Hyperdimension Standard Time: [20:00] September 1st 20XX

Location: [Lowee Basilicom]

When we made it to the Basilicom, we find Karen passed out on the pew like when we left and RED on an adjacent pew, and because of how she's not stuck in armor like Karen, we can see that parts of her face has the same black reptilian scale, but not as severe. What concerned us more is that Rom, Ram, and Gust apparently pushed themselves too far with their healing magic and collapsed from exhaustion.

"Dear goddess. They've been pushing themselves far too much trying to help Karen and RED. Izumi, could you try bringing to some rooms? Goddess knows they need rest." I morosely say as I see the pained expressions on their faces, as if they were giving all they could to slow down the poison for us to arrive with the materials.

I then see Izumi, Shino, and Mamoru walking over to lift them and then carry the trio elsewhere. I walk over toward RED and crouch down to see how she's faring.

"Ehehe~. Sorry Wifey. I didn't mean to worry you. I guess my being hurt like this cost me like forty points. That freak dragon ambushed me. I'm lucky I got away safe." RED says with a forced laugh as she talks about what happened to her.

"RED, I'm just relieved you're safe. You may be a pain to deal with, but you're still a good person deep down."

"And I guess I'm crazy enough to take it as a full compliment. I'm sorry to say this, but I failed to get the needed materials."

"It's alright. We're going to get this dealt with. Just keep yourself strong and fight this thing as much as you can. You'll feel better before you know it."

"Sure thing." RED closes her eyes as I walk toward Karen, Katsuo, and Yuuki.

"Karen, you okay?" Katsuo worriedly asks as he crouches down to his knees.

Karen weakly turns her head toward us "Katsuo? Yuuki? What are you two doing here?" Karen asks, with her going into coughing fits as she tries to talk with us. I can't begin to imagine how much trouble she's going through just trying to talk as the neurotoxin is flowing through her veins, only being stopped by Caelus' power.

"We're worried about you Karen. That's why." Katsuo says as he grips Karen's hand rather strongly, though it's surprisingly gentle as well.

"Damn...I did an awful job. I was supposed to make you all despise me."

"Also, we know about the CPU that saved your life Karen. Caelus right?" Katsuo responds rather smugly.

"Let me guess. Black Disc told you right?"

"Yep. She told us about you and Caelus, let me be frank. I owe you for helping Karen. We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if we made it back home with Karen dead."

"It was mutual. I was close to death and same with Karen back in the Gamindustri Graveyard. I merged my life with hers to save both of us even though I knew it would mean that neither of us would never be the same as before the act was done. I deemed that as an acceptable sacrifice to bear considering the circumstances."

"Actually, Caelus, I was wondering if you'd be willing to answer something I just thought of a little while ago." I ask since I can recall my mentor saying he lived in this world prior to the Deity of Sin's sealing by the old CPUs, and history said that Caelus was one of those CPUs.

"Speak your mind. Just know that I may not be able to answer the question depending on what it is you're asking."

"Do you happen to know my old mentor? He called himself Warlord Thraaklon."

"T-Thraaklon?! Is that old bastard still alive?! Dammit, I don't have the strength to fight him." Caelus caught me off-guard with this exclamation. She was so calm just a moment ago but flew into a panic at the mention of my old mentor.

"You know him then Caelus?"

"Knew him? He wiped out half my nation single handed! I had to get help from two of my sisters to stop him. And even then, it took half a year to pacify him. If he's alive...it'll be problematic since Karen barely has a hundredth of the strength I could use when I was a CPU, but I'll need to gather whatever resources I can and find a way to deal with him." Hearing this straight from Caelus surprised me, Yuuki, and Katsuo since we all gasped hearing how destructive Thraaklon was in his past before they look toward me and seemingly question the fact I was taught by such a destructive individual. I suspect they're beginning to have doubts about my loyalty.

"Er, Caelus. That won't be necessary. He died about ten years ago. He trained me as best he could before he dropped dead. He didn't tell me everything about his history since he lived a very long time, and while he never named names, he frequently praised a group of female warriors since they gave him the greatest battle a Valkenian could ever experience. I didn't know at the time, but I imagine he was speaking of you and your sisters Caelus. On his deathbed, he told me he was glad he got to see how long he could live. One of his regrets was that he couldn't help you fight against ASIC before, but even he admitted he was far too wild to handle back in his youth. When he heard you were killed, or rather...the rumor of your death I guess I should say, he took a full decade to reflect on his life and he swore he would do better. He was concerned that ASIC would one day re-emerge from the shadows and wreck havoc, so he wanted to establish an order of knights to deal with ASIC, but he said that some stray followers collapsed the base and killed everyone he had assembled, so he realized that building an order was not feasible considering how easily his first attempt fell through, so he decided to train people on an individual level and hoped that his influence would spread discreetly. He knew mass training was risky but prayed his individual training would pass from person to person enough to prepare for ASIC's eventual return." I say rapidly at first to try calming down Caelus before explaining Thraaklon's side of the story, said by him. I had to take breaks here and there since I was voicing a mouthful.

"I see. I guess I should apologize about my losing my cool there. I want to say that Thraaklon was a worthy adversary though we have too much bad blood between us for me to truly say it. While I am relieved that Thraaklon is dead, I am not heartless and I imagine that you must have been hurt by his death, right?"

"I suppose so. I was a little girl when he began teaching me. He had been focusing all of his training sessions with people not native to this world. His exact words were 'The best way to defeat an enemy is to use a strategy that is so drastically unorthodox that it confuses even the wisest scholar.' I am drawn to believe he was trying to say that the tactics used by people native to Gamindustri are insufficient. He wanted to train people from other worlds and develop battle strategies that combines the fundamental rules and laws of this world with the unique individuality of each species."

"That's...very crafty. I never expected that Thraaklon would be so committed to the cause. This actually makes me wish I could find some way to talk with him. Perhaps it's true that a part of that change came out of respect. When we kept him in prison, he would say that he valued strength; individual and strength of the pack. I more or less treated him like refuse out of anger, but I did take notice of his words regardless. He once said: Not everyone can be a strong warrior, but you can find strength in your pack. He both ridiculed and praised my decision to call my sisters for help. In fact-Gah...I'm losing strength, I need to sleep." Caelus was rather calm and collected but she was grunting in pain at the end.

"Does that happen often Karen?"

"Not really Yuuki. Caelus' condition mirrors my own based on what I know." Karen mutters before a violent coughing spasm briefly stops her "I've been trying to boost my own condition over the last few weeks as an indirect response to this. But when I'm weak, so is she. And this virus is killing us both right now."

"Is there anything we can do Karen?"

"If you want to help Katsuo, find some way to stop this toxin. I'm fighting a losing battle here." Karen says before being interrupted by another wave of violent coughs "While Caelus is doing her best to keep this thing from killing me, this poison is still spreading through my veins and it's getting tougher and tougher to breathe."

"We're doing everything we can in this regard Karen. ASIC told us that the only way to stop this virus and cure everyone that is sick with it is to destroy the source: That Guardragon."

"Katsuo-" She tries to say before coughing once again "There's no way that you all can handle it. I had been training every day for weeks; that monster sent me flying like a rag doll with a single slash of its claws."

"I know that Karen. I'm doing what I can to think of my own plan to try dealing with that monster. Though it's not exactly easy trying to find a way to wipe out such a strong monster. I don't think even Thraaklon could take on such a beast and survive to tell anyone about."

"Hold on. What happened to your gauntlet Karen?" Katsuo inquires as he looks at the gauntlet I improved.

"That's my doing. I upgraded her gauntlet to the best of my ability." I smile rather proudly since I rarely get to flex my technological side.

"Ya know, I did wonder why I couldn't locate Karen's gauntlet via our scanners. I'm guessing that was your work."

"Yep, I disconnected her gauntlet from the old network it was connected to. I created a very tiny network for it to interface, but I want to build upon it."

"Don't tell our enemies anything Miyo. We still work with ASIC after all."

"Oh yeah, good point." I say as she indirectly reminded me about the plan.

"What? You lied to us! You said you don't work for them."

"Technically we don't Katsuo, but we're part of Karen's team and her contract allows her to recruit who she likes, within reason. Izumi and I may not be official members of the organization, but we work for her." I say rather nonchalantly to the pair and while I do have that tiny bit of unease lying in general; I only knew these guys a few hours, so I got no problem doing so.

"Very well then; I'll consider you as nothing less than an enemy. If I encounter you afterward, I won't hesitate to kill you. But since we're allies for the time being, here." Katsuo says rather fiercely as he pulls a spare sword out of his inventory and passes it to me.

I inspect the rapier and notice that the entire sword appears to be made of reinforced oriachalcum. The sword itself is incredibly exotic as it has draconian attributes, particularly among the blade and hilt.

"May I ask why you want to help your enemy?" I ask as I take the new sword, put it on my belt and give Celeste back to Karen.

"I don't know the whole story, but I know that's Karen's sword. Unless you piss me off, I believe in equal footing. Besides, I hate rapiers, but it was a gift so I couldn't refuse it."

"Very well then." I want to test this new weapon and see how well I can fight with it, but at the same time; I don't exactly trust them so close. While I can sympathize considering we're all trapped in this world, there is a difference between general sympathy and personal sympathy. Thankfully, I do have luck on my side when Izumi, Shino, and Mamoru return "Izumi, can you keep an eye on these four? I want to practice with this new sword."

I see Izumi nod in acknowledgement as I walk to one of Blanc's training rooms to practice this new weapon. When I get there, I pull the sword out of its sheathe and try to remember how this kind of weapon is used. I've used large slashing swords and a rifle, but a rapier...what kind of weapon does it belong to? I run the question through my head a few times as I inspect the blade. "Wait, I think I remember Lady Noire using a rapier before. What form did she use?" I begin to ponder as I recall the stance and begin training as best I can. While I make each thrust of the blade, I notice trace amounts of magic pour out "Woah, this sword is enchanted? I wonder if...No, he couldn't have known. I had to learn that skill from Izumi and it still took me three years to figure out."

I then begin training with the blade as my mind begins flashing back to the old days when I arrived in this world. Saying that a lot happened back then is a monumental understatement, especially since I've become far more independent and a drifter even though I want to resume working with the CPUs.

(Flashback)

Hyperdimension Standard Time: [17:00] September 1st 10XX

Location: [Atari Marsh]

I was just a little girl at the age of six when I noticed an unusual portal or something open in the play lab my parents had recently built for me, as it's a custom for my people to practice our scientific skill with materials that couldn't harm us. When I went to investigate, it drew me in like a vortex which knocked me unconscious. When I came to, I found myself on a series of floating platforms with nature all around it.

"Huh…? Where am I?" I curiously asked out loud as I try to adjust to the new surroundings from the previously sterile white play lab where I was mere moments ago.

I ventured around a short time and find a number of multi-colored spiders slowly approaching me with the desire to kill me which I noticed from the angry sounds they're making as they surround me

"S-Someone help!" I yelped as I do my best to run away though I wasn't too fast since I was just a little kid back then.

I unfortunately was quickly forced into a corner and the monsters were about to kill me, me shutting my eyes in utter fear as I was scared out of my wits. As a result, I never saw what happened precisely. I quickly heard them explode, for lack of a better term since I could never describe sounds well, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a giant wolf-man with snow white fur with significant patches of a dark red color, though I never knew what the red was until much later, wielding mechanical claws over his hands which he quickly sheathed and walked over to me

"Are you okay young one? You shouldn't have come out here, it's too dangerous."

I know I was shivering an increasingly amount when he kept getting closer as I was outright terrified of both the monsters and of him at the same time "S-Stay back! I-I don't taste good!"

"I won't hurt you young one. I merely wish to help you out of here and get somewhere safe. You're free to leave if you wish to afterward."

"You don't want to hurt me?"

"Of course not. I only fight monsters like the ones trying to fight you. I wouldn't harm a single hair on your head, I'm not that kind of person, not anymore."

He immediately pulled a small rectangular box and threw it to the ground, with some sort of circle appearing from underneath us and we're quickly brought to his house, which I later learned was on the outskirts of Planeptune City. His house had very little furniture and its general look is that while he kept it clean to an extent, he apparently had not been at the property for a very long time as I saw the hints of the lack of tending of the property. While Thraaklon stayed put at the only entrance, he gave me free rein to explore the place since I had a lot more curiosity than I should have had. It was only when I walked back to him at the entrance did he resume talking with me

"Okay, I kept my promise. You're safe. Do you wish to leave?"

"Why did you save me Mister?" I asked rather innocently, since I hardly knew what was going on and I needed some sort of answer.

"Hmm, based on the technology you're wearing, that advanced cybernetic suit is far too advanced, even by Lastation or Planeptune standards. You must be from a different dimension like myself. Youngling, you are in a different world. This place is called Gamindustri."

"Another world? That can't be true."

"I wish I could reassure you otherwise, but I don't give empty promises. May I inquire your name?"

"I'm...Miyo."

"Well Miyo. You can call me Thraaklon, though my full title is Warlord Thraaklon but I digress. Now look. This world has many wonders, but it is dangerous if you are not careful. You could have lost your life back there if I wasn't there. If you wish, I can teach you what you need to survive in this world."

"But...I don't want to. I want to go back home."

Thraaklon sighed and put his right hand on his temple and shaked his head rather sadly before crouching down to my height "I'm sorry to say this, but...that's just not possible. Trust me, I have spent centuries if not millennia living in this world and I've never been able to find a way to return to my own world. It's not possible for those of us stranded here to return home."

When I look back on that time now, I am utterly ashamed of myself, but I began bawling like mad at the revelation that I was trapped in a world I knew nothing about. Of course, I was just a little kid at the time.

"Ah goddess damn me. Vakarian, get in here, I can't handle the crying ones."

Since I was still bawling, I never really saw where he came in from, but I did hear what they said before he came to talk to me.

"You disappoint me Thraaklon. You were able to tame Wrex yet you can't deal with a little girl crying?" The person said with a degree of snark in his voice.

"He's not a cryer. I kicked him to the curb repeatedly to get him to obey my requests. Brute strength? I can handle that. But look, I can handle kids, but not when they cry; it's irritating."

After that speech ended, I saw a figure with silver armor with blue trims all over his body walk next to me. He only had three fingers on both hands and I noticed a holographic visor over his left eye; his general appearance looked similar to a humanoid avian and the right side of his face looked rather red and fleshy compared to the grayish, with blue markings, skin pigments on the other parts of his face. When Thraaklon walked away, this new person crouched down to me and gently stroked my head with his three fingers

"You okay kid?"

"I-I'm okay." I lie as I was still wiping my eyes to hide my tears.

"You're not doing a good job of lying here. Not with your crying." He then strokes my face and wipes away my tears "Thraaklon, is there any food left in this place? Preferably food that won't put me in the hospital?"

"No and no. There isn't a single recipe in this world that is compatible with turian biology. Be glad that I asked Histoire to send you frequent medical packages to deal with it. Regardless, I don't have any spare credits. Let's just visit the Basilicom, I am one of their field agents after all. Urdnot, get out here."

After Thraaklon called for this Urdnot, I saw a large reptilian humanoid with dark red armor walk toward us with a confident aura "We getting some grub? I've been busting my quad fighting over the last couple of days, even though they're pitiful compared to the prey on Tuchanka. They are as weak as Klixen or worse: Varren. It wounds my pride fighting such creatures."

"Wrex, remember we're not with Shepard anymore, so you can't expect every opponent is worthy by Krogan standards. But let's put that aside, I'm starving and I could use a good meal right now. Are you hungry…?"

"Miyo...I'm Miyo. Who are you?"

"I'm Garrus Vakarian. My hostile friend here is called Urdnot Wrex. You know Thraaklon already. Let's get moving. Miyo, you may want to hold on tight to me, okay?" Garrus says as he extends his hand in my direction.

While I would've had my fair share of hesitation if I had entered this world when I was this age, I was still very young and the undeniable fact was that I was trapped in a foreign world utterly unlike my own. I didn't know anyone and Thraaklon offered to help me, so I needed to take that risk and pray that things worked out. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end.

Hyperdimension Standard Time: [18:00] September 1st 10XX

Location: [Planeptune Basilicom]

Thraaklon, Wrex, and Garrus brought me to the Planeptune Basilicom and I was utterly in awe at the extravagant beauty of the building before Garrus gently beckoned me to follow him inside with the others. When I walked in, I noticed Histoire trying to pursue Neptune but she gave her the slip, making the former groan very irritably.

"We are not finished here Neptune! We will continue this discussion the next time I find you!" Histoire snarls out of irritation before looking toward us "Oh! I apologize Thraaklon. I was not aware that you were here. May I ask what brings you here?"

"We were hoping we could bother you for a meal. The three of us have been through a lot of battle lately and we have a new arrival." Thraaklon says as he looks toward Garrus, who slightly pushes me toward Histoire.

She floats over toward me, looks me over, and quickly looks to Thraaklon

"Oh goddess. Is she not from this world?"

"I'm afraid so. I just found her today in Atari Marsh. If I was any slower…"

"Thraaklon, that's enough. Let's not scare the poor girl any further." Even though Garrus was trying to help me, he wasn't exactly efficient since I heard everything that they had said about my situation, but I apparently pretended that I hadn't heard them.

"Of course. Very well, if you need a place to sleep and eat, I'll fulfill that need as best I can. I'll have Nepgear prepare a meal at the usual meeting ground. Thraaklon, you know where that is right?" Thraaklon simply nods and afterward, Histoire then rushed off leaving the four of us alone in this main chamber.

"Okay, come with us Miyo." Garrus takes me by hand and we follow Thraaklon, with the destination being an indoor garden far within the Basilicom.

When I get there, I noticed a girl with long lilac hair wearing a white sailor uniform with purple trims preparing our meal.

"Ah good to see you Nepgear. How long has it been since we've last seen each other? Six years?"

The girl turns around and has a rather noticeable smile on her face "Thraaklon! It's so good to see you!" She then looks toward me, Wrex, and Garrus "Who are these two? And more importantly: Who's this young lady?" Nepgear casually looks toward the former two though took a particularly concerned stance when it came to me.

"These two are apprentices of mine: Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vakarian. I recruited them two years ago, and I found this young girl in Atari Marsh about to be attacked. I saved her and I quickly realized that considering her advanced technology, there's no way she could be from this world. She's just like me, Wrex, Garrus, and everyone else like us. Stranded and alone from all their people."

"How awful...what's your name?" Nepgear was horrified at the mention of my being from a different world.

"Miyo. Miyo Hanari."

"It's an extreme honor to meet you Miyo Hanari." Nepgear says with a big reassuring smile before she quickly turns to Thraaklon "Thraaklon, I know you're wholly committed to teaching people new to this world the fundamental laws and all, but...could you please wait a week or so this time? You can easily tell Miyo here is very young and confused about all this. She needs time to build a rapport here."

"She has a point, Thraaklon. We ought to wait on this one. If you try to train her when she's this new, it'll be a major problem down the road. She's not like me or Wrex. We've spent the last ten years of our lives accustomed to war and conflict. And considering what we lived with back in our world: Geth, Reapers, rebuilding civilization; this world is like a stroll in the park." Garrus says rather logically to Thraaklon as he goes to help Nepgear set up the meal.

"Good enough point."

After about ten minutes passed, the five of us began eating; though Wrex and Thraaklon went to the far corners to eat, leaving me, Garrus, and Nepgear in the center of the garden. I saw Garrus visibly grimace when he inspected the food and he seemed very hesitant to eat it.

"Do you not like this food? I can make something else if you want."

"That's not it. It's just that human food doesn't agree with me. At best, I don't get any nutritional benefit from what I eat. The worst case scenario is a lethal allergic reaction." Garrus says as he pulls a syringe out of seemingly nowhere and puts it on the table "Nepgear, if this food causes an allergic reaction, I need you to inject me with this medicine, it has to be the nape specifically. It'll treat the allergy, but I'll be in an inert state for about an hour. Better than dying, but still unpleasant." Garrus says with a rather matter of fact tone as he takes a single slurp of what appeared to be pasta.

Nepgear nervously waited for Garrus' reaction on the food and what we all heard was a sigh of relief

"Thank goodness. I always get nervous when I eat food here in this world. And it certainly doesn't help much that I try to eat three square meals a day as much as I can. Since I'm pretty far away from the rest of my species, I'm going out of my way to record all of the food that have no nutritional value to me since I'd rather make that sacrifice than the alternative." Garrus says as he pulls a notepad, again out of nowhere "Could you give me the recipe if it's not a secret? I'm trying to compile a list of food I could actually eat and not get sick over."

"Sure." Nepgear says as she writes the recipe down on a piece of paper and passes it to Garrus, who quickly writes it down and passes it back to her "But how exactly do you get nutrients if our food can't do so?"

"I guess you can thank Thraaklon for that. He insisted that I give a blood sample to Planeptune's best hospital when he 'convinced' me and Wrex to travel with him and they used the scan of my DNA to model a type of paste that gives me what I need. However, the taste is disgusting. But I just need to remind myself I fought alongside a person who could be the galaxy's strongest soldier for three years and that quells any desire for complaining."

"Would you mind if I ask you about your world? I've never really got the chance to with anyone else. No one I know from other worlds like to talk about the subject."

"I suppose I could say, but I know why many would be hesitant to talk about this subject: These poor souls have been abducted from their own dimension and they don't want to be reminded of it."

"I guess I can understand that. They don't want to be reminded of how they're stranded from their friends and family. Garrus, do you have any family back home?"

"I have a father and sister. If you count the time I've been here; I haven't spoken to either of them in six years." Garrus explains rather earnestly before looking toward me "Sorry if you're feeling left out Miyo."

"Ehehe...I wasn't paying too much attention." I slightly giggle as I was more focused on eating the food in front of me since I was rather hungry; though I was able to hear their conversations.

Garrus laughed a little when he heard me say that "Ahaha. Well, good to hear. While I'm not sure if it applies to everyone, but entering this world really messes with your stomach. I was dead starving when I got here and I ended up in the hospital since I took a bad risk."

"Anyway, Miyo, would you want to live here in the Basilicom for a while?"

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"You should take her up on the offer Miyo. You're not an adult like me or Wrex or Thraaklon, so to speak. You need time to adjust."

"But is it okay? From what I gathered from people in the hallways, this is a government building. Can I really live here?"

"I just need to talk with Histoire. I'm sure she'd let you stay here, especially with your situation. What about you Garrus? Would you want to stay here?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. While I trust him, I don't want to leave Wrex unattended. His people are naturally aggressive and I want to keep the number of incidents to a minimal. Your people will thank me for it in the long haul." Garrus says before he looks past us, with the mandibles around his mouth showing a degree of surprise (although I hardly knew that at the time) "Nepgear, there's a girl out there. She looks like you but with shorter hair. It looks like she's hiding from someone or something."

"That's my older sister: Neptune. I imagine she's trying to hide from Histoire."

"Oh, this is not going to end well." Garrus mutters as he sees Wrex approach the girl from behind and lifts her in the air through a firm grip on her head.

"Woah! Hey buster, you had better let me go before I turn you into minced meat!" Neptune exclaims as she rapidly tries to resist and free herself from Wrex's grip.

"Big talk from such a tiny creature."

"Okay, that is it. No one calls me tiny and gets away with it!" Neptune snarls as she kicks Wrex in the stomach, which makes him let go of her a tiny bit out of surprise.

She was quickly enveloped with a beam of light and the young looking girl was replaced with a woman with bright blue eyes and long purple hair set in twin tails which nearly reached the ground she stood on. She wore a black colored body suit though her chest was exposed to some degree which I thankfully was oblivious about as it would've embarrassed me so much more if I was older; though I had the unlucky fortune to encounter Lady Green Heart at a much later time, when I was much more well-rounded in terms of mental sanity, but at the same time, I was more aware of my morals; so that was a bit of a hit for me. When she transformed, she quickly pulled out a huge katana and pointed it toward Wrex

"You will pay for angering me. Furthermore, you will also pay for sneaking into this holy Basilicom."

Wrex quickly retaliated by pulling out some sort of shotgun (Which Garrus later told me was called a M-11 Wraith, to my mild shock because of how deadly the weapon was back in their world) and I see the smallest of smirks on his face. Garrus quickly vaulted from where he was with an obvious expression of distress. We had quickly gathered close out of surprise, though Thraaklon was keeping me a fair distance away from any potential hostilities

"Woah woah woah. Stop Wrex, let's not piss off this country's leader. I like having my head on my neck and I don't want either her or Thraaklon to serve it on a stick." Garrus says as he forcibly pushes the weapon down before looking toward the woman in black "I apologize for my friend here. He is a quick to engage in a fight."

"You look familiar to me. Have we met before?"

"We have Purple Heart. One year ago. I was in Lastation since I wanted to know if they could craft thermal clips for me. They didn't exactly promise me anything, but they asked for some of mine as a template. We had met after I placed that order. I never knew you were this country's ruler though."

"Ah, so you were meeting with the technicians that day. Listen, I would tell your friend there to put his weapon away. I will kill him if I have to."

"Yes, of course. Wrex, put the goddamn gun away. I like living."

Wrex thankfully put away his shotgun and walked off with a minor snarl, though he was quickly followed by Thraaklon to ensure that nothing happened since it looked like Wrex was plenty mad at the time.

Afterwards, events had quickly transpired to where I had been living with the CPUs in the Basilicom and training with Thraaklon, Wrex, and Garrus in the various dungeons as I noticed myself growing in strength after each exercise. And after six months passed, Thraaklon called for me to meet him and the others at his house. When I got there, he passed me a very elegant flamberge sword with a black colored blade and silver grip and to my surprise: a finely crafted assault rifle

"Miyo Hanari. You have now graduated my training sessions. You are rather quick on the uptake. Congru-" Thraaklon tried to say before being interrupted by a heavy coughing fit as he falls to his knees, and I noticed, to my horror, that he was coughing up blood.

"Thraaklon!" Garrus exclaimed in shock as he tried his best to support Thraaklon.

"I am sorry. I prayed you three wouldn't have to see this."

"What's going on?" I inquire as I try to help Garrus pull Thraaklon up with help from my cybernetics.

"I'm...I've been dying all month. My doctors said I contracted a special incurable disease. I was going to die no matter what, so I hastened your graduation ceremony so you would have my blessing and all that. All of you; I have been trapped in this world for centuries if not millennia. I am proud to know how long a Valkenian can live because of our savage society and to prove my point: I was around since before the ancient CPUs fought the Deity of Sin, which was an extremely long time ago. I hate that I'm leaving this world in this manner, but I am content. I have lived an extremely long life and have done many...many things. Goodbye Urdnot Wrex; Garrus Vakarian; Miyo...Han..." Thraaklon was using all his strength to keep himself up and talk to us before dropping to the ground again, with us quickly noticing that his pulse has stopped entirely.

After this, we quickly brought Thraaklon to the Basilicom and Histoire arranged for a fancy funeral for him and stored him in a special indoor cemetery reserved for people who were on extremely good terms with the CPUs. After we saw Thraaklon off, Garrus and Wrex told me they would be leaving the continent to travel since they wanted to see if there were other lands other than this one and wished me the best of luck in my endeavors. As for me, I actually began going out of my way to avoid staying long amounts of time in this Basilicom because of the memory of Thraaklon though I was able to suppress that feeling for roughly a year before it became outright unbearable so I left, although I let Histoire, Nepgear, and Neptune know beforehand and they gave me a month's worth of food and some armor; and they all wished me the best of luck. While a part of me left out of the unbearable emotions over Thraaklon's death, a bigger part of me wanted to fill in his shoes as best I could: He has spent a great number of years wandering through the continent keeping eyes open for people like me: People unexpectedly forced out of their world and brought here and have no idea what to do. I was not as old as Thraaklon and while I didn't have as much experience as him, I swore I would honor his legacy by doing what he has done for so long. Doing this kind of thing required a special touch that only people like me had since it's easy to claim you can relate to people, but with this subject, it doesn't work unless you are not native to Gamindustri. Nine times out of ten, the only way to relate with this is if you have lived with what they are experiencing. No one was more experienced than Thraaklon, but he taught me how to survive and I'm not letting the gift go to waste.

(End Flashback)

Hyperdimension Standard Time: [21:00] September 1st 20XX

Location: [Lowee Basilicom - Training Room]

After remembering these old events, I lower my sword with me feeling tears roll down my face after I finished this recollection of memories.

"Thraaklon…" I mumble inaudibly and even though he was intimidating when it came to appearances, he saved my life and I owe him for that. Those tarantulas would've killed me had he not come at the opportune moment. I then wipe my eyes to get rid of the tears "Huh. It's been ten years since I have seen Garrus and Wrex. I wonder how those two are doing."

When I turn around, I see Katsuo walk into the room with a mild scowl

"Let me be frank with you Miyo. I have no idea what the hell you and Izumi are planning, but know that we'll be returning to Lastation. We don't plan on helping you any further. We're returning to Nepgear and fighting for the CPUs. The next time we see each other; I will not hesitate to gun you down like the criminal you are."

"Very well." I chuckle amusedly as I make a few poses with my rapier and then store it within my sheathe "Why are you here?"

"We carried Karen and RED to some bedrooms per order of the Oracle. Kazuto, Shino, and Yuuki have left already to rejoin Nepgear and the others. Mamoru said he'd keep an eye on Karen until you show up. So hurry up and relieve him of duty so we can get our archer back." Katsuo says as he uses the fast-travel network to leave the area, with me obviously knowing he's returning to Lastation.

I simply sigh in face of his attempt to being threatening to me and walk around and notice Mamoru outside one of the rooms

"I presume Katsuo has talked with you?"

"Yeah, he said he won't hold back when we meet next."

"I hope you know that we had come to that decision mutually. I don't like it, but the fact is: We need to return home and Histoire promised that. We had to question which was more important in the long haul: Our personal feelings or performing our duty and ensuring a way home. Hopefully Karen will understand that. I pray we can keep this business as just that."

"Oh, how painfully naive. I can't help but pity them for believing this." I mutter in my mind at the talk of them being able to return to their home world since I've been here ten years and my mentor having been here centuries if not millennia "Of course. I am capable of maintaining a mutual disdain. You all are obviously good people and I hate the idea of fighting you, but Izumi and I work for Karen and Karen works for ASIC. That makes us enemies."

Mamoru simply nods in acknowledgement before departing, leaving me outside Karen's room. I go in to keep an eye on her, but the sight of a comfortable bed makes all of my built-up adrenaline I've been using to handle all of the events today and it takes all my strength for me to simply reach a chair near Karen's bed "Geez...I never thought it'd be so tiring doing this stuff without my cybernetics." I do my best not to fall asleep outright since I want to keep an eye on her as long as possible, though that doesn't last long as I fell asleep almost immediately.

Hyperdimension Standard Time: [2:00] September 1st 20XX

Location: [Lowee Basilicom - Karen's Room]

While I was doing the best I could to keep my senses alert, sleep has been dulling it a bit. However, I hear the door to the room open and since I had closed it before I began succumbing to sleep, I know someone is trying to get in

"W-Who's there…? Izumi?" I weakly mumble as I notice the outlines of wings on the back of the person coming into the room.

"Hell no. I have no idea who this Izumi is, but I'm not her."

As my eyes begin adjusting more to the pitch darkness I see that the person looks like Histoire, but the blonde hair is far less orderly, the outfit is a lot more 'evil' than Histoire's purple and white colorset "Huh? This person looks like Histoire. But I've never seen another being like her before." I lightly rub my eyes as I try to get a more accurate look at this person "Then who are you?"

"Normally I'd tell you to mind your own damn business bitch; but I'm in a good mood today. You can call me Croire. It's not every day I find a human merged with a CPU. Crap like this is what makes my job fun." Croire sneers as she pulls out some sort of purple crystal.

"Woah! What in the world are you doing?!"

"I'm making everyone's job easier so stay out of it!" Croire shouts angrily, with her then pressing the crystal against the breastplate of Karen's armor, with a small compartment opening as it seemingly accepts the crystal and seals itself when the crystal descended a short distance "Alright CPU. Activate the CPU Memory I have acquired for you and reawaken!"

I see Karen enveloped in a bright light and in lieu of the armored individual laying on the reinforced bed frame, I see an adult woman wearing a hakama with a white colored shirt and the lower robe is colored gold. She appears to have a purplish white hagoromo around her neck stretching all the way to her legs and robotic angel wings on her back, similar to the ones I've seen from Neptune and Nepgear in their HDD forms. Her hair has lengthened rather significantly and has been colored aqua though I can't tell what her eye color is since they're still closed.

"Woah...Karen…?" I mutter in surprise as I glance over this transformed state.

"My work here is done. I'm going have a ton of fun watching this revived CPU work her magic in this world. Now listen, I have high hopes here, so you had better give her your undivided loyalty. I don't want her losing this gift so quickly." Croire remarks with a big grin as she vanishes.

"Undivided loyalty…?" I mutter in confusion as I see Karen's eyelashes begin to flutter awake, revealing her viridian eye color in CPU form.

"Urk...I feel strange." Karen, or Caelus, mumbles as she looks in my glance; her voice being far more elegant in a manner of speaking, though it sounds like a combination of both hers and Caelus' "Miyo? What happened to me? I feel a little strange."

"Um...Karen; your CPU form has been awakened."

"CPU form? My power has returned? I never expected it to happen so quickly. Ugh, I clearly must have reincarnation sickness, it's the only way it'd cause this type of echo."

"Reincarnation sickness? What do you mean Karen? Or are you Caelus?" I inquire, wondering who I'm talking with right now because of the blending of voices making it tough to distinguish.

"It's Caelus, Miyo. Karen has just fallen comatose somewhat. Her soul is trying to adapt to Hard Drive Divinity. I thankfully was able to secure a place in it before now so I don't need to fear any kind of rewrite. I can co-exist as a spectator and live even though I can't directly use any of the powers as a Goddess. However, at times, I can exert physical control over this body, but Karen earned the right to be the primary host, so I decided to abdicate control unless she asks for it or if the need grew grave enough. Or...if I have the desire to, but I need to restrain on that one...hehe? Anyway, whoever that was, she gave me a brand new CPU Memory. Typically, it can be used, in the hands of an existing CPU, to create a new CPU, but if the information is correct: When a CPU Memory is used on a human with a CPU inside them, it performs a ritual similar to reincarnation and it is not a pleasant experience for the human. Then again, I actually don't know that much about the subject; it's only happened one other time."

"Actually, the person who did this said I had to give Karen my undivided loyalty. What exactly did that mean Caelus?"

"What?! How is it that you have spent time with the CPUs and not know what I'm talking about?! I'm talking about shares! CPUs need them to maintain their powers."

I nervously chuckle in response, since I had never known about the Share matter much. Sure, I did know about quests helping, but Histoire had Nepgear and Neptune keep the specifics from me. I never really knew why "Regardless of the fact. I know my duty: ASIC needs to be defeated. I may not be making the best case of myself since I worked for them for credits, but I have returned to the CPUs." I say as I drop to one knee and cover that knee with my left arm as I bow "I swear with my life that you will have my faith and my vow of assistance to fight against ASIC."

"I accept that vow Miyo Hanari. I will need all of the help I can get to defeat ASIC. I fought them in ages past but failed. I will not make the mistake of fighting this enemy alone again." Caelus says to me as she pulls out Celeste's sheathe and gently taps the sheathe on both my shoulders "While the normal tradition involves tapping the individual with the sword itself, Celeste was not made for such gentle acts." Caelus continues as she begins to sway and would've fell down to the ground had I not caught her "Woah...a part of me forgot that Karen's body is still too weak and that's not counting the neurotoxin flowing through her veins. But on the plus side, I should be able to better resist it now that Karen has become a CPU in its entirety." Caelus explains as I help her back into the bed and glances in my direction "Thank you. I need time to rest. You should be getting some as well."

"I probably should. Good night Caelus." I mumble as I exit the room and try to make my way to my room.

Author's Notes: I want to thank RantoJax for beta reading the parts involving Garrus Vakarian and Urdnot Wrex.

Okay...let me be blunt: I am not good at writing Neptune's dialogue, but if you think I did well enough or not, let me know in the reviews. Also, to make one thing clear, in the flashback, while I made the direct dialogue in present sense; considering that this event happened ten years prior, I made the non-dialogue parts into past sense to add a bit of realism compared to the old ones I made in Aincrad.