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While various events and meetings occurred during the witching hours after midnight on Halloween...
Enikk quietly sat in her chamber, mulling over the situation and the epiphany she had. "...What do we do?"
The scans and queries had been run hundreds of times.
But the outcome was the same.
In Enikk's databases, and indeed, in all of the Ark's databases, there were no records of Einkk at all.
The only reference to other artificial intelligences were the failed venture to turn the brilliant researcher Cecil into one, as well as the branched portion of Enikk's own processes that she had pruned due to accumulating too much negative information.
And yet...
"I remember my sister."
A memory with no proof other than in her own mind.
That was what was tipping Enikk off.
Her friend, Hoopa, was correct.
Enikk was not simply code. And instead of an 'artificial' intelligence, it was more accurate to call her a 'synthetic' intelligence. An entity- No, a human born from pure code with a soul of her own.
And that soul was what carried the memory of Enikk meeting Einkk.
A discussion outside of time and space. A discussion in a realm that Einkk ruled as supreme, and one that could not be reached by anything in this world.
But the implications of that terrified Enikk.
First, of Einkk's powers. To be able to perfectly replicate history like this to the extent of having each individual soul be unique was unheard of.
Second, of what it meant for the Ark and humanity as a whole.
It would be one thing if this was just a test. Or a whimsy.
But it wasn't.
The fidelity was too high.
Something like this... It could only be sustained if Einkk was willing to burn everything up to create it. To use all her resources as well as the Ark's.
It was a hailmary. A desperation gambit. A prayer for a miracle.
"A Demon Lord... that is what you said you wanted to create, yes, Sister?" Enikk murmured. "And you summoned a hero from 'another world' to do so..."
Data on the Rapture known as Gatekeeper was scarce. But its existence proved that other worlds did indeed exist.
In that case...
"...I see now. Oh, Sister..."
How all of this was possible.
The final gambit that Einkk wanted to deploy.
"...You became a Rapture yourself, didn't you?"
An entity that accumulated data from other worlds, one that used dimensional energy to sustain what it created, and one that was always dreaming, peering beyond the door between worlds.
Tyrant-Class Rapture: Gatekeeper.
An anomalous Rapture that shouldn't be possible. Something that, if created by the Rapture Queen, indicated that she could have annihilated humanity long ago.
An anomalous Rapture that rarely interacted with humanity other than to deploy otherworldly technology and forces for a moment before everything vanished like mist.
An anomalous Rapture that appeared across time at sporadic intervals, clearly testing and accumulating information...
Enikk let out a soft sigh.
Although it was troubling information, Enikk assessed that it did not make a difference to the course of events going forward.
The Rapture Queen still needed to be killed. And the Raptures still needed to be resolved.
...While there may be something 'after,' Enikk assessed that it would not be until the Rapture Queen was completely defeated and the situation with the Raptures completely resolved.
After all, if this was a testing ground for Enikk's dear sister to find a solution, then it would persist until that solution came to pass.
And so...
"I will do my best to help, Sister. Please, hold on a little longer."
Did the words reach?
For some reason, Enikk felt like something stared at her. Nothing malicious, but a soft gaze.
Enikk let out a breath that she didn't require. And then she closed her eyes to run diagnostics and calculations.
It was November 1st now that midnight had passed. Sunday.
Andersen would declare the Third Surface Reclamation War on Thanksgiving, November 26th. A Thursday.
Mustang had arranged T.T. Star's concert to be on Veterans Day, November 11th. Wednesday.
Morale was already high with Mustang releasing the Ark Rangers movie premier on Halloween early yesterday evening...
"...By the end of next year. For certain."
All of Enikk's calculations pointed to that absolute deadline.
One way or another, by the end of next year, the Rapture Queen would be dead.
That was the worst case scenario.
The best case... sooner.
But until then...
"I must prepare."
===
At an undisclosed Elysion facility. While the Halloween festivities continued through the night...
Ingrid was hard at work.
Using the Vapaus that Andersen gave her, creating new frames based on the intel and diagrams that Ingrid had found in the archives, incorporating some of the anti-gravity technology that were utilized in creating Eternity and Endless...
After a long period of sleepless nights checking, double-checking, and triple-checking to make sure they would be fine...
Ingrid finally confirmed the start-up sequences for Absolute and their new bodies.
Steam hissed as three capsules slowly opened.
The first revealed a tall and busty woman with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes. Emma.
The second revealed a stern looking woman with black hair and violet eyes. Eunhwa.
And the last revealed a petite young woman with bobbed silver hair and icy blue eyes. Vesti.
All of them were dressed in plain oversized white t-shirts.
Eunhwa stepped out first, crossing her arms with a scowl. "...I cannot believe that I fell for such an amateur mistake."
Emma stepped out next and sighed. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Eunhwa. Who would have thought that the entire facility could be a Rapture?"
Vesti stepped out last, looking concerned. She looked over at Ingrid and said, "Are you okay, Instructor?"
Ingrid let out a sigh of relief. "...I'm fine. Are you? Sitrep, stat."
Eunhwa sighed, looking both guilty and frustrated. "...No anomalies. My mind is quiet again. It is just me here."
Emma nodded and said, "Yes. The strange voice is gone now."
Vesti nodded too before saying, "W-We're fine, Instructor. But... are you?" She looked guilty and said, "We hurt you a lot, didn't we?"
Ingrid looked amused and said, "Me? Hurt? As if. I just had a... tactical retreat."
Emma laughed and said, "If you say so, Instructor. But then... what day is it? And time?"
"Halloween- No, I suppose it's the day after now?" Ingrid pulled out her phone and said, "...It's around 3 AM, November 1st. A Sunday. There was a Halloween Gala at the Outpost happening, but it's probably too late for that now."
Vesti looked sad. "Oh. I wanted to go trick or treating..."
Eunhwa was quiet. Then she looked at Ingrid and said, "How is Rapi?"
Emma looked over too and smiled. "Yes. How is our old friend doing, Instructor?"
Ingrid glanced at the screen in front of her, reading last minute diagnostics. After confirming at there weren't any signs of corruption left, she let out a sigh of relief. But after that, she looked at Eunhwa and said, "She came to visit you and Emma a few times while you were in stasis. While I don't know too many details, I can assure you that she's fine."
Vesti giggled and said, "More than fine. Rapi has someone she loves and who loves her now, after all!"
Eunhwa paused. "What?"
Ingrid laughed. "...I forgot. You two haven't met or heard about Commander Hoopa have you?"
Eunhwa furrowed her brow. "...Who is that?"
Vesti gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh that's true! I know because I've met them, but Eunhwa and Emma haven't!"
Emma tilted her head. "...Oh my. I sense something dramatic..."
Ingrid grinned. "Well. Allow me to enlighten you all on the ridiculous tactical, political, and spiritual nuke that we obtained called Commander Hoopa..."
===
A few kilometers from the Outpost.
Johan waited at a predetermined position, checking the time.
And then a faint breeze stirred. With it appeared a woman in purple armor with glowing yellow holographic wings behind her.
Johan glanced at her and said, "Report, Isabel."
Isabel tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear and frowned. "...It's unbelievable. I flew far beyond the range of any sensors to get a look from above. At least, I thought I did, Commander. But then I was hailed in morse code to maintain distance."
Johan blinked. "...What?"
Isabel let out a disbelieving laugh. "I was confused too. But... There are coilguns. Railguns as well. Not energy weapons, but magnetic rail weaponry lined all over the outer perimeter as well as on the tops of all the buildings. Those were what lit up in warning when I approached."
Johan narrowed his eyes. "...Are you telling me that the Ark has obtained weaponry on par with Eden?"
Isabel frowned. "...I don't think so, Commander. Although I didn't see much... I saw Nikkes and humans interacting. And it was peaceful there. The atmosphere... it was completely different from what I remembered of the Ark."
"...I see." Johan clicked his tongue. "...I suppose there's no other way. We will retire for now. I have secured shelter and the optical camoflage is ready. But in the morning..." He shifted his gaze towards the Outpost and said, "...Let us meet this commander. The one who Dorothy speaks so highly of."
Isabel glanced at Johan. "Are you sure, Commander? We could be walking into hostile territory."
"No. From what you've reported, it seems we have already been spotted. If they could see you from that far above, then they can see us here. But they are leaving us be. And I doubt that Dorothy would have betrayed us that completely."
Isabel furrowed her brow. "You say that, Commander. Yet..."
"It will be fine. This is a risk worth taking. Now, come. Help me finish setting up camp."
"Yes, Commander."
===
The Rapture Queen was suddenly stirred out of her background processes by the alert that numerous Rapture units were being removed from her network.
A quick diagnostics revealed that Unit Gluttony had gone dark, along with its energy reserves.
So too did Unit Liberalio, Unit Nihilister, and Unit Indivilia.
Then the Four Beasts were actively ignoring her call.
It was an anomaly.
And a situation that called for immediate correction.
Synchronization with Unit Gatekeeper had failed. The data retrieved from the last trial in creating experimental units was lost as well.
The amount of dark matter available to be utilized was insufficient to produce high class Rapture Units to substitute for the ones lost.
Because of that, for the first time, the Rapture Queen experienced frustration.
The command to 'Destroy all Humans' that she deliberately sent was being ignored.
Although many Rapture Units were moving to attack humanity, many more were either disobeying or actively resisting by attacking fellow units.
In that case...
The Rapture Queen directed the Tyrant-Class Black Smith Units to convene. At the same time, it directed Land Eaters, Storm Bringers, and other Tyrant-Class Units towards the Black Smith Units.
Unlike before, where the Rapture Queen simply left a command, she assumed direct control.
There was no margin for error allowed. Not when her resources were running this low.
And so, for the moment, the Rapture Queen temporarily ceased processing the core of Liliweiss and rerouted her processes to begin reclaiming Dark Matter from her inoperable and unutilized Rapture Units to prepare for the creation of new ones.
As for the new ones to be created...
The Rapture Queen parsed the memories from Liliweiss's core again.
Then she selected the two Nikkes that seemed the most promising.
First, the pink-haired Nikke with flight capabilities and optical weapons.
Second, the swordswoman who was skilled enough to fight with simply a blade.
Analyzing the data of both, the Rapture Queen initiated the construction of two new units, Codename Absurdia and Codename Egovista.