Tokyo tower. Standing at roughly around a total height of 300 meters, the observation tower was known to be the second-tallest structure in the entire country. The towering assembly had been featured in a variety of media, and could even be seen in the background within multiple episodes of Zesshou Sentai Valkyranger. Whenever the last bits of sunlight disappeared into Japan's horizons, the tower's built-in LED lighting equipment would intensify to near-maximum brightness, shrouding its entirety with intense red and white. Even when it stood amongst a snow-covered city, and a concrete jungle of Christmas lights, Tokyo Tower sparkled like an unwavering beacon in the land of the rising sun.
But not even its shining incandescence could occupy Lanfen's hazy mind for longer than a single heartbeat.
"Tokyo... Tower...?"
While the syllables from her chapped lips fell away, Lanfen gripped the side of an aching head, and slowly took in her surroundings. An emerging, distant familiarity confirmed where Lanfen currently stood: It was the uppermost deck of Tokyo Tower. A narrow interior of reflective walls and tall windows. A location she had not frequented in almost a full decade. After returning a gloved hand back to her side, Lanfen gazed into the observation deck's mirror-esque architecture, allowing her to see the mundane clothing her warped reflection donned for winter evening. No form of electronics whatsoever could be found on her person. Not even a tool as essential as Lanfen's own smartphone.
Acutely aware of the thick fog which shrouded her muddled thoughts, Lanfen's pupils subsequently directed themselves to the deck's frosted windows. An ocean of buildings and skyscrapers stretched into the distance beyond the glass panels, forming a sleeping metropolis of empty roads, barren highways, and silent walkways underneath a shattered moon's glow. At first glance, Lanfen's narrowing eyes refused to accept this peculiar view. But an ensuing physical sensation quickly seized the woman's priorities.
Lanfen felt cold. Impossibly cold beneath the monochrome scarf around her neck.
Drawing in a brief, trembling breath, Lanfen forced her shivering body through the deck's reflective interior in search of a nearby exit. But no amount of spent time resulted in any favourable discoveries. There were no elevators. And there were no staircases either. Just an unending path of identical walls and glass panels. The location's impossible routes should have drawn a level of concern from Lanfen. And yet, her mind could only focus on how Lanfen retained no memory of any journey towards this location. While incomprehensible maps led her from one area of the deck to another, the staggered woman slumped against a wall of reflective chrome, and bit down on her lips until she drew blood.
"How did I...?"
Lanfen eventually squeezed her eyes shut. An act borne out of a desperate desire to rouse herself from this dreamscape.
Seconds passed by. Possibly minutes. Possibly even hours. Possibly even days. But Lanfen continued to find herself sitting down on a hard floor of polished tiles. In time, she began focusing on her other available senses, relying on her ears instead to discover any semblance of someone else's existence in this mirror-like containment. Cold silence greeted Lanfen. Just like she anticipated. Even so, Lanfen waited, huddling her shivering form against the wall until a faint auditory sensation flowed right into her eardrums.
Music.
The gentle rhythm of a piano drew open Lanfen's heavy eyelids, simultaneously bestowing her with the constitution to rise up on her winter boots. What was initially a maze of windows and reflections had now bled into the unsophisticated shape of a tight corridor. A pair of ornate double-doors stood at its end, marking out the only distinctive attribute in sight as melodies seeped between a thin gap in its doorway.
Lanfen dragged her body towards the distant entrance before her mind even knew what it truly wanted.
Rich piano tones accompanied each of Lanfen's footfalls, almost guiding her in a way through the entire stretch of a featureless, white corridor. Their mesmerizing resonance intensified while the chasm between Lanfen and the awaiting entryway narrowed, weaving a funereal tune that kept the striding woman solely focused on what lied beyond her goal. It only took another heartbeat for the doors to be completely opened, revealing a room with a vast curtain which sliced across its space, perfectly concealing half of the interior behind translucent carmine. Lanfen's side remained devoid of any features upon her shivering entry. But the same could not be spoken of the side beyond the dividing curtain.
A silhouette floated within the crimson border as its outline sat before the obvious contours of an obscured piano. Each time a pair of hands descended upon the instrument, a somber melody would pour into the uncaring air, seizing Lanfen's gaze while she stood in front of an absent entryway that never existed to begin with. If muffled portions of this concealed serenade held the power to lure Lanfen into this very room, then bearing direct witness to it completely lulled her body into a perfect tranquility. Unfortunately, the woman's trembling resumed when the performance inevitably arrived at its conclusion, allowing the pianist behind the curtain to elegantly address Lanfen with a turn of their head.
"May I help you?"
Lanfen flinched at the innocent inquiry before she quietly clicked her tongue. "Sorry, I... I'm not sure why I'm even here, honestly." She scoffed at her own ignorance and placed a gloved hand on one hip. "All I can remember is that I'm from... Yamaku?" The name somehow sounded alien to Lanfen's own tongue. "Yamaku... City...?"
A nameplate was subsequently spotted in the border of Lanfen's vision. Only one simple word had been engraved into its rusting metal: Pathway.
"You're a long way from home if your memory serves you right," the performer claimed, their silhouette already rising from a piano chair. As the clacking of high-heels resounded throughout the room, their outline gestured over to a collection of drinks which sat atop a counter in the corner. Lanfen wasn't sure how she managed to miss its presence till now. "Why don't you refresh yourself while you're here?" Pathway eloquently suggested. "A moment to relax can clear even the most troubled minds, after all."
Hesitantly accepting their offer without a spoken word, Lanfen motioned towards the small counter, her ears still focusing on the continued tune from beyond the interior's carmine border. By means of a somber melody, Pathway's gentle pace kept the silence at bay while Lanfen herself looked between a selection of lavish glasses. The liquid within them was of a translucent gold. And their scent made Lanfen's nose tingle. Holding up her chosen item by its brittle stem, Lanfen downed the entire beverage in one swig, casually throwing her head backwards upon doing so. She then held back a cough and noticed how nothing about its nostalgic flavour benefitted her cloudy memories.
"Where am I?" Lanfen slowly whispered, her mind still enraptured by the swirling harmonies around her.
"A place where only a few tend to stay for long," Pathway answered, running a pair of hands over a piano's keys, "which is why you'll find it to be quite dull here over time."
Lanfen settled her glass atop its initial position and peeked over a stiff shoulder. From what she could make of the pianist's flowing silhouette, Lanfen estimated Pathway to be a person of similar height and physique. Nothing about the syllables in their serene voice hinted at any obscured intentions. "Then... what exactly are you doing here... all by yourself?"
"Practicing." Lanfen's curiosity was answered the very moment she voiced it. "Practicing for the future," Pathway elaborated. "I'd honestly like to take my leave, similar to everyone else who once passed by here... but I intend on waiting for the people who matter to me first and foremost, all so I can show them a perfected version of what you're witnessing right now."
A wistful sensation manifested within Lanfen's chest for the briefest of moments. She didn't even have the chance to fully register it by the time it disappeared. In its place, an unspoken admiration blossomed for the performer behind the room's crimson curtains. "Doesn't it ever get lonely in here?" Lanfen hesitantly inquired. "Surely, you'd think-"
"It does. But the view from this room is quite spectacular... isn't it?"
Pursing her chapped lips, Lanfen shifted her gaze over to the windows on one side of the interior, and entertained Pathway's claim by looking beyond the room's singular glass plane. She could see the high-rise buildings that were reaching for the night skies, seemingly desperate to knock on heaven's proverbial doorstep. It was a perfect sight, for sure. Too perfect. And empty. Underneath the veneer of a winter wonderland, Lanfen witnessed a metropolis which appeared to be Tokyo. And yet, every inch of her shivering body informed Lanfen otherwise. It was an observation that only expanded the longer she kept her pupils on a never-ending, deserted landscape of concrete, signboards, and highways.
"Why don't we head downstairs for a while?" Lanfen abruptly suggested. "Maybe we could find something to do together while we're here?"
Apathetic silence flowed back into the divided interior as Pathway's silhouette lost all hints of motion. "... I can't." Lanfen inadvertently shuddered upon hearing their words. "Even if I wanted to... I wouldn't be able to come with you. I'm sorry, Lanfen."
Lanfen lifted her head upon sensing familiarity within those breathless syllables. Suppressing the insistent trembling within her core, Lanfen closed the distance between the room's crimson border and herself, unable to fully understand why her feet were suddenly moving of their own accord. The thumping of Lanfen's winter boots were deafening in the relative silence. Pathway's shadowy outline kept itself still even when the woman's fingers slowly reached out to touch translucent carmine. But before Lanfen could actually make contact with the interior's divider, the curtain pulled itself to the sides, revealing a grand piano, and the person who sat before it in a sparkling dress of blood-red.
"... Komichi?"
The name left Lanfen in the form of a jagged whisper.
Beneath the ceiling's dim, white lighting, a familiar face gazed back at Lanfen with a tepid smile drawn across her expression. Lanfen desired to take a single step backwards, purely to ensure that this wasn't a mirage nor a trick of the mind. And yet, the soles of Lanfen's boots remained glued to the tiles under them, refusing any mental command to withdraw from someone her fading memories recognized as a friend, teammate, and companion. A person who had made her acquaintance just because they once crashed into one another in a busy school hallway: Ayano Komichi.
Taking off from a piano's designated seat, Komichi tidied the hem of her glittery dress, and closed what little space remained between the two women. She then lifted one hand and held Lanfen's scarred cheek in its palm, causing the trembling woman to focus on the faded, dull sheen of Komichi's green pupils.
In an instant, suppressed memories poured into Lanfen like water from a broken dam. She remembered how she had lost Kai-Ming. How she became a Symphogear-Wielder. How Komichi had died in her arms. And how Lanfen desperately attempted to avenge both of them. The proverbial fires within Lanfen's eyes alone were a slumbering symbol of how she had willingly blinded herself, turning the world's seventh Adaptor into an armament which bore no hesitation towards extinguishing another person's life. In the end, it was her own soul that had been snuffed out, and Lanfen could do nothing except blame her own foolish self for dancing to Lancelot's tune like a marionette on strings.
The Adaptor dropped onto her knees. She subsequently bit down on her bleeding lips and fought the stinging tears in the edges of her vision.
"... I'm sorry."
Audibly perplexed, Komichi responded, "For what?"
"Everything." Lanfen choked out her words, finding it growingly difficult to even speak. "If I wasn't so damn useless... you wouldn't be here." The agony of being struck down coursed through her in the form of a palpable memory. "I keep screwing up, and because of me... everyone else ends up getting hurt." Lanfen felt her sword-hand aching at her side, even if she knew how it will forever be deprived of the satisfaction it begged for. "After everything I've tried... I'm finally here. And I deserve it. Every bit of it." She released a sardonic laugh while the pitter-patter of falling teardrops resounded in her ears like thunderclaps. "It was only a matter of time till my stupid luck finally ran out."
As the Adaptor's words streamed out of her itching throat, Komichi crouched down onto her level, and once again held up a hand to gently wipe away Lanfen's now-flowing tears. Komichi's fingertips bore no warmth within them. They were like the touch of winter itself against Lanfen's brown skin. So, what was clearly supposed to be a gesture of obvious reassurance only ended up loosening Lanfen's hold over her rising emotions.
"... We can't always control what happens around us, Lanfen." Komichi's syllables were quiet but clear, steady, and just above a whisper. "No matter how strong you are, and no matter how determined you force yourself to be, there will always be a moment or two along the way where we'll mess up," she lightly chuckled, carefully brushing aside an Adaptor's remaining teardrops. Komichi then stared right into Lanfen's widening eyes and locked her own faded pupils with them. "But even so... there will always be a chance to make up for your mistakes. After all... it's still too early for you to be here."
Lanfen blinked. "What... do you mean...?"
Komichi unraveled her confusion by directing a single finger's withdrawn tip towards the Adaptor's chest. There - right in its center - Lanfen sensed a faint warmth residing deep within her.
A dim flare which became more obvious the further she focused on its desperate cry. It was a beat of life. A fading light. One final tether to the realm of the living.
Upon noticing this incomprehensible lifeline, Lanfen tightened one hand into a fist, and pounded it against the tiles underneath her. "It's not fair..." Her eyes soon ran out of any more tears to even shed. "Why me?" The surface of Lanfen's knuckles were now crying out in burning agony. "Why am I the only one to get a second chance...?! Why am I expected to get back up when I've been nothing more than a damn pawn for everyone to use?!"
Komichi ceased the Adaptor from speaking any further by throwing a pair of cold arms around her, simultaneously granting Lanfen the first actual embrace she had received from Komichi in a while now. Not even the cinders within Lanfen's pupils could stop themselves from waning at the touch of a companion who had perished in front of her.
"You have to go back. You need to go back, Lanfen." Tightening her longing hold, Komichi continued. "Because if you don't, so many more people will..."
She cut herself off before the last of her words resounded. But Lanfen fully knew what Komichi desired to utter: Aiko was still alive. Yuki was still alive. And Lancelot posed a threat to both of them. To everyone. Without Lanfen, there was nobody left to wield the Sword of Damocles. To fight against a threat that had already taken away the lives of countless innocents over the course of one winter season. Lanfen attempted to pull together any syllables her tongue could muster, and yet, her voice refused to comply, forcing the Adaptor to instead convey her unspoken feelings by returning Komichi's gentle embrace. Lanfen maintained their tightened hold for as long as she possibly could.
Eventually, Komichi slowly loosened herself around Lanfen's shivering form, allowing the Adaptor to draw in a shaky breath and regain her grasp over basic linguistics.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. If I had been a better Wielder... you... Kai... neither of you would've..." Lanfen knew that Komichi held no actual disdain for her mistakes. And yet, she still chose to apologize regardless. Her choice to depart this plane was not going to be a real decision. All of this was just a formality. A method to ease her back into living. When all was said and done, Lanfen only had the option of deciding how she was going to spend her last foreseeable moments with Komichi. These were the cards in her hands. And it wasn't a game Lanfen could just walk away from. "... I'll miss you."
"I know." Komichi wiped her eyes using the rear of one hand and smiled tepidly. "After all, it's never easy for anyone to say goodbye to their junior, isn't it?" A weak chuckle followed her remark. After visibly reigning herself in with a deep breath, Komichi helped the Adaptor back onto her feet, and gingerly dusted off Lanfen's clothes, similar to when they first met after Komichi had fallen into a compromising position underneath her underclassman. It was difficult for Lanfen to forget just how close their faces were to making contact right in the middle of a school's sun-lit hallway.
While Komichi tidied the black-and-white scarf around her junior's neck, the haze above Lanfen's muddled thoughts began to lift, allowing her to savour every remaining second of this fleeting, frozen world. Doubt subsequently arose within the rear of Lanfen's mind. Doubt which she willingly decided to voice out without hesitation. "How will I know that... I won't just screw up again?"
Komichi halted her motions and remained silent for several seconds. "Because we're all cheering for you. Your parents, your sister... myself..." She made sure to give a proud wink. "We'll always be watching you from above, Lanfen. And there's no one who would know how you'd fare better than us, right?" As Komichi flashed the Adaptor an honest ear-to-ear grin, Lanfen gave a steady dip of the head. Whether or not she could actually prove it with her own two eyes, Kai-Ming was undoubtedly in the care of good hands.
After all, Lanfen needed to let them go.
Kai-Ming. Komichi. Her mother and father. All for the sake of herself.
All for the sake of wielding an Armed Gear with a purpose beyond blind revenge.
"Can you... also promise me a few things, Lanfen?" Komichi's hands betrayed her unspoken trepidation. Especially when their fingertips tightly held onto her dress by its hem.
To reassure her in whatever way she could, Lanfen answered with a curt nod and the faintest of smiles.
"... Be the heroine I know you can become," Komichi resumed with an obviously-forced smile this time. "It doesn't matter where your powers really came from, or who gave them to you, or what everyone expects you to do. In the end... none of it will ever define who you choose to be." Leaning against the edges of the grand piano behind her, Komichi took in another calming breath. "And for the sake of yourself - and everyone who's still around - keep on smiling, Lanfen." Her voice immediately hitched in her throat, prompting Komichi to let out an awkward chuckle. "After all, I'm no longer the open hand that... everyone could reach out to before, aren't I?"
Lanfen shook her head with clear, mustered defiance. "You will always be the best of us, Komichi," she tried to tell her, "especially after... everything you've done for us. Just leave the rest to me, alright?"
The Adaptor's attempted confidence earned her a stifled laugh and a small round of applause from Komichi. Even when proverbial fires continued to linger deep within her pupils, their presence did not prevent Lanfen from stepping forward to subsequently embrace Komichi as part of a final departing gesture. Komichi quickly buried her face within the Wielder's chest this time, staining her jacket with warm, silent tears while Lanfen looked through the window, and wondered how her little sister must have felt about this snowy sight. Was she trembling like Komichi in her arms? Or did Kai-Ming face her path with the same bravery Lanfen could always expect of her sibling?
There wasn't enough time to ruminate on a final answer before Komichi withdrew herself entirely from Lanfen.
"We'll meet again. One day," Komichi promised, caring little for the teardrops that freely flowed down her cheeks. "Until then, please fight for a future... where everyone can be happy."
Lanfen drew in a lungful of air as the scent of antiseptics reinvigorated her senses, directly establishing her soul's ongoing existence. Dampened pangs ran through every inch of Lanfen's body. Her heart thumped without pause within an aching ribcage. Powered only by a single breath's worth of vigour, Lanfen forced her eyelids open, only to notice the medical shielding that had been fixed on top of her blinded right eye. After taking in a familiar ceiling with only half of her expected vision, Lanfen determined her metallic surroundings to be the S.O.N.G. submarine's interior. The unmistakable quiet of the med-bay's recovery rooms always bordered on oppressive to the Adaptor's eardrums.
She subsequently pivoted her head until Lanfen's remaining pupil settled itself on one side of the bed she laid on.
Yuki could be seen standing in the corner of the room. Visibly preoccupied by a pot of black coffee which she was in the midst of brewing, Yuki's back faced the groaning Adaptor while her foot tapped onto the floor, generating zero noise despite its frantic repetition.
"Y-Yuki...?"
The ponytailed woman flinched.
Right as she spun around to face Lanfen, an empty metal cup loudly clattered onto the flooring.
Within seconds, Yuki had rushed over to the room's holo-terminal to punch in a 4-digit code, initiating an audio transmission. "Command, she's awake! I repeat: 'Fen is awake!" Her breathless words were far too hasty for Lanfen to clearly register in their entirety. "Call over the Commander already, dammit! I want the Big Boss here A.S.A.P.!"
Redirecting her attention from Yuki for just a brief moment, Lanfen slowly gazed down on her supine form, and witnessed the medical wraps that covered every bit of skin her patient garbs weren't already concealing. This was the worst her body had ever appeared after a single battle. And it was an undeniable ramification of Lanfen's own reckless decisions.
She subsequently dropped her head back onto her pillow to stare at the ceiling again. Fully taking in its bland, sterile design with just one eye, Lanfen listened to the rhythmic thumping of her heart, and acknowledged the ephemeral accountability which flowed within her veins like an anaesthetic. The only reason Lanfen now laid here was purely because she had allowed the proverbial fires to overtake all form of reason. And unlike before, no amount of blame could be directed towards the S.W.O.R.D.'s influence. The choice to throw aside any qualms about taking another person's life had been Lanfen's to make. A decision borne out of violent fury in the face of a pale, azure manipulator.
Even so, such a blunder wasn't impossible to make amends for from now henceforth.
The moment Lanfen heard the chiming of a transmission's end, a projected interface was dismissed from the room's holo-terminal, allowing Yuki to tentatively approach the lying woman. Lanfen's teammate motioned to sit down on the bedside chair, only for Yuki to instead remain standing while her hands gripped the bed's chrome railing with enough force to whiten her knuckles. Several strands of Yuki's dark-green hair had visibly turned into a stressful grey since they last saw one another. A wrinkle or two was now visible on her face, even. Despite these obvious physical echoes, Yuki still chose to assemble her usual easy-going grin.
"How are... ya feeling?"
Out of simple gratitude, Lanfen answered her question with an honest smile and her own weak attempt at levity. "... I've had better days. But it's nice to see a friendly face, Yuki."
A prolonged sigh ended up slipping right out of the field agent. After relinquishing her obvious death grip over the bed's metal railing, Yuki's breath transitioned into sardonic laughter as she practically draped herself over a bedside seat. She then snapped a pair of fingers, probably to help keep her mental poise together. "You... You barely pulled through. Goddamn," Yuki exclaimed, lightly slapping her thigh with one palm. "I'm startin' to think you actually like being stuck in med-bay."
Sharp aches emerged within Lanfen's chest when she willingly chuckled at her uniformed friend's dry remark. But the pain thankfully simmered down as soon as it appeared. Letting loose a hush wince between clenched teeth, Lanfen hungrily took in another breath to truly confirm that she was indeed alive. Although she desired to mirror Yuki's typical sarcasm, the Adaptor's body evidently wasn't in the physical state for any more laughs. So, she instead chose to verbalize a lingering question straight from the rear of her hazy cranium. "Aiko," Lanfen delicately inquired, "where... is she...?"
Yuki leaned forward in her seat and turned quiet while she eyed the steaming coffee pot which sat atop the room's table. "She's... in the barracks. Ai' has been worried sick about you for a while now, so the Commander gave her an order to rest up after stayin' by your side for way too long." Yuki let out a restrained sigh this time before drawing a small grin that was tagged along by another blunt statement. "Just so you know, a good number of lads from Clan Hida had to hold her back when the nurses wheeled you in. Probably one of the few times I ever heard Ai' raise her voice, too."
Once Lanfen eventually processed just how much had occurred during her state of unconsciousness, a tidal wave of relief, guilt, and aggravation simultaneously splashed onto the Adaptor's face, giving way to an ensuing realization: Both Aiko and Yuki were already bearing with the fallout of a companion's untimely passing. And yet, because of her own selfish actions, Lanfen only ended up providing her teammates with another endangered life for them to fear for. Symphogear Team-04 could have been deprived of two members within the meager span of 24 hours, and the fault of such a tragedy would only lie with Lanfen's attempt to personally confront Lancelot over the killing of Ayano Komichi.
When Yuki's fist bumped itself against Lanfen's shoulder with barely enough force for the half-blind woman to even notice the playful gesture, Lanfen withdrew herself from a state of contemplation to register a single sentence in her ears. "... I'm glad to see you still kicking, buddy."
Lanfen wondered if she even deserved such an affectionate moniker before the Adaptor proceeded to cast her intrusive thoughts down into the depths of her revivified mental faculties.
The low hissing of an automatic door prompted both women to look towards the room's entrance. Turning her head for only the bare minimum she required to acknowledge their visitor, Lanfen fought the instinctive urge to raise one arm for a salute when Commander Genjuuro himself verbally declared his arrival at the foot of her bed. "Welcome back, Lanfen," he said, crossing both arms with a smile of boisterous reassurance. "I expected nothing less from a member of our Adaptor Corps. Still, I'd recommend you ease up on the formalities and instead focus on getting back on your feet."
Commander Genjuuro's tone reminded Lanfen of how he was far too informal sometimes for someone of his figurative stature. "A-Affirmative, Commander," Lanfen formally responded, lifting a hand from her side to input an order into the bed's holographic console. After confirming her request through the press of a translucent button, the upper half of the Adaptor's furniture elevated itself until she could settle her torso on a locked diagonal surface. "How-" Lanfen then used her fingertips to feel out the scar which sat right in the middle of her chest. It was comparatively small in contrast to the disfigurement she received during the first Distortion incursions. "... How am I still alive?"
The Commander's response came in the form of a sharp nod that was directed at Yuki. Clearly understanding whatever wordless order she had just received, the ponytailed woman gave a confirming bow and moved towards one of the recovery room's available shelves. She rummaged through their medicinal contents until a single palm-sized item was retrieved. Yuki subsequently brought herself back to Lanfen's side and held up a silver object which hung from a chain of metal as it soundlessly swayed back and forth like a clock's pendulum. Lanfen almost could not fathom what her half-blinded vision witnessed right then and there underneath the room's buzzing ceiling lights.
It was Aiko's Christmas gift.
Visibly cracked beyond any possibility for repairs, the pocket-watch's unlocked frontal lid held on to the casing by its loosened hinge, partially revealing the ruptured dial within it. All three of the pocket-watch's hands remained still underneath a broken glass crystal, their cessation obviously induced by the bullet mark that perfectly adorned its center. After Yuki gently settled the collected item in Lanfen's outstretched palm, the Adaptor gripped onto its chrome casing using all five of her twitching fingers, and drew in a practiced breath to soothe the thumping within her ribcage. Yuki promptly placed herself back at Lanfen's side without another word while Commander Genjuuro spoke up again.
"You can thank Kagami later on for rescuing you," he stated with a huff. "Had it not been for her and a few Hida operatives, your life might have already been lost by the time we retrieved you. That's what our doctors are personally claiming, at least." The Commander then furrowed his brows, suddenly taking on a far more grave demeanour. "There weren't any signs of your attackers when Kagami narrowed in on your location. But, you were there in Mitakihara because of her, weren't you? The Illuminati associate who goes by the name of 'Lotte'?"
Softening her hold over the silver pocket-watch, Lanfen forced herself to nod using what little strength she currently possessed.
'Lady Lotte'.
Or rather, 'Lancelot du Lac'.
These were the many names of the murderer who had extinguished the lives of twelve potential Adaptors. The puppeteer who twisted Lanfen into an unknowing pawn. The monster who dared to hurt Aiko. And the extraterrestrial paladin who held direct command over the warrior automata known as the 'Distortions'. When all the pieces of the puzzle were set on the board, there wasn't anyone else who Lanfen could see as the primary instigator of their global conflict. Even so, Lancelot wasn't operating all on her lonesome. Aside from the remnants of the Bavarian Illuminati, Lanfen remembered witnessing a collaborator by the name of 'Gawain', another potential extraterrestrial who wore the symbol of the suit of spades.
Having survived her bloody duel against a knight from beyond their solar system, S.O.N.G. finally bore the opportunity to comprehend the true circumstances behind the rifts, and the animated monsters who descended from them. They needed to know. Otherwise, Humanity would only find itself continuing to chase irrelevant shadows without any idea of what they were facing whenever the Distortions tore through their skylines.
The 'clue' which Lancelot provided regarding the identity of Kai-Ming's killer was a matter to think about afterwards.
Especially when Lanfen couldn't bring herself to fully believe every sweet syllable that slipped between Lancelot's blue lips.
Putting aside her pocket-watch on the bedside table for now, Lanfen directed one more look at the scarring on her chest, and compared it to the large cicatrix which had been drawn across her entire back by a Distortion's battle-axe. The latter had been dealt to Lanfen before Lancelot saved her life in order to presumably gain the woman's trust. In contrast, Lanfen's new scar was essentially a physical souvenir of Lancelot's intent to personally get rid of an unwanted tool. "Commander." Lanfen subsequently faced their superior with one narrowed eye. "How long was I unconscious?"
"36 hours," Commander Genjuuro answered. "The doctors told me that you needed to spend more than a full day inside a medical pod. Otherwise, your wounds would have been in a far worse shape than they are right now. I made sure to request for Maria to be transferred here for the duration of your recovery, so you need not worry about our recent rift incursions."
A hasty mental calculation by Lanfen estimated the current date to be of the 28th. She could only theorize what Lancelot and Gawain were possibly up to now that they had 'extracted' whatever they desired from her relic pendant. Even though the true purpose behind the Candidate murders continued to elude Lanfen, it was impossible for the Adaptor to just lie down and rest when a countermeasure needed to be prepared using what Lanfen had learned of. "Is the Professor available for a briefing?" she told them, brushing a pair of fingers against the medical shield which kept itself attached to Lanfen's face. "I- There are things I need to tell her. To tell all of you, really."
"You got somethin' important to share?" Yuki half-sarcastically remarked beside the Adaptor.
"... Far more than you'd expect."
Lanfen clicked her tongue before she restrained a pair of aching fingers at her side. She found it easier than before to do so. But the mere fact that parts of her still thrummed with Lanfen's oath to Kai-Ming essentially indicated just how difficult it was to truly leave it all behind. She didn't expect a momentary journey to the border between life and death to instantly change everything. Lanfen would only be a fool to hold such an assumption. Even so, the presence of a few mental obstacles wasn't going to stop her from changing the path which she currently strolled upon, all while clutching on to the power of a cursed Armed Gear.
"It's about our enemy. The one who's behind everything," she said, mentally jotting down how many of their recent situations all connected to a single individual's actions. "The murders, the SG-r04's theft and completion, the attacks by the Illuminati." Lanfen immediately sensed rising perturbation within the Commander at the foot of her bed. "And most importantly of all... the Distortions."
"Tsuchiya, since we're expecting a meeting to be conducted here tomorrow with an international VIP, I want you to personally confirm their arrival at Camp Komakado before escorting them to our vessel. Do bring the gift I've prepared for Captain Yaiba while you're at it."
Kagero's instructions to drive towards a Task Force Harmony facility in the Shizuoka Prefecture was the last spoken order he received before Commander Genjuuro headed for the medical-bay. Having taken off for the foothills of Mount Fuji as soon as a transport was requisitioned, the young man spent the greater part of a 2-hour ride observing the morning skies. An accompanying agent handled the car's steering wheel while Kagero brought up his wrist device to update himself on the situation. Two more incursions had notably occurred since Jiang Lanfen's hospitalization. Due in part to the help of Kazanari Maria, their retaliation to the attacks were concluded without any severe damages.
Processing their identification did not require much time once their vehicle arrived at its destination. On-site security was tight, but the paranormal nature of Kagero's business naturally eradicated any form of bureaucratic delay. After giving an order for his fellow agent to remain inside their stationary cruiser, Kagero made his way through several outdoor facilities, allowing him to observe the land transports, mechanical walkers, and armed squadrons that were on standby for the next anticipated Distortion rift. Everything honestly came off like an unspoken show of force which matched what Kagero expected from Task Force Harmony's primary base-of-operations in the country.
The harsh noise around him went away once Kagero arrived on a meeting room's doorstep. A cursory response from a passing-by officer on the way here confirmed that this was where both Captain Yaiba and Miss Maria currently awaited him. Since the former had indirectly assisted in saving Miss Jiang by fending off an incursion roughly two nights ago without any Adaptor assistance, Kagero held a commendation for the Captain in the form of a small, metallic container. Four bottles of Commander Genjuuro's homemade fruit mix sat inside it, essentially granting the field agent a mundane drink delivery to run alongside his official duties.
Three knocks on the wooden door announced his presence, giving Kagero the cue to make his entrance and lower himself into a sharp bow. Surrounded by the meeting room's relatively-simple interior, Captain Yaiba and Miss Maria sat on opposing sides of a table, their focus initially directed towards the meal trays in front of them until Kagero stood to attention. Both the Captain and the Wielder of Airgetlam subsequently acknowledged him with as much enthusiasm as their haggard postures would allow them.
"Shall I wait for you two to finish breakfast first?" Kagero mused beneath an open doorway, beverage container still held in one hand.
Captain Yaiba loosened the collar of their field uniform with a scarred finger and playfully scoffed at the man. "You can leave your pleasantries at the door, Agent Tsuchiya," the Captain told him, now gesturing over to the newly-wedded Adaptor beside them. "Miss Maria and I have been running around nonstop for nearly two whole days now," they explained with an exasperated shake of the head. "So, we'd appreciate any good news that you have on hand for us."
Nodding lightly in agreement with Captain Yaiba, Maria wiped her mouth clean using a food tray's provided napkin before she fastened her uniform's two-toned necktie. "Have there been any updates from command on our current situation yet?" Maria politely said. "Last I checked, Tomosato informed me that Cassandra was confirmed to be in a stable condition."
"There is nothing urgent to be aware of. But your presence is required back at our vessel, Miss Kazanari," Kagero answered with one hand placed over his chest. "A helicopter will be here to pick you up any moment now, so I'd recommend that you get ready for its arrival." The field agent's statement understandably roused an exhausted sigh from the silver Adaptor. Two rift incursions back-to-back had been a relatively rare phenomenon until just yesterday. And there was only so much a Symphogear-Wielder could do before they succumbed to battlefield fatigue.
"And to think they expect me to do this while also preparing for the New Year's concert," Maria muttered under her breath. "But, that's just how it is," she then added, picking up an emptied meal tray in both hands with a respectful dip of the head which was aimed at the Captain. "You have my thanks for the hospitality, Captain Yaiba. Let's hope for any upcoming rifts to arrive at a far more convenient time, shall we?" Once the Field Captain responded to her jolly musings by means of a dry snicker, Maria excused herself from the meeting room and disappeared through its opened entrance.
Kagero subsequently closed the door, providing some measure of privacy despite how thin the room walls obviously turned out to be. Based on his observations of the area's general layout, the camp's motor pool was apparently located beside the building they stood in, making it impossible for even a split-second to go by without the low, distant rumbling of Harmony's APCs.
"So," Captain Yaiba began, now leaning forward to place their chin in one palm, "would you mind spilling the details about Jiang Lanfen's recovery?"
The agent only answered once he had sat down on top of the nearest available chair. "She regained consciousness roughly two hours ago." Kagero later settled the container he carried atop the room's table, gently laying it down with a light thud. "And if luck continues to favour her, Miss Jiang can expect to be discharged after a minimum of three days." While the Captain nodded along to his update, Kagero thought back to the missing Hida operative whom they had requested to monitor Jiang Lanfen. The attempted killing of the Adaptor Corps' seventh member right after her sentry's sudden disappearance no doubt implied a connection to the individual in the azure suit, Lady Lotte.
"... Do your best finding out what you can from within S.O.N.G., and please do so without finding yourself lost in a forest of retribution. That is my request for you, Kagero."
The words of Grandmaster Ogawa Souji himself resounded akin to a verbal leash around Kagero's neck, prohibiting the part of his consciousness that had sprouted ever since the murder of his fellow shinobi, Morikawa Renge. The sight of her wide-eyed corpse as she laid in a pool of her own ichor could never leave Kagero in spite of his honed fortitude. For all of his training under the tutelage of two different men from the Ogawa bloodline, complete dominance over his emotions had yet to be attained. Which is why Kagero knew how he would've personally undertaken the same fatal journey towards the enemy if he were to ever find himself standing in the same situation as Cassandra Jiang Lanfen.
An unrestrained yawn from the Field Captain extracted Kagero from his reverie, prompting him to politely gesture towards the container he had placed on the wooden table. "Here," Kagero said diplomatically, inputting a 3-digit code into its physical keypad to undo the item's locks, "it's a gift from Commander Kazanari Genjuuro. Since it likely would've been impossible for us to extract Miss Jiang if it wasn't for you and your forces, the Commander wished to show you our appreciation in any way we can."
Captain Yaiba gave another playful scoff before they eyed the provided gift with a shrug of their shoulders. "We were just doing what Task Force Harmony was assembled to accomplish in the first place. But, I won't decline a generous gift. Do pass along my gratitude to Commander Kazanari the next time you see him in-person, Agent Tsuchiya." While Kagero proceeded to alleviate any surrounding tension by retrieving one of the drinks from a container's ice-cold compartment, the Captain motioned for the shelves behind them, quickly fetching a pair of simplistic drink glasses.
The distinct popping of an opened bottle eventually pierced the air.
Two cups were then filled with a rainbow that had assumed the state of a thick liquid.
Once both Kagero and Captain Yaiba were sitting comfortably in their chairs again, the pair clinked their beverages together for the sake of a silent toast.
"... Call me a fool if you'd want," the Field Captain said, drinking glass still held between two scarred fingers, "but I'm surprised by how you haven't brought up the elephant in the room." Wishing to not draw any assumptions, Kagero effortlessly feigned obliviousness without any hints of duplicity. "... The arriving VIP, I mean," Captain Yaiba promptly elaborated. "I've no doubt that both you and Commander Kazanari are finding the secrecy around them to be rather unusual, no? Or is this how it often plays out for what used to be the infamous 'Section Two'?"
"I try to not question my orders whenever possible, Captain," Kagero sharply stated. "I may experience doubt every now and then, but an order from Commander Genjuuro is one which I have grown to hold complete faith in."
The soldier from across the table ended up raising a single brow. "Now you're just making me jealous." Captain Yaiba laughed as the lips of their beverages parted from each other. "Well, just to keep things short, let's just say that the decision to cloud our expected guest's identity came from the world council itself." The Captain then took a curious sip of their drink and noticeably hummed in approval at its taste. "Their craft is expected to land in about half an hour, so I appreciate having a good bottle to pass the time with. Once again, you have my gratitude, Agent Tsuchiya."
Time went on while the pair spent their uneventful morning exchanging pleasantries about the current state of affairs over a couple beverages. Admittedly, the dissimilarities between their respective lines of work made it difficult for Kagero to craft a convincing conversation. After all, Tsuchiya Kagero was a field agent, and Captain Yaiba Isamu was a soldier. Even with the existence of a paranormal force like the Adaptor Corps, their fields of mundane expertise could not be any more different from one another. At some point, Kagero's attention hovered over Captain Yaiba's bright-green, polycotton armband, immediately conjuring the first genuine topic from the young man in the past half-hour.
"May I ask a personal question, Captain Yaiba?" A nonchalant gesture from the Captain told Kagero to go ahead, so the agent placed his emptied glass back on the table and cleared his throat. "... I would like to hear your personal opinion on Task Force Harmony, specifically as an organization."
Transparent bewilderment drew itself across Captain Yaiba's expression until they poured themself another serving of the Commander's fruit mix, completely emptying their first opened bottle. The Captain soon chugged their glass in one go, almost forcing it down until every drop had been ingested. Whatever managed to spill onto their cheeks ended up being wiped away by a field uniform's sleeve. "Task Force Harmony... isn't exactly what I expected," Captain Yaiba murmured, their syllables concealed by the sputtering of the vehicles outside their walls. "I was honestly looking forward to it being more of a disaster relief force rather than... well..."
The soldier's pupils covertly brought themselves to the window. Mirroring their motions, Kagero witnessed the mechanical walkers which were being routinely supplied to the camp through the use of tether cables and cargo helicopters. The personnel here gave the machines many a nickname. But such details were irrelevant to Kagero outside of the fact that their built-in weapons packed enough ballistic firepower to devastate a whole town. Even then, these legged vehicles were merely the latest tools of Task Force Harmony. Kagero had received enough info through the grapevine to learn about the tech which was being funded for an expected long-term conflict against the Distortions.
"At this rate, we're more or less looking to be the world council's private army."
Minutes passed on again, this time in complete silence. Even the noise from beyond the walls ceased to register in Kagero's ears.
Taking great caution when it came to assembling his next words, Kagero closed the drink container between them with the press of a button. "Do you believe that the world could one day return to what it was before, Captain Yaiba?"
"Whenever I'm not wide-awake, maybe," Captain Yaiba said, lifting one hand to weakly tug at their uniform's collar. "But if there's one thing that's keeping me hopeful... it's the VIP we're both waiting for." The Captain's steady words made Kagero perk his head slightly. "... Officially, only a few people beneath my rank are allowed to be aware of their identity. S.O.N.G. will be included in time, of course. For now, you can think of them as a recent addition to the higher branches of our organizational hierarchy."
"May I at least know what to refer to them as?" asked a hasty Kagero.
Captain Yaiba promptly rose up from their chair and stiffened their posture at the distant sound of an approaching helicopter. "You may call them the 'Overseer' of Task Force Harmony."
"The time of our crusade is upon us. Gawain, awaken the instrument."
Tendrils of lightning lashed against Proto-Zero's skin, forcibly dragging her towards the edges of consciousness while a contraption around her face suppressed any ensuing scream. Metal cuffs restrained Proto-Zero's limbs from subsequently thrashing about. Induced sedatives slowed any form of coherent thought. When Proto-Zero's eyes shot open to take in the cylindrical chamber which her body writhed within, the searing electricity abruptly halted, ceasing the woman's agony as her muffled cries turned into a muzzled whimper. For every gasp she desperately attempted to draw beneath her breathing mask, only a smidge of genuine reprieve would actually flow into her battered lungs.
The translucent solution that pervaded her containment tank made it almost impossible to perceive anything beyond its glass exterior. And all endeavours towards recalling why she was even here quickly led to a gaping chasm within her memory, leaving Proto-Zero with only the 'name' she had been branded with.
She eventually spotted movement outside of her cramped cylinder. The motion of two silhouettes. Proto-Zero tried to shriek under the confines of her breathing mask, but the woman's frantic motions were only rewarded by another arc of lightning which whipped her back like a scourge of flagellation. Immediately dreading any further physical retribution, Proto-Zero ceased all manner of pointless resistance, and impotently watched while two tall figures took shape before her chamber. One donned a hooded robe over their slender frame. The other wore an attire of armoured midnight as she carried a crowned helm under one arm, leaving a head of elegant dark-blue hair unbound by any obstruction.
"The subject has been primed for the Remembrancers' indoctrination ritual," the robed individual formally stated, their features concealed behind a silky, translucent veil. "But... is this truly necessary, Knight-Commander Lancelot? Surely, an alternative is-"
The anonymous figure's subtle concerns were silenced by a raised hand from their armoured companion. "Spare it your sympathy, Gawain," Lancelot exclaimed, scoffing. "If you would prefer to have it be aware of what its fabrication entailed, you are welcome to do so." When Gawain gave no manner of response other than to turn their hidden face away, the captor in pitch-black obsidian focused her pupils back onto Proto-Zero's floating body. "Humanity's bio-artistry is adorably primitive," the Knight-Commander whispered sweetly, rapping her knuckles on the containment tank's reinforced glass. "Nonetheless, the Illuminati's gift to us is one that I shall happily include in our armoury."
Lancelot subsequently withdrew her gauntlet to playfully twirl a strand of azure around one finger.
"Rejoice, Proto-Zero," she said, now acknowledging the woman whom they treated akin to purchased goods, "for you have been pulled from the Great River's depths to be granted the privilege of following my direct command." The saccharine tone that permeated Lancelot's tongue only hastened the rising thumping within Proto-Zero's chest. And judging by her captor's growing grin, Proto-Zero's fear was anything except unnoticed. "... Your apprehension perplexes me. Do you not realize what our Artificers have imparted to you? I shan't expect your feeble mind to be anything but rudimentary. Regardless, a small level of gratitude should not be impossible for even the likes of you."
Their golden locks now fluttering from an evident breeze, Gawain continued to cast their sights away from Proto-Zero's chamber while another dose of tranquilizers flooded the helpless woman's nervous system. "... Will she not require a name?"
Lancelot looked at them incredulously. "A weapon has no need for one," the armoured woman sweetly uttered, now turning on one heel to face a cylindrical tank with her uncaring back. "Proto-Zero carries only one purpose. A single mission that shall fuel its soul until the time of its inevitable demise." As she caressed the crowned helmet she held in one arm, Lancelot declared her elegant departure through a series of clanking footfalls. "It shall conquer the world from which its worthless corpse was dug up from. And once Terra Prime is wiped clean of Humanity's rot... it shall be free to accompany the rest of its damnable species under the foundations of our destined paradise."
Hearty delight accompanied Lancelot's conquering footsteps, further deepening the growing chasm inside Proto-Zero's blank mind while the sedatives began to overpower her completely. She fought to keep her eyes open utilizing whatever strength she could miraculously muster. But in the end, all of Proto-Zero's resistance only led into a swirling, unbreakable stupor.
Shinonome Aiko's eyes immediately opened to gaze into a stretch of overwhelming pitch-black.
Freezing sweat dotted her pale-white skin, drenching the woman's bedsheets in salty moisture as she lurched forward in her bunk bed.
Surrounded by a submarine cabin's choking darkness, Aiko clutched on to her shoulders with a pair of trembling hands, physically subduing herself until the pounding of a cursed heart forfeited its frantic momentum. Once the beating within her ribcage eventually transitioned into a steady pulse, Aiko tentatively reached for her bedside drawer, and activated its built-in lamp. The summoned illumination casted a dim, yellow beacon amidst Aiko's assigned quarters, allowing her watery eyes to settle a pair of pupils atop the smartphone which laid right next to her pillow. An ensuing tap of its screen displayed the current time.
Judging by the exhibited numbers, precisely 38 hours had elapsed since Lanfen was escorted into the submarine's Intensive Care Unit.
Seeing the Adaptor's blood-soaked body while she laid on top of a medical gurney had left a permanent mark on Aiko's retinas. Whenever the woman tethered on the brink of slumber, what Aiko witnessed purely because of her own damnable curiosity would repeatedly reiterate itself underneath her eyelids. Thus, as soon as Aiko herself had been discharged from the med-bay's care, she made the unfaltering decision to step into the I.C.U., and stand by Lanfen's recovery pod for hours on end. One-sided conversations would periodically arise between them at random intervals. And yet, Aiko remembered nothing about what she even uttered outside of the objective fact that she had spoken at all.
Naturally, this drew eventual concern from the crew, necessitating an order from Commander Genjuuro himself for Aiko to return to the cabin which had been prepared for her and Lanfen. The room itself provided a generous level of clearance for merely two people. But when only Aiko herself inhabited their personal quarters, its wide space ironically accentuated just how deserted it turned out to be.
Aiko held up a handful of her daily medicine while her back slumped against the cabin's metal interior. Intending to lock her wandering mind on a single task to occupy herself, Proto-Zero wiped away her teardrops before she downed a number of pills one-by-one. Some were ingested without a fuss. Others took more effort than she usually required. Neither honestly mattered. Because once Aiko accomplished the routine of storing her medicine capsules back inside her drawer, she slipped back into her damp blankets, and began gazing at the bed that lied on the other side of the room. Her wrist-mounted multi-tool sat on the cabin's table with its power switched off, occluding any bothersome messages as a living experiment huddled beneath a lamp's comforting light.
A knocking on the door subsequently snagged Aiko's attention. A voice resounded afterwards. "Aiko?" The gentle tone from beyond the entrance surely belonged to Tomosato Aoi. "... Aiko, are you awake?" The pale woman ruminated about remaining silent simply to avoid an undesired conversation. Unfortunately, these thoughts only lasted until the bridge operator explained the reasoning behind her visit. "Lanfen is awake." Aiko's half-covered eyes widened into plates in an instant. "I just thought that you might want to know. And since the doctors say that it's fine to see her, why don't you... come out and pay her a visit?"
A pair of bare feet made contact with the floor within a heartbeat.
Paying no heed to the freezing metal under her soles, Aiko's body threw itself towards the door.
Her fingers were only centimeters away from the entrance's control panel when the woman suddenly halted right in her tracks.
After prohibiting her trembling fingertips from proceeding any further, Aiko sucked in a quivering breath, and drew one foot's worth of distance away from the cabin's door. Every ounce of consolation which initially arose from Tomosato's words slowly bled away into cold, leaden culpability, weaving a tendril that bound the woman's hands until she remembered the lives Aiko had personally snuffed out. They were the souls of a dozen humans. Denizens of a world which had blissfully remained ignorant of what sailed beyond its quarantined solar system. Among the slew of names who were murdered without a face for her to associate with, there was but one whom Aiko could recall, and it was "Cynthia Jiang Kai-Ming."
Cassandra Jiang Lanfen's very own flesh-and-blood.
Aiko swallowed the words she wished to utter before the pale woman dropped onto her knees in front of the room's entrance. The floor was akin to a bed of icy nails. And yet, Proto-Zero submitted her bare skin to their vicious biting without any form of resistance whatsoever. "... I intend to see Lanfen at another time, Tomosato," she stated without hesitation, garnering audible surprise from her colleague on the other side of the door.
"Are you sure about this, Aiko?" were the only words that Tomosato chose to say.
Slowly turning her head towards the coat rack above her room bed, Aiko pursed her lips at the scarf which Lanfen had gifted her while it hung right next to Komichi's lucky charm. Merely gazing at the apparel's black-and-white cloth from under a concealing fringe of silver reminded Aiko of just how little she deserved its embrace, for she was - after all - the one who had irreversibly torn apart a pair of sisters. The monster who had planted an Adaptor on the self-destructive road towards revenge. "It's fine," Aiko reassured her, ironically borrowing a phrase that Lanfen herself often used. "Nevertheless, I will thank you for taking the time to inform me. I'm sure you must be busy."
Ensuing silence floated between her and the bridge operator for what could only be described as an eternity. "Alright then," Tomosato quietly said, "just let us know if you need anything, okay? Fujitaka and I will be on the bridge as usual."
Sensing no more muffled words from beyond the room's door, Aiko listened on to her colleague's fading footsteps until their clacking vanished into the proverbial void along with Aiko's own self-inflicted restraints.
Once every form of noise surely died out around her, Proto-Zero released a breath she did not even know she was holding, and allowed a stream of fresh tears to crash onto the flooring.
Aiko subsequently hauled her pathetic self off the floor and dragged her feet towards the nearest available bed. Such an endeavour turned out to be harder than it should have been when Proto-Zero's eyes refused to cease their constant crying. Intending to put a stop to them utilizing any method other than her bare hands, Aiko approached the base of her bed, and rummaged through her uniform's coat while it lied forgotten on the ground up until now. All she required from the discarded apparel was a single piece of tissue. But the moment Aiko's hands slipped inside its pockets, her prying fingers instead caught the sensation of a sturdy, thumb-sized item which she held no memory of storing within her uniform.
Ensnarled by her growing curiosity, Aiko retrieved the object, and delicately held it beneath a lamp's revealing light.
It was a memory drive.
The very same one that Lanfen gave to her on a Christmas morning. The item which apparently contained archived information about her younger sibling, Jiang Kai-Ming.
Cursed ichor froze within Aiko's veins at the sight of an object she had completely overlooked due to the burdens of the past two days. Proto-Zero swore she had left it behind at their apartment in Yamaku. And yet, here it was, sitting in the palm of a trembling hand as its figurative weight outnumbered the load of its actual mass tenfold. Unable to decide an immediate choice of action regarding the drive she carried, the woman's golden eyes began drifting over to the smartphone on top of her damp blankets.
Whatever possessed Aiko to retrieve her phone, she could not give it a name. But it was the sole reason she proceeded to grab Yuki's Christmas gift just so she could insert the thumb drive into one of its available slots. Suffused with burning inquisitiveness by this point, Aiko accessed the drive's stored contents, and copied them directly over to her smartphone's memory card through the acceptance of a prompt. All this occurred within the timespan of precisely 1 minute. When Aiko eventually heard a confirmatory ring, a single fingertip hovered over the device, and stabbed into its touch-screen, bringing up holographic projections of the first four images that sat within a newly-created folder.
The subsequent holo-projections contributed to the room's dim lighting, almost slicing their way through the surrounding shadows while a quartet of photographs manifested before Aiko's widening eyes.
Every picture contained a young, shining girl within them. A child who had only recently turned 17-years old. A girl who no doubt received the love she deserved from the only family she had left in her life.
And it was all because of Aiko's own two hands that she was forever consigned to the grave.
Fixating her pupils on to the images of times long past, Aiko's fingertip moved of its own accord as it swiped from one photograph to another, summoning photo after photo of a dead girl's recorded life until it eventually concluded with the image of a birthday dinner between Kai-Ming and Lanfen. The brimming smile which Aiko witnessed on Lanfen's expression was one she had yet to see in-person up until now. A sight that Proto-Zero found herself entranced by after a single, momentary glance. Even so, Aiko knew one fact to be true within the depths of her sinful heart, and it was how Proto-Zero carried no right to be the recipient of such a smile after every murder she had perpetrated over the course of one bloody evening.
By the time she received her scheduled dinner tray, Lanfen's body had recovered to the point of allowing its limbs to move without any sensation of numbness whatsoever. Submitted remarks from the medical-bay's personnel refrained her from making any extensive maneuvers for at least 2 days. Obviously, that was an optimistic estimation. Keeping herself in line with the doctor's orders nonetheless, Lanfen wolfed down her meal while a pair of wireless earbuds provided the woman with a means to occupy her auditory senses.
Soft rhythmic tunes graced her ears like droplets from a modest drizzle of rain, establishing a personal sanctuary around the Adaptor for her to recover within. The music originated from a small, square-shaped device which sat atop the room's bedside drawer. Komichi's gifted micro-player. As the item rested itself against a black-and-white belt-buckle, Lanfen paused halfway through her food, and started perusing the text messages she had received from the Adaptor Corps' other Wielders. Tachibana was the swiftest out of the six women to deliver a letter. Not that it surprised Lanfen in any way, of course. She was mostly taken aback by the enthusiastic verbosity of her colleague's message.
Lanfen also made sure to draft up a birthday greeting for Yukine once every received text had been gone over. Recent events made hitting the "Send" button far more difficult than one would expect. Still, Lanfen could not bring herself to ignore a special occasion such as somebody's birthday. When a reminder from Akatsuki's message of all sources dutifully went out of its way to point out how a gesture like this could mean the world to someone, Lanfen swallowed the bundled hesitation inside her throat, and thumbed her smartphone's touchscreen. The readied text was then sent halfway across the globe without another wasted second.
The Adaptor placed an emptied tray aside after scarfing down the remaining half of her dinner, allowing Lanfen to slowly hold up the corpse of a battered, silver pocket-watch. Five twitching fingers secured themselves around its cracked, chrome casing. Resonating pianos and howling saxophones filled her ears. Through the tap of a micro-player's holo-interface, Lanfen lowered her tunes to the bare minimum. An ensuing change in volume gave way for her to hone in on the flames which flickered in the woman's only working eye, all while its pupil took in the vein-like cracks on a chronometer's ruptured dial.
"Luckily for you, she's always been standing right by your side."
Lancelot's words had been ricocheting off her cranium's ringing walls ever since the Commander departed from the room with Professor Elfnein in tow.
There was absolutely nothing to obscure such a straightforward statement. Even then, Lanfen still couldn't believe the implications behind its honey-coated syllables.
Be that as it may, the Adaptor refused to let herself be spun into disarray by the identity of Kai-Ming's killer. By drawing in a practiced breath, Lanfen dampened the proverbial fires within her left eye, and carefully settled Aiko's broken pocket-watch on top of her blanketed lap. In every instance she chose to recall the night where Lanfen first crossed blades with Lancelot, she would always remember witnessing one spectral entity first and foremost: A flame of retribution. The same vengeful inferno which throbbed within Lanfen's pupils. Lancelot possessed a radiance incomparable with any sensation the Adaptor herself had ever felt. And everything it implied only sent shivers through Lanfen's brown skin.
"You know," Yuki suddenly spoke up from the farthest corner of the room, "you're lookin' pretty chipper for someone who just had a run-in with the grim reaper."
Her teammate's off-handed remark fished out an amused scoff from the Adaptor and little else. While the recovery room's ceiling lights buzzed over their heads, Lanfen looked towards the nearby table, and noticed how Yuki was pouring out her fourth serving of pitch-black coffee. Lanfen withheld any comment she carried on her tongue only because the woman clearly needed the caffeine. "Being asleep for nearly two days has its merits," Lanfen dryly replied, combing several fingers through her disheveled hair. "Besides... I've got too much on my shoulders by now to start having second thoughts again about why I became a Wielder."
Yuki chugged an entire mug's worth of coffee in one go before she wiped her mouth clean using a uniform's navy-blue sleeve. "Not gonna let anythin' stop you, huh?" she mused with her back still facing the Adaptor. "I guess an attitude like that just comes with wearing a 'Gear. Can't say I'm surprised in the slightest."
A second tap of a micro-player's holo-interface silenced Lanfen's music entirely. It simply didn't feel right for her to hold a conversation with a pair of running earbuds. Their ambient tunes weren't doing anything to soothe her mind right now anyway. Having spent the whole afternoon lying in bed after providing every slice of information she was willing to give in relation to their enemy, Lanfen now counted on S.O.N.G. as an organization to narrow down what Lancelot aimed to accomplish with the SG-r04's extracted information. Any speculations surrounding the true intent behind the Candidate murders weren't leading anywhere decisive, pushing them to focus only on what they knew so far.
Once Yuki had concluded her business with the room's half-empty coffee pot, the ponytailed woman dropped onto the chair next to Lanfen's bed, and flipped open her wrist device's built-in communicator. While the Adaptor herself felt out her right eye's medical shield, Lanfen took a peek at the forming holo-display on top of Yuki's multi-tool, and quickly spotted the contents of a letter that was still being finalized. Yuki made no real effort to conceal the recipient's listed surname nor its intended destination as she continued editing the digital draft.
The letter was clearly meant for Komichi's parents.
Noticing the ensuing twitching within her sword-hand, Lanfen clicked her tongue before she switched on her phone again, and started scrolling over to a written conversation from almost two days ago. Lanfen then narrowed in on one particular message she received from Yukine and used the archived text to recall a promise she had very nearly forgotten about.
"Look out for Yuki whenever ya can. Even if Yuki insists she's alright, just be there for her."
After gazing into the message's Japanese letters for a full, unbroken minute, Lanfen placed her smartphone beside a broken pocket-watch, and awkwardly cleared her throat. "... Yuki?" The woman's words got her teammate to glance over one shoulder with multiple fingers now hovering still above a wrist device's holo-keyboard. "Since there's no better time than now... I want to tell you something." Lanfen paused. "Only if you're willing to hear it, that is."
Yuki raised one brow and weakly shrugged her shoulders. "Go ahead," she said, dismissing the holographic display which projected from her arm-mounted multi-tool, "it's not like we have anythin' else to do right now anyway. I'd call Tomosato over for a card game, but I'd rather not lose any more of my salary to her, if ya catch my drift."
Lanfen's scarred chest tightened ever so slightly. Her windpipe struggled to choke out the woman's desired syllables. She was essentially gargling cold, rusted needles. "... I wanted to say that I'm sorry," she stated, digging several fingernails straight into her palms, "both for running off on my own... and nearly getting myself killed." At this point, the memory of being on the receiving end of a firearm's barrel was impossible to wipe away from Lanfen's mind. "I can't excuse myself for letting it happen. Not when it would have... only caused more trouble for everyone. Especially for you and Aiko."
Her teammate abruptly halted the Adaptor's words with a raised palm. "... It's fine, 'Fen. Really," Yuki tried to insist, her voice suddenly now a hush whisper. "There's no need to get so sappy when-"
"I'm saying this because I want to help you, Yuki," Lanfen declared, thrusting her words forward like an unstoppable spear. "As your teammate, as your junior, and as your friend... it would only be right of me to give you the same helping hand that you, Aiko... and Komichi... gave to me after I lost my sister." She promptly observed the black-and-white belt buckle that sat on a bedside drawer, and subconsciously felt out the silenced earbuds Lanfen still wore. "... Even if Lancelot is still somewhere out there, that doesn't mean I should just ignore what you're going through all by yourself."
Freezing, palpable silence swelled between the two women. Unsure of what to say next, Lanfen pursed her chapped lips, and hesitantly waited for Yuki to formulate any sort of response.
The soft creaking of metal eventually announced her teammate's continued motions. While the Adaptor remained silent, Yuki leaned her raddled form against the bed's metal railings, both hands now gripping tightly onto her own shaking legs. The ponytailed woman silently fought to maintain her laidback grin. Her right foot frantically tapped onto the metal flooring. Evidently failing in her soundless attempt to bottle up whatever brewed inside of her, a familiar pitter-patter soon resounded in the air as Yuki wiped away at her face with the back of one hand.
"Should you really be saying that, 'Fen...?" she suddenly questioned. "Did you already forget? I'm not entirely blameless either," Yuki continued, shaking her head with an empty, bitter laugh. "If I hadn't told you to go and find Lancelot. To stop her for good... all because that bitch killed Komi'... there's a good chance you wouldn't be lying in med-bay right now."
Recalling their conversation from a while ago on the ship's observation deck, Lanfen straightened her back, and briefly closed her remaining eye for a surge of confidence. "I won't deny anything that happened after we had lost Komichi. Even so... it was my decision in the end to face Lancelot on my own, Yuki." The Adaptor's sword-hand twitched at her side again. This time, Lanfen brushed off its insistent aching, and concentrated a single pupil's attention on her despondent teammate. "My mistakes are my own. And as long as those we care about are cheering us on from the other side... I intend to make up for my faults however I can, whenever I can."
Yuki subsequently drew in a shaky breath before she let out a brief but genuine chuckle. "Honestly..." Having fully regained her typical wit, Yuki turned towards the awaiting Adaptor, showcasing the fresh stains which now marked her reddish cheeks. "... I'm startin' to wonder what went on in that noggin of yours while you were out cold," she steadily told Lanfen, flicking away one last stray teardrop. "You've... You've been acting almost like a whole different person ever since ya climbed outta the grave, ya know?"
"It's what Komichi would've wanted," were the words she desired to say back outright.
Instead, the Adaptor held back her tongue, and shared a moment of faint laughter alongside her teammate.
Somehow, Lanfen had a feeling that Yuki knew exactly what she refused to utter anyway.
Lanfen didn't understand where this instinct originated from. But she didn't question it either.
Eventually, both women realized how there was truly nothing else to add to the conversation. So, Lanfen lifted up one of her bandaged hands, and held it towards Yuki, wordlessly proposing the habitual bumping of fists which her upperclassman never failed to do since their days in Lydian Academy. Yuki merely smirked at the Adaptor's initiative before she completed the gesture through the tender contact of their bare knuckles. Obviously taking into account of Lanfen's physical state, Yuki promptly withdrew her outstretched hand, and wrapped a pair of warm arms around the one-eyed Adaptor. Lanfen couldn't find a way to respond to this other than to allow Yuki to maintain their embrace for as long as she needed.
An electrical ringing from the entrance later announced a visitor's arrival.
Clearly unaware of whoever had chosen to come by, Yuki pulled herself away from Lanfen, and faced the room's parting door to see Kazanari Maria standing right outside in the medical-bay's empty corridors. She was the Wielder of Airgetlam. Japan's current protector. And the oldest member of the Adaptor Corps. Lanfen summoned an arm from her side in order to salute her senior, only for Maria to politely halt the gesture through a smooth wave of one hand. Next to Lanfen, Yuki used a uniform's navy-blue sleeve to clean up the obvious, lingering tear stains on her own face.
"Forgive me if I was interrupting anything important, Cassandra," the tall woman said, stepping inside the recovery room for its entrance to automatically close behind her. "I was hoping to see how you were doing, so I thought I'd drop by for a few minutes while the situation allows it."
A part of Lanfen honestly wondered if it was worth taking a trip to med-bay over contacting her through a video transmission. "... I'm alive, that's for sure," she muttered plainly, momentarily staring at the bandaged bruises that Maria did not seem to be bothered by even in the slightest. "All things considered, the situation couldn't be any better," Lanfen added, lowering her head into a slight bow, "and I only have you to thank for keeping everybody safe in my absence."
"Just make sure to not push yourself too much, yeah?" Yuki pointed out, throwing a teasing grin at Maria. "The last thing we need is for your wife to come flying all the way from Europe just because of a little mess-up during an operation."
After acknowledging both women's words with a confident and unbreaking smile, Maria stepped over to one side of Lanfen's bed, and gracefully placed herself on a vacant seat. She then crossed one leg over the other and drew a curious glance at the monochrome belt-buckle on top of the room's bedside drawer. "Professor Elfnein gave me a brief rundown just now on what you informed her," Maria slowly explained. "All of it... must be a lot for you take in, isn't it?"
A single purple eye directed itself towards the cicatrix underneath Lanfen's collarbone.
"You could say that," she said, almost to the point of complete nonchalance. "Besides... it's not like every other Wielder hasn't gone through something similar." When Maria promptly looked at her with unspoken confusion, Lanfen elaborated on her point with utmost delicacy. "Fine gave Yukine, Kazanari, and Tachibana their powers. The F.I.S. did the same for you, Akatsuki, and Tsukuyomi. So, if I'm going to live up to my duty as a Symphogear-Wielder-" Komichi's words to her on the door to the afterlife briefly echoed within the rear of Lanfen's mind. "-I'm going to have to take my curse... and somehow turn it into a miracle."
The monochrome Adaptor's flowery syllables departed from her lips without any attempt to hold them back. Lanfen knew that she couldn't declare anything else in response to Maria's concerns. But when both Yuki and Maria proceeded to gaze at her with clear, silent wonder, Lanfen's next sentence ended up shifting into an awkward, stupefied mess. Her abrupt fumble garnered an honest smile from Maria, and a round of genuine applause from Yuki, all while Lanfen scratched the back of her neck in complete and utter embarrassment. After dedicating a few minutes to recollect herself, Lanfen gazed down on the pocket-watch which sat on her blanketed lap, and began shifting her mind onto another person whom she held dear to her heart.
"Maria, would you mind... if I asked a favour from you?"
The older woman accepted Lanfen's inquiry without complaint. "What is it?" she said, still smiling from her junior's dramatic declaration.
Lanfen drew in a practiced breath before she slid her freezing fingertips over a chronometer's shattered casing. "I want to arrange a meeting with Tachibana as soon as she's available. I... need her advice regarding a matter I'm trying to solve."