"Did anyone else get hurt?"

"Uncle Hiro and aunt Zero Two got hurt pretty badly, but they're alright," said Mitsuru with a bittersweet smile, "aunt Zero Two…well…she was a little jumpy there for a little while, but she's calmed down."

"Why was she jumpy?"

"Seeing you and uncle Hiro get hurt kind of got to her."

"I…I get it."

"How about you, Ai?"

Ai clutched her stomach for a moment as she thought.

"I think I'm fine."

"Ai, if you start to feel anxious, or feel scared more often now," said a serious Kokoro, "we need you to tell us. It's not good to bottle that up."

Ai gave a hesitant nod.

"Good," remarked Mitsuru with a smile.

When they had finished talking, all three of Ai's younger siblings dozed once again, snuggling as closely as they could to Ai in the oversized hospital bed.

They enjoyed the quiet for a few moments longer before the door to the room slowly opened, and Naomi's head poked past the doorframe.

"Is Ai awake yet?" She whispered quietly.

Kokoro nodded with a smile.

Naomi led Shizuko by the hand as they silently walked to Ai's bedside.

Holding Ai's hand, she spoke quietly with a trembling voice, "thank you, Ai."

Ai flashed a toothy smile, revealing rows of sharp fangs.

"Thank you for saving my daughter."

---

The rain pattered against the laboratory windows as Zero Two looked out over the rainy cityscape.

Although the day was young, the sky was dark with heavy clouds. The wet city streets were walked by figures in large hooded coats, or wide umbrellas.

The light of transports and lampposts formed blurry halos around the bulbs, giving the impression of an otherworldly city outside.

However dark the city appeared, Zero Two was happy knowing what emotions were felt by all around.

She looked to her side, at Hiro.

A scar stretched from just right of his jugular to the side of his neck.

Just another scar; one of dozens.

Now she had the first scar of her new body, stretching from one side to the other, just below her navel.

Ai had been awake for a few days as well, so everyone in the city had felt some relief.

For several days after Elias' attempt to sabotage and escape the city, the atmosphere of the populus was grim.

Squad Thirteen, some of the greatest among them, had been ravaged.

One of their children had been taken hostage and nearly died.

Hiro nearly bled to death.

Zero Two was disemboweled.

Kokoro was forced to kill someone.

A bomb was detonated at the base of the spire.

No one had won that night.

However, no citizen had died.

That alone was cause for celebration.

So now, the city was once again back to its peaceful and optimistic self.

For Zero Two, the city was as beautiful as the day they had arrived.

"Alright," said Ikuno cheerfully from behind, surrounded by the rest of Squad Thirteen, "the results are in."

"What did everyone say?" Inquired Hiro.

"It's unanimous. Everyone seems to be in support of the idea."

"Really?" Asked a surprised Zero Two.

"I understand," commented Ichigo, "she's become a hero to a lot of people over the years."

"Do you think it's safe?" Asked Futoshi.

"If it's not," answered Hiro, "we'll deal with it."

Ikuno clapped her hands together as she began to roll towards a massive capsule of Star Entity's liquid remains.

"Then let's begin," she said with enthusiasm, "although are you sure this will work? With you two, there was backup data of your entire bodies. With her it's just a little bit of DNA. Besides, I thought your consciousness was- "

"It'll work," stated Zero Two firmly, "trust us. It's not…it's not something that can really be explained. There's something or someone."

Ikuno puffed as she replied, "I wish souls were quantifiable. Why can't it be something simple?"

She began to input a number of commands into a computer terminal next to the pod.

Specimen found nearby. Match age data with specimen? YES/NO

Ikuno shrugged.

"What the hell? Might as well give her a young body."

YES

The capsule containing the fluid began to shift, the blue swirling lines switching between rigid and flowing time and time again, as though compressing itself repeatedly.

Time until biological reconstruction: ten days.

Soul lost.

Hiro and Zero Two locked their fingers together, and couldn't contain their smiles.

"Are you two that excited for this?" Inquired a grinning Goro.

Zero Two nodded.

"She helped us a lot before. Without her, none of us would be here."

All of Squad Thirteen began to smile together.

"Besides," continued Zero Two, "you know what the city preaches."

'If there is a way to preserve a life, no matter how difficult it may be, we will do it. Regardless of previous conflicts, it doesn't matter, now that we have the opportunity, we try to help and protect all the life we can.'

---

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the world of the living.

"A dream?" She pondered.

No, this was no dream.

She bit her thumbnail as her mind raced to make sense of her, well, existing.

"Reincarnation?"

No, she still remembered everything.

Her brow had furrowed and her fangs clenched into the deepest scowl she had ever shown.

She observed her surroundings as she began to calm down.

Her scowl never softened.

She was in a small room illuminated only by flames dancing in a large stone fireplace in the wall across from her.

The walls were made of oak wood, resembling the interior of a log cabin from the humans' old world.

Facing the fireplace were two large padded chairs; in one was a figure which seemed to defy all reality.

Their hair was the color of white gold, and they bore a face that radiated kindness.

It was like she was seeing an old friend.

But that was all she could tell.

Her mind could not make sense of the figure; it was both male and female, the hair was both short and long, it looked human, Klaxosaur, and Virm at the same time.

It hummed quietly as it carefully cross-stitched the image of a candle into a cloth with a small needle and string.

"What have you done to me," she said to it, a voice dripping with vitriol.

"I have done nothing," it replied softly, "you are quite healthy, are you not?"

She saw no wounds on her body, not even the faded scars she had gained during her carefree childhood.

"That is not what I meant, and you know that."

"And what is the answer you are waiting for?"

"I'm dead. Why have I not reincarnated yet? Am I not allowed even the freedom to die properly?"

"Your body may be gone, but it is not yet time for you to be reincarnated."

"Then have I been damned?"

Maybe that was something that she deserved.

"You have not been damned. I have not found you wanting."

I have not found you wanting?

"I assume your use of 'I' there means you have that sort of power."

"And who did you think I was?"

"A confusing being worthy of contempt, especially for radiating that putrid false air of kindness."

"You have not known me long enough to know it as false."

"You can count the number of truly kind people in the universe on one hand. I leave no room for you."

"You have some trust issues."

"I will not trust a deity that keeps me trapped in purgatory."

"You are by no means trapped. There is a time in which you will leave."

"A time not decided by me."

"You are quite quick to hate, aren't you?"

"I hate all who are not my precious brethren."

"But you do not count them as kind?"

"I would prefer that they are not."

"And what of those whom you allowed to fight with your brethren?"

"They were vestiges, they will soon die out. The savages were means to an end, and they will be eliminated like the rest."

"You should not speak of other sentient beings like that."

"I will speak however I wish, worm."

The being sighed, but the friendly air around it never diminished.

"You should not hate."

"Oh, is that the case?" She said with exasperation, and with increasing volume, "I shouldn't hate those that slaughter my people? Those who demolish everything I love? Those who rob the innocent of life and children their bright future? Those who deceive the trusting and use the weak as tools? Those who destroy everything they touch because they believe it to be right? Those who are so blinded by greed as to accept the help of the abominable to extend their own livelihood? Do not speak to me as though my hatred is not justified. My people were forced to stare into an abyss; hatred is the thing that made us strong enough to conquer it."

"That is quite a dramatic way of viewing it."

"Any other way is wrong."

"And you are the judge?"

"I will conquer any who think otherwise."

"But is that really what you want?"

"You know nothing of what I want."

"I do. The war might have changed your attitude- "

"Don't"

"- But I know you are still that fundamentally kind woman inside."

"Shut up."

The being sat for a few moments before speaking again.

"I ask that you do not hate them, the ones bringing you back."

"I will hate them as I please," she replied.

"It isn't right to hate."

"Are we to have this discussion again?"

"You have the right to anger, a righteous fury at having been wronged- "

"Then what is the issue with hate?"

"Because hating something will never lead to satisfaction."

"And you would know how?"

"The Virm are dead."

She sat dumbfounded for a moment.

Her innumerable sacrifices had not been in vain.

"That glorious feeling of victory that is enveloping you now," continued the being, "how long will it last? What will you feel in the depths of your soul mere moments from now?"

"What I feel does not matter, vengeance is what mattered."

"What you feel is all that matters. You will find that the dead are uncaring when it comes to vengeance."

"Then my desire for vengeance is all that I feel. I felt I needed it. Does that satisfy you?"

The deity never lost patience.

"But why did you need it?" It asked.

"An eye for an eye," she replied.

"And what did that long-desired vengeance do?"

"It spread my spite into the stars as a scar."

"It protected life in the universe," laughed the being, "it continues to protect those 'savages' you pretended to condemn to death mere moments ago."

"You misjudge me."

"Your character shows through your anger. You need just remember."

"Those savages will kill the planet I loved again."

"Those savages are the ones who will resurrect you."

She looked at the being, shaking in rage.

"Send me to hell instead."

"Do you know why they will resurrect you?"

"I. Do. Not. Care."

"It is out of a love for life, and all those who bear it. Out of a desire to protect and nurture all those who are able to be alive. They will see an opportunity to save a life, yours, and they will take it without hesitation. They will accept you and love you unconditionally, despite your past quarrels."

She sat in silence.

"I know," said the being, "that it reminds you of a civilization you love."

"My hatred will not diminish from something as simple as that."

"Then I will keep you here until you are able to let go of that hatred."

"I thought you said there was an appointed time for my departure, you despicable fraud."

"Indeed," sighed the being, "eight and a half years from now."

"I am not so weak as to cave in that miniscule amount of time."

"You will see that I can make time whatever I wish. To them, it will be less than a decade, for you, it will be however many thousand years it takes for you to remember who you really are. To lose the façade the war has made you think is your true self."

She walked over to the empty chair and sat with the same dignity as when she ruled from her lonely throne.

Sitting with her back straight, she crossed her legs, and rested her jaw on her fist.

With her eyes half-closed, she fixed her steely gaze on the dancing flames, her pupils emitting a faint light blue glow.

"Well then, let's begin your game, you pathetic deity," she spat.

You will find my hatred greater than all gods and demons.