By the time Lanfen was finished with the last of her phone calls, the setting sun had disappeared into the horizon. A shattered moon took its place in the night sky, surrounded by a ring of debris that's been orbiting the lunar body ever since Tachibana's battle against the so-called creator of the Symphogear system. It was a quarter past 7 o'clock and Lanfen couldn't bring herself to eat. Confirming the death of her little sister to the staff members of Yaman Academy had sapped away whatever strength Lanfen had in her. Subsequently conversing over the phone with multiple government officials regarding Kai's remains only ensured the lack of an appetite for the rest of the evening.
Despite the sheer number of fatalities that the city was struggling to handle, S.O.N.G. had apparently gone through the process of initiating Kai's cremation before Lanfen had stepped inside her apartment. She could only guess that either the Commander or Tsuchiya had a hand in this. But in the end, she didn't care to find out. Her little sister was gone, and the only thing Lanfen could do now was continue her training within her apartment's practice room. Having changed into a black tank top and a pair of white shorts, the room's lone window gave Lanfen a clear view of the moon which sat high in the sky while she browsed through her training equipment within the room's storage chest.
The wooden jian sword in Lanfen's grip could not replicate the same feeling that coursed through her whenever the Sword of Damocles was in her grasp. It was slimmer, shorter, and barely a quarter of its weight. Utilizing the knowledge which her Symphogear implanted deep within her brain, Lanfen accustomed her body's muscles to a variety of fighting techniques, sword forms and practiced strikes with the Chinese sword replica. To keep herself motivated, Lanfen's wrist device sat on top of the room's wooden chest, all while projecting a hologram that displayed the numerous images S.O.N.G. possessed on Kai's killer. Every practiced swing Lanfen made was a strike which channeled the proverbial, flickering fires within her purple eyes.
With a practiced flourish of her wooden sword, Lanfen slid her jian into a sheathe at her hip and slowly exhaled. She wiped the accumulating beads of sweat on her forehead, and went over towards the corner of the room to grab a bottle of sports water. Lanfen downed half of its contents in one swig while the length of her weapon rested on her shoulder next to her black braid. Even if Lanfen's Symphogear granted her superhuman agility, strength and endurance, the Adaptor could not ignore the need to maintain her body's own physical prowess. All that power would be for naught if Lanfen was taken out of a fight before she could even initiate her transformation. A risk she could ill-afford to let happen.
A ringing from Lanfen's wrist device pierced the silence of the practice room. Noticing an incoming audio transmission from Commander Genjuuro, Lanfen went over to the wooden chest on the opposite corner of the room and crouched down before it. She rested her sheathed practice weapon on the matted floor and pressed a finger on the device's holographic 'answer' prompt. "Is there an available mission for me, Commander?" Lanfen sharply asked, taking another swig of her sports water.
"Actually, no. If anything, it's been rather quiet on your front, Lanfen," the Commander answered her in a relaxed voice. "I'm just calling to check on you now that you've arrived back home. Komichi and Yuki tell me that you've been keeping to yourself so far. Not that it's a bad thing, of course."
Lanfen glanced aside at the wooden weapon which laid at her feet. The feeling of a sword in her hand - whether it be a replica or a real weapon - was starting to become as natural as wielding a pencil. "I'm just preparing for my next assignment, Commander," Lanfen stated, placing her empty bottle on top of the chest next to her wrist device. "I can't expect the Distortions to arrive when it's convenient. And it's not like I've anything else better to do anyway."
She had to wait for a couple of seconds until the Commander spoke again. "I see. I honestly assumed you would be resting up after everything that's happened over the past few days."
Lanfen lightly scoffed. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she dryly replied, "Sleeping isn't easy after being told what the council expects of me, Commander."
"That's... understandable." The Commander loudly cleared his throat and continued. "Regardless, I apologize for calling you like this all of a sudden. We felt that it was necessary to first give you some time to take in your duty as the Wielder of the SG-r04. Since this is a private transmission, you are free to voice whatever thoughts you have on your role as an Adaptor." Commander Genjuuro paused to emphasize his next words clearly. "Not a second of this will be put to record, just so you know. You have my word on that."
Upon hearing that statement, Lanfen desired to express nothing less than vulgar profanity. It was all she could reserve for the so-called 'world council' who ordered the Symphogear-Wielders around like pieces on a chess board. But in place of an honest condemnation, Lanfen chose to give a few hush words. "It's not an easy duty they've given me, honestly. Being sent out to fight Distortions is something I have no complaints with. But the task I'm expected to fulfill regarding the others... is something else entirely." Lanfen picked up her sword from the matted floor and slowly slid out a part of its wooden blade in front of her face. "That is all I'm willing to say, Commander."
"I won't disagree with that," the Commander said, sounding almost as tired as she was. "While I cannot deny the burdens which the Sword of Damocles is undoubtedly placing on you, I will point out that your mere status as the SG-r04's Wielder ensures our support from the council, Lanfen. Many of their members have shown themselves to be fearful of the power which we possess. Especially after the Shem-Ha Incident. It doesn't matter to them that this same power is what saved the world all those years ago. Our mere existence is seen as a potential danger that needs to be reined in, even if it's to our own detriment."
Lanfen had to let out an empty chuckle. Placing her sheathed sword next to the room's wooden chest this time, the Adaptor leaned back against the wall and huddled her bare legs close to her chest. Lanfen's brown skin felt sticky from all the sweat that her training had accumulated. "All these years of fighting, and their best course of action is to try and shoot themselves in the proverbial foot, huh?" Her jest got a small laugh out of the Commander. "It's hard to believe that this was the one idea they've chosen to go with. They could've at least told me the damn truth the moment they tried to recruit me."
"I know, Lanfen. I know." The Commander audibly grunted in annoyance. "Sadly, this is not a situation which will budge in accordance with our opinions on the matter. We don't have the luxury of going against the council's orders unless we're willing to cease our efforts in protecting the world. Whether it be sending out our Wielders to their liking, or utilizing the S.W.O.R.D., S.O.N.G. has no choice but to follow the directives it's given. If anything, I would count ourselves lucky that they're not keeping you on a tight leash. I won't doubt the possibility that they've thought about treating you more as a living weapon at some point."
Scowling at the mere mention of the dreaded weapon's name, Lanfen stared at the hologram which hovered over her wrist device as she felt a question place itself on the tip of her tongue. Upon reminding herself that nothing about this transmission was going to be put to paper, Lanfen saw this conversation as the best opportunity to ask something that's been on her mind for the past hour.
"Commander." Her words were firm. "Pardon me if this may sound sudden. But, would it be advisable to... distance myself from the rest of the other Wielders...? While I'm thankful for the kindness they've shown me, it just doesn't feel right familiarizing myself with those whom I might have to... put down."
The Commander went quiet on his side of the transmission. The silence felt almost agonizing as Lanfen waited for an answer. When he finally spoke again, it was in the same tone he used whenever Commander Genjuuro gave out his orders. "While I do not have the authority to make you finalize your decision, I will stand by whatever choice you choose to make in the end, Lanfen. You're a part of S.O.N.G. as much as any of the other Wielders, regardless of what the council expects of you. The others know that as much as I do. As the Tactical Commander of S.O.N.G., I can only ask that you not lose yourself to whatever that you've chosen to hang above your own head. That is all."
Lanfen pursed her lips and dug her fingernails into the skin of her knees. The stinging pain reminded Lanfen that she was still alive, even if it felt like a curse to her and her alone. "Understood, Commander," she said with barely a hint of strength in her words. "I apologize for having second-thoughts about my duties. On the very day I've been recruited, no less. I promise it won't happen again."
"We all have our own regrets, Lanfen. It's fine," the Commander gently assured her, clearly hearing the growing stress in her voice. "Try and rest up whenever you can. I'll have to get back to my own duties now. Good night."
The audio transmission switched off and the device's projected hologram returned to the grainy images of the cloaked being. Narrowing her eyes at the unclear photos of Kai's killer, Lanfen had to wonder where they could be hiding right now. The creature who took her little sister's life was still out there, free to return, and potentially capable of shedding further blood with the power they possessed. Last they met, Lanfen's own hesitation had given them the opportunity to strike before she could even blink. Reaching the same heights as the other Wielders in a short amount of time was not a realistic expectation, but Lanfen intended to ensure that by the time of their next meeting, Lanfen's skills with her Symphogear would be capable of taking down the very monster responsible for Kai's death.
It was the one thing which kept Lanfen going. For now, she simply needed to train. Both in her practice room, and on the battlefield itself.
Unexpectedly, her device's projected hologram switched back to another incoming audio transmission. This time, the contact ID was that of operator Fujitaka Sakuya. Lanfen pulled herself up from the matted floor, grabbed her device and pressed it against her forearm. The extending strap automatically locked itself around Lanfen's wrist before the Adaptor tapped onto the hologram to answer the transmission. "This is SG-r04, Cassandra Jiang Lanfen, reporting in."
Fujitaka's words lacked any sign of urgency that hinted at the presence of danger. Instead, the operator sounded more puzzled than alarmed. "Lanfen, we've just detected an unidentified energy signature within the outskirts of Yamaku City. We'd like you and your team to investigate it and report your findings as soon as possible. Tomosato has just alerted Komichi and Yuki about this, so you can expect to meet them downstairs once you're ready."
The apparent lack of any combat tonight was disappointing. But orders were orders, Lanfen thought to herself. "Understood," the Adaptor replied. "SG-r04, heading out."
Clicking her tongue at the sudden twitching of her sword-hand, Lanfen closed the transmission and stored her wooden sword back inside the practice room's storage chest. After securing it with a key, Lanfen headed into the living room, opened up the suitcase that Tsuchiya gave her, and donned the same winter clothes which she had worn on the very night of the Distortions' global attack. It was more convenient than heading back into her bedroom to ruffle through her closet. Once Lanfen had slid her smartphone into her pocket, she grabbed her pendant, rushed out of her apartment, and headed downstairs through the elevator with a black-and-white scarf wrapped around her neck. The S.O.N.G. crew undoubtedly did an excellent job repairing her jacket after it had been ripped apart by a large battle-axe.
Lanfen shivered from the winter winds as she stepped out of the apartment complex's brightly-lit lobby. Rubbing her hands together for warmth, Lanfen spotted a large, black van that was waiting for her in front of the tall building. Godai sat in the driver seat with a can of coffee in her hand while Ayano took the passenger seat next to her. When the pair spotted the Adaptor, Ayano rolled down her door window and started beckoning her over. Similar to Lanfen, both of them had chosen to forgo their navy-blue S.O.N.G. uniforms for regular civilian wear.
"Hop in the back, Jiang!" Ayano told her with a cheerful smile.
Responding with a curt nod, Lanfen stepped over to the back of the van and pulled open one of its back doors. Immediately, she was taken aback by the sight of a large computer terminal that took up an entire side of the vehicle's passenger area. It was built with the same communication devices and scanners which Lanfen had observed within the submarine's command center, and while the deactivated terminal occupied most of the space in the backseats, there was noticeably plenty of room for at least two-to-four people to gather in the back. Glancing at the sophisticated technology that S.O.N.G. utilized, Lanfen was partially relieved that her job required nothing more from her other than combat.
Lanfen climbed into the back of the vehicle and locked the door behind her before securing herself with a seatbelt. The van's engine promptly rumbled to life as Ayano brought up her wrist device to ring up the submarine's command center with her communicator.
"This is Team-04. We're now heading out to investigate the area."
As the van made its way through Yamaku City's bustling streets, the toy that dangled from Lanfen's smartphone softly jingled from the vibrations which coursed through the vehicle. Its ringing sounded like a gentle melody to Lanfen's ears while she rested in her seat, eyes closed shut to try and stave off the exhaustion that was slowly creeping up on her. Were it not for the incessant twitching within Lanfen's hands, she most likely would have been able to catch up on her sleep. The events of this afternoon didn't help. The same could be said of the fact that her new teammates were primarily here to monitor her. Lanfen appreciated the sentiment they had shown her thus far, but it didn't change the purpose of their membership within Team-04.
Opening her tired eyes, Lanfen rubbed her aching temples with one hand and glanced over to the front of the vehicle. Ayano was tapping a few commands into her own wrist device, bringing a holographic map of the area to guide their driver towards their destination. Lanfen could not see how much farther they needed to travel due to the distance between their seats, but the Adaptor could at least notice from the van's windshields that they had already exited the vicinity of Yamaku City. The van's headlights kept the roads up ahead brightly-lit while they drove through the prefecture's snowy forests.
Ayano let out a long, unshielded yawn and looked over her shoulder to notice that Lanfen was looking at her. With a cheerful grin on her face, the brunette shuffled around in her seat to face the Adaptor behind her. "Ready for your first mission as part of Team-04?" Ayano asked Lanfen, arm still held up so that Godai could read the map which she had brought up.
Lanfen was starting to wonder if they even remembered why S.O.N.G. had assigned the pair to her in the first place. "As long as Godai avoids getting us into a car accident, sure," Lanfen dryly replied, tightening the black-and-white scarf around her neck with both hands. The computer terminal which sat opposite of Lanfen barely gave her enough room to stretch her aching legs. "Aside from our orders to investigate the area, is there anything that I haven't been told about the situation?"
With her gaze still focused on the snowy roads up ahead, Godai replied to the Adaptor, "Other than something about a 'strange energy signature' near the mountain? Nothin' else, really. We get called to handle stuff like this all the time." The ponytailed woman reached for her second can of coffee in the driver compartment's cup holder and held it up with a smirk. "Normally, I'd be worried about runnin' head-first into some paranormal shtick, but since we've got a Wielder tagging along, I think this trip should be a quick one for us."
"Staying up late is bad for a maiden's skin, after all," Ayano chimed in, holding up a finger in a matter-of-fact way. "If there's any danger, I'm sure that our dependable junior will be able to take care of it without much trouble!"
Lanfen quietly warmed up her freezing, bare hands by breathing into her palms. The three of them were undeniably on a mission, and yet, the pair's attitudes gave the impression that they were on a mundane school trip. Bringing up her own wrist device to display a holographic map of Yamaku's outskirts, the van was now only a few kilometers from their destination. The energy signature's location was located somewhere within the forest, so the last stretch of distance would have to be carried out on foot once they had driven as close as they could. Withdrawing the holographic map back into her wrist device, Lanfen covered it up with the sleeve of her winter jacket and looked back at her seniors at the front.
Despite the task which the pair had been saddled with - along with the proverbial sword that Lanfen held over the heads of the other Wielders - Ayano and Godai were undeniably cordial to her. It was honestly strange to Lanfen. The Adaptor had expected them to be more uptight in their attempts to keep an eye on her for anything suspicious.
"Jiang," Ayano called her, flicking a small candy into her mouth with a satisfied hum. "Do you have any kind of music that you wanna listen to?"
Music. The very aspect which Lanfen's Symphogear wielded in order to channel its power. While she had no particular fixation for any specific genre, Lanfen's battles thus far gave her an answer to reply with. "Jazz," Lanfen slowly stated, still finding herself partially withdrawing from her two seniors. "Any type is fine."
Ayano softly nudged Godai in the arm and the van's driver promptly clicked on a few buttons that were built-into her steering wheel. The vehicle's stereo lit up with a few distinct rings, and a soothing jazz tune flowed out from its speakers, filling the cold air with the relaxing rhythms of a piano. Finding it to be similar to the same tunes which Lanfen would always play in her living room, the Adaptor slowly closed her eyes, and lightly tapped her foot on the van's floor to the beat of the track. She could hear the two at the front continue their playful banter while the three continued their careful drive through the snowy forests.
Lanfen did not track how much time had passed since Godai had switched on the stereo. While she still could not fall asleep, the jazz music that entered Lanfen's ears at least caused the stiffness in her shoulders to disappear. Every few minutes, Ayano and Godai would initiate a playful debate with one another about some mundane topic before the two would eventually come to some silly conclusion. None of their conversations could break Lanfen out of her meditative state. But when the van's computer terminal started blaring in front of her with an ear-piercing alarm, Lanfen's eyes shot open to see the large 'WARNING' signs which were flashing across its multiple screens.
"Enemies-?" Lanfen was cut off by the loud screeching of the van's halting wheels. Stifling a pained grunt, Lanfen almost bit off her own tongue as the vehicle's sudden stop nearly threw everyone out of their seats. Lanfen heard a loud curse from Godai at the front, and the Adaptor quickly undid her seatbelt to rush towards the head of the van where Ayano was groaning from a mild bump on her head. Lanfen was about to ask if both of them were alright when a deafening thunderclap roared in the skies up ahead. "That's..."
A 'crack' in reality. Without any warning beforehand, a large crack had manifested in the skies around the same vicinity as their planned destination. Ayano reached for her wrist device and tapped into her communicator. But in the process of contacting the S.O.N.G. submarine, Ayano's communicator displayed a prominent 'ERROR' sign with its signal. Godai and Lanfen mimicked her action, and received the same results when they had brought up the holographic interfaces of their built-in communicators. In just those few seconds, the giant crack in reality expanded into a glimmering, pulsing rift. The loud, inhuman wailing it emitted was muffled by the thick walls of their halted van.
"Oh, great," Godai muttered, climbing out of the driver's seat and squeezing past Lanfen to access the van's whining terminal. While Ayano desperately continued to try and contact the command center, Godai had dropped down onto the terminal's designated chair with her fingers on its keyboard. Lanfen went over to the green-haired woman's side as Godai inputted a few commands, bringing up the van's scanners. "We've got a couple Category-1s coming through the rift. Blade-Types. Damn things came out of nowhere and now- Wait-"
They both spotted another alert amidst the multiple warning signs of incoming Distortions. Godai ran her fingers through the terminal's keys, and a single sentence appeared on one of the larger screens, causing Lanfen to widen her eyes at the words: "Approximately one life sign detected."
A single civilian life sign.
In the same vicinity as the Distortions' predicted area of descent, no less.
Grasping tightly onto the red pendant that hung around her neck, Lanfen's body practically moved on its own as the Adaptor suddenly swung open the van's backdoors, and jumped onto the snow-covered, concrete road. She could hear Ayano and Godai calling for her to wait for further orders, but it was too late. Lanfen had already bolted off into the tree-line while her lips parted to draw the cold air into her lungs. The howling of the winter winds could do nothing to drown out the transformation chant which echoed throughout the snowy forest.
"Valtorah Damocles sen zizzl."
A crimson light enveloped Lanfen, covering her body with black-and-white fibers to the excited howling of trumpets and saxophones. Her armoured boots locked themselves shut as Lanfen sped through the forest floor. Dark gauntlets encased themselves around her arms, allowing Lanfen to bat away the tree branches in her path as though they were fragile twigs. The chess-piece pauldron on her right shoulder powered to life with a loud hum and the three-point crown on Lanfen's head glimmered like the stars in the night sky. The Adaptor could see her teammates attempting to contact Lanfen through her large headphones, but the black van had disappeared from eyesight mere seconds ago.
Stomping through snow that blanketed the floor, the thermal containment field of Lanfen's Symphogear retained her body heat in the face of the freezing weather. Through the gaps in the forest canopy, Lanfen was able to catch glimpses of the growing rift, giving her a strong indicator that she was sprinting in the direction of her arriving enemies. Unsurprisingly, the deeper the crowned warrior headed into the snowy forest, the stronger the twitching which plagued her sword-hand became.
Lanfen bolted out of the tree-line and skidded to a halt upon reaching a large, spacious forest clearing. As the pulsing rift sat high in the sky above the forest glade, Lanfen's purple eyes shot a contemptuous glare at the emerald knights who stood around the area with swords in hand, and backs that faced the crowned warrior. Lanfen drew her bladeless weapon from the armour on her hip. A screeching howl pierced the air, created by the thick blade which had sprung forth from the Sword of Damocles' golden cross-guard. It was only then did the Distortions finally turn around to notice the Symphogear-Wielder who was brandishing her Armed Gear with a deep scowl on her face.
But when Lanfen's enhanced vision caught a distinct shape up ahead, her glare suddenly disappeared. The light of the shattered moon above shone down on the clearing, illuminating a faint figure in the middle of the gathered Distortions. There - lying completely-still in the snow - was a person. The falling snow had covered them head-to-toe in a blanket of white as the emerald knights brandished their crude weapons and marched towards the crowned warrior. Lanfen's heart immediately started pounding against her ribcage.
"Not this time."
Electro-swing jazz blared from her Symphogear's speakers, chasing away the silence that permeated the forest glade. Apparently angered by the catchy rhythm of Lanfen's groovy tune, the Distortions charged at the Adaptor with swords raised high in the air. She counted between 12-to-15 enemies in her sights. With a casual flick of her wrist, the crowned warrior narrowed her eyes on a single, armed Distortion that had chosen to approach the person who was lying in the snow. The two-handed blade it wielded appeared large enough to cleave a small car in two.
"I'm not able to hear the girl I used to be. Will I ever touch those that I long for?" Lanfen stomped an armoured boot into the snowy ground and hurled her Armed Gear at the lone Distortion. The Sword of Damocles rocketed pass the approaching crowd, impaled her target in the chest, and pinned its disintegrating body to a nearby tree before it could even lift its blade for its intended execution. "I stare at those that I used to see. The monsters are begging for more."
Lanfen pounced on the first Distortion that managed to reach her. Clenching her twitching hands into fists, the crowned warrior slipped under its clumsy strike before punching her attacker's head clean off its shoulders with a loud clang. As the headless knight started breaking apart, Lanfen seized one of its arming swords, and thrusted the crude weapon straight into the neck-piece of another emerald knight. The colourful sand their bodies exploded into shimmered like emerald stars amidst a field of white snow.
"The cracking of my heart makes me scream. My tears have become an endless stream." Tumbling beneath another attack, Lanfen's armoured leg kicked her next assailant off its feet, leaving it open for Lanfen to jump above the Distortion, and flatten its head beneath the soles of her descending, weighty boot. The proverbial fires in Lanfen's eyes were hardly sated. "When will I be allowed a break from this world? The feelings deep in my heart are whirled."
Her left gauntlet split open, revealing the wired harpoon within it. Hearing the approach of more enemies, Lanfen aimed her forearm at her Armed Gear on the other side of the clearing and launched the harpoon past the rushing knights. The harpoon slammed into the pommel of her pinned sword and combined with its handle within seconds. Sensing the confirmation of the tethered weapon, Lanfen leaped into the sky with her retracting wire, avoiding the swings of ten blades while her right hand reclaimed the Sword of Damocles by its grip.
"Never knowing who is the true me inside. Allowing them to take me for a ride." Landing right in the middle of the gathered Distortions, Lanfen hurled her tethered weapon at her foes like a vicious, hungry snake. Her left gauntlet's wire wrapped and unwrapped itself around her body, perfectly controlled via a manipulation of its momentum as bodies were cut down left and right into exploding clouds of emerald sand. Category-1s were nothing more than dispensable fodder in her eyes. Mere chaff to quell her thirsting sword-hand. "Am I meant to break free from it all? The voices are begging for me to fall."
Seizing her tethered sword by the handle, Lanfen ripped the harpoon from its transforming pommel, and withdrew the wired weapon back into her gauntlet before turning around to the last Distortion in her sights. She tossed the Sword of Damocles into her left hand and tightened her other hand into a clenched fist. Black-and-white flashed before her eyes. Excited pianos accompanied a loud clicking from her right gauntlet while steel letters slammed onto a cracking chessboard in her vision to spell out the words, "Knight Knuckle."
The emerald knight lunged at Lanfen with a bastard sword that was twice the woman's height. Unfazed by its reckless charge, the gauntlet on her right forearm expanded with multiple, sliding layers of kinetic-absorbing armour. Its built-in harpoon retracted into the depths of her growing gauntlet, replaced by a thick block of explosives which stationed itself over the giant knuckle which encased Lanfen's clenched fist. As the Distortion's blade thrusted towards the crowned warrior's face, Lanfen felt a hand-held switch slide into the grasp of her enclosed hand.
The blade grazed past her cheek, cutting just deep enough to provoke a small shower of sparks. With a flicker of proverbial fires in her eyes, Lanfen's fist crashed itself into the Distortion's chest-plate, caving in its torso while emerald metal crumpled beneath her blow like tin foil. But Lanfen wasn't done just yet. Using her superhuman strength, Lanfen lifted the howling knight over her head, her giant forearm still embedded deep within its ruined chest-plate. The Distortion's sword slipped from its grasp and Lanfen's thumb caressed the button of the hand-held switch in her encased hand's grasp.
"I won't allow my mind to hold me captive long. Molding my darkest thoughts into this song."
Her thumb squeezed down on the switch. The explosive block stationed over her knuckles rang with confirmation. A subsequent, violent detonation blossomed over her fist like a giant sunflower and Lanfen's headphones shielded her hearing from a deafening roar that echoed throughout the snowy forest. As the thick cloud of smoke which shrouded the forest glade slowly dissipated, emerald sand fell upon Lanfen like a rain of emerald snowflakes. To her surprise, she heard an ear-piercing wail from the rift above her, and Lanfen gazed upwards to see that the giant tear in reality was already seconds away from vanishing without a trace. No reinforcements this time, it seemed.
The massive gauntlet on Lanfen's forearm quickly shrunk back into its regular shape with a cacophony of metallic clicking. Retracting the blade of her sword back into its cross-guard, Lanfen placed her weapon at her hip, and rushed over to the person who lied in the snow. Although Lanfen still kept her eyes open for any sign of lingering enemies, the crowned warrior wasted no time crouching down next to the snow-covered civilian before pressing two fingers against their neck to check for a pulse. Right as her hand made contact with the person's cold skin, her Symphogear's speakers automatically silenced themselves.
Beat
Letting out a hush sigh of relief, Lanfen's hands proceeded to carefully dust off the snow which covered the person's body. With each batch of white that Lanfen shoved away, the Adaptor was able to get a better look of just whom she had just saved. There were thankfully no signs of any external injuries, as far as Lanfen could see.
Pushing away the last bits of snow, the first thing that caught Lanfen's attention was the beige straight-jacket which the person was wearing. With the absence of the rift above their heads, the undisturbed moonlight shone down on the clearing, allowing Lanfen to see the youthful face of an unconscious woman with sickly-pale skin. If the crowned warrior's guess was right, this person couldn't have been older than Lanfen herself. Drawing in a slow breath at the sight of the woman's slumbering face, Lanfen gazed at the messy, silver hair which she possessed and blinked. It was not a colour she had ever seen before as the fringes of the woman's short hair concealed the entire right side of her face.
A weak groan suddenly slipped between the unconscious woman's lips. Lanfen wouldn't have heard it were it not for the silence that permeated the forest glade.
With the Distortions surely gone, Lanfen gently slid her armoured hands underneath the woman's body, and lifted her up in a bridal-carry to spare the silver-haired woman the pain of lying down in the freezing snow. Medical care was not Lanfen's forte, but she knew that she had to get this woman somewhere warm for now. "Are... Are you alright?" Lanfen tried to ask her, hoping she would respond. To the Adaptor's relief, her hush words seemed to actually rouse the silver-haired woman from her slumber as her eyelids slowly twitched.
A pair of golden eyes opened up and weakly stared right back at Lanfen's concerned gaze. Something within the pale woman's eyes seized Lanfen's attention, leaving her completely speechless for a few seconds. When Lanfen felt her voice return to her, the silver-haired woman slowly lifted a hand from her side, and began caressing the wound which was faintly bleeding on the crowned warrior's cut cheek. Her pale fingertips felt cold to Lanfen's brown skin as the pale woman's quivering lips let out a slow, visible breath alongside a stream of words that were too quiet for Lanfen to hear. Before Lanfen could even say anything, the woman's golden eyes subsequently closed themselves shut once again, even as her right hand continued to maintain a weak hold on the back of the Adaptor's neck.
"H-Hey!" Lanfen exclaimed, slowly growing concerned with the woman's physical condition. Taking in a deep breath, she looked around her surroundings in an attempt to remember the direction that led back to the black van. "Don't worry. I'll try and-"
"Jiaaaaaaang!" Ayano's voice called out to Lanfen from behind.
Spinning around with the unconscious woman in her gauntlet-covered arms, Lanfen spotted her senior running over to them in her winter jacket. Ayano was clearly gasping for air from the long distance which she needed to cover without the physical aid of a Symphogear. "Ayano." Lanfen went over the panting woman, effortlessly kicking away the snow in her path while the brunette caught her breath with her hands on her knees. "She needs our help. Could you request a medical pick-up from command?"
With one last gasp for air, Ayano dramatically placed her hands on her waist, and wordlessly processed the sight of the silver-haired woman whom Lanfen effortlessly held in a bridal-carry. The Adaptor had to wonder what was going on in Ayano's mind as the situation provoked nothing more than a curious, cat-like grin and a slow sigh from her senior. "Sure, sure. But please, don't run off like that again," she gently chided Lanfen, bringing up her wrist device to notice that her communicator was working again. "Since you're a part of S.O.N.G. now, you can't go around transforming willy-nilly, alright?"
"I-" Lanfen tightened her lips. "Right. Sorry about that, Ayano," she muttered, casting her gaze downwards after realizing the recklessness of her actions just now.
"Since the submarine's still in Japan, calling over a 'copter should only take about ten minu-" Ayano was cut off by the ringing of an audio transmission which her wrist device had just received. Quickly noticing that it was from Godai, Ayano tapped on the holographic prompt and answered the call, "Yuki? What's wrong?"
"I think I've found the source of the unidentified energy signature from earlier, Komi'. I'm sending you my location, 'cause you both might wanna take a look at this."
Withdrawing the holographic display back into her wrist device, Ayano and Lanfen nodded at one another before they headed off in the direction of Godai's location. Following the holographic coordinates that their teammate provided, Lanfen made sure that the silver-haired woman was resting comfortably in her arms as they went back into the forest tree-line. After several minutes of walking past tall trees and trudging through thick carpets of snow, Ayano and Lanfen arrived at a scene which neither of them had expected to see.
Lying down on its side next to a large, toppled tree was a metal, car-sized cylinder that could only be described as a 'pod'. Its door hatch was left open, revealing the small cushions which covered the pod's interior while smoke billowed from several cracks and tears on its metallic exterior. Godai was standing next to the pod with her wrist device held up to access its built-in camera. The tall woman made sure to take a generous amount of snapshots of the strange pod from every possible angle. Once she was satisfied with the images she had taken, Godai looked over to her arriving teammates and whistled at the unconscious woman in Lanfen's arms.
"If my gut feeling is right, that lady there was the one who was sleepin' in this thing," Godai commented, lightly rapping her gloved knuckles on the pod before walking over to Ayano and Lanfen. "Does this thing ring a few bells, Komi'?"
Ayano quickly left Lanfen's side to approach the pod and gaze at the markings which were engraved into its metal exterior. While the Symphogear-Wielder could not recognize the strange hieroglyphs that adorned its surface, her senior identified within mere seconds. "It's definitely something that belonged to the Bavarian Illuminati," Ayano stated, circling around the pod with a hand held to her chin. "If I'm remembering the reports correctly, this is a hibernation device. It's been a long time since we've confiscated another one of these things."
'Bavarian Illuminati'. The name of an elusive shadow organization that Lanfen had read about in S.O.N.G.'s database. Glancing down at the silver-haired woman who rested in her hands, the straight-jacket she was wearing earned her a concerned look from Lanfen. The woman's breathing was gentle despite the state that Lanfen found her in. But the Adaptor contemplated what would have happened to this woman had Lanfen arrived seconds later than she actually did. When Lanfen remembered the sensation of the woman's fingertips brushing against her wounded cheek, she felt her chest tighten ever so slightly.
"Whatever it's doing here, it must've attracted the Distortions." Godai leaned against one of the snow-covered trees with her arms resting behind her head. "You might wanna call in a team to pick this up alongside us, Komi'. If it's one thing that's for sure, we ain't heading back to the apartment anytime soon tonight."
With an overly-dramatic pout, Ayano stepped away from the smoking pod and brought up her wrist device. She tapped into her communicator and ringed up the submarine's command center with a report on the situation, and an extraction request for the team, the pod, and the woman they had found alongside it. Tomosato could be heard confirming her requests as Ayano started walking off in the direction of the van. Meanwhile, Godai approached Lanfen and playfully bumped the Adaptor in the shoulder with her fist. The smirk that the tall woman had on her face was one which was seemingly aimed at both Lanfen and the silver-haired woman who rested in her arms.
"Just leave the logistical stuff to us, Jiang," Godai said to her while casually scratching the back of her neck. "Oh, and since you're the one that found her, you're carrying that lady till we can put her down somewhere comfortable to rest up on."
Sharply nodding at her playful words, Lanfen followed her two seniors from behind as they all headed back in the direction of their parked vehicle. White snow loudly crunched beneath the weight of their feet, and although conversation was sparse due to Ayano and Godai being preoccupied with their communicators, Lanfen found it impossible to fixate her attention on anyone other than the unconscious woman she carried in her armoured hands. At some point, the slumbering woman had subtly rested her head on the Adaptor's chest, to which Lanfen could only wordlessly look at her in response. It was difficult to ignore the pale woman's frail, almost malnourished appearance.
The S.O.N.G. helicopters arrived on the scene faster than either of the women had expected. As soon as the area was secured by S.O.N.G. personnel, Team-04 and the woman they had discovered were escorted into a helicopter with medical equipment that had been readied for the care of their mysterious individual. The pod she was presumably resting in was also secured within the hatch of a large air carrier that had been requested by S.O.N.G. With the silver-haired woman now out of Lanfen's hands, the ride to the underwater vessel went on in silence as the team rested up within the crowded interior of the moving helicopter.
When the aircraft's landing skids finally touched down in the vessel's landing bay, the silver-haired woman was immediately handed over to a waiting medical team led by Professor Elfnein. The unconscious woman's vitals were perfectly stable, so there was little urgency when the medical team took her in to escort her to the vessel's med-bay. If anything, a smaller team of scientists who accompanied the Professor appeared far more interested with the Illuminati pod which had been slowly brought out onto the landing bay. Meanwhile, the members of Team-04 were called up to the vessel's bridge by the Commander to assess the situation. Judging by the chatter of the personnel they passed by in the halls, all of the other Adaptors had already departed the S.O.N.G. submarine hours ago.
The bridge's large double-doors slid open, and Lanfen marched into the command center with Ayano and Godai at her sides. The three halted in front of the Commander's post and stood to attention. Their civilian clothing made them look particularly out of place among the uniformed personnel as Lanfen formally announced their presence with a fresh bandage on her injured cheek. "Symphogear Team-04, reporting."
Holding a small data-pad in his hand, Commander Genjuuro got up from his post and waved off the formalities. "At ease, you three. I've just finished reading the report on the situation in Yamaku's outskirts. Good work in taking care of the Distortions." He looked over to Lanfen in particular and stroked his red goatee in thought. "You may have acted rashly, but combat situations admittedly call for such measures sometimes. Still, I'd advise you to not leave your teammates alone like that again whenever an urgent situation arrives."
Lanfen gulped and lowered her head to give a small, apologetic bow. "Understood, Commander."
Ayano gave the Symphogear-Wielder a playful pat on the back before she redirected her attention to Commander Genjuuro. "Have we found out anything about our mystery maiden yet?"
The Commander answered her question by glancing over to his closest bridge operators. "Fujitaka, bring up her medical reports." In accordance with his order, multiple files and images regarding the silver-haired woman were displayed across the bridge's three large monitor screens. "To start things off, our science team is quite impressed with your recent discovery." He pointed to a snapshot which Godai took of the damaged pod. "Judging by our records, Komichi was correct in pinpointing its Illuminati origins. There's no doubt that it's the same type of hibernation pod which the Illuminati once used to transport their personnel in recent times."
Godai whistled in amazement. "The Illuminati's toys really get around, huh?" Her comment earned her an unamused stare from both Lanfen and Ayano, making her pipe down in an instant. "Just sayin'."
Subtly clicking her tongue at the tall woman at her side, Lanfen spoke to the Commander with a question on her tongue. "And what about the woman herself?"
Several additional images were digitized onto the screens. This time, the photographs displayed snapshots of three individuals who Lanfen faintly recognized. The first person was an adult woman with brown skin and prominent cybernetic attachments. The second was a teenaged girl with bright, pink hair and a pair of dog-like ears. The third was that of a woman with dark-blue hair which was adorned with a white bow and a prominent streak of red hair. 'Noble Red', Lanfen remembered. They were the ones who had carried out the infamous massacre during the Kazanari concert almost five years ago. Lanfen had considered herself blessed at the time that neither her little sister nor herself were there when the incident occurred.
"We've checked our database and have matched her straight-jacket with the same ones that were utilized by the Illuminati," Commander Genjuuro continued, placing his data-pad down on his terminal to cross his large arms over his chest. His tone quickly took a dour turn. "Our science team have also discovered data-files within the pod. From what they've managed to decrypt, the files describe the woman as... 'discarded equipment'. No ID. No records of her past. In short, we can only guess that she's an abandoned experiment of the Bavarian Illuminati."
The idea of humans being treated like 'equipment' - and all of its implications - left a disgusting taste within Lanfen's mouth. But what drew the Adaptor's ire the most was the thought that the woman had been cast aside by whoever that was responsible for her, essentially leaving her to die in that snowy forest. Merely pondering about it caused old memories to resurface within Lanfen's head as she gave her seniors a side-glance, and noticed that they were completely unsurprised by the Commander's words. Lanfen wondered what sort of things both Ayano and Godai had seen by now after being in this organization for longer than she has. It was roughly only 12 hours ago when Lanfen signed that recruiting document.
Tomosato turned around in her chair and addressed the redheaded man, "Commander, we've just received new intel from Professor Elfnein. I'm bringing it up on the screen." After receiving a confirmation from the Commander, Tomosato inputted a command into her terminal, showcasing the results of an MRI scan on the bridge's central monitor screen. What immediately drew their attention was the clear image of a metallic device which was attached to the upper regions of their subject's heart.
"What... is that?" Lanfen inquired, gazing at the screen with a perturbed expression.
"Professor Elfnein states that some sort of device had been surgically implanted within the subject's internal organs," Tomosato answered, reading out a report which was visible on her terminal. "We are currently unable to determine the implant's purpose, but judging by the Professor's observations, there is no discernible way of removing it without causing permanent damage to the subject's cardiovascular system. There are no signs of energy emissions from the implant, and we are unable to identify the type of metal that's been used to form it. In addition to that-" Tomosato paused for a second, clearly unnerved by what she was reading. "The subject's cells appear to be aging at an uncontrolled rate. We're unsure what is causing this, but Professor Elfnein is already preparing medication in an attempt to stabilize it."
Ayano muttered a few quiet words of concern while Godai shook her head and scoffed, "Sounds like the Illuminati, alright. Always fucking around with their messed-up lab experiments."
The metallic implant in question was roughly designed in the shape of a stylized club symbol. The same club symbol which one would find in a deck of playing cards. Approximately measured to be a few centimeters in diameter, Lanfen could not gaze at the implant with anything other than restrained horror. She closed her eyes, and the memory of that woman's weakened stare replayed itself in her mind. When Lanfen had lifted that silver-haired woman up from the freezing snow, it was as though time had suddenly stopped itself for that brief moment.
Commander Genjuuro looked at the results of the MRI scan and told the operator, "Give the Professor our thanks, Tomosato. Have our research teams learned of anything else?"
Hearing his question, Fujitaka turned around in his chair with a report of his own. "Affirmative, Commander. We've just received word from the medical team," he said with a hand on top of his terminal's digital keyboard. "The subject has already regained consciousness and is capable of communication. Aside from her unknown implant and her apparent medical condition, the subject appears to be perfectly healthy."
Evidently surprised by how fast their patient had woken up, the Commander turned around and ran his gaze over the three waiting members of Team-04. "Normally I'd ask Ogawa or Tsuchiya to accompany me, but neither of them are available at the moment," he said with a hand on his goatee. "So, would you three like to join me in meeting with our patient?"
Lanfen answered first with a sharp nod. "If that is alright, Commander."
"We've got to make sure that our mystery maiden is doing fine, after all," Ayano cheerfully added.
"Try not to bore her, Komi'," Godai told the brunette. "The last thing we need is her falling asleep from another one of your little love stories." Her sarcastic remark earned her a playful, childlike pout from Ayano as Lanfen quietly sighed to herself between the two.
With the group's decision now made, the Commander declared his departure from the bridge to his operators, and ordered them to relax for the meantime before he went over towards the entrance. Ayano let out another long, unshielded yawn and Godai chided the woman about getting more sleep next time. Following the two from behind as they walked behind the Commander, Lanfen barely paid any attention to her teammates while they exited the command center. Before the bridge's double-doors closed themselves shut behind her, Lanfen halted in her footsteps, looked over her shoulder, and gazed at the images on the monitor screens with narrowed eyes.
"'Discarded equipment', huh?" Lanfen bitterly whispered to herself, digging her fingernails into the palms of her bare hands.
The distinct smell of antiseptics permeated the atmosphere of the submarine's medical-bay. After accompanying the Commander through multiple long corridors, the group was escorted into the patient's room by a member of the vessel's nursing crew. The room looked just like what one would expect from a medical room. It contained a reclining bed, a bedside drawer, and an array of medical equipment which Lanfen would never dare attempt to operate. The lights of the ceiling kept the room brightly-lit as the sliding door closed behind the arriving group. Sitting upright in her bed was the silver-haired woman, her one visible eye gazing around her surroundings with a glimmer of fascination.
"Would it be alright if you could spare us your time?" Commander Genjuuro kindly asked her with arms crossed over his chest.
It was only after she heard him addressing her did the silver-haired woman finally glance over to them. Currently dressed in a patient's garb with a blanket that covered her lower body, it was as if the woman had not even noticed the group's arrival up until now. The woman first assessed them with her golden eye before politely replying in a soft-spoken voice, "That would be quite fine, yes." She ran her hand through her silver hair as her fringes continued to hide the entire right side of her face.
The Commander stepped over to a small computer terminal located next to the room's entrance and inputted a sequence of button presses. Within seconds, several small chairs were deployed along the wall in front of their patient's bed, allowing the group to sit down and make themselves comfortable. Lanfen and her two teammates kept quiet for now while the Commander sat down in a chair which was far too small for him and continued talking. Lanfen noted that he was speaking in the same tone as when he had first met with the greenhorn Adaptor herself days ago.
"My name is Kazanari Genjuuro, Tactical Commander of S.O.N.G.," he carefully explained before gesturing over to the three who accompanied him. "This is Cassandra Jiang Lanfen, Ayano Komichi, and Godai Yuki. Members of Symphogear Team-04." The Commander's words seemed to initially confuse the woman, but she listened on anyway with a genuine expression of curiosity. "As members of S.O.N.G., our duty is to deal with paranormal forces that threaten the world, all while ensuring the protection of its civilians. Roughly an hour ago, these women had rescued you within the forests of Japan. I've been told that you were under attack before they came to your aid."
The silver-haired woman suddenly grasped the side of her head and a short wince of pain escaped her. The group grew concerned for her until she quickly waved off their obvious worries with an embarrassed smile. "M-My apologies for that. Ahem." Coughing into her fist, the woman ran her gaze over the group in front of her, and cupped her pale cheek with one hand. She appeared to be taking in her situation rather easily. "So, would it be correct of me to describe you as the guardians of this world?"
The Commander responded to her flowery words with an amused smile and a subsequent nod. Sitting next to him, Ayano chuckled at the woman's dramatic description while Godai made an off-handed comment about her princess-esque speech. It wasn't an incorrect way to describe it, Lanfen thought. For all the things they had learned of her earlier, the silver-haired woman spoke in a perfectly pleasant manner as they conversed with one another.
With a hand still cupping her cheek, the woman eyed the group in front of her again with her one visible eye, obviously fascinated by the individuals who had rescued her from danger. When her golden eye landed on Lanfen once more, the Adaptor felt the woman's gaze light up with recognition this time. "It's you," she whispered, grasping the sheets of her bed with her pale hands. "You were the one who saved me, weren't you? The singing warrior in the monochrome armour?"
Caught off-guard by her statement, Lanfen had honestly expected her to forget what even happened in that forest glade. Scratching her bandaged cheek with one finger, Lanfen shoved her hands within the pockets of her winter jacket as everyone's attention suddenly fell on her. "There was nothing else I could've done in that situation," Lanfen insisted, remembering the haste at which she moved to race towards the woman's location. "I-" She felt a small nudge in the arm from Ayano beside her, and glanced at the brunette to see an expression which essentially screamed 'go along with it'. Lanfen hesitantly changed her tune to a question. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Aside from a minor headache? I would say so." The silver-haired woman nodded. She then depreciated her gaze to the palms of her hands with a look of growing confusion. "While you all have my gratitude for saving my life... I'm afraid that I'm finding it to be quite difficult to try and... introduce myself." She grabbed the side of her head with one hand and the woman let out a frustrated sigh. "It appears that I'm unable to remember anything about who... I... really am. I'm trying my best, but-"
Commander Genjuuro shared a concerned look with the members of Team-04 and asked the woman, "Do you remember anything about how you arrived in that forest?"
The pale woman let her hands fall to her sides and sadly shook her head. "All I can remember is... running... and climbing into some sort of pod. I- Forgive me." She clasped her hands together, clearly doing whatever she could to scrounge up any sort of memory she possessed. In the process of doing so, Lanfen noticed a small teardrop which was forming in the corner of her golden eye.
Pursing her lips, Lanfen's hands tightly grasped her knees before she got up from her chair and approached one of the room's shelves. The Adaptor went through multiple boxes of equipment and medical supplies before she finally pulled out a small box of tissues from the lower shelves. "Here." Lanfen opened it up and placed it on the bedside drawer. She had grown tired of her own tears over the past few days, so she did not wish to see someone else going through the same process. "You don't need to apologize for your troubles. Especially when it's not something that's in your control to begin with."
"... Thank you." Taken aback by her sudden gesture, the silver-haired woman took out a few tissues while Lanfen stepped back towards her chair and quietly sat down between her two teammates. The red crystal pendant around her neck and the toy keychain that hung out from the phone in her pocket softly jingled in unison as Lanfen tightened the scarf around her neck. Quietly, the silver-haired woman sighed to herself and placed her balled-up tissues next to the opened box. "Is there-"
The room door slid open, and Professor Elfnein announced her presence with a tray of hot drinks in her hands. "Tomosato prepared these, so I thought I'd deliver them," the teenager explained, walking up to their patient before placing down her tray on the bedside drawer. Receiving a few thanks from the group, the tense air slowly eased up as Professor Elfnein first handed a drink to the silver-haired woman. The Commander was next, followed by Lanfen, Godai, and Ayano. With her own distinct mug in her hand, the Professor approached the Commander's side and whispered to him, "I've attempted to examine her memories earlier using my equipment. But in the end, I was unable to find anything. She truly possesses no memory of who she is, and thus far, our teams are unable to find any public records which match her physical description."
Even with the Professor's hush voice, Lanfen noticed the silver-haired woman visibly tightening her grasp on the mug in her hands. Ayano was quick to chime in. "Well, even if we're running into a bit of trouble for now, I'm sure we'll be able to solve this mess in no time." The brunette held up her mug of hot cocoa with a happy smile. "That's what S.O.N.G. does best, after all! Right?" Accompanying her high spirits was Godai, who also held up her own mug with a confident smirk. Lanfen chose not to do the same, but she appreciated the woman's attempts at lightening the atmosphere regardless.
Sipping his gigantic mug with a grunt of approval at its taste, the Commander looked back at their patient and carefully asked her, "Are you experiencing any painful sensations whatsoever? We're quite concerned with the implant that's attached to your heart."
The silver-haired woman pressed the tips of her fingers against her chest with a curious tilt of her head. "No, thankfully," she answered before glancing at the contents of her mug. "I'm... not sure why I even have this implant within me to begin with. Although, I'm certain that was obviously the case by now. Forgive me."
"It's alright," Genjuuro assured her, getting up from his chair with his drink in his hand. "For now, just try and rest up. You can leave solving the situation to us. If you need anything, don't be afraid to use the room's communicator to ring us up." The Commander's actions prompted Lanfen and her two teammates to also get up from their seats. "Professor Elfnein," he addressed the blonde teenager with streaks of green in her hair. "We're counting on you as always to help this woman out." Emphasizing his words with a quick raise of his mug, the Professor responded to him with a small nod of confidence.
Placing her mug down on the drawer next to her bed, the silver-haired woman looked at the group around her bed and held an open hand to her chest. "Thank you... all of you," she softly told them. "I hope that my troubles won't inconvenience you all too much. If I'm required to fulfill anything, you may rely on me to do so."
Ayano smiled at her before flashing her a peace sign with both of her hands. The purpose of the gesture appeared to fly over the silver-haired woman's head, strangely enough. "Don't worry about it! Just take your time catching your breath. It must've been terrible lying down in that forest all by yourself, after all!"
Seeing a quick thumbs-up from Godai and a small nod of agreement from Lanfen, the woman took in a breath to relax herself and brought her hot drink into her hands again. Slowly, the silver-haired woman brought the mug to her lips, and when she finally took a sip of its hot cocoa, her one visible eye widened with obvious amazement at its taste. Lanfen wondered if this was the first time she's ever had cocoa in her life.
Now that their meeting with their patient was over, the Commander headed out of the room and continued a small conversation with the Professor at his side. Ayano and Godai followed them from behind, while Lanfen was the last to head out of the room. As the Adaptor stepped through the doorway, she noticed the pleasant smile that the silver-haired woman was giving her alongside a small wave of her hand. Much to Lanfen's surprise, she was able to return the gesture in kind with a brief smile of her own. There was a hint of sadness which Lanfen could sense behind the silver-haired woman's gentle expression.
A sadness that was buried beneath a façade which Lanfen herself found to be all too familiar.
With the absence of any ongoing operations, the members of Team-04 were told to relax within the commons lounge of the underwater vessel. Commander Genjuuro himself had joined them as he took this opportunity to step behind the bar counter, and treat the women to a custom drink recipe that he had apparently been working on over the past few months. While Ayano and Lanfen sat down at the bar counter with their elbows on the hard marble, Godai went up to the lounge's dart-boards with a couple dart missiles in her hands. To the Adaptor's amazement, Godai's throws zipped through the air, directly landing in the center of her target even when she kept her eyes completely shut.
The Commander opened up the cupboards behind him and placed down four empty glasses on the bar counter. He made sure to wipe them clean with a towel before continuing a conversation regarding their silver-haired patient. "Truth be told, this isn't the first time we've brought someone like her into S.O.N.G.; Professor Elfnein herself didn't exactly arrive on our doorstep through mundane circumstances either." He picked up a blender near his leg and took out a strainer from a nearby drawer. "Still, that implant within her chest has my concerns."
Three dart missiles rocketed towards another board with a single fling of Godai's hand. One-by-one, the small darts landed side-by-side, perfectly crowding up the dart-board's center. "You think we can just have her stay here to keep her safe?" Now that three out of the five available dart-boards had their centers occupied by a swarm of darts, Godai rested her arms behind her head and glanced over to the Commander. "This place does have everything you'd need to help her recover."
Ayano spun around on her bar seat and promptly wagged her finger with a groan. "The U.N. isn't going to let someone like her stay here so easily, Yuki." The brunette kicked the air with her feet, obviously harbouring her own annoyance for the governmental powers which S.O.N.G. operated under. "We're still treading on thin ice after what the Distortions did. Because of that, there's no way we'd be able to let her remain here without the council eventually sticking their noses in our business."
Hearing an exasperated response from the tall woman, Lanfen simply observed the Commander as he delicately poured out a mixture of fruit juice into the glasses he had prepared. She could only describe it as a rainbow that had taken a thick, liquid form. To top it all off, Commander Genjuuro decorated each glass with a bright-red umbrella which had the words 'Kazanari' written on them. "Thanks," Lanfen told him when he smoothly slid a glass in front of her. Taking her hands out of her pockets, Lanfen quickly noticed the contemplative look which the large man had on his face. "Is there something wrong, Commander?"
The Commander leaned his body against the bar counter and tapped a finger on the marble before he calmly addressed the three women, "Lanfen, Komichi, Yuki, what would you all say if I chose to assign that woman underneath your care?" Sliding a glass over to the brunette beside Lanfen, he glanced at both Ayano and Godai. "Since you two are already monitoring Lanfen, adding an additional person for you two to watch over should be within my influence. My only concern is whether or not you're all willing to bear the responsibility for the safety of that woman."
Remembering the look that woman gave Lanfen when they had left her room, the Adaptor pulled out her red pendant from underneath her black-and-white scarf. She held a crimson crystal between two fingers and slowly narrowed her eyes. It somehow felt heavier than when she had first received it several nights ago. "... When I took up my duty as a Wielder, I had to accept the possibility of bearing weights far greater than anything I could imagine, Commander." Lanfen released her pendant, letting it fall back onto her chest with a soft jingle. "Besides, I've already promised that I wouldn't have second-thoughts about the orders I'm given."
The Commander slowly nodded at her words, seemingly noting the conversation they had earlier over her communicator. "I'm aware, Lanfen." He looked back at her two teammates again. "And what about the two of you?"
After completely filling up the center of the lounge's fifth and final dart-board with a crowd of dart missiles, Godai strolled over to the counter and dropped herself onto a seat next to Ayano. She gave an impressed whistle at the glass which had been reserved for her before confidently replying, "An amnesiac gal shouldn't be too hard for us to handle, Big Boss. We've done a lot worse than this, so this should be a walk in the park. Right, Komi'?"
Ayano happily agreed with her companion and nodded at their Commander. "It definitely sounds like a good idea to me. I'm sure she'd appreciate staying with people whom she's familiar with until her memory comes back. It's a lot better than resting up all by herself in some sterile med-bay, too." Clasping her hands together, the brunette's eyes suddenly lit up as a proverbial lightbulb practically shone above her head. "Oh, if she's staying with us, then we'd have to get her some nice clothes! Exactly my field of expertise!"
While Ayano started nudging Godai for a few ideas on where they should start shopping later, Lanfen saw the satisfied smile which the Commander was giving them. In one swift motion, Commander Genjuuro chugged down his own drink before placing the emptied glass within the counter's sink. He promptly dusted his hands and stepped away from the bar counter. "If that's the case, I'll be heading off to assign her to your team now. Creating the necessary documents for her should only take a few moments once I've contacted Clan Hida." He stopped at the entrance of the lounge and turned back to the members of Team-04. "I'm counting on you three to take care of her."
Ayano hopped off her chair and responded with a dramatic salute. "You can leave it to us!" Behind her, Godai got off her own seat and did the same. Lanfen hesitantly followed them, purely just to follow protocol now that the Commander was taking his leave from the room.
The large man nodded in approval at the three women and headed out of the lounge without another word. Unlike the Commander, Team-04 essentially had nothing else to do for the rest of the night but enjoy their time-off. Lanfen was ready to spring into action at the first sign of approaching Distortions, but that did not stop her from bringing a glass of colourful juice to her cracking lips. She downed the entire thing in one go, just like the Commander himself, and placed the emptied glass on the counter before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. As expected, she still couldn't taste anything. Still, Lanfen was relieved that her stomach had yet to riot against her for skipping dinner.
Lanfen felt someone's gaze fall upon her. Slowly, the Adaptor looked over her shoulder and noticed the curious stare which Godai was giving her. While Ayano had sat back down to play with her smartphone, Godai remained standing as she held up her glass in one hand and raised an eyebrow.
"So, what made you rush out into action like that?" Godai's question made Lanfen visibly flinch in her seat.
Subtly perking her ears at her companion's curiosity, Ayano herself quickly pocketed her smartphone before looking over at their junior with a finger on her lip. "Now that you mention it, that was pretty sudden of Jiang, wasn't it?" she wondered out loud. "While the Commander had a point about taking the initiative sometimes, I honestly didn't expect you to go out and charge into danger like that."
Lanfen's sword-hand twitched at her side as she sat beneath the inquisitive stares of her teammates. When she opened her mouth to speak, the Adaptor's answer was calm and straight to the point. "... I couldn't stand by and wait when someone could've been hurt. So, I moved. I didn't need to think." There was no point in being dishonest with them. Especially when Lanfen had placed them in potential danger by abandoning them like she did. "The last time-" Lanfen slowly redirected her gaze back at the marble counter. Her throat suddenly felt dry. "The last time I hesitated... my sister..."
Ayano and Godai withdrew their curiosity as soon as they heard those hush words. Noticing the subtle scowl that was growing on Lanfen's face, Ayano quietly got off her bar seat, and gently wrapped her arms around the woman in a comforting hug. Unlike the one from earlier in the day, Lanfen could tell that she was handling her as though she was made out of delicate glass. "Am I being too forward?" Ayano asked, just to be sure.
The Adaptor opened her mouth to reply, but instead kept quiet and slowly shook her head.
Eventually, Ayano pulled herself away from Lanfen and sat back down in her seat. Now that Godai was finished with her own glass of juice, the tall woman placed her drink in the sink and let out a tired huff. "While I still think it was pretty reckless of you to charge in head-first like that, what you did helped out someone in the end. So, I guess it balances itself out." The tall woman strolled over to the Adaptor and playfully clapped her on the shoulder. "Try to be more careful next time, though. Can't operate as a team if you're constantly running off by yourself like that, if you catch my drift."
Subconsciously shrinking beneath the honest advice of her old school seniors, Lanfen quietly nodded at her words as the three continued lingering around the commons lounge. Godai headed back to the dart-boards to restart her game, and Ayano had taken out her smartphone again to make a list of clothes to buy. Meanwhile, Lanfen could only lay her head down on the cold, marble counter in an attempt to restore her energy. Just this morning, she had to process the thought of being recruited into the same organization which her parents once operated in. A few hours after that, the council proceeded to unveil the true purpose of the SG-r04. And now, they had discovered a silver-haired woman who possessed no memory of who she was.
Lanfen was by no means physically weak, but her body could only go so far before it was essentially operating on fumes.
Dragging herself off the bar counter with a click of her tongue, Lanfen stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket and slowly headed over to the lounge's entrance. "If you need me, I'll be in the barracks." Lanfen heard her teammates wishing her a good night, but she could barely register their voices. She could barely even hear the sound of the lounge's automatic door when it slid open for her. Holding back a tired yawn with one hand, Lanfen felt a sudden vibration on her wrist, and glanced at her communicator to see that it was ringing from a message.
In fact, the wrist devices on all three of the women's arms were now ringing in unison from a single text message.
Standing underneath the open doorway with one hand on her hip, Lanfen's device was the first one to project the arriving message. When the Adaptor narrowed her tired eyes on the forming hologram, she quickly skimmed through its paragraphs of text, quickly guessing that it had been personally written and sent out by Commander Genjuuro himself. Almost immediately, Ayano began cheering in her seat with brimming excitement, because the arriving message was a long, formal statement, announcing that as of today, Symphogear Team-04 will officially be operating in Japan with a fourth additional member under its care. A member who shall be referred to from here on out by the name of 'Shinonome Aiko'.
