I don't care if it hurts or if I want to stop. I want to be a Maker, so I won't stop until I'm done.

-Isabelle Fontaine, 9 years old

512 had revealed itself to be the rise of the next generation, as a year of major Maker-turnover was called. May had barely begun, yet three of the currently eleven had retired and another two died in service to their nations.

Bungie, the leanboxian juggernaut, left his position to be filled by Tekken; a woman tiny in comparison to the mountain that was her predecessor, yet holding strength that even he could not match.

Lowee lost HAL in its eternal snow, replacing him with MarvelousAQL but a few days later. The ninja was well-received by the general public, even more so than the one who came before her.

Among the legends that left, Maker From retired after an unbelievable eleven years of service, holding two Black Dreams, the highest honour a human being could ever receive; each one for five consecutive years of service to Lastation and Gamindustri. After him followed K-Sha, a sniper with much to prove and little to lose.

The man already took up work as a tailor into his retirement, more as a hobby than out of a need for money; any Maker received a proper pension, doubly so if they had served long enough to earn a Dream.

What stood out was that the oldest of those three, K-Sha, was twenty-three. All of them were below the average age of appointment to their rank, that being twenty-five. It was uncertain whether the trend would continue, though; Lastation's InterZip had also fallen, but not yet been replaced.

Following the others, Planeptune's Maker Tokai had retired after three years of service, at the end of April. She happily went into retirement, leaving the Land of Purple Progress with but one Maker.

Instead of sitting idle however, Purple Heart publicly appointed Rosso's replacement within the span of three days, on the first of May. With a serene smile and her dragon on her shoulder, a woman tiny yet made for greatness took up arms for Planeptune. Maker RED would take the field, the only ever recorded human being that managed to tame a monster. That alone would have set her apart from everyone else, yet she also entered below average at twenty-four.

However, the spot next to her and Steamax remained empty. An interview with them yielded no further insight, either; the android refused to comment on the matter and the dragon tamer cheerfully admitted to knowing nothing. Purple Heart, upon receiving the same question later, merely smiled and kept her silence until another question was asked.

Large parts of Planeptune began to wonder why the third slot remained empty, many assuming that the CPU had someone particular in mind for the position.

However, her refusal to appoint another of the dozen S-ranked Guild agents currently in Planeptune was met with irritation by some; most did not care either way, though a few felt cheated out of the regular process. The S-rank was given only to potential Makers, the best of the best; this group was the only one the nation recruited them from. Over this incident, three out of thirteen had themselves reassigned to other nations.

Purple Heart saw them off without regrets, making those watching the proceedings wonder just what kind of person she might be waiting for; there was no other explanation in the first place; neither grief nor sorrow could stop the Makers, and there were enough suitable candidates in place.

The other CPUs had quite different reactions when confronted with the situation. Green Heart, bountiful and gentle, shrugged and offered that whatever her colleague was doing, she kept a close lid on it. White Heart, petite and stoic, noted that while she knew nothing, she agreed with the sentiment that someone special was going to appear soon. Black Heart, prim and regal, simply smiled knowingly and refused to comment.

Naturally, none of this was on IF's mind. She remained more concerned about her own matters, though whatever bothered her lilac-haired friend seemed to have resolved itself over the months since the new year. Nepgear no longer wore the bothered expression that kept their team worried for a while, but did not tell them what happened, either. IF did not ask, deciding that it did not matter if it was over.

What was more, IF and Compa both had finally graduated just a month ago. While her gentle friend had already applied for nursing school, the brunette found herself with much more time at hand than she ever had before. Her contract with the Guild specified that she was working part-time until she turned eighteen, so there was a buffer of a few months, which she decided to spend on practice and actually getting those driving lessons she talked about with Neptune before.

Just like her personal life had yet to take any significant turns, so had her career; with Nepgear back on track, the team continued to run well together. They had fought another Dolphin together with several other teams, but there was nothing else in terms of large monsters for them to fight. The last months were rather calm in that regard, though the amount of smaller monsters increased a little in turn. As usual, they crushed Dogoos, Wolves, and sometimes even Boxbirds. Especially those, being made of cardboard with organic wings, feet, and beak, continued to creep her out a little.

As of this very moment, IF was at the shooting range. A hundred metres distant, the maximum available at this place, hung a black-and-white outline of a Dogoo with marked hit zones as she pushed a new magazine into her pistol.

Eight bullets per magazine, eight shots in ten seconds, seven hits, five holes dead center. Two had gone a little off-course and the last one missed entirely; the brunette clicked her tongue in annoyance while she slid the loosened magazine out of her pistol, repeating the process of reloading with mechanical precision. As she did, the punctured target drove forward until it hung right in front of her for a closer examination. She sent it back to its previous distance by pressing a button on the console to her right.

This scene continued in a way that could make a casual observer believe it was just one sequence looped; were it not for the different facial expressions IF displayed in-between volleys, there would be hardly any difference.

Naturally, this meant that she was under observation. Among the handful of others frequenting the building, two were not busy shooting at targets or evaluating their shots; these two teenage girls sat behind a large window looking into the shooting range, allowing them to observe without being subject to the incredibly loud noise of exploding gunpowder. Even then, it was still audible despite the fact the wall was all but soundproof.

Peach-coloured eyes met lilac ones, one girl astonished and the other understanding. While Nepgear had watched IF practice and even joined her at times before, this was the first time Compa got to witness it. Even this much was little more than a coincidence, seeing that the two spectators were simply early for their meeting; neither of them expected IF to compromise her training regimen for them, so they quietly sat down to watch her.

"Iffy is really good, isn't she? I mean, I don't know how good, but it looks like that to me." Compa bumbled through her words, eyes glued to the precise movements IF displayed.

Nepgear snorted about the question, though. "More than good, actually. It makes sense, too; she has been practicing with that pistol for an hour each day, for the last sixteen months."

"But isn't that expensive? I mean, she is using so much ammo..." Compa trailed off, knowing that she knew very little about firearms in general. That was more some of her friends' thing; if she read up about the subject, it was mostly melee weapons.

The purplette by her side shook her head in response after thinking for a moment. "It's actually pretty affordable on a steady income; you could make a case for part-timing not being sufficient, but I'm pretty sure IF barely uses her money for anything else. We actually get another discount as Guild agents, too." Compa made an understanding noise, still watching the proceedings in the shooting range proper.

A few minutes later, IF put her weapon down and took a deep breath. Then she packed up, leaving behind her booth and consequently the hall, taking off her earmuffs as she walked. Another few minutes were spent cleaning the weapon, joining up with her friends, and bidding the clerk at the front desk goodbye after handing over the borrowed equipment. She was a regular, so the staff knew her well enough by now.

"So, what was the plan again?" The brunette looked between her friends, who both shrugged. "Ah, right. No plan, just some strolling and lunch."

She nodded to herself, though her head turned to Compa, who spoke up during her pause: "I need to drop by the pharmacy first. We're out of cold medicine and grandpa is feeling sick again."

They quickly agreed to do that first and got going; on the way however, Compa suddenly stopped and pointed with a quiet squeal. "Look, a kitty!"

When the other two turned their heads, they found a grey cat with black stripes lying in the sun; it was a few dozen metres away, with two elementary schoolers eyeing it in a similar way from the other direction. The feline did not pay much attention to its surroundings, enjoying the warm day.

IF sighed in exasperation at the sight; she knew her friend was easily excitable, but had not expected her to be that easy to distract. Nepgear kept her face carefully neutral, which was a sign in itself and caught the brunette's attention. "You don't like cats?"

As if bitten, the purplette quickly shook her head. "Goodness, no! I think I like them, but... animals and I don't really get along." She fidgeted a little and averted her gaze while the other two blinked at her.

"You mean, like, they bite you?" Compa appeared lost, though Nepgear shook her head to deny the question. "Not biting, it's... oh well, you will see it in a moment. We need to go that way anyway." The purplette let out an almost inaudible sigh and got going, motioning for the others to follow.

IF was curious, she had to admit that to herself. Compa appeared to feel the same way, and so the both of them attentively watched both the girl walking in front of them and the tiger-striped cat sunbathing on the ground.

Once they closed in however, the feline's head rose abruptly; its eyes opened and took them in, then... the cat fled. Once it saw Nepgear nearing, this animal immediately discarded any attempt at hostility or defensiveness, instead darting away at the highest speed it could reach; fortunately for the critter, the street it fled over had no traffic in these moments. It quickly made its way to the other side and vanished in an alley.

Nepgear just shrugged at the surprised looks thrown both her way and at where the cat had run off to. "This happens every time." Her expression already told them that she did not want to talk about this any more than necessary, so IF dropped it with a sigh.

"Bother. I'm not really big on animals myself, but that is... a tad extreme?" Compa nodded in agreement, then looked around and got going. They soon passed the disappointed children who had been watching the cat before, getting back on track.

IF idly realised that she could not remember ever seeing animals near her friend at any time.

While the two of them were waiting outside of the pharmacy for Compa however, a voice called out to them. "Yo, IF, Nepgear!" A familiar voice, belonging to no one else than Alexis; their teammate strolled down the street they were on, waving at them cheerfully. She stopped next to them, stepping aside so as to not hinder anyone else. "Fancy seeing you here, I was just on the way to meet up with the others." Her eyes snapped to the storefront for a moment, but then returned to the two young women. "What's up?"

Neither could do more than shrug; IF took the lead and answered for Nepgear. "Not much, we're hanging out with a friend."

She was given an understanding nod, then Alexis followed it up with a wink. "How's being free of school so far? Having fun?"

Nepgear almost pouted at the jab, seeing that she was apparently still receiving schooling. IF simply shrugged again, making a noncommital noise before explaining: "I'm not used to having so much free time." Then she eyed her darker-skinned teammate again. "Why are you guys meeting up? Did something happen?"

The older brunette simply smirked and made a so-so motion with her hand, but refrained from saying anything yet upon seeing the girl standing with them. "First of all, I think your friend is done with whatever she was doing."

Turning around, they found Compa waiting patiently; she had a hand on her purse and her eyes on Alexis, curiousity evident in her expression. "Hm, is she from your team?"

There was never a reason or opportunity for them to be meet each other before, IF knew. "She is." The two introduced themselves and Nepgear quickly went back to the topic at hand. "About what we were talking about before... why exactly are you meeting up?"

The smirk was back in an instant and Alexis threw them another wink. "If you girls have no real plans, how about tagging along? You'll love this."

IF considered it for a moment, but already knew her response because of Compa; even if her friend had an easy time getting along with others, the brunette knew that including someone new into an established group was difficult at the best of times. Seeing that they already planned to spend the afternoon together, subjecting her to potentially sitting at the sidelines was not acceptable.

With Nepgear not responding and Compa apparently waiting for them, she shook her head at the older woman. "Sorry, it's supposed to be just the three of us today."

However, Alexis only merely nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, can't be helped. I'll send you a picture later so you know what you missed."

"You... do know you could just tell us?" IF raised an eyebrow at the other brunette, who returned a mischievous smirk and turned. "I could, but I won't. Look forward to it~"

She began to power-walk away with those words, waving back at the three young women before getting out of sight. IF and Nepgear exchanged glances, the purplette being the one to ask: "What do you think that was about?"

IF merely shrugged. "No idea. How about we get us some dinner now?"

The other two readily agreed and they went on their way as well; the journey over the walkways took half an hour before they reached the nice diner Compa wanted to show them. Its insides were held in warm colours and one could look out at the streets; even Planeptower was visible in the distance.

The three girls ordered their food and got to eating when IF suddenly paused and felt for her phone. Neither of the others minded her behaviour, only becoming attentive once the brunette took a deep breath; she rarely did, so just that much was indicative. Her eyes had widened fractionally, though she already regained her grip and shook off the unusual expression.

When their eyes met, IF smiled humourlessly. "Alexis was not lying." Then she turned her phone around so they could see an image of two people. One was their colleague, easily identified by her darker skin and familiar appearance.

The other, currently hugged from behind by Alexis, with both women smiling into the camera, was RED. Her face was still youthful and gently rounded, the very same it had been in all the articles; she stood more than a head smaller than Alexis and her red hair was done in a tight sidetail, the white stripe barely visible. A red and black dancer's robe clad the new Maker and, most importantly, a golden figure was perched on her left shoulder. It's tail wound tightly around her waist, the most extravagant belt ever conceived. IF ignored her prominent bust, it even being more pronounced by the redhead's short stature.

Compa openly gaped at the picture, a forkful of noodles hovering halfway between her plate and her mouth. Nepgear's surprise was less pronounced, though she too paused in cutting her sausage. The purplette considered for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess? I think it's better not to bother miss RED too much, though; she will have a lot to do soon." No one disagreed, seeing that everyone knew how hard Makers had to work.

"It would have been nice to talk to her for a bit, though," Compa noted with a slight whine. Then she stuffed the noodles into her mouth, having realised they were almost starting to go into orbit around her face from how long they were held there. "I mean, itsh a little shad."

IF had to agree with that as well; she would have liked to meet a Maker for once, if just to see what kind of people they actually were. Now she missed it and slightly regretted her previous decision.

Then she decided to make the best of it and quickly texted back, telling Alexis not to ruin the other woman for marriage.

The response came in a moment later: 'Nah, she won't. You better pray that I don't ruin her for marriage :P (RED)'

She snorted over that, showing the back-and-forth to her friends, who also giggled. After telling the older people to have fun, IF snapped her phone shut and pocketed it to get back to her food. They were not interrupted again until they finished.

While the girls got started on the pudding all establishments served after a meal, IF threw a curious look at Compa. "When will nursing school start again?" She knew she was told about it before, but forgot the time by this point.

Her friend raised one shoulder in a half-shrug while carefully taking off the lid of her pudding. "June, on the... seventeenth? I think? A good two weeks after my birthday at least."

The conversation stalled for a moment while all of them dug into their little treats, then Compa perked up and swallowed. "Oh, I saw Nep-Nep the other day." Nepgear got attentive as well, though she did not have to wait long. "She was in the central park, playing with a few children."

That was news to IF, though she could imagine the lilac-haired woman doing that kind of thing; she was a child at heart, after all. Nepgear for her part giggled over the fact. "Ehehe, yes, she does that kind of thing at times."

Now the brunette felt like teasing a little, so she paused on taking another bite and threw a smirk at her colleague. "Are you sure she isn't the little sister?"

Unfortunately, Nepgear took the jab more seriously than it was intended and shook her head. "Oh no, not at all. Sis is just... she likes to have fun in whatever she does." IF left it at that, not that she disagreed with the notion.

Instead, she turned back to Compa with a curious look. "Did you two do something together after meeting up?"

Her hunch was correct, seeing that the other girl nodded with a silly grin. "We went shopping together; it was a great day and Nep-Nep is really cute if you stuff her in the right clothes." She blinked, considered her words, and then blushed before quickly raising her hands defensively. "Not that way, just... you know?" Nepgear giggled over that.

Once she calmed down, the purplette agreed with Compa, though. "Sis is cute the way she is." IF saw no reason to disagree, though she remained quietly amused about the fact; sometimes, Compa somehow managed to make herself sound like a lesbian despite being perfectly straight.

Granted, it mightily confused her how a girl as sweet as her did not have a boyfriend. She was asked out once in a while, but never seemed to have good synergy with the boys.

IF decided to stop musing over her friend's love life and finished her pudding. "So, how about we sink some money at the arcade?" Considering the way her friends' eyes started to gleam, she had found the perfect time sink for this afternoon.

. .

. .

A few hours later, it was only her and Nepgear walking the streets. Compa had to check on her grandfather –he rarely told her if he was sick as to not make her worry– and left early.

"I guess you are hitting the gym now?" Nepgear did not sound particularly curious, mainly because they both knew IF still had an hour of exercises to go. She spread those throughout the day a little, running and endurance training in the morning or noon, and strength in the afternoon or evening. With weapon practice and other potentially relevant regimes put in where there was time.

In this case, the purplette was just making conversation; she became much different from the shy flower IF met one and a half years ago. The brunette simply hummed in response. "Pretty much, I still have an hour and a bit left for today. What are you doing for the evening?"

Nepgear's eyes turned upward for a moment as she thought, then the slightly smaller girl shrugged. "I still have a report to finish for my tutor, so I am going to read a little for that."

They fell back into a comfortable silence, neither girl feeling the need to continue the conversation. IF considered asking what her friend was writing about, but she rarely got a proper answer. The topics were complex, that much she knew.

Had she turned around, she would have seen how Nepgear's face fell and the girl began to fidget. Her purplish hair bobbed a little from how she took her steps, until she finally stopped. "IF?"

"Hm?" The brunette turned around to give her a curious look, but Nepgear pointed to a side alley.

"Could we step aside for a moment? I need to tell you something." She took deep breaths, appearing more scared than determined. Pushing her worry aside, IF nodded and followed her friend. Only now did she realise that the problem she thought vanished was still there. It had persisted over more than six months.

Once they were away from prying ears and Nepgear took a deep breath however, her nervosity spilled over and she began to stutter; after giving her a moment to catch herself, which the girl did not manage, IF gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop."

The purplette's mouth clicked shut and IF sighed. "Calm down. If you're not comfortable telling me now, then don't. We're friends and I don't want you to force yourself to anything; tell me when you're more comfortable saying it, okay?" She spoke quietly, gently, but Nepgear seemed to appreciate her tone. The fidgeting weakened, though it did not stop.

Nonetheless, her understanding smile was answered weakly. "Thank you. I, I promise I will tell you as soon as I feel ready. I thought I was, but..."

IF just smiled and patted her shoulder once more, then led her back to the street. "It's fine." And it was fine.