"H-huh? What's going on? Why am I back here? Where's Mytyl? And why do I smell something burning?" Atari questioned as she walked into the kitchen.
"Lumen, can you an Joule quit playin' tricks? It ain't funny." Zeno asked.
"Huh? Did I miss something?" Atari wondered.
Zeno looked up and was far more than surprised or startled, as were the others who were looking at Atari as well.
"L-Lily? I-is that you?" Zeno worried.
"You can't recognize me?" Atari squeaked as she was on the verge of tears.
"Oh thank goodness you're alright! I thought we lost you for good!" Zeno cheered.
Atari walked over to look at the tiramisu and let out a small squeak as she was hugged from the right by Zeno. When she realized who it was, Atari began to relax. After seeing Atari turn around and smile, Zeno gave a sigh of relief and smiled too.
"That's, is that tiramisu?" Atari pondered.
"You want some it came fresh out the oven a few minutes ago. Anyone else want any?" Zeno offered.
"I'll take some." Atari agreed.
"Me too." Moniqa confirmed.
"I suppose some cake wouldn't hurt." Gunvolt supposed.
So, everyone sat at the kitchen table. Quarter of an hour was spent talking between the ex QUILL members and ex Sumeragi Muse.
"It's that late already? I said I'd organize my comics." Xiao noted.
"I have to log in the new data." Moniqa stated.
"Joule and I have to clean the apartment." Gunvolt remembered.
The others soon left, leaving Zeno and Atari all alone.
"Do you wanna watch the Mega Man show?" Zeno questioned.
"They have a show?" Atari gasped.
Zeno nodded as he placed two slices of tiramisu with the chopsticks on saucers on the table with some chamomile ginger tea.
"Isn't it a little much that he got Lily her own mug? That white one with the big blue flowers, gold ring near the rim and little flowers near the big ones? We aren't getting paychecks anymore now that QUILL is without a leader." Moniqa commented.
"I was thinking the same thing! Well, Joule was, of course." Lumen added.
"Y-you weren't supposed to say anything!" Joule fussed.
"It's nice to know I wasn't the only one thinking that." Moniqa confessed.
"That reminds me, aren't there other QUILL branches in other countries that'll be affected by this too?" Gunvolt noticed.
"Maybe we could ask later, Mr. Shino is supposed to replace Asimov if I'm not mistaken." Moniqa remembered.
"When will that take effect?" Gunvolt queried.
"Wednesday next week." Moniqa responded.
As Zeno, Atari and the others were enjoying themselves, they failed to notice a new threat looming on the horizon. The next day was a lovely Saturday. Gunolt noticed Joule staring out the window where the orbital elevator was. In its place howeer, Gunvolt noticed a peculiar white building in place of it.
"Did the Sumeragi decide to replace the orbital elevator?" Gunvolt guessed.
"It looks like a sword blade with wings on the side." Joule commented.
The building looked as if it would pierce the atmosphere.
"I've heard Xiao told me one of his informants got wind of some news regarding the Sumeragi. Apparently they're trying to manufacture androids that can obtain Septimas. In the hopes of decreasing liabilities and increasing the ability to calculate Septima probabilities rather than using humans." Gunvolt explained.
"Do you think they manufacture some of their robots in there?" Joule asked as she pointed to the white pillar.
'"It could be, we can check with Xiao and have him come over later." Gunvolt guessed.
Joule began to see if there was any more Soupbear merchandise.
Copen recently heard about the place and decided to get his gear together for the next day when he planned to explore the facility. Mytyl was standing near the top left corner of the workbench where Lola was perching.
"So, when are we gonna explore the new building boss?" Lola asked.
"Tomorrow, we need to get ready tonight and get everything together ahead of time." Copen responded.
"What's the plan?" Lola pondered.
"We eliminate security at the entrance and explore the facility." Copen replied.
"When will you be back?" Mytyl worried.
"Around five tomorrow afternoon, four at the earliest, six at the latest." Copen answred.
"I wonder when they finished that building. We didn't even notice any construction." Lola added.
"They didn't mention it on the news most likely either because they're dealing with the loss of their supervisor AI and an important member of Gargantua. Stella was the director and president of the company after all." Copen commented.
"You wanna watch another episode?" Zeno wondered.
"There's more? Just how may more episodes are there?" Atari pondered.
"A lot more, I'll put on the next one. Before we watch it though, do you have any questions?" Zeno stated.
"I saw you had some games that had the same name as this show. So are the games based off the show or is it the other way?" Atari queried.
"I can't say honestly, I haven't looked into it, lemme go check." Zeno added.
With some time to herself, Atari was able to think in silence.
I don't really know anything about my past. those memories from Stratos are probably fake. And just when I was starting to think I was getting somewhere. Atari mentally ranted.
Just then, Atari's phone started ringing, Atari ran into her bedroom and locked the door before curling up into a ball on her chair out of fear. Zeno went to tell Atari what he found but realized it had to wait when he heard the phone ring.
"Hey Xiao, something wrong?" Gunvolt greeted.
"I got some new info. Aparently that new white building was made by the Sumeragi. They're using it to deal with habitat loss and the extinction of animals. They're trying to use different parts of the building to mimic different ecosystems to also help find solutions to erosion." Xiao elucidated.
"Do we need to worry about it?" Gunvolt wondered.
"They replaced Demerzel with what's called the Mother Computer. She makes sure things in the Grave Pillar are running smoothly." Xiao elaborated.
"Is she trying any of the tricks Demerzel did?" Gunvolt wondered.
"She's made a lot of security bots based on Lola, like the big tank. And from the looks of it, there's a Worker based on Copen." Xiao stated.
"Thanks Xiao, I'll call you back tomorrow when I start the mission with Copen tomorrow." Gunvolt thanked as he went to end the call.
"Wait, I forgot to tell you! Zeno said he doesn't want to join the exploration effort tomorrow. He wants to keep an eye on Atari in a safer way this time. But maybe if e can get her to go, we could get Zeno to go too." Xiao suposed.
"That sounds good, I'll have Joule call Lily and see if that'll work." Gunvolt supposed as the call was over.
"Hey GV, is there something you wanted to tell Joule? I heard you mention her name while you were talking with Xiao just now." Lumen questioned.
Gunvolt shook his head.
"I was thinking about having her call Lily. Then we could try to convince Zeno to go. but he'll probably keep Lily home with him regardless." Gunvolt explained.
"It's still worth a shot, she's on the phone with Lily right now so I'll go tell her." Lumen added as she fizzled out. After the battle against Nova and Zonda, Gunvolt was always worried every time he saw Lumen would be his last.