Nikke: Nullable Type

Back in the airship of Over the Horizon, Andersen had gathered Goddess for an emergency meeting.

Dorothy grit her teeth, clenching her fist. "That conniving Queen...! Daring to copy everything about me and even go as far as to make that copy believe she is better...! Ugh! I've never been so irritated in my life!"

Scarlet frowned. "Calm yourself, Dorothy. We were fortunate." She drew her blade and said, "Observe. Fleetly Fading deflected that Heretic's blade. And yet..."

The crimson blade that had served Scarlet since she first joined the Goddess Squad had cracked and fractured in a single exchange with Egovista.

Snow White noticed and frowned. "...It appears that Egovista's blade may be of a similar make to the one that our nephew uses."

Red Hood was serious too. "Yeah. Did you see the way Egovista was moving too? It was kinda like Scarlet, but the speed and power of that swing was definitely like Lil Boss."

Rapunzel looked grave and said, "If the Queen is iterating upon our dear Nephew's advancements..."

Andersen clicked his tongue. "I know. It's a problem. But the question is how she's doing it."

Snow White paused and looked concerned. "You think there's a leak? Or a traitor?"

Andersen was quiet and said, "I don't know. But I do know that the circumstances around my son's graduation and first mission were shady. And we all know that the Syuen running Missilis right now isn't the real one."

Red Hood nodded. "It would explain how that Egobista or whatever was moving. Missilis probably has a lot of data on how Lil Boss moved from when the real Syuen was studying him, right?"

Andersen hummed. "Right. But that doesn't explain Absurdia. It's... well, absurd." He looked at Dorothy and said, "The Heretic didn't do much. But it's clear that she has at least your base capabilities. Optical weaponry, powerful photon cannons, sustained flight... Everything that you were known for in the First Surface Reclamation war against the Raptures was there in full."

"Ugh." Dorothy crossed her arms and said, "Don't remind me. It was eerie, seeing that Heretic like that."

Snow White was quiet for a bit. But then she said, "Hey. Those two were definitely Heretics, right?"

Andersen nodded. "Clearly. ...Why do you ask, Snow?"

"...Didn't they seem too human?"

Silence.

Andersen's eyes widened. "That's... true. If Absurdia didn't declare that she was a Heretic, I would have thought it was just a Nikke."

Dorothy frowned. "Is this a situation like with Cinderella then? Do you think those two are secret projects our Nephew worked on, only to be corrupted?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "That's impossible. Our dear Nephew has solved Corruption. Completely. No matter how much the Rapture Queen attempted to circumvent or advance Corruption, as long as it shares the same 'root' then it would be impossible to be used against any Nikkes or creations that he has wrought."

Red Hood nodded. "I agree. Lil Boss might be a bit careless when it comes to personal stuff. But for business and combat, he's way too detailed."

Snow White nodded. "That's right. But if that's the case... then is the Rapture Queen trying to imitate him? Usually, her Heretics are mechanical in nature. Even with the mass-produced ones we fought recently, they're clearly twisted in one way or another. But the two just now... they were perfect. Almost ethereal. And if it wasn't for their equipment, they could definitely blend in as humans."

Another silence fell in the airship hangar.

And then Andersen's eyes were sharp. "...You think that the Rapture Queen is using our own tactic against us. That she's deliberately designing beautiful and elegant Heretics so that the citizens of the Ark don't know who's in the right or wrong. And perhaps to serve as emissaries too."

"Yeah." Snow White pursed her lips. "It's just a theory, but... it's too strange for these latest models to be so human-like. And so beautiful too. There wasn't a hint of monstrous features on them other than their skill and equipment."

Dorothy clenched her fists. "That sly, conniving, cheating Rapture Queen...!"

Andersen didn't respond. Instead, he imagined it.

A fateful battle with him leading Goddess.

Heading to the Lift for the final clash only to be met with those two Heretics leading a horde of Raptures. Deliberately broadcasting the affair while that elegant Absurdia stated that all the Raptures wanted was coexistence, not conflict-

Andersen suddenly froze, feeling chills run down his spine.

Scarlet noticed and glanced over. "Commander?"

"Absurdia managed to hijack the communications systems. Don't you remember? Her voice projected across every speaker when we drew near."

Dorothy took a sharp breath and said, "That's true...!"

Rapunzel's eyes narrowed in calculation. "The Alva particle concentration along with the photonic energy readings... The Raptures have always been able to circumvent it, but they've never actually utilized it. But... perhaps they've always had the technology but never needed to?"

Andersen was quiet, quickly mulling over countless calculations in his head. "...It's a forced evolution. The Rapture Queen realized that pure force isn't working when someone like my son is in play. Whatever she pulls out, he either matches, subverts, or eliminates. So instead of facing him directly..."

Scarlet continued. "She is focusing on the masses instead. Tis truly a vile and cunning scheme."

Dorothy looked genuinely concerned and said, "But that's not good, Commander. We've all seen it, haven't we? Our nephew doesn't care about the Ark or Humanity. At least, not enough to be dissuaded by something like that."

"I know." Andersen said in a weary tone. "That's the problem."

The Rapture Queen was running off data that it had acquired about Humanity from the previous Surface Reclamation wars and from when it first arrived.

From that, she was probably extrapolating what would stop someone in a position like Commander Hoopa.

But there was a major data point missing in the Rapture Queen's extrapolations.

Andersen groaned. "The kid cares about the Ark, but only some of it. And the ones who would be swayed by the Rapture Queen's latest gambit here are ones he wouldn't hesitate to personally cut down either. Not only that, but the ones on his side are already close to being zealots. His personality is just that charismatic and extreme that it would just be a galvanizing factor. But at the same time, it would be disastrous for the Ark's population."

Scarlet was quiet. Then she said, "Would that be such a bad thing?"

Dorothy was quiet too. Then she said, "...Yes. If it reaches that point, then those who betrayed humanity would have deserved their fate, right?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "Even if so, we should not slaughter the lost lambs. Our duties are to shepherd them, not lead them to be butchered."

Red Hood shrugged. "Well, I don't think it changes much anyway, right? In the long run, Humanity will keep living. And if it takes cracking a few skulls along the way..."

Snow White nodded. "I agree with Red. If it reaches that point where any humans are foolish enough to actively stand beside the Rapture Queen's forces... Well. They chose their side."

Rapunzel looked at Andersen. "Commander..."

Andersen sighed and waved his hand. "Let's not jump to worst case scenarios. We still don't know the full details yet. For now, let's focus on our original objective. Although we don't know the reason, that Egovista did confirm our suspicions: The Wings of Liberty is close, and it's guarded by Storm Bringer. If we can reclaim that, then our paths open up." He paused. "...Especially if Red Hood's memories are correct about the link between the Ark and the Lift."

Red Hood flinched, instinctively touching her head as if expecting a headache. But it didn't come. Instead, she sighed and said, "I'm pretty sure I'm remembering right, Boss. I don't remember the details, but someone told me that the cores were linked."

Dorothy clicked her tongue. "Wonderful." She sighed. "Just wonderful. Even if we defeat the Rapture Queen, we need to sort out how to allow an entire populace of humanity to live on the barren and nature-reclaimed land."

Andersen chuckled. "Well. That's the kid's job, not us. We have, and always will be, the blade aimed at the Rapture Queen's neck. But for now..." He glanced over at the door, where Vesti and Emma were sneakily peeking through the window. "Should we calm down our subordinates before things get out of hand?"

===

The trip back from the Ark and to the Outpost was, thankfully, uneventful.

I introduced our new members to everyone and updated the dossier of units on Abnormal's list of Nikkes to include Viper and Jackal. Then I filed the paperwork with Ingrid to have Fragile transferred to the Outpost under my command.

Since Ingrid had been worried about Fragile, it went off without a hitch.

After that, I had Fragile coordinate with Shifty and Hana to get a handle on the logistics.

But overall, since it had been a packed morning, I took some time for myself.

At least, that had been the plan.

But the moment I entered my room, I got a call from Sophia of all people.

Confused, I picked up and said, "What's going on, Sophia? You never call me."

"Creator." Her voice echoed across the line, sounding like it was bouncing around a large cavern. "I confirmed the situation with Miss Siren and the others. We have also confirmed the retrieval and restoration of the strongest second generation Grimms model, Cinderella. But we ran into an issue."

I tilted my head. "An issue?"

"Yes. Due to the extensive injuries she had sustained and the long duration in a comatose state, it is highly likely that traditional methods to awaken her will result in total memory loss at worst, partial memory loss at best. But due to Creator's unique nature and physiology, as well as the effect you have on Heretics, we believe that you can resolve this situation."

I adjusted my phone and said, "First of all, who's 'we' exactly? And how do you expect me to get there? Aren't you a few hundred kilometers away?"

"'We' includes a few Heretics that have established an independent faction from the Rapture Queen as well as a synthetic Ark using various gathered Harmony Cubes, as well as the original developer of the second generation Grimms models, researcher Abe. As for how to get here, I have established a cyberspace link using the resources here. If you use your multitool from the recycling center, you should be able to arrive here in an instant."

I let out a sigh and stood up after having just laid down on my bed. "No rest for the wicked... alright. I'll be there in a bit. Anything I should bring?"

"Just yourself. According to Abe, Cinderella has a preference for 'beautiful things' and 'heroes.' Creator is both."

"...Thank you?"

"Just hurry up and arrive so that we can proceed. There are other interesting experiments I wish to conduct in this territory that cannot be done until this situation is resolved."

"Right, right. On my way then..."