-1: 51
Down beneath Missilis HQ, the D.E.E.P. sectors.
Jien flipped through the recent printouts of the reports she was sent regarding Wardress. "...Mission failed, hm?"
She had sent them both to go capture Gluttony, but the pair had gone missing instead.
"Even after all my modifications... how pathetic. Dear 'sister...' You really aren't that special, are you?"
Jien sighed, placing her hand on her cheek. "...Well, you're smart at least. Sending Matis to No. 8..."
It was slightly annoying.
Since Matis were among the top of the line Nikke in the current era, Jien had been hoping to experiment with them.
"We really are getting close to proper Rapture-hybridization... a pity we don't have sufficient quality Nikke to experiment on."
Jien sighed again and glanced at her reflection.
For a split second, another woman stared back. Not the lilac-haired researcher, but a woman with crimson armored legs and ashy blonde hair.
Jien blinked and the woman vanished, revealing just her face.
Or at least, her current face.
"Hm..." Jien tapped her finger on her chin. "...Well. I suppose my dear 'sister' has had her run."
The fact that Matis was transferred over to No. 8 didn't settle well with the board of directors. In fact, Syuen had already been getting on those people's nerves.
"...It's a pity, 'Jien.' You worked so hard to protect your little sister, only for her to die..." Jien stared at her reflection and laughed. "Well... I'll take good care of her body for you~ Don't worry."
Somewhere in the depths of Jien's mind, another woman who looked just like her screamed in despair.
But Jien didn't mind it. She just laughed and walked out, quietly making some calls and arrangements.
===
The Courthouse. Enikk's chambers.
"Strange." Enikk murmured to herself as she ran diagnostics. "...This is unprecedented."
For some reason, there were blindspots in the Ark.
Not just in the depths of various facilities. No, those had always been present.
But Enikk noticed that there were blindspots in places she should be able to see.
Streets, some alleyways, the entryways to sewage drains and other infrastructure kept out of the public's eyes, ordinarily used for maintenance.
"...There is also the fact that my friend was attacked and that Eternity was delayed..."
That was what concerned Enikk.
Hoopa had been attacked in broad daylight by Exotic. And then Exotic had vanished without a trace.
Eternity should have arrived in an instant, just like when she protected Hoopa from John Doe.
And yet, she had been delayed a few precious seconds by 'something.'
"...Is it that?"
Enikk wasn't sure. But there was a possibility.
The portion of herself that she severed away. The branch from her own consciousness that carried all the negativity and burdens she accumulated from making tough decisions...
"...It would explain the Dark Net, as well as the growing negativity..."
Enikk bit her lip. A human action she didn't even realize she was making.
"...It would be ideal if Andersen was here to consult."
The Legendary Commander understood compromise and making the right call. His intuition was also uncanny.
Burningum...
The man was capable.
But he was also unyielding.
If it was up to him, Burningum would advice Enikk to send out Eternity to hunt Exotic down and flush out whoever was responsible for this incident.
But...
Was it due to talking with her sister, Einkk? Or due to meeting Hoopa?
Enikk didn't have any basis for her decision. She didn't have any facts, evidence, or even circumstancial evidence.
...But she had a 'feeling.'
If she sent Eternity out alone, Enikk would lose her.
That was why Enikk was keeping Eternity close at the moment. At least until Hoopa returned to the Ark.
"...This is not like me." Enikk murmured.
For now, it was fine. People still believed she was the fair and impartial AI used to judge and arbitrate matters in the Ark.
But if it came to light that she wasn't...
...
===
Burningum's office.
The rotund deputy chief sipped on a glass of coffee and carefully reviewed the reports about the explosion incident.
"Hm. Enikk didn't say anything."
More than that, it was almost like Enikk deliberately suppressed information.
Through proper footwork, Burningum managed to learn that it was an incident involving Commander Hoopa and certain assailants. Exotic, if the accounts of some of the mass-produced Nikke were to be trusted.
But...
"Strange." Burningum tapped his finger on his desk. "Something is amiss."
Was this why Andersen left it to Burningum? His old friend and mentor didn't explain much, only that there was a 'private matter' he had to attend to.
Mustang apparently knew more details, but to the rest of the Ark, even Ingrid, Andersen was simply on a covert operation.
Burningum closed his eyes, connecting as many dots as he could.
"That young man's presence has shaken things. But it isn't that he exacerbated them, only shone light upon them..."
That was Burningum's sense of it.
What was happening now didn't occur because of Hoopa. They would have occured in spite of him.
But because his presence was so outstanding, it forced players to show their hand early. Whether out of fear, interest, or shock.
"Hm."
Syuen... could be ruled out. Though ambitious, that one wasn't the sort to do something like this. Moreover, she appeared to be under her own troubles at the moment.
Mustang was strictly into the entertainment industry and saving girls who fell through the cracks, so it wasn't him.
Ingrid... No. She was still pining for the Third Surface Reclamation war and focusing on refining weapons.
Doban...
...Possible. That man was ambitious. And he was the sort of man to despise a commander like Hoopa.
But despite everything, Doban cared for maintaining order in the Ark, if only to serve his own interests.
No, this disruption, and the fact that it involved Nikke who appeared to be free from the inhibitors of harming a human...
'Could it be that?'
An incident in the past. Enikk mentioned she had purged herself of malignant sectors of her core processes that would harm the Ark...
Burningum opened his eyes. "Papillon. My one and only Nikke. I have a task for you..."
===
Time passed and then the second month since I'd arrived in this world began.
Preparations were in order.
Supplies were ready.
The Outpost was secured.
Those who would stay and guard it, and those who would come with me to investigate the first area of interest were decided.
And so...
The outskirts of the Outpost, just after dawn.
I glanced to my left, seeing the hero and villain, Laplace and Drake. I glanced to my right, seeing my first love, Marian, my trustworthy partner, Rapi, and the person who had become a reliable scout, Suri.
Drake cracked her neck and said, "Finally." She ran her hand across the buckle of the glowing crimson belt along her waist. "The evil in the world will be sundered by the villain... Hahahah!"
Laplace adjusted the star-shaped sunglasses over her eyes and grinned. "Not if the hero breaks through first! Ra, ra! Fight the power!"
Rapi tucked a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear and sighed. "Commander... are we really going with these two?"
Marian frowned, fiddling with her silver hair. "That's right, Commander... I thought it would just be us."
Suri adjusted her visor and murmured, "Yeah. Why am I even here?"
I adjusted my long sword sheathed on my left side. Then I fixed my zweihander on my back, checking how it settled with the extendable spear. After that, I strapped on my shield over my left arm and said, "You're here, Suri, because you have a good sense for danger. And it would have been us, Rapi, Marian. But since I'm allowed to deploy up to five Nikke at a time, I figured this was the best line up."
"Respectfully, Commander..." Rapi said. "...This current squad consists of nothing but raw firepower."
"Exactly." I nodded. "We'll need it where we're going."
Marian looked at me and said, "And where ARE we going, Commander?"
"To recapture the 5th Weapons Depot. And to confirm the truth of a report that Deput Chief Burningum has suspicions about. Although it's been quite some time... there should be some useful information remaining."
Although I didn't know why Burningum wanted us to look into it... I DID know that it matched the coordinates of the last known location of the Melee Squad that Sophia had given me a while back.
Might as well kill three birds with one stone then.
At that time, Shifty's voice echoed over the comms. "Don't forget about me! Alva particles are... H-Huh? They're... nonexistent? That's-"
"Don't worry about it, Shifty." I resisted the urge to palm the multi-tool hidden in my chestplate. "Let's just get going. You've got the coordinates?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Good. Then we'll start paving the road. Laplace?"
Laplace laughed and pulled out her beam cannon. After adjusting it a bit, she grinned and said, "Leave it to me, Commander! One instant path, coming up! Kaboom!"
A thin spread of blue light. With it, an instantly seared and smooth path before us.
"Alright." I dusted my hands off and said, "Let's get going guys. Time to pave the path through the unknown for humanity."