"Great, another dud…" Ember grumbled, looking at the scenery before them with irritation.
Grey clouds over their heads plunged their surroundings into an eerie atmosphere. The wind wasn't blowing, and the sea at their feet was still, reflecting the dark color of the sky. All around them was water as far as the eye could see, except in front of them; they were looking at an unspecified city, or at least what was left of it. The buildings jutted out of the surface of the water like concrete pillars, making it seem as if the entire metropolis had been flooded.
"What's the plan, Grey Ghost?" Hiryuu asked the other carrier.
Ash flashed a glare of warning to the Sakura carrier at the mention of her old moniker; she took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh.
"We wait for a couple of days, see what we can find, and then we set off again," the veteran answered, seemingly unperturbed by the sight before her.
The seven META Kansen began making their way toward the ruined city. From up close, the buildings seemed a lot more run-down than they appeared from afar. Those that seemed decently habitable were rather sparse; finding a good place to spend the night would be a lot harder than expected.
Their only concern was to find something salvageable, a decent place to sleep, and then they would pack up and try another timeline. As they began inspecting the city, dusk began approaching, and the little light they had at their disposal filtering through the clouds slowly disappeared. In the end, they opted for a relatively well-kept apartment inside a not too run-down building.
"Ugh, wasn't there anything better than this?" Queen Elizabeth complained after entering the building from one of the lateral emergency exits.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but this was the best I could find," Sheffield said with an apologetic tone of voice.
"Aw, the crownless queen was expecting a king-size bed. Well, too bad; you'll have to sleep with us common folk tonight," La Gallissonnière mocked her.
"Why you-" Before Elizabeth could let out her irritation on the cruiser, Hiryuu interjected with a dry tone.
"This place is perfect. It's spacious enough for all of us, and the window provides a view all the way to the city's outskirts. Detecting approaching threats will be a lot easier from here."
"I agree," Algérie said. "If you don't like it, you can always go out and look for something better yourself, but in that case, I call dibs for the couch."
"I think not, you scallywag. We are drawing lots for that," the META queen replied, glaring at the other shipgirl.
Ash let out a tired sigh as the others began arguing. She brought a hand up to the side of her head, feeling another migraine coming. Nothing new; it would keep her up for a while, so might as well get on with the first watch, she figured. She decided to lean over the wall and lay down next to the window to have a better view of the outside.
That was their routine.
Ash would open a random portal, and they'd appear in a random place, usually in the middle of the ocean. It'd take them some time to check the conditions of the timeline they had ended up in, and if it turned out it wasn't what they were looking for, they'd make another attempt. Rinse and repeat.
In some rare cases, they even crossed paths with some human survivors on their travels. Those were few and far between, miserable and unfortunate people, struggling to get by as best as they could in a world in ruin. Mostly, though, they came across stray Siren units, leftovers of an unpleasant past. As much as they'd like to take them down purely out of spite, they tried to avoid needless confrontations as much as possible.
How long had they been at it? Who could say that? Their pace mostly depended on Ash, on how frequently she could open portals and how much time she needed to rest between each one, but also on how much it took them to properly inspect their destination before deeming it a total bust.
At some point, they had lost count of how many timelines they had visited. Them being Kansen was the only thing allowing them to keep up at that pace. A normal person would have already died or gone insane. Or maybe they had already reached that point; after all, it definitely takes the slightest bit of insanity for someone to embark on such an endeavor.
And yet, time wasn't eternal; Ash knew it very well since, out of all her comrades, she was the one who had to concern herself the most with its passage. Of all the Kansen they knew, she was one of the eldest to undergo Metamorphosis, probably the second eldest after Cinder. By now, the corruption eating away at her Wisdom Cube must have reached alarming levels, if the ever more frequent migraines assaulting her were any indication. They had to hurry if they wanted to reach the Original Timeline and achieve their goal; it wouldn't be long before the corruption would get the better of her.
"Haha, the couch's mine, you Vichya cow!"
"Ugh, sure, be my guest, Royal midget…"
Elizabeth's and Algérie's squabble coming to an end drew her attention, and she let out a light scoff as she shook her head in amusement.
By the time night had settled, everyone had found a place to lie down on their sleeping bags, and a few hours later, Ash also let herself fall asleep, knowing that someone would take her place on guard duty.
As expected, her sleep was empty, devoid of any dreams or nightmares, most likely as a result of the corruption. The experience was as daunting as always. Every time, she woke up with a start and the feeling of having just plunged into the abyss and resurfaced, cursing her condition. She'd much rather have a restless slumber full of horrible dreams than the absolute void that awaited her whenever she closed her eyes. Because she had learned to face her nightmares, but the nothingness... it terrified her.
This time, though, she woke up to the voice of one of her comrades calling out her name.
"Ash, wake up," Ember said, shaking her awake.
"What's wrong?" In an instant, the carrier was on alert.
"Over there," Ember pointed out the window. The sky was still cloudy, but the light of dawn was filtering through the clouds, revealing the figure of a warship in the distance.
A familiar warship.
"Wake the others," Ash ordered, alarm bells ringing in her head.
"I think I'm detecting something…" Helena informed the others.
"What is it, Helena?" Enterprise asked her.
They were all standing on her ship's bow, scouting their surroundings as the light cruiser sailed through the waves of the unfamiliar timeline.
After having crossed the portal opened by Cinder, they appeared in the middle of nowhere. Initially, they feared they had made a mistake, but according to Temperance, her calculations weren't wrong, and the place where they arrived was relatively close to their targets' location; now they only needed to find them.
Luckily, they had the best radar in the neighborhood for that.
"They're very weak, but I got seven different readings... ten miles ahead of us," Helena replied after focusing on her radar.
"It's them, no doubt about it," Cinder said.
"Should we send out planes to scout ahead?" Zuikaku proposed.
"It's better not to; we don't want to alarm them," Cinder said, then turned to address the blue-haired cruiser. "Helena, see if you can get in contact with them and tell them we come in peace."
"I've been trying to, Cinder, but it seems they're using a protected channel," Helena said. "I can try to send them a message in Morse code, but I don't know if they'll get it…"
As the cruiser made its way toward their destination, the profile of the buildings of the ruined city came into view in the distance.
Apart from Cinder, no one knew what to expect from a timeline defeated by the Sirens. Upon settling their eyes on the ruins, the shipgirls of Azur Lane shared a glance, and their hearts sank. This was the scenery that awaited them if they failed, and it was enough to send shivers down their spines.
As the cruiser came to a stop, dropping anchor at the edge of the city, the Kansen had already decided what to do.
Cinder turned to the others. "Remember, this is supposed to be a friendly meeting."
"Tell that to Ash when we meet her," Enterprise said, her mind wandering back to the only time she had crossed paths with her counterpart. Her heart began racing as the memory of almost losing control took over.
Cinder narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm serious, Enterprise. I won't have this meeting end in any other way than peacefully."
"Relax, Cinder. We are not here to hurt your ex-comrades; we are only here to talk." Leviathan reassured her. "As long as they are willing to hear us out, we won't have to do anything drastic."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Cinder thought to herself.
It was decided to have only three of them meet Ash and the others; bringing the entire company would put them on alert. Enterprise was going as Azur Lane representative, Cinder as mediator, and one of the shipboys, while the others remained behind aboard the Helena.
"I trust you are going to stay put while we deal with this…" Enterprise turned to address Temperance with a warning tone. The Arbiter had been standing there with them, hovering in the middle of the bow of the ship without saying anything the entire time, her presence a constant reminder of the delicacy of the situation.
"I already told you, as long as they accept to give up on pursuing their goal, I'll have nothing to complain about," Temperance said with her usual, impassive tone.
"Don't worry, Miss Enterprise. She won't be going anywhere under our watch," Hermione said to the carrier; the other shipgirls nodded their heads for emphasis.
"Brother, I'll stay behind to keep an eye one her; you go with them," Emperor said to Leviathan, the battleship nodding back at him in response.
"See you later, guys." Lenin and the others waved them off as the two carriers and the shipboy jumped off the deck of the Helena and began making their way through the jungle of concrete ahead.
Cinder, Enterprise, and Leviathan scanned their surroundings as they made their way through what once were the streets of the city; the sloshing of the waves parting at their feet was the only thing breaking the tense silence hanging between them.
The atmosphere around them was eerie, to say the least. The old, run-down buildings looming over them like dead trees in a haunted forest all shared the same worn, sun-faded look. Few of them had survived the test of time. Many of them were half-collapsed, others were missing windows, chunks of walls, and balconies.
They wondered how long it had been since the Sirens had abandoned this timeline. Depending on how high the water level was, they could discern how much time had passed, but it was still hard to tell. Definitely enough to reduce the city to this sorry state.
Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. The concept of time itself tends to lose meaning when there's no one keeping track of it.
They kept skimming on the water in silence until they reached the end of the road they were following. The avenue in front of them stretched into a larger space, emerging into what seemed to be the town square, judging from the many weathered insignias hanging from the walls of the buildings around them.
"Helena said she detected something around this position," Enterprise said, breaking the silence as the three of them scanned their surroundings.
"Should we split up and see what we can find?" Leviathan proposed.
"If you were looking for me, I'm right here." A very familiar voice, albeit with a slightly darker and more irritated undertone, caught their attention, prompting them to raise their heads toward the source.
There she was. The leader of the Ashes was atop the lower flat roof of one of those buildings, looking down at them from above with an unreadable expression on her face. Her attire was similar to Enterprise's, but she had forgone the black tie and was wearing a black and red scarf around her neck with a black billowing cape over her shoulders. Her hair was cut short, and her eyes were ice cold.
A single second seemed to stretch into eternity as the acquainted shipgirls stared each other down.
"Ash!" Cinder and Enterprise exclaimed in unison.
"Cinder... Enterprise?" Ash spoke the other META carrier's name with a note of irritation in her voice, her expression taking on a hint of confusion when her gaze switched to her counterpart.
"Leviathan," the shipboy declared, raising his hand nonchalantly. "Now that the roll call is over, shall we move onto business?"
Ash furrowed her brow at the sight of him. She had been so focused on her counterpart and her "sister" to notice, but the one beside them was a man, and unbelievably, he was standing on the water. A bunch of questions flooded her mind, adding to the ones she already had.
"Ash, are you alone? Where are the others?" Cinder asked in concern.
"You don't need to concern yourself with them; they are all perfectly fine," Ash replied sharply. "You, rather, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you were looking for me."
"That's right, Ash," Enterprise spoke up after taking a deep breath. "We are here because we want to talk to you about-"
"And how did you find me?" Ash cut her off.
"That's… not important," Cinder stammered.
"YES, IT IS, AND YOU KNOW IT!" Ash's booming voice resounded in the air, her eyes glowing a bright yellow for a brief second. "Tell me how you were able to find me."
She was well aware of the randomness of the portals and that Cinder had been trying her best to reach the most recent timeline to get into contact with Azur Lane. She figured they would have never seen each other again, and she was more than okay with it, considering how at odds they were when they parted ways. But now, there she was, with Enterprise herself and what appeared to be a male Kansen accompanying her.
"We… were helped by an Arbiter," Cinder revealed.
"You… what…?" Ash couldn't believe her ears. She brought her hand up to the side of her head as she stumbled, trying to assuage the splitting migraine that was back to torment her.
"Ash, are you okay?!"
The first thought that crossed her mind was "betrayal," but despite the headache caused by the migraine, she managed to keep her composure rather well.
"Don't patronize me!" Ash yelled in anger. "You were all about joining the fight against the Sirens to get revenge on them, and you went and asked them for help to get to me! What are you playing at here?!"
Cinder bit her lips and shifted uncomfortably in her place, her words hitting home.
"Things have changed since then, Ash," Cinder tried to explain. "Right now, I only want to find a safe place for us all…"
"Sure, by dragging us into another conflict... You are such a thoughtful leader, aren't you?" Ash spat. "No matter what you say, reaching the Original Timeline and killing the Creator before they can give birth to the Sirens is still the best course of action!"
Cinder flinched at the accusations.
Ash was right, and Cinder knew it. When she first started roaming through the timelines, the only thing on her mind was to take revenge on the Sirens who destroyed her home. She began gathering the other META Kansen she met with the sole goal of forming a force powerful enough to fight them. Ash was one of the first she encountered. The two bonded over their shared pain and kept moving forward despite the hardships they encountered along the way, until one day, one of the Arbiters they defeated—the Lovers, if she remembered correctly—let the existence of the Original Timeline slip through her mouth.
The two of them reacted very differently to the news. Ash saw it as a chance to solve the issue at its root without fighting the Sirens directly. Cinder didn't trust the words of the Arbiter, but most importantly, by that time, she wasn't driven by her rancor anymore. The time she had spent with her newfound comrades had brought her to consider them as family, and soon, they had become her new reason to live. Since then, all she cared about was finding a place for them to live the rest of their lives in peace, at least until the corruption got the better of them all.
It was that argument that led to the split.
"Even if you do manage to reach the Original Timeline, killing the Creator won't solve the issue! It will only make things worse!" Enterprise interjected in anger. Seeing her other self lashing out at Cinder like that gave her the courage she needed to stand up to her.
Ash sent her a look she'd usually reserve for a fly buzzing in her face.
"Pray tell… What do you mean by that?" Ash asked menacingly; her eyes lit up with another flash of yellow light, which momentarily reflected into Enterprise's, making the shipgirl stiffen in her place.
"If you'd be a bit less of a dick, we'd have already explained it," Leviathan intervened, looking up at Ash with his arms crossed and a look of disapproval on his face.
The shipboy took advantage of the murderous glare the leader of the Ashes was sending him to explain the situation in detail. Him and his brothers coming from another world, the existence of the Original Sirens, their impending arrival, the truce Azur Lane had negotiated with Observer Zero, the circumstances that had brought them to meet Cinder, and most importantly, the consequences of killing the Creator.
And Ash couldn't believe her ears.
The Sirens had accepted a truce... Was that all true? And what was all that about their original progenitors? Wasn't the Creator the one who created them from scratch? And most importantly, what the hell was that about the Sirens having done all that "to prepare humanity for the greater threat?"
"Is this some kind of joke?" She asked aloud, bringing a hand to her forehead.
"Ash…" Cinder tried to say, but any word of comfort died in her throat.
"It's the harsh truth," Leviathan declared. "You kill the Creator before they can convert the seed, and you obtain a timeline taken over by the Original Sirens. And trust me when I say that they don't like to play around like the ones you are so used to."
"This isn't true... It can't be!" Ash breathed out, her anger rising along with her voice. "That would mean everything that happened... Everything we've been through because of them... All we are trying to do to make things right... It was all just a damned game to them?!"
"Not a game, Ash; an experiment, but don't get me wrong, we aren't trying to excuse their actions here," Leviathan said, raising his voice to make sure his words were conveyed properly. "We are trying to make you understand that the path you are following will only make things worse!"
"I know this is upsetting. But we aren't telling you to forget everything you've been through because of them and throw it under the rug; we wouldn't presume to ask you something like that," Enterprise added. "We only ask you to set your grudges aside for the time being and come with us."
Ash didn't answer.
She was experiencing a turmoil of emotions. Doubt, disbelief, frustration, denial, anger... All those emotions swirling inside her only aggravated her condition. She tightly clutched her head in her hands and gritted her teeth; her migraine was reaching unbearable levels, which was reflecting in her eyes, now completely invaded by the yellow glow.
When you believe a lie for too long, the truth doesn't set you free; it tears you apart. In the end, when faced with such harsh revelations, refusing to believe them is the safest choice for one's psyche.
And that's exactly what she did.
"No, I don't believe you... I refuse to accept this!"
"Denial won't do anyone good here!" Leviathan spoke up.
"Ash, please, come with us. The others are waiting for us at Azur Lane," Cinder said. "We can make things right together…"
"NO!" Her visceral scream echoed throughout the ruins of the city, silencing their attempts at placating her fury. It reverberated through their core, making Enterprise's breath stop in her lungs.
Ash straightened her back, her glowing eyes looking down at them from above with a newly found serenity, as if that scream had dispelled all the doubts in her mind.
"Cinder, you said you wanted to find a safe place for all of us..." She started saying solemnly. "We will create our own safe place. Killing the Creator will give birth to a whole new timeline without Sirens. There, we won't be exploited to fight humanity's wars, our sisters and comrades will be alive, and even the commander…"
"Even after knowing all that, you still refuse to come around! Are you crazy, lady?!" Leviathan exclaimed in disbelief. "If you kill the Creator, you can forget your promised timeline; you'll create another hell with demons even worse than those you already know!"
"I have no reason to believe you or the words of those Siren bastards," Ash declared. "I'll take the risk. If these Original Sirens actually show up, we will stop them before they can overrun the new timeline. We have the power to do so-"
"Ash, look out!"
First, Ash heard Ember's voice coming from behind her, then, she felt herself falling down the building and into the water below, and then she noticed the flash of light and the following laser beam land right where she had been standing.
Shock and surprise adorned her face as Ember helped her up. The META battlecruiser had been hiding behind a broken window inside that same building all along, listening in on the conversation while also keeping an eye out for any possible sneak attack. She had come out of her hiding spot to push her comrade out of the way right on time after noticing the suspicious glint in the air above their heads.
The three other Kansen were also stunned. Taken by surprise, they all gazed upward, and their eyes settled on Temperance's familiar figure; her squid-like rigging was out, and her barrels were smoking.
"Temperance, what the hell are you doing?!" Enterprise shouted in anger.
"Following your orders," Temperance stated with her usual flat voice, though this time there was a hint of danger behind her eyes. "You told me to do this if she refused to comply…"
The Arbiter's blatant lie left her stunned for a second. Of course, the Ashes also heard that, and anger began building up inside them at the betrayal.
"So this was your plan all along, Azur Lane... I should have known..." Ash said, rising to her feet.
"Wait, Ash, this is all a huge misunderstanding!" Cinder tried to reason with her, but her heart leaped into her throat when her gaze met the other carrier's furious, glowing eyes. She was aiming her war bow right at Enterprise, an energy arrow already notched into the bowstring.
Leviathan was too preoccupied trying to contact the others back on the Helena, and Enterprise was too preoccupied with the Arbiter to react in time. Ash took the opportunity to shoot the arrow. Cinder moved on instinct, putting herself in front of Enterprise right as the energy dart impaled itself straight through her heart.
She fell in a heap, her back hitting the water, the arrow sticking out of her chest.
Silence fell over the group, only interrupted by the shipgirl's raspy breathing.
Ash and Ember stood there, mouths agape and eyes wide.
"NO!"
Enterprise was the first to react. She rushed over to Cinder and knelt beside her to gauge the entity of the wound with increasing concern. The energy arrow was already dissolving, and when it disappeared, only the hole in Cinder's chest remained. Blood was already pouring out of it.
"Leviathan, call Emperor and tell him to come over quickly!" She said to the shipboy urgently.
"I'm trying, but the comms aren't working! It must be that bitch again…" Leviathan responded, turning his head up and looking for the Arbiter, who seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
"Enty…" Cinder let out a wheeze as she desperately tried to take in some air, reaching her hand toward the other carrier.
Enterprise felt dread come over her as she looked down at her. In her mind, Yorktown's face was already overlapping with Cinder's. She had to remind herself that the two weren't the same person and that her real sister was safe and sound at Azur Lane. She shook her head vehemently, but she couldn't help the lump forming in her throat as she looked down at her bleeding form.
"I'm here, si-Cinder," she stuttered, grabbing the other carrier's hand in her own. She was already so cold. "W-why did you do that?! I'm not your- I-I'm just…"
Cinder gently shook her head, a strained smile appearing on her face as she weakly said, "I told you... Even if from another timeline, you and Ash are still my sisters... I'd never do anything to hurt you…"
Enterprise was trying her best not to break down. The shipgirl exhaling her last breath before her wasn't Cinder; the affectionate smile, the kind eyes, the gentle disposition—it was Yorktown.
"H-hang on, I'll take you to Emperor," Enterprise said as she tried to stand and lift her up, but Cinder stopped her by grabbing her coat.
"No… It would be pointless. I don't have much time anyway…" She rasped.
"What are you saying?! He can help you!"
"Enty… The Metamorphosis… It's like cancer… It keeps spreading until it consumes your very being… It's only a matter of time before I-urgh-" Her words were interrupted by a violent fit that made her cough up blood.
"Yorktown!"
After her coughing subsided, Cinder weakly turned her head toward Ash and addressed the both of them. "Hear me out, both of you... I know you too well. I know you are going to blame yourselves… But you must understand that this wasn't your fault… Just promise me that you'll look after the others in my place…"
"Fine, I promise, but please, stop talking! You need to save your breath!" Enterprise begged her, throwing her composure away as tears began streaming down her face.
Cinder gave her a tired smile of gratitude. There was a lot more that she wanted to say, but her strength was failing her. Knowing that she'd leave the others in good hands, she closed her eyes and let herself go limp in her sister's arms.
The silence that followed was deafening. Enterprise kept sobbing silently, holding Cinder's body close to herself, while Ash, who had been standing a few feet away, kept staring at them with an incredulous expression on her face. Leviathan and Ember could only watch, not daring to move a muscle or utter a word.
Enterprise was the first to move. She gently let Cinder's body down to rest on the waves and stood up on her feet. She lifted her gaze, revealing a tear-streaked face that clashed with her stone-faced expression. Her eyes were glowing with the same ominous light as her counterpart's.
"Ash, what's wrong?" Ember asked her comrade. She and Leviathan could only watch as the two carriers locked eyes. It felt like they had fallen into a trance as they stared each other down for a long second.
And then they spoke in unison.
"Enterprise, engage."
A deafening ring and a blinding flash of light later, they were gone.
After the light had completely subsided, Ash and Enterprise had disappeared without a trace. Ember and Leviathan glanced around in confusion, trying to understand what just happened, but they couldn't figure it out for the life of them.
Eventually, they snapped out of their confusion as their eyes simultaneously settled on Cinder's body, which was still floating in the water between them.
Ember made a move to approach her but was interrupted by the shipboy.
"Liebe." Following Leviathan's call, the shark-like rigging came out of the water right from under Cinder's body, opening her jaws wide before swallowing it whole in a flash. Immediately after, she dived down under the water again, much to the confusion of the META battlecruiser.
She narrowed her eyes at him, now on high alert. "What's the meaning of this, male Kansen?"
"I'm having my rigging take her to my brother," he stated. "If we are lucky, we can still save her. If not, we will bring her back to Azur Lane, where her comrades will be able to mourn her."
"Is that another trick of yours?" Ember narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm not lying, and I don't have any ulterior motive," Leviathan said.
"And you think I believe you after what I've just seen?" She spat.
"Calm down. That whole fiasco with the Arbiter was just a misunderstanding." He tried to explain.
"It doesn't matter; you were the one who brought her here. Because of you, Ash just killed her sister," Ember said. She drew her sword from her hip, pointing it at him. "This is your first and last warning. Tell your rigging to bring her back; we'll give her the funeral she deserves, with all the honors befitting a warrior."
Leviathan considered his options. Giving up Cinder's body wouldn't accomplish anything, especially since their goal was still the same: to stop the Ashes. Unfortunately, diplomacy was thrown out the window the moment Temperance interfered with the talks.
If the first method didn't work, it was time to try the second.
"I refuse."
"Then I'll kill you; that'll definitely stop your rigging," Ember retorted drily.
"You can try, but it won't be that easy. My comrades will come running the moment they see Cinder's body. You'll be at a disadvantage," Leviathan declared.
"You really are too naive if you think we weren't prepared for that." Ember scoffed at him. Then she summoned her rigging, aimed it upward, and shot a volley at the tallest building, much to the shipboy's confusion.
The rounds pierced the concrete like knives through butter, causing a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke to arise from the roof.
At that moment, Ember lunged at him with her katana. Leviathan was able to summon one of his chain blades right on time to block her swing.
The two found themselves locked in a bind with their blades, staring into each other's eyes as they struggled to one-up each other.
"And what was that for?" He asked.
"You'll see!" Ember replied.
She pushed herself off his blade and resumed her assault.
A few blocks away, hidden and out of sight, the Ashes perked up after hearing the blast.
A single volley on the tallest building of the neighborhood. That was the signal.
Negotiations had broken down. It was time to go on the offensive.
AN: "I'll make my own timeline, with blackjack and hookers!" -Ash, probably…
We are getting into the last part of the fourth act, which will end when this whole fiasco with the Ashes is resolved.
Just a heads up, but this is the Ashes we are talking about, which means angst, trauma, a little bit of mental instability here and there… the usual.
Also, a new arbiter's been mentioned for the first time: The Lovers.
I just wanted to say that it's just a cameo and that she'll never make an appearance. She won't even be mentioned ever again because, in the canon of this story, her program was erased by Observer Zero as punishment after she revealed by mistake the existence of the Original Timeline to the METAs.
Next Chapter: Scattering Ashes