"So, this is it?"

The Noires stepped into the lab room, following the steps of Elfnein into their new base of operations, from what Genjuro had explained to them. The room itself was spacious, most of the space being completely empty aside from the large terminal centered in the middle. From what Leia could guess, the room was initially used for briefings, but seeing as how everyone gathered in the main control room the previous day, it was no wonder why the terminal looked like it had a slight layer of dust on it. It looked quite normal for a high-tech futuristic government control room, all aside from the bundles of machinery that were piled on one of the tables on the right side.

"Yes, we tried to make it as accommodating as possible," Elfnein said, giving them free reign to walk around and check the place out.

Leia did what she did best, which was analyze everything she could about their new workstation. It was smaller than the lab at home, but it was to be expected. The lab she was accustomed to was much larger, an entire basement worth of space that she could practically live in. It was more akin to an entire apartment, but for what it was worth, their mother felt like all that room was warranted. It held a multitude of experiments and notes, not to mention having the room to get up and stretch, meaning that she didn't need to be in a chair the entire time, unlike her daughter that grew up to do the opposite.

Despite this, Leia would have never guessed such a large room was within a submarine like that in the first place. On top of that, with what she had access to, it was clear that she didn't have a problem with this new accommodation. Laya, on the other hand, was busy gawking at something else, though it was still in line with the amount of space they were going to share. She was always couped up in her bedroom or going outside anyways, but the amount of space they had was still marvelous.

"Woah..."

Beside the machines that Elfnein was busy setting back up, there were piles of messy notes and a trash can that looked like it was ready to burst, even if it was mostly paper. It reminded her of a certain someone that stood beside her, someone who had the exact same habits that this small girl had apparently displayed. "It's kind of messy..."

Hearing Laya chuckle at this sight, Elfnein turned around and bowed apologetically. She realized that as a first impression, it did look a bit bad. "Sorry about that! We worked on moving everything in here as quickly as possible, so a lot of it isn't organized," she explained, moving as fast as she could to organize things and make it look presentable. While Leia was originally watching the girl hurriedly put things in order, she would soon walk up to the table, assisting with picking up papers to provide more surface area. She made sure to keep them nice and orderly, though she understood the chaos.

Laya commented yet again, attributing the scene to something she's seen much too often. "It's kind of like the lab at home..."

This comment caused Leia to raise her eyebrows, turning back to Laya with narrowed eyes. "What's that supposed to mean," she probed, her question shot at the brunette on the other side of the room. Laya simply whistled as she avoided the girl's look, acting completely innocent after the remark.

After a bit of organization, courtesy of the alchemists, the shelves and table looked a bit more presentable, even if the devices were all pressed against the wall in no particular order. Elfnein would rearrange it later, but for right now, the point was to make the room not look like a pigsty.

"Anyways, this is where you guys will probably be for the most part of your time here."

Elfnein finally gave a proper introduction to this room, waving her arms out to display the entirety of their expanse. The other walls, like the one Laya and Elfnein stood by, all had their own shelves and bolted chairs, though there was still more than enough room to have multiple groups of people inside at once. Just like Laya said, it was just like the lab at their home, just a tad bit smaller.

"Well, it's big enough, but..."

Laya had a look in her eyes as she took in her surroundings, one problem running through her mind immediately. As much as she liked that they had their own operations room, it looked... bland, in her mind.

While it was fine for Leia, the older sister knew she'd be restless if she sat in there for a long time with nothing to do. She could probably pull up things from the terminal and get on her phone, but the jumble of alchemy-related terms would only serve to make her perplexed enough to stand out. She'd feel like the third wheel, something Elfnein could recognize immediately.

"Don't worry, you don't have to stay here for ten hours a day if you don't want to."

Elfnein reassured the girl, but with the way she said it, Laya's mouth fell open in shock. "Ten hours!?" It made sense for Leia to be in there for that long, but she didn't think Elfnein would have known that, let alone do it herself. However, Leia was the one to bring her sister back down to Earth.

"That was just a number, don't take it seriously," she scoffed, though it wasn't an impossibility considering her track record. If Elfnein wasn't going to be a workaholic, Leia would gladly take up that role, seeing as how the past two weeks had her falling back on ways to activate Galatine. With the new tools at her disposal, there was the chance S.O.N.G. did have something to activate the cracked sword.

Her eyes fell upon a Gear converter that was being held up by a small mechanical arm, the device angling the converter in a way as if it were being inspected. The girl did say that she was performing maintenance on the Gears, so that must have been what she was working on. When Elfnein saw this curiosity, she tapped the rim of the machine. "If you want, I can show you how it works."

While Leia and Elfnein seemed to be getting along, Laya's attitude still remained on the lack of things to do in the room. She was ready to get on her phone to play some mobile game, but even if she did, she was sure to be bored of that quickly. Social media wasn't an option either, since nothing changed over the past hour since she looked at it last.

"Hmmm..."

That audible groan caught the attention of the two alchemists, only Leia knowing what this noise meant. Shooting a knowing look to Elfnein, the smaller girl caught what she was putting down immediately, as if she had read her mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I won't keep you here for any longer than you have to be!"

The offer was directed at Laya, who immediately perked up at the proposal, but there was one aspect that she had in her mind before she took up this offer.

"Well, what about...?"

She pointed at her double, whose expression turned from her resting exasperated look to a face of annoyance. She knew how well her sister played along with others, so Laya wanted to make sure that Leia wouldn't be a bother to the blonde. However, Leia rolled her eyes at this, even if she understood her sibling's concern.

"I'll be fine. Just make sure you..."

She stopped as she tried to console her sister's worries, making sure her wording wasn't as authoritative as before. "...come back... here in a few hours. I'll be ready to leave then."

That brief pause was slightly jarring, but Laya wouldn't let this chance slip by. With a salute, she stood at attention before turning on her heel and waving. "I'll see you later, Sis! Bye, Nine-chan!"

Leia rolled her eyes again, only this time, at the nonsensical nickname Laya gave to Elfnein. It wasn't a problem that it was a nickname, but more so that she gave a nickname to someone that was of such a high importance in the world of alchemy. Once the door closed, Leia sighed, turning back to the multiple pieces of equipment that she was itching to test out. That is, before a black haze seeped through the arm of her hoodie.

"It took all your power not to issue that as an order, didn't it?"

Leia snapped as Nidhogg's snide remark filled the room, the form of the dragon manifesting onto the table as Elfnein's excitement rose. Once Nidhogg's form was complete, he could see the differences between the two that watched him: one looked irritated and vexed with the dragon's constant words, but the other was brimming with excitement, an animated expression that the girl couldn't help but wear after the prior day.

"Quiet."

Despite Leia's snarl at the Relic, Elfnein had an opposite reaction, patting its head with a smile on her face. "It's you! Hello again, Nidhogg!" Even though the dragon had manifested from Leia's side, it still reacted the same to any scratches and petting it received. That incorporeal form was tangible at times, but it was only in situations like this, which annoyed its partner.

"Greetings, murderer of miracles," the dragon cooed, pushing its head up against Elfnein's hand. It was at this point that Elfnein noticed something, that analytical brain of hers now noting that the dragon's horn was on the left side of its head.

"Huh, is it just me or did your horn switch sides?"

When she questioned and tested on Nidhogg before, its horn was on its right side, but here, it was the opposite. It could have just been her imagination, but seeing as how she had an adequate amount of rest due to her exhaustion after the fighting with Leia, she questioned if it really was just her mind playing tricks on her. The dragon nodded, affirming the answer to her question. "It's an aftereffect. I am still the same being," it informed, the alchemist girl now putting a hand to her chin as she made sure to keep a mental note of this change.

"Your talking patterns are also a bit weird, that's interesting..."

"It seems like you're having fun over there."

The voice of Leia drew Elfnein's attention, an unamused expression sprawled across Leia's face as her hand rested on her hip. While she understood how Elfnein's mind as an alchemist worked, it didn't stop her from reminding the blonde that the Relic was not a pet. She tried to make sure this was ingrained into the mind of her sister when they first got the Relic, but she knew how that was going to go, so she gave up before they started this whole fiasco. However, something found within the Yggdrasil System, no matter what form it took, would always peak the mind of those who were curious about the unknown.

"Oh! Well, it's still a first, being able to touch a living Relic, so I hope you don't mind..."

Elfnein apologized and almost bowed again, but Leia waved it off, swiveling a seat in front of her to sit in. "It's fine, as long as you don't coddle it the same way Laya does," she said, turning back to face all the equipment out for her to look at.

A lot of it included things she had at home, but there were a couple of things that were completely out of her expertise, like the headset that laid on her right that could view and install memories and the holster of the Gear converter. It made sense that the government-funded project for the Symphogear System that had Ryoko Sakurai as the head of development would have such advanced tools, even if Leia had her own adequate number of tools provided from an outside source.

Leia's comment brought a situation to Elfnein's mind, the same one that Leia described. Unlike Laya, who intentionally doted on the dragon any chance she got, Elfnein did it without thinking twice, an embarrassing sight to catch her in. However, from the way Leia sounded, it seemed like Laya's pampering was much more overindulgent and much more displayed. "She... does what," Elfnein queried, lifting her hand from Nidhogg's head.

Leia didn't provide any further explanation, though it wasn't like it was needed. She knew that Elfnein would see it happen eventually, so there was no point in giving her direct examples. She simply traced a finger over the Spellcaster on her wrist, responding in the same flat tone, "You'll see."

Elfnein decided not to press it further, figuring out the exact same thing that Leia was thinking. The three would be working together for a good bit, so it'd probably be better to see it happening firsthand and know where her limits were. That is, if she was even going to intentionally pamper the Relic.

Nidhogg was indifferent, not having a preference over her actions or not, though it still was nice while it lasted. It didn't have any thoughts about Leia's decisions on the matter, since it wasn't like it was clamoring to be the center of attention.

After a bit of silence, Leia called out to Elfnein, who sat down to take a Relic scanner to Nidhogg. She had gotten up to its tail before jumping at the words she spoke, the beeping and flashing light from the scanner being a close representation of how she felt about the name coming from Leia's mouth.

"Carol."

Elfnein turned her head, wondering if she was referring to her as the fabled alchemist that threatened to destroy the world. "Carol...?"

Elfnein's mutter came out a bit louder than anticipated, but Leia was unperturbed by how confused the girl was. She hadn't called Elfnein by her actual name before, but it wasn't like she knew it. While Laya knew it because she was the main one behind the scenes and spoke to every one of the Adapters beforehand, Leia didn't interact with anyone outside of the staff in the main control room since they got inducted into S.O.N.G.'s group.

It was the reason why she thought that specific nickname of "Nine-chan" was nonsensical, since there was nothing that could have given Laya a reason to call Carol that. No portion of her or her life had an aspect of the number nine within it, so it appeared to just come out of nowhere.

Elfnein, on the other hand, was bewildered as to why Leia was referring to her by the name of her creator. While she took the role of Carol in their fight to reason with Leia, she should have been around her long enough to show that she was different than any depiction of Carol in the past. If there was anything that she shared with Carol, it was the desire to experience everything in the world, but outside of that...

Before Elfnein could correct the brunette, Leia continued with her question.

"Is there... a way to retrieve lost memories?"

It wasn't a surprise that Leia was asking this, knowing that she burned memories to fight Hibiki and herself, but there was only unfortunate news that Elfnein could provide her. While the recovery of memories was possible, Elfnein only found it possible through Beatrice, the device created to enter the mind, but even that was a stretch.

That machine was only made to be able to review those memories, only getting an added function as an additional storage after Elfnein remembered how Carol was able to return her memories into a new body. She was able to take this theory and link it to Beatrice, allowing her to fill in the gap for any memories she burned away. There was just one problem with it, being that she needed to have a full upload of her memories first.

Because of this, while it was possible for Elfnein to recur her memories, Leia didn't have that privilege. The unfortunate truth of the matter was that there wasn't a way for Leia to get anything she had lost back, at least, anything that Nidhogg wasn't able to recollect. It was sad to see someone asking this, especially when Elfnein knew that the consequences on someone who hadn't even hit twenty yet would be much different than a person who lived for thousands of years. Elfnein pondered this information before providing an answer, the machine beside Leia popping into her mind. "It's technically possible, but..."

That was all Leia needed to hear. She accepted that she lost those memories without any hope of them returning, but the question, despite implying that she wanted to get those memories back, was only to confirm a different theory. Putting a hand to her chin, Leia leaned back in her seat, a soft creak being a result from a set of chairs that didn't get used all that often. "Good. Then, that means that there should be a way to reverse that process and selectively remove memories without memory combustion."

The implication of reversing the memory loss was already a task, but to hear that she wanted to get rid of more of them... it made Elfnein sick to her stomach.

"That's... Why are you asking?"

This time, Leia would give an explanation, choosing not to leave Elfnein in the dark on her plans. If she was going to work with her, she might as well as not lie to her right off the bat. There also wasn't anything to lose from it, so there were only positives here. She could show that she was a trustworthy individual while also getting what she wanted in the process. "I want to be rid of that knowledge of burning memories," Leia stated, her eyes falling to her Spellcaster yet again, "Knowing my impulse, I'm sure I'll use it again. I want to eliminate that possibility."

Elfnein's eyes flickered over to Nidhogg, then back to Laya, as if she were pushing the dragon to guide Leia out of that mindset. To her dismay, Nidhogg knew about Leia's plan the entire time, even going so far as to call it a good idea. If it wasn't the memories that she'd retain from this, it would be that energy drain that would do her in. The ability was powerful, but she was much better off if she didn't have that power anymore. Leia thought about using Nidhogg, seeing how it could restore those memories she lost, but alas, the dragon was only a way of retaining information, not erasing it.

Elfnein shook her head, berating Leia after seeing that Nidhogg wouldn't do anything to stop her. She watched Carol burn her own memories away, seeing her forget the very reason she fought and everything that made her "Carol". She didn't want anyone to willingly remove their memories anymore, especially not to be a part of it either.

"You do realize what you're asking for, right?"

Of course, Leia knew exactly what she was referring to, so her stance was firm. If she wanted something to be done, she'd make sure it was completed. "If we have two alchemists here, it shouldn't be hard to-"

"That's not what I mean!"

The outburst bounced off the plated walls, Elfnein's voice carrying more than it ever had before. Even if her voice was soft, the only other time she was this outspoken was when she found out she was an unwilling accomplice in Carol's mission to spy on S.O.N.G. and the Adapters. It was this level of emotion that she hoped would appeal to Leia, even if she knew deep down that she had made up her mind. It was that alchemist's "sixth sense" that the Gear users joked about in a brief mention after the events with Shem-ha, seeing how Carol was the linchpin in their plan for victory aside from Hibiki.

"You're asking for something that could go wrong at any given moment!"

Of course there was that chance, but Leia's strength wasn't just in her alchemic prowess.

"In that case, I'll make sure that possibility is below a single percent," Leia responded, though it was easier said than done. She didn't even know how to selectively remove memories, seeing as how the last time she burned them away, they were in one large cluster. However, if there was even a fraction of a chance, she'd turn that into a worthwhile percentage. Her words remained the same as when they clashed, reminding herself that everything, at the end of the day, was a probability check. As long as she could influence it, as long as she could reduce that failure percentage to be infinitesimal...

Elfnein put her hand to her chest, worry in her voice as she realized the conviction in Leia's demeanor. The girl was confident in not only her own abilities, but Elfnein's as well. The two haven't known each other for that long, but for some reason, Leia gave off the impression that she'd put her life in Elfnein's hands. Because of that, Elfnein had clear concerns. "How can you be so sure you... we can do that?"

Both the Noire and Nidhogg looked at each other when she said that, the wording of her question meaning that Leia's plan was all but assured to work. It wasn't the thought of how to reverse it already being laid in her mind like tiles to a set of flooring, nor the resources that made her so sure of this plan. What made her so confident was Elfnein's shift of the word "you" to "we", indicating that even if it was just a passing thought, there was a willingness to help. If it was only for a moment of help, that would be all Leia needed to account for.

"There's... an alchemist I've heard stories of. One that the entire world feared. Some say that her alchemy even rivaled those above."

"You..."

Elfnein's breath caught in her throat, the image of that very alchemist entering her mind. She admired that girl, just like Leia did, but the difference was that Elfnein had a much more important connection to her. Leia had only read about this person, only second-hand accounts from the documents she had access to. That made it make more sense why she saw Elfnein as this girl rather than anyone else.

But that person was no longer with them anymore.

"She's someone I modeled my alchemy after, analyzing her from every record I could find of her," Leia continued, her hand moving to twirl with the left strands of her hair, "With someone of your caliber, it's not impossible. In fact, it's guaranteed to succeed."

Leia's words, while elevating the blonde's confidence, still left a lot up to chance. It wasn't as easy as flipping a reverse switch on Beatrice, they might have needed to make an entirely new device all together. No matter what accomplishments she did have, the expectations Leia had for her were for someone completely different, and that's what made her so reluctant.

"Leia, you're aware of what happens if this goes wrong, correct?"

Elfnein tried one final appeal, but Leia was set in her ways, though this conversation was making her more poised about this decision. "I am. That's why I'm asking you."

The look in her eyes now resembled the look she had when they fought, though the animosity in her eyes from a few days ago wasn't as apparent. Instead of the hatred standing beside that resolution, there existed eyes with a sense of duty behind them. She could be as apprehensive as she wanted about joining forces with the Adapters, but it didn't stop her from needing to activate Galatine, and that meant getting rid of anything that may be a hindrance to her.

"You may not want to get rid of this power, but I do, for the betterment of myself and my sister."

Her desire revealed itself in full, her mind using this as the first step towards making herself a better person. She wouldn't hold onto this power, even if a situation came across where she needed it. All just to make sure that neither of the Noires had to deal with any kind of turmoil, physically or mentally.

Nidhogg's eyes narrowed, already knowing that with the multitude of different undesirable outcomes it could spout at her, her mind would not change. She had that optimism that everything would turn out alright, that thought process being the same thing that she ridiculed Hibiki for just days prior.

However, unlike the reasons that Hibiki felt that way, she didn't put blind faith in her common associate. Instead, this was a calculated risk, with Elfnein being the one who was the least to make the plan falter. It wasn't just blind faith here, it was mitigating as many outliers as possible.

And Nidhogg knew that this was exactly what she was doing.

"Leia, you fully know the consequences, yet you still want to do this..."

Leia leaned onto her arm, the two alchemists keeping eye contact as Leia belted out a final question. "So, please, if you lot really want to help me the way you said you would... won't you assist in getting rid of this curse?"

Second chapter of the side content is still based on the twins' induction into S.O.N.G.! Each of the OCs will have their own dedicated set of chapters after this, so be on the lookout for those character moments! Anyways, I'll see you next week for the next couple of chapters!