Time carried on uneventfully inside one of Sector Seven's central headquarters.
Not long ago, Kokonoe returned from her trip to the secluded church. She had been called there to examine one of the NOL's Prime Fields after her unexpected awakening. Their overall condition appeared sluggish but functional, nothing serious, so Kokonoe left her under the care of the sisters on site. A full recovery was to be expected in the near future.
Without any pressing things left to deal with, she found herself studying the Susanoo Unit's self-Observing phenomenon, hoping to transfer the equations into an imitable construct. A reinforced chamber in her personal workshop stored the unit itself, a stark addition to the scenery compared to the other projects occupying the space at her disposal. But what was one more dangerous secret among the many in her laboratory?
Naturally, her regular obligations didn't go ignored as she did her research on the side. While keeping up the appearance of everything having returned to routine on her end, she saw to it that her tracks remained covered.
The cauldron had been investigated by the Committee following post-incident procedures. Being the first to arrive at the scene, she got tasked to write the report. Because of her credentials as one of its chair members and the doctored evidence, she got the old coots to believe that the whole event happened due to a computer glitch mishandling commands.
"All right…" Covering a yawn, Kokonoe leaned back against her chair. Next to the screen in front of her sat a pile of wrappers which she swept into a disposal bin beside her worktable. She had just finished drawing up a prototype to test her theory for the self-Observation system. With a push against the table, she left the corner where she had been holed up.
To let her mind rest from the desk work, she wandered to the other end of the room. Past the maintenance equipment and Tager's repair station was the containment bay a floor below where the white armor stood, head hanging limply.
Once she neared the glass, tiny pins pricked the surface of her skin. Something had stirred the air.
Startled, Kokonoe glimpsed at the information projected on the corner of the transparent surface. "This reading level… It can't be…?" Brows knit, she stepped towards the subsection's control terminal. Her hand grabbed the microphone installed on it to adjust the angle. "Hey! Gimme a response, why don't you?"
Hearing her, the various red eyes located around its body gained a conscious shimmer. Their slit-shaped pupils snapped upwards in her direction.
"Would you look at that…You're not so dead after all, Hakumen of the Six Heroes."
His voice filtered through the intercom. "The Susanoo Unit…must be returned…to the Boundary's depths, Grimalkin."
"I'm amazed that a lingering fragment like you can even speak." With a finger, she pushed her glasses up. This turned interesting. Had that man expected something to happen at a later time when he left the unit behind? "So, Hakumen, care to share anything you know about the origin of this continuum? What really happened to the Takamagahara System? What about the Lynchpin? I need answers."
"I see...your pursuit for knowledge never tires… But this endeavor…is foolish. I will…tell you nothing."
She clicked her tongue, already sick of the other's inflexible attitude. "Whether it's 'foolish' or not, that's not for you to decide. One way or another, I'm gonna find out. It's only a question of when. If you're gonna take up precious space inside the unit, you might as well make yourself useful by talking!"
Hakumen responded, unyielding with his stance on the matter, "Return the Sankishin unit to the Boundary… I will not repeat…myself. There shall be no… further… discussion." The sound of his voice became heavy with static every few words as if the echo of the man inside wavered between life and death.
During her initial analysis, she had attempted to extract memory data from the unit. The scans came out empty, reinforcing the idea that he had long died. However, being disproved was good if it meant new options opening up. She had hopes that Hakumen would give the information she sought. But having experienced his uncooperative nature, the number of choices turned out to be more restricted than she wanted.
Kokonoe breathed out a sigh, uncrossing her arms. "Fine, I don't have time to waste arguing with you anyways. Feel free to reconsider while you're stuck in there, dumbass." His weakened state made it impossible for him to move anytime soon.
"Hmph…"
Giving Hakumen one last side glance from the upper deck level, Kokonoe then walked away.
Once back at her work area, she sat at one computer in particular. That one held the data recovered from the Boundary thanks to Relius Clover. There were a few things she wanted to review in detail, namely this 'Embryo' and the events that had transpired inside it. Perhaps there, she would find some kind of solution.