-2: 77
A little back in time, before the explosion.
Rapi and Neon walked back towards the Elysion headquarters. As they did, Rapi gave Neon another once over and said, "...Instructor will be surprised. Your body was completely readjusted, wasn't it? And your core too."
"Yep!" Neon adjusted her black cap and grinned. "Now I'm Nova Neon! An fusion core with the power of a sun in the palm of my hands, a perfectly healthy body that can withstand even the craziest of energy beams or damage... And a built in plasma cannon!" She pumped a fist in the air and said, "I'm walking firepower!"
Rapi chuckled. "I see that- Wait. Fusion core?"
"Mmhm!" Neon nodded. "That's something that Master left Sophia to figure out! It took some brainstorming with Endless, but we managed it! Now, I'm not just firepower..." She grinned and adjusted her glasses. "I'm a walking tactical nuke too!"
"..."
"...?"
"...Please tell me you're joking."
Neon laughed. "Okay, fiiine. I don't have a REAL fusion core. Even Sophia said that would be too much firepower for me. But I have a mini one! It's not like a real star, but it does fuse things to generate power! Somehow!"
"...Somehow?"
Neon shrugged. "Sophia tried explaining it, but I didn't get it. Endless did, but she doesn't know how to make it simple. If you wanna know, try asking Master sometime?"
"...I would. But knowing our commander, he might go on a tangent and reveal something ridiculous by accident. Like abusing time travel or dimensional gateways to harness energy..."
The fact that Commander Hoopa was genuinely considering capturing Raptures in pocket-sized spheres by converting them into data to later release as an allied force...
Rapi appreciated their commander. He was competent, skilled in combat, caring, and very easy on the eyes.
But sometimes...
'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I suppose...'
Red Hood did mention that Deputy Chief Andersen had been quite the goofball in his heyday.
...And historically, there was a high correlation between competence and eccentricity...
Neon laughed and said, "That wouldn't surprise me! Master is... well, Master."
Rapi laughed as well and said, "I suppose that's the best way to describe him. Our commander is quite... unique."
The streets were fairly empty along the way to Elysion HQ. Then again, they had arrived fairly early in the morning, so most people were probably in the middle of their daily routine.
Rapi suddenly remembered something their commander mentioned earlier and said, "Neon."
"Yes, Rapi?"
"The commander mentioned that you called yourself Neon in your dossier because the neon lights was the first thing you saw after activation... is that true?"
"Mmhm!" Neon nodded. "I don't remember anything about my past really." She smiled, as if remember a fond memory. "When Instructor greeted me, I thought the lights were stars. They weren't, but Neon sounded like a nice name... Also, Neo is new, right? So it's like a pun! Neo, Neon, and because I got turned on! Like, activated!" She puffed out her chest, as if proud of that fact.
Rapi smiled and said, "That's a nice story."
"What about you, Rapi?" Neon tilted her head and said, "Did you choose your name too?"
"Hm? No, Rapi is my real name."
Neon blinked. "Real name...? Oh! You remember before you were a Nikke? Wow!"
Rapi chuckled. "Yes. It's... interesting. And a bit ironic." She shifted her gaze towards the artificial sky and said, "I was turned into a mass-produced Nikke after dying meaninglessly. But despite that, I remember everything about that empty life beforehand."
Neon shook her head. "That's not true!"
Rapi lowered her gaze and looked at Neon, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Neon smiled and said, "If it was really empty, then it wouldn't be worth remembering, right? But if you remember it, then it must have meant a lot to you!"
"...I suppose that's true." Rapi looked back up to the sky. "Something that meant a lot to me, huh?"
A flicker of a memory from when she was small. A nurse whose face she had long forgotten.
*I have been participating in protests. Protests against blaming Nikkes.*
*...They sacrificed their minds and bodies for humanity, for us! They fought against an unknown foe. It's wrong to treat them like this after they risked their lives to fight for us. So I'm doing whatever I can to help.*
*I know this might be a bit difficult for you to understand, Rapi, but you must never put a price on the sacrifices of others. The act itself is noble.*
"...Oh." Rapi stopped walking, placing her hand over her heart. "...I had forgotten."
Neon tilted her head. "What did you forget, Rapi?"
Rapi didn't respond right away, just sitting with her feelings and her thoughts.
...That nurse didn't come back the next day. And her name had been among the list of casualties in the news that evening.
Because so much happened after that, Rapi had forgotten.
But the reason she continued to live. The reason that she refused to forget those days. The reason Rapi remembered her own name even though her life had been spent in a hospital while others forgot everything... And the reason her body instinctively moved to keep itself alive in those days when she was operating as a mass-produced Nikke...
Was it because Rapi had been around Commander Hoopa, who kept pulling off the impossible day by day? Or how he kept asking her for requests, just like that nurse used to when she was small?
Either way, she realized it now. What that kind and determined nurse had been trying to show her when she was a hopeless child who had matured far too soon.
"...Even when I had no hope, someone thought my life was meaningful enough to cheer me on. That it had value, even when I couldn't do anything but lay in bed. Because if I had just one more day, somehow, a miracle might happen."
Rapi placed both her hands over her heart, as if trying to catch the fleeting emotions and memories sweeping through her. "...And she was right. A miracle did happen."
It took decades. Rapi had lost so much in the process. Endured what should have and what did kill countless others.
But she lived.
And as a result, she had them.
Everyone in the Brave Squad. Commander Hoopa, that greedy and terrible man who insisted on making sure they all felt loved while actively being involved with multiple women. Red Hood, her dear friend and mentor, revived against all odds...
Neon smiled and said, "Of course it did! If you hold out long enough while life is beating you down, even bad guys start to feel bad, you know? That's why Princess saved someone like me- ...Me? Princess?" Neon murmured, suddenly caught off guard by her own words.
Rapi paused and looked at Neon. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Rapi. Just..." Neon adjusted her glasses, a mix of emotions on her face. "Give me a second."
"...Okay." Rapi watched Neon for a bit, concerned, but also giving her space.
And after a few moments, Neon let out a soft voice. "Oh." She let out a laugh and brushed tears out of her eyes. "W-Well. I guess today's one of those days, huh?! Both of us are remembering things we forgot..."
Rapi's eyes widened and she said, "You remembered? Just now?"
"...Yeah." Neon answered in that soft voice and said, "It's probably because of my body. Since it's perfectly healthy, I guess it fixed my brain? There's... kind of a lot up here. But it's okay!" She gave Rapi a thumbs up and said, "It's still me! I probably just need to let off a lot of firepower to process it!"
"...If you say so. Remember that you aren't alone, Neon. Also that our commander will definitely be upset with you if you try bottling it up. Have you seen how much he teases Anis?"
"Oh, is THAT why Master does that?" Neon laughed as they continued on their way to the Elysion headquarters. "I thought he was just flirting with her!"
"Well, he is. But Anis has a habit of bottling things up and exploding, so I guess you could say our commander pokes holes every now and then to let out some steam?"
Neon laughed. "That makes SO much sense... And also why Anis never really looks upset when he teases her. She's always in a great mood after!"
"Mmhm." Rapi chuckled. "But speaking of Anis... She really is putting on a concert for the Ark, isn't she?"
Neon nodded. "Yep! Apparently it's a whole thing. Since Nami turned out to be their former manager and everything, they're doing a rerun of a proper debut AND a graduation concert all in one go! I heard that they even got someone from the inspection unit to help with organizing things!"
Rapi blinked and said, "The inspection unit? You mean Avistar and Eyeri? From Overseer?"
"Mmhm!" Neon nodded. "I think it's Avistar... not sure why, but it's neat!"
"Hm." Rapi placed her hand on her chin and murmured, "Instructor wouldn't reassign someone like that unless something important is happening..."
"Well, it could be a personal request, right? Like how I personally requested to join Master's squad!"
Rapi blinked. Then she gave Neon a blank look and said, "...You're telling me this whole time your spy excuse was a lie? And that you just wanted to be assigned to Commander's squad with us?"
Neon shrugged. "Can you blame me? Instructor just makes us run simulators all day! Besides, you were already there, so if I joined too, then it would be three Elysion Nikkes on Master's squad!"
Rapi chuckled. "I suppose that makes sense. Instructor would just call it tactical and- Wait. Three Elysion Nikkes?"
"Mmhm!" Neon nodded. "Me, you, and Mari!"
"...Mari isn't an Elysion Nikke."
"Huh?" Neon blinked. "But she has Elysion's logo all over her equipment!"
Rapi froze. "...That's right. But..." She frowned. "...Mari said she came from Missilis. And Instructor didn't react to Mari at all when we met her for the simulator test."
Neon's eyes widened. "No way! Does that mean that Mari is a real spy?!"
Rapi rubbed her face. "...I feel a headache coming along. But... This is something that Commander can deal with."
"Agreed!" Neon laughed. "Master barely does any paperwork anyway, so we should at least keep him busy with SOMETHING before he runs off to fight the Rapture Queen alone now that he has fancy weapons, right?"
"Please do not speak things into existence, Neon..." Even while she said that, Rapi let out a smile.
The pair arrived at Elysion's headquarters together.
But when they arrived, it was strangely quiet.
"...Huh?" Neon adjusted her hat and looked around. "...That's weird. Isn't this place usually super busy?"
Rapi placed her hand on the emergency pistol she carried. "...It is."
Seeing that, Neon focused as well, moving in front of Rapi. "Stay behind me, Rapi. I'm a lot less squishy than you, so you'll be safer like that."
Rapi paused. "...I suppose that's true. Then I'll be support." She swept her crimson eyes around the area, assessing the situation.
Elysion's headquarters consisted of an outer courtyard, training fields to run formations, firing ranges to testfire weapons in the back, and then various high-rise buildings for logistics and personnel.
Considering it was the middle of the day, it should be bustling with activity.
Not only that...
Rapi's eyes widened and she quickly turned her head back towards the gate that she and Neon had walked through.
The UNGUARDED gate. Something that Ingrid would never have allowed considering it was absolutely untactical.
Neon was confused, but then she realized what Rapi had caught onto. Her eyes widened too and she said, "Did something happen, Rapi?"
"...I don't know. But..." Rapi hesitated, mulling over information in her head.
Absolute returning from a successful mission to retrieve heretic fragments.
Ingrid suddenly stopping contact with both Rapi and Neon.
Not only that, but Ingrid ALSO not contacting their commander, something extremely odd considering that both Syuen and Mustang had at least reached out. Moreover, considering Commander Hoopa's actions and achievements, it was unmistakably 'tactical' like Ingrid adored...
So the radio silence was uncharacteristic.
And now, arriving at an unguarded and empty headquarters...
"...How confident are you in combat, Neon?"
Neon laughed and then flicked her right hand, causing an arm cannon to emerge with a burst of emerald light. "Very."
"...I have questions. Like how much Goddessium did you and Sophia use for your new body. But I suppose I'll put them off until later." Rapi swept her gaze across the empty courtyard one more time and said, "Let's head to Instructor's office first. Even if she isn't there, we should be able to get a sense for the situation."
"Got it! Now, let's-" Neon immediately cut off her words and held out her hands. "A.T. Field, Deploy!"
An invisible ripple spread out around Neon and Rapi.
And the moment it did, a flurry of rockets exploded around them, followed by a burst of sniper rifle rounds and machine gun fire.
Rapi's eyes widened and she reflexively took a step back from sheer disbelief. "No. No, that's impossible."
"Rapi! What do we do?!" Neon's emerald eyes flitted around, taking stock of the situation. But it seemed even she was at a loss.
Because there, walking out from the buildings nearby, were three Nikkes with crimson eyes.
Nikkes that Rapi knew all too well.
"Eunhwa, Vesti, Emma... What happened?"
There wasn't a response.
Instead, all three members of Absolute raised their weapons at Rapi and Neon again.
"Rapi?! Do we fight? Run? Call Master?!" Neon looked concerned and said, "I can keep us safe, but I think those guys are corrupted, right? If Absolute's gone crazy, the surroundings might not survive us fighting!"
Rapi pursed her lips.
There were too many questions. But Neon was right.
Considering that Absolute was on par with Matis in terms of power output and tactical prowess... even if they were corrupted and lost some logical reasoning, the instincts and training alone would be sufficient to be a threat.
And while Neon's energy barrier... which was a whole OTHER set of questions to answer later...
While it could clearly hold up, the force from the barrage of firepower hadn't been nullified, but just stopped where it was blocked, leaving the force to erupt around them.
And right now, the ground was already cratered around where they were standing.
"...We'll retreat for now. Since Commander has a specialty in dealing with corrupted Nikke, it's best to bring him here."
"Got it. Then hold on tight!" Neon immediately swept Rapi up like a potato sack and onto her shoulder.
Rapi blushed and said, "N-Neon!"
"Complain later! We're running from the terminator bots!"
A barrage of machinegun fire cut through the air, stopped by rippling hexagons appearing all around Neon and Rapi.
Rapi noticed and said, "How sturdy are your shields?"
"Sophia said it would take something like an anti-airship rail cannon to break through one layer and I have seven!"
"...I have so many questions. But fine! Keep running! I'll inform Commander!"
"You got it, Rapi-!"
*BOOM*
Rapi and Neon immediately looked up to see a hole in the Dome of Eternity, the artifical blue sky flickering with glitches.
Neon blinked and said, "Uh. That's bad, right, Rapi?"
"...Well. As always, Commander was right about coming in armed." Rapi clicked her tongue and then pulled out a pair of coilguns she had hidden in her bag on the way down from the Outpost. "These aren't my usual weapons, but it'll do for now. Let's go."