"Right. So lemme sum this up…" Vash lounged around, nibbling on a hard biscuit he still had in his coat pocket. Didn't expect it to have survived all the chaos he just had gone through recently intact, but it was a small blessing. "Shittim Chest is a super awesome, super amazing device that can be used to access all sorts of devices, manage a huge bulk of data without even a milisecond of lag, mainstream and coordinate files taken from active battlefield in real-time, and countless other stuffs…"

[That's right! And I am the system manager of Shittim Chest! You may call me Arona, sensei—ah, please don't touch the screen with the finger covered with biscuit crumbs!]

Well, sure. It would be inconvenient if the screen turned smudgy…

[Regrettably, I just found out that my favorite snacks have overinflated prices…!] The girl who named herself Arona went cross-eyed, her lips twisted in complete frustration as she made her complaint known. [Please don't tempt me with tasty treats like that, sensei! I only have limited weekly allowances given to me for any work related to the Sanctum Tower…!]

...never mind, she's a child through and through.

Man, it sure was amazing how far technology could advance. Having a normal conversation with an artificial intelligence was already way out there, but with every sentence exchanged, Arona kept on proving that she was as soulful as any other person.

"Let's have a nice, long chat with snacks and tea later." Vash smiled. "For now, it looks like there's troubles with the Sanctum Tower. The vice-president of GSC thinks the Shittim Chest can do something about it. Since I can access it, what should I do next?"

[Hmm? Has that much time passed already?] Arona tilted her head, her eye blinking with a curious but confused glint to it. Vash wasn't quite sure what to make of her words, but the halo hovering above the girl in blue shimmered, its hue turning into leaf green. [Very well, then! This mighty Arona is still looking small and in need of lots of upgrades, but I can give you the administrative right for managing Sanctum Tower! Ah, but we first need to finish the biological authentication process!]

Huh. The smart tablet certainly possessed a robust defense system. The former was a given, but the latter tended to be a hard one to crack while being exceedingly rare. Not to scoff at it, but defense arrays that still used biometric scan were often found in a faulty state or badly damaged by the planet's extreme climate. Of course, most bandits would never care about going through security the proper way when looting the ruins of a colony ship, but those folks would also naturally eat lasers to the face from the bugged out defense grid.

[Alright… preparation is done. Here you go, sensei! Make sure it's your bare hand that touches the screen!]

Arona's chime brought Vash to look at the Shittim Chest. The girl had adjusted the room perspective all on her own, enabling for an extreme close-up shot of her face. Next to it, however, was her index finger raised towards the screen. Honestly, this reminded him of a very old, ancient film made on Earth, but what was it about again?

"Is this a first contact moment?"

His reaction triggered her badly, apparently. Arona looked aghast, but that gave ways to a totally upset look. Her eyelid even lowered by a notch, staring dully at him.

[That's rude of you, sensei! Arona is an amazing, super competent AI secretary that can do a lot of extraordinary stuff!] The blue-haired girl pouted. [Besides, that retro alien doesn't even look the least bit adorable! Even sir wave cat is still infinitely more handsome than that creep! That makes my cuteness on a realm of its own, sensei!]

"I think some folks out there would have a huge issue with your take, but I guess it doesn't endear well for girls your age, huh." And what was that about the last line, narcissism much? Well, that ought to count as normal behavior for normal kids. A bit of uppity arrogance is fine once in a while. "Since you said bare hand, my right hand should work, right?"

Receiving Arona's enthusiastic nod, Vash removed his glove and bracer. He nudged his nose and paused. He probably needed to switch his wardrobe later today. He did see a lot of stores in the Shiratori Ward earlier, so maybe he could go there tomorrow and see what the locals had in display. However, he doubted double-dollar currency could work in this city. Borrowing money… no, that didn't sound right. Especially considering Rin being much younger than him.

He might be a scum, a coward, and a frivolously petty man with a high ego to stroke, but Vash refused to abandon his dignity as an independent adult. Doing that would just make him the laughingstock of the century. The moniker Humanoid Typhoon would change into Humanoid Debtor, a total downgrade. The lamest kind of downgrade even!

"There we go." Vash pressed his index finger on the screen, right at the spot Arona's finger was at. A moment passed, several seconds passed, and… "Uhh, hello? Arona?"

[Eh? Ah, yes! There we go! Authentication registered, stored, and approved!] Hurriedly, the digital girl stuttered out, [You can pull back your hand now, Vash-sensei!]

Vash hummed, only half-convinced. There was a weird delay at the end there for some reasons, but he didn't notice any sort of shock or ghastly look. What did Arona see?

Well, I doubt there's anything fancy going on with old me. At this point of time, Vash was nothing more than a slightly skilled human. He was an ordinary person through and through, a passing by good samaritan with zero threat level. The thought that he was finally the same as everyone else took a long time to sink in, but Kivotos made even that thought blown away in a relatively short order. Now I feel a bit inadequate for being unable to do more.

When he thought about it, maybe that was just people's nature to never get satisfied with what they were given with. Kind of a sad thing, really.

[Then! Let's start with switching on the Schale office's clean-up crew!]

"Hm? O-ohh—?"

Suddenly, the man sensed a slight shift in the air. Power thrummed beneath him, the electrical grid coming to life to enable the lights hanging from the ceilings above him. All at once, the building which had been silent "woke up" like a gentle beast roused from a long, peaceful slumber. Vash looked around when he heard a quiet whirring sound, many disc-like objects crawling all over the floor in the dime dozen, while machines with four rotors floated in the air.

"Are… are those automated cleaning robots…?" Vash hung his jaw, staring blankly at the rows of advanced devices working out a cleaning schedule with no difficulty whatsoever to their self-assigned tasks. "Whoa… I guess janitorial is no longer available as a job field, here."

[I don't think you need to worry about that, sensei.] Arona chimed in, [Cleaning drones may be available even in your nearest mini-market, but it adds up to electricity bill in the long-run should you need multiple of them. Plus, establishments still prefer a personal touch to market themselves.]

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense. If it's all automated then why even bother going out."

[The drones utilized here are lent by GSC,] the blue-haired assistant further explained with a smile. [It's a privilege Schale can use freely as a federal club. Ah, but don't get it over your head, okay? They still need maintenance, so it's best if you check on them once a month and register any repair invoice as work expenditure. Otherwise…]

Otherwise…?

[...the repair fee will have to be taken from Schale's monthly budget. Sensei, your wage will end up cut by halves and some more if you don't manage your office properly.]

Now that's just terrifying. Arona even looked menacing with that thousand-yard stare that had no light in her eye. In any other circumstances, Vash would have negotiated for hard labors in exchange for favors owned, but that sort of trade only worked in a distant and underdeveloped frontier dotting the surface of No-Man's Land. Wait, does that mean I am legally employed, now?

Had he, somehow or other, managed to snag a cushy pencil-pusher job through landing his butt in a completely different world? Didn't that mean his dream was coming true?

[Of course, you can also request student assistants if they are able to fix up faulty facilities, sensei! Schale has the authority for such thing.]

"Doesn't that count as power-harassment?"

[Connections can give you some leeway, sensei! So long as you compensate your students properly, it'll make everyone happy!]

Well, can't deny that's also how the world works… "I suppose that's fine, then. Free labor isn't what I consider a respectable thing."

[Only large corporations that intensely engage in backdoor dealings could get away with that, but they are exceedingly rare.] The helpful Arona lowered her eyebrow as if in an attempt to warn him. [For example, the Kaiser Corporation is a multi-franchise, multi-dealing conglomerate that has their fingerprint on many industrial sectors. They employ mechanoids in their real ranks, while forking off grunt works to haphazardly recruited part-timers and interns with minimal amount of work security. There's even rumors of them lording over the black market as war hawks!]

Eesh, that sounded pretty shady. That sort of commercial monopoly frequently had really messed up pastimes with equally petty ambition. Some things never changed no matter what world he was in, huh? Vash wasn't sure if he ought to cry or laugh, though he decided to commit the corporation's name to memories; just in case he crossed path with them, just in case… no one could tell these days, right?

[Oh, yes! I almost forgot,] Arona suddenly shouted out. Did he just see an illusion or was there an exclamation mark above her head? No, wait. The girl was a digital assistant, why wouldn't she have gimmicky add-on to her program? [Since the Sanctum Tower is operational again, what's the next thing to do, sensei?]

That was… a fairly good question. What was he supposed to do? Rin had described Schale as a federal club with extrajudicial authority to it. The details were lost to him, but starting from the basic would be nice…

"What's the Sanctum Tower gotta do with Schale?" He asked his first question.

That apparently did not look to be a question Arona had expected. She blinked a few times before pondering for a full sixty seconds. She then slowly rolled out an answer from her soft-as-pudding-looking puny lips.

[Well, the Sanctum Tower is the heart of Kivotos. Basically, it's the most integral part that keeps the city alive.] Arona raised an index finger, a blackboard suddenly sliding into view behind her. The colorful chalks stuck between her fingers drew very simple shapes, but though they were very messy, Vash could somehow get the gist of things as various symbols surrounded a tower. [Without it, automated public facilities such as economy-class trains and freight ships could hardly navigate without causing major traffic accidents. Furthermore, the Sanctum Tower also manages the many unmanned production factories, ranging from power grid to water and gas lines.]

Interesting… so it's pretty literal when you called it heart of the city. Vash could draw some parallels between Sanctum Tower and Plant, but from the scenery he had seen in the transport heli, the sprawling jungle of concretes, steel beam and glass extended further than even the most developed city back home. It was quite baffling to imagine a single facility to have this much administrative power, but in this case… The Sanctum Tower must be built from the same materials and makings as the Shittim Chest.

He had no other hypothesis as of this moment. He was just running things based on circumstantial evidences, but he had a feeling his hunches were close enough.

"That makes things simple, then." Vash rubbed his chin with two fingers. With a carefree smile plastered on his face, he spelled out his answer. "Arona, can you transfer the management rights to the General Student Council?"

[Eh?! Are you sure about that, sensei!?]

"Now, now. I didn't mean anybody in the General Student Council, there." Vash bobbed his head, glancing away from the smart tablet and to the front entrance. "It has to be the General Student Council."

The girl in blue made an O face at his emphasis. Once again, it seemed the answer surprised her, though it was in a rather unexpected angle.

[H-huh. Doesn't that mean everyone of the student council will have to gather around and play by votes? Hmmm, but I think I get why sensei wants things to be that way, but if every little thing needs a general consensus, then…]

"Is it no good?"

[Not at all!] A sparkling light suddenly shone bright in Arona's exposed eye. He didn't know why she chose to cover her other half of her face, but well, things moved at such a rapid pace that he probably could pry on that later. [Well, can I suggest some revisions to the decision, then? This needs to be properly recorded in the Sanctum Tower database, sensei.]

"Sure, go ahead." Already having her own initiative, nice response! Vash couldn't help but stretch his grin, expecting only great things from Arona. "I'm still a novice, here. Having an advisor at my beck is a godsend."

[Okay! How about this…]

And then she explained at length about her decision. It would be unfeasible for the Sanctum Tower's system to run well at all if it required the complete gathering of the GSC board members every single time a revision must be made. Therefore, leaving the many redundant tasks that micromanaged the city's innards and organs be, only major change to public infrastructure could be done through vote for confidence.

On papers, this meant that the Sanctum Tower was managed by GSC. In depth, the tower itself required a united will to significantly change or shift its function. A single person would never be able to intrude into the system and assert direct control like this.

[It's rough and I can't say with confidence that things will be alright,] Arona swayed to the left and right, an arm held behind her back. [But even though it's only just activated, Schale will get to be included in any future meeting if the agenda has to do with significant revision to the Sanctum Tower's vector. Joint ventures between departments will also likely be a more frequent thing in the near future.]

Hm. That's good enough for us. "The tower is critical to the city. I know that Rin is reliable, but there are only so much a person can handle."

[Ah! So you're trying to lessen her burdens by splitting the management right to all board members?] At his nod, Arona looked positively glowing for some reasons. That was certainly the face of someone who had known a person since way back. [Thank you, sensei! I'm sure she will be happy… ah, but it might take a while before everyone could adapt to this new policy…]

"That's where Schale comes in, right?"

The girl in blue smiled wide like a flower blossoming in profusion. [Alright, then! This mighty Arona will be transferring the management rights of Sanctum Tower to the General Student Council!]

After a short jingle from the smart tablet, he saw a progress bar box floating in the middle of the screen. A deformed shape of Arona wearing a yellow safety helmet popped up above the bar, swinging a wrench at two gray boxes lined with colorful buttons and slots to their front-facing sides. Once the progress reached 100%…

[...there we go! Transfer of authority complete! The Sanctum Tower will be activating in moments, now!]

That's a big relief—hm?

There was another shift in the air. It was far subtler, but it also felt like a bottomless spring that continued to overflow and grew deeper than it was moments before. A well of great power like no other, a surge of invisible force washed through him. It didn't allow him to brace for impact, but as it turned out, this unique force flowed through him and spread far and wide.

Somehow, he felt like he could breath easier, now. How was that possible? Was this the power of Sanctum Tower?

It's incredibly vast, deep and dense, pure and refined, broken down to tiny grains no greater than a single atom. This unimaginable force blanketed the office, filled the air, and covered absolutely everything in existence. The Schale office was far out there, in the outskirts, but he could still feel the thrums in the air. It took his everything to even sense the radiating "influence" of the Sanctum Tower, and still he couldn't grasp the full extent of its depth. Unbelievable… this is way beyond even the Ark when it was still under Knives' command.

And yet, it was neither volatile nor harmful. It simply touched everything and flowed around freely, like a whimsical wind sprite.

"…this city sure is something else."

[Heh he…! Glad to know that!] Arona cheered from beyond the screen of Shittim Chest, rubbing the bridge of her nose with an aura of smugness overflowing from every pore of her petite being. [The Sanctum Tower is a masterpiece like no other! It's the pride of the GSC, and also the heart and brain of Kivotos! Amazing, isn't it!?]

"Well, yeah… it's mighty terrific, alright." Vash tilted his head. "So why are you looking like it's your prided work?"

[Mergh!? B-but, but I activated it…!] Arona's shocked expression could only be summed up as those strings of emoticons seldom found in corrupted files.

"Yeah, but… isn't that like having the startup key to a car?"

At that, Arona stood petrified. Turned into stone. Wide-eyed like saucer, she hung her jaw and swaying back and fro. Colors even ran away from her whole being with every second's passing. In the meanwhile, however, Vash sensed a presence making herself known from a certain direction. The front entrance… right.

The man quickly looked around the screen. He took out the keyboard UI and typed a note that ended up forming on the blackboard behind Arona. It had a yellow color to it, with the note utilizing a dark red font color. The digital girl looked over the memo and gave him a nod of agreement. With a polite bow, the screen then transitioned into a nondescript default wallpaper; the Schale symbol floated in the center.

Now, then… here goes the last stretch, just a bit more. "Welcome back, Rinny. How are things going outside?"

"Please don't refer to me with such a childish nickname, geez… Just how and where did you come up with that?" The tall and black-haired girl pushed up her glasses. "I've received news of the Sanctum Tower's restart. It was a surprise to see that management rights have been transferred to our hands, but at a glance, it does look to be well-thought out. Thank you, sensei."

Vash waved with his left hand. It made a crick for a moment there, which made him pause for a fraction of an instance. It didn't… look like he was in need for a thorough maintenance work on his prosthetic. Still a food for thought, though. Once things started to settle down, maybe.

"Just doing my job. Need a helping hand?"

"I think you've done more than enough…" Though she was exasperated, there was no denying the faint smile flitting about on her face. "There will be back-breaking work waiting ahead of us, but at least I and my peers are no longer blocked from accessing the tower. I believe that you can leave the rest to us, sensei."

Still as serious with zero chink on her armor, huh… "Rin, it's fine to rely on others a bit more, you know?"

Rin looked like she had eaten a sour lemon. She frowned hard, twisted her lips in total displeasure, and she even threw a half-lidded glare at him. In the face of his fearless and boundless smile, however, she was the first to back out.

"Mrgh… I would like to point out so many issues with that suggestion, but fine."

Yay, looks like my touch is still working! The imaginary Vash did a fist bump in the back of his mind, while the real Vash rubbed the back of his head. As he hopped off from the reception desk, he walked up to Rin, standing across of her. Heh he, she's definitely still a kid, you can easily tell what thought flits around behind those bright eyes of her.

"That's all I could ask for." Vash grinned a lopsided one. He lifted hand to headpat her, but the girl seemed to have foreseen that. She took half a step back and moved to the left and right, dodging his every attempt. After several minutes of perfect offense and perfect dodges, Vash grumbled good-naturedly. "Well, aren't you a shy one?"

"Please," Rin drew a sharp breath in after the nth time of dodging she had done in the face of his onslaught. "You may have our eternal gratitude, but I'd like you to refrain on work harassment. I will call the Valkyrie on you if you keep on doing that, sensei."

"How is headpatting counted as work harassment?!"

Even back home, a headpat was just that, a headpat! Since when common sense turned on its head like this!?

It was late afternoon. With Rin's departure, citing a firm intention to accomplish much work before the day was over, there were only a few things left to do for the day.

Vash had given his workplace a round of sightseeing. Fortunately, the basement floor seemed to have been the only place where the unexpected had happened, but it also did make him ponder how did Wakamo manage to enter the basement in the first place. Upon further consideration, it was likely of no use to recognize anything other than the fact she had managed sneak past the security there. That girl had quite an aura to her it made him suspect that she could probably bomb her way through anything. On to his current task…!

"So the first floor is the residential quarter, but…" Vash glanced away from the floor layout blueprint in his hand to the shuttered cubicles lining up the corridor. All but one of them were out of business. "I guess today's disturbance forced that last one to temporarily close down."

Angel 24 was a rather peculiar name, too. He had no idea if there were any other humanoid races living in this city, but the students were clearly built different from the grounds-up. They had rings of light above their heads, wings, pointed elf-like ears, and that masked girl earlier definitely had animal ears which came in part and parcel with a fluffy-looking tail. Vash had read enough comic books and watched enough films from ages past, but never could he have anticipated the day where he'd actually interact with textbook fantasy entities.

Well, that necessitated me getting thrown to a whole different world, but anywho…

"Sup, girls." He waved at the four escorts who had brought him here. It looked like they were waiting for him, or maybe they were just about to leave. It was good to see that all of them weren't standing around like some folks back home and instead choosing their own spots to rest on their laurels. "What are you all doing out here when the sun is still up high? If you want to take a break, you're all welcome to enter the office, you know?"

He wasn't trying to be cheeky, but the reaction went as follow:

"He already acts like he owns the place."

"Maybe his adaptability is just that high? He certainly is bold to the point of fearless."

"It's possible that this is him in his natural habitat."

"But that makes him more frivolous than I thought…"

Wow, public slander much? Vash sure felt loved. His smile stiffened, and he also had a feeling he just lost his winds. Scratching his head didn't bring up much solution, so screw that white noise. I heard the more wicked children are, the more childishly endearing they become, but…

"Oh, come on. I'm just going with the flow," the man said. He placed a hand on his waist and craned his head, mulling over his next words all the while. "I can't work for free, but I also can't let problems be. There's a lot of things I don't understand here, but life goes on even if I stand idly. So I decided to take my time getting acquainted with the city first. Can't let little ole me miss all the happenings, right?"

Upon saying that, the four girls exchanged looks with each other. It was as if something just clicked between them all.

"He's saying all that profound stuff, but isn't he just making excuses to laze about and walk around without a clear aim in mind?"

"Well, at least he's eloquent. Some of our students could learn a few things in speaking out their minds from the teacher."

"When there's nothing to do, exercising the body does help drown useless thoughts out."

"I can't say that's a decent outlook in life, but I am no longer part of the medical club…"

Argh, for god's sake! "If you're here just to gossip around, get back to your own school and study up! This isn't the daycare, shoo…!"

"Hai, hai. We're going to do just that." Surprisingly, Hayase Yuuka did not take offence to his outburst. She pulled her lips into a grin, smug oozing from her blue eyes. Only now did he notice the tiny red slits in the center of her pupils. "Sensei, I still have a few complaints about your previous conducts, but thanks to your effort, our school has received the aid we needed. I'm sure today's event will be on the headlines tomorrow."

"We'll have to say goodbye for now," Hanekawa Hasumi added. A small bow of the head, a playful smile, and a warm gaze followed after. "But I hope you can visit us at Trinity General School soon. We are known for our hospitality."

"I will be reporting what happened here to our Head Prefect." Hinomiya Chinatsu paused, seemingly wondering as if she could say this. Her next words, however, pointed to a sign of resigned acceptance. It didn't stop her from displaying a tone full of gratitude in her every word, though. "You are welcome to stop by should your work ever takes you to Gehenna Academy, Vash-sensei."

Morizuki Suzumi, the last of them all, simply nodded and waved back. The four girls marched to their own beats only to scatter away together it made Vash speechless. Did they rehearse that? The timing just seemed a bit too clean. Nevertheless, when silence reigned, all he could do was to let out a sigh and form a wry smile.

"Kivotos, huh…" He had left the Shittim Chest in his office. Arona had strongly advised to charge the smart tablet as it had been a long time since its last activation, so he did just that. Now he looked up to the sky, gazing past the skyline and towards the grand blue tower of light extending out, seemingly connecting the heaven and earth. "Man, that sure is a marvelous sight to behold. I'm definitely a long way from home."

And I don't even know, or have the power to get myself back home… Not that he couldn't adapt to this drastic change of environment. If nothing else, he was flexible and as open-minded as the sky. I can do this, yeah.

Vash turned around, heading back to his office. His red coat billowed, the tail ends fluttering in the breeze that blew by. From now on, this place would have to do as his base. It was a strange thing, having a place to settle down and actually relax with no real time limits to it.

I've been living on the run for far too long, huh?

Travels had defined him. Encounters had forged him. Sometimes, a few words and meals were all that he needed to make friends. Sometimes, bullets were all that he could exchange, much to his eternal regrets. However, he had kept on moving. All for the sake of fulfilling his self-assigned duty, responsibility, and a fleeting promise.

That was all in the past, now. All he could do was to look forward and see through everything, just like he always did. Just like what Rem once told him.

"The ticket is still blank, after all."

Under the unfamiliar blue sky. Across the cityscape that sprawled on and on. In this hectic land of unknown origin, a song could be heard.

The sublime. The supreme divinity of the purest, transcendental quality. Godhood in all, yet closest to human faith. It was known but also unknown; that which could not be grasped without exploring the uncharted waters.

Now then, a question was due. Would the unknown remain the same once explored?

The mystical mysteries enticed. The scholars here gathered together in the effort to pursue that which could not be deciphered. How many times had they met each other, traded ideas and research methods, and discussed on valuable concepts? Neither the artisan advocating simulacra, nor the searcher of the infinite sign care about that. As time wore on, their numbers dwindled, bulked, and faded away. The imprints left behind were the most invaluable commodity, but that was all there was to it when pitted with the genuine article of miraculous occurrence.

"Though diminished to nearly non-existent, he walks on." A wooden puppet creaked, its two heads groaning with every move. "That which is forever unreachable, and that which is completely irreversible. Indeed, tales born from the legend hardly seem to be enough to display the true breadth of his brilliance."

"Would the day come where his sign produce a world of its own? His closest kin tried to paint it all with his deep deluge of jet-black color, yet he fell short on that pursuit." A headless figure dressed in a long coat cradled an unusual portrait in his arm as his cane tapped against the floor. The voice, calm and seemingly in thoughts, came from the portrait of a man with a hat showing nothing but the back of his head. "And yet, a dying candle is still a sign of struggle. Against the inevitable, the "sublime" resists with nothing but his spirit. A sign of determination."

"THAT'S RIGHT!"

Dark red hue filled the inorganic room. On this conference table, madness was the first to vacate its premise. After all, enlightenment required a mind to command, a body to move, a soul to lay bare, and a will to exact conviction. This organization had changed over the course of its time, but perhaps, a consensus could still be made.

"Sadly, one of us remains absent." The man in a black suit chuckled. "Well, even I am not so impolite to bother a lady in her final phase of preparation."

"A delicate moment, indeed. That woman is aggressive and rough, but her chosen approach allowed her quick manifestation in the city." The master of the craft's wooden body groaned. One of its heads then turned, a wide eye on a blank face devoid of any other facial feature. "And needless to say, I am… anticipating the spiral of actions taken by her lost lambs."

"Fashioning after the shepherd, the lady in red strongly believes in a story of salvation, where her shine showers all that exist. A story of guidance, is it?" The man without a head, in the meanwhile, hummed. The dark ash-like smoke wafted from the impenetrable area his neck was meant to be. "With her progress, there will only be little to a month before the city undergoes a major upheaval."

"INDEED, THAT IS!"

"Be that as it may, we must remain open-minded." The man in a black suit placed a thumb under his chin. Cracks and swirling line glowing with ghostly blue light ran through his structure, spinning and ending on the right side of his face. "After all, a change has arrived… nay, welcomed by the city."

"THE CRIMSON DEVIL!"

The devil. The legend. He who had wiped a hundred thousand lives in the course of one night. The journeying gunman from a land as distant as it was far into the hallowed abyss of the starry space. It gave the man in a black suit no insignificant pleasure for setting a foothold in that planet. A mere outpost, simple enough with the favors he had acquired from his business with Kaiser. While none of the countless other sublimes there had the capacity to attain such incredible heights of mystics as seen in the last guardian deity of Abydos, but him, the Humanoid Typhoon?

Yes. That power. That so-called "seed" inhabiting his right arm. The absolute power of the "sublime" resided within him, dried up and exhausted as it was.

"Khu khu… and thus, his definition has changed once more. From a gunman to a teacher, a murderer to one who provides guidance. He who walks ahead of others…"

"Shape and form may change, yet the essence remains. Certainly, the root emotion of his being will never stray, the absolute proof of his mystic." The wooden puppet creaked, saw dust and tiny splinters falling from the cracks running through its faces. "As an artist, I could find no greater model for inspiration, yes."

"Aaahhh, such bliss. Yet again, a story shall be written. A new meaning granted to a sign, a vessel of change to the library's database." The man in a coat thrust his cane at the floor, declaring a new phase to this gathering of truth-seekers. "And yet, the world is one, all, and none at all. As everything exists, so does signs and interpretations. Shall we begin our observation, then?"

The light dimmed. The shadows lengthened. One by one, these curious figures existing outside of common sense vanished, with only the man in a black suit remaining. That which called himself a scholar, that which called himself a dealer of contract, that which had no longer seen values in the humble origin he once was. The member of Gematria readjusted his black necktie, the murky lines on his featureless face curving as if spilling forth an eerie smile.

"Now, let us raise the curtains, sensei." Darkness prevailed. The man vanished into the darkness, and red light once again ushered in. "Will this story of yours end in a tragedy, a comedy, or merely reduced into another footprint to your legend?"

The voice vanished. Silence finally dawned. In the empty conference room, only a ring of light serving as the room's center-piece stayed afloat.

A/N: And that's a wrap for prologue! It was a ride like no other, to tell the truth. The most important in writing is to have fun about every scene, so I guess the whole arc had been nothing but fun from start to end. I've never felt this alive for years.