Xenoblade Rush

by lolrus555

Chai was admittedly expecting a lot when he signed up for Project Armstrong, but he'd also readily admit that getting 'musical robot powers,' having the entire tech company trying to KILL HIM as a result, and ending up bonded to a girl that could command flames were NOT among those initial expectations. Needless to say, both Chai and the Aegis have a long road ahead of them...

3. Track 1: A New Beginning (Part 2)

Oh thank CHRIST. It was an arduous experience getting all this down and ensuring we didn't go past two months before the next upload, but all around, I'm feeling VERY satisfied with how this chapter turned out. Hope you all enjoy aaaaaaaaand… hm, can't really think of anything else to. Just enjoy!

XENOBLADE RUSH

Track 2; A Fresh Start, (Part 2 of 2)

*FWOOM!*

*Say… any of you guys smell burning metal-?*

What Kale wasn't aware of, as he began the preparations for back-up plans in case this mess escalated further, was that in another time and in another place, a certain someone that contrasted the Vandelay CEO in many ways was also playing witness to Pyra's awakening. Back when said awakening was happening first-hand, a certain robotic cat that doubled as a drone had been spying on Kale since he gave his introductory speech to the Project Armstrong applicants much earlier into the day, with the robotic cat's master only opting to cut her spying on the corrupt CEO short when it came to those two strange containers with even stranger contents.

With her curiosity piqued just from the distant, unclear look she had of the containers' contents from her spot on the scaffolding, the cat's owner had the robotic feline deftly and silently follow after the Vandelay bots that had been tasked with transporting those containers and the materials in them to Kale's lab in Vandelay tower. The cat soon came across a figurative crossroads when the respective groups carrying the two containers opted to separate and apparently use different exits on their way out to do the jobs given to them. After a brief pause as she mulled over which container she should have her robotic pet follow, the hacker commanding the cat ultimately had her follow after the container holding that inert redheaded girl.

*FOOOOOOOOM!*

The cat's master soon realized that she made the right call to follow after the girl's container, since only a few minutes after the group of SBRs handling it made it outside the production facility, she bore witness to them and the container rapidly being enveloped by unnatural, roaring flames.

*Okay, so Macaron really wasn't blowing anything out of proportion when he linked that info to me! Good to know!* The hacker, directing the robotic cat, couldn't help but voice her thoughts upon seeing this, the cat itself mirroring the look of bewildered surprise she currently had on back at her Hideout. This shocked expression remained plastered onto their faces as both cat and master watched the girl that had been the source of those flames slowly rouse into consciousness and take in her surroundings with clear confusion.

*Alright, getting more info on SPECTRA and whatever Kale's hiding can wait. I better look into this first…* The girl decided after a moment's thought, making her cat move quickly and deftly to try and catch up to the girl before she went too far…

***O***

…With the end-result of that choice being the impromptu meeting taking place between the cat and master duo and the Driver and Blade one. By the time she'd opted to start following after Pyra, the cat had unfortunately lost track of her for a bit, but with how much noise and damage both the redhead and her Driver had been causing already, it hadn't been long before the mechanical cat picked the trail back up.

*...No, I'm not a talking cat. 808 here is a cat, yeah, but I just built her and made a point to design her so that I could see and talk through her.* The voice speaking through the now-dubbed 808 clarified, sounding mildly annoyed at the two's assumption. *That's not what we're here to talk about though. So look, I was actually nearby when you woke up and busted out of that container earlier. I actually know a few things about your circumstances here and was planning to touch base with you about it, but now that I saw the both of you fight, I think we can all help each other out, actually.* She continued on, looking specifically towards Pyra as she said this.

"Wait… you know how I ended up here…!?" At this person's claim that she apparently had information about how she ended up here, Pyra's interest was quickly piqued, looking intently towards the cat as she waited for her to continue.

"Uhhh…" And on the other hand, Chai seemed much more skeptical that their new acquaintance would actually be of help. Finding out you were actually talking to a cat all this time tended to do that, even if the cat in question was acting more like a walkie-talkie, apparently.

*Yeah, I have a contact on the inside that leaked what Vandelay's been doing behind the scenes to me and I definitely figured the detail about the R&D department doing a crap ton of quantum physic-based experiments lately would grab your attention, especially seeing as how these experiments they were doing apparently culminated in alien lifeforms, ones that initially take the form of a crystal, being brought in here from another dimension.* 808's owner elaborated, pausing momentarily to take in the look of wide-eyed shock on Pyra's face as a result. *Judging by the look on your face, I take it I'm on the right track here?*

"Okay, y'know what? That's enough, I'm good." Before Pyra could respond, however, Chai decided to interject, having had his fill of all this after hearing that garbled mess of an explanation the cat just provided. "I already thought my 'music robot arm power' and the girl with the very real, very anime-looking sword and can casually make fire magically appear was pretty crazy, but this… maaaaybe I'm better off on my own after all." As Chai said this, he made a point to address Pyra, who was currently only listening on with wide-eyed surprise at his dismissive words. "If you wanna go and help out the robot cat… girl over here, knock yourself out, but I think I'm just gonna start looking for a way outta here by myself now."

At the young man's declaration, topped off by how he began walking away from both Pyra and 808 with both arms behind his head, a stunned Pyra quickly realized that -whether due to a lack of understanding, lack of caring, or a combination of the two- her Driver was genuinely planning to leave them both here and start going off on his own. "W-What? No, Chai! That's a terrible idea-"

*Yank!*

"Hrrk!?"

Pyra had been about to quickly catch up to Chai and try and get him to see that going off on his own would only end poorly, but paused mid-step when 808 beat her to the punch by biting on the end of the brunet's red scarf and yanking back on it, causing him to stumble.

*Dude, listen. Even barring the fact that Vandelay's clearly up to something, you both have security crawling all over you both and I meant it when I said I could help. I can keep them off your-*

"Thanks, but I'm good-"

*PWEEM!*

As Chai reached for the robotic black cat with his metal right hand, his initial intention had been to simply give the feline machine a few pets as he dismissed her master's offers of help. However, the sudden rush of electrifying energy that coursed through Chai the moment his robot arm made contact with 808 instantly told the wannabe rocker that something far more extraordinary was about to take place. Frozen mid-step with wide, shocked eyes, both Chai, 808, and even Pyra all found themselves rooted to the spot as the electrifying energy coursing through Chai grew stronger and stronger with each passing beat.

HOST SYNCHRONIZED

*MEOOOOOW!*

*Pop!*

Upon letting out a loud and particularly vigorous 'meow!', both the brunet and his Blade companion could only watch as the latest baffling surprise today revealed itself to them as 808 suddenly leapt up before spinning into a new, ball-like form that immediately began to orbit around Chai.

*808's not responding… What did you do!?* Initially sounding confused at the strange readings she was suddenly receiving and lack of response, 808's master was quick to take up an angry, accusatory tone when she began to suspect Chai did something on purpose.

"H-Hold on a sec! Did you just feel that? That… beat?" By comparison, Chai's tone was of surprise and confusion as he tried to make sense of what happened when his robot hand made contact with 808, prompting a confused, questioning look from the cat in question. (Or at least her owner.)

"I… I did…" Pyra began, looking down at her Core Crystal -which had been glowing even brighter than usual during that whole 'synchronization'- and how its light was slowly fading back to normal before looking back at Chai and 808. "It felt like she was… synchronizing up just now, to you and that beat your music player gives off."

"...Huh." That was initially all Chai had to say upon hearing that, giving both the arm and 808 a thoughtful look over before something in his eyes lit up. "Y'know, maybe I was speaking a bit too soon. I think we got something here!"

Pyra just stood there silently for a moment, waiting for Chai to respond and expecting him to elaborate on what just happened with the robo-cat… only for a concerned bead of sweat to run down the side of her face when instead of that, both the young man and 808 instead gained a… glazed, unfocused look in their eyes as they both stared off into space.

"C…Chai? Hello?" When another awkwardly long moment passed with still no indication that he'd respond or even do anything, Pyra tentatively stepped forward before trying to rouse Chai's attention by waving a fingerless glove-clad hand in front of his face, not getting a response even when she snapped her fingers a few times. "U-Uhh… voice… controlling '808,' a-are you there?" The same issue applied to 808, who continued to just silently orbit around the brunet while bobbing her whole ball-shaped body in time to the beat.

When she still hadn't gotten a response from either her Driver, the robotic cat, or even her owner, Pyra began to comb her head for some idea on what the hell she should do in a situation like this. It quickly proved to be unnecessary, however, when both Chai and 808 suddenly perked back to reality another short moment later. "This is gonna be awesome!"

Flinching in surprise at the sudden sound of her Driver's excitable declaration, Pyra could initially only stare at him in confusion, wondering both what just happened and what Chai was even talking about. "A…Are you both okay? You were both just… staring off vacantly there."

*Okay seriously, what the hell did you do to 808!? Her video feed just blacked out for a bit there!* It seemed as though Pyra wasn't the only one confused about what just happened either, since 808's owner suddenly spoke up through her once more, impatiently glaring towards Chai as she waited for an answer.

"Now, I could do that, but I'd say a first-hand demonstration oughta work better and quicker than any attempt at explaining. Long-story short; I'm reconsidering your offer… buuuuuuuut! I'm gonna need to borrow your cat for a bit."

*What? Why?* The girl demanded, immediately suspicious of Chai's intentions with her cat.

"Hey, you wanted to help, right? And don't worry, it's just till I'm outta here." Chai assured her, a pleased grin plastered onto his face as he watched 808 orbit around him for another moment before continuing down the only path in the building available.

**Sigh* You better not run off with her.* 808's owner warned the young man in an annoyed tone.

On her own end, Pyra watched the two go for another moment, particularly lingering on the curious form of that cat-shaped ball (Or… ball-shaped cat, perhaps) before catching up to them. While the Aegis still couldn't make any sense of what happened just now, her Driver's confident words made it clear he discovered something about whatever happened with 808 and that whatever it was would help them.

"So… I take it you managed to make sense of whatever that was just now?" The redhead couldn't help but voice her thoughts as she caught up to Chai, tilting her head in curiosity as she cast 808 another look.

"Yeah, a little inspiration struck me just now and now I know exactly how 808 and I are gonna make this work. Just wait till we find something we can smack around for a bit. You'll see what I mean." Chai said, sounding completely assured in whatever realization he came to.

"Oh. Well in that case, would he work then?" Pyra asked curiously, pointing forward down the hall they were currently going down… specifically towards another Smidge unit that might or might not be the same one they'd be interacting with earlier.

"No…! I was actually thinking uh… Y'know what? Just uh… come on, come on." Immediately, the sight of the talking fridge with zero sense of personal space caused Chai's face to blanch. Expecting them both to start interacting with him like they did before, Pyra was subsequently thrown off a bit when Chai started guiding her along by pushing his Scrap Guitar against the small of her back… all while pointedly trying to ignore the eagerly waving and sign-carrying Smidge. "Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact. Whatever you do, don't make eye contact."

Quickly realizing what Chai was trying to do, a wide-eyed Pyra just stiffly walked along with him while also trying to ignore Smidge, who was still avidly waving at them both even as they turned a corner to break his line of sight.

"...Part of me feels like just ignoring him like that was rather rude…" Pyra began, looking back the way they came as Chai began to examine a bright red and yellow button that was just as comically large as the one they saw earlier. "...but, with how our other interactions with him went, I can also understand why you weren't jumping at the chance to talk to him again, per say."

It was such a pity too. From just a few words, the smart fridge's sincere desire to help was clear enough even for a blind man to see. It was just a shame that his… overly eager attitude with no regard for personal space turned Chai off and likely many others from his offers of assistance.

*Yeaaaah, the Smidge units never really had much of a chance when it came to actually bringing in a profit when word of mouth about that… design quirk of theirs spread.* 808's owner couldn't help but comment dryly. Really, this was one of the few cases where Vandelay Technologies' drastic change of management had nothing to do with the failure of a product. *Anyway, to get back on topic, I wouldn't bother with that button. It needs a specific kind of maintenance robot to properly operate it.*

"Is that so…?" Pyra hummed, bringing a hand up to her chin as she took in the details around the large button, (which Chai was irritably and repeatedly whacking with his guitar in an attempt to get it to depress) particularly taking note of the large number of cogs engraved into the wall just behind the button, or how the button itself seemed to start up a lift platform that would take them to the roof of this building. "I guess we'll have to back-track after all."

"Nah nah nah. Hold up. I think I got something…" Getting her attention with that last remark, Pyra watched as Chai once again started bombarding the button with a string of heavy, batter-like swings, none of the hits budging the button at all. However, at the final blow, the Aegis was taken by surprise when that third hit suddenly unleashed a powerful shockwave of neon-colored energy accompanied by an electric guitar's riff, which finally did the trick and pressed the button in. "Alright! I knew that would work!"

Neither Pyra nor Chai had any second to ponder what pressing that switch would do or how Chai suddenly managed to make that shockwave, since the moment it happened, the gears in the wall behind the button started rapidly turning before the now-rumbling lift suddenly began a very fast rapid ascent to the rooftop…

1F

2F

3F

…With the ensuing momentum launching both the brunet and his redheaded acquaintance a good two stories up into the air of the rooftop, subsequently giving them both a brief but striking look at the technologically advanced and sprawling cityscape all around them.

"Whoa…" Chai breathed out, taken aback by the entirety of Vandelay Campus from their brief look in the air. It should be worth noting however, that while the sight definitely inspired some amazement and impress from Chai, it was nothing compared to the sheer whiplash Pyra was currently feeling taking in this alien cityscape in its entirety.

'It's… It's unreal…! Like nothing I've ever seen before…!' The redhead in question currently felt stunned speechless at the momentary look she had at the entirety of Vandelay Island and the sprawling campus that had been built onto it. If she had a choice in the matter, Pyra likely would have remained where she was for a few good minutes to properly take in everything she was getting a brief glimpse of.

*BAM!*

"Bring it on!" Of course, with them both being launched into the air, the two only had a brief instant to take in their surroundings before they both touched down on the rooftop, several SBRs already getting launched out of the trap doors built into it and every other part of the campus. "HUMBUCKER!"

Wasting no time upon touching down and readying his weapon, Chai gleefully dashed forward and started swinging out his basic light-combo chain, culminating in another burst of neon energy. In this particular case, three bursts of the energy erupted from the floor like a geyser or volcano. The burst of energy was large enough that it hit most of the SBR squadron, the force of it being powerful enough that it scattered the group in different directions, allowing both Chai and Pyra to pick them all off with ease.

As Chai began to get into the zone and eagerly began to dash around the rooftop-turned-impromptu-arena, Pyra was having a similarly smooth experience dealing with the SBRs that opted to target her. Each attack the robots readied, she easily saw coming thanks to the constant beat, providing an even easier time than she would've normally had dispatching them as the redhead weaved about, blocking and retaliating with flaming, decisive strikes. Upon sending a flaming swipe at one and quickly blocking a swing that came towards the side of her head, Pyra quickly realized that she was surrounded on all ends. Not just that, but it felt like all this fighting had built up enough energy/Ether within her to deliver just the Special Attack she was thinking of for this situation.

With a look of determination on her face, Pyra began to crouch down and ready both herself and her sword, subsequently leaving the SBRs briefly bewildered when her now-flaming sword telekinetically floated just behind her. "Flame…" The moment Pyra began to speak, she suddenly rose up with both her arms raised, the action subsequently causing the sword to start rapidly spinning around her, trailing vivid flames as it went and utterly wrecking the SBRs she caught in her attack. "NOVA!" She finished exclaiming, briefly kneeling with both arms outstretched as a small but fiery explosion finished off the SBRs, leaving them burning wrecks.

Letting out a pleased exhale in wake of a successfully executed Special, the redheaded Aegis had no time to take in her handiwork before noticing one more SBR out of the corner of her eye trying to get the jump on her. (Evidently having no sense of self-preservation with how Pyra just melted several of his buddies into slag just now.)

*PWEEM!*

The SBR didn't even have the chance to try and swing at her, however, with how an instant after noticing him, the SBR trying to get the drop on Pyra was suddenly and thoroughly wrecked by a beam of energy, it's vivid, neon colors making it clear it was Chai's handiwork.

*Well, that looks like all of them…* 808's owner noted, the sudden lack of new security drones attacking either Chai or Pyra making that claim clear. Upon hearing that confirmation, a satisfied Chai allowed the scrap forming the shape of his guitar to fall off from the trash grabber before popping it back inside his robot arm's storage compartment with a *click!*

"Maybe things aren't so bad afterall…" Said the wannabe rocker with a smile on his face as he wriggled his robotic fingers briefly, feeling more positive than before about the wild and borderline nonsensical situation he was in.

*Ok… so I got a basic idea of how she can use fire like that and everything, but remind me later to ask you how you do all that with the music.* The cat's master noted, unable to shake the curiosity she felt regarding Chai's unusual abilities. As strange and outlandish as Pyra's whole deal was, the info her source leaked to her also handily explained how all that was possible, or at the very least just gave her an idea of what to expect regarding these 'Blades.' She had no such luxury of explanation regarding the brunet's music-based powers, which only further gnawed at her curiosity.

"Pfft. Like I know. Anyway, your turn, I need to get outta… wherever we are." Chai dismissed with a light shrug, the tone in his voice making it clear he had no answers for the girl either. As he said that, he began to walk towards the edge of the rooftop to better take in his surroundings, the sound of footsteps to his left indicating the Pyra had stepped up next to him to also get a lay of the land.

*You two are in Production, and the only direct exit is through Quality Assurance. Either of you see it?* 808's owner replied, gesturing forward through her robotic pet.

At that inquiry, Pyra briefly gave the cityscape in front of her a quick look over, and barely had to look before catching sight of the circular building that towered over all the others in the district with 'QA CENTER' printed plainly on it for all to see. "So many buildings… it's hard to tell." The Aegis had just been about to tell 808's owner that she found it when Chai's hushed, thoughtful comment beat her to the punch. Blinking at his words, Pyra turned and momentarily found herself at a loss for words, a bead of sweat running down the side of her head, when she noticed that Chai was still looking around with a hand over his head and narrowed eyes… apparently not noticing the biggest building in the area or how it blatantly said 'QA CENTER'... somehow.

*...It's the one that literally says 'QA CENTER' on it.* The robotic cat's owner pointed out dryly, her claim being given further support when Pyra tentatively took both sides of his head in her hands and angled it so that he was staring straight at the building in question.

"Oh yeaaah! That one."

*But with that way out, they're probably expecting the both of you, so-* The cat's master tried to explain before being cut off by Chai.

"You had me at 'way out.' Let's go~!" The young man began enthusiastically, giving 808 a quick pet with his robotic arm and an affirmative point with his flesh one before dashing off for the nearest route off this rooftop he could find.

"Wait… Y-You mean you're really just going to-? N-No, Chai, that is a terrible idea. She just told us we'd be walking straight into an ambush if we went there." Pyra ran after him and grabbed him by his organic arm, forcing the young man to stop in his tracks.

*Exactly. Look, being cocky isn't gonna get either of you out of here.* 808's owner agreed with the Aegis, both trying to convince the burnet not to do something needlessly stupid and borderline suicidal.

"Uhhh. The best solution to a problem is always the most obvious." Chai said to both girls, sounding as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"..." Both of Chai's companions looked at him with dumbfounded expressions, (Though it was a little harder to tell with 808, given that her ball form limited her ability to emote properly noticeably), as if he grew a second head.

"N…No… it isn't?" Was all Pyra could manage, an incredulous look growing on her face. Who in the Architect's name told him garbage advice like that!?

*No, that is just… wrong on so many levels and TERRIBLE advice in general! Look, in case I wasn't making this clear already, you're both wanted. We need to outsmart them!*

"Then I'll just fight my way out!" The brunet said with a lax, nonchalant shrug, and despite the confidence in his tone, his words did very little to inspire it in either girl.

*Are you an idiot!? That's literally the opposite of outsmarting!* 808's owner exclaimed in exasperation, and that feeling only grew more prominent when she realized that Chai clearly wasn't listening to what either of them were saying and instead opted to go further on ahead to look around the roof. (Specifically, he became very intent on grabbing a broken piece of purple-color tech that was perched on top of a small water tower.) *Aaaaaand he's not even listening. Awesome.* The hacker sighed, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut that this was turning into a babysitting errand before addressing Pyra, who was watching where her Driver wandered off to with a combination of exasperation and concern on her face. *So you think he's always this… exhausting?*

"I… don't want to assume, but it certainly seems accurate…" Pyra admitted after a moment's hesitation. Just after saying that, it then dawned on Pyra that she still didn't know what to call 808's owner/creator. "Speaking of people I've recently met, what exactly is your name? Chai and I both know what to call 808, but not you, I'm realizing."

*Oh! U-Um, it's Peppermint, actually. Glad at least one of you thought to ask that before we met in person.* The newly-dubbed Peppermint explained, stuttering slightly at the stunning redhead's sudden interest in her.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Peppermint. My name's Pyra and both Chai and I appreciate you offering us help like this. I think we both definitely need it…" She politely introduced herself, even making a small bow. What the redhead didn't notice was how all this caused her new acquaintance to fluster up slightly.

*Y…Yeah, likewise. A-Anyway, at least we have a basic idea of what to expect from him going forward. Probably oughta go keep an eye on him too, now that I think of it. Don't worry, we shouldn't be far.* And it was with that exasperated remark that the hacker had 808 float off in the general direction where Chai went, realizing it'd be smart to keep an eye on him before he wandered off too far and got himself killed.

Now temporarily left by her lonesome, the redheaded Aegis took the chance to better take in the rooftop of the building they were in. Funnily enough, it wasn't all the signs of in-progress construction, the sight of some arguing VASER units nearby, or even the ever-present and awe-inspiring view of Vandelay Campus and the surrounding ocean that caught Pyra's attention, but rather the familiar sight of another blue-screened tablet laying atop a pile of metal boxes.

Curiosity about her new surroundings once again overtaking her, Pyra grabbed the tablet and began to read through its contents.

TO ALL EMPLOYEES!

REKKA HERE!

THIS IS IMPORTANT SO ALL-CAPS THIS TIME!

KALE'S VISITING THE FACILITY AND REKKA KNOWS ALL YOU GRIMY GREASE-HEADS ARE BUSTING YOUR NUTS AND BOLTS TO GET THINGS WORKING, BUT REKKA WANTS THIS PLACE SHININ' ON ARMSTRONG DAY, AND SOMEONE SPELL-CHECK THOSE ARMSTRONG SCANNERS!

YOU HEAR THAT VOICE, THAT'S THE CROWD CHEERING WHEN THOSE ARMSTRONG UNITS ARE PUMPIN' OUT TO THE PUBLIC.

AND WHEN REKKA GETS HERSELF A NICE BONUS AT THE END OF THE FISCAL, REKKA'LL BE SURE TO NAME-CHECK YOU ALL IN THAT MILLISECOND BEFORE REKKA KICKS BACK AND GIVES HERSELF A ROUND OF APPLAUSE.

"...Quite the motivational speaker." Was initially the only response Pyra could muster out in response to that all-caps tangent, unimpressed with the loud, brawny woman's demanding attitude and treatment of her workers. 'I'd question whether she even realizes how demoralizing messages like that are, but everything I've seen of her makes me think she doesn't care at all.' Such behavior reminded Pyra of Drivers that were unashamedly selfish towards their respective Blades, treating them more as slave labor to take any and all risks on account of their innate durability and borderline immortality.

*...I'm telling you, that was Kale in the flesh!* Before Pyra could dwell any further on the godawful workplace standards Vandelay Technologies' robotic staff had to deal with on the daily, her attention was then grabbed by a heated discussion she began to overhear between two VASERs. With a look of curiosity on her face, the redhead walked closer to better hear what they were saying.

*You don't even HAVE flesh. You wouldn't know.* The 2nd VASER pointed out dryly, making it no secret that he thought his co-worker was full of it and using this as an excuse to avoid doing more work.

*Actually BEING in Production? Does that count that I MET him?* The 1st robot asked rhetorically, a similarly annoyed tone in his voice at how blatantly his pink-colored co-worker didn't believe his claim.

*No, it doesn't. So get over it, and let's fix this staircase.* the 2nd VASER retorted irritably as he gestured to the mess of an in-construction stairway past Pyra.

"'Kale…' that's the person who's in charge of this island… and this entire company too, right?" Pyra couldn't help but interject at this point, undeniably eager to get some more context on where she was. By now, spending every few minutes getting blindsided by something (literally) out of this world was beginning to get a bit tiresome.

*What, you bein' serious when you say that?* The orange-colored VASER -the same one who claimed to have met Kale- asked, a slightly incredulous tone in his metallic voice that only grew more prominent upon seeing Pyra nod. *Sheesh, what sorta rock have you been livin' under all this time, girlie? Kale's been placed in charge of Vandelay for years now, and he sure as hell hasn't been modest about makin' sure everyone knows that.*

"I… haven't exactly kept up with current events for the last… several years now." …Which was a more-straightforward and easy-to-digest way of saying that even if she wasn't apparently from another dimension, she'd still been asleep for at least several centuries and as such knew nothing about her current environment, whether it really is Alrest or not.

*You don't say? Welllllll, if you need someone to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, then I can probably take some time outta my busy schedule to make sure you're up to speed on Vandelay history.* Upon hearing all this, the orange VASER was oddly quick to offer some much-needed exposition to the displaced Aegis.

*No, no you're not, cuz we still have a stairway that needs repairing on top of dozen other things we gotta take care of before the day's up, and if you think I'm gonna let you use making small talk as an excuse to shuck all that work on me, then you're delusional.* Before Pyra could take him up on that offer, however, the other VASER finally opted to speak and beat her to the punch before she could answer, in no mood to have his co-worker slack off on him. *Look lady, you really wanna know more, then just look it up on the internet like everyone else does these days. Failing that, I got no doubt Kale and the other execs got plenty of self-aggrandizing crap going on about how amazing and 'revolutionary' they are all over the campus. Try finding some of that.* And with that, the VASER began to move towards the half-assembled staircase to begin the job he'd currently been assigned to… all while keeping an eye on his co-worker to ensure he actually did his part and didn't try finding excuses to slack off again.

"A… Alright then…! I'll… be sure to do that. Sorry for interrupting…" Was Pyra's initial, awkward response, instinctively apologizing as she watched the two Artifices begin their repair job. 'Well that… answered a little bit.' She thought, letting out a small sigh before her gaze began to wander and then fixated on the sight of the surrounding ocean and the nearby docs.

Taking in an awed breath, the strange circumstances Pyra found herself in suddenly felt like a secondary issue as she took in the gigantic, seemingly never ending body of water that spanned past the horizon. As someone who hailed from a world where such a sight couldn't exist, the Aegis found the view to be strange but wonderful and very beautiful. A world with seemingly fixed land masses instead of living, moving Titans; an endless sea of blue instead of white and where clouds only exist in the sky…Such a world goes beyond even the dreams of Elysium, something beyond imagination for anyone from Alrest, and yet here Pyra was, witnessing it with her very own eyes. Despite knowing for sure this was real, it all felt very unreal for the Aegis.

"What sort of world is this…?" Pyra couldn't help but muse aloud, simultaneously wondering how a world like this came into being, and whether Alrest could've been in a state such as this if events long before her time went differently…

*Whistle…*

Jumping slightly at the sudden sound of whistling to her left, Pyra turned to see that Chai had since finished looking around and joined back up with her, the impressed yet casual smile on his face a notable contrast to the wide-eyed look of astonishment on her own. Clearly, he'd also been taking a few moments to take in the sight of the sea and the nearby docks. It was also worth noting that he'd been holding a curious piece of broken, purple colored machinery, one that he stuffed into his jacket's inner pocket as he turned to better address the redhead. "Yeah, this campus has some pretty sweet views and scenery… though I can definitely confirm that the constant view of the ocean gets pretty old when you spend the better part of the day getting sea-sick on a ferry."

"Oh, so you… took a ship to get to this place then?" She couldn't help but ask. It was almost a certainty that Titans don't exist in this world, so the redheaded Blade couldn't help but wonder what the mediums of transportation here are like and how they worked. Perhaps like non-Titan Tornan ships, she figured.

"Well, I wasn't gonna swim all the way here or row my way over on a lifeboat, and I didn't exactly hear anything about Vandelay island having an airport either." Chai responded with sarcasm, unaware that Pyra was asking a legitimate question when she asked that… or how much more confused she looked at the mention of an 'airport.' "Anyway, if you wanna get going, I'm ready when you are."

'He talks about this sea of water and getting across it so casually… I wonder just how different living in a world like this really is when compared to the living situation on Alrest… And what is an 'airport'?' With that last question being posed to her with no answer -with the same question applying to whatever the 'internet' was- Pyra opted to avoid distracting herself with these thoughts and questions as she caught up to her Driver, who'd just been in the middle of smacking another gigantic button that consequently erected a steel bridge that would allow them to cross the gap between buildings and inch their way closer to QA Center building.

(This time, at least, she didn't suddenly hear the button make an exclamation of pain when Chai slammed down on it.)

The unlikely trio continued on their way before Chai came to a sudden halt, forcing his two companions to stop once again "Chai? What's wrong? Why did you… Oh." Pyra asked before looking at what her Driver was looking at and immediately understanding what was wrong. "...It… looks like he has something he wants to tell you." She said as the trio saw Smidge up ahead, eagerly waving his HINT sign as usual. At this point neither Driver, nor Blade, not even their hacker acquaintance doubted that this is the same exact Smidge from the other times. The group started to suspect that the smart fridge was somehow following them, or following Chai to be more precise.

*Yeah, call me crazy, but I think you have an admirer.* Peppermint observed, the sight of the eagerly waving Smidge unit reminding her of a news article she remembered reading that mentioned that part of the reason the Smidge units got recalled was due to them hyper-fixating on a particular person that caught their attention, some of the times not even being the person who bought them.

It still brought a bitterly satisfied smile to Peppermint's face thinking about the PR nightmare Kale and the other executives likely had to deal with in wake of all that.

"Oh really, you don't say? I didn't notice." Was Chai's deadpan, unamused response, which would've elicited some amused chuckles from Pyra before she once again found herself being hastily led along via a Scrap Guitar being pushed into her. "Okay, just like last time, don't make eye-"

*ZIP!*

LET ME HELP YOU

…The brunet and his redheaded acquaintance had only gotten about four steps past Smidge when he suddenly zipped ahead past them and started avidly waving an even larger sign up for them both to see.

"...Contact. Crap."

"Maybe you should hear him out, Chai…" Pyra suggested. She had a gut feeling that told her that unless they humor the 'eccentric' smart fridge, he will keep following them, so maybe it was a good idea to hear him out, if nothing else so he will leave them be, at least for the time being.

*Whatever it's worth, I get they can be off-putting, but they do also provide legit advice.* Peppermint agreed with her.

"Urrgh, okay okay, sheesh…" Chai groaned, briefly giving the rest of the rooftop past where Smidge was a momentary look before walking towards him. Well hopefully, he'd be three-for-three when it came to providing useful advice at the cost of being seriously unintentionally creepy.

*Oh! Hello there again, friend!* Smidge happily greeted when both Chai and Pyra walked up again.

"...Yeah. Uhhhh… hey."

*Oh, you must have not seen me. Perhaps my sign wasn't big enough.*

"...Yeah, that must've been it." Chai said with a completely flat tone and expression that made it exceedingly clear he didn't mean that, Pyra noted, feeling a concerned bead of sweat run down the side of her face as she watched this exchange play out.

*I knew you wouldn't be so rude as to deliberately avoid me. I was just looking around, and it seems like the whole world seems to be moving to your MUSICAL SUPER POWERS.* The smart fridge began, with the mention of how the entire world, or at least their immediate surroundings, moved in time to the beat of Chai's musical powers causing both Chai and Pyra to perk up considerably.

"You know, I was actually noticing that too." Chai commented. He had been seeing the world around him move to the beat, but never put too much thought into it because he thought it was just his imagination. Apparently not, though. Seems like it was actually an effect of his newfound powers.

*Finding the beat is as simple as looking around!* Smidge continued to explain, and true to his claim, one only needed to give their surroundings a brief look over to see everything around them, from the warning lights, floating platforms, and even the pipes, actively moved in response to the constant beat coming from Chai's MP3 player. *Even the environment reacts to the beat, as I'm sure you've noticed! I think this is what young people call being IN THE ZONE.*

"Maybe…? But anyways, that's cool!" With Smidge's ensuing lack of response indicated that he said his piece, Chai and Pyra began to walk past him and take their leave, with the former admittedly feeling better about that whole encounter than he had going in. "Huh, well that went better than expected."

"See? No harm done. Honestly, Chai, I think you're being a little too quick to judge Smidge. Believe me, I completely understand why you'd be off-put, but at this point, I'm fairly certain he's not going to bite."

*ZIP!*

Barely a second after Pyra said all that, both she and Chai were startled into stopping when Smidge suddenly zipped past them again, all while holding up an even larger 'HELP' sign for them to see.

"...H-He can certainly move though, I'll admit." Pyra admitted after another moment of startled silence.

"...Yeah, I get that part and everything. Doesn't make him any less creepy though." Chai explained to the Aegis, tone and expression deadpan, before opting to just bite the bullet this time and see what else the smart fridge wanted to say.

*Ohh! I remembered something else!*

"Must be really… important…" Said Chai dryly. At least the living fridge wasn't being too 'friendly' so far.

*With everything moving in the beat, that also means Vandelay's robots.* Smidge explained, bringing attention to how all the Vandelay security robots they'd fought up to this point only acted and attacked in response to the beat of Chai's powers. *Upon looking at your recorded data, it seems that all Vandelay security units are moving and acting to the same rhythm as you!* The smart fridge continued to elaborate, with both Chai and his two newfound companions both quickly realizing just how much could help this could be down the road if this whole situation got any worse. *Which means… by paying close attention, you'll know exactly when attacks will come: On the beat!*

*Feel the beat to attack, feel the beat to dodge! Things are seeming quite simple now!"

"Well I can definitely do that, I'll tell you that much." Chai replied with a confident smile. Feeling like the smart fridge really was all done explaining this time, the trio went on their way once again.

'What a strange power… and it's not even exclusively affecting those Artifi- 'robots,' either.' Pyra mused, recalling how even several trees and other distinctly non-technological objects they passed by reacted to the beat; she was fairly certain that Chai could see this effect too but it was good to have confirmation on it. This knowledge only made Chai's music-based powers seem even more strange and curious to Pyra, since prior to this point, one could've just assumed that Chai's music powers exclusively affected technological entities. Getting confirmation that everything, not just machines and the like, moved in time to the beat only raises further questions for the redhead regarding her Driver's unique, low-key reality warping powers.

…As an Aegis, such concepts certainly weren't unrealistic for her to consider, but as noted, she was also an Aegis, and as she was now certainly couldn't just casually toy with reality's nature like how her Driver's unique ability currently was. This all made the fact that, outside of his robotic enhancements, Chai was just a regular human prior to their meeting all the more strange.

'I…Is he… somehow unconsciously tapping into my true power to cause all this?' Pyra briefly considered before immediately dismissing that theory with a shake of her head. It certainly didn't feel like that was the case, and if anything, her interactions with Chai so far seem to indicate he wasn't exactly jumping at the chance to make use of the Aegis's power as her Driver.

Realizing that it wouldn't do her any good to dwell on this now, especially when she now found herself with a Driver with such a short attention span, Pyra opted to save any further theorizing for when the both of them didn't have to worry about any more security robots accosting them. It wasn't long before the two of them soon came across a series of water towers in a row, and Chai quickly got the idea to use the water towers as platforms to cross over to the next rooftop, subsequently getting them closer to the QA Center. Without a moment's hesitation, Chai double-jumped up onto the closest water tower, and Pyra had been about to jump after him…

*Cre-ACK!*

…Only to suddenly stop mid-sprint when the water tower suddenly buckled underneath Chai's weight, followed immediately by the dread-inducing sound of metal straining and breaking.

"Uh-oh…" Was all Chai could mutter out, eyes widening in dread as he realized what was about to happen.

"O-Oh no…!" Pyra had a similar reaction before panicking and trying to urge Chai to jump off the unstable water tower. "Chai, jump off that thing! Quickly-!"

*SNAP!*

"AHHHHHH-!"

*SMASH!*

"Ungh!"

*WAM!*

"Ack!"

*BAM!*

"BLARGH!"

Unfortunately, the Aegis's warning came just an instant too late, and she could only watch and wince at every hard, metal object Chai slammed into before touching down face-first at a lower-level rooftop.

"A-Are you alright!? You didn't break anything, did you!?" Wasting no time, Pyra quickly leapt, descended, and slid her way down to where Chai crashed at, concern blatantly clear in her voice as she tried to help the still-reeling brunet, who currently just got onto his hands and knees, to his feet…

*SLAM!* …Though that proved to be unnecessary with how the surprising sight of the unstable water tower crashing into the rooftop barely a foot away from Chai startled him back onto his feet. Wide-eyed and startled, he and Pyra could only briefly watch as the dust cleared before the tower fell off the rooftop and tumbled and crashed deeper into the campus.

"Yeah, I'm uhm… fine. Think I found us a shortcut, actually." Chai managed once he got his bearings, noticing that they not only still had a viable path ahead that they could take, but that it still went in the general direction of the QA Center.

*Uh-huh. Yeah, sure.* Rolling his eyes in annoyance at how blatantly the cat girl saw through his attempt to save face, Chai then took a moment to dust himself off before re-forming his Scrap Guitar around his grabber via the bits of metal all around himself and Pyra and setting off towards their destination once more…

Shuichi Kobori

I Got This

Hi-Fi Rush originals

Bethesda Softworks

watch?v=VPUgqRtKWhA&ab_channel=CaseTech279

…all while the active playlist in Chai's music player cycled over to the next song in its track. The sudden change in song evoked a slight reaction from the Aegis, whose slightly surprised gaze shifted from Chai's chest -where his arm's Power Core Unit and two unwanted stowaways were- then back to her constantly-beating Core Crystal embedded into her own chest. The redhead only had a brief instance to ponder whether the sudden change in music would affect combat for the both of them going forward when she suddenly heard movement ahead of her. Blinking, Pyra looked up to see that Chai was already continuing and platforming along, and she could only let out a small sigh at the constant need to keep an eye on her newfound Driver before following after him.

"Whoa… this campus is huge! It's more like a city…!" Chai couldn't help but note, slowing to a stop and taking in the bustling cityscape and all the constantly active machinery and trams with a look of awe. Pyra was much the same in this regard, also taking the chance to take in more of the advanced, alien cityscape that she'd been surrounded by since waking up here.

"I've never seen so much advanced machinery together in one location… to say nothing of seeing it all active in harmony and rhythm like this…!" As she once again had the chance to take in the proper scale of the environment all around them -even when at a lower vantage point when compared to earlier- the Aegis steadily found herself leaning more into the theory that somehow, she'd ended up in another world entirely, which was only compounded by Peppermint outright saying that the circumstances that brought her here involved quantum experiments.

"Oh. So you've never seen anything like this back wherever you came from, huh?" Chai commented casually. Pyra glanced at him for a few moments, looking as if she was pondering something, before shaking her head in response. She wanted to say more, she still had a lot of questions about… well everything overall, but she figured that can wait until both her and Chai get somewhere safer. For his own part, the brunet merely gave the redheaded Blade a curious look at her non-verbal non-answer, but ultimately shrugged the question off to focus on more present issues.

Their hacker acquaintance, however, kept 808's eyes, and thus her own eyes, on Pyra a bit longer. Unbeknownst to the Driver and Blade duo, Peppermint took notice of this interaction and committed it to memory. It might be very little, but it's at least something about the world where Pyra and her Blade kind came from…

*Very grandiose, isn't it? Perks of being the world's leading tech company. Vandelay likes to show off. But I'm looking for what they're

hiding.* Peppermint chimed in. She figured letting her new possible allies know a little of what her angle was would be a good idea.

"Oh, so you like digging up secrets, huh? How 'bout telling me your name?" Chai suddenly opted to ask, it just now occurred to him that for how much he and Pyra had been talking with their new hacking, robot-cat owning friend, he hadn't really heard a proper name from her, or really any idea of what to call her beyond her cat's name.

*Okay, if you went this long without thinking to ask me that, then you can wait a bit longer.* Came the snippy response from 808's owner. *Maybe next time, ask someone a question like that within your first few conversations with them like Pyra here did.*

"Alright, fine…" Chai huffed out, his tone equally snippy before pointedly addressing Pyra, who had been watching this exchange play out with a slight bead of sweat running down her face. "Do YOU wanna tell me what her name is, then?"

"Alright. She said her name wa-" That was about all Pyra managed to get out before 808 suddenly floated over to her shoulder, morphed back into her standard cat form, and dutifully slapped one of her paws over the redhead's mouth before she could finish.

*Yeah, if it's all the same to you, I don't think he'll get the message otherwise, so let's save that for when we meet in-person.* Peppermint explained with a deadpan tone and expression, eliciting another annoyed groan from Chai. On her own end, while she would've been fine with just telling her Driver their new mutual friend's name, Pyra also understood Peppermint's intentions with deliberately keeping this tid-bit from Chai till they properly met. In the short time since they met, the Aegis had quickly come to see just how hyperactive and easily distracted her Driver could be, afterall.

"Urgh, okay, whatever. I don't really care." Chai rolled his eyes in annoyment. Peppermint couldn't help but smirk a little at riling up the wannabe Rockstar. "I'm Chai, by the way."

"Yeah I got that part. Thanks." Was Peppermint's deadpan response, having heard the Aegis call the brunet that earlier. From there, the next few moments passed in relative silence as both Chai and Pyra focused on navigating their way forward, such a thing being a necessity with how they were still several stories up topped off by the precarious platforms they had to rely on for footing.

*PFFFFFFT!*

"W-Whoa!" Pyra exclaimed, barely managing to keep her balance when the lid of a large steam pipe she and Chai had been standing on suddenly got launched a solid story up into the air by a sudden jet of steam. The Aegis had only barely managed to steady herself when the metal lid abruptly dropped like a stone back to the pipe when the influx of steam stopped, causing her to land flat on her ass.

"Y-Yeah, my advice is to try planting your feet before the steam launches it." Chai noted, looking similarly unbalanced by the lid being launched up only to suddenly drop down just as soon as it happened. The brunet was quick to offer a hand to help get the Aegis back on her feet, which she gratefully accepted, however, upon feeling the lid they were standing on once again start rumbling due to another imminent influx of steam, Chai was quick to pull Pyra back onto her feet to speed things along, placing his robot hand on her back to make sure she was steady.

*PFFFFFFT!*

Despite knowing it was coming, Pyra still found herself taken by surprise when the steam once again abruptly launched their impromptu platform into the air… and her surprise didn't stop when she suddenly noticed and honed in on how Chai's hold on her got much more firm for a moment there. She was well-aware that her Driver only did so to ensure she wouldn't potentially be sent careening off the lid and into the depths of the campus, but the sudden close contact nonetheless left a wide-eyed Pyra rather flustered.

"Okay, jump!"

Blinking back to reality upon seeing Chai sprint towards and about to jump towards a hanging scaffolding platform that provided a route forward (Topped off by three of those small blue cleaning robots stacked atop one another to more efficiently clean the wall they were focusing on, funnily enough.) Pyra instinctively followed and leaped onto the scaffolding after him, not wanting to lag behind, especially with how the lid was about to drop down again.

*WRACK…*

Neither Driver nor Blade had the time to even widen their eyes in what was about to happen before the scaffold's rope supports suddenly gave out, causing the two to drop to the ground like stones along with it

*Wham! Slam!*

The second the scaffold platform crashed into the rooftop underneath, Chai found himself bounced off the platform and headfirst onto a nearby SC-RUB none too gently before touching down face-first on the floor.

"Wow… lotta-!"

*WHAM!*

"Urgh… Ow…" Whatever pained observation Chai was trying to make just then as he tried to force himself back onto his feet was cut off when a similarly falling Pyra bounced onto his back like he did with that SCRUB not even a moment ago.

"...World of pain." After initially displaying some confusion and disorientation at such a sudden drop, the pained groan coming from right under where she landed immediately cued Pyra into where, and more specifically, what she landed on.

"OH! I-I'm so sorry! A-Are you alright!?" Upon realizing that Chai's body served as a partial cushion, Pyra was quick to get off him while simultaneously offering frantic apologies and a hand up, which he clumsily accepted.

"...Yeah, I'm good, I'm good." Chai groaned out, his voice slightly strained as he worked out the newfound kinks in his spine from all that crushing weight that landed on him. Pyra was surprisingly much heavier than her appearance would suggest. "Urgh, loooooootta short-cuts around here."

"Are shortcuts around here normally this… painful?" Pyra couldn't help but ask, wariness creeping into her tone. She may have been practically immortal as an Aegis, but she could still feel pain, which certainly had her hoping that stumbling into these 'shortcuts' wouldn't be a recurring thing. None of this even went into how her Driver was quickly shaping up to be a magnet for these types of misfortunes, either.

"That's usually kind of a coin-flip, but they're definitely more on the 'aching' side today, that's for sure." Was Chai's nonchalant response, which did nothing to ease Pyra's worries. In any case, now that they were both back on their feet, the unlikely duo and their new cat companion continued onward undaunted, sliding down some sort of slope that was in the skeleton of an in-construction building, its steel beams all still exposed. At the bottom of the slope was an elevator lift with another one of those giant buttons located at its center. As she watched Chai once again leap up and smash his guitar into the switch (all while keeping a sharp ear out if she heard any more sudden exclamations of pain), both Pyra and her Driver found the lift suddenly going down. Thankfully though, their descent wasn't nearly as abrupt as it was while on those steam pipes, or during Chai's two 'shortcuts,' and not even a moment passed before they now found themselves in the dim interior of an area that looked like a warehouse storage area.

As she continued to take in her surroundings with a curious expression, she noticed Chai leaping into a hole in the center of the room. She had just been about to follow after him when the blue glow of a computer terminal across from the hole caught her attention. Eager to get more information regarding this world and this island she found herself on, Pyra quickly began to glean the information available on the monitor. Though… as she read on, an increasingly familiar sense of bewilderment replaced her initial curiosity.

Battery Pack Production

RE: Production Order from R&D

PGR-0101 Unit #31340 over at the labs. Zanzo wants this unit out there for sale Today, even though he thought of the idea yesterday…

Product Name: Expanded battery pack for Project Armstrong Power Units.

By design, the battery is made to fail at the 6-month mark (exactly a minute past the warranty period). Zanzo wants to put out this battery supercharger to… help that…? I don't know what he wants anymore.

You didn't hear it from me, but all it does is mess up the charge and wear it out faster. But FYI this thing is like a lightning rod. Zanzo didn't want any protective covering since it 'looked cooler.'

Wear rubber gloves or something.

"...The more I'm learning about this company, the more steadily concerned I'm getting." Pyra sighed, stepping back from the terminal, which was currently providing a digital picture of the 'battery supercharger' it described. With how blatantly and comically corrupt this entire Vandelay company was coming off as so far, it made the fact that they had herself and multiple Core Crystals acquired for research even more distressing than it already was. The Aegis could've, and likely would've spent longer ruminating about the bizarre details of this world, but the in-beat sound of lasers going off along with the sound of Chai jumping and dashing brought her back to the present.

Deciding that these sort of musings were again best for later -especially when it sounded like her Driver was getting himself into trouble once again- Pyra dashed over to the hole Chai jumped down and descended downward herself…

"Hey, cool! What's that?"

*I wouldn't touch that…*

…And subsequently felt her heart get caught in her throat when she dropped into the sight of a blissfully unaware Chai reaching out to touch the same dangerously unstable battery pack she'd just read about.

"CHAI, WAIT-!"

*BZZZZ-KRT!* Upon realizing what was about to happen, Pyra hastily tried to blurt out a warning for Chai, only for it to fall on deaf ears when the brunet proceeded to place his metal hand on the unstable battery pack. The result was instantaneous, with the Aegis's wide-eyed, horrified expression only growing more prominent when the unstable device sent such an intense electric jolt into her Driver's body that for a brief second, Pyra was certain she got a brief X-ray shot of his skeleton mid-electrocution.

"A-Are you alright!?" Pyra exclaimed, a combination of panic and concern in her voice as she sprinted over to the now-smoking and gobsmacked Chai.

*Well, that didn't kill him, and that's way more than I was expecting, sooo…* Peppermint noted, her tone and 808's wide-eyed look reflecting her current shock (hah) quite well.

"T-The opposite, actually… Feels more like I'm… powered up!" True to his claim, despite both the burning smell and sight of smoke slightly radiating from his body, Chai both looked and felt mostly okay despite clearly reeling from what just happened. Really, the only note-worthy thing the brunet was feeling in wake of that sudden shock was the strange feeling that there was a LOT of pent-up power and energy thrashing around in his arm right now.

*808 is showing me you've got a lot of energy stored up in your arm right now. Maybe try… letting it out?* Peppermint suggested, the tone in her voice as she said this indicating she was just as in the dark as to what would happen if Chai did as she suggested.

"Letting it…? Oh… Alright, I… uh, I think I get what you mean." Clamming up at the prospect of 'letting out' all the alarming energy he felt built up in his arm, not helped by Peppermint's own uncertainty as she suggested it, Chai could only give his arm and Scrap Guitar a look of growing apprehension before extending both towards the thick glass panel that separated this apparent battery pack production zone from the rest of the production building, though it was very much worth noting that the electric shock Chai just experienced upon touching the battery pack was so severe that it damaged the panel to the point to cracking it thoroughly. Uncertain how to proceed going forward, with 808's owner being no help with the 'you're on your own, dude' vibe she's giving him via her robo-ball-cat, Chai couldn't help but cast a nervous glance Pyra's way, hoping perhaps her input would help. "Does this uhh… look right, to you?

"Hmm… I think you're on the right track, yes." Pyra began slowly, her tone and expression one of contemplation as she gave Chai's right arm and Scrap Guitar a methodical look over. "Just do what comes most naturally to you and you'll be fine, I think."

"'Do what comes natural,' yeah, sure. Words to live by, let me just… ahh…" Despite trying to hype himself up a bit for whatever would happen, Chai ultimately couldn't help but give his arm a pleading look and one last hushed exclamation before attempting this. "Please don't explode…"

However, just as Chai was about to attempt the motion he felt in his gut would release the energy built up from the battery pack, he was brought to a sudden halt when he felt a warm, delicate hand grab his shoulder in a surprisingly firm, but gentle grip. Letting out a confused hum at the sudden contact, Chai cast a curious, questioning gaze Pyra's way, his apprehension momentarily forgotten. Similar to her grip, Pyra's gaze as she began to address the wannabe rocker was in equal parts gentle and reassuring while also in a confident tone that booked no arguments. "You'll be fine. Trust me, just take a deep breath and focus on what you want done."

"Ah, yeah, got it. Thanks for the uh… vote of confidence…" Taken aback by the sincere show of support for someone he'd known for barely an hour, Chai nonetheless kept Pyra's advice in mind and took a breath to steady himself before concentrating. "Okay, focusing, focusing. Hoping for something hard-hitting, like a… like a…!"

"POWER CORD!"

As he made that sudden exclamation, both Chai's arm and his Scrap Guitar both began to emit a bright orange glow before the young man sudden leapt forward and bombarded the cracked glass panel with a rapid vertical spinning attack, the force of the ongoing attack rapidly chipping more glass off the panel while also causing Pyra to shield her face slightly from the gusts the attack was building up.

*Beat! Beat!*

*BAM!* *CRAAASH!*

And with that final strike landed perfectly in time to the beat, the glass panel shattered apart, allowing the group of three to continue onward.

"WHEW! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Chai exclaimed gleefully once his 'Power Cord' attack ran its course, an exhilarated expression on his face as he touched back down on the floor.

"I'll say…! That attack certainly looks like it can do some damage." Pyra commented, a wide-eyed and impressed smile on her face as her initial suspicions were confirmed. 'Looks like that 'battery pack' gave him access to Driver Specials…! Or at least a close-enough equivalent…'

"Got that right…! Makes me all the more amped up to try it out on some security next time they attack us… once I feel up to it again, anyway. That actually kinda drained me out."

"I can certainly imagine." Pyra commented, reminded of how her previous self, Addam, and their companions back during the Aegis War would have to gradually build their Specials back up via repeated use of their techniques known as Arts. Funnily enough, it was as Pyra was musing on the particular mechanics of Chai's own apparent variation of a Special when she caught sight of just the fridge that could provide some more details in that regard, per usual eagerly trying to get their attention via his 'HELP' sign. "Maybe Smidge can provide some details on how to build it back up?"

"...Urgh. Alright, might as well bite the bullet." Chai acquiesced, immediately grimacing the moment he caught sight of the disconcerting smart fridge after smashing away some wooden boxes blocking the entryway out of this production room, but at this point coming to understand the hacker and the redhead's point that Smidge nonetheless provided useful information. Smiling in appreciation at Chai accepting the idea, Pyra followed him as he went up to properly address the smart fridge.

*Oh wow, you seem to be able to now use SPECIAL ATTACKS.*

"...That literally JUST happened, like not even a minute ago." Chai couldn't help but point out dryly, even if he had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't be provided with a satisfactory answer.

*Reminder: I know A LOT about you.* True to the recently minted Driver's assumption, Smidge's response both didn't really clear anything up and just creeped Chai out further.

"Yeaaahhhhh…" Was all Chai could really say in response to such a thing, making sure that there was a healthy distance between himself and the fridge while a few beads of disturbed sweat ran down his face. For her part, Pyra could only give him a sympathetic smile and hold to his shoulder, all while a similarly disturbed bead of sweat ran down her own face.

*But these SPECIAL ATTACKS are key! You really are channeling your energy here.* Smidge continued to explain, *Landing BEAT HITS will knock batteries out of enemies to recharge your arm's ability to perform SPECIAL ATTACKS But it seems all the energy will disappear after a battle. Seems you aren't built to hold that much of a charge. So remember to use it while you have it!*

*Knowing Vandelay's current line of management, that's an intentional design flaw.* Peppermint commented dryly, well aware that crappy, intentional design flaws meant to make the consumer pay the company for repairs wasn't even something that was exclusive to Vandelay since Kale's takeover. Other companies certainly loved screwing over their consumers in that regard too.

"Most likely, yes." Pyra agreed in a similarly dry tone, instantly thinking back to the file she read barely a minute ago.

"Like they say, if you don't use it-" Chai attempted to comment but was cut off by the smart fridge.

*You live in constant regret over what could have been, correct?* Smidge cheerily finished, throwing all three of them off with the jarring change in tone and subject.

"Thaaat's… not how I remember it." Chai pointed out dryly, his tone deadpan. Last he checked, that saying was a lot more catchy, less of a mouthful, and didn't leave most people lamenting the past.

'...All the same, he isn't wrong.' Were Pyra's own morbid thoughts on the matter, though she quickly shook off her concerningly self-deprecating thoughts on herself and the past when it was clear Smidge finished his exposition and Chai began to continue on past him as a result.

Before long, the two stepped through a large doorway labeled 'exit' that did indeed lead them back outside, and at what seemed to be ground level, no less. This was all topped off by the sight of their destination straight ahead, though the added sight of several large glass gates/double doors standing between them and the QA Center building made it clear they still had a ways to go before they got there.

*We found em'!* Not only that, but before Chai or Pyra could start searching around for a way through the gates and to the QA Center, they were reminded that security was still a persistent threat when a squadron consisting of a new type of Vandelay security robot literally dropped in from above in front of them both. For the most part, these robots resembled the SBR robots the Driver and Blade duo had been dealing with since ending up in Vandelay's crosshairs, albeit with darker red highlights to their armor, some scanner-looking eyepiece on their right eyes, and most notably, an oversized sci-fi looking blaster with laser sights that were now aimed at the unlikely group, zeroing in on a gormless Chai in particular. These particular types of Vandelay robots were known as the GNR-020 (Gunner), and they had now been deployed in response to the security threat the trio of misfits presented being greater than originally anticipated. *Rekka wants the defect wasted, so let's waste him.*

"Oh cra-!" Flinching up not unlike a deer in headlights or the way one would freeze up staring down the barrel of a loaded shotgun, Chai suddenly found he wouldn't have to quickly try and dodge out of the way when a certain red figure dashed to his front and then erected a circular, golden-glowing forcefield around the both of them, handily deflecting the onslaught of laser blasts that came from the squadron of GNRs "Phew! Thanks for the save!" Wasting no time now that he'd shaken off his surprise and wasn't staring down the barrels of several charged laser cannons, Chai eagerly dashed forward, following up with a heavy swing that took himself and a GNR into the air, where he proceeded to wale on it in mid-air, or 'Aerial Rave' on it, as he'd personally describe it.

"Of course! They don't stand a chance against us now!" As Chai sent the GNR he'd sent up crashing back down to the ground with one final slam of his Scrap Guitar, quickly following up with an overhead slam to avoid the readied laser of another GNR, Pyra herself didn't waste any time dispensing of this new security squadron that attacked them either. With her Aegis Sword extended via her flames, the redheaded Aegis was able to close the distance between herself and her long-range attackers with little difficulty, catching two GNRs with the brunt of her fiery bombardment.

"WHOO!"

"HEY!"

"YEAH!"

"HEY!"

In this particular instance, the chanting and cheering came from both Chai and Pyra's strikes at once, both managing to get into the rhythm and maximize the damage they both delivered, with Chai particularly taking note of how floating batteries got knocked out of the GNRs he landed Beat Hits on, just like Smidge said. (Chai's Beat Hits had always been doing this to the security bots he'd been engaging since he acquired it, of course, but they only now magnetized towards him now that he'd gained the capability to perform Special Attacks. The details of how and why this was weren't clear, like a lot of the comically inexplicable things about Chai and this world, but perhaps it was a side-effect of that 'battery pack's' shock.)

Feeling that one last good Beat Hit would ready himself up for another Special Attack, and seeing a good opportunity knocking with the current positioning of the GNRs, Chai's next Beat Hit after his subsequent combo bombardment culminated in him dropping a small but brightly glowing ball of energy with a smirk on his face. The moment the ball hit the ground, it unleashed a wave of four harmonic energy beams that went in a counter-clockwise wave, with only one GNR in the group he aimed for barely managing to stay out of range of the lasers. Either way, it was more than enough with dozens of batteries getting knocked out of the robots and immediately magnetizing towards and into Chai's robotic arm.

"Alright, time for an encore!" Once more and with an eager smirk, Chai leapt up with his robotic arm and Scrap Guitar raised, readied, and glowing, and with another gleeful exclamation of "POWER CORD!" bombarded any of the GNR units unfortunate to be in the brunet's path with his spinning Special Attack. By the time the brunet finished spinning and touched down on the floor once again, Pyra had easily picked off the remaining stragglers before they could continue to be pests.

"Not bad at all." Said Chai with a satisfied smirk on his face as he let his Scrap Guitar rest on his shoulder.

"Nicely done, Chai." Pyra commented to her Driver, looking the brunet's way as her sword's flames retracted and she resheathed it at her back. As she did so, however, the sound of machinery moving about closely above her head caught the redhead's attention. Craning her head upwards, Pyra then quickly caught sight of a potential way forward and past those several glass gates in the form of an active crane not far above them. The crane in question was automated, currently holding a very large metal sheeting, and via some quick climbing up some nearby cargo containers in this particular shipping yard, they could act as a convenient route to a doorway into another production building, which was situated at a catwalk about one or two stories high. From what Pyra could see from here, by cutting through that building, they could then get closer to the QA Center building and at the very least cut through a few of those glass gates.

"Hey Chai, I think I've found us a way forward. If we use those large metal sheeting as platforms, we can reach that building over there and hopefully get closer to the exit." Pyra quickly informed her Driver, pointing in the direction of the moving metal sheetings and the production building.

"Nice! Sounds like a plan." Seeing no other way through and having no arguments with the path pointed out, Chai wasted no time leaping up to the top of a nearby pile of cargo containers that had been just left there, jumping onto the crane's 'platform' with Pyra right behind him.

After quickly platforming through the moving sheetings, the group managed to reach the catwalk without any problems.

*Superhuman physiology, combat prowess of a seasoned swordsman, pyrokinesis and now instantaneous high light projection in the form of protective barriers. You sure are something else, aren't you?* Said Peppermint, nonchalantly praising Pyra for her skills and powers all the while taking note of said impressive capabilities.

"Same here. Gotta hand it to ya, you're packing some serious fire power over there.." Chai couldn't help but agree with their hacker companion while letting out a small pun. If the brunet didn't know any better, then he might've guessed by now that Pyra was some sort of magical girl straight out of an anime! She certainly had the overall look and powers to be one… though all things considered, Chai decided to keep this thought to himself. He didn't really see himself explaining this whole genius theory to Pyra or their hacker friend without jamming his foot into his mouth.

"Heheh, thanks~." Pyra giggled in response, finding the double meaning humorous as a tiny blush appeared in her face. It had been a long time since anyone had given her such genuine praise for her and her abilities. On the other hand, Peppermint and her robotic cat just rolled their eyes, clearly not as amused.

"Hey, now that I think about it… Couldn't you have just, ya know, melted through those glass gates?" It was then that a sudden realization hit Chai. In hindsight, having witnessed quite a few times how Pyra's fire was so intense that it could turn Vandelay bots to burning slag, he was now pretty certain that melting some glass gates would have been a pretty trivial task for her, even if they were some fancy, high-security bullet-proof glass gates or something.

"Oh, uh well… I could have, it's just um…" Pyra tried to reply, but drifted off as she wasn't sure how to word it best.

"Let me guess. You didn't want to?" Chai asked bluntly, his assumptions quickly proven correct when he got a sheepish nod from Pyra in response.

"It's just… I don't like to use my powers to destroy things if I can avoid it. Sorry." The redheaded Blade apologized, there was a tinge of… sadness in her voice as she said that, though neither Chai nor Peppermint didn't quite get it.

"Nah, it's cool, I get it. Not everyone likes to wreck stuff, no biggie. Sure, it would have been faster to just burn down any blockade in our way, but hey, if you don't want to do that, I'm not gonna force you. Besides, sometimes taking a small detour can be fun." Chai said in a carefree manner as he put his hands behind his head, 808 nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for understanding." Pyra smiled in gratitude.

"Eh, don't sweat it." Chai waved it off.

*Yeah, now that we're talking about it, It's actually a very good thing that you've been so careful with your powers. With how a certain someone's been using his own abilities, I don't wanna imagine how chaotic it'd be if anyone else had them.* Peppermint commented, giving Chai a not-so-subtle jab in the process.

"Urgh, will you cut me some slack here?! Yeah sure, these jackasses deserve getting their stuff wasted, but you're acting like I'm going out of my way to break everything I see!" The wannabe rocker defended himself, personally feeling justified in his actions since waking up from his surgery.

*Uh-huh. sure.* Said the hacker sarcastically. In the time since she's met the brunet, Peppermint's seen him destroying robots with gleeful abandon, smashing up every wooden box he's caught sight of, and smacking his Scrap Guitar on big buttons without a second thought, so she'd say she was well founded in her assumptions of him. As she watched their exchange play out, Pyra couldn't help but giggle a little at the two's banter.

"Ugh, whatever. Let's just keep going." Chai rolled his eyes in annoyment as he walked off, and his companions followed after him into the production building.

As they continued on their way, Peppermint had 808 discreetly glance at Pyra. The more she saw of the fire Blade in action the more convinced she was that the leaks she received were very real. And while the hacker was glad that Kale and Vandaley's top brass didn't get their hands on Pyra and her powers, Peppermint couldn't help but wonder… Do other Blades as powerful as Pyra exist? If so… then there was a lot of cause for concern, but for now she would put these thoughts on the backburner until she got more definitive info on what Vandelay was planning with these Blades and what types were in their possession.

In any case, as the group walked into the building (After Chai combo-ed on yet another big red button to open the metal door leading inside), they noticed that this seemed to be a processing facility of sorts with all the large conveyor belts and the materials being carried in them. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be an easy way forward except going through the conveyor belts, so without any other viable, non-destructive option, they progressed through the conveyor belts. Fortunately for the Driver and Blade duo, it proved to be rather easy as it was just a matter of timing to avoid the crusher-like devices above the conveyors and get through safely.

As Chai and Pyra navigated their way past two of the three conveyor belts, the both of them took notice of the contents of the conveyors and the overall purpose of this particular building. The initial conveyor had dozens of large, old-looking, and gray colored Vandelay robot models being carried to the crusher-like device that converted the inert robots into containers full of SBR limbs and parts. The next conveyor continued this trend with bundles of boxes full of unknown contents being converted into containers full of those gold and silver gears Chai had been collecting. "Hmm… this looks to me like this is all some sort of recycling center…" Pyra said in realization.

"Yeah, I noticed. Looks like they're getting rid of the older Vandelay bots, too." Chai added, having also noticed the purpose of these conveyors and their materials. Made sense, since last Chai heard, Vandelay had recently opted to discontinue the production of several of their older robot models, all while making sure everyone knew about the new line of robots Vandelay had developed since Kale took over the company.

*Yeah, cuz who needs the old, reliable models that get their jobs done when you can just can their production and start charging obscene prices for the newer and flashier models? Y'know, the ones that don't do their job nearly as well.* Said Peppermint with a noticeable bitterness in her tone.

"...Y'know, if that is true, I'm not sure whether I want that sentiment to apply to all the security bots we've been trashing or not. Not nearly as badass thrashing a bunch of shoddily put together robots if you ask me." Chai couldn't help but add in, Peppermint's comment causing him to wonder if the security bots were similarly crappily built.

*Wouldn't surprise me at all and it'd at least make things easier for us.* Peppermint responded bluntly, her tone and 808's deadpan expression making it clear to both Chai and Pyra that she didn't want to go into further detail about the subject. At the hacker's notably more bitter expression as she once again went into Vandelay's business practices, the two couldn't help but briefly exchange curious glances with one another, both wondering what exactly the deal with that was.

Regardless, both knew this was a poor time and place to contemplate that peculiarity, and instead focused on safely making their way past the crushers on the 2nd conveyor belt. Both Driver and Blade were able to do so without issue, thanks partially to, like everything else, the crushers moving in time to the beat.

*DINK-! BRRRrrrr…*

However, just as the duo both set foot on the final conveyor, it along with the lights, scanners, monitors, and all the crushers/converters that were changing the decommissioned Vandelay bots and scrap metal into reusable gears all suddenly shut down, leaving the human, Blade, and robotic cat in darkness with only the dim glow of emergency lights illuminating them.

"Uh-Oh. Power's out. Generator looks busted." Chai was quick to note, grimacing and narrowing his eyes slightly as he leaned forward to better examine the generator in question. It was a large contraption, with its gears exposed on the side, a red glow emanating from its own emergency light, and was apparently responsible for powering everything in this immediate sector. It looked like the thing was short-circuited… or… something like that. The exact tech lingo and terminology for the problem at-hand kind of eluded Chai, if it wasn't obvious.

*Can you fix it? Any tools nearby?* Peppermint asked, having 808 give their surroundings a look over so she could see for herself.

"Not… really?" Pyra said slowly, making sure to try and get a look around her surroundings, dark as they currently were, to confirm this. "Though really, without the proper know-how from me or Chai, I don't see either of us fixing this thing." The Aegis considered herself well-versed and knowledgeable on a great number of matters, but blue-collar maintenance like this admittedly wasn't one of her strong-suits, doubly so when the machine in question was from another world entirely, and she was going to make the reasonable assumption that her Driver didn't know any more on the subject than she did.

"Pffft. 'Tools? Know-how?' Hah, I got a better idea~." Pyra had just been in the middle of giving the large, hard-light barrier that deterred their progress another look over, trying to see if there was a way to bypass it, when she heard Chai cockily propose an alternative solution. Curious to see what her Driver had in mind, especially with how he'd had no shortage of surprises and tricks up his sleeve that had turned out surprisingly well, the redhead took several steps back and kept her gaze on Chai as he confidently strode up to the shorted-out generator with his Scrap Guitar raised.

*Beat beat beat!*

"HEY!"

*Beat beat beat!*

"HO!"

*Beat beat beat!*

"HEY!"

*Beat beat!*

"HO!"

Taking a few extra steps as he began, Pyra continued to watch as Chai hit the generator with his Scrap Guitar in time with the beat, each hit crackling with electricity as it gradually filled up a power meter, and upon landing the final hit, the generator -along with everything else in the immediate production area- immediately started back to life, allowing them to continue back where they left off.

"And the beat goes on~." Chai noted, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Well, that's certainly more convenient than having several levels of Electric Mastery and who knows what else on-hand…!" Pyra couldn't help but comment, a bit taken aback but ultimately unsurprised given everything else she'd seen her Driver do all on his own up to this point.

*It's definitely speedier than trying to walk the both of you through fixing that thing, I'll give you that much.* Peppermint was more subtle in her praises, but wouldn't deny that the excitable brunet's idea helped speed things along than if they did things as usual. She questioned how that even worked or for that matter, how the wannabe rocker didn't end up breaking the generator further, but with the other nonsensical stuff she'd seen him do so far, best not to think about it too hard.

"Yeah, I might like the guitar, but the 'percussive' kind of maintenance is definitely my speed all the same."

"Pfft~, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume that's an actual 'term' here and not something you just made up on the spot." Pyra noted with amusement, stifling her slight laughter before a gnawing question occurred to her. "While we're on the topic though, how did you know just repeatedly hitting the generator like that would work? I get it was probably low on power, but still…" Repairs or charging something back up usually took more of a lighter touch instead of 'whacking it repeatedly with magnetized scrap.' Part of Pyra wondered if she was just wasting her time ruminating on this when in the short time she'd been here, both her Driver and this entire world itself seemed to enjoy playing fast and loose with the laws of reality when it proved to be fun or comical.

"Well alright, since you're that curious, I'll let you in on this world's biggest secret when it comes to repairs," And with that offer on the table, Chai then made a point to take a conspiratorial look around their surroundings for added effect before gesturing for the redhead to come in close, close enough that he could whisper an incredibly important secret to her. Despite knowing in the back of her head that this was likely the lead-up to some sort of joke, Pyra nonetheless leaned in closer with a wide-eyed expression of intrigue on her pretty features.(It was also worth noting that it was 808 floating in closer along with Pyra to better hear this. Not Peppermint, mind you, who quickly checked out with an annoyed and exasperated sigh when she caught on to Chai trying to be funny again, but the robotic cat herself, who like Pyra, was quite intrigued by what the brunet had to say.)

When it was clear that he had a rapt audience of two waiting for him to speak, Chai made a point to pause for another moment for dramatic effect before finally speaking. "If you, by any chance, have something that starts breaking down or bugging out on you? Hit it. Doesn't matter what it is, it always works. If it doesn't? You're either hitting it wrong or at the wrong rhythm."

Despite admittedly expecting a non-serious answer like this, the delivery of said answer and Chai's confident tone had Pyra blinking for a brief moment before she found herself having to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle her growing laughter, feeling a very prominent sense of amusement.. "I… I see. Thank you for the… insightful advice, Chai." On her own end, Peppermint just rolled her eyes at the exchange via 808, but said nothing as the group navigated down the final conveyor.

*I told you to check that generator! You had ONE job!* As the duo stepped off the final conveyor and towards a hall that would lead them further north, and subsequently closer to the QA Center, their attention was soon grabbed by the sound of a pair of VAS-ERs engaged in a heated argument, seemingly referring to the busted generator Chai just powered back up.

*You set me up!* Was the gray-colored VAS-ER's heated response to his red-colored co-worker.

*What? Rekka will destroy both of us if we run behind!* The red VAS-ER pointed out irritably.

*Well, someone fixed it, SO STOP YELLING AT ME!* As the VAS-ERs continued yelling at one another without even noticing the presence of their three observers, it became increasingly clear to their audience that the two robots could keep at this argument ad nauseum unless they were interrupted, topped off by the fact that with their lack of breathing or fleshy parts, running out of breath of a dry mouth certain wouldn't stop either of them.

"...Huh." Was all Chai could say in response to the heated argument unfolding in front of him, Pyra, and 808. The trio took in the sight for another moment before they began to move on, and as they left, Chai couldn't help but think back to Peppermint's earlier dry remark about the new Vandelay robots' general ineffectiveness when compared to their older, more simplistic contemporaries. This thought only grew more prominent when they caught sight of a nearby SC-RUB dutifully cleaning the catwalk it was on without a word of complaint. The stark contrast compared to the still-arguing VAS-ERs prompted Chai to voice his current thoughts, shooting 808 a curious look. "Y'know, I kinda figured you were just complaining for the sake of it earlier, but I'm uh… starting to think you might've been on to something about the newer Vandelay models not being the most uh… effective work-force compared to the older bots they built."

*Obviously. I don't run my mouth if I don't know what I'm talking about.*

*SLAM!*

And as if in response to the subject on-hand being about Vandelay's robot types, another new type suddenly popped out from another trap door on the floor just as Peppermint finished her sentence. In stark contrast to all the SBRs and GNRs they'd been dealing with so far, this particular robot was a large, hunched over machine with blue highlights on it's armor, two neon-blue tubes coming out from the back of it's head and onto it's shoulders, and a set of appropriately large and painful-looking metal fits to top the entire look off. This particular model of security bot was a Vandelay BA-B00, which boasted a hefty amount of offensive and defensive power, even discounting the fact that this particular model didn't come with the energy barrier built into most other BA-B00s.

"Well he's a lot bigger than the other guys! Gonna take a wild guess and figure he hits just as hard." Chai observed, with both he and Pyra dodging out of the way when the BA-B00 lunged for them with both its arms raised and slammed them down where the Driver and Blade duo just was. "Still faster though~!"

While Chai continued to use his triple dash to swerve and zip around the BA-B00's attempts to smash him, Pyra opted to maintain some distance between herself and the hard-hitting machine before flinging her sword at it Blazing End-style. However, unlike the SBRs and GNRs they'd faced previously, the large blue robot barely reacted to or even noticed the Aegis's blazing attack, still occupied with trying to smash Chai into paste. For his part, after nimbly leaping back from another attempt to smash him into the ground, Chai opted to counter by bombarding the hulking robot with his heavy-attack combo, confident that his final blow in the series of crushing attacks would leave the BA-B00 staggered and open to more follow-up attacks…

*Rrrrrgh…*

Consequently, Chai then felt like he was caught with his pants down when instead of that, the final strike merely caused the unflinching BA-B00 to glare down with narrowed, yellow eyes at him.

"Y-You… You uh… were kinda… supposed to start flinching by the end of that." The hulking robot's only response to that meek statement was to roll his mechanical neck, letting out several popping noises in the process… despite being a robot, meaning that shouldn't have even been physically possible. "Ohhhhhh crap."

*ZAAAAP!* And before Chai could attempt to get away or do anything else, the BA-B00 began to crackle fiercely with electricity before slamming both of its fists into the ground and subsequently causing an electric shockwave that sent many painful jolts coursing through Chai's body.

"ARGH-!" That exclamation of pain was all he could get out before the BA-B00 followed that shock up by backhanding the paralyzed Chai across the face, the force of the blow easily enough to send the hapless young man flying.

"Chai!" Pyra exclaimed in worry, wasting no time in intercepting her sprawling Driver, leaping up and catching him before he ended up sprawled out on the floor or got sent plummeting off the catwalk and down into the depths below. "Are you okay to keep fighting…!?"

"Ugh, I'm fine, I'm fine! I'm made of tougher stuff than an iron fist!" The brunet was quick to retort, forcing himself back onto his feet and out of Pyra's grasp as he returned the BA-B00's narrow eyed glare.

*Reminder: sick days must be registered six months before the desired date.* Chai looked as though he was about to charge back into the fray and meet the heavy-duty robot head on, only for the sound of a LU-C1LLE making an announcement over the speakers caught everyone's attention, including even the BA-B00, who stopped in his tracks to look towards the source of the announcement.

*Asterisk, sick days for robotic employees will not be approved.* And of note, that last part of the announcement caused the BA-B00's yellow, mechanical eyes to widen for a split second before a look of blatant anger was clear to see on his mechanical face, further making his displeasure at that announcement clear by slamming his fist down onto the catwalk and letting out an enraged, mechanical-sounding growl.

"Sheesh, maybe that's why this guy is so mad. Coming in to work under the weather would put anyone in a bad mood." Similarly, despite having gotten shocked and a good smack from the thing not even a minute ago, Chai felt his anger and indignance for the BA-B00 fade and quickly get replaced with sympathy upon hearing that announcement.

"That possibility aside, Chai…" Pyra began, thinking back to how the hulking security bot was barely phased by her and Chai's attacks before an idea occurred to her. "Let's try hitting him both at once as hard as we can. I'm sure the both of us together have enough force to phase that thing."

"No complaints on this end. Let's do it." The brunet cyborg had no issues with that approach, idly giving his Scrap Guitar a twirl in his hand, all while flames extended Pyra's sword once more, before both dashed forward and charged the BA-B00. Like with all its previous attacks, the duo saw blatant wind-up to the robot's attempt to hit and smash them and both deftly evade the attacks before following up a series of their hardest hitting strikes.

*SMASH!*

*GRORGH!* The BA-B00 exclaimed, finally unable to stop tanking the blows being sent its way and staggering back several feet from the combined blows of the wannabe rocker and the Aegis.

"This is our chance, Chai!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice! I got just the thing in mind!" Feeling a bolt of inspiration strike him (As well as a nice abundance of batteries after landing that final Beat Hit), Chai's eager, cocky smirk made its way back onto his face as he began to sprint forward, his arm and Scrap Guitar emitting the same orange glow from earlier. "PICK SLIDE~!" And as he made that gleeful exclamation, Chai then proceeded to powerslide straight into the staggered BA-B00, with the strum he performed in time to the next beat emitting a powerful enough shockwave that it sent the oversized robot flying straight off the catwalk, crashing into a nearby wall (leaving an indent in the shape of its body, funnily enough) before finally peeling off the wall like a piece of paper and plummeting down into the dark depths of the Campus below.

"Wonderful work, Chai! That was clever, using the environment to your surroundings like that." Pyra praised him for his apparent cleverness.

"Oh! Uh… yeah, totally meant to do that." Blinking at both the end-result of his Special Attack and Pyra's words of praise, Chai instead just opted to go along with the Blades words rather than informing her that the whole maneuver was more of a 'happy accident' than anything.

*...By which he means it was a complete accident.* Peppermint, by contrast, had no stones about bluntly telling things like they were. *So anyway, if you still wanna go with that stupid idea of just waltzing through the QA Center, that vent over there should drop you off just outside there.* She informed the duo as she had 808 gesture at a large open vent nearby, though due to the rhythmic effect of Chai's musical powers, it closed and opened back up to the beat of the music.

"Awesome! Good eye!" Whether Chai was just ignoring Peppermint's continued warnings about how going into the QA Center was a blatant trap or just genuinely oblivious to how bad of an idea it was, neither she nor Pyra could say for certain with how the brunet didn't hesitate to start moving and climbing towards the vent, an oblivious, satisfied smile on his face as he did so.

*...Not even a second to consider it.* Peppermint sighed in exasperation before having 808 turn towards Pyra, who unsurprisingly had a concerned expression on her face in regards to her Driver's blatant lack of regard for the imminent trap waiting for them in the QA Center. *In case it isn't obvious, if you actually do end up following him into what's an obvious trap, make sure to stay on your guard.*

"That was already my plan, Peppermint, believe me." Pyra sighed, having already realized that Chai had no interest in changing his current plan and that they'd have trouble inevitably awaiting them as a result. In any case, well aware that she wouldn't want to lose track of the excitable brunet lest he get into more trouble, Pyra leapt up after him, making sure to time her jumps across the platform and when the vent's grate was open for a beat.

*These rhythm games are too hard! I want to relax, but you gotta time it right-*

"...No, dude, dude. You're playing it all wrong. You said it yourself that you wanna relax, right? So be relaxed. In fact- just pause and pass it here for a second, let me show you how it's done." Upon touching down on the inside of the vent, Pyra was then greeted with a curious sight, namely Chai in the middle of yanking a hand-held device out of the hands of a red colored VAS-ER, who'd been sitting down in a discreet corner of the vent while fiddling with the device prior to the brunet's appearance.

*Hey, I'm workin' here!* The blue-collar robot protested indignantly, rising to his feet to better address Chai.

"...Didn't you just say you were playing a game and trying to relax, though?" Pyra couldn't help but ask, tilting her head slightly as she pointed this out.

*U-Uhm well… that's uh…* The red colored VAS-ER initially found himself at a loss for words as he tried to think up a good response to Pyra's call-out. *IIII… just happen to work better when I take a quick break every few minutes. Some people are just built differently after all. In my case literally, too.* And as he finally settled on a response, it was clear to anyone even slightly listening that he made that excuse up on the spot.

"Relatable. Anyway, just watch, okay?" Chai added in, his eyes still focused on the game's screen even as he said this. The rhythm game in question involved a female character side-scrolling automatically while she dodged over or hit incoming projectiles with her guitar. "Just don't freak out trying to perfect everything your first try and focus more on the beat than all the distracting stuff on screen. You'll be golden."

True to his words, Chai then proceeded to play through the level the VAS-ER selected with clear and practiced ease, the brunet's relaxed posture as he leaned back against the vent a stark contrast to the VAS-ER's tense and high-strung demeanor while playing. Without even realizing it with how 'in the zone' he currently was, Chai managed to ace the game's level perfectly, all while gaining a rapt audience in the form of the VAS-ER, Pyra, and 808, who hovered just over his shoulder to better take in the gameplay. "See, just relaaaax."

*Yeah, that's a lot easier said than done working in a place like this.* The VAS-ER pointed out dryly, taking back his handheld game once Chai offered it back to him and starting fresh on a new level. To the slacking robot's surprise, he found the advice the brunet offered was actually quite helpful, with his gameplay being considerably better when compared to just a few minutes ago. *Huh… think you're actually onto something there. Thanks for the tip.*

*Hey, always down to help out a fellow rhythm gamer." Chai responded easily, a shrug complimenting his easy-going smile before an important question occurred to him. "Say, also, just making sure, but is this the way to that QA Center building, right?" The brunet took this rare instance of coming across a robot that wasn't trying to kill him or be too 'friendly' as a chance to ask for directions just to be sure the group was on the right path.

*The QA building? Yeah, you head down that grate there and it should be just around the corner.* The VAS-ER answered, still focused entirely on his game event as he said this.

"Nice! We're almost outta here!" Further emboldened upon hearing that, Chai didn't hesitate to smack a large red button with his Scrap Guitar that opened up the grate the VAS-ER referred to, leaping down without a second thought. Upon landing, and hearing what sounded like Pyra also landing a few feet behind him, the duo found themselves in a large, circular room with a garage door behind them and a large, open doorway over a body of water in front of them. From what they could see from where they were now, crossing that body of water would lead them back to the main road to the QA Center building with several of the glass gates that blocked them now behind them.

However, before Chai could even take a single step towards the room's exit, another familiar voice he'd acquainted himself with today suddenly spoke up, surprising him. *How about combining those light and heavy attacks for even more combos and beat hits? Now's the time to try it out!* As if in response to his 'inner voice' saying all this, the two large monitors on either side of the way out of this room both suddenly lit up with the words ''COMBO TUTORIAL' printed boldly across both.

"Nah, maybe later." Chai responded to the voice without a second thought… either forgetting or unaware of the fact that his present company heard nothing and saw nothing on the TV screens.

"Hm?" Thinking he was addressing her, Pyra merely waited for him to respond with a curious expression and slight tilt of her head.

*...Who are you talking to?* Peppermint asked simply, raising a brow at the brunet's sudden words.

"Ehhhh nevermind, forget it. Anyway, let's get going!" The two girls' curiosities would go unanswered, however, with Chai instead opted to quickly triple dash out the doorway leading outside before performing another overhead slam on another button that would trigger several platforms for them to cross the… bay, or pool, or whatever you'd call the body of water separating them from the QA Center's front doorsteps.

*OW!*

Pyra herself stumbled as she went after the brunet when she was once again thrown off by the apparent sound "P-Peppermint, did you hear w-what sounded like a-?" She began to ask the hacker tentatively, only to stop herself when she realized that 808 opted to float after Chai rather than stick around. Once more baffled with the feeling only exacerbated by having no one to confirm what she just heard, Pyra could only sprint and jump after Chai in a hurry.

By the time Pyra had caught up to Chai, the redheaded Blade had leapt from on platform only to land on a considerably large and orange construction platform hanging from a crane. Her Driver was standing at the other edge of the platform, specifically right by a ledge/gap between the railings and a warning plastered onto the platform that said 'JUMPING TOTALLY PROHIBITED' complete with a simple illustration of a robotic stick figure jumping crossed out.

"...A rather on the nose warning, wouldn't you say?" Pyra couldn't help but note, quickly also taking notice of how they'd pretty much have to ignore the warning with how their destination was right there at the bottom.

"Yes. And now I pretty much gotta jump off." Was all Chai had to say on the matter before doing exactly that, the tone in his voice making it clear it was more so for the luster of so blatantly breaking such an obnoxiously presented rule. For their part, Pyra could only huff out a slight laugh, a bead of sweat running down her face while Peppermint gave a slight roll of her eyes via 808 before they both followed after him.

As she touched down on the ground, Pyra found herself unsurprised to see their coming in via the front doors warranted multiple SBRs and GNRs popping out from more trap doors, topped off by two GNRs perching themselves at sniping positions atop ledges across from them. However, like with every other combat encounter they'd engaged in on this day so far, neither Driver nor Blade were daunted and didn't hesitate to leap into the fray. Of note, while Chai gladly wailed on some ground-perched GNRs with his Scrap Guitar, and while Pyra deftly parried an incoming blast at her blind spot with her barrier and gracefully countered an attacking SBR after blocking an attempted barrage of strikes, a certain blue line that symbolized Driver and Blade beginning to resonate in combat manifested.

As a result of Chai unwittingly getting into High Affinity with Pyra, as symbolized by the blue Affinity Line linking them, Chai's Scrap Guitar began to get buffed with flames once more, his various blows against the Vandelay security robots hitting that much harder as a result. This became especially apparent for the brunet when his Humbucker's Beat Hit's pillars of neon energy were complimented by fiery shockwaves that sent the burning robots in Chai's range flying, with the ones unfortunate enough to be sent flying in Pyra's direction being deftly bisected by her. "Whoa…!" Once again Chai found himself caught by surprise once he realized that his last combo and Hit Beat were imbued with flames. The burnet glanced at glanced at his Scrap Guitar, lick like fire radiating off of it like last time before noticing the blue Affinity Line coming out of his chest. An excited smirk quickly appeared on his face upon realizing what this meant "Hah! Alright! Looks like things are really heating up now!" The young man cheered, throwing his Scrap Guitar up for a quick twirl in the air before catching once again as he threw his robotic arm backwards, top off by a second backwards swung, his now Blazing Scrap Guitar's flames flared up noticeably at the end of the swing, making it flash a bright orange and crimson for a second. The wannabe Rockstar then dashed forward into the remaining enemies with eager confidence and excitement.

Chai went on to perform a Stomp Box combo on a SBR, finishing it up with him landing on the guitar's handle and a Beat Hit that replaced the neon shockwave that usually came up as a result being replaced with a small but intense shockwave of fire that caught other two SBRs in the blast, destroying them in an instant.

*Please don't tell me these awful puns are gonna be a running thing with you.* As surprising and intriguing seeing this phenomena happen was, Peppermint couldn't help but groan, unamused and blatantly annoyed by the terrible pun, particularly fighting the urge to groan with how Pyra somehow found something to fight back laughter about.

"Pffft, sorry to disappoint, but it's hard not to be witty when things are going this easy-"

*CLANG!*

"Whoops!" Predictably, it was as Chai was making that boast, topped off by him cockily twirling his Scrap Guitar around by the handle, that his grip slipped and the makeshift weapon tumbled gracelessly out of his hand, leaving Chai stumbling to pick it back up, Peppermint once again rolling her eyes in what she noticed was rising frequency, and Pyra feeling a familiar bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

*Blast! Blast!*

Chai's attempts at picking his Scrap Guitar back up weren't made any easier by the still-present issue of the GNRs taking pot shots at them from that ledge above, with Chai having to stumble away from several timed laser blasts as he hastily went to grab his weapon. Pyra also found herself unable to relax with her having to use her hard light barrier to block a surprise laser strike of her own between dodging.

Chai managed to retrieve his Scrap Guitar just in time, given that the instant he did so, another BA-B00 robot leapt out from the large trap door right next to Chai, forcing the brunet to dash away from an overhead slam as it touched down on the ground.

Gripping tightly onto his Scrap Guitar with both hands, the slacker-turned-Driver attempted to follow his evasion up with a series of hard-hitting strikes that would hopefully either stagger the hulking robot or at least put it well on the path to staggering it. However, just as he was about to land the Beat Hit of his heavy-hitting combo attack, he was interrupted and sent stumbling back a few feet by the perched sniping GNRs, who had no intention of letting their targets forget about them. Letting out a groan of annoyance, Chai threw himself back onto his feet and dashed out of the BNR-00's range just as it attempted to capitalize on the brunet's getting interrupted with that 'area of effect' electric slam. He attempt to follow this up by dashing back up close and breaking the BNR-00's guard once more, but he'd only gotten two hits into his light-hit combo before he heard the increasingly annoying sound of the GNR's blaster charging and was forced to dash away again, not just from the laser blasts, but from the follow-up swings of one big and angry robot that wanted to crush him to paste.

"Okay, you're being a constant headache that needs to stop!" Chai exclaimed in growing frustration and annoyance, his eyes narrowed as he skidded back next to Pyra. This fight would be ten times less of a headache without those annoying jackasses taking potshots at them from above, and he had just the trick in mind to knock them down from their high horses. And judging from the brief glance over he gave the redhead, it seemed like she was on the same page as him.

"My own sentiments exactly, Chai!" Pyra, having herself been accosted the duration of this encounter by the other GNR perched on the ledge, knew Chai's frustration in this case with her focus and attempts at combo attacks being constantly disrupted by the sniping robot's lasers. With narrowed eyes, the redhead, like her cyborg Driver was doing, reared her sword back with it's flames extended before flinging it at the GNR that had been targeting her at the same time Chai flung his Blazing Scrap Guitar at his own GNR that had been bothering him.

Syncing their timing up with one another and the time of the beat, the two threw their respective weapons and both nimbly leaped back just as the BA-B00 attempted to hit them with a leaping smash. With both their weapons spinning past the hulking robot on both ends -the active Affinity Line ensuring Chai's Scrap Guitar was radiating flames- neither it nor the sniping GNRs had any chance to properly react when the two weapons spun towards the latter with shocking accuracy and both slammed into the two robots hard. The blows from the Scrap Guitar and Aegis Sword were both more than enough to leave both GNRs smashed wrecks as they slammed into the ground, and an instant after this, both weapons rapidly began to fly back towards the duo like they were boomerangs.

As both Driver and Blade grabbed their respective weapons they noticed that the BA-B00 was their last remaining enemy, and with both GNRs finally taken out, dispatching the hulking blue robot should be much more doable. "Okay, that's the last one! C'mon, Chai!" Pyra turned to her Driver, ready to finish this fight alongside him.

Before Chai could respond, however, he quickly glanced at his robotic arm, having noticed that with the destruction of those last GNRs and absorbing their batteries, Chai had amassed enough charge to perform a Special Attack, as the orange glow coming from his right arm indicated. What was different, however, was that the flames radiating from his Blazing Scrap Guitar had grown brighter and burned more intensely.

"Whoa…" Chai uttered in awe and both of his companions were looking at this in intrigue and surprise. An excited and confident grin appeared on his face. "Actually, Pyra… You can leave this one to me. I got this~." Chai said with confidence, pointing at himself with his thumb, before taking several steps forward to face off the hulking robot, 808 floating right behind him.

The redheaded Blade stayed where she was, knowing for a fact that she was about to witness yet another amazing feat from her Driver, and so she looked on with intrigue and expectancy. Peppermint, for her own part, was in a similar boat so she didn't argue against the brunet's idea.

Chai came to a stop a few feet away from the BA-B00, both glaring at each other. The robot growled at the young man as it slammed its large metallic knuckles together. The wannabe Rockstar's grin remained plastered on his face. "Alright, big guy. Time for a fiery remix~!" He declared as he threw his Blazing Scrap Guitar high up in the air before catching by the handle when it fell back.

"BLAZING-!" Chai dashed at the BA-B00, ready to perform his Special Attack.

"-POWER-!" Chai performed a rapid spinning attack on the large robot, the flames coming from his Blazing Scrap Guitar giving off the appearance of a whirling ring of fire. The BA-B00 found itself being pushed back slowly by the strength and speed behind Chai's fiery onslaught as it became fully encased in flames. Chai then stopped spinning, his Blazing Scrap Guitar raised up and burning even brighter, ready to bring it down in one final Beat Hit.

*Beat! Beat!*

"-CORD!"

*BOOM!*

.

Upon landing the Beat Hit and finishing his Special Attack, a small but intense fiery explosion was unleashed upon the hapless hulking robot, blasting it to pieces.

Pyra shielded her eyes from the blast as smoldering pieces of metal flew about everywhere. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Chai back on the ground, stumbling back slightly from a small, scorched black crater and the molten remains of the BA-B00.

The unlikely trio took in the sight of what Chai just did in awe. "WOOOO! THAT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME!" And the brunet couldn't help but shout in utter amazement with a wide-eyed, impressed look on his face, his gaze shifting between the few melted scraps of the blown up BA-B00 that remained and at his Scrap Guitar, the flames coming off of it dispersing, before settling his gaze on Pyra, who seemed similarly pleased with the end result of that buffed up Special Attack he pulled off, and 808. "You guys see that?! How can I totally burn that thing to pieces!?" The young man couldn't help but radiate a child-like glee and excitement.

"Mm! We did! That was amazing, Chai!" Pyra praised him, being nearly as amazed as her Driver.

*Yeah, that was a pretty impressive spectacle, Chai, I'll hand it to you.* And Peppermint couldn't help but agree with the Aegis.

"Hah! Don't you mean pretty fire spectacle?" Chai yet again couldn't help himself but pun as he let his Scrap Guitar rest on his shoulder with a smirk on his face.

*Aaaaand now I regret opening my mouth.* Peppermint's response was as immediate as the regret she felt praising Chai upon hearing another godawful pun come out of his mouth.

Pyra giggling at the terrible joke didn't help alleviate Peppermint's mood either. "I guess we can say that you were… on fire, Chai." The redheaded Blade thought it'd be humorous to do a play on words as well.

"Hahahah! Nice one!" And her Driver responded positively.

*Oh my God… Not you too, Pyra…* Their hacker friend didn't agree though as Driver and Blade shared a laugh for a few moments.

"Ya know… It's pretty sweet when we get in-synch like this and I start shooting fire like you." Chai said to Pyra with a smile, coming to enjoy fighting beside her in-synch to the beat and with each fight despite having only known her for about two hours or so, and the elemental buff that came with reaching High Affinity made it even better. "We should jam together like this more often." He extended his left fist to her.

Pyra was slightly taken aback by this gesture before smiling at him and raised up her own fist. "Mm. I feel the same." She nodded in agreement as the duo bumped fists.

"Alright, ladies, the exit's right over there. Let's get out of here." Chai said, gesturing at the entrance of the QA Center with his thumb as he let the scrap of his guitar fall off and stored back his trash grabber inside his arm before walking inside the building.

Pyra and 808 followed after him as Peppermint sighed and shook her head in disapproval through her robotic pet.

As the trio walked through the building at a leisurely pace, Pyra couldn't help but notice that it was quiet, very quiet. No new enemies suddenly popping up, no traps suddenly being sprung, nothing. Well, nothing other than a nearby OS-KAR and the pile of wooden crates it meticulously stacked into the shape of a dog on the side of the corridor they were walking on. This much quietness was rather unsettling for the fire Blade and she has a feeling that Peppermint agreed with her, unlike Chai that didn't find anything of this off as he walked on without a single worry with his hands behind his head, all the more reason for the redhead to be on guard.

"And here we are! The Exit! Told ya guys this was easy!" The brunet noted happily, his mood further improving upon noticing the large and blatant 'EXIT' sign posted over the doorway ahead of them. Chai's two female companions, however, were much less enthusiastic at the apparent way out in front of them.

*That's bait, idiot. They're clearly expecting you.* Peppermint bluntly pointed out in exasperation one last time, hoping that this time, the slacker with musical aspirations would actually hear her out about how much of an obvious trap this was… as unlikely as she was realizing that was.

"Not exactly how I'd word it, but she really is spot-on otherwise. Chai, there's really no way this is anything other than a trap we'd be walking straight into. Are you truly certain you wouldn't rather just try and find a more… subtle way out of here?" Pyra was much in the same boat, very concerned about this reckless plan and how, like Peppermint pointed out, Vandelay's security was clearly expecting them going forward.

"Pfft. Okay, look, so let's say they ARE expecting us with something -which I still seriously doubt, mind you- with WHAT? Nothing either of us can't handle!" However, despite the two girls' continued concerns, Chai was still undaunted regarding his current plan, back to placing both hands behind his head before giving the two one last glance. "Look, you're both welcome to go your own way and look for another way out if you seriously wanna, but I'm going."

And with that flippant remark and shrug, Chai turned around and began his leisurely stroll to the apparent exit dead ahead, leaving both girls and robotic cat standing/floating there watching him go with varying levels of exasperation. *...Like talking to a brick wall. I get the sinking sense that whatever happens next is gonna be the exact opposite of 'subtle.*Peppermint was the first to voice her thoughts, having zero faith that Chai would actually get to just walk out the front door of this place unmolested before 808 began to float after him.

"...I doubt don't it." Pyra sighed before speedwalking to catch up to Chai, ignoring the older Vandelay bot as she did so. Even with that exchange that just occurred, the redhead was truly finding herself growing endeared to her newfound Driver, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that this reckless attitude and mindset of his was going to be a problem. Though having said that, the Aegis would readily admit was hardly in a position to judge a young person acting recklessly with their power, considering how she acted for much of the Aegis War. Pyra would just have to look out for her Driver especially when he did something reckless and do what she can to ensure he matures away from acting in such a needlessly dangerous manner.

By the time Pyra had caught up to Chai and 808, the latter had just morphed back into her standard cat form while her Driver continued at his leisurely pace, humming some indecipherable song with both hands still behind his head. "..." In contrast to the brunet, Peppermint had 808 stay on alert while Pyra had been silently looking around for anything amiss, ready to act in case of an ambush.

Chai also gave his surroundings a quick look over, but again, compared to the two girls, it was much more lax and uncaring, giving out another shrug before he began to speak, a confident smile on his face. "See? Just like I thought, it's fine! You two seriously need to relax."

*BANG BANG!*

And whether it was an actual person or Lady Fate herself feeling like Chai was acting a bit too cocky for her liking, it was almost as though the banging and subsequent announcement that went off was a direct response to the brunet's relaxed words.

*Introducing… the head of Production… REKKA!*

With Chai left startled and Pyra tense and on-guard, the both of them and their feline companion could only watch as up above on a scaffolding directly above the exit outside was the woman in question, the same robotically augmented and incredibly brawny woman that headed Vandelay Technologies' Production department and the same woman that had been calling for the brunet's blood and the redhead's capture, Rekka in the flesh. When it was clear she had their attention, Rekka greeted her audience of three with a grandstanding pose complete with a gigantic, flashy neon monitor behind her that had her name plastered across it and even fireworks (Which Chai would admit was good taste for a bad guy) which abruptly halted as she held both hands up.

*Oh no…* At the sight of exactly what she was afraid of happening coming to pass, Peppermint could only bring a palm up to her face as she felt a sudden rush of mental exhaustion, with 808 mirroring her actions.

"Agreed, this is bad…!" Pyra was in much the same boat, having expected something like this, but having a bad feeling either way, her hand hovering over her sword's handle as she kept her narrowed gaze on the boisterous, aggressive woman.

"HEY OHHHH! There you are, little man! You got ANY IDEA what sorta headaches you've been givin' Rekka today!? Not just messin' with Rekka's crew and production, not just runnin' around with confidential Vandelay property, but worst of all… yeah… messin' with Rekka's perfect NO-DEFECT RECORD!" The loud, brawny woman ranted, punctuating that last slight against her with a loud, echoing banging of her fists together.

*BANG BANG!*

"'Property?!' A-are you talking about me…?!" Was Pyra's initial response, rightfully indignant at hearing the large, angry woman calling her Property. 808 snarled at the Head of Production in agreement with the fire Blade.

"Okay, first: That bit about Pyra sounded reeeally shady. And second: Your security tried to kill me!" Chai was quick to point out, indignance clear in his tone. It was one thing to have the company suddenly out and try and kill him because of all this 'defect' crap, and another thing entirely to hear someone delusional enough to act like he was the bad guy in all this. And there was also the very suspicious part about Pyra being referred to as 'Vandelay property;' but for obvious reasons, trying to be killed for a bullshit reason and treated like he was in the wrong took priority in the brunet's mind.

"Project Armstrong EULA. Fine print." Rekka began, emphasizing that last part as she displayed the EULA contract Chai had to sign to get into Project Armstrong for the three to see. "Shoulda' read it, PUNK! Defects get RECALLED!" She finished as she made a 'slicing a throat open' gesture with her right thumb.

"Uhhh, 'recalled?' You mean KILLED!?" Chai exclaimed, an incredulous expression on his face as he pointed this out to the irate Production manager, with Pyra mirroring his look of indignant confusion.

"Pfft. Rekka ain't pick the verbs! Tch! That's for the mooks in Marketing!" Rekka scowled angrily at the music lover.

"I don't know who you people are or what you want with me and the other Core Crystals you got, but whatever it is I won't allow it! I'm not some object for you people to profit off of, neither are any of the other Blades you brought here!" Pyra shouted with rightful outrage, pointing an accusatory finger at the Head of Production.

"Hmph! Don't pin that whole little spiel on Rekka, bimbo! Take it up to Zanzo or a manager that cares!" The large brawny woman said dismissively at the redheaded Blade, whose angry scowl deepened in response at being not only talked down to, but outright being insulted to boot. "Rekka ain't the one that brought you here and she ain't the one that has any grand plans for you, either! REKKA'S JUST HERE TO PUT YOU RUNTS IN YOUR PLACE WHERE YOU BOTH BELONG!"

Upon finishing that hot-blooded exclamation, Rekka's scowl soon morphed into a sneer as she looked down at the two headaches she'd been tasked with dealing with. "...At least that's what Rekka would have to do if you two weren't dumb enough to just waltz on in here. Rekka ain't gotta get her hands dirty now!"

*I told you.* Peppermint was quick to point out, wasting no time in having 808 give Chai a look that screamed 'This is your fault.'

"We… both did, yes." Pyra could help but add in. She honestly wasn't looking to pile onto Chai's callout, but just felt compelled to make that fact clear with whatever they had to contend with next right around the corner.

"You're not really helping here, guys…!" Chai glanced at his companions with annoyance in his tone and expression.

"Welcome to the Project Armstrong Defect Check, honey! *BANG BANG!* And our QA is the beeeest in the business! HEY-OOOO!" Rekka then capped that bombastic, TV commercial-like statement off with another pose, and for the brief moment of silence they had, Chai, Pyra, and 808 could only stare at her in a combination of bewilderment and confusion…

*RUUUUMBLE…!*

"W-Whoa!"

"Huh!?" And when that moment did pass, the three of them were left stumbling in shock when the large, circular platform in the center of the room began to rumble and revealed itself to be a lift that slowly began to rise up, all capped off by the percussion of drums coming from Chai's chest.

NINE INCH NAILS

"1,000,000"

The Slip

The Null Corporation

youtu . be / WtPDYuowNbk?si=A64V6sRjWlU4Mv9o

Recognizing the beat and the sound of those drums, Chai instinctively pulled up his shirt to better take in his robot arm's Power Core Unit and the music player floating around inside and quickly got confirmation that he wasn't mishearing anything; one of his favorite songs from the Nine Inch Nails just started blaring up. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the sudden change in playlist song, and judging by the wide-eyed looks of confusion on both their faces, neither did Pyra, whose Core Crystal was glowing up brighter and beating in synch to the music, or Peppermint, but with how Rekka capped off her last exclamation before leaving them in the care of the 'Project Armstrong Defect Check,' it was probably safe for the brunet to assume it wasn't anything good.

Blinking and dropping the bottom of his shirt when 808 suddenly opted to perch herself on his shoulder, both Chai and Pyra gave their surroundings a look over when the lift suddenly came to a stop at the apparent top floor of the production facility, leaving the ground several stories below them and a dim darkness covering their immediate surroundings.

A few seconds later they saw a large glowing set of orange eyes peering through the darkness. Both Driver and Blade got on guard for whatever that thing was, which was swiftly broken when the rest of the floor's lights suddenly flashed on, revealing the entirety of their newfound company for them to see.

As one would likely imagine with everything they'd previously, the orange eyed 'thing' was none other than another hostile Vandelay robot, but compared to his previous contemporaries Chai and Pyra faced, this one was much, much bigger, to the point that it dwarfed the BA-B00 like it dwarfed the usual SBRs and GNRs, with Chai and Pyra barely measuring up to his glaring head that zeroed in on them both. His most notable feature was how the colossal robot had no proper body from the waist down, instead having a metal joint that connected him to the electrical railing all around this circular room and subsequently allowing him to move around his 'workplace' with ease… which made its job of 'inspecting' any particularly skittish defects trying to keep their distance a trivial matter.

"Waaaaaaa…" That was the only vocalization Chai could manage upon realizing he had what looked to be a two-story tall robot staring down at him with what certainly didn't feel like good intentions. Pyra herself was in a similar boat, wide-eyed mouth slightly gaping at the sudden sight of a robot of comparable size to a proper Artifice.

*I LIKE defects.* The gigantic robot finally spoke, his gravely yet mechanical voice conveying a clear sneer despite how most (Read: ALL) of Vandelay's robots didn't have much going for them in the way of facial expression.

"That's good!" Chai responded with a nod and smile, 808 mimicking the motion. Pyra seemed less reassured by the giant robot's words, but nonetheless loosened her grip on her sword handle slightly as she waited for it to continue, her head tilted slightly.

*I like how they TASTE.*

"Ohh, that's bad!" Was the defect in question's only response to that clarification, an understandably wide-eyed look on his face upon hearing that as he and the robotic feline shook their heads in unison while Pyra's expression turned to one of comically white-eyed mortification.

*Inspection level; ONE MILLION!* And with that gleefully sadistic exclamation, the QA-1MIL, Rekka's head inspector that was just as passionate about 'recalling' defects, brought both of his hands overhead and slammed them both onto the platform where Chai and Pyra were.

Without missing a beat, both Chai and Pyra nimbly lept and slid back several feet just before the robot's attempt to smash them connected. Raising his head, Chai then returned the oversized inspection robot's glare on him and Pyra with a surprisingly focused narrow-eyed gaze, the redhead responding in a similar manner as she rose to her feet with flame roaring from the pipes of her sword as she glared up at QA-1MIL.

After taking a moment to ensure 808 had a moment to leap off from his shoulder and back into her floating ball form, Chai also rose back onto his feet before deftly whipping out his trash grabber from his robot arm's compartment, the Scrap Guitar rapidly forming in time to the beat to 1,000,000.

"Let's rock, big boy!"

*ROOOOOAAAAAAAAR!*

Kind of hard, hard to see

When you crawl on your hands and your knees

*Ha-HA! BRING IT!* QA-1MIL exclaimed with clear delight, opening the fight with a wide, sweeping attack across the circular platform that covered the majority of it, forcing Chai to double-jump to avoid it while Pyra was forced to block the incoming strike with her Blade Barrier, the force of the strike nonetheless sending her careening close to the edge of the platform. As the circular barrier around her dispersed, the fire Blade made sure to keep her balance as she teetered towards the platform's edge, quietly exhaling in relief before leaping back into the active fray with her Driver.

With your face in the trough

*Chai! His hand is extra-sensitive for uh… inspecting!* Peppermint quickly informed him.

Wait your turn, while they finish you off

"Weird way to say 'hit them…' but okay." He acknowledged before dashing to one of the QA-1MIL's massive hands and started to Air Riff on it. Seeing this, Pyra quickly understood the robot's hands were his soft spot so she also went on to attack the other hand.

After landing a good number of consecutive hits on their opponent, the QA-1MIL moved his hands away before crossing his arms across his torso, electric energy starting to come off of him.

*Get out of there, guys!* Peppermint warned the duo, and both didn't think twice before jumping backwards just in time to avoid getting hit by an Area-of-Effect blast of electricity that certainly would have at best shocked them stunned or at worst fried them to a crisp.

Don't know when it started, don't know how

The moment the electrical AoE ran its course, Chai didn't hesitate to dash back towards the large, glowing yellow chestplate on QA-1MIL's chest that acted as a weak point. However, the gigantic inspection robot anticipated that Chai would immediately attempt to attack his chest after his electrical attack and responded appropriately. Just as the brunet winded back to bombard QA-1MIL with another series of batter-like swings with his Scrap Guitar, the robot in question brought both of his oversized hands up to his chest to nullify the incoming damage to his chest. He then followed up by shooting out both his hands as Chai landed his second heavy hit, smacking and sending the brunet tumbling a few feet. *It's high time you got flattened, punk!* QA-1MIL exclaimed with clear sadistic glee, winding back his right fist to punch Chai into the platform just as he rose back onto his feet.

Should have found out, should have happened by now

*SLAM!*

"Not on my watch!" Pyra exclaimed, her eyes narrowed and her barrier holding strong. Just as the oversized, robotic fist was about to painfully slam into Chai, the Aegis quickly dashed in the way to intercept, forming another Bade Barrier just before the blow could enter either of their spaces, and unlike the last instance of this, neither Pyra nor her barrier were sent flying from the force of QA-1MIL's attack despite the force of the impact making her buckle slightly but she recovered immediately. Gritting whatever equivalent Vandelay's robots had to teeth, the gigantic 'inspection' robot applied more force into his right fist as he tried to break through the redhead's barrier, but the metallic scowl on his face quickly change to panic when he began to notice the black metal that made up his knuckles were beginning to melt from all the excess heat the fire Blade was producing.

*Hot, hot, HOT!* The gigantic robotic exclaimed in panic, quickly retracting its hand away from Pyra's barrier to shake the heat off it, only to be caught by surprise when he was then greeted with the pesky defect he'd trying to deal with hanging off his fingers like he was a damn spider, an infuriatingly cheeky smile on his face.

"'Bout to get a lot HOTTER!" Was all Chai had to say before suddenly leaping up and coming back down on QA-1MIL's tender right hand with an overhead slam. Between Chai's own uncanny strength and the already-damaged state the right hand was in, it proved to be no issue for the wannabe rocker to cause the right hand to crash back down to the platform below, temporarily unresponsive.

*Hand down, Chai! Go get him!* Peppermint informed him, having a window of opportunity to land so real damage upon the towering machine.

"Way ahead of you~!" With that excited exclamation, Chai then reared back his Scrap Guitar before performing a spinning leap that culminated in an overhead slam with his weapon down on the inert right hand. The force of the blow was more than enough to bounce QA-1MIL's hand off the platform and into the air, with Chai following up by dashing forward -his Scrap Guitar leaving sparks as he trailed it along the floor- and hitting the fist with another strike just as it was about to fall back into the platform.

*SLAM!* *KRKT!*

The end result was QA-1MIL's own robotic fist colliding hard right into the side of his face, the force of the blow more than enough to utterly shatter the right side of the Production inspection robot's sleek faceplate and causing his LED pupils to shrink to the size of pinpricks.

*AUGH! MY FACE! MY SHAAAAME!*

Got these lines on my face

The force, pain, and utter disorientation QA-1MIL felt from experiencing such a painful sucker punch from his own fist was more than enough to send him briefly stumbling below the platform, his lower body's connection to the railing being the only thing that kept him from tumbling down to the bottom. Immediately after this, the gigantic robot quickly rose back up to the platform, wailing out about the current state of his now-ruined face as he swiped and flailed at the platform in an attempt to crush the pesky duo without success as the Driver and Blade duo dodged all these attacks.

With the fire from her sword blazing and all while nimbly dodging the strikes that came her way, Pyra followed up on the humiliating blow QA-1MIL received with several deftly placed strikes and fire blasts with her power upon one of the robot's hands once again. Leaping up, the redhead had one final strike in her onslaught planned, but she was once again forced to make use of her Blade Barrier when the gigantic robot finally recovered and smacked Pyra away before she could do any further damage.

After all this time and I still haven't found my place

Like the first time, the force of QA-1MIL's blow on her hastily erected barrier was more than enough to send her careening and tumbling across the circular platform, only coming to a halt when Chai leapt up and intercepted her before she could go any further.

When the two came to a landing, they then finally got a proper look at the facial damage QA-1MIL received that set him off so badly… and his reaction was frankly warranted with how jarring and humiliating it looked on the formerly imposing robot. "Oof! That is uh… that is hard to take in…" Chai began, wincing at QA-1MIL glaring with pure murderous intent at him while half of his face-plate was crudely taken off, exposing far more basic and crude-looking robotic face underneath the faceplate. "You uh… want me to get the other side too, dude? Maybe even you out a bit?" He awkwardly asked the pissed off towering machine.

*...On second thought, smashing's a bit too quick and merciful for you. Fiery, explosive 'inspection' is much more your speed, defect.* The mechanical behemoth growled, punctuating his icy threat with four gigantic blasters that came out from his back in time to the beat of the music. *Least I finally get to use these now!*

*You really got a knack for getting on people's nerves, don't you?* Peppermint observed dryly as both Chai and Pyra blanched slightly at the sudden inclusion of the blasters, the former audibly gulping.

*TRY AND DODGE THIS!*

I jump from every rooftop

The QA-1MIL then shot several missiles from his blasters at the duo, forcing them to spread out and avoid all of the incoming projectiles.

So high so far to fall

"Why does an inspection robot need to have freaking rocket launchers?!" Chai shouted in panic and exasperation as he continued to dodge the missiles as they impacted and exploited across the platform.

*Beats me! You can thank Rekka for this excessive crap!* Peppermint replied in exasperation as 808 dodged alongside the brunet. Truly, she would never understand why the hell did Rekka have to commission what was essentially a massive war machine to work in Quality Assurance, but with how excessively over the top the brawny large woman was, it wasn't so strange. Still, very much so overkill.

Once the barrage of missile strikes ran their course, Chai attempted to get close and do some damage with Pyra right behind him, only to be forced to once again go on the evasive when the colossal 'inspection' robot extended both his hands and began firing several laser blasts at them in time to the beat. In Chai's case, he was able to deftly jump out of the lasers' way whenever they came close to hitting them -perhaps the ease with which he avoided the blasts could be attributed to how often he listened to 1,000,000- while Pyra wasn't so fortunate, unable to dodge in time to avoid getting hit by the last laser blast in QA-1MIL's barrage.

I feel a million miles away

"Ah!" Pyra exclaimed, feeling pain flash through her as she was left tumbling back. Wincing as she rolled back onto her feet, the redhead had no time to recover or take a brief breath with how QA-1MIL didn't hesitate to capitalize on the blow he landed, following up by sweeping across the arena several times, once again forcing the Driver and Blade duo onto the evasive. This proved especially difficult for Pyra with how the Inspection Robot was focusing on her specifically after getting that blow in on her.

"Alright, that is ENOUGH!" Pyra exclaimed, having more than enough of the Artifice-sized robot's constant, irritating swiping at her and her Driver, timing her frustrated exclamation in time with her spawning a Blade Barrier around her body just as QA-1MIL attempted to once again swipe at her body, having held up her sword in a blocking motion as she did this.

*SLAM!*

Pyra grit her teeth and felt her feet slide slightly across the floor as QA-1MIL glared down at her and increased the pressure of his blow, fully intending to send her flying in her barrier like he had all the other times. (barring the instance that ended with his humiliating facial-damage, of course)

The struggle between the two to see who would give out first would have continued were it not for Chai rushing in and interjecting. He knocked the robotic behemoth's hand away with a heavy uppercut, sending it high in the air and leaving him wide open.

*Now Pyra!* Peppermint shouted at her.

"Got it!" The fire Blade said in acknowledgement, quickly sizing up the opportunity to retaliate against the massive enemy. Focusing her built-up Ether as she prepared to perform her second strongest Special Attack, glowing emerald lines appeared on her arms and legs, flames flaring out of her Aegis Sword. "BLAZING END!" Pyra then threw her weapon in a boomerang-like fashion at the QA-1MIL, spinning rapidly through the air as it flew straight at the joint of the QA-1MIL's left forearm.

I don't feel any thing at all

*SLICE!*

*AHHHH! MY HAND!*The massive Inspection Robot cried out in searing agony as his hand was sliced clean off with ease by Pyra's Special Attack right at the forearm joint. The robot quickly held the burning stump where his left hand once was in a futile attempt to lessen the intense pain he was experiencing.

It was quite the odd sight to see such a massive and imposing machine being capable of experiencing pain, but the group didn't have time to ponder on this as upon getting detached from its owner, the gigantic severed limb was sent flying higher in the end before starting to fall back into the platform. Seeing this, a bolt of inspiration struck Chai's mind and an excited, confident smirk appeared on his face, his eyes practically sparkling as the idea for something both rocking and stylish reared its head in the brunet's mind.

"Ohhhh, I got this, I got this!" Chai exclaimed gleefully, quickly putting his plan in action. On Pyra's end, after catching her weapon back, she briefly paused to take some deep breaths to recover from the Ether and energy spent with that Special, and looked up just in time to see her Driver sprinting right where QA-1MIL's severed hand was about to fall with his Scrap Guitar raised.

"Home-!" Running full speed ahead, Chai held his Scrap Guitar, which once again began radiating flames as he reached High Affinity with Pyra, with both hands and spun about once before swinging out with all his might. "-RUN!" If the redheaded Blade perhaps had anything more than a split-second, she might've tried to call out or possibly even intervene, but as it was, she just felt her heart leap out of her throat before her Driver once again threw both herself and a similarly shocked Peppermint for a loop when he whacked away the giant, severed limb as if it was a baseball as hard as he could, Trent Reznor's tunes amping him up as he batted away with a confident smirk.

*HUH-?!*

*WHACK!*

*CRE-AAACK!* *CRASH!*

And Chai's confidence proved to be well-founded, as the force of his blow when it connected to the falling limb housed enough force to redirect it fist-first straight into the other side of QA-1MIL's face that still had plating on it. This time, the force of his own severed arm and fist colliding with his face sent QA-1MIL slamming into the wall behind him so hard to the point of deeply cracking it, a gaping and thoroughly discombobulated expression on his metallic face. Though the robot's gobsmacked and staggered reaction to being punched in the face with his own severed arm was merely secondary to the much more attention-grabbing sight plastered across his forehead…

"Whoa… does that literally say 'weak point' on his forehead!?" Chai would have gone on to cheer and celebrate his own amazing feat of strength were it not for the sight of the QA-1MIL's exposed face that caught both him and Pyra by surprise.

*By design. Speaks for itself.* Peppermint, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all, having seen the blueprints and specs of the massive Inspection Robot in the past.

"...Why would anyone design a machine like that?" Pyra couldn't help but ask rhetorically, knowing damn well she wouldn't get a satisfying answer even if she was speaking with the person who designed this thing.

*RRRRRRRAAAAAGGGHHHH!* If either Chai or Pyra had a response in mind for Pyra's baffled question, there'd be no time to answer it with how QA-1MIL then let out an enraged roar at the pain and humiliation he just endured before the gigantic Inspection Robot pulled himself out of the wall with his remaining arm, leaving a massive imprint with his shape.

The mechanical behemoth glared towards the spot where his left hand used to be, still burning an intense red hot -electricity now constantly surging out of it like a geyser- before clenching his remaining hand hard in time with the beat of the music, deciding it was high time to take off the kids gloves and show these damn punks what happens to anyone that challenges his authority. *Time… to get… SERIOUS! AAAHHHHHHHHH!*

SERIOUS MODE: GO

I wake up, on the floor

With that incensed exclamation, a massive surge of electricity coursed through QA-1MIL's massive, hulking, robotic body, resulting in the orange highlights of his body turning dark red with steam rapidly getting exhausted from the back of his head, all indicators of a drastically increased energy intake.

Start it up again

"Awww. Why so mad, big boy? Come on~! At least it's symmetrical now! Your face, that is!" However, by this point, Chai had completely lost any sort of intimidation he might've initially had for QA-1MIL, having spent the time the robot was gearing up into 'Serious Mode' balancing his Scrap Guitar in a lackadaisical fashion by the handle in the palm of his robotic hand, flipping it into the air and catching it without missing a beat as the colossal robot got ready to attack them once more.

like it matters anymore

In an attempt to disorient the two, QA-1MIL slammed his remaining fist into the edge of the circular platform, the force of the blow more than enough to thoroughly rock the entire platform and causing both Chai and Pyra to lose their balance and causing QA-1MIL to follow up with another barrage of rocket blasts. Despite their initial disorientation, the duo were both able to recover quickly and narrowly managed to avoid the explosion range of the incoming rockets. When the barrage came to a halt, the Blade and her Driver didn't hesitate to dash forward and counterattack, and despite QA-1MIL's attempt to stop them from getting any closer with several fires of his palm blaster, Chai and Pyra were both able to close the distance and further lay down some damage on the Inspection Robot, with Pyra opting to bombard his yellow chest piece with a flaming series of sword strikes and Chai leaping up and Aerial Raving all over his face.

I don't know if it does

*ENOUGH!* QA-1MIL exclaimed in rising frustrating and anger, smacking both Chai and Pyra away before they could do any further damage and following up by angrily trying to smash them to pulp with a series of brutal slams into the platform with his remaining fist, each strike rocking the platform thoroughly. For the final strike in this barrage the QA-1MIL opted to charge up his fist with electricity before slamming it down into the platform and sending hundreds of volts coursing through the metal platform, which the duo narrowly avoided. In Chai's case, he simply opted to leap into the air once more and continue hammering at QA-1MIL's head and prominently labeled weak point, whereas Pyra felt she had enough Ether coursing through her to make use of her Level 2 Special Attack.

Is this really all that there ever was?

"Prominence…" Pyra began as she leapt several feet up, her sword poised to impale with both hands and her entire body radiating a golden glow. "REVOLT!"

Put the gun in my mouth

Close your eyes, blow my fucking brains out

Upon finishing that exclamation, Pyra then stabbed her sword down to the hilt into QA-1MIL's shoulder at the same time her Driver landed the final blow in his Aerial Rave combo. Letting a surge of fire course through her sword just before she was forced to dislodge and sent flying several feet back onto her feet, Pyra was pleased to see that her attack left the sound visualizer on the colossal robot's shoulder thoroughly cracked, half-melted, and with sparks of electricity crackling out of the stab wound she made.

Pretty patterns on the floor

That's enough for you

*It's… It's not over yet!* Despite all the damage he'd accumulated from the duo over the course of the fight, QA-1MIL refused to give in or relent even slightly, swiping across the platform again before sending out another barrage of rockets.

but I still need more, more, more

*You've almost got him!* Peppermint informed them.

"I can see that!" Replied the wannabe rocker and indeed it was obvious from a glance that the massive machine was almost down for the count.

I jump from every rooftop

The robotic giant then unleashed yet another barrage of missiles upon the duo, however, this time he also went on to slam the platform with his fist, making it greatly unstable and thus much harder for the Driver and Blade to dodge the blasts. Chai and Pyra nearly lost their footing several times as they stumbled and nearly fell while dodging the missiles. It was then that, Chai dodging out of the way of a missile explosion, lost his footing and fell to the ground.

"Chai, lookout!" Pyra warned him as unbeknownst to him a missile was about to land on top of him.

"Huh?! Oh shit!" Chai cursed as he looked up before rolling out of the way, while he avoided the radius of the blast, the resulting shockwave sent him rolling across the platform with no way to stop his momentum.

So high so far to fall

"Chai!" Fortunately, Pyra was able to grab him by his flesh arm right before falling off the platform.

"Phew! Thanks for the save, dude!" The young man thanked his Blade companion as she pulled him back up. It was when he was back to his feet again that the brunet felt something missing. "Huh…? Crap! My Guitar!" He cursed again as he looked at his now empty robotic hand before looking at the void behind him as unfortunately for him the now disarmed wannabe rocker lost his grip of his Scrap Guitar before Pyra caught him and as result, it fell off into the ground below.

However, neither he nor his Blade companion didn't have time to linger on this as the QA-1MIL started to shoot energy blasts from his remaining palm at them, forcing Pyra to stand in front of her disarmed Driver, spawning a Blade Barrier to shield them both.

I feel a million miles away

"Ah man! This is bad! Now what am I gonna do?!" Shouted Chai as he took cover behind the redheaded Aegis until the energy blasts stopped.

"Chai, here!" It was then that Pyra turned around and threw him her Aegis Sword.

I don't feel any thing at all

"Huh?!" The brunet quickly reacted and caught Pyra's weapon by the handle with his right hand. Upon doing so, the sword became automatically active, flames extending out of it. "Whoa…" Utter Chai in awe as he felt the sheer, raw power coming from this sword. It was then he noticed that the Affinity Line came back, but not only did it connect to his chest, it also did to the Aegis Sword, to be exact to the Core Crystal embedded on top of the handle. The blue line then suddenly started glowing gold and so did his entire body. "What the…?" He uttered in awe and wonderment as he glanced at his glowing body, not only was he literally glowing, he also felt powered up, more so than when having a full charge to pull off a Special Attack.

*Amazing…! I'm getting very high levels of energy readings coming from you and Pyra!* Peppermint said in amazement not only at what she was seeing, but also the energy reading she was receiving from 808.

"Chai, focus!" Pyra called his attention, prompting him to look at her and seeing that just like him she was also glowing gold, her right hand extended with her left hand holding her own wrist, the golden Affinity Line coming off from her hand, making it very obvious that she was directly powering him up with her Ether now that he held her sword. The golden Affinity Glow signifying that the Driver and Blade duo have reached Full Affinity.

I feel a million miles away

The slacker-turned-Driver then looked forward to the gigantic robot, who roared loudly at the group. "Heh! Alright, time to flare things up!" Proclaimed Chai with exhilaration in his expression, feeling the rush of power coursing through him as he threw the Aegis Sword into the air before catching it for style point when it fell back down. The young man then sprintended forward at the towering Inspector Robot, the Aegis Sword's edge trailing in the ground, leaving a line of fire in its wake.

The QA 1-MIL attempted to crush the punk to pieces with his remaining hand, but Chai sidestepped out of the way and continued to rush forward until leaping towards the robot's chest.

I don't feel any thing at all

"BLAZING POWER-!" He then began to perform his Special Attack, spinning rapidly in a ring of fire, quickly causing the giant machine to become enveloped in fire. However, instead of going for the typical Beat Hit that came at the end of his Special Attack, Chai opted to backflip away from the flaming QA-!MIL.

*Beat Beat!*

"-CORD!"

*BOOM!*

To then throw the Aegis Sword in a Blazing End-like at the burning robot, and upon making contact, a bigger, more intense fiery explosion that last time occurred, causing the whole building to shake for a few seconds as Chai landed back safely in the platform, the Aegis Sword flew back to his robotic hand in a boomerang-like fashion.

*GAH!*

QA-1MIL exclaimed in pain, the sheer force behind Chai's Blazing Power Cord sending his entire body crashing back-first into the scorched black wall, embedding him deeper than last time. The colossal, burnt robot was as black as the wall he was embedded to with his outer plating melting away into a burning slag, he remained stuck there for a brief moment before peeling off the wall and his upper body crashed down against the circular platform. In Pyra's case, she was forced to hastily leap out of the way with how the colossal robot would've collapsed into where she was standing.

I jump from every rooftop (Is this really all?)

With her current positioning and how close she was to the edge of the platform, Pyra was forced to use her superhuman strength to hastily leap across the gap leading to the bottom of the facility and just barely managed to grab onto the railing of the metal stairway installed into the building's walls.

Back with Chai, the brunet had been in the middle of trying to catch his breath and wiping the sweat off his brow, his grip still tight on the Aegis Sword, when the extremely damaged QA-1MIL shakily rose back up from his slumped down position and aimed one last swipe at Chai. Despite his mounting exhaustion, he nonetheless nimbly leapt up several feet just before QA-1MIL's last, desperate attack could connect.

So high so far to fall (That there ever was?)

Touching down feet-first on his forearm, the brunet then began to sprint up the side of QA-1MIL's arm, with the robot in question only able to look and glare as Chai leapt up one final time with the Aegis Sword raised in both hands.

I feel a million miles away

Pyra, from her spot, quickly extended her right arm at Chai's general direction as the golden Affinity Line manifested once again, causing both of them to glow gold once more.

"You've got a killer track…" And it was as Chai began that confident boast that Pyra's Aegis Sword's flames flared up, extending the length of the blade even further, becoming twice as long. "but every song's gotta end!"

I don't feel any thing at all…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

*SLICE!*

And with that said, Chai then swung as hard as he could, cleanly separating QA-1MIL's head from his body and causing the 'WEAK POINT' plastered across his forehead to be replaced with 'OWWWW!'

"Amazing…!" Pyra breathed out, surprised and awed by Chai's landing of the final blow, especially with the knowledge that he'd never been in combat prior to today…

*BREAAAK!*

…though that awed, impressed smile quickly changed to a wide-eyed look of horror and panic when, as a result of this spectacle, QA-1MIL's decapitated body collapsed completely into the circular platform, all that extra weight suddenly on it finally breaking the platform's already-strained supports and causing it and everything on it to plummet back down to the ground floor. This of course included QA-1MIL's body, his head, and Chai's panicked, flailing form. "Chai!"

*Creaaaaak…*

And it was upon hearing the sound of metal straining and the railing she was hanging onto abruptly jerk that the redheaded Blade came to the realization that she was about to quickly catch up to her Driver. "Oh no…"

*CRACK!* That dread-filled remark and grimace was all Pyra could manage before the entire metal stairway broke off from the wall, sending the Aegis falling down in a panic similar to Chai's.

"aaaaAAAAHHHH-! Oof! Ugh…" Chai's panicked yelling came to an abrupt halt when he suddenly hit the ground face-first along with several pieces of rubble falling all around him. After taking a moment to groan about all the dull, throbbing pain he felt pulsing throughout his body, the brunet then languidly rolled onto his back. However, he didn't even have a split-second to take a breath or even reorient himself before he was greeted with the blood-draining sight of QA-1MIL's headless body falling straight towards him.

"AH-!"

*PHFOOOM!*

Upon tentatively removing his hands from his face, the brunet was pleasantly surprised that he was not dead. As luck would have it, the metal joint that connected QA-1MIL's body to the railing on the top floor of this building was just barely holding strong, preventing the colossal robot body from completely crashing into the ground and squishing Chai as a result.

*SLAM!*

…This was followed immediately by QA-1MIL's severed head landing a few feet next to Chai, further startling him.

"AH! H-huh…? Oh… Phew…" Upon realizing what happened and how he'd narrowly avoided getting turned to paste, Chai then let out the biggest sigh of relief in his entire life before relaxing and closing his eyes, feeling now he could take a moment to catch his breath now that he was out of immediate danger…

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

"Hm?" …Though that prospect was immediately dashed by the piercing sound of alarms blaring through the building, topped off by flashing red lights. Opening his eyes in confusion and annoyance, the brunet's attention was soon drawn to the sound of a less intense beeping going off to his right.

SELF DESTRUCT

"Hmmm…" Now, the sensible thing to do upon being faced with alarms, flashing lights, and a boulder-sized robot head that had 'SELF DESTRUCT' printed across its forehead would have been to immediately vacate the premises ASAP. However, Chai's brain still hadn't fully caught up with his body after all the crazy, rapid-fire things he just experienced in short succession,(plus, he could just be kinda dim sometimes) and as such, simply narrowed his eyes as he gazed more intently at QA-1MIL's head, trying to discern what it all meant.

5…

4…

3…

2…

"Ha-AHH!" It finally took a rapidly falling countdown for Chai's brain to finally get the message and for him to start running for his life.

"Ugh…" Pyra groaned, stumbling out from the detached and overturned metal staircase and pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to regain focus and rid herself of the disorientation she was experiencing after falling from such a height. "By the Architect… that was utter insanity… and my head hurts…" All the alarms and flashing lights going off certainly weren't helping Pyra with that last issue, either.

"RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRU-!"

By the time Pyra had reoriented herself, she was startled by the sound of Chai's frantic voice as well as him sprinting in her general direction like his life depended on it. Pyra had just been about to ask her Driver what was wrong when she took notice of QA-1MIL's severed head, noticed the rapidly descending countdown, subsequently put two and two together, and felt her eyes widen in that split-second of comprehension and horror.

1…

BOOOOM!

RUAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Pyra had no chance to react and Chai had just been about to pass her when QA-1MIL's self-destruct feature finally went off, engulfing the colossal robot's body in a powerful explosion whose shockwave was more than enough to send the screaming Chai and Pyra flying.

Vandelay Production

DAYS WITHOUT DEFECTS:

994543519

*SMASH!*

000000000

Chai's flight came to an abrupt halt when his body slammed into a monitor that apparently showcased the longest span of days without defects. Appropriately enough, in addition to thoroughly cracking the monitor's screen, Chai's collision ended up resetting the count back to zero, and if the brunet had been in the headspace to consider this (and wasn't currently slowly peeling off the monitor like he was a cartoon character), then he'd have derived some satisfaction from the sight of Rekka's 'PERFECT NO-DEFECT RECORD' getting officially broken.

"WOO! Did you guys see that!?" As it was at the moment, however, the brunet was focused more on the insanity he just survived and whether he looked good doing it as he immediately stood back up to his feet after falling up in front of 808, using Pyra's sword in his flesh arm as an impromptu crutch to keep himself standing.

*Yeah, yeah. But this time, just shut up and follow me. We REALLY gotta get outta here.* Peppermint said in a tone that booked no further arguments, punctuating that statement by having 808 toss Chai's trash grabber back to him.

"Oh, thanks!" The brunet thanked her as he grabbed his trash grabber with his robotic arm before storing back within it.

*Wait… Where's Pyra?* The hacker then noticed the absence of a certain redheaded fire Blade. She didn't get to see where she went flying off to as 808 was more focused on the wannabe rocker.

*Sizzle…*

Before Chai could even take his first step, however, he and 808 were stopped by the faint sound of smoke sizzling. Before either could question what the noise was, they got their answer when Pyra suddenly stumbled back into view from the exit, having apparently got launched outside while Chai crashed into that monitor.

"Here…" Said Pyra with a tone and expression that denoted both exhaustion and irritation, seemingly having heard Peppermint asking for her.

*Uhhh… you okay there, Pyra?* Peppermint couldn't help but ask, a slightly wide-eyed look on her and Chai's faces as they took the redhead in. All things considered, the Aegis looked fine, though the disheveled, tired look on her face, topped off by the slight smoke radiating off her and how the ends of her scarf caught on fire, and it all made for a rather concerning image.

"...Still in one piece." She replied in an uncharacteristic blunt tone. It was evident that she has reached her threshold of how much insanity she can take in for one day.

"Right, right… I think you could use some cooling off after that wild ride we just went on, eh?" Chai said nonchalantly, letting out one of his typical puns.

*Ugh. Seriously, Chai? Now of all times?* Peppermint admonished him for coming off as insensitive.

"What? I'm trying to lighten things up here. Laughter is the best medicine, you know?" The wannabe rocker retorted.

The Aegis, for her part, chuckled a little at Chai's attempt to lift her mood. "That's terrible, but it does help a little, actually. Thanks, Chai." She thanked him with a smile, her mood improving significantly as she dusted herself off, fixed her hair and put out the fire on her scarf.

"Any time, buddy." Chai smiled back at her, giving her a thumbs up with his robotic hand. Peppermint just deadpanned at this through her robotic cat, at this point not surprised that the fire Blade found Chai's lame-ass puns humorous. Well, at least she was feeling a little better now.

"Anyways, are you okay, Chai?" Pyra couldn't help but ask with a slight concern, even if she was seeing him standing straight up and pretty much unscathed she wanted to make sure.

"Oh yeah, totally. I mean, just a bit a sore here and there, but nothing to worry 'bout." Chai waved it off casually. Though he lied a little when he said he was 'a bit sore here and there', in actuality he was sore all over but he could still stand up just fine as the blunt soreness faded away by the second.

"Thank goodness." The redheaded Blade sighed in relief.

"Oh and here, this is yours." The brunet then casually threw Pyra her Aegis Sword, which she promptly caught in her right hand without an issue, though there was confusion in her eyes.

"You… still don't want to hold onto it?" The Blade couldn't help but ask, admittedly feeling some slight disappointment. After all that, Pyra was admittedly hoping it would get Chai to realize he'd be better off primarily wielding her sword. However, it was clear the brunet was still adamant about sticking to his Scrap Guitar when he could help it.

"Nah, not really. I mean, don't get me wrong, that thing sure has some mad cutting power, I can totally see the appeal of swords now. But y'know, smacking things around with a guitar is way more my style." He explained in a carefree manner as he put his hands behind his head. Yes, it was pretty awesome to use Pyra's sword, but there's just something about using his Scrap Guitar that is far more appealing to him.

"Hmm… Well, I understand." The redheaded Blade said as she sheathed her weapon on her back once again. Perhaps in the future her Driver might change his mind, but for now, she'd leave it be. And It's not like she has to worry about him being defenseless as he has proven to be quite capable many times already.

*You guys are done? Good. Now c'mon, follow me.* Peppermint told the duo in a manner that allowed no argument whatsoever as she had 808 walk towards the massive hole where the platform at the center of the building once was

Pyra did what she was told without complaining unlike her Driver, who hummed a little in annoyment but still walked after his companions. .

The group looked down upon the chasm below once they reached the edge before Peppermint told the wannabe rocker in a stern tone *And no complaining this time.* Before 808 jumped into the hole.

Pyra flinched in surprise at this. But she didn't have time to process this as she heard Chai say "Alright, alright…" In annoyment before jumping in as well without a second thought. She only stood there seeing him drop from above for a few seconds before she too jumped down, trusting that the hacker knew what she was doing.

*Thp!*

Upon landing, Chai's mood quickly took a turn for the creeped out when he found himself in what appeared to be some old, abandoned maintenance tunnels. The entire area was enveloped in a dim darkness, which when combined with all the vague, intimidating shapes all around him, left the brunet feeling considerably on-guard and tensed up, considerably more so than when he had been walking straight into an obvious trap.

*Alright, my Hideout can be reached through these old tunnels. Once Pyra lands, I'm gonna have 808 lead you both there.* Peppermint explained, raising a brow via 808 as she took notice of Chai's tensed up demeanor.

"U-Uh… right, yeah. Awesome…" Chai responded with a nervous tone, anxiously looking around the dark, creepy tunnels that were just barely lit up by the robotic cat's neon highlights. 'Oh God, if a spider creeps onto my head or down the back of my shirt in the dark, I'm gonna scream so hard.'

*Thp!*

"AHH!" The brunet jumped and screamed in an unmanly manner when he heard something land beside him before quickly turning around and seeing Pyra, just touched down from above. "Oh, it's just you… Geez, don't creep on a guy like that, will ya?!" He scolded her for the jumpscare as he put a hand on his chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The fire Blade quickly apologized. The hacker for her part couldn't help but chuckled at how skittish the wannabe rocker is acting now.

Thankfully, Chai found his apprehension alleviated somewhat now that Pyra was here. What's more, her Core Crystal and all the neon emerald highlights on her outfits began to prominently glow, illuminating the tunnel considerably.

"O-Oh… and I've started glowing…" Was all Pyra could say upon noticing the emerald glow she emitted, her tone indicating some embarrassment at this. "Sorry… I'm a bit self-conscious." She apologized again.

"Don't be. I kinda seriously wish I was glowing right now..." Chai responded immediately, quickly taking the chance to stay close to Pyra and the reassuring light she emitted, all while continuing to give his surroundings an apprehensive look over. "Tell me if a spider tries to land on my head."

"U-Uhm… of course. Don't worry."

*Okay, are you seriously SCARED right now? After you just took out a giant robot that wanted you dead?* Peppermint asked more in a joking tone, finding this more amusing than anything.

"Wha? Pssh, no! I-I mean… it is a little dark… neither uh… neither of you think there are any spiders down here, right? Or like… robot spiders?" At just the thought of such a horrific concept, Chai felt an involuntary chill run down his spine, rapidly looking around to make sure there weren't any spindly, mechanical arachnids trying to creep onto his head and body. "Oh please don't let there be robot spiders. AH!" Chai's nervous rambling was quickly cut off when he felt something make contact with his shoulder. Jumping in pure terror, the young man quickly and frantically whipped out his Scrap Guitar before whipping around and brandishing it in what he hoped was an intimidating manner at the ungodly robot spider that was trying to make itself at home on his body.

"U-Uhm." When he was only greeted with a wide-eyed Pyra putting up both her hands in surrender.

"Ugh, Pyra! What did I just say?!" He scolded her again for jumpscaring him, again.

"Sorry! I was just trying to comfort you." And yet again the redheaded Blade quickly apologized. As she said this though, her surprised expression soon shifted into a look of curiosity. "You… really hate spiders, don't you Chai?"

"...Kinda hard not to after learning some things I wish I could erase from my skull." To this day, Chai still prayed to any God that listened to that the apparent trivia of how people swallowed five live spiders a year in their sleep, at least, wasn't real.

"Meaning…?" Pyra tilted her hand in confusion.

"You don't wanna know. Trust me." That's all he said with a deadpanned, dark expression.

There are some things in life man is better off not knowing, and in Chai's opinion, that's one of them.

Peppermint couldn't help but chuckle at this, for as meanspirited as it might seem to make fun of the brunet's distress.

"Hey, don't laugh!" Said a very offended Chai.

*Heh. Sure sure. C'mon, we're almost there.* However, Peppermint blatantly ignored this as she had her robotic pet walk down the hallway and turn around the corner. The brunet could only let out an indignant grumble as he followed after 808 with Pyra in tow.

*Okay, here we are.* A few moments later, the mechanical cat came to a stop at a steel door at the end of the dim hallway (complete with a pet entrance to boot.) The hacker then had her cat's tail rapidly wag to show off a neon arrow pointing towards the door before having her go through the pet entrance. *In here.*

"*Gulp* Uh… L-ladies first!" He quickly said as he walked behind the redheaded Blade and nudged her forward slightly.

"Hmmm. Okay then." Said the aforementioned Blade in question, rolling her eyes in slight annoyance before approaching the metal door and opening with her Driver right behind her.

"U-Uhh… hello? Cat-bot?" The brunet called out tentatively from behind his Blade companion as she cracked open the metal door, peeking inside and trying to get a look around despite how dark it was inside the room. Pyra was much the same, scanning the dark room for any sign of 808's neon highlights, remaining standing in the doorway as Chai forced down any lingering apprehension he felt before cautiously stepping forward into the room.

*Yank!*

"WAAA-!"

*SLAM!*

The brunet had only taken a few steps before a rope trap was suddenly sprung around his left ankle. Eyes widening, Chai could only yell out in shock as he was abruptly yanked off the ground, his voice cutting off when he slammed face-first into the room's ceiling before ultimately finding himself dangling upside-down by the ankle, gravity then bringing the hem of Chai's shirt up to his chin and exposing his Power Core Unit and the two objects floating around inside it.

"C-Chai!" As one can imagine, this sudden turn of events immediately sparked Pyra's concern, focusing on the rope holding him up by his ankle and reaching for it. It was also worth noting that once the trap was sprung, a singular light went on right above where Chai was trapped, providing a sort of spotlight. "O-Oh jeez! Just hang on, I'll get you down from there, alright?"

Just as Pyra began to fiddle with the rope tied around the dazed Chai's ankle, the two's attention was quickly grabbed by the sound of someone walking forward from the darkness behind them. Immediately going on guard, Pyra was quick to turn around with her sword drawn, standing protectively in front of her Driver and ready to face whoever prepared that trap. However, the Aegis was quickly reminded of where they were and who guided them there in the first place when she took notice of 808 casually moving over to the newly revealed person in the room, who had just finished stepping into the light.

Upon stepping into view, the first thing both Chai and Pyra took notice of about their newfound company was the fuchsia-colored prosthetic had in place of a right leg, with it bearing a certain resemblance to Chai's own Project Armstrong limb. Other than that, it was also worth noting that the girl in question had brown, tan skin and platinum blonde hair that was shaved on one side and topped off with turquoise highlights at the tips. In regards to what she was wearing, it consisted of a sleeveless jean jacket with several pins on it, a white crop top, jean shorts, and a pair of fingerless gloves, giving off the overall impression of a mechanic, or just generally a tech-savvy woman. The newcomer seemed to be around Chai's age.

Neither Chai nor Pyra were initially sure what to say as they took the girl's appearance in, though their confusion quickly faded away when the tan-skinned girl then opted to raise a white and pink colored blaster, leveling it squarely at Chai's head, a confident smirk drawn on her face.

"A rope snare?" However, rather than fret over being held at gunpoint, Chai was more preoccupied with the fact this girl apparently boobytrapped this place with something straight out of a dumb cartoon. Upon craning his head towards his foot and seeing that he was indeed snared to a rope, he couldn't stop the dry rhetorical question he had from leaving his mouth. "What are you? A cartoon character?"

If the girl had any reply to that sarcastic remark, she had no time to speak it with how Pyra took this chance to firmly grab her hand by the wrist and made sure to keep her blaster pointed away from Chai's head, an uncharacteristically serious and deadpan look on her face. "Don't do that."

Oddly enough, despite the dead-serious tone in Pyra's voice and her deceptively strong grip on her wrist, the tan-skinned girl didn't appear rather daunted or intimidated. Instead, she just appeared to be growing more and more flustered and wide-eyed as she took in the Aegis's various assets and her skin-tight, revealing outfit that left little to the imagination, a slight blush growing on her face as she did so. "J-Jeez… you're even bigger in person..." Thrown off by her sudden change in demeanor and left confused at her words, Pyra's initial stern expression was forgotten as she let go of her wrist and gave the tan girl a curious look that implored her to elaborate, complete with a slight tilt of her head. The girl didn't answer, however, with how her attention was quickly brought back to Chai upon taking notice of the Power Core Unit in his chest, or more specifically, what was inside it.

With an intrigued, inquisitive look on her face, the robotic-legged girl leaned in slightly closer to Chai's chest before tapping at the Power Core Unit's glass casing with her knuckle, watching the music player and emerald-colored Core Crystal float in there for another moment before leaning back. "So… I take it this is where the magic happens, huh?"

As she asked this question, Pyra noticed how 808 didn't hesitate to nuzzle up against and rub her head against the tan girl's legs affectionately, prompting the girl to smile before leaning down to pet her and scratch behind her ears. As she did this, the girl looked back up towards her two guests and decided that now would be a good time to introduce herself. "My name is Peppermint."

"Wait! That voice…" Chai began, the gears in his brain visibly turning as he realized who it was he and Pyra were talking to. "YOU'RE the cat!" The brunet exclaimed in shock, swinging slightly in the rope snare as he abruptly pointed towards Peppermint. Letting out some muted chuckles at his reaction, the tan-skinned hacker looked back down at 808 before speaking once more.

"808 is my eyes and ears out there. But it looks like she's taken a liking to you." As she said this, both Peppermint and Pyra couldn't help their amusement as they watched 808 lick at the still-dangling Chai's face, his deadpan facial expression making it clear he was unamused with his current circumstances. His expression quickly changed to one of panic, however, when Peppermint once again opted to level her blaster right at his face.

"Waitwaitwait! Okay, okay! She's yours!" Chai panicked, instinctively covering his face and coming to the conclusion Peppermint was violently protective of her robotic cat. Upon peaking through his fingers, however, Chai was surprised to see that Pyra had once again taken exception with this, her previous amusement forgotten as she grabbed the barrel of the blaster and once again pointed it away from Chai.

"Peppermint, please stop pointing that at him." Was all the redhead had to say, her tone and unamused expression making it clear that this wasn't a request.

"Easy, easy. I wasn't seriously gonna shoot him, just blast off the rope." Peppermint was quick to say, putting up both her hands in surrender and even allowing Pyra to keep holding her blaster by the barrel to show that she didn't truly mean any arm. The Aegis kept her suspicious gaze on Peppermint for another moment before her posture relaxed, realizing the hacker meant what she was saying. Extending her hand with the blaster in it, Pyra offered the hacker her weapon back, which she didn't hesitate to grab and reholster. "Okay, tell you what; I'll let you get the slacker down from there if it bugs you that much. When you're both done with that, meet me over at my desk, cuz we got work to do."

Having said her piece, Peppermint then returned back to where she made her entrance, activating her Hideout's lights upon resituating herself at her desk. Chai and Pyra weren't sure what to say initially as they gave their lit-up surroundings a look over before giving one another a look that said they were both kinda lost regarding this sudden turn of events. Their confusion only lasted for a brief moment before the redhead returned to her initial task of untying the rope snare around Chai's ankle.

"Oof! Urgh…" Upon once again colliding face-first with the floor (though at least not from several stories this time.) the brunet merely opted to let out a groan before rolling himself into a sitting position and tenderly rubbing at his head. He was then prompted to get up when his new buddy offered a dainty, fingerless glove-clad hand to help him up. Chai didn't hesitate to accept Pyra's offer for help, and upon looking in Peppermint's direction and the elaborate computer set-up she had at her desk, he couldn't help but feel like he'd been thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire… with the pun this time around being completely unintentional.

As our heroes took a well-deserved moment of respite back at Peppermint's Hideout, a certain Executive Board was having an impromptu meeting through video chat over these recent unfortunate, but intriguing turn of events.

"Hmm… interesting." Kale thought aloud as he watched video recording of the defect and the Blade's fighting prowess tearing through any sort of security that stood in their way through the Production District all the way to how, together, they utterly turned the QA-1MIL into a burning wreck.

Normally the CEO would have been positively livid over some defect punk running amok, not only risking his company's reputation, costing them thousands in property damages, but also running away with invaluable property assets. However, Kale kept his composure and instead focused on taking in the Blade's truly otherworldly capabilities that made her stand out from her Blade brethren, as if he didn't need more proof of that fact already.

"Indeed, sir! Her power is truly something to behold! Ahhh, just imagine all the possibilities we will have once we capture her again. Mwahahaha! I truly cannot wait to test out all of her limits…!" Said Zanzo, Head of R&D, in a gleefully maniacal tone, utterly fascinated with the Blade's immense power and desiring to learn more about what she can truly do.

"As long as we get a big return of investment, then all costs would be worth it." Said Roquefort, Head of Finances, not sharing in his fellow department head's excitement and focusing more instead on the massive profits the company can make once the situation is under control. The prospects of making riches beyond belief were enough to keep the old man calm instead of getting angry over all the money the defect just cost the company.

"RRRRAAAHHHH! THOSE FUCKING PUNKS! THEY RUINED EVERYTHING! REKKA'S CREW! REKKA'S PRODUCTION! REKKA'S PRIZED INSPECTOR ROBOT! AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, REKKA'S PERFECT NO-DEFECT RECORD!I'LL TEAR THEM APART PIECE BY PIECE ONCE I GET AHOLD OF THEM!" Shouted Rekka, sounding and looking utterly furious, if her loud shouting and veins popping on her forehead didn't already give it away, over not only the defect punk and the Blade escaping, but also utterly destroying her QA-1MIL and leaving her QA Center an utter, burnt mess.

"Hmph. Well, that's what you get for letting a robot do your work for you. If you want a job done, you do it yourself." Said Mimosa, Head of Marketing, snidely at the fuming larger woman. Her smirk clearly indicated that she enjoyed seeing her fellow department head failing and adding further insult to injury.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, DOLLFACE!" And Rekka clearly didn't take well to the ego-centric woman's remarks.

"That's enough, you two." Kale interjected in a calm, but stern manner as he raised his right hand up. "We have more pressing matters to focus on than petty squabbles amongst each other." He reminded his underlings.

"Oh? You seem quite calm for a situation like this, Kale. Care to explain to us why?" Roquefort couldn't help but ask. "If you excluded Korsica from this meeting, can we assume it is related to the progress of SPECTRA?" He added, pointing out the distinct absence of the aforementioned Head of Security from the video meeting.

"Actually no, Roquefort. It is, in fact, because I believe I finally made a breakthrough with Project Driver." The CEO informed, as a sinister smile was drawn on his face. This news caught the attention of the rest of the Board.

"Really?! Then please, tell me-! Uh, I mean, US what you have found out, sir!" Asked Zanzo with great excitement and intrigue.

"Heh. How about instead of me just telling, I show you what I have found out?" The CEO asked rhetorically before pressing some keys in his board, sending his underlings a series of diagrams. "This is my current hypothesis to reliably manage to awaken Blades." He explained.

"Ahhh! OF COURSE! It was so obvious! How didn't I think so before?! After all that time hitting dead end after dead end on my research on the Core Crystals, the solution was quite simple…!" Said Zanzo after quickly going through Kale's diagrams, almost immediately understanding what they entailed. "You're brilliant, sir!" He praised his superior.

"Tell me something I don't know." The tan skinned man smirked in satisfaction.

"Hmmm… Interesting. I see quite the profit opportunity for us if your hypothesis is correct." Said Roquefort with a pleased smirk appeared on his face as he rubbed his bear.

"Uhhhh…" Rekka, for her part, was still reading through the diagrams, seemingly struggling to comprehend their contents.

"Ugh! Can somebody please tell the meatheaded brute what this means?" Said Mimosa in annoyment at Rekka's perceived stupidity.

"Wait! Rekka can do it…!" The brawny woman said insistently. The rest of the board only had to wait for a few more moments before understanding finally came up to the Head of Production. "Oooooohh yeah! Rekka gets it now!"

The Head of Marketing only rolled her eyes in annoyment at this.

"Ahem! Mr Kale, sir. If you don't mind me asking, did you perhaps put this most brilliant hypothesis to the test?"

Zanzo asked in a very eager, yet respectful manner.

"Of course I am. In fact, I'm doing so as we speak. And so far the resulting data I'm getting from the tests are very promising." Said the Vandelay CEO with a smile as he looked at his monitor, which currently showed live footage of the 'tests' he was running and the data he's collecting from the results that so far were proving that his hypothesis was correct. "Now then, all of you. I need you to come here ASAP. This is not a request, it's a direct order." He then instructed his underlings in an authoritative tone that left no room for any sort of argument.

"And can we ask why you need us at such short notice?" Roquefort asked.

"You'll see." Was all Kale replied with a smirk.

"Uhhh… But Boss, what about-?" Rekka attempted to ask, but her superior interrupted her.

"I'll send a clean up crew to take care of your mess. Just get your ass here NOW." Said Kale sternly. "And remember to make sure to not tell Korsica a single thing about this or SPECTRA until I say otherwise, am I clear?" He reminded his Board that the Head of Security was not allowed to learn about any of the company's top secrets.

"Y-yes, sir! R-right away, sir!" Rekka replied in an uncharacteristically nervous manner, knowing better than to talk back to her boss when he gives her a direct order. She promptly ended her call after that.

"Well, this might be interesting. I'm on my way, Kale." Said Mimosa with a smug smirk before ending her call.

"Ehehehehe…! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us, sir!" Said Zanzo with excitement before ending his call.

"Kale, while I have no reasons to doubt you, what will we do if Korsica does find out before you deem her ready?" Roquefort asked.

"Then we'll handle it accordingly. Anything else?" The CEO replied matter-of-factly, no needing to elaborate further as the Head of Finances knew exactly what his superior meant.

"No." Said the old man, satisfied with that answer. "I'll be there soon, Kale." And with that Roquefort ended the call and thus ending the meeting, leaving the tan skinned man alone in his office.

Kale then stood up from his desk and walked towards the window behind him. He stood there with his arms behind his back as he overlooked his campus from his office up high. "Soon enough we'll be able to master these Blades and their power…" Said the CEO with a nefarious smirk.

To Be Continued…

Aaaaaand that is that. Also, I'll just take a moment to thank SoraSentry for acting as beta-reader as well as being the one to write out both instances of Chai using the 'blazing power cord,' as well as being the one who wrote that ending interaction with the Vandelay bosses down.