The Outside welcomed them with a cacophony of sounds and lights. The road outside of a small alley was blocked by police cars. As soon as they reached the surface, paramedics rushed to them, putting two rescued women on stretchers. A few of the officers entered the hideout, while one of them walked up to them.

"Chief Marcus Roberts BBPD, thank you for finding out about that operation, Glory Girl, and… sorry, what's your name?"

"I don't have one at the moment," said Taylor.

"You don't? So you are new?" asked Glory Girl.

Well, there was one she got stuck within Zemuria, but she would never allow that stupid moniker to become her so-called cape name. So she decided to simply shake her head.

"Well, either way, thank you both. My man will take it from here." He saluted them and joined his man as they took gangsters out of the basement.

Seeing that everything was under control, Taylor and Glory Girls walked out of the alley. They saw Panacea standing near ambulances placed just behind police cars. Glory Girls waved toward her sister, and both of them joined Panacea and paramedics.

"So, how are they?" asked Alexandra package.

"All things considered, they are fine. Nothing that hot shower, big dinner, and a full night of sleep won't fix." Answered her sister. Taylor looked at the paramedics and asked.

"Can I ask them a few questions?" pointing at a freshly rescued woman.

"You saved us. Ask what you want. We owe you a big debt," said one of the women before the paramedic could respond. Taylor then pulled out a picture of Akiko.

"Have you seen this woman before? She was probably kidnapped like you."

"Yeah, It's Akiko. She was there already when they brought me in. We talked for a bit before they took her away. It was like two days ago." said one of the women.

"Do you know where they took her?"

Sorry, they never told us where we would be going." she answered.

"Actually, I may know something." Said the second woman. "You were asleep at that time, Amily, so you may not know; they talked about moving us south to the farm." She said,

Taylor thanked both of them and returned to turn toward new Waves capes.

"Do you have any idea where this farm may be located?"

"Well, ABB controls territory south of downtown in the warehouse district near the coast. But that area is bigger than downtown. It would take months to search it all. Damnit, maybe if I asked those gangsters a few additional questions," her hands closed into fists. And a strange feeling passed through Taylor.

"Viki, stop your aura. Control yourself," said Panacea.

"Right, sorry." The pressure Taylor felt disappeared. "I will try to change my patrol route to include warehouses down south. Maybe I will be able to learn something. What's your phone number? We will be able to coordinate that way better." Taylor pulled out the phone that Dad gave her, and they exchanged their contact information. Looking at her phone, Glory Girl stopped for a moment, thinking.

"Right, no name. I will save you as a sword girl, but you should really think about one and better do it fast, or you may get stuck with something really bad." She half-joked.

"I will think about it. Well, Panacea, Glory Girl, it was nice to meet you and work together." Taylor shook Panacea's hand as a goodbye, but as soon as her hands connected, the healer froze again, like during their meeting yesterday.

"Amy, are you ok?" Her sister was clearly concerned. After a few seconds of awkward waiting, Panacea seemed to wake up from her freeze. "Yeah, I am fine; sorry, let's go back home."

After that, both capes left and Taylor decided to return home.

Sitting in her room. She was looking at her new phone. Her father wasn't happy when she returned home and told him what happened. She may have understood his point of view, and she knew that her experience during last year was not really typical, even for the insanity that was everyday cape shenanigans on Earth Bet. Still, those gangsters were nothing spectacular; even the newest and weakest Jaegers were stronger than them. She was sure that even Oroboros buffon Gilbert would mop the floor with them. She was never at any risk during the whole encounter.

Still, she had work to do, so she spent the last hour looking through forums and information online about ABB sightings in the warehouse district. She pulled some old city map she had stashed in her room and put markings on it, signifying gang activity. But it was nothing. What she got was one big mess of different symbols and colors. There was simply too much of it. They were everywhere; it was impossible to pick up any pattern. Defeated, she decided to get some rest. In that situation, she would generally depend on her friends to do something crazy to lift each other's spirits. And to think that at the beginning she wanted to have nothing to do with them. She remembered, like Ash once said, that class seven was like fungus; it grew on you. It made her chuckle. She missed them.

She picked a piece of paper that Lisa gave her and called her.

"Hi Lisa, it's Taylor from the mall. Are you still available to meet tomorrow?"

Zemuria, April 1206.

Taylor was sitting on the rooftop of the campus building with a book in hand. You could say that some habits die hard. Her arrival at her new school was long. She said goodbye to Master Ka-fai and left with the next caravan to the city of Tharbad in the Calvard Republic. From there, what awaited her was a long train journey that crossed the entire country.

First, to reach the capital, Edith, then to the border City Altair. It was in Altair where she met her Master's friend Baron Teo Schwarzer. Who had presented her with documents that would allow her to pass through the border and cemented her enrollment in the Academy. With those in hand, she continued her travels. She passed the Republican-Imperial border into the newly annexed Crossbell province and then went much farther west, crossing half of the Empire until she reached her destination.

The small Town of Leeves, located in the western part of the Heimdallr suburbs, was a nice, quiet place. Pretty much, the only real genuinely investing thing was the academy itself, which just opened this year. On the other hand, it was a pretty wealthy place, primarily due to the proximity of the capital and the existence of the only train track connecting the western part of the country with said capital passing through the town.

And then there were her new classmates. She was placed in class VII alongside Juna Crawford, Altina Orion, and Kurt Vander. Class of four people was something she never imagined to be in. No one in the public school system would allow such a small class to exist. Juna was a pink-haired girl from Crossbell, a newly annexed part of the Empire.

What she understood was that Crossbell's failed bid for independence resulted in occupation and annexation. The girl had an understandable distaste for Erebonia, so Taylor tried to stay away from her as much as possible. Altina was a somewhat reserved little girl with silver-white hair.

At first, Taylor was surprised that the girl was even younger than her. She was certain that she would be the youngest, being fifteen in a school where people started at seventeen. The second surprise came in the form of a robot that the girl could control. In the end, Altina was easily ignored, as she herself didn't seek contact with the rest of them.

And then there was Kurt Vander, a person who was genuinely getting on her nerves. It started pretty much from the beginning. On the second day, she would walk from her dormitory room to the ground floor, where a training room was located, to train alone, as she preferred. But NO, he was already there training himself, so she was forced to wait. The next day, deciding to be first, she would wake up half an hour earlier. And this time, she would be first. Happy about that, she would wake up again at the same hour, expecting to be first, only to meet Vander, who was already training inside.

From that day, they had this rivalry over who woke up first to take a training room for themselves. He even had the guts to "thank her" for teaching him the merits of the discipline of waking earlier for training. She knew he was mocking her; there was no other way.

That there she was on the roof, avoiding her classmates, plus her being a member of the literature club, gave her the perfect excuse to simply read in peace. She couldn't do that in the club room because of Ash.

She knew from the beginning that he was a bully. He looked and acted like one from day one. So she avoided him. Unfortunately, he also decided to join a literature club. On the other hand, her roommate was weird. Musse Egret was her name, and she was pretty friendly. Too friendly, if you asked Taylor. She saw friendliness like that, usually from different girls in Winslow, only to betray her as fast as she would lower her guard. No, Taylor was sure that she was planning something.

"Ah, Taylor, there you are." and her peace was gone. In front of her stood her homeroom teacher, Rean Schwarzer. She didn't know what to think of him. Firstly, he was her teacher, which automatically made him seem untrustworthy in her eyes. On the other hand, he was a fellow disciple, a person that Master Ka-fai trusted. He saved them during their orienteering exercise from that tentacle monster. But she was sure that was because it would look bad on him if any student was injured or worse under his watch.

"How may I help you, instructor?" She asked not to be rude to the teacher. Otherwise, they will make your life more difficult.

"Well… nothing in particular. But I always see you alone. Like you are avoiding everyone. Is there something that is bothering you?" He said, sitting next to her.

"It is not like that, I simply…" she stopped, she really didn't have an excuse prepared.

"I see… but what I have seen is that you really enjoy training, so what do you say we train together? I think it would help us both. What do you say?" Taylor wasn't sure how to answer him. On the one hand, she would prefer being alone; on the other, she really liked training, and he was practicing the same style as her for much longer than her. Taylor looked at Instructor Rean and then at her book. Closing the latter, she said. "Ok, let's go."

Here, they were in a training room in the campus basement. In the middle of a duel. And it was more challenging than she ever imagined. The instructor was faster and far more skilled than her. Her legs and arms were burning, and she was taking deep breaths. And though she was losing, Taylor found out she had fun. Physical activity was burning her anxiety. Here, sword in hand, she was free.

"Good job. You are getting better by the day. Then, as a fellow practitioner, let me teach you something. This is a technique of the fourth form. It is called Autumn Leaf Cutter. It has helped me a few times in the past and is a gateway to more advanced moves, " he said, smiling.

It took her an hour to properly use it. The most challenging part was gathering energy before she struck. It would either fail entirely, or her strike would not reach a target. But now that she has managed to do it, different thoughts have crossed her mind.

"Instructor, you really shouldn't do that. You are not Divine Blade yet, and you cannot take apprentices." She wanted to frown at him, but this whole thing filled her with so much joy that she could only smile.

He smiled at her. "But I am also your instructor; therefore, it is my duty to help you grow. If Master Ka-fai decides to punish me for that, I will gladly accept that punishment." She was startled as she could feel his hand resting on her head, patting her hair. "Instructor Rean!" She half shouted.

"Sorry, but are you feeling better?" He asked.

She watched her instructor, and he was not what she expected. No teacher she had ever met would risk punishment to help a student, yet he just did that. Maybe she was wrong about him. Perhaps he genuinely cared about them in Einhel Keep. And if she was wrong about him, who else was she wrong about?

"Yeah, I think I am."

Earth Bet - current day

Taylor left her house just after finishing her morning routine. The atmosphere between her and her father was still tense after the previous night's events. So she decided to leave early. This time, she turned south and headed toward downtown, where she would meet with Lisa. She looked at her phone, it showed 8 am. She still had four hours, more than enough time to simply walk there.

Soon, the scenery started to change. Commonly, rundown parts of the city were replaced by much bigger and well-kept buildings. A few skyscrapers dotting a landscape were looking bigger and grander closer she moved towards them. A large screen was seen through an electronic shop window. It was turned on, showing a news station.

The news bar said, "Slaughterhouse 9 witnessed in Nevada." the screen showed a deserted town, probably the last victim of those monsters. She wished that someone would do something about them, but nobody did anything through the years, and she was not delusional thinking that she could. Even with her skills, she wouldn't have a chance.

Finally, she arrived at the cafe Lisa had proposed as a meeting place. Seeing that she was still a bit early, she bought herself a cup of coffee and pulled out a map that she created yesterday. As she had nothing better to do than try to untie this Gordian knot, she found herself with.

"Hi, what did you get there?" asked Lisa. Taylor was so preoccupied that she didn't realize it when the girl entered the cafe.

"Oh, this… is just a project I have. I need to find a pattern of data to find a location where certain goods are kept. However, I cannot differentiate between relevant data and junk data. Sorry about not noticing you, " Taylor said, folding a map to put it back in her pocket.

"Oh, come on, don't put it away. I like that kind of puzzle. Show me what you got there. Maybe I can help," Lisa said while moving a chair to sit beside her. It wasn't like a map was some kind of classified information, so Taylor decided to humor Lisa.

"Hmm, interesting. Well, if I had to guess… do you have a pen?" she asked. Taylor handed her one. "Okay, so those three locations are a good bet." She marked them on the map.

"Are you sure? How did you do it? All I see is one big mess with no connections to each other." Lisa only grinned.

"Pretty sure. As I said, I am good at those kinds of games. How, though it's a trade secret." Lisa winked at her playfully.

After that, they spent the rest of the day together, walking around downtown and Broadwalk, talking, and having fun. Taylor was glad she had found a new friend so quickly. It really helped her relax after those few last days. After saying goodbye to Lisa, Taylor returned home by bus uneventfully.

Tattletale returned to their hideout. It was a nice day, even though she felt guilty about it. Not waiting for a greeting from her teammates, she walked straight to her room and closed the door. The moment her door was closed, he called her.

"Tattletale report," said Coil.

"Well, I met her as you ordered. There is nothing new about her. She is a cape, but that I told you that last time. She is also well-trained, probably in swordsmanship. What her powers are, I don't know; she didn't use them when we were together. Personality-wise, she is strong-willed; whatever happened to her in this other world has made her strong. She is also heroically allied, so recruitment is rather impossible." she said.

Without any word, Coil hung up. "Well, fuck you too, asshole."

Sighing, she sat down on a chair. She hated her situation. And then there was this map. The moment she looked at it, she knew what it was. Taylor was searching for an infamous Farm. Everyone speculated that the name was literal and that it was placed somewhere outside Brockton Bay in the boonies. But it looked like it was here, in the coastal warehouse district. She winced, grabbing her left arm. The phantom pain will go away soon. She simply had to endure.

"Fucking ABB, Fucking Coil," she hated them.