Takeover III, Hayate

Lost in my memories, I pulled away when the scene in my mind started getting blurry. Standing back in my office, Nanoha held onto me with a flushed face, staring unfocused at my collar. I gently wiped the sweat off her brow.

Panting, she uttered, "So this really… Does this mean that I- that all of this is a…"

"It… looks like it, yes," I said, sticking to telepathic communication from my side.

"Then those memories…"

"Now you see why I have to get out of here, Nanoha."

"But it doesn't… feel like a dream to- Fate-chan? Wait, what are you doing-"

I swayed after she took a step back, escaping with the pendant out of my reach.

My vision swam a little. My throat was still tight, reminding me that breathing through it was like breathing through a crushed straw. "You saw it, Nanoha. It's all this pendant. Please, I need you to give it to me."

"Wh- what are you going to do?"

"Destroy it. This must be some kind of spell. And if the pendant is the source-"

"No, you can't…" She backed all the way against the wall. "You can't!" she shouted. "It's all wrong! You've got it all wrong!"

I expected her resistance but the genuine fear on her face still took me by surprise. "Nanoha, please lis-"

"No! I won't risk it!" she brought the hand with the pendant to her chest when I took a step toward her.

"Why? What are you so scared of?"

She watched me wide-eyed before uttering, "T- terrible things will happen if we destroy it."

"Terrible how?" I slowly reached out my hand.

"To everyone around, t- to you…"

My hand touched her arm and she flinched.

"Nanoha, how can you even know that?"

"It told me," she whispered. "It's calling to me. Even now. I- I've been resisting, but I don't… I don't know for how long," she slipped out of my reach again, backing up toward the door.

"Nanoha, wait!" I opened my mouth to call her out loud but only a wheeze came out.

"Fate-chan, dream or not, I'd rather die than hurt you again!"

"You know the pendant is lying," I said, staggering toward her. "It's telling you that I'll be safe if we leave it be, but it just tried to use you to kill me."

Her hand that was reaching for the door froze mid-air.

My little trip across the office amplified my dizziness. The world seemed to be spinning faster and harder with every step.

"Nanoha, you can't trust it." I wasn't sure how I made it to her, but I did. I reached out my hand and touched her cheek.

"I'm scared, Fate-chan." Her fingers rested on top of mine. "I'm so scared I'm gonna lose it and hurt you again. I don't care where- what this is, I just don't-"

I pulled her into an embrace. She was shaking in my arms but eventually, I felt her hesitantly wrap her arms around me, too.

"It'll be okay, Nanoha." I pulled her closer. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded against my arm.

"Can you give me the pendant?"

She stiffened my arms. I ran my hand soothingly across her back.

Slowly, unsurely, she backed away, holding out her clenched fist. She opened her hand and the pendant slid down on my palm. It felt warm after being held for so long, but that warmth was all I could feel from it.

Her fingers trembled. For a second I thought she'd grab it again, but she brought her hand to her chest instead.

"Are you okay?"

"I t- think so."

"Can you still hear it talk?"

She shook her head. "What do we do now? Shouldn't we… go somewhere else first? I really don't know what's gonna happen…"

"Why don't we look for Hayate? We may need her help."

"Oh, we could- we could do that."

"Her office first?"

"Office…? Oh. S- sure," she said, staring blankly to the side. She jolted then, looking at me again. "Let's go-"

She was about to open the door when the wall next to us trembled from a dull pound from the other side. We glanced at each.

"Hayate…?" Nanoha muttered and my stomach sank.

Even the floor was quaking now.

"Oh no," I smashed the button and lunged toward the door as it opened, pulling Nanoha along with me.

We fell out into the corridor and started scrambling on our feet when an explosion shook the base with an ear-splitting roar. I turned and shielded Nanoha from the blast with my body, transforming in the process.

We were lying on the ground, basked in pink light. I must have briefly blacked out. She had a shield up probably before I even reacted.

My ears were ringing loudly. Through that, Bardiche's voice said, "... to lose consciousness in under one minute."

"I don't…" I tried communicating with him but I couldn't focus.

"Combat Mode on, Sir, Barrier Jacket oxygen support engaged."

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha uttered under me. "Are you..?"

"I'm okay."

The suffocating sensation was subsiding and it felt like I could think again. I rolled off Nanoha, and onto my back. Her shield was still active.

The ceiling and the rooms around us got blown apart entirely. The explosion burst through many levels above, and maybe just as many below, leaving an enormous hole in one of the walls. On the other side I could see the dark swirl of the sea of dimensions.

An alarm kept ringing, announcing through the HQ intercoms, "Base integrity compromised. Breach in the hull detected. All personnel must evacuate immediately. I repeat…"

"What was that...?" Back on her feet, Nanoha offered me a hand.

I forced myself up with her help, resting my back against the undamaged wall behind us. Everything else in the area that wasn't covered by Nanoha's shield got blasted to pieces.

"Fate-chan, we have to secure the base," she said, preparing to fly off.

"Wait," I grabbed her hand.

My instincts telling me it wasn't over turned out to be right. Floating up on its black wings among the dust, the monster reappeared, locking its eyes on us.

I was staring at a member of an alien species, and all I could do was fight it. The irony was not lost on me.

"Stay here, Nanoha, it'll go after me." I gripped the pendant in my hand tighter before shooting up in the air. "Bardiche, I'll need extra protection. We're going outside."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Fate-chan, wait!" Nanoha shouted but I was already well on my way.

The winged beast lunged after me.

I rolled out of its way and sped up, sensing it right behind me.

"Sir, prepare for an incoming attack," Bardiche warned as I flew full speed toward the hole in the base hull. "Projectile approaching on your six."

The hole was right in front of me now. The moment I flew through it, I veered to the side and out of the way of the black energy beam that followed.

Wheezing, I waited for my opponent to emerge before baiting it farther away from the HQ.

"Sir, mana depletion here will render you unconscious within seconds."

I nodded and sped up when the monster reappeared, then spun around and bound it mid-flight. Before it broke out, I slashed furiously.

Bardiche's elongated blade cut it in half and I blasted both pieces into the sea of dimensions for good measure. They struggled to regenerate for a brief moment before quickly disappearing from my sight.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha's voice sounded in my head. She was near the hole in the hull, looking around.

"Stay where you are, Nanoha!" I replied. Out of the pocket of my Barrier Jacket I took out the silver pendant and raised it to my eyes. Its black pupil looked lifeless in the surrounding darkness.

Nanoha must have spotted me since she flew toward me.

I let the pendant go and gripped Bardiche in both hands. "Watch out, Nanoha! Don't get close!" I warned her, then swung with all my might from above my head.

A pink bolt hit the side of my sword, throwing it off its track. Nanoha's fingers tightened around the pendant as she passed in front of me, stopping some dozen meters away with her back turned to me.

"Nanoha! What are you-" I stopped when she turned around.

The look on her face was chilling. I'd seen those black eyes before.

Her Axel Shooter rained on me without warning. I dodged most of the bullets and blocked several ones coming from behind, then bound her arms and legs.

"Nanoha, snap out of it!"

She struggled with the binds for a moment and I loaded a cartridge, casting a few more.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you," I tried communicating with her as I flew closer. The pendant was still in her hand and I fixed my stare on it. I hated seeing the emptiness in her eyes.

The closer I got to her, the harder she struggled to break free. When I reached out for her hand, a sudden flash and a soundless blast threw me back. Saved by my autoshield, I dodged an incoming ray of pink at the last second, letting it burn a hole in my cape.

I raised my shields to deflect the next strike, then instantly moved behind her, aiming to knock her out now that she had lost her armor. A sudden punch to my side sent me drifting toward the base again.

I tasted blood on my lips as I turned with my guard up and ready for a follow-up attack.

A bunch of white bullets coming from behind me flashed by my head instead, soundlessly exploding on contact with Nanoha's shield and the monster now back by her side.

The beast went for me again, before getting blasted by a giant hammer.

"We'll take care of the dog, you go for that idiot!" I heard Vita's voice in my head.

Dodging another barrage of projectiles Nanoha sent at me I circled around her. I had to outmaneuver her while I still had mana, feeling more and more out of breath as it depleted almost with each second.

Somewhere to the side, white-clad Vita was holding her ground against the second opponent.

"Thank you," I replied to her, veering right to avoid another bolt that was chasing me.

Nanoha took a shot at me again but I deflected it back at her with the side of Bardiche. She caught the ball of energy in her hand and took aim. Our eyes met briefly before she fired.

In a pirouette, I parried, then swung at her, aiming with the flat side at her head again.

She appeared in front of me first and punched me square in the chest.

Dark patches filled my vision and my throat was burning from the sudden airflow. I raised my hand to parry the next strike aimed at my head, but my limbs got caught in the binds.

The hit never came as Nanoha struggled with silver chains suddenly wrapped around her. An explosion blinded me and excruciating pain went off in my chest.

Then everything calmed down, turning into a sensation of floating in endless darkness. No sound. No pain. No more Vita fighting with an alien, no Sea of Dimensions. No empty-eyed Nanoha, although I felt regret about not being able to keep my promise to her of not letting her hurt me.

But even that feeling dissipated as soon as my sight came back.

I was back at our house on Midchilda, standing in the empty living room. No, someone else was there, lying on the couch. That person was myself, stretched out with the uniform still on. She started getting up when the scenery changed suddenly.

I was standing in front of our bathroom now, facing the door, as if waiting for someone. I could see through, to the inside, if I wanted to. On the other side, Nanoha and I were making love in a tub full of water but for some reason, I felt like an intruder here.

I blinked and suddenly I was inside, but the bathroom was dark and empty. There were several bite marks and scratches on my bloodied wrists, and a mirror in front of me. It showed no reflection.

Everything swirled again. I was in the hospital. Only instead of lying in bed, I stood next to it, watching my own sleeping body. The scene felt familiar. I'd seen it before. Each time I tried to wake myself up, my hands just passed right through. I wanted to scream. I knew it was to no avail, but I opened my mouth anyway.

"Aaaaah!" I heard my own voice shout and I opened my eyes, finding myself sitting up on a bed surrounded by white. My heart was racing, pounding in my ears. My whole body was drenched in sweat and I was starting to shiver.

The white curtain around the bed got yanked away and I was face-to-face with a baggy-eyed Shamal.

"Fate…" she whispered, glancing to the side and back at me with a pained look.

"... Am I awake now…?"

"Yes."

I let myself fall back on the pillow. My body sank into the bed, exhausted despite just waking up. Before I knew it, tears streamed down my face, drenching my pillow, and what was meant to be a sigh of relief came out as a hoarse cry.

I tried wiping the tears off. My ring was back in place, scratching gently against my brow. Its coolness brought images of Nanoha back to my mind. Nanoha whom I desperately wanted to see now that it was over. Nanoha with blank eyes, with her hands wrapped around my throat-

A jolt of fear rushed through me and I quickly stopped crying, suddenly acutely aware of something other than my hair being attached to my scalp. I reached out, finding a bunch of cables which Shamal quickly began removing.

Cable-free albeit shivering, I sat up and started rubbing my arms, trying to distract myself from the horrifying memory. The sensations were indistinguishable. As if nothing about my perception changed between then and now. For a moment I felt on the verge of panic again, but then the clock on the wall skipped by one minute and somehow, I managed to convince myself that the nightmare was over.

Wrapped in a blanket, I sipped in silence the tea that Shamal brought me, worrying about describing all this somehow in my report now. And about explaining my gross negligence to Hayate.

Ultimately, I decided that getting changed was a priority (I woke up in my sweaty uniform). Thinking of my return back home, I had my feet already on the cold floor when something else started occurring to me.

"Shamal," I started asking telepathically before correcting myself, "Where's Nanoha…?" The feeling in my gut was growing heavier.

Shamal looked at me with worry. "She's still unconscious."

Cold, paralyzing fear spread all the way to my fingers as I realized that, in all my attempts to wake up, I conveniently assumed that I was the only one affected by that pendant.

"Fate, you-"

"I need to see Hayate," I said. She saw what happened, she called me right before, she had to know something.

"Of course."

I took the hand that Shamal offered me, following her to the door of the HQ infirmary. More beds with curtains much like mine stood further inside. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere you two can talk in peace. Since you're here, she should be waking up soon."

"Waking up?"

Shamal froze, studying me. Her brows furrowed. "Fate, you don't- no, nevermind." She shook her head.

"Shamal, what's going on?"

She just paused briefly with her hand on the switch. "It's best if Hayate explains."


I sat on a chair in the tiny office Shamal had led me to, still wrapped in the blanket she gave me.

The electronic clock on the desk also worked normally but a part of me still didn't trust it. When another minute passed, I stood up and started pacing around again. I couldn't stand the thought of Nanoha lying behind one of those curtains, going through what I had just escaped.

I threw the blanket back on the chair, right before the door opened and Hayate came in. A profound sense of relief washed over me when I finally saw her.

She staggered toward me, also in a crumpled uniform underneath her own blanket.

Shamal cast me a worried look before leaving us to ourselves.

"I'm so sorry, Fate," Hayate whispered and immediately wrapped her arms around me.

I hugged her back. "What's going on here?"

"How much do you remember?"

"I don't know, it's all scrambled… I remember bringing that artifact here. Nanoha and I went to see it, then… I don't know what happened. I started waking up in some kind of looped dream for days until I… died, I think, and finally woke up here."

Hayate sighed, then led me back to the chair, taking another one for herself. Her face looked even more tired than Shamal's.

"This… isn't another one of those, right?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Look, Fate, don't misunderstand… I just think it's best if you read this first," she brought up her inbox, opened one of the messages and turned the display so I could see.

"MHQ Safety Measures Update" was written on the screen, with a tiny red flag next to the title. "Wait, this is-"

Hayate nodded but didn't say anything else.

I took a deep breath and started reading,

From: Dan Morrigan

Subject: MHQ Safety Measures Update

Good Time,

As some of you may already know, a potential Lost Logia, originated in the newly-discovered Non-administrated World #109, was recently transported to the Magical Research Center at the Main Headquarters.

I have just received a call from Professor Caroline Newton, the person in charge of the ASHES expedition, regarding this latest finding. To quote Prof. Newton's exact words:

"We have strong suspicions that the artifact brought into the TSAB Main Headquarters is, in fact, the most probable cause of the demise of the alien race which came into its possession."

That, I must admit, was a shocking statement in and of itself, but there is more. It appears that the reason for the said demise is:

"Most likely some form of mass psychosis spread across the entire race and fueled by hallucinations transmitted through uncontrolled telepathic communication."

I felt my throat go dry as I kept reading,

To these already daunting news, Prof. Newton added that:

"We are still deciphering the logs and data we have recently gained access to during our exploration of the ancient cities found on planet Euyin. For now, we gather that this race had developed some form of proto-magic system which allowed it to communicate via something resembling our telepathy, and the pendant we discovered appears to contain some sort of malicious program which drove the entire population to madness."

To conclude this rather alarming call, we have received the following advice:

"While the matter of any possible racial compatibility remains unknown, I would advise you to limit the usage of telepathy in the close proximity of the pendant. With our current level of knowledge, we are unable to predict what would happen."

The leaders of teams working at the Magical Research Center have already been notified about the potential risk and will propagate the information within their own teams. The rest of the staff should be aware that using telepathy within the MRC is now prohibited until further notice.

A designated countermeasures team will be formed under Commander Yagami. No further action is required.

Best regards,

Dan Morrigan

Chief Executive Officer,

External Affairs Department

Hayate's eyes were on me when I finished and she quietly took my hand.

I had no idea what to say to that message, and everything that happened, really. What am I saying, it was my fault, how could I have made such a rookie mistake? I still don't… know what else to say. For the longest time I just sat there, staring at Hayate's fingers interlaced with mine. Finally I uttered, "I really messed up, didn't I…?" At the same time I felt it was a huge understatement.

She didn't need to reply for me to know that. "Fate, I get how you feel. Frankly, you and her both messed up badly. But this isn't the time to cry."

On that she was right.

My eyes scanned the text once again. Hallucinations transmitted through uncontrolled telepathic communication, I re-read that sentence a couple times.

"What exactly happened…?" My voice trembled anyway. "Nanoha talked to me while you and I were on the call… she told me something via telepathy, and right after that…"

"Both of you got knocked out. We're still… learning stuff, but the ASHES guys were right. There really was some malware after all. Their telepathy worked one-way. Some could dispatch their messages out and the rest of the race had to listen. Those pendants… they were like communicators, or beacons granting that power."

"... And they got hacked?"

"It was surely done by someone on purpose," she sighed. "It seems no one knew anything at first. Then the Emitters of the race began hallucinating and flooded the rest with their visions. It then snowballed from that point. By the time they realized, it was already too late."

"So, Nanoha and I were… are… under the influence of this virus?"

"... Yeah."

"I don't get it," I said and ran my hand through my hair. "If I somehow managed to break free, why is Nanoha still… asleep?"

"She's…"

"Will she eventually wake up on her own like me?"

"Fate-"

"If her dream is as crazy as mine, she will get killed at some point, right?" Even given the context, the words shocked me as soon as I said them. They did, even now.

"Fate, please don't-!" Hayate paused abruptly and took a deep breath before continuing, somewhat calmer, "I'm sorry. You… didn't die in that dream. I don't- don't even wanna think what would've happened if you did."

"Then how will Nanoha-"

"She won't. Nanoha's the one who got hijacked by the pendant's program. It was all Nanoha's dream you were trapped in."

"..." I closed my open mouth eventually.

"I'm really sorry, Fate…" When I didn't reply, Hayate continued, "We analyzed the source. It's a human-written code. The parameters were all off, it was meant to target a different race. But I… guess there was some compatibility after all… Though the end result is different from what its… creators intended."

"But there has to be a way to help her…? Purging the malicious code, breaking the pendant? Why else would they tell me to break the pendant?"

"There's nothing we can do here, but if we get inside her dream again-"

"Then what are we waiting for!" I stood up. "I got in once somehow, I can do it again!"

Hayate sighed and took my hand again.

I continued, "It must have happened because she messaged me back then, we almost always keep our link on… That's it, Hayate, isn't it? I don't know what happened to break our connection, but if I could tune in to it again…!"

She looked to the side. "... You're not wrong."

"I have to go." I spun and strode toward the door when a pull on my hand brought me to a halt. "Hayate, what-?"

"Fate, you're not wrong, but first-"

"Please, I have to go. I have to try to save her."

"I won't stop you but- Fate, listen to me!" she shook my shoulders when I tried to get away. "You've already tried." Her eyes bore into mine. "I know you don't remember, but you've already tried. This is the second time you woke up."