You know, with today's technology, I wonder how difficult it would be to translate all of those I.S. games that were only ever released in Japanese? It would certainly be interesting to experience such niche content. Maybe I should look into that?

Hours after his walk on the beach with Laura and dinner with everyone else, Church was back in the room provided to him by Cecilia. Under normal circumstances, he probably would have been preparing for bed. But right now, his mind was too busy to rest. There was a lot to think about.

The mysterious attacker from earlier today weighed on him heavily. The vague nature of their identity was a huge problem with way too many possible answers. On top of that, he lacked much of a way to learn more information about them. Most importantly of all, this had all brought Church's mounting suspicions to a head.

He'd been somewhat wary of Umbra Stratum, or at least some figure within it, since the Crucible attack. The stolen aircraft, presumably a drone. An attack on the Academy when Church just happened to be there. The odd behavior of the enemy during the fight. The entire thing reeked of some shady behind the scenes shit. Granted, it wasn't that Church believed Umbra Stratum as a whole was crooked, but he couldn't completely discount the possibility. At best, he felt that there was a mole or double-agent around, unless he was to believe that the organization had well and truly been hacked by an outside party.

Admittedly, that would have explained everything: the same unknown party that had attacked Church in Bath could have been the ones who had stolen the SU-60 and attacked the Academy with it. If they had managed to breach Umbra Stratum's network, it would make sense that they knew about him and his mission.

But it felt too convenient: like something Church wanted to believe because it would make shit easy for him. He couldn't just assume that was true and ignore the likely possibility that it wasn't. He at least needed a way to rule out one option or the other. He needed a way to determine how guilty Umbra Stratum was in its entirety, and the only way to do that was to gain access to one of their databases and see what he could find. If everything that had happened thus far was according to some plan of the organization, there would be files: reports, planning, communications, and the like. If they weren't in on it, there would be no such files to discover.

Of course, this left Church with two major obstacles: one, he needed to gain access to an Umbra Stratum database, and that couldn't be done remotely. Those were all closed systems that had to be accessed directly. Which actually raised even more suspicions about outside infiltration, though Church supposed someone could have physically infiltrated a base to actually do that.

Second, Church couldn't just fly to any Umbra Stratum base and ask for database access with top clearance. At best, Umbra Stratum was not guilty of anything more than needing better security, at which point Church was just AWOL. At worst, they were guilty, and Church would tip them off to his wariness of them by revealing his hand so readily. So ultimately, he needed to gain access to an Umbra Stratum mainframe without anyone being any wiser to it. Cerberus had posited a plan to achieve just that a few days ago, though it was a pretty straightforward one: fly to a relatively nearby base, infiltrate it, get the required information, and leave. Oh, and make it back from that expedition in time to keep the girls from becoming suspicious.

All in all... a lot more difficult in reality than it was on paper. And yet, something Church was discussing with Cerberus right now. In light of recent events, he didn't feel like putting off this course of action for much longer.

Why is a base in Sierra Leone the nearest one we have? You're telling me there's nothing in Europe?

Judging by Cerberus' tone, it found Church's question uninformed.

While many European nations are home to United States military bases, few, if any of them, would be willing to allow the presence of a black ops organization base on their soil.

OK, and that's enough to prevent it? Umbra Stratum doesn't have connections in these countries to plant bases in secret?

It's a United States secret military organization, not the Illuminati. It can't just be 'anywhere' in the world with a snap of its fingers.

Since no one else was actually around to hear him do it, Church sighed aloud.

Fine, fine. So Morocco, then? How come we can get a base there?

For some reason, Cerberus snorted.

Do I really need to explain the difference in difficulty between infiltrating Sierra Leona and a major European nation?

Is this something I'm not racist enough to understand?

It's merely an objective assessment of a nation's security, political landscape, and levels of corruption and oversight, Operator. Not all nations have had as fortunate of a past as the majority of Europe. Believe me when I say that it would be much easier for a shadow organization to muscle its way into a poor African country than some place like the UK or France. That's just the reality of the current world.

Well, Church couldn't deny that. He supposed that, relative to the rest of the world, Africa was home to a lot of poor and unstable countries where it would be easy to plant a base because no one was paying attention or because you paid off some corrupt leaders. Not to say that Sierra Leone was some unspeakable hellhole, but compared to many European nations, there were probably a lot less obstacles to Umbra Stratum establishing some sort of presence there.

Besides, it really wasn't all bad. Cerberus had already informed him of the timetable for getting there. It would have been about 9 hours for a normal flight, but most airliners weren't breaking the sound barrier. Church could make it in a lot less, which was good for the narrow window of time he had to act. In fact, if he left right now, he'd probably make it back before anyone even knew he had left...

However, the young man found himself without the chance to make an immediate exit, due to his phone ringing. Honestly, Church was a little surprised: who would be calling him this late? Actually, he was a little anxious to check the device, since he couldn't imagine anyone other than Doctor Warner having a reason to call him at this hour. Still, if it was Warner, Church probably needed to pick up the phone.

And yet, when he glanced down at the screen, Church saw that the displayed number was actually Chifuyu. It had been awhile since Church had spoken to her, and it had only been over text last time. Well, at the very least he was pleasantly surprised. Unless she was calling about something unfortunate...

Church raised the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Do you intentionally go out of your way to try and die?"

"Only on Tuesdays. Do you start all phone calls like that?"

Chifuyu's voice on the other end sounded a little irritable. "Would you prefer that I ask about the weather over there before getting to the actual point?"

Church mentally ordered Cerberus to finalize a flight plan to Sierra Leone while he was on the phone. "If the point is that you're mad at me, then yes, I would prefer if we just beat around the bush."

There was a sigh of sorts on the other end of the line. "I don't think it would be reasonable to get mad at someone for being attacked."

"Oh? Then you must be calling because you were worried about me, right?"

"I'm calling you because I wanted to hear more about what happened. I only heard the rough gist of it from Ichika. Tell me about the I.S. that attacked you, and whatever you can about the pilot. I might know something or be able to find something out. It's all I can do from over here to help."

Church neglected to mention that Chifuyu hadn't denied worrying about him. After all, if she just needed some information, she could have easily gotten it through text. She really didn't need to call unless she wanted to. Church was happy to simply acknowledge that, rather than rib Chifuyu over it. Just how well had he endeared himself to this woman...?

"I'm afraid there isn't too much I can really tell you. It was some sort of spider-like I.S. I know this is going to sound real old right about now, but I'm pretty sure it was a stolen American unit."

Apparently, Chifuyu caught his drift. "I don't want to make a blanket statement, but..."

"But yeah, America needs to keep much better track of its things."

"And the pilot?"

"Can't tell you anything about her at all. She had a helmet on, so I couldn't see her face. And she never spoke, so no hints to glean from that either."

Considering that Chifuyu was trying to be helpful, Church felt bad for lying to her on this front, but he had to. He had already said this same lie to everyone else, so if he had to remain consistent, especially among people that were likely to talk to each other. At any rate, Chifuyu seemed dissatisfied with the answer.

"That's not a lot to go on."

"I know. Sorry. But it really was a quick skirmish. Just a few minutes at best."

"Maybe we could still glean something else. What were you doing when you were attacked?"

For obvious reasons, Church didn't want to go into detail about what exactly he had been doing when shit hit the fan. Chifuyu probably didn't want or need to hear that he and Rin were having romantic troubles.

"I was taking a shortcut through an alley at the time."

Apparently, Chifuyu thought this warranted more explanation. "With Huang, for some reason?"

"Hey, it's a foreign city. Traveling in pairs is just good practice."

Whether or not she believed him, Chifuyu didn't press that line of reasoning further. "Did she try to kill you immediately? Did she shoot at you or Huang first?"

Church knew that the Arachne pilot had fired at him specifically, but he wasn't going to say that to Chifuyu. Even acknowledging that he had been shot at first could potentially incriminate him, in a manner of speaking. After all, why would anyone shoot at Church unless they knew he was a threat somehow? The only possible excuse was that the enemy was just a psycho who wanted to get rid of a bystander just because he was in the way of their actual target. But why even take the risk? It would be better to just provide a vague answer.

"I don't know who she was shooting at. Rin and I were side by side, and I tackled her to the ground when I realized there was danger. So I didn't actually see which one of us the crazy lady was aiming at. But I would guess Rin, since I'd just be an ordinary guy to almost anyone out there."

Chifuyu didn't say anything to contest this notion, So Church supposed his lie was believable enough. "Well, unfortunately there's not much to assume out of any of that... although, I suppose it makes the most sense to assume the assailant was trying to take Shen Long. Which leads me to a certain hypothesis... were you aware that the Academy was also attacked by rogue I.S. in the recent past? Before the Gospel incident."

"Yeah. It happened during an arena match or something, right?"

"Yes. Obviously, there was a lot of investigation into the incident, as the Academy had never been attacked before, and certainly not by rogue, unidentified I.S. Investigations on our own didn't turn up much, but, well... Tabane does have her strengths, which includes knowing about things no one would expect her to. She dug up some information on an organization named 'Phantom Task'. Not enough information to know what their goals are, but apparently they are some sort of terrorist group that steals I.S. I'm not saying we should jump right to this conclusion, but I can't imagine who else would have I.S. of their own and a reason to attack a Representative Candidate in public."

Church mentally switched to Cerberus.

Can you find any information on that?

The answer was quick and unhelpful.

Not with what I can access at this time. A few rumors or unsubstantiated claims here and there, but nothing worth noting. The few mentions of this organization that I can find at this juncture are more akin to neckbeards discussing the Illuminati than anything else.

While he had hoped for more, Church knew that complaining wouldn't change anything, so he turned his attention back to Chifuyu. "That definitely sounds like a strong possibility. After all, the enemy pilot was using a stolen I.S. Still, what would they even be collecting them for? Even with how powerful I.S. are, it's not like they could go toe to toe with the whole world or anything."

"There's no point in speculating on that. Now that Tabane is finished with your suit, I think I'll crack the whip on her and see if she can dig up something more substantial on them. If this attack was orchestrated by these people, we need to know more about them. Sorry to have bothered you so late at night. I just wanted to confer with you since you were involved. That, and... professional concern, of course. Even if you aren't technically under the Academy's watch right now, it wouldn't look good for you to get hurt while under the care of our students."

Church shook his head, wondering how difficult it was for this woman to admit to normal human things like personal concern. Oh well, he would take what he could get, even if it came disguised as something purely professional.

"Well, thanks for asking, Chifuyu. I'm sure Rin will be jealous that I get special treatment from you. I suppose I should pay you back with more music recommendations?"

Somehow, Church could see the mild fluster on the woman's face as she spoke to him. "I told you, it's not about special treatment or lack thereof."

For a moment, Church thought she was going to hang up on him right there, but after a moment's silence, the elder Orimura continued.

"...and yes, you should. Unlike some people, I have to work for a living, so I'm hanging up now. Stay vigilant out there."

"Will do. Try to get some halfway decent sleep."

To this, the woman scoffed. "I know better than to promise that."

With that, the call was ended, leaving Church in silence as he unwittingly smiled to himself. Despite her tough countenance, Chifuyu could be kind of cute too. And he was probably one of the only people that even got to see that side of her, even if it was a casual working friendship. Although, maybe that said more about how few people Chifuyu talked to than it did Church's ability to endear himself to her.

Operator, I have finished plotting our flight path to the Umbra Stratum base in Sierra Leone. I recommend getting underway as soon as possible.

I agree. If we could be back before anyone actually notices that we're gone, that would be ideal. Before we go though, I do have to ask a question: isn't that chip that Umbra Stratum implanted in me going to be a problem? It tracks my position, so they'll know I paid a visit to the base in question, won't they? And even if we jam it, won't that be a reason to arouse suspicion as well?

Cerberus did not seem troubled by these questions in the slightest.

Fear not, Operator. Naturally, I have considered this issue already. I will simply spoof the system to make it seem as though you never left this location. Overall, it's quite similar to how a VPN would work. At any rate, any potential issues that the chip would present, I have nullified.

Though he knew that something along these lines had been asked before, Church felt the need to reiterate something.

And breaking all of these rules and going directly against Umbra Stratum: none of that is a problem for you? You've got no issues with any of it?

As I said before, Operator: the longevity of both you and the Exeter Suit are my top priorities. In our current situation, both are under threat. Our course of action is the best choice in order to mitigate the dangers that are currently faced.

And what if we find out that these current threats are actually coming from Umbra Stratum in the first place?

Cerberus was silent for a moment.

That will likely be complicated. But ultimately, my prime directives are still in your favor, Operator. We will simply have to see what we can find.

Honestly, that answer was quite as reassuring as he would have liked, but Church figured he should just accept what he could get. The fact that he could get Cerberus to defy Umbra Stratum at all was already quite a major boon.

With that in mind, the young operative allowed Exeter to manifest around his body before taking a few steps towards one of the windows in his room. He'd have to fly silently to avoid bothering anyone initially, but he wouldn't have to get too much distance before he could really gun the engines.

Leaping out of the window and smoothly taking to the skies, Church glanced back at Cecilia's mansion, nestled against the coast. Looking at it from above made it even more clear how magnificent it truly was. Hopefully, nobody was looking out of any of its windows right now, though they would be hard-pressed to see him even if they were. Once he was far enough away, and after Cerberus assured him that they could avoid detection by any official entities, Church pushed the engines and began his flight across the ocean.

Admittedly, while it was already quite late, it was plenty possible that someone would try to check on him in his room for something. The door was locked, so they wouldn't be able to investigate unless they broke it down or decided to go through the windows. Church didn't think any of them would do that though. If they knocked enough and got no answer, they would probably just assume he was sleeping. Even so, he had made sure to organize his pillows in a way that would make it look as though his bed was occupied. At least if anyone peeked through a window, that would probably throw them off.

But it never hurt to be as prepared as possible, which was why Church also had backup plan in case someone actually found out that he had left during the night. Well, a backup plan aside from 'I felt like flying around or something'.

If the mission ended up taking longer than anticipated for some reason, Church would stop by a few places and buy some presents, proclaiming that he had simply disappeared for a bit because he wanted to surprise everyone. He felt a bit bad about using generosity as a distraction for his nefarious schemes, but it was a good idea. Besides, technically his current scheme was pretty moral...

Unfortunately for Church, he had come up with this plan before even leaving the mansion, so he currently didn't have much to do as he made a several-hour long flight towards Sierra Leone. Unlike a normal aircraft, it was kind of hard to fall asleep in the position Exeter needed Church's body to be in to fly. So he was probably going to need a way to entertain himself during this long flight.

Well, he did have something kind of important to think about... what was he going to do when his delaying tactics against the girls didn't work anymore? And how many girls did he actually have to come up with a strategy for?

Rin had pretty much openly confessed to him, so there was no room for doubt there. Laura hadn't been quite as straightforward about it, but Church felt that it was pretty clear that she liked him too. He wasn't quite sure about Cecilia: the two of them had certainly been hanging out quite a bit, and they had some unique shared interests. But Church couldn't say for certain that it was a romantic buildup, as opposed to them being friends. On the other hand, he had noticed that Cecilia often spent less time with Ichika and more time with him these days, and that probably wouldn't have been the case unless she was starting to feel a certain way about him.

Ordinarily, Church would have been very happy to know that he could pull this many extraordinary girls, but for reasons he'd already cemented, it was probably a bad idea to let any of them go anywhere spicy. And if these were normal girls, Church could probably just coast by, simply by never asking any of them out. After all, in most modern societies, there was a general notion that it fell to the man to ask the woman out, and if he never did, then it just never happened.

Granted, Church thought that whole idea was bullshit in and of itself, but in this particular scenario, it would have been helpful if it were true. Unfortunately, he got the feeling that it wasn't. The girls in question were already used to frustration from having a guy not pick up on their subtle hints and less subtle feelings. They probably wouldn't be willing to pine for some unrequited love for nearly as long as they had before. If they went too long without any progress being made, Church imagined the girls would be very upfront with their feelings, which would give him a lot less wiggle room in dealing with them.

He wasn't sure what he could do to avoid a relationship other than outright telling them that he wasn't interested. He didn't want to lie in such a way for a few reasons: one, he didn't want to hurt people he cared about in such a manner. And two, it would just add awkwardness and tension to the group of friends, which would impact the ease of Church's mission.

So he had to come up with increasingly creative ways to hold them off. Play dumb? Act shy and bashful? Claim that he already had a girlfriend back in the States? Each option had glaring problems, but Church doubted he was going to find an ideal solution that wrapped everything up in a neat little bow.

Besides, even if his mission wasn't a major reason for all of this to be a problem, there were other issues to worry about. For instance, balancing the fact that he had multiple girls that might want a relationship with him. It wasn't like he could just say yes to everyone, because he doubted sharing was on anyone's mind. And in that case, what was he supposed to do? Say yes to the first person who asked and tell everyone else tho piss off? Pick and choose his supposed favorite and leave everyone else to cry about it?

Even if he had to pick a favorite, Church wasn't sure he could do that. Rin was a blast to be around, absurdly cute, and knew how to cook. Laura was cool, confident, exotic and charming. And Cecilia shared a lot of his hobbies and interests, and was packing more upstairs heat then the other two. Even though Church was more of an ass man, that wasn't to say that he disliked boobs, and it wasn't like Cecilia was lacking a nice derriere either...

Truly, this might have been far more complicated than the actual official shit Church had to deal with. That was probably why he was able to spend most of his flight to Sierra Leone dwelling on just this situation. But as time passed and he got closer to the installation in Africa, Cerberus broke his concentration on those thoughts so it could discuss the game plan for infiltrating the base.

Operator, we will soon be near our destination. There are a few things I must inform you of before we arrive.

Go ahead.

First of all, we will need to get to very low altitude before we are in range of the base's radar detection systems. While we are both small and have stealth capabilities, it is impossible to guarantee that we will not come up on enemy radar while approaching from the air. In a casual situation, we could simply hope any radar would write us off as a bird or a mere anomaly, but if you want to take as few risks as possible, we should reach ground level while outside of the radar range. Not to worry, Exeter can still cover ground quite swiftly on foot.

Fair enough.

Honestly, Church felt that something as small as Exeter could probably still fly even a few feet off the ground, but that would probably be difficult depending on the constant terrain changes. Running in on foot would probably be quick enough even still. Unfortunately though, Cerberus wasn't quite done yet.

There is also the matter of the suit itself. Operator, I can jam the base's detection of the Exeter suit, but this presents us with many problems. First of all, even if I can jam the enemy's detection of the suit, they will know they are being jammed. Despite not knowing why, they will be alert and on edge, and possibly know to look for infiltration. Moreover, Exeter is an Umbra Stratum design: while I doubt every member of the organization knows what it looks like, if they do see it and make a report to their superiors, it will probably be identified rather quickly. Ideally, we will not be seen during this infiltration, but we should not operate on the assumption that avoiding detection is guaranteed. Are you willing to kill anyone who may visually identify us?

Church didn't have to dwell on that for very long. It wasn't that he was against killing people at all, but only if it was deserved. Even if Umbra Stratum was actually up to no good, Church didn't think he could write off every person inside the base as deserving to die.

No.

Cerberus didn't actually seem surprised by this answer.

I thought not. Operator, taking these things into consideration, we are left with only one option: you will need to deactivate the Exeter suit and infiltrate the base without it. In doing so, you will be able to avoid both problems we have discussed. Of course, I'm sure you know this comes with many risks of its own.

Yeah, like getting shot full of holes if a guard sees me.

Indeed. I will still be able to assist you with my functionalities, and admittedly, if push comes to shove, the suit can be mobilized quite quickly. If we can infiltrate the security systems, I should be able to ensure that you don't encounter any armed guards, but there is no guarantee. You could most definitely be injured. If this is unacceptable to you, you must be ready to terminate anyone who notices you while the suit is equipped.

I understand the risks. We'll do it without Exeter equipped.

Very well. We are almost there. Proceed to ground level. I will instruct you when we must deactivate Exeter.

Church followed the instructions he had been given, quickly reaching the ground below. Frankly, Sierra Leone didn't look like what many people probably considered Africa to look like. For one, it was near the coast. Two, most people only had a very limited idea of what other places in the world looked like: generally, whatever movies presented to them most frequently. The current locale was fairly lush, with plenty of trees and grass and plants, not at all like the Savannah or desert many people probably envisioned. Yeah, it definitely would have been difficult to fly at ground level here.

Cerberus put up a display in his HUD that told Church how far he would have to run: a distance measured in dozens of kilometers. Exeter would be doing most of the work, but just the motion of Church's legs for that long would be pretty tiring. Too bad he didn't have a choice if he wanted to minimize risk as much as possible. Knowing there was nothing to be done about it, Church put power to the leg servos and launched himself into a sprint, hoping he could cover the distance before him in less than two hours.

Considering the 65 kilometer an sprint, and the ability to fly low in some areas, the trip actually didn't take as long as Church had feared. That said, when he reached the point Cerberus had made out for him, it wasn't like Church was at his destination: this was just as far as he could go with Exeter equipped. Any further and he would be close enough to be detected as friendly equipment by Umbra Stratum systems. Those systems could be jammed, but as Cerberus had pointed out earlier, the very act of jamming the enemy would tip them off to something being amiss.

Still, Church was breathing pretty heavily after the distance he had covered, so before he deactivated the suit, he allowed its diagnostic systems to inject him with whatever was necessary to keep him going at a decent pace: mostly adrenaline and plenty of oxygen thanks to having a respirator built into the helmet. Once Church felt somewhat revived and steadied, he allowed Exeter to fade away, its motes of light scattering to the dark skies above Africa. It was currently early morning, and he still had a good six or seven hours to get back to Cecilia's mansion before anyone would reasonably notice that he was missing.

Alright, so I'm good to walk from here, right?

Affirmative, Operator. We will be approaching a ventilation shaft that helps the base exchange air with the outside. It's the best way in, though it will not be entirely pleasant.

Already coming up with a few reasons why that may be the case, Church simply sighed and started walking forward, ignoring the slight cramps in his legs and being thankful for the night sky. Sierra Leone may have been a coastal country, but it was still warmer here than he was used to. Church was glad to be doing all of this away from the light of the sun.

Unfortunately, without Exeter to help him, this leg of Church's journey took an hour in and of itself, even with him jogging at a decent pace. There were several reasons for that: one, it was a fairly physical jaunt. He was in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't like there were any neatly paved roads or even dirt paths to follow. It was all wilderness hiking. On top of that, once he got closer, Church had to take a lot of detours at Cerberus' behest: even though there was little reason to worry about an infiltration way out here, this was Umbra Stratum they were talking about: they had security measures out here as well, though it was mostly just cameras.

Still, he did ultimately reach his destination: which was little more than a square hole in the ground with a grate over it, just barely peeking out of a hill. Out here in the middle of nowhere, it was the only conspicuous thing around to break up the wilderness. Kneeling down to it, Church placed his hand over the grate and felt the hot air coming out of it. Well, this was going to fucking suck, wasn't it?

After asking Cerberus if he could, Church manifested just the gauntlet of Exeter so he could break the grate holdings and make an opening for himself. That only took a moment, which Cerberus did offer jamming for, since it was brief. If anyone on the base even picked up on it, they'd likely write it off as a small blip. After all, who would jam their sensors for just thirty seconds?

For two reasons, Church took off the red jacket he usually wore. For one, red wasn't a very good color for stealth, and Church had a black shirt underneath it. Granted, black actually wasn't an ideal stealth color either, since pure black was a very unnatural color that people could pick out even in shadows, but it was still better than red. The second reason was simple: that ventilation shaft was probably going to be sweltering, and there was no reason to make it worse than it had to be. Seeing a nearby tree branch he could hang it on, Church did just that.

Taking a deep breath, Church slid into the vent, which unfortunately began with a big vertical drop. Thankfully, the vent itself was a bit spacious, so Church was able to shimmy down it without having to make a complete drop. He felt a bit like the Grinch, trying to steal Christmas from the Whos. It was also pretty dark down here, as it wasn't like the ventilation shaft needed lights. He had to rely on Cerberus guiding him through the ventilation system, with schematics that it had pulled up before they ever departed from England. Apparently, that information was not top secret, and thus remotely accessible to the A.I.

That at least meant that Church could move through the vents as quickly as possible, because he was already sweating like a fat man's pony. If only the mainframe he was trying to get to was a little closer to his entry point...

After a good fifteen minutes of shimmying, crawling, and scooting, Church made it to a grate that overlooked a hallway within the base. Though he was eager to get out of here as soon as possible, the young man didn't pry it away immediately, instead choosing to observe the hall below for a minute and see if anyone would pass below him. If there was one thing Church knew very well about Umbra Stratum, it's that all of the guards were trained to shoot unregistered suspicious persons on sight. There wouldn't be time to identify himself as a fellow operative before they filled him with holes. That being said, Church was extremely careful in removing the next grate he came to, only after ensuring that there were no personnel in the halls below him first.

Even after that, he jumped down to the floor below him only after Cerberus assured him that there were no security systems that would detect him when he reached that point. As he looked around the area, Church came to realize that Umbra Stratum interior design was quite uniform regardless of locale: this place was hardly any different than the one in Nevada. The walls were still made of dark steel, illuminated only LED lights and door consoles every few yards. The place was still deathly quiet, populated only by the hum of hidden machinery. It was a functional installation, built for a purpose and dedicated to that purpose. If there was one thing Umbra Stratum didn't do, it was waste resources. Time, money, manpower: if they were going to use it they were going to make sure their purpose was achieved. No frivolity was accepted.

Cerberus guided Church to a nearby door console, assuring him that it could gain access to the base's security measures from here: Cerberus wouldn't be able to turn them off, but it could know where they were and guide Church around them. Once that was done, Cerberus tapped into Church's ocular network and displayed a line that would guide him directly to the nearest information terminal. It was strange to see something through the naked eye that you knew was not really there, but Church had experienced so many similar sensations through a HUD that it did not phase him much anymore. Cerberus took the time to highlight threats as well, outlining the dangers of the base in the form of guards, security cameras, auto-turrets, and laser tripwires. Standard fare for any Umbra Stratum facility, but still considered overkill even by most military standards.

Thankfully, the security was relatively light. While all of those measures existed, they did not exist in great numbers. Apparently, whatever went on in this base was not important enough for Umbra Stratum to double down on security for.

Church slid along the hallways of the base, careful to stick to any shadows he could find, which were unfortunately few and far between. The nature of the halls left little to darkness, but with the help of Cerberus' guidance, Church managed to avoid security patrols simply by avoiding close proximity until they moved down other paths. In the end he managed to slip, slide, and crawl his way past almost anything that would have alerted the base to his presence, and he soon found his way to the room he was looking for, protected by a sliding steel door labelled 'Operations.'

This is where things were going to get dicey. It was practically guaranteed that there would be personnel inside of the operations room. In fact, Cerberus had already identified them, and there were three, plus two guards that watched the door. Sneaking in would be absolutely impossible. He would have to incapacitate them all, quietly and quickly enough to prevent the alarm from being raised. On the bright side, he could use some of Exeter's systems here. The people who would be on the lookout for jamming were in this room, meaning Church could use parts of the suit without Cerberus having to jam them.

On the other hand, he still couldn't manifest the entire thing. He was only going to incapacitate the room's occupants, meaning they might get a good look at him. He didn't need them getting a full description of the entire Exeter suit, so Church would have to be minimalist with what he used. At least then the best they could do was 'some guy with weird equipment' in a report to their superiors.

With that in mind, Church readied both of Exeter's gauntlets, equipping each of them with multi fire tasers. Completely useless against IS, but one of the useful leftovers from the production stage in which Exeter had been an infantry weapon. All he had to do was open the door, quickly stun everyone, and get the information he needed before slipping back out of the base. And with Cerberus painting all the targets in the room and aiding in targeting he could easily do just that, even against the highly trained U.S. security personnel. After all, man alone was no match for man and machine together.

Still, even though he was fairly confident that he could do this, Church wasn't reckless. Thus, he allowed the chest piece of the suit to form as well. At the very least, he wanted his major organs protected if someone did manage to squeeze some shots off at him.

Now that he was as prepared as he could be in this situation, Church took a deep breath, his nerves being pretty calm considering what was about to happen. Well, it probably helped that he had been shot at before, and knew what it felt like to be under fire. Ironically, the last people to shoot at him were also from Umbra Stratum... in a manner of speaking. Ready to do what he came for, Church let Cerberus go to work on the door between himself and his enemies, and readied his stun weapons to take care of a business. Being the advanced A.I. he was, Cerberus took very little time to get the door open, and as expected, the U.S. personnel inside were quick to react when an unannounced arrival made himself known. Umbra Stratum at least knew how to avoid second rate guards.

Even so, they were only human, and no amount of training would make them faster than machine-assisted targeting, especially if they were caught off guard. Cerberus guided Church's aim as he stepped into the room, making corrections to his movements as needed to ensure a perfect shot every time.

Within a second of the door opening, Church had already fired taser darts into the necks of the only armed guards in the room, both of whom had been standing to the sides of the door. To their credit, the few desk jockeys in the room reacted pretty quickly, scrambling for an alarm or a weapon in moments, but they all found themselves likewise dispatched before they could do any such a few seconds of the door opening, five men were stunned and convulsing on the ground. He felt a little bad about it, but Church shot a few extra darts into each of them so they would really be too busy passing out or writhing around to get a good look at him.

With all potential threats incapacitated for the moment, Church wasted no time in moving for a computer console that would likely hold the information he was looking for before some diligent individual felt like checking in with this room.

Thankfully, Cerberus could probably make this quick. With his hacking abilities, Church doubted he would be in here for more than a few minutes. What took him the longest would probably be sifting through the things he found. Still, regardless of how fast Cerberus was, time was of the essence, so Church went ahead and brought the A.I. to the access point he would need to actually investigate Umbra Stratum's files. As expected, Cerberus had nearly every operation Umbra Stratum had ever conjured up available for reading on a holographic display in half a minute; past, present, and future.

Unfortunately Church would have no choice but to investigate every single one of them. He could leave no stone unturned, but clearly there was no time for that here. He told Cerberus to begin downloading all of the files while he quickly browsed them. Some of them he recognized, though most he did not. Operation Sheer Force was a total war contingency plan as a response to the potential alliance of any two world powers, though the caution had been mostly geared towards Russia and China. Operation Rebel Yell was a contingency plan in the case of military defeat at the hands of an invading force, in which case U.S. members would engage in guerrilla warfare indefinitely. These were operations of a low enough security clearance that even Church had been able to access them back in Nevada. After all, they were purely hypothetical responses to incredibly unlikely circumstances.

But the one operation that caught Church's eye the most was the most recent of their number: something called Aggregate Paragon. What was even more striking was the fact that this file required Level Nine clearance to access. He hadn't even known there was a clearance level above eight.

Cerberus, I need access to this file, now.

Of course, Operator.

As expected of his A.I. helper, Church was quickly afforded access to the file he wanted to investigate, which he wasted no time in inspecting. Time was short, after all.

Following the destruction of the Silver Gospel and the coinciding failure of Operation Fairchild, we've no choice but to fall back to the Contingency Operation Aggregate Paragon. Cooperation with Phantom Task is regrettable, but necessary. Once the Operation is completed they can be removed at our leisure. The primary objective is to gather necessary data for Valravn via field operations. Upon coalescence of a sufficient amount of data, Valravn will assume control of-

Before Church could continue, the display before him turned entirely red, and his holographic image of the file was immediately blocked out, replaced only with bold flashing text that read 'unauthorized access'.

Cerberus, what's happening?!

It appears there is a complex fail safe order in place to prevent unauthorized access to this file. I was unable to detect it before activation. How could it have been hidden so well...? Operator, it is possible that security personnel may have been alerted. We should leave immediately.

Church cursed to himself as he prepared to make an escape. Even if he had to fight his way out, he still couldn't let any Umbra Stratum personnel identify him. If word of this quintessential treachery made it back to the Commander, Church would be in deep shit. Definitely deeper shit than he had ever been in before, and that was saying something.

We're going out the way we came in, and fast. Let's get the hell out of here!

Booking it back out into the base hallways, Church had to intentionally slow himself down as he came up to security cameras and other measures. Even on his way out, he couldn't be identified by anyone. Still, with full knowledge of where everything was, he managed to get back to the vent that had facilitated his entry very quickly. Surprisingly, no alarms went off in the base, and no squad of guards came running during this entire time. Still, he had no guarantee that someone hadn't been alerted and that no one was coming, so Church wasted no time in climbing back into the vent when he arrived. To the best of his knowledge, no one had identified him, and no one would know who had infiltrated the base even if it was clear an infiltration had occurred.

Hopefully, it would be impossible for anyone to know which files he had looked up. But even if they did, he doubted anyone would think he specifically had flown all the here from England to snoop on something. When he got back to the surface, Church grabbed his jacket and fled into the surrounding hills, still unable to take to the skies lest someone pick him up on a radar. A small part of him acknowledged that this whole trip had taken longer than anticipated, and that he would be pretty late getting back to England. But a much bigger part was focused on what he had learned: so little, but still something important.

Umbra Stratum was either in cahoots with Phantom Task or planned to be at some point. While they had not confirmed it, Chifuyu believed the I.S. that attacked him in Bath may have been from that very organization. This didn't tell Church much, as he still had no clue what anything else in that file had meant or was talking about. But at least he had one more piece of the puzzle, and one that told him he couldn't trust Umbra Stratum much at all.

Now he just had to figure out what to do with that information.

If there was one thing no one could ever really miss when it came to eating at a table, it was the absence of someone who was supposed to be there. When everyone gathered for breakfast that day, no one missed the fact that Church was not present at the table with everyone else. At first, it had just been assumed that he was sleeping late, but that assumption had been met with no confirmation. Knocking on his door resulted in no response from his room, and the young man hadn't answered his phone when texted either. Rin had suggested that someone try and peer into his window, but for now, everyone seemed to think that was a little too invasive.

Rin thought that was a bit odd, because she at least was pretty worried about the fact that he just happened to be absent from seemingly the whole mansion. That, or he was locked up in his room not responding to anyone for some reason. The other girls seemed content to think that maybe he was just sick or so deep in sleep that he didn't notice anyone trying to check on him, but he could have passed out or something too, right? What if he had a stroke or a heart attack or some other crazy thing?

Granted, he was kind of young to be having any of those, but it wasn't like it was impossible. He had only just recently survived being blown up, so it was possible that he could have been enduring some weird side effects no one had seen coming. Rin had yet to raise these concerns, mostly because everyone would probably just call her paranoid. Still, she couldn't stop worry about it.

Even though everyone was busy eating, Laura must have picked up on Rin's unease, because she commented on it between bites of her breakfast.

"Wherever he has gone, I am sure Church can take care of himself. Besides, for all we know he has simply gone for a walk on the beach this morning."

Considering that Rin had been making special items for Church's breakfast these past few days, Rin wanted to say that he never would have skipped on a morning with her for a solitary walk on the beach, but perhaps that would have sounded a little vain. "Maybe, but I feel like he would have let someone know before disappearing like that. And what, he didn't take his phone with him?"

"Perhaps. He could also just have it on silent or something. There are plenty of possibilities."

Houki glanced up from her plate on the table. "Actually, I have to admit that I'm a little bothered by something, since he isn't here right now. Church didn't tell any of us that he got his suit back until he had to. Does no one else find it concerning that he didn't tell anyone?"

Admittedly, Laura was a little curious as to why Church had not shared that information. But she was also capable of writing it off instead of being paranoid about it. "We're not his keepers, Houki. He's not really obligated to tell us anything. Besides, we're on vacation. He probably didn't think it needed specific mentioning."

"Still, if he trusts us I can't see why he wouldn't share that info."

Charlotte glanced over at the Kendo practitioner. "Houki, it almost sounds like you're trying to accuse him of something."

Houki folded her arms. "I didn't say anything like that. It's just odd, especially when you consider that he's missing in action today too. He obviously intended to slip away from us, and that's suspicious no matter how you look at it."

Honestly, Ichika didn't see why it was anyone's business where Church had gone or why. He was his own man, more than capable of going his own way when he so chose. Even so, the younger Orimura felt kind of bad that everyone was worried, suspicious, or bothered, and he imagined that Church would catch some flak for it when he returned. Figuring that he could do his fellow man a solid, Ichika sought to divert the girls' attention a bit.

"Maybe he just wanted some time to himself? He's hardly gotten a moment to himself with all of you around him all the time."

Ichika knew this was going to get some of the girls irate, but that was fine. He was used to it. Cecilia was the first to express her displeasure with the sentiment.

"Excuse me, are you trying to imply that we're a nuisance to him?"

"I didn't say that. It's just, y'know... Rin's usually got him locked down for breakfast, you're dragging him down to the basement on the regular, Charlotte's got him talking to her in the evenings about guns and stuff..."

Laura piped up to make an addendum, though part of her said she probably shouldn't. Oh well, she just wanted to brag a little bit. "And I think I'll be taking some of his time late at night now. I see your point, Ichika."

Rin cocked an eyebrow in her direction, though she didn't get the chance to say anything since Charlotte said something to Ichika first. "Oh, uh... I didn't know you had picked up on that. Sorry, maybe I'll cut it back a bit..."

Ichika's answer was swift and, in the eyes of the girls, brutal. "Why? I don't mind. You both seem to enjoy it."

"Y-yes, but... that's time that we could... oh, nevermind..."

As usual, most of the girls wondered if Ichika could really be so dense. But then again, had Ichika ever shown jealousy about how any of them spent their time, or with who? Maybe it was their fault for expecting him to be so invested. Of course, for Charlotte the agitation was even greater, since she and Ichika were actually in a relationship. Did he really not care at all that she was spending time with another guy? It wasn't like she was cheating on him or anything, but a girl could be forgiven for thinking her boyfriend would want to spend more time with her.

As for the other girls, Cecilia seemed to voice their collective doubt now that Ichika had brought it up. "You don't really think he needs to get away from us do you...?"

Rin's expression soured at the thought of it. "He'd better not. He'd have to be a moron to not appreciate me cooking for him regularly! It's not like I enjoy getting up early on its own merits."

Admittedly, Laura was a little nervous about that situation. Church had admitted to her that he wasn't outright in love with Rin, but that didn't mean his feelings wouldn't change later. Rin had been getting more direct about her feelings for the young man, and Laura imagined that a girl who could cook well scored some major bonus points when it came to a man's affection. Laura could try and learn to cook well herself, but Rin had years and years of experience and knowledge on her. She'd never be able to compete.

Still, Laura had her own charms and strengths. She just had to figure out what she could tout as an equivalent strength. In the meantime, it would be best to act unbothered by any of this, so she poked some fun at Rin to deflect any attention from herself.

"What an excellent wife you'd make, Rin..."

For obvious reasons, Rin's face took on a rather crimson hue, but contrary to many expectations, she didn't blow up or deny Laura's comment or anything. Short of looking incredibly flustered, Rin didn't actually seem particularly displeased with the insinuation. Well, Laura hadn't actually expected her to be, but the fact that the brunette took such an implication this well meant she was probably well and truly committed to her new feelings.

Admittedly, Laura felt a little bad about committing herself to the same man as Rin at this point. They had already done this song and dance with Ichika, and it hadn't gone particularly well for any of them. It was a bit of a cruel twist of fate that the girls would be repeating the whole thing but with the next guy they met. But hey, what were they supposed to do? They went to an incredibly exclusive all-girls school with very few breaks and vacations, and some of them, like Laura, had almost no social life outside of it. It wasn't like they were meeting a whole lot of boys to pay attention to.

With that in mind, Laura felt pretty justified. It wasn't like she was vying for the same guy Rin liked just because Rin liked him. They just both happened to like the same guy, just as before. As for how it would play out. Well, only time would tell.

But speaking of that guy she liked, Laura couldn't help but feel that Houki actually made a valid point. Church's behavior was a little suspicious, she couldn't deny that. She could write off the fact that he hadn't told them about his re-acquisition of the Exeter suit: it was well and truly possible that he had just not seen any particular reason to mention it. After all, aside from maybe sparring sometime during this vacation, what difference did it make? No one had expected any reason to legitimately need the suit during their stay here. It wasn't relevant to anything anyone had been doing, so it was believable that Church had just not felt it important to mention.

But as for being mysteriously absent without a word today, that was a bit harder to rationalize. Church wasn't the kind of person to up and disappear without telling anyone at all, in Laura's opinion. But suspect as it was, Laura didn't truly think there was anything bad behind his disappearance. Maybe he really did need some time to himself? Sure, many people would think his situation was enviable, but everyone wanted some alone time, and Church didn't get much of that on a daily basis. Or maybe he had just decided to head to town for some reason? He could have also been required to do something by his superiors following the debacle yesterday.

Regardless of the explanation, Laura had faith in him. He had more than earned the benefit of the doubt in her eyes. Unless some irrefutable evidence came up of his wrongdoing, she would have faith in him. There was definitely an explanation for his behavior today... she just had to figure out what it was.

But as breakfast came to an end an hours began to pass, it became more and more difficult to ignore the oddity of the situation. Even by noon, the young man was still missing, and with no one able to contact him via phone. Needless to say, everyone was worried at that point. There were a few reasons as to why he may not have talked to anyone around breakfast, but by noon? Ordinarily, he would be far too considerate to do something that he knew would worry everyone like that. Now it was a matter of great concern. Had he gone somewhere and gotten into an accident? Had he just forgotten to bring his phone, or was it dead?

At this point, the residents of Cecilia's mansion had gathered in the main hall to discuss whether or not they should do something, though it was unclear as to what that something should be. After all, it was hardly like they could blindly search around for Church. They had no idea where he had gone, meaning they had no idea where to look. He could have been in Bath, or roaming the beaches, or outside of the country entirely.

Plus, it wasn't like they could take their I.S. and fly around willy-nilly searching for Church's whereabouts. Not only was that already illegal to do in and of itself, but they had just been the targets of a violent attack from another I.S. user. Parading around their presence in the skies just wasn't a very good idea. This left everyone with very little in the way of options: currently, the only thing they could do was force themselves into Church's room to see if he was in there, or if there was any hint as to where he might have been. They'd been reluctant to impose on his privacy, but considering the situation, there wasn't much reason to do otherwise.

The group was just discussing whether or not they should go in through the window or if Cecilia should ask Dudley to fetch the master key when one of Cecilia's maids approached them and bowed.

"Forgive my intrusion, milady. I simply wished to inform you that Master Church has just entered the main foyer. He is still waiting there."

Needless to say, the somewhat irate party of girls (and Ichika) rushed to the front foyer to address their prodigal son. When they arrived, Church was standing quite nonchalantly beside the front door, a number of bags hanging from each of his arms. He smiled in greeting, but Rin's response was a frown and an accosting tone before the boy could say anything at all.

"Where the hell were you?!"

Church didn't look too stunned by Rin's bluntness: he was probably well aware of his long absence and lack of communication. Anyone with half a brain would expect other people to be somewhat worried under these circumstances.

"In Bath. Just perusing for some souvenirs and stuff."

"You left for Bath in the morning? You hate mornings!"

The young man brushed aside the accusation. "Well I didn't know when we would go back again, and I was also getting some presents for everyone, so I figured I should do it in private on my own time."

Rin couldn't find any concrete fault in that explanation, but it didn't stop her from moving onto her next complaint. "And did you forget how a phone works while you were at it, doofus? We texted you, like, fifteen times!"

Placing some of the bags he was holding on the ground, Church fished his phone from his pocket with an apologetic smile, then showed the screen to the group as he pressed the power button. Said screen remained black and lifeless. "Sorry, I forgot to charge my phone last night. Didn't notice until I was already in town."

Rin seemed to run out of accusations to make, but Laura piped up from slightly behind her. "Did you use your suit to get to Bath? Are you allowed to do that?"

Church donned a slightly guilty expression. "I mean, am I supposed to? Probably not, but y'know. Don't worry, I was very subtle about it. At the very least, I didn't get a visit from the RAF, so it couldn't have been too bad."

Having successfully answered all of the major questions the girls had, Church received little else in the way of interrogation. That said, it wasn't like he would go completely without reprimand, courtesy of Cecilia.

"While I appreciate your efforts to procure gifts for everyone, please be more thoughtful in the future! You cannot just disappear on us for hours at a time with no means of communication. We were worried sick about you!"

Charlotte added her weight to the sentiment. "Tout à fait. You could have at least left a note or some such. Going missing for so long just after the group was attacked by a terrorist is a little..."

Apparently, Church saw her point. "Yeah, in hindsight that does make it sound a bit... irresponsible. I'm sorry. But, uh... do you all still want your presents? It might make up for it a little bit..."

With an exasperated sigh, Rin conceded her anger. "Tch, fine... just don't do something like this again! Hope you at least got something good..."

As the tension dwindled down and Church began handing out knick-knacks and novelty items he had purchased in Bath, Laura allowed a wave of relief to wash over her. There was a perfectly valid explanation for everything. She had been right to have full faith in Church and what he was up to. She felt a little bad about having even the slightest of suspicions. But instead of dwelling on that, she would much rather focus on the good that had come to light here. Trust was not easily earned, and it had not been betrayed today. That was more than enough to keep her happy.

Deep within hidden facilities that even Umbra Stratum's own members weren't fully aware of outside of the very top of the chain of command, the Commander stared down into the hangar bay that had come to house an old toy that had finally made it back into their hands. It was broken, battered, and torn, but it could be rebuilt, and it could be rebuilt better than before. I.S. cores were extremely limited, and the recovery of this particular core had made him a very happy man.

That was good, because Phantom Task had been getting on his nerves lately. They kept pushing and pushing for the timetable to be moved forward, all while doing very little to actually help. Umbra Stratum was the one doing most of the heavy lifting right now, and yet those bastards still had the gall to complain about how the Commander's organization carried out their mission. And when they did actually do something, their idea of assisting amounted to attacking Exeter. It was the most roundabout way they could offer any progress for Aggregate Paragon. That said, the Commander would be slightly pleased if he learned that Exeter could trounce Phantom Task operatives. They were allies for now, but Umbra Stratum had no intention of remaining cordial indefinitely.

Frankly, the Commander would have liked a report about the skirmish, mostly because he was interested in A2: how had he behaved? Did he fight to kill, or just to win? Had he risked his life for the people he was deceiving, or not? That human factor potentially caused problems for Aggregate Paragon, and it was possible that it would have to be dealt with. On the other hand, it was the nonhuman factor that was the most important part of the operation, and A2 couldn't really do anything to obstruct it. For one, he'd have to know about it in the first place. Two, even if he did, there were ways to force him into compliance.

After all, it would have been a real shame if that woman he cared so much about suddenly had no one to pay her bills. More than that, Umbra Stratum knew exactly where said woman resided, and it would be all to easy to menace her if needed. The Commander doubted that A2 would defy them in any meaningful way if it came down to that. Although, the chances were never zero...

Having Exeter in the hands of someone he didn't trust implicitly irked the Commander greatly. He never would have chosen someone like A2 to pilot the thing if his compatibility scores hadn't been so remarkably high. Hell, he'd actually wondered if Sasha had fudged the data back in the day. A2's performance since then had proved otherwise, but the Commander still didn't like the boy at all. A bleeding heart, someone who asked too many questions, someone who had the gumption to take action of his own accord: a wildcard.

It was disadvantageous to have A2 be the main vehicle for Valravn's development, which was absolutely vital to the success of Aggregate Paragon. But then again, it was possible that this would change soon.

The Commander glanced at the machine being reconstructed below his observation deck once again. The Silver Gospel was a wreck right now, but the core had survived, and it had evolved too, undergone a Second Shift due to the data it had accumulated from its battle with the Academy's pilots. It would be stronger than ever, especially once Valravn was in control: even if A2 somehow managed to get Exeter completely under his control, there was no way he could defeat the Silver Gospel with Valravn's direction.

Still, it would have been better if A2 had no chance of doing that at all. The Commander probably needed to get details from Marcus on what kind of control failsafes they had in place, but the man hadn't seen said engineer all day, and no one knew his whereabouts. That alone was somewhat suspect, but he already had people looking into it. The real question was whether or not he'd have to kill the man when he was found. The Commander supposed that depended on what the engineer had been up to, but frankly speaking, he didn't really care if the man in question had to be replaced.

Just one more stepping stone towards the fruition of their goals, if need be.

The plot thickens, mostly in the thoughts of the people involved. But the charade keeps going, inevitably spiraling towards self-destruction. And man, that is going to be a bad time.

And as always. Discord. And the special P place, if you want to be a 'patron' of the arts. Doing so can get you access to nifty things. Furthermore, it just helps me have more time to work on stories, since I don't have to spend as much time working. If you're interested, profile page. Thanks!