Chapter 43

"What" Kevin looked cross eyed and everyone else was just as speechless.

"What" Himeko looked like she was being stared down by an Herrscher again.

"How?" Mei kept looking everywhere and drinking every detail form the base as the elevator went down.

I knew it would elicit such reactions, after all, I'd made it.

The Geofront is one of the most iconic bases in Media, and one perfectly suitable for my purposes, being a modified interstellar vessel for Adam or Lilith the size of the moon, I hadn't finished everything else, but the recreation of the part I saw in the anime was complete. I began answering Mei's question. "The Herrscher cores are both terrible and beautiful. The Core of Reason can create anything we know the composition of, or their manufacturing process, or just their general function. The Core of Thunder can manipulate electromagnetism in a subatomic scale, allowing for molecular rearrangement with ease. The Core of Wind allows for any fluid to be manipulated and can also be used to create the ideal fluid. Haven't found a use for the latter, but so far it has been a godsend for getting the salt out of the water around us."

"But how did you dig this? The ceiling should have collapsed before you could expand the tunnel! The weight from the sea would have ensured that!"

"Well… we have the biggest diggers ever, that way, look." A particular sight made everyone stop again as they took on the sight. "We reinforce as we go, and we also practice controlling the giants. Thank god for the Core of Thunder, can you imagine the electric bill on using those?" In the distance… the trio of Unit-01, Unit-Null, and Shiryu dug with shovels scaled up for them, well more like bulldozer buckets in the Dragon EVA's case. Unit-01 turned and waved at us, it had a funny yellow hardhat on top of its helmet, as did its siblings. I waved back.

The elevator dropped us at the bottom of the vast interior of the Geofront: 6 kilometers in diameter at the base and one kilometer high, we'd created additional entrances for the elevators carrying our navy and a few passages for our air forces to deploy from the bottom of the Geofront. But most of our ready forces were stored in Arsenal City at the top of the semi sphere.

In the ground, a few things were visible. A firing range were some of our mechanized forces were testing various weapon configurations and other stuff we were thinking of selling to the humans for mass production. I was still working to find a suitable place to test our more… exotic options available.

The lake was about to be finished but the hills and grass already looked natural… despite being underground. It felt odd going from the cold north Pacifc air to an almost Mediterranean heat. I felt as my companions' jaws hit the floor at the imitation sky above us, a sunny day below a raging storm.

The building we were next to was as much of a replica of NERV HQ as I could make it. If I was making the thing, I better make it as close as possible as I can. "Welcome to the Agartha Geofront. Mind your head on the ceiling."

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Taking them to the apartments complex a tram stop away, I helped them settle down. The place was akin to a hostel, with various rooms surrounding a common area with a tv, lounge and kitchen. The place is very spacious and it's very hard to think that you are under a perpetually cold island that somehow is still part of Alaska.

"Guys rooms to the right, girls to the left. We still haven't brought fresh food down here but let me see what we haven from the farm prototypes. Extinguishers are on those panels near the dorms' entrances. Emergency weapons are under the living room and on the hallways to the rooms. There are a couple AA emplacements on top of this building, and I think I left a map for the tunnels for emergency scrambles somewhere…" A pull from my sleeve made me turn and I saw the team plus Kevin simply collapse on the arranged sofas. Their luggage left in a pile in the middle of the room, while those pulling my arm looked at me with… honestly, I don't know, a cross between wanting to kill me with their sight alone and the most adorable puppy eyes ever. How two women of different ages managed to pull of the same expression was a mystery. Logging event for analysis. "Something wrong?"

Himeko looked at Mei and some message was passed among them. Himeko let go of my sleeve first and let Mei talk to me first. "Yinsen-san… er, sir."

"Yin is fine kiddo."

"Yin-san… I forgot to tell you but…"

"Yes?"

"I received these. From a man named Sento Kiryu" She showed me. It was amazing, seeing the Build Driver in real life, a lightweight metal chassis encasing humanity's attempt at understanding monsters from another place.

Oddly fitting, in our situation.

I knew from Tess and Eins reports that they had gotten Rider gear from Mei, but I'd chalked up that to it pulling the blueprints from me or something. She took out a key I have never seen before in my life. "A woman calling herself Doctor MEI gave this." She showed me the key, a red semi-transparent chassis like that of Burning Falcon, only less red and more orange. Her next words sent a chill down my spine "Why did she look so much like my mother?"

(Days Later)

Hideaki Tyler had to admit that his current job was… both he most boring and the most exciting of all he'd had since joining the JSDF. Meeting the strangest man alive, getting superpowers and then basically being drafted into a war no one had any idea of was such an occupational roller coaster that he wasn't sure he was in a military anymore.

The morning had dashed away any such thoughts as the morning run made him sweat under an almost artic cold.

There was a pun hidden in there somewhere, but he was too busy panting to care.

"Helljumper, Helljumper, where you been?"

The first person did didn't look like Kevin's family finally appeared… and now was their drill instructor. The team was surrounded by other young Kaslanas in sweats and sneakers, but Watchpoint plus the Science trio, Kevin and Yinsen had been dragged for the exercise. The dark-skinned woman wore beautiful white clothes that she kept free of any dirt even as they ran near the place were the giant robots were still excavating.

Oh yeah, he had to answer.

"Feet first into hell and back again!"

Some of the kids looked winded, some didn't, but the veterans had it a bit rougher. The woman who introduced herself as Penelope Peppers, operative 2P, had simply looked at everyone and found some sort of weights that she fitted on their limbs faster than anyone could react. The non-Watchpoint girls hadn't been fitted with them, but the others had, Yinsen had gotten the lion's share as he looked to be wearing so much metal that he could use it as body armor.

"When I die please bury me deep!" Sergeant Peppers kept her clothes so clean Tyler was beginning to think there was some of that Honkai bullshittery Yinsen loved to abuse.

Right, answer.

"Place an MA5 down by my feet!" He'd asked what that was, apparently it was a rifle. The dragon-like giant robot nearby saluted with its bulldozer like paws and went back to digging.

Tyler went back to panting.

(One Week Later)

Himeko sat in the base's dining hall, although the size made feel like a whole base on its own had been filled with tables, seat and food enough to feed an army for a year. Watching the others scarf down their breakfast after the frankly strange PT run they'd been doing every morning since arriving was strangely comforting. Yinsen carried a set of trays on both hands while balancing a third one on top of his head, his sometime spiky hair somehow not allowing any food to be spilled.

"Show off" Himeko drank the amazing soup as Yinsen sat down a and passed the extra tray to the starving wolves from her team, the girls partaking in as much in the unga-bunga food binge as the guys. Yinsen looked amused at the science trio somehow outpacing the military men and women and one athletics scholarship holder (he'd slipped that tiny detail as he'd been discussing what program to use to train him). Young Mei looked like a chipmunk but ate like a ravenous predator.

It was strangely adorable.

Drinking from his large cup of… black tea? Edward responded to her jab. "Hey, sorry this ain't a Michelin star resto, but I don't think they deliver to the middle of the north pacific. As much as I'd love to have some chianti with you, I don't think freezing winds make for a proper date." He let out that like it was nothing, capitalizing on their promise form when they first met in Nagazora. It made the former JSDF lieutenant blush a bit, even. She smiled.

"Hey, I'm more surprised you have food this good for a bunker's galley, how come?"

"Well… most of this food is proof-of-concept on some gardens we have to help with the air down here, and the meat is cloned." He pointed at the large steak in her plate. Then at his own. "This one is one of my attempts at making next-gen military food. Maximum nutrition without clogging your guts like normal MREs. Tastes bad no matter what I do, though." He took a piece from… despite the sauce covering it, looked like a slab of transparent ballistic gel, wobbled as much. He made a face as soon as he bit into it. Himeko got curious and used her own fork and knife to cut a piece from the slab for herself.

It was very tough… and chewy… and she somehow couldn't feel any flavor despite knowing there was so much sauce on the thing it was more of soup than a steak. Yinsen noticed her grimace and took the rest of the piece and threw it on his mouth. His face went blank as he chewed and swallowed. He shuddered and turned back to her with a smile. His teeth looked too clean for having eaten sauce & gel soup.

"I think I can say version 13 is a bust. Oh well maybe next time." Yinsen grabbed a large apple and bit into it. Then a yawn caught him mid-chew making him spit into a napkin.

Himeko thought about something. "Wait, where do you even sleep?"

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(Later that night)

The wind on the top of St Matthews Island was cold as ever, and but there was a break from the normally cloudy weather, letting moonlight come down on the barren island.

Well, not so barren anymore.

In the middle of it, a metropolis sprawled like an alien wart in a seemingly untouched land. The buildings heled collect water and vent heat from inside the Geofront. During the day, that caught whatever light they could and shoved it downstairs and provided covers for the sensors inside them.

On the outskirts of Arsenal-2 (the first Arsenal City was next to the lighthouse I first took refuge in when I washed ashore after tanking the nukes.) a house stood, buried into the many cliffs the island offered. Two stories tall, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Its white paint looked like someone had colored a rock in a videogame, but the house itself looked like it has always been there. There were mark on its wall as if the very rocks it was sitting on had simply been craved out in that shape by the winds.

I laid on its roof, observing the clear night sky. Himeko had gone back inside the house for a jacket. The silver jacket looked familiar to me… ah, all that was missing was her red blouse and she would… look like the Himeko from the game's era…

Somehow, I still couldn't wrap my head around that I was in the Honkai verse, just… too far away from what I knew closely that it was… almost irrelevant to me. I knew the consequences of my actions would affect Kiana and everyone else… but, now looking to the stars… it felt odd that I could probably travel to another planet and come back, and the game, hell the manga's events wouldn't have even started.

Sure, this meant not having to deal with Otto Apocalypse or Cocolia, or Kevin's merry band of crazies… but somehow, I knew more about their motivations I could probably navigate the world or even take them on.

Who am I kidding? I would have had the Immortal Blades on my ass faster than anything. Or being shoved into Babylon Labs and die along with Sirin's friends… or maybe being chopped in pieces and bought in bulk by Jackal and Serpent…

"You look strange, Yinsen." Himeko sat down next to me, and I smiled. "What are you thinking about?"

"The city, Mei's data, the war…You." I loved the way her head whipped so fast to look at me that she almost got her hair to whip her own eyes. Her blush was bright enough to be seen in the middle of the night.

"You're joking."

"Unfortunately. The city can handle itself with minimal input from me. Mei's data, on the other hand…"

"I know nothing if this is real or some delusion before I die…"

"Feels strange, knowing this already happened." Dr. MEI's data had been a godsend. I wanted to both hug and strangle that smug bastard Sento, since he left me a way to explain my origins. But since the data came from the Dr. MEI of a parallel timeline which was closer to the canon one…

"But in the tiny chance this man is correct and the girl before me is a me from before…"

I had felt something, I wanted to reach out to the burned woman in that screen, to tell her that her plans wouldn't go the way she wanted… but that she effectively had bought humanity a second chance. "Feels strange, seeing little Mei all grown up." And I saw the light in our Mei, that I hadn't seen in the other one.

"…may these memories help avoid my future. My name is MEI, Chief Director of Fire Moth…"

Our Mei, I had claimed her as part of my organization the moment she dropped on me napping in the lighthouse. Having the mind that would save humankind in my corner was a boon and a curse. So much of my metaknowledge depended on her being the leader of Fire Moth, but actually having her under my command… if there was someone that could figure out the best way to use my powers to save the world… other than Tess and Ein, it was her.

"Yeah. Cute kid, driven too." The woman threw back some of her hair, to my eyes, it left behind some glowing dust in the air. Making patterns like those in slo-mo cameras.

"You forgot smart, Himeko." She kept smiling.

"I think that was a given?"

"Indeed" We softly laughed together. I sighed. "Is it strange that I want something between us to work?" With everything going on, there was so little time to do anything, but even then… I'd sworn to myself to try.

"Well, we're technically living together." She smiled. I loved her smile.

"Love born in the battlefield tends to move fast yes." I watched as she came closer. My words came out a bit strained. "But… I realize we barely know each other."

"I know you; I trust you. You want to save the world; I want to make those monsters pay." He smiler turned a bit more feral, and that sight made my blood rush downstairs.

Keep it together man. "But I don't even know why. Why do you want to do that? I make for some leader… how about we start over?" I faced her directly, siting straight and looking into her eyes.

"How does that even work?"

I took off my uniform's glove. "Hello, my name is Edward Yinsen. I want to save the world, because I can't think of anything else… except for knowing more about the woman in front of me." I offered my hand. Despite all the damage it had gone through, it just looked mildly calloused.

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She smiled once more, almost laughing. "Hello, Edward. My name is Himeko Aikawa. I want to destroy the bastards who killed my family." She took his hand and gave it a good shake.

"Seems like a common theme." Those words came out of nowhere and Himeko was puzzled.

"How so?"

"All Herrschers so far have lost someone close enough to them to drive them mad… except for Thunder, I still don't know what her deal is." He adopted a pose like those of her teachers when they liked talking about their subject. It was sort of adorable.

"Should I feel offended that you're thinking about other women when you're trying to 'know me better'?" Himeko jabbed a finger into his ribs. He laughed.

"Nah… wait, are you jealous?" He looked honestly surprised.

"Emotions are confusing." Himeko shrugged.

"Don't worry then, let's go back to you… who was your family?" His eyes betrayed his curiosity.

"My parents died when I was young. An uncle took care of us until I graduated high school and then he died." She began with something that made most people wince, she watched his reaction.

"Ouch... wait you said 'us'." And trust him to focus in strange details.

"Yeah, my little sister." Even after months of her death…

"Who was she?" Yinsen took her hand between his.

"Her name was Akira Aikawa… a prim and proper lass in school but a lazy bum at home…" Himeko let herself go back to those sunny times….

"Sound like a riot, did you raise her, by chance?" He had a strange smile, as if he could see her sister just from Himeko's words alone.

"Yeah… once I graduated high school, I enlisted to be able to keep her around, once our uncle died." And if that could have driven them apart… it failed.

"I see. Wait, was she at…?" Edward couldn't hide his wince this time.

"She attended Senba Academy."

"Oh…" He looked a bit…regretful?

"She was outside with her club when the Eruption happened… nothing to be done…"

"I'm sorry." Why was he apologizing?

"I went back when they asked to identify the body… She almost looked peaceful, if it weren't for…"

"Don't worry, you don't have to explain that." He waved his hand in front of him. She gave him a glare but sighed and kept going.

"I'd hoped she was somehow still alive, but back there, when we met up with Kanata, I saw the casualty list. She'd had her ID with her, so it was easy to confirm her identity."

"Damn."

"All of them, yeah."

"Well… quid pro quo, as they say… my name is Edward Yinsen… and I frankly don't know what I am anymore." He winced a little and scratched the back of his head in a clear nervous tic.

"Someone with metal stuff below their skin." She'd been wondering about that since they hooked up. What was up with that?

"…What are you talking about?" He looked perplexed, hadn't he noticed it then?

"Didn't you think someone would notice the plating you have under your skin? Like, right here." Himeko touched the plate just below his ribs covering his belly. She could feel the bolts securing the plating to something inside. She didn't want to know to what.

The man lost all expression for a moment before wincing again and scratching the back of his head. "…my name is Edward Yinsen… and I frankly don't know what I am anymore."

Himeko narrowed her eyes. "I can see that. You going to explain?"

"About what?"

"The plating right here." She poked the steel again. She felt something was very wrong as he lost all expression again and repeated himself.

"…my name is Edward Yinsen… and I frankly don't know what I am anymore."

Himeko sighed. "Oh Dear. Hey if any of you kids are listening… your old man is kind of in trouble." She went for her issued phone which already had its screen lit up. She could hear Yinsen's nails scratching his scalp again.

"…my name is Edward Yinsen… and I frankly don't know what I am anymore."