"So, what do you want for sweets?" Trazyn asks while sitting in the children's area with little Monika.
"Chocolate!" Little Monika replied with a bright smile.
"What about rose cake?" Trazyn pulled some out of his dimensional pocket when other people weren't looking.
Little Monika stares at it, as if the rose cake is evil. But soon, when she tried some, her eyes sparkled with light. Soon she finished her first one, then the second. When she was about to take the third one, Minka showed up with a bag of materials while looking very annoyed about something.
"You alright?" Trazyn asks.
"I just got hit on by some guy. If I had power, I would have turned him into ashes, but I just smiled awkwardly and left. " Minka clenches her fist.
"I don't think you should. even if you had power. By the way, where is the guy?" Trazyn asks blankly.
"What are you going to do?" Minka narrowed her eyes.
"I figured I wanted a pariah or two." Trazyn said, while sounding very tempted.
"That is terrible. If mom heard about this, she would be really upset." Minka then glanced at little Monika.
"What is a pariah?" little Monika asks.
"Something you should've learned at school. Did you not learn about alien races yet?" Minka asks the question before Trazyn could make things worse.
"No… We were doing math in our last class. " Little Monika looks on the ground. She feels like Minka is scolding her.
Trazyn let out a sigh. "Minka..."
"In this world, if you do not know everything. Everyone will look down on you." Minka continued: "Ignorance is weakness. And those who are weak deserve to be stepped on."
"Minka!" Trazyn raised his voice, because he noticed that little Monika was seemingly about to cry. Seeing this, Trazyn couches down and gives little Monika a hug: "It's OK... She didn't mean it... Aunty Minka is just wanting you to be very excellent, that's all."
Minka is still looking very mad. Maybe she is also projecting herself into the words she has just said. Honestly, she feels bad about saying all of those things to little Monika. This is why she pulled out a box that had the limited edition rose cakes: "I am sorry... I was a bit annoyed by the guy earlier. "
"When I grow older, will people... hit on me?" Little Monika didn't understand the meaning of the words, but she remembered how to say them.
"Some people don't know how to control what they say, they lack basic manners or are poorly educated. They do not understand personal boundaries and how to behave in social settings. In short, they are not capable people. The environment in which they are raised also plays a huge role in how they will behave in the future. Like a tree without cutting some branches, they will grow wild and eventually collapse because of their failure to support their own weight. My answer to you is: Yes. Because those people always exist in society, and unless everyone is born and raised in a totally unified mold, then it is impossible to avoid them. Because diversity in our society is what makes us human. Otherwise... Minka glanced at Trazyn: "We are just machines."
"What do I do when they do that…?" Little Monika seemingly only understood the last parts.
"Teach them a lesson with force." Minka replied directly.
"Or, you can turn them into..." Before Trayzn could finish, Minka just cut him off, because that is just terrible.
"Depends on the people, but reasoning with those people is just a sign of weakness." Minka continued: "Whoever the person is, they do not have the right to disturb you under any circumstances. If they are interested, they may ask in a formal and diplomatic way and then act in a respectful way based on the answer from the other party. But like I said, it is too much to ask in this world. "
Little Monika blinks a few times, as if trying to understand what Minka had just said. This problem is way beyond the scope of the world that she knows. Trazyn did not interfere, because those problems did exist historically in Necrontyr's history, but when they all became machines. Well, biological limitation itself causes at least half of the social problems. But when everyone's the same and non-biological. Those problems are out the window.
"So, are we close to making that bullet?" Trazyn asks.
"Not even close." Minka slightly raised her voice, as if she was annoyed by Trazyn's questions. In fact, Minka had been in a bad mood ever since she lost her power. Trazyn is thinking about a way to help Minka get through this phase.
Little Monika could not read their minds, but the vibe was all over the air. She touches Minka's hand and pulls her towards a shop. Trazyn noticed that the shop seemingly has some strange signs on top of it, but what's the harm in looking around a bit more and letting off some steam.
"Welcome to the bazaar. Where we have some of the rarest items in this star sector." The owner welcomes these three: "What a lovely family you have here."
"Family?" Minka frowns, but then she realizes the composition of the group, and she suddenly has a blush on her face. She stomps her feet while walking towards the owner and puts her face close to the owner: "You made a mistake, and I am expecting a full apology."
"I am sorry, Miss. If I am mistaken about your... group. But if you want, I can start talking to you about some of our newest gadgets." The owner then takes out a catalog of items: "We have a few force projectors which can be used for keeping house pets in an area."
"You are trying to sell me military grade tools for the sake of housekeeping? What are you? I am an imperial officer and i can arrest you-"
Minka's sentence was cut off by the sudden grab from Trazyn on her arm: "It is enough, we are leaving." Trazyn, for once, lost his sassy tone. He is actually worried about what is on Minka's mind: "What has gotten into you?"
"What has gotten into me? What has gotten into you? I could not give a single f-"
"Watch your tone, young lady." Trazyn is frowning, which is something new for Minka: "Listen, I know you are sad that you lost all your power. But you cannot leash it out on everyone around you. You have to control yourself. You are acting like the very people you hate. "
"Control myself? I am very much in control. In fact, I am going to hit you so hard that you will lose your head!" Minka said it aloud.
"Please… Stop... Little Monika has tears in her eyes: "Please, don't fight..." This scene is not a good look for a child.
Seeing this, both of them dropped their act and apologized to little Monika. To be honest, both of them are a bit ashamed that they acted out in front of a kid. But then they managed to calm down after some really nice ice cream.
Eden was telling some stories that happened in their past to Monika, because apparently this younger version of herself is very curious about what will happen in her future. Which is something different from her. Eden always believes that she is the master of her destiny and, thus, she always dislikes any comment about her future from anyone.
"So, when did you become someone so much of an ass?" Monika has a smirk on her face.
"What in the world are you talking about? You think hating yourself is cool?" Eden did not back down from that claim.
"I am aware of who I am, but whatever you are with that pretentious 'Eden' name. How can people not hate you for this? Well, I have never liked any Eden I have met so far." Monika crosses her arms.
"You have only met two people who claim to be Eden, including me. You know what?" Eden scans around with a scanner and finds what she is looking for: "She is not far away; I will prove that you are wrong."
"Pfff. Whatever, I will see how much you can make up before you realize you were wrong on day one. " Monika let out a chuckle of disdain.
When they arrived at the projection, nothing was happening. Normally, the real Eden would show up and greet them elegantly, but this time there is just emptiness. Eden walked around and knocked on the machine for a bit. Nothing is responding.
"Well?" Monika looks at Eden in a condescending way: "Any more stories that you can tell?"
Suddenly, the projection device played a recording titled: Classified IVX file-2V
"My love, please, don't do this." Eden's voice came from one direction.
"Eden, I have to do this. We are so close to eternal life." The archivist's voice came out of another: "Just another planet, we can reach till the end."
"You said the same thing five planets ago, all of those people..." A sound of a pistol being drawn out of the holster appeared from the background: "I am so sorry..." The pistol was fired.
Then the recording was stopped because of technical issues. As Eden crouches down, she notices a trail of dust seemingly appearing on the ground. Suddenly, she parried her back with duel swords, but it was too late. A dagger had already stabbed into her stomach.
"Nice reaction." The archivist appeared from the shadows: "I will take your head now."
Monika stood before Eden: "Run, I will stall him."
"You can't, you are too weak." Eden quickly stapled her wound and left it to heal by itself: "We have to run now." Eden pulls out a few smoke bombs and throws them towards the archivist, but they all disintegrate in the air.
The archivist suddenly charges in with the speed of a race car and hits Monika directly on the side. After a cracking sound, Monika rolled on the floor for a good twenty meters. She doesn't seem to be responding after the hit. The archivist had a smirk on his face and said, "When will you two understand?"
Seeing this, Eden could not endure any longer. Today, it is either her or the archivist. A sword that is blazing with black flame has been unleashed. It quickly corrupted Eden's arm, and eventually an arm of hers was covered in the same flame. She is in excruciating pain, but it is nothing compared to what she will do to the Archivist. She concentrated her energy and swung her sword. At first, nothing is happening, but after a few seconds, a tsunami of magma covers the archivist.
"Interesting." The Archivist absorbed the heat energy with his gauntlet and released it towards Eden. The black sword of the iron curtain absorbed the energy again and held it up in the sword.
"Minka was right, you are beyond saving. I always thought you killing your wife was a metaphor or some kind of misunderstanding. But after seeing you…. I realize how naive I was." Eden's reaction is exactly the same as the simulation calculated from the pristine realm.
"You have no idea what I have been through to become what I am." The archivist reaches out his hand and a dome surrounds Eden. This is the killer move from Minka. An ability that would disintegrate beings from atom level. just when the deed is almost done. A black shadow came out of Eden's body and became a black lightning storm, hitting directly at the Archivist. He was forced to stop casting his ability because it somehow numbed his hand.
"Abyss monsters..." He mutters, "The dormant abyss queen has finally woken up." He cuts off his numbed arm, and in an instant, another arm has already been reconstructed. He is more than a biological being; he is a perfect mix between human and machine.
Just when Eden is about to go in again, Monika suddenly dashes in and pushes her away from the side of the museum. Both of them fell down the stairs and eventually got away from the battlefield.
Again, both of them lie on the ground, but this time Monika is spitting out blood from her mouth. That attack from the archivist is equivalent to getting hit by a highway truck. Eden got up and pulled out a few serums from her dimensional pocket: "Don't move, this will sting a bit." She injected some adrenaline and quick regeneration serum. It won't fix the wound right away, but at least it will stabilize Monika.
Then Eden carried Monika on her shoulder, and they proceeded deeper into the realm. Honestly, Eden felt like something had been lifted from her heart after the abyss queen's assault on the archivist. This is the least expected way for her to get rid of that thing inside of her.
Monika woke up, but her face was as pale as a dead person's. She can't even breathe properly because her lungs are probably injured. Eden pulls out a bottle of fruit juice and gives it to Monika, saying, "Don't talk, you are still healing." Eden honestly thinks Monika just saved her life: "Hey... I want to say,"
"Don't bother, I am still mad. Why am I the one who keeps correcting your mistakes?" She coughs. It sounds like something is ripping her heart out: "You should be the one that are wiser…"
Sorry... Eden looks down, as if she's a child that made a mistake.
"From the way you act, you don't deserve that power." Monika continued, but this time Eden did not stop her. Because she deserved every bit of the scolding. After about ten more minutes, Monika finally stopped because the meds popped in. She now feels a bit better: "We need to get the hell out of this place."
"Major mentioned that we can leave by slashing a reality rift. But I have no idea how to navigate through the chaos. " Eden said.
"Do you know anyone that knows how to navigate?" Monika asks, while speaking very slowly due to her lungs being still painful as hell.
"I have no idea..." Eden sits down on the ground, looking really depressed. She felt hopeless. If it's Trazyn, he definitely knows how to do it. Thinking about this, she couldn't help but start having tears come out of her eyes.
Monika didn't say more. She sat next to Eden and gently wrapped her arm around Eden's shoulder. Nothing could be done, and all they could do is just react to what happens next.
Trazyn is looking at little Monika in a suspicious way, because a few seconds ago little Monika told Trazyn that her parents are alive and well. But from what Monika told him, she lost her parents before the age of eight.
Minka wasn't suspicious of that, she was too focused on how to combine the materials and redesign the bullet blueprint due to her lack of ability. But then she flipped her marker on the table and covered her face with her hands: "This is too hard..."
Little Monika notices the frustrated look on Minka's face and gives her a small fruit candy. Minka grins and puts it in her mouth. Trazyn wants to get out of the words in his head: "Hey, can you tell me the school you went to?" I heard someone from the Vermilion family is there. "
"Vermilion? I don't know about that name. I also have never been to a school…" Little Monika has a sad expression on her face: "Mom taught me everything."
This news confirmed what Trazyn was thinking. This little Monika is not the same Monika that he knew. Which means, that was not a shrinking ray but an energy beam that allows material exchange. This can also explain why they have lost trace of this world's Monika. Everything is clear now.
"Minka, do you know if the archivist has a secret dimension?" Trazyn asks.
Minka glanced at Trazyn and dropped the work in her hand: "I do, but we need a reality crack to enter that place." She noticed that Trazyn might be on to something because she heard about the conversation between him and little Monika.
"Then it is settled. I will work on how to create a reality crack and then we will go find Monika." Trazyn finally has a direction.
Minka writes down a coordinate on a piece of paper: "Here, take this."
"Is this the coordinate to navigate?" Trazyn asks.
"Close, this is also the method of getting into the specific dimension. I have been there a few times, but I could never replicate the reality crack. "
"I think I can create a reality rift, but I will have to improvise when I get through." Trazyn starts working on the methodology for creating a reality rift.
"I will check with the supreme command for materials." Minka also has a direction to work on. Maybe they have a chance after all. After all, they need the bullet when they finally confront the archivist.
Minka arrives at the supreme command's front door, just when she's about to enter. Anton suddenly came out of the door: "Oh hey." Anton greets Minka while Minka is almost frozen again.
"Hey, hi. Good morning. I mean, good afternoon. " Minka almost forgot how to speak again: "How are you doing?" She nervously wiggles her body left and right.
"I was just reporting for your mission. What happened? I heard Captain Terra is missing. " Anton asks.
"Yes, Monika is missing." Then comes the awkward silence.
Seeing this, Anton has a rather understanding grin on his face: "What are you doing here?"
"I am here for some materials." Even this casual conversation is making Minka's heartbeat like a drum.
"Why don't I help you a bit? You must be new to this place. " Anton then opens the door for Minka and invites her in.
On their way to see the deputy director, Anton decides to ask Minka about something: "So... about the date..."
"I have time tonight." Minka immediately answered it.
"Great ! Do you have anywhere you have your mind on? " Anton asks.
"Anywhere is fine…" Minka timidly said.
"Huh." Anton paused to think for a few seconds before answering: "I know there is a parade in the city center. There is going to be singing and dancing. " But after seeing the uncomfortable look on Minka's face, he decided to add something else: "What we can do is reserve a place from the top of the tower, and we can dine there and enjoy the show from afar. Just the two of us."
"That would be great..." Minka is really looking forward to this date tonight.
They then arrived right outside of the office of Leonard Terra: "Good luck to you." Anton nods.
"Thanks." Minka nods back.
Minka lightly knocks on the door. Soon the other side replies: "Come in."
"Oh, you must be Minka. I have heard about your contribution to the last operation." Leonard politely smiled: "Please, have a seat."
"Deputy director. As you know, our operation of-" Suddenly, Lenoard cut off Minka's sentence.
"Commissar Anton. You can also come in. " Leonard has a strange grin on his face.
"Sorry, deputy director. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping. " Anton apologized.
"Please, continue." Leonard signs Minka to continue.
This is bad, Minka doesn't want Anton to know that she is here to merge the worldlines. She gave Leonard a cold glance then continued: "Our operation of securing the... asset has been on hold due to a third-party interruption. " Minka then slid over a small list: "This is everything that we need to secure the asset."
Leonard looked at the paper slip and took a deep breath: "The items that you are requesting... are somewhat difficult to acquire. However, I will get them to you if you…"He then glanced at Anton: "If you can accomplish a task for me with commissar Anton." He then gives the folder to Minka.
Minka read through the file and stood up: "No, I cannot bring him into this-" She forgot that Anton was also in this room. When she realized that, her face was turning peach red: "I mean, I can deal with this myself."
"Bring him with you, or it's a no deal." Leonard leans back and has a smile on his face that's screaming: Please punch me, i am right here.
When they got out, Anton had the face of a thousand questions: "So... what mission are we assigned to?"
"We..." Minka can't even open her mouth. But after taking a very long deep breath, she finally got the words out: "We need to kill a politician by... dressing as his 'toy girl'."
"Toy girl?" Anton is a bit confused, but after thinking with a little context: "Oh... so what should I do?"
"You will also..." Minka gulps: "Dress like one."
"Do I also need to dress like a girl?" Anton frowns.
"This man is into… variety of choices." Minka shyly explains: "But if you don't want to, i-"
"No, I definitely want to do this mission with you. I can't leave you to a weirdo, can I? " Anton has a confident smile on his face.
Minka's face is peach-red again: "So... about tonight." She diverted the conversation.
"Well, mission comes first. But I hope this won't ruin our mood." Anton replied while looking rather calm.
"That would be great." Minka grins happily.
Trazyn arrived at the front door of Lynine, she is his backup plan. He gently knocked on the door, and she came up looking really bothered by something: "You finally decided to enlist my help?"
"Yes." Trazyn noticed the unhappiness on Lynine's face: "Is something wrong?" He asks.
"I was getting pissed off over people playing video games. In this reality, they actually have games. " Lynine then took a long breath: "What can I do for you?"
"Do you know anything about reality rifts or cracks?"
"Yeah, but I am surprised that you don't know about it. I don't have a way to activate it. But I do know someone who has the weapon. " Lynine then gives him an address.
"Wait a minute... this is the Vermillion mansion." Trazyn immediately recognized the location: "But I haven't even met Noel at this time yet."
Lynine shrugs: "Well, that isn't my problem." Then she just shut the door.
Little Monika pulls Trazyn's jacket: "It is OK sir; we will find a way." Trazyn didn't even realize little Monika was with him the entire time.
He then looks at little Monika. He has a smile on his face.
Trazyn called Nova to find out the whereabouts of Noel's living areas in the army. Soon they arrived. Little Monika is very confused about this place. When she looks at Trazyn, he just simply puts his hand on little Monika's head and gently rubs it.
"So, you must be the pervert that has been peeking around." Noel's voice came from behind Trazyn: "And you also brought a child? This will not go unnoticed. " A gun safety sound clicks from behind him.
"Whoa." Trazyn puts his hand up: "I am sorry, but you must've gotten the wrong person. This.. Trazyn paused for a second, then continued: "This is my daughter. She always wanted to become an imperial guardswoman. "
"Huh..." Noel got really close to little Monika and stared her in the eyes.
"Is there a problem here... officer?" Trazyn is getting nervous.
"No, it's nothing. I like your daughter; she's really well versed in politeness. And... Noel thought about something: "Never mind. So, you want to be a guardswoman?" Noel has a warm smile on her face: "Do you want me to show you guys around?" She talks to little Monika.
"Absolutely." Trazyn couldn't be happier: "Honey, if you want, that is to let this beautiful officer show us around."
"Call me Noel. I am a lieutenant. " Noel was free this afternoon anyway. If it helps a little girl to fulfill her dream, well, now that's the opportunity of a lifetime.
Trazyn's goal is to manage a good foundation with Noel so he can ask about details about the weapon that could create a reality rift. But then he thought about going further... This plan is full of holes. How in the world is he able to talk about this subject so casually? Like, he can't just drop the words like 'Oh, do you know anything about a reality rift creating weapon' In a conversation regarding little Monika's hope and dream, which is also fake. He then let go of the thought, and in the worst-case scenario, this could be a learning opportunity about parenting.
Noel led them into the barracks and stopped at the wall of honor: "Those are the medals and honors that were achieved by our sector. As you can see. " She has a proud look on her face: "Our squad leads in the numbers."
Trazyn rolls up his eyes. Clearly, most of the work was done by Nova, but seeing the shining eyes of little Monika, he didn't poke through Noel's statement. She wasn't lying, but the way she delivered the message almost made her sound like it was Noel that did most of the work.
Noel also showed them the place where they dine and sleep. Suddenly, they encountered someone that Noel did not wish to meet: "Major, Nova!" Noel salutes while her entire body is tense.
Nova looks at Noel then glances at Trazyn at last little Monika. She doesn't know what these two are up to, but she has more work that needs to be done at the moment: "Hey." Nova pretends she's never met Trazyn before: "I hope you guys are enjoying the tour."
Noel froze for a whole ten seconds, Trazyn noticed this little change in her actions: "What happened?"
"I have never seen Major Nova smile or treat anyone nicely." She then looks at both of them: "What exactly are you two?"
"Why would she act mean in front of a child?" Trazyn is trying to divert the question.
"You'd know the things she would do. I respect her as a person but... for someone to achieve that height, I am afraid that she has discarded something." Noel then let out a sigh. She then leans on the wall while crossing her arms: "Now, what do you want from me?"
"Em." Trazyn pretends to not know what Noel is talking about.
"Your blood. is full of liquid metal, a kind that I have never seen before. You may look like a human, but you smell like a machine." Noel stares at Trazyn in an alarmed way: "But I can tell that you have been through something, so, what do you want?"
"Didn't you get your machine memory locked up or something?" Trazyn asks.
"I have known I am an android since the day I was created, and I have been hiding among human society ever since. What are you talking about?" Noel frowns.
"Never mind, we are looking for a weapon that can create a reality rift." Trazyn answered directly. It seems like there's no more point in hiding.
Noel thought about it for a few seconds: "I have never seen anything like that in my life. And even if I did, I certainly have no idea how to use it. "
"Your memory was disrupted for various reasons. At least that's what I know about you. I can fix it for you. " Trazyn approached, but Noel stood back.
"Do not come even near me if you dare to do anything to me. I will fight you. " Noel pulls out her pistol.
Little Monika is looking left and right. She has no idea what to do. Suddenly, a strange sound came out of her tummy, making both of them stop arguing and look at her. Little Monika's face is apple red, and she looks away while looking very nervously.
Trazyn let out a sigh and picked little Monika up: "Do you mind if we do this later? I'll take Monika to eat."
"Monika?" Noel frowns.
"Ah, I mean..." Trazyn realized his words slipped out, but seeing how things are going right now, he decided to admit what was happening: "Yes, this is Monika. Actually, this isn't the Monika you know of. She is somewhere that can only be reached with reality rift technologies. " He then let out a long sigh: "With her, my own Monika as well."
"Your own Monika….?" Noel suddenly realized something: "What kind of relationship do i have with her?..." Suddenly, she puts her hand on Trazyn's shoulder: "I will help you, Monika. But before that, let's go grab something for this little angel. " Noel is even happier to spend time with little Monika now.
The heroes of imperium, champions of the galaxy, strangely enough only existed in the reality where Minka came from. No one knows why or how because in theory there is an infinite amount of reality, strangely enough it was not the case for that specific one.
Eden and Monika walk alongside the road of a replica of the capital city. It is impressive that the archivist somehow preserved the entire city down there. Archivist, puppeteer, Eden, Major, Elysia, and Admiral. There are a few others, but they seem to be rather easily replaceable. It is strange that for some reason, Monika chose the name of Eden so easily. But thinking back, she has changed so much along the way, Monika is the name that defines that young lady who would try to solve everything by fighting through it. But Eden is the name of a hero. numerous times, because of Monika' sacrifice. They could have a chance to fight back or eventually come to an agreement with beings that's stronger than them. Maybe she did not realize it, but she had fitted for the name of Eden a long time ago.
While they are walking around, the city suddenly starts snowing. Strangely enough, they don't feel the cold or wind. As the snow gently fell on the top of their heads, Monika reached out her hand and let the snowflake stay on her hand. Because of her enhancement, her body temperature is rather low compared to normal humans. This is why the snow did not immediately melt upon touching her hand.
"I haven't seen snow in ages." Monika said, while looking rather happy.
"Same for me." Eden looks up to the 'sky'. It is just a pure void. There is nothing there, as if snow came out of nothing.
A snowball broke on Eden's forehead, causing snow to get all over her face and hair. While preparing another snowball, Monika has a really wide grin on her face: "You little..." Eden crouches down and soon gets her own snowball as well. They ran across streets and alleys to play with each other like children.
When they arrived under a statue, they stopped because there were a few fresh footprints on the street. From the depths of it, it seems pretty recent. Eden and Monika stopped playing and started sneaking to the other side of the statue.
"We are here gathered to remember the passing of our comrades." A voice came out of nowhere, and when Eden blinked again, she was already nowhere to be near the statue. Instead, she and Monika are inside a church looking place.
"They sacrificed their lives for the greater good of the imperium. For that, we should erect a hall in their names." The person speaking is Anton Thorn.
"We all know the reasons, but it should only be kept between us. We can't let the public know about the passing of two heroes because…" The puppeteer paused for a second: "Because of the sheer terrifying nature inlaid upon a man who is cursed."
"Nature ? No man alive would be as insane as this, and whoever is like him should be put down immediately, I can't believe that you people actually let my sister die!" Major slams her hat on the floor: "I quit!" Eden is very surprised because she has never seen Nova act remotely like this.
Everyone remained silent when they heard the church door close. They all seemingly let out a sigh: "This tragedy should've not happened." Minka clinched her fist: "If i was there, my mother would be alive."
"Minka…" Elysia comes over and pats Minka on the shoulder. This shouldn't have happened.
Then the door opened again, and someone wearing an admiral's uniform while dressed in a rather pale trench coat came in and put his hand on Eden's coffin. His hat hides his expression due to the light beaming down from the ceiling. He didn't say anything, just silently mourned the passing of the two brothers in arms. Eden recognizes him, he's the admiral, a legend among the heroes.
"This is what happened..." The admiral then turned towards Eden and Monika: "This is the end of everything."
"What in the world..." Monika stepped back out of reflex: "Are you not a hologram?"
The admiral did not reply, he walked towards both of them, Monika pulled out her weapon, but Eden put her hands at the back. If the Admiral is like what everyone says he is, then fighting would be futile.
The admiral then made contact with Eden, but instead of a collision. He walked past her like a ghost. Then he is lost in the blazing storm outside. At this very moment, the church starts to fade and then eventually disappears.
"Is he even real?" Monika, shocked, looked at what had just happened.
"He is. But just a psychic projection at this point. " Suddenly the Archivist's voice came from behind them: "Done having fun?" He tilts his head sideways while having a smirk on his face.
They can try to run again, but it will just satisfy the archivist's psychotic feeling of chasing his prey. But they also cannot defeat him.
"Look at your face, full of fear and rage. I have seen enough to know that they are all weaklings. Including you two." The archivist's voice is full of arrogance.
"Why haven't you killed us yet?" Eden asks.
"You two still have values, I will harvest your eggs before I am done with you. Like I did with hundreds of others." His eyes are glaring with viciousness.
"You monster!" Monika charges in with a sword, but it is easily swept away by the archivist. He then grabbed Monika by her chin: "You are quite a fighter. But you are just too weak to even compare to my Eden. " He then throws Monika on the ground and steps her on the face. He looks at Eden, who is seemingly very calm about all of this happening: "So, you are calling yourself Eden? Funny, the only reason she called herself by that name is because she didn't want to be recognized as the curse of the Terra family. "
Eden is furious about everything that is happening. She wants to charge in and rip his face off, but his instinct is telling her to stay put. Suddenly, a small pop up appeared in her eye implant: "Ms. Terra, I shall aid you if you wish to fight the archivist."
While the archivist is paraphrasing all the insults, he can possibly throw at these two, Eden is communicating with this stranger. Soon they worked out a plan—a plan that might buy them some time.
Eden suddenly collapses on the ground as if she has given up: "I can't do this anymore." She hits the ground.
"Given up already?" The Archivist left Monika alone on the ground and walked in front of Eden: "Pathetic, you are the worst Monika I have ever seen. To think I would even have thought you are the promising candidates. What a waste. " As the Archivist touched Eden, she suddenly disappeared. Instead, a pile of plasma grenades was left on the ground and exploded on the archivist.
The blast blew him off and bought them enough time to get away again. Eden carries Monika on her back and starts running: "Who are you?" Eden asks while running.
"I am Vegas, your personal assistant, created by Lo-"
"Where the hell were you before then?" Eden cuts him off; there is no time for re-introduction.
"Lord Trazyn assigned me to aid you when a impossible scenarios have deemed to be happening, which usually accompanies an increase in blood pressure and-"
"Yea yea, I know. Now where do we go? '' Eden cuts him off again, but inside she is very glad that even though Trazyn isn't with her, he is still somehow watching over her.
With the guidance of Vegas, they arrived at a library: "Why did you bring us here?" Eden asks.
"To find the knowledge that will help you open the portal." Vegas continues: "According to the computer system, this place has the back up of every book that has existed in this timeline. I will now commence the lock down sequence of this realm to stall. " Red light covers everywhere they see. Reinforced doors and walls are erected from the ground. They are now in a fortress: "I have also activated weapon systems that are able to target any being they see fit. However, you do not have a lot of time."
Monika got up; her wound is healing but the pain lingers: "Let's get searching then." She walks while limping and started to head into the deeper part of the library.
Seeing this, Eden feels like she needs to do something about it: "Vegas, can you directly reach inside of the database?"
"I cannot. I will need physical access, which is in the central control facility. It will be where the archivist is. " Vegas replied: "Do you wish to find a route to that area?"
Eden looks at Monika, who is walking further into the library. She lightly clenches her fist and starts walking away: "Yes, show me the way, and seal every single entrance after i am gone. We can't let the archivist find a way to this place."
"Understood."