Minerva is Where!?
Truth to be told, the awakening from an hours long dive didn't feel comfortable at all. Their necks felt stiff and since their weight wasn't accounted for when they were converted to data, they felt heavier than ever. It didn't help at all that the moment the control pods opened to the blinding light of the test room, they were almost instantly strangled by their worried friends who had been impatiently waiting for their return.
Ami: " you guys..."
She cried hugging Elie a little tad tightly, almost buldging her eyes out. It took a few minutes to disassemble them so the four could disment their pods. They took their first steps back in the real world quite heavily.
Lilyan: " maybe I should consider a diet."
Elie, who got quite the liking to floating, was having it hard getting used to walk again.
William: " struck with the after effects I daresay."
The blond joined them in the test room along with adults. A bunch of LBX flew right from behind him and each to their player.
Lilyan: " I really missed you."
She said holding her Unicorn closer.
Otacross: " everyone got back sound and safe deyo~. Even your LBXs' AI hadn't so much as a bug in them deyo~."
Jin: " that's a relief."
Kazu: " that was some nerve-racking there, we thought you would be trapped forever in that thing. Especially you."
He flung his arm around Ban's shoulder, making him stagger with the added weight.
Ami: " Frankly, I doubted that you would want to leave."
Ban: " ahaha, welp, it kind of was a nice place I wanted to stay. But, reality is what matters right."
William smiled softly at them as he heard those words.
William: " you're right, reality is what matters the most. Although a pleasant of place that illusion was to... um... most of you."
His eyes flicked at Elie as she blinked curiously.
William: " we shouldn't let ourselves stray from reality as well. It's, like doctor Egor said, as harsh and cruel it may be, where you came from and will always return to, your origin."
Jun'ichirou pushed up his glasses.
Jun'ichirou: " I see, the diving technology permit one to escape his reality. However, illusions and truth mustn't be confused. One ought to always remember where he came from."
William nodded his head in confirmation. The players, once their worries had subsided, were eager to know more about their experience in the digital world there was just no escape for them.
It took a while to get off their friends grasp and go back to their rooms. Ban flopped down on his bed, wanting nothing more than to dive into a sleep, but his mind was rather preoccupied. Jin as well noticed that.
Jin: " maybe you should go talk with her."
Ban: " I probably should."
He sat up and looked back at his friend.
Ban: " but I don't want it to end up in another argument."
Jin: " maybe you should consider her feelings a bit."
As he took off his jacket, Jin sat on his bed and looked at his friend in the eye.
Jin: " as her brother, I know that you prioritize her safety. But don't you forget about her own feelings. Elie was allowed to go out just recently, and even everything she has may be taken away in a moment. She wants to make the most of what time she has as much as possible."
Ban: " but..."
Jin: " yes, I know she is putting herself in danger, but so are all of us. And do you seriously expect her to fall back and just watch. You hardly could bear standing back for a week."
Jin pointed and Ban had an annoyed look over his face.
Jin: " you should talk it out with her, I'm sure you can come to some kind of agreement."
Just as he said that, there was a knock on the door and Elie's head peeked from behind it.
Elie: " good, you're still awake. Can I talk to you for a moment, Onii-chan?"
Jin gave him a nod and the man agreed, following after his sister..
Elie breathed as they stepped out of Tiny Orbit, as exciting of place the infinity net was, it couldn't match the cool breeze that welcomed them upon exiting the building.
Ban : " we were copped up in the control pods for hours, no wonder you would want some fresh air."
The sun was low in the sky. Almost 10 hours had passed by since their dive. Elie stretched as she filled her lungs.
Elie: " it felt like a dream."
Beargguy: " it kind of was for you."
Ban eyed her carefully, there was a lot he needed to say as well, a lot to convey. Still, he couldn't find the right words.
Elie: " I... Considered it..."
His head snapped in her direction as she spoke. Elie turned her face away, blocking it from his sight.
Elie: " I was afraid... That I might not be able to be by your side anymore if I took a step back, that I would lose my place among you if I don't keep up. This short time I was giving, I wanted to keep spending it with all of you as much as possible. But, maybe I was too selfish..."
She looked back at him.
Elie: " I've constantly avoided the operation, I pushed myself to keep up with you all and... I ended up causing so much trouble for you and worried our parents. It's natural you would snap at me after acting this selfishly."
Ban: " no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
Elie: " I will step back."
His eyes widened at those words.
Elie: " after thinking about it, I realized, I don't want us to keep hiding our true feelings from each other at all. You, mom, dad, you all kept a smile and told me it was alright if I didn't want to do it now, but I could tell just how worried and stressed out you were, and that was gnawing at me. I hated that. But I can't pretend that everything would turn out okay this way. I don't want us quarreling over it again. So if that's what would put you at ease, Onii-chan, then I'm stepping off this fight. I just don't want you to look at me the same way you did this morning."
Ban took on her gaze for a moment before he exhaled deeply.
Ban: " I hated it too, when you neglected your health and ended up collaposing. I hated feeling the same way as back then..."
The memory of the twisting little Elie flashed in front of him.
Ban: " I just want you to be safe. We all do. But... Maybe asking you to stop fighting was a tad too much."
Elie blinked at him.
Ban: " I get you want to spend as much time with all of us as you can, but please don't ignore our feelings too. We will all be worried when you collapse again. "
Elie looked at him in confusion.
Elie: " Onii-chan..."
Ban: " if you promise not to treat our concens lightly, if you promise you won't push yourself hard again, no matter what the circumstances I-"
Elie: " I will!"
She stated with an excited glimmer.
Ban: " eh, hold on, I still didn't contin-"
Elie: " if I do so, I will be staying with all of you. I will continue to stand on the same field as you. Then I promise!"
Ban: " hold on, are you even taking it seriously right now?"
Elie: " I really am!"
She sounded indignant.
Beargguy: " a promise is a promise right, Ban?"
Ban: " I'm not convinced with her promise yet."
Odin: " you can punish her if she ever collapsed in the middle of the fight again."
Ban: " still... you know, forget about it. I will take your word for now. "
He finally relented and Elie's eyes sparkled with joy.
Ban: " guess it's all solved here."
Elie: " not yet."
With no warning, Elie had flung herself on him, embaracing him tightly.
Elie: " I love you, Onii-chan."
Ban's complexion morphed into a soft smile as he gently strok her hair.
Ban: " I love you too, Elie."...
.
.
.
Asuka: " finally they had talked it out!"
Sendou: " shh, Asuka, we don't want them to find us!"...
Mizel: " so..."
The boy looked back at William when the control pod test room emptied.
William: " nothing, all the logs were modified so I can't find her traces. But I'm sure it was her."
Mizel nodded his head in agreement.
Mizel: " even I couldn't help but sense her presence."
William: " the question however is how?"
He said leaning on the control pod he was investigating. Mizel rose an eyebrow.
Mizel: " even you are oblivious to it."
William: " huh?"
The befuddlement on his face inurred Mizel's smirk.
Mizel: " come on, just for how long do you think she had been keeping an eye on them."
William: " you aren't possibly suggesting."
Mizel: " yep, Minerva is finally going through a rebellious phase. Despite your specific orders, she had interfered not once or twice to aid them."
The boy shrugged.
William: " that's reckless."
Mizel: " do you think she is bugged and need repair then?"
William: " nope. "
The male smirked as he leaned his head back as though staring through the roof.
William: " I couldn't have been prouder."...
By the time they got their senses back together, they were called to a meeting in Takuya's office.
The head of Tiny Orbit had a stern look on his face, and William was even more serious if that was possible. Once all gathered, William stepped forward and cleared his throat.
William: " I won't hit around the bush, all of you had already anticipated it. We're entering the final part of this cold war between us and Leviathan."
Their faces contorted into frowns. A hologram screen popped behind him as he pushed his glass up the bridge of his nose.
William: " we need to put our plan for the final battle thoroughly."
Mizel walked to him and clicked his fingers, a map of the city was projected.
Mizel: " thanks to the USB drive Arata and Yamaneko managed to install previously in Dream Future, the Hackers Army managed to sneak information from within Leviathan's main servers, we have a set date for the roll out of his new build body."
" Eh!"
Ran: " the hackers of Akihabara actually managed to pull that off! Against that tight security!"
She exclaimed with eyes as wide as saucers.
Mizel: " Otacross and I helped occasionally, but they've proven to be no joke those hackers."
Otacross smirked proudly at that.
Ran: " guess I've underestimated those Otakus."
Ami: " I told you they are useful in times."
Kazu sweat dropped at that.
William: " either way, we will be moving before Leviathan gets his new body, or rather the D Manipulator, completed. I will explain the plan for you now."
The screen enlarged and Goliath was marked by a red dot as William turned to face it.
William: " Leviathan's body is being manufactured here. So we'll have to split and attack from different directions. At the same time, we have to expect a retaliation of sort from them, so we need a back up too."
Mizel: " however, the majority will be at the front. Is that okay with you?"
He turned to Takuya who was leaning on his knitted hands, listening attentively to every word of their plot. The male gave an approving nod.
Takuya: " I can't imagine us getting through without being the first to strike. For that, a strong offense is needed."
William: " I'm grateful for the understanding, Takuya-san."
Eva put her hand up as though she was in a classroom.
William: " what's it?"
Evangeline : " why should we attack in real life? I mean, wouldn't it be more efficient if we launch a cyber attack against them?"
Mizel smirked at her.
Mizel: " I knew you wouldn't miss on that part. True, a cyber attack would have been better, if we were really aiming to finish him off ourselves."
" Huh?"
He incurred curious looks at them.
William: " we're trying to lure his attention away. For him to let his guard down within the infinity net, we need to attack him from the outside. That's what you'll be doing. Finishing him off is Minerva's job, she is the only one who could shut him down."
Hiro : " but Minerva-"
William: " is sealed away, true. I'll wake her up. But our moves need to be well coordinated for this plan to work. We've got one chance at awakening her, and unless Leviathan's guard is down, it will be all meaningless."
Jun'ichirou: " what do you mean by one chance, William-kun?"
William: " I can only awaken her in a specific time. If I miss on it or if Leviathan is very strong for her to finish, it's game over."
Takuya: " a specific time?"
The blond quirked his eyebrow at that.
Takuya: " William, mind telling us where is Minerva exactly?"
William smiled broadly as he pointed at the roof.
Yuuta: " up?"
Jun'ichirou: " you're not possibly meaning..."
William: " space."
"Eeeeeh!"
Lilyan: " how did you?"
William: " haven't you wondered why did I place a driver in the telescope room back in Brinton?"
Jun'ichirou: " as a matter of fact, it has been on my mind for a while."
William: " I've been monitoring a certain satellite. The new communication satellite A Nation had sent."
Mizel: " Most of the drivers he planted so far were for the sake of keeping track of its trajectory."
Haruka: " then... don't tell me Minerva is actually..."
William: " yeah, she is hidden within that same satellite. Sealing her up there was a real trouble for me. It took months to be able to establish the needed connection between Shang-Pao tower and the satellite. And it was even harder having to coordinate the timing. I only could send her if the satellite was directly above the tower."
Kirito swallowed the last droplets of his drink before throwing it in the wastepaper basket.
Kirito: " that explains why she couldn't interfere much."
Eva glanced over at the green head.
Evangeline : " did you know about all of that."
Mizel: " not until we found William. The whereabouts of Minerva was a top secret even for me."
Otacross: " there is something more important deyo~."
His eyes trtaveled to the pair of blue eyes.
Otacross: " how do you intend on waking her up deyo~. It's not that any of the computers here in Tokio City are connected to deyo~."
William: " that's not needed..."
He said balancing his glasses perfectly.
William: "... All we need is to send a signal. And Minerva will wake up immediately. However, she will be around for a short while. Unless the timing is perfect, everything will be lost."
Mizel: " however, for that to work we have to get to the highest point in Tokio City."
He turned back to the map, zooming on a certain point.
Zenon: " that's..."
Mirai: " Tokio Sia?"
She rose her eyebrow.
William: " to be more precise, the tower of the mall. It's quite the highest point in all of Tokio City."
Ban: " so we need to get there to wake Minerva up. When are we moving."
Mizel exchanged looks with William and then focused on the rest of them.
Mizel: " tomorrow."
Kousuke: " that quickly?"
William: " the sooner the better. Leviathan will be on the loose in no time. "
He then turned back to the head of Tiny Orbit.
William: " Takuya-san, and Yagami-san actually arrangef for a mandatory evacuation. The data we had about Leviathan's army so far is enough to persuade those in control."
He then turned to the chosen players.
William: " I don't think I ought to remind you all that the coming fight would decide the fate of humanity. Please give it all you've got."
Aya gave a nervous laugh.
Aya: " oh man, feel the pressure."
Kâmpher: " you're getting cold feet now?"
Aya: " not at all!"
Evangeline : " we're seeing this through to the very end!"
She said looking back at the rest of her friends as they nodded confirmingly. William face lit up with a smile seeing their perseverance.
William: " they're truly the makers of the future."
He whispered to Mizel who in turn smirked proudly.
Jun'ichirou: " then, I would like to have a final go on your LBXs, and no, Eva, Ruri, you're not helping. Go get some rest for tomorrow. Mizel and I will be more than enough."
The green haired boy nodded his head approvingly. Eva going into fight half asleep was the last thing he wanted. Ken couldn't agree more. Everyone then entrusted the professors with their LBXs. Touko on the other hand went on to Mizel and whispered something in his ear to which he kept nodding.
Mizel: " alright, I will see what I can do."
Touko: " yosh! Thank you!"
Otacross: " that's all I guess deyo~."
He mentioned while counting the LBXs.
Rina: " Even Ryan and Jennifer's too. "
Jun'ichirou: " let's waste no more time."
And they hurriedly scurried away from the office, followed by the players as they headed out to their rooms. Only Takuya and William were left in there, staring after the door behind which everyone else had gone.
Takuya: " it will work out, right, you plan?"
William gave a heavy sigh as he looked up.
William: " theoretically, yeah. Still, there's nothing certain. All we've got left is hope."
Takuya closed his eyes and collected his thoughts.
Takuya: " I believe in them. They made the impossible possible before. They could bring the same feat again."
William's head straightened.
William: " that's precisely why they were chosen..."...
