Average Day

**Average Day** is the forty-first episode of Reflection.

*OPIA returns to Fuse and begins to await their next operation. In order to attack the Derelict, Stein must live. To that end Basil and those below must make sure he survives the next few hours. On the surface, Arg0s contemplates his recent death.*

## Summary

A few months in the past, Robin is greeted by Ridill and Treble outside of her college dorms. Ridill clumsily explains that she's been scouted by OPIA due to her registering as the most absolutely average person they could find. Robin, secretly an enormous FLOW fangirl, eagerly accepts the opportunity to join. Back in the present, Nectar meets up with Helena and wakes up Basil. Basil grants the two entry to the interior of her body where the hotel she subsumed is stored. They are also joined by a Circuit clone. Helena calms down a panicked Pressley while Nectar restores the Flames of everybody else in the hotel who was harmed by Eternity's attack. They then go up to treat Stein, briefly passing by Planned Obsolescence Unit 03. Up in Beleth, Arg0s is told by Verona and Cast that his original body is still missing, buried deep under the mud left behind by Eternity's attack. He's slightly distressed about this, but tells Cast not to waste time searching for it now when there's still important work to do. On the drive back to Fuse City, he calls his parents to clarify that he's still alive, leading to an awkward conversation about the exact parameters of his job at OPIA.

Back inside Basil, Stein's treatment begins. When Nectar takes off his Pyromancer suit, she finds that Stein's body is completely invisible. Circuit interjects and says that a mysterious "Isa" once told the OPIA R&D team that materials connected to higher tiers of existence can sometimes exist literally outside of the perspective of people on lower tiers, and so if they want to treat Stein, they'll have to readjust their perspective. With Basil's help, they attempt to coax the astral parasite that Ace put inside Stein. When they do, Circuit attempts to hold on to it, but the parasite creates a bubble of warped space around her, causing her body to expand and break. Helena and Nectar panic. Basil calls in POU-3 to elaborate. He is also taken aback by the presence of the object, telling Nectar to bury it somewhere and never talk about it to anyone again. After they finally finish stabilizing Stein's condition, Nectar rushes outside and does just that. Meanwhile, Arg0s' group returns to OPIA. In the lobby, Robin is recounting the story of how she got several battle scars during Melli's last ditch plan to finally put an end to Logic's attack on the Sylt Islands. Arg0s, Ace, Verona, and Twice head deeper into the hospital wing to speak to Sei, but Verona is taken away by Circuit after receiving information about the astral parasite that ate one of her bodies. Those remaining meet up with Mic. After a brief conversation she lets them into Sei's room to talk, where Ace attempts to reassure Sei that Laughter isn't truly dead. After they leave, Sei begins to cry, feeling true loss for the first time.

In the VR chamber, Grasp the Earth speaks to Willow Wisp. He explains that in order for Willow to reach her next stage of advancement as his wielder, she needs to fight and survive several events that killed Grasp the Earth wielders in previous worlds. For the mission, she is joined by Robin, Cam, and Gene. The simulation starts and the team is placed in a memory of World Six, where they are immediately attacked by a younger version of Hex. Back in the OPIA lobby, Stein suddenly manifests, bringing everybody from the hotel with him, including Helena. He then passes out and is rushed to the R&D lab for treatment. Elsewhere in Fuse City, Basil, who was supposed to return with Stein, finds her teleportation interrupted and ends up in an abandoned district somewhere in the center of the city. She is greeted by a platoon of GEIST soldiers as well as Number Five, Rhadamanthys, and a strange masked man. Number Five explains that in Basil's current state, she's unable to fulfill her function as the Absolute Free Will Project, which Five then further explains was to reach a state where she could, at the behest of GEIST, end the world on their terms, creating a new world designed by humanity rather than outside entities. Since she's no longer capable, Basilisk Id as a whole has been replaced with a new inheritor of the role, the masked man. Despite that, Number Five says that it's time for Basil to "come home" either way. Before she can be taken, Ridill arrives, dousing the entire district in her newly mastered ESP. She asks Basil if she wants to come home to OPIA, which she does. Ridill uses her ESP to rip apart a number of GEIST helicopters with ease as Basil subdues another gigantic effigy of herself made from GEIST husks. Before the two leave, Rhadamanthys comments that he finally figured out what World Twelve's defining characteristic is - it's a world of "freaks" and "mutants".

Ace and Arg0s get drinks at one of Cal's bars. They have a brief conversation with him and Lyst Solais before heading out. After everyone leaves the bar, a strange cubic entity manifests on the stage. Back in the VR chamber, the simulation of Hex bisects Cam and nearly decapitates Robin before Cast forcibly cancels the simulation. Embarrassed, Gene talks to Robin about helping both of them get stronger. Willow takes a break to look for strong OPIA and FLOW agents to actually handle Grasp's trial. She delivers The Pristine One's letter to Basil, who was reuniting with Cam and Mic in the hospital wing. Ridill meets up with Ace and Arg0s on a familiar hill and discusses the upcoming mission. She says that this next mission could very easily be fatal, and that if the two of them have any final conversations they want to have, they should do them soon.

## Characters

### Player Characters

* Ace Galatine
* Basilisk Id
* Willow Wisp
* Arg0s
* Ridill Arondite

### FLOW

* Twice
* Lyst Solais
* Genesis Aeon
* Robin Rumeli
* Melli Luxity
* Liam
* Helena
* Pixie

### OPIA

* Dr. Verona
* Director
* Solace
* Cam
* Cast
* Circuit
* Mic
* Cal

### Demonic Courts

* Stein
* Nectar
* Sei Miscellany

### Exulansis

* Treble
* Hex

### GEIST

* Number Five
* Rhadamanthys
* ???