Author's note: And now, the final judgement.
Aboard the mobile base, Hibiki quickly slipped away to change into her uniform, leaving Shem-Ha in the care of her gathered allies, as well as Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi, and two men she had never seen before. One looked rather normal, but carried himself with an air of competence she struggled to identify. The other was remarkably well-built, and muscular.
"Hello, my name is Kazanari Genjuro, and this is Ogawa Shinji," Genjuro said and extended his right hand.
"Hello," Shinji said and nodded slightly.
"Shem-Ha Mephorash," Shem-Ha said and shook Genjuro's hand.
"Alright, I'm back," Hibiki said and rejoined the group. When Shem-Ha saw her in her uniform, she realized just how much more Hibiki looked like a genuine threat to all who threaten humanity, with just a simple change of attire.
"Good, now let's get to the control room, and discuss how to proceed," Genjuro said and walked away, leading the rest of the group into a large room filled with computers, seats, and people.
"Is this all you needed to fight me?" Shem-Ha asked, worried she was just another day for these people.
"No, we just coordinated everything from here," Genjuro answered, "But I would like to speak with Miku, and hear what she has to say."
"Alright," Shem-Ha said and thought, "Did you hear? He wants to speak with you."
"Got it," Miku replied, took control and said, "Alright, I'm back."
"So, what do you think?" Genjuro asked.
"She's been under a lot of stress lately," Miku answered, "But she did pretty well, and learned fast. In fact, I'd say her strongest quality is her intelligence, and her ability to adapt, provided that she wants to." Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and everyone looked over to one of the women operating the computers.
"Can't this wait until we're less busy?" Chris asked and said, "Aoi, please tell me it's nothing serious."
"I'm afraid it is serious," Tomosato Aoi said, "The hippo yesterday apparently chipped Hibiki's armor, and a fragment got lodged into its gums. Our men just investigated, and it has already started fusing with the animal."
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Hibiki asked, and Aoi pulled up some calculations.
"I'm afraid yes," Aoi answered, "The hippo will die within a few weeks, unless we do something about it."
"Can't we use the Shénshòujìng?" Kirika asked.
"I'm afraid not," Aoi answered, "Its skin is too thick for the beam to penetrate it, and Shénshòujìng lacks the combat power to safely get close enough and deliver a precise beam at the site of the infection." Hibiki fidgeted a bit, before speaking up.
"Can't we help it survive the fusion?" Hibiki asked and said, "I mean, Dr. Ver fused with the Nephilim, so it's not impossible."
"That was a special formula," Maria said, "We don't know how long it would take to recreate, even if we work off of the base formula." The room fell silent, mostly in response to Hibiki's own expression.
"Let me help," Shem-Ha said, "I will do what I can."
"Hold on, everyone," Miku said, drawing everyone's attention to herself, "Shem-Ha says she wants to help. I'll let her take over now."
"If I recall correctly, it is Hippopotamus Amphibius Tschadensis," Shem-Ha said, "I cannot make any promises, but I will do the best I can." She walked over to an empty chair and sat down. Aoi looked over to Genjuro, who nodded, and Aoi put the formula for LiNKER on the screen in front of Shem-Ha.
"Here you do," Aoi said and asked, "Do you need anything else?"
"The Aufwachen waveform of Gungnir," Shem-Ha answered.
"Here you go," Aoi said and put the file on the screen, and asked, "But how do you know what that is?" Shem-Ha looked the formula and the waveform over, then began typing.
"I read up on the Sakurai Theory yesterday," Shem-Ha answered, "I also must admit that I underestimated the wealth of information you had available when I offered to assist you in this matter. Here, this should allow for a stable fusion."
"Really? Let me see," Aoi said and pulled the file onto her screen to look it over herself.
"And, how does it look?" Hibiki asked, clearly worried.
"It's… perfect," Aoi answered, "I've sent it over to Elfnein for final review, but to my knowledge, it's much better than what we have." Suddenly, the doors opened, and Elfnein ran into the control room, wearing her lab coat over her normal clothes.
"Who wrote this formula?" Elfnein asked, out of breath.
"That would be me, Shem-Ha Mephorash," Shem-Ha answered and asked, "Is there a problem with it?"
"Alright, that explains it," Elfnein said, "No, no problem. In fact, that's why I was so surprised. There are literally no flaws in this formula, so whoever made it either got really lucky, or is some kind of divine being."
"So it'll work?" Hibiki asked, cheering up again.
"Yes, it will," Elfnein answered, "We just need someone to inject it." Everyone looked at Chris, who sighed.
"Sure, I can hit a hippo," Chris said, "Just upload the formula into my Ichaival, I'll handle the rest."
"I'm still not sure about this," Genjuro said and asked, "What will even happen when the fusion is complete?"
"You will have a hippo-shaped relic," Shem-Ha said, "It will no longer need food, or sleep, and it will be able to regenerate and modify itself."
"That sounds dangerous," Kirika said and asked, "Can't you find a way to have the hippo reject the fragment?" Hearing that, Shem-Ha paused for a moment, then turned back to the computer.
"As a matter of fact, I believe I can," Shem-Ha answered, and began typing.
"Here, you can use this," Aoi said and pulled up the formula for the anti-LiNKER, and was about to put it on Shem-Ha's screen.
"And done," Shem-Ha said, "This will make the hippo's body completely reject anything related to relics." Looking at the result, she chuckled a little.
"What's so funny?" Chris asked.
"I truly was a fool," Shem-Ha answered, "Had I known how your weapons worked, I could have let Noble Red release a gas based on this formula, completely disabling all of your Symphogear."
"Well, good thing you didn't," Kirika said with a nervous smile.
"I deserved to lose," Shem-Ha said, then turned to Chris, "But in any case, your Symphogear cannot replicate either formula, at least not as it is now. You will need to use a regular dart, and hit an area where its skin is thinner, such as the mouth, nose, or rectum."
"Mouth it is, then," Chris said, turned to Genjuro and said, "I'll go on ahead, send someone over once you made the stuff." She left the control room, and an alarm went off when she activated her Symphogear.
"Hey, is Elfnein okay?" Kuriyo asked, drawing everyone's attention to her just standing in the door, in utter shock. She shook her head, and blinked a few times.
"Sorry, I'm just stunned," Elfnein said, "I mean, Shem-Ha not only constructed the formula for anti-LiNKER without the base, but managed to perfect it as well."
"It was not my fastest work," Shem-Ha said, "But it is the best I can do right now."
"Don't worry, you're doing great," Hibiki said.
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Shem-Ha said and asked, "But what do you have planned for me now?" The room fell silent, and Shem-Ha got nervous.
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad," Hibiki said, frantically waving with her hands, "It's just… we don't have anything planned. We had kind of hoped you'd come up with something you wanted to do."
"I see," Shem-Ha said, and turned thoughtful, "Something I want to do. Well, I suppose there is one thing I could try."
"Sure, what is it?" Hibiki asked.
"I came to realize that many people need guidance," Shem-Ha answered, "And since I can instantly tell which tasks a person is naturally predisposed to, I could help guide humanity toward a better future, rather than sending them back into their past."
"That does sound like a fitting role," Genjuro said thoughtfully, and the others mumbled in agreement.
"With that sorted out, now I have a question," Kuriyo said and asked, "Can I try using a Symphogear?" The room fell dead silent again, but this time, everyone looked at Kuriyo.
"Sorry, no," Tsubasa answered, "Using a Symphogear made from a relic you're not compatible with could very much kill you, if you're unlucky."
"But we could use the right ones, right?" Yumi asked and said, "I mean, your whole organization was right under our school, and in anime, that usually means the students don't just get accepted because of their grades."
"Either stop comparing real life to anime, or stop being right all the time," Chris called out over the communication channels, "You're making me upset that no one brought you on board sooner."
"So I'm right?" Yumi asked.
"Yes, you are," Genjuro answered, "All students at Lydian can potentially use a Symphogear. However, we don't know which ones you are most compatible with."
"Leave that to me," Shem-Ha said and began typing away on the computer in front of her, "I will just need access to every Aufwachen waveform in your database, and once my program is completed, the rest will effectively sort itself out." She finished typing and leaned back.
"What program?" Aoi asked and pulled up the file on her screen.
"I wrote a simple algorithm to determine which relic a person is most compatible with," Shem-Ha answered, "It is based on biometric scans, meaning it only needs a picture of a person's face."
"Does it work?" Genjuro asked.
"Well… it looks like it should," Aoi answered, "But I had no idea she was that good."
"How good are we talking here?" Genjuro asked.
"Too good for us to have won," Aoi answered, "She could have easily locked us out of our computer systems entirely, and without the Yantra Sarvaswa, we would have been unable to regain control."
"I must admit, I did learn a thing or two yesterday," Shem-Ha said, and Shinji fell over sideways, but caught himself on one of the terminals.
"I- I'm sorry, did you say you learned all that just yesterday?" Shinji asked.
"Yes," Shem-Ha answered, "Now, if I could get access to the waveform database, I could run my program, to see if it works as intended." Aoi looked at Genjuro, who nodded.
"Alright, here," Aoi said and moved the shortcut into the database over to Shem-Ha's computer screen.
"Thank you," Shem-Ha said and copied the shortcut into her program, then pulled pictures of Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi from the school's database and plucked them into the program.
"Well, here goes nothing," Genjuro said, and Shem-Ha launched the program. As soon as she did, all the lights went out, and the base switched to emergency power.
"What is that?" Maria asked, "What did you do?"
"I launched my program," Shem-Ha answered, "It is not my fault that your technology cannot handle the data without overheating."
"Great, what now?" Yumi asked and said, "I mean, in anime, this would be the time something that was mentioned in a throwaway sentence comes back up to help out."
"Maybe that relic Kirika and I recovered can help us," Shirabe said, looked at Elfnein and asked, "Did you find out what it is?"
"It's a book full of arcane secrets," Elfnein answered, "I already know most of what's in it, though. But now that I think about it, if heat is the problem, I can use a strong-enough source of Phonic Gain, and this book, to use alchemy and convert the heat into electricity."
"Alright then, let's do this," Hibiki said, "I'll help with the Phonic Gain."
"Thanks," Elfnein said, and both left the control room. Just as the door closed, Hibiki began the chant to activate Gungnir, and Shem-Ha shivered a little. Aoi got up and left the room as well, and came back shortly after, holding a cup filled with a slightly steaming liquid.
"Here, for you," Aoi said and handed Shem-Ha the drink.
"Th- thank you," Shem-Ha said and began drinking. She felt the warmth spread through Miku's body, and stopped shivering, even though she had just been scared of Hibiki, and not actually cold. After a while, when Shem-Ha had emptied the cup, the power came back on, and the computer began processing the information, now that Elfnein's alchemy kept the processors at the perfect temperature.
"Look, it's doing me first," Kuriyo said, and everyone looked at the screen, where a progress bar slowly filled, represented by a purple blade extending from Shem-Ha's vambrace.
"I had it go in alphabetical order," Shem-Ha said. When the bar filled completely, the screen showed a pair of gauntlets.
"Járngreipr?" Aoi asked.
"What's that?" Kuriyo asked.
"A relic from Scandinavia that grants the wielder super-human strength," Genjuro answered, "Several Nordic countries have been claiming ownership of it for years, many times by force, so the United Nations decided to leave it in our care instead, to avoid any further conflicts about it."
"Not sure if you still care, but I'm done," Chris said, "I'm heading back now." Suddenly, Miku yanked control away from Shem-Ha.
"Of course we still care," Miku called out, then handed control back to Shem-Ha.
"Anyway, why'd you go quiet earlier?" Chris asked.
"Shem-Ha wrote a program to help us find suitable Symphogear users," Genjuro answered, "It took up so much processing power that it overheated our systems, so Hibiki and Elfnein keep them cool."
"Got it," Chris said, "I'm not even going to ask how those two can manage that."
"Guys, look," Shiori said when the program finished the next analysis, "I can actually pronounce this one."
"Aegis," Genjuro said, "A relic that was sold to the UN by Greece in the early '20s to pay off the debt they incurred through reckless spending and poor budgeting decisions. Its strongest quality is its high defense. However, it couldn't protect Greece from itself, and the nation collapsed due to even worse financial decisions in the following decade."
"Sounds great," Kuriyo said with a smirk.
"My turn," Yumi said excitedly, "I can't wait to see which relic I'm most compatible with. Gram, Fragarach, Chentu, Carnwennan, Labrys, Brisingamen, and so many others."
"I'm sure I don't have to ask, but how do you know all of those?" Shiori asked.
"Anime," Yumi answered, without taking her eyes off the screen. As the progress bar crawled towards the end, Chris came back, and looked at the screen as well.
"So, that's the program?" Chris asked, and Yumi shushed her. An image appeared on the screen, showing sandals with feathers stuck to them.
"Talaria," Genjuro said, "A relic that boasts incredible mobility, but offers very little in the way of either offense or defense."
"Good enough," Yumi said, suddenly much less excited, "At least those will let me fly." With the analysis completed, the program stopped, and Hibiki and Elfnein came back shortly after.
"And, are those all?" Hibiki asked and looked at the screen, then turned to her friends, "Congrats, guys."
"Yep, we're done," Genjuro answered.
"Now all we need to do is make Symphogear," Aoi answered, "And, of course, test them to see just how accurate Shem-Ha's program is."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Hibiki said, "I mean, she's got to know how we work."
"That is true, she did make us," Genjuro said, and Shem-Ha looked at him.
"Y- yes, I did," Shem-Ha said under her breath, suddenly unable to take her eyes off the muscular man.
"Hey, keep it together," Miku called out in the back of her mind, pulling Shem-Ha out of her inexplicable trance.
"Still, there is always a risk with the Symphogear technology," Genjuro said, then turned to Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi, "And I am responsible for everything that happens here. So, you three need to be careful."
"Right, sorry," Hibiki said, turned to Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi and said, "But don't worry, I'll be there in case anything happens."
"What else is new?" Kuriyo asked, and the trio chuckled. Shem-Ha decided to retreat, and handed control back to Miku.
"I'm back," Miku said, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"What do you mean?" Hibiki asked, "Is Shem-Ha gone?"
"No, just resting," Miku answered, "At least, I think. She didn't tell me why she let me take control again. I'll ask."
"That's a relief," Hibiki said and let out a sigh, "I was worried we'd scared her off or something."
"Is there a reason you retreated?" Miku thought, and for a while, there was no response.
"No," Shem-Ha responded, "I simply wanted to observe for a while, instead of being involved."
"Got it," Miku thought, and said, "She says there's no reason."
"I see," Hibiki said, turned to Genjuro and asked, "So, when do we start making the new Symphogear?"
"We can start right away," Genjuro said, and Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi smiled, before he announced, "Get everything ready, and contact the city as well. We'll need a lot of energy to pull this off." The entire control room burst to life, and Hibiki looked at Elfnein with a knowing grin, while Chris rolled her eyes and sighed.
Author's note: Surprise crush, with some psychic damage on the house. You're welcome.
The different relics Yumi listed all have a very good reason to be here.
Gram - I was listening to the Amon Amarth album Berserker when writing this, and Fafner's Gold came on.
Fragarach - I just find the name really funny.
Chentu - In a crossover fanfic I had planned, where Miku is the reincarnation of a character from another show and remembers her past life after the Zwei Wing incident, she eventually steals this relic, since she used a whip in her past life.
Carnwennan - It's a dagger that can supposedly shroud its user in shadow. Had she gotten this relic, her Symphogear would have resembled Leberblume from the manga/anime Gushing Over Magical Girls, and while everyone would know she looks like an anime character, her refusal to reveal which one would get some fun reactions.
Labrys - Axes are cool, and this one belongs to a god associated with fire, which adds extra coolness points.
Brisingamen - The relic I initially planned to give her, before I learned that it showed up in XDU, and was used by Kanade there.