Far East Branch Headquarters – Sakaki's Office

People are strange.

This was something that Neo knew and was very well aware of, having spent her entire life being poked and prodded by them. She was accustomed to their lack of regard for her feelings and their fascination with her capability. She was also familiar with their fear and how uncomfortable those same people were with said power. What she wasn't used to was the type of behavior she had observed recently in the Far East. For the past week or so, Neo had noticed a shift in many of the other soldiers' attitudes and behavioral patterns, particularly in relation to her.

The first change to catch her attention was the sudden and acute lack of researchers inhabiting the area. While the Den — as far as she knew — had never exactly been swarming with them, the fact that they had all but disappeared completely didn't go unnoticed. The second change surrounding their headquarters was the silence. The creepy, unsettling silence. More specifically, the utter lack of sound in general. Neo's body was genetically enhanced and as such, her hearing was very sensitive. This meant that over time, she had become accustomed to a certain standard of white noise; murmurs, chatter, and cellphones going off with random dings and hums, little taps as people pressed the buttons on their devices. Now, she heard almost nothing. It was almost as though all of them had been turned off. Very strange indeed.

But above all, the strangest thing was the other members themselves.

Annette had always been a bit of a busybody, that was nothing new. But lately she had noticed her paying special attention. She would often speak with her in the hallways now, inquiring about her health, her daily activities, and offering her assistance in any way she could. Gina, like Annette, was often enthusiastic where her missions were concerned, and this was even truer when Neo was involved. These says, she was nearly relentless, popping up in the weirdest of places and offering to accompany her on any hunt, big or small, should she ever head out into the field. Stranger still, the 3rd Unit gunner had developed an unusual habit while organizing her team structure. There was almost always an empty space.

Kanon had been another one, appearing frequently at random, all sunshine and smiles. That on its own wasn't that unusual; the pink-haired gunner was often bubbly. What made it odd was that those smiles were now accompanied with constant inquiries about her mental health, offers of assistance, and most recently, food. Which was how she found herself once again wandering down the hallway with a giant blue cookie in her hand. Yet another one of the other soldier's culinary experiments; this one she had called a 'chocolate assault.' Why on earth it was blue was anyone's guess. But it was delicious either way.

Even Utstugi, in his infinite qualms and conflict with her, had changed his tune. Granted, they were far from friends. The pair still frequently butted heads over various topics, specifically with her recklessness and fighting style. But there was less hostility behind it now. Before, his constant scolding was primarily the result of putting her teammates in danger. Nowadays, his complaints seemed geared towards her own personal health. If she didn't know any better, Neo would've almost started to believe the unit captain actually cared about her.

It was like she had stepped into the Twilight Zone, a strange new world in which everyone was… nice. Well, nicer than they usually were where she was concerned. The exception of course being Gunter, whom she hadn't seen since her assault. The only person who hadn't been treating her differently was Soma, who recently had been moody as ever. Of course, with all the strange happenings going on, Neo was almost happy to hear his snappy tone. To see someone acting normal for a change was a relief; her only indication that she hadn't somehow stumbled into an alternate dimension.

Lost in those curious thoughts, her wandering nearly sent her into a head-on collision as she rounded the corner, stepping backward from a large metal hunk of machinery that appeared before her. The woman navigating the object had a similar look of surprise, quickly shaking her head when she regathered her wits. It was the cleaning lady. The sight of her brought a moment of realization. The janitorial staff wandered all over the Den. If anyone had seen who she was looking for, then they were among one of the best people she could ask.

Swallowing her mouthful of blue pastry, Neo lifted her gaze to the woman before her. "Have you seen Soma?"

The woman blinked. For a few seconds, she wasn't sure how to react. She had been living with the New Type for months at this point, and she had never spoken to her. Not once. What was the world coming to? Shaking her head, she pointed down to the end of the hallway to a familiar room. Of course, he was in Sakaki's room. He was always in Sakaki's room these days.

"Thank you." Neo had barely maneuvered around her giant vacuum cleaner when the woman stopped her with a shake of her head.

"You're free to try, but I wouldn't bother. Whenever he's working, he locks the door and won't open it for anyone."

"Is that so?"

The woman nodded, taking careful note of her determined expression. It seemed she wasn't deterred. Shaking her head, she gestured in the direction of the door. "But if you have any luck, could you ask Soma to let me in so I can clean?"

Neo nodded, took another bite of her cookie, and strode away. When she reached the door, she lifted her empty hand and pressed the button. She could hear the buzzing echoing through from the other side, but no response. No movement. But the Fenrir employee had said he was in there. Which meant that he was ignoring her. Growing annoyed, she pressed the button again, holding down the buzzer for a second longer this time, letting him know that she wouldn't be turned away.

The second time was enough. Soma's voice carried through the door, sounding almost as annoyed as she felt. "Who's there?"

"Soma. Open the door," she said, calling back through the locked door. She gave a moment of pause, mulling over her phrasing before reminding herself. "…Please."

"Oh, it's you." His voice changed almost immediately. "Hold on a moment."

The sound of shuffling reached her ears, indicating sudden movement. A slightly louder footstep concerned her as he stumbled over something. What followed was a quiet thump and a resulting curse before going silent. At the telltale click of disengaging lock, she knew the door was open. Entering the room, the first thing she noticed was monitors. Monitors everywhere, in every direction, and papers piled up centimeters high. What on earth was he doing in there? He was restacking some documents when she reached him, moving back around his desk to return to his work.

"Need something?"

A typical Soma response. Neo shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the desk. "Not particularly."

She could almost feel the irritation as it appeared on his face in a frustrated scowl. "Well, if you don't need anything, can you stop bothering me? I need to focus on my work." That got a reaction out of her. Neo took a step back from the desk, eyes falling to the floor. Soma must have noticed her shift because a moment later he sighed. "…Sorry."

Neo shook her head. "I get it… you're busy."

"Very." He paused. "But you can stay… if you want."

"You don't mind?"

"Just don't get in my way," he grumbled, looking up briefly at the New Type. He held his gaze there for a moment, taking in the sight. Sporting a yellow skirt over a pair of black leggings, she was looking colorful today. The crimson shirt only added to the unusual ensemble, offset even more by her yellow gloves, one of which was holding a bright blue… something.

The only thing stranger than what she had put together was the cherry on top: a headband in her hair with a pair of purple cat ears. It was a getup that would — and to some degree, still did — look absolutely ridiculous on anyone else. But on Neo, it was almost endearing. Only she could literally throw together any random thing and somehow make it look cute. Shaking the thought from his mind, he focused in on the object she was munching on. "What the hell is that?"

Neo swallowed her mouthful and shrugged. "Chocolate assault… it's a cookie."

He was immediately sorry he asked. Soma wasn't sure what he had expected other than a ridiculous answer from the ridiculous woman as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Must have been one of Kanon's creations. Deciding to leave it be, he turned his eyes back to the monitors and focused on his task. "…Right."

His fingers flew across the keys, tapping out long strings of sentences and commands. Neo watched him as he worked, attention never wavering as she stood there watching him. Though as she drew closer, his resolve started to wane, as indicated by a hitch in his keystrokes. He stopped typing completely when she halted beside him, one hand resting against the desk, and the other shoveling the last of her azure treat into her mouth. When her arm lowered it brushed against him, making him tense.

"What are you doing in here anyway?"

"Working."

"On what?"

"The Remnant Facility."

"Oh." With her questions answered, she returned to silence, watching him work. Her eyes followed his as they moved back and forth between the monitors, scanning over every detail. His lips were pulled into a thin line, the corners of his eyes crinkling and squinting. It was a look she recognized well. "What are trying to find?"

"I'm not trying to find anything; I'm looking at something."

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking for a correlation."

"A correlation between what?"

"Between these anomalies."

"What kind of anomalies?"

"Neo!" Soma had to catch himself, feeling his temper rising along with his irritation. He knew that she wasn't trying to be difficult. She genuinely wanted to understand. But a curious New Type and three hours of sleep didn't make for a pleasant combination. "I'm just —" He cut himself off. Answering her inquiry at surface level would only invite more questions. At this point, it would make more sense to just explain to her what was going on. She was already in the Far East, chances were she was eventually going to encounter this phenomenon anyway.

"A little while back a horde of mutant Aragami struck one of our research troops. Caused a ton of casualties. We were able to subdue them, but we found characteristics of the Nova inside of their cores."

"Oh. The Aragami must have been devouring the remnants."

Soma blinked. He hadn't expected that. "R-Right. Anyway, I've been trying to pick up the pace of the cleanup to prevent further outbreaks. It's been going well enough, but…"

"But you're still finding abnormal signatures in the data."

"Yes. Exactly." Soma turned his attention to one of the monitors to his right. "What I can't figure out is the source…" Neo leaned forward, taking a look at the red highlights on the map. "Despite our purging of the area, they still keep coming. Even places like here, where the cleanup was already completed…"

Neo's eyes followed his fingers as he showed her the circles, varying in opacity across the different areas. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before, even among the most violent of Aragami outbreaks. But as Soma clicked through the time lapse images, she paused. The first thing that stood out to her was the unusual pattern. The way in which the signal strength seemed to rise and dampen in very particular directions.

"It's almost as if they're multiplying. Like they're taking on new characteristics by the day. But we can't find any evidence to pinpoint where they might be coming from." Her silence drew his attention, turning his gaze to her to see if she was still paying attention. What he found was an uncharacteristically pensive expression on her face, eyes following the maps as they looped through over and over. It wasn't long before she spoke again. But what she said made his eyes widen.

"Maybe the remnants aren't the problem."

"Huh?"

Neo leaned across him, pointing a gloved finger toward the screen. He blanched, leaning backward to create some distance between them; he was acutely aware of how close her chest was to his face. Turning his head, he focused on following her movements as she began to explain.

"It looks like an increasing spawn rate, both here and here." Her fingers moved around, pointing to the Wailing Plains and the northern edge of the tundra. "But the timing doesn't make sense. If you follow the strength of the signatures…" Her fingers moved again. "It looks more like its increasing. Then decreasing. And increasing again… Almost like it's losing power… then regaining it."

"Right. Which is why we've been trying to purge the areas that contain the remaining remnants. We've been sending out assault squads on rotation and clearing out the area and keeping an eye out for mutations in the Aragami. We've been keeping their numbers thinned, there should be no reason why they're growing in number."

Neo shook her head. "You misunderstand." Pointing to the maps, she started tracing again. "Think about it… you said the Aragami are devouring the remnants as a fuel source. But they're appearing in places where the cleanup was finished."

"That's what I said, yeah."

"When I —" Her breath hitched, a pained look crossing her features for just a moment. "When Aragami devour, they start to take on the characteristics of their consumption…"

"They do."

"From what I have heard around the Den, the number of Aragami around is starting to thin out. Apparently, you're doing. And that doesn't make any sense if their numbers are increasing."

"Which is exactly the problem."

"But that's not all. Soma, these attacks… they're too targeted."

He was starting to lose his patience. It was clear that she had reached some sort of conclusion, that unfortunately, he wasn't following. "Neo, you're going all over the place. Focus. What exactly are you getting at?"

"I'm saying, what if you've been looking for the wrong target?"

"The wrong target?"

"You said the Aragami that attacked them were mutated, and it's unlikely that they were the only ones. And those that survived have been out there running amok since then. Maybe the stragglers shouldn't be your concern… but something bigger."

Soma's mouth nearly fell open. He had been so focused on finding and neutralizing the remaining remnants, it had never occurred to him that those that devoured them may still be at large. A mutated Ogretail or an infected Sariel. Possibly something even worse. He had watched countless mutations among Oracle cells, anything was possible. And she had deduced all of that from a collection of computer screens. Neo was intelligent. That was no surprise to anyone. But that she had developed such a comprehensive understanding, and had noticed, so quickly, something he had overlooked.

Turning his head, he stared at the New Type, taking note of her features as her pupils continued following along the screen. Her heterochromatic eyes drew his immediate attention, trailing slowly down the features of her face. His gaze continued onward, over the azure blue coats wrapped comfortably around her neck, so close that he could feel the cool energy radiating around them.

Of course.

How had he not seen it before?

Neo herself was a product of such a mutation. Over years of electrocution, and devouring Aragami cores, she had slowly taken on the characteristics of her consumption. The most common Aragami type found in North America during that time period was the Vajra. She had likely devoured any number of them. And eventually, she started to become them. The appendages protruding from her back were proof enough of that. And when she found herself lost in the wilderness of the Canadian tundra, she had no choice but to survive on whatever she could find in the area. As a result… she mutated again.

Suddenly, both her hypothesis and her understanding seemed like common sense. Neo, as a general rule, was impulsive. She was chaotic and curious, and on rare occasions, displayed the qualities of someone almost half her age. But despite those traits, Neo was brilliant. She was inexperienced, not unknowledgeable, and Aragami biology was literally a part of her. It was moments like these that she displayed the opposite, the collected, calm portions of her personality; the wisdom, and calculation of someone far beyond her years.

And now… he had an even graver concern. What if she was right?

He quickly found himself spiraling, deep in thought, running a multitude of scenarios through his head. If what she suggested was true, then simply picking up the pace wasn't going to be enough. He would have to expand his search not only to remnants but evolving creatures as well. Much as the idea terrified him, he was grateful. Had it not been for her secondary perspective, he may not have noticed it until much later.

Thus, his attention shifted, looking back to the woman in question. Her eyes gazed forward, staring intently at the maps, and leaning toward the screen. Lost in her own thoughts, she was blissfully unaware of her own proximity, having grown uncomfortably close in her search for unusual patterns. The two of them were nearly pressed together and Soma, despite the cool radiation of her coats, felt his temperature rising. He was about to protest, insisting that she back away from him when she did exactly that.

"Just something to think about." Stepping backward, she vanished from his peripheral vision, leaving the space feeling suddenly empty. "Anyway, I'll leave you be. I know you have a lot of work to do." Neo stretched her arms above her head with a tired yawn, spinning on her heel and making her way back toward the entryway. As she slid open the door, she called over her shoulder. "Let the cleaning lady in. She wants to vacuum."

With that final note, Neo was gone. Behind her, she left the veteran dumbfounded, staring stupidly at the closed entrance to the empty room. What the hell had just happened? Soma didn't know. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the screens once more. She was right. He didn't have time to contemplate their brief moment together. To contemplate their proximity and sudden distance. To contemplate her. He needed to focus.

He had work to do.