Far East Branch Headquarters – Training Room

"How's the search going?" Neo asked.

Soma grumbled, typing a few keys into the computer, and pulling up a map. "Same as the last time you asked me. At this point, keeping up with it is going to be impossible."

A small frown formed on her face, looking over the screen. "Do you need to adjust the sensitivity again?"

"Already did. Twice. At this point, I'm convinced the bastard is taunting us.

Neo gave a slow nod, choosing her next words carefully. She knew what he was going to say before she said it but couldn't help but voice the question. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

As she expected, he shook his head. "Not in your current state."

"We need to find Nova as soon as we possibly can."

"And we will. You won't."

"But casualty reports are at an all-time high… we can't just —"

"You step one foot out of the Den, and you're defenseless."

"But —"

"It's not happening, Neo," Soma snapped. Her face twisted into a scowl. She turned and stalked toward the door with a huff; he had shut her down without even considering the possibility. His concern was understandable, she knew that without her weapon she was vulnerable. But she was losing her mind inside these walls. Sitting idly by while everyone around her worked to the bone was driving her insane. She felt frustrated and useless.

The sound of Soma's voice muttering behind her gave her pause as the door slid shut. "We can't let it get away with this…" With an aggravated sigh, Neo stomped down the hall and returned to her room.

. . .

The search for Nova continued. Everyone across the Far East was working around the clock, trying to track down their elusive quarry. Just as Soma had stated, the Nova always seemed to be one step ahead of them. Whenever they tried to head it off, it was nowhere to be found. Whenever they followed the signatures, it was already gone. It was though the creature was taunting them, leading them on a wild goose chase all across the continent. Those that weren't after Nova were on hunting duty, eradicating anything and everything that could further fuel its fire. All members were doing all that they could.

All with the exception of one.

As it turned out, Neo's God Arc repairs were far more complex than they originally thought. The weapon was so badly damaged, it had to essentially be rebuilt from the ground up. Doing so was certainly possible, Licca had spent hours in the lab figuring out exactly how it functioned. But it was going to be nearly impossible without a few particular components. Components that, unfortunately, weren't available in the Far East.

While Ichiro and the rest of the team worked to handle the situation, the God Arc's owner was stuck twiddling her thumbs in her compound-sized prison. She couldn't leave the Den, so in the interim, she had been spending her time going to therapy sessions, completing exercises, and hanging around anyone who requested her company. Most often, that consisted of Gina and Kanon in between their mission rotations. Occasionally, those little gatherings involved Annette. Gunter was still avidly avoiding her.

But strangely, the most frequent of her visitors was turning out to be Terrance. And not only him, but rookies of multiple sectors had been showing up for Neo's study sessions on marksmanship. She wasn't sure how exactly word had gotten around that she was offering assistance. Perhaps he had told someone, or they were noticed in the training room through the open door. Or maybe it wasn't him at all. Erina was always a possibility; she was such an excitable child; she could easily see her letting it slip that Neo had been helping her out.

The result was that the New Type had somehow gone from grounded assault specialist to drill instructor. And while she wasn't exactly happy about the arrangement, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of accomplishment in doing so. Those who attended her classes — Terrance, and Annette most commonly — showed improvement, although everyone moved at their own pace.

But the strangest of all the attendees included one of her least favorite, Caleb, the 3rd Unit ranged type. No words were ever spoken between them, and he never once stepped foot inside the training area. He simply watched them from the sidelines, head peeking around the open doorway as she taught. Most likely, he was afraid of going anywhere near her, a fact which didn't bother her in the least. She had no desire to interact with him either. What puzzled her was the fact that he seemed convinced he was hidden. Perhaps he thought she didn't notice him.

"Again," Neo called, setting off another round of firing from different directions. Her eyes swept carefully over her students as she wandered between them, critiquing their work as necessary. At this point, she had grown tired of wandering back and forth from the wall and instead utilized the portable console for convenience. It was less energy and also allowed her to catch slacking pupils like her newest member, a recently joined God Eater of the 2nd Unit. This wasn't uncommon for him. He seemed to do well in the beginning of their sessions, but always tapered off as the time went on.

Appearing at his side, she tapped his weapon, prompting him to lift the barrel once more. "Keep up the momentum. You can't afford to lose motivation out there."

The soldier complained. "I'm just so tired… It's hard to stay focused this long."

"Being distracted is certainly an option… if you don't mind meeting an early grave."

The solider swallowed. "It's… is it really that bad?"

Neo didn't answer him. Instead, she stepped away from him, typing into the portable console. A few moments later, a guttural growl rumbled in his ears. He barely had time to react, yelping as a simulated Ogretail charged at him from the far wall. He attempted to lift his weapon, but he was too slow, stumbling backward when the monster leapt at him. Before it could clamp its jaws on him, the creature pixelated and faded away. His chest was heaving, heart racing from the shock of being nearly mauled. The New Type pulled him to his feet and handed him his weapon. "You can either be driven or dead. Your choice."

She didn't need to ask him again. With renewed vigor, he was practicing once more. From behind her, Annette laughed. Having watched the whole thing, she was thoroughly amused. "Wow… you're really whipping them into shape. You're a tough taskmaster."

Neo didn't share her mirth, tapping on the console again in response. The sound of a loud screech echoed in the air, startling the soldiers, and putting them on alert. From above, a Sariel dove, its target the blonde New Type addressing her. But Annette was prepared, she had gotten rather seasoned during her time in the field. She turned, lifting her shield, and blocking the incoming strike. It bounced off of her wall, growing still to channel a beam overhead. Annette didn't falter, lifting her blade as her shield disengaged before smashing it down on the creature's skull. She turned around as the Aragami faded into nothingness, fixing her instructor with a grin. Neo smirked back at her. It was nice to see that someone was taking things seriously. With a nod of approval, she wandered off to continue her lesson.

The session continued until late in the afternoon. Today was a particularly busy day; nearly every hour or so, another straggler wandered their way in seeking advice. Now, hours later, it seemed that all of the God Eaters were satisfied, leaving only two of them in the training room.

"Wow… that was quite a day, wasn't it?"

"It was."

Terrance stretched his arms, frowning when he caught a glimpse of his watch. "Oh wow… it's really late. S-Sorry, I didn't expect to keep you this long."

"It's fine." It was. It wasn't like she had anything else to do.

"No, I feel really bad… you're doing so much for everyone and I'm —" Terrance paused, staring pensively at the ground. Then, he perked up, lifting his eyes to meet her gaze. "Here, let me make it up to you! It's almost dinner time. I can grab you something?"

"Um…" She was apprehensive about sharing a meal with the kid. But her rumbling stomach disagreed with her. It didn't take long for her to cave. Perhaps it couldn't hurt to get some food, and if he was offering, she may as well accept.

. . .

Far East Branch Headquarters – Mess Hall

In the dining hall, God Eaters from all units were filing in. Those finishing up were preparing to head out into the field, and those returning from their rotations were settling in to replenish much-needed calories. Near a table in the back corner of the room, a few members of the 3rd Unit were talking amongst themselves. Among them were Federico and Shun, the former listening to the latter complain about his natural resistance to the Bias Field.

All was merry and jovial, the group messing around, poking fun, and making quips at one another across the table. It wasn't until Shun noticed a head of violet hair alongside a crimson ponytail that the conversation paused. "Hey… isn't that the new kid? Tyler, or whatever?"

Otto followed his gaze, spotting the redhead across the room. "Terrance. And yeah, it is. He — what the hell…?" his words shifted gears when his eyes traveled over, taking in the woman standing beside him. "Is that…"

Another soldier shared his feelings. "Yeah… what's the new kid doing with Reaper?"

Federico chimed in. "Oh, yeah. He mentioned he was going to ask her for lessons or something. I hear she's been holding sessions in the training room all week."

"He's training with her?" Otto asked, a bit incredulous.

"Yeah… I haven't been to any of them, but I hear they're really effective."

"They are. I've been listening in on them in my spare time." Otto's head whipped around, eyeing his friend with a look of utter disbelief. Caleb shrugged. "What? Say what you want about Reaper, but she's a hell of a marksman. Even if she is…" his words trailed off.

The other soldier hummed but said nothing further. It was true that she was possibly the sharpest sniper in the Far East, that couldn't be denied. Didn't make him any less uneasy around her. Not after what he had experienced; what he had learned. "Yeah, well that doesn't explain why he's here with her now."

"Maybe he wanted to go over some material?" Federico suggested.

"Yeah, maybe…" Otto frowned, watching the two as they made their way to an empty table near the other end of the hall. He felt every muscle in his body tense when she looked in his direction, eyes narrowing into an ice-cold glare. "But I'm not so sure."

. . .

After finishing their meal, the two God Eaters left the crowd of the cafeteria. Between the noise and the growing number of people, both of them were getting a little overwhelmed. Thus, they removed themselves from the situation and were now strolling down a nearby hallway. It was much quieter there, a bit more isolated. Far more conducive to constructive conversation.

Terrance gave an awed sigh. "Wow… I didn't know you could transition your weapon mid-swing."

"If the situation calls for it. It's all about timing," Neo replied.

"How does it work?"

"You… hmm…" She shook her head. "It's… difficult to explain. It would be much easier just to show you. But at the moment…"

"It's okay. I can wait until you get your weapon back. It'll be soon, right?"

"It's supposed to be. Not really sure. Honestly, it doesn't make sense for you to wait around for me. I'm sure one of the other New Types could show you. Alisa is very proficient."

"She's a little hard to track down these days," he muttered. It was true. Alisa was one of the many squadrons working day and night. "Besides, you're a good teacher, I'm sure it'll be fine. Maybe you can walk me through it?"

"I don't know how to. There's no point in me wasting your time."

"It's not a waste at all" I'm just happy you're spending time with me." Terrance's eyes grew wide the moment the words left his mouth. "I-I mean, giving me the time of day. To be honest, I never thought someone on your level would even talk to me…" A nervous laugh punctuated his embarrassment, a hand fiddling with a loose strand of red.

Neo lifted a brow but said nothing further, just continued moving down the hall toward the stairwell. At this point, she had come to accept being weird as part of Terrance's personality. It didn't particularly bother her, but it certainly made interactions between them… interesting. Either way, it didn't matter. They were nearing the end of their journey and would soon be parting ways. She was looking forward to a bit of solitude. Unfortunately, the man beside her didn't seem to share her sentiment. He was fidgeting, looking nervously to the side. A sure sign that there was something on his mind.

Mentally rolling her eyes, she addressed him. "What is it?"

"H-Huh?!" He jumped, her voice jolting him from his thoughts. "Oh, uh… what?"

"You're thinking about something. What is it?" She paused. "…Did you have another question?"

"Er… kind of." Terrance finally looked over at her, fixing her with a sheepish grin. He was turning colors again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. She was beginning to wonder if he just had a problem with overheating. Stepping closer to her, he stammered. "Hey, Neo…?"

"Yes?" There was a slight sharpness to her tone. He already had her attention. She was growing impatient.

"Um… d-do you think… m-maybe —"

"Neo."

"Eh?!" Terrance startled, spinning around at the sound of an agitated voice. From down the hall, Soma was stalking toward them looking far more sour than usual. While her student shrunk away, Neo was unperturbed, regarding him with a blank stare as he approached them.

"There you are. I was looking all over for you."

"I was helping Terrance," she stated simply. At the sound of his name, he smiled nervously, hoping to ease the tension between them. It fell immediately when the only response was a glare.

"Hmph." Soma grunted. He vaguely recognized this boy, barely three years younger than them. A fresh face in the Far East. He hadn't seen him in battle, nor had he really noticed him around the Den. But being in the 3rd Unit, he assumed that meant he had quite a bit to learn. Which probably explained what Neo was helping him with. He couldn't imagine how bored she must have been to have reached this point.

That being said, a small part of him was happy for her. Regardless of the circumstances, seeing Neo socialize — somewhat — willingly was a step in the right direction. That she was slowly coming out of her iron-clad shell. But upon taking in the entire situation, that joy was overtaken by extreme irritation. He couldn't help but notice how close Terrance was standing to his teammate, nor the bashful expression on his face as he shuffled a few steps away. What had they been up to, he wondered…?

"Did you need something?" she asked.

"Yeah. There's something I need to talk to you about." His eyes shifted slightly, regarding the rookie before returning to her. "It's important."

"I see. If you give me a few moments —"

"A-Actually, never mind, it's fine! I wouldn't want to get in your way…" Terrance blurted out, taking a few steps away from the two of them. "I've taken up enough of your time anyway."

Soma's eyes narrowed watching the younger man. To call him skittish was a gross understatement. He would argue that he was downright petrified. Certainly not something he was unaccustomed to; humans were often nervous around him. It was the primary reason he didn't associate with them. But it was odd to him that he would be perturbed by his own presence yet so drawn to Neo's when she was arguably the more snappy of the two. And the look on his face, from the redness in his cheeks down to his fidgeting fingers made him wonder.

"Um… anyway, I'm gonna go now… I… I hope we can do this again sometime." His last sentence was barely a whisper, vanishing into the air with the volume of his departure. "Um… bye!"

Neo merely nodded at him, though raised an eyebrow. She had grown used to his unusual antics, although she wasn't used to him quite literally running away from her. Soma had scared him off, most certainly. But she wasn't complaining. She had been hoping to get some time to herself. Of course, at this point, it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon. Soma watched him go, staring after him as he disappeared around the bend. "The hell…? What a weird kid."

"Yeah. He's like that sometimes," she said with a shrug. Turning, she headed back toward the stairwell. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

. . .

Far East Branch – Veteran's Floor

Neo followed Soma into his room, taking note of the extra juice ration sitting in the corner near his minifridge. The temptation to swipe one was overwhelming, but she controlled herself. The last time she had attempted to steal one of his juices had ended in an argument and lecture. Which she still found to be ridiculous and absurd. It wasn't like he was drinking them anyway.

He closed the door behind her, engaging the locking mechanism for added privacy. There was a moment of pause where his hand hovered over the button, the situation registering in his mind. He had invited Neo into his room, and he had locked the door. And a quick turn of his head found said woman now sitting on his bed, kicking her legs back and forth against the edge of the mattress. Her legs, which he only now noticed were very exposed, all the way up to her wrinkling shorts —

A mental slap reminded him of what he was here for, scolding himself for getting distracted. The way her very presence seemed to hijack his thoughts was almost some sort of talent. Making his way toward the center of the room, he crossed his arms for good measure, keeping his eyes focused upward. Anywhere above her lower half.

"So, what's up?" she asked, naturally, unaware of the effect she was having on him.

"A few things. First, your God Arc."

Neo nearly shot up from the bed with excitement, eyes lighting up with anticipation. He could almost swear her left eye had gotten brighter in that moment. Unfortunately, he had to stop her before she got ahead of herself. "It's not finished yet." With those four words, he watched her visibly deflate, sagging back into the bed. "But it will be soon. Hamasaki needs to retrieve a couple parts from the European branch… which brings me to my second point."

"Ichi's leaving the branch…?" she asked.

"He already left," Soma corrected. "Well, he's preparing to leave. Wheels up in a few hours."

"He's leaving after dark…?"

"He thought it best to keep this operation covert. It isn't a good idea to advertise his departure with you still here. He may as well staple a target on your back."

His words were meant to be comforting, but they had the opposite effect. Her eyes lowered to the floor. "He's… leaving me behind?"

"It's only temporary." At her disheartened tone, Soma switched to damage control. "48 hours… 72 at the max." That seemed to raise her spirits a little, knowing that he wasn't abandoning her. "Once he gets the parts, he'll be coming right back here. But he wanted you to know so you didn't freak out when you couldn't find him."

After a few moments of thought, she slowly nodded. "Thank you… for letting me know."

"Yeah."

With his message received, the air was filled with awkward silence. Neo sat on his bed, looking around the room. "Was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Actually… I wanted your insight on something."

"Oh?" At this, Neo's demeanor shifted. She got comfortable, crossing her legs and relaxing. "What about?"

Soma did his best to ignore her repositioning. The way her legs moved. The way her shorts shifted, pulling even higher at the new angle. The fact that she was sitting on his bed. What the hell was wrong with him? Sighing, he turned his eyes away, focusing instead on his glistening new screen. He had finally gotten it fixed not long after she left, right along with his broken door lock. "I wanted to talk to you about the Nova."

"Okay. So, talk."

"…What do you know about it?"

"Probably the same as you do… maybe less. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because of your foresight. Neo, you've been ahead of us for every step of the way. You predicted its movement patterns, its behavior, hell, even its existence before I did. You knew about its sentience long before us too… that's why you were nervous, wasn't it? Why you wanted to turn back in the old city. You knew we couldn't win."

"I didn't know, Soma." Neo frowned. "But I… suspected. I just got this awful feeling. Like something just wasn't right. After it disappeared from our sight, I got suspicious."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I tried to," she argued.

"I mean after that," he retorted. "In your room that night, when I said it was mindless, you said, you weren't sure. You knew then, didn't you?" When she didn't answer, he pressed her. "Neo… how did you know?"

"…" Neo paused, leaning back on her hands. "It was… the way it looked at me," she muttered.

"Looked at you? How? Was it predatory?"

"No, it was… hungry." She shuddered. "Like it wanted to…"

Soma felt his temper flaring. "Wait a minute, you knew this thing was after you the whole time?"

"I told you, I didn't know, Soma."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

"Because of this!" she snapped. "Because I knew you would lock me up in here and bar me from the mission!"

"Because this thing is trying to kill you, Neo."

"It's trying to kill all of us!" Aggravated, she unfolded her legs and slid off the bed with a thump. "The Nova is dangerous. You know it. I know it. And every minute we spend arguing over who's in danger, it's out there getting stronger. We have to take care of it, Soma, before it's too powerful to stop."

"I understand that. That isn't up for debate."

"Then, let me do what I was made to do and stop getting in my way."

'Made to do…?' Images of scientists entered his mind. Their looks of fear. His father's cold eyes. Soma's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Stop talking about yourself like you're some sort of weapon!"

"Why?! It's all that I'm good for," she muttered. At those words, he felt his temper rise to boiling point. But he wasn't fast enough to stop her, slipping around his hand and stalking toward the door. Before he could reach her, she slid open the door and disappeared into the hallway.

. . .

Far East Branch Headquarters – Weapon's Hangar

With the moon high in the sky and nearly all residents asleep in their beds, the hangar was utterly deserted. Alone, in the empty hall, Marcus smirked into the terminal screen, eyes sparkling with devious intent. "You wanted an opportunity, now you have one. His transport just left the ground… that gives you a window."

"Excellent."

"How fast can you make it?"

"A maximum of 32 hours."

"There isn't much time. You have all of the proper authorization?"

"Preparations are already made. Expect my arrival and follow the plan."

"How can we be certain this is going to work?"

"The Den is a finite space. There will be nowhere for her to run."

"And what are you going to do if she manages to get past you? She's slippery, that one."

"Then, she will be lost in the wild with little to no defense. You need only follow her and ensure she doesn't return."

"You're suggesting I utilize the Nova?"

"I'm suggesting you utilize any means necessary. Once Specimen 13 is compromised or contained… she's all yours."

Marcus smiled, twirling his toy between his fingers. "…I'm looking forward to it."