"And that's what we've managed to gather so far when it comes to the situation happening in Proper Human History. Got the gist of it?"

It took a lot of effort but the team back at Chaldea finally managed to make contact with the field team. The latter relayed what they'd encountered and discovered in their mission.

"Yes. And unfortunately, the situation is far more dire than we could have ever imagined…"

"You don't say?" Sighed a frustrated-looking Da Vinci, rubbing her forehead as she could feel the rumblings of a headache rising. "To think things could have escalated so far without us knowing what was going on until now."

The gist of the situation was simple yet still begged a lot of questions. Who were these Crypters and how did they get the power to bleach the entire world and plant these Lostbelts? They already had summoned Servants by the time they attacked Chaldea and nearly wiped them out from existence— that was no easy task to do under the radar. Moreover, what exactly were their motives? Taking out Chaldea made sense considering their achievements but why create these alternate timelines that ended in tragedy in the first place? There had to be a reason and the only way to find them was to meet a "Crypter" themselves. And then there was this matter of "Another Riders."

"Fujimaru, Director Animusphere, did you learn anything else?" Da Vinci asked.

"No, not yet. Atalante gave us a mission to recruit some Stray Servants into the resistance; hopefully, we could learn something from them," Replied the Master of Chaldea. That was as good as they could get for now. "Mash, what about you guys back at base? Did you figure out what's going on too?"

"Unfortunately no, senpai. We're still analyzing the information we have," Mash sadly answered. "With CHALDEAS still frozen, it's difficult for us to get anything useful out of it." The entire was still filled with that Servant's ice and nothing was getting through. Oddly, the ice elsewhere in the base was already starting to melt. "I do have some good news; the mana generators' capacities are improving. We should be able to summon more Servants back once you all return."

"Thanks. I hope all of us come back in one piece to meet everyone again."

Holmes then put the meeting back on track; he was still curious about something the forward team mentioned. "What about these Another Riders? Are you sure they're not allied with the Crypters?"

"I won't say I'm 100% certain but from what we learned, it doesn't seem like it," Olga answered now that the conversation was steering towards something she was familiar with. "So that means there's another force out there scheming in the shadows. An Another Rider never just pops into existence; someone created it for a purpose and we just have to find out what."

"Do you have any theories, Miss Animusphere, as to their identity or motives?"

"At the moment, no. The three people I knew who could create Another Riders are already dead as far as I know. It has to be someone I've never met and I could never even start guessing a motive… well, other than revenge towards me but not even I knew I was going to end up here."

"But somehow the two Another Riders are based on your friends in the other life you led, correct?"

"…Yes. But that could just be a coincidence," Olga shrugged although Mash was not sure if she completely believed it either. "If we find out anything, we'll let you all know as soon as possible. You can trust me on that."

"Of course. What will you be doing now then?"

"We'll go along with the resistance's plans. They seem to be trying to find a way to get to this Lostbelt's Crypter, whoever or wherever that is. We'll let you all know once the location is found and we mobilize to it."

"Understood." Nodded Sherlock, "Continue as you are and let us know if the situation changes."

"Will do. Over and out."

With that, the communication feed cut off, leaving the people in the main control room to ponder on the information they received.

"You cut off one head, several others pop up." Da Vinci sighed, leaning back on her chair while pinching the bridge of her nose, "I thought Beast I was trouble enough already, but to think that things could get so much harrowing in such a short time."

"Well, that does come with the job, does it not?" Sherlock noted before noticing the odd expression on Mash's face, "Penny for your thoughts, Miss Kyrielight?"

The Demi-Servant snapped out of her small trance and stuttered a reply— "I-It's nothing too much. It's just…the Director."

"The Director?"

"Yes. I don't why, but something about her expression has me on edge." Mash admitted slowly, "The way she talked about those Another Riders really left me wondering if she's okay."

"Well, that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, right?" Da Vinci commented, her curiosity piqued, "From what was explained, those Another Riders they encountered could quite possibly be close friends of her in that other timeline. Wouldn't it stranger if she wasn't troubled?"

"It's not that." The violet-haired teen murmured with a slight shake of her head, "It's the way she went about explaining everything to us that gave me this strange feeling."

"And what feeling would that be?"

"The feeling that…she's hiding something terrible. And that it is going to be revealed to the world without her being able to do anything about it."

The night came and went quickly; after the devastating battle and long trek to the resistance base, most of the team slept like a log throughout the snowy night. Both Mordred and Izo were groaning about having to wake up early but they still went on their way to meet with Atalante again. By this point, she should have a mission for them.

Olga herself was also still feeling lethargic but immediately snapped to attention when Nezha decided to ask her something. "Director Olga. Can you tell us more about those two Another Riders?"

"Huh? Now?" Couldn't they talk after going to the resistance boss's room? "Er… what about them?"

"They were. The ones you. Were talking about. Correct?"

"…Yeah, they were," Olga answered with a long sigh. This was going to be a long conversation. "Geiz and Tsukuyomi came to the past— my present —to change what was going to happen. They were from the year 2068 which was being ruled by a tyrant," she reiterated what she already mentioned the day before. "Geiz was already a Kamen Rider when we first met but Tsukuyomi only became one when… shortly before I came here. I should've expected Another Riders could be made based on them." The Future Riders from White Woz's timeline should've proven that. Heck, her own Another Rider counterpart should've warned them of this potential outcome. "But I have no idea who could have created them or why."

"What about those Time Jacker guys you talked about? Couldn't they be the ones behind all this?" Mordred butted in. It was a good question but Olga already knew the answer to that.

"Impossible, all the Time Jackers are dead." Heure, Ora, and Swartz; all of them met their ends in her timeline. There was no way they could be responsible… right? Unless there were more Time Jackers like the one who became Another Kuuga (what was his name again?), they could cross those guys off the suspect list.

"But aren't your friends already dead? How could their powers be copied if they're six feet und— OW!"

"That was. Rude."

"I'm just saying, just because they're dead doesn't mean they can't be the ones behind all this! Like, maybe those two we fought were made before your Jackers bit the bullet and got dropped here just like the Director." That was… actually a good theory. Was it likely? Olga doubted it but she wouldn't put it past Swartz to pull such a scheme despite being past tense. That guy had plans within plans if that made sense. "Hey, Master? What do you think?"

Ritsuka, who had been silently listening to the whole conversation, gave it another moment of thought before answering. "It's too early to make any conclusions. We don't even know for sure if these Another Riders are working for or against the Crypters yet. Until we find out anything for certain, I say we keep an open mind for any theories."

"You could've just said you have no idea either…"

"Hey, I'm the Master here, don't forget." He said in a mostly serious tone but was still clearly joking.

"Mmm, we can speculate more later if you want." Olga promised just as they reached Atalanta's office door. "But we have more pressing matters to attend to right now."

The white-haired Kamen Rider went forward and knocked on the door.

"You may enter."

She opened the door to see the resistance leader and Finis in a deep discussion, "I hope we are not interrupting something important, are we?"

"No. In fact, you came at the perfect time." Atalanta assured, gesturing for the Chaldea team to come inside the room, which they did, "Finis here was going over some very important information - information that has the breakthrough we have been waiting for."

"A breakthrough?" Ritsuka echoed, "Was what she discovered truly so significant?"

"More than you can ever imagine." Atalanta then nodded her head toward Finis, "You may tell them what you have discovered."

Finis nodded and stepped forward, clearing their throat before relaying their discovery. "As you know, Stray Servants can be summoned by the Counter Force itself if deemed necessary such as what happened with our leader here. For some time now, we've had spies keeping an eye out for any potential Servants that could be wandering the Lostbelt and recently received intel on two together. We don't know their identities but as the Master of Chaldea who has had dealings with a multitude of Servants, contracted or otherwise, Atalante judged it best that you go out and persuade them to join the resistance."

The mission briefing was short and concise; there was only one question. "Why would we need Stray Servants right now?"

"That… has more to do with what I hoped to be our last mission," Atalante answered with a stressed-out frown. "We've also found a way to Moscow's Palace where our true enemies lie. However, as the resistance is at the moment, it would be a suicide mission to charge straight in. To that end, we need more firepower behind us before we could even think of capitalizing on our intel."

"And thus, we need to properly prepare for this upcoming assault." Finis continued, "We will only have one chance and one chance only at freeing this world from their tyranny, so we must minimize the chance of error as much as possible in any way we are able to."

Finis then took out a roll of paper, unfolding it until a large map was revealed. "So first, we must recruit the Stray Servants that were summoned to this world." The raven-haired spymaster went over to Atalante's table to place the map, with everyone in the room gathering around it. "Now, from what I have been told by…"

"The plan is going smoothly, my Lord."

"Good, good… Not much longer now then? How are your 'colleagues' doing?"

"They're doing as they should, spreading chaos while I work in the shadows. Soon enough, you'll be able to join us and take your rightful place as king of this Earth."

"You certainly are more reliable than I thought. But what of that wench? Does she suspect anything?"

"I don't believe so. However, there is something wrong with her. It seems she can't transform or use her abilities if her letting that boy and his tools do all the work is of any indication."

"And will that boy be an obstacle in my ascension? If so, you know what to do. As my retainer, it's your job to deal with any inconveniences for me before I bless the world with my powers."

"Yes… My overlord…"

Annnd that's the chapter!

Do hope we manage to do proper foreshadowing for what's to come soon enough! Wanna guess who is at the end of the chapter? Do tell!

FB: I don't really have much to say either so… enjoy what breadcrumbs we laid out. Who are the mysterious voices at the end? Good luck figuring it out and see you all later!